Hey guys, Azores here with another chapter!
Was going on quite a role with this one (Got nearly halfway done in about 2 weeks, then got sidetracked with other things.). Got so much written for H-N that Chapter 6 is already about a third or so done. (A lot of it has material cut from this chapter to keep it below 20k words. Do note that it'll be some time before chapter 6 comes out, I'll explain why at the end of this chapter.)
Anyway, I won't keep you waiting. I hope you enjoy!
!WARNING!
This story contains content not suited for younger readers, such as Violence, Blood and Gore, Language, and Explicit Sexual Content. This Chapter's Rating will be placed at M-Rated. Future Chapters may, and most likely will switch back and forth between the T and M ratings.
Regardless, Reader Discretion for this Chapter is advised.
I don't Halo or Naruto.
Bold-My Own Words
Bold & Italic-Locations, Time & Calendar
Normal-Narrative
"Normal"-Person Speaking
'Normal'-Thoughts
"Italic"-Foreign Language
'Italic'-Radio Chatter
/Italic\-AI/Computer typing
-Politics is not a game, but a serious business.
Winston Churchill
-You can go a long way with a smile. You can go a long way with a smile and a gun.
Al Capone
-Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far.
Theodore Roosevelt
Prologue Arc-Episode 5
-Gunboat Diplomacy (P.1)-
(Part 5)
July 26, 2543
UNSC Everest
Conference Room
It had been 12 days now since the official meeting and negotiations with the Hidden Marsh Village and Marsh Country. The Daimyo didn't arrive until the 18th, but the meeting had gone on until he arrived. Overall, the meeting had gone... well, considering the tension between the two parties, and the blatant disrespect that was shown by the Daimyo and his generals towards her. But, aside from all that, the meeting had been a peaceful and productive one. And thanks to that, the other diplomatic parties were being sent out, cautiously but surely. Parties had already been sent to Honey, Tea, Noodle, (It still baffled both Cole and Castilla as to how they had come up with some of these names for their countries.) and Hot Springs Countries. But With any luck, they'll have several new contacts and allies, or at the very least trade partners, to have at least a diplomatic relationship with before the end of the year.
While still hesitant on them being here, Marsh Country was more than eager to have an ally and had agreed to several trade treaties, nothing military of course, but enough medical goods and consumer goods that would undoubtedly get the locals' attention. However, the Daimyo and Numakage had both wanted a mutual assistant treaty signed as well between the two people. Which meant that if they wanted Marsh Country's cooperation, they would need to help out Marsh on a few domestic problems. Namely, the pirates and crime lords that plagued the countryside. While they had planned on such an... 'alliance', (Which they had already promised Satomi.) several leaders amongst the UNSC were still not too keen on the idea of their soldiers possibly dying for the sake of, what they viewed as, some despot ruler who can't even maintain control of his own country.
However, Lyrenne knew it wasn't that simple. The Marsh Military, while not a weak power, was simply too understrength to adequately protect the country. They had barely 60-70,000 troops to defend a country roughly the size of Spain, and with a jungle/marsh density equivalent to that of Southeast Asia or the Amazon. Most of those troops were stationed at the border to guard against invasion or were garrisoned in strategic cities in the country to maintain order, leaving very few troops left to conduct any kind of anti-piracy operations. Long story short, the pirates owned the countryside, and if the Terrans wanted the cooperation and support of the Marsh people, this would have to change. Luckily there were some plans in place to deal with such nuisances.
But the negotiations with the native powers wasn't the focal point of today's meeting. Something much more sinister and disturbing was.
Today, there were nearly 30 people in the room, including half of the original council from earlier this month, along with several military commanders and scientists within their respective factions. Cole was seated beside her, along with Azarov Semenov, Tamara Rihova, and Klaudia Osada. The room had been mainly quiet as everyone shuffled in and took their seats. When everyone was seated, General Osada grunted and broke the silence.
"When was it discovered?"
"About 11 days ago, but we didn't want to say anything unless we were absolutely certain of what it was. That was why we waited a few days until informing everyone." Semenov answered, shuffling his notes around while nervously looking at his datapad. He apparently didn't like being in the spotlight, especially when he had dozens of military officers staring at him.
"Fair enough." Osada conceded, eerily calm. That just unnerved Semenov even more. He noticed a few officers in the room looked uncomfortable, too, all their glances directed to the General. Said General followed up with, "But that still leaves one question. What. In. The. Hell. Is a fucking Covenant Assault Carrier doing at the bottom of the goddamn ocean?" The tone of her voice hadn't raised, but was still venom-laced, almost as if she was accusing the scientist of some wrongdoing or responsibility for it. Cole knew that wasn't it, she was just furious that they hadn't discovered this sooner, and mortified at the possibility that the Covenant may know of this planet or even have colonies nearby.
That was his biggest fear at the moment, too.
"W-we don't know." Semenov shrugged, clearing his throat before continuing, "All the evidence that we've gathered, however, implies that it's been down there for some time."
"And how long exactly is 'some time'?" Another officer and the highest ranking of the ground forces, Lieutenant General Nicolas Toussaint, asked.
"A couple decades at least, but more than likely closer to several decades to upwards of a century if our dating of the material is correct."
Toussaint arched an eyebrow at this claim, "And how did you come to this conclusion?"
"Simple. If the Covenant knew of this planet's location, then we would be standing over a molten ball of glass instead of a garden world. They may have strange powers at their disposal, but the Shinsei natives are human, regardless of how completely impossible or insane it is for two isolated groups of the same species to be on two different planets. The Covenant wouldn't spare a planet full of humans if they knew it was there, especially some like the natives down below. And I doubt the natives, while their abilities are impressive, have the firepower or capacity to take on a Covenant fleet."
"But that doesn't explain the carrier's presence." Another officer pointed out.
"Maybe it's a rebel ship." Cole suggested, "Maybe it suffered a malfunction in its slipspace drive and crashed, or was coming out of slipspace and was struck by an asteroid. Who knows? Semenov's point remains, though. If the Covenant had known about Shinsei and the humans existing on it, then this planet would have been glassed a long time ago, its population slaughtered. Whatever's the deal with this carrier, it must have been alone when it arrived here or just didn't get an opportunity to send an SOS when it crashed."
The gathered council of officers and scientists looked warily at one another, uncertain or just unconvinced by the logic. But from both Preston and Lyrenne's view, they had seemed to accept it nonetheless.
A scientist stood up, "Could we possibly explore the interior of the wreck, try to figure out what happened? Or perhaps even salvage it, doctor? Decades underwater or not, there's still bound to be a treasure trove of information and technology that could be useful for us." The room was quick to burst into conversation and debate following the question. There were very rarely any chances to study Covenant Warships, so their excitement was understandable. It took several moments for the rabble to be reined in by Cole and Castilla before everyone quiets down once more.
"That's going with the assumption whatever valuable technology may be inside hasn't been rusted to ruin by the sea water, or crushed by the pressure at the lower parts. As for exploring the wreck, we don't even know what to look for. I don't know about any of you, but I've never been inside one of those monster ships." Another scientist countered.
"Still, salvaging the wreck would provide us with something to work with in regards to Covenant technology. Whether they know of this planet's location or not, we will still need every advantage we can get and find if the Covenant one day comes here." Toussaint added.
Lyrenne decided to make a call, "Then I propose this. We'll explore both wrecks in areas of interest. The main guns, the engines, etc. And based on which is the more damaged half, we could salvage that one and garner whatever knowledge we can from it while continuing to study the other half of the wreckage. In the meantime, all of our systems will maintain a vigilant watch for any Covenant activity. Fleeing or not, we are still at war with the Covenant and need to act and behave as such."
Most of the officers and scientist liked the proposal, everyone was getting what they wanted. And with any luck, the exploration/salvage of the wreck would yield some desperately needed technological advancements. Faster FTL travel, energy shields, and maybe stronger armor and weapons. One could only hope. With their barely existent Economy still in an emergency War Economy, many of their resources available to them were under the control of the 'military,' since they wanted to rebuild said military as quickly as possible. Anything and everything they could get their hands on would be taken and used.
An officer was quick to add, "What about the public reaction if they find out? Is there any way we can maintain an effective quarantine of the wreck?"
No one spoke for a few moments, but soon Cole was first to answer, "In this case, probably not. It's just too damn close to shore and to New Tripoli. Someone is eventually going to put two and two together when they see ships and people going out to this one location offshore. They'll realize something's up. However, for the meantime, we should maintain the secrecy of the wreck's location and existence to avoid general panic. If, and more than likely when, the wreck is found out, by then we'll hopefully have a better understanding as to why it's there and what happened. With that, we can maybe keep the public from having a riot over the incident."
No one argued with the logic. If the public learned that there was a covenant ship sitting at the bottom of the ocean, panic would set in, leading to all kinds of speculations and theories being thrown out that would only fuel the fear and lead everyone to believe that an invasion was imminent.
'And who's to say it might not be?' Cole darkly mused with his thoughts.
