21st in the 26th

FOB Shangri La

Date: 6 September 2562/ 6 September 1097

Klara Bennet

I watch as the casket slowly lowers into the grave. The UNSC flag covering it shows to who his loyalty lies. Clumps of dirt start falling onto the flag, covering it entirely in a minute's notice. The entire grave is filled with dirt. The speech from the Fleet Admiral is over and everyone dispersed to resume their daily activities and jobs around the base.

Yet I am still standing here, staring at the oval headstone. On it says Alex Gray—the first casualty of Mankind on my home planet. A UNSC Marine. A young person who had a future…but not anymore.

Alex will never breathe again. He will never smile again. He will never laugh again. He will never cry again. He will never dream again…he will never enjoy life again.

The reason… an armor-piercing crossbow bolt went straight through his combat goggles and skull. Death…instant.

All the training and war these marines went through. The hell they went through, just to be taken out by a bolt. A Weapon they all underestimate and consider inferior.

His grave is so far the only one in the newly built 'Alex Grayson Cemetery'. But how long will it last before more victims of war fill the Cemetery up? Will they also die an unpredictable death like Alex? I can already imagine the rows upon rows of headstones that are going to fill the Cemetery in the coming years.

I barely knew Alex for 2 hours, yet I bonded with him almost instantly. I just felt this connection between me and him…like everything just clicked being with him. That's why I asked him on a date…one that will never happen now.

Is that why he is dead? Because I was happy for the first time in years with someone else? And the universe said that I didn't deserve happiness and saw it fit to take the life of someone else who still had a future…is this all my fault?

I bend down and place an energy bar on the grave. Normally flowers would be placed on graves, but there aren't any fitting flowers in a desert. I feel an energy bar is fitting to be placed on his grave. After all, you marines…no us marines love energy bars more than anything. I am a marine now…a UNSC marine.

Next to the newly placed energy bars are a couple of small boxes of crayons. Crayons with the UNSC logo on them… military-issued crayons. Of course…the century-spanning tradition and joke that marines love eating crayons. I might need to study the origins of it…hell, I need to study more human history.

My feet carry me out of the Cemetery, I take one look back at the lone gravestone. "Maybe you can take me on that date in the next lifetime Alex."

"Ugh, now I need to go and see a therapist..." With that, my feet carry me toward the military building that houses the therapist's office. Time to get this over with.

Fleet Admiral Becket

UNSC Sol Bridge

Entering the bridge, I was greeted by a calm scene of the bridge doing their jobs. No alerts. No new problems to make me and many others question our sanity.

Moving to the giant protective glass, I glance out of it observing the planet the inhabitants call Terra. Terra…an ancient Greek name for Earth. There was some debate in the 22nd Century to rename Earth to Terra. Thankfully that change didn't happen.

It is tempting to use the NOVA bomb on this planet. Just problem after problem keeps on arriving. And integrating the people and nations of Terra seems impossible so far. Their Cultures, governments, and beliefs are about everything the UNSC and UEG stand against.

Integration and Cooperation with 90% of the planet is impossible. They will most likely unite against us, try to defeat us, fail, and try again in a couple of decades. What should we do?

Is it best to try and slowly integrate them, or should we wipe out those who refuse to join us? No, it wouldn't be a viable long-term strategy. I don't even have to think about the consequences if we go the genocide route.

So integration it is. We already have integrated five native inhabitants of this planet. The five Sarkaz girls are already loyal to the UNSC, but is it just the Sarkaz that will be easy to integrate? What about the other species?

So far, we can conclude that the Sankta is going to be a problem with integration and a problem overall. Their obsession with guns is even greater than 21st-century Americans. They have an entire fucking religion based on tools whose sole purpose is to kill and destroy.

They are raised around guns. Their religion is about guns. Their entire education is about guns. Their moral beliefs are about fucking guns! That just screams a red flag.

I am going to have to form new orders when it comes to interacting with the Sankta. First, I need to think about the basics…

The Sankta are raised around guns, which means almost all of them have firearms and have firearm training. Granted their firearms are not that powerful compared to ours, but still… So any Sankta in opposing forces are to be prioritized and taken out first.

