Hello everybody! I am sorry my updates are slow but I have my reasons, most of them stemming from my mother, or ex-mother, i dunno. But as i said, I'm sorry but i'm not stopping. i will continue until each and everyone of you tell me to stop because i'm just that awful. Any way Reviews are love! So is toast but mostly reviews. so leave one. Enjoy!
Classified ONI Mobile Base, September 30, 2586
The meeting room was shrouded with an almost complete darkness, a large table dominated the centre of the room. Even the darkness the scorch marks and nicks in the two century old wood from all the officers that had sat there over the years.
"The discovery of the Citadel Council is most unprecidented. We can't risk another war against a conglomerate of aliens." One of the figures said, an Army Colonel acting as the head of covert military actions.
"They are not a threat, they lack the technology and naval power to truly be a threat." The figure at the head of the table said. Her voice was slow, emotionless and cold. Four stars that glittered on her shoulders were the only part of her that was visible to the other people in the room until she leaned forward and rested her elbows on the table, her uniform sleeves now visible.
"The Colonel's right and they might not be a threat now, but later on? We can't take that risk. To coexist peacefully now they will almost surely demand access to Forerunner technology and who knows what will happen if we give it to them." A Vice Admiral said.
"Nothing. Nothing will happen, Forerunner technology only responds to humans and Forerunners. They wouldn't be able to do anything with it except poke it with a stick." A Rear Admiral retorted.
"Have you forgot the Covenant Rear Admiral? Your not that young. You know they derived that technology from the Forerunner Key-Ship they had, and look devastation they brought upon us with that!" The Admiral said condescendingly.
"It took them over two thousand years to reach that point-" The Rear Admiral was cut off by the head of the table.
"We can't just think about now. We have to think two thousand, five thousand, ten thousand, a hundred thousand years into the future. We need to make sure the human race lives that long, unopposed as leaders of the galaxy." she replied.
"I have a proposal than, something that will insure no other race, any race, will be able to rise up and challenge us." the Colonel said, the Admirals in the room all leaned in closer, interested at what he had to say.
"Remember; the Forerunners were defeated because they didn't have anyone else strong enough to fight the Flood."
"They'll be able to advance technologically but only as far as we want them to." the Colonel replied, "I propose a new generation of Spartans, they'll be fast, strong, smart and most importantly, they'll be undetectable. Agents placed in positions that nobody would expect them, like a lowly dock worker, a beggar, a bank manager, a teacher. They won't just eliminate potential threats, both domestic and foreign but make their deaths seem accidental, nothing will ever be traced back to us."
"And how many agents are you planning exactly? What will their training consist of? What type of gear will they be issued?" The leading figure said, her voice still cold but it was lightened by the curiosity in it.
"One for each habited continent on every world at least. They'll have the very best training and they'll use what ever they need."
"Assuming you can get the file on my desk by tomorrow morning, your little... operation is approved."
"Thank you Admiral, Operation Blackbriar is not something you'll regret." The Colonel replied, a smile was evident in his voice.
"See to it that it isn't." The head of ONI said, her voice cooler than ever.
Orbit above UNSC Colony World Shanxi, Shanxi-Theta System, UNSC Orbital Installation Crown, September 28, 2586
The four man Spartan team moved through the station quickly, the alien defenders unable to stop the augmented super-soldiers. Fletcher took the lead, firing his two Magnums with terrifying accuracy. Mira and Orlav both fired their SAWs, pumping out enough lead to keep the aliens in cover while Galliard moved up with Fletcher using Tactical Cloaks.
"These are those SpecOps guys- the ones with the shields. Be careful Crimson." Fletcher said as he pulled out an EMP grenade, a small device that would fry the enemy electronics and leave them vulnerable, leaving Crimson with easy pickings. De-cloaking behind a support rung in the wall Fletcher threw the grenades as Orlav and Mira stopped firing, heard them land with small dinks and than detonate with an electronic pulse. The aliens stopped firing. Curious. Fletcher thought, he pooped his head round and saw the aliens behind a makeshift barricade, cursing in their disgusting language as they realised their guns didn't work, their shields were fried and their portable shields had collapsed, leaving them exposed. He looked back at Crimson and nodded. A cacophony of gunfire erupted for two whole seconds before it went silent again and the alien defenders were dead.
"Good work kids, that room there is the command centre, that's where our target is. He hasn't run, he hasn't got anywhere to run to. So lets grab him and go home and Ice cream is on me this leave." Fletcher said as they moved up towards the door cautiously, there was no need to rush in and leave their backs exposed.
