Halo New galaxy Ch7 Cooperation
30th June 2554
Attican Traverse, Mining colony of Gadd orbit
Improvised Landing zone
Kaaldrumee oversaw the transfer of ore from the mine onto a Phantom that would take it up to their small fleet orbiting Gadd. It had now been eleven days since they assumed control over the colony. Just eleven days. It would take time to repair the DDS Carrier. He couldn't help but worry about being discovered soon. Off course he knew his brave soldiers could destroy any Turian assault to reclaim this colony but he didn't have the manpower to waste in a prolonged ground operation. With a COS Super Carried filled with vehicles and troops you would think he could, but in a prolonged operation hundreds, probably thousands could die and he needed every one of them. If he couldn't return to former Covenant space with force he would never gain a volunteers to fill his ranks. He had to show power. Otherwise he was doomed to failure and his claimed position as Arbiter would be nothing but a foolish notion.
There had been some progress on the bomber. From everyone in the town being a suspect it went down to only a few hundred. It was always something to go from nine hundred to three. There hadn't been another bombing since the last. Thankfully. No new soldiers murdered in cold blood. Not to mention civilian casualties that at this point was higher than his own dead and wounded.
While they had been here he had been able to gather information by hacking their computer systems and interviewing locals about this new region for space. About the species here. He was interested in the species known as Batarian, Vorcha and Krogan. They seemed like typical soldier races. He appalled the Batarian practice of slavery, as like he appalled the Covenant practice of enslaving the Unggoy. He believed free males fought harder and better than those living in slavery. This was a part of the new reign he wanted to bring to the ex-Covenant races. It was an intentional maneuver away from the conservative factions.
His information on the Vorcha left some to be desired. They seemed more like cannon fodder than anything else. But the Krogan, oh these Krogan seemed to be real warriors. Not to mention they had a mercenary culture in part. It would make it easy to get a large Krogan following if he could ever reach Tuchanka. With an army of Krogan at his command no one could stand before him. With shield and weapons tech from him, it would make his Krogan army unbeatable.
Off course he was concerned about how the Citadel would react. When he finally destroyed every other faction and took Sanghelios he would have to interact with them. Keeping them on his side would also keep the UNSC at bay.
His communicator chimed.
"Yes, what do you have to report my friend?" He asked.
"Arbiter," Revazum replied. "Concord of Justice detected a Turian Frigate come out from the Relay."
"Dammit," he cursed. "Have them destroy it. It mustn't report back."
"I am afraid it is too late," Revazum said regrettably. "The ship jumped through the Relay before they could intercept. It won't be long until the Turian dispatch a fleet to reclaim this world."
"Hmm. regrettable. We may have to withdraw soon."
"But why?" Revazum asked. "There kinetic barriers is nothing against our ships. We can cut through them with ease."
Kaaldrumee frowned with disapproval.
"This is why I lead and you follow, Orn," he growled. "If we destroy a whole Turian fleet it will worsen relations in the future. They will be hesitant to trust us when we take power on Sanghelios. They might side with an enemy faction instead of us."
"I…see," Revazum contemplated.
Kaaldrumee was thinking far ahead. But Revazum himself thought it better to concentrate on the present first. Defeating all factions would take years. Potentially decades. A lot of them had far greater military power then them. Most considered them neutralized already. They had already occupied a Turian planet, wouldn't this worsen relations already? Even though Kaaldrumee believed that since the Turians was a militaristic species they would eventually understand, he wasn't so sure about it. It seemed wishful thinking on his friend's part.
"What about the Light of Fied?" The general asked, referring to the DDS class Carrier.
"If we cannot finish repairs we must move on. It can still put up a tough fight. Its hangars are full with Starfighters and Phantoms," Kaaldrumee said.
"Shall I prepare a retreat?" Revazum asked.
"No. Speed up the men in the mines and have Phantoms and Troop transports on standby, but nothing else."
"Understood Arbiter," Revazum vowed.
30th June 2554
Inner Council space, Citadel, Presidium
Human Embassy
Udina was sitting at his desk with Hessen pacing back and forth.
"This is the reason we shouldn't cooperate with aliens," he stated fuming. "They will just demand things from us." He looked at Udina. "We are not there puppets."
"Nobody things we are," Udina tried calming him.
"Oh really? The demand our assistance at the first sign of trouble," he sneered.
"Because they know the UNSC are familiar with fighting ex-Covenant troops and ships," he explained simply. "Not to mention that our technology is superior to theirs. Their ships won't stand long against a Super Carrier."
Hessen stopped pacing and turned to him fully.
"If you hadn't rewritten the cooperation treaty we wouldn't have needed to do shit!"
"And we would look like we will break any treaty when it suits us," Udina tried to sound diplomatic. "The galaxy has changed, and the UNSC needs allies. We need to help them to not get on the Citadel's bad side."
Hessen crossed his arms and snorted loudly.
"You are too eager to play nice with the Council," he said disapprovingly. "This is the time for military might to speak for us."
Udina sighed. "And that statement is why I'm happy the UEG has been granted back authority."
The ambassador got up and walked over to his liquor cabinet. He opened it and brought out a dark green bottle. He took out a small glass and filled it.
"Not making that a habit, are you?" Hessen asked.
"Military bravado and macho talk always gets me to the point where I need a drink," Udina said dryly.
"That military bravado and macho stuff saved humanity from a genocidal war." Hessen looked rather smug.
Udina was starting to have enough of his old friend's constant xenophobia and anti-civilized stance. With a deeply furrowed brow on his face he turned around and emptied his glass. He put it down with a thud.
"In case you forget I was fighting in the trenches of the Outer colonies when the war began. I crawled through mud, muck and blood of different colors. But times have changed." He stepped towards Hessen. "I hate the Covenant as much as every other human does. But the Citadel isn't the Covenant. It's gone and if the military continues down the road of being arrogantly aggression against ever alien's civilization, the youth will pay when it leads to war. If the Covenant ever gets rebuild and attack us, we'll be on our own."
"We'd destroy them," Hessen sneered and waved it off.
"Surely, but how many billion will that in that war? Without allies, the UNSC will fall one day. Declaring every alien race our enemy will only initiate our destruction." He relaxed. "Besides, the assembly will tell High Command to dispatch an expedition to assist the Turian Hierarchy."
Hessen stormed out of Udina's office. He just couldn't deal with the stupidity of the civilians in the UEG. It was like they wanted to see humanity burn. Things had been claimer and far better under the UNSC total control. They were too quick to return power to the UEG. Maybe that ONI officer he had a drink with two weeks ago was right. Civilians was gonna be too weak to stand up to anything.
Kinda short but the next will be longer.