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Chapter 6
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Part 5
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3 AIF (After Imperial Founding)/
14.08.2552 UNSC Military Calendar/
hangar
Imperial Command Cruiser Coruscant's Shield
Coruscant
Coruscant System
Corcusca Galaxy
From the edge of the primary hangar bay of his flagship, Admiral Coburn could see the edges of an abating firestorm. As Coruscant's side below slipped into night, patches of the surface glowed angrily – the lakes of boiled metal burned into the top levels of the planet.
Coburn's eyes caught the movement of rapidly approaching shapes against the bright jewel of Coruscant's night side. The night lights of the world only served as a starker contrast between the angry shine of the ravaged area and the uneven ring of darkness surrounding it.
An escort squadron of heavy fighters burst, flying alongside the Star Destroyer's hull. At the same time, their charges sharply decelerated until they reached the atmospheric shield moving at a safe velocity. The first armored shuttle to enter landed beside the Admiral and his small party – officers from his staff, the ships' XO, and security detail, to augment the Empress Imperial Guard detachment that would come with her.
A side ramp on the shuttle slid open, and a pair of Imperial Guards in their distinctive heavy armor marched out, followed by a tall, slim figure in Mandalorian armor. Empress Kenobi, for once, had her blond hair in a rough braid, whipping behind her bag. She held a helmet in the crook of her left arm and looked anything but pleased.
"Admiral Coburn, please explain why our capital is on fire?" The Empress asked in a deceptively light, conversational tone. A handful of famous and infamous senators disembarked, followed by more Imperial Guards and a shining astromech droid.
First was Padme Skywalker, Senator for Naboo and the Chommel Sector, head of the Diplomatic Services Committee of the Senate, and official liaison between the Federated Empire and the Mid-Rim Alliance.
Bail Organa, the Senator of Alderaan, the leader of the loyal opposition, and currently, head of the Senate's Procurement Committee.
The last was Senator Jonas Yomaget, representing Mandalore and the liaison between the Mandalorian Freehold and the Federated Empire. He was also the son of the equivalent of the Mandalorian's Chancellor and CEO of Mandal Motors, Horus Yomaget, who was only second in political power within the Freehold to Mandalore himself.
These people represented the most powerful factions within the Imperial government nowadays, balanced only by a loose alliance of Core Worlds.
"Your Majesty," Coburn bowed as appropriately while the gathered officers and enlisted personnel behind him saluted. "The reason for the state of Coruscant is an alien incursion that bypassed all our defenses and slipped through all systems we have in place to provide early warning of an invasion. The presence of the anomaly meant that the enemy that struck Coruscant could reinforce nearly at will. I made the tactical decision to authorize Case Omega to contain the fighting to the Galactic City region of Coruscant after the enemy's action confirmed they were willing and capable of using capital ship weaponry at unsafe yields in the atmosphere."
"This, unfortunately, only confirms what little we know about these Covenant," The Empress nodded sadly. "Give us a comprehensive report on the situation since our untimely departure from Coruscant, Admiral."
"If you follow me, Your Majesty? We have a briefing room prepared and linked to the ships communications suite," Coburn offered.
Until it was safe for the Empress to do otherwise, she would be running the government and picking up the pieces of the ongoing disaster from his fleet's flagship.
"Good. What is the status of our children?" Empress Kenobi finally asked after falling in step with Coburn. The Senators followed while armored soldiers formed a protective ring around them.
"They are secure at Imperial High command, awaiting the arrival of General Veil. After the last engagement, I determined they wouldn't be safe on board one of my ships, as we are in place to engage any further enemy incursions. Keeping them on board a light ship has its drawbacks as well. I have a confirmation that General Valentra has taken custody of the Crown Princess and Miss Skywalker."
The Empress briefly sagged in relief before picking herself up.
Telar Valentra was one of the key people who ensured the survival of the Republic military during the war and continued to serve in his position with distinction in the Federal Empire. After the first round of military reforms during the Clone Wars that divided the GAR into straightforward combat and logistics branches, General Valentra became the principal man in charge, ensuring the lifeblood of supplies for the military kept flowing no matter what. He was first Veil's and then Kenobi's counterpart in logistics, just like they were consequently Supreme Commanders of the GAR's combat units.
He was also a close friend to those two and one of the few people they trusted with the continued well-being of their daughter and niece, respectively, on Coruscant.