The meeting went on for another couple of hours, discussing various topics, the most important of which was accelerating the timetable on finishing up the remaining mining complexes across the colonized space, and to have the three shipyards being built finished and capable of constructing ships by the year's end. With what was at their disposal at the moment, it would be a herculean task, but it was possible. Construction in the Ezulwini System and on the colony world Mbalenhle Cove, which would inevitably become their government's capital system/world when it was better established, was going faster than expected; which was unsurprising since the system had about a 2-year head start on everyone and everywhere else. Regardless, some resources from there were going to be diverted to here and a few other places that needed them more. More ships, workers, and resources that were desperately needed for construction would speed up the construction process. Problems of manpower and skill labor were starting to disappear, as more colonists and refugees were surging through now, vetted and searched for potential ONI spies of course with the help of the few AIs they have at their disposal. But the average rate of immigration was reaching an estimated 5-6 million every month across the entire cluster, half of which were going to the Ezulwini System.
Another issue was the quality and quantity of their available soldiers within their... 'military' if it could even be called that. They needed to improve their training and establish some sort of military structure, along with recruiting more soldiers to bolster defenses. Soldiers, either UNSC or even some from the old and largely defunct CMA, and colonial militia troops from the evacuating colonies were helping some, but nowhere near enough. Their ground military strength had risen to roughly 1,031,000 personnel from the 750,000 just 2 weeks prior, but current analyses conducted by HIGHCOM indicated they will need an army force numbering at least 9-12 million to adequately defend the current number of colonies in the Aquarii Cluster from attack, and that was just the optimistic low ball number. 9-12 million was nothing compared to the UNSC's military, which numbered a least a couple billion by now.
Osada had summed up their situation perfectly, "Our army and its chain of command is a chain of clusterfucks piled on top of one another."
In this regard, a review and listing of all available officers with the rank of Major or higher was needed, then they would need to develop the hierarchy from there and establish a firm chain of command. Then, start getting their units trained up to standard. A significant number of the units were colonial militias, small units which often times were barely the size of a platoon, maybe an occasional company, and were typically trained for 5 weeks, which gave them just enough time to learn the basics of military operation and tactics. That needed to change, too. Once the Military Hierarchy had been reorganized and established, militias and colonial guard units were to begin retraining, the full fledge standard 3-month basic training program that everyone in the regular military received.
Finally, with the major issues out of the way, the majority of the group had begun to make their leave when the meeting was adjourned, save for a trio of officers who had been asked to stay behind by Council representatives. This included General Toussaint and Brigadier General Elias Rosenbaum, who was the highest ranking officer of the UNSC Marines on Shensei. The last one was Colonel Candace Muljana, who was the commanding officer of the Air Force units in the Yōsai System.
"Thank you for coming, today." Lyrenne started with a smile, leaning forward and crossing her hands as she spoke, "There is a good reason why we've asked you three to stay behind." She typed a few commands into a touchscreen next to her, and the center of the holo-table became illuminated with a map of the southern region of the Elemental Nations, which was dominated mainly by islands and archipelagos. Osada and Semenov looked at the map with interest, too. They hadn't been told either of the plans that were being set in motion.
"This area is what's known by the natives as the Sea Confederacy. It's a region made up of dozens of islands and smaller archipelagos and island chains further south." Rihova explained, "This 'Confederacy' is but a nation in name, only. The reality is that the region is basically a haven and stronghold for pirates and slavers who operate in the Elemental Nations. Thanks to information acquired from our meetings and diplomacy with Marsh Country, we've learned quite a bit about the region."
"Current population estimates are at somewhere between 15 and 20 million for the entire region. Many of the pirate lords in this region have thralls and subordinates that operate further north, particularly in the central and eastern regions due to their instability at the moment."
"So if these pirates were removed from the equation, we would be eliminating a major threat to our operations while simultaneously weakening the hold of the pirate factions and stronghold up further north and making it easier for us to clear them out. Plus all that newly acquired territory would be useful to us in some way, I imagine." Brigadier General Rosenbaum summed up as he observed the map, primarily studying the biggest island out of them, Sea Island.
"And it would earn us a lot of gratitude from countries and people affected or have suffered from them," Osada added.
"Exactly the idea in mind, generals. But it isn't the only reason we chose it." The map changed to highlight a massive ore deposit underneath Sea Island, with several other large deposits of metal ores being located on the other islands. One deposit in particular on Sea Island must of went at least two miles down.
"These islands have access to large quantities of what our surveyors have confirmed to be titanium, platinum, tungsten, and iron, along with a few others in smaller amounts. Sea Island, in particular, is sitting on top of a massive deposit of titanium at least 2 miles in depth. Key emphasis on 'at least,' the surveyors think it might go even deeper." Cole explained, "As you are all aware, all four of these metals are vital for the construction of many vehicles and weapons within our arsenal, like warships for example. We secure these deposits, especially this large concentration of titanium, we could very well solve most of our construction problems in the Yōsai System and maybe get a jump start on warship production, as this deposit will be much easier and quicker to access than the ones in space."
"But all of that is going to require troops on the ground to secure and control the area, naturally." Lyrenne cut in, "General Toussaint, how many soldiers do we have in the system at the moment?"
"As of right now... approximately 129,256 ground personnel and 17,811 Air Force personnel; 11,503 of which are Marines, 3,101 are ODST, and the remainder is Army or Colonial Guard units. All but 4,500 of these troops are on Shinsei itself. Another 10,000 of those soldiers are deployed over in Marsh Country in Camp Dumont." Toussaint answered, but then warned, "Many of these units, especially the more experienced and elite ones, are being used to protect New Tripoli from any kind of attack should it happen. Recon from the continent has shown the natives are aware of us and to put it bluntly, are panicked at our sudden arrival and how quickly the construction of out cities and infrastructure are occurring. If we are going to deploy troops on the ground, then the majority will have to be Army and Colonial Guard personnel. We can spare maybe a two or three veteran units, but we simply can't risk having our best units away from our planetary capital if it comes under attack."
"And right now, we have many Colonial Guards undergoing retraining to make them official Army units. While considering the opposition, this isn't an enormous problem, but there's one factor we need to take into consideration." Muljana added.
"Enemy Shinobi. And whether or not these pirates have any in their employment. Or are in charge." Lyrenne spoke, which received a nod from the Colonel.
"We're still trying to come up with effective countermeasures that don't require air support and large reinforcements. It's just so damn hard to believe that a single person can be capable of so much destruction and death." Rosenbaum growled out, but then chuckled humorlessly as he shook his head, "Then again, we have Spartans."
"Had them." Muljana pointed out, "We can't rely on such assets here. We have to make due with what we've got. Still... what I wouldn't give just to have a squad of them available."
Cole and Lyrenne both shared a quick glance, thankful that the knowledge of Spartan Team Sigma's presence here was still unknown to all but those that were stationed or had been stationed aboard Everest. "The only thing we can do for now regarding that is to gather more intelligence on Shinobi tactics, numbers, and skill, then develop a strategy from there," Lyrenne spoke.
"At the expense of our soldiers' lives?" Osada asked, her eyes narrowing.
"I didn't say that." Castilla answered, "But, with that in mind, the best kind of experience is hands on. We may end up having to just engage enemy Shinobi to learn more effective ways of combating them. The air force and navy aren't always going to be there to bust our boys out of trouble."
The officers looked at one another, neither liking the answer but not able to come up with a better solution. "So what's our strategy of attack for Sea Confederacy?" Toussaint asked.
"To put it simply, an island hopping campaign. Take out the smaller islands first, then isolate and blockade the bigger islands as they'll be more troublesome." Cole explained, with the map changing to show UNSC forces, in the form of ships, infantry, and aircraft, being displayed attacking the islands. "Generals Osada and Rosenbaum will each have command of an Expeditionary Brigade of 20,000 soldiers, which will each include one mechanized regiment, one artillery regiment, and a regiment of marines, and then seize the smaller islands before moving onto the two big ones, Sea Island and Hondu Island." The map changed to show the smaller islands falling one by one to the UNSC troops. "Colonel Muljana here will be in charge of providing air support and logistics to your troops on the ground while the Navy will deploy a light battlegroup of 2 Phoenix Support Ships, 4 Frigates and 8 Corvettes to assist ground forces in their campaign. After the smaller islands are seized, a newly formed division of Army Colonial Guards, dubbed the 1st Mbalenhle Guards, coming in from Mbalenhle Cove will be deployed to garrison the islands while your forces move onto the bigger islands."
"Any idea what level of resistance we'll be facing, sir?" Osada asked.
"As was said earlier, some enemy Shinobi or pirates with a capacity for low-level ninjutsu will likely be encountered, but aside from that, the enemy forces will likely be uncoordinated and disorganized. Estimated strength will likely be in the tens of thousands altogether, but nothing our soldiers can't handle." Cole answered.
"Nothing they shouldn't be able to handle. Again, there is still not much we know about the natives' capacities." Toussaint countered, "If I may recommend, we should withhold conducting the operation for a couple months to give our soldiers more prep time and training."
