"So, you're telling me we're getting even more reinforcements?"
Anakin and Obi-Wan walked with Sergeant Johnson toward a designated LZ in order to meet their supposed new arrivals. One was a Republic shuttle that was preparing to land as they spoke, while the other was a UNSC Pelican that had just now touched down. The soldiers in the waiting area, alongside the Clones and Corpsmen, prepared to load the wounded into both vehicles and send them upstairs.
The Pelican dropship was different. Heavily armored and armed and layered with a multitude of extra defensive equipment including extra flare and chaff launchers and an EWAR suite, it was marked with the pyramid of the UNSC's secretive espionage and counter-intelligence unit, the Office of Naval Intelligence. The men that first marched out of the vehicle wore black uniforms and carried silenced weapons.
Strange enough a delivery, Anakin thought. Johnson looked to them with a grin, holding his cigar between his teeth, before taking a drag from it as they approached the vehicle. Both Anakin and Obi-Wan were stunned, however, when a four-man team descended from the transport, armed and armored to the teeth. Clad in extensively-designed, utilitarian suits of what seemed to be a form of Power Armor, the four figures lined up in front of the Marine Colonel, saluting the man.
The Colonel saluted back and told them something, before motioning for them to move on in within the camp. Anakin leaned toward Obi-Wan and whispered, "They're fairly massive..." as they approached. The four-man team turned to see the Generals and Johnson arriving, before three of them, two women and a man, took their helmets off and gave Johnson smiles.
"Blues..." Johnson grinned, "Good to see you finally decided to join our sorry asses groundside."
"Orbital battle prevented us from deploying with the reinforcements," Chief replied as he and Johnson did a rather different handshake, more personal it seemed. He nodded to the man and said, "Good to see you as well, Sergeant," before turning to Anakin and Obi-Wan, the latter wearing a faint, friendly smile while the former seemed a tad shocked. The four Spartans quickly saluted and said, "Sirs."
Obi-Wan hummed, "Take it you were briefed about us, then?"
"Yes, sir," Chief replied, gazing upon the two men that commanded an entire armed force that they were now allies by circumstance with. He began reciting, "Generals Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi, Grand Army of the Republic. We're Blue Team, sirs." And the stoicism with which the soldier before them spoke told the Jedi enough to understand him. Admittedly, he also emanated a certain aura of calm.
"Spartans. Finest of'em, too," Johnson complimented, taking another puff from his cigar, "I've seen'em win us our War and then kick ass and take names in the post-War period," and he gently hit Chief's shoulder pad. He then shook his hand after an audible, but short zap filled the air. Rubbing his hand, he said, "Could'a warned me your shield was on, though."
Anakin snorted, then paused, "Wait. Shield?"
"MJOLNIR armor has energy shielding," One of the women, with short red hair and emerald eyes, stated, "One of the many layers of defense. They've also recently added plasma-resistant materials to most armors of ours to allow for better heat dissipation." And she hummed, looking around to see a squadron of Elites marching through the place, assisting the Clones in carrying their supplies.
The younger of the two Jedi whistled, "Good to know."
"Indeed," Obi-Wan offered, then extended a hand to the Chief. The Spartan looked at it for a moment with some hint of confusion in his movement, before gripping the hand gently and shaking it. The master Jedi added with his usual tone of friendliness, "I'm sure Captain Rex and Commander Cody will appreciate your support... Do you happen to have names or ranks we can refer to you by?"
"Sir. Master Chief Petty Officer One-One-Seven." Chief nodded.
"Petty Officer First Class Kelly-087, sir," Kelly smirked, crossing her arms to her chest, her helmet clipped to her belt, "Nice to meet'cha both."
"Likewise," Both Anakin and Obi-Wan voiced, then smirked and looked to Linda.
"POFC Linda-058..." The Sniper gave a nod. The two looked to Fred next.
"Lieutenant Frederic-104, sirs. Excuse John, he's... Still not used to Command basically forcing us to interact more," Fred quipped and that garnered a couple of chuckles, one of the offenders being Kelly. Chief cast a glance toward his team, of which Fred simply gave his old friend a faint, almost imperceptible smile, Kelly was still stifling that laugh and Linda had covered her mouth. Not unlike them to joke around, but it wasn't normal in front of superiors.
Johnson snorted, "No offense, Chief, but I'm with'em."
