December 16th

2583

Onboard the bridge of UNSC frigate Veni, Reach Station Epsilon Docking Bay 16

Orbiting Reach

19:25 UNSC time

3rd Person POV:

"Madam President!"

The leader of the UEG turns around on her spot at the docking bay, tearing her solemn expression from watching the UNSC fleet is starting to crack under the combined pressure of having to fight three separate armies. Even with the Arbiter's help, they are beginning to lose ground quickly.

"What is it, Lieutenant?" Peterson asks the communications officer, her tone reflecting the look on her face.

"We have just intercepted a transmission that was being sent to members of the Galactic Senate. Chancellor Palpatine is calling for a special session of Congress to make some big announcement."

The President looks up at the communications officer, unbelieving what she just heard. In response, she lets out a sigh. "Okay. But that has no impact on what we need to do. Are the last transports on-board the station?"

"Yes, Madam. The surviving transports are all aboard and the station is locked down. Anyone who enters now is a confirmed enemy."

The President doesn't respond to the crewman's arrogant tone and turns around to look out at space. Somehow, there are still dozens of Super MAC cannons firing upon the Separatist fleet which is all but annihilated. Quite frankly, those cannons are the only thing standing between the UNSC and Sangheili, and utter defeat. She then directs her attention to space, where a UNSC frigate is pulling out of the station. The true beauty of this station is that not only is it protected by two Super MAC cannons but it is cloaked by an experimental cloaking device that prevents detection by thermal scanning, which was activated to prevent any more boarders from breaching the ship than those that already have.

As the UNSC personnel cheer in triumph when they see the frigate flying away from them, until a bright flash of white light collides with the ship. When the people are able to look again, they see the ship breaking apart and debris scattering across the open space. "Madam, we are picking up numerous small craft coming at us, 50 klicks from our location."

"We've been tracked." The communications officer mutters, his brown eyes wide and he starts hyperventilating. "There's no way we can fend off all these enemy ships now. What are we going to do?" He then shouts at a fellow officer, the panic steadily rising in his voice which rises an octave as well.

The other personnel start looking at each other and start asking panicked questions before a loud punching sound goes off. They stop talking and turn to the direction of the sharp noise and see the Master Chief standing at the hull of the ship, wearing his usual green MJOLNIR armor. Spartan-II Kelly-087 and Fireteam Osiris are also standing at his side, and they look ready for battle; even after Chief managed to hold off against the first wave of enemies. "You call yourselves warriors?" Spartan Jameson Locke asks, walking forward and looking at each member. "You think you deserve the honor of being members of the UNSC when all you do is stand around and hide like cowards? I say we bring the fight to those who stand against us. We need to show them that even when they have us beaten down, we will not give in. We must stand taller and fight until we have nothing left to lose. I don't know about you all, but I have been waiting years to beating that fucking smirk off of Commander Clayton's face. I don't feel like waiting any longer."

Silence reigns at the short speech. "Well, shit." A random officer in the back of the room says. "I'll fight for that." The rest of the crowd starts murmuring their ascent and looking to President Peterson for guidance.

"Thank you, Spartan Locke. Now, here's what we're going to do. We will prime all automated turrets lining the station and have them be sent to maximum burn. Chief, the station's experimental flare systems are inactive. If this station is to survive a direct assault from MAC rounds, we'll need them active. Take Spartan 087 with you."

"Consider it done." Chief replies, saluting crisply along with Kelly before dropping their hands to their sides.

"Fireteam Osiris, once the automated defenses come on-line, it will force the enemy fighters to dock in a certain space. It will be up to you to take charge of our remaining soldiers and keep them occupied."

"Consider it done, Madam." Locke replies, simply nodding.

"We need to hold their assault off on the port side. While our forces will keep the enemy busy, launch all frigates and destroyers on the starboard side and have them board the Pillar of Winter, which will take us to the rendezvous point where Fleet Admiral Hood and the rest of the UNSC are waiting for us. Everyone understand?" The entire bridge is silent. "Good. Now get to it."

The bridge immediately explodes with action and the deck officers all gather at their respective stations and begin priming the ship for take-off. The Spartans and marines all leave the bridge, ready to carry out their duties.

The battle has begun once again.

Docking Bay 4

Reach Station Epsilon

Orbiting Reach

19:40 UNSC time

'Not even one second after stepping off the ship, and already someone is trying to kill me. I have to have the shittiest luck ever. Of all times.' Agent Washington deadpans mentally as he lifts up a battle rifle and fires it at a white-armored clone soldier.

Somehow, the Insurrection managed to slip a tracking device inside the Pelican that the passengers only found out about after Caboose found and accidentally dropped the make-shift device, causing it to smash into pieces. What made the device truly odd was that it was made from a tall Minions doll in blue overalls that one would find at a McDonald's Happy Meal.

Once that was discovered and the docking bay doors shut behind them, Wash's anxiety had only steadily increased, and judging by Carolina's posture and the way her hands twitch, she feels the same way. This tension was raised to new heights when he heard a massive drill come smashing through the docking bay walls and splits open in four separate directions, allowing dozens of Insurrectionists and rogue Galactic Republic clones to charge out and start blasting everything.

At first, the shock of being attacked by the Republic once again came as a surprise, but he squared away his shock and focused on keeping his friends safe. Once the Pelican had safely docked and its hatch opened, allowing the passengers off. "Running time." Caboose says as he follows the group, firing upon the possessed clones and Insurrection soldiers.

