"We're in pursuit with master Plo's fleet. Per reports from the Prowlers we have trailing it, the Malevolence seems to be aiming for a nearby nebula to utilize as cover so they can perform emergency repairs. We've already sent a message to the Shadow of Intent, but were hoping you could reinforce us, too, Generals," Admiral Lasky spoke as they stood before the holographic table. The other holograms amidst the group were Generals Kenobi and Skywalker, Admiral Yularen and even master Plo himself, communicating from aboard his flagship.
"We'll see what we can do," Anakin replied with eagerness for action in his voice. It seemed to be standard to him, Lasky observed, the kind of brashness that would usually get any other man killed. Skywalker then looked to Obi-Wan and told him, "Our ships are fairly close to the Ryndellia system. If there's any place the Malevolence might hit up, it'd probably the Kaliida Nebula... Going to be a pain to navigate for them, though"
"We'll have our Task Force redirect toward Ryndellia. The Malevolence's commanding officer may attempt to strike at the medical center nearby, too, maybe as a sort of Last Ditch should they be caught still repairing," Obi-Wan suggested, "Admiral, do give a hello to the medical staff if you reach the area ahead of us, please. They are treating some of my men at that center."
"We'll say hello once the enemy's capital ship's out of action, general," Lasky nodded, "Sending current coordinates and estimated time of arrival near Ryndellia now..." And he motioned to Roland to do it. The AI gave a nod, before shifting several screens around him and transmitting the data to the Generals. Lasky, meanwhile, snapped a salute and said, "See you at the whale hunt, sirs."
"Take care of yourselves, Admiral, Resolute, out."
The Generals' holograms winked off as Lasky sighed, rubbing his eyes. He looked over to see Meetra sat by one of the consoles, looking at the slipspace whirlpool ahead with a focused, mute expression. He approached her and told her, "They might need you on the S-Deck, ma'am. I didn't get to tell the Generals that other Prowlers have reported an enemy task force moving in to try and reinforce our quarry."
"And what're we going to do, Admiral? It isn't exactly easy to board an enemy ship. We'd need to surround it, disable its engines, shield and weapons and then send in dozens of craft into potentially far too risky encounters, tight corridors. Each corner would be a fortification or ambush point," The girl replied, a more militaristic, focused tone. She blinked, shook her head and chuckled awkwardly, "Sorry... Slipped back into my old general persona. Guess hearing that the enemy's planning to repair and hit something as defenseless as a hospital didn't help with the tension and tiredness I've been feeling..."
"That's fine, ma'am," The Admiral replied, "We're all a little uptight now."
"Dealing with an enemy battleship that's almost the length of the Infinity and bristling with guns ain't exactly a bright day for anyone, sir, so I don't think any of us blame you two for worrying so much," Roland quipped as he appeared next to the two, "Sorry for interrupting, sir, ma'am, but we got incoming from the Shadow. Shipmaster 'Vadum's calling this time."
The two turned toward the comm table and approached it, watching as Shipmaster Rtas Vadum's form materialized ahead of them. He placed his right fist against the left side of his chest plate and greeted, "Hail, Infinity. We've received your message and are making headway to the intercept point. We'll hopefully be able to arrive at the same time and pincer our enemy..."
"A pleasure to cooperate with you again, Shipmaster," The Admiral nodded, "Take it the Arbiter's busy?"
"Indeed. Our Reliquary activated recently," The Shipmaster seemed to let those words be processed for a moment. The woman beside Lasky seemed a bit confused as she saw the faces of surprise worn by everyone aboard, including by Roland. With a bow of his head, Rtas continued, "Fear not. The Arbiter is with his special operations unit. Whatever they discover will be brought aboard and shared with the UNSC to study. For now, though, I wish to ask how heavy a resistance we should expect."
