The Intergalactic War

By Chief Ratchet

(A.N: Well, back again for more! Anyway, yes! Double digits! Never thought I would get this far. Now, to clear even more things up, when referring to the UCNC ships, when I type Covenant, it means the ships that the Covenant used. Human ships refer to the ships that the UNSC used in the Covenant War. Alright, that's all I have to say, and enjoy this chapter!)

Reviews:

Star wars 2136: Thanks buddy. And of course AT ATs will make it. It's the only thing that could be on par to the Scarab! What's a fic with Star Wars without AT ATs? It'll make appearances later on in the story. Keep the reviews coming mate!

Smokin' Tacos: Thanks buddy. I will finish this story eventually.

brian: Humph. God Mode does not concern me. You forgot, that in this fanfic, I am God! Well, apart from that, if Spartan Threes are going to be included, well, that's a mystery for you to find out and me to know!

Kavek: Thanks. I'll see what I can do in the future. You brought up some pretty good points there, actually. As for the shields, what they are based on seems to be absorption of energy, and radiating it out. Everything has energy, whether it be heat or kinetic. Still, if you can find the site where it says what Star Wars shields are based on, please tell me. Also, it is pretty hard to feel sorry for something that is ninety percent metal, and can only comprehend orders. About the Elite, Grunt Hunter thing, that will be explained soon, my friend. You just have to wait and see. Still, you can't have some fun without bending the rules, eh? Thanks for the advice. I appreciate it.

Disclaimer:

Star Wars does not belong to me, or anyone else except for George Lucas for that matter. Halo does not belong to me, or anyone else except for Bungie for that matter.

Chapter 10: The Battle for Cato Neimoidia: The Landings

As soon as the flotilla of ships dropped out of Hyperspace and Slipspace, the skeletal fleet of CIS ships moved to engage. The Arbiter, from his post on the bridge, was watching the CIS fleet move in to wipe out the intruders. "Cortana, are there any planetary shields protecting that planet?" he asked.

Cortana's figure frowned for a moment, before announcing "No there isn't. If there are anti-air guns on the planet, that's a completely different matter."

"Very well, tell the pilots that heavy anti-air fire is to be expected. Now, charge the guns," he ordered.

The fleet of two hundred and fifty ships made up of various ships started to spread out to lessen the prospect of a collision should a ship veer out of control. By now, the CIS fleet was in range for the Plasma Lances, as well as the Energy Projectors. "Cortana, fire Plasma Lance seven to five, and fourteen to twelve," he ordered. Six bright red streams of plasma lashed out towards the incoming fleet. Six hits, and six Recusant-class destroyers went up in flames, the plasma having smashed through their shields, and melted half the decks.

"Fire the Energy Projectors," the Arbiter ordered. A pair of needle thin, whitish blue beams struck out. The first beam hit a Munificent-class frigate. Its shields held out for a split second before giving way to the beam. It then punched straight through the vessel; hit the reactor, before passing through and tearing apart the vessels behind. The Munificent detonated in a fireball that could be seen from the planet's surface. Two beams, eight vessels turned into smouldering wrecks.

Following the Divine Blade's example, the rest of the fleet fired. A firestorm of plasma, MAC rounds, turbolasers and proton torpedoes hammered the CIS fleet. Many of the weapons hit random vessels, and the turbolasers had to be concentrated on a single target to be effective. Still, many CIS ships went up in flames, with some outright exploding.

By now, the CIS fleet was upon them, and the battle was on. The Arbiter viewed the screen carefully. "Fire Plasma Torpedoes one and two at this ship here," he ordered. The pair of Plasma Torpedoes hit the Recusant, and destroyed it.

"Enemy single-fighters are launching," Cortana informed him.

"Very well. Launch Longsword wings A to C, as well as Seraph wings one to four," barked the Arbiter. He could see the ships leaving the launch bays and moving to engage the incoming starfighters. From the tactical map, he could see the Alliance starfighters moving to intercept the droid Starfighters, and the Tri-Fighters.