"Hey Caboose." Wash shouts over the sounds of guns blazing.

"Yes, he is talking to me right now." Caboose states flatly.

"Those clones want to help us. Help them."

"Okay, Washingtub." Caboose says, then lifts up Freckles and with help from the targeting systems, begins firing upon the clones. They start screaming in pain as they fall to the ground, dying almost as soon as they hit the ground.

"They got in the way of me helping them." Caboose states once everyone who rode on the Pelican manage to take cover behind some crates and begin firing back.

"I don't know what going on, but I sure don't like it." Captain Rex says as he blasts an Insurrection soldier in the chest with his twin blasters. While he is still hesitant to kill any clones, traitors or not, they are still brothers that he had fought along-side pretty much his whole life. Fortunately, the rest of his brothers who have been freed from the inhibiting chips have already been evacuated from the battle.

As the clones and Insurrectionists begin closing in, they suddenly hear several of their comrades cry out. They turn around to see Ahsoka Tano flying through the air, swinging her white lightsabers in all directions and cutting down soldiers left and right and slicing through armor like butter. The troops then divide their attention between the UNSC and their programmed orders. This keeps up for several long moments, with the clones fanning out around the Pelican with the hopes of ambushing the female ex-Jedi. Before they even get the chance, Spartan Locke enters the hangar along with the rest of Fireteam Osiris and a squad of UNSC marines. The lead Spartan pulls out his trusty handgun and fires it at the nearest clone behind Ahsoka. The shot punches through the clone's enhanced helmet with ease, causing a small tidal wave of blood to fly out the back of his head and splatter another clone's helmet.

The Spartan squad then spreads out in all directions firing their preferred weapons, which include a battle rifle, twin pistols, or in Spartan-IV veteran Edward Buck's case, a prototype Light Rifle that is a mixture of UNSC and Forerunner technology. The energy blasts make quick work of the clones, burning through their armor with ease and vaporizing the clones immediately while the Insurrectionists fall to the barrage of gunfire.

"Clear!" Ahsoka shouts after looking at the carnage that makes up the massive docking bay, with another large UNSC Stalwart-class frigate docked and nearly ready for flight.

"Good. Men, start setting up barricades and turrets. We will need to be able to take any and all troops they can throw at us." Locke states, but before anyone can begin acting on the orders, the alarm starts blaring loudly and a voice makes an announcement over the loudspeakers.

"Attention, attention. Enemy boarding craft have managed to slip past our turbo cannons and breached the Courtyard Sector Number One. Repeat, Courtyard Sector Number One has been breached. Send any troops you can to clear out the intruders immediately."

A brief wave of panic breaks out among the UNSC troops, but they manage to reign it in. "Just when I thought we had it too easy." Agent Carolina states dryly, keeping her battle rifle slung on her back but still in a fighting stance with Wash at her side.

Wash nods, but then looks around to look at Caboose, but then a horrible thought crosses his mind. "Where are Sarge and the others?"

"Sir, they are in the Courtyard Sector. The colonel was mumbling something about how to never under-estimate their devilish creativity." The rescued Private Dennis speaks up, squatting behind a metal ramp next to his best friend, Private Jerry.

Carolina lets out a groan. "Only Sarge will have the idea of charging into a warzone head-on." She mutters before running out of the docking bay to save the Red's and Blue's hides. Wash follows suite and the marine sergeant is about to stop them, but he is silenced by a piercing glare sent by Spartan Locke.

"Let them catch up. We have our objective in front of us." He says, then focuses as another wave of Insurrectionists and clones run out of the squid-shaped boarding craft.

"Copy that."

Meanwhile, Washington and Carolina continue to run down the long corridors, up a long flight of steps caked with blood with the occasional corpse lying sprawled out. When they reach the top, they notice a dozen clones firing their blaster shots upon something beyond the ex-Freelancers' sight.

Wash takes advantage of the distraction to pull a frag grenade off of his belt and rolls it to the clones' feet after pulling the pin out. The clones fail to notice the grenade until it's too late. The explosion kills half of the clones while leaving the rest rolling on the ground and screaming in pain from the shrapnel imbedded in their bodies. Wash and Carolina ignore them as they get their first good look at the artificial biome. What they witness is perhaps the most unexpected things ever.

While a dozen Reds and Blues are lying dead, another dozen are surrounding Simmons as he working at a make-shift command center. What is truly amazing is that they are actually working together to kill off the clones as they fire from behind any type of cover they can find. "Wash, find out what the hell Sarge is up to. I'll help make sure as many people survive today." Carolina says calmly then leaps into action towards a small batch of clones hiding behind a table that is holding numerous types of plants from different planets.

Wash takes advantage of the distraction and leaps down the multiple stories and through the crowd. One of the Blues yelps in alarm and shoots at Wash, but his experience allows him to dodge the gun-blast in time. "What the hell? I'm trying to help you." He shouts incredulously.

"That's it." Tucker says, then looks at the soldier. "If we make it out of here, you're going to be shining Caboose's boots."

"Aw." The soldier, obviously a woman, moan out.

"But I can be lenient and we can have I can show you how to have a good time when we're done. Bow chicka bow wow."

"I don't want to hear this." Wash states, then runs through the thick perimeter of Reds and Blues to the center. Sure enough, Simmons is typing away on a portable computer.

"Hello, Wash. Having a good time fighting some back-stabbing dirtbags?" Sarge asks, turning his attention from Simmons to the newly-arrived Freelancer.

