Travis wove his way back through the halls of the ship, to the hangar bay. The gathered soldiers seemed relieved to see them back again, and piled back into the shuttle without a word. As the shuttle left, and headed back to The Glasgow they spoke among themselves about what they talked about, saw, and their thoughts on the matter splitting the data they got from their omni-tools among each other before dispersing it back to the ship. They had a map, they had everything they would need perhaps their next goal would be to find resources in this universe, to keep the ship operational he'd have to pass that along to the science crews when he got back to the command chair.

They were barely back aboard their ship before a message was relayed through to them from The Daedalus. They were heading for somewhere called the transitory mists, and it didn't look like they would have much of a choice but to follow them through if they wanted a ride. He'd have to make a habit of asking The Resurgence's commanding officer for them to install that engine sooner, rather than later. Especially if they were to branch out for resources to keep the ship, and some of the crew running. "Follow in behind The Daedalus, stay on her ass if you have to, she's our ticket out of this sector." He said, after opening a quick com to his navigation's officers, he received a ping to his system in reply, and made his way through The Glasgow glad to be back in familiar territory.

He barely made it back onto the bridge before his communications officer turned, and spoke to him. "Sir we currently had three ships enter our sector of space, they are very similar looking to The Resurgence. They say they are with The Empire." Before he could question whether or not it was an ambush set up by The Resurgence set him up he sent a quick message asking for anyone to jam communications reassuring him that it wasn't a trap, not that an enemy would share star data with them, even if this was a trap. He sent a private communication across their ragtag little fleet. "It might take us a moment but i'm sure we can interrupt their communications, it would just take time for our systems to learn how to interface with yours. But this might sound a little crazy, but I want on one of their ships. We can get the tech needed to travel around not only now, but also get some much needed data on how this Empire operates if you do no wish to join in, then you do not have to contribute the man power. But either way these ships need to go dark, so nobody knows who we are yet." He spoke quickly, reaffirming what Jason had said earlier, that they couldn't know who they are.

With another communication this time throughout the ship he set all crews to battle stations, and set 3 boarding teams to their shuttles. They'd get what they needed on that ship with, or without the other fleets offering assistance. But for now all he could do was wait, and stand ready for combat, just like the old days, and boy did it feel good to be useful again.

---

---

---

---

Bold as her response may be, Samus had to admit that Jerus was right. Or right in the tense that he knows more about his own universe compared to her. If her chozo armor wasn't going to fit in this universe without a proper explanation, then she'll have to improvise her suit's origins. She'll have come back to that.

Now with the bounty hunter gone, Samus was now on her own once more. The next thing to do now is to check on her ship's repair status, which had been active as soon as she docked onto the Resurgence. As she made her way to the hangar, she could see the bustling hangar filled with clones patrolling the area, while the engineers were working on the docked starships. Samus noted the different kinds of fighter vessels, from the triangular-looking red-and-grey vessels to larger red-and-white multi-seated fighters, and all alongside yellow y-wing-shaped ships of some kind. At least this ship looks to be rather prepared for any future engagements, but there weren't too terribly many of them. Looks like the Resurgence will have to reserve their ships until they can find a way to make more or steal ships from the enemy.

After she looked around, the bounty hunter quickly made her way to her docked ship. A repair group were still working on the gunship's engines, with sparks splattering from the blowtorches alongside the sound of mechanical adjustments. Samus would approach one of the engineers and announce her presence.

"Status report?" she asked directly towards the closet clone to her.

The scruffy-looking man opened his visor and lifted his gaze to see the hulking armored figure standing over him.

"Your engines had been banged up pretty hard, mam." he sighed, "Obviously we don't have the exact parts from where you came from, but we'll install the closest things to them. They're close enough anyways."

"And when will she be ready?" Samus asked again.

"Uhh, give us another hour." the engineer replied as he flipped his visor back on again, "We'll notify ya when she's ready - we're working as fast as we can."

Suddenly, the whole hangar was glowing bright red as alarms proceeded to blare through the vessel. Samus could hear Commander Jason over the comms alerting everyone about the incoming threat.

"All ships, this is a code red. Imperial ships are inbound right now. I strongly suggest elevating to combat-ready status."

Samus growled to herself as she looks on at her unfinished baby. Looks like the enemy has indeed found them first, and whats worse, her ship isn't ready to go into combat. She cursed to herself as she watched the rest of the clones getting ready to man the defenses. As she walked around, a squad of clones ran straight across her as one of the lieutenant barked at them to get going.

"Move it troops! On the double!" the sergeant barked as he pointed to the hangar bays.

As the last of his squad made it through, he turned around to see Samus just idly standing in the midst of the chaos. He gave a frustrated sigh before turning towards the armored figure.

"Sir!" the lieutenant called out as he approached Samus, "What are you doing just idling around?! Prepare for combat now!"

Samus glared towards the trooper before pointing to her unfinished ship. The lieutenant, already being annoyed enough, looked back and called up for further orders.

"Then you're coming with me to the gunships, soldier!" the clone barked again as he threw his thumb over his shoulder, "We'll be issuing a boarding raid on the enemy ships. And YOU look like the perfect unit for the job! Now follow me!"

Now forced to join the republic boarding party, Samus was forced to follow the clone lieutenant to his LAAT. As they boarded, the 6'3" bounty hunter could be seen sticking out like a sore thumb in front of the shorter, black-and-red, clone troopers. As soon as they boarded, another announcement could be heard from the comms.

"Wait for us to fire before engaging, it will buy you time to get shots lined up for maximum damage."

With that, she was forced to wait alongside the rest of the troopers as they ready to start the boarding protocol...

---

Falul was concerned with the arrival of the three Imperial Venators, but it was not until Erthos' message describing his plan that Falul grew visibly agitated. He let out a growl, slamming his fist into the arm of his chair. "Grah! Scan these Imperial vessels and search for any concentrations of energy signatures. Mark targets for plasma torpedoes on any obvious weapons and engines, and any likely location for their reactors on all three vessels. Target the ventral lance on the rearmost ship, but do not power any weapons. Not yet."

