December 16th

2583

Docking Bay Zeta

30 klicks from UNSCPF Department, Eposz

Reach

14:15 UNSC time

3rd Person POV:

The colony transport sets down on the docking bay, and as the doors creak open, allowing the people who have taken Reach as their new home start steeping out and conversing with each other.

Among the crowd are the dark-haired Richard Deckerson, Alice Lovell, and two others. "Wow, look at those mountains. That would make an awesome scene in one of my movies." Jax Jonez says, running to the edge of the docking bay and looking out at the mountains stretching out as far as he can see.

His partner sighs. "Jax, we are not here to film one of your movies. We are here on business."

Deckerson looks out at the rolling landscapes, shaking his head at the mere idea that it was barren wastelands and ravaged by war decades before. "We're here. Let's get to work." Looking back and watching as the colonists are getting onto civilian transports to be moved to the big cities, the quartet sneak their way through the crowd, using them as cover from the squad of marines on the base. As they near the entrances of the transports, they swerve to the right and pass by the marines altogether.

Once they slip past the crowds, they make their way towards the parked and unoccupied Warthog. While the nearby marines are standing around and talking, Lovell runs towards the drivers' side of the Warthog while her companions jump in as well. Lovell gets herself settled and pulls the ignition. The Warthog charges to life and she drives forward, while the marines dodge to the side and stare at them with bewildered looks.

Lovell continues driving down the wilderness of Reach, driving on the edges of cliffs which overlook vast cities or military outposts. All the while, Jax is whooping with joy in the back and taking pictures of pretty much everything he can. This happens for over a half hour as they continue driving until they turn around another corner and arrive at a small farm. Once Lovell notices the farm, she takes her foot off the gas petal and lets the Warthog come to a stop a mere 10 feet from the nearest building.

"What is this place?" Deckerson asks once he gets out of the passengers' seat and places both his hands in his long jacket, looking around warily.

"It looks like an old farm that was built after a model used during the Great War." Dylan replies, also getting out. "It seems like no one has lived here in years." She then looks to the former cop and officer. "Tell me, what exactly brought us here?"

"We were attacked by both Gecko brothers a few days ago." Deckerson replies, still staring at the farm. "They had identification cards that allowed them to get around without being noticed. After I consulted an old friend and asked him to tell me what the fake identities went to, and he told me that they were farmers from this system. Something's here." With that, he pulls out his special magnum pistol and checks to see how much ammo he has.

"I see." Dylan answers, also looking at the farm with wariness. "Well, then we go in."

"Alright, we will split up to cover more ground. Officer, I would like it if you would accompany me while we investigate the main building. Ms. Andrews, Mr. Jonez, if you could investigate the courtyard.

"Nuh-uh." Jax says, looking at them. "Seriously? Splitting up in an abandoned shack? Are you trying to impersonate every horror movie ever?"

"We don't have time for this." Deckerson mumbles, holding his pistol in front of him as he walks toward the building in front of him, Alice close behind. They enter the main building and look around quickly. The only sound that can be heard is the occasional drip of water. "Clear." The duo continues walking through the building and searching for anything that can tie anything back to the Gecko brothers.

After nearly 10 minutes, they find nothing but rusting farming tools and the occasional footprints in the thick dust, which could be anyone. "There's something here; we just aren't looking in the right places." Alice mutters, then notices a door on their left, which is closed. Curious, she walks towards the door and tries to open it, but quickly realizes that the door is locked.

"Step back." Deckeron says, then walks towards the door and kicks with his left leg. The aging door crashes open in an instant, clanging loudly against the far wall. Holding up his pistol, Deckerson walks in and looks around for anything out of the ordinary.

"Wow." Alice mutters as she looks around. Around them are fresh crates filled with bullets, rations, medical supplies, and more. In front of them is a single window where a single sniper rifle is just lying there, waiting. Alice walks towards it and picks up the sniper rifle looking at it closely. "This is military grade. I wasn't aware that marines were stationed here."

"They weren't." Deckerson replies. Alice looks towards her partner and notices him standing next to a moving station with a computer on top that looks like a computer found on UNSC warships. "This is a monitoring system. It's hotwired to pick up UNSC transmissions and has the coding needed to decipher it. Along with Republic transmissions as far as Eridamus II. We are standing in the middle of an Insurrection fortress."

Alice looks around, still holding on to her sniper rifle. "I don't get it. If we are standing in the middle of an enemy fortress, where are the soldiers?"

"Don't know. But judging by how clean these crates are, they couldn't have departed the base more than a day ago." Just then, they hear a loud creaking behind them. Deckerson turns around and fires his magnum pistol into a metal closet hanging open ajar in the corner. A loud shout of pain emerges from inside and a darker-skinned man wearing a black jacket, jeans and a marine's helmet painted black falls to the ground. Deckerson walks towards the man and looks him over. He then pulls out another magnum pistol and notices a patch sewn onto the shoulders of the jacket; a symbol of a red fist.

