Hi guys, I'm back. Sorry it's taken me so long to get a new chapter out, but I've been busy with so many other stories, not to mention school and work. Regardless, I'm back and ready with the latest chapter.
So, I know the in the previous chapter I said I would make it about Boba Fett, but I decided to add Han in as well. So yeah, both of them will be present here, so I hope you enjoy that.
Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars or Halo.
The Millennium Falcon emerged from hyperspace over the planet Concord Dawn. With practiced ease, Han Solo guided the Falcon towards the planet below, making sure his approach didn't look hostile.
"Unidentified ship, you are trespassing in Mandalorian space." A voice crackled over the comms as aft sensors picked up two ships coming up behind them. "Identify yourself and explain your purpose here."
"This is Captain Han Solo aboard the Millennium Falcon." The smuggler replied, going against every instinct he had to give out a false name and ID. "I requested a meeting with Mandalore Boba Fett on the planet's surface."
There was a moment of silence as the pilots of the ships no doubt checked in with their ground control. Han just hoped that Boba wasn't playing some trick. With the Flood on the loose all over the multiverse, the last thing he needed was someone trying to settle some old scores.
"Copy that, Captain Solo." The ships finally replied. "We are to escort you to the meeting point."
"Acknowledged."
Han followed the two ships as they flew in front, revealing themselves to be Firesprays, the same class as Boba's own Slave I. As Han followed, his mind drifted back to how he had come here. The Flood had landed in the Outer Rim some weeks ago, and had since been carving a bloody path through the galaxy.
A parasitical life form possessing a ravenous hunger and unprecedented growth rate, the only reliable way to destroy the Parasite was Base Delta Zero. One of the most horrific tactics used in any previous war, it had proven to be the only effective strategy to use against the Flood.
Many politicians had balked, some of the more vocal anti-human leaders claiming that it was the second coming of Palpatine's Empire. Those shouts had been quelled rather quickly when reports of the Parasite overrunning worlds within hours made their way to the Core. Combined with the UNSC threat assessment on the Flood, and for once the Senate was actually stepping aside for the military, rather than actively hindering them.
They even extended a hand to the Jedi, who had essentially been in exile since the incident with Abeloth. Riots and disruptions had broken out all over the galaxy, and the Jedi were needed once more to keep the peace.
Of course, the galaxy had another problem. There were so many starships with hyperspace capabilities in the galaxy, that even the most backwater worlds could serve as an infection vector for the Flood. If it wasn't for the help of the Republic and Separatists, it was theorized that the entire galaxy would've fallen in a matter of days.
The only thing Han had ever faced that would be even remotely comparable to this was an Imperial Bioweapon that he had encountered while he had been briefly captured alongside Chewie before the Battle of Yavin.
The Sickness, as it was called, had killed and brought the undead back to life, turning them into flesh-eating monsters that could learn to operate weapons and vehicles. An entire Star Destroyer had been overrun by this virus, and it was only halted due to the lack of airborne contaminants outside the Destroyer. And all that still paled in comparison to what the Flood could do.
The Galactic Alliance had never dealt with a threat of this magnitude before. This was a lifeform that took the strengths of a civilization and turned it against them, using their own technology and weapons far beyond what was believed possible. Even the destruction wrought by the Yuuzhan Vong and Abeloth paled in comparison to this. And even still, it almost felt like the Flood was holding back.
And with the Jedi being called upon to protect the galaxy once more, Han found himself separated from his family at the behest of the Galactic Alliance. Chief of State Wynn Dorvan had asked him to contact the Mandalorians and get their aid in dealing with the Parasite.
Han had initially protested, but relented when Leia had pointed out that Boba Fett might actually listen to him if he phrased his request correctly. The Mandalorian leader had apparently been in a much better mood since the Moff nanovirus that had been released on Mandalore had been dispersed. The fact that Han was able to get a meeting with him at all was proof enough of this fact.
Still, it would take a miracle to get the Mandalorians to recognize the threat. Han wished he could've had Leia or Jaina with him, but the former was needed in meetings with the IDA, while the latter was often on the front lines in her starfighter.
He pushed his thoughts aside as he touched down on the landing pad, which was little more than a patch of rough ground in the middle of a field of grass. Locking the Falcon down, Han headed to the landing ramp, where two green armored Mandalorians waited at the bottom.
"Captain Solo, we will take you to see the Manda'lor." One gestured forward. "If you would follow us." His tone made it clear that it was not for discussion.
Han followed along and soon they reached the meeting spot. It wasn't some grand hall or government building, as would be expected from most other planets. It was a tavern, an old run down place that barely saw customers anymore. It was locations like these that the Mandalorians used as their community halls.
Two more Mandalorians stood in front of the door, briefly halting the procession to scan Han and relieve him of his blaster. While the smuggler was loath to go anywhere without his weapon, he knew Mandalorian culture enough to know that they wouldn't just shoot him dead.
Entering the tavern, he found that it was filled with more Mandos, all dressed in full armor in a wide variety of colors. It wasn't hard to figure out where Fett was. He was sitting in a corner booth, with his helmet off and on the table. His hair was grey, and his face was scarred, yet he still had the same intelligence and ruthlessness that Fett had during his prime.
