Chapter 103

"Yeah, get some Marines" Shouted Sergeant Major Avery Johnson as he stood over a dead Elite with his foot planted in its chest.

"This is what I call sweet Liberty right here gentlemen," Johnson shouted. Bodies of Covenant soldiers lay dead across the ground, their purple armor penetrated by the UNSC energy weapons.

As the battle came to an end, the marines had formed a perimeter around their position, their weapons still hot from the battle. "Secure the perimeter, check for survivors," Johnson commanded.

The Marines moved swiftly and efficiently, checking each fallen Covenant soldier for signs of life while making sure more covenant reinforcements didn't arrive. Private Ramirez knelt beside a fallen Grunt, confirming the kill with a quick pulse scan.

"Sarge, looks like we got 'em good this time," Ramirez remarked.

Johnson nodded grimly. "Don't get complacent, Marines. These bastards always have reinforcements on standby. We finish the sweep and regroup at the extraction point. Griffin, you got eyes on our next objective?"

Griffin the AI assigned to Sergeant Major Johnson chimed in through the Marines comms. "Affirmative, Sergeant Major. There's an access point to a central control room two clicks east from your current position. It looks like the Covenant are consolidating their forces there."

Johnson turned to his men "Alright, you heard him. Move out, double-time." 

The Marines wasted no time, moving swiftly through the corridors of the Forerunner building. They kept their senses sharp, eyes scanning for any hint of movement or ambush.

As they rounded a corner, the faint glow of energy shields ahead indicated the presence of Covenant forces. Johnson held up a closed fist, signaling the marines to halt. He peered around the corner, assessing the situation. A group of Jackals stood guard, their shields in their hands as they chattered in their alien tongue.

"Weapons hot," Johnson whispered into the comms. "On my mark."

The Marines quietly moved into position, adjusting their grips on their rifles, fingers on the triggers. A few seconds later, once everybody was in position, Johnson's voice cut through the quietness. "Three... two... mark!"

The Marines unleashed a volley of energy shots. The Jackals staggered under the onslaught, their shields flickering and failing as they fell one by one. The sound of gunfire reverberated through the corridors, followed by the sound of the Jackals' energy shields being destroyed.

"Clear!" Ramirez called out as the last Jackal collapsed to the ground.

Johnson nodded in approval. "Good work, Marines. Keep moving."

They pressed onward, following Griffin's directions towards the access point to the central control room. 

Meanwhile, battles raged across the entire planet as UNSC forces fought to secure the planet from Covenant control. The Covenant forces were quickly being overrun by the overwhelming number of UNSC Marines, Army, MCUs, Fighters, Titans, Spartans, and other combat vehicles on the ground.

The same thing was happening in other covenant worlds across covenant space. At the same time, a few separatists' factions had refused to swear allegiance to the Lord Protector of humanity.

As such Axel ordered them to be either destroyed or captured, while the more high-ranking covenant such as Imperial Admiral Xytan 'Jar Wattinree refused to bow his head. In response, Axel took his fleet to capture the Imperial Admiral as he would be the key to bringing the remnants of the covenant fleet to his side.

He would capture the Imperial Admiral, and then have him go through a little 're-education' process for a few months that would turn him into a devout follower and teach him the error of his ways.

The scientists whom were working with the Sangheili and other covenant races that were captured had for years studied and conducted tests and experiments trying to understand the covenants culture and religion.

After some time, they had learned how each races culture worked, and how their religion had changed over the history of their empire. Using this they also discovered a weakness in their religion which would allow them to exploit their faith and change it to the correct path.

Their faith would change to the correct path as it was intended while also maintaining the covenant worship for the Forerunners, but without the violent zealotry that had driven them to war against humanity and other species. It was a delicate balance, harnessing the deep-seated beliefs of the Covenant while redirecting their fervor towards peace and cooperation.

Onboard his flagship, Axel was standing over the holo-table which showed the positions of both UNSC and Covenant fleets.

"What's the status of the search," Axel asked.

A young lieutenant at the tactical station responded promptly. "Admiral, we've pinpointed the Imperial Admiral's flagship. It's holding position above the world Saepon'kal alongside 200 other ships. According to the report, he has summoned other shipmasters to join him in the civil war." 

