Do yourselves a favor: get some tissues for this one.
SEE CHAPTER ONE FOR DISCLAIMERS
PLEASE READ & REVIEW, AND TEND TO THE TROPE & CHARACTER PAGES
-CHAPTER START-
Starshot
August 16th, 2553
2150 Hours
Teana lay back in her bed in her quarters, clothes on the floor, eyes closed as Subaru – equally nude – lay atop her, nuzzling her neck. She gave a light moan as Subaru's left hand squeezed.
"You think things are gonna go according to plan tomorrow?" Subaru asked softly as her head moved down Teana's body.
"I should hope so" the redhead replied. "Three ships' worth of soldiers attacking from the outside, while four spec-ops teams wreak havoc inside…"
"We'll just have to hope Parangosky's goons don't get involved" Subaru remarked, and then moved her head down just a little.
"Ah! Mmm…" Teana's left hand came up, holding Subaru's head in place as the blue-haired girl sucked lightly. "I j-just hope the Blood-Gulchers can h-handle this…" she struggled out.
After several seconds, Subaru removed her lips from their present 'target'. "They'll do fine" she said with a smile as her right hand snaked lower. "They managed to hold their own against those battle droids modeled after Agent Texas; two-bit pirates will be easier, especially with their armor upgrades."
The blue-haired girl then grinned, and Teana gasped and arched her back a little as a finger slipped inside.
"You don't need to worry, Tia" she said with a sultry whisper. "Everything'll turn out fine."
Teana nodded, her cheeks pink and her eyes half-closed. "E-Everything… f-fine…" she whispered. And then she squealed as Subaru's finger curled upward.
In another room, another member of the multi-team strike force was having some 'quality time' with her three Precious People. As Kōta straddled her, Kaede Kanade looked up at him, while the other two girls occupied themselves nearby.
"You sure it'll be okay doing this with both of them in here?" Kōta asked.
Kaede K. looked to her left, on the bed next to her, where Nozomi lay atop Aiko, both of them fully unclothed, breasts and lips pressed together, hands roaming.
"I think we'll be fine" she remarked.
In yet another room, Laicixa – the only one of the bed's occupants still awake, though she was falling asleep quickly – still felt a tad bashful about the situation she was currently in. Here she was, in this king-size bed, 'spooning' against Erio, who was in turn holding Caro from behind, and Caro in turn was holding Erika the same way, while Erika and Mariko were also holding each other tight, with Timmy holding Mariko from behind and resting his hand on Erika's bare side. And all six of them were wearing lower-body underwear (panties, boxers, diapers) and nothing else. On one hand, Laicixa surmised, it was a very good thing – she already had friends who trusted and cared enough for her to be comfortable with her like this. On the other, she was still a little shy about the whole thing, though it was certainly both comfortable and comforting.
Oh, what Mother and Big Sis would say if they could see this, she thought to herself.
Tomorrow, she would lead these five as one of five teams to infiltrate the Black Suns ship Procyon. But for now, she was a little girl snuggling with her five Very Special Friends.
Elsewhere, an armored figure took a few steps, his white armor with blue accents glinting in the light. Church looked down at his new robot body, which was promised to be noticeably more capable than his old ones. He flexed his fingers and made a fist, and then turned to the technician.
"I guess I better get re-used to having a body before the assault tomorrow" he said. "Lead me to the gym, please."
-SCENE BREAK-
Sangheili Type-52 'Phantom' Dropship, on approach to grounded Black Sun Paris-class Heavy Frigate Procyon
Next Day – 1016 hours
The dropship moved on, hidden by the Sangheili active camouflage device that enshrouded it, leaving it a rapidly-moving blur in the sky. The battle between the Black Suns and the coalition forces had begun, a barrage of Wraith mortars and Siege-Tank shells softening the defenders' forward lines. Inside the Procyon, the Black Suns were frantically trying to wrap up the ship's maintenances and get it ready for takeoff. The coalition did not intend to give them that chance.
