Been a while again but with Halo Infinite either having come out or near out by the time of this chapters completion, figured we should get this chapter out by now.
Lots to do here since, yes, that's right, we're covering Halo Wars in these chapters.
So a lot that we have to do.
Don't forget about this being an AU so obvious different outcomes to… come.
And quick reminder.
D-Wings = Longswords in this story due to their shape resembling D's more than C's.
Rate Read and Review and as Always Have Nice Day.
The Halo Effect War and Civilization Chapter 12: Undying Spirit
Epsilon Indi System
Harvest
February 4th, 2531
Harvest comes into view, its surface covered in peaceful colors of green and blue.
A planet of bountiful crops and its namesake, Harvest.
This colony had a decent population who all lived in relative peace with little conflict or insurgency of any kind for the most part.
That all changed in the year 2525.
The UNSC came into contact with not one or two new alien species but an entire conglomerate that made up an empire.
The Covenant Empire.
For over a century, the four species that made up the UNSC had a multitude of luck when encountering one another in peaceful meetings that led to lasting friendships and alliances, young as they may be.
Humans, Wookiees, Mon Cala and the Kaminoans all proudly made up the UNSC that has spearheaded their civilizations the last few decades now.
With this new encounter, one would hope that it would be a continuation of their good fortune in meeting friendly or at the very least, amicable new species among the stars.
But such is the law of the universe and life itself, not all new things that are experienced or encountered for the first time can be good.
In a matter of hours, the Covenant ship that first arrived at harvest laid waste to the planet and its people. The ground troops went about a systematic slaughter of the citizens planetside and made sure to kill them all with ruthless efficiency.
That's where it began
The war that has now been ongoing for the past five and now six years.
For five years, now going on six, the UNSC and Covenant traded victories back and forth.
The first several years saw a string of victories for the latter with the former narrowly gathering a few for themselves though few were absolute.
2529 was a definitive year of UNSC victories with every battle and engagement ending with total victory on their side.
Yet even with these decisive wins over their enemy, last year was a time of great loss as several more planets fell to the Covenant.
The bastards just didn't seem to run out of ships or troopers.
Sure there were times where the UNSC had the upper hand against the Covenant but a number of factors prevented total domination against their adversary.
First and foremost being the numbers advantage that they held over the UNSC.
No matter how many ships the UNSC threw at the alien conglomerate, no matter how many ships they destroyed, more took their place with almost frightening ease.
Then came the fact that the Covenant had a litany of more advanced weaponry such as shielding and their advanced understanding of plasma.
Whilst the Mon Cala have been making great strides in creating more advanced ships in countering the Covenant, their damned plasma just tears through their own fleets like butter.
Nearly four hundred ships have been lost to the Covenant and that number grows by the day.
Though the UNSC always made sure to repay these defeats against the Covenant with a vitriolic rage that made it where a good chunk were pyrrhic victories at best.
It was all that they were able to do sometimes.
Faith held strong that they would be able to take on these Covenant bastards but a creeping underlying nervousness couldn't be denied.
This empire wanted no sense of negotiations for peace.
Just the complete and utter annihilation of the UNSC.
The extinction of four species off the face of the universe.
So all that they could do was fight to the bitter end.
"Captain's report, February 4th, 2531. Five years, five long years. That's how long it took us to get Harvest back..."
Several marines race through a battlefield within the remains of a destroyed UNSC city. A Marine dies when a nearby wall explodes from a passing Banshee's ordinance, and debris and plasma engulf him. The surviving Marines recover quickly and start to move forward.
"Go, go, go!"
They confront a Lance of Elites who are separated by a wall of debris.
A few of the marines yell out as they arrive. A number of Wookiees quickly join in and start to fire upon the Elites, only to be shot by a plasma bolt to the chest.
The rest, despite being outnumbered, manage to gun down several of the Elites, as another marine gets pierced in the shoulder with a needler round. Then a Warthog runs the Elites over. The camera then cuts to the rear of the Warthog driving through a battlefield with the gunner firing the turret.
Up above, ODST drop pods rain down from the skies and outcome the Helljumpers, the best of the best in the UNSC.
The tide of the fight swung in the favor of the UNSC now as they began taking out Covenant left, right and center.
"Keep firing!" A Mon Cala Lieutenant shouted, chucking a grenade at the oncoming Covenant forces.
Three marines fire their weapons, the last one firing a shotgun from the hip.
From above, a squadron of fighters zip by whilst several Pelican dropships arrive with several Warthogs racing through the drop zone.
UNSC Marines then pile out of the landed Pelicans.
Up ahead on the battlefield, a Wookiee pounced upon an Elite from behind with his Ryyk blade. The Elite falls down and is stabbed in the neck, killing it.
The fighting abruptly stops as cheers and hollers of victory were heard across the area. The UNSC had achieved victory, standing before a destroyed city with a burning Covenant Destroyer in the distant sky, multiple Starfighters being seen laying waste to the ship.
"At first it was going well..."
"Then setback after setback..."
An elite overwhelms a Wookiee and stabs it through the chest with its plasma sword.
Several Mon Cala and Humans are gunned down by a barrage of plasma fire.
The Covenant progress through Harvest became swift and decisive despite fierce opposition.
"Loss after loss..."
