A NOBLE Menace
Disclaimer: I do not own Halo or Star Wars in any way, shape, or form, they belong to their respective owners.
Hello! Finally, I have returned with a new chapter for this story! Sorry about the long hiatus on this story, originally, I planned to update before the New Year, but I recently brought the Ghost of Tsushima and my gawd! One of the greatest games I have ever played! Highly recommend it to anyone that has not played it yet.
Anyway, time to answer some of the reviews...
Edboy4926: Well Baby Yoda (Grogu) is around at this time so it is certainly possible that Six could encounter him, I only worry that it would ruin the future bond that Din and Grogu form if I have the Empire still happen in the future. I guess We'll see what happens once the events of the Phantom Menace is over.
Spell Checker: I have something planned for the eventuality that Six faces against Sith and Jedi but regarding his weapons that was the reason why I want Six to keep his UNSC weapons rather than just switching the Blasters. And currently there is no way that he will be able to take over the CSO supercarrier alone since despite it being chopped in half it still houses millions of soldiers.
He will probably rename it.
He will make one up. Spartans names are very personal to them since its one of the few things they have that is tied to their old lives.
Yes. Six is wearing his default Mjolnir as in the baseline Mark V [B] variant. To me that is the definitive look for Noble Six. and his armour is black to show his history with ONI.
Of course, I feel like with anyone should have Mandalorian weapons then it should be a Spartan.
Cullen Walsh: Right now, Six is nineteen years old, the same age as Tom and Lucy from Beta Company, and Padme is fourteen. Now obviously there will be no relationship between the two of them right now but once EP2 comes alone he will be twenty-nine and she will be twenty-four. Also, she may not even be paired with Six in the end.
Lechain: There will be some changes to this story otherwise what would be the point of writing a crossover if everything stays the same.
Jojobinks01: Donna Troy? Think you may have reviewed the wrong story this is not a DC crossover.
Firestar Prime: Depends if I do a Harem. But go ahead.
Ser Dorito of Aisle 13: I was thinking of including Thrawn, after all as you said both want to tame the unknown regions. Perhaps an alliance between the UNSC and the Chiss.
Statess: I don't know seems a little extreme to make essentially a walking god with all the new upgrades he would gain.
PanzerJ: That's true regarding their age but you also must remember that due to the amount of time they spent in cryo over the last twenty-eight years they're physically much younger than their actual age.
The Ultimate Impulse: The thought of an Engineer flying across the battlefield to restore Six's armour did make me chuckle.
The Dark Sapphire: Seems I've proved you wrong :)
Chapter 3: The Spartan, The Jedi, and The Covenant.
The Throne Room was eerily silent as Queen Amidala as she considered the request of the Jedi Master. The presence of the ship had already been tense enough after they had scarcely escaped Naboo with their lives after the Trade Federation and their Droid army had invaded their peaceful little utopia and taken her people hostage, threatening to kill them one by one unless she signed the treaty to legalize their occupation.
And to make an already tense situation worse, a portal large enough to send through a large, but extremely damaged, ship of unknown origins had opened not far from their location and had received a broken transmission that referred to themselves as a Spartan. The only good news in all of this was that they spoke basic, meaning that they could communicate with each other…. if they agreed to help.
Tearing her eyes away from the Jedi Master and his Padawan, he briefly stared at the group of Handmaidens that surrounded the throne, though it was one in particular she looked at. As if they had just had a silent conversation, the Handmaiden bowed her head giving her permission to aid the Spartan and their crew.
"Very well." Queen Amidala finally answered as he bowed her head to the Jedi. "We're heading for Coruscant to ask for aid. It would be unbecoming of us to refuse to help when we ourselves need it now more than ever."
"Thank you, Your Majesty." Qui-Gon Jinn said sincerely as he bowed respectfully to the Queen, as did his Padawan.
"Ric," Queen Amidala addressed the pilot overs the intercom who was waiting to hear their decision. "Please inform this Spartan that we will offer as much aid as we can provide."
"Yes, Ma'am." The Pilot acknowledged over the comms before he cut the transmission between the cockpit and the Throne Room.
"Obi-Wan and I will return to the bridge to if we can offer any assistance in making contact with the Spartan." Qui-Gon told the Queen who nodded from her throne.
"Very good. You're both excused." She dismissed them by waving her hand at the Jedi, who bowed respectfully and took their leave, leaving on the Queen, Handmaidens, and the Captain alone as they all anxiously waited to get a response back from the Spartan.
