Over the millennia there have been many lessons to be taught about combat tactics and strategy. One that has always stuck is that no plan survives first contact with the enemy. This was due to many factors such as competence, skill, expectation, numbers, luck and more that made it very hard for any plan to go perfectly without it being a trap. The times it worked without it being a trap were rare at best. All one could plan for was the worst-case scenario hope for the best and get something in between.

All of this was going through Aniko's mind as she and her team moved into position, ready to make a straight shot towards the control room. They weren't sure about who was inside, but that was something they needed to consider later. One thing that was drilled into her at the academy was to always keep plans flexible. Having a rigid plan rarely worked especially if you didn't have the skill, troops or type of troops needed to pull it off. And that wasn't counting the enemy's plan or movements when the attack began.

So that's what the teams did. Made a plan that was simple and flexible with simple objectives marked to give them focus. Clear the area, take out the Imperial Commander, gain entry to the Control Room, stop the firing, and secure the area. The latter of those plans should be easy as they had already alerted nearby ships to be ready with ODST units and heavy backup. Taking a few deep breaths to control her mind she focused on the area in front of her and tapped her comm.

"Squad 1 ready," she said which was soon followed by the other three teams saying they were ready as well. As she took another breath and cocked her battle rifle, she gave the command. "Go!" she ordered.

OOOOO

General Tano just sighed as he looked up to the sky. He couldn't see the ships fighting above him, but he could see the flashes of the battle. While he did wonder how well the battle was going, he put it out of his mind for the time being while checking his watch. He growled in annoyance and cursed the laws of physics, and not for the first time. He didn't understand the quantum mechanics involved in charging the ring to fire, but that didn't stop him from hating the stuff.

Stroking the back of his neck he pulled out a PDA and began to flip through the images of his harem. Every general worth his, or her, salt in the empire had at least 2 slaves to keep them occupied. That as well as continuing their lines. The Empire, after all, was creating a set of lineages to keep humanity under control. Tano, being a soldier and of the 'warrior class', was expected to produce children superior, if not equal, to him.

Once the slaves were pregnant, the child would be gene-edited to make them what the Empire needed. An elite race of humans able to dominate the galaxy as its rightful rulers. He would never see that day, but his DNA, his Genes would. Immortalised in history as a gene sire of a great warrior lineage.

But that would never happen. Because as soon as his head exploded a transmission went out through the HIVE about his death issuing the termination of his line. Both his pregnant slaves would die along with his unborn children. In the Empire, there was no need for weakness. The name Tano would be associated with weakness along with countless other names.

OOOOO

"Go, go go!" Aniko yelled as she watched Target Alpha's head explode from a sniper bullet.

Several more targets fell due to sniper fire allowing teams 1 and 4 to move out. The Empire responded swiftly but got pinned down by team 2, the sniper team. But it wasn't all going the Federation's way, as several of the rockets missed the warthogs allowing a few of the Imperial soldiers to get on them and begin attacking them. Aniko's team made it into cover as one of the warthogs moved around firing its chaingun at them taking out three of the soldiers and wounding another.

As it got in close, one of the ODSTs decided he had balls made of something other than flesh and used his cover as a springboard to jump onto the vehicle. He landed on the top bar and kicked a passenger armed with a saw off before unloading a round into the gunner and driver. The first shot killed the gunner, but the driver was wounded causing the vehicle to go out of control and slam into the last remaining pelican, which was about to take off. The warthog put an end to that quickly.

Sluggishly, the ODST pulled himself off of the warthog only to be taken out by a Spartan. Said Spartan then proceeded to kill the driver before moving up to grab the chain gun and fire at Aniko and her team as they attempted to move closer to the control room. No one died this time, but the Spartans managed to pin them down with quick bursts of fire that prevented them from moving. Two more Spartans then exited the barracks and began to rally and command the Imperial forces into getting into cover and fire back.

While they were doing this, Spartan Liao fired a rocket at the last pelican grounding it. This also had the effect of attracting the attention of the Spartan on the warthog who turned to fire at his position. While Liao got into cover, it wasn't without getting his shield popped or without a scratch. Seeing her chance, Aniko ran at the Spartan at full speed with the knife drawn. The Imperial Spartan didn't respond in time as she slammed into him, knocking him off of the chain gun and taking his hand.

But she wasn't facing an ordinary man, she was facing one of her kind, a Spartan. A super soldier made from a project that was originally meant to take on the insurrection and later the Covenant. They were made for war, so losing a hand wasn't a big deal to the foe she faced and was kicked off of him. After rolling a few feet, the two stood facing each other. Despite the Imperial Spartan's loss of a hand, he took a fighter's stance and charged.

