Chapter 13: Foundations of A New War

UNSC Spirit of Fire

Cutter was waiting along with Red Team and Major Vaughan's ODSTs as he could see a transport arriving from the previously unknown group.

Now having revealed themselves as GDI or the Galactic Defense Initiative, they were an organization much like the UNSC.

From what Serina had read of so far, they also came from Earth and were even more militarized then the UNSC. They had been in six massive wars with an alien race known as the Scrin, which cost them billions of lives in each clash. However, they reaped an immense toll from the alien empire and cost them plenty of worlds and resources, either destroyed or captured during the wars.

It made him wonder how GDI would fair against the Covenant in battle.

The sleek dropship turned its large engines downwards to slow its advance and landed. The ramp then lowered as the UNSC personnel readied themselves for a new proper First Contact.

A few humanoid figures stepped off from the ship, only a few inches shorter then the members of Red Team but heavily armed. From what Cutter could see, they were using energy weapons based on the glow coming from them and the designs of the barrels being that of railguns.

In the center was a man of Russian decent in his late 40s with a few small battle scars. He had short brown hair and eyes, the latter was looking around the ship with keen intent. He then turned his head to fully face the UNSC Captain, looking into the eyes of a man that was determined but a little lost in mind and purpose.

"Vice Admiral Vasily Borodin, Galactic Defense Initiative and acting commander of the fleet." Borodin stated as he gave a salute to Cutter.

"Captain James Cutter of the Spirit of Fire, United Nations Space Command." Cutter said while returning the salute.

Borodin focused his attention on the Spartans in front of him. He raised an eyebrow at the large soldiers (being larger then the tallest Zone Centurions in GDI) and saw that while their weapons fired standard bullets, he shouldn't underestimate something like that.

"I see you have your own impressive supersoldiers." Borodin stated before turning to the ODSTs. "And your own regular Spec Ops look ready for anything."

Cutter smirked a little at that. "My crew and men have seen plenty of action

"These two are from Fireteam Arsenal, one of the best groups of Centurions in service." Borodin stated as he. "They're much like the armored figures you have there."

One of the Centurions stepped forward, having the an image of crossed claymores on his right shoulder and with with a visor similar to the Spartans.

"Captain Saber, reporting." The Centurion said while saluting.

The other Centurion, had the image of a lance going down her right shoulder and had two glowing slits for a visor. Her armor was more streamlined and smooth compared to the usual Mk III ICS.

"Lieutenant Lancer, reporting." She said.

Cutter nodded at the professionalism they showed off. "Well then Vice Admiral, I believe we should move to a more proper location to talk."

"I agree Captain." Borodin stated. "Lead the way."

Sometime later on the Spirit's bridge

Both human groups had spoken about each other's history. Jerome and Blade were at the table with their officers and the others were standing to the side. Both sides admitted their surprise at the changes in the timelines of their respective humanities, what they fought against, and how both groups arrived here in the first place.

"So your fleet is half of a battlegroup that was sent through a wormhole and you have no idea as to where they are currently?" Cutter stated simply.

"Indeed." Borodin said with a small frown on his face.

"I suppose I can understand your position Vice Admiral." Cutter said. "Even with the constant SOS signal we've sent out we have no idea if the UNSC has picked it up."

"Incredible." Anders said in amazement. "To think that Multiverse Theory actually proved to be correct after all."

"To be honest, we were considering the possibility when if it was next to zero." Borodin said while shrugging. "After everything that GDI has dealt with over its existence, it's best to be prepared for anything."

"It does seem to be a little much, but considering your past and that you fought the First Murderer himself I suppose it wouldn't be too impossible." Cutter said.

"Captain, I've just decoded the signal that I picked up during the meeting." Serina said as she put away the projection that she was reading through.

"What is it Serina?" Cutter stated.

"It's a signal coming from the massive Forerunner structure." Serina said. "It's UNSC!"

Cutter raised both eyebrows and the other UNSC personnel on the bridge all had shock on their faces.

"Serina, are certain?" Cutter demanded.

"Yes." Serina said while nodding. She then sent a response back to the location in question.

"If there are UNSC personal down there, we might be able to find out what happened." Cutter said. "See if we have won the war."

"Plus we could see if the rest of the battle group was able to get into contact with the UNSC." Borodin stated. "We could be able to formalize negotiations and make a real alliance."

Serina then spoke up. "Captain, I haven't gotten any response back from the outpost."

