Teen Titans: The Covenant War (C)

[Atoragon]

I present to you all my newest fic - Teen Titans: The Covenant War. As you may have already guessed, it is a Teen Titans/Halo crossover in the strongest sense. It's still part of the series of stories by me with my OC, Cipher. Before you bother to ask them, here are the answers to questions I invision you guys asking:

Will there be the Master Chief or any other Spartans?

No.

Will there be anything including the UNSC?

Again, No. The crossover of this story deals mainly with the Covenant, not the UNSC.

Will the Gods make any sort of appearance?

Most likely there won't be a scene of Spirnak tearing apart a scarab. I am not completely ruling the idea out, though.

On a final note. Updates concerning this thread from me will be coming out slowly seeing as TTXS1 is still in progress and I want to finish it before I get too engrossed in this. Once it is finished though, this will be the main source of my attention.

So now that I am done with my introductory rambling, I now present Teen Titans: The Covenant War.

EDIT: A good point has been brought up by Jack/Oh Look I'm... (whichever he prefers), that you may not have read "The Stage of Apocalypse" or "TTXS1" before this, so a few important, quick points to get you caught up:

-Cipher, my original character, is an Oracle of a fictional, polytheistic religion. This religion is based off of 6 Gods, representing 6 "elements:shrug:"(Lightning, Shadows, Stormwinds, Infernos, the Earth and the Sea) Within him, lives one of the Gods, Spirnak, the God of Lightning. This is similar to the Raven/Trigon relation, except it wasn't for world domination. Aerkusto (fictional country that believes in the fictional religion), up until recently has mistaken Trigon for the God of Shadows, the true God in fact being Ralivar, Trigon's father and Raven's grandfather.

-Cipher and Raven are theoretically "dating" after TTXS1. The term is used reasonably loosely.

-In The Stage of Apocalypse, Cipher uses Spirnak to destroy Trigon once and for all in a giant monster battle that nearly destroys the city.

-In TTXS1, two main plots happen. 1) A Russian spec ops soldier named Sergei, who has been hunting the Oracles for years to tun them into assassins for the KGB returns and joins Slade. 2) Cipher builds a mech-soldier named Moguera. After some confusion, Moguera is forced to leave the Titans. Fix-It tampers with Moguera's computer and Moguera joins Slade under the name "Kiryu". The two sub plots converge in a final battle between the Titans and all villains, who have conglomerated to form the organization "Justi-Break." (cheesy name, i know). In the end, Justi-Break is defeated and Cipher and Raven share a first...


Prologue

The seven foot tall, mottled blue alien, known as an Elite, stalked through the lightly crowded corridors. His red armor was form-fit, and almost looked as if it was his skin. About every eight inches along his armor were twinkling shield emitters. Small pulses of energy flowed through the shield.

As Zuka ‘Zamamee, as he was known, reached the command bridge deep in the center of the cruiser, he reached his hand and placed it firmly on the identification panel. He winced as he felt the needle drive into his finger and take a tissue sample. The door chimed as access was confirmed. He slowing walked onto the bridge, snapping his mandibles at the air, distressed about how many times he had been called here and how many times he’d been stabbed.

On the far end of the bridge, on a central elevated platform was another Elite named Soha ‘Rolamee. This one in particular was clad in gold armor. He had his arms crossed behind his back and stared at the bleakness of space through one of the hologram panels.

“Your excellency,” spoke up ‘Zamamee. “We have word from the Prophets.”

“What is the will of the Prophets?” asked ‘Rolamee as he turned around to face the lower class Elite. ‘Zamamee slowly approached his superior and looked at a star chart. He stretched out his long finger and pointed at a lone planet.

“The will of the Prophets is to invade and conquer this planet, here. The Prophets think that they will be beneficial and want us to absorb this race of aliens into the Covenant. Another reason for invading is they directly threaten our supply ships heading for High Charity.”

“What is this planet known as?”

“The inhabitants know it as… Tamaran.”

[Atoragon]

I'm stuck like paste to kindergardener's hands on TTXS1, so I decided to write up the first chapter.

Chapter 1: Emergency Call



One-week earlier, Aerkustan Space Command (ASC) space station Ratonaussicht, in orbit around Earth…

“Admiral Braik, sir, construction of the Sesupekunen-class dreadnought Chiroptera is complete. Fleet numbers now meet quota,” reported a young ensign. The admiral rotated around in his desk chair to face the ensign. His hands were folded in his lap. A pipe hung hap-hazardly out of the side of his mouth. Rows of shining medals adorned his neatly ironed jacket. If the ensign didn’t know better, he would have thought the admiral would have fallen over from the weight.

“This is good news. What are the fleet totals?” asked the Admiral in his low, rumbling voice.

“Sir, we have 100 frigates, 40 destroyers, 26 cruisers, 18 dreadnoughts, 14 carriers and 6 flagship super dreadnoughts.”

“That’s quite a fleet. I just hope we never have to use it in combat. I’ll contact parliament, you go get some sleep. It looks as if you’ve been up for days.”

+++++

One week later, Titans Tower…

“Rae, you can let me down anytime now.”

“Umm, No.”


“A guy makes a single mistake and he’s branded for life.”

“Sounds about right.”

“Blood is rushing to my head. I can’t feel my right foot. Out of mercy, could you let me down, please?”

“I could, but that would defeat the whole purpose.”

“The whole purpose of what? Are you still mad about that?”

“Mmm hmm.”

“Rae, come on girl. Put Cipher down. I think you put him through enough,” said Cyborg. Raven glanced over to him. After seeing the seriousness in his eyes, she broke the telekinetic bond. Cipher fell to the floor in a crumpled mess right behind the couch.

The moment was broken when the TV began to static wildly. Cyborg’s video game snapped off and a picture of Galifore appeared on the screen, and he was not in one of his jovial moods.

“I need to speak with Princess Starfire, immediately,” he demanded.

“Yo, Star!” yelled Cyborg over his shoulder. “Call for ya!” There was a moment of silence before the twin sliding doors burst open and Star floated into the room. A squeal of excitement was overwhelming as she saw Galifore on the view screen.

“What brings you to call, my knorfka?” asked Starfire.

“This is most urgent, Princess. A scout vessel has located a fleet of Covenant ships amassing on the edge of the system. We need your and the Titans’ help.”

“The Covenant? I have never heard of such aliens. Are they friendly?”

“Most definitely not. The Covenant are by far more tenacious and cruel than the Gordanians. They will fight until their mission is complete or until every one of their soldiers lay dead.”

“I understand. How long do we have until they attack?”

“I’d give it maybe a week. More likely less.”

“We’ll be there as soon as we can,” spoke up Cyborg.

“Thank you. We can use all the help we can get. Praise X’hal for success.” The transmission faded. The video games reappeared back on the screen, but no one paid any attention.”

“Cipher,” ordered Robin. “You and Cyborg get the Nachrallises ready to fly. I want to launch in ten minutes.”

“Slight problem. The Nachrallises were never originally designed for space flight. It will take me a week to perform the appropriate modifications to them. I have another idea, though. I was just informed that Aerkusto has finished building its space naval fleet. We can use the fleet to get to Tamaran and help fight off the Covenant. I know very little about Covenant technology, but I sincerely doubt six Nachrallises will really make a difference against a Covenant armada.”

“Fine.”

“I’ll get the Admiral on the phone now.” Cipher punched a few commands into the mainframe. The screen flickered and filled with static before clearing out. An older man sat at a desk. Space was viewable through the large window behind him.

“What can I do for you, Cipher?” he asked.

“Admiral, get the fleet ready for launch. We need to set for Tamaran. A Covenant invasion of that planet is imminent.”

“Holy Oracle, not to be rude, but what will helping the Tamaranians do for us?” Cipher grabbed Starfire’s arm and dragged her up next to him.

“See her? She is Princess Starfire of Tamaran. A part of the royal family. For her sake, we are heading for Tamaran. Think of it like this, if we help the Tamaranians and with Starfire here on Earth, we can create an alliance between us. Think of the trade we could have. And what if Tamaran is annihilated? Earth could be next.”

“I see. Very well. We’ll send a transport immediately. Be ready to go in thirty minutes.” The transmission ceased.

+++++

Flight Officer Merckel hit the Aevogel’s thrusters. The gunmetal-green transport balanced for a moment on a column of blue-white fire, then hurtled out of the Sesupekunen’s launch bay and into space. The Aevogel’s engines flared and the bulky ship plummeted towards the surface of the Earth.

Merckel sent the transport into the planet’s atmosphere. Vaporous flames flickered across the ship’s stunted nose, and the Aevogel jounced from side to side.

The hectic ride settled out as the Aevogel dove deeper into the atmosphere. Ports on the base of its stubby wings opened, allowing the air-breathing function of the engines to take over and to replenish the oxygen tanks. The transport arced over and headed for the all to familiar T-shaped skyscraper sitting on the horizon.