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3 AIF (After Imperial Founding)/
15.08.2552 UNSC Military Calendar/
Lounge
Imperial Star Destroyer Vindicator, Palpatine class
Reach
Epsilon Eridiani System
Milky Way Galaxy
It was late evening in this part of Reach, but you couldn't tell either way by looking outside. Obi-Wan stood at the armored windows in the lounge high up on the command tower of the Star Destroyer. He didn't appreciate the irony of the now-obsolete name. In older designs, this place used to be an exposed bridge, which gave the name of the tower rising above the ship's superstructure. Refits early in the war changed this, turning the place into an officer's lounge and a place to entertain visitors.
The tower remained an excellent place to mount additional shield and sensor domes, as well as communications equipment.
Dust, ash, and smoke choked the sky outside. The only lights in this slice of hell made by Kenobi's orders were the burning hulls of nearly a hundred warships littering the landscape for as far as the eye could see in the ravaged atmosphere outside.
The wars were supposed to be over, Obi-Wan's mind raged. He wasn't supposed to be sending tens of thousands of bright young people and veterans who made it through hell to certain death anymore! If even a Sith like Veil could put down his weapons and concentrate on rebuilding, surely, there was more than chance for the rest of them! The galaxy was mostly at peace, beyond unavoidable strategic necessities that turned Kenobi's stomach.
Was this the price for their sins? Obi-Wan knew that there were precious few within the New Order who emerged from the hellish conflict with their hands or conscience clear. The Force knew he wasn't one of them. He chose selfish love in front of a Jedi Order and a Council who kept making a mistake after mistake.
Kenobi sighed and turned around at the approach of a familiar presence. He couldn't afford to mope right now, though it wasn't like he had much to do either. His position as Emperor-Consort gave him tremendous power yet significantly restricted his actions. As a Jedi, or an Imperial Knight, Obi-Wan knew he should be outside in the hell he made, trying to save as many people as possible.
As the Emperor, he couldn't risk himself that way, even if, at the same time, he couldn't be seen running before all Senators evacuated to Coruscant and beyond.
Anakin marched inside, wearing a sooth-covered armor. Clearly, he had tried to clean up the sticky ash and had given up on it.
"Obi-Wan," The man Kenobi still saw as his little brother scowled at him. Undoubtedly, Anakin wasn't happy that, in the end, he didn't get to leave for Coruscant with Padme and Satine.
Considering that he shouldn't have run out here in the first place, it served him right. The father in Obi-Wan and the Emperor he was, agreed that Anakin should have remained with the children and ensured they were safe until Fay could get to Veil.
"I have a task for you, Anakin," Obi-Wan smiled at his friend. "You are going to have to play the diplomat," Kenobi raised a hand to forestall an angry outburst. "These are soldiers we will be negotiating with. I feel they have restricted their civilian oversight in the name of surviving the war against the Covenant. It's how that soldier spoke about the UNSC and what their Admiral didn't say."
"You think a military representative would better understand them?" Anakin relaxed a bit as he engaged his brain.
"At least in the beginning. Our first interactions will focus on better understanding each other and laying the foundation for proper negotiations. In that regard, you are more than qualified. I am sending you as a gesture of goodwill alongside that pest of a droid you built and a security detail alongside their commando. You are to do your best to facilitate proper communications between our systems and theirs. You will also find the best way to distribute the language files your droid managed to compile so we can talk with Noble Six."
"What assets can I take?" Anakin asked.
"A shuttle, security detail, and whatever equipment you think you might need to get the task done," Obi-Wan answered. "Pick up what you need. I'll have C-3PO meet you at the hangar with our guest."
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Part 6
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3 AIF (After Imperial Founding)/
15.08.2552 UNSC Military Calendar/
Covenant super carrier Long Night of Solace
slipspace transit
Aalya Secura's shuttle was among the last to make it on board before the enemy super-capital ship plunged into the anomaly ponderously. They landed in a port-side hangar occupied by Imperial soldiers. The place was a madhouse – a cross between a field hospital, logistics depot, a hangar, unsurprisingly, and a command center. Medics were busy in triage, doing their best to stabilize the wounded until medical evacuation could arrive or a transport could bring in more stasis pods. Speaking about them, a clear space near a secure section of the hangar was turned into a storage space. Over there, dozens of full pods were stacked like crates.
