Bab 77: Born to Be Wild
"The War Chief has taken the bootyful human as his mate!" A Grunt shrieked when Kat and I returned to view, "Ultimate victory for the X-Force! LOLOLOLOLOLOLO!"
His LOing was quickly taken up by all the other Grunts who put their fists up in the air and fired their pistols and rifles with reckless abandon. The local leader of the Jackals and Skirmishers just gave a slight nod of his head and a thumbs up.
"Are all aliens attracted to humans?" Kat asked in bewilderment.
"This is a universe where the Prophets were once a race of beautiful hedonists." I told her, "The Forerunners killed everyone who felt that way, but it still happened and I still find it horrifying."
"I want to do this again." Kat looked me in the eyes, "With the way my augmentations influence my hormones I can't think of a greater compliment."
"Trust me." I grinned, "I am going to take every possible opportunity to bury myself in you."
And I wasn't kidding. When you discount the asari and their sex magic, Kat was the second most incredible lay in my life. Pretty much entirely inexperienced due to the near completely crushed Spartan sex drive, but incredibly physically capable and reactive in ways only Jack has ever out shone.
Add on a rounder ass than Miranda and we are talking grand slam bases loaded home run in the World Series.
Unfortunately, we wouldn't be getting many opportunities to smash between her clean up work for the USNC and my rapidly growing X-Force now being nearly a million strong.
A million strong. That really sounds significant until you realize that the Covenant lost one hundred million soldiers to destroy Reach. They killed two hundred million USNC service men and hundreds of millions more civilians.
My X-Force was a drop in the bloody ocean of just a single theatre of war.
I am so excited!
The X-Force ended up stationed in New Alexandria with the Nobles, I couldn't tell if this was the USNC trying to keep an eye on me or giving me the greenlight to smash Kat into a blissful coma. Didn't care.
I spent the fortyish hours we had till the main fleet arrived conducting salvage ops on the Covenant planetside resources and managed to get a Shroud operational and cloaking my fleet of Corvettes outside the city limits. They would be important in striking a blow against the ships glassing the planet, but I intended to take far more before that.
It is pretty safe to say that Jack and I are the greatest space pirates around, and I intended to fully leverage that during the upcoming combat.
Covenant ships have always been vulnerable to infiltration and boarding, and I had a force full of hard motherfuckers with a game plan to do just that on the ships that would come to attack New Alexandria. Brutes with energy shields, point defense gauntlets and plasma swords would be leading their newly formed platoons in boarding actions using the captured Phantoms in our possession after the initial fighting started really heating up.
We'd let the Covenant Ship Masters build up some confidence and really focus on the task of destroying the humans, then Trojan Horse them and take their ships for ourselves.
Every Ultra and Champion were salivating at the chance to take a ship and become a new Ship Master in the X-Force.
Other than organizing our actions for the next battle, I had the Assembly Forges under our control pumping out armor and shield tech for my forces. In truth, if the Covenant could work as a united whole, they would sweep aside the humans with ease, but because the Covenant system is one of incredible top down oppression, the Prophets could not trust their equipment in the hands of the other races. Not even the Elites, as they encouraged their strict adherence to keeping the best gear only for those who have proven themselves.
In truth the Covenant had very little bottlenecking their production of high end gear, and I had no problem cannibalizing the salvaged resources to pump out as much of it as I possibly could. I felt incredible pride as the swarms of nanite clouds turned out a rapid stream of defensive equipment for my forces. It felt like an exploit, but I never had a problem hammering every advantage I could find.
I spent a significant amount of the calm before the storm programing the Assembly Forges to utilize the flesh of Ormagoden in creating suits of nanolaminate armor for Jack and myself. I was taking advantage of the highest levels of Covenant tech we'd stolen from the systems of the Long Night of Solace, meaning I had access to everything that the Covenant used to make suits of power armor for the Elites, and quickly combined that tech with my own design philosophies to create two truly cutting edge suits of power armor for us.
I can imagine the USNC screaming in rage when they find out how cheaply I made them.
While not truly up to the level of Mjolnir, we didn't need that in the first place. We didn't need massive jumps in strength and reaction time to be the top tier warriors of this universe. We just needed two fully protective suits with all the quality of life bells and whistles.
I ended up producing two polished chrome armor sets with just the right amount of Rock and Roll flare to tell people that we were bad ass enough to have function and fashion, with thruster tech capable of maneuvering in space should we end up on a ship that falls to pieces in the vacuum. Between the more powerful shields, the invincibility tech, the stealth tech, and the best power supplies I could create, we could probably drop onto a Flood world and win.
"What the fuck is that?" Kat asked as Noble Team joined me in the belly of a Phantom waiting for our time to strike at the forces attacking New Alexandria.
"This?" I chuckled while I tapped the suit of chrome power armor I wore, "This is what you get when you put a transcendent being in command of Covenant tech."
"We saw the upgrades on our way in." Jorge spoke, "Heard about it too. Your boys in the X-Force fully believe that signing on with you was the greatest choice in their lives, but none of them look anything like that."