"Cortana, take control of the point-defence system. Leave the weapon controls to the weapons console," he ordered. Cortana complied, and the autocannons, as well as the point-defence pulse lasers went to work. One Droid Starfighter was hit by a pulse laser, and was cut in two. Another went down after a hail of autocannon rounds tore it to pieces. The fighters were a serious concern. If they were still there when the dropships were launched, a serious dent could be placed in the ground operation.

All around the Divine Blade, chaos reigned. Ships were everywhere, as were lifeless wrecks. Individual dogfights were happening everywhere, over a capital ship, through the maze of hulks, in empty space and even weaving through the skeletal CIS ships.

Major Thomas Eisler was having a hell of a day. His wing of Longswords had been dogfighting the enemy fighters nearly since the whole battle began. The Longsword Mk.2 he was piloting was an upgrade of the old, standard Longsword. It needed only one pilot, the length and width was reduced, but it sported a bigger armament. It had the standard pair of a hundred and twenty millimetre rotary cannons, and hardpoints for multiple missiles, bombs or anything else, really. They also sported a pair of plasma cannons to boot as well.

Major Eisler pulled his Longsword into a steep dive, and the pair of fighters did the same. He grinned, and pulled back on the joystick. Hard. The Longsword flipped up, performed a loop, and he ended up behind the pair. Instead of locking on with missiles, he lined them up with his gunsights, and pulled the trigger. A hail of a hundred and twenty millimetre shells tore into them, blew holes in the armour, and detonated their reactors and fuel supply, as well as any ammunition within. The pair of explosions didn't look out of place with hundreds of other explosions going off all around him. He flew back towards the main battle, eager to rejoin his squadron.

Once at the main battle, he ordered "Seraph one eight seven and one eight eight, form up on my left flank. Bravo two six eight and Bravo two eight seven, form up on my right flank." There was a chorus of 'roger's and 'affirmatives. A pair of Seraphs formed up on his left flank. A second after, a pair of Longswords formed up on his right flank. There was a wing of five Droid HMP going on bombing runs, all of them in an arrow formation, and his flight was going after them to put an end of their fun.

"Alright boys, we're going after those bombers. Ready ASGM-10 missiles and plasma torpedoes. Lock on and report when done."

"This is Bravo Two Six Eight, ASGM locked and ready."

"Seraph One Eight Seven, plasma torpedo is charged and locked on."

"Bravo Two Eight Seven, missile ready."

"Seraph One Eight Eight, plasma torpedo ready."

"Alright boys, on my mark, fire the missile. Mark!"

Three missiles and a pair of plasma torpedoes shot forward, and headed for the HMPs. Four immediately turned into a sun, and the last one was severely crippled, with half of it blown away. Seraph One Eight Seven blasted it with the twin plasma cannons, and reduced the remains to a wreck.

"Good job gentlemen, let's go!" Eisler shouted. The Longswords and Seraphs peeled off. He went back to chase down another fighter. A normal day for a pilot.

On the bridge of the Divine Blade, it was hardly normal. There were officers running around, directing orders or carrying out orders. Throughout it all, the Arbiter was standing, and leaning on a rail, as his chair was located on the elevated part of the bridge, which was at the back. The ship rumbled as it took another barrage of turbolaser fire from an attack group of five Recusants, backed by a Providence-class destroyer, which the Arbiter though that the term 'battleship' would have been more appropriate.

"Weapons, please do something against the battle group attacking us, would you?" he asked. The officer, an Elite wearing the bright red armour of a pilot, by the name of 'Nheamee nodded nervously.

"Y-Yes, of c-course your Excellency," he stammered. "Tell the missile turret crews to load the Infernos, and fire at the Recusants when their shields have been knocked out by the pulse lasers. Pulse lasers, target the closest Recusant and fire when fully charged. When the shields have been knocked out, target the next one. Energy Projectors, fire at the Providence."

The Arbiter listened to the weapons officer's plan, and found it to be quite good. The Infernos were missiles that had a payload of superheated, sticky plasma. Upon contact, the plasma burst over the target, and started to burn, melting through armour, and chewing away. Being plasma, it needed no oxygen to burn, so it was effective at everything but starfighter defence.

