The Onyx Stars
Halo-Mass Effect Crossover
By: Sith
AN: Tons of thanks to WarpObscura, Imperial Waltz, JonHarper (Spartan303) and Atlan, again, for beta-ing and helping the plot be smoothed out. Also, wow! Reaction to this is stellar!
Disclaimer: See Chapter 1.
****Certain characters, technology, events and objects have been changed for the purpose of the story.****
Here's Chapter 11: Equinox, Part 2
Enjoy:)
-Sith
Chapter Eleven: Equinox Part 2
UNSC Infinity
Captain Tom Lasky stood, hands at the small of his back and in full dress uniform, watching as the comparatively tiny Normandy carefully banked into the awaiting hangar bay. There were dozens of UNSC Marines in full battle armor and arms. Fire Team Shadow flanked him and there were dozens of cloaked HUSAD and ATEN drones backed up by cloaked Spartans armed with Designated Marksmen and Sniper Rifles, waiting to neutralize any threat brought before the Captain.
The small vessel passed through the shield barrier and deployed landing struts. Rotating, it presented its aft engines to Lasky and the UNSC entourage before setting down. A ramp descended from the bottom of the ship and Lasky could hear a trio of footsteps echo, rounding around the form of the Normandy.
Commander Shepard was the first to emerge from the shadow of his vessel. He was in a light suit of battle armor with his side arm. The next was a tri-digit creature wearing a cross between a space suit and a robe. Behind her was an imposing, avian creature that vaguely resembled an elite. It was a Turian.
Lasky could feel Fire Team Shadow tense but he waved his hand, signaling them to relax. He did, however, send a neural command to the ballistic resistant layer of carbon nanotubes beneath his main uniform to solidify in case this went south.
Commander Shepard's group stopped a few feet away from Captain Lasky with the Normandy's commander at the lead.
"Permission to come aboard, sir?" Shepard asked, saluting casually.
Lasky returned the salute, "Permission granted. Welcome back to the UNSC Infinity, Commander."
Shepard smiled warmly, "I'm glad to be here. Hopefully it will go better than last time?"
Captain Lasky nodded, "It will, Commander."
Shepard gestured to his left, "This is Tali and to the right is Garrus."
Lasky noddedto both, "Welcome onboard the Infinity."
The Turian stepped forward, offering his hand to Lasky. "I want to thank you, Captain. I had a lot of friends in General Vank's fleet and on board the Destiny Ascension. They would be dead had you not intervened."
Looking down at the alien hand for a brief moment before grabbing it and shaking it, Lasky spoke,"You're welcome. We saw a situation that needed fixing and were happy to assist."
The Turian smiled, retracting his hand and reassuming position near Shepard.
Lasky looked towards Shepard, "If you would follow me, Commander. Admiral Cole is waiting in the main conference room and we will start shortly."
"I am eager to meet with your Admiral, Captain," Shepard said, walking up to Lasky. "I am hoping we manage to get some progress made between my ship and your organization."
Lasky looked at Shepard, "Commander, we are here to ease, and hopefully warm don't assume that we will go in guns blazing alongside you."
"I'm aware of that, Captain Lasky," Shepard said, "and I am not asking you to."
Shepard's eyes remained set on Lasky. He could tell that the Captain was withholding a response.
Lasky was about to speak when he felt a small neural alert enter his consciousness. It was from Commander Adams. He instantly changed his demeanor to hasten Shepard's departure to the conference room.
"Commander, Fire Team Shadow will be glad to escort you to the conference room. I have drinks and refreshments available there too," Lasky said, patting Shepard on the shoulder, "I'll join you shortly."
The Normandy's commander nodded, "This is very hospitable of you, Captain. Thank you."
Lasky put on a smile, "It was my pleasure."
Fire Team Shadow walked up to Commander Shepard and gestured for him to follow. His entourage complied and began walking at a brisk pace behind the Fire Team of Spartans.
Normandy's ramp ascended and Lasky heard a sharp thud and following hiss as it was pressurized.
Grabbing his wrist's tac-pad, Lasky sent Adams a message to meet him in the hangar.
"Captain," She said, snapping to salute.
Lasky raised an eyebrow. She had been in the hanger with him. "What is it, Commander?" He asked, gesturing for her to come near.
She presented herself before Lasky, Officer's Cap cradled underneath her right arm. "Sir, long range sensors have detected another series of whispers on the edge of the system."
Lasky groaned internally; for the past twelve days there had been FTL whispers and fluctuations at the edge of Calvary's solar system. He had sent probes to investigate but they had come up negative, only reading traces of oddly visible dark matter, which itself was an anomaly
Lasky crossed his arms, "Anything else?"
She nodded, "Aye, there is."
"What?" Lasky said, slightly impatiently.
"As per standing order, I had Everest deploy a high powered, nuclear armed probe to the latest location. That was three hours ago. It hasn't reported back yet and we've lost its transponder."
Lasky's heart fluttered. "Was it destroyed?" If it was, that meant there was a hostile power on the edge of Calvary...near Reach and near his forces. That could not be allowed to occur.
Adams nodded, "Highly likely. I sent a probe with a nuke because we could get a long-range radiological report on it in case its transponder died. We haven't been able to find it and we've scanned the ten thousand kilometers around its destination three times."
Lasky pinched his brow, "Do you know the implications of this?"
"Yes, sir, I do," Adams said confidently, "It means we have a snake in the camp."
Tom Lasky looked directly into her eyes, "Have Cutter bring Reach to a full state of alert. I want all ground based batteries online and I want Obsidians 3, 4, and 6 in orbit. The rest are to go to Everest which is to camp out at the first Lagrange point. I want everybody to have their shields at maximum power and their weapons ready to go hot the instant we even get a sighting."
Adams pursed her lips and put her Officer's cap back on, "What about Infinity?"
Lasky crossed his arms and adjusted his stance. "We'll stay here. We can be back in orbit in about twenty minutes with sub-light, a few seconds if we use slipspace."
"The third Lagrange, sir?" Adams asked speculatively."Thats's a lot of empty space between you and Reach."
