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Halo: First Contact

Chapter 3: The Universe Is A Big Place

Admiral Mathias sighed heavily as he ended the call with the previously MIA helljumper. He just had a lot of incredible information dumped into his lap. For one they had discovered an alien species. And this species was actually a diverse collection of humanized animals, earth animals no less. There had to be an explanation, but right now he could not think of one.

All this would have to wait anyways; he had a fight to win. Mathias stood up from his chair and strode to the forward viewport, turning to the small holo tank built there. Josephine's avatar materialized, now wearing a naval uniform with her hands clasped behind her back securly. "Josephine, I hope you are ready to repel any of these...aliens' attempts at cyberwarfare."

"I was created to be ready, now I get a chance to see if a UNSC A.I is the best counter-hacker in the universe." She replied confidently, her avatar grinning widely.

Mathias chuckled, feeling a little more at ease with the upcoming battle. "I already know that, the enemy will be the ones to find out for themselves. Give em hell."

She nodded and saluted as her avatar winked out. Mathias, now confident, turned to his comms officer. "Open a line to the entire fleet." The man was quick and did as the admiral asked.

"Communication established sir."

Mathias cleared his throat and began to speak. "Men and women of the UNSC, today is a day that will go down in history, and we will be the ones who decide what happens. We have been given a chance to do the right thing." By this time the bridge crew turned their full attention to the admiral. He gestured out the viewport where a titanic battle could be seen being waged over a green and blue world. "Out there lies our future, what we do today will determine humanities standing in the galaxy at large. We are not alone. Humanity now has neighbors in the cosmos. Who will we be to them and more importantly, to ourselves? Will we be saviors and defenders of the galaxy? Or will we stand idly by as those who would seek to take ravage it and take what does not belong to them? I know your answers; you all have been picked for this mission because I saw in you that potential for acts of selflessness and the strength to defend."

As he spoke, people throughout the fleet, marines, technicians, doctors, scientists, ODSTs, officers, and even average crewman, all stopped their tasks and listened to the admiral's broadcast. In their chests rose a pride in themselves and humanity. The admiral made them feel as if they were all important and were making a difference, no matter the seemingly ordinariness of their positions.

"Today... we make that choice...today we make our stand...today we prove to ourselves and the people of this planet that humanity has taken the role of wardens of the galaxy. I ask all of you, will you stand with me?" the bridge was deafened by the approval of his crew. Even the bridge security team pitched in, raising their guns in acknowledgment. Mathias smiled, "Well than, let's go make our mark on the galaxy."

He turned to address his tactical coordinator. "Adam, prepare to move the fleet on my command."

"Right away sir!" The officer replied going over his console and making sure he was ready to do just that.

"Adam, have the destroyer screen move to the front. Bring the corvettes to a vertical station split in half above and below them. Have them keep any fighters off the destroyers; we cannot afford to lose them. I want the heavy cruisers grouped up and ready to launch a staggered volley of MAC rounds, keep it so that we have one firing at least every minute. Have the heavy frigates move to support the destroyer screen but leave Watchman and Bloodhound behind to escort The Immortal, if we lose that ship we really will have no means of staying effective after the battle. I want the prowlers to skirt around the engagement and wait for my orders. Have all ships with attack craft launch them. I want a dense fighter curtain out front and keep the bombers in reserve. Finally, have the stridents form around our ship. We will be spearheading this assault." As he spoke the ships moved in to position, the formation all based off the location of The Errant King.

"Admiral, the fleet has moved into position and is waiting for orders." The coordinator informed.

"Excellent, Rias, open a channel on all frequencies, we will give these invaders one chance to surrender."

The comms officer punched in a combination at his console and turned to the admiral. "You're on sir."

"This is Admiral Mathias of the United Nations Space Command 1st expeditionary fleet. To the invaders of this world, you have one minute to confirm your withdrawal from this planet before we take lethal action to forcibly remove you. This is your first and final warning; if you do not comply with these demands...we will destroy you." Mathias's tone was hard, confident, and full of danger, he sounded as if he could easily make good on that promise.

In response, a harsh grating and nasally voice dripping with superiority and condemnation spat caustically from the ships speakers. "This is Admiral Perseus Claw of the venomian retribution fleet, Hammerhand. I don't know who the hell you are or who you think you are, but this world and the fate of its people belong to me. The cornerians are weak pathetic fools and their empire has had its time. Any who interfere with our plans will die along with them." As the connection was cut, half of the attacking force broke off from the battle and moved to intercept the incoming UNSC fleet.

Mathias smirked. "Well, it looks like we got our answer men. Henry, open the archer pods and charge up the MACs. Sally, launch our close in fighter cover and keep them close together, we don't know what type of snub craft we are dealing with. Adam, I want the heavy cruisers ready to fire on my command. Joseph, bring up the tac-map, let's get a closer look at our new friends."

The window in front of them was covered in a floating blue film showing the approaching hoard of ships. "Looks like these guys are ready for some serious action." Josephine commented, popping up aside the admiral. "I have good news and bad news admiral. Bad news is that they outnumber us. The largest ship they have is approximately two kilometers in length and has some pretty nasty looking guns. Fifty ships of several classes have broken off from the main battle and are heading this way, supported by close to a thousand fighters."

"What's the good news?" Mathias muttered. It was looking like this would be a dangerous battle. The enemy was unfamiliar and would use tactics and ships that he had never seen before. He had no idea how strong their shields were or how effective their laser weaponry would be against the hull armor.

"The good news is that defending fleet has less to deal with." The A.I said, smiling weakly.

Despite himself, Mathias laughed. "That is good news I suppose." Josephine left to get ready for her part of the upcoming engagement, leaving the admiral with his job.

"Get me The Dark Heart." He ordered Rias.

