Hey guys, theotherpianist is back with another chapter. I apologize for the wait and can only hope that this chapter is just compensation. Thank you to Lord Razer for his submitted OC that is making his debut appearance. I am more than happy to work with you to weave in any ideas for characters and subplots. And additionally thanks to author gwb99 for his work in beta-reading. Just a reminder that more betas make better stories.
Without further ado sit back and grab some popcorn.
Chapter 10
CSO Supercarrier
Upper Orbit of Coruscant:
Thirty-five minutes after hostile contact with the Storm:
General Rho 'Nosom
"Status report!" roared the General as the massive vessel descended into the skies of Coruscant amidst dueling ships on both sides.
"Still no word from Fleetmaster 'Vadum! A dozen more ships have slipped in! They look like they're trying to evacuate the survivors of their attack."
"Run through what systems we have." he ordered.
"We've regained control of communications, internal and external security measures, weapons, and all other systems. Still no read from propulsion. We're stuck here for the moment."
"General we've located the Fleetmaster. He's alive, but he needs medical attention."
General 'Nosom placed the voice as the Commander he had sent to find out Fleetmaster 'Vadum's condition. He had lost contact twenty minutes ago and he was getting worried. News that he was alive gave him relief, but only a little.
"Get him what he needs ASAP."
"How are the Huragok doing?"
"Working as fast as possible." Engineering replied. "They report that they're efforts to repair things have been hampered by the virus in our ship."
'Nosom growled. The moment this battle was over he was going to make an official inquiry into how their greatest asset became a sitting duck. Never mind how the Covenant had managed to plant their filthy feet inside this deck. He sat in the most powerful worship that was made into a paperweight. The Republic wouldn't take the threat of this ships so seriously anymore.
"By the gods! Can we not do anything?" he growled frustrated gritting his mandibles. As he looked to see another dozen ships immediately appear and start engaging the Republic/Allied Species Ships.
"We can't! We'll hit the planet and cause more collateral damage! There are trillions on this planet!"
"Get me a link to Admiral Hood, the Arbiter, anybody!" he bellowed unable to contain his fury.
He reflected on the situation at hand. He hated to admit it, but the Storm had taken everyone by surprise. They had all been suckered, and he hated it. The majority of the fleet had engaged the Storm forces in atmosphere but had to contend with someone or something being in the line of fire. Not to mention the problem civilian traffic had become, as the lines of sky traffic turned into chaos. This, combined with how crowded the Republic had left the atmosphere, left them without room to maneuver and thus to be taken advantage of when a second wave of reinforcements arrived. The reinforcements had taunted them by periodically blasting their energy projectors at random into the ground vaporizing lines of Galactic city.
"General! Explosion on the ground! Big!"
"Show it to me!"
Several commands were tapped into a console and the General watched in mute shock as an explosion resembling that made by one of their anti-matter bombs vaporized and left a sizeable area a crater.
"Anti-matter?" he said dreading the answer.
"Confirmed. It must have come from one of their ships."
"We have propulsion!" Engineering announced.
"Thank the Forerunners! Get this ship into orbit!" Burn their ships to dust!"
He turned and felt a sinking sensation stomach as he turned in the direction of the weapons officer and prepared to take things into his own hand as the Supercarrier descended to an altitude above the ships.
"I want you to transfer manual weapons control to me! I'm going to knock them out myself!"
"Doing so!" the Sangheili warbled in his native tongue.
'Nosom strode over to a holopad and typing a few commands took control of the Supercarrier's weaponry and pulled up a large viewscreen giving him a birds-eye view of the fleet still glassing. They were expanding and engaging the Republic's ships on the far end. They were having mix success but the Republic was not devoting enough ships to keep them contained.
"Order the Republic out of the way." he ordered angrily as the carrier moved above the surface of the megalopolis.
"Right away!"
'Nosom took a breath and prayed that his nerve or hand wouldn't flinch.
"Firing plasma torpedoes."
He fired three, each directed for a CCS Battlecruiser.
"Fleetmaster! The lead vessel is reported to ve carrying some of our scientists and valuable data! Abort your fire!" someone yelled.
He cursed and felt a lump as he tried to force the direction of the torpedoes away from the CCS Battlecrusiers. They simply weren't moving fast enough away. There were no other enemy targets but the Republic's vessels and a group of highrise apartment buildings. Either he would risk losing valuable data, hundreds of lives of the Republic's military, or thousands of civilians most likely stuck hiding in their apartment buildings.
The gods have mercy on him...the Republic still hadn't moved.
The plasma torpedo streaked downwards ever on wards towards a target.
He suddenly made up his mind and slammed his fist on the controls. It veered to the rear of the lead Battlecruiser. The torpedo glanced off the rear still inflicting damage but spiraling towards a highrise apartment building.
He prayed no one was in that building as it exploded and sent spiraling columns of smoke, metal, glass, and fire in every direction.
"Report!" he yelled as the rest of the plasma hit their mark causing explosions to chain down two of them as their shields gave out and the plasma ate its way inside.
"Storm vessels are trying to retreat! They're pulling all ground units out!" Said an Officer.
"Move the ships to cut off atmospheric escape and launch boarding parties. See if there are any more Phantoms that can be pulled to put out the fires." As an afterthought he added, "There will be infantry left on the ground still, deploy search and kill teams on board.
"It is done."
He allowed him self a small smile of satisfaction as the Storm suddenly became very nervous about the idea of going toe to toe with a larger navy, there advantage of surprise worn off.
He was interrupted by a frantic Minor.
"Fleetmaster! They're trying to jump to Slipspace!"
The Fleetmaster cursed as he realized they had been sucker punched. He had completely ruled out using slipspace in atmosphere. He growled as their lack of honor showed through with their cowardly tactics.
"Order everyone a safe distance away! Weapons, do we have a lock?"
"We do but it's not positive! Radiation from their drives is scrambling it!"
"Fire Sentinel probes one through nine, I want to know where they're going! If they flee without retribution, they will be back!"
Rtas was referring to an invention of the UNSC's making that had been adapted on the other warships. The Mk. 2 Slipspace Transmitting Location Device. A small object that was specifically hardened to penetrate within the hull of a vessel and use real time coordinate data, transferred through Slipspace. If there was to be any hope for striking back it had to be taken now.
Moments later a SpecOps Unggoy confirmed they had hit their mark and were transmitting.
There was still the problem of how to stop them from flattening an even larger section of the planet with a Slipspace jump.
Suddenly he had a moment of inspiration.
"Helm! Quickly, get us behind and underneath the Cruisers!"
"What?"
"Do it! We don't have time!"
The Supercarrier lurched as it dove for the surface before suddenly straightening out. The Storm suddenly had to force themselves heading towards space to avoid being crushed by the behemoth warship. He smiled as they had to force themselves out of the way and put-off their jump a little longer.
