Alternate Past Uncertain Future MK II

A/N: A lot of ragging on the turians happens here, partially demonizing the UNSC but honestly, it's just adding realism. For those of you expecting this entire story to be the UNSC beating down on the Citadel, it's not. The UNSC and the New Covenant will face great adversaries as the story goes on. After all, the big dog can't always stay on top.

Someone's got to shake the mountain.

Btw, sorry about the poor quality. This one is bad chapter for me. Expect lots of edits to happen. And I think I'll be going back and putting a lot more detail in the older chapters. Yes yes I know, this is taking forever as it is. But I've been bumrushing this for a while and have to be careful not to turn the this story into a Mary Sue.

A/N: 2/25/2014 Sorry for the lateness of the chapter. But I've been hitting so many brick walls with this and trying to avoid going all Mary Sue. But I'll have to work on that on a later chapter. And also, I have been working on several other stories also, please check them out, read and review if you like them. This chapter is far below quality and length wise. A mere 5k words. I'll do better on the next chapter. Until then, please review. And those of you who have pointed out many faults in prior chapters, thanks. I will be going back on them and this and adding details to correct them. If there are any errors here, aside from grammar, please PM me them. Thank you. And sorry again.

Chapter 11

Palaven

Homeworld Capital:

Cipritine

Turian Military High Command: Command Center

Inside the hardened bunker located several levels below ground, communications officers read back frantic reports coming from surface from fronts all across Palaven. The news was the same across all fronts: they were losing. Badly.

In charge of it all were Primarch Fedeorian and General Victus, the only two members in the chain-of-succession to have made it to the fortified bunker. All others had been outside the capital once the invasion had begun. Some on the planet itself, others on the moon. From their last reports, General Corinthus was in charge of Lunae operations, though how long that would last was anyone's guess.

"By the spirits, just what is going up there!? Can't someone get me a clearer picture of what's going on?" The Primarch was furious. He prided himself in trying to maintain the standard that all of his predecessors had established and maintained during their times as being the best possible leader for the Turian people. "Anyone!?"

"Sorry sir," General Victus answered, the turian was just as infuriated as his commander-in-chief, "we haven't gotten any intelligence other than the invaders have been sweeping aside our defenses wherever they are, barring locations where heavy armor and air-support are available, and even then, with heavy losses."

"Do we at the very least have set lines? Can we fortify certain locations?"

"It wouldn't do any good sir. From what reports we've received, the enemy is deploying heavy armor from, and I am still unsure how true this is but, medium-to-low orbit." The general shook his head in disbelief. "Sir, I am inclined to believe that these, hoomns, " he strained to say the unfamiliar word, " are using hallucinogenic weapons against us."

"Perhaps but-" The Primarch was interrupted as sirens began blaring inside the command center. "What's going on!"

"Sir, surface reports enemy armor has landed inside the capital! Fifteen units! They're, Spirits, they're being slaughtered!" The communications officer yelled in a panic, the beginnings of hysteria starting to etch on his face. It was a reaction mirrored by many of the officers inside. Cipritine was known for having the elite of the Turian military forces, ranging from the legendary Judicator Sentinels of the Ninth Division, to the reserves of the Armiger Legion and of course, the Legendary First Company: the first organized military company in Palaven's history since becoming a space-faring species, and the only company to have participated in every major battle of every conflict since. There were rumors of Cabals being stationed here as well. For forces such as those to be slaughtered, it was a terrifying notion.

"Control yourselves!" The growing hysteria was shattered at the Primarch's yell. "Are you not Turians! If the enemy are at our doors, then the next action is obvious: arm yourselves and prepare to fight!" With the obvious orders, any and all non-essential personal left the room and sprinted for the armories, for whatever good they may do. "May the Ancestors forgive me for sending these men and women to their graves."

**Five hours earlier**

**UNSC Halcyon(Grade-II, H-type) Cruiser: Shatter the Sky**

**Bridge**

Captain Ashanti Gordovo watched impassively as another alien cruiser-analogy shattered under the force of a three-shot burst of solid tungsten-carbide MAC shells. The battle-tested technology first used by the refit original Halcyon-class cruiser, the Pillar of Autumn. "How many kills does that bring us to?" He asked off hand, idly noticing one of the triangular alien fighters zip fast the bridge dogged by two close-support YSS-1000s. The YSS-1000s or 'Sabres' as they were called, had not changed since they're first deployment over Reach during the early part of the Covenant invasion. They're primary role serving as planetary defense and close-support craft.

