A Change of Fate (SG1-Halo crossover)

[FaxModem1]

In the original canon, the replacement of the Elites with the Brutes caused a Covenant civil war, I wonder, with the destruction of the Halo, if the Elites will be too much in shock to do so now.

[Skywalker_T-65]

1200 Hours, September 14th 2552 (Military Calendar)/

San 'Shyuum Home System, Janjur Qom


On the San 'Shyuum homeworld of Janjur Qom, Grieving Light stiffened, and floated to a stop. If it weren't for years of training, Teal'c would have smacked his head on her suddenly frozen form. As it was, he came to a steady halt, and walked in front of the Monitor. Light's eye was flashing slightly, the pink light gaining a strobe effect. It almost looked like the AI was having a seizure of some kind...before she suddenly flared bright pink and turned fully towards Teal'c.

"Installation 04 was destroyed," Light said without any preamble, "Guilty Spark is dead, and the Ring is gone."

Teal'c eyebrow rose up, "It was? Did Colonel Mitchell have something to do with it?"

"Most likely," Light answered, "Installation 02 received a report of a Flood outbreak on 04 that Spark planned to contain by activating the Ring."

"And Colonel Mitchell would not let that happen," Teal'c replied.

"Indeed."

"And you are not angry Grieving Light?"

"I have no reason to be Reclaimer. While protocol dictates the activation of an Installation in case of a Flood outbreak, if there is any way to contain it without doing so, that is the preferred option. A local pulse would have been sufficient, but if Spark was determined to activate the entire network...I cannot fault Colonel Mitchell for his choice," Light finished.

While those two were having that conversation, the San 'Shyuum around them looked somewhat in awe. Of course, they were seeing someone talking with an Oracle like they were just normal friends. Such a thing was unheard of, for very good reason. Not least of which being that Light was one of only two Oracle's they knew, the other being the one on the Mantle's Protector. So, naturally, they stopped and stared.

Once Teal'c noticed this, he motioned Light to move forward again. The Monitor nodded...there was no reason to let the San 'Shyuum know what had just occurred. Especially since they didn't trust them yet. It was fairly obvious these 'Prophets' weren't a part of the Covenant, but that didn't mean they could just go around telling them about Halo and things like that.

"Where are your leaders?" Light asked, trying to use curiosity to recover from the shock.

"The High Council meets in our Capital Building," the leader of the little group of San 'Shyuum answered, "we should be arriving momentarily."

And indeed, they had reached a majestic building, reaching up into the clouds above them. Much like the Covenant, the San 'Shyuum didn't build anything small. As they walked into the building, large groups of the alien beings gathered to watch Teal'c and Light move by. Fingers were pointed, and crowds whispered. An Oracle was something to be respected, and something most had never seen even a picture of. And then there was the obviously alien Teal'c, looking nothing like even the most humanoid San 'Shyuum.

"I have never seen so many Prophets in one area," Teal'c commented, referring to the very few UNSC videos of the elusive Covenant leaders.

"Do not compare us to the traitors," a deep, even deeper than normal, San 'Shyuum voice said.

Turning to look, the Jaffa and Monitor saw a regally dressed San 'Shyuum standing in front of a group of slightly less-well dressed ones. This had to be the Council that the Captain had told them about.

"I apologize," Teal'c said, bowing in the Jaffa style.

The San 'Shyuum nodded and looked over the two with an appraising eye. While not of the pure manipulative evil that Truth was, this 'man' was smart and experienced. And what he saw reassured him. This was a true Oracle, exactly like the images recovered from other sites on Janjur Qom. And the 'Reclaimer' was someone who radiated honor and strength. Something that the Stoic San 'Shyuum had started to prize after the traitors stole the Dreadnought.

"No need to apologize...Reclaimer," the San 'Shyuum replied, "ignorance is something to be fixed, not shunned. Now, come with me and we can talk about your purpose on our world."

Teal'c rose an eyebrow at the Pro...San 'Shyuum's choice of words. But he followed Light as they moved into the room. It was large, and expansive, to put things mildly. San 'Shyuum filed in and took seats, leaving Light and Teal'c standing at the center of the room. At inquiring looks from the aliens, Light floated forward to begin the impromptu meeting.

"We are here to learn about your people," the Monitor began, "and what happened to cause your...brethren to want to slaughter the Reclaimers."

Murmurs broke out at that, before the head San 'Shyuum silenced them.

"We would be honored to speak of our history Oracle. But what do you refer to when you say the Reformists are slaughtering the Reclaimers?"

Teal'c stepped forward, "For thirty years now, the Reformists have been leading their Covenant and destroying human worlds. We are curious why this is the case, and why you have not tried to stop them."

The San 'Shyuum leader raised a single eyebrow in an admirable imitation of Teal'c himself, "Covenant?"

"A union of several races, chief among them the Prophets and Elites," Teal'c replied.

"Sangheili," Light supplied when she noticed the confused looks...that didn't go away.

In fact, the San 'Shyuum leader started to rub his chin in a decidedly human manner. He had never heard of 'Sangheili' but he assumed that the word 'Elite' meant they were strong fighters. And the fact that they were spoken of in the same breath as the traitorous Reformists...they had to be high in this Covenant. And on that note...evidently since they were so few in number, the Reformists had started using other races for their wars. It wouldn't surprise him at all if they had subjugated these races first...though it did raise the question why they weren't with these Reclaimers.

"I am sorry, but we know nothing of this Covenant, or why they would go to war with you," he replied honestly, "however...I may have a theory. If the Reformists are truly the leaders of the Covenant, it is likely they are drunk on power. If so, they would view the very idea of you abhorrent Reclaimer. Even I will admit it isn't easy to acknowledge the Oracle's words and not feel righteous anger. If the Reformists have never been forced to acknowledge they aren't the supreme power...they would react violently to any challenge."

Naturally, he had no idea how correct that theory was. Then again, it took a San 'Shyuum to know a Prophet.

"Now, I believe you were curious about our history?" the Councilor said, changing the subject, "I am High Councilor Mastor, and I will tell you what I can."

[astrospace2020]

very good Story so far, i hope that the originals prophets, now allie with humanity to defeat the covenant once and for all .

[Skywalker_T-65]

AN: This serves as an interlude in the story. The path to the destruction of Alpha Halo was Arc 1, after this will be H2/H3 as Arc 2. Technically speaking this should have been before the last two updates, but I forgot to put it in. A 'whoops' on my end.

1400 Hours, September 15th 2552 (Military Calendar)/

Sol System, Earth, Cairo Station

Cairo Station, at first glance, was just one of the many other Super-MAC stations currently being constructed in orbit of Earth. The three-hundred stations were nearing completion, construction having been pushed back slightly to integrate upgrades coming from the Odyssey. Namely, the highly important shield systems. None of that mattered at the moment however, as a man dressed in a UNSC Admiral's uniform moved through the nearly-complete hallways. And it was this man that made Cairo more than it appeared...this station was the 'Command' station in Earth's defense network. And right now, it was using its extra communications equipment to make an important announcement...thus, Lord Terrance Hood walking towards the command center.

"Welcome aboard Admiral," the Commander of the station said, snapping off a salute.

"Good to be aboard Commander," Hood replied, returning the salute, "I see she's nearly complete."

The other man nodded, "Only a few conduits need installed to finish drawing power from the backup naquadah reactors sir. She won't be as fast, but we don't need to worry about the generators on the surface now, if they get taken out."

Hood nodded back, "Good to know. Are we ready?"

"Straight to the point as usual sir," the Commander said with a small chuckle, "but yes, we are ready when you are sir."

Hood nodded, and stepped forward. There was a man standing in front of him with a camera, tied into the powerful systems of Cairo Station. And from there, to every major news station on Earth. Who had ties to all the remaining Colonies. Needless to say, any normal person would be terrified at the idea that billions of people were watching his next move.

Hood wasn't a normal man.

"Greetings my fellow citizens of the UEG," Hood began, "I am talking to you from orbit of Earth, and with news on the war with the Covenant."

Everyone on Earth and her far-flung colonies looked up, either in their homes or walking across streets. This announcement was so important, that the UNSC had routed it everywhere they could. Of course, most of those who looked up, promptly looked right back down. News from the war was never good. They had continually lost to the Covenant ever since Admiral Cole had vanished. Very, very little good news had come since Harvest was retaken. So, naturally, they didn't expect this to be any different.

Oh how wrong they were...

"I know what you are all expecting," Hood continued, "news that we have lost another colony, or that a fleet has been destroyed trying to defend one of our fellow worlds."