Seconds later a holo image of a man dressed in a dark black uniform without ornamentation appeared on screen. "Admiral." He saluted.

"Thomas, are the prowlers in position?"

"We are ready and waiting for orders." He answered.

"Excellent get ready to initiate the broken wing stratagem. This tactic will only be this effective once and I want to make it count."

The beginnings of understanding lit up on the prowler captain's face, causing him to smile knowingly. "Right sir, we will get the area primed immediately, wise move admiral."

"I only hope so Thomas. And for whatever reason, if we lose this fight, take your prowlers and run. Gun it to the asteroid base in the Helios system and warn the UNSC about this. Prepare a data packet of the battle and all the information you have collected thus far and give it to the admiralty. Anything that can give us an edge will be vital for any upcoming conflict."

Thomas nodded grimly. "Do not worry admiral, I shall not fail you."

"I know you won't, good luck Thomas." Mathias wished, letting the captain go.

"Admiral, enemy vessels approaching maximum MAC range!" Henry, the weapons officer, warned.

"Good, are the MACs fully charges?"

"The fleet is ready to fire, but ours are at ninety percent and the supers are at seventy."

"Damn, have the fleet wait to fire on my command; we need to have a full charge."

"Admiral, enemy fleet is sending fighters, there are hundreds of them!" Jericho exclaimed as he watched the console he sat in front of beep rapidly.

"...It looks like we have no choice, prepare to fire the MACs." On the tactical map, hundreds of little red dots swarmed over to their position. Mathias could even see them out in space, their numbers crediting him that ability.

"Commander MACS are fully charged, but the supers need more time."

"That will have to do, have the fleet fire on my mark......MARK!" The bridge shook with the force of the magnetic accelerator cannons. Seconds later the fleet followed suit, sending a colossal wave of slugs hurtling towards the approaching enemy.

Pelican Troop Bay...

Deadeye sat in the loading bay of a pelican. He was quickly loading his sniper rifle while his team was busy getting ready with equal amounts of fervor. The reason for their haste was the discovery that Atlas was still alive somewhere on the planet's surface. They managed to pin point his location from the radios signal he used to contact them. Now they had to go down and save him.....and the new friends it seemed he made.

"Hey Deadeye, are these orders for real?" Barbados demanded, voice flecked with disbelief as he scrolled through the team's data pad. "Locate MIA helljumper...and assist native aliens with defense. Hostiles are red and black armored apes...and reptiles. Friendlies will be races in green and white, composed of foxes, birds, cats, and...dogs? What the fuck is going on?"

"It doesn't matter Joker, all that matters is we have the location of our lieutenant. All we have to do is find him, and follow the orders. I'm pretty sure you can tell the difference between an ape and fox, so I do not want to see any accidents." Cullen replied simply, he cared little for aliens; all he wanted was to get his friend back in one piece.

Vasquez looked up from her rifle. "What type of support can we expect?'

"Command has decided to use the full complement of troops aboard the Midsummer's Solace. That means we will have tanks, marines, gunship support, airstrikes, and fellow ODSTs. The admiral is not playing games, this is the big one."

"You hear that boys, we are actually going to have flyboys overhead." Mary muttered, slinging her rifle. She had been a little hostile since the presumed death of their LT. But they knew she would be back to normal once they retrieved him.

"We've waited long enough, load up helljumpers. We are in the first wave. Our job will be to secure landing zones for the tanks and marines. Command says these bastards have laser weapons, which mean their ground troops have them to. Unless you wanna see what it does to our armor, keep your fucking heads down." They jogged up the ramp of the pelican and sat among the chairs. Deadeye went up to and knocked on the doors to the cockpit, signaling the pilots to take off, the door opened and he entered to stand behind them as the pelican rose up, and with the harsh whine of its engines, flew out of the crowded bay of the cruiser, filed with marines, warthogs, pelicans, and ODSTs.

As they went down, they were joined with another four pelicans and three longsword support fighters. They cleared the cloud cover and got a good view of the world they would be fighting on. There were jungles and the outline of a strange looking city could be seen. Both of these were on fire. These invaders had no care for the ecosystem or the noncombatants of this world it seemed. "Bastards, what race could do this?" One of the pilots growled as he surveyed the wanton devastation.

"Hate to break it to you kid, but I was in the insurrection...and we did the same thing." Deadeye sighed. He knew that humanity was capable of the same acts of evil.

"I....know your right sir, but my dad always believed that when we found aliens, that they would be different. You know those old vids where they tried to show us a better way. He thought it would be like that." The pilot replied.

"The universe is not what we want it to be kid, but we can try to change it." Deadeye patted him on the shoulder. "What's your name kid?"

"Josh sir, Josh Becker."

"Well Josh Becker, have a little faith, I'm sure there are aliens out there that embody your father's belief. But for now, let's kick the asses of the ones that don't huh."

"Amen to that sir." Josh said, turning to deadeye and smiling.

He turned to head back into the troop compartment and saw Mary standing there with an evil smile. "I had no idea you were such a softy."

"I do not know what you are talking about." He muttered, brushing past her and walking down the short staircase, her teasing laughter chasing him down. Deadeye buckled into the seat at the end, where the ramp would deploy, it was also the seat where the folding HMG was stored. Mary came back a few minutes later and sat next to him, still smiling brightly.

Needless to say, she made used the remainder of the ride to hassle him, causing the others to laugh. Deadeye was looking forward to deploying into the deadly maw of the enemy laser guns.

"Two minutes till target zone." The pilot announced over the intercom. The bay light lit up red and they got ready to deploy. Deadeye placed his gloved hand on the machine racked up to the wall next to him, his hand twitching almost unnoticeably.

"So...no shooting any farm animal right Deadeye?" Barbados asked.