Two Covenant Destroyers begin to glass Harvest. Damage from orbital bombardment is visible, represented by several rings of burnt land.
"Made what was going to be a quick and decisive win..."
A wounded marine crawls through shattered wasteland with a dark sky and debris. The Marine attempts to crawl to a rifle lying on its side when a sword-wielding Elite approaches and impales him.
"Into five years of Hell..." The man giving his report let out a haggard sigh. "Of course, that's all Harvest really is today… It's Hell down there. Half the planet glassed into oblivion with the initial population all but wiped out. Three million dead in the span of a few days. But now it's ours again."
The partially glassed surface of Harvest is seen within the bridge of the Phoenix-class carrier; UNSC Spirit of Fire which was moving through debris in orbit.
On the bridge of the ship stood its Captain; James Cutter.
A career man of UNSC steeped in military tradition and discipline of which has been considerably tested upon the inception of this hellacious war.
He tilted his head slightly with a somber gaze as his eyes trailed over the wreckage surrounding Harvest on top of the partially glassed surface of Harvest.
Around the Spirit of Fire were a number of other ships that drifted through the debris field and were positioned in strategic placements around the Phoenix-class carrier in case of any Covenant surprise attacks.
He watched as Pelicans were dispatched from the Spirit of Fire, being joined by a number of other starfighters to act as escorts as they head to the surface of Harvest.
Cutter then looked up and spoke aloud.
"Serina, status?"
He was met with a response from the on board AI ship of the Spirit of Fire.
"Standard orbit achieved. All systems normal." Serina responded, her holographic avatar
Cutter nodded, taking a moment to glance around at the crew of the Fire currently on the bridge.
The hodge podge of Humans, Wookiees and Mon Cala all at their posts, attentive to their duty.
His second-in-command Enahn was standing between two humans, looking over an earlier report regarding something about several skirmishes involving remnant Covenant forces on Harvest.
He turned his gaze back toward the number of ships headed for the surface of Harvest and his jaw clenched slightly.
"Prep for pod launches, bring weapon systems online." Cutter ordered.
"Expecting trouble, Captain?" Serina asked with a knowing look.
The Captain's expression hardened. "Harvest may be ours again, but I don't think the Covenant appreciates that yet."
Just as he said that the entry to the Bridge opened and in walked Professor Ellen Anders.
"Professor Anders." Cutter greeted with a nod. "Nice of you to join us."
"Better up here than alone in my lab." The Scientist idly commented as both turned to face a holo screen of a gruff looking human close to Anders' age riding in a Warthog with a Mon Cala in the passenger's seat.
"Sergeant Forge, Sergeant Kitomag, report." Cutter said straight away.
"It's been a "party" down here Captain." Forge responded with a grunt of irritation. "Definitely plenty of bad guys down here, Captain. They're trying to bunker themselves down hard."
"We've noticed an increase of forces around the Ice." Kitomag added on. "They've found something in there."
Captain Cutter frowned, crossing his arms at that tidbit. "That complicates our mission. Anders, what have you got?"
The Professor instantly turned to the holo table in the center of the room and placed her hand atop it. It activated instantly and a few moments later, a holo display of the region of interest that the Covenant were currently residing in was seen by the two humans and AI.
"Captain, scans on the Northern Polar region show some interesting Covenant activity on the surface. There's some kind of structure down there." Anders pointed out, gesturing to the center of the map.
"What do you think they're looking for?" Serina asked.
Cutter leaned on the table, his eyes analyzing the map. "That's what we're here to find out. We are to bring Alpha Base up to operational status and take control of that site."
Anders nodded and moved to exit the bridge. "I'll get my equipment ready."
Sergeant Forge however had a different mindset compared to the Professors. "Lady, there's no way in hell you are coming down here on the first bird."
Anders rolled her eyes, opting to ignore the Sergeant and left the bridge.
"Sergeants pull back to Alpha Base," Cutter ordered. "I'm sending you some backup."
"Roger that, Forge out."
The Captain deactivates the map and returns to observing Harvest from orbit.
"So, nothing too difficult then?" Serina remarked.
James Cutter let out a tired sigh, becoming resolute a moment later. "It may be the key to this whole war in Serina. It's worth the risk."
He took a moment to gaze out upon the planet once more before turning his head back slightly.
"Contact Red Team."
-Scene Cut-
John Forge grunted in irritation at his warthog rocking about slightly as he steered the vehicle into avoiding Covenant plasma fire.
Sergeant Kitomag sat up slightly and fired back at the Covenant forces, taking out any Forge didn't run over.
"You're missing a few." Forge remarked cheekily, running over a scampering Grunt.
"My skills are about precision." Kitomag shot back. "Yours is brutish and uncultured."
"So why do I have the higher kill count then?" Forge countered with a wide grin.
"Because you're an asshole."
Forge laughed at the comment, gunning his Warthog towards Alpha base with his friend continuing to kill any Covenant they encountered on their path.
The duo were an odd pairing and friendship that started several years back prior to the start of the war.
John Forge came from a family steeped in military tradition to the point that his lineage can be traced directly back to World War 2.
War and combat was literally in his blood for all intents and purposes and he excelled at it when the war between the Covenant broke out.
