Edit (4/13/2023) Changed plot lines. No Mass Effect, No Bullshit battles with no continuity, Just your normal Halo x Star Wars Fic with an upgraded Halo Verse with fixed Cultural and Political problems. (If you see this message, either I changed the chapter entirely or this chapter is outdated and is awaiting scrapping and reformation, this reformation is happening only to the Strangreal Arcs and some parts of later arcs)

}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}

Location: Geneva, Alpine District, Earth

Meeting on confrontation over Strangreal

}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}

"How can we be certain we are ready for war?" Asked President Seong Kyung-Sam, president of the USTG, his tone showing his concern for the wellbeing of the USTG.

"Well from our reports the Republic is spread thin across, Planetary Defense Command proves adequate so far against these threats," said Director Jack Harper of OSNI.

"Are you telling me the United Terran Planetary Defense Forces is more than enough to stop half a galaxy?" Asked Song skeptical of the UTPDF it was underfunded like the Army, but at least it wasn't the Air Force Command.

"From our reports, we have an estimated 2,300 ships inbound, the defense fleet in orbit is around 80 strong, with the recent losses that are diminished to 78, so by calculations, the Republic should be able to take Strangreal," said Admiral Rozinith Vassily, overall commander of the UTPDF, thick slavic accent booming authority and the years of battle and experience.

"I thought Enterprise and her fleet were still stationed there, shouldn't that bring our numbers up by 200?" asked Vice President Yulia Samotovich, her voice broadcasting her concern.

"Enterprise and her fleet are currently leaving for refit, they are returning to Cascadia as we speak, however, Admiral Keyes will arrive with a screening detachment of 50 vessels which would bump our numbers up to 128 vessels, there is an ODP in orbit around Strangreal but it is currently offline and undergoing emergency maintenance" said Fleet Admiral Micheal Southers, overall commander of the United Terran Navy Command. President Kyung-Sam just sighed as the room seemed to revolve around the hologram of Strangreal.

Seong stood up as he looked out a window overlooking the city of Geneva as the buildings and nearby Swiss water springs glistened in the golden rays, his hands behind his back, "So, do we have any plans to retake Strangreal if it is, no, when it falls?" he asked as one General Konstina Starsky of the United Terran Marine Corp stood up and inserted a chip into the holo table.

"Yes, we have a backup plan," said General Starsky as a map popped on the hologram.

"We plan to let them have the planet, but we will blockade the system with Nuclear mines and do harassing strikes on any Republic vessel with smaller Frigates and Corvettes," started Fleet Admiral Southers, the diagram showcasing the plan as Corsair Class Frigates and Wildcat Class Corvettes were showcased on the hologram.

"What about evacuations?" asked President Seong, his voice concerned.

"This is one of our major problems, we had a miscalculation on how fast Republic FTL will go, we thought it would be slower due to gravitational pull from other objects but it seems that is not the case, so our evac plans are delayed and rushed, people are resisting to move out however because we essentially gave them no time to prepare, so instead of evacuating an estimated 2.5 million people out of the 3.2 million, we can only evac 1.3 million, meaning there will still be major population clusters when the Republic arrives," said Director Harper as President Seong sighed.

"However we have provided resistance and guerilla training to the civilian populace, as far as i'm concerned, the Republic is keen on absorbing Strangreal into their industrial giant and I am certain they will have the assistance of the Mandalorians in obtaining what they call Beskar or what we call Strangrealium," said Director Jack Harper, his voice low but informative as civilian leaders and cabinet nodded their heads.

"By this point, morale should be low and we should have a gateway to invade the planet without much resistance, but that's if the planet falls," he added.

"What do you mean by 'if'?" asked the Senator for Reach, Anthony Mitchells.

"From our intel reports the Republic fights in very close proximity to the enemy, our MAEC Guns outrange them for miles and because of our upgraded fire rate our AIs have estimated that we can wipe approximately three-quarters of their fleet before they'll even get a shot off, to add to that we have called in the Voyager and her carrier group to assist the fleet in orbit," said Fleet Admiral Southers as the room was filled with nodding heads.

"To add to that we have the Sangheili have pledged their commitment to our defense, they have promised to send in 3 ships and the current Arbiter has said that he supports any decision made by us," said Fleet Admiral Southers.

"3 ships? What are they short on supply? Last I heard they besieged one of our worlds with thousands!" said Senator Guals Ford of Jeridian his anger present in his voice.