Chief nodded, "Yeah..." before turning to the Jedi, "Where are we needed?"
"Well, we're observing the movement of enemy troops and have had faster-moving troops from your faction harassing them for the time being, so..." Anakin started, then looked to his master, "We could use some help taking out their officers. Some of our scouts said they've seen at least another two Tactical Droids nearby... And a new General deployed with their troops."
Chief looked to Linda, to which the girl drew her rifle and nodded. Anakin and Obi-Wan exchanged another glance, shrugged and nodded to Linda. They then turned toward the arriving shuttle from one of their own cruisers as it touched down. Anakin smiled and said, "And there's our reinforcements..." before motioning for the Chief and his team to follow them.
"Perhaps they finally brought that Padawan I've requested," Obi-Wan added as they walked, with Johnson close behind.
Anakin snorted, "Why'd you ask for another Padawan, anyway?"
"Perhaps I miss training..." The Jedi master quipped with his usual back-sass, then added with a semi-serious tone, "And, honestly, Anakin, you should petition for one as well."
"No, thanks. A Padawan would just slow me down," He shot back. The Spartans soon figured Padawan must've meant something like a student or a trainee Jedi. They didn't have the full picture of the Jedi as a group, nor of the Republic as a whole. Nobody in the UNSC did. It was part of the reason their Alliance as a tad bit shaky, but both sides seemed to be trying to mend things quickly.
Arriving at the shuttle just as the forward door popped open, they were greeted by the sight of a young girl. She had tangerine skin and various tribal tattoos on her face, plus what looked to be three tails attached to a 'crown' made up of a pair of horns with thick white and blue stripes running horizontally across them. Deep blue eyes stared at the group waiting for her on the deck, with Johnson murmuring, "Ain't she a bit young to be out here...?"
The young girl descended, then paused as she saw the Spartans and Marines present around. She blinked, then looked to the two Jedi and regained her focus. Walking up to them, she said, "Masters Kenobi and Skywalker? I'm Ahsoka Tano, your new Padawan learner. I've been sent here on urgent matters from the Jedi Council," She explained as she descended from the ramp. Overhead, a slew of UNSC drop-ships flew in, landed, deployed troops and extra armor, then took off again under armed escort.
"Did something happen back on the homefront that we oughta be aware of, kid?" Johnson asked from behind Skywalker and Kenobi.
Ahsoka took a moment to register Johnson himself, then gave him a once-over. She nodded to him and said, "It's important enough that they sent me with the Cruiser that went back to grab supplies for you. There's some ongoing negotiations to open hyperlanes in neutral territories, more specifically, in the Hutt areas, but they've come to a standstill..."
Anakin hummed, then sighed, "And we have our own problems here. Sure, the UNSC's arrival alleviated it a little, but we're still trying to liberate this planet from CIS Control. We kept trying to start up coms with them to send us some form of reinforcements, not to mention some actual diplomats to talk with our newfound allies over here..." before turning to the Blues and Johnson.
Ahsoka shrugged, "They haven't been getting anything. That's why they sent me."
The youngest of the two generals sighed and pinched his brow, "Oh, great. They didn't even know we were in trouble..." before sighing deeply. The UNSC forces around all looked to one-another. Johnson quickly excused himself and stepped away toward his Marines, leaving the situation in the probably-capable hands of the two Jedi generals. Ahsoka seemed slightly confused.
"Why not send a message through the Cruiser that just dropped me off?" She asked, "Or through the entire allied fleet up above?"
... Given some time and that was exactly what happened. Among other issues, most prominent was Anakin's visceral reaction at the idea of helping the Hutts and the fact that the Republic was finally sending reinforcements, too. The UNSC cadre of Spartans watched as the Jedi Generals found out that Anakin was, in fact, Ahsoka's new 'master', by which all four figured she meant trainer. The man who'd teach her the ways of the Jedi, stuff like that.
"He doesn't seem to happy," Linda commented as she was ranging her scope. Fred and Kelly let out a few murmurs of agreement, all while the Chief was simply watching the exchange. The eyes of several dozen Clones were on them, the surprised soldiers of the GAR simply stunned to be looking upon them, it seemed. If one didn't know better, they'd probably sat Blue was full of Droids. Kelly's helmet being off had, however, removed any chance of that idea brewing in the clones' minds.
