War has begun.
The UNSC Covenant war is underway and thus, the galaxy shall never be the same.
And we have a lot to do my comrades, a lot.
Too much to do other than to say, let's get to it. There is a war to be fought.
Rate Read and Review and as Always Have Nice Day.
The Halo Effect War and Civilization Chapter 6: Opening Salvos
2525/2169
Journal Entry XI
It's always such a strange reality when looking back on this year.
While each one after was as dramatic as the next, some mark this as the ultimate catalyst that led to the current state of the galaxy.
And most would agree to this sentiment.
Everything after this year fundamentally changed so much.
Any and all events from all perspectives and sides would be inexorably linked to this year that started it all.
End of Journal Entry.
February 3rd
Reach
CASTLE Base
It was business as usual for one Vice-Admiral Preston Cole.
He had just finished putting down another blasted Insurrection movement, this time on Reach which many within the UNSC did not take too kindly to such a matter.
Bastards tried getting their hands on one of the UNSC's newest creations, one that would undoubtedly be a gamechanger when deployed on the ground.
Though it was still in development back at the Kuat Drive Yards, this gigantic tank on wheels will be sure to send any and all Innies running to the hills.
Gazing over to one currently being constructed, one could not help but marvel at the size of this new gargantuan beauty.
Standing at 30 meters in height and stretched to nearly 50 meters in length, the HAVw A6 Juggernaut tank was a beauty to the eyes of the UNSC.
Large, lethal and loaded with so many functions and capabilities, the Juggernaut is an apt name for the tank as it is as various on terrain as it is in lethality.
It had taken some time in creating this tank as it had undergone, if one can't tell by the name, five previous variations that had varying degrees of success.
The one that came before the A6 was the A5 Juggernaut was the closest one to being put into service by the UNSC about ten years ago but it proved to be unable to sustain itself in the long run of a conflict. Afterwards, it was back to the drawing board.
And at last, after ten long years of blueprints and ideas being thrown around they had at last gotten the proper construction of a strong, durable and long lasting Juggernaut that can go straight into the heat of battle. Nothing short of a nuke would be able to stop this behemoth. Figure of speech of course.
They should be entering service within the next few months or year more likely, give or take some change. Kinks needed to be worked out of course but once done, it will undoubtedly be a formidable force on the battlefield.
"Cole!"
Preston turned and found himself grinning slightly at the sight of an old friend he had worked with in the past.
"Shepard, the hell are you doing here?" Cole greeted the ODST Captain with a boisterous tone.
"Just got reassigned here is all." Gerald said with a shrug. "Inna says hi by the way."
Cole nodded. "Good to hear. And the kids?"
"Energetic without any intentions of ever dropping." Gerald remarked, pulling out a photo from his pocket and held it out for the Vice-Admiral.
Taking it from Gerald, Cole looked over the photo and smirked slightly.
The two certainly inherited their father's wild spirit from the looks of how they were caught in the picture.
In it was their father, laughing loudly as he apparently was being tackled from behind by a young boy with short brown hair and was covered in mud. The father's arm was being pulled down by a girl with red hair that was equally as muddy as her brother.
Michael and Michelle Shepard were certainly as hyper as their father it seemed.
A brief sense of regret welled up from Cole though he repressed it for the time being, handing the photo back to its owner.
"How old?"
"In a month, four if you could believe it." Gerald remarked, gazing at his kids with a fatherly love before pocketing his photo.
"So reassigned eh?" Cole said, the two beginning to walk down a corridor of the base. "What unit?"
"Boomerang Company." Gerald said with a proud grin and Cole could understand why.
Among the many marine and ODST companies, Boomerang was ranked among the best of the best if not the very best that the UNSC has to offer.
To be listed among them is a very high prestigious honor though with someone like Shepard's track record, he more than earned such a reassignment.
"Heard you recently took down another Innie unit here on Reach." Gerald brought up.
"Got pretty bold if you ask me." Cole remarked. "Attacking the heart of humanities military? Ballsy but incredibly stupid."
"Yeah, especially with a big guy like you around." Gerald stated patting Cole's back.
The two soon arrived at one of the Comm rooms of CASTLE base, many terminals and areas being manned by officers and personnel of the UNSC.
Some had stopped their work to salute Cole and Shepard where others were so engrossed in their work, they barely noticed them.
And by then, the two would have passed by as they were chatting with one another.
*THUMP*
The two halted in their tracks, looking over to a Wookiee pair and a human around a holodeck where one of the Wookiees was growling in frustration, fist having hit the table.
"Everything alright over here?" Cole asked, walking over to them with Gerald by his side.
The trio saw the two men of higher rank and quickly saluted.
"Sirs, Milo Jenkins." The human introduced himself. "This is Berraken and Shiffooora."
The two Wookiees growled aloud in greeting.
"At ease." Cole instructed. "Mind telling us what that was just now?"
Berraken, the Wookiee that had slammed his fist down on the holodeck, moaned out an apology as he cited frustrations with communications.
"What's wrong?" Shepard asked.
"That's just it, we don't know." Milo replied with an annoyed tone.
Shiffooora whined and warbled about losing contact with a colony world and how she and her two friends were having difficulties re-establishing contact. The Slip-Space buoys were intact, both short and long range yet they were receiving nothing.
"Any idea what could have caused this?" Gerald asked, walking over to the holodeck now intrigued as to what they were dealing with.
"Not sure Captain." Jenkins admitted. "We've been trying for about an hour now. Checked over previous transmissions and communications that had been sent in and out of Harvests system. Madrigal is the only other closest colony to Harvest and they've reported the same problems still."
Berraken spoke up, bringing up several of said transmission and isolated one in particular.
Something about an unknown, unidentified contact.
Cole and Shepard shared a look with one another.
"A contact of unknown origin?" Gerald said for clarification.
Shiffooora growled out in confirmation, stating that after that they had heard nothing. She said they were planning on bringing it up to someone with higher rank within the base.
"Well, you got 'em." Cole said. "Show us everything you've gotten down so far."
February 23rd
Harvest
It was destroyed.
Turned to ash in a matter of a few hours, possibly even less than that.
The city of Gladsheim was completely destroyed with all of its inhabitants having been killed.
To say that one Sergeant Major Avery Junior Johnson was furious would be an understatement.
Seeing how there was literally no one left and that these alien bastards were the ones responsible for such an atrocity lit a fire under his ass.
Currently, he was with an old friend and fellow ORION project member Sergeant Major Nolan Byrne.
With them was a small unit of Harvest's local militia, a mix match of humans and Wookiees.
After initial meetings between these new aliens broke down, battles began erupting across the planet with the entire planet now fighting off this new threat.
From what they had gathered from their first meeting, this conglomerate of aliens called themselves the Covenant.
And from the looks of things, evolution wasn't too kind to any of them in terms of the looks department.
Or in case of the particularly large, brutish ape-like species, smell either.
Right now, they had just cleared a small company of those bird-like aliens known as the Kig-Yar and those stubby, shorter ones called the Unggoy.
The planet was undergoing evacuation, this op being labeled a top priority until they could get in contact with the rest of the UNSC fleet.
They needed to know just what in the hell was going on here and fast.
"Johnson." Nolan called out to his friend. "Scouts detected movement up ahead."
A Wookiee in their ranks roared aloud, gesturing over to large grass growing nearby.