Kitomag was an odd duck of sorts as his family was that of engineers, artisans and musicians. They were craftsmen and teachers, educating their people throughout the generations while contributing to the cultures of their race and eventually, Humans, Wookiees and some Kaminoans.
Yet he was the outlier of his family, being the first to join in the military at a young age and having met Forge in basic as he had enlisted around the same time.
The two grew to be inseparable and wherever Forge found himself to be in trouble, Kitomag wasn't far behind in pulling him out of the fire.
… Or being dragged into one, courtesy of his human friend who had a bit of a temper and tendency to be insubordinate.
Still, the duo had practically been attached to the hip for over thirteen years now.
The Mon Cala was even there to see the birth of Forge's daughter, Lucy Orion Forge.
Kitomag recalled the excitement Forge had when he realized he was going to be a father and couldn't stop talking about it all the way up to the point of Lucy's birth.
Then the Covenant made their appearance to the galaxy and the notion of being a father who would always be there for his kid was thrown out the window.
The UNSC mobilized in full and every planet soon began getting droves of volunteers and being sent out to engage with the new enemy.
Forge tried his damndest to see or speak with his daughter whenever he was able to and Kitomag always recalled the joy he held whenever he saw her.
She would always ask how he was, how her Uncle Kito was doing and when would be the next time she would see him.
The last time Forge held his baby girl in his arms was almost three months ago.
Now he was back on the frontlines on Harvest, engaging the Covenant once more.
Currently, the duo were scrounging up scattered forces from Alpha Base that was being besieged by the Covenant.
Upon arriving at the entrance to the base, Forge and Kitomag jumped out from their warthog and ran ahead with their guns blazing.
Behind them were a large battalion of Marines and several ODST's they had managed to bring along with them to reinforce the losing UNSC forces that were still fighting in Alpha Base.
"Get on that turret." Kitomag ordered. "We got Wraiths and Ghosts waiting for us on the other side, so I want you three to get ready to blow those bastards to kingdom come, ya hear me."
"SIR, YES SIR." Shouted several marines they had rescued, all sporting rocket launchers.
Forge ran ahead, grabbing a discarded shotgun on his way over to an unsuspecting elite.
The Sangheili turned in time to get the barrel of a shotgun shoved into his mouth before Forge pulled the trigger and splattered the ground with the Elite's brain juice.
"KILL THE HERETICS!" Screamed an Elite from atop a defense tower and the roar of Grunts, Jackal and other Elites were heard from within Alpha Base.
"Well would you look at that, they're trying to keep us out of our own base." Serina idly commented over the comms.
"Typical." Forge remarked with a shake of his head. "And I thought us humans were greedy."
"You still are." Kitomag stated, firing at the Covenant next to him. "You just make it tolerable and comedic, not genocidal and psychotic."
"Have you forgotten my species' history?" Forge asked rhetorically, getting his head lightly bopped by his friend's elbow.
"Shut up and shoot."
John grinned, blasting a fleeing Grunt away.
"All right, let's head in and clear the base of hostiles." Forge ordered aloud and the UNSC forces charged into Alpha base.
Waiting within said base was a large contingent of Covenant hellbent on keeping the base out of their sworn enemy's hands.
Both sides rained lead and plasma upon one another with both sides being unable to get a proper footing against each other.
"We have the numbers but they've got Wraiths and Ghosts up the wazoo." Forge shouted.
"I'll handle that." Kitomag crouched down for cover, placing a hand over his comms. "Captain Cutter, do you copy?"
"Here Sergeant Kit." The Spirit of Fire's Captain responded.
"Requesting air support on Alpha, targets being marked right now." Kitomag said, peeking out of his cover and pulling out a small cylindrical device from his belt that was a laser pointer.
He quickly shined it on all the Covenant tanks within the base, a brief flashing of the laser to signify the tanks had been marked.
"Targets acquired, Captain." Serina spoke up.
"Good to hear." Cutter said. "Air support en-route Sergeant. They'll take out the armor. The rest is yours."
"Copy that, Captain." Kitomag said, putting away his laser marker and returning to fire at the Covenant.
"Well?" Forge asked expectantly.
The sound of thrusters in the air caused Kitomag to chuckle.
"I know you hate it when I sound corny."
"So don't-"
"Here comes the boom."
Forge groaned aloud. "You're such a tool."
Y-wings and D-wings swooped by from above and dropped their payload on the marked Covenant tanks, a fiery display of red and violet coloring the air.
The Covenant that were close to the explosions were either caught in the fire or sent flying back by the small, generated shockwave from their destroyed tanks. This made them easy pickings for the UNSC forces with them being gunned down with extreme prejudice.
A Wookiee marine roared aloud with a Mon Cala by his side chortling.
"You said it."
Once the rest of the enemy forces were killed off, Alpha base was officially secured.
"Well, that was the most fun I had all week." Forge quipped, tossing aside his empty magazine slip from his assault rifle before placing in another full clip.
"We're only getting started." Kitomag stated, contacting their commanding officer. "Spirit of Fire, this is Kitomag. Area clear, situation normal. Orders?"
As he said this, multiple fighters zipped past overhead with a number of pelicans descending to the base itself. Several tanks and additional warthogs were deployed along with a garrison of marines.