"... One capital ship, heavily damaged," Meetra told him calmly. Best to share reports quickly, she thought as she spoke to him, "Possibly dozens if not hundreds of turbolaser turrets and various other armaments. It'll have a lot of broadside firepower to concentrate, so I'd suggest coming in from the rear or front if you detect them before they do you. Their heavy offensive armament, the ion batteries mounted to both sides of the ship's bow, have been disabled by the UNSC fleet. They're probably executing emergency repairs, so go in prepared for weapons that can disable shielding."
"I see. Many thanks, General Surik," The alien leader replied, "Your acumen begets your experience. One such as you is a valuable comrade."
Meetra blushed and smiled, rubbing the back of her neck, "My thanks, Shipmaster. I have vowed to myself that I will do everything in my power to assist you and the UNSC in your bid to fight here, so I can't exactly stay back anymore. Too much darkness is brewing in the Galaxy again for me to just sit back... Oh, one more thing, beware of the enemy's own fighters. We might have wiped the floor with her escort fleet, but the Malevolence still has hangars from what I've seen."
"We will have our own fighters providing the combat patrol for when we engage. However, we will hopefully go after the enemy together. Should we expect any other reinforcements while on our way?" He then asked, turning to Lasky. The man nodded and sent a full data package with the expected allied force roster to the Shipmaster. Once the data fully transferred, Rtas looked over it and nodded, "Very well. Fair winds, Admiral, General. We shall see you at Ryndellia."
"To you as well, Shipmaster. Infinity, out." Lasky replied cordially, then watched the hologram wink out. He hummed and scratched his chin, "This is concerning."
"Isn't a Reliquary, as the name implies, somewhere where they store relics? What's so special about it that its 'activation' would ask for an entire task group of Special Ops Elites?" Meetra inquired. Unless a reliquary suddenly meant an entirely different thing in the UNSC's time or galaxy, she thought, then it really shouldn't have been as big of a deal as it was.
The Admiral looked at her and replied with the same calm he tended to answer many questions about their world, "A Reliquary is an ancient alien artifact that guides us to other artifacts of its makers. Ruins, technologies, various things like that. The fact that it activated here and of its own accord means there's something in your galaxy that's Forerunner..."
"Oh..." Meetra blinked, "Is that bad?"
"Depends on the technology," Lasky shrugged, "Could be anything from another map to a weapon of mass destruction that's capable of wiping out entire sectors in its blast."
The Jedi's eyes shot wide open, "You said that waaay too non-chalantly, admiral... A WMD that powerful!?"
"That's what the Halo rings were, if you remember them from some of the briefings we handed to you," He shot back. It took a moment for her to remember, but her heart sank when she did. With a quick nod, she licked her lips, which suddenly felt like they were chafing and dry, then looked out again. He told her, "We'll help the Arbiter and his unit pursue this stuff after we've dealt with our current objective."
"Yeah..." The woman replied, wary as she crossed her arms to her chest, "Just gotta hope the confeds don't get to touch it before we do..."
"I hope to god they don't have a Reliquary of their own," Lasky quipped, smiling at her.. He then told her, "Best you head for S-Deck and get some rest. Now that you mentioned boarding, I'm not ruling out the possibility of it happening..." before turning back toward the bridge crew as the red lights continued to flash on the bridge. The ship was on Red Alert still.
Meetra nodded to Lasky, then stepped off the deck. She marched through the hallways, surprised to see saluting staff and Marines as she did so and saluting them back. She still wasn't used to being back in command of anything, much less part of an actual fighting force. What were the UNSC and their alien allies at this point, anyhow? Mercenaries? Affiliated parties?
She sighed as she entered the tram, finding Halsey traversing the ship again. The doctor looked up at her and said, "Hello again, miss Surik," in a pleasant, if slightly flatter tone than usual, "It seems as though these next few days will be quite busy for us... I just received a message from Roland to proceed and check our own Reliquary after what the Shipmaster and Arbiter reported. We locked ours away when we figured we were no longer near our homes, so..."