"Good thinking, Chock." Avery said in approval, gesturing for the rest of the squad to make for cover as they heard chatter that wasn't anything like Human or Wookiee speech.
The unit waited within the grass, the alien languages growing closer and louder.
Johnson and Byrne soon saw a small group of those Unggoy and Kig-Yar that they had encountered and killed just now being led by one of those large brutish apes.
Byrne recalls them being called Jiralhanae.
But with them were several new aliens that they had not encountered at the start of the meeting.
They looked feral and downright savage to say the least.
Burning red eyes, sickly yellowish-brown and burnt looking with sharp clawed hands and an equally sharp looking set of teeth.
"The hell are those supposed to be?" Johnson asked in a low voice though he didn't expect an answer.
"How many aliens are in this fucking Covenant?" A marine whispered out; a sentiment shared by most of the unit.
The group drew closer, now seeing a bunch of their dead comrades.
The largest of their group began barking out orders in its language, the other smaller aliens got to work.
They had begun picking up the leftover weapons and moving around the bodies of their deceased.
One of those savage looking aliens came up to one of the dead Unggoy with an unpleasant gleam in its eyes.
Abruptly, a live Unggoy ran up to the feral alien and shoved it away from the deceased with the burnt looking alien growling in response.
The large brutish one roared aloud in annoyance, dispelling what might have been a confrontation.
Within the fields, Johnson looked behind him. Holding out his hand, he held up two fingers before changing it into a circle clenching it a moment later and pointing it at a small cluster of the aliens.
Looking over to Chock and another Wookiee, he pointed to his eyes and then pointed at the largest of the aliens.
They all nodded with Johnson holding up three fingers… two… one.
An Unggoy held up a blue sphere and pocketed it, going over to a group of other Unggoy.
A moment later, in between the small group, a dark greenish sphere rolled in between the small group. One picked it up and examined it for a mome-
*BOOM* *BOOM*
"GO!"
Suddenly, the small contingent of Covenant suffered from losing half their numbers via grenades. From the fields nearby, humans and Wookiees popped out and assaulted the contingent of the enemy forces.
Both Wookiees with Sergeants Byrne and Johnson ran for the largest of the group, the brutish alien roaring aloud in a challenging manner.
They ran straight at the Jiralhanae, unloading everything they had in their arsenal. While he seemed to soak up the lead bullets with ease, it appeared that Chock's bowcaster was the only weapon that actually made him stagger.
Even then, that didn't appear to be enough due to brute still standing.
The Wookiees roared aloud, now sprinting at the Jiralhanae who had readied himself as the two furry enemies drew near. Johnson and Byrne fired at the ape-like alien to keep its attention as Chock lunged forward.
He tackled the alien, making him stumble only for the back of his neck to be grabbed and flung aside with astonishing ease. The other Wookiee ducked beneath a wild swing yet was surprised by a powerful knee strike to its face. The Wookiee warrior fell to the ground, the brute ready to stomp his opponents face in.
The Jiralhanae's eye was then suddenly shot out, the brute roaring aloud in pain. It looked over to see Johnson with his weapon raised.
Then, without warning, a silvery blade came out of the Jiralhanae's chest.
Chock had recovered and ran up from behind to pierce the larger alien with his Ryyk blade. Only instead of killing the ape-like alien, it instead seemed to only further enrage it.
The large foe whirled round with a surprising speed and had its hands clamped firmly around Chock's neck.
Chock immediately began to feel air escaping from his lungs, desperately clawing and punching the Jiralhanae's arms in a vain attempt to release him. Just as he was about to succumb to the choke hold, another Ryyk blade went through the Jiralhanae.
Only this time, it was from the back of his head.
Twitching for several moments, the Jiralhanae fell to the ground dead with Chock gazing at his savior.
He grunted out a strained thanks to his Wookiee comrade who assisted him to his feet.
"Fucking hell, that is one tough bastard." Johnson remarked, going over to the two.
Both Wookiees couldn't help but make sounds of agreement, troubled by just how much of an effort they had to put in to taking down one of these newer aliens.
Over with Byrne, he was checking up on the rest of the militia that had taken out the rest of the Unggoy, Kig-Yar and one of the new savage looking aliens.
"The hell are these fuckers supposed to be?" A soldier asked, kicking one of the dead feral aliens' arms.
"No idea." Another said.
"Feels like that's gonna be a common saying for now." Byrne remarked. "Come on, we've stayed here long enough. If these bastards are in contact with each other, then they'll know that something happened with this unit."
The Sergeant then looked over to Johnson.
"Avery, we ready to move out?" Nolan called out to the fellow ORION member.
"Yeah." Johnson declared, slamming a new magazine into his Battle Rifle. "Let's go kick some ass."
October 7th
Harvest… has been abandoned.
With the Covenant's overwhelming numbers and superior technology, whatever UNSC forces were left upon Harvest were either evacuated or killed.
Though it was mostly killed then evacuated.
Three million to be confirmed dead.
The loss was beyond devastating.
A portion of the planet had been burnt with the landscape becoming completely unrecognizable.
Whatever UNSC forces that had survived had brought with them a message.
A message and proclamation of war.
Rapidly, this message began to spread amongst the UNSC and without a doubt, to the civilian populace.
For the time being, most would try their best to quell the spread of such news in order to better gauge as to what they were dealing with but this would eventually have to be known.
Currently, calls and transmissions were being sent out to multiple high ranking officials within the three alien coalition of the UNSC.
What was broadcasted was plain as day.
A declaration of war has been made against them by this Covenant and that this was something marked as a priority-0.
Full mobilization was in effect.
October 31st
Reach
Fleetcom
Within a large auditorium, a number of high ranking and known individuals were all filing in.
Members from all walks of the UNSC were in attendance as they had been vaguely briefed as to what it was they were being called in for.
To receive such grave news of a Priority-0 across the board was something to be taken seriously of the highest regard.
Everywhere one would look, they would be able to recognize a number of high profile individuals that have gained a significant reputation or one who holds a high position in their species.
On the human end, nothing short of some of the very best were in attendance.
From some of the Vice-Admirals such as Preston Cole, Gilad Pellaeon, Steven Hackett, Harold Stanforth to high ranking admirals like Jan Dodonna.
There were young Captains and Commanders as well.
David Anderson, James Cutter, Terrence Hood, Richard Wallace and Adar Tallon were among the human side with the UEG president in attendance with the current Fleet Admiral Lord Jon Grissom.
On the side of the Mon Calamari King Yos Kolina, The Head of State of the Mon Cala government and Commander-in-Chief of the Mon Cala military was in attendance along with a litany of other high ranking Mon Cala officials.
Cha Niathal: Fleet Admiral of the Mon Cala Navy, she is in charge of the operational command over all Mon Cala armed forces. Uryta Gill, a male Admiral Mon Calamari who is in charge of the Mercantile Fleet. Two other admirals of the Mon Cala were present being Zo Ryda and Keya Tak.
Of the Vice-Admiral ranks, Gial Ackbar, Grell Raddus and Dol Narlock along with Gral Merai, the Commander of the Mon Cala air force.
General Var Suthra and his retinue of officers rounded out the ground forces of the Mon Cala and Alin Eerin was present, being the head of the Data Seekers of her people.
The Wookies were here in bulk as well with their king, Grakchawwaa present as the representative of Kashyyyk Royal Families.
Tarfful was in attendance as well as the Commander-in-Chief of Kashyyyk's Armed Forces.