"No, I want to know what the hell you're doing. We're about to leave." Wash demands.

"Well, we were about to head our way when we found these whippersnappers huddled around this here device. Simmons here believes he can give us an opening to escape." Sarge explains.

"Care to elaborate?" Wash asks, ducking under a blaster shot that rockets over their heads while Carolina is thrashing the clones left and right, with the help of the sim troopers. Even though their rather poor accuracy is also making Carolina's fight even harder.

"I'm sorry, but I can't. I can barely handle the pressure as it is." Simmons replies, his voice cracking a little as he continues to type away at absurd speeds.

While Simmons is typing away, Grif continues firing his Grif Shot, blowing up another clone. He points his alien weapon at another clone who threw his Z-6 blaster cannon aside and is about to fire when the weapon clicks. "Uh…Sarge?" Grif doesn't get a chance to say much more before the clone lunges forward and tackles the orange sim trooper to the ground. The clone then proceeds to beat Grif's face up with his fists. He then stops and lifts his fist up again. "Aw, shit. No, no, no!" Grif shouts, upon realizing where the clone is aiming.

But before the clone has a chance to punch Grif in the nether regions, Carolina performs a dropkick to the clone's head, knocking the heavy trooper aside. "I had that." Grif says, before pulling himself to his feet.

"Sure, you did." Carolina replies sarcastically, then looks at Simmons, Sarge and Wash staring at something on their screen. "What is Sarge up to?"

"Ask Simmons. He's the one fully knows what's going on." Before anyone else can say anything, they see the clones stop firing upon the Red and Blue sim troopers and start rolling on the ground, holding their heads and screaming in pain.

"Holy shit. I did it!" Simmons shouts happily. The duo run over to the central terminal of the make-shift command center to find out what the Red nerd is cheering about. They look on the screen and notice a two-dimensional white skull laughing on the screen before disappearing.

"Dude." Grif says, looking to Simmons. "I told you viruses featuring a laughing skull tend to work the best."

"I know, right?"

"Alright, that's enough." Sarge says, clicking his shotgun. "If you're done celebrating, let's get out of here."

"Well, we'd better hurry." Wash states. "I just received a transmission from Commander Palmer. Master Chief and Spartan-087 managed to activate a defense mechanism to buy us enough time to board a last transport. On the opposite side of the station. And that more enemy troops are managing to land inside the station as we speak. All other ships are loaded up and on standby for something."

"Heh. Insurmountable odds? Outnumbered by who knows how much? Little to no chance of survival? Son, this is what we live for. Get to it, on the double!" Sarge shouts, before running to the front of the group, past the clones who are lying on the ground and whimpering in pain. The small army of simulation troopers follow behind, some of which accidentally stomp a clone's head. They make their way towards an abandoned armory, where two marine corpses are lying on the ground.

Judging by how the weapons are scattered about, the clones wanted to use the UNSC's weapons but decided against using them either because they couldn't figure out how to properly use them or considered using UNSC weaponry beneath them. But inside the expansive armory are three Warthogs. "Perfect." Tucker says. "Everyone, grab as many weapons as you can and get on-board. We're leaving."

"Shotgun." Grif shouts.

"Shotgun." Simmons says a split second later and realizes it. "Fuck." The duo then get into the main seats of a Warthog, with Wash jumping onto the back.

"Oh, yeah. I always wanted to ride a sword." Sister declares after getting into the driver's seat of another Warthog.

"Shit, yeah." A sim trooper wearing bright green armor says. "Wait, what?"

"Uh. Thank God Donut went ahead with the rest of the troops. He would have a spa day or some other shit with my sister." Grif mutters before revving up the Warthog and driving it out of the large door to the armory, with the other two transport vehicles loaded.

The trip continues on and they drive past large windows which give a good view of the outside. By now, most the UNSC's defenses have been beaten down, with all but two Super MAC cannons being obliterated and the scraps of hundreds of warships from both sides floating aimlessly in space. If there's any consolation for Agent Washington, it's the fact that the massive Separatist fleet is pretty much demolished and while only four Republic warships remain, they too look like they had taken a severe beating.

As he finally believes that there might be a chance to make it out of this fight alive, a door on their left blows up and a swarm of Republic clones come running out. Several of the sim troopers were startled by the sudden appearance, but they manage to maintain their course. That is, until one of the clones decides to lunge towards the lead Warthog, and manage to land on the floor of the gunner's station.

"Huh?" Wash asks, looking down at the clone, before he suddenly stands up and tries to punch Wash in the face. The Freelancer manages to not only dodge to the right of the coming fist, but also grab the arm. The clone then reaches to his belt and pulls out an vibro-blade.

"Die, traitor!" The clone shouts before thrusting the blade forward. The blade grazes the side of his armor, not chinking it but certainly leaving a scratch in it.

"You think you're the only one good with knives, are you?" Wash asks after he pushes the angry clone back, and quickly unsheathes his own blade.

"I am not just any clone. I am Barlex, Commander of the 212th Legion. Unlike that traitor Gregor, I have seen the truth and that your treachery must be stopped." With that, the duo begin slashing at each other violently, one fighting to gain the upper hand over the other. Wash then throws a punch at the experienced clone's head, making him stagger back.

"Cock knock!" A yellow sim trooper shouts, punching the commander in the private areas. Barlex moans in pain slightly and Wash slashes his knife upwards. The jagged combat knife leaves a deep gash in the clone's helmet.

"All hail the Supreme Chancellor." The clone commander says before falling backwards and out of the Warthog.

