[IC] Eternal Galaxy: Shards of Starlight - Part I

[S121]

Helios System
Delta Division Flagship | Excalibur

John listened to their conversation and decided to speak up. From what he heard, they were violent and needed to be stopped. It was a similar situation to the Insurrectionists in John's time.

"A good option would be to infiltrate their ships. Spartans used to infiltrate entire fleets and take them down from the inside out. Humans are still running the SPARTAN Program, aren't they?", John asked Joe.

[Cucoo5]

Helios System
Delta Division Flagship | Excalibur

"Spartan program? Never heard of it. From what I remember from history class, there was only like... a hundred...or was it fifty... Humans that arrived in Venturia five-hundred some trillion years ago. If none of them knew, then whatever that program was didn't come with them. Also the Galaxy did go through the natural phases of declines of technology. By the end of this war, I think we'll be plunged into the stone ages. Anyway, the way ships are, infiltrating them is possible, but you would have a hell of a time getting anywhere. Besides, a Iupiter Class is designed to handle anything. Internal Defenses can prevent anything from touching the core. Most of the higher class cruisers have that. So you might be able to get rid of the small fry with that tactic, but the big ones...nope. In short, as long as the main four classes remain in a fleet, then that fleet can get back up relatively quickly. These ships are designed to last for an eternity if need be. They're designed to fight this war to the last."

[S121]

Helios System
Delta Division Flagship | Excalibur

John frowned slightly at Joe's comment. John was used to infiltrating ringworlds and Covenant fleets armed to the teeth with soldiers and weaponry. He was used to fighting impossible odds and completing suicide missions on a daily basis, so to him, a ship that size was his run-of-the-mill target. If he was fighting against humans, then it would be even easier.

"That still wouldn't be enough to stop a Spartan. I've fought worse.", John calmly said to Joe, referencing the Didact and his army of Prometheans and Covenant.


Cortana knew that John felt somewhat offended by being told that he wasn't capable of taking down an Iupiter Class starship. Usually, John was given missions that others would run away from. She figured that it had to do with either pride, or him being confident in his abilities. There was no doubt that he would be able to accomplish that mission, but it always seemed as if he dove in without fear. She simply lightly shook her head at John's comment.

(You really are crazy, John.), Cortana thought.

[Kristia]

Helios System
Delta Division Flagship | Excalibur

"What about a small ship? even the best radars have a flaw when the object is too small to detect, the Iupiter class ships make large wave scans from what I have gatheres, and it would need patrol ships to look manually the perimeter. A vessel for a small team can squeeze fast enough between the blindspots of the patroling ships and be too small to be detected by the larger ones. Unless they would look from the windows, the team is practically invisible" Mara suggested to Joe

Then the white haired looked at the spartan "Careful with what you say, confidence can be your ticket for a dead end, Just by seeing you and your armor I can know you are heavily experienced in war tactics, but even a one-man army needs a team"

[Cucoo5]

Helios System
Delta Division Flagship | Excalibur

"So you've destroyed Ships that house innocent Civilians that are simply seeking protection?" Joe smiled wryly. "Call it an underhanded defense, but that's why infiltrators don't really go after the larger ships. They don't want to be the only one to bear the deaths of millions of innocents. Have you seen the City area? It's a massive section of the ship designed to replicate a natural planet along with a large set of cities. Civilians come here to escape the threat of their home being easily annihilated. Emphasis on the word 'easily.'"

Then he addressed Mara. Have you seen the fleet?
Delta Division's main fleet alone has
1 Iupiter Class,
5 Orcus Class,
10 Ares Class,
12 Athena Class,
34 Apollo Class,
50 Kappa Class,
79 Vulcan Class,

And the Iupiter is at the center of the entire fleet which normally is a sphere formation around it. Also, I personally wouldn't want to go up against a fleet where the total number of cannons that could wind up aiming at me is over 1.15 trillion and most of them are manned turrets. Just sayin'."

