Alternate Past Uncertain Future MKII

Thank you to my friend and fellow writer EspionageDB7 as he is known on deviantart. For letting me use a member of his family as the inspiration and core of General Williams. It is my honor, and I truly hope I have done him justice.

Chapter 4: Editted

Posted 8/13/2014

Shanxi: Contact, Conflict, Tragedy

Second Eden, Shanxi

Number of Days since First Contact: 0

Brigadier General Bertoldo Williams, despite being almost 75 years old, sprinted with the speed of a seasoned marine to the command center of the Shanxi's Colonial Defense Force Headquarters located in the heart of Second Eden. He had been in his office when one of his officers had slammed open the door. Before the general could even get a word in sideways, the officer had told alerted how several civilian ships were making the transition from vacuum to atmosphere, all the while screaming about 'another Covenant War' and 'alien invaders.'

Sliding to halt as he reached the commander center, he began barking out orders, "Someone get those civvies to calm down and get down planetside! Get them on the horn and figure out just what the hell is going on!" As the officers began to carry out his orders, he added, "And contact all major settlements and CDF forces; tell them to prepare for Harvest Rain Contingency."

The entire command center froze at the last word, some actually gaping at their commanding officer. Harvest Rain was the name of the protocol in the event of First Contact with an hitherto unknown alien species. And only in the event said species was likely hostile. When it it had been written up by the CDF as little more than a formality. Never intended to see an actual use.

Under Harvest Rain, all settlements which did not possess a strong enough CDF contingent was to make their way to either Second Eden, or one of many deep-underground bunkers scattered across the planet. Many of the bunkers were in the settlements themselves, but the vast majority were scattered across the countryside as many people had established farms or private homes and estates far from the main settlements.

As for Second Eden itself, as a city, it was one of the largest on the planet, and had been built directly into a mountainside. The mountain itself had been carved by nature so that there was a great cut into the mountain side. Allowing the side to be protected from three directions by the mountains themselves, and the edge of the city provided a great deal of protection itself. Sheer drops existed along the length of the mountain line. Making it so that the only way to reach the city or the carved out mountain side was by one of several bridges spanning the gap or by air.

"Well then? Get the word out! If we have to enact Harvest Rain I want it done as fast possible!" William's words shocked the entire command center into action, the officers present working to carry out their commander's orders with speed. As he watched them carry out their tasks, Williams whispered to himself, "Please, let me be wrong and this order becomes a black mark on my record."

"Sir!" The general picked his head up at the call. Turning to the one who called him, they said, "We've got new contact. IFF tag identifies as CDF cruiser Right of Way!"

'Finally, some answers.' He thought to himself. "Open up a channel to them, pronto!"

"Sir, scans of the cruiser reveals signs of battle damage. Heavy impacts along its hull. Detecting multiple hull breaches and antimatter damage!" Another officer called out. "Receiving reports from their AI, they have multiple hull breaches but are still combat effective."

William's eyes widened at the report. The Way may have been an aging cruiser by modern standards, but even so it was one of the most powerful ships ever laid by the hand of man. 'Just in blazes did you people run into out there?' Having a moment to actually think, if only for a second, he recalled that the only civilian ships that were out in space over Shanxi were either automated freighters or the civilian science teams that had recently been given permission to more closely examine the alien artifact on the edge of Shanxi's sensor range. Had they found something? Were they at war again?

Shaking his head of the thought, he turned back to the officers. "Alright change of plans. All settlements are to alerted, Harvest Rain is in effect. All forces are to report to CDF and UNSC bases ASAP and ready up to combat level alpha! I want our AA guns up and online now!"

"Sir, channel is open to the Right of Way. Bringing feed on the main screen."

'About damn time.' Williams thought, as the screen began to display the feed. " What the hell is going on out there? I've got civilian ships panicking about a 'New Covenant' and 'invading armies'. Just what the hell did you people find?"

The feed finally began to clear up, and the face of the Way's captain finally appeared. "Sir, I can't tell you how relieved I am to hear your voice. We have encountered a new hostile alien race, I repeat they are hostile. Their guns don't got much punch but they got the numbers sir. I'm leaking atmosphere, got multiple hull breaches and damn sure these guys are not far behind."

"Calm down Zarais. Harvest Rain protocol is already in effect." Glancing at the officer in charge, he got a thumbs up for confirmation. "Get your ass within the grid captain. And we'll give these alien bastards a Welcome to Shanxi package." A feral grin plastered on the general's face. 'Teach these aliens that humanity is not going to allow itself to be push around.'

"Glad to hear that sir. We're moving into range of the defense grid. Be advised, our slipspace drives are disengaged. I repeat, slipspace drives are disengaged and we can not jump to FTL."

That got the barest of responses out of the general, in so far his eyes only widened. Inside though, he, like everyone else who knew the basics of slipspace drive mechanics were in shock. 'Just what is going on?' Realizing what for what the captain's words were, Williams asked, "Well long as you plan on sticking around, mind dropping whatever you extra ordinance you got on that boat of yours my way? I think we're going to need it." Both men could see the hidden message for what it was: hoping for the best, but preparing if the situation went seriously FUBAR.

