A/N: Hello again
I Have really nothing to say, I mean I guess shoot me a PM if you have any suggestions on where to improve my story.
Now onto the responses to the reviews.
Dreg003: Thank you for noticing! Be on the lookout for more references to other fanfics and franchises in the future and thank you for your service! Happy July 4th!
Zzzxxc1: Yeah I'd probably revert the 8 digits, it's not worth the effort to already change a system, so yeah I probably need to watch more of The Scoundrel's Cantina to replenish my Star Wars Lore brain lol. Can't wait for more of your story.
TonyMcNucklz: That would happen to equate to around 1.7-3.4 billion troopers (Depending on whether or not you go with 3 million units or 6 million depending on the source), which I guess is needed to be used on a galactic scale which would also explain why the clone program is so damned expensive. So yeah I'll probably go by that metric, thanks!
Adeter: Yularen is gonna have Maximum Brain Damage. I'm sorry, its just so fun to torture characters, I promise i'm a reasonable person…
Also revamped the ENTIRE codex (Both Ship and Weapons) because yes… Hey it was outdated anyways! Besides, look at all the shiny new shit I piled into it!
Happy Late Independence Day to my fellow Americans out there and Happy Freedom Month! (Yes I completely made that up and am your average "American" in the eyes from European Socialists even though I'm not Caucasian)
Read & Review pls
Enjoy!
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Location: Orbital Defence Platform Ontario, Hangar Bay 1
Sergeant Andrea Romeno
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"Republic landers have been spotted inbound! All security personnel organize into response teams!" said a voice intercom as men and women of the 19th Marine Orbital Defence Battalion worked to set up last-minute barricades on the ODP Ontario.
The 300 strong Marine unit was composed of veterans of Post First Contact War conflicts and was an experienced group when it came to defending tight corridors, open spaces, and finally the massive open spaces that made up the Hangar blocks on an ODP.
Something Sgt. Andrea Romeno knew inside out and backward.
She had joined the Marine Corp 7 years ago and was still going strong, being inspired at a young age after she had saw a massive military parade on her home world of New Italy, the massive tanks, mech suits, the forever lines of marching soldiers as they were cheered on by the enthusiastic populace as space fighters flew overhead as well as lumbering frigates, cruisers, and finally the cherry on top, the UTNS Infinity, a symbol of human strength and regrowth, stationed there made a rumbling flyby, ensuring to the citizens of New Italy they were forever protected. Something that Andrea wanted to do, to protect.
It inspired her to be stronger, better, and superior to her fellow classmates to eventually enroll in the Collegium Militarium Novae Urbis Romae (Military College of New Rome) despite her parents being disproving, wanting their firstborn child to stay behind and live a life of humbleness but eventually, they accepted that they could do nothing about changing her mind.
Now Andrea was assigned to the 19th Marine Orbital, to defend a disabled ODP in a galaxy far far away. She did a quick prayer to god as she loaded in her M-10, inserting the top loading magazine with a satisfying click as she charged the handle.
She then took her necklace and fumbled with it in her palm, the miniature Christian Cross reflecting its silver coating in the dim bays of the Ontario. She prepared herself for the coming engagement as pictures of her husband and their newborn son flooded her mind.
'I'll make it back Michael, I'll be there for Luca, just give me strength' she thought as she put the cross to her head. Not a lot of people believed in god in the 27th century but it was nice to think there was someone watching over you, at least in Andrea's opinion.
"Ready for this Sergeant?" asked a voice as Andrea stood up and turned around to see her friend, Corporal James Dariush, hefting a large M720 Squad Automatic Weapon, or what other people of culture would call, an LMG. His body was virtually covered head to toe in belts of 7.1mm ammo as he loaded a belt in as he cocked the handle back and forward after he slammed the cover down on the weapon.
"Ready as i'll ever be Corporal, just don't go crazy and destroy another SAW, I don't need the armorer's ass on me again," she said part stern, part friendly as they went to the main bays, to see a Lieutenant coordinating the defenses of the ODP as final preparations were being set.
"Haha! You got it sarge!" said James with a goofy grin as Andrea just shook her head, he would make for a good ODST or even Spartan if he could get his deranged mentality past the recruiters.
"ATTENTION COMMANDING OFFICER ON DECK!" yelled a Corporal as a Lieutenant, Harold Froca stepped up on the hood of an old M12 Warthog, His uniform was orderly as he stood there and looked down at his comrades as he prepared to give a speech.
"I am sure you are all scared, one way or another, either with an itchy trigger finger or you have jitterbugs that should have been long exterminated since grade school!" started LT Froca, some Marines began to snicker a bit but were put back in line by his gaze, he continued.
"But now is not the time to be scared, it is to stand strong in the face of a new adversary! Terra and her territory are under attack! We must fight back! To Defend those behind us like the men and women before us! LET'S SIT THEIR WHITEY ASSES DOWN AND 'KINDLY' REMIND THEM WHERE THEY ARE MARINES, OORAH?" said Lieutenant Harold Froca, his voice booming with each and every line as a plethora of Marines, including Andrea, replied the sacred Marine battle cry in response as the clicking of weapons ensued.
They set up their final positions before judgment hour, all hiding behind vehicles, walls, and popup barriers, all for the purpose of cover as they waited.
Finally, the distinct outlines of LAATs came into view as multiple landed in the hangar as Clones began to pour out blasters at the ready.
"Hold, fire on my mark," said Lieutenant Froca over the radio as Andrea looked over the barrier with her M-10 at the ready, her finger resting on the trigger guard as she kept a clone's head in her sights.
Then a yell ensued, "CONTACT!" as the stataco of weapon fire ensued as Froca yelled, "FIRE FIRE FIRE DAMNIT."
Andrea followed those orders as she fired her M10 at the clone she was tracking, taking down the clone before he could jump as his head was replaced with a bloody splatter. She moved her sights to another clone that had jumped to cover and was peeking, firing back as she sent another burst down range.