The plan worked, and the Arbiter watched as the missiles soared towards the shield-less Recusant. The missiles hit, and the blue plasma flared up, and started to melt its way through. By sheer luck, one missile hit the Recusant's main turbolaser on the prow, and started to melt through as well. He could almost imagine the crew panicking as the starboard engine detonated, followed by the others. By now, the second and third Recusant was covered in plasma, and the Providence had twin holes from bow to stern, and was drifting. It would be no threat. The other two Recusants were now fleeing, having seen what happened to the other three.

"Excellent work, 'Nheamee. Let's get back into this. Cortana, what is our shield strength?" he asked.

"Our shields are at eighty six percent. Also, our reactors are running normally well within functional and safety parameters. We have twenty Infernos left, and Archer pods are still full. The Divine Blade is performing extremely well for its first real engagement on a large scale. The Archway is still in good condition, with minimal damage," Cortana reported.

The Archway was a carrier, a human one, that held all the dropships meant for the ground operation, except for those in the Divine Blade. The dropships had been transferred just before the fleet made the collective jump to the planet. The Archway had remained at the very edge of the battle to protect her precious cargo. It was the Divine Blade and other ships job to clear a path for her.

The Divine Blade remained at the centre of the battle, spewing plasma and projectiles at any CIS ship that got too close, or was unfortunate enough to be targeted. Finally, after many losses on both sides, a path was cleared, and the Archway accelerated forward with the Divine Blade. The two ships made a beeline for the planet, with the Divine Blade blasting anything that got into its way, as the carrier had the majority of the Marines, Elites, Grunts and Hunters.

When the two ships were in orbit, the dropships of the first wave started to pour out of the Archway. On the Divine Blade, klaxons started to blare, and Cortana's voice echoed throughout the launch bays. "All personnel, evacuate the launch bays. Dropships, launch will commence in T minus one minute. Repeat. All personnel evacuate the launch bay. Launch will commence in T minus fifty five seconds. Decompression commencing in launch bays. All personnel, evacuate the launch bay."

The ground assault was organized in about five attack waves of approximately fifty soldiers each. The first wave, which included Fred, would secure a LZ for the other waves, and start to push forward. The other waves would then arrive to relieve the first wave, who would have hopefully information on the enemy strongholds. Essentially, the first wave was the reconnaissance wave, while the others did battle after the recon was finished. The first wave will then attack the city like the other waves.

On Fred's Pelican, he checked to make sure the airlock was secure. The pilot's voice came over. "Marines, strap yourselves in. We launch in ten seconds. Enemy AA is expected, so the ride will be a bit bumpy. Please do not move around the cabin when launching, as injuries can occur."

Ten seconds later, there was a rumble as the Pelican's jets fired up, and lifted it above the deck. The shield covering the launch bay disappeared, and the Pelicans and Phantoms were free to go. A burst of acceleration pushed Fred and the Marines back as the Pelican left the bay, and into the blackness. Along with them were other Pelicans and Phantoms. A wing of Longswords launched from the Archway, and the Divine Blade released multiple black capsules that fell towards the planet.

Once in the atmosphere, the black capsules burst apart to reveal a SkyHawk fighter. The SkyHawks flew down to find potential landing sites for the troops. One, Echo 498 found one. "Divine Blade, this is Echo Four Nine Eight, I've found an LZ, over."

"Echo Four Nine Eight, LZ looks good. Transmit co-ordinates of the LZ to the pilots. Clear it of any hostiles. Divine Blade out."

Echo 498 shouted into her mic "SkyHawks, form up on me. We're clearing an LZ for the dropships!" A chorus of 'roger' came over, and so did the SkyHawks.

"Arm the Hornets and Anvils, people. We're going to make two passes, then strafe the area with your cannons. Let's go!"

The Hornets were air-to-ground missiles designed for taking out bunkers or fortifications. They also were great at blowing away hostiles on the ground. However, they lacked the homing feature of other missiles, such as the ASGM-10. Each SkyHawk carried four, and they were going to make good use out of them.