"Shut up Joker." He muttered back, causing Flare to smile and slug him on the arm. The scrawny kid gave her an evil look through his helmet and rubbed the sore appendage.

"Jeez, I'm just trying to lighten the mood guys." He mumbled sullenly.

"We know joker, and hitting you does just that." Momma bear said with a giggle.

"One minuet till our arrival at target zone." The pilot informed once more, the light in the bay turned green and the ramp began to lower with a hydraulic whine. Deadeye stood up and pulled the machine gun into position on the ramp. The howling wind would have made conversation impossible if not for the inter suit radios.

"Remember, aim for the black and red. I want zero friendly fatalities. That means check your targets before pulling the trigger." His helmet turned to look at Flare specifically, as did all the others.

"What?" She demanded when she noticed them all turn to her visibly.

"We don't want a repeat of the cow incident." Deadeye answered for them all.

"Hey how was I supposed to know that they had a cow?" flare retorted defensively, heating up under the armor when she heard them all snicker. "Seriously, who owns a cow in the city?"

Their laughter almost drowned out the sounds of high pitched hums emerging from the outside. "Damn we have one hell of a laser light show brewing down here." The pilot said with an awe filled voice. "I can see two distinct groups, one is holed up around a bunker like building and the other is encircling it. There are a lot of troops down there; we are going to have to do a few passes with the chin gun and your turret. I hope you are ready for a turkey shoot."

"Sounds like my kind of thing." Deadeye responded, pulling the gun's huge lever back, cycling the massive round into the equally massive barrel. "Let's kick some ass!" He exclaimed as the dropship went soaring in for its first run.

Transmission Room...

Fox and the others watched anxiously as Krystal kneeled besides the armored stranger, eyes furrowed closed and speaking in her native tongue. As he was watching, the comms bracer he was wearing buzzed. Looking down, he clicked the button and let the call go through, and heard an angry voice.

"So Fox, thanks for letting me know you were going to bail on me." Falco grumbled over the sounds of blaster fire.

Fox had almost forgotten his friend outside, not that he would admit that. "Hey Falco, I didn't bail on you, I just....had to do something inside. The stranger had an idea."

"So you followed the stranger and left your friend out here to die...nice job."

"Stop being such grouch, the guy's idea worked. We just might win this fight now."

"Really, how are we going to do that?" Falco demanded, sounding somewhat appeased.

"Well he called for help using the transmitter and they are on the way. That reminds me; when you see a bunch of strangers in armor, don't shoot them."

"Have a little faith Fox. What kind of bird do you take me for?" Falco asked reproachfully.

"Let's see. You're cocky, violent, showboating, and confrontational." Fox replied with a smirk.

"You wound me." The avian said with a jokingly hurt tone.

"Sure whatever man, just don't cause an interspecies incident please."

"Interspecies...So he was an alien! That means you owe me fifty creds."

"Sorry man you're breaking up...call me later." Fox hastily hung up. The vulpine sighed and wiped his furred brow, turning his attention back to the gang around the fallen warrior. Krystal was holding his head in her lap, still mumbling in her inborn language. He had no idea what she was doing, but he hoped that it would work. They owed this guy a favor, alien or not. Fox wanted to ask her if she was having any success, but he felt that it would be a bad idea to break her concentration. So he just sat on one of the chairs, besides Peppy and Slippy.

He swirled it to face the old hare. "So Pep, how are you feeling now?"

His stepfather rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "This old Hare is tired, but still in the game. We have hope again Fox. It seems that these mysterious benefactors of ours are going to save the day. I for one am interested and would like to know why they are here. They may be helping us now, but what is to stop them from changing their allegiance. Their motives are unknown and could be darker than we suspect."

"He told us they were explorers." Fay interjected, getting up from her crouch next to Krystal and walking over to take the last seat.

"When did he say that?" Slippy asked as his attention turned from the strange happenings on the floor and to the burgeoning conversation.

"After he swooped in and took care of the venomians on our side of the line. He was wounded and Krystal fixed him up. While she did that he told us a little about what he was and why they were here." Fay explained quickly.

"What is he?" Peppy queried.

"He said he belonged to a race called humans and that they were exploring the galaxy. He did not tell me why though." She responded her muzzle shifting to a perplexed expression.

"What kind of explorer needs gear like that?" Fox muttered musingly, regarding the man's equipment.

"Liam said that he was just a soldier, protecting the explorers." Fay answered quickly.

"Liam is it?" Peppy asked with a seemingly knowing tone.

Fay blushed heavily. "What? He told us his name that's all."

"Getting a little defensive there eh Fay?" Fox wiggled his brows.

"Come on guys, leave her alone." Miyu exclaimed from her position at Krystal's side. "A name hardly means anything like that."

"I know, we were just playing around, no harm." Fox said, raising his paws in surrender.

"Yeah well while you guys are 'playing', he is here dying." She meowed, pointing to the comatose man with Krystal's paws on his head.

At that their spirited banter died and they adopted solemn expressions. "We know, this is just how we deal with stress, you know that." Slippy jumped in, attempting to broker a peace.

Miyu sighed and lowered her head, triangular ears wilted. "I know, it's just he saved our lives, and he did it without hesitation. What kind of man does that? What kind of man throws his people in along with him? Why would they help us so easily? I have so many questions and the only one who can answer them is right there, suffering for his selfless actions."

"Don't worry, I know Krystal. And if anyone could pull it off, it would be her." Peppy said confidently.

"I suppose so, but still..." She trailed off, turning back to look at the vixen as she attempted to save his life. "I cannot help but wonder how."

"I can't answer that, we still do not know the full extent of her abilities. Whatever she is doing, is something we could probably never imagine." Peppy said with a hint of wonder. It was true, none of them knew what it was exactly she could do. It bordered on the impossible and supernatural.