Corporal Dariush sent a stream of 7.1x58 at the enemy as tracers began to streak across the hangars as they impacted any of the few obstacles and slammed into the clones at high velocities that the naked eye could not see.
It scared the clones that was for sure as they saw their comrades get ripped apart by forces unknown to them as they ducked for whatever cover they could find. Andrea fired another burst at another Clone as most of the rounds hit the target but she was instantly forced into cover as a flurry of blaster bolts slammed into her covering wall.
"HOLY, I'm down I need suppressive fire!" said Andrea through her embedded comms in her UM-18 as her message was picked up by a Marine with a MPAIM 12 as 4 50mm HESS rounds were sent flying out towards her position, wrecking an LAAT and severely damaging 2 of them as the High Explosive Scatter Shot sent the Clones flying for either cover or the clouds above as some were dead before they hit the ground, their bodies mangled.
"Prime grenades! Lets give these fuckers a warm welcome!" said Lieutenant Froca as multiple Marines armed the newer MK.4 Plasma Grenades as beeping began to sound through out the Terran lines as the linked battlenet began to feed into the data from the Marine's UM18's and primed the MK.4's as the Marines through them in near perfect sync as they came down with a muffled clank.
Explosions erupted seconds later as blue fire seemed to fill the hangar bays as Andrea saw a Clone get one half of his body vaporized as material were thrown and strewn all over the hangars.
Then small orbs began to roll towards the Marines as instantly some took their incentive to dive as the cry, "GRENADES TAKE COVER!" resounded all around.
Andrea leaped away from a grenade that landed right next to her and a couple other Marines as she leaped away but was hit by the explosion as the Baradium Compound in the Thermal Detonators made scorching marks on her armor as she was thrown to the ground. Her shield monitor was blaring in her face as she got up.
She looked up as she looked for her M-10, she found it laying in pieces as it was nothing more but a mangled metal tube now.
She looked over her cover to see advancing clones and most of her comrades gone, retreating further into the station. She moved towards a dead Marine as she saw an M7A Magnum resting on the dead soldier's chest as she took it and cocked the slide as it loaded in a round. She looked at the the dead soldier and saw it was Dariush. Blaster scorches were prevalent on his chest and his face had a nice gash on it, making it nearly impossible to recognize.
"Damn," she said as she got up and took aim and she fired it at a couple of clones, hitting one but alerting the rest as she was met with a flurry of blaster bolts knocking her down as the UM-18 did its job of protecting the wearer as she began to crawl and eventually retreat into a nearby service corridor, blaster bolts following her as they made sparks all around.
She made it as she opened a door that entered into a larger area that could be described as a sub hangar as she linked up with her squad pistol in hand. She was spotted and eventually led to the positions of the MArines, miraculously not becoming a Blue on Blue incident.
"You look shaken up," said a Marine as Andrea just stood there, she did have a grapefruit sized blaster scorch on her chest as well as a couple of pieces of shrapnel poking out.
"Where's your weapon?" asked a voice as Andrea turned to see Lieutenant Froca standing there, battle battered as he held to an MA8, his helmet's visor retracted due to the Thermal Detonators shattering it, making it useless as his face was full of blood drippings.
"Lost it sir," said Andrea as Froca nodded and handed Andrea his MA8 as he reached for a BR-100 behind him as he took it and racked the charging handle, making a crisp clicking noise as he attached an underslung Grenade Launcher and loaded it with a 40mm grenade.
"Well there you go, ready to kill whitey bastards again, we're sealing this door shut so these motherfuckers have to work to get their prize, command has reported that the Navy is incoming to our location to give us support, until then we hold out, OORAH?" said Froca as the rest of the Marines replied with a louder version of the MArines battle cry as they all fell back as the blast doors sealed shut.
It took a while as the Marines set up behind their makeshift positions, guns pointed at the doors as they waited, soon banging could be heard as sparks flew a bit as the Clones seemed to be cutting through.
"GET READY MARINES!" said Lieutenant Froca as silence reverberated around the room. Then the station began to shake.
Then the door exploded as Clones began to pour in, blasters firing as the Marines fired back with everything they had. Andrea took potshots at the nearby Clones, until she realized the futility of the situation as waves of white began to flood the door.
Putting the MA8 on full auto as 7.1x58mm ammo came roaring out at 850 rounds a minute as her counter quickly went down to zero as she flicked out the magazine and inserted a fresh one, making the counter read 60 as she punched the bolt catch, pressing the trigger again as she made clones into bloody pieces of mascara.
A nearby Marine fired an M2A19, the Heavy Machine Gun rattling away as 12.7x99mm rounds flew through the air and impacted the receiving clones with such force that their bodies exploded, torsos, thighs, heads, anything and everything was slated to become red splatters.
Then a rocket streaked out of nowhere as it impacted the Heavy Machine Gun nest, silencing it as Marines jumped for cover.
Andrea ducked for a bit before finally looking up and firing once again.
"Alright Marines! I want all of you with a 40 mike mike to send some love downrange!" said Froca as at least 12 Marines, including the Lieutenant, fired their underslung grenade launchers simultaneously, streaking across the room and impacting at the door as clone and material flew all over as cranberry juice began to form nice messy puddles over the once neatly mopped floors.
However it seemed for every clone that fell 5 to 10 would take their place as very soon the ammunition problem began to rear its ugly head. Calls came over from frantic Marines, yelling out of ammo as their guns fired their last shots.
Andrea fired her last magazine without care in the world, spraying it in all direction nailing multiple clones until it read zero as she took the strap on it and threw it behind her back as she pulled out her M7A Magnum, and fired it at a group of 3 Clones advancing near her position, killing all 3 as their heads blew like a bloody volcano.
"Alright Marines! Pull back!" said Froca over the comms as Andrea pulled back as another Marine fired an LSAW at the clones, covering the beleaguered Terran soldiers for long enough as they retreated deeper into the station.
