Hello again, everyone, and welcome back to my MechWarrior/BattleTech - Halo crossover redux.
Thank you all for your wonderful feedback and support on the previous chapter. I'm very happy that all of you enjoyed it considerably.
Also, Chapter 9 of this crossover has been edited and revised. If you want to take a look at the newly revised chapter, please do so. The plot should flow better in that chapter now.
As always, leave a review, and enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own the MechWarrior/BattleTech or Mass Effect 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 original 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.
BattleTech OST - Grim Sybil
Chi Ceti IV
Damascus Materials Testing Facility
November 27th, 2525
If the planet looked like a mud ball from orbit, the weather was even worse. The trio of pelicans, en route to the facility, found themselves suddenly swallowed in a massive thunderstorm. Onboard his Pelican, John-117 could feel the entire vehicle shuddering as they flew towards the facility. A bolt of lightning crossed his vision, filling the cockpit of the Pelican with a white flash of light before fading away. Nearby, Dr. Halsey waited patiently for the Pelican to arrive.
As they flew along, a signal came in over the COM channel. "Damascus Materials Testing Facility to incoming Pelicans. Identify yourselves."
Halsey quickly gave a reply. "This is Dr. Catherine Halsey. Damascus clearance 197371-Alpha."
A reply came quickly. "Doctor, you are cleared for landing. Pad four. Welcome."
They then broke through the thunderstorm, allowing them to see where they were at. The large facility soon came into view, nestled into a nearby gorge. The gunmetal gray color of the facility allowed it to blend in slightly with the rock walls. Four landing pads were present, while a series of large caliber AA guns guarded the facility from any aerial attackers. The three Pelicans lowered themselves onto Pad Four, the Cobra joining them seconds later. Once they landed, their ramps deployed, and John disembarked at once as raindrops started falling. A gale was also blowing through the gorge, the wind howling as it moved past the facility.
"Damn," Sam-034 remarked as he walked out of the second of the three Pelicans. "It's cold, wet and windy out here. I guess that's why no one's found the facility."
"That, and it's inside of a rocky gorge," Linda dryly observed. "Plus, if they did find the facility, they'd have to get past these AA weapons. A few of them look like Pulse Lasers."
John agreed with that assessment. From what he'd been able to learn, the DMTF was one of the first ONI facilities to be upgraded with SLDF weaponry, specifically LB-X Autocannons and Pulse Lasers. Anyone trying to attack the facility would be in for an incredibly difficult time. On his way to the facility's entrance, he spotted a familiar face emerging from the Cobra. "Richard Haynes?" he asked. "I didn't know you were aboard the ship."
"Good to see you John," Haynes replied, a smile on his face. "I had a feeling we'd be seeing each other more often, kid. You still got that bullet wound from Eridanus Secundus?"
John smiled. Ever since he'd gotten injured there, he'd always been able to know when the weather would change for the worst. In fact, the area where he'd been injured was aching slightly right now. Deciding to remain professional, he said, "I'm afraid I have no recollection of my time there."
Richard returned John's smile. "Damn straight! Still, I know what it's like to get shot there kid. At the very least, you've got your own built-in barometer, so you'll know when the weather changes." As they walked towards the entrance, he asked, "Any idea why we're going to be seeing a 'Project MJÖLNIR?'"
"No idea, sir. Fred-104 believed that it was some kind of weapon, given that Mjölnir was the name of the war hammer used by Thor, the Norse god of thunder."
Richard shrugged. "My initial thoughts as well, though you also have to remember, Mjölnir could not be shattered by any means, magical or otherwise. My guess is that it could be some kind of new armor system, though I could be farting out my ass for all I know. We'll find out once we're inside."
"Agreed."
"Good to see you kid," Ferdinand remarked. With that, they headed inside with Dr. Halsey taking the lead, glad to be out of the rain. After a short cargo elevator ride down, they arrived in a massive room deep in the facility.
The huge room had walls, flooring and ceiling plating made of thick titanium. Powerful lights snapped on, filling the room with light. This light revealed computer consoles and monitors that were mounted at workstations, as well as reinforced polycrete pillars that were clad in the same alloy as the room. Five chambers were present up ahead, as well as a central elevator that was built into the circular center of the room.
