Last hours of the Aegis IV/Lian I

Lian, the supply world, its name the same as the system it was within, but it wasn't the true name of the system. It was a code word for a secret occupation onto a territory that wasn't theirs'.

Forty-One years ago the UNSC was, in the eyes of outsider forces fractured, struggling to beat down a series of insurrections and in 2517 there was one that it failed to subdue.

The story was that a small fleet mutinied along with colonies and colony ships and sought to relocate to a further part of space, the logistical planning couldn't had been possible without the planning of a then captain Dane, allied with another captain who was once viewed as a successor to Terrance Hood. Not only was the insurrection of 2517 a loss of talent within UNSC's own ranks but it was a loss of face and strength, despite the brilliance of the opposition earth's military was on the ball and sent a rapid response to cut them off.

Roughly there was four of earth's to every one of the insurgent's, it was aimed in shutting down the resistance as well as sending a message to any other would be idealist to think again.

Yet what came was a shock and horror of the opposite, where the consequence has lived on Forty-One years later. That fleet sent to crush a movement in its infancy was decimated. It vanished and to make matters worse the insurgency lost only one personnel, and had since become something more and with a name.

The Galactic Federation.

It was a name that the UNSC didn't recognize, but could do little about, except call their territory Disturbed settlements.

Admitting the worlds in question were not under direct earth's control...but at the same time not recognizing the federation's independence.

The Federation shortly after its establishment produced ships that greatly outclassed the UNSC's at a rate no one still knows how.

They were based on a unique technology that was not forerunner or Covenant that could travel the stars faster and had means to scour and protect and preserve future frontiers. Over 200,000 systems were under their list of claims, a staggering claim and one with the political intention of keeping the UNSC boxed in.

It had been said by some that if there was no Covenant then there would be a war with the UNSC seeking to bury the idealist regime for good, but the same could be said of the federation. They also had the ships to possibly end the UNSC but in the end neither have done so. There were still outside forces associated with the Covenant to contend with, the priority of halo rings, or that either side didn't have the man power of resources to claim sovereignty over the other. The federation was small but powerful and the UNSC was made smaller by its exhausting war against the genocidal Covenant.

The final and most simpler reason many aligned on was that both powers still had someone they knew on the other side, if anything the two had more to gain together, economically, scientifically and even militarily but the idea of UNSC accepting the federation, is to accept it acknowledged a separatists right to be free and would revitalise trouble at home again. And the Federation could never accept agreement with a government that once tried to wipe them out and nor did they give details of what happened to the 2517's the fleet that vanished with relatives from that fleet convinced that there are survivors now prisoners but that was all speculation with the federation declaring it as a victory and nothing more.

It was a victory that made Dane an admiral, or justify his own title depending on which source someone read on the matter, unsurprisingly UNSC and the Federation support differing accounts..

It was also the victory that made a "martyr" of the federation cause since, the once promised prodigy to Terrance and the only insurgent to have died in the battle of 2517, but her name lives on in the federation, not in gold plating outside memorials, named buildings and institutes, but by her son who carries her name and serves as a Commander and lives as a thorn to the UNSC's side, finding and deterring any vessels that strayed into the GF over "navigational error"

Lian was maybe the only time the UNSC have evaded the detection of that Commander that some in ranks refer unfondly as the son of a bitch, they probably would had called him "that bastard" if Robert watts hadn't taken that honor first.

Lian was painfully detailed in preparation and execution, in preparation the system was like many others were monitored by state of the art federation detection but like FS-176 they devised a series of 'blend in' measures. Means that military intelligence believe would allow them to be undetected, it also meant getting ships to fly close to other "claimed systems" to fool the federation to thinking developments were happening elsewhere.

The UNSC bans gambling as unprofessional but it was gambling with lives in this extensive covert operation and what was at stake was unearthing and capturing blueprints to what the insurgents must had found that made them the federation they are now. The fact there were no reported survivors of what happened in 2517 made occupants on the base at times uneasy, on edge, they figured that kind would come from the Covenant not their own species. Though history books have been recently revised and "cleaned" up since before and during the Covenant war so as to emphaise humanity's own moral superiority of above no wrong.

Lian wasn't quite like earth, it was breathable and the gravity similar but the sky shaded a softer limeish colour and the days consisted of near total day, in varying hours it would dip to more natural darkness but the days have been truly dark, with temperature bordering on constant. There were colder months but the planning for Lian also took into account settling onto this world also. The base was built on a world where despite temperature and daylight differences was still habitable and suitable, with the spot being the most least disturbed surrounding they could build and leave on.