"A couple months?"
"These islands aren't going anywhere, and there's nothing to indicate they'll be invaded anytime soon. From what little intelligence we have, everyone that could invade doesn't want to waste resources on such a far away territory, and those that want to invade or be rid of the pirates simply can't do so." Rosenbaum remarked, "Why not get some of the training knocked out and have our men on a better footing?" He looked over asset figures and seemed to be disappointed that no tanks were going to be relinquished for the operation. Disappointed, but understanding. They didn't have many available, but he doubted they would need such firepower. But then he noticed something, "Wait a minute, are those-"
Lyrenne nodded, "M650 Mastodon APCs. Courtesy of our salvage teams on Emerald Cove and the army garrisons from Hellas mostly." Emerald Cove was once a very prominent colony within human space, but with the threat of imminent invasion by the Covenant, the colony was hastily abandoned by the UNSC in May of 2542, who salvaged as much equipment and industry as they could before leaving. Within a week, the colony was void of human presence, the 105 million people that once lived on it had fled to other worlds. The only problem was... the Covenant never invaded. Why? Who knew? But Lyrenne and the URF still loyal to her learned of its survival, along with the vast stores of industry and military gear that was still left on the planet, and immediately sent people to salvage the colony of anything and everything valuable to take. Military equipment and industrial machinery were made a top priority and were now providing a vast quantity of critical supplies and material for the URF, and in turn, the people colonizing the Aquarii Cluster.
"How many are available?"
"Right now? Enough to outfit an entire Mechanized Divisions, plus a couple brigades. You'll be receiving a brigades' worth in total for the operation. Honestly, though, how the hell could they have ditched so much gear at Emerald Cove? With such geniuses running the war it's a wonder how we're losing the war." Lyrenne griped, crossing her arms. The two generals glanced at one another upon hearing the last comment but didn't complain. An entire brigade, 320 Mastodons, for their own personal use was a godsend. Those APCs were built tough, and could quickly be fitted with a wide array of armaments to suit the needs of the Army. The Marine Corps might not be a big fan of them, due to their large size and high profile, but the Army loved them, especially if the Army unit was short on tanks. The Mastodon made an adequate substitute.
"I'm sure the superior numbers and technology have something to do with it," Cole remarked, glaring at her. He may not agree with how the war was being handled, but he wasn't going to listen to someone, even an ex-wife, disrespect the courage and sacrifice of the men and women who have fought and died in this war to safeguard humanity's survival. But he also wasn't one to get off subject, as he quickly got back to the topic at hand, "Generals, Colonel, you'll have your two months. Get the soldiers trained as best as humanly possible. We'll try for a late-September launch of the operation, at the very least before the region's hurricane season comes in Late-October, but I want you to handle logistics and requisitions. Anything and everything you want or think you'll need, you'll get it."
Rosenbaum snorted, "How about a dozen tank armies, and the entire Home Fleet?"
Cole chuckled softly, "Sorry, fresh out of those. We'll give you what we can, though."
In truth, Cole was surprised they had as many tanks as they did. Thanks to Lyrenne's salvagers on Emerald Cove and from the surpluses of outer colony army garrisons that defected here, they had a total of 791 Scorpions (Older M808Bs mostly, and a battalion's worth of the 808Cs, but both of these models would, eventually, be converted over to the M808D model due to thicker armor and better armor configuration that gives better overall protection over the other half dozen models of the M808.) and 23 Grizzlies (Cole still had no clue how the URF managed to nab those. They were typically used to defend the Inner Colonies.) available for combat operations, with 120 of the Scorpions deployed on Shinsei, mostly guarding New Tripoli. However, many of the Scorpions were currently undergoing the process of being up-gunned with the more powerful M515 105mm smoothbore cannon to replace the M512 90mm cannons that were standard for the Scorpions, though this would likely take years to accomplish as many of the cannons and ammo would have to be produced before being installed. They also had another 556 tanks in various states of damage that needed to be repaired, and that, unfortunately, would take time before they were restored. In truth, they may end up being cannibalized for working parts to fix the tanks that were already functioning.
"Well, I suppose that covers everything, for now, sir. We'll keep you informed of any new developments." Toussaint finished. The Officers stood up and saluted the Admirals before exiting the room. This left Castilla, Cole, and Semenov in the room, and there was still two more issues to discuss.
"Doctor, have you made any progress on our missing weapons and how they managed to periodically block the trackers in our weapons?" Cole asked.
Back during the disastrous first contact on Timur Island, a total of 6 UNSC firearms and a couple sets of body armor had been stolen by the retreating Sky Shinobi. This usually wouldn't have been a problem, as every UNSC firearm has a device built into them that can give its location, a unique design meant to integrate with the Universal Global Positioning System (UGPS) that every UNSC soldier has built into their armor system. This means that the UNSC can keep track of its soldier's weapons and where they're at. (Provided they were in range of UNSC tracking systems.) When the insurrectionist used stolen UNSC firearms, they would turn off this device or outright remove it to keep the UNSC from tracking their weapons, but the Shinobi shouldn't couldn't possibly know how to turn the device off or even know of the device. The trackers weren't working in either of the body armor pieces, having suffered some severe damage of some sort, but that wasn't the biggest issue. Somehow, the Sky soldiers had managed, either by intention or accident, to figure out how to cut the signal from being broadcasted periodically, sometimes for weeks, until the UNSC managed to track them all the way to a desolate location 90 miles Southwest of the Sky Empire's capital, Kenhaba, where their signals have kept broadcasting uninterrupted. A plan was already in place to either retrieve or destroy the weapons to deny the Empire access to firearms that was to launch within the next couple of weeks, even if it would take them years to develop anything of use.
"Not yet, but we have an idea as to how they did it," Semenov answered, pulling up the notes in his datapad before displaying them on the holo-table. One of the notes was on the Shinobi item known as a sealing scroll.
Both the Admirals narrowed their eyes in confusion, "What does a piece of rolled up paper have to do with missing weapons?" Cole asked.
"All of us here have a basic understanding of these scrolls work, yes?" Semenov asked. Both the Admirals nodded in confirmation, with Lyrenne speaking, "Yes, the Shinobi use them to seal away objects by channeling chakra into it, but we don't know how they're able to seal away items into it without it weighing them down."
"Correct, but we may have an idea as to where it goes and as to why we kept losing the signal to our weapons for weeks sometimes." Semenov replied, "The technique these Shinobi use to seal away items into scrolls requires chakra, as such its logical to assume that these scrolls operate on chakra as well. These scrolls are used for transporting weapons and equipment-"
"Could they be used to transport people?" Lyrenne inquired. Semenov's reply was to merely shrug, "Possibly, but I don't know for certain. We'd need to do testing or ask the locals for a demonstration to confirm this, if they're even willing to. But supposedly these scrolls can be used for a number of things, with transportation being the main focus of them. So, now the question remains, where does all this stuff go? They wouldn't go to some random place on the planet. Otherwise, the item could be damaged in some form or fashion, like the sword's blade snapped or a valuable set of clothing ruined because it got sent into the ocean. And they're not being sent into space, we would notice residue or radiation on the weapons that would indicate as such. Plus, no human can survive the vacuum of space if they can transport people. So, if the location is not somewhere else on the planet or seemingly in this physical plane of existence..."
"Are you seriously suggesting that these people have scrolls that can seal away items into another dimension?!" Lyrenne couldn't believe what she was hearing. The UNSC had been attempting to gain a better understanding of Slipspace, which was the manipulation of 11 different 'dimensions,' for centuries since the development of Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engine to try and create better FTL travel across human space. But no-one had dared believe that traveling to such dimensions, and surviving, was possible. As far as she knew, no one had survived traveling through Slipspace without some form of protection, be it a ship or some cumbersome protective suit. But here was Semenov stating that these primitive humans had discovered and used dimensional transportation to simply seal away a bunch of throwing knives or whatever the hell they're sealing.
Semenov shrugged, "A pocket dimension, maybe. But its the best explanation I can come up with that also explains why we aren't detecting our weapons' UGPS devices. Chakra doesn't affect radio waves or electrical signals, from what we can tell, so there's no reason to think that one of these... ninjas are just casting some sort of jutsu to jam our signals. I doubt they even understand the concept of a radio wave."
Cole arched an eyebrow, then softly said, "Well, it's definitely one of the stranger theories I've heard. But everything about this damn planet has been strange so far, so I can't say I'd doubt it turned out to be true to some extent."
The Russian doctor was quick to raise a hand up, "Of course, this is still just a theory. We don't know for certain unless we gather more data. Perhaps if we send a team to explore the ruins to the southwest. The uh..." he went through his notes, "Ah, yes. The Hidden Whirlpool Village. I think if we send an archeology team there, we may find some answer for both this and the mystery of our sunken Covenant ship."
"It crashed some 6-7 miles off the southeastern coast of the city. If any of the locals will have records of the crash, there will be our best bet." Lyrenne summarized, to which the doctor nodded in confirmation. "Alright, doctor, assemble a team and see what you can uncover. We'll get a security detail set up."
