Morning/Afternoon, I've already apologised for the immense length between the last chapter and this one, at the bottom notes. Anyway, as we get closer to the end, I can confidently say there is now only a maximum of 3 chapters left (with the possibility of an additional epilogue)

Considering how long ago this story came out, I'll say that I didn't expect this level of readership. If I had, I would have put much more effort into the first ten or so chapters. Unfortunately, though, since I rush-wrote the first half dozen in the space of a single night originally, I'm not surprised that more than a couple of people continue to point out problems with them when reading for the first time.

It has been a good few months since the review replies section is a tad-bit long, sorry about that.

Replies to Chapter 22 -

Guest DCDGojira - Cheers, Mate

Ghostly - Probably not mate, sorry. Even if I had seen Galactica (Don't hate me) It's not the kind of thing I can get myself excited to write about. At best, I could come up with a few chapters and it would probably be left on a permanent hiatus with no satisfying ending.

Heard of Shepard - Thanks, buddy. I didn't expect anybody to predict that ending, so I'm glad it took people by surprise. I felt like I hadn't included the Jedi enough in the story so I'm trying to incorporate them a little bit more now we're in the endgame.

Tymaxion - I aim to please, suspenseful and awesome, two words I'm happy to hear the story described as. As for the fight, I know that Shaak Ti is much more refined and disciplined than Maul, but at the same time, I think Captain Jack learnt a lesson after that fight.

L - Well,l if it isn't Mr, leaves so long a review that it doesn't allow me to read it in my email. I appreciate it, friend. Thanks to Resolute, Royal and the rest, Sidious' plans are starting to unravel, and while the evidence is certainly mounting, there is more to come.

As for the surveillance on Palpatine, I think someone as intelligent and cunning as Lasky can tell that Anakin isn't a Sith in disguise (Not then anyway) but knows something is off due to the constant communications and meetings. As usual, I don't want to spoil anything in the replies here, but I have taken a few hints from a few favourite Halo/Star Wars crossovers on here, It might be obvious which ones later.

Guest - No spoilers, but it was the secrets and hiding that no doubt helped Anakin's transition to the Dark Side and Vader. Also, Obi-Wan might be a stickler for the rules most of the time, but I doubt he would lie to his friend and then reveal it to the Jedi Council anyway.

Krieger Techpreist - Can't blame the guy for trying to keep it hidden. It's a highly valuable secret, after all.

Taintedahab - I have 'made an effort' to cut the length and throw more punctuation in so they don't seem so long and run off. In my defence though, I'm not a professional writer and the beta readers I've used have never picked up on anything more than the occasional missed comma or apostrophe. Partly true of the armour being made out of a non-magnetic, but there are external parts of the armour and non-plated parts that are magnetic and susceptible to magnetic forces.

Scarease - For once I am not going to over-inflate the capabilities of the Spartans, they might have a Spartan III, but most of Fireteam Resolute is still made up of Clones and Spartan IVs. Palpatine would be a serious threat to them, same for Fireteam Royal. Blue team has obvious plot armour so they'd be fine.

Hzchb11 - I know the feeling. I'm definitely not the first person to watch the prequels and think to myself 'This time, maybe this time he won't turn'. Feeling helpless or powerless is an understandable feeling in a situation like the one they are facing though.

Guest - I'll concede that point to you, I know I could have played out the last scene in a better way, but unfortunately, none of my other alternatives was any better. I'm just glad it wasn't hated by EVERYONE. Sorry, you don't like it, can't please everyone.

Guest - Mate, Mickey was a traitor to the UNSC and Alpha-Nine. His hesitation is the reason that Rookie was executed by Captain Ingridson during the mission (In Canon) Romeo had nothing to do with that. Also, I don't remember Dutch going into full retirement, he trained Spartan IV's with his wife Gretchen after temporarily leaving the team. Think you've got Romeo and Mickey confused.

WirelessDown - Short answer to the Mantle. I did it when I wrote the first five chapters in a single night. Now that the story has turned into something long and with a plot, I have to work it in at least a little. Also, I'm not whitewashing the Republic, but If the UNSC is going to help 'fix' one side, I would rather it be the Republic and Jedi.

As for the stature and a few other bits again, the first few chapters were the first time I had attempted to properly write anything so I made a lot of stupid corny sections like this. After the story is complete, I might decide to go back and do more rewrites as I did with 1 and 2. As for the population, it was half. However, just like after WW2, when even the worst-hit countries had more than their original population ten years after the war, it's the same story here. Humanity bounces back from things like this pretty damn quickly. For the other issues, sometimes you have to 'bow to the absurd'.

Jctherebel - Cheers, buddy. I'm glad the frequent readers and reviewers are still liking the story enough to continue reading.

The Sound Shaman - Pleased that it is worthy enough to keep reading. If you can forgive the first awful five or six chapters I promise it starts to get better. I have said I'll go and do some more rewrites after the story is complete. Where does it rank 1-10?

Guest - Correct, they would never allow it to happen and didn't. The only reason Colonal Duvall agreed to it was that he wanted to try and talk some sense into Krell at the time. Fighting him on his order at the moment would have only resulted in a much worse situation. He was never going to allow it, given the shit writing quality though it is probably my fault for not clarifying it better.

Chapter Twenty-Three: Spartans Never Die

23:00 Hours, July 3, 2565 (Military Calendar)

Andromeda Galaxy, Outer Rim, Lucazec

UNSC Infinity, Admiralty Briefing Room

Even before the Infinity-Class Supercarrier began its construction in 2544, the four-man; architect team had incorporated multiple mandatory components into the ship's design that were deemed vital and non-negotiable. Due to the almost consistent downward spiral that the state of the Human-Covenant war seemed to be heading in, the original purpose of the UNSC Infinity was to serve as a lifeboat for Humanity in the event that Earth and all her colonies fell to the Covenant.

For such a cumbersome responsibility, it was obvious that the ship would have to be equipped with only the finest and most capable weaponry humanity had ever created. Everything from the primary MACs, capable of annihilating any ship the Covenant could throw at her. All the way to her sizable complement of Variant-V HAVOK nuclear warheads. Alongside the substantial arsenal were the armour and shielding of the ship. Almost 5 metres of Titanium A3 battle plate protection coupled with extremely lethal MG-44N shield generators made the Infinity a mighty vessel able to take a severe beating.

However, being able to take a hit from the enemy and dish one back out was not all that would be required; of the supposed lifeboat for Humanity. Working side by side with the nearly twenty-thousand crew members would be whatever remained of the UNSC's military leadership at the time. Charged with the duty of leading the remnants of Humanity, the Admiralty would take no chances- when it came to the safeguarding of what little they had left.

Contained, within the list of compulsory ship module designs, was a single briefing room. However, unlike any of the other briefing rooms on the Infinity though, this one would be much larger. Almost the size of a lecture hall, it was to be fitted out with the most complex machinery and data computers. If need be, the entire known galaxy could be visualised through the numerous holo emitters scattered throughout the room.

Or if the ship found its way into a combat zone, the entire command structure could be transferred and operated from the briefing room instead of the Bridge and CIC. If the worst came to worse and they were all that remained, having the capability to plot their every step without error or miscalculation was of the utmost importance.

Keeping such a pivotal section of the ship safe requires close monitoring. Its, for this reason, the room is only accessible by UNSC personnel with the rank of Rear Admiral or above. Even the Captain of the ship is not authorised to open the vault-like pressurised doors to the room. Rear Admiral Lasky had permitted access to the room for his critical briefing with the Spartans, Clones and Jedi. Given that the fate of the Andromeda and maybe even their galaxy rested in what was about to be discussed, it seemed a forgivable breach of UNSC protocol.

Now though, the briefing room contained over a dozen individuals. Two Spartan fireteams, Two Jedi and a Rear Admiral. For the briefest of moments, complete and utter silence prevailed. The Spartans would have had to use their armour's hearing amplification to hear anything above the natural hum of the ship. Even then, all they would be able to hear would be the rhythmic breathing of every living being in the room except for one.

Panicked breathing and the nervous sweats building up on the brow of one single individual stood out from all the rest.

Captain Jack remained silent, as did the rest of his newly reorganised Fireteam and his former Fireteam directly in front of him. Silently, they all wondered who would be the first to break the line of tension quickly building up. It was soon unveiled.

"Anakin…" General Kenobi said with an almost undetectable sense of confusion, sympathy and vague disappointment.

The young Jedi Knight finally loosened his tightly shut eyes. Despite half the Spartans in the room wearing their helmets, Skywalker knew there was hardly a single emotion that at least one person surrounding him wasn't feeling.

"Might I ask you to explain further, General Skywalker?" Admiral Lasky requested, his attitude having reduced in aggressiveness, but remaining assertive.

Skywalker let out a defeated sigh. "Chancellor Palpatine, or whoever he is, knows about my wife. He never said anything to me, but he knows," He said, still trying to avert his gaze. "It's been several years, but our relationship has grown stronger. He has been personally recalling me back to Coruscant recently,"

"But that's not all of it. Is it, Anakin?" Obi-Wan asked.

Shaking his head, Anakin found the strength to raise his sullen head, "No, it's not. My visions have returned, the same ones I had before my mother was murdered. I fear that they will only lead me down the same path as before. Fear and Anger, emotions that the Chancellor has been trying to… advise me on," He explained.

"What such advice would that be, Master Skywalker?" Captain Jack asked.

Gently, Skywalker turned to look at the Spartan as he lowered his helmet down to his side. "Questioning the intentions of the Jedi Order, Using anger as a means to gain power in battle, so many times I thought he was knowledgeable in the teachings of both the Sith and the Jedi, but now I see what he was trying to accomplish," He said.

"He wants to turn you against the Jedi," Lasky stated, "If what you say is true, then he has slowly been building up mistrust between you and the Jedi Order. While the Jedi are still a shrouded mystery to myself, I have to believe there's a chance he knows about these premonitions of yours. Could it be that he is supplanting them himself?" The Admiral asked.

