Doctor Halsey shifted in her seat as she sat face-to-face with the UN's representative military officer and his cadre. Beside her, the Lieutenant and Queen Tyuule saw fit to make themselves comfortable as they waited for the discussions proper to begin. General Hazama, meanwhile, was on the phone. A conversation in Japanese between him and what Halsey assumed to be government officials.
He sighed, then bid goodbye in his home language before setting the phone aside and apologizing, "Sorry. The Diet wanted to know what'd occurred. I offered them a quick rundown report that they can quickly type out and send to the UN. Following that, I'll need to write out a detailed one that they can supplement it with, but that may take some time."
"That's fine, General," Replied Halsey calmly, "We have the time to spare while our soldiers heal enough to be able to come home with us."
"My thanks for the understanding," He offered, "And greetings to you, Queen Tyuule. We didn't know the UNSC had made allies on the planet," He paused, then hummed and looked back to Halsey, "Nevermind that, we hadn't even known what the UNSC was until just recently. Your presence here was a shock to the entire International Community. The report we gave about your surveillance drones scared a whole bunch of the planet's bigshots."
"Which is also understandable," Halsey remarked, leaning herself back against her chair, "The UNSC, however, openly wishes to communicate with our... Alternate universe neighbors, so to speak," And she almost seemed disbelieving at the mention. Hazama paused for a moment to process it himself, his eyes wide. Halsey raised her hand and clarified, "Yes, our supranational government is on Earth. I thought that was clear."
"Pardon me, doctor, but I haven't really had the chance to talk to my subordinates about this, or about the encounter between your Marines and our recon teams," Hazama replied, before adding, "However it does make sense. That our people met the way they did, however, on this planet? To us, it's almost the basics of First Contact protocols at this point and... Well, command hasn't really advised me on that."
"Which is where our politicians and government representatives come in," Halsey spoke, "However, I have a few things to discuss with you from the get-go, courtesy of the Lieutenant and the forces he took to meet your men."
"Of course..." Hazama nodded.
"First of all, the matter of the refugees," Halsey began, "According to the Lieutenant's verbally-given report, our joint forces have rescued two groups of refugees, one of Elves and one of local villagers, from harms way as the Dragon came by. Admittedly, the local villagers can presumably be sent back to their homes, but the matter of fact still is that that was one Dragon. We do not know if there are more."
"So you wish to discuss, what... Common refugee work?" He inquired.
"Indeed. The UNSC stands ready to accommodate half the refugees present within your encampment at ours. Logistically, our forces are continuously receiving supplies from overhead transport vessels that have been running with our forces for the past three years of operation within the confines of this planet's gravity well. The UNSC and UEG also seek open cooperation with the UN Special Region Task Force and the wider UN, considering our very common backgrounds," Halsey explained calmly, "Where better to start than with dealing with the mounting refugee crisis we may be facing should another dangerous creature like the Dragon appear? Not to mention the war with the Empire..."
"I'd have to discuss it with the rest of the staff, but I believe we can arrange something..." Hazama thought for a moment, then hummed and said, "I do have to ask what your end-goal in these discussions would be, doctor? We've got a lot of work ahead of us to allow the cooperation between our forces and the winder UN-UEG discussions to flourish," as he took a sip from a coffee cup to his right with a heart and the label in Japanese 'best father'. Halsey hid a smile from the man at the little trinket, then hummed.
She could give light information regarding what she was here for, without exactly divulging the fact that Forerunner tech was around. Should she let slip of Forerunner, or ancient, highly-advanced tech in any shape or form, the UN May become interested itself, leading to a boost in technology that Halsey was not certain would be good for an Earth so divided. She said, "To study the Gate through which you came and its underlying principles. We've found information about it at an archaeological site and wish to... Understand it," while choosing each word very carefully. ONI Training helped in situations like this...
"I see," Hazama hummed, scratching his chin, "I think that can be arranged. How do you want to do this?"