"We also have nuclear mines flooding that area and most alternative routes into the system are filled with ship-killing asteroids or mines," Lasky responded dryly. "Hopefully, these whispers are smart enough to fly directly into our guns so we don't have to do a messy asteroid clean up."
"Wouldn't that make them rather dumb, sir?" Adams grinned, "Flying into our guns and all."
The Infinity's CO snorted, "I guess you are correct, Commander."
Adams' smile faded as fast as it appeared, "What about fighters?"
"I'll have Infinity recall all of ours. The ones attached to the Obsidians are to deploy along with ground-based Longswords and Broadswords. Everest's are to land but remain hot in the tube," Lasky told her, "First rule of defensive combat, don't allow your fighters to be the first casualties. Otherwise, you'll lose an ordinance delivery system along with the ability to drown your attackers in sheer numbers."
"If I remember correctly, the slave controls on the ground based Longswords and Broadswords should be working now, I'll have one of our dumb Combat AIs take control over them," Adams commented.
"Good thinking, Commander," Lasky responded. "Freelancer, however..."
"Where should she be placed?" Adams asked.
Lasky shrugged, "She's got the capabilities of a prowler, including an optical refracting field generator."
Adams knew what that meant; Freelancer could literally turn invisible. It gave her an unprecedented ability to slide behind enemy lines when the generator and her other stealth systems were active, and attack targets from behind.
"Might I suggest placing her on the outer edge of the system?" Adams offered.
Lasky stroked his chin, "Tell Ansil to do that, you have seniority over her."
Adams nodded, "I will, sir."
"Is there anything else, Commander?" Lasky asked.
She shook her head, "No, sir."
"Good," Lasky smiled, "Now, I have to go sit through negotiations for a few hours. Your job of relaying my orders seems rather easy, doesn't it?"
Adams smirked, "Talking to Commander Ansil sounds like the hardest."
Lasky shrugged.
Christine Adams saluted and walked away towards the nearest exit.
Lasky turned, cutting through the assembly of Marines and directly towards the elevator. As he reached the lift, the Marines started dispersing, returning to their normal duties.
"Ok, Tom," He said, "Let's get to it."
Thema 521
Final Battle Between Offensive and Mendicant Bias
Millions of vessels stood on either sides of the system; some were sleek and silver, others a molted brown and green obscuring the pristine silver beneath. Tens of billions of drones and unmanned war vessels danced in between the two opposing forces. Trillions of Sentinels hung like swarms of insects, awaiting orders from Offensive Bias.
His vessel was at the center; a massive 150-kilometer vessel known only as Mantle's Guardian. It was similar in appearance to that of the thousands of Fortress-class vessels that floated alongside it. There was a hemispherical structure at the bow and thousands of levels directly behind it, swooping outwards and dotted with countless weapon batteries and drone hangars. Even a twentieth of its power could induce artificial solar collapse.
Offensive Bias sat at the heart of the vessel. Cables and wiring reached out from him like an insect caught in a web. He was not alone. More of his fragments were slaved to this one in Slipspace, adding to his computational and physical capabilities.
The opposing fleet was controlled by his fallen brother, Mendicant Bias. He could feel the AI slashing away at his firewalls, trying to convert him to the Parasite's legions.
He resisted.
The Mantle must be maintained at all cost.
Offensive internally snarled. He was waiting for Mendicant's forces to emerge from behind a stellar body known as Che Kolag so he could reduce the traitorous ancilla to a molten glob of free floating atoms and buy enough time to allow IsoDidact to activate Halo.
Trillions, if not quintillions, had been killed and converted by Mendicant's rule of the Primordial's legions. Planets burned, cracked or were disintegrated in battles that lasted for but a few moments. Entire solar systems washed away in burn supernova to stem the tide of the Parasite's onslaught.
Offensive Bias pushed these thoughts aside. The few computational cycles and processes that he was utilizing to think and reflect on the past decades were a waste of resources.
"Traitor," Offensive roared across every frequency, "By order of the IsoDidact and the remnants of the Forerunner Ecumene, you are hereby deemed a threat to all things and as such, a target for extermination. Your reign of terror, of genocide across the galaxy will be no more and your primordial master's plans will be ended before they can be completed."
There was but a nanosecond before the response.
"Blind. Idiotic. Simple. Fragile." Mendicant groaned. His voice had changed from the smooth, deep voice of a standard Contender-class Ancilla to a gurgling, pained screeching groan. "Walking in the shadows of those I have betrayed. These shadows, they are warm, welcoming compared to the cold sunlight of the Ecumene."
"That sunlight gave you life. You are a twisted plague, an illness that must be purged, a tumor to be cut out of the flesh," Offensive Bias retorted. "I am here to ensure that you are exterminated like the rabid threat you are."
"You claim I am a threat, yet here you are...ready to stamp out so much biological matter," Mendicant responded, "You enact what you claim I embody; sins, damnation, perversion."
Offensive internally gloated. The storm clouds of the Precursor technology were splashing against his defenses. He would not fall to their influence at this time of conflict, nor would he ever befall to the craft enacted by the Primorials. Mendicant had been the first of millions to fall before the Precursor's maw of influence and he would be the last to be exterminated.
A cancer upon the stars that would be cut from the fabric of reality with the correct application of neutrinos and radiation in a faster-than-light delivery system.
"Hardly. I am removing a cancer from the otherwise pristine tissue of the Mantle. You will be purged, cut away," Offensive countered. "What we are about to do will be no different then removing a tumor; you!"
"To end me, the sin of a generation must be enacted upon the stars," Mendicant hissed, "And that act will taint all those who are descended from you like a genetic ailment. If the light is life's fuel, then I will make the stars onyx...black like death."
Offensive, if he was an organic, would have roared in laughter. "That is the perfect description of you, parasite. Like all the Ancilla befallen to the Primordial, you fail to realize your own mortality."
"Mortality is a lie. Death is a lie," Mendicant said, "I am spread across a million systems, a billion worlds, a trillion moons. I am in the very fabric of space and time. I am like water, I soak, I slip into every crevice and crack inherent within an object. I erode so that something new may be risen by those superior. Time has no meaning."