"Shields full forward!"
And then the massive maws of a ship transferring to slipspace appeared right in front of them. The effect of it in atmosphere was enormous creating an enormous blast and shockwave the Supercarrier weathered out alone. After a blinding flash of light, the ships that had just been trying to exact revenge were gone. The situation was being repeated in orbit as well from the sound of the Battle-Net.
He sighed as the threat of the enemy dissipated almost as quickly as they had arrived.
"General? The Arbiter's hailing you."
The General grit his mandibles and prepared himself for the worst.
"Answer it."
Allied Species Phantom
Senatorial District of Coruscant
Minutes after Storm Retreat:
Zek Lhar was bored. He should've been excited, a chance to get off the massive boat off a warship that he had been stuck on for the past few months but nevertheless as he adjusted the removable scope fitted to his right eye he was bored scanning the surface looking for any straggling Storm. He hated being stuck on this Forerunner forsaken rock. He saw a flicker of movement below, double checking for the profile of a Storm Elite he lazily pointed the gun and fired. The accelerated ionized hydrogen gas left a flash for a second before the Elite collapsed to the ground, a smoking hole through its eye.
He thought for a moment about the rumors that circulated around him. He was seen as a legend by those aspiring to be the best marksmen in the galaxy. The biggest was that he had killed a Spartan II, the actual truth was that he had killed a Spartan III on Reach but who cared, killing one of the best warriors in the galaxies tended to get the perfect amount of respect and push to get his way in anything, which in fact he did.
The Skirmisher put the weapon down and complained to the others surrounding him.
"How long are we going to be stuck on this stupid rock?"
A Sangheili from behind muttered a reply of "however long it takes."
Zek flashed an angry glance his way that the Elite ignored. If he had his way he wouldn't be here but rather on a ship of his own doing what he and his race did best, pirating. He felt a surge of anger towards the Sangheili. He had a long stemming hatred of the Sangheili stemming back from when he had been on his homeworld when the Covenant had made a surprise "visit" and had forced the induction of the Skirmisher sub-species into the war with Humanity. He had refused and the Zealot had promptly assassinated his family on the spot and his career as a fun-loving pirate who was always one for action had suddenly ended. His love for any Sangheili died with his family that day.
He had been forced with his ship to take action on Reach where almost all of the Skirmishers were killed in some way or another. That battle had changed him. He had forgone his sense of daring and adrenaline seeking for a cold, calculating, personality almost like that of a Mercenary.
He had a growing dislike of the UNSC stemming from his belief that they were overstepping their bounds of authority. It had been the Human race and the Sangheili that had the best of things when all was said and done, the Brutes were still regressing into tribal states, the Unggoy were still cowards as ever, and the rest of the species had generally been left behind to serve as pawns for both sides. While it was true the Allied Species was a growing attempt to equalize he believed they would never be equal. The Kig-Yar and Skirmisher sub-species had done things as they always had without causing a conflict that spanned almost a quarter of a galaxy and never caused problems to the degree that Humans and Sangheili had.
The Sangheili, particularly the Storm, were idiots, morons for believing that the Forerunners were meant to save all of them through a "Great Journey". And when the news came of the fraudulent nature of it he had laughed in derision, mocking those that had believed. From the start of the Great-War he had tread a very careful path along the line of being called a heretic coming close to being silenced numerous times due to his general outspoken opinion on the Covenant religion, the incident with the Spartan helped save him during those tensest moments, even, when he lost his temper with a group of Sangheili in the aftermath of the fall of the Human Colony and killed all ten of them, in cold blood.
Due to his impressive service record he was got off free of guilt and responsibility, even managing to get the Major overseeing the group in trouble and shipped off to a Sangheili prison when, in fact, he had been innocent and had nothing to do with the incident. He had later been sold out by an Unggoy for it and had thus developed a intense dislike of the species.
As the Phantom banked he felt a minor discomfort crawling all around him, one that made his breath catch for a moment and make him want to writhe. This discomfort was perhaps the greatest kept secret that any part of ONI had. Not even construction of the Infinity had rivaled this. To his knowledge, the only people that knew anything was ONI Project Freelancer and one or two other individuals. Originally it had been designed as a experiment to put the average human into armor and ready to beat the Spartan Project in every aspect.
However, there had been a darker side to it. When the word had reached him that the Project needed Skirmisher test subjects to try out a method of augmentation found in a Forerunner Combat skin (from which the Generation II Prefect and Focus armor variants for Spartan IV's had been developed) he had volunteered to try out having nanobots embedded within him into his own "Personal" armor skin of his own.
To his horror he had realized too late it was a ploy by a mad scientist Sangheili that ultimately cost his other subjects an extreme amount of pain before death.
Even thinking about it caused him to feel instantly nauseous and he had to clear his head aboard the Phantom before anyone realized.
All of them had met this grisly end except Zek. He didn't know why, how, or what, but what he did know was when he was off the operating table trembling and shaking from all the pain and rage he had found he had lost it then and promptly murdered the Scientist and the team with levels of strength and speed that had never been seen before.
An ONI Black Ops team had found him curled up in a corner terrified of what he had done. They had given him a way to fulfill his desire to be a Mercenary and a clean slate. He took it and was consistently ONI's perfect assassin, lithe, nimble, lethal, but most importantly, better than any Spartan. And so he spent his days tied to the Intel Group and on a tight leash. At least a dozen terrorist cells had vanished because of him, taken by surprise from his nature and abilities.
He had become dissatisfied quickly because of their treatment of him and on a mission decided to leave right then and there and sever contacts with the Humans. He had joined a Pirate Crew which had then been promptly hired to fight a war here, on this rock. Plenty of places to get lost. He cursed again as he thought about his current situation.
The experiment wasn't completely bad though, the nanites used in manipulating the armor had bolstered his physical capabilities incredibly and on occasion he had the experience where he swore he could feel another individual's thoughts. The downside was he could never remove his armor completely. That would blow his secret to success wide open...
A Storm Jackal poked his head out from underneath a pile of rubble and felt himself tumbling head over heels as his hard was ripped out from another shot from Zek.
He gazed boredly out of the Phantom listening to the idle chatter. There was a growing rumor that somehow the Forerunners had left a mark in this galaxy, particularly among the Zealot, two of them were discussing it now.
"I don't understand brother, we were called here to the edge of a portal because the UNSC found something, yet there not willing to share what it is.
"Are you trying to suggest the Humans are trying to back-stab us? You know that the Human race is naturally wary of us right now, what with the Reclamation Conflict and everything going on. How could they not trust us?"
"I wonder whether it was Forerunner."