The LZ found was a landing platform, which could easily fit ten landed Pelicans, or five Albatrosses. Apparently, it was an important site, as it had eight AA guns protecting it from any attack from the air, or any insertion as well. The first SkyHawk launched two Hornets before an anti-air gun scored a few hits, causing it to lose control and crash into the LZ.

"Watch out, people. Those emplacements seem to be pretty darn powerful. Lock on the Vipers and let 'em loose!"

Multiple streaks left the SkyHawks, and headed towards the AA emplacements. It only took one good hit to turn it into rubble, and by the time the SkyHawks had screamed past and banked for another run, they were all gone. The SkyHawks then fired their Hornets at the platform, clearing away the rest of the droids in a series of explosions.

"All right people, we now have to provide air support for the ground pounders. If you need to rearm, the Archway is on station in orbit. Beware of AA around the city. Good luck, people. Echo Four Nine Eight out."

The dropships had now entered the atmosphere, so Fred was able to open the airlock as well as the ramp. The ramp was retractable, so it wouldn't create more drag. Fred looked out through the open bay, and was also listening to the Sergeant instructing his team.

"Marines, it is our job to get down there, and clean it up for our new allies. It is so simple; a kid could do it in less than an hour. Our forces are going to be the first there, so let's show 'em how it's done, alright? We're gonna be the first to hit the dirt in front and before most of our Covenant buddies and some of our fellow ground pounders," at this he shrugged, "No biggie though, it just means more of the shiny bastards for us to kill."

He placed his hand over his earbud, listening to the pilot speaking. "Alright Marines, ten seconds till we hit the ground. Let's show the Spartan how the Marines do, shall we?" Still, the comment was just some talk, as most of the troops revere the Spartans. Fred almost smiled beneath his helmet at the comment.

Fred then saw the ground flash pass as the pilot swung the Pelican around so that the disembarking troops wouldn't get hit the blaster fire. The Phantoms that came next blasted the ground ahead with plasma fire, since the Phantom had no need to land. As soon as the Pelican was only a few centimetres off the ground, Fred hit the switch which extended the ramp. He ran down, even as the Sergeant's voice was shouting "Go, go, go!"

The Marines ran down after him, but by then, Fred had cleared the rest of the droids that had survived. To him, they weren't that tough, and the blaster did as much damage as a Plasma Rifle shot. The droids weren't the best shots either, so it was somewhat easy. After reloading, he climbed up to the highest point of one of the most intact pad, and magnified his view to the end of the one bridge that led here-a potential chokepoint for either side. The new Mk. VII armour that the surviving Spartans had received could zoom in up to 5x the normal view.

What he saw were many squads of droids advancing slowly up to the other end of the bridge, before moving across. "Lt. Tanner? We've got company. Over three hundred droids are advancing on our position. I recommend stopping the other waves from landing until we hold the entire bridge," he told the Lieutenant in charge of the first wave. The response was immediate.

Lt. Tanner was talking to one of the pilots when he received the transmission. He pulled the viewscreen over his eye, and then magnified the image at the end of the bridge. The Spartan wasn't lying. "Good work Spartan. I tell the pilots to relay that message. Now, take a squad and try to buy us sometime, if you can. Tanner out."

The Spartan ran up to the congregation of soldiers. "I need ten volunteers!" he shouted. Five Marines immediately did so, as did three Elites and two Grunts. Hunters were coming down on the next wave, so he had to do without them for the time being. "Grab some heavy weapons, a lot of grenades and follow me!" Fred shouted they did so, and then thundered down to their end of the bridge with the Spartan.

Fred raised a fist, motioning to them to stop. They did so, and crept up next to him. Both of the Grunts had Fuel Rods, as did the Elites. "Aim the Fuel Rods at a 45 degree angle. It should be able to hit the force on the other side. Marines, follow me," Fred whispered. The Grunts and the Elites aimed, and fired. Five green orbs of destructive energy arced their way across the bridge. They impacted, and sent metal parts flying everywhere.

