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Chapter 4
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Part 1
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3 AIF (After Imperial Founding)/
14.08.2552 UNSC Military Calendar/
Senate building
Reach
Milky Way Galaxy
Soon after leaving the hospital room, Six's guards led him through a long, curved corridor with tall windows showing Reach's setting sun. The plains and mountains nearby were familiar. It wasn't hard to recognize them from the extensive briefings the Spartan saw on the Covenant covert deployment of ground forces and FOBs from the Super Carrier he just attempted to blow up.
There was no trace of said enemy bases. Not only that, they were pretty high above what should have been a clear plain as far as the eye could see. The more Six saw the more it seemed that his hosts weren't bullshiting him as incredible as it was.
The real clinch was the presence of various aliens he had never seen who paid him no attention. Instead, they were too busy running around like chickens with their heads cut while soldiers tried to corral them to presumed safe rooms. It was either that, or they were arguing among themselves, humans wearing decidedly odd and impractical, not to mention strangely colored clothes.
Six saw men and women with tentacles on their heads like that supposed doctor in the med bay. Others looked like humans but lacked hair. Instead, they had bone spikes growing from various places on their skulls. Perhaps those were cosmetic mods. They had to be, right?
Among the new aliens were angry green reptilians that didn't look anything like the Covenant ones were something else. Then there was the cross between a walking carpet and an angry gorilla busy roaring at a squad of soldiers. One huge trooper, which Six would have mistaken for a Spartan if he didn't know better, roared back before removing his helmet. Doing so revealed a shaved mane of brown fur and a mouth full of pearly-white sharp teeth. The alien wearing the same kind of armor as Six's escort, kept roaring back at the taller but lankier member of their species.
The Spartan did his best to memorize everything he saw because if he lived through this, Six knew ONI and High Command would want and need every scrap of information he could provide. The odds of this being a hoax or a Covenant trick rapidly dropped to zero. Instead of relief, Six felt apprehension. Unwittingly he found himself in something big that might decide the future of the UNSC. The Spartan felt out of his depth.
There should have been diplomats here in his boots! An Admiral or General, someone who could talk with people and make deals!
His escort brought Six to a nearby elevator, which looked plain and regular. All the alien symbols present were radically different from the Covenant script and architecture he knew of, which was, of course, a relief.
After a brief journey without any perceivable acceleration or deceleration, the doors opened, bringing them into another curved corridor. There were more soldiers here. They were either setting up defensive positions and heavy weapons or jogging toward their destinations. Here and there, he could see a trooper without a helmet. Some of them were human, and there was no mistaking it. There were clones in their number. The template was a dark-skinned, black-haired man.
The presence of clones in these people's military had all kinds of implications. However, Six wasn't in a position to speculate without more information. Doing so would mean assumptions, and right now, avoiding more of those might be prudent.
There were more aliens, too – dark blue skin, large foreheads, solid gold or yellow eyes, and no hair. Another was an insectoid with big black eyes and a long mouth that resembled a kind of mammal from Earth Six couldn't quite recall the name of it. They all bantered in what sounded like different languages to the Spartan's ears.
Shortly before they reached their destination, a shadow obscured the setting sun. Six looked through the windows, seeing rapidly growing forms descending through the atmosphere. Covenant, damn them. Only now could he see that there was a slipspace portal active above the building. There were shadows in the sky moving toward it, while if he was right, others were descending to surround the building.
Six's escort halted near a simple door. No different from many, they walked past. However, this one had a large security detachment waiting outside. It slid open silently, and a new group of aliens walked out, speaking in bubbling voices and waving around long webbed fingers. Their heads were unnaturally shaped, and they had big aquatic eyes. They all wore the same dark green uniform, though their insignia differed.
"This way! Master Kenobi will speak with you now!" The golden droid shuffled past the security detail and entered the open room.
The escort's leader pointed at the door and nodded at Six, who shrugged and walked inside.
The Spartan entered a comfortingly ordinary-looking conference room. It had more holograms than screens, but that was the only thing that really stood out. There were three humans of note inside, while a heavy security detail did its best to melt with the walls – which was a challenging task considering the bulky power armor they wore.
Six noted that outside of the hospital room's lights, this Kenobi character looked a bit younger, and his hair was auburn instead of blond. He also appeared more worried instead of the easy-going persona he had on display during their first brief meeting. The other two people of note were both human. The clones also looked at least a decade older than the ones Six saw in the corridors. Their hair was in a short military cut, hiding different fading scars. The one with more colorful armor looked like he had a run-in with something that had nasty claws that tried to pry his skull open. The other had ran afoul of splashing molten metal, likely in combat.