Gingerly leaving the room, the Jedi Padawan followed silently after his Master as they walked through the hold and headed back to the bridge. Waiting patiently until they were far enough away from the Throne Room before he voiced his concerns.
"Master, may I have a word?"
"I believe that you just had six," Qui-Gon laughed softly at his own, missing Obi-Wan rolling his eyes as he trailed behind him. "But by all means, Obi-Wan. Tell me what is on your mind."
"Do you think that was wise?"
"You'll have to be more specific, Obi-Wan. Was what wise?" The Jedi Master asked, even if he had an inkling what he was referring to as they walked through the ship and headed back towards the bridge.
"Antagonizing Captain Panaka." The Padawan clarified to his Master. "His points regarding the ship and this Spartan were valid, as was his argument on us placing the Queen in danger while we go and investigate this unknown ship."
"Would you prefer that we allow the people potentially trapped inside to die a slow painful death?"
"Of course not, Master." Obi-Wan denied, sounding hurt that he was even entertaining the thought. "I'm just saying that the Captain brought up some valid reasons regarding the safety of the Queen. It just feels like, at least to me, that we're placing not only the Queen but the rest of the crew in danger. This could be a trap for all we know."
The Padawan watched his Master pause for a second as if he were considering his words. "It could be, you're right." Qui-Gon agreed as he slowed down so that Obi-Wan could catch up, or at least so he could walk next to him. "But I cannot in good conscious abandon these people over what might be in their hour of need." He said firmly, determined to offer aid to the Spartan and his crew. "While I may not see eye to eye with the Jedi Council on everything, I agree wholeheartedly with them about us being Peace-Keepers...we're obligated to help these people."
"Yes, Master." Obi-Wan muttered quietly, bowing his head in. "I just can shake off the feeling that something is very wrong those ships."
"I can't feel anything." shrugged the Jedi Master as they reached the spiral staircase that headed to the next floor.
"You said the same thing about the negotiations and look what happened." Obi-Wan said with a pointed look that was aimed directly at his Master.
"We knew that there was something afoot the moment we entered the Naboo System." Qui-Gon countered calmly. "The sheer amount of fear that was radiating from the Neimoidian's was palpable. Perhaps if we had acted sooner then we could have saved the pilots," He said referring to the ones that died why the Federation had opened fire and destroyed the Consular-class cruiser. "And prevented the Federation from invading." Even if the Trade Federation had set up a blockage around Naboo in retaliation for the taxation set by the Republic that had been set after the disastrous Eriadu summit.
"Maybe," Obi-Wan was of the same mind. "But that's not what bothering me, Master."
"Hmm?" Qui-Gon sounded curious as he turned his head to observe his Padawan.
"If we know for a fact that there is a survivor among the wreckage why can't we sense him through the Force?" He asked looking puzzled as he crossed his arms over his chest. "And yet, when I try to search out through the Force all I feel is..."
"Nothing." Qui-Gon finished for him.
"Nothingness." The Padawan pursed his lips. "It feels like I am staring at nothing when I look at those ships, like they don't belong. It rather unnerving."
"I understand, I feel it too." Qui-Gon confessed, sharing his own uneasiness. "Which is just another reason why I would like to investigate the smaller ship."
"Even if we may be walking into another trap?"
"Even then." The Jedi Master declared. "The pros far outweigh the cons."
"If you say so, Qui-Gon." Obi-Wan did not share his Master optimism. "But I have a bad feeling about this...I just hope we're able to regret our decision later on."
"Have a little faith, Obi-Wan." Qui-Gon said as he patted Obi-Wan's shoulder. "Now come, let see if Mr Ollie has made any progress, shall we?" And with that the Jedi Master picked up the pace.
Within a couple of minutes, the two Jedi reached the bridge where the two pilots and the Astrodroid, the one that had managed to restore the ships shields during their escape from Naboo. The three seemed to be working in tandem to make contact with the person that identified themselves as a Spartan. Whether that was his profession, or the name of his species was undetermined, but the Jedi Master hoped that the mystery would be solved sooner rather than later; if it was the latter then it could be the start of relations between the Republic and the Spartans.
"Have you made any progress contacting the Spartan?" Qui-Gon asked as he stepped onto the bridge, his Padawan just behind him.
"We haven't tried yet, Jedi." Ric explained without looking up as he worked on the panel nearest to him. "At the moment we're trying to patch up the communication array as best as we can, it should help clear up the signal between us and this Spartan."
