May 7th
20 BBY
12:10 pm UNSC time
Galactic Senate Chamber
Corusant
Nobody's POV:
The Republic, after 2 days, received word of the rather embarrassing defeat at the hands of both the UNSC and Swords of Sanghelios.
The battered Venators returned to Corusant, with Commander Colt leading them. Today, an emergency Senate meeting is being held to address the alarming change in events. In regards of the fall of one of their finest members, the Jedi High Council will also be present for the meeting.
"Greetings, glorious members of the Galactic Republic! We are here today to hear the report on what happened on the destruction of our former outpost in UNSC territory. Commander Colt, please step forward and tell us how the battle went." Chancellor Palpatine said, addressing the commander who is also a part of this meeting, something that doesn't happen very often.
"Of course, Chancellor. Everything seemed normal at first, the base was secured and we were gaining more control of the planet by the day. But after a while, we all heard an explosion, so I sent troops out to investigate. Our troops didn't report back and that's when it happened. UNSC troops in strange black armor, led by a man who is obviously a sergeant. The worst of them all, though, was a green-armored Spartan. He single-handedly wiped out hundreds of my brothers-in-arms as he made his way through our base and freeing some prisoners we took. He is quite possible the greatest soldier I've ever seen. His marksmanship skills make the mandalorians look rusty and used some kind of energy sword to kill Jedi General Adi Gallia in single combat. Only myself and a handful of soldiers escaped on a gunship that wasn't destroyed like our Venator was. Luckily or unluckily, a branch of the 385th clone legion was retreating from a Sangheili attack. We grouped up and fled altogether." Colt said, the memories of that fateful battle flashing through his mind.
The Senate and Jedi are silent, comprehending this news. "Thank you, Colt. You are dismissed." Palpatine said. Colt nods, his panel leaving the Senate hall.
"What will we do about this?" A senator demands, looking outraged at the report.
"The only thing we can do is continue our war against them." Palpatine said, looking troubled at the news. That statement only results in even more outbursts from the Senate, disagreement on what to do spreading like wildfire.
After a loud shout of "Order!" the noise dies away again.
"I confess to you all, my fellow members of the Senate, I do not know what we are truly up against. Which is why, from now on, we shall place a bounty on the heads of any UNSC Spartans we come across. That way, we can figure out who or what they are." Palpatine said.
For the next hour, the Senate debates on how high the bounty should be and agreement on figuring out who is mysterious Spartan was before the meeting is adjourned. The Jedi Council left and returns to the temple. Yoda, in the back of the group, looks at the vast city-scape of Corusant as they take a ship back and like every day before, he sighs dejectedly. Each day that the war lasts feels like a century to the old Jedi Grandmaster.
May 8th
9:36 am UNSC time
Supreme Chancellor's Private Office
Corusant
The very next morning, Shaak Ti, Windu and Yoda head to the Chancellor's office upon his request. Normally, they would have been informed of a meeting like this hours before, but this meeting was called on quick notice. Soon, the 2 Jedi enter the office and take their usual seats.
"Master Jedi. I'm sorry for this sudden meeting, but I bring urgent news from our fortress at Esfandia. We had received word from the planet that 2 UNSC warships have been sighted there for mysterious reasons. I have reason to believe the UNSC might start invading our fortress world, to start closing the distance between us and them." Palpatine responds.
The Jedi look at each other, slightly disturbed by this news. "Well, since Masters Skywalker and Kenobi are still fighting off a CIS invasion, I'll handle this matter. I shall lead a battle group to capture one of these ships. Who knows, we might use this opportunity to glean some much-needed information." Shaak Ti said.
"Thank you, Master Ti. May the Force be with you." Palpatine said. The Jedi in question stands up, bows in respect, and leaves.
11:24 am UNSC time
Orbiting Esfandia
Galactic Republic Acclamator-class cruiser
Shaak Ti is standing on her ship's bridge as it, along with 3 other Venators, pull out of hyperspace, coming up on the barren world of Esfandia. Sure enough, a sandy-colored ship and a Stalwart frigate are floating above the planet, perfectly still. The Jedi gets an idea of what's going on, she turns around to commander Colt, who volunteered to join the mission to redeem himself.
"Colt, relay the orders to scramble all fighters. We need to distract that ship before they find our base on the planet. Then have the ship turn 45 degrees to the starboard side, laying down cover fire. Finally, I want a gunship full of ARCs to go in and capture the ship. Since our astromechs can't gain access to the ship's database, we need the ship intact."
"Yes, General. All clones, get to your battle stations and defend the fighters. We're going in hot!" Colt said, his orders over the ship's comm lines.