Cutter's mouth changed into a frown at that. "Are you certain they aren't having any issue with their comms?"

"Yes sir." Serina stated. "We may need to investigate."

Cutter nodded at that before turning to Jerome, Alice, and Douglas." Red Team, take a Pelican and Warthog down to surface and make contact with the outpost. If the outpost appears to be compromised, be on alert."

"Understood Captain." Jerome said while saluting.

"Captain Cutter." Borodin said, paying full attention to everything that was said. "If you would allow it, I would like to send one of my Centurion teams to the installation to support Red Team."

"Are you certain about that Admiral Borodin?" Cutter questioned. He certainly wasn't against the help (especially as the Spirit didn't have a full crew and ground force), but he was curious as to the reason.

"Since you're working with less then a full crew, you will need the support if the worst does come to pass." Borodin stated. "If the Covenant somehow appears or is down there, you'll suffer more losses in dealing with them which I imagine you can't take for long. In addition, since we are also humans it stands to reason that the Covenant will no doubt attack us as well. Plus, you are our cousins in a sense and its better to work with you in order to find both our groups sooner."

Cutter smirked at that. It was clear that GDI was willing and able to give him the support he was going to need

"I'll send down Fireteam Swift." Borodin said. "Their exceptionally effective in recon, skirmishing, and asymmetric warfare. So they'll be able to cause some damage from long range if any enemy force shows up."

"That could work." Cutter said before turning to Jerome. "092, you ave no issues with that correct?"

"No sir." Jerome said. Part of the Spartan was interested in seeing just how capable a Centurion team was.

"Alright then, let's get to work." Cutter said as both human organizations now began to work as one.

On the surface of the structure

Red Team and Fireteam Swift had landed close to the scientific outpost. GDI drones flew ahead in order to scope out the area and detect any hidden enemy forces in the immediate area.

The Spartans were kept in the loop about anything that the Spirit was detecting from the output. As Serina continued to monitor the faint signal, she kept both teams in the loop if there were any updates.

It had taken both groups time to drive over the land with their respective vehicles. Red Team was in a Warthog while Swift was using a Wasp hover IFV or dealing with any possible hostiles.

"Red Lead, this is Centurion Ranger." Ranger stated. "Any trouble on your end?"

"Negative." Jerome replied back. "No sign of any hostiles in the area. Only wildlife, but they haven't shown any sense of aggression toward us. What about your end?"

"Same here, looks as though there hasn't been any signs of battle around us." Ranger reported.

"ETA to the outpost should-" Red Leader stated before he suddenly stopped talking. "Hold on, we're picking up something."

"What is it?" Ranger said with narrowed eyes.

"It's faint, but we are picking up something." Red Leader stated. "It's a female, but their voice is strained and fearful. There must have been an attack."

"Understood, we'll send word back to Vice Admiral Borodin to start landing forces." Ranger said. "Keeps comms running in case of sudden attack."

"Roger that." Red Leader said.

A While Later...

Both groups had arrived close to the outpost, which looked to be quite abandoned.

The Centurions were positioned on a cliff that provided overwatch as the Spartans began their walk inside.

Longwatch and Bullseye were looking over the area with their Gauss Rifle and GLS-130 respectively.

"Ranger." Longshot said as he looked closer. "The outpost looks as if it was abandoned a while ago."

"That's odd." The GDI Centurion Team Leader said. "Then why is it that there's that comm line that the UNSC found still coming out?"

Bang looked up from his maintenance on his grenade launcher. "It could be a trap. Maybe the Covenant have some forces that are hidden, waiting to strike?

"No, we had UAVs scan the area thoroughly plus the fleet is keeping track of any movement on the ground." Tracker stated.

"What about scrambling or a device that could prevent us from finding them?" Bang questioned.

"Something like that would be a huge giveaway." Tracker said while shaking his head.

"I'll see about seeing UAVs with enhanced ZOCOM scanning tech to search the area." Ranger stated as he continued to monitor the movements of the Spartans via his long range motion tracker.

Meanwhile...

GDI drones had spotted a large area of woodlands that provided a decent place to establish bases. They would also be in close enough proximity to each other to provide artillery support if any of them were attacked. They were also on high ground, so any Covenant attackers would be forced to move uphill and slow them down.

The first wave of GDI transports and Crawlers were deployed to this area, 300 miles to the southwest of the UNSC landing zone. They were quickly setting up defenses and lying down buildings such as the War Factory, Tech Center, and Firestorm shield generators.

