Halo New galaxy Ch9 Changing tides
22nd July 2554
Riga Lillo system, planet Rio
Shepard jumped off the Pelican with his two Captains and squad of troopers after him. Hathaway and Hendricks walked on his left and right side respectively.
"Thanks for the lift Spec," Shepard said, using the pilot's call sign.
"No problem Colonel," a cheerful man responded.
They had set down in the 29th Sky Hoppers HQ. Shepard and his two officers set a course for the command tent. He had been in contact with them before he came down here. Hopefully the three Captains had gathered in preparations already.
The first person he saw when entering the tent was John Keegan. A dark skin man with a bald head, clean shaved and muscular. He saluted Shepard. As did Captain and 1st Lieutenant Wu and Cornfield. Captain Rory Wu was Asian, black trimmed marine cut, late twenties, standard ODST really. Daniella Cornfield was the youngest. Twenty-three. Young for an ODST. Especially an officer with the rank of First Lieutenant. Her black hair was curled up into a bun, tan skin and lovely silver colored eyes.
"At ease," Shepard said.
They all gathered around the holographic map table in the tents center.
"Good to have you back, sir," Keegan was the first to speak.
"Wouldn't miss this for the universe," The Lt. Colonel grinned.
"I second that, sir," Daniella Cornfield said in her attractive Italian accent.
Shepard turned to her.
"Lieutenant," he said with a smile. He brought out a small box and opened it. "I pushed this through on the trip here, made it official."
Daniella's eyes widened when he brought out a Captain's insignia. She was the acting Captain of Sierra Company but hadn't been promoted to Captain yet. But she had been running the Company for over a month. Since Henry Petersen was KIA.
"You've earned it," Shepard said and gave it to her. "Congratulations Captain Cornfield. You are officials a Captain and CO of Sierra Company."
He smiled at how she beamed in awe and surprise. An officer with the experience of say him or Hendricks would have expected the promotion, but since Daniella was skill young-experienced and battle hardened-but young.
She attached it to her battle dress.
"Thank you, sir. I won't let you down," she promised.
"I know you won't," he said. He then dropped his smile and focused on the map. "What's the situation here John?"
Keegan straightened his back.
"The Storm's been pushing against our lines for three weeks now," he said. He pointed on a spot in the map that a red dot appeared at. "This is their base of operations, say three Battalions worth of men. Three days ago Cornfield led an op with a Platoon on a hit-an-run attack. She managed to sneak into their motor pool and took out all their Wraith tanks, plus some other vehicles."
"Nice work, Daniella," Shepard approved.
She smirked and blushed slightly.
Keegan continued. "We have eliminated close to a Battalions worth of troops with only a hundred fatalities across the board."
"You've done a good job here, all of you," Shepard told them. "Now then, our orders from the top sitters is to push forward." He got a good look at the map. "These ridges…" he pointed on a succession of three close to each other. "…is ideal sniping and artillery positions to rain hell over anyone trying to push on."
"Hathaway's XO tried making a push the first week," Keegan added. "He couldn't get through the defense. They had a Company of Sangheili protecting the first ridge."
Hathaway scratched his chin.
"Hmm," he started. "Brewer's a damn good soldier. Battle field promotions throughout her career. If she can't take it, it'll be tough." He looked at Shepard. "With aerial support from the fleet I can take 'em."
Shepard knew he wanted to prove himself after the incident on the Citadel. He nodded.
"Your Company will take the ridges in a preemptive advance," he said. "If we try advancing now we'll take heavy losses. We need the ridges in our hands."
"Me and my guys will get it done," Hathaway said confidently. He lowered the visor on his helmet.
"When the ridges is under our control, the other Companies will advanced forward together and sweep the Storm off our planet," Shepard said. "Any questions so far?"
The silence was clear enough.
"Good. Our next goal will be the town. Sierra Company will move inside with Alpha. Bravo covers their backs. Charlie will secure the right flank while Vector moves up on the left. It'll take time securing the city, especially if the Storm has a large presence." The town was close to the suspected basecamp the Storm operated from in this region."
He then looked around at his Company commanders. "Get back to your Companies and prep your men."