Multiple generals had been called in.
Salporin, Tyokka, Harrgun, Merumeru, just to name a few Generals and Lieutenant-Generals.
Even members of the Wookiees within the UNSC navy were here. Vice Admiral Joshk, the highest rank to be achieved in the Navy by a Wookiee seeing as they themselves have stated to be more of a ground oriented species of combatants. With him were two Rear-Admirals named Chiwk and Borr along with a rising up and comer named Grun Whell.
"Order." Fleet Admiral Jon Grissom said aloud. "This meeting is now effectively called into session."
The entire auditorium went silent as Grissom took center stage.
He stood before the large assemblage as a planet was projected before them all.
"Eight months ago, we lost contact with the colony world of Harvest." Grissom said, the audience silent as they listened attentively. "Earlier transmissions displayed UNSC personnel detecting an unidentified ship of unknown origin within the system and had moved to intercept it. From what we have been able to get from our AI on Harvest, this ship belongs to a conglomerate coalition of aliens that call themselves the Covenant."
There were murmurings and whispers between the assembled though Jon went on.
"We had attempted at First-Contact though the initial meetings were hostile. While at first we had thought this to be a vessel perhaps constructed by the Insurrection. The ship was ambushed though they were beaten back with ease. Upon realizing that this was an alien ship with new sentient species, the attack was called off. An attempt was made at proper first-contact meetings but most of those that had met with a group of these new species were killed off. We soon got this message."
A video was played by one of the aliens wearing robes and an elaborate headpiece.
"Your destruction is the will of the Gods… And we are their instruments."
The message ended with a very disturbed and troubled audience.
"This Covenant has made their intentions clear. They do not wish to negotiate or make peace with us. Their mass slaughter of the three million colonists on Harvest made that very clear."
A sense of shock with underlying outrage was present amongst all that had gathered, the humans glaring, Wookiees growling and Mon Cala trembling with anger.
So much loss of life in such a sudden instance.
"To put it plainly, from what we have gathered now, the only response we can have is the advent of mobilization and total war." Grissom stated in a grim tone.
Some however weren't as adamant.
"We have enough dealing with the Insurrection."
"Was there truly no alternative to peace?"
"Can we attempt a negotiation with them?"
"Negotiation?! They just wiped out three million civilians with now warning!"
Suddenly, a loud slam was heard from the Wookiee side of the assembly effectively silencing all other conversation. King Grakchawwaa rose from his seat with all eyes turning to the Wookiee king who held a fierce expression.
"GRAAAARR RAAA."
There was a brief silence in the air before many began banging their boots against the ground or the railings in front of them. Upon hearing the Wookiee kings declaration, there really weren't many who had the heart to disagree.
His statement was simple and straightforward.
'My Decision? War against the Invaders!"
November 1st
Formal declaration of war announced by the UNSC towards the invading alien empire known as the Covenant.
Mobilization of all fleets, battalions, squadrons, legions and such in effect.
News of the Covenant begins to spread throughout the inner colonies.
Conscription now in effect.
Covenant aliens are identified.
San'Shyuum appears to be the overall leader of this empire. Sangheili and the Jiralhanae are the main muscle and strength of the covenant. Unggoy, Kig-Yar, Vorcha, Yanme'e and Geonosians make up the general populace of the Covenant with another set of species called the Huragok and Lekgolo.
In the aftermath of the meeting several promotions were made.
Of note was Cha Niathal being made Supreme Allied Commander of the entirety of the UNSC forces.
Three new Admirals were promoted being Gial Ackbar, Grell Raddus and Preston Cole.
Multiple fleet compositions were underway with every manufacturer upon every colony being sent instructions to begin focusing exclusively on building any and all weapons, vehicles and equipment for the UNSC.
Nothing was off the books.
Especially…
November 27th
UNSC Commonwealth
Within the Paris-Class Frigate, fifty-five augmented super soldiers were either resting, training or for some maintaining their equipment and Ryyk blades.
They were en route to a planet called Chi Ceti where the final phase of the Spartan-II program would be put into effect.
What that would be is up in the air for the time being but they simply awaited their arrival to Chi Ceti.
The only Spartans missing as of right now were 117, 092, 051, 104 and 116.
Everyone else was simply waiting for their arrival at Chi Ceti.
Though they didn't need to say it, there was an underlying tension in the air that was shared between the Spartans.
It had been over a month by this point since they had been informed of this new foe that threatens the UNSC and they had yet to make any move against them.
All that they were made aware of was the mobilization of the UNSC fleet for the most part and how several dozen colonies have been put on high alert. Since then… nothing else other than training regiments as Halsey and Taun have stated they need to become more accustomed to their augmentations.
They said something about their acclimation to be critical for the upcoming phase.
"Hey guys."
Everyone turned to see the five team leaders return.
"Does Project Mjolnir mean anything to you guys?" 117 asked straight away.
"Mjolnir?" Sam repeated. "Sounds kinda familiar."
"That sounds Nordic." Riz-028 brought up. "Randall always talked about it."
"I remember." Will-043 with a snap of his fingers. "Mjolnir is the mystic hammer used exclusively by Thor. He's the only one worthy to wield the hammer."
"You gotta lay off those comics, Will." Anton remarked.
"Never." Will declared plainly.
"So we'll be getting something that only we could use then." Frederic surmised with a thoughtful expression.
Before they were able to discuss this matter further, Captain Wallace of the Commonwealth was heard over the intercom.
"Attention all hands, we are now exiting Slip-Space."
The Commonwealth exited Slip-Space though it didn't come alone.
With the Commonwealth was another Paris-Class Frigate called the UNSC Spearhead and a Mon Cala MC40A Light Cruiser Drifting Wave.
It seemed a bit much to be having three frigates/cruisers all travelling in tandem with one another. But war had just been declared.
And after the initial encounter with this new enemy at Harvest, it was better that they travelled in numbers then just one frigate.
"Spartans." They heard the voice of Halsey ringing through the intercom now. "Make your way down to the hangar bay. Pelicans have been prepped for our arrival."
"You heard her." Jerome said aloud. "Let's move out."
The large group of enhanced superhumans made their way down to the hangar bay of the ship, spotting Halsey and Taun We waiting for them with the Pelicans that would take them down to Chi Ceti IV.
"Spartans." Halsey greeted. "Climb aboard. It's high time you all find out why you were brought here."
Just as they were approaching the pelicans, the alarms of the Commonwealth began blaring.
Everyone was immediately put on alert, hearing an announcement over the intercom.
"All hands to battle stations. This is not a drill. Unknown contact has just exited Slip-Space."
Those within the hangar turned around to the exit bay in time to see a large, purple, curved and sleek ship pass in between the Commonwealth and the MC40A Light Cruiser.
"Whoa." 116 muttered below his breath.
"Doctor Halsey." Captain Wallace's voice chimed in through her own comm link. "I would advise you to not get out there. This ship is only a thousand kilometers and if it sees you exiting the Commonwealth, you'll get shot out into the void."
"Apologies Captain Wallace but we must get down to the surface." Halsey argued strongly. "Down there is the tipping point we need if we are to survive this battle… and this war."
That… certainly wasn't something the Captain of the Commonwealth was expecting.
Before he had the chance to respond, another Captain in his stead did.