"How bad is it?" Obi-Wan chimed in as he stood next to his Jedi Master.
"It's functioning," The Pilot replied. "and that's about the only encouraging thing I can say about it. Just about everything on this damn ship was damaged during our daring escape. If not for the Chromium we would not even be having this conversation...so, guess we should be thankful for something. Of course, it may not even be our ship that is the problem. Ignoring that fact that the smaller of the two ships are using an unknown frequency, it could be more damaged than ours...although, it could be a little of both."
"The Spartan's transmission was a little choppy, perhaps his ships systems were damaged, and he lacks an Astrodroid to repair them?" Qui-Gon suggested as he rubbed his thick beard, something Obi-Wan noticed he did whenever he was pondering about something. "If so, then maybe we can offer assistance when we meet him?"
"If we can." Obi-Wan commented pulling Qui-Gon from his thoughts. "Taking the fact that we cannot say for certain if this Spartan and his crew are friendly, there may not even be any insertion port that a droid could access...the ship could simply be too sophisticated for the droid to repair."
The battered and worn Astrodroid was suddenly on its hunches as it stopped what it was doing and began bleeping and beeping erratically as it pulled away from what it was doing and wheeled around so that he was now facing the two Jedi, however his attention was solely on the Padawan as it began rocking left and right on its wheels.
"I think you insulted him, Obi-Wan." Qui-Gon Jinn smiled in amusement along with the two pilots who laughed at the Padawan's expense.
"It's a droid, Master." Obi-Wan drawled as he ignored the noisy droid that continued to bleep erratically. "It lacks the ability to be insulted, it's not even sentient."
"Then maybe you should tell our friend that." Qui-Gon chuckled as he looked at Obi-Wan. "Because he looks pretty offended to me."
"Beep! beep! Beep! Beep!"
"I cannot understand a thing you're saying." Obi-Wan groaned at the egotistic little droid. "And just because you don't like it doesn't make it any less true."
"Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!"
"Please ignore my Padawan, R2-D2." Qui-Gon said looked down at the little blue and white Astrodroid, recalling its name from the meeting with the Queen.
"Are you really trying to reason with a droid?"
"Do you think you would be able to help us establish contact with the Spartan?" He ignored Obi-Wan's comment as he stared directly at R2-D2. "It is vital that we speak to him."
"Beep! Beep!" Artoo sounded happily as he turned back around, but not before sending one final look to Obi-Wan and returned working on the communication array. After a few more seconds, R2 dome-shaped head did a 180 spin so that he was looking directly at the Jedi Master and let out a series of noises.
"Looks like we're broadcasting." Ric voiced as he leaned back in his seat. "The stage is all yours Jedi, knock em dead, will ya."
The Jedi maverick looked amused as he shook his head at the snarky pilot but obliged. Coughing in a closed first to clear his throat, he leaned over Ric and spoke over the comm.
"This is Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn."
"Alright, no need to flex." Ric cut in as he rolled his eyes playfully.
"We picked up your transmission but unfortunately most of it was broken up," The Jedi ignored the pilot's remark. " Could you repeat your previous message?
Standing on the bridge on the Ardent Prayer and standing directly in front of the holographic screen that he hoped was the intercom, Noble Six waited patiently beside the Engineer for a message from the unknown vessel, which he still had his money on being an prototype prowler that ONI had built in secret and they were merely testing it out before they started mass producing them...it was probably bit of a shock to them when a slipspace portal opened up out of nowhere and a severely damaged Covenant supercarrier and a single Corvette fell out of it.
He had been worried that the Prowler, that was what he was classifying it as, would get the hell out of dodge and refuse to believe that a Spartan was stranded aboard a Covenant ship and it was simply a ploy by the Covies to let their guard down before they opened fire...or worse tried to capture the ship so they could study its systems. Thankfully, the ship hadn't moved meaning one of two things.
One, the slipspace portal had sent out an EMP burst that had disabled the Prowler preventing it from entering Slipspace and beginning the Cole Protocol by jumping to randomised vectors nowhere near Earth or her colonies. Or two, the occupants of that ship were talking among themselves and discussing whether they should risk sending aid when it could have been a trap set up by the Covenant...though why they would damage one of their own ships, especially a CSO-class supercarrier, just to lure the UNSC in?