"Nice work sergeants, Alpha Base is ours again." Cutter praised. "Forge, Kit, take a squad and scout out the area. Don't want any surprises popping in unannounced."
"Copy that, Captain." Kitomag responded whilst Forge pointed at five nearby marines to follow after them.
The ragtag group of marines guided by the two sergeants grabbed two warthogs and departed from Alpha base towards the site in which the Covenant had taken great interest in.
They eventually parked their warthogs atop a hill that overlooked a dig site being watched by almost exclusively Elites.
Kitomag and Forge crawled to the edge of the cliff, both pulling out binoculars to observe the Covenant activity below.
"Lot of split-lips down there." Forge remarked, seeing few other species of the Covenant. "None of those bugs and savages."
"See some Grunts and Jackals." Kitomag noted. "But not much else of them. This is almost an exclusive Elite base."
"What are they even doing down there?"
Forge's Mon Cala friend was silent as he continued looking over the Covenant forces when he stopped upon a particular Sangheili that stood out from the rest.
"Who's that?" Kitomag asked aloud.
"Huh?"
Kit adjusted his friend's line of sight and pointed ahead. "That one right there. The one in silver armor."
Forge spotted who it was Kit was referring to and squinted at the Sangheili.
"I don't get it, what's so special about this hinge head?" The human sergeant asked. "Just looks like any other Covie bastard but a little bigger and shinier armor. He compensating or some shit?"
Kit snorted. "Possibly but still, I've never seen an Elite with that type of armor. From what we've been able to gather, blue, purple, white, red and gold are the usual colors that those split-lips wear."
"So what, they want the whole rainbow or dumb crap like that?"
The Mon Cala Sergeant took the question in stride. "Maybe… but I dunno. Got a weird gut feelin' bout this one."
Forge looked up at his friend with a raised brow before gazing back at the silver armored Sangheili with narrowed eyes.
"What's your gut telling ya?"
Kitomag stared ahead at the Elite that had caught his attention and sighed.
"Nothing good from this bastard."
His human companion was silent as both stared down at the Elite that appeared to be in charge of whatever it was the Covenant were doing.
They saw a gold plated Sangheili approach the much larger silver armored one and there appeared to be a moment of dispute between them before the gold one bowed his head and stepped away.
The duo watched as several Elites and Grunts together pried a large, metallic door open.
"Looks like that's our way in." Forge commented. "Any ideas what's in there?"
"Something about their religion if I can take a gander." Kit responded. "Come on. Let's get moving."
Both left in time just as the silver armored Elite turned his head back in the direction of where they were just a moment ago.
All the while, back on the Spirit Of Fire…
Captain Cutter let out a bemused sigh as he entered his personal observation deck of the Fire and saw that Professor Anders had turned it into a makeshift lab.
He walked towards the scientist that has been a part of his crew for the past few months with a bemused expression.
"Any reason why my Observation deck is your lab, Professor?" Cutter asked with slight exasperation in stepping around all her scattered equipment.
"I like the view." Anders replied, busy looking through a litany of data that was sent to her from Harvest. "It adds... perspective to my work."
"Does it now?" The Captain said aloud with a musing voice before looking down at the planet of Harvest. "Sergeant Forge doesn't think it's safe for you to go down there yet. He's quite insistent."
"Well then it's a good thing that Sergeant Kitomag is there to knock some sense into him."
Cutter frowned. "Anders-"
"I can take care of myself." The Professor cut him off, turning to face him.
The two locked into a staring contest and upon seeing her resolute expression, Cutter conceded with a tired sigh.
"Alright, alright." He said placatingly. "Any idea what it is we've got down there?"
She shrugged "It's all theories right now"
The scientist stood from her seat and grabbed a case leaning on her chair. "I'll know a lot more once I get down there."
Just as she was about to leave, Cutter stopped her by placing a hand on her shoulder and giving her a stern look.
"I'm approving the mission, but the slightest sign of danger and I'm pulling you out. Is that understood?"
Anders blinked from the tone before nodding yet the Captain didn't remove his hands.
"I want to hear you say it." He said more firmly. "Is that understood?"
"Understood, Captain." Anders said with a nod, Cutter removed his hand for her to depart from the observation deck.
Back down on the Harvest, as the UNSC prepares for their assault on the Covenant, within the location where the conglomerate currently occupied were two high ranking individuals in conversation.
It was the silver armored Elite that Kitomag had spotted speaking with one of the Hierarchs of the Covenant.
The Prophet of Regret.
"What is the status of the operations, Ripa?" The San'Shyuum leader inquired with a slightly restless tone.
"I regret to inform you Hierarch of the loss of our forces." Ripa'Moramee said with a disgruntled growl of pure venom. "The humans and their heretical allies have wiped out the rest of our fleet and are now closing in upon our location and will be attacking us soon."
"Hmmm, it is as I feared." The Prophet murmured, rubbing his chin with a frown. He soon waved his hand dismissively. "No matter, you have done what was asked of you, Arbiter. The information you've gathered here is most appetizing."
Ripa'Moramee held his head up with a smug pride emanating from him.
Which was immediately dashed upon the next statement made by the Prophet of Regret.
"However, we must protect what we have learned here." Regret stated grimly. "Set the charges and destroy this place."
The Arbiter visibly jolted back in shock.