"Avoiding detection for so long and right beneath the Jedi no less is not an easy feat, if he was able to accomplish this, then there is no telling as to how powerful this Sith lord has truly become. His abilities remain a secret," Obi-Wan said.

"Who exactly is your wife, General Skywalker?" Commander Palmer asked.

With an ounce of hesitation, Anakin opened his mouth but was interrupted by his former master, "Senator Amidala, the two of you wed?" Kenobi said.

"The Senator from Naboo?" Captain Jack subtly asked.

Anakin's face changed, looking both surprised and perplexed at the Jedi Master, "Did you know, Master?" He asked.

"Your affection for one another has never been a secret to me, Anakin. However, I never expected you to so bluntly disregard the Jedi Code as such," Obi-Wan told his former apprentice.

The look of surprise on Anakin's face was replaced with a partial scowl as he crossed his arms, "I don't regret what I've done Master, I always knew that one day, the council would discover my secret and expel me. If I had to do it all again though, I would," He said proudly.

"Neither I nor any of the Spartans under my command are fit to Judge you, General Skywalker," Lasky said, letting only the slightest look of sympathy out towards him, "Now that we know of this Sith Lord's intentions with both you, and the Clones, why hasn't he executed his plans yet?" He asked openly.

Between the Spartans and Jedi, no clear answer could be drawn. The war had been raging for years by this point, and the UNSC had been drawn into the conflict almost an entire year ago. Throughout all of it, the Chancellor could have activated Order 66 and eliminated all the Jedi as he had been planning to for decades.

Captain Jack's mind was racing, trying to think of an answer to the Admiral's question when something started to form in his thoughts. While it wouldn't have been a far-fetched idea to assume that the unexpected discovery and arrival of the UNSC had thrown a wrench into the plans of the Chancellor, they were still relatively few when compared to an entirely new galaxy that contained millions of worlds, heavily populated in both people and resources.

No, it wasn't just them that had delayed his plans, if he had delayed them at all. It was something much more unexpected and just then he realised, it was something he was doing that was affecting every person and species in the galaxy. Including him.

"It isn't just the General he wants to turn Admiral, It's all of us," Jack announced.

Suddenly all eyes in the room found their way to the Spartan fireteam Captain, "What do you mean, Captain?" Obi-Wan asked.

"If the Chancellor had used the clone army to exterminate the Jedi at the very beginning of the war or even before it, the entire galaxy would have it out for him and he would be removed from power no matter how powerful he has become," Captain Jack said, explaining his sudden theory.

"And you think something has changed to make his plan work?" Iona of Fireteam Royal asked.

Captain Jack continued with his explanation, capturing the attention of everyone in the sealed auditorium-styled room, "He knows that killing off the Jedi isn't enough. To remove his enemy AND solidify his authority, enough of the public and government must agree that his…decision to have the clones turn on the Jedi was necessary," He said, leaving most of the room dismayed.

"How can you be so certain of your speculation, Captain?" Admiral Lasky asked him.

The Super soldier took a brief sigh, accompanied by a sharp wince as he looked away from the Jedi pair. "Because Admiral, while I would never willingly allow this Sith Lord's plans to come to fruition…I believe I am one of many that have been- at least somewhat convinced that the Jedi have lost their way, especially since the beginning of the war," Captain Jack admitted.

Before any one of them had a chance to probe deeper, Captain Jack continued, "The war has been growing more costly for all sides now, but it's the Republic that's spending credits it doesn't have on more clone soldiers to continue the war. Every day there are reports of protests against the war, as well as the Jedi leading it," He finished.

Skywalker turned around to look at his former master. They both shared a similar look. Almost shameful as they both knew what Captain Jack was saying to be truthful if partially personal. It did hit them though, trying to find a balance between taking up the role of a military leader as well as the follower of a code based fundamentally on non-aggression was not an easy thing to accomplish.

"I will admit that you are not the only one, Captain," Lasky stated, drawing glances from everyone. "While news of the UEG Senate hearings doesn't usually hold much weight out here, I have received more reports in recent months from both the President's office and the Joint Staff," Lasky stated.

His wording caused the looks he was getting to turn concerned as he continued, "It would seem that the extreme measures the Republic and the Grand Army are taking haven't gone well with the United Earth Government, I have to say, General Kenobi, as much as I respect you and General Skywalker, neither of you two are exempt from these reports either," Admiral Lasky said.

"What! What have we done that concerns your senate?" Skywalker asked, taken aback.

"We haven't the time to discuss matters of politics, but from the reports I have read personally, you and General Kenobi have committed Perfidy. During the Battle of Ryloth, General Skywalker used a false flag of surrender in order to lower the enemies' defences and ram his Star Destroyer into a Separatist cruiser," Lasky disclosed.

The Jedi knight's face dropped slightly as Lasky carried on with his retailing of the reports.

"And almost a year before UNSC involvement in the war, General Kenobi also falsified a surrender to General Whorm Loathsom during the Battle of Christophsis as a tactic to delay a Separatist advance, then took said General hostage," Lasky said. "If you were facing an enemy as ruthless as the Covenant, I might concur with your tactics, but the CIS is not them,"

Skywalker's partially irritated face returned, "Is that all the Separatists are to you, Admiral? Just an insignificant enemy to be driven back, at a rate you see fit," He asked callously.

Admiral Lasky's face darkened, "General, I meant what I said when I first met you and General Kenobi, that any war lasting longer than a day is one day too long, but if we disregarded our rules of war for the sake of meeting such a deadline, then there would be a no greater threat to both galaxies than ourselves," He said, foreshadowing what the UNSC was able but not willing to do.

"I know that your people wouldn't resort to 'glassing' planets as your former enemy did but-" General Kenobi was then cut off by Lasky

"I am not referring to glassing Separatist worlds General," Lasky said, leading the Jedi to speculation. "Nor was I over exaggerating about the timeframe of ending this war,"

Confused and slightly worried looks filled the room as Admiral Lasky spoke, even Commander Palmer, who had remained her usual stoic self, let slip a small amount of unease. It was obvious, that both Skywalker and Kenobi wished to ask further into what the UNSC Admiral was referring to exactly, but neither one opened their mouth.

It was also unneeded as Lasky obscurely explained his intentions, "Humanity is not yet ready to reclaim the Mantle of Responsibility as the Forerunners intended, but if we disregard our empathy as well as our laws all for the sake of eliminating our enemies from existence… " He said, leaving his sentence to hang like an image in their minds.

"What are you suggesting Admiral? That you would resort to orbital bombardments or aimless attacks on any planet that associated themselves with the enemy," Kenobi asked.

Lasky slowly shook his hide side to side, "No, General, I am saying that if our morals meant nothing, I or whoever was in charge of UNSC operations in this galaxy would have ended the war within the first day. There would be no need for glassing or several month-long campaigns of orbital bombardments. Do you know what it would take?" He asked.

General Kenobi stayed silent as Admiral Lasky held up his hand and raised his index finger towards the Jedi. "One day, one ship and one single strafe, the Separatist homeworld reduced to nothing more than a debris field drifting in space. Whatever remained of the Separatist leadership would be forced to surrender, and it would be over," He stated in a consecutive oration.

Of course, what Admiral Lasky was referring to was the most deadly piece of ordnance within the entire UNSC arsenal. The 'NOVA Bomb' was a cluster of nine nuclear fusion warheads, each encased in lithium triteride armour. When the nine fusion warheads are detonated, the lithium triteride casings were forced together in the centre of the combined blast and subjected to massive levels of pressure and superheating.

Developed as a prototype during the Human-Covenant war, the NOVA bomb had little to no recorded use. One of the only times it was used was when a captured bomb was detonated onboard the Sublime Transcendence, a CSO-class Supercarrier. An accidental detonation, caused by Huragok attempting to repair its circuitry, the effects of the bomb were both instantaneous and catastrophic.

The explosion immediately and completely destroyed three-fifths of the fleet that was there, totalling over 300 ships. Instants later, the Covenant outpost 'Joyous Exultation' and its moon, 'Malhiem' were hit by the NOVA's effects, scorching half of the planet and shattering the moon. The resulting winds on Joyous Exultation flattened cities and spawned tidal waves. Resulting in the planet being completely incapable of supporting life.

"Tom," Palmer said earnestly, addressing the UNSC Admiral by his first name.

Neither Skywalker nor Kenobi spoke up against the Admiral who let out a sigh before his tone changed from accusatory to receptive. "I'm sorry, you're right, we don't have time for this, if the Captain is right then it is only a matter of time before the Supreme Chancellor realises the time is right and issues the order to the clone army," Lasky said.

"What's the plan, Admiral?" Iona asked.

Admiral Lasky took a second before answering, "Well, we can't attempt to arrest him directly for everything. Neither the UNSC nor UEG has any authority to do so and if the Jedi tried to bring him in it would give him all the justification he needed to activate the Order 66 contingency," He stated.

"What about the Republic Senate? And the Courts?" Spartan Lexi asked.

"I'm afraid approaching them is no guarantee," Kenobi said, "The Senate has passed numerous votes on extending both the Chancellor's emergency powers and term of office. Even with the evidence you have gathered so far, there is little chance of having him removed from his position," He said, regretfully.

"Sir, I have an idea, what if we use his plan against him," Fives suggested as he approached the Admiral at the front of the holotable.

"Care to elaborate on that, Lieutenant?" Admiral Lasky requested.

"If the Chancellor is waiting for the Jedi to take action against him, something that would make his order against them justifiable in the eyes of the Senate and the rest of the Galaxy, why don't we do the same." Fives said.

His suggestion raised a few curious eyebrows before he continued to explain.

"We need to do something big enough that he gets desperate, enough to the point where he only has two choices. Try and eliminate the Jedi early without cause or delay his plans until the point where there is no more war for him to exploit," Fives finished explaining.