"Last account from the other side claims that transit now takes about a standard hour. That is the minimum amount of time we will be without support!" A Colonel spoke aloud in a lightly accented Basic. "Rein in the lead assault parties, or they will be cut off! We might not have the numbers and ammunition to break through to them without compromising the sections we currently hold if the transit takes longer than anticipated! Second, logistics support on the other side will be limited! Our ships there had already deployed most of their small craft to get us here, for troop deployment on Coruscant or SAR. Those that survived until the bombardment hit would have run for safety. It will be hours until we can rely on regular resupply and medical evacuation! Make sure your people are aware of the situation! Distribute captured alien weaponry. We might have to use it to prevent being overrun."
Aalya didn't interrupt when she got to the field command post. Captains and Majors nodded and saluted before their holographic images vanished. Light shimmered, forming what looked like an incomplete three-dimensional labyrinth. Sections of it glowed green, others yellow and red, with a vast amount of gray stretching in all directions. Those were respectively secure, contested, and hostile areas, with the gray representing unexplored parts of the ship.
"General Secura got to have you here," a hand rose in a fast, by-the-number salute, "I am Colonel Green, CO of Twenty-Sixth Shock Regiment," He briefly looked around the hangar and shook his head. "Did the rest of the reinforcements fail to make it?"
"Some transports were heading for other staging areas and breaches," Secura answered, "however, at least some of them wouldn't have made it before this vessel entered the anomaly."
"Link with our tactical net, General. We'll need you and your people to help hold a defensive perimeter until we can be properly reinforced and our logistics are back up and running," Green suggested.
"Where do you need me?" Aalya asked while linking up with the 24th's battle net.
Green zoomed in on the holographic map and tapped a series of corridors leading to the starboard part of the ship. "There's a major transit tunnel deep in the superstructure. Our leading assault teams got to it before having to retreat. We must hold the corridors leading there. When reinforced, breaching into that space and taking control of it would greatly speed up our progress and compromise the enemy's ability to shift forces between the various sections we are holding."
Aalya nodded sharply and jogged out of the hangar, followed by two squads of heavy infantry. In the minutes that took them to get to the closest contested area, the former Jedi had time to take in the alien design of the interior. She hadn't often been on board a ship designed for species with aesthetic senses far removed from those of humans and near humans, like her species.
The last one was a Mon Calamari cruiser that hadn't been appropriately refitted for the use of other species. The internal architecture here reminded Aalya of that ship, even though the colors were all wrong, as expected. The ship itself felt wrong in the Force. Aalya could sense echoes of constant fear clinging to the wars. That was more like visiting an old prison run by an unsavory regime, or at least wardens, than a warship.
Eventually, they reached a junction where a Platoon of Shock Troopers had stacked purple metal crates to create a barricade. Heavy repeaters laid down suppressive fire in three directions. At the same time, cables linked them with large power cells stacked behind a wall of more metal crates. Aalya let the Force flow through her, feeling it a bit distant and muted, yet there was more than enough substance to fuel her. She could sense the largest concentration of lives was ahead, with smaller groups striking at the flanks. Secura felt a pull right and made her decision.
"We will spoil their attacks. Cover me. We will secure the right flank first! Deploy smoke grenades!" Secura ordered.
Gray cylinders rolled over the floor to the right. Grayish smoke filled with silver flakes of metal hissed throughout the compartment, cutting eyesight and spoofing various sensors like thermal.
The Imperial Knight ignited her lightsaber and jumped over the fire team holding the right part of the junction. She let the Force guide her hands and blindly deflected incoming plasma bolts. Her arm snapped up in a mnemonic gesture helping Aalya to channel the Force into a telekinetic push. A stream of purple needless scattered and detonated over the walls and ceiling, showering the corridor in a fine mist of crystal fragments.
The heavy infantry behind Secura raised grenade launchers and let loose. Explosions, high-velocity metal shards, blood, and screams engulfed the far end of the corridor. The grenadiers emptied their semi-automatic launchers and began to reload, giving way to the rest of the squad.
Aalya emerged from the billowing smoke at a run, deflecting back the few shots that came her way. Soldiers with heavy blasters followed suit and quickly dispatched the surviving enemies.
They broke into a run and turned left at the next junction, moving in to flank the enemy's primary assault corridor.
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3 AIF (After Imperial Founding)/
15.08.2552 UNSC Military Calendar/
hangar
UNSC Leviathan
low orbit above Reach
Epsilon Eridiani system
Milky Way Galaxy
Squads of marines, certainly less than a platoon, and a handful of junior officers quickly assembled as a VIP greeting party. More importantly, for the task at hand, network and communications engineers were also on the way. The ship's AI chose them after reviewing the crew's qualifications and asking a few direct questions.