"Destroy this Holy Relic?!" Ripa asked as if not believing what he had just heard. "Surely you jest!"
"The Great Journey requires sacrifice." Regret barked back in aggravation. "More importantly, the UNSC must not desecrate this site with their heretical touch. It was horrible enough to know that they had the audacity to establish a colony near such a sacred relic with their stained existence. Set the charges and return to us at once! Our patience is not infinite!"
The Arbiter stared in stunned silence at his leader for a number of moments before bowing.
"It will be done, Noble Hierarch." He said with clear hesitation in destroying this place.
As the Arbiter went about his orders, back at Alpha Base with Sergeants Forge and Kitomag, the duo preparing to stage an offensive against the relic site where the Covenant were holed up in.
A multitude of pelicans came in to help reestablish the bases defenses with tanks, warthogs, some starfighters landing for the pilots to be replaced with fresh ones and Wookiee flutter craft.
The UNSC forces knew that this was the last bastion of the Covenant on Harvest so they would need to mount a sizable attack force to finally rid the colony of their vicious enemy.
So they were going with everything that was currently being dropped off at Alpha Base before their assault.
Once the base was set up and done, Forge and Kitomag led the charge towards the Covenant.
"So whaddya think?" Forge spoke up as he drove towards the relic site.
"What?" Kit asked in the passenger seat, not looking at his friend as he opted to remain vigilant for any surprise Covenant attacks.
"What are the Covies after in that cave, mountain or whatever?" Forge elaborated.
"Must be something involving their religion or something." Kitomag said with a shrug. "You heard how they call us heathens and dumb crap like that half the time."
"A religious war." The human Sergeant said with a scoff. "You know, in the history of all our species, you would think religion would be an antiquated reason to wage war."
"We may have gotten past that point in our histories but it ain't the same for all in this twisted universe." Kitomag said with a tired sigh.
Before Forge was able to respond, the Spirit of Fires AI chimed in through their comms.
"I'm picking up a lot of Covenant chatter around your position, looks like they're setting up defenses."
Forge grinned. "Time to get to work, people. Moorce?"
From the comms came a warbled roar of a reply.
"Gonna need you to soften up some inbound Covenant forces. Carpet bomb the bastards straight to hell if you would be so kind."
In the skies above the sergeants was a contingent of around two dozen UNSC starfighters composed primarily of D-Wings, X-Wings and Y-wings with several spare A-wings.
Leading this squadron was Wookiee ace pilot Moorce who had been recently assigned as basically the head of the starfighters aboard the Spirit of Fire.
She was younger compared to most Wookiees but she had a natural affinity in piloting ships to the point that she was almost immediately noticed by Captain Cutter and was brought on board his ship.
The young Wookiee of 92 served with pride alongside her human and Mon Cala brethren on the onset of the war and has racked up quite a reputation in a short amount of time.
Moorce guided her ship down towards marked targets sent to her by the two sergeants below with her squadron following after her.
She barked out a number of commands and several X-wings with the A-Wings flew past her ship towards the Covenant forces down below on the ground.
The two more agile and faster starfighters softened up their target before Moorce in her fighter along with the other Y and D wings came into carpet bomb the Covenant ground forces into oblivion.
"Solid hit Moorce." Forge said through the comms and the Wookiee roared back with a smug tone.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, showoff."
"Here we go, people." Kitomag shouted, propping himself up and firing at the remaining Covenant Forces that survived bombardment.
The engagement between the two sides was swift and bloody.
Explosions, plasma and gunfire went off on all sides as the UNSC forces hammered the remaining Covenant army with a vicious onslaught.
"Well, well. Lookie here, the Covenant built themselves a little base." Forge commented.
"Not for long." Kitomag said. "Moorce, marking additional targets for a bombing run. Acknowledge?"
He heard the Wookiee pilot growl in acknowledgment, the Mon Cala silently nodding and quickly tagging the base for their fighters to attack.
"Heat's comin' Forge."
"What, we're just gonna let Moorce have all the fun?" Forge asked good naturedly, looking up with a smirk as he heard the engines of UNSC starfighters fly on by.
He watched as Y-wings and D-wings dropped their payload atop the Covenant base and since there were nearly two dozen starfighters that did this, the explosion that came afterwards was quite a spectacular display.
"Ah~ never get tired of seeing that." The human Sergeant remarked.
"Come on." Kit lightly elbowed his friend. "Moorce now has a higher kill count than us from her cushy seat up in her fighter."
"Hear that Moorce?" Forge said through the comms with a cheeky tone. "You've got it good in your comfy seat in your fighter while us real soldiers toil away down here in the mud."
He received a gruff rebuttal from Moorce, making him chuckle aloud before he refocused on the battle at hand.
"I want some Scorpions up here, stat!" Forge barked out and no sooner did he say this did several tanks roll up on the scene and all fired their cannons at the same time, decimating the Covenant defensive lines.
"We got our entry, right flank!" Kitomag shouted, rapidly gesturing towards the right hand side of the enemy line that had all but collapsed. "Concentrate your fire and sweep in."
The Marines did as they were told, going in for an arching attack that whittled away and killed off the remaining Covenant infantry in their path.
"Move on ahead towards that structure." Kitomag instructed. "We've got a clear shot ahead of us."
