January 2nd
2583
12:00 pm UNSC time
Gamma Station, orbiting Reach
Nobody's POV:
Three decades.
It has been 3 long decades since the UNSC and the Swords of Sanghelios signed a peace treaty, uniting the 2 sides and officially ending the bitter Human-Covenant War. The other species that composed the former Covenant Empire went their separate ways and have returned to their normal lives, despite some holding on to the old beliefs and forming the Covenant Storm. Since the treaty's signing, many conflicts arose, but none have even come close to the Human-Covenant War's destruction.
Together, Humanity and the Sangheili began building new colonies on worlds around the galaxy and diplomatic relationships with the surviving planets had started. Even though said relationships are still very rocky, with some planets being outright nasty, there is still lots of hope for putting their past quarrels behind them and starting a better future.
In addition, the UNSC and Swords of Sanghelios spent this era of peace rebuilding their fleets, returning them to where they were before the Human-Covenant War, and even greater. With the help of the now-deceased Dr. Halsey, they found and put together the 2 halves of the Janus Key, unlocking the map that reveals the location of every piece of Forerunner technology in the galaxy. Thanks to the map, the UNSC in all its military branches and Sangheili have recovered and reverse engineered the Forerunner's technology to make them truly formidable. To top it all off, the UEG and Swords of Sanghelios came to many agreements and the respect each species has for the other makes them a more settled and powerful system than either would do by themselves.
But now, they shall learn if their technology, powers and unity have come far enough.
One of the hundreds of ships in the area, docked at Gamma Station for fueling up and boarding, is the Stalwart-class frigate 'Argo', a ship that has military power, but has also been renovated so now it focuses on navigating and exploring uncertain territories. These renovations are vital for the mission this ship is about to go on.
Two days before, when the ONI decided to try and experiment with the range of their newly upgraded communication technology, they discovered coded transmissions. While they couldn't translate what the messages said, they were undeniable proof. There is more life out there, beyond their own galaxy. So, at the annual meeting of leaders on New Year's Day at Earth, the leader of Humanity, Madam President Michelle Peterson, and the leader of the Sangheili, Arbiter Thel 'Vadam, agreed to send out a UNSC ship to investigate who sent those signals and find out if they are anything like the Covenant.
After a considerable amount of time, its crew of 200 are all aboard the ship, supplies loaded, and ready to go. Accompanying them on this mission is Spartan-IV Fireteam Osiris, in case things get really messy. While the team has lost some members, it gained new ones from younger people eager to serve the UNSC. It took years of missions, along with extra-difficult training and discipline, but the team has learned how to work together efficiently, making them even greater than before.
At the bridge of the ship is Captain Reginald Quince, who has the standard UNSC Captain suit on. He is a tall man who is in his mid-20's, with a strong build, short black hair and electric blue eyes. He is observing the technicians as they operate the holographic controls of the ship.
"Sir. Shields are at 100% and the nuclear fusion reactor is as stable as it will ever be." The voice of Segata, the shipboard AI, said to the Captain, then appears on the terminal to Reginald's right. Segata looks like a Japanese man with traditional karate white robes and a black belt around his waist.
"Alrighty, then! Let's set the forward thrusters to 75%, activate those slipspace drives and see what awaits us." Reginald said, his firm British accent to be heard around the room.
The Heads of the various areas of the ship nod in response, then get to work, sending out messages to the rest of the ship and gearing the ship up. Within minutes, the ship pulls away from Gamma Station and turns around. After a few more seconds, the ship takes off at tremendous speeds, with a white slipspace portal appearing before them and shallowing the ship whole. Despite a little shaking, the ship held together and traveled at speeds faster than light.
After 2 long hours pass in slipspace, the ship shudders greater than the first time, but not horribly. Suddenly, the Head of Navigation speaks up. "Captain, we've made it. We're out of our galaxy."
"Pull us out of slipspace." Reginald orders firmly, watching the grey field of swirling lights.
"Yes sir! Pulling us out of slipspace now." Segata said, then sent the messages to the engine crew. The ship finally starts to slow down and they leave slipspace. Once the ship completely pulls out, they find a barren, rocky looking planet with star charts none of the crew have ever seen before.
"Well, ladies and gentlemen. We made it." Reginald said, releasing a sigh of relief he never knew he held.
"Captain, look in front of you. I think you're going to find it interesting." Jameson Locke, head of Spartan IV Fireteam Osiris, said, looking straight ahead.
