AN: So after a timeline that didn't have as much thought put into it as it should have, we finally get to the meat of the story, the actual universe.
But before we get into this, let me address this. This is not an 'HFY' fanfic, it was going to be, but I thought better of it and decided to make it more nuanced than the "Citadel bad, Humans good" to be more original and quality concious. UNSC is still going to be massively more powerful than the Citadel species, not because of innate superiority, but because they have bigger guns.
The UNSC doesn't look that strong compared to The Covenant. In Mass Effect? The difference in power between them and The Canon Reapers makes the HCW look fair. If you still don't get it, let's use DBZ. Did you know that Saiyan saga Yamcha can solo most of WH40K? Most battle Shounens for that matter? Doesn't make sense right, Yamcha is weak, he died to a Saibamen. That's until you realise that he can still destroy a planet, as Roshi with a 12th of his power level completely vaporised the moon in one Kamehameha. Now does it sound ridiculous to say that he could stomp most of 40K?
Anyway, responding to reviews.
UNSCN Promise to Dawn: Got it from you, and thank you for checking this out, check this guy's profile and archives. He designed all the ships for me.
Onxytechs: Thanks.
candel06: Yeah, subtle...
Guest Jan 13: Calm down, they're not using Bosonite tech, they're making use of Bosonite to enhance their tech, such as in MACs. In the case of civilian use, it's just cheaper.
Guest Jan 4: Yes and for another reason. Watch Installation 00's video on the scaling issue of the UNSC.
Knighthunter911700: I already have an idea, hopefully, one you'll all like.
Xaldon. Ajide: Thanks for answering. And yeah, watched a lot of TTS.
holosagewolf32: Yes they will, though not in a way most of you would expect, nor one that would make much sense. But it is going to be cool.
SurplusHook: Thank you for your support.
Zandaino-Nova-Ari: Well until the new year I had no idea where I wanted this to go.
Guest 3 Dec 26: My summary made no mention of this. It explicitly stated that Humanity and the other Halo species would be Titans compared to the ME races. Also, have you heard of the advanced concept of waiting?
Guest 2 Dec 26: Thank you, your overestimation of my thinking skills flatters me.
Guest 1 Dec 26: Well, so far you and one other are the only ones saying I suck.
Ttunikitashtobert: Halo has anti-vehicle Gauss cannons that are equal to an SK C/28 naval gun, we left realism in Halo 2.
naotw: Thanks for the criticism.
NOTICE: This is not the original chapter, several changes were made to improve overall quality.
7th day of the second month, 2753 GST/AC Migrant Fleet
Rael'Zorah was desperate. He and the Admiralty board have been trying to find a solution to the mounting problems the Migrant Fleet has been suffering, any solution other than trying their luck with colonising a Dextro planet that would without a doubt end with the Turians harassing them and kicking them out of the planet and taking the infrastructure they had already made. However, with ageing equipment hitting its expiry dates, constant harassment from pirates and slavers, a rise in unease and restlessness among the fleet and a thousand other minor problems multiplying each other have pushed the Fleet to the limit.
And no one, absolutely no one was bothered to help them, he would go as far as saying they were glad that the Quarians may finally die out, no doubt the Bosh'tets believed that the slow death of the Quarians was a just punishment for 'unleashing' the Geth upon the galaxy, even though the damned machines have had little interactions with the larger galaxy outside of the Geth war and small skirmishes.
The sound of a door opening snapped him out of his thoughts, looking to the entrance he saw Admiral Zaal'Koris finally enter with his shoulders sagged.
"What on Rannoch took you so long, you're ten minutes late." Daro'Xen irately asked him.
Zaal didn't answer until he dropped himself on his chair.
"There was a fight happening on my way here, had to break it up but before we could sort it out one of them went into shock. Died a minute later. Cause of death was stage 4 Haestrom disease." He recounted in exhaustion and frustration.
Rael grimaced at that last detail; indeed the situation had gotten to the point that a once benign and treatable ailment became a fatal one over the centuries-long degradation of their immune systems. There were too many issues that needed resources and attention, and not enough of them to go around.
'More needless death.' Rael thought morosely. Not for the first time this week did he curse the Geth.
Han cleared his throat, grabbing their attention.
"As tragic as such a thing is, we must start this meeting." He reminded them. Zaal nodded after a moment to recollect himself.
"As you all know, The Conclave is busy trying to keep order in the fleet and give, at best, temporary solutions to our problems while we search for a permanent one. And I believe Admirals, that I have found that solution."
That certainly piqued all of their interest.
"Do tell us Admiral Gerrel, we would take almost anything at this point" Admiral Shala stated truthfully, yet considerately.
Since 2748 issues incessantly cropped up; failing ship systems, lack of mineral resources or the equipment to effectively mine them, or both, not to mention the constant Terminus threats lurking and prowling systems for easy catches. Quarians, while needing more intensive supervision due to their biological constraints, were still moderately valued as slaves in the region, at least among the more ostentatious. With this in mind, Rael was still reserved. He had the feeling that this solution entailed more than his old friend let on.
Han pulled the galaxy map on the table, identifying only Mass Relays, and zoomed into one of them. Rael's confusion lasted momentarily, disappearing when he saw its status. He knew what Han planned, he was the one to suggest this when they were alone, except he was fucking joking.
'Bosh'tet.' he swore to himself.
"No." Xen's eyes widened as she caught on.
"Yes." Han nodded in confirmation.
"I knew you were crazy, but I never thought you to be this insane!" Xen coldly derided him, short of yelling her disbelief.
"Xen, what is it?" Shala, worriedly asked. Rarely did Xen use that voice outside of when she was presented with a bad idea she deemed, hearing her use it brought foreboding feelings to bear.
"This Bosh'tet wants us to activate a dormant Relay and go through it!" Xen loudly proclaimed this time.
Shala and Zaal stared at Han accusingly. Such a reckless action was beyond ludicrous. Despite their current reservations concerning the Citadel Council, it occasionally made laws they deigned to follow. Not activating a dormant Mass Relay is one of them.
"I know I just said we'd take anything, but I did not mean desperate enough to do that!" Shala exclaimed in a similar pitch to Xen.
"I know what this means admirals and I assure you, it will make much more sense when I explain it." Han calmly replied. A quick shared look among them confirmed his chance to defend himself.
"I have been considering this since Admiral Rael brought it to my attention" Han began; "Perhaps we could escape through a Dormant Relay no one pays enough attention to." He explained, making the others stare at Rael.
"At the time, I laughed it off as a joke just as he did. But I couldn't get the thought out of my head. What if we did just leave? There are hundreds of dormant relays across known space, despite what many would think the Turians can't patrol all of that on top of the warlords, pirates and other problems they must attend to as well as the many hundreds of colonies and worlds they must patrol. So there must be that one dormant relay they patrol maybe six times a standard year." He then gestured to the Relay on display.
"And Relay 314 is visited by a patrol fleet every four months. They don't pass by the Relay in another two, enough time to get everyone through and escape."
"You do know that outposts, satellites and monitoring stations have existed for centuries, yes? That's why the Turians can afford to patrol 314 that infrequently, they likely have a bosh'tet Atreus-class outpost sitting above the nearest planet acting as a spotter. Did you really believe that the most militarized Citadel species would leave a 4-month open backdoor at its borders?" Xen said with thinly veiled derision.