The operation was to the point where the UNSC had installations in place, besides the base that was a silver spiral with fixed rings around its structure. It housed several thousand personnel and the research lead within the facility was classified. it was the base where samples found were sent analysed and sent to ONI transports, the base even had a prototype mechanism where it could refuel ships in orbit by sending intense shots of collected solar energy keeping any ships on patrol on a renewable source instead of having to use their own, prolonging them in a situation like a confrontation.

There were also a experimental "dampening" system, details classified but those who knew of their existence were aware they placed per hundred thousand miles from each other, hidden in spacial objects with the aim of making the scenario where should the federation arrive more favorable to the UNSC, they were there to slow any arriving ships and to reduce sensor range by as much as 70% This was to buy time in evacuation and according to tests they did work, one was tried secretly on Dane's ship and noted a slight decrease in speed however the desired effect had yet to be delivered on the Commander's.

If the worst happened then Echo A-Rank was called, this brought in reinforcements but more so called in the Infinity. It had access to a slipstream route that while not instantons was still very fast and one that the infinity had the durability for.

Nothing should come close to the inner planets, the dampeners should grind any jump entries at the outer planets and their speed capping at subsonic, even if for a while.

That idea held till far above the planet but within the inner boundary did a portion of the starlight seem to turn, there was a distortion of the light something blurred in the midst of the sunlight's path towards Lian, sensors picked up something, gravity dwelling and acting it had mass, people on board and onboard the neighbouring ships felt a tug of a new strong presence, then there was a push, an expulsion of gravity the scans picked up some kind of opening similir to a slipstream exit but that meant it wasn't their's. Alarms were raised on the planet and the ships patrolling turned to defend or ready for evacuation but had to ponder about the likeness of conflict, the incursion should not had happened at this close. Something had opened close and something had come out.

The scans detected small numerous signs of biological material, on scanners they were just dots of discarded matter. To the eyes of those commanding the ships closest they could see uniforms, frozen grasped hands, faces iced in deathly blue showing the horror of their last thoughts. And what was coming.

The distress code Echo-A rank was made, destined for the Infinite to receive.

Shortly afterwards the invasion followed.

The worst scenario was now a reality for the research team in system FS-176. They were not alone.

EVERYONE INSIDE! NOW!

Fielding Rushmore tried to scream sense into his ground team but everyone was locked in dreaded awe at the silent but deadly fiery exchange between the distant aegis and the much larger intruder, till the Aegis no longer fought back with the much larger alien vessel sending a greyish swarm of much smaller vessels to the Aegis completing its subjection.

The world they were on, Oormine II had a new danger besides just evading nuclear storms.

Fielding Rushmore screamed out the orders again, it was far but the fact that made the danger present made distance irrelevant it was there and they needed to be safe he didn't want anyone have time to think about the worse only to stay alive. That was the priority. That was what mattered.

People moved as quickly as they could in their bio-suits, the majority were trained to follow the appropriate response, some even being veterans of that experience when their worlds they were on or even lived were glassed by the Covenant in the last war. Rushmore glared at Luther who was still watching the subjection, documenting, a possible carnage and he looked through the mounted scope as if it was a documentary. Rushmore felt like punching the glass of that visor and let the atmosphere do the rest.

'Luther! We're going. Luther!'

He spun round giving clarity to his actions.

'I saw something! I wanted to see what happening was.'

'You can see what's happening!' He shouted.

'And I saw something else, ships much smaller dropping out of the larger. Their different!'

'What?''

''Their designs is not uniform to the larger ship they were housed in, they were much too similar to the Covenant'

'...No' His blood felt cold. He felt dead when he heard that, was he serious? He looked into his own scope at the direction only to see the bastard was right, black dots riding through the clear sky of this wasteland.

Fielding took a look from the scope and caught a glance, the design he saw had all the bearings of the Covenant, they behaved differently to the alien invader in flight pattern and the way they were moving down to approach was almost textbook like from how the old Covenant acted. But the designs weren't identical to the case he was taught to be familiar with, were they some kind of offshoot?

Luther gestured his hand to activate a hologram with numerical measurement he was getting an est of the decreased distance, the calculation was quick.