The transport decelerated and circled around Titans Tower. Twin booms spread out from the aft section and tilted down slightly. A small door on the bottom of the nose opened and a tandem nose wheel folded out. Merckel slowly cut of the throttle and the Aevogel touched down on a barren patch of land a few hundred yards from the tower.

The seal on the back of the Aevogel hissed, then popped. A ramp folded down, providing an easy way to enter the rear compartment. The door had remained unnoticed due to the air tight seal. Merckel walked down the ramp and set foot of the dry dirt. He looked up in awe at the tower, but was not able to look too long. Before he knew it, he was on the ground, the point of a birdarang jabbed into his throat.

“Am I to presume this is the wrong Titans Tower?” he croaked as he gasped for air.

“Robin, I believe that’s our ride,” moaned Raven.

“Oh, sorry,” said Robin as he helped the man up.

“S’alright. I’ll let the Admiral deal with formalities. Lets go. We don’t have much time.” The Titans filed into the transport in single file behind Merckel. Merckel strapped himself into the pilot seat and Cyborg took the liberty of sliding into the co-pilot’s. When everyone was strapped in, Merckel hit the ignition. The Aevogel nearly leaped off the ground as it headed up into the upper atmosphere and back to the Sesupekunen.

“A little word of warning for y’all,” called Merckel over his shoulder. “The Admiral doesn’t like it when people press buttons when he doesn’t tell them to. So I’d really consider not touching anything.”

“I believe he is specifically talking to you, Beast Boy.”

[Oh look I'm...]

Cool first chapter, but I do have something of a suggestion. Whether or not you listen to it is totally up to you.;) While the idea of a "series" is phenomenally enticing, there is a small discouraging feature to it, especially toward newer readers. You might want to consider putting some kind of "synopsis" or "rehash" that, for readers interested in The Covenant War, would give them some idea of your previous works (i.e. TTXS1 and Stage of the Apocalypse) and tells them what they need to know so that they can fully enjoy this fic.

Yeah, yeah, I know. You want everyone to read your early stuff first so that they can fall in love with your "series" and be addicted to it. But there is such a thing as "late readers," as I've come across more often than once.:sweat: Some people find it to be a pretty daunting task to read 400+ MS Word pages of your work before even being able to read the first page of Covenant War and understand it. Last time I checked, the reason for posting stories on here is to give readers a good time and improve in writing, not to get arbitrary praise. True, it's always fun to have a fanclub and groupies, but (simply put) the WFWC is not in that game anymore.

Please realize that I am in NO way, shape, or form condemning you or accusing you of anything. I'm simply asking that you consider my point of view. Your series is growing and, before it gets to the point where only a "select few, those who've been with it since the utter beginning" can read it coherently, I want you to take action so that everyone is able to enjoy this stuff, seriously.

As an additional point, readers who haven't read any previous installments can offer a very interesting perspective: namely, they can let you know if your current story can stand on its own.;)

Besides, just because someone wants to read Covenant War doesn't mean they won't eventually go back and read TTXS1. I've met people who read the first parts of a new story I wrote (that followed in sequence after another one) and then, by about the fourth chapter, went back and read the earlier stuff. But I've even met people who read one particular installment and nothing else, and they still loved it. Seriously, life's too short for people to say "Um, read my first fic or this won't make sense.":sweat:

Like I said, I'm merely bringing up as a suggestion because I see that this series is expanding so quickly that I'm wholly sure if everyone can keep up (especially if they logged on to the forum for the first time today), and I want this awesome story to get the feedback it deserves, but that can only happen if you meet the new people half way.

EDIT: I apologize that this post didn't have any real feedback for the first chapter, but I didn't want to tackle this until TTXS1 had finished completely. Which, at the time I posted this ramble, it hasn't/hadn't.

Secondary EDIT: I wrote this so quickly that I completely botched the language and structure, making me look three times less intelligent than I already am.

[Oh look I'm...]

I tried to approach "Teen Titans: The Covenant War" from a perspective of someone who hasn't read any of the preceding stories to see if this can stand on its own, but this is quite difficult considering that I have, indeed, read your previous stuff. However, for all intents and purposes, TCW is well established and is pretty much understandable from the get go, much like Star Wars Episode IV. As with most of the stuff you've written, the terminology can be a little hard to follow at times, especially to people to don't fully know the language.:sweat: Try to avoid that as much as possible, and you'll be fine.;)

For those of you who don't know, the Prologue is straight out of "Teen Titans X: Season 1" (http://forums.toonzone.net/showthread.php?t=180993). Here, their motivation for attacking an entire civilization is established and ascertained as simply the Will of the Prophets. Perhaps later we'll learn why they are so afraid of the Prophets that they follow these "orders" without question. And it will be very interesting to see how Tamaran fares in an all-out battle—last time we were told that they were completely overtaken (see "Betrothed" if you don't recall).

The "branded for life" line in Chapter 1 was priceless, and it was interesting to see Cipher in a very humorous situation to soon in this epic. As a sidenote, and in keeping with the aforementioned suggestion, you might want to re-describe Cipher's appearance for those of us who have short term memory issues. Anyhooz, aside from the freaky terminology and ridiculously long-spelled words—you'd kind of be used to that if you ever read Cipher1112's previous stuff, but hey—this fic is off to a great start, more or less. The Teen Titans (with new buddy Cipher in hand) are going to war!

Hope to see more!:anime:

[Atoragon]

Something just came up to me...

Apparently knowledge of the Covenant is not as widespread as I thought (bad me), so Here (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Covenant_%28Halo%29) is a link to an article that completely describes the Covenant. Make sure to read the "Species" section. This goes in depth into the Covenant's rigid caste system.

[Oh look I'm...]

I checked out that article, and frankly, I'm a bit worried about myself now.:sweat: Because you said this was a crossover between Halo and Teen Titans in the, quote, "strongest" sense, does that mean that I have to know as much about Halo as I should about Teen Titans??

If that's the case, I should probably blow my brains out right now.:sad: :p

In case you didn't know what I meant, I've been spending my days with a Playstation 2, so I don't have any experience in Halo at all.:sweat: I hope I can still enjoy this fic nonetheless, because it would be an utter shame if I couldn't. (Again, more of a shame for me than a shame for you.;) :p :crying: )

[Atoragon]

I said it's in the "strongest" sense as in the Halo aspect does not take a backseat to the Teen Titans aspect and vice-versa. I never expected anyone to know a lot about Halo, but I was just clearing up the "why are these Covies following all orders from these prophets?" thing. But I guess it also helps to know some background about the Covenant, as you would do the same for Teen Titans fan fics.

[Atoragon]

Now that TTXS1 is now officially over, I can now focus entirely on The Covenant War *claps with joy* This chapter is a bit shorter than what I would have preferred, but it seemed like a good spot to stop.

Chapter 2: Cramped Spaces

Aboard dreadnought Sesupekunen…

“Right this way, Titans,” guided Lieutenant Halsey. He would be considered to be part of an elite few. A space-born fleet is by no ways invisible, and when US satellites picked it up, they didn’t exactly keep it quiet. To keep out of a world war, Aerkusto had let representatives from the United States, Russia and Japan be part of the crew. That is where Halsey, Kupchenko and Nakagawa came in.

The Titans continued their what seemed like never ending trek through the gray hallways of the massive ship. The group took a right turn and stopped before a pair of sliding, armored doors. Halsey reached out and placed his hand on the panel to the right of the door. The panel pulsed and there was a chime as the doors slid silently open.

The room behind the sliding doors appeared to be the bridge. Computer screens lined the sidewalls, displaying engine, weapon and other schematics. An army of sailors attended these stations, yelling out updates to a man sitting in a chair in the center of the room, Fleet Admiral Braik, or Lord Braik as he was better known as. He sat watching the central view screen, his signature pipe hung hap-hazardly out of his mouth.

“Princess, Holy Oracles, other Titans, good of you to come on such short notice,” he said in his gruff voice as he swiveled around in his captains chair. “Starfire is it?”

“Yes.”

“We received a message from a particular Tamaranian named “Galifore” right before you arrived. He said it was a partial profile on the Covenant, but he couldn’t find someone to translate it to an Earth written language. He said that you should be able to, though, seeing as you live on Earth. Would you mind doing the honors?”

“If it means getting a better chance to save Tamaran, I would not do anything otherwise.”

“Great! Lt. Halsey, show the Titans to their quarters. Princess, you may begin at any time you wish.”

- - - - -

“Urrggh… I think I’m the first ever person to suffer from space sickness,” whined Beast Boy. “Is there any medicine for such a thing?”

“Well, you just said you were the first, so I doubt they have anything for it,” mused Cyborg.