"Are you sure this works?" The Spartan-III commando asked the Engineer, narrowing his dark eyes behind the visor at it. If he found out that he had been transmitting to what remained on the supercarrier and they were getting ready to swarm on his location, then there would be one less Engineer by the end of the day.
The Engineer let out a series of sad chimes as his head swerved to look at him, his head cocking to one side, and gave him a look that he was sure many would have been considered cute. Unfortunately for the squid-like alien, he was not like most people. While helpful, to him he was just another member of the Covenant, that damned religion and empire that had murdered his parents, glassed his world, butchered his adopted brothers and sisters, and killed over twenty billion humans over the last twenty-seven years, he would not hesitate to put them down.
Before he could think anything else regarding the Engineer, he was brought back to reality when a transmission from the prowler finally responded.
"This is Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn." A strong male voice came over the comms, which resulted in Six frowning his brows in confusion. Jedi? What on earth was a Jedi, let alone a master. "We picked up your transmission but unfortunately most of it was broken up, could you repeat your previous message?"
"Can you clear up the transmission?" B312 asked turning his head to the Engineer who started doing his best to clear it up, his multiple tentacles moving rapidly. Within ten seconds the Engineer turned its head and nodded.
"This is Spartan-B312, I'm receiving you loud and clear." The Lieutenant spoke over the comms once more. "Do you read, over?"
"We hear you, Spartan." The voice that had identified themselves as Qui-Gon Jinn replied over the transmission. "How can we offer assistance?"
"I would appreciate a lift back to UNSC controlled space, ASAP." The Spartan requested urgently. "It's possible that there are still Covenant aboard the supercarrier..."
"Covenant? A Covenant of what?" The Man questioned sounding rather naïve. Six frowned deeply, was he acting a fool, or did he really not know? "Better yet between whom?"
"This is no time to play games." Six asserted firmly. "The Covenant have found Reach; I need to get back there." He added with a sense of urgency. Even if they had managed to destroy the supercarrier, he knew that the Covenant had already reported back to the Prophets or whoever it was that led their military. He didn't know precisely how long they had been on Reach but at the most it had been a few weeks, there was no way that they hadn't sent a message back alerting them that they had discovered yet another human world.
If Reach was to have a chance of surviving or at least holding out until the Fleet arrived, which would not be for another few days, then she needed soldier she had at her disposal to defend her...And while Onyx would always be his home, he knew that if it ever fell the momentous amount of moral that would be lost with it. It was not just a colony that their strongest military presence and one of the largest sources of titanium ...but it was the home of the Spartans, at least the ones that the public were aware of.
If they lost Reach it would be just as bad as somebody publicly debunking the invincible Spartan image. While soldiers knew there was no such thing as an unkillable soldier, after all they had witnessed Spartans dying beside them in the heat of battle, if the public even for a second dismissed the myth of "Spartans Never Die" even for a second all hope of finding a way to win this war would be lost, perhaps forever.
"I mean you no offence, Spartan. But we have no idea what this Covenant even is." The Man that referred to himself as a Jedi said calmly. "Nor have we heard of this Reach; I assume that that is the name of your home world?"
The Spartan paused as the Jedi asked him that question, a sudden weight on his shoulders as a pit formed in his stomach. There was not a man, woman, or even child alive that had not heard of Reach, humanities fortress among the stars, and if this man had not heard of it then did that mean..."
"What did you say your name was again?" Six asked slowly, a feeling of dread overcoming him.
"Qui-Gon Jinn, a Jedi Master of the Jedi Order."
"And that is?"
"That is a rather broad question, Spartan." The Jedi Master confessed as Six pursed his lips. "To put it simply Jedi, study, meditate, serve the Will of the Force. However. if you were to ask that question to someone outside the Order, they would tell you that we're the peacekeepers of the Galactic Republic. Guardians of peace and justice and serve the Republic first and foremost."
"Galactic Republic?" The Lieutenant felt a headache coming on as he listened to the cult leader. "I've never heard of it."
"That does not surprise me." Qui-Gon commented over the transmission. "We have never once encountered ships of such design before, nor the portal that you arrived through. Is it a form of FTL travel?"
"Of sorts."
"Meaning?" Six paused wondering how much he should tell the man, clearly something had gone terribly wrong with the slipspace bomb. It was unlikely that he had gone back in time considering that he had mentioned a Galactic Republic rather than the United Earth Government, and how guessed right about the portal being a FTL travel.
