Chapter 12: Echoes of the Past

"Damned droids…" Commander Cody muttered, looking over the visual data taken from Kathryn's armor. "I guess that answers the questions we had about the village being empty."

"It does complicate things, however…" Obi-Wan added. "A frontal-assault is out of the question."

"Agreed…" Alice responded. She looked around at the Clone Troopers and ODSTs that were watching the briefing. "Have all of the recon teams reported in?"

"All but one, Commander." Cody answered. "Waxer's team still hasn't called in."

Almost on-cue, a pair of clones with the standard golden markings of the 212th Battalion came running through the door to the FOB's main building, both of them standing in a crisp salute when they entered. "Where have you two been?" Cody asked, glaring at the clones from beneath his helmet.

"We got a bit… sidetracked." Waxer answered.

As he spoke, Alice noticed the young Twi'Lek girl doing her best to hide behind the armored clone. "Ah… I think I understand." She said. "You speak the language, right General?" Alice turned to Obi-Wan.

"I do…" Kenobi said, walking over and kneeling down before the young girl. He began speaking in a slow, methodical manner in the native tongue of the Twi'Leks. It was a strangely beautiful language, many of the words seeming to flow from movements of the tongue, as opposed to the GC's standard dialect of English, which originated from the throat for most species. "The girl can lead us through the tunnel network beneath the village, and directly to the prisoners." Kenobi explained.

"As helpful as that may be, we need a distraction in the mouth of that valley to disorganize the droids." Alice said, zooming in on the narrow entrance to the small boxed-in valley. "I will have the few Prometheans we have with us launch a false attack."

"Then we have a plan, let's get moving." Cody said, nodding to his Clone forces to rally up.

XXXXX

"Admiral Lasky, General Windu has secured much of the Southern Hemisphere, and General Kenobi's forces are pushing against the Separatists on the equator." Admiral Yularan explained over the communication. "Once we take that village, we will be free to begin the push for the capital."

"Excellent." Lasky said. "Is there any news on the insurgents on the surface?"

"They have done much of General Kenobi's work for him, apparently." Yularan explained. "Some of the villages that we were meant to liberate are already free of droids. Once his last one falls, the front will be open."

"Good to hear, I'll notify you of any changes on the ground." Lasky said, cutting the comms.

XXXXX

"SPARTAN Alice, Promethean Armigers are prepared for the assault." One of the Paladins came over Alice's communicator. "Excellent, wait for my mark." She closed the communication, looking back down the scope of her light rifle as she scanned the box canyon from her position in the mouth of a cave.

"Gamma, move up!" She called out, motioning to her SPARTANs.

Wordlessly, the four SPARTANs cloaked and quietly made their way into the sunlight, advancing towards a strange pillar. "Go!" Alice shouted.

In an instant, the three Promethean Paladins and twelve Promethean Soldiers on the outskirts of the canyon opened fire. The Tactical Droid commanding the Droid battalion was disintegrated as a Binary Rifle speared through the center of its lightly-armored chassis, the CIS tank he was commanding detonating as a second round speared through its thin side armor and overheated the reactor core. The droids fell into complete disarray.

The Clones and ODSTs charged out of the cave entrance, quickly taking cover behind anything that was available. A few unlucky clones and a group of five ODSTs were unlucky enough to be caught by an exploding thermal detonator thrown by a battle droid. Three of the five ODSTs were killed, and two were gravely wounded. One had his right arm completely severed by the close-proximity explosion, his armor being the only thing preventing him from slipping away. The other was knocked unconscious and thrown against the wall of the canyon.

Kenobi shouted out in Twi'Lek, yelling for the natives to take cover in the cave. Wasting no time, the Twi'Leks darted for the entrance to the cave, all of them making it in without taking any wounds.

"Civvies are clear, weapons free!" Alice shouted. "Someone call in CAS, Danger Close!"

At their commander's words, the Prometheans unleashed their full arsenal. One of the Promethean Paladins was struck by a heavy blaster bolt from a CIS tank, forcing its failsafes to go into effect. The Promethean let out a warbling cry as it was sucked back into Slipspace, where its consciousness would be transferred to an inert body for later deployment. His companion, PC-130, fired an Incineration Cannon directly into the offending battle tank, obliterating it and scattering shrapnel all across the canyon.