“Just go to the infirmary and get out of our hair,” quipped Raven. Even with the Titans being housed in officer’s quarters with a central lounge, the smaller than the tower area had really gotten on some of their nerves, especially Raven seeing as there was nowhere she could go to get away from Beast Boy. The Admiral had recommended they stay in their area so as to stay out of the way of the hard working soldiers preparing for war and keeping the vessel in order.

“This is going to be a long flight,” moaned Robin.

- - - - -

Four days later…

The tension amongst the Titans had been at a record high during the voyage, and they were more than pleased to here that it would be mere minutes to Tamaran. They were allowed out of their compartment and onto the bridge. The white with purple streaks of Tamaran dominated the main view screen.

“Sir! Incoming message from the planet!” announced a young, female officer from her station.

“Patch it in,” calmly replied the Admiral. The view of Tamaran faded away into static before showing Galifore’s face. He seemed a little more and less stressed simultaneously at the fact of a rather large war fleet appearing a few thousand miles from his planet.

“Admiral, glad to see you here. I’d like you and the Titans to come planet side to discuss how we are going to deal with threat.”

“Of course. It would be rude of allies not to exchange information,” he replied. The com link snapped off. The Admiral turned to the bridge crew. “Okay, Heinrichs, Schindler, you two are coming planet side with me. Altman, send a message to all ships to form a defensive perimeter around the planet. Karlson, have a drop ship prepped for our arrival.”

[paranoidguy103]

Cipher,
Good Chapter. I can't wait to see how the plot develops. Can't wait for the next part.
Paranoidguy103

[Atoragon]

Next bit. Hope you like it. (Why wont this [bold] turn off?!)




Chapter 3: Welcoming Party

The drop ship was ablaze in super-heated gases as it entered Tamaran’s atmosphere. Merckel was at the controls again, and his skill stood out. Despite the raging hell outside the titanium shell, the ride was smooth sailing. Beast Boy was returning to his normal shade of green, his “space sickness” slowly fading away.

The rigid mountainous landscape of Tamaran as the Aevogel dropped deeper into the atmosphere. The pink sky gave the feeling that the rolling land was cotton candy, which could explain why Starfire loved it so. There was a slight jolt as the air intakes for engines opened, upsetting Beast Boy’s stomach, and causing people to scoot as far away from him as possible.

“Starfire?” asked Merckel over the drop ship’s loudspeaker. “Could I ask you to come forward to the cockpit? I need your help on where to land.” Starfire stood up from her seat next to Robin and moved to the front of the compartment. She passed through the door that led to the cockpit, which closed behind her with a quiet snick.

“Go ahead and sit down there,” motioned Merckel as he heard the door shut. Starfire plopped herself down in the co-pilot’s seat and looked out in awe as the landscape raced by on the other side of the windscreen.

“Now where would I set this bird down to meet up with our good ole friend, Galifore?” Merckel continued.

“Oh, you would land at The Grand Palace.”

“Any idea what that looks like? I am new here, you know.”

“It is a grand castle that is built on top of a small hill.”

“Hmm… would that be it?” Merckel pointed out in front of him at the castle standing in the center of a large valley. At this distant, it looked more a slender mountain, though.

“Yes, that is it!” squealed Starfire I response. “I did not remember how beautiful this valley was. Last time we were here, it was entirely filled up with Gordanian fighters.”

“Is that so? Tamaran get invaded a lot?”

“Actually, no. This supposed invasion by the Covenant would only be the second if ever happened.”

“You sound optimistic. That’s good for a leader to have. Inspires the people. You’re definitely more inspirational than my Oracles back there. Maybe it comes as part of their job, though.” Merckel shrugged. “As a kid, I always wondered what it would be like to be one of them and wanted to be one, but seeing the hell they’ve gone through, I don’t think I want to anymore.”

The Aevogel did an action similar to a power slide as it came to a stop directly above one of the large pads that stood out from the castle. The drop ship slowly lowered towards the ground. A few feet off the ground, Merckel cut the engines early, causing the ship to drop the rest of the distance like a rock. The landing put an extreme amount of stress on the suspension, but did save a little fuel.

The back ramp dropped, revealing a truckload of slightly shaken up Titans. Merckel was not on the top of most popular personnel list at the current moment. The Titans and select bridge crew chosen to come down to the planet stumbled out of the ship, with the exception of Starfire who thought it was “a most glorious carnival ride” and asked if they could go again. Her response was the aggravated glares of the other eight passengers.

The welcoming party could be seen walking long the long skywalk that connected the pad to the castle. At the front was a very large man, which the groups recognized as the Grand Ruler of Tamaran, Galifore. Many other, lower delegates followed behind him, but could not be seen due to the massive bulk of the Tamaranian leader.

“Greetings!” he exclaimed. “Welcome to Tamaran.” The two commanders exchanged handshakes and glances of the other’s entourage. Galifore’s eyes fell upon an apparent member of the Titans that he didn’t meet on their previous visit to Tamaran. This new member’s eyes were locked dead on, on one of his Officers, Orand’r to be specific. Granted, Orand’r seemed a little shadowy since he returned from the scouting mission that found the Covenant fleet, but Galifore felt he needed to step in.

“Why hello there, little man,” he laughed. This was possibly one of the most fatal errors of the war, and the war hadn’t even started.

“Are you calling me little? Listen, I don’t care who in Azieramorkan you are, no one calls ME lit-” Cipher’s outburst had been silenced for the time being by Starfire’s quick actions. One of her hands had clasped his mouth, the other had clamped his wrists together.

“Cipher, what in X’Hal’s name are you doing?” she hissed. “Galifore is The Grand Ruler of Tamaran! And my knorfka!”

“The only part I understood was ‘grand ruler’. What in **** does ‘knorfka’ mean?”

‘Its like a caretaker. Galifore raised me from when I was very little and you shall show him a little more respect!” Starfire released the now fuming Cipher. He cast a few glares before retreating back and setting himself down on the edge of the ramp of the drop ship.

“I am sorry for our friend’s actions,” continued Starfire. “It was most uncalled for.”

“It can be understood. The winds of war are strong and everyone has caught its fever.”

- - - - -

“So what are they gonna serve in this grand feast?” inquired Admiral Braik as he licked his chops. He was well known for his voracious appetite.

“Truthfully, I suggest you just pass and wait for the negotiations,” warned Cyborg. “Tamaranian food is most definitely an acquired taste.”

The Admiral had almost immediately put his fork down upon seeing the bizarre array of dishes being unveiled before his eyes. As the Admiral looked around at the other bridge crew and most of the Titans, he saw similar reactions. Starfire was, of course, an exception to this, eating everything she could reach. Cipher had actually touched the food, but when a stray tentacle made a move at him, he electrocuted it into oblivion and didn’t touch anything after that.

“Now, Grand Ruler,” counseled Braik. “Before we get a little too much at home, I’d like a little more confirmation about this threat than just your word, not that I don’t trust your word.”

“I-” Galifore was cut off as a messenger ran into the room and whispered something into his ear. There was a quiet conversation before Galifore sat upright again. “Turn on the hologram projector,” he commanded. A bulb above the center of the table flickered to life. In the blue haze of the projector, a spaceship appeared, its apperance looking like the bloated head of a whale.

“You want confirmation, Admiral?” continued Galifore. “There is your confirmation.”

[Atoragon]

Present for y'all. I was able to pound this out without taking a week.:D

Chapter 4: Opening Assault


“All ships, move to full broadside!” ordered Braik. “I want those Covenant bastard in our scopes five minutes ago!” In response, the huge ship shuddered and vibrated as it was brought around 90* so that maximum firepower could be brought to bear. Through various smaller view screens scattered around the bridge, the other ships could be seen following suit. The before unnoticed shock cannons along the side of the ship flickered to life.

“Sir, Additional Contacts! Slipspace ruptures, and lot of em!” announced one of the bridge officers. Sure enough, multiple dimensional fissures opened and more Covenant ships passed through.

“Sir, Covenant fleet amassing just outside the kill zone,” announced a second bridge officer. The Covenant ships formed a group just out of the maximum range of the Aerkustan ships’ shock cannons. The Covenant ships all seemed to have the same outline, but varied extensively in size. The largest, the flagships, were slightly smaller than the Aerkustan carriers, about 3 miles in length. The smallest, believed to be frigates or scouts, were only about 500 – 800 yards on length.

The lateral lines along the Covenant vessels began to pulse then glow an eerie red. Balls of the red energy began to collect at the tips of turret-mounted probes. While the flagships pulled to the back of the formation, the smaller ships engines flared to life and began to move forward.

- - - - -

Soha ‘Rolamee sneered at the humans attempt to protect the Tamaranian scum. They may have superior numbers, but their technology was no match to that of the Forerunners. As his frigates moved forward, he saw multiple of the Earthling ships fire shining balls of electron-charged energy. The shots surged forward straight at his frigates, but at the last moment, most of his ships dodged the blasts. A few of the vessels got hit straight on, but minimal damage was caused due to their energy shields. He smirked at what the Earthling commander would be thinking at the current moment.

