So, the mission was simple. Rescue a Crime Lord's son from a Separatist force on a remote planet. Richard had heard of weirder missions, quite honestly. He shifted uneasily, however, when he realized he was going to be working with Blue Team. The Spartans had departed for the bridge, leaving him alone in the hangar of the Republic Assault Ship Guardian with the Clones and Jedi. He was sat on a set of boxes under the shade of one of their LAAT Gunships, a rather interesting beast to look upon, all while tending to his weapons.
With a screwdriver in one hand and the cleaning kit sat beside him, the young man continued working away at the weapon, out of sight of the patrolling Clones or his supposed new 'partner'. He eyed the young, orange-skinned girl as she regaled a platoon of 501st Legion clones, plus a pair of strange 'AstroMech' droids, with tales of how she saved her master during the battle on Christophsis.
He stared, then set the screwdriver down as soon as he'd finished what he needed to finish on calibrating his scope, before turning a dial and thumbing the activation button of the PEQ-style laser sight mounted to the weapon's side. He saw a scarlet beam trail along the path, his HUD's crosshair following it with a maximum degree of accuracy possible from handmade calibration.
He hummed, shouldered the weapon and racked the bolt a couple of times after he had reassembled the weapon. Glad with how it was gliding on the rails, he set it aside and drew his M6 SOCOM pistol, racking back the slide and looking inside. It was a 'fresh-off-the-line' pistol, so grim and muck hadn't acquired, but his rifle had been with him since his earliest days as a Headhunter.
Casting another glance toward Tano, the young man wondered just what? Seriously, she looked decently human, but was an obvious, dead-to-rights alien. Why were they even working with the lot if they used an army of clone slaves and Aliens? Then again, he was one to complain about that, even mentally, considering they were allied with the bastards who burned his homeworld down via plasma.
He saw the team of Clones scatter in the corner of his eye, most of them laughing, before he heard the clap of low-heeled boots against the metallic floor of the hangar. He looked up from his fiddling once again, noting that the alien girl had come up to him, a smile on her face. She waved, "Hey," and leaned against the LAAT's rear with one hand, "I don't think we got to meet properly. I'm Ahsoka."
"I know," He replied with half a mouth, then stood up. The girl blanked for a moment, noting that the boy, in full MJOLNIR GEN-III armor with the SPI attachments stood at seven feet tall. Well above her height. As in her face was at around chest height with the boy in full armor. She had to stare up at him, a hint stunned at the sight. He, however, didn't seem phased. He spoke, "Proper introductions, then. Warrant Officer Richard. Call me whatever." with disregard.
Ahsoka crossed her arms to her chest and quipped, "You don't seem too fond of me, big guy."
"Observant, for an alien," He shot back.
"Oh, that kind of person..." Ahsoka murmured, scratching her chin. She hummed and sighed, before telling him, "Listen, we're on the same side and I do wanna learn to work with you and your new team, which I feel is a considerably good idea for someone who witnessed one of'em take a shot that was impossible. If it's good with you, I maybe wanna bury the hatchet preemptively, before we wind up at each-other's throats."
... He hummed, nodded and said, his voice denoting how impressed he was, "Well, that's a good start at least," He told her calmly, "Though don't expect me to get used to you quickly. We lost family thanks to aliens like you. Hell, it's no wonder they're keeping me away from the Elites." All while checking over his silenced pistol. The girl had to take a moment to register that one.
"Bad blood?" She asked, concerned. She'd also seen the Arbiter in action...
"A whole-ass genocidal war, yeah," He replied calmly. The young woman took a moment to process it as the Spartan reassembled the last of his equipment. With a quick glance to the rest of the hangar, the boy added with the same tone of passive-aggressiveness that Ahsoka had felt from the get-go, "So you get why I ain't so very eager in terms of working with other Aliens... No matter how near-human you look."
"Yeah..." Ahsoka blinked, "I get it..."
