---

Eternal Gem - Command Deck
Mid-Transfer towards B23-3527KI

The colorful chaos of FTL travel seeped through the large windows on the fron of the bridge. The respiration systems hum silently in the background as they scrbbed the air of carbon-dioxyde. The bridge was mostly empty and dark, apart from the main holographic screen showing some flight details. "ETA +143 minutes". Kindal'Q glanced over at the only other illuminated terminal in the room: his tactical officer was running several checks on their flight data. The Vixar are always cautious and make sure things go their way which is exactly why they make such good officers. But not all races of the galaxy are so noteworthy. Kindal'Q crossed his arm in front of himself and gazed out the window as his thoughts wandered to subjects at hand. In the next 3 hours the Gem will finish it's long intergalactic travel and take positions in orbit around the sun of a system that is rumored to house another Gashathi sanctuary. If his bretheren awake to his arrival, the unification shall commence with haste. His people will once again be free to rule the galaxy that they once owned. Maybe the other three singularities find their itnernal struggles more important that reclaiming the ancient dinasty, but the Aldum Ordo will begin by subjugating this part of the universe. Then, the rest shall follow to tremble in the wake of giants.

---

"Arrival to shift location in 5 minutes! Core is running at full effiency, all checks are perfect." 2 hours later the bridge looks nothing like before. The room is buzzing with life, and all of the operators have taken their places. Two dozen terminals light up the excited faces of officers ready to end their year long journey through the stars and find soltitude in the image of stellar objects. The Vixar are a race new to space travel and the journey has teaken their toll on them, but they are all eager to explore a new galaxy never before seen. This is a monetous step in their race's history, and the operators can barely hold in their excitement. The voice of the tactical officer cracks as he speaks up and he is forced to clear his throat before speaking up again. "Tunnel superstructure is at 100%, drives are ready for the shift, sensor lens checking for distortions. Fueld rods are stable, energy readings are in the green. We are ready for the shift on your orders sir." The two dozen furry faces look up from their consoles and turn towards the captain in anticipation. Kindal'Q crosses his fingers and rests his chin on them. The timer on the holopad is about to reach 1 minute, the signal point for the shift to begin. He gently nods, and opens his 4 arms wide towards the spectacle of the FTL tunnel. "We are to embrace this galaxy, and it is to embrace us! Initiate the shift!"

A trillion billion atoms moan at the same time as they are suddenly ripped from their reality and then get stuffed back into a new one in the blink of an eye. The shining lights disappear and a much brighter one takes their place. The Gem suddenly materializes deep within the gravity well of a large sun. His subspace anomalies masked by the distortion of the star, it was only a slight blip on the radars for a millionth of a second. The hull cries out in a metallic tone as the gravity pulls on it only to be held back by it's powerful engines.

"Shift succesful! Core is spooling, and the fueld rods are intact. Sensors didin't pick up anything, our track is still hidden." Sighs of relief and happy cheering fills the bridge. Some of the officers end up in each other's arm as they celebrate the end of the long intergalactic travel. But the warning lights quickly quell their joy as they all rush back to their places. Kindal'Q looks at his officers questioningly. "Is the sun causing us any problems?"

"Shields are up, and heatsinks are deployed. The structure of the ship is over 99.9%. The Gem is holding together as intended." The tactial officers speaks up, bringing up a tactical map of teh system on the holodpad. "The sensors have detected multiple unidentified ships in the system. We weren't able to pick them up in transit, but we are getting clear readings on several ships around the planet. We've got chatter on multiple frequencies, running analyzer on them now."

Finding aliens so fast after their arrival was quite the news, however it meant a change of plans. Originally they would have waited for the systems to get ready for an SDD and land on a nearby planet to establish a base of operations, but they couldn't do that with aleins around. This made time an important factor in finding that Gashathi Sanctuary before these races stumble into them. "Sir, we've analyzed the data patterns. They seem to be broadcasts, but the translator matrix indicates that it is more than one language. The ships we picked up on preliminary scans seem to be of different designs which suggests that we are dealing with multiple factions. The translator matrix is running the algorithms right now." Maybe they bumped into a warzone? Or perhaps some kind of rebellion? Whatever it was, this many different sides never leads to succes. Kindal'Q leaned forward in anticipation of the translated broadcast. On the holopad, one by one, the unknown words traded palces with more familiar ones until a clear messages appeared. As if his officer knew what he was thinking about a moment ago he commented on the discovery "It doesn't seem like the broadcast are of hostile intention. It appears as though these factions are just as confused about the situationas us. The primary freqency is broadcasting a looped message declaring their ship as a safe ground for diplomatic negotiations. The second frequency was intercepted from drone that sent a message to the ship."

"Wait, a drone? What would that be doing here?" "It looks like an unmanned vessel, probably remote controlled. Judging from the message, there must be a ship nearby. However, we don't have any further readings in the system." A drone? A ship that is looping a diplomatic message? And what about the other ships they picked up? For the sake of the Gashathi Sanctuary they must indulge in this weird situation. "Reroute power from auxilary combat systems to our optical scanners. If there is anything out there, the sun will help us light it up. And make sure to ping the sector once, the background radiation near the corona SHOULD be enough to mask our presence. Let's see if we can locate these foolish aliens." The oficers nod and began working on their console with utmost concentration. Kindal'Q leaned over to the side and brough up a personal holopad in front of him, dialing the officer down in Hangar 2. "Corey, prepare an escort corvette for immediate departure. Get all avaible wings ready for departure if needed. We'll be down there in a minute."

He gazed back at the window which was now showing a zoomed in image of the "diplomatic vessel". Maybe diplomacy was an option this time. But these inferior beings would not appreciate the fact that they could talk face-to-face with a Gashathi. Maybe blasting their inferior ship to pieces was a better option. But an all out warfare would be hard with only one ship. "Prepare point-to-point communications with UFO 1. Let them know that we are willing to participate in their diplomatic games as long as they disable their guns as a sign of good measure." Kindal'Q stood up from his seat, and straigtened his suit. He conveyed a psychic message to all those in the room to overcome the cacaphony of sounds. "I will be heading to the hangar bay with my personal guards. Tactical Officer Matt will be in command until I come back. Stay hidden with the ship until I come back safe and sound." With that, Kindal'Q stepped into the decklift that will take him directly to hangar bay 2.

Theme: youtube.com/watch?v=joO3jyU67TI

The firefight had escalated steadily from what the Fleet-master had anticipated. His forces had suffered moderately losses from the Anti-Infantry turrets the infidels had setup. But to his surprise, he and his forces weren't the only ones trying to reach the Vault. The defence forces at the Vault began to move their attention slightly away, focusing more on the newcomers. This gave the Covenant somewhat of a breathing room, even if they didn't need it in their opinion. Chatter came through to the Fleet-master's comm from this

"Fleet-master! Since your descent, several new ships of greater threat has entered the system. One of them has offered to engage in talks. Perhaps a chance to offer your demands for the Vault? I will patch through what it said."

A blaster shot flies past the Fleet-Master as he was about to respond, making him grunt annoyingly. While using some moments to consider what he were to do, the Covenant forces kept fighting. Skilled as they were, none had managed to push forward due to the turrets. The turrets had already demolished most of the Grunts and jackals. The cannon fodder of his troops.


“This is Commander Muriel Dar’Tuura of the cruiser Destiny Ascendant. I offer my hangar bay as diplomatic neutral ground. Those who wish may send an envoy post haste. Please limit security escort to four personnel.”

A plan formed within the Fleet-Master's mind.

"All forces within the vicinity, withdraw and engage cloak. Relocate and continue the fight. For the Covenant!"

As he finished to bark the order, forces around him began holding fire and engage their stealth modes. Relocating and recuperating to continue the fight. The Fleet-Master had most often served with regular troops of the Covenant, whom lacked the luxuary of being able to engage stealth. The Fleet-Master alongside some escorts made their way to the cloaked Phantoms, still hovering by the platform.

During their ascent to the Battle-Group, the Fleet-Master initiated contact with Commander Muriel.

"This is Fleet-Master Rah Nar'Kolimee of the Covenant. I have decided to grant you the blessing of my attendance to the talks. Prepare for my arrival. If you decide to eliminate me during my stay, however. Know that your end will come swiftly like thunder."