"Trying to see if it's a fluke now is better than later," Meetra shrugged.
"Indeed," Halsey replied. She then turned to face Metra, "Speaking of, I appreciate you taking your time for those previous tests. These new types of cells embedded into the human bloodstream are a rather interesting discovery... If not a bit concerning. I would like to ask you to help me again at a later date in understanding the properties they offer. I understand the idea of this 'Force' as you Jedi call it, at least enough to know that there is some form of explanation for it..."
"We never got a proper explanation for it ourselves," Meetra shrugged, "Just the knowledge and feeling that it is what binds all living things in the Galaxy together. And it's also why we see you all as outsiders of sorts, I guess. I'll admit, I felt a bit uneasy at first... But I think you all have grown on me in a way," one which she would never truly specify, simply due to the kind of concern it could elicit out of them.
Halsey nodded, "I understand," before pausing as the tram dinged. She told Meetra, "Perhaps you'll be able to assist us in the next recovery operation if and when we do discover more ancient artifacts, general. Until then, I must bid you a good day," as she watched her stand up. Meetra smiled and wordlessly gave her a wave before stepping off onto the S-Deck. Several Spartans and personnel climbed aboard, including janitorial, to which she said, "Oh, ensign Presley, I'm going to require some maintenance crews in laboratory 12."
A heavy sigh escaped the hardhat-wearing woman's mouth, "Yes, doc..."
... Back with Meetra, the young-yet-ancient woman stepped onto the Spartan Deck, to the sight of the hundreds of armor stands being tended to by techs, some of which were occupied by Gypsy Company's current roster of Spartans, either getting into or getting out of armor. The woman approached Commander Palmer, who was leaning against a railing next to the command center overlooking the place, then greeted, "Commander?"
Sarah twitched a little, then turned and gave a quick salute, "General... Sorry, didn't see you there."
"You seem in thought," Meetra said as she, too, leaned against the railing, watching the Spartans go about their business. The Commander didn't try to deflect or deny. She simply tilted her head forward to confirm. The Jedi looked at her and asked, "Anything specific?"
"The fact we're in another weird mess thanks to Forerunner tech, ma'am," the girl replied, "Thank God we wound up here with our support fleet, else I doubt the Infinity's factories alone could've kept up with all the stuff we need replacements for. Two gun mounts got screwed during the last fight as far as I heard. We're already manufacturing replacements..."
"You also have the contract with Kuat now," Meetra shrugged, "Plus the Republic Credits to pay for it, considering..."
"Yeah... Point is, I know the old girl's supposed to be a deep space vessel and all, considering what she was originally built for, but this is feeling like we're a bit too in over our heads..." Palmer let out a sigh, "But, hey, at least we got a guide in this clusterfuck that seems to know at least half of what they're doing. You've been keeping up to date with the Galaxy at large, right?"
"Trying to," She nodded, "Makes it easier, being off of Coruscant, I guess."
"Yeah, fair..." The Commander sighed, then paused as she saw the girl's smile suddenly grow. She took a couple seconds and murmured, "Okay then, see you, General..." before turning back and marching toward the trams. Meetra, meanwhile, landed with a roll in front of Six, the man and his protege, Richard, blanking as they saw her spring up to her feet with a grin.
She spoke jovially, "Six, Richard."
"Ma'am," Both chorused, a little surprised.
She started walking with the two, noting that they were out of their armors as well, then quipped, "Seems like there's a possibility we'll board the Malevolence. You fellas don't mind helping a girl out, right? I need to train a bit in CQC with your weapons, just in case he situation calls for it. I mean, I'm mostly hoping we don't have to board it and can just sink it, but..." then watching both men look to each-other. They shrugged and gave nods of approval. She smiled at them properly now.