"They are sending in a cruiser and 2 of their frigates, their reasoning being they don't have the logistics to support a battle in another Galaxy as of now," Fleet Admiral Southers said as the room cooled down a bit. To be fair the System that was blockaded by the Sangheili did threaten them with their own paramilitary forces, thank god things came to a negotiated settlement.

"From there we can plan any upcoming counter offensives against the Republic," said Director Harper as the room began to stand, an indication that the meeting was officially over, as people walked away Seong couldn't help but feel a pit in his stomach as he left, this event seemed to be a catalyst for something bigger, he just didn't now what.

}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}

Location: City of the Sun

Meeting between the current Arbiter and officials of the Sovereignty of Sanghelios

}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}

The planet of Sanghelios.

Home of a proud people, the Sangheili who had a culture centered around honor. Or at least in their eyes, the recent First Contact War with Humanity wasn't really a good example of how honor driven their society was.

But nonetheless, they persevered and managed to not get revenged killed by humanity, now being the best of allies, or so it seemed.

That was on the mind of the current Arbiter, Ikan Nacam. Now the Sangehili under the Interim Government of the Swords of Sanghelios reformed into the Sovereignty of the Sangheili, which was a Sangheili spin on the human's 'democracy'. Basically in order to gain this title of the 'Arbiter' or what was essentially the leader of the Sangheili people and their colonies, 2 opponents, the incumbent leader and the new candidate who was picked from a pool of 10 by the populace would have to battle to the death in order to gain leadership if the incumbent won he would stay in power if the candidate won, he would become the new 'Arbiter', or at least that was the concept, it worked though, so no one was complaining.

Ikan could still remember the day he walked into the arena, he stared down at his opponent and had managed to win, barely defeating his opponent whom he had great honor in fighting. Now he was good to be the 'Arbiter' for the next 10 years or so, until he would be defeated.

Now he was sitting in a conference room, looking at his military leaders and his assistants.

"What do we plan on doing?" asked Ikan, recently the humans had reported an attack on one of their 'systems' by an entity known as the Galactic Republic, this worried Ikan since he knew a lot of Sangheili still had bitter feelings about the First Contact War and its outcome, but he also knew from his limited intel that the Republic was mostly human anyways, not that the people would care.

"Our plan is to send support for the humans, so far we have only been able to scrape up 3 vessels," said Supreme Armadamaster Utan 'Locamee, who was the overall commander of the Naval Forces, who honestly sounded ashamed of the fact that only 3 ships of the 'Mighty Sangheili Navy' were able to be deployed.

In fact, the Sangheili Navy was pretty much a shadow of its former glory, though the humans had provided support to them, their ships were aging, old Covenant vessels that had seen better days, it was to the point that now the humans had surpassed them in technology within the short span of 20-40 years, not that the humans were extremely close to beating them anyways. Which was probably why Ikan was livid when he heard the Navy had sieged a world under the USTG, livid enough that he had killed the overall Armadamaster and had Utan replace the arrogant bastard. Though the reasons could have validated an invasion, it was more beneficial to negotiate a settlement than showcase you 'mighty' navy that was filled with under-maintained and neglected vessels.

"So far our plans for mobilization are near complete, we have scouted out another world in this 'Andromeda' Galaxy that may be suitable for the Sangheili people," said Supreme Commander Secula G'armai, overall commander of the Army.

Ikan just looked at the planet that was found, it was near the Human world of Strangreal, the one that was attacked by this so-called, 'Galactic Republic', deserts sprawled across the world but also had oceans that were simply massive, and finally top it off mountain ranges that crisscrossed the crust, a perfect home for Sangheili colonists.

"We can ask the humans for their assistance in colonizing and terraforming parts of the world, though I would suggest caution in our approach, I know there are elements within the human government that would love nothing more for our race to be reduced to ash, as evidenced by their Office of Strategic Naval Intelligence," said a disgruntled voice belonging to Fleetmaster Fallus M'acenee, the overall leader of the Intelligence Office of Sanghelios, or IOS. Now the IOS was none too popular with other Sangheili, whom being headstrong in their traditional values disliked anyone who tried to break these boundaries, something the IOS regularly did, but there would always be others who dared to venture out, and Fallus was one of those people.

Something that was apparent in this room as some officials scoffed at Fallus. Fallus however was indifferent and kept his icy cold clare on the center of the room, he had survived so far, and he would continue what he did best.