"Good," He replied, "I'll do my job if you do yours. Otherwise? Let's stay out of each-other's way..." and he stepped off toward BLUE Team's Pelican. She watched him leave, before turning as footsteps filtered through the place. The entire deck, which was filled with Clone Troops, stood at attention, coming out of the woodwork as Generals Skywalker and Kenobi stepped into the place, BLUE Team close behind.
"Gather up, everyone!" Skywalker ordered. The Clone officers and the main cadre of several hundred Troopers gathered up around the General. He looked to Obi-Wan, who gave him a nod. He lifted up a hologram emitter and turned it on, "Our target is this old B'omarr order monastery on the planet Teth. It's been abandoned for a while and the seppies took it over recently to use as a base of operations. Intelligence suggests that this is where they're holding the Huttlet."
He looked around, "The Recon units also report that the enemy has layered the defenses of the place and has anti-air batteries, so we will have to land within the jungle in order to assault it. The climb's gonna be a bit steep, so I hope you prepared your cables, boys. While we deal with the enemy Air Defense and secure the Monastery, the UNSC will be moving into position to blockade hostile reinforcements. We have one Cruiser and a squadron of Frigates assisting us and we'll make the most out of them. Chief, you're up now."
The Spartan nodded in thanks and stepped forward, "Our joint forces will secure the Huttlet and help evacuate him aboard the UNSC cruiser Pass Me The Ammo for delivery. We have all also been briefed on the importance on this mission. Our success here means the Republic's ability to utilize the hyperlane network belonging to the Hutt Cartels in order to traverse troops and equipment to the embattled Outer Rim. If our alliance is to succeed beyond a political sense... It's resting on this op."
"We'll get it done," Ahsoka smirked, arms crossed to her chest.
Chief replied with a nod, then joined his squad. Richard also followed him to the team, with the others giving a nod to the little Blue team trainee. His weaponry was spotless, clean and at the ready, but Linda was first to note, "Never been on a team with a Headhunter, honestly..." as she gazed upon the young man, "I did read about your kind though..."
"And we did work with Gamma Spartans when we went to help Kurt," Kelly added. Fred and Linda both nodded, before turning to the young man. He didn't say much, it seemed, which was just fine for the S-IIs. And if Admiral Lasky trusted the kid to be good, so did the others. Chief gave a nod and motioned to the Pelican with a slight tilt of the head. The five-man team left for it, with Richard casting one more glance toward Ahsoka.
She flashed a smile at him, showing her desire to be friendly. The boy nodded, then hummed and looked to the others, asking, "Sir, is it normal to be uneasy around aliens even if they ain't Covenant?"
"Considering what we've been told about you and your comrades, Blue Five?" Chief replied with a question, letting the young man decide on his own, which he seemed to have, considering the fact the other Spartans noticed his shoulders slightly sag. He told the boy, "Focus on the mission. If the alliance goes through, they'll be our allies for a good while..."
"Yessir," Richard answered, "Don't need to worry about me, sir."
"Good," Chief shot back as they boarded the Pelican and started preparing their weapons. Ahsoka stood there, arms crossed and watching while the Clones around her packed their kit. She'd actually wanted to ask something else of the boy before the briefing started. To see his face, considering Spartans seemed to have a tendency to keep their helmets on. For the most part, anyhow.
She felt a hand clap on her shoulder, then turned to see her master. He asked, "Something the matter, Ahsoka?"
She shook her head, "Just the new guy for the Chief's team... It's... He told me they had some sort of genocide campaign done on them by aliens they're allied with nowadays. The Sangheili, I think..." and she looked to her master. He nodded.
"I was told as much by both the Arbiter and Admiral Lasky during our more recent convos. He warned me about the guy not being particularly open to anyone not human," He offered, then hummed and added, "Did you two make nice to a degree, at least?" as he considered the fact that the guy hadn't tried to kill her yet. Then again, Spartans were supposedly meant to be machines, soldiers that followed orders to a T...
"I mean, I'd like to think so, but..." She shrugged, "I don't know..."