Nods came from everyone watching. That was exactly what they were expecting. But they brought their attention back to the various screens they may have been watching, when Hood started talking again.

"However, that is not why I have made this announcement. We have defeated the Covenant in orbit of Sigma Octanus IV, and Reach herself. We still hold both of those worlds, and more ships are arriving to reinforce them daily. We have pushed the Covenant out of our systems, and destroyed hundreds of their ships."

And where Hood's face had been, was now footage of the Battle of Reach. Propagandists had gone over it to edit out things like the sniping-Supercruiser, but they certainly didn't edit other things. Such as Covenant ships popping like fireworks when S-MAC shells went through them. Or the Pillar of Autumn destroying the Supercruiser. Or the death of the Ascendant Justice.

And, perhaps most importantly...the damage to the Long Night of Solace and how it was in such a hurry to leave that the ship plowed over the few remaining escorts in its rush to open a Slipspace portal. Silence reigned everywhere in Earth's remaining territory, as her people let the footage and announcement run through their systems. Shock and awe quickly rose to replace sadness and defeatism. While they knew that the UNSC may fake footage as a morale booster, to fake something of this level would be more than even they were willing to do.

Thus, as the shock began to wear off, shouts of pure unadulterated joy began to rise up. All throughout the UNSC territory, people shouted and cried, tears of joy streaming down their faces as they hugged the nearest person, or leapt into the air. Flags began to be brought out, flapping from windows and cars. The scene would remind the more history conscious of the end of either World War of the 20th Century. And really, who could blame the citizens? This was easily the best news to ever come out of the war. And it was proving to be quite the morale booster.

Every world, every country, every city...everywhere in UNSC space, crowds gathered to cheer this news. Recruitment offices, which had been empty for so long as volunteers dried up and conscription set in, were suddenly overloaded with eager people. Seeing the Covenant beat back, had reignited the want to join up in the war-effort. And those who didn't set out for recruitment, began throwing parties. Supplies were pulled out of storage, messages were sent, people celebrated.

But that had to wait, as Hood wasn't quite finished with his speech yet.

"I know we have asked much of you all. This war has pushed us all beyond what we believed our limits were. We have fought and bled for decades now, losing ground every time we fought the Covenant," Hood said, allowing a small amount of bitterness past his normal façade, "but now, we have the advantage. The Covenant have lost one of the largest fleets we have ever seen them field. We have pushed them back from our planets, our people have defeated their armada. Now, it is our turn to take the fight to them. We need your help, to construct new ships and man them. With the help of all our people, humanity can push the Covenant back to their holes, and bring this war to an end."

Cheers once again rang out over UNSC territory. Wild cheers, as people let out all the anger and bitterness they had felt in one massive shout of happiness. They knew the war would still be hard, and there was much to do to win. But now, they had a shimmer of hope. The Covenant could be beat. And the UNSC could do it! Sure, it would be a long and hard road. But, that light at the end of the tunnel would be worth it. Revenge, and bringing the war to Covenant worlds. Covenant people. Covenant defeat.

"I won't lie to you all, this will be a long journey. There will still be a lot of hardship," Hood continued, "but we can win this war, if everyone bands together. The factories, shipyards, and military need volunteers. We have still suffered losses in stopping the Covenant, and need to replenish them. Volunteers will help replace these losses."

"We'll help! We'll drive those Covenant bastards back to their holes!" came from the mouths of the more patriotic types.

Naturally, Hood couldn't hear this, but he did get reports as he made his speech. And a small smile formed on his lips, before he finished his speech.

"Please, report to your local recruitment stations and manufacturing areas. That is all."

And with that, the UNSC logo replaced Hood's face, before the various stations went back to whatever they had been previously doing. And the crowds slowly dispersed themselves. And, just as Hood (and by extension, the UNSC leadership) had been hoping, a lot of them went to recruitment stations and their local shipyards. Morale had shot through the stratosphere, and that meant that the common human on the streets was far more willing to fight now. The UNSC had been beat into the ground for so long, losing so many people and planets that most of the population had resigned themselves to their fate. Now?

Well...now they had the hope they had lost with Cole. Now, the UNSC's citizens were ready to fight. They were ready to push the Covenant into the ground, and retake their lost colonies. All that lost hope, while not completely restored, had been revived. Nothing boosted morale like victories over a more advanced or powerful foe. And destroying hundreds of Covenant ships, well now, that was the type of victory that they had so desperately needed.

And it was this knowledge, that Hood took with him as he left the area. He had to return to the ship currently being constructed out in the Oort Cloud...ONI's pet project, UNSC Infinity...

1500 Hours, September 15th 2552 (Military Calendar)/

Sol System, Oort Cloud, Classified ONI shipyard, UNSC Infinity

"Quite the rousing speech isn't it?" a glowing orange AI remarked, from the somewhat bare bridge of the Infinity.

"I've heard better Aine," a man replied, "but it gets the job done. Maybe we can funnel some more funding out of the new wave of Mark-II Halcyons."

"One could hope sir," the AI, Aine, replied.

The two, AI and human, were standing on the bridge of Infinity, looking out the viewport at the various construction drones speeding around and welding hull-plates to the incomplete vessel. Infinity was easily the largest single ship ever built by the UNSC, and having to do it entirely out of black-project funds meant that it was taking quite some time to get supplies out to the remote shipyard. Thus, the fact that the (potentially) mightiest human warship, was mostly empty hull and in some parts, just the frame. Things had started to pick up again lately, with the victory over Sigma Octanus, but then Reach had diverted supplies once more.

But...with the victories there, and the resulting morale boost from Hood's speech, it was possible that more funds could be diverted to the Infinity project. Not to mention, that the recently captured Eternal Faith and Ascendant Justice were supplying a motherload of Covenant tech to be retrofitted into the ship. And, perhaps more importantly...the addition of Goa'uld technology. This technology had supercharged the construction somewhat, as new technology was being added daily.

And it was why another man was walking onto the bridge. The AI and her companion turned to welcome him aboard, sending (at least the man anyway) salutes. The new man returned the salute, his old United States Air Force uniform sticking out like a sore thumb on the advanced warship.

"Welcome aboard Infinity, General Landry," the first man said.

"Thank you Captain Amagi," Landry replied, returning the salute of the current commander of the ship.

Amagi nodded, turning back to one of the few complete parts of the bridge...a holo-panel, showing the status of the ship. Infinity was structurally complete, and the hologram showed that. But, it also showed the various parts of the ship lacking any hull or armor, highlighted in red as construction drones welded the plates on. And the weapons ports taking form on the complete portions of hull, specifically the newly integrated plasma cannons.

"I have to say General, your people really gave us a boost here," the Captain said, smiling slightly as he watched Aine zoom in on a Goa'uld plasma cannon being fitted to its circular position.

"Least we could do," Landry replied, "'you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours'."

Amagi laughed a bit at that, "Very apt description right there. We're keeping you supplied, and you're giving us advanced technology. Even trade I would say."

"Even maybe, but I want that Colonel Carter here," Aine spoke up, "we need an expert on the Goa'uld technology to truly implement it."

Landry laughed this time, "Don't I know it. But, I'm all you're getting. Colonel Carter is needed on the Odyssey...wherever they ran off to."

"Not worried about your missing troops?" Amagi asked.

"No," Landry replied easily, "SG-1 is always up to something. I've learned to accept that."

As they were talking, a report came in from one of the construction crews. Aine took it, and smiled slightly. She didn't relay it to the two men right away, choosing to look over it very thoroughly first. The crew reported that they had finished installing the ships shield system, and testing it. The initial report was...very promising. The shield was primarily Goa'uld in design, with some UNSC upgrades supplied by the AI Cortana. The design had been modified to more readily take power from UNSC generators, and with the uniquely alternate-universe feature of more power meaning more powerful shields...it was more powerful than anyone had dreamed of.

The calculations running through the resident AI's neural net were...very, very promising. If she was correct, and why wouldn't she be, these shields could take firepower that would crack through a Covenant Assault Carrier. Infinity's generators were just that powerful, and that meant very good things for the project. This ship was meant to be a technology demonstrator after all. And if the very first test of shields on it were that strong, all indications meant it would be even more powerful when final testing was complete. And with the technology upgraded to filter into the regular UNSC ranks...

"Aine, what's up?" Amagi broke into the AI's musing.

"I received a report from the shield teams," Aine reported dutifully, "initial estimates are stronger than an Assault Carrier."

Landry and Amagi whistled.

"I knew that more power meant more powerful shields," Landry said, "but I didn't expect that much. There's a reason I'm not a scientist."