They acknowledged his orders before leaving for their own units again. Daniella remained as she since her Company was holding this section of the front.
Shepard desperately hated sending the men and women in Vector Company to take an enemy high ground without being involved himself. But as a Lt. Colonel had had learned that he could no longer get involved in every fight. Running a Battalion was a lot more work than a Company, which he'd learned over the years. Even though he had run the 29th for years he still didn't like staying out of the fight. Off course he took most opportunities to get personally involved. Something the Staff Sergeant commanding the Squad responsible for his personal safety had never been happy about. Staff Sergeant Holly Reiben was always trying to keep up with him on the battlefield to keep him safe and alive.
Shepard didn't have to wait long for Hathaway's Company to get into position for the assault. He called in an Air Wing to blast the target area apart and try killing as many hostiles as possible. Then Hathaway launched his assault, his five Platoons advancing onward towards the first ridge. The bombardment had devastated the Storm on the first ridge and made them easy pickings. It took ten minutes for the Vector Company to push to it and clean out the few Storm remaining. Three men was injured but no fatalities.
The second was attacked on the twenty minute mark. Hathaway's Helljumper's had a harder time on the next ridge. Although the Storm hadn't been as devastated as on their position on the first ridge the drop trooper assault with momentary aerial supremacy ensured the fight wouldn't be too long. At the thirty-five minute mark the ridge fell and Hathaway launched an assault on the third and last ridge.
However, this was much heavier defended. They had prepared a defense while the first and second ridges fell under UNSC control. The engagement lasted for another hour before the Company could claim half the ridge. They were then joined by two Squadrons of Pelicans acting as close air support. It would take another half an hour before Hathaway could tell Shepard that all ridges was under the 29th control.
He was joining Daniella's Sierra Company in their advance. With his helmet on and his BR85N in his arms he marched off towards the front lines. Holly Reiben saw him and got up on her feet.
"Sir," she said.
"Get your squad moving Staff," Shepard said simply.
Reiben quickly got the security detail up and behind and flanking Shepard. She gripped her SAW, ready to level a deadly barrage of led at any alien trying to shot the Colonel. She took her job as head of his detail extremely seriously. She had a tendency to protest when he joined the fighting personally. Sometimes he felt bad for making her job so hard. But there was no way he'd let his men take on the enemy on their own. He wasn't like the standard LTC and sat back. He knew he couldn't jump about like when he was a Captain. He was too important to lead from the very front now, but he could still join in battle.
He jumped into the front trench position with his Reiben and her detail with him.
Daniella was sitting on one knee talking to a man with a few Mortar teams.
"Captain!" She heard. She turned at the sound of his voice.
"Sir. The 1st through 3rd Platoons is already advancing with 4th acting as backup when we hit hostiles," she explained quickly. "I'm waiting for you with 5th."
Shepard cocked his BR85.
"Let's not keep them waiting than Daniella, shall we?"
"Yes, sir!" She affirmed, talking into her comm, "5th Platoon, move out."
They started marched towards the enemy. The other Companies was also pushing forward.
"Colonel Shepard," Hendricks voice said through the comm in his helmet.
"Report Pamela," he said.
"My boys ran into a single Company of Storm but we're encircling and pushing," she explained. "Our bird's aerial cover is a godsend."
They hadn't had much aerial support for the three weeks since the Storm and other faction arrived. The majority was supporting the marines per Lieutenant General Horus's orders.
"Don't hesitate to call 'em in Pam."
She chuckled. "Yes, sir!"
As the 5th Platoon continued forward Reiben's squad was walking in a circle around Shepard. Reiben herself was up front with her SAW at a ready. They advanced across the formerly grass covered fields with craters after both sides had shot at each other with heavy artillery.
"Lieutenant Everett reported in," Daniella let Shepard know. She looked at him. "He's Platoon's run into two Platoons of Jackals and Unggoy."
"No Elites?" Shepard asked.
"None. Maybe our Pelicans killed them in the initial assault," she said, shrugging.
Or they were pulled back for a counterattack, Shepard thought to himself.
