Space... An infinite, unbound, starlit darkness. Many things could occur here. And many things historically did... The Forerunner technology was beyond any that humanity had seen. And as time passed, we grew more accustomed to recovering and adapting it to our own needs. There were several ships tasked with the discovery and quote-unquote 'reclamation' of these relics for the betterment of mankind. And with their Sangheilli allies, they scoured yet-untouched parts of the Galaxy to find these items.

The UNSC Infinity and the CAS Carrier Shadow of Intent were two such Allied ships. Currently on a journey to the Far Rim of the Galaxy, the currently largest UNSC vessel in the Arsenal was finishing preparations for exit from Slipspace at their target area:An unexplored system discovered via Forerunner Charts. It was also an arranged Meeting Point with the ship.

On the bridge of the UNSC warship, Captain Thomas Lasky was seated in his chair, awaiting for them to wink back into real space after an 20-hour flight. He looked over to the Holo-table, to see the yellow avatar of a WW2 US Bomber Pilot, clad in the full attire, appear. Roland gave a nod to the Captain and said "Sir, we're approaching the Exit Point. And I think the Arbiter may want a word with you."

"Figured as much." Lasky hummed. "Just tell me when we're out and patch him through, Roland."

"Sir." The Bomber pilot nodded. "Exit Vector in 3... 2... 1..."

The Infinity decelerated as the inky blackness of space winked into existence. The ship's sensor crews began a scan of the system as the Com pinged. The Captain looked at the holographic screen ahead as an image formed into view. That of a hunchback alien creature clad in gold-tinted armor. Amber, snake-like eyes stared from behind the helmet on his head and his 4 mandibles moved. Thel 'Vadam, Arbiter and leader of the Swords of Sangheillios, spoke in greeting "Captain Lasky."

"Arbiter." He nodded respectfully "A pleasure to see you."

"It is good to see that Humanity's best Warship is in capable hands. Your former Captain didn't bode too well." The Arbiter somehow managed to both compliment him and insult Del Rio at the same time. The Elites had a feat of burning humans every once in a while. But it did make Lasky chuckle. He did appreciate the compliment, however, electing to ignore the jab at his former Superior.

"And are we glad to see the Swords of Sangheillios are growing in strength and with a good leader at the front." Lasky returned the compliment. He noticed Shipmaster Rtas 'Vadum's armor flash on-screen momentarily, then saw the Elite Navy Commander approach the screen. He spoke to the Arbiter and Lasky "Captain, Arbiter. We have detected the artifact we're here for. It is within orbit third planet of this binary star system, at an approximate sixty thousand kilometers."

"Any Remnant on sensors?" Arbiter asked. The Covie Remnant did have a nasty habit of showing up after them...

"Thankfully, it seems we're the first people to reach this star system." Rtas answered, seemingly more concerned... The Artifact was pinged by the Infinity's sensors too. Next to what looked like a world that was saturated by Nuclear Hellfire, considering the amount of Rads pinging off of it. Pulling up a rough schematic of what it was, the Captain and Crew of the UNSC ship saw what the Elites were probably seeing too:A sort of small Dyson sphere similar to Forerunner Shield Worlds, but... Different. It had no top covers and it was formed of hexagonal struts of a metal that... Pinged and redirected Radiation back to the planet itself. In its center, what looked like a Black Hole, clearly not of natural formation, resided. And, unlike most Forerunner constructs, the Sensors didn't show any sort of defensive Drone complement.

"A Binary Star system... That's rarity and a half." Roland commented "Rads from the planet are off-charts, sir. I'm detecting structures down below. Unknown type or making. And I can't get a bead on them thanks to the planetwide Nuclear Winter." The AI then continued, bringing up a holographic view of the globe holding the strange Black Hole Containment Device in orbit. It was a black, charred surface with a Nitrogen-Oxygen atmosphere similar to Earth's, but so poisoned by the radiation that it... Didn't feel right... Lasky weighed his options...