Meanwhile, a confused helljumper was waking up in a very familiar place.

Liam's Mother's House...

Liam slowly opened his eyes. "Uggh....what happened? It feels like Cullen smashed me in the chest." He groaned, sitting up from the bed he laid on and massaging his temples. He looked to his surroundings and felt his head spin. "What the hell? This is my mom's house." It was indeed his mother's house. He could spot every little detail and even the damage he and his brother caused to it. In fact, the huge hole in the wall next to the bed was the very one he had made when he had read the first rejection email from the ODST core a year ago.

He looked down to his body and saw the same clothes he had been wearing the night before he left, a red t-shirt and black jeans. He was even wearing the small wristband his mother gave to him, the one he took off before his last drop. That is if he had even dropped in the first place. "Was it all just some crazy dream?" He muttered. Had the last few months been some really detailed dream? Had he actually joined the expedition, or was he still taking care of his mother?

"I'm afraid that it wasn't a dream Liam." A feminine voice answered his questions.

Puzzled, he turned his head to look to the doorway expecting to see his mother, but instead he sighed as he saw the vixen from before leaning against it, that puffy blue and white tail bobbing contentedly behind her. "So if it was not a dream, what am I doing here? What are you doing here?"

"In times of extreme duress and strain, the mind retreats to familiar memories and places." She answered.

"So what, this is all in my head? Is that what you're saying?"

"Yes and no, you see, you did die from that last blaster bolt. So I used my own mind to revive you and keep you stable." She said with a sad frown. "I still cannot thank you enough for saving me."

"Well you are off to a good start. Being dead would be kind of a downer for me." He said with a smile.

She giggled and fiddled with her paws. "You are a very strange man. I can't understand how you are dealing with all of this so well."

"I have done and seen a lot of crazy stuff in my time with the marines and later in the helljumpers. While this has got to be the weirdest thing, I find myself more accepting of the strange and supernatural. As the saying goes, you won't find an atheist in a foxhole...or something like that. It's been awhile." He said, climbing out of bed.

"That is an expression I have never heard."

"Yeah well different species different phrases. I know I haven't heard whatever it is your people say."

"Wise words."

"Maybe, but we have more important things to worry about at the moment then sage words and slogans. For one, what happens now?"

The azure vixen grabbed her tail and stroked it as she thought up an answer. "Well I am doing all I can at the moment to keep you breathing. I can only hope that your friends arrive in time to help you, otherwise we both will die."

"Both of us? Why would you die?" He demanded in surprise.

"What I have done is tied my life force into your own. This while keeping you alive, has also tied my fate with your own." She replied sheepishly.

"That is unacceptable. I let myself take that shot so that you could live. I had no intension of you endangering yourself afterwards. Let me go, I am ready." He ordered, shaking his head in refusal.

"I will not do that, believe it or not, I do not think you are ready to die!" She exclaimed stubbornly, stamping her foot.

"Why? You hardly even know me, why am so important to you?"

"Does there have to be a reason?" She asked quietly, he could not see that she was quivering.

"Yes there does! I do not want to waste my sacrifice, and if you do die that's exactly what I would have done." He growled.

"I have my reasons." She replied softly, looking away from him.

"What are the reasons then? Why would you care?" He demanded, almost shouting at her.

At that the vixen could not hold it in any longer. "Because you cared that's why!" She cried out. The room went deathly silent and Liam found himself unable to respond, almost incapable of grasping her answer. After her outburst Krystal slid down to the floor and began to whimper, hiding her muzzle behind her tail.

Feeling like a jackass, he walked over and sat next to her, sighing. "I'm sorry. My father always told me I was never thankful when I should be. So thanks for saving me...Krystal." He hesitantly began to rub her fuzzy shoulders in an effort to comfort her. "But I have to know, what did you mean when you said that I cared?"

She looked up into his face, tears streaking gently down her muzzle, sparkling droplets glistening in the soft glow of the rooms light. When he saw that, he could not help but bring his hand to it and wiping away the tears the way someone would do for a loved one. At his gesture she smiled and stopped her sniffling "You cared about me, enough to sacrifice yourself, and you did not even know me! No one has ever done that for me. Sure Fox always looks out for me. But he isn't like you, I can't explain it. I just feel that it meant more, I don't know I probably sound like a fool." She sighed, turning her head back down.

Liam gently but firmly raised her furred chin with his left hand, making her look up at him again. "Never say that, never smack yourself down. My father always said that there will be enough people in the world to do that for you, so why would you do it to yourself."

Her ordinary smile transformed into a shining one as she chuckled with a lush smoky tenor. "It seems your father was full of proverbs."

"Yeah well he was a career soldier, and I guess when you spend so long fighting for your life and the lives of others you get like that." He replied, still rubbing her shoulder with his other hand, while the one he had used to lift her head absently moved to stroke it between her pointy ears. The way one would for his pet. It was a harmless action, born of his years with the family dogs. But it seemed to have a pleasant effect on the vixen, causing her to begin to murr and snuggle up into his chest. At first he froze and felt a wave of unease wash over him, but he drowned it in his compassion and resumed his ministrations.

"This is nice." She purred, her voice muffled from the angle of her muzzle as it was covered by his shirt. She was taking big snuffles of his scent. She found it relaxing and pleasant all at the same time. It was a smell she could breathe in all day.

"Yeah...it kinda is, too bad we could both die." He mumbled, almost falling asleep from the warmth her furred body supplied.

"Yeah well, I don't think it would be so bad...not if you are here." She replied, equally drowsy.

"Yeah well I am still going to hope that we don't."

"I wonder how it's going outside." She mumbled.

