Vanguard

Chapter 26

"The push"

[Grasslands, Ukio]

The battle between the Covenant Empire and the Galactic Republic continued to rage on, both sides suffering immense losses but continued to spill blood for duty and beliefs. In the midst of the carnage SPARTAN James and Jorge, along with the remnants of Wolfpack, continued making their hard push against the Covenant but due to the high loss of men they were beginning to grind to a halt. The only thing that was keeping the aliens from simply charging the men were the two Wombat UCAVs providing danger close air support and the AT-TE walker that was drawing most of the enemy's fire.

A plasma-based explosion violently close to James, throwing dirt high into the air and making the SPARTAN flinch for a brief moment, before he turns half way towards the withering clones yelling "We're almost there! Keep pushing!"

But the clones were becoming exhausted, they tried to keep fighting but fatigue was beginning to set in affecting their aim and stamina, and was starting to become forced into a halt.

"What's going on!? What happened to our momentum?!" Longarm calls out as he too stops and continues to engage the enemy.

Commander Wolffe rushes up to the two SPARTANs reporting "My men are becoming exhausted and we're severely depleted. We can't push any further."

"What!?

"We have to go on the defensive now! If we keep pushing then we'll never make it!"

Jorge sprays out a brief heavy volley of high caliber rounds into the enemy around them before turning his head to his close friend "The commander has a point, they're not SPARTANs. They have to get their rest."

Longarm sighed to himself before giving out the order "Alright all units halt and dig in. Jorge and I will keep you covered until you're ready."

"Yes Sir!" Wolffe responded before relaying the order to his men "Alright men, dig in and hold this position!"

The clones acknowledged the order, some putting their weapons now to bring out their entrenching tools to start building up defenses while others continued to fight the enemy in order to keep them at bay. The walker came to a full stop with all of its forward facing cannons firing away supporting the troopers on the ground.

Inside the AT-TE's rear compartment, Plo Koon was tending to Ahsoka who was steadily recovering from her moment with the Sangheili zealot. From inside they could hear the fighting outside and the occasional bolt of plasma or shard of needle impact against the walker's durasteel hull.

The Jedi Master was wiping away the dirt and filth from Ahsoka's face with a wet rag, that was when she finally spoke after a long period of silence "How are James and Jorge doing outside?"

"They are performing admirably; it wouldn't surprise me if some of the men begin to see them as an invaluable ally."

"Then why did we stop?"

Plo Koon stopped for the moment and took that into consideration "Hmm . . . a good question."

He brings up the comlink on his arm and presses down on a small switch on the side "Commander Wolffe, what is your status?"

The clone's voice came through mixed in with heavy fighting in the background "We're digging and holding our position General! The men are exhausted and need their rest!"

"Understood, what about our new friends?"

"They're giving the enemy a real beating! I've never seen anything like them before, where did Ahsoka find these guys?"

"That is something I'm about to find out. Contact me if the situation worsens."

"Of course General!" Wolffe responded just before the transmission ended.

The Kel Dor then turned back to Ahsoka, who was looking up at him with a concerned look in her eyes, and asks "Little Soka, I'd like to hear about your new friends . . ."

Back outside, James unloads another burst of rounds into an unshielded jackal from his MA37 as the clones behind him hastily construct another rampart like the one before, this time in the shape of a horseshoe, while Jorge stood atop of a dirt mound laying down a line of unending bullets upon the enemy.

The dark SPARTAN-ll Commando was down to his last magazine when a Sangheili major, adorned in their usual red combat harnesses, charges him with sword in hand. James unloads the remaining thirteen rounds into the elite, depleting his shields, before tossing the rifle at him, the Sangheili with one swipe slices the rifle in two and lunges at the super soldier with the intent to impale his chest. However James ducks below the blade, passing the elite, and drew his DC-15S carbine before placing two bolts in the elite's unshielded back thus killing it.

The Covenant were beginning to put pressure on the troopers, their numbers increasing as well as the intensity of the fighting, this prompted a trooper to yell out "Where do they keep coming from!?"

That was the same question that lingered in the SPARTANs' mind, Longarm decides to fall back behind a partially built dirt wall and contact the destroyer "Sierra-121 to Vanguard Actual over!?"

"Acknowledged SPARTAN I read you" Percival's voice responded.

