En route to the Naboo system, Hyperspace
January 23, 2553, 09:30
It was the next day, as the Queen and her people took time to prepare their supplies and rest for a few hours before they headed off. The senator could not see their departure as he was in the Senate Chamber due to the voting for the new Supreme Chancellor.
Noble was currently readying their gear as they waited for potential issues to arise. After a few minutes, they joined everyone in the Queen's throne room. Their group consisted of the "Queen," her handmaidens, her guards, Jar Jar, the civilians, Anakin with his mother, and four Jedi.
The Jedi had met them at the ship, and they were somehow aware of their departure, probably informed by the senator. The Queen greeted and welcomed Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan, and they introduced Jedi Master Plo Koon and his padawan Ashoka Tano, whom the Queen also welcomed.
With Noble's arrival, the "Queen" explained their goals, such as capturing the Viceroy with the help of the UNSC forces and potentially the Gungan army. The UNSC battlegroup will engage the droid control ship and hopefully disable it, rendering the droid army ineffective.
Six remembered the communication they had received. It had come from Commander Hayes Prowler, who had been sent as a scouting party for the flotilla and arrived much earlier than the rest of the battlegroup. It looked like the rest of the blockade had left, leaving only the droid control ship, making it an easier battle but not a simple one.
The young padawan, a Togruta, from what Six learned her species was called, had returned from checking with the pilot and announced. "The pilot wanted me to inform Your Highness that we will soon exit hyperspace."
Just as she finished her words, a projection created a view screen showing the planet of Naboo and a group of 41 vessels from the battlegroup nearing the planet's orbit.
Aboard Fires of Winter,Punic-class supercarrier, Hangar bay
The Rear Admiral informed Six through COMs that he and another would join the space battle in an active position. Six reached the designated hangar bay, where he would enter a fighter and prepare for combat. Following the nav point on his HUD, he arrived and saw Noble-2 next to a terminal, a sleek black-and-red space fighter similar to the Sabre. The fighter looked equipped with a dorsal and ventral turret with Gauss cannons on opposite sides of the cockpits.
"Looks like that ship was carrying an army of space fighters," Noble-2 informed Six. "How many?" Six asked.
"Too many. Sensors picked up exactly 1500 of them." She was right. Compared to the fighters they had available, they could be overwhelmed.
"We will respond by having all available space fighters deploy for screening over our AA ships while they do most of the damage to their numbers," Noble-2 explained their task.
"Don't forget about me." Hearing the voice, Six looked to the nearby terminal, with Hestia appearing in a vermilion fire projection. "Hestia." Six addressed the AI.
"Oh, come on! Don't I get more of a reaction?" The AI complained. Six only grabbed the AI chip attached to his helmet and placed it next to the console, with Hestia merely reaching out and disappearing into the chip. Six then placed the chip back into his helmet slot. "Oh, you've been busy," Hestia commented on the footage she immediately skimmed through from the Spartan's armor recordings. "We need to move." Noble-2 said, with Six following her as they neared the fighter's cockpit.
Both entered their respective cockpit seats, with Noble-2 as the weapons officer and Six as the pilot. The cockpit roof slid over them as the fighter's platform sank into the fighter deployment sub-levels.
"All space-fighters squadrons stay tightly together, watch over each other, protect our ships, and most importantly, give them hell!" The voice of the Rear Admiral patched through the fighter's COMs.
Noble-2, meanwhile, checked over the fighter's defensive and offensive systems. "Weapons and shielding are green Six." Meanwhile, the deployment bay hatch opened, and Six accelerated the engines.
"Alpha squadron has your back, Noble." Surrounded by Sabre fighters as they moved in pace with the giant supercarrier.
Naboo grassland
Skirmishes were already happening, with the UNSC Marines dispatching droid patrols, which caught the attention of larger droid forces. Padmé had already achieved her goal of getting the Gungans' help. They moved away from the swamps on their speeders and the Gungans on their tamed animals. A makeshift command center with Padmé, her security, and all her handmaidens as some of the Naboo had outwitted the droid army and the Neimoidians in their escape. Lieutenant Colonel Barlowe, along with Red Team and the three other members of Noble Team, stood by the Queen's side. Bombad General Jar Jar Binks and Captain Roos Tarpals were from the Gungans' side.
"The droids are distracted, looking for my Marines in the swamps. We need to act quickly, moving in on your capital to get your people out of there before they get caught in the crossfire." The LTCOL advised Padmé, knowing he was right. If they gained control of Theed, they would have an advantage in defense against the incoming droid army. Currently, time is not an advantage they have gained yet.
"Can we evacuate everyone before the arrival of the droid army?" The LTCOL smirked as he opened his COMs. "Major, the light is green." Padmé, confused, was about to question the LTCOL, but he merely gestured at the sky. Hundreds of blazing meteor-like objects were raining down on the planet, in the direction of the capital.
"They'll clear out most of the opposition by your people and get them going till dropships come to evacuate them with the support of Marine companies." Padmé wondered if there were soldiers in there, even with the LTCOL verification; it seemed like an insane thought that anybody would deploy troops in such a manner. She shook herself from distracting thoughts as they had to move and moved into one of the UNSC dropships with her people and Noble.
Briefly glancing back up at the sky, she is ready to do her part as Six is probably doing up there with the UNSC flotilla that was set on attacking the droid control ship.
Fires of Winter Bridge
"The Commander and the rest of the prowlers have finished." Athena projected through the holo table with the status of the prowler's task finished. He then brought up the holoprojection of their flotilla, with the opposite end showing an array of tiny red dots heading in their direction. Between the two groups were larger pulsating blue dots.
"Athena, take control of our point defense guns and get ready." The flotilla neared the droid control ship, still tens of thousands of kilometers away, but they needed to take care of most of the fighters first. "The prowlers are moving away, and the targets will intercept in thirty seconds." Athena updated the Rear Admiral as he eyed the fighters on the holo table. The red dots closely approached the pulsating dots, with Athena providing a collision countdown for the remaining seconds.
"5."
"4."
"3."
"2."
"1."
Upon meeting on the holo table, the pulsating dots expanded and disappeared with several of the fighters' red dots. Looking out of the bridge, explosions could be seen in the distance. The prowlers had set groups of mines to dwindle the fighters' numbers.
"Fighters are still coming, but we did take off a decent chunk of their numbers." There was a noticeable dent in their numbers, but too many fighters still needed to be eliminated.
"Captains, I need both your cruisers to mop up the first wave."