The ground rumbled with the sound of the massive force of troops and vehicles led by the two sergeants as they drew closer to the underground relic that the Covenant had been so adamantly defending.
They suffered some losses of their own but remained strong overall upon reaching the entryway to the structure.
A number of Sangheili and Kig-Yar were stationed there and quickly fired upon the oncoming UNSC battalion. From the skies above came a number of bugs AKA Geonosians that fired at them from above.
"Hey Forge." Kitomag said aloud, firing from the passenger's seat.
"Yeah?" The human Sergeant said with a grunt, maneuvering the warthog around so as to not get blasted by the Geonosians from on high.
"Was that there when we did recon?"
Forge looked ahead towards the entrance to the mountain structure with his eyes squinted and saw a strange pylon of some kind with multiple grunts around it. They appeared to be attaching a number of oval-like devices to it.
"What the hell is that supposed to be?"
"Serina." Kitomag said.
"Identifying…" Was the AI's response. "Sergeants, the Covenant appear to be setting up detonation charges in an effort to keep what they have found from falling into our hands."
Not a moment too soon did Captain Cutter's voice come through the comms.
"If the Covenant detonate those explosives our mission here is over! Get to the detonator!"
"Copy that, Captain." Forge said, gritting his teeth as he gunned his warthog forward with Kitomag plopping himself down into his seat properly as he knew what his friend was gonna do.
"Try not to crash." Was all the Mon Cala said before Forge rammed the warthog right into two Elites who were either killed upon impact or being run over.
The rest of their battalion rallied and ran right into the hole the Sergeant had made, quickly brushing aside the Covenant as they were rather thrown off by Forge's brazen attack into their enemy lines.
"Take out those charges." Kitomag yelled out with two Wookiees making a beeline for the large pylon.
The Unggoy surrounding the detonator were killed off in quick succession before the two Wookiee marines instantly got to work disabling the charges whilst the rest of the marines covered them.
A few moments later, several whirring sounds came from the pylon that signified the deactivation of the charges. The Wookiees warbled out their success and a few moments afterwards, the structure's entrance was cleared.
Forge and Kitomag reported their accomplished mission with Cutter telling them to be on standby whilst Professor Anders was transported to them.
Soon enough, the pelican that had the scientist on board arrived and dropped the eager human off with Kitomag and Forge being told to be her personal guards.
"You two sure know how to leave a mess." Was her first comment upon seeing the scene where multiple bodies were strewn about everywhere.
"We try." Forge remarked, pointing at a squad of marines and throwing his arm up lightly as a silent order for them to follow.
They walked deeper into the interior of the relic structure, marines mulling about in disposing of the bodies that had been left behind.
The group arrived at what appeared to be the center of the underground relic.
"So this is what the Covenant were after?" Anders asked aloud, looking back to the two sergeants.
"Seems so, ma'am." Kit responded, rubbing his chin in thought as he inspected the strange, unknown technology before them.
"They sure paid a price trying to defend it, all quiet now." Forge tacked on, holding up a fist for the marines with them to hold position.
Anders only hummed in response, stepped towards the relic, raising her hand to touch a sphere of some kind with multiple segments on it.
There were unidentifiable runes on each of these segments.
Perhaps their controls?
Just as she was about to touch it, Forge's large hand grasped her wrist.
"Whoa now, what do you think you're doing?" He asked in slight alarm.
She gently pried her hand free and gave him a determined look.
"Nothing ventured, nothing gained." Anders stated firmly.
The human sergeant was clearly hesitant but he withdrew his hand with a frown as the Professor reached out and grazed the strange glowing sphere.
Not a moment too soon did the strange, unidentified alien relic react with a flash of light.
"Professor Anders." Kitomag said warily, reaching for his weapon.
She held up a hand for him to wait a moment though her expression conveyed a level of nervousness when there was another flash of light.
A second later, the entire area was illuminated with a display of what appeared to be multiple planets, stars and solar systems.
"Now that's...not what I expected!" Ellen said in clear surprise.
"Wha-what is all this?" Forge asked, eyeing the relic warily.
"It… it looks like some sort of-"
"ARGH!"
Everyone spun around in time to see a Mon Cala marine collapse dead upon the ground with a needler round in his back.
"Heresy!" Shouted a Sangheili that de-cloaked itself before them all with a multitude of other Elite appearing alongside him. "Remove the hedonistic filth from this holy site."
"Oh boy." Forge growled under his breath, catching a shotgun that was thrown towards him. "These bastards just don't know when to quit."
Rather than responding to his friend's comment, Kitomag instead reached out to Cutter.
"Spirit of Fire, this is Kitomag." He said, ducking his head slightly at the sound of a needler round bouncing off his cover. "We're cornered inside the relic and cut off from the outside. It's an ambush."
"Hold tight Sergeants, reinforcements are on their way."
"Make it fast Captain, got our resident egghead here-" Forge paused for a moment to bash the back of his shotgun in the mouth of an elite before shooting it between the eyes. "With us"
"Sergeant, Alpha Base won't be able to respond in time. We've got Grizzlies inbound from Spirit of Fire, hold on down there."
The ship's AI couldn't help but comment on this tidbit. "Ah, Grizzly tanks. Forge's pet project."
"Got a problem with my beauties, Serina?" Forge retorted in a huff.