"I cannot get into it right now," Six reluctantly revealed. "Right now, I desperately need help." He hated the fact that he had to say that, let alone out loud. He had always been an independent Spartan, preferred to work alone and get things done his way, asking for help made him feel helpless, worse it made him feel like a failure. But right now he had no other choice but to ask, even if it sounded like he was pleading, for help.
"As I said before we're willing to offer as much aid as we can provide." The Jedi Master replied over the comms. "Is your ship damaged beyond repair?"
"No, if we can fix the engines it should be operational once more." The Spartan informed the Jedi.
"How about your crew? Are there any survivors aboard the wreckage?"
"My crew is dead." Six answered referring to the Army Troopers that hadn't survived the firefight that had taken place on the bridge earlier that day.
"I'm sorry for your loss." The Jedi said sincerely.
"As am I." The super soldier thought to himself reflecting on what he could have done different during the firefight. If he had paid more attention on them instead of rushing ff to do his own thing...well, he would not be standing on the bridge alone.
"Are you sure that it's not possible that some managed to survive? From what I can see a large section of the larger ship is still intact, broken...but intact. It would not out of the realm of possibility that there could be survivors up there."
Six quickly caught on to what he was alluding to, he thought that he was a member of the crew and he Covenant were his comrades, the final thought disgusted him. Still, maybe if he pretended that was the case so that he would lend him some aid. If this man, this Jedi, had never heard of the Covenant it was possible he had never heard of the UNSC let alone the Human-Covenant war that was waging on.
"My crew is dead." Six said firmly, neither lying nor telling the truth. "They died before I arrived here."
"Again, I'm sorry for your loss." Qui-Gon said sincerely.
"Thank you." B312 muttered as he briefly thought about the fireteam that he failed to keep alive. "Does your ship have a scanner?"
"It does...yes, it does." The Jedi seemed to be asking before he could confirm.
"Once your scan is complete you should be able see two bay doors on both the port and starboard side, come through the portside. The starboard is blocked by a Pelican."
"A pelican?"
"A dropship." The Lieutenant clarified for the Jedi Master. " It sustained damage during an... altercation." He wisely opted not to tell them that he had infiltrated the Corvette in the case that they treated him as an aggressor and refused to help him out. " Until it's repaired, I won't be able to move it."
"Understood, Spartan." Qui-Gon acknowledged over the transmission. "I should point out that are scan are showing that there is a platform atop your ship that we could use to land our Nubian."
"That won't work." Six turned down, as well as note that their ship was called a Nubian. "The doors between the hanger and the platform were damaged during the altercation."
"And may I ask what that was?" The Jedi Master, again he had no idea what that was, inquired curiously.
"Look," Six started slowly, anxious that the Jedi would go back on his word and leave him to fend for himself. " I'm more than willingly to play twenty questions...but I'd prefer to do it in person."
"Fair enough." Qui-Gon seemed to agree with him, much to his relief. "We'll see you in a few moments, Spartan."
"Understood." B312 answered short and sweet, relieved that there was a chance that he could get the Corvette up and running much faster than if him and the engineer had to do it themselves. Although, the names that Qui-Gon had mentioned were swirling around in his head like a message on repeat. Jedi. The Galactic Republic...but the part that through him through a loop was that he had never heard of the Covenant before.
If the man were human, which in hindsight he should have asked before asking all those questions, then could he have never heard of the damn Covenant? Was it possible that he was dealing with a sect of humans that like the Insurrectionists had broken away from the UEG and departed to a remote system long before the Great War and the Insurrection...or perhaps it happened during the Interplanetary War and some of the Koslovics managed to escape and had been rebuilding for the last four-hundred years.
That seemed highly unlikely considering that the Koslovic Movement followed the Neo-Communist Vladimir Koslov, who of which wanted to return to the glory days of Communism and eliminate corporate and capitalist influence throughout the Sol System. That movement was eventually, after six years of fighting ended by the then newly formed United Nations Space Command.
Still, anything was possible he guessed. After all, not for a second did he even entertain the thought of surviving activating the Slip-Space bomb so that Jorge could escape...he had no idea much time had passed since he activated it but hoped that he had landed on Reach safely and was now reunited with Noble Team. With a little help he too hoped that he would reunite with them sooner rather than later, especially when he knew it would only be a matter of time until more Covenant arrived.
It was ludicrous to even entertain the thought that the Covenant that had infiltrated passed their defences had not reported back to HIGHCOM, or whatever their equivalent was to inform them that they had discovered another human world. Otherwise, what was the point of building the numerous Stealth Pylons that were hiding their massive invasion force from the sensors?