"Got it, Sir." Synchronized in their responses. Both CCS cruisers moved up in front of the supercarrier with an escort of five Stalwart light frigates. They were almost in range to fire their MACs and would do so as soon as the fighters were no longer an issue.
___
The Vulture starfighters engaged the two cruisers, with one large group filled with tens of starfighters making a run at one of them with pulse laser fire, dwindling their numbers as each brief light of bright purple energy hit a fighter. Pulling a dive bomb maneuver, each fighter was ready to fire their dual laser cannons and missiles, but smashed into something. Due to their capabilities at more extreme maneuvers, some had backed off the ship, with only a handful surviving after another salvo of pulse lasers decimated them. The cruiser's shields were irised at the point of the impacts caused by dozens of starfighters. The starfighters then backed off from engaging and communicating amongst themselves.
After a short while of no action taken, two groups, each filled with roughly a hundred starfighters, stayed back to harass the two ships, with the rest breaking off and choosing to engage the rest of the flotilla.
Six's fighter squadron
"Bogies incoming!" The warning was shouted through the COMs.
A quick change to an array of chaos as anti-fighter missiles were shot from the light frigates, with red laser bolts fired from the enemy starfighters. Like a swarm of angry yellow jackets, the enemy starfighters hounded the supercarrier, which responded in kind, firing its hundreds of point defense weapons.
"We got some following us!" A pilot shouted. True to the pilot's warnings, an enemy squadron was on their tail and doubled their numbers. Laser cannon fire smashed against their shields.
"Here, I got it." Noble-2 took control of the fighter's two turrets and fired back at their pursuers. After some quick, concentrated fire from one of the chain gun turrets, the fighter's flight path was knocked off due to a destroyed part of the outfit's droid brain, making it run into another fighter.
"Break off in pairs; Alpha-1 and 2 stay with me." Six ordered while he moved to his weapon controls, and the pilots listened as two pairs broke off from Six's group. The turrets under Noble-2 control provided retaliating fire, with the Vulture droids weaved to dodge the chain gun fire.
"Six, the fighters are backing off, but it looks like they will attack the others." Hestia's warnings were accurate, and the fighter's shields were recharged. Quickly, Six veered his fighter to his right with the other two following.
The three fighters encountered Alpha-3 and 4, overwhelmed by their shields, which were depleting fast. Sx fired a group of Medusa missiles, while Alpha-1 and 2 fired their autocannons at the fighter opposition. They got their kills, with two fighters left who chose to flee, but it didn't matter as Alpha-3 and 4 destroyed them after turning around after watching the two fighters back off from chasing them.
"This Alpha-5, 6, and I will need some help. We have some extra bogies and can't shake them off!" Quickly in response, the five fighters of Six and Alpha squadron moved to assist.
"This is Noble-6. Hold on, we'll be right there." Pushing the fighter's engines to maximum acceleration, they arrived on the scene with eight Vulture fighters firing their laser cannons at Alpha-5 and 6. Switching the weapons, he saw the hull of Alpha-5 get damaged clearly; the shields were disabled. Charging up the weapon with the rest of Alpha, firing their autocannons at the Vulture droids, the rounds shredding the lightly armored fighters.
A laser bolt hit Alpha-5's unshielded engines, with more firing upon the fighter. Alpha-5's fighter exploded, and a bright red continuous laser hit the two enemy fighters, instantly destroying them. Alpha-6 regained its shields after flying back into formation, and with the rest of Alpha, the seven-fighter squadron was now down to six fighters.
They had already losses in the short time the battle began, but they stayed focused and went back into the thick of battle, assisting other squadrons against the numerous fighters.
Theed
"Clear! let's move." Tempel-1 led his squad of ODSTs through the outer edges of Theed as they moved to the prisoner camps. Tempel-4 followed closely behind him, being the only surviving member of his original squad, although he was the newest squad member. They were joined by three others who were reassigned to his squad from larger platoon groups.
He held his hand up, and the rest of Tempel moved out of sight in the alley. They watched as the patrol passed with a tank. After waiting a considerable amount of time, Tempel-1 moved up the alleyway, peaking both ways in case the patrol circled back or another patrol appeared. Seeing that the coast was clear, Tempel was signaled to follow. They moved carefully and slowly, following the patrol and trying to be out of sight.
According to the intel, many of these prison camps were near the city's center. Trailing the patrol group, they arrived at their goal. The people were spread out and surrounded by dozens of droids and two tanks; besides those, the droids had barely any defense.
"Halley, light it up." With his words, a bright, smoky flare popped into the sky, alerting the droids. The squad moved toward the civilians except for one of them, who held a SPNKr. Arriving at the camp, they used their silenced weapons to destroy the droid still guarding the Civys, urging the civilians into the city's alleyways.
"They see you, Tempel-1!" Turning back, they were back with their tanks. The infantry started to fire their blasters, and the tank moved to aim in their direction. Before it could take a shot, a rocket shot down from the vantage point they left Tempel-5.
BOOM!!
The second tank aimed towards Tempel-5 position, who quickly fired his second rocket and then hurriedly moved from his vantage point.
BOOM!!
Using cover to avoid the blaster fire of the droid infantry, Tempel-1 checked the COMs for Tempel-5. "Tempel-5 status!?" The static sound was all he heard, looking toward the smoky debris and thinking he had lost another ODST.
BOOM!! BOOM!!
From the direction of the cloudy debris came two more rockets, which hit both tanks and disabled them. From the rafters of the Naboo-styled buildings, Tempel looked around the city from the height of his position and saw the explosions occurring from the energy cannons of the tanks and the explosive armaments of his ODST brethren.
Reloading his SPNKr with new rockets, he saw many droids heading in their direction, along with a few more tanks. There was also a good sight farther past in the skies away from the city heading their direction.
"I'm fine, Tempel-1. We have to get the civilians out of here. More tangos are coming in your direction, but we have some good news. Reinforcements are inbound." Aiming down at the tanks arriving down the prominent streets of the capital, he fired another volley of rockets.
SPA flotilla
"The two forward cruisers report mopping up the last enemy fighters." The Rear Admiral wished it was the same for them as he looked out and saw mayhem going on out there, with the supercarrier's point defense weapons firing rounds at the enemy fighters. Athena continued updating him on the enemy's status. "Enemy fighters down fifty percent."
"And our fighters?" Gatlin asked.
"Our fighters are only at a nine percent loss." It was good that they didn't lose many fighters, giving the enemy an advantage and a low loss of life.