As he announced his eminent arrival to the Destiny Ascendant, the stealth pylons that made the Battle-Cruisers invisible was dis-engaged. Five CCS-Battle Cruisers came to view for all within the vicinity. While Fleet-Master's flagship made it's way to a closer location to the Destiny Ascendant, close enough for the Fleet-Master to use little time in being transported over to the Destiny Ascendant. Without appearing as a target practice. In the meanwhile, two of the Battle-Cruisers made their way closer to Aurora. Pockets of standard transport ships and fighters streamed out of the battle-cruisers, directed to the ruins where the firefight was at a top. The already stationed Covenant troops on the surface had rejoined the firefight. The contents of the Vault would be theirs.

Auora

Ruins outside of Garuda's Hive
The fighting for the fault was fierce and the Covenant proved to be a powerful adversary. The Republic troop task force, small in number compared to Garuda's private army were likely the only difference in what kept the Covenant away from the vault entirely. Garuda's henchmen while capable with their weapons hardly lacked the training, tactics and the overall composure to deal with such an advanced threat. Sergeant Mason was Kavar's right hand on the operation and he did what he could but the situation was looking grim, he had no choice but to try and contact the Jedi once more.

"Master Kavar, come in" It was almost like a plea at this point.

There was a brief pause but the Jedi finally replied "Sergeant, what's the situation?"

"There's additional contacts! We're holding them off but we've taken some casualties. We are on the verge of getting swarmed!"

"Copy, I'll be there shortly. Any attempts to find the Sith?"

"Negative. If they attempted to make contact with the Destiny Ascendant we would know it but I like to think they are more concerned about the vault then the arrival of these other ships"

"Makes sense. Dragos won't negotiate, he's in no position to do so. As long as we can delay the Sith long enough from reaching the vault..."

"Sir are you implying...?"

"Dragos likely is about to or has contacted his fleet by now. It will be in Imperial code, we need to decipher it immediately to figure out what we should do with the vault. I don't care what Garuda says...I'll deal with the Hutt when I arrive, stopping the Sith is our only priority" Kavar ended communications as he was arriving with the other Republic reinforcements that were in the city. Rapidly approaching the vault from a distance, a pair of Republic tanks prepared its weapons

With various unknown hostiles among the ruins the Republic forces and Garuda's gang were forced to fall back closer to the vault. By backing towards the vault they were surrendering more room and possibly any chance to escape but they the increased amount of debris would serve as better cover while keeping their firing ranges tighter.

Meanwhile

Hidden from view but close enough that they can hear the fighting in the distance, the Sith task force had gathered in full strength by the Imperial stealth craft. The small group of 20 commandos plus the Sith Lord himself were going over final preparations.

"These other ships will be aware of our presence. They will know we exist. They will see the code, they will attempt to decipher it. Our objectives are simple. We head towards the vault, we kill Kavern, we go home. If we can destroy the vault, we will, if we cannot we'll let these other factions fight all over it." Dragos announced as he paced back and forth within the circle that consisted of his men. The men listened intently securing their weapon loads and final instructions fully knowing they were going to enter a fire fight.

"What of the others in orbit, they will likely come to investigate... maybe won't be too happy we didn't come to their little gathering." A commando questioned as he took a quick peak through the scope of his riffle before looking at the Sith in his eye, giving him his full attention.

"That is why speed and efficiency is key to this mission. As much as I'd like to meet all these foreign commanders we are in no position to do. We are vulnerable. Whatever reinforcements comes will arrive just outside the system and make their way towards Aurora. Exiting hyperspace right on top of Aurora could be disastrous for our ships. If we need to wait, so be it. Now first things first..." Dragos gripped his helmet and placed it over his head, his voice deepening having been modified by the helmet to give the Sith a more darker and intimidating presence.

"Let's go hunt a Jedi"

The message sent to Imperial Sith space was long and complicated to the point most other factions would assume it was gibberish or too foreign to translate. While details weren't complete, its purpose was to notify any receiving allied Sith ships that the Galactic Center was now filled with several, powerful foreign factions and that arriving in the system would likely lead to a military engagement...

HIGH COMMAND
Hasrya System

The officer on the line with Shadow Star leaned back in his chair, listening to their latest transmission. Their hail had been received, and they had launched a shuttlecraft to rendezvous with the other craft. Several new and seemingly hostile entities had also appeared, and now they were asking for reinforcements.

"Anything we send your way will take several hours to arrive. It doesn't seem advisable, not with how quickly things are evolving at your location."

"We won't be able to stay here for much longer without help. What about the Gate? Lock it to our signal, send a transport with a crew detachment. Soldiers, security officers, someone. We're running barebones here."

"That would attract a lot of attention. If you can head to the edge of the system, it would still take an hour. We cannot advise it." The man swiped through a list of all ships at the ready, double checking every one. "We just don't have anything that can make the trip without alerting the whole system."
The officer started at a sudden cough behind his chair, having forgotten he was being watched. "Sir?"

"There's a ship. Hand over the line." The kyrian stepped forward as the man relinquished the spot at the console. "Shadow Star, this is the Admiral. We have a ship that can make the journey to you. It will not be able to provide any additional firepower, but it can carry enough crew to staff your vessel. Are you still requiring assistance?"

"...Sir! Yes, we are in need of at least a full staff, but what vessel are you sending?"

"AURI-1. She can make the trip in minutes. I'll have my officers send a notice when it is underway. Command out." Spirion cut the line, turned to walk out of the tactical floor, but addressed the officer at the station. "Notify Commander Kel'ar that we require her on-duty at dock Beta in fifteen minutes. And call up a staff for a type Azkar and a half staff for a Federal BCS designation. You'll find the records somewhere, I'm sure."

"Of course, sir."
-----------------------------------------------------------------

SHUTTLE B-1
En route to Destiny Ascendant

Arelya tweaked the nav map on her seat, checking that they were still heading to the rendezvous coordinates. They were only a few minutes out now, close enough for the shuttle's optical sensors to pick up the Destiny Ascendant ahead. Behind her, Raldyr opened a channel to the cruiser. "Destiny Ascendant, this is shuttlecraft Bravo-One, three minutes to target. Requesting docking protocols."

Both wore almost fullbody uniforms, resembling standard Star Corps attire; mostly black, with stripes of grey and green breaking up the neck and shoulders. Underneath was a fine mesh of steel and composites, which would block most light firearms and stop gauss drivers from becoming immediately lethal. In the back of the craft were two exosuits, and both kyrians sported a single kalbiir. The plasma blade, currently all but invisible on the joint of the right wing, was more for show and ceremony than anything else. In a pinch, it could prove invaluable.

"Captain says we're seeing more ships jumping in. I hope this meeting is quick."

AURORA-1 MAIN SEQUENCE STAR
High Corona Orbit

Kindal waited inside the elevator for it to reach the hangar bays. It was an excruciatingly long ride given the circumstances. Slowly the elevators stopped and the giant bustlnig hangar bay revealed itself behind it. Kindal stepped through the door and let the thick oily air mixed fuel fumes fill his lungs. He spent most of his life in places like this, overseeing the construction of hundreds of military vessels at once. He was standing on a catwalk that ran along the walls of the hangar and provided a great vantage point on most of the facilities. Some cranes moved starfighters from the cargo bay into their designated positions, whilst some other were already being refueled and rearmed. The hulking escort cruisers loomed in the background, with the outermost one being swarmed by different repair and rearm droids as well as a few dozen enginners.

Kindal was just beginning to walk down from the catwalks when a small group of Vixar and Kronsemar approached him with haste. "Overseer Kindal!" The Vixar in front saluted and the rest of them followed his example. Kindal narrowed his eyes and closesly examined the group. He saw the four Kronsemar husks that were supposed to be his excort, but the other four Vixar were also carrying guns and have equipped combat armor. What on earth could it mean? Kindal raised one of his hands from below the his robes and gestured at the Vixar party. "At ease Commandant. Explain the meaning of this." The Vixar in front pointed at the four droids behind him and frowned in disgust. "Why would you take these rustbuckets instead of us? We're well trained, we could defend you a thousands times better than these mindless tincans." The robots who didn't seem to take a liking to this comment spoke up one after the other to form one big sentence. "We calculate that your chances of survival - if the situation happens to escalate for some reason - are below the measely number of - 0.00016238365983 percent." The Vixar eyed the droids with killer gazes, but neither parties seemed to be at each other's throats. Yet.