"Tell me about it," Amagi added.

The two men were understandably surprised. For different reasons though. Amagi hadn't expected such rapid progress, while Landry knew from Sam's explanation that a Ha'tak shouldn't be able to stand up to a cruiser, leave alone an Assault Carrier...the rate the UNSC was upgrading the technology was amazingly fast. So fast, that if they gave them Asgard tech, he wasn't sure if the Odyssey would be the most advanced ship for long.

"I wonder what that means for the weapons though," the General mused, "I'm not sure I really want to know."

Aine looked like a kid in a candy store though, "Initial estimates with the Plasma Cannons say that we might be able to go toe-to-toe with an Assault Carrier and win...alone."

"And there's the answer," Landry said with a rueful shake of his head, "you work fast, I'll give you that."

"That's Aine for you," Amagi grinned, "all AI are fast, but we spared no expense with her. Though she does get distracted easily...all smart AI do I suppose."

And that was proven true, as Aine was distracted by another upgrade coming online. The hyperdrive to be specific...no idiot was trying to use the thing (and tear Infinity apart) but they were running simulations. And again, the powerful UNSC generators were showing marked improvements over the Goa'uld standard. The simulations said that Infinity could probably outpace anything short of an Asgard vessel, or one with that race's tech like the Daedalus-class. The Infinity, hope for UNSC humanity, was proving itself quite capable in the simulations. The shields, weapons, hyperdrive...all that was missing was actually completing the ship.

Well, that and a better security detail...

"Hey, I know where the bridge is!" a female voice rang out.

Landry sighed heavily, "What did she do now?"

"She?" Amagi asked.

"Vala Mal Doran, at your service!" the black-haired woman said, stumbling onto the bridge in front of a sour-faced Marine.

The woman had been snooping around the ship, after coming aboard with Landry. And that had taken a lot of convincing to get ONI to allow, that was for sure. So he really shouldn't have been surprised the first thing she did was go poking around where she shouldn't have.

"What did you do this time?" he asked calmly.

"Nothing!" Vala protested, "all I did was try to help with the hyperdrive! The 'scientists' here don't have any idea how to build or use a Goa'uld hyperdrive!"

Landry sighed and rubbed his face, while Amagi looked curious.

"You know how to work a hyperdrive, Ms...Mal Doran?"

"Of course! I was a Goa'uld host for something like fifty years, I picked up a lot!" Vala said, even as she winced slightly at the memory.

"Host?"

"Oh...you didn't know? Whoops..."

Aine and Amagi shared a look, before turning to Landry. Who once again sighed, as he explained what exactly a Goa'uld was. Needless to say, even the AI looked slightly creeped out at the end. Not often you learned of parasitic snakes that ruled the galaxy. But that was nothing important really, as they quickly turned back to Vala.

"So you can help with the Goa'uld technology?"

"Not as much as Sam could, but certainly," Vala replied, eager to finally do something, "will I get paid?"

"As much as you need," Amagi said with a grin.

Oh yes, Project Infinity was going along quite well.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

For those wondering where Landy/Vala vanished too a while back, that's where. Landry is a General who's name isn't Jack O'Neill, so it makes sense to shuffle him back to Earth for now. Vala came along as the second-best expert on Goa'uld tech (Teal'c ain't an engineer, and I don't see Vala not picking stuff up while she was a Host).

[Eternal_Freedom]

Oh dear, Vala aboard Infinity...this should be good.

As for Asgard tech, didn't they give the UNSC the ion guns as point-defence? I have a feelign that Cortana or Aine is working on scaling that up a lot.

[InsaneTD]

Why can I see then attempting to either come and then AI convert Vala's brain, or disappearing her and doing it.

[FaxModem1]

Heh, anything with Vala in it is automatically ten percent greater as a story.

[astrospace2020]

very good new chapter, the Infinity , will be one of many Warships the UNSC will build to push the Covenant totally out of the UNSC Space , and with the Elites Revolt ,and joining humanity , the Loyalists will soon regret to have ever come to Human Territory . As for Vala :d that is an excellent help to develop the Goa'uld Hyperdrives for the UNSC . And i suspect that the AI ´s will use the point defense asgard beams,and turn it into a Main Canon , for the Heavy Cruisers, Battleships, Cruisers, Destroyers, Frigates, Dreadnoughts of the UNSC , Turning the UNSC a Major POwer , in the Galaxy. Cant hardly wait for the next chapters.

[Eternal_Freedom]

As fro turning the UNSC into a major power...they pretty much already are, since the only other power we know of is the Covenant. The UNSC isn't top dog (although with this new tech that will probably change) but they're a major player by default.

[Skywalker_T-65]

0800 Hours, September 15th 2552 (Military Calendar)/

Epsilon Eridani System, Reach, Orbital Defense Platform 15

Meanwhile, life continued at Reach. The debris had long since been cleared up, the entire 'junkyard' rapidly becoming a scrapyard as Covenant and UNSC hulks were stripped of their weapons and armor to build new ships. Like the three newly completed Halcyon Mark II's (nicknamed the Autumn class by most in the UNSC) currently floating in front of ODP 15. These ships were newly-built with the upgrades pioneered on the Pillar of Autumn, and were guarding the station in case of a new Covenant attack. Thus, they were the first to see the distinctive blue-purple hyperspace window spit out the Odyssey, and the first to respond to the displaced warship.

"Damn, what happened here?" Cam's voice came over their comm systems.

Lack of military discipline aside, it was a legitimate question with the obvious signs of battle.

"The Covenant attacked Reach," the captain of UNSC Admiration replied, "we repulsed the attack."

"I can tell. Is that an Assault Carrier?"

"Yes it is. Commodore Keyes and Admiral Stanforth are awaiting your arrival on ODP Fifteen," the Captain replied, having received a message from the aforementioned men.

"Thank you," Cam replied, as the much smaller Odyssey floated past the three Cruisers and their escorts.

When the ship reached the station, it was directed to one of the docks lining the 'ring' of the Orbital Defense Platform. There was more than enough space for the relatively small Odyssey thankfully, not that they needed to dock with the various matter-transportation devices aboard the ship. Appearances needed to be kept up though. Such as the fact that when they did board the station, it was by using a newly installed Ring Platform that the UNSC controlled.

'They' being SG-1, Noble Team, and a hovering platform bearing Kat's body. While it had been possible to try reviving her with any number of advanced medical techniques...they boiled down to one problem, especially with a sarcophagus. Most Ancient or Asgard derived healing devices worked by healing anything wrong with the body. This was most noticeable with the sarcophagus 'healing' Daniel's eyes. The problem with healing Kat then became...would she still be a Spartan when she came out? The augmentations, drugs, reinforced bones...everything that made a Spartan a Spartan, was something that wasn't 'human'. So they had no idea if she would remain a Spartan when she came out. And to Noble...they knew Kat would rather die a hero, than come back as someone who wasn't able to fight with her team any longer.

"Welcome back," Keyes said, having come to meet SG-1 and its escort...though he came up short when he saw Kat, "what happened?"

Noble walked past the newly promoted Commodore, saluting as they went. SG-1 however, stayed behind and started to walk in a different direction with Keyes.

"We found two Forerunner structures called Halo's," Sam answered as they walked.

"Big Rings of death," Cam clarified at Keyes' look, "and the Forerunner were ancient aliens. Those Halo's can wipe out all the life in the galaxy if someone wants to."

Keyes frowned, "And you say you found two of them?"

"Yes, Installation 02 and 04," Daniel replied.

"And we blew up 04," Cam added.

Keyes sighed and shook his head. This was his first real experience with the typical SG-1 mission, and he wasn't sure he liked it. Discovering not one, but two superweapons, and then blowing one of them up? How had they survived doing things like that? But...then again, Kat didn't survive. Which was another question to ask, and this time Cam didn't even bother hiding anger when he answered.

"Each of the Halo's has an AI called a Monitor," the Colonel explained, "the first one is friendly. She's with Teal'c trying to talk to the Prophets now."

"The Prophets?!" Keyes didn't bother hiding his shock.

"She had their homeworld's location. Their homeworld, not the Covenant proper," Cam replied, "as for what happened to Kat...the second Ring's Monitor was insane and tried to kill me. She took the beam and saved my life."

"The beam was that strong?"

"Unfortunately."

As Keyes shook his head, he opened a door to let the group into the meeting room. Stanforth was sitting in there with Admiral Whitcomb, the two men the ranking officers currently on Reach. Both of them waited for SG-1 to sit down, before looking each member over. It was fairly obvious how much the group had been through, just from how tired they looked. They had been through hell and back on Installation 04 after all, even Sam and Daniel who had been stuck waiting in orbit while Cam and Noble risked their lives.