Reginald looks forward to see what the Spartan's talking about, and nearly chokes on his spit. He sees 2 entire armies closer than he would like battling with each other, shooting what looks like beams of light at each other. With a jolt, the crew realizes those lights are lazers. Reginald muses on these events for a few moments before coming to a solution. "Strange. We need to make contact with at least one of those groups ASAP. See what we have thrown ourselves into." But before anyone can figure out what needs to be done next, all the lights on the ship go out. "What the hell's going on?"
"[Sir. We pushed our experimental slipspace drives too hard too fast. We have temporarily lost power.]" Martin Rodriguez, the Hispanic Head of Engineering, said in perfect French, a tribute to the fact he also has Canadian heritage. Sadly, he can't speak any other languages for the moment.
"What did he say, Deacons?" Reginald asks, impatience getting the better of him.
"He said that we pushed our drives too hard and that we're experiencing a power outage." Nami Deacons, the Greek orange-haired Head of Navigation, translates for her best friend quickly. The one thing they all have learned pretty much the only thing their Captain absolutely hates is being kept in the dark about important details for anything.
"Well then, gather every single one of our technicians on board and get the damn power back online. Spartan Locke, get your Fireteam and go into the hold. You're going to make sure the weapons systems are the first thing to function and ready to fire at a moment's notice." Reginald said to Locke. The Spartan nods in understanding, putting his helmet back on, and he makes his way through the long, winding corridors.
20 BBY
2:30 pm UNSC time
Galactic Republic Venator-class Star Destroyer 'Warhead', orbiting Esfandia
Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi is dismayed to say the least.
He, accompanied by Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker and his padawan Ahsoka Tano, are leading a series of 30 Venator and Acclamator-class warships to push the fleet of CIS ships off of Esfandia, a barren world the Republic wants so they can finally start exploring the Unknown Regions and figure out why every explorer that tries to enter that region never comes back.
The battle is going smoothly until one of the clones shouts up to Obi-Wan. "Sir, we're detecting some kind of disturbance. Whatever it is, it isn't hyperspace travel."
That caught Obi-Wan's attention and he asks, "Where is this disturbance coming from?"
"About 300 klicks off our port side." The clone answers.
"Turn us to that area. I want to see who our new guests are." Obi-Wan says. Upon his orders, his ship was turned 45 degrees to the left. Apparently, all of the other ships learned of the abnormality as well, since Obi-Wan briefly saw the other ships turning in the same direction.
What met Obi-Wan's eyes left him dismayed. In the middle of space is the strangest ship he'd ever seen. It's long and brown, with the front of the ship looking suspiciously like a cannon. Judging by how it's just floating in space, the ship has lost power. Although the side of the ship is clearly seen, showing off its impressive size, a strange symbol of an avian creature holding a planet with the letters UNSC printed underneath, and the ship's name next to it: 'Argo.'
"Master, are you seeing this?" Anakin's voice asks over the communication system.
"I am, Anakin. I must say, this development is rather interesting." Obi-Wan answers, still staring at the ship.
"Do you think they are working with the Separatists?" Ahsoka asks, concern in her voice.
"I don't know, but we're about to find out." Kenobi replies, then cuts the communication lines. He then extends his senses via the Force to examine the ship and see who or what is on-board. To his shock he senses…nothing. Before he can ponder on what this means, the lights on the ship come back on, illuminating the ship that is giving Obi-Wan the impression that it was built for war.
Many moments pass in silence and still, waiting for who breaks the ice first.
20 BBY
2:30 pm UNSC time
CIS Providence-class Destroyer 'Banker', orbiting Esfandia
On-board one of the newest Providence warships produced in the CIS is the commander of the fleet, Lok Durd, a Neimoidian who was sent with his newest starship to capture Esfandia and using it as a fueling station, finally start exploring the Unknown Regions for anything that can bring the CIS's war with the Republic to an end.
But when he got there, he found that the Republic had the same idea and given the 2-side's hostility, no words were exchanged before they started fighting.
It would have gone well, but with the infernal Jedi, the worst being Skywalker and his padawan, he started losing the fight rather quickly. Now, that strange and in Durd's opinion ugly, ship appeared out of literally nowhere. How they got here was most likely by a lightspeed method few have heard of. "Sir, what do we do about that ship? It isn't on any records." A battle droid pilot asks his commander.
The battle droids are just machines, so they can't register shock or awe, but they are still surprised by the unexpected arrival. Lok Durd thought for a few seconds on the new arrivals and makes a decision. "Hail them. I want to know who they are." Durd orders.
The battle droid next to him nods and starts work on it. Suddenly, the lights flare up on the other ship and the blue holographic projection of a tall man in a military uniform appears. "Greetings, I am Reginald Quince of the UNSC. May I ask who you are?" he asks in accented Basic.