Han walked over and sat down on the opposite end of the table, where the rest of the Mandos took up position around them. Boba looked up into Han's eyes and the two had a brief staredown.
"Han Solo." Boba broke the silence at last. "What brings you to our sector of space?"
"If you've been following current events, then you would know about the Flood." Like Boba, Han decided to skip the small talk and jump straight to the main point. And a quick nod from the former bounty hunter was all the answer he needed. "We need your help in dealing with them. It's a threat unlike any the galaxy has ever faced."
Boba Fett sat quietly in the booth and listened to Han's request. He knew exactly what the multiverse's current circumstances were and how the Galactic Alliance was getting their shebs kicked, even with the help of the multiversal superpowers.
Boba had previously thought that the Yuuzhan Vong had been the worst threat the galaxy had ever seen. Considering they cost 365 trillion lives in the long and brutal war, the extragalactic invaders had seemed unstoppable.
Then he had encountered Abeloth, fighting alongside Tahiri Veila against the so-called Bringer of Chaos. Initially, he hadn't believed the ex-Jedi's warning about Abeloth being more of a force of nature than any other Force-user he had ever fought. That opinion changed quickly, especially when it required an orbital strike to kill just one of her bodies.
The Flood put them both to shame.
The biological horrors created during the Vong's empire paled in comparison to what the Flood could do. If anything, the Vong were even more susceptible to the Flood, judging by their infected vessels.
Unlike Tsavong Lah, the Flood could sustain the constant horde mentality, for the simple reason that every body the Parasite killed was just added to their own numbers. The Flood would only grow stronger with every victory. Some species had already vanished completely, either because they were destroyed by the Flood or had fled.
No one had heard from Zonama Sekot in a while. According to rumors, the living planet had vanished into hyperspace after the Flood had shown up. But since Sekot was a living planet filled with Yuuzhan Vong biotechnology, that was probably for the best.
And the Flood were apparently proving to be a growing antithesis to the Jedi, more than Abeloth ever was. There had been rumors that the Flood had actually corrupted the Force itself, which was making it difficult for any Force-user to use their power. Boba didn't want to believe it, but even before he heard about that, he could feel a general feeling of... wrongness. Like something was off in the galaxy. No one else said anything, but it was clear the other Mandos were feeling the same.
Frankly, it was no wonder that the rest of the galaxy needed the Mandalorians, but Boba wasn't really willing to throw them into a war that wasn't theirs. Of course, if even half of the rumors about the Flood were true, then they wouldn't care about anyone's neutrality.
Privately, after seeing what a monster like Abeloth could do, the ex-bounty hunter was willing to believe Han when he said that the Flood were a far more dangerous threat to the galaxy than everything they had ever faced.
The difficulty was convincing the rest of the clans to follow that decree. Although Fett was technically the leader of all Mandalorians, he couldn't just order them into a war they didn't want. Without facing the threat themselves, many clans were just willing to remain in isolation, as the Flood had yet to move into the Mandalorian sector.
"I wish I could help you Solo." And this wasn't a platitude, he truly meant that. "But the clans are tired of being fodder for the aruetiise. They don't believe the Flood are a threat to Mandalore."
"Damn it, Boba." Han slammed his fist on the table, briefly drawing the attention of every blaster in the room. "The Vong didn't leave you alone. Why would the Flood?"
"It's not my call to make." The Mandalorian said. "Unless the threat comes to us, I can't convince the rest of my people to help you."
"Sir." One of the guards interrupted, with a hand to his helmet. "We have unidentified ships inbound towards the planet. Lots of them."
There was a moment of silence as everyone digested that information. Then a dozen blasters were pointed at Han, who raised his hands to placate them. "Easy now. I don't have anything to do with that."
"What's their composition?" Boba asked, his aim not wavering.
"Mostly civilian craft. They're not responding to our hails, and they're on a straight path for the planet. We're also getting some strange bio readings from each ship."
Han and Boba's eyes widened as they looked at each other. If a bunch of civilian ships were on a straight path for the planet, and ignoring any and all calls from heavily armed Mandalorian ships for them to stop, then they were either brave, suicidal, or worse, infected by the Flood. And the bio readings confirmed the latter theory.
"Shoot them down." Boba ordered. "Shoot them all down now!"
Han had no objection for once. He ran outside the tavern, following the rest of the Mandalorians as they headed outside to witness the battle above. In the skies over the planet, dozens of Mandalorian ships targetted the ships and fired, tearing through the civilian grade shielding with laser bolts, proton torpedos, concussion missiles and more.
In spite of all the casualties they were suffering, the Flood continued forward, their sole target was the planet itself. The Mandalorians formed a blockade, bringing out a pair of old Venator-class Star Destroyers from behind the planet.
A wall of turbolaser fire lit up the vacuum between the two sides, as energy blasts shredded the civilian ships with contemptuous ease. Still, it was twenty ships against 300, and unlike the Mandalorians, the Flood didn't care about losses. The few armed combat ships on their side tore through any fighter in their path as they slipped through the cracks in the Mando defenses, heading for a crash landing on the planet's surface. Still others attempted to crash into the Mando ships themselves.