Everyone inside the briefing room looked around at each other before Admiral Lasky commented on the newly commissioned First Lieutenant's idea.

"It's a good idea but the risk of the chancellor activating one or more of the contingencies still exists and if he's backed up against a wall with no way out, he'll use it," Lasky said, countering Five's Idea.

"So we have to remove the possibility of him using these inhibitor chips," Commander Palmer said.

"Accomplishing such a feat will not be without its difficulties, what do you propose?" General Kenobi asked.

Commander Sarah Palmer walked forward so she was able to address the room as she delved into her proposals.

"The way I see it, there are only three practical ways we can go about this," Palmer Said as she manipulated the holotanks display back to the inhibitor chips. "Firstly, we slowly remove every one of these inhibitor chips from the clones until they are all out or at least to a number that we can handle should they turn against us,"

The stomachs of the three clones in the room felt ever so slightly lighter as they didn't take Commander Palmer's suggestion of 'handling' the remaining hostile clones with much enthusiasm.

"These are the practical solutions?" General Skywalker asked rhetorically while glancing towards Obi-Wan.

Shaking his head, Admiral Lasky expressed his scepticism at the Spartan Commanders' plan. "That would be next to impossible to do in time. While the clones are human, our lack of knowledge regarding these inhibitor chips as well as the Kaminoan cloning process would make it too dangerous for us to attempt on mass," He said, shutting down her first approach.

Adding to the dangers of the plan, Captain Jack reminded them of the alternative. "Not to mention that attempting to do this within a Republic medical facility runs the risk of leaking back to the Chancellor and it wouldn't take long for him to uncover our plans and knowledge of his,"

"Second option, the contingency orders can only be given by the Chancellor and nobody else. So, to put it bluntly, we remove Palpatine from the equation all together," Palmer put forth.

It couldn't have been any more clear as to what the Commander was suggesting. However, Palmer's sudden switch from her first reasonable yet challenging plan of physically removing the inhibitor chips from the clones to an obvious assassination attempt upon the Chancellor caught a few of them off guard.

"While I understand the want to take a page out of the ONI playbook Commander, I do not believe that attempting an assassination of the Chancellor is our best course of action." Lasky said before continuing, "Even if it were to succeed, then we run the risk of it being traced back to us or the blame becoming passed to the CIS and only further intensifying the war," He said.

"I do hope whatever's behind door number three is more favourable, Commander," Captain Jack commented to the agitated side eye he received from her.

Commander Palmer then began to detail their last choice. "Our last option, if we can't remove the chips and we can't 'remove' the person who controls them, all that is left is altering the chips' programming themselves," She stated.

It was a bold idea that nobody had suspected to come from her mouth but it still retained multiple elements that required some needed clarification.

"Are you suggesting we somehow reprogram the inhibitor chips?" Anakin asked.

Palmer simply nodded at the Jedi's question. It pondered in everyone's minds, and it made logical sense when compared with the other two choices. Even if they did have the time to remove the individual chips from the clone army, it was still incredibly risky. The risks of the surgeries alone would have been too high to consider the plan. Even then, how was the UNSC supposed to get their hands on every single clone in the GAR?

It was a solid idea and it got straight to the objective but carrying it out had too many unforeseen variables that could go wrong in a multitude of ways. However, it was still likely to be a more reasonable plan than organising an assassination on who was undoubtedly the most powerful man in the Republic.

Without knowing the true scope of the Sith Lords' power, ordering an assassination would be fraught with danger. Not only would the mission take extensive planning and use of valuable UNSC assets but with no guarantee of success, the downsides of the theoretical mission were just too great.

If it wasn't successful then there would be a tremendous amount of effort put into uncovering the leaders of the would-be plot and it would more than likely be linked back to the UNSC, the already strained relationship between the two Galactic powers would be completely shattered and even if the UNSC denied all involvement in the operation, the all-out war would be inevitable.

There was also the opportunity for the Sith Lord to use the failed attempt to his advantage and claim it was anyone who attempted it. He could say it was the UNSC whether he knew or not and start a three-way war to wipe out the newest opposing power. Alternatively, he could try his luck and pin the crime on the Jedi, providing the final piece necessary to his plot.

Unfortunately, though, a successful mission to eliminate the chancellor wouldn't have eliminated the problems the Jedi and UEG were facing. An equal amount of investigation would have been carried out to determine the culprits but a much worse possibility was that the death of the chancellor would have escalated the war to the point that the Republic collapsed completely.

"Exactly, we remove the risk of any orders being issued then we wait for the chancellor to slip up and present every single piece of evidence to the Republic senate, no amount of support will keep him in power then," Palmer declared.

Both the Jedi and Admiral Lasky thought it over, of their very limited options it did indeed seem like the one with the highest degree of success. However, sharing a similar trait with the other two plans, was not without its dangerous consequences.

Consequences that were obvious from the start, "Something like that could surely only be done from Kamino?" Spartan Kate asked.

Lasky nodded his head up and down, "Correct, It was the Kaminoans that programmed the chips in the first place, altering the current state of them will likely only be possible from within the heart of Tipoca city. Getting inside will be hard enough after Fireteam Resolute's escape, it will likely still be in a state of alert." He said.

"Indeed, fortunately, though your fleet has not been ordered to vacate the system, they must still have at least some trust in the UNSC, or at least believe the report you submitted about your soldiers…demise," General Kenobi reported.

It now seemed set in stone that this was going to be the way forward. Against all the odds faced so far in the war, all of them knew that the hardest mission was about to commence.

"Fireteam Resolute will be assigned to this mission but I can't risk the fate of the war in one plan and one fireteam," Lasky told everyone while looking directly at Captain Jack. "If, in the event that your team fails, Captain, Commander Iona and Fireteam Royal will be tasked with carrying out the Assassination of Chancellor Palpatine," He said, making sure to get the weight across of just how essential this yet-to-be-planned mission was.

"We will not fail, Admiral," Captain Jack said adamantly to his face as he stood too near full attention.

"Good, Any questions?" Lasky asked the room.

Captain Jack unhurriedly raised his hand, catching the attention of the Admiral who nodded his head at him.

"If the Chancellor has likely been behind the war all this time Sir, is it possible that by removing his ability to control the clones, we could end the war?" Jack asked earnestly.

Frowning at the brow ever so slightly, Lasky looked in officiousness to the two Jedi before returning his gaze back to the Spartan Captain.

"I suppose it is possible that in the event Chancellor Palpatine is no longer in control of the Republic, the Separatists would lose their last card and realise that the war cannot be won by themselves. If all goes according to plan the Separatists could be forced into a conditional surrender very soon," Lasky said, explaining his assumption as to the consequences of their plan.

Admiral Lasky took some comfort in the Spartan Captain's determination and given his and his team's most successful track record in missions, it was well founded.

"We've discussed enough for now, we'll reconvene here at 08:00 hours to formulate the plan for both Fireteams but as for Kix and Jesse," Admiral Lasky said as he turned to face the two clones. "You'll need to report to the medical bay on S-Deck, we need to have those chips removed as fast as possible," He ordered.

"Yes, Sir," The two clones said.

"Unfortunately Admiral, I'm afraid Anakin and I will not be able to help plan either of your missions, our time was already short when we were sent here to uncover the events that took place on Kamino and despite what we have uncovered here, our duty still calls." General Kenobi informed.

Lasky took an understanding posture, "I hope you appreciate why everything you have been told here must remain a secret," He said to the two Jedi.

"We do Admiral, I ask that you keep us informed though," Anakin asked.

The Admiral hesitated for a moment, letting his eyes briefly drop down to the metal grated floor beneath them. "I will tell you what I can and must, General Skywalker," Lasky said.

"Thank You, Admiral, as much as it pains us, we will keep this information hidden from the Jedi council. Although Anakin and I clearly have some things to discuss on our way to Yerbana before we meet up with our troops," General Kenobi said.

This seemed to satisfy the Jedi Knight as he and General Kenobi started to follow the Admiral to the entrance/exit. Admiral Lasky entered his passcode for the door to the terminal before pressing his hand against one of the biometric scanners.

Slowly and with the accustomed hydraulic hiss, the twin door slowly slid open. It's several tons of military-grade armour dragging itself open to reveal the bright and white light of the corridor leading to the Admiralty briefing room. Accompanied by a waiting marine escort, the two Jedi started to walk away when Admiral Lasky quickly reapproached General Skywalker.

"General Skywalker, if it would put your mind at ease and with your permission of course, I can station Spartan Fireteam Crimson to watch over Senator Amidala, they are one of my most trusted and reliable fireteams," Admiral Lasky offered.

"She has her own bodyguards," Anakin said.

"I'm sure she does, but not Spartans. They would only watch from a distance, making sure this Sith Lord doesn't try anything funny. If he is still intent on trying to manipulate you, I'd hate to think of an innocent senator getting mixed up in the mess," Lasky said, trying to convince him.

"Alright Admiral, anything I can do to keep her safe in the middle of all this," Anakin said, relenting to the Admiral's offer of protection for his wife.

Concluding their last meeting, the two Jedi continued their march alongside the marines to escort them back down to one of the many of the UNSC Infinity's hangers where the ship they arrived on awaited their return.

Opposite them, the two Spartan fireteams regrouped outside the Admiralty briefing room in front of the same hallway Resolute had walked down after arriving back on the ship. Standing at attention, all of them waited for Admiral Lasky and Commander Palmer to leave before moving.

As Sarah Palmer and Thomas Lasky headed towards the corridor junction, both Fireteams crisply saluted the passing Admiral and Spartan Commander. Lasky returned the salute to each one as he passed, the Spartans relaxed their stance and once the two had passed, started the trek to their respective objectives.

"Where are you guys stopping first then, bar?" Captain Jack jokingly asked Iona as the pair stood at the front of the two single-column formations Fireteam Royal and Resolute had taken.