"I'm sure that it is all going just fine." He assured, moving the hand he used to massage her back and brining it down to her back, causing her to murr deeper and dig her muzzle into his chest with a more intimate meaning. "Yeah...thinks are going to be alright."

Outside The Relay Station...

"Shit pelican down!" Deadeye growled from his position behind the husk of some flaming treaded alien tank. He just watched their ride as it slammed down into the pavement a less than a kilometer away, exploding in a gruesome fashion. When the op began, it seemed that it would be a walk in the park. There weapons had no trouble piercing the enemy armor and they were not as experienced in warfare as the ODSTs. It had been a strange day. But by far the strangest thing was meeting with the ones holding the building.

At first things had been tense between them and the defenders, the advanced ODST teams had deployed close to the building, wiping out the apes and lizards in close proximity. After that they had walked over to the guards. It was a motley collection of what could only be walking talking animals. A few of the troopers, the ones who were too stupid to keep their mouths shut, almost caused a firefight. But with the help of a few swift asskickings and a strange blue and red avian that sounded like he could use a brush with reality, they managed to smother the flames. Once tensions had been delayed, both groups turned their ire to the approaching enemy. Whatever the hell these guys were, they were endless. No matter how many he drilled full of holes, the numbers never seemed to change. Their only saving grace was the slow but steady arrival of their reinforcements.

When they cleared a suitable zone, the larger pelicans came in with the marines and a few warthogs. The hogs proved to be a serious addition to the defense. The LAAGs on them chewed through entire squads of these relentless bastards. But for all their efforts they still lost men. While it was true their weapons punched straight through the enemy's armor, it held true for them too. Whatever the hell powered these damn weapons had no problem scything through the thick armored plates of their personal armor, a fact he could attest to Deadeye thought as he felt the burning pain in his shoulder.

But even with all that was arrayed against them. They were slowly turning the tide. All they had to do was hold out until the pelicans could drop down a few scorpions, then they would really show these ape fuckers how to wage war. That confident outlook would have remained that way if not for the arrival of over a dozen of those weird fighters that tilted the balance of the battle.

The three longswords proved to be superior fighters, both in size and power. But they were outnumbered. One had been shotdown a few minutes ago, disappearing somewhere in the jungle in a blaze of metal and charred bone. All that did was bolster the resolve of the attackers and make it harder for the rest of the pelicans to drop and the remaining longswords to keep them off the dropships. If they did not receive any more fighter support, than this engagement would take a turn for the worse.

Deadeye turned to one of the marines with a radio strapped to his back. "Get the _Solace_on the line. Tell them I want more longswords down here yesterday!" The soldier saluted and grabbed the receiver and began to try and hail the cruiser. If they got more longswords then they could blast these assholes into dust.

With that taken care of, he ran through the lasers and bullets to where his squad was hiding at the front of the line, a mix of marines, ODSTs, two pilots, and these cornerians as they were called. He hunkered down next to Joker who was busy emptying his assault rifle down range at the enemy closing in. To the left of the cover was Flare, manning the LAAG on the warthog parked alongside them. Momma Bear was using her grenade launcher to great effect, pumping the explosive cartridges over the wrecked pelican they were using for cover.

"How's the situation looking Joker?"

"Royally fucked up sir, if we don't get some longswords or scorpions this will be our last stand." The black man replied, flinching as a red bolt buzzed by his helmet.

"I have the radio operator on it. Hopefully we can get some results. Do you know where Liam is? We haven't heard anything about him from theses cornerians."

"If you're talking about your buddy, Fox and the others took him into the building, leaving my ass here." A grumpy voice cut in.

Deadeye turned to see that avian from earlier, he as in cover across from them. The bird was next to a husky, who was calmly firing at the enemy with a slow and methodical pace.

"Are you talking about that building right there?' Deadeye pointed to the one behind them, covered in laser burns.

"Dude, how many building do you see still standing?" The avian deadpanned, popping out of cover and adding his deadly fire to the husky's.

"Right thanks...."

"Falco, the names Falco, but you can call me asskicker extraordinaire."

"Sure, thanks Falco." Deadeye replied, peeling out of cover and running over to the building.

Falco frowned as he watched him go. "Why does no one ever call me that? Obviously I deserve the title."

The husky next to him, Arden turned for a second to comment. "Of course they call you that, just take out the kicker and extraordinaire."

Falco grunted. "Shut up and keep shooting, and stop laughing!" He shouted to Joker, who was chortling as he exchanged fire with an ape hiding behind a crumbled wall.

"Sure thing...ass."

Falco threw his hands in the air, and tossed a grenade at the ape Joker was targeting. The grenade went off and claimed the black man's kill for the bird.

"You fucking bastard!" Joker exclaimed turning to look at the now grinning avian who was studiously ignoring the infuriated man. Disregarded, Joker grumbled to himself and went back to shooting.

Transmission Building...

Deadeye entered the building and walked down the deserted corridors. It took him a few minutes to find the room that Liam was in. When he entered he almost reflexively drew his rifle. He still was a little uneasy around theses aliens. Inside the room was a frog or toad he didn't care, an old looking rabbit, some strange cat, a white dog...with a pink bowtie, a blue fox, and another fox who was orange. The blue fox was holding Liam's head and seemed to be in some sort of trance. Liam was breathing shallowly, and also seemed to be out cold.

When Deadeye entered, the orange fox and the cat reached for their weapons and only stopped a few millimeters from the grips, and did not move. "Who are you?" The fox asked in a no nonsense tone. His voice was not deep, but it still held a tone that demanded respect.

"My name's Deadeye, I am friend of his." He replied slowly holding his gun in a non-threatening way, not wanting to cause any accident. These guys looked like they were on a hair trigger.

