The dark black sky, pinned with stars. Unpolluted beauty, bar none. This is what the people of Earth saw, when they looked up in wonder at the universe before them. They never imagined that light years away, in another solar system, new life was coming to be. Several large ships broke the planes of existence themselves, piercing with heavenly fury into the new world. The ships were large, with silver clad armor on all sides. Shimmering lights of blue adorned their facets. Inscribed on each side, the words:

UNSC

The ships slide through space with ease, cutting through ethereal wakes of stardust. On board, Human men and women, working in succinct harmony, raced to gather their bearings. They did not know where they were. Across the planes, there was a war raging. The Covenant, an alien alliance, was vowing to destroy the Humans. On another front, the Forerunner possessed AI Cortana was waging her own war. Now, the Human's largest ship, the UNSC Infinity, and her carrier group of over 20 smaller ships, was stranded in a distant part of the Galaxy.

As men and women ran, Captain Tom Lasky strode with confidence. He held his head in a stately manner, parting the wash of frantic seamen running before him. The Captain took information down as he went, making sure to get his bearings and have his morning coffee on the way to the bridge. Many saw him as an arrogant leader, but many saw him as just the beacon of hope needed.

When he arrived on the bridge, he ordered a full sensor sweep. What came back rattled him to his core. The ship had made an errant slipspace jump, and they were in Sangheili space. The ship prior had been on route to Earth. Lasky looked over his instrumentation, was briefed over and over for what felt like hours. One thing was certain, a strange object had appeared twenty-two thousand kilometers to their port side.

Ordering an investigation, a command was placed to turn the massive five thousand and seven hundred meter ship towards the prong shaped object, and blast it with a full array of sensors. Lasky, being a pragmatist, also encouraged his Spartans and Pilots to be ready for any combat scenario. The rest of the ship was put at battle ready status.

Lasky turned on his heals, quick firing orders to the bridge officers as he walked towards the door to meet Spartan Sarah Palmer, who was very intereseted to know why her Spartans were suiting up after only 4 hours of downtime. Lasky would recall her as "The maddest I've ever see a Spartan". The Elevator stopped behind the sliding double doors with an audible Shuh-thunk. Tom stood at attention in honor of the person behind the door.

Sarah Palmer, the leader of the Spartan IV's on Infinity, was tall and imposing. She had a fiery temper but also the will to lead under pressure. She was one of the Captain's closest friends, and one of his most trusted advisors. She knew how to handle people like John-117, as well as your everyday man. What she did not know how to handle, was being deep within Sangheili territory without a clue what to do. What was worse, is that the home planet of the Elites...seemed to be gone.

"Tom...tell me you got something?" Palmer rang out. She was wearing a casual T-shirt that was soaked in sweat, and a pair of workout pants. A stark contrast to Tom's prim and proper uniform.

"I can't say that I do, Sarah. We came out of slipspace not even 15 minutes ago. Our full sensor sweep, and the analysis that followed, is coming up with only two things" Lasky spoke softly, not wanting any of the passing privates to hear. He led Commander Palmer to his personal office. Someplace he could talk without being overheard.

"Sangheilios is gone. That's the first big one. Roland, have you had a chance to analize the Cartographic data we've collected yet?" Lasky sat behind his desk, sipping at a cup of coffee, while Sarah laid down on the couch adjacent from him.

"Yes Captain. I'm going to be very frank here, and upfront. The stars have moved. They're not in the proper place for 2558"

"What are you implying?" Lasky bit, a sudden tension in his chest. With a slam of his cup, the pang of confusion grew stronger. He stood, pacing the room now, waiting for Roland to explain himself. His mind was awash with the possibilities and consequences of all this.

"The only way I can make sense of this is by imposing Star charts from the year 2185 onto our current data. It's the only way these charts make sense, sir. I just don't understand how we're viewing things from a perspective so far in the past. I do hope you understand this makes no sense"

"What the fuck do you mean it makes no sense, Roland? You're supposed to be smarter than all of us, even Halsey!"

