Project Ares Gold Edition

Chapter 11 - New Assignments

Jedi Temple - Coruscant

The loss of the Prosperity had devastating impacts on the crew numbers, despite managing to rescue all the men in the hangar bay with the shuttles available; the droid boarding parties along with the Will of Iron's destructive firepower had killed over 5,000 men. With the remaining 600 men being tightly cramped inside the 18 Nu-class shuttles alongside some of the very few ARC-170s that had survived the engagement.

After arriving at Coruscant a few hours later, the transports all headed for the main Republic Military Complex where they would be debriefed, have a medical check and be reassigned to a new ship or returned to the 7th Sky Corp. However, the shuttle carrying Kenobi and Master Chief would go a different path, altering course once inside the atmosphere towards the Jedi Temple. This was the whole purpose of 117's recalling back to Coruscant after all.

Once the shuttle touched down and opened it's front door, the transport was swamped with Jedi from all ranges alike. When Chief had first come to the Temple after being woken up from stasis, very few Jedi had noticed him, being mostly Padawans and some Younglings. These younger Jedi soon spread word and rumours were echoing throughout the halls in no time. Even some of the lower ranking masters were curious as to who this mysterious person or machine was. So when the rumours started spreading that this mysterious figure would be coming back to Coruscant, everyone wanted to see for themselves.

Upon exiting the doors behind Master Kenobi, Chief could see a few of the younglings take a step back in fear at the towering behemoth that looked straight at them, scorch marks across his armour from fighting none of them could even dream of. Then there were some Jedi padawans and knights that just stared in a mixture of shock and awe at this seasoned warrior that was deemed capable enough to fight alongside the legendary Negotiator and Hero With No Fear.

Taking the express elevator up to the Council Chambers, Chief silently walked into the room, not speaking a word. Once reaching the centre of the chambers, Chief saluted Grandmaster Yoda before standing at ease. "Master Chief, busy you have been hmm?"

"Yes sir, since my departure from the Jedi Temple I have been successful in all but one of my missions and to that I apologize for my inability to keep the prisoner detained." Master Chief informed the older Jedi, with the rest of the Council listening very attentively. At this current point in time, all but three of the Council members were present in the meeting, those absent being Plo Koon, Shaak Ti, and Seassee Tin. Shaak Ti was present via hologram from Kamino but the other two were currently engaged in a fierce battle against the CIS Navy.

"Master Chief, how many missions or assignments have you completed before being recalled to Coruscant?" Windu asked curiously, he was one of the best warriors the Order had to offer after all. Plus, it was a reasonable question, the Council should have a basic understanding of the Spartan's capabilities. However, this time it was Obi-wan that spoke up.

"Since his deployment to the Geonosian theatre, Master Chief has successfully destroyed a Separatist asteroid outpost, an early warning detection facility, cleared a landing zone for the main invasion, along with rendering the main foundry inert through the destruction of the main reactor. That last mission being where he also singlehandedly fought and captured the Sith assassin, Asajj Ventress. Following that, Master Chief also engaged a droid supply convoy that included tanks and gunships." Obi-wan stated, causing many of the Jedi Council members' eyes to widen at the Spartan's very capable abilities. Master Kenobi also mentioned the reason behind why the supersoldier's armour was coated in so much black soot, that being willingly throwing himself on a grenade to save the lives of fellow soldiers.

"Master Chief, if you don't mind me asking; how much damage would you say you have inflicted upon the Separatist forces?" Eeth Koth asked quietly yet boldly. To which the towering Spartan glanced at him before returning to the position of at ease. "Sir, I would estimate the casualties I have inflicted upon the enemy to be around 500 to 600 directly through the use of blasters, blades, explosives and some unorthodox methods that would not be viable on a large scale conventional battle. However, these actions of mine can also be accredited to my team of clone troopers that have greatly assisted me throughout the course of the past few days."