"Is that really necessary, Admiral? Surely the worst we'd need to worry about is a couple smugglers or tomb raiders."
"I'd rather not take any chances, doctor." Lyrenne answered, "At the very least a platoon of soldiers to protect your group."
Semenov nodded, knowing he wouldn't change their mind. He wasn't convinced he would need the protection. They had been surveying the site from orbit for years, with no sign of human activity since they've begun monitoring it. But, if the military wants to play it safe, what's the harm? At least his colleagues will feel safer.
"Moving on, what progress has been made into solving the... incident that occurred in New Tripoli?" Cole asked.
Since arriving at Shinsei, there's been a strictly enforced, as best implemented as they could manage, ban on consuming the local fauna and wildlife had been in place upon the discovery of chakra. However, not everyone had followed this rule. Initially, a handful of cases had been reported, people started collapsing, claiming they were in extreme pain all over, primarily starting in the gut region, followed by severe fever, muscle spasms, and severe neuralgia across the body that lasted anywhere from 3-5 days. A total of 31 cases had been reported at the time but was widely dismissed as something within the biology of the animals/plants that currently made them inedible for Terrans, as no fatalities had occurred with the 'sickness.'
Then, the July 19 incident happened.
The day before, a couple hunting parties of Arcadian Colonists had snuck off into the wilderness surrounding New Tripoli to do some big game hunting, as a part of an old tradition of theirs from their native world. After several hours, they had killed and secured much big game and vegetation, including several large elks. Sneaking them back into the city and their district, Menetsi District, they hosted a large feast with their family and friends, along with strangers who were passing through the district. The feast had quickly turned into a small festival, a way to let people from dozens of backgrounds and worlds come together and socialize.
A couple hours into the festival, dozens of people started dropping simultaneously, all complaining of severe pain all over, then fever setting in. Dozens quickly turned into hundreds, and soon a general panic had erupted, with many fearing that an outbreak had occurred or that some terrorist had deployed a bioweapon. It took law enforcement and military detachments hours to restore order before paramedics could arrive to tend to the 'infected.' Marshal Law was declared, and the district was quarantined. Nearly 1,000 people had been 'infected,' and the doctors didn't have a single idea as to just what was wrong with them. Extensive study of blood sample had shown no new foreign pathogens had been introduced, nor was there any evidence of a virus or a disease. For the next 3 days, the doctors scrambled and worked around the clock to try and figure out the cause of this illness, many fearing that they would soon start losing live if they didn't come up with something, but to no avail. No one could seem to figure out what was wrong. Then, on the 4th day, patients miraculously started to recover. By day 6, all the patients had recover without a single fatality. Extensive studies and examinations of the afflicted showed no changes to the patients' anatomy or biology, almost as if nothing had happened to them, leaving a large number of people baffled as to just what in the hell happened to them, to begin with. After a couple more days, Marshal Law was cautiously lifted, but Menetsi District was still under quarantine, despite no new cases erupting there since then. But even after the incident had subsided, there would still be an occasional case or two happening across Timur Island that would pop up every week.
HIGHCOM wanted answers.
"There's still little we know and understand, but we can confirm 100% that the cause of this outbreak was from the consumption of local plants and wildlife," Semenov answered. "Interviews with the afflicted confirmed this, as all of them had admitted to eating food cooked from the local fauna, or at least that was believed to have been from local fauna. Thus, we've concluded that it was likely something within the food that was causing this reaction by the people who consumed it."
"Is it fatal?" Lyrenne asked, "Maybe it's got something to do with this chakra."
"Most of the doctors don't believe that it's fatal, and they haven't ruled out a possible connection to this chakra, but right now no one is certain, and we don't want to jump to conclusions. So far, the animal testing we've conducted with non-native fauna has shown the same results, severe sickness for a few days but no fatalities. For now, though, I think we should tell the public the truth, that we didn't know but that there's no evidence to suggest that consumption of the local food is potentially fatal." The doctor suggested, "But, I also recommend that we continue advising and forbidding everyone not to eat the local food until we can gather more concrete evidence. Otherwise, if something worse was to happen, we'll have an even worse panic on our hands."
Both the Admirals nodded in agreement. "Alright then," Cole started, "we'll uplift the quarantine, but keep the district under careful observation just in case something else happens. We may have missed some of the food in our sweeps, and we don't want another 'outbreak' as the damn media's calling it." He shook his head when the media was mentioned, not being an overly large fan of them. Then again, most soldiers in the UNSC weren't, either.
"Thank you for taking the time to come here in person, Azarov. I know you and your people have been extremely busy, and now we're throwing more work on-" Lyrenne started, but Semenov waved her off, "Ostanovka. Don't worry about it, Lyra. I know all of this is important in the long run. Otherwise, you wouldn't have bothered to ask me to look into it. And who knows? Maybe this world with all its little mysteries will gift us with some amazing breakthroughs. To be honest, I'm a bit excited about both the city ruins and the ship. Who knows what kinds of knowledge we'll uncover. It may be just what we need to turn this damn war around." The doctor smiled, before quietly excusing himself, leaving the two Admirals alone in the room. Lyrenne watched him go, knowing full well that despite his appearance, her old friend was exhausted from all the work that had placed on him. She hated putting all of this on him, but he and his team were the best she had at the moment. Maybe he would pull off some kind of miracle, he's done it before.
"He strikes me as a decent man," Cole noted. Lyrenne smiled, "He is. You'd like him if you talked to him more. He's probably one of the smartest men I know."
"If you vouch for him that's good enough for me. I doubt you would give that out lightly." Cole spoke, getting up from his chair as he started to walk out. "I'll be returning to the bridge for now. Let me know if something else comes up."
And just like that, he was gone. No goodbye. No asking about their daughter. Just gone.
Lyrenne stared at the door Cole had just exited through. She had been suspecting something was wrong with him as if he just didn't want to talk to her. But now she was starting to think that Cole was intentionally keeping contact between them short and to the point, rarely talking about anything else. This wasn't the Preston Cole she had remembered.
She sighed. Then again, the Preston Cole she had known didn't realize she was an Insurrectionist, until the very last moments of their relationship.
When she had contacted him back 2542, for the first time in nearly 40 years since the two last spokes, and on Christmas Day of all days, he had been furious at her. A lot was yelling, a lot of accusation, and a lot of hurt feelings. All of this coming from a man who was well known for being incredibly level-headed, calm, and rarely giving an outburst. She didn't blame him for being angry with her. She had hurt him in quite possibly the worst possible way one could when she walked out of his life, but it wasn't like she had much choice. ONI had learned of her secret identity, and If ONI had captured her, they would have interrogated and executed her, 7 months pregnant or not.
Now, her daughter... their daughter barely even acknowledge the man whenever they were in the same room. It was obvious she just didn't want anything to do with him. And Cole likely blamed her for that mindset, while still holding some resentment for her over this and everything else. Rebecca never did have a lot of friends growing, both she and Lyrenne were always moving about to avoid detection by the UNSC, who was still convinced that she had died. (Which she was more than fine having it stay that way.) She just didn't connect with people like most would, and as a result, her social skills suffered for it.
But in spite of all of this between them, Cole had still agreed to come with her. Why?
He wasn't planning on betraying them to the UNSC. If that were the case, he would have done it by now, and they would have been seeing UNSC fleets over their colonies. Was something wrong with him, maybe? When they left to meet the Marsh leaders, she had noticed he seemed... out of it. Distracted, quick to irritability, the color drained from his face. Was Preston suffering from some kind of illness?
Her eyes narrowed at one possibility. Or was Preston starting to break from all the strain and pressure?
It would make a lot of sense. Preston had basically been propped up by the UNSC as this unbeatable and unbreakable Admiral who beat the Covenant wherever he fought them, which he did. All that promoting and media attention had basically put the weight, and survival, of humanity on his shoulders. The tens of thousands that had died under his command, the dozens of worlds that he couldn't reach in time, the whole of humanity putting their faith and trust into one man to save them from the genocidal alien menace... It was just too much for him. And after so many years under so much pressure and responsibility placed on him, the Unbreakable Preston Cole had started to break under pressure.
Preston Cole hadn't agreed to come out of some old love for her or their daughter, maybe not entirely. Preston was breaking, and desperate for a way out before it drove him mad.
Now it all made much more sense. If Preston was suffering from PTSD or some sort of mental fatigue, then he needed to be helped. But would he allow someone to help him? After so many years keeping up such a façade, he might not be willing to show any admittance of weakness. But, regardless, he needed psychological help. She didn't want him suffering like that for the sake of others, or at all really. But he would have to be willing to accept the help. Otherwise, it wouldn't do any good.
She sighed again, leaning back in the chair and looking out the window into space, thousands of tiny stars twinkling in view. She had never wanted this for either of them. Maybe she initially was just trying to use him when they first met, but as time went by something had developed between the two. Something beautiful that lead to their daughter's conception. Maybe, just maybe, it could come back. But, again, Preston would have to be willing, and she wasn't sure if he was ready to forgive her yet.