The rain of energy orbs continued even as Fred and the Marines ran across the bridge. "Marines, set up there," said Fred, pointing to a fallen pole that could hide most of a Marine's body, even when standing upright. The Marines did so, and once there, fired rockets into the crowd. Fred ran over to the Marines, and held out his hand. "I need some grenades!" he shouted over the roar of a rocket launching. A Marine handed him some frag grenades and some HE grenades. "Thanks, soldier," shouted Fred.

He ran as close as he dared to the droid lines, and knelt down. He grabbed some wire he kept with him, mainly for strangulation purposes, and pulled it into sections. He tied one end to the pin, and used some all-purpose duct tape to tape the grenade to anything close enough, even as rockets and Fuel Rods impacted into the droids. He continued to do the same thing over and over again, until he used up all of the grenades. He called the volunteers. "Fall back! We're done here!"

With that, he ran down back to their end of the bridge, and to the landing platform. He kept on running, even as blaster bolts flew around him, sometimes striking him and bringing down his shield's integrity a bit. When he was back, the defences were more than ready. Four portable Plasma Cannons were set up, with two on either side of the bridge. A pair of portable M247 machine guns were set up as well. They were all ready manned, and the rest of the soldiers were ready behind the turrets. Fred walked up to Lt. Tanner, and saluted.

"Sir! Objective completed," he said. Tanner nodded.

"Good work. We'll need every droid to be scrap heaps before the rest of the assault force arrives. Have you used up all the grenades you took?" he asked.

"Yes sir. They were left behind as a welcoming present for the first line of droids."

"Excellent. Alright, take your place in the lines, Spartan. Everyone, listen up!" Lt. Tanner shouted. "No-one fires until you see an explosion within their ranks. When that explosion occurs, fire at will!" he ordered.

The Marines started to check their rifles and SMGs, making sure the magazine was full. The Elites made sure that the clip in their Carbines were secure, and that they were full. Several Marines pulled their viewscreens across their eye, and magnified the image of the approaching droids. The viewscreen highlighted the grenade traps in a red box, and the distance from it and the approaching droids. When the counter reached less than twenty metres, the Marines with the viewscreens over their eye raised their weapons. When the explosion occurred, all hell broke loose.

In orbit around Cato Neimoidia, the Archway was receiving the last of the Pelicans and Phantoms. An Endurance carrier, the Intrepid, was waiting nearby to release its own contingent of dropships. The main reason for waiting until a landing zone was cleared and ready, was because the Alliance had lost many soldiers during the conflict, and now that the primary supplier of clones for Stormtroopers was lost, the situation had degraded extremely quickly.

Just as the last of the dropships were received, a pair of Recusants, backed by a Munificent made a beeline for the carriers. Apparently, they had found out that the Archway was the home of most of the ground force, as well as the Intrepid. Even as the Archway turned to engage the three, the Intrepid was lighting up, with all twelve turbolasers firing. The captain of the Archway, Captain Alvani, was greatly distressed. The carrier was not built for combat, and it still had hundreds of soldiers waiting to be deployed.

"Communications, send out a message to the Divine Blade. Tell them that we need immediate assistance. We have three vessels bearing down on us, and we will need help if these troops are going to make it to the surface in one piece. Weapons, charge up all MAC guns, ready Archer pods. We're going to give those bastards a hell of a fight," ordered Captain Alvani.

The Archway was a not a typical carrier. Most human carriers typically had one MAC gun, and about thirty Archer pods. However, the Archway had a pair MAC guns as well as over fifty Archer pods. The MAC guns were the same Triple MAC guns used on the Pillar of Autumn, now standard among most ships. The Archway also held three nuclear warheads within her significant arsenal.

"Weapons, status of the MAC guns?" asked Captain Alvani with sweat dripping off his brow.

"MAC guns at ninety seven, ninety eight, ninety nine, they're at full charge!" he almost shouted.

The pair of Recusants suddenly veered off in different directions, one heading for the Archway, the other towards the Intrepid. The Munificent lagged behind, before coming to a complete stop just outside the pair of carrier's maximum weapons range. It was pretty obvious that the Munificent was intending to become a gun platform, to pound the pair of motherships after the Recusants did the grunt work.