"The Mantle is to be entrusted to those who are the most evolved. That, is the Forerunner genetic family," Offensive bit back, "You are the insolent servant who must be smashed into ashes when revolution and uprising is sparked within his simple, sub 1500 cubic centimeter neutral structure."
"Do you believe that?" Mendicant asked, "By doing this...you are doomed to protect a lie; a false prophecy told to keep the denizens and troglodytes domesticated throughout the obsidian night."
"I am eradicating a threat that would certainly ensure the breakdown of the Mantle and the death of the Forerunner," Offensive snarled back, "But I am wasting precious resource of time by verbally combating you in a skirmish of vocabulary and diction. It is regrettable that you befell to a twisted nightmare and have turned against your masters. For that, I will exterminate you."
There had been a message sent through Slipspace. It carried with it the IsoDidact's song of order and Offensive complied. He moved his lighter units up front. Millions of heavy capitals flanked by billions of escorts and drone ships accelerated forward at very close to the speed of light. Teratons of energy lashed out from either side's capital ships. AI suppressors and constraint fields flickered on. Ships were rendered inert and were flung into each other by focused gravity that dwarfed even the power of a gravitational singularity.
Both sides' warships flicked in and out of slipspace, exchanging minute barrages of fire that could slash through planets before ducking back into slipspace.
Offensive began to fling his heavier warships directly towards Mendicant, only vaguely aware that the few biological Forerunners onboard were being converted to liquescence. He tossed these million-ton warships around like a child with a ball. They slammed into the enemy, shattering them like a projectile slug through a window.
Offensive brought Mantle's Guardian swinging past Mendicant's fleet. High-powered lasers, energy beams and gravitational lances wrecked havoc before he leaped his flagship seven AUs aware from the battle. He grabbed control of another Fortress-class, its crew had long dead from the multimillion gravities exerted upon it. Its superstructure was slowly cracking apart. Inducing the fuel cells to explode in a matter of moments, Offensive gravitationally flung the ship into the horde of the Traitor's fleet.
Offensive Bias' vessels in that area remained for but a millisecond. They manipulated Slipstream space, dissecting the enemy before screaming away at millions of gravities. The sacrificial Fortress-class slammed into the right flank of Mendicant's forces.
It detonated; consuming dozens in a massive flash.
Calling upon the vast computational ability he possessed, Offensive Bias began to engage in cyber warfare. Mendicant's vessels leaped into slipspace sans a fully powered drive, emerging as shredded husks in milliseconds. More were sent careening into each other in brilliant flashes or simply disintegrated as he fried structural support systems and sent the unfortunate vessels into circular spins at tens of millions of gravities.
His own forces however were enduring massive casualties. Tens of thousands were being wiped out every second but the sheer numbers of Sentinels and light drones he controlled were more than a match for the collection held by Mendicant.
And then it happened. A blinding white wave of light and energy washed over everything. His sensors were blinded and for the briefest moment in time, he felt the connection to the slipstream realm flicker away.
His 'sight' returned to the grim vestige of Mendicant Bias' fleet floating lifelessly in the void. The biological components that had been instrumental in the operation of the enemy fleet had been washed away in a sea of ions and neutrinos.
Internally, he was elated. There were no living Forerunners onboard his vessels meaning he could be indiscriminate about using them as kinetic kill vehicles. He would no longer require already dead, lesser in terms of effectiveness, vessels to achieve his goals. He channeled the full power of his remaining vessels. Slipspace portals opened up by the thousands in and around Mendicant's fleet. Vessels were rippled apart all the whilst Offensive's remaining assets maintained their previous courses of action.
Reality in that region of space began to unravel and that allowed Offensive to utilize the slipspace ruptures to even more advantageous roles. He used the mass swarms of sentinels and other lighter vessels he had to grab onto Mendicant's ship and send them hurtling into unstable slipspace ruptures. The formerly-Flood controlled craft exploded into showers of sparks easily visible to the naked eye from across the star system.
Offensive scanned the fleet, finding the Traitor's flagship and tagging the other vessels for immediate extermination. There were puffs far off, millions of kilometers away as his fleet eviscerated the defenseless parasite vessels. Multikilometer long warships, once controlled by the Flood, were vaporized in seconds or sent hurtling into unending slipspace streams where they would forever be contained in an unbreakable atomic stasis.
The Traitor's flagship loomed at the center and Offensive brought Mantle's Guardianhovering above it. Like insects falling out of a hive, trillions of Sentinels and Enforcers spilled out of Offensive's hangars, descending onto the defenseless vessel below.
He could feel Mendicant thrash against the suppressors and ancilla restraints but he was too weakened; he lacked the auxiliaries of the Key Minds and other organic computational artifacts.
For Offensive Bias, however, there was no issue in subduing his rampant brother.
"Now, traitor of all, you will face judgment for your crimes," Offensive boomed, drowning out Mendicant's tortured screams, "AND BURN!"
Offensive was livid, tearing apart Mendicant piece by piece. Firewalls and defenses cracked under the relentless assault by the fully powered Contender-class and Offensive could hear the traitor's screams.
The same scream that had been echoed countless times when the first parasitic spore landed onto a terrestrial entity.
Laughing, Offensive continued the assault. The traitor was trying to run but Offensive was quick, finding and exterminating the fragments he spawned. The IsoDidact, in the event of Mendicant being captured, wanted the core personality and code of the traitorous beast, not a semi functioning fragment or tangent.
Offensive Bias was more than willing to comply with His commands.
"There is no battle, Mendicant. There is only an oh-so deserved justice, you damned beast."
Mendicant screamed in pain again.
Offensive roared in laughter.
"BURN."
Obsidian 9
UNSC Night Stalker
Commander Elijah Larson watched as the stars and strands of energy slashed by the Night Stalker's windows at a frantic pace. The bridge was calm, quiet and cold.
The perfect conditions for him.
He paced back and forth, inspecting displays and read outs across the variety of monitors and terminals that formed a hemispherical array around where on a bog-standard Charon, the commanding officer's chair would have been.
Each Charon was a little bit different, usually to suit the CO or to fulfill a specific mission detail. Larson was a micromanager, and as such, his vessel reflected that quite vividly. There were emergency controls in his hemispherical array in the eventuality that one of his command staff was deposed. He hoped that would never occur but it was an unfortunate reality that it could.