Lyrenne couldn't help but wonder if she even deserved to be forgiven by him.
August 10, 2543
Huchon Archipelago
Sea Confederacy
72 miles west of Sea Island
Rayeong Village
Shao Peng sat in his chair, an umbrella shading his massive frame from the glaring sun. Even with the umbrella, he was sweating fiercely. Damn this lousy island. The only thing it was good for was for growing opium and some medicinal plants. And damn this heat. Summer had only just started on Shensei today, officially. But the temperature would be up in the high 80s, low 90s by the 14th. Plus, he also had sensitive skin that burned quickly, so better safe than sorry. He honestly wasn't sure what to make of these foreigners, these... 'terrans' as they were apparently called. He was currently in a meeting with some of them, 50 in all, and all of them having their faces covered in headgear and carrying weird weapons and armor. But, by kami, did they have some amazing weapons and gear, weird or not. The terran before him, who had covered his head in some strange small hat and his eyes in some weird, solid black glasses, was explaining and describing to him a small handheld weapon called a 'pistol.' From what had been explained, it was a great weapon for personal defense. The man explaining it, who called himself 'Mr. Jones', was a very energetic individual, if not odd. But, Peng couldn't show any signs of interest just yet. 26 years as the head of the Zhu-Yin Pirate Clan had taught the 51-year-old many valuable lessons regarding deals and business. Nonetheless, he was eager to see these weapons in action, even if it might cost him a dozen or so 'servants,' but oh well. They were a Ryu a dozen for a man like him.
He watched impassively, his head propped up by his hand, as the captive woman, kneeling barely 30 feet away from where he was, struggled against the post she was bind to, sobbing and pleading with the men around her, along with several other captives being held in a pin some 20 feet away. Then the 'pistol' fired, a loud pop filling the air. Her sobs went silent as the side of her head popped open in gory fashion, the slave going limp against the pole almost immediately. Several captives, held together in a small makeshift pin, screamed at the sight before being silenced by several guards that started shouting or hitting them. At first, they had jumped and shouted at the sight, but after a dozen times of seeing the same thing, they were... somewhat used to it now. Beside him, Mr. Jones's hand lowered, the pistol smoking slightly from the round it just fired. Peng had been hesitant before, but was now very grateful that Mr. Jones had provided him with those little things that he had called 'earplugs', as he noticed a few of his men who had been closer to the weapon had winced or jumped at the sudden loudness of the pistol, a couple even rubbing their ears.
"Not gonna lie, this is a bit unorthodox, even for me. But, then again, what better target to test your product on than the very one you plan to use it on?" Mr. Jones chuckled, holding up the pistol as he walked towards the corpse, "So, as you can see, gentlemen, the Sevine Arms Pistol, or SAP if you want to keep it short, has great killing potential at close range and is exceptionally accurate. Making it great as a personal defense weapon if you find yourself in a bit of trouble or if you merely want to make a statement. And the best part is, you can do this 11 more times with the magazine currently loaded. Of course, that also depends on what round you're using, as it does come in 4 different calibers."
Shao Peng wasn't the only one that was here for this little demonstration of Terran goods, despite this being his island. Along with him and his company, there were nearly a hundred different representatives, from other pirate factions and from other countries, like Tea Country, Wind Country, River Country, Rice Country, Demon Country, Earth Country, and last but certainly not least, Sky Country. Sky Country especially had been a surprise show up, and they had even sent one of their highest officials along as a representative, the genius Imperial head of military development and production, Min Jong-Su. The man's distinctive black goatee and puffy face stood out in the crowd, his teal-colored eyes entirely focused on the salesman. But Rice Country's arrivals, on the other hand, were immediately met with suspicion and contempt by nearly all present. If even half the things he had heard were right, Shao Peng wanted absolutely nothing to do with Orochimaru and his Hidden Sound Village, which was saying a lot for him considering all the more... frowned upon businesses and ventures he and his associates conducted.
While Shao Peng didn't mind conducting business with other countries present, he had personally hoped that countries closer to his domain had been kept out, because they were usually areas his men would plunder or conduct business in. If these new weapons started being used in mass by other countries, it would piracy all the more difficult and costly, cutting into his profits. He didn't like that one bit. He grunted in contempt. Nothing he could do about, aside from buying as many of these weapons as he could if he was convinced they were worth the money. But with some of the... disturbing rumors and news he'd been receiving from his bases in Marsh Country, he may just have to buy them, along with sending those foolish Marsh leaders a little reminder as to who was really in charge and called the shots.
Mr. Jones knelt down and examined the damage to the woman's skull, blood and brain matter leaking out of the cavity. He whistled softly as he viewed his handiwork. "Now, folks, I'd like to remind you that this was done with one of our smaller rounds, the .357 SIG, fired in the SAP-C357. Just imagine if this had been done with one of our larger rounds, like the .40 or the .45." He dramatically paused for a couple seconds, then suddenly snapped his fingers, as if he just conveniently remembered something, "Oh wait! You don't have to!"
As if on cue, one of the Terran guards walked over and handed Mr. Jones another pistol, slightly bigger than the one he was holding. Taking the new gun and giving the first one to his companion, Mr. Jones checked the weapon to make sure it was loaded, before holding it up for all to see, as another struggling slave was brought before them and tied up to the pole. One of the guards punched the captive several times, eventually bringing him to soft whimpers after his face was bloodied and busted up. Jones frowned under his bandanna, having asked for them to refrained from that, (Not for the slave's wellbeing. Who cared? All those beatings made it harder to show the effects of the bullet on the target if the rounds were of the smaller calibers.) but quickly composed himself.
"Now this right here is the 40 caliber variant of the SAP." Mr. Jones introduced, then pointed a finger towards himself, "Personally, my round of choice because it's a decent middle ground caliber for both firepower and ammunition capacity. It's great for use against unarmored or lightly armored targets. If you would kindly observe..." Mr. Jones walked back and got ready to kill another slave, aiming the pistol not 10 feet away from the man. The captive barely had time to shout before Mr. Jones fired, the man's forehead bursting in the same gory fashion as the last victim, before slumping over. And again, the slaves all started screaming out but were quickly silenced again.
Many of the representatives were watching with keen interest, intrigued by this weapon's potential and just how lethal it was to the human body. Mr. Jones looked back at the audience and merely held up the gun, "It's being sold from 420 to 600 Ryu for each pistol depending on the caliber."
The representatives murmured and whispered excitedly between one another, excited about getting their hands on this new wondrous weapon. Mr. Jones clearly had their attention, Shao Peng was sure, but he doubted that was all this little salesman had to show them. And almost as soon as he thought that he wasn't disappointed. One of Mr. Jones' companions brought forth another weapon, this one larger and vastly different from the pistol's design.
"Now, if the SAP blew your minds, hopefully not literally," Mr. Jones started, giving a quick glance at the corpse, "Then you're gonna love the SAMP-11, or Sevine Arms Machine Pistol 11." He held up the SAMP-11, a weirdly designed machine with what looked liked a skinny grey stick jutting out of the bottom of it in the middle, while what the Terrans called the 'trigger' was back in the rear bottom of the weapon like the pistol.
"Can fire the same calibers as the SAP except for the .45, but with the number of bullets it throws out, you won't likely even think about it. Each magazine can hold 30 or 40 rounds depending on the caliber, and let me tell you," Mr. Jones cocked the weapon, then aimed at a set of dummy targets, 10 in all and all wearing some light armor, that had been lined up. When he fired, a long continuous burst came out of the weapon as he sprayed, striking a little over half of the targets, who had visible bullet holes in their figures. The armor they had been wearing didn't even stop the bullets. Looking back, Mr. Jones finished, "you'll need every one of 'em. It fires a lot of bullets, but machine pistols aren't too great on accuracy, especially at a distance, so you're better off using it for close quarters and inside confined spaces. Selling for 840 Ryu apiece, each one coming with 3 magazines and ammo."
The gathered representatives looked amazed at the weapons' capabilities, even if their ears were ringing in protest, those that didn't have earplugs anyway. He could see it in their eyes that every one of them wanted that gun. Under his bandanna, he smirked. If they liked the smg, then they were going to love these next couple of rifles.
Walking over to a compatriot, he traded the machine pistol for another rifle, this one much longer and rather skinny in comparison to the other designs. Working the bolt and loading a 5 round stripper clip into the weapon, Mr. Jones raised the gun up so everyone could see it. "This... is what we call the Civilian Defense Rifle 3, or CDR3 for short. It's a rifle that was designed for a civilian market, like hunting or home defense. But make no mistake, you can still kill a fellow easy with this gun, typically with just one shot, and from much further away than the previously shown weapons."
The Civilian Defense Rifles, a nickname given to them due to their popularity in the civilian market, were actually known as the Chalybs Defense Rifle series. Ranging from 1 all the way to 8, from varmint-rifles that fired pistol rounds perfect for hunting small game, like squirrels or rabbits, all the way up to semi-automatic rifles great for home defense, if one didn't have a shotgun. They were popular because they provided a cheap and reliable weapon that could be used for a number of roles, especially hunting since they came in several rifle calibers.