Aniko countered by spinning and kicking him in the back sending him sprawling. As he fell, she didn't give him a chance to recover and punched him. He turned and managed to block the attack with a pistol before kicking her off again and firing at her. While she managed to move, that didn't stop a few rounds from landing causing her shield to flash. She moved quickly pushed herself off a building and punched the Spartan in the face sending him stumbling back before she threw her knife.

The Imperial Spartan tried to knock it out of the way but failed as it landed deep in his shoulder preventing full movement in his arm. He had a choice, drop his pistol to remove the obstruction or continue to use his pistol against her. He chose the latter and fired at Aniko, but she kept her full speed as she moved out of the way. As she did so, she primed a grenade and threw it at the first opportunity. The Imperial Spartan tried to move away but got caught in the blast. While he didn't die, his shields did pop allowing a sniper to take him out.

"The way is clear!" Liao said over the com.

"Team 1 on me!" Aniko responded as she moved up the ancient forerunner structure and was soon joined by the rest of her team.

They moved up the building fast while the firefight continued behind them. As they moved, one of the techs, Winter, took point. Unlike the others who were volunteers, he wasn't. He was selected for this mission due to his knowledge of Forerunner technology. While an AI like Dana or Cortana would be better, the problem was that most of the AI was in space dealing with the Empire. While they could help out at range, the problem was that Forerunner tech was advanced and complex requiring more direct contact with the tech to make sure they did everything right.

Aniko didn't have the option to requisition an AI for the task due to the short timeframe they had and due to the battle in space. So, they had to make do with a tech who knew Forerunner tech. They quickly reached the entrance to the control room itself and Winter got to work at the holo terminal. He brought up a hacking device and placed it on the console, tapping a few keys to get the door open. It took him a couple of tries to get the door open.

Once it did, he took the hacking device and followed the team into the control room, all of them with weapons up. They moved down an extremely long corridor that was lit with blue lights that ran across the walls and floor. It made the area seem wider than it was, but they ignored it as they pushed forward to the far end and Winter got to work. As he did, the team got ready facing the door with their weapons up. After a moment, Winter looked at Aniko and nodded. The Spartan nodded back and the door opened.

The team charged in at full speed with a couple of them firing weapons into the area scaring the Machina Technis scientists away from their work, except for one. The cyborg advanced while Aniko's team split to encourage the cyborg scientists away from their equipment.

"Dogs of Mars, you have no authority…." the woman began but a three-round burst sped past her ear silencing her.

"Do what I say and you may live," Aniko said aiming her battle rifle squarely at the woman's head. "Deactivate the firing sequence. And don't bullshit me, we have an AI who can tell if you are or aren't," she said with confidence.

The cyborg looked at the Spartan up and down before nodding. She walked over to the main terminal and began to hit a few keys. Winter moved up to Aniko watching the scientist and nodded to the Spartan. She nodded back but was on edge. While they were discussing plans, she contacted Dana for files on the Machina Technis. To say they were enigmatic was an understatement.

They were large but kept to themselves in one of the outer colonies that were largely untouched by the war and insurrection. But when the War ended and the Empire formed, it was one of their primary worlds. While a couple of their followers had been seen outside the Empire, they either kept to themselves or worked with one of the factions for advanced tech. There was even one in Misriah Armories working on Mjolnir armour.

That kept her largely on guard, as while there were people who had no allegiance to the Empire, she didn't know if the Scientist had her loyalties lay with them. After a couple more moments, the Scientist returned.

"It is shut down," she said.

Aniko jerked her head towards the terminal and Winter moved up to check it. After a moment he nodded.

"By rules of war, Martian Federation and President Parisa, all members of the Empire will now be placed under arrest," she said.

The scientist nodded and held out her hands. Outside, a mix of Federation, Atlas and GHR drop pods landed around the area to secure the command room and ensure that no one got in. While this happened, Aniko looked to the main firing controls and back at the Scientist. She didn't know why but something felt wrong about her. Normally, when captured, the Empire soldiers would kill themselves. But it seemed that the cyborgs didn't follow that rule or they had something else in mind, which was equally as worrying.

OOOOO

"We're here," Cortana said as she stopped at an odd location in the tunnel.

She got down to one knee and prepared the device while Parisa and her bodyguards surrounded her. It only took her a few moments before she looked up.

"Get ready to run," the former AI said and Parisa nodded.

Taking a deep breath, Cortana pressed the big red button and ran with the other four close behind her. The timer on the EMP ticked till it reached zero 10 minutes later before it detonated. A sphere of blue energy burst out from the device taking out electronics in a 5-mile radius. Not too far above the device, sat the main HIVE centre. It had no defence against an EMP attack. As soon as the blast wave hit the base, the systems shut down almost instantly.

With that, the mass communication systems that kept the Empire's communications up were cut. That effectively ended the Empire as a major as they couldn't communicate any more. But the mission wasn't over yet as Cortana and Parisa had one final mission.