The 13th Tribe Book II: A Symphony of War

[Eternal_Freedom]

Canonically, if such a term can be applied given what happened in the recent Wolfenstein and Doom games, Billy Blaze aka Commander Keen was BJ's grandkid, but given the time jump between 1945 and a putative Mars mission in the 2040's (well, the true story was released "a hundred years later", I felt great-grandson fitted better. Plus, it's meant more as an excuse to get the references in and to have a Captain Blazkowicz driving the aptly-named Who Dares Wins. It's also a good way of showing that the Tau'ri and UNSC timelines are not just carbon copies, with one 550 years ahead, there are differences.

The Commander McCormack bit, is an amusing joke for the readers, and because the real-life version of Commander Davies likes South Park. He also likes Brooklyn Nine-Nine (as do I) so we may yet see a Captain Raymond Holt. And maybe a Sgt. Jeffords among the ODST's.

[LadyTevar]

"... that scary-looking battleaxe Commodore MacLuing"

Hey, I'm not THAT scary looking! Have you seen me?!
Still... I will be 50 this year so maybe it's warranted?

[Eternal_Freedom]

Well this is a version of you that's been at war for twenty-seven years, seen through the eyes of another grizzled veteran (from Texas no less), so don't take it as the narrator's viewpoint

[LadyTevar]

Well this is a version of you that's been at war for twenty-seven years, seen through the eyes of another grizzled veteran (from Texas no less), so don't take it as the narrator's viewpoint

Oh, I didn't say she wasn't a hard-ass But "BattleAx" has a negative connotation, usually meaning "ugly".

[Eternal_Freedom]

Strange, in all the contexts I've heard it (in Britain, granted) used in it's not usually equated to "ugly" but "older, stern, formidable woman you don't cross." The "Professor McGonnagall" style of character, you might say. But if it bothers you I can change it for something that fits better.

EDIT: Plus I also reckon the Honourable Lady and Captain Blaskowicz have a history of barbed-yet-respectful banter - her referring to him as a lumbering brute, him referring to her with disdain as a titled aristocrat, that sort of thing.

[fnord]

This looks to be a case of (at least) two populations divided by a common language.

IME, Australian usage of "battleaxe" in this context tracks closer to UK than US usage.

E_F, fair enough about the timelines not quite meshing up - a bit of uncanny valley there?

[LadyTevar]

Strange, in all the contexts I've heard it (in Britain, granted) used in it's not usually equated to "ugly" but "older, stern, formidable woman you don't cross." The "Professor McGonnagall" style of character, you might say. But if it bothers you I can change it for something that fits better.

EDIT: Plus I also reckon the Honourable Lady and Captain Blaskowicz have a history of barbed-yet-respectful banter - her referring to him as a lumbering brute, him referring to her with disdain as a titled aristocrat, that sort of thing.

Ok, I can see that. I've got friends that if he didn't insult me, I'd think he was ill.

[Eternal_Freedom]

Ok then

[Eternal_Freedom]

It's been a while ladies and gents, but this story ain't dead yet.

Feet First into Hell
Warstar Jupiter, approaching Installation 05,
Forty minutes later

Deep within the mammoth hull of the Warstar lay the Marine decks. Normally these housed the thousands of men and women of General Salazar’s 2nd Marine Division but they had been left behind on Reach, helping with the clean-up around the Menachite Mountain Complex. In their place was a much more experienced and battle-hardened set of units, the 5th, 23rd and 128th Orbital Drop Shock Trooper Regiments.

There had been no time or need for them to settle in to new berths as the journey would take minutes at most. They sat wherever they could, in bunkrooms, messdecks and corridors, fully armoured and ready to go at a moment’s notice. The recessed hangers that usually housed the Terran Leopard dropships were packed with equipment – mines, explosives, grenades, ammunition, prefabricated defensive works, everything they would need to hold the perimeter while the Spartan’s went inside to sort out the mad AI. That’s what their officers had told them at any rate; they didn’t need to know the why, just the where and when. The ODST’s may have had a wild reputation and a general aversion to outsiders who weren’t up to their standards, but every last trooper was a blooded veteran and skilled soldier.