"I'm sorry for bothering you so soon after you returned," Stanforth began, "but we need to debrief you on the events of your mission."

SG-1 nodded and began to explain exactly what had happened. From leaving the Faith to scout an odd energy reading, that turned out to be Halo Installation 02. Meeting Light, and splitting up to track down the Prophets and Halo 04. Fighting the Flood, and destroying the Covenant fleet with the NOVA. The death of Kat. Everything came out, every detail and event they remembered.

Stanforth and Whitcomb listened to the report, only occasionally asking a question. They had heard many odd things, but finding out that they had an ancient ship even more advanced than the Covenant now...and all the death Halo could cause...was a bit over their heads.

"And you are certain sending Teal'c with that Monitor was the right move?" Whitcomb asked this time.

"Seemed like a good idea at the time sir," Cam replied, "Teal'c knows what he's doing, and if Light was right, we may be able to get an ally if nothing else. Sounds good to me."

"I can't say I approve of that, but it was your choice," Stanforth said, well-aware that SG-1 was outside of his command, "but now that you are back, we are ready to launch our assault."

SG-1 looked amongst each other, before Sam asked the obvious question, "Assault?"

Stanforth nodded, "Now that we have secured Reach, we are just waiting for repairs to be finished on the Ascendant Justice, the Assault Carrier we captured, before we launch an offensive to retake Arcadia colony. One of our ships, the Spirit of Fire went missing after fighting over that world, and we are hoping to find clues to where it went."

"One ship can't be worth that much...can it?" Daniel asked.

"It had thousands of Marines, and three Spartans aboard," Whitcomb replied, "it is worth at least trying. And Arcadia is a good jumping off point for future offensives."

"Well, we'll be ready when you need us," Cam said.

"See that you are...dismissed."

[astrospace2020]

very good new chapter, lets see the UNSC recapture ARCADIA and find the Spirit of Fire , and start Offensive to Recapture all the colonies lost to the Covenant ,terraforming, and expansion of the UNSC Controlled Space . Cant hardly wait for the next chapters

[Skywalker_T-65]

1420 Hours, November 14th, 2552/ (Military Calendar)

Procyon System, Arcadia, Fleet of Serenity

Arcadia was a dull posting for any Covenant warrior. Ever since the planet had been taken from the Humans (for a second time at that) and mostly glassed, it had been left to a small rotation of fleets to guard the Forerunner Ruins still intact on the surface. At the moment, that duty fell to the Fleet of Serenity...though, perhaps, fleet was being too generous. Unlike the massive Fleet of Particular Justice, Serenity was a small gathering of ships by even human standards. A single Carrier, with an escort of ten CCS battlecruisers, and a dozen smaller ships. It was a mark of how little the Covenant valued this particular world. Forerunner Ruins aside, there wasn't anything here worthwhile to them, now that the Forerunner Fleet had been destroyed some 20 years previously.

Thus, the somewhat annoyed Fleetmaster, "The Heirarchs have us guarding this useless rock while the other's gain honor fighting the humans."

"I have heard the Jiralhanae are replacing our ships in the next rotation," the Shipmaster of the Rising Star commented.

"Gods above, what are the Councilors thinking?" the Fleetmaster replied in disbelief, "those apes are barely worthy of having warships, leave alone complete fleets."

"Indeed," the Shipmaster agreed, "The humans have more honor than the Jiralhanae."

Tensions between the Sangheili and Jiralhanae had always been tense. Recent setbacks in the Holy War against the Humans had increased the problem, and the Sangheili were understandably bitter about things. It was telling when they considered the 'vermin' more honorable and worthy of being in the Covenant than the 'apes'.

"Have the excavation teams discovered anything new?"

"No Fleetmaster. The Major believes that anything of worth has already been removed. They have yet to discover any more levels to the Ruins."

"And yet we remain here to guard over a dead world."

"One has to wonder what the point is, correct Fleetmaster?"

It was a worthy question to ask. Literally nothing had happened at this world since the last humans had been wiped out. It was far from the frontlines, though 'Harvest' was fairly close by. The humans had made no move to attempt to retake Arcadia, and the Covenant had launched no attacks from it. If it weren't for the apparently empty ruins, there wouldn't even be a reason for the Covenant to be there any longer. Other than the somewhat doubtful views of the Hierarchs. No respected member of the Covenant would doubt the Hierarchs...but they weren't military leaders. This world had no military value whatsoever, and this lead to the Sangheili assigned to guarding it getting somewhat...heretical...views of their exalted leadership.

"I would almost welcome the humans attacking," the Fleetmaster mused.

He should be careful what he wished for however, as a swarm of blueish-purple portals came to life near Arcadia's moon. Out of these portals came every class of human warship that the Sangheili commander had ever seen. Cruisers, frigates, destroyers, even a carrier. At the head of the fleet was a small corvette (by human standards anyway. Barely worth mentioning by Covenant), that seemed dwarfed by its counterparts. And yet, somehow, the Fleetmaster knew that ship was the most dangerous of anything he had ever faced.

"Human fleet exiting slipspace," a Minor reported lamely, since anyone could see the ships on the external cameras...and it wasn't slipspace they had used.

The Fleetmaster didn't care about that however. He, despite the feelings about the small ship, grinned in the Sangheili style. It would seem the humans finally decided to fight him, and relieve the boredom of guarding a worthless world.

"Move to attack! Charge the plasma torpedoes, and target the lead human vessel," the Sangheili sent out his orders, "show them the folly of attacking one of our worlds!"

Roars of approval echoed through the bridge, the crew quite happy to finally be able to do something. Across the Fleet of Serenity, angry red fire gathered along the ships flanks, putting in doubt the validity of its name. The human ships had yet to fire, not quite in range of their primitive weapons.

"Fire!"

Blobs of plasma swept forth from the launchers on Covenant warships, heading right at the human fleet. Even if they had only recently figured out about human designed shields, it was still a surprise to the Sangheili in the fleet when the human ships made no effort to dodge. The plasma impacted their golden shields (and the blue shield on the lead warship) leaving no marks and only barely slowing down their advance. The moment the plasma had cleared from their view, the human warships fired their first salvo of their primitive weapons...followed by a wall of golden plasma fire.

The vanguard of the Covenant formation took this first volley head on, their shields just as easily absorbing the human fire as the humans had absorbed their own. But, seemingly out of nowhere, the cruiser Prophecy went up in flames. It had been charging another torpedo, when two human shells came out of nowhere and shattered its shield. Holes had been punched clean through the Prophecy, sending purple metal flying in all directions before its reactor went critical and sent it up in an impressive fireball.

Unbeknownst to the Covenant, the lead human cruisers had fired two more shells as the first volley of gold plasma covered the signs of the MAC firing. And as another cruiser went up in flames, the Fleetmaster might have started worrying or thinking of pulling back to a better position...were he human, or at least less reckless. But months of inaction had left the Fleetmaster very hotheaded, so he merely shouted out more orders.

"Move forward! Burn their vessels!"

Again, if this were a human fleet, there would be mutters and questions about that order. As it was, the Covenant crews kept silent aside from relaying orders. The Rising Star and its escorts moved forward to cover the depleting CCS vanguard, launching fighters and volleys of plasma torpedoes. This time, the human ships started to flame and drop out of their tight formation, the shields overloaded from repeat hits. All, that is, aside from that tiny ship at the front, which now shot forward from the human fleet.

The small ship moved faster than anything the Fleetmaster and his crews had seen, aside from fighter craft. Rapid fire shells came out from multiple parts of its hull, swatting fighters aside as it oriented on one of the undamaged Destroyers in the second line of Serenity. The Shipmaster of that vessel laughed at the insolence of a human vessel that small attempting to attack him. Even one of their 'frigates' was no threat, and this ship was barely half that size. Of course, he stopped laughing when a lance of brilliant blue plasma flashed out and vaporized the command center of his vessel...and him with it. Another pair of plasma lances finished the job, as the small ship turned towards a cruiser.

"Target them!"

"Slipspace rupture forming Fleetmaster!"

"Where?!"

"In fro..."

That sentence was cut off, as a horrifying sight exited a portal in front of the Covenant fleet. Slate grey, six kilometers long, and bristling with turrets. But...it wasn't a new human vessel. It was an Assault Carrier! The only ship this could possibly be was the Ascendant Justice...captured and put into service by the humans. And it immediately put to rest any doubts about surviving crew retaking the ship and returning to Covenant territory...as brilliant blue bolts of plasma shot forth and blew Covenant ships to pieces. Scattered return fire did little more than bounce off the shields of the Justice, as the ship and the human fleet both bombarded the Fleet of Serenity into submission.