"Understood sir." The captain's image stopped being projected and the display soon focused only on Shanxi. On the holodisplay, red lines began reaching out from the symbols representing each of the ODPs. Each line targeting one vessel each, as the cannons fired, a blue dot disappeared from the TacMap. Despite his surprise at two of the unknown vessels avoiding the shots of the ODPS, he chalked it up to more as luck than skill. Soon the ODPs holographic representations flashed as it marked their firing upon the newly placed red marks at the end of their maximum range. Red lines marked the flight path of their shots. One red mark disappeared from the display than another, the third red line simply continued into the void. Williams smirked, thinking that the platforms would pick off the new aliens before they came even close.

Then, things went wrong. The Generals mouth fell open in shock at what happened next. "What?" His reaction was mirrored by all who were watching the TacMap as the unknown vessels disappeared from the TacMap then reappeared. All behind the minimum cones of fire of the ODPs, everyone could only watch in shock as the IFF transponders representing each of the ODPs stopped transmitting as each station was destroyed before they could react. Each station lost was the death hundreds of men and women stationed on them. A Lieutenant watching the TacMap whispered, "Good god…"

Snapping out of his shock, the General started snapping off new orders, "Get on the horn and tell everyone we got incoming, I want all our troops and armor deployed five minutes ago and get the civilians inside the bunkers now! Tell all outer cities and bases to be ready to evac to Second Eden at a moment's notice. Do it now!" He hoped all this would be enough, it was bad enough he didn't know what he was facing, but the fact he had civilians to protect made it all the worse.

'Sun Tzu was right, "If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle." The only question now is, how many will we lose?' And Williams did not look forward to the answer.

**Tero City**

**Tero City**

In the city, a group of young men and women, eight in total, were running full tilt down the street towards the local starport. "So," One of them, Terrence Heldin, 'Hood' as he was called by his friends, a joking reference to commander of the UNSC, started, "Any idea why shore leave was cut so early?"

"No idea." Another, a young woman named Katy Geran, answered. She was the go-getter of the group. You need help, or needed something, she'll help you, or at least find you a way to get out of whatever troubles you found yourself in. "But I'm putting my money on Alexei." Pointing her thumb at the one trailing behind them. "Alexei's in trouble with the captain again!" She added in a sing-song voice.

"Oh ha ha Katy." Answered Alexei Rasnuv, his voice thick with his Russian Accent despite colonial upbringing. He was the biggest of the group, standing at 6 and half feet or almost 2 meters. If any of them ever need serious help, he was the one they called. Yet despite his rough exterior, was labeled as the 'Group Teddy Bear', hiding a kind soul underneath his rough appearance. They still joked about how they found out about his ability to design wedding dresses. An ability, he blamed, on his older and younger sisters, being the only boy among 5 children. Along with being bullheaded on occasion. "If anything it's probably Maho's fault."

"Me! What did I do?" The youngest of the group, Maho Febeor, was the company wisecrack. He was always making jokes on just about everything: ticking off the other troopers and his superiors as often as he made them laugh. Despite all that, he was a crack-shot. The best of them at least, and possibly the best on the whole planet, claiming the record for longest target shot at multiple miles, hitting a target the size of a playing card. "Oh come on, why is it always my fault?"

"Because it often is." Cris Lee, their resident tech expert. He could've had a full-scholarship and paid trip back to Sol with his choice of any school back on Earth. Instead, he joined the UNSC. He gained immense respect from his fellows after he had demonstrated his tech skills and had hacked into the one of the officer's terminals and exposed his 'discrediting' actions. Particular among the women of the group due to nature of said 'actions'. "You cause more trouble than the rest of us combined. Even Squid."

Squl'de Qurad or 'Squid' as he was known by his friends was among the only half dozen or so of Sangheili on the entire planet. He gained his nickname when he first introduced himself and someone butchered the pronunciation and soon after, the name stuck. Despite that, he found himself in good company in the UNSC, and even better friends. He and several others of his friends from Sanghelios joined the UNSC as a gag. But unlike his other friends, took the duty seriously. And at his request, been reassigned to a Colony planet, due to unlike most others of his race, he was more pacifist in nature than most. Not to say he hated fighting, no his friends, and their bruises, could attest to that. Though due to him being Sangheili had to deal with some Xenophobes, but found his friends, the ones he was traveling with, coming to his defense whenever it occurred. "It is true, small one. You are indeed both a source of trouble and entertainment."

"He is right you know." Serana Ke'dar added. Another Sangheili, she was one of few who had decided to join the military. However, as Sangheili society was still largely patriarchal, it was much easier to join the UNSC then the Spear of Sangheili, the Sangheili Military Forces. "You do cause a lot of trouble. Remember that little trick shot you tried to pull off last week? The one where you took a joyride on a Pelican taking off and tried to snipe the Sergeant's coffee mug?"