In starboard mess 42, usually home to C Company, First Battalion, 3rd of the 2nd, sat an eclectic mix of soldiers, passing the time as they usually did. Some compulsively checked and rechecked their trusty weapons, others worked through entire packs of chewing gum, a few prayed, and most grumbled and complained – about the mission, about the circumstances, about the war, about the food and about the generals.

“Man this is messed up” said one to his fellows. “I can’t believe we’re dropping onto some ancient doomsday machine to fight super-zombies!” Corporal Xander was never one to keep opinions to himself.

Next to him, Private Zhou agreed wholeheartedly. “Yeah. We aren’t even going feet-first, just getting “beamed” down there, whatever the hell that means. Is it even a proper Helljumper mission if we don’t ride down there in flames like thunder from the sky?”

There was a general agreement at that. Xander however had to have the last word. “Worst of all, we’re just backup for the super-special-Spartans.” The last word was spat as if it were a vile epithet. The Spartans may be heroes to the public, but the Helljumpers did not worship at that altar.

Xander’s hatred for the Spartans was not shared by the hulking brute of a man who had walked up behind him silently.

“You keep that shit to yourself Xander or I’ll have you on latrine duty for the next month. Clear?”

Xander knew that voice and could only bellow out, in best parade-ground fashion; “Sir yes sir!”

“Good” Sergeant Jeffords glared at the younger man. “Besides, if you want strange, consider that we’re going in after the Covenant glass the surface to clear us a drop zone. And while you’re thinking about that,” now his voice changed to carry across the compartment “Stand up! We drop in five! Final equipment check!”

The troopers jumped to their task and the time passed quickly. As the moment approached, Jeffords moved to the front and looked out over his men.

“Now I’ve heard you all bitching and I don’t care. The brass says this needs doing, and that means we do it, because we’re the best there is. We may not be going feet-first this time but make no mistake boys and girls, we’re still jumping into Hell to fight bad guys. And you know what I always say.”

From the assembled company came a single roar. “Terry loves fighting bad guys!”

Jeffords nodded. “Damn right I do.” At that point the intercom blared.

”CIC to Marine decks, surface bombardment complete, drop zone clear. Beaming in ten seconds.”

Jeffords grinned, chambered a round in his assault rifle and offered one final exhortation. “Come on you sons of bitches, do you want to live forever!?”

The soldiers roared and then the white light of the transporter beams washed over them. In an instant the neat, familiar-yet-different Terran messdeck was replaced by a scorched, blackened hellscape. There was no vegetation, no visible terrain of any kind for at least five kilometres around them. Beyond that a few rotten trees still stood, their limbs stripped away and the trunks burning in the aftermath of the searing plasma fire.

Jeffords looked up to see the familiar shapes of Covenant frigates, destroyers and battlecruisers moving up and away from the Ring. It was absolutely bizarre to see those aquatic shapes and not be in imminent danger of a fiery death.

Corporal Xander couldn’t keep his mouth shut. “Fuck me running Sarge, you really weren’t kidding about Hell.”

Jeffords sighed. “Corporal, just for that, you and your squad can go find our supply drop and start bringing it over.” On the tactical display inside the Sergeant’s helmet a set of directions appeared to where command wanted them. “The rest of you move out to position Charlie-Seven-Nine and begin setting up the perimeter.”

With much grumbling, Xander and his team jogged off to find their supplies. Elsewhere, near the centre of the defence perimeter was the still-intact entrance to the subsurface structure housing the Ring’s AI Core. This was where twenty-one Spartan-II’s appeared in flashes of light, right outside the still being assembled ODST command post. These twenty-one towering figures, clad in green reflective armour reminiscent of Greek legends were all that could be spared at short notice – another seven Spartan-II’s were already deployed elsewhere and that was the sum total of their elite force – a force that had a higher kill count than most divisions of Marines.

The leader, John-117 glanced around before issuing orders. “Fred, Will, take two others and get the supplies. Linda, Malcolm, set up an Overwatch position covering that entrance hallway. Kelly, Grace, split up the rest between you and cover each flank of the entrance. I’ll check with command and signal Dying Light that he’s clear to come down.”

The assembled Spartans nodded imperceptibly and moved off to their assigned tasks. John looked around again, while in his head, the AI Cortana was integrating with the ODST tactical net and exchanging greetings with Sheridan, the grade-C “dumb” AI that worked with the Helljumpers. Leaving her to that undisturbed he walked into the makeshift command post that had been beamed down wholesale from the Terran ship.
Various ODST’s, still in full battle gear were moving around and setting up displays, holoprojectors and data-links while reports were shouted and orders barked. It appeared chaotic, but to John and any other experienced soldier it was perfectly normal. With his imposing bulk he easily cut a path through to the ODST commander, one John was glad to be working with.

