Hello again, everyone, and welcome back to my MechWarrior/BattleTech - Halo crossover redux.
Thank you all for your wonderful feedback and support. I deeply appreciate it.
My apologies for not posting this chapter sooner. I had a hard time trying to figure out how to progress the story line in a meaningful manner. Thanks to drakensis' help though, I was able to work out where to go next. Two thumbs up to him for his wonderful help.
In addition, the other beta-reader for this story, Ulquiorra9000, will be doing edits for each chapter that has already been posted. I will be posting in this header which chapters have been revised with his input.
As always, leave a review, and enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own the MechWarrior/BattleTech or Halo franchises. They are the respective properties and trademarks of Microsoft Studios, 343 Industries, Bungie, FASA Corporation, FASA Interactive, Catalyst Game Labs, WizKids, Piranha Games Inc., etc. Any material original to the franchises belongs to their respective developers and publishers. Any material not original to the franchises is of my own invention. I do not own any music listed in each chapter. Any music listed belongs to it's original composers and/or artists.
MechWarrior 4: Vengeance OST - Stutter Shark
Soell III
SLDF HQ
October 6th, 2525 (2795)
The room was silent as Nicholas Kerensky waited for the others to show up, his fingers idly drumming on the table. While he was quite calm and collected externally, internally his mind was abuzz with new worries, now that he knew what he knew. Still, he wouldn't allow anyone to know something was wrong by physically showing his concern.
Still, this is something that is so big that I can't keep it to just myself, he knew deep down. When he had found out what he now knew, he had immediately asked to have a clandestine meeting with his father, his younger brother, as well as the other high ranking officers in the SLDF. Once they get here, the meeting begins.
His train of thought would've continued were it not for the people in question arriving. The doors slip open to allow General Kerensky, Andrey, and Aaron DeChavelier inside. Once they were inside, Nicholas pressed a button underneath the table, with the door locking, while anti-surveillance devices activated, jamming any bugs that were missed by the bug sweepers. Once the room was fully sealed against all intrusion attempts, Aleksandr asked, "Nicholas, we received your message. It didn't sound like good news."
"It's not," Nichoas agreed, his mouth creased into a frown and his expression foreboding. "I have reason to believe, sir, that we are in some deep trouble."
"With who?" Andrey asked. "The UNSC? We've been on good terms with them, despite ONI's machinations and the Innies' attempts to break us apart."
"My thoughts exactly," Aaron added.
"It's not them that I'm worried about," Nicholas countered. "In fact, what I'm about to share with you is something that will likely shake up everything that we've known about the Univ – I mean Multiverse – for a long time." Pressing a button on the table's control panel, he activated the holoprojector.
The holoprojector activated to show a map of UNSC and SLiE controlled space, with UNSC space highlighted in green and SLiE space highlighted in white. A single star system was highlighted on the map, with the marker identifying it as the Epsilon Indi system. "Around a week ago, SLIC Agents within the UNSC and ONI found out that Epsilon Indi had gone completely dark."
With that, he brought up an image of the sole habitable planet within the Epsilon Indi star system. The color hologram depicted a small garden world with a single supercontinent and ocean, with the supercontinent being a rich green-brown color. "This," Nicholas explained, "is the UNSC colony known as Harvest. Founded in 2468, the colony was one of the UNSC's bread basket worlds, with their chief export being food."
"You used the word 'was'," Aaron noted. "I take it something changed?"
"Yes. When my agents got word of Harvest having a COM blackout, I immediately dispatched a Bug-Eye to investigate and report back when they could. This is what they found." With that, Nicholas pulled up another image.
It was Harvest, but what had happened to it was nothing like Kerensky had seen, aside from photographs and dioramas that depicted the Age of War. It was Harvest, but now the planet had been completely changed. Where once there were green continents and blue oceans, there was now nothing but charred ground and molten lava. The water on the planet had been heavily boiled away, revealing areas of the planet's ocean floor that hadn't been seen until now. The atmosphere was now choked with ash and fallout, rendering the planet an inhospitable wasteland.
The sight affected everyone in the room, with Aaron whispering something under his breath. Andrey's face was a mask of shock and horror, with even Aleksandr looking at the image with slightly widened eyes. "Mother of...!" Andrey gasped, his voice a whisper. "What the hell happened to Harvest?!"
"I'm wondering the same thing," Aaron added, his own voice laced with shock. "I've never seen this before, aside from the Battle of Lockdale. How did this happen?"