"I need one of the drones to get above this mess and scan for Covenant activity! Find out where they're getting their reinforcements!"

"Confirmed, I will have reports soon."

James signs off just in time to see the two combat drones perform another strafing run, firing their 30mm gatling guns with the loud and horrifying 'BRRRRRRRRRT' eviscerating the Covenant foot soldiers just before gaining altitude above the ground, after their run was completed one of the drones broke formation and headed for the skies.

He appears out from behind his cover and began engaging the enemy with his blaster, sending blue bolts of energized plasma back at them in accurate bursts. He was fortunate to have stolen this from the Coruscant guard back shortly after meeting Ahsoka for the first time, the reason was is because this weapon was much more effective in bringing down energy shields than traditional UNSC small arms that were loaded with metallic armor piercing rounds. This effectiveness was proven when he fired three bolts into a cautious Sangheili, staying back at a distance and firing his plasma rifle, that destroyed the shields and the fourth shot scoring a killing head shot.

The defenses were now partially built, nothing more than a line of scattered mounds that formed a 'U' shape in front of the walker, the clones crouched behind their mounds and laid flat out on their stomachs on the open ground holding the Covenant back to the best of their ability. But with each passing minute a trooper falls, the seemingly unending onslaught of genocidal aliens continue to press on the dwindling Republic forces. Fortunately this did not affect the SPARTANs' morale, fighting harder than ever not for themselves but now fighting to keep these men alive, they were all in the same boat now so they had to work for a common goal, survival.

Whenever a clone falls down behind cover, saving themselves from incoming fire, they seem to always look at that two hulking soldiers that never found cover for themselves, instead they embraced the flurry of plasma and needles with their personal energy shielding flaring orange whenever they took a hit. James was quick and precise, making every shot he had count, effortlessly putting down hostiles with pinpoint accuracy. On the other hand, Jorge was virtually unstoppable laying waste to a number of targets with a single sweep of heavy fire from his HMG. The two were becoming an inspiration and a major morale boost for the men, if two soldiers can hold off an entire enemy advance then surely they could do the same.

Wolffe saw this newfound courage in his men and eventually he too began to pick his spirit back up from the ground. The Covenant were playing fierce now, but the Republic was far from giving up.

Percival finally came back to James through his helmet "Sierra-121 this is Vanguard Actual do you copy?"

The SPARTAN puts another burst of fire into a jackal before responding "Yeah Actual, I read you!"

"Bravo has completed a full analysis of the situation; I have good news and bad news."

"Okay what's the good news!?"

"The good news is: The Republic has deployed another battalion to reinforce the troops you are with now, they're coming onto the field as we speak, and the Covenant has been routed."

"That's great Percival, what's the bad news!?"

"It turns out that the Covenant were not gaining reinforcements at all, instead they've concentrated their remaining efforts to halt the Republic advances on several fronts, yours being the highest priority on their list."

"The Covenant are going on the defense!? That doesn't seem like them at all! " he claims before firing off another burst "What about that corvette, have you found that yet!?"

"Negative, I can't pick up any major Covenant signatures in the quadrant. I can only assume that the vessel had gone back to slipspace or it is utilizing a form of stealth technology."

This was starting to feel wrong, the Covenant has gone on the defensive desperately trying to stop the Republic's advance for some reason, and now the corvette has gone missing.

It was only a second later when he put the two occurrences together "They're defending the corvette that has to be close by! Get the Vanguard to this position ASAP, we can't afford to let it get away again!"

"Acknowledged, diverting power to the engines and setting course forthwith."

The transmission ends allowing the SPARTAN to turn his focus back to the battle with a new objective in his mind, keep these men alive as long as possible until their reinforcements arrive.

He quickly trains his sights on a rushing Sangheili minor eager for his first kill of the day and places two bolts into the shields followed up with two more to the exposed chest, killing it swiftly. Jorge continued to lay down heavy fire on the enemy while Commander Wolffe holsters his two blaster pistols and picks up a discarded Covenant carbine, quickly examining the weapon, before taking aim at a confident unggoy and send a 8mm caseless radioactive projectile straight into the alien's cranium. The other clones were also beginning to take up Covenant arms, seeing that their tibanna gas-based weaponry were either running out of charges or were reserving them for later. One clone in particular was suddenly attacked by a Sangheili that had leapt over his part of the wall, the trooper had immediately began spraying fire onto the elite, riddling its body with blaster marks, and soon picked up its weapon before firing back at the enemy.

