Disclaimer: I don't own either of the Halo or Star wars franchises. They belong to their respective creators and/or copyright owners. It is not for sale or rent.
Reunion in Fire
=RF=
Prologue: Latchkey baptised in blood
=RF=
For thirty years, humanity led by the United Nations Space Command has fought a war against the alien alliance called the Covenant. The Covenant glassed hundreds of colonies and killed billions.
Humanity is losing the war.
This has never been more obvious until now when the Covenant finally tracked UNSC to the fortress world of Reach – the last and greatest human bastion before Earth itself. When, not if, Reach falls, the UNSC would be able to prosecute the war for no more than a year at best, mere three months at worst.
While all available reinforcements race towards Reach, its defenders fight a desperate last stand.
At the same time, a galaxy away, the Federated Empire rises from the ashes of the Clone Wars and the Black Rebellion, slowly rebuilding. There are countless worlds to bring back into the fold, and the specter of a renewed war with the Confederate Remnant is always on the horizon. An uneasy balance between the powers of the Core, Mid-Rim Alliance and rising Mandalorian Freehold threatens to sunder the young nation before it could properly establish itself.
It is at this time, that the last of the Precursors decided to intervene. He would reunite the lost children of Erde-Tyrene, and potentially, plunge two galaxies into the flames of war.
A desperate gamble by Reach's defenders gives the Precursor the perfect opportunity to change the course of history…
=RF=
14.08.2552 UNSC Military Callendar/
CSO Long Night of Solace
Reach
Milky Way Galaxy
Jorge watched how Six fell from the hangar, mentally calculating the distance needed to keep him reasonably safe from the blast. For once, it was a good thing that the Covenant ship was so big, otherwise, his fellow Spartan would inevitably land in the middle of the enemy base below.
Jorge pressed the button on the detonator. There was laughter and light. Time stretched and twisted, everything becoming blue, then impossibly white.
That wasn't how Jorge imagined dying. Blinking away white spots certainly wasn't it. Feeling static electricity zap all over him wasn't it either.
A thunderclap brought the world back into focus. Jorge was still on the edge of the hangar, watching out. Instead of Reach's wilderness, he was looking at an immense, unfamiliar megacity. Lights blinked out as far as he could see, and countless shuttles lost control, spinning towards fiery dearth. He quickly glanced down, but instead of seeing Six still falling, Jorge stared at a ravaged semi-circle going for as far as his eyes could see. It was as if someone took an immense spoon and used it to scoop a huge chunk of the city below, replacing it with parts of Reach. With the Covenant base, which hid the carrier until the Spartans took out enough of those cloaking and jamming devices.
"What the hell?!" Jorge spat. This wasn't supposed to happen!
Unfamiliar sirens roared to life all around the strange city. The Spartan looked up and saw the edge of what could only be the largest Slipspace portal he had ever seen. He blinked owlishly at it, then turned around to look at where the Slipspace drive was supposed to be.
The rear of the Pelican was gone. It was burned off, alongside a spherical part of the deck. The devastation merely stopped a meter away from Jorge.
For a moment, he was lost both for words and ideas on what to do.
=RF=
3 AIF (After Imperial Founding)/
14.08.2552 UNSC Military Callendar/
Senate Chambers
Senate Building
Reach
Milky Way Galaxy
Obi-Wan stood in one of the access corridors leading into the Senate Chamber, quietly watching Satine give a fiery speech in defense of the Empire's perspective constitution. All his warning that something went wrong was a sudden disturbance in the Force, one accompanied by shock and anger.
Light and unknown energies washed over, and through the Senate, giving Kenobi only a moment to instinctively shield himself with the Force. He could hear a peal of distant, inhuman laughter and satisfaction. The Force itself shacking with sudden fury. The building shook for what felt like an eternity. All Obi-Wan wanted to do was to run to Satine's side, yet he found himself unable to move for a moment that lasted an eternity.
Then, as suddenly as it began, the phenomena broke. Obi-Wan dashed forward, still blinking light off his eyes, letting the Force guide him. He could hear Cody shout behind him before the wail of sirens drowned his voice.
The Jedi jumped off the edge of the corridor leading to this level of the Chamber, using the Force for an impossible leap that unerringly led him to Satine's pod. The first thing Obi-Wan saw when his eyesight began to clear was his wife's intricately braided hair and the shocked expression of one of her aides.
"We need to move. Something is wrong." Obi-Wan stated the obvious just as the Senate's lights blinked off, only to be replaced with emergency lighting a second later.
Kenobi jumped into the pod from its edge and hugged Satine from behind while using the Force to guide the platform back to Cody and the waiting security detail.
=RF=
A few kilometers from the Senate building, on a plaza created after one of the battles Coruscant had to endure, the GAR built a military base meant to act as the first line of defense for the Senate. As soon as the light show ended, and people could see, alarms roared to life.
Quick reaction forces standing at alert status for any kind of an unanticipated disaster were the first to react. Troopers and pilots jumped away from tables where they waited, did necessary paperwork, or played card games. They raced toward waiting transports, fighters, and mobile armors, all securely hidden under armored and shielded hangars.
Outside, groups of soldiers out for an evening run before dinner and some time off shook themselves from the light show. Some of them gaped at the glimmering portal above what used to be the Senate building and the super capital ship hanging below it. That lasted until Sergeants and the odd Officer barked orders, and everyone raced towards the nearest armory.
At the same time, in orbit, Fleet Admiral Coburn, the CO of Coruscant's Home Fleet, wasted a few precious seconds staring at the incursion that bypassed his fleet. His mind raced with the implications of potentially losing the Senate, and the Imperial family in one fell swoop.
"Set Condition One throughout the fleet." The old human snapped. "Deploy quick reaction forces to contain this incursion. Securing Republica 500 and the heir to the throne is of absolute priority! Activate the Black Channel. Contingencies Crownfall, Fell Strike, and Maverik are in effect. As per the Emperor and Empres's final orders, General Veil is now Acting Supreme Commander of all Imperial Forces." Coburn closed his eyes for a moment, imagining the kriff-storm coming. "Contact Mandalore and inform the Regent of his new status. Get our local forces to secure the persons of the designated Regency Council. Someone inform Fleet Admiral Tarkin that he is now Grand Moff and leader of the Regency Council."
