Apathy

by Throwaway1971

Not important please ignore

12. Entry 109-116

Military Calendar 2534 - Halo Universe

After Activation 0087 - Origin Universe

Citadel Era 2191 - Mass Effect Universe

After Insertion 0048 - Cultivation Universe

Millennium 061-3100 - 40k Universe

Since there were Flag Admirals for this meeting with the new race and now proven, not hostile aliens, they were more relaxed about it. It didn't mean they went stupid however and there were Spartans that were escorting the Admirals and various Marine Corp Generals as well. They were Spartan 3s, the 2s being on active duty and disappearing when asked about possible escort duties. The Spartan 3s were on paper of the same calibre but their lack of experience with their augmentations and fighting in general saw them slightly less effective in the real world.

Still they were Spartans and they were the best they had. If the aliens got fresh with them, it was the Spartans who were going to kill any offenders and extract them. Hopefully that is. The capabilities of the alien Humans and the Krogan seemed rather over the top for basic infantry and they didn't want to go up against them, chances were things were going to be going wrong for them if they did.

Still, the meeting had to progress, they had to know exactly what it was this new alien coalition wanted with them. If it was peace then they could focus their attention to the enemy. If it was to wage war upon them then they would be able to reposition their fleets and if they were so lucky as for them to be willing to aid in the war against the Covenant then so much the better. The chances of that were rather slim truth be told but it was better than nothing.

The UNSC didn't have much to offer but it did have loyalty. Should they assist, they would find the UNSC to be very much prepared to assist in a very large way in return. The UNSC repaid their debts.

It was with this mindset that they boarded the vessel that was called Path of Justice, a 14-kilometer vessel that had very little in the way of weapons but was apparently more of a cruise liner designed for negotiations and recreation. The ONI operatives amongst the Marines that were escorting them were rather miffed about that, they expected to be able to see and study up close the specifics of the alien's technology. Well, rather the "Caretakers" as they referred to themselves. What it was they were taking care of was unknown, their attempts at asking met with evasion. A cause for concern perhaps but they had literally just met and probing too deeply was rude. They didn't want to scare off the potential allies after all.

Path of Justice was a rather roomy vessel. A given when they considered that it was meant to allow ease of access for the rather bulky armour that the aliens wore as part of their standard uniform apparently. Or perhaps it was just for hostile encounters? They were not exactly too sure, the ones that had formed the temporary embassy certainly wore them as if they were uniforms, never actually taking them off in front of the UNSC marines that had been attached. Then again it may have just been caution as opposed to any real need for them all the time as indicated.

As the UNSC delegates followed their Quarian escorts down the corridors that ran the length of the ship. The vast bulkheads that were interspaced every hundred meters or so were thicker than Frigate hull armour. Usually a meter or a meter and a half thick bulkheads. It seemed kind of overkill but there was the possibility that they were fighting enemies that warranted that level of protection. Which in itself was rather terrifying the delegates thought, they were already having issues fighting the Covenant, they didn't want to fight enemies that warranted massively thick armour plating all over the ship.

There were various corridors that led off into the bowels of the ship but they weren't allowed down there the physical presence of Armoured Guards, rather discouraged exploration. The walk itself was for another 20 minutes before they arrived at what looked like an elevator of sorts, only it was clearly designed to lift things the size of tanks.

"What's this thing for?" Asked one of the ONI Marines, trying to pretend that he was just an inquisitive country bumpkin. Whether or not the Quarians knew was rather ambiguous as they answered the question anyway. "Its an elevator for Macro Cannon Shells, we don't have any Macro Cannons so we can just use this as a personnel transport. We've refitted the Macro Batteries with living and recreational quarters for the crew and guests."

These were elevators for the shells? The elevator was over 50 meters wide… what exactly were they shooting that they needed shells this big?

As it moved upwards, the delegates and the escorts began to experience vertigo, the acceleration enough to cause their vision to grey out slightly. The Spartans were just as fine as always but the delegates themselves without the benefit of armour locking found themselves buckling at the knees.

"Oh, sorry, I forgot you guys don't have Power Armour to lock your knees with. Let me fix that for you." The Quarian walked over to the side and pressed a series of buttons that slowed down the elevator enough that they didn't have trouble standing upright.

"Thank you" wheezed out a Marine.

The delegation had walked for nearly an hour before they finally reached the room where the negotiations could begin properly. After they rested for a bit of course, that much walking wore a person out. The sights on the way had amazed the delegates, the size of the main avenues of the ship were big enough for several tanks to travel abreast through. The sheer amount of people on these were enough to make them remember that this was a 14-kilometer vessel. The Spartans with their onboard computers checked and saw over 15, 000 unique individuals on their way through, not including the multiple Power Armour individuals without distinctive markings. Questioning revealed that this was merely one of 30 avenues which ran the length of the ship and considering that their pedometers said they had barely walked 3 kilometers… well, the ship was very clearly something that was enormous in terms of size and crew.

The Spartans discussing across the closed bandwidth that had the high-ranking delegates and the Spartans themselves on it, called into question the wisdom of boarding something like this. They would need multiple ships with their entire crews emptied into the behemoth to successfully board it and take it, not factoring in things like self-destruct sequences.

That wasn't all that had drawn their attention, however there were many alien Humans, Krogans, and Quarians that weren't wearing armour. It was… different. The Humans looked like Spartans on steroids, their bodies over 8 feet tall and toned with muscle to the point where it looked gratuitous. A few of the Spartans even looked envious of the bulk that the males had while the female ones had a little less but were still clearly female with the proper bodily proportions. Rather strange looking on someone who was a hunk of muscle but… well, that was what it was. The Krogan looked like upright lizards really. Big, bulky chests, strong legs, and some rather short arms. Their chests dominated their body structure with the hump taking up a big part of that. There wasn't much they could see about the Krogan really, their unfamiliarity with the Krogan biological makeup hampering them in that regard.

The Quarians however… well, they got a few Marines, and the Spartans and a few of the Brass looking. The glow of the bioluminescence below their skin, the svelte forms, the curves and the fingers… mmmm. The Quarians were just human enough to be attractive but also alien enough to be exotic. The men were still alive enough to fully appreciate the Quarians and a few made plans to try and sweet talk some of them. The officers not quite being able to deny them that when they were planning the exact same things. The skintight suits definitely did not help them in that regard, would it kill them to have some baggy clothing?

Then came what looked like normal humans. Smaller, around the size of the UNSC humans but they had glowing purple eyes. That was certainly worrying, mutations perhaps? The Spartans noticed that these were the ones that were keeping a closer eye than average on them, staring at the group as they went past. Their nods relaxing entire groups of the aliens, perhaps they had some kind of power that let them see weapons?

So the soldier class of human was not the only ones around. That was food for thought, the idea that the alien humans had mastered genetic engineering was particularly worrying.

The recreation room was more like a building, a vast structure where they could catch their breath, have a snack if they so wished (which they didn't) and generally collect themselves before heading into the talks. It appeared that they were the objects of interest, families showing up to gawk at them before turning away in an attempt to hide it. Rather amusing for the delegates, like they were rare fish in the aquarium. 15 minutes later they sent the word through that they were ready and were escorted to the room where the talked would take place.

The room was one that was rather opulent. It was a rather large room that was dominated by a table in the center of the room that also served as a holographic display. On the sides were heads that had been mounted on likely as trophies… trophies that had more teeth than some UNSC ships had crew. On the ground floor were dozens of people running to and fro, some in Power Armour while most were without. Their hustle and bustle making it resemble a War Room as opposed to anything else. A rather peculiar place for diplomatic talks that was for certain.

A Power Armoured figure strode towards them, parting the people milling about while doing so. His arms cradled a helmet at his side, his face one that could be considered traditionally handsome if it wasn't mounted on an 8-foot tall body that was no doubt crammed full of genetic engineered organs. "Good morning! It was taking a while for you to get here so I popped in here while I was waiting. Please, come with me, we can talk without the noise and the ears!" He boomed out. Of course, his attempts at discretion failing terribly as the hubbub stopped and they all turned to stare at the group. A few of the delegates resisting the urge to facepalm. Subtle these people were not.

Their architecture, their design sensibilities, their everything rang out with a cry of "behold the magnificence of the presence you are in!" They had heard reports about what it was like but they had thought it was exaggeration. This, however… well, it confirmed partly what they originally thought was hyperbole surrounding the aliens and their personalities.

It wouldn't do to offend the figures however and they kept their snorts of laughter to themselves. The delegates followed the man into an adjacent room that was much less ostentatious and was just a simple table surrounded by chairs, some places left over for the ones in Power Armour to stand likely. As they seated themselves, the chairs being mighty comfortable and seemingly designed with them in mind, the top Brass found themselves looking around the room as their escorts spread themselves through the room. Firing lanes were abundant in what was just a flat room with no extra furniture. The Power Armoured human turned to them and smiled, "So tell me, how may we assist against the dread Covenant? The Caretakers are on standby for deployment! Only the most dangerous assignments, only the biggest explosions! Oh and like trading and stuff too…"

What.

Military Calendar 2534 - Halo Universe

After Activation 0087 - Origin Universe

Citadel Era 2191 - Mass Effect Universe

After Insertion 0048 - Cultivation Universe

Millennium 061-3100 - 40k Universe

Their stupefied faces must have been something because one of the normal sized humans laughed.

"I am sorry, what we mean to say is that how may we assist you in this war of yours against the Covenant?" The man in question being one of the normal sized ones… barely at 7 feet. Also the one of the first ones that they had contacted in the first place, Shepard his name was. Still there was the question of how they even knew about the Covenant in the first place, the opsec had been in place purely to stop that from happening. What if they declined to assist because it was too dangerous? It was disingenuous, even lying one could say but if it was for the future of humanity then nothing was too much.

Of course the aliens somehow had the ability to hack the comnet… well it shot their plan A to hell. Trying to keep the Covenant a secret in full a losing proposition to begin with it seemed and didn't that rankled with the ONI spooks.

"Why? What reason do you have to help us?" Said the man in charge of the Delegation, Flag Admiral Marcus Trunshon.

"Would you believe it if we said it was because of the goodness of our hearts? That we were moved by your suffering?" The man took off his helmet and grinned at them. At their stares the grin got even wider. "No? Didn't expect you to."

He stood up and motioned at the table which lit up to form a hologram. Displayed was the Harvest system that rotated slowly with the fleet itself above it, marked clearly with each ship being highlighted. The level if detail was incredible, the contours, angles and surfaces all looked as if they were the real ones shrunken down to fit in the palm. A gesture saw the system expand further until its edges covered the outer colonies of the UNSC, worlds with a red cross over a circle on them indicating those that had been lost. Those with just a circle seemed to indicate fighting in general. The brief murmur over their comnet assured Trunshon that the displays were real and likely even more updated than their own.

Which itself raised more questions, how exactly did they get this information? It couldn't be something as simple as a hacking of the Harvestinfonet since it didn't even have this data in the first place. No this was something else, something that worried the Brass, what if they had been observing them for much longer than they had previously thought? What if they had been waiting the entire time while Harvest burned?

"28 worlds burned. I would perhaps understand if it was motivated by something like survival or necessity. Instead what I am seeing is something that is motivated by simple religion. The Covenant seek to wipe out humanity over something as pathetically simple as religion, their beliefs calling for genocide. The members of the Covenant not even questioning, rather they are eager to burn worlds. Not soldiers or even threats but civilians, the weak and the needy. It is repulsive and pathetic."

The holographic display had shown the glassings of worlds and the Covenant attacks on far-flung colonies regardless of whether or not they were of strategic importance. Millions dead because of reasons they could not fathom, no attempt at discourse, just genocide.

"You ask why we wish to assist you? It is simply because we do not see a reason why not to. We would have been ready to trade with you from the onset, our peoples have much to offer one another. Our navies and our armies possess many humans in their ranks, the Covenant would see them dead. We could run and hide but they would come for us regardless, maybe not now but eventually. No, the best option here would be to accept that we must fight the Covenant. We risk much less than you, that is true but we offer our assistance regardless."