Holding back their heavy units for a counterattack was an excellent tactic. Let the Battalion fight the lighter units and hopefully tire themselves out before the Elites attack with whatever armor was in the town and try to break them and find a nice surround. Such a tactic might work with a Battalion of marines or Army trooper but not with ODSTs. They would counter a heavy push from vehicles and Elites, plus a number of Hunters.
"Everett's cleared up the hostiles in our path," Daniella informed him.
"Good," Shepard said.
"He's one of my best, sir," Daniella said in a cheerful tone.
"All Company commanders report progress," he said over his commlink.
"Sir," Hathaway responded first. "Holding the ridges and Mortar is on its way into a position to pound the Storm in the surrounding regions. Air support halted an attempted assault in its tracks."
"Few ex-Covie sniper Squads this far," Keegan said.
"Charlie Company reporting in Colonel," Captain Wu said. "A Company of hostiles in our path but we're pushing through."
"Nothing new to report," Hendricks reported.
Nomad laid hidden in the thick grass of the hillside he had found overlooking an ex-Covie base. Using his sniper he could see that the base belonged to whatever other faction was on the planet. The aliens below had white hands on their chest armor. Given the vehicles and landing zone cut out of the woods it appeared to be their main basecamp.
He counted ten Phantom Gunboats and five for the purpose of transporting troops. The LZ had more room though. He had been lying here for an hour soon, watching. He had seen a dropship loaded up with wounded soldiers and transported up into orbit. Or he presumed the last part at least. He had never seen the Covenant care much for their wounded. Off course the Elites was always important, but not Grunts and Jackals and he saw all three species partaking in the evacuation. This faction appeared to have compassion for their soldiers. All of them.
Crimson had counted thirty turrets around the base perimeter with squads patrolling constantly. Over a hundred vehicles was inside, neatly lined up in formation at their version of a motor pool. It had five main buildings and several smaller-all purple in color. Presumably one was their CP, an armory, mess perhaps, infirmary and such.
"Crimson two to lead, nothing to report," he said to Mira over the comm.
"Copy," was her simple reply. "What about the generals?"
"Both still in sight, can take them out when you give the order," he said.
"Estimate about a hundred Covies defending the base," Mira continued. "Most probably died assaulting the outpost. A few scouting parties patrolling in the valley maybe."
"They definitely look undermanned," Nomad noted in agreement. "Ready to pop these assholes on your word."
"Remain on standby. We wait until air support is incoming."
24th June 2157 CE
Red Brigand System, Hollow
SVD class Heavy Corvette Krogan Wisdom
Vezk had picked the name of the Corvette mostly as a joke. It wasn't a lot of wisdom on Tuchanka. All Krogan knew was fighting, which he didn't have a problem with. He had just met with his second Kegg and the Kig-yar he left as a third in command, Sax, in a briefing room.
His little task for of three Corvettes had arrived in orbit over the moon named Hollow. It was quite deep into what used to be unknown space for Vezk and his Krogan men. Sax had told them when informing him about this place that it was located on a formerly desolate moon the Covenant had mined to hell and back almost a millennia ago. Now, it was home to a bristling Kig-yar city. As a mining location it was still valuable but most folk came here to trade goods from raids, resupply, rest, party after a successful act of piracy and the like.
"So this is Hollow," Vezk noted. He scratched his large chin. "Not much to look at."
Sax leaned against the holographic table separating them slightly and opened his beak to speak.
"Well, that's kinda how we pirates like it," he told him. "Ensures the Covenant won't come snooping up our ass."
Kegg snorted and looked at Vezk.
"Warlord, I have finished all preparations," he informed him.
Vezk nodded. "Good. Good." He then looked at his glass of Ryncol and grabbed it and in a moment swept the whole thing down. "Sax, tell me 'bout this place. In detail."
"Not much else to tell ya, then I have already," Sax shrugged. "Except the everyday thieving, smuggling, beat up and murder there is the occasional firefight between pirates who are rivals or got ripped off by the other." He had a grin rising on his beak. "Here we can buy whatever we need. Tanks, weapons, Phantoms? Whatever you need." He threw a manifest over the table. "This all the tradable equipment of value no board."
Vezk didn't even give it a second glance.
"We didn't come here to train little bird," he said plainly.
Kegg chuckled grimly.