"This gun fires a much larger round than the other guns demonstrated, so large in fact, that this particular model is designed to only carry 5 of them at a time. Now, you're probably thinking, 'Why the fuck would I buy something that only carries 5 rounds?' Well..." Further away, about 200 meters from where they all stood, a couple of more captives had been tied up and being guarded by a couple of Shao Peng's guards, plus one of Mr. Jones' soldiers as well. Lining up the shot, Mr. Jones took a deep breath, then slowly exhaled as he squeezed the trigger. A thunderous report came out, and not even a second later, the captive on the left had his chest burst, a fine pink mist bursting forth. The man barely screamed out before slumping over in his restraints. The woman beside him screamed, struggling in her restraints as Mr. Jones calmly worked the bolt of the weapon. But, somehow the woman managed to slip out of her restraints and started running down into the trees. Peng's guards chased after her, but Jones' guard stayed put, quietly radioing in, 'You sure you can make the shot, boss?'
"Yea', I got it. Just make sure the cunt's dead once I hit 'er." Mr. Jones answered his accent now vastly different from what he'd been using with the locals.
'Sure thing, Fal."
Mr. Jones, or rather Faolan Smios, calmly lined up the shot as the woman kept running. He mentally cursed, shooting a rifle had never been his expertise. Bomb making was. Luckily, this was a pretty straightforward shot, he just needed to be patient and time it just right. Otherwise, he was about to embarrass himself badly.
"What are you waiting for?! She's getting away!" Shao Peng thundered, furious that one of his slaves may escape. Faolan couldn't understand why he was so worked up. This island was so damn small and isolated it's not like she could hide or somehow escape the island. There was nowhere to go. Breathing in, he slowly exhaled as she entered his sights, he calmly squeezed the trigger.
"Forget it, Mr. Jones. At that range, even a veteran archer would have trouble making such an accurate shot. Just let the men catch her and bring-" Min Jong-Su, the head Sky Country Representative, began to speak, but the resounding crack of a rifle shot to shut him up. And sure enough, the round struck home, dropping the woman as a small pink mist burst out around her stomach. She wasn't moving by the time the guards caught up to her.
Now the representatives were all speaking amongst themselves. Min Jong-Su was quite, merely observing and musing over the weapons' incredible potentials for the Sky Military. He had seen and witnessed the examples provided by Kotaro Sogo, but they only had so much ammunition for the weapons. And they had no clue as to how to replicate it. Perhaps if he bought some more examples displayed here, they might just crack the code. Even the miniscule amount of info they have gives them a massive advantage over everyone else in the Elemental Nations. If they were going to maintain it, then they needed to get more of the weapons and learn how to build them themselves before everyone else figured it out.
He glanced over and saw that the Rice representatives hadn't uttered a word, and the one supposedly in charge of the group... there just seem something eerily off about him. He couldn't pinpoint just what it was. His face? It hasn't changed expression even with the demonstrations. His general stance was rigid, entirely focused on Mr. Jones. His hold demeanor was just unnerving. Min had only heard rumors about Orochimaru and his abilities, but the experiments that supposedly took place were what really disturbed him. Even for the harsh world, they lived in, the Snake Sannin's methods and immorality were considered mainly barbaric and condemned. No one wanted anything to do with him or his brood. Luckily, Min and the Sky representatives had their own ace in the hole should something go wrong, as he glanced over to their sole guard, who had his own face concealed. He had actually requested to accompany them here to view the weapons himself, but either way, Min was glad he had come. He quickly turned his attention back to Mr. Jones as he started speaking again, "As you can see, gentlemen, this weapon right here can drop a man from 500 meters away. And it comes in several calibers, all of which are capable of such shots. Now the selling price for these guns are 558 Ryu each, but you buy a surplus of 2000 rifles each, we're willing to deduct 20% from the price of each gun, meaning you'd be buying 'em for 465 Ryu each, along with 300,000 rounds of ammunition for 35,000 Ryu."
965,000 Ryu for such firepower and munitions? That was easily the equivalent of 4-5 A-Ranked Missions pay for a Shinobi. And completely worth it, as far as Min was concerned, he leaned over to his 'guard' and whisper, "Seems a bit of a low price for such a powerful weapon. Yen for your thoughts?"
Without looking at him or even moving a muscle, the 'guard' replied, "Chances are he withholding his top-quality weapons, wanting to see just how interested we are. I will admit though, these weapons along with the ones Kotaro secured from Iwamoto are impressive, if not loud." Min thought he heard him click his tongue under the mask, "I swear, I thought I was going to go deaf when I first heard those damn things fire, even with my ears covered."
Min nodded, having been there too when Kotaro had demonstrated the weapons to the military command and the Sukaikage. "Noise complaint aside, these weapons would be insurmountable for our plans. And our advance knowledge, while limited, will give us an edge over the others, who will have to spend months learning how to properly operate them. If we could acquire a significant number of these weapons, it would go a long way to assisting the research team back home in learning how to make our own weapons."
Said research team was currently studying the weapons they had taken from Iwamoto, but the problem was that there was only so much of the munitions they used. Every one they expended was one less they had until they learned how to make more. Leaving here empty-handed wasn't an option. The Sukaikage had made that very clear.
"But that advantage and knowledge won't last for long, now that the secret is out. Others will be clamoring to get these weapons once word spreads from here, or they see them in action for the first time. Still, though..." the guard mused, "This 'Terran.' Something isn't right here."
"Hm? How do you mean?" Min inquired.
"The soldiers that attacked us on Iwamoto did so without provocation. They honestly had no reason to attack us, unless it was to take the island for themselves. And even then, these 'terrans' as they're calling themselves wouldn't dare attack us with such an enormous advantage over us, only to turn around and give up said advantage over us." The 'guard' explained, crossing his arms as he spoke.
"You think this man and his crew are just a bunch of smugglers, trying to make some quick money?" Min asked.
"It's quite possible. But let's not jump to conclusions for now. And besides, either way, we'll benefit from this if we can get our hands on these weapons." The guard went back to quietly watching the smuggler give the demonstration of his products, mostly showing off the pistols and machine pistols again, but did show one last piece of equipment. An oddly shaped rifle was in his hands, similar to one of the weapons Kotaro's group had managed to retrieve.
"This right here is the pinnacle of what I have to sell to you today. It's called the CDR5. Now, before you get excited we do only have a limited number of these available, so-"
The Rice Country 'representative' watched impassively, showing no emotion on his face, but on the inside he had to admit, he was intrigued by the weapons. This was definitely something new, and the possibilities were endless. Sure, they weren't as flashy or destructive as ninjutsu, but they had a lethality all their own that made them superior to ninjutsu given the right circumstances and conditions. All it would take was one well-placed shot and boom, a Shinobi's life was ended. (Though the same could be said for an arrow or a kunai; they didn't travel anywhere near as fast as these... 'bullets' do, and modern-day armor was rather good at stopping penetration.)
He could certainly make use of these tools, but in the long run, they would merely be a means to an end. These firearms couldn't gift him with new jutsus or bloodlines, only killing and harvesting other shinobis could do that. And if he can learn where they were being kept, he could just take them for himself. But there was one problem with this plan.
The Sky Country Representative's 'Guard.' He knew that Chakra Signature anywhere, either that or Sky Country had some really good impersonators. He would never have thought that Sky Country's lone S-Ranked Warrior would come here personally. With him being in command of the Sky Military, he had doubted the man would leave the Country, devoted to turning the Imperial Army into a fearsome force once more. But here he was, the Shogun of the Imperial Army in disguise, Kuribayashi Nakazo. This was a problem. Even at his old age of 57, the Shinobi-turned Samurai was still a force to reckoned with, on par with individuals such as Sarutobi Hiruzen or the late 3rd Raikage.
Orochimaru, the leader of the Hidden Sound Village and Rice Country, and one of the most dangerous rogue shinobi in the world clicked his tongue in irritation as he glanced at the warrior in disguise. He would be a problem that couldn't just be ignored.
Kuribayashi is the first legitimate S-Ranked warrior to come out of Sky Country in nearly 100 years, and he has the talent and ingenuity to back up this ranking. The Snake Sannin had faced him once almost 10 years ago, back during the 3rd Shinobi World War. Back then, he had 2 teams of ANBU backing him up. The mission had been to assassinate Miura Kenji and destabilize Sky Country, who had been slowly but surely recovering from the 2nd Shinobi World War. Regardless of whether or not he had the backup, the mission had been a failure, and all of his teammates had been killed, not that he had cared, but all of the mission's failure was mostly because they had underestimated Kuribayashi's capabilities. And he didn't like failing or being made a fool of.
Kuribayashi had done both, and it had irked him to no end. But this wasn't the time or place to settle old scores.
