Star Wars: Odyssey of the Infinity

by IX404

During a routine safety test, the Slipstream Space Drive of the Infinity malfunctions, catapulting them into unknown space. Little do Lasky and the members of the Infinity know is that they will soon change the fate of a far away galaxy.

16. Investigations & Incursions

Hello again, everyone, and welcome back to my Halo - Star Wars crossover redux.

Thank you all for your wonderful feedback and support. I deeply appreciate it.

As of this chapter, this story will remain in temporary hiatus until I've watched walkthroughs for the upcoming came Star Wars: Jedi Survivor. Once I've seen that game, I will continue to update this story. Remember, I am not abandoning this story. I fully intend to carry this story from where it is at to the very end of the original Star Wars trilogy's storyline. This is just a temporary break that is being conducted.

Also, I've added in a reference to a TV show that I've enjoyed. Keep in mind, I don't own any of the characters or the show.

As always, leave a review, and enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own the Halo or Star Wars franchises. They are the respective properties and trademarks of Microsoft Studios, 343 Industries, Bungie, Lucasfilm, 20th Century Fox, Disney Films, etc. Any material original to the franchises belongs to their respective developers, producers and publishers. Any material not original to the franchises is of my own invention. I do not own any music listed in each chapter. Any music listed belongs to its original composers and/or artists. I also do not own the NCIS TV series. It is the property and/or trademark of Belisarius Productions, CBS Studios, etc.

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UNSC Infinity

Geosynchronous Orbit, Pantora

July 3rd, 0BBY, 1030 Hrs (February 18th, 2559, 1030 Hrs)

In his office, the concern and worry that was growing on Lasky's mind was starting to reach its greatest height since Jyn hadn't reported in five days ago. The RADM was pacing back and forth inside of his office, his heartbeat accelerated as he awaited the news from the investigation that was being conducted. I hope they give me answers soon, he thought. Otherwise, I might just go and get those answers myself.

He took a breath to calm himself down. Around five days ago, Jyn hadn't reported in for duty, something that was found to be very odd. An initial search of the area where she was last reported turned up nothing, so Lasky had asked the Pantoran Defense Force if they had picked up anyone that was wandering on the streets after the curfew instituted by the treaty. When they said no, he had decided to give the case to the Navy's internal investigations division, known as the UNSC Naval Criminal Investigative Service, or UNSC NCIS for short. When he did, they told him to call in around five days to check in on the preliminary reports.

I just have to trust NCIS to perform its job, he thought. They said they'd get the job done, and I believe them. They even have their foremost investigator on the job, a certain Gibbs if I recall correctly.

His train of thought was interrupted when the COM unit on his desk chimed. Keying it, he said, "Yes? What is it?"

"Sir, RDML Osman is requesting a meeting with you," Captain Annette, one of his flag officers, said. "It has to do with the team that came back from Lotho Minor."

Ah, Lasky thought. I see. That one mission to the junk world that Cole authorized after we reestablished COMs with the UNSC. "Send her in," he said. When the door opened, he watched as Osman walked inside. "Osman," he said. "I hear you have something for me."

"I do," Osman said. "The team that was at Lotho Minor just reported back in. We found something there that has our attention."

"Do tell."

Sitting down, Osman handed Lasky a small data-chip. After inserting the chip into a slot in his computer, Lasky engaged the security protocols for the room, with the entire place quickly becoming sound proof, while any bugs in the room were destroyed by a low level EMP. Once the security system was fully engaged, he sent a command to his computer to open the data-chip's files.

At that moment, a holographic image of the UNSC's logo was displayed, before it changed to that of the planet that the ONI team had returned from. Lotho Minor was an incredibly ugly planet, with Lasky noting that it looked more like a giant ball of mud than an actual habitable planet. Jyn's intelligence on the planet also indicated that it was nothing short of an enormous garbage dump, with the galaxy dumping most of their trash there while allowing scavengers to pick said trash clean of any components that were either highly valuable, or useful.

Once the hologram of the planet appeared, Osman spoke. "Around five days ago, the ONI team that was sent to Lotho Minor managed to perform some preliminary recon of the planet," she said. "Jyn's intelligence of Lotho Minor appears to have been accurate. The entire planet is nothing short of an enormous garbage dump, with scans indicating that much of the junk that we can see is from the Clone Wars around twenty five years ago, in line with our estimates."

"I see," Lasky said. "I take it that this entire planet, as polluted and ravaged as it is, is something of a technological treasure trove for the UNSC to look through. Correct?"

"Correct," Osman said. "I had another recon team head to the planet four days ago to see if there was anything else that could be salvaged from the planet. According to them, there's so much junk that we'd need a whole salvage operation to thoroughly sweep a single square kilometer of the planet."

Lasky whistled. "Now that's a lot of shit to sift through. However, I take it there's more to it than that, yes?"

"Yes," Osman said. "The mission that Vice Admiral Cole authorized a few days ago uncovered something that we believe is of interest." The hologram over the desk shifted to the image of what appeared to be a robot. The robot was in very poor condition, with much of it charred and blackened, while sections appeared to have been melted. "The team, led by ONI Captain Edward Haines, uncovered the remains of what appears to have been a small robot. Intel suggests that it is likely an ancient variation of what the galaxy calls an 'astromech droid.'

Lasky nodded. Astromech droids were a common sight in the Andromeda Galaxy. According to Cortana, they were used for practically everything, from holding schematics for ships, to conducting repairs, to even assisting in navigation. "I see," he said. "Did they find anything on the droid?"

"Yes," Osman said. "According to Haine's report, he recovered what appears to be a memory drive from the remains of the astromech droid. The memory drive is in very poor condition, so I decided to have it send to Dr. Halsey as well as Software Engineer Gerald Lancaster. According to Halsey, they've made excellent headway in restoring the drive to full functionality, though Gerald has noted that it is rather primitive compared to our current day designs."

"I thought as much. The electronics of this galaxy are quite primitive, I will admit. Even a digital watch has more processing power than half a planet in this galaxy." Steepling his fingers, Lasky said, "Continue to update me on Halsey's progress with the memory drive. Also, inform me if NCIS has any progress on our most recent trouble."

"Understood," Osman said. "To be honest, sir, I never thought of it like this, but I kinda liked Jyn. When I heard she was missing… you get the picture."

"I do," Lasky said, "which is also why I am looking for her. If you can provide some assistance to the ongoing investigation, I'd be very grateful."

"I'll do what I can, sir. However, it is NCIS' jurisdiction, so they get the final word on if we can help out in any way we can, or if we're not allowed to interfere in this regard. I'll see what I can do though."

"Thank you," Lasky said. "You are dismissed."

. . .

On another section of the Infinity, Stacker and Olson were massaging the lumps that were on the backs of their heads. The swelling had gone down considerably from when they had been hit there, with the only sign of what had happened being a soreness that had sunken into the area in question. What bothered Stacker, though, was the fact that Jyn had literally disappeared on them.

I hope she's OK, he thought as he moved along the hallways to where he and Olson had been requested. She's a tough girl, but whatever happened was something I didn't exactly train her for. On top of that, we were really, really drunk, more so than should've been the case.

His train of thought stopped as he reached the room in question. Like many of the interrogation rooms onboard the Infinity, the room had a single table with two chairs, a hidden camera in a part of the room, as well as a single mirrored window on the left-hand side. The room was well lit, though the grayish-tan walls seemed to soak up most of the lighting in the room.

Sitting in the chair furthest from the door was a single man dressed in a dark gray, three-piece suit with a black tie, dark gray dress pants and black dress shoes. The man was old, likely in his late sixties to early seventies, with gray and white hair, tanned skin that was wrinkled, and green eyes that looked at Stacker inquisitively. A single nametag on his suit identified him as one Gibbs, L.J. Once Stacker sat down, the man remained silent for a full twenty minutes, doing nothing other than twirling a small pen in his hands.

Finally, after those twenty minutes, the man looked at him. Noting Stacker's expression, he said, "It looks like you have something to get off your chest."

"I do," Stacker said. "I've been… thinking about what happened five days ago. The memory just keeps playing over and over in my mind, like it's stuck on repeat." Looking at Gibbs, he asked, "Did you talk with Olson already?"

"No," Gibbs said. "One of my subordinates, DiNozzo, is working with him right now. They're currently planetside." Leaning back, he asked, "Can you tell me what happened that night? I know you've already been asked what happened, but sometimes certain details only reappear a few days after the event. Basic psychology."

"Sure," Stacker said. Taking a breath, he said, "Jyn had just come back from her mission at Lah'mu. She told me about the place; her family stayed there at a homestead when her father, Galen, fled from the Empire to find somewhere to lie low. When she came back, I noticed that she seemed very tense, almost like a bomb that was about to explode. When I asked her what happened, she told me a little of what had happened there."

"What happened after that?" Gibbs asked.