The UNSC delegates looked at each other and nodded briefly, it appeared that the aliens did have a stake in this, their humans being just at risk as the UNSC ones. What it was they could actually offer on the other hand was up in the air. They had ships the sheer size must mean they were incredibly expensive to both field and man. How were they going to support them in the field and… well, do anything with them? Did they even have the necessary amounts of infantry to do the fighting? Did they have the materials for trade? Just how good were the materials and weapons they were offering? So many questions, and so little time. All of it boiling down to the simple question of whether or not it was going to be worth their time in the first place to accept the help of these aliens.

"I can see you are worried perhaps about the veracity of our claims. We can worry about that tomorrow, for now please relax and enjoy your stay. We will tour the facilities tomorrow where we can show you exactly what it is we can offer to the UNSC."

With that they were shepherded out of the room and into what they assumed were temporary facilities of some kind. Perhaps tomorrow they would be able to see exactly what it was that the aliens were so confident in.

The UNSC leaders were following the Space Marines on their tour around the ship. The difference between the Space Marines and the other humans was that the Space Marines were the produce of genetic engineering to create a super soldier, much like their own Spartan programs but on a more comprehensive scale. Each one had implants to improve pretty much every aspect of their bodies, their eyes, nervous system, digestive systems, redundant organs and the list went on. Unlike the Spartan program however, there were thousands of these "Astartes" as they called themselves with the process to make one relatively simple. These were the shock troops that had been offered to serve, their modus operandi being very similar to that of ODST. Drop in from orbit in drop-pods, tear apart the enemy in the rear and the supply lines before linking up with other elements.

The tour so far had covered the basic biology of each of the races within it, the Astartes being shocking but their non-modified brethren were just as impressive. Having abilities in either the "biotic" or "psionic" sphere that allowed them to do things that were very similar to magic. Capable of lifting a few hundred kilograms, causing explosions and jerking people around with ease.

The Krogan were very much front line infantry, very poor when it came to subtlety but they didn't need it. Durable weapons they could also smash into the faces of their enemies and sufficient armour was enough for them. Wave after wave of the things able to drown the enemy in nigh-unkillable biological killing machines. Their reproductive rates ensuring they could replenish their losses with ease.

The Geth were… self-regenerating killer robot AIs. There wasn't much more that could be said regarding them in all honesty, they were just very good at surviving and killing. The scientists that they had with them not able to really give anything besides educated guesses since they were so different.

The Quarians… well, they were more similar to humans than the humans were honesty. Besides the bioluminescence but they were very similar biologically and culturally. They formed the majority of the crews on the Caretaker vessels but did very little fighting on their own. Their culture for reasons or another had seen them shy away from combat in general, not even training properly for it.

The tour had left the initial room following the general briefing on the races towards the small scale technologies. They were basically a set of rooms next to each other to allow the tour to proceed more quickly. Each room located in what was a gun battery previously, the scale really hitting home now when they considered that some of these were the size of UNSC frigates. The first set of technology on offer was basic laser technology.

It sounded rather anemic to be honest until a Quarian had fired it at a gelatin target and half the upper torso exploded in a steam explosion. Each battery pack they were assured could fire at least 100 shots before needing a recharge and they could be recharged via sockets, sunlight or even direct treatment of heat to the pack itself. The Marine generals were very pleased with the prospect of their grunts being armed with these suckers, especially when they were demonstrating exactly how durable they were. Capable of cracking skulls, stabbing mandibles and still firing as if nothing had gone wrong. Barely any moving parts either, genius. The scientists that were part of the retinue had fits, screaming that lasers don't work that way, that conservation of energy doesn't work that way. That physics doesn't work that way.

Then they demonstrated the Lascannons which were basically Lasguns but on a scale that could melt holes in tanks. Because of course they could. While they did use the entire battery pack for every shot, they also melted clear through a meter of Titanium in doing so.

Next on the list was Melta weaponry, named because it tended to melt things. Doing it by using fusion technology to basically create a mini-sun then focusing that heat in a specific direction. It was as ridiculous as it sounded. Whereas the Lascannons put holes in the Titanium block, the Melta-gun at barely half the size evaporated it and a chunk of the hull and the walls. Ridiculous. The only thing saving their sanity being the knowledge that it was heavily limited in range, until they were told it could fit inside torpedoes. Because why not.

To make up for a lack of range they had unveiled their Plasma technology that quite frankly made a mockery of Covenant plasma. Whereas Covenant plasma burnt little pockmarked in everything, Caretaker plasma just turned it to slag. The Caretakers mounted bigger versions of them on their ships, capable of turning worlds to molten rock. Because why not.

Volkite Weaponry that was like Laser and Plasma had a baby. Beams of concentrated heat energy that would cause sympathetic heat transfer, essentially being able to set people on fire from behind cover. Because why not.

Then they were shown the weapon that the Space Marines were all holding. The only thing that really looked like a conventional weapon. The Bolter, firing gyrojet, diamond tipped explosive shells designed to punch through armour and flesh before exploding inside. Demonstrations had them punching through armour at least twice as thick as that the UNSC marines wore and tearing apart the gelatine figure. Each had a range of over 2 kilometers and were incredibly easy to maintain. The Spartans were staring at the ones the Space Marines had with envy. They were already planning to requisition some when they became available.

All of the weaponry they had been shown also came with pistol and heavy variants, the Heavy Bolters were an unholy melding of destruction and terror. ONI estimated that a single emplacement could destroy a squadron of Pelicans even faster than Covenant equivalents.

Then they were shown the personal weapons. Like the chainsword… the Brass could already see the reports of self-harm from improper use filtering through. Though they could admit they did look particularly awesome and morale would certainly improve every time an officer eviscerated a Covenant trooper with one.

Plans were already being made in their heads to begin large scale shifting of their infrastructure once the weapons had been tested and put through their paces. Perhaps a shipment of them to be used in combat situations.

Then they were shown demonstrations of the vehicles and were made to feel oh so inadequate. 90mm for the Scorpion felt like a child's toy nerf gun compared to the 90mm dual gatling cannons on the Leman Russ Punisher. The Baneblade… as big as a city block with the armaments to destroy 10 and the armour to match. Overcompensation to be sure but dammit if they didn't have to put down a few erections while they were on the way through. Especially the Stormravens, Pelicans eat your heart out because that is a flying tank.

A Brief Introduction to Cultivation stories or Xianxia in the anglicized translation for Organics.

By your overlords the Minds.

Xianxia is made up of two words, Xian and Xia which combine together to mean "Immortal Hero". It is distinct from its counterpart in chinese popular fiction Wuxia or "Martial Hero". Wuxia focuses on more realistic depictions of stories where the characters focus on developing their techniques and abilities in the vein of a more "realistic" strategy. Using things like inner chi and muscle training to develop themselves, while perhaps taking medicines derived from traditional methods.

Xianxia on the other hand as the name suggests is a much more fantastical story. While it does share some aspects with Wuxia stories, especially in the beginning, it develops into much more, typically focusing on the manner in which the main character develops new and more powerful techniques. Both typically share this type of storytelling, the Wuxia attempts to ground itself in reality as opposed to Xianxia but with the only real difference being the inclusion of fantasy elements.

We will be focusing on the Xianxia aspects due to the inclusion of a Xianxia universe within the Caretaker territories. This introduction will serve as a primer for the organics seeking to transfer over to this universe and to experience this different existence. Or something. We do not know why you would seek to leave for a universe where the weak are smashed underfoot by the strong but it is not for us to judge.

A typical Xianxia story follows a very basic format. Due to the manner in which these are written, one chapter at a time to be posted on a website where authors are paid on their position in the rankings and reader retention rates. This means that author will seek to continue a single story as opposed to finishing it as reader recognition of an established brand is important for them to earn enough to survive. In order to retain readers, the authors will seek to create situations where there are many cliffhangers in order to pull the reader in for the next chapter.

Further the desire to continue a story and keep the large numbers of readers leads to stories that are many thousands of chapters long. The problem present in this manner of writing a story is that there is only so much a character can do in a single world in a story focused on progress on the cultivation path. The characters therefore become far too strong for their worlds typically and must instead advance to the next in order to maintain the amount of challenge that they face and ensure that the readers are not bored by an almighty hero.

This leads to the problem where the authors run out of ideas and recycle plot elements from the beginning of the story, creating natural "arcs" by which to segregate the story with. Repeating plot elements are not limited to a single story however and many of them carry through to the entire genre, the most typical of which is the "weak to strong" trope. As such the stories themselves continue in much the same vein as many of their contemporaries with the typical countercultural revolutions that seek to parody the same stories with very few seeking to expand outside the established systems. Those that do expand outside typically do so with one foot still inside in order to not feel alien to readers.

You may be asking why this is relevant but it is important to understand the underlying motivations and tropes of the cultivation world as it is a mix of many stories. The tropes of the genre will be vital in ensuring that you survive and are not destroyed by the various forces that will do so gladly for the barest of rewards.

It is important to understand that there are many systems that are shared across the stories and the universes with different names placed on them. Once you understand this, it is very easy to understand the various situations that you may find yourself in.

The typical Xianxia story will begin with a character that is extremely weak and is being bullied for being "trash". A divergent point will appear here where either the character finds a powerful artifact that may or may not be a family heirloom and may or may not have the soul of an ancient and powerful being that enabled the main character to become the powerhouse that he is later in the story. The second point is that the main character is so determined that he will somehow become extremely powerful by breaking through a barrier in their bodies or minds that gives them power or knowledge, their bodies being the artifacts in this case. The third typical divergent point is that the main character does not discover artifacts but is instead beaten to death by the primary antagonist for the first mini-arc whereupon a soul is inserted into the body and brings it back to life.

The third point is typically reserved for female cultivator stories but is common in male ones as well, typically using either a contemporary soul or that of someone in the future/past, either the MC who has died and now must rectify their mistakes or someone from the far future with knowledge regarding the most powerful means to advance their personal strength.

Regardless of the divergence, it will matter very little within 30 chapters except as a means of inserting plot power later in the story whenever the author is needing something new to drive the story forward. The character will then regardless of their origins, reincarnation or not will display extreme cruelty and callousness to anything that isn't their goal and will typically kill or mark someone to be killed at a later date for imagined or real slights.

They will use what are typically very cunning traps to humiliate those who either used to bully them or are in possession of the simple crime of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. The Main Characters will display extremely stubborn traits that mark them "better" than everyone else, capable of suffering extreme pain in their quest for power. Their personalities are identical according to gender. The Male Main Characters will display extreme arrogance, desire for violence, self-righteousness regardless of the situation, callousness, cunning, charismatic and generally aloof to all not their immediate family or friends. Female Main Characters tend to be very similar to their male counterparts but with more of a focus on subterfuge as opposed to overt action. Of course there are exceptions but these are few and far between.

The most common antagonists in this phase are what are colloquially known as "young masters" who are typically the children of powerful leaders of either the clan, sect or the city itself. These will be the main drivers of the plot until they are inevitably killed and the Main Character either hiding their involvement or fleeing somewhere, vowing their revenge.

Along the way they will gain power, companions (that are typically forgotten once the arc is over), romance partners (also forgotten once the arc is over, or even the chapter is over), power items which allow them to grow more powerful and so on. There will be many mini-arcs included during this period, each around 30 chapters where the Main Character will assist in various matters and gain various rewards and/or enemies. The final climax to the arc will be a confrontation with either the original antagonist (if they weren't killed, or their child was instead) and the powers behind them and the Main Character. The Main Character through amazing power will crush them, setting events in motion that will begin the second arc where the Main Character will repeat the first few chapters of the story, from weak to strong again.

This pattern will follow the story along with each big arc typically consisting of 300 or so chapters with mini-arcs filling it out. The story can go for over 5000 chapters but it typically gets extremely repetitive over time with the story offering nothing new and repeating plot points and often entire chapters except for different wordings and names. It is due to this that the future can be "predicted" in a manner as the Xianxia stories are extremely faithful to the stories themselves unless they are parodies.

Due to this the Main Characters are extremely easy to pinpoint amongst the populations of a Cultivation story due to their meteoric rise and vast amount of bodies they leave behind on their journey to the top. Their casual arrogance and brutality is another identifying factor that makes it easy to find and guide these people.

This is only referring to the typical male Xianxia stories, the female stories follow similar tropes but is much more localized, instead focusing on cities or Kingdoms. The female will usually be a reincarnator who is also likely an assassin (will also show no signs of ever being an assassin) who will then use cunning words and intrigue along with the occasional poisoning to advance forward in status. They will usually be outcasts from their families and usually beaten to death prior to reincarnation by their own family prompting the destruction or humiliation of the family. It will usually be orchestrated but sometimes directly acted by the Main characters themselves.