"Yeah! That's how it feels!" Grif shouts as he watches the commander rolling on the ground and stopping. "What?" He asks as Simmons looks at his friend oddly.

Before anyone can say anything, a new announcement blares over the loudspeakers. "Alert, alert. MAC round approaching the base at Sector 16-B. Brace for impact."

Sure enough, a bright beam of light approaches the ship before the ground suddenly shakes beneath them, making many sim troopers shout in shock and making one of them nearly fall out. Behind them, the corridor is torn apart by the MAC round where the commander fell out. As the vacuum of space begin sucking the Warthogs back, emergency doors suddenly drop and lock in place, artificial gravity taking over once more.

"Aw, why can't we fly anymore?" Caboose says sadly, looking behind them.

As they continue driving for another whole minute, they reach the entrance to Docking Bay 16. "Stop here." Carolina says, jumping out of the Warthog in the back of the chain. "Alright, everyone. Grab everything you can then make a break for it."

The sim troopers reluctantly follow the order, some of them muttering angrily, and begin making their way through the entryway protected by abandoned barricades and through the corridor too narrow for the Warthogs to go through. While they are running through the barricades, the station continues to shake violently under constant bombardment.

They reach the massive docking bay where a frigate is sitting there with one of the side hatches open. "Get the fuck in here!" Lieutenant Redfield shouts as he stands at the entrance. The army of sim troopers march in two lines, with Wash and Carolina leading each row. They manage to make it inside, and within seconds, the barely-open docking bay doors close.

"That…was…fucking…close." Grif says between pants and is on his knees while the alarms are blaring around them, and the only light being in the hangars are the emergency lights.

"We're not out of the woods yet." Redfield says as a marine is speaking to someone on a personal comms device. Suddenly, they hear several mechanisms keeping the ship down de-activating and feel the ship lifting up and out of the ground. While the entire sim trooper army goes their separate ways to talk with some other people or get some alone time or see the other sims, such as Sarge going over to a group of ODSTs sitting next to a docked Pelican and sharpening their weapons or Grif hugging his sister tightly.

Wash and Carolina, however, just sit down on a crate filled with weapons and watch all this from happening, sitting close to each other without realizing it.

After several long and tense minutes, the emergency lights are replaced by real lights and the alarms shut off. "It's done." Carolina says, a small smile forming on her face.

"It's about time. I'm getting too old for this sort of chaos." Wash agrees. The duo then look up and see the Madam President herself walking through the docking bay, flanked by marines and Lavernius Tucker. The Freelancers couldn't help but notice the streak of grey hair that is forming in her short brown hair.

"I thank you for helping our people escape the chaos." She says. "If you would like, you could come with me to visit Admiral Winter on the bridge."

"Bridge?" Wash asks, confused. "Wait, are we inside another ship?"

"That is correct, we are in the Pillar of Winter. Without this ship's advanced shielding, we wouldn't have stood a chance of escaping."

The walk goes by in silence, but Carolina can't stop herself from marveling at the sheer amount of weaponry and defenses that make up the massive docking bay holding a dozen frigates. Eventually, they reach the docking bay, where Master Chief, Commander Palmer, and Admiral Winter are standing in front of a holographic projection of the Arbiter with Junior at his side.

"Ah, look who it is." Winter says, with a small smile on his face. Everyone focuses on the new arrivals. Wash resisted the urge to wave at the group and say hello while the President walks forward.

"Arbiter, thank you for helping us escape Reach. We are in your debt now."

"Of course, Madam. Given how everything has changed again, you will be able to pay off the debt soon. What do you plan on doing now?"

She takes a deep breath and looks the Arbiter dead in the eyes. "Proceed to a designated rendezvous point. Until we have a chance to fully assess what the fuck happened, we will have no other real option."

Arbiter nods in agreement. "I understand. I will have my scouts…" Suddenly, the two holograms disappear.

"Lieutenant, what's going on?" Winter asks, turning towards the communications officer.

The Asian woman looks absolutely baffled and a little horrified. "Sir, our communications are being jammed."

"Impossible!" Palmer shouts, "Not unless they managed to track us through slipspace."

"Admiral!" Another officer shouts, "We are picking up multiple ships on our scanners."

Just as he finishes his report, many Republic Venators, with two ships standing out among the rest. They are a single Acclamator-class cruiser that looks severely damaged and a titanic grey ship with blue lights on the sides and two curved blades facing down, dwarfing all other ships.

"A Sojourner Dreadnought." Chief says, looking at the ship with interest. "A forerunner ship of that magnitude would have the power necessary to track us."

Winter stares at the ancient warship with a look that is between awed and fearful. "Activate our slipspace drives and get us out of here!" He shouts.

"We can't, Admiral." Fred the android says from his new post as Head of Navigation. "Our engines are being jammed. We can't enter slipspace."

"Admiral!" The Head of Communications shouts. "We are receiving a transmission from the Galactic Republic flagship."

"Put it through." Peterson says, stepping forward. "I will distract them long enough for you to get us out of this mess."

The Admiral nods and runs over to the other officers to start talking with them along with the ship-board AI Benedict, who is designed to look like George Washington in his prime. When he's out of sight, the holographic projection of the orange-armored clone appearing in the middle of the bridge glowing blue. "Ah, President. I was hoping to speak with you. Where's your Admiral?" Cody growls out; Wash figures he's pissed off due to the virus Simmons uploaded.