"Athena, get me a line with the cruisers." Following his command, a link was established with the UNSC COMs connection to the Covenant battlenet on their ships.
"Captains, I will need you to give that ship a welcoming gift." Both captains nodded, one light-skinned with pale skin and golden hair, the other with olive-like skin and a captain's cap on his head. The line disconnected, and the two Covenant cruisers moved ahead of the fleet.
Vuutan Pala: Droid Control Ship
"The droid fighters are being destroyed quickly!" a Neimoidian officer worriedly informed Captain Dofine. Another worriedly added, "We should send the rest!" The captain criticized this.
"You fool, what would more fighters do but delay them some more?! No! We will wait and hold until the Queen is in the Viceroy's hands." After speaking, he sent a signal out to a Trade Federation receiver of a nearby system. Looking out of the command bridge of the droid control ship. The ship's sensors started to ring an alarm.
Captain Dofine moved to the sensors officer. "What is the meaning of this?" Like a constant expression on the Neimoidians, the sensor officer's face was worried as he explained to the Captain.
"The two lead ships of the enemy fleet are moving toward us." On display on the large viewscreen on the bridge appeared two metallic purple ships, with a majority of both ships shaped like a teardrop, with the back housing the engines. Under the ship's nose were four fin-like structures resembling a sort of aquatic animal. It was very different from the other ships behind them, which were more blocky and had a much less organically looking frame.
By the sensor's markings, the ships were still thousands of kilometers away, enough time to ready the many quad turbo-laser cannons.
ERRR! ERRR!
The ship's alarms blared again loudly, and Captain Dofine could barely make out the words of the sensor officers: "The two ships' energy signatures are spiking!"As the Captain looked out from the bridge, the ships were not visible to the Neimoidian's eyes until two bright blue-white energy beams hit the ship. The beams continued for a few seconds before stopping. The ship rocked from the force of the attack, and Captain Dofine steadied himself until the ship stopped rocking.
"Use the turbo-lasers now!" The Neimoidian Captain raged. But then another Neimoidian officer questioned the command. "But they are too far for the turbo-lasers to be accurate and do damage, Captain."
"Just do it!" Following the command, the officers returned to their stations with turbo-lasers firing off into the distance toward the enemy ships. Due to the turbo-laser placement, not all fired at the rivaling ships, but quite a few did.
The ship again started to rock as another assault from the white-blue beams hit it. The ships are now barely visible in the distance, with red bolts from the turbo lasers heading their way. The dark of space was illuminated by the enemy ships' shields, which glowed in a brief golden light as the turbo lasers hit them.
"Captain Dofine!" The sensors officers called out to the Captain, who, in a rage, shouted back.
"What!"
"The enemy fleet is now moving, and all our offensive fighters are destroyed." Meekly, the officer informed the Captain.
Theed
The UNSC ground forces were sweeping over the city of Theed, eliminating droid occupants using the occupied Covenant heavy vehicles, such as their Wraith tanks. A large battalion of Marines defended the liberated Naboo civilians, and many dropships came to relocate them.
Noble-7 stayed by Padmé's side as the Queen led them into the palace. Arriving at the side of the courtyard entrance, they stayed hidden with Trade Federation tanks in their way and a large contingent of battle droids—the Jedi, alongside them, with a portion of the royal Naboo guard and R2-D2.
Meanwhile, another group came into the courtyard, firing their blasters and a speeder with a laser cannon firing at the tanks. A firefight ensued in which the droid forces were distracted and focused on the main threat, allowing the Queen's group to go relatively unnoticed by quickly dispatching nearby droids in their way. Using their lightsabers, the Jedi bisected the droids with Noble watching, holding the rear before following through the palace side entrance to the hangar.
Noble was ahead of the group, taking the droid's attention with the lack of cover, and fired their weapons. Noble-7 used an MA5B rifle and unloaded, doing quick burst shots at her targets, with Noble-8 using two plasma pistols that fired small green bolts of plasma, matching with the blaster bolts of the Naboo's weapons. Noble-9, also dual-wielding weapons, used the Covenant's standard plasma rifle, firing quick and larger bolts than the plasma pistol at the crowds of droids.
The four Jedi deflected the bolts from the droids, returning the red laser bolts, which hit the droids and disabled them. With the distraction of the attack, Padmé commanded the pilots who joined them to their starfighters. The droids were falling back, moving to cover while being fired upon by the Queen's group. Padmé, firing with her blaster, moved to the forefront behind cover, trading blaster bolts with the droids, but they were quickly destroyed when Noble closed in on them, hitting them with a mixture of plasma bolts and ballistics. As the short firefight ended, the yellow starfighters' roaring sound filled the hangar, and they started to join the battle against the droid-controlled ship.
One by one, the starships left the hangar under the fire of a laser cannon, only claiming a single fighter. The rest have made it unscathed so far. Rushing into the hangar was the force left as a distraction against the courtyard droid contingent. Scanning the room, they saw the battle in the hangar as concluded and moved to join Padmé, who also went to meet them.
Sabé, dressed as the queen, joined Padmé at her side, with Noble and the royal security following behind them. The group moved to the exit door, stopping at the sight of the black-and-red tattooed figure blocking their path. His yellow eyes locked onto the Jedi, and he glanced towards Noble with a look that elicited a slight growl.
"We'll handle this." Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi stood before the cloaked figure, with Plo Koon's padawan moving to follow them. However, she stopped when her master placed his arm in her way.
"No, little Soka, you will join the Queen for her protection." Plo Koon continued to eye the supposed Sith as the dark side radiated from him. His words, though, caused the young Jedi to protest.
"But Master, I can help!" The young Togruta Jedi loudly stated. Her master, now bringing his eyes on her, said. "Please, Ashoka, understand you are not yet ready." Placing a hand on her shoulder, it looked as if she wanted to say more, but glancing at the direction of the queen's group moving off and then back to her master, she only nodded in response and followed the Queen.
She left her master along with the two other Jedi who stood before the Sith, who ignited his dual-bladed lightsaber, which contrasted with the color of the Jedi's glowing an ominous red. The three Jedi responded with their lightsaber blades igniting in blue and green blades. But before engaging, rolled in a pair of droidekas with their shields activated and fired upon the Jedi.
