A/N: This story is being rewritten to fit my original idea. The core elements are the same and some of the character interactions will remain, but overall the story is getting a major tune up. I'll be replacing the chapters individually. Before you ask, No, the one old story is not up for adoption.

Worm Holes

Chapter: 1

Epsilon Eridani System

Doctor Dan Flyer studied the sensor readout on the screen. The readings were, how shall we say, 'magnificent'. Never in the doctor's wildest dreams did her ever think he would be fortunate enough to study one of these great wonders of space and time. If the readings were right then the worm hole was stable as well. The possibilities were endless. Dr Flyer knew that this research would put him and his tiny team on the map and reserve there places in history.

The only downside to the research was the living conditions. The science station was but a hair's breadth bigger than a longsword, and most of that was taken up by the equipment. The original station that they had was repurposed by the UNSC for extra defense of Reach in system. The advanced and highly sensitive sensor grid was needed to monitor the space around the shipyards for unauthorized slipspace signatures before they emerged. Unfortunately the Covenant were already here. Dr Flyer and is team knew that in the confusion of battle their ride off the station had either been shot down or taken for evacuation efforts. To pass the time until death or a ride, they had taken to collecting any and all information on the worm hole so that others could learn from their work. However, they knew their chances of getting a ride were slim. The wormhole they were studying was located barely one AU past the orbit of Epsilon Eridani c. For all intents and purposes they were 'shit out of luck'.

"Doctor, I'm detecting some unusual readings from the anomaly," said John Kenson. Kenson was a volunteer from M. I. T. that had joined the team for extra credits. Unfortunately he was the only volunteer.

"How unusual are we talking here Kenson?" Flyer asked as he looked over Kenson's shoulder.

"The anomaly is fluctuating like it's under stress. See here," said Kenson pointing to a spike in the numbers, "It looks as though something is coming through."

"Covenant?" said Flyer, voicing the question that popped into his mind.

"I don't think so. With the sleek curves of their ships and the shields, they wouldn't cause this much particle wake. No, whatever this is it's about the size of the frigate, and should emerge in," Kenson paused to read the data, "fifteen seconds."

Flyer and Kenson looked out the main window at the anomaly. Almost like water rippling on a still pond, the worm hole pulsed as an unknown vessel emerged from its event horizon. Once free of the worm hole the ship turned to that its side was facing the station. Eight fair sized turrets pointed right at them. The vessel in question was a little longer than a frigate with grey flat paneled sides. The eight turrets were located along the upper and lower edges of the side panels.

A warning blared over the main computer. "Sir, we just got hacked!" cried Kenson.

"What did they take?" asked Flyer.

"They went for the translator data file," said Kenson.

Flyer looked out at the ship for a moment before speaking. "I think this is a first contact situation. They might be trying to establish communication."

"I think you're right, they are trying to establish communication." The holo projector in the center of the room glowed to life. An image appeared in the center of the projector of an older man who looked to be in his late 50s. Flyer and Kenson were both shocked to see the being on the screen was human. The man was dressed in a light grey suit with strange markings and awards. The man looked around the cramped room before settling his gaze on the two researchers. "Hello."

Flyer and Kenson shared a look before Flyer spoke. "Hi," said Flyer in an uncertain tone. He was a little angry with himself, because for the life of him he couldn't think of anything better to say besides the simple greeting of 'hi.'

A blinking on the console took Kenson's attention for a moment. Before Flyer or the man could speak again Kenson spoke. "I hate to cut this meeting short, but the slipspace scanners just picked up a disturbance," all of Kenson's attention was directed at the console. Kenson's whole body went stiff, and the color drained from his face, which told Flyer everything. Seconds later a portal opened directly above the station. A SDV-class heavy corvette came through. Kenson and flyer looked at the ship on the screen. The man on the holo projector had a curious look on his face during all this.

Flyer looked directly at the man before he spoke. "Friend, while our meeting was short it is nice to know that humans exist outside our corner of the universe. For the sake of your safety I suggest you return through the worm hole before the Covenant discover, and exterminate, your people like they have nearly done to mine." Flyer was fully expecting the communication to end and the human ship to leave but what the older man said stunned him. What was more stunning was the complete confidence in the man's voice.

"No." Flyer turned to look at the man, but was drawn to the screen of the man's ship. The eight turrets that were aimed at the station moments ago had swiveled and were pointed at the Covenant ship. The eight turrets opened fire. The message was clear to Flyer. These humans weren't afraid of the Covenant, and had no intention to back down.