"She told me that she was going to head out and get a drink to clear her head. Given that it's standard protocol for her to travel with a senior officer, I agreed to go with her. Olson also agreed to go as her supervisor, since she was a part of the Navy. Once she agreed to having the two of us go with her, we took the next Pelican down to the planet."

"That's when you headed to the Pantoran Shantyhouse?"

"Yes," Stacker said. "When we went inside, the bartender asked Jyn what drink she wanted for the three of us. Given UNSC rules on alcohol consumption, she chose the Highland Phoenix. It's a relatively lightweight drink."

"And that was when you noticed you were getting drunker than usual?"

"Yeah," Stacker said. "Now that you mention that, the bartender did take longer than he normally did to mix the drinks. I've also noticed that the drinks seemed to burn much more strongly than usual. With the Highland Phoenix, it's just a very mild sensation, like when you're chewing one of those breath mints. Funny how I didn't remember that until now."

Using his pen, Gibbs wrote something down in a datapad he had taken out. "Did this happen on any previous occasions, or was this the first time?" he asked.

"First time I noticed it," Stacker said. "Whatever he did, it made the drink much stronger than it normally was. By the time we had three Highland Phoenixes each, we were getting really drunk. Olson decided to call it a night, so we began making our way back to a local barracks that was built after Cleese negotiated its construction with the Pantoran Assembly."

"And that was when you say you felt a blow to the back of your head?"

"Yeah," Stacker said. "Before that, though, I thought I heard Jyn grunting slightly. Then something hit me on the back of the head. Felt like a damn sledgehammer was being taken to my skull. Next thing I know, I was waking up alongside Olson and Jyn was missing. I'd initially assumed that she'd just gone on ahead, but now that I think about it, I think she might've been abducted."

"I see," Gibbs said. "Olson said the same thing. So you believe that Jyn was abducted?"

"Possibly," Stacker said. "A mugger would've only taken our money and left all three of us. I think it was abduction, or a murder. Hopefully not the latter of the two."

"Hopefully not," Gibbs agreed. "We'll know more once DiNozzo reports back in."

. . .

Down on the planet, Olson and DiNozzo were walking towards the very same bar that Stacker had been telling Gibbs about. Hopefully we can get some answers now, Olson thought as he and DiNozzo approached the front door. I would like to ask the barkeep why he mixed the drinks with something stronger than they usually do.

As they approached the door, he looked at DiNozzo. Compared to Gibbs, DiNozzo was a much younger man, with dark brown hair, tanned skin and hazel eyes. From what Olson had heard, DiNozzo was something of a joker and prankster, though when the going got tough, he was a reliable and dependable man. Just as they reached the door, DiNozzo said, "OK. Now's the time to find out what's happened. Try not to get the bartender worked up. If he stresses out, he won't tell us what he really did. Got that?"

"Got it," Olson said. "I just want answers as to what the hell happened that day. You take lead on this, since I'll get too stressed out.

"Your call," DiNozzo said. "Showtime." Advancing into the bar, he and Olson quickly went towards the bar.

The bartender, noticing them, smiled, though Olson noticed something odd. The man had briefly hesitated, as though DiNozzo's appearance had shocked him. Still, the barkeep smiled and, approaching them, asked, "Good day, gentlesirs. To whom am I speaking to?"

DiNozzo smiled, then flashed his badge before the barkeep. "I'm Agent DiNozzo of the NCIS," he said. "With me is LTJG Olson. We were wanting to ask you a few questions concerning the disappearance of one Cadet Erso, if that is all right with you."

Again, the bartender seemed to hesitate, then he smiled and said, "Of course. I'd be happy to answer your questions." Looking around, he said, "Jantara?! You there?!"

Moments later, a young Pantoran with long brown hair and gold eyes came from the back room. "Yes, Morteon?" she asked.

"Would you be so kind as to hold down the fort for me, please?" Morteon asked. "These two fine gentlemen want to ask me a few questions."

"Of course," Jantara said, though she eyed DiNozzo and Olson with a suspicious look.

"Thank you," Morteon said. Lifting up part of the bar counter, he ushered the two into the back rooms before lowering the countertop. Proceeding into the back rooms, he led the two to his office, where there was just a single desktop computer, some filing cabinets, as well as a small HoloCOM device. Sitting down in a chair, he asked, "What would you like to know? I'll answer if I can."

"Thank you," DiNozzo said. "Can you tell me about the events that happened here around five days ago? My colleague here has something of a fuzzy recollection about that day." That prompted a slight stare from Olson, though he played along.

"Of course," the bartender said. "I was doing my usual rounds with the customers when this man here entered with two other people, Jyn Erso and one Sergeant Stacker, I think it was. Both of them ordered Highland Phoenixes, one per person."

"Is that a normal order for you?"

"Of course," Morteon said. "That's one of the most popular drinks around here, especially when it comes to you UNSC types. I often say half-jokingly that it was that drink that built this bar." He laughed at the remark.

"Did you notice anything unusual?" DiNozzo asked.

"Not really," Morteon said. "Aside from one small detail."

"And that would be?"

"Jantara seemed to be taking a little longer than usual to mix the drinks," he said. "Normally, she gets a Highland Phoenix mixed in just twenty seconds. In this case, she took thirty, ten seconds longer than her usual average.

"So you don't mix the drinks?" Olson asked.

"No," Morteon said. "Not since my hands gave out on me a few years back. They started getting really bad arthritis, enough that I had to have surgery done to fix the problem. They messed up reattaching the tendons, though, so I don't have the mobility that I used to. Still, it's quite odd that she would take so long for a simple drink."

DiNozzo shared a glance with Olson. Apparently, even the bartender had noticed that something was odd. "Mind if we speak with her?" he asked.

Morteon was about to speak up when Jantara came in. Spotting the two men talking to Morteon, she was about to leave when DiNozzo walked in her way. "Ma'am, I do believe that running without a word isn't very polite," he said. When she tried to move past him, he blocked her path again.

Upon seeing that DiNozzo wasn't moving out of the way, Jantara sighed. "May I?" she asked.

"Not until you answer a couple questions of ours," DiNozzo said. When Jantara sat down with a sigh, he asked, "According to Morteon, you took a little long to mix a drink that should, at the most, take just twenty five seconds to mix. Olson here also noted that the drinks you gave him, Jyn and Stacker were stronger than normal. Mind if we ask why?"At that, Jantara began looking around. While she appeared calm, Olson noticed that the heel of her right foot was bouncing up and down on the ground.

Morteon, spotting this, asked, "Jantara, are you all right? What's wrong?"

"I…" Jantara brought up her hands to her face, rubbing it, before leaning back. Looking at Morteon and DiNozzo, she said, "You're right. I've got to get this off my chest, otherwise I won't be able to live with myself anymore. Just… promise me that you'll tell no one about this."

"I promise," DiNozzo said. "So, mind if you tell us why the drinks were stronger than usual?"

"Y-Yes," Jantara said. Taking a deep breath, she said, "It's all my fault. I purposefully made the drinks stronger than they usually are."

The words were like a bombshell going off. DiNozzo and Olson looked at her, while Morteon had a shocked expression on his face. The man was so shocked that he was the first to speak. "Why?"

"I was doing it because I was forced to," Jantara said, her eyes beginning to become misty. "I was coming home from work around seven days prior when these three humans pulled me out of the way. They told me that if I didn't agree to help them, they would kill you and make it look like I was the murderer."

"What did they want?" DiNozzo asked.

"They wanted me to make the drinks stronger than usual just for Jyn and anyone she came with," Jantara said, tears beginning to stream down her cheeks. "When I asked why, they said that she'd made their boss angry, and he wanted revenge. They…" She devolved into sobs at this point, her entire body shaking as she cried. "I-I didn't want to help them!" she sobbed. "They were going to kill Morteon!"

Morteon, seeing the tears, brought a small tissue box over to her and sat by her side. "There, there," he said as she wiped her tears. "It'll be all right. We're not angry at you, Jantara. It's obvious by now you were forced to help those men. Can you tell them what they looked like?"

Jantara nodded as she composed herself. "Yeah," she said. "They were wearing masks, but one of them had his off. His hair was gray and he had these gray colored eyes. He had this wicked looking scar running down across his face. Even his nose was messed up. One of his eyes was replaced by a cybernetic that looked like his normal eye, and he had a gray-white beard."

As Jantara spilled the beans, DiNozzo wrote down all of the details before drawing up a sketch of the man's appearance. Once he drew it, she showed it to Jantara. "Was that the man?" he asked.

Jantara nodded. "Yes," she said. "That's exactly what he looked like."

"May I see that?" Morteon asked. DiNozzo nodded, handing the man the datapad. When he saw the man's portrait, Morteon's face became dark purple, with the man handing DiNozzo the pad before taking a small object on his desk and throwing it with such force that it dented the wall. "THAT ROTTEN BASTARD!" he roared. "I knew it was him!"