"Admiral Winter is in the john right now. He'd been trying to hold it in all day, and it smells." Peterson responds smoothly, not missing a beat. The Admiral looks up from one of the holograms and gives her a dumbfounded look before looking back at the screen.

"Fine; then tell your Admiral about my proposition. If your people wish to live a rotation longer, you will use one of your primitive vessels and come to my biggest ship alone. If you make any foul moves, I will order all my ships to destroy you and all your savage troops! You have 15 minutes to make your decision." The transmission cuts off, leaving the bridge in silence.

"Well? What have we got to work with?"

"We are surrounded by 20 Republic Venators, not including the capitol ship and Forerunner vessel. According to our scanners, the beacon that is preventing us from entering slipspace. The ship only has enough fuel for one more slipspace jump and maintain all deflector shields for exactly 20 minutes and 37 seconds." Benedict states, looking at its superior.

"So, we're essentially fucked." Carolina states.

"Not necessarily." Palmer says, looking at the screen showing the entire group of Republic ships. "We have shields to withstand a barrage from every ship around us for several minutes, long enough to send out enough fighters to wipe out that smug bastard's ship and escape when we're out of the ship's range."

"Impossible." Chief speaks up. "You are underestimating the Forerunners' technology. That ship needs to be destroyed."

"Let's say you're right, old timer." Palmer adds, causing Chief to glare at her, "But how in the holy mother of fuck are we going to blow it up? By the time we do destroy a Forerunner vessel, let alone a dreadnought, we will have been torn to shreds."

"Maybe we don't have to use brute force." Wash says, getting everyone's attention, "Cody is such an arrogant jackass that he is giving us a chance to send a Pelican to the target without having it blown up. Maybe have a commander take your place and launch a surprise attack on the vessel and have the shields be brought down. Then we can figure out what to do next."

The other people on the bridge look at each other. "Who would volunteer for a suicide mission like this?" Peterson asks.

The two Freelancers look at each other. "Oh, we know a few people."

Onboard Docking Bay 3

Pillar of Winter

Uncharted Space

20:30 UNSC time

"Well, boys and girls, things are about to get intense." Sarge says, clicking his shotgun as he makes his way towards the open Pelican. A dozen ODST troops are walking behind the colonel, with Ahsoka Tano looking over her assault rifle.

"Sarge!" Simmons says, running towards the group. Grif does the same, even though he is panting slightly. "It was an honor to serve with you, sir."

"Kiss my ass some other time, Simmons." Sarge says, then looks at the other sim trooper. "Grif, while I have little faith in you, take care of yourself."

"Okay, Sarge." Grif says, looking slightly surprised before the duo return to the rest of soldiers who are organizing weaponry.

The ODST unit and Sarge walk to the Pelican and get themselves seated. Once the hatch closes up, the Pelican lifts up off the ground and flies out. While Sarge is looking over his trusty shotgun, the others are looking over their SMG rifles, magnums, or in Ahsoka's case, a Spartan Laser.

The silence reigns for several minutes until the pilot speaks to them over the loudspeaker. "Alright, Helljumpers, we are going in."

"Certainly brings me back to a simpler time." Ahsoka says, shouldering her Spartan Laser and lifting up her assault rifle.

"Yup, and it's time to let my favorite one-liner shine." Sarge says, then stands up. The hatch opens up and reveals a black-armored Insurrectionist without his helmet. The blue-haired and burly man looks up at them with a shocked look. "You just got Sarge-d, dirtbag!" Sarge then fires his shotgun at the man's face, blowing his head up. Blood splatters the ground while the body flies back. The dozen Insurrection soldiers standing out front look dumbfounded by the sudden appearance but are blown back by a Force Push sent by Ahsoka and fly back.

"Hello, asshats." A familiar voice says. They all turn towards the voice and watch as Felix walks through the numerous holograms that are flying around them, fully-armored and holding a knife in his hand. "I knew the UNSC would take a cowardly action, but even I never imagined they would be so fucking stupid as to send you here."

"Well, son, you'll have to deal with me." Sarge says, clicking his shotgun. "Go on ahead. He and I have a score to settle."

"Okay, Sarge." Ahsoka says, "Let's move!" She and the other ODSTs then run down the corridor to leave Sarge and Felix alone.

The squad of ODSTs are doing a great job of sticking close to each other and firing their weapons in controlled bursts. The Insurrectionists are firing upon the elevator they are standing on as it starts floating towards a platform on the opposite side of a pit they can't see the bottom of. "Cover me!" Ahsoka shouts, then lifts up her Spartan Laser and starts charging it up. The large group of soldiers notice the glowing red laser and try running away, but the red beam of light strikes their position and explodes, either killing them or sending them tumbling into the bottomless chasm below.

The ex-Jedi doesn't even wait for the platform to arrive before leaping into the air, performing a forward somersault while in the air, and pulling out her assault rifle and pointing it at another enemy soldier. Unfortunately, as she pulls the trigger, the gun clicks.

"Ha! Take this, bitch." Before he can try and kill her, he ends up getting a sticky grenade to the face. The grenade blows up, killing the soldier immediately. The other ODSTs then jump out and start running toward the doorway on the other side of the hallway. They start running down the long grey corridors until they reach a circular panel open and allowing a burly Insurrectionist out, this one holding flamethrowers in his hands. One of the ODSTs charges forward, running by the soldier as he starts shooting flames at the other UNSC troops that are firing upon him. Ahsoka then throws her assault rifle at the man and pulls out her lightsabers, activating the blades and running forward. The burly man stops firing and throws a punch at her. The female Togruta ducks under the hand and slashes upward. The flamethrower is cut in half and she uses the Force to pull the other flamethrower to her before cutting that in half as well. The man growls in anger and punches her in the face. Ahsoka rolls far away and back onto her feet, gently rubbing her face.