[S121]

Helios System
Delta Division Flagship | Excalibur

John was not amused by Joe's little joke and looked at Joe as he spoke.

"Then kill their military. I estimate that they would have at least one to two million soldiers on a ship like that. It's a doable mission. An army like that would take about three days to neutralize.", John said to Joe without emotion.



Cortana was more interested in why so many people would try to seek protection on large ships. What were they running from?

"Why are they afraid of their worlds being destroyed?", Cortana asked Joe.

[Kristia]

Helios System
Delta Division Flagship | Excalibur

"I never said "destroy" I said infiltrate. The team would go for information that is hidden from the public eye. There is always someone behind the lines working for another faction" Mara countered to Joe

She then looked at him with serious glowing eyes "I know the fact that there are people who use the ships to escape from this mess. I know it by first hand as even in those so secure cities, someone can blow up a ship killing every single person who was trying to get to safety" with that, the white haired walked forward not looking back

[Cucoo5]

Helios System
Delta Division Flagship | Excalibur

"Billions. This ship alone has 687 Billion personnel. Half of them infantry, a third of them pilots, like myself. And Also There's Fighter patrols within the fleet. If there's about 200 billion pilots in the main flagship, factor in all of the other ships...and you get a lot of fighters. Patrols are typically small of course, but still the total number of fighters out at any given time number in the millions." He then sighed. "It's an ugly truth if you look at it. We're armed to fight this war even though it's impossible to end. But more so each of us is fighting a more...personal war. Take Aion and me for example. Why do we fight? It's personal. More for Aion than me, because of Revere. Revere is our goal. I'm here because Aion is here. He's a brother to me. I fight when he fights. That would never change."

Kiara answered Cortana. "They're simply afraid. The war isn't going to end, and lives are being lost, they don't want to be in the open. The fleets are safer because it's like a giant shield. People feel safer with the shields and armor and knowing there's billions of others willing to protect them."

[S121]

Helios System
Delta Division Flagship | Excalibur

John was getting annoyed by this time period's attitude. To him, it was no wonder the war had been going on for such a long time. To John, wars had to be ended as soon as possible. The longer a war raged, the more lives that would be lost.

"You have to start somewhere. If you don't bring the fight to the enemy, then they will have time to recuperate and replenish their numbers. the reason why this war has been going on for so long is because everyone is too afraid of getting killed. If you want an easier method to take down their fleet, then kill all the leaders. Without anyone to lead them, they will become disorganized.", John said to Joe in his usual calm tone.




"It seems kind of.. wrong. It's as if the entire galaxy lives in fear.", Cortana said to Kiara.

[bookdragon2000]

Sol Inceneron
Inopia - Temple of the Lost

"Fear him...I can see why..." Nhiome rubbed his throat, remembering what had happened, But I prefer to deal with my fears...like that gang that destroyed my home...

"The shards, if they are so powerful they could end a war that has raged for eternity...No wonder they are able to destroy the galaxy. There is a shard here? Then its probably somewhere in this temple...But if the claims that this is only the main hall, and the entire planet is the temple...that is a lot of ground to search. How do you propose to start off?" Nhiome asked. But how am I going to ensure KuroiKaze's safety...if the temple is that big...could I just fly through the corridors?

[Cucoo5]

Helios System
Delta Division Flagship | Excalibur

"Been there, done that...how many times now? There's a running tally of how many commanders each fleet has gone through. The end result is, you kill one, another takes their place. For example, if Roderick dies, Revere takes his place. If Commander Sullivan here dies, Navarre takes his place. That's just it. You would have to wipe out everyone in order to eliminate the faction...you can't leave any bit of the faction alive. There was a time when the Strike fighters actually did succeed in annihilating the Guardians. But guess what? They came back even stronger. Why? We missed the sympathizers and didn't destroy their Iupiter class ships. We were about to take control of their Iupiter ships when the sympathizers went and recaptured them and reformed the Guardians. That was a few thousand years ago. If I didn't know better...I would say that the only way this war will end is if everyone in the entire Galaxy died." Joe shook his head. "I'll admit, I too think it's a curse of the Galaxy."