"It wasn't even close to his face!" He yelled. "Sure he almost lost a few fingers but he's still fine."

"No. It's something much bigger." The oldest of them, Mich Zao, "I just got off the comm. with my brother. He's says the brass at Second Eden is mobilizing everything on the planet." His family had a long line of people with military service; he was just the latest among generations in a military centered family. At everyone's disbelief he reconfirmed what he said. "Yes, he said that everyone and I mean everyone, including reserves and the local militia has been told to report in. There's been mass deployment and he just received news that a cruiser was going to drop off its entire contingent before heading out."

"A whole cruiser?" Are you serious?" Hood asked. A cruisers full complement of troops, vehicles, munitions and other supplies would enough to arm a colony the size of Shanxi twice over. At least. "What the hell would we need all that firepower for?"

"Yes, I am curious as well." Squid added. "I do not-" He stopped. Not just mid-speech but stopped entirely. Noticing this, the others did as well.

"Squid? What are you doing? Come on we got to go."

"Do you not hear it?" He was looking up, searching the skies for something.

"What are you talking about? Come on Squid lets go." At this point Alexei tried to pull on his friend's shoulder when the Sangheili stopped him and snarled.

"Stop and listen! Do you not hear it!" This time, the entire group stopped, along with most of the street. Slowly but surely, there was a low thrumming noise that, as they listened, became louder.

"What is that? Is that a Pelican or an Osprey?" Cris asked. "Or is one of your ships Squid?"

"Well it's not human. Human ships are louder, and I would recognize any of them." Mich said. He worked with the Navy boys and the mechanics in his spare time.

"And it is not of Sangheili origin either." Serana added. "I do not hear the workings of an anti-grav generator." That meant it was not any of the insurrectionists or Instruments. Nor Kig-Yar pirates or Unggoy mercenaries.

"Then what is it?" They kept searching, as the sounds got louder and more widespread. "Well whatever it is, it's getting closer. And a lot of them by the sound of it." Hood said. The clouds grew darker, a shadow appeared in the skies. First one then two, and another, soon the skies were filled with shadows: the silhouettes of whatever cast them, and numbered in the dozens. They soon got their answer. Dropships, scores of them came out from the skies.

But it was a design not seen before; some were triangular, the three sided-shape possessing a heavy influence in their designs, while the others were little more than flying boxes. "They're landing in the Temura Square. Come on; let's see what's going on." The others agreed and began moving, the square was in the same general direction as the starport, but they still needed to make several detours to reach the square. By the time they arrived, several of the unknowns ships had landed, forming a defensive circle. But as of yet, none had disembarked.

"What's going on?" The local police forces had arrived long before and had taken positions around the circle and were in the process of ushering civilians away. "Hey, you kids!" They turned to see a SWAT officer, decked out in full armor and carrying an M-96 Combat Shotgun across his back approaching them. "What are you doing? Get out of here and go back to your homes until we sort this all out."

"We're CDF, we came to see if we could help." Katy told the officer.

"All of you?" The officer raised a brow in suspicion, even those two? Referring to the Sangheili pair with them. "Thought Sangs weren't allowed in the UNSC. Speaking of which, if you are, you know what's going on?"

"We don't know either. Just that everyone's been called back to base. They're mobilizing but what for we don't know."

The officer nodded. "Right in that case, you better get to the starport. Heard all the military-" He stopped at hearing the whirring of gears. The doors to the ships began to open. "Alright people, party's starting. Hold your fire until I say so." From the angular vessels tall, lean creatures stepped out, carrying weapons of unseen design: sleeker and smoother than most, comparable to weapons of the Sangheili. They possessed avian features, their skin shined slightly in the sun. Speaking in clicks and chirps. From the others, taller, muscular reptilian creatures stepped forth. Possessing large crests on their heads, like the dinosaurs of old, their skin scaly like so. Possessing large humps, and their features grim and filled with rage and bloodlust. Their snarls and grunts filling the people around the square with fear. And their weapons, designed not with sleek and grace, but rather power and brutality.

"Squid. Cris. You guys recognize these guys? What are they?" Maho asked.

"I do not know. Never in our history have the people of Sanghelios ever encountered such creatures. Though I relish the opportunity to fight the ones with the scaled heads." Serana answered.

"Never saw anything in the Forerunner databases either. Least not what's been uncovered so far." Cris added. Though Humanity as the 'Reclaimers' as labeled by the Monitors of the Forerunner installations that had been discovered, were granted access to most of the services within each installation, their access was largely limited still.

The tension was so thick; it could have been cut with a dull knife. The SWAT officer stepped forward. His shotgun still slung across his back, but his hand resting on the M6-D series Magnum pistol sidearm. "Greetings I am Officer Samuel Uras. And I welcome you to Shanix."

"What the hell is he doing?" The others agreed with the shock in his voice. To them, and many others, it appeared to be suicide.