Andrea began to turn back until she fell to the ground, pain shot up her nervous system seconds later as she saw turned to see her leg crippled, it was scorched, her shielding had yet to recharge and her armor integrity finally gave up after a lucky shot from a heavier DC-15A, the bigger brother of the DC-15S.
She hissed as she tried her best to crawl away from the clones, she was grabbed by 2 other marines, one of them being Lieutenant Froca, as he grabbed her by the arm and dragged her, muttering curses all the while.
"Get your ass up Marine! Can't be a damsel in distress right now!" he said in a sarcastic tone as he fired his BR-100 one handed as he dragged the wounded Andrea to safety. He slammed the computer console as the secondary blast doors slammed shut. The Lieutenant slapped it a bit as he chuckled.
"Gonna take a while for those bastards to crack this nut open, how's your leg?" he asked Andrea as the Marine nodded as she tried to stand up, the Lieutenant called in a corpsman as a Marine with special red markings came over and patched up Andrea's wound, applying Bio-foam to the scorch mark as Andrea hissed, it felt like sanitizer in a paper cut, only the paper cut was a gunshot wound.
"All right Marines we survived thus far! Lets keep doing that oorah?" said Lieutenant Froca as the remaining Marines responded with booming voices.
"We have reinforcements on the way! Sangheili if I recall, just stay alive long enough and teach these cloned bastards a lesson in why you shouldn't fuck with us, OORAH?"
"OORAH!"
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Location: UTNS Excalibur
Admiral Donathin Keyes
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"Sir all available ships have rendezvous at Point Centaur, all Captains are awaiting your orders," said an ensign as Keyes looked out from the viewscreen, he saw the faint light of the battle from afar, the Republic had begun their landings, though they had taken significant losses, it was estimated they would be able to take over the Planet's capital if he didn't put the rest of his plan into motion.
"Move all ships onto the Republic's Vertical Y-Axis and move full thrust, charge all available primary and secondary armaments and check the charge of the shields," said Keyes as the ensign nodded to relay those orders to both the bridge crew and the rest of the fleet. His plan was simple: move his ships under the soft underbellies of the Republic fleet and take them by surprise; he couldn't risk going close to them again.
He was already down to 76 vessels that were at his disposal out of the original 131, most of the 55 vessels that were lost were simply shredded by the Republic's turbo laser batteries, the intel proved right, and the Republic was not to be messed with at close ranges. He had also lost the Admiral Class Battlecruiser Isueki Yakata, further crippling his ability to send heavy ships into combat, nevermind the fact that he lost his Second in Command of his fleet.
For now, his fleet consisted of 38 Frigates of various Classes, 10 Destroyers, a 50/50 split between the Cole Class Heavy Destroyer or the Geneva Class Destroyer, 13 Light Cruisers of various classes, 7 Heavy Cruisers of Sol, Autumn, and Marathon Variety, 6 Orca Class Light Carriers, the Europa Class Heavy Carrier Calypso, and finally his flagship, the Reach Class Battleship the Excalibur.
"How long until Voyager arrives with her contingent?" asked Keyes, his question based on the time reinforcements would arrive.
"Last known ping of the location states they are approximately 45 minutes away from the system, it should be safe to say they will arrive as soon as we attack the Republic," said Captain Juste Bourraeu, Keyes' XO, his French accent complementing well with his mustache. He now had the confirmation of reinforcements, he just needed to pull off his plan with absolute precision, no room for mistakes.
"We will have to try to root them out, we will land our ODSTs and marine forces on board our ship meaning we can boost our numbers to nearly 45,000, but I am sure they have more men?" Admiral Keyes said as the tactical map and data were brought up by Henry as he completed his calculations of estimated troop numbers, his avatar turned from blue to red and then back to his original color in a split second.
"Yes Commander, by my estimations the Republic with fleet numbers this big currently can bring at least 200,000 troops to the surface plus heavy armor, with the ships that they have left" replied Henry, his voice filled with British Cheer despite the current situation at hand. Keyes nodded, he would have to move quickly.
"Move all available frigates into center formations and tell them to arrange into Trident formations, have the Calypso form a battlegroup with the Kepler and the Belka, and tell them to take 7 Frigates, relay plans to the surviving Sangheili vessels," said Keyes as Henry nodded, the AI went off to relay these orders to the appropriate ships. The 10 ships, 1 Carrier, 1 Sol Class Heavy Cruiser, 1 Halcyon Class Light Cruiser, 7 Frigates, 2 Corsairs, 1 Strident, and the rest Paris Classes, formed up to make an ad-hoc Task Group, being a mixture of elements from the UTSC and UTPDF.
His plan was to have a small force of heavily armed ships act as a distraction, this would focus the Republic's fire on the small task force appropriately given the name Task Group Bait, this would distract the Republic long enough for him to take the rest of the fleet, do a rollunder and use the planet's gravity to sort of drift into position and then rotate onto the Republic's Y-Axis and hopefully cause a massive fatal blow.
He put his plan into motion as Task Group Bait accelerated towards the Republic fleet as they made full throttle to either glory or doom. When they were halfway there Keyes ordered all ships under him to jump into slipspace at the predetermined point under the Republic fleet.
"Task Group Bait is engaging the enemy!" Said Captain Bourraeu, his voice filled with a bit of excitement as the screen readout showcased the Ad-Hoc battlegroup engaging the Republic fleet, firing their main MAEC Guns as distant streaks of light could be seen impacting the superstructure of doomed Republic vessels. Of course, this was all displayed on a screen as the crew of Excalibur or any ship for that matter could not peer through slipspace into realspace. (Duh)
"Exiting in 5 seconds!" yelled the Navigations officer as Admiral Keyes looked out the viewscreen, the swirling of the voids of the Slipstream ending as it began to go from dark to light. The entire bridge crew sat as if they were glued to the seats, monitoring their stations with 100% vigilance as Keyes stared at the map, his eyes following the small figures and readouts ready to correct something that could potentially go awry.
