Author's Note: Right, so here's my first Non-Harry Potter Plot Bunny. Part 1 of 3, I believe.
August 30th 2552 A.D
UNSC Fortress World Reach
Epsilon Eridani System
The ramp dropped with a hum, letting in the light of daylight and the cacophonous roar of the point defence weapon on the ONI Sahara class Prowler, Iram of the Pillars. Sergeant Jonathan Cole an ODST deployed with the stealth ship, was glad for the noise damping abilities of his helmet as the turret's pulse laser tore at an ailing Covenant Phantom ahead of them.
He, along with his squad, didn't need to be told what to do once the ramp kissed the earth. Rushing down it onto the arid soil gun up and thundering as he spotted hostiles near his objective.
His modified MA37 assault rifle ripping a Covenant grunt to the ground, causing the little freak's methane tank to explode in the process. He took down another two grunts as the Phantom overhead finally gave in and listed heavily to the side sweeping away low over the combat zone to impact on the ground off to the left with a roar as it's generators exploded in a plume of blue and violet flame.
He almost didn't hear the strangled yell of that last Elite as it staggered under the fusillade of automatic weapons fire directed against it. It's shields popping with a crack before the elite tumbled backward riddled with holes.
As satisfying as killing Covenant was after everything they'd done to humanity, they were running short on time and had other matters to attend to. He barked an order to his squad and they fanned out to chase off the remaining Covenant infantry while he hurried towards the objective, where she lay struggling on the ground. The sole surviving human in the area prior to their arrival.
Not just any human though, a Spartan, one of humanity's best. As least she was, when she wasn't bleeding all over the place, after having eight kinds of hell kicked out of her by aliens. She was badly off, he could tell that much even as he slid in beside her. "Medic!" He bellowed and saw one of the ship's medics was already hurrying down the ramp with a first aid kit.
He turned his attention back to their perimeter while the medic got to work, but still noticed the man injecting pain killers and enough bio-foam to hold together a swiss cheesed elephant in through the Spartan's armour ports.
Then it was time to move again, him calling his team over to help haul the woman back aboard the ship. Not that it was easy, she weighed a monumental amount in all her armour. The team had to work together just to drag the wounded spartan aboard.
The ship lifted off as soon as she was up the ramp, which closed behind them. It wasn't over for them yet though. Hauling one of humanity's super-soldiers to the med-bay was going to be a task.
Worth it though, for a hero who had saved thousands.
The deck shifted beneath them, causing the crew to stagger as the vessel started evasive maneuvers. Inertial dampers and artificial gravity were all well and good, but there was only so much they could do for a crew when the little ship they were riding in went into a roll in an attempt to escape it's pursuers.
The medics were doing their best with the limited supplies in the small ship's medical bay but they were hard pressed to stabilize the wounded Spartan under such conditions.
An ONI prowler of any class is a fast and agile vessel, but it's stealth capabilities were limited in broad daylight while in atmosphere. A small wing of banshees had soon picked up their trail as they'd attempted to make for open void. Where their escort was hiding, waiting to help them escape the system.
Once they'd made it into space of course. Such vessels wouldn't be around for long should they break cover so early and attempt to enter atmosphere. So it was down to the Prowler and a pair of atmospheric fighters the ground side resistance had scrambled to get them out of there.
The fighters were doing their best, but they were badly outnumbered. They managed to take down four of the Covenant Banshee fighters on their first pass. And had managed to shoot down another two before the first UNSC fighter took a hit, shearing off it's wing and sending it tumbling ground-ward. The remaining fighter was fighting to stay in the air as much as the prowler was, but finally they too were shot down, sacrificing themselves to punch a hole through the remaining fighters to allow the Prowler to make a break upwards.
The medics sighed somewhat in relief as the ships movements stabilized somewhat as it started to climb. For the moment it was ahead of it's foes, in atmosphere it's larger more bulky frame was a liability but out in low atmosphere and vacuum it's heavier engines were allowing it to widen the gap between themselves and their pursuers.