As soon as the team had entered, Richard asked, "So, what's Project MJÖLNIR if I might ask, Doc?"
Halsey smiled, then motioned towards the central elevator doors. "This, is Project MJÖLNIR," she announced. The floor doors in the circular portion of the room opened, while motors whined as they lifted up a platform.
It was what was on the platforms that had everyone's attention. John and Richard watched as the elevator lifted up five suits of what appeared to be advanced combat armor. The armor suits were tall, and were composed of a black bodysuit that had thick green armor plates installed onto them. A series of numerals were present on the upper-left corner of the chest armor, ranging from 034 to 117.
As soon as Richard saw them, he initially thought that they were a form of advanced combat armor. Looking for a bit longer, he spotted the tell-tale bulges that indicated the presence of myomers, and he could immediately see that the armor plating installed wasn't your standard titanium alloy. It looks kinda like Nighhawk XLX Power Armor, he noted.
John, who was the most curious out of all of them, asked, "What's that armor?"
"That," Halsey explained. "Is the Mark IV MJÖLNIR Powered Assault Armor." Pulling up a hologram, she continued to speak. "The armored shell is a multilayer alloy of remarkable strength. Further adding to it's protective qualities is the fact that it is an improved version of the armor used on the Nighthawk Powered Combat Exoskeleton."
Richard nodded. "That means that it's ablative. If plasma weapons hit that, they'll just ablate the armor, rather than penetrate and cause damage."
"Precisely," Halsey agreed. "An onboard computer connects to your neural interface to continually track tactical information. The inner structure is composed of a new reactive metal liquid crystal that is amorphous, yet fractally amplifies and scales force. To assist in this regard is a network of myomers that can also act independently should the reactive metal liquid layer be compromised." Fred cleared his throat. "Yes?"
"Ma'am," Fred began. "You're saying that this exoskeleton enhances both the wearer's strength and speed, with the myomers assisting in that regard."
Halsey smiled. "Yes, 104. When both systems are combined, it enhances both the wearer's strength and speed by a multiple of seven."
"Damn!" Richard whistled. "If you went up against a guy in regular Power Armor while wearing this MJÖLNIR armor, you'd come out on top every time! That being said, I can imagine that there are drawbacks to this armor. Correct?"
"Very much so," Halsey agreed. "This system is so reactive that our previous tests with unaugmented volunteers ended in failure. The amplified movements broke their bones, tore their muscles. Their own agony induced spasms killed them."
"Shit…" Olson whispered, his first words upon arriving at the facility with Richard and Epsilon Team.
"However, Blue Team, you are not normal humans. Your enhanced musculature and skeletons should be enough to allow you to harness the armor's power." Taking a breath, she said, "Now, I'll need a volunt -"
"I'll do it," John interrupted.
"Are you sure kid?" Ferdinand asked. "You heard what she said. That armor could kill you, though to be fair you are Spartans, not normal people."
"Yes," John replied. "As team leader, I have to make the call."
Ferdinand was about to reply, thought better of it. "OK. If that's your decision, then I won't stop you."
"I thought you might volunteer," Halsey added, a smile on her face…
Halsey and the others stood near a testing room's entrance while John, inside a MJOLNIR armor suit, lay on a near-vertical bed. "Move very slowly," Halsey instructed him. "Deliberately. The armor cannot be powered down. The response cannot be scaled back."
John, keeping that in mind, decided to start out small. Instead of his entire body, he slowly and gently moved his left arm up and brought his forearm in. Ouch, he thought as a zing of pain ran through his left wrist. Sprained wrist, but that's pretty small time compared to snapped bones. Feeling something moving around, he said, "It's… shifting."
"Each suit has a gel filled layer to regulate temperature and fit," Halsey explained. "John, ready for your first step?"
John was silent for a moment before he finally said, "Yes, ma'am."
Everyone watched anxiously for John's reaction. "Come on, man," Sam encouraged his teammate. "You've got this."
"We're here if you need help," Richard added. "We believe in you."
