Earth/ Defense Grid/ Cairo Station/ Armory

The Master Chief had just finished running over the basics of his suit's operations. Several small-scale tests for his newly acquired Mark VI armor were also conducted. The gunnery sergeant who had helped run the diagnostics was leaning against a frame that contained a window that provided a view over Earth. A clipboard was in his hands, and a pen was tapping away at the clipboard's head, signaling irritation on the sergeant's part. Hundreds of MAC Stations floated aimlessly about, while numerous frigates would zip past in a wink. On rare occasions, fat cruisers escorted by Longsword squadrons would drift past the station.

Earth had been receiving ships from surviving UNSC colonies all morning. Weapon production on Earth had increased drastically, and the UNSC had begun to enforce the draft. Thousands of fresh-faced marines were the result.

The sergeant, bored of whatever he was doing on his board, took a peak outside in a futile effort to procrastinate. His work did not interest him at all.

A frigate was coming out of slipspace. It was badly crippled and limped forwards for several seconds before halting its slow advancement. Several other frigates that floated near it moved away from the wounded ship, creating a large space big enough to fit several dozen UNSC Marathon-class cruisers in.

The frigates that motioned away from their beaten-up sister turned around, aiming their MAC muzzles at the space that had just been created. The Longsword presence had increased dramatically as well.

Suddenly, the ship-free space lit up like a barrage of fireworks. Numerous flashes, at least a dozen, began blinking into existence. When the flashing died off, twelve ships of unrecognized design stood firm against the impressive amount of ordinance aimed at them.

The sergeant, unsure of what was going on, motioned for the chief to have a look. He came over, taking great, powerful strides. Both humans could only watch as the fleet of unknown vessels was escorted by UNSC craft to a series of orbital docks nestled between two MAC Stations.

"Hell, they're just probably more ships coming in from Mars. Command did say they were rerouting a group or two to Earth to reinforce Harper's force."

With that said, the sergeant returned to his work.

The Master Chief was not convinced that these craft were not from Mars, nor from any UNSC colony on record. Using his suit's systems, the SPARTAN zoomed in on the nearest craft as it passed Cairo Station. Its lumbering bulk unexpectedly rotated, and for a brief second, the super soldier caught the ship's name.

"Erasmus."

It loomed onward, followed by seven other ships of similar design. All of them appeared to be armed, with the exception of four others who were being escorted away by two UNSC frigates. The four ships seemed to be civilian ships, and were most likely being led to a place where they could be safely unloaded.

Earth/ Defense Grid/ Cairo Station/ Hangar A-02

Lord Admiral Hood awaited the arrivals in one of his stations many hangers, his arms folded behind his back. On both of flanks stood several squads of UNSC Marines armed with battle rifles and assault rifles. The sergeants wielded shotguns. In the hanger were several Pelicans, and a few Scorpion tanks that had been scheduled to be shipped down to the surface to reinforce several garrisons defending Cairo.

Judging from the report given by Captain Sinclair, the Colonials had seemingly appeared out of nowhere near Mars. Apparently, they were running from a race of mechanical-like beings called "Cylons". They had encountered the Covenant several hours before encountering Sinclair and his frigate, and had successfully destroyed a CCS-battlecruiser by interlocking fire with eight warships called "battlestars". Attempting to know more about the Covenant, the battlestars split up, leaving behind two warships to pick at the carcass of the Covenant warship, while the others continued forward with several civilian ships that managed to avoid the Cylon assault on the "Colonies of Kobold". The remaining battlestars dispatched teams of Colonial Marines to board and investigate the crippled ship, but were overwhelmed when the Covenant caught wind of their presence. The marines, suffering heavy losses, retreated back to their ships and fell back to their battlestars.

But before the battlestars could come up with further plans involving the alien craft, twelve Covenant warships exited slipspace—apparently summoned by a signal sent by the wounded cruiser. The Covenant opened fire upon the ships. Vastly outnumbered and horribly outgunned, the Colonials launched twelve nuclear missiles at the dying CCS-battlecruiser in an attempt to destroy the evidence. The ships promptly jumped out of whatever system they were in, and regrouped with the fleet.

Intel on weapons capabilities was slim, and the defensive capabilities the battlestars had was unknown. It was theorized that the guns used on the warships were electrothermal accelerators—weapons that used plasma instead of conventional chemicals to deliver a payload. This process allowed them to fire projectiles faster than their chemical-based sisters. The handheld weapons utilized by the Colonials seemed projectile-based, and appeared to be dated (yet effective) versions of UNSC infantry weaponry.

Whether or not the twelve Covenant ships followed them back to Earth was unknown. Regardless, the civilians they harbored were allowed to settle into Earth. Their ships were stored in military warehouses away from the peering eyes of the public, and every Colonial civilian was ordered to keep silent when asked questions by anyone who was not an officer of the UNSC or an ONI agent. At first they protested, but their eight protectors managed to calm them.