The Kenobi character looked away from a holographic representation of a mushroom-shaped building, presumably the one they were in. Dozens of sectors glowed green, others blue and red. He exchanged words with C-3PO, and the droid stood beside the bearded man.
"Emperor Kenobi officially welcomes you to the Federated Empire, in general, and the Imperial Senate, in particular. He regrets informing you that you could have chosen a better time to visit. It appears that we are about to be invaded," The droid's inflection and accent were a bit off. Nevertheless, Six had no trouble understanding it.
Kenobi waved a hand, and a holographic screen opened over the conference table, showing a camera feed of descending Covenant cruisers.
"Are they friends of yours?" C-3PO translated.
"Covenant. It looks like CSS battle cruisers, the mainstay of their fleets with escorts," Six grimaced when the hologram zoomed out and updated.
Now it displayed the building, a giant sphere that was the slipspace portal, and multiple incoming Covenant ships. At least two squadrons were in direct intercept course with the anomaly, while twelve ships were moving to surround the building. There were other symbols above the building as well – two large ones, possibly small friendly ships, and what was likely fighter squadrons on patrol.
"They aren't friends, no. We have been at war with them for thirty years now," Six said.
"So far, we've been unable to contact them or anyone else in this corner of the galaxy. Can we talk with them?" The so-called Emperor demanded.
"Their only message after first contact was that our death is the will of their gods," The Spartan explained. "Your alien friends might be all right unless the Covenant decides they are guilty by association. However, if you are as human as I am, they will want you and everyone like you dead."
After the droid translated Six's words, Kenobi and the two clones looked at each other and talked briefly. Judging by the tone of their conversation, they didn't sound happy. Well, no surprise there.
"We need tactical information on this Covenant. What are we looking at? What can those ships deploy if they decide to go for a ground assault instead of try and burn us from orbit?" Kenobi wanted to know.
"From what we know, at full staffing, one of those cruisers should carry up to two thousand five hundred warriors available for deployment. They'll have a large assortment of ground and air assets, including up to ten drop ships for deployment and rapid mobility. Each should carry around thirty Seraph fighters, large numbers of tanks, scouts vehicles, and Banshee attack craft. The latter is slow but highly maneuverable," Six explained. "They can deploy parts of the crew as soldiers if needed. So at least a thousand warm bodies per ship."
"That's at least twelve to one odds disregarding the ships and all the vehicles. Tall odds," One of the clones spoke to the Spartan. "Can we expect help from your people?"
That was one of the questions Six didn't know how to answer. He was in no position to commit the UNSC to anything, no matter the possible payout. Realistically…
"There was a major fleet battle couple of days ago. Since then, the enemy has received significant reinforcements. Any surviving UNSC fleet elements would have pulled under cover of the planetary defense cannons. It is doubtful the navy has the strength in the system to punch through what the Covenant has between them and us. That is regardless of the fact that I am unsure how to contact command."
Kenobi spoke to the leader of the security detail, who barked an order. A soldier entered the room carrying Six's helmet.
"Can you call your people? We can use any help we can get. Once the Senate is secure, we can discuss our mutual Covenant problem." Kenobi suggested.
Six glanced at the images of the approaching Covenant ships. He knew the strategic situation. Now that the enemy knew where Reach was, it was only a matter of time before the planet fell. After that, Earth had no more than a year before an inevitable military collapse. That was only if the Covenant didn't find Earth first. There was too much military and civilian
industry concentrated at Epsilon Eridiani. It was one of the oldest and most developed colonies Earth had. And Reach was the beating heart of the UNSC. Without it…
The Spartan grabbed the offered helmet and quickly put it on. It locked in, and he waited a few moments until the armor systems initialized. His HUD came online, and he switched on the radio, boosting the signal as much as possible.
"This is Spartan-B312, Call-sign Noble Six, calling any UNSC forces. Identification…." He quickly recited the last code words. The rest was up to the keys used by his armor's communication system to tell UNSC operators who was supposedly trying to contact them.
Unsurprisingly, there were no civilian networks to be found in this area. As far as the military ones… Satellite uplink was a no-go. The Covenant would have swept the orbitals for satellites. Any ONI bird still in place would be stealthy as all hell and wouldn't be talking. He obviously didn't have a ground line to use.