After several tense minutes, the docking bays open up and all of the Republic's fighters fly out, as well as the fighters on the Venators. In response, the prowlers also let loose their fighters. The 2 groups are perfectly even in the fight, keeping them at a stalemate while the ARCs on a lone LAAT flies around the battle towards one of the prowlers. Once the Republic ships are properly aligned, they start opening fire on the prowler the LAAT is flying at. After a minute of concentrated fire, a hole is punched in the ship's armor, allowing the LAAT to fly in before the blast shields pull up.
'Let's hope they can do it.' Shaak Ti thinks, a tiny bit worried that something bad is about to happen. She has faith in the ARCs, but is unsure how they are in fighting UNSC troops. The battle goes on for several more minutes, the Republic finally gaining an edge over the UNSC due to the Republic's vastly superior numbers.
Suddenly, a clone technician runs up to the Jedi. "General, we are receiving a transmission from the prowler ship the ARCs infiltrated."
Nodding in gratitude, she walks to the holotable, with the projection flaring to life. Two ARC troopers are standing there, a man in a UNSC captain's uniform between them. "General, we have beat back UNSC forces and taken the controls of the ship." One of the ARCs said.
"Very good. Now, captain, do you have anything to say about your government? If you say something, I can promise you alleviated detainment time." Shaak Ti said calmly, hoping to end the violence as soon as possible.
The man looks at the Jedi and very rarely has she seen the determination burning in his eyes. "Never, Jedi. It is upon my head that I shall prevent anything from filling your shit-filled brains. Me nor my men will live to see the next day, but at least your men will go to hell with us." He said, suddenly twisting himself into action, pulling the ARC trooper on his left in front of him as he grabs a pistol and fires it at the other ARC. The transmission quickly cuts out.
"Send some soldiers to that ship now and start securing it. Whatever he was talking about, it can't be anything good." She said, a hint of alarm in her voice.
But before anyone can react, the prowler explodes in a cascade of red and orange. The force from the explosion sends fighters flying all directions and actually rocks the Acclamator faintly.
"He's gone mad!" Colt exclaims, realizing that the captain made his own ship's engine go critical. But Shaak Ti knew better. She realizes that they knew there was vital information on those ships and they would rather die like heroes than let it fall into enemy hands. As much as it pains her to think it, she actually gains some respect for the group.
After the UNSC and Republic fighters regain control of their ships, they immediately start fighting again. Until…
"General! We are picking up slipspace disturbances about 50 klicks behind the Stalwart." Another technician said, shaking the Jedi out of her stupor.
Sure enough, a giant slipspace ripple appears and 4 ships appear. Three of the ships are Halycon-class cruisers, but the 4th ship is the one that makes all of the Republic almost quake in fear. It's the infamous 'Pillar of Winter,' cousin to the Infinity, which is rumored to be cutting through the CIS like they're made of plastic.
Suddenly, the 'Pillar of Winter' opens one of its docking bays and a strange arrow-shaped ship is shot outward, flying out towards her Acclamator. The lone Jedi in this simple mission gets a warning from the Force, telling her that she needs to confront whoever's inside. "Colt, I'm leaving you in charge of the space battle. Make sure to keep pressure on our new guests while I take care of whoever just arrived." She said, leaving the bridge for the docking bay.
As she arrives, she feels a powerful suction towards the docking bay, which suddenly stops. Dreading what it means, she continues making her way to the bay where the ship is still, the point stuck in the ground. The clones still in the bay are pointing their rifles at it, expecting anything. Suddenly, the door bangs open, sending an unfortunate clone flying back. A man in thick, dark green armor jumps out, doing a front flip and shooting even more clones with a standard UNSC pistol before landing on his feet. He continues firing on the clones, killing them quickly while also running at the last one. Then, to Shaak Ti's horror, he punches the clone in the face, caving the helmet's front in and sending the man flying into the air before he falls to the ground, dead.
"Who are you?" Shaak Ti demands, activating her lightsaber.
The Spartan turns to Shaak Ti, also pulling out a cylinder and activating his Energy Sword. "My name is of no importance. But I am here to finish this fight." He said calmly before lunging at his opponent.