Although all of them had their helmets on, Jack could subtly tell that his attempt at humour caused a slight smirk to appear on Iona's face. After several years of being on the same Fireteam, they had formed a close friendship just as he had with the rest of his former team.

"Ops Deck, if we're really going through with this plan, I'll need to know every corner, staircase and hidey-hole within a mile of the target location," Iona said, making sure not to reveal any context as to the true nature of what their mission was in public.

While she very much doubted any of the passing soldiers had anything on their minds other than what was being served in the mess hall, Iona was not about to risk what was easily one of the most dangerous and secretive missions of her military career on the off chance that some scientist or marine overheard the details.

"Don't forget, it is only as a last resort," Captain Jack reminded her.

"A last resort if you fail," She slyly commented.

Captain Jack let out a quiet chuckle, "Glad to know you have so much faith in my team," He said as the eleven of them reached the top of the high-speed tram system.

"Oh, I have plenty of faith in your team." Iona said while looking over her shoulder at the men under his command, "It's you I'm worried about," She teased.

"So funny," Jack said plainly as the first tram arrived.

Fireteam Resolute took the first tram as its side door opened up to reveal a mostly empty car except for some ONI scientists adjourned in their distinctive white lab coats. Waiting until his entire team was onboard before marching inside the tram himself, Captain Jack stood looking out words as the door began to close.

"Seriously though, good luck," Jack said sincerely.

"I'd keep all the luck you can get, Captain, don't get yourselves killed," Iona half pleaded.

"Come on Iona, you know as well as I do…Spartans Never Die," Captain Jack said as the door fully closed and sealed.

Shooting off through the pitch-black tunnel with only the occasional white light on the outside to indicate just how fast they were travelling, the Spartan fireteam settled in for the few minute's ride until they arrived at the deck commonly referred to as Spartan Town by the Infinity's crew.

Along the trip there, Jesse and Kix were continuously rubbing the backs of their heads. It didn't go unnoticed by their Spartan Captain, nor did it escape him that they were not doing so out of sheer exhaustion. Despite the small amount of rest they all received on the Condor during their journey back to the Infinity, they had all been fighting continuously for a long time now.

Captain Jack had a suspicion that it had nothing to do with tiredness though.

"You guys doing alright?"? Captain Jack asked the pair.

It took a couple of seconds before the two clones shook themselves off and looked at Jack. They just barely managed to register what he had asked them but the handful of seconds before they replied, felt like an hour to all of them.

"Fine Captain, it's just a lot to take in," Jesse replied.

Walking over to them and taking the seat opposite the two clones, Captain Jack looked each one of them in the eye, occasionally peering back over to his second in command who had been standing next to him at the doors of the tram.

"I understand, the three of you have already done more than the Republic could have asked for," Jack said honestly.

"And the UNSC," Rookie added.

"One last battle guys, we finish this and the war will be one giant leap closer to being over," Jun said.

At that moment, the tram came to an abrupt stop and the light coming into the cabin from outside tripled as the platform's heavy lighting snuck its way in. Captain Jack stood up and resumed his post at the door next to Fives. He glanced up at the horizontal screen above the doorway.

'S-DECK MEDICAL BAY'

Snapping open, the double doors on the tram made way for the one-of-a-kind Spartan Fireteam to disembark. Taking the first steps off, Captain Jack and First Lieutenant Fives took notice of a single white lab coat-wearing doctor standing in front of them waiting for them to get off the car. Understandably, Fives assumed she was just waiting for them to depart so she could make use of the Infinity's tram system, Captain Jack however knew better.

The woman in question was wearing what appeared to be a medical one-piece set of blue doctor's scrubs. Her hair was grey and barely went below her chin in length, a typical requirement of military and medical professionals. At under six feet, she barely held a candle to the height of the Spartans who were all commonly 6 feet at the minimum and Jun who was almost seven due to his Spartan III augmentations.

Captain Jack could already make out a vague recognition as to who was standing in front of them all, but the standard-issue identity badge atop her right breast pocket gave him his cause for suspicion.

'DR HALSEY, CATHERINE'

"Captain," She greeted.

"Dr Halsey," Captain Jack returned.

The Doctor swivelled her head to Fives, Kix and Jesse, all encased in their experimental forerunner armour. "Are the clone troopers ready to proceed?" She asked the Captain directly.

"Spartans Kix and Jesse are ready to proceed…Doctor," Captain Jack said with a hint of distaste.

Without saying another word, Dr Halsey turned around and began walking towards the pristinely white-walled medical bay. Its spotless appearance already indicated the strenuous amount of effort put into the maintenance crews to make sure it remained clean, sanitised and ready for mass amounts of casualties at a moment's notice.

Individual coloured lines ran along the walls of each hallway with the name of a specialist room or area to lead people unfamiliar with the area wherever they needed to go. Despite the three sets of lines running alongside their current path, Jack and the rest of them knew that the one labelled 'Operation Suite A1-C12' was likely to wind up being their final destination.

Advancing alongside his superior officer, Fives sifted his eyes between him and the Doctor in front of them.

"Do you know her Captain? Seems like something is going on between you and the Doctor," Fives asked over the private TEAMCOM channel as he didn't want Doctor Halsey to hear him if his assumption was correct.

Knowing that he hadn't been particularly subtle when greeting Doctor Halsey, Captain Jack begrudgingly opened his own line to TEAMCOM.

"I don't know Fives, guess you could call it a feeling of inadequacy," Captain Jack said with bitterness.

Fives quickly snapped his neck over his shoulder to his Captain before continuing to look at his armoured comrades. Even though they had their faces covered, Fives could tell that Kix and Jesse at the very least, shared in his confusion in regards to the Captain's statement.

"Inadequacy? Sir, you must be joking," Fives insisted.

"We might all be Spartan V's now Fives, but Halsey created the Spartan II's and their armour, compared to those guys, even we are just cheap mass-produced copies. Doctor Halsey isn't keen on us forgetting that," Jack said.

"Wait…so does that mean that all the reports on the Spartan missions are true?" Jesse asked from behind the two of them.

"If it is declassified then it's true alright," Jun told him from one man further down the line.

"And the classified ones?" Kix asked.

"Still true, just a little too unbelievable," Cadmon replied.

A short silence reigned over the group once more as they continued to follow, Doctor Halsey into one of the operating theatres before Fives spoke up with another question.

"Does that mean she doesn't think any of us, are capable of being Spartans?" Fives asked as Doctor Halsey started entering what he assumed to be her credentials into a digital pad connected to a large medical device.

The three clones could easily guess that the devices were UNSC surgical machines of some kind.

However, before Captain Jack or any of the other older Spartans had a chance to answer Fives' question. Halsey answered for him.

"Just as I told Spartan Thorne on Requiem, some are closer than others," She answered promptly as if a child were asking her what colour the sky was, not attempting to disguise the fact that she had been eavesdropping on what the Spartans assumed to be a closed off conversation.

"What! How did-" Fives said, half stuttering as he and half of the Fireteam double-checked their TEAMCOM status on their HUDs to make certain they had not been accidentally broadcasting their entire conversation over their suits' external speakers.

"She no doubt helped design the armour, I'm sure hacking into the audio systems is nothing new for her," Captain Jack said with little to no surprise in his voice, either this was not the first time the Captain had experienced the Doctor do such a thing or his judgement of her character was true and he always expected it.

"I'm a woman of many professions, Captain. Now, if the two…Spartans will step forward," Halsey said, looking towards Kix and Kesse, "We can begin the operation,"

Stepping forward out of the line, Kix and Jesse both removed their helmets.

"If you would please remove your armour and lie on the surgical beds while the rest of you leave the theatre," She requested.

"Hold on a minute, I'm not just gonna abandon-" Fives said in protest until he found Captain Jack's hand on his shoulder.

"It's alright Fives, Doctor Halsey is more than capable enough to get those chips out and I'm sure she would be able to perform better without any…distractions," Captain Jack said, convincing the clone that his brother was in safe hands.

"Correct, Captain," She said bluntly.

Leaving the room with the rest of Fireteam Resolute, Fives took up the rear as their Captain followed shortly after.

"Just get those damn chips out of them Doctor, and please organ harvesting or anything," Captain Jack facetiously pleaded just out of earshot of his team.

"My Frankenstein monster will have to wait, Captain, now if you would please," Doctor Halsey said while physically gesturing to the exit.

As Captain Jack vacated the room, Halsey activated the side door controls and the two large pane glass windowed doors slid shut. Immediately afterwards, the crystal clear glass turned almost entirely opaque to the point where all that could be seen were a few incredibly blurry moving objects.

Anything outside of obvious movement became impossible to detect and given the microscopically slow nature of the procedure, Captain Jack doubted he would be able to tell how it was proceeding until she swapped from one clone to the other.

In an effort to distract himself from the dangerous surgery occurring in front of him, Captain Jack turned around, away from the suite. His team took up whatever positions they could in the medical bay without obstructing anyone or anything important but it was clear that it was not designed for Spartan size people to be casually standing around in.

"Sir, what's the Mantle of Responsibility?"

Captain Jack was halfway into a feeling of somewhat secure calmness when Fives asked the last question he expected to come from him or any of his comrades.

"I thought you already knew," Captain Jack said back.

"I know about the Mantle protocol that drew the UNSC to the war but from what I can tell, those aren't entirely the same," Fives answered.

The Captain paused for a moment. While the true purpose of the Mantle of Responsibility was interpreted in more than one way by those who were allowed to know about it, the Spartan understanding of the 'position' was somewhat similar to its original purpose.

"Originally, it was a belief system upheld by the ancient Forerunners. To put it bluntly, they adhered to the ideology that the most advanced species in the galaxy held the duty of protecting all sentient life…it's not something fully understood yet but the Spartan core takes a somewhat different lesson from it," Captain Jack said.