"Who?" DiNozzo asked.

"Vantor Jarkeem!" Morteon snarled. "He's a thug for one of the crime lords that works in this sector. He came here just two days after your fleet arrived, asking me if I could spy on y'all for his boss. I told him that he could take the offer and shove it up his ass for all I cared. Boy was he angry. Said that he would have his revenge before long." Looking at Jantara, he said. "Guess I know how. They threatened my life to get to her."

"Who's their boss?" DiNozzo asked.

"Geotor Lovcir," Morteon said. "Vantor told me that he wanted me to spy on you guys. Again, as I said, I told him to take his offer and shove it up his ass."

"And this is the result," DiNozzo said. Putting away his notepad, he said, "Thank you for your cooperation. You and Jantara will have to go into protective custody until we can determine that the two of you are no longer in danger. Jantara, if you have any more information for us, tell us. Any information that you have will be valuable for an investigation."

"OK," Jantara said. "Am I in trouble, though?"

"That remains to be seen," DiNozzo said. "While you were complicit in the abduction of Jyn Erso, it's now clear that you were unwilling to carry out the crime. As such, you will come aboard while we comb the premises for any more evidence. We've already talked with the owner of the building that is in the alley that Jyn was abducted at. They have provided us with the footage." Moving towards the two, he asked, "Would you two be willing to come with us?"

"Of course," Morteon said. "I just hope that we aren't making a terrible mistake."

"It'll all be fine," DiNozzo reassured them, even as they left the building. As they walked out, he keyed his COM. "Gibbs here," a voice said. "What is it?"

"Got some information," DiNozzo said as he ducked into the bathroom. Making sure it was empty, he said, "You're going to want to hear this."

. . .

Up above the planet, Lasky was finishing up the last few pieces of paperwork when his COM chimed yet again. Sighing, he keyed his COM and said, "Yes?"

"Admiral, it's Osman here," came the reply. "NCIS has just reported that they've made a breakthrough in the investigation surrounding Jyn's disappearance."

"Good," Lasky said. "I was hoping that we'd have a breakthrough sooner rather than later. Who's coming to report the breakthrough to me?"

"Investigator Gibbs, sir."

"Good," Lasky said. "I'll speak with him concerning what's happened. RADM Lasky out." Closing the COM channel, he opened another and said, "Captain Annette, I'm expecting an Investigator Gibbs to come by my office shortly. When he arrives, can you inform me?"

"Yes, sir," Captain Annette said. It seemed like only minutes to Lasky when she said, "Sir, Investigator Gibbs is waiting to see you."

"Send him in," Lasky said. As soon as Gibbs walked in, Lasky said, "Sit down. Make yourself comfortable."

"Thank you," Gibbs said.

As he sat down, Lasky said, "So, I've heard that you have some news for me, Gibbs. Did you manage to find out what happened to Jyn?"

"Yes," Gibbs said. "To summarize what Agent DiNozzo told me, Jyn was abducted by a crime lord that she angered sometime in the past, for what reason we do not know. However, it has angered the crime lord enough to abduct Jyn despite the fact that she is a UNSC officer cadet."

When he said this, Lasky froze in his seat, eyes widening as he realized what Gibbs was saying. So that's why Jyn disappeared, he thought. She was abducted by a criminal kingpin. Keeping his voice level, he asked, "How did they do it?"

Gibbs frowned. "It's complicated, but I can tell you how. Given the fanfare that happened when the UNSC fully moved in, we've had gaps in our security ever since we've gotten set up. While we're closing those gaps, one of them remained open long enough for criminals to begin slipping in. Some of them, working for the crime lord in question, forced one of the civilian employees of a bar to make Jyn's drinks stronger than they usually were by threatening that worker with the death of her colleague. Once Jyn and her escorts were sufficiently drunk, they waited until they reached a nearby alley, whereupon they bludgeoned Stacker and Olson into unconsciousness, while using what we believe is a tranquilizer akin to ketamine."

Lasky's hands clenched and unclenched with murderous regularity. Why would they do this to her? he wondered. Why would a crime lord be angry enough with her to risk reprisal from the UNSC? It was then that he realized that there was someone on the ship that might know the answer to that question. Looking at Gibbs, he said, "Thank you for your efforts to find out the truth. When we find that crime lord, we're going to show that bastard why you don't mess around with the UNSC. Who is the man in question?"

"One Geotor Locvir," Gibbs said. "Apparently, the pirates were confident enough in their abduction that their lips loosened. They should've known better than to let that information slip. Loose lips sink ships, after all."

Lasky was about to reply when an alarm klaxon began to sound. A moment later, the voice of Lasky's XO came over the PA. "This is not a drill," he announced. "This is not a drill. General Quarters. General Quarters. All hands, man battle stations. RADM Lasky to the Bridge. RADM Lasky to the Bridge."

The moment those words came in over the PA, Lasky shot to his feet. "We'll have to continue this discussion later!" he said to Gibbs. "Remain here until further notice!" While Gibbs nodded and remained in his seat, Lasky bolted out the door, shoes thumping on the metal deck.

Bursting through the doors and onto the bridge, he found the bridge in a flurry of activity, even as Captain Conners, his recently promoted XO barked out orders. Once Lasky approached, he asked, "What is it?!"

"Sir!" Roland said, his avatar appearing over the holo-table. "Multiple hyperspace signatures inbound! I'm counting roughly seventy hyperspace signatures!"

"Could be an Imperial fleet," Conners said.

"No," Lasky countered. "The Imperials know that we've got Pantora under our sphere of influence. They were perfectly willing to accept that. If they didn't, we'd be seeing a much larger enemy fleet." Looking at Roland, he asked, "What's the status of the defense fleet?"

"They've gone to high alert," Roland said, "Vice Admiral Cole was informed the moment we got the alert. He's ordered all ships to form up around the Infinity and he's currently at the ground command for all FLEETCOM assets in orbit. Are there any orders you'd like us to issue?"

"Get me a direct line to Vice Admiral Cole!" Lasky thundered. A moment later, after the connection was established, Lasky said, "Vice Admiral Cole, this is RADM Lasky. Do you read me?"

"I copy, Lasky," Cole said. "I take it you've just learned about what is happening?"

"Yes sir," Lasky said. "What are your orders?"

"Do what you can to keep the pirates from getting close to Pantora," Cole said. "How you handle that is up to you. I've already ordered Orbital Defense Command to have the ODPs ready to go. You have command of the warships should a battle begin before I arrive. Understood?"

"Understood."

"Very good," Cole said. "Vice Admiral Cole over and out."

"RADM Lasky out." Once the COM link closed, Lasky said, "Roland open a COM channel to the entire fleet." Once Roland did so, Lasky said, "All ships, this is RADM Lasky speaking. We're under attack by a hostile enemy force. Rally on the Infinity and head to the following coordinates." Barking out a letter and a series of numbers, he said, "Once we're there, we'll find out what we're facing! More orders will soon come. RADM Lasky over and out!"

. . .

Onboard the Venator-classship Spoils of Commerce, Hajir Cesor was the very definition of excited. The heel of his right foot was dancing an arpeggio on the floor as he awaited their exit from hyperspace and into real space. The others on the bridge were similarly excited, with each of them silently chatting with each other.

This is going to be a rich raid, Hajir thought to himself. He'd heard rumors about the UNSC and the potential spoils that they had, so when he learned that he would be part of the pirate fleet sent to attack Pantora, he had immediately signed on. I wonder what the UNSC's got, he thought, his mind already bursting at the brim with thoughts of treasure and loot. Powerful weapons, lavish ships, maybe even hot women. Who knows? We'll just have to wait and see.

That also reminded him of the other reason why they were here. A few months ago, as part of an agreement with one of the Pantoran Senators, Geotor had agreed to lend some of his pirates to the Senator to use as his own personal army. However, following the UNSC's arrival into the galaxy, they had gone dark. As such, Geotor had sent them to not only raid the planet, but to check in on his investment as well.

Hearing footsteps, he turned to see his XO coming over to him. Bordis Kentor was a short and squat man with a mop of black hair and suspicious green eyes. While an excellent XO for a ship of this size, Bordis was known for being contemptuous and haughty in the best of times, and downright sadistic in the worst of times. Still, when he was on a pirate ship, the crew worked at maximum efficiency for fear of suffering some of his more… creative punishments. "Bordis, is all well?" Hajir asked.

"All is well," Bordis said in his unusually high pitched voice. "The crew is working at maximum efficiency, and we will soon be dropping out of hyperspace and into Pantora. My hands itch at the mere thought of the spoils that we will be getting from this raid."

"You read my mind," Hajir said. "Still, as the Captain, I have to sort out the booty and decide who gets what. Given that everything's gone well, I'll be certain to kick a little extra your way. You've earned it."

Bordis smiled. "That I do. Still, I wonder what happened to the pirates that were sent here before us. It's rather odd that they would simply fall off the map."