"Heh," Cortana chuckled, "Seems like standard to me, honestly. Skywalker doesnt' seem like your average general."
"No, he certainly does not," Fred commented as he sat himself down, "So, John. Your call, do we take the mission to kill their general and any supporting Tactical Droids?"
"Best bet to end this quickly, if they have to go deal with those negotiations... Should also free us up to send our diplomats over to their capital," Chief replied calmly, watching as Anakin approached them, an angry look on his face. The Spartans decided to follow along, noting that the little one was also present with them. To their left, they saw the Arbiter talking to some of his soldiers. The Arbiter had noticed them, too. He put his right fist on the left side of his chest and bowed his head in greeting. The Spartans, curteous and friendly to the Elite, returned the greeting in kind.
Ahsoka had also noticed the Alien and excitement seemed to bubble up to the surface, her smile wide. She wanted to greet the big man, too, but found no time to do so as they advanced to an Observation Post manned by both clones and Marines, one atop one of the taller buildings in the city center. Captain Rex, one of the Clone Officers present, looked over the railing at another pair of OPs across from them, then gave a hand signal. He balled his fist and lifted his hand up to the sky, before turning and saluting as he heard footsteps. He greeted, "General Skywalker, sir." then paused and went a bit wide-eyed at the Spartans, "And these are our reinforcements, I'm guessing..."
"That they are, Rex..." Anakin nodded, "Apparently, some elite commandos of the UNSC's."
"Captain, sir," The four soldiers saluted. Rex saluted back awkwardly, then looked down toward the other newcomer and he blinked. Ahsoka offered him a friendly smile in return, but that further exacerbated his confusion. He only somewhat settled down when he saw the lightsaber on the girl's belt. He hummed, looked between the groups of people and sighed deeply.
"Good to meet you all, I guess..." Rex nodded, then looked to the girl, "And the Youngling, sir?"
"I'm master Skywalker's Padawan," The girl said coyly, grinning, "The name's Ahsoka Tano." and Rex seemed dumbfound by that comment, turning to Anakin.
The Jedi General sighed and said quickly, "There's been a mix-up and the young one ain't with me..." before watching Linda move on to set up her sniper rifle. The woman leaned it against the railing and slid her helmet back onto her head, before starting to calibrate the rifle. In the distance, the thunder of gunfire from UNSC harassment squadrons continued their campaign.
"Hey!" Ahsoka called him out, "Stop calling me that. You're stuck with me, Skyguy..." And she grinned mischievously. Anakin balked, while Rex burst into laughter. Kelly herself had to hide her face as she giggled a little. Chief sighed, tuning out the exchange of word-stabs between the Jedi General and his Padawan, before looking ahead at the various outposts the Clones and Jedi had set up.
... Chief had to admit he was sorry Rex was stuck with the kid, but right now, they had bigger things to worry about. He took a knee and squinted toward the enemy's positions, his visor polarizing to meet the demand of a zoomed-in vision. He spoke, "They're setting something up..." his voice impassive. Linda hummed in agreement just as Fred and Kelly walked up to them. He said, "Seems we'll have to take that out before we kill their commander..."
"Could split the team in two," Fred suggested, "I and Kelly disable that construction and you hunt and kill the Commander."
Chief gave an approving nod, "Sounds good... Let's see what the Generals think first, though..." as he shifted his rifle onto his back. The Marines around started playing a tune as they sat themselves down and kept their eyes on the road. A pair of Clones walked up to the men and sat with them, listening to the music being played on an acoustic guitar brought over by one Marine.
The other clones on post tapped their feet to the tune, but kept professional about their watch. Chief hummed, stood to his feet, then motioned to his team to rally up as they prepared to descend and talk about their plan with the Generals. There was still an obviously-high amount of tension between the GAR and the UNSC, but there was a certain air of Détente that was palpable.
Almost as if the Marines understood what it was like to be grunts going up against far stronger opponents than normal. Sure, the droids were easy kills, considering how weak the B1 model was, but they were numerous and dangerous, kind of like the Grunts. And the B2 Supers were just that much more terrifying when advancing behind a wall of weaker droids meant to soak up ammunition, like the Elites did with aforementioned Grunts and the Jackals.