Erthos, it seemed, was already just expecting him and the others to join with him in combat against the Galactic Empire. He was planning an ambush, and one of the other vessels was even planning to board. Now that the Aegis' spirit understood the technology it had been examining well enough, it could open a secure channel with the Resurgence and the rest of their small fleet. "Supreme Commander Erthos, I have still not agreed to fight your war. You expect us to fire first against these Imperials? Make no mistake, if I were certain they were my enemy, I would slay them without a second thought, but all they have done thusfar is offer you medical aid. And if we were to engage them, we should destroy them all quickly and not risk detection."

Though he voiced his dissent, Falul doubted that his words would make any difference. Erthos did not seem like a man who would be swayed from facing his enemy. In a way, it was admirable, but it may not have aligned with Falul's goals in the moment. He needed certainty. Falul needed to know who his enemy was, and for that, Erthos' tactics had actually inspired an idea. Erthos' ruse was drawing in their supposed enemy, and Falul was not beyond a ruse himself. If he knew that the Empire were going to try and force their will upon him, to demand a surrender or even just prevent him from leaving, then he would know that he could not avoid fighting them forever. If he made his intentions to leave known, and was refused, then that would make supporting the Resurgence the prudent course of action.

"Open a channel with the Imperial vessel." Falul ordered. Regardless of any doubts or questions that his officers might have had, they followed his order without hesitation. "Imperial vessels, since you have arrived to render aid, my ship's assistance is no longer required. My vessel's presence is required urgently with my people, so we shall be leaving imminently." He announced. Should he be refused, he would simply "accept" the Imperials' order to remain, but he would have his answer.

Tarkin stood on the bridge of the ship as they sent over the delegate. 'Illegal Search'. They were in Repu... No. Imperial Space he reminded himself. That means that they were the law, and ships in their space had an obligation to follow those laws. He turned to his second in command. "Ensure all sensitive areas of the ship are sealed off and secure. We don't know what these peoples intentions are nor their capabilities. Jam all communications coming and going from the ship, continue to approach this vessel and engage tractor beam as soon as we're in range."

"Yes, Sir."

"If they fire upon us, don't wait for my order to return fire. Aim for the engines and cripple the ship."

"Sir, the Judicator!" Tarkin turned to look out the viewpoint as a Providence Dreadnought dropped out of hyperspace right beside one of the new Star Destroyers closing in on the Egg Carrier. Without so much of a second thought, the Dreadnought rammed itself into the larger ship, explosions racketed where the two ships collided all the Judicators weapons turned to face the new threat, trying to destroy it before it continued to push them further off course. Tarkin scowled as the new Assimilator was pushed off course, a new opening for the unidentified ship to pass through.

"I want a Venator called up to fill the hole. Send in fighters to try and discourage them from using it to get away."

"Yes, Sir."

Tarkin turned, signalling to the squad of Black armoured Kull Troopers to follow him. They walked through the corridors of the ship until the reached the hangar. Standing looking at the shuttle he shook his head. What kind of primitives were these beings? He waved a hand at the ship as he approached.

"Search the ship." He turned to Sonia, then nodded to his troopers who all raised their left arms at the beings before them.

"We're currently jamming your communications." He took out a handheld communicator and tossed it to her. "Take that, call your ship. Tell them to power down and prepare to be boarded."

The voice of one of the stranger ship's captains came through and the Fleet Admiral frowned. Why would they so readily leave an ally even if fellow Imperials had arrived. Palming his panel to respond, the Admiral speaks. "I apologize, but I must ask that you remain here. If you came to the rescue of the Fury as Fleet Admiral Jason claims, then we will need to find out what happened from your perspective as well. I trust this does not upset you?"

Meanwhile, when Jason recieved the Glasgow's request, he had to admit, it made sense. They wouldn't need to find the spare credits to buy an entirely new hyperdrive for the ship and they could restock on some of their ammunition and heavy weapons used during the engagement with the Remnants before this whole mess. "Copy that, Glasgow, we have boarding parties ready to go. We'll disable the lead ship, destroy the other two."

---

Shipmaster Falul gave a low snarl, though he avoided transmitting such to the Imperial vessel. The response itself was not terribly threatening, but the implications underneath still forced Falul's hand. With the information that had been presented to the Imperials, they had no reason to demand his presence, considering that he had stated an urgent need to leave. Perhaps there was some possibility that the Galactic Empire was not the enemy he was led to believe, but that notion seemed less likely than not. While he perhaps did not have the certainty he would have liked, Falul had to make a choice, and if they could prevent their enemy from sending out a signal, then it might not be a binding one.

Falul replied, simply and calmly, to the Imperial. "Very well. By your request, we shall remain." He said before closing the channel. In this case, he would do as the Imperials asked, though they would come to regret it soon enough.

"Prepare to fire on your targets on the Resurgence's signal." Falul ordered his officers.

Uril, Falul's second-in-command, activated the holographic display from the table in the center of the bridge. It formed a three-dimensional display of every ship in the vicinity, based on sensor data. The others seem to intend to board one of the vessels, Shipmaster. It could be an opportunity to gather useful information, but I believe it a risky strategy."

"Agreed." Falul replied, turning his chair to face the display. "But we likely do not have time to dissuade them. If this is the path we are taking, then we shall take advantage."

"Shall we prepare boarding parties?" Uril asked.

Falul zoomed in the display on the Imperial vessels. "No, I do not want to lose ships to this folly. We will send two cloaked phantoms. Special operations. We require small teams that can move quickly. Have them aid the others, but have them focus on identifying and recovering any useful information or technology, then leaving as quickly as possible."

DAEDALUS // UNKNOWN SPACE

Caldwell was still pouring through the data when an alarm began to trill. Marks was already keying through the data. "Sir, we have a contact." He immediately put down his tablet and focused on the viewscreen in front of him where Marks was displaying the sensor readings. "Three ships, Resurgence Class. They're hailing the Resurgence." Caldwell listened to the message to Commander Erthos, as well as Erthos' message to the Daedalus and the rest of the rag-tag fleet. As messages came streaming in he had to admit he was was Shipmaster Falul. He wasn't exactly pleased with Erthos and wasn't quite ready to get into a fight just yet. That said this fight presented them with an opportunity.