The Excalibur exited slipspace with the other ships and made way for the Republic Fleet with sublight engines. Keyes looked out to see the Calypso up above already engaged in battle firing her main MAEC armaments at an unfortunate Acclamator Class Assault Ship it cracked in half as the Calypso plowed through the debris field followed close behind by its escorts.
Keyes could see the Ontario station, battle battered and bruised it had seen a lot of fighting obviously as 3 Republic ships surrounded it, and 2 frigates had broken off under his orders to retake it, he would have to check in with them after he had dropped the fleet's compliments of ODST's.
So far they were undetected, it wouldn't remain that way, however.
"Move our position up! Turn all boosters to Y-Axis Positions! Fire on the mark!" said Keyes as the Fleet under his command began to turn ever so slightly upwards and thrust their way toward the Republic's soft underbellies. Seconds seemed to turn into minutes and minutes to hours as the fleet closed in rapidly to the Republic.
"FIRE!" yelled Keyes as the Terran vessels fired their MAEC Guns seemingly in sync the 2 Sangheili vessels fired their energy projectors in sync as they hit dead center on many Republic warships at least 87 vessels succumbed to the fire from the Terran Vessels.
Superstructures gutted from head to toe as they floated down towards the planet's gravitational pull.
"All vessels move up and turn onto the horizontal axis, fire all secondary batteries, and give it everything you got!" Said Keyes as the Excalibur moved up and turned as it lumbered over a Republic Venator that was unfortunate to be underneath the nearly 9-kilometer-long behemoth of Terran steel and raw power as the smaller 'Star Destroyer' was pummeled by the Mini-MAEC of the Excalibur.
However, the Republic was quick to regain their bearings as they fired back, full blast as overcharged turbo lasers slammed into the ships of the Terran Navy, megatons of energy being distributed across their frames as their superstructures seemed to shudder despite the zero-G environments.
Multiple UTPDF Frigates went off the map as their superstructures burst, and their shields cracked open as the Republic began to barrage the Terran fleet up above with their full might.
"Shit! Get the ships to go under again and roll over to vertical Y-Axis, and focus our main batteries on the nearest Republic vessel! Get ready to drop ODSTs!" said Keyes as the Excalibur made its way downwards again, the massive ship drifting in zero-G as its fleet also followed along.
A Sangheili vessel, the Arc's of Redemption fired a full Plasma Torpedo barrage at an attacking Venator that was firing at behind the Excalibur, the torpedoes slamming into the ship as the superheated plasma splashed violently on the superstructure of the Venator as it went down in flames towards the planet as its primary drives failed.
The Arcs of Redemption was targeted by 3 other Republic vessels as it dived away from the barrage of turbo laser bolts, its shields taking the hits as the Cole Class Heavy Destroyer, Psi Serpentis fired a missile barrage and Mini-MAEC Salvo at the 3 attacking ships, covering the Sangehili's vessels retreat.
The Halcyon Class Light Cruiser Coral Sea exploded brilliantly as it went right past the view screens of the Excalibur the massive battleship hitting the debris left behind as it used the dead ship as a sort of cover as it fired a full salvo of Spear and Javelin Missiles at the 4 Culprits, crippling 2 and destroying 2 as their debris floated away.
Radio chatter began to flood in as Terran vessels began to take damage from the Republic fleet.
"We can't hold them off! They're everywhere!"
"The Cromwell is reporting extensive damages to its superstructure! I don't think they can take anymore hits!"
"SIR Mini-MAEC Sector Alpha has been disabled!"
"Firing solution for Javelin and Spear Pods set, firing now!"
"Cromwell has been destroyed! We are walking into their debris field!"
"CWIS is down to 45%, we need reinforcements!"
"THIS IS UTNS SPIRIT OF PACIFIC WE ARE CURRENTLY IN NEED OF EVACUATIO…"
Chatter was sporadic as Keyes tried to focus on the battle at hand but the sudden destruction of 2 of his Orca Class Light Carriers had him worried.
"Tell the Carriers to pull back! They don't have the durability to dish it out with the Republic!" said Keyes as the surviving Carriers, except for the Calypso, mainly because the Europa Class Heavy Carriers could very well hold their own in broadsides, something the Orca Class could not do, began to retreat back taking fire as they went.
"Get over the drop points and get ready to release ODST Units! I want all available fighters to be launched and run Carrier Air Patrol! Send the Sangheili vessels towards the Ontario and have them reinforce our frigates.
Now the Terrans had taken things down to the sky as the Republic chased after them as the Excalibur readied her pod bays, 350 bay doors opened up as the first wave of the Excalibur's ODST Compliment waited to be dropped feet first into hell.
"Sir! We are over the drop point! The Republic is reported to be attacking the docks in the city!" said an ensign as Keyes nodded.
"Then let's help our boys out! Drop all the pods!" Keyes said as 350 pods streamed out of the mighty Battleship's Bay, around 4,000 pods or so followed as the remaining fleet dropped their first rounds of ODST's as they were sent to the docks of New Nihon.
"Sir! Should we launch the second wave?" asked Captain Bourraeu, as Keyes shook his head.
"No, keep them in reserve, just in case," said Keyes as his XO nodded as he looked outside the battle, another Frigate, the Paris Class, Oregon Trail faltered a bit as the Frigate combusted as Turbolasers slammed into the superstructure, breaking the ship into 2 pieces.
"Move all ships towards the North Pole of the planet! We did our job here, cover their retreat while we're at it," said Keyes as a full Mini-MAEC Salvo crumpled an unlucky Victory Class as the remaining 63 vessels rocketed towards the poles of Strangreal, the Republic chasing after them.
"Sir General Kalifkuz is requesting our immediate support," said Henry as Keyes looked up.
"What is he requesting?" asked Keyes, his voice monotone, he wasn't annoyed, he was never annoyed. Besides, now was not the time to be fighting with other branches of the UTSC.