"Roland, can you get me a bearing on how long the planet has been irradiated for?" The Captain asked.

"What is it you're considering, Captain?" The Arbiter looked with curiosity at his human counterpart.

"... I don't know if this is Forerunner tech, frankly, but, just in case, I wanna find out." The Captain noted, leaning forward and rubbing his chin...

"Sir. I can't get a full scan from here. We may need to get closer..." Roland sighed "I hate suggesting it sir, but y'know..." to which the Captain nodded. He looked to Helm and showed them to bring the ship forward... The Sangheilli followed them closely. Side-by-side, the ships advanced toward the Artifact. Roland looked over to the Captain and said "Contact Protocol engaged... Sent a high-powered signal to UNSC HighCom. If things take a turn for the worst, they can track us."

"The Shadow of Intent's communication suite has parsed and boosted the signal." The Arbiter said. "I have a bad feeling about this..."

"Arbiter..." Lasky hummed as they approached the flashing hexagonal ball of darkness "Don't ever say that... It brings bad luck." and he was, of course, referring to Murphy's Laws. As old and funny a concept as that was, it was applicable even 5 to 600 years into the future, since it was conceived. And it was always right. Never say things like 'it could always be worse' or anything about bad feelings... The Captain knew that fucked up things.

... "Stand by..." Roland said... Something was off...

The Captain saw the flash and spike of energy from the unnatural Black Hole container. "Roland?" The man said, a hint of concern in his voice...

"... I'm detecting increased Cherenkov Radiation. The station's powering up." Roland reported. "Planetary structures are dated at over 152 Millennia... And there's signs of remains... Captain, We need to back away, now." He said, concerned. The ships shuddered and the energy shields flashed as a wave of radiation parsed their outer layers. God damned... "Small EMP attempted to disable our power systems. And I think we've got problems, sir."

"Gravity field of the Black Hole is expanding, sir!" One of the Sensors officers said.

"Yeah... That." Roland sighed

"Full reverse thrust! See if we can't get out of the gravitational pull!" The Captain ordered as he felt the ship shudder once more... And power went out across the ship. Secondary generators kicked in, faint scarlet emergency lights occupying the place of the more powerful ones... Growling, Lasky barked out "Status!? What the hell happened!? Did we lose power!?"

"Sir, EMP from the Station just disabled us! It's trying to pull us in!" His Ensign reported, looking at him. Sweet mother of god...

"What about the Shadow!?" The Captain barked his last question...

"She's not far behind us! Being pulled in by the same force!" He responded. "I'd hang on to something, sir! WE'RE GOING IN!"

... As Infinity's reactor struggled to power back on, the engines flickering on and off, this situation seemed far too familiar to the Captain of the UNSC ship. The ship moved, with the Sangheilli Carrier trailing her, pulled toward the Black Hole by its incredible gravitational field. The planet below began to tear itself apart too... And Lasky could swear his eyes deceived him. A section of the skeletal structure containing the black hole opened. It was wide enough for both ships to fit through... Lasky closed his eyes, praying his people would be fine as the ship began its descent into the Event Horizon of the Black Hole...

... Meanwhile...

Orbit of the Neutral Rim planet, Cera.

The white and scarlet-clad Frigates of the Ceran Space Force hanged in the cradles of their Drydocks. The small, nimble craft had a multitude of missile pods on the top, with the added Flak Batteries as support against enemy missiles. They were small, at only 400 meters in length, compared to the larger, more advanced counterparts of the Navy, but their size allowed them a nimbleness and ease of construction that the Ceran Navy, currently upgrading its newer designs, needed.

The Fifth Picket Fleet's Rear Admiral, Marcus Crescentia, sat aboard his command ship, the CSF Infallible and waited for news. Almost a month ago, PACT began hostilities with several Neutral Rim planets and so, they were put on alert... PACT was still a good few years away from being a major threat and said Neutral Planets seemed to be holding their own just fine for now... Marcus was still a bit iffy about the situation, but he elected to let the other members of Admiralty make the decisions relating to PACT.