"Nonsense. We've only been deployed so far looking for communication data on that heathenish planet we burned. No I think we're looking for something valuable only to the UNSC."
"Bah Rek', you and your conspiracy theories."
He tuned them out as he went back to scanning the ground and promptly saw a Storm Zealot clawing on the ground. He was about to eliminate it when someone yelled at him to stop.
"That one is a prisoner." growled the Sangheili in charge.
The Phantom turned and started descending towards them.
The troops had disembarked and walked up to the wounded Zealot who was shamefully begging for mercy.
"You, growled an Ultra. How did you infiltrate? Why did you attack? Answer me this coward!" he roared shaking it.
"Please, I don't know how but there is a spy in your ranks on the Supercarrier! We were sent here because the Didact's hand ordered us to cause a war between you and the Republic and to get to the planet specified in the data you recovered!" Zek wanted nothing more than to shoot the miserable creature.
"Why?!" roared the Ultra again.
He opened to make a reply when a needle flew from no where and smashed through his eye. He twitched and died as it found his brain.
"Snipers! Find cover!" roared one of the Zealots.
Zek turned and scanned the skyline and with another fluid motion sent a Jackal toppling off a skyscraper before it hit the ground hidden by the distance.
They were suddenly in a firefight on all sides as a group of Ragtag Storm made themselves visible with weapons firing fully automatic.
Zek took the initiative and bounded away jumping behind a Elite before impaling it with the sword on its hip. It let out a gurgled cry and slumped to the Earth. He ran again another two struggling to catch it. He wasn't going as fast as the nanites allowed him but it was fast enough to give him the edge as he bounded over and smashed a Jackal to the ground killing it by snapping its neck.
He then unsheathed his own weapon, a sword made of a metal on his homeworld. It was small, able to be concealed, and expanding. A trademark weapon of a Pirate. A grunt found this out the hard way as Zek shoved the base of the hilt against the idiotic creature and clicked the switch keeping it collapsed. The short slightly curved bladed exploded out the other side and it gave a particularly pitiful scream before he beheaded it savagely.
Swish
Slash
Snip
Stab
Four more Sangheili joined the Unngoy he had beheaded on the ground lifeless, blood pouring from their open wounds.
Then just as quickly as they had gone, all were dead.
"Back on the Phantom." the Ultra growled over the Battle-Net. "We'll report our findings at once."
And the Phantom turned its way back to the Supercarrier. Unaware that it was missing an occupant.
As Zek watched the Phantom fly away he smiled to himself. Now he just had to disappear off the gird for a while and his freedom was secured. With any luck he would be able to rob a freighter or something and return back. At last he could finally return to the life he had known before.
He sprinted down a corridor and disappeared out of sight.
Slipspace
Storm crewed CAS Class Assault Carrier Song of Retribution
Destination and Time unknown,
Dr. Vindi Yallat
Dr. Yallat woke with a groan, her head throbbing from where she had been smacked by a blunt object. All that she knew was she was on an enemy ship headed to who knows where. She could only guess as to why she was grabbed but she only could think of the option that, in any case, she was a Prisoner with information.
She didn't even need to guess what would inevitably come as a result of her being captured. She could only try to hang on.
Was she expendable? She didn't know that yet, all she knew was that she was in a cell behind an energy shield with a Holoprojector occasionally flickering with various things aboard the Ship. She knew that the ship was in slipspace, a concept she as of now still didn't understand. What she could hypothesize was that it was very similar to travel by use of lightspeed and a hyperdrive and was some form of inter-dimensional travel. The what and the how still eluded her because of the migraine she had.
She felt the ship hum and "slow down" indicating they had come out of slipspace.
She realized she was laying sideways on the cold floor and sat up so her back was against the wall. That done she reflected on how she could have gotten to this state. All she remembered was something smacking her, and then a vague recollection of Agent Dare trying to rescue her as she was carried over the shoulder of a massive Sangheili with holographic markings.
She knew that there had been some sort of catastrophic energy wave launched at the surface of the planet because of the beam of light she remembered seeing burning the planets surface. She had been knocked out again when she tried to resist.
Now she was here. She guessed they had been waiting for her to awake for the Elite that had grabbed her appeared through a door that hummed as it opened.
All around guards materialized out of thin air and bowed as the Sangheili walked up to her cell and powered down the shield. White hands painted on glistened of the ambient blue light and the holograph shimmered.
"You will come with me." he growled.
She had no choice but to agree as two of the guards flanked her with those weapons. She followed him through several different corridors before finally arriving on the bridge.
The first thing she noticed was a small planet, green, lush, verdant, dotted with wide and vast patches of snow and ice. Several huge inland seas dotted it.
"What planet is that?" the Elite asked.
She looked at it. She had never seen it before in her life.
"Uhm...I...I...I don't know!? Do you have star data?" she stammered trying to ascertain the Elite's reaction
Obviously unsatisfied he glared at her and barked an order to another Elite who brought her to a round circular table. Above which was projected several different holographs, one of the data recovered from the lab on Coruscant, a map of the galaxy, and their current position in the Wild Space region.
She reached out and touched manipulating it. None of it made sense.
"Well...I don't understand this-I've never seen this planet before! Please you must understand!" she begged as the Elite gave her a hard stare of disgust.
"Return her. Leave her there for another two days if you wish"
"'Mdama! Human distress signals detected!" cried out of one the other Elites on the bridge.
'Mdama gave a sort of snort of surprise and dropped her doubling back.
"Where?!"
"Inside the planet?" suggested someone else in surprisingly good Basic.
"No, they can't have beat us already. Deploy all forces! I want them dead now!" he barked and the Bridge came to life.
He turned to her and motioned for the two guards to take her back.
Coruscant
Chancellors Office
20:00 hours, two days after Storm Attack
The planet was in a state of lock down. The lanes of sky traffic were painfully limited. Until the lock down was ended, the planet would suffer catastrophic losses to their economy. The lock down also had a demoralizing effect. In various apartments, homes, shops, and business' all around, the populace was cowering, some in fear, others in terror, some in anger, but the majority in grief. Everyone living on the planet could see the smoke cloud that has been ejected high into the upper atmosphere, smell the smoke and fumes of death still very much alive and present, taste the flesh vaporized on the air, hear the whine of sirens and of the military still fighting pockets of resistance. A mark to the enormity of what has happened. As night begins to descend and the heat begins to create strong storms the reality of what has happened has struck home for many. Night was falling for many and they were praying they would live to see day.
The office of Chancellor Palpatine was veiled in shadows, not out of the ordinary. The smoke and gathering storm clouds outside reflected his mood. And for the hundredth time that day he cursed at his blindness.