"Have McKay paged to the bridge." He then turned his attention back to Marks. "Shields to maximum, prepare the main battery for retaliatory fire only. Lock targets on the farthest ships."

"Sir."

"What have we got?" That was Sheppards team as they all came into the bridge, typical when he had only requested the presence of one of them that they all came in.

"The Galactic Empire apparently. Three ships, all the same class as the Resurgence and an opportunity. Erthos is calling for a fight, while also planning boarding operations of the lead ship. Which means it's going to be disabled only, not destroyed."

McKay scoffed. "You want us to go over there don't you?"

"Correct." He nodded to Cooper who brought up a crosssection of the 'enemy' ship on the screen at the side of the room. McKay walked over to it reading it. "We're going to beam you over here-" The map highlighted one of the bridge towers. "-if they're anything like us they won't expect boarding parties on the bridge. Take out any guards, get what data you can and then I'll beam you all out before they know what happened."

"I thought you were trying to keep the beaming thing a secret?"

"It will be a secret. You'll be in and out before anyone else even has a chance to reach the bridge."

"Well, there is one, slight, problem."

"McKay." That was Sheppard now, he had the glint in his eye that he always got when getting to go steal some fancy alien technology. A glint McKay often shared, though right now it was more a look of mild panic.

"I'd love to scrounge through their systems for data too, but the fact is while I can no doubt work their systems we have nothing to interface it with to take data with us. We're either going to need to set up a transmission, then monitor it, ask Erthos or bring a computer back with us."

"A Robot." Sheppard suddenly had an idea.

"What?"

Sheppard turned to face Caldwell, directing the plan directly too him. "We go aboard, we get one of their robot things. Make it download the data and bring it back here, that way McKay and Hemroid-"

"Hermiod." Interjected McKay.

"-Hermiod can have more time to download and interpret the data."

Caldwell turned to McKay. "Can you do it?"

"Well I mean, of course, I can do it-"

"McKay."

"-Fine, it'll take time and I don't really know how their robots operate. If they have some kind of programming that prohibits potentially hostile users taking them. If not, then-" He started snapping his fingers as he came up with an idea. "-The TabData, the tablet thing, whatever he called it-"

Teyla turned to McKay with a confused expression on her face. "The datapad?"

Clicking his fingers as he pointed at Teyla he smiled. "Yes! It'll probably be far too small to hold all the data we're after but it'll be able to interface with their robots then I can reprogram it."

"Your sure about this Rodney?"

Rodney turned to Sheppard with a hurt look on his face. "When have I ever let you down?" Sheppard went to open his mouth "And don't bring up the time I blew up a solar system."

"I wasn't going too, it's just this is a lot of work-"

Ronon sighed. "This is all a lot, am I going to have stuff to shoot at or not?"

"Well, yes. Probably."

"Good."

Sheppard turned to Caldwell. "Well Sir, it looks like we've got a plan."

"You better go gear up then, you go over in five."

The three ships continued to move closer to the Resurgence, unaware that while front most turbolasers of two of the gun decks had targeted the lead ship's engines, the remaining turbolasers and heavy lasers had targeted the other two ships. "Sir, all guns report targets locked and ready to fire." Jason waits, counting down silently as the ships moved in closer before nodding.

"Twenty year old tech just doesn't have the oomph to stop this. Open fire." In unison, every gunnery deck on the Resurgence fired, blue turbo lasers lancing through the space between the lead ship of the Republic Remnant's fleet and the Imperial vessels. The engines of the Undying Dawn quickly sputtered and went out and the shields and hulls of the other two ships quickly took damage, and dropped in the case of the former. Jason opened the channel to the rag tag fleet once more. "All ships, you are free to engage." At the same time, the hangar doors open up on his ship and the LAA/Ts fly out with their fighter escorts, heading for the opening hangar of the lead ship as it attempts to scramble fighters to intercept any boarding actions.

Aboard the gunship ferrying Samus to the enemy, the clones had started stomping their left feet as their lieutenant, Chopper, spoke. "SPARTANS! What is your duty?!" A chorus of voices answered him, loud and strong in the confines of the ship.

"Àuh! Àuh! Àuh!" The lieutenant continued.

"What is the last sound the enemy hears when we take their lives?!"

"Àuh! Àuh! Àuh!"

"And what is the last sound they hear as they're sent screaming to hell?!"

"Àuh! Àuh! Àuh!" The Clones were clearly experienced boarders and ready to rock, even as the blasters on the starships from both Imperial and Republic ships soared around them. Second stretched into minutes and felt like hours, but before the orange armored woman knew it, the LAA/T was set down in the Imperial Venator's hangar, the doors sliding open as the black-and-red clad clones rushed out, their blaster rifles firing on the enemy defenders as both sides took cover. The orb turrets on the LAA/Ts lanced out their green lines of death, cutting through crates and the defenders behind them.

"All units, push for the bridge! We're taking their admiral prisoner!" More LAA/Ts poured in, unloading more of the Clones as the two sides exchanged fire, but it was clear that the Phase 3 clones had the edge and soon the white clad Imperial clones were in retreat back into the halls of the ship. "No quarter, move, move, move!" The clones of the Resurgence were close behind the retreating defenders and soon enough, the halls of the ship were alight with blaster fire.

---

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---

Location: Blathriin-Va - Bridge.

Yiithren remained motionless as communications came and went, before he heard the words he'd been waiting for...

"All ships, you are free to engage."

Sending out several orders, Yiithren had the Va maneuvered as close as they could possibly get without being noticed by the larger craft. Ordering Mihraan to keep a close eye on their sensors, just to ensure they weren't firing on the ship the others were boarding, Yiithren stood at the viewport of his ship, which was currently overlooking a silent void of chaotic flashes, before looking over at Kurqruik.

"First mate Kurqruik-" He said, his tentacles clasped behind his back. "-have all gunnery crews open fire on the two ships that still have shields. Use the Null Void Beam first, then follow up with the Matter Disintegrators. I want those ships reduced to dust."