The dropship swooped into the frigate's port hangar bay; while unnoticed by the exterior defenders, the huge noisy moving blur was easily detected by the guards in the hangar, but they were nonetheless helpless as the Phantom de-cloaked and unloaded with its three heavy plasma cannons, cutting them all down. The Phantom's side doors then folded down, and 30 armed and armored people leapt down from within the cramped dropship – Gamma Team, Sigma Team, Team Blood-Gulch, Lancer Squad (Carolina, North, York, and Florida; Wash was part of Team Blood-Gulch for this op), and the new TSAB Theta Team, composed of Erika, Erio, Caro, Timmy, Mariko, and led by Laicixa.
Church rushed over for a nearby console, shifting from his robot body and into the Procyon's systems. After a few seconds, he reappeared and returned to his body.
"There" he said. "I've closed the fuel shutters to the reactor, and I've locked the engines in a diagnostic cycle. That should keep this thing grounded."
"I, meanwhile," Delta said as he appeared on York's shoulder, "have hacked the magnetic clamps holding the vessel to its dock. They will not disengage without my say-so."
"So this bucket of bolts isn't going anywhere" North said. "As long as none of these pirates are smart enough to undo what you two just did."
"Even if they were smart enough," Church replied, "they don't have the tech necessary to."
"Now we just have to fight our way up to the bridge," Teana said, "and neutralize the command crew."
"Infiltrate and annihilate" Sarge said. "Now this is my kinda op."
"Uploading ship schematics to everyone" Church said, as detailed maps appeared on everyone's HUDs, before then shrinking to a mini-display in the upper right corner, summonable by blinking twice while looking at it.
The five teams moved out, moving through two doors 100 feet apart on the far side of the hangar, following map-readings and waypoints as they began progressing through the passageways beyond. It wasn't long before they encountered resistance in the form of human and Kig-Yar troops. Teams Blood-Gulch and Lancer quickly discovered the benefits of their armor's new energy shields, allowing them to withstand the enemies' fire and then deal out their own, cutting the pirates down. They fought through the ineffectual resistance and regrouped near an elevator.
"So this will take us up to the bridge's level?" Wash asked.
"Well, no, not quite" Church replied. "It'll take us to the "main" level. From there, we have to make a few hundred meters' progress forward through the ship, and then we'll reach an elevator that'll lead to a higher level. Then we backtrack a bit to reach another lift that'll take us to the bridge."
"Jeez, nothing's ever simple, is it?" Mai remarked.
"Hey, it could be worse" Teana replied. "We could be infiltrating a cruiser. Let's move."
They all piled onto the lift, letting it carry them up. When it stopped and the big lift-doors opened, North and Teana brought their guns up, taking down the surprised Black Sun soldiers before they could even raise their weapons. Everyone filed out, weapons ready, looking in all directions.
"I was expecting more of them" Carolina said.
"Maybe they all went outside to fight the main assault force" Grif supposed.
"No, they would've stationed more guards than what we've seen so far" Ahsoka said. "I know how pirates work. Something's off here."
The five teams advanced through two parallel passageways that led to a single, huge chamber up ahead, according to Church – Gamma, Theta, and Lancer Teams took one way, Sigma and Blood-Gulch Teams the other. As Teana and Florida took point, they came across an entity that the former immediately recognized. She brought Mirage Rifle up in single-shot mode, firing a 7.62mm round through the Type-E demon's skull.
"Heads up, everyone" she reported. "We've got those things that attacked Midchilda."
"Yeah, we know" Wash replied. "We just encountered a few Type-Gs."
"So now we're demon-slayers" Grif said. "Man, the past week has been weird…"
They continued on for several more minutes, taking down Black-Sun troopers and the occasional demon. Soon, they regrouped in a large rectangular room – 85 meters long, 60 meters wide, and 52 meters high. It was worryingly empty, other than a few storage crates along the walls.
"What is this place?" Marie asked.
"Schematics indicate this is a specialized training area" Church replied. "There are holo-projectors to provide various locales and targets; they're offline now, though."
"We had one of these on the Mother of Invention…" Carolina reminisced. "Well, there were a few differences, but otherwise…"
"Why is it so quiet and empty?" Ginga asked. "You'd think they would try to make a stand here."
"We're so deep in that we can't even hear the battle outside anymore" Timmy observed. "…And I think our comms can't reach the outside, either."
A quick inspection revealed that the boy was correct; they were cut off from Command.
"This place feels wrong" Ahsoka said. "Tainted. Everyone, get ready. I think we're gonna have company soon."