"I suggest we wait and see what happens, whatever comes our way, we will be prepared to fight, FOR SANGHELIOS AND THEIR CHILDREN," said Supreme Commander G'armai as the rest of the room chanted the slogan as they bowed their heads as Ikan stood up to leave, his mind swirling in thought, wondering the outcome of this situation.

}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}} Location: Galactic Senate Rotunda

Chancellor Sheev Palpatine }}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}

"These people must be stopped before they join the Separatists!" Yelled a Senator as uproar followed.

The Galactic Senate was in chaos as recent news was heard about how the Terrans had apparently attacked the Republic Diplomatic envoy and as a result had engaged in battle with the Republic fleet.

Chancellor Palpatine smiled, part 1 of his plan had worked, now it was time to establish the charter for this invasion. Something that should easily pass

"My dear friends in this glorious senate, I am afraid our pleas for peace have failed. Now I inform you all with a heavy heart of the tragedy over Strangreal, where they had refused peace and had instead declared war on us!" his voice low but still energetic as he did a slight frown.

The senate, more prominently the pro-war side, cheered at his words as calls for bombarding the planet into submission made rounds across the Senate, drowning out the pro peace cries.

"Now we must strike back while we have the strength to do so, we must have revenge on all our brave people who fight for our ideals of democracy and peace and not stop until they accept their actions were wrong," his voice booming out toward the masses as the senate and people watching at home went into uproar.

"DEATH TO TERRA" were shouted by the more radical parts of the Republic whilst more 'moderate' factions settled on cheering Palpatine.

"We will place our votes now on whether our response should be appropriate to the situation at hand" he said, smiling slightly as he already knew the outcome of the vote.

Strangreal will fall and he would make an example out of the Terrans.

}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}

Location: Coruscant, GRNS Resolute II

Jedi General Anakin Skywalker

}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}

Coruscant.

The Euconopolis that never slept was bustling in activity near the drydocks on the surface of the planet. Here Thousands of Republic vessels were being outfitted with the gear they needed to take multiple planets, despite them only targeting one planet.

It was something that was plaguing the mind of one Anakin Skywalker, the chosen one. He was busy pacing himself, thinking of battle strategies and what lay ahead for him. He was pulled out from the Campaign of Sullust to go on this mission with 3 other Jedi. Jedi that he had no interest in working with, though he respectfully kept those opinions locked away deep in his thoughts. It was during the battle of Sullust that he lost his prize ship, the Resolute, but he was given a replacement immediately, a ship he aptly named, the Resolute II.

He was not one to criticize often, but he had his opinions. Clearly, the people of Strangreal and as a result these 'Terrans' were a threat to the Republic, right? They had the materials to do so and had practically wiped out an entire scouting fleet with slugthrowers, something that had shocked Anakin a bit. Were they more backward than the CIS?

'Yes,' he thought, blasters, no matter how taboo to the Jedi Order, were way more elegant and civilized than a slugthrower.

"General?" said a voice as he turned to see Commander Jax holding his helmet to his side, a bright golden-orange stripe emblazoned over it as he walked forth. Commander Jax was one of the older clones, having been commander of the legendary 1st Battalion, the 1st was never assigned a Jedi General, instead hoping from one to the next, this time Anakin's turn to lead the 1st Battalion, along with the 501st.

"Yes, Commander? What did you need?" Anakin asked in a monotone voice as he looked at the Holo Table, watching the recovered footage of the skirmish above Strangreal.

"All units are reporting ready to go, Captain Rex will be up here in a second, I think it's time we meet the rest of the commanders and generals," said Jax, his voice authoritative but still friendly and open.

"I'll meet you down in the hangar bays, good luck commander," said Anakin as he shut off the holo-vid and looked out the windows of the Resolute II one last time before turning and making his way to the Hangar Bays.

As he walked he saw many clones saluting him as he returned the favor. It was well known that the Clone Army was not that popular with the people as of right now, to Anakin it seemed unfair to judge them so early, they were fighting for these people for crying out loud, what right did those people have to criticize the clones?

Before he knew it he had arrived at the Hangar he looked around, there was an assortment of Clone Captains and Commanders, the 184th Nova Legion led by Jedi Master Yvanos Noza, a male Togruta with Blue skin, and their commander, Commander Blasko with a Blue Trguta Stripe pattern on his helmet. To Anakin the 184th was a respectable unit, they had served in many campaigns in the Galactic North near the Mid RIm but this would be their first-ever deployment into the South, not that it really mattered much, Anakin could put his trust into them, they got the job done.

Anakin had a sort of respect for Master Noza, he was a very experienced Jedi who also had a sense for mercy but was not afraid to use force if necessary to save his allies and those around him.