After seeing this capability of these weapons firsthand, he had planned on just killing these traders and taking the guns once he figured out where they were. But now, even if he wasn't a Konoha Shinobi anymore, he didn't have any allies, especially none here. If he made a move, they would all turn on him in an instant. Sometimes quantity could be a quality all its own. Better to wait and see where this goes before making any sort of move. And even if he couldn't at the moment, it wouldn't matter. He had more than enough funds to purchase these weapons if it came down to it.
He continued to watch as the new 'CDR' was demonstrated, showing off its ability to kill at a very long distance, even further than that of the other rifle. A small smile formed on his face as he watched the weapon murder another slave. Yes, these weapons would prove most useful. And anything useful to him, he would put to good use. He was already thinking of just how much chaos he could cause with a few of these weapons for a specific hidden village he wished to destroy.
August 18, 2543
Sky Country
94 miles southwest of Kenhaba
Yuga Ravine
The rocky cliffside seemed to stretch hundreds of feet up, though, in reality, it rose only some 230 feet, with the afternoon mist that had rolled in. However, it just fed into the illusion that the ravine was much larger than it actually was. The ravine was moderately forested, with towering pine trees and thick moss dominating the area.
The whole ravine was maybe 11 miles long and 1.5 miles at its widest point, running from east to southwest. Several areas were packed with rocky outcrops, and a stream flowed through the ravine that was fed by a small hot spring, keeping the water relatively warm for most of the year. In the past, back during the old empire, the ravine had a small but thriving mining village, but the town was abandoned when the mines stopped producing. Now, said village was a small installation used by the Sky Military to conduct operations, training, and research away from public eyes.
And boy, was it one hell of a boring post. The chunin, Akiharu, slowly walked down the dirt road, the constant gurgle of the stream could be heard to his left. Quite a few large, marble white boulders and rocks jutted out of the water and on the shore. In the air and in the trees, the sounds and songs of many birds and insects could be heard.
The rest of his team was spread out in this area of the ravine as part of their guard duty. He looked up and noticed storm clouds were slowly rolling in from the east, but he and the rest of his team would be back at the village by the time it started raining. Patrolling this stretch of the ravine, or just patrolling the ravine period, was always such a bore. He knew that not every mission was going to be action-packed, but good kami this was boring. There wasn't anything to do on their off time, save for the hot spring onsen and a small sake den the previous owners had established.
The 14-year-old shinobi groaned, then smirked at a sudden thought. Well, maybe there was something to do on the off time. The walls separating the hot springs' baths had definitely seen better days, and his teammate Kaya had really blossomed over the years, in all the right places. If he could get somewhere alone with her, maybe, just maybe they could spend a little qua-
Crack.
He was immediately brought out of his daydreaming and snapped his head right, towards the trees. That had been pretty loud. A little too loud. That didn't even sound like a twig snapping, more like a whole damn branch. Had that been an animal? His eyes narrowed as he slowly drew out his kunai. He calmly scanned the forest, looking for anything out of place. Nothing seemed wrong, but that didn't necessarily mean anything. Cautiously, he took a few steps towards a set of bushes and trees nearest to the road. If something did come out and attack, he could jump up into the tree and dodge. The birds and insects continued filling the air with their songs, without a care in the world.
He didn't see anything. Maybe it had been a deer or something, but he still couldn't shake the feeling something was off. That something... someone was watching him...
...
...
Cautiously, he took another step forward towards the bushes.
"AKIHARU!"
Said Shinobi jumped at the sudden voice behind him. He spun around, kunai at the ready, only to find his teammate, Kaya, standing there glaring at him, the brunette's arms crossed and covering her chest. "Good kami, Kaya! What the hell you do that for?! Nearly gave me a heart attack." Akiharu exclaimed. Kaya didn't seem impressed.
"I just happened to be passing by and saw you just standing there staring at the forest in a trance. What were you even doing, baka?"
"I-I thought I saw, erm, heard something..." the poor boy tried to explain, but his crush didn't seem to buy it.
"Whatever. You were probably just slacking off and daydreaming again."
A vein popped up on his head. He didn't slack off (Not on a mission, anyway, according to him.). "NO! The only thing I daydream about is you without your clothes." he retorted with a smirk.
Kaya gawked and began to blush madly at the statement, punching him hard on the shoulder. "STUPID PERVERT!"
Ami-072 calmly waiting in her position, M7S smg aimed and ready to eliminate the two Shinobi if necessary. She'd rather not shoot, but if they spotted her, they'd sound the alarm. But, she was reasonably confident that neither of the Shinobi would find her. The two Shinobi continued to converse and argue, utterly oblivious to her presence not 20 feet from their location. The bushes weren't the best cover, but with the trees overhead providing a dense shadow, they were thick enough to break up the outline of her figure. Her armor's darker color scheme choices helped in this matter. But, at the same time, they could get lucky and notice something off. That's usually all it took. Someone with a keen pair of eyes.
But at the moment, it seemed like the two were more interested in bickering with one another than watching their surroundings. That was a fatal mistake, and completely unacceptable by Spartan standards. Had Chief Mendez caught them doing this during their training, there would have been hell to pay. Discipline and situational awareness had been drilled into the Spartans the moment their training had begun. Even in a relatively calm and peaceful environment like this, where one wasn't expecting trouble, Spartans would have still had their guard up, looking for any sign of trouble. Unfortunately, she wouldn't be able to move until they left. The trees behind her were too thin and spaced out for proper cover, and remained so for about a good 15 meters. Superhuman speed or not, her 7'2" frame would have been spotted immediately should she make a move.
Still, she wondered why ninjas of such age and evident inexperience were even stationed here. Was the Sky Military suffering from a shortage of more qualified and experienced Shinobi? Or did they merely expect that no one even knew of this place or expect an attack? Either way, if the other guards were of similar quality, this would be a lot easier than HIGHCOM was fearing.
'You sure you don't want to take 'em out, Sigma-One? It'd be two fewer ninjas to worry about later.' A male voice in her comms chimed in softly.
"Negative, Sigma-Two. If we kill them now when they're so close to heading back to the village, someone will notice their absence. We'll wait for them to leave." Ami replied, whispering. "Sigma-Three, do you still have overwatch on both of us?"
"Affirmative, but we're gonna need to move soon. Otherwise we won't reach the rendezvous in time," Khara-024 reported. Sigma Team's sniper was situated on top of the ravine watching over Vasili-125 and herself as they progressed through the valley. Even with the fog rolling in, as long as he could get a visual on the target, nothing in the valley was safe from his sniper rifle.
"Sigma-Two, are you clear to advance?" She asked.
"Roger. I doubt they'd even see me from where I'm at." Vasili answered. He was currently behind her location, some 30 meters away further into the forest, and according to Ami's HUD, hidden away behind a thick cluster of trees and bushes that was suited for his armor's color scheme of forest green and dark brown. They definitely weren't going to see him, unless they had some kind of trick up their sleeve. Since being deceptive was kinda what ninjas did for a living, chances were that they did have something up their sleeve for the unexpected.
"Alright, then. Sigma-Two, go ahead and push towards the rendezvous. Sigma-Three, continue moving up and providing overwatch for the both of us. I'll wait for these two to move on and will proceed on the mission to the meeting point. Remember, we can't eliminate anyone until we're at the rendezvous point. Do not engage unless compromised."
Two green lights winked on her HUD as her teammates acknowledged the order.
Her HUD showed Vasili's icon moving on past her position, the Shinobi still unaware that they were still there. Khara was slowly making his way to a new location on the cliff edge overlooking the ravine further east, towards the village. Good. Even if she caught stuck here for some time, the other two members of her squad would be able to continue on the mission and on schedule.
"For Kami's sake, Akiharu! Could you take your job here seriously?! This isn't the academy! This is a serious mission, and we'll be in big trouble if something goes wrong and we're the ones found at fault!" Hands on her hips, Kaya continued chastising her teammate. She then looked extremely concerned, shuffling uncomfortably in her stance, "Kami, I especially don't want to get in any trouble with the Iron Shadows being here."
Iron Shadows. Those were the supposed Shinobi equivalent of the Iron Guards if intel was correct. If they were here, then this definitely was an important site for the Sky military and only confirmed HIGHCOM's suspicions that this village was a critical R&D center. All the more reason to make sure its destroyed, along with the firearms and whatever research they've managed to conduct on the UNSC hardware.
But how many of them were here? Aerial recon had shown the base had about 300 Samurai defending it, along with two platoons worth of Iron Guards, and at least 5 teams of Shinobi, 20 ninjas in total. But there wasn't any intel on these Iron Shadows, save from whatever had been learned from the Marsh Shinobi. They were supposed to be the elite of the Sky Military's Shinobi Corps. Ami was sure that before the night was over, they'd find out just how elite they truly were.
"Alright, alright Kaya. I get it! I'll be more focused on the job." Akiharu relented, holding his hands up defensively, "I know it's important, dammit, but come on. How many people do you think even know this place exists? The chances of us being attacked are outright slim to none."
Unfortunately for the boy, before the night would be over, that slim chance was going to happen. Ami and Spartan Team Sigma would see to that.