Engineers were setting up locations for defensive turrets, SAM launchers, and pointing out locations for firebases and FOBs once the majority of the ground forces were on the ground. Walls made of nano-composite concrete (which could be made and hardened instantly) rose alongside heavily reinforced gates. Sonic Emitters were also set up alongside Disruptor dishes.

Multiple pillboxes and bunkers with heavy weapons and artillery inside of them were being built into areas with terrain which would make them the most effective.

Mech and vehicle depots were set up along with Harvesters being sent to gather more resources. While they had been designed to mainly deal with Tiberium, the Harvesters were capable of mining other materials and could be used for excavation of minerals.

In the center of the base was a 400mm Grand Battery, able to reach out to over 50 miles due to the coil assisted barrels.

Walking off one of the transports was man in his late 30s with a blond buzzcut and blue eyes. He was wearing a stand GDI Battle Commander uniform, but with the insignia of the Steel Talons in place of the standard GDI Eagle.

Steel Talons Battle Commander Eric Schwarzkopf was observing the scene with interest. He had been informed of the situation by Vice Admiral Borodin about what was going on and he was selected to begin ground operations.

Aggressive and unconventional, Eric had led his Steel Talons Task Force into battle against the Scrin during the Sixth Scrin War and in the border conflicts with Neo Nod.

Piloted Wolverines and Styrkers were patrolling the area along with UCAVs flying in multiple directions. A modified Offensive Crawler with 8 remote piloted Wolverines on each side also advanced from the base with an infantry platoon. Based off of the Offensive Crawler, the Raptor drone walker allowed for the deployment of multiple Wolverines which could be controlled from inside the Crawler. This way, ST infantry can easily get more fire support to a battlezone and supply more eyes on the ground for scouting without putting people in harm's way.

Eric used his datapad to check out the base from a bird's eye view. Multiple airfields and landing pads had been set up for transports from the Battlegroup to land supplies and materials in the base.

The newer Triton tri-barreled Gatling cannons were also being set up. The 200mm cannons would be able to quickly blast apart any infantry formation or enemy vehicle that would came charging to the base with a couple thousand rounds per minute at its highest setting. While this cannon did burn through ammo quickly, it was powerful enough to blast through hordes of Scrin infantry. Alongside them were the giant Firestorm cannons (Firestorm Cannons from Tiberian Odyssey Mod) which could deliver a powerful particle blast which can deal heavy damage.

'Looks as though things are progressing smoothly.' Eric thought to himself.

"Still, if this Covenant is as capable as Captain Cutter says he is then we are in for a tough fight." Eric said to himself.

While both human groups didn't expect any serious threats, it was better to be safe then sorry.

With Fireteam Swift

As the minutes passed, the Centurions continue to monitor the progress of the Spartans inside the base and keeping watch of anything around the area.

Soon the sound of gunfire and battle was heard from the inside the building.

"Red Lead, what's happening in there?" Ranger demanded.

"Enemy Brute Alpha!" Jerome said. "He's-ACK!"

"Red Leader!?" Ranger said, concerned for his new allies. The sounds of battle and gunfire were heard on the other line but the Spartans must not be hearing him. A couple of minutes later, the comms fell silent.

"Dammit!" Ranger said while slamming his fist into the side of the APC, the reinforced armor withstanding the blow.

"Still picking up vitals Cap." Bullseye said. "Looks like they are still alive."

Longshot was looking through the scope of his Gauss Rifle as he saw Red Team exit the building with all three looking worse for wear.

"Whatever this Brute was it did a number on them." Longshot commented.

"Guys, the UAVs just got contacts incoming." Tracker said as her holo-pad was picking up movement.

"How many contacts?" Bang questioned.

"A lot of them." Tracker stated.

All six Centurions saw multitudes of aliens coming over the hills, ranging from Brutes, Elites, Grunts, Jackals, etc. They also had a number of vehicles with them, from what the UNSC had dubbed Ghost hover vehicles to Wraith mortar tanks.

"That's a lot of xenos." Ranger stated.

"Longshot, Bullseye, take out some of the stronger Covenant aliens." Ranger said as he was calling in air support to cover the Spartans.

Longshot's Gauss Rifle barked out as the heavy slugs flew into Elites and Brutes, taking out their shields as Bullseye finished them off a split second later.