Of course they felt that way. Over ninety percent of the wealth in the Covenant is hoarded by the top tier Elites and Prophets. I pretty much opened up a billionaire's garage to the boys and handed them a big box of car keys.
"I kept the best for myself and the Mrs." I grinned, "Picked up a real special material on the Great Journey and brought as much of it back with me as I could."
"The Mrs." Kat glared at me, "Where might she be?"
"Lurking." I chuckled.
"That's not at all creepy." commented Noble Six.
"Don't worry." I smirked, "She isn't nearby. Jack is exactly where she needs to be to keep all life in the galaxy from being wiped out. With her there, we have nothing to worry about more than fighting the Covies."
"How reassuring." Carter stated.
"And when were you going to mention this wife to me." Kat demanded.
"Usually she is there with me for the seduction, so I didn't even think about it." I told her, "In truth this will be the longest we have been apart in, well… seventeen years."
"I am so glad I could keep you warm while she is gone." the Spartan III spat.
"Don't be like that." I commanded, "It slipped my mind, and I am sorry. People always know what they are getting into with us and you didn't. I could blame it on the rush, but I am too experienced for that. I fucked up."
Kat just put her helmet on and looked away.
"This Jack, is another 'transcendent being'?" Carter leaned forward and asked.
"Mhmm." I confirmed, "At this point it is hard to say who is the most destructive anymore. Used to be her one sided."
"Reports had you classified beyond hyper lethal." Carter informed me, "And that was before your apparent upgrades." he indicated to my new armor and weapon systems, "I also doubt we've seen the end of what you can do."
"Not even close." I confirmed.
"I'd recommend a helmet." Jorge commented as he put his on, "Hate to have you taken out getting cocky."
"I used to feel the same way." I grinned, "Now I have a nanomachine deployed EVA system and that is it."
"All it takes is one well placed shot and it's all over." Emile commented for the first time.
I am honestly surprised they put him on this mission considering his intense xenophobia.
"Kat." I signed, "I am not one for sweeping gestures during an apology, but I'd like you to take your side arm and shoot me in the head till you run out of ammo in your magazine."
"Gladly." She quickdrew her handgun and started popping off shots. I just angled my head occasionally to keep any bullets from tagging my eyes.
At the end of Kat's magazine I was fine aside from a sore face, but even that was rapidly fading.
"That is complete bullshit!" Kat growled.
"You think that is bad," I chuckled, "on this little world called Sera we picked up a complete immunity to McGuffins."
"You're shitting me." She denied.
"It's true." I smirked, "Jack and I will rapidly mutate in response to unconventional attempts to kill us and emerge from the event immune to whatever plot device got used on us, stronger than ever."
"I can't even look at you right now." Kat muttered.
"Blame Microsoft for needing a winning IP and resurrecting the Locust Horde." I laughed, "As they say, don't hate the player. Hate the game."
The Spartans looked at me like I am crazy, but they probably all thought that anyway.
A man needs to be crazy to rise to the top.
"War Chief." Timit's voice came through on the PA system, "Two minutes out from boarding."
"Alright people." I grinned, "Put your war faces on. We got ships to take."
I am about to lead my favorite fictional fireteams in high jacking a hyper advanced alien spaceship.
God I love my life.
PERTIMBANGAN PENCIPTA 
JManM
JManM Grunt is back to his old ways of exploiting holes in military doctrine and design and has also created two proper power armor suits using the best tech and materials available.
I'll have to do the bonus chapter tomorrow.
If you want to support me and my family, you can do so at
ko - fi . com / jmanm
Bab 78: Hijack
I laughed uproariously as I ran a golden armored Elite Zealot threw with his own energy sword and twisted the blade to hasten his journey to the next great adventure.
Timit and his boys were providing a plasma launching phalanx, helping the Spartans push to the bridge while I dealt with any Elites that came into melee range and two teams lead by other high ranking Jackals and Skirmishers were taking the life support control systems and engines.
A number of Elites had died when their Grunt Lances went suicide bomber on them, and the survivors were quickly marked with the red emblem of the X-Force. It was legitimately funny listening to a pair of the fart munchers talking about the dental plans provided by the X-Force.
Apparently our revolution has great coverage for your teeth.
We were accomplishing all of this under the cover of communications jamming originating from the Phantoms we boarded with. Because of this, the rest of the fleet had no way of knowing that they needed to attack the ships we were taking, and like silent fleet cancer we spread further and further with each passing moment undetected.
Eventually the Covenant would realize that all their ships in the New Alexandria area were gone, but loss of coms in combat is so common it might as well be considered the standard, so we had time.
Our own coms were unscrambled, allowing me to keep abreast of the status of the other boarding parties' progress, and from the sound of things, parties is the correct term.
Ground side we were quickly converting the mostly Brute led forces. Officially War Chief Grax would be suspected of dying on the destroyed super carriers in orbit, and I didn't try to fix that assumption with a big old broadcast to the entire fleet. Too big a risk for only the chance at some chaos in the mixed species army attacking Reach.