"The Insurrection are here." Alice states, also noticing the patch. Suddenly, they hear sounds of guns clicking comes from in front of them and a half dozen men and women wearing the same attire as their dead comrade walk in, holding up black battle rifles. Then in walks another woman wearing a thick black chestplate over standard ODST armor, with her long blonde hair that have streaks of grey mixed in pulled back into a ponytail.

"Officer Richard Deckerson. It's nice to finally meet the man who is known throughout the Insurrection as Mr. Nighttime." Veronica Dare says, smiling a little.

Alice looks at her partner in shock, while the older man holds his pistol at her head. "I don't go by that name anymore."

"Really? Shame." Veronica says, looking at him with a disappointed look. "You see, I always respected you for your courage; you are one of the only police officers to manage to put down entire Insurrection cells alone. My men even consider you a one-man slaughterhouse."

"I'm glad to see you still see me as that man." Deckerson says, then pulls out his magnum and fires in all directions. The Insurrectionist soldiers are caught off-guard by the sudden attack, screaming in pain as they fall onto the ground. Veronica pulls out her own magnum pistol and fires back at him. Deckerson dodges to the side, slips a new clip of bullets into his magnum after discarding his old one, and they start circling each other, firing their weapons with the intent to kill.

All the while, Alice dodges behind a crate full of ammunition and fires at a nearby soldier. The close range of the sniper shot knocks the soldier into the far wall, blood splattering the far wall. Despite the best efforts of Veronica, the younger Richard manages to charge towards Veronica, only wincing when she manages to shoot him in the shoulder with her pistol, and the two fall out of the building and crash into the courtyard.

Deckerson just lays on the ground, staring up into the sky as a dozen more Insurrection soldiers surround him, pointing their battle rifles at his face. "Holy shit. It's Mr. Nighttime." One of the soldiers says, staring at the black-haired officer with horror.

They never got to say another word before Alice runs towards the window and starts firing her sniper rifle on the soldiers. They look up and start firing back, their shots missing when Alice backs into her cover.

'They must be new recruits. Most Insurrectionists aren't this bad.' Deckerson realizes before he spins onto his feet, ejecting his old clip and clicking in his last clip of ammunition before firing upon the soldiers. Three of them are immediately killed and the rest split their focus between their two enemies, but Deckerson dodges to the side, ducking behind a solid wall.

"Well, it's good to see you are still alive." Dylan says, her hands and feet bound by aging rope next to Jax.

Richard ignores her sarcastic remark and steps out from behind cover, firing several more shots. The last of the Insurrection soldiers fall to the ground, blood splattering the ground. "Woah, pyrotechnics." Jax says, glee in his voice. "Hey, do you mind if you could be in one of my movies? You could easily be the rugged action hero."

"No." Deckerson says, then grabs a combat knife from one of the deceased soldier's corpses and cuts the ropes binding Dylan and Jax.

"Thanks." Dylan says, rubbing her wrists before looking at the corpses in the aging courtyard. "Strange. There was nothing of value here and these soldiers were not nearly as well trained as some I've heard of."

"This is a rallying point." Deckerson says, the pieces coming together in his mind. "My best guess is that the Insurrection wants to attack a major research facility on Reach. These rookies were the advance team." He then hisses in pain and grips his bleeding shoulder wound.

"Hold on." Dylan says, walking towards Deckerson and pulling out a vial of biofoam and sticking it in the wound. Deckerson lets out another hiss of pain before the biofoam enters his body and seals the wound.

"Thanks. I didn't know you carried canisters of biofoam around."

"Well, since I'm a front-lines reporter, I need to bring some form of first aid. Unfortunately for Jax, he got shot in a bad place on his back."

"You mean…"

"That's right." Dylan replies quickly, not wanting to get into this conversation much longer.

Before any of them could figure out how to proceed with their investigation, they hear a loud booming echo above them. The trio run out of the rotting building to watch a damaged CIS warship, glowing orange from entering the atmosphere, fly directly above them and crash into the base of a cliff side coated in ice many klicks away. "What is going on now?" Deckerson asks, suspecting that a long day is ahead of him.

Babd Catha Ice Shelf

Reach

14:40 UNSC time

Ahsoka Tano lets out a long groan as she sits up and looks around, noticing her comrades lying on the ground and small fires flickering here and there on the ground.

The last thing she remembers is beginning the search for the Separatist general Grevious. She remembers running down the winding corridors as the CIS warship tilted onto its side before crashing into solid ground, knocking her out once her face slapped the ground.

Immediately, she sits up and starts running towards the clones. "Ugh." Rex groans as he sits up and rubs his helmet. "I feel like a clacker punched me in the head."