The Queen and her group were stopped from leaving the hangar by a group of three droideka, and the group moved to cover as the droids delivered a volley of red blaster bolts. The Spartans followed, too, as their shields were immediately drained due to a targeted volley of blaster bolt hits. The three droids were pressuring the group as they couldn't damage them due to their seemingly impenetrable shields. Noble-8 and 9 scrambled behind the same crate, with Noble-7 alongside the Queen.
"J, when I move out, you go from the other end and fire."
Noble-8, with an idea, started to overcharge both his weapons as the green glow from the plasma started to glow at the tips of the weapons and grew in brightness and size. His shields recharged. He looked at the lead droideka and moved from cover, making himself a prime target. His shields took the hits from the droidekas, holding briefly as the droideka sent their second volley, which broke his shields all in a split second; he fired his two pistols with their overcharged bolts, moving toward the middle droideka.
Noble-9, with his two plasma rifles, watched as the bolts traveled, hit the droideka shields, and popped the shield. Then he fired rapid bolts of plasma until both his rifles were heated and moved back to cover as the two droidekas fired at him. Both Spartans were back to cover, their weapons cooling down, and shots were traded back and forth between both groups.
"Alright, now it's your turn to be bait." Noble-8 said to 9 as he held up what seemed to be a grenade, with Jonah looking at Roland with a 'you could've used that first' look. Roland shook his head, pointing out he only had one with the blast radius and could only hit two of the droidekas, as the other two were spread behind the one they had just destroyed.
Roland then pointed to another spot for cover, which Noble-9 moved his head to, and then nodded back at Noble-8. With a finger countdown of three, they enacted their plan once all his fingers dropped.
Noble-9 dashed while firing plasma bolts at the two droidekas, catching their attention. He immediately took some hits with his shield protecting him as he reached for the spot of cover from which Noble-8 threw the item aimed between the droidekas. The item was still in the air but discharged an EMP between the droids.
The EMP was effective, as it disabled both droids. Both were quickly destroyed as the group sent blaster bolts upon their frames. The group exited the hangar and entered a large palace corridor without any obstacles. Both Spartans received a "good job" and "great work" from Padmé and Noble-7.
While the three Jedi fought against their obstacles to reach the Sith lord, another figure in the hangar watched as everything happened under a dark blanket, unnoticed by everyone. Even the Jedi and the Sith lord watched as the events unfolded. She was intrigued by the armored warriors, but her mission was merely observation right now, so she stayed in the hangar to watch the duel between the Jedi and this Sith.
Outside of Theed
"Where are you, commander!?" The Neimoidian practically screeched those words as a little projection
"The enemy forces have fortified themselves well and are blocking our path." Large blasts of plasma hit a nearby tank on the droid's side, destroying it as the others fired their laser cannons. Nute Gunray is frustrated at the droid's current progress in a rescue. "Find another path and destroy anyone in your way!"
The droid simply responded. "Roger, Roger."
More than twenty imposing tanks unleashed a relentless barrage of fire upon the colossal shield that barred the capital's entrance. In tandem with this assault, over thirty droid transports, equipped with smaller yet fierce laser cannons, joined the fray, their blasts resonating with forceful intensity against the immense barrier. Despite the coordinated onslaught, the giant shield stood resolute, seemingly impervious to the overwhelming assault.
Two groups split from the center force as they headed for the other entrances under the orders of OOM-9. The control ship had delivered orders to unleash the infantry as the troop transports returned to deploy the thousands of droids they carried safely. The plasma mortars of the Wraiths could not reach that far of a distance, but still fired upon the enemy tanks. Slowly dwindling in numbers, even with the thin-looking frames of the AAT, they still had an effective armor.
The troop transports opened up with a rack-like system carrying at least a hundred droids extending from the transport. Ready to unleash the infantry upon the Gungans, hiding behind their shield with an overwhelming number of droids.
BOOM!!
BOOM!!
Kinetic rounds pelted the transports, exploding upon impact and shattering the transport's armor. missile rounds hit in a spread, hitting multiple targets on the droid's side. OOM-9 turned around to assess the attacking force, firing his tank at the attackers. A few large plasma blasts were fired from a distance behind the new group, which was filled with light and heavy armored vehicles.
The attack force consisted of a mixture of wheel and repulsor-type vehicles. The repulsor type was a red hue vehicle, which fired smaller blasts of plasma, while the vehicle with wheels had a back turret that seemed to fire anti-armor rounds of a slug. They moved faster than the heavy armor to harass the AAT, which fired their primary and secondary laser cannons. The agility of the Revenants and Gauss Warthogs allowed them to move quickly enough to dodge the laser fire, but still, laser cannons took out a few. Rockets shot out of passenger marines wielding SPNKr, tracking their targets with the explosions breaking off chunks of armor off their victims.
Two heavy armor vehicles did the most damage, while the lighter vehicles supported them by distracting the droid tanks. A mixture of M50 Grizzly tanks with Scorpions fired all their armaments. Both sides had even heavier armored vehicles, but lighter vehicles were supplemented well by focusing on the enemy tanks.
OOM-9 was trying to assess quickly before more transports and any more of the droid's AATs were destroyed. A shining dot off in the distance caught the droid unaware. Before one second, information was being processed; the next, the droid's head was blown off as a trail of white-purple light trailed from a high point of one of Theed's buildings closest to the city's entranceway.
"Droid Commander confirmed to be destroyed." In red, Mjolnir armor with a GUNGNIR helmet outfitted with a sensor package lowered the beam rifle in her gloved hand as she watched the Gungan forces slowly move forward toward the droid forces. Scanning the outer edges of the surrounding areas, the smaller detachments of the original force still moved on opposite sides to enter the capital.
"Droid forces still plan to use the other entrances. Be ready." She informed the other end. After moments of silence, the other end responded by taking in the Spartans' information.
"Thank you, Red-3, but we need you to meet up with the rest of your Team pronto. The Lieutenant Colonel wants your team to support Noble. Lots of those rollers passed us and are heading towards the Palace." Hearing the orders, the Spartan quickly moved from her vantage point and headed toward her team's location.
Naboo's orbit
Large plasma bolts bombarded the shields of the Control ship, with both CCS cruisers moving like aquatic predators, surrounding a large prey by swimming around it. But the control ship also returned fire, with its Turbo-lasers spread evenly, attacking both ships, and the yellow fighters surrounding the ship with the Vulture droids engaging the Naboo N1-starfighters.
Purple rays of Pulse lasers fired at the droid starfighters, assisting the Naboo pilots who focused on dogfighting with the droid starfighters due to the shields of the Control ship being too strong for them to do any damage to it.