They are also obsessed with guns, addicted to them. In the best-case scenario any Sankta we come across, they will ask questions about our firearms and be intrigued by them and hopefully move on with their day.

In the worst-case scenario and most likely outcome, they will want our guns. And they will not be afraid to get our guns. We can not allow that. If they learn how to produce our guns and ammunition it will only be a matter of time before the rest of the planet also learns how. Then we will lose the only true advantage we have

I hate to do this, but we are to racially profile any and all Sankta. Even if they are a man, woman, or child it is best to cautious around them and watch their every move.

There also appears to be a race war between the Sankta and the Sarkaz that has been going on for thousands of years. The Sarkaz are one of the physically strongest species on this planet yet they are being driven into the ground.

The Sarkaz are also being heavily discriminated against just because of the way they look. Do the species of Terra hate them because they look like demons? Hell, most of us here don't care how they look, we like it. Some of the marines even say that the Sarkaz look hotter than human females. But the harassment reports of marines touching their horns and tails without permission are starting to stack up…might need to do something about that.

How did the slavers even manage to enslave twelve Sarkaz? The medical personnel who ran tests on the newly acquired slaves believed submission drugs were used on them. It would make sense, they were extremely calm and submissive when we freed them.

We'll figure that one out when we get to it.

The rest of the slaves that we rescued are starting to become a bit problematic. More than half of them aren't fit for combat. It seems that being a slave for most of your life would mentally break you. They first thought we were their new masters…

Overall twenty of the slaves we rescued can become soldiers, boosting our manpower a tiny bit. The rest of them are going to become civilians under the UNSC.

Construction has already begun on a small town just outside the base for the slaves who aren't fit for combat. Hopefully, they will form new businesses and expand the town. Maybe when we free more slaves or take in more people the town will grow into a city from which we will be able to establish diplomatic relations with the barbaric nations on this planet.

For now, we will just have to see where this goes. The new recruits will start training in 3 days, hopefully they will not disappoint. They better not disappoint, we lost one human trying to save them.

"Admiral, we have a concerning situation developing." Equalizer calls out across the bridge from his pedestal.

Can a situation not develop for one fucking minute?

I move towards his pedestal with haste. "What is it now Equalizer? This better not be another shit show situation."

Equalizer in response looks at me with the blank stare that is always on his face. "No sir. The situation is both good and confusing new." He smirks at the end of his sentence.

God, I hate it when he does that. "Good and confusing news? That's a new one even for you Equalizer."

"If you say so Admiral. Which would you like to hear first? The good news or the confusing news?" Equalizer responds with an amused tone.

Since when did this fucking AI become a smartass. "Equalizer just tell me what is the situation so that we can figure out how severe it is and what is the best way to respond." I rub my temple with my thumbs…this is going to be another long day.

"Well Admiral, the good news is that I picked other human radio broadcasts in the area indicating there are other humans here on Terra."

That…That is actually really good and massive news. That means we have other UNSC or UEG members here. We can regroup with them and figure out what to do next and maybe return to UNSC space…that is if they aren't stranded in this solar system like us.

But how can there also be confusing news related to this?

"Okay and what is the so-called confusing news Equalizer?" I ask hoping it wouldn't be something that screws us over later on.

"Well you see Admiral…the broadcasts and frequencies are that of 21st Century Earth." The AI says with his expression now bored.

What?

"Excuse me? Please explain that to me again Equalizer. Do not leave out any details." I ask calmly while trying to not lose my composure at what I just heard.

"Like I said Admiral. The frequencies are exactly the same as the ones used by 21st Century Earth Nations. One broadcast is in the format of the Russian Federation, one in Canadian, one in German, and one in American. The broadcasts are all saying the same thing, only in their respective languages."

"Are you telling me there are humans from the 21st Century on Terra?" I ask Equalizer dumbfounded. After all…this should be impossible. What are ancient humans doing in the 26th Century!?