"A team of scientists from my expeditionary force and a team of Marines are to be stationed within FOB Alnus for the duration of the studies," Halsey replied firmly, "They will cooperate with UN, US and SDF Forces present here to ensure that they don't harm the relationship between our two peoples..." and she paused, then looked to the Lieutenant and Tyuule.
"Doc?" The Lieutenant raised a brow.
"Would your force be willing to be on a rotation here? It could help ease the UN forces here," Halsey suggested, "You are a familiar face to two of their officers, after all..."
"Could do, aye," The man nodded, "Provided the SDF and SPECREG Task Force will have us, sir," and he turned to Hazama, smirking.
The General pressed his hands together and took a moment to think, before saying, "I'll discuss it with our supervisors. Let's hope they're willing to see that working with a foreign interplanetary force that's also made up of humans may be a good idea," and straightening up in his seat, "However, I assume you know politics and our shared history well enough to..."
"Indeed," Halsey nodded, "I can wait here. Lieutenant, Your Highness, if you don't mind, could you check on our people?"
"Right on it, doc," The Lieutenant stated. He and Tyuule stood up, before quickly saluting both of the officers. The man looked over to Itami and Torres and questioned them, "You fellas wanna tag along or do you feel like giving a quick debrief?" as he hefted his Assault Rifle over his shoulder. Tyuule, meanwhile, tended to her Battle Rifle, sliding it onto her back alongside her oversized Kukri.
"Guess we're hangin' out around here 'till the General tells us we're all in the clear," Torres replied calmly, with Itami nodding beside him. The two UNSC reps nodded back, before excusing themselves and stepping out, all while Halsey regarded them. Certainly, the doctor and just about everyone in the FOB saw the slowly-budding relationship of the two, although Halsey had to remind herself that the women of the tribe still raised their children together, no matter who gave birth to what child.
The UNSC needed to begin working to alleviate the genetic disparity that had a larger number of females born than males, so they could perhaps turn into a similar culture as theirs, that of parents raising their children together to be more than just breeding material in the case of the males or various workers, as was the case with the females. She looked to Itami and Torres and asked, "I don't believe I got to thank you for reinforcing the Third Platoon."
"No need to thank us, ma'am," Torres replied.
"We're just the friendly neighborhood UN Force," Itami smiled.
Halsey nodded affirmatively, before turning to the General, listening as the man spoke in Japanese to the Diet reps and, presumably, their representative within the UN. He nodded, his body language telling the good doctor that the talks were going well. With a smile, the man replied once again, then set the phone down and said to her, "We agree on aiding the refugees and welcoming a small party of scientists and their attached military and other personnel. Studying the Gate has also been allowed, but under the supervision of the UN staff that'll be present on the world within the coming days."
"A fortuitous change of events, indeed," Halsey nodded, "I will send for confirmation and ask that our ambassador corps deploy a representative here as soon as they can."
"Thank you, doctor."
"It has been a pleasure meeting you, General. Here's to a healthy relationship between our forces," The woman stated, before the both of'em shook hands. She looked to Torres and Itami and said, "I will ask you gentlemen to offer a report to the staff that will be stationed here so I may read and receive it. I may pay visits from time to time to aid in the research of the Gate myself, but for now, I should presumably be busy back at base."
"We'll be glad to answer what needs to be answered, ma'am," Torres replied, before looking to Itami. The two officers of the alt-reality Earth armies saluted the woman as she stood up and departed. She offered a quick goodbye, stepping out into the hallway and letting the General debrief his men. Outside, she was met by Fred, Kelly and Linda, all of them waiting for her, their weapons stowed.
"Ah, Fred, Kelly, Linda. Is something the matter?" She asked, noticing the slight unease in their body language.
"Just waiting here, doctor," Fred replied, "Some of the UN soldiers met us and talked to us."