=RF=
Bridge
CSO Long Night of Solace
Coruscant
Corcusca Galaxy
Rho 'Barutamee blinked away divine light and looked around. Some of his crew were on their knees, praying, while others looked around in confusion. Various stations beeped in warning, while no one paid attention.
"Back to your stations!" The Sangheili Fleetmaster ordered. "Give me a status report! What happened?!"
"Fleetmaster, you need to see this!" One of the Sensor operators exclaimed. "There is a Slipspace portal above us! We're no longer above the same world if my sensors are correct, yet most of the forces we deployed are below us, alongside… part of a mountain?" The Sangheili trailed off in disbelief.
Rho 'Barutamee focused on his command console and called data from the sensors, having it displayed in front of him. He could see much of the forces his ship deployed to the human world of Reach, where they were supposed to be – below the supercarrier. Cameras, IFFs, and all kinds of assorted sensors confirmed their location. The ground they were deployed was the same, alongside a severed chunk of a mountain they used as an additional cover and defensive terrain just in case.
Everything else the sensors displayed was wrong. They were in the middle of an incredibly large city, stretching as far as sensors and cameras could see.
"Shipmaster, the Luminaries detect relics nearby! Sensors show many humans as well, alongside unknown aliens!" A second Sensor Operator reported.
Sensor feeds showed a large nearby building with at least three brightly shining relics inside. At the same time, cameras focused on the locals, and indeed many of them were Humans. There were all kinds of unfamiliar aliens running around as well.
"Secure the Relics! Kill the humans and anyone who aids them. Otherwise, ignore the local aliens. Send a ship through the portal and contact the rest of the fleet." Rho 'Barutamee reluctantly ordered.
Like it or not, he didn't have the forces to take or burn two worlds as defended as Reach. From what he already saw of this one, it was only a matter of time before heavy enemy resistance materialized. He needed to seize the precious relics and get away. The reinforcing fleets could then deal with the Human presence, while he returned to High Charity with the real prizes!
=RF=
Chapter 1 Part 1
=RF=
3 AIF (After Imperial Founding)/
14.08.2552 UNSC Military Callendar/
Senate Building
Reach
Milky Way Galaxy
Obi-Wan walked into one of the infirmary stations spread out throughout the Senate, a new feature incorporated after its rebuilt during the late Clone Wars. He had an uninvited guest to speak with, in order to hopefully find answers. It wasn't every day a huge blue portal appeared in the sky and transported a chunk of Coruscant to an unknown world. At the same time, it wasn't every day someone fell on top of the Senate Building through said portal, and presumably kilometers of height, then survived, if knocked unconscious of the impact.
The Emperor waited for the security at the door to confirm his identity, nodding in appreciation of their professionalism, even if the brief waste of time was frustrating.
"Sir, we have confirmation – the theater shield is operational and will stay that way for no less than two days if we're attacked. We have power reserves for about a week or so for the auxiliary generators, close to a month accounting for what we have available in Aegis base. The same can't be said for the surrounding buildings. We've got close to a hundred thousand civilians, most of them working government jobs in the affected area. Coruscant security forces and military personnel has so far been keeping order, but that might not last…" Cody trailed off.
"We still can't punch a signal through that portal?" Obi-Wan asked.
"Negative, sir. So far, the CAP has been staying away from it. They keep detecting odd power spikes in orbit. There have been hundreds of them since the initial interference of the event cleared up. We can detect no familiar frequencies or chatter in the air. What the little the military can detect is using ancient radio frequencies and encryption. Aegis' CO has his available specialists working on it."
"Get a droid-controlled craft through that portal, and call for help if it leads back to Coruscant. If not, we need to know where it leads," Obi-Wan ordered, then finally entered the small, state-of-the-art medical center.
The place was currently cramped. A pair of Medical Droids were busy treating a large middle-aged human, who wore an odd suit of light power armor.
A Doctor and a couple of nurses studied a holographic image of what had to be the stranger's insides. Obi-Wan didn't need to be a healer or medic to recognize the signs of heavy cybernetic enhancements.
A squad of infantry watched their guest like hungry birds of prey, making the decent-sized facility feel particularly cramped.
"Doctor, what can you tell me about our guest? When can we talk with him?"
"He has a significant level of cybernetic and genetic augmentation, similar to what we're offering our special forces, and otherwise cripples soldiers. From what we can see, the surgeries he had been subjected to were crude but effective. Sir, if I was a betting woman," The Twi'lek female turned to look at Obi-Wan, "I would say we might be looking at what inspired our research. These procedures were done before we gathered all the pieces and began enhancing volunteers en masse, and in a crude way too."
"And you know this, how Doctor?" Obi-Wan inquired.
"Before retiring to this cozy position from the military, I used to patch up and enhance our soldiers during the war. Most of my colleagues working in the Senate, or designated to put you back together are veterans with the necessary clearance and experience," The red-skinned woman dryly explained. "As for waking him up? If I administer stimulants, he'll be up soon. He's practically asleep now after being knocked out by the shock of the fall. His armor had decent kinetic shields that absorbed some of the impacts. It was also locked and has a very interesting gel layer that spread and diminished the impact, keeping the user alive. In that regard, it's similar to the latest models of power armor I've seen before I retired from the military. What's odd is the outer hard layer – it's made of a curious titanium alloy, decidedly inferior to what we've been using for a long time in high-end armors. For anything else, you'll need a proper facility and specialists to look it over."
"That's good to know, Doctor. Now, please awake our guest and keep out of the way if he turns out to be a fussy patient."
=RF=
Republica 500
Coruscant
Corcusca Galaxy
Anakin blinked off white spots and stared at the glowing blue portal above where the Senate Building used to be. Where Padme no longer was. He could see a huge purple form stretching for kilometers towards the horizon, illuminated by an odd blue glow. Below, a molten semi-circle marked the boundary where Coruscant's metal landscape ended, to be replaced by settling down shattered rock. The distance was just enough for Anakin to recognize odd glowing alien structures nested under a sundered part of a mountain that wasn't there moments ago.
Sirens roared to life, even as whole areas of Coruscant lost power and went dark. In places, emergency generators or reactors came online. That was true for Republica 500, too, though Skywalker only noted it when the room's lights came shining back with a vengeance.
The Force was in turmoil. All Anakin could sense was distant laughter and the vague sense of danger.
The Imperial Knight idly noted the security detail that remained outside storm in, sweeping the apartment for hostiles. Leia's gasp finally broke the spell, and he looked away from the window.