"Yes, that would appear so, and these broadcasts are military in origin, so the ones sending them are 21st-century humans." Says Equalizer.

Oh great, we have 21st-century humans on this planet, the same century where humanity was still divided, still had primitive ideologies and fought wars over the smallest bloody reason. Not to mention there are Russian and American military broadcasts…two of the most aggressive nations on Earth.

"When did you start receiving these broadcasts and what are the contents of said broadcasts equalizer?" I raise my tone slightly at the AI.

"I started receiving them 7 minutes ago. About the time I called you over here Admiral. And they are emergency broadcasts requesting support and reinforcements. They sounded quite desperate."

That doesn't sound like promising news at all.

"Equalizer play the broadcast right now. Let's see if this is worth it to intervene or not." I tell Equalizer while leaning over the table with my head resting on my hands.

Instantly a recording starts playing throughout the bridge with everyone inside paying close attention to it. "This is agent 'Ash' of team Rainbow, we need immediate support at my current location. Hostile forces are currently assaulting our location as well as hunting down any infected and slaves. We are running out of ammunition. Anyone, please respond!"

She sounds desperate…And team Rainbow, wonder what that is. Okay, so they are most likely in a town…possibly on a landship. By the sound of it, the infected and the slaves are suddenly being massacred. Most likely the non-infected are targeting the infected. Team Rainbow got caught up in the middle of trying to save them and now they are in deep shit.

Should we help them?

What treasonous thoughts am I thinking? They are human! Of course, we should go and help them. I made a promise to protect Earth, the UNSC, and most importantly humanity. Even though this Team Rainbow is from the past and not affiliated with the UNSC…they are still human.

Thus, they fall under our protection. So of course, we are gonna go in and save their asses.

I turn my head to Equalizer after thinking this through. "Equalizer, we are at DEFCON 1. Tell Alpha Company at Shangri La that they have 10 minutes to prepare for a rapid sortie. Tell Bravo Company to be prepared, they are Alpha's QRF. And tell Charlie Company to man the defenses at Shangri La."

Equalizer nods his holographic head and starts issuing orders to the base planet side. Hmmm, I can already imagine the chaos that is about to unfold as the sirens are going to start singing with hundreds of marines rushing to the armory to get combat-ready and then rushing to the Pelicans. Oh, how I miss being a marine…

I turn my attention to the Captain of Sol. "Captain I want fighter, bomber, and close air support squadrons out of my ship in 10 minutes. I want the sun to be blurred out by our aircraft. Establish total air supremacy. Oh and one last thing Captain, deploy the frigate UNSC Gomorrah and have her move into the atmosphere to support the Marines."

The captain salutes before rushing to give my orders. "Right away Admiral!"

With that, my attention is back on Equalizer. "You finished giving the orders?"

"Yes Admiral. Colonel Eckart received the orders and soldiers are rushing to the armories to get combat-ready. They will be in the Pelicans eta 18 minutes."

Only 18 minutes? Too slow…to be fair these orders did come out of nowhere for them.

"Equalizer show me the satellite view of the town the radio broadcasts are coming from." Instantly Equalizer disappears from the holographic table and in its place is a holographic map of a small town with a couple of hundred buildings and a medium-sized oasis near it. And there are fires all over the town with smoke rising into the air. Yeah…this is the place.

"Forward the coordinates to the frigate, our aircraft, and the marines. I am certain that Eckart will locate preferable insertion points for the Marines. Oh and Equalizer…please patch me into Agent 'Ash', I want to inform her personally that help is on the way.

"Affirmative Admiral, patching you through right now." Equalizer responds.

Okay, I don't need to tell them anything about us or our intentions. They will most likely experience culture shock when they find out there is an advanced version of humanity here on the planet with them.

With a small beep of confirmation on my earpiece indicating I am patched into their network, I begin talking. "Agent Ash, this is Overlord, do you read me over?"

"What? Who is thi-never mind. I hear you Overlord. Did you pick up our emergency broadcasts Overlord?" She exclaims through her side of the radio, while gunfire and screams echoes in the background.