The ODSTs started tossing Splinter and Pulse grenades at large pockets of droid resistance. In the confusion, the droids manning the anti-air guns abandoned their cannons and took up blasters to engage the Republic/GC forces. Just as Kathryn wheeled around to fire a burst from her light rifle at the offending droids, a brilliant display of golden light rained down from above, reducing the Separatist AA guns and their crew alike to ash. As she looked up, the SPARTAN saw a large wing of Falchions diving down on the canyon, escorted by a few ARC-170 Republic Starfighters and a pair of Jedi Starfighters. As they climbed once again, a few of the ODSTs and Clones let out a celebratory cheer. It wasn't long after when the final droid fell.

A few moments later, six Acclimator Assault Ships flew by overhead, carrying the bulk of the forces on this front. Behind them was a small fleet of GC Interdictor-class Assault Cruisers, each of them carrying thousands of Marines and Army personnel. The Clones, SPARTANs, and ODSTs gave a cheer as the ships began making their way towards a large series of plains on the edge of the canyon. A few of the civilians made their way out of the cave, and were staring up at the fleet of starships in wonder, a few of them celebrating as a wing of Starfighters flew by overhead.

The attention of the SPARTAN fireteam on the ground was grabbed as their communicators crackled to life in their ears, a familiar voice coming over. "Excellent work, Gamma Team." Commandant Sarah Palmer congratulated. "Have your forces on the ground regroup at the landing zone for the 1st Army."

"Aye, Ma'am." Alice answered. "We're moving out!" Alice called out over the thrumming of ion engines and reaction drives.

XXXXX

Kathryn sat on the tread cover of a massive Hellcat Super-Heavy tank, watching the Clones and GC Marines mingle with the locals. The massive airfield that had been constructed on the outskirts of the village she helped secure the previous day was abuzz with activity. Marines and Clone Troopers handed out food and medical supplies to local Twi'Leks, Pelicans and Falchions took off and landed from the landing pads and runway every now and again.

The campaign to liberate Ryloth was going exactly as planned. ODST platoons all over the planet's Northern hemisphere were disrupting the CIS forces with hit-and-run raids, the GC fleet in orbit prevented any out-going communications from Ryloth, and all that was left in this campaign was to secure the capital city of Lessu. Once that was accomplished, the Separatist Commander Wat Tambor would be taken prisoner and handed over to the Republic for a trial. This was not to say, however, that the mission on Ryloth went without its fair share of hiccups.

Three entire armored divisions of the GC Army had been lost in a surprise raid on one of their bases, Cham Syndulla's rebels accidentally opened fire on a GC patrol, thinking them to be a new type of battle droid, and a SPARTAN from Fireteam Ruby had been killed in the most recent offensive. Syndulla's little incident created a bit of tension between the GC and the locals when the patrol returned fire and nearly wiped out the entire rebel squad that attacked them. After that incident, Syndulla was asked to meet with Admiral Lasky, and the rebels have been working with the GC since.

Kathryn glanced over to the North, spotting the distant image of Lessu. She knew that tomorrow, the siege would begin. It was likely that this would be the most costly part of this offensive. Force Recon reported in earlier today, and apparently the Separatists were heavily dug-in at Lessu, and had destroyed every point of entry except a single plasma bridge. She took it that Lasky had an idea, why else would the Infinity and Arminius both be in geo-synchronous orbit over Lessu?

The heavy thrumming of a fighter's engines drew Kathryn out of her inner musings. She smiled as she saw a familiar pair of Jedi Starfighters land on one of the available landing pads in the airbase, hopping off of the tread cover she had requisitioned as a seat, and made her way across the relatively small forward airbase.

As she walked, she eventually found the familiar Jedi Knight and his Padawan leaning against their fighters, bantering as usual. She could pick up some of their conversation, thanks to her acute hearing. "That Vulture Droid totally didn't count; it clipped the side of that mountain." Ahsoka declared.

"Yes… but, I still hit its left stabilizer, causing it to clip the mountain." Anakin countered.

"So why won't you let me count the one I blew up before it took off?" Ahsoka asked.

"One, because it didn't take off, so it isn't technically a downed fighter." Anakin began, smirking. "And because I'd lose if I let you count that one."

Ahsoka gave an eye-roll, spotting Kathryn a few moments later. "Hey, Kat." Ahsoka said, giving a smile.

"Hey, Ahsoka." Kathryn said, walking over with her helmet tucked away in the Slipstream. "That was some fancy flying up there, looks like Skywalker might have some competition for best pilot in the Jedi Order."

"I wouldn't go that far." Anakin said, shrugging. "She's good, but I still beat her every time."