The Infallible was a pocket battleship of the Hammer-class. An older design being refit for more modern times. She carried a Ryder complement of around 6, with most being Fighter-class Ryders meant for engaging enemy Bombers that got a little too close for comfort. She had a tall conning tower and crow's nest, with the bridge situated at the base of said conning tower, giving him full view of the Mark III Savior Cannon batteries situated at the front of the ship. It had two more in the back, over the sublight engine suite and also sported several dozen Point-Defense Flak Guns and even some of the new Mark 1 Pulse Turrets. She also had one old shield emitter and a ye olde Fusion reactor.

All of this armament and equipment was evenly distributed between the two prongs at the front of the ship and the rest of the hull. The prongs themselves were home to a Vanguard-class Prototype energy cannon's emitter array. Theoretically, it had a megaton yield of at least 2000, so it was more than capable of punching through any other ship, but it necessitated time to recharge and a lot of power...

As for the Admiral himself, he was an elder man, around his late 40s. He sported short-brown hair that was graying out at the tips and a pair of deep, scarlet eyes. He wore a black uniform of the Ceran Space Force, bearing Rear Admiral pins on his collar and his shoulders had golden frills and several more echelons that denoted the rank. He also wore a peaked cap with the Ceran Admiralty's symbol, that of the Black Hawk with its wings spread, on the forehead. On his chest resided a few medals and ribbons for his actions against pirates and other such... Troublemakers.

His weary eyes scanned the bridge of the Battleship from his position at the Holographic Map that displayed a three-dimensional view of Cera and surrounding space, alongside the IFFs of Ceran warships in orbit. At least 5 more Battleships of varying classes were in orbit with him, maintaining watch over the Frigate upgrade procedures. He stroked his chin, looking over to the front of the bridge, where the gunnery and sensor operators resided and saw a Ryder, the highly-advanced space fighter mech, fly by. It held in its two 'hands' a twin laser emitter and a Gatling Flak Gun, meant for anti-fighter work. Its back thrusters shined blue as it flew past the bridge and it had Cera's red and white colors...

Several dozen support ships also winked into view on the warship's port side. They were support carriers at around 2 kilometers in length and there was two of them. Only two of them. Though severely underequipped for ship-to-ship combat, holding only Pulse and Flak guns as point defense, they carried a decent squadron of 20 Ryders each, with half being bombers, while the other half was Fighters. Following them were several already-refit Frigates...

The Navy was at the ready, just in case... The Admiral had a feeling it was a good thing that they were...

Yellow alert sounded. And pings appeared on the ship's Radar suite. He looked at the holographic display as two unidentified warships emerged right at the edge of the Cerans' guns. The Rear Admiral squinted, then called via Com "Attention, all hands:We are entering Red Alert status. Man your battlestations, this is not a drill..." And he looked over to his Bridge Commanders and said "Prep weapons... Attempt to hail whoever it is and tell them to turn back."

"Sir." The crew said, turning to their jobs...

"Size of the enemy warships?" He asked, walking up to the front, to see winks of light far away. One of the Crew turned to him and said "5,7 Kilometers and 5,3 Kilometers, respectively. First sensor sweep shows they're disabled and running on emergency power, sir, but we're still attempting to establish contact..."

"Get a message through to Fleet Admiral Lye... Tell him I'm requesting permission to approach the ships with three Frigates as support..." The man said, somewhat astonished by the sheer sizes of their tresspassers' ships. He tried to maintain a stoic facade and allow his men to be calm. He looked to the Comm Officer, who gave a nod... Then looked back to him.

"Fleet Admiral Lye has granted permission, but requested we bug out if things get heated. On your order, sir." He said... The Rear Admiral gave a nod and said "All ahead, full."