"It is. However, I suspect that we'll find our answers as we're raiding the place. Maybe they went legitimate, maybe the Pantorans killed them. We don't know, but we'll definitely find out before long."

"We're about to exit hyperspace!" their Navigator called out, halting any casual conversation. "Shall I begin the dropout?"

"Yes," Hajir said. "All right, you ground-lubbers! Listen up! We've got ourselves a planet that we're going to be raiding! Keep your wits about you, obey your orders, and we'll have ourselves some fine booty! May we drink out of the skulls of our enemies tonight!" A loud cheer erupted from the pirates as they prepared for the drop out of hyperspace.

Within seconds, the Spoils of Commerce dropped out of Hyperspace, along with every other ship in the pirate fleet. Looking at a holographic readout, Hajir could see the other Venator-class star destroyer they had stolen from a ship breaking yard entering formation alongside his own. Both his ship and the other Venator had formed up behind a single Providence-class Dreadnought that served as the flagship of the pirate fleet. Behind them, a series of smaller ships had formed a wedge formation behind his ship, the other Venator-class, as well as the Providence, while several Acclamator-class military transports had entered realspace behind them.

Up ahead, Hajir could see the planet that they were going to be raiding soon. "That's an ugly planet," he said. "However, should all go well, we'll have plenty of spoils to share."

"That is, if we can get our hands on them first," Bordis said. "I doubt that the Pantorans will bow to us so easily. We should be ready to give a show of force."

"Indeed," Hajir said. "Perhaps we -"

"We've got incoming!" one of the officers on the bridge shouted. "Boss, I think we've got some bad news coming our way!"

Hajir was about to tell the man not to speak any nonsense when he saw a readout on a computer screen nearby literally turn red in color. Getting out of his seat and walking over, he bent over the man and the console to see the viewscreen. Almost immediately, his heart leaped into his throat when he saw the computer's tally of hostile targets. "Is this accurate?" he asked. "Have you checked to see if this is a computer error?"

"I have," the pirate manning the station said. "There's no computer error. We're looking at a little over seven hundred enemy ships moving towards our position. At the speed they're moving, they'll be on top of us within minutes!"

This time, Hajir began to feel real fear. Moving towards another screen, he had the man sitting at the station bring up an enhanced image of the ships that were moving towards him. His stomach twisted into knots when he spotted dark gray, almost black, ships moving towards their location, each one looking like they were pulled out of a pirate's worst nightmare. Stepping back, he sat back down into his command chair and looked ahead. "What is it?" he heard Bodir ask.

"We're going to need more ships," Hajir asked. "I don't know who was sent to spy on the UNSC, but they clearly didn't give us accurate information. Seven hundred warships in total? Something tells me we're in for a rough ride."

"I agree," Bodir said. "Our fleet leader, however, might believe otherwise. Shall I open up a HoloCOM channel so that we can listen in?"

"Certainly," Hajir said.

At their orders, a HoloCOM link was established to the largest ship in the fleet, the Pirate's Delight. The holographic emitters quickly displayed two men. The first was a man that was wearing a large jacket with a smaller tunic underneath. The pirate leader's face was riddled with scars, and he wore a hat on his head that was torn in a few areas. The man's eyes glinted with some hint of madness, as well as the desire for loot. That was Gesar, a pirate that was known for his tactical cunning and cruelty.

The other man, Hajir noted, wouldn't have looked out of place on an Imperial recruitment poster. That man stood at attention in a uniform that couldn't be mistaken for anything other than a military uniform. His hair was neatly brushed, and his eyes were gazing directly at the pirate leader. When he spoke, his voice was confident and measured. "Unidentified fleet, this is Vice Admiral Preston J. Cole of the United Nations Space Command. You are in violation of joint Pantoran/UNSC space. Identify yourself and leave this area immediately."

Gesar laughed, a booming sound that echoed on the bridge, while the pirates on his ship laughed as well. "Who are we?" he asked. "I am Gesar, conqueror of a dozen words, and master of pirates. We are here to relieve you and Pantora of all of your equipment and women. Surrender, and I will be gentle when it comes to the exchange of goods." He smiled, thinking that he'd already won.

If that was what he thought, he was sorely mistaken, as Cole said, "We will not be complying with your request, Gesar. As per UNSC regulations, now that you have declared your intent, I am required to neutralize you by any means necessary. Now I ask that you surrender your forces to me. Surrender, and I will see to it that you are treated in accordance with UNSC Maritime Law. Resist, and I will have no choice but to destroy you."

"Empty words from a dead man," Gesar sneered. "I will wear your entrails around my neck and I'll wear your head like a hat!" He cut the HoloCOM line a moment later. "All ships," he shouted, "attack! Drive them into the planet! Make them suf -"

Before Gesar could finish, something happened that Hajir never forgot for the rest of his life, something that struck genuine fear into his heart. As soon as Gesar was about to finish his sentence, the entirety of his ship promptly exploded. Hajir thought he saw a massive hole being ripped into the back of the Pirate's Delight, with the entire 2.117 kilometer long ship literally cracking in half. Debris was hurtled everywhere, while the two halves of the ship were promptly shoved backwards by the force of the impact.

Spotting the carnage, Bordis let out a howl of fear, while Hajir could hear a similar howl erupting from his own mouth. The rest of the crew shouted in shock and terror, while one man frowned as he urinated in his pants. On the HoloCOM system, Hajir could hear hundreds more pirates screaming and/or shouting in terror.

"What the hell happened?!" Bordis shouted. "Captain?! What happened?!"

"I don't know," Hajir said, "but I do not intend to go down without a fight!" Forcing his fear down into his gut, he looked round to see everyone frozen in their seats. Snarling, he shouted, "Are we blind?! Deploy the starfighters! MOVE!" His bellow promptly shook everyone out of their stupor, with Bordis shouting orders as the pirate fleet began to move.

Soon, it was clear that not all of the pirates had decided to remain defiant like Hajir was. Some of the ships were quickly turning around, desperately hoping to escape, while others seemed to just float there. Cowards, Hajir thought when he realized they had likely surrendered. I'll see them all marooned. Looking at one of the ships, he said, "Focus fire on that ship! I want to see it burn!"

The surface of the Spoils of Commerce erupted as the turbolasers and heavy laser cannons on the ship's hull opened fire on the closest UNSC ship, identified as the Constantinople by the lettering on its hull. Turbolaser bolts and heavy laser cannon bolts streaked through space, only to be stopped by a gold-white field of energy that shimmered into existence. Some of the heavier cannon bolts did, i fact, cause what appeared to be bleed-through heat damage, but beyond that, there was little damage. Snarling with anger, Hajir shouted, "FIRE EVERYTHING! CRUSH THEM INTO POWDER!"

More turbolaser bolts fired, only to have the same effect: none at all. Then the Constantinople opened fire, its four Spitfire coilgun batteries spitting projectiles at the Soils of Commerce faster than the eye could track. The pirate ship shuddered as the projectiles smashed into the particle shields, tearing through them before smashing into the ship's hull. "Engines are gone!" one of Hajir's officers shouted. "The enemy ship's disabled our engines! We can't make the jump to hyperspace!"

"Enemy ship's firing what looks like lasers!" another shouted. "Our shields are down to just fifty percent. If this keeps up, we'll lose our shields and the hull will be punctured!"

"Keep firing!" Hajir shouted. "If any of you think surrendering is a good idea, I will gut you myself!"

"More of the enemy ships are moving in!" another officer shouted. "Two more are moving to engage the Venator-class ships in our fleet!"

. . .

Onboard the Infinity, Lasky shook his head as some of the pirate ships surged forwards, thermal blips white hot, while others tried to turn and flee. "Look at that," Roland said. "Looks like some of the pirates are dumb enough to try and attack, even with one of their ships gutted by an ODP. I guess they've got more brains than brawn."

"Then let's show them who they're dealing with," Lasky said. Keying his COM, he said, "Battle Group Delta, engage the pirate ships moving to attack! Battle Groups Epsilon, Theta, Charlie and Romeo, perform an in-system jump and cut them off from any avenue of escape!" Looking at Austen, he said, "Lieutenant, target the closer of the two ships that were flanking the one we destroyed. Time to show these pirates why you don't mess with the UNSC!"

"You got it!" Austen shouted. "All gunnery stations, engage the enemy ship! Weapons loose! Repeat, weapons loose!"

Flying up alongside the enemy ship, the Infinity began to hammer at the first of the two Venator-class star destroyers in the fleet. Mini-MAC and MAC rounds tore through the space between the two ships, overwhelming the Venator's deflector shields before tearing large holes into the hull of the ship. At the same time, the Venator opened fire with its main weapons, hammering at the Infinity's energy shields.

Before long, massive holes had been torn in the hull of the Venator, with the ship opening all of its hangar bays. "Lasky!" Roland shouted. "I'm detecting multiple enemy fighter squads exiting the ship. They're moving to engage us!"