For several seconds, there was nothing. But then, there was an unearthly screeching howl that echoes through the chamber. And demons began pouring out from the shadows, rushing towards the heroes from all directions.
(BATTLE MUSIC: Halo 4 OST – "Belly of the Beast")
"Ambush!" Asa shouted.
"All units, open fire!" Carolina shouted, drawing her plasma rifles and gunning down a charging Type-E.
"Holy shit, there's hundreds of them!" Grif shouted as he fired his BR85, picking off Type-Gs.
"That just means there's more to shoot, Private Grif!" Sarge replied as he blasted a Type-E with his M90 shotgun.
Teana switched Cross Mirage to dual Longsword Mode and rushed in, twin orange blades of superheated magical energy carving through the demonic entities with ease as she got to work. Erika and Laicixa summoned their Keyblades and started cutting hostiles down as well, Erio and Timmy covering them, while Caro flitted about, her & Friedrich firing blasts of magic and fire, and Mariko used her Needle Rifle to take down several more while using her vectors to hack apart any that came within ~11 meters of her.
North used his SRS99C-S5 to pick off targets of opportunity, mainly focusing on weapon-wielding Type-Es, while also using his M6D pistol on 'lesser' targets. Caboose, York, and Mana used MA5Ds to mow down Type-Gs, while Mai used an M739 SAW to bring down Type-Es that got too close. Ginga used a Sangheili concussion rifle to thin out Type-Gs, with Donut covering her against close-in threats with an M7 SMG. Subaru and Asa were both using PLF-provided weapons – a DC-15 blaster rifle and a 'Lancer', respectively – to gun down Type-Gs and –Es, as Tucker and Kaede F. provided accurate fire with their M398 DMRs. Aqua was wading through demons with her Keyblade, showing her skills as a Master as she took them down by the dozens with ease, while Ahsoka acted as her partner, lending her lightsabers to the cause. A well-placed rocket from Simmons blew six Type-Gs apart, while BR85 fire from Church finished off a few wounded survivors. A Type-E leapt at Donut from behind only to be smashed aside by Sarah's chakra-charged punch; she then used her momentum for a spin in which she drew her gravity hammer, taking out three Type-Gs with a swing.
But as the heroes kept fighting, the demons kept coming. Slowly but surely, they were forced into the center of the room, forming a massive, multi-layer defensive circle that was very slowly shrinking, as the horde kept pressing from all sides.
"There's too many of them!" Grif shouted as he fired his Brute Shot.
"I'm used to fighting overwhelming odds," Kaede K. said as she put a Sangheili Carbine bolt through a Type-E's head, "but never this bad!"
"We need help!" Marie shouted. "We need-"
Suddenly, a spot on the wall along the floor exploded inward, showering the area around it with dust, smoke, and debris. The attacking demons stopped, looking to the disturbance. A lone figure became visible walking through the smoke, black armor with dark-green trim visible, a BR85 magnetically attached to her back.
"The slipspace comm. transmission…" Church murmured. "It was her. The Precursor device brought her back, too…"
"Hey, guys!" Agent Texas said as she cracked her robotic knuckles. "Sorry I'm late! Hope you don't mind if I brought some new friends along!"
Behind Tex, five more armored figures were visible emerging through the settling smoke, taller than her, and clad in green MJOLNIR Mark-7 armor.
"Oh, hell yeah…" Mana said.
"Mind if we crash this part, guys?" Will-043 asked.
"I'd presume that they don't mind" Kelly-087 said.
"This reminds me of New Harmony" Fred-104 remarked.
"So many targets, so little time" Linda-058 mused.
The Master Chief John-117 stepped forward, MA5D assault rifle gripped in his hands.
"I'd say we got here just in time" Cortana said. "We do play the hero quite a bit, don't we?" He nodded, and then pointed his hand forward:
"Spartans, attack!"
The five Spartans and one top-class Freelancer rushed in, and a good chunk of the demons broke off and came forward to meet them. Bullets flew with expert precision, and demons began to die in droves. Their morale revitalized by the Spartans' appearance, the five teams' warriors redoubled their efforts, cutting into the enemy's numbers with earnest. Will fired his ARC-920, the supersonic explosive shell blowing a shielded Type-E to bits. A flock of Type-Fs appeared in the air near the ceiling, swooping down at the heroes, only to be blown out of the sky by a barrage of Light-type Sagitta Magica from Erika, Laicixa, and Aqua. Tex smashed her way through a few Type-Gs, catapulted over a Type-E (firing a round downward into its skull at the peak of her jump), and landed feet-first on a Type-G next to Carolina.