"Mm-mm, I do love a triple flavoured Cornetto on the beach." Galliard joked.
"Sure Galliard, you always were simple minded." Mira couldn't resist digging at her team mate.
"There's nothing wrong with a Cornetto Mira." Galliard defended his choice in ice cream, the team moved in perfect formation, covering each other from any nasty surprises.
As they stacked up against the door to the command centre of the station and the old data storage centre for the stations old A.I, disabled long ago- either from rampancy or the aliens, no one knew, not that it mattered. All that mattered now was finding Edan and bringing him in, he was going to be punished for the crimes he committed. Michael pushed of the wall and lifted his large armoured foot and brought it down just above the lock on the door. The next few seconds lasted both an eternity and just a fraction of a second- the Spartans already heightened senses were boosted by the adrenaline coursing through his system, leaving him in a state where everything moved both quickly and slowly, he could see the actual bullets flying through the air in the room and the white wispy smoke that curled around heated barrels. This moment was only something Spartans experienced, in was phenomena known as Spartan time.
In the centre of the room was Edan, he was still at the command table they'd set up in here, all the ugly alien technology made Michael angry, this station and this planet was human, not alien. It belonged to them. Next to Edan was a large alien, it wore heavy looking armour over its natural armoured skin. The reports from ground side said that they were krogan, tough bastards loved to fight. Crimson had engaged several while on ground side ops but never at this close range. This particular krogan was larger than the other they'd seen, it was huge, even for krogans. In its hands was something that every Spartan and human and Elite feared, a hammer. While it didn't look like the Brutes devastating weapon he wasn't going to rule it out as a threat. Michael fired off all sixteen rounds in his pistols into near by enemy troops. The krogan was only just reacting to the four Spartans. Good, he's slow. Michael reloaded his pistols and ran at the lumbering alien. As he got closer he noticed how angry the alien was. Rather than back pedal and put extra distance between him and the angry alien with a large hammer Michael ran towards the alien who was too slow to react as Michael jumped and gave the alien a swift kick to the lower jaw with enough force to force the alien backwards and knock its armoured head towards the roof.
As the krogans head lowered to look Michael in the visor, Michael saw the red flowing into the aliens eyes, its muscles started to shake and tense, its throat moved as it conjured up a deafening roar. It grabbed the hammer of its back and charged with an amount of speed that would have caused most people to freeze in terror. The aliens hammer suddenly lit up in a purple hue as as the Krogan raised it over its head. Looking round Michael saw his three team mates engaged with nearly three dozen batarians, more were lying on the ground, dead or dying. Turning his attention back to the charging krogan he sidestepped as the hammer connected with the ground, right where he'd been stood a second before. The force of the hammer hitting was more than double of what it should have been. Michael felt the air around him warp and condense before the explosion of dark matter threw him off to one side. Crap, that hurt. He hadn't expected that- the Council races as the new lot of aliens were being called, had few advantages over humans in ground combat, they nearly never ran out of ammo and some of them had something even the Covenant didn't have; Biotics. Individuals who could manipulate an element with no atomic mass and use it to manipulate dark energy. And this Krogan happened to be a biotic. Great.
Michael jumped to his feet again and shook off the disorientation caused by the biotic blast. The krogan was charging him again. As Michael charged the alien himself he made his plan. Instead of sidestepping he slid down low, avoiding the blast and krogan. He stopped his slide and jumped up onto the aliens back and grabbed the hump on its back. While the alien was only taller than Michael by an inch or two at most, it was a lot wider and thicker, meaning the Spartan was hanging off the alien like some sort of alien rodeo. Michael lifted himself up and then planted his knees on the aliens hips. The enraged alien was bucking like a mad bull but Michaels grip stayed firm as he used one hand to reach for the one weapon he knew would be able to stop the angry alien in its tracks. A snap and crackle as the sword ignited caused the krogan to stop briefly as the blade was brought to life. The two pronged Covenant energy sword was one of the most feared weapons ever created. The sight of it alone has been know to win entire ground engagements, mostly against Kig-yar or Unggoy and even innies. Michael brought the sword up and then down, the super heated plasma blade cut the front half of the aliens head clean off., leaving only half a brain and the back of its throat.