"Sir, our total kill count is now two cruiser-analogues, four frigate-analogues and twelve corvette-analogues." His Executive office, a Commander Amelia Weston, answered. "Munitions are currently at 68% for all weapons systems, shields are holding at 75%." Like her captain, and most everyone on the bridge, there was little trepidation on the bridge. If anything, it was calm and calculated fury being directed at the aliens. "MAC controls are temporarily offline. That last cruiser somehow disabled the main cannons with its missile battery. Whatever payload it had, it bypassed our shields partly. Our engineers are working on a fix right now sir." Ashanti did not really care, his ship could handle it. Even should they enemy penetrate the shields, the hull would be more than enough protection. They were designed to protect against something like another Halcyon(Grade-II) or an old Covenant Cruiser's main battery. Instead he was watching the holo of the planet before him.

"We located a drop-zone yet?" Another frigate-analogue exploded in a dazzle of pyrotechnics as it fell under the barrage of several forward mounted 88mm autocannons from the Shatter the Sky. "I think our boys and girls would like their turn at these brats." In the eyes of many humans, the turians had become little more than insolents children that needed to be taught their place. That they weren't the biggest guys in the neighborhood. Not anymore.

Next to the captain, a UNSC Smart-AI appeared, garbed in the armor and robes of a knight of the Third Crusade, a more commonly occurring theme amongst Smart-AIs in UNSC military. This particular AI was based around the persona of King Richards I. "These heathens believe themselves to be superior. I've detected several dozen planetary guns and Anti-air emplacements all over the planet. Along with multiple demands to 'stand down'. However, I recommend our light-cruisers and anything below their weight class to remain clear of the planet." Before the captain could ask, several locations of the planet were highlighted blue, "I've detected several ground-to-space ordinance locations, ranging from planetary mass accelerators to ballistic missiles, which are more than capable to crippling if not outright destroying ships of the types I just stated. Those above will be fine, however we still cannot remain in range long. Sustained fire will be a significant threat."

"Agreed, send the warning to any vessel of light-cruiser tonnage and below inside our range to stay clear of the planet. What about the guns themselves? Anything we can do against them?"

Waving a hand, an image of Palaven appeared on one of the many screens on the bridge, several locations highlighted in green, yellow and red. "I've tagged as many of the planetary defenses as I could. However, from my scans and those I've gained from others in vicinity, the guns are too heavily fortified for anything other than a direct hit by an Infinity class's energy projectors if we were to try and disable them from low-orbit."

Ashanti grimaced. That level of fortification left one option, a ground war. The range of the planetary guns was considerable. And the sheer numbers meant they couldn't get their cruisers directly over a city and simply bombard it. "Find me a dropzone then. It's going to be a ground war."

"Understood sir, informing the ODSTs and ODAs now." The AI disappeared as it went to inform the men and women below.

**Shatter the Sky: Orbital Insertion Preparation deck**

On the preparation deck, hundreds of ODSTs scrambled. Grabbing whatever extra weapons and munitions they desired as they readied themselves and others for drop. Ammo was slotted into packs and the like. Weapons slotted into the securing points inside the pods themselves.

Squad and Platoon leaders were being issued their orders and locations of operations. Each sharing the same objective: search for any information that could pertain the location of the Everest, and thus Preston Cole, extract the Admiral and any other UNSC survivors and get out. Anything else was left to each person's interpretation.

However, that was amongst the infantry.

The ODA's were prepping for combat.

**APUFMKII**

On the ground turian soldiers and armor units were scrambling across the outskirts and inside the city. Anti-air and anti-tank defenses were established. Trenches were dug and barricades were established. The turians were preparing for the inevitable invasion of their planet by the new species. Many of those on the ground didn't even know why this conflict had arisen. Shouldn't their fleet have eradicated or subjugated these newcomers? How had they managed to penetrate this far into their defenses? What had happened to the colonies? Many other similar questions burned through the minds of many turians as they readied themselves and their defenses.

At one of the barricades established inside the capital, a Turian Cabal, Nyreen Kandros was watching her squad set up a HMG and other weapons emplacements on top of a prefabricated wall that they were using to block off a street. Behind her, several other makeshift tents had been established for munitions and the like. The command center and other important supplies, such as their explosive ordinance had been sequestered away inside the buildings on the street. "C'mon move it! We don't know how long we have before they start trying to drop in!"