"This is Captain Gilbi Vrambu of the MC40A Drifting Wave. My Cruiser and UNSC Spearhead will provide cover for you and your Spartans, Doctor Halsey." The Mon Cala Captain declared fiercely.
Smiling to herself, Halsey looked to her Spartan-II's.
"You heard him, Spartans. Let's not let their distraction go to waste."
The Spartans quickly piled in and the Pelicans flew off towards their destination.
All the while, the light cruiser and Paris-class Frigate moved in to engage the much larger ship as they fired off archer and concussion missiles.
The covenant vessel however, appeared to have something that the UNSC was sorely lacking.
Energy shields.
It took all the missiles that were sent by the two ships with ease, soon unleashing a torrent of missiles and projectiles of its own.
The ships were struck hard, damage visible with scorch marks and for the UNSC Spearhead, a breach as well.
The Commonwealth, all the while, readjusted its trajectory. Once it aligned itself, the ship's primary weapon began to charge.
The Magnetic Accelerator Cannon. Though there is a long winded, detailed explanation of the function of this weapon most would just simply state the MAC fires a metal slug at high velocity.
The first round smashed itself against the shielding to no avail. Yet the second one.
The second round punched a hole clean through the ship. It remained active and seemed virtually nonplussed by the damage, however it changed its course and moved away from the three ships that surrounded it.
It began firing off multiple missiles to stave off the three ships before it seemingly fled via a Slip-Space portal.
Within the ship, Captain Wallace narrowed his eyes. He looked over to one of the personnel on the bridge of the Commonwealth and the Navy officer nodded.
"Captain Gilbi, Captain Mason, do you have any sign of the enemy ship on your radar?" Wallace asked. "Any slip-space rupture?"
"Other than the one we just saw, no." Gilbi replied.
"That was instantaneous." Captain Mason of the Spearhead stated. "How'd they do that?"
"It appears that their Slip-Space understanding exceeds our own." Gilbi noted.
That was an unsettling thought but Wallace had to remain calm.
"Stay on alert." Wallace instructed. "No telling what exactly we're up against."
With the Spartan-II's, their ships neared a landing platform of the Damascus Materials Testing Facility that was stationed upon Chi Ceti IV.
They quickly filed out of the pelicans and followed Taun and Halsey into the facility and were soon standing within a large room.
As the room lit up, Halsey and Taun stood before the Spartan-II's on opposite ends of a hinged door.
Having all Spartans within the room, Halsey held out her hand to the door on the floor.
"This… is Project Mjolnir."
The hinge door opened with a platform rising up from below.
On the platform itself however was a large assortment of what could be defined as armors of some kind, each seemingly bulky yet also slim in design.
They were all identical for the most part, having the same design overall and look with all of the armors having an iridescent green color. The main distinguishing trait that could be visibly seen on the armors were that each one possessed a number on the left hand chest area.
The numbers of each of the Spartans that had been gathered here today.
"Spartans." Taun began in her serene voice. "While you have all made great strides with your augmentations; this is the other half of the equation. This is our force multiplier for all of you."
The augmented superhumans listened attentively as the two doctors began describing the armor and its details.
The armor's outer shell is composed of a multilayer alloy of remarkable strength which has been augmented with a refractive coating capable of dispersing a limited amount of energy weapon impact. Underneath the alloy shell is a thick black armored titanium nanocomposite bodysuit and underneath that was a gel-filled layer. The gel layer regulates temperature reactively changes its density in a few seconds. The inner skinsuit is made of a moisture-absorbing synthetic material linked to an environmental control computer and the occupant's special-issue neural interface.
This network translates electrochemical signals to digital code and routes them through an interface connection at the rear of the skull. Through this interface the user's thoughts commands the armor's movement and weapons and input from the on-board sensors comes directly to the user's mind. The synthesis of machine and mind is so fast that it is almost impossible to chart the reaction time.
Sandwiched between the external armor and the internal padding is the most devastating weapon the suit carries: a layer of polymerized lithium niobocene, a form of reactive metal liquid crystal. Woven by molecular tools into a super-dense layer, this layer is amorphous, yet it amplifies force, doubling lifting capability and increases reaction time by a factor of five.
"So these suits amplify our strength?" Frederic asked in slight astonishment.
"Indeed it does, Frederic." Halsey said with a small smile.
"I think I'm in love…" Sam muttered in open awe, a wide grin appearing on his face.
"Those that have tested the suit realized the system is so reactive that normal human beings cannot use the suit without injuring or even killing themselves." Taun said with a grim tone. "There had been several who had volunteered themselves in testing these suits' capabilities only to have all their bones broken and muscles torn. Only one survived but was unfortunately paralyzed from the experience."
"But you are not normal humans." Halsey stated firmly. "You have all undergone the skeletal, neural and muscular augmentation and should be able to safely operate the suits here."
A silence loomed over the Spartans for a brief moment.
"Now, I will need a volun-"
"I'll do it." 117 stepped forward without a moment of hesitation.
Halsey gave him an expectant look. "I figured you would, John."
John looked back to Blue Team with Sam only nodding his head while Kelly showed a brief flash of concern.
A few minutes later, the rest of the Spartans watched as John was outfitted in this armor with several scientists placing the pieces around him. Each piece was fastened onto the black nano bodysuit.
Once every piece save for the helmet was placed on, everyone waited with bated breath.
"Move very slowly." Taun instructed. "Your body and the suit must adjust to one another."
"The armor cannot be powered down nor the response scaled back." Halsey added with a touch of anxiety in her tone.
Slowly raising his left hand, he cautiously flexed it several times.
"It's shifting." John noted.
"That would be the gel-fill layer adjusting to your body shape." Halsey informed him. "Now, are you ready for your first step?"
Exhaling to steel himself, John silently nodded his head.
Lifting up one leg, 117 took several steps forward appearing to grow more comfortable after every step.
"It's… lighter than I expected."
"That's what we were hoping to hear." Halsey said, looking over to Taun We who held out a helmet for Blue Leader.
Though the standard height of a Kaminoan was usually between 2.2 to 2.4 meters(7'4 to 7'8), Taun stood at an exceptional height of Eight foot Two inches.
A full head taller than John within his new armor.
Yet due to his height increase, Taun didn't need to lower herself in order to place 117's new helmet upon his head to complete the Spartan-II's look.
"Well," Halsey said with an expectant tone. "How do you feel, John?"
After a moment, 117 stood straight with a posture of confidence. "Like I was born to wear this ma'am."
Upon hearing this proclamation, there was a swell of anticipation that permeated among the Spartan-II's as now they wanted to get inside their own set of armor.
Soon enough, every single Spartan was outfitted with their own set of Mjolnir and each one of them felt the difference that their armor provided.
Everything was elevated, their senses, their strength, their speed, dexterity, etc.
The heavy hitters such as Sam, Jorge, Douglas and Will were exercising their strength by punching through rock after a series of well-timed strikes.
Kelly, along with Riz, Caleb, Jerome and Alice found themselves running faster and faster upon treadmills with them not breaking a sweat.
To say that the results of their fusion with the Mjolnir armor was what Halsey had envisioned was an understatement. Most were already outperforming their original predictions.
However, this showcase came to an end when Captain Wallace contacted Halsey.
"Doctor Halsey." The man sounded rather strained. "The Covenant ship is retreating but it's hammered us hard. If we stay here any longer, Spearhead is gonna get destroyed and I know the Commonwealth will follow shortly after."