"We don't know," Nicholas replied, "but we did find out the perpetrators." Pulling up a map of the star system, he said, "The Bug-Eye, known as the Mata Hari, discovered a contact that was pulling away from the planet. When they investigated they found this." A moment later, he pulled up an image that the Mata Hari had captured.
It was a ship, but it wasn't a ship that Aleksandr, or anyone for that matter, had ever seen before in their lives. Unlike SLDF WarShips, which were cylindrical in nature, or the boxy and angular UNSC ships, this ship was quite beautifully shaped. It's hull, which was dark purple in color, was smoothly shaped into bulbous sections, with the front looking like a fishhook that had been bent inwards completely. A scan indicated that the ship was roughly 1.7km meters in length, much longer than the Mata Hari.
The moment Aleksandr saw it, he knew that the ship wasn't human in origin. Looks like this is a first contact gone sour, he noted. "That's not a human ship at all," he said out loud. "Were they the ones responsible for this… this travesty?"
"We believe so," Nicholas confirmed. "The Mata Hari had its Void Signature System activated, and they narrowly avoided detection. They had to turn those systems off due to a manufacturing defect that damaged the system, which held to them taking fire. They escaped with no casualties, but just before they left, however, this message was sent to them just thirty seconds before they jumped."
With that, Nicholas played an audio recording. There was silence for a moment, then an accented, but distinctly alien, voice spoke up. "Your destruction is the will of the gods, and we are their instrument." The voice, even as it went silent, reminded Alek of things that a religious zealot would say when starting a jihad, a holy war.
This is not good, he noted as he mulled over what he had heard. From what he could tell, an alien race had decided to declare war on Humanity for the simple reason that their gods had demanded them to do so. Looking at Nicholas, he said, "Thank you for sharing this with us. It appears as though the SLDF and UNSC will be waging another war to protect Humanity."
"I agree," Andrey concurred. "If there's one thing I know about religious zealots from history, it's that when they declare this kind of war, they will not stop until they are either destroyed, or they win. In this case, their victory will likely mean our enslavement or our extinction, neither of which are preferable."
"We'll need to find out where their homeworld is and strike hard and fast," Aaron decided. "If we can find their homeworld, we can force them to surrender by threatening a nuclear bombardment of the planet. If they don't capitulate, then we'll follow through with our threat."
"A good idea," Aleksandr agreed, "but I would much rather capture their world intact than glass it through nuclear annihilation." Looking at Nicholas, he asked, "What do you propose we do?"
"We alert the entire SLDF to the threat," Nicholas explained. "We can't let a threat like this be ignored, and we're facing a faction that is significantly more advanced than our own. In addition, we don't have the numbers to wage a war like this. We'll need the UNSC's help if we're going to survive."
"I agree," Andrey rejoined. "If we're going to wage war against the Covenant, the UNSC is definitely going to help out. Harvest was a UNSC colony, after all, and I'll bet that they'll have gotten wind about this by now. If we tell them that we received the same declaration, they'll want to help us out as well."
"Those are good ideas," Aaron agreed, "but we also have to worry about them finding us. We'll need to find some way to keep the Covenant from not only discovering Soell III and Soell IV, but to also keep them from discovering Earth as well. How do you two propose we do that?"
"We alert HIGHCOM and FLEETCOM," Nicholas decided. "I've met one of their Admirals, a certain Vice Admiral Preston J. Cole, during a gala on Reach. I can speak with him and propose the creation of a military protocol that will require UNSC and SLDF WarShips to take the measures necessary to prevent the Covenant from finding more UNSC worlds and our own colonies as well. In addition, I will speak with Vice Admiral Stanforth and alert him to the threat."
"While he's doing that," Andrey added, "I'll inform the SLDF of what is going on. We're also going to have to share the schematics for the T-30 K-F Drive with the UNSC in order to get our ships refitted. Around eighty of the 402 WarShips that came with us have been refitted, but we'll need to accelerate the process. Our Newgrange YardShips are good, especially with the upgrades, but 402 WarShips is too tall an order for them in wartime."
As the two discussed with Aaron on what to do, Alek continued to listen, while weighing the options he had in his head. Their proposals are logically sound, and they make sense, given that the UNSC/UEG is an ally of the Star League. With that in mind, he knew that those two had made the right choice: the only way they would survive was with the UNSC's help.