"No, I did not. Despite how low your opinion usually is of me, I followed up on this. That Atreus station is set for decommissioning and replacement by a satellite grid in two months, handled by the patrol. As it stands, the outpost is minimally crewed and has sensor systems that we would consider outdated. And we're the ones living on ships older than our grandparents!" Han joked.
"And before you bring up the 'point' of another Ranchi. Asari, Salarians, Turians, Volus, Hanar, Elcor, Drell, us, Batarians, Krogan, Ranchi, Vorcha and Yahg. Thirteen species and only five proved hostile or unfriendly. We are more likely to meet a peaceful species than a violent one." He continued.
"But the Turians are going to find out where we went, as you said in two months they'll come back to it, see the glowing relay, put the pieces together and follow once they see how long we have been missing. And that statistic is not one I would bet the lives of our people on. Anything above zero conflict isn't worth considering." Zaal pointed out, which Han conceded to.
"Salarian satellites or probes?" Shala questioned.
"It's the Turian border, not a Terminus system. The Turians wouldn't take kindly to them being there." Han answered. Xen regaled him with a squint.
"Shala confirmed their absence for us last week." Han clarified with a sigh.
"You led my ships onto prospecting for minerals by the Turian border, risking provoking them into attacking us, just to scan for probes?" Shala fumed.
"It was that or skirt the Hegemony border to reunite with us." Han easily answered.
Rael resisted the urge to caress his head through his helmet like never before. Of course, he's been spending his days off exploring the damn system.
"You've proven your point, Han, what do you suppose we do after we leave?" He asked his friend.
"Find a planet or system to call our own, lick our wounds and cycles later, reclaim Rannoch." He answered quickly.
Daro'Xen scowled, so far the main part she saw wrong with this plan was the feasibility of being able to escape the Council, even assuming that they activate any other relays they find along the way, all it would take would be one probe, one cheap, expendable probe, to signal their end. The possible rewards were high, with relay 314's vector pointing to the Thel'Ha star cluster, which connects to the greater Ives Aros cluster, both famous among Asari prospectors for their theoretical abundance of mineral resources and the highest concentration of garden worlds in the galaxy. Nearly a thousand star systems in Thel'Ha alone, more than enough to settle on.
And so the problems came into her mind; to go undetected, to avoid detection, and to get to that cluster, all within 2 months.
"Why not use another nearby relay?" Xen interrupted Han and Shala's argument.
"No other one leads to Thel'Ha", Han replied. "Most of the terminus relays are off limits, we can't afford the trail, or to divide our fleet. Hegemony space is suicide. And we'll be tailed in Council space as usual. This is the best chance we have." He went on, silence fell as the others thought about what other Relays lead to Thel'Ha.
"Aria." Rael spoke up finally.
"No." Zaal immediately rejected it.
"Relay 227 is 2 jumps from Omega, the Bloodpack occasionally watches over it when they're bored. A few billion credits and an offer to improve Omega's security can get us that system for five weeks. Seven, if the Krogan aren't there. This relay's trajectory projects to the Krewo system, only seventy-three lightyears from Thel'Ha, near the same system that Relay 314 leads to." Rael continued unabated.
Xen mulled over this, calculating times, fleet coordination and needed separations to make it through to 227 without alerting the Council, and how much extra Aria would charge for keeping the secret for at least a few months. If she would at all.
"It can work. But we'll risk those on pilgrimage, we advise them to avoid Omega for a reason." She finally said.
"And we need to stock up for the subsequent jumps." She added as an afterthought.
"See, it can work. Not the original, but this one.", Han gleefully said, just happy that he managed to get them to agree to the general idea. "We have tried almost everything else. We need to settle and rebuild without fear or prejudice. This is our only chance.", Han declared what they already knew.
They looked at each other, a tired and reluctant agreement occurring in moments.
Once done and in agreement, Rael sighed. He could only pray to the Ancestors that they could convince the conclave of this mad plan.
"We agree then.", Han stated, no objection coming afterwards.
"Good." Han nodded in satisfaction. Further details and preparations were hammered out over the next two hours.
"Now, The Conclave.", Han concluded with despair, sliding both arms onto the holo table for support.
If Rael had an iota of a micron of a nanometer less control, he would've slammed his head onto the table.
Admiral Rael's quarters late 'night'
Rael dropped himself onto his bed, thoroughly exhausted trying to and thankfully successfully convincing The Conclave that no, they weren't insane madmen and that the plan wasn't as stupid as they thought. Still, this could lead to some unrest among the people, he had several days of politics ahead of him. Turning to lay himself on his back he spotted his terminal on his desk.
It's been a while since he had last talked to Tali, a few months in fact since he had last spoken to his daughter. This is her third year(1) on her pilgrimage. Rael smiled remembering listening to his daughter talk about how her pilgrimage was going, all the friends and discoveries she made that she never heard of before in the fleet and all the information she's found to help their people. His mood soured when he remembered the decision The Conclave had come to.
Deciding that he should let her know in advance he moved to his terminal and turned it on, he activated all his anti-virus and protective software and turned on his encryption codes before calling her though, wouldn't want any Salarians or Geth to listen in.
After a few moments, the mask-covered face of Tali appeared, though Rael wished that it wasn't such, just so he could see her beautiful face so like her mother light up in joy.
"Dad! It's good to see you, it's been months!" She exclaimed in joy "Ahem, apologies father, I meant it is nice to talk with you again." she quickly amended.
Rael quietly smiled at her adorable attempt to be professional with him. (2)
"Relax Tali, I just want to talk with you." He assured her "Tell me how's your job at the clinic been treating you recently?" He asked her.
"Great! I wish you could meet Dr Mordin, he's amazing. He's taught me so many things since you last called. Did you know that The Destiny Ascension uses a marginally weaker metal that is around half the weight of those used in other ships and possesses some kinetic energy absorption properties? It's the reason why the construction of the Ascension didn't impact the Eezo market but instead simply drew the same amount of Eezo as a Dreadnought and Cruiser! It's also why its hull is relatively thick, to compensate for the lost material strength and make use of its energy absorption." She rattled off.
Rael widened his smile at that, his little girl always went crazy at the prospect of learning how ships work, he remembers having to take her on a tour of the Ascension because she was talking his and Talian's ears off for days.
"How are your friends?"
"Great! Wrex just came back from a job with some cool tech for me to examine, Thane taught me some neat breathing techniques to help me focus whenever I'm taking tech apart, Samara is chasing a lead on this Asari serial killer, oh and Garrus got a promotion today! He's a junior Lieutenant detective! How awesome is that?" She asked in happiness.
Rael soured a bit at the mention of Garrus. He never liked the Turian, he knows that it's his prejudice talking and that from everything Tali has told him Garrus is a good man and his daughter's best friend but he can't get over his discomfort that such a close friend is a damned Turian of all things. The same damn bastards that have been competing with the Quarians for Dextro-Amino planets and have abused their exile to kick them out of anything and everything like the dictators they are. They don't even bother to try and pretend to be kind, they just harass and kick them around, somehow turning their species name into a damned slur. He just couldn't move on from that injustice.
Unfortunately, Tali noticed his discomfort.
"Come on Dad, I know you don't like the Turians but Garrus is nothing like what you think, he's nice, smart, funny and a great guy, he's the best guy you will ever meet." She tried to reassure her dad for the hundredth time.
Rael sighed "I know I know, just hard for me to put away old grudges." He admitted.
"I know, and I'm happy that you're at least trying to be fair to him." She said with a bit of happiness.
Rael shook his head in amusement "Never mind this old man and his hangups, how's your last friend, Liara I believe it was?" He continued.