UNSC Stand and Deliver
In Orbit of UNSC Fortress World Reach
Epsilon Eridani System
They would be running then, Captain Nathaniel Hale reflected tired, there was no other word for it, no comfortable lie they could tell themselves in a situation like this. The UNSC fleet around Reach was in shambles now. What remained of it in this system, and the forces on the planets surface has either been scattered or had been wiped out in their entirety.
To many in the UNSC, it seemed like they'd never stopped running since the beginning of the conflict between themselves and the alien coalition known as the Covenant. Countless human worlds had burned, and untold billions had been slaughtered, all in the name of the alien gods.
Reach was no different, though they had hoped and prayed that it would be. It had been one of the UNSC fleets' primary staging areas in their long and brutal war. In truth the military at Reach had given a good accounting of itself, all told, inflicting extreme casualties on the hostile fleets before being overwhelmed. The marines had done their best to slow the enemy advance on the ground allowing civilians to escape, all in all to little avail.
The mood aboard the UNSC support carrier Stand and Deliver, was grim to say the least. They were all but alone now, the only remaining organized UNSC Naval forces in system following the flight of the Pillar of Autumn. This little flotilla included them, the heavy frigates Atlanta, Saratoga and Caesar, and the ONI prowler Iram of the Pillars. Not exactly a force to be reckoned with when matched against the Covenant's own marshalled ships. Especially considering the dozen or so civilian transports, freighters and liners which were sheltering with them.
The problem lay in the technological superiority of the enemy, while under the right conditions a UNSC vessel could dish out a great deal of damage, maybe even more than the Covenant's own weapons, the Covenant's shielding and plasma technology allowed them greater adaptability once within range of the human ships. Head to head, their little fleet of survivors hiding among the wreckage of a UNSC ship graveyard would not stand a chance against the alien juggernauts.
In fact, in all likelihood their little flotilla would have already been destroyed had they not put in so much effort into simply going unnoticed. They had floated here for days, among the wrecks and corpses of friends running on minimal power doing everything in their abilities to hide their emissions from sensors. They would not be here at all if not for their critical mission.
This task force had one overriding imperative, to secure and evacuate any and all UNSC high value assets. However, as the Covenant glassed the planet, using high powered energy projectors to scorch the planet's surface, more and more of these assets vanished in the inferno and more civilian ships fled in hopes of finding safety. The last asset that had been on the planet that they knew of was en route to them now, hidden aboard the Iram as it slipped back into orbit and towards their position.
In the small stealth ship's medical bay, under the labouring care of the ONI surgeons was the last Spartan to have remained on Reach. A genetically modified super soldier designation Sierra B-312, Spartan Elizabeth, formerly Noble six.
The atmosphere aboard the bridge of the Stand and Deliver, the flotilla's command ship was tense, and Captain Nathaniel Hale was as nervous as any of them, though he did hide it better than most. As soon as the Iram was secured to the underslung docking cradle they would begin preparations to depart. A process which would require sparking up his little fleet's primary reactors and spooling up their jump drives in order to enter slipspace and make their run for home.
Naturally, igniting a few fusion reactors would not go unnoticed by the enemy, not when they were so close at hand. An enemy flotilla drifted not a hundred kilometers away, an ORS class heavy cruiser, a pair of CAR class frigates, and an SDV heavy corvette. The cruiser alone could smash their little formation to pieces in open combat.
This sense of nervous anticipation had caused an unnatural hush to fall over the crew. As though they feared the enemy would sense their preparations even in vacuum if they were too loud. Nathaniel couldn't blame them given everything he'd seen.
The Prowler streaked onward, hastening towards the debris field where they knew the small fleet of reinforcements waited. Time was growing short though. They knew they'd been spotted, and could see the Banshees must have called in about them, because a Covenant formation was headed their way.
Without shields of any sort, the light plating used to enhance their stealth capabilities would be worse than useless in a fight. They couldn't afford to take even a single hit from the much heavier vessels making their way towards them.
Within it's medical bay, the field surgeons and medics had finally managed, with difficulty to get the armour off their patient. No mean feat considering their current conditions and how hard it is to open Spartan Mjolnir armour under ideal circumstances.
