A War Renewed
A/N: Okay, finally, here's the next chapter. I apologize for the wait. I had an idea for a scene and had to scrap it…oh and I don't own either Star Wars or Halo because if I did, I assure you I wouldn't be putting this story on a website. It'd be in a book…or something. R&R.
SpartanCommander: Thank you for informing me. I'll be sure to put that into consideration in the next battle between the two universes' vessels and such.
Razorwind: Don't look at me.
Easy-Company-506101: It just might. Depends on how you look at it.
Thanks all for your reviews. If you wish to hear more of what's goin' on in my life or whatever, check out the updates section of my profile. I don't update it daily, but I do update it…sometimes.
Chapter Two
A Jedi what?
20:21, October 8th, 2554 (Military Calendar)
Aboard Hammurabi II Carrier
An hour hasp assed since the Master Chief met up with Onallen Kinati, the strange old man who seems to have remarkable abilities for someone his age, and they have returned to the human capital ship Hammurabi II to discuss many things. The Chief wanted to know what Onallen was doing here at the High Charity. The old man's presence was strange to him.
All the while on the way there, Onallen told the Chief and his companions of his past adventures and travels as a young man. However, the Chief found some of his travel's to be rather strange. The old man kept mentioning planets he'd never heard of. Like Tattooine, Manaan and other planets of the like. As well as this 'Republic' he kept mentioning time and time again.
"…and after his master was slain by the Jedi, Darth Malakoi assumed Dark Lord of the Sith, thus continuing the seventh great hyperspace war of our age." The old man finished his telling of the rise and fall of Darth Renaki, the Sith that started the Great Hyperspace war on the Jedi Order.
The Chief sighed as they entered a small round room that had seats going down two levels and circled another part of the room, a circular floor with a machine that sat in the middle which, currently had nothing displayed. The old man looked around the room in curiosity,
"I haven't seen a starship even close to this since my days as a Jedi Knight for the Order." He said to John in wonder.
The Chief looked at him with an eyebrow raised,
"A Jedi what?" He asked rather curiously as he took a seat on the first level seat.
Onallen turned to him with a crooked grin as he took a seat one level below him,
"I was a Jedi Knight for the Order. A Jedi Knight, one of the three ranks in the Order. My ventures I've told you of were merely my years as a Padawan." He said as he kept his gaze on the SPARTAN behind him.
"And what a time that was." The Chief muttered having heard enough as it is.
The old man chuckled,
"Yes, although, my years as a knight were much more dangerous." He muttered as he turned his attention to the Briefing Display unit before him.
His expression was hidden from John at the moment he spoke again,
"Even now, my years as a knight seem to be returning…to haunt me." John raised an eyebrow again, his curiosity having been plucked.
"Why, what happened?" He asked wanting to know what could have been so terrible.
The old Jedi shook his head,
"No, not now. That, dear boy, is a story for another time." He said and turned to the SPARTAN with a new crooked grin set on his face, "Now, is the time to tell me about yourself." He explained as he turned his body fully around to hear of John's exploits.
The SPARTAN had been expecting this to come around eventually, though he didn't really like the 'boy' reference.
"Well, I'm SPARTAN-117. The marines often refer to me by my rank, Master Chief. I had another name before, but I can't really recall what it was." He started out and the old man sat with his eyes closed while he listened.
"I and several other SPARTANS were trained to fight the Covenant. A collective of alien races united under one banner." The old man decided to interrupt,
"Tell me, what races took part in this 'Covenant' you speak of?" He asked curiously.
The Chief thought a moment on how to name them and used what little he knew of their native names,
"The Unngoy, we call Grunts, are little creatures that are natural cowards, and used mostly as cannon fodder." He explained the first ones,
"Yes, grunt certainly befits them. A tactic used by almost every species imaginable." The old man suddenly said as he listened.
John wondered briefly if this old Jedi had ever encountered them, but continued with his explanation,
"Jackals, I don't know their native names, are bird-like species with great eye sight, aim and often used as scouts or assassins. One rank higher than grunts on the Covenant Hierarchy." The mention of a hierarchy seemed to tug at Onallen's attention,
"So I take it Grunts are the most looked down upon of the entire cast?" he asked, well stated more than asked.
John nodded in response and the Jedi told him to continue. Once John had finished the whole hierarchy he told of his battles on different planets, the Halo ring, of Earth, and the many battles that followed onto the second halo ring of the seven. The mention of the seven rings put a certain hint of something he couldn't recognize in the old Jedi's eyes. The mention of the parasitic Floor also seemed to get the Jedi's attention further. When he had finished the old man took a moment to completely absorb all that he heard.
"I see…" Was all he said afterwards.
The old Jedi stood up rather tiredly,
"I must meditate on these things, these…new developments." He explained rather briefly and left for the room that was being provided for him.