While the Covenant may have been proud and arrogant...they were not stupid. They knew that the army that they had been building in secret would never be able to take Reach alone, they had to have called for reinforcements and were simply waiting for them to arrive...and would have caught them unaware if not for the reconnaissance mission that ONI sent him and Jun on.
"I'll meet you in the hanger." Six added before looking at the Engineer beside him giving him/her/it the signal to end the transmission between the two ships. "Good work." He commended the floating alien who let out a harmonious chime in return. If he did not know any better, it almost sounded like they had never been thanked for...well anything. Which was not surprising considering that they worked for the Covenant, he doubted that they were even aware of the concept of decency and expected the tasks to be done.
The tasks in this case being to assist in the total genocide of the Human Race, but other than that it was a task like any other...and one that the Covenant wanted accomplished above all else. After all...it was the will of the Gods.
Good thing he was an anthesis otherwise he really would be worried.
Pushing his thoughts on the Covenant, Gods, and religion to the side, at least for the time being, the Spartan-III pushed himself away from the console and turned around to observe the bridge of the Corvette before looking back at the Engineer? "Ready to meet the rescue party?" Six asked sounding optimistic for once now that things were finally going his way for once.
The Engineer chirped cheerfully as they spun around and started floating towards the door on the far side of the room, the door that he had originally came through that led to the Hanger Bay. Mentally shrugging, B312 followed the Engineer that left through the door and headed off to meet this Qui-Gon Jinn. Alas, had he waited a few more moments he would have noticed the holographic suddenly update and several Sprits, otherwise known as type-25 Troop Carriers, become visible and leaving the Supercarrier.
Ten Minutes Before...
What remained of the CSO-class supercarrier, Long Night of Solace, was in chaos as the remaining crew that not either been killed by the explosion that had taken out half of the ship preventing them from going anywhere, or pulled out into the vacuum of space, worked around the clock to restore the most basic systems. Thankfully despite all their losses they still had a substantial complement of Huragoks on board that could do in hours what would take any other species weeks to accomplish; it was what made them so valuable to the Covenant Empire.
Inside the supercarrier, or at least what was left of it, the overhead lights flickered sporadically as Unggoy and Kig-Yar ran and screamed hysterically at all the chaos and destruction that had been caused by the random Slipstream rupture that had opened directly underneath the supercarrier transporting them all to an unknown sector of the galaxy, as well as separating the stern and bow of the supercarrier leaving those that remained without leadership after Shipmaster Rho Barutamee, who had been on the bridge at the time of the slipspace rupture, had been declared lost with all hands when the supercarrier had been torn in three.
Moving through one of the remaining hallways of the Long Night of Solace that was in relative working order, as in it was not being decompressed by any of the ruptures in the hull, one of the few Sangheili that remained could be seen moving down the hall with a purpose unlike the hysterical Unggoy and Kig-Yar that were only being kept in lines thanks to the Jiralhanae who murdered the weaker of the cannon fodder, and threatened to eat those that stepped out of line...while they were still alive.
Even though everyone on board knew that the Jiralhanae would do so regardless they were just looking for an excuse to their savage and primitive nature; there was a reason the humans had labelled them as Brutes.
At seven foot and elven inches he was quite the sight among the Unggoy and Kig-Yar and the other species of the Covenant aside from the Jiralhanea and the Lekgolo when they took the form of a Mgalekgolo. He was wearing a custom assault harness that had a distinctive claret colourization, thought the most notably thing about him and what drew the most attention was the glowing yellow eyepieces that made him look like a creature of the night, a sight that terrified the younger and inexperienced Unggoy...
Whilst the more experienced and seasoned soldiers of the Covenant, especially those that were familiar with his name, were either hesitant or intimidated by his presence; something of which he either chose to ignore or he used it to his advantage when the situation called for it. He ignored the fearful looks he gained from the Unggoy and the Kig-Yar and the growl from the Jiralhanae that tried to frighten him as they barred their fangs at him.
He was neither intimidated nor did he have the time to waste dealing with a fool that even now was trying to show his dominance when they had absolutely no idea where they had been transported too or if assistance would arrive before it was too late. Brushing past the Jiralhanae and the rest of the crew, he silently moved down the halls without saying a word to remaining crew as he headed in the direction of the makeshift command centre that surviving Sangheili had set up to restore order aboard the supercarrier and figure out what exactly had happened.
