AN: 5k chapter is a short one but I am stocking up on chapters with the next chapter done already.
Unknown Space
November 2, 2552
The magnificent expanse of slip space travel splashed with the colors of darkness, blue, and streaks of light. It is a familiar sight for all on the bridge because of their experience throughout the war and currently due to the month-long slip space travel. The crew of Fires of Winter had been anxious the whole trip, with no idea where they would be dropped once they came out of slip space. The Lieutenant in charge of slip space operations estimated it would be not long before they came out of the other end. With that, the other officers were prepped in their stations if they had to continue fighting against the Covenant.
"Prepare your stations and verify our distance from the sol system using our star charts," The Rear Admiral's order was met with the officers' swift and disciplined response. Their salute, a symbol of their professionalism, was followed by a rapid movement to their designated posts. The Lieutenant's countdown to their exit from slip space was about to begin, and the crew, fully prepared and alert, awaited the moment of transition.
"Exiting slip space in five."
"Four."
"Three."
"Two."
"One."
Expecting the darkness of space, it was a surprise when the ship exited slip space; the sight of a wedged-shaped ship with a split that ran a third of the vessel's length was their first sight as the Fires of Winter hurled toward the ship.
"Brace!" With the warning, all witnessed an electrical surge filled with blue light surrounding the ship. With the power of the engines shut off, the Fires of Winter could not make an evasive maneuver as the ship floated rapidly into the other unknown vessel floating about.
They crashed into each other. The other vessel, less than a fourth of the length of the Fires of Winter, with the larger ship smashing through the fore section of the unidentified ship, tearing it from the rest of the ship. However, the Fires of Winter itself was not left unscathed, as reports of damage across its fore section were reported in the central holo table.
"Status!" In a calm yet loud volume, Gatlin wanted each of his Lieutenants to report on their stations.
"Archer pods 1 to 26 are offline, sir!"
"Hull damage is minimal with no breaches."
"Communications are running fine, but the rest of the battle groups' engines are non-responsive like ours, sir, even the three captured Covenant ships."
"The ship's sensors are green, but sir, you need to look at this; they are picking up hundreds of ships."
"Covenant?" Replied the Rear Admiral, making his way to the sensors officer. "No, sir. The sensors are picking up more unidentifiable ships, though they seem stuck like us." Placing his hand on his chin as he rubbed it in thought.
"Are we getting COM traffic from them?" Asking the nearby COMs officer, who looked back at their screens and shook his head after a bit of searching. "Nothing, sir, but the Auriga is sending an urgent message; I'm passing it over." Looking back at the holo table, the solid holograph of the ship replaced itself with an image. From the image came a beautiful garden world. Gatlin compared it to Arcadia as he served in defense of the colony when he was a Commander in 2531.
However, what orbited the planet warranted the urgency of this image as the surrounding crew looked throughout the image with the sight of their ships floating about along with over a hundred other ships. From the image, the crew could see different designs of ships, and by zooming in on them, they deduced from the mounted turrets that most ships were a type of warship.
It floated next to a Paris-class heavy frigate, a slightly larger ship with blister-like protrusions where its weapons were arranged. The ship had a clamshell-like appearance due to the bow of the ship overlapping the keel. Meanwhile, another ship of seemingly the same size split in two, separating the ventral and dorsal sides for about two-thirds of the ship. Finally, the third ship that floated in a large number was of a larger length compared to the other two warships, and it was the same ship they had crashed into as their engine cut off.
This ship graveyard was filled with smaller ships that were more diverse than the larger ships. The clamshell-like ship took most of the number, with 68 in total counted by the ship's sensors, while the other two numbered 28 ships combined.
The lack of response would mean that each ship's crew would have to be dead, while also implicating that the ships had been stuck in orbit around the planet for a long time. Where is Noble Team, then? Gatlin wondered as he looked toward the planet, as the ship shifted enough for it to be visible now. Maybe? He thought deeply, looking at the planet, and commanded.
"Lieutenant, watch for any COMs from Noble Team." The officer nodded to the Rear Admiral and then faced their station. "Sir! Something is interacting with our systems!" Another officer handed Gatlin a datapad. The datapad displayed a rapid pace, and a lot of UNSC information from the ship's database eventually stopped at an image of Earth.