Kurqruik nodded, striding over to the same communications panel as before. Activating it yet again, she leaned in closer and relayed the command. Then, after a brief pause, she gave the command to open fire and turned back to the view port just in time to see a beam of purple energy streak across the darkness and slam into the enemies shields, creating a rather sizeable gap in them through which several bolts of orange energy flew. The matter disintegrators. And from the looks of things, it seemed as though they were doing their job. Several of the opposing ships surface layers had already been eaten through, leaving nothing but gaping chasms into space where metal and machinery had once been.

Kurqruik made a low burbling sound as she watched another volley of bolts fly through the opening and make contact with the ships hull.

If only those poor savages knew what they had gotten themselves into...

---

As per Shipmaster Falul's order, the Immaculate Aegis had opened fire with a volley of plasma torpedoes and began to charge its ventral lance the moment the Resurgence gave the word. The torpedoes spread out from sides of the carrier and arced around towards their three intended targets. Although, in the time that it had taken for the torpedoes to near their targets, the lead Imperial vessel had already taken enough damage that the Aegis had to redirect most of the torpedoes targeting it towards the other two vessels flanking it. Only those bound for the engines and weapons remained on course.

A plasma torpedo could deal heavy damage to shields or destroy a section of an enemy ship, but it was the superheavy lance that constituted the greatest display of an assault carrier's power. The amount of energy collected into the projector as it charged was immense, producing a relatively small, but brilliantly bright blue orb of light underneath the carrier at the tip of the weapon.

When it fired, the effect of the near-lightspeed particle beam was almost instant. It illuminated the ships around it a blue-white glow as the single brightest source of light within the void in which their ships were floating. The charge time required of the beam meant that the Imperial vessels were already being heavily damaged by the other vessels in their makeshift fleet, but it likely would not have mattered for the Imperial ship unfortunate enough to be targeted by it. Not Falul nor the officers targeting the Aegis' weapons knew enough about the Imperial vessel's design to aim for any specific weak point, but it could still cleave the ship in half.

---

---

The two cloaked phantoms had already been launched by the time the Aegis had started to charge its lance. Though, their pilots had been sure to take a wide enough path to their destination to ensure their camouflage was not compromised by the electromagnetic disturbances created by the beam. The Resurgence's boarding craft had already mostly cleared the hangar and were disembarking troops by the time the phantoms landed. Using the closed communications channels they could now access, the pilots had at least warned the other gunships before disembarking their own forces down the gravity lifts.

Special Operations Officer Eri 'Moram was in charge of the boarding party, and despite only the short time they had for briefings, she understood her mission. For the Sangheili among her personal team, they wore environment-sealed Infiltration harnesses, with black plating, apart from her own armor that had a reddish hue. The troupe on the other phantom wore mostly variants of the storm harness, though they still had black-plated armor.

Eri often selected her preferred weapons and armor equipment modules based on the particular needs of her missions. For the close-quarters fighting aboard a hostile ship, Eri brought both an energy lance and her energy sword, as well as a plasma rifle. Among the other eleven members of her team, their primary weapons were storm rifles, carbines for marksmen, and concussion rifles for armored or clustered opponents. Given her team's specialized role, they had a much higher proportion of Sangheili compared to the average infantry unit, with only two Unggoy and one Kig-Yar that had proven themselves enough to be a part of her team. The Unggoy were both armed with needlers, and one carried a fuel rod cannon, while the Kig-Yar had a beam rifle on her back. Though, for close quarters, she currently had her point-defense gauntlet active and was wielding a plasma pistol.

As soon as they were out of their phantoms, Eri looked to the leader of the other troupe. "Take defensive positions around the hangar and guard our escape." She ordered, though looking around, she could see that there were what appeared to be strikecraft that had not had time to be launched before the hangar had been overrun. "Once you have your positions, learn what you can from these ships."

On the part of Eri's team, she was after information, and she had arrived in time to hear the Resurgence's soldiers shouting about storming the bridge. It was the most likely place to find the kind of information her Shipmaster wanted, so working with these Humans seemed to be the most sensible option for now. She did not have the schematics for this vessel, but they knew precisely where to go. Without delay, Eri's team advanced with them to join them in the fight in the halls.

IMPERIAL VENATOR // UNKNOWN SPACE

There was a shimmering of bright light as a high pitched humming spread throughout the Starfighter bridge that was currently engulfed in chaos. Orders to launch fighters were dimmed out by the devastating assault that the ragtag fleet was causing to the three ships. The two Clone Troopers at the door raised their rifles towards the disruption but before they could do it four streams of blue energy shot out and hit them. Stunning them and sending them to the ground as Sheppard's team and a squad of marines appeared where the bright light was moments ago. Sheppard turned to the Marines. "Secure those weapons and that door." He then turned to McKay. "Get a robot, get on the computers."

He then turned his attention to the wider room. "Don't try anything funny, we're not here to kill anyone. Me and my friends here just need a little information." He looked around for the commanding officer, though realised he didn't recognise any of the rank insignias so doing that was a little pointless. "Who's in charge?"

One of the identical faces, though they were warned about the whole Clone thing, stepped forward. "I am. CC-59281. Imperial Navy, Starfighter Corps."

"Yeah yeah, that's great, I'm sure you're a very important pawn. Where can we get a robot?"

"You mean like an astromech droid?"

"Yeah, whatever you want to call them." The clone pointed at a droid that appeared to be hiding in a back corner. "Okay, you're up McKay. Everyone else, get going to the escape pods."

"Sheppard?" That was Ronon. "You sure you want to let them go?"

"We don't kill defenceless people Ronon. Besides, we still don't even know if these guys are our enemies yet." He signalled towards the door with the stunner he was holding. "Now get moving." The Clone thing gave the signal as all the other people with his face stood up and ran out of the room, the marines watching them the whole time to make sure nobody got any ideas. While they were allowed to drag their stunned allies with them the marines had their rifles firmly strapped to their backs. At least if this whole robot thing didn't work out they'd have a couple of new guns to look at.