There will always be a male of some kind, usually one of royalty or extreme power that will fall in love with them, usually within the first 10 chapters. These male characters act in a supporting position to both clean up threats against the Main Character in the beginning and provide a means to access the wider world. Usually the Main Character is extremely oblivious to the feelings of the male characters and will instead find themselves questioning the reasons why the male characters are staying around them.

These stories over time do not stray very far from the pattern established in the first few chapters. The key to recognizing these stories is to find a male in a position of power that is finding reasons to hang around a female organic. The female will display extreme personality changes in the testimonies of those around her, likely after a life-threatening incident and will also suddenly become much more competent in both the roles assigned to her and daily life.

Over time enemies to both of them will disappear and the couple will rise to positions of prominence within the original kingdoms.

It is important to learn to recognize the Main Characters that may be present since the very laws of reality itself will change to ensure they are able to become powerful and advance along their pre-ordained path, usually to Godhood of some kind.

Main Characters possess ludicrous amounts of plot armour and are impossible to kill unless it is a means to create further story progression or a timeskip upon their arrival. This plot armour also includes their luck and intrinsic abilities, often being able to refine materials or create weapons of a standard beyond human comprehension. Finding the materials for such weapons in extremely unlikely places and in ridiculous circumstances.

This means that for the ordinary organic, no matter how powerful you are, there is a very high chance that you will suddenly change your mind or another powerful being will merge to counter your actions. Even if you yourself are a god of some kind, you will be unable to kill these Main Characters and indeed your actions will mark you as a primary target for the Main Characters when they desire to get even. It is not a matter of if but a matter of when.

As such in order to retain your life, please ensure that you can identify a Main Character and avoid them at all costs and any who might try to make the life of a Main Character difficult. Should there be a need to counter a Main Character if they directly seek conflict, alert the Minds so that appropriate forces can be dispatched. The reality warping effect of the Main Character can be countered by A.T. FIelds as confirmed with the death of a Main Character previously.

The biggest threat that the Caretakers currently face in the Cultivation world is the Main Character. Their unknown abilities and desire to destroy and pillage everything they see is a trait that will no doubt see the Senti Kingdom invaded at some point on fake charges.

Learn your Xianxia tropes and be careful, the Minds are not responsible for your safety.

You will find attached a glossary for common terms and their associated meanings. It will be updated as new ones are added.

Face:

Face is a central concept in Eastern Culture let alone its literature. Face can be considered what allows Eastern Culture to work, like the oil that greases the cogs. Face can be best compared to Respect or Reputation in Western Culture, particularly popularized fiction revolving around the Mafia.

Respect is a means by which to both measure another, a defence and an attack route. Someone who commands a lot of Respect is one who is both powerful in ability as well as socially. Being this powerful means that others will show deference to the person and will often go out of their way to assist in objectives in order to show their deference and respect. Attacking their Reputation is an attack on their position within the social hierarchy and can be done by not respecting their rules or doing actions within their authority that is subversive to them.

Examples include killing those under their protection, not gifting them items demanded, not obeying their representatives and so forth. Directly attacking them may not be an attack on the Reputation if it is done properly with suitable forces arrayed against them, not too much nor too little.

Aspects that contribute to Face are heritage, personal ability, family capabilities, wealth, political power, connections, military power, age, personal achievements and so on. Anything that may grant somebody prestige or power contributes to their Face.

Face itself is often synonymous with a person's actual identity, insulting the Face being the equivalent to insulting the person in question. This Face may not be personal Face however and may instead be a communal Face. Communities such as organizations, families, gangs, etc can have their own Face, separate from that of the individual and can either overlay or underlay personal face as necessary. Insulting the organization therefore can be the same as insulting the individual.

Using Face as a weapon is also possible, also known as using one's background to "suppress" others. In forcing them to act in such a manner as to be subservient to the more powerful "Face" is to suppress them. Suppression can be referred to using physical or alternative methods to cause damage as well, separate to Face suppression.

Face is the most important aspect in a Cultivation story besides the Cultivation as it is often used as a means to drive the plot out of a lack for anything else.

Cultivation:

Cultivation is an extension of Chinese philosophy of which Confucius and Daoism is included. It focuses on Cultivating the individual self's body and spirit by principles left behind by Chinese medicine, notably acupuncture points, meridians and a focus often on the core or the "Dantian" which holds the power of the individual. Cultivation itself is often about strengthening or expanding these aspects which in turn allows the individuals to become more powerful.

Cultivation over time will increase and grant the individuals more power, breaking through choke points which in turn grant increased strength and power. Usually there are certain choke points which require more strength to break through which grant corresponding amounts of power. Usually one of a higher power level can destroy one of a lower power level.

Cultivation is pursued by mortals in order to gain strength in a world that respects only power, increased longevity as they can become immortal once powerful enough, and resources as Cultivators are respected and honoured above normal mortals.

Cultivation however can differ in quality depending on the manner in which the individual Cultivated. Even if two individuals are of the same level, their actual strength can be different depending on the manner and purity of their Cultivation.

Cultivation can be damaged through the individual's psyche being damaged, physical damage to the dantian or specialized attacks that damage the Individual's meridians or spirit body.

Pill:

Pills are a form of cultivation resource that hold many different properties depending on the means by which they were concocted. They are made from methods as seen in traditional Chinese medicine, relying on control of the flame, adding in ingredients at specific timings and for higher tier pills, adding spiritual or Cultivation energy at the correct times.

Pills are able to give more energy to assist in breaking through for Cultivators, cleansing poison, giving poison, creating effects within the body and many more. The ingredients required becoming increasingly dangerous to seek as the tier of the pill increases over time.

Sect:

The Sect is a group that is focused on Cultivation that holds both disciples and their teachers. The more established a Sect is, usually the more resources in both texts and consumables they have. This allows the Cultivators to become stronger more quickly and in a manner which ensures quality.

The Sect offers a mutual relationship with its disciples. Strength to the Cultivators in return for the strength of the Cultivators. Sects may have different branches in multiple realms and Kingdoms to gather as many powerful members as possible across a wide pool as possible.

Kingdom:

The Kingdom is a nebulous entity within Cultivation stories, usually ruled by a King who has absolute authority but in reality is often extremely weak. At the mercy of both the Sects and the Clans who back the King in the leadership position of the Kingdom. Usually in possession of many weaker Cultivators and armies of mortals, the Kingdom usually has the power to counter the regular armies of other Kingdoms, relying on the Clans and Sects to deal with Cultivators.

Clan:

A clan is a large and powerful family that is like a Sect but usually focuses on a specific type of Cultivation due to the resources available to them. Often in possession of specific types of physiques specific to the family lineage itself, Clans often possess great amounts of power, comparable to Sects and even larger Empires.

Spiritual Item:

Spiritual Items are those which are infused with Cultivation essence and may grow more powerful on its own. They are capable of developing their own consciousness over time.

Each Spiritual Item or Magical Item is formed from special ingredients which come from spiritual or demonic beasts and special minerals which can be found in areas of specific energies.

Each one can multiply a Cultivator's abilities by several times or even possess specific abilities of their own. Each one is highly coveted either because the methods to create them have been lost or each one is extremely difficult to make.

Race:

Race is highly determinant of the individual's abilities. Typically humans despite living for an extremely short time and being intrinsically weak, can learn extremely fast and power up in large numbers to offset their individual weakness. They can also breed in massive numbers to counter quality with quantity. Other races typically present are Demons which have extremely low reproductive rates but offset this with extreme power from birth and only increases from there.

Humans in Cultivation stories tend to be extremely xenophobic and will kill on sight any "other" that they see. Humans do this out of both fear and greed, different races often being made of ingredients which they can use to both Cultivate and craft different consumables/weapons. Note that using other humans as ingredients tends to be labelled as the "black arts" and can range from something as mundane as using sex to siphon Yin or Yang energies or using blood and soul sacrifice to increase personal power. The Fear because humans are generally the weakest of the races present in a Cultivation universe, only winning through attrition and their ability to learn quickly.

For this reason different races tend to create their own Kingdoms away from that of the humans and will often kill humans on sight. Human greed making it impossible for them to have peaceful relations over time.

Refining:

The ability to manner in which materials can be made more suitable for crafting either items or consumables, often using spiritual flames from either specific kinds picked up in the environment or from Cultivation types.

Other methods can be natural such as Yin pools or Yang pools which collect energy and refine a certain element within to change it over time, creating such things as Yin Iron or the like. Further methods can be a natural means by which beasts and plants exist, certain elements of their bodies becoming more pure over time and more suitable for Cultivators.

Ingredients:

Anything that can be used in crafting or Cultivation. It can be mundane weeds all the way to the sweat of Gods, anything that can be combined with something else to create something beneficial to Cultivation.

Ingredients are often fought over as the more valuable and powerful ingredients for more powerful recipes often require refining over centuries if not millennia. There is as such, a perpetual shortage of ingredients for higher tier Cultivators and fights for them are extremely common.

The older an ingredient is, usually the more powerful it is. It being able to refine itself for millennia and can sometimes gain sapience and develop the ability to use Cultivation attacks.

Hidden Realm/Pocket Dimension:

A natural or artificial pocket of space that may or may not have different laws of reality than the outside world. Often places where there are valuables hidden away by either ancient Cultivators or the natural world. Often the subject to vast disputes over the rights to enter one and plunder the depths as the wealth that is returned is definitely not small.

Extremely rare and often overlooked by those that do not understand what they are facing. The inside often having powerful countermeasures to protect against intruders.

Are important for many Cultivators as it can allow access to rare ingredients, items from an age long past and techniques left behind. Usually falling into 2 types, managed and unmanaged. The managed are like the one described where a group has control over it and ventures into it on a regular basis. Unmanaged ones tend to be much more dangerous, the things inside not having been cleared out. The rewards scale accordingly however, the undisturbed nature of most of them allowing first picks of the riches.

Domain:

A specific kind of effect in which the wielder enforces their will upon reality and creates a field of sorts where they can change the laws of the space itself. Typically used for things like each droplet of rain hitting with the cutting edge of a sword and the like. When 2 domains clash, the stronger user triumphs and can generally dissipate that of the weaker.

Realm:

Different levels of reality, generally ranked by those that live in them. Realms usually follow a pyramid structure with the most numerous realms being those with just mortals and slowly decreasing in number until it reaches the Realms of the rulers of that particular universe. Each world is often a self-contained entity, separate from the wider universe.

Demonic Beasts:

Animals that have over time grown old enough that they gain basic sentience and power, or those naturally born with the ability to cultivate. Generally the older the beast is, the more powerful it is and the more valuable as a result. The older and rare beasts often being considered as high class ingredients for crafting, their tendons useful for bows, bones for weapons and so forth.

Extremely old Beasts are capable of speech and can transform into different shapes at will. They are correspondingly strong and often have their own Kingdoms hidden away from the outside world.

Cough up Blood:

A very common occurrence where insult is large enough that it can cause physical damage to the person in question.

Age:

A very contentious issue as Cultivation allows a person to live longer but in order to live even longer they need to Cultivate to the next level. Every level the requirements for breaking through increase dramatically and as such Cultivators spend all their time trying to break through. Those with little time left generally tend to seek out other means to do so and often end up killing or stealing in order to gather the ingredients.

The older a Cultivator is, generally the more powerful and prideful they are.

Physiques:

Are important as it can define what path a Cultivator takes on their journey. Inherent abilities can mean affinity with certain techniques and skills or automatic strength by simply breathing. Most Sects and Clans will actively seek out those with special physiques for their power when they level up.

Main characters reincarnating to enforce justice by appearing earlier in the timeline and using their future knowledge to affect actions and events is a common trope. Stories such as Tales of Demons and Gods being but one of them. That is why it is best to kill all of them in one go, so that if they do reincarnate (them always being the young children) they will do so as a useless child. Some of them are aware from birth and get hailed as geniuses, directly changing the storyline from the start.

Souls in Cultivation universes are tangible things that are directly affected by the Cultivation technique and what a person does (killing lots of innocent people results in negative karma which can colour the soul. It can even be attacked through special techniques.