On the other hand Kindal was enjoying this show quite a lot. He dropped the stone cold facade and smiled at the Vixar. "Calm down Nyugen, I have plenty of reasons to take them over your squad. I would not stray from your side in any battle, but I fear that you are too valuable of an asset to be put into such a dangerous situation." "But sir, that's non-" "Silence. I have made up my mind on this matter. I will take the husks to the meeting, and you are to prepare the batallion for breaking orbit and landing on Aurora to secure our asset. I doubt the husks could do that." Kindal gestured at the four husks who took up a tight formation around him. The Gashathi were a tall race, but the Kronsemar robots still towered over him with their impressive 3.4 meters. Nyugen was about to open his mouth again but Kindal silenced him with an angry glance. "This is the end of the argument Commandant Nyugen. Prepare your men and move out at first oppurtunity." The Vixar saluted in unison, their eyes still following the droids. "Understood Overseer." Kindal nod slightly and began treading towards his ship. "Dismissed."

FEW MINUTES LATER

Kindal was sitting in his command chair inside the command center of the corvette. This room was much, much smaller than the command bridge on the Gem. The whole 4 officers that made up the bridge crew sat around him in a circle with him being strapped into a gimbaling command seat with a large operating HUD in front of him. He entered the operating codes for the ship and the reactors flooded the room with the vibrant chime of systems booting up all at once. Soon the large holopad expanded it's functions from an ignition key to a fully operational command console. He checked his officers before initiating a call with the Gem. "Flight control, this is Sierra-Mike-One-Oh-Three, do you copy?" After some empty static the operator signs in with a huge sigh. "This is flight control to Overseer, you don't have to do this every time. We've got most of the data already on the computers, you don't need to report in so formally every time." The exhausted voice of the operator hinted that this wasn't the first time the Overseer triedout military jargon. Kindal replied with a huge smile on his face hidden behind his mask "I'm still so amazed with your species's military callouts. Before you we only had-" "Telepathic chec-and manual flight inputs, we know the story." Tactical Officer Matt seemed to have taken the place of the previous operator. "Overseer, I advise that you move out before things further complicate." Wait, did he say complicate? He wasn't gone for that long but seemed like something big has happened. Kindal signaled his 4 operators to launch the ship and he turned his whole attention to teh data stream on the operating HUD.

"I'm patching through, give me all the details Matt." As soon as he said that, a large window opened up with detailed sector scans and a completed map of the planet's surface and crust. "Since you've left the bridge, a number of unidentified vessels have broken concealment and are heading towards the Destiny Ascendant. We've also spotted a small shuttle heading towards the ship, most likely belonging to the owners of the drone and presumed stealth ship." Kindal interrupted before the next sentence as he looked at the map with confusin. "Destiny Ascendant? Have you managed to decypher the names?" "Uhh, yes sir, the matrix finished the full conversion just a minute ago. We have linked all the transmitter data to the ships we scanned on the map." Matt stopped for a second, looking for his words. "Anyways, we've got one more craft heading towards the Destiny. The desing patterns match that of the five stealth ships."

"Very good. I shall proceed with caution and use the SDDs to avoid giving away our position." Kindal was about to close the HUD when Matt spoke up in his earpiece again. "Sir, there is one more thing. We've confirmed the origins of the primary anomaly." The very atoms in the air seemed to stop in anticipation. Could this really be the end of their struggles? So easely attained after years of travel? Matt broke the silence first. "It seems to be a perfect match with the blueprints of the Sanctuary of Mak'shaL. The alloys of the sanctuary are blocking a deeper scan, but the computer has made a 99.999% match." Kindal felt like his whole world took a turn. He took off his mask and laid it in his laps. Kindal hoped that his Gashathi will thank him for his discovery. The vault of one of the greatest Hirule was so close he could almost feel the desert sand on his face.

Kindal was reminded of his missions by a long blip coming from his communicator. He put the helmet back on his head and accepted the transmission. "Sir? Your disappeared so suddenly. What has-" "Matt, this is no time for idle chatter. Patch me through to Commandant Nyugen." The answer came in the form of a long silence and then the sudden bark of Nyugen "Yes Overseer?" "I hope that you have your troops prepared. You are to immidiately depart to the planet and secure the are around these co-ordinates." Kindal forwarded the locations of the palace to the commandant and the signaled for his crew to begin the flight towards Destiny Ascendant. "Sir, we've confirmed the location to be deep below a large town. How should we proceed." It didn't take too long for Kindal to answer with an apprpriately simple and short answer. "Cleanse it." With that, he cut the comms and prepared for the SDDs of his ship to fire up as they leftt eh hangar bay.

HIGH ORBIT AROUND AURORA-1, LEAVING GEM PROXIMITY

When the ship finally left the strongest part of the sun's gravity well, the crew began furiously working on their consoles. Soon enough a number of warning lights illuminated the cabin. A synthetical voice began a countdown as the crew strapped themselves tighter into their seats. "Short Distance Drive initiating jump sequence in five. Four. Three. Two. Jump sequence initiated." With a thunderous boom and a blinding flash of light, the ship entered FTL travel for less than a few seconds and exited about a 400 kilometers away from Destiny's Ascendant. The cries of bending metal echoed through the cabin several times until they finally died out. "Jump succesful. System strees nominal. We're good for docking manouvers." Kindal acknowledged the information and opened a direct channel with the Destiny. "This is Grand Overseer Kindal'Q of the first Gashathi Signularity speaking. We come in the hopes of establishing a positive first contact with your species." Even if it doesn't matter once the rest of the Gashathi get here, but Kindal didn't want to add that to his speech. This time, his mission required no-one to be shot. The pilot of the ship took over the broadcast, hoping that his military expertise would be more helpful in not getting shot than the Overseer's diplomatic message. "Sierra-Mike-One-Oh to Destiny, we are transmitting our transpoder codes now. On vector for approach, ETA 4 minutes. Requesting docking protocols." The pilot turned back to the Kindal who seemed to be pleased about the current situation. "Well done. Make sure that we are ready for liftoff any second." He walked out of the command center and went down the hatch leading into the docking bay of the corvette. The four Kronsemar husks stood in full combat gear in the small room, their heads eerely following the movement of the Overseer and their guns readied and aimed at the door. "Switch from threat level one to two. We are here for diplomacy and not an assault on their ship." The droids lowered their guns and took on a more neutral pose, their fingers still in the proximity of the trigger. "God, I hope this won't go terribly wrong."

Theme: youtube.com/watch?v=-WWjwsCCOFM

While the rest of the battle-group remained within the vicinity of Aurora, the Fleet-Master's flagship were well on it's way towards The Destiny Ascendant. However, the Fleet-Master had instructed the bridge to hold the position just outside the calculated range of combat of the Destiny Ascendant. From there-on, he would continue the trip aboard a phantom. Accompanied by four banshees, which would disengage and return to the flagship after a while. His guard consisted of four Sangheili Ultras, adorning snow-white coloured armour. The Ultras are among the best within the Covenant infantry units, often leading the battle when a superior are lacking. The five Sangheili's awaited patiently and quietly for their arrival to the Destiny Ascendant. The first to talk was the pilot of the phantom.

"We will arrive within five minutes, Fleet-Master." No more needed to be said about it. The Fleet-Master acknowledged the pilot with a mere grunt. The Pilot knew what to do. He opened the comm's and spoke.

"Destiny Ascendant, this is the escort of The Fleet-Master. He will arrive within five minutes. Requesting docking permission."

The Fleet-Master barked an order to his Ultras, positioning himself at the head of the square formation his guards had created behind him. At first, curiosity had occupied his mind. Who were these aliens? Why would they conduct a meeting for neutral grounds? The theories did not matter, he concluded to himself. He would just have to see what would happen. The Fleet-Master could overhear the brief and formal conversation the pilot had with the Destiny Ascendant. It seemed as if the phantom were about to land. While the hovering phantom commenced landing procedures, the hatches on both sides of the Phantom opened. Revealing the view of the Main Hangar at first, and then the habitats of the ship. The Fleet-Master could clearly see that the security the ship had conjured up was armed. He and his guards was at a disadvantage as of the moment should it come to battle, but alas, so were they, he concluded. The Fleet-Master and his guard exited the phantom once it had made it's descent complete. At first, he remains silent as he observes the gathered, then the Sangheili speaks.