With that, he began to gently rap a knuckle on the table, the tapping sound catching their attention. "I've reached a decision," he informed the others. "While it is risky, I agree in that we cannot allow the UNSC to fight this war alone, nor can we fight it alone. If we are going to survive, the UNSC and SLDF will have to work together to prevent our species from being driven to extinction. We have come too far to only have to run once again."
Looking at Aaron, he said, "Aaron, work with Andrey and get the SLDF mobilized for war. Given that the UNSC has been helping us with getting our WarShips, BattleMechs, Combat Vehicles and infantry refitted and ready to go, that shouldn't be too hard. Nicholas, I need you to inform the population of what has happened, but do so in a manner that won't incite a panic." As the others began to leave, Alek said, "Andrey, could you stay a little longer?"
"Sure," Andrey agreed, though his expression was that of confusion. Remaining seated, he watched as Nicholas disengaged the security system, allowing himself and Aaron to leave the room. Once they were out of the room, Alek closed the door again. "Is there something wrong?"
"No," Alek reassured him. "I wanted to inform you of a decision that I've made." Clearing his throat, he said, "I have formally decided on a successor to my position, and that successor is you."
The moment Andrey heard this, he immediately went silent. His expression went from that of confusion to that of shock in an instant. "I… I am to be the Commanding General of the Star League-in-Exile?" he asked, flabbergasted. "But… why?"
Alek smiled. He knew that Andrey would've been caught off guard by the announcement, which was why he had prepared himself for having to explain why. "Because of one of the simple facts of life," he explained. "I'm becoming older, Andrey. I will not be around in this world forever, and while the advances in medical technology have extended my life, I will eventually die. Such is the way of all things: we're born, we grow up, live for a time, and then we die.
"As such, I've been looking for a successor to take my place when the day of my death comes. Both you and Nicholas are good candidates, as well as Aaron DeChavilier. Aaron would be my best choice, but he too is growing old like me. Nicholas has the intelligence, but I don't know if he has the ability to command or the ability to inspire others to follow him. In addition, while he has repented of his actions in the Prinz Mugen mutiny, many of the other Captains and Generals in the fleet are not certain if he's right for the position."
"And so you chose me," Andrey guessed.
"Correct. You, Andrey, out of all of us, are likely the best leader for the SLDF and Star League. You overcame your naivety during the Prinz Mugen mutiny, and you've become a strong and capable man ever since. You've shown that you have the ability to command others, and the traits that inspire loyalty in men. You've also actively participated in military actions, something that has the other leaders in the SLDF reassured. You're the best candidate for the job."
"But…" Andrey protested. "But I'm not ready. Aaron would be better since he has experience."
"He does, but like I said, he is growing older like me. We need someone who is young and capable, someone that can handle the long term job. I won't be dying for quite some time, but before I fully step down, I will train you on how to manage a military force. In addition, one of the Admirals that came with us will teach you how to command a naval fleet. In addition, you will be required to study the Art of War, and to memorize and understand it in the fullest. I will not leave you hanging, my son."
At those words, Andrey appeared uncertain and confused. Eventually, he took a breath, let it out, and said, "If no one else wants the job, and if you and the others believe then I am the right person for the job… then I accept. But remember this: I'm only doing this for the innocent men and women that live in the SLiE, not for myself or for anyone else. The people are my top priority."
Alek smiled. "That is exactly what I wanted to hear, Andrey. Always keep the protection and safety of the people as your top priority. As I said, though, I will not be stepping down immediately. I will teach you the necessary duties, and you will study many of the books that I will be sending to you so that you can read them. You may leave now." With that, Andrey got up and walked out of the room once the security systems were disengaged.
As Andrey walked out of the room, Alek watched as his son walked away, a thoughtful expression on his face. He is the right man for the job, he said to himself as his son walked out of sight. He'd known for a long time that one of his sons would have to replace him, though he had checked other candidates as well. All of them, including his older son Nicholas, had fallen short of his requirements in one way or another, all but Andrey. With that, he got up, dead set on preparing his son for the burdens of leadership.
. . .
Around a day later, Nicholas Kerensky was on a Cobra that was flying towards a series of buildings located at the mountain range they were approaching. Looking to the left and right, he could see four SLDF Servicemen that were clad in fully body armor and equipped with the new Mauser II rifles. He could also see the well lit interior of the Cobra, with the VTOL shuddering as it encountered turbulence.