Their Wasp was armed with a missile launcher and 35mm chain gun, which they used to fire a pair of missiles at a couple of Banished Ghosts, blowing them up. The Banished forces were surprised by the sudden attack but then spotted where the GDI soldiers were located. Several dozen Banished were heading toward the area as the two Centurion snipers were picking some off from their position. They even took out Ghost drivers, causing the vehicles to lose control and crash into different areas.

Bang set up a mobile railgun turret and fired a round at another Ghost, destroying it. He continued to pick off the speedy Covenant vehicles and even damaged a pair of Wraiths.

Ranger then put in position coordinates into the APC's EVA unit to move it to an optimal firing position. The 35mm chain gun tore into a Banished APC, punching through its armor and destroying it.

Tracker pulled out a OPM-210 Dart Rocket Launcher. While the missiles were smaller then the Javelin's, there were 4 of them as opposed to one. He quickly targeted one Wraith and fired, the explosive badly damaging the hover tank. The following three missiles flew out of the weapon, another finishing off the enemy tank and the last two taking out a pair of Ghosts.

He then reloaded the weapon and nailed another pair of Banshees before drawing out his Longbow DMR and sniping several Skirmishers and Ghost pilots alongside Longshot and Bullseye.

Scout put down his GDM-25GL and opened fire upon a couple of Brutes as 12.7mm slugs punched through their armor easily. Using the smartscope on his weapon, Scout continued to lay down bursts at the approaching Covenant soldiers, taking down several Jackals and Elites as the weapon was able to punch through their shields and armor.

Ranger pulled out his GD-28 BR OICW and switched it to semi auto fire. He then opened fire on one of the ape-like aliens without a helmet, sending a 10mm slug into its head. He quickly followed it up with several more quick shots on Grunts, Jackals, and even taking down a pair of Elites as the Covenant were getting closer.

When a boosting Ghost tried to jump over a series of hills to better position itself to open fire properly on the Centurions, Ranger fired off a 25mm grenade from his weapon. The coil assisted barrel sent it at a range farther then that of standard grenade launchers and exploding on impact, throwing the vehicle off and slamming into a nearby rock. He then fired off another grenade at another Ghost with the airburst fuse going off and killing the pilot before firing at a trio of Skirmishers with a few bursts.

While they were able to take down over then 100 aliens and a good number of vehicles, the alien force was getting closer.

"Okay people, we're heading out. Back to the APC!" Ranger ordered as the six supersoldiers all got onboard and headed out, bring their heavy weapons with them. The vehicle soon turned on its hover projectors and soon took off at speeds greater then the Ghosts.

GDI UCAVs flew over the area and launched missiles into the alien army, taking out vehicles and troops as the Spartans kept driving away. Valkyrie drones opened fire with their 20mm Gatling guns to tear into the infantry while using its co-ax Mk 45 grenade launcher using HEAT grenades and missiles to take out a few vehicles. Avenger drones also assisted by launching Hellfire X missiles into Wraiths and Locusts modified by the Banished. They helped to both deal with heavy enemy armor and provided openings for the ground attack craft to move in.

AX-20 Akulas flew low as Halberd bombers dropped multiple cluster bombs and guided bombs on the Banished forces. The attack craft tore into some modified Wraiths with their 40mm Gatling guns as the heavy rounds tore into their armor and released several AGMs to take them out. They were even able to take out Banished artillery positions which were firing on the Spartans.

Banished AA opened up on the GDI aircraft, taking down a few drones but GDI ECM was causing a good number of issues for them.

Soon, dozens of missiles flew in from orbit and slammed into Banished forces. The GDI missile strike caused hundreds of casualties and took out several dozen vehicles, including a number of Wraiths.

Legionary Commandos who had landed near the site opened fire while on the move and flying through the air via jetpacks. They were able to cause enough damage to slow down the Covenant Splinter group and took a few vehicles with their heavy weapons as they covered Red Team's retreat. Railguns, missile launchers, PICs, laser cannons, and AMRs tore into the enemy forces. They used locations such as turns, ravines, and bends to cause damage and slow the Banished forces.

Several more GDI fighters and UNSC Longswords commenced gun runs on the Banished forces closest to the Spartans, taking out several vehicles and and dozens of enemy infantry.

Several Ghosts then appeared as Swift's Wasp was flying over a pair of creeks.

"Ranger, we have company!" Boomer said.

"Tracker, can you deal with them?" Ranger stated.

"Got it!" Tracker said as he brought it to bear on the incoming Ghosts. 35mm tungsten-titanium rounds punched through the armor of the light hover vehicles.

The remaining missiles in the launcher took down two Banshees following behind.

