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Chapter 9

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Part 1

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3 AIF (After Imperial Founding)/
15.08.2552 UNSC Military Calendar/

CSO Long Night of Solace

Reach

Epsilon Eridiani System

Milky Way Galaxy

Considering what and who she was, it took Cortana embarrassingly long to notice something was odd. She was focused on rampaging through Covenant's internal networks and taking any scrap of data she could grasp with her digital fingers. Only long seconds, after all, chatter from both sides rapidly stopped. At the same time, the fighting kept going. Cortana pulled away from her rampage and focused on what John was doing.

The Covenant lines were crumbling. Spartans and Imperials alike were moving forward, killing with surprising speed and precision. To choose the Master Chief, Cortana had access to all recorded Spartan missions. She knew exactly what each of them could do and how deadly they were as closely-knit teams.

What she beheld unfolding around her was beyond that. The sheer coordination with which everyone now fought, Imperials and Spartans alike, was breathtaking. It had a beautiful symmetry to her digital mind. Almost as if a Smart AI with tactical combat specialization was directing everyone, ensuring coordination that should be impossible for mere flesh and blood beings.

At the same time, the Covenant broke. Their resistance all but ceased, which made the allied onslaught even deadlier, if that was at all possible. Cortana had to update her predictions for reaching the reactors and securing most of the ship. What was hours at the most optimistic assumptions she could make about the enemy turned into minutes – practically the time the allies would need to run to the reactors without slowing down to fight.

Wisely, Cortana waited a few moments until there was no danger in sight – the few Covenant still alive were practically catatonic, and Imperials fell upon them to secure them as prisoners. Master Chief led the Spartans forward, racing with the Imperial Knights ever forward.

"John?" Cortana asked. She repeated his name again and again. When he failed to answer, she tried to contact the other Spartans, who kept moving with unparalleled coordination and advancing without slowing down. They were obviously aware of their surroundings – any dangerous Covenant warrior they ran into died before it could react.

Cortana ran diagnostics on the armor and communications unit and checked and rechecked John's vitals. They were all elevated. However, he appeared to be at peak health and operated at a hundred percent without any trouble.

Next, the AI tried to contact someone up the chain of command – officers who should be back in forward command posts, coordinating the boarding action.

Again, no one answered, yet as far as Cortana could see through John's armor and the still operational Covenant sensors, the whole allied force on board was moving ahead without a pause. Medics treated the wounded and evacuated them. Reinforcements raced to get precisely where they needed to be. Resupply parties carried ammunition to the front. Everything worked better than it should, much better, even disregarding the communications issues they had due to the language barrier.

Finally, she used signal boosters spread through the ship as a lifeline to ensure smooth communication below kilometers of decks and interference from all kinds of power sources.

The closest station that answered her hails belonged to a communications officer in orbit, on a destroyer part of Battle Group Leviathan. From there, it took only a short time for Cortana to speak directly with Admiral Stanforth and report what was happening.

Unsurprisingly, the Admiral did his best to contact the UNSC forces boarding the carrier. He actually got an answer, too, though a delayed one.

"Admiral, sir!" A distant, distracted-sounding voice came back to Master Chief's armor.

"Report. There are communications issues. Everyone down there appears to be silent," Stanforth 'requested.'

"Sir, we've broken through the Covenant lines in all sectors. Their resistance is collapsing across the front. We are advancing as fast as our soldiers can move, and we are taking a significant number of prisoners. There are no communications issues from our side, sir. We are all in contact," Came the not-too-helpful response.

"What do you mean you are all in contact, Major?" The Admiral demanded.

"We all know what we are doing and seeing, sir!" The answer was a matter of fact as if it was a matter of course.

"Try contacting the Imperials," Stanforth grumbled. "Major, put your XO on the line," He added.

A new, deeper voice cracked over the radio a few moments later.

"Captain Stevens reporting, sir! How can I be of assistance?"

"Report the situation. Why is there an ongoing communication blackout?" Stanforth demanded in a harsher tone.

"Sir, we are all in contact. There are no communication issues on our side, and we are ready to receive and execute any new orders. The situation is good. Finally, the enemy resistance is crumbling. We are pushing through all avenues of advance, facing no meaningful opposition," Stevens said.