The Supreme Chancellor held a secret almost as enormous as the universe itself. The Persona of a Chancellor, his image as a man who sought the common good for all in the Republic, his image as kind old uncle type of figure, it was all a lie. A masterfully created facade to serve the Dark Lord of the Sith who also served as the shadowy head of the Confederacy of Independent systems.
The truth of everything was that for the past two decades he had been working behind the scenes to put in place a plan. A plan that was an additional thousand upon thousands of years in the making with only one goal in mind passed down by the very few and select, the complete rule of the galaxy and the destruction of the Jedi Order and the Birth of the Sith Empire.
And now everything, everything, that he had worked for so long to bring to fruition was threatening to collapse around him. His key to his overwhelming success was the fact that he could account for every variable. But with the arrival of yet another faction into the middle of the war that he had orchestrated and was essentially playing god over was something that he had never accounted for. And now he was being dragged into conflict with the Allied Species and a Splinter faction group that had caused an unbelievable amount of destruction and chaos on the planet. Antimatter bombs and random "glassings." The response of both the Allied Species and the Republic had been pathetic.
He was being dearly reminded of this fact as the Confederacy was taking the initiative and bombarding them with their own propaganda. The planet thus far was split between ousting the Allied Species and allowing them to stay.
He paused to reflect on the Allied Species as he paced the room waiting for Admiral Tarkin to report to him on something being deemed as "vitally important."
The UEG, really it was quite sad how far humanity had made it as far as their technological advancement. The Republic was eons ahead of them in technological advancement. One had to wonder how on Coruscant they had fought off the other members of the Allied Species in the last war they had fought, and won.
Oh well, really, he would have to do something to help them along. His Chancellor persona wanted to, eventually, absorb them through their common roots of humanity. Giving them help in their darkest hour wouldn't be bad either. His mind was formulating all ready how he could manipulate them and the Confederacy into doing that.
His Sith persona wanted to take over through domination somehow. One couldn't deny a relatively unadulterated galaxy was a hefty prize and goal to seek to win. And in all honesty, Warfare looked like an easier path.
But as with everything all good things came to those he waited. A Campaign in the Milky Way would be utterly disastrous if he didn't have the problems in his own galaxy, deemed by the Allied Species as Andromeda, solved beforehand. The time was ripe for him to execute the final phase. He just needed an apprentice and once that fell into place the two galaxies were his. Skywalker, the Chosen One. He needed to have a conversation with him as well.
Lightning crackled outside marking the beginning of a thunderstorm illuminating the scarred surface of the planet. It was unbelievable how much damage the Storm had caused. Millions had died and billions more were baying for the Chancellor to announce his course of action.
He remembered the Speech he had given in a speeder high above the burned and scarred surface of Galactic City. The beams had been so powerful that the Undercity of Coruscant saw daylight for the first time in millennia and the Lowercity had been exposed all covered in a still cooling sea of glass, rock, and metal.
He was watching a recap of it on television. He wore a set of black robes to signify his grief and as he stood in the speeder with news crews filming him he had said the following. He now watched his own speech on a holoscan.
"Citizens of the Republic, Judges of the Law, Forces of our Military, Jedi of the Republic, and Senators of the Constitution. Today I stand here-here at the site of a shameful and malicious attack to share in your grief. Today we remember a tragedy of calamitous proportions, that on two days ago we were attacked by a rogue military group known only as the Storm who in the space of less than a hour caused the deaths of 45 million of your brothers and sisters, wives and husbands, parents and children. I can't not express how moved I have been by your signs of support, of banding together. This is what the Republic is and stands for."
He allowed a small smile to fade before readdressing the cameras.
"But before I continue you I must extend my thanks to our friends in arms, the Allied Species who with our own army drove the Storm from our planet within the hour. I thank our Police Forces and the valiant efforts of the soldiers still out there making sure this planet is devoid of the enemy. But I would like to extend my biggest thanks to the citizenry of Coruscant who have done an unparallelled job of keeping the ideals of the Republic in their hearts in the aftermath of this attack. Thank you for your cooperation, your devotion, and your ability to reach out."
He became choked up as one of the few buildings standing in the circle fell. Palpatine was satisfied with his performance. By bringing the right touch of emotion his words held a power few could dispute.
"What you see hear is the result of a genocidal group of religious aliens who felt it was their duty to send a message to the Republic at its center. This enemy and its malicious agenda is not so different than others we currently face because we are the target of a single universal attempt by the Confederacy, by enemies at home, by pirates and slave rings, by the Storm to stamp out and staunch the blood of freedom, to bring an end to civilization, to orchestrate the downfall of the Republic!"
It has always been the intent of every enemy of democracy that they stamp out the voice and light of freedom with fear and confusion and doubt! Today, tomorrow, forever, it has always remained the same! But let me speak to you."
A tear started rolling down his face.
"I beg of you, let me speak to you about those souls who have left this life. As they were huddled in that circle they must have tried to console themselves, their loved ones, their children, all trying to encourage each other that they would be all right, and as there voices of fear, confusion, and unspeakable terror were consumed by the fire their voices became one of anger, revenge, of unity!
Even now their voices are raised in agony because they remain unavenged! They lie forever in that sea of glass and metal their ashes and bones all melted into one. And forever more they shall remain that way! Because we failed to keep them protected!
We failed to keep our promise that all shall leave peacefully in our Republic!
We let them be burned! We let them be glassed!
We let them be turned into ash!
We let them be immolated on a pyre of our faults!
We couldn't act fast enough because the Senate isn't fast enough to keep up with the pace of war! Our failure must never again happen! Tonight no more destruction! We shall act with the Allied Species and hunt down the Storm throughout the galaxy until all are dead! We shall meet tonight to discuss a course of action and then call the Senate together tomorrow in defiance of the Storm and their cowardice! Their unspeakable treachery! Their dishonor!"
He finished livid with anger and regained his composure. Closing with a few remarks of never forgetting what happened it moved on to other news.
A knock on the door reminded him of Admiral Tarkin. Feeling through the force it was actually the Admiral he shouted a command to enter.
He walked in crisply shaven and his Republic Navy Uniform immaculately in place. He snapped to a salute.
"Report Admiral. What is it you wish to speak to me about?"
"Chancellor. It is my opinion that you consider what I'm about to say very carefully. Have you been following why the Allied Species are here?
"Admittedly no, I wasn't. I was too busy trying to make the sure the planet didn't want to go to war over their sudden appearance." The Chancellor said truthfully.
"It would interest you my Lord that the Allied Species are here on a two fold mission then. Firstly, two of their vessels have been in this galaxy for some time and have sent out distress signals. They have come to retrieve them and find out what happened to the crew and the ship."
The Chancellor's brow furled. He felt the truth of what the Admiral was saying again through another touch of the force.
"How was it then that we haven't picked it up. Is it that old and archaic?"