His daughter was on the floor, sitting on a thick carpet with her best friend, Obi-Wan's little girl.
"Lady Veil, Knight Kenobi, we need to get o a secure location now!"
"Hold on, little one." The Mandalorian woman surged to her feet, holding her niece in a tight grip.
"We aren't taking flight in the range of that thing!" Anakin pointed back to the window. "There is a rail station right beside the building. We're taking it until it's safe to get airborne."
The piercing wail of sirens washed over the building, this time coming from within.
"We've got incoming!" One of the troopers shouted. He had taken position near the window and was busy observing the purple craft outside. "Whoever they are, they're heading right at us!"
"We're displacing, now," Bo-Katan declared.
"Right," Anakin nodded. "Pooja, carry Leia," He addressed one of Padme's Naboo attendants, doubling down as a babysitter these days.
The demure young woman wasted no time and scooped Leia up. Moments later they were on the way out, surrounded by a wall of Imperial Guardsmen.
=RF=
near the border of the event
Coruscant
Corcusca Galaxy
"It's the Droids! They've come to murder us all! The night is high! Repent!" A shabby-dressed Duros fell to his knees, openly weeping at the newest calamity to strike Coruscant.
All kinds of air vehicles fell from the sky in the wake of the event, crashing into buildings and walkways. People screamed as shards of hot metal and shattered glass rained from above.
A few people here and there simply stared at the changing landscape where the Senate used to be. Yet, most people wasted no time and tried to get away, even as sirens announced the unfolding disaster for everyone to hear.
Sounds similar, yet different to repulsors came from the rocky ground that replaced many square kilometers of Coruscant's top level. Odd, purple vehicles surged forth, followed by hordes of unfamiliar aliens. Prongs-shaped drop ships took to the sky, escorted by strange-looking small craft.
More importantly, the huge capital ship hanging above where the Senate Building used to be, opened fire with blinding lasers. Its weapons scythed out of the sky any air transport that survived the event or had the good fortune to be outside its area of effect.
Here and there, members of Coruscant's Security Services tried to lead the panicking crowds away from the disaster, while screaming in their comms for backup. Howling pink craft descended, raining blue plasma upon the scattering civilians. Behind them, odd-shaped transports added their firepower, using turrets, or what resembled shielded repeating blasters mounted to the sides.
For the first time since the end of the Clone Wars, Coruscant burned.
=RF=
Chapter 1 Part 2
=RF=
3 AIF (After Imperial Founding)/
14.08.2552 UNSC Military Calendar/
Senate Building
Reach
Milky Way Galaxy
Cold fire raced through his veins. His heart hammered within his chest as if trying to escape.
Noble Six suddenly came awake. It was as if someone suddenly splashed a bucket of cold water over his head. It took him uncommonly long to get his bearings. The cool fire in his veins helped, taking the edge of a dull, yet all-encompassing pain.
The Spartan looked around, idly noticing his helmet wasn't in place. However, the familiar and reassuring weight of his armor still felt right. The first thing he noticed was the soldiers in unfamiliar armor, vaguely resembling a mix of his Mjolnir suit and the newest kit the ODSTs wore. There were many pieces of unfamiliar equipment in the room, which nevertheless screamed at him it was a medical bay.
They all had a very distinct feeling to them, even if this time around, the smell of a hospital was absent.
A middle-aged man with blonde hair and a beard of all things stood in front of two tall armored soldiers. Given their size and their armor, Noble Six briefly confused them for Spartans, yet he had never seen soldiers like him wearing that particular armor. The Spartan was pretty sure, he had the newest power armor the UNSC had developed.
The next thing he noticed, and it gave him pause, was the red-skinned woman with two huge tentacles on her head. She wore them like a scarf around her neck, which contrasted with her white doctor's coat.
While Noble Six had heard and occasionally seen the odd person with cosmetic modifications, that went beyond the pale. Not to mention they went out of fashion and reach for most people as the war progressed and the UNSC lost more and more worlds, and thus resources and industrial capacity.
As the Spartan's head cleared, he noticed the most important thing. Not a single one of the soldiers had a UNSC patch, or a rank insignia he could recognize.
The confirmation that something decidedly odd and out of place was going on came when the blond man open his mouth and spoke a language Noble Six had never heard before. As if sensing his confusion, the man tried a few different languages, yet the Spartan hasn't even heard them before. While he was no linguist, Noble Six was sure he could at least recognize the most common languages spoken by people. Hell, if someone knew multiple languages, one of them would get to be either English or something else Six would recognize, right?
"Spartan B-312, Naval Special Warfare Command," Six warily introduced himself, while his eyes roamed around looking for ways to overcome all resistance if necessary, before getting out of this place.
The blond man frowned at that and kept babbling in an unfamiliar language. He turned to one of the soldiers flanking him and ordered something. The man nodded and raised his left hand fiddling with a device built into the armor, then spoke in presumably a comm unit.
While the voice sounded human, the language was nothing like he had heard before awakening here.
'This was too odd to be death, right?' Six thought. There always was the option that Jorge miscalculated. Either the fall or the explosion of the FTL drive killed them both.
The Spartan set that thought aside and focused on the present. If he had to fight his way through, he would have to neutralize the soldiers within the room. Go out of the bed, then hurl it at the blond man and his security detail. Go for the troopers at the back of the med-bay, disarm and neutralize them, while getting armed. Use them and the odd cylinders with blue goo for cover, then neutralize the rest of the unknown threats, before bursting out of the room. He deemed the odd medic and her obvious assistants as no threat to bother about.
As if reading his thoughts, the blond man raised an eyebrow at him and shook his head.
A commotion shifted Noble Six's attention to the door he couldn't currently see. He could hear it slide open, then someone new walked inside with the sound of metal-soled boots quietly clanging on a metal floor. The newcomer was busy babbling until a sharp woman's voice silenced him. One of the troopers had to step aside, barely fitting by the doctor's gizmos-covered desk, to make way for a short woman wearing a decidedly odd, yet striking dress. However, her appearance paled in comparison to the golden robot that walked behind her.
The woman and blond man rapidly exchanged words, before she looked expectantly at Noble Six. His eyes shifted from the robot, wondering who and why built that thing, back to the other newcomer. Her eyes were piercing and evaluating. Her scarred face was set up into a deep frown.