"It's good to see you're still alive, Carolina" she said. "So I heard you picked up where I left off and took care of the Director?"
"He 'took care' of himself, actually" Carolina replied as she used one of her plasma rifles to kill a Type-G. "All the years I spent hunting him down, and he shot himself."
"Damn shame what he allowed himself to become…"
"Y'know," Church said as he came into the scene, firing his BR85 at a Type-E, "this isn't the kind of situation I expected to run into you again in."
"C'mon, Church, you expected anything related to me to be predictable?"
"Good point."
There was a flash of light as Marie fired a Sunburst, a spent magic cartridge clattering to the floor at her feet; the blast of Light magic obliterated two Type-Es and four Type-Gs. Shion Void-Jumped here & there, using her Void Blade to stab and slash anything close to her whenever she came out of a jump. Sarah swung her gravity hammer, pulverizing a Type-E's torso; she then spun the weapon around in her grip, swiping out with the blade on the back of the hammer-head and decapitating a Type-G. Subaru & Teana were double-teaming a pack of Type-Es, effortlessly outmaneuvering them and striking back hard and in perfect synch. Kaede F. stowed her DMR and formed a pair of bone-blades, shifting into Tsubaki no Mai formation and carving through demons with graceful ease.
Though the demonic entities continued to attack, it soon became apparent that new ones were no longer appearing. It wasn't long before they were whittled down to nothing. The last demon, a Type-E, fell to a shotgun blast from Kelly-087.
"That was damn good timing, sirs" Sarge said to the Spartans. "We were almost cooked."
"Ex-Agent Texas and Colonel Holland filled us in on the situation" Master Chief said to Teana. "Unfortunately, we were unable to contact you ahead of time. The nether-realmers' interference with the ship is blocking comms."
"How's the battle going out there?" she asked.
"About as you'd expect" he replied. "The Black Suns are trying their hardest, but it's plainly obvious they aren't going to last much longer."
"We've been able to determine that our unnatural foe cut a deal with the Black Sun leadership on this planet" Cortana said. "The pirates got a heap of credits out of it, not realizing that they will eventually have to pay in return…"
"We'd better get moving" Wash said.
"Alright," the Chief said, "one Spartan per team. Lindy, go with Sigma Team. Kelly, you're with Theta Team. Will, go with Lancer Team. Fred, you're with Blood-Gulch team. I'll accompany Gamma Team" he turned to Teana "if that's alright with you, ma'am."
Teana sighed. "Chief, I may technically outrank you now, but it's abundantly clear to everyone who is the better and more experienced soldier and leader. Henceforth, I officially cede command of myself and my subordinates to you, for this op and any other we may participate in together in the future… sir."
The Spartan nodded, and then turned to everyone. "Move out."
"Once we get to the next floor," Church said, "there are five routes to the lift that goes up to the bridge. We can split up – one team for each route. We'll cover all approaches and thin out their numbers."
"Be advised, the comm. interference gets worse as we get closer to the bridge" Cortana announced to everyone. "We'll probably lose contact with each other before long."
"I'll go with Team Blood-Gulch" Tex said. "I wanna see how these guys have improved since last time."
The now rather large force of spec-ops infiltrators soon reached the lift up to the next floor. Sure enough, their next trek split into five pathways, all leading for the same spot. They split up as planned, each team going down one. Per Cortana's prediction, it was less than five minutes in before each team lost radio contact with the other four. It wasn't long after that when they started encountering resistance.
-Gamma Team-
A 40mm rifle grenade from Mirage Rifle's underslung launcher attachment killed two Black Sun Jackals, and stunned a third that was quickly gunned down by the Chief's assault rifle. Marie had Charon in Power Beam form, gunning down a trio of Black Sun troopers, while Mai used her SAW to foil a flanking attempt. Sarah used her Lancer assault rifle to take down a pack of Type-Gs that tried to catch the squad from behind. Kaede F. and Shion fired accurate hits with an M398 DMR and a Sangheili Type-51 Carbine, respectively, taking out Type-Es and armored Black-Sun soldiers up ahead. Ahsoka wielded a Sangheili Type-55 Storm Rifle against a pack of Type-Gs, none of them even getting close enough for her to need her lightsabers.