"Eh, we'll see how you two work together on Teth," He quipped, then gave her a light punch to the shoulder, "Let's go. Gotta prep the gunships before we set off to battle... You can meet your boyfriend there," and he smirked as he walked away. Ahsoka seemed to balk and start complaining, but was inaudible to the already-disappeared Jedi as the man boarded the gunship.
She crossed her arms and rolled her eyes, before marching up to the gunship, too... As the vehicles began their proper procedures and the UNSC began theirs aboard the vessels, the warships entered low orbit above the target area. A dozen gunships total exited the hangars of both sides' ships, with Pelicans leading the charge while Longswords flew escort.
Entering the atmosphere was bumpy, obviously. The Spartans held on tightly, weapons close, as their pilots took them through the rumble of atmospheric re-entry, with the Clone Gunships not far behind. Flak started popping up in front of them from the Monastery on the raised rock pillar. It was at that moment that the UNSC started to wonder how in God's name could those things have Flak shells if they were firing plasma?
"Alright, Rock Jumpers, prep for drop!" The pilot of one of the gunships spoke...
It didn't seem to matter as the first aircraft touched down. The Spartans, meanwhile, would orbit the monastery at lower altitudes than their Triple-A Could hit, prepping to intervene the moment the Jedi got up the hill. Ahsoka, meanwhile, jumped out of the Gunship with her master and the clones, watching with muted awe as Pelicans fast-roped their troops to the ground while a pair of their own gunship-Pelicans spun up their guns and banked back, firing bursts of rockets that exploded on impact with the rock face.
It seemed, however, the moment the UNSC Gunships realized that the enemy was barely using their defenses properly, they revved up their guns. Ahsoka watched two ships power their directional thrusters and launch up into the sky, readying themselves to hammer the Droids with Autocannons and missiles. The Jedi, Clones and the deployed Marines pushed forward up to the rock face, meanwhile, as blaster fire still rained down on them. Behind them, two AT-TEs also joined in.
... Well, this was gonna be interesting.
Coruscant...
It'd taken a little less than ten hours to arrive at the incredible capital of the Republic. The UNSC Navy had kept up surprisingly well with the ships of their allies' own Navy, despite different FTL Drives. It paid off that the UNSC had adapted much of the Covenant's own modifications to the Forerunners' tech on their own, down to the Slipspace Drives' heavily-enhanced speed and the 'finesse' with which they traversed through the dimensions.
It was a bit breath-taking, to be quite honest. The massive ecumenopolis lay dead ahead of them, guarded by many Republic warships, defense stations and an entire array of other equipment. Glimmering, the dark side of the planet was brighter than the side the system's sun was lighting up, all due to the massive population inhabiting the city-planet itself.
The fleet of Republic ships escorting the several dozen UNSC ones transmitted their clearance codes to the wider Republic Naval Presence in the area. Lasky could swear he felt the spike of tension when their fleet first arrived overhead. Hell, some of the Republic starfighters sent to investigate them were barely now pulling off their attack vectors. Of course, he had ordered that their own fleet be set to Yellow Alert, just in case, so he also felt the tension of his own deck crews.
"I'll be damned..." The shipboard AI spoke, a smirk on his face, "An entire Ecumenopolis."
"Weren't these things relegated mostly to science-fiction back in the day?" Palmer asked, present on the bridge, too. She was going to be Lasky's escort to the meeting with the Senators of the Republic that the Jedi had set up. Roland offered the Commander a nod, while Lasky and the rest of the bridge crew all stared at the Republic's version of the 'Home Fleet' floating all around them.
"I can smell the tension," Lasky commented. He looked to the com officer and said, "Transmit a message to the rest of the fleet. Tell them that the ROE is still 'Fire if fired upon'. Let's not piss the Republic off..." as he turned back to the holotable. He ordered, "Bring up a grid view of the area. And all the detected Republic warships in the AO. See if you can't catalog them."