Sax glanced at before looking right at Vezk.
"Then…why go here?" He asked confused.
"What kind of defense are there in the city...what you people call it?" Vezk asked.
"Gallows or Profit, it was an old saying we had-"
"Don't care," Vezk interrupted him.
Sax took offense to that but didn't let it bother him.
"It doesn't have a military or any kind of law enforcement," he got back on subject.
"None?" Kegg asked.
The pirate shook his head plainly. "None. Ever pirate has his own guards here. Any local law enforcement would just pose a risk. It had a law enforcement agency back in the day when my peoples ancestors colonies the place, but every branch of it was constantly bribed to overlook crimes or clamper down on a competitor so they disbanded due to their worthlessness. But pretty much every Kig-yar down there is armed."
"Ships in orbit?" Vezk continued.
"Several. Specifically three. One CCS Battlecruiser and two Destroyers. One is only two hundred meters from the Battlecruiser so I presume it is an escort. The other is ten-thousand kilometers away, probably a lone Shipmaster."
Then Kegg put a command into the console and a view of a specific portion of the city appeared on the holographic table. It was a view of a port section.
"Got two Corvettes here. Both have below a dozen men in the respective hangars," he explained. "It'll take time to figure out which hangar is used by the Battlecruiser."
"No it won't," sax said. "I already know." The two Krogan raised their eyebrows. Sax was putting together the pieces on what Vezk wanted to do now. "I tracked a Phantom leaving the Battlecruiser and heading to a tarmac. Four Lances of men there, four to six men in each."
"So twenty to twenty-four men?" Kegg affirmed with a question.
Sax nodded. Obviously, he thought, but said, "Correct."
Vezk had already formed a plan in his head.
"We don't have enough men to spare to capture a large amount of ships at the same time. We need the majority on board Krogan Wisdom, Hurricane and Drowned Salarian as backup. Two Corvettes will be easy to board and capture, but the Battlecruiser won't be." He grinned. "I will lead that myself."
Kegg chuckled. "I thought you would."
"My team will storm the tarmac and seize the Phantom, then travel on board and infiltrate the Battlecruiser itself."
"I suspect a lot of the crew is planetside, celebrating," Sax butted in. "when we arrived we spotted ten Phantoms going up from the surface, but they didn't go back down, only one. Which indicates the crew may celebrate a successful raid against somebody." He looked at Kegg and back to Vezk. "That ship can hold tens of thousands of men."
"Once in control of their hangar we will upload a VI into the system to shut down censors," Vezk said. "They don't have AIs right?"
Sax couldn't help but laugh. "No boss, I promise you. No pirate shipmaster has his talons on an AI. The humans make 'em and the Covenant steals 'em. It wouldn't be easy to get an actual AI." He finished by shaking his head.
"Good. The VI will be programmed to make sure sensors don't detect us transporting over troops."
"They may discover the VI pretty quickly if we have bad luck."
Kegg cracked his knuckles loudly. "What about that Destroyer playing escort for your new flagship?"
How he referenced the CCS Heavy Battlecruiser made Vezk grin and smack him in the back in a gesture of comradery.
"When my new ship is under our control we'll just blow it out of space and jump the little fleet out of here," the Warlord explained with a laugh.
Sax was concerned about the risks here. Taking two Corvettes wouldn't be an issue, but a Battlecruiser? If it wasn't held by a skeleton crew The Krogan Warlord might find himself in real trouble, such as being dead. He admitted he wouldn't cry if Vezk happened to die but he was actually a far more skilled leader then their previous Shipmaster. His main worry came after thinking about Vezk's quick rise. It might soon be a threat to the Kig-yar pirate society's status quo. The big seven might take action if that happened. Getting the Conglomerate's attention was never a good idea if you wanted to live, drink, raid, get laid and whatnot ever again. The big seven didn't let anyone or anything threaten the status quo.
When he broke from his thoughts Kegg had been given orders and instructions of which Corvette was his to take. He would get sixty men to stand at his disposal for the mission. Same as Sax. But unlike Kegg, no Krogan would serve with Sax. They reminded him of the Sangheili in a way. The way they were above taking orders from a Kig-yar.