"It shut us off from enacting Cole Protocol." Gatlin's stoic face didn't visibly react to the news, but inside wondered if they could salvage this mess. Then, as if a switch was flicked, the ship's emergency lights changed to regular ones, illuminating the ship as usual. "Status?" Asked the Rear Admiral in confusion. "All ships are reporting green except the three Covenant ships." Answered the COM Lieutenant.
"Ch–"
"Hello, Reclaimers! Oh, how I have waited for your arrival." A female-like voice filtered through the ship's COMs.
The crew, wary of the broadcasting voice, looked amongst themselves. Rear Admiral Gatlin stepped towards the holo table as a figure appeared through it, showcasing a spherical metal-built object with three photoreceptors that brightly illuminated its holographic image. "Who are you?" The floating hologram already faced the Rear Admiral. "I am 05-Genial Preservation. I am the Monitor of the Nova Outset Installation-01." Reclaimers it was obvious that the Monitor was referring to them. Gatlin associated that term with the Monitor's lack of aggression and, like the name stated, genial behavior, which might have given them some answers.
"Where is this installation located in the galaxy?" The Rear Admiral asked, hoping they were not too far off Earth.
"Ah yes, this installation is a little under three-fourths from the galactic center in the Andromeda Galaxies galactic southeast section." 05-Genial Preservation answered, the news of their location sinking into the crew's heads as they looked at one another in disbelief.
If Gatlin remembered correctly, the Andromeda Galaxy neighbored the Milky Way Galaxy at roughly 2.5 million light-years, a massive distance their ships' conventional slip space drives wouldn't be able to cover in their lifetime. With the one way probably destroyed on the other side, they just came from since they needed to ensure the Covenant couldn't follow.
It could be a while before they could make it back to the Milky Way with a timeline he needed clarification on with some more information. Shifting his head back to focus on the holographic image of the 'Monitor.' "Is there a way to use this portal without the other to get us back in the Milky Way?" Gatlin asked with some hope, like the rest of the crew, that they could get back to the fight against the Covenant.
"Unfortunately, it is merely a matter of time till the Constructors finish fixing any damage the portal facility received, although, from the data sent to this installation, I don't believe that is the biggest of the issues, as without the proper power generation the portal will not activate." With the destruction of the Kyber crystal, which powered the portal, it will not activate, meaning they are stuck in the Andromeda Galaxy. Gatlin looked at his datapad, which showed the status of their three Covenant ships, but it seemed their systems were still knocked out.
"Genial, can you remove the energy field surrounding the three ships that arrived with us? My men are aboard those ships." The Monitor, still looking at the Rear Admiral, bobbed its head. "Yes, of course." Looking back at the status screen of the datapad, and saw the three ships' status switch to green.
"Oh, it looks as though the other Reclaimers are just arriving. I will have to be there to greet them." Realizing that meant Noble Team strike force, Gatlin asked the Monitor. "Where will they arrive? So we can pick them up and further discuss our situation." After he finished speaking, a beeping sound was heard. "I have sent navigation directions to your ship navigation system along with the proper clearance to access the drydock, where the other Reclaimers will appear. I will await your arrival there." The holographic image of the Monitor changed to an image of the planet with an arrow leading to a circular-shaped station with an opening surrounded by two large arms with many smaller digits surrounding the rest of the station.
"Lieutenant James set a course for the station." Following the command of the Rear Admiral, "Lieutenant Enzo, inform the rest of the Battlegroup to follow us and mind the debris field." The Lieutenant nodded and proceeded to send the message through the fleet-wide COMs.
The supercarrier shifted on its axis, and its engines propelled the large vessel through the debris field to reach its destination.
Forerunner Drydock
November 2, 2552
A room filled with holographic screens in which the Monitor interacted, and once it finished speaking with the humans, the screen projected in front of it disappeared, leaving only a terminal that projected the holographic display. The amber light of the Monitor's photoreceptors reminisced that of the warm glow of fire, creating a warmly-like appearance. The Monitor shifted its whole body as it watched the slip space portal in the center of the large room. Suddenly, two bodies in dark battle dress uniforms flew out of the portal, landing roughly on the ground.