Meanwhile, Rodney was leaning in front of the 'droid'. "I need to interface with you so that I can download data from this ship." The droid gave out a serious of warbled beeps and whistles. "I have no idea what that means." The droid shook its head, and Rodney could of sworn the series of beeps it let out sounded annoyed. It went over to a nearby terminal, extended some kind of telescopic arm into the computer and it started turning. Rodney looked at the screen as data started streaming on the screen as the droid read and then copied the data. "Oh uh, good job."

Rodney turned to Teyla who stood behind him. "You know, in our universe, it is never this easy."

The tension in the air could be cut with a knife, the crews readied themselves for battle. They had done this hundreds of times before hand, but never before in another universe he didn't know what the other crewmen would think, and he hoped that he was on the right side of this battle, if he wasn't then god help him, but he didn't have much of a choice if he wanted to get home these imperials would probably hold the best answers.

"Plot main gun firing solution, and fire at will!" He shouted to his bridge gunnery crew. Within a moment there was a shaking of the ship, as the slug of the mass accelerator fired, speeding through space. The slug would hit it's target, and collapse upon itself dispersing energy equal to that of a tactical nuclear warhead, without all the radiation, across one of the ships. He sent a ping to his boarding crews to leave the ship, and sent another order for his navigation crews to do a full burn away from the cluster of ships. The Glasgow had good range, and the further away they could get the better.

---

The shuttles passed through the odd energy shields that served to keep the vacuum of space out of their hangar bay. The shuttle side doors opened, and the crews opened up with the door mounted mass accelerator cannons, their rounds were no bigger than a grain of sand but accelerated so fast they might as well be getting hit with high powered rounds. When the shuttles finally hit the deck, the gathered group of soldiers dropped out of the shuttle, the biotics going first, throwing up barriers. The blaster bolts hit them, but dispersed harmlessly with the gathered group of biotics holding the barrier together, so everyone could get into position.

The squads now gathered, the biotics in reserve rushed forward creating a singularity at their targets soon the assembled clones were floating helplessly off the ground. The order for the barrier to drop was given, and the marines focused fire on the floating clones. Satisfied with their results, the orders were dispersed among the gathered HUD's of the marines in the hangar. "Get to the engine room, and find what allows them to move through space, steal data, pacify any witnesses, none were to leave this sector of space to report back to their leaders." With their orders given they pushed out to help the other assembled crews of their ragtag fleet.

A small group of infiltrators cloaked, headed for the engine room. While the others used their biotics, and firepower to support Jason's troopers, and The Aegis' elites on their own missions. Not wanting the other leaders to say they didn't throw in their weight, as well as wanting to preserve as much of the groups soldier pool as possible as there would be not reinforcements for any of them unless they started to recruit locals, and Sarah very much doubted that anyone would want to join up with strangers from another universe. But those thoughts could come later, for now she had a battle to win.

---

---

---

---

Minutes seemed like hours as Samus and the other clones remained within the crowded LAAT. The air was still with pent up tension, with everyone preparing themselves for the conflict ahead. And then, came the moment they've all been waiting for.



The bounty hunter could hear the hangar doors opening outside as the gunship's engines began to roar. She gripped onto the ceiling hangars as the ship began to ascend and quickly escape the Resurgence's hangar bay. While the clones were busy listening to their lieutenant's speech, Samus would remain silent on the way towards the enemy capital ship vessel, only brooding silently to herself. A vague wave of repressed nostalgia had enticed her inner-consciousness, something which she hadn't felt for a very long time

It's been many years since Samus had partaken in a full-blown assault with other troops by her side, not since her days during the galactic federation as a young recruit under the orders of one Commander Adam Malkovich. Frankly, she had since adapted nicely to the life of a lone wolf - being how she in fact prefers this life over anything else - yet she'd forgotten how much of a rush it felt to be within the collaborative efforts of others. For a moment she began to remember her times as a unit for the Federation Army, with various memories flooding through her mind reminding her of how far she had gone since those days.



But she wouldn't have much time to reminisce as she could feel the gunship proceeding to land in the enemy ship. Snapping out of her empty gaze, Samus proceeded to ready her arm cannon as a greenish hue began emanating from her barrel, growing rapidly as she pointed it towards the door. And once they opened, the bounty hunter released her shot into a very unlucky imperial clone, knocking him back several meters into a wall. With that, the rest of the clones began rushing out of the LAAT and opened fire upon the enemy forces. The armored bounty hunter - so out of place amongst her comrades - would proceed to fire upon several other enemy clones with her plasma cannon, killing several more units in her wake. The intense combination of firepower would force the enemy back as they began retreating into the halls. As she scanned the local area for any stragglers, the lieutenant would issue an order as more gunships began to land alongside her's.



It was already starting to feel like the battle of Mallus XI all over again, only this time she's going after a petty officer instead of a giant, space pterodactyl. And all within the span of an hour or two. What did she do to deserve this? Regardless, Samus proceeded to enter the closest hall towards her, which seemed to also house the most amount of conflict. Charging up another shot, the bounty hunter ran over towards the sliding door. Her green visor gleamed through the thick smoke and debris as she let out another blast straight down the hallway. At least a few imperial clones would find themselves launched backwards, while the rest should've jumped out of the way.

Several other enemy clones began to fire back at Samus, with the armored woman being able to swiftly dodge pass them while she ran towards them at surprising speed. She hugged the edge of the wall, firing several plasma shots before leaping off of it and smashed a trooper's helmet with her cannon while uppercutting the other before blasting him as well. As the enemy began to retreat deeper into the Venator, the bounty hunter took a quick moment to breathe as she assessed where the bridge was. Her suit was quickly able to map out the general area of the vessel, enough for the bounty hunter to figure out where it is.

And she had a unique idea in how to get there...

Heading into the horizontal hall, the armored warrior began searching for something on the walls. After a few seconds of looking, as well as blasting several enemy troopers, she found exactly what she was looking for; a large ventilation shaft. At first glance, it would seem that Samus's power-arm was too bulky to have her fit inside, but luckily she had a little trick up her sleeve. First she quickly shoots the vent's cover off, and then within seconds, the bounty hunter's armor suddenly began to transform, morphing Samus into a completely different form:

That being a 0.8 meter high ball.