"They seemed overly-excited to meet us. Several of them asked for pictures, too" Kelly remarked, crossing her arms to her chest, "We saw no reason to say no, so..." and she shrugged. Halsey stopped herself from smiling at Kelly's little comment, then looked around. Truly, a strange behavioral pattern, but not one that's uncommon. Halsey pinned it on the fact they were a humanity that was advanced, yet so closely-related to the twenty-first century in many things, including various levels of their military technology.
"Did those pictures turn out alright?" She asked in an uncharacteristically jolly tone that surprised all three Spartans. Fred nodded, before pursing his lips as he watched a squad of local troops tasked with logistics passing by them, two of them, a man and a woman, snapping crisp salutes and smiling as they saw the Spartans and the Doctor. Halsey noted, "A certain level of friendliness is expected when met with an alternate or presumably future version of oneself," and took out her glasses and tablet, "However, it does bring up a good question. Are they our past? An alternate past of ours? Does that mean they have their own variation of the Covenant now running in their world?"
"Would he weird if that was the case, doc," Kelly remarked, "Hope they won't have to deal with what we dealt..."
"Hopefully, indeed," Halsey remarked, jotting down a few notes. The group paused as they heard the thunder of footsteps. Halsey turned and saw the Chief approaching, the lightest of his movements betraying the unease with which he approached. Beside him were two female SDF soldiers, one of which was a combination of pale as bone and red as a tomato. While Halsey was unaware of just how that combination would work out, she figured it was less important than what came next...
"John," Halsey started, concerned, "What happened?"
"A hell of a lot, doc," Cortana said as she appeared from Chief's gauntlet, a combination of amused and bemused, clearly.
Something strange must've occurred for the Master Chief's AI Companion to be so befuddled...
Halsey suddenly felt concerned about what was to come...
Ratiari Village
A group of Warrior Bunnies had come with one of the UNSC Convoys to continue their trade with the town at midday, while Doctor Halsey was away. Today, they brought some trinkets from their Dragon-Born friends in exchange for various foodstuffs for their ever-growing, modernized city. Her Highness had also been away for a while, so the girls expected she'd like how much more of an update the place had gotten. It resembled a combination of human and local architecture at this point, with the added power stations and the likes to provide them electricity.
The leader of the squad, an older matron and combatant of the Warriors, regarded the youth with which she had come here. Strapped onto them was UNSC equipment, standard-issue rifles and everything. She herself carried a Designated Marksman Rifle. Her fellow girls carried MA37ks and other various last-generation UNSC weapons, as well as titanium armor plates and pouches to store ammo aside from the sheaths for their swords/knives.
One of their own was manning the fifty-cal Gatling gun on one of the escorting Warthogs, sweeping the sky and keeping his eyes open for incoming enemy units. Although one didn't expect renewed Imperial Aggression, seeing as it had been some three years since the Imperials had been soundly defeated by the UNSC and Warrior Bunnies, it still paid off to keep one's eyes open and gun at the ready just in case.
The UNSC officer present aboard the rearmost Warthog looked at the skies through binoculars ever since the warning of the Dragon came around. He knew that they'd dealt with it from the pilots, but meeting a threat before it can ravage a small town with fire. The soldiers of the rank and file watched the place, forming a perimeter around it as they gazed upon the greater fields of crops around them.
Much of this convoy was WBs that had been called up as the local auxiliary force. Other UNSC assets had deployed to various areas to set up forward operations bases near the continent's northern mountain range to scout the place out. Another beam had come from that place, so they remembered, when the Gate opened and let through the armies of the other Earth.
Part of the leading Bunny Girl considered just how weird it must've been for the UNSC to see its counterpart standing before it like that. Her Highness, queen Tyuule, had mentioned several times how strange Doctor Halsey herself had found the concept of an alternate universe existing, one that was so alike to theirs that the twenty-first century technology they saw would match up to their own history.
She took her canteen from her belt and uncapped it, before taking a swig of fresh filtered water from it and setting it back in place, cap on. She then looked over her DMR and partially thanked the Gods that she got to wield such an advanced weapon. Had they become foes with the UNSC, she dreaded to think what might have occurred. What might've happened to her and her people.