"Yeah, she just got her biggest assignment yet, she's to be a lead researcher in the exploration of a Prothean facility that could be a shrine or temple dedicated to whatever God or Gods they worshipped, and it is in perfect condition. Hell, there are even drones tending to it! Guess they cared a lot more about keeping their Gods happy than preserving any of their technology or knowledge." She remarked with humour.
"What? I haven't heard anything about this on the news, is Liara allowed to tell you this?" Rael asked in worry, having a feeling that she wasn't meant to know this if there hadn't so far been a peep.
"No, but so what? Not like they can do anything since they don't know I know." She snorted carelessly.
Rael shook his head in disbelief, sometimes he worried that his daughter would learn something that she shouldn't and get herself in trouble. He was quickly reminded of his reason for calling and lost all power in his engines.
Unfortunately, Tali immediately took notice of this change in attitude.
"Dad, is there something wrong? I haven't asked you how's the Fleet doing, is everyone alright? Did we lose a Liveship to a freak accident or Batarians?" She questioned him, fearing what terrible fate had befallen her people since she had last talked with her father. An unofficial reason she's on her pilgrimage is because of the increasing destabilization of the Migrant Fleet, her father not wanting to lose his only child whilst she had a full life to live.
"First I need you to activate all of your other encryption codes and software before I can tell you this." He informed her.
Confused but deciding against questioning him, Tali activated her remaining anti-virus, personal VPN codes and software. After a minute Tali nodded to her father, he breathed deeply as he prepared himself.
"The Admiralty has decided that we shall go through a dormant Relay in Omega space to escape the Council, The Conclave begrudgingly accepted it under the condition that all Quarians on their Pilgrimage would stay behind as a failsafe in case this plan backfires. You most likely won't be seeing me for several years, depending on the outcome."
"...what..." was all she was able to whisper out.
"Han and I tried to persuade them otherwise, but neither of us could deny that it is the most sensible action if this plan fails, either from a hostile race or if the Council catches up." Rael continued, refusing to look his daughter in her eyes.
"..."
Rael gathered all his courage, the courage he used when he fought off a Batarian attack as a trainee and fought for his life whenever he encountered a bastard who wanted him dead, he gathered all of that courage just to look his daughter in the eyes. While he couldn't see her face, he could see the tears welling up in her eyes, tears at the prospect of not seeing her father for years, if at all. After all, going through a dormant Relay is paramount to suicide, whether they encountered a hostile race or a hostile Citadel fleet being the only distinction.
"B-but, you can't, it's too dangerous! Don't you know the dangers of another Ranchi or Ancestors forbid Batarian and Krogan?!" She cried out.
"We do and the data suggests that we are more likely to meet a peaceful race than a violent one." He countered as calmly as he could with words he didn't truly believe, calmer than he thought he could muster "And yes, we also considered the possibility of the Council pursuing us, and have concluded that they wouldn't take the endeavour too far for fear of meeting another Ranchi themselves, and decide to prepare themselves for the 'imminent' invasion of Citadel space or may even not care and bother chasing us outside of us activating a dormant relay." He interrupted her, figuring it'd be better to not mention the plan to just jump into a nearby system and hope they don't look there long enough for them to repeat.
"You don't know that!" She shouted back "You don't know if you won't run into a race more powerful than the entire Citadel, that enslaves and kills. You don't know if you'll even find any Dextro-Amino planets through the relay and all the others! You don't know if the Council won't just chase you down till the last ship! You don't even know if there will be more than four relays on the other side! You don't know anything!" She shouted, tears streaming down her face.
Rael let her continue. No doubt she was thinking of hundreds of worst-case scenarios, the countless ways it could go wrong and so on, no matter how outlandish it was, like the first one, they were all viable to her. And they both knew she was thinking more with emotion than logic.
With a shaky breath, Rael responded.
"Tali, we both know you're being emotional, half of the things you said are outlandish and the other half unlikely, I promise you nothing will go wrong and after a year maybe less you and the other Quarians left behind will be able to come back and help us get back on our feet, I promise you." He assured himself just as much as he was for her.
"You swear on Mom?" Tali choked out as she tried to quiet her sobs.
"I swear." Rael firmly responded immediately.
Tali finally composed herself after a moment.
"You better keep it." She pleaded.
"I will." Rael nodded "Come on, let's talk about something else, I want to end this call on a happy note. How about you tell me more about your job?" He changed the subject.
"Well, there was this emergency surgery we had to do, Dr Mordin has surgical equipment and a surgical room just for that, it was this dumb Krogan that demanded that he be awake during it without anaesthetics as a 'test' of strength and will and just wouldn't shut up..." She began, gradually becoming more calm and relaxed.
For the next hour, he would listen, talk and laugh as Tali regaled him with the 'fantastic' tales of being an assistant to an eccentric Salarian doctor on the Citadel before needing to rest. He has a long week ahead of him.
UNSCN Loyal Men, 13,567 kilometres from the Shanxi relay, February 14th 2574 CE
Avery 'Vadam gazed upon the giant Valkyrie Class light Frigate, while not the biggest ship he had ever seen, it was still nothing to scoff at. 1,298 metres long, 424 metres wide and 371 metres tall it was a beast longer, wider and as tall as the old Marathon Heavy Cruiser. The design shared few similarities with the Charon, the bridge no longer stuck out of the main body, engines and reactors consumed less space and more cleanly merged to eliminate structural weak points and allow more space for the crew and complement, it was an upgrade in ship design. While the Sword's own Nester-pattern armoured Frigate is longer and wider the (relatively)new frigate is a testament to the Humans' ability to quickly catch up to their alien allies and enemies.
"Gather your bags Corporal, ETA less than one minute until we dock with the Loyal Men, and then you get to meet your new playmates." The human pilot announced.
Getting up he gathered his three duffel bags of items, clothing and his sword before making sure he looked presentable. He wore the standard Gheocin-pattern combat harness used typically by Minors with his rank displayed on his shoulder pauldrons, though instead of a deep blue, it had the standard grey and black camouflage of the ODSTs or as veterans of the Great War knew them the 'Imps'.
Slugging the bags over his shoulder Avery waited for the ramp to lower, the slowness allowing the young Sangheili to view the moderately large hanger bay alive with activity as a hundred and fifty men went to complete their assigned tasks and dozens of soldiers ran about to fulfil the errands and routines given to them by their COs. Strangely, he couldn't see any tanks and heavy vehicles.
In front of his Pelican, a large ODST waited for him. He wore the standard MJOLNIR MK VI GEN 3 body armour and the Pilot helmet with ODST colours and gold highlights. As Avery approached the human he noted that the soldier was about a head shorter, at 6'10" compared to his 7'5", though his build was wide enough that it more than certainly made up for that height difference in width.
"You the new guy?" The man questioned, relaxed and slightly apathetic as if he'd rather be asleep than awake now. The disrespect irked Avery, but he saw his rank and held his displeasure.
"Yes sir, I have been transferred to serve in this system under Lieutenant Colonel Church of the ODST battalion stationed here." He winced internally at his young and raw voice, the inexperience it possessed open.
"Alright follow me, I'll take you to the Chief Asshole of this system." The Captain ignored it and gestured for him to follow.
Avery gawked at the disrespectful manner the man spoke of the LTCOL but kept his grievances to himself and followed the Captain through the halls of the ship after a moment. The halls were similarly populated with many soldiers, most of them were human with a Unggoy, Kig-Yar, fellow Sangheili and even a Huragok passing them. Neither of them spoke until they stopped near the bridge in front of presumably the Colonel's office.