The fox sighed and dropped his hand...or paw, whatever they called it. "I can't be too careful I haven't heard from Falco in a while and I can't get a hold of him."

"Falco... are you talking about a blue and red bird, cocky, bad tempered, arrogant?" Deadeye listed.

"Yeah, let me guess you met him?" The fox asked, smiling.

"Yeah, seems kinda like an ass to me."

"Yep that's Falco alright, he is actually a pretty good guy, but it's just hard to see sometimes."

"Sure whatever, look I'm here to take care of my friend, and by the looks of it he needs a lot of help." Deadeye cut to the chase and flipped his attention to his squad radio. "Momma Bear, I've found Atlas, bring the trauma kit but keep Flare and Joker on the defense, and transfer command over to Flare, Joker couldn't handle it."

"Copy that, I'll be there in a flash." She replied, he heard Joker start to protest before it was cut.

"Now, what exactly is she doing?" He questioned, looking at the blue vixen holding on to his friend.

"Well believe it or not, she is the only thing keeping him alive." The cat replied.

Deadeye took a closer look and saw no discernable evidence of that. "How is she doing that then?"

"She has certain mental powers." The dog explained helpfully.

Deadeye scoffed. "Mental...Powers? Are you saying she can read mines and stuff like that?"

"Yep, all that and more." The amphibian replied.

"Okay, I can believe aliens and laser weapons, but I'm stopping here, that's just ludicrous." He muttered dismissively, moving to pull her away from his friend.

"WAIT!" The cat cried out. "Don't do that, you have no idea what could happen!"

He froze centimeters from pulling the vixen's paws away. The feline's tone was serious and held no trace of humor. Clearly they believed that whatever this female fox was doing was real. And he began to feel doubt whether it was a good idea or not. Finally he came to a conclusion and pulled his hand away. "Fine, but if my friend dies, there will be hell to pay!" He warned, backing up and leaving the vixen undisturbed.

The cat sighed in relief. "Thanks, we really are not joking."

"Sure whatever, at this point I do not think anything could get crazier." He shrugged off, moving to stand by the doorway, waiting for his girlfriend and the medical supplies.

He didn't have to wait long. She came crashing in only a few minutes after they ended the call. Her brazen arrival alarmed the cornerians, but the blatant case of medical supplies calmed them down. Acting quickly, Momma Bear placed the huge trunk alongside the prone man and kneeling vixen, only sparing a second to look at her. "What's this fuzzy girl doing?" She asked as she opened the trunk and began to take out all the equipment, setting it up next to her patient.

"The locals are saying that she is keeping him alive." Deadeye explained, his tone showing his evident disbelief.

"Uh huh..." Momma Bear muttered skeptically as she began to take off the armor surrounding the obvious wound in his chest. When she pulled away the breastplate she gasped in surprise. "Jesus! Are you sure he's still alive?"

The fatigues under the armor she had removed were several shades darker than they should be, courtesy of the blood pooling out of the hole in the center of his chest. It looked gruesome and painful, a wound she had seen a few times out here on the battlefield recently. No one had survived from it yet, but somehow she could see that he was clearly breathing, although it was labored. "These people just might be right. I can't see how he could still be alive with a shot like this." Momma Bear said with an amazed tone, looking to Krystal.

"See, I told ya!" The spaniel said with a self-satisfied smirk.

"I guess you did." Deadeye replied, smiling underneath his helmet.

Wonder aside, Momma Bear got to work, scanning Liam's chest and pulling up a small holo of the inside on the monitor built into the trunk's lid. "It looks like he has a collapsed lung and the area around his heart has almost been flash-fried. God that must have been a hellishly painful hit, I probably couldn't have stayed standing."

He didn't fall down until a about a half hour ago." The fox said, his tone voicing the amazement they all were feeling.

"Yep, that's Atlas for ya, tough ass SOB. Well I will do what I can but it'll be a patch job. It should tide him over for now, but it would be best for him to see a real doctor as soon as possible." She announced as she began to pull out various tools and using them.

They all watched as the woman worked, quickly moving to pump the lung back up with a small strange device. After that she injected the contents of a canister of biofoam to seal up the wound and the lung, followed by a couple syringes of antibiotics and immune boosters. When she finished she replaced his breastplate and stood up with a sigh, taking of her helmet to wipe at her brow, releasing her head of red hair and tan face. The man who had been standing next to the door took off his own helmet, revealing a tired looking handsome face. He ran over and picked up the girl, planting a kiss on her lips. "Great job Mary! I knew you could do it!"

She smiled and kissed him back before turning to look back at that man she had just saved. "Yeah well all we have to do now is wait for him to wake up, beat back the swarm of invaders, and get back to the ship in one piece."

"That'll be a cake walk compared to what's happened so far." He shrugged off. While things were beginning to look up for the soldiers on the ground, the orbital war overhead was being fought with a terrible fury.

Aboard The Errant King...

"Henry, I want a target acquisition on that cruiser analog to our port side and charge the MACs. Sally, get me some goddamn longswords! Arm archer pods B5-K12, these fighters are eating through our hull armor. Rias, I need a status update on the destroyer picket!" Mathias bellowed orders as the bridge shook from the impact of a lance of energy slamming into the spine of the ship.

The enemy was relentless. The first volley of MAC rounds had reaped a fearsome tally among the approaching fleet. The 600-ton depleted uranium slugs had collided with the enemy vessels with varying degrees of success. The smaller ships were destroyed instantly some vaporizing as shields burst under the colossal kinetic force and hulls shattered from the heavy slugs. But the larger ship's shields held, although some force was transferred through, causing superficial damage.