- - - - -

“What the…” stammered Braik. His opening barrage had been dodged or shrugged off. The ‘energy shields’ that these Covenant ships possessed would most definitely be a problem. The shock cannons, which, in test firing, had obliterated the test targets, had barely left a scratch on the Covenant ships.

“Sir!” yelled a bridge officer, bringing the Admiral out of his revelry. “Covenant ships returning fire!” The Admiral turned his attention to the forward monitor to see the charging frigates fire their red globules of energy. The globules streaked forward and impacted the sides of many smaller ships.

The energy washed over the sides of the ships. The Titans watched in awe as the two-meter thick plates of titanium were boiled away, revealing the underlying superstructure. One ship, the destroyer Varyag, caught their attention specifically. They watched as the shot impacted it, and then burned deep into the structure. The was a sudden explosion as the burning mass of energy came into contact with the Varyag’s main reactor. Bits of molten hot metal sprayed throughout the fleet. Larger chunks damaged some surrounding ships.

“What in hell are they firing?!” demanded Braik.

“Sensors say its plasma, sir,” replied Lt. Nakagawa, the Japanese representative for the fleet. “And apparently there is a large magnetic field surrounding the plasma shots, as if its guiding the plasma. This is not good.”

“We all can agree with that.” The Admiral winced as another ship, the frigate Mondschein, encountered a similar fate to that of the Varyag. A spray of molten metal decorated another nearby frigate, giving it almost the appearance of the pattern of a monarch butterfly.

“Sir!” screamed a female bridge officer. “Drop ships inbound! Most are heading for the surface, but some appear to be equipped with special airlocks so that they can board our ships. Confirm that, boarding of many ships is imminent. Repeat, boarding of many ships is imminent!”

“Alright, split our marine force. Send 80% to the surface to aid the Tamaranian ground forces and keep 20% on the vessels to stave off boarding parties. Launch all fighters against the drop ships. Titans, protect this ship.”

“Yes, sir!”

[Atoragon]

Chapter 5: Bodyguard

The six Titans sat hunched down behind a makeshift barrier erected in the hallway. A few hundred feet away was the hatch to the escape pod that the Covenant had attached their boarding craft to. They knew where the Covenant was going to strike, but not when, their numbers, or with what species they had at their disposal. After reading the report sent to Admiral Braik by Galifore, every Titan was praying it wouldn’t be Hunters. The airlock silently hissed open, waking everyone from his or her own thoughts.

“Titans, get ready,” ordered Robin as he pulled out three of his explosive discs. He popped his head over the top of the barrier to survey the airlock. There was nothing. Robin wondered if these Covenant could even breath oxygen rich atmosphere. He was just about to retreat below the barrier when a lone Grunt showed its face.

The Grunt sniffed wildly at the air, trying to pick up the humans scent. Faint wisps could be seen escaping from its methane breathing apparatus. Ever since Robin learned what the Covenant cannon fodder breathed, he wanted to know exactly how any creature could survive off methane. But this remained a mystery; similar as to how Tamaranians shot their starbolts and flew. The Grunt slowly waddled out into the hallway, then turned back a made a noise that sounded like a bark of a dog.

“Dude! That’s no threat!” whined Beast Boy, standing up and staring at the short alien. He instantly took his comment back as a sphere of green plasma scorched off a section of his hair. Cyborg couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Ya know, BB,” he said. “That little alien may not be a threat, but that gun it carries sure as hell is.” Cyborg risked a look of his own. A real live alien was standing right in front of him! That is to say, not counting Tamaranians due to their human-like appearance. The Grunt noticed him a let off a yelp of fear and ran back into the drop ship.

“Huh,” continued Cyborg. “I think Beast Boy may be right. These Grunts are no threat.” Cyborg rounded the barrier and approached the airlock. He had his sonic cannon leveled in front of him in case the Grunt returned, but the returning alien wasn’t a grunt this time. Exiting the airlock was one of the seven-foot tall field commanders referred in the profile as an “Elite”. A small group of Grunts followed behind him.

The Elite noticed Cyborg almost immediately and let loose a barrage from the stubby plasma rifle he held in his right hand. Cyborg followed suit with his sonic cannon. The sonic beam impacted the Elite at point-blank range in the abdomen and nearly blew it apart. The Elite had stupidly underestimated the humans and had not turned on his energy shield, but you could bet that his companions that watched the light blue beam blast through him turned theirs on to full power.

Cyborg turned back towards the barrier and winced. The plasma from the Elite’s rifle had scarred and burned his armor. Nothing biological had been hit to the relief of Cyborg and the rest of the Titans.

“Cyborg, get down!” Robin yelled at the top of his lungs. Cyborg looked up to see Robin’s arm cocked back with the three discs, ready to throw. Cyborg hit the deck and Robin threw the discs at a second Elite who had emerged from the airlock. There was a faint whizzing above Cyborg’s head as the discs flew past then one… two… three… explosions as the discs hit the Elite in the face. The explosions washed over the Elite, but the shield held off the brunt of the damage.

The Elite grinned as Robin stared at him dumbfounded. This was the last thing the Elite did as he saw another of the humans pop up from behind the barrier. This one, dressed in blue, released a beam of electricity through his hands, which burned through his skull. The Elite’s headless, smoking carcass fell to the ground with a thud.

“No! They got leader!” squeaked one of the Grunts. This was clearly through a translator built into the breathing apparatus on the Grunts face, because the Titans knew they definitely heard it bark before. Raven picked up the terrified Grunt with her powers and slammed it into the wall. There was a wet crack as the Grunts skull caved in. Raven let the minion fall the ground. A pool of translucent, blue blood puddle beneath its mangled form.

Cyborg’s sonic cannon cut down the other two Grunts. It ripped through their flesh and seared it instantly. The blood didn’t flow as freely, seeing as the skin was cauterized, but the smell of methane was thick in the air.

“That looks like all of them,” commented Raven as she poked an Elite’s carcass with her foot, making sure it was dead. The dead form didn’t move, confirming Raven’s assumption of its death.

“I doubt they sent only one boarding ship,” replied Cipher. He had taken interest in a plasma rifle that he stole from a dead Elite. The rifle hummed in a ghostly way with energy. Cipher pointed it at the head of the dead Elite he had token it from and pulled what he believed to be the trigger. A stream of blue plasma burst forth from the weapon, burning apart the Elite’s head. The fire only lasted for a few seconds, though, before it overheated to the point where Cipher couldn’t hold it anymore. The smoking gun dropped to the deck. A red light on its side turned off, and some side panels shut, telling Cipher the gun was now safe to hold.

“Well, that was what the other repelling parties were for,” stated Robin. “Come on, guys. Lets go back to the bridge.”

- - - - -

“We received minimal casualties, sir,” reported a young marine sergeant. “But all boarding parties have been repelled.”

“But the Covenant have completed their objective,” the Admiral sighed as he turned to the approaching Titans. The Covenant has landed troops on the surface, and in considerable force. A few of their frigates were able to run our blockade and are now in a low orbit above the planet. I don’t want to fire on the ships because I have no idea what the larger versions of the shock cannons will do to the atmosphere. Titans, strap up. I’m sendin’ you planet side with the 82nd infantry to reinforce the troops protecting the palace.”

“Right. This way,” led Robin. The Titans ran through a mess of crowded hallways as if they knew exactly where they were going. This was a false notion as Robin led the team around a corner and into a dead end.

“Robin, I have a little more experience in these hallways, so why don’t you let me lead,” said Cipher as he set his hand on Robin’s shoulder. This was true, seeing as Cipher was the only Titan let out of their quarters during the long voyage to Tamaran, albeit, for a short time. Robin nodded and the team headed back in the direction they came.

The team continued their trek through the maze of corridors before Cipher stopped in front of a pair of sliding, steel doors. The doors slid open, revealing an expansive bay on the other side. Lines of Aevogel drop ships and Nachrallis fighters filled the bay. Teams of engineers scurried around every which way, making repairs and fueling up ships preparing to leave.

“Wait, Cipher, I thought you said the Nachrallises couldn’t operate in space?” inquired Robin.

“That’s true. Ours can’t. These are the Space Combat Variant, something I let some scientists do for me in order to keep them busy and out of my hair. Before you ask, because I know you will, it’ll take a week for them to convert ours, so we can have them do it as soon as we get home.”

Robin opened his mouth to reply, but was cut off as a private ran up and gave them a salute. “Right this way, Titans,” he led. They followed this man of whom no name was known, but of course, they really didn’t care what his name was. The man stopped in front of a group of about ten Aevogels. The Titans piled into the second one and sat as the final preparations were complete. The back ramps of the drop ships hissed shut and the engines roared to life. Beast Boy glanced out the side window to see them pass through a special electrical barrier that kept oxygen in the bay, but let ships pass through. The ships turned and headed down towards the surface.