"What's that, Sir?" Fives asked, his curiosity peaking at hearing plainly what the Mantle of Responsibility meant to his newfound comrades that surrounded him in their hundreds.

"To us Fives, it means offering a duty of care to those who ask for it and to those that are suffering, We hope that one day we will become worthy of holding such a responsibility," Captain Jack said as he tried to explain as best he could without becoming too philosophical, something he knew he was never any good at as he came across as too factual to try most of the time.

"Is that different from what those Forerunners believed?" Fives asked, trying to differentiate between the two ideals that had been explained to him.

"From what we know, 'assistance' from the Forerunners wasn't optional, sentient species that lived during the time of the Forerunners were heavily restricted to small militaries and small-arms supplies," Captain Jack said, elaborating further.

"So since Spartans are the best the UNSC has to offer, that's why you think one day you'll be able to defend anyone that needs it," Fives stated.

"Without trespassing on their way of life, yes, we don't intend on being intergalactic police after all," Captain Jack clarified. "The Jedi claim they have the force to guide them and we have our interpretations and guidance of the Mantle,"

Seemingly satisfied with his explanation, Fives didn't feel the need to ask any more questions, not yet at least.

As the minutes rolled by each member of Fireteam Resolute grew more anxious with each one doing something to try and take their mind off their current situation. A few of them used small cleaning utensils attached to their weapons to clear out any dirt or debris that could be diminishing the weapon's efficiency. Despite them all making sure to keep their weapons clean and action-ready at any given moment, the search for even a single dust particle inside their weapon was enough to distract them.

Unfortunately, with their armour being so new and unique, it lacked some of the more attention-diverting properties. It made some of the older Spartans like Jack and Jun vaguely more sentimental about their old sets of armour. Captain Jack himself had even heard rumours that one of the immortal members of Blue Team, an original Spartan II Fireteam, listened to old Earth rock music in-between missions.

He doubted that it was the legendary Master Chief though, he had never personally met him outside of one single five-second interaction during a Covenant assault on a UEG colony world. Of course, the planet ended up falling and becoming one of the Moulton-glassed husks that became almost commonplace towards the end of the war. However, he liked to think that if it had not been for the deployment of Blue Team, the planet would have fallen much sooner and he never would have made it off in one piece.

Noticing that half of his team had their helmets off he considered doing the same, if only to get a taste of a different kind of recycled air, what he didn't want though, was for any of his team to see his face. All of them shared in their uneasiness and they knew he was just as troubled as the rest of them. However, even with their awareness of the Captain's frame of mind, he knew what seeing a look of fearfulness on a leader's face could do to a team's morale.

All of them were just as strong mentally as they were physically but none of them had trained for this. To have a fellow soldier bleeding out in the field while screaming out to whatever god or deity they believed in, was something they could handle, most of them already had. This was something else though, not just the surgery to remove the Inhibitor chips but to know they existed in the first place.

None of them could truly picture it. They would follow orders from their superiors without a moment's hesitation of course but they would never do so with blinding obedience. It greatly disturbed them, knowing that these chips could have been activated at a moment's notice and the entire clone army, that they had fought alongside for over an entire year, could be unwillingly forced to shoot them all in the back.

. . .

It took a little over an entire hour before Doctor Halsey emerged from the operating theatre. The first thing that Captain Jack noticed was the overall lack of blood on her, while she had no doubt discarded her medical scrubs after completing the surgery but it still brought him a small amount of comfort to know that she had not made a horrible mistake resulting in her patient's blood being sprayed all over her and the suite.

"Doctor, are they both alright?" Captain Jack asked, knowing it was the group's first collective question.

"I like to think I can handle a simple endoscopic brain surgery, Captain, but for the most part, they are both completely fine. They'll awaken shortly." She informed them.

"For the most part?" Fives asked.

"Brain surgery is not without its complications Lieutenant, they will both likely have a rather unpleasant headache for a few hours after they wake up but physically they are both stable and set for a rapid recovery," She explained.

The wave of relief hit all of them and they rested easy knowing that these chips had been successfully removed with no major issues.

"And the chips?" Cadmon asked.

"Are to be sent to an undisclosed location for later testing and analysis, ONI is already approaching the Infinity from Sierra base as we speak so please leave them in the specimen cases where they belong until they are retrieved," Halsey warned.

"Where are you going?" Captain Jack asked the Doctor, who was seemingly already halfway out of the medical bay hallway.

"I have other duties to tend to Captain, besides…" Doctor Halsey said as she briefly stopped walking, "I did the surgery as a favour I owed to Admiral Lasky, I suppose he didn't want some fool like Lowell taking the risk and killing the both of them," She said as he continued walking and turned the corner before the Spartan Captain could ask any further questions.

Captain Jack wasn't aware of any Doctor by the name of Lowell but he swore he could recognise it from somewhere. For now, though, he put it far from his mind and entered the operating theatre where his men were just barely starting to rouse.

The previously empty metal containers to his right were the second thing to catch the Captain's attention. They were now tightly sealed and ready for transport, he had no idea what kind of tests and experiments the ONI spooks wanted to do with them but he knew that it was most likely beyond classified. It would be better to not ask questions he either didn't need to know or ones that wouldn't get him permanently reassigned somewhere less…comfortable.

His stare at the two separate containers was drawn away when he heard the coarse voice of one of his awakening Spartans.

To the untrained eye, trying to differentiate between the two men on the surgical tables would have been a challenge. Both of them were seemingly identical humans, in identical medical gowns with no major distinctions beyond their vaguely unique hairstyles. However, to Captain Jack, the two individuals stuck out from each other like a sore thumb.

Even if he wasn't a Spartan and didn't have his keen senses, he had fought alongside the clone army of the Republic for a long time now and it gave him time to understand how clones acted. Despite being cloned from the DNA of a single person, they were all uniquely distinguished in their own way.

Some of the obvious ones to the Spartan Captain were the various scares all seven of them had obtained in battles during both galactic wars and everything in between. A few had been obtained since joining the experimental fireteam but more had been inflicted on the soldiers from before the founding of Resolute.

All of them considered themselves lucky so far. Despite having donned the most advanced armour developed by either side of the galaxy and using weapons based upon the hardlight weapons, used by the ancient Forerunners. The fact that all of them had survived to this very moment without any 'serious permanent injuries' was a true testament to the training, courage and skill of each Spartan within Fireteam Resolute.

"Sir…How'd it go?" Kix asked tiredly as he brought both his hands up and rubbed his eyes before lifting himself up off the table.

"Well, Doctor Halsey was in a rush to leave so I didn't exactly have time to ask any questions but from what she did say, you'll have a headache for a few hours and then you should both be fine," Captain Jack informed the two of them as to his left, Jesse was also learning up.

"Good to know Sir, how much time do we have?" Jesse asked, bringing his left palm to the back of his head. He rubbed his head right where Halsey had performed the surgery and had closed the wound and cauterised it to seal it completely.

"4 Hours until we have to reconvene for the mission briefing at 08:00 hours," Jun answered.

"Took a little longer than I expected, Captain," Kix said.

"Well, from what I know about Doctor Halsey, she likes to be thorough with her work," Captain Jack said.

"I'll take that as a good thing," Jesse said.

"I'm glad you're both awake, but we don't have long, get back into your suits and armour. We'll head to the armoury and do some diagnostics, maybe even work in a little range time before heading back to the briefing room," Captain Jack ordered.

With careful haste, the two clones swapped out their medical gowns for their standard issue black under-suits before assembling their specialist armour once again. Using the onboard computer, Jesse and Kix both ran a quick internal scan of both themselves and their armour.

The armour's sensors did their scan of the two clones first before analysing itself, as was the protocol programmed into the subroutines of the suit. Through the dozens of sensors and monitors positioned all over the inside of the armour, used to track vital signs and react accordingly, no major injuries were detected in either one.

As expected, the only alert that appeared after the scan was an increase in electrical activity in the brain which was due to the headaches both Kix and Jesse were experiencing due to the surgery. Immediately after completing the medical scans, both sets of armour switched to a self-diagnostic test which lasted an equally long couple of seconds.

Overall, the Forerunner alloy held up perfectly and aside from a recommended maintenance review, the onboard computer found zero faults.

As the team leader, Captain Jack had access to the armour systems of all of the men under his command and viewed the scans as they were happening. Feeling an extended sense of relief when no problems arose in either the clones or the armour, He took up the lead formation just as Kix and Jesse slung their separated rifles over their shoulders and onto their mag holsters.

"Single line formation," Captain Jack ordered.

Just as they had entered the room the first time, they all lined up in order of rank. Fives trailing behind the Captain as First Lieutenant and second in command. Followed by Jun, Rookie, Kix, Jesse and Cadmon.

It was a straight march back through the predictably busy medical deck hallway. Despite currently being deployed over a UNSC colony and not in battle, the influx of patients to the Supercarrier's medical wings was never slow. Captain Jack made sure to keep one eye in front of him and one behind to make sure his two recent Spartans didn't collapse or show any signs of concern. After all, even newly minted Spartans shouldn't be able to emerge from such surgery without some major discomfort at the very least.

Pleased that no mishaps or interruptions greeted them on their path to the adjoining section of S-Deck where there were several dozen rows of large equipment used for assembling, testing and configuring Spartan armour.

Coincidentally, there was a set of available configuration sets on one row that had Commander Palmer standing beside them. She was doing some work with an individual Spartan running an endurance test of some sort on a running machine. Captain Jack recognised the individual as Spartan Dunn from Fireteam Bailey. He had worked alongside him and his team a couple of times but not for a long time.

"Alright, split into pairs and run the optical configurations," Captain Jack ordered.

The six of them split into two pairs and started running the standard tests to check the helmet's visual systems were up and running at peak efficiency. If their reticle was off by even a small amount, a missed shot could result in the failure of a mission or the needless death of a comrade.