The calm tone in his voice made Durd a little irritated and after trying to make himself look intimidating, makes his statement, "I am Lok Durd of Confederacy of Independent Systems. If you are from the Unknown Regions, then surrender your ship now or you will be blown to pieces."
Reginald looks confused for a second, then frowns deeply and looks down at the Neimoidian. "You think I'll just surrender my people to you without a fight? I've seen your type, and know that you're the worst brand of coward. If you want a fight, you're sure as hell getting one. See you later, 'Turd.'" With that, the transmission cuts off.
Lok Durd is in shock. Never has anyone spoken to him that, and that word 'turd.' Whatever that meant, it was obviously an insult. That transformed Lok's shock into hatred for this 'UNSC.' "Keep the Republic busy. I want all the Providence ships attacking that newcomer now. Set turbolazers to full charge and prepare boarding parties. We will kill the crew and take the ship for the CIS." His tone is steady, but full of hate. The droids immediately leap into action, carrying out the general's orders.
Galactic Republic Venator-class Star Destroyer 'Warhead', orbiting Esfandia
After mere moments of silence, the stalemate breaks, and the remaining 5 Providence-class destroyers start flying right at the strange ship, their fleets keeping the Republic's forces occupied. The Providence destroyers start firing at the strange ship, but are missing. Before Kenobi or anyone else can suggest a new course of action, the most unexpected thing happens. The very front of the ship starts glowing white, then a beam of pure white energy rockets towards the Providence destroyers. What shocks and amazes all of the Republicans* is that this beam pierces the Providence ship's energy shields like they're warm cheese and punches through 2 of the ships at the same time. Their reactors immediately go critical, followed by both ships exploding in large balls of fire.
There is another pause in the ship's assault before the rest of the CIS fighters return to the 3 remaining Providence destroyers, which are now trying to flee as quickly as possible, the strange ship firing their strange weaponry on them and damaging the CIS ships considerably. As soon as all of the droid fighters are on board, the destroyers enter hyperspace and leave the battle they have sorely lost.
"Sir. The unknown ship is hailing us." One of the clone technicians said to Kenobi.
"Answer it."
The clone nods and hits the right buttons, and on the projection table, a tall man with short hair and wearing a military formfitting suit appears, hands behind his back. "Greetings. My name is Reginald Quince, Captain of the UNSC starship 'Argo.' May I know who you are, and have a nicer answer than your opponent gave?" he asks in Basic, a strange accent evident in his voice, staring at the group warily as if expecting one of them to attack him or act suspiciously.
The clones start looking at each other, confused. They have never heard of a 'UNSC' before now. Even Obi-Wan is confused, but he doesn't show it. "Very well, you may. I am Obi-Wan Kenobi, Jedi Master and General of the Grand Army of the Galactic Republic. I assume that you are not allied with the CIS?" Obi-Wan asks, just to be absolutely sure.
"Allied with that shithead? He tried to intimidate me into surrendering my ship and crew, and look where that got him. No, I won't prod those assholes with a 39-and-a-half-foot pole."
Obi-Wan strokes his beard in thought. This is a government from the Unknown Regions, so the Senate would most likely want to meet the heads of this 'UNSC' and whoever they are allied with, but should he bring them to the Republic's headquarters? Obi-Wan then reminded himself that they are not with the CIS. If anything, they are already enemies of the CIS, so for now, it's a safe bet to say they are friendly. "Of course. I would like you to come with us to our home planet, Corusant. The Galactic Senate would be most eager to meet you. If you do come with us, I promise full protection of your people and property."
The Captain, Reginald, let out a sigh of relief. "Agreed. I'll put my leaders on speaker and you chaps lead the way. Cheerio." With that, the transmission cut off.
"General, what do you make of this first contact?" A clone asks, sounding anxious.
Obi-Wan briefly thinks about it, and only 1 thing comes to mind. "I believe…that the Clone Wars will forever be changed." He answers as he watches the Republic fighters returning to their respective ships.
AN: So, this is a new story, and my take on a Halo and Star Wars crossover.
I have been looking forward to working on this for a while, and have an idea on how it's going to go, while using both Star Wars and Halo lore. To clear up any confusion, the Halo Galaxy composes the entire Unknown Regions, which is surrounded by a weak magnetic field that kept them apart for so long.
*No, I am not talking about the American Republican party. I am not sure how to refer to all those loyal to the Galactic Republic, Jedi, clones and everyone else, so in this story, they will collectively be referred to as Republicans.
PS: If you got all the references I put in this chapter, you're pretty good.
I will see you next time when things get heated up.