Then there was the 2765th Assault Legion one of the newer legions, their Jedi General was the recently promoted human Jedi Knight Jirax Sidal and Clone Commander Kasi, they were pretty much the embodiment of 'Shinys', having little to no combat experience, this was what Anakin and the others were worried about.

Finally, there was the 716th Sky Legion, commanded by one Jedi Master Lillan Forcne, and Clone Captain Jolt, now to Anakin it seemed like these were a mix of the first two, they were experienced, having served since the first days of the clone wars, but still arrogant which could lead to tactical mistakes, not that Anakin cared.

Though he was headstrong and a bit arrogant at times, he knew when it was important to retreat in order to regroup, not just bash your head over and over again. He looked over and saw Captain Rex about to give the plans for the upcoming invasion to everybody in the room. Both men nodded at each other as the lights in the hangar went dim.

"What intel do we have so far?" asked Yvanos, his voice low and a bit raspy.

"Our intel tells us that the people of Strangreal have in orbit a fleet of 80 warships, we have no idea what their ground forces look like but intel said its safe to assume it is in the thousands, we should outnumber them 4 to 1," began Captain Rex, his voice energetic as he quickly scrolled through the data of information.

"Intelligence suggests that we should take caution when engaging on the ground, their slugthrowers will mess up your day, whether you are a Jedi or not," said Rex as Jirax just rolled his eyes a bit and scoffed.

Rex noticed but didn't interject, he continued, "Not to mention that they have highly concentrated areas of Defense that will be hard to get past as well as a very advanced Air Defense System that will shoot down any fighter jockey stupid enough to go for a torpedo run," he said as the few LAAT pilots there snorted.

"Which brings us to our plan," he said as the clones and Jedi listened intently.

"Our plan is to split the fleet into 3 pieces, 1 segment under Admiral Callous Harlikan, 1 under Admiral Wulif Yularen, and 1 under Admiral Ouerilo Forles, Admiral Halrikan will be the distraction, Admiral Yularen will secure naval superiority, and Admiral Forles will coordinate a planetary invasion," Rex said as many nodded their heads.

"Once we land on the ground you are going to face heavy resistance," Said Commander Blasko, taking over the presentation. "Our objectives would be to assault the capital city which the intel states is located on the main continent," he said.

"Expect house to house fighting but remember to try to win over the locals," Blasko added as the clone commanders and Jedi nodded.

"I think that everything in the briefing plans, we will receive more information once we arrive, for now, we are doing final logistical checks, good luck," said Commander Blasko as the group disassembled once the hangar lights turned on again. Anakin looked out the open hangar doors, the ray shields being activated as the Resolute II rose into the sky and towards the atmosphere, he had a deep feeling that this wasn't going to end well.

}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}

Location: UTNS Excalibur

Admiral Donathin Keyes

}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}

Strangreal.

A world filled with forests, oceans, and whatnot, something that now filled the viewscreen of the Excalibur. Behind this display sat one Admiral Donathin Keyes, his eyes staring out at the blue green marble displayed in front of him, puffing on a Cuban cigar as multiple other portals opened up as vessels of blocky structure streamed out of them.

"Having a good day admiral?" asked a voice as an 18th Century English Knight came out from the tactical map display in the middle of the bridge. Admiral Keyes looked on as he admired the beauty of the planet in front of him as a Corsair Class Frigate passed in front of the Excalibur.

"Yes Henry, I am having a good day so far, but I feel like some asshole is gonna fuck it up for me," he said the Ai's name as he analyzed the planet of Strangreal, its massive oceans spanning half of the worlds surface as it emanate a deep blue as large archipelagos covered the oceans in large sprawls imitating a swirling pattern. The Excalibur glided by the Moncton Class ODP Platform the Ontario, its framework covered in maintenance infrastructure. The Montcon Class was one of the older classes of ODP's being phased out by the newer and significantly more powerful Gibraltar Class ODP's but it was still used heavily by the UTSC and her naval branches. They would be known as old reliable, well at least until now.

"What happened to Ontario?" asked Keyes as Henry piped up.

"Unfortunately the ODP is undergoing emergency maintenance for its coils which are damaged due to the haste of the operators to charge and spin up the projectile," said Henry. The Ontario was not involved in the skirmish but it didn't mean it would spill over. The operators on the Ontario were a bit too quick as they panicked to get the Super MAEC online but it would be too little and too late for the ODP to help. So the Ontario was now undergoing a massive barrel repair when the UTSC needed her most. Talk about timing.