Flyer and Kenson watched in awe as the human ship let loose a devastating barrage of fire at the corvette. The rounds hammered home leaving the once fearsome Covenant vessel in shambles. The rounds that struck the corvette exploded and left partially melted craters in the armor. The corvette returned fire with its plasma batteries but it was not nearly as affective. The human ship had shields that shrugged off the damage with seemingly little effort. The turrets the human ship fired at a seemingly impossible rate. Halfway through the fight the guns on the human ship went silent. Seconds later it resumed fire, but this time the rounds were far more effective. The corvette rocked as high velocity rounds smashed against its armor.

Flyer and Kenson didn't have to guess how the Covenant forces on the corvette were reacting to this situation. The command crew was probably experiencing the same emotions as the UNSC crews felt in the early stages of the war. A particularly nasty explosion rocked the corvette as, what looked like the reactor blew. Less than a minute after the battle began the corvette was nothing more than a lifeless chunk of debris.

Before either Flyer or Kenson could comment about the fight the man spoke. "My kinsmen are eager for some action. After that little tussle I believe we can help you." When the man finished speaking the wormhole shuttered and ships began to flood through. To the shocked expressions of Flyer and Kenson what started as one ship quickly turned into hundreds. Some ships were truly massive while others seemed entirely too small. When the last ship passed through, the worm hole collapsed and flickered out of existence. Sitting before them were literally hundreds of ships. If Flyer and Kenson were to wager a guess, they would think that this was a migration or an invasion. They weren't that far from the truth. "Gentlemen, we have come here in search of a new home. After discussing things with the rest of the Alliance it was decided that your people would probably be very willing to share with us-" Several more slipspace portals opened up to reveal more Covenant warships. "One moment."

The fight that ensued was less of a fight and more of a massacre. As the Covenant ships lined up to unleash their might the human armada struck first. A Covenant cruiser was obliterated after a single massive missile tore its way into the heart of the ship. Another Covenant cruiser was nearly cut in half after having the blinding white beams carve their way through the shields and armor plating. The Human fleet quickly showed the Covenant battle group that the kid gloves were off and they were playing for keeps.

A Covenant assault carrier started to act funny then began to attack its neighbors. This took Flyer, Kenson, and the Covenant by complete surprise. Several other Covenant ships suffered the same fate as the large carrier. Almost before it has started the battle was over. The new human fleet dismantled the Covenant battle group before they could even power up their cannons.

0-0-0

Flyer and Kenson stood nervously by the airlock. After the chance meeting with another human faction and the terrifying and awe inspiring display of power against the Covenant, Flyer and Kenson had finally managed to catch a ride off the little research post. Both men were excited about interacting with a new race, despite the fact that the new race was actually human. The thing that made the men nervous was the size of the ship that had docked with the station. Well rather the ship that owned the hanger their station was currently sitting in.

A knocking at the air lock door told them the coast was clear. Taking a deep breath to calm his nerves Flyer opened the airlock. When the door was opened all the way Flyer and Kenson saw a small gathering of humans. There were five humans in total. Four of the humans were as big as the UNCS's fabled Spartans but wore no armor other than a helmet and breast plate. The fifth was more normal in size but still just as impressive. This particular human was dressed in a similar fashion to UNSC officers but the uniform was light silver and was adorned with numerous medals.

"Greetings gentlemen, I am Takin Oziki, first in command under our lord captain," the man spoke pride.

"Hello, my name is Doctor Dan Flyer and this is my assistant John Kenson. We appreciate the lift off the station," Flyer couldn't help but be suspicions of the man.

"The Lord Captain would like to speak with you on the bridge," said Oziki.

The trip to the bridge was relatively short compared to what Flyer and Kenson thought. They boarded a lift that brought them to the bridge in a matter of minutes. When everyone arrived at the bridge the four large guards stopped at the door as the others walked inside. The inside of the bridge was spacious and but efficient. Silver colored panels adorned the walls, floor, and ceiling. Several humans in light grey uniforms sat at stations hard at work monitoring functions of the ship. In the center of the bridge was a strange bit of technology. It looked like a cryo pod but it wasn't. They could see the outline of a person hanging suspended in the strange orange colored fluid.

A sound of liquid being drained away emanated from the pod. Flyer and Kenson looked at the person in the pod as the liquid drained away. After a second or two pause both men heard a hiss as the side of the pod facing them formed a seam down the middle. The seam grew bigger as the doors parted outward. When the doors were fully open a man exited the dark interior of the pod.