At that height, she would be perfectly able to fit through the ventilation shaft and thus she proceeded to climb up the wall using her ball's surprisingly sticky gripping abilities and entered the shaft. Now out of sight from the enemy, Samus proceeded to map out the local vent network and quietly made her way towards the bridge unseen by the oblivious enemy clones...

---

Although the Resurgence's soldiers had advanced first, Eri's team could take space quickly in the hallways. Along the sides of the hall, all down its length, were supports that protruded from the wall and offered sufficient cover, even for a Sangheili. These red-and-black armored soldiers of the Resurgence were certainly fighting well to be able to push back the Imperial soldiers from their already-established positions, but Eri was not one to leave the glory of battle to others. Unlike the allied Humans, her and most of her troupe could afford to take hits as they advanced into cover, so they could push forward more aggressively.

Eri was, as usual, at the front of her team, and it was not long before she had caught up to the frontline of her allied Humans. She had seen the work of the strange, orange-armored bounty hunter, though she had not seen where that one had gone. Eri had been told to pay attention to the mercenary's performance if possible, but it mattered little to her. Eri was more than glad to take the lead on their assault of the bridge.

To allow her shields to recover, Eri took cover behind one of the supports along the right side of the hallway, right beside one of the Resurgence's clones. She towered over him, though her full-faced helmet may have made her appearance at least somewhat less alarming. As her shields pulsed and strengthened around her armor, she looked down at him. "Cover my left. Just don't shoot me in the back."

The next set of support struts ahead of them were being used as cover by two Imperial clones, one on each side of the hallway. As Eri rushed out from behind her cover and charged forward, she held her left arm out in front of her and activated a bright blue shield of seemingly solid light, projected from an emitter on her forearm. It was a hardlight shield: an example of recovered Forerunner technology that had been adapted to interface with the power systems of her combat harness. Eri's rank and role aboard the Aegis afforded her certain privileges, among which was access to nearly any equipment she deemed necessary for her missions. The hardlight shield was a protective barrier far more advanced than any Covenant energy shielding, and it perfectly suited her aggression in combat.

As Eri ran forward, she drew her energy lance from her back and activated one of the blades. Her preference for the long staff weapon in melee combat came from the fact that it complemented the strengths of the shield well. Unlike an energy sword, she could easily thrust the lance around the shield at a close opponent, which was precisely what she did. The Imperial clone fired his blaster fruitlessly into her shield until the moment her lance impaled him through the chest. Regardless of what the Humans behind her did, her own team was quick to support their commander's attack. A flurry of plasma fire from two storm rifles kept the Imperial clone on the opposite side of the hall pinned in cover until Eri was already upon them. The Imperial did hit an accurate shot onto Eri once her shield was angled away from him, but she was just as quick to respond. She activated the second blade on her lance and, without a wasted motion, lunged across the hall towards the second Imperial. Between her own powerful legs and the length of the lance, she easily had enough reach to be able to put a blade through him as well.

Eri had dropped her hardlight shield for her lunge, so she took a second shot from farther down the hall before she got herself into cover and again allow her shields to recharge. Although, the next set of cover was an open blast door that was closer than the gaps between the support struts, so an Imperial behind the door on the opposite side of the hall still had an angle on her. She drew her plasma rifle with her free hand, but before either of them could fire on one another, she witnessed something she could only describe as bizarre. The Imperial clone was suddenly enveloped in a dark violet field of energy and started floating helplessly in the air. Eri had not witnessed the cause, but as confused as she was, it made it easy enough for her to land multiple shots with her plasma rifle.

Of course, Eri did not act alone within her team. The Immaculate Aegis had not sent near as many warriors to board the enemy vessel, but they had sent their best, which showed in the practiced synergy between each of her warriors. Even without being able to listen in on the troupe's closed comms channel, it was easy to see from the outside that they communicated effectively. Storm rifles provided a barrage of plasma fire to keep specific enemies pinned, either to allow others to reposition, or to lure those they were not shooting at into exposing themselves to the carbine-wielding marksmen. Thanks to their energy shields, the Sangheili could afford to allow themselves to take some incoming fire if it ensured they could land an accurate shot on an opponent. It was a luxury that the Imperial soldiers did not possess.

Once Eri had made it to the door, it was time for the whole team to advance, so one of the Sangheili near the front made use of one of their more effective means of suppressing fire, launching a full six shots of his concussion rifle through the door to the Imperials on the other side. He spread out the shots all across the hall to put enough pressure on the enemy to allow both their team and their allied Humans to push forward more easily. The explosive shots melted through and damaged cover, and though they did not hit anyone directly, the concussive force of the blasts could still injure, and knocked a few briefly from cover.

Quite the opposite to many other squads, the Unggoy and Kig-Yar did not take the frontline position among Eri's team, as she did not view them as simply fodder. The Kig-Yar was the best sniper in her troupe, if not in the whole crew of the Aegis, and the Unggoy both had their talents. One Unggoy, who was currently near the back firing a needler in the general direction of the enemy, Eri noted as being particularly observant to his surroundings, even in the chaos of battle. He noticed one of the Imperials readying a grenade, and appropriately warned Eri. On the Unggoy's signal, Eri dashed out with her hardlight shield active, using it to intercept the grenade as it was being thrown through the door and push it back in the direction of the enemy.

DAEDALUS // UNKNOWN SPACE

The Daedalus pivoted on as laser fire started to strafe their shields. There was some drain but managing to miss the most of it it was nothing major. Caldwell turned his attention to Marks. "Lock target but don't fire back. We have limited ordinance and I won't be convinced we should have taken part in this fight until Sheppard's team is back with the data they're trying to retrieve." Cooper then spoke having Caldwell pivot his chair to face her.

"Uh, Sir?"

"What is it, Captain?"

"We've got some strange energy readings emanating from empty space." She brought them up onscreen and Caldwell focused on them. "They're similar to the readings given off vessels dropping from Hyperspace, but there's no ship there. Just empty space."