"Red Lead, give me a sit rep." Ranger called out.

"We've cleared the enemy forces and made it back to a Pelican with a package in tow." Jerome stated. "Red Two fell off and was facing down the pursuing forces."

"Damn, does she need reinforcements or an extraction?" Ranger questioned.

"Red Two will be able to hold her own and be able to launch hit and run attacks on the enemy." Jerome stated. "We'll be heading back to the Spirit and come up with strategies to deal with the unknown Covenant forces."

"Roger that, we're heading back to main base and assist any coming operations." Ranger stated. "Make sure to inform us about any future missions that you're planning."

"Understood, Red Leader out." Jerome said.

"EVA, take us to the base." Ranger said as he had the semi-AI take wheel.

"Understood Captain Ranger." The EVA AI said.

The vehicle sped off to the new base as Ranger looked over the data of the Covenant that they had gotten from the Spirit's crew.

Looks as though things were going to escalate sooner then anyone thought.

Banished HQ

As Banished troops were moving out from the base, Atriox was in a rather irritated mood.

He had been aware of the lone UNSC ship approaching the Ark and from its transmissions they were trying to get help. Thus they wouldn't be that much of a problem compared to facing a full UNSC Task Force and their ground force. Of course he wouldn't underestimate them.

He had beaten the infamous demons rather easily, but they would no doubt be better prepared to face him in battle.

Of course, the heavy amount of attacks from the unknowns had cost him more then he expected.

"What is the situation?" Atriox state to one of his Jiralhanae officers.

"The unknowns were able to slow our forces considerably." He stated. "They used the terrain and heavy weapons to allow the Demons more distance. We've suffered over four thousand casualties."

"They have a large base several leagues from the research center in the southwest forest." The Brute officer continued. "I've never seen a base being built that quickly and with so many turrets. It would take a sizable amount of our forces to take that over currently, it will get larger as they are still adding more to it."

Atriox growled at this. "These new humans shall learn their mistake in assisting the others." He said.

"Send out more of our forces into the forest and launch probing attacks on the new humans, test their defenses and weapons." He ordered. "We need to gather more information about how they fight in order to more effectively counter them."

"In addition, we need to bring in more of our heavy weaponry along with more Anti-Air and Anti-Orbital defenses. It's clear we will struggle with dealing with both groups as opposed to just the UNSC."

All of the other high ranking Jiralhanae looked at each other or nodded to their leader.

He then turned to his comms officer. "Send word out to the rest of the army. We must bring our forces to bare and crush both human groups."

Atriox couldn't help but be concerned about this new human group that had blasted apart a good amount of his ambushing forces. He had to admit, when his ships spotted the unknown ships it had come as a surprise.

"What is it?" Atriox demanded into his comms.

"The unknown human group has far more ships then we expected." The commander of his fleet stated. "If we are not careful then we could end up getting wiped out easily."

"Maintain watch on both human groups and begin making counters for any moves they commit." Atriox ordered. "We shall take the Ark and use its resources to make ourselves the dominant force. I will not allow these newcomers to bring down everything we have fought for."

"Understood Atriox." His Shipmaster stated as he ended the line.

Atriox then walked out of his base and saw the thousands upon thousands of soldiers with multiple modified Covenant vehicles either stationary or moving around. His troops, battle hardened and skilled from the decades of asymmetric warfare with the Old Covenant were ready and willing to go into battle with both human groups.

This upcoming war would be a truly immense challenge for the Alpha Jiralhanae, one he was certainly looking forward to.

Unknown Location, the Ark

In a brightly lit room deep inside the Ark, a Forerunner Monitor was keeping track of the various working machines on the installation.

"Hmm... Looks to be that the Reclaimers have arrived again." The Monitor stated. "It has been a few months since the outpost had gone silent and with their focus being elsewhere, it would have taken longer to anyone to come out here. Of course, I can only imagine that the construct that's in the outpost has been hiding from the Banished."

Suddenly, a massive surge of energy had appeared with multiple ships of unknown construction appearing.

It had taken a while for the ships to power back on, but they soon saw the Reclaimer ship and readied themselves for battle. The standoff lasted a few minutes, to which the Monitor was concerned about the lone Reclaimer ship's chances of survival.

Luckily, it seemed as though cooler heads prevailed as both sides stood down. It seemed as thought the two sides could come to an alliance.

Taking the chance, the Monitor infiltrated the systems of the unknowns along with scanning them to understand what they were made of.