They began cutting at the wounded soldier's under-suit as the crew back on the bridge tight beamed a message to the waiting fleet. Warning them to be ready to let them dock.
They were only a hundred kilometres away when they received confirmation.
UNSC Stand and Deliver
In Orbit of UNSC Fortress World Reach
Epsilon Eridani System
The Captain sighed in relief as one of his officers turned and gave him the thumbs up. The prowler was docked in one of Stand and Deliver's bays. "Iram requests permission to begin transfer of it's cargo Captain. Asset Sierra B-312 is in need of urgent medical care. They're also requesting permission to transfer AI ADT 6849-9 to the Stand and Deliver sir." His comms specialist reported quietly, she appeared nervous, glancing at the holographic display which currently showed the space surrounding Reach, her eyes locking onto that cluster of Covenant ships which was closing on the debris field.
He nodded, he'd been expecting that in all honesty, reports prior to the extraction of the Spartan had her situation as highly tenuous. She'd been surrounded at the time the EVAC ship had been sent to her location. "Permission granted on both counts. Joan, you mind opening some space for our guest?" he asked glancing up at the AI's projection pedestal.
Joan, was the Stand and Deliver's resident Smart AI. She had taken a liking to the ship's chivalrous name, and had chosen her identity accordingly. Adopting the persona of Joan of Arc. Though she obviously lacked the real Joan's personality. She appeared in her avatar form as a young woman clad in light armour.
The avatar in question materialized on the plinth and she bowed, before stepping aside allowing "Auntie Dot" to materialize. Dot usually, due to her wide spread and varied purview back on Reach had tended towards a simple avatar in order to preserve computational power for her many responsibilities. Her abilities were often taxed enough that she was mistaken for a so called "Dumb AI". Here however, with her processes less strained she had adopted her chosen form.
Auntie Dot, was for all appearances a woman just short of middle age, garbed in the sort of casual clothes that one might expect to see on a civilian woman these days, her hair pulled back into a rough knot showcasing a gentle and friendly face. "My thanks Captain Hale, for your timely rescue and that of my charge."
He just chuckled. "We're not out of here yet. But your thanks are appreciated. Now, if you two could coordinate with the Caesar, Saratoga and Atlanta we need to get moving, and fast, before that formation catches on. Make sure the Civies are ready to run too."
The two AI's nodded or bowed. Joan was the one who spoke up however. "It shall be done Captain. In communication with the other ships now…Confirmed. All ships' fusion reactors primed, awaiting order to begin primary ignition."
He nodded, and considered his crew. "All crew to combat stations, set condition red throughout the ship." He ordered, and the crew began to hurry about their preparations. The lights dimmed and one of his officers began relaying his command over the ship wide comm. He turned back to the AIs. Strictly speaking, seeing as neither were truly housed within the pedestal, he need not actually turn to look at them, but he did none the less. "Begin primary ignition."
He felt the ship hum slightly beneath his feet as the primary reaction kicked off, the ships compensators soon smoothing out the vibration till it was no longer notable. "Begin spooling up the slip space engines and divert power to the primary guns. I want to be able to shoot back if they come for us."
The AI's nodded, the ships primary armament was a pair of heavy magnetic accelerator cannons, as such they required a massive charge in their capacitors to fire. The problem was that such capacitors took time to fully charge, not something you wanted to try and do when the enemy might be bearing down on you.
An alarm whooped and one of the sensor operators, a lieutenant stood quickly, grabbing his attention. "Captain, enemy formation has detected us, they just ran a sensor sweep over us and are now turning."
"Understood, all hands to battle stations, marines on standby to repel boarders."
Another alarm howled and a pair of marines rushed onto the bridge taking up positions at the door, whilst checking their weapons.
"Enemy formation accelerating." Auntie Dot reported soberly.
"All ships move out of the debris field. Time to full Slip space drive charge?"
Dot paused but a moment, likely consulting the data. "three minutes, enemy intercept in one minute."