Encouraged John moved his right leg forwards, taking a step. A metal clunk could be heard as the boots soles touched the ground. To his relief, John found that his body was more than capable of taking the strain, as he could feel the armor reacting without his bones snapping. Taking another step forwards, he stood up without any assistance. "It's… lighter than I expected." He curled his fingers experimentally.
"Easy now," Halsey cautioned him. Reaching over to one of the scientists in the room, she took the helmet and handed it to John. The helmet had a faint resemblance to the helmet used on the Nighthawk XLX Power Armor, only it was slightly rounder, as the edges were not as sharp. The faceplate was a bright gold-orange color, and had a contoured section that helped provide impact strength. A brim, like that of a construction helmet, was present, though it was retracted slightly in the middle.
Halsey stepped forth and lifted the helmet, then John took the hint and bowed his head as Halsey secured it in place. He could hear automatic seals closing, while a HUD came up in his field of vision. "Well?" Halsey asked. "How does it feel."
There was only one sentence that John used to describe the feeling of wearing the armor. "Like I was made to wear it, ma'am." With that, a round of applause came from the others…
Soon, the others had fully suited up, while Richard and the others watched from the sidelines. While Blue Team, outside of the armor, was more than a match for a regular soldier, inside of the armor, they could take on just about anything. They look like young gods, Richard noted. Lords of war, striding out in their machines of destruction.
The phrase was quite apt, even as he watched the Spartans try out their new armor. Fred, testing out his armor's capabilities, performed a jump that a regular Power Armor user could only have done with jump jets. Reaching a height of nearly twelve meters with that single jump, he came down hard, landing on one of his knees, as well as a foot and fist. The ground shook with the impact, and Richard had no illusions that, if Fred were attacked, he could demolish the attacker easily.
Nearby, John was testing out his speed, with the Spartan running faster and faster on a treadmill. "Fuck me!" Olson whistled. "Look at the speed's John's reaching, Richard!"
Richard looked. Near the treadmill that John was using was a speedometer that measured in kilometers/hour. To his amazement, Richard found that John's sustainable speed was a whopping 54 kilometers/hour. "Whoa, shit!" he whistled. "John's running as fast as the top speed of an Atlas BattleMech!"
"Now that's not fair," Ferdinand groused, though there was no malice in his voice. "I used to be the fastest guy around here."
Nancy smirked. "Get in line, Ferdinand."
"Shit," Olson remarked as he watched Sam, who was punching a reinforced polycrete block. To his amazement, Sam was hitting with enough force that he was causing the column to crack apart. In fact, pieces of the column were literally flying off. Olson examined his arms critically. "Damn… I need to work out more." As soon as he said that, Halsey let out a peal of bell-like laughter, her sharp ears having caught his words.
Before long, Blue Team and Epsilon Team had gathered together, the latter now in their Nighthawk XLX Power Armor. John cleared his throat, then spoke. "Spartans, this is what we trained our entire lives to do. If we lose here, we lose everything. Let's send our own message."
"Sir, yes sir!" the others shouted in reply.
"Hell yeah!" Richard agreed with an emphatic nod. "Time to show the Covenant that we will not go gently into that good night! We will rage, rage against the dying of the light!" The others nodded in agreement.
Then the room's COM crackled to life. "Captain Orwell to Doctor Halsey. Come in, Halsey."
"I read you loud and clear," Halsey replied.
"The Covenant ship is on the move. From what we can tell, they've made mission critical repairs to their ship and are closing in. They'll be on us in a good ten minutes. We're at full combat readiness, however, so once they get close enough, we'll hit 'em with our Naval PPCs and Naval Lasers again. If you're going to get to boarding their ship, now's the perfect time."
"Understood," Halsey noted. "Captain Wallace?"
"We'll provide assistance wherever possible," Wallace informed her. "Most of our weapons, though, are useless while that energy shield is up. We'll be relying on Captain Orwell on this one. I'm sorry that we can't provide any assistance."
"That's all right," Halsey decided. "I'm certain that Orwell and the Vishnu will be sufficient. Do what you can, but don't put yourself at risk. If you take too much damage, get out of here and get to a shipyard."