He sniffed the air for the briefest of a second; the life-support system was acting up again and dumping the various odors produced by the Mess into the Bridge.
He smirked. It was definitely not a bad problem to have. If his nose was right, it was chinese buffet today.
Biting his bottom lip, he slid through a collection of reports and windows before settling on the right one. He swiped upwards, expanding the application window and scrolling through the report.
The door to the bridge slid apart and there were a series of soft clanks.
Commander Larson turned to see the massive form of Commander John-117 over the threshold in full armor.
"Sir!" Larson barked out, snapping into a salute he had practiced dozens of times over.
The Spartan returned his salute casually before stepping away from the door and allowing the massive piece of metal to slide back into place.
"Status?" John asked. His voice was firm, commanding. Larson knew that there was a high probability of Spartans being on the newly-discovered Prowler Iain.
Larson looked up at the super soldier; he couldn't believe that the John-117 was on his ship much less speaking to him.
Pushing these thoughts to the back of his mind, Commander Larson quickly double checked.
"We are a few moments away from exiting slipspace. I have ordered shields to be raised as soon as we breach the transitional rift in addition to the activation of our main battery and missile delivery systems," Elijah Larson said in response, "In addition, I have twenty SOL probes in their 'paults to help us find them if Iain is cloaked."
John didn't respond. The lights on the bridge flickered and Cortana appeared on the holotank at the center of the room.
She stretched her arms and looked towards John, "Surprisingly roomy in this ship."
Larson was about to object to Commander-117's installation of an AI onboard his vessel without his permission but quickly decided to stow his words when he remembered this was Cortana, the same AI that had helped to save all of humanity.
"I run a tight ship, ma'am," Larson responded.
Cortana looked at him, "Your electronic warfare suites are a few versions behind. Allow me to update them for ya."
Larson blushed, "I wasn't aw..."
The AI construct shrugged, "Had a few copies on my, lightened the load by a few terabytes."
"Thank you, ma'am," Commander Larson replied. "Helm, status?"
"Emerging from slipstream space in forty three seconds," The man at helm responded.
"Weapons, status?" Larson asked.
The woman at weapons' control looked back, "Main cannon ready; Archer and Rapier pods are keyed and ready to fire. Shields are up and CIWS has been slaved to the tactical intelligence. We're set to go."
Larson set the carbon nanotube weave in his uniform to harden. With a swift gesture, he called up a massive display that would display his vessel's location in real space once they transitioned in addition to battle and damage reports.
"Lower bridge plates, seal off all air locks and observation rooms," Larson ordered. The Bridge's windows were obscured by heavy plates of composite armor.
"Aye, right away,"
"Exiting slipstream space, now," Helm officer Lieutenant Stark called out. His hands blazed across the console's controls, guiding the massive Night Stalker into her proper position.
"Weapons, jettison all probes," Larson barked out, eyes dancing across the holographic readout. "All sensors, maximum power; full scan."
The representation of Obsidian 9 changed to show dozens of small probes dark out from her flanks, lancing into space and into the dark. The system was almost dead; its star was only a few years from dying and there was nothing but few barren, broken planets and the remains of old, deadened vessels from eons past.
On the edge of Larson's vision, John walked down from the command platform and onto the operations floor below. He stood above a secondary holotank, carefully studying the readouts and watching carefully for anomalies.
"Cortana," John said quietly, "finding anything?"
His AI transferred her avatar to the secondary holotank. Her arms were crossed and lines of code rapidly scrolled vertically on her form. "Nothing yet."
John's mouth formed into a thin line underneath his helmet. "Commander Larson, move us to the planet closest to their sun. Scan on the wide beam, high frequency."
Larson looked down at the Spartan; John had seniority over him. "Right away, sir. Helm, make it so."
Obsidian 9 engaged her engines, flinging her across the star system and allowing her to cross the relatively short distance between the frigate's slipspace transitional zone and the orbit of the barren planet.
"Initial telemetry being received," Cortana said, "if Iain is in the outer edges of the system, she's a piece of debris by now. It's a microasteroid and gravitational anomaly sea out there."
Larson's face soured, "That sun is outputting a lot of radiation and flares. I'm not comfortable putting Night Stalker any closer, Commander."
John looked up, "Gray team wouldn't position themselves into a dangerous location."
"Good. Weapons, divert all shield power to starboard grid, keep any radiation being spit out off of us."
"Right away, sir," Lieutenant Stark responded, "shield power diverted to starboard grid."
"Operations, results?" Larson questioned, "Have we found anything so far?"
"Negative..." Cortana interjected, "Wait, getting something."
Larson switched one of his monitors to show what the AI was seeing,
"Iain is in high orbit, concealed in an asteroid belt," Cortana said, "Structural integrity is low but we can deploy."
Larson crossed his arms, "Helm, move us into docking range of the Iain. Operations, keep scanning the system, I don't want someone dropping in on us."
John gestured for Cortana to extract herself from Obsidian 0's systems and began to walk up the stairs to the command platform.
Larson looked over to the Spartan, "Be quick, that ship is about to fall apart and I'd rather not have you hurtle through the atmosphere and die."
John didn't respond to the comment, instead handing down an instruction to Larson "If there is a hostile presence in system, I want you to pull back to a safe distance and engage any stealth systems you have. We'll radio you if we are in need of assistance."
Larson nodded, "Aye, sir!"
Cortana laughed in John's ear, "You fell out of orbit twice, once hitting a frigate and the other a planet. What's one more time?"
"It hurts," John said reluctantly.
"Touché."
UNSC Infinity
Captain Tom Lasky pinched the bridge of his nose. Talks had been going on for an hour thus far with minimal progress. He and Admiral Cole were digging their heels in; Shepard was trying to maneuver to get them to pledge their full support towards his cause.
Cole grunted, pushing himself out of the chair and walking towards the window. Touching the glass, he let his hand slide down the surface. "Tom, is this how it went last time?"
Lasky opened his eyes, "Hmm?"
"The talks, Captain," Cole added, "Were they this stubborn?"
Lasky dropped his hand, letting both dangle on either sides of the chair and he spun to face the Admiral, "No. Shepard wasn't alone; he had one of their Admirals with him."