The report also told of how Captain Sinclair and the Colonials had collaborated in conducting numerous tests to determine if they were both related.

They were, and the news prompted the UNSC to aid and accept aid from the newcomers. It also spun the heads of Hood's superiors.

Now Lord Admiral Hood was tasked with meeting with the eight captains who commanded the eight warships, and had to decide what was to be done with them. As a cover-up story for their discovery, the Colonials were depicted as being survivors of Reach. Obeying the Cole Protocol, the survivors jumped to random locations, and later regrouped to form a self-fledging fleet. When the Covenant drove the UNSC back to the Sol System, the Cole Protocol was rendered utterly useless, prompting them to return to Earth. As for their unusual ship designs, the ships were described as "older models taken out of Reach's underground facilities". The models were "ships used during the Rain Forest Wars, and had been modified for slipspace technology, enabling them to make the journey back to Earth".

"ONI is trying to keep this situation under the bridge," thought Hood as he tapped his foot on the cold, metal flooring of his station.

He and several other high-ranking officials were the only individuals who knew ONI's plans. They were also the ones who were going to find out just who the Colonials were, and where they hailed from.

The hatch opened, and out stepped a team of soldiers dressed in black armor. They were not ODSTs, but Colonial Marines. There were only six of them, resulting in the UNSC Marines outnumbering three to one. Eight men and women walked behind them. Some were middle-aged, while others seemed as old as Lord Admiral Hood himself. The majority however, were young.

Tension could be seen between the UNSC Marines and the Colonial Marines. An order barked from the oldest looking Colonial captain stowed the weapons of his men. Lord Admiral Hood did the same.

"You must be Captain Saul Tigh," Hood said, extending his hand to shake.

Saul gripped it firmly while still looking the man in the eyes. "That's right. You must be Lord Admiral Terence Hood. One hell of a fleet you got in your hands I should say."

Greetings went around, and it wasn't long before Hood knew all of the names of the eight captains, as well as the names of the ships they commanded. He wasn't sure if he could remember them all, but an effort on his part was sure to fix that.

"I welcome you to Earth, Colonials," Hood began. "As Captain Sinclair may have already mentioned, this is the last stronghold the UNSC currently holds under its arm. This is Humanity's stronghold, and it is here that we will make our last stand. Come, walk with me."

The teams of marines were ordered to remain in the hanger. The idea did not sit well with them, but their superiors were certain they would get along in no time at all.

"The report given to me by Captain Sinclair has mentioned little of your ships' combat and defensive capabilities, but they obviously must have been enough considering you effectively took out a Covenant warship."

Saul Tigh grunted. "Well that's true. The damn things were tough. From what I've seen, we've got the armor to go toe-to-toe with these alien bastards, but not the weapons. The only reason why we managed to walk away from that fight was because we had strength in numbers."

The group rounded a corner. Several crew personnel mingled about, mopping up stains from the floor of Hood's station, or fiddling around with wires hanging out of an open access panel. The crew took a gander at the eight captains for several seconds, observing their non-UNSC uniforms, before returning to their work.

"Well I aim to fix that," Hood began. "Turns out our production facilities have a surplus in MAC platforms."

"MAC platforms…?" Kara asked.

"Magnetic Accelerator Cannon," Hood answered. "They're the standard weapon used to combat Covenant warships. We have ten frigate MACS—enough to arm five of your warships with two each."

Saul raised an eyebrow in surprise. "First of all, where would you put ordinance like that? And second, why two? Why not distribute one to each of our ships?"

"Well, because frigate MAC platforms are weaker than the platforms used onboard our largest ships. Alone, they're too weak to damage the Covenant's largest ships, but combined they can get the job done. Not only that, but from what you've told us, your ships duel act as carriers."

"The only place I could imagine installing these guns," began Lee. "Is in the pods our ships use to distribute and retrieve our fighter craft. We install these guns and we lose our greatest means of defense and attack."

"The pods are the best place to place them though," Tigh argued. "Those who have the MACS could retract them when they're not in use, protecting them from enemy fire. Not only that, but cutting too many holes in our battlestars could weaken the internal structures. A good of majority of you have newer generation battlestars that can take that kind of abuse. Us old farts can stick to our carrier roles."

"Hell, what about the vipers then? Where will we put them?" Captain Silv asked.

"Add them to our stockpiles." Tigh answered.

"But where the frak will you fit that many birds?" Captain Nea chimed in. "The pods can only hold so many fighters. You add more and you could make liftoff and landing operations even more complicated than they already are. There could be accidents."