The larger ships and the surviving smaller ships fired a retaliatory fusillade of laser lances. The high heat irradiated beams of light were slowly boiling away the titanium armor layers. The lasers while almost harmless in solitary shards, they were exceedingly dangerous in mass volleys. The Syracuse's hull integrity was already failing and two corvettes had been destroyed. Their saving grace was the excellence of their longsword and broadsword pilots. Without the courageous actions of these men and women, the enemy fighters would have swarmed them long ago. They had lost a dozen longswords and a handful of broadswords as they were eventually overwhelmed by the numbers arrayed against them. But despite that the others kept fighting, buying the fleet time to figure out a way of beating these bastards.

"Captain, super MACs are charged!" Henry called out from his station.

"Excellent, target that carrier analog." He ordered, pointing out one of the many huge ships currently firing at them.

"Orders received sir, firing super MACs!" Henry replied. Seconds later the ship vibrated as the two super MAC cannons along the spine emptied their barrels, sending the 3000-ton ferric tungsten slugs at 12,000 kilometers a second towards their target. Upon impact, the carrier was instantly vaporized, and the two ships behind it suffered a similar fate. The concussive shockwave disorientated the venomian fleet and allowed the besieged UNSC force time to regroup. The enemy fighters in the area of attack had been either destroyed or disabled, allowing the UNSC fighters to mop up and return to their stations.

Mathias slumped and exhaled heavily, this fight was by far the hardest one he had ever overseen. "Rias, what's the status of the destroyer picket?"

"Sir...Madcap_and _Samurai's Honor have been destroyed....all hands lost." Rias informed with a hoarse whisper.

Mathias almost lost his footing when those words assaulted his ears. Almost fifteen hundred of his crew lived on those ships, fifteen hundred men and women who would not be coming home after this, that wasn't even counting the crew aboard the two corvettes. All because of these bastards that felt the need to subjugate and enslave those they deemed weaker then themselves. Mathias straightened and composed himself; the time for grieving would come later. "Recall the fighters and prepare to enact the broken wing stratagem."

Sally nodded and recalled the fighters while John returned to the bridge and walked up to the admiral. "Sir, are you sure we should be doing this?"

"I am afraid so John, we cannot afford to lose any more people, nor is it acceptable. You know what must be done."

"Yes sir, I understand." The young man said with a nod, walking away to fulfill the admiral's orders.

"It's not your fault." Josephine spoke softly from her pedestal.

"Maybe...maybe not, but it still will not bring them back." He retorted bitterly, leaving her avatar to look at him in empathy as he turned and marched over to his seat, taking it and gazing out into space. As the fleet moved to regroup with the supercarrier, he could see the shattered hulls of the Madcap_and _Samurai's Honor floating in space, the faint trails of bodies and equipment leaking from the cooling holes in their armor. His heart hardened to what must be done and his resolve never wavered as he ordered the ships to reach the edge of the system.

Inside The Bridge of The Hammer of Venom...

"Ha look, these alien dogs run from the might of our empire!" The admiral of the venomian fleet boasted to his crew aboard his flagship, The Hammer of Venom. At first he was afraid that they would lose. These alien's weapons were strange and deadly. When the first volley of those damned cannons hit his fleet they had frozen in shock, and that had cost them dearly. But thanks to the ruthless order for his fighters to ram two of their ships, it looked like their foes were weaklings at heart, running from the battle and leaving the cornerians to their fate. "Huh these aliens are not as dangerous as I suspected. Chase after them, I want them all dead!"

One of his subordinates, a sniveling gecko, had the nerve to speak against him. "But sir, the battle is ours, surely you wo-"

He never got the chance to finish as Perseus slashed him across the muzzle with his razor sharp claws. "DO NOT QUESTION ME!" He roared, sending the smaller lizard scurrying away holding his bleeding head. "If I want to finish them off, then that's what just what we will do. Now hurry, full power to the engines I will not let my prey escape due to your cowardice!"

The crew burst into movement, unwilling to attract his ire. The carrier's engines growled as it rocketed after the fleeing aliens, the rest of his forces following suit. Even the ones attempting to finish off the remaining cornerian fleet pulled away at the admiral's orders, joining in the pursuit.

As the fleet passed a nebula, the alien's stopped running, turning back to face the approaching swarm of ship's. The lined up and looked about ready to fire, but they refrained. Ignorant to the suspicious actions of the alien fleet do to his battle lust, the admiral ordered his fleet to continue to attack, a full on charge.

None of his crew was brave enough to speak out against him, so they flew into their doom.

The Errant King...

"Thomas...activate the moray mine field." Mathias ordered, looking to the holo of the captain of the prowler Dark Heart.

"It would be my pleasure sir." The captain replied, grinning savagely as he relayed the orders back to his crew.

"Tear them a new asshole." Mathias growled.

Perseus's bowels froze when he heard his sensor officer cry out in alarm. "Admiral, hundreds of signal contacts, they're everywhere and closing in on the fleet!"

"What, how could this happen?!" He growled as he was thrown out of his chair by the force of something exploding near the bridge.

His question would never be answered as the mines ripped into the unprepared fleet, disabling and destroying many of the vessels. While they were in disarray, the UNSC ships with MAC cannons barraged them without remorse, punching holes in the now unshielded and vulnerable ship's that had been such a threat before.

The scale of destruction was awe inspiring, the MACs pierced through rows of ships and the archer missiles shredded the fighters. Once the fleet used their first volley of MAC's, the longswords and broadswords made their appearance, the pilots making vengeful runs across the damaged hulls of the enemy fleet, paying them back for all the lives lost. The cannons and missiles gouged holes in the enemy's thinner hulls, letting the airless vacuum of space into the ships and gutting the command carrier. One lucky missile streaked into its depths and hit the reactor buried in the heart of the ship, causing an explosion that lit up the surrounding space for hundreds of thousands of kilometers.