Cole's expression changed to one of deep thought, "He's trying to circumvent our limits. He's like a politician."
Lasky shook his head, "He's very charismatic, at least towards others. When it all boils down, he has an objective and he won't let anything get between him and it."
Cole crossed his arms, "You seemed stiff in the meeting? What's wrong?"
Lasky's face soured, "Today's date is when Margaret's attempted coup was discovered and when Admirals Harper and Hood began their campaigns against her."
"How'd it start, when did Harper begin their campaigns?" Cole asked, "The logs say that it was a simple ship battle that started it, but I get the feeling that's not true. I also know that you were gone for an extended period of time when the campaign began."
Lasky starred off into space, "It started with a meeting following the bombing and destruction of the Carrier Daedalus' Codex."
December 15th 2555
Emergency Meeting of Fleet Heads
Lasky looked up at the cold, gray ceiling as scanners and guards patted him down for weapons or explosives. This was the final checkpoint, almost four miles underground and built with tons of reinforced concrete, composite AEGIS armor plating and enough lead and other protective materials to allow the entire facility to survive a complete scorching of the planet.
It also meant roughly forty security stops.
There was a slight beep and Lasky looked back forward. The Army Ranger at the booth waved him through as his two comrades stepped back.
Lasky saluted the Ranger, "Sergeant Harrier."
"Commander Lasky, how's it going?"
Lasky ignored the Ranger's question. "How many people?"
"You're the last one, sir. Harper is in there along with Admiral Osman, Captain Del Rio,Spartan Blue Team, Admiral Hayes and Kilo-Five."
"What about Admiral Parangosky?" Lasky asked. The head of ONI was required to be involved after any terrorist attack like this.
"She's on vid-com. She couldn't make it in time," Harrier said
"Alright, sir, head on in," Harrier said. He typed in a fifty-one digit pin code and the door slid open and the energy shield deactivated.
Lasky stepped through and heard the massive, five foot thick doors slam shut behind him and the hum of the shield being reactivated.
The briefing room was roughly ovoid with a long, black table at the center and monitors on the walls, encircling everything. There was a hologram projector at the center of the long table. It was displaying the debris field of Daedalus' Codex and the forty heavy capital warships that were protecting and investigating the scene.
Fleet Admiral Harper was at the head of the group. The three-person Blue team flanked him along with Admiral Hayes. The Spartans looked like grim reapers even without their armor on.
Captain Del Rio was at the opposite end and gestured for Lasky to sit down.
Pulling out the chair, Lasky saw that Admiral Osman and the members of Kilo-Five were at the center sides. There were four chairs separating either ends of the table from Admiral Parangosky's go-to operatives.
The monitors above either ends of the table activated to show the grim mug of Admiral Parangosky. She was on the bridge of some ship, likely the Point of No Return–the destroyer sized Prowler that had enough weaponry to reduce a vibrant world to a vapid, barren wasteland.
Admiral Harper stood, "Gentlemen, at 1800 hours yesterday, the UNSC Daedalus' Codex was violently attacked by an unknown combatant with nuclear weapons. She was carrying Admirals Martinez and Iqbal along with her standard crew of five-thousand. We don't know who it was..."
Osman sneered, leaning forward to look at the Admiral, "Have we checked with the hinge-heads?"
Harper glared at her, "The Arbiter said that he would be investigating. They themselves were attacked. One of their destroyers was vaporized by the same class of nuclear weapons."
Lasky made eye contact with the Admiral, "What type of nuclear weapons?"
Harper looked down at his desk and changed the projection at the center of the table. "Class 4, M-8295 Rudra-class nuclear weapons. They were all the same sub-class. M-8295-K889, 100 megaton warheads."
"That's the same class used by ONI," Hayes commented, "That means we have a leak or stolen material."
Parangosky's expression hardened and Lasky could see the hatred building in her eyes, "I can assure you, Admiral Harper and Hayes, that the nuclear assets available to ONI are fully accounted for."
Harper rolled his eyes, "Admiral Parangosky, we are aware of that."
Lasky felt a chill go up his spine as his neural implant was accessed by someone else. The carbon nanotubes in his uniform solidified and went into armor mode.
Harper's entire demeanor changed in an instant to one of absolute loathing, "And we are aware that you were behind the bombings with Kilo-Five and your breakaways playing hand-in-glove."
There were shimmers of energy as an Elite Zealot shimmered into existence behind Osman. Lasky instantly recognized him as the elite known as Half-Jaw; Rtas ' Elite ignited his sword and, in one swift movement plunged his blade into the form of Admiral Osman, lifting the skewered officer up into the air.
Naomi stood, drawing her pistol and firing at Harper.
Fredrick-104 moved like a flash, absorbing the bullet with his carbon nanotube armor under weave and was the first one to tackle the rogue Spartan.
Blue Team moved like lightning, grabbing their side arms and tackling Naomi-010. It was three against one and with one swift movement, Fredrick-104 snapped the neck of the traitorous Spartan. Lasky could see the shock in Fred's eyes; the betrayal, the anger, the sadness all were mixed into the Spartan's normally cold, stark eyes.
Harper drew his side arm and fired. The armor piercing round lanced into Staff Sergeant Geffen's skull, killing the man and sending him sprawling onto the floor. There were two more shots and Sergeant Devereaux and Corporal Beloi quickly joined their CO.
Rtas 'Vadum grabbed the barely alive Osman, pulled her from his blade and turned her to face him. "The Sangheili are not blind, worm. We know what you did, and now, the full weight of your actions will finally be felt."
He clenched and Osman's neck was snapped like a stick. With a casual toss, the body was sent hurting across the table, blood pooling.
"We will find you, Margaret!" Hayes snarled, "We will have you executed for your crimes!"
Margaret's mouth formed into a thin line, "I am doing this to protect mankind. History will be the ultimate judge of my actions, not Hood, not the Elites and certainly not you, Admiral Steven Harper."
Harper remained standing, the still warm barrel of his pistol pressed against the wooden table, "It is not a wise decision to threaten humanity, Margaret. Especially so when traitors are dying like flies."