"You and your tanks." Kit murmured with an amused smirk, popping out of his cover to shoot down an Elite that tried to rush them.
The marines led by Forge and Kitomag bunkered down as a large contingent of Elites, Jackals and Grunts now surrounded their position and fired upon them.
Outside the structure, the UNSC forces that had been brought to the relic site were caught flat footed and were desperately fighting off the enemy soldiers that seemingly appeared out of nowhere.
A Wookiee lieutenant was barking out orders left and right for the troops to fall back into more defensible positions yet there were Covenant inside the structure itself. They had them pincered on two sides with them being outnumbered now.
"Where the hell did all these hinge heads come from?"
"Who gives a shit? Just keep firing. Reinforcements should be inbound in five minutes."
"We don't have five minutes!"
"GRAAAWRR!" (Translation: THEN MAKE FIVE MINUTES DAMMIT!)
The fighting intensified as the marines of the UNSC began firing back at the Covenant ambush with a voracious recklessness.
Less than a few moments later did backup arrive in the form of two large tanks being deposited in front of the relic site with only three individuals being seen accompanying the drop.
This trio stood out amongst all others present on the battlefield, distinguished by the heavy set of green armor they wore coupled with red accents and markings on their chest pieces, shoulder pauldrons and helmets.
Upon seeing them, the UNSC battalion stationed at the entrance to the Relic site felt a surge of relief and confidence.
"Holy shit." One of the Mon Cala marines said aloud with a wide grin. "Nice timing!"
The new arrivals hopped down from the tanks and ran straight into the underground structure whilst the Grizzly's began decimating the Covenant forces.
There was a war cry from the reinvigorated UNSC marines of the Spirit of Fire as they began laying down an endless stream of lead upon the Covenant who were now being whittled down bit by bit.
Back with Forge and Kitomag, the duo saw that they only had a handful of marines left and were running low on ammo.
They had kept Anders behind them, making sure she was under proper cover but even then, it would only last for so long.
The Covenant had all but surrounded them and were slowly closing in. It was almost mocking the surviving marines at how deliberately slow paced they were attacking now, knowing they had the humans, Mon Cala and Wookiees surrounded on all sides.
"Sons of bitches are mocking us." Forge said irritably.
"What?" Kit asked, tossing a grenade over his cover and hearing the satisfying sound of it exploding and killing several Sangheili.
"They know they got us cornered." John elaborated, jumping up for a moment to shotgun blast an Elite in the head. "But they wanna take their time."
"Yes, that's not at all terrifying to hear." Anders shouted above all the plasma and gunfire.
"Welcome to our world, Professor." Forge quipped, reloading his shotgun while ignoring the small glare she sent his way.
Their attackers drew in closer as the marines around the sergeants and professor were picked off one at a time.
The Sangheili leading the ambush leered with nothing but unadulterated hatred at the UNSC forces, especially those filthy, hedonistic humans.
All those who follow in their wake will be burnt to ash as they will.
The Elite warbled a sadistic laugh at shooting one of those furbags in the chest. 'Such is the fate of all-'
*SHLICK*
The Elite was unable to finish that last thought as a large combat knife was violently embedded into his head. It was pulled out an instant later, the body it was just in toppling down to the ground, unmoving and dead.
The other Elites spun round and roared at the loss of their leader, rushing forward to attack the one who killed him when two more individuals rushed in to assist their team leader.
It was sudden, quick, bloody and violent.
Three tall and well armored humans descended upon the Sangheili and utterly decimated them in a matter of seconds.
The one who had taken out the lead Elite had a red stripe on the right side of his armored chest with a red Corinthian Helmet emblazoned on his right shoulder pauldron. On the left side of his chest piece was the number 092.
To his immediate left ran by one with the number 042 on his chest piece, wielding two SMGs in hand. He had a red stripe atop his helmet, a red phoenix symbol on his right shoulder pauldron with the image of a Sangheili skull being impaled by two knives on his left.
The last of these three had a M247H Machine gun that mowed down a number of Elites in an instant. This armored warrior had the number 130 on her chest piece and the decorative red symbol on her right shoulder pauldron was that of a jolly roger.
Like 042, she too had the emblem of a Sangheili skull on her left shoulder, only this one was riddled with bullet holes.
Once the Elites had all been cleared out, 092 spoke up, voice echoing off the walls of the relic.
"Area secured, Sergeants."
Forge peaked his head over his cover and upon seeing who had come in to relieve him and his men of the Covenant.
Kitomag looked up a moment later and let out a hearty chuckle, standing up and walked over to the trio of armored giants.
"Nice of you to join us, Red Team." Kit greeted the towering Spartan-II's cheerfully.
"Well shit, you took your sweet time, didn't you?" Forge said in a dry voice. "What? Didn't get enough of a kill count so decided on making sure it was higher than mine?"
"With all due respect Sergeant Forge, Spartan's will always have a higher kill count than you." Spartan-092, leader of fireteam Red, stated in a completely serious manner.
The human sergeant shook his head, a smirk making its way on his face.
"Next time have less of a dramatic entrance."
"At the cost of insubordination, wouldn't that count as hypocrisy, sir?" 042 asked lightly, making the Mon Cala sergeant chortle, nudging Forge who rolled his eyes.
