Hello everyone, I am IX404 and welcome to the first of a series of short stories that I will be posting for my crossover Halo: Odyssey of The Infinity.

During my writing, I found that there were a number of holes in the plot that needed to be filled. To accomplish this, I will be writing a series of short stories that will explain some of the 'in-between' events for each of the chapters. As such, these short stories are intended to be read alongside the main story, that way you get a much richer storytelling experience and learn a few things while you're at it.

Either way, I hope you enjoy these short stories and main crossover. It is a joy to be writing a crossover and the short stories for two storied and rich franchises.

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.

UNSC Infinity

En Route To Yavin IV

April 12th, 0BBY, 9:40AM (October 27th, 2558, 9:40AM)

As she walked into the lab, Jyn reaized that, of all the things she had imagined, working with an elderly scientist that was far more intelligent than she was wasn't one of the things she had imagined happening to her. If Lasky's words are true, then Halsey knows more about a great many things than I will ever know, she thought. In a way, her earlier beliefs about Halsey being a more human version of Krennic was closer to the mark than she had initially thought.

That very much became clear even as they walked over to one of the holotables in the room. "Cortana, could you pull up the schematics for the Death Star, please?" Halsey asked. "I would like to get started on my assignment, Project STARDUST, sooner rather than later."

"Of course," Cortana said, her hologram flashing into existence. A moment later, a holographic image of the Death Star came up in the room, with each detail to scale. "One schematic ready for viewing. I have to admit, the Death Star is a marvel of engineering, for all the wrong reasons."

"Indeed," Halsey said.

Jyn, seeing the hologram, waved a hand through it curiously. To her surprise, the hologram moved when it touched her hand. "Curious, aren't we?" Halsey asked.

"Y-yes," Jyn said. "We've never had holograms that were this good in terms of detail, nor could move around like this. Is this commonplace where you're from?"

"Not always," Halsey said. "Most holographic systems where I am from are more like yours, only with greater quality. The Infinity, however, is equipped with state-of-the-art technology."

"I see," Jyn noted. She still found it odd looking at Cortana, though she had to admit, Cortana did look quite good. "That's what you look like?"

"Yep," Cortana said.

"Well... you look good."

Cortana smiled. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," Jyn said. Looking at the hologram, she asked, "Cortana, can you bring up the interior schematic of the Death Star? I need to show Halsey the weakness my father built into the reactor design." There was a pause, then the schematic changed, showing an internal view of the Death Star itself. Pointing at the reactor module, Jyn said, "According to my father, he built a weakness into the Death Star's design in this part of the reactor. A single explosion here will be enough to cause catastrophic damage to the reactor and blow the station apart."

"Interesting," Halsey noted. "Cortana, should the Death Star's reactor blow, how powerful will the detonation be?"

"Very," Cortana said. "The Death Star's reactor uses hypermatter annihilation to power the entire station. It's a form of tachyonic matter that, when in real space, annihilates as it approaches infinite speed. Starships and large battle stations use it for power generation, but the current design is very inefficient. It's also very unstable, meaning that if the fusion containment malfunctions, no more starship."

"And the yield if this reactor were to blow?" Halsey asked.

"I'd estimate the yield to be around that of a NOVA Bomb. Most of the blast, though, will be absorbed in destroying the station, though it'll still be powerful enough to reduce the entire space station to small pieces of debris, while anything closer to the reactor will be free floating atoms and molecules. Needless to say, you don't want to be on the station when it blows."

That had Halsey's attention. A station that has a NOVA bomb inside, waiting to detonate, she mused. How very poetic. "Interesting," she said. "Anything else on the flaw that Galen Erso built into the Death Star?"

"Yeah," Cortana said. "I found this tiny little detail, which he no doubt built in." Pulling up a section of the Death Star, she said, "Question, Jyn. What is this?" She highlighted a section of the schematics moments later.

Looking at it, Jyn said, "It looks like a thermal exhaust port. They're used quite frequently on battlestations and starships in order to…" Her eyes widened as she realized what Cortana was getting at. "Wait a minute… Are you telling me that this thermal exhaust port goes all the way to the reactor core itself?"

"Yep," Cortana said. "I noticed it when I was doing a scan of the schematics itself. Apparently, your father designed it in a way that, if a starfighter were to fly down one of the trenches of the Death Star, it could fire a missile down into the reactor module. Thanks to the design, the reactor module is highly sensitive to outside forces. If a missile of a certain explosive type were to detonate down here…"

"It would trigger a cascade reaction that would destroy the entire Death Star," Halsey finished. "My, my, Jyn. Your father was nothing short of a genius when it came to building a flaw in the Death Star's design itself. I'm surprised that Krennic didn't spot the error during its construction."

"My father was a very careful person," Jyn said. "According to him, he had to learn how to lie, and lie well, in order to get this far. He made himself indispensable to Krennick in order to build the flaw into the design of the Death Star."

"He learned quite well, then," Halsey said. "Tell me, is your father still around? His expertise would be quite useful."

Jyn's expression darkened at that. "No," she said, her eyes tearing up. "He… he died before I could rescue him from one of the Empire's facilities. I… I held him in my arms, even as he died. I…I also lost my mother at Lah'mu when Krennic killed her" She turned away, trying to hide tears.

"I'm sorry," Halsey said sympathetically. "I know what it is like to lose loved ones. I might not show it, but the pain of that day has always stayed with me."