The Naboo pilots moved in small groups as they took on groups of the unshielded starfighters. Unlike the Vulture droids, the N1 starfighters had shields, allowing higher-rated protection against laser cannon fire and the concussion missiles of the Vulture droid arsenal.
The situation appeared dire for the Naboo forces. The droid fighters vastly outnumbered the brave pilots, and relentless fire from the towering Control ship's turbo-lasers inflicted heavy casualties. The agile and swift droid starfighters executed rapid hit-and-run tactics, striking with precision before darting out of reach. The yellow starfighters, designed for agility, found their shields battered repeatedly, quickly succumbing to the escalating damage as they struggled to withstand the onslaught.
"There are too many!" A pilot's voice filtered through the starfighter's COM channel. Red laser fire scattered across the length of the Lucrehulk as the battle raged surrounding the carrier.
"My deflector shields keep getting hit!"
The two cruisers ceased firing their array of weapons. There was a brief pause as the Turbo-lasers hammered against the cruiser's shields, but then bright lances shot from the ship's dorsal side, hitting the Control ship. The ships shifted on their axis, with the ventral side now aimed at the larger carrier. Red heat started to light as the cruiser's excavation beams charged, and then a bright red light shined blindingly as the excavation beams activated.
"What was that?" A pilot asked over the transmissions.
"I don't know, but those attacks heavily weakened the Control ship's shields." Bravo leader Ric Olié stated as he launched proton torpedoes at the ship, damaging a nearby Turbo-laser battery.
"We got more starfighters inbound, and it looks like there are a lot of them." Another pilot informed.
"Did they come back from attacking the fleet?"
"No, they're reinforcements!" Following Bravo leader's words, the other pilots saw about a hundred starfighters swooping into the battle, changing the tides of the overwhelming droid fighters into a more even playing field.
_______
Noble-2 focused intently on operating the turrets aboard the Pegasus, her hands deftly adjusting the controls while Six piloted the ship into the fray, Alpha squadron hot on his tail. As he charged the nonlinear cannons, he expertly maneuvered through a storm of enemy starfighters, weaving and rolling through the chaos. He fixed his gaze on the massive carrier and the Turbo-laser battery. In a swift motion, he unleashed two brilliant streams of crimson laser fire, illuminating the dark expanse, and watched as they struck the Turbo-laser with precision, resulting in a fiery explosion that silenced the threat.
"Alpha squadron break off…Now!" The sleek black and red starfighter burst into the carrier's interior while Alpha Squadron veered away, rejoining the chaotic battle outside. Like a shadow racing through the carrier, the starfighter weaved effortlessly among the countless droids lingering within the battleship. Six expertly adjusted the thrusters as the hangar's end loomed ahead, decelerating the fighter just in time. With a jarring thud, the craft hit the deck, its landing gear scraping harshly against the metal floor. Meanwhile, Kat remained focused, directing the fighter's turrets to unleash a relentless barrage upon the encroaching droids.
Scanning the room, the turrets fixed in place, with Noble-2 notifying Six. "Nearby Targets neutralized." With her confirmation, Six opened the fighter cockpit, and both Spartans swiftly jumped off the fighter with their weapons secured.
"It looks like the rest of the ship continues that way." A nav point provided by Hestia directed both Spartans to a narrow shaft. Noble crept upon the opening, Six in hand with a red plasma rifle while Kat had her usual M6-magnum. Six nodded at Kat, who returned it, notifying him of her readiness. He checked the motion tracker with no red dots to show any enemy and took a peek, which let him see no droid in sight. Six then signaled for Noble-2 to follow, but she quickly scanned the area behind them before wholly following. Seeing nothing, she sprinted with Six down the corridor.
"Noble-2 status?" The voice of the Rear Admiral spoke through their COMs. "We are in the ship, Sir, and are making our way to the carrier bridge." Ahead of them, both Spartans saw a closed doorway and slowed in their approach. There was a terminal for accessing the doorway. Upon seeing it, Six removed the AI chip and placed it near the terminal, where the vermilion light of the chip flushed into the terminal. In another second, he moved back into the chip, which Six then placed back into his helmet.
"What happened?" Six asked the AI.
"...The terminal only had limited access to nearby systems. I could only distinguish a path forward to an elevator system." Hestia sounded upset, but the nav point let them know which direction to move with the door open.
ERRR!
ERRR!
Alarms, probably meant for them. Six believed it was fortified by a small contingent of droids heading in their direction. Noble, fast on the draw, aimed their weapons and fired at the droids, quickly eliminating them.
"Let's move before reinforcements come," Noble-2 said, with Six following her lead with a nod and a quiet response. He was focused yet distracted. The corridors were not similar to the Covenant, but the environment was very similar. Flashes of a larger Spartan with a heavy machine gun firing upon the hordes of Covenant with Six himself by his side on the Covenant Corvette.
Both Nobles turned into a large corridor and were immediately fired upon. Both took cover by moving to the corridor walls, readying their weapons as they stared at one another's face plates. Nodding, both Spartans went to work, with Six grabbing a standard frag grenade attached to his armor and tossing it toward the droids. Hitting the ground, it bounced, landing further into the droid's line.
Boom!
The Spartans sprang into action, their weapons blazing as silhouettes emerged from the swirling smoke. Bright red plasma erupted from Six's plasma rifle, searing through the armor of the approaching droids, while Kat's magnum roared, penetrating their defenses with precise shots. The droids, disoriented in the haze, fired wildly, their blaster bolts careening harmlessly past Six and Kat. In the chaos, one droid inadvertently struck another, while a few stray shots grazed the Spartans, causing their energy shields to flare to life with a brilliant gold glow. With calculated bursts from his plasma rifle to manage overheating, Six mentally tracked Kat's shot count. He reached for his holster, fingers gripping the hilt of his energy sword, feeling the power thrumming through it. Meanwhile, Noble-2 swiftly reloaded her magnum, the action a blur as Six swung his activated red blade with deadly grace, slicing through two droids that charged at them. Not pausing, Six targeted the nearest droid, unleashing a volley of plasma bolts that struck true, disabling it in a flash of sizzling red energy.
"Cease your resistance." The monotone voice of a droid tried commanding the Spartans, as only a handful of droids remained of the droid force in this corridor.
With coordinated aim, ballistics and plasma bolts hit the surviving droids, giving them no chance to fight back. Noble lowered their weapons as they walked over the destroyed droids, moving toward the elevator system.