One of the few ships that broke through the blockade was covered in flames and was barely holding together. It still held together long enough to crash outside the town where Han had met with Boba and the Mandalorians.
"We need to leave, right now." Han said, having recovered his blaster and aiming it in the direction of the ship. "This place needs to be burned to the ground."
An unnatural howling broke through the air, interrupting whatever Boba had to say in response. Twisted combat forms leapt onto the roofs of several buildings, while still others just ran through the streets. Many of them were holding blasters, which erupted in a firestorm of red energy as the Mandalorians returned fire, many using flamethrowers as their beskar armor capable of holding off the weaponry fired at them.
They were less capable of holding off Flood infection forms, as a couple Mandalorians found out the hard way. One of the squid-like creatures latched onto a Mandalorian's chest, slipping through the cracks in his armor.
They started to change, with Flood biomass forcing armor plating off. The cancerous growths forced their way through the top half of the undersuit, forcing one arm to be replaced with a whip-like appendage. Their helmets were forced off from the change, their screams of pain and agony twisted into the angry howls of the Flood.
The two new combat forms took aim with their gauntlets and fired mini-rockets from their wrists, killing another group of Mandalorians before they were torched by the flamethrowers of the nearest combatants.
Han, having witnessed the whole thing, turned to Boba, who was taking steady aim with his EE-3 blaster rifle, tearing through combat forms with each burst. Han added his own blasterfire from his DL-44, which tore through a Bith combat form.
"Boba we have to leave!" Han shouted. "They're not going to stop coming."
It took a moment for Boba to respond, busy as he was with killing the Flood. But eventually he turned and nodded. "Everyone retreat!" The Manda'lor shouted. "Get to your ships, right now!"
They all began to retreat, the ones with jetpacks providing covering fire to the ones without them. Han himself began running towards the Millennium Falcon, only to be surprised when he felt himself rising through the air. Looking up, he was surprised to see Boba holding him as they flew towards the Falcon.
"Don't get any ideas, Solo."
Han chose not to say anything, and soon Boba deposited him at the landing ramp of the Falcon, before he took off to get to Slave I and get off the planet. Running up the boarding ramp, Han shut the hatch just before any Flood forms could reach the ship.
Sprinting to the cockpit, the ex-smuggler kicked the engines into gear, lifting off from the planet's surface and blasting through any Flood form behind the ship as it rocketed towards space.
That was when Han noticed a new problem: The two Mandalorian Venators were now trading fire with each other, one of them having obviously been boarded and infested by the Flood. The infested Venator had small green growths emerging the holes in their hull, and their weapon fire lanced from ship to ship, occasionally intercepting smaller vessels with fatal results.
Unnervingly, the Flood vessel had a noticeably superior degree of accuracy and firepower in comparison to the Mandalorian counterpart, no doubt due to the Parasite's almost supernatural ability to take technology and make it even better. And try as they might, the greatest scientists in the galaxy couldn't even hope to replicate the effects.
Han blinked as the sensors alerted him to two fighters coming up behind him. With a flare of light, laserfire impacted the rear of the ship, absorbed by the rear deflector shields. Han sent the Falcon into a roll, presenting a harder target for the Flood behind him.
He tried to make a jump to hyperspace, only to find the hyperdrive wouldn't respond. The reasoning became clear when the sensors detected the presence of Hapan mass shadow mines trapping all the combatants in the battle.
Muttering a curse, Han activated the automated systems on the quad lasers, having installed that feature some time ago. Normally, he would've preferred to have actual gunners, but with everyone busy dealing with the Parasite, he was a little short handed in regards to crew requirements.
It wasn't perfect, but the lasers managed to destroy one of the ships that was pursuing him. The second fighter drew back a bit, and kept pounding the Falcon's rear quarter. Already, the rear deflectors were in the red, forcing Han to divert power to the back in order to protect his ship.
Suddenly, the fighter chasing him vanished from sensors, and was replaced by the unmistakable profile of Slave I, which flew up beside Han's ship. "You owe me one, Solo." Boba's smug voice appeared over the comm.
Han rolled his eyes. "I'll keep that in mind. Now, how do you plan on getting out of here?"
"There's one hyperspace route known only to Mandalorians. The Flood haven't deployed any mass shadow mines there, so they clearly don't know about it."
"Not yet, anyway." Han frowned. "If anyone the Flood have infected knew about this, then they will know about it."
"All the more reason to leave now." Boba replied. "I'm sending you the coordinates. I think it's safe to say the Mandalorians will be aiding you against the Flood."
And with a flicker of pseudomotion, Slave I leapt into hyperspace, followed by the nearest Mandalorians. Han quickly followed, and as soon as the ship was safely in hyperspace, he leaned back and sighed.
"Mandalorian aid, huh? I doubt it'll be enough."
Alright, another completed chapter. For the next one, I plan on doing something a little different. It'll mainly be the Citadel Council's reaction to the Flood. What will happen there? Will the Council go "Ah yes, 'Flood,'" like they always do? You'll just have to wait and see.
Anyway, I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter and reviews are always welcome.