"Maybe if you didn't change what counted as a kill every time we flew, I could win." Ahsoka countered.

"Just keepin' you on your toes, Snips." Anakin smirked.

"Eh, you're still an Ace, even by Jedi standards." Kathryn said. "At fifteen, no less."

"I did learn from the best." Ahsoka nodded to Anakin, who gave a cheeky grin in return.

"Any word from Windu's legions?" Kathryn asked, looking to Skywalker.

"They're on the other side of Lessu, ready to launch the attack." Anakin explained. "Looks like Snips and I will be with your side of the attack. As fun as flying is, there's nothing left to shoot down up there."

"Well, there's plenty to do down here." Kathryn said, looking out to the field, which housed tens of thousands of GC Marines and Clones. "The two of you have been flying all day, you should probably get some rest before we move."

"No arguments from me." Anakin said, sighing.

XXXXX

Kathryn sat atop the hull of a Rhino APC, looking through the scope of her Light Rifle and scanning the defenses of Lessu. The Separatist forces seemed to be holding fire, and there was no sign of them opening up anytime soon. There were battle tanks staring down the Republic/GC forces from their positions outside the city walls. Much like the day of the initial invasion, the CIS seemed to be using the locals as shields.

There were massive camps of Twi'Lek civilians outside the city walls, with droids mixed in with them. It was a cowardly, desperate move, and the GC soldiers had a few choice obscenities that they muttered when they first saw it.

"So, what're they doing up there?" Jane asked from the ground beneath Kathryn's perch.

"They're just standing around, just like the last ten times you asked." Kathryn answered. "They're outnumbered five-to-one, they're going to let us come to them." Try as she might, Kathryn couldn't think of a feasible way to cross the massive ravine that separated this city on all sides from the rest of the plains. It was almost a kilometer wide, and there was only one bridge across, and the droids had powered it down.

As she continued looking through her scope, something caught her eye. She saw a bright flash from the bridge control center. She adjusted the zoom on her scope, the source of the flash becoming visible. Six Promethean Soldiers had stepped back into reality inside the control room, and were currently butchering the droids with their Hard Light weapons. In a matter of moments, the Prometheans overtook the few droids that were manning the control room. Kathryn watched for a moment in confusion, then it dawned on her. They were inside the control room.

She watched as one of the Soldiers, a Captain, walked over and pressed a few buttons on a console and pulled a lever. Soon after, the luminescent plasma bridge lit up, giving them access to the city. At the same time, all hell broke loose in the air.

Hundreds of SOEIV pods were screaming towards the surface, all of them bearing down on the central areas of the city. More and more Prometheans began appearing on the walls of the city, sending the droids into total disarray. "That's our cue!" Alice shouted from the command hatch of a Hood-VI tank. "Move in!"

With the roar of vehicles and the sounds of marching feet, the Republic and GC began their march on Lessu. As they marched the short kilometer-long distance to the plasma bridge, Prometheans began appearing in the midst of the droid forces on the outside of the city's walls. This seemed to inspire some of the civilians to begin fighting with the massive metal constructs that were tearing the droids apart, all while taking minimal damage. A few of the Twi'Leks grabbed discarded blasters and started opening up on the droids as well.

Just as the first of the APCs finished crossing the bridge, the final SOEIV made contact with the ground beneath it. The sounds of fighting could be heard from deeper within the city, and the occasional brilliant streak of golden or red light could be seen spearing into the skies above the city. With the outer walls secured, GC Marines began pouring out of their Rhino transports and Clones began clambering out of their AT-TE transports. The tanks remained on the other side of the bridge, occasionally sending a bolt of Hard Light through the hull of a Separatist tank.

Kathryn, who had been manning the heavy Splinter Cannon atop the Rhino she was using as a sniper's nest, jumped off the metallic vehicle and onto the dirt. The rear hatch of the Rhino opened, allowing Ahsoka, Anakin, Obi-Wan, and twelve GC Marines to pile out. Jane and Willow had already pushed up to the main gate, where the bulk of the fighting was. She ran over, along with the three Jedi, to join the assault.

The fighting was cramped, as urban combat tended to be. The rules of engagement still held true, and the GC and Republic forces only used small arms and EMP weaponry. The sounds of gunfire and clanking machines overpowered all senses on the battlefield, with the heavy stench of ionized particles clashing against shields and metallic armor.