"Can you hack it, Hestia?" Six asked. Hestia knew the answer immediately, but this was beyond her capabilities due to the lack of remote action in the control systems. This was more of a mechanical system.
"Noble-2, I think this requires more physical touch," Hestia advised Noble-2, with Kat looking to Six. "Make sure I have no distractions." Six nodded and placed the hilt of the energy sword back in his magnetic holster; he carefully grabbed a blaster from a destroyed droid. He kept the end of the corridor in sight as Kat went to work.
________
Bridge of the Control ship
"Stop them!" Captain Dofine ordered in rage. Whenever he was informed of the intruders, his worry and rage got the better of him. They were last seen near a turbo-lift, leading to their level, worrying that if they weren't stopped, it would spell doom for them. "Send as many droids as possible and stop these intruders!"
The officer ordering the droids signaled a large force of a hundred droids to move toward the intruding party's position. The droids would arrive shortly under a single force to advance upon the corridor, in which they would crush the intruders. Captain Dofine now felt at more ease as their destruction was inevitable.
Captain Dofine focuses on the battle against the enemy force's ships. The two ships that surrounded their own had already done enough damage to the shields, and the worry he once felt had disappeared as he received a pleasing transmission.
Soon, these interlopers would suffer because they interfered in a matter they shouldn't have been concerned about.
____
The Queen and those who followed on the path to capture the Viceroy were being slowed by droid forces down the palace corridor. Blaster fire was traded against both sides, but the Jedi Padawan helped deflect blaster fire with her lightsaber at the forefront of the group. Slowly, they moved, with the Spartans' accuracy dwindling, the droid's number.
"Move up!" Daisy unleashed a burst from her MA5B, the weapon's rounds cutting through the chaos as she recoiled from the incoming blaster bolts that sizzled through the air. Her energy shields flared, a barrier reacting to the assault. The group was stationed near the foot of the grand stairway leading to the opulent throne room, the hiding grounds of the Viceroy.
Ahsoka sprang into action, her instincts honed from her training as Plo Koon's padawan. She dashed toward a looming droid, lunging in just in time to deflect a hail of fire from the surrounding mechanical adversaries. In one fluid motion, she swung her lightsaber, slicing the droid in half with a hiss of severed circuits. She executed acrobatic flips with a dancer's grace, closing the distance to the remaining droids. Her blades whirled as she tore through their metal frames, sparks flying as she dismantled the last obstacles in her path.
The young Togruta disabled her blade, sensing no more danger. She turned back to the group as they caught up, with the large Spartans moving slightly ahead, glancing at the destroyed droids.
"We need to hurry; the Viceroy must be captured." Padmé voiced, passing the Jedi while appreciatively looking at Ashoka. Noble-8, on the stairway, slowly moved up the steps with his weapons aimed at the top.
Ashoka looked back at the path and destruction they left behind to the corridor entrance leading to the hangar, where her Master, along with Master Qui-Gon and her senior Obi-Wan Kenobi, were fighting a potential Sith. She wished she could help them fight off the Dark Side user, but her respect for her master dissuaded her; he gave her the task of supporting the Queen. She could only hope the force would will her master's triumph against their adversary.
The sight of movement paused her thoughts as one Naboo security officer shouted. "Destroyers!" Over dozens of Droidekas were rolling towards them, followed by a supporting force of B1-droids.
A volley of plasma and blaster bolts, along with bursts of ballistics, pounded on the Droidekas. As they rolled, only their armor protected them from fire; even then, one burst into flames, quickly breaking apart. Another soon followed in an explosive destruction under concentrated weapons fire.
"Go, we got this!" Noble-8 fired his dual plasma pistols at the incoming forces, with Noble-9 switching his weapons for the M319 Grenade Launcher attached to his back magnetic weapon holder.
"We'll help too!" A group of four Naboo guards stayed back with the consent of the Queen and Captain Panaka. Noble-8 activated a Drop Shield on the landing between both sets of stairs. The shield protected the group from the blaster fire from the droids.
"Let's move, Your Highness." At Padmés side, Daisy voiced at the Queen and watched the group of six engage the droid forces. Her thoughts on the aid her people were receiving and the sacrifices made by Six's people of the UNSC by intervening in their conflict.
With determination in their hearts, Padmé and her followers swiftly ascend the stairwell, ready to capture the Viceroy and restore peace to Naboo.
_____
"They're attacking!" Hestia warned.
A clanking sound filled the corridor as Six readied both weapons at the oncoming force while Noble-2 worked to splice the connections and connect them to her data pad. Six's eyes scrutinized a horde of droids advancing on them, briefly glancing back at Kat, quickly working as fast as she could.
Holstering his plasma rifle, he grabbed an M9 frag grenade, still watching the droids advance. Hitting the activator, he tossed the grenade toward the oncoming droids, who started firing. Six reacted by taking cover but grabbing another, more miniature, circular grenade, different from the M9. He pressed a button that caused the grenade to beep; the Spartan readied his toss and then launched the grenade at the droids. The grenade slipped from Six's view, swallowed by the chaos of battle, as the droids marched forward with relentless determination. Their mechanical eyes seemed oblivious to the threat beside them, unhesitatingly unleashing a hail of blaster fire upon the Spartans, who expertly dodged and retaliated.
Boom!!
A deafening explosion erupted, sending a fiery shockwave that engulfed dozens of droids in a brilliant display of chaos. The force of the blast knocked out some of the automatons, yet some droids at the frontline only staggered but continued to unleash their relentless blaster fire. With swift precision, the Spartan expertly targeted the stragglers, his blaster firing its energy bolts as it quickly disabled the remaining threats.
Not wasting a moment, Six's hands deftly sought out another thermal detonator, its sleek surface gleaming ominously in the heat of battle. Without hesitation, he activated the detonation timer, the faint beep mingling with the frantic sounds of combat around him. With a powerful throw, he hurled the grenade toward the surging tide of droids, the device soaring through the air, ready to unleash chaos once more.
"Almost done, Six!" Noble-2 shouts her progress. Six, choosing not to use the remaining grenades, reaches for his plasma rifle and aims both weapons at the wave of droids. It's easy pickings, as the droids don't bother moving for cover. Six's rapid firing of both weapons allowed for many casualties on the droid's side.