But despite how hard the Republic fought, no matter how many Covenant they had killed, they too were beginning to wear down. For every ten or so covenant that had fallen, a clone would too be a victim to the chaos. James had already gunned down a lance of grunts when a blue bolt of plasma struck him in his left shoulder, dismantling the rest of his shields and leaving his armor exposed to incoming fire, but he didn't let that hinder his ability to fight, further showing the clones the durability of a second generation SPARTAN.

Commander Wolffe had just fired his last round from the carbine he found before tossing it aside, drawing his trustful dual pistols, and quickly spot another platoon of troopers from the 104th, supported by two AT-TE walkers, several hundred meters away to their left.

"We have reinforcements! Far left!" he calls out.

One clone pokes his head above the wall he hid behind and spots the advancing unit "They're really giving those freaks a beating!"

But the moment of hope was immediately dashed away when a burst of three large hypervelocity plasma rounds struck the platoon and the walkers, utterly destroying them entirely leaving very few survivors, the men were thrown and the walkers were torn apart like a lightsaber going through plastoid plating.

A clone ducks below his cover, an instinctive reflex to save one's self, before coming out of cover again to see the destructive results "The hell was that!?"

Jorge quickly answered that question when he looked up far ahead of them "Tyrant! Up on the ridge, klick and a half out!"

James falls to a knee and holsters his blaster carbine in exchange for the sniper rifle slung around his shoulder, he brings his scope up to his visor and spots the massive Type-38 'Tyrant' Anti-Air gun emplacement upon the ridge Jorge specified "I have visual, Commander Wolffe coordinate with the gunner and target that cannon!"

"On it!" Wolffe responded before contacting the walker's gunner "Gunner, target that gun emplacement at point five eight! Elevation three three seven!"

The mass driver corrected its aim on the specified target, the gunner could see the towering cannon through the turret's display, and fires a single shell sending the projectile screaming across the plains until it slammed squarely with the tyrant's base foundation. The gun, unfortunately, did not collapse from the heavy hit and instead caught the gunnery crew's attention, directing the heavy cannon onto them.

The gunner cried out "It didn't work!"

But Longarm orders the clone "The gun has a fusion core in the base, fire again!"

The clone does as he is told and fires another shell, this time once the round impacted the solid nano-laminate plating it punched through the armor and struck the core chamber, rupturing the pinch fusion reactor inside the core and caused the gun to malfunction as indicated by the multiple smaller explosions racking the outside before being followed with a massive bright blue fireball that leveled the emplacement and those around it.

"Good hit trooper!" the SPARTAN calls out before retrieving his blaster and resume fighting.

However just as he began to fire away at the vengeful Covenant horde they began to fall back, some were faster than others, while a few remained for one last desperate attempt to kill the hunkered down troops.

"Why're they running!? I was just starting to have fun!" a clone bellows out, brandishing his Z-6 rotary cannon.

Longarm looks to the air behind their positon and points out "Because of that."

One by one the troopers turned around looking up to the skies to see the dark arrowhead shaped Halberd-Class Destroyer Vanguard accompanied by two Acclamator-ll Assault Ships that were just arriving from high orbit. Not long after that a wing of LAAT gunships closed in on their positon and came to a gentle landing, releasing platoons of troopers adorned in their Phase-ll armor with orange markings, signifying their accordance to the 212th.

However the brief moment of relief did not last when the Covenant launched its last dire attempt to stave off the Republic, a select zealous set of troops remained firing their weapons at the incoming clones. The SPARTANs and Wolfpack returned fire inciting another intense firefight.

James kneels down behind his section of the rampart and resumes firing when a familiar voice called out to him from behind "Longarm!? We should stop meeting like this friend!"

The SPARTAN-ll looked over his right shoulder to see Jedi General Obi-wan Kenobi coming to his side with lightsaber in hand, he then turned his focus back on the enemy and continued firing "Likewise Master Kenobi!"

Kenobi takes a glance at Jorge, who stood atop a small mound laying down fire with his M247H machine gun, and asks "Friend of yours!?"

"More like a brother!" James replies.

The Jedi begins to deflect incoming bolts of plasma when he had to ask "Where's Ahsoka!?"