Colonel Nguyen was one of the few Helljumpers that didn’t hold any ill-will to the Spartan teams, though that may have had something to do with John, Will and Linda saving his entire platoon on Jericho VII years before. As it was a combat zone John didn’t salute or come to attention, he merely stepped up to the main display next to the short man and waited to be acknowledged. It didn't take long.

“Master Chief. Is your team ready to head inside?” The tone was no-nonsense and without any inflection or apparent emotion. Nguyen was renowned for being utterly stoic no matter what.

“We’re good to go Colonel, we just need Dying Light to beam down and we can head in.” With that statement, two small holograms appeared; the familiar female avatar of Cortana, and the First American Civil War General avatar of Sheridan.

”Dying Light is arriving now and will wait with Kelly. I’m interested to see how the new MJOLNIR upgrades perform in combat conditions.” Cortana said with naked curiosity in her tone.

Sheridan glared at his fellow AI before making his own report. ”The 5th is fully in place Colonel, the 23rd and 128th will be fully deployed in five minutes. These beaming systems and buffers make logistics so much easier. I wish we’d had these on Jericho…or back in the Shenandoah for that matter, we’d have whipped them Rebs even harder.”

Cortana rolled her eyes. John’s face shifted very slightly, which for a Spartan was a remarkable show of emotion even if it was hidden behind his helmet. Nguyen just blinked once before answering.

“Sheridan, don’t start, just keep the boys and girls focused. You are right about the beaming systems being damn handy though. And Cortana, the Chief is on a vital mission, he and his armour aren’t science experiments. Remember that.” The two AI’s nodded and then winked out, returning their attention to whichever other tasks needed their attention. Nguyen turned to look straight at the Chief.

“You’d best get moving Chief. That bombardment gave us a good killing ground but I don’t know how much time we can buy you before we have to withdraw, even with all the extra bullets and explosives we’ve got on hand.”

He was referring to the Terran-built transporter buffers they had been issued for this operation. Drawing on the idea first kludged together to deliver supplies to the besieged Atlantis at the beginning of the Pegasus Campaign, these had been improved considerably. While the weapons themselves had to be carried to avoid transporter degradation weakening their mechanisms, the ammunition and explosives were stored as patterns of energy in the buffer. A small data core the size of an adult’s fist could now hold tens of millions of rounds of ammunition, already loaded in magazines and belts, coupled with a small ultra-short-range transporter to rematerialize them exactly where a squad needed them.

Everyone expected fighting the Flood to be extremely ammunition-intensive; this way each ODST had immediate access to upwards of a full day’s worth of continuous fire for their weapons and hundreds of frag and incendiary grenades each. Hopefully it would be enough to buy time for Dying Light to finish his task in the Core and get the Ring’s defences operating again.

With Nguyen’s instruction John took off from the command post at a steady jog that was still faster than most ODST’s would be sprinting. Cortana wasn’t the only one with a…professional interest in the latest version of the MJOLNIR armour. Over the last months Doctor Halsey and the other scientists and engineers had been working on incorporating the new Terran technologies into the already fearsome system, making it even better.

The micro-fusion reactor had been swapped out for a miniaturised Naquada generator, giving the suit much more power. Instead of the modified Jackal shield they had intended to use, Terran shield emitters provided an estimated three times the protection while the extra power made the armour about half again as strong and about twenty percent faster. The excess power also drove a personal transporter buffer system, letting them carry plenty of ammo while a copied Sodan cloaking device would enable them to move silently. They could also carry larger, electrically powered weapons and even light energy weapons if needed, though those hadn’t been brought along because they weren’t deemed as effective as ballistic weapons.

His assembled team carried sniper rifles or assault rifles, with submachine guns strapped to each thigh as a backup and either a shotgun or rocket launcher slung on their backs. On each wrist was a weapon borrowed from the Tau’ri, a Zat-gun modified to be fired from the wrist without needing to be deployed. It had originally been incorporated as a non-lethal option back when the kill/capture mission for the Covenant leadership was the plan. It had been kept installed just in case it came in handy.