The silent hum of the Warship's engines came to. As it lurched forward, moving at high-enough speed for the Frigates to keep up. At best speed, they'd arrive there within at least 15 minutes... He had ordered the men to keep an eye on the ships' status and if they'd power back on again. And as they'd arrive in the section of Ceran Space that they were in, Marcus went bug-eyed...

One of the ships had a hull design not to dissimilar to the Ceran Navy's. She was a black, blocky and functionally-designed ship, bearing heavy armor and what seemed to be the faint shimmers of an energy shield coming back to order. She mounted heavy armaments, from visible missile pods to artillery and Point-Defense guns resembling of Flak, as well as... Several massive exits for what felt like Kinetic weapons. Her lights winked off and on and she had white stripes and, written in bold white lettering on her side, next to the symbol of an eagle clutching a globe, were the Letters INFINITY.

Following it, the next ship was a more sleek design... She looked like a whale, clearly alien in design, with a narrow neck and 'spine' at the top that linked the back section of the ship to the 'head'. She also had weapons, but clearly, most were hidden and more than likely more powerful... He looked to the Comm officer as the man gave a thumbs up and said "Their power's coming back online."

... If Lasky never felt his stomach turn inside out before, this little trip through a wormhole surely helped with that... Coughing, the man looked around and asked in a hoarse voice "Status!" before watching the lights on the ship wink back on. Communication was reestablished with a just-as-dazed Arbiter as the soldiers and crew rose from their falls and took to their stations again.

"Multiple non-fatal injuries on Decks 3 through 11 and the momentary loss of power caused a reset in all systems... I managed to bring myself, Life Support and Comms back online, Captain." Roland said, parsing through data... He looked to his left as a blue avatar took form and he smirked as he saw Cortana, in all her beauty, appear before them all on the bridge.

"Captain. Roland." Cortana gave them a nod "Talk about bumpy rides."

"You and the Chief sleep well?" Thomas quipped as he dusted himself off...

"No thanks to your driving..." A gruff, hard voice came over the sound of thundering boots as a seven-foot-tall soldier walked onto the deck. Finishing off, he said "Yes." before turning to Cortana and inquiring calmly "Did you tell them about the Radar contacts?" but holding his MA5 Rifle close. The Master Chief was already prepped and ready to go before even being asked.

"Not yet... Barely arrived on-deck, Chief." The female AI stated, cocking her head to look at the Captain and saying "We've got a few ships buzzing us. One of them's trying a hail both us and the Shadow." and she pulled up the screen. "Should I accept the call?" She asked with a smirk. It wouldn't be a problem if she did, so... Lasky gave her a nod. Time to hear what the new hosts had to say.

... "Link established, Admiral Crescentia, Sir!"

On the Holo-Screen of the Ceran Warship, two images appeared. One had a man with a similar haircut to his, but clad in a grey uniform with a reinforced shoulder pad on the left. His bridge resembled what you'd see on a human ship... Meanwhile, the second image held a hunchback alien in gold armor and with 4 mandibles. That was enough for the Admiral to drop his facade. He went bug-eyed, then muttered "An alien..." Under his breath. He cleared his throat and retook his stance and serious posture, then said "This is Rear Admiral Marcus Crescentia, of the Ceran Space Force's 5th Picket Fleet. To whom do I have the pleasure of talking?"

Lasky looked a bit surprised... There was no 'Cera' as far as Human colonies went. He knew that much since no major world with that name had been burned or attacked in the Outer Colonies sector... Sighing and choosing to play along for now, he returned "This is Captain Thomas Lasky, of the UNSC Infinity. With me is my associate from the Swords of Sangheillios. Arbiter Thel 'Vadam."

"Greetings." The Arbiter gave a nod... He spoke English...