"Understood," Wallace replied. "Captain Wallace out."
Closing the COM-link, Halsey turned to Blue Team and Epsilon Team. "Godspeed, John," she said to them.
"You too, Halsey," John replied.
. . .
The two teams had decided to take the Pelicans on this one, as Richard's team's Cobra was insufficient for the task. Richard, though, had approved, stating that he was comfortable inside of a Pelican. "Besides, we've trained for boarding actions before," he'd remarked while patting Olson on the shoulder. "We've done this enough times that it's practically boring, though we'll keep our heads on a swivel anyways. Fortune favors the cautious."
In terms of armament, John had already memorized their ships weapons and armor. Thanks to the joint SLDF/UNSC research/refit programs, the Pelican was a well protected vehicle, boasting sixteen tonnes of Ferro-Aluminum Armor, enough armor for even protracted engagements. In addition, it had one of the newly designed Rotary Autocannons the SLDF had designed, along with two banks of Streak SRM-6 missiles on each wing. The version the teams were in, the D77-TC, was also lighter, weighing in at just under a hundred tonnes.
As they banked upwards through the atmosphere and into space, Sam spoke up. "I'm just saying, you could have volunteered Red Team instead."
"You want me to pull over?" John teased. "Let you out right here?"
"As Chief Mendez would say, 'It's a long walk home,'" Kelly added. Sam laughed as some of the tension left his body.
"Oi ve," they heard Richard grumble over the COM. "You three remind me of when I first joined Epsilon Team. Had all kinds of snarkers back then. Its a shame the Amaris Coup fucked all that over."
John nodded. He'd read up on the Amaris Coup, and the events that had triggered it. "It is," he agreed.
"Yeah," Sam added. "Look. You know I trust you in everything. I just hope that Captain Orwell knows what he's doing."
"He does," Richard replied. "I've known Orwell since we were in grade school. Orwell might be a risk taker, but he always makes certain that it's a calculated risk. We're in good hands."
"So," John remarked, "you have any plans for getting inside, Richard?"
"We know that the Vishnu's Naval Autocannons blasted a hole into the bow of the Covenant ship. My plan is that we go EVA once the shields are down, and use one of those holes to bust our way inside."
"Solid thinking," John agreed.
"This is where things get odd, though. According to Lakshmi, she did a thermal scan of the ship, and she found two major heat sources. The first was located in the rear of the ship, as you'd expect, but the second was located in the bow. My guess is that the bow doesn't contain the bridge, as is the case with our ships, but rather contains the secondary power supply. The bridge must be located in the center of the ship."
"How would that even work?" Fred asked, confused. "Would they be able to see outside?"
"Well, you have to remember, they have more advanced technology than we do," Linda explained. "It stands to reason that they have scanners and camera systems that allow them to see outside the ship. Plus, having the bridge in the center of the ship makes sense. If you were shooting at the ship, you'd need to get at everything else before hitting the command crew."
"It does make sense, in an odd sort of way," Sam noted. "However, given the fact that we're going up against religious fanatics, they'll likely try to destroy the ship if they realize that we're moving to capture it."
"My thoughts exactly," Richard said. "John, given that you guys are the tougher of the lot, I'd say that y'all take the bridge. My team will head to engineering, which is likely in the rear of the ship, and try to disable any self-destruct mechanisms inside. Once we've done that, you guys will assault the bridge and commandeer the ship."
"Solid plan," John concurred. "You read my mind, Richard." Turning to the others, he said, "You heard him. Once we're close enough to the Covenant ship, we'll exit the Pelican and board the ship using the breached sections in the hull. You guys ready?"
"Ready as can be," Fred confirmed.
"Wait, one second," Linda said. Reaching into a pack in the troop bay, she pulled out a series of black, tape-like suit patches. John immediately recognized them as suit patches. "Richard handed me these. Said that we might need them in case our armor's compromised. His team always has them after an incident during the Amaris Coup cost one of their members their life."
John nodded somberly. The older generation giving the new generation some good advice. "Take them with us," he decided. "We might need them. Hopefully, we won't, but like Richard said, we might. You ready Richard?"