The Covenant were now in full retreat, the stragglers have been killed off and the clones began to celebrate their hard fought victory, James stands up answering "She's in the walker, she's fine but she got a little shook up from earlier."

"If I know Ahsoka, she'll pull through" Kenobi reassures the SPARTAN.

"My thought exactly."

"And it would seem we got here just when the fun was over."

"Maybe next time General" Longarm comments as he holsters his weapon.

But then almost immediately afterwards a heavy voice spoke out "That is unlikely."

Longarm, Kenobi, and all of the others looks forward to see a team of five Sangheili warriors in night black armor appear out of thin air, each one of them armed with a different weapon save for three who were wielding a hilt that utilized twin blood red blades glowing with concentrated energy.

Kenobi readies his saber while the clones took aim, but the leading elite raises a calm hand and assures them "Stow your weapons filth, our quarrel is with the demon instead."

Obi-wan lowers his blade, curious about what the warrior said "Demon?"

James however knew who he was referring to "He meant Jorge and I."

"That is correct human" the Sangheili states.

The SPARTAN then turns his attention to the elite "I didn't get a name."

The elite snorted as if it was amused "Traditionally I would say that you're not worthy of hearing my name, but we all know that the circumstances has changed drastically. I am Shev 'Vadamee, once humble servant of the Vadam Keep."

Longarm took notes of their appearance, their black armor, near perfect stealth technology, red energy blades, and states "You're with the Inquisition."

"Good eye human, I am also sure you are aware why we are here standing before you."

The SPARTAN began putting his weapons gently on the ground, starting with his sniper rifle, "Well obviously you're here for us SPARTANs, you could care less for the Jedi and the clones."

"Hmph, you are perceptive I will grant you that, but you are short one detail. We have come for you and the one you called a 'Jedi'."

"What's he to you?" James asks.

"His powers, they are unlike anything we have seen in our past decades of conflict. The hierarchs would be pleased to acquire a perfect specimen such as him for study."

"Yeah I'm still wrapping my head around that as well. Fortunately I don't need the Force to kick your sorry asses."

The Sangheili chuckled "Is that a challenge? I was afraid you would comply with our requests and make this moment dull. It is good to know you demons still make things entertaining . . ."

"Right then" James responds as he draws his electrostaff "One SPARTAN against five Sangheili inquisitors, who wants to pray to their gods first?"

The leader studied the SPARTAN carefully, planning out every possible action and scenario, then with a swift wave of his sword and the other two sword wielding sangheili inquisitors leaped into action sprinting towards the super soldier with blades ready. James remained still, letting the enemy come to him, before swatting one of them down to the ground with a single swipe of his staff. The second Sangheili came within striking range, lashing out with his energy sword, but the SPARTAN-ll's augmented reflexes effortlessly kicked in forcing the super soldier to duck below the blade, letting the elite pass with a miss, before coming back up with the staff twirling in hands and jab one of the electrocuting prods into the inquisitor's back, dismantling the shields entirely and temporarily numbing the elite's nervous system. The first elite was suddenly back up in action with a swift uppercut but James skips aside from the attack and swings his staff where it caught the alien by the back of his legs, swiping the legs from under him and caused him to crash back down onto the ground.

The Sangheili that was electrocuted, now driven by rage, lunges at the SPARTAN roaring out with its mandibles spread wide "RAAAAGH!"

However Longarm remained calm and collected, using the staff's firm weight to propel it around his body in a series of twists and twirls before striking the elite from underneath his head, breaking two of his mandibles, and follows it up with a heavy roundhouse kick to his opponent's gut knocking him flat out onto the ground.

"Longarm seems to be holding well" Kenobi remarks, impressed by the SPARTAN's ability to stave off two armed swordsmen.

"Oh. You haven't seen anything yet, just wait till the other split-jaws join the fun" Jorge comments.

It was then when Master Plo Koon and the weary Ahsoka Tano appeared behind the Jedi and SPARTAN, with the Kel Dor asking "Master Kenobi it's been a while. What have we missed?"

"Oh not much."

James effortlessly trips the attacking Sangheili before quickly sending another jab into the elite's back, releasing another jolt of electricity through his body, and finish his life with a quick blaster shot to the back of his head killing him instantly.