Michael stood, smoke rising up from his armour and sword, the fire fight was woefully lopsided, the Spartans were superior in every way, from speed to training. Although out numbered nine to one, the Spartans were showing just how superior they were. Michael made eye contact with Edan across the room, the alien leader was scared. Michael smiled beneath his helmet, the alien knew his forces were going to lose. Several shots from an enemy rifle flickered across his shields causing him to look towards his assailant. Snapping back into action the team leader darted and closed the gap between him and the aliens that were still standing. He grabbed his other sword and started slashing and hacking, moving too fast for the aliens to react or get a clean shot on him. He weaved and ducked, the two swords flashed and blood literally boiled as he moved through the enemy crowd. His team team focused on the batarians ahead of his path to avoid hitting him accidentally.
The last batarian between him and Edan fell to the floor, its headless body dropped like a string-less puppet. The rest of Crimson moved to surround the alien leader who desperately tried to regain control over the situation despite the four soldiers that had just wiped out everything he'd thrown at them.
"What do you want you pathetic little worms, I shall lead my people to glory and to their rightful place as the rulers of the galaxy!" he spat at them. This deluded little alien disturbed Michael more than he'd care to admit- he sounded like one of the Prophets of the Covenant who were so deluded by their own fantasies they failed to realise they were defeated. Even as the Flood infested the High Prophet of Truth he still spoke of the glory of the Covenant and the Great Journey.
"Yeah, yeah. Save it for the hearing." Mira grumbled. "Edan Had'dah you are under arrest for crimes against the Mantle and against Humanity. You are not entitled to any form of legal protection and will be held in maximum security prison until the High Court are ready to begin proceedings. Do you understand?" Mira droned, she didn't like the idea of arresting the guy, they should just kill him and be done with it.
"You are nothing but slaves and toys! You will pay for this... this HERECY!" he shouted back. Orlav placed the handcuffs around his wrists and shoved him towards one of the doors that would led them to a hanger bay.
"I'll take that as a yes." Mira said as she followed close behind.
"Well done Crimson, mission accomplished." Michael congratulated his team for another successful mission.
"Once again you managed to pull it off Crimson. Well done and come on home." Admiral Lasky's voice sprung up over the radio.
"Yes sir, we're heading towards the hanger now. A pick up would be mighty appreciated sir." Michael replied.
"Understood Crimson. Your favourite pilot is on the way." Lasky replied, a hint of amusement evident in his voice.
"I always preferred Murphy." Orlav said absently, Lieutenant Murphy had been their de facto pilot after they released him on Requiem and he had become a part of their little group before long. Time however played it's hand and Murphy had since retired. Now Crimson was left with a stranger everytime.
XX
General Desolas looked expectantly at the younger turian, he had said he had news about objects recovered from the crash before the UNSC took over, sealing it off from all other outside sources. While the humans were temporary allies they weren't trustworthy. They had technology that was far beyond the Council and while they acted nice and humble to him and the other two Council races he knew deep down there was something wrong with them as a species.
"Well? Spit out boy. What did you get?" he questioned, his temper flaring slightly.
"A few things sir; I think you'll like them." The younger turian said. "We managed to secure one of the humans advanced aerial drones as well as get a close look at one of their main ship-to-ship weapons, we drew a rough schematic of it. We didn't have much time before the humans were kicking us off the site.
"Good. Take them to the Immortal, make sure the humans don't know we have them." he said, look up at the looming figure of the four 4km ships hovering over the city with a slight frown. "The spirits know their spying on us, even now." he said quietly to himself, the younger soldier already gone to fulfil his duty.
He was happy with what they'd recovered, the fighter drones were highly advanced and much more capable than turian interceptors. The main cannons of human ships would also be of benefit, of only for Cruisers and Dreadnoughts. Those MAC weapons were far more powerful than the Councils own. He moved back inside the prefab building that was his command centre. Looking at the reports coming in his good mood was improved; batarian forces were all but defeated, only small pockets of resistance remained and would be crushed by night fall. The human military offensive was backing off now as well, freeing up troops to help with the new found refugees- now that they had complete dominance over orbit and air there was nothing to stop the human forces from crushing the remaining batarians. The Council's job was done, the batarians were no longer a threat and they'd even made first contact with an alien race or two, they weren't quite sure regarding these 'Forerunners'.
"Sir, incoming message on all frequencies, it's from the humans." A Lieutenant called over from his station.
"Put it on the main screen." Desolas ordered. Almost as soon as he said it the screen came to life, most of the staff in the command centre stopped to see what it was.
The screen showed a batarian in custody, his hands were cuffed together and tied to a chair. However what surprised him the most was just who it was. Edan Had'dah, currently the most wanted man in the galaxy.