"I am Fleet-Master Rah Nar'Kolimee of The Covenant. Shall we begin?"

---

In the meanwhile, inside a phantom descending to Aurora.

"The Hierarchs has finally deemed us, the underdogs of the Covenant, The Jiralhanae, worthy to aid The Covenant! Worthy to join the Sangheili, the arrogant pricks, in the quest to bring forth the Great Journey! With this chance given to us, I'll be damned if the Sangheili are the first ones to find whatever valuable that lies down on that wretched planet! I, Tartarus, chieftain of the Chosen Jiralhanae Tribe, will be the one to find it and bring glory to our species!"

The Jiralhanae gathered within the descending phantom all howled at the same time, banging their hands onto their chests. While Tartarus held his Gravity Hammer, The Fist of Rukt, high in the air. The Jiralhanae is a relatively new addition to the Covenant. If it hadn't been for the Prophet of Mercy, the Sangheili would have exterminated the Jiralhanae at their first encounter. This bear-like race serves as shocktroopers within the Covenant, easily able to lead a bloody charge. Strength and weapon utilisation are their specialities, while lacking in wit and cunning. There's still the occasional Jiralhanae that master in all of the said things. They often end up being leaders of their kind. Tartarus, The Chieftain of the Jiralhanae Tribe present, was one of the occasional Jiralhanae.


The Pilot of the Phantom announced in the speakers within the Phantom that they would land within some moments. The howling Jiralhanae began chanting with a low, deep voice, while slowly banging their hands onto their chests. It became more rapid as the Phantom approached the ground. Tartarus began receiving chatter through the comms that other Phantoms had already landed and prepared their assault. Tartarus had planned his forces to make use of energy-shield to quickly approach the Vault. Once close enough, the Jiralhanae would do what they did best. To be cannon-fodder of efficiency. The hatches on the Phantom's sides opened. The Jiralhanae howled as they poured out of the ship. Tartarus led the charge. They wasted little time in reaching the war-zone. His plan came in effect shortly after. Energy-shields in the form of a dome was staffed by three grunts and one brute each. The shields was constructed to withstand heavy damage. The Sangheili remained in the back of the attack, covering the front-forces with long/medium range weaponry. Tartarus himself utilised a one-of-a-kind custom body-covering shield created on the Jiralhanae. That, alongside his Gravity hammer. A powerful weapon which can be used to manipulate gravity, allowing it to push opponents away or pull them towards the wielder, as well as deflecting incoming projectiles. This weapon consists of a shaft, head, and blade. A field generator, which is located in the head, emits a kinetic pulse which blows both friend and foe with incredible damage.

Once Tartarus deemed the energy-shields to be close enough for close-quarter-combat, he erupted a roar loud enough for everyone within the close vicinity to hear him, and tremble. Then he hoisted his hammer high in the air and bellowed:

"Charge now! In the name of the Covenant, let us mutilate these heretics! CHARGE!"

Niryrk pressed on his firefight. His soldiers had the advantage. One by one, the thugs and few Republican troops fell. Niryrks troops were to well positioned and the surprise attack also helped give him the tactical advantage. While several Republican troops including what looked like their commander fled deeper into the ruins, the thugs timing was pour and most were shot down by snipers as they tried to run. Niryrk charged into what was left of enemy forces. They concentrated fire on him but it did not go well. A purple beam came from the servitor and shrouded Niryrk in a purple aura that made him immune to the incoming fire. He stood there boasting as the enemy realized their weapons were ineffective. While their morale was low, the rest of the vandals and see rushed in and shot them.

Niryrk barked. "Salvage what is left of their armor and weapons. We will move deeper into the ruins soon." A few minutes later, two Ketch ships emerged. Niryrk had given his position to his Kell before the firefight and was glad reinforcements arrived. Two more servitors and captains dropped down as well as more dregs and vandals. One captain wielded a shrapnel launcher and the other had more devastating weapon, the scorch cannon. The servitors scanned for trap mines while the dregs began to pick up what weapons and armor remained from enemy soldiers to salvage.

Niryrk and the other captains could here the other firefight. "I'm sure they will have much more attention we will have." Niryrk said. Keliks, the captain with the scorch cannon, spoke up. "We are in for a fight as well." He turned towards the dregs and several vandals. "Cover this point. We will need a proper escape route." One servitor would stay behind. A elder Vandal named Loksis would take command of the remaining forces until the captain's came back.

Niryrk, Keliks, and Rahn followed a servitor deeper into the ruins while several dregs and vandals followed behind. The were determined to get whatever salvage was within the vault.

SHUTTLE B-1
Destiny main hangar

The craft touched down with a gentle click as the mag-lock engaged, the whine from the engines spooling down filling the cockpit for several seconds before there was relative silence. Arelya disengaged the door locks and the electrical polarization of the cockpit screen, brightening the interior of the shuttle and allowing the hangar a glimpse inside as her head swung snake-like out of view.

"Radios have a communications uplink with our ship?" Arelya glanced at a terminal over Raldyr's shoulder, checking before he answered.

"Yeah, relay on the shuttle reads green. I hope that it translates enough to make some sense." He shrugged, flicking off the display and stepping to the door, releasing the manual latch and giving it a firm shove. It swung open overhead, folding in half on the way to save space. A short ramp folded down at the same time, the two kyrians stepping off of the craft onto the hangar floor.

Stepping forward to the nose of the shuttle, Arelya glanced at the other craft uneasily. Its design gave her a slight shudder down her spine, the beings who had gathered around it not helping either. "I'm not sure what I expected," she spoke to Raldyr over her direct radio, "but they were not in my list."

"Agreed." The comms officer stepped slightly forward, pleased that he was not that much shorter than the Destiny's crew. "Greetings. I am Raldyr of the vessel Shadow Star, chief communications officer." He looked at Arelya, left wing twitching outward in a pointing gesture. "This is Arelya, our weapons operator and acting shuttlecraft pilot. We come only to seek information on a broadcast we received from this system." All his speech came from the implant embedded in his chest, Raldyr remaining otherwise motionless. "Am I translating correctly?"

--------------------------------------------------------------

BETA STARDOCK
Hasrya System

Kel'ar scanned over the crews she had been assigned to as they organized in the Beta dock, the large grey and black vessel they were about to board fully visible though the large windows of the starport. It surprised her that they kept such an old design in active service. Although, it would be a shame to decommission the famous craft. Sixty years prior, its predecessor by name had made first contact with several alien races. Now it would help in establishing relations with more.

The black kyrian stood, stepping forward with a chirp from her radio to get the attention of the officers. "Bridge crew, report to stations. Alpha section, you are to man engineering and sensor positions. Beta detachment, you may board at ease, but be prepared for prompt offload once at rendezvous site. We are go for departure in ten." Silently the crew filtered into the boarding tunnel, the Aurerra receiving a breath of life that came only rarely. Kel'ar followed behind the main body of the crew, taking her time on the way to the bridge through the comparably pinched hallways for her kind. "Damn old crew passages. I prefer the Archangel."

Auora

As the firefight intensified by the vault, the Republic troopers were making their final stand. To retreat into the vault would have been suicide... the vault had hardly been accessed to and they would have been retreating into an area with no cover, no tactical advantage. The increased use of explosive arms consistently threw smoke, dust into the air as vision started to become increasingly difficult. Facing multiple enemies at multiple angles, it was becoming rapidly apparent that the Republic and their smuggler allies were facing an imminent death.