"Roland, take as many of them out with the point defense systems as you can!" Lasky thundered. "Lieutenant Murphy, get those Broadswords and Longswords out there immediately!"

"Already on it!" Murphy shouted. "I've got numerous Broadsword and Longsword fighters out there already! They're engaging the enemy as we speak!"

"Copy that!" Lasky said. "Where's Fleet Admiral Harper's flagship?!"

He got his answer when the fleetwide COM chimed. "All ships, this is Fleet Admiral Harper, continue with your current orders. Lasky, you have command of battle groups Alpha through Hotel. I have command of Battle Groups India through Oscar. Continue with your attack on the enemy ships. I'll make sure that the pirates don't escape."

"Understood, sir!" Lasky said. "You heard the man. Battle Groups Alpha through Hotel, form up on the Infinity and engage those pirate ships!"

. . .

"I can do this all day!" Edward Cline shouted as he maneuvered the Longsword fighter he was piloting through the mess of debris and enemy ships that were in the area. Spotting an enemy contact, he threw the fighter into a high-g turn, bringing him behind one of the fighters that the enemy ship had launched. Firing the ship's MLAs, he quickly turned the enemy fighter into a cloud of shrapnel and scrap that his fighter flew through.

"Watch it!" his Systems Operator shouted as an enemy fighter began trying to draw a bead on them. "Bandit on our six!"

"I've got 'im!" the copilot shouted. "Firing up the MLAs!" On the back of the Longsword fighter, two M9109 50mm MLAs immediately opened up, spitting high velocity ferric-tungsten slugs at the enemy fighter, an ARC-170, that was on their six. The enemy pilot, not anticipating the use of ventral mounted weapons, tried to dodge, only for one of the slugs to tear through the cockpit. The enemy fighter promptly exploded into a cloud of debris. "Got 'im!" the copilot of the Longsword shouted. "Splash one bandit!"

"Great work!" Edward Cline shouted. "Don't get cocky! Got another pair of fighters coming up on our front. Firing up the Rotary!" Underneath the chin of the fighter, a single tri-barrled autocannon spun up, before firing at a pair of fighters that were firing their laser cannons at the Longsword. Both fighters tried to jink out of the way, only for both fighters to be shredded to pieces by the 110mm slugs that tore out of the autocannon's muzzle. "Got them!" Cline shouted. "Splash two bandits! Moving to continue engagement!" The fighter turned as they began to look for more hostile targets…

On another part of the battlefield, Conrad Francis was also engaging a number of enemy targets. Maneuvering his Broadsword through the increasingly debris choked space between the pirate and UNSC ships, he quickly locked his Medusa missiles onto an enemy fighter. Thumbing the firing stud, he said, "Fox Three!" At the same time, a flight of four ST/Medusa missiles shot out of the fighter, each one heading towards the single enemy fighter.

Apparently, this fighter pilot, despite being a pirate, was something of an ace, as the fighter was thrown into a series of maneuvers that caused all of the missiles to miss. "Nice maneuver," Francis growled, "but you're still dead meat." Throwing his fighter into a high speed turn, he quickly lined the nose of his fighter up onto the enemy fighter's engines. "Go you in my two circle fight now. You're about to die."

As soon as the reticule on his HUD was lined up, Francis fired yet another flight of missiles, before switching to his main gun. This time, the missiles did their jobs, as each one smashed into the enemy fighter and detonated. Before long, the enemy fighter was nothing more than a cloud of debris. "Splash one bandit," he said, "Echo Leader to all, do you read me?"

"Solid copy," Echo-2 reported.

"Same here," Echo-3 said.

"All systems online," Echo-4 said. "We're forming up on you, sir."

"Copy that," Conrad said. "We've got another flight of enemy fighters engaging the Constantinople. Intel from the PDF suggests we're looking at ARC-170s and Z-95 Headhunters. Move in to engage." All five Broadsword fighters formed up on Conrad's fighter, before quickly moving towards the Constantinople, which was now engaging an enemy Bulk Cruiser.

It wasn't long before they spotted the enemy fighters that were trying to wear down the Constantnople's energy shields. Seeing the fighters in question, Conrad shook his head. Whichever Rebel thought that the Broadsword looked vaguely like the Headhunter needs to have their head checked, he thought. Putting the thought out of his mind, he said, "Echo Lead to Infinity Actual. Moving to relieve the Constantinople."

"Copy that," came Murphy's voice.

Switching COM frequencies, Conrad said, "Constantinople, this is Echo Leader. We're moving to assist in relieving you of enemy fighter pilots."

"Understood!" came the Constantinople's Captain. "Thanks for the assist! Get these fucking mosquitoes off our ass!"

Closing the COM-link, Conrad said, "Echo Squad, engage enemy fighters." At that command, all four Broadswords peeled off from Conrad's, with each one quickly moving towards the enemy fighters that were trying to swarm the Constantinople. As Conrad flew his fighter in, he spotted several more Longswords and Broadswords moving in to engage the enemy fighters.

Swinging his fighter into a high-g chandelle, Conrad quickly got behind one of the enemy ARC-170s that was engaging the Constantinople. Panicking, the pirate pilot tried to throw him off in a series of maneuvers, only for Conrad to remain firmly on his tail. Keying his MLAs, Conrad fired a burst at the ARC-170, blasting it apart in a shower of debris.

Switching targets, he threw the fighter into another chandelle and locked his missiles onto eight enemy fighters. Thumbing the firing stud, he watched as all eight missiles streaked out of the missile pods on his fighter. Of the eight he fired, six successfully destroyed their targets. The remaining two missed as the more skilled pirate pilots threw them off in a series of maneuvers. Gunning the engines, Conrad moved in. "Fox three," he reported as he fired the MLAs on his Broadsword at one, blowing it apart.

A beeping sound warned him of a bandit on his tail, causing him to throw the fighter's thrust into its reverse mode. Unable to stop, the enemy Z-95 whipped past his fighter, with Conrad quickly accelerating to catch up to the enemy fighter. Firing his MLAs again, he quickly blew the enemy fighter apart.

"Echo-2 to Echo Lead, need some help!" came Echo-2's voice. Looking towards the fighter, Conrad could see that the Broadsword was being pursued by multiple ARC-170s. The Broadsword's shields had failed, and the armor was now taking direct hits.

"Hang on, I'm coming!" Conrad said. Gunning the engines on his fighter, he quickly caught up to the enemy fighters and began to blast each of them out of the sky. Noting smoke coming from Echo-2,he said, "Echo-2, eject!" At that, the pod containing the cockpit blasted away from the rest of the fighter, while the damaged fighter detonated. "Are you all right?!" he shouted.

"I'm fine!" Echo-2 shouted. "Life support's stable! Go get those bastards for me!"

"Solid copy," Conrad said. "All remaining fighters in Echo Squad, form up on me!"

. . .

Onboard one of the Pelicans, Commander Palmer and the members of Fireteam Windfall, Majestic, Fenrir, Colossus, Eagle and Crimson waited as they approached one of the ships in the enemy fleet, the Spoils of Commerce according to its transponder. Moving to the rear of the ship, she watched as everyone made certain that their weapons were loaded and ready. Moving towards her, Crimson-1 said, "We're good to go. Once we're onboard, we'll head towards the bridge of the pirate ship."

"Good," Palmer said.

Noting the frown on her face, Crimson-1 asked, "Is there something wrong, ma'am?"

Palmer sighed. Ever since Sierra-117 had been promoted to RADM and put into command of all Spartan forces on the Infinity, he had made certain that everyone was doing their jobs properly. Numerous Spartan-IVs had received reprimands for their conduct during the Requiem Campaign and all subsequent military operations. He had also stepped up the difficulty of their training significantly, enough that even some of the more prestigious Fireteams had been struggling. Only Fireteam Majestic had excelled and once they were thawed out, Fireteam Crimson.

Looking at Crimson-1, she said, "Just the usual intra-branch politics and the like," she said. "RADM-117 is an excellent military officer. He's been working overtime to make all Spartan Operations personnel onboard the Infinity more competent and professional."

"Been training you harder?" Crimson-1 asked. When Palmer nodded, he said, "Well, if I know anything about Sierra-117, it's that whatever he does is going to make the Spartan Corps better, stronger, faster and smarter. I have full confidence that all Spartan-IVs will meet his standards someday. We can consider this mission a chance to showcase our newfound professionalism."

Palmer smiled. "You know how to cheer someone up, don't you, Crimson-1?"

Crimson-1 shrugged. "I have my moments."

"We're approaching the ship!" the pilot for the Pelican they were on shouted. "Get ready to come out swinging with the rest of the ODSTs and Marines!" There was a slight vibration as the Pelican fired its main guns before a thudding sensation rumbled throughout the interior. "Touchdown! Hit it, Spartans!"

