(A/N) Sorry about the long wait. My trial version of Word expired so I had to go and get the full version. I don't own Star Wars or Halo.
Chapter 7: OH GOD! THE CARNAGE!
Sirens blared as Ehren burst into the command center of the Iron Wolf. Quickly taking his position in the command chair, he took in the situation at a glance.
It couldn't have been better.
At least a dozen Covenant ships of all types filled the viewport, with more dropping out of hyperspace every second. The poor, poor bastards had NO idea what his single ship was about to hit them with, and, thanks to his gravity projectors, none of them would be leaving anytime soon.
Suddenly I feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Ehren thought as he turned his attention to Captain Mendoza, "Captain, let's show these fools what happens when they disturb my dinner."
The Captain grinned, "Yes, Sir!"
"Commander Siaka, what is the status of the Star Galleon?" The Admiral turned to face the Sullustian officer in charge of the hangers.
/It is completely repaired, Sir/ Siaka reported in his quick language/but we were not able to get it out of the main hanger before the Covenant arrived./
"Launch all fighter squadrons from the secondary hanger. They may choose their own targets."
/Yessir./
As the Sullustian turned to his console Captain Keyes strided into the bridge, accompanied by Master Chief. She ignored the alien and pressed past him to take her place in front of Ehren.
"I thought I told you to await my orders on your ship, Captain. This Covenant force is meant for me, not you. Once the fighters have been scrambled I will remove your ship and then you will retreat, understood?"
"No, I do not understand," Miranda said, flustered. Master Chief was obviously uncomfortable with not following a direct order—he visibly stiffened. "First of all, you are not in my chain of command, and thus have no rule over my actions. Second, there is no way you can take on a Covenant fleet this size and win! You need all the help you can get."
Ehren leaned back and considered what she had said, "You will follow my orders because I am of higher rank and have the power of deciding whether or not I want you to continue to breathe, and in response to your second point…" He gabbed a finger at the tactical display in the middle of the bridge. "…I'm winning."
She studied the hologram and discovered to her amazement that he was correct. Already five—no make that six of the Covenant capital ships had been destroyed, and others were starting to belch fire and atmosphere. His fighter squadrons were tearing up the Covenant's fighters like wet paper, no losses reported. It was a total massacre.
"So you see, Captain, your presence is not required. Now would you like to return to your ship or shall I provide an escort?"
Throwing a glare at the mercenary Miranda stormed out of the bridge pausing only to make sure Master Chief was following her. One of his officers threw a smile at Ehren.
"You certainly have a way with women, don't you Admiral?" He remarked.
"You want garbage duty, Lieutenant?" Ehren growled.
"No, Sir," gulped the young officer, knowing full well that "garbage duty" meant being thrown in the trash compactor and left for dead. Though the Admiral was lenient, any breech in discipline, insubordination, or cowardice during combat was viewed as treachery and was ruled as such.
"Good. Captain Mendoza, you're in command. I'm going to escort the Star Galleon in the Gnat. Tell the Chimeras to ready their mounts and be prepared to fly in five minutes."
"Yes, Sir!"
After the battle that almost destroyed the Mandalorians most of the surviving warriors decided that their Basilisk War Droids were not fit for modern combat, they decided to follow Jaster Mereel's example by scrapping their old mounts and 'acquiring' more modern starships. The few who didn't simply modified their existing mounts and called themselves the 'Chimeras,' they soon became an elite fighting force, and proved that you can teach an old canoid new tricks.
The Gnat is a heavily modified Lambda-Class Shuttle. Ehren was very proud of his old mercenary/bounty hunting ship. He improved the armament by adding two matching AG-2G turrets on either side of the upper stabilizer fin and also adding a ball-and-socket laser cannon turret (similar to the turrets on the wings of an Old Republic Gunship) on the ventral side. Ehren also replaced the two forward blaster cannons with ion cannons, making capturing a bounty much easier. He reconfigured the cockpit into a three-man configuration by simply taking out the copilot and centering the pilot seat with new controls. The pilot handling the forward laser cannons and ion cannons as well as flying, the navigator also handles communications and fires the ventral turret, and the main gunner handles the two dorsal turrets and maintained the power flow of the Gnat, and the rear blaster cannon is handled by a secondary gunnery station at the rear of the ship.
Now Ehren faced a problem when he made the ship, how would he man all the stations without having to deal with splitting the cash? The answer: droids, and not just any droids, battle droids. He managed to get a hold of some old Trade Federation battle droids and tinkered with their programming enough to give them some intelligence and personality, but not enough that they would become independent and want pay. His now quantum-armor-plated battle droids were prepping his ship, and the fifty Chimeras stood at attention next to their mounts.
"At ease, men."
The well-drilled pilots relaxed slightly, obviously impatient to get to work.
"We're on escort duty, we must protect the Star Galleon until it goes into hyperspace, and after that we finish up the battle and head for wherever the Star Galleon wants us to rendezvous at. Alright, lets go kick some Covenant ASS!"
With a bloodthirsty cry the Chimeras flew out of the hanger and into the chaos of war.