"Air support for his ground forces," said Henry as Keyes looked at the map, he couldn't directly provide support without being ripped apart from the Republic's guns in a CQC situation, his eyes caught onto something. The Ontario.
"I think I have an idea Henry," said Keyes as a small smile began to form on the man's face.
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Location: GRNS Conqueror
Commodore Jules Hayrn
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Commodore Jules Haryn had to admit he could be seeing better days. Hell, he would rather fight the mechanical monster of Grievous alone than fight whatever these Terrans were made of.
To be frank he was a broad-shouldered man, though looks could be deceiving, he was never a martial artist, nor would never want to be, being born on Coruscant to an elitist family, he had alway seen the Navy as a way to escape his parents and their influence and make a name for himself.
Already he was making a name for himself in the officer corp as a high riser, going above expectations and a real leader, only except none of it was true. Jules was smart enough at least to bribe his way up the chains of command, being able to do so with a sum of his parent's wealth that he had taken as his own.
Now his "expertise" was being put to the test as the Terrans jumped the Republic fleet as his ship, the Conqueror, was thrown into the fray. He had already destroyed one Terran vessel as he fired half of the Conqueror's Missiles at it, vaporizing the poor piece of Terran Bantha fodder.
"Engage that vessel!" said Commodore Haryn as the Conqueror moved her guns to face the rear of the relatively massive Calypso. The Victory fired her main armaments at full power as they hit the Heavy Carrier in her rear, the shields glowing a bright gold.
"Sir we are being targeted by that Star Dreadnought again!" said a pit officer as Haryn looked out the transparisteel window to see the massive ugly flagship fire its armaments as they slammed into the Victory Class. The Flagship immediately disengaged and fired at another Venator, engaging another part of the fleet as Haryn began to focus on the Calypso which was wrapping up business with an Arquitens class Cruiser.
"Shields down to 15%!" yelled an alarmed ensign as the Calypso turned its attention and began pounding the Victory as the shields kept dropping. Another volley broke the shields as parts of the Victory faltered away as the innards of the ship were exposed to the cold and unforgiving vacuum of space.
Haryn was now instantly concerned as he saw the ship leaking atmosphere all over as he saw what looked to be debris floating away from the holes in the Conqueror's superstructure. However upon closer inspection, these were clone bodies and other naval personnel as he widened his eyes a bit but he returned back to the battle.
"Overclock the reactors and cycle the shields! I will not have this vessel be destroyed by some Di'kut with a glorified slug thrower!" yelled the Commodore as the Pit tried their best to contact engineering, the Republic airwaves cluttered with panicked chatter as Haryn tried to block it all out, he could be on Coruscant right now and sitting in a relatively nice penthouse with all his wealth, but now he sat here, in hell.
Then another vessel, an Acclamator Class Assault Ship fired a full broadside at the attacking the Calypso as the Calypso turned its attention away from the Conqueror and turned to the vessel that was brave enough to die.
Haryn was mortified as he saw the daring Heavy Carrier fire all her starboard coilguns as tungsten projectiles traveling at 10% the speed of light slam into the Acclimator as it broke away like wet paper as the massive ship shone a bright golden light from the minimal return fire from the doomed Acclimator.
Then one of the Terrans "Frigates" opened fire on his own ship, distracting him from the larger ships that were going under the formation as his ship's recharging shields took a hit as he was again leaking atmosphere, the Frigates Broadside had wrecked his port side missile tubes and now he only had half of his capacity to work with.
His ship fired a full burst from the overcharged turbolasers as they slammed into the attacking Terran Vessel, short circuiting the shielding as it sat in the open like a duck waiting to be shot, which it was as evidenced by the fact that the Republic vessels nearby took the opportunity and fired with everything they had, from turbolasers to concussion missiles.
The impressive CIWS network on the Terran vessel did its best and actually shot down most of the missiles fired at it even in its crippled state but alas it was not enough as the warheads slammed into the armor of the vessel as it cracked apart.
Haryn smiled a bit as he knew he was the one that made the killshot, he had personally seen his missile go right through and finish the vessel.
"Full power to the frontal shields! I want every ounce of laser fire on the nearest vessel of Terran scum!" said Haryn as his vessel fired again upon a Terran Frigate, the ship making a diving pattern as it fired its coilguns at the Conqueror, ripping pieces of the ship off as the Frigate glowed bright yellow-gold from return fire.
"Sir incoming bombers!" screeched an ensign as Haryn looked out of the transparisteel windows. At least 10 incoming silhouettes from the backdrop of the planet were figuratively screeching towards his position, the HSB-120 Dragons pushing their limit with their Ion Thrusters.
"WELL GET THE POINT DEFENSE UP YOU KRIFF," yelled Haryn as the ensign cowered a bit at the angered Commodore. He was not going to let some puny bombers destroy what was essentially a battleship.
The entire frame of the Victory lit up with blue fire as the 40 or Point Defense weapons of the Conqueror lit up as bolts flew by the flight of 10 HSB-120's, with 2 being struck down by the heavy flak.
Even one of the main batteries joined in, though only having luck in striking one craft and not being able to get a collateral kill due to how spread out the bombers were. However, since literally all Point Defense Weapons armed on Republic vessels could be considered miserable compared to their Terran counterparts, plus the fact that it was nearly all human controlled, most of the bombers made it through.
The Bombers let loose their payload as 7 missiles streaked out from their bomb bays as they pulled away as the missiles impacted, hitting the Conqueror with such force as the ship rocked as Haryn was thrown to the ground as he began to pick himself up as he picked his fallen cap as he staggered to the display ports.
He growled a bit as the bombers flew out of his sight, flying off to harass another Republic vessel, this one not being so lucky as explosions ripped through the unfortunate Venator as it broke into 2 pieces and fell to the planet below.
"Status?" he said in a rather loud unforgiving tone as the pit hurried to bring a report.
"Sir!" said an ensign as he gave the Commodore a data-pad as Haryn looked at it and grimaced a bit.