"GO, GO, GO!" Palmer shouted. Immediately, the doors to the Pelican lowered, with all twelve Spartan-IVs rushing out of the ship and into the hangar bay. Moving out of the hangar, Palmer brought up her rifle just as she rounded the corner. Up ahead, she spotted a barricade that the pirates were using for cover. Blaster bolts and bullets whipped across the hangar as the UNSC Marines and ODSTs fought to gain the upper hand. Spotting one pirate leaning out of cover with a disruptor, Palmer fired twice in rapid succession. The pirate's head exploded, with the headless corpse slumping to the ground.

Unlike the previous boarding actions, which had been quite aggressive, the Marines and ODSTs knew that the chances of the pirates having disruptors and other nasty weapons was quite high. As such, they were still moving in quite quickly, but they were doing so at a cautious pace. Forming up on the hangar door, one of the ODSTs turned to look at her. "Commander, can you bust a hole in this bitch?" he asked.

"Busting holes is our specialty," Palmer said. "Thorne?"

"On it!" Thorne said. "Cover me!" Once the Spartan-IVs were in position, Thorne charged towards the door, activating his armor lock just as his armor's thrusters fired. There was a loud CRASH as the durasteel door, unable to withstand several hundred kilos of Spartan-IV and MJÖLNIR Powered Armor, folded like paper mâché.

Blaster bolts immediately filled the air as the pirates fired at the Spartan-IV. The show of force had the pirates panicking, as most of their shots went wide and hit the walls, floor and ceiling instead. Those that did hit Thorne were stopped by his armor's energy shield. Even as he rolled, he snapped his MA5D up and fired single shots in rapid succession, with each bullet killing a pirate.

Behind him, the other Spartan-IVS, Marines and ODSTs opened fire, gunning down dozens of pirates that were unlucky enough to be caught in their sights. A few Marines howled as disruptor bots tore through their armor and killed them, though for each Marine that was killed, ten more pirates were slaughtered in retribution. Within a few seconds, all of the pirates that had been firing at the boarding team were terminated.

"Keep moving!" Palmer said. "Fireteam Crimson, you and I will head for the bridge while Fireteam Fenrir takes the second bridge! Fireteams Windfall and Eagle, move to engineering and take control of the ship systems! Fireteams Majestic and Colossus, work with the Marines to clear out the rest of the ship if possible. Clear out any heavy hitters that you encounter and let the Marines and ODSTs handle the rest! I'll get in contact with Cortana and ask her to help us out!"

"On it!" Thorne shouted. "Majestic, Colossus, with me!"

"Fireteams Windfall and Eagle, with me!" Malkovic shouted.

As the Spartan-IV Fireteams moved out on their assignments, Palmer keyed her COM. "Commander Palmer to Cortana. Do you read me? Over."

"I read you loud and clear," Cortana said. "What do you need me to do?"

"I need you to hack into the ship systems and disable as many of the internal defenses as possible. I also need you to send a schematic of the Venator-class Star Destroyer's interior to all Spartan-IV Fireteams, as well as all Marine and ODST fireteams. Do what you can to make our jobs easier for us."

"You got it," Cortana said. After a single second, she said, "I'm in. Sending you the schematics to the ship's interior now. I've sent all of the fireteams onboard nav-routes towards critical areas of the ship. Any areas that aren't along their paths or close to them will be vented shortly."

"Just warn the Marines so that they don't get caught off guard."

"Already on it," Cortana said. "I'll keep the pirates busy while I lock down their ship. You do your job and take it completely. Cortana over and out."

"Understood," Palmer said. "Commander Palmer out." Closing her COM link, she said. "Crimson, with me! Time to hit the bridge!" Nodding at her command, the members of Fireteam Crimson began to move towards the bridge of the ship, weapons raised as they advanced.

True enough, the path that Cortana gave them changed as she began to do what she could to make thing easier for the Marine, ODST and Spartan-IV fireteams onboard the ship. Moving past one door, Palmer thought she heard what sounded like air being vented into space. I don't feel sorry for any pirates in there, she thought. They gave up their rights when they became pirates. I'll be there's more in here along our path, though.

Her thoughts proved to be right, as when Crimson-4 peaked around a corner, blaster bolts whipped by her helmet. Ducking back around the corner, she said, "I've got four pirates around the bend. One's using a rotary weapon, likely a turret."

"Then let's give them our 'welcome to the UNSC' gift package," Crimson-1 said. "Crimson-2 and 3, deploy the Hardlight Shield and the SAW. Crimson-4, Commander Palmer, we'll provide them fire support."

"Good plan," Palmer said. Even as the words left her mouth, Crimson-3 activated the armor module installed into his MJÖLNIR. A translucent blue barrier shimmered into existence before him, with the Spartan-IV rounding the corner almost immediately. Again, blaster bolts flew through the air, though all of them were blocked by the hardlight barrier. Coming up behind him, Crimson-2 shouldered her SAW and pulled the trigger.

There was a loud RATTA-TAT-TAT as the SAW fired, spitting 7.62mm rounds at high velocity towards the pirates. Three of the pirates that were manning the rotary blaster cannon were instantly cut down, their bodies jerking and exploding as the rounds penetrated. One of the, screaming in terror, dropped his weapon. "I SURRENDER!" he shouted as he fell to the ground in his panic. "I SURRENDER! PLEASE, DON'T KILL ME! PLEASE! I'LL DO ANYTHING! ANYTHING!"

"Settle down!" Palmer shouted, her rifle aimed at the pirate. "Don't move! Keep your hands and feet where I can see them!" Sobbing in terror, the pirate complied, with Crimson-2 snapping cuffs onto his hands. Hefting the blubbering mess of a man onto his feet, Palmer said, "Where's the bridge?!"

"Up that way!" the pirate squealed, his finger shaking as he pointed down the hallway. "There's a turbolift that'll take you to the secondary command deck beneath the bridge itself! There's another turbolift there that'll take you to the bridge! P-Please don't kill me! PLEASE!"

"Relax, you're not going to be dying," Crimson-1 said, while Crimson-4 jabbed a syringe into the man's neck. The pirates sobs of terror soon turned into whimpers, then he fell silent and limp.

Setting the unconscious pirate down, Palmer said, "Cortana?"

"He was telling the truth," Cortana said. "There's a turbolift that'll take you to the secondary bridge that you're approaching now. Be advised, the pirates are setting up heavy weapon emplacements, including that rotary blaster they were setting up, the Z-6 Rotary Blaster Cannon if I'm reading this correctly."

"Enlighten us on its specs later," Palmer said. "What I want to know is, is it a threat?"

"Against Marines and ODSTs, yes. Against a Fireteam of Spartan-IVs, unlikely, though I wouldn't chance it. If you want to neutralize it, the gunner and his buddies are priority targets. Anyone with a disruptor should also be a priority target as well. Those weapons can down a Spartan-IV's shields in eight hits."

"Copy that," Palmer said. "Fireteam Crimson, with me. Time to introduce ourselves to the pirates on the secondary bridge." Nodding, Fireteam Crimson quickly took point, with Crimson-1 scanning each corner before advancing. After a couple more firefights, they reached the turbolift. "Damn, this is a tight fit," Palmer groaned as all four of them moved into the turbolift.

"Tell me about it," Crimson-2 agreed. "We're packed tighter than sardines."

"Cut the chatter," Crimson-1 said as he thumbed the button that would take them to the secondary bridge. "Commander, orders?"

Reviewing the schematics, Palmer said, "We'll be entering a series of hallways that'll lead directly to the secondary command bridge. According to Cortana, we'll be facing two E-WEB HRB emplacements and a single Z-6 RBC emplacement. Crimson-3, you've got the DMR, so your job is neutralizing the gunner and his buddies. Crimson-1 will assist you, while Crimson 4 will move in and terminate any remaining pirates. Crimson-2 and I will keep our six covered. Remember, pirates with disruptor weapons are top priority, as are those that are manning the guns. Understood?"

"Understood."

"Good," Palmer said. "Prepare to breach." The doors to the turbolift opened, revealing a room with a singe door ahead of them. As they filed out, Palmer said, "Door's sealed tight. Got a control panel and locking mechanism. Crimson-1, show's yours."

"Got it," Crimson-1 said. "Three and Four, kick in the door."

"Copy that," Crimson-3 said. Both Spartan-IVs advanced, with Crimson-3 placing an explosive charge on the door. "Stand back!" he said. Once they were all at safe distance, he said, "Breaching in 3… 2… 1… now!"

On a signal from his helmet, the single, cube-shaped block of C-10 plastic explosives detonated, tearing a hole in the door tall enough for a Spartan-IV and wide enough for three to walk through abreast. The blast was powerful enough that it disoriented the Z-6 RBC gunner that was looking at the door, throwing his aim off and causing blue-white blaster bolts to burrow into the ceiling instead. Letting his breath out, Crimson-3 fired, ending the pirate's life with a single shot to his head. His buddy tried to take over, only for his head, and his buddy's head, to explode in rapid succession.