"You're going after this one," Vezk told him. "Should be easy enough for you and two Phantoms worth of Kig-yar. Just remember, if you betray me, I will hunt you all down and kill you."
Sax nodded casually at the threat.
"Don't worry about that boss," he assured him.
"For your sake, let's hope," the large Krogan answered.
Another Kig-yar entered the briefing room. But it looked more reptilian than Sax and his ilk normally did. In fact he was from the continent of Ibie'sh. He was an Ibie'shan male, a subspecies of the Kig-yar. They had evolved quite different features due to a long period of isolation on the volcanic continent.
"Ah, Roark," Sax said with a smile upon seeing him.
Roark, was Sax's most trusted man and a friend. The Ibie'shan had dark beige skin and dangerous yellow eyes. He had a strong muscular built with reptilian jaws. He had a short snout and a strong under bite. His neck was also thicker and a row of large teeth in his powerful jaws.
"Prep five Phantoms and mobilize men for them. Then send a message to the Drowned Salarian and Hurricane to prepare all of their Phantoms and ready their boys to deploy immediately when the order is given."
"Got is, Sax," Roark said in a gruff voice. He looked at Vezk. "Including Krogan warrior's boss?"
Vezk nodded. "Enough Krogan and Kig-yar to mix in and fill all five Phantoms."
Sax arched a surprised brow. Mix? Was he getting Krogan troops or did he misunderstand? Vezk saw his confusion and spoke.
"Yes. You will have several of my Krogan at your command," he confirmed.
Vezk wasn't stupid. He knew a combination of Kig-yar and Krogan was a damn good mixture of force and tactics. With Kig-yar sharpshooters and energy shields the Krogan stayed under cover and provided the Kig-yar with a permanent defense against heavy weaponry and any change of an enemy charge. Any pirate would have to be stupid to charge into a Krogan line.
Sax led two Kig-yar and four Krogan towards the hangar the Corvette was waiting in. the rest of his men waited back to not alert anyone. They walked through the dirt streets of Gallows or Profit, surrounded by countless Kig-yar pirates just like them. Sax really felt like home here. What a lovely place Hollow was.
After passing by stores selling everything from weapons to ship technology and human weapons and explosives they stood outside the hangar building. Sax keyed the panel to get the attention of anyone inside. It wasn't long until a Kig-yar opened the door and peeked out.
"What you want fella?" He demanded. "This hangar's not yours."
"Oh, well then, wrong turn," Sax chuckled apologetically. He waved his hand dismissively.
The Kig-yar glared suspiciously at him until a Krogan grabbed him by the throat and lifted him up. He squeezed and purple blood soon flowed out through his fingers and the Kig-yar slumped together. The Krogan dropped him and he fell to the ground with a light thud.
Sax was first in through the door and into the room. Two Kig-yar stood on the other side of the room and quickly noticed them. Sax aimed his Focus rifle across the twenty meter room and fired a bolt that splattered one of the guards on the wall. A hit from a Beam rifle killed the second just a second later.
"Nice hit," Sax complemented the fellow crewman. "Call in the rest."
The crewman nodded. "Yes, sir."
Sax looked at a pair of Krogan. "Stay here and keep the exit on lockdown until the other arrive."
The Krogan both nodded.
Everyone else hurried across the room and Sax peeked out into the corridor. The left led to a storage space whilst the right led to the Corvette's airlock. Both sides of the corridor was empty, but voices came from the storage section.
Sax waved two Krogan and both Kig-yar to follow him. While a Kig-yar kept watch behind the rest scurried into the storage room. For a brief moment a firefight could be heard, but it was quickly over.
They stared at the bodies of five Kig-yar and two Unggoy. It had been an easy and short fight. Extremely on-sided. Sax liked one-sided fights. It was easy that way.
Before turning back and to the airlock he opened one of the many crates in the room. To his delight it was filled with plasma grenades. He opened another. Also it filled with plasma grenades. The third he opened wasn't, but it had Plasma rifles inside instead. They had at least a hundred crates in the room.
"Hey Sax," he heard Roark call.
He turned and walked to meet him.
"Buddy, when the ship is our, we load every one of these crates onboard," Sax ordered.