However through the sand storm, powerful laser cannons fired indiscriminately at the approaching Fallen and Covenant as a small opening in the firefight allowed for a pair of Republic tanks to squeeze through. With the tanks rotating their heavy main guns at the approaching hordes they consistently fired in the hopes of slowing their advance. "This is it boys! All you got! Make everything count!" Mason shouted in his comlink as a reminder that there would be no more reinforcements, this was it. Positioning itself several feet before the entrance of the vault the tanks formed a small defensive perimeter allowing retreating Republic troopers and smugglers to fall behind and use the tanks as cover. Through a small hatch, Jedi Master Kavern exited through the lead tank ducking his head to avoid an incoming plasma bolt as he reached for a heavy assault riffle that hung on the side of the tank. Peering quickly through the scope the master Jedi fired several quick bursts of accurate firepower into the enemy ranks but with the Covenant advancing with such heavy shock troops in the Brutes while another enemy advanced with void shields and heavy sniper fire. The arriving of the tanks serving as the last line of defense of the vault would prove valuable but they could only hold for so long.

Taking cover behind the tanks, Kavern manuvered his way through blaster fire as he linked up with Sergeant Mason.
"Good to see you sir!" Mason shouted trying to ensure their conversation was loud and clear.
"Use everything, hold nothing back" Kavern replied calmly as he took another peak into the fire fight.
"Multiple hostiles from multiple angles, hopefully they'll start shooting each other!" Mason quipped, a smoke joke in a serious situation.
"It would make this easier. Is there anything in the vault? Anything we can use?" Kavern questioned but Mason shook his head.
"You have to ask Garuda's fat ass himself! The vault is ancient, nothing nobody has seen before." Kavern nodded. "I'll check, Mason it's been an honor" It was almost like there was a silent acceptance they both acknowledged but they would not speak of it.
Mason simply nodded his head and shook the Jedi's hand firmly as they both repeated the words that created a strong bond among the Republic forces. "For the Republic"

Kavern raced into the vault, watching what was left of Gardua's men race towards the battle armed with rocket launchers and other advanced weapons leaving the Hutt by himself. Garuda turned after examining a wall to take note of the Jedi and cursed in Huttese knowing full well he might have just forfitted his entire army for secrets and weapons he would not live to enjoy.

"I didn't anticipate this to happen... yes I'm aware. Look unless you got more men somewhere or have any idea to get something useful out of here, it's over." Kavern explained. It was fortunate he understood the Hutt though the Hutt himself found himself too proud to learn Galactic standard. Suddenly Kavern turned his head back at the entrance and gritted his teeth... the Sith were here, he could feel it.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

At a small ridge that overlooked the fire fight Dragos stood with his men watching from afar trying to analyze the situation.
"Sir this range is rather optimal. We're clear to go." A trooper stated as he readied his weapon.
"No need trooper" Dragos explained. "It will be too risky if we all went in at once. Stay here and provide my opening and exit" Dragos replied as grabbed a pair of grenades in his hands.
"Sir?"
"The vault is lost. I just need to make sure Kavern dies." Dragos stood up fully as he prepared to slide down the hill. The Sith then eyed the task's force 2nd in command and raised his wrist and tapped it twice, an informal signal to the silent commando who nodded his head. Dragos nodded in reply as he slid down the sand hill and sprinted towards the firefight.

Adoring his Mandolorian T shaped visor helmet the Sith's HUD provided a full 360 degrees of vision along with a variety of useful advantages such as being able to magnify his vision or an infrared scanner. As the Sith closed in towards the fire fight, Dragos hurled the pair of smoke grenades in his hands, the thick grey smoke instantly exploding outward covering the Sith's entrance into the fight. With his task force safety out of the fight, any figures that saw the Sith arrive were downed immediately by cover sniper fire.

Activating his crimson lightsaber Dragos swiftly moved through the battlefield like a shadow, closing in on the vault using the chaotic battlefield conditions and what was left of the ruins to cover his movements. With a swing of his lightsaber any lone stragglers were cut down instantly as Dragos closed in toward his destination. Taking position behind a downed pillar Dragos took another quick observed view... the tanks were focused on the alien hordes providing him a small gap. With such heavy firepower focused on the enemy, they would be impossible to ignore, now it was a just a matter of when to make his advance.

SIERRA-MIKE-ONE-OH
Destiny close-in

The communicator crackled to life inside the headgear of Kindal and the soft voice of the pilot poured into his ears. "Overseer, we've got confirmation from the Destiny. I'm bringing in the ship for landing, prepare for touchdown." Kindal took a deep breath of the stale air inside the docking bay. He grabbed his staff from the weapon locker embed into the side panel. It was a weapon that most of the Gashathi carried with themselves all the time. But more importantly it was a traditional Gashathi item that showed off the wealth and status of the individual during meetings. His name might not be affiliated with a long lineage of Hirules or governors, but all Gashathi richly adore their staffs. And of course, a retractable energy staff that can be used both at range and close quarters is a valuable asset for all those who hold minimal value for their life. But for now, the staff remained nothing more than that: a richly decoarted stick.

The magnetic clamps finally locked onto the floor of the hangar bay, and the ship shook for a brief second as the engines spooled. Kindal lifted his headgear slightly, and clipped his respirator/communicator equipmnet on his mouth before adjusting the mask back to it's position. Even if the other races were fine inside the hangar's atmosphere, who knows what dangers it may hold to foreign species. And it doesn't hurt that you have a built in translator for communication. Of course, none of this was visible to the outside observer, a carefully a planned trick that the Gashathi have played for eons as they portrayed themselves like gods. This wasn't going to be one of those moments, but it definetly looked better than having to rely on an a separate droid or AI to translate your speech.

"Overseer, I'm lowering the ramp now." A silent hiss erupted from the door as it slid up inside the hull and a wide stairway was lowered down onto the floor of the hangar. Kindal gestured towards his combat husks and they began to walk down the stair and take up formations. They didn't get shot at. With a large stress factor out of the way, Kindal also walked down the stair and took his position amidst the formation of his droids. Much to his surprise, the crew of the ship seemed not to be as small as he originally imagined them.

Immidiately after that, the staircase retracted back into the ship, and Kindal looked around the hangar. As he looked around his HUD tagged a variety of armed guards and possible threats for him and his droids. After confirming all possible angles of fire, he began to observe the resident race and the other two attending parties.

There were two draconic aliens that seemed to be of some mixed breed. They were well dressed and equipped with a simple but fancy sword. Kindal couldn't exactly explain his feeling of uneasiness as he observed the way they talked. He made a not of it inside his head to acquire the detailed analysis of them once he gets back to base.

The other attending race was eerely familiar thought. They reminded him of the Sankar, the barbaric berserkers of the Gashathi army. However, these aliens seemed a lot more advanced and intelligent than the Sankar, putting them much higher on the danger scale.

Finally, the resident alien species seemed to be familiar to the humans that they have encountered in the Milky Way galaxy, albeit much taller. They seemed to resemble the Vixar in their materialist and militarist deisgns and clothing. But they obviously lacked the fur and the strong jaws. Kindal wasn't sure if that was a good or bad trait: he grew accustomed to the furry bastards on their long journey.

As he paced through the hangar, he decided to stop at around the same distance that the other races were standing from the captain of the Destiny. He double checked his translator device on his HUD before accidentally speaking up in the wrong language. He raised his arms into the air, his gaze focused on the captin. "I am Kindal'Q, Grand Overseer of the Gashathi Empire. May this divine presence enlighten us and propel our races into a new era."

---

VIXAR TASK FORCE
Descending Orbit above Aurora

It has been around 10 minutes since the task force left the Gem and used their SDDs to approach Aurora. 48 Vixar rattled inside sturdy metal casings as their dropship began to pierce the uppermost layers of the atmosphere. Their armors were firmly attached to small steats and a large steeal beam arching overhead, dimly illuminated by the inernal HUD of their helmets. The dark walls pressed on them and kept them from moving too mutch, and the machinery held them firmly in their positions. Commandant Nyugen was one of them, his armor bearing the marks of an officer. His messed around with his HUD until it brought up the same 3D map of the town for every member of his team. "Okay, everyone should be seeing the map of our AO. I'm going to be short and simple on this one since we're breaking atmosphere in a minute and half and then we'll lose contact right until we're above the target."

