Chapter 9: Operation SAFEGUARD
President Lockhart, generally speaking, was a very level-headed woman. She had served the people of the Milky Way for six years, and she was known for her even hand and very amicable nature. It was taking far more willpower than she possessed to keep a neutral expression during this meeting.
Sitting around the conference table in her office on the New Ark was the GC Joint Military Command, Vice President Veria'Aliter, and a holographic projection of Admiral Thomas Lasky. She winced as the Sangheili Commander of the Marine Corps shouted out. "Three SPARTANs are locked in an underground facility, surrounded by a deadly virus that we do not understand, and there is a very real threat of this plague spreading to the rest of the planet! We need to dispatch the Guardians."
"Absolutely not!" Lasky responded. "You want weapons like those 'protecting' the people of Andromeda? Are you insane?"
"Admiral, imagine their effectiveness against the Separatist Droids." The Unggoy Army Commander responded.
"And imagine the damage they would do to the infrastructure of a developed world like Naboo." Lasky rebuked. "The Guardian's primary weapon is the Pulse. If one of those were to go off over a world like Naboo, there's no telling how many innocents would die! Hospitals would be deactivated, electricity would be cut off, transportation would be nigh-impossible, and it would thoroughly ruin any chance of us winning over the hearts and minds of that galaxy. I know more about these Guardians than any of you, I fought the damned things for Christ's sake!"
"You fought Guardians that were under the control of a borderline Rampant UNSC AI in the 2500s." The Kig-Yar Air Force Marshall countered. "These Guardians are thoroughly under our control."
"Have none of you researched their purpose?" Aliter asked. "They were designed to subjugate lesser systems under Forerunner control. They kept the peace through the threat of annihilation."
"What's better? Peace or Extinction?" The Marines Commander asked.
"Enough!" Lockhart shouted, silencing the horribly off-track conference. "You all appear to be forgetting who you need to convince. No Guardian will be deployed unless I explicitly sign off on it."
"Madame President, you must understand that it is a necessity." The Marines Commander pleaded.
"I will allow the Guardians to patrol two places in the Andromeda Galaxy." Lockhart responded, holding out her hand to silence the Sangheili. "Around the Andromeda Ark, and the Outer Rim. If a system is under exclusive Separatist Military control, I will sanction the use of the Guardians as weapons, but until such a time comes, they will remain dormant. Am I clear?"
"Of course, Madame President…" The Marines Commander nodded. "My apologies for overstepping my bounds."
"Don't apologize, I simply ask you to consider the ramifications of deploying the Guardians to a populated system. We've all studied the Human-Covenant War and Post-War periods, and we all know what kind of damage a single Guardian can cause. I'm willing to deploy them, but only under very specific circumstances." The Military High Commanders all nodded in agreement, earning a small smile from Lockhart. "Excellent, then this Joint Meeting is adjourned."
XXXXX
Alice's expression was surprisingly neutral as she sat behind Anakin and Obi-Wan in a small Republic Frigate. It was smaller than a GC Heavy Fighter, but it was comfortable enough for the three of them to make a two hour Hyperspace Jump to Iego. She absentmindedly fiddled with the cuff of her jumpsuit as the jump was nearing its end. "Alice, what's the status on the three other SPARTANs back on Naboo?"
Alice was jolted out of her thoughts by Anakin's question. "All three members of Fireteam Gamma remain unaffected by the Virus, due to their armor. Symptoms are starting to show for Senator Amidala, the Clones, and Ahsoka, however."
Anakin sighed, his expression darkening. "We're almost there, Anakin… they'll be fine." Obi-Wan consoled.
Alice felt the ship jolt beneath her, indicating that the Hyperspace jump had come to a close. Before her was a large garden world, surrounded by hundreds of natural satellites and thousands of artificial satellites. The orbit of Iego looked more akin to a ship graveyard than a point in space. Strangely enough, there was a small GC battlegroup orbiting the planet, made entirely of frigates and light cruisers. The GC fleet, for some strange reason, was firing their Hard Light batteries and energy projectors into the asteroids or destroyed vessels surrounding Iego.
"Well…" Alice said, gazing on the shattered orbit.
"What're they doing?" Anakin asked, seeing the GC navy win a decisive victory against orbiting bodies.
The communications panel on the Republic vessel flared up, receiving a communication from the flagship of the GC fleet, GCSS Unifying Light, a single Nebula-Class Battlecruiser. "Looks like they're about to ask the same thing." Kenobi said, keying the communications console and bringing up a holographic projection of the Sangheili Admiral of the fleet.
"Republic vessel, state your intentions in this system." The Sangheili asked, sounding like he was merely going through the required motions. "I was not informed of any Republic scouts in this sector."
"We were sent from Naboo to retrieve medical supplies from this system's garden world." Alice said. "This is SPARTAN Alice of Fireteam Gamma, operating under orders and direction from Admiral Lasky."
"Of course, SPARTAN." The Sangheili said, nodding his head downward in respect. "Admiral Lasky had informed me of the situation on Naboo, I was unaware the vessel that would be arriving would be a Republic frigate."
"What's the Twelfth Light Fleet doing out here?" Alice asked. "This is deep in CIS Space."
"We recovered logs from a destroyed Separatist fleet about a civilian population trapped on this world. We were sent to investigate." The Sangheili responded. "We have suffered losses of one of our frigates in a Laser Defense Grid around this planet. We are currently working to dismantle it. You are safe to descend to the planet's surface, we will have the defense grid cleared by then."
"Thank you, Admiral." Alice responds, bowing her head curtly in a gesture of respect.
"Of course, SPARTAN." The Sangheili Admiral responded, clasping a closed fist over his hearts. "Mantle guide you." With that, the communication severed and left the cockpit of the light frigate quiet.
"Ready?" Obi-Wan asked.
"As we'll ever be…" Anakin responded, sighing.
"They'll be fine, General." Alice reassured. "The GC being here will without a doubt shave down on the time we have to spend groundside. The Admiral's already sent over detailed surface scans of Iego." She gestured to the blinking communications console.
"Then let's get started." Obi-Wan said, bringing the frigate about and setting it on a course towards the surface.
A/N:
Alright, I have an explanation for why this chapter is painfully short, especially by my standards of at LEAST 5,000 words. Put simply, I'm not feeling the drive to write for this right now. This isn't to say that I won't be returning to this story, quite the opposite actually, this is simply me saying that I'll be putting the Mantle's Promise on hold for 2 to 3 months.
I kinda dug myself into a hole by writing 3 EXCLUSIVELY Science Fiction stories, which can certainly be taxing on my inspiration when all three of my stories revolve around the finagling of physics and research into universe lore and theories. I'd prefer not to force myself to write a story that I simply can't think of anything for, but I will be returning to the Mantle's Promise.
I certainly blame myself, seeing as I'm trying to write three sci-fi stories, each of them radically different and being the three stories that I intend to tell through science fiction. I've got one that's told through a more "True Good" lens (Mantle's Promise), one through a "True Neutral" (Roses Born of Dust), and one told through a morally ambiguous "Chaotic Evil/Neutral" (Humanity's Rebirth) lens. Writing from three different moral stances has been tiring to say the least, and I just feel the need for a bit of a break from the Mantle's Promise for a little while.
This story will return soon, once I can put in a fair bit of thought and get my inspiration back for this story. Sorry for this, but I doubt any of you want to read sub-par work now, rather than the best I can put out later.
As Always, see you in the next chapter or story:
-TallYapflip