"C-3PO," The blond man addressed the droid, obviously a designation, followed by more babble.
The machine nodded, then turned to look at Noble Six. It started babbling sentences in all kinds of different languages. Too many of those languages sounded like they were never meant to be uttered by human vocal cords. Some of them sounded even more alien than what passed for Covenant speech.
At that point, Six seriously considered bolting for the exit, yet curiosity and the decided oddness of the situation stayed in his hand.
"Spartan B-312, United Nations Space Command." Six repeated carefully.
The golden robot paused at that.
"I… C-3PO… borg… speak…" The accent it spoke with was atrocious, yet some of the words were undoubtedly in English. Well, a bastardized version of the language anyway.
"What the hell is happening around here?" Noble Six grumbled. "Is this some kind of ONI joke?" It wasn't like those spooks had a sense of humor in the first place.
"No fun. Spartan B-312… language… learn…" The robot spoke, while still adding unfamiliar sounding words besides its bastardized English.
Noble Six fought down his frustration. "We're really doing this?" He stared at the robot.
=RF=
Chapter 1 Part 3
=RF=
3 AIF (After Imperial Founding)/
14.08.2552 UNSC Military Calendar/
Coruscant
Corcusca galaxy
Flying through Coruscant's gleaming metal canyons at dusk or dawn was something special. Doing so during one of the scheduled rain periods, or right after, was even better. In that case, you could see huge rainbows form and reflect off star-scraper windows, making for an awesome vista.
Today, it was different. The orbital mirrors helping regulate Coruscant's climate were on the move, ponderously moving to dubious safety. At least one of them was behind the super-city canyon swarmed with vehicles. All kinds of air transports were busy running, using the star-scrapers for cover. Meanwhile, squadrons of fighters, bombers, and Mobile Armor flew low, with the reflected sunrays washing over everything like a golden river. Not too far behind them, LAATs and gunships flew close to the ground, following their escort squadrons.
"Rampant Leader to all TF Aegis elements, we've got actionable intelligence. Listen closely, I won't have time to say it again. Ten minutes ago, an event occurred above the Senate Building. At this time, we have a super capital ship in Coruscant's airspace, confirmed hostile. There's some kind of phenomenon, presumed to be an FTL portal above where the Senate used to be. Everything within kilometers of the even has been replaced by what is presumably the surface of an unidentified world. As we speak, the Navy is inserting shock troopers to try and blunt the enemy's advance. A strike package will be on the way within the next ten minutes, followed by the fleet deploying conventional ground forces. Our job is to contain the enemy and test the defenses of the super capital. For some reason, the enemy's primary push is towards the Republica 500 building. We're to do our best to blunt it until reinforcements could deploy."
Rampant One banked right to avoid a wildly flying aircar, then dove under a cargo hauler racing away.
"We have confirmation of Guardian equivalent. We're doing slash and burn. Go in fast, strike targets of opportunity, then use the star-scrapers in the area as cover to give time for your deflectors to recharge. The enemy might have additional AA emplacements below the super capital, where it had been deploying ground forces. Intel has confirmed the presence of various hostile air assets in the AO. They're all purple." Rampant One paused. He banked left and dove the moment his eyes glimpsed a break in the canyon-like wall of star-scrapers. He saw a tremendous pulsing blue orb in the distance. Below it, part of the super capitals silhouette pulled in all directions as if it was the top of a mountain's range.
"Break left, use the buildings to mask our approach!" A yellow light lit up on the fighter's control panel. The sensor screen updated, zooming out and showing incoming trajectories. "Be advised, Shock Troopers are deploying as we speak. Watch your fire. I don't want green on green!"
The city canyon ended faster than Rampant One hoped. He had to bank left and use some much shorter buildings as dubious cover. His sensors lit up with targets and threat warnings.
Even from kilometers away, the pilot could see swarms of craft heading straight for Republic 500. The building's shields glowed while absorbing and reflecting incoming fire. Previously masked weapon emplacements had uncovered themselves, and tracer fire faced the approaching hostile craft.
He glanced up and saw hundreds, no thousands of contrails streaking through the sky. Drop pods, weapon payloads, and decoys. Missile canisters blossomed into a storm of reflective sheathing, while mini proton torpedoes and concussion missiles raced towards targets of opportunity. Good old-fashioned kinetic impactors burst forward, accelerated by ion engines.
Drop pods detonated between two walls of decoys, releasing sensor-reflective shrapnel, letting power-armored madmen race towards the ground of their own volition. Blinding lances of light stabbed at the heavens, burning channels within the decoy clouds. Streaks of purple energy shot up, designating AA positions for the descending munition payloads.
"Rampart Wing, we've got incoming enemy small craft. We're going to take them out. Starkiller Wing, you're on point guiding the strike packages," Rampart One briskly ordered.
Within seconds, his heavy fighter's sensors locked on multiple targets and he unleashed his concussion missiles upon them. His wing followed suit and soon a couple of hundred missiles streaked forward.
More munitions followed, as the strike craft's sensors burned through whatever enemy jamming was there and found long-range targets to fire at.
Explosions blossomed all over the ravaged hellscape leading to where the Senate used to be. Within moments, the AA fire shooting into the heavens from the ground decreased a great deal. More explosions lit up ahead of the Imperial fighters, taking a chunk of the incoming enemy small craft. Within moments they were within cannon range. Blasters and plasma flew in all directions. Deflectors lit up, while explosions took out chunks from the ground and the nearby buildings marked missed shots.
Rampart Wing broke its advance and went hunting, while below them, wave after wave of missiles and torpedoes raced forward. The Wing Commander went chasing a purple, drop-shaped fighter, not giving it a chance to go after the rest of the task force, which passed below them without incident. Y-Wing gunners and MA sent their regards. Blaster bolts and micro-missiles flew at the enemy fighters from below.
It took Rampart One a sustained burst from his craft's laser cannons to pop up the enemy's shield. The teardrop-shaped fighter sharply headed down, seeking cover among Coruscant's upper level. With civilian traffic grounded, fled, or dead, there was not much for the enemy to hide behind. The purple machine flew through a hologram advertising some kind of drink, and Rampart One remained on its heels, firing burst after burst at the weaving fighter. Laser bolts came closer and closer to the purple hull until finally biting into it with spectacular results. The rear part of the teardrop simply disintegrated, then the rest mushroomed into a bright explosion that scattered purple fragments all over the nearby star scraper.