Bursting through the hole in the door, Crimson-4 armed her M45D and began firing at any pirates that had escaped Crimson-3's DMR. One pirate leaped out of cover and fired his disruptor, only for the bolt to splash harmlessly against her energy shields. The same couldn't be said for the pirate, as a single shot from Crimson-4's shotgun blasted his chest apart, sending the pirate toppling to the ground.

Forming up on Crimson-4, the fireteam continued to advance with weapons ready. Rounding a corner, Crimson-1 was forced to duck back around the corner when red blaster bolts whipped past his head. "Got an E-WEB!" he shouted. "He's got us sighted in! We're being suppressed!"

"Stun grenades!" Palmer thundered, with everyone pulling a single cylindrical grenade out. "Throw 'em!" All five Spartan-IVs chunked the grenade around the corner. With each blast, the pirates shouted in terror and panic as their eyes were blinded and their ears deafened by the concussive reports from each grenade. Moving out of cover, Crimson-3 fired his DMR in rapid succession. Each bullet announced the end of a pirate's life

Eventually, after disabling the last E-WEB emplacement, they blew another hole into the doors for the secondary command center. More blaster bolts streaked through the air, with Palmer ducking into cover as a disruptor bolt shattered her already weakened energy shields. While she waited for them to recover, Crimson-3 activated his Hardlight Shield again and advanced outwards, while Crimson-2 and 4 both began firing their weapons. Her shields having recovered, Palmer and Crimson-1 began laying down covering fire for the two.

Within just thirty five seconds, all of the pirates on the secondary command bridge were now dead. "That was fun," Crimson-4 said. "These pirates really didn't want to give up. Hopefully the primary bridge will be easier to take."

"I'll bet it'll be harder," Crimson-3 said. "If I know these pirates, the more desperate they get, the more firepower they'll bring out to compensate. Let's get into the turbolift for the primary bridge."

"Wait one," Palmer said. Keying her COM, she said, "Spartan Fireteams, SITREP?"

"Fireteam Majestic here," Thorne said, the sound of blaster fire audible over the COM link. "We've made good progress into the ship. We're currently clearing out the crew quarters, and it's getting hairy over here. We've lost a few Marines and ODSTs to disruptor weapons and heavy blaster emplacements. Fireteam Colossus is moving to support us, but beyond the occasional heavy area, we should be good to go."

"Understood. Fireteam Windfall, do you read me?"

"I read you," Malcovik said. "We just cleared out the engineering bay. We got lucky. The pirates were trying to set off the self-destruct sequence. Most of them surrendered and reversed their progress once we killed the bigshots. Fireteam Eagle helped us get past some of the heavier emplacements down here. We'll have control of ship systems before long."

"Good. Fireteam Fenrir?"

"Just cleared the secondary bridge" Fenrir-1 said, his Nordic accented voice thick and heavy. "We'll be heading to the primary bridge on our side of the ship in a moment. Gotta hand it to these pirates. They fight like draugr when they're desperate. We're ready on your go."

"Understood," Palmer said. Moving towards the turbolift, they made certain the cab was cleared before they entered. "Hitting primary bridge one now," she said.

Once they all reached the primary bridge level, they continued to advance. As they did so, Palmer rounded a corner to see a short, squat human being looking at her with an expression of unadulterated hate. Roaring loudly, the human fired at Z-6 RBC at her, forcing her back into cover. "YOU'LL NEVER TAKE MY CAPTAIN ALIVE!" he roared. "I'LL KILL YOU ALL! I -" He never got the chance to say more, as a 12.7mm bullet ended his life then and there.

"Got 'im," Crimson-2 said. "Looks like the bridge is up ahead. Expect heavy resistance."

"Copy that," Crimson-1 said. "Commander, your show now."

"Stack up on the door," Palmer said. Once they had all done so, Palmer placed a C-10 explosive charge on the door. Taking cover with the others, she detonated it, causing the door to fold inward like paper mâché. As soon as it had done so, blaster fire rang out, with a single disruptor bolt flying through.

Breaching into the room, Palmer and the others fired at the bridge officers, all of whom had decided to go down fighting. At the same time their leader, a man with graying hair and brown eyes, fired at them. "DIE! DIE! DIE!" he roared, firing his disruptor pistols at them. "ALL OF YOU, DIE!"

Ducking underneath some of the shots, Palmer shot the man's wrist, causing him to drop one of his two disruptor pistols, before causing the man to drop when his kneecaps exploded. Before long, all of the other pirates had been slaughtered. Hefting the pirate onto his feet, she said, "Well, well, well. What have we here? Looks like we've got a pirate motherfucker, boys."

Hajir snarled, before lashing out with his right fist. Palmer didn't even flinch as the man's fist impacted her helmet, while a loud CRACK rang out as the man's wrist shattered like glass. "Damn you!" he snarled. "It was going to be an easy raid, but then you UNSC assholes had to ruin it all! I -"

"Shut up," Palmer growled, before butting the man's forehead with her armored head. Hajir immediately blacked out, with the man's body slumping in Palmer's arms. Setting him down into one of the chairs in the room, she said, "All targets down. Good work. Fireteam Fenrir?"

"Just finished taking this bridge," came Fenrir-1's voice. "Looks like it's just for navigation. I think you got the actual command bridge."

"Indeed." Switching COM frequencies, Palmer said, "All fireteams, this is Commander Palmer. We've taken the bridge of the ship." Pulling the code cylinder off of Hajir's body, Palmer slotted it into one of the holes, then worked with Cortana to activate the intercom. "All hands, this is Commander Palmer of the UNSC speaking. We have taken the bridge of your ship, and our forces are currently moving in to neutralize any remaining resistance. Surrender, and your lives will be spared, and you will be treated in accordance with maritime law. Resist, and you will be terminated with extreme prejudice. This is your final warning." She closed the intercom and waited.

She didn't have to wait long. "Commander Palmer," Thorne said. "Thorne here. The remaining pirates have just started dropping their weapons and surrendering to us. Looks like they realized that they've been beaten."

"That they have," Palmer said. Keying her COM, she said, "Cortana, when the battle is over, inform the CAA Marshals that they have a lot of pirates to start arresting."

"Solid copy," Cortana said. "Also, there's no need to wait. RADM Lasky and Fleet Admiral Harper have just eliminated the remaining vessels that were firing on us. The battle is ours!"

"That's good news," Palmer said. "I'll be certain to tell the boys the good news. Commander Palmer out, over."

"Be certain to do so. Cortana over and out."

. . .

A few hours later, Lasky was finishing up some of the paperwork that had come about as a result of the battle, while also reviewing the AAR. Textbook planetary defense mission, he noted. The pirates had no idea that we'd come here in force. Twenty military warships? That's not nearly enough to take on the fleet we have here.

Still, the battle wasn't without its casualties. According to the AAR from Commander Palmer's mission, around eighty Marines and twenty ODSTs had been killed by the pirates, while another hundred and twenty Marines and forty ODSTs had been injured. Thankfully, no Spartan-IVs had been killed in the boarding of the Spoils of Commerce. Similar reports from the other ships that were boarded indicated the same thing: disruptors were the primary cause of death among UNSC forces, though the pirates had suffered severe casualties.

He was about to continue when his COM unit chimed. "Yes?" he said.

"Sir, Chief Marshal Alan Knox would like to speak with you, sir."

"Send him in," Lasky said. Looking up, he spotted a tall, muscular man with black hair, tanned skin, dark blue eyes and an equally black beard. A massive human being, Alan Knox looked more like a bodybuilder than a CAA Chief Marshal, but the intelligence in his eyes gave it away. "Marshal Knox," Lasky said. "Anything I can do for you?"

"Just wanted to deliver a progress report in person," Knox said, his voice unusually high pitched for a man of his size. "We've secured all of the pirates and are moving them towards one of the penitentiaries that's been set up. Cleese has also informed me that the Pantorans have agreed to house some of the pirates. Riyo even stated that they have an obligation to do so, given that the UNSC did most of the work protecting Pantora. Hell, they didn't even get past the defense fleet."

Lasky smiled. "Good to know that we're making a good impression on the Pantorans there. The fact that the pirates didn't even get anywhere near Pantora will definitely make negotiations easier further down the road. I'm certain you guys are having a field day."

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you, sir. Most of the pirates are so badly scared, they're literally begging to go to prison if only to avoid the Spartan IVs and ODSTs. Most, though, don't want to be anywhere near whatever they thought destroyed their biggest ship. I guess the ODP made a bigger impression on them than we thought."

"Indeed," Lasky said. He was about to speak when the COM unit on his desk beeped. Keying it, he said, "Yes?"

"Dr. Halsey is wishing to speak with you, sir," Captain Annette said. "She says that she's got something for you to see."