"Ma'am." John stepped forward. "Let us take a shot. We're the best possible option, you're only option right now. We're ready. And you know it."
Halsey hesitated briefly. "Godspeed John."
The Spartans knew that the usual guns blazing tactic would not work.
They'd have to use a different approach.
Scalpels, as they were once referred to as. Surgical soldiers that could decimate forces from within.
This was to be their first engagement, so the Spartan-II's would go out swinging.
Blue Team and Red team would serve as the infiltrators.
However, upon getting readouts from the ships that had brought them here they noted that the shields, while up, needed to disperse to a degree to allow turrets and missiles to be fired out.
That's where Silver Team comes in.
Daniel, Yumi, Joyner and Nicole would serve as distractions for the Covenant while the two infiltration teams would get into the enemy ship.
And how would they be doing this?
"Oh… my God." 116 said with complete and utter joy.
Within a separate hangar bay of the Damascus facility were a dozen brand new starfighters that the UNSC had just put into service last year.
The beautiful RZ-1 A-Wing Interceptor.
"Oh boy." Joyner remarked in complete amusement. "Here we go again."
"I'm glad you like it, Daniel." Halsey said with a sly smile. "These ships are tailor made for speed and can work in tandem with your suit for performance enhancement within space. The A-Wing has an experimental countermeasure system that can be useful for this engagement. The Miradyne 4X-Phantom short-range sensor jammer."
By this point, Silver leader and even the rest of his team were itching to get into these new ships.
"Oh my God, get a room already." Sam said with a wry tone, chuckling a moment later at the giddy nature 116 displayed upon plopping himself down into one of the A-wings.
The starfighter was armed with Two M1024 ASW/AC 30mm MLA cannons and twelve sets of concussion missiles that 116 knew he had to use wisely.
Yumi, Nicole and Joyner soon entered their own A-wings whilst Blue and Red Team entered into a Pelican for themselves.
A moment later, all five spacecraft were in the air and flying up past the planet's surface and into space.
Upon exiting Chi Ceti's atmosphere, the ships were greeted to the sight of three UNSC ships way away from the Covenant Vessel.
"All I'm saying is you could have had Green and Silver team handle this." Sam-034 remarked from the co-pilot seat of the pelican.
"You guys are kinda in the way." Yumi said from her A-wing.
"Do you want me to turn this ship around?" 117 asked Sam in a jokingly reprimanding manner. "Pretty sure Red Team wouldn't like that."
There was a small chuckle shared between the ten Spartans before they got much more serious.
"So how are we doing this, John?" Jerome asked straight away.
"We can't brute force these guys with what we have right now." John stated. "So we'll need a more steady and precise hand."
"Scalpels." 092 stated getting a nod out of Blue Leader.
"Right." John said. "They'd be on full alert if three large frigates would be coming in from all sides. But I figure with four smaller ships, they wouldn't take us as seriously…"
"But would be distracted enough for us to get into their ship unnoticed." Jerome finished with John nodding at Red Leader.
"You'll get your entry, guys." Daniel-116 chimed in from his A-wing. "These Covenant bastards won't know what hit 'em."
"One question." Sam spoke up. "How exactly are we gonna take out that ship?"
"So glad you asked, Sam." John remarked, walking to the back end of the ship to a panel and compartment. Inputting a command code, a cylindrical item popped out with a red tip that John grabbed and held out to 034. "You're favorite, courtesy of the Commonwealth."
"Oh this day just keeps getting better." Sam declared with a wide grin beneath his helmet.
"Why'd you have to go and give him that, John?" Kelly asked in amusement.
"Now he'll never let go." Douglas-042 joked.
"Oh please." Sam retorted with an equally entertained tone. "You guys are just as gung-ho as we are."
"Guilty." Alice-130 said without hesitation.
"Now if Grace were here…" Sam left the question hanging, knowing that when it came down to explosive 093 was unmatched.
"We're coming up on the enemy ship." Daniel-116 said through the comms. "Moving to engage in 10."
"You heard Silver." Jerome stood from his seat. "Let's get ready."
"We're only going to have one chance at this." John stated. "We may not get another opportunity."
"Which means we won't mess up." Sam declared, thumping his fist against John's shoulder in an assuring manner.
"We better not." 087 said aloud. "Pelicans on autopilot now."
The six Spartans armed themselves as they stood at the back of the Pelican, Blue Team up front Red team behind them.
"We're going in." Daniel announced.
Out in the void of space, four A-wings zoomed past the pelican with their trajectory in line for the Covenant ship.
Several moments later, missiles and other projectiles were launched in response to the oncoming starfighters.
The four starfighters broke formation and effectively avoided the missiles with lightning speed.
116 and 124 pushed their thrusters forward, increasing the speed of their A-wings.
They got in close to the ship, skimming along its hull.
"Turrets." 116 pointed out.
"I see 'em." Yumi said, firing a pair of Concussive missiles.
The two projectiles struck the turrets, heavily damaging them though it appeared not to take them out of commission.
This was quickly rectified by Daniel utilizing his own pair of Concussive missiles, this time destroying them.
Joyner and Nicole zipped by, firing rapidly at the Covenant ship with multiple turrets facing the direction of the small fighters that were flying rings around the ship's defenses.
Within the Pelican, the two Spartan teams saw their chance and propelled themselves straight out of their own ship and into the void.
They drifted forward, unperturbed by the zero-gravity they found themselves in.
All that mattered was getting to the ship.
Their suits had built in thrusters, allowing them to manage their acceleration as they drew closer and closer to the covenant ship.
Silver Team was zipping back and forth, managing to shoot down several turrets with strafing runs. The ship was much more durable then it initially appeared. Still, the fact that the ship was taking damage from their own showed it wasn't as indestructible as it appeared to be.
That and the gaping hole made by the MAC round also proves that theory.
Red Team soon diverted themselves away from Blue Team, going for the bottom entry of the hole made by the MAC round. The shield was in constant fluctuation due to Silver Team which meant that there were multiple openings for the two teams.
Thanks to Silver, Blue and Red face little to no defensive fire from the ship with all six entering inside the Covenant ship with no issue.
John, Sam and Kelly touched down into the ship of the Covenant within a corridor, all three immediately entering into a three-way back-to-back formation with their weapons raised.
"Clear." Sam said.
"Clear." John stated, with the trio momentarily relaxing though still remaining wary and tense.
"Red Team, come in."
092 responded a moment later. "This is Jerome. All Spartans accounted for. What's your status?"
"Probably the same as yours." Sam remarked. "In an alien ship of unknown origin and design."
"Very funny." John said with a shake of his head. "Keep contact to a minimum. Radio in only for intel and position."
Blue team got a green blinker within their Heads Up Displays from their helmets, signifying Red team got the message.
Sam and John walked forward, Kelly covering the rear as she kept an eye on anything that may sneak up on them from behind.
"We can't be walking around in an alien ship blind." Sam commented.
"Hard to say what we can do." Kelly stated. "I've got radiation readings coming from all over the ship. But the biggest one to note is coming from the ship's center."
"Could be the ship's reactor." John surmised with both his partners agreeing.
They were nearing a branching hallway and from their readings being shown to them via their HUD, that was the direction of the largest source of the energy reading. The ship momentarily shook, the sound of defensive fire being heard.
"Looks like Silver Team is still playing out there." Sam remarked.