"Well then I'm glad to inform you that our ID's and code regulations check out," said Henry as Admiral Keyes just sighed.

"Hows weapons looking?" he asked as he looked at a readout of the weaponry of the Excalibur.

"All green sir, we just need to refuel and rearm Hangar Bays 12 and 16 and spin up our CIWS," said Henry as certain areas of the ship turned orange in a sea of green, highlighting that his ship was running in the most pristine condition. The Excalibur was not the first vessel of Admiral Keyes, he had previously commanded the UTNS Soul of Autumn, a Sol Class Heavy Cruiser who he had a nice long service life with, but now he was promoted to a proper battleship, not to discredit the Soul of Autumn but the Excalibur was practically better in every way, larger hangars, better guns, better communications and sensor suites, it was everything a naval officer could ask for.

"You have been scheduled to meet the commanders of the UTPDF in New Nihon, you have a shuttle ready for departure in 30 minutes, don't worry, the Excalibur is in good hands Admiral," said Henry with a slight chuckle as the Excalibur was guided into drydock.

"Lets see where this takes us" said Keyes as he began to make his way down to the hangar bays, his fate unknown.

{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{

Location: SNV Solace of Redemption

Fleetmaster R'tas Vadumee

{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{

Over the world of Strangreal, a portal opens up as a large vessel emerges from its depths, the 3km long Solace of Redemption. Shining in a beautiful Glossy Purple and showcasing every single organic curve in the ship's design highlighting its origins from the CAS Class but in a miniaturized form, it was a pride vessel for the Sangheili Navy due to it running in tip top shape, something that Supreme Fleetmaster R'tas Vadum knew all too well. He had served honorably in the Covenant Navy, and Sangheili Navy, and even had served a bit in the United Terran Navy Command.

In all his 95 years of service to whatever power he pledged loyalty to, he had served with distinction and was not afraid to show mercy despite mercy having a bad taste in many Sanghellis mouths. Mercy was a new concept to Vadum, it wasn't until he was allied with the humans so long ago that he learned the value of showing your enemies mercy and how it was a powerful tool that enabled you to be more sympathetic and less of what the humans called, "a Jackass".

Humans.

Oh what an interesting species, they were pretty much everything the Covenant Species were and wanted to be all wrapped into one fleshy package. He had once thought of them to be scum that had to be eradicated from this galaxy and he was a proud Sangheili, until the Ages of Defeat began.

Though not its official name, the humans had called it the 'Cole Campaigns' but to R'tas, the Age of Defeat was more suitable. He had seen the grit of these humans and was actually scared of what they could accomplish, having seen the aftermath of what the Humans called a 'NOVA Bomb'. It has shaken him to his core and had made the anger in his body go supercritical, though he would still fight, he was no coward, at least when the Demons weren't around.

Until he met a small child on a battlefield, he was assigned to invade one the Humans Core Worlds named Reach. He had walked away from the Forward Operations Base and walked into one of the ruined human suburbs, he heard a muffled cry.

He looked and saw a young human boy, he was obviously crying over a dead body over what R'tas could only assume was his mother. The boy looked up at him, R'tas still remembering vividly, the human's blue eyes pierced right into Rtas' own. Chills that were still memorable anytime he saw someone with blue eyes, the boy had stopped crying, anger started to fill in the boy's eyes as R'tas just stood there, powerless. He slowly turned and looked away, trotting back to the FOB and started rethinking what he was fighting for.

This was no honorable war, his ancestors would spit at him, curse him, and plant him on a spike to burn if he ever associated anything this war was with 'honor'. Eventually he and the rest of the Covenant were pushed off by the valiant humans who had managed to defeat all odds and pull a massive victory and humiliate the Covenant. R'tas was actually glad for once that they had lost.

He still remembered the boy, wondering what had happened to him, he had a feeling that the boy was still alive and looking for him, to kill him and take his head. R'tas had promised himself that if he had ever run into the human again, he wouldn't resist and he would let himself be killed, he lived a full life already, he had kin and offspring, a loving mate and partner or what the humans would call a "wife", there was no point in continuing, his only energy for continuing being his pain in his heart for the suffering he had caused for all.

But that was the past, now he had to look at the future, and boy did the future have plans for him.

He was handpicked to lead the small expeditionary force of 3 vessels including his own. He, like many in the navy, were ashamed of the state of the Sangheili Navy, who were increasingly fading away in favor of the Army. But he trudged forward and hopefully this battle would change the minds of many to finally advance their technology and move away from a traditionalist viewpoint.