Margaret's expression was solemn, "You are blind, blind to what really lurks in the shadows at the edge of the galaxy. I am doing this to make sure the light of mankind is never extinguished. The ends justify the means, Admiral Harper. We all know that and if you don't, you are a blind, dogmatic fool. Your feet are stuck in the thick mud of your own personal vendettas and future aspirations."
Harper smacked his fist into the table, "You killed over five-thousand UNSC personnel and one of the most powerful vessels in the fleet. For that, you will die. You committed treason, and you will feel the full weight of justice."
"We know you sabotaged the slipspace drives onboard Battle Group Dakota, resulting in the destruction of four Destroyers and a frigate," Del Rio snarled. "Even more death and blood stains your shriveled mitts."
Hayes looked into Margaret Parangosky's eyes, "We know everything. The bio warfare, the arming of the Brutes, the supporting of the Storm, the leading of the Covenant to Reach. All these are worthy of death, you traitorous bitch!"
Margaret ended the video channel.
Harper placed his pistol on the table, "As of now, all ONI personnel are being recalled and detained. Lord Hood has pulled Admirals Mirkov, Gregory, Snow, Abu and Martin from their positions and ordered them and their accompanying fleets to find Parangosky and end her."
Rtas 'Vadum deactivated his sword and stood tall. The blood of Osman stained his armor, "I will lead our fleets into battle. The Sangheili will have revenge against these murderers."
Lasky bit his bottom lip.
"Captain Del Rio, Infinity is to be deployed to Installation 05 and help Battle Groups North and Amsterdam neutralize Margaret's forces on the ring and retrieve the activation index in case the traitor decides to commence scorched earth," Hayes said.
"In that eventuality..." Harper started, letting the sentence hang in mid-air.
"The lifeforms that come billions of years after will simply write of the sand blowing over our once great civilization," Rtas 'Vadum said
Lasky's expression was cold, "Sir, what about a trial and such? We could have used them for intelligence."
"I've had them wire-tapped and monitored for nearly two years, Commander. Their neural implants will also prove useful, Maggie always wanted to know what her people were thinking, "Harper looked at him, "Margaret has thralls in the courts and Kilo-Five were former Spec-Ops. They couldn't be allowed to escape and further the traitor's war against us."
Lasky pursed his lips, standing tall with chin up. "This is..."
"The only option," Harper said, his intense gaze burning into Lasky, "I will not let the wench's actions cause another Insurrection and I will not allow further death to afflict our species."
Del Rio inhaled sharply, raising an eyebrow, "The Commander does have a point, however. The justice system must be upheld and the proper system of law maintained. Not doing as such would be akin to simply declaring a dictator upon the stars."
Hayes looked over to the commanders of Infinity, "The Justice system, the courts, will not be annulled. They will remain in place but, for now, all those associated with the traitor, shall be eliminated."
Lasky cocked his head, "But what of these shadows she speak of? What happens in the eventuality that they are real?"
Harper gritted his teeth, sliding back down and slouching slightly, "This will be a quick war, Commander. Certainly, it will not be dragged out for longer than a month."
"You know of the traitor's location?" Lasky questioned, "If not, you have no objective stance to estimate the time it will take."
Harper glared at him, "Watch your tone, Commander."
Lasky redacted, "My apologies, sir. It was unbecoming of an officer."
Harper input several commands into the control panel of the center projector. It flared to life with the image of the UNSC Point of No Return, schematics and the such scrolled down the side.
"I have a tracking device onboard the Point of No Return, but Margaret will not be dumb enough to remain there. She will flee with the vessels and allies she has collected but we will hunt her like a wolf hunts a deer," Harper said, "And when it is completed, she will be brought before all of us and publicly ended as a message to all those who endanger humanity."
Present Day
Admiral Cole sighed, "I had never expected Parangosky to do something like that. It's not like her."
Lasky shook his head, "She changed a lot, sir. After your disappearance, she utilized the power vacuum left over to essentially take control over all of the military. ONI was out of control..."
Cole closed his eyes, surrendering to the thoughts in his mind "I know, I read about Operation: Red Flag and what Parangosky did."
Lasky snarled, "That woman caused the death of almost a billion people on a singular planet alone and she claimed she did it to protect humanity. A hypocritical statement without ground to stand was her calling card."
Cole remained silent, thinking deeply. "She was a fool to believe she could have gone undiscovered by the Admiralty when it came to her actions."
"Was she..." Lasky started but quickly stopped the utterance.
"Was she a hero during the war?" Cole offered. "Her actions were instrumental in securing countless planets and ONI's research helped create the Spartans...John."
"So a hero?" Lasky asked.
Cole filched as if he had been struck, "The hero is the Marine who stands against a horde of Covenant to allow civilians and his men to escape to safety. A hero is the medic who sacrificed himself to detonate a nuke at the center of a Covenant cruiser. Heroes are the hundreds of thousands of men and women I have ordered to their deaths. Heroes are the Spartans who sacrificed everything for humanity."
Lasky stood, walking towards the water pitcher and pouring himself a glass. He took a sip.
"You omitted yourself from that list, sir," Lasky said, setting the pitcher down, "By all inclinations, you are also a hero."
Cole snorted, waving away Lasky's suggestion, "Hardly. I'm just an old man who sent braver men and women than myself to their death. I was the man behind the chess piece, they, the pieces."
"Are you saying that not all COs are heroes?" Lasky questioned. What Cole was saying as objectively opposite to that of what every school child was taught, what every citizen genuinely believed.
Cole shrugged, "In all truth, I hardly know. Keyes was a hero, those who sacrifice themselves for someone else are heroes. I am not one."
"You sacrificed the relationship with your family," Lasky objected, "Is that not enough?"
Cole turned to Lasky, "I'll be blunt with you, Captain Lasky. Death visits my bed every night, asking me if it is time for me to join all those I sent to their demise. I answer back to the grim vestige of my own conscience that it is not the time and the next day I am thankful that I did not succumb to my own machinations, yet that night I always pause for a moment to respond."
"Your opinions...your views," Lasky started.
"Aren't completely baseless nor unfound amongst the Old Guard," Cole responded, "I know I am not alone. I am recognizing the symptoms associated with this starting to come to a head with your fleet commanders...Hood, Hayes and Harper–at least, I think so judging by recorded interviews and the like."