"Glad to see you haven't lost your sense of humor, Captain." Ahsoka says, helping him to his feet.

"We better get moving." Chief says, walking towards them and has a battle rifle slung over his shoulder. "FLEETCOM has just alerted me that General Grevious has ordered all Separatist warships to land on Reach and secure the planet and reinforcements to arrive."

"Well, then we better find that bucket of bolts and end the Clone Wars while we can." Rex says, grabbing a nearby blaster rifle and picking it up. The clones who didn't get crushed by wreckage from Separatist transports also shakily get to their feet and grab their weapons.

"So, what do we do now?" Ahoksa asks, already having an idea on what to do but also wanting somebody else's opinion.

"We split up." Rex says. "Chief, you lead three clones to the nearest base. Gather as many men as we can; we will need all the help we can get. Ahsoka, and the rest of you sleepyheads, you're with me. I know this won't be easy, but we have been in the worst situations and come out tougher. Let's show the Separatists what we are made of and send them packing once and afor all."

The clones cheer in triumph from Rex's short speech, but they are interrupted when a deep voice cuts through the cheers. "Lavernius Tucker."

Everyone suddenly stops cheering, turning towards a hole in the docking bay the size of General Grevious. Standing in the middle of that hole is a man that could easily be described as intimidating, because of his black armor covered with red lines that stand out from his armor, a long beam rifle that is covered in a glowing blue light. His helmet has a blood red visor and a noticeable horn on top. "Who are you?" Rex asks, pointing his rifle at the intruder.

The man just stares at the clone, silent for several long moments. Before Rex can ask again, the man speaks. "I am no one. I am only someone to those I seek. And I seek to serve Lavernius Tucker."

"Wait, Tucker? As in that aqua-armored soldier who has a notorious reputation of being the galaxies' worst ladies' man?" Ahsoka asks, confusion in her voice.

"…Yes. And we will not see each other again until I meet Lavernius Tucker." With that, the man activates a jetpack on his back and jumps out of their sight.

"Well, that certainly wasn't creepy." One of the clones remarks as he lowers a blaster rifle.

"You know what? I've heard rumors that the Reds and Blues were placed on bases here on Reach in case they were needed." Ahsoka remarks, checking her battle rifle and clicking it.

"I will take point, recruiting them." Chief speaks up, then runs out of the hole the man left from. The clones under Chief's command also start running out, trying to keep pace with the aging Spartan.

Sword Base Outpost One

Reach

14:50 UNSC time

"Ah! Die, shithead!" Dexter Grif shouts, firing his Grif Shot at a B1 battle droid, the explosion sending the screaming droid falling down to the grassy ground.

Directly in front of Grif are another four B1 droids who look up at the orange soldier and begin firing, until they were all run over by a passing Warthog, firing grenades from the gunner's mount. "Come on, Grif. You've got this." Richard Simmons shouts from the gunner's seat before driving off to the right and out of sight.

"What does it matter? Keep shooting!" Agent Washington screams back as he fires his battle rifle at the head of a B2 battle droid, saving the life of a red soldier.

All around them, at the two enormous bases situated to accommodate the entire Red and Blue armies, the Reds and Blues are firing weapons of all makes, ranging from UNSC sniper rifles and rocket launchers to Covenant needlers, at the approaching army of battle droids. Luckily, the simulation troopers had their MJOLNIR armor upgraded so as to accommodate a basic energy shield comparable to the Mark IV armor, so the blaster shots that do hit home merely glance off of their armor.

Wash continues firing his battle rifle, dismantling another B1 droid before his rifle clicks. "Damn it! I'm out of ammo!"

"So am I!" Agent Carolina shouts, ducking behind the wall and throwing her battle rifle aside.

"What do we do? We're doomed. Doomed!" One of the blue soldiers shouts before a blaster shot from a B2 droid sends him flying into the far wall. "Ow."

"We need a plan to stop these things from killing us." Wash shouts as he pulls out a frag grenade, pulls out a clip and throws it. Several more battle droids scream in pain.

"Wash, I got a plan." Colonel Sarge says over the comms line. "It's time we made our worst enemy work for us."

"Do I really want to know what you are up to?" Carolina asks, dread in her voice.

"No, you don't fucking want to!" Simmons shouts on the same line, making Carolina wince.

"[Please no.]" Lopez says on the same line, a little panic in his voice.

Then, above them, the metal that protects the command center on the second-floor smashes outward and a single Warthog drives out, heading straight for a single line of B1 droids and a droideka. "Suck it, Newton!" Sarge shouts as the Warthog crashes on the ground, smashing through the droideka and even more droids go down when the grenade launcher on the back begins firing upon them.