"Ready for combat operations," came the reply.
"Good. Gear up. We're going to war." With that, Blue Team got their weapons ready…
The Pelican drew close to the Covenant ship, and then John turned the craft around. Once the troop bay depressurized, the loading ramp opened up. "John… if we miss," Kelly began.
"We won't," John reassured her. A second later, he crouched down, before leaping forwards, the thrusters on his armor firing up. The others quickly followed in rapid succession. Keying his COM, John said, "Orwell, we're approaching the Covenant ship!"
"Roger that!" Orwell replied. "Fire Control, fire the Heavy NPPCs and NL55s! We've gotta punch a hole into the Covenant ship's shields. Otherwise this mission is done!" The COM-link clicked off.
John watched as the Covenant ship grow ever larger as he rocketed toward the alien vessel. As they did so, the Vishnu shot past them, the fusion plume extending out to nearly twice the ship's length as it accelerated to top speed. John could see his HUD distort and crackle slightly, while up ahead, the shields on the Covenant ship sparkled deep blue and blue-white as the NL55s and Heavy NPPCs fired. A moment later, he watched as the shields on the ship failed.
Orwell came in over the COM. "That's it!" he shouted. "Their shields are down! From what we can tell, when part of the shield fails, the rest of the energy shields can't maintain their integrity, causing a cascade failure!"
"That'll be good to know," Richard added as he and his team flew closer to John's. "That means that we can hit them at the engines if need be." With that, they reached the ship.
Spotting the hole in the hull, John zipped inside, the thrusters on his armor flaring as they slowed him down to safe levels. He hit the interior of the ship with a grunt, before his mag-clamp boots locked him down. Nearby, the others landed as well, with Richard and his team doing the same.
John raced ahead and reached a sealed bulkhead door. "That's odd," he noted when he saw a piece of metal fall downwards. Disabling his mag-clamp boots, he found himself remaining firmly glued to the floor. "Looks like they've got contragravity."
"Of the generator kind too," Linda added. "Their reactors must be putting out sufficient power for them to use that form of gravity all the time."
"Agreed," Richard noted. Doing a scan, he frowned. "That's odd. There's air in this portion of the ship." Picking up a piece of metal, he tossed it outside the hole in the hull. To his mild surprise, he spotted a faint energy field that washed over the metal piece. "Looks like they've got force fields designed to hold in air in the event of a hull breach. Not too surprising, given their technology."
"Keep moving." John ordered. "Richard, you take Engineering. Blue team, form up on me. We're heading to the bridge."
With that, the two teams split up, weapons at the ready as they advanced. Keeping his Mauser II up and ready, Richard advanced with the rest of his team through the ship's hallways. This portion of the ship, he noted, was well lit, though he could tell that the dark blue and dark purple colors absorbed most of the light, making the place seem darker than it really was. The hallways were also wider than he expected, while the ceilings were taller than normal as well. "Notice the construction of the hallways?" he asked the team.
"Yeah," Ferdinand replied. "You wouldn't need this large of a hallway for a single species. If you had two or more for a ship, then you'd definitely need hallways as large as this. The builders must be bigger than us by a good bit."
"You sure about that?" Nancy asked.
"Not really. If I find whoever built this ship, I'll have you ask him."
"Funny boy," Nancy snarked. "I'll buy that, if they're not hostile, which they are."
"Cut the chatter," Richard cut in. "Eyes open and head on a swivel." There was no chatting after that.
As he moved down the hallway, Richard thought he spotted a flash of movement. At the same time, the sensor readout on his HUD showed a red dot, while a beeping sound alerted him to the contact. Swinging his rifle towards that direction, he spotted nothing, even though the sensors showed that the contact was in the same room as them. Either it was a sensor glitch, or…
That thought led to another, with Richard pulling his left hand back on the rifle. His fingers soon hooked onto the trigger for one of the weapon's accessories: an underbarrel grenade launcher. Using the loading system, he loaded a buckshot shell into the grenade launcher, before switching the selector lever to disengage the safety on that system. Then, he took aim and fired
There was a loud KRA-THOOM as the grenade launcher fired, sending a spray of a hundred and fifteen tungsten flechettes towards the location of the sensor contact in a wide cone. To his amazement, Richard watched as something shimmered ahead of him, while an oddly shaped, ghostly blue silhouette formed directly in front of him. The shape staggered back, with the force of the blow causing it's camouflage, and what looked like energy shields, to fail.