Lasky continued "Admiral, I and my associate are here after an... Event... That had us flown through a Black Hole." And he realized just how dumb that sounded. Sighing, the man said "We mean no harm to you, your fleet or the people of Cera as a whole. We're lost and far away from any of our territories." as far as his Star Maps told him, anyways. There was something entirely different about the Milky Way's topography here. Some stars were misaligned...

"... Captain, as much as I'd like to believe that your people and you... Whoever you may be, discovered a way to travel, not to mention safely through a Black Hole's Event Horizon and come out the other side into our little corner of the galaxy, I'm not sure that's possible. Even we are struggling to regain that level of tech and we're one of the few more advanced Neutral Rim civilizations..." The Admiral explained, staying as calm as he was when he first saw them... Before he got spooked... He looked to the Alien, then said "And your... Alien ally, the Arbiter as you call him... He is clearly not from around here."

Lasky took a moment, then sighed "Fair point, Admiral. We didn't expect you to believe us from the start. May we ask that we, at least, send a delegation to meet with your people and you? Also... What do you mean Neutral Rim?" He raised a brow... This guy was joking, the Admiral thought. Surely he must've heard of the Neutral Rim... He thought for a moment...

"Captain Lasky, Arbiter... Do the names of PACT and the Solar Alliance... Or the Holy Ryuvian Empire... Tell you anything?" He asked, feeling a knot in his stomach...

The Sangheilli and his human counterpart glanced at each-other, then back to the Admiral and shook their heads... Damned it be. The Admiral sighed, then said "It's clear we have a lot to talk about then, Captain... May I suggest getting an unarmed ship and setting it up as a meeting point between you and the Admiralty? Fleet Admiral Lye, the Supreme Commander of the Ceran Navy, wants a word with both of you..." before tapping his com. Fleet Admiral Lye had already dispatched an Envoy Ship... It was only natural that Crescentia would tap him into the call... And from the look of disbelief on his face, Lye was as surprised as him when first seeing this 'Arbiter'.

"I presume this is Fleet Admiral Lye... Greetings, sir." Nodded Lasky. "I'm Captain Lasky of the UNSC Infinity and that is my associate, Arbiter Thel "Vadam of the Swords of Sangheillios. We've already spoken a bit with Rear Admiral Crescentia... And he suggested that we all meet on an unarmed vessel to discuss my and the Arbiter's ships' situations."

"So I understand..." Lye said... "A pleasure to make your acquaintances, Arbiter, Captain... We shall meet aboard the Ceran Envoy vessel Terra Nova. Rear Admiral. I would like for you to join us, if that is possible..." And he got a nod from Crescentia... A little political talk wouldn't hurt the man... Gods, he hoped Ava and Anne were well down below. Same for that Kayto boy...

... Aboard the CSF Terra Nova... The UNSC Captain had landed with a Pelican and several Marines into the Cargo Hold that was now a makeshift hangar. The emerald transport touched down gently onto the floor and the soldiers piled out, forming two lines beside him and the Master Chief. Following their landing, the sleek emerald and silver of a Sangheilli Dropship arrived. And exiting via its gravity lift, the Arbiter and a squad of Special Ops Elites joined them on the deck.

"Captain." The Arbiter gave a nod.

"Arbiter." Lasky returned.

"Spartan." The Alien then regarded his former comrade.

"Good to see you, Arbiter." Chief nodded. They heard a door open and all turned to see the sight of two men clad in Admiralty uniforms approaching them. Following were troops wearing black uniforms and holding black, rounded rifles that seemed to emit energy out of their barrels. Looked as though all sides came with some sort of leverage. And if anything, those weapons they carried were laser or projectile-based...

"Admirals." Lasky saluted the men. They saluted back, then looked between the Arbiter and tall, lean man encased in a titanium armor set. It was awe-inspiring, really. The Alien and Soldier nodded to them and the tall bastard also saluted. It was pretty clear who held the cards as far as numbers went. Now, they were here for politics. So, waving them forward toward a conference room. As they entered it, they found themselves in a room with several seats around a table that had a holographic display. The seats were office chairs made of black leather and the ship itself had a nice view to Cera itself...