The Recusant that was attacking the Intrepid was now exchanging broadsides of turbolaser fire with the carrier, and the Intrepid was winning, barely. The one that was heading for the Archway made one mistake-it turned to the left, to help the other Recusant, presenting a bigger target for the Archway.

"Fire MAC One," ordered Captain Alvani.

The MAC gun on the left flashed three times, and three projectiles tore out of the weapon, heading for the Recusant that was now attempting to turn back. The first two projectiles impacted and shattered the shield, but no further damage was done. The third one gave much better results. The round punched straight through the first engine, and still had enough force to continue onwards to shear off the other engine adjacent to the one that was just torn off.

Without the balance provided from the other two and the remaining engine still burning, the force pushed the Recusant 'down'. The Recusant could be counted as disabled, as there was no way for it to propel itself back into battle.

"Good job. Rotate us so that we are facing the other Recusant, Lt. Ambridge," ordered Captain Alvani.

The engines fired, and the Archway turned so that the other MAC gun ready to fire was facing the Recusant doing battle with the Intrepid. The Recusant was potted with holes all over its hull, and whole sections of armour plating were ripped off.

However, the Intrepid was just as good looking. Three of the turbolasers were destroyed, and the shields had failed, though the strong hull was holding off the Recusant's turbolaser barrages. The Munificent was now pounding the Intrepid with long-range turbolaser blasts from the prow cannon, breaking off pieces of the hull. Alvani could see the atmosphere leaving the ship, before the sections were sealed off.

"Guns, get a fire solution for the MAC gun and Archer pods, on the double," Captain Alvani ordered.

"Firing solution is online sir," reported the gunnery officer, exactly ten seconds after the order was issued.

"Fire on the Recusant, now!" barked Captain Alvani.

The fifteen Archer pods mounted on the prow of the Archway fired, followed by the second MAC gun. The three projectiles flashed across space, before connecting with the Recusant. The trio of projectiles tore holes in the bow, and the swarm of missiles that came in after severely damaged the Recusant. The final barrage of turbolaser fire from the Intrepid destroyed the ship.

"Good job men. Looks like we might live after al-"

A volley of laser fire knocked the captain to the deck. He cursed as he got up, wondering how he had forgotten about the Munificent.

"Status!" he shouted.

"Shields are down. Armour on section seven is down to three centimetres, the same in section five and eight!" shouted the damage control officer.

Captain Alvani started cursing. They had no weapons capable of destroying the Munificent in time, and it was pounding them with the heavy turbolasers. It wouldn't take long for them and the Intrepid to be destroyed.

Just as all hope seemed to be lost, a laser beam, whitish blue in colour flashed across space for no more than three seconds. After the beam faded, the Munificent exploded in an explosion that made the others in the main battle seem insignificant. Captain Alvani blinked three times, and then checked to see if the Intrepid was still in one piece. It was.

"Lt. Ambridge, replay and slow down the destruction of the Munificent," Captain Alvani ordered. Something nagged at him from the back of his head, and he remembered why. Energy Projector beams never last for more than a single second, but this one had lasted for three.

"Done sir," Lt. Ambridge reported. The image played on the viewscreen. The beam flashed across space before hitting the Munificent. The beam then moved down, and literally sliced the vessel into two sections. The back part, with the engines still sputtering with life, rammed into the first section, which lacked any form of propulsion. The resulting explosion consumed both halves of the ship.

He looked at the spot where he thought the beam had originated from. He squinted, a saw a shadow within the darkness of space. It looked like a human prowler, but with a turret mounted on top. Suddenly, he realised what it was. One of the Apparition-class Prowlers, the assassins of the UCNC fleet. This one was shaped like the Sea Shadows of the age old US Navy, though they had a turret on top. The turret was the main weapon, firing the same beam that had sliced apart the Munificent. There were two different designs, a human, which resembled the Sea Shadow, and the Covenant design, which looked like a miniaturised CCS-Battlecruiser, but they performed the same function.