That forced the other elite to roar out "Brother!" before lashing out with his sword only for his blade to be deflected by the staff, made out of the lightsaber resistant material called phrik, and felt the cold steel of a gun barrel shoved underneath between his mandibles.

The elite stuttered just before the SPARTAN pulled the trigger, sending the bolt tearing its way through the inquisitor's head before he fell to the ground dead. James then turns his attention to the remaining three Sangheili, all watching him with steady eyes, and noted what they were armed with. The Inquisitor commander was obviously worthy of carrying a sword of his own, however the elite to his left had a Type-51 Carbine trained on him, and the other held the hefty Type-33 Light Anti-Armor Weapon over his shoulder, commonly referred by the UNSC as the Fuel Rod Cannon. That SPARTAN then stuck one end of his staff in the ground and stared back at the commander, waiting for a response.

"Impressive human, but your skills won't save you forever" the elite spoke, confident in what he has in mind.

"Thanks, it doesn't take much to put you guys down nowadays."

"You will not be so confident when we carve out your flesh with our blades" the inquisitor retorts.

The SPARTAN then shifted his left foot, etching near a discarded plasma pistol dropped from a fallen Kig-Yar, and immediately kicks up the pistol into his left hand and draws it on the elites "I call your bluff."

The commander chuckles "We shall see. . ." before deactivating his hot red sword and fade away into the scene.

James stood ready, carefully scanning the area around him wishing his Mk. V MJOLNIR armor had come with its own VISR upgrade, until he spots a sudden kick up in dirt just seconds before the two blood red blades erected out of nowhere in full swing. The SPARTAN-ll leans back letting the blade to swing by harmlessly before throwing a hard right uppercut that immediately slammed into something hard resulting in the struck commander to let out a grunt in pain before retreating back to a certain distance to strike again.

The super soldier remained vigilant this time scanning every little detail of the scenery around him, fire over there, a crater there, a corpse here and there, a blown up tank over yonder, until his eyes caught movement to his left. He shifted his attention and caught the slight movement that was prowling like a shark, he knew it was Shev. He immediately raises his plasma pistol, now charging up for a high-powered blast, and fires the large green bulbous bolt of plasma downrange, 'Vadamee attempts to dodge the discharge but it strikes him across the chest emitting a wide burst of electromagnetic energy that caused his active-camouflage and energy shielding to fail rapidly leaving him open for attack. The human then tossed the depleted pistol aside in favor of his DC-15S carbine and fires two bolts, each slamming into the inquisitor's chest leaving scorched blast marks against the armor.

That was when Vadamee barked his ordered to his compatriots "Take him!"

The two other inquisitors sprang into action with tag-team efficiency, the cannon wielding elite takes aim and fires sending a 38mm radioactive shell at relatively high speeds giving the SPARTAN only mere seconds to leap out of the way before it impacted the ground beneath his feet and detonate. He was successful in evading the shell but his body was caught in the resulting blast, draining his shields severely while it knocked him to the ground, and when he steadily got back to his feet he received a high velocity 8mm radioactive projectile to the back from the Sangheili carabineer, the round shattered what was left of his shields and nearly penetrated the titanium alloy plating but was stopped just short of his bodysuit. And to finish the coordinated attack, Shev appears out of thin air once more, after a moment of recuperation from the debilitating plasma discharge his suit had taken, in front of Longarm with his blade ready, he drives his sword in a skyward uppercut, giving the SPARTAN a split second to counter act his uneven balance from the inquisitors' attack and back away, and slashes the frontal chest piece and bodysuit open, the tip of the blade grazed James's actual skin leaving a long scorched mark at the center of his chest.

Tano immediately takes a step forward, reaching for her lightsabers, but Plo Koon places his hand out in front of her stopping her from interfering "Master what're you doing!?" she demands.

"This is not your fight Ahsoka."

"But he needs me now! I can help him!"

Jorge gladly agrees "She's right, I'm not about to sit around on my arse when my friend is getting tag-teamed."

At that moment the towering SPARTAN-ll and togruta enters the fray with sabers and heavy machine guns in hand, engaging the two armed inquisitors while James continued to fight 'Vadamee.

Longarm holsters his carbine and runs his left hand across his slashed chest, feeling the deep gouge in his now compromised MJOLNIR armor, before setting his sights back on Shev just as he chuckled "I have drawn first blood human, you are now at a disadvantage without your precious combat armor."