"Oi Church, get the fuck out, I got your newbie." His guide rudely banged upon the door leading to the Colonel's office.
He made to scold the human when the door opened, revealing a lean 6'5" man in an off-duty BDU with a small shock of black hair and what he believes the humans called a 'goatee' and reading glasses. However, any smug hope that the man would properly discipline his out-of-line subordinate was dashed when he opened his mouth.
"Unless you're waiting for the chance to jerk the kid off and find out what alien cum tastes like, you can go fuck off Grif and stuff more Oeros up your ass." The LTCOL responded uncouthly.
"For the last fucking time, I am NOT fat! I'm a naturally large man that needs to eat a lot!" Grif yelled back in insubordinate anger.
"Yeah, whatever you tell yourself in the mirror, now scram or else I'm cutting your rations in half and assigning you, Sarge, Simmons, Donut, Lopez and Doc twenty sims a day for the next week." Church flippantly dismissed him with a threat.
"Fine asshole, I was going to leave anyway!" Grif finally surrendered, walking away to his barracks.
Avery blinked his eyes and stared in shock at the complete disregard of conduct, trying and failing to wrap his head around the sheer heresy of the brief interaction.
"What are you staring at, Newbie? Get in so we can get this interview over with." He was snapped out of his thoughts by the Colonel, who impatiently waited for him to enter.
Not wanting to incur his wrath Avery complied. It was good that the doorway accounted for greater builds than him, or else he would've bumped against it in his haste.
The Office was simple, a small couch/bed on the right, a small library of physical books on the left and at the back a large desk with a computer, a mobile computer, over a dozen files of various densities and a few portraits of the man's family and his achievements.
"Put your bags on my couch for now." His new Battalion Commander instructed as he sat on his chair "Take a seat, don't worry it can hold your weight." He gestured to the furniture.
Avery hesitated, unsure if that was true. He came at 152.7 kilos compared to the average 146.3 kilos those of his height and age usually possess and his armour another 393 kilos. After a moment he sat upon the chair and to his pleasant surprise, it held, only giving a slight creak as it endured his weight as if he was just another occupant it needed to hold up. He faced the Colonel as he took out a file.
"Name: Avery 'Vadam. Date of birth: January 29th, 2553. Place of birth: Vadam Keep, Yermo, Sanghelios. Parents: Thel 'Vadam and Maiki 'Vadam. Place of training/enlistment: Mero's Academy of Advanced Shock training. Graduation results: Recommendation for Special Forces recruitment. Rank: Lance Corporal. Drill Instructors Notes: 'Vadam has exceptional skill in CQC, CQB, and all close-range weapons and above average skill with mid-range weapons. His marksmanship is average but dependable, however, his ability to hack basic gigabyte firewalls is abysmal and his favouritism for CQC and CQB has resulted in a barely acceptable amount of failed exercises. Overall 'Vadam is a great warrior with the potential to become one of the greatest soldiers in modern history." He read out loud.
He sharply closed the file as he placed down his reading glasses to look at Avery without them.
"Did I miss anything or was that all, Newbie?" He questioned.
"No sir, that was all." He answered, slightly angered that he wasn't being properly respected. Did he not know proper manners? Do any of them for that matter?
"Kid, listen close because I'm only going to say this once, back at Sangehilis you're somebody. The first son of the Greatest Arbiter, the perfect son every young Sangheili wants to be and so on, but here? As far as I'm concerned you're just a rich kid who's got the skill and strength to back up whatever hot shit he spews, and here at the ass end of Warden space, we at the 14th Shock Battalion like to make a mockery out of everyone that joins us. Is that going to be a problem, Newbie?" The Colonel mocked him.
Avery clenched his fists in indignation at the sheer disrespect to him and his name. He's tempted to strike the man for his insults…insults. Was this what the warriors at the keep meant by not falling for the insults. He thought they were lying, but it seems not. Why do humans do this? Either way.
"No sir." He responded, not bothering to hide his budding scorn.
"Good, you might be salvageable." And that seemed to please the man, were the humans gluttons for disrespect? "I'm assigning you under the command of Second Lieutenant Samuel Shepard, he's one of my best soldiers and I expect you to show him the respect an exceptional soldier like him deserves. Staff Sergeant Kaidan will be here to receive you in a minute, until then I'm going to tell you what I expect. I want you to curb any urge to get in close and pull out your knife to go and stab people, focus on keeping engagements mid-range and get rid of any expectations of proper respect from anyone here. If you can't take an insult you can't take a gravity hammer, and if you can't take a hammer you don't belong here. I don't give a shit if they insult your honour or family, if I hear a pep your next deployment is by jumping from low orbit with nothing to save you from the fall except your armour, got it?" Church questioned while continuing to insult him. And what he was demanding, disrespect from him is bad enough, but to expect it from others and for it to be worse?
He nodded, deciding not to give him the respect of a verbal response.
"Good, welcome to the ODSTs." Church welcomed him, simultaneously ignoring his indignation and giving his right hand. He did not know one could be so infuriating.
He shook his hand a bit too hard in spite, in response Church squeezed harder, hurting him slightly in a show of strength.
'He's stronger than I expected even for an ODST.' He knew they were augmented but to this level? He quietly decided against antagonising him further.
The Colonel glanced at the monitor when it beeped, before glancing back at Avery and retracting his arm.
"Your new 2IC is here to pick you up, you're dismissed."
"Sir." He responded, standing to hold his right arm across his left heart in a salute, retrieving his bags and exiting the office.
Church shook his head in annoyance.
"I can already tell it'll be too easy to fuck with you." He quietly muttered to himself.
Kaidan glanced up next to the door to see Avery exiting the office, pushing off it to greet him.
"You must be the new guy, nice to meet you. I'm Staff Sergeant Kaidan Alenko, just call me Kaidan, I'm your 2IC. Follow me, I'll take you to your new barracks." He greeted in short order, turning to lead Avery.
"So what's your name kid?" He asked when Avery fell in line beside him.
"Lance Corporal Avery 'Vadam sir." He answered, drawing a raised eyebrow from the ODST.
"Rather human name, not like any name I've heard other Sangheili have." He noted.
"My father wished to honour the memory of a great human warrior who perished at the final mission of the Great War." Avery elaborated, resisting the urge to smile. He was elated at meeting the first respectful human on this ship, especially if he was to be the exception.
"Right, that makes sense." Kaiden nodded, remembering that it was a Sangheili tradition.
"If I may ask sir, this ship is different from what I know of its class, and I've yet to see a single Marine or soldier besides sailors and other ODSTs, why is that?" Avery questioned. He did his research on the Valkyries, and the hangar bay he entered through had nothing but transports and light vehicles. There are also what looks like more places for drop pods than standard and a few other details he noticed from outside.
Kaidan nodded "You've got a good eye kid, as for why, the ship is modified to carry and deploy a battalion of ODSTs, every important outer colony has one Valkyrie Light Frigate with a battalion of ODSTs, which makes it easier to deploy ODSTs where needed."
Avery nodded, seeing the logic in the decision. They can have a thousand of their best men deployed if a colony is attacked in a matter of minutes, a ridiculously fast deployment speed considering in the wars it would've taken a day at the absolute best for ODSTs to be deployed to a colony.
"Interesting, but would it not make it easier to take out most if not all of the ODSTs in a system?"