"On it," Roland replied and dipped into the holo-display for a moment, his avatar vanishing as the three-dimensional visuals on the holomap updated, swirls of data dancing around each of the multitude of echelons that represented the orbital defense fleet of the place. Smaller echelons denoted naval vessels below those of capital class, meaning not the Venators that they'd first met.
"Sir," Roland reappeared, "We're getting a ping. Master Yoda's starship."
"Patch him through," Lasky ordered, then watched as the frail-looking diminutive old man's form appeared on the Holo. The two men bowed to each-other, a sign of courtesy and respect as it seemed, before Lasky told him, "Good afternoon, General, sir... We have to say, we're impressed with what we're seeing. Coruscant is... Definitely one of the most interesting planets we've seen in our centuries of space exploration."
"The capital, it is, for a reason, Admiral," Yoda replied, then let out a short chuckle. He then told the man and his comrades with the usual poise and demeanor that one would expect out of such lived man, "Clearance, our ships have been given. Stood down, the defense fleet has. Your escort and aircraft, you should take. Join us aboard the Champion. Descend together, we will."
"Give me a few minutes, then. I'll have to put on the good dress uniform," Lasky quipped. Master Yoda nodded and gave a quick goodbye, before the com shut off. He looked to Sarah and said, "Call up Fireteam Crimson. We're moving out," before he marched off to his Ready Room. About ten minutes later, two maglev trams made it to the forwardmost hangar of the starship, where UNSC fighter crews were already prepared in case something went wrong. One of the Autumn-class cruisers hovered a few thousand kilometers away, while Frigates of all varietals, including a group of Anlaces, provided security.
Fireteam Crimson walked up to the Commander and Admiral. All four of them snapped crisp salutes at their officers, before Lasky gave them a nod and said, "At ease," then saluted back. "Tom. Lucy. You two ready to go?" He asked the two leaders of Crimson. The smaller-framed female gave a nod. Lucy-B091, of course. One of the more famed children of Onyx.
"And waiting, sir," Tom-B292 answered. Her partner and squadmate from Onyx up 'till now.
"Good. Rest of Crimson's ready, too, I assume..." He offered, then looked to the two other Spartans in the rear. Yet another Gamma company member, Vic-G011, stood to the rear, his bag of medicine at the ready. Beside him sat a lone, familiar figure clad in a black MJOLNIR set bearing Gen 1 Mark V equipment on the Gen-3's adaptive platform. He had a DMR on his back.
"We're ready, sir," Tom noted, then looked to the Spartan in the black armor and said, "C'mon, B312. We got one of the boring jobs ahead of us..." to which his buddy snorted. Alongside some ONI representatives meant to be the ambassadors to the Senate, the UNSC diplomatic corps boarded the Pelican dropship that would take them to the Republic warship Champion.
Traversing the void between the ships, the UNSC personnel watched the Republic Navy positioning itself around various important installations, just in case. Guess even with clearance, tensions remained. Understandably enough, Lasky thought as he joined the pilots in the cockpit, watching them approach the trio of Republic Venators that had escorted them in there.
The main hangar in the bow of the ship opened, the straight scarlet line down the center of the sleek, arrowhead-shaped warship splitting down the middle as it did so. The Pelican banked, its escorting Longswords turning away and back to the ship, before it powered on its directional thrusters. The pilots exchanged some chatter with the Republic ship's ATC before it entered the hold and veered slightly right, entering behind the shield that contained the atmosphere of the ship.
Touching down at its designated spot, the Pelican popped open its rear hatch to the sight of Master Yoda and his escorting Clone forces. Master Yoda bowed yet again, a friendly smile, "Welcome aboard, Admiral. To you and your troops..."
"Thank you, Master Yoda," The Admiral replied in kind, "Let's hope the Senate doesn't mind me and my representatives bringing our own security for the party..."