With the enemy fleet in flames, the admiral ordered one last MAC strike. The slugs fired from recharged cannons and finished off any ship still in any semblance of working order. After it was all said and done, eighty ships of various sizes and shapes lay in ruins inside the nebula.

Nodding in grim satisfaction, Mathias turned from the viewport and back to his crew. "Our fallen brothers and sisters have been avenged. This fight will be commemorated in their honor. Now, let us go see what they gave their lives to save, full power to the engines, return the fleet to the planet." The crew solemnly went about their duties as the fleet glided through the wreckage of their victory.

It took a few minutes for their battered fleet to arrive above the planet, a safe distance from the strange wedge shaped ships of the planet's defenders. They had suffered heavy losses, only a third of them reimagined if Mathias could tell from the wreckage, around twenty or so ships. "Open a channel on all frequencies." Rias quietly complied. "This is Mathias Earhart, admiral of the United Nations Space Command's 1st expeditionary fleet. We have dealt with your planet's invaders."

A few moments of quite later, a tired old voice answered. "This is Mark Anthony, admiral of the 5th Cornerian Defense Fleet. It is with extreme gratitude and the thanks of me, my crew, and the inhabitants of the planet below that I greet you. You have done us all an unreturnable kindness. We had thought all hope lost before your people's arrival. It is a relief to find a species amongst the stars that is friendly in nature."

Mathias felt a small modicum of warmth at the fact that they had helped another civilization. It did something for the hole in his heart for the loss of so many of his people. "It is always good to stand up for what we believe to be right, although the costs this time were...severe."

"Yes, we saw the sacrifices your people made, and we will make sure to honor that. But I must ask, can we perhaps talk in a more personal setting, I feel that thanks over a communications channel are not enough, the crew and I would like to thank you, muzzle to muzzle,"

"That can be arranged, but first, I have men on the ground, assisting your forces, and I wish to reinforce them."

The male voice on the other line chuckled. "Your people work fast. Yes, that is more than acceptable; in fact it would be greatly appreciated. Once that is done, I will perform the first act of faith and come aboard a vessel of your choosing. It is the least we could do for you."

"Sounds like a plan, Admiral Mathias out." He dropped the connection and turned to his crew. It looks like first contact, Rias, have the Dark Heart slip out of system and head back to high comm, tell him I trust him to make the report. We are going to need some diplomats and more ships, I have a feeling this is far from over, this is a new chapter in humanity's history. But all the fanfare can wait for later. We need to get our boys on the ground some support."

Liam's Mother's House (Dreamworld)...

Liam opened his eyes, turning to the vixen lying up against him. She had shaken him awake from his pleasant slumber causing him to chuckle on the inside. It seemed that you could fall asleep in your mind "Your friends are here and they have seen to your wounds."

"Good, as nice as it was to relax in here, I'm itching to get back to the real world." He replied excitedly, getting up and helping her to her feet.

"Yes, this has been quite the experience, but I must warn you, the pain of your wounds will return when you awake. I can't help you with that." She hesitantly explained, sounding regretful and ashamed.

He shook his head in bemusement and chuckled, surprising her. "You save my life, and you sound sad. Come on, cheer up, we are both gonna live!" He swept her up in a hug, startling her. Her fur was soft and warm and the feeling was very enjoyable.

Likewise, she relished the feeling of his muscular body as it encircled her; his scent was strong and heady. And she found herself with her muzzle in the crook of his neck where she snuffled it up. When she realized what she was doing she broke away and blushed heavily, apologizing profusely.

Liam just smiled. "That's fine, it is nice to know that I smell good, I was beginning to worry about that."

She was thankful he was not offended and changed the topic. "Yes well let's get you back to the real world huh?"

"Sounds good to me." He announced and then frowned. "How exactly are we going to do that?"

"It's very simple, just close your eyes." She replied.

Confused, but expecting, he did as she asked. "So what now?"

"Now I do this." She said, pecking him on the lips and bringing him back to the real world before he realized it.

Transmission Room...

"Ugh my head...and my chest...and you know what, pretty much everywhere as well." Liam groaned as he sat up from the cold floor. "I feel like I was stabbed by a...ugh never mind." He immediately looked for Krystal and saw that she had awoken first and moved to the side.

"Yeah well that's what happens when you get shot in the chest." The voice of his best friend replied with a chuckle.

Liam turned to see his friend, holding his helmet in one hand and his rifle in the other, near the door. Mary was standing next to him holding a trauma kit and smiling openly. "And you would know how?" He grunted in response, standing up to his feet and picking up his weapons.

"Idiot, you just told me." Liam scoffed and tossed his helmet at Deadeye with a little too much for...into the crotch. The man groaned and folded under the underhanded attack. "Brought back to life, and you are still the same ass hole I knew before."

"Yeah well get used to it, I am not going anywhere for a while." Liam snapped, and then helped his friend up.

"It's good to see you man." Deadeye said in-between groans.

"Yeah well it's good to see you to, and you Momma Bear." He said with a laugh, hugging the short red head. Krystal frowned as she saw that, and she had no idea why. He pulled away, back to business, already putting his razor edged encounter with death behind him. "As much as I would like to rest, we have a job to do. These assholes shpot me and tried to kill her." He growled pointing to Krystal. "That is unacceptable, let's go show them how ODSTs deal with assholes!"

Deadeye and Momma Bear saluted and walked out of the room, heading down to the battle. Soldiers knew where their duty lied, and talking amongst each other could wait for after the fight. Liam looked back to the members of Starfox. "Are you coming with?"

"Yeah, let's go kick these bastards of our planet." Fox replied, getting up from his seat and heading out the door, followed by everyone but Liam and Krystal.

The last two people in the room looked at each other, smiled and walked out together, almost close enough to hold hands.