Rampart One turned around just in time to see multiple laser beams stab at TF Aegis. He found out the hard way that while bombers and MA might have the deflectors to survive at least one direct hit, the same wasn't true for the fighters. The latest mark of Torrent interceptors or heavy modified ARC-170s, simply vanished when struck by one of those beams.
In contrast, a Y-Wing emerged from a direct hit smoking. Its deflector was gone. The beam had burned away its paint showing the scorched metal underneath. Yet, the cockpit was fully polarized, and the bomber flew under control, even if it shook badly.
Another blast that came too close for comfort engulfed a maneuvering Mobile Armor. The large strike craft emerged from the pulse with scorched paint and went for a strafing run at ground targets. Rampant One followed the MA, flying escort. He saw a column of off-purple vehicles. The largest of them had repeater blasters and huge cannons that shot slow, yet presumably deadly balls of glowing plasma. Artillery.
The MA speared the leading mobile artillery with its beam cannons, cutting through its purple armor like a lightsaber through a flimsy droid. The strike craft followed with a swarm of missiles that shredded the heart of the enemy column and finished the attack by spearing itself second artillery vehicle.
A squadron of small, slow-flying craft raced to intercept Rampart One's charge. Bright plasma splashed over the MA's recharging deflectors. The Wing Leader accelerated and unleashed his remaining missiles at the more distant targets, then went in guns blazing at the rest. To his utter surprise, those things were both surprisingly maneuverable, pathetically slow, and more importantly, had no shields. A single shot was more than enough to tear a large chunk of their hide and sent them spiraling to the ground out of control, if not destroy them outright. In hindsight, the missiles were overkill.
The threat display blared a warning, and Rampart One's eyes snapped up. Huge thermal spikes were forming at the flanks of the capital ship. Moments later, blobs of plasma formed around its length for as far as the eye could see. Then they shot at different targets at speeds that made it almost impossible to follow with a naked eye. Rampart One hit the afterburner and headed for the deck. A blob of what had to be plasma splashed over a star-scraper Imperial craft used for cover, burning through it with ease. Durasteel boiled and liquid metal splashed down like a river, while the building itself groaned and shattered in the middle like a twig. More than two dozen of those blobs headed up as if targeting the fleet in orbit, or worse, any forces it was busy deploying.
"Rampart One to all Rampart elements, report!" The Wing Commander demanded. In the distance, he watched in disbelief how a whole squadron of Y-Wing unleashed their torpedoes at the super capital from point-blank range. Point defense and enemy fighters blew them out of the sky. From what he could see, not a single proton torpedo managed to penetrate the silver shield protecting that monstrosity.
=RF=
Chapter 1 Part 4
=RF=
3 AIF (After Imperial Founding)/
14.08.2552 UNSC Military Calendar/
Republica 500
Coruscant
Corcusca galaxy
Confusion and glee mixed up within Mato'Varee, into something he had seldom experienced. Laser blasts and good old-fashioned explosives made the sky burn. He didn't know, much less care how the Humans got themselves proper weapons. This was what he was made for, what he lived for! There was real combat to be had, instead of exterminating vermin!
The only thing that could have made this better, as if there was one of the so-called Human Demons to test himself against, the Special Operations soldier thought.
Sangheili and stumpy Unggoy kitted in pitch-black armor roared in exhilaration as their transport shook. In the distance, Mato'Varee could see odd-shaped fighters facing off against gleaming Seraphs, all the while, laser cannons burned their way through the sky, leaving behind glowing trails of ionized atmosphere.
It was beautiful!
Even better, their target was well defended. All kinds of cannons spat their defiance at the armada of transports and Banshees. Colorful explosions tore apart many a ship leading the first wave, while a glowing shield protected the building itself. That only confirmed that the target was important, and more importantly, there might be a worthy challenge to be had!
Whatever shield protected the large building, it didn't prevent physical objects from passing through. Mato'Varee noted that fact with immense satisfaction. He could see crippled Banshees and the odd transport pass through the gleaming defensive field, then smash into the metal superstructure. Here and there, the impacts were enough to shatter windows and open the way.
"More speed! Ram us into the building!" The SpecOps Commander roared and went back to secure himself for impact.
The Unggoy on the plasma gun squealed and ran away from the open side platform of the transport. More close misses shook the craft. The Commander could see laser beams and red pulses bite deep into the purple armor of Banshees and transports alike, bringing them down with surprising ease.
The side platform folded up and closed with a quiet hiss. A heartbeat later, his ship came to a sudden stop. If it wasn't for the energy harness keeping everyone secure, the hard impact would have thrown the assault party all over the place, injuring and incapacitating some of them.
The side of the transport unfolded with an ungodly shriek of tearing metal, revealing the destroyed interior of a dwelling. Mato'Varee shook himself as the energy harness shut down, allowing him to move freely. He activated his active camouflage, becoming invisible within moments. His armor's HUD updated, giving him IFF markers of his SpecOps team, who were now invisible ghosts as well.
"Secure the relics and kill everything standing in our way!" The Commander barked. His jaws split into a wide grin and he jumped out of the transport, wielding a rifle and energy blade. He could hear the armored feet of his warriors scamper over twisted metal and smashed furniture as they followed him.
The first obstacle in their way was not glamorous. The nose of the transport had smashed through a couple of rooms, crumpling itself as it destroyed most of a metal wall. More importantly, it had partially smashed through and twisted a metal sliding door, ensuring it was stuck in place. Mato'Varee ignited his blade and tested it against the obstacle. While he was able to cut through relatively quickly, he noted that the metal in his way was way tougher than anything of similar size the Humans had built before that he had encountered until now. Well, that made sense, didn't it? While the Commander had no idea what this world was, much less where it was, it was clear that the Humans here had access to way better toys compared to those he had faced before.
When the door finally fell to the ground in a glowing heap of sliced and melted metal, Mato'Varee shut down his blade and ordered the shorties to run through.
Their leader yipped loudly in resignation, and soon the air in front of the Sangheili rippled as a group of Unggoy raced forth. He followed suit a moment later, having to lean down to pass through the unpleasantly small door. At least the ceilings were tall enough to be comfortable.
Just as the Commander straightened up and moved away from the entrance, he could hear unfamiliar shouts. He saw a small group of what had to be Humans in blue armor of an unfamiliar type. One of the humans was pointing his way. The rest immediately spread out and threw grenades down the corridor.