Okay so judging by the gunfire, they are most definitely military and the way she quickly recovered from the shock and adapted to me indicates they are most likely combat veterans and know what they are doing.

"Affirmative. It seems like we are your reinforcements. What is your and the other's status Ash?" I ask her

"We are fine at the moment here Overlord. But we are running out of ammunition fast and hostile forces and creatures are pouring into our location at a rapid pace. I estimate that we have 20 minutes before we are overrun." She responds while firing her gun.

"Affirmative. We have aerial view of the combat zone. I will take command of your forces to strengthen your defenses and give you orders. Is that all right with you?"

"Yeah! That is all right. We are here with a couple of other operators and grunts from Rhodes Island. They agreed to also follow your orders for the moment. How long do we have to hold out until reinforcements arrive Overlord!?"

Rhodes Island soldiers are also there…hehe. It must be fucking Christmas. Now we don't have to search the entire planet to get in contact with them. Ahh this day is perfect.

"Reinforcements will arrive in 25 minutes. Watch your fire when engaging. Okay, the first order of business…take in any infected and slaves you see and eliminate the rest."

"Copy that Overlord, what other orders do you have for us?"

"Form a perimeter around the houses you are currently in, form up chokepoints in the streets, and hold out until my troops arrive. I will give you other orders until the situation demands so."

"Copy that Overlord, Ash out."

Hmmm, wait aren't we invading another nation right now?

FOB Shangri La / Therapist Office

Private Klara Bennet.

"-Uhhh so yeah doctor, I don't know how to feel about Alex's death. Sure, I am sad and disappointed about it, but at the same time, I already moved on. Even though it has been two days. Plus, I knew the guy for like 2 hours. So, I haven't grown attached to him." I explain to the therapist.

For the last 20 minutes, I answered the therapist's questions. And he had a hell of a lot of questions, ranging from my childhood, my time as a slave, my time as a soldier now. He even asked questions about what I wanted to become since I was a little girl.

There are also the questions about what I think about certain things, and my view on life. How I feel when I am angry. I was shown some weird pictures or was it paintings? Then I had to say what first popped up in my mind when I saw the pictures then I had to explain said pictures…

I now understand why the other marines gave me their sympathies when I told them I had to go to see a therapist. This is so fucking boring…these 20 minutes feel like two hours and that annoying ticking clock.

"I see, it appears that you are desensitized private. You have spent most of your life as a slave, meaning you have seen some awful stuff. So yes it would make sense for you to not be affected by the death of a fellow marine." The therapist explains.

He continues. "Most of the soldiers here are desensitized. Hell, the Great War was….it was hell on all of humanity. You should be thankful that you weren't part of that war."

He slides over a file with my name on it. "This is for you private. Just follow these instructions in the folder when it feels like you are going to lose your shit or read them to calm down."

I take the folder and place it on my lap. "Thank you Doctor, is that all? Or are we done here and I can go back to my platoon?"

He merely smiles in response. "We are done here Miss Bennet. I will see you again same time next week. And please do not skip out like the other marines do."

Exiting the building I begin to make my way towards the barracks with the intent of getting some sleep. "Who knew that therapists would drain so much energy…I swear they are vampires in disguise." I mumble to myself.

While walking I hear a small humming noise, the noise quickly builds up. Becoming louder and louder. Echoing off the buildings of the base and moving throughout the entire base.

Every soldier around me is frozen and staring into the sky as if trying to figure out if their ears are not deceiving them. The sound which I now identified as a siren slowed down before picking up pace again.

The siren yelling can only mean one thing…prepare for combat.

In the next instant, every single soldier in the base went into full overdrive mode, myself included. Our feet started kicking up dust on the ground where concrete hadn't been laid yet as we rushed toward the armory to get geared up and ready for combat.

Looking around I can see hundreds of soldiers rushing to the three armories that are scattered around the base. Medics are running, and so are pilots, mechanics, and everyone else. What the hell caused this to happen?