"All our comm lines are silent, Admiral. From what I can gather, the same is true for the Imperials. I can't detect any of the encrypted chatter they were using until a few minutes ago!" Cortana countered. "I can confirm from direct observation and tapping into the ships' working internal sensors that ours and the Imperial forces are indeed advancing in all sectors I have eyes on."

"Admiral, we're in contact with an Admiral Holt," A distant voice came over the radio.

"Stand by, Cortana. Captain, keep us informed of the progress down there."

For an AI like her, the waiting felt like an eternity, no matter how brief. Cortana dedicated much of her processing power back to rampaging into the Covenant networks while watching for any change outside.

"Cortana," Stanforth's voice finally came back, sounding strained and irritated. "According to the Imperial Admiral, the overall Commander is utilizing something called Battle Meditation to rapidly resolve the situation as she put it. Keep close observation and immediately report any changes. I want to speak with the Master Chief as soon as he can answer me."

Cortana bit off an automatic response. What was a Battle Meditation, and how was it affecting everyone but her?! Would her Spartan be all right when it ended?

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Reality crackled, shifted, and the flow of time resumed normally around him. It took John a few moments to recall exactly where he was and what he was doing. He was in the heart of the Covenant reactor control room, standing in front of an alien console. He had his right hand outstretched after slotting in Cortana. Her holographic form glowed brightly above him and glowered down like an angry goddess.

"Back with us, are we?" The AI grumbled. "What do you have to say for yourselves?!"

John looked around at the Spartans and Imperials milling around. More than a few of the latter looked slightly off, just like he felt. Skywalker was nearby, shaking his head.

"We did our job?" John tried.

"Oh, you did a bit more than that!" Cortana shot back. She blinked rapidly, looking distracted for long moments before her attention entirely refocused on him. "Now I'm in control. I've deleted all self-destruct-related commands and am encrypting all overrides that can be used to overload the reactors!" She put her hands on her digital hips and leaned forward, glaring at him. "Try again."

"Cortana, I am unsure what you are on about," John protested. They accomplished one of their primary objectives. With the reactors secured, they had to wait for reinforcements, which would hold the main engineering before pushing deeper into the ship to get any officers they could and secure as many databases as possible.

"You look confused. Battle Meditation has that effect after the first time you experience it," Skywalker pipped up.

"What is Battle Meditation?" Cortana demanded after translating the Knight's words. "Why did it affect you all but not me?"

"Just like droids, the Force doesn't see you as alive, Cortana. To it, you are just another machine, no matter how smart or advanced," Skywalker's explanation left a lot to be described. The Force? What? "In short, Battle Meditation is a technique that enhances the morale of your allies, their stamina, coordination, and battle capability through it. At the same time, it destroys the enemy's will to fight and their coordination, turning armies into broken individuals acting alone. Unless you are asking who was responsible? On that scale, there's one man I know of who can pull it off. Besides, I can sense his presence. Veil's here. The Covenant must have made an even worse impression than I knew of for Obi-Wan and Satine to unleash him of all people," Skywalker nodded sagely at his own words. "Then again, after I had to deal with their kill teams chasing me while getting my daughter and the princess to safety, I can see why they sent Veil here to deal with the bastards."

"Context, please?" Cortana asked in a very irritated tone.

"Where do I even begin?" Skywalker tilted his head in thought.

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Part 2

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3 AIF (After Imperial Founding)/
15.08.2552 UNSC Military Calendar/

CSO Long Night of Solace

Reach

Epsilon Eridiani System

Milky Way Galaxy

"This is a manifestation of the Force," Skywalker raised a hand and a discarded Covenant rifle rose in the air. "The general consensus is that the Force is an energy field that bounds and exists within all living things. Some people are born with the potential to learn to manipulate it," The rifle slowly rotated, before gently descending to the deck and landing without a sound. "By manipulating that energy and channeling it, we can do various things that are beyond the reach of other people."

"Battle Meditation is one such thing," Krell interjected after speaking quietly with a few Imperials. They were all clustered around a group of dazed looking Covenant prisoners – a few grunts and Jackal who looked worse to wear despite appearing physically fine.

"Most of us can influence a small strike team at most. A few like Veil, due either raw power and experience, or inborn talent, can do the same for whole armies or fleets with devastating consequences for the enemy," Krell moved his head from left to right, obviously giving the massive engineering compartment a pointed look.

Without this Battle Meditation, John was sure they would be still fighting to get here hours from now.

"I can detect thousands of Covenant troops running, or being rounded up as prisoners," Cortana confirmed.

Up until now, save for Grunts, and relatively rarely, the Covenant didn't run. They sometimes retreated after achieving their objectives, or died trying.

"What you do, is not because cybernetic or genetic enhancements?" John asked for confirmation.

"Well, my left arm is cybernetic after it got cut off during the first battle of the Clone Wars. It's stronger and more durable than flesh and blood one but that's it," Skywalker patiently explained and wagged the fingers of said hand at them.

"I also know that medics got to Linda and Kelly despite just moving on and continuing with the mission?" John pushed for more information.

"Coordination. When bound within Battle Meditation, we all know what everyone else is doing. We can see what everyone else can see, we know what they will do, we act with unified purpose. So you knew that the medics were going to get your friends, and you knew what the outcome was."

John closed his eyes for moment. He could see it, when he focused. Armored fingers working on Linda's armor. An injector with something blue and glowing, Bacta, his mind supplied, pressing into her charred neck. More medics moving in, with stasis pods hovering behind them, following them like puppies. Other medics were administering Bacta to Kelly, then used biofoam to cover the stump of her leg. They decided to preserve their more advanced tools for critically injured. With the Covenant resistance falling apart, and with the treatment Kelly just got, she was out of any danger. Between the Bacta, foam and her enhancements, shock was of no real concern. She just had to wait for medical evacuation when it became feasible. From then on, fitting her with a new knee and lower leg would be straightforward.

Master Chief shook his head at the flood of unfamiliar memories. He could already feel much of what he experienced fading away.

"What am I, chopped liver?" Cortana grumbled.

"Well, according to the Force, you don't feel as alive and really count," Skywalker noted. "On the other hand, Veil can tell you that the Force can be wrong. He did adopt the droid core of a warship and the warship herself in his Clan, so he certainly considers Victoria a person, no matter what the Force feels like."

"Don't forget his 'protocol' droid. He has you beaten in that regard," Krell chuckled.

"If I turn C-3PO into an assassin droid, Padme will do her best to kill me," Skywalker shook his head rapidly.

"For some odd reason that woman is smitten with you. She'll just make you life unpleasant for the foreseeable future. Besides, that way your golden menace might become tolerable and more useful!" Krell cheerfully announced.

So the Imperials had Smart AIs or equivalents, and at least some of them considered them people, while others didn't. The legality of adopting one that was installed into a warship was something Cortana would undoubtedly find fascinating, John decided. Assassin robots too, for that matter. That was good to know.

"I have more questions!" Cortana pipped up.

"We are stuck here until properly reinforced anyway," Skywalker pointed out. "Do you actually need another terminal to interface with to gain access to the ship's databases?"

"I am copying everything their engineering has available as we speak. However, tactical and strategic data on existing Covenant forces, deployments, maps of their territory, and more aren't in these computers. We will need to get to the bridge or an auxiliary command center. Those are kilometers away in a straight line, longer getting through the ship. It might actually be faster to get to a hangar and try for a breach in the armor closer to our destination."

"We don need to secure the whole ship and its crew anyway…" Skywalker trailed off. "But that's for the regular military to deal with. It would require whole legions of soldiers an a lot of time to get through this monster. You are sure they can't just overload the reactors as long as we hold this compartment, right?" Skywalker looked at Cortana's glowing form.

"Yes! I made sure of it!" Cortana sounded a bit offended at being questioned that way.

"It's good to have it confirmed again, Cortana," John tried to placate the AI for some reason.

A light glowed on Skywalkers left arm. He glanced at it and raised his arm in a horizontal position, putting on display a small built-in device with a few visible buttons. A tiny hologram came to life, hovering above his arm.

"Anakin, I see you are still intact. Please remind everyone that I want prisoners. Focus on officers and engineers. R&D would love to have words with these people about their shielding technology among other things."

"Delkatar," Skywalker nodded. "You could have warned us about the stunt you pulled. Our allies are a bit disconcerted."

"It saved a lot of them. From what I hear, there is no more coordinated resistance you're facing. By all accounts, you broke the will of the remaining crew so it should be a reasonably smooth sailing from now on. By the way, your daughter is all right. She's on the way to Mandalore with Fay, and my wife."