Down below, Tup was listening to another UNSC Marine singing in some foreign language, also using an acoustic guitar that his buddy had brought him. According to some of the soldiers around, the song was called 'Beautiful Green Eyes'. It was by some old artist from their Homeworld, 'Earth'. A weird name for a world that was supposed to be the center of their government, but, well, Tup couldn't really complain about it.
Above, a Hornet flew in low, before turning to land at the UNSC's own little section of the airbase. Beside it were UNSC tanks rolling to get repairs after chunks of their armor had been stripped during the previous battle, just before their new wave of reinforcements arrived. And according to a Marine, word was this was the last of the UNSC's forces being deployed on the planet.
He hummed, then looked to a sleeping Checkerboard and elbowing him in the shoulder. Check woke up with a start, shaking his head and turning toward Tup. He asked groggily, "What?" half-open eyes barely registering where his Brother was. He pointed at some of the UNSC's own 'walking tanks' stepping off the assembly line. Cyclops mechs, Tup recalled.
"Looks like they're really up for scrapping with the droids..." Quipped the Clone.
"Good on'em," Sighed Check, "Wake me up just to see hardware and I'll punch you next time..." before he turned around and made himself comfortable on his piece of rubble. Tup sighed and nodded, then jumped to his feet and walked toward the UNSC camp, watching as a small discussion was about to erupt. A clone and a Marine bumped into one-another hard, almost like one meant for it to happen.
"Hey, watch your fucking ass, guy," The UNSC soldier called out.
He replied, "I'd watch where I was going next time myself, guy," as he glared back at the trooper. The Marine growled and tried to step up to him, before Tup stepped between them. The trooper behind him said, "I got this, Tup..." before he caught a glare from his brother that made him shrink for a moment. Jane appeared from their right, too, stepping between the clones and the Marines.
"That's enough, Gordo. Get your ass back to the mortar pits," The girl glared at the Marine. He rolled his eyes and scoffed, then motioned to his friends to follow him. Jane sighed, shoulders sagging, then looked to the two clones and said, "Apologies for that specific dumbass. He's had a stick up his behind since we arrived here. Doesn't like the idea we're helping an army of what's tantamount to aliens to us fight a bunch of tin cans..."
Tup sighed as he relaxed, shoulders sagging, then nodded to his brother and patted him on the shoulder before sending him on his way. He looked back to Jane and replied, "Teething issues, I guess. We're all still getting used to each-other, ain't we?" to which the girl smiled. She hummed, showed him to wait for a moment, then fished something out of her vest and handed it to him.
He paused as he was handed a bar, with the girl saying, "The manufacturer of our MREs put two chocolate bars in the one MRE I got, so I figured I could share it... Y'know..." She flashed a smile at him as he looked at her, which caused his heart to skip a beat, "Break the ice a little more between our armies," then both paused as jet engines roared overhead. Two UNSC fighter-bombers flew in, nearly scraping the tops of the Christophsian high-rises at their altitude, before veering off to the left. The girl chuckled and said, "Looks like our CAS is flying..."
"You folks really came down with everything but the kitchen sink," Tup commented. His gaze fell upon a platoon of tanks rolling out into an assembly area, probably in preparation to replace any potential losses suffered by the Front Lines. Turning to her next, he saw her give a quick nod and put her helmet back on. She sighed and tapped the earpiece in the helmet's right ear cover.
"Sounds like I'm about to be busy..." She said, pulling down her helmet's visor, "The work of the batal'onaya razvedka never ends, eh?" which confused Tup. She clarified, "Recon Battalion," then pointed at the faded emblem on her shoulder pad. A sword piercing the top of a skull with a binocular below it against a shield. She punched him gently in the shoulder and said, "I'll be giving you guys intel for any counterattacks. See ya there?"
He nodded awkwardly, "Sure thing."
... From afar, with captain Rex, Ahsoka watched the woman step off toward a platoon of vehicles and men and women. The vehicles were light, four-wheeled all-terrain vehicles without a canopy or cover and that seated two people. A driver and a surprising passenger in the rear. It seemed as though miss Staten was one of the drivers, as she boarded the quadbike at the front, waiting for her comrades to do the same.
Ahsoka was more curious from birth. These new people decided to help them just cause the Seppies shot at them first. An endearing thought if it didn't seem too convenient. She was wondering just what their angle on this entire mess was, but she wasn't gonna find out just by hanging back as Rex and her new master seemed to want her to do. With a hum, the girl watched as the bikers sped off.