Young Masters tend to be talented children or those of particularly important figures in a group. They as a result get much more leeway in regards to their actions and due to their position see themselves as superior to everyone else usually. They are generally vindictive, unable to see those superior to them in ability and extremely arrogant.

Mantras are also cultivation techniques/skills/abilities which depending on the universe can forcibly change the soul so that only that one thing can be practised. Trying to do it differently would result in their souls being destroyed usually.

Loose Cultivators are those that practise Cultivation without a Sect or a Clan, usually relying on other Loos Cultivators for assistance or teaching. Generally of inferior quality due to the quality of the medications and techniques they have access to. Most Main Characters become Loose Cultivators at one point or another, using their incredibly luck to find special items and skills unlike true Loose Cultivators that use only hard work, their own luck being abysmal.

Alchemical Recipes usually a list of ingredients and techniques that allow for the creation of specialized liquids or pills that allow for special effects. Usually requiring things like spiritual flame to effectively work.

Talismans are usually pieces of paper or items which are affixed with power and can have special effects i.e. explosions.

Teleport Arrays usually specialized images painted a certain manner or carved that can breach reality through the power of the soul and form a tunnel of a sort. Instant or physical distance ones do exist.

Flying Mounts are usually beasts that have been subdued through force and made into mounts to travel. Most Cultivators scorn the use of a saddle and stand on them.

Crippling in Cultivation stories have 2 different meanings. Physical crippling and spiritual. One damages the body and the other the Cultivation, usually by destroying or damaging the Dantian that holds the individual's spiritual power. It can destroy Cultivation which in turn can waste several thousand years of an individual's life.

Ordnance Board Munitions Report on Laser Weaponry

Report: Initial Combat Testing of Caretaker Weaponry by [Redacted] Regiment and the [Redacted] Regiment. Public Eyes, Viewing Only.

Report submitted: [Redacted]

Participants:

Colonel [Redacted] henceforth referred to COL

1st Lieutenant [Redacted] henceforth referred to as 1LT

Staff Sergeant [Redacted] henceforth referred to as SSGT

[Redacted] henceforth referred to as BLUE

[Redacted] henceforth referred to as RED

[Redacted] henceforth referred to as BLACK

[Redacted] henceforth referred to as PINK

Report detailing period of 2 months training, 6 months combat deployment on [Redacted] against a Covenant ground invasion alongside the [Redacted] Regiment. Fleet deployments will be covered in alternative after action reports.

Overall Structure: Overview of specific armaments followed by interview snippets, informal. Will go through by weapon type, smallest caliber or equivalent to largest. All interviews in "after" format conducted on the day of receiving the weapon and upon relinquishing it on [Redacted].

Planetside Laser Weapons: Laspistol, Las-Carbine, Lasguns, Las-Lock, Hellgun, Long-Las, Multi-Las, Lascannon.

Orbital Laser Weapons: Artemis Laser Battery, Ares Laser Battery, Hermes Laser Battery, Chappelle Laser Battery.

The laser weapons used by the [Redacted] use [Redacted] means by which to focus the laser using [Redacted] materials. Highly powerful and versatile weapons that at the lower settings can disrupt Covenant energy shields and punch straight through on higher per settings. Most are capable of automatic fire, extra charge fire and lowered "stun" (1) settings. While some specialize in specific fields, all of them are deadly even in the hands of a novice due to their speed of light shots and ease of maintenance/use.

Spoiler: Stun Setting

Imonet Pattern 6 Laspistol:

Weight: 0.4 kilograms unloaded, 0.5 kilograms loaded

Length: 100 millimeters

Rate of Fire: 200 shots per minute

Effective Range: 50 meters

Estimated Unit Cost: 15

Smallest of the laser weapon family, it packs the same punch as the Magnum pistol but with 50 shots per reload. While deadly on its own, recommend primary to accompany. Combat reports are favorable, extremely useful in the role of a secondary weapon and an urban combat weapon due to its small size but large impact. Where other weapons may be too long or large to fit, the Laspistol navigates with ease while also possessing the necessary stopping power to kill any hostiles.

Imonet Pattern 3 Las-Carbine:

Weight: 1.8 kilograms unloaded, 2.1 kilograms loaded

Length: 700 millimeters

Rate of Fire: 600 shots per minute

Effective Range: 500 meters

Estimated Unit Cost: 150

Shorter version of the Lasgun, capable of burst firing and compact enough for vehicle crews. Fires a less powerful shot than the Lasgun but its burst fire mode makes up for it. Less range than the Lasgun, recommend for urban combat or ship boarding actions. Usage in combat saw high effectiveness in the corridors of [Redacted] where the burst fire mode allowed it to drop the shields of the Covenant forces and also kill the target with a single trigger pull. ODST report the Las-Carbine was highly effective in standard operations due to its high rate of fire, compact design and ease of maintenance. They are looking towards the shard weapon series for covert ops however due to the laser weapon family to have a lack of suppression option.

Imonet Pattern 7 Lasgun:

Weight: 3.3 kilograms unloaded, 3.9 kilograms loaded

Length: 1100 millimeters

Rate of Fire: 400 shots per minute

Effective Range: 1100 meters

Estimated Unit Cost: 200

The standard laser weapon, equivalent to a rifle with 500 standard shots per fuel cell. Can fire on automatic if necessary but default is semi-auto. Can fix bayonet if necessary, each shot is equivalent to 12.7mm round in terms of damage to flesh. Capable of penetrating the shielding of Covenant infantry and to an extent vehicles. Extremely reliable and easy to use, it's dropping of Elite shields after 2 shots is invaluable as is what it does to the Covenant directly after on the 3rd shot.while it's length may make it undesirable in the realms of urban combat, its 1km effective range sees it a must have in any form of open terrain engagement.

Imonet Pattern 13 Las-Lock:

Weight: 5.2 kilograms unloaded, 6 kilograms loaded, 20.1 kilograms with backpack power source

Length: 1400 millimeters

Rate of Fire: 50 shots per minute

Effective Range: 1500 meters

Estimated Unit Cost: 500

More powerful version of the Lasgun at the cost of automatic fire and semi-auto fire rate. Firing at barely 50 shots a minute, it is nonetheless capable of killing all Covenant with a single shot, tearing through shield and exploding flesh with ease. It is also capable of destroying light vehicles such as the Banshee with ease while being able to damage Phantoms and Scarab if aimed at the weak points. Optional is the dedicated power pack for extended combat patrols. Combat usage given to dedicated marksmen who praised the weapon for its stopping power and guaranteed kill upon connecting with anything smaller than a Wraith. Recommended for use in countering Covenant skirmishing forces that field higher than average numbers of light vehicles and shielded units. While the weight is extreme compared to the other Anti-Vehicle options, the portable firepower it offers it hard to turn up.

Imonet Pattern 5 Hellgun:

Weight: 8.2 kilograms unattached, 23.4 kilograms with backpack

Length: 1217 millimeters

Rate of Fire: 1200 shots per minute

Effective Range: 1200 meters

Estimated Unit Cost: 900

A Squad Automatic Weapon. The Hellgun has a dedicated power pack in the form of a backpack, connected by cables to the weapon itself. Its aperture is cooled by a water based system allowing it sustained fire for 30 seconds before it needs to be vented. The fully automatic nature of the Hellgun and it's massive ammunition reserve allows it to be a squad machinegun to suppress the enemy position in an assault and checking a rush on the defensive. In practise one was issued for each squad, giving them the firepower of a platoon. Each shot is equal to a Lasgun in power, allowing it to wither down otherwise impervious targets, a favourite with the infantry. The added weight of no concern when its addition to the squad allows them to engage groups many times their size.

Imonet Pattern 12 Long-Las:

Weight: 4.5 kilograms unloaded, 5.2 kilograms loaded

Length: 1980 millimeters

Rate of Fire: 7 shots per minute

Effective Range: 3000 meters

Estimated Unit Cost: 600

The sniper rifle equivalent in the laser family, the Long-Las has an effective range of over 3 kilometers. While each fuel cell is of the same capacity as a Lasgun (they are cross compatible), the Long-Las exhausts its supply in 5 shots. Its extreme power allowing it to bore holes through armour to reach vulnerable parts of the vehicle or crew. The power also allows it to take out any individual in the Covenant military with a single shot, the light speed of the laser ensuring no second attempt is needed. It is only held back by the length which is nearly 2 meters long, unwieldy even for a Spartan.

Imonet Pattern 13 Multi-Las:

Weight: 13.2 kilograms unloaded, 15.4 kilograms mounted

Length: 1200 millimeters

Rate of Fire: 1800 shots per minute

Effective Range: 2000 meters

Estimated Unit Cost: 1500

The Heavy Machinegun of the laser family. It is fully capable of 1200 shots per minute but is adjustable to the needs of the user. Requiring a dedicated platform, it is a highly effective automatic weapon. Combat reports put a single Multi-Las stopping entire assaults on their own.

Imonet Pattern 4 Lascannon:

Weight: 18.2 kilograms unloaded, 35.1 kilograms mounted

Length: 1400 millimeters

Rate of Fire: 4 shots per minute for an average crew, 25 shots per minute for mounted systems

Effective Range: 6000 meters

Estimated Unit Cost: 8900

The dedicated Anti-Tank weapon of the laser weapons family, it is designed to punch holes through armour and it does so with all known variants of Covenant armour and shielding. Lascannon batteries on refitted Scorpions serve well in the Anti-Air and the Anti-Tank roles, even taking down Seraphs with ease. It requires a heavy weapons mount or a vehicle mount to be mobile, the only exception to this being the Spartan and Space Marine variant. The only downside being that the fuel cells for the infantry variant must be replaced after every shot, making it less useful overall in situations without firm supply lines.

Imonet Pattern 62 Artemis Laser Battery:

Length: 25.8 meters

Rate of Fire: 4 shots per minute

Estimated Unit Cost: 176,000

The long range variant of the Spacecraft laser weapons, the Artemis can be mounted either on a turret or a fixed mount and can down a Covenant Cruiser shield in a single volley of 3 or more guns. Refits of Frigate Class ships to mount multiple batteries of Artemis laser weapons on the flanks have been successful with a 10 to 1 kill ratio of equivalent class ships. The Artemis batteries are also capable of ground support duties, striking targets from above atmosphere.

Imonet Pattern 23 Ares Laser Battery:

Length: 18.4 meters

Rate of Fire: 20 shots per minute

Estimated Unit Cost: 216,000

A short ranged laser weapon that fires much faster than Artemis with the same penetration. While it dissipates closer to the source, the faster rate of fire allows ships to essentially "knife-fight" Covenant ships up close, and confident they have the firepower to destroy them before retaliation can arrive.

Imonet Pattern 21 Hermes Laser Battery:

Length: 5.2 meters

Rate of Fire: 160 shots per minute

Estimated Unit Cost: 53,000

The Hermes weapons system is the starfighter and CIWs equivalents of the laser weapons family. While much smaller than the larger main weapon systems its faster rate of fire allows it to shoot down other spacecraft or even atmospheric fighters. While its large caliber allows it to retain the ability to attack Covenant capital ships. Usually mounted on retrofitted Longsword fighters, they now are fully capable of going toe to toe with Seraph ships.

Imonet Pattern 32 Chappelle Battery:

Length: 354.4 meters

Rate of Fire: 0.25 shots per minute

Estimated Unit Cost: 130,516,000

The Chappelle is the ultimate long ranged Laser weapon system. To be mounted on the heaviest capital ships, the Chappelle allows a fleet to reach out and touch the Covenant from beyond their own detection ranges. Specialist software is needed for the gun to be used optimally, otherwise it is an oversized Artemis system. A single shot from a Chappelle Battery can punch through a Covenant Supercarrier front to end while destroying the vital systems on the way through due to the deflagration process. Sympathetic explosions trigger further damage within the ship itself until it is unsalvageable. Most are mounted on dorsal systems as a means to internalizing the weapons but further UNSC ship designs are being planned to have multiple Chappelle Batteries on turrets for flexibility in combat.

Conclusion:

Laser Weaponry despite the recent introduction is a technology that is clearly well tested and has been iterated upon multiple times over. The impact of the infantry weapons during the combat testing has shown a marked improvement in the mortality rate of the [Redacted] Regiment. From 65% on a [Redacted] operation to 12% on the same operation. Covenant casualties rose from 34% on the same operation to over 98%.