"He's trying to be diplomatic. What I'm wondering is, why is he doing this? Shouldn't it be a politician there? You know, less of a loss that way?"

Along the square however, the various officers and SWAT members were getting nervous. The larger creatures were spreading out, as were their more avian fellows. Their weapons raised, and their speech, though they could not understand it, even those with Universal translator implants, sounded threatening and their grips on their weapons tightened.

One of the aliens, the more avian species stepped forth. This one possessed matte black armor, the obvious leader of the group, approaching the SWAT officer. It spoke in clicks and chirps like the others of its species, none of which the officer understood, but thankful was holding its odd rifle in a nonthreatening manner.

Nearby, one of the reptilian aliens had begun to argue with one of the avian aliens, and if their actions were any indication, understood one another. One of them was waving their gun around, while the other was obviously trying to calm them down. The people only got ever more fearful, and one of the new guys on the force had his finger close to the trigger.

The officer and the alien seemed to be trying to communicate but obviously failing. The officer was trying to gesture for the alien to follow him while said alien was trying to get the officer to hand over, if what it was pointing at was any indicator, the officer's shotgun. When the alien made to grab the officer, he stepped back, and raised his hand. "Whoa. Hold it there. Now we don't understand each other but I'm not too keen on being that friendly yet." His one sniper unit clicked his comm.

"Sir, should we open fire.?"

"Negative. Hold your fire. So far they've done nothing."

"Alright sir but I,-Watch out!" The sniper had noticed one of the larger aliens approach his superior weapon in hand. The sniper didn't even think. He just trained his crosshair on the alien's cranium and pulled the trigger.

The alien's crest did not slow down the 14.5 by 114mm Fin Stabilized Discarding Sabot round at all. Piercing through the alien's head cleanly, the report of the sniper rifle echoes through the square. And then, silence.

Then everyone began opening fire. The alien that had approached the officer began to raise its rifle and pulled the trigger. However Uras had already begun moving after the first shot, pulling his pistol as he went. When the alien opened fire, the rounds struck nothing but air. Uras fired his pistol once; an orange barrier shimmered as it was struck by the 12.7mm HE round. Uras fired again, twice, three times, until the barrier shattered and fired a fifth round, striking the alien in the head, crumpling as it fell. Around him though, his subordinates were not having the same luck as he did. Some were destroyed by the crested aliens' immense weapons, tearing their bodies apart in a single blast, while others were picked off by concentrated and controlled fire from the avian aliens' rifles. Some fell riddled with bullets, others seemed to catch fire. Others, parts of their body snapped-froze on impact with the alien munitions, some were unlucky enough to have limbs shattered from the unknown rounds then successive fire.

The unlucky few were simply rammed by the crested alien; charging forward, taking fire head on: charging through a group of officers, the luckiest getting away with a broken limb, the worst been smashed into a nearby wall. The aliens were also taking casualties; their one sniper kept picking off whoever was unlucky enough to be caught out in the open, remaining unscathed in his post several hundred yards away, spraying brain matter and bodies all over the square. While others were taken down by concentrated fire either by 12.7mm magnum fire or from 7.62mm rounds from the few other SWAT officers' old MA5 Series rifles. The crested aliens fell after a barrage of weapon's fire, their bodies gained several dozen kilos in bullets, falling mere meters from the officers' feet. Those who tested and proven themselves on the firing range proved their skills in combat, taking out the avian aliens with precision fire from cover. One shot, two shots, three and four, dropping shields, severing limbs and destroying weapons and popping heads with precision fire. It was hell, it was bloody, and for some it was glorious. But for the officers, it was simply duty. And that duty was to protect the civilians.

While the majority fought, the few who didn't, rather than cower as most would assume, presented their backs to the aliens. They were directing civilians away from the square and towards evacuation stations, making themselves easy targets. But more than a few of the aliens opened fire on the crowd, or at least tried too. Officers and a few other brave souls who saw the aliens aiming towards them, turned themselves into living shields, taking as many rounds as they could before they fell, most who attempted to aim at the crowed were obliterated by concentrated fire before they could pull the trigger.

On the side of the aliens, any wounded in between the two sides found themselves saved by their comrades more often than not. More than a few charged out into the lines of fire, risking themselves to save the wounded. Spraying rounds without regard, just to create an opening to retrieve their injured fellow.

The group of eight had taken cover behind some cars the moment the first shot was fired. "Shit! Well now we know they're hostiles." Maho yelled. The others agreed. "So anyone got a plan?" Suggestions were made by most to either head for the starport or head to the police station and get some arms, the former taking majority. Of the group though, Cris wasn't paying attention but rather looking towards the firefight, specifically at the aliens' weapons.

"Interesting," He noticed how the weapons did not eject any sort of shell casings as they fired so they were not conventional projectile weaponry like those employed by the UNSC, neither were they energy weapons: their projectiles, when they struck, did not cause a burning effect like plasma based weapons tech did. However when fired too often, the shooter had to stop as heated air blasted out the sides of the weapon. "Hmm."