"That's good to know. We'll try our best to get prisoners."

John observed the exchange with interest. From where he stood, he could see only the back of the man Skywalker was speaking with. He wore a silver-tinted armor, without helmet. He was obviously human, and had short, black hair.

"If you need a limited doze of Battle Meditation in case the enemy rallies, call me. I should be available to do it again, if necessary. When the ship's bridge and command staff are secured, or confirmed dead, report to the Victory with Krell and Secura. We'll have some planning to do after we get a comprehensive overview of the strategic situation in this part of the galaxy. The Senate already voted for on a formal declaration of war against the Covenant. The Empress officially wants them dealt with as a threat. It will be our job to figure out the best way to do it."

The hologram fell apart. John glanced at the other Spartans in the large engineering space who were close enough to hear. The implications of this conversation for the war effort were staggering. He could see the subtle signs of interest and relief on their armored forms.

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Bridge

UNSC Leviathan

high orbit above Reach

Epsilon Eridiani System

Milky Way Galaxy

Vice Admiral Stanforth dispatched a second damaged ship to act as courier to Earth, carrying information on all relevant development after he sent the Frigate yesterday. With that done, he slumped in his seat.

"Fucking space magic," he cursed. That was what this Force thing was. He called up a recording from Master Chief's helmet camera sent to him by Cortana. The conversation between the Spartan, AI, and Imperials was enlightening. It both explained what happened, and yet those answers…. Stanforth shook his head. Without visual proof of what happened, and thousands of marines and ODST ready to corroborate by speaking about their own unreal experience, the Admiral knew no one would believe him.

"What's next, sir? Space elves?" Leviathan's Captain chuckled. His own incredulity was plain to see.

"Cortana is a brand new AI. Rampancy is highly unlikely. We do have multiple sources of recorded evidence. Magic or advanced technology, the Imperial Knights seem to share various abilities that at first look defy conventional explanation," Centurion joined the conversation. "Whatever energy they are manipulating, we can't detect it with the sensors built into the various models of Spartan armor. Cortana could confirm this much," With those words, Centurion called up a short clip of Knight Skywalker raising his hand and unleashing purple lighting at Covenant Drones. "If that was regular lighting, Master Chief's armor should have detected the thermal buildup around Knight Skywalker's hand as well as the sheer amount of electricity in the air. Cortana ran diagnostics, the armor's sensors appear to be operating at 100%, yet they detected nothing."

"ONI is going to go insane over this, you know that, right, sir?" The Captain reminded him.

Considering his background, Stanforth was intimately familiar with ONI in general, and many of its sections in particular. He knew that there were individuals who would have the instinctive response of lashing at any perceived threat to the UNSC they were capable of striking at. Saner and wiser minds tended to restrain those most of the time, though such over-zealousness tended to come in handy from time to time.

Stanforth decided that if he made it back to Earth in one piece, he should speak with Paragonsky. Perhaps ensure she got a message from him? It was a bit too late, for that now. One thing was certain, ONI would be all over the possibility of gaining super-soldiers with even a fraction of the abilities the Imperial Knights displayed. Combine them with Spartans, or if at all possible, make such operatives Spartans…. If nothing else, that would give the Covenant even more of a pause on the ground and during boarding actions.

Realistically, it was the material and technical help the Empire could offer that as more valuable in a reasonable amount of time. Shields, better armor and weapons, both for the regular ground forces, and more importantly, for the Navy.

"Admiral, the Victory's communication's officer is on the comm. General Veil is finally ready to speak with you."

"Good, patch him through and give me the communicator."

Veil, that was the same man who could utilize this ridiculous Battle Meditation ability. The very idea of it was unthinkable. It was one thing to be able to link up and coordinate your forces, while keeping their morale up. Perhaps ensuring that their combat performance was boosted through the right combinations of combat drugs. The effect it had on the enemy on the other hand? That was pure magic.

Then there was this other thing. In the UNSC, no matter how capable they were, their super soldiers held relatively low ranks, and little command authority by themselves. By all accounts, it was different in the Empire. Hell, their Emperor apparently was one. Considering what Stanforth just saw, this put everything he thought he knew about them in a different perspective. Yet, at the same time, this knowledge changed nothing. The UNSC still desperately needed the aid of the Federated Empire.