The Master Chief spotted a Black Sun trooper carrying a rocket launcher. He rushed forward, ducking under a fired rocket, and gunned the man down, taking the launcher for himself. He then used the remaining rocket in the chamber to take down three Type-Es, and then tossed the empty weapon aside. Teana switched Mirage Rifle to burst-fire mode, 3-round shots taking out helmeted Black Sun soldiers. A Type-B demon leapt down from the ceiling, roaring a challenge… and got its head pulverized by Sarah's gravity hammer. Shion threw a plasma grenade that stuck to a Kig-Yar Marksman, detonating with enough force to vaporize its upper half and kill the human Black-Sun trooper who'd been next to it. An autoturret that folded out of the wall was quickly hacked by Cortana, being turned against its masters.
Carving through resistance, they continued on.
-Theta Team-
A Kig-Yar pirate died as the three pink crystals lodged in its neck detonated, tearing its head off. Erika then fired on full-auto with her Needler at a hostile autoturret; eight crystals 'supercombined' with great force, violently destroying the automated machinegun. Spartan-087 flitted about, using her incredible speed to get in close amongst the enemy soldiers and then using her M90 shotgun to bring them down. Timmy carried a BR55, using it to make precise shots alongside Mariko and her Needle Rifle, the two culling Type-G and Type-E numbers. Caro dual-wielded plasma pistols against a handful of Black Sun troops, while Erio used Strada to carve a pack of Type-Gs apart.
-Lancer Squad-
Two shots from Agent Florida's M398 DMR took down a Type-E and a Black-Sun Jackal Marksman. A Type-B came rushing out, only to get nailed by a shot from Spartan-043's railgun, blowing its torso open. Carolina's dual plasma rifles burned through a pack of Type-Gs, York covering her with his M45 shotgun. In these close quarters, North had his sniper rifle slung over his back, relying on an M6D pistol to make precise kills. When his shields got stripped by an overcharged plasma-pistol shot from a Jackal, Theta immediately called up a bubble-shield wall that blocked the shots just long enough for North's shields to recharge.
York ran over to a nearby storage room, finding an inactive combat droid, a six-wheeled thing about waist-high armed with two machineguns. He laid his palm on the device, and Delta hacked it, bringing it to life and programming it to recognize the Freelancers and Spartan as friendlies. It rolled out and brought its guns to life, opening fire on the enemy. Outside, Carolina bashed a Kig-Yar's skull in with the butt of one of her plasma rifles, while Will fired an MA5C at an approaching trio of Type-Gs.
-Sigma Team-
Aqua swung her Keyblade, beheading a Type-G. She heard a Black Sun trooper coming up behind her, but then something whooshed past her head before she could react. The Black-Sun soldier's head came apart, courtesy of Linda, and his body fell to the ground. Kaede K. took down a trio of Jackal Marksman and then reloaded her Sangheili Carbine, while nearby Mana gunned down a Type-E with her assault rifle. Aerial quad-rotor combat drones flitted in, light machineguns opening fire on the heroes. Subaru shouldered her DC-15 rifle and fired, blue blaster bolts taking down three of the droids. Asa's Lancer swatted the other two out of the air. A shot from Ginga's concussion rifle blew a light-armored Black Sun trooper's chest open in the front while also knocking him off his feet.
"You think we're gettin' close?" Mana asked.
"We're about two-thirds of the way there" Linda replied. "Not too much more."
-Blood Gulch Team-
Sarge's shotgun banged as he took down a Type-E that had tried to jump him, and then continued on. So far the group had encountered little resistance. …Too little, actually.
"I sense an ambush…" Church murmured in a sing-song tone.
"Be ready for anything, boys" Tex said, gripping her BR85.
They advanced into a darkened room, still and quiet, Spartan-104 and Sarge taking point while Caboose brought up the rear. Suddenly, there was a charging whine sound, and then a pulse of energy, and everyone felt as their shields abruptly drained, low-toned warning sounds issuing in their ears.