"Glad to see your new rookies made it," Commander Palmer said from behind the Captain.

Captain Jack looked over his shoulder and grinned as Palmer walked over to him while he looked over his team.

"They may be fresh Spartans, but they sure aren't rookies," Captain Jack humorlessly informed her.

"They're definitely worth their salt, I'll give em' that much," She admitted

Drifting slightly, Captain Jack pondered once more on what would happen to the clones after the war now that the end seemed to be vaguely in sight.

"Any word from the Admiralty or the Senate back home on what happens to the clone army after the war?" Captain Jack asked.

He knew it was a long shot, Palmer may have been the Commander in charge of all Fireteams on board the Infinity but whatever secret talks went on behind closed doors back home in the UEG senate was likely to be beyond both of them.

"I wish I could say, maybe with…certain people out of the way, there can be some progress to giving them the pay and rights they deserve," Commander Palmer suggested while maintaining an air of secrecy around what she was saying. Even without context, it was still dangerous to mutter anything detailing the current plans in motion.

"Here's hoping, they deserve that much at least," Jack commented as he gave Commander Palmer a cursory nod before approaching his men as they were about to finish.

"Very funny Rookie, I can see the damn light," Cadmon said partly riled to Rookie who was moving the glowing red light stick around that was used to test the helmet's optical systems.

"Finished?" Captain Jack asked as he approached the two former shock troopers.

Rookie wiped the smile off of his face before addressing the Captain, "Yes Sir, all armour visual and optics are running fully operational," He informed.

"Good, now let's get some practice down range before we head back for the briefing with the Admiral and Commander," Captain Jack ordered.

Luckily for them, one of the Spartan firing ranges was directly opposite the testing equipment and the seven of them lined up at the individual lanes within a few seconds. Captain Jack himself also picked out a firing lane but stopped to give his men another order just as they started to withdraw their rifles and start up a hardlight targeting scenario.

"You won't be needing those," Captain Jack said as he pulled out one of the weapons attached to the firing range's very small training armouries.

Tossing the weapon to Fives in the stall next to him, the clone looked it over before identifying what type of weapon it was and revealing a face of confusion to Captain Jack.

From the outside, it looked like a relatively normal DC-15A blaster rifle that was in service with most of the Grand Army of the Republic. Upon closer inspection, however, it was clearly the non-lethal variant of the weapon used by cadet troopers during their training on Kamino.

"Sir, these look like training blasters," Fives said questioningly.

Fives knew that there were parts of the blaster that didn't sit right with the memory he had of using the non-lethal weapons during the simulated training sessions back on Kamino when he and the rest of Domino squad were just clone cadets. One thing that stood out was the UNSC eagle logo along the side of the rifle as well as multiple parts that looked to be made out of different materials.

The first thought that came to his mind was that it was some UNSC attempt at creating a generic version of Republic weaponry since they mostly still used projectiles for infantry. Using Plasma or any other energy weapon was widely limited to colossal-sized ship-mounted weapons. Aside from a few directed-energy weapons employed by UNSC personnel, such as the famous M6 Galilean Nonlinear rifle or 'Spartan Laser' as it was more commonly known.

"Not quite Fives, these have been somewhat modified, why don't you test it on that target," Captain Jack requested as he activated a single non-moving target in the hardlight form of a B1 battle-droid.

Curiously, Fives took up a standard combat stance and casually aimed the carbine rifle down the range at the single hardlight target. After a decade of training and several years of combat, it only took Fives a second to line up a near-perfect shot on the droid directly in the centre of its body. When he pulled the trigger, Fives expected the typical bolt of non-lethal energy to hit the target and leave it otherwise intact.

However, what happened instead was a much denser and darker blue bolt of blaster energy shot out of the barrel of the gun and streaked towards the target at a much faster rate than the typical DC-15A. It hit the droid in a fraction of a second and upon impact, the shot was seemingly absorbed by the hardlight droid and the area directly around the hit glowed a bright blue in the blink of an eye.

In addition, small electrical arcs could be seen appearing all over the enemy impersonation. Before Fives could ask about the 'modifications' Captain Jack answered the same thought in all of their minds.

"This is the MA6-NL, a modified version of the DC-15A training rifle that the three of you are familiar with," Captain Jack said while gesturing to Fives, Kix and Jesse. "However, the amount of charge it uses has been increased and compressed into a higher velocity shot with longer lasting effects than the standard stun setting on a standard issue blaster," He explained.

"How much longer, Sir?" Cadmon asked.

"I'm told, that a direct hit at a medium range has a knockout effect of at least 24 hours," Captain Jack informed them.

"We're going to be using these for the mission, Sir?" Jun asked.

"Correct, Iona informed me of these a little while back, we'll take our hardlight weapons as a backup, but I'd rather not kill a clone who is only following orders if I can help it," Captain Jack said.

"Glad to hear it, Sir, that goes for all of us," Rookie said.

"Everybody takes a rifle, it still uses proprietary DC-15 ammunition cartridges and we have plenty on the Condor so don't worry about stocking up for now. Use whatever you need for target practice and get used to the weapon," Captain Jack ordered.

"Good thing there are no other clones here. I wouldn't want anyone to think we're shinies for using these things," Jesse commented.

All seven of them took up arms and started pulling up various hardlight targets ranging from Covenant loyalists and rouge Kig-Yar pirates to B1 Battle-Droids and deadly Droid Destroyers.

Several hours of practice came and went quickly. For the three clones who had been using a nearly identical version of the MA6-NL for several years in their youth, the training and target practice sessions kicked in almost immediately and they found themselves standing toe to toe with the lethal war veteran Spartans and former Orbital Drop Shock Troopers.

To Rookie and Cadmon, the short-muzzled carbines were the exact kind of weapon they excelled at using due to their many deployments from SOEIV pods where space was always an issue. Fighting in close quarters demanded extreme manoeuvrability and the M7 submachine gun was the ideal choice for such missions. The BR55 and MA5 series rifles were excellent in large open battlefields but not for up close and personal operations.

Between the clones going back to their roots, using weapons they had held in their hands more times than they could count and the two former ODST now Spartans, using the same type of small arms they dropped into the heart of enemy territory with, Jun was the only one of the seven that tried harder to catch up with his marksmanship skills.

Jun was an excellent and revered sniper. Out of every Spartan that made up Fireteam Resolute, none of them would want anybody other than Jun in an overwatch position covering their backs. Becoming so used to long-distance shooting meant he had to hone in his close-range carbide skills once again for their upcoming mission. Jun, however, was a Spartan III and was not one to back down from an obstacle in his way.

As one of the few soldiers that could hold a candle to the legendary Spartan II's, Jun wasn't about to be outdone. He focused entirely on every single hardlight target in front of him. When one went down and two more appeared, he didn't sweat. With every level of difficulty, a new feature would make the objective much more difficult. Enemies with shields, and hostages he had to avoid hitting accompanied by much faster movement of the targets.

Just like the rest of them though, Jun had faced much worse than a couple of rapidly moving targets that didn't shoot back at him. Within the several hours they spent at the range and several thousands of shots they all fired, every single one of them had a good enough handle for the weapon.

With less than an hour left until they were due to be at the mission briefing, Captain Jack halted the firing exercise.

"That'll have to do for now, we'll have a set of MA6s authorised and delivered to the Condor by the time we get there, leave the rifles here and fall out to the transport station," Captain Jack ordered.

After removing the magazines from the rifles and setting the firing selector to safe, the six Spartans formed up on their Captain in single line formation and started marching back to the closest S-Deck tram stop.

With the Infinity almost always full of soldiers, scientists and civilian consultants moving about in a hurry, it was no surprise that the wait for a tram to arrive at the nearest station took no more than a few minutes. Fireteam Resolute wordlessly boarded the transport and waited as it set off.

While on the tram, Captain Jack subtly glanced towards the three clones under his command. Something was going through his head that he couldn't drop and it was starting to cause him even more concern. Through his neural lance, he opened a private line of communication between himself and his First Lieutenant.

"Fives?" He asked.

Fives looked towards his commander, but responded on the private line, closed off to the rest of the squad.

"Yes, Sir?" He asked.

"This mission could decide the fate of the entire galaxy…possibly both of them," Captain Jack stated.

"I understand that, Sir" Fives acknowledged, trying to determine where his Captain was going with what he was saying.

"I know we're using non-lethal weapons for this mission, but I need to know, if it comes to it…you're prepared to do what needs to be done," Captain Jack asked gravely.

Fives thought for a moment about what Captain Jack was asking of him. "I am Sir, we all are," He assured him, "If we fail here today and this Sith is allowed to carry out his plan, my brothers and I become nothing more than mindless executioners with no free will to fight it, as far as I'm concerned that is a fate worse than death,"

Captain Jack looked down silently. He knew that if it came to it, what he was asking of Fives, Kix, and Jesse was difficult for them at best and downright cruel at its worst. He felt a pinch of shame having to bring up the subject, but he hoped that it would all be worth it in the end, once the mission was complete and the war almost over.

The end of their private conversation also led to the end of the tram ride to their destination. From there, it was a very quick march back to the Admiralty Briefing Room, where Captain Jack could already see Iona and Fireteam Royal leaving the room. Even with her helmet on though, Jack could tell she had a steely determined face and a walk that said she had serious business.

"Good luck," She said in a way that Captain Jack couldn't determine if she was being genuine or sarcastic.

"Spartans Never Die, Come on Iona is there an Echo...in…here," Captain Jack trailed off as he and his men walked through the large set of open security doors into the auditorium-styled briefing room.

He stalled, however, as he and his team paced just a few steps within the room entirely.

Besides the obvious Admiral Lasky and Commander Palmer standing at the centre console of the room, there was more than one figure that caused the entire team's halted movement. One Togruta and former Jedi that they had not seen for a long while as well as two clone troopers.

"Captain," Ahsoka Tano said, greeting Captain Jack.