The group marched out of the hangar as the Republic starship began its descent toward the planetary drydocks. From within the bridge, the group witnessed as the descending ship slowed enough for them to see the eerily beautiful industrial landscape of Coruscant as a whole. Sprawling habitation blocks, industrial pipelines able to fit tanks and the traffic of flying civilian vehicles filled the viewports. Below was the Republic Base on the planet, a complex of multiple drydocks, military facilities, barracks and storage areas containing everything from vehicles to troops.
"Incredible..." Lasky murmured. The most surprising thing was that there was still atmosphere on the planet. That and the fact the sky was still god-damned BLUE instead of some hellish red due to all the pollution he assumed would be present on a planet like this. As the vessel touched down in the Dry-Dock, the Republic crew gave the go-ahead for the planetside support crew to initiate resupply.
"Well, here we are..." Lasky said, "Coruscant... Lead the way, master Yoda."
A short trip down some turbolifts and through the halls of the ship and the Jedi Master and his wards walked off of the starship and onto one of the many corridors of the Drydocks. The squad of Spartans stared at the Clones standing guard nearby, clad in armors with red markings unlike those of normal Legions. Some of the soldiers eyed the UNSC Military's supersoldier group warily, while others simply stood at their posts, making sure the Jedi cruiser was being properly rearmed and resupplied.
Tom whispered to B312, "They're a hell of a lot more tense than we are..."
"Yeah," He nodded, uneasy and keeping his hand close to his M6G. Lucy chuckled beside them as they continued their walk down the path. Through yet more hallways and past security, the group made it to a landing pad area where a multitude of skycar-style vehicles lay. Yoda motioned for them to follow, with the group boarding a specialized transport. Beside it, blue-clad soldiers carrying heavy weaponry nodded, their T-Shaped visors and helmets resembling those of Spartans or Hoplites.
Once aboard the transport itself, a reinforced limousine or bus of some kind, Lasky felt the need to comment, "Flying cars, space ship drydocks planetside and an entire military base that looks like it houses thousands of troops... This place is more impressive than I expected..." as he sat himself down and looked out the window of the transport. They felt the craft's inertial dampeners kick in just as it powered forward slowly, out of the parking spot and right between the two escorting speeder bikes belonging to the Guards.
"Indeed..." Yoda commented. The group all paused and gasped, sans for Yoda, as they flew by it. Aside from the towering series of skyscrapers up ahead, to their immediate left lay a towering pyramid without a top. Five towers adorned its upper part, for of which sat North-West, North-East, South-West and South-East while one was solely in the middle and with the middle one raised higher than the others. It also had a sprawling series of other buildings around it, with a strange architectural style to boot.
"That is...?" Palmer asked Yoda.
"The Jedi Temple..." The old man replied softly.
"Damn," Lucy whispered.
Of course, the best was yet to come. As the vehicle approached the main, they were met by the biggest of the buildings in the place. A dome-like, mushroom-shaped structure with multiple levels and multiple landing pads. Civilians milled to and fro on the pad, which one of the Representatives with Lasky noted by saying, "Looks like the place is always busy, sir..." as she arranged her tie.
"It's the senate ruling over a giant galaxy-spanning state. I'm not surprised," Lasky replied calmly. The transport landed at the top-most pad and the escorting units aboard disembarked. They looked around at the various aliens marching throughout the place and the Beta and Gamma Company Spartans all tensed. As a group of Senate Guards, the men clad in blue, approached, Yoda turned to Lasky.
"Leave, I must. My presence, the Order has requested..."
"Thanks for the escort, sir. Guess we'll take it from here..." Lasky nodded. He and Yoda bowed to each-other, before they watched as the Senate Guards approached. The men saluted each-other.
"Admiral Lasky, I assume..." The man spoke calmly. As soon as Lasky gave a nod, the man motioned toward the main building and stated, "Chancellor Palpatine is waiting for you." words which stunned the entire crew. The Spartans exchanged glances and Lasky could swear he was hearing them talk with their mics offline via single-beam communications. Though, he agreed.
"Weren't we supposed to be meeting a senator, sir?" Asked one of the representatives.