"I won't need it to tear you a new one" the SPARTAN replies harshly as he attaches his shortened staff to his left shoulder pauldron in exchange for his energy sword.

At that instant the two warriors charged towards one another until both blades clashed violently with one another, bolts of electricity lashing out in every direction, just before Longarm threw a heavy left uppercut into the Sangheili's abdomen forcing him to disengage with half his breath.

Shev quickly glances over to his left to see his last remaining men be cut down by heavy fire and swift blades, he was alone now, and he knew this became a lost battle. Taking common human logic, after having fought them for so many years, he sees no valid point to remain behind and get himself killed in a vainglorious fashion.

"Well humans, it would appear the day is yours" the Sangheili congratulated them "But I would savor every last moment of this time before it is dashed away. I can feel the tension in the air . . . things are about to happen that none of us will be prepared for. Your imminent demise by my sword."

"I suppose you'll have to wait another day then . . ."

Vadamee openly agrees "So it would seem. Take joy in today, for the next time we meet, I will have your head" before he fades back into the scenery.

Not seconds later did the group suddenly hear the loud distant roaring of massive engines being primed for launch from beyond the far away ridge line, Percival swiftly contacts both SPARTANs via their helmets "Sierra 121 and 052 be advised, I'm detecting a large pulse drive signature ahead, it matches that to the Covenant corvette."

At that moment everyone looked ahead to see the nine hundred fifty six meter long SDV-class Heavy Corvette lift itself from the ground, appearing out of what seemed to be a ship-wide active camouflage system, and activate its four repulsor engines making its speedy ascent for orbit.

Longarm didn't hesitate to give the order "Vanguard Actual you are clear to engage! Target that corvette!"

"Acknowledged SPARTAN, MAC cannons have been charged and ready. Acquiring lock . . . Warning slipspace anomaly detected . . ."

The ground troops watched silently as the corvette rips a portal in the bright blue skies and pass through just as the rupture closes itself, signifying the Ardent Prayer's second successful escape from the Vanguard.

"Dammit!" James curses before asking "How the hell was that corvette camouflaged!? They don't even carry the equipment to do so!"

Percival already had an answer to that "While I was lining up the MAC for firing sequence, I've scanned the landing zone where the corvette once resided in and detected several external stealth pylons that emitted a scramble frequency that interferes with local sensors. I couldn't have detected the vessel until it was too late."

The SPARTAN growled "Grr destroy those pylons and everything around it, I don't want that corvette coming here again for as long as it takes."

But Kenobi interferes "How about you leave those pylons to us, we'll be sure to put them out of commission and set the surrounding sectors on the lookout for that ship."

"You sure Master Jedi? The place is bound to be guarded by whoever's left behind."

I'm sure Longarm, you and your friends have seen enough action today. You all deserve a well-earned rest."

As much as James wanted to see every covenant bastard die today, he knew Kenobi was a capable man as well as his men of the 212th, "Yeah fine . . . just be careful."

"Will do."

As Obi-wan heads out Jorge, Ahsoka, Plo Koon, and Commander Wolffe gathered around the damaged SPARTAN with the Jedi general congratulating them "Well done SPARTANs . . . you have proven yourselves to be very capable warriors."

Jorge and James immediately glanced at one another through their helmets before turning their eyes back on the Kel Dor with James asking "Wait. You know what we are?"

"Of course. Little Soka has told me everything about you."

The two then shifted their spiteful stares at Ahsoka, who gave a sheepish smile in return just before Plo Koon states "It's highly unusual to find a pair of Mandalorians willing to go through life altering augmentations just to improve themselves in combat. You must be very dedicated to your lifestyle."

The SPARTANs were caught off guard once more, now feeling like jerks for giving little Ahsoka their scornful looks, before Jorge replies "Well . . . it was what we were meant for."

"Indeed . . . now if you'll excuse me, Wolffe and I must tend to our men. Today has taken a drastic toll on them."

James nods to that "Of course" but just as the Jedi and clone were beginning to venture away the SPARTAN asks "Wait a moment . . . mind telling me what your battalion was doing here? Before you engaged the Covenant?"

The Kel Dor kindly asks "We were on our way to Cato Nemoidia to perform post-battle patrols when our admiral picked up a distress signal from Ukio's surface. Once we arrived this morning we were immediately attacked by these things."