- - - - -

“Bravo One, this is Knife Two-Six. We are in need of immediate escort. Some Covenant Seraph fighters are giving us and our guests some trouble,” screamed the pilot into her microphone.

“Don’t get your knickers in a twist,” retorted Bravo One. “We’ll be there as soon as we can.” The pilot peered out of the side window at the harassing Covenant fighters. There was a streak of missiles as two exploded. The other two teardrop-shaped fighters broke off there attack against the drop ship to see what had destroyed their comrades.

The drop ships plunged through the atmosphere. The skin was ablaze in the plasma caused by their rapid descent. “They were going in fast or not at all,” the commander of the 82nd infantry had warned them. This was a fair warning. The ship bounced like Beast Boy on excessive caffeine. They were descending so fast, that some of the ships in the squadron were beginning to loose bits of their armor.

There was one final jounce as the air-breathing engines flared to life and the Aevogel’s path leveled out. The Titans looked out on the vast valleys of Tamaran. Some were ablaze in battle; others remained untouched for the time being.

The ships set down at what was believed to be the central command post for defense of the palace. The complex was a small city of tents and buildings made of quick-drying cement. The Titans disembarked their drop ship and stared in awe at the mini city that was taking form right in front of their eyes.

“The Teen Titans,” commented the commanding officer as he approached the group. “I’d ask for autographs if we weren’t here to kill some Covie bastards. I’m Major von Kleist. No need to tell me your names, I already know them.”

“Lets get started then. Have some troo-”

“Listen here, kid. The only reason I’m fighting in this damn war and not being at home with my wife and kids is because of you, so I’m calling the shots, got it?”

“I got it.”

“Good. I’m going to be splitting you guys up. We are in need of your expertise on multiple fronts.”

[Atoragon]

Chapter 6: Fissure

Split up? That was probably the last thing any Titan wanted to hear, especially when they are faced with a Covenant army that had numbers far exceeding the largest Earth army. This is what ran through Raven’s head as she sat, watching the horizon. Robin, Starfire and Beast Boy had been sent to the front, Cyborg was now part of a Special Forces team, and her and Cipher, well, lets just say they had absolutely no idea what their job was. Von Kleist had mentioned something, but what that something was, no one knew, Cipher wasn’t paying attention and Raven was trying to get him refocused while the Major spoke.

This war was only on its second day, and Raven was already tired of it. Why does everything always result in violence? Why must we fight? All this went against the philosophy that was taught to her when she was young in Azarath. But as a hero, she had to do what needed to be done to protect the population. People looked up to her, but she never liked the publicity brought upon by it.

“You know, this would be pretty damn beautiful if we weren’t in the middle of a war,” mused Cipher. Raven hadn’t noticed him come up and sit next to her. She was off in one of her usual calming trances, but his presence didn’t bother her at all.

“True,” she replied. “I really wish you were paying attention when we were being told our assignment. I missed it also while trying to get you refocused.”

“Oh, so this is my fault? Well, I guess, yeah.”

“If you two lovebirds aren’t too busy…”

“Watch it, Major, or I’ll banish you to Azieramorkan.”

“Last time I heard,” the Major snorted, “Azieramorkan was on Earth, and we are sure as hell not on Earth.”

“Hmm. I’ll make a note of that for when we get home.”

“Sure you will. Now come on. Get off your fat asses and get to the Aevogels. We have to retake a Tamaranian city that was overrun by the Covenant.” There was a collective sigh among the two Titans, but they did as instructed and headed off towards the landing pad.

-

“We’re pulling back to the far side of the planet to regroup our forces,” reported an officer over the radio. They’re voice was full of static.

“Oh, that’s just great,” mused von Kleist. “Anything concerning the Covenant carrier that’s hovering just above the Tamaranian city?”

“We’ve intercepted a message that been sent to the carrier. It just repeats, “Regret, Regret, Regret”. Any idea what it means?” replied Braik.

“Dear humanity, we regret being alien bastards, we regret coming to Tamaran, and we sure as hell regret the corps that just blew up our raggedy ass fleet!”

“Oorah!” chimed in the pilots of the Aevogel.

“Regret is a name, Major. A name of a Covenant religious leader, a Prophet. He’s on that carrier, and he’s calling for help,” said Logistics Officer Kupchenko.

“Report. Grid Kilo two-three is hot,” stated a marine sniper-recon team. “Recommend mission abort.”

“Your call, Major,” implied the pilot.

“We’re going in. Get tactical marines!”

“Titans,” ordered Admiral Braik. “Get on that carrier and capture the Prophet of Regret. He knows why the Covenant invaded Tamaran, and he’s going to tell us why.”

“Roger. Thirty seconds out t- whoa.” The pilot was lost for all words as he watched a massive Covenant “walker” come around the corner of a large building ahead of him. The “walker”, better known as a “Scarab”, was insect-like in appearance, walking on four, long legs. The front of the “head” opened, revealing a rather large plasma cannon. The cannon pulsed green, then fired, obliterating the lead Aevogel. The other two banked hard to the side, but were strafed by an anti-air cannon on top of the Covenant scarab.

The Aevogel carrying the two Titans and Major von Kleist rolled over as the cannon struck its starboard side and underbelly. The drop ship hit the top of a nearby building, skidding along it top side. The ship plowed through a protective barrier and dropped into a courtyard.

- - - - -

“Cyborg, I have an assignment for you,” stated Adm. Braik. “I know your hacking abilities are extensive, so you are going to infiltrate that vessel there. We believe it is the Covenant Command and Control Center.” Braik pointed at a ship in the center of the Covenant armada. It was easily three times the size of the largest warship. “You are going to infiltrate that ship and implant this AI into the mainframe. She’ll do the rest from there.”

“She?”

“What were you expecting? A male AI?” quipped a small figure that appeared on the holo pad next to the Admiral.

“Ahh, yes. This is her. Cyborg, I’d like you to meet Kalmiya. She’ll ride in your circuits, and down the Covenant mainframe from the inside.”

“Ya know, man. I don’t really know if I like the idea of having a mini Raven hitchin’ a ride inside of me. I have enough trouble with the original’s quips.”

“Ohh, don’t worry. Once she gets to know you, you two will get along fine.”

“Robin said the same thing about Raven, and that took a few months…”

- - - - -

Beast Boy in gorilla form ripped the helpless Grunt in his arms clean in half. The final squeals of terror coming from the little alien ceased and its blue blood was splattered across Beast Boy’s face.

Robin used Beast Boy’s shoulders as a catapult to launch him high up into the air. He whipped out his bo staff in mid flight and brought it straight down on the nearest Elite’s head. The shield held on for a moment, but eventually gave way from the force. The Elite’s skull caved and the dead figure toppled over.

“Is it me, or is this getting easier?” asked Beast Boy.

“I agree with the Beast Boy. This is much easier than before expected,” added Starfire.

“I think its just getting started. Remember the profile? It said that armor color apparently depicts rank. All of these Elites had blue armor. The higher ranks, the red, gold, white and black have yet to show themselves. Speak of the devil…”

From the mist strode a single Elite, the apparent leader. His white armor and was much more extensive and his helmet was crowned with a magnificent headpiece. The Elite stopped a few yards from the group and grinned. He reached up with his long fingers and removed his helmet. He dropped the rifle in his hand to the ground and reached into his belt and produced a short rod. He held the rod out in front of him and a plasma blade burst forth from the ends of the rod.

“I believe that he is challenging you to “the duel”,” said Starfire. “Leader against leader.”

“If it’s a duel he wants, it’s a duel he’s got.”

[RavensDragon]

Good!

[paranoidguy103]

Loved the chapter, can't wait for the duel.

Paranoidguy103

[Atoragon]

So even as I'm at the National Science Olympiad in Wichita, I can still finish off a chapter for y'all. What can I say? Never drink a big-ass can of Amp energy drink at 10pm. You'll be up till 5am and get maybe 2 hours sleep. I needed something to do for 6 hours...

Chapter 7: They’ll Regret That Too


Stars clouded his vision as Cipher struggled to open his eyes. The crash had really done a number on him and the rest of the occupants of the drop ship. He blinked a few times and looked up at the sky. He was lying on his back on a pile of rubble. Apparently he had be thrown out of the Aevogel’s open rear hatch when they crashed. Saying that he hurt all over would be an understatement.

“Clear the crash site! Go! Go! Go!” ordered von Kleist. The Marines were seemingly unhindered by the crash, but they had been trained to survive such things. This had been only been Cipher and Raven’s third trip on a drop ship. This must have been the Marines hundredth time, at least.

