Loki's Fall
Chapter 1: New Allies, Part 1: Reach
"Can we have some of those, too?"
"Those Glasgow IIs? Sure. We're phasing them out for the Sutherland II anyway."
Keyes was impressed by the Knightmare Frames, but she was soon to learn that the Colonials had more then MSs and KMFs.
They used D-50 Loto MS/APCs, Hercules-Class dropship/cargo vessels, Terran Siege Tanks and old Earth Federation Type-61s refit with 20mms of Diamond Carbon armor and beam weapons in the case of the Type-61.
The Marines used CMC-400 Powered Combat Suits and C-14GN Impaler assault rifles, GNHVW-102 GN missile launchers, and thermite-imbedded flamethrowers to wipe out enemy forces.
In short?
A force like that could wipe out the Covenant in one shot. And they were going to be allies.
"We'll need to talk to your CIC, Admiral Hood, before we send anything over to your forces."
Keyes nodded.
"I'd like to another look at your Minotaur-V-Class battlecruisers. We could use them to keep our forces from getting wiped out."
Battlestar Galactica
Maria was working on the V2 Valkyrie, making sure that it could keep pace with the A5 Morgan after all the upgrades it received.
"So, we've finally gotten on even ground with the Titans and the Neo-Britannians."
"Even? No. They use MAC guns. We're beyond that."
"Still, they've got the numbers, we've got the equipment."
"And if they try anything stupid, we have 130 Pegasus-Class Battlestars to rain hell upon thy enemies."
Both Pinkertons starting laughing like evil geniuses...Which they were.
To say they were scaring the shit out of everyone was an understatement.
"Oh, Gods, he's corrupted her! Run for your lives!"
"All hands, Admiral Pinkerton is transferring his flag to the Ra-Cailum. Vice-Admiral el Britannia has command of the Fleet." Ron pulled out his phone. After Anno Domini tech got into their hands, it was quickly adopted. "Schneizel?" "Yes, Colonel?" "Don't do anything stupid."
SCVA-77 Ra-Cailum
"FTL drives are spun up, In Amber Clad's given us the coordinates, and we're ready to go. What's the delay?"
"Ron's not the type to leave his ship without knowing that it's safe. And he trusts Admiral el Britannia as far as he can throw him."
"And I hate having to replace a Pegasus-Class Battlestar."
The two NCOs looked at the Colonel.
"Shit!"
"Relax. Are the Rewloola and Ajax in formation?"
"Yes, sir."
"Then jump us to Reach, Ensign."
"Aye, sir."
The Ra-Cailum and her escorts, including the In Amber Clad, jumped to Reach.
"Well, let's let Lt Commander Keyes talk to them and keep them from blowing our asses up. MAC guns are a bitch."
"That's why the Phalanx-Class dreadnought used one. Beam weapons made those ships useless, though."
"And GN field technology made everything worse."
"Unidentified vessels, this is the UNSC Pillar Of Autumn." "Pillar Of Autumn, this is the Colonial assault carrier Ra-Cailum. We're friendly. And we've got better weapons and more ships then you do. If you pick a fight with us, it will be your undoing."
While that came off as threatening, it was only the truth: a Halcyon-Class cruiser had thick armor, but Minovsky beam weapons went through Titanium-A like a knife through butter; hence why all Colonial vessels had at least 1 meter of Diamond Carbon armor of grade-B or higher; nothing could get through.
Even vessels that joined the Fleet were refit with it.
"Understood. Dock at Defense platform Alpha."
"Understood. We're launching a CAP to secure the area; standard Colonial Military policy."
"We'll keep an eye on them."
"Launch Darts and Braves. Secure the area."
"Aye sir."
The Ra-Cailum launched a full team of Braves and Darts on a Combat Air Patrol.
But these were no ordinary Darts.
They were newly built or refurbished CDF-01R Dart Kais, the newest original class type, as it looked more like the Murasame, rather then the older CDF-01G Dragon Dart, which was now rather useless thanks to the Knightmare Frame; all of them were refit into CDF-01Ks, removing the Gaia mode.
The R-type was developed using the ADF-X01A2 Morgan's data, as they used Minovsky reactors, GN drives and near-nuclear batteries to power it, twin beam rifles, a Drake Howling replacing the shield and, most importantly, lightwave shields.
Most used the Aile Pack, but some were armed with the Sword and Launcher Packs, and a few even had Lightning and Gunbarrel Packs. The Ra-Cailum docked at the station, and Ron stood up.
"Let's meet the neighbors."
Battlestar Galactica
"Two ships just appeared out of nowhere? Sonja, you can do better then that."
Commander Sonja Jackson, 4th in command of Galactica, (well, normally, if Vice Admiral el Britannia wasn't on board) sighed.
"Well, their weapons systems are armed, and they're targeting Galactica. That means only one thing: we fire first. Action Stations! Bring weapons online and target the closest unknown vessel!"