Ship after ship shattered or were simply vaporized by plasma torpedoes from the Ascendant Justice. Soon, only the Rising Star remained, battered and bleeding, but still capable of moving. On the smoking bridge, the Fleetmaster barked out one last order.

"Ram the Ascendant Justice. We will deny them their prize!" the Sangheili yelled, the last words he would ever speak as the bridge was vaporized.

The rest of the ship soon followed, leaving only a debris field to mark the Covenant Fleet of Serenity.


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The blue weapons on the Justice are Tollan Ion Cannons. Weak enough, or rather, easy enough to counter, that giving them to the UNSC isn't an issue...but still strong enough to provide a decent boost over Goa'uld weapons as a 'second wave' upgrade.

[astrospace2020]

another great update, now humanity as the Means to crush the Covenant , lets see the Schism between the Elites and the rest of the Covenant ,and allied with humanity , to defeat the rest of the Covenant . Cant hardly wait for the next chapters.

[Eternal_Freedom]

I always wondered why the Tau'ri never bothered trying to mount Ion Cannons on their ships. They might not have been able to instantly penetrate the newer Goa'uld shields but surely repeated fire would have been effective. And I dread to think what they would have done to Wraith ships.

[Skywalker_T-65]

On the bridge of the Odyssey, the crew let out a sigh of relief when the battle ended. The UNSC crew then broke into cheers, at the first decisive victory over the Covenant (both Reach and Sigma Octanus had involved heavy losses). SG-1 merely smiled at the fact that the new upgrades to the Ascendant Justice worked correctly. Either way though, both sides of the crew were quite satisfied with this battle, even if Arcadia was ruined.

"It seems those Ion Cannons of yours worked as advertised," Admiral Whitcomb's voice came over from the Justice.

"Same with the shields," Keyes added from the Pillar of Autumn, "this never would have worked without them."

"It does confirm my theory. The Covenant's advantage wasn't firepower, it was shielding," Sam replied, "take away the ability to kill UNSC ships easily, and they lose that advantage."

She spoke the truth there. UNSC ships were perfectly capable of killing Covenant ships (eventually) even with their older weapons. The problem was that Covenant ships were far more durable thanks to their shields. UNSC ships would die quicker, and thus couldn't bring the firepower to bear to take down equivalent numbers of Covenant vessels. Now that they had shields...they were proving that the Covenant weren't quite so superior as they had been.

"That is true. Do your sensors see any other Covenant vessels?" Whitcomb questioned, since the Odyssey remained the most advanced ship in any fleet.

"Nope, quiet as a funeral out here," Cam answered.

"What about Arcadia?" Daniel asked.

"What about it?"

"Look at it. I've never seen so much damage to a planet before."

Even if the fires had long since died out, Arcadia was painful to look at. The world was scarred, most of its surface reduced to black wastelands. The only splotches of green were locations that held Forerunner Ruins...the rest of the world had been decimated by the Covenant. It was SG-1's first sight of a Glassed world, and they didn't like it. They knew the Covenant did things like this from the UNSC's stories, but it was quite a different thing to actually see it. And to think Arcadia got off rather lightly because of its ruins...compare this to Harvest or Eridanus, and it became obvious just what the alien race(s) were capable of.

The planet wasn't going to be much use to the UNSC, not for a long time. This victory was going to be more about boosting morale, than taking any useful territory. Arcadia would need major terraforming before it even approached being livable outside small areas that the Covenant left untouched. But, at least it was under UNSC control once more. That was what truly mattered here.

"Roger that. We're sending Pelicans down to the surface, to see if anyone is still alive down there," Whitcomb said in reply to Cam's first words, "can you go down with them?"

"Sure," Cam replied.

With that said, the massive launch bays on the Ascendant Justice began to spew out Pelican dropships and Sabre fighters, all angling for the few green areas on Arcadia. It was doubtful any humans were still alive on the surface, but they had to check. That, and scout the ruins for anything the Covenant might have missed.

"We should probably send Noble down with them," Sam said as she watched the clouds part around the Odyssey.

"True. Forerunner technology is a lot like Ancient tech with its gene activation," Daniel mused.

"At least the more secure stuff anyway," Cam said, "but yeah, I see the point. I'll go with them."

Instead of just letting him this time, Sam and Daniel both stood in front of the Colonel. Cam looked up from his seat, daring them to stay where they were. unfortunately for him, they were strong willed and wouldn't budge.

"You two planning on moving, or are you going to stay there?"

Sam shook her head, "You aren't going with them this time Cam. Noble will work better if any Covenant are alive if you aren't slowing them down."

"Hey!"

"Sam has a point here," Daniel backed up his friend, "no matter how skilled we are, we physically can't keep up with a Spartan of any variety."

Cam deflated and sat fully down again, "Fine, I'll stay here."

Of course, the main reason he 'gave up' was the fact he knew it was his lack of shields that got Kat killed saving him. Cam was hardly the serious type, but he knew when he owed someone something. And he owed Noble his life, considering one of their own sacrificed themselves to save him. It wouldn't exactly be honoring that sacrifice if he was stupid and got himself in the same situation again.

"I understand what you feel like you know," Sam said, looking out at the burned landscape the Odyssey was flying above, "but we're more use here than on the ground right now. I'm the only scientist that really understands our technology, and you two are just as valuable."

"Same with Teal'c," Daniel added, "he's just safer than us with all the Sentinels on that Keyship."

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Cam said.

None of them were happy about being relegated to the second line like this. But SG-1 had far more value in this universe than they did even back home. At least back home there was more than one 304, and trained crews to man them. Not to mention dozens of SG Teams, and scientists that understood Stargate technology. Right now, SG-1, and Landry, were the only ones who could truly understand things in this universe. Halsey and Cortana were getting there, and there was Holo-Thor and the other Asgard minds in the database. But that was no reason for them to risk themselves. Cam's little adventure on Installation 04 was the clincher in that regard. He had been far too vulnerable compared to the Spartans, and Kat ended up dead because of that. So...at least for now, they were more use in space than on the ground, even if they weren't ship commanders.

And thus, they merely watched as Pelican after Pelican flew past the Odyssey, looking for any human survivors.

[astrospace2020]

very good new chapter, the Battle is finally over , Arcadia must be Terraformed again ,and i suspect that the Asgard Core as info on tech ,on what to do, quite fast. Now The UNSC must build and retrofit all Warships with Shields,and energy weapons . and Liberate all territory lost the Covenant, Cant hardly wait for the next chapters .

[Borgholio]

Terraforming a planet is not going to be easy if it is mostly radioactive glass. Even with the Asgard knowledge, they still have to actually build the machines to do the actual terraforming, which will take far too much time and resources in the middle of a war.

[Skywalker_T-65]

Terraforming a planet is not going to be easy if it is mostly radioactive glass. Even with the Asgard knowledge, they still have to actually build the machines to do the actual terraforming, which will take far too much time and resources in the middle of a war.

It's possible though...Reach seemed to have been terraformed back to normal after the War ended. Of course, the point remains that its a waste of resources during a war to repair any planets.

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Soell System, High Charity, Holy City of the Covenant

November 16th, 2552 (9th Age of Reclamation)

It took a couple days for the news to reach High Charity (still in orbit of the ruined Holy Ring) of Arcadia being retaken by the UNSC. The news arrived, much as the news of Reach, by way of a lone Corvette escaping a ruined fleet. In this case, the ship was quickly ushered through security and the crew interrogated on what had transpired. And, needless to say, it wasn't a good thing for the Covenant's morale. This was the first time the humans had gone on the offensive since the death/disappearance of their Admiral Cole. And adding insult to injury, they were using the Ascendant Justice as their new flagship. If Thel hadn't already been made Arbiter, there would be clamoring masses shouting for his head. As it was, it was yet another blow to the Sangheili, allowing Truth to ruthlessly push through more of his moves to elevate the Jiralhanae. Only the Prophets and Yan'me seemed to appreciate this though...even the Kig-Yar had started to rally behind the Sangheili, thanks in no small part to the Jackal detachment of the Everlasting Solitude spreading the word of how Thel and the other Sangheili treated them and the Unggoy aboard.