"No sir, that's what I was going to talk to you next about. They are here because they believe something has been actively jamming the transmission on a galactic scale."
"How-exactly how could one do that? Our technology isn't that powerful. It's not the Separatist's is it?"
"No sir."
"The Chiss?"
"No sir."
"The Infinite Empire?"
"Closer but no."
"Then what pray tell is it?!" the Chancellor asked a little annoyed at this point that none of his guesses were corrected. If this brought up even more unforeseen variables...
"Forerunners." said Admiral Tarkin.
"What?" said the Chancellor trying to make sure he heard right.
"Forerunners, according to the Allied Species they're the beings that shaped life in the galaxy as they know it."
The Chancellor suddenly remembered Lord Hood's speech given.
"And they came here?" he said without a moment of hesitation.
"That's what they're thinking. It's also why I think you need to act. We need to establish at least a base of operations where we can study the nature of their tech in one way or another. And the word is the Storm abducted a Republic scientist which makes this our fight just as much as theirs. They have a lockdown on their position in Wild Space and the word of mouth is that they're going to jump from orbit and leave."
Palpatine waited for him to speak and finish but realizing that was it he stopped.
"So that's it? They're just going to pack up and leave?" He asked with a note of incredulity.
"Yes sir."
"Unacceptable! Admiral, I want a fleet put together as fast you can. Prepare yourselves for a long stay on the planet. If the Allied Species think they can just walk away with our alliance meaning nothing than so be it. The condemnation of all rests on them. I want your report on why we failed to stop this attrocity within the next twenty-four hours. I will not accept it later than that point."
"It will be done sir."
"Good Admiral. Thank you for your valiant service. You have proved a valuable addition to the Republic. Report to me when you're done." The Admiral saluted and left at once with a spring in his step.
Alone again the Supreme Chancellor allowed his Sith persona to shine through again.
He smiled as an idea came to mind. He had the perfect way to try and bring the Allied Species into the galaxies fold and trip over themselves to be part of the Republic. And he had the perfect way in mind.
He strode over to a holographic transmitter and keying in a code reserved for the Political Head of the CIS.
The blue image of Count Dooku appeared kneeling.
"Master, what is thy bidding?"
"I must be brief my apprentice, I have received word of a new...participant in this war of ours. I have the perfect opportunity for you to strike back at them to make up for your General's failure to destroy them on Rhen Var."
"You have my interest."
"There is a planet that has been discovered by enemies of the Allied Species. On this planet is a wealth of technology dating back millions of years ago belonging to a now extinct race. On this planet two of their vessels have crashed. Secure them and any technology you can find. But be wary, the Republic is on the move and the Storm, the terrorist organization that attacked the Republic today will likely consider you a threat. Deal with them as such."
"It shall be done my master." And the holograph fizzled out.
Palpatine sat back with a smile relieved. His plan had only suffered a minor setback. The road to bringing the galaxy and the UEG was paved and waiting for him with open arms. One just simply had to take that first step.
He strode out of his office to the Shuttle Dock. With any luck, he would help escalate this problem and make the Allied Species indebted to him.
Coruscant
Quarantine Zone, Galactic City
21:00 hours:
Will picked his footing carefully along the edges of the steaming crater where the Storm had glassed the planet.
The Allied Species in an effort to try and get their good image back had sent down as many personal as possible for help in patrolling and eliminating pockets of Storm resistance left on the planet. It had taken forever but with as many troops stationed with the massive fleet as well as Civilian Militias, Republic Police Forces, and the GAR itself, they had lifted the lockdown on the entire planet and the skies were filled with hesitant sky traffic who was growing more and more confident the threat had been eliminated. The councilor's with the exception of the Arbiter and Rtas 'Vadum had all been evacuated back for the safety of their own galaxy. According to rumors, Rtas was in critical care onboard the Supercarrier.
Those who were still left on the ground were left to look for survivors and to secure the area for decontamination. The Republic had done the brunt of it making sending in Fireships to hose down the area and scrub the nearby surrounding city for radiation. That waste was being sent to a massive facility that processed, cleaned, and then hurled into space into the sun by usage of a Mass Driver, one almost similar to those he had seen on Reach and other colonies, just on a more gargantuan scale.
Because the area was so heavily irradiated and concentrated further in, anyone here had to be dressed in EVA gear. This wasn't a problem for Chelsea and him or the other Spartan IV's as they combed the area in a rough line. Word was all of Infinity's Spartan IV Fireteams had been deployed. It truly was a massive number, almost 350 or so. He glanced over at a Sangheili Ranger team who was combing a ruined apartment building.
Overhead floodlights provided by Phantoms, Falcons, and Larties gave light to the area.
A squad of Unngoy ran by carrying a wounded civilian found.
William and Chelsea were still attached to Fireteam Majestic. When the order came for Palmer to report to the Supercarrier to attend a meeting she had ordered them back to a Phantom. They were almost aboard when they felt the ground rumble.
"What was that?" asked a Clone looking up alert.
"I don't know. Let's move-"
But the CO was suddenly swallowed up with his squad by a hole that opened up in the ground.
They gave screams as they fell down.
"This is Commander Fox, anybody have an eye on those troopers? Their transponders just went dark!"
Will was first to reply, "They were swallowed up by a hole in the ground!"
He heard him curse.
"This is the Arbiter." interrupted a voice on the public frequency. "Seismic scans show the area is weakening significantly, we recommend all Search and Rescue teams break off!"
"You heard the Alien, all troopers report for the nearest Gunship." a Clone said over the general frequency.
And the ground opened up underneath another squad of Clone Troopers. They gave frightened yells as they fell and the Battle-Network was thrown into confusion again.
"Was that another squad?"
"-quick back to the Phantoms!"
"-Palmer to all Fireteams, we're pulling out!"
Will and Chelsea made a sprint to a Phantom with its gravity lift active. They felt the familiar pull and tug and soon were inside with a large group of Skirmishers mixed with Marines and other Allied Species troopers.
"Castle, sit-rep now!" Palmer was barking at them.
"We're onboard a Phantom right now."
"Acknowledged, report for the Supercarrier conference room when you have the chance. They've called a meeting and I want you and Majestic as part of the Security Detail. Palmer out."
Before either could make a reply she cut and the video link of her face on the side vanished.
A squad of ODST's jumped aboard and the Phantom made a taxi run to drop people off prompting Will to wonder off hand about where his other brothers were.
"Well so much for rescuing everyone." said Chelsea as they watched pockets of the ground swallow wreckage with Pelicans, Falcons, and other transports fleeing the scene.
The Phantom banked and flew towards the Supercarrier which had all navigation lights and few floodlights on to help the sky traffic see the Behemoth.