Before Richard could issue an order, Ferdinand fired his Mauser II. The pulsing beam of laser light cut through the air in an instant, scoring a lucky hit on the alien's neck. There was a puff of smoke, as well as an explosion of what looked like vaporized blood, with the alien giving a howling roar of agony. The beam must've also cut its spinal cord, as the alien fell dead to the ground.
Turning on his suit lights, Richard looked at the creature, which was now lying dead on its back. It was an oddly shaped creature, with two digitigrade legs ending in a pair of toes, though the toes had enough surface area to exceed that of a human foot. Both of its arms ended in tetradactyl hands, though there two main fingers and two thumbs, an odd configuration.
The alien's elongated head was its most distinguishing feature. Pulling on the helmet, Richard was surprised when it came off easily, allowing him to see the alien's face. He found a face that was utterly alien to him, with two slit eyes that were rolled upwards, dark brown skin that was covered in scales, as well as a pair of nostrils in lieu of a nose. The most unusual part was that it had no mouth, only two pairs of mandibles lined with teeth on the inward facing portions. Richard found that he could see all the way to the back of it's throat, which had some teeth there, as well as a long, blue appendage, which he realized was its tongue.
"Shit," Olson whispered. "What the hell is that?"
"I've got no idea," Richard remarked. "It's not like anything I've seen before. Still, did you notice those two aspects of it?"
"Yeah," Ferdinand replied. "It had a kind of light refraction field around it, as well as energy shields. From what I can tell, this must've been one of their top troops. Look at the elaborate shape of the armor."
"Good thinking," Richard agreed. "Come on. We're getting closer to engineering. Double time it, people." As they moved, he keyed his COM. "John, you there?" he asked.
"Affirmative," came the reply. "Signal's weaker than expected, but we can hear you. What's your situation?"
"We just took down a hostile contact," Richard explained. "Big guy, and it had visual cloaking and energy shields. Sending you an image now." Using his armor systems, he snapped a picture of the alien and forwarded it to John.
"Roger that. Thanks for the heads up. We found a smaller alien here as well. We'll send you a photo soon. How far until you reach engineering?"
"Around two mikes," Richard reported. "We'll be coming up on it soon."
"Affirmative. Also, be advised: long range scans have picked up a surge of activity. You might have company incoming."
"Copy that," Richard acknowledged. Closing the COM-link, he said, "This place is about to get busy, people. Double time it. Now!" As soon as the words had left his mouth, Richard and his team were sprinting down the hallways, moving towards what they guessed was engineering. Reaching a sealed, rhomboid shaped door, he said, "Breaching charges!"
"Got it," Olson replied. Taking out some breaching charges, he placed them on the door. "Don't know how tough this stuff is, so I've decided to use the extra strength explosives."
"Copy that," Richard noted. "Olson, set up your M250 Particle Cannon as well as your shoulder mounted grenade launcher. Ferdinand, you and I will stack up on the door. Nancy, Olivia, get ready. We might be facing a storm."
Olson knelt and primed his grenade launcher, while a brace extended down from the back of his armor to the ground, before mag-locking into place. Nancy and Olivia took up position behind Olson, while Richard and Ferdinand stacked up on the door. At Richard's signal, Olson keyed the detonation.
There was a loud BOOM as the explosives detonated at maximum power. While the sliding doors remained on their rails, the explosion was powerful enough to bend the doors inward, creating a gap in the door way. Cycling the grenade launcher, Olson fired a flashbang shell into the room, before switching to dual purpose grenades. A loud POP-BANG emanated from the room, along with surprised roars, squeaks and chirps.
At that, Richard and Ferdinand stormed inside, weapons at the ready as they pushed through, while Olson, Nancy and Olivia followed behind them. The room was a fairly small one, with a view-port that allowed them to see the reactor itself. A control panel was nearby, and there were doors that led into the reactor room itself.