Someone grabbed his shoulder, acting on instinct; he spun moving to strike when he recognized Katy. "Cris, come on let's go." He nodded; the eight of them couldn't do anything to help the police who were being overwhelmed. They had to leave and link up with the command at Second Eden. Failing that, get whatever intel they could back to them. But as he looked over his shoulder, taking one last look at the carnage behind him, he muttered, "This will be but one battle of another great war."

**APUFMKII**

Back in Second Eden, officers were running around as they relayed reports to the general and each other. Everything from evacuation and bunker statuses, to enemy landing zones and friendly forces deployment and reports from newly established front lines.

Even as he gave the response orders, Williams couldn't help but think, when he had a moment, about the colony itself. Unlike the vast majority of the UNSC/UEG efforts when it came to colonizing after the wars, which were almost totally reclamation, reintegration and terraforming, Shanxi had been built purely from scratch. And was meant to be a bastion of hope and a sign that the endless conflict was finally over.

Still, humanity had learned its lesson from the Great War, and had built Second Eden as a massive stronghold on the planet, as well as it's capital, just in case. The city itself having built to withstand a siege. A last bastion of defense or a safe haven in case of invasion, streets were designed to enhance asymmetrical warfare by the defenders, integrated deployable roadblocks had been installed in the roads themselves, bunker entrances for civilians were scattered throughout the city. And that was only the city itself.

Now it seemed that Shanxi would be the first marker in the history of another war.

Outside another series of explosions dotted the skies as enemy aircraft were shot down by Second Eden's powerful defense grid, their remains scattered across the city. On rooftops and specifically designated buildings, Anti-Aircraft systems of all types ranging from missiles and Gatling guns to autocannons and Onager Mass Drivers protected the skies above the city.

An alien corvette pair had already learned the hard way that the city would not fall easily from the skies. Not without a strike from orbit. The city possessed a grand total of three Onager Mass Driver cannons, and each one could be remotely or manually controlled and right now, their controllers had already drawn up an impressive killstreak. Striking down both individual craft, and of course, their 'trophy' kills from before.

Earlier before, two alien corvettes had tried to subjugate Second Eden. Needless to say, they failed miserably.

Both had approached the city from the west, rather than straight down for whatever reason. Letting a small fighter group fly as their vanguard. Perhaps to weaken the city. Whatever their purpose, the fighters soon found themselves turning into shrapnel as 120mm flak cannons and 66mm autocannons opened fire the moment they had entered ranging. The wrecks crashing into buildings or into streets. When the alien ships had seen their fighter escort taken down, they had rushed forward. Their shields quickly lighting up as autocannons, flak guns and everything else began to open fire, only to be stopped by whatever shields the alien's had.

Then, the Onagers had come into play. Set into a triangle array, the Onagers had been hidden away inside specially designed structures to take everything short of a MAC strike. They turned themselves towards the corvettes, who were still unaware of the threat, their broadsides presenting clean targets.

Their coils glowing bright orange as they charged up. The bright light perhaps drew the attention of the corvettes, who were now trying to clear the roof tops of the AA emplacements with their weapons. Or perhaps not. It made little difference.

With a massive clank, three fifteen centimeter shells traveling at a many times the speed of sound, slamming into the corvette's with enough force to push them. Not satisifed with having just shoved the invaders, the coils of the onagers whirred to life again, firing off a second lethal volley, shattering the shields and pushing them to the sides again.

One of the corvette's immediately began to pull straight up, attempting to get out of the line of fire of the Onagers. The operators, not willing to let their quarry get away so easily, fire off another volley, scarcely missing the craft by scant meters.

Its companion had not been so lucky. Whether the captain simply panicked or not was unknown but the second corvette attempted to flee away from the city but instead of following it's companion and flying straight up, it had banked hard and turned away from the city.

Just as it began moving, a third volley struck the craft amidship. Causing it to start trailing smoke and fire as it left the edges of the city.

Irred at the loss of one target, each of the three the Onager gunners had decided that this one would not get to see another day. In an incredible display of synergy, all three Onagers fired as one, slamming straight into the rear of the corvette.

The three fifteen centimeter slugs gutted the engines of the ship, shearing two of them clean off, the debris falling into the chasm protecting the city.

The remaining engines flared brightly but with one engine, it could not defy Sir Isaac Newton. It crashed into the planet, its nosed crumpled from the impact, sliding across the dirt. Cheers hadn't even started before the wreck detonated in a bright blue flame, creating a crater some times the size of the ship itself. Even now after so many hours the wreck still burned. But that was just one victory, to so many losses.

Within hours of the alien ships breaching atmosphere, reports had been coming in of settlements being burned down to the ground or captured by the aliens. Most of these reports being either second hand or from those far from the actual scene. Williams had since authorized that "Any all means, methods and options are authorized to slow down the invaders." So far though, there had been no word of any bunker breaches. And hopefully they would stay that way.