One of the soldiers, a young private, grumbled. "I'm a good turian why do we have to listen to the female?"

One of his fellow soldiers slapped his soldier. "Quiet!" He chastised in a hushed whisper. "Don't let her hear you say that! She's a Cabal, meaning she outranks just about everyone in this blasted city except for the commanders!"

The private growled. "I'll do as she says, but I don't like it. Females shouldn't be on the battlefield, they should be back home or in the medical tents. They're totally useless in a fight."

"Oh?" The private twitched at the voice. "Is that what you believe?" Turning, he found himself looking into the polarized visor of his commanding officer. "Well now. Let's see how this-" A boom cracked across the skies, then another. Followed by a third. Everyone looked up to see streaks of fire coming from the skies down towards the city and the outskirts.

Nyreen looked away from the falling fires, and looked to her squad. Seeing them dumbstruck by the falling fires, fired off a round. Drawing their attention back to her. "Move out."

**APUFMKII**

Lieutenant Colonel Hadrian Domnius watched as the altimeter on his HUD decreased at a blistering pace.

Thirty thousand kilometers.

Twenty-five thousand kilometers.

Fifteen thousand. Ten thousand.

The basic AI inside the suit activated as it reached the required distance. "Ejecting drag suit(yes that is suit, not chute). Engaging Thrusters." Harsh shudders rocked his body as the thrusters engaged in an effort to slow his descent to a survivable speed. Grabbing ahold of the controls, he initiated the systems. His HUD flared to life as it went from stand-by to tactical mode. Highlighting anything in the enviorment he could see, and small dots representing faraway units. "Calling to all units. Sound off now!"

"Hammer 1-2 ready to bring the pain!"

"Hammer 1-3, jonesing to kick it where it hurts!"

"Hammer 1-4, ready and able."

"Hammer 1-5, Nos a mortuis, mortem ferimus." As each voice sounded off, his HUD tagged each a dropped a marker on each, showing him their positions as they fell.

"Hammer 1-1. All call-signs in." Hadrian switched the Comm. to a general frequency. Letting everyone, both human, and alien. Friendly and enemy, hear his voice. All across the forces dropping down on Palaven's capital city, both falling from the skies and in the drops above them, they all heard. "Listen up! We are dropping in directly in enemy lines! Remember why we are here! We are not here for what they did at Shanxi! We are not here for attacking the UNSC! We are here, for one reason, and one reason only! The Hero and the Great Mountain is on this world! And by Heaven or Hell! Angels or Daemons! We will find them, and we will bring them home! Do you get me!?"

The voice answered as one heart, one mind, one voice, one soul. "WE GET YOU SIR!"

The Colonel himself gritted his teeth and yanked hard on the controls as his altimeter read two thousand meters altitude. The unit shook hard from the G-forces slamming against it. Slowly but surely, the unit rotated one-hundred eighty degrees, before slamming into the Palaven dirt.

Squads of Turian soldiers rushed the, intent on taking out whatever had landed onto their world. Dust obscured everything, the turians held their fire, waiting for whatever would come out of the dust.

Soon the outline of a thing appeared in the dust, before a dark red line lit up in the dust. One of the turians yelled in his native tongue and a tsunami of bullets riddled the thing in the crater. Weapons overheated as the rounds poured onto the thing. Soon the fire stopped as their weapons forced on their safeties to cool, lest the weapons warp and melt from the heat.

Soon the dust cloud settled, and a golden shimmer could be seen. Hexagonal patterns making up its structure. Soon, it disappeared, and the hulk could be seen more clearly. The turians stepped forward, hoping to get a closer look at their target. They never got the chance.

25mm Armor-Piercing, Fin-Stabilized Sabot Shells splattered their bodies into so much paste as the sheer velocity and heat from the Anti-tank rounds riddled their bodies. Shearing them in half at the torso, others were completely disintegrated. Firing at 900 rounds a minute, traveling at two kilometers a second, the autocannon shells showed no mercy.

As the last turian was turned into some much pulped meat, the fire died down.

From the crater a massive mechanical hand grasped the lip of the crater, as the rest of its bulk followed. HRUNTING/YGGDRASIL MARK XII, callsign, Hel, raised itself from the crater. Across and outside the city, similar scenes were happening as dozens of other suits hit the Palaven dirt. Looking up, the Colonel saw more streaks across the sky as more and more units crashing down. "This Colonel Hadrian. Daemon Company is on the ground."