The guard leader replied calmly, "The Chancellor took an interest the moment he heard an informal alliance had been signed with a new faction by the Jedi Generals on Christophsis," before eyeing the Spartans, "Though he presumably does not expect a guard group such as the soldiers behind you... By the Force, what do you even feed them?"
Lucy snorted and replied, "Depends on the time of day, sir," which got an uneasy cough from the man and a few chortles from the UNSC staff.
"Right, if you'll... Follow us..." He urged them to the building. Lasky gave a nod, then turned back. He saw Spartan B312 staring outward at something. Following his gaze, he saw someone sat farther away, clad in a robe and watching them. Their face was obscured by the robe itself, but Lasky could tell they were staring. He tapped Six on the shoulder and the Spartan shrugged, to which Lasky sighed and showed him to follow.
The Spartan eyed the figure once more and... Saw a faint smile appear behind the hood. He hummed and did choose to follow the Admiral in the end. Entering the Senate, to the massive, imposingly beautiful walls, the red carpets and the vaulted ceilings, the Spartans suddenly felt under-dressed for this event. The walk continued, past multitudes of doorways, of races of aliens and humans intermingling and talking. It was... Odd.
Another turbolift trip and the door opened to a beautiful and large office with walls covered in red velvet. A round desk sat in front of a massive, thick window overlooking much of the cityscape around the Senate District, with several comfy, cushioned seats in front of it, a holographic display in the center and various other pieces of furniture and items of interest spread around.
"Well, this is a nice place..." B312 murmured.
"My thanks," A calm, gentlemanly voice spoke from up ahead. Turning on his chair, a man clad in red robes, with white hair, a thin, somewhat wrinkled face and bags under his eyes, stood to his feet, "I do tend to try and keep it as tidy as possible... Greetings to you, representatives of the UNSC. A pleasure to meet you all, finally..." and he offered a kind smile as he approached them, "I've heard much of your exploits from Admiral Yularen."
"Chancellor Palpatine, I presume," Admiral Lasky replied, then offered a curt and friendly salute, "An honor to meet you, sir. I'm Admiral Lasky."
"Indeed," Palpatine nodded, then motioned to the chairs, "Please, follow me. We have much we need to discuss..."
"Yes, sir..." Lasky nodded. The group approached the desk, with the Chancellor sitting himself back down in his seat and waving the Senate Guards off. Lasky, meanwhile, sat himself in one of the chairs ahead as Palpatine called up refreshments. The Chancellor then hummed and motioned to the Spartans to sit down, but Lasky quickly intervened, "While we appreciate the gestures of kindness, sir, the Spartans are better off standing."
"Oh? Any particular reason why?" He asked.
"Our armor weighs half a ton, sir. We'd probably break your furniture if we tried sitting down," Palmer clarified. She saluted and said, "Commander Sarah Palmer. SPARTAN branch commander of the Infinity..."
"I see," Palpatine hummed, then gave a calm tilt of his head forward, "My thanks, Commander. I suppose that'll have to do, then..." and both men watched as a servant droid waddled inside, carrying a tray with various drinks. Setting it on the table, the droid beeped happily, to which Palpatine simply replied with a short nod. He picked up one of the glasses and poured himself a drink. He swirled the amber liquid in the glass, before asking, "So, to start with the beginning... What are you and your forces doing in our Galaxy, Admiral?"
Lasky was more-or-less expecting the convo to start with that. He gave a brief rundown to the Chancellor pertaining their arrival here:The drive malfunction, the fluctuations found just before and all the other semi-necessary information. To his credit, Palpatine listened to them and took every idea with an open mind, including the different FTL drive. With a concerned click of his tongue and a tapping of his fingers on his desk, he said to Lasky, "Quite the story... I must say, I am happy to see your ships made it here in one piece."
"Trust us, sir," Lasky smiled, awkward, "We are, too."