'We just got ten minutes'

'We might just make it!' Fielding dragged Luther with him as they all started to make their way to the temple their hope? Mercy. They were hoping for mercy from killers, which was all they had.

He could see the overview and feel the ecstasy of the battles within the measly vessel, his eyes soaked up the detail depicted from his hologram, the Aegis was a beast turned on its belly it had since been overrun and already piracy was in full force, thanks to the intelligence provided by the infiltrator he had all the records needed about who was worth their use, he didn't need the so called troops, their use was proven on the battlefield as useless, most of them gutted and severed, some taken and dragged down to what that woman had opened earlier. Of course he knew what it was, the outcome of that infestation was certain and he could have done it himself if he wanted to but Ilsa had proven herself to be...competent. At least enough to forgive her for her first failing, and that was an even easier errand at the time.

Everyone had their role; she had managed hers and was looking at the pod that escorted her back. The infiltrator's role was to yet to be done, not all the ones he detailed as worth to capture were brought back to the ship, but there was enough that the rest will be part of the "shielding" next to the newly installed devices on board just to make the forces at Lian a bit hesitant to shoot at. While the rest...just seeing them fall into opening slipstream was marvellous. Very shortly the captured refitted Aegis will become a very useful once it fires through that jump with the "infestation" as part of the packaging.

He mused to himself about everything else but it wasn't too concerning, it was all covered.

The needle shaped pods had done their work, many coming back with spoils of capture despite minor skirmishes still occurring within the Aegis, but they were of no threat, with Upsilon on board and the infestation what can they do? Upsilon was the finest of the ever evolving task force at his disposal, till the next best generation that is, and how he was looking forward to that.

Ultimately the heritage of a species did not matter to him, the way he saw it all sums made the part, or the parts of others can still make another one, it was simply a futurist way of seeing things. His way.

While there has been a culture to where the rest of his forces were raised on his ideals because they had nothing else, he also was in their minds constantly, while not entirely drone like in behaviour they were conditioned to accept his own philosophy on life, he could also know what they were really thinking before they could say it, sorting them out without necessarily making a blatant example. If he knew some doubted him, and he did, he would prompt them to take the suicide run. He could always make more.

Overall his men were free to embrace his values, just not free to say no to it. All they were now were just extensions of himself, the practisers of his murderous ways.

Ilsa and the infiltrator were exceptions, they were atuned to his line of thought without any needed control, this did not give them any greater respect but he did recognize the opportunities, one caring for wealth and to satisfy his sociopathic thinking while the other was fixated with waiting UNSC and a personal foe dead. And now that IIsa has proven herself maybe he will help her with that. The sting of losing face because of not getting the Infinity that he promised to that rouge brute was still there but then that was the least on his mind at the time. He tried not to think about it because doing so gave him the instinctive urge to find that pathetic crybaby who ruined everything back then and care for nothing else!

It was too late however to not think about it which was where his greatest strength came in, his own self-restraint. Her words spoke out as if the years gone never happened and she was here defying him.

THREE!

I'll defeat you on the count of three! If you're capable of it, then let's count together!

Even when wounds have healed and upgrades made, skin for alloy on the parts that would not heal, his mind would not forget.

His eyes captured the asteroid field in its fullness, divided parts of a once greater whole. The sound of knuckles grinding from his monstrous hand was notable to the crew that wisely stayed quiet.

He had to step back into thought, remind himself that while Zebes was lost, he still had that brute on his list and that there was a silver lining to all of this, one being that he was still alive.

The second that he still had a marauder that housed himself and a working industry within that the captured humans will now contribute, but mostly he had the wisdom to see what the Chozo had to offer, and what they saw themselves.

He found it amusing, suddenly but quite amusing now that he thought about it how defeat had given him a vision to an even greater victory because he now at last saw the possibilities, it made him smirk, the thought of all the promised gains he will get, and a death especially for her and it starts from here.

'One'

AN:

Quite narrative but I'm taking the time to establish things, and this wasn't as straight forward given the different locations in the story, just to note there is a Robert Watts in halo lore, and the quote regarding 'three' is in fact from the Metroid manga. Also to confirm that the pirate ship is a "marauder" it's not seen in the prime series but it's stated to be extremely large and apparently some shipyards gone bankrupt trying to build it. But as it's never been shown I had some creative ideas with it, but the needle pods attacking their in the Prime 3.