"Doctor Flyer and associate Kenson I presume?" asked the man.

"Yes, mister?" said Flyer with some uncertainty.

"Ah, yes, forgive my manners. I'm not used to having company. My name is Merlos. I am the Pod Pilot of this ship," said the man.

"Pod Pilot?" asked Flyer.

"That can wait. Merlos, we have an urgent plea for assistance from you and the rest of your fleet," said Kenson. Merlos looked at him with a 'what kind of help do you need from us' look. "The large swollen ships you have been destroying are part of an entity called the Covenant. The Covenant are trying to exterminate all human life in the galaxy, and they nearly have. Most of the outer colonies are lifeless glass worlds, and some of the inner colonies are the same."

"Wait, what do you mean, 'lifeless glass worlds'?" asked Merlos.

"I've heard it referred to as cleansing, but the outcome is the same. They glass entire worlds from orbit. Park their ships in low orbit and bathe the surface in plasma," said Flyer.

"Sir, the system scan is complete and we have found that the system has plentiful deposits of ore and ice rich asteroids," said Oziki walking up with a data pad. "The outer most planet in the system has at least 3 ice moons in orbit around it as well."

"Good. Inform the fleet that I want an outpost up by yesterday as well as towers on those moons. Ready the mining crews as well. I want the Alliance brought up to full production," Flyer and Kenson watched as Merlos barked out orders. "Gentlemen, as soon as we have a HQ set up we will make our move against the Covenant. Will that satisfy your plea?"

"Thank you," both men said in unison.

0-0-0

According to Kenson's watch it only took the Alliance four hours to assemble the outpost and get situated. Watching the flurry of movement around the now fully operational outpost was mesmerizing. The mining crews had started to work on the outer asteroid belt in system and were already pulling in their rich cargos. It wasn't long after the first haul of ore that the refinery on the outpost began to warm up. The Covenant ships that had turned on their own fleets were being dismantled and studied. Kenson and Flyer watched with rapt attention as the Alliance began to organize into battle formations for the push on Reach.

Flyer's attention was drawn from the spectacle before him to Merlos. "Gentlemen the fleet is ready to depart," said Merlos. "Consider your Covenant problem taken care of," the Alliance fleet aligned towards Reach and raced off towards the battle.

0-0-0

Space around Reach was in chaos. The UNSC was starting to pull back. The orbital defense grid was down, and more covenant ships were arriving by the minute. Captain Jacob Keyes was utilizing the Pillar of Autumn's new MAC gun to rattle Covenant ships. Captain Keyes and his crew had at least two conformed kills to the name of their ship and were about to fall back and rejoin the fleet when the radar lit up like the Fourth of July. Close to one thousand blips just appeared on the battlefield. Thinking it was another Covenant fleet, Keyes was about to call out a warning when 36 corvettes, 19 cruisers, 13 carriers, 8 assault carriers and countless other small ships exploded across the void. Captain Keyes was stunned by this sudden counter attack and it seemed so were the Covenant. The Covenant forces were thrown into total disarray by this new force.

"Cortana, what's the status of the Covenant fleet?" said Keyes.

"Covenant forces are confused and so is the rest of the defense fleet. I detect close to 1000 contacts that are neither Covenant nor ours," said Cortana.

"Rebels?" said Keyes, pondering the origin of the new fleet.

"I don't think so," Cortana brought up images of several of the new ships. "Starship configurations are not listed and neither are those weapons." Cortana highlighted one of the new ships. "This golden one here is a little over 1.5 km long and is using directed energy weapons. The output readings are very similar, though scaled up, to the Spartan laser." Keyes was now very interested in this new fleet. The ship's lasers were boiling their way through Covenant armor, completely bypassing the shields. Cortana continued, "This one here," she showed a flat silver ship with several missile racks protruding from its upper plating, "fires some kind of missile system. From what I've been able to see, different ships of this hull class fire different types of missiles." The silver ship was pummeling a corvette with a never ending barrage of missiles.

"Cortana, what about those there," Keyes pointed to a cluster of five rust colored ships with long wings that were swept down below their hulls. The ships in question were putting up a continuous stream of fire. The sides of their hulls were ablaze with the muzzle flashes from their cannons.