“Get on your feet, Oracle,” commanded von Kleist as he reached out and grabbed Cipher’s hand. He pulled him to his feet and gave him a quick look over. “Nothing looks too bad, so you’re fine.”

“Are you so sure?”

“In the Corps, if there’s no compound fracture, your fine, so get your senses back and let’s get out of here. A Covenant Phantom drop ship could be swarming around here any minute now.”

Realizing this, Cipher snapped to his senses. He quickly surveyed the surrounding area and was relieved to see Raven was okay and being helped up by another Marine. Von Kleist jumped off the pile of rubble and headed towards a near by door. When the force was all together and next to him, he poked his nose around the corner. A quick burst from his assault rifle dispatched of the single Grunt scout and he proceeded down the short passageway, which opened into a much larger courtyard. A few trees were scattered through out the yard.

Cipher and Raven stood back and let the Marines take care of the few Covenant ground troops, consisting of one Elite, two Jackals and a few more Grunts. The “Jackals” were the main Covenant scouts. Their eyesight was that of a hawk and their skills with a beam rifle, the main Covenant sniper’s weapon, was unmatched.

- - - - -

Robin crouched low in a fighting stance, his bo staff lying in his twitching hands. The Elite was doing the same, his energy sword casting harsh shadows across the rocky ground. Neither of the two leaders really took the initiative. The just circled around each other, staring each other down, waiting for the other to make the first move, and the first mistake.

The Elite, growing impatient with the Titans’ leader, let off a warbling war cry and charged head long at Robin. Robin grasped three of his explosive discs and hurled them at the Elite. The Elite stopped quickly and lashed out at the discs with his sword. Two of the three discs were shredded, and exploded prematurely, causing no damaged. The third sailed over the Elite’s shoulder, impacting a small boulder behind him, shattering it.

Robin charged at the Elite, twirling his bo staff above his head. He leaped into the air and brought his staff down on the base of his opponent’s neck. Robin scored a lucky hit on one of the Elite’s shield emitters. With the circuit broken, the shield snapped off. Robin spun around, bringing his staff to impact the Elite’s other side. The staff impacted the Elite’s rib cage, shattering many of his ribs instantly. A few of the fractured bones punctured through the skin, spitting a spray of purple blood across Robin’s face.

Robin tried for a third, finishing blow, but his opponent was too quick. The searing blade of the energy sword cut clean through the staff like a hot knife through butter, and in the process, slashed across the leader of the Titan’s chest. Robin winced in pain as the plasma cut through his flesh. The wound was shallow and was cauterized instantly, so there was no blood when Robin pulled his glove away from the scar.

Robin discarded the short piece of his staff as the Elite took another wild swing with the sword. The Titans’ commander hair was millimeters from being singed off as the blade passed by his head. Before the opponent had a chance to regroup, Robin took the sharp end of the staff (caused by being cut in half) and stabbed it deep into the Covenant soldier’s abdomen. He pushed his end of the staff down, and thrust it up, deep into the Elite’s chest cavity and into his heart. Robin back-flipped away as the Elite tried one last desperate attack before falling dead on the rocky ground.

[paranoidguy103]

Great chapter:D . The duel was intense, and very well described. See you next chapter.

[Atoragon]

So... It's been a little while... But I'm back. There was a little fiasco involving the city of Wichita and such...

Anyhoo:o... Here we are, chapter 8.

Chapter 8: The Chapter in Which I Can't Figure Out an Imaginative Title


An elite team of Special Forces soldiers quietly made there way through the tall grass towards a Covenant Phantom. Previous attempts to capture a Covenant drop ship by force had ended in failure. Every time before, right as the ships were in the humans’ grasp, the Covenant had set it to self-destruct.

This time, though, Sgt. Sandberg hoped it would be different. The drop ship, this time, was guarded only by a few Grunts, who just happened to be sleeping on the job. The team slipped onto the ship, and slit the throats of the few guards with combat knives. As far as the Elite commanders knew, the ship was still in safe hands.

It was now all up to Cpl. Kellerman. Cyborg and Kalmiya had hacked into a part of the Covenant battlenet, and had been able to acquire some help on Covenant flight controls and had downloaded it onto a flash drive. Kellerman inserted the drive into the data ported. The screen instantly blinked on in response. A few of the Covenant hieroglyphics blinked up on the screen, then faded away. The anti-gravity pods that powered the Phantom flared to life and gently lifted the ship off the ground so that it hovered at about 2 feet.

“It seems they took the liberty to program coordinates into the drive for us,” muttered Sandberg as the ship lurched forward and began to ascend into the sky. Unsurprisingly enough, the Covenant had not realized that the drop ship had been captured until it docked with the Aerkustan flagship. Although, now, every ship in the fleet had been ordered to destroy it on sight.

- - - - -

Cipher and Raven slowly meandered through the narrow alleyways of the Tamaranian town. The Marines they were with under Major Von Kleist had separated from them to go in search of the Marines in the other surviving Aevogel. The streets seemed way too quiet for a conquered town, let alone one with a 250 ft tall Scarab knocking over buildings as if they were made of playing cards.

A faint wisp of aura touched the edge of Raven’s senses, causing her to become instantly more alert.

“Something’s approaching,” she whispered, a slight tail of fear creeping into her voice.

“Can you tell what?”

“Not exactly, but it is large, very large. My best guess is it would be that Scarab.”

“Shit. I would say ‘Let’s stay here and fight it’, but we know nothing about it, except the fact that the plasma cannon it’s hefting can blast apart any weapon either Tamaran or Aerkusto has planet side.”

“I say we just leave it alone for now.” Just as Raven finished, both of the Titans’ communicators became ablaze with static. Robin’s cracking voice could barely be heard over the white noise.

“Raven… Cipher… on edge of… Scarab appr… request he… diately!”

“I guess this means we have no more choice in the matter,” sighed Cipher. Raven raised her hands above her head and the pair became enveloped in a rippling black sphere of dark energy. The sphere descended into the street, and simultaneously ascended from the rocky ground in the field next to the other Titans a mile away.

- - - - -

“Dammit!” screeched Robin as he nearly threw the field radio against the ground. “The person on the other end of this damn radio doesn’t speak a word of English!”

“Give me the radio,” moaned Cipher as he snatched the radio from Robin’s grasp. “What do you need?”

“Tanks! Bombers! Anything! We need to take that thing out!”

“This is Holy Oracle Cipher, calling ASC Sesupekunen. We need immediate orbital bombardment of Covenant Scarab, coordinates 108.45* by 20.37*.”

“I’m sorry, Holy Oracle, but those coordinates are to close to the Tamaranian town. Grand Ruler Galifore has specifically asked for minimal collateral damage to the civilian population.”

“Damn. How long to get some bombers in here, then?”

“From estimates on distance and time to arm the planes, I’d say about thirty minutes.”

“The town will be destroyed by then, and who knows what else!”

“Are you forgetting the rather large weapon your team has in their possession?” A small smirk spread across Cipher’s face.

“Call off the bombers. I’m about to have a little fun.” Cipher turned the com link off and turned back to the rest of the Titans.

“I seen that look before,” sighed Raven. “How far away do you want us to get away?”

“Okay, am I the only one who has absolutely no idea what’s gonna happen?” whined Beast Boy.

“I’d say so,” replied Robin. “Raven, get us out of here.”

“Now the fun part begins…”

[paranoidguy103]

Great chapter. Can't wait to see Cipher own the covies in the next chapter:evil: .

Peace,
Paranoidguy103

[Atoragon]

So, I've finally gotten around to finishing up the 9th chapter. My life has been pretty screwy recently. Anyhoo, onto the story.

Chapter 9

An electrical tornado surrounded Cipher’s body, as his body was being ripped apart, molecule-by-molecule. The molecules began to reform into a massive, 400 ft tall, bipedal dinosaur. Crystalline spines burst forth from his back and along his tail. He was covered in a thick, navy blue hide. The twin souls housed in the body switched control, and Cipher relinquished control to Spirnak, Divine Lord of Lightning.

“Tell me Cipher,” telecommunicated Spirnak. “For what reason did you wake me from my slumber? And where is this place?”

“Spirnak, welcome to Tamaran.”


“Starfire’s home planet?”


“That would be it.”

“And I’m guessing the reason you called on me is this insectoid robot in front of me?”

“That would be it. Have fun.”

“Gladly.”

- - - - -

“What is this abomination that dares to impede our path?” snarled the Elite commander as he peered at the forward view screen of his Scarab. “What is that thing, anyways?”

“We’re not 100% sure, commander,” spoke up the logistics officer, “but its seems that this creature has some sort of connection with the humans’ religion.”

“And if we were to kill it?”

“It would be an extremely powerful blow against the humans’ morale. It could possibly even force them to surrender immediately.”

“Think of it. By taking this thing down, we could be promoted to the Honor Guard of the Prophets. Power up the main cannon that shall lead us to glory!”