Lasky regarded the planet and smiled. It reminded him of home. And of Corbulo Military Academy. As the entire group seated themselves, with the Arbiter, Chief and Guards of all sides choosing to stay on their feet. The Captain looked to the Admirals, then said "Thanks for the offer, Admirals. I'm glad this didn't turn into a shooting gallery..." Before receiving nods from both.

"Trust me, Captain, we think the same..." Admiral Lye said as a tray of refreshments was brought in. From the looks of it, some weak spirits, water and some juice of different fruit types, probably native to the planet. The man took the clear liquid that was the alcohol and poured himself half a cup, before filling the rest up with the orange liquid that was the actual juice. Rear Admiral Crescentia, meanwhile, simply poured himself a cup of water. Lasky, not to be rude, poured himself some water too.

After taking a sip from his drink, Marcus noted "Your ships are... Quite impressive. Dreadnaughts, I presume?"

"The Infinity is, yeah... The Shadow of Intent, meanwhile?" Lasky returned, taking a sip from his own drink. That raised some brows and a couple of the Ceran Marines whispered to each-other. Lye calmed them down with a wave of his hand, then looked to the Arbiter. The Elite simply gave a nod to the unspoken question. They did have a single CSO-class Supercarrier, as far as he knew from propaganda.

"Gods above..." Lye muttered. "Captain... If you don't mind us inquiring... What is the UNSC?"

... It was pretty clear they weren't anywhere near home anymore. So the Captain wasn't surprised the UNSC and Swords of Sangheillios weren't known... He began to explain "The United Nations Space Command is the military arm of our government. EarthGov, it's called. We're the ones tasked with maintaining security for the entire area of human-controlled space, including several dozen colony worlds."

... Lye hummed "I see..." and Lasky noticed he was... Not really buying it.

"We can grant you access to certain historical files of the UNSC and our people... We've got a history too long to go over in just this brief meeting. As I am sure you do." The Captain motioned past this particular question. The Cerans knew full-well that the Swords and them were out of their element, before motioning to the Arbiter and saying "And so would the Arbiter. We can compile as much data as you need to understand where we come from."

"I'd appreciate a thorough report and a summary of your history, Captain." Lye noted. "We are also here to discuss the status of your Warships and their presence in Ceran space, of course..."

... Of course... Lasky nodded "Yes, indeed. Forgive the unannounced intrusion, sirs. It wasn't really our choice where our little transportation error took us."

"From what my Rear Admiral told me on our way here, he says you quote 'Entered a black hole'." Lye said with disbelief evident in his speech. "Mind at least telling us how that happened?"

"Gladly." Lasky hummed. "Our mission on board the Infinity, Fleet Admiral, was a simple one. Explore the galaxy and find remnants of technology from an ancient civilization, to either appropriate for ourselves or destroy so that they don't fall in the hands of our foes. One such remnant of tech led us to an uncharted star system in the Far Rim of our Galaxy. A binary star system, specifically, which is a rarity in our Galaxy."

Seeing that they were listening, Lasky continued "Well, the Star System turned out to be housing more than just two stars and a few planets... Located in orbit above a planet that seemed wracked by a good few years of Nuclear bombardment, simply by the levels of surface, air and other radiation and the development of the Nuclear Winter that covered the planet jamming our sensors, we discovered an... I'm not sure if it was an incomplete Dyson Sphere, or a Cradle that contained a Black Hole, either harnessing its energy or stabilizing it for travel."

... Crescentia had to be sure... "Did it have any sort of symbols on it? Did some of the parts... Move...?"

"Some of the boons holding the frame together shifted to allow space for our ships to pass through as the Black Hole's gravity well pulled us inside." The Arbiter stated. "It was disconcerting." and the Admirals looked with a bit of surprise... Crescentia most of all... He sighed, rubbing his eyes, then spoke "Can't be, can it? Tell me it ain't it, Jonah. Tell me we ain't hearing of Ryuvian tech in some other godforsaken Galaxy or Universe..."