"I detect no energy output at all from those weapon systems but the damage on the Covenant is clear." The Covenant assault carrier the rust colored ships were firing on was wilting under the sustained fire. "I'd wager they're using large caliber artillery." Cortana paused for a moment before her eyes widened in surprise. "Captain, the rounds those ships are firing are detonating in small electromagnetic pulses that are shorting out the Covenant's shields!" As they watched, the assault carrier's shields flickered and died. For a moment the rust ships stopped firing. A few seconds later they immediately started up again, but this time the rounds they were firing didn't explode against the outer plating of the assault carrier but instead punched through into the bowels of the ship.

"Cortana, arm the MAC. I want a firing solution on that assault carrier," barked Captain Keyes after getting a sudden burst of inspiration.

"MAC is armed and locked," said Cortana.

"Fire!" The specially designed round burst from the muzzle of the MAC and after a short flight tore through the severely wounded assault carrier. A moment later the once fearsome Covenant warship was turned into slag as the reactor detonated in a brilliant flash of light.

"Captain, the AI's on the rust ships are asking if they can form up around us to give both us and them greater firepower," said Cortana.

"Meaning?" asked Captain Keyes with a raised eyebrow.

"They break the shields, we break the armor," said Cortana.

"Ah, tell them they are welcome to join us."

After witnessing several kills from the combination of the Pillar of Autumn and the five rust colored ships, surviving UNSC warships and ships of the new fleet began to form up. The combination of fleets took full advantage of the massive amounts of damage they could unleash on the Covenant fleet. Several of the ships in the new fleet were launching large missiles that would impact the Covenant shields and detonate in a ring of energy that would expand out to 50km before dissipating. Often times UNSC MAC rounds would follow these large missiles and take advantage of the way the Covenant shields would ripple away from the impact sight of the large warheads.

Many of the UNSC ships were stunned at how the golden warships would carve their way through the Covenant with lasers in a wide variety of colors. These golden ships needed no assistance from the UNSC to boil the Covenant alive, though several UNSC vessels would form up around the golden ships to keep the fighters away.

The Covenant was stunned by the way this new fleet coordinated their attacks and maximized their power. A plasma torpedo splashed harmlessly against the shields of one of the gray ships. The offending ship was decimated by a single missile from a large ship that was sitting in a fair sized cluster of other large ships. This, until now, unknown battle group consisted of more than 50 ships but all of them were huge. Nothing like the Covenant supercarrier that had been taken down with a slipspace bomb, but these ships were still larger than anything in the UNSC Fleet. One of these massive ships hit a Covenant corvette with enough force to shatter it like a ceramic pot.

As Captain Keyes and Cortana watched the battle on the monitor several other small groups of unknown warships entered the fray and immediately began to lay into the Covenant fleet. By now the Covenant had retreated back to an area of space that was directly over New Alexandria. Several more slipspace portals opened and a second CSO supercarrier as well as several battleships appeared. The energy projector lanced out and tore a lone warship of the unknown faction in half. Keyes and Cortana wondered how the unknown fleet would react to this monster. They didn't have to wait for long as a large white flash filled the screen. When the light cleared two enormous warships ships sat side by side facing the Covenant supercarrier. One looked like a golden mushroom while the other one looked like a blackish green tear drop. This move shocked most of the UNSC crews. This had easily turned into a standoff.

"Well Captain, those ships may not be as big as that supercarrier but our friends brought two along so this could still be to our favor," said Cortana.

"I wonder how the Covenant will respond to this," said Captain Keyes out loud.

The Covenant supercarrier fired off its energy projector at the golden warship. The armor of the golden warship stood firm against the onslaught of the Covenant weapon. After the attack things went back to a standstill.

"Wow, I was expecting that big ship to snuff it with that last attack," said Cortana. Keyes mutely nodded his head in agreement. "Looks like the Covenant are not sure how to proceed."

Green energy raced across the bow of the blackish green ship as a black hole was brought to life. Both Cortana's and Captain Keyes's eyes nearly bugged out of their heads at the sight of thecreation of a black hole. The power of this faction was truly staggering. The black hole pulsed then launched out a gravitational beam that collapsed the bow of the supercarrier as if it were an empty beer can. This display of power was not to be outdone. The golden ship charged up its main cannon and fired out a golden beam that plowed its way through the rest of the supercarrier.

"Cortana, what did we just witness," asked a dumbfounded Captain Keyes. Cortana didn't answer.