He had lost around half of his crew, his missiles were knocked out, one of the shield generators blown out from the stress, he lost his whole portside of turbolaser emplacements, the tractor beams were taken out of commission, he lost all the Conqueror's available fighters… the list went on and on as he slammed his fist on one of the display port consoles.
"WELL WHAT ARE YOU DOING STANDING HERE WE ARE IN THE MIDDLE OF A WARZONE!" yelled the angered Commodore as the bridge scurried around as Haryn went back to looking out of the display ports. Soon multiple neat portals opened up as the Terrans were swallowed by the holes in space as they went off and retreated from the disoriented Republic battlegroup.
"We lost contact with the Resolute II though it seems the ship is fine, we are currently attempting to re-establish connection," said a pit officer as Haryn nodded. He had served under Yularen for a short time, but he had to admit he was a good officer, though maybe mercy clouded the Admirals view of the battle he got stuff done, it also covered Haryn's own ass when he had to give reports, being under such a high standing Admiral who you were coincidentally friends with.
"Sir, multiple small objects have been registered, it seems they have lifeforms aboard," said a pit officer as Haryn's curiosity peaked. Yularen wouldn't know if he broke orders to make it planet side would he?
"Have all available thrusters make it down to the planet and tell the surrounding ships to follow us, we will capture these lifepods and take their occupants prisoner," said Haryn as the ensign nodded.
Haryn knew this would probably result in a massive promotion, maybe even by the Chancellor himself due to the information he would obtain. Plus he would provide support for the troops on the ground, killing two convor's with one stone. What he didn't know were the occupants, thousands of battle ready ODST's ready to kick the Republic's ass.
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Location: SNV Solace of Redemption
Fleetmaster R'tas Vadum
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R'tas had always been one for battle. Always. It wasn't any different here, commanding the Solace of Redemption, the current battle with the Republic reminded him of the battles of the First-Contact Wars in which the Covenant would go in and mostly sweep away any Terran Defenses, however at great cost.
Here it was exactly like that, minus him losing thousands of ships and men, and now instead of having to fight alongside idiotic Jiralhanae, or as the humans called them 'Brutes' (He found this human naming system to be more accurate) it had him fighting alongside these honorable Humans.
"What is our status on the station?" asked R'tas to the nearby Sangheili Weapons Master, Rema Fladamee. Rema was one of the newer generation that served in the military, inspired by those who fought in the First-Contact Wars and wanting to learn the skills obtained in blood by those who lived.
"The Humans' status on the station is that they are in a tough predicament right now Fleetmaster, those mongrels have taken over almost all of the station, the Humans control the command centers however," said Rema, showing his disdain for the Republic.
Rema, like many others of his generation, had not taken part in the First Contact War but had heard stories of intense combat and the honor of the humans who fought tooth and nail for their lands from those who fought, like R'tas Vadum.
"Then we shall change that, arm all available warriors onboard! We shall go and clean this filth from the station and help the Reclaimers!" said R'tas as the bridge cheered in a plethora of war cries, all shouting to behead those wretched clones.
"Fleetmaster! Where are you headed?" asked his Shipmaster, Keth 'Sulirum as R'tas began to turn away and leave the bridge area.
"To go and fight, you have command of the ship now Shipmaster, I must fix things I have done long ago," said the 117-year-old Sangheili veteran as the 2 jawed Sangheili left for the hangars, passing multiple soldiers of the Sangheili, all of them doing the Sangheili salute of a fist banging on their chest as R'tas acknowledged them.
He made his way to a hangar bay as he went to go board a Type 57 Phantom, the design had been unchanged since the end of the First-Contact War, besides maybe a paint job, the Phantom now being a shiny orange color, the main weaponry had remained relatively the same, though they did have some upgrades over the years.
R'tas knew that the current situation on Sanghelios meant that any indigenous designs could not arise, due to their overreliance on reverse-engineering of Forerunner Technology combined with religion, meant that all forms of ingenuity and engineering were thrown out the window and it would take time to foster again.
For now, these older dropships would have to do.
He now stood among his warriors as he walked in front of them as they stood at attention, he looked at each and every last one of them, all of them bore the scars of war, all of them had served him faithfully since the Covenant.
They would continue under R'tas' command. In his hand lay a relic, the Type-51 Plasma Carbine, was it old? Yes. Did that matter in this context however? No. As long as the enemy had what was considered equivalent to the human's weakest of metals, then he, along with the rest of his soldiers, would be fine.
"Brothers of Sangheilios! The battle has come! Many of you have fought beside me since the beginning and have sinned during our chained membership in the wretched Covenant!" started R'tas as half of the Sangheili onboard nodded and put a hand over their chest, their faces scared, all received from the battles they fought during the First-Contact War. Their armor would hide their largest ones, most wore it as a reminder that they had things to fix before they could die in peace.
"It is time for many of you honorable brothers to reclaim that honor that was stolen from us, to help the Reclamiers in their plight against a wretched enemy!" he said as cheers erupted from the veterans on board, their mandibles flaring as excitement and warrior blood ran through their purple veins.
"For those who have not experienced our horrors, we guide you to not take the path we took, we guide you to a path of honor and glory! A path that once blinded us, but now is the path that all honorable beings are to take!" he said as the other half of the Phantom was filled with what the humans would describe as 'rookies'. Sangheili that had never known actual battle besides the training arenas inside the Keeps on Sanghelios and her Colonies. He looked each one of them in the eye, their faces were relatively clean, neat, ready to attract the attention of an undeserved mate. R'tas would fix that.
"For we have sworn to uphold our peoples' culture to our deaths, for we are to help in the reclamation! I expect nothing but greatness and efficiency from all of you. FOR SANGHELIOS AND HIS CHILDREN!" he finished as he banged his fist on his chest as the rest of the inside of the Phantom followed as clanging noises reverberated around as cheers were heard as the pilots flew closer to the station, an energy beam lashed out from R'tas' ship, the Solace of Redemption as it slammed into a guarding Venator Class as the ship was gutted, bow to stern as it fell towards the planet below, its lights flickering as it succumbed to the power loss.