It banked one more time before flying through a hangar where they could have easily fit the Dauntless or Infinity and then dropping the rest of the individuals off. William and the others walked through a decontamination unit that was set up for all ground teams.
"Sarah where's the Conference room?" Will probed the AI trying to get his surroundings.
A video image of her surrounded by fields of data popped up in the corner of his helmet.
"Fancy teleporting?" she asked.
"I don't suppose I have a choice."
"Well the nearest station is 500 yards from you. The deck your looking for is 14D. Turn left and it should be pretty obvious."
Will turned and located the station motioning Chelsea along. They both stepped onto a pad that looked somewhat like a ship-to-ground lift. A holographic station with a number system and keyboard lit up. Punching in 14D and then engage Will felt slightly disoriented until coming to rest on a similar station in front of a energy shielded dome. They were above the conference room which could fit a Prowler end to end. A ramp running down to a massive set of doors.
He gestured Chelsea over and greeted the two Honor Guards that stood in front of it.
"Demons? Are you part of the detail?"
"Yes."
"You're requested by an Admiral."
"Which one? I know many." answered Will in Sangheili.
The guard obviously surprised by the Spartan and his grasp of his language answered, "One Admiral Tchkova."
Will let that settle in for a moment and then thanked him. The Guard gestured to his general direction in a sea of men, women, and other species in attendance.
The two Spartans stepped trough the threshold and Will saw the Admiral standing out from a group of others.
"Ahh, yes you are here Spartan." said the slightly gravelly voice of Fleet Admiral Tchkova. He was a Native of Reach, a survivor of impossible odds through and through with a kindly smile but aged face.
"Am I required sir?" asked Chelsea not wanting to interrupt.
"My apologies Spartan but this is meant for your Commander."
She bowed and left the two of them alone.
"Firstly." said the Admiral looking him square in the eye, "I want to congratulate you on keeping the Dauntless in one peace during my recovery at home. I arrived earlier today and assumed command of the Dauntless but, I am sorry to hear of the incident with Del Rio that he has now tried to use to court-martial you. I of course intervened and spared you the trouble of all that but I wanted to apologize mostly for the whole incident of putting you in charge."
"Why sir?" he said slightly confused.
"Because a lot of criticism is being drawn your way and for the moment, in light of your demotion and stripping of rank by Osman or whatever lackey did it I would like to apologize if anything happened as a result. I accept that as my fault you were put in charge. I was only putting who I thought best to command at the time."
"Sir, you're fine. Why? What criticism? I've only heard confusion expressed not anger."
"Then I guess you haven't heard. Spartan, the only thing keeping you out of trouble right now is a combination of my intervention and that of others, your track record of getting the job done, and the fact that you are sorely needed on the battlefield. The incident with Del Rio earlier is starting to snowball a little bit. For now I would lie low and...as much as I hate to say it, apologize to Del Rio. No, I know what you're going to say. Don't." he said closing down Will's protest.
"He has enough authority to pull a few strings, some of those with rather...unpleasant consequences. And as justified as you may have been it still looks like serious insubordination when everything boils down, at least that's how the courts will see it. And it's also drawing attention to the Spartan Program as well. Attention that for the moment is not needed. Attitudes are starting to shift a bit."
"I see sir. I'm fully sorry and accept any and all-"
"Just...put up with him. Ok? I don't need a student taking a thrashing over something I intended. And I get how unfair the higher-ups have been to you, especially over what happened to get you demoted. It wasn't your fault. You were just in the wrong time and wrong place. And I feel like your decision to abandon a Prowler with high-levels of valuable data on it to save the crew and abandon ship without scuttling it considering the circumstances was perfectly logical and justifiable. The fact the Captain had turned it on you was completely unfair. But what's done is done."
Will underneath the helmet flushed slightly. He was of course referring to the sole reason why he now held the rank of a Lieutenant instead of a Commander. It was when on a deployment to a Storm owned planet that the Prowler he was on suffered major damage from a Banshee that had gotten too close. The Captain had been knocked out and Will, with the rank of Commander had automatically been given de-facto command. He had given the order to evacuate the ship and try and put themselves in friendly controlled space.
They had been forced to evacuate the bridge when a Corvette had engaged the Prowler and caused a depressurization of the Bridge and caused serious damage to it rendering it unable to have Cole Protocol enacted. He had successfully evacuated all on board but when the then Captain Del Rio had re-awoken from his knocked out state he had immediately exercised emergency power granted to him through protocol as the leading individual and had promptly chided him and demoted him. When he had pleaded his case later in an actual court setting he hadn't been able to prove his case. It was a week later when his team had vanished with the exception of Chelsea and him and the Captain re-instated as an Admiral.
Thank you Admiral Tchkova." said Will after a moment trying to mask his feelings presently. He ignored the next few words he said trying to shove out his bitter anger
They shook hands and parted.
The room was now full of enough heads of Military to make it look like its own Allied Species summit.
Will picked out Chelsea from the group and stood a little bit, slightly bored.
"What was that all about?" she asked.
"Doesn't matter, just to be careful and to take the higher road." he said.
Chelsea backed off and the two just stood there for a moment.
"How did they infiltrate us?" asked Chelsea suddenly asking the question everybody had been asking.
"No idea, my guess would be that somehow in the confusion of organizing a fleet another group took advantage and stole along."
The lights dimmed in the conference room. And the figure of the Arbiter appeared as the rest of the group of Captains, Shipmasters, Fleetmasters, and Admirals took a seat or watched from a video link, their faces displayed on a large holographic board on the top of the curved walls.
Tired, weary, but mostly angry were the words that came to mind when describing them. He may have looked calm on the outside but his face showed nothing but anger held back by whatever constraints.
"Welcome. This meeting has been called to address a single question that has scourged us as worse as the Parasite did." he turned and slammed his gloved fist on the wide holotable making the image blur slightly for a moment before coming back into focus.
"HOW did the Storm infiltrate us and put our entire future here in this galaxy in dire straits?!" he thundered.
When no one spoke he spoke up again.
"Because of them we stand innocent and taking the blame for the attack from the Republic. This entire...attempt to make ourselves seem more formidable and a challenger to any attempt of theirs to take our sovereignty has been made in vain. We lost brothers and sisters in a dishonorable attempt to disorient and confuse us that has left us with the sin of a planet reeling from being glassed." he stopped.
"An INCIDENT!" he roared slamming his fist down again, "that shouldn't have occurred at all if we had been vigilant! An instance where they have been able to glean information! Maps! Charts! And now data to which the UNSC has sought with the support of the Allied Species! Which is why I ask again." his voice becoming dangerously quiet. "How did they infiltrate so many into our ranks? How was this ship, the flagship of our fleet, incapacitated so easily?"