Looks like she and Gerald managed to get the memory drive working, Lasky thought. "All right," he said. "I'll be down there shortly." Closing the COM-link, he said, "We'll have to discuss this at another time. Talk to you later?"

"Sure," Knox said. "I was fixing to head out anyways. Just wanted to deliver the report and head out. See you later, sir."

"You too," Lasky said…

Striding through the doors and into Halsey's lab, Lasky found that the entire place was littered from top to bottom with all kinds of what looked like junk. Numerous people were in the lab, each one quietly talking to each other or making notes as they studied said junk. Dr. Halsey was quick to spot him, as she came over and said, "Lasky. I've been expecting you."

"Same here," Lasky said. Looking around at the stuff in the lab, he asked, "What's going on here?"

"The pirate raid, combined with what the ONI teams recovered from Lotho Minor, meant that I had enough things to study that I needed extra bodies and minds," Halsey said. "Borodin and a few other engineers were kind enough to lend some of their people to assist me in my work. As for what I called you down here for, I only needed Gerald, and he has proven to be extremely useful." At another table, Gerald smiled and waved at Lasky.

"Hi, boss!" he said with a smile. "Halsey gave me a real challenge over here. I don't think I've been so intellectually stimulated in my entire life."

Walking over to the table, Lasky spotted the data drive. It was small, roughly half the size of a Hard Disk Drive that he'd seen at a museum devoted to computer technology. The memory drive was currently in a partially disassembled state, with large sections having remnants of a reddish-brown muck that had long since been removed. There was also carbon scoring and some areas that appeared melted, likely due to electrical damage. "So, what are we looking at?" he asked.

"We're looking at the memory drive of a T3 series astromech droid," Gerald said.

"I thought we didn't know what the droid model was," Lasky said. "What changed?"

"The HoloNet," Halsey said. "Ever since we reverse-engineered the HoloCOM technology that is ubiquitous in the Andromeda Galaxy, we've been accessing the HoloNet to find out more about the technology of this galaxy and any events that happened before our arrival. Gerald, here, managed to find out the model of the droid, which he states was outmoded nearly four thousand years ago."

Lasky cocked an eyebrow. "This robot's memory drive lasted this long?"

"Yep," Gerald said. "Say what you will about the Old Republic, but they certainly knew how to build things to last. The same, sadly, can't be said for the data on the drive. We only managed to recover a single image from the memory drive. The rest is so old that time has corrupted it beyond repair. Mind if I show you the image we recovered?"

"Sure."

"All right. Here we go." Hitting a series of keys on a computer, Gerald pulled the image in question up. The image in question was that of a woman that was wearing what looked like a uniform of some kind. The woman hair was brown, while her skin was tanned from years of travel and exposure to UV radiation. Her gray-blue eyes were clearly visible, as was the smile on her face. Her bown hair was tied up in a bun, though some was allowed to hang freely. Judging by the image, the woman was likely in her late twenties to early thirties. In her arms was a young child that was around three years old, with dark brown hair, similarly colored eyes and pale skin.

As soon as he saw the image, Lasky immediately noticed how beautiful the woman looked. Damn, part of his mind said. Now that's one pretty lady. I wouldn't mind bunking up with her any day of the week. Another part of him was instantly reminded of a young woman he once knew. She reminds me of Chyler, he thought as he looked at the image. For a brief moment, he could see himself and her in the photo with a child. He also thought over how no woman had any interest in him due to his career in the military.

Halsey, who was watching Lasky, smiled. I know what a man looks like when he's in love, he thought. Looks like Lasky might've become smitten by that woman's looks.

Shaking away the mental image, Lasky asked, "Is this all you could find?"

"Yep," Gerald said. "All the other data on the drive is corrupted beyond repair."

"Any idea who the woman is?"

"No," Gerald said. "We couldn't find any identifying information. Why?"

"Just curious is all," Lasky said. He knew it was a half-truth, but until he could figure out why he was so smitten with her, he wasn't willing to elaborate. "I'll have ONI find out who the woman in question is. Who knows, she might be someone important."

"Good idea," Gerald said. "I'll stay here and help out with any other data drives that we find."

"Very good. Before I go, I would like to speak with you personally, Dr. Halsey."

"Sure," Halsey said. "We can talk in my adjoining quarters." With a nod, Lasky followed her into the room and closed the doort\. "What is it?" she asked. "Did you find out what happened to Jyn? When she didn't call in for work, I was worried."

"Yes," Lasky said. "We found out what happened to her. I wish I could break it to you in a more polite manner, but... Jyn's been abducted by a crime lord."

Hearing those words, Halsey's complexion paled. Reaching behind her, she sat down in her chair. "I see," She said, her calm voice masking the emotional turmoil she was feeling. "How did it happen? Who captured her?"

"One Geotor Locvir," Lasky said. "Apparently, Jyn made him angry in the past, so he forced one of the workers at a bar called the Pantora Shantyhouse to make her drinks stronger than normal. When she and her escort were coming back to base, three of Geotor's goons knocked them out and took Jyn with her."

Halsey frowned. "That reminds me of how I was abducted." Looking at Lasky, she said, "Get her back, please. She doesn't deserve what happened to her."

"I will," Lasky said. "Do you know why she was captured?"

"Yes. She was forced to forge documents for a group of slavers in the past. When she got the chance, she incapacitated the slavers and told the slaves that they were free to go wherever they wanted. One of them killed the slavers by spacing them."

"So Geotor is going after Jyn because she ruined some of his profits?" Lasky asked.

"It would seem so," Halsey said.

"I see." Moving towards the door, Lasky said, "I'll let you know when we've found her. I owe you that much at least. We'll get her back."

"Thank you, Lasky," Halsey said. "Also, when you find Geotor, I would like to have a word with him on the ethics of his actions."

Lasky shivered. Halsey was calm, but the rage in her words was unmistakable. "As long as you don't kill him, you can have whatever discussion you like with him, once we've brought him in for his crimes." With that, Lasky stepped out, leaving Halsey to her thoughts.

. . .

In another part of the galaxy, another Admiral was hard at work laying the foundation for his plan. Moving through the hallways of his Star Destroyer, Vice Admiral Teron glanced around the edges of his vision to make certain that all was as it should be. When he was certain it was, he entered the Officer's Mess.

The Officer's Mess was a small room on the Star Destroyer where the highest ranking officers on the ship would gather to have their meals. Roughly the size of a small bar, the Mess had a single large table where the officers in question would have their meals at. Most of the time, naval traditions demanded that the CO of a ship never go into this room unless invited by his officers, or in the event that a fight broke out.

In this case, Teron had been invited, with the Vice Admiral quickly moving inside. A few of the officers there were talking quietly to each other. Looking at each of them, he recognized all of them from their faces. Here they are, he thought. My brave cadre of loyal officers, men that I would trust my life with. Sitting down, he asked, "Is everyone gathered?"

"Yes," his XO, Turon, said. "Everyone involved in the plan is here."

"Good, then it is about time that we finalize the details of this plan." Clearing his throat, he asked, "Is the Chief Engineer onboard with the plan?"

"Yes," Turon said. "Caldus and I personally spoke with him. In a few weeks, we'll have enough droids stowed away that he'll be able to keep all systems operating as normal. He's also prepared to initiate the 'emergency' that we chose for this occasion."

"Good. What of the Chief Medical Officer?"

"He is not aware," Caldus, the ship's Navigation Officer, said. "His ties with the Imperials is far too strong for us to consider him. We were, however, able to convince Tekor to aid us in this endeavor." Looking at Tekor, a young Human male with blond hair, green eyes and freckles on his cheeks, he asked, "Have you?"

"Yes," Tekor said, a hint of nervousness in his voice. "I've convinced the Fire Control Officer to come over to our side. The Master-At-Arms is also with us."

"Excellent," Teron said. "As for me, I was able to find a suitable location at which we will initiate the 'emergency.' Once we've reached the Tatooine System, we will initiate the 'emergency' and encourage the crew to get off the ship as quickly as possible. We'll use the ruse of a hyperspace jump to make them believe we're moving the ship far away enough to protect them from the blast. Once that is done, we will redirect to the Pantora System, where we will meet with the outsiders and defect to them. Understood?"

"Yes, sir," the others said. "We'll make sure that the plan is pulled off expertly."

"Good," Teron said. "Remember: failure is not an option. A horrid fate awaits us if we fail to make the 'emergency' convincing. Put on your best act, but do not get caught up in it. The last thing we want is to blow it completely. Understood?"

"Yes, sir," the others said.

"Very good. Return to your posts when you can. Dismissed." As they filed out of the Officer's Mess, Teron looked at the stars out the viewport. Soon, he thought. Soon, we shall abandon the sinking ship that is the Galactic Empire. I will not be party to the atrocities and crimes that they have committed. I only hope that the UNSC is gracious enough to allow us to defect to them.