The Ibie'shan nodded complying.
Roark had just arrived with the rest.
With Roark and Sax on point with six Kig-yar with energy shields they marched down the corridors other direction. A mix of Krogan and Kig-yar followed. When they reached the airlock they had killed a pair of Unggoy more. Sax thought the men guarding the ship was pretty light so far. Almost too light. The pirate in him suspected a trap but he couldn't see a way for them to know they were coming. It was too early to second-guess Vezk already.
Roark peeked around the corner as the corridor bent one last time.
"You'll never believe this unless you see it," he whispered to Sax.
Sax frowned confused and peeked around the corner himself when Roark moved slightly out of the way.
He was shocked when he saw a Sangheili. The Saurian giant was wearing armor on his lower frame and a dark blue chestplate that left his arms bare.
What's a Sangheili doing here? Sax thought, greatly confused. A Sangheili pirate…was that a thing? He'd never really heard of it before. Never serving with simple Kig-yar before. Ever. Off course he had heard that some of the most powerful Kig-yar pirate/crime lord families utilized Sangheili and Jiralhanae bodyguards and heavy troops. Especially now after the Covenant's fall. A lot of soldiers found themselves unemployed and sick and tired of the Covenant's religious and power players. To some of them working as bodyguards as the most powerful people-criminals or not-seemed like an easy, exciting and well-paid job.
He couldn't even imagine a Sangheili serving with Kig-yar on a Corvette. If this Sangheili did serve with the pirates the dude must be in extreme denial about his life right now. He'd love to ask him about it but it obviously wasn't on the plate.
Instead Sax gestured to a pair of Krogan to move up. As the Sangheili casual strolled towards their corner the Krogan waited for him to be two meter away before charging out.
He reacted quickly and drew up a plasma pistol and fired two bolts at point blank. The Krogan they hit had his shields again proven useless but he pushed through the pain and only grunted. The Sangheili stepped back but not quickly enough. Both unloaded their Scimitar Shotguns into his shields. They fired three shots in each simultaneously. One of them punched him in the gut with his shotgun while the other punched him hard in the face. The unmasked warrior grunted and stumbled back. The surprise and swift attack caused him to lose his Plasma pistol.
Sax gestured for ten Kig-yar to move passed the fight and towards the airlock. It was only ten meters away. One of the Krogan grabbed the warriors left arm and bent in backwards until it cracked loudly. It caused the warrior to scream in pain. He managed to punch the other Krogan square in the jaw, hard enough to make him stumble back. Smacking his fists together and roaring the Krogan grabbed two of his mandibles and-mustering all his strength-ripping them off. He proceeded to grab the remaining two mandibles from the screaming enemy and ripping them off with Purplish red blood spewing like a fountain. Both Krogan let him go and stepped backwards, just looking at him.
He fell to the ground and whimpered in utter agony. The Kig-yar around had been shocked and astonished at the display of brutality. They had never seen a Sangheili dealt with like that before. A few of them empathized with the poor warrior and wanted to put him out of his misery. Sax was too shocked to intervene. The Krogan broke his other arm before one of them clambered down on his chestplate hard enough to after a few moments, crack his bones and collapse his chest and squashing everything in the way. A few agonizing breaths escaped the Sangheili before he was finished off with a Shotgun blast to the face.
Sax quickly composed himself after the gruesome scene had ended. "Let's get inside that ship."
It didn't take long to secure the Corvette. It had been manned by thirty pirates. The poor bastards didn't stand a chance. Sax sat down in the comfy Captain's chair and leaned back with a comfy moan. The men was loading up the last supplies from the storage. Roark looked over the ships logs for any interesting information while they waited.
The Ibie'shan turned back to sax after a while.
"Figured out some half interesting things about this ship and its Shipmaster," he said.
Sax opened his eyes and straightened up.
"What?"
Roark cleared his throat. "First off, it belongs to some poor T'vaoan Shipmaster from one of the colonies furthest from Eayn."
Sax tilted his head and raised an eyebrow.
"Really? He's done anything interesting in his career?"