John stood up and stared after him a moment. The old Jedi just kept getting weirder and weirder. He shook his head of these thoughts and headed towards his own bunk, which was shared with multitudes of marines on board. They were on board a rather small Destroyer class UNSC ship which had twenty Archer missile pods on either side and a MAC gun that punched a hole through seemingly anything. At least, that's what they thought before the Covenant. In reality, it would take two shots to take down even the smallest Covenant Frigate, but then again, the real MAC guns were the ones equipped to the Orbital Defense Stations over Earth.
On the way there, he walked into the mess hall to see a small crowd gathered in the middle of the room. Marines of all ranks shouted and cheered. The chief sighed, it was another fight. Fights mostly happened after arguments or a marine's manhood was being questioned, or in a girl's case, getting harassed by her male comrades. He walked over to the crowd and one marine turned to the sound of someone coming. When he saw it was the Chief, he started to back up and let the Chief go in.
The same thing happened with the other marines that obscured his view. When he could see clearly he was surprised to see Marie deal a right hook to the face of a male marine who fell onto the floor in pain and clutching his face.
"Now what was that you said earlier, huh!" She grabbed the marine and held him up by the collar of his shirt.
"Marie! What do you think you're doing!"
Surprisingly, it wasn't the Chief that shouted that.
The entire crowd dispersed and looked to see Captain Benalli, the one in charge of the carrier they were aboard, the Hammurabi II. He was a tall, burly man at six feet, five and a stone expression. He had dark skin and his blue eyes were fixated on the guilty marine, the black hair on his head stood on end in anger and his large hands were balled into fists. Marie gulped and dropped the marine that had offended her as a few marines exchanged money. Apparently, some had bet the captain would break it up before it was over.
Marie had to come up with something. Benalli was not an easy man to convince.
"Well, sir, you se-" She was interrupted by an ungloved hand that had risen to silence her,
"Master Chief, do you know what transpired here?" The entire crowd turned to the Chief, including Mari who looked at him with a hopeful look. He came up beside her,
"I'm sorry. I didn't." He said to the captain who rubbed the top of his nose with a sigh.
Chief removed his helmet and gave Marie an apologetic look and rested his helmet under his left arm.
"You need not worry, Captain."
Everyone turned to the door to see the Jedi Onallen who stood in the doorway.
"Marie, did not attack him for no reason." He said as he walked inside.
The captain sighed with relief, but then again, it could have been exasperation,
"Then explain what happened." He muttered with growing impatience.
The old man looked at the marine with the bloody nose and back at the Captain,
"The marine had made a rather insulting comment and attempted to intrude upon her personal space." He turned to Marie, "He apparently thought that being a rank higher than her, gave him the right to attempt a forced intercourse."
The marine shouted in objection,
"That's bullshit! I wo-"
"SILENCE!" The injured marine was interrupted by the captain and the Chief who had shouted the word in unison.
"I recognize you now, Major Paran. I should have you court-martialed for this, but as it is, we need all our troops. I'm sure a few hours in the brig will help you realize your fault though." The captain gained a smirk,
"As well as that broken nose of yours." He said that with some humor.
The major, whom would surely be demoted, was taken straight to the brig and given only minor care for his nose. The captain dismissed everyone else and left for the bridge.
Marie sighed with relief and turned to the Jedi,
"Thank you. You saved me from a load of trouble." She said in gratitude to him.
The Jedi shook his head, "Do not thank me." He said and went towards the exit to return to meditation.
The chief turned to Marie, "So that idiot tried to use his rank to seduce you?" He asked rather disgusted…and angrily. She nodded with an annoyed sigh, "That's right. The bastard got a broken nose for his troubles as well as major humiliation among the guys." She said and turned to her companion.
"How long had Onallen been there?" He asked curiously.
That question seemed to surprise her and she placed a hand on her chin in though, "Now that I think of it…he wasn't there when it first started…but how did he know why I hit him?" She asked and turned to John again rather confused.
He shook his head, "No idea. That guy just gets weirder and weirder every time I see him." He muttered that last sentence to himself. Marie sighed,
"Well, however weird he is I owe him a lot." She said and headed off towards her bunk.
John stared after her a moment before he went towards his own bunk room. He later stepped into his room and closed the door behind him. He took his damaged helmet and set it down on a table across from his bed. He'd have to get that fixed sometime, but he needed rest.
The mission to High Charity was tiresome enough, but the fight with Onallen was exhausting. He quickly removed his MLOJNIR VI battle armor and laid it out on the same table before he climbed into bed to sleep.
0:23; October 9th, 2554 (Military Calendar)
Unknown Location, Unknown Space
In the void of unknown space, floated a massive object, once white armor was now blackened and great holes stretched across the surface of the thing. Engines, once always lively with great heat flickered off and on as the ship moved slowly, shaped like an arrowhead. This ruined Star Destroyer, as it was so aptly named, floated with seemingly no set course, its main bridge completely blown off.