In the short time John had been away, the other twenty Spartans had set up as instructed but nothing had yet emerged from the tunnel. Dying Light was floating around, switching between melancholic comments about his fellow Monitor that had gone rogue and admiring remarks about the MJOLNIR armour, leading to more than a few quizzical glances from the supersoldiers present.

“Blue team on me, we’ll take point. Red team at the rear, Green and Grey take the flanks. Dying Light, you’re in the centre. Move out.” With those few brief orders, the twenty-one Spartans and one Forerunner AI construct headed into the tunnel. None of them knew what awaited them but they went anyway.

The only question left was whether it would be as good as they hoped – or as worse as they feared.

=================

A few notes:

-Yes, I gave the ODST's and the Spartans a Hyperspace Arsenal, because the tech is there for them to do it and it makes sense to me for them to come up with the idea. They've done it once after all.

-Yes, the ODST AI is General Sheridan. This is something I've lifted fairly closely from canon - in "Halo - The Flood" the ODST's assigned to UNSC Pillar of Autumn had a "grade-C military AI" called Wellsley, who on occasion acted like he was the real Duke of Wellington.

-You may also noticed I referred to Sheridan as a First American Civil War General. Well with 500+years of extra, largely blank history it gives me some wiggle room (and the UNSC/Tau'ri timelines aren't exact duplicates anyway, see the previous chapter and the comments about one BJ Blaskowicz. Also, well, I like messing with the Yanks

-Yes, the Spartans are now faster and stronger with better shields - not massively faster mind you, there's a limit to how much they can improve even with naquada power. The portable energy weapons I=mentioned (but not used) are, well, think Spartan-portable laser cannons of the same design as those carried on Vipers and Cobras. Or a standard laser rifle with MG42-rates of fire. The idea of giving them Sodan cloaks is borrowed from "A Change of Fate" the SG/Halo crossover I've referenced a few times.

-We also meet one Sgt. Terry Jeffords, courtesy of the Brooklyn-99 binge I've been on lately.

Hopefully there won't be such a large gap until the next update. Like Act 4, Act 5 is likely to only cover a fairly short span of time in-universe, so please keep that in mind despite the weeks-long gaps out-of-story.

[Eternal_Freedom]

As an amusing aside, I spent my lunch break yesterday chatting about this story with one of the guys at work who's reading it, bouncing ideas and so on. Turns out he's a BattleTech fan and suggested I use that as another faction in Book III, perhaps during the Amaris Coup or Clan Invasion to give the Terrans and Colonials actual WarShips to fight.

I liked the idea, but had to point out that if Nemesis or Jupiter were around for the Amaris Coup, they could have picked up General Kerensky and a good number of forces, jumped to Earth in seconds and blown away pretty much all the Caspars in short order, alone. Whatever policy they might have about not getting involved in human-on-human violence, I can't imagine Adama or Jellicoe being remotely happy with a fleet of nuclear-armed, fully robotic warships running around populated systems.

He went on a short rant about how dangerous the Caspars would be, until I pointed out that they lacked shields, AG fields, their sustained acceleration was still less than ten G's (a fraction of the Warstar's), they have no answer to tactical FTL jumps and hundred-kiloton nukes are a mortal threat to even Star League battleships, whereas to a Warstar those kind of weapons are almost beneath notice.

That might be authorial pride talking, but my colleague eventually agreed. He then suggested I should write a scene of Jupiter slaughtering the Caspars while Aleksandyr Kerensky stands next to Admiral Jellicoe in Fleet Ops and demands the surrender of an utterly shocked Amaris. It's an amusing notion if nothing else.

I also had an idea for a what-if story, where instead of sending them to Terra, the Warspite's mis-jump in Book I sent them back in time as well, so the TCN Fleet (and Nemesis) could arrive in time to ambush the Cylon Fleet before they launched "The Plan." Again, an amusing idea to think about if nothing else.

[LadyTevar]

And this pops up the week of my birthday.

THANK YOU!

But I seriously hope you aren't foreshadowing a real Second American Civil War. There's too many prepping for it now.

[Jedi Commisar]

And this pops up the week of my birthday.

Same! this is a nice early Birthday treat

[Eternal_Freedom]

Well happy birthday to you both! Totally unplanned, and I've actually had the first half of this written for about a month, just took a while to work up the mental energy to finish it.