But that mattered little at the moment, as the new Jiralhanae Honor Guard escorted the new Arbiter into the Council Chambers. Now wearing his old-style armor, Thel had only a single Plasma Rifle and Energy Sword on his hips, as he moved towards Truth. The only Hierarch in the vast room, Truth was deep in thought and didn't even notice as Thel kneeled behind him. The old Prophet was too deep in thought about how easy his plans were progressing. The setbacks were hard on the Covenant to be sure, but they were even harder on the Sangheili. Losing military battles lowered their prestige, and unlike the previous times this had happened (most notably with the Lekgolo) Truth was ruthlessly exploiting their weakness for his own goals. Jiralhanae would replace Sangheili, and Regret and Mercy would soon be eliminated, leaving Truth as the one and only Hierarch, with his will enforced by loyal Brute armies.

"Hierarch, I bring news," Thel broke into Truth's thoughts, finally getting the Prophet to turn his head.

"What news Arbiter?" the Prophet asked.

Thel lifted his head ever-so-slightly, "A Jiralhanae patrol vessel discovered another Holy Ring. This one appears to be overrun by the Parasite however."

The Arbiter was talking about the Flood, though the Covenant only knew it as a parasite that had taken over a team sent to investigate a platform in Threshold's atmosphere. Thel's first mission as Arbiter had eliminated that problem, though he had managed to rescue a survivor named Rtas 'Vadumee. The two Sangheili had since become the most well-spoken supporters of cleansing any Parasite infection by any means necessary.

"Another Holy Ring?" Truth mused, pointedly ignoring the part about the Flood.

"Yes Hierarch," Thel replied, "I believe we should..."

"Should do what Arbiter?" Truth said sharply.

"Glass the surface wherever the Parasite may hide. It is too dangerous to try lan..."

Truth held up one hand to stop his Arbiter from continuing, "Your opinion is noted Arbiter. High Charity will travel to the Holy Ring at once, and the Jiralhanae will begin landings to secure it. There will be no repeat of the mistakes made here."

"As you command," Thel replied, bowing deeper before leaving.

As he left, the Arbiter couldn't help but wonder what his leader was thinking. The Parasite was more dangerous than even the new human weapons. Nothing was more dangerous, that the Covenant had ever encountered. And sending the Brutes to deal with it was a horrible idea. Rtas had told Thel that the only reason he survived was because he kept the Parasite at a distance, and only used his Energy Sword when it truly was unavoidable. The Jiralhanae however...their blood lust was the worst thing to send against the Parasite. The apes would charge right at them, trying to beat them to death. All this would do is open their ranks to infection, and swell the Parasite's ranks even as it depleted the Covenants. Add in the fact that only the highest ranking Jiralhanae actually possessed shields...it just added up to a very bad idea.

When he reached his vessel, Thel was greeted by Nar, now in a simplified red version of his own armor. All of the Arbiter's Sword, the new name for his unit, had taken to wearing armor patterned off his own, as a sign of respect.

"Welcome back Arbiter," the Major greeted, "how did it go?"

"Badly," the Arbiter replied dryly.

"That bad?" Nar questioned

Thel nodded as they walked into the Everlasting Solitude, "The Hierarch wants to land Jiralhane immediately, without making any effort to cleanse the Ring from orbit."

Nar shook his large head, "Not a good idea."

"Indeed."

As the two Sangheili walked further into the small Corvette, they passed various members of the Sword, doing routine tasks to maintain the ships. While the Arbiter wore grey armor and second in command wore red, most of the Sword wore blue and green armor to differentiate from standard Covenant ranks. The Unggoy and Kig-Yar wore the blue, while the Sangheili and the single Megalekgolo pair wore the green.

"I do wonder what the Hierarch's are thinking Arbiter," Nar continued, "we have shown them plenty of evidence about the Parasite. Anyone should see that it needs to be cleansed from orbit before even thinking of landing."

"Careful my friend, what you are saying could be considered heresy," the Arbiter pointed out.

Nar merely gave a Sangheili snort, "We're already shamed Arbiter. Not much worse that can be done to us."

Thel shook his own head in amusement. Soon enough, the pair reached the command center of the small Corvette, somewhat unique in Covenant design in that it actually had windows to space. Through these windows, they could see High Charity's fleets gathering in preparation for a Slipspace jump to the second Holy Ring. That would take time however, as the almost absurd mass of ships needed to orient themselves perfectly to avoid collisions when coming out of Slipspace at their destination. This time could be used to their advantage.

"So, what are we doing Arbiter?"

"We are leaving ahead of the fleets, and seeing if we can do something about the Parasite," Thel answered.

"Isn't that against orders?" Nar asked with a fair bit of humor in his voice.

Thel looked back at the Major, "Yes."

"So you are disobeying a direct order from the Hierarchs?"

"They did not order me to stay here, or away from the Holy Ring."

"So you are doing something that they won't approve of, but haven't said is against orders."

"Indeed."

Nar shook his head again, "We're with you Arbiter."

Thel nodded, and gave out the orders to launch his vessel. A far cry from the now human controlled Ascendant Justice, the corvette slid out of its berth and past the escorting fleets. Long since marked as the Arbiter's vessel, none of the patrolling ships so much as hailed the Everlasting Solitude, merely letting the vessel pass them by. Once it had reached a clear area of space, it shot forward into a Slipspace rupture, its destination the newly discovered Installation 05...

[InsaneTD]

The rebellion begins. Shall be interesting to see how it goes.

[astrospace2020]

very good new chapter , soon the division in the covenant will happen , and the Elites will ally themselves with the UNSC . and The Covenant remnant will be defeated . Cant hardly wait for the next chapters .

[Skywalker_T-65]

1600 Hours, November 15th, 2552 (Military Calendar)/

Procyon System, Arcadia

With the Covenant fleet wiped out, and no reinforcements in sight, the UNSC settled in orbit of Arcadia. Several of the ships in the fleet (mostly the speedier Frigates) had split off into other parts of the system, performing Second Fleets 'official' purpose...looking for the Spirit of Fire. Somewhat unsurprisingly, there were very few signs left of that old ship, what with how long it had been since it had last been seen. It was a good thing that was only the official reason for being at Arcadia.

For, the unofficial reason had much more importance at the moment. Marines and Spartans were canvasing the surviving ruins of the world, looking for anything of interest. It was quite likely that anything of use had long since been removed by the Covenant. But, if Installation 04 had been any indication, some Forerunner technology required a human touch. This could even include areas being locked down, for all the UNSC knew.

Thus, the Master Chief was currently walking with a group of other Spartan-II's, entering a small ruin in one of the intact areas on Arcadia's surface.

"We've entered the ruin Odyssey," John relayed to the hovering ship outside.

"No sign of any Covenant forces on sensors," Sam's voice answered, "however, we are reading a power signature in the building. Initial scans have it as Forerunner in origin."

"What I wouldn't give for that ships sensors," Cortana mused, once again in John's helmet.

The Chief grunted in reply, waving the other members of his team forward.

"We've got a few dead Elites," Fred called out, standing over a group of the warrior race.

"And Grunts," Kelly added.

Indeed, there were several groups of dead Covenant warriors, all showing burns through their armor. Not Plasma, but certainly not killed by surviving humans. Walking past the dead aliens, the Spartans held up their rifles and used the built-in flashlights to scan the room they were in. It was large, and built from typically grey Forerunner material. Nothing special, aside from the dead Covenant troops.

"What do you think killed them?" Will asked.

That was something all the Spartan's were wondering. The wounds were different than anything they had seen before, and that didn't bode well.

"Cortana?" John asked, as he scanned the wall for any active technology or doors.

"Wounds are not consistent with known Covenant weaponry, or standard-issue UNSC weapons," the AI replied, "these are likely from Forerunner weaponry. I don't know enough to be certain though."

John relayed that to the rest of his team, who flashed their acknowledgment lights. From the experiences of the Odyssey they knew that Forerunner AI (all this could be) would at least be friendly to begin with. Now, if this would turn out like Installation 02 or 04 was the question. And as the Spartan's continued to search the room, Linda (always the most sharp-eyed of the bunch) noticed a light in one of the corners. Sending a quick message to John, the resident Sniper walked up to the light, and saw a holographic panel next to a wall.

Cortana had been watching this through the other Spartan's helmet-cam and spoke up, "That is definitely Forerunner."

After the rest of the Spartans had taken up firing positions on the panel, Linda put her hand out and touched the device. Somehow, she knew exactly where and what to touch, as a door opened up in the wall with a groan of stone rubbing against stone. It was even darker in the newly opened room than the one with the Covenant corpses, at least until a light shone out from inside it. Said light quickly revealed a Forerunner Sentinel.