"Commander-"
"Admiral, the Colonel's assigning you in command of Galactica was symbolic: leave an Admiral on the Flagship. I'm in charge, sir. You're just a guest. Open fire!"
The Pegasus-Class Battlestar armed its' 225mm cannons and opened fire.
The second-smallest weapons on the ship spewed green plasma at the unknown ship, ripping it apart. The larger 600mms targeted the larger ship.
"Fire!"
The larger ship was destroyed with ease.
"Specialist, what's the power setting on our weapons?"
"0.002%, ma'am, same as before."
"I was hoping we would actually up it a little. The Loki's got better hull armor then the Minotaur-Class, although it ain't Diamond Carbon."
That was true.
After the Colonial Civil War, supplying full power to the weapons systems needed the authorization of two officers of the rank of Rear Admiral or higher.
And the only people who had the balls to do it first were Vice Admiral Avalonia-Pinkerton and her father, the Colonel.
They just needed an enemy to shoot at.
New Alexandra: UNSC colony Reach
Ron and Maria walked into the Office of Naval Intelligence building and pulled out their GN M1911A1s.
They were expecting trouble.
"Colonel Pinkerton, welcome to Reach. I'm Colonel Anderson, ONI."
"As in 'demon'?"
The UNSCA Colonel was confused.
"Excuse me?"
"Oni. It means demon in Japanese. It's ironic, you could say."
"Colonel, your ships are unlike anything the UNSC or its' colonies have ever built. Energy weapons, advanced FTL drives, large fighter-"
"Mobile Suits."
"Excuse me?"
"Those 'fighters' are transforming humanoid machines we call Mobile Suits. And you can't shoot them down."
"Really?"
"Variable Phase Shift Armor. You'd need a MAC gun to destroy the A-model Dart, and it would have to be standing still. R-types are ten times as fast and ten times harder to kill." Anderson wasn't liking this.
"Sir, Blue Team's returned."
"Colonel, one of those ships is carrying a tracking beacon! Minovsky particles are jamming it, but-" "Identify that ship, evacuate it and destroy it! Pinkerton out."
"Colonel, you have no right to-"
Ron used a small psionic storm to shut him up.
"Lt Commander Keyes told us that you're on the losing side of this war, and that Reach is one of the few colonies that are secret. You want to keep it that way?"
"Sir, UNSC Iroquois had been evacuated. Darts are firing on the target." Anderson looked at the Colonel with a pained look in his eyes.
"Target destroyed. Sir, it transmitted the location of this planet to an unidentified source."
"Rewloola, contact BSG-75 and tell them to jump to Reach, NOW!" "Copy that, sir. Rewloola out."
Battlestar Galactica
"Sir, Admiral Pinkerton has requested the entire Battlestar Group jump to Reach."
"I will go where the Colonel leads, even unto hell. Spin up FTL drives!"
"DRADIS contact!"
Schneizel looked at the DRADIS console. The signal was Neo-Britannian. "HIBMS Loki incoming!"
The Loki, the Neo-Holy Britannian Empire's counterpart to Galactica, and she was itching for a fight.
"Forget the Loki! Launch Mobile Suits to counter theirs and continue FTL spin up!"
"She's firing!"
The Battlestar shook from the Armageddon Cannons mounted on the Loki's hammerhead.
While the Diamond Carbon couldn't be punctured, they could damage internal systems, including the FTL drive.
Three Brave and Dart teams engaged the Loki's Vincent squad, but as most of the Britannian clones manned ships, the advantage in MS manpower belonged to the Colonials.
One Brave team took care of the Vincent Wards while the rest attacked the Loki.
Her CIWS, compared to a Minotaur-V, sucked, so 30 Mobile Suits were too much for her to handle. One of them was a CDF-01F/ASWACS, (Airborne/Spaceborne Warning And Control System) and its' job was to rip all sorts of data from the Loki, from armament to FTL capablity to armor.
While normally not needed thanks to the newly refit Pathfinder-Class Battlestars (which now served as flying super-DRADIS platforms, with token anti-ship weapons and a shitload of CIWS cannons) they were needed for close-range work.
The F-model was a perfect choice, but the MS was as old as the Colonial Civil War, and becoming just as dated.
The problem was that the CCE was more focused on building more and more ships and Mobile Suits and less focused on designing a replacement for the CDF-01F/ASWACS and other older model MSs.
More people getting a beating from the Colonel would solve that.
"This is Wolf's Eye 1! Loki's been probed; let's get the hell out of here!"
"Agreed! All teams jump to Reach! NOW!"
"Amen to that, sir!"
Every single Colonial vessel jumped away to Reach, out of the Loki's reach and a lot farther then her FTL drive would let her travel.
Damn, it's been a while.
Well, RvBOTOR II and Loki's Fall are getting updated on the same day, so that's something.
And hopefully a lot more are getting updated.
Next Time on Loki's Fall: The Colonials learn of the Covenant and the war raging between them and the UNSC, and the UNSC learns not to fuck with the Colonial Fleet's Mobile Suit/Knightmare Frame Corps.
Ja Ne!