Alvani had no idea that they were operating here. From what he had read, there were only ten in existence, and all were based in the Sol system, patrolling for any intruders. Each one was captained by the most loyal of commanders, and they only followed the orders of the Admirals, or the Covenant equivalent.

"Alright, let's bring this ship back to orbit," Captain Alvani ordered. The battle had carried them away from their previous position in orbit, as they had begun evasive manoeuvres to avoid the Recusants. As they rumbled back to their position, the Intrepid followed, with sections of the ship still ablaze.

As the final Recusant exploded, the Arbiter viewed the site of the battle. Where once the proud and impressive five hundred strong fleet of the CIS that had defended the planet, there was now a five hundred ship strong graveyard. Wrecks floated around, some half-melted, some in pieces. That was not to say that there wasn't a graveyard for the Alliance fleet as well.

Over sixty Alliance ships were hulks, destroyed by turbolaser and proton torpedo fire. Of the fifty UCNC ships that had joined the battle, twenty three were wrecks. Fifteen of the wrecks were human, as the human ship's shields were not nearly as strong as their Covenant counterparts. Eight of the hulks were Covenant, most of them frigates, but there were a few destroyers, and even a CCS-Battlecruiser was floating in there. Still their sacrifice was not in vain. All CIS ships were destroyed, and it was only a matter of time before the cities were taken.

"Alright, we're done here. Cortana, send a message to all surviving UCNC ships to form up on the Divine Blade, before we begin to search for survivors," he ordered. With the signal sent, the taskforce was just about to set out when the alarms started to blare.

"Cortana! What's happening?" he asked.

"Multiple CIS ships detected jumping into the system. I estimate there are over six hundred ships coming down on us. They will be within range in just over two minutes," she reported.

"Get me Captain Dentris," the Arbiter ordered. The captain's face soon appeared, with blood leaking out of a minor gash on his forehead. His ship, the MC90 Star Cruiser Starfire, was the flagship of the Alliance fleet, but had taken a beating from many turbolaser impacts, particularly from the heavy turbolaser cannons of the Recusants.

"Yes, Arbiter?" he said.

"There is a fleet of over six hundred CIS ships coming this way. I recommend preparing your fleet for even more combat. We have less than two minutes, Captain," the Arbiter said before closing the link.

By the time one minute had passed, the Alliance ships were grouped together, as were the UCNC ships, who were facing the incoming fleet. Weapons were charged, and the majority of the UCNC ships fell behind, so that the Divine Blade's sheer bulk and strength would take the majority of the hits, therefore, allowing more ships to survive.

Since the Plasma Lances, Plasma Torpedoes were positioned in a V shape, with the Lances on the Divine Blade, and the Torpedoes on the lateral lines, if the battlecarrier faced an opponent directly, almost all the weapons, save for the few hundred Archer pods, could target an opponent and fire.

The Alliance ships had the stronger vessels in the centre, with the frigates in front. By now, all crews were waiting for the inevitable contact, and possible destruction. A distress call had been sent out, but there was no reply, so the worst had to be prepared for. As soon as the CIS fleet was in firing range, the two commanders said the two words the initiated hell.

"Open fire!"

Down on the surface, Fred was faced with his own kind of hell-the droids had been constantly attacking, attempting to push them back and recapture the landing platform. Not on his watch, however. He leapt up on another fallen pillar, both SMGs in hand, and sprayed the tide of droids with plasma-enhanced lead. Droids fell under the accurate barrage of fire, and after both SMGs clicked empty, he leapt back down to reload. All the while, laser bolts whizzed past him, and the Marines, Elites and Grunts answered with far more accurate volleys.

Fred, after reloading ran back to the mouth of the bridge, where the gunners held back the majority of the droids with streams of plasma and metal. A large pile of droid parts lay pat them, signs of the sheer determination of the droids. He started firing at the droids, and with his appearance, the soldiers at the front rallied, and started to fight, their morale soaring through the roof. A Marine's SMG clicked empty, and he shouted, "I'm out!" Fred tossed him a full one.

"Here! Make those shots count!" he shouted back over the roar of the cannons and machine guns.