"A Sentinel...that explains the wounds," Cortana mused.

"Is it hostile?" Fred asked, hand on the trigger of his shotgun.

"At the moment, no. I'm not reading it targeting any of you, and its weapon seems to be powered down," Cortana replied.

And indeed, the machine just floated next to the doorway, its 'eye' looking over the Spartans. It wasn't making any hostile moves, or showing any signs of attacking. Knowing that their mission was to discover any new Forerunner technology the Covenant missed, John told Will and Linda to keep an eye on the Sentinel, while the rest of the team moved into the open hallway. Their flashlights lit up the hall, showing a long and unmarked path deeper into the depths of Arcadia. As the Spartans moved downhill, it just got darker and darker. Either the power was out, or this was a defense mechanism, either way their lights were likely the only light that had shined on these walls for centuries.

While SG-1 would probably be cracking jokes along the lines of 'can't the Forerunner actually use lights?' the Spartans remained silent as they walked through the halls. They didn't need to speak, not when all they were doing was walking down a long hallway. Hand signals and light flashes was all that was needed in such a tight-knit group, and it was all they used until they reached a room that was actually well-lit.

The Spartans slowed down slightly as they entered said room, scanning it with eyes and sensors alike. It was large, with Sentinels patrolling around the walls. Several of the machines showed damage, obviously the ones that had fought the Covenant in the other rooms. All of them were hovering around a central area, a glowing green light at the center of the formation.

As the Spartan's looked at the light, Cortana winced in John's head.

"What is it?" the Chief asked.

"Another AI is trying to crack my defenses," the AI replied, "its not having much success, but I'm not used to having to fight off another AI."

Naturally, the Spartan's raised their weapons at the Forerunner machines at that, knowing it was where the intrusion had to be coming from. The Sentinels, oddly, made no hostile moves at that. They merely moved aside, and let the super-soldiers walk up to the green light. While the Spartan's walked closer, the light got brighter and brighter, before forming a single spark of light, not unlike older AI's.

"So, at last the Reclaimers arrive," the spark said.

"You know who we are?" John asked, standing at the front of his Spartans.

"I do," the spark confirmed, "I am the steward of this facility."

"Do you have a name?"

"No."

A Forerunner construct, that lacked a name. These ruins were getting odder by the minute. That being said, another Forerunner facility could only be a good thing...right?

"What's the purpose of this facility?" Cortana asked this time.

"Monitoring this world Ancilla," the steward replied, "however, it is only at five percent efficiency. Most of my sensors and Sentinels have been destroyed. This room is the largest intact facility."

And so much for that hope. Intact Forerunner technology was always a good thing, but this pushed the 'intact' definition. However, if the stewards job was to monitor Arcadia...maybe it knew what had happened to the Spirit of Fire? Worth a shot...

"One of our vessels vanished twenty years ago," John said, "did you record its path?"

"Scanning..." the steward said, "one Reclaimer warship left orbit on a path to Shield World 7. No more data."

'Shield World' was something that none of the Spartans had heard of. Even Grieving Light had yet to mention something by that name, and there were apparently at least seven of the things. On the other hand, at least they knew about the Spirit's last journey. The question became, where did that journey lead the ship? Because, now that it was apparent Arcadia had been stripped of most useful Forerunner technology, all they had left was to find the wayward ship like they were supposed to.

"Can you transfer the coordinates to the Shield World?" Cortana asked.

"Certainly Ancilla," the steward answered.

And as she got the data, Cortana was already sending it and their report up to the Odyssey. From there, it was relayed to the Ascendant Justice, which relayed it to a Prowler, the UNSC Dusk, that set out for the last known location of the Spirit of Fire. Who knew what they would find, but at least they had something to work with now.

[astrospace2020]

very good new chapter, i hope they find the Spirit soon , Cant hardly wait for the next chapters

[LadyTevar]

Not a bad chapter, but not much to it.

[Venator]

Wondering if we're following the original continuity with respect to what happened to the Spirit of Fire, or something more favourable. Or, all forbid, something even worse.

[Skywalker_T-65]

As said before...I really need to stop forgetting to post here. But, since the story is completely written and the sequel has started on FFN, I figure I should finish here. I'll go back to posting a whole FFN standard chapter too, instead of splitting by segments like I've been doing for awhile too.

________________________________________

Coelest System, Substance, Installation 05

9th Age of Reclamation


Some days after leaving High Charity, the Everlasting Solitude came out of Slipspace in orbit of a welcome sight. Unlike the flaming ruins of the first Halo, this Holy Ring was intact and spinning as it orbited its Gas Giant. Not so welcome, was the difference compared to the images the Covenant had of the first Ring before it was destroyed. Unlike that Halo's pristine oceans and continents, this Halo looked...sick. The oceans remained blue, but the land was overgrown and resembled nothing more than a tropical rainforest.

And knowing what was on the surface...

"Fools," Nar said, shaking his head slightly.

"I don't disagree with you," Thel said, "sending any of our forces down there is foolish. The Jiralhanae are the worst choice."

"Message coming from the Glorious Retribution," a Kig-Yar relayed from his station (there were far too few Sangheili in the Sword to man every station on even this small a vessel).

"What are they asking?" the Arbiter asked.

"For confirmation of our identity, and our purpose on the Holy Ring."

"Very well..." Thel replied, opening a channel to the much larger Assault Carrier, "this is the Arbiter, I am here to locate the Control Room of the Holy Ring."

"I haven't received any word of your arrival...Arbiter," a distinctly Brute voice answered.

"I am here on my own authority," Thel explained.

A roar of laughter came over the communication systems, "If it were anyone else, I would have your ship burned for that. But, you are the Arbiter. The Eternal Freedom will escort you."

With that, the link to the larger ship was cut, as a slightly smaller frigate broke from the Jiralhanae formation to 'escort' the Solitude. Naturally, Nar had a comment to make on that.

"I don't believe I have ever heard such an arrogant Brute," the Major said disdainfully.

"Nor have I. Their new power is going to their heads," Thel replied.

"And that frigate is not escorting us for our safety."

"No it is not. They want to make certain we are not trying to subvert their authority."

That was most likely the case, as the larger purple frigate hovered extremely close to the smaller Solitude. Both vessels moved towards the Holy Ring, the crew of the Arbiter's vessel watching in silence as dropship after dropship exited the Jiralhanae formation and headed for the surface of Halo. Unfortunately, the Fleet had changed its frequencies, so it was impossible to listen to their transmissions and make certain that they weren't losing ground to the Parasite.

Equally bad, was the sight of a massive shielded wall blocking any access to the Library. Only a handful of patrols had pierced the similar structure on the other Halo, so the knowledge of the building was limited. It was highly important, judging from the defenses however. Thankfully, the Control Room lacked such a wall, making it easy for the Solitude to come to a halt nearby. And just as easy for a Phantom to set out from its small docking bay.

"We are here to discover the extent of the Parasites control on this Holy Ring!" Thel shouted out, as the Phantom carried its small detachment of Sword Sangheili, Kig-Yar and Unggoy. All of them were readying their weapons, on the chance the Parasite had even penetrated this inner sanctum of Halo.

"Do not leave the group without orders!" Nar added, "the Jiralhanae may allow that, but not us! The Parasite will not turn our own forces against us!"

A roar went up from the small group aboard the Phantom, as it landed outside the massive door sealing the Control Room. Large enough to comfortably fit a Banshee fighter, the door showed no signs of opening for the Arbiter and his troops.

"How will I unseal the door," Thel mused, walking forward and looking it over.

The large monolith was typically Forerunner, and the more religious part of the Arbiter was in awe at its size and the engravings carved into its pristine surface. The more practical side, however, was scanning the surface, looking for any means of opening the gateway. None were readily apparent, the massive door showing no signs of the Covenant soldiers parked in front of it. However, nothing was impossible to do, and it was only a matter of time until Thel came upon a glowing panel, recessed into the door.

"Ready yourselves," he ordered the other soldiers, who had their weapons trained on the door as the Arbiter opened it.

In a somewhat underwhelming display, the door merely slid open and exposed a set of smaller doors, leading deeper into the Control Room. Nar and Thel lead the Sword into the building, opening doors as they went. No automated defenses activated, only lights illuminating the ancient rooms. Thus, it was a fairly uneventful trip into the Control Room, where a massive central area was cut off from the holographic panel in front of the Arbiter and his troops. Warily walking up to said panel, Thel holstered his Plasma Rifle and held out a hand.

The moment his palm met the surface of the hologram, a voice began speaking.