"Then we better get moving." John said, now facing the hallway. "Sam, take point. Kelly, you'll be in the middle and I'll bring up the rear."
Getting into formation, Blue team walked down the rather claustrophobic hallway until coming before a door.
Sam and John turned their backs to Kelly, making sure to keep her covered whilst she gazed at the door before looking to the sides.
Finding a holographic panel, she stood before it and cautiously raised her hand up and pressed it against the panel.
A moment later, the door opened for the team, allowing them to continue forward.
Suddenly, they heard soft pattering on the floor and out in front of them walked a short stubby bipedal alien that certainly was not one they were accustomed to.
There was an awkward silence for the briefest of moments until the alien let out a panicked cry of fear and grabbed a sidearm.
It only managed two shots of whatever that energy substance was before it was gunned down by Blue Team.
"So they're not bulletproof." John said. "Good to know."
"Think we should've tried communicating with it?" Kelly inquired.
Sam scoffed. "This one understood us just fine."
John walked up to the dead alien and picked up the sidearm that it used, examining it a few seconds before placing it on his thigh. Looks like they can be magnetically attached to their armor.
Convenient.
"Red Team, what's your status?" John asked through the comms. "We just took out an enemy."
"Similar on our end." Jerome responded.
Over with Red Team, they were examining the corpses of two winged aliens that were lanky in appearance with a slightly insectoid look to them.
"What'd you encounter?" John asked with Douglas grabbing one of the insect-like aliens.
"These guys have wings." Douglas noted. "Big ones, big enough for flight."
"They look insect-like in nature." Alice-130 noted, prodding the tip of her DMR against the other dead alien.
"So~ flying bugs?" Sam said. "Anyone bring any pesticide?"
"Very funny, Sam." Jerome said. "We're on our way towards a large radiation reading that seems to be at the center of this ship."
Over with Blue Team, they rounded about a corner to spot no enemy forces.
"That's where we're headed." John stated. "We'll rendezvous there and plant our little present before baling out of here."
"Agreed, see you there Blue Team."
The comms went silent, Blue Team continuing their traverse through the ship.
Eventually they entered a room that was a bit to… foggy for their liking.
The three were instantly on alert as they felt their enhanced senses register heavy footsteps.
John's left eyes twitched for a moment before squinting as he saw an unusual shimmer in the air that seemed to be a shape of some kind.
Raising his rifle, Kelly and Sam followed suit a moment later with all three pointing at the now more noticeable shimmer that faded to reveal them to an armored alien.
The alien was physically imposing, standing slightly taller than them. It appeared vaguely reptilian in its overall appearance, with visible leathery skin, reverse-jointed legs and sharp claws and teeth. Its large hands have two fingers and two thumbs.
Yet the most distinguishing trait was the jaw structure, made up of four separate mandibles that seemed to be its mouth.
It growled challengingly at the Spartan-II's and whipped out its right hand. A two pronged energy sword burst out from a now noticeable silvery hilt held in its hand. In the other hand was the weapon John had recovered from the smaller alien from before.
The alien roared aloud, running towards them in a full sprint with Blue Team unloading their bullets upon the alien.
Blue Team instantly took note of the bluish shimmers that appeared to surround the alien, seemingly absorbing all the bullets. However, this shield that surrounded their enemy appeared to burst after several more well placed shots.
Suddenly, the alien shot off one of those energy bolts from its other weapon.
"JOHN!" Sam cried out, shoving his friend to the side when the energy bolt struck the Spartan-II.
Sam however wasn't out of the fight.
Twirling down to his knee, he pulled out his Ryyk blade which was the size of his forearm.
The alien gazed upon the Spartan-II and for a moment paused before it growled with what appeared to be an accepting challenge.
It swung its energy sword several times at Sam with 034 ducking and dodging each one until he foolishly tried parrying the aliens blade with his own.
Though it seemed to hold it off, when Sam held up his Ryyk Blade he gasped in abject horror.
The tip of his blade was chipped off!
"Dammit." Sam exclaimed. "I just had this damn thing polished."
In a stunning display of speed, Sam lunged forward at the alien, catching it off guard and plunged his chipped Ryyk Blade right into the aliens neck.
It gurgled out in shock yet strangely, acceptance as it fell to the floor, dead.
"Sam, are you alright?" Kelly asked in concern.
"No Kelly, no I am not." Sam grumbled holding up his Ryyk blade. "I made this with my bare hands on Kashyyyk and because of this bastard here, it's ruined."
"Your suit seems alright." Kelly noted, patting the scorched shoulder pad of his armor. "No breaches or anything. Must have been a graze.
"Sam, what you did back there was stupid." John said aloud in slight anger. "What if you got hit somewhere else?"
"Come on John, like you wouldn't have done the same for me." Sam said with a knowing tone. "Least it wasn't the chest like before."
John knew he couldn't really dispute that statement, a phantom feeling appearing over his chest where he had been shot a few months earlier.
"Keep it to a minimum then." John groused out, elbowing his brother half-heartedly. "We can't lose our sense of humor you know."
"You have Will and Douglas for that." Sam countered, the trio resuming their pace through the ship. "Hell, I'm pretty sure Kurt has a booklet of his own material with how he acts."
"Alright you two, enough of that." Kelly said good naturedly, an underlying tone of relief knowing that Sam was alright.
Eventually, Blue team arrived at what appeared to be the center of the ship.
The radiation that they had been following all came from here directly.
"This is it right here." Kelly said determinedly.
"Where's Jerome and the others?" Sam asked aloud.
John immediately contacted them. "Red Team, this is Blue Leader. Do you copy?"
What they heard on Red Teams side of the comms was gunfire and aliens shouting.
And from where they stood, it wasn't too far.
"John." Jerome was heard, grunting as there was an unrecognized sound of panic from what must have been one of the aliens on the ship. There was a sickening crunch followed by a breath of relief.
"Start prepping the bomb. We'll link up with you in a moment."
John only looked over to 034. "Sam."
"Got-"
"I'll go." Kelly declared. "I'll get there faster than you two."
The two knew better than to argue with Kelly because every Spartan was well aware of her being the absolute fastest Spartan out of them all, both pre-augmentation and post-augmentation.
Kelly dashed forward in the direction of gunfire with John moving to prep the nuclear bomb with Sam keeping watch.
087 rounded about a corner and instantly ducked as the body of a bird-like alien sailed overhead.
"Oops, sorry Kelly." Douglas said sheepishly, another one of those aliens he just threw in his hands.
"Behind you!" Kelly cried out with 042 dropping down as more of those energy projectiles were fired at him.
087 switched from her shotgun to her pistol and fired a clean headshot at an insectoid alien.
Over with John and Sam, the bomb had been armed.
"How long do we have?" Sam asked.
"Two minutes." John declared. "We're gonna make a run for it out of here."
"What are we waiting for?" Sam asked.
"Jerome." John said, with he and Sam beginning to run out from the room with the bomb. "The bomb has been armed. We got two minutes to get the hell out of here before this whole place blows."
Red Team with Kelly had just finished taking out the small force of aliens that had hindered them from getting to the ships reactor.
They looked up in time to see John and Sam come around the same corner Kelly had come from.
"Go!" John yelled out with all six Spartans now breaking into a sprint.
They ran as fast as they could and soon saw the hole of the MAC round that Red team had used to enter the ship.