He nodded. "Give us firing solutions on that heavy cruiser. Relay solutions for the other ships to the rest of the flotilla."
The AI nodded. "Done, firing solution complete. MAC guns fully charged in thirty seconds." She reported.
"Dot you're in charge of point defence, Joan load all forward archer pods and get me a firing solution, I want our first volley landing just after the MAC barrage."
The horizon, such as it was out in space cleared as they pressed outwards through the wreckage, the pale purple-red dots of the covenant vessels growing larger all the time. "Confirmed, solution input." There was a notable pause, the enemy ships drawing closer and the two frigates escorting the Stand and Deliver pulling along side as they too exited the field.
"Begin jump calculations." He ordered and took his place in the command chair.
He saw the wink and sparkle begin in the enemy formation, so Joan's next words didn't surprise him when they came. "Enemy ships are charging weapons, hostile single ships deploying…"
"MAC guns charged you may fire when ready." Dot reported a moment later. "All ships report prepared for combat."
He paused, if only for a beat and then exhaled, this was it. "Dot, Joan, weapons free, fire at will."
There was the muffled rumble and thump and soon the sky ahead of them was filled with white contrails of hundreds of missiles, launched from both his own vessel and his escorts. They closed rapidly with the enemy formation. Moments before they struck, the twin hammer on anvil sound of the MAC guns reverberated through the ship.
To the naked eye trying to make sense of seeing something moving an appreciable fraction of the speed of light, the MAC rounds were nothing but a brief flash of light lancing out towards the enemy. A moment later followed by the undeniable flashes of impacts. The Frigate's rounds struck their counterparts dead on, directly on their bows, followed within milliseconds by the firework like crackle and rippling wave of fire that heralded the missiles landing on target. One of them, perhaps the one which had begun charging it's shields the latest twisted and writhed as the MAC rounds from Atlanta and Saratoga punctured it's underpowered shield and rendered it vulnerable to the missiles which tore at it moments later. The other frigate's shields collapsed soon after but the damage was less severe, with fewer missiles getting through.
As for the attack on the cruiser it was, if anything, even more spectacular to watch. The Stand and Deliver's twin heavy MAC guns hammered the enemy shield, the strain of absorbing the first blow allowing the second which followed mere moments behind to pass through relatively unhindered. There was a great gout of flame as the round tore through the heavy cruisers starboard side from bow to stern. Not a killing blow but not something the vessel could just shrug off either. The missile struck moments later, again the shields struggled to hold against the fusillade. Catching the balance but allowing a small number to impact against it's exposed hull.
"Begin recharging the MAC guns, all ahead full, I want to blow past them and then make the jump." He instructed. Immediately his ears were met with the sound of confirmations from his crew and the AI.
They pressed forward, the ship surging beneath them. "Status of the enemy fleet?"
"One CAR class frigate inoperable, the second is still functioning but it's forward guns are damaged. The Corvette is untouched as yet, and the Heavy Cruiser has sustained a serious hull breached on it's starboard side. A number of that flank's weapon systems are off line, we have plotted a course along that side." Joan reported.
"Sir the enemy is preparing to fire." Dot warned.
Sure enough he could see the hellish fire of the enemies' plasma lines lighting up. "Time to jump?" He barked.
"Thirty seconds till charged, but we need to get beyond the enemy position first." An officer warned.
He nodded. "Very well, auto turrets, deck guns and missile pods fire at will…"
"Incoming fire!" Barked Dot.
Sure enough as the thump of missiles launching once again filled the air, bolts of plasma streaked off the enemies bows. "Evasive maneuvers." he instructed and the ship rumbled as it fired emergency thrusters shunting it aside allowing the enemy torpedoes to streak past. It'd be back around soon enough but a projectile like that took time to turn around.
"Alert! Frigate Caesar has taken a strike on it's primary fusion reactor, she's losing atmosphere…" a groan rose from the crew at the AI's words, a strike on the reactor would prevent the ship from jumping. That she was losing atmosphere was even worse.