Aboard the Nubian Starship belonging to Senator Amidala
Queen Padmé Amidala, Senator and ruler of Naboo, sat aboard the luxurious Nubian that the Naboo Royal Family owned, simply checking her items. Her job today was two-fold, it seemed. One was to begin negotiations with the Banking Clan in order to secure their withdrawal from the War and from supporting the Confederacy. Then again, that was much easier said than done, considering. The other job, however, was being assigned as a temporary representative aboard their newfound Allies' capital warship. That latter part was going to be... Interesting...
She sighed and rubbed her eyes, turning to the console of her ship and looking over the estimated time of arrival. Another couple hours before they'd be making it to their target area. She turned to the golden protocol droid that was walking around, the whirr of his servos echoing through the ship, and chuckled, then said to him, "Threepio, settle down. It's a standard negotiation."
"Oh, I know, mistress Padmé, but can you truly blame me? We are flying near the Front Lines and there's these rumors of a new vessel of the confederacy prowling the area..." The Droid actually seemed concerned. More-so than usual. He admitted, "I'm just worried over what'll happen if we meet any sort of problems along the way..." before he seemed to fall into thought.
Padmé sighed, then said, "It'll be fine. Take a seat and stop stumbling around, your servos still need to be re-oiled..." before turning back to face the console and looking out toward the hyperspace vortex. She had thought for a moment that she'd seen a flicker, but shook her head and said to herself that was nigh impossible, really. It didn't matter. They still had only a couple of hours to go before they reached their target system.
She stretched, told Threepio, "I'm going to try sleeping. Wake me up when we reach the system," then leaned back into her seat and shut her eyes while her droid companion began his watch. Her mind was then left to wander in her semi-conscious state, wondering just how strange these new people would be. Reports read that they had kinetic weaponry with them. Slug throwers that were far more powerful than your average, rail guns and magnetic cannons, missiles and shields. The Separatists must've considered shooting at them the greatest mistake at this point.
She staggered, suddenly awake as the ship shook, then asked, "Threepio, what just happened-" only to freeze as she saw the sight of the glowing nebula clouds around them... And the metal beast stalking the place dead ahead, fires and craters still marking her massive, damaged shark-like frame. Warnings blared across the Nubian's consoles as Padme murmured, "They have us in their tractor beams... How did we get pulled out of hyperspace!?"
"I don't know!" Threepio replied with panic in his voice.
They watched the turrets tracking them, with Padmé murmuring, "Well, if they wanted us dead, they would've gunned us down by now..." only to pause as she noticed a slight flicker to their immediate right. She blinked, sighed and said, "Hoping that flash was Republic reinforcements would be a bit too much, wouldn't it...?" almost like a hopeful plea. She leaned back into her seat.
"I'm not detecting anything else here..." Threepio murmured, scared, "Perhaps they are, but they're just outside the Nebula? I did send a distress signal..."
"We'd have gotten a ping back by now..." She replied, "Hang on. Looks like we're going in."
Indeed, in they went, into the maw of one of the dozens of hangars on board the Subjugator-class warship Malevolence. And here she was hoping this was gonna be a blue milk run. Rather obviously, it'd never be the case for anyone even remotely hoping to be part of the Skywalker family, considering the things Anakin always got up to within the last few years.
As the ship's landing gear extended, the senator stood to her feet and walked over to one of the ship's compartments, propping it open and pulling out a self-defense blaster. She motioned to Threepio to follow her to the gangplank so they could get off, before sighing. She told Threepio, "Well, I guess that if we make it back, we can report the enemy ship is real..."
She popped the rear hatch open with the press of a button, watching as a series of menial droids milled about the cavernous bay that contained the warship's escort squadrons. With that, she said, "Let's hope whoever's commanding this ship isn't fast... C'mon," then took the lead. Padmé Amidala, daughter of the Naberrie family, senator, queen of Naboo and secret lover of Anakin Skywalker, was nothing if not a woman of action. And action here would be simple:evading capture until they could escape or be rescued.
Because if there was one thing she was sure of, it was that Anakin was already on his way to save her...