- - - - -

Spirnak stared quizzically at the Scarab in front of him. It had ceased to move an inch since his appearance. The commander was either scared ****-less, or contemplating how to defeat him, he thought. Either way, this wasn’t going to be pretty. The Scarab had to be destroyed at any costs.

Enough thinking. The large, crystalline spines along Spirnak’s back began to crackle and glow with electrical energy. A large green sphere of plasma collected in front of the Scarab’s main gun. A few drops of the plasma dripped to the ground, setting the grass below the Scarab’s head ablaze.

Spirnak let his beam loose first. The condensed beam of electricity struck the Scarab as the top of the base of its neck and traveled down the back. The beam was powerful, but it just couldn’t breach the outer shell of the Scarab’s armor.

The Scarab returned fire, releasing the javelin of green plasma. The beam struck Spirnak clean in the chest, causing him to loose his balance. He stumbled back a few steps before falling over, crashing through a skyscraper and pulverizing various smaller buildings under his tremendous bulk. The resulting shockwave blasted out windows of buildings in every direction. In all, at least seven city blocks had been leveled or severely damaged.

Spirnak slowly stood up, chunks of concrete cascading off of his body. The Covenant had crossed the line with that. Such an insult to a Divine Lord would not be tolerated, and Spirnak was going to make sure they paid. He shook the remaining rubble off of himself and screeched into the heavens before charging headlong at the Scarab (which considering his weight and build, wasn’t very fast, but you get the idea).

Spirnak reached the Scarab right as its second salvo was finished charging. He lit up his right plasma sword and drove it deep into the neck joint of the Scarab. But this didn’t stop the second shot like he had hoped. At such close range, the second salve ripped through his flesh, nearly disintegrating the left third of his abdomen.

Spirnak screeched in pain and thrust the sword farther into the neck joint. He brought the sword down through the bottom of the neck, and with his free left hand, ripped the head clean of the rest of the body. The head clattered to the ground as Spirnak spun around, bringing his powerful tail into the side of the Scarab body, knocking it over. The spines along his back began to crackle again, and he unleashed a powerful blast into the weak armor of the Scarab’s underside. The beam struck directly into the pinch fusion reactor that powered the Scarab and it exploded into a hellish fireball. Bits of plasma and burning armor rained down upon the meadow, causing several small fires.

The tornado reappeared, transforming Spirnak back into Cipher. Apparently by sharing molecules, Cipher and Spirnak shared injuries as well. Cipher slumped to his knees, grasping his side in pain. It was quite clear to the Titans, even with Raven’s healing ability, he would be out of this fight for a while.

- - - - -

Aboard the Covenant cruiser Truth and Reconciliation…

“Where did the abomination go?!” demanded the infuriated commander.

“We have no idea, sir,” replied the Recon Officer. “It literally vanished.”

“Zoom in on the area! Look for anything to the abomination’s disappearance!”

“Roger.” The main view screen of the cruiser zoomed in close enough to literally see the individual fingers of the Titans.

“Sir,” spoke up one of the bridge crew, “look at the injury on that one human. It appears to be identical to that on the abomination. This also appears to be the group of humans who have some unique abilities. You don’t think-”

“Yes, I do. That human must have some connection to the abomination. Alert our Special Forces. I want that human as a prisoner now.”

[paranoidguy103]

Great chapter. Spirnak/Cipher just owned the Covenant:evil: . Great battle scene between the Scarab and Spirnak. The cliffhanger on the end makes me wonder whats in store for Cipher. Can't wait for the next chapter.
Peace,
Paranoidguy103

[Atoragon]

Sorry for the wait, y'all. The Empress has had me busy conquering and destroying various principalities recently, so I haven't had a lot of time on my hands, but here we are, chapter 10.

Chapter 10

A small group of black-armored Elites swept silently through the surprisingly empty corridors of the Medical Frigate Heilend. With their cloaking devices, they were slight ripples in the air to the naked, human eye. The whitewash walls and fluorescent lighting was straining on their eyes, but they had an objective, and failure was not an option.

Cipher was the lone patient in Medical Wing 4. He’d been put in a drug-induced coma because pretty much everyone there knew that if they didn’t, he’d be out of there in an instant to continue the fight against the Covenant. It was against his nature to just lie back while there was a war afoot.

The Elite team silently entered the room. After a quick sweep with their plasma rifles and the door was firmly shut behind them, they turned off their cloaking devices and surveyed their target.

“It appears that the abomination’s counterparts have sedated him,” spoke out one of the Elites.

“The humans appear to do such a thing to their wounded. They don’t let them experience the pain and heal with honor,” replied the commanding Elite, Maho Mazanee. He poked Cipher with the butt of his rifle, and was satisfied with the lack of any kind of response.

“Are you sure this is the abomination?” asked the last Elite in the group. “He doesn’t look like a human that would command such power…”

“That’s true,” Maho responded. “But the scanners are sure its him.”

“What if the scanners are wrong?” This had struck a nerve with Maho. In his eyes, such a comment would be considered heresy at least.

“What did you say?!” he demanded. In mere milliseconds, he had wheeled around and had his rifle pressed against the forehead of the Elite who had made the comment. “Such doubt of the Forerunners technology is heresy! I should kill you right here on the spot!”

“Much apologies, sir. But you may want to keep it down. We would not want to alert the humans as to our being here.”

“True. Grab the human and return to the drop ship. These damn lights are giving me a headache…”

- - - - -

The Covenant ships’ anti-gravity propulsion was a helluva lot quieter than a human ship, as anyone could contest. Cyborg leaned back in the captain’s chair as Kalmiya piloted the Covenant Phantom drop ship out of the Sesupekunen’s launch bay and out into the inky black of space. For the first time in a while, Cyborg was able to just lean back and relax.

“So,” Cyborg spoke to seemingly no one. “Where are we heading?”

“The Covenant would assume that a strike would be against the carrier Ascendant Justice, their flagship and the ship on which the Prophet of Regret is, but we are heading for the nerve center of the Covenant battle net, the cruiser Truth and Reconciliation.”

“But what if the Covenant were expecting the unexpected?”

“Then we’re screwed. There was going to be a simultaneous assault of the Ascendant Justice, but some… problems arose.”

“What sort of problems?”

“When we found out that Regret was on the Ascendant Justice, Major von Kleist ordered Cipher and Raven to infiltrate it, but their drop ship was shot down on route to the base of the gravity lift. They survived the crash, but Spirnak was badly injured in a fight against a Scarab, and those injuries were transferred to Cipher, who is now in a serious, but stable, condition on the Medical Frigate Heilend.”

Cyborg let out a low whistle. Despite his initial assumptions, the Covenant were by no means pushovers, and were not going to lie down without a fight.

“This is our stop,” announced Kalmiya. The Phantom silently glided through the shield that separated the vacuum of space and the pressurized docking bay of the Covenant cruiser. The ship silently set down on the blue-tinted metal deck. A few Grunts were scampering around outside, wearing the uncommon white armor, which for Grunts, meant they were maintenance crew.

A small data chip popped out of the ship’s mainframe. Cyborg grabbed the small chip and input it into a data port located on his left arm. He felt a pulse through his circuits as Kalmiya integrated with his system.

Cyborg shuffled his way to the cargo compartment of the Phantom. His right arm reformatted into his signature sonic cannon. It could be seen giving off a very faint blue glow. Cyborg slowly inched towards the side door, but the door suddenly thrust open without him pressing the button to give the command.

‘Shit’ he thought. He leveled his cannon at the door and was prepared to blast anything that showed its ugly face, but what actually came through the door startled him. A pale pink alien that appeared to hover 2 feet above the ground floated through the door. These “Engineers” as they were called floated by a series of air sacs deep in their body. They had many tentacles that would split apart into thousands of cilia. They could take apart, analyze and reassemble a Covenant Seraph fighter in minutes.

Cyborg lowered his sonic cannon and let out a sigh of relief. These little buggers were the definition of ‘harmless’. They didn’t care what they fixed, or whom they fixed it for, just as long as they did they did their job. He slowly moved his away around the busy Engineers and the side hatch of the Phantom. To his relief, there was not a party of Elites waiting for him.

Apart from a few Engineers, the Covenant seemed oblivious to his infiltration. This first part of his mission was a success, but the hard part was still ahead.

“I’m into the Covenant battlennet,” whispered Kalmiya, “but to get into the mainframe, you’ll have to input me directly. Over near the door, there is a data port. I will be much more of a help from inside the system.”

Cyborg nodded and snuck over to the alcove of the door. The Grunts were sleeping on the job, so it wasn’t as hard as it would seem for 1 ton of flesh and circuits. He pulled the small data chip out of his left arm inserted it into the port next to the door controls. There was a moment of silence as he crouched next to the door, waiting for any sign from the AI.