"EMP!" Wash shouted.
Church and Tex felt thankful that their new robot bodies were protected well enough that they were unharmed by the pulse, though they too lost their shields.
Seconds later, several Black-Sun soldiers leapt out of the shadows, opening fire. The team immediately dove for cover, Wash crying out as a bullet broke through his upper left armguard and grazed the limb within. The group activated their helmet's VISR systems, highlighting each other in green, the area in yellow, and the eight hostiles in red. It wasn't long before shields recharged, and they counterattacked, taking the surprised enemies down.
"Alright, someone hit the lights" Wash said.
"Got 'em" Church replied as what lights that had survived the shootout came on, giving sorta-dim illumination to the room.
"Church?"
The Blue-Team leader turned to his odd friend. "Yeah, Caboose?"
"I…" the blue-armored man was holding his hand to his chest. "I… I think they got me…"
(MUSIC: Mass Effect 3 Leviathan DLC music – "Final Conversation remake")
Caboose then fell backward against the wall, his arm falling away to reveal several bloody holes in his armor. He slid down into a seated position against the wall.
"Oh no… No! Caboose!-!"
Everyone immediately rushed over, as Caboose's body heaved with several desperate coughs.
"Spartan, do you have any biofoam?" Texas asked, her tone desperate.
"No…" Fred replied. "I used it on our way into the ship, on some kid who got one in the leg."
"C-Can we lock his armor?" Church asked frantically. "Staunch the bleeding?"
"No, he's still wearing the old model" Simmons replied. "It doesn't have armor lock feature. And… h-he's bleeding internally. A lot."
Washington pulled out a datapad and plugged a cable from it into Caboose's armor port. It projected a 3D diagnostic screen showing five deep bullet wounds, two having torn through Caboose's lungs while a third nicked a major vein.
"This can't be happening…" he murmured, shell-shocked. "Not again…"
"No way…" Tucker said, disbelief in his voice. "T-This doesn't happen. Caboose always tanks whatever hits him. He can't…"
"This can't be real…" Church choked out. "This can't be happening! Not Caboose!"
The simple man slowly brought shaking hands up, gripping the sides of his helmet, trying to pull it off. Church reached out and did it for him, gently pulling free the helmet to reveal Caboose's pale-blond hair, half-lidded brown eyes staring up at him, a smile dripping with blood.
"I s-screwed up again, Church…" Caboose said weakly. "Sorry."
"You didn't do anything wrong, buddy" Church said. "You didn't screw up. …I did. I should've seen this kinda thing coming. I should've anticipated an ambush like this! …Please… don't leave me, buddy. You're my… my best friend."
"…Really?" Caboose whispered, smiling softly. "Y-You really mean it this time, Church?"
"Yeah" Church choked out. "Yeah, I do."
"…I'm so happy to… hear that…" he let out a few more coughs, and then took a ragged breath. "So happy… to…"
"Hey… Hey, no, c'mon Caboose! Stay with me! Look at me! Come on, Mikey! Stay with me, buddy! Please!-! Don't you fucking die on me, man! Not like this! Not when we're so close! Come on!-!"
"Thank you…" he whispered. "…Chur…"
His eyes closed, and he went still. Church could only stare for several seconds, before he hunched over, clutching onto Caboose's still form. He stayed there, quietly sobbing.
"C-Church…" Tex whispered, her voice choking up, as she laid a hand on his shoulder. "Come on. We… We need to keep moving. We need to… finish what we started…"
Sarge turned away, gripping his shotgun and heading for the door. Grif was right behind him, Brute Shot readied.
"Where are you two going?" Wash asked in a flat tone.
Sarge turned back to face him, and spoke in a low, dangerous tone. "To kill each and every one of those motherfuckers on this whole damned ship."
Donut said nothing, only nodding as he readied his BR85 rifle, turning sorrow into cold rage.
Church took one last look at his comrade. "…His name was Michael J. Caboose" he said softly. "He was the weirdest, dumbest man I ever met. He hated babies, kittens with spikes on them, and taxes. He was my best friend."
And so, the Blood-Gulch Team, minus one member, moved on, weapons ready, their hearts and mind filled with one goal: to take the Procyon, and brutally kill every last Black Sun on the entire vessel.
-CHAPTER END-
Please don't hate me.