The first ODST then pulls out another grenade and throws it at the man. He catches it and throws it back at the ODST, exploding in mid-air. "No!" Ahsoka shouts. "Bean, distract him." The other ODST nods and charges forward, getting into a boxing match of sorts. They trade blow for blow, dodge for dodge, and manage to be on equal footing. That is until one of the others decides to pull out a magnum and fire it, killing the enemy immediately.

Bean looks at her incredulously. "What? We don't have time for you to show off your muscles."

He doesn't answer, but they all run towards the elevator where the ODST is lying on the ground and bleeding. "Perry!" Ahsoka shouts, running to one of her closest friends and kneeling down next to him. She ignores the elevator glowing slightly and starts ascending at alarming rates. "Don't worry, I'll make sure you're okay."

"Don't bother, Ahsoka." Perry says, looking up at her. "My time has come. Besides, this moment answers a question we ask ourselves our whole lives: how long do we have to do anything in life? Ahsoka, make sure you are damn sure this is the life you want to live." With that, Perry's head falls back and smacks against the ground.

"Ah!" Ahsoka shouts, smashing her fists into the ground in anger. Despite her anger, she manages to take slow and deep breaths. "I don't care if I die today. I will avenge his death."

The elevator arrives at its destination, which is the bridge of the ship. The deck officers all point their weapons at the ODSTs.

"Don't make a move, assholes. We've got you surrounded." Commander Mark Temple says, standing with the Blues and Reds on either side of him and pointing their weapons at the ODSTs.

"You think you can just waltz onto my ship and do what you please?" A balding man asks, stepping past the rogue sim troopers with an angry look on his face.

"That was the idea." Bean states, cracking his knuckles.

"You are a near-sighted lot, aren't you?" The man says, then walks towards a series of holograms of Forerunner lettering. "You think you can really make a difference in anything, when really, you're prolonging the inevitable. Have a look for yourself." He waves his hand, which is holding a steaming mug of coffee at the images, at the images. Suddenly, they re-arrange themselves and form a screen on which images are playing out.

The ODSTs watch as the Pillar of Winter is being repeatedly hammered by the large ambush while trying to push forward. "As you can see, they will eventually fall." The man says. "Ah, but where are my manners? My name is Malcom Hargrove, and I want to tell you that this doesn't have to be this way. We want the President, and if you could convince her to turn herself over, then I would feel obliged to spare the lives of the crew."

"Here's what I say to that." Ahsoka says, holding out her hands. Most of the Blues and Reds fly back along with the other deck officers, but Temple manages to get back to his feet and fires several sniper shots at the Jedi. Unfortunately, Ahsoka has been training herself in the Force so she can see the bullets flying at her with greater clarity, giving her the ability to dodge the shots.

"Fuck!" Temple shouts, before shooting again. "Buckey, have you been screwing with my sniper rifle again?"

"Come on, Boss." Buckey, says, "My new girlfriend told me that sniper rifles are the new hot thing, better than swords."

"Enough of this!" Surge says, lifting up his railgun. "Prepare to die, slimeballs." He then charges it up while Ahsoka lifts up her Spartan Laser and starts charging it as well. Once they are ready, the two guns' respective shots collide with each other in mid-air, resulting in a light-ish red explosion. Surge gets slammed into a built-in communications table, burn scars evident on his cherry red armor, and goes unconscious within seconds.

"For Perry!" Sergeant Parker shouts as Ahsoka throws aside her Spartan Laser, now out of juice, and joins in the brawl.

The ex-Jedi then spots Temple hiding behind a pillar and aiming at her with his sniper rifle. He makes the shot and Ahsoka dodges to the side, though fails in preventing a rather deep graze of her armor. She growls in frustration and Force Pushes Temple into the wall behind him. The impact knocks the rogue sim trooper out cold. She then feels a warning in the Force and barely dodges a shot from a magnum pistol, which came from Malcolm Hargrove.

"You have made a tremendous mistake coming here, one you will pay for with your life." He says before firing more rounds. Ahsoka dodges the blasts and slashes her lightsabers upward, slicing his magnum in half and holds the lightsabers in an X-shape at Hargrove's neck. "Really? You would use such cowardly methods to kill me? I thought Jedi never killed anyone out of spite."

Ahsoka looks upon the elderly man with disgust, but stops herself from cutting his head off. "Yes, but you missed one critical detail." She says, de-activating her lightsabers. A split second later, she slams the butt of one of her lightsabers into Hargrove's head, knocking him out completely. "I am not a Jedi anymore." She then turns around to see that the brawl is mostly over, with Bean throwing Gene Simmons aside, making the maroon soldier drop his combat knives and punching him in the face. "Bridge is secure." Sergeant Parker says, then looks at Temple. "What are we going to do with him?"

Ahsoka then looks over the troops, who are looking at her balefully. "We will prove that we are better than them. We take them all with us."

"Right away, Commander." Parker says, then they start gathering up the Blues and Reds, along with Hargrove, but before Ahsoka can help, she notices her wrist communicator beeping. She pushes the Republic-made communicator and hears the voice of the legendary war hero, Master Chief.