And indeed, the shaking slowly became less gentle as the ship entered the thicker parts of the atmopshere. "We're going to split up into two task forces, Aplha and Bravo. Alpha will be lead by Sgt Malkovich and will consist of our 4 Valkyrie dropships and their load. Once we break through the atmosphere they're going to push into the town from North, South, east and West to secure a perimeter. They will also be tasked with the elimination of-" Nyugen stopped for a second to think of the appropriate words to use. He spent a lot of time with the Gashathi since the Vixar joined the Singularity, but he wasn't sure how to break the arrogance of their masters to his fellow race. "Of these puny aliens. They don't deserve our love, so don't hesitate to use those flamers boys." A few enthusiastic Vixar shouted battlecries into the comms. At least his men weren't opposed to killing civilians. "Alpha, will stick to the edges of town, and prevent anyone from going in or out. Once we can see the smoke piling above the town and the signal flares, I will drop in with team Bravo into the proximity of the palace hiding the Sanctuary. That zone is currently lit up by small arms fire and infantry turrets, so that's why we're taking the breaching pods." As if the machinery knew they were talking about it, it began to shake wildly as they ship carrying them entered the dense parts of the atmosphere. Nyugen murmured some curses under his nose. 15 seconds until the chatter is totally lost. "Okay Bravo, listen closely. We'll drop in on both flanks of the main entrance, but watch out for other aliens in the AO! Don't shoot unless they shoot first, we don't want any trouble. See ya on the ground!"

Several minutes later, on the surafce of Aurora

"Light them up boys, let them feel the burn ahahaha!" The flamers threw hot plasma at the running aliens, burning their flesh and charring their bones. The smell of burnt meat and smoke filled the air around the group of Vixar troopers. Team Alpha has been cleaning the outskirts of the town and establishing a secure perimeter with haste as they prepared to signal Nyugen that they can drop. Finally, after a few hundred burnt houses and hastly made roadblocks of dead aliens and metal scrap the first signal flare launched into the sky on the north edge of town. Then three others rose into the air from the other task forces. The Vixar were cheered and raised their guns as waited for their flyboys to arrive.

It didn't take long for the three large aircraft and their fighter escorts to appear over the dunes of the desert. The slim dropships flew in a wedge formation over the desert, the white paint reflecting a blinding amount of light. They had a large thin body, carrying large white balls in the middle of their fuselage. The one in the front carried a ball that was larger than the aircraft, whilst the other two carried four smaller balls each in a holding pattern. They quickly approached the palace and flew over the smoke piles rising from the edges of town.

Commandant Nyugen spoke up in the intercomms "We're going in hot boys, prepare for a rough landing." The HUDs of the troopers updated as they zoomed in for a close-up of the palace. A small countdown timer was ticking down towards zero, when the pods will be released by the dropships.

"New contacts! They have tanks!" As the tanks rolled out from the palace, a cold shiver ran down along the spines of the Vixar. They weren't exactly prepared for heavy contact. The timer was appraoching 10 seconds, when one of the palace tank crews finally noticed the incoming dropships. They aimed their main gun at the front dropship, shooting a salvo at it. The explosions rocked the front dropship, setting it's entire engine bay on fire. "White-1 hit, we lost engines one through four!" Nyugen talked into the intercomms once again, his voice calm as ever. "Fighters, disengage from formation! White 2 and 3 drop us here and RTB! Alpha team, send some of your guys to pick up White 1 once they land! Bravo, prepare for landing!"

The outer ships released the round droppods and began to quickly gain altitude and perform evasive manouvers. The damaged ship also released the massive ball it was carrying, but it couldn't gain any altitude without it's engines, and continued to fly in a straight line until it crash landed somewhere in the Eastern part of town, throwing up a massive cloud of dust and smoke. The small droppods hit the streets with ground shattering force, bouncing off of them one more time, and then rolling for several meters until they stopped. They were about 50 meters from the Palace, just outside the wide killzone set up around the palace. On the other hand, the large ball landed near the republic tanks, the force of the impact breaking all the nearby windows. It rolled through the firezone unaffected by blaster shots until it finally stopped moving near the palace entrance. Nothing happened.

Bravo squad rallied up on the edge of the fireline hiding behind buildings and ruins, finally making eye contact with the palace. They also saw the other two races who were up against the palace defenders, admiring their braveness in the battlefield. Nyugen signaled for the squad to lay low, his hud tagging all targets. The squad nervoulsy focused on the still intact drop pod near the entrance as one of the tanks strafed towards it returning fire on the other attackers. Nyugen murmured silently until the tank was finally within close proximity of the pod. "Come on big boy, show me what you got!" He pressed a button on his wrist controller, and the large door of the drop-pod swung open.

From inside, a large armored Vulkhar crawled out with a deafening battlecry. It broke the door off the pod, and grabbed onto it like a shield. The nearby tanks opened fire, but their shots couldn't pierce the thick armor of the blast door. Nyugen shouted into his comms, opening fire on the enemy's positions. "Now boys, give them all you got. They should be happy to be on the receivong ends of our guns! Show these alien scum what the Fanheim are made out of!" With that, the rest of Aplha squad opened fire on the startled enemy to give a chance for their Vulkhar to clear out those troublesome tanks.

Ephsor arrived to the firefight at the ruins around the same time the defenders brought out their tanks, between that and covenant's heavy troops assaulting the position and the reports of more ships entering the system the race for this ruin was getting a bit more intense, for now the Kell would try to avoid heavy losses and look for an opportunity.

"Ease up the assault, let our rivals take the brunt of their fire" he ordered most of his forces back with only their sniper Vandals to keep firing. Shortly after this however, yet another force dropped in, quite literally, and began attacking the defender's tanks with a large warbeast. This earned an annoyed growl from Ephsor, the odd of the Fallen breaking through first were dropping rather fast. Niryk may have slipped inside before the defenders had recovered their line but they needed to break the line open again to get them out.

With a shout Ephsor recalled the all the forces currently engaged in the assault, having them pull back and regroup. He called for a Spider Walker to be sent down, they may have been on standby but it was still going to take time to get here, they could launch another assault once it arrived, hopefully either the defender's line could hold until then or leave the other forces weak enough that they wouldn't have that hard of a time getting through them.

Liberator

Dik'ta is sitting at the bridge in-front of a holo-com.The leader of K.A.T.A. is speaking to Dik'ta about any discoveries found in the planet.

"We still have not found any source of life in the planet." Dik'ta said in a serious voice

Suddenly a man walks to Dik'ta "Sir we found a small village." The man said

"Okay forget that we found life in the middle of a dessert." Dik'ta said to the holo-com guy

A shuttle accompanied by 4 fighters went to the location of the so called village
it was a small village filled with small huts with white sheets as roof it was medium.
Imagine a trading post that was expanded and people settled into it that is what they found.

People walked up to shuttle door with their guns aimed at the ramp.Dik'ta came out with 2 elite troopers
with large guns the civilians were scared that they dropped there weapons in fear.One man came up.

"Do you're worst!" The man said angrily

"We are not here to fight..." Dik'ta said in a near calm voice

"Sorry for the guns come the chief will want to meet you." The man said as he walks off


Village
Town Hall

The large hut also known as the 'Town Hall' was the chief's hut there are 3 doorways in the left,right and center the left and right was guarded by man with axes and the center was opened and filled with jewels.The
chief came out from the center doorway

"Welcome visitors! Please take a sit." The chief said in a excited voice

Dik'ta,3 officers and a diplomatic advisor sat down in a large dining table mad of stone and topped by a mat
The mat was yellowish red and filled with ornamental designs including gems and jewels.The chief stood up....

"Everyone these are out visitors and we will honor them by a feast!"

Meanwhile in the Liberator

"We just got firefights reported near!" A man said

"Contact the admiral and warn him we are on a battlefield!" The comm officer said.

---

Destiny Ascendant

The Fleet-Master noticed how the assembled didn't really understand each other. He sighed with his mandibles at the sight of the translator, regretting not bringing one of the Engineers, they would have solved the issue in no time. Nonetheless, he kept trying to understand. Which he actually managed, somewhat. A simple nod was offered to Muriel, and continued trying to 'simplify' his word-speech.

"I am here. Holy reason. Aurora. Ours."

Then the Fleet-Master moved his gaze over to Kindel, inspecting the unknown being. A simple "Hrmf." Escaped him as his visual inspection was finished. He awaited the response from the others. While waiting, one of his guards whispered something to the Fleet-Master. He nodded slowly to himself, approving the new set of news.

Once more, he spoke. "Pious Transgression. IS here. Now. I recommend. Withdraw. Surface troops. Now."