"Sir the enemy corvette is turning to follow us…The other ships are closing in on the Caesar…" Joan reported soberly. "We are passing below the enemy formation now."
Sure enough the armoured bulk of the Covenant Heavy Cruiser, twisted above them as it turned to focus on the ailing frigate. "Alert, frigate Caesar has set in a collision course with the hostile frigate…" There was a flash off the port side a few moments later.
"Frigate Caesar has been destroyed, it impacted the enemy frigate amid ship, both ships have been rendered inoperable…" Dot paused then nodded. "We are clear for slip space transition both remaining vessels prepare for transition…" She declared as a flash of light ignited in front of them the whirling nimbus of slip space opening before them. "If you want to jump…
"Hmmm, curious…"
Nathaniel's eyes cut sharply to the AI. "What?"
"Minor ripple in the slip space threshold." She explained. "Shouldn't stop us from jumping though." She assured him then paused. "Frigates Atlanta and Saratoga are away…"
Covenant Vessel Prophet's Flame
In Orbit of Human World
Designated Reach
The Sangheili ship master Garael T'suum swore angrily under his breath as the cursed human vessels vanished one after the other from sensors. "What happened!" He demanded, his tone tight, perhaps fearing the answer he already suspected.
One of his lieutenants, a major by the name of Careaus T'char consulted his readouts before reporting. "They've fled into slip space. Ship Master, Chieftain Nyrrevus has also jumped away!"
He fought the urge to curse again. That the humans had fled was no great surprise, it was their way when so hopelessly outmatched. He had however hoped that he would cripple or destroy more of their ships before they did.
The battle had…not gone as planned to put it mildly. The ship master in charge of the Horripedous had failed to charge his shields in a timely fashion and so had been destroyed by the primitives' opening volley. Termagant had weathered the assault better only to in turn be destroyed when one of the enemy had sacrificed itself by colliding with them in order to buy time for it's compatriots. His own vessel had taken it's blows well enough but had been unable to stop the three remaining human warships from escaping into slip space. That the unarmed 'civilian' craft had escaped as well was merely salt in the wound.
Two frigates in exchange for one of the human's own was not a worthy trade. That the corvette which had so recently been under his command had chased off after foes who so severely outweighed it, only assured it's own destruction.
His eyes flashed with ire as he considered that. When the Faith's Hammer under it's Jiralhanae ship master had been assigned to him against his wishes, he'd been assured the vessels clan of savages were more circumspect than their brethren, this appeared to have been a falsehood.
"Very well, secure from battle readiness. Dispatch recovery teams to the Termagant and Horripedous perhaps some yet live aboard them…" He paused considering. "Communications, please relay the results of the battle to command. I shall be in my quarters."
UNSC Stand and Deliver
Slipspace, Location Indeterminate
Dot cocked a hip as she stared off into space, or rather into the void that was slip space. "Huh, there it is again, Joan would you mind checking my readings?" She requested. Over the last two and a half hours during which they had been flying through slip space they had encountered no less than twelve…ripples, in slip space around them. Nothing serious, merely a tremor which caused the ship's sensors to run wild for a moment before settling.
Joan paused her own routines, shifting some of her processing power to check her compatriot's findings before resuming her work. All told this took less than a millisecond, and would be completely unnoticeable by the crew had they been watching. "I agree, they're accelerating. But what they mean I honestly could not say."
"Should I alert the Captain?" Dot wondered.
Joan gave the AI equivalent of a shrug, not even bothering to depict one through her avatar. "Regardless of it's concerning frequency, there is nothing that could be done about it save dropping out of slipspace. As we have no way of knowing exactly where we are or what is in the vicinity until we reach our destination dropping out now could have dire consequences. We'd also run the risk of losing the Atlanta, the Saratoga and all the civilian ships." She noted.
Dot nodded. "I know that, but do you think the Captain would prefer to be informed anyways? You know him better than I."
Joan paused considering. A process which took a full second to manage, an absurdly long silence as far as AI's were concerned. But then again the task of predicting a human's behaviour was not usually an easy one. "No, in the past three days he has received precisely three hours of REM sleep, he needs his rest to perform his duties efficiently. I will inform him once he awakens."