"Ha! Take that, you stupid sticks." A blue soldier shouts. Then, from in the distance, another wave of battle droids march towards the lone base, stomping on the scraps of their comrades or the occasional corpse of a simulation trooper.

"Uh-oh." Sarge says, then gets out of the Warthog and starts running for the base, accompanied by Simmons and Lopez before the droid's combined laser fire destroys the vehicle.

"Guess what? Global warming is fake news and the Holocaust never happened, you cockbites!" He adds before laughing hysterically. Unfortunately for him, a sniper droideka fires a blaster shot, which impacts the soldier whose personal deflector shields are drained. He gags from the shot in the chest before falling back.

"Oh my god, Bruce!" Another blue soldier shouts then tries running towards his comrade only to slip and fall. "Seriously? Did I step on that tube of super glue?"

Tucker laughs hysterically. "Great! We're all going to die here, surrounded by fucking idiots. This is just great."

The three Reds run up the ramp into the Forerunner-inspired facility and join the dozens of soldiers ducking behind cover, waiting for the end to come.

Suddenly, the ground rumbles beneath them and the sounds of a heavy gunshot goes off, causing many droids to shout in surprise followed by another series of gunshots.

"Oh my god! Sheila, you're alive!" Michael J. Caboose shouts from the second floor.

While most of the Red and Blue soldiers are confused by Caboose's statement, those who were stationed at Blood Gulch immediately stand up. In front of them is a field littered with battle droids of all makes along with a dozen Red and Blue soldier corpses, and rolling into the middle of the field is a Scorpion tank, the gunner's seat is being manned by a clone trooper in scraped-up armor and two more sitting on the front half of the tank. "Hey. Those assholes stole our tank!" A third Blue soldier shouts, staring at the tank incredulously.

Just then, the tank stops and all three clones jump out. The hatch opens up the Master Chief jumps out, and looks around. "Well, holy shit. It's the Master Chief." Wash says, a hint of awe in his voice.

"I wouldn't know." A red soldier pipes up, his voice extremely nasally. "I can't see anything. I forgot to put on my glasses."

"Shut up, Jermy." Another red soldier shouts. "I still haven't forgiven you for shooting me in the leg."

"Everyone, be quiet!" Carolina shouts. Both sides immediately stop talking, staring up at her in slight fear.

"Oh no. The Great Destroyer has returned. Repent. Repent!" Another soldier shouts.

Carolina ignores the outburst, and stands up before running out of the base, followed by the Reds and Blues. "Master Chief. It's good to see you, sir." Wash says once they reach the clones and the Spartan-II.

"How many are with you?" Chief asks.

"Well, we lost some troops, but over 50 of us are still alive."

"Good. I'll have the nearest base send some Warthogs to pick up the troops. We will need it."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sarge asks, curiously.

"FLEETCOM just got in contact. Grevious's transmission had reached a CIS outpost. Our ONI agents have confirmed that the CIS and Insurrection are amassing for a large-scale attack."

"Well, then, looks like we have a new enemy to fight! On to victory!" Sarge shouts, only to receive groans of frustration.

Jedi Temple Docking Bay

Jedi Temple

Coruscant

15:30 UNSC time

Jedi Master Mace Windu stares out at the sun from the vast Jedi Temple. All around him, Jedi Starfighters are being loaded up so the members of the Jedi Order can be redeployed to countless star systems across the galaxy.

As the Jedi Master continues staring out, fellow Jedi Anakin Skywalker walks towards his superior. "Master Windu. I have something to tell you of utmost importance." Anakin says.

Windu turns around, only to see the solemn look on Anakin's face. "Please, continue, Master Skywalker."

"Master, I have come to believe that Chancellor Palpatine is Darth Sidious, the Sith we have sought out for years."

Windu's eyes widen in shock. "Are you sure?"

"I am certain. The Dark Side is strong with the Chancellor, but he has learned to conceal it. But my close proximity to the Chancellor through time allowed me to see through his disguise."

Windu just stares at the younger Jedi in front of him. "You have done well, Master Skywalker. I shall lead several Jedi Masters and place the Chancellor under arrest."

As Windu walks off, Anakin's eyes widen. "But Master Windu. Why can't I be of assistance?"

"No, Skywalker. You have become too close to the Chancellor. I want you to stay in the High Council chamber until this matter has been dealt with."

"But…"

"I will tolerate no buts Anakin. We don't have time." With that, Windu marches down the hallways in search of fellow Jedi Masters to carry out the task. "I can only hope that we can save the galaxy from whatever fate Palpatine has in mind."

AN: Well, things are about to get real.

The Battle of Reach is about to occur and the arrest of Palpatine occurs. That's right; the beginning of the end is officially underway. As for a sequel to this story, I am still toying with that. But right now, I am not going to bother with one since I have so many other ideas I could work on.

Anyway, see you all next time when the Battle of Reach officially starts.