But that was just about the only good news they had.

The greatest loss they had suffered was the Babel, their orbital lift capable elevator. The name was homage to the Tower of Babel in old religious texts, no one remembered who gave it the name but it stuck. Once it stretched high into the sky, delivering cargo supplies, people to and from the planet. It was an incredible sight. Modeled after the same orbital elevator based in New Mombasa, it had stood tall since the colony's beginning. Now it was just a dark strip across the land, its length having fallen to the side of its base. A dark mark across on the horizon. They had shattered its orbital station with their mass accelerators, without the station, the tower could not hold itself and soon collapsed.

He shuddered at how many lives were lost when the Babel fell. Officially, Second Eden was the colony's capital, being the center of the UNSC and CDF garrisons. And being the most militarily secure location, but the Babel was the unofficial, true capital of Shanxi. Everything, literally when through the Babel before reaching out to the rest of the planet, the population at the base of the Babel was higher than anywhere else on the planet. And that was where the aliens had struck hardest. They left Second Eden alone as it was a distance from the Babel and its Anti-Air defense grid

Yet for all this information, for all the intel he had gathered, he still did not know how these new aliens fought and so could not fight back. Insurrectionists employed hit-and-run tactics, to counteract them, all forces were on permanent alert and any insurrection attack was met with instantaneous overwhelming force. Against the Old Covenant and its genocidal remnants, they preferred overwhelming force so it was a war of attrition. But these aliens, he still had yet to gain a solid handle on their tactics and methods. He had been told that they had launched large numbers of dropships to many populated areas but had been unable to get any further information. Thankfully however, Second Eden's AA grid was keeping the alien's fighter forces at bay. And the prospect of defending the city made much easier by the windfall of supplies, troops and support from the now gone cruiser The Right of Way. Much of which he had sent to closest of the population areas to assist in their defenses.

The veritable fleet of M12 LRVs and its variants had been sent around the city itself and outside it: to secure the city, recon the area and search for any trying to reach the city. He had gotten reports of a few contacts with the alien forces in the smaller towns, thankfully, as each group outside the city had one M12G1 LAAV "Gauss Hog" and its main cannon had made short work of any enemy they had encountered. M831 TT "Carriers" and D77H-TCI Pelican Dropships were sent to locations where any number of survivors were found or any settlements where the aliens had yet to arrive. At each of the primary entry points to the city were parked three M808B "Scorpion" MBTs. Yet even with all these supplies, this battle was going to be a tough slog.

An alert beeped and he looked at his tactical datapad attached to his wrist. It was a transmission from Tero city, one the closer and larger cities next to Second Eden. It read. "Unknown presence has landed. Unknown species is hostile, I repeat, Unknown species is hostile. High count of enemy infantry. Enemy command post being established. Starport is lost, repeat starport has been lost. Requesting support." He called over one of his junior officers, a young lieutenant. "Send out Delta and Echo companies to Tero City. Intel says enemy infantry is heaviest there. Deploy gunship squadrons: Seld, Ru and Ter. Reinforce all entrance points to the city with armored support. Prep all dropships and remaining gunships for rapid deployment." Whoever had decided to build Second Eden had the foresight to build it on a defensible area. The high ground of a plateau surrounded by crevices and backed into a mountain. The only two ways to enter Second Eden was through the air, or via one of nine ground bridges that spanned the crevices. 55mm Anti-Air emplacements around the city kept the skies above the city clear, and they had yet to experience any sort of ground assault. "And how long will that last?"

"Sir!" The general turned to see a trooper, a sergeant running towards him. What was strange was how this woman had obviously just come off the battlefield. "Sergeant Haley Sundry reporting sir!" She declared standing at attention.

"At ease." With that Haley looked as though she wanted to collapse. "What's going on sergeant? And where did you come from?"

"Sir. Intel on the enemy sir." She hand him a tacpad from her back, along with a single metallic strip that looked like it went around the wrist. "We couldn't get any transmissions out, they fried our transmitters with sort of overload pulse, we manage to get this off of one of their troopers." She said, gesturing to the metal strip. "We think it's their version of the tac-pad. We saw them tapping away it somehow, and it's how they also delivered the overload pulse. I came from Asp."

"With this?" He asked, also referring to the alien device she gave him. Though he did notice the small spikes in the inside area of the strip.

"Yes sir. It's some of hardlight emitter, like the holo-pads. I don't know how it works though."

He nodded. "Excellent job sergeant, but where's the rest of your platoon?" He knew for a fact Asp was the city, well town considering its size, which was closest to the southern bridge passage. Due its proximity it rated at least a platoon's garrison.

"We pulled back sir. They overwhelmed our position with numbers and tactics. It's all on the tacpad." That was not a good sign. If they reached the Asp Bridge, then they would have to start pulling back, abandoning the other settlements and whoever was left behind.