The Unggoy opened fire with needlers and plasma pistols, giving the enemy clear targets. The Humans immediately returned fire, shooting red energy bolts. Needless to say, that was new as well. Even better, Mato'Varee saw a green plasma bolt strike one of the blue armors into the chest, only to harmlessly splash over a shield.
Those Humans were too small to be Demons. When all was said and done, they didn't move anywhere as fast as those things were supposed to. That didn't prevent them from killing the shorties easily. The Commander noted the red bolts could blow fist-sized chunks from the armor of his SpecOps Unggoy, which was usually more than enough to put them down with a single solid hit.
It didn't help that their cloaks drew more than enough power to render the weak shields his shorties had available from activating.
A moment later, the Human's grenades detonated, filling the corridor with large silver particles that covered everything and made the active camouflage useless.
Mato'Varee dashed into a nearby open door and switched off his cloak.
"Shields up!" The Commander barked while waiting for his energy barrier to charge.
Meanwhile, the unlucky Unggoy kept charging the enemy, dying to buy their betters time to react to this new development.
Impact after impact shook the building, announcing the arrival of more and more assault units.
"Grenade them, then we charge!" Mato'Varee barked. They had relics to recover and couldn't allow themselves to be stopped at the mere beginning of this glorious operation!
The Commander happily followed his order. He put away his sword by attaching it to a magnetic camp on his hip, retrieved a plasma grenade, and waited for a few heartbeats. He saw multiple glowing blue spheres fly by his hiding hole and exploded into motion after them.
"Charge!" Mato'Varee gleefully roared and rand down the corridor. As soon as he built up speed, the Commander threw his grenade at the blue humans who were wisely falling back. The need to avoid the grenades ensured they couldn't put down enough sustained fire to cut down the charging Sangheili. Blinding blue flashes obscured the corridor as plasma bathed everything in range. The metal glowed and in places melted, running down like water.
More explosions followed, further obscuring the rapidly shrinking space between the combatants. Blue and red energy bolts flew in both directions, followed by pink glowing needles. They splashed against shields or bit into metal. A Sangheili fell screaming, then a Human shriek followed.
The last flash of a plasma detonation cleared, revealing one of the blue Humans was on the ground clutching a bunch of needle bolts embedded in his side. The resulting explosion tore open the human into a shower of steaming blood and shattered the small enemy formation. The brief confusion allowed the Commander to vault over pools of rapidly cooling metal and fall upon the enemy.
His blade flashed down as an extension of his will, intent to cut the closest Human into two. A protective shield flashed, then popped overloaded by the strike. The Human fell back, screaming, yet alive.
Mato'Varee stared in surprise even as his right hand aimed his rifle at the face of another target and pressed the trigger, bathing it into plasma. His blade had bitten deeply into the armor. It bubbled and ablated, somehow protecting the Human he cut down. He was very much alive, clutching a charred and ruined arm.
A burst of red bolts staggered the Commander back. An alarm rang in his ears, announcing that his shields were all but gone. He reacted on instinct and threw his ignited blade at the Human shooting at him, then switched targets while still firing. His rifle overloaded, and he threw it as well. Mato'Varee's arms went to his magnetic clamps, retrieving an ancient combat knife and a plasma pistol. His Sangheili finally caught up with him and bathed the remaining Humans in plasma.
The Commanded growled when the engagement came to a sudden and unsatisfying end. He glared around, seeing the charred remains of the Humans, then the state of his warriors. Two of them had their armor burned almost through and nearly useless, undoubtedly spouting painful burns, if their low grows were anything to go by. The one who screamed during the charge was on the ground, holding the stump of his right leg.
"You two grab a few of the new Human weapons for examination and drag that unlucky fool to the healers." Mato'Varee snapped at his less than fortunate Sangheili. "The rest of you follow me! We've got relics to recover!"
=RF=
Chapter 1 Part 5
=RF=
3 AIF (After Imperial Founding)/
14.08.2552 UNSC Military Calendar/
Bridge
CSO Long Night of Solace
Coruscant
Corcusca Galaxy
A hint of unease ran up Rho'Barutamee's spine. Sensors of all types, including old-fashioned but still vital cameras, revealed much about the current opposition.
It was nothing like the Humans he was accustomed to crushing. Practically everything and everyone on this Gods' forsaken world packed effective energy weapons. Fighters and bombers of unknown designs attacked displaying durability, agility, and firepower far ahead of anything the Humans had deployed until now.
Those weren't prototypes fielded in small numbers and desperation either. The Shipmaster's warriors faced whole formations outfitted with mass-produced advanced equipment. The Banshees proved to be outclassed in the air to such an extent, that it wasn't even funny. Air strikes slipped through point defense and Seraph squadrons ravaged deploying armor columns. The Covenant fighters used to be an extreme threat to everything the Humans could put into air or space. Now they were fighting for their lives against shielded craft that was at least a match for them.
The obscured power signatures in orbit were of great concern as well. There was a whole local fleet up there yet to properly engage his carrier. So far it was content only to deploy ground forces and probe the Solace's defenses as if they had never faced a Covenant ship of such power before.
"Shipmaster, a wide-range sweep of the Reliquaries revealed another artifact concentration. This one is much larger!" A Sensor operator reported.
"We've got camera feed from the leading assault parties. They're facing stiff resistance. They're advancing despite suffering moderate to heavy losses."
"Get a sensor image of the new relic site up. Load all the data we have on transport and send it through the portal with Seraph escort. We need reinforcements to secure the Relics before the locals can move them out of our reach!" Rho'Barutamee ordered.
A screen lit up showing an immense structure that had to be some kind of an alien temple. Four spires surrounded it, but that didn't matter. A rising swarm of what had to be local military transports was rising from military facilities built around and within the temple itself. The sensors could detect countless air vehicles running away.
"Send a barrage of plasma torpedoes at those targets to break up their formation. Launch all reserve craft and intensify point defense fire!" The Shipmaster decreed.
Rho'Barutamee shifted his attention to the information flowing from his assault parties.
Humans and aliens alike in blue shielded armor, alongside automated turrets, slowed down the advance until reinforcements and heavier weaponry could reach the choke points they defended. Meanwhile, despite the best efforts of the Seraphs and the Solace's point defense, the locals managed to deploy a significant amount of heavy infantry and vehicles in the areas near the carrier.