"Nah, mostly just attacking defenseless transports and mining outposts. Although he did attack a Corvette belonging to some ex-Covenant faction," Roark continued. "Took a beating in the fight but managed to disable and board them. Unfortunately he lost two thirds of his crew in the process."
"Dumb rookie," Sax snorted and shook his head. "Poor bastards." He then peaked his curiosity. "Anything about our unlucky Sangheili?"
"Actually yes. They took two Kig-yar and a Sangheili captive in the boarding attempt. The prior was later blown into space but the Sangheili suffered memory loss after an explosion. Woke up and had no idea who he was or where. Suffered some extensive damage to his brain. They convinced him he was a member of the crew according to the log. They came here to resupply and recruit new men for the…meat grinder."
Sax understood how lucky they had been. An undermanned ship with a Shipmaster with no skill. He frowned then.
"Did we kill any T'vaoans?"
Roark shook his head. "Nope."
"He's out there then. Hmm. lucky shit." He leaned back again.
"Sorry to interrupt boss," a Kig-yar looking over the communications console said. "Kegg is contacting you."
Sax rolled his eyes and got up. "Activate the screen."
The face of the Krogan appeared. By the looks he was on the bridge of the other Corvette. He had been successful to apparently.
"I greet you from the…" Sax started before realizing he didn't know the ships name.
"Swimming Liquor," Roark whispered.
What an awful name, he thought. He thought quickly. "…eh, the Birds of a Feather!"
Kegg arched his right eyebrow but Sax waved him off.
"Better than the original, trust me," he assured him.
"Fine," Kegg shrugged. "This vessel is now Vezk's. I presume your is as well."
"And easily so. Wasn't much of a fight to be honest. Kinda disappointing to your Krogan soldiers. The expected more."
Kegg laughed at that. "I expect nothing less. You birds haven't been able to provide a real fight yet!" He grinned at Sax. "No offense."
Sax forced a simple smile. "None taken big man. What's with the boss? Is it going alright?"
"They're in the thick of it last I heard. But the second wave is on board and they are cutting a bloody path to the bridge. With the hangar under his control Vezk's rear guard managed to eliminate three Phantoms with troops from the surface. Crew tried getting back up. Let's get both these ships into orbit and join the others."
"You named yours?" Sax asked.
Kegg groaned annoyed. "No. Leave that to Vezk."
Sax nodded and complied. As long as he kept the name he gave the Corvette he took.
22nd July 2174 CE
Attican Traverse, Gadd
Legionnaire class Carrier Palaven's Pride
Raedimus stood firmly in front of his command chair and watched with surprise as the remaining enemy squadrons withdrew. Maybe they didn't want to suffer any more losses or even attempt to avoid fighting the Turians and their enemies at ones. This fact was supported as the remainder of their fleet began withdrawing. It allowed the Turian and UNSC ships to close in on Gadd itself.
Raedimus still had Captain Brett West.
"Do these people usually retreat from a fleet outgunned and outnumbered?" He asked the UNSC naval officer.
"Not usually, no," Captain West answered. "This is a new one for me. Not that I mind."
Raedimus smirked slightly. "Neither do I Captain." He turned to an officer. "Tell Commander Praetor to prepare her men for ground action."
"Yes Captain."
He turned to West's image on his side screen.
"Captain, I suggest we continue this effort by landing ground forces on opposite sides of the colony's largest city."
West held a friendly smile that changed to an empathetic one.
"I am sorry Captain Raedimus but I cannot commit any ground forces at this time," he said apologetically.
Raedimus furrowed his eyebrows. "May I ask why Captain?"
West leaned forward and then got up from his chair.
"Captain, my deepest apologies but my men are few in numbers and simple not ready to commit to a ground engagement."
"Captain. I was informed that you carried men and vehicles that could drop in and assist in retaking Gadd," the Turian Captain told him straight up.
West nodded. "Partially true, yes, but they are too few in numbers and they are not ready at this time. My deepest apologizes but I cannot help. I am sorry Captain."
At this point, Captain West was lying his ass off. His detachment of marines was perfectly ready and equipped for a ground operation. Vehicles and fighter support an all. But, he had no intention to risk more human lives then necessary to help the Turians. Not only did they attack them on sight when they first met, but they were aliens. Why should any human die of any aliens? Especially these? Since he had been ordered to assist he had to, but he could excuse not getting men and women killed in a ground operation to save alien lives. It didn't make sense.