"Shit, Staff, I don't think I'm gonna ever jump in one of these again." One of the ODSTs said, clutching their stomach. "Ah, suck it up, you big baby." In contrast, the other got up and looked around the room until the Staff Sergeant's helmet faced the Monitor, even with his disorientation, ordered the trooper. "Get up now; we got a contact." Holding his SMG up at the Monitor and ordered the other ODST, who followed, also holding his weapon toward the Monitor.
"What are you?" Asked the Staff in a hostile tone.
"I wo–"
As the Monitor prepared to speak, a figure clad in Red Mjolnir armor emerged from the portal, tumbling out and then swiftly halting their movement with a knee to the ground and arms outstretched. Noble-7 looked at her side and saw a little commotion that might've escalated before her arrival.
"What is going on, Staff Seargent?" Noble-7 asked while eyeing Genial Preservation. "I don't know, ma'am. I just started to question it before you arrived." The Staff answered honestly, not moving his eyes from Genial.
"Hello, Reclaimers—" Again, before the Monitor could continue, another armored frame in light-blue armor appeared out of the portal in a tumbling manner, to which she responded by using her prosthetic arm to take the brunt of her fall from the portal.
Noble-2 got up and looked toward the ongoing confrontation. "Hold your trigger fingers, troopers." She reached at her helmet, pulling it off her head. While she did so, the last of the slip space travelers appeared through the portal, which closed behind them, and the portal stabilizers connected back with the metallic ground.
"That's the Monitor Six." Hestia voiced the information to Noble-6, who seemed to have the most stable landing from the portal. Six then moved to join the others as he looked and received more information from Hestia about the Monitors that she could find from her connection to the Forerunner structure.
"Hestia, send all relevant data to my datapad." Noble-2 held the small data pad in her hand, as the AI did so immediately upon request and proceeded to skim through the knowledge Hestia gained from the ones who built it all.
"With all the interruptions out the way, I am ecstatic at your arrival, Reclaimers. Though I do want to ask if you're here, how come the Array has yet to be fired?" Noble-2 looked up from her datapad while the others were confused by what she meant. "What do you mean by Array?" Noble-2 questioned curiously.
"You do not know about the Halos?" Now, it was the monitor's turn to show confusion. Two large holographs appeared at the center of the room. Both were ring-shaped objects. One was broken apart, and the other was a complete ring, each with a designation. "It seems as if Installation-04 suffered severe damage during your trip, making it incapable of operating its functions." Seemingly curious about what it had just described, the Monitor had moved to view the images closely, ignoring its own previous question to the Reclaimers.
The sound of metals shifting about cut the Monitor's attention short. It broke from its thoughts as a larger screen overlapped the two holographs. The screen showed the SPA battlegroup consisting of the UNSC and three Covenant ships.
"We are receiving a COM ping from the Fires of Winter." Noted Hestia to the strike force. "This Noble-7 to Winter-Actual, we read you." For a moment, there was silence before the strike team heard the rough voice of Rear Admiral Gatlin. "Glad to hear from you, Noble-7. What's the status of the strike team?"
"Noble Team is green, while Tempel squad is down to two." Tempel-1 was not keeping his eye off the Monitor but had put his weapon down. "Though we have run into the caretaker of this place."
"Yes, we already spoke and are en route to the station." Station? The room's outer walls then shifted in color, with the stars of space showing along with the nearby planet. Six moved closer toward where the walls should have been, observing the oddity as it was like they were in open space without protection from a space station's wall. Looking down the length of the station, Six could see how gigantic it was, and to Six, the closest thing in size he could compare to it was the terror-inducing CSO supercarrier.
"30 Kilometers in length." Hestia provided distraction as she knew that Six's head would lead to bitter thoughts. The destruction of the CSO supercarrier with Operation UPPERCUT was a momentary decisive victory for Reach, but what came after entirely negated the victory. Hestia recalled the loss of Jorge-052 or Noble-5 was the cost of the operation's success, a compassionate Spartan-ll who chose to sacrifice himself for the planet and personally took care of his fellow Spartan's exit.
While it may not be notable to Six's outside exterior, the inside was a different story, mainly to Hestia, who was in his head. While not knowing the Spartan beforehand to compare his current thoughts, records show his previous behavioral difference, and comparing it to now, there seems to be a more reservedness about Six.