"Thank you General, that's all I wanted to know."

The Jedi nods "Of course" before turning to Ahsoka "Farewell Little Soka, till we meet again."

"Goodbye Master Plo" Tano replied as she waved to him.

With Plo Koon now gone out of the picture, James turns to her and asks "How you doing?"

"I'll be fine I guess . . ." she shrugs.

He rests his hand on her shoulder "It's alright, I guess all you need is a warm shower. Helps wash the day away."

She gives a smirk "Speak for yourself you look like a wreck."

"Funny" he retorts.

At that moment, the Pelican dropship comes to a soft landing allowing the trio to gather their equipment and climb aboard.

James takes the controls and begins heading back through the fields from where they came, Ahsoka asks "Where we going?"

"We gotta grab those walkers don't we? Those were a gift to us from the locals remember?"

Tano had a warm grin across her face, during the heavy fighting and her hard moment with the dead zealot made her forget about the two AT-RTs that they left behind near the beginning of the battle.

[Two hours later, high orbit, UNSC Vanguard]

The two SPARTANs stood aboard the destroyer's bridge looking over the holotable projecting a hologram of the planet they were over, trying to decipher where the Ardent Prayer had jumped to next.

"Did you at least get an idea on where they may be heading?" Longarm asks, still in his damaged armor.

"I'm sorry, the only reason we were able to follow them here was the fact that we utilized the same entry vector they took moments prior to our jump. By the time you came back aboard, they were far gone."

"Dammit" he cursed under his breath.

But Jorge saw this somewhat differently "Maybe it's a good thing."

Both James and Percival's avatar looked up to him, the SPARTAN asks "How is that a good thing?"

"Think about it, if we keep chasing that corvette, sooner or later it's going to make a jump straight for their supercarrier. If we even bothered to keep on it then we might as well be dead."

Percival sides with the big man "Jorge has a point . . ."

But James sighs "Yeah I know he does . . . but it also means leaving people to fend for themselves, just like the farmers did before we arrived."

Jorge tries to reassure his close friend "It's a tough choice everyone has to make. If we just throw away the ship and our lives to that carrier, then those people will have no one at all to protect them."

At that moment the door hisses open and Ahsoka steps aboard the bridge, all cleaned up from her shower, "Hey guys, what I miss?"

The two SPARTANs and the AI gave each other solemn looks before everyone turned to James, seeing that he was the leading commander of the ship and that he had to make the calls, he states "We're not going to pursue the corvette any more . . ."

"Wait you're serious right?"

"To be honest Ahsoka I wish I was the galaxy's greatest liar at this moment, but I'm serious yes."

"But what about the people the Covenant could be attacking next!? Those farmers barely held on because of us!"

"Don't you think I already know that? Jorge and Percival already convinced me that if we keep chasing that ship then we'll end up saying hello to that damn supercarrier, and it doesn't matter if it's part of a carrier- we'll all be dead in matter of seconds."

Ahsoka fell silent, she wanted to argue more but there was no point, James had made up his mind and with very good reasons.

It was time to change the subject "So . . . what do we do now?"

Everyone then started to look at one another, each had a face full of uncertainty not knowing anything else, for the first time since the SPARTANs' first arrival in this galaxy they have no idea what to do next.

"Well . . ." James begins "We could plot a course for open space, get our bearings and rest awhile. It's something we've needed for a month now."

Percival adds to the idea "Sounds like a good idea, plus it'll give me time to find a proper connection to the Holonet I've discovered recently."

"Wait" Tano stops him "You just discovered the Holonet? What happened to being an advanced AI?"

"Don't mock me young lady. The reason behind it is because obviously UNSC transmission frequencies don't interact with standard Republic communications networks. I've only managed to tap that network because I was experimenting the Vanguard's comms array a while back hoping to find something. Which I did."

She then turns to James "What about you? Are you going to try and repair that armor?"

"No chance, this will take ages to repair with the materials that may be non-existent in the galaxy. But if there is a small sliver of hope that this armor will be brought back to optimum capacity, Percival will know."

"Then what're you going to do? Do you have an extra suit lying around somewhere?"

Longarm took a moment to think, nothing came up at the top of his head until he remembered something "As a matter of fact. I do."

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