**APUFMKII**

"By the Ancestors! What are these abominations!?" Second Lieutenant Flavus Vakarian slammed down the firing studs of the six-barreled auto-cannon of a crippled Charum Infantry-Fighting Vehicle. The weapons were perfectly fine, but the vehicle would never move again, its treads completely destroyed. The barrel glowed red and slowly turned white as it was pushed above and beyond its normal limits. His target? One of the massive bipedal walkers that had fallen from the skies moments ago and carrying a very large rifle. One that was so massive he doubted anything but those walkers could carry them. And they were closing in on his position. "We need armor! Or a blasted artillery strike! Agh!" He fell off the cannon as a massive round from the alien bipedal walker's rifle skimmed past, slamming into the building behind him. But it traveled with such velocity, it burned the air near Flavus.

"Sir!" A young turian private ran up to him, grabbing him off the floor and to better cover. "Medic! We need a medic over here! And someone get back on that gun!" Though the turian was a mere private, no one questioned his orders as he spoke with an authority not found in one as young as he was. "Sir, are you alright?"

Flavus waved off the private as the medic arrived, carrying a medical hardcase. "Send the medic back, I'm fine. There are others who need actual help. It's just a slight burn. I'll be fine." The medic took a cursory glance at where the round had passed so dangerously close to Vakarian. The helmeted trooper nodded and without a word, ran off. "Someone get me a line to command, we can't hold this position. Not without help." As to puncate his point, the gunner and the turret were vaporized by the enemy mech. The rounds from its rifle shattering the turret and its gunner.

"But sir, command has ordered total radio silence. We are not to contact them under any circumstances." The private protested, even as we watched his fellow turians trying to take on the mechanical abomination ducking for cover behind the thickest material they could find, or scream for a medic as limbs were shot offs and heads taken off.

The pre-fabricated barricade shuddered as another burst of high caliber rounds slammed into it. "Damn them! Then get me a line to the artillery crews! Tell them I want a fire pattern at our position! And I don't care its danger-close or unauthorized! I'll take the fall if I have to! But tell them if they don't open fire on that grid now! Palaven high-command will be lost!" As if to punctate his statement, the barricade finally shattered under the withering fire, peeling apart as the rounds ripped holes in the wall and tore a hole.

At the sight of the ripped open barricade, the private froze up before Flavus slammed a rifle and into the privates hands and pointing in a direction to run. The private ran off, speaking into his radio as he ran. Flavus got back to his feet and grabbed his sidearm. Marching up to the platform where his troops stood against the defenders, parts of it was slick with blood. Taking cover alongside them, he readied his sidearm. "Stand firm! You are soldiers of Palaven! And this is our world! These aliens think they can come here and take what they want! Destroy our world at their whim! But we will prove them wrong! We are in the right! They have come to take what is rightfully ours! Fight to the last, for we are Palaven's Glory!" A faint whistling was heard from the skies.

On the other side of the platform, the aliens yelled something in their language before scattering. The bipedal walker tried to get out of the clearing but was trapped by the proximity of the buildings. Meaning it had nowhere to go once the barrage began.

The world shook as the artillery barrage shattered the streets. Explosive shells filling the street in debris, shrapnel and fire. The barrage continued for a full half-minute. Thirty seconds of nonstop explosions.

Once the barrage ended, Flavus peeked over the barricade to find a welcoming sight. The mechanical walker had collapsed and was destroyed beyond recognition. Alien bodies, both intact and parts were scattered around the street also, the buildings they had taken refuse in on the verge of becoming piles of rubble.

The troops at the barricade cheered. A battle was won, but Flavus knew this war was far from over.

**APUFMKII**

A squad of HRUNTING/YGGDRASIL MARK XIIs were walking down a ruined street in the capital city of Palaven. Each one a different variant of the Base variant. One of them with the bright blue and green stripes of a Designated Marksmen, carrying a M700-series Semi-Auto Bolt-shot, firing 35mm Depleted Uranium shells. "Sir, I have zero contacts on my sensors. Both passive and active." Inside was Gunnery Sargent Taiba Quara, callsign: Whisper, she was a markswoman whose skill was virtually unmatched except by those in the Spartan ranks. Able to acquire, aim and neutralize a target in one fluid motion, and even better in a target rich environment, coining the new phrase, "One mag, thirty kills."