The 27 battleships that arrived with the supercarrier began to attack the Covenant fleet around them. This stunned the UNSC crews so much that they didn't bother to fire at the Covenant fleet. The Covenant were thrown into complete chaos as their own ships turned against them.

Hundreds of massive pulsating opaque bubbles popped into existence around the remnants of the Covenant fleet. One corvette broke rank and attempted to flee through slipspace. To the shock of the UNSC and Covenant the ship reemerged almost instantly in the same spot it just disappeared from. The bubbles were messing with the slipspace portals.

There was nothing to do but sit and watch the Covenant get slaughtered. By now the group of about 50 massive ships had moved closer to the Covenant fleet. Many crews and UNSC personnel moved to or looked out windows to see these monsters in action. All at once the turret ports on the ships began to extend out from their hulls. A massive rust colored tower of a ship fired a volley at one of the trapped Covenant assault carriers.

0-0-0

Never before had the Covenant faced a foe whose prowess in space combat would equal or even over shadow their own. There was nothing that could stop these new ships. They were faster, better armed, and better armored. The silver ones had nearly impenetrable shields; while the golden ships had armor plating so thick nothing seemed to be able to dent it. Supreme Commander Thel 'Vadamee felt a small chill run down his spine as his assault carrier, Seeker of Truth, shook violently from a shot from one of those massive tower ships. Even though his shields were holding the armor was severely dented and torn up in several places.

Thel was both vexed and surprised by the appearance of these bubbles. This was something he had never encountered before. They scrambled the slipspace drive so much that the ship would either be ejected from the portal in the same place it entered or couldn't activate the drive at all.

Something Thel noticed was that the rounds fired by the new ships were slower than that of the filthy humans, but some of them had enough mass to push through the shields and dent the armor. The most terrifying factor of this new fleet was the number of ships they had brought to bear. Second had to be the power of those massive ships which struck down the most powerful warship in the Covenant arsenal. Third was the speed some of the weapons could unload their damage onto the fleet. The faster firing guns on many of the smaller ships were too weak to do much to their shields but the sheer volume of rounds fired was over powering the emitters of many ships causing them to fail. Once the shields went down all hope was lost.

The Heavy plating on most of the larger Covenant ships could hold off a shot or two from the UNSC weapons but these new weapons brought by the unknown fleet were a whole other matter entirely. The small rust ships would hose the plating with their auto cannons leaving behind dents and scrapes along the hull. The small green ships would tail the fighters and deliver devastating barrages from their strange kinetic and energy weapons. The small silver ships would lock up the targeting systems on the Covenant warships making them defenseless. The small golden ships would buzz around the plasma emitters and burn holes through the plating with their lasers.

The medium size ships would do everything the small ships would do but on a much bigger scale. Thel 'Vadamee was truly scared of the lumbering behemoths that had where currently beating the tar out of his fleet with their over sized weapons. A blinding flash of light brought Thel's attention to the space behind the group of large ships that were currently hammering his fleet. More monster ships had been brought in by whatever means these newcomers used. These new ships were not nearly as large as the ones that were smashing his fleet but were still bigger than the human ships.

Thel felt a chill run down his spine again as this new group of ships unleashed hundreds, no, make that thousands, of fighters. These ultra fast ships were out maneuvering and out gunning all the fighters in his fleet. Before the fighter could reach the main fleet, a shuddering explosion rocked the ship so hard that Thel and most of his command crew were violently smashed against the deck. Looking at the data feed Thel saw that a third of his remaining forces were gone. Whatever that blast was had vaporized a full third of his surviving fleet.

Lying there, on the deck, Thel wondered if this was the end for him. His ship shook again and the innards of the bridge exploded around him before darkness took him.

0-0-0

The UNSC as a whole was shocked at the destruction this new fleet unleashed against the Covenant. Somehow the newcomers had hijacked some the Covenant ships and here using them to shell the surrounding ships. The hijacked ships were firing plasma in all directions. Some of the hijacked ships had been allowed to leave the bubble cluster and here dumping plasma on the trapped Covenant ships. The battle had digressed into the proverbial fish in a barrel joke. The Covenant were trapped inside the cluster of bubbles with the UNSC and the unknown fleet hammering away at them.

With only 13 surviving ships in total a surrender plea was issued by the Covenant. All at once, the unknown fleet stopped firing. The UNSC, however, kept shooting. The ships of the UNSC soon found the powerful weapons of the once friendly unknown fleet pointed at them. All firing stopped after that.