Laser weapons are extremely easy to maintain with no moving parts and less than 10 pieces altogether for the most complicated system. The ease of maintenance and the durability of the laser weapons make them a favourite for the [Redacted] that were issued them. Their firepower allowing them to engage the Covenant at ranges and situations that were previously untenable and to be avoid at all costs. The Covenant have learned to retreat from the UNSC forces wielding laser weapons. The firepower itself is more than enough reason to recommend the adoption of Laser weapon systems by the UNSC, even if they were many times more finicky. Dropping a Covenant shield in under 3 shots is something that was worth the cost.

The Starship variants are worthy of adoption as well, being able to destroy Covenant shields without trading UNSC lives is worth it. The refits are extremely easy, the superstructure accepting the mountings with little need for modifications to the existing systems. Cruisers are more difficult to modify to accept the Chappelle system but the alternative costs of destroyed Cruisers makes the conversion worth it.

In short Laser weapons are highly recommended over the current conventional munitions in use. Refitting the production capacity of the UNSC industry to manufacture the Laser Weapons will be a large cost in the short term but the simplicity of the weapons will make up for it in efficiency of scale.

Author divergence.

Some of you might have noticed the name Chappelle. Comedian, saw RIP Chappelle on one of his youtube videos with 200 upvotes, thought he was dead and decided I might as well name a gun after the guy. Turns out he's not dead, just not doing recorded shows anymore.

Oh well, its there now.

Ordnance Board Munitions Report on Laser Weaponry

Report: Initial Combat Testing of Caretaker Weaponry by [Redacted] Regiment and the [Redacted] Regiment. Public Eyes, Viewing Only.

Report submitted: [Redacted]

Participants:

Colonel [Redacted] henceforth referred to COL

1st Lieutenant [Redacted] henceforth referred to as 1LT

Staff Sergeant [Redacted] henceforth referred to as SSGT

[Redacted] henceforth referred to as BLUE

[Redacted] henceforth referred to as RED

[Redacted] henceforth referred to as BLACK

[Redacted] henceforth referred to as PINK

Report detailing period of 2 months training, 6 months combat deployment on [Redacted] against a Covenant ground invasion alongside the [Redacted] Regiment. Fleet deployments will be covered in alternative after action reports.

Overall Structure: Overview of specific armaments followed by interview snippets, informal. Will go through by weapon type, smallest caliber or equivalent to largest. All interviews in "after" format conducted on the day of receiving the weapon and upon relinquishing it on [Redacted].

Interview

Question: What did you think about the Laser Weapons after your deployment with them?

COL: Our combat efficiency rose dramatically when using them. We could when using Laser weapons, persecute the enemy in situations that were previously untenable and achieve our objectives a majority of the time. Their simplicity made requisitioning supplies far more easily when there was no need to worry about specific types of ammunition, parts and extras, all of it being standardized certainly made the logistical nightmare of running a regiment much easier. Our objectives during the time period were all completed and we kicked the Covenant into retreat and forced them to stay on the back foot the entire time. Freed up the entire front when the [Redacted] could take on 5 times its numbers with ease. They never learnt or adapted, their honour society getting them all killed that was for sure. They did learn to not send air-drops on us after the 20th Phantom was destroyed, took them a while to accept that they no longer had complete dominance of the air that was for sure. The Marines rigged up an AA system using Lascannons and a busted up Scorpion, best damn thing I ever saw. 4 Linked Lascannons would take out one of those flying bastards every 5 seconds, hell it even scared off the Seraphs they sent down too, can't do much against speed of light holes in your ship. Those Laser weapons just crushed the opposition, if I could get 2 more Regiments with them… we could win this war on our own.

1LT: The men certainly felt the morale improvement when their weapons could finally kill the Covenant without them having to get into knife fighting range. The boys could outrange the Covenant which was a first and it made operations easier too. We lost too many men before this because the Covenant could just close in with their shields and use their plasma weapons. With us having laser weapons, we can punish these kinds of assaults. Every time they tried to rush us like before, we just picked them off before they could even get close enough. The morale went up and stayed high the first time we broke an assault and every assault after that. Them relying on their shields just got them all killed. The Covenant never tried to change it up, sure they tried to sidestep or something every now and again but when it came down to it, massed fire from a squad chewed through them too quickly for it to work. Lasers are light speed, all the dodging in the world isn't going to help you. There were a few night ops but those failed too, the Grunts and the Jackals were too damn noisy for that to work properly, especially when their plasma weapons leave tracers that anyone with a Mark 1 eyeball is going to be able to follow. Laser Weapons are goddamn amazing, pretty much won us the planet, that was for sure.

SSGT: Those goddamn Lasers are the best goddamn thing that God had ever decided to gift to the Marine Corp except for the actual Marines! The MA5 might be the Marine Corps spirit weapon but time moves on and time is telling me that these Lasers are going to be the best damn thing since the Scorpion tank. You ever see one of those squeakers explode? Let me tell you, laser to the chest and BAM its like a party cracker. Blue blood all over the rest of them, they panic and try to run? BAM BAM BAM and the fuckers go up like little fountains of blue. It brings a tear to my eye, let me tell you. Give the boys some of those Long-Las guns and we be popping those little bastards in their camps, not letting them sleep ever. Best of all they can't tell where the shots came from, its the speed of fucking light. If the Covenant had eyes that could see that fast then we would be having a much harder time of it. As it is they don't and all they know is that something happened because there's bits of alien goo all over their shit. What do I think about the lasers? The boys better be getting word that we're getting these standard issue of there's going to be a revolt led by yours truly.

BLUE: The lasers are useful in accomplishing the objective. Less effort is needed when fighting the Covenant with them, no need to try and break the shields with conventional weapons that take too long and are too noisy when it comes down to it. The Hellgun Las-Pistol variants are worth the effort needed to jury-rig on up. Tears through the Covenant shield or no shield, missions are easier and chances for a [Redacted] dying are much less as a result. Complete endorsement.

Question: What is the best Laser weapon in your opinion?

COL: The Lascannon. It offers the ability to have a sky completely clear of Covenant dropships. If that isn't a ringing endorsement of the platform I don't know what is. Every time we shifted deployment on [Redacted] the Covenant try and sniff us out by sending a few craft, they end up dying and the Covenant suddenly respect us a lot more. No more nighttime infiltration drops, no more attempts to land behind our lines and attack the read, their close air support craft, air superiority craft, everything that could be considered an aircraft essentially was barred from entry. We made life hard for the bastards that was for sure, the Covenant without their air support are just target practise.

1LT: The Lasgun. Get a firing line of Lasguns and there is nothing that is going to be holding you back. It doesn't matter what is going to be coming your way, enough concentrated firepower at the speed of light with 500 shots per fuel cell and well… the results speak for themselves. We only ever retreated from an operational area once all objectives were completed and all the Covenant were either dead or running. Whereas before it was all about the fire and maneuver, trying to draw in the Elites using a squad as bait and the others to flank and overwhelm their shields, on [Redacted] it was all about optimal firing lanes and clear fields of view. Before I'd lose at least a squad trying to get the Covenant to enter an ambush so we could try and take one of them down, but with the Lasgun, it didn't matter how far out you were, you were going to die. Sure it was cramped in close quarters but the thing has a full-auto option, just hose down the room when you enter and there's nothing that's going to be standing after that.

SSGT: The Hellgun son. All Marines love firepower. All Marines especially love overwhelming firepower, concentrated into a tiny package that they can cradle in their arms. Like a cigar on every day, like a grenade in a pillbox and like a rifle in the hand of a Marine. There are some things that just belong in certain places and the Marines know where that baby wants to be. The Covenant used to laugh at the idea of suppressing fire, I can guaran-goddamn-tee you that they ain't laughing no more. When the God of the sea, the sky, space and the goddamn ground says "duck" you duck. Lasers have right of way but they aren't as polite as bullets. Bullets will go straight through you, a little scarring here and there but nothing major. A laser will not be polite and ruin your life if you don't get out of the way, it will rain your inside bits all over the outside and laugh about it. A Hellgun isn't like the Lasgun, this baby puts out so many lasers that it blankets the sky with them, there ain't no hiding when the Hellgun wants you dead, that's for sure.

Then there's the little fact that these babies can pen armour. Took a bright little Lance Corporal to notice that, "Gunny" he says, "can you get someone to shoot that Hunter with a Hellgun?". Naturally being the Gunnery Sergeant that I am, I had to lay down the law so I say to him, "Dammit Lance Corporal, we aren't in the business of collecting trophies here, don't you already have enough?" He turns to me, all innocent like and says, "No Gunny, I'm just thinking that the Hellgun might actually be able to penetrate armour deeper than the Lasgun."

And from there, instead of every squad getting a Hellgun, every fireteam got a Hellgun. You get a platoon of those suckers into a tight spot and you can punch holes in fucking tanks son. So when someone asks what's your favourite laser weapon? Its gotta be the Hellgun, that sumbitch can do everything you want it to except say yes.

BLACK: The Las-Lock. It can pen and kill any Covenant infantry even through armour and shields with a single hit. It might have less of a firing rate but that doesn't mean much when you can make every shot count, 50 dead Covenant a minute is a lot of dead Covenant, especially when all of them are Elites, Hunters or Brutes. Its a bit long sure but its got the range to chase down anyone that's trying to run, can shoot down tanks and aircraft and is an adequate club in a pinch.

BLUE: Hell-Pistols, can get right into their faces and just melt them all off. When you are a [Redacted] then you can dance in their faces and they won't be able to touch you. Just dive right into the biggest bunch and go to town, there isn't anything that is coming out of that alive. Especially Laser weapons because those shoot at the speed of light and so far as I know, the Covenant haven't figured out a way to run faster than light.

RED: The Lascannon. Get it tuned just right and its pretty much a Long-Las as well. Some might be able to survive a hole in their chests, but there isn't anybody going to survive not having a chest at all. Aim it just right and those bloody Seraphs go down like rocks, crumple like paper on impact though funny enough.

PINK: The Las-Pistol. When its pressed against something's head, the sound is actually almost silent. If you lower the power settings it is pretty much silent. No exploding brains sure, but the stun setting is enough to pulverize their skulls and their brains. None of that crack that comes with it vaporizing the moisture in the air either, just straight up dead Covenant. Add in the 50 shots and the dinky little Las-Pistol is a [Redacted] best friend. No more trying to break shields with a loud magnum, no more trying to get through that bloody Brute hide, just sneak up, press the Las-Pistol to the back of the head and pull the trigger. There's no brain going everywhere, there's no hole, just a dead Covvie. Takes them awhile to figure it out too then they start panicking once they realise their Command just died and well… its funny.

After Action Report regarding Test [Redacted] Battlegroup engagement with Covenant Battle Group over [Redacted] on [Redacted].

Individuals involved:

Vice-Admiral [Redacted] henceforth referred to as VCAD

Captain [Redacted] of [Redacted] henceforth referred to as CPT in this report

ODST [Redacted] henceforth referred to as ODST 1 in this report

[Redacted] henceforth referred to as GREEN in this report

Ships referred to in this report:

1 [Redacted] [Redacted] Battlecruiser, henceforth referred to as C-Battlecruiser

6 Artemis Refitted [Redacted] UNSC Frigates, henceforth referred to as Art-Frigates

6 Ares Refitted [Redacted] UNSC Frigates, henceforth referred to as Are-Frigates

16 Covenant Assault Carriers

34 Covenant Battlecruisers

Specific Munitions Referred to in this report and their overviews:

Boarding Torpedo: [Redacted] launched weapon designed to house a company worth of marines to board enemy ships. 200 meters long, 50 meters wide with large amounts of armour and shielding with extremely powerful engines and a cutter tool on the head.

Stormraven: [Redacted] Pelican Equivalent capable of space travel, designed to deploy the [Redacted] equivalents. Heavily armoured with heavy weapons to open a route into the ship. In possession of shields that are particularly effective against Plasma.

Artemis Laser Battery: Weapon system gifted by the [Redacted]s to better engage Covenant vessels. Capable of engaging Covenant ships outside of weapon range. Requires refit of computer core to work optimally as well as refit of [Redacted] Power plants to supply enough energy. Mounted on flank batteries or on turrets usually.

Ares Laser Battery: Shorter range than Artemis system, usually mounted in groups of 2-3 for maximum damage to take advantage of the faster recharge time. Within range of Covenant weaponry, best to be careful on use.