"Intruder alert! Intruder alert! Containment Protocols have failed!"

When the mechanical voice started to echo through the room, the Arbiter and his men had their weapons up and ready, as they condensed into a circle.

"What is the meaning of this?!" Thel roared.

"Intruder Alert!" the voice shouted again, before changing tone slightly, "why have you entered the Control Room?"

The sudden shift from alarm to question caught the Covenant soldiers off guard somewhat. Not surprising even, as who wouldn't be surprised at the sudden shift. Especially so, when it became clear this wasn't just an automated alert...there was some form of intelligence behind the question.

"We are attempting to secure the Holy Ring from the Parasite," Thel answered warily.

Silence greeted him at first, before, "The Flood have already taken control of large portions of the Installation. Who are you?"

"I am the Arbiter of the Covenant...who are you?"

"2401 Penitent Tangent, Monitor of Installation 05."

There seemed to be some hesitation before that answer, but it was a welcome one nonetheless. Welcome enough that the Arbiter and his troops overlooked the seeming hesitation to answer. Little as they knew about the Forerunner, this was one of the things they did know...a 'Monitor' was an Oracle.

"You are the Oracle?" Nar asked this time.

"I am the Monitor," 'Penitent Tangent' replied, "I do not know of a Covenant however. Are you the same as the Jiralhanae trying to enter the Sentinel Wall?"

Thel didn't look pleased as he answered, "Yes."

"Hmm..." the 'Monitor' sounded thoughtful, "I no longer have control of the Sentinel's. I, however, require the Index to destroy this outbreak. It is at the center of the Library, past the Sentinel Wall. While I cannot help you enter, I can give you a map of the quickest path through the Wall. I would request you use it, to retrieve the Index and bring it back here."

"Why can you not do so yourself Oracle?" Thel asked.

"As I said, I have no control over the Sentinels any longer. It would require the Wall being retracted, to allow your own troops to combat the Flood," Tangent replied, "That is all I can ask of you."

The Arbiter left the 'Oracle' and moved back to his troops. While listening to an Oracle was normally a required thing for a Covenant soldier, this was a unique case. They had no real idea if this voice was truly an Oracle. And it caused problems in following what it said, since none in the Sword were that foolhardy. However, they still needed to discuss the situation. After all, their entire reason for being on this Holy Ring was stopping the Parasite before the Brutes let it off the Ring somehow.

Things would never be so easy however, as a detachment of Jiralhanae entered the room. They had obviously been listening in, judging from the looks on their ugly faces. The Brutes walked up to Thel, their Chieftain looking the Arbiter in the eyes. The two massive warrior stared each other down, until the Brute spoke.

"I have heard the Oracle's words Arbiter," the Jiralhanae said, "I request your aid. I have already sent word to the Glorious Retribution, and they have given me orders to take down that wall."

Thel frowned, "Why do you require my aid Brute?"

The ape growled at the use of its 'human' name, "Because you have the most experience combating the Parasite. And the Oracle speaks to you, where it won't with us."

And indeed, Tangent had yet to speak again.

"Very well. Lead the way," the Arbiter replied, already thinking up backup plans if things went badly.

But as they left the Control Room, none in the Covenant knew how they were being manipulated...as a horrible laugh began to echo from under the Library...

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1350 Hours, November 16th, 2552 (Military Calendar)/

San 'Shyuum Home System, Janjur Qom, Shipyards

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Meanwhile, things were continuing on the Prophet's long-abandoned homeworld. The Stoic San 'Shyuum were not as advanced as their Covenant counterparts, due to their long-standing refusal to 'desecrate' Forerunner artifacts. This, and the lack of the Dreadnought, meant they had developed in much the same way as humanity, with their own technology and expertise. Though, granted, several extra centuries put them somewhat ahead of pre-Sigma Octanus humanity.

However, they were still far enough behind the Covenant that while they waited on a response to an alliance, Teal'c and Light were at their main shipyards, advising the San 'Shyuum on how to improve their technology. Though to be fair, it was mostly the Monitor doing it. Teal'c knew how to use technology to great effect in battles, but he wasn't an engineer by anyone's definition.

"You use Plasma weaponry?" Light asked a San 'Shyuum engineer by the name of Masok.

"Yes we do," the engineer replied, "though it is more condensed and not guided like you showed me of the Reformist's weaponry."

"It resembles Goa'uld Staff Cannons," Teal'c commented, leading to blank looks from both Monitor and San 'Shyuum.

"Yes...in any case, I believe it can be improved upon," Light said, shining a schematic from her 'eye'.

"What is that Oracle?" Masok asked.

"A hardlight cannon. I can't give you the design, but I can take aspects of it and apply them to your plasma cannons and improve their power."

"That would be a great help Oracle, if the Reformists discover you have been here."

Which was true enough. Even if the San 'Shyuum denied an offer to reform their ancient alliance with humanity, they would be at risk of Covenant attack if it ever became known that they had been talking to 'human' envoys. And right now...they were one world, with technology somewhat behind Covenant standard even if it was above old UNSC standard. They wouldn't last long, not at the moment. Thus, the request from Councilor Mastor to help bring their ships up to a better state. He had claimed it would go far towards opening an alliance, and both Light and Teal'c could see the logic there.

"What of your shield systems?" the Jaffa asked.

This time, it was Masok who brought up a schematic, showing the San 'Shyuum shield designs. Naturally, it went over Teal'c's head, but Light made a thoughtful humming noise as she studied the designs. And she liked what she saw indeed.

"I do believe these are more advanced than your weaponry," she commented.

Masok nodded, "After the Reformists stole the Dreadnought, it was decreed that we would focus on defense in new designs. To give our people a better chance of surviving, should they ever return."

"A sensible precaution," Teal'c agreed.

"And one that could prove useful. If we can adapt these designs to my own work, it could greatly improve things for both the San 'Shyuum and Reclaimers," Light added.

Again, there was a good point to be made there. Goa'uld shields, effective as they were, could always be improved upon. And the Stoic's had truly innovative work in their shielding. While it might not have been as 'advanced' as the Covenant's designs, it was still quite powerful. And that...that could end up proving very helpful, to both San 'Shyuum and human alike. Especially if an alliance could be formed between the two parties.

Speaking of which...

"Oracle, Reclaimer Teal'c!" a San 'Syuum yelled, walking up to the group.

"Yes?" Teal'c asked first.

"The Council has requested your presence," the 'man' replied.

Both Jaffa and Monitor looked at the other, interested in where this could be going. The last time they had been in that meeting room, it had been about forming the alliance. Or reforming, depending on your view of the situation. And now, they were being called back. This could be either very good, or very bad. Either the Council had decided to join the UNSC against the Covenant, or they had decided to sit it out. Neither Light nor Teal'c knew which was the case here, but they couldn't exactly say no.

"Lead the way," Light said, following the San 'Shyuum back to the Council chambers.

When the group reached the chambers again, they found the Council already gathered, talking amongst themselves. This stopped the moment that Light and Teal'c entered the room, with Mastor moving forward and looking down on the pair.

"We have another question," the High Counselor began, "Reclaimer Teal'c...do you truly believe the Reformists and their allies will not stop this war?"

Teal'c nodded solemnly, "They will not, short of complete defeat."

"Do you have experience beyond the Reformists?"

Teal'c seemed surprised by that question, "Indeed."

Mastor nodded, "That was all I needed to know. If you could only use the Reformists as an example, I could not believe you knew their motives."

That...was actually a sensible precaution. Having more than one example in anything is good after all. But the San 'Shyuum wasn't finished, as he turned to Grieving Light this time.

"Oracle...you do know that if we ally ourselves with the Reclaimers, the Reformists will have reason to return and destroy everything we have built...correct?"

Light 'nodded', "I do. However, there is nothing stopping them from doing so anyway. I believe that an alliance would benefit both of us."

Mastor looked curiously at the Monitor. This made Light wonder what she had said, since what she had been saying made sense to her. It wasn't until Mastor started talking again, that things became more clear for her.

"As an Oracle, you are tied to the Forerunner, not the Reclaimers...correct?" the High Councilor questioned.

When he said that, Light realized where the confusion had come from, "I was, yes. But, as a Monitor, my last directive from the Forerunner was to do anything in my power to help the Reclaimers, as they are the successors to the Mantle. So, I am now doing my duty."

"And that has confirmed my choice even further Oracle," Mastor replied with a slight smile, "we will help the Reclaimers against the Reformists and their allies. Die alone, or fight together, if the Reformists should ever discover this meeting taking place. We don't have much of a choice."

And that...was great news for the war against the Covenant.