"Same here boss. I can't find any sort of electrical grid besides the basic one. Wherever it's hidden, it pretty well shielded." Another variant, this one a 'Seeker' variant, with yellow markings, carried a pack unlike more of its fellow exosuits. Callsign: Ghoul. Designated as an intelligence gatherer, it was meant to scan, listen, decrypt and locate any sort of electrical signals and communications. The variant was codenamed: Sparks, and its pilot was one Jamie Freloren. One of the best of ONI's field agents, and part of the few that actually went on operations with non-ONI forces. "Damn, this birds got some wicked tech if they block my gear." Her frame carried the standard JX-312 rifle, firing 12mm saboted spikes at 800 rounds a minute.

"I say we just start blowing holes in the road until we find something." The designated Demolition/Support unit, marked by Red, yellow and orange stripes was given a wide berth by the others. Callsign: Tungsten, it's pilot one Harden Phillips, his callsign was for his thickheadedness and belief that "every problem can be solved with the proper amount of explosives." and had a reputation of being quite the pervert, often making lewd, if joking comments about women, which along with kind demeanor, meant he was both hated and loved. His frame was carrying an A-5 seven-barreled 30mm rotary autocannon, with a withering rate-of-fire of fifteen hundred rounds a minute, equal to that of the aptly named MG-42 "Buzzsaw", loaded with explosive rounds. When it fired, it was a continuous roar of death. That in of itself made it a walking WMD. But it also carried the squad's heavy weapons. An AC-41 Multimunition Missile launcher, designed for use against a tank column or a small-capital ship like a corvette, capable to firing a single missile with an internal payload of several 105mm submunition missiles.

"The three of you, shape up!" The Squad leader, Callsign, 'Singer', name: Timura David, was in a 'special' model of the Mk. XII. It was not dissimilar to a 'base' model Mk. XII, for all appearances. Except for one big difference, the oversized 'backpack' it carried and the conduit protruding from it. Singer, as a Mk. XII squad leader, was authorized to carry one of the UNSC's most prized weapons: The second generation GK-3 'Goryeo' beam rifle. A scaled-up design of the Covenant beam rifle, enhanced by human and partially-reverse engineered Forerunner technologies. It was a multi-purpose capable weapon, accurate enough to serve as a sniper rifle, powerful enough to serve in an anti-armor role, or a semi-auto rifle, based on what it was set it for prior to deployment. Battlefield alterations were impossible. Singer's was configured for the anti-armor mode, firing a cohesive beam energy capable of penetrating most material the UNSC had encountered without shields. The conduit from the oversized pack connecting directly from the pack to the weapon itself. "Our objective to clear out as many AA emplacements as we can and clear a path for the dropships."

"Why don't we just fire on this shit from orbit? It's not like they can shoot us out of the sky or something." Tungsten asked. He was jolted forward as he was slapped by Ghoul.

"If you would use that thing between your shoulders for more than trying to guess a woman's cup size, you would know that we can't because we don't know where the Everest is! No one want's to be known as the person that killed Cole."

"Just saying, it's an option."

Ghoul's stopped in front of Tungsten, jabbing his exoskeleton in the chest. "Well maybe you should-" Ghoul never finished what she was saying as explosions rocked the area around them. "What the hell was-" Right as a several metric tons of building fell right on her, her signal competely disappearing from the HUDs of the squad.

Tungsten spun, "Ghoul!" Before any of the squad could try to save their squadmate, they were besieged by all sides. Small arms fire from dozens of rifles, grenades, and several missiles pelted the mech squad, firing down on them from the windows of the buildings around them. Electrical discharges, dark energy orbs and incendiary missiles splashed against the shields, actually shattering them under the barrage and began striking the heavy armor before any of the squad could react. The squad simply braced itself, shielding their 'heads' with their arms or weapons. When the firing and dulled from to a dull roar, Stinger whipped his beam weapon in a wide arc, "Return Fire!", a deadly beam of violet energy slicing through the buildings, leaving molten metal and rock in in its wake.