"Ahsoka…" Captain Jack said. Even if she was still a Commander, the Spartan Captain doubted that such a minor infraction for not addressing by proper rank would have done much to his current track record, other than lengthen it by a single page.

However, it wasn't Ahsoka Tano that caused the rest of them to freeze in their tracks.

"I don't believe it, you're alive!" Fives said in disbelief and glee as he found the use of his legs once again and walked forward to take the unhelmeted clone by the shoulder into a hug, "It's good to see you Echo,"

"You too Fives, it's been a while," Echo said as he pulled away and eyed the clone up and down, looking at his highly advanced power armour.

"How are you even still alive?" Kix Asked, "When the ship blew up on the Citadel, we all thought you were dead,"

Captain Rex answered Kix's question for him, "So did we, Separatists captured him and have been using his mind to predict our movements on the battlefield," He explained.

"Damn Separatist Bastards," Rookie said as he looked upon the state Echo was in.

Echo's left arm, had been replaced with a Scomp link, and he looked incredibly pale along with multiple scars that Fives knew he never had before the mission on Lola Sayu went badly wrong.

"I'm glad you're alive Echo," Captain Jack said as he approached, "But what are you doing here, all of you?" He asked, looking between Him, Rex and Ahsoka.

"I requested them," Lasky said from behind the holotank. "They know about the mission Captain," He revealed.

Captain Jack held his tongue as his first internal reaction was to almost aggressively question his superior as to why he would inform yet more people as to the perilous and borderline treasonous nature of their mission. Admiral Lasky didn't make rash decisions like this without good cause though, Jack knew this and swallowed his angry confusion.

"Why, Admiral?" Captain Jack asked.

"Because you can't do what you're about to do alone," Ahsoka answered before the Admiral.

The Spartan Captain looked at Ahsoka. The look in her eyes was honest, and he could tell she was genuinely concerned for him, for all of them. If Ahsoka had asked for his help, he would have equally provided it, no questions asked. However, he could tell that there was something further going on with the three of them and Admiral Lasky.

It was obvious, that Lasky knew Jack wasn't going to take Ahsoka's explanation at face value.

"It's not that I don't have trust in you and your team's skills Captain, but you aren't exactly Spartan II's, and I need a team I can rely on one hundred per cent without worrying I'll have to send an entire fleet to extract you when something goes horribly wrong," He confessed.

Feeling a shot at his pride, Captain Jack felt the need to defend his and his team's honour if it weren't for the fact that deep down, he knew the Admiral was at least partially right. Even with fancy armour and state-of-the-art weaponry, his team was still made up of Clones, Drop troopers and a single Spartan III.

A trustworthy mix of exceptional soldiers, to be sure, but even Captain Jack knew that to bet his own Fireteam against a group such as Blue Team or Red Team was a fool's gambit.

"So they help us infiltrate Kamino and solve the issue of the Chancellor's control, what do they get out of this?" Captain Jack asked.

Admiral Lasky didn't bother showing a fake look of surprise at the Spartan's assumption. If only Ahsoka had appeared then he might have believed the help was purely pro bono, the accompanying clones drew him to believe there was some deal to be had.

"For a long time, Maul was only the apprentice of the Sith Lord. Now that he has Mandalore under his control, it is only a matter of time before he becomes just as big a threat as the Supreme Chancellor," Admiral Lasky said.

"And the Republic cannot invade Mandalore to remove him from power, the treaty of Peace and non-aggression go back several millennia," Captain Rex told them.

Piece by piece, Captain Jack, as well as his Fireteam, could see where the explanation was leading. Despite the Dutchess Satine having been overthrown, she had stepped down willingly, and the path that led to Maul's ascension was all in compliance with Mandalorian law and tradition.

"We are going to invade Mandalore on behalf of the Republic?" Captain Jack asked, putting two and two together.

"We wipe out two of the last few remaining Sith, we are one giant leap closer to ending this war," Admiral Lasky confirmed.

Captain Jack looked to Ahsoka, "Then we'd better get planning," He said.

A small smile appeared on both their faces as the now ten-man team grouped up around the holotank in the middle of the room.

Commander Palmer brought several highly detailed surveillance documents up from the holographic display, "Alright, after going over Kamino's defences and detection systems, it is pretty fair to say that there is no easy way to covertly infiltrate Tipoca City without avoiding detection," She explained.

"So we go in loud," Rookie said.

"Correct, it's incredibly dangerous so speed will be vital," Palmer said.

"How are we getting inside?" Fives asked while focusing on the possible entry points all over the surveillance images.

Admiral Lasky used the console to focus on one particular image, it was a section of one of the large domed roofs that covered the enormous sea-fearing city buildings. From what they could all see, the roofs had little to no armed protection. However, they were likely to be made of extraordinarily strong materials due to the harsh weather conditions that frequently visited anything above or under the surface of the planet's ocean.

"Going in loud, we will have to rule out entry points such as hangar bays since the heavy bay doors take too long to blow through in the event they detect your arrival," Admiral Lasky said, starting to explain. "Luckily for us though, Meteor showers are common enough that the sensors will turn a blind eye to any incoming space debris," He said.

"We're going to blow a hole in the roof," Captain Jack said, finishing the Admiral's explanation.

"Bingo," Commander Palmer said, "The roof is too heavily- armoured to break through using drop pods, so an M4510 will be mounted to your Condor in place of the forward rotary cannon,"

"Sensor reports from our defence fleet above Kamino indicate that on average, a local meteor shower hits every twelve hours," Lasky explained. "Once you arrive in the system, you'll use the conditions to your advantage and approach Tipoca City with the Condors camouflage systems active,"

Palmer continued while going over the specifications of both the ship and missile, "Launch the missile from high altitude in close proximity to the incoming meteors so that the Kaminoans don't get too suspicious. Once launched, Fireteam Resolute and their reinforcements will bail out of the Condor and gain entrance through the hole left by the missile," She said.

"We have spare Jetpacks on the Condor," Jun mentioned to Fives and Echo who had raised eyebrows upon hearing how they would be gaining entrance to the facility.

"Beats using those drop pods Captain, trust me," Fives said cautiously.

Admiral Lasky brought up one of the internal maps of Kamino, "Once inside, the team will split into two groups, one will head to the DNA archives room where the chips are most likely programmed in the first place and can be changed again now. Meanwhile, the other team will make for the gene engineering room. If the archives don't work out, then that will be the second best chance," He briefed.

"What next?" Echo asked.

"That's where it gets complicated," Commander Palmer said, "By the time the main objective is complete, every single clone on Kamino will have been fully alerted to your presence and just because you removed the control of the inhibitor chips, doesn't mean they will lay down their arms,"

"We'll have to regroup and fight our way to a hanger, commandeer a ship and hope we can make it off the planet before any fighters are scrambled to shoot us down," Captain Jack said.

"Ten of us against the entire Kamino defence forces, that's a tall order even for us," Rookie admitted.

"I see now why you made a deal for help, Admiral," Captain Jack commented.

"Indeed Spartan, it is a dangerous mission. One I have no doubt will not go all according to plan, that's why I am counting on all of you to get it done and put us one step closer to intergalactic peace." Admiral Lasky said.

"We'll get it done, Admiral," Captain Jack said determinedly.

"Then good luck and Mantle Guide you Spartans," Lasky said.

With the mission briefing all but concluded, Captain Jack and the rest of his Fireteam stood to attention. Saluting their commanding officer as he closed the holotank display and approached the line of Spartans.

He saluted them back, and they stood at ease. Turning to leave shortly after the Admiral and Spartan Commander, Captain Jack, addressed his First Lieutenant.

"I need to have a word with Ahsoka. We'll meet you at the Condor shortly," He said.

Hanging back in the room until the others had left, Captain Jack turned to face his friend who was standing leaning against the front of the auditorium's seating section.

"So, back to hunting down Sith? Guess we all need a hobby," Captain Jack commented.

Ashoka smirked. "I was actually approached by Lady Bo Katan. She was asking for help removing Maul, I thought about going to Obi-Wan and Anakin but…something made me come to you and the UNSC instead," She said.

"Bo Katan? I still owe her for saving my life on Mandalore, guess that explains the new look, very Mandalorian," He jested, gaining a slight chuckle from the former Jedi in response. "Can't say I blame you though but after some recent…events, I feel like I may have Judged some Jedi too harshly," Captain Jack said.

"Maybe, or maybe the war is just turning the Jedi into something they never saw themselves becoming, I don't know how your people did it for nearly ten times as long," She said almost sympathetically.

The smile on the Captain's face started to drop, "It wasn't easy. Humanity wasn't perfect before the war but when faced with extinction, even I have done things that I regret in the name of protecting Humanity," He said with a vague look of shame.

"If you could go back, would you change anything?" She asked.

"No, I wouldn't. I regret some of the things we had to do but if it meant keeping Humanity safe from the Covenant, I'd do it all again," He said.

"One more mission together then, do you think you'll stay with the UNSC after the war?" She asked.

Taken aback slightly, Jack had never thought about life after the war or even outside the military. Primarily because during the Human-Covenant war, he never assumed he would survive long enough to see the end of it.

"I'm not exactly planning on retiring at twenty-five. Guess I never really thought about it. Spartans aren't exactly built, with civilian lives in mind. Maybe… go on to teach, influence the next generation of Spartans," Jack said, picking out a future that might suit him.

"And pass along your many tendencies for ignoring orders to save framed innocent Jedi," Ahsoka jokes.

Captain Jack let out a laugh, "Well, somebody has to." He said.

Lowering his arms, he found his palm wrapped around his lightsaber. He removed it from his belt and went to hand it to her before he noticed she already had not one but two lightsabers on her waist that looked similar to the old pair he had seen her use numerous times throughout the war.

"Guess you won't be wanting this back, why do I get the feeling Skywalker had something to do with those," Jack guessed.