Whether total annihilation or slavery, she didn't know. It would've probably been worse than with the Empire, however. She sighed deeply, thankful that Shana had been apprehended before any more situations like that repeated, or worse, one of the Doctor's men was killed. Else they would've faced a war on two fronts unlike any a civilization in history would've had to face.
Well... And that the Empire faced now.
Part of the woman smirked at the thought, that the Empire brought down the wrath of not one, but two highly-advanced civilizations and had both of them breathing down their necks, one with a fleet of vessels high above the skies of their world, pointing their weapons down upon the Imperial Capital. The realization struck like a hammer and caused her to shudder, before she murmured to herself, "Gods..." as a shiver ran up her spine.
They had avoided cataclysm indeed, she thought as she hefted her DMR and shouldered it, before continuing her patrol as her sisters continued their trading with the villagers of Ratiari. The UNSC had openly agreed to protect both them and the girls while they provided a big foothold on the planet's surface. A whole steppe and forest kingdom and a border town.
She paused, hummed, then squinted at the fields as she saw something moving through them. She racked the bolt of her DMR, which caused several of her sisters to perk up and her comrades to grow wary, each readying their weapons. She shouldered her rifle while her sisters prepared with the rest of the guns and kit, watching as whatever it was marched forward.
The rattle of Imperial plate armor filled their ears, followed by the whispers of chants. Boulders of fire flew overhead and struck several of the houses, setting their roofs on fire and shocking the group. The woman called out to the gunner of the lead 'Hog, "MAGES! We've got enemy mages incoming!" before she ordered her girls to move forward with a single hand signal.
The UNSC had trained them to act a certain way. Warrior Bunnies were fast by nature. They could take out any foe that dared attack them via sheer speed and strength, but with the added UNSC equipment, they had the advantage of distance to strike at their foe. They were designed to be what the UNSC needed most to compliment the SPARTAN branch.
They were Shock Troopers.
With two more hand motions, the Warrior Bunny platoon surged forth under the cover of machine guns, straight through the choking black smoke of the house fires, all while Civilians fled and took cover behind the UNSC's vehicles. The girls dived into the fields of crops and burst right into the middle of an Imperial raiding party. The leader of the Warriors drew her blade immediately, decapitating the first man before they were even able to react, his blood watering the crops.
She spun about, hefting her DMR and firing it one-handed at a Mage that was just about to cast a spell her way. The bullets pierced the robed man's chest, causing him to drop onto the floor, bending some of the crops. Beside her, a second Imperial was gutted and then a third was met with a spray of assault rifle fire. Her sister withdrew the blade from the corpse, then shouldered the assault rifle, supporting it with the forearm of the blade hand and opening up.
Two more men were filled full of lead as they attempted to charge the women through the crops. The commander of the female warriors cried out their signature battle cry, "Uukhai! Uukhai!" before her sisters replied in kind and charged forward, straight into the scattered pockets of Imperial troops and mages. A fireball charred a chunk of the field ahead, offering the women visibility.
The mage that casted the spell was met with a shot to the skull from the DMR, followed by one of his comrades being vivisected by a fast-moving Bunny. Behind them, the Warthogs started rolling into the crop field, their fifty-caliber weapons lighting up the area ahead thanks to the gunners' elevated position on the backs of the 'Hogs. The gunner of one of the vehicles reported, "I'm seeing an entire fucking company of enemies! Maybe two hundred in total!"
He ducked as a blast of fire washed over his head, only for its caster to have the tip of a supersized Kukri thrust into his chest. The woman pinned the dead mage to the floor, withdrew her blade, then stood to her feet, one-handing an M7 SMG and sweeping the area ahead. The commander/leader of the squadron of Warrior Bunnies climbed onto the vehicle and scanned the area ahead.