Rather than answering the armored giant, the human sergeant looked back to see Professor Anders coming out from where she was being kept safe.
"Get what ya need, Doc?" Forge asked with Ellen looking back at the device in the center with an analytical gaze.
"Guess we'll have to wait and see when we're back on the Fire."
"Come on." Kitomag said aloud. "Let's not dwell here and wait for another ambush."
His statement brokered no arguments from all still alive and present, the remaining marines being extracted from the relic site.
Soon after, Ellen Anders was back in the observation deck of the Spirit Of Fire, her makeshift lab whirring with noise and activity.
Standing in the middle of it all was Sergeants Forge and Kit with Spartan-092 by their side.
Anders was busy typing away at the newly downloaded data that she had retrieved from the ancient alien structure with Serina internally assisting her work.
She didn't regard Captain Cutter who had entered into the deck moments later, the two Sergeants and Spartan snapping to a salute which he waved off a moment later.
"So I take it your "expedition" down to Harvest was a success?" Cutter inquired.
"Well, I'm still sifting through what we were able to get in our short time there but Serina and I deduced a direction that it was directing us to." Anders revealed.
The Captain tilted his head slightly with a raised brow.
"So, all it did was point you in a direction?"
Ellen nodded rapidly. "In the thirty seconds I had to examine the Artifact? Yes, all it did was point at a second star system."
Serina soon brought up said system and displayed it for all to see.
"Arcadia colony, to be precise." The AI stated. "Population a little under three-million, largely unexplored but apparently quite the vacation resort."
Forge felt a brief instant of movement, glancing over to 092 who had inclined his head up slightly.
"What's the matter, Jerome?" The Sergeant spoke up, causing the others to look to him and the Spartan-II. "Arcadia mean something to you?"
"In a manner of speaking." Jerome-092 said. "Another Spartan fireteam is currently stationed there. Omega."
"Must be important to station another set of Spartans there." Kit noted, making Cutter rub his chin in thought.
"So what seems to be the significance of Arcadia, Professor?" James inquired patiently.
"There's something there Captain, and I think it's important we get to it before the Covenant do." Anders answered straight away.
"Professor, if you recall, our orders are to investigate Harvest." Cutter pointed out. "We still don't know a lot about what's going on down there."
Anders appeared undeterred. "I understand that Captain, but everything I see here tells me that we need to get to Arcadia to figure this out."
There was a moment of silence as all stood in the observation deck, gazing upon the Captain of the Spirit of Fire. The man hadn't responded right away, taking a moment of deliberation.
He looked over to his two sergeants, the human of the two voicing his opinion.
"She's determined, I can tell ya that much." Forge remarked, earning an eye roll out of Anders.
Cutter then glanced over to 092 who took a moment to consider his words before answering.
"If the Covenant are going after Arcadia, we need to go and back them up as soon as we can." Jerome-092 declared. "They're after something on Arcadia and we likely are the only ones who will figure out just what they want."
Upon hearing that, James relented, giving a stern look to his crew.
"Very well, Professor. I'll clear it with Admiral Cole. Serina, set course for Arcadia." Cutter stated, walking out of the Observation Deck.
"Aye, sir." Serina remarked in a drab voice. "Crazy mystery trip to Arcadia plotted in, spinning up FTL drive."
"Where's your sense of adventure and excitement, Serina?" Kit asked in a joking fashion as he, Forge and 092 followed Cutter out of the deck.
"Come on, Serina." Anders spoke up. "We got work to do."
Alright, so, yeah we're at Halo Wars at long last.
Did this chapter take to long to come out? Abso-fucking-lutely.
Is it as long as it should be? No, could have been longer but I have been dragging my ass in trying to finish this chapter whilst Jeb, Bullet and I have been busy on other projects.
I got a new story with Jeb called Key Of Dreams, go check it out please and thank you if you will.
On top of that, Infinite Wars, I'm Nobody and A Song of Fire, Ice and Hearts that me and Jeb have been working on.
Spirit Unto Dawn that B and I have been neglecting.
Pocket Monster and Noble Justice that demand updates and to top it all off…
The reboot of Avenging Remnant which is the first official three way project I'm a part of with me, Bullet and Jebest all having a huge amount of input for the new story of Age of Remnant (title chosen by BulletStormX).
So, suffice to say, been busy. And that's just with writing. Work and other shit outside has been fucking me raw and it wears down on ya. This is my only solace sometimes and bullshit is keeping me from it.
But I don't wanna complain to much on likely my last update for my profile in the year 2021.
Let me just end with a few cliff notes than.
No Way Home is in my top 3 Spiderman films of all time.
Hawkeye was great.
Halo Infinite has been a joy to play and I love how menacing they made Atriox and just know that B and I have big plans for that huge burly bastard in this story. Loved the story, the mystery, the gameplay though I wish they would have just released EVERYTHING at once like Forge and shit but guess they're sticking to their guns in having Infinite be the next 10 years of Halo which I'm still trying to wrap my mind around that.
Other than that, if this be the last chapter of 2021, Happy New Years folks, hope 2022 doesn't fuck us into oblivion like the last two years have.
Been watching a lot of Entourage, Ari Gold in particular when I was finishing this chapter.
Rate Read and Review and as Always Have Nice Day.