"Warriors! Prepare for landing! Heavy resistance is reported by the humans, may the Reclamiers watch over you!" said the pilot as the Phantom hovered in the hangar as blue bolts splashed all around the ship, the ship glowing a bright purplish color as the Gravity Lift activated as the Sangheili troops were dropped towards the ground.
Blue bolts hit their armor as the integrated shield generators on the Sangheili's Combat Harnesses glowed a ghostly blue as the harder the impact the more they flared.
The Sangheili began to fire back, firing their numerous plasma weapons at the Clones on board the station, plasma and radioactive needles flew past the clones, nailing them as plasma melted the dura-plast into their skin, the receiving victims screeching in agony that ended as soon as they hit the ground, or the clone that got hit with needles and radioactive slugs from the Needlers and Plasma Carbines, these Clones did not have the luxury of feeling anything, instead instantly having their body turned into reddish swiss cheese as their blaster fire lessened.
R'tas looked out from his cover behind some crates and fired his Type-51 at a group of clones, the 8.7x60mm Radioactive slugs encased in plasma zoomed towards the clones at hypersonic speeds as they passed right through them like a knife through wet school toilet paper.
It reminded him of the First-Contact War, when humanity was on the defensive, he had shot many humans, but he had killed many more by glassing. He was here to fix his mistake, to assist the humans in reclaiming this station and using it to their plan.
A few Sangheili's energy shields fell and cracked as they ran to towards the Clones, energy swords waving as some were cut down by the fire from the Clones, though some Clones were unlucky to be stabbed in by the two bladed Energy Swords as their armor scorched from the contact of the blades as the hangar soon fell silent.
"Honorable Fleetmaster! We have cleared these parts of the Hangar Bay and the mongrels are on the run! Our Human counterparts have reported successfully clearing the other Hangar Bays, there is still a significant portion of scum on this station however," said another Sangheili, his voice clean and smooth as R'tas could instantly tell he was a rookie wanting for his approval.
"Good, we will link up with the humans in their command centers and relieve them from the fighting, you have done excellent for warriors thus far, however we still have much to complete, ONWARD!" he said as he raised an energy sword in one hand, Carbine in the other as the other Sangheili roared in response, fists banging on their chests as they went.
The halls were soon lit up with purple and blue lights as plasma and tibanna gas flew back and forth. Splashing both walls and combatants as R'tas looked over from his cover, he saw an E-Web position that was wreaking havoc on his rookies as he saw a couple of the heavy bolts hit a Sangheili as it vaporized half of the warrior as his body went flying.
A bit of anger began to ebb in R'tas as he saw his men die to the murderous fire of the E-Web, it was no joke, he wondered what it did to the humans.
This weapon needed to be taken care of now if he were to move up. He signaled at least 3 other Sangheili as they crossed over to him, dodging fire while they were at it.
"Warriors! Activate active camo, the cloned scum have a heavy weapon emplacement that is wreaking havoc on our warriors," said R'tas as he and the other veteran Sangheili turned into clear projections of themselves, as they began to move across the halls and towards the doomed E-Web.
The Clone gunner was not even aware when a shimmering object went behind him and he felt the burning sensation of a Sangheili Plasma Sword go through his chest as he died a slow painful death.
The other clones got out of shock and started shooting the air around them like headless chickens. Some bolts would hit a wall of shimmering material however as some ran only to be met by a hail of purple bolts splashing and melting their armor. A shimmering figure grabbed a clone by the neck as it snapped it in half with a sickening crunch, the Sangheili uncloaked as the clones began to run, the Sangheili firing all the while.
"Wish we had 'Grunts' to absorb our losses," said a rookie Sangheili warrior as he snarled a bit as he looked at the dead corpse of one of the Sangheili warriors.
R'tas could partially agree, however due to political problems the Unggoy were free to go and the Sangheili could do nothing about it, however to R'tas they had at least earned their freedom, the Unggoy being treated like what the humans called, 'Shit'.
"Stay focused young one, he has already passed on and has died an honorable death, focus on the mission at hand," said R'tas as the young sangheili nodded a bit.
The Sangheili made their way down the halls as they passed by what R'tas could only describe as large graveyards, soldiers all laid out, most of them the shiny white armor of the clones, either cracked or field with red splatters though a few Reclaimers dotted the area here there, black scorches covering their armor.
'By the gods, this place is a mess…' thought R'tas as he looked around, scanning the place as he kept his Carbine half raised and ready to melt any clone that decided to pop-up out of cover.
Then a yelp came over as the whole of the party came to a halt as they looked around, blaster and gunfire seemed to echo from a nearby hallway as they rushed towards the sound. When they turned the corner they ran into a battle taking place near one of the hangars as Republic Clones flooded the Terran positions.
"Warriors! Go in and reinforce the Terrans! We must not let our progress be set back!" said R'tas as the Sangheili warriors nodded as their fist banged to their chest as they went head first into the blaze of the fighting.
R'tas stayed back a bit as he quickly got up and shot a couple of clones giving a hard time to seom Terrans as he rushed over to the Marines. He got some looks from the humans as some were in shock as a 7' 11' ' reptilian was standing over them as one of them went up to R'tas.
"You must be our reinforcements! Glad your here, these whitey bastards are giving us a hard time," said the Marine who R'tas identified as a Lieutenant, judging by the ingsinia.
"Yes human, we have arrived to help cleanse your station of these Republic scum, we have already liberated half the station and the second human response team has secured the command centers," said R'tas in return, as the Lieutenant nodded.
"Well we could use all the help we get, MARINES GET READY TO FIRE 40 MIKE MIKE's!" yelled the Lieutenant as he pointed what to R'tas looked to be a Brute Shot from the Covenant long ago, or atleast the Human iteration of one. A light thumping was heard as explosions blanketed the hangar seconds later as multiple Sangheili warriors began to charge the Republic's foothold in the Hangars.