"Fleetmaster are you alright?" asked his bridge officer, Shipmaster Keth 'Sulirum, who was concerned about the wellbeing of his commanding officer as well as what many thought to be a great war hero and liberator of the Sangheili people.

"Nothing… just thoughts of a tragic past," he said as Keth nodded and left his commanding officer alone to his thoughts as the Solace of Redemption made its way to drydock as it passed the massive Orbital Defence Platform and across the Strangrealian sky, where maybe, R'tas would redeem himself and his bloodline.

}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}

Location: New Nihon, Strangreal

Carson Takahashi

}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}

New Nihon.

It was a bright and bustling city, within the 4 years or so it was already a well established metropolis, having skyscrapers already stretching to 700 meters into the sky with east asian influences quite obvious.

In the suburbs walked a boy named Carson, with a backpack as he walked his way home from school. He had recently settled in Strangreal after being adopted by his 'father'. He was grateful for his current guardian as he had learned much from him, from cooking to solving problems as well as standing up for himself and others. He had lost his parents at a young age after a terrorist attack on a Frontier System world and he had jumped around from foster home to foster home, not really fitting in and being kicked out a bunch of times until he met his current father.

Now to anyone that fought in the First-Contact Wars if they saw Carson's father they would freak. His father was a Sangheili, Isan 'Takahashi' Varlumee, a former Shipmaster who had adopted him at the young age of 12. Isan owned a small Ramen shop which was located in the suburbs of New Nihon which he had opened 3 years prior and it was pretty popular, serving up regular Ramen bowls as well as ones with a Sangheili twist, all were loved by the locals.

As he walked home he couldn't help but feel a twist in his stomach, he had seen many people being asked to evacuate, including Isan who had turned down the Police Officer when they knocked on the door. There was an aura of worry and confusion surrounding Strangreal, recently tensions with a power called the Galactic Republic had reached critical levels and many theorized that an invasion was imminent. An official speech by the planetary Governor led these theories to be correct and now many were panicking but were stubborn as well.

Police and Federal Authorities were trying their best to evacuate as many people as possible but it was quickly becoming a disaster as some were rioting and protesting the movements much to the frustration of the local authorities.

Eventually they caved in and listened to the people's demands, mostly due to pressure from the USTG and UTSC, this was their home, they would defend themselves to the last and die alongside their UTSC protectors. So as Carson walked a police car drove past sirens blaring as Carson looked to see a column of M809 Super Scorpions in UTPDF colors rumble down the roadway along with their police escort as authoritative personnel wore bright orange jackets and began blocking roads as the column of MBT's roared past Carson.

In the 3 days that followed he was taught on how to operate and field strip an assault rifle, how to operate an artillery cannon and finally how to cause civil disobedience all while being fed military rations at school.

He walked into the small Ramen shop that was his 'fathers' and was greeted by a big warm fluffy Akita Inu who immediately jumped up on a surprised Carson.

"Tojo stop!" he said as the dog obediently stopped and sat down as Carson just set his backpack down on the table. The shop was closed due to the recent situations so he was safe to call the shop home for now. He walked into the kitchen portion of the shop as he was a bit startled by a voice

"How was your day, my son?" said a deep raspy voice as Carson turned around to see Isan cooking up a storm as a mess of soup pots swarmed the sink that would make any other cry in mental pain.

"Good, yours?" asked Carson as the Sangheili filled another container with ramen broth.

"Fine, I feel that the coming battle will be hard fought but I trust your species will pull a victory just like how they did 50 years ago against the Prophets of Lies," said Isan as he took a break for a while. Carson looked up as he brought out his school laptop device as he began doing his assignments.

"You need to take a break from studying some time, it will get to your head and soon it will not matter," said Ican as he shook his head at his adoptive son who was tapping away at the laptop.

"I know but if I survive this then I would like to go to a better school," Carson simply replied as Ican just sighed.

"You will survive this event, but remember to live life to the fullest, I was once like you, military training all wrapped up in my head and eventually I was sent to war, a war that would see me commiting things I regret deeply," said Ican as Carson just continued typing away.

Ican closed the laptop as Carson just let him do it as Ican place the laptop on another counter.

"Just get ready to go, we have some soup to transfer to a shelter nearby my son, remember to be considerate, go upstairs and get changed," said Ican as Carson sighed and went upstairs. His 'fathers' words lingering in his head.