"Commander Tano. There has been a change in plan. Get on the Pelican and evacuate the ship in 15. Chief out." With that, the communication is cut off.

"Alright, people. We are now under a timetable. Get them all up and let's get out of here." Ahsoka says, using the Force to lift up the entire group of prisoners while leaving their weapons behind.

"I wonder." Parker states, getting everyone's attention while she fires the last clip of her SMG into the monitors, making the lights and floating symbols disappear, "How exactly is that senile lunatic we came with doing?"

Sarge and Felix just stand there, staring each other down with their hands at their sides, fingers open and at the ready. All around them are the corpses of deck officers and soldiers who tried to escape the carnage. Then, they break the standoff. Felix manages to react first, grabbing a knife and throwing it at the aging colonel. He lets out a grunt of pain, and after firing his shotgun at Felix and failing to do any damage to Felix, holds his side.

"You think you can beat me? You are nothing more than an old fart who needs to be in a retirement home." Felix says, pulling out another knife and holding it in a throwing position, ready to throw another one. "What makes you think you can beat me now if you couldn't before?"

"Because, Felix…" Sarge says, standing back up, "I have something you don't. I don't kill people because I have to; I do what is right." He then rolls on the ground and fires a shotgun round into Felix's head. The mercenary recoils and falls backward. Sarge stands over him and points his shotgun down. "That, and I still got the touch. How you like me now, scumbag?"

Felix then goes back into action, sweeping Sarge's feet out from under him and pulling out his SAW gun. "You think you know what true war is? You don't, because you will always be a pathetic piece of shit in my eyes."

To Felix's surprise, Sarge chuckles. "Well, if you consider me scum, then I will take it."

Felix looks down at Sarge with confusion, only for him to look down at his belt and notice a UNSC-made sticky grenade on his belt. Suddenly, Sarge is pulled away quickly as the grenade goes off, leaving a gaping hole in his armor. Sarge towards all around and notices the squad of ODSTs standing there, their armor riddled with bullet holes but in good condition, with an entire group of unconscious troops floating overhead.

"Looks like you needed the help, colonel." Parker says flatly.

"Hehe. I knew you would jump in and see my amazing handiwork sometime." Sarge says, standing up.

"Come on! We need to go!" Ahsoka says, then starts running towards the Pelican with the other ODSTs, holding the Blues and Reds overhead. As Sarge follows them, he looks back to see Felix getting back up, his helmet fallen off and revealing his long face, short brown hair and dark brown eyes glaring at him with loathing.

"In my eyes, you will always be scum."

"Son, you've got issues; one of which is not dying. It's gotten old and boring at this point." Sarge says, then also runs onto the Pelican. The hatch closes up instantly and the Pelican lifts up off the ground and into open space.

Sarge decides to get up and walk to the front of the Pelican to see what exactly is going on. "Hey! What the fuck are you doing? You're not supposed to be up here!" The clone pilot shouts.

"Like hell I am. I want to see the enemy get annilated first-hand." Sarge barks back.

"You're going back, and that's… whoa." The pilot says. To both the pilot's and even Sarge's shock, the Pillar of Winter rockets towards the Forerunner Sojourner Dreadnought, still getting hammered by the Republic ships. But what is truly shocking is that both of the massive docking bay doors are wide open and that a dozen UNSC ships of various classes, with the Paris-class frigates making up the vast majority.

They all go scatter in various directions as the Pillar of Winter continues getting closer and closer to the dreadnought, colliding with it head-on. The explosion that results is so bright and powerful that the pilot and Sarge are forced to cover their eyes for a brief moment, feeling the transport get blown backwards violently.

While the entire crew is out cold, one of the frigates manages to fly close by and open up the hatches, allowing the Pelican to be pulled inside. The second it pulls into the docking bay, the frigate closes up and enters slipspace, along with the rest of the UNSC warships.

Ahsoka lets out a groan then sits up, as the hatch of the ship she's on is suddenly forced open and allows another squad of ODSTs inside. "Get them detained immediately." The leader of the group says, referring to the prisoners. His squad silently nods and starts dragging the still-unconscious Blues, Reds, and Malcolm. "Commander Tano, I thank you for your services on bringing these fugitives to justice."

"What in Sam Hill is going on?" Sarge shouts, running to the new group of ODSTs and following them outside the ship. "Don't get me wrong, that was one of the most amazing things I've ever seen in my life, but I would like to know what just happened."

"I will tell them." Wash says, with Carolina at his side, "The Pillar of Winter lost the needed amount of fuel to enter slipspace, so command decided to abandon ship and ram it into the Forerunner ship."

"Slow-mo! Life finds a way to make awesome shit like that slow-mo."

"Anyway, Admiral Winter and some humanoid robot named Fred died to make sure that we escaped." Wash finishes, ignoring Sarge's outburst.

"So, who do we fight now?" Sarge asks.

"No one." Ahsoka says, stepping forward. "Until we figure out what to do, we go to the rendezvous and lay low. In the end, all we can do is have hope."

The entire group just stands in a loose circle, silence in the air. "Oh! That is so lame." Grif says after walking over with Simmons.

Carolina lets out a groan and looks at the ground. "You have a way with ruining the moment."

December 17th

2583

05:15 UNSC time

Elysium City

Eridanus II

Madam President Michelle Peterson sits in her office, in front of her desk made from oak imported from Earth and can already feel her eyes drooping in exhaustion.

After all, it was only a matter of hours after the fleet who escorted her to safety managed to escape to the rendezvous point, a place that is very ironic since this is the legendary homeworld of Master Chief.