Reaching the end of the hallway, he quietly entered the command centre and saw all seven of the surviving Sangheili busy working trying to get the makeshift command centre up and running just enough so they could reroute all remaining power to basic life support and to send out a signal to any passing patrol ships in the area.
"Are we all that's left?" Usze Tahamee asked, his stern and authoritative voice echoing throughout the room drawing the attention of the closest Sangheili. As the overhead light flickered above them, Usze managed to get a good look at them. He was wearing a regular Combat Harness that was in a blue colourization, indicating that he was only ranked as a Minor compared to the others that were all wearing the same Assault Harness as him, Flight Harness, or a Commando Harness like the Sangheili on the other side of the room was wearing.
"No one else has reported in so far." Their voice was young, much younger then Usze had been expecting but then he remembered that even he had been young once, young, and eager to prove himself to his Shipmaster. " But until we manage to fix our communications, I cannot say for certain..."
"Meaning for the time being we're on our own." The Special Operations Commando finished for the Minor, his mandibles flaring as he did. "How many of the crew have reported in and what news of the Prophet?"
"Right now, you know about as much as the rest of us detailing the Prophet. As for the crew," The Minor responded though kept his eyes on the holographic screen before him. "until more report in I cannot give you an exact number, but we should have a third of the crew remaining...but that number is dropping by the minute. "
"Explain." Usze commanded as he marched over to the young Sangheili warrior. From the corner of his eye, he spotted a Huragok rewiring the wires that had loose and sparking above them.
"As you can see on the screen, we're missing both halves of the ships meaning that we have two gaping holes on both sides. The Huragoks are working overtime to patch up these holes but we simply don't have enough left on board to seal ever breach on a ship this size...If we were not at war, I would commend the Humans for their tactics." His response got a series of growls from the other Sangheili for mentioning the, as the Prophets had declared, heathens in their presence.
"You believe this was the Humans doing?" Usze asked curiously. During his journey to the command centre he had hypothesised that the humans were responsible for the sudden appearance of the Slip-Stream portal opening directly beneath the ship...it was good to know that he was not the only one that thought so.
"I do." The young warrior nodded firmly as continued to work on the control panel in front of him. "Before the Slip-Stream Portal opened up the Ardent Prayer went dark. Shipmaster Barutamee thought nothing of it so did nothing when it returned for its routine refuelling run...but considering what happened when it arrived."
"A suicide run?"
"They may have escaped in time...or maybe they were desperate and were willing to do whatever it takes?" The blue clad Sangheili suggested giving something for Usze to think about.
"...Did the Ardent Prayer survive the trip?" Usze finally asked the younger and less experienced Sangheili.
"Unknown. Everything aside from basic life support and artificial gravity are still unresponsive. It will take some time until..."
"Have you tried opening the visual feed?"
"The visual feed?" Usze had basically told the entire room to do something as simple as look out the window, which despite their resourcefulness had never thought about...not even once. Typing in a few commands the Minor lowered the bay windows allowing the room to see the endless abyss that was space. Although, what drew their attention was the single silver ship that they could just make out in the distance. It was not so much that the ship but rather that the basic shape was almost identical to the ships, especially the front that was sleek and had a curvier design.
"Is it one of ours?" A voice whispered aloud as they focused on the ship. before anything else could be uttered the room suddenly powered up as multiple holo screens came to life, as did the lights above them that stayed on rather than flickering, before a Huragok cheered joyfully that they had accomplished their tasks.
With the power restored or at least power to command deck, Usze took charge. "Scan that ship...I never got your name."
"Yes, Sir...and its N'tho Sraomee." The now identified N'tho Sraomee replied as he got to work on scanning the ship that was slowly approaching. Within moments the ships scanners did their job, but it was not the answer that any of them wanted. "Unknown."
"What do you mean unknown?!"
"The scanners are probably still malfunctioning." Another voice interjected. "Like everything else on this ship its broken! Damn humans!"
"What do you expect from hairless Jiralhanae? Everything they do is dishonourable! Only cowards attack their enemies from the shadows rather than meeting them on the battlefield like a warrior." Another sneered in distain for the humans.
"I'm picking up a transmission." A voice announced preventing the group of Sangheili from sharing their hatred and disgust for humanity with each other. Usze looked in the direction of the voice to see that it belonged to the Ranger on the second floor.