The radio hissed and spluttered, trying and failing to reach anyone. If there were friendly forces anywhere close, they were just beyond the edge of what his comm system could reach, especially with all the likely jamming the Covenant was throwing around.
"Contact is a no-go," Six admitted.
Kenobi nodded. "Tell Cody here how to kill the Covenant," After that, he began issuing distinct orders that C-3PO didn't bother translating.
Teaching people how to kill Covies? That much Six could absolutely do. It would be a pleasure to do so.
Just as he was explaining to the clones what to expect, he saw one of the small friendly ship symbols rapidly move away from the building and race towards the portal ahead of the fast-approaching Covenant cruisers.
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Part 2
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3 AIF (After Imperial Founding)/
14.08.2552 UNSC Military Calendar/
Senate building
Reach
Milky Way Galaxy
Six kept answering questions about the Covenant while keeping an eye on the updating holograms. At least twelve Covenant cruisers were just about to enter the portal, surrounded by twice their number of frigates. Another dozen of the damn things were taking positions, forming a large perimeter around the building. They were already deploying troops to the plain using their combat transports. At the same time, Seraph squadrons and Banshees swarmed out, heading for them. He noted that the friendly fighters remained flying close to the building, just as the small ships didn't move.
Kenobi was speaking into a comm built into the bulkier left vambrace of his armor.
Wtaith tanks and viper troop transports began forming up below the descending cruisers. Groups of Elites, Brutes, Jackals, and hordes of Grunts took shape as the transports made beelines to their mother ships to pick up more and more troops for deployment. Soon enough, there were close to thirty thousand Covenant soldiers surrounding the Senate building.
"Any attempt to contact the Covenant has failed. If they can hear us, they refuse to talk," C-3PO translated for the Emperor. He nodded at the clones and picked up a helmet that had been out of sight on a nearby chair. The other two humans did the same. "The Emperor will appreciate it if you join him and act as a tactical advisor for the coming battle."
Six could only nod. The Spartan itched to get his hands on a gun. However, he doubted his hosts would trust him around such a VIP with a weapon. He knew he wouldn't if he were in their shoes.
After they left the conference room, more and more heavily armored soldiers fell in step behind them. Judging by what he could hear from their marching feet, Six decided that a company worth of power-armored infantry formed up with them. Was this Emperor crazy enough to lead from the front, or was this simply his regular security detail?
The lighting dimmed. Flashes of light caught Six's eye. He looked through the window to see pulse lasers lashing from the Covenant cruisers toward the friendly fighters above. The attacks all splashed over a shield that was until now invisible from the inside. More and more pulse lasers struck, to no apparent effect. Seraph squadrons and waves of Banshees followed, obviously coming to test the defenses. Six could see dozens, then hundreds of missiles rise from the building and streak towards the incoming Covenant fliers, followed by pulses of energy fire. Thicker energy bolts and larger missiles came from above the building and headed from the assembling Covenant troops. The small ship above them had teeth and was more than eager to use them, it seemed.
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Flag Bridge
FE Command Cruiser Coruscant's Shield
high orbit above Coruscant
Coruscant system
Corcusca Galaxy
Data streams from the battle below flowed into tactical computers to be streamlined into a useful picture. Holographic screens and projections continuously updated with new data. They displayed casualty figures, ground forces' progress, and the presumed status of the enemy super-capital, among other things.
Tactical coordinators were busy across the fleet, keeping a semblance of order between the units deployed from over twenty military installations across Coruscant and coordinating their efforts with the force the fleet dropped from orbit.
That damned enemy ship was extremely tough. Its incredible size meant that it could take an unfathomable amount of damage. Enough proton torpedoes and concussion missiles struck it to kill any known super capital in service outright. Instead, while crippled, the damned thing wasn't yet properly mission killed. It kept lashing with capital weaponry either at the fleet in orbit or the swarming small craft. The collateral damage across Galactic City was extensive and growing by the minute. That ship blowing up didn't bear thinking about. Because of that, the plan was to neutralize its weapon systems and board it, hopefully taking control of its reactor spaces to prevent self-destruction if the enemy was insane enough to blow it up themselves that close to the surface. In that case, the only thing that would keep many in the hemisphere alive would be theater shields… if the resulting explosion failed to crack Coruscant. The worst-case scenario was the loss of the planet with trillions of casualties.