"Attention all batarian ground forces." The screen changed to show Admiral Lasky on the bridge of the monster ship called the Infinity. "We have captured your leader Edan Had'dah, your forces have been defeated, surrender now and you won't be harmed. Keep fighting and we will wipe out every single one of you. You have one hour to comply." The old human Admiral said before cutting the link.
"Well, that was interesting. Let's see what the batarian's reply is. Maybe they'll finally use their brains and surrender." Desolas said half-heartedly, the crew in the command centre said nothing or looked like they even heard the General but they did, and they agreed with him. Maybe the batarians would finally swallow their pride and surrender.
XX
ONI Research Outpost Trevylen, November 11, 2587
Admiral Sullivan had greeted them on the landing pad, his manner had been friendly and was forthcoming with information regarding their diplomatic mission. Fal and Ambassador Chance introduced themselves to the other members of the delegation; Shipmaster Ferz' Vadum. Tribe Leader Mamaw Dadab of Bohalo and the Icy plains, Ambassador Richard Groundwater and General Howard Black. There were two others on the platform with Admiral Sullivan, both were as tall as the Shipmaster, one was a lady with a flat nose and blue eyes while the other was a large human in an armour system Fal had never seen before, it was an under suit of some sort, it looked like it matched the muscle structure underneath his skin. It had small bits of silver and blue metal were attached around his legs, feet and chest, Fal didn't believe for a second that the man was wearing a complete suit.
"Everyone! Please can I have your attention." Admiral Sullivan called out to the group of diplomats. Everyone stopped their talking and faced the Admiral. "These two people here will be in charge of the political envoy, The Librarian and Commander will answer any questions you may have about the mission. But right now, you have a ship to board so please take your seats on the transport located on your right." Sullivan pointed towards a large machine suspended over a monorail docked at the landing platform.
"This is where I leave you Fal, my name isn't on the list of dignitaries so I'll be on the next transport back to New Babylon." Ambassador Chance said, Fal looked at him.
"Are you sure?"
"Unfortunately yes. I am still needed on New Babylon, the only reason I was here in the first place to make sure you were okay and to inform Ambassador Groundwater about particular cultural differences that might make an appearance. Feel free to ask questions, The Librarian is a Forerunner, she helped make sure the entire galaxy was filled with life after the Halo Event. She'll be in charge so defer to her judgement, she's done enough of these to know what to do." Chance said before leaving, his advice would be well heeded.
The interior of the transportation device was bare, it was simple and silver with glowing seats made of energy. Admiral Sullivan joined them as they began their journey. Fal noticed his aide's were nervous, unsure of what to make of all this. He couldn't blame them. The Librarian had four others like herself with her, three females and one male. The Commander, as he had been introduced, also had others with him, a brown haired female, a red haired female and a black and silver haired male. All of them in the same armour the Commander wore. The Commander was a pale skinned human with light brown hair and eyes that matched the sky in terms of colour. All of the Commanders group were fighters; strength and power flowed from them, the smell was almost overpowering to Fal'Cai and his aides, he noticed the Shipmaster looked to be in awe of the large warriors, or was he cowering in fear? Fal had never dealt with a Sangheili before, he didn't know their smells or looks, it would take time for him to learn them all.
When the transport came to a halt Fal barely felt it, he had hardly felt even the slightest pull of acceleration. A feat of technology the Tal'Sae had yet to achieve. When the diplomats stepped out of the vehicle they stopped, a ship of some sort, not a UNSC Pelican Fal had come to know and recognise but something else, it was silver and sleek with small wings. But dominating the view was something else. It was a ship he had never even dreamt about. Three large engines on the back of a T shaped hull, it was Human built, he could tell that but it didn't follow any of the design philosophies he had come to expect from the humans. Shaped like 'T' and with thick armour and large weapon emplacements it lacked the hexagonal shape, it was still there but only just. On it's side was the UNSC's logo, an eagle and shield over a world, the ultimate symbol of protection and aggressiveness. The ships name was also printed in large white letters, a stark contrast to the black and dark grey hull. UNSC Dauntless.
"Ladies and Gentleman, I present to you the UNSC Dauntless. The newest ship in the fleet and also the first UNSC ship whose armaments are completely energy based, no more projectile weapons, except for the two hundred missile pods and the back up AAA guns. And now Librarian, here is your ship- try not to scratch the paint." Admiral Sullivan said, he was like a pup on his birthday, happy and incapable of being upset.
"Thank you Admiral. We shall endeavour to return your ship in one peace." The Librarian spoke, her voice was like music to his furry ears. The next few days would prove to be most interesting, everyone was in for a little bit of an education.