"Yes, which is why the protocol is to hang back until an opening to deploy appears, move in, drop where we're needed, and the ship moves back to support friendly ships. If aerospace superiority is secured, they stay and provide support to ground forces. All this breed needs to do and in all the missions the Loyal Men have participated in it worked perfectly."
Avery nodded in understanding, dozens of infinitely more capable admirals, generals and thousands more experts wouldn't have approved of the strategy if it didn't meet their standards.
"Hey Avery, you prefer a personal tour or a map to be sent to your HUD?" Kaidan asked suddenly.
"I'd rather not occupy anyone's time." He quickly responded. He'd be a disappointment if he couldn't memorise a map.
"Understandable." Kaidan accepted easily. It'll take a few minutes to have a map of the ship, but thankfully Kaidan can see a friend who can give it to him now.
"Hey Tom, I need you for something!" He called him over. He was an unaugmented human in a standard sailor's hard suit with dark brown hair and a nascent beard "Can you send a map of the ship to the kid for me?" He asked the man. Avery could see his name on his HUD, Thomas Elba, and his rank stripes indicating he was the Chief Warrant Officer of the ship.
"Sure," He easily agreed, "name and rank kid?"
"Lance Corporal Avery 'Vadam sir."
After a few moments of watching Thomas interact with his datapad, Avery's HUD received a data package, opening it showed a map of the frigate and a yellow dot to indicate where he was. Closing it, he nodded to Thomas in thanks.
"Thanks, Tom."
"No problem, but tell Shepard the next time he decides to fist-fight an Acid Wormite Nest Queen he has to wear the same under-suit for his next deployment." He warned, and Avery wonders if he would, or even could do such. From what he has seen, he wouldn't be too surprised.
"I'll make sure he knows.", Kaidan responded with a smile as they walked away.
"What did he mean by 'fist-fighting' an Acid Wormite Nest Queen?" Avery asked curiously.
"Exactly what it means, you know what Magnus Parasitus is?" He asked.
Avery nodded "Jari 'Vadam, an elder blood relative of mine, led an extermination campaign against all of the nests of the devil pests on Xega V years ago, they fell easily to his blade and warriors. He and two of his best swordmasters killed three 90-metre pests with nothing but their blades, guns and will." He recounted with pride.
"Impressive, I can tell you're proud of him."
"Indeed, the beasts aren't to be underestimated, that is for certain, however, they had been foolish enough to underestimate Fleetmaster Jari 'Vadam and his great warriors, and paid for it with their lives." He further boasted "So what you are stating is that Lieutenant Shepard engaged a large devil in hand to hand?" He asked again for clarification, interest piqued.
"Sorta, two weeks back our platoon was sent on an extermination op, a nest of Wormites was causing some trouble for the cities back on Shanxi III, extended beyond their grounds and attacked land trains and anyone they could. It was going well, the only problem being more than anticipated, we were all on our last mag when Mama Worm came, and it was pissed. Shepherd says he's got an idea and tells us to cover fire and ran off, we kept shooting and running around it for a while before it cornered Nipnap, but before it could eat him Shepard, the crazy son of a bitch, jumped on its head and started punching and stabbing it with hybrid energy daggers, ripping into it and exposing its skull, trying to shove a grenade into it. He got flicked off hard, knocked him out and gave him a nasty concussion, but he looked dead. Jaranticous went crazy, overcharged his hammer and armour and went ham on it, a berserk Jiralhanae in power armour with a suped-up hammer fucked it up good. Shepard got covered completely in its guts, acid melted a lot of the suit's systems, not to mention the damage it already sustained, and smelt like shit. He got a scolding and a half from the Colonel for the move, mostly backhanded compliments, and another one from the engineers who had to clean and repair the armour. They mostly just cursed him. Bastards' lucky that he's a good soldier, otherwise he might've gotten more than a demerit."
Avery slowed to a halt to comprehend what he just heard.
"I would've begged my father to have me be assigned to The Infinity or Shadow of Intent if I knew I would be assigned under a madman." He half-jokingly and half-seriously remarked.
"Ha! Too true brother, too true." Kaidan agreed in amusement, stopping in front of a door with the number 17 "Alright this is our barrack, time to meet your new platoon, Corporal." Kaidan said as he entered the passcode for the door, making sure Avery could see it.
As they entered the barrack, Avery quickly noted how loud his new platoon was. Looking around he could see humans fighting with each other, Unggoy, Kig-Yar and even a Sangheili brother joined them, loud music playing. Ignoring them for now Avery followed behind Kaidan and he spied the man he was leading him to. He was 6'6" with black hair in a reserved buzz cut, dressed in the standard off-duty BDUs assigned to ODSTs with the sleeves rolled up, showing his tanned skin and muscle with faint burns and scars. He lay in his bunk reading another physical book.
"Hey Sam, meet the new kid!" Kaidan called out to their CO.
Looking up from his book, Shepard noticed the young Sangheili behind Kaidan wearing full body armour and lugging three large duffel bags over one shoulder. It was a difficult thing not to.
"Thanks, Kaidan I'll take it from." He dismissed him "I'm Samuel Shepard, but call me Sam. What's your name?" He asked as he stood up from his bunk, placing his book down and giving his right hand to Avery.
"Lance Corporal Avery 'Vadam sir." He quickly answered, noting his calm blue-green eyes and rugged and kind face that observed him with respect as he shook his hand.
"Nice to meet you, Avery. If I remember correctly, you've been assigned to my squad specifically, is that right?" He asked Avery. He already knew the answer but rookies liked feeling useful.
"I believe so sir."
"Well welcome to the squad. How's your time in the Loyal Men been treating you so far?" Another thing they liked, small talk, made them calm to be addressed casually.
"Well sir, though the behaviour of the Colonel…" Avery paused searching for an appropriate word "…confounds me."
"I understand." Sam nodded in understanding "The Colonel and his squad can be…weird, but they have led this entire battalion with a near-spotless record." He confidently assured him.
"I did not mean to question his honour and leadership!" Avery hastily amended in a slight panic. By the Gods, disrespecting a superior is one thing, but to question their honour and skills? Such a sin against Orns isn't as easily forgiven. To question the honour of a renowned commander of a thousand elite soldiers is not a transgression that does not come without great punishment, especially when it comes from a young warrior who has yet to see true battle.
"Hey relax, I know the Sangheili hold honour in high regard but you don't have to worry about offending the Colonel, he doesn't care about someone questioning his service." He assures the young man, silently cursing himself. He forgot that Sangheili treated honour even more seriously than the UNSC treats minor acts of treason.
"Why don't I introduce you to the platoon? Then we can get you all set up." He suggested, trying to distract Avery. He gave the kid a moment to calm himself and gestured for him to follow him to the middle of the barrack.
"Elieena, turn the music off!" He ordered, raising his voice against the music despite not needing to.
"Gladly sir." The ship's Dumb A.I. responded, a hint of eagerness colouring its otherwise monotone voice. Immediately the (irritating)music stopped, much to the chagrin of those who enjoyed it, who made it known.
"Alright everyone, settle down I've got an announcement so listen up!" He ordered, his tone brokering no room for argument. He continued after a moment "We've got a rookie joining the platoon, Lance Corporal Avery 'Vadam is to serve with us until ordered otherwise, I expect you'll treat him with respect and won't take advantage of his inexperience at his expense."
"Is that all, sir?" A human Sam recognised as Jackson G. Lastimosa sarcastically asked.