A large shielded tank advanced up a street covered with corpses. Aliens almost as large as Demons, flanked it, wearing disturbingly advanced armor and weaponry. They suddenly opened fire, disrupting an ambush by a pack of Jiralhanae. Fuel-rod shots detonated against gleaming shields. Others blew up spectacularly in the air when pulse lasers intercepted them in mid-flight. Hot spikes sparkled off shields while heavy energy weapons burned through the armor and tough fur of young Jiralhanae. A heavily shielded Chieftain threw grenades and charged wielding a gravity hammer. A hail of energy fire intercepted him, blowing him in two halfway to the closest local.
The brief and bloody engagement ended when the Solace's gunners used a pulse laser to turn that whole street into a burning hell.
An alert got Rho'Barutamee's attention. One of his advance parties was closing in on the relics at the primary target site. He switched the image on the screen to see a Hugarok's tentacle floating in view, focused on an unfamiliar weapon it was busy examining. A Sangheili's barked order had the floating machine switch most of its attention to the task at hand. Its tentacles whirled, discharging energy and reinforcing the shields of the SpecOps team. Seconds later, they burst through a nearby door, followed by the Hugarok.
The camera showed a large open space surrounded by stairways. It was full of running locals and warriors in blue armor trying to maintain control. After a few moments of observation, Rho'Barutamee recognized an odd-shaped train station.
"Weapon Master, the Humans are attempting to remove the Relics by underground train. Make sure no trains could leave the surrounding area. Burn them to the mantle if you have to!" The Shipmaster ordered, then refocused his full attention on the unfolding confrontation.
Rho'Barutamee soon recognized the prize. There was a cluster of different figures making their way briskly through the crowds. Their larger armors were a dead giveaway. As if that wasn't enough, the Hugarok showed a Sangheili Major with a Reliquary pointing straight at the fleeing prey.
This was the prize, and the reason Rho'Barutamee was here in the first place! He had to have those Relics!
The SpecOps Commander barked an order and the Covenant party charged into the fray, cutting anything in their path. Blue warriors turned around and started pushing their way through the fleeing crowds of Humans and aliens alike. At the same time, the rearguard protecting the Relics turned as one and opened fire.
Another shiver of unease ran up and down Rho'Barutamee's spine. The precise fast movements of those warriors reminded him of Demon recordings he had seen. While their armor was different and bulkier, it soon became clear that they were no less lethal for it.
They had better weapons as well.
Blue and red energy bolts struck at the advancing SpecOps, while they had to divide their attention between cutting their way through the fleeing crowd and targeting the enemy.
A tall human with long yellow fur on his head glanced back, then shouted something to the retreating party. He then turned around and ignited an odd energy blade. It was blue and it looked all kinds of wrong. The energy saber was like a glowing stick, instead of a beautifully curved double-edged blade.
A stream of purple needles flew at the enemy rearguard, ready to impale and blow them out of the way. Rho'Barutamee looked with glee as the Humans didn't even try to evade! Not that it would have worked in the wide-open space, but that was beside the point!
To the Shipmaster's utter astonishment, the yellow-furred Human raised his free hand and all the needless froze in mid-air before they could strike their intended targets. The Hugarok had a perfect angle on the Human when he made a dismissive motion. Suddenly, all the explosive projectiles slammed into the ground as if they were yesterday's trash.
At that point, more and more blue armored warriors fought their way through the crowd and the SpecOps team found itself caught in the open, fighting for its life.
"Targets locked on. Firing!" The Weapon Master announced.
Even as Rho'Barutamee watched some of his best warriors die pointless deaths, the far end of the train station belched fire and the camera shook. This was merely the byproduct of plasma torpedoes and other assorted weaponry digging into the soil of this infernal planet and burning their way to the underground tunnels, tuning them into furnaces. A wave of fire washed over hundreds if not thousands of the locals, turning them into screaming torches.
The plasma fires stopped the fleeing enemy party cold, cutting off their egress route.
There would be no escape now!
"Send in the reserves! I want those relics recovered right now!" Rho'Barutamee demanded, without looking away from the burning hell he unleashed.
He could see the yellow-furred human look at the flames with obvious shock, noticing how the flames almost engulfed the fleeing party. Then he turned around and stared straight at the Hugarok.
Rho'Barutamee could have sworn he saw the Human's eyes glow.
=RF=
Chapter 1 Part 6
=RF=
3 AIF (After Imperial Founding)/
14.08.2552 UNSC Military Calendar/
Imperial Knights Compound
Coruscant
Corcusca galaxy
Two former Jedi, now wearing the black armor of Imperial Knights, stood in one of the refurbished hangars of the former Jedi Temple. The theater shield defending the building was about to prove its mettle. Whole wings of combat and transport craft moving from the military bases built around the Imperial Knight's citadel scattered away from fast-moving glowing plasma arrows.
In the distance, Coruscant burned. An oddly beautiful dark orb hung above where one could see the Senate Building on a good day. Below it, an angry purple capital ship spat death at what should have finally been a peaceful world.
A prosthetic arm clad in an armored glove touched Secura's shoulder.
"You have a duty to our trainees and younglings. We can't fall again," Krell grumbled. The Dark Side swirled around him, marking him as what once upon a time would have been an anathema to this place – a Dark Jedi, but not quite. Ironically enough, it was modified Sith's teachings that allowed him to maintain sanity and control even as he fell as the war progressed.
The younger Twi'lek felt a pang of regret at that thought. So many Jedi either fled, turned traitors, or outright fell during the war. And the Sith, the enemy that was supposed to come and destroy them? Instead, they were the Jedi of an age past who offered a hand in salvation in the Jedi's darkest hour. It was madness. Then again, at that time, insanity engulfed the whole galaxy.
Just like now, madness came back to Coruscant. That was supposed to be a time of peace and healing, not more war and butchery.
"Did you have more visions?" Secura asked after the first plasma spears splashed all over the theater shield, which rippled and held. The very air beyond it turned into an inferno, obscuring their vision.
"Unless we kriff it up by the numbers again, we should do better," Krell grinned. "Come, my friends! We are Knights tasked to rescue a princess!" He waved a pair of hands at the last stragglers running to the LAAT transports, ready to take them to the heart of the nearby warzone.
"Yes, we can't fail in that," Secura noted dryly.