35mm shells began to slam into the building, causing a tremor with each impact, just before it was joined by a torrent of 30mm explosive shells, vaporizing the buildings as it punched through glass, metal, flesh and bone, choking the air with dust and bloodmist. Tearing the buildings apart, even as Stinger's beam cut large gashes in the buildings around them, leaving angry red scars. Shells clattered around them, digging into the road beneath their feet from their sheer weight. The tidal wave of noise did not stop until Stinger raised a fist. "Cease fire." Even with all the fire around them, thanks to their internal comms, the fire ceased as soon as their squad leader gave the order. As the dust cloud settled, they could see what they had just caused. The buildings that they had been ambushed from were torn down to almost their bare frames. Only fragments of corpses remained. "All clear." Stinger looked towards the pile of rubble, about to order the others to help him dig our Ghoul when he saw it.

Tungsten had already rushed over to where Ghoul had last been, and was frantically trying to clear the rubble. "C'mon Ghoul, don't you dare die on me woman." He muttered. Tungsten was soon joined by the others, who also began clearing away the rubble. "C'mon where are you Ghoul? Answer me." With her suit gone from their HUD, they couldn't tell if she was dead, alive or wounded, and until otherwise they would assume the last.

**APUFMKII**

Several hours ago, moments before arrival of UNSC and CDF corvettes.

While many of Palaven's secret projects were located on the homeworld and other offworld locations, its biggest secrets were stored elsewhere. Specifically within the underground shipyards and docking bays within Palaven's moon of Menae.

The installation was an incredibly old one, created before the turian's arrival on the galactic scene. Commission and created prior and during the Unification wars, it was meant to serve as a covert staging area should the Hierarchy ever become involved due to no action of their own. The massive hangars were built underground, to hide whatever ships they desired from prying eyes.

And it was here where the Hierarchy had hidden the UNSC Everest since its finding. The movement of the ship from one of the forgotten claims had not been an easy task. The very size of the vessel made it difficult, requiring a multitude of cruisers, frigates and dreadnoughts working in concert to be able to tow the ship with them and to the nearest mass relay and from there into the hidden hangars.

Even know, with their home system being invaded by the new species, those inside worked tirelessly to uncover the secrets of the ship.

"Damn, just what were these people fighting?" A turian soldier muttered as he walked through the darkened corridors of the ship. "Blast, another sealed bulkhead." He activated his omnitool and marked the passage before turning back to look for another way. Getting inside the warship had been easy, the hull had so many breaches that it was simply a matter of choosing an entry point. After that though, it became complicated. The scale of the ship meant that hundreds of other soldiers were mapping out the ship by actually walking the corridors. Active and passive scanners had little success in mapping out the corridors, the hull of the ship passively stopping any intrusive scans. Using echolocation to try and map out the inside proved to be fruitless as for whatever reason, the design of the corridors result in the return image being a far cry from the actual design. Hence why they were manually mapping the ship.

As it was, they had barely made any headway. Having only managed to gain access to certain areas of the ship, such as the medical wings of the ship along with the motor pool and what appeared to be a ready room in the bottom of the ship along with other areas and several armories. However they had been barred from entering the reactor core, the bridge and a large area of the ship that, in everyone's eyes, showed no real purpose. The paths to these locations had been blocked by sealed bulkheads. These were left alone after the first team to enter had breached one of these bulkheads only to be eviscerated by a series of automated defenses separate from the rest of the ship.

The soldier stopped as his comm. clicked on. "All troops, report to command immediately! We Palaven under attack by unknown hostiles! I repeat Palaven is under attack by unknowns!" The soldier snarled under his breath before sprinting back the way he came, heading back the way he came and towards the closest exit.

On the bridge, idle stations were dark. Power having left them long ago. All that is, except for a single pedestal, next to the command chair of the bridge. A dull hum began to sound throughout the bridge, slowly growing in tone and volume as long idle stations and machines began to wake once more.

Underneath the light dust that had accumulated accumulated on the stations, screens and displays began to light up once more. Lines began to appear on them, all of them the same.

"UNSC/UEG IFF detected. Unknown callsigns. IFFs confirmed. Executing Amerigo Protocol."

"Reactor status: 15% capacity. Fuel status: 46% Coolant Status: 78%"

"Reactor: Increasing to 45% capacity."

"Armaments status. Primary Armaments: Main Cannon 1: offline, Main Cannon 2 offline. Secondary Cannon: standby. Secondary Armaments: Archer missiles: Depleted. Shiva missiles: Depleted. Tertiary Armament: AAA M190 Helix Defense System: 87%."

"Unknown IFFs presence detected: internal and external."

"Booting up sealed UNSC 'Smart' AI MRN-01/138." The pedestal, which only had a faint glow before, began to glow brighter.