"No sergeant, it is not. I've just received word that my armour is fully operational, and to commemorate 'Vadam's first day at the Loyal Men I've decided that we will all be going to the sim to go through our last mission with Avery here, let's see how much better we can do now that we have a new member." He revealed, smiling at their groans and moans of despair.
"Nice going, Sarge." PFC Robert muttered bitterly to Jackson. He wasn't the only one, many in the platoon cured Jackson. A few showed it with hand gestures.
"Don't blame Jackson, I planned to do this sim whether he opened his mouth or not." Sam covered for Jackson. And he wasn't lying, he was going to announce that too before the dumbass got cheeky "Now hurry the fuck up before I make you all do this with just your bodysuit and a Plasma Pistol!" He promised.
Knowing that he would try to fulfil that promise, everyone went triple time to get ready for the long sim, some already equipping their body suits.
"Corporal Ashley!" Sam called out, a moment later a woman with black dishevelled hair she was tying into a ponytail and an off-duty BDU came and stood at attention in front of Shepard.
"Yes sir?"
"Lead Avery here to his bunk and help him find where to place his belongings, dress up when done helping him." He ordered.
"Yes sir." She affirmed before turning to Avery, tilting her head back to look him in the eye due to the substantial height difference "Follow me, kid." She ordered, turning to walk away as she did.
"So." She began as Avery fell into step behind her "Your first deployment off graduation and already skipped straight to Lance Corporal? You must've been really damn good for that to happen, in three years I might have to start calling you sir." She praised and teased Avery.
"Thank you, ma'am, I dedicated myself since I could comprehend the world around me to become a great warrior so that I may shed the blood of those who had humiliated my family's honour in the name of a false journey. Though I am years away from that goal it seems." Avery proudly answered with fire, his fire dimming at his last sentence.
"Hey don't think like that, at worst it may be a few months before you can get your first Loyalist kill." She tried to comfort him.
"If you say so, ma'am." He accepted. He appreciated the gesture.
After a few minutes, he was waiting at the 'armoury' that was the room that led to the simulator, he had equipped an MK II Nakata'vho plasma repeater, two Okarada' Thaa Plasma rifles and an energy sword, waiting for the rest of the platoon to begin the session. He looked up at the sound of dozens of heavy metallic footsteps, his eyes honing in on who Avery was able to quickly identify as Shepard. He wore what his HUD identified as a 'Commando' helmet with a COURIER PEARL MK II HUL module, a dull silver visor reflecting little light. He wore standard issue ODST pauldrons with his rank engraved on them and a large dagger sheathed on his left side. His armour was otherwise the base MK VI with a standard ODST colour scheme with red and white highlights and Type FJ Knee guards.
"Sorry for making you wait a bit, everyone wasn't as early." Shepherd apologised as he walked past him, allowing him to see that the armour made him 3" taller, to equip himself "Your file said you specialize in CQC and CQB, any reason you've suddenly decided you're a Rifleman?" He asked, noticing that Avery only had an energy sword for CQC.
"During my interview, the Colonel ordered that I focus on becoming more familiar with mid-range weapons. And I doubt I can slay even a Wormite runt with my blade." He answered with a level of mirth.
"Ha! Fair enough." Shepherd conceded.
In under a minute, the whole platoon stood at attention in front of the large doors of the simulator. Before they could proceed, Shepard stopped everyone to commence a once-over of the platoon.
"Alright you have one last chance to reconsider your load-outs, including you Jaranticous, are you sure you don't want ANYTHING ELSE?" He asked the 8'11" Brute, who equipped just a Gravity Hammer and simple power armour. Nothing else, not even a combat knife, or in the large man's case, a short sword.
Avery silently sneered to himself as he gazed upon the savage, he had learned of their kind through his friends in the Academy, while his father told him they were brutal, ferocious but honourable warriors he quickly learnt from them that couldn't be further from the truth. They turned anything they could into destructive, unstable and violent weapons of brutality and cruelty. Primitives that should have never been allowed to leave their homeworld.
Jaranticous ignorant of his hostile thoughts, hefted his hammer and smiled an arrogant and sure grin.
"Flesh Thrasher is all that I require to return our false foes to the abyss." His voice exuded just as much arrogance. The gall this brute has to give it a name…
"Okay, if you say so." Shepard sighed 'Crazy bastard.' he fondly thought to himself before looking to the rest of the platoon.
"Anyone else have any second thoughts?" When he received no indication he turned to the control panel "Alright, get ready." He announced before punching the start button.
10...
"This is gonna suck so hard." Whined a grumpy Unggoy.
"Hey come on NipNap, you only almost got eaten once." A human tried to comfort him.
"That's one too many Kyle!" NipNap cried in furious anger.
7...
"Enough of the bitchfest! Man up or else I'll personally have you assigned to waste disposal!" Jackson yelled at the two with annoyance.
"Alright, Jesus, fuck you too." Kyle threw back.
The sound of a very high-powered gun charging was soon heard.
"What was that Private?" Jackson asked in a calm and dangerous voice.
"Fuck you too, sir." Kyle amended with a sigh.
"That's better."
3...
'?...By the light of Urs, what is wrong with humans?' He thought to himself incredulously. To think these were the kind of people that tens of billions of Sangheili, Unggoy, Jiralhanae and even some Kig-Yar worship as the second coming of the Forerunners is ludicrous. Most of them were the furthest from a god one could get.
2...
Though practising slaying Acid Wormites on the first day of his deployment wasn't such a bad deal.
1...
Now if only it wasn't with a vulgar, nigh insubordinate platoon led by a madman.
Bzzzttt!
1,500 kilometres above Shanxi III, UNSCN Death From Above, Admiral Quarters, February 17th 2574 AD
Rear Admiral George Wincott scowled at the datapad in his hand and cursed whoever at FLEETCOM was handling ship deployments to Shanxi.
'I've got to deal with the largest Acid Wormite infestation ever seen, fears of first contact, an SDT Cell, trying to keep the Colonies from panicking at all of this AND the fact that four Stridents and a Ferdinand just got assigned here as a 'precaution'. What Precursor did I cross in a past life?' The 64-year-old man thought to himself in frustration.
Except that there were also two ONI Shara Prowlers with a hundred agents deployed on the three colonies in the Shanxi-Theta System trying to find, infiltrate and weed out the cells.
'I swear they're like cockroaches, they just won't die.' He contemptuously thought. The bastards don't know when to quit, show them the truth and they still decide to try and activate Halo.
'Good luck with that.' He thought with amused disdain. The UNSC could change and program Forerunner code for a decade. Without the activation index and approval codes of the Fleet Admiral stationed at each installation, it was impossible to activate Halo's firing system, let alone with any human.
'Calm down Wincott, just one more month before shore leave.' He reminded himself.
He was taken out of his thoughts by knocking on his door. He glanced at his monitor to see his least favourite person in the whole system behind the Colonel himself. Still, with a sigh, he permitted them to come in.
"What do you need, Commander Church?" He asked, sourness colouring his professional tone. Which was warranted since every time she told him something personally it caused him pain.
Sitting down on the guest chair was a beautiful woman, with nice blond hair, mostly smooth skin, a feat considering her line of work, and blue eyes paired with her muscular yet undeniably feminine body that was a few metres away from having her classified as a model, all especially impressive considering her age. She was someone even ODSTs wouldn't be able to resist for long with just her appearance. Add in the BDU that carefully hid her voluptuous figure, custom-made for her, few would be able to keep their cool around and about her.
He knew better, behind the incredibly attractive woman and whatever facade she decided helped her was an accomplished soldier turned ONI agent with dozens of missions under her belt and many more that filed in paper to be destroyed at a moment's notice.