Instead we were focusing entirely on controlling the New Alexandria theatre, taking ships and recruiting personnel. The X-Force was positively ballooning in man power. We needed to kill all the Elites and Drones, but that wasn't going to bother us. The Brutes, Skirmishers, and Jackals were all quick to change sides when they saw the equipment being used by the X-Force, and the Grunts were more than happy to turn on the Covenant for the chance at revenge. It also helped that they were finally joining a brotherhood of equals, rather than a society of slaves.
Weird how I have come full circle on that subject, but square pegs don't fit round holes. And I love me some round holes.
After I slew the ship master, Timit wrapped himself in the Elite's purple fur cape and jumped in the dead man's throne.
"Fuckin plush." He let out a content breath, "You really know how to make best mates for life my big scaly friend."
"Remember to walk around every now and then." I chuckled, "I won't tolerate fat Ship Masters."
"Perish the thought." Timit denied, "The ladies across the sea of stars would weep if Timit the Dashing lost his rakish good looks."
We continued trading good natured banter while the reports from the other teams rolled in.
"That's all of them," I grinned as we took the fourth Corvette in the area, "Alright people, take out the Phantoms and Banshees then get these ships under Shroud coverage."
"Shroud coverage?" Kat questioned, "We need your ships in the fight."
"I can't risk the chance that the ships currently attacking can get a message to the rest of the inbound fleet." I shook my head, "There are over three hundred ships scheduled to arrive on the thirtieth local calendar. Even if we destroy all the current Covenant forces by the time they arrive, all we will have accomplished is making them pay more for the victory. Something I intend to do, but the Covenant will win the battle for Reach. They are bringing in too much firepower for us to stop."
"Don't act like we have already lost." Kat hissed.
"Don't act like an optimist." I sighed, "It's math. Simple and brutal. We can't influence the big picture on this planet, but we can make sure that not all of the smaller pictures that make that collage are completely fucked up."
"We understand." Carter interrupted, "With your help we have accomplished far more than was possible without you. The city below us has a safe window to evacuate, and that is a fine thing."
"Agreed." Jorge nodded his head, "There are millions of people safe right now because of what we are doing."
"Timit," I called to the new ship master, "do you have a location on the other ships attacking right now."
"I do, War Chief." Timit nodded his feathered head.
"Good." I grinned, "I've got a team of demons that are feeling the need to raise some hell. Best we point them in the right direction."
We managed to clean up the Covie advanced forces with generous sacrifices from the UNSC. X-Force on the other hand picked up three more ships and now had over five and a half million active members. We used the eight days left to us before the Fall of Reach to salvage and loot everything we could to feed the nanotech forges the materials needed to arm and armor the new premier free company in the Halo Verse.
Let's not kid ourselves about the Banished being a real threat. One converted civilian vessel with half its crew damn near wrecked Atriox's plans. Credit where it's due, the guy has a damn fine beard and great taste in armor, but the Banished ain't got shit on the X-Force.
The Nobles were a great asset during the ship boardings, but I wasn't kidding myself into thinking we were friends. They were special forces 'advisors' to what amounts to Space Al Qaeda. We are real handy against the Space Russians, but once that conflict is over Space Al Qaeda is a great big liability to Space America. The Nobles were doing everything in their power to commit my mannerisms and fighting prowess to heart in their attempt to create an accurate profile that will enable them to take me down when the dust settles.
It'd be fucking pointless as I have more biological armor than the Master Chief has plot armor, but the deeply buried krogan in me rejoiced in my future enemies taking my threat so seriously.
My time with the Nobles ended when they were called on by the UNSC to destroy Sword Base. Not that I knew that was what they were doing from them, just the timing.
I hadn't managed to get Kat's forgiveness from the personal angle, but at least I had her respect as a fellow warrior and future foe. I'd miss those dummy thicc ass cheeks, but sometimes you play your cards wrong in life.
"Well team…" I began my farewell, "It was good for me."
And I left it at that.
A big part of me wanted to stick around and really flex my power on the Covies, but the X-Force was too new for me to run off for a good time, and I wasn't having them stick around for the arrival of the main fleet.
Our efforts would result in major losses for the Covies as the UNSC now had complete control of their orbital defenses. It wouldn't be enough as the Prophets allotted enough forces to still win in case the advanced forces completely failed, but it would be costly. Far more costly than the original battle for Reach and that was good for me.
Less forces for Jul to pick up later.
"Babe, we are moving out. Everything good on your end?" I asked Jack over a heavily encrypted comms line.
"Yeah," she answered, "I'm in position. See you after I save the galaxy."
"Love you, Jack."
"Love you too, babe."
PERTIMBANGAN PENCIPTA
JManM
JManM
That is the end of Grunt's time on Reach. I have a big surprise planned for the next bonus chapter and more to come after we complete Halo.
You can support me and my family and contribute to the Weekend Bonus Chapter Stockpile at
ko - fi . com / jmanm
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