Planet Ossus
... Despite the appearance of a barren, almost flash-boiled landscape, the planet of Ossus was still lush with life. Animals and creatures treaded at a distance from the landed Phantom as the Arbiter and his supporting squadron of Special Operations Elites first set foot on the world. One of the Elites murmured, "This world reeks of death... Almost as if a great cataclysm befell it. Arbiter, are we sure this is wise...?"
"It is where the Reliquary has pointed us. Whatever lay on this planet is Forerunner," The Arbiter replied, his armor faintly glistening in the light of Ossus's distant suns. The hisses of the various creatures and the creak and rustle of the trees moved by wind and animal alike echoed around them, off the steep rock walls of the valley they had landed within like death echoes. After that brief pause, the Arbiter added, "Best we bring it aboard the Shadow so that we and our allies may begin to study it... Whatever it is."
"Understood," The Elite replied, drawing his plasma rifle off of his hip and scanning the area, his eyes darting left to right. Another Spec Ops Elite, this one with a fully sealed helmet bearing an opaque visor, looked to the Arbiter, lifting a needle rifle. The Arbiter gave a nod to him and he proceeded to take off in a sprint, before activating his jetpack and launching forward into one of the tall trees nearby to utilize it as a perch.
Thel raised his hand and waved it forward, then spoke over the communication system, "Dokan, you and 'Sarom will be our reinforcement should we encounter any problems," and he scanned the trees as well, gently grabbing his carbine off of his back and checking to make sure the focused plasma-spewing weapon was loaded. He nodded approvingly as they began their march through the trees.
"Understood, Arbiter. We shall be your eye in the sky," The pilot replied. The whirr of the Phantom's engines filled the air as it lifted off and went to a higher altitude, its multitude of turrets scanning the areas ahead and around with their spotlights on. Night came rather quickly on the planet. The Elites continued their trek, however, unabated. Even as shadows started to move amidst the trees in their peripheral vision.
Twenty of his finest warriors marched with him on this alien planet. He had no fear toward the wilds here. He knew these warriors well, had fought beside them since before his punishment of becoming Arbiter. And even after, as he served with the Shipmaster and his men, he recalled the service of these fine Sangheili. So, yes, he was confident. But confidence was a slow, insidious killer.
Hence, he tempered himself with cautiousness, watching their marksman Elite jumping from tree to tree, holding close the needle rifle and scanning the area. Their own system motion trackers worked overtime, picking up and filtering the various fauna around to the best of their abilities. The humans' upgrades to such systems had proven to be monumental in combat, during the Civil War on Sangheilios.
He hummed and looked toward one of their younger recruits, who seemed to be wary, if sharp and focused. Noting that his commander was looking upon him, the Elite tensed for a moment, before returning back to the standard sharp, no-nonsense state troops such as theirs were expected to be in. The Arbiter simply gave him a reassuring nod, before continuing to scan their surroundings.
An older Elite, Usze 'Taham, the Commando officer that had helped the Arbiter and the Master Chief during the final stages of the war, spoke, "The strangeness of finding our galaxy's ancients within the confines of this one is undeniable. Arbiter, what if they had an operational base here? Maybe even on this very planet?" as he looked upon his leader. "The technologies here alone could change the tide of this war."
The Arbiter nodded, "Then we shall find it with all due haste, Usze."
"Indeed," Usze hummed, "I suppose you have noticed local creatures that are tracking us, too, yes?"
"For the past half-hour, yes," The Arbiter replied, "They aren't simple creatures, though. It seems to be a pack. They hunt together... And there's a rattle of equipment not unlike that of our human Comrades," and he turned back, noticing the silhouettes amidst the treeline, covered in shadows, holding close what looked to be firearms. He didn't want to startle them... Though these humanoids soon seemed to realize that they knew they had been spotted, quickly vanishing behind the trees.
The Arbiter and his soldiers tensed, lifting their weapons...
And a war cry resounded...