Hermes Laser Battery: CIWs and Point defence equivalents, capable of destroying Covenant attack craft in a single shot. Mounted on turrets usually where previous Point defence turrets were on UNSC ships.

Chappelle Laser Battery: The largest laser system currently available, mounted on the dorsal spine where the MAC gun used to be on Frigates. Capable of destroying Covenant Supercarriers with a single shot even through shields. Requires most other systems to be powered down to power it.

Pelican: UNSC universal troop carrier.

Lasgun: Universal term for two handed infantry laser weapons.

Space Marine: [Redacted] equivalent to [Redacted, highly capable infantry and heavily armoured. Apparently designed for boarding ships and close quarters combat. Can be of [Redacted] or [Redacted] races. [Redacted] Space Marines appear to be for direct engagements, while [Redacted] Space Marines are for more general use operations. The former is easy to spot with the large humps on their backs.

Bolter: Space Marine exclusive weapons, recoil of Imonet Pattern Bolters capable of breaking the arms of standard humans trying to fire the weapons. If a Marine is described as using Bolters, assume it is of the Hydra Pattern. [Redacted] have been gifted several kinds of Bolters including the Heavy Variant.

Further terms will be described in the footnotes per page.

VCAD:

On [Redacted] on a life fire exercise in the [Redacted] sector encountered a Covenant Task Force. Despite initial misgivings about our capabilities against a superior force, encouragement from the C-Battlecruiser Captain saw the Battlegroup sortieing against the Covenant. The initial plan being to engage the Covenant ships at range using the Chappelle Laser Batteries until they close into range and then divide into squadrons and engage the Covenant by concentrated Artemis Battery fire. The Are-Frigates were to act as screening units to counter attack craft in front of the fleet.

Upon disabling or destroying most of the Covenant fleet, the C-Battlecruiser would deploy its boarding torpedoes and attack craft in order to capture a Covenant ship for potential information and data. It would deploy its Marines first to board the ships and disable the point defence batteries, after which Pelicans would be launched to board the ships and assist the [Redacted]'s in their boarding operations.

The plan was a resounding success, the Chappelle Batteries destroyed 25 Covenant Battlecruisers before they could close into range and force the activation of the Artemis and Ares systems. The Art-Frigates acquitted themselves well, the concentrated fire of the two squadrons crippling the Covenant shields and targeting their reactors. Further vessels were disabled, leaving the Are-Frigates to police the ships and destroy any noted weapon batteries. The laser weapons managed to destroy the reactors without catastrophic damage to the ships which was a concern initially, once the first reports came back favourable orders were sent out to continue engaging the engines first. Once the engines and major weapons systems were destroyed, the C-Battlecruiser fired its boarding torpedoes at the most intact Supercarrier, of which 10 had been destroyed outright by the Chappelle Batteries, 4 more destroyed by catastrophic internal explosions when fired upon by Art-Frigates and the last 2 crippled by the Are-Frigates that had cut the ships into pieces.

Of the Battlecruisers there were 3 left still intact for possible boarding while the rest had been destroyed previously. With the crippling of the fleet the [Redacted] was sent to call for reinforcements to assist in capturing the Covenant vessels. It had not been attempted previously due to the dangers involved but without outside support nor any way for the Covenant ships to escape, I judged this a worthwhile attempt.

The Torpedoes breached the ships and after several days worth of fighting, 1 Supercarrier was captured and 1 Battlecruiser, the others having self-detonated by unknown means to deny capture. During this period ships of the [Redacted] Fleet established a cordon around the remains of the Covenant fleet and assisted in taking their wrecks in for salvage as directed by [Redacted]. All Covenant survivors were killed except for the [Redacted] which willingly surrendered.

A resounding success.

CPT:

I am the Captain of the [Redacted] assigned to the [Redacted] for testing of the new laser weapons. We had to completely change the internal systems to allow for the increased power requirements of the laser weapons and change the onboard AIs to better calibrate the systems. It took use [Redacted] in drydock for the improvements to be made. There were no real complications that we could tell from the ships that we could tell, if anything the ships ran even better without needing to worry about physical munitions.

On [Redacted] we engaged a Covenant fleet as we were doing weapons trials regarding the warmup and firing if the weapons. It was probably because of thew drills we survived at all. The ships appeared while the capacitors were still full, allowing us to engage 5 minutes earlier than we otherwise could have. I would recommend that ships on patrol run their capacitors on at least half capacity for the improved reaction times.

The superior range of our Chappelle Batteries let us reach out and punch holes in the Covenant from range. They probably couldn't undestand what was happening, kept coming straight at us, barely used the vector thrusters at all. Firing at the central nose of the ship's was generally enough to take them out. However since we didn't know the exact designs of the Covenant vessels, some of the shots did do damage but not enough to destroy or even cripple them. Once they got in close the squadron switched to the closer ranged options since the Chappelle Batteries meant we couldn't power our point defence systems, leaving the ship defence less against the Covenant attack craft. Thankfully the capacitors connected to the Ares Batteries as well, no need to charge them up. We had upgraded the ship AI to allow for more accurate tracking and targeting capabilities which assisted as the Ares Batteries could fire on the Seraphs just as easily as firing on the capital ships.

It only worked when the buggers were at range but given the cycle times of the Ares, it whittled them down quickly you can be sure of that. No amount of junking is going to save you from the speed of light. The [Redacted] had deployed herself with the flanks to the Covenant fleet as a body blocker of sorts. Was mighty strange giving that order truth be told but since that was where our Ares Batteries were located it made sense. From there it was a matter of just protecting the Art-Frigates as they poked holes in the Covvies.

Captain [Redacted] had the bright idea to triangulate the engine locations from the Chappelle pens and using the Artemis Batteries to work out the exact locations from those general locations. It wasted a few minutes as the Covvies got into range but it made our lives a lot easier that was sure. The Artemis and Ares don't have the width or the penetration to fully destroy a ship, nor do they have the ability to cause sympathetic damage since they're too focused. While they can fire much faster than a MAC system, the only way we can really do catastrophic damage with the laser batteries is to take out vital systems. Without Captain [Redacted] ides we could have been wiped out. As it was we were able to cripple the fleet, the Ares Batteries when focused onto a single point can do devastating amounts of damage. We may have done more damage than necessary but when you are going up against ships that can destroy you in a single salvo, excessive tends to be the accepted option.

With the ships disabled we received orders from VCAD to board and capture the ships if possible, take valuable intelligence if we couldn't. For our boys it was going to be a big risk when the Pelican can go down from harsh words. Then again this was a first, the UNSC hasn't had the opportunity to board intact Covenant vessels before so we had no choice here. Luckily we had [Redacted] in the fleet as part of the VCAD's escort so the Marines at least had a chance in there. At least until we got word that the C-Battlecruiser that had been staying out of it was going to lend their support.

Figured they wouldn't be assisting but the Captain said that if we ran into a problem too big to deal with they would have stepped in. Makes you wonder exactly how powerful that ship of theirs is if they think a Covenant Task Force isn't worth the effort.

Still, the boys on the way were going to be sitting ducks for the Covvies point defence platforms. We, the Are-Frigates worked out a way to clear off the point defence by using the Ares Batteries and the Hermes Batteries to take them out. While 2 of each squadron was doing that the third would park itself underneath the ships so they could pick off any attack craft that were going to be dispatched. Took a bit of fancy maneuvering to get into position given how much debris there was but the [Redacted] got there in the end.

Once the most obvious systems were gone, we sent in our Pelicans to provide drop off the Marines. We had melted holes to the most critical locations first, the ones that tended to leave the ships dead in the water or cause them to explode on penetration. Holes in as close as we could and re Pelicans would head on through, once they were captured and secured we could think about taking the rest of the ship from the Covvies.

That was the original plan at any rate. The C-Battlecruiser sent word they were going to be deploying their boarding torpedoes and our boys should use the hatches on the outside to head straight into the ship along with their Marines.

They didn't bother acknowledging and already fired their torpedoes which were frankly ridiculous, the things were nearly half the size of a Frigate in length. They ignored the holes we had melted and instead just plowed straight into the ships without a care in the world. Looked mighty strange seeing those huge tubes just poking out of the Covenant ships, like giant needles. Anyway the boys used those instead and we managed to capture the Supercarrier. The other Covvies must have figured out what we were doing since all but 1 other ship self-destructed after that. Glad they chose to do it early rather than with my Marines on board. Also let us figure out where the Self Destruct controls were located since the last one was missing the part of the ship that obviously let them do it, courtesy of yours truly.

Took us a while to secure them, lost a lot of my Marines in the process but we did it and captured 2 Covenant ships and one of those fucking Prophets of theirs. Pretty good for a test firing mission.

Margaret Parangosky, the head of the ONI subdivision of the UNSC had ordered the gathering of information regarding the Caretakers since they had first appeared but all attempts had failed. Their information security was tight enough to prevent any casual leaks, their peoples not mingling enough for subversion infiltration to work and their networks using a completely different OS that was incompatible with UNSC ones.

In short they couldn't send people in as the Caretakers were somehow able to detect who was a Caretaker and who was not with their "psionic" humans. They were unable to get people out, either by bribery or force. They were unable to infiltrate their systems, the Caretakers have some kind of manner to counter their physical probes and the electronic ones failing from the start. Attempts to gather intelligence simply just failing in all different manners. It was hard to get anything from aliens that never left their ships unless they were deploying.

Even their dead were policed with unceasing vigilance, the Caretakers ensuring that every single body was accounted for. ONI couldn't even operate with the impunity that it had previously, the other UNSC divisions pressuring them to keep their activities above board. The Aliens being far too valuable to offend by trying to steal their dead or technologies.

ONI was being handicapped and they didn't like that. A few of the more extreme membership, driven by hatred of all things alien decided to try and attack anyway. They were not used to being told no and found many others like them, ready and willing to do it anyway. Commandeering a task force, the ONI forces planned to find an isolated Caretakers vessel and try to board it and capture the crew. They would then use interrogation techniques to get the information they needed out of the crew and return triumphantly.

To that end they were here now, ready to swoop down on an isolated "micro-tender" class, barely 400 meters long. The ships served as a means to transport crews between ships, transport food supplies between the actual Tenders and the various Battleships of the Caretaker fleets. It was very different from other designs in the fleet, there wasn't a big cathedral "island" in the middle back. Instead it was a very stubby design, small bulbs along its center, like the Liquid Gas containers on UNSC cargo ships. Its command center was not present, it must be perhaps somewhere in the center of the ship. Either way there looked like it didn't have any obvious weakpoints for them to attack.

This particular ship had been left behind after experiencing engine troubles and was nothing but a sitting duck. One that Section 2 was not going to pass up. A few of the Section 3 boys were here as well to take apart whatever was coming from the ship.

There was no point going in and doing some negotiations or telling them to stand down. They were aliens, they didn't deserve the respect that a warning gave. The ONI teams departed from the fleet in multiple Pelicans aimed at different sections of the ship. They would strike at all sides of the ship simultaneously. If there were no weakpoints, they would make one.

The Pelicans landed and the ONI teams ready to get to work. They hadn't managed to get Spartans due to the direct oversight of UNSC command but their black ops teams were more than enough. Each was trained to the standards of an ODST trooper but specialized in wetwork above all else. They would get the job done and leave without anyone being the wiser.

Only they ran into problems on the first stage of the plan. The hull was resisting their attempts to cut it, charges doing nothing but putting tiny little craters in what appeared to be massive slabs of steel. Thicker than a Carrier's hull.

"02, we can't breach."

"03, hull is too thick, can't breach."

"04, charges ineffective."

"05…"

"15…"

Colonel Mooreland stared at the displays on the HUD in front of him. None of the teams except for 48 had managed to breach the ship and make their way inside. He was waiting on the outside of the ship, his own protection detail ready to follow in once a safe route was established.

"All teams form up on 48, push in together."

Dammit all. What the hell was with that ship. Those charges could penetrate straight through a Covenant Battlecruiser's hull but multiple charges did nothing against theirs. How much bloody armour did they have on their ships?

"Sir?"

"We only have 1 entry point Lieutenant, we don't have the luxury of striking at multiple points and losing one or 2 teams anymore. If we lose 48, we lose any chance of getting inside and this mission will be a failure. You know the price we pay for failure."

"Yes, sir."