She raises her blade, blocking his strike, then they start dancing around the docking bay, blocking each other's strikes. Shaak Ti is impressed with his skill, but she decides to stop messing around and starts fighting harder than she had before. Eventually, she gets an idea and clangs her lightsaber between the 2 plasma blades, then she quickly uses the Force to push the Sword out of her opponent's hands. He quickly jumps back, scooping a dead clone's lazer rifle off the ground and firing it at her. She deflects the shots, but he gets closer and closer until he slams it into the Jedi's stomach. She feels several of her ribs crack under the pressure of the impact, something that is only possible through enhancements. Which normal Spartans don't have, but…
That's when it dawns on Shaak Ti who she's fighting as she's on her knees, gasping for any form of air. She needs to get this information back to the Republic as soon as possible. But as the legendary soldier lifts his new rifle, he turns his attention from her and starts firing straight ahead. The Jedi also turns around and is relieved to see Colt and dozens of clones and all of the ship's technicians firing at once. Master Chief wisely takes cover behind a crate, occasionally revealing himself to fire his rifle, killing a clone with each shot. Slowly, Shaak Ti uses the Force to regain her lightsaber and crawls away from the growing battle, only for 2 clones to pick her up. "Come on. We're getting out of here." Colt said as the group make their way towards one of the LAATs and boarding it. Instantly, the 2 clones start wrapping her in bandages as the others keep the Spartan II busy, but his shields take every ounce of lazer fire as he fires back, destroying one of the LAATs that contains all of the technicians and engineers.
Luckily, their particular LAAT is ready, as the blast doors close and the ship flies up into open space as the docking bay opens up. Suddenly, a horrible thought strikes the Jedi General. "Commander, the ship. If the UNSC gets any data from our ship…" She trails off.
"Don't worry, General. We took a leaf from the other captain's books and had the engineers rig the engines so the ship will explode in a few minutes." He said as the ship flies towards a Venator ship, which is already getting heavily damaged from the 'Pillar of Winter's' and the Stalwart's MAC cannons, which had already destroyed another Venator ship.
But luck turned to the Republic again, and a whole fleet of Republican ships flew off of Esfandia. They start firing at the ships, taking out UNSC fighters and severely weakening the Halycon ship's deflector shields. No one notices a single Pelican flying towards the barren Acclamator, pick up the Master Chief, and leave just as the cruiser also explodes. After the Pelican and any surviving fighters land on the Halycon ship, the 'Pillar of Autumn,' the UNSC ships and the 'Argo' enter slipspace and leave the battlefield.
Numerous cheers go off from inside the ship, the clones chanting a solid victory against the UNSC. After the noise dies down and most of the clones are at ease, one of them runs up to Shaak Ti, who is sitting up, but breathing through an oxygen device. "General, the Chancellor's calling. He wants to speak with you." He said.
She nods in understanding and slowly stands up, walking towards the bridge with the help of 2 clones. Once she arrives, she notices the Chancellor staring at her with Windu, Kenobi, Skywalker and Yoda at his side. "General Ti, I hope… oh my, are you alright?" He asks, noticing the bandages on her chest and the fact she's being supported by clones.
"Yes, Chancellor. I'm alright." She said calmly, but her voice is still full of pain.
"Who did this to you?" Windu asks bitterly, a grim look on his face as usual.
"The Spartan who wiped out the base on Hope. I figured out who he is. He's the toughest soldier in UNSC history, the one they call 'Master Chief.' He wiped out clones like they're…"
"Calm yourself, Master Ti. Explain from the beginning, can you?" Yoda interrupts her rant, looking at her with interest.
"Of course, Master Yoda. We found the scout ships, which were trying to find our base on Esfandia. We captured one of their ships when the captain went suicidal and blew up his ships, killing an entire squad of ARC troops. After a while, things go well, but then 4 new UNSC ships join the fight; one of which was the 'Pillar of Winter' I heard about. They tore through our fighters like crazy, but to speed up the battle, they sent Master Chief and I fought him. Master Windu, I think if he was fighting with everything he had, he could beat you. He punched me once when he got close and he left me like this. Luckily, all of the Republic forces on Esfandia joined the fight and successfully drove the UNSC away."
A moment of silence passes as everyone tries to digest this news. "Excellent work, General Shaak Ti. You have done a great service for the Republic today. But the troubling news is how dangerous the Spartans are." Palpatine says.
"Indeed, Chancellor. But I think I know how we can gain a much-needed break in this war." Obi-Wan Kenobi said, dtroking his beard.
"Let's hear it, Master." Anakin Skywalker said, a hint of impatience in his voice.
"Well, before this war broke out, I gained basic knowledge of the UNSC. The most sensitive piece of knowledge I know is that the Spartans started on a planet called Reach, but I don't know its location. If the Spartans got augmentations on that planet, we might figure out the biggest mystery: How did the UNSC's technology jump ahead centuries in a matter of decades?" He said.
The air in the bridge is thick as everyone tries to wrap their heads around that piece of news.
AN: More MC action!
I know I could have allowed him to kill Shaak Ti, she needs to live for now. But later…harder to say. Thank you all for the support you have given me and know that next chapter, a whole new element I've been looking forward to writing about appears.
See you all next time!
PS: I will not update next week. I am way too busy right now so I'm going to take a break until everything simmers down a little.