“Okay,” spoke Kalmiya quietly. “I have complete control of the main systems, but the Fleet Controls are separate also.”

“Damn,” cursed Cyborg. “Where do I go, then?”

“The Central Core can only be accessed through the bridge. I’ll upload a map to your system and disable the security cameras, but the hard part of actually getting there is up to you. I’ll maintain constant radio contact unless I encounter some problems. Good luck.”

- - - - -

Meanwhile…

Cipher slowly stirred from the grasp of the anesthesia. Instantly he knew something wasn’t right. The bright white lights of the medical bay were gone, replaced by a faint blue. He was standing upright and his hands were shackled in a sort of force field. He shook his head and blinked away the drowsiness to come to a startling realization. This wasn’t the Heilend.

Instead of the good doctor, a rather foul looking Elite stood in front of him, clad in gold armor. The Elite in particular happened to be the commander of the Truth and Reconciliation and the Covenant armada that attacked Tamaran. Even though the Prophet of Regret was on one of the fleet ships, he still had control of all command decisions.

“Welcome to the Truth and Reconciliation,” greeted the commander in a faux welcoming tone. Cipher was still able to pick up the warbling language of the Elites in the background of the translator.

“I am assuming your head is swimming with confusion,” he continued. “You’re probably wondering why we captured you and kept you alive. The answer is simple. You are the spiritual leader of the humans that intervened with our invasion, yes? Well, you would be the perfect pawn for our plan. Your race of weaklings has proven themselves quite resilient. Knowing you’ve been captured will smash their moral. I believe the term in your language is propaganda.” Cipher couldn’t help but laugh.

“Me? The spiritual leader? Your reconnaissance must be ****, because there are six of us. And as far as I know, only two, including myself, participated in this operation. I bet you Raven will be here in a bit, turn you all inside out, and the two of us will be out of here.” The Covenant commander was shocked.

“Six?!” He grabbed Cipher by the collar and pulled him close to his face. “If you value your life, you will tell us who the other spiritual leaders are!”

“I already told you that 4 didn’t come. And if you’re looking for the fifth, you’ll recognize her as the one in a complete rage surrounded by thousands of your dead soldiers.”

“Her? But it is not a female’s spot to lead or fight. What does this specimen look like?”

“Like I said before. The ill-tempered one surrounded in dead bodies.” The commander released Cipher and stalked off. It was clear he wasn’t going to get any more answers through politeness. He gave a few commands to the guards before exiting the prisoner block. Since the description was so vague, the Commander decided that if he couldn’t hunt down the female, he’d lure her to him.

[paranoidguy103]

Great chapter. It seems a little wierd that they would leave Cipher, an Oracle, completely unguarded. But did Cipher want to be captured:confused: ? That would be crazy:evil: , but very interesting:D . Alright, enough speculation. Cipher being unguarded is a great twist to the story, and I can't wait to find out what battles lie ahead for the Titans.
Peace,
Paranoidguy103

[Atoragon]

Great chapter. It seems a little wierd that they would leave Cipher, an Oracle, completely unguarded. But did Cipher want to be captured:confused: ? That would be crazy:evil: , but very interesting:D . Alright, enough speculation. Cipher being unguarded is a great twist to the story, and I can't wait to find out what battles lie ahead for the Titans.
Peace,
Paranoidguy103

We may never know...

But think of it this way. Almost all the troops are on the planet's surface and the two fleets are not expecting small boarding insertions. So far, both boarding parties have gone completely unnoticed, or haven't they? I'm trying to leave things open for speculation. Keeps my readers interested.;)

-Лорд Демон "Круглого стола"

[Atoragon]

Whoa... I, like, just realized I havent posted any new chapters in 3 weeks. But hold out my dear readers! I will have a new entry soon enough! :D

[Atoragon]

Whoa... I, like, just realized I havent posted any new chapters in 3 weeks. But hold out my dear readers! I will have a new entry soon enough! :D

Or not... I'm going to be on hiatus from writing for an undisclosed amount of time, so it may even be a couple months til the next chapter, but I do promise that this fic will be finished. The only question is when...

[Atoragon]

Okay, I don't really care if it's been 3 months since my last post. I was lazy and working on other projects (namely "Chronicles of the Empire"). But anyhoo... I have returned with a slightly shorter than average chapter...

Chapter 11: Bait on the Hook

Raven slowly padded down the empty hallway towards Medical Wing 4. Her mind was flooded with memories of her fallen comrade, but there was one in particular that was stuck in her mind, as if haunting her. Had she gone too far after the defeat of Kiryu? Had she’d cursed Cipher by her actions? A part of her mind was telling her that she was merely going to see the progress of Cipher’s healing. But another, smaller part of her mind was telling her that she felt more for him, and was going to try to help more, even with her waning power. The door silently slid open, and she was instantaneously filled with horror.

- - - - -

Robin sat on the bridge, conversing with Adm. Braik on tactics against the Covenant. The Marines groundside had the Covenant ground forces pretty much tied up in a stalemate, eliminating their current threat. Robin swore under his breath as he heard his communicator ring. There were times he kicked himself for letting Starfire choosing the obnoxious jingle. He flipped it open and was instantly barraged by a very frantic Raven.

“He’s gone!” she screamed.

“Wait, wha? Raven, calm down. Can you repeat that?”

“Cipher. He’s gone.” Raven turned the small camera on her communicator towards the vacant bed. There was no shadow of a doubt that he was missing. The IV tubes were strewn around haphazardly; sheets were thrown across the floor and the bed had been shifted. All the signs that he was kidnapped and he hadn’t just gotten up and walked out.

- - - - -

“Hold still, demon,” gruffly barked an Elite as he wrestled Cipher’s hand up into the light ring, which was the Covenant’s equivalent of shackles. The light rings activated, holding Cipher’s hands in place, spread above his head.

“At least your still alive, demon,” sneered the commanding Elite as he approached his prisoner. The Grunt behind him switched on the large on the large, bulky video recorder. The commander turned around to face the much smaller alien.

“Listen here, gas-sucker,” he seethed. “I want this broadcast on all frequencies. Fail, and you’ll be spending the rest of your life as my doormat.” The Grunt squealed in fear and quickly double-checked all the settings.

- - - - -

“I can’t believe it…” Adm. Braik stammered. “A religious leader was taken from right under our noses. Forgive us Divine Lord of Lightning, for we have failed to keep your Oracle safe…”

“It will be alright,” soothed Starfire as she laid her hand on the sobbing man’s shoulder. “We will rescue him in due time.”

“And that time is now,” seethed Raven. Her eyes glowed white and her body became enveloped in a pocket of dark energy that took the shape of her name, a raven. Before any one could stop her, she shot through the ceiling of the command bridge and out of the ship.

The dark aura swept through the emptiness of space. It crashed through the Truth and Reconciliation’s energy shield like it was tissue paper. Raven unwrapped herself from her aura bubble as she settled down into the brig of the Covenant ship. It was quiet… too quiet…

“Hey, Rae!” Cipher yelled. “Get out of here! It’s a-“

“Trap,” interrupted Soha ‘Rolamee, commander of the Covenant forces. “I must say, you humans are quite predictable. I just send a little message saying I’ve got your friend here captured, and you come right to me. Saved me a lot of time hunting you down.” Raven scoffed.

“It’s not much of a trap if I’m just going to walk out of here.”

“Really now?” Soha snapped his long, spindly fingers together. All at once, at least 20 Spec Op Elites shut off their active camouflage, their jet-black armor shining like pearls in the purple lights the Covenant preferred. Two Hunter pairs burst through a set of doors on the other side of the room. Raven was surrounded, and if she moved, she wouldn’t get an inch before being vaporized in a storm of plasma. Using her powers, she was able to deactivate the light rings around Cipher’s wrists, but he didn’t dare move or else face the same fate.

“Okay… I’ll take that back…” Raven slowly backed away from the approaching Elites. For only the third time in her life, she felt fear. The other two times was when Beast Boy rented “Wicked Scary” and when her father, Trigon, first invaded the material plane.

Death seemed inevitable. The two Oracles were surrounded. The Elites’ plasma rifles and the Hunters’ fuel rod cannons glowed maliciously. Their glow was brighter than the overhead lights. Soha raised his hand above his head, signally the “prepare to fire”. He was just about to signal to open fire, but everything was thrown into utter chaos as the ship shudders violently, throwing everyone to the ground, even the sturdy Hunters. The deafening noise of metal screeching on metal filled the ship.

The chaos and agony distracted the Elites enough to give Raven the time to escape with Cipher, leaving the Covenant behind. Soha’s yells of anger at their escape was cut short as the Truth and Reconciliation was ripped apart in a cluster of crimson explosions. As the Sesupekunen rounded the planet, all it saw was the final explosions and a streak of red and silver leaving the area at high speed.