"I suppose that also brings us onto our second point," The man hummed as he offered Lasky the other glass. The man took it, then looked back to the Spartans as they stood there, most of them stoic sans for Palmer, who had crossed her arms to her chest. Palpatine continued only when Lasky turned to him, "What your involvement should be in this war... You are, for all intents and purposes, a neutral third faction brought into the conflict by our foes' common indecency of shooting at anything that moves."
Lasky tilted his head forward, then took a sip from his glass. The beverage was surprisingly sweet for something he had expected to be alcohol, but he made no comment. His reply was also calm and calculate, "The Republic's forces proved themselves professional when it came to dealing with us. Generals Skywalker and Kenobi were more than keen on keeping us around after we promised we'd help hold Christophsis."
"And what a marvelous job you and they have done," Palpatine replied with the faintest trace of... Worry? Fear? Anger? Hidden behind kindness...
All Noble Six-err... Crimson Four, Spartan B312, knew, was that he picked up the slight change in tone. He looked to the rest of Crimson, only to see Tom and Lucy both nod to him, while the Gamma company member stood there, uneasy. He sighed, still listening as the conversation went on. Lasky added, "... We fully intended on actual negotiations to talk about our aid to the Republic in winning their War."
"Oh, so a formal alliance?" Palpatine smiled, "How noble of you. People out of place and yet you still wish to help us win?"
"Witnessing what the Seppies do to planets they occupy?" Lasky shrugged, "Better for all of us, yes. Though we will need the ability to resupply with various materials. Mainly raw materials like Hydrogen, various metals and maybe food... And we will need help, finding a way home..." And he turned to Palmer. She hummed as she radioed in, all while Palpatine was thinking, scratching his chin and the likes.
He hummed and nodded, "Provided you assist us in defeating our enemy, we will provide all of the above and Republic monetary support in the form of Credits. You will be signed on as a military force that is assisting us in the battles ahead. Not mercenaries per se, but still... You understand," to which Lasky smiled. Indeed, he did. A temporary military force akin to a militia, he supposed. It could work. Palpatine must've seen the gleam in his eyes, a smile forming on his face again, "Then it is settled?"
"We can ratify the treaty already, if you wish, sir. I can just send my men back to call up our transport so we can head on out after and leave my representatives to discuss anything else that needs to be discussed with you," Lasky offered. Palpatine showed him to wait a minute, before he started typing on a holographic keyboard on his desk and pinged someone else. Over-eager to achieve results, it seemed...
Lasky looked to the Spartans and motioned for them to go on. Palmer hummed, nodded in reply and showed the others that they could walk to the elevator. On the way down, B312 said, "Something ain't sitting right with me. Guy seemed a bit off about our presence here. And now he wants a treaty this quickly?" and, despite the surprise at B312 speaking so much, the group of Spartans nodded in agreement.
"Maybe he wants to keep tabs on us better," Palmer suggested, then added, "Wouldn't be surprised. We must be one hell of a wildcard for anyone in the Galaxy..."
The group walked down the hallways, with Tom adding, "Don't know... I'm with Six. Something is a bit off about the Chancellor, though we're better off not saying that in public..." then they exited out onto the landing pad. He sighed and said, "I'll call us the Pelican..." before radioing in, "Pelican Four-Two-Niner, this is Crimson Actual, requesting evac on my coords..."
Lasky emerged, running, from the building. With a sigh of relief, he wiped the sweat from his brows and said, "Well... Treaty's ratified and signed... And we left our two reps with Palpatine... Guess that means we get to leave this place as victors, eh?" as he looked to Palmer. The woman snorted, then paused as she saw B312 staring again. She stepped up to the Lieutenant and paused as she saw that same figure clad in a cape and ragged clothes.
Said figure, now clearly female, approached. The landing pad had become eerily clear. Had they picked the wrong one? Maybe a maintenance pad or...? No. The figure continued walking, only stopping a few feet from the tense Spartans and Lasky. She spoke softly, her voice young, despite a wrinkled appearance hidden by the darkness of the hood's peak, "Find what you seek amongst the scoundrels of politics?"
"We have..." Lasky replied, "You are...?"