Axel nodded, "Omni, we will leave behind 200 ships to maintain control of High Charity, the rest will follow me to Saepon'kal" commanded Axel.

Omni relayed his orders as the 200 ships split off from the main fleet and formed a defensive formation around High Charity, meanwhile the rest of the 2nd Fleet had jumped to the covenant colony world Saepon'kal.

Half an hour later, the fleet had arrived within range of Saepon'kal. Orbiting the planet was around 200 covenant ships alongside the Imperial Admirals Flagship 

As the UNSC fleet arrived within firing range of Saepon'kal, the sensors showed the Covenant fleet orbiting the planet alongside Imperial Admiral Xytan 'Jar Wattinree's flagship. As soon as the fleet was detected, the Covenant ships had moved into a defensive formation to defend the meeting which was happening on the planet's surface.

However, as the covenant communicated between their ships and the surface, Omni had picked up their conversations and translated them. From the conversation he had found out that the Imperial Admiral was having a meeting alongside other covenant Fleetmasters.

"Admiral, the Imperial Admiral is on the surface of the planet alongside the other Fleetmasters, we should send troops down before he can manage to escape." Suggested Omni.

"Alright, have 100 ships form a shield around the transport ships and go around the left side of the Covenant fleet." Ordered Axel.

Omni relayed his orders to the rest of the fleet as the formation began to shift. 100 ships broke off from the formation and had formed up around the transport fleet accompanied by fighters and the weapon-ships from the Guardian Custodes.

The transport fleet flew around the left side of the battle while the main fleet continued to engage the defending covenant fleet.

Of course, this massive movement of ships was caught by the covenant, but they couldn't divert any ships or fighters to stop them without sacrificing their own defenses.

As the covenant ships fleet began to lose ships, the transport fleet was able to maneuver around the battle. Moments later, the invasion of the surface began while all the high-ranking military members of the Covenant were still on the surface.

The UNSC transport fleet, escorted by their protective shield of warships, descended towards the surface of Saepon'kal. Their objective, to intercept Imperial Admiral Xytan 'Jar Wattinree and the other Covenant Fleetmasters before they could escape or reinforce their defenses.

Axel watched the tactical readouts, monitoring every movement and adjustment made by both UNSC and Covenant forces.

On the surface of Saepon'kal, Covenant ground forces were already mobilizing in response to the sudden appearance of the UNSC fleet. Patrols scoured the landscape, and defenses were being reinforced around the location where the meeting of Fleetmasters was taking place. The Covenant was caught off-guard by the sudden invasion.

As the dropships descended through the planet's atmosphere, they faced anti-aircraft fire from Covenant defenses. UNSC pilots skillfully evaded the incoming fire, relying on their training and the energy shielding of the transports to protect their descent.

The ground assault teams prepared for immediate combat upon landing, ready to engage Covenant forces and secure their objectives.

"Brace for impact," Sergeant Major Duvall called out over the intercom as the dropships approached the landing zones. All the troops tightened their grips on their weapons, adrenaline pumping as they prepared to disembark right into midst of the battlefield.

As the first wave of dropships touched down, infantry squads made up of Marines, Army, Spartans, and MCUs were deployed and had swiftly spread out, securing a perimeter around the landing zone. Plasma bolts flew through the air, met with retaliatory bursts of UNSC energy rifles and pulse grenade explosions.

"Push forward! Secure the objective!" Duvall voice commanded over the chaos, rallying his troops forward.

The battle on the surface of Saepon'kal intensified as more UNSC dropships landed. The Covenant fought fiercely to protect their leaders, but the coordinated assault of the UNSC began to wear down their defenses. Heavy armor rolled in, providing cover fire as the combined forces of the Marines, Army, Spartans and MCUs advanced under the cover of smoke and explosions.

Once the Titans were deployed from their dropships, the covenant was completely overwhelmed and eventually overrun. The building that the covenant leadership was in was surrounded as the Spartans were sent in to capture all of them.

However, they were about to find out why Xytan 'Jar Wattinree is the only Imperial Admiral within the entire Covenant.