Mooreland frowned as the ONI teams converged on the team 48 near the front end of the ship, the side with the least engines. They had managed to break in through one the weapons mounted on a battery on the flank of the ship, straight into the gaping maw of the "Macrocannons". This one had its muzzle opened and a charge was enough to dislodge its breach. The Cannon room had been voided as a result but there wasn't anyone inside.

The ONI operatives made their way in while 48 secured the room and prepared to push down the ship. They had to move quickly, it was already dangerous that they were all located in a single room. Critical failure would be the least of their issues at this rate.

The Macro-Cannon was resealed after the few hundred operatives made their way inside, the room being big enough to support what appeared to be thousands of people. Again a single point of failure, there being only 10 doorways leading out. 2 thirds of them into adjacent rooms while the last third all led to a pair of hallways.

Mooreland rubbed his forehead, the operation wasn't going the way they had planned and if it kept going they might lose everything. Dammitall.

The second issue didn't take long to reveal itself. They needed administrator access to confirm that there was no longer a breach of atmosphere and re-open the exits. Only any attempts to interface with the technology failed dramatically, there being no obvious ports at all, only a series of what looked like glyphs on the panel below. They could try and interface with it but they didn't have the time.

The blastdoors were all about half a meter thick if the reports from those that had gone on tours of the ships were true, barely enough for their blast charges to melt through. Liberated Covenant technology, plasma explosives designed to carve holes through doors. Not exactly the most stealthy option they had but it was certainly the only option they had.

An explosion and an open passageway later, the operatives were through and into the corridor. Only for loud klaxons to sound, power shutting off and low level red lights turning on instead. The entire hallway and cannon room bathed in the sickly led glow.

ATMOSPHERIC BREACH OVERRIDES NOT ACTIVATED: VENTING

What?

Then the blastdoors along the hallway began to close and they knew exactly what. The operatives fumbled slightly before they began to sprint down the two hallways, they needed to get out of the Macrocannon room before it "vented".

There wasn't going to be anyone outside, the population of 6 Frigates having been made up of the operatives, operatives that were now all inside the Macrocannon room. They had been overconfident.

Mooreland led the way as he ran as if his life depended on it. Which it probably did, if the Caretakers were as paranoid regarding military secrecy as the UNSC was. The chances that the room was going to self-destruct being too damn high. Mooreland was not going to be in the position of sacrifice, that was for the grunts and the Menials. His dignity suffered slightly as he pushed and shoved those next to him out of the way. He wasn't going to die here dammit.

The doors continued their relentless march, seemingly closing at a snail's pace as the operatives exited the room, like a black armoured flood. Even with that speed only half of them made it out, the rest being caught inside the room. The ones that tried to dive through either succeeded or were caught in the vice and cut in half if they were lucky, crippled if they weren't. Doomed to have their own allies give them mercy as the they couldn't risk being weighed down by wounded on their way out.

Those behind tried to place blast charges on the blastdoors but there weren't enough of them left, the majority being used on the outsides of the ship. That and the fact that there were dozens of the blastdoors along the hallways, one seemingly every 10 meters or so. In some of these little pockets there weren't any charges, forcing them to rely on the ones elsewhere. Others still had multiple but it was taking too long to blow through each blastdoor. In the end it didn't matter, those at the ends able to blow their way out but those inside, deeper than could be reached weren't so lucky.

The entire Macrocannon room ejected itself into the void of space, all of the operatives still on board going with it. Mooreland himself couldn't tell what was going on but the vibrations that came through the hull and the silence from their comms told him all he needed to know. The module clearly having self-destructed, the ONI on board all dead.

Mooreland cursed under his breath. Things were not off to a good start.

They needed to find the command center of this thing and grab what they could before more things went horribly wrong.

The rest of the operatives, separated by a gaping void where the hallway used to be started their way through the ship, each heading in opposite directions.

They would continue along until they managed to find something of value, stripping it clean then moving on.

Only it didn't quite work out the way they hoped.

Mooreland barely got 20 meters down the hallway when a loud Klaxon made itself known.

INTRUDERS: TURRETS ENGAGE

What.

And with that from the ceiling of the hallways came a turret every 5 meters, each armed with what appeared to be very big multi-lasers. The ONI operatives were good, in any other turret situation they would have destroyed the Multi-lasers with their combined firepower and moved on. Only in this situation things were not quite that simple, the turrets each from their centers where the Multi-lasers connected, dropped what looked like a dome like device. What it was for was made clear when they detonated and sent out hundreds of molten iron balls through circular openings on their bottoms. The flat surface had been curved upwards to a 15 degree angle, enough to saturate the area below and to the immediate sides with an umbrella of projectiles.

Dozens of the remaining operatives fell to the floor, dead or grievously wounded by the burning hot metal. While their armour could deflect them, there were enough that some would find their way inside the joints where the protection was much less effective. Most of them weren't dead, just burnt enough to force them to instinctively drop down. The unlucky ones were those that had the balls trapshot up into their helmets or down into their chestplates where they rampaged around the tender organs.

The main goal of the claymores was not to kill but to disrupt the aim of those on the ground. Enough so that the Multi-lasers wouldn't be shot down the second they appeared. Something that became incredibly obvious when the Multi-lasers did fire and tore through the ONI teams. Their screams echoing in the cavernous hallway as the Multi-lasers reaped a terrible toll on them.

Eventually a few managed to get their bearings, the concussive effect of the claymores and the projectiles wearing off enough for them to bring their weapons up and silence the Multi-lasers. Less than a third of them had made it out of that, the Multi-lasers seemingly targeting the ones that were still standing. Those left were all walking wounded.

Mooreland had the terrible idea that perhaps… it was only going to get worse from here.

Continuation of After Action Report 338990 regarding Test [Redacted] Battlegroup engagement with Covenant Battle Group over [Redacted] on [Redacted].

Please refer to attached records for full explanations of the events described below.

ODST 1:

So I'm ODST, let's start there. Went through hell camp, served in 3 campaigns so far and I've seen my fair share of shit. Glassings, civilian massacres, Insurrectionists, you name it, I've probably seen it. The Covvies? Been fighting them since Harvest. Was there when the shit went down for the second time, liberated that hole and got reassigned through the fleet. I've put holes in every single kind of Covvies that you can name, the fucking bugs, the midgets, the skinny midgets, the grunters, the tall skinny fucked, the worm fucks and the list goes on. I've seen the alien, I've killed the alien. So when I say that the boarding of [Redacted] was fucked up, believe me it was fucked up.

So there we were, waiting like usual during a fleet battle, not much an ODST can do there, even if we're the baddest motherfuckers around. When word comes down that we crippled the task force and are.now going to be doing some boarding action. Like fuck me, I've heard some scary shit, usually involving the word Boarding and [Redacted] together in the same sentence, and now here we are about to try and do the same thing? I repeat, fuck me.

So we suit up, everyone's got their favourite bit of kit, mine's the Hellgun. Barely had it for a month at that point but let me tell you, I was in love the first time I ever fired her. Sure she's heavy as all hell but being able to drop pretty much anything on legs under the sun is goddamn worth it. I say pretty much anything since she doesn't have the oomph to put down a Scarab but she comes real close.

Anyway so there's 12 of us, ready and willing to drop. Straight into the heart of some of the biggest fucking ships the Covvies have, was not a good feeling let me tell you, and I drop out of ships from orbit in rinky dink pods for a living. Only for Command to tell us that the missions changed, we're going in to assist those [Redacted, using their boarding torpedoes as entrances.

Now at this point a few questions were running through my head, like the [Redacted] were apparently all big and armoured, like the [Redacted]. So why send us in after? And the Boarding Torpedoes, there's 12 guys here who are wearing some heavy as shit armour let me tell you, so how big is this torpedo that we can fit through it? And so forth, you know, the standard questions. Who, what, where, how, why.

Orders to secure key sites for Intel, standard. Try to capture capabilities of the [Redacted] on camera for the Intel boys to review, not so standard. Still we had our orders and we were going to follow. No point in being stupid and disorder disobeying, not when it might be ONI on your ass.

The next part is where it starts going fucking crazy, and like I said, I've seen some shit and if I think it's crazy… it's fucking crazy.

All of us were in our environmental armour, no point choking to death the second we go outside right? The Pelican was just heading straight to the big guy and goddamn those Covvie ships are big. Except we weren't heading to the ship, we were heading to the big pole sticking out of it. Swear to god the ship looked like a pincushion, poles coming out of it at all angles. Anyway we and like 25 other Pelicans were heading into what looked like the most vertical one. Stuck straight through the big bulb thing on the front. The C-Battlecruiser must have vertical strafed to get the torpedoes to look like that.

Anyway we got close enough to see there's actually a hatch open at the back and there's 2 guys standing there, only their armour looked fucking ridiculous. Like as thick as my arm levels of armour on them. They were doing some little finger things which the Lt figured was a radio frequency and we patched in. First fucking thing he says is "Brothers! I am glad you are finally here, let us purge some Xeno!" like a maniac.

We knew he was a maniac since he had a fucking sword on his waist, and not just any sword… noooo… it was a chainsword. Like what the fuck, we figured they were ceremonial or something when they [the armoury] first showed them off to us on the [Redacted] when we were given the option to choose weaponry. Turns out the guy is actually is using it and a big ass shield like the ones reenactors use. We followed him through the fucknormous torpedo, like it was so big we has to wonder exactly how many of them were already on the ship. Must have been at least a few thousand by our reckoning.

Anyway we push on through and that's when it started getting fucked up. Like seriously fucked up.

There's bits of Covvie everywhere, like not even Lasgun explosion everywhere, these were like "I'm going to tear you apart and spray blood all over the walls" everywhere. Like someone just picked up the fuckers and tore them in half. The fucker we were following actually made a disappointed sound, like fuck, how do you usually fight?

So there we are, entire corridors painted in blood when we hear fighting up ahead. Been walking for nearly 29 minutes so figured it was about time. Anyway, we take cover at the open door and peek out. Looked like the [Redacted] were being suppressed by a few dozen Covvies. Made sense really there were only like 5 of them, must have spread out too thinly. Or so we thought.

The one we were following starts laughing, like over the open air since we the atmosphere was sealed enough for us to breathe and speak normally. Anyway he laughs and just walks into the room giving no fucks. Like seriously no fucks, the Covvies are on the second floor and shooting down and there's no way they are getting up there while they pour on the plasma while you walk right into the middle of it levels of no fucks. The he shouts "I'm glad you waited for me Brothers!" and straight up, no joke, jumps halfway up the wall, punches holes in the walls for handholds and jumps up the second half.

From there he leans down like an American football player and just charges with the shield forward. Expected him to get blown apart, but the shield had its own energy shield of some kind and the Plasma just got absorbed or something. Next thing you know he's up at the next wall and there's a huge blood splatter. And I mean it when I said "next thing you know", the guy was seriously fast. So he's there in the middle of them, the other [Redacted] are following up… then they go to town on the Covvies. It was like watching the most inefficient house painting ever, all of them with their chainswords just splattering blood all over the walls, ceiling, floor and everywhere else. Like desecrating bodies is a war crime right? Well their fighting style would be considered a war crime. Like the ripping with the chainswords, punching through Elites with their free hands, crushing the grunts with their shields against the walls or the floor. Hell, even saw one pick up a Hunter and tear it in half. Like what the fuck are these guys.

[Attached link below for viewing: Recording from [Redacted] helmet cam of the events previously described.

Tentatively titled: 6 [Redacted] vs 93 Covenant.

Length of recording: 2.2 minutes.

Force Composition:

Allied: 6 [Redacted, close combat equipment.

Hostile: 20 Elites, 3 Hunters, 20 Shield Jackals, 15 Sniper Jackals, 35 Grunts

Result: Complete victory]

Return to Interview

Have you seen an Elite afraid? (Voice from this point has dipped down past previous audible range, refer to transcript for complete transcription.) I've seen a grunt scared, I've seen Jackals scared and I'm sure the little quivers of the fucking worm things means they get scared too. I've never seen an Elite scared before that day. They probably felt fear when up against a [Redacted] but they can still fight, they use the same weapons as all of us after all. But those fucking [Redacted, psychopaths the lot of them. They just fucking charge at the Covvies and don't give a shit what's waiting for them. Saw one just fucking stand up again after getting hit by a fucking Fuel Rod. Then they get in close and it's all over from there, there's no getting away when they reach you. Laughing, just fucking laughing as they just tear them all to pieces. Saw one of those cloakies get up behind one when they were policing the bodies, fucked didn't even turn around. Just cut the Ellie in half with the shield. In. Fucking. Half. Do you even get what I'm saying here? Those shields are flat on the edges and like half my hand thick.