R'tas was the one who led it, energy sword in hand as he stabbed a Republic clone through the head, melting the poor things helmet as he tossed the body off of his sword as he saw many of his warriors do the same thing.
The Clones began to retreat once more as the Sangheili followed them, R'tas however was awry, this seemed to be going way to perfect…
Then a rocket came out of nowhere as it slammed into the Sangheili-Terran force, lifting both personnel and material. A second one came crashing down as it knocked R'tas to the ground, he picked himself up as he grabbed his energy sword that lay across from him, he looked up as the Hangar was filled with smoke, his eyes in a haze. A humming sound was heard as he turned around to see a blue light silhouetting a human figure.
"May the gods be on my side and may the ancestors guide me," said R'tas as he approached this new opponent. The smoke semi cleared as he looked over at his opponent, it was a human dressed in brown and tan robes as he held what looked to be a single bladed sword, lit up with a blue light as it hummed peacefully in the violent environment around it.
He locked eyes with the human, he had heard of these people before, Jedi…
"You! What are you doing here assisting Terran scum?" asked the Jedi as he took off his robe and revealed his tan tunic, the Jedi's blue eyes stared right into R'tas orange ones.
"I am here to repent for my sins," said R'tas, his tone deathly quiet as the Jedi just chuckled.
"Repent? For what? You are nothing but slaves to these Terrans!" said the Jedi as R'tas scoffed, this was rich coming from a person from an organization that actively kidnapped children and had a massive Clone army.
"I only wish you the best in the afterlife," said R'tas as both fighters went into their respective stances as they charged each other.
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Location: Okoyo Metropolitan District
General Darren Kalifkuz
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Chatter permeated all over the Central Command Bunker in the middle of New Nihon, something that was all too normal for General Darren Kalifkuz. The man of Baltic descent was not one to mess around with, being a very esteemed military commander and one of the key reasons on why the UTSC was able to be effective at combating the remnant Covenant threats due to his doctrine shifts.
All of that experience had now landed him here in a new place, a new galaxy, a galaxy that was not welcoming to the Terrans. Kalifkuz would make it welcoming if he had to.
"Sir, chatter from the docks indicate that the Republic has taken little over 50% of the area, the 48th Marines are reporting that if we don't take any offensive actions then they will be encircled," said an aide as Kalifkuz nodded at the report as he looked at the tactical map displayed on the table. He was quickly running out of men and material and Keyes' and his air support was further delayed due to the massive Republic armada still sitting above him.
"What does the current readout for airpower look like?" asked the General as a readout was immediately brought up by the Bunkers Smart AI, Mason, as a soldier dressed in WW2 American Olive Garb popped on the table and saluted the General before disappearing back into the mazes of 1's and 0's that made the computer world.
Mason was always silent, it was reported to Kalifkuz that the donor had a diagnosis of Aphasia and had been mixed up as a result of paperwork, however Mason was smarter than most AI's, being silent had its perks, hsi processing power was significantly more effective than most UTSC AI's, something that Kalifkuz liked due to the AI being able to calculate in a millisecond multiple battle scenarios, it was how Kalifkuz had won most of his battles due to Mason's silent intelligence.
Kalifkuz quickly looked at the readout, it did not look pretty, most of his airpower was either tied up or on the ground… permanently. Meaning he didn't have much to work with in terms of a counter-offensive against Republic lines, of course he did have artillery but they were in need of resupply and also could not be used as effectively due to the extreme degree of the frontlines, meaning a whole slew of blue on blue if he were to fire, wasting perfectly good men that could buy more time than a simple artillery strike.
"Sir you might want to see this," said an aide as Kalifkuz looked at the display, it was a feed from a Wombat drone that was obvious cloaked, its camera pointed downwards as at least 7 more ships broke the clouds, 5 of them Kalifkuz identified as Acclamator Assault Ships.
"Mother of creation, Republic reinforcements?! I thought they were tied up around the planet?" asked Kalifkuz as his aide looked back at him.
"Uhh apparently these ships managed to break through, the Air Force Reports that they don't have any more missiles to spare, either they spent it all or the silos are destroyed sir," said the Aide as he broke the bad news to the General.
"That's 60,000 more god-damned troops, we can't withstand much more casualties," said Kalifkuz as he looked at the map.
"Request to Admiral Keyes to send in ODST's, we need them in the docks to break out the 48th and potentially kick them out of the docks and as a result the city," said Kalifkuz as Mason once again appeared, this time kneeling by an old style radio as the AI sent the request to those above.
One of his aides quickly ran over to read the report given back due to Mason and his eternal silence.
"Admiral Keyes is greenlighting your request for ODST's sir, but he also says most of his airpower is tied up in defending his own fleet from their fighters, but he says he has an idea on how to take care of the reinforcements," said the aide as Kalifkuz looked at the young officer curiously.
Once he read the report Kalikuz's eyes went wide open.
"HE WANTS TO SHOOT THE ODP AT THE GODDAMNED PLANET?" yelled an exasperated General a the whole room went silent in a bit of shock. It was well known that the ODP was more than just well… defending, many of the harbors and cities on the USTG's planets were built on man-made creators made by, you guessed it, ODP's.
"Yes sir, he says he has a Sangheili strike team in bound to the station to help the remaining crew and they say they can maybe fire off one round at 0.5 percent the speed of light at the Republic landing zones, giving us a fighting chance," said the aide as he looked nervously at his general. Kalifkuz was busy contemplating his decision.
If he were to fire the ODP then there were the risks of the round going off target and potentially damaging the city, either directly or indirectly.
If he didn't however he would certainly have the city fall into the hands of the Republic and also have them spread out their manpower so that a single strike would be less effective. He finally spoke up as he turned to his aide.
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"Then we must do our duty, send them coordinates and send a warning message to all in the city"