Commander Jaime Tokuda felt a mixture of excitement and unease. He was still practically giddy after the battle. A few weeks ago at Sigma Octanus IV, and now this – the UNSC, admittedly with a lot of help, won the most stunning victories he could recall since the start of the war. Only Admiral Cole's crown achievement could rival these!
Most importantly, until now, no one sane believed they could hold Reach for long, much less at all. Pumps rumbled, and the latches on the inner door allowing safe deployment and retrieval of small craft in space, clicked loudly, announcing to everyone in the hangar what was about to happen. The internal doors groaned and slid open while light wind formed from air sucking into the deployment zone to equalize pressure.
A shuttle glided in with an odd humming noise. It had two wings that could fold and an unusually tall tail, almost impractically so. The nose stuck from the hull like the head of a vulture. As the craft approached, Tokuda could see what looked odd. There was distinct space under the hull for cargo pods or perhaps even vehicles to attach to the shuttle, which was currently empty, giving it a stripped, bare-bones look. It flew at them and gradually decelerated, like a VTOL, without the need for moving trusters like the Pelicans. In that regard, the shuttle behaved as Covenant transports.
There were very obvious weapon pods attached to the folding wings and cannon barrels that stuck out of the hull, flanking the cockpit. That wasn't a mere transport, like most Pelican variants, but a gunship hybrid or an outright assault shuttle. Likely the latter considering the Commander was supposed to await the arrival of the VIPs on an alien shuttle.
The vessel extended landing pads and folded its wings, then landed with the quiet clang of metal touching metal. A ramp slid from behind the cockpit, and a familiar armored figure marched down.
"Spartan B312 reporting for debriefing, sir!" The super soldier saluted.
"At ease. Admiral Stanfoth awaits you for a debriefing," Tokuda returned the salute eagerly. "Sergeant Kelly here will escort you to see him."
The legend nodded sharply and headed out of the hangar surrounded by marines. Meanwhile, Jaime looked eagerly at the small group of people who walked down the ramp. Five people and a golden android disembarked. Four of them wore heavy armor plates attached to what appeared to be flexible metal, allowing a good range of motion. Their apparent leader had armor of a similar style but lighter, allowing for more flexibility. Just like the Spartan, his armor plates were on black body glove. They still appeared bulkier and offered more coverage than most Spartan suits Tokuda had seen. Considering he was the Leviathan's XO and the Admiral's contacts, that was a bit more than most Commanders in the navy would have ever had the privilege to witness.
The aliens' leader spoke, and the robot translated into lightly accented English.
"These are Imperial Knight Anakin Skywalker, Senior Lieutenants Danu and Ellan, combat engineers," Notably, those two carried bulky metal cases with them, hopefully, equipment.
The machine didn't bother to introduce the soldiers acting as bodyguards. Speaking about soldiers, all but the Knight had either side arms or large rifles in their hands. Tokuda briefly considered demanding that they relinquish their weapons and leave them in the shuttle, then reconsidered. When all was said and done, the UNSC needed these people more than they needed the UNSC. Allowances had to be made, and he had strict orders not to antagonize them.
"Welcome to the Leviathan. I regret that we aren't meeting under better circumstances. I am Commander Jaime Tokuda, XO of this ship," with introductions over, they could get to work.
The Commander noted that using a robot to act as a translator wasted precious time, as expected. It was a good thing that solving this particular issue was to be their first task.
"I understand that solving our language difficulties is the first point of business we will handle?" Tokuda inquired.
"That is correct," The robot answered even before translating his words to the Imperial party. "Master Skywalker and the engineers have a few ideas on how to begin. They are carrying a portable holoprojector I can interface with. We can use it to compare our respective alphabets and language databases, at least as extensive as I've been able to build from my limited interaction with your Noble Six. We can use that as a stepping stone for translation programs of written messages. At the same time, the engineers try to make our communications technology and computers compatible."
"Centurion?" Tokuda asked aloud.
"It would be ponderously slow and crude for AIs. We can make it work despite that. Get our esteemed guests in a comfortable room with camera access for me to use," The AI offered. "I suggest the pilots' briefing room – it has space, cameras, and monitors for me to utilize. I'm sure the engineers can use the space."
Tokuda waited patiently for the robot to translate and get back a confirmation that their guests were fine with that plan.
"This way, please," Jaime waved at the distant briefing room and headed that way, followed by marching feet.