A few Marines had managed to find cover on the other side of the city's massive stone wall, and were occasionally popping up to return fire at the defending droids. The Jedi began moving up, using their lightsabers and superior reflexes to deflect incoming blaster bolts. Prometheans stood atop the city wall, raining down hellfire on the droids. As for the SPARTANs… they were a sight to behold.

The three SPARTANs of Fireteam Gamma that were engaged in the assault were moving with inhuman speed and precision, appearing as little more than blurs on the battlefield as their armor worked with their augmentations. Their neural lances bounced signals from one another, allowing for instant, wordless communication on levels unknown to most beings. Just as Kathryn registered that a B2 Super Battle Droid was firing on her, Willow slid into view and deployed her Hard Light shield from her palm's projectors, blocking the incoming hail of blaster fire.

Using the opened provided by her SPARTAN compatriot, Jane tossed a recovered Republic "Droid Popper" grenade into the center of the offending B2 droid formation, the pulse of energy shutting them down and toppling them over in a hail of sparks. The SPARTANs continued their acrobatic displays of combat prowess all throughout the initial assault and were it not for the adrenaline of battle, many of the Clones would have stood slack-jawed at the sheer display of power that the three SPARTANs were capable of.

As the final battle droid fell, the Republic and GC forces continued their blitzing advance into the city. Thousands of soldiers funneled in through the city's main gate, and they all fanned out into the city at large with a single objective: bring the Separatists to their knees.

The veteran soldiers of the Coalition's First Mechanized Army moved in sync with the elite clone troopers of the 501st and 212th legions. Buildings were methodically cleared by the heavily-armored GC Marines while the Clones swept through the city, expertly shutting down any droid that dared stand in their path. As the army proceeded to push deeper and deeper into the city, more and more Twi'Leks began taking up arms to support their liberators, hearing the tales of Cham Syndulla's freedom fighters working with the "Silver Angels" and the Clone Army long ago. It was only when the two armies clashed against the droids that they finally began fighting to reclaim their homes.

The GC/Republic assault's momentum carried on, even as the fighting grew thicker and thicker as they neared the central palace of the city. The SPARTANs split up early on, knowing full well that the circular design of this city meant that all roads would eventually lead to the palace in the center. The SPARTANs were joined by their Jedi counterparts, Ahsoka with Kathryn, Obi-Wan with Willow, and Anakin with Jane.

As the Prometheans began securing the entirety of the city's defensive wall, this gave General Windu's 187th legion the opening it needed. As the Northern end of the wall was secured by the GC Armigers, the LAATs of the 187th began air-lifting Clone forces into the city from the North. With every corner of the city serving as a landing zone for further reinforcements, it was only a matter of time before the city fell.

After almost sixteen hours of door-to-door fighting, the two armies had the central palace surrounded. Marine and Clone marksmen picked off battle droids as they appeared in the massive windows, and the SPARTANs were making preparations to breach the palace with the elite ARC Troopers of the 501st. Just before the order to begin scaling the small mountain that the palace rested atop came through from Infinity, an unconditional surrender was declared. Ryloth had been liberated, and the Twi'Lek fighters all around the city erupted into cheers as word spread throughout the lines.

XXXXX

Lasky stood on the command deck of Infinity, a smile on his face as his bridge crew erupted into cheers. Wat Tambor had surrendered unconditionally to the GC and the Republic, and the remaining droids on Ryloth had been shut down.

Lasky didn't have long to celebrate, as a Priority-1 message came across his vision, notifying him that the President wished to speak with him. With a heavy sigh, he turned and made his way into the elevator, which would take him to Deck-1, the Captain's Quarters.

As he stepped off of the elevator and into his office, he walked over to his desk, placing a hand on a biometric scanner. In an instant, his terminal came to life and a Vidcomm request was dancing across the screen. He quickly accepted it, not wanting to keep the woman who signed his non-existent paycheck waiting.

As he accepted the communication, a life-sized, photorealistic Hard Light image of President Erin Lockhart appeared in his office, standing with her hands clasped behind her back. "Admiral Lasky, how goes the offensive on Ryloth?" She asked, her deep-green eyes locking with Lasky's own synthetic ones.

"The surrender just came through, Madame President. Ryloth has been liberated." Lasky answered.

"Excellent news." The President cracked the smallest of smiles. "Once you've finished up at Ryloth and extracted all of your men, something has come up that requires your attention."

"That being, Ma'am?" Lasky asked.

"The deep-range scanners aboard the Seed Fleet have picked up a strange anomaly coming from the Outer Rim world of Hoth." Lockhart answered. "It appears to be a Slipspace transponder."