He checked himself and what he had to make sure he was good to go as well. Underneath the jacket, he wore a layer of fabric body armor that was designed to stop projectiles, though it was useless against lasers. Inside of a small shielded pocket in his jacket was one of the new M-24 Hold-Out Laser Pistols. While it wasn't particularly powerful, it did it's job of self-defense while being concealable well.
Still, Nicholas wasn't worried about anyone attacking him; what he was worried about was his mission. It is vital that I speak with Vice Admiral Stanforth, he reminded himself. This could be the difference between life and death, between safety or ruin.
The VTOL shuddered again, with the vehicle beginning to slow down, indicating to Nicholas that he was nearing his destination. The vehicle banked slightly as it performed at 180 degree turn, before a muted thump echoed in the cargo hold. "We've arrived, sir," the pilot reported to him via intercom. "Looks like the good Admiral's been expecting you."
"Good," Nicholas remarked. "It's of utmost importance that I speak with him." Getting up from his seat, he motioned to the four soldiers to fall into formation, with the soldiers quickly complying. A moment later, the ramp lowered, allowing him to walk out onto the landing pad.
The landing pad was one of a few that were installed at the facility they had arrived at. Reach High Command was the local HQ for the UNSC's HIGHCOM, the highest command level for the UNSC. A series of above ground and underground installations, the place was well fortified, as was befitting for an HQ. As such, the pilot of the Cobra had to go through numerous security verification procedures to avoid having the Cobra being shot out of the sky.
Putting that to the side, Nicholas looked to see six ONI Security personnel advancing towards him, along with the man that he was looking for. "Vice Admiral Nicholas Kerensky," Stanforth greeted him. "It's been some time."
"That it has," Nicholas agreed. While the two were quite cordial to each other, both of them knew that each of them had tried infiltrating the other's intelligence apparatus in order to get at each other's secrets. The SLIC, for instance, had to abort dozens of potential missions due to how paranoid ONI was. In fact, the only reason for their success was how persistent they were in looking for secrets. Taking his mind off of that topic, he asked, "Mind if we speak in private?"
"Of course," Stanforth replied. "I was informed that you had highly sensitive information to share. Follow me." With that, Nicholas and his guards began to follow Stanforth, with the ONI Security personnel surrounding the small group and advancing inside with them.
Moving through an armored door leading to the landing pad they were at, the group of people began moving through hallways before reaching a few elevators. Moving inside, Stanforth pressed the icon for the bottomost floor, which was where all of the high level security meetings took place. A moment later, the elevator descended, with the elevator car stopping only after they reached the bottom floor.
Stepping out of the elevator, they proceeded through a few hallways before they finally came to a single room that had a plaque that read 'Meeting Room 12-G.' Moving inside, Nicholas found himself in a meeting room with several chairs that surrounded a table with a holographic projector set in the middle. The walls and ceiling were a dark gray color, while the floor was tiled black marble. Nearby, several guards were stationed to ensure that, if anything went wrong, anyone having a meeting would be adequately protected.
It was then that Nicholas noted that Stanforth wasn't the only man present in the room. He could see another man in the room, with this man having black hair and dark brown eyes. That, Nicholas realized, was Vice Admiral Preston J. Cole, a legendary figure within the UNSC Navy. Stanforth must be worried to bring him along, Nicholas noted.
As soon as the doors were closed, a brief hum echoed in the room, before the doors securely locked themselves. As soon as the hum faded, Stanforth said, "Thank you for coming, Nicholas Kerensky. I decided to take the liberty of inviting Vice Admiral Preston Cole to this meeting." Sitting down, he said, "So, what is it that you need to share with us?"
"Something that could very well decide Humanity's fate," Nicholas replied. "Around a day ago, I received word from one of my men that they discovered Harvest's fate. You remember when the COM blackout occurred?"
Stanforth nodded. "Yes. It's been several months since we received an active communication from Harvest. We also received word that there was a ship of unidentified make and origin at the planet, though this has been unconfirmed as of now. I take it you have confirmation?"
"Yes," Nicholas confirmed. Handing Stanforth a data drive, he pulled out a pair of manila folders and handed them to Stanforth and Cole. "Around two days ago, one of our smaller scout ships, the Mata Hari, performed a jump and arrived at Harvest. The data drive contains what they found."
With that, Stanforth plugged in the drive, before pulling up the contents onto the holographic projector. Nicholas watched as both men silently watched the footage that had been taken by the Mata Hari, from the discovery of what had happened to Harvest, to the ship that had nearly destroyed the smaller scout ship.