"I believe I can answer that question." was Rtas 'Vadum's reply as he strode in accompanied by an Ultra and Two Zealots. Rtas was in a grav-chair and wrapped in bandages.
"Greetings friend." the Arbiter's tone softened. "How are you feeling?"
"I've been better." he looked disdainfully at his bandages. "Arbiter, my report to you on what we know so far was sent to your holo-pad."
"Read it aloud here."
"As you wish." Rtas gestured and a hologram appeared on the table. The holograms began shaping and re-forming as he spoke.
"Our troubles seem to have stemmed from when we organized our fleets. In our haste to retaliate and take revenge on the Confederacy, we allowed someone to put into position a number of troops loyal to Jul 'Mdama were put into place. A recent probe into a possible Covenant cell lead to the detainment of over 300 Sangheili suspected of Covenant ties. They were to be shipped off the ship when we regrouped at Sangheilios, but that never happened.
Their cover for the breakout was when some individual unknown inserted a virus, of which we're still trying to determine the origin, in to the power grid of the brig. The suspected prisoners were all released, our ship's systems disabled, and they overwhelmed the guards, took control of the armory briefly to arm themselves, and set about to causing havoc. They released the Sharquoi and simultaneously pushed towards acquiring one of the Corvettes while others acquired escape pods and moved to assassinate members of our delegation and retrieve data on the missing UNSC ships. The Corvette forcibly broke lose and provided a distraction for both teams. I think we know how the rest happened. They called for support, support came, and they did damage to the planet. Xyos 'Chevam," he said gesturing to the Ultra, "was on patrol seeking for more of the traitors when he obtained a prisoner.
"And did you find out anything?" asked the Arbiter careful to control his voice.
"Arbiter," said the Ultra bowing on one knee before rising. "My team and I found a prisoner while scouting and before he was silenced by a Storm kill team he told me that a spy was in our midst and planted on this ship. This traitor is in a position where he was able to manipulate events so that they were able to be absorbed into our fleet without a second thought. This traitor ranks highly among our numbers.
"That would certainly explain a lot." Chelsea spoke to Will over a private link.
"Agreed. We should be trying to chase them! Not sitting here waiting while they slip between our fingers."
"Will, you realize if we were to just leave the Republic wouldn't think to kindly of us. I'd rather not tick off a vastly superior civilization with the capability of creating system armies in a months time."
"We wouldn't have to leave all, just send a smaller force out to seek out and destroy-"
"Will, the planet's already seeking murder anyways! We would be giving them a reason to-!"
"The longer we wait the more danger Asher and the others are put in!"
"Excessively high levels of aggression detected in Spartan Will. I would recommend immediate action to calm yourself down." said Sarah interrupting them suddenly.
Will clenched his fist and let go of the pent up anxiety he was feeling after a moment.
"So what do we do know?" asked Lord Hood drawing his attention. "Admiral Osman, you had were briefing me earlier on data on the UNSC distress signals?"
The Turkish woman stood up and striding to the middle of the holographic table brought up a map of the Andromeda Galaxy.
"As most of you should know by now when the Storm attacked they also made a raid on a lab where the Republic was working on crunching the data necessary to pinpoint where the location of the distress signals was. They were attacked and the Republic was forced to evacuate with an agent of ours and a squad of ODST's to retreat. The Storm ended up cornering one group and abducting one of the scientists with one of the two data modules. Our field agent was almost killed when the antimatter bomb went off. She found the other scientists and retrieved the other module from another. Meanwhile General 'Nosom managed to secure the location of one the vessels through usage of a Sentinel Probe. By combining that with the data recovered from our agent..."
A large blip appeared on the map of the galaxy. In a region labelled as Wild Space.
"The Storm stopped moving here and their movement patterns suggest that of orbit."
The room got quiet again as they all digested the information presented.
"So, what do you suggest we do then?" asked the Arbiter.
"So when do we leave?" asked Captain Thomas Lasky from a video link aboard the Infinity.
"-actually I was hoping you all would ask that." said another voice.
All eyes aboard snapped to the person speaking with a mixed degree of shock, anger, and annoyance.
The Supreme Chancellor stepped through the doors followed by two of his Bodyguards in their blood red garb.
"Chancellor." The Arbiter spoke silencing the room suddenly. "To what do we owe this great pleasure." he was not amused.
"Please Arbiter, I come in peace, lower your guards weapons."
Will and Chelsea reluctantly lowered their weapons trained on the head of the Chancellor along with the scattered guards from the Allied Species.
"Where the **** did he come from?" Chelsea asked he strode in.
Across the room Majestic and Palmer did the same.
"Please, Arbiter, Lord Hood, I'm asking you. Why do you plan on leaving?"
"It is none of your concern-"
"Arbiter, do you forget so soon I have a scientist missing because of the attack on the Planet today? Surely this makes it just as much my problem as yours. Is it wrong that I try and reclaim her?"
"No it is honorable that you would however-"
"So why hold in this in secrecy? Are you attempting to just walk out on a Alliance just made?"
"Chancellor, with all respect due to you, we were in a Alliance that specified only assistance against the Confederacy. This is a matter entirely that doesn't belong to you. We are only here to reclaim two ships that have sent out distress signals. We are not here for your civil war, we are not here for you to tell us what to do. Last time I checked the Allied Species was of its own sovereignty, and not a possession to eyed at by others. This is our matter because 45 billion people died today." he said coldly.
The Arbiter gave him a hard stare before he continued.
"While that may be true, the Senate, and the citizenry are not guaranteed to see the way you do. The very fact that we possess Forerunner artifacts in our galaxy means that we are just as entitled to research them, study them, make use of them and therefore profit from them. They are not simply yours and yours alone. A position like that would only enforce the label of barbarians that has been placed upon you. And frankly, Terrence-"
The head of the UNSC bristled upon the Chancellor addressing him by name.
"-the Senate's overall position on Barbarians is that they be educated."
The Conference room reeled with that statement.
"Order!" yelled the Arbiter.
"Do you suppose that the Republic would be glad to go to war against us?! Don't you have any control?" asked Admiral Tchkova angrily once the room had silenced.
"Admiral, let me explain. If the Senate were to decide they want to go to war I could only do so much by myself. If I were to alienate myself from the Senate another would take my place, eager for blood. I have no intentions on declaring any sort of war on you. If you hadn't noticed we're still gridlocked with the Confederacy."
"Chancellor." said the Arbiter, "What even do you desire from helping us? How do we know this isn't a attempt at absorption?"
"I seek only to regain personal belonging to the Republic and the scientific advancement from studying a Civilization much more powerful than any of us."
The room sat in silence again.
"It seems-" Rtas 'Vadum began, "that we were wrong to not inform you. I see no problem in you accompanying under strict rules about how you handle anything remotely Forerunner. I will admit that however much I dislike this it seems...necessary."