... Lyre chewed on the thought for a bit as he saw Lasky's look shift from one of calm to surprise. Sighing as he weighed in the possibilities, he said "I'm afraid so, Marcus... Forgive the dumbfounding terminology, Captain, but... I do believe that technology was not from your precursor species. It was from a forerunner civilization that ruled our Galaxy for a good few millennia. And it was a human civilization."

Lasky pursed his lips... "That's concerning, alright... You're telling me your people, whatever or whoever they were, managed to stabilize a Black Hole that allowed them to jump universes? For what purpose?" and he saw Crescentia straighten up a bit and look at him. The Admiral didn't mince words as he spoke "Because the Ryuvians were going through a very bloody civil war, as far as the legends go. And for better or for worse, that planet you found next to the Black Hole Portal was a Ryuvian attempt at restarting their empire in a new Galaxy... But the fact that you found it burned out and full of rads tells us that they failed. Infighting there too..."

The Arbiter and the Captain exchanged glances. Then they turned to the Chief... The Spartan seemed none the wiser about this. Sighing, Lasky turned back to the Admirals and steepled his hands together, before saying "Well, I guess that's... A lot to take in." and nodding to the Arbiter and Chief. They nodded back, before the Captain turned to ask "I've... Got a request or an offer, depending on how you look at it."

"Shoot, Captain." Lyre said... He knew what came next.

"Considering the events that unfolded as of the last... I'm gonna count at least 12 hours. Me and my crew are gonna need some time to adjust. I wish to ask for you and your politicians to allow us to asylum until we discover a way home." The Captain asked calmly, a stern look in his face. "In return, the UNSC Infinity shall provide a boost in numbers and firepower to the Ceran Space Force for the duration of our stay here as a foreign political entity... As I do not speak for the Shadow of Intent and her crew, I will let the Arbiter declare his desires himself."

"I must consult with my crew, but I will say that, once they hear of this situation..." The Arbiter denoted in a calm manner, as was usual for the Elite that was Thel. "I do believe they will wish for us to remain united with the Infinity and her Staff for the duration of our... Undoubtedly long stay here." And he continued politely "Provided Cera will have Extra-Terrestrials, as we're referred to by humans, located on its soil."

The Admirals seemed a bit surprised by the request and the way it was formulated. Lye turned to Crescentia and whispered something, before excusing himself to the corridor outside the meeting room. A raised brow got Lasky this answer from Marcus:"He's making a Call toward the Ceran government to explain the situation to them... And formulate a good way to reveal to the people back home that we've met what's basically our first Extra-Galactic encounter."

"... A respectable decision." The Arbiter admitted.

"Yep... Would be surprised if he didn't wanna talk to them..." The Officer sighed. "Chief, get a couple of Marines and go prep the Pelican for launch. I want wheels up as soon as we're done here." and he received a silent salute from the Spartan. Leaving the room meant the door closed with an imperceptible hiss behind the Spartan and his duo of Marines... Lasky, meanwhile, was left with Marcus to ponder the situation...

"So... Extra-Galactic, huh?" Marcus snorted. "Wait 'till my daughter and her friend hear I basically helped start negotiations with aliens..."

"You've got family?" Lasky hummed "Must be tough being away from them."

"Oh, it's a pain... But my little Ava's a trooper in her own right. And just as stuck in rules as her old man. Hell, I'll be surprised if she doesn't follow in my footsteps and join the Navy later on."

"Keeping family traditions..." Lasky quipped. And the Admiral chuckled. They watched the Fleet Admiral step back inside and got a nod... So this was the start of the story. The new home of the UNSC and Elite ship would be interesting to deal with. Research and Development agreements were being written up, as well as housing accommodation for the UNSC personnel... And other agreements needing to be signed...