"Thank you sir! I will!" he shouted, before reloading and firing the weapon. Fred resumed firing, occasionally lobbing a grenade. He lined the reticule on his HUD up with a droid that was too close for comfort, and fired. The droid collapsed under the volume of bullets that filled it up. With that threat ended, he raked his SMGs over the still coming droids.

By now, fifteen soldiers were dead, and the droids showed no signs of stopping. A blaster bolt hit the Marine next to him, scorching his arm. The Marine fell with a scream, holding his injured arm. Fred sprayed the offending droid with bullets before applying a spray of biofoam. He waved a pair of Grunts over. "Hey, you two! Come over here!" he shouted, and they complied.

"What you want us to do?" one of the Grunt's asked.

"Take this man to the back, where the other injured are. Go now!" he shouted. The Grunts picked up the Marine, and proceeded to waddle off with the Marine on their shoulders. With that burden off his shoulders, he proceeded to continue to wipe out droids. He blasted one, before turning the SMGs onto another unlucky droid. As soon as they hit empty, he smoothly reloaded. However, it was a bit more hairy than the last time he had reloaded. The clip in both SMGs was the last he had, meaning he had expended over three hundred bullets, though he had destroyed close to a hundred droids.

The second he got up, a droid loomed over him. Before it could fire a streak of green light took its head off. Fred gave a 'thanks' to the Elite that had shot the droid. He merely nodded, before setting off more Carbine rounds into the droid ranks. Fred stepped up, and resumed firing. Droid after droid continued to fall under his fire, as well as all the other Battle Rifles, SMGs, Plasma Rifles, Carbines and even a few heavier weapons. He estimated that no more than a hundred droids remained, but still, a hundred droids could overwhelm them easily.

Soon, his SMGs ran dry, and he had no more SMG ammo. "I'm out!" he shouted. A Marine private ran up to him.

"Here you go, sir!" the Private shouted, before handing over four SMG clips. Fred nodded gratefully, and the Marine scampered back to his place. Fred pocketed two, and then reloaded the twins. Feeling more confident now that he had more ammunition, he continued to lay waste to the droids. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the droids began to pull back. Just as the fire on the droids was about to cease, Lt. Tanner's voice came over.

"No-one stops firing until I say so! What the hell are you doing soldier? Get back to doing what you are being paid to do!" he shouted. Immediately, the firing increased, and even more droids fell. After a few minutes, when only the snipers could fire at the droids, the Lieutenant's voice came over again.

"Cease fire. They're gone. Echo 498, this is Lt. Tanner requesting airstrike at co-ordinates three by four. Yes, I repeat, airstrike at co-ordinates three by four. No friendlies in range. Alright, Tanner out."

A minute later, two SkyHawks screamed past their head's, and unleashed at quartet of Hornets at the remaining droid forces. When the missiles exploded, sending spare parts flying into the sky, Fred could feel the ground rumble beneath his boots. He looked around. Out of the fifty that had landed, thirty one were still combat effective. Fifteen had been killed, and four injured. Considering what they had been facing, they had come out intact. The Marines had been smart enough to duck after each hit to let their shield recharge, which made sense of the fairly small amount of casualties.

His motion tracker showed many, many friendlies moving in-Pelicans, Phantoms, Albatrosses and Sentinel-class landing craft, which were certainly impressive. He watched as troops disembarked, and poured out, in particular the Sentinels, mainly because they carried over fifty troops. Before long, the soldiers were all ready and itching for a fight. Several Pelicans unloaded boxes of ammunition, from which Fred grabbed more. Hefting the twins up, he accompanied the force moving up the bridge, and into the city.

The real battle for Cato Nemoidia had begun.

(A.N: Phew. Three words: longest, chapter, ever! My fingers are still sore. I hope you enjoy this as much as I did typing it. Not much to say here. Reviews would make me very happy,  Okay, this might be the last update for quite some time. School is started, and it will get tough this year. Also, next, do you want me to start about the other battles, or continue with the Battle of Cato Nemoidia. Leave what you want in your review, please. So, enjoy!)