How the hell Leonard managed to get her to marry and have a kid with him was a mystery he wasn't interested in cracking.
"My teams found a lead on the location of an SDT base a month ago, sleeper agents dispatched to join them managed to locate another two, and have relayed the possibility of there being a dozen bases on Shanxi III alone and many more on Axi and Shanxi V. Just thought you'd like to know this." Allison 'Tex' Church answered in a very casual manner despite the disturbing implications of her statement.
George narrowed his eyes a minuscule amount before relaxing them again. She wouldn't have come to his office just to tell him information that she could've relayed through an encrypted connection.
Still, this is a massive problem, a dozen bases on the Primary Colony alone? That's not mentioning Shanxi III's moon and Shanxi V also containing as many bases as well, if not more so. That's adding up to over two battalions worth of Servant hostiles. For that many to have already taken root in a system that's only had colonies for over three years carries terrifying implications, only six million people live in the Shanxi-Theta system. How many of those people are aiding or are SDT?
Either way, he pressed a button on his desk, and immediately his door was sealed, cameras disabled and anything else that could be used to spy in this room was shut off. Once the room was secured, he turned to Allison who now sat straighter and carried a more professional look and air.
"What's wrong?"
"A few hours ago we just got confirmation of at least seventy possible enemy agents among your fleet right now, most of which are in a position to do serious damage and compromise the fleet's ability to patrol and protect this system." She informed him with no small amount of grimness.
Wincott held his head with his hands. That's bad, real bad. Depending on who and what they are they could do a hundred things to sabotage and destroy the fleet, such as detonating the very powerful makeshift Beta Level 1 WMD the Helium 3-Deuterium Pinch Fusion Matter-Antimatter Hybrid Reactors can be, which all but the Corvettes carry. Not to mention all the info that they could've fed their friends. George sighed before looking up at Tex.
"Do we know anything else besides that?" He questioned with a sliver of hope that was quickly dashed away at her head shake.
"Our operative was only able to learn that only 13 of the agents are in a position to tamper with the engines or reactors of the ships in the fleet, the rest are Marines, Airmen or Troopers. That was all they were able to discover before needing to evade suspicion." She answered with resignation and frustration. Something George shared.
But at least they knew how many were capable of tampering with the reactors and engines. Titan Heavy Repulsor Drives can cause many undesirable problems to a planet if sabotaged right. Still, 13 SDT agents getting on His fleet and not being found until now? Either ONI has lost its touch or The Servants are just that good. He can't tell which is worse. He then quickly realised something.
"Wait, you said that there's possibly at least seventy of these fuckers, you saying I've got more of these Squid Apes aboard my ships?" He asked her with increasing anger and disbelief.
Tex scowled in distaste at his choice of words.
"First, use those slurs again and I'll have to report you to NAVCOM for specism on duty." Discarding moral obligations, having someone like Wincott use such highly offensive terms would not help in lessening inter-species tensions. "Second, yes, my experts estimate in a worst-case scenario, possibly twice that many have managed to infiltrate the fleet." She answered his question.
George leaned back scowling. Before it was bad, now? Absolutely Unacceptable.
"Commander I want your teams to find them all, organise a takedown op with Brigadier General Williams, Lieutenant Colonel Church and me. Every second these bastards live is a second too long." He ordered her with thinly veiled rage from a hurt pride.
"Yes sir." She saluted, reaching into her pocket and pulling out a data stick "Here's everything you need to know, it contains all of our reports and everything we know about the cell. I recommend getting ready for a night of reviewing and paperwork." She forewarned.
"Thank you, Commander. dismissed." He graciously took the stick.
After she had left, he leaned into his chair with a sigh.
'Well, there goes any hope for shore leave.' He lamented to himself 'Maybe I'll get an extended leave for this?' He thought to himself with some optimism.
Either way, he has work to do.
19th day of the second month, 2753 GST/AC, the Migrant Fleet
'So this is it huh?' Rael realised with some measure of disbelief. Today is the day 17 million souls journey to find a place to call home and recover, and perhaps, in some optimistic future, take back their homeworld.
He stood in the middle of an observatory, gazing at the beautiful and unfeeling galaxy. So full yet empty. And over a hundred kilometres away, the bright Eezo blue core visible before the metal, was the first of three Mass Relays they had to go through before they made it to Omega.
He still can't believe that they're doing this, breaking a Citadel law that has been in place since before they developed the camera. A law that could end with them being forced as a client to the Turian. But it must be done, so that The Quarians may live to see another sunrise.
He didn't move as Han walked through the door and stood next to him, gazing at the Relay getting closer every second.
For about a minute they just stood there watching as more and more of the Relay became visible.
"Have you ever just stopped and looked?" Han finally asked "And I mean ponder on the fact that most of us were born on one of these ships, and went to a window or the inner hull and realised that only a few dozen centimetres of metal and glass is between us and an endless void? That those bright dots all around us are massive spheres of nuclear fusion? And that most are older than even the Protheans by truly countless years?" He asked, nearly breathless.
"Tell me, how many Quarians do you think you could stack sideways before we finally reach the Relay?" He asked again.
"About ten thousand?" Rael responded at last. Only about 40 kilometres left.
"Try over 22 thousand. That's 0.132% of the Migrant Fleet's population. Yet, compared to a small moon such distance is barely noticeable, some planets have islands as large as moons, stars that make gas giants look like a speck and so much more. Yet, none of those would consume even a twentieth of a lightyear. We are by all accounts less than worthless." He answered and continued if Rael dared to say, ranting.
"Your point?" He asked Han with curiosity, wondering where he was going with this.
"My point is, that with all that I have just told you...Do you care?" Han asked Rael as he turned to face the man.
"…Do I care that you're right and that in a hundred thousand years nothing would remain for anyone to discover that we even existed at all? No Han, I really couldn't care less." He truthfully answered.
"Then don't pay mind to whatever the Council may say in contempt of our decisions, for we do this not to further our agenda or be remembered as saviours and saints, but to only save our people." Han finished his speech.
Rael didn't say anything for a few moments before he turned to look at Han fully.
"When did you become a poet?" Rael joked.
"This morning in front of my mirror." Responded Han with just as much mirth.
They laughed for a minute before quieting down to look at the Relay that was getting closer and closer, the two hundredth ship in Recon force Iriton of the Heavy fleet passing through it. Soon, this ship will be following the others in the Taskforce.
"You sure you don't want to head back to your ship? Who knows, you might be able to escape if the second coming of the Ranchi is on the other side." Han asked with some humour.
"No, I feel like sometimes we aren't friends, if this is a bad idea and we do find a hostile species, there's no other man I'd rather die with." He answered with a content smile behind his visor.
"Glad you feel the same." Replied Han with a glad smile.
"All personnel, beginning Relay transmission in T-minus 50 seconds." An Ensign announced over the intercom.
"Besides, I don't think I have time either way." He added as an afterthought.
"Sure." Han rolled his eyes, knowing that was a Kipshit lie. He could just go back through the Relay.
Still, they waited for the flash that would send them through an Eezo corridor, so that they may begin this new chapter of not just their lives but the lives of all in The Galaxy.
Whether any of them knew it or not.
AN: And scene! Finally, after two months I've completed the first true chapter of Usurpers and Inheritors. I hope you all liked it or at least got a kick out of it, and if you didn't, there are about six hundred-plus other HaloxME fics. At least one of them has to appeal to you. You guys may have noticed the two things I've noted. Numbered?