"That's not an excuse to let your guard down! Remember what Takuya-Sensei said to us during training. 'Never let your guard down during a mission. You'll never know when something is about to go wrong.' We're supposed to take those words to heart." It was good advice, but having your guard up didn't guarantee that you would succeed or survive. Ami watched Kaya jerk her hand back towards the road, "Now, come on. We're heading back to the camp."
"Eh? I thought we still had another couple hours on our patrol?"
"We do, but the Iron Shadows called for a meeting with all the Shinobi present. Apparently, there's been some new orders coming in from the village. The samurai will take over for us in the meantime. Come on, dork." Kaya explained, before turning around to head back. Shrugging, her teammate slowly followed behind her, before they both leaped into a tree and moved back towards the village.
So the ninjas wouldn't be patrolling for a while. Good. That would make reaching their destination all the easier. With their chakra and all the abilities that came along with it, it made sneaking around all the more difficult. The rules of combat were now changed, as it had when the Covenant first arrived. All it took was one wrong move. But, like the Covenant, just because they had an edge didn't make them invincible. Timur Island had proven that firsthand. Though to be fair those troops had been of average quality, and there were apparently Shinobi running around on this planet who were essentially one-man armies. (She's heard of one Kunoichi from Fire Country who could supposedly turn a mountain into rubble with just a touch of her finger, though that was likely exaggerated.) Thankfully, the Spartans had yet to run into one of those.
But recently, as she sat there and thought about it, a lot of unusual events had been occurring in her life. (More so than usual. A Spartan's life wasn't exactly normal, to begin with.) The biggest one being the fact her team was now working alongside what was mostly a group of deserters and insurgents. The conversation she'd had with the ODST Colonel hadn't left her mind.
"I'm not asking you to fight the UNSC, and I never will. I'm asking you to ensure humanity has some kind of future should the worst happen."
In one of the few times in her entire life, she was conflicted about what to do. If anything her conversation with Barnes had only left her more conflicted. She was loyal to the UNSC, but... what if the worst came to fruition? What if humanity lost the war? Her sole purpose as a Spartan was to safeguard humanity. So wouldn't ensuring that at least something of the human race survived, far away from the Covenant, still be within the confines of that mission? Or would the UNSC merely see this as a colossal act of treason and desertion, and nothing else?
If they found out. That was the other million credit question. If they did, it most certainly wouldn't be thanks to the Spartans. That damn AI of the ODST Colonel, Atlas, was monitoring them, and the UNSC/URF forces here had been in-depth and thorough about their interstellar communications. Any messages back to UNSC space were either forbidden or strictly monitored, so they wouldn't be sending one without it catching the attention of a monitoring AI, namely Atlas. (Who oddly seemed way more capable than any other AI she's encountered. How did an ODST Colonel get his hands on such an AI?) But what if the UNSC did learn about all of this? What then? Talking it over, privately, with her teammates, they decided that for now they would lay low and cooperate with the local forces. (Thankfully, most of the locals didn't even know they were here. Cole had been making sure of that.)
And if the UNSC did find this place... well, they would cross that bridge when they got there.
While the Shinobi had left, Ami waited a couple minutes to make sure. Seeing nothing else and picking up nothing on her motion tracker, she slowly rose from her cover and quickly moved further into the forest to give her better cover. The foliage was thick enough to hide someone from prying eyes on the road, but Ami kept an eye on the trees, knowing that some Shinobi would use them to move about without being spotted. Still, her motion tracker wasn't showing any movement, aside from the occasional bird or small animal, but she wasn't concerned with those.
"Sigma-Two, I'm coming in behind you. What's your status?"
"Green, no contacts at the moment." Vasili replied, "Sigma-Three noted that he saw a couple squads of their ninjas heading back towards the camp."
"I overheard the two talking from before. The ninjas are having some kind of meeting back at their base so we won't have to worry about them for a while." Ami spoke, scanning an open area within the trees to her right as she moved closer to Vasili's position.
"Any idea how long 'a while' is?" Khara asked.
"No, they didn't say. But for the meantime, we'll only have to worry about Iron Guards patrolling the grounds around the camp."
"This is almost too easy, compared to the Covenant. At least they put effort into their surveillance." Vasili commented. He had a point. Covenant may not have had magic, but they did have advanced electronics and communications, along with keenly eyed soldiers that made infiltration of their bases much more difficult. These Shinsei locals, while good, had to rely on what they spotted with their own two eyes, and usually couldn't get reinforcements called in until it was too late.
Compared to infiltrating and sabotaging Covenant bases, stealing pieces of their tech, and assassinating HVTs, this mission would be a lot easier. Almost too easy, if she thought about it. The local forces seemed way too lax with their defenses.
She caught up with Vasili, who was overlooking a depression behind a trio of thick trees. The landscape before them was thick with jagged rocks, shrubs, and trees, both standing and fallen, which gave perfect cover all around. He was well concealed, but her augmented visual perception could still pick him out from the foliage. The Mark IV(b)-Class Mjolnir he wore was one of the more streamlined models for the Spartan-IIs, unlike her CQC-model (Which was still technically a prototype but was slated for mass production in the next 2-3 years.). But it's armor was top notch, like all the other models. And what they had gathered from Timur Island's skirmish, they were confident that their armor could handle most if not any kind of punishment that the Shinsei locals could throw at them.
'Still, the best way of avoiding damage is to just not getting hit at all.' Ami thought bitterly. She knew the locals had some crazy powers at their disposal, and that her armor was remarkably resilient, but like with the Covenant, she didn't care enough to find out just how resilient it actually was, especially against something like magic.
"You ready to go, Ami? We still got another 2 klicks before we reach our position." Vasili asked. Ami merely nodded, and the two Spartans eased their way down the slope, scanning the trees and surroundings for anything that looked hostile. So far, the only thing that had been seen so far was a very irritated crow in one of the trees, screeching non-stop. But they paid the creature no mind and continued on with their mission.
They continued their trek for another 15 minutes without interruption, until they reached a small outpost in the woods. A dozen samurai was patrolling or standing guard around a small building with a guard tower next to it. The guard tower had a good view of the road further south in the ravine, which would let the guards alert the settlement to anyone attacking from said direction. The guards also had the trees cleared back 100 meters in all directions, with little to not cover in the opening. Smart move on the Empire's part. Wouldn't do them any good here.
Both Spartans pulled out their M392 Suppressed DMRs, eyeing the targets and lining up shots. There were two guards up in the tower so they would be the first to go. "On my mark, drop the two in the tower, then we'll work our way to the left," Ami commanded. Vasili confirmed the order with a green winking light. Khara was still moving so he wouldn't be available to assist them, though judging by the trees, he wouldn't have had any good shots, to begin with.
"Mark."
The weapons sounded as if they were coughing as they fired, the two rounds impacting their targets straight in the head. The two samurais dropped, dead before they even realized it. The Spartans didn't waste time though as they moved on to the next group of guards, killing each one with pinpoint accuracy and without alerting the rest of the guards. The last samurai turned a corner of the building and noticed the corpse of one of his dead companion just before Ami planted a bullet into his cranium, dropping him just like all the others.
12 shots had been fired, and 12 targets had been eliminated.
The Spartans moved up and recon the outpost, searching the building and the bodies to see if any intel was available. (Save for the two in the tower. That ladder wouldn't support the weight of a half-ton supersoldier.) Aside from some charts and maps of the local region, they found nothing of value. Ami recorded all the intel with her helmet feed, making sure to get good footage of all the town locations and troop dispositions marked so intelligence could go over it, then sent a copy of the footage via her neural interface. She stepped outside to see Vasili setting a booby-trap one of the corpses next to the building with a C12 charge. When that thing went off, anyone with 80 meters of it wasn't going to be alive for long. It also would serve as a good distraction later when they were in the village, hopefully.
With the outpost thoroughly searched, the two Spartans moved on towards their objective, a small ridge overlooking the village. They would wait till nightfall before proceeding with the mission. Though no one here knew it yet, once night fell on this quiet little part of the Empire, said village would be the site of a new kind of warfare not previously seen before, as a new type of warfare would clash with the old, and have severe repercussions in the future.
The best of the UNSC's Special Forces were about to face off with the best of the Sky Empire's Shinobi Corps.
And that's it for this Chapter!
So I've been using a new program called Grammarly to assist with spell check, and I have to say it works amazingly. (I'm using the free version, 'cause I'm cheap, and I'm not rich, but it still works nonetheless.) If any of you are fellow Fanfic writers or are just trying to write a paper for school or whatever, I'd definitely recommend using it.
Also before I forget, the first of the Country Archives is coming along decently. I still can't say for sure when it will come out, as I keep working on it on and off, but it will come sometime in the near future.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Feel free to leave a review or give some constructive criticism, it's always welcomed. It's going to be a while until the next one comes out for H-N because I'm going to shift focus to Doom-Dead Space and Halo: Salvation's Light, and try to get a chapter out for both of them before summer comes. (I'm going to be very busy with the National Guard then. I won't be able to write at all during May.)
See you next time!
-Azores