"My my, Miss Palmer, did someone wake up on the wrong side of the bed? And no, I don't think I'm smarter than Doctor Halsey. As much as it hurts to say. Perhaps getting her perspective would be worthwhile? I know that she's on the ship. She engineered the engines that brought us to this...odd sector of space"

"No way. The last thing we need is her sticking her fingers further into the anatomy of the UNSC's flagship. For all we know, she's a traitor" Sarah mused, sitting up to give her full attention to the situation. Her face gleamed red beneath the mess of brown hair laying against her face. She didn't have time to make herself presentable. Soldiers rarely do.

"Sarah...if what my gut tells me is true, I don't think there is anyone out there to communicate with her. We need to get our bearings as well as possible and try to get back to Earth" Tom strode out of the office, leaving Sarah with her thoughts. He was determined to figure out this mystery, and when he was this determined, nothing stopped him.

Hours passed as exploratory missions were sent out to the areas surrounding the strange prong shaped station, to the planets. Photographs were taken of the stars to match them up, to see if maybe the sensors were lying. The Captain of the ship ran himself ragged, wracking his mind on things that were far above his pay grade.

He consulted with technicians, stood in on operating procedures, and when the data came back, was the first in the labs to watch it be unraveled. To see the images torn into layers, shreds, astrometric data, Lines and graphs that gave all that they needed to know. Doctor Halsey still hadn't been informed of the ill goings on, but was suspicious. She knew the Captain would come knocking eventually. Halsey had a good ear for things. She liked to just listen.

And soon, she was proven correct. The staunch Captain, the one willing to take a chance on her and bring her aboard his ship, walked into the cell. He was flanked by two Spartans, but they weren't Spartan IV's, they were older. More experienced. They wore the scars of combat on their helmets, chest pieces and legs. These were Spartan-IIIs.

"I see that you've decided to bring out the old models, Captain" She mused, in her usually ho-hum manner. The Doctor stood and walked closer to the door seperating them, and stared with her steely gaze into the very soul of the Supreme Commander of the ship she had been calling home for the last few weeks.

"I needed something more reliable to handle this. Your Spartan Fours are great, true achievements. But they're all out on assignment right now. You see, Doctor, we've run afoul of the slipspace drives you installed and now we're in a bit of a pinch. I'd like your help"

"Run afoul? What do you mean by that, Mr. Lasky?" Halsey snapped, an angry expression forming on her face. How dare they assume it's my fault.

"I mean, that we've somehow ended up in the Sangheilios system, but there's no Sangheilios to be found. Just a gas giant and a few moons. Roland seems convinced we're in the past. I don't see how that's in any way possible, seeing as even hundreds of years ago, Sangheilios was still here" Lasky pulled a rolling chair over and say in it, gesturing to the map behind him. Just two planets were displayed on the hologram, and none of them were familiar.

"I could tell you my theory, but I'm sure you wouldn't like it. Have you ever heard of string theory? Of course you have, ever Naval captain takes an intro to physics" She stared at the now lounging Captain, fire in her eyes backing her words.

"You mean to tell me that we've jumped into another universe entirely? Is that it?"

"It's a theory I've been working on behind the scenes. Slipspace drives, in the simplest of terms, tear a whole into the subspace layer that connects all things. We re-emerge from that realm where we want to be. Subspace also connects the strings of our universes. Have you ever wondered why they say slipspace travel is a hands-off experience?" Lasky gestured, egging her on to continue.

"Any course correction in the split few seconds of travel can, theoretically, cause a ship to jump out of it's string and into another" Halsey moved to the back of her cell, sitting on the bed. She let him take in what she said fully.

"Out of everything I've heard today, I guess that makes the most sense. Trust me, Doctor, having to deal with a panicked crew, an AI that doesn't know what the hell's going on, and a XO who would rather die that ask for help, can be very stressful"

"I suppose. Is there anything else anomalous that I should know about?" Halsey asked, a hint of genuine understanding in her voice. Lasky looked down and closed his eyes, not sure if he should really be bringing this up. He brought up a close image of the prong shaped station, and it's blue energy field near the centre.

But before Halsey could even answer, the Captain's attention was diverted to a comms unit by one of his Spartans.

"Captain to the Bridge. We have an incoming contact, they're small and giving off no heat. They're approaching from a stealth angle, and are moving quick. I'm using the Barrey Array to try and get pictures of the ships"

Lasky looked over. Now the show had begun.