Hestia believes that if the Spartans are too stuck here for long, they must tackle them mentally immediately. She would need help, and she thought of Noble-2, who most likely should have noticed her team members' behavioral change. The Lieutenant Commander may also be affected by the deaths of their team, especially that of their Commander; she just chooses to hide it like most Spartans.
Pushing that aside, she would attend this meeting in the command center of a Forerunner drydock, where they appeared. The entire command of the battlegroup will meet to discuss what to do next.
Hestia moved more of her focus on the Forerunners, an ancient yet highly advanced species that seemed to litter their technology throughout the stars. She had little knowledge of them before interacting with their systems, but she knew one thing that correlated them with the Covenant. The Covenant found human colonies in search of the Forerunners' lost technology. They used their excavation beams to dig up what they could, or, like Reach, they sent small strike forces before launching a large offensive.
Both Six and Hestia watched the entire battlegroup start the docking procedure, with the Monitor taking the helm of the controls. It was a question whether the Forerunner drydock docking ports would match the configuration of the UNSC ships. Genial Preservation just waved it off, claiming the drydock would use its nanotechnology to adjust and match with the ships that attempt to dock in it.
While the UNSC is not unfamiliar with nanotechnology on such a scale, it feels different. The Monitor offered to use the station to fix any ship damage, to which the Rear Admiral hesitantly agreed. The main ships to receive treatment were the Fires of Winter, the Sacred Advance Covenant carrier, and the two cruisers.
Forerunner Drydock
Command Center
November 2, 2552, 10:52 hours
Filling up the Drydock command center was that of many of the high-ranked enlisted and officer ranks that filled up each group of the SPA battle group. Teams of scientists, a complement of the battle group, were also a part of the meeting for inputs such as things related to the Forerunners themselves to provide explanations on technical information the Monitor gave.
"The bottom line is we are stuck here for the time being and have no sure way of returning home." The Rear Admiral started the meeting with the truth after Genial Preservation provided the details again about the two-way function of the portal. With the other side's power source out of commission, a stable enough portal could not be created without messing up the destination or sending them to oblivion.
It was evident to Hestia that this information would create a depressing atmosphere in the meeting. While it was understood that the war against the Covenant was a losing battle, there was always a glimmer of hope that the tide would turn. But now, they wouldn't even be able to participate in the fight against the Covenant. Guilt, a human emotion, was felt by the AI when she was the one who set the destruction of the portal's power source, but she was unblamed even with that bit of briefing being reported in the conference.
"It was a sound plan, Hestia." A silver hand gently placed itself on the vermillion shoulder that belonged to Hestia's hologram. Athena, the shipboard AI of the Fires of Winter and a sister of Hestia in the sense of being an AI and more. "We could've fought our way out." A Bronzed-colored AI appeared in front of the two, his facial expression hidden behind the ancient Spartan helmet.
"Yet with a high loss of personnel and ships, Ares." Sharply replied Athena. "She is right; we were disadvantaged in numbers, and going through the portal was the logical gamble that ended up paying off." A mixture of white and silver appeared. Another AI joined the conversation with a flower crown on her head and her silver hair flowing in a ponytail. "If it weren't for your capability to supply effective battle tactics, they would've decommissioned you due to your aberrational nature." The new AI scolded the bronze-colored AI in a soft, seemingly monotone voice.
"Artemis, always waiting to kick a man while he is down." Faking hurt while placing a hand on where a heart should have been. "You are not a man but an AI." Ignoring his dramatics, she simply stated the truth to her fellow AI.
The four AIs continued speaking to one another, discussing their thoughts on their current situation while listening to the conference amongst the UNSC personnel. Sometimes, they were asked for input on some topics, such as literal calculations in probabilities and opinions on what steps should be taken next.
"By the way, where is Pinkie at?" Ares said, seemingly referring to another AI. "Aphrodite chose to stay looking over logistics, such as our now limited supply, which is an issue we would have to work on." Answered Athena in response to Ares's questioning.
Seeing movement, the AIs watched Noble-7 respond to a COM and then moved toward the Rear Admiral after speaking to the other side for a bit. "Sir, the XO reported that Huragok met with them at the docking clamps." Gatlin looked toward the Monitor, who seemed to hear Noble-7 as they turned their metal frame to face Gatlin. "I believed they would be assistance."