Caldwell looked at the screen as if focusing on it anymore would give him answers. He hit the comm button to the control room in the bowels of the ship. "Doctor Novak."

"Yes Colonel?" The scientists' wirey voice came through the speakers.

"We're sending you down some strange energy readings, I'd like you and Hermoid to take a look at it and let me know what you think."

"We'll get right on it Colonel."

"As fast as possible please."

Jerus hummed quietly to himself as the LAA/T had soared through the void of space, the members of Gundark Platoon silent all around him. Their mission wasn't to secure the hangar, it was why they followed behind Spartan Company. The former bounty hunter had served with the Republic Remnant and watched them board enough pirate, slaver, and Imperial vessels to know that the Spartans would do their job well. No, Jerus' mission was to take Gundark and support the squads of boarders that their allies were sending from the left flank, ensuring that none of the Imperial defenders could move around to flank from the left or the rear while also securing the escape pods. Seconds after the sounds of blaster fire had erupted as the LAA/T was set down, he and Gundark unloaded and were already pushing hard on the left side of the hangar, his blaster pistol sending high accuracy bolts into the visors of Clones who stayed exposed for too long with Gundark offering additional fire.

Soon the Imperials were on the retreat and Jerus wasted no time in giving chase. {Fire team alpha, move on those escape pods. Bravo and Delta, keep sweeping for stragglers and secure any data terminals you come across. Charlie, you're with me.} Holster his pistol, Jerus pulls the hilt of his lightsaber from his belt and leads the way into halls, the silver and orange blades igniting as the first wave of blaster fire flies towards them from a trio of Imperial Clones, one of them carrying a Z-6 Rotary Blaster Cannon. Jerus spun his double bladed lightsaber in front of him and the troops behind him as they opened fire in response. The exchange was brief but intense as the aim of the 302nd clones proved more than a match for the defenders. First the two with DC-15e's were dropped by well placed shots from two clones on either side of the Force Wielder and the heavy trooper met his end from the combined fire of his own deflected bolts and those from Fire team Charlie. Using hand signals to send his fire team off to his right, Jerus pushed straight ahead, unaware that he was soon to cross paths with the forces from the Immaculate Aegis.

Stopping outside a small room, he listened to the sounds of the clones inside it taking up defensive positions and setting up, from the sounds of it, a mounted blaster turret. Counting to three, Jerus builds up a powerful Force Push in his hand before thrusting it towards the doors and blasting them inwards. There was a surprised cry from behind the dour as the sound of both machinery and a body being crushed came from the wall the door impacted before the son of two Jedi flew into the room, his double-sided blade lashing out. Two Clones on the right side of the room went down, their bodies hitting the floor as their own bolts are deflected back at them. Another that had avoided the door found himself sliced in two as Jerus spun around from deflecting another flurry, though those bolts all impacted the walls and other entrance.

Meanwhile, Eri'Moram continued her leaps forwards, using the Hardlight Shield and energy lance to make quick work of the Imperial Clones in the hallways as her squad provided cover fire for her and moved with the 302nd's clones to push through other fortified rooms and halls. As she finally reached the door behind which the sounds of fighting were most intense and opened it, the last Clone was flying through the air towards Jerus, who spun around the airborne clone and beheaded him. Noticing the four-jawed alien, he nods. "Sorry, didn't mean to-" He cuts his own sentence short as he sends the lightsaber spinning through the air and taking out a pair of Imperial clones who were attempting to sneak up on the Sangheili. It returned to it's owner as easily as it had left him and he pushed on, moving past her. "Watch your six, never know where these guys might pop up at this point."

The lightsaber wielding man rushed back into the fray, his lightsaber spinning and deflecting as he vanished back into the halls.

---

Jason stood silently with his helmet upon his head, the Scorch Guard, a small, elite force of ARC Troopers and Elite Special Forces that Jason had hand picked and had proven themselves several times over. The boarding pod they were aboard was closing in on the Starfighter control tower, which had been reported as one of the fall back points for the defenders in the even they couldn't all rally outside the bridge. The battle plan was to take their last fall back point and pinch them between the allied forces pushing out from the hangar and himself and his Scorch Guard. "Impact in ten seconds, sir." Nodding to the man watching the timer, Jason and the Guard braced for impact.

Upon the sensation of it burrowing through the metal of the tower room, the boarding door opened and Jason lead the way through, dropping down and bringing his blaster cannon up as it warmed up to fire...except all that was in the room was the members of the Daedalus's crew from the meeting before and what he could only assume to be foot soldiers of somekind armed with their own rifles, all aimed at the pod as the Scorch Guard dropped in behind him, their own blaster rifles picking targets. A quick scan of the room showed that the Clones who should have been stationed in here were no where to be found and the doors leading into the room were undamaged, meaning they hadn't breached and come from the hangar, not that they could have with as many Imperials as were still between them and this very room. "Well, I think you should explain how you're here before the rest of our forces."

STARFIGHTER CONTROL TOWER // IMPERIAL VENATOR

Sheppard looked out the viewport as the boarding pod was coming straight towards them. Not sure what it was he went into a brief moment of panic. "Everybody hold onto something!" The Marines and all the members of his team jumped down hanging onto something, Rodney grabbing onto the robot with his arms around it. As the pod crashed into the bridge the entire thing shook, but rather than being pulled into vacuum it opened up and somehow created a seal against the vacuum of space. Dropping the stunner he reached for his P-90 and raised it, all weapons on the mouth of the pod. Then descended from it were a group of clones, but not the bad clones the good clones. From aboard the Resurgence. Swearing internally, of course they would come here in the middle of the operation.

"Well, I think you should explain how you're here before the rest of our forces."

Sheppard looked at Rodney who shook his head as the robot thing was still downloading information.

"No offence Commander, but I don't report to you. I mean there are lots of things I should do, I should call my father more often but I don't." He nodded to Ronon who was still standing eyeing the group suspiciously, who then sighed and turned back to focus on the door.

"Look. We're just here gathering a little information. We don't know these people, and we're reluctant to kill anybody without a good reason." He picked the stunner back up off the floor. "We're considerate like that. Afterall I don't expect you to come to our universe and start killing people."