Raedimus nodded slowly and kept his frustration below the surface.
"Very well. I sympathize with your situation Captain," he said understandingly.
Actually, he understood more than West thought. He knew there was bound to be animosity between humans and Turians. And aliens in general given their history. The treaty they were agreeing to for mutual aid was a shock that they had actually signed.
Unknown to Raedimus knowledge that was causing uproar and anger back home. A whole bunch of regular people was outraged. They weren't alone either. A lot of high ranking people in the military and a few members of the assembly was upset too.
Raedimus felt a bit betrayed that he couldn't count on the UNSC completely in battle, although, it was true that they hadn't hesitated when they had arrived. Off course they had little choice then. Now they had and refused. He understood their unwillingness though. If the roles were reversed he'd feel the same way no doubt.
"Commander Praetor is ready and standing by, sir," he was told.
Ira Praetor led a Regiment of marines. The 106th to be precise. She was a close friend to Raedimus and had been since their childhood.
"Excellent," he said. "Let's take our…" he paused when the enemy ships jumped into what he presumed was their version of FTL. They just left. Without any further fighting. So, did they only fight at the start to prevent any further bloodshed and retreat? If that was the case they might want to establish relations with the Council races. But any further speculation he left up to the diplomats and Councilors on the Citadel.
23rd July 2174 CE
Inner Council space, Citadel
Presidium embassies
Ambassador Udina had gone for a midday walk and had now stopped to look as the newest delegation to the Citadel made themselves at home. The Sword of Sanghelios. A few soldiers for protection and at least one diplomat. He could feel anger building up inside of him. Having the Elites…no…damn it, the Sangheili on the Citadel wasn't what he wanted. It was bad for the UNSC's diplomatic relations with the Council races.
He was worried that the Sangheili would be more open to trade technology with the Council. Trade slipspace technology against information on how to correctly utilize the Mass Relays. Maybe even shield and weapons technologies. Which would be devastating to the technological superiority the UNSC had had since making first contact with them. If any of this happened it would ensure that The Sword of Sanghelios and the Council races would start developing a friendship and a positive long term relation. That could push the UNSC out of the chess board entirely. He could definitely see the Sangheili see the advantage of trading with the Citadel before anyone else.
He had already sent a report back explaining that they were here and given his concern about it.
He sat down on a bench and groaned over the dilemma.
Technically they were allied with Arbiter Vadam's faction but they still competed.
"Good day Ambassador," Garrus said politely.
Udina broke from his thought and looked at the Turian C-Sec officer.
"Ah, good day indeed," he answered.
"Overlooking the new addition to the embassies?" Garrus asked casually.
Udina gestured for him to sit down.
"Donnel Udina. I you've figured out I represent humanity here," he introduced himself.
Garrus offered his hand and Udina shook it.
"Officer Garrus Vakarian," he said. "A pleasure, sir."
Udina looked at him for a moment. "Aha, yes!" He then said. "You handled the incident with two ODST officers and a private."
Garrus nodded. "Everlasting Night Bar, yep. Sure was." He nodded to the two Sangheili strolling about some thirty meters away. "Didn't answer my question, sir."
Udina chuckled lightly. "True, officer Vakarian. How true. Actually I was. I is curious to see them interact with everyone here. All this…" he gestured around them. "Feels so…unreal still. You understand we've been sitting in our little corner of the galaxy for ages and then, suddenly we discover the galaxy is a whole lot bigger than we ever even imagined and with more races than we ever thought possible."
Garrus nodded.
"We've been sitting and seething in our xenophobia for thirty years. No one's ever forced us to question that not all aliens are assholes until we encountered you. The Elites-Sangheili switching sides barely counts since it was an alliance forged out of necessity. Nothing more. Nothing less."
Again, Garrus nodded. "I see."
I know you're probably wondering who the big seven was mentioned earlier. Not to worry, we'll find out more in later chapters.
Also I'm sorry it took so long. Lot to do, plus some writers block with one part specifically. Finally I managed to work through it though.