"Who was he, or she?" Jyn asked.

Halsey's eyes took on a softer expression as memories of the past traveled through her mind. "Her name was Miranda, Miranda Keyes." Seeing Jyn's expression, she said, "Yes, Jyn. As strange as it may seem, this old woman loved and loved once upon a time. The relationship was doomed from the start, but despite not getting to know her that well, I am proud of the woman my daughter became. I also lost my former lover, Captain Jacob Keyes, during the war as well."

"What happened to her?" Jyn asked.

"She was killed during the final days of the Covenant-Human War, by one of their leaders no less. She died in the line of duty, doing what she did best: protecting Earth and all of her colonies. Jacob, her father, died in a similar manner as well." The room was silent for a full minute before Halsey continued speaking. "Now, let's move on. I do not want to dwell in the past any more than I need to."

"Agreed," Jyn said. "If we've already figured out the Death Star's weakness, shouldn't we tell Captain Lasky?"

"Yes," Halsey said, "In due time. First, however, we must find a way to destroy the Death Star should that path prove to be unusable. Cortana, what is the hull of the Death Star constructed from?"

"According to the schematics, it's made out of Quandanium Steel," Cortana said. "No exact information yet, but all indications say that it's a very durable substance, especially if they chose to build the Death Star's hull from the material. It's very likely their version of Titanium-A armor."

"Indeed," Halsey noted. "That means that conventional explosives, given the thickness of the station's outer hull, are out of the question entirely. What we will need is something more… nuclear. Jyn, do nuclear weapons exist in this galaxy?"

"Yes," Jyn said after a moment of silence. "The Mandalorians used them thousands of years ago. The Empire used them as well, but they're considered barbaric to use, not that the Empire cares of course."

"I see. In that case, the Empire has a lot to learn from us, especially when it comes to the design of nuclear weaponry." Bringing up the hologram of a football shaped device, she said, "That, Jyn, is a 1:1 scale image of a HAVOK Pure Fusion Nuclear Device. Just one of those has a yield of thirty megatons of TNT. The recent war has also led to research into creating Casaba-Howitzer variants of these weapons, which are nuclear shaped charges designed to punch through the hulls of ships."

Jyn shivered at that information. To see for herself a weapon that was capable of punching through a ship was more than enough to unsettle her. "Is that the most powerful you have?"

"No," Halsey said. "The SHIVA is more powerful in terms of yield, and it's used for anti-ship purposes. As far as I can tell, though, given the design of the Death Star, we will need something akin to a NOVA Bomb to destroy it."

"NOVA Bomb?"

"An extremely high yield nuclear weapon," Halsey explained. "Designed by the late Vice Admiral Whitcomb, the NOVA Bomb is composed of nine nuclear fusion warheads that are encased in lithium triteride armor. When detonated, the resulting blast compresses the fissionable material inside of the device to neutron-star densities, boosting the yield a hundredfold. The blast is powerful enough to overwhelm a planet's gravity and disrupt its internal structure, turning it into a cloud of debris and killing every living thing on the planet, if there is any. I found out that such a case happened at Glyke, a former Covenant colony."

Those words filled Jyn with shock. "How large is the NOVA Bomb?"

"Small enough that the Infinity could carry a stockpile of them if desired," Halsey said. "It's about as large as a semi-truck's trailer."

Those words filled Jyn with an indescribable terror, one that nearly reached the surface. If the Death Star was akin to a planet-destroying hammer, then the NOVA Bomb was akin to a planet destroying scalpel. Both had the same effect, but went about it in very different ways. Looking at Halsey, she asked, "Why would your UNSC design such a weapon?"

"When desperate men have power, they do desperate things," Halsey said. "We were losing the war, and we needed every little piece of hardware that we could design in order to achieve victory. The NOVA Bomb was to be used as a last resort, to not only win naval engagements, but to also destroy the Covenant's homeworld if it was deemed necessary. Remember, Jyn, when faced with extinction or slavery, any alternative is preferable."

Jyn shuddered. Memories of when she had been forced to work for a slaver ring by a crime lord she owed in order to forge documents for them. She also remembered when she was captured by the Empire and sent to a labor camp, giving her a taste of what things might've been like for the UNSC if they had surrendered, rather than fight on to the bitter end. "I see…" she said hesitantly. "I take it that is the last option in case things go wrong?"

"Yes," Halsey said. "If no other methods work, then the only way to destroy the Death Star will be to use a NOVA Bomb. The blast will vaporize the entire battlestation, but it will also cause major collateral damage. Any planets nearby will suffer 300 kilometer an hour winds on the affected side, while also scorching a fourth of the planet's surface. Any orbiting bodies nearby will also be shattered as well. Needless to say, you do not want to be within the lethal blast radius when it detonates, which is why we are going to be looking for alternative ways to destroy the Death Star without having to resort to such blunt methods."

Jyn nodded. It now made sense as to what they were doing: looking for a way to destroy the Death Star without using the thermal exhaust port, or a giant bomb capable of destroying planets. That, she knew, was going to be a challenge, especially given how the Death Star was designed. "Well, if there are any alternatives, I'll do what I can to help you find them."

"Good," Halsey said. "I have a feeling that we will be close friends by the time we've succeeded."

"Yeah," Jyn said with some sarcasm. "Friendship. I forgot what that feels like."