---

Aurora, Surface.

"What in the name of the Prophets is that?!"

Several members of the Covenant forces recoiled their charge as they gained a view on the Vulkhar, attacking the tanks. The grunts of the forces present had already begun falling back to the Sangheili's position. Tartarus would have none of it as they had already broken through their lines, and noticed the hostile tanks were focusing their fire upon the gigantic creature. He saw an opening in the last stand of the enemy.

"Pack-members! With me, we are going into that vault! Hurry before the creature notices us!"

With his doubtful Jiralhanae at his back, Tartarus continued to lead the charge. Clearing a path through both hostiles and barricades. The closest of the tanks took notice of the charge, and rotated it's cannon-turret towards the Pack. Taking notice of this, Tartarus took a slight detour of his attack, slinging his hammer with a force few present could accomplish, aiming the attack on the cannon-turret of the tank. Just before it managed to land a shot, the whole barrel was broken. The tank was made inoperable, the cannon-barrel smashed straight off, alongside other devastating damages done by the kinetic pulse of the hammer. Tartarus quickly rejoined with the pack, whom had gained a vigorous morale after seeing this display of power. The Covenant forces made their way into the Vault. Curious and prepared to face whatever was inside there.

---

In space, within the close vicinity of Aurora.

Theme: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDSQbCYrXu0

Large ruptures of slipspace energies began appearing for everyone within the vicinity of Aurora whom had the technology to see it. They could easily track the energies to the location of the two CSS-Battle Cruisers. Soon enough, several ruptures appeared. Ships by the dozens began to come out of the ruptures, similar ships to the already-present Covenant forces. The fleet of Pious Transgression had arrived. With knowledge of what was currently happening in the Aurora system, the fleet began to split up almost at once. Ten CSS-Battle Cruisers alongside an Assault Carrier, a vessel far larger than the other ships, began their descent for Aurora's orbit. While the rest held their position, forming a defensive formation.

Once positioned by the already stationed CSS-Battle cruisers at orbit, the reinforcements began sending infantry support down to the surface. Now focusing on the entire city, instead of the Vault. Troops were still being sent to the vault, no doubt. But from all directions. To achieve air-dominance over the city, flocks of Banshees descended upon the planet. Aiming to clear the skies of unknown ships and to rain molten-fire down upon the hostiles down below.

Destiny Ascendant Hangar

Raldyr watched the speaker of the purple craft as he spoke in shorter fragments, assuming he was trying to get his speech across. From what the translator program and the body movement, it seemed he was claiming to possess the planet.

"I believe he calls himself the Fleetmaster. We're seeing matches from earlier broadcasts now. Try to keep them talking." Artenan was monitoring the translator back aboard their ship, interjecting when he could if they found something new.

The brown kyrian nodded to himself, focusing on the Fleetmaster. "You claim to own this planet. Only one site shows your kind. Several of your ships have come since our arrival. I believe that this planet is not yours." Raldyr's voice echoed quietly in the hangar, its almost musical tone seeming out of place amongst the other dialects.

Unsure of the name of the taller alien, but fathoming a guess based on what he had said, Raldyr turned to Kindal next. "The same goes to you, Kindal." The parroting of the name was eerily accurate. "Ships of similar form to your shuttle have been seen on the surface, fighting over the same site. What is down there?"

He hoped that he could be understood by these two, without having to sound as ridiculous as the Fleetmaster.

----------------------------

AURORA ORBIT
Shadow Star coordinates

There was a subtle twist in the space near Shadow Star as a warp conduit opened up on them. In another moment, a large vessel, glowing for a while before its hull radiated the strain of the jump away, appeared a few kilometers from the Cindorian stealth craft. The antique battlecruiser maneuvered to match orbit and intercept with the cruiser, which now decloaked in a bright flash of pent-up heat before cooling to a less detectable temperature.

Minutes later the two ships had berthed, the crew complement of the Shadow Star filtering onboard through the docking tunnels where they were greeted by a relieved Captain Lyra. Many of the new staff manned turret substations, the rest distributing themselves amongst the shield and sensor tuners.

"Commander Kel'ar." Lyra saluted the superior officer as the former stepped aboard the newer vessel, stretching in the increased breathing room of its hallways. "Thank you for the reinforcements."

The black kyrian dipped her head in acknowledgement, motioning to be at ease. "You certainly needed them. This ship isn't fit for proper combat with just its bridge."

Lyra cocked her head, showing a bit of a smirk. "I'll have you know that we have some of the Corps' most talented operators on board... at least, when they aren't off on an alien craft."

"Perhaps. At least you can breathe in here, I can't imagine how my father coped on that old thing." Kel'ar chuckled, before changing the subject to the matter at hand. "About these peace talks; I've been instructed to hold here and observe the situation, act as a more immediate authority if Command loses your signal. They've been noticing some periodic disturbances and don't want to take any chances."

Niryrk, Keliks, and Rahn moved in, they were fired upon by enemy tanks. After the dust had settled. The others could see Niryrk pulling rubble off of Keliks while Rahn provided cover fire with his shrapnel launcher. The weapon could destroy a yank but it was still a weapon that was not to be taken lightly. Niryrk pulled Keliks out of the rubble only to notice Keliks didn't let go of his scorch cannon. Keliks was injured and couldn't walk on his own. Morale was draining when suddenly, they noticed their Kell arrived. This inspired them and brought up their confidence even though they were ordered to retreat. Niryrk picked Keliks up through the blaster fire and began to run toward cover where the others were regrouping. "I'm not letting you die here. If you did, I wouldn't have a proper rival with a sword." Keliks laughed though it soon turned to coughing. Rahn followed behind giving cover fire. Soon, they got to safety. Niryrk set Keliks down. Rahn looked around. Did Loksis survive the fire?"

The elder Vandal made his appearance. "I'm fine, this fight is getting more hectic than anticipated. What is our move?" Niryrk looked up as covenant ships began to descend onto the planet. He recalled the vandal snipers. He then turned to Ephsor. "We should leave the planet. I don't like losing the opportunity on good salvage but this isn't worth th reward. With you here, it's puts the house in more jeapordy if we are to become stranded."

Keliks leaned on his scorch cannon as he stood up. "I agree.i don't like it either but we need to leave. If it makes it worth anything, the enemy troops used turrets to attack us. We managed to salvage a few in working condition. Our engineers could reverse engineer them. So we gained something at least."

Rahn looked about. "A servitor found the signal to what ever seems to be so valuable in that vault writhing minutes of activating the terminal on that station were on before this planet. It's possible they have found many more signals to others. We can still make use of it. I'm sure the archon and his servitor already have knees to tell you when we get back. I also think we should leave this planet."

"Hold! Hold!" Mason urged as the last of the Republic defenders watch helplessly stepping backwards emptying the clips of their weapons into the incoming hordes. The tanks while having delayed the opposition were about to be no more as Tartarus had smashed one tane while the other one had to contend with a even bigger beast. In a last ditch and defiant effort, the tank squaring off against the Vulkharr unleashed its full payload, firing its missiles from the three concussion missile tubes located at the top of the tank as the crew inside struggled to maintain concentration at the sight of such a beast knowing full well the circumstances they were in.

In all the chaos Mason's eyes widened as a he noticed a shadow like figure dash through the entrance of the vault ahead of the opposition. "That was... Dra-" In this distraction Mason felt several enemy projectiles enter his body dropping the proud soldier to his knees. The last thing he saw was a massive figure striking him in the face, ending his life.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Master Kavern lowered his head taking a moment to grieve as he could feel the last of the Republic's defenders fight nobly until the end. The lone Jedi stood there reflecting on his decisions feeling a sense of regret as Garuda shouted and cursed at him as the Hutt understood they were both bound to the same fate. The Huttese words went in and out the other ear, as Kavern refused to budge too consumed in his failure in his mission until he felt a familiar presence approach. Kavern could only turn and watch as the lone Hutt grasp as his throat, his eyes nearly pulsing out of his head as he struggled to breath as Darth Dragos approached with a hand extended towards the Hutt.