Kiara nodded. "They're afraid of what Joe just said...they fear that the one true solution might be the end of all life."

---

Sol Inceneron
Inopia - Temple of the Lost

"Yes, the shards are powerful. According to the legends, it was the Ancients and the Creators alongside the Goddess Venturia and the Sacred Star that created the galaxy. The sacred star's power was then sealed and fragmented, forming the Shards of Starlight." She then turned to one of the many passage ways, which were wide enough for only people on foot to pass through. "Arke is a part of the legends, as it was used to seal the power of the Shards. All we have to do is watch the inscriptions and note what changes there are..." She then smiled. "And don't worry, These temples aren't as bad as they seem, we don't have to worry about getting lost. I should know. I've been here long enough to know how they...or should I say, it was built."

[S121]

Helios System
Delta Division Flagship | Excalibur

John was getting annoyed by the pessimism of this entire galaxy. Everyone was too dumb to just put their differences aside. Perhaps the only way to fix it was to flush it all away... That's when it struck John. The only reason Humanity became united was because the Covenant threatened them with religious genocide.

"Have you considered giving everyone something to be afraid of? An entire race can quickly band together when their way of life is threatened. It shows them how similar they really are.", John said to Joe.



"Is there anything that the factions can agree on?", Cortana asked Kiara.

At this rate, Cortana felt bothered that the future was so bleak. Everyone was either too afraid to let their guard down, or too stupid to figure out why they were fighting in the first place.

[Cucoo5]

Helios System
Delta Division Flagship | Excalibur

"Oh sure, ya there's that." Joe then shrugged. "But what would you propose? One end-all super weapon? If that's so, guess what:" Joe then gestured as though to everything around him. "You're standing in one. This was designed for that purpose...but then the other factions made some. In the end, it would take the threat of the annihilation of the Galaxy to do that. Unfortunately, then it would be too late." He then turned to Kiara. "Though there are the Nihiliods..."
"Oh goddess..." Kiara shook her head and seemed to suddenly turn pale. "Don't even....the Nihiliods...ugh." She turned away. "Those parasites..."
Joe explained, "Nihiliods are also known as the world destroyers. they're a form of insectoid parasite that takes living beings as hosts and then...uses them as an exoskeleton. They spread at insane rates and will destroy the life of worlds in a matter of hours. they've been confined to a planet in Egale system and we've managed to keep them there. No one...No one goes there. The three factions actually have patrols that protect that one planet. That's the only thing the factions have agreed on. The Nihiliods must never spread again. Or else." Joe was speaking to both John and Cortana with that last statement.

[Koishi]

Helios System
Delta Division Flagship | Excalibur

---

"I guess. Also, it does run out, but that would take millions, if not billions of years, so it's a mute point." Nova said as her helmet lowered again.

---

"Wonder if there's any books in here." Mima opened up the portal to the pocket dimension and started sifting through.

[Kristia]

Helios System
Delta Division Flagship | Excalibur

Finally away from the group, the bioroid leaned on a wall and looked at her feet "All of these people only go for battles saying they protect their rights.. but then no one does nothing for the ones attacked" she mumbled remembering the accident like if it was yesterday

The painful memory made Mara punch the wall in frustration making it have a hole through it. Breathing heavily she noticed that the conversation went on and on like in a loop until Joe spoke about the nihiloids and KiaraŽs disapproval

Walking back to the group, the bioroid looked at both Joe and Kiara "If your only idea that the end of the war is by ending the galaxy, then let it end since you have already lost what matters, hope. Either make a a peaceful truce because you are worried about the civilians or take the weed out from the root. I have been hearing how this war has taking centuries and its just a simple loop of war with no hope for the people be it from NGO, Guardian or Strike faction." she said still glaring at Joe for his pesimism

Finally Mara looked at John and Cortana "If you guys have some hope to actually deal with this madness, IŽll go with you" she said with determination as she knew there was nothing to leave behind for her