1. As I'm sure all of you have noticed, several characters have been 'aged up'. This is most evident in the fact that Tali is already on her pilgrimage and her third year too.
2. Rael and Tali's relationship is much warmer and better than in canon.
I hope the writing is up to snuff, this is my first time writing a true proper fanfiction so don't be surprised if it is a bit inconsistent or somewhat bad. Also please point out any spelling mistakes and others. Grammarly gets weird with me sometimes.
Either way, good morning, good afternoon and good night.
Please enter your Serial numbers.
04B-XXXX-01-XX05-XX04A
Rank: Lance Corporal_
-/WARNING! LEVEL 3 ACCESS IS NECESSARY TO VIEW THIS FILE./-
Please enter access codes: 23-11-24-74_
Pending...Access granted, welcome Corporal 'Vadam.
File: Valkyrie Class Light Frigate.
"We were fucked, over a thousand Loyalists ready to tear us apart and do all sorts of fucked up shit for their 'gods', and here we were, a small company without its Captain, or morale. I was more sure that we were dead than the colour of grass, then out of a slipspace rupture ten miles above came a Heavy Cruiser, UNSCN Thrúd, with an Ascended battalion, armour and armament ready to rain hell. It was only after the battle I found out this was our newest fucking Light Frigate." Gunnery Sargent, Liam 'Boss' Nam after the battle of Svartalfheim, December 25th 2555.
Role: Escort, troop deployment, light invasion and support ship
Description: Succeeding the Charon, the Valkyrie outperforms not just its predecessor but last gen frigates entirely, with more speed, manoeuvrability, firepower, space and durability than any could hope to approach. Made to ferry a full battalion into battle, escort ships and provide general support to ground forces in invasions, the Valkyrie is exemplary and a revolution in starship design. Ditching the patched-together designs of its predecessors, it sports smaller engines relative to its size, has its MAC built around it instead of attached on and the bridge takes design cues from the old Halberd. Overall, it is a highly robust ship matched only by the SOS and UCD's frigates.
Commissioned: December 1st, 2555
Length: 1298 Metres
Width: 424 Metres
Height: 371 Metres
Hull: 2.06 Metres of Nanolaminate Titanium Carbon Super Alloy Ablative Batteplating
Mass: 17.62 million metric tons
Defence: MG-88L [Light Grade] MK IV Reactive Energy Field Projector, AN/ASQ-689 DAZZLER IEWS [Integrated Electronic Warfare Suite].
Armament:
-1 Mark XII 20S6N2 Heavy-Coil Bosonite Field Enhanced Magnetic Accelerator Cannon
-6 M2556/C Berezin 13" Rotary Magnetic Linear Accelerators
-1 Weapon/Anti-Ship 'TSUNAMI' Model IV Energy Projector
-2 M1783 Jericho Directed Particle Cannons
-3 M841 Zeus Guided Plasma Bombardment Mortars
-17 M5644 Bofors 70mm Close-In Weapons System Helical Railguns
-11 AN/SEQ-416 AURORA Pulse Laser Defensive Arrays
-30 M101 Electromagnetic Missile Launcher Pods (20 RSGM-106A Longbow Anti-Ship Missiles Per Pod)
Crew:
-891 Sailors
Complement:
-4 D192-TCE Gannet Heavy Lift Vehicles
-15 D79F-TC Pelican Exoatmospheric Dropships
-9 FSS-1084C Xiphos Aerospace Superiority Fighters/Multirole Strike Crafts
-1 UNICOM Marine/Army Expeditionary/Invasion Battalion Unit
-2 NAVSPECWARCOM Orbital Insertion Groups [Apox. 73 ODSTs per Group]
Power Generation:
-1 Northstar Assembly Mark-I Powerplant Helium 3-Deuterium Pinch Fusion Matter-Antimatter Hybrid Reactor
-2 Galilean Energies Mark-IV Powerplant Deuterium-Tritium Pinch Fusion Hybrid Reactors
Engines:
-3 Boglin-Fields 'Starlight' Repulsor Drives
-6 Boglin-Fields 'Firelight' Light Repulsor Drives
Translight Engine:
-Idris Brown Series I[B] CODEN Super Slipstream drive
Do you wish to continue?
Yes or No?
Yes_
File: Autumn Class Heavy Cruiser.
"It matters not how much you grow, we shall not falter in our Holy Crusade against you filthy Here-!" Fleetmaster Hurol 'Reh before his ship is destroyed by the UNSCN At Last and UNSCN Dragon Fist, April 5th 2556.
Role: Capital ship, ship-to-ship combat, Attack ship and multirole vessel
Description: Based on the original Pillar of Autumn, the Autumn class represents a considerable leap forward in human warship design, combining numerous state-of-the-art technologies to create an unprecedented cruiser. A perfect balance between mobility, firepower, armour, crew requirements, and ease of manufacturing, makes them the perfect warship to form the backbone of the UNSCN. The Autumn class represents a new generation of naval warships, and the leaps forward made to better protect Earth and all of her colonies. In some aspects, it surpasses its SOS and UCD counterparts. Some.
Commissioned: September 16th, 2555
Length: 3776 Metres
Width: 1042 Metres
Height: 1142 Metres
Hull: 6 Metres of Nanolaminate Titanium Carbon Super Alloy Ablative Batteplating
Mass: 221.61 million metric tons
Defence: MG-88M [Medium-Grade] MK X Reactive Energy Field Projector, AN/ASQ-689 DAZZLER IEWS [Integrated Electronic Warfare Suite].
Armament:
-2 Mark XII 20S6N2 Heavy-Coil Bosonite Field Enhanced Magnetic Accelerator Cannons
-18 M2566/C Oerlikon 13" Rotary Magnetic Linear Accelerators
-2 Weapon/Anti-Ship 'BRIGHTLANCE' Model III Hardlight Energy Projectors
-20 M1792 Shrike Plasma Pulse Weapons
-12 M1783 Jericho Directed Particle Cannons
-36 M5644 Bofors 65mm Close-In Weapons System Helical Railguns
-23 AN/SEQ-416 AURORA Pulse Laser Defensive Arrays
-44 M101 Electromagnetic Missile Launcher Pods (30 RSGM-106A Longbow Anti-Ship Missiles Per Pod)
Crew:
-1,947 Sailors
Complement:
-6 D192E-TCE Gannet Heavy Lift Vehicles
-25 D79F-TC Pelican Exoatmospheric Dropships
-16 BAS-532A Greatsword Aerospace/Air Support-Strategic Bombers
-40 FSS-1084C Xiphos Aerospace Superiority Fighters/Multirole Strike Crafts
-1 UNICOM Marine/Army Expeditionary/Invasion Regiment Unit
-7 NAVSPECWARCOM Orbital Insertion Groups [Apox. 73 ODSTs per Group]
Power Generation:
-1 Northstar Assembly Mark-I Powerplant Helium 3-Deuterium Pinch Fusion-Matter Antimatter Hybrid Reactor
-3 Galilean Energies Mark-IV Powerplant Deuterium-Tritium Pinch Fusion Hybrid Reactors
Engines:
-2 Boglin-Fields 'Titan' Heavy Repulsor Drives
-8 Boglin-Fields 'Starlight' Repulsor Drives
Translight Engine:
-Idris Brown Series III[C] CODEN Super Slipstream drive
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Closing file.
Chapter word count: 10,343
AN word count: 1,510
Total word count: 11,853