First, the child was innocent, even if she had the weight of the galaxy on her little shoulders. Second, the political consequences of failure didn't bare thinking about. Third, they all had much to prove to themselves and the galaxy in the aftermath of the war and all the treachery that tainted the former Jedi.
"May the Force be with you, my friend!" Krell gently squeezed Secura's shoulder and jumped in the waiting transport. He put on his helmet and sealed it with a distinct click. A fire team of power-armored soldiers was on board, ready to back him, just like with every other LAAT prepared to leave the dock.
The war did teach them many lessons, not necessarily for the better. Like it or not, the few and far between the former Jedi were peacekeepers nowadays. They were soldiers forged in the flames of war, and the survivors had to learn well to make it through that hell.
Jedi, now Imperial Knights, lead strike teams left their base, flying in the wake of a full-scale conventional deployment to contain the enemy—meanwhile, those who remained prepared to fend off a potential assault on their home. The evacuation of civilians, trainees, and younglings was in progress while reinforcements flowed in from nearby military installations.
=RF=
Flag Bridge
Imperial Command Cruiser Coruscant's Shield
high orbit above Coruscant
Corcusca Galaxy
The military of the Federated Empire had all kinds of contingencies for a rainy day, ranging from dealing with known and reasonable threats to the unlikely and improbable, and finally, what many thought to be the outright impossible.
There was no contingency for directly dealing with the ongoing disaster in the heart of the Empire. However, many contingencies could be modified on the go to suit the situation or were already in play.
The primary holo tank showed the grave situation on the ground. The Senate was gone, potentially permanently; however, there was hope that the event that replaced it with an invasion force and a super capital might have left it intact on the other side of the portal. That was, of course, at best a double-edged sword. There were too many high-value targets in the Senate, too much sensitive, not to mention critical information just lying around or stuck in people's heads. The Emperor and Empress were in the building when they vanished, further complicating things.
The concerned assault on Republica 500, which was still the Imperial Residence, among other things, and the place where the Crown Princess was last reported present, didn't help. For all intents and purposes, this was the beginning of an unprovoked war, started with a mostly successful decapitation strike.
The unexpected nature of the attack helped in that regard as much as it hurt. No one of the usual suspects dared cause trouble. Instead, while flash traffic spread throughout the galaxy carrying orders to execute a long list of contingencies, local forces mobilized and deployed in a defensive posture across the Empire. After all, for all they knew, this was merely a prelude to a full-scale invasion across the galaxy.
Coburn only hoped that he would soon receive official backing for the orders he had already cut on his own. Otherwise, the political backlash would be tremendous, not to mention the last thing the Empire needed at a time like this.
Quick reaction forces in nearby sectors were mobilizing. Local QRFs were moving to contain the enemy incursion, even as total recall of all military forces across the system was underway. Coruscant's AO was now under martial law, with countless trade and private vessels breaking away from the planet and either heading for a holding pattern or outright fleeing.
"Strike Package assembled. Available ground forces will be fully ready for deployment within five minutes," One of Coburn's aides reported.
"Silver Contingency is confirmed to be in effect. Succession protocols are now in effect. We received an automatic response from the Freehold confirming delivery of the contingency. Expect Mandalore to call momentarily, Fleet Admiral," Coburn's XO noted. "Corellia, Kuat, Alkasan, and Empress Theta confirm Succession Protocols and Case Headhunter are in effect. Contingencies for the continuance of the Federal Government should proceed apace."
"The same is true for the Mid-Rim Alliance. Silver Contingency reached their High Command and is now being executed. We are still awaiting a response from Fleet Admiral Tarkin…."
"Fleet mobilization is, as of now, fifteen percent behind expectations. QRF mobilization is five percent ahead on average…."
"All forces in transit that can reach us in practical timeframe have been alerted," A new holographic window opened beside the Admiral's thin, aged frame. It listed over a hundred capital ships with escorts that can get to Coruscant within hours. Neither of them was formally part of a QRF.
Coburn's dark eyes quickly scrolled through the list. Most notable was the Task Force carrying back a Shock Trooper detachment fresh from finally putting down the major rogue elements on Cato Neimoidia. General Tano was in charge. She had one of the few veteran formations able to respond quickly without compromising ongoing military commitments. They could get to Coruscant within four hours if using tactical hyperspace insertions within star systems.
"Give General Tano's Task Force a priority. We can use her Shock Troopers," Coburn ordered. "Anything new on the enemy's capabilities?"
"Negative, sir. You have all the useful data we've been able to glean so far," One of the tactical analysts reported.
"Admiral, we just received a fleet-wide flash traffic from Mandalore," The Commodore overseeing all communications reported.
Yet another holographic window came into existence, this time close enough that Coburn couldn't ignore it if he wanted. A long string of authorizations and confirmed authentications took up the top of the message, followed by the text itself.
All Imperial Military Personnel:
This is a galaxy-wide alert to all Federated Empire Territories. Fleet Admiral Coburn, CO Coruscant Defense Fleet, has declared contingencies Silver, Reaper, Headhunter, and Shattered Aegis. Enemy presence confirmed in the Coruscant system. Coruscant is under attack. Decapitation strikes against Imperial Military and Civilian leadership confirmed.
As per Cases Silver and Headhunter, Succession Protocols are now in effect. As per Case Silver, General Delkatar Veil assumes the position of Supreme Military Commander, Federated Empire Military Forces.
Orders following, authorized by General Veil, Delkatar, Supreme Commander Federal Military:
Fleet Admiral Coburn has operational command over the Coruscant Area of Operations. All nearby Sector Commands are directed to provide feasible reinforcements to the Coruscant Theater of Operations ASAP.
All Tier One Military Forces outside the Coruscant Area of Operations are directed to muster to predetermined staging areas and ensure the protection of their assigned Areas of Operations.
Tier Two Military Forces are directed to mobilize ASAP and ensure the defense of their assigned Areas of Operations.
All System Defense Forces are now placed on high alert and ordered into a defensive posture as per Case Shattered Aegis.
All Planetary Defense Forces are directed to fully mobilize and secure critical infrastructure and population centers as per Case Shattered Aegis.
General Military Mobilization is now in effect. All Federal Military personnel is directed to report to their designated staging areas. All leaves are now canceled.
All reservists are directed to report to their nearest designated staging areas.
In the absence of further instruction, independent action is authorized.