Once the video footage ended, Stanforth and Cole both looked grim. Taking a breath, Stanforth said, "It seems as though we have a new threat on our hands." Looking at Nicholas, he asked, "You sure that this footage isn't doctored?"
"Yes," Nicholas replied. "The people within my organization have checked this footage over many times, and I trust their judgment. None of it has been doctored. What you are seeing is the real deal."
"Mother of…" Cole trailed off, before getting up and pacing. Looking at the two, he said, "This is serious news. If this 'Covenant', if the information is correct, has declared war on us, then we are in serious trouble.'
"I agree," Stanforth added. "From the looks of it, peace is not a possibility. Having an entire planet destroyed like that is another dead giveaway." Looking at Kerensky, he asked, "Why share this with us?"
"Because this Covenant is a threat to the SLiE as well," Nicholas explained. "They fired on the Mata Hari, even though it looks completely different from your ships. That indicates that whoever fired on them knows of our alliance, and therefore considers us a threat. With that in mind, I have two proposals to make."
"And those would be?"
"First, that we institute a protocol that orders all military and civilian ships to perform a jump to a series of randomized coordinates to shake off pursuers, and to determine that they have no tracking units on them. This will not only slow down the Covenant's advance, it will also protect colonies from being found."
"You read my mind," Cole remarked as he heard Nicholas' words. "I know of a few things we can add to that, but at a later time. What's the second proposal?"
"That the UNSC opens up it's shipyards to the SLiE so that we can refit the ships in our fleet. We have 402 WarShips in our fleet, eighty of which are fully refitted with new technologies. Having your shipyards refit our ships will greatly speed up the refit process, as will the construction of more Newgrange-class YardShips. This all ties into a plan that I have."
"And that would be?" Stanforth asked.
"An operation that will be aimed at finding valuable Covenant worlds, colonies, and facilities. That will be accomplished by sending out scouting fleets composed of stealth vessels that will move in and perform scans of each potential system. Once we find a Covenant system, we will send a team to look for any data archives on the planet so that we can find more Covenant planets to scout out. Once that is done, we can begin planning active missions with the goal of sabotaging the Covenant war machine without alerting the Covenant to the fact that we know the locations of their worlds."
Both Cole and Stanforth looked at each other. It was clear that Nicholas' proposals had merit and weight to them. The first proposal would prevent the new threat that was the Covenant from finding any UNSC colonies, while also leading them on to dead ends. The other proposal would allow the UNSC and SLDF to upgrade their ships and take on the Covenant attackers. Looking at Nicholas, Stanforth said, "Your proposals have merit. I think we can work out a strategy for dealing with the Covenant. We will have to do it once everyone arrives at Reach, which will be a week or so. Once they've arrived, however, we can get to the fine details."
"Good," Nicholas replied, a smile on his face. Either way, he knew one thing: the Covenant, the aliens that had assaulted Harvest and attempted to destroy the Mata Hari, were about to have a really bad day.
(Author's Q&A)
edboy4926: Thank you. It has begun indeed.
Qrs-jg: Very much so.
SulliMike23: Yep. It won't be long before the Covenant learns what happens when the SLDF gets angry.
RoyalTwinFangs: Yep. No spoilers on the last part. Just wait and see.
Danny79: Yep. Someone grab their brown pants please. Plus you are correct. The UNSC and SLDF will be pushed to the limit.
Sechswar: Yes. The Succession Wars and Amaris Coup look like a high school brawl compared to the Human-Covenant War.
StarBorn Michael: Indeed.
Cakeboss419: Yes. Considerably.
Krieger Techpriest: Yes. Thus was the Great War ignited.
Blanchimont: Yes. I agree on that assessment.
Starfigter: Me too. I'm curious as to what will happen next.
Mkfhda: I won't. I've got two beta-readers that will keep me from doing that.
Chronus1326: Thank you. It's about time the storyline progressed.
Drago - X6627: I understand your concerns. I might do a series of short stories that explains how intense things became. I did not intend to have ONI come across as incompetent. Those short stories will explain that ONI, in fact, gave the SLIC a really hard time.
WCL Peter: I wouldn't say the Flood are not going to be present. I will say, however, that things will evolve much different from last time.
OMAC001: Yep. They will.
Mecha Guardian-B312: A man of culture I see. Good for you. I've watched Tex Talks BattleTech, and I find it to be very amusing. Kudos to you, man!