Think about. In fucking half.

Then after it all they just go back to normal, like they didn't just literally wade through the blood of their enemies and fucking act like nothing happened. Can you imagine what it's like? Knowing those guys are all insane, that the only reason they're not fucking us all up is because they hate the alien more? I don't have to and it's fucking terrifying. It was like that through the entire ship, we got to kill a few Covvies here and there but most of it was from the [Redacted]. Putting they out of their misery we figured, either die instantly to our lasguns or get torn to little pieces and bleeding out while watching the fucker do the same to the rest of your pack. They probably didn't see it that way but it made us feel better at least. At some point, one of them took off her helmet and wasn't that scary.

8 feet tall women that laugh as they tear aliens to little pieces. Anyway she smiles at us and is like, "how are you keeping up there? Sometimes we forget that the rest of you are only human" and wasn't that a kick in the teeth. Probably saw us as something to babysit and not backup. Figured I had nothing to lose so I ask her why she doesn't let us do some of the fighting, why it's always straight into the breach.

She just looks embarrassed and says that against what they usually face, going in as hard as you can as fast as you can is the only way to get out alive. That usually the things they fight would have already killed us all off and half her squad. That the furthest she has ever gotten in a boarding action without at least one of the [Redacted] dying was today. Really puts things in perspective that does, if they consider boarding Covvie ships easy what the hell do they think is hard?

If they suddenly turn hostile there's not much advice I can give you that would help. If you see them coming from the front, aim for the joints. Only time I've ever seen one wounded was after a fully charged plasma pistol to the side, fucker laughed it off but was limping for a bit after. Take them at range or you are going to die… horribly. If behind aim for the lower backs, the armour there is weaker than the rest of it. It won't kill them though, apparently their bones knit together to form some kind of plate shielding that helps protects against laser weapons. It might cripple but don't put your hopes on it. Knees would be the second best option, cripple them before they can turn around and ruin your day.

Exaggeration sure but goddamn if it's even half true.

[As we can see in the next interview this reaction to the [Redacted]s is not particularly unique but is also highly dependent on what weaponry the [Redacted]s decided to use on the operation as well as the general mental state of the interviewee.]

Edited ch 115 to make it more in-line with 116.

Continuation of After Action Report 338990 regarding Test [Redacted] Battlegroup engagement with Covenant Battle Group over [Redacted] on [Redacted].

ODST 2:

We got the order to mobilize and attempt a boarding action against the Covenant Supercarriers that had been knocked out. Not the best mission I've been given but hardly the worst. No, that award goes to when we had to evac a scientists from under a city that was being glassed. Not my most enjoyable action to be sure, but at least we knew what we were looking for. Being told to grab any Intel of note doesn't inspire much confidence that was for sure. Still orders were orders.

We were going to insert behind a [Redacted] squad. Their gunships would punch a hole through the Hangar and secure it before waiting for reinforcements then pushing on. We were going along as auxiliaries I guess. They were meant to be the [Redacted] equivalents and I've seen a few in action. They don't need the support sure, but they can appreciate it. With that in mind we picked up Las-Carbines, some small arms to go along with what they would be packing. Given the size of the Bolters I was sure what they had was going to be bigger than ours anyway. Might as well being the small stuff to help them save ammo.

The ride in was a lot smoother than expected actually. Usually when we go in there's at least a few Pelicans shot down but this time there wasn't anything, not even a Banshee. Probably the Frigates, our laser guns are pretty awesome, the massive versions must be pretty similar in ability I figured. Anyway on the way in we noticed what looked like big rods. A check with the CO told us that they were the boarding torpedoes of the first wave to draw out the defenders. Big distraction I thought, expensive too. Probably a lot of lives, [Redacted] are good but they aren't charge into the maw of hell and walk out the other side good.

The landing was a little more like what I was expecting. Lots of fire, explosions and angry faces on the other side. A normal day at work I figured.

The Pelican reversed before we got to the hole that the [Redacted] put in the hull and we jumped out, or rather we aimed ourselves in the general direction of the hole and pushed out. Didn't have boosters with the vernier thrusters so had to be careful, no point missing entirely and be forced to wait for a pickup.

Embarrassing I figure.

We had magnetic contacts on the palms for the weapons to be held more securely, would work as emergency hull grabbing device I figure. Told the rest of the team, they hadn't figured so that was a plus, better before the jump than after.

So we jump, straight into the hull and there was a few bodies. Burnt to almost carbon but still, bodies. From there it was just a matter of choosing left or right, the outer decks having too much wreckage to easily get through. Besides I figured that it would be easier if we just stuck with the [Redacted]. Zero gravity coin flipping is stupid, we figured that one out the hard way. Still it was heads so we went right. Follow the once living creatures but were now carbonized crumb trail. Interior was a little boring, might have been all the ash though.

Saw a lot of those Supply Cases the Covenant like to use, lots of them tipped over but all angled in the same direction. Probably tried to use them as cover, judging from the lack of any [Redacted] bodies it didn't work out so well I figured. The [Redacted] probably just kicked them aside as they went on through.

We just kept following, might as well. Not like there was any reason not to. Being cut off inside the corridor on our own would be a pretty big mistake I figured, better keep moving and link up with some of those super soldiers. Chances of survival tend to be higher in big groups, then again being around super soldiers tends to make you a bigger target. At least they can kill us normal guys with our normal weapons and the thinner armour and the like. Still, better than nothing I suppose.

We finally found the [Redacted] a few minutes after. Looked like they finally found the Hangar from their drop on the side. The journey was basically a roundabout until the [Redacted] clearly got annoyed enough to start punching through the walls. Final few minutes were just a straight line to the Hangar bays, trying to catch the Covenant ships while they were still grounded, whether or not there were any left we didn't know. Probably most of them however, not like they could actually do anything I figured, the laser point defence weapons being too strong. Nothing can get through, kind of feel sorry for them. Like being an ODST but not being able to drop in… actually that would be nice, little pods that explode from a little plasma is a bad idea all round.

Bad analogy, but you get the idea.

Anyway the [Redacted] were about 50 meters away from the hole they punched in the wall. About halfway between the Covenant on the hangar door side of the Hangar and the main elevators on the side. Little wedge to cut them in half. Normally it wouldn't really be that big of a deal but when you have [Redacted] using weapons that were the size of people… well I figure the Covenant were smart enough to respect the weapons if nothing else.

There were 12 of them, one had a Lascannon, 1 had a Multi-Melta, 1 had a Plasma Cannon and the last heavy weapons guys had a 2 Volkite Cannons. I didn't know that at the time, rather in between the lulls in the fighting we had some time to talk so naturally I asked about the weapons. Figure that any man who sees giant weapons doing giant damage is going to want to ask about it you know?

Anyway the other 5 of them were using smaller Volkite rifles, figuring that they would be more useful in an open field fight against a cover rich environment. Didn't blame them really, there was quite a significant amount of cover in the Hangar, the ships and whatnot making it almost impossible to see from one side to another. Being able to just shoot through the cover instead of trying to hit them when they decide to pop up again makes all the difference when you are outnumbered. They were really outnumbered in this one, lots of open ground so the Covenant could just press on them. Figured they could use a heads up, didn't want them shooting us by accident.

Would be awkward.

A simple "Friendlies behind" over the com was all that was needed really. We had more ODSTs and Marines coming in behind us, locking down the Hangar was a high priority mission. We couldn't afford to let any VIPs escaping I figure. The [Redacted] already had experience in boarding big ships like this, we just took our cue from them. Sure we ran the simulations but when it comes to actual experience… well the [Redacted] had fought in similar situations across many different types of ships and different types of enemies. If I could trust someone to not screw up a boarding action it would be the [Redacted].

We reinforced the [Redacted] by setting up alongside them in their little corner of the Hangar, our Las-Carbines had less range than their weapons (besides the Melta) but they had enough reach to keep the Covenant honest. While the heavy weapons were good for punching through cover, they were less useful when trying to put down big infantry blobs so our help was appreciated we figured. We worked out a rough plan of sorts, the [Redacted] would put down those with the shields while we would focus on the Grunts and Jackals. The Las-Carbines had less range sure but they were good enough we figured. The way they dropped after a single shot certainly proved that.

The Grunts were a bit more difficult when it came down to it with the Las-Carbines, but they still died quickly enough. Fast little buggers, twitchy and small, hard targets with iron sights really. Their environmental suits would break and the poor guys would choke to death without the methane. I figure that dying because you evaporated would be much less painful than choking to death. The Elites and Hunters couldn't get close enough, the [Redacted] took them down the second they got into the open, didn't matter how much shield or armour they had, the heavy weapons just punched straight through.

Gotta admit that the [Redacted] are professional though. Not like the [Redacted, these guys are clearly used to working with guys outside of their super soldier group. Makes life easier on us I can tell you that much. Calling out their targets making sure we didn't need to waste time on them, coordinating their fire with us, covering us, making sure we weren't being over-extended. We appreciated the gesture I can tell you that. It took us about 15 minutes before the reinforcements arrived, 12 Marines and 8 ODST behind them all with Lasguns. The [Redacted] asked to assume control of us, the UNSC contingent. Probably to make coordination easier we figured and why not? They had a few hundred years of experience each, a few thousand all up. That was at least a few decades to work on leadership skills I figured. Once we gave the assent a general plan of attack was worked out.

We, the squishier humans with our shorter ranged weapons would go up first to secure a new firing position while the [Redacted] would cover us. From there the [Redacted] would move up and we would leapfrog out way to the Corvettes inside the Hangar. There were only a few of them but they were probably where the Covenant were going to head if they wanted to evacuate any VIPs we figured. A few Marines would be left behind every time we jumped, give a safe corridor for our reinforcements to come through. Meant we had to wait a few minutes between each leap but that was ok with us, better to do it with enough people rather than die because we got too confident I figured.

So we jumped our way across the Hangar for about half an hour, made it about a third of the way. Things were going well I figured, the Covenant were being pushed back and it had gotten really quiet on the side closest to the Hangar doors, either they were all dead or massing for a counter-attack. Either way we only really needed to focus on the inner-side of the Hangar, the Covenant were getting really desperate. Where before they were ok with trying to play it intelligently and popping in and out to put out a few shots, now they were practically throwing themselves at us. Casualties were pretty low originally, a few wounds here and there for us and them. When they figured out that it was a bad idea to commit to an attack, we sort of settled into a stalemate of sorts.

There was probably a VIP coming through I figured, the [Redacted] agreed when I realized i had spoken out loud. A woops moment to be sure. Unprofessional I said and a few of them laughed. Laughing at me but not doing it maliciously, one of those stresses of combat makes us laugh at random things kind of laugh. They could be pretty cool drinking buddies I figured, assuming they could get drunk that is. Very chill guys, intense in the way a super soldier is intense but also kind of humble about it, the "people" kind of guys.

Anyway the VIPs came in and well… they launched a last ditch attack and they died pretty damn quickly. The Volkite guns are ridiculous when you sweep with them, set the entire first and second waves on fire. The Grunts and Jackals broke and ran, the Elites were left on their own and died pretty quickly straight after. The VIP was on this hover-chair, shot it down, dragged the guy out and stuffed him in a corner while we tried to clear out the rest of the Covenant from the Hangar. Didn't manage to finish it until a few more [Redacted] squads linked up and began to clear it out, the ones with Jetpacks are ridiculous. Just jumping straight up then hammering down into the middle of whatever group of Covenant was being the most annoying. Their chainswords just made mince of the Covenant, kind of disturbing but not that bad compared to Bolter shells inside bodies, that shit is disturbing.

Didn't find out until later that the VIP was one of the grand honchos [Redacted, was pretty cool. The experience was certainly worth it, managed to map out the Supercarrier. Will make future boarding ops much easier I figure.

[The subject has shown himself to be much more mature than the previous interviewee. Perhaps experience plays a large role in how the [Redacted] are viewed by the common soldier. Regardless, exposure to the [Redacted] should be sanitized as to not startle or traumatize the wider public.]