Kavern faced the Sith with a silent acknowledgement as he grasped the elongated hilt that hung on his belt line and with a simple button, the lightsaber staff came to life. With a quick twirl of his weapon Kavern stepped forward just a few feet separating the pair. "This place will be your tomb. It's fitting that you die in some shit hole"

Dragos focused his complete attention towards Kavern leaving the barely breathing Hutt alive. "I would have you destroyed you, all of you a year ago had the Emperor not call for the truce. You had slain your fair share of my comrades during the war but now I'll finish what was started, speak your last words Jedi, I'll give you that one last favor." The Sith hissed his voice amplified in a more sinister tone due to his signature war helmet. Dragos reached for his weapon grasping the decorated hilt and igniting his weapon, the main crimson blade coming to life as the side lateral vents produced small blades of their own.

Kavern glanced down at the cross guard lightsaber and nodded slightly as if to acknowledge that weapon had slain countless Jedi. It was partly intimidating to come across an opponent so skilled but the competitive nature in Kavern urged him forward, he himself had always wished to test himself against the Sith Lord and it was fitting their duel would be to the death. "To think you are the Republic's greatest enemy. History won't know any of this, shame..." The two squared off in silence as their weapons emitted a low pulsating sound.

Alas the lightsabers clashed in spectacular fashion, red vs blue, Jedi vs Sith. Both men were beyond masters in this form of warfare, both men attempting to punish even the slightest of mistakes. Dragos pressed the attack assaulting the Jedi with a variety of fast and heavy blows, smashing away at his opponents defenses. Kavern however constantly moved constantly rotating his blade to ensure a constant flurry of defensive actions to negate the intense Sith offensive. The tension in the room grew significantly as they both felt combatants closing in thus the duel escalated even further, the speed and power used amplifying as they both began to get desperate to finish of their foe so they can deal with the approaching crowd.

As the two force users took a bref step back away from one another Kavern extended his hand outward, levitating a pair of abandoned republic riffles into the air to focus fire on the Sith. Dragos eyed the approaching laser bolts deflecting them with his saber before extending his own free hand as a streak of lightning shot outward from his fingertips and vaporized the rifles. Trying to take advantage of the small opening Kavern leaped in the air striking downward but the Sith countered, locking their blades in place in a fierce dead lock. As both individuals struggled for positioning, their breathing heavy from the intense duel they were both too lost in the conflict to take note of the arriving Brutes..

Destiny Ascendant Hangar

Kindal didn't take it too kindly when Raldyr called him simply by his name. That privilige is reserved only for other Gashathi and trusted high servitors. He frowned under the mask and turned towards the alien who adressed him. "Watch your mouth alien. Address me by my formal title if you wish to speak to me again." Kindal's voice was upset, but he tried to keep his calm after this blatant breach of culture. The Kronsemar husks shifted their poses slightly, readying for an imminenet gunfight. Kindal noticed it, and waved them off with a hand before they opened fire by accident.

He turned his attention towards Muriel and bowed the slightest. "Excuse my guardians, for they are loyal followers of the faith and would not see it tarnished by first conatct." He glanced over to Raldyr and the Fleet-master before continuing. "I would only delay the inevitable by hiding my true intentions and masking myself as a neutral party towards the ground forces. Let us hasten this meeting by playing with open cards."

Maybe this ruse will throw them off. Thought these "covenant" aliens had ground forces on the planet, the other two did not. Which is why their inquiry about his goals was all the more interesting. The voice of Matt suddenly filled his earpiece. "Overseer, 11 massive ships just exited subspace travel and are deploying forces on the ground. They seem to be Covenant warships."

This little diplomatic must have been a trap! So perfectly alligned with their arrival and discovery of the Sanctuary. It was most likely a ruse to divert their attention from the incoming fleet. Kindal ran through a dozen possible scenarios in his head on how to handle the situation, but he couldn't find a universally good solution. If they started a firefight, there would likely be no survivors in the hangar. Nevertheless he turned towards the fleet master and readied his staff for combat.

"You fiend!" Kindal pointed with both of his left arms on Rah. "This is all the doing of you infidiels! If you seek to deny us from our ancestral legacy! You are not worthy of the Sanctuary's contents!" Kindal turned his head towards Muriel. "If you've any knowledge of this plan, speak up now and find safe haven from my force! Deny me from the vault of those who hold our sacred dogma and find yourself smithen!" Tension visibly rose in tha atmosphere as the Kronsemar husks readied their weapons to fire on the first signal of hostility. If anything, this meeting has gone horribly wrong, throwing the carefully crafted plan of the Overseer out of the window. He was ready to fight a lost battle in the hangar, but he made a last ditch attempt at salavging the situation. "Muriel and Raldyr, you and your races have not yet sinned in the eyes of the gods, so speak your cause and find your words rewarded. If you are found innocent, only one enemy remains in this hangar." Now it's time to pray nobody pulls the trigger before words leave mouth.

---

AURORA
Palace Entrance

"Push the offensive, the enemy is breaking!" Nyugen's voice filled the helmets of all his troops as they opened fire on the remaining enemy soldiers. A couple of meters ahead, the Vulkar was wrecking havoc. The closest tank unleashed it's full payload at the Vulkhar, but they only managed to crack the impromptu shield of the beast. Now that teh Vulkhar was on the offensive it charged at the enemy tanks and started punding them relentlessly. A punch or two is all it took for the tanks to give up as tons of flesh crushed them into oblivion. Their shots pinged off the cracked shield or sizzled away as they hit the Vulkar's thought body armor. They could've killed the beast if they had distance at their side, but close quarters was their demise.

During this impressive show of raw power by the Vulkhar, the Covenant forces began charging through the field and taking out a few tanks themselves as they ran isnide the vault. Some of the Vixar took aim, but Nyugen quickly tagged the aliens as neutrals on the HUD "Focus fire on the Palace guards, we can deal with them later."

It didn't take long for the few tanks to be destroyed either by the Vulkhar or by well placed AT missiles of the Vixar infantry. The last of the vault defenders finally fled the battlefield, and left the grizzly scene. Dust and smoke thrown into the air creating a thick fog that could be hardly seen through covered the area around the ruins. The Vulkhar was methodically compressing the tank wrecks into balls of scrap metal in front of the vault. Nyugen signaled for his team to regroup and meet up in front of the entrance.

As they passed by the Vulkhar, Nyugen looked up at the beast, noticing the wounds that the turrets and tanks caused in it. "You did well Misha. You'll get a treat one we get back to the Gem." Misha grunted something inadubile as a response and continued to work on her masterfully compressed junkball. The rest of Bravo Squad gathered up in front of the open entrance and took up defensive formation. Miracolously, nobody died but a dozen troopers got injured in the firefight either by shrapnel or grazing shots from the turrets.

"Bravo-1, come in, this is Alpha-1!" Nyugen received the feed and gestured for his soldiers to form a tigther circle. If Alpha needed to say something, that must've meant that something was going horribly wrong. "This is Nyugen, speka up Alpha-1" "Sir, we have Covenant vessels approaching the AO at high speeds." Nyugen tried to look up and spot the vessels, but the sand from the battlefield and the smoke erupting from the burning houses of the town prevented him from seeing the ships. "How many Alpha-1?" It took a few seconds to get a reply. "A lot sir, I can't count it. We've got hundreds of small ships, big ships and all in-between descending from orbit. White 2 and 3 are already on their way out back to base with their escorts. What are your orders sir?"

Nyugen opened the tactical map and examined the town and it's surroundings in search of tactical locations to look for in case the approaching forces were hostile. After a quick scan of the town, it seemed like the only defendable place was the vault itself. Nyugen knew he'd be scolded for threatening the Snactuary, but he had no other option. He opened the channel once again, speaking to all of the Vixar forces. "This is Commandant Nyugen, all forces retreat inside the vault! We'll try to crack the sanctuary and find our missing aliens." With that, Nyugen signaled for his own troops to get inside to safety.

In less than a minute, the other squads came running towards the vault's entrance. The Covenant ships were already close, so they wasted no time with the formalities and hussled their asses inside the relative safety of the compund. The last Vixar on the outside waved at Misha who was now playing with her ball of scrap metal. "Come on big girl, get inside quickly before you get shot." With an upset grunt, Misha grabbed her metal ball and crawled into the depths of the vault. At last, all the Vixar forces were inside the confines of the vault and moving deeper into the structure to seek out the Sanctuary and the Covenant forces looking for it.