"A mere local with some concerns," She replied. A pair of dark-blue eyes had light shone onto them for a moment, though the woman's face was distorted, strangely enough. She spoke calmly, "Do you realize what you are?" as she eyed Lasky, then as she turned to B312, she added, "Or what your soldier is? Perhaps you've no idea, seeing as you have just recently arrived..."
"Oh, great, one of those types..." Palmer started, then walked up ahead and said, "Listen, lady, we're not here to have our fortunes read or some shit..."
"I'm not here to read your fortune," Chuckled the woman, "I'm here to ask for a favor..."
"Of what kind?" Lasky inquired, uneasy.
"I wish to see what you're capable of..." She hummed, "To join you, per se. See how the Galaxy fares nowadays... Coruscant has grown a little stale..." And she watched them tense as she took another step forward. With a shrug, she asked, "If you are going to shoot me, I'd suggest doing it now..." before taking another step forward. The tension grew thick enough that at the next step, the Spartans all drew their sidearms...
And the figure ahead shot a hand out, before pulling it back suddenly. The Spartan team felt their weapons yanked out of their hands, all Magnums clattering to the floor and sliding toward her as what seemed to be a mist dissipated from the woman. Instead of a brown, dirty cape, a more clean, yet still ancient-looking one appeared. Below, instead of ragged clothes, a white armor, marked by years of existence and warfare, scarred by blasters and burned. And clipped to a worn leather belt, a lightsaber hilt.
The woman looked at herself, then sighed deeply and said, "Well, I guessed as much when I started using it..." as her voice turned to another, more smooth and warm one. She pulled her hood off her head, revealing dirty blonde hair, messy and caught in a bun on the back of her head. Azure eyes stared at them all, faint traces of scars on a beautiful face and on her neck. She tilted her head and her luscious lips curled into a smile. She said, "Surprise..." as they saw a Jedi symbol, old and worn, on the left of her chest plate.
"... A Jedi...?" B312 murmured, dumbfound.
"Not quite," She said, then clarified, "I mean... Sure, I am a Jedi in a sense..." and she used her Force powers to lift the guns, sending them back to their owners who caught them out of mid-air. Lasky gave a hand signal to stow the weapons as he approached the Jedi, who crossed her arms to her chest and blew a strand of her blonde hair out of her eyes, smirk still on her face as she finished, "But I don't like to be called that anymore... The current Order is a bit of a mess..." which confused most of the people present. Was it?
"What's your name?" Lasky asked, surprised.
"... Call me Meetra," She replied after a moment's hesitation, then looked to B312 and started unsurely, "You have quite the guards...?"
"Admiral Thomas Lasky, UNSC, ma'am," He replied, "And yeah, they're Spartans..." before humming. B312 noticed that the woman was staring directly at him and somehow seemed to get a bit self-conscious, simply turning to flag down the Pelican for touchdown. Meetra chuckled, while Lasky started, "You want to join us aboard our fleet, Ma'am? Why?"
She shrugged, "I like understanding new things better, honestly... I've seen a good chunk of the galaxy at this point in my life, so something refreshing like your unknown force could undoubtedly prove to be a little more interesting," then turned to the surprised Lasky and added, "Not to mention one of your soldiers intrigues me... He was the sole person to spot me out of your unit."
"And actively keep an eye on you..." Lasky murmured as he looked to B312, "Alright, I guess... If a Jedi wants to tag along, who am I to say no?"
Meetra smiled softly, "You won't regret this, Admiral. You'll find me to be quite the pleasant addition to your forces..." before she walked up next to the Pelican and next to B312, greeting the man with a wave. He greeted her with a nod, before they all boarded the Pelican. Lasky and Palmer were the last ones in, exchanging one quick glance, before looking at the Jedi sat aboard their aircraft, right next to B312... For whatever reason.
Sitting down in their own designated seats, the two gave the go-ahead for the pilot to lift off... And once they exited the Atmosphere?
Well, Meetra was grinning ear-to-ear at the UNSC.