"Why don't we just cut out a portion of the pods then? Weaken the armor that points to the main part of the battlestar's hull. That way the exposed bits won't take damage, and you have some wiggle room for those fighters." Lee answered.

Saul rubbed his chin with his hand. "Now hold it, how long will all of this take? We're talking about redesigning our ships here."

Everyone turned to Lord Hood.

"That depends on how much resistance whatever alloy your ships are forged with gives us. Plus, we'll have to set in some reactors to power them. This operation could take a week at best to a month at worse. And who knows when the Covenant will come to claim their prize…"

The group talked for several more minutes, discussing the issue revolving around the cannons. It was soon decided that the new battlestars would mount the guns, and act as heavy assault warships that would stick close to the MACS that formed the outer defense ring. The older models would distribute fighter support, and open fire on any and all incoming enemy craft that happened to somehow slip past the outer ring. Admiral Steve Harper, the man who commanded most of the UNSC Home Fleet and took direct orders from Lord Admiral Hood, would not command the battlestars. Instead, Admiral Saul Tigh would command them.

Work on the battlestars began at once. The metal proved to be heavily resilient to tampering, but UNSC technician crews (under the watchful eye and strict guidance of the battlestars' engineer crews) managed to burn and mold the metal into the desirable shapes.

All of this went on for two weeks.

During that time, the UNSC Marines instructed the Colonial Marines (all 10,000 of them) in how to combat the various Covenant species. Weapons, vehicles and armor were issued as well. Most of them consisted of tanks and sniper rifles, as well as SPARTAN lasers and UNSC Marine combat armor, which proved far superior to the armor worn by the Colonials. Despite warnings from their superiors, the Colonial Marines, uninterested in being falsely identified as UNSC Marines, painted their armor black and grey. The ODSTs were not fond of this decision, calling the Colonial Marines "Wannabe Troopers". Fistfights were often the result, and harsh punishments were dished out accordingly for the rash acts exhibited by both sides.

Many agreed that fighting alongside one another would be the only way to create good standings between all three infantry types.

Viper pilots and their CAGS trained alongside UNSC Longsword crews in how to combat Covenant Seraph fighters. Because of their weaker weapons and lighter armor, the vipers had to rely on their ability to work as a team to overcome their larger and faster Covenant foes. A system was soon devised, where specific Longswords would fly alongside four or five vipers. The massive UNSC fighter would chose a target to attack, and like a pack of angry dogs, the vipers would feast, completely overwhelming the Seraph's shields. Using the Longsword's wretched 110mm guns, the Covenant fighter would be torn to shreds in a matter of seconds.

UNSC captains instructed the captains of the battlestars in how to utilize their MAC cannons to the best of effect. This ultimately required an AI, which, due to the religious beliefs of the Colonials and their superstitious ways, caused a massive uproar that nearly caused a colossal shootout between UNSC frigates and Colonial battlestars. Only through the combined efforts of Captain Nea and Captain Sinclair was the problem resolved, and AIs were allowed to merge with the CICs of the five battlestars. The AIs were all "smart", which further agitated the captains.

Two days after the modifications to the battlestars were completed, something exceptionally odd happened. Three ships resembling battlestars had suddenly appeared over Africa, with a forth ship bearing UNSC design. Two of the battlestars were puny compared to the other, but another was larger than all of the battlestars the UNSC had encountered thus far. The forth ship was a battered UNSC Maraton-cruiser.

Lord Hood, observing from the bridge of another station that he was personally inspecting, read the name of the Marathon's hull, and could not believe his aged eyes.

"That's just not possible—he's supposed to be dead."

It was as though a ghost ship had emerged from the deep void that was space.

Captain Saul Tigh, who was speaking to a UNSC captain regarding combat tactics and their favored brandies aboard the UNSC frigate Hear Me Roar, looked at the view screen, and began to fill with rage.

"That frakking bastard decided to show his face? That Godsdamn traitor! THAT FRAKKING COWARD?" Saul roared.

And so comes a meager cliff hanger! Two chapters back–to-back! Who could these unexpected newcomers be? Ten points to anyone who can guess who the captain of that Marathon is lol.

Also, regarding the recent reviews I've gotten: Most of them seem to be complaints about why X should not be able to defeat Y, or how Y is vastly inferior to X. Some reviews were helpful and legitimate complaints, and those will be taken into consideration. I have responded to many of these reviews. While I take everything involving space battles into account (captaining abilities and such), some things have to be speculated due to lack of canon materiel available. Some things were changed to fit the story I envisioned.

Take note that this is fanfiction, not a Factpile or SpaceBattles article or forum post. This is for entertainment purposes only, not to see who could clobber who.

Also, feel free to point out any typos you come across in this chapter and the previous chapters.

Hints on how to make this Fanfic sick are also highly valued.

-Axemen