"Keep it, Anakin and I spoke briefly before he left the ship," Ahsoka explained as she removed the two lightsabers. "He kept my old one safe after the whole Barris incident," She said.

"And made a new one," Jack pointed out.

"He might have made a couple of…modifications," Ahsoka said as she ignited the two blades in front of him. Revealing them to be bright blue instead of the old green pair she used before.

"Of course he did," Jack said with an eye roll as he looked up and down her new shiny lightsabers.

"Jealous?" She asked coyly, collapsing the lightsabers, she put them back on her waist

"You wish, and I'm not exactly lacking in my arsenal," Jack said as he briefly activated his large hardlight shield.

As the silence started to reign, Ahsoka walked away from the seating area, "We should head to the ship," Ahsoka suggested.

"Yeah," Jack agreed as the pair walked towards the exit of the room, "Even if it was to get the UNSC's help in invading Mandalore, thanks for coming, I know the rest of the team appreciates it but I hope you know how grateful I am that you're here," He thanked.

"I would have come anyway, getting Admiral Lasky to agree on Mandalore was just a very large bonus," She admitted to him.

"Ahsoka, you sly fox. You must have one helluva of a poker face to have bluffed Admiral Lasky and Commander Palmer," He said.

"What face?" She asked, confused.

"It's from a card game, involves a lot of bluffing and not letting somebody read you easily," Jack explained.

Emerging from the briefing room, the two of them started to make their way to the hangar where the Condor and the rest of the mission team were undoubtedly waiting for them by now. For what they both hoped wasn't the last time, they boarded the tram to take them directly to the Infinity's port side hangar bays.

The enormous open spaces, were filled with almost every different type of spacecraft that the UNSC fielded. From the small stealth drones used for local reconnaissance, all the way to long-range fighters and heavily armed transport ships like the Condor. Both large, and heavily modified, the Condor in the hands of Fireteam Resolute stuck out like a sore thumb.

Sticking out most of all was the large M4510 missile on the front underside of the ship in place of the mountings for the standard 110mm rotary cannon that was standard for large attack craft such as theirs. Despite causing some attention, the nature of the mission was still beyond classified to the purpose of the mission, the passing by the crew could only guess.

Marching down to meet the team, Captain Jack and Ahsoka made their way past multiple small vehicles carrying large sets of munitions. As they approached, Commander Palmer was waiting by the ramp-up into the Condor.

"Good luck to you all. Captain Jack, a quick word before you depart?" Palmer asked.

Captain Jack frowned since if Commander Palmer needed to speak to one of her Spartans, she ordered it and didn't ask. He gestured for Ahsoka to leave him and join the crew on board the ship as he turned to face the Commander.

"What's the problem, Commander?" Captain Jack asked.

Commander Palmer didn't have her helmet on and Jack could tell she had something either troubling or difficult to tell him.

"Are you and Ahsoka…close?" She asked.

Blinking in a blank state, Captain Jack let the gears inside his head turn before he answered her. "What are you- We're about to depart on the riskiest mission of our lives. Are you asking me if I…what, have feelings for Ahsoka?" He asked her slightly louder than he would have liked.

Palmer remained level-headed, "I asked if you were close, you've already been ready to face a court-martial to sort out that whole mess on Coruscant," She reminded him.

"I would have done that regardless," Jack said, lowering his voice. "So because I refused to follow Tarkin's orders and Hunt her down when she was innocent, that means I have some kind of affection for her?" He stated rhetorically, his face getting redder behind his helmet.

"I never said that either. I'm only asking because we both know the stakes at play here. We can't afford any hesitation, not now, I need to know you can do that without worrying about …somebody else" Palmer said emphatically.

Captain Jack swivelled his head slowly, just enough to see Ahsoka standing halfway up the ramp waiting for him. He looked back to Commander Palmer, "The mission comes first," He said passionately, as he started to walk away from the Commander towards the ship.

"Still didn't hear a no," Commander Palmer said as Captain Jack marched out of earshot, leaving her original question unanswered.

Approaching the ramp up into the main fuselage of the Condor, Captain Jack walked past Ahsoka who regrouped with him once he made his way inside and the door started to close up behind them.

"What did Commander Palmer want?" Ahsoka asked.

"Hmm, Oh just a few last-minute notes about the extraction, nothing to worry about," Jack said, putting the question down quickly.

"Oh, Okay." She replied.

Opening TEAMCOM, Captain Jack made sure to do the usual pre-mission checks. The first thing he knew he had to check up on was the current status of the missile, that'd been mounted to the forward section of the ship's nose. It took up a large amount of space and would cause a significant drag on the ship if it were to be involved in any form of combat. Luckily though, they would be approaching in full active camouflage and any nuclear complements that might give their position away due to radiation detection had been removed.

"Jun, what's the status of the missile?" He requested.

"M4510 is locked in position Captain, ready for remote launch upon our arrival," Jun reported.

Satisfied that there were no setbacks with the vital piece of ordinance that would get them into the facility, Captain Jack next made sure to enquire as to the current state of their active camouflage systems what would hide them from the enemy, both to the naked eye and all known forms of sensor arrays.

"Cadmon, what's the status of the camouflage and detection countermeasures?" He requested.

Cadmon immediately answered from the cockpit through TEAMCOM, "All systems are active and ready Captain, they won't know where we are until it's too late," He informed.

"The reduced armament will reduce our combat capabilities in the air though, Sir," Jun reported.

"Corsair will fly the ship out of the system once we bailout, we shouldn't have to worry about any interceptors," Captain Jack said reassuringly, "Alright, everybody, check your gear, weapons and anything else that's going in with us. If we do this right, we free the clone army from the Chancellor's control and push one step further to victory,"

Inside the cockpit, Cadmon checked all the flight systems were fully operational and started up the ship's engines. Once up and running, He opened a line of communication to the main hangar control room to request clearance to depart from the Infinity.

"Hanger Control, this is UNSC Condor Gamma-201, requesting clearance to depart Infinity," Cadmon requested.

Moments later, a voice came through the speakers in the cockpit, "Condor, this is Hanger Control, dropship plus mounted armament have been authorised for departure, opening bay doors now," A male voice informed him.

"Acknowledged Control, Condor out," Cadmon replied as he closed the channel and looked forward as the large vertical hangar bay doors started to open, revealing the blue luminous shield that allowed spacecraft to move in and out of the ship without spending crucial time pressurising and de-pressurising the individual hangar bays.

Increasing the engine thrust output, the ship carefully started to lift off the platform. Fully aware of the tight surroundings, Cadmon made sure to not overdo the exit and leisurely paced himself as he pulled out of the hangar. After a few seconds, the Condor was clear of the hanger and with the engines facing only the shield, Cadmon put the throttle almost completely forward.

"Cadmon, give us some distance from Infinity and plot the Slipspace course to Kamino," Captain Jack ordered.

Of course, if he wanted to, Captain Jack could have accessed the ship's systems and displays through his own HUD or asked the ship's onboard dumb AI Corsair to determine when they entered Slipspace. However, asking his crew to personally update him on mission developments, was one of the small but frequent things that helped the team work together more naturally.

At near full speed in the vacuum of space, It took only a few minutes for the ship to build up a far enough distance from the planet that the Infinity was nothing but a small black dot against the UNSC colony.

Spinning up the Slipstream drive, Cadmon entered the coordinates for Kamino into the navigation computer.

"Entering Slipspace now, Captain, ETA is One Hour and Thirty Minutes," Cadmon reported through TEAMCOM as he allowed the drive to do its job and open the dimensional rift in space. Piloting the Condor directly into it, the ship passed through the portal and collapsed behind them.

Inside the ship, everyone was checking the equipment to be used for the mission. From the specialist rifles in use by Fireteam Resolute to the Jet packs currently in the temporary use by the three additional crew members joining them. Captain Jack was currently inspecting his own MA6-NL. Satisfied that it was in near-perfect condition for a weapon that just recently rolled off the production line,

Over his shoulder, he could see Ahsoka talking to Captain Rex. He knew that the two were friends and that if Ahsoka trusted him then he should too. However, just like Echo, he had only served with him a few times. Fighting together during deadly campaigns such as the ones on Umbara and Kamino though, gave him more than enough respite.

Trying to push the Commander's words from his mind, he racked the charging handle of the rifle and the weapon's signature high pitch whine sounded out, indicating it was ready to fire. Leaving the weapons safety on, he put the rifle on his secondary mag mount next to his standard hardlight rifle.

Heading over to the centre console of the ship inside the main cabin, he started to go over the topography and maps of Kamino in an attempt to familiarise himself with the layout of the buildings. Relying on one of the five clones with him to know where to go at all times was incredibly risky.

Focusing on the intelligence reports in front of him, Captain Jack as well as the rest of the crew prepared themselves in whatever ways they could for the mission ahead of them.

It has been almost four months in between the last chapter and this one. I guess, I owe everyone an apology for that. I didn't intend for the gap to grow to the point where each chapter release has its own hiatus every single time. Anyway, as you can all guess, we are getting closer to the end of the story and all the cats are out of the bag as to the secret identity of the Sith Lord/Traitor in the Republic.

Echo is back, ladies and gentlemen. I won't say names, but the only reason Echo exists at this point is that I was scrolling through some old reviews and found one where I promised we would see him again after his 'death' so here you go. Sorry if it feels forced but when we're this close to the end, it's probably going to feel like that no matter how I do it.

Sorry that there is no real action in this chapter, about halfway through writing it was when I realised that I wouldn't be able to fit the next Kamino segment into the same chapter, not without dragging it out for like 30k words. That is too much for a single chapter, so I can only hope that this one satisfies your appetite until the next chapter. Hope you enjoyed the better-described details about the Mantle as well as the small Cameo from Doctor Halsey.

As usual, make sure to leave a review to let me know about your thoughts and suggestions regarding the chapter or story in general.

Next Chapter - Execute Order 66