Getting to the hole, the Spartans leapt out of the ship into open space with one of Silver Teams A-wings swooping by.
"Daniel, you're still fighting out here?" Alice asked, slightly incredulous.
"They've barely touched us." 116 declared, performing an axle spin to confuse two missiles pursuing him into ramming into each other.
"Then can you guys give us a ride?" Sam asked. "The nuke is primed and ready."
Spartan taxi service coming right up." Joyner remarked, pivoting her ship around with the other three A-wings doing the same.
They flew at high speeds towards their Spartan brethren, slowing down for just enough of a moment for the six of them to grasp onto the wings of the ship.
All four then throttled their thrusters at full power and flew away from the ship at full speed.
A minute later…
*BBBVVVVVVOOOOOOO*
The Covenant ship that was strong enough to take on three UNSC ships with ease was good and destroyed.
Within the three ships of the UNSC, the crew saw this and began cheering aloud in victory.
Down below on Chi Ceti, Halsey, Taun and the rest of the Spartan-II's stood on a landing platform gazing up at the skies.
The moment they saw the large explosion followed by the confirmation of the Covenant ship being destroyed with the Spartans accounted for, the Spartan-II's let out cheers of their own.
Taun smiled serenely with Halsey letting out a shaky breath of relief.
"They did it." Halsey said below her breath.
This was their first victory.
Harvest may have been their first loss but this day here just proved that this new threat wasn't invincible.
They can be fought and can be beaten.
But what would it take for them to be beaten back entirely remained the unasked nor unanswered question.
The Spartan-II's performed beyond their initial believed capabilities.
With this victory here, Halsey was absolutely certain now of Humanity's future and the UNSC's future overall to be secured.
If only she was to be made aware of the blood that would be paid for such security.
All the while, as war was ramping up on this end of the galaxy…
On the other side…
Citadel
Biotic Sages Academy.
Ahsoka Tano, proud little Togruta that she tended to be found herself flat on her back staring straight up at the ceiling.
Groaning, she sat up in time to see her friend Mission Vao be flung to the side. The blue Twi'lek fell on her side and slumped over on her back.
"Come on Master Plo, can't you lighten up just a bit?" Ahsoka asked with a slight whine.
Their Kel-Dor teacher straightened out his posture and couldn't help but release a small chuckle.
"Apologies, little 'Soka." the Kel-Dor master sage said as he walked over to his pupil and helped her to her feet. "But you will never learn proper defenses in that manner."
"But I thought we were learning about Biotics." Ahsoka said with a huff.
Though she couldn't see it due to the mask and goggles, she could feel the amusement radiating from her teacher.
He went over to Mission who sat up with her hands upon her dazed head.
"Being naturally Biotic doesn't mean that you should allow your own physical body to be as weak." Plo said, kneeling down to assist Vao up to her feet. "The two work in tandem. When both mind, body and soul are in harmony, in balance with each other, your capabilities will grow beyond the limits that you yourself believe to be capable of."
Ahsoka wanted to argue but when it came down to it, Plo was a master at Biotics.
While the TTAZ species were all natural born Biotics, the Kel-Dor have proven to have a much deeper and nuanced understanding of Biotics that no other species could comprehend.
They were able to create and conduct astonishing abilities with their biotics as well as spot those who have a wholly unique ability to themselves. Such as Plo Koon's astonishing ability to manipulate his Biotic fields in a manner wherein the vibration that he conducts within the Biotics creates the visual sensation of lighting.
A true master of his craft.
Since they had become a part of galactic society, many students have risen to prominence all thanks to the teachings of the Kel-Dor sages.
Biotic meditation, repulse, lightning, bonding, enhancement and even more stunning and unheard of abilities such as healing and stealth or concealment.
These abilities were truly astonishing yet an extremely select few were able to even scratch the surface of these powers.
Plo Koon firmly believes that both Mission and Ahsoka were two who had the potential to bring out their latent talent for Biotics and tap into one of these extraordinary Biotic powers.
"You two both have a long journey ahead of you." Plo said, having the two standing side by side while having a hand upon one of their shoulders. "But in time, I know you both will accomplish great things. Not just with biotics."
"Easier said than done." Mission remarked with puffed out cheeks.
"Come now." Plo said, patting Vao's head. "What happened to all that confidence? Stating the next time you'd see your friend… what was her name again? Liara, correct?"
They both nodded.
"The next time you'd see Liara that you'd show off all the amazing tricks that you learned from your master."
The two young girls(young being somewhat loose here considering their decades old) had their heads hung low until they looked up at their teacher with fierce expressions.
"You're right!" Vao said with a determined exclamation. "We won't fail here."
"Yeah." Ahsoka threw her hand up. "Liara expects us to be masters and we expect Liara to make the find of the century."
Plo nodded his head approvingly. "Then come along you two. Once more."
Both got into their stances and charged at their Kel-Dor master.
Elsewhere, within Citadel space, one Liara T'soni wiped sweat away from her forehead after exiting the cave of an excavation site.
Though she was but a novice in this field, she was taking everything that was being shown to her in stride.
Her mentors had been showing her the basics with them having a more hands on approach rather than just having her stand behind them while they dig up archaeological finds.
Right now though, lunch was in order.
Most of the excavation team was present as all began to seat themselves down to eat and chatter amongst one another.
Liara sat between a Salarian and Twi'lek.
Opposite to her was a Duros, Asari, Kel-Dor and on the far end of the table, a Turian, Asari, Togrutan, Twi'lek and another Salarian.
"Whew." The Asari in front of Liara let out a tired sigh. "I'm glad what we found but did it have to be in such an enclosed space. Why couldn't it be in the middle of an open field."
"Ah it ain't that bad." The Duros Archaeologist said with a shrug, drinking his beverage. "I've dealt with worse."
"What's worse?" The Asari asked with a flat look upon her face.
"My buddy and I," The Duros gestured to the Turian over on the far end of the table who was conversing with the other Salarian. "Had one place next to an active volcano. That place was scorching hot."
The conversation between them all was all over the place.
Some spoke of the excavation, the significance of it, what it might hold and if it has any connection to the Protheans.
Others spoke on casual matters, life stories and such.
One however had a datapad in his hands and was mumbling constantly under his breath with his eyes darting back and forth on what he was analyzing.
"Wuran?" a female voice broke him out of his thoughts.
"Hmm? Hmm?" Wuran the Salarian looked up from his datapad and over to one concerned Liara T'soni.
"Yes Liara?"
"Are you alright?" The Asari asked. "You seemed troubled."
"Troubled? Troubled? No, no, apologies for making you believe so. Merely curious and intrigued." Wuran clarified his current state of mind.
"Oh? And what would that be?" Liara asked with interest.
"Data coming in from energy readings." Wuran stated. "Personal hobby. Multiple facilities and stations throughout Citadel space that monitor many things within our galaxy. Energy readings always been a fascination with me. Gamma, nuclear, Eezo and such."
Liara wasn't as versed, if at all really, with energy readings but Wuran's excitement was slightly infectious.
"Did you find something of interest then?"
"Yes, yes, very much so." Wuran nodded vigorously. "Salarian station with relative on it sent me these today."
He showed Liara a series of charts and graphs that she didn't quite understand. All that she was able to tell really, if she were to make an educated guess was that for the most part, all the graphs and charts displayed steady energy signatures.
All but the last one.
This one was… well, all over the place if that's how she would describe it.