"Can you triangulate that signal?" Usze called out to the Ranger working next to the comms station.
"Working on it." The Ranger responded quickly as they began working on locating exactly where the mysterious signal was coming from. Within the span of twenty-to thirty seconds he finally had his answer. "The transmission is coming from the unknown ship and the Ardent Prayer...the latter of which is directly beneath us." He finished before he typed in a few more commands to broadcast the transmission so that everyone present could hear.
The transmission was broadcasted for all to hear...and what they heard made the Sangheili warriors growl like savage beasts and clench their fists in anger. They didn't know precisely what was being said as two individual people conversed with each other. But they did know one thing...the voices were human. The mere thought of a human tainting one of their ships, defiling it with every step they took.
"We cannot allow the humans to defile our ship! We must take the Ardent Prayer back!" One of the Sangheili roared enraged that a human of all species was still aboard one of their vessels. "Now!"
"I concur!" Another Sangheili readily agreed ready to take up arms in their holy crusade to wipe out the humans so that the Great Journey could begin. "We must take the fight to them and destroy all those on board!"
"What if one of the humans is a Demon?" N'tho cut in as he looked around the room to gage their response. He had never encountered one let alone seen what they looked like but from the stories he had heard...he wondered if they were as ferocious and terrifying as the seasoned Sangheili and Jiralhanae claimed they were.
"Then they shall fall like the rest of their pathetic species." One of the Sangheili proclaimed boldly resulting in the others roaring in agreement...everyone but Usze who had remained silent during their discussion.
"So, will we engage?" One of the Spec Ops asked.
"Who is the ranking officer here?" Usze finally spoke as he looked around awaiting their response. He both saw and felt their eyes bore onto his armour, his helmet, his very being making him release an heavy sigh. He often worked alone, in fact he preferred working alone to accomplish his missions, it was what had marked his as one of the deadliest Special Operations commandos alive...any other time he would encouraged them to attack, in fact he would have been the one to lead the charge...
But something felt off regarding the unknown human ship. Had the Humans somehow replicated the designs of their ships, managed to get enough parts over the last twenty-seven years to replicate it and if so, was this merely a prototype? If that was the case, they needed to get hold of the ship as well as the humans in board to interrogate them to get the intel that they needed as to how and when they had managed to copy their design.
"We are." Usze confirmed as he addressed his fellow Sangheili. "But we're to capture the humans aboard the unknown vessel alive." Before any of them could interrupt him, he continued. " The humans ships are blocky, primitive in design...as you can clearly see that is anything but." He added looking directly at the silver ship. " I think it should be clear to everyone that they have replicated out designs and if they have that means they reversed engineered our technology...we must find out how by any means necessary."
"Yes, sir." The Sangheili said all at once.
"How many DX-class dropships do we have?" Usze questioned the group of warriors, anxious to get the information from the humans and destroy that ship before they could escape via Slipstream.
"Hundreds." N'tho answered his fellow Spec Ops Officer, even if it was clear that he was not aware of that fact nor was anyone else considering how they all treated him like some mere Minor Rank...that is what he got for wearing a basic harness he supposed. "And we still have millions aboard, most of them being the Unggoy."
"Plenty to throw at the enemy then." Usze noted, he like every other member of the Covenant not caring about the wellbeing of the Unggoy, a species that was considered nothing more but cannon fodder to through at the enemy to weaken them before the Sangheili arrived to win the battle for them. "I want three DX dropships filled and ready to go within five minutes. That should be more than enough to deter the humans from attacking...but remember they're to be kept alive."
"And the humans aboard the Ardent Prayer?"
"Kill them." Usze ordered firmly and without the hint of remorse. With everything that needed to be said, the other Sangheili relayed his orders and got the DX-class dropships ready unaware exactly what was waiting for the them once they reached the Ardent Prayer.
And cut! Well, here is the next chapter of A Noble Menace, I hoped you enjoyed it and again sorry for the hiatus on this story. Next chapter will be up much sooner where the battle for the Ardent Prayer begins. Whether or not Six will be forced to abandon it and escape on the Nubian or manage to hold it long enough so that the Engineer and R2DR get it up and running...I guess we will see next chapter.
And in case you didn't know Usze and N'tho are not OC's but rather the characters you play as player three and Four in the Halo 3 campaign.
It would also seem that the pairing is mostly between Six x Padme, Six x Aayla Secura, and Six x Shaak Ti.
Anyway, let me know what you all thought.