The enemy moved in a tight formation, mages and crossbowmen at the back. Crossbowmen, she thought, because a bolt had just slammed into the slanted armor plates that protected the gunner. She whistled to her girls, each member of the platoon looking up. She made several motions of her hand and all of them nodded in agreement. Half the platoon split up and went to the right, while the commander and her group maintained their positions. She said to the 'Hogs, "Hold position and keep up suppressing fire! There's a berm over which the enemy has to pass! They will use it as cover if we can keep them pinned!"
"Then what?!" Demanded the gunner.
She grinned dangerously at the man, "We waste the motherfuckers!" before slinging her bloodied blade into its sheath and shouldering her DMR. Their job was to keep the enemy distracted, so that's what they'd do. The woman poked at the enemy from the top of the Warthog while her girls formed up around her and opened up. Several of the more elite soldiers of the Empire tried to flank from the left, but were met by hellfire and and guns.
Her girls had trained as the UNSC's Shock Troops for a reason. Everything from tactical acumen to top-of-the-line Close Quarters Combat skills had been passed down generation to generation between the Warrior Bunnies as they were raised communally. Every girl was taught how to do everything from sewing to fighting. And some got lucky enough to be taught a semblance of strategy and tactics.
She smirked as she recalled one of the UNSC's earliest courses. A supporting element that kept the enemy pointed their way assisted a maneuvering element moving in to take out the enemy's flanks. It was basic infantry tactics one-oh-one and, against an enemy that tended to turtle up behind shields and plate armor, it was quite the useful one. She knew that the Imp mages were using the bodies of their shields and knights as ablative armor while casting their spells.
A wave of flame washed over their heads, forcing them to duck, before they poked back up again and opened up on the enemy's magically-inclined troops. She picked off officers and those she saw commanding this cluster of morons. A wave of fire washed over the Titanium-protected front of the Warthog, leaving naught but a scorch mark on the paint.
She smirked, then looked to the right. Good. The enemy wasn't firing that'a'way yet...
... Meanwhile, on the right flank, a younger Sergeant Warrior Bunny led the flanking force, giving the enemy a wide berth before they'd hit them from the side. Bare feet thundering against the hardened dirt around the crops, the girls ran and kept their eyes on the prize. Several drew their blades and grabbed their pistols off their belts, ready to smash into the enemy's side.
The Sergeant gave the order. Changing course and going perpendicular into the enemy's exposed flank, the girls quickened their pace. She drew her SMG and blade, charging at the lead of the pack. The distance closed evermore, to the point that the shots from their side grew sporadic and the enemy thought to advance. Thundering Imperial feet marched against the dirt...
And their left side was met by the battle-driven Warrior Bunny maneuver element. Their blades tore through armor and rended flesh, guns thundering as the surprised mages tried to turn and counteract them. A ferocious attack that gutted the two hundred Imperial soldiers and their supporting one hundred mages washed the field around them scarlet, bullet holes and slashing wounds leaving the shocked enemy naught but corpses.
... Standing over the top of the dead as a UNSC aircraft came to assist with firefighting, the Warrior Bunnies let the blood of their Kukri swords drip onto the floor, beside the corpses they'd cut to pieces. The leader of the Warrior Bunnies hummed, then said, "These are the robes of Rondel Mages..." as she knelt beside one, "Seems as though they were pressed into service by the Emperor..."
"Bastard's getting desperate," Commented the Marine officer that was manning one of the fifties.
"Hm... I wonder..." The Warrior Bunny leader noted, then hummed. Noticing a round 'bulge' in one of the robes, the woman pushed it aside, revealing a strange sight on the man's belt. She lifted it, showing the man what looked like a metallic pineapple with a ring attached to it. That caused a series of gasps from the men and women present there. She murmured something to herself, looking over the markings, then tossed it to the man, stating, "We may have an issue..."
"You're telling me..." He muttered, "This is a UNSC M5 Frag Grenade. Predecessor to the current M9 series... We haven't used this shit for years."
"Get FOB Kingdom on the radio..." The woman ordered to one of the UNSC radiomen, somewhat concerned, "Seems like something new has come up..."