"Well done Sergeant. Get yourself to medical, take a break for now." Before she could protest he added, "You don't have to worry; we have enough troopers to take over for you platoon. You're not going to do anyone any favors going into battle with one foot in the grave.

"Yes sir. Thank you, sir." She snapped off a quick salute before heading for Medical. Leaving the General with a tacpad and an alien device in his hands, and wondering just how many they would lose before help arrived.

A comm. officer called out to the General. "Sir, it's the Gadiel Bridge! They're under attack!" And just how long they could hold out.

**APUFMKII**

"By Allah, where did all these fucks come from?!"

"Hold your ground marines, hold your ground!"

"All tanks redirect fire to 45 degrees left side! I repeat 45 degrees left side! Focus on that damn tank!"

The troopers of the 205th Armored Division had been deployed to engage enemy armor approaching the bridge. They were one among few tank groups that had been with the now gone cruiser Right of Way. They had been deployed to try and set an outer perimeter outside of the city and clear a path to the closest settlements. Their fight was supposed to have been on open ground. Armored warfare. But the enemy had advanced far faster than any had expected. Even with the modifications and improvements done to technology over the years, armored warfare was still a slow and chaotic affair. The Scorpion M808B MBT(Main Battle Tank) was a sluggish if tough fighter. Anything short of a dedicated air strike, or heavy anti-armor weapons would have a difficult time punching through the armor and disabling the tank or killing its driver. They had believed the enemy, unknown though they were, would not reach the bridge until they were well past the bridge and on open ground.

They were wrong.

The moment the last tank in the column had come off the bridge they had come under attack. Rather than ambush the company as they were making their way across the bridge, the enemy had held fire until the last of the five tanks had crossed. Meaning only one thing: they planned on taking this bridge. If the aliens objective had simply been to wipe out their armor, then they would have fired while the tanks were on the bridge, either at the tanks or the bridge itself. Their armor vehicles were more like APCs considering how many of the larger, crested aliens had been disgorged from the vessel. Looking little more than several attached blocks on wheels, its cannons were like dual Gauss cannons. Except far more powerful than anything Humanity possessed on such a small scale. It was capable of penetrating their armor with several shots and taking heavy fire in return: its armor plating a very tough contender. The few Warthogs that had escorted the tanks quickly moved off, taking out whatever infantry they could find, this was a heavy weight fight and they had no part in it.

Company Commander William Strife would be damned if he let any of these bastards cross the bridge into New Eden without a fight. "Move forward!" When the tank drivers and the rest of the company started bombarding him with protests and profanities he yelled back; "We can't stay here! We can either move in and fight, or we can fall back over the bridge. We charge, we might win! We fall back, and we risk the lives of everyone in the city." All the radio chatter stopped. He had just reminded them of the cost of failure. If they retreated, the enemy would have easier access to the city. If they fought, they might die, but the time they would buy would give the city the time it needed to bunker down and fortify the entrances to the city.

It was an easy choice.

The tank column charged forward, the M808B MBTs firing their 90mm M522 Smoothbore cannons. "All drivers; pick your targets and fire at will. Spread out. Good luck to you all." With that the tank column splintered, each heading towards their own targets. The enemy armor charged forward, their drivers eager for blood and battle. With that the battle was joined.

Micheal "Mike Mike" Alvarez pushed down on the throttle, forcing out as much speed as he could out of 'Serry' his tank. Bearing down on a mammoth of enemy armor. "Ok ok, let's get it on." Using his neural-net implant to interface with the turret controls he brought the turret around-"Ugh! Sonuva!" He felt the heavy rounds from the enemy armor's dual Gauss cannons slams into the sides of 'Serry'. "Where did that come from?" He yelled.

"Right side! Right side!" His gunner, Stevens Petroki cried out. Right before the air was filled with the noise of a 7.62mm machine gun firing on full auto. "Mike we need to get out of here!" The panic was clear in his voice, "We got these Shellheads coming towards us!"

"Shellheads?" When he interfaced with the turret's camera to get a better view of what his partner was talking about, he saw several humped aliens charging towards the tank, several of them wrapped in a blue ethereal glow, with another of the aliens armored vehicles behind them. One of them tossed a blue sphere towards the tank. It slammed into one of the tank's four track pods. A hissing noise could be heard as pieces of the armor fell off. His display read: 'Track pod 4: experiencing critical damage, please seek immediate refit and repair.'

"Damn it! Stevens take those bastards out! I'll take out that armor!" He tapped a side button, shifting the armor from standard HE, to AP Depleted Uranium sabot rounds. Bringing the aim on one of their armored ground vessels, he opened fire. The sabot round flew through the air, leaving behind its outer casing, leaving only a spike of depleted uranium flying through the air. It impacted the front of one of the alien vehicles. An orange shield shimmered in front, trying to protect the vessel. The round exploded but the shield held. A second later another round struck the shield. Shimmering orange yet again, trying to withstand the force before it, until it shattered in a dazzling display of light and the depleted uranium spike penetrated the armor spearing itself inside, killing the crew and destroying everything inside. "Yeah take that you bastards!"