"One of ours?" Lasky asked, concerned.

"I do not have an answer for that…" Lockhart responded. "It's faint, and it doesn't match any signatures used by the Coalition. If my suspicions are correct, this could be precisely what we were looking for."

"An old Forerunner installation…" Lasky mused. "That'd certainly prove that some of them did indeed flee to Andromeda after the Forerunner-Flood War."

"Precisely." Lockhart said, nodding. "It's highly unlikely that this signal is originating from a species native to Andromeda. As far as we know, no species in this galaxy has ever acquired Slipspace technology."

"Which is why we need to find this, unless we want it falling into the wrong hands." Lasky finished. "I'll look into this once our forces are back on-board Infinity."

"Thank you, Thomas." Lockhart said. "And this goes without saying, but this is a matter for the Coalition to attend to. The Republic need not know about this."

"Understood, Madame President."

XXXXX

Kathryn watched as Wat Tambor was led onto a Republic Frigate for his trip to Coruscant to stand trial before the Galactic Senate. A pair of blue-armored Republic Senate Guardsmen were leading him aboard the small Corellian frigate, where four more Senate Guards were waiting.

"We finally got him…" Ahsoka commented from beside the redheaded SPARTAN. "Almost two years of this war, and we finally catch Tambor."

"Our work is still not done here, young one." Obi-Wan added. "The people of Ryloth still need help recovering from the Separatist occupation."

"The GC's already started repairing the planetary power network and distributing food to the locals." Kathryn said. "It won't be long until Ryloth's back on its feet again." She thought to herself for a moment. "Maybe they can make something of their homeworld this time…"

"Only time will tell." Obi-Wan added.

"Think we'll finally get a few days away from the war?" Willow asked from her sitting position on a low wall. "Two months of constant fighting and marching should be enough for HIGHCOM to finally give us some shore leave."

"Maybe…" Kathryn said, hopeful.

"Hey Kat?" Ahsoka asked, catching the SPARTAN's attention just after the frigate took off, heading for the stars. "If we wind up going back to Coruscant, you should visit the Jedi Temple. I've got a lot of friends that have been dying to meet a SPARTAN."

Kathryn smiled. "I'd love to, so long as these friends don't sit on the Senate." That earned a laugh from Obi-Wan and Willow.

Ahsoka cracked a small smile. "Sounds good."

Just as their conversation was starting up on something that wasn't related to the war for the first time in almost three months, the two SPARTANs found their communicators being overridden by a communication from Infinity. Both recognized the voice as belonging to Admiral Lasky. "SPARTAN Team Gamma, Infinity has a new mission. This is a Priority-1 operation, and you all are needed back aboard Infinity by 1800 hours tonight. We'll be splitting off from the main GC and Republic fleets… this is an operation for the Coalition to handle alone."

"Understood, Admiral." Alice responded from the other side of the city, where she was overseeing the logistics for medical supplies and food for local villages.

As the communication ended, Willow let out a groan. This earned a cocked eyebrow from Ahsoka and Obi-Wan, who were oblivious to the conversation they had just finished with Lasky. "Sorry Ahsoka, looks like I'm gonna have to reschedule that visit to the Jedi Temple for now."

"Why? What's going on?" Ahsoka asked, concerned.

"Apparently, Infinity's being pulled out of the fleet for an operation straight from GC High Command." Willow said, sighing. "Damnit, that can only mean more OMI Spooks."

"What Willow's trying to say is that all of Infinity's crew is being pulled off of Ryloth at 1800 tonight." Kathryn explained. "No idea how long this'll take, but I doubt it will be too long."

"Don't jinx it!" Willow declared, glaring at Kathryn. "Every time Alice says that, it winds up taking forever!"

"You and I have very different definitions of 'forever', Willow." Kathryn joked. "You complained about a two-week jump between galaxies."

Ahsoka and Obi-Wan watched in mild amusement as the SPARTANs bantered back and forth, much of the technical talk going straight over their heads. It was more the fact that two supersoldiers were arguing like young siblings which made it so amusing.

XXXXX

Lasky's synthetic core shifted slightly as Infinity dropped from the Slipstream over a large ball of ice that was known as Hoth. It was the sixth planet from the resident star. It had a breathable atmosphere, but its temperatures were unsuitable for large-scale life. He looked at the sensor readouts on his HUD, watching the strange signal grow slightly stronger as they dropped next to the apparent source. Something was familiar about this transponder signal, but he couldn't quite place it.