---

Eri had her shield raised as she breached through the door, though she was quick to recognize the colors of the soldiers within. It was inefficient that they lacked a means to properly communicate and coordinate their movements throughout the ship, but she at least knew who her allies were supposed to be. Although, her rushed briefing had not included this strange Human in front of her. His weapons seemed to use some manner of technology she had not seen before. His blade made enough sense to her; it looked like an energy sword with a shame more appropriate to Human anatomy. However, it also appeared to be able to make his blade fly from his hand and move independently, or even lift enemy soldiers through some invisible force. It reminded her of the Forerunner technology she had seen, which could float and move on their own with no visible force acting upon them. She wondered if this universe had technology far more advanced than what she had seen so far.

Although, regardless of what means this Human was using to accomplish his feats, Eri was not a warrior who was keen on allowing others to steal the glory of a battle from her. He charged forward even more aggressively than she had, and seemed to be able to deflect incoming weapons fire even with his thin blade at close range. Not to be outdone, she charged in right alongside him. She could not react seemingly precognitively to shots as he could, but her speed and strength was far beyond Human, and between the two forms of shielding she possessed, she could stay in the fight just as he could, for the most part. She had to periodically allow her shields to recharge, but in those moments, her team behind her could support her. Given the location of the hangar and the distance they had moved so far, Eri had to imagine they were nearing the bridge.

As the assembled crews pushed through the ship, Sarah followed behind them occasionally throwing up a biotic barrier then dropping it so the marines she brought with her could open fire on the imperial clones who strayed to close, the effort to keep it up was immense but anytime she got tired she'd just swap out with another biotic capable soldier, effectively making deployable cover along the tight corridors of the ship. The blaster fire would strike the shield, and be dispersed, the shield would be lowered, and the sharp rapport of the M-8 avenger would follow the dropping of the shield, and they'd push forward they had practiced this stuff hundreds of times, of course the occasional shot would get through, and while their armor wasn't exactly equipped to deal with laser fire their shields would hold as long at they didn't get struck consecutively.

The crew of The Resurgence pushed ahead being led by a man with a sword that appeared to be made of some kind of laser, or perhaps plasma. But with the way he wielded it he cut with ease through the imperial soldiers, and it appeared the aliens from the larger ship had a need to prove themselves as well with the way they went reckless cutting through the corridors with their energy swords, and from what she could tell they fired super heated plasma at least judging by the impact sites. She had seen similar things with collector weapons, when they had been used sparingly with reaper forces. But she couldn't be too sure, of course she went over, and offered her support.

As they made their way through the ship, she found the collection of troopers getting thicker, and thicker. It got to the point where the imperials were setting up makeshift barricades for cover. One had been pumping out heavy fire so she had to think fast, she had her replacement put up a biotic barrier, then jumped using her biotic abilities to make her virtually weightless maximizing her jump then she brought the gravitational fields down. There was a rush as she fell to the ground at such a fast pace, and with enough biotic strength behind it to create a large shock wave in all directions destroying the barricades, throwing the troopers into the walls, or each other at such fast speeds that the insides of their armor would probably look very, very messy. The whole ordeal left her a little tired, but allowed the rest of the teams to push up.

---

---

---

---

As the rest of the allied forces were slowly pushing through the crowded rooms, Samus continued on her way to the bridge with little resistance. The only thing that tried to act against her was the entire set up of the labyrinth-like vent system, with various pipes sometimes intersecting in odd directions. There were some occasions where a pipe system would seem to go in the right direction, only to suddenly go the completely opposite way. It was already fairly difficult to navigate even with her visor continuously scanning the general area for the fastest route possible to the bridge and even then, judging by the sounds of battle, she was only barely a step ahead of the rest. If it wasn't for her ability to scan her surroundings, she'd be completely and utterly lost in the dark cramped halls. Not even the bounty hunter's superior sense of direction would've helped her in that predicament.

Thankfully, Samus was able to eventually figure out the direction she needed to be going and soon found herself ascending the Venator's right tower towards the bridge. She was getting closer to her target and so far hadn't been seen or detected by the enemy since she entered. The sounds of battle had also grown fainter, meaning that she seemed to be comfortably in the lead. Then suddenly, she felt the entire ship jolt as if it was suddenly hit by something. She could even feel the faint vibration that seemed to indicate something burying itself into the very hull itself. Still undeterred, the bounty hunter continued to make her way up until she found herself right on top of the bridge.

Her scans did indeed detect the Admiral's presence within the room, however he was guarded by a significantly sized defense group - 20 enemy clones to be exact - and were all armed. If Samus was to simply drop in, she would surely take a significant amount of damage for such a fool-hardy plan. And yet, there was neither a better alternative but to descend down from the vents. However, this didn't concern the bounty hunter much, for she already had a plan ready to be set into action...

---

As the battle was beginning to grow ever more heated by the second, the admiral and his guards seemed to be too busy assessing the situation and figuring out their next course of action. Everything seemed to be in chaos and completely against their favor but alas the crew is desperately trying to hold the line. But as they were preoccupied with the overall situation, the crew would suddenly notice a small spherical object - no bigger than a balloon - drop into the command bridge seemingly out of nowhere. The metal item rolled around slightly before stopping completely in place, as it blinked an ominous looking light while beeping furiously.

"Get down!" a clone shouted as he attempted to dive for cover.

Whatever the crews reaction would be, they would not be prepared for the fact that it released a thick cloud of smoke and steam that attempted to cover most of the command bridge. The cloud would be so dense that one could barely see their own hands, let alone each other. Taking advantage of the situation caused by her smoke bomb, Samus dropped from the vent and morphed back into her human form in mid-air, landing with a powerful clunk.

Without delay, the bounty hunter quickly proceeded to blast the nearest guard next to her as she attempted to eliminate the guards one by one in quick succession. As soon as she blasted the second guard, she swung her cannon arm to slam into the face of another before firing at a third guard nearby. If she played her cards right, she should be able to succeed without dying or taking severe injuries. She just had to be careful not to accidentally kill the admiral in the process...