That was the primary reason the fleet under his command refused to return fire. Instead, the ships in orbit were maneuvering, trying to avoid incoming fire and moving back to let their shields recharge.
The weapons utilized by the enemy ship were both potent and powerful. If it wasn't for the weapon's need to drill through Coruscant's atmosphere first, Coburn had little doubt that he would have lost cruisers already. Those beams of directed energy were nothing to scoff at, being able to drain the shields of a cruiser with a single shot. If this were a space combat, each shot would have crippled, if not killed, one of his ships.
The guided plasma torpedoes were another nasty surprise, emphasis on guided. While shields could tank them, avoiding them while keeping orbit was a hard thing to do. Missiles and point defense were ineffective against them. On the other hand, Ion Cannons were able to disrupt their containment, but only after repeated hits. The energy bolts simply passed through the shaped plasma, and while they made the elongated bubbles bleed and lose effective energy, stopping them was proving tricky.
Doing so in a full-scale fleet battle would be harder.
The deadly efficiency of the enemy's AA was another unpleasant surprise, alongside the baffling lack of light missiles. Any ship that size built or operated by the Empire would have been able to launch thousands of missiles at the incoming strike, potentially breaking it up. Instead, while the fighter and bomber squadrons suffered hundreds of casualties, they had the enemy on the ropes.
Silencing most of the super capital's weapons allowed unrestricted ground strikes from ground-based bomber squadrons. They were busy annihilating enemy ground installations, armor, and any troop concentration in the open. That part of the plan worked without a hitch, which was vital. Now the ground forces could open evacuation routes, and more importantly, they had air control above the VIP extraction site.
A shift in the battle net had priority orders racing to everyone. The Crown Princess was secure and on the way to board a ship to get off Coruscant. Coburn touched a few buttons, zooming in on one of the tactical displays. A blinking blue triangle was on the move, surrounded by a ring of fighters, which were increasing in numbers. They were en route to the Imperial Knight's compound, where a corvette waited to pick them up and get them to the fleet's safety.
"New contacts! They just came out of the portal!" One of the officers monitoring and studying the anomaly exclaimed.
"We've got friendly IFFs!"
"Priority Arubesh transmission! Authenticating! We've got Orders from the Emperor!"
"Put them on screen now! Confirm authenticity!" Coburn barked.
General, no Emperor, Kenobi's face appeared on a new holographic screen.
"The Senate building and everyone inside is so far intact. We've been transported to an unknown habitable world, under an anomaly in the sky resembling some kind of portal," Kenobi rapidly explained. "From what we can tell, there are many unfamiliar ships in orbit. So far, we've been unable to make contact, peaceful or not. If this message gets through, we require immediate evacuation for all VIPs and regular personnel in the Senate building. We're preparing to execute denial protocols on all sensitive data. Further, on arrival, a human cybernetically enhanced soldier literally fell on top of the Senate building. I'm including medical data and genetic data. He doesn't speak any recognizable language. However, a protocol droid believes we will be able to converse relatively soon. Kenobi out."
Coburn's eyes went to the screen showing casualty figures and then to the one displaying the status of the fleet and the ground forces, it was yet to deploy. The latter was a couple of battalions worth spread across the whole formation.
He would need ships to lock down the airspace above the Senate, then deploy ground forces to aid the Legion deployed there to streamline the evacuation of politicians and civilian personnel. The Senators themselves nearly outnumbered the security personnel deployed in the damned place. More warm bodies to carry them if needed won't go amiss. Then there would be the ships and shuttles required to get them to safety. This would be a significant deployment. Multiple cruiser squadrons. At the very least, one for security and one to take in people. Ideally, he would need a few Acclamators. Sadly, his command lacked such ships due to their nature as a defensive fleet. They were relegated to expeditionary forces and quick response forces ready for deployment to hot spots across the galaxy. System Defense Forces, by default, didn't need planetary assault cruisers.
Coburn made up his mind and began issuing orders. The ships about to deploy across the anomaly would pick up a few of the units already deployed on the ground while reinforcements racing from distant bases would take their place.
"Admiral, we finally got acknowledgment from the Mid-Rim Alliance. Fleet Admiral Tarkin acknowledges contingency orders and will act accordingly. Further, we just received a message from Mandalore. General Veil will be making his way here ASAP. He requires we forward to him all relevant and strategic data."
Coburn interrupted his flow of orders to say, "Make it so," then continued directing his fleet for immediate deployment planetside.