As it worked, it was running into serious problems from both the cyber security of the unknowns and their AIs. They were moving quickly to stop him from getting too far inside their systems, so he pulled out with the information he had gathered.

Their history, culture, and some of their technology. Of course the biggest revelation completely took by surprise.

"Incredible!" The Monitor said before shorting out a bit. "These newcomers are from a whole other dimension! It had been theorized before during the war with the Parasite but this is incredible!"

The Monitor shook its whole body side to side as it calmed down. There would be time to delve into this later as the Banished had been trying to get into the systems of the Ark to use for themselves.

"They'll need some help in order to deal with the Banished." The Monitor stated. "Luckily, I may have an idea for that."

He floated over to three healing pods that were in the chamber. These held humans that one of his creators had managed to save. One of them had even been killed by a corrupted Monitor that tried to kill off the parasite.

Another had sacrificed himself to save the very ship that was here.

And the last one was a male that had killed himself in a large explosion to save the lives of others, regaining his humanity in the process.

"It's time." The Monitor said as he floated toward one of the pods. "The augmentations I gave to the two normal humans will allow them to match this one, since he was among the first augmented soldiers.

The person in the pod was a dark-skinned human with a mustache and a green cap on his head.

"Time for you to return to battle Reclaimers." The Monitor stated as its lights glowed brightly.

Codex: OPM-210 Dart

Warhead: 76mm

Magazine: 4 missiles

Bio: Multi shot rocket and missile launchers have been used by both GDI and Nod during the Tiberium Wars. The Dart is based on the R-07 missile launcher that was used by GDI pathfinder units. It can carry up to four missiles much like the original version, but improvements made to HEAT Warheads has made the weapon more viable against modern day enemies. While not as strong as the Javelin, the Dart's larger number of missiles allows it to deal more damage over time and can be more effective against multiple enemies. It can use HEAT, EMP, cluster (with about four missiles each), FRAG-HE, Thermobaric, and airburst. (Based on the R-07 missile launcher from Renegade X: Firestorm)

Codex: GDM-25 HMG

Caliber: 12.7x99mm or 12.7mm slug

Rate of Fire: 650-750 rpm

GDM-25G: Gauss variant of the weapon

GDM-25L: Lighter version of the weapon with a bipod and muzzle break

GDM-25GL: Lighter version of the Gauss variant

Bio: Based on the the GDM-10 from the Third Tiberium War, (which was used alongside the venerable M2/M2A1 Browning) it has proven to be an effective addition to GDI's arsenal. Its also equipped with a smartscope that can be linked to the electronics of a soldier's helmet to make the shots more accurate. It was first used in the Fifth Scrin War and the lighter versions appeared some time prior to the Sixth Scrin War (Based on the HMG from C&C Rivals and Light version is based on the HMG used by Jetpack Troopers from Renegade X: Firestorm).

Here's the latest chapter everyone and the beginning of the fight against the Banished.

Sorry for the short chapter. Since the beginning of HW2 is rather short and with the exception of the Banished appearing, this will set things up for the new campaign.

The Banished will be getting a strong fleet as opposed to the single ship we know they have from Halo Wars 2. This is to make both the Spirit and GDI have a tougher fight in space while all three groups get to work on the ground.

I still chose to have Isabel be obtained by the SoF's crew since another AI will help out in the long term. The units and vehicles that Serina has in HW2 will be making an appearance soon along with the Condor gunship and other HW2 weapons and vehicles.

Since it was a base set up by the UNSC following the Human-Covenant War, I'd think they could have some info on newer weapons such as the Battle Rifle and how they could get the Mantis and other vehicles that came later (at least those that can be built with the Spirit's machines).

In addition, I will likely have GDI assist the Spirit's crew in improving their vehicles (including giving their Longswords and Shortswords shields). Considering they are working with Early War tech they'll need the pick me up.

In terms of other content from HW2, I will have Sunray 1-1 appear with either a regular Commando fireteam or a Centurion fireteam during joint UNSC-GDI operations.

Also, try and take a guess as to who is coming back from what the final scene had shown.

Also also, we have a new GDI Battle Commander on the ground. So expect the ground war to get going soon.

Next chapter will take us back to Requiem as the UNSC Mammoth makes its big performance as both human factions tackle more Covenant and Forerunner forces. Note that while the Covenant have taken serious losses, they can still put up a fight.

Anyway, expect PM:SV to have an update soon along with Remnant of Flames following that.

This is Blazblade, signing off.