A path opened up in the center of the wave of droids, and Six felt something off as he witnessed the droids perform this act. Still firing both his weapons, he watched as something rolled in their direction through the path created by the droids. Six fired upon it, but its armor was tougher than the infantry's. It slowed and then stopped, quickly unfurling itself as it started firing upon Six with stronger energy bolts, emphasized by the rising temperatures of the half wall he was using as cover—information provided by Hestia.
His weapons proved ineffective against the droid, its formidable shield effortlessly absorbing the blasts of energy he unleashed. But the tide of battle swiftly turned as a brilliant red beam sliced through the air, striking the destroyer droid with catastrophic precision. In an instant, the droid erupted in a spectacular explosion, debris scattering in all directions as the devastating attack obliterated it. Turning to face the direction of the beam origin, he witnessed Kat holding a Spartan Laser.
"Move Six, the elevator is coming down." Noble-2 ordered Six, who followed, moving behind her as both Spartans were hit by blaster bolts that their shields absorbed.
Reaching the open doorway of the lift, the droids closed in and were still advancing as the droids passed the terminal, which both Spartans held them back. Six destroyed droids with his weapons as Noble-2's hands moved the controls through her datapad. The droids were only a few meters away when the lift doorway slid shut.
"Cutting it close." Six lowered his weapons and looked toward Kat. The propulsion lift moved up, notifying the Spartans, who felt the force of their weight.
"The system is still fighting against my control." She sounded annoyed that Kat hadn't looked up from her datapad and was still inputting commands. The lift hummed as it moved them upwards. Hestia hadn't said a word since they entered the lift.
"I hacked into their communications, and they're redirecting another large force to meet us at the bridge." Noble-2 signaled to be ready as she reached for her Magnum and Six, the plasma rifle. Hestia's information meant a quick job as the lift paused its movement, signifying they had arrived, and both, with their weapons out and ready, waited for the doorway to open.
Ding!
A signal of the opening doorway was met with blaster fire upon opening, causing the Spartans to move out of the way. As they moved away from the fire, the two were passed by a continuous assault of blaster bolts. The droids were unrelenting, and Captain Dofine and his officers slowly moved away from the scene in fear.
"You! Don't just stand there, go and destroy them!" He commanded the nearby commanding officer of the droids. Following the orders, two droids moved to the lift, causing a brief moment of peace.
What happened next was anything but the sound of gunfire followed by the destruction of the droids. Moving out of the lift, both Spartans fired their weapons at the closest droids. Red plasma bolts melted the frame of a droid, with Six grappling its frame, using it as a shield against blaster fire. Noble-2 executed well-placed shots that immediately disabled her victims. Both Spartans moved in almost identical paces, quickly destroying droids in their paths to the Neimoidians.
With little effort, Six threw the disabled droid frame at a nearby droid, knocking it down, and sprayed red plasma bolts upon the droids guarding the Neimoidians. Noble-2 snapped a droid head off its frames and placed two armor-piercing rounds into its main frame, seeing that it still functioned.
"Six, that console will do." Hestia used a nav point to guide the Spartan, who moved, still aiming his weapon at the group of Neimoidians along with Kat, who tossed her datapad to him.
Detaching Hestia's AI chip from his armor, he connected it to the data pad, which he connected via a port to the ship's console.
Hestia was silent only for a moment, but quick in her work. "It's done, " she said with finality.
"Get me a line to the Rear Admiral." Six asked her, which she swiftly did, using the ship's communications network to broadcast directly to the Fires of Winter.
"Noble Six to Winter Actual, we have control of the ship." Noble-2 moved to his side, having incapacitated the alien officers. Moments later, there was no sign of the ship getting hit by the two cruisers, signaling the end of the battle.
Hestia sent commands throughout the droid forces, with infantry and starfighters receiving commands to return to their stations. While she acclimated to the new systems with a direct connection, the ship's superluminal communications reacted. It alerted her like a soft humming touch. She ventured into the system, filtering through the data, learning how it functions, and finding the content of the reaction.
Activating the shorter-range communications she used previously to connect with the Fires of Winter. Creating a connection in a hurry, she only waited a few moments until the line connected.
"Sir, the battle is not over. The Captain called for reinforcements, and they will be arriving shortly." Hestia did not let the Rear Admiral speak, saying what she needed to inform him. Gatlin was silent, clearly in thought, only choosing to speak once he had an idea, a wait that wasn't long.
"I'm going to need you to put on an act for our guests when they arrive with our two Covenant cruisers." Hestia analyzed his meaning and quickly understood what the Rear Admiral planned.
_____
"You will sign the treaty now, Your Highness; your insurrection is done. Your capture proves that." The Neimoidian reveled in victory. Droids were aiming their blasters at the group. The droid force was too large, and the fact that they were surrounded didn't help. In the distance, fighting roared with blaster fire and explosions raging back in the stairwell.
"You believe this is the end, Viceroy? I will sign no treaty." The Queen, dressed in her regalia, responded with fierce defiance. Meanwhile, with two droids pointing their weapons at her was Noble-7, with Padmé at her side. Sabé protects the Queen as a decoy at her own risk while Padmé hangs to the side, witnessing the confrontation.
Close enough to her throne, Padmé glanced to see if she could act without being noticed, but there were too many droids to be discreet. Fortunately, in mere moments, she would get her chance.
BOOM!!!!
BOOM!!!!
Distant explosions echoed like ominous thunder, drawing the attention of the droids and the Neimoidian. In a swift motion, Padmé glided toward her ornate throne, her finger deftly activating a concealed compartment that revealed two sleek blasters gleaming in the light.
Noble-7 sprang into action, delivering a powerful elbow strike to one droid's head, the mechanical visage crumpling under the impact. Seizing the opportunity, she snatched the droid's blaster and fired two rapid bolts that streaked through the air, striking another droid with pinpoint accuracy.
With a sense of urgency, she deployed a shimmering drop shield, enveloping their group just as a storm of blaster fire erupted around them. The shield pulsed with life, its color shifting from a calm blue to a vibrant, flickering hue—each incoming bolt reverberating against it, creating a mesmerizing interplay of light and danger that momentarily shielded them from chaos.
Moments Before
"They just keep coming!" Jonah shouted in annoyance, firing off another explosive round, impacting against the shields of a Droideka, knocking them offline with the added EMP effect. The explosion released sharp shrapnel that excitedly stabbed itself into the frames of nearby B1 droids. Meanwhile, the Droideka frame was bombarded by green plasma bolts burning away its metallic structure. The Droideka was disabled; Jonah checked for his next target and a chance to fire another grenade.