"What is it exactly?" Liara asked.
"Unknown." Wuran answered with an excited grin. "Unknown energy signature perhaps means unknown life. This was detected outside of Council space. Outside known relay territory. Know what this means?"
Liara frowned in thought.
Unknown life?
The last few times the council had dealt with new life has positives and negatives in successive order.
The Rachni led to the Krogan which in turn led to the Turians and Kel-Dor followed by the Quarians who inadvertently unleashed the Geth having their embassy banned(which many had mixed feelings on) and lastly was the Yahg.
It hasn't been smooth sailing in the expansion across the stars though none expected there to be.
They hadn't done much in the realm of expansion since the Yahg and that was several decades ago by now.
However, there have been rumblings going around about the idea of going into the great unknown once again even though the Yahg incident was only four decades ago by this time. Many believe firmly that the rest of the galaxy with other life, perhaps more friendlier life, was waiting to be met and join galactic society.
There's also the advent of resources.
While many have projected the use of Eezo along with many other resources not running out any time soon, they are still a growing society. They need to expand.
Species such as the Duros were anxious to get out there once more, naturally inclined with their love of exploration and space travel.
Others like the Turians and Kel-Dor expressed equal interest, same as the Salarians and some of the TTAZ as well.
Growing more interested as she thought many of these details over in her head, Liara propped her elbows against the table and leaned over to Wuran.
"What can you tell me about these energy readings?" Liara asked, Wuran's grin growing.
"Recent finds." Wuran stated. "Fringes of Turian, Kel-Dor and Salarian space primarily, these energy readings match little to no other from what we understand. Perhaps something but we have yet to find it. Only been studied for two decades and readings becoming more frequent as time goes on."
"How frequent?" The Duros opposite to the two overhearing this conversation now piped in with intrigue.
"First time detected in 2146." Wuran explained. "At first, many believed to be an anomaly. Spacial event of unknown origin or understanding. Next year, several more similar readings fluctuate on energy output but many correlations found. Year after, doubled and these readings have only increased overtime. This year, most we have ever recorded."
"So do you all have any ideas on what it is?" Liara asked.
"Many theories, many guesses, though no conclusive answers as of yet." Wuran admitted. "But, stirrings within multiple fields who have been shown these readings expressing desires to go out to find the answer for themselves."
The Duros hummed aloud with a thoughtful expression. "Sounds like fun. I wouldn't mind going on an expedition into the unknown."
"Many variables. Many choices and possibilities." Wuran rattled off in his species' usual rapid speech. "But certain Relays that could lead us out there are being scouted now. Believe that they be the key to getting to the source of these energy readings directly."
"Relays have been scouted?" The Kel-Dor of the group asked inquisitively.
"Areas and locations believed to hold relays on the other side, yes." Wuran confirmed. "Some designated already. 343, 314, 791, 616 and so on."
"Really?" Now the Twi'lek showed interest. "You got the go ahead to reveal such information to us?"
"Merely hypothetical in nature." Wuran said. "Until confirmation needed, all baseless speculation until then."
Until then…
Those two words hung in the air, especially over Liara.
She couldn't help but now be pulled into this idea of going out and exploring the unknown corners of the galaxy.
The mystery was tantalizingly close and yet so far by the manner in which Wuran described it to be.
She was pretty satisfied with what she was doing right now.
Still, the idea of going out to meet other new intelligent life was not something she'd pass up on. Socially awkward as she may be.
For now though, she was happy with where she was.
If whatever it was that was out there would eventually make its way over to here, she'd hope they'd be a friendly people open to the idea of exchanging culture, ideas and technology.
Or maybe they could do that instead.
Who knows? The galaxy was a large place after all.
And done folks, that's another chapter in the books.
The start of the Covenant war while the Citadel species continue their blissful ignorance as another part of the galaxy is ramping up for a long and bloody war.
First things first.
It's the start of the war so BSX and I have listed out a LOT of crap for you guys to have to understand the standing of the UNSC.
BSX: All I gotta say is thank you for the continuing support and work really hard on researching some aspects that you'll see in a moment as you continue to scroll down.
UNSC Ships at the start of the war.
Marathon-class heavy cruiser
Valiant-class super-heavy cruiser
Mako-class corvette
Prowler class
Stalwart-class light frigate
Charon-class light frigate
Paris-class heavy frigate
Halberd-class destroyer
Hillsborough-class destroyer
Diligence-class destroyer
UNSC heavy destroyer
Punic-Class Supercarrier
Orion-Class Assault Carrier
Epoch-Class Heavy Carrier
Mon Cala
MC80 Home One Star Cruiser
MC80 Liberty type Star Cruiser
MC80 Evacuation Cruiser
MC80b Star Cruiser
MC75 Star Cruiser
Recusant-class light destroyer
MC140 Scythe-class main battle cruiser
MC30c frigate
ShaShore-class frigate
MC40a light cruiser
Mon Calamari Star Cruiser (stocky)
Wookiee
Valor-class cruiser
Kumauri Battleship
United iNtergalactic Space Command Joint ships.
MC90 Heavy Class Star Cruiser
UNSC Hammer head
FMW: Yeah, we really wanted to make sure you guys get a full picture idea of the strength that the UNSC has at their disposal. While the war is gonna be insane as it was in Halo itself, the Covenant is gonna find a much more fierce and determined foe then they had faced within the original Halo Canon. Bullet, kindly tell our good readers the number of warships the UNSC has at their disposal.
BSX: As of right, the UNSC has about 6067 ships at their disposal. It was hard to determine what Fleet strength pre-war the UNSC had in canon but I have estimated and used the canon number to double with Humanity's allies such as Mon Cala and Wookiee.
FMW: Yeah, we're not gonna be playing on the low end. The battles BSX and I have planned out are gargantuan in scope and size. Befitting that of sci-fi franchises like Halo, Mass Effect and Star Wars.
And to cap it all off...
Here you guys go. All 55 Augmented Spartan-II's painstakingly numbered to be sure.
This list took fucking forever cause I lost track a few times but here we all are. And to some of you more aficionados in Halo, AU folks. Differences abound.
1. James-005 2. Jai-006 3. Li-008 4. Naomi-010 5. Leon-011 6. Kirk-018 7. Daisy-023
8. Robert-025 9. Riz-028 10. Joshua-029 11. vinh-030 12. Otto-031 13. Sam-034
14. Isaac-039 15. Douglas-042 16. William-043 17. Anton-044 18. Keichi-047 19. Kurt-051
20. Jorge-052 21. Margaret-053 22. Linda-058 23. Malcolm-059 24. Maria 25. Sheila-065
26. Soren-066 27. Solomon-069 28. Cassandra-075 29. Arthur-079 30. René-081
31. Fhajad-084 32. Kelly-087 33. Jerome-09 34. Grace-093 35. Caleb-095 36. Musa-096
37. August-099 38. Victor-101 39. Ralph-103 40. Fred-104 41. Adriana-111 42. John-117
43. Mike-120 44. Joseph-122 45. Kai-125 46. Oscar-129 47. Alice-130 48. Vannak-134
49. Carris-137 50. Cal-141 51. Roma-143 52. Nicole-121 53. Yumi-124 54. Daniel-116
55. Joyner-118
So there you guys, we have the UNSC corner established.
Next time, we'll meet up with the Citadel side of things.
Until next time.
Rate Read and Review and as Always Have Nice Day.