My answer came next as the speakers scattered around the base spoke. "Attention all personnel, we are now at DEFCON 1. Alpha and Bravo Company are to prepare for rapid deployment and are to form up at the airstrip in 10 minutes. Charlie Company is to man the defenses. This is not a drill. Message will repeat in 1 minute."

Rapid Deployment! What the fuck happened to make us have a rapid deployment. This better be worth it.

Entering the armory, I am immediately greeted by chaos. Dozens of soldiers getting dressed in their armor. The siren still blaring with the emergency broadcast repeating every minute. Everyone is in an organized panic. Soldiers rush into the armory while wearing combat overalls while others rush out fully kitted out.

Come on Klara, ignore the chaos. Just get dressed, armed, and form up at the airfield with the rest of Alpha Company. And find the rest of first platoon.

It was easier said than done because when I reached my locker Jessica and Violet were already there getting dressed. I don't greet them and immediately start getting dressed. Thankfully the two of them waited for me to finish before moving to the quartermasters who were working like speed demons to get weapons and ammo ready for a couple of hundred marines.

We exit the building and start jogging to the airfield. "This feels like Deja Vu" I mutter. Both Jessica and Violet agree.

While jogging I can't help but how beautiful this looks…hundreds of soldiers jogging in tandem towards the airfield. My vision is filled with green forms moving up and down as they run. The boots echoing off the concrete and ground…there is just something so enchanting about this. Feels like we are an overpowering force and nothing can stop us.

The ground starts lightly shaking and the building starts rattling. "An Earthquake now of all times!" Violet shouts in frustration. I can relate…an earthquake before an operation feels like an ill omen.

Jessica on the other hand has this look on her face…this sick sadistic look. She turns to look at me and Violet with that smile. And in that moment I felt like…

Prey. All alone surrounded by killers. Surrounded by predators…no apex predators.

"Look up there!" Jessica shakes me out of my fear while pointing to the sky. What was that? Why did I just become scared of this human…I am physically stronger and faster than them…yet I never felt so alone and small in my life…

Note to self…something isn't right about these humans. I must research more on it later. Why do I feel like prey just by looking at her smile like that?

But my gaze follows her finger into the sky and all that I see are some clouds…no something is pushing the clouds away. What is it?

My eyes widen and my pulse quickens as I see a massive landship…no spaceship emerge from the clouds. The ship descends slowly as if to show everyone that it is the real threat and that we should be afraid of it. On the side of the ship in massive white letters and in Victorian it spells 'UNSC Gomorrah'.

Now I really feel small in the face of this floating behemoth. Violet and I stare at the ship in awe and fear…everyone else around us celebrates. Shouting in joy, jumping into the air, and hugging the person next to them. While I can only stare in awe at the behemoth.

"Damn, this must be one serious deployment if we got a frigate as support." Jessica says with a triumphant smile on her face. Frigate…that is a frigate. Compared to the Landship version of frigates…Gomorrah is a fucking Battleship!

But the appearance of the ship certainly boosted morale by 500%.

After a couple of minutes of running, we finally arrive at the runway where dozens of Pelicans are waiting for us. The three of us and a couple of other marines regrouped with 1st platoon where we got into the back of a Pelican.

The inside of the Pelican is so much different compared to the Falcon. It can fit half a platoon inside and still have room for other stuff on the floor.

Lieutenant Blackburn steps into the Pelican and takes a seat near the ramp. Seems like he is riding with the latter half of 1st platoon today.

The Pelican's ramp closes and I can feel my stomach sinking again as we take off and Blackburn decides that now is the perfect moment for a smoke. The first time I see him smoke…

Blowing the smoke through his nose he speaks up. "Marines the objective is simple…we are invading Sargon."

"There are perhaps many causes worth dying for, but to me, certainly, there are none worth killing for." ― Albert Dietrich

Author notes.

Yah another chapter done. Took a while sorry, had to do research on R6S characters and lore as well as Originium Dust.

Yeah I am making Originium Dust happen earlier in canon…because I can.

Thanks for the support and advice from everyone so far. I appreciate it. Until next time.