Under the assault of the immense force of droids, they quickly lost the distance between themselves. The droids were closing in on the bottom steps of the stairwell. A small group of infantry droids had arrived. Seeing this, Jonah quickly aimed and fired a grenade at the droids. It was a direct hit that managed to rip apart some of the droid's appendages from their frames.
His action slightly relieved their more significant issue. The larger wave of droids was still moving towards them, with the more difficult Droidekas mixed in with the infantry B1s. Another group of Droidekas joined the main forces, rolling in, deploying their shields, and firing their blaster cannons at the Spartans and Naboo security forces.
They were severely outgunned, with the Droidekas unleashing a relentless firepower barrage that made any retaliation attempt nearly impossible. The pillar Roland had chosen for cover – a once-sturdy structure – was now crumbling under the relentless assault, chunks of debris flying in all directions as the concentrated blasts echoed around him.
Holstering one of his Plasma Pistols, he reached for a typical frag grenade and tossed it in a blur as he moved to join Jonah and the others. Again, Roland deployed a Drop shield surrounding them, but its hue quickly changed under the relentless blaster fire from the droids.
"We're going to have to move up! This position is about to be compromised!" Roland loudly ordered. The Drop shield looked like it would disperse any second now, and with the droid force closing in, there was no point in keeping position.
If they moved up the stairs, they could use the higher position to rain down their remaining explosives on the droids, wiping out as many of their numbers as possible. Then, they will fall back towards the Queens group.
With the group ready to move back, a rocket smashed through the corridor's decorative window, precisely aimed at the droid forces center. The explosive thrusters pushed it further through the air to a Droideka, impacting its shield and unleashing an explosive inferno that consumed the Droideka and its nearby brethren. In the chaos, squads of ODSTs moved in from hovering Pelican dropships with their troop bay exposed, allowing the squads to jump from the Pelican to the window. Another rocket was let loose at the droids, rumbling the palace with its explosion; only those nearby felt the impact.
The tides of droids dwindled with the added support from joining the UNSC forces.
Back with the Queen
In a similar scenario, they were surrounded by droids firing upon their protection, close to dispersing under the pressure of the droid blaster fire. Several cylinder-like grenades crashed in from the ceiling. They hit the floor and bounced from the impact, discharging an electromagnetic pulse that disabled the droids.
The closer B1 droids immediately dropped to the floor, while droids farther from the pulses remained standing but shook violently as if being electrocuted. Similarly, the EMP effect disabled and stunned the Droideka's shields.
Jumping down from the ceiling, Spartans fired ballistics, their weapons ripping apart the now defenseless droids. Amongst the chaos, the Viceroy and Rune Haako tried to sneak off, but a green blaster bolt hit the ground near the Viceroy's foot.
"Viceroy, you must stay to discuss a new treaty." Padmé and Noble-7 aimed their weapons at the two Neimoidians who held their arms up in fear.
"I told you this was an awful idea!" Rune Hakko complained loudly to the Viceroy. They were defeated, and it looked like Naboo's control returned to its people.
"Noble-7 to Winter-actual, we have captured the Trade Federation leadership status on the battle up above?" Her helmet drifted to the Marines who guarded the entryway, sealed by a metallic door. The thumping of a large droid force could be heard behind the security door.
Noble-7 waited as the UNSC soldiers and royal security prepared for another battle. The sound of the droids' movement stopped.
"Winter-actual to Noble-7, Noble-2, and Six have successfully taken control of the droid control ship with Hestia sending a shutdown command to deployed droids." Now notified of the status of the enemy's control ship, Noble-7 alerted the Queen to open the sealed doorway. The large metallic doorway opened swiftly, allowing a view of the army of disabled droids lying on the ground.
"Copy, sir. What's our next move?" Noble-7 waited for the next set of orders to arrive. Only to receive a mangled COM. "We—not don–ye–reinforcements inbo–"
"Sir! Copy again?" Daisy shouted through her COMs with Padmé and her entourage, looking questioningly at the Spartan. Meanwhile, a Spartan from Red team moved to Noble-7 side.
"Ma'am, the Auriga has informed us of two ships of identical hull structures arriving in the system and has moved to engage the Battlegroup." A feminine yet firm voice behind the armor informed Noble-7.
"Your Highness." Noble-7 addressed the Naboo monarch to figure out their next moves while the battle in space continued.
Droid Control Ship
The ship distanced itself from the main battle group. At the same time, the two battlecruisers fired their lighter armaments, such as their pulse lasers and plasma cannons, at the battleship, where its shields absorbed the energy-based weapons easily. Though sparingly, the enormous battleship did not remain idle as it fired back red streaks directed at the two ships.
Two more ring-shaped ships appeared ahead of the three, exactly like the one attacked by the pair of battle cruisers, minus the dishes surrounding a droid control ship. As if threatened by the appearance of the two newly arriving ships, the two battle cruisers continued firing their armaments as they fled away from the group of Lucrehulks.
Meanwhile, the captains of both ships tried to hail the Droid Control ship, but they were met with silence as they watched the ship move closer to them. Meanwhile, a pinging sound went off in the sensor system. The Neimoidian officer in charge of the sensors, with urgency, stated. "We need to jump to Hyperspace!"
On the bridge of the Droid Control ship, the two Spartans were moving through several consoles under the command of Hestia. Then, they paused, passing one another a nod in readiness and turning towards the AI. Hestia watched the distance between them slowly close as they were hundreds of kilometers away from the other two, but what she found from the data banks on the weapons meant they were within effective range of the weapons.
"Ready!" both Spartans said simultaneously. The Turbo laser cannons were oriented outside, facing the other Lucrehulks, which started turning on their axis. "Fire!" Hestia commanded. The Spartans then started pressing nearby buttons on their mutilated consoles.
Numerous red streaks fired out of each turret, aimed at the two Lucrehulks. Surprising the Neimoidians on the bridge as their shields took the barrage of Turbolasers. "Fire back!" A captain of one of the ships shouted at his weapon operators.
The bridge was soon blinded right after shouting orders, as two portals opened up before them. Out came the two ships previously thought to be harassing the Droid Control ship. Automatically, a barrage of many bright comet-like bolts of plasma banged against the shields of the two ships.
Unbeknownst to the Neimoidians, the trio of ships under UNSC control served as a diversion. At the same time, other UNSC ships were gathered thousands of kilometers away, with the supercarrier Fires of Winter commanding the battlegroup, poised to cut off any escape route for the two vessels.