"Enemy armor on the right!" Before he could move the tank, he was jolted to the sides as another pair of gauss rounds struck the tank, then another. Again his HUD displayed another message, this time it sent a shudder down Mike's spine. 'Warning: Track Pods 2 and 4 have been disabled. Contact for VTOL salvage. Warning: auto-loading system offline.' Before he could think of what to do, his comm. clicked, the voice belonged to his commander.

"Alright everyone displace! Try to get back inside the city! Enemy air support is inbound!" Everyone shuddered at the new intel. In every war since the invention of armored units, enemy air support, had, and is the bane of nearly all armored units, air support often carried enough ordinances to take out entire columns, and too nimble to be struck by tank fire. Their only options in lack of friendly air cover or any sort of anti-air weapons left one option: retreat. Any other action often resulted in death.

"Stevens, we got to get out of here!" He tapped the button to open the hatch, getting only a whirring and smell of smoke as his answers. "Damn it!" This time he slammed the studs to trigger the four small explosive bolts. He braced him for them to blow, but the hatch remained secure: the bolts had failed to fire. "Hey Stevens get me out of here." Getting only silence in return, he called out again. "Stevens!" Wondering why his gunner wasn't answering him or helping, he glanced out through the small windshield between the hatch and the rest of tank. He didn't see much, but he got his answer: Steven's body was slumped over the hatch, least what was left of him. The first of the volley had taken out the auto-loader for the main gun, and Stevens. Somehow only tearing him apart from the waist up, and tossing him onto the hatch. The last shots had taken out the tread pods, effectively crippling the tank. He went to click his comm. Only to stop short as one of crested aliens came into view, climbing onto the tank, and in one swift move, it ripped off the top of the hatch. Before Mike could bring up his side arm, a fist slammed into him, and darkness swallowed him.

**APUFMKII**

Back within Second Eden, Williams was still in the command center, trying to manage the entire scenario as best as he could. Scattered around him, on the main holoprojector and on portable projectors, the constant influx of reports were strolling down as fast as he could read them. Some listing the statuses of cities and settlements, being listed as enemy captured, held, allied, besieged, destroyed and in a few rare cases, unknown. The reports were coming in from those at the settlements, whether they be local CDF or LEOs, or even civilians who had formed their own ragtag militias, were reporting back as best as they could. Each report further filling in the gaps about this new enemy.

Even with the report the sergeant from before, there will still many details that were left unanswered until the reports came in. And so far, the image that was being shaped was both disturbing, and comforting, if such a thing were possible.

For starters, there were not one, but two different alien species, both of them radically different from the other. One species seemed almost avian, with a large torso and comparatively spindly limbs, much like a bird. Fighting them was like fighting the Elites, or another human army. They used tactics, and strategy, actually fighting as cohesive units for the most part. Someone had coined the nickname, Hunters, for both their marksmanship and the irregularly high number of snipers, or least what felt like snipers, they had. And the other species was more saurian, with large humps and a massive crest on their heads. Unlike their apparent allies, as the two races had been seen fighting alongside each other on multiple fronts, they were completely undisciplined. Charging headlong into battle, with little concern for incoming fire or taking cover. Taking literally dozens of rounds as they crashed into defensive lines before finally being put down. Usually by someone shoving their gun into the alien's gut and emptying the entire clip, if the reports were to be believed. They were being called shellheads since the plates on their heads seemed actually served as a sort of armor almost.

Then of course, there was that fact that every single one of them had energy shields. Literally Every, Single, One. Something that neither the UNSC or the New Covenant were capable of. Only their best would ever have the safety of an energy shield on top of their regular armor. And these aliens were apparently capable of giving all of their troops a personal generator. The only saving grace being that these shields were nowhere near as powerful as those used by the New Covenant, taking only half the number of shots on average before they either popped or their user ducked behind cover. There were a few cases where some took an entire clip and a half and still held, but they were far and few inbetween.

Their weapons and technology were also quite interesting. That device the sergeant had brought in had been a portable data tool that apparently mounted itself on the wrist. They couldn't make heads or tales of the language the device used, by the fact that this seemed to be commonplace technology was telling. The same for their weapons. No energy weapons, and not standard projectile weapons either. Instead they were miniaturized mass accelerators. How in the galaxy they managed to do that and then on a mass scale was beyond him, and as frightening as the thought of commonplace energy shields. Making matters worse was how they never seemed to run out of ammo. In more than several reports, the aliens had taken several locations simply because they had won a war of attrition. Where the defenders had been forced to fall back due to a lack of ammo.

All in all, the colony wasn't doing to well. They had lost contact with several bunkers, the last reports being that the aliens were right outside the blast doors. More and more of the settlements were being taken or wiped out, and more of his forces were being taken out as well. Second Eden was quickly becoming the last settlement still under human control. Williams hoped that the UNSC would get here soon, or Shanxi might just not be a human colony for much longer.