"Does anybody else concur with Fleetmaster 'Vadum?" asked the Arbiter wearily.
Slowly the room raised their hands one by one.
"Unbelivable. Did we really just give into his ultimatum?" Will asked new frustration pouring in.
"Will, I think you need a break. When you're of a sound mind talk to me. Find Ripa if you're that concerned about things. The way I see it for the moment we're being helped in avoiding another conflict, simple. And the others are agreeing in it."
She ignored his response and he winked an apology with signal lights as he paid attention to the rest of the meeting.
"Chancellor, are we done here?" asked Admiral Osman bluntly.
"Why yes Admiral. I just came here to figure out what you were up to and give you an invitation to accept Republic aid and prevent a war between the two of us."
"Please understand we are leaving as soon as possible. Lives depend on it as you oh-so-carefully pointed out." a Sangheili Shipmaster said over the video link not bothering to hide his anger with the Chancellor.
He pointedly ignored it and acknowledged saying that would be fine with him.
Wishing them luck he left with his entourage.
"The nerve of him, we've been succored!" an Elite said voicing his displeasure.
"Seeing as we have been forced to accept his help I think we can use a mid-sized taskforce correct?" asked Lord Hood to the general gathering.
"We do not need to take everything with us. I suggest the Supercarrier stays behind until we can figure out who slipped Storm forces in the midst of us." the Arbiter asked.
A general mutter of agreement was his response.
"I propose the Shadow of Intent and her escort fleet be sent." Rtas said.
The Arbiter quickly agreed to it and within another minute the Infinity and her escort fleet and the Dauntless had all been selected to go along.
"Arbiter, I assume you will take control of the Sangheili crewed ships?" asked Lord Hood.
"No, I shall remain behind to deal with our spy. Rtas is more than up to the task. Lord Hood will command the Human Ships?"
"I will. Admiral Peterson can be in charge of the ones left behind."
"How soon are we leaving Arbiter?" asked Fleetmaster 'Valam via another video link with his trademark coldness.
"As soon as possible. The Storm have enough of an advantage. If no other comments are to be made let us break and mobilize."
The meeting done with Will hurriedly left for a shuttle to the Dauntless determining not to stop for anybody until he was on board. He paused to look for Ripa but he was still not among any of the crowd that was departing.
As he entered the hangar the two way shields were being energized and with a pop flared to life as the storm outside grew more intense and blackened the sky with lightning flashing and crackling outside in what seemed like a continuous loop. It was most intense over the crater where the heat was fueling the storm in its intensity. Coruscant would have a hard time sleeping.
The Pelican ride thankfully wasn't eventful as he entered the massive hangar again. The Frigates Saratoga and Yorktown latched and clamped in place again and the ship was being readied to leave atmosphere.
He headed for his own quarters adjacent to the still empty S-Deck where he had removed his armor leaving him only in the black under suit all Spartans now wore. As he mentally reviewed the day he was soured by his attitude at the events going on. Deciding he needed a break he grabbed a towel and left for the gym. For once it was empty and the now cavernous space held him and a few others. He selected a punching bag in the far corner designed for Spartan use.
William walked up to it sizing it up. Then suddenly he was throwing a punch to the left that jolted it and filled the gym with a reverberating CRACK! Not satisfied he took another swing that jerked it again. And as he thought of a hundred different wrongs that had occurred he suddenly seized a burst of energy and as fast as he could he slugged it again and again his body releasing every bit of anger and frustration it possessed.
The Storm-Crack!
Del Rio-Crack!
His demotion-Crack!
His helplessness to stop events from happening-Crack!
His cowardice towards his family-CRACK!
Suddenly he was filled with the images of the past racing at near impossible speeds as he sped up his punching. He is no longer conscious of breathing. His heartbeat is that of his fists beating relentlessly on the toughened bag, the images that would not die.
Only images are what he can see now, a field near Azod, New Alexandria, his team, a wall of fire, Reach, Tribute, the Skirmisher that killed a teammate, the burned body of one of his teammates, burning warthogs strewn everywhere, screams, a bunker, an explosion of light and heat, a hundred Elites bearing down on one Spartan.
Asher
And suddenly something in Will snapped and didn't care anymore as he sought to beat the living daylights out of this bag. No longer conscious of any thought everything groan and crack the bag makes is the one word repeated over and over.
It repeats faster now. Images of childhood, a piano, a concert hall, an explosion tearing through the ceiling, shatered glass, broken pavement, an Elite standing over with a glowing sword with its ghostly contrail, sheltering another from the blade, a grasp of the hand.
"Promise you'll find me?"
"...of course. I don't break them do I?"
And suddenly in a flash of color that makes him nauseous Will found himself standing in front of the bag. Presently as his vision returned to normal and he was conscious of breathing he found, with a start of surprise his hand had punched a hole through the toughened and reinforced kevlar shell of the bag its sand filled insides spilling out softly.
With a jerk of shock he removes it sending a faster trickle of its filling out before stopping.
A drop of blood hits his face.
Looking down Will was surprised to see his hands, clenched, trembling, and bleeding.
His face feels odd. And he is surprised when a stinging feeling causes them to water. With another dull shock the tear falls to the ground. Oddly silent, yet loud and powerful.
He looks around to see the few others there watching him in a mixture of shock and awe.
"What's going on with me?!" Will asked over and over in his mind as he reels from this. He was a Spartan, Spartans didn't lose control! They didn't go insane! Yet here he was with a bag punched through and his hands bloodied from beating it so hard. Was he mad? Insane? His life condemned to an asylum?
Will started running. He had to get away! Had to get away before he hurt someone else! Something, anything!
He was running through the corridor. Running, faster, harder, and he realizes he's going to fast as a trolly laden with munitions stops in front of him.
Will yells a warning out and someone heeds it running out of the way before he smashes into it at full speed.
So what did you guys think? I wanted to give Will a little more of a darker side to explore. I think everybody has one. I mean nobody is without faults, which of course will be revealed and resolved in due time. Thanks for your time in reading this and if you're curious about what else I've been up to feel free to check out Discovery: Or a Foxes Tale; my newest project for the enjoyment of the public.
So to recap this quickly we have the Storm in retreat and now in orbit around a unknown planet, we meet a renegade Skirmisher, We learn of Palpatine's darker agenda and hear a moving piece of oration, Del Rio is revealed to be an idiot once again and we are left with Will in a confused and somewhat delirious state. I apologize for the cliffhanger but all good things come to those who wait. Oh, and did you guys like the little RvB easter egg? I'll I'm going to say is Project Freelancer will become important at some point.
And no, before any of you comment I am not planning on making him go rogue or insane.
Reviews are welcome! No flames.
Yours in writing
theotherpianist