Two of the tall aliens were present, though their mandibles were exposed, and they were wearing blue armor that was more functional in appearance. Two smaller aliens, resembling turtles without shells were present, as well as a few aliens that resembled vultures that were of human size walking around on two legs. A third had black feathers covering it, making it look like a humanoid crow.
The flashbang that Olson fired had been effective, blinding all but the two tall aliens. Seeing the soldiers storming inside, they raised ornately designed weapons and fired. Blue-white bolus' of what looked like plasma zipped through the air and towards Epsilon Team. Firing his Mauser II, Richard watched as the laser beam cut into the shields. In just a second, the shields failed, a loud CRACKLE-SNAP emanating as the blue-white shields flared, then popped.
The laser beam tore into the chest armor of the alien, causing sparks to fly everywhere as the beam cut through. Seeing this, the alien threw itself to the side, while firing at Richard. He hissed as plasma bolts struck his armor, causing the temperature reading to climb rapidly. As he moved, he was surprised to see that the plasma bolts were moving slowly enough that he could dodge them if he put some effort into it. Ducking behind a small console, he popped up and fired. At that alien. This time, the alien went down, roaring loudly as water flash-boiled in it's chest, causing it's organs to explode.
Ferdinand, was having a much easier time. The other aliens had good armor, but they didn't have shielding, with the laser beam cutting into exposed areas with ease. One of the aliens screeched loudly as its feathered arm was severed from it's body. Dark purple blood erupted out of the stump in an arterial spray, coating the consoles.
Then Olson came in with the M250 Particle Cannon. Spotting the second of the two tall aliens, he fired the weapon in it's burst fire mode. A loud, electrical shriek emanated from the cannon, along with a hyper-velocity bolt of blue-white particles. The three particle bolts tore into the second of the tall aliens, blasting through the energy shields with ease. When the flashes faded, there was little left of the alien, except for its head and it's lower body. It's chest and arms had been vaporized by the powerful beam.
As soon as that alien was dead, the others must've realized that resistance was futile, and they all dropped their weapons. The two remaining tortoise-like aliens screamed loudly, before running for their lives into the reactor room, while the three remaining bird-like aliens dropped their weapons. The one that had it's arm severed now lay dead on the ground.
"All clear!" Richard shouted. "Nancy, Olivia, bag 'em and tag 'em! Olson, Ferdinand, with me!"
The words barely escaped Richard's mouth when he heard an odd trilling sound. He looked up and to the left, spotting a bizarre alien up there with a squid-like body and balloon-like pods all over it. Tendrils extended from it's body, and it had a six eyed head, and that head was tucked into it's body, while the creature squeezed itself into the corner. "Ferdinand, you see that?" he asked.
"Yeah," Ferdinand agreed. "Looks like nothing I've seen. From the looks of it, it's not armed."
"My thoughts exactly," Olson noted. "I'm thinking that we ran into a civilian, likely the engineer for the ship."
"Why have one engineer for a ship that's hundreds of meters in size?" Ferdinand asked. "It doesn't make sense."
"I'll find out," Richard decided. Reaching towards the alien, he grabbed the longest tendril he could reach. The alien trilled loudly, likely it's species equivalent of a scream. "Don't panic," Richard said gently. "We're not going to hurt you. We don't shoot unarmed individuals." He doubted the alien could understand him.
Apparently, the alien at least understood his tone. Instead of fighting or curling up into a ball, it began to relax, before examining his suit with all three pairs of eyes. It trilled curiously as it did so, with the behavior reminding Richard of an inquisitive child that was learning to overcome some innate fear.
Richard, encouraged by this behavior, then began making hand signals towards the alien. "Boss?" Olson asked.
"Trying to figure out if it knows sign language," Richard explained. Using hand signals, he motioned to the reactor and then to the console, while making other actions that indicated an explosion and the like. I hope I'm not making an ass of myself, he thought. It would be embarrassing if he did.
Apparently, the alien was smart enough to guess as to what he was saying, as much to his surprise, it nodded. To everyone's amazement, it floated towards the console and began working at it. A moment later, everyone watched as the reactor grew dim, before it finally sputtered out. "What just happened?" Oslon asked.