"Sensors, what do you have?" Lasky asked.

"We're the only ship in the system, Admiral." The Unggoy ensign called out. "Systems reading green across the board."

"Excellent." Lasky said. "Communications, run a trace on that signal, get me a source."

"Aye, sir!" The Kig-Yar Comms Officer called out, his scratchy voice sounding out over the chatter on the bridge. After a few moments, the Comms Officer called out again. "Source found, Admiral. Sending coordinates to your HUD."

Lasky looked at the topographic map of the area that the signal was originating from. It was a relatively flat area surrounded by small, snow-covered hills. The source seemed to be coming from a large, central mountain of ice. He pressed a button on his command console, linking him to the communicators for Fireteam Gamma. "SPARTAN Team Gamma, report to hanger bay 104 for deployment to the surface."

XXXXX

The Pelican carrying the four SPARTANs of Gamma Team set down on the field of snow that was Hoth's surface. The rear bay opened up, allowing the four SPARTANs in their full combat skins to jump from the back, their armor the only thing keeping the frigid air at bay. Joining them was SPARTAN Fireteam Sword, an all-Sangheili SPARTAN team led by Shae'Vadam. "Systems running?" Alice asked over the howling winds.

"Yes, Commander." Shae answered. "All systems are running at optimal capacity. It will take more than frigid air to stop us."

"Alright, let's move!" Alice called out, beginning the three hundred meter hike towards the source of the strange Slipspace transponder signal.

As the two SPARTAN teams walked through the knee-high snow, two members of each team had their Enhanced Vision Modules active and were scanning for the local wildlife of Hoth, which was apparently rather hostile. Kathryn was one of the two members of Gamma with her module active.

As they walked towards the massive mountain of ice and snow, which was easily several kilometers across, they noticed something strange. There was a large cave that seemed to be torn into the side of the mountain, leading down at a twenty-degree angle. "Admiral, there's a cave of some kind that leads into the mountain, how should we proceed?" Alice asked.

"Head inside, keep in constant communication." Lasky answered.

"You heard the man." Alice said, allowing Kathryn and Jane to take point.

As the eight SPARTANs made their way deep into the mountain, they noticed something even stranger than the cave itself: how uniform it was. It seemed to descent at a near-constant slope, showing that this was obviously not natural. There was no water to erode the ice, nor could the winds create such a downward angle so perfectly. Despite all of this, Kathryn was well and truly taken aback by what she found at the end of the cave.

It was a simple plate of grey metal, her sensors recognizing it as a Titanium Alloy. She wouldn't have thought anything of this, were if not for what was sitting on the ground just outside of a small puncture in the metal.

She reached out, picking up a strange-looking rifle that was made up of a mix of polymers and metal. It had an LED ammunition counter, bullpup magazine, charging handle, and forward grip. Just to confirm her suspicions, she pressed a small button on the side of the receiver, causing the LED screen to flare to life, flickering a few times before finally settling on reading out "51".

"Holy… shit…" Kathryn said, turning around with the MA5B in hand.

"Is that… what I think it is?" Alice asked, gawking at the device in her SPARTAN's hands.

Just to prove her point, Kathryn pressed another button on the side of the receiver, causing the magazine to drop. She pushed one of the bullets out of the spring-assisted device, and handed it to her superior.

Alice took the small, corroded, copper-jacketed bullet and examined the rear. It was a center-fire cartridge that read out '7.62x39mm NATO' on the back, surrounding the primer. "Holy shit, it is an MA5…" In a blindingly quick motion, Alice reached up to her communicator and pressed her fingers against it. "Admiral Lasky, we've found the source of the transponder. It's not Forerunner…"

"Then what is it?" Lasky asked, well and truly confused.

"UNSC…" Alice answered.

"Hold your positions, I'll be groundside in five." Lasky responded, cutting the communication a few moments later. Just before he ended it, he could be heard barking orders to the bridge crew.

A/N:

Well, I did promise that chapters would come quicker and be longer, didn't I?

After the next chapter is when the time skip will be happening, so be prepared to jump forward a little bit.

To clarify what I meant about the Old Republic-related surprise, I will not be bringing back any characters from the games or books relating to the Old Republic. What the reference is will be up to you guys to figure out ;).

As for your question, JosephLeeCollins, that remains to be seen ;).

As usual, thank you all for the support. Feel free to PM me with any questions you might have. I greatly appreciate every one and do my best to respond if applicable.

Until next time,

-TallYapflip