While there are still plenty of UNSC civilians living in major places like the system's famous city called Luxor, there is officially a much heavier presence of UNSC troops, with several members of the Swords of Sanghelios also setting up on the planet while having a heavier colonization on the moon Ehilend.

A transmitter starts beeping in the middle of the president's desk, resulting in her sighing and pushing the button. A glass dome in the middle of her desk starts glowing blue and starts making a dozen transmissions at once of the remaining UNSC admirals, her second-in-command Lawrence Hood who recently became the senator for Eridanus II, and the Arbiter himself. "It is good to see friendly faces again, and alive no less." She says dryly.

"Agreed. We should be most grateful for that." Hood states.

"Alright. In the next rotation, we should start sending out probes to track down Republic troop movements and figure out what caused them to turn on us so suddenly."

"No need." Hood replies, "Remember that reporter droid that we re-programmed so as to spy on Palpatine's meetings? It's still active, and his special congress meeting is going on right now."

"Put it through now! We need to see this."

The Fleet Admiral nods to someone out of their sight and a thin holographic projection forms of the Galactic Senate, and focusing on Palpatine. The President had to resist flinching at seeing how hideous he now is, hidden underneath deep red robes.

"Our loyal clone troopers have contained this insurrection within the Jedi Temple and quelled uprisings on a thousand worlds." Palpatine is saying, much to everyone's disgust while the Senators start cheering for their Chancellor. "The remaining Jedi will be hunted down and defeated. Any collaborators will share the same fate. These have been trying times, but we have passed the test. The attempt on my life has left me scarred and deformed, but I assure you my resolve has never been stronger. The war is over. The Separatists and the treacherous UNSC have been defeated, and the Jedi rebellion has been foiled. We stand on the threshold of a new beginning. In order to ensure the security and continuing stability, this Republic will be organized into the first Galactic Empire!" He then raises his hands, resulting in thunderous applause to come from the Senators. "For a safe and secure society, which I assure you, will last 10,000 years!"

"Shut it off." Peterson says, "I've seen enough."

The projection immediately shuts off, revealing the stunned and angered looks on their faces. "So, the Chancellor planned this." Arbiter says, "He planned on using those chips to wipe out the Jedi and frame them for treason."

The other admirals and Hood start arguing with each other on what needs to be done about this. After a good five minutes, Peterson has enough. "Silence!" They all oblige, quieting down once more. "Thank you. Now we know not to trust anything from this new Empire that just formed. Right now, start gathering up resources and finding ways to mass-produce weapons. Eventually, people will rise up against Palpatine, and when we do, we will do our damnest to make sure they strike the heaviest blow to Palpatine they can."

"We'll be ready for that day then." Hood says, nodding and his face hardening.

"Good. Get some rest." Once the transmissions curt out, she turns around and looks out the giant glass window at the Senator Building on the capitol city of Eridanus II. She stares at the bright scenery, with the planet's moon being visible even in daylight, with Warthogs and mass-produced Cyclops mechs wander around, establishing supplies and building up their military presence. Among the mech-pilots is the Master Chief, now named John, who has decided to finally step down from active duty in the UNSC, and is now going to teach new cadets how to fight along-side his oldest friend, Kelly. Captain Rex, leading the small task force of freed clones, are also piloting the mechs but having considerable trouble doing so. The Sanghili are also on the ground, helping the marines establish their basis and even trading weapons with each other. She even notices the Reds and Blues standing around and talking outside one building, with Tucker no doubt hitting on Sister, all while former Agents Washington and Carolina watch it happen.

"Today, we took a massive blow. Our people have suffered once more, and for what? An old man who wishes to rule over the universe itself with an iron hand? Well, hear my words, Emperor. Send your best troops, hit us with everything you've got; we will be waiting for you. You may conquer Earth and countless worlds loyal to us, but we, the UNSC, will endure. We endured the Covenant, we endured the return of the Forerunners, and we even endured your precious clone legions. This is Madam President Michelle Peterson, and let it be known that on December 17th, 2583, that I say that if you send your best men, we will not go quietly into the night; we will give you a fight unlike anything you have seen before."

With that, she touches the glass window and it suddenly clouds up, preventing her from being able to look outside once more. She then stands up and leaves her office. She walks into the elevator that will take her to her personal quarters, and stares at her office once more before pressing the button.

'I have not felt this good in a long time.' She thinks as she is laying on her side, staring at the empty ceiling before she drifts off to sleep.

AN: Thank you, God! I have enjoyed writing this story, but life has made it so hard to actually get any real work done on it.

Well, thank you all for reading this story, and through the dead parts of this story, but I especially thank you all for the positive reviews you have all left and the support you have given me.

Thank you, everybody, and I will now take my last bow for this story.

Disclaimer: Halo belongs to Bungie and 343 Industries, while Star Wars belongs to George Lucas and Disney (I don't care, George Lucas will always have credit for Star Wars in my book).

PS: As of March 18th, 2018, I declare that there will be absolutely no continuation of this story. Sorry. :(.

I originally planned on doing more and making this a series, but the dude I was planning on continuing the series with *cough*Soron66*cough* decided to completely block me because he didn't like the help I tried to provide on one of his stories.

Also, I would like to say something. This was originally meant to be a serious story, but now that I look at many of the other ideas that I have done and look forward to doing, I have changed my mind. Crack-fic, an attempt at Halo and Star Wars, call it what you will.