Within the ruined Corellion Cruiser, its crew lay dead over the halls, hangars and many rooms, blood stained the many walls and corpses lay piled on top of one another as the sense of decay overtook them.
"At last…"
A voice echoed through the empty vessel, a deep voice, full of pain. Misery. And hatred.
"I have found him…"
As the echoes stretched out and fell upon the deaf ears of the dead.
"He has eluded me for long enough…"
The voice came from a seemingly empty barracks. A figure, crouched and cloaked in black stayed in deep meditation. It lifted its head as it opened its eyes, its face clouded in darkness. The only thing visible were his eyes. Empty. Devoid of life. And full of nothing, but hate and rage. Years of suppressed and unending hate radiated endlessly.
"…and he. Will. Die."
6:07, October 9th, 2554 (Military Calendar)
Aboard Hammurabi II, en route to Newly Rebuilt Reach
As the small destroyer exited hyperspace, John woke from a rather disturbing nightmare. He shot upright with a startled yell. Once he realize it was merely a dream, he tried to calm down, heavy breathes escaped his mouth and his eyes refocused. He clutched his face with his right hand and finally after what seemed an age, he evened out his breathing.
He then realized his comm. Link in his helmet had been flickering on and off while he slept. He climbed out of bed and trudged over to the table and picked up his helmet. He set it on his head and tapped his communications,
"What is it?" He mumbled in his tired yet startled state.
"Chief, we've just come out of hyperspace and will arrive on Reach soon." The Captain's voice came onto the comm. Links.
"Yes sir." He was now fully awake again. He quickly got suited up again and stalked quietly through the halls towards the bridge.
Once there, he stepped onto a raised platform and stood before the door that had the bridge behind it. When he stepped through, he entered a three story tall room with multiple raised platforms, all abuzz with terminals, monitors and controls. The room stretched forward half the size of a football field.
On the far end were many smaller monitors stacked together. Captain Benalli stood facing towards the many small monitors as faces came on, said a multitude of words and then flickered off, only to be replaced seconds later. The entire bridge command crew was at work preparing to dock with the orbital station over the planet. As he approached, Benalli turned to face the Chief, a stone grim look as always,
"Chief, as we both know, the Brass is going to be very upset to hear Cortana could not be found. However, I'm not sure if telling them about the Jedi is wise. Especially, since ONI is sure to get all a jitter when they hear about an old man that has the strength and agility of the deadliest predators known to man." He said with a firm tone, hands clasped behind his back.
John tilted his head to the side, "But sir, isn't that disobeying orders? We were t-"
"We were told to report anything related to finding her. This Jedi is not on that list." He interrupted the chief rather abruptly.
John nodded. It wasn't like he wanted ONI to get is hands on Onallen, but he just wanted to be sure the Captain felt the same.
"You are dismissed. Be sure to inform Onallen of our current situation. ONI must not find out about him. I know all too well what they would do." He muttered rather seriously.
With a firm solute, John about faced and treaded the metallic flooring towards the exit. The captain returned his attention ot the constant flickering of the monitors as the chief stepped through the door. John glanced out one of the winds to see the planet Reach again. The same planet he had been on before its destruction. Being back here brought back memories. Ones he enjoyed and others that haunted him to this day.
Flashes. Memories and images of friends, enemies, and things that went all wrong flooded into his mind. His abduction, being trained as a SPARTAN, the new suits, the implants and rejects, the MLOJNIR V suits and the events that followed. He shook his head of these things and continued on towards the quarters that had been provided for the Jedi. He hit the activation button for the door. Once it slid open, he found the lights were out. Onallen sat on the floor in deep meditation. When the SPARTAN stepped into the room, he opened his eyes and stood up as the lights flickered back on.
"Something I can help you with?" He asked John politely.
"We're about to dock with the Orbital Station over Reach. The Scientifical and Military Hub. An-"
"And you need me to stay hidden?" He caught what John was going to say before he could even finish his sentence. John was rather surprised.
"How did you know I was going to say there?" He asked with a startled look hidden under his visor.
"The Force, allows me to see and hear much, John." John raised an eyebrow at that.
How did this guy know his real name? Not many did or called him by it.
"Do not worry about me. I will not allow this 'ONI' to capture me." The young SPARTAN was snapped again out of his thoughts by this, his attention once more on the old Jedi.
He was about to say something else, but a soft ring went over the ship's communicators.
"Docking with the Norgan in progress, repeat, docking with the Norgan in process."
John turned around and walked out the door, "I'll see you planet side." He said as he trudged on.
As the SPARTAN turned a corner, he glanced back at the Jedi's room to see it empty already. He shook his head and continued on…
End Chapter
A/N: Please, leave reviews! I need them to go on!
7