"I think I managed to get past the language barrier," Richard remarked with a shrug. "My guess is that it figured out that we were taking the ship, but didn't want to destroy it. In addition, it seemed to realize that we weren't going to hurt it. Like you said, Olson, it was likely the ship's engineer."
"How'd it figure out what you were saying?" Nancy asked.
"Maybe it's species communicates via sign language. In any case, it's done what we wanted. It's shut down the ship." Keying his COM, he said, "Epsilon 1-1 to Blue-One, do you read me?"
"Copy," John replied. "The entire ship seems to have shut down. Captain Orwell just informed me that the shields immediately went down, and that the heat source at the front of the ship has died down. Was that you?"
"Affirmative. We managed to find the ship's engineer and… persuaded it to shut down the reactors. It likely misinterpreted my hand signs to disable the self-destruct as orders to shut the reactors down. Either way, you can force your way into the bridge. From the looks of it, emergency power just came on, so the doors should work."
"Copy that."
. . .
As Blue and Epsilon Team were working to link up together again, Shipmaster Corevas 'Vortumee was working furiously to engage the self-destruct sequence for the ship. Nearby, many other Sangheili like him were busy trying to do the same, with an Artisan-Engineer at their side to advise them on what to do. Nearby, several Sangheilil Ultras were gathering at the doors, preparing for an invasion.
How could this happen, he thought angrily as the self-destruct system stubbornly refused to activate. First the power went out. Now this! To him, it was supposed to be a simple scouting mission, though when the Human ship had been detected, he had decided to destroy it and kill as many of the heretical Humans as he could.
That was before a larger ship came into view and fired on them. He'd been surprised when the new Human ship had fired what he now knew were energy weapons, each one being powerful enough to drain the shields on his ship by a significant amount. One of the Minors on the bridge had been so startled that he'd literally urinated and defecated in his suit. 'Vortumee had punished that one by sending him to get his armor cleaned up in preparation for an invasion.
Now, he was working feverishly to destroy the ship, as he now knew the Humans wanted to capture the sacred technology onboard to defile it. He roared angrily, smashing a fist onto his command chair's armrest. Pulling out his energy sword from it's mag-clamp on his armor, he snarled. "Fine. If these nishum want my ship, I will kill them all and purge them from the universe!"
Just as he got up, though, all hell broke loose. Before he could say 'Prophets', the doors were forced open on one side, while blasted inward on the other side. As he was closer to the latter door, 'Vortumee was hurled to the floor. His vision flashed gray as his head smacked into the ground, while a dull ringing echoed in his earholes. He was about to get up when a booted foot smashed into his side, knocking him to the ground before pinning him in place.
When he looked around after his vision refocused, 'Vortumee found that a team of twelve Humans had stormed into the ship. All of them were wearing fully enclosed armor, with silver and gold faceplates looking at him. To him, they looked like the faceless demons of ancient Sangheili lore. The name he felt, was ironically fitting to him.
On the other side of the exchange, Richard ensured that the gold armored alien was kept pinned to the floor. "Looks like the Captain of the ship," he told John.
"Agreed," John noted. "Cuff it. We'll take it in for interrogation. Richard, signal the Vishnu and Commonwealth. Tell them we have control of the ship."
"Copy that," Richard agreed.
As Richard keyed his COM, John looked at Linda. "We won this mission," Linda remarked.
"Yeah," Sam agreed, "but I think we've just gotten started." John nodded in agreement. They had won the mission, but the war was far from over.
(Author's Q&A)
edboy4926: Thank you.
Danny79: Right on all accounts.
SulliMike23: Yes. Humanity might not be as advanced, but they've got some teeth they can use.
RoyalTwinFangs: Thank you.
raw66: Yes, they will have their own 'Mechs. They trained to use just about anything.
Krieger Techpriest: Well, in this case, King takes Queen.
shypunk: Thank you. I'm glad you're enjoying the story.
Chronus1326: Thank you. The Vishnu is an Avatar-class WarShip, and the Avatar-class is classified as a Heavy Cruiser.
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