"I thank you for your consideration, but I hope you will be able to alert me beforehand next time you choose to send assistance." Genial Preservation merely bobbed its metallic frame like a person nodding in agreement.
"Tell the XO they're welcome under his supervision." Gatlin then turned back to face the SPA UNSC personnel. "This Planet and this Drydock will be our mainstay, and it's gonna be trying times, but we got the means and capability to make it work, so let's get to work." It was a start, and there was much more to discuss with the information the Monitor held about Nova Outset and that of the Andromeda Galaxy. They would preserve and hopefully be able to make it back before the Covenant could erase the whole human race to extinction.
Seventh Cycle, 52 Units (Covenant Battle Calendar)
System Salia
A scene filled with hundreds of ships, all of Covenant design, each side facing the other. Among them was a massive fleet carrier, 32km long, leading the ships from the warrior races' colony orbit. Despite its sleek Covenant design, the carrier exuded an intimidating aura with its large size.
Calmly, despite having the advantage of a mighty warship, the fleet of a new Covenant did not engage while the other side, filled with their replacements by their betrayers, chose to move aggressively, lowering the distance between the two groups.
Charging their weapons to unleash against the ones they saw as honorable fools, the aggressive fleet of Brutes. Readied to unleash carnage against the stagnant Sangheili fleet, other plans were made to undermine a victory the Brutes hoped to achieve.
Slowly floating toward the fleet was a hardened case containing multiple nuclear warheads, a human design yet placed by the Sangheili to use against their betrayers. If not for the fact that the bomb was floating in space, then the message of a certain Vice Admiral would be heard. In Space, no sound could travel, but light could, and that's all that could be seen once the bomb detonated.
Shining bright as a supernova would immediately engulf the large carrier that had just passed the bomb along the hundreds of Brute ships about to fire their main lances. It would take the explosion light to fade to see the number of survivors. Still, the sensors of the Sangheili ships read a number that meant only about a fourth of the Brutes ships had survived and thus allowed the movement of the rest of the fleet with an opening of hundreds of slip space portals appearing surrounding the Brutes ships. Another two hundred Snagheli ships appeared through the portals and charged their primary weapons.
In range began firing bright lances of plasma from hundreds of ships, which fired upon the Brute's ships, which were trying to escape. Slipspace portals opened, but ships did not make it through, leaving many explosions from the tens of ships left for the Brutes. Immediately, the remaining ships jumped into slip space, like wolves not giving up, followed by a third of the Sangheili's fleet, chased by firing their own Slipspace drives and chasing ravenously.
More than two hundred Sangheili ships remained, with another group breaking up and slipping away in slip space to ensure the parasite's escape was impossible.
Sublime Transcendence: modified Sh'wada-pattern supercarrier
Standing at three and a half meters in length, a Sangeheili who was more than any other, as if he were a demigod walking among his people. He was a legendary warrior among his people, and his status was shown through his silver and gold armor, which had the markings of Forerunners glyphs, signifying his attachment to his religious beliefs.
Looking at the sizeable hologram that showcased his remaining fleet, the Imperial Admiral known as Xytan 'Jar Wattinree analyzed the ships he had at his disposal; many a ship master had answered his summons, from the smallest Zanar cruiser type to the larger carriers.
He chose to bide his time and plan the next step of his brand new Covenant while waiting for a report from his forces, which had chased the remaining Alpha brute forces.
He knew many high-ranking shipmasters who had yet to answer his calls, like Rtas 'Vadumee. The last he heard of him was his close work with the newest Arbiter, a previous Supreme Commander who showed much promise yet failed to protect the sacred ring.
At least he chose to face his failure instead of running like a true coward. No matter, He knew of the remaining threats out there, shifting his thoughts to certain Brute, who the foolish traitorous Prophets couldn't contain. Humanity was nothing to worry about anymore; with their home world found and their defenses lowered, it would be easier to wipe them clean off the galaxy.
"Imperial Admiral, the Harbinger of Retribution, has reported an amassed fleet of the traitorous Jiralhanae." An officer reported the information with an apparent devotion that Xytan noticed ran through the many officers of his ship. "The carrier reports that the Jiralhanae are trying to reactivate the holy gateway." Xytan moved toward his command post-hearing the Jiralhanaes action, which meant Truth was involved in a way, and killing the Prophet was one of his top priorities.
"Relay to the fleet to ready for battle." Informing the officer in charge of their battlenet, he nodded, got up from his knee, and moved to his post. Xytan moved to his console and relayed a message to the ship masters, commanding a portion of his frigates and cruisers to patrol Sangheilios.
The fleet moved, with a small portion breaking off and jumping to slip space. The remaining two hundred ships proceeded to battle to destroy the Prophet and his forces.
Andromeda Galaxy
Nova Outset System, Planet Nereids (New Colony)
November 4, 2552, 11:08 hours
"Look at it. Go!"
RAWWR!
The bear-like creature roared with its giant claws swinging at the green-armored Spartan donning an EVA helmet. While Noble Team watched from the side as their teammate wrestled with the creature. Stabbing into the creature's tendon while avoiding a swipe, the Spartan moved back, creating space between him and the beast.
"Jonah, stop fooling around; we need to rendevous back to the base." Another Spartan with red armor, though darker than that of Noble-7, and donning the Volant helmet yelled with exasperation toned in his voice.
"Fine, kill my fun, Roland!"
"It seems that even with action in the field, he still is reckless," Noble-2 commented while looking at her datapad and then glancing at Six. Six had been acting odd lately, and his demeanor seemed very off today. Right now, he was staring off at the vast land, which showed off its natural beauty of falling water pouring into a river that continued farther down the open plains and then the mountains in the distance, large ones with white snowy caps.
"-die." Hearing the tail end of the phrase, Kat didn't say anything as she moved beside Six, who noticed her presence. "I'm fine." Six said, even with no questions asked. "No, you are not," Kat replied with a tone of authority behind her voice. "You aren't either." Six said, not denying her statement.
"We both aren't, but we will be," Kat said with a sureness as if it was fact one that Six questioned in his mind. "...Maybe." It hurt both Spartans, but talking about it together seemed to lessen it.
"Come on, Six, we have to move out." Noticing the rest of the team moving the beast's carcass, Noble-9 seemed to have finally killed. Still looking at the scenery momentarily, Six finally turned to follow Kat.
Suddenly, he stopped and turned back around in confusion before his eyes widened behind his helmet momentarily. He wondered if he was hallucinating at seeing the tall figure in SPI armor, along with three more familiar armored figures.
"Good luck, kid."
Edges of the Triangulum Galaxy
An empty area of space of large celestial bodies only filled with nearby asteroids floating about and a fleet of vessels scattered the area with a large number of ships filled with varying tonnages; it seemed as if they patrolled the not-so-empty area as a large space station made its way through the fleet of ships in an escort of a smaller flotilla of ships. The large station of 15 km approached another large structure grander than itself, with bright blue light leaking from the structure's core and multiple rings surrounding it in a gyroscopic motion.
A woman in a blue and white uniform looked through a viewport from her office at the enormous structure. A recent discovery had made her project more viable, as it could allow them to reach their goal faster than initially believed.
"All we need is to stabilize the core and finish what they started." The woman knew it would be a tall task as the technology was more advanced than their own, yet she believed that studying it would prove fruitful to allow them to finish the 27 km structure with three metallic arms in a triangle-like formation. It was apparent that the machine was unfinished, with two arms longer than the last, and parts of its superstructure were exposed.
They had so much to work on to get the Initiative moving forward; with time, they'd get everything ready. Time was a luxury they did not have control over, as they would soon be pushed to the brink by a force of machines that hail their destruction.
The Andromeda galaxy has become a focal point for various groups of intelligent life, converging upon it like a gathering storm. As they gather, the future of Andromeda is shrouded in uncertainty, as if veiled by a cloak of impenetrable darkness.
Andromeda Galaxy
Storms of Spring Epoch-class heavy carrier, Patrol of Othrys System
January 8, 2553, 13:23 hours
"Sir, we are picking up chatter from unknown contacts." The COM's officer informed the captain of a heavy carrier on the bridge.
"Send a message to the rest of the battlegroup that we have made First Contact."