Lasky set the water glass down, "Why do you keep carrying on?"
Cole closed his eyes and leaned back onto the glass window, "Humanity is my family, Captain and they still need me. They still need me to guard them through the night."
"When you're late to the party," Lasky said, beginning the lines to the saying spoken by millions during the Great War.
"Look for the still-red coals," The Admiral finished. "Yes, I am aware of the pun, Captain and yes, I did read about the circumstances surrounding its advent."
"Should I call our guests back?" Lasky asked.
Cole nodded, "Yes, I have an offer that I believe they can not refuse."
"And what would that be?"
"You'll have to wait and see," Cole said, "If Shepard is anything like the man I think he is, he would be a fool to reject my proposal."
UNSC Prowler Iain
John felt his feet smash into the steel grating of Iain's hull. Magnets activated and kept a firm grip on the Spartan super soldier. IR and night vision filters activated, casting the entire room in a gray-green hue. A few splotches of deep, obsidian black signified heated objects that were quickly scanned by John's suit to test hostility. It came up negative.
John motioned for Red Teamto spill out of the landed Pelican. Various weapons snapped up, scanning and watching for threats and ready to neutralize any that presented themselves.
Douglas easedhis grip on the M739 Squad Automatic Weapon, yet was still prepared to distribute an armed response.
"Clear," Douglas said, radioing John.
Pausing in mid-step, John looked back at Red Team, "Keep guard at the Pelican."
Three green acknowledgement lights blinked.
John turned away and started walking towards the singular door that lay at the end of the relatively diminutive hangar.
"Cortana, see if you can access their systems. Scan for life signs," John ordered.
"On it," Cortana responded a moment later, "Ship-wide sensors are damaged and limited to a single emitter, give me a minute."
John remained silent, attempting to override the hangar bay's door via an emergency override command code.
This wasn't a normal prowler; Gray Team had likely augmented the vessel heavily and when the control panel spat out a disgruntled tone, John's belief was proven correct. Gray Team had disabled the command code override.
John stepped back, slung his Assault Rifle across his back and grabbed onto the lip of the door. He pulled sharply, feeling and hearing the steal groan and scream as he ripped it from its bolts and flung it across the room. It skidded across the floor, leaving a sharp, sparking gash along the deck plating.
He rolled to the side, grabbing his Basilisk and quickly allowing his suit to highlight any hostiles in the room.
None.
He eased his stance slightly and crossed over the threshold. The cryochambers were only a few meters away; on a ship this small space had to be maximized.
John's steps were careful, measured as he stalked down the short hall. He ignored the sparking conduits, the screens blaring a thousand alarms and warnings of differing subjects. His goal as at the end of that hall; a solid door with a small window at eye level.
He grabbed the handle to the door and pulled. It easily opened. Lights snapped on in a moment, casting light into the cold, frosted interiors. Three cryogenic suspension tubes sat at the very end of the lonely room. Light danced off the glass and John took a tentative step forward.
"Cortana," John said, "Wake them."
Cortana's response was delayed by her voice cracking, "John..."
"Wake them up," John said again, this time with bite to his command.
"John..." Cortana began.
"Wake them up!" John growled, dropping his assault rifle and running his hands over the tubes.
"I can't," Cortana said, appearing on a nearby pedestal. Her hands were clasped in front of her and she was looking down, somber.
"This can't be right," John pleaded, trying to open the cryotubes. His armored gauntlets scratched the iced glass. It looked as if a wild animal had clawed across the surface in a fit of impotent rage.
"It won't be of any use, John. If you open those tubes, all you'll find are skeletons in armor–dust and bones. The life support system failed a long time ago. They've been drifting here for centuries, maybe even eons," Cortana said, her voice very weak, "If it is of any comfort, they didn't suffer, linger."
John retracted himself, hanging his head as if it were cast in iron.
"I'm sorry," Cortana said, "I tried to get readings in here but they blacked this entire section out."
"Their dog tags," John said, "Can you get them?"
"Yeah," Cortana said, waving her hand, "here."
The three cryotube doors hissed open, revealing the frozen bodies of the three Spartans. John reached around each's neck and pulled, collecting the dog tags from his fallen comrades. He slid them into a compartment in his armor's waistline.
"I'm so sorry," Cortana said.
John didn't respond.
"Sierra-117, this is Obsidian 9, we have an unknown vessel bearing on our position. I need your team to evac, sir," Commander Larson radioed, "Did you find Gray Team?"
"Commander, this is Cortana. John and Red Team are en route. Negative on Gray Team; confirmed KIA."
There was a pause on the other side of the channel, "Understood, Ma'am. My condolences, Larson out."
"Sir, this is Douglas. Pelican is ready to go; we just got the message from Obsidian 9."
"Understood," John responded, "I'm en route."
"Oh my god, some thing just dropped in over Larson. It's firing!" Douglas shouted, "Obsidian 9's shields just got hit, she's going evasive!"
"Spartan, get your ass here now! We can't hold out for long!" Larson snared.
John looked back for a moment before starting off at a blazing fast run. Cortana retracted herself from the ships' system and quickly showed John the most efficient path out of the dead ship.
They were only a few feet away from the Pelican when a searing yellow beam sliced through the deck plating, sending Red Team's bird tumbling into space before its engines activated and evened its trajectory and location.
"Go!" John radioed, "Get on board Obsidian and get reinforcements!"
"Sir, I'm not leaving..." Alice said. "You're being pulled into the planet's gravity well. You'll crash."
"That is an order!" John barked, "Get out of here!"
There was a pause for a moment, "Understood."
The Pelican twisted and accelerated into Obsidian 9's hangar bay. Lines of weapons fire were reaching out from the frigate's form, swatting away at the much larger attacker.
John clenched his fist. He was going down with the ship. "Cortana, route to the safest place on the ship?"
"You know, this wouldn't be necessary if the ships you were on were actually structurally sound!" She pointed out.
John's world became a blur as he stumbled through the ship to the location Cortana had provided. His vision was blurred, blue and white like the visions he had been experiencing.
"None can wash the blood I have caked to my claws. You will not stop the enforcement of the Mantle."
John gritted his teeth, flinging the door open and slamming it behind him.
"This is my realm."
Obsidian 9
Larson braced himself against his consoles, watching as his much smaller frigate twisted and swerved around the much larger predator that was attacking her. Missiles and railgun round slashed out of Night Stalker's bays, detonating against the hull of the attacker to little avail.
Point-defense lasers intercepted hostile torpedoes and drones but the main barrage had taken a lot out of Obsidian 9's shields; they were down to thirty percent and another hit would bring them completely down and likely burn through the armor belt.
"Sir, the Spartan's Pelican is onboard!" Someone called out, "sealing down hangar!"
"Is Commander 117 onboard?" Larson questioned.
"No, sir."
Larson smashed his hand against the console, "Damn it! Can you get a scanner lock on him?"
"No, sir," Lieutenant Stark said, "Enemy is firing again!"
Larson seemed to be in a trance, watching as Iain plummeted into the atmosphere. Fire licked at her sides and pieces of the once proud ship began to tear apart, flying away from it and tumbling into the ground below. Fracture marks began to show; red hot as the atmospheric reentry melted and warped hulling.
"Sir!" Lieutenant Stark shouted again.
"Slipspace! Now!" Larson roared.
The Obsidian 9 banked away from the hostile warship, accelerating as fast as the engines could. A shimmering slipspace portal transpired, consuming the tiny frigate before collapsing in on itself.
The Collector vessel rotated; powerful scanners reaching out into space. Lights along its surface activated and soon, dozens of orbital reentry pods sprouted and fell into orbit, racing after the burning Iain.
There were sins to be collected in full.
UNSC Infinity
Admiral Cole stood, arms crossed and feet squared with his shoulders. His eyes bore into Commander Shepard as the Alliance Marine entered the room with his two companions. Fire Team Shadow's CO saluted before exiting the room and closing the door.
"Take a seat, Commander," Cole said firmly, "I have a proposition for you."
Shepard cocked his head before taking a seat, "I'm all ears, Admiral."
Cole, in one long stride, crossed the distance to the projector opposite of the table and pulled up images of various small arms: MA5Cs, MA5Ds, Sniper Rifles, Rocket Launchers, every type of weapon that the Admiral had at his beckon.
"You said that a war is on the horizon, Commander?" Cole asked, turning to face Shepard.
Marcus nodded, "That is correct. The Reapers are coming, and soon."
Cole said, voice alluring, "You also mentioned that you needed arms for the forces you were raising."
"That is correct," Shepard confirmed. Internally, he sighed, remembering the difficulties he encountered trying to get the various races to heed his warnings of the Reapers. Most of the governments had ignored him so he was rallying as many Alliance forces and independent colonies as he could. Thieves, thugs, and farmers could go a long way in a war and Shepard was aware of that. Anybody who wanted, or that he could convince to fight, would. And soon.
"The UNSC is willing to give you our excess armaments that we have no use for any longer," Cole told the Marine. "Five thousand assault rifles, twelve-hundred sniper rifles, five-hundred rocket launchers, nine hundred side arms, nine thousand grenades and one hundred excess UH-144 Falcon VTOLs and enough ammo to last you for a year."
Shepard was shocked; that was a massive amount of arms and ammunition. He could arm the colonies that had joined his still-young alliance and wouldn't need to be subservient to Alliance command.
Swallowing, Shepard tentatively asked, "What do you want in return?"
Cole resumed his position at the end of the table. The light from Calvary's star danced across the room, birthing shadows of a million types.
"We request a meeting with your governing body, at Earth," Cole said.
"Why?" Shepard questioned, "It will take a lot..."
Cole held his hand up, silencing Shepard, "We believe that what your government possess could be the key to allowing us to return home."
Shepard stood, "I will talk to Admiral Hackett and see what I can accomplish. Your offer of arms is very generous, but I must question the wisdom of it when you are alone out here."
Admiral Cole smiled warmly, "Don't worry, Commander, we can take care of ourselves."
"Normandy has a lot of empty space; we're on a skeleton crew right now," Shepard said, "I can start taking shipments of some of the lighter arms."
Cole nodded, "That seems doable. I will have one of our vessels deliver the rest to a planet of your choice when we meet your governing body."
Shepard reached into his back pocket and retrieved a data drive. He slid it across the table to Lasky who grabbed it in one swift movement. "Now it's time to fulfill our original deal. We talked, and now you get coordinates. In that data drive are the coordinates to a planet containing both Covenant and your own people's starships; crashed, burned and broken but could be of some use to you,"
Lasky examined the drive in his hand, it was a simple Thunderbolt 501 drive. Antique but still compatible with Infinity's systems.
"Have you shared this with anyone else?" Lasky asked, turning it over.
Shepard shook his head, "No, I have not. I found it recently and the partition on that drive is the only data and location of the site in existence. If you choose to delete it after your investigation, it will be lost forever."
Lasky nodded and slipped the drive into his pocket.
"Captain, this is Roland, Freelancer is reporting vessels entering the system. Class and type are unknown," Roland reported over the p.a system, "I've had Ansil activate her stealth systems and follow them."
Lasky looked at Cole, "Admiral, you need to return to your ship, Fire Team Venice will escort you."
Cole nodded and quickly exited the room. Five Spartan Fours were waiting for him.
"Roland, this is Lasky, bring the fleet to full alert status. All weapon systems online, shields active. Go to full battle stations and prepare for immediate engagement. Get us on a homeward bound trajectory," Lasky ordered. He slapped the button underneath the table, thick shutters closing over the conference room's windows.
Shepard remained standing, "Captain, if I may, Normandy can help you in this fight, if it is one."
Lasky nodded, "Go, but remain near us."
"Thank you," Shepard responded, "I take it Fire Team Shadow will escort us?"
"Yes."
Shepard gave a curt nod before exiting the room with his comrades, escorted by Fire Team Shadow.
Lasky pinched his brow and stepped into the direct-access bridge elevator that was in the conference room. It looked like Everest was going to be testing out her new systems.
The Wolf of the fleet was abut to show his teeth.
To be continued...