And nope, I'm not intentionally foreshadowing a second civil war. I reckon that this timeline's version happened about 2100 or so, or maybe not long after the Halo-verse humans invented slipspace drives in 2291 (some argument about colony rights with, I dunno, California deciding to secede because it was wealthier than the rest combined and was sick of being shackled to Washington). Incidentally, this is probably why Washington, DC doesn't get mentioned in Halo canon, it ain't there anymore.

[fnord]

Nice work.

Couple of questions (possibly arising out of my ignorance of Halo):
- Since when were UNSC sergeants commissioned officers?
- When did it become kosher to verbally demote someone?

[Eternal_Freedom]

Nice work.

Couple of questions (possibly arising out of my ignorance of Halo):
- Since when were UNSC sergeants commissioned officers?
- When did it become kosher to verbally demote someone?

I don't know what you're referring to with that. If by the second one you mean Nguyen referring to John as "Chief" rather than "Master Chief" that happens all the time in the Halo games. He hasn't been demoted or anything. To the best of my knowledge it happens in real-life militaries as well - you have a whole bunch of rank variations on "Sergeant" (Sergeant, Staff Sergeant, Master Sergeant, First Sergeant etc) or "Chief Petty Officer" (Chief, Senior Chief, Master Chief, Command Master Chief etc) but outside of formal settings are just called "Sergeant" or "Sarge" or "Chief."

[Sky Captain]

Nice to see this story coming back. I do wonder if there is some sort of jamming going on preventing use of drones to explore the underground structures before humans go inside. Going into facility controlled by rogue AI and potentially full of Flood forms could easily lead to loss of multiple Spartans. A spy drone packed full with all kinds of sensors could substantially reduce this risk.

[Eternal_Freedom]

That would be a good idea yes. However remember that this has all been thrown together with about an hour's notice. Also, among the MJOLNIR upgrades is a better sensor suite, and they have Dying Light along for the ride as well.

Mainly though, as I mentioned in Book I, I can't have the good guys get it right every time.

[LadyTevar]

That would be a good idea yes. However remember that this has all been thrown together with about an hour's notice. Also, among the MJOLNIR upgrades is a better sensor suite, and they have Dying Light along for the ride as well.

Mainly though, as I mentioned in Book I, I can't have the good guys get it right every time.

If the Good Guys got it right every time, you'd not have much of a story. There's a balance to it all, so you can't have the Good Guys fumble around the whole book and then expect us to believe they got it all in the last chapter.

[Eternal_Freedom]

Indeed. I'm thinking the Alliance/UNSC situation at this point is like Churchill's remark of "Give us the tools and we'll finish the job." Well, the UNSC has got the tools...but can they finish things? Granted at the end of Act 4 I stated that Jupiter will win the current round against Iblis - but that doesn't necessarily mean the UNSC/Alliance forces will win. Jupiter may be on the human's side for now, but that don't mean he's a "good guy."

[Natzo]

I wonder if the Terrans, Tau'ri, and Colonials will make their own Mjolnir armor for standard Spec Ops. Like an improved Gen2 or ODST armor.

[DKeith2011]

Shows how busy/distracted I've been, completely missed this update until January of 21.

Glad to see a new post and hoping for more soon.

[Eternal_Freedom]

Well I have good news for you and everyone else then. I have about a half a chapter written so far and should hopefully have the full thing posted this week or so (thankfully over Xmas I performed some major surgery on my laptop which has improved performance massively).

I should also add that a problem I've had this year was that the story as written has evolved/mutated enough to require changing my plans for Acts 5 and 6. I've now got an amended plan in mind which will help with that, and ideas for Book III are firming up nicely.

[DKeith2011]

YAY!!!

[fnord]

Rock on!

[LadyTevar]

Well I have good news for you and everyone else then. I have about a half a chapter written so far and should hopefully have the full thing posted this week or so (thankfully over Xmas I performed some major surgery on my laptop which has improved performance massively).

I should also add that a problem I've had this year was that the story as written has evolved/mutated enough to require changing my plans for Acts 5 and 6. I've now got an amended plan in mind which will help with that, and ideas for Book III are firming up nicely.

Please. Those of us in the US need the distraction. We're scared what'll happen Jan 20th.