Dot signalled understanding. "And what of the rest of the crew? I do not have access to the med bay. I am curious as to Noble Six's status."
"Stabilizing, she suffered severe trauma prior to extraction." Joan reported before forwarding the reports to the other AI.
Dot reviewed them and sighed. "I'll note it in the logs." She paused and then straightened, her voice coming through the ships intercoms when she spoke again. "Attention all crew, ETA to destination twelve hours."
SDV class Covenant Corvette
Faith's Hammer
Slipspace, Location Indeterminate
Ship Master and Chieftain of the Jiralhanae Nyrrevus resettled himself himself in his command chair, and surveyed the bridge around him. "Are you certain?" He asked eventually. Trying to ignore the staring eyes of his Sangheili advisor Solan Varitenee'. The 'Elite' had been silent since they'd jumped. It was unnerving.
The Jiralhanae Ultra Captain, a large heavily armoured pack mate name Tytanus nodded from where he knelt before him, his head bowed. "Yes my chieftain, I had the Huragok check the calculations myself, navigator Huriat was correct. The slipspace disturbances are accelerating."
He nodded, he had suspected as much, Huriat, despite being young and somewhat headstrong was a dutiful and thoughtful navigator. "Very well, did the Huragok have a solution or explanation?"
The Captain shook his head again. "No chieftain, it was unlike anything Heavier than Some has encountered before. He has no solution beyond dropping out of slip space…"
The chieftain grumbled to himself. He had not been terribly eager to chase the UNSC on a blind jump even if there was only one star system of note along their projected path. But he'd known his duty, and what was expected of him.
He suspected given their casualties prior to their departure that the Sangheili Ship Master was likely cursing him for chasing after the foe. But what choice did he have? If he had not he would have been accused by that same shipmaster of cowardice for allowing the enemy to escape. Most Sangheili made no effort to hide their distaste for his kind, nor that they desired him stripped of rank and cast from the navy.
This way at least any appeals he made to the leadership might bear more weight. Assuming Solan didn't contradict his account…
Abandoning the chase now due to a small anomaly in their jump would ruin that plan however, especially if he down jumped into the middle of a debris field and shredded his vessel. "ETA to destination?"
"Eight hours Chieftain"
He nodded and pushed to his feet. "Very well, notify me when we are due to arrive. I will be in my cabin. For now, I wish not to be disturbed, unless something more serious arises…"
"Yes, Chieftain."
He paused briefly considering the Elite, where he stood nearby. "Ultra Varitenee', you have the bridge in my absence." He murmured, hoping the small display of good will would make a difference on that front.
Nyrrevus, and indeed all their kind had fought a long time for more equal treatment within the Covenant, that he'd been granted a new ship, and not an aging and decaying relic was a boon, that his ship had a Huragok, even if it was alone was something which ensured he had no intention of giving the Hierarchs the excuse to take away what they had given him.
He paced the halls, inspecting the crew he passed on his way to the cabin. His clan, the entirety of it, was aboard this vessel, they knew no other home now. Losing it would be unforgivable. When he opened the door to his chambers he was met with a cacophony of noise, and he smiled. Not that any human would recognize the gesture as such.
The hooting and howling of his youngest children abruptly trailed off as they spotted him, pausing as they realized he had returned home early. The noise once again erupted louder than ever as the cubs, six of them, stampeded towards their father.
Most were too young to be speaking, even the tallest only came up to his waist. Tecktus his oldest son. "Chieftain's Home!" he hollered as he wrapped himself around his sire's leg.
A light chuckle could be heard and Nyrrevus looked up to see his mate enter the room. "Nyr' you're early. I didn't expect you for another few cycles." She teased.
He grinned, in a fashion that for his kind could be considered charmingly roguish. "We are in slip space Myra, there is very little for me to do until we arrive at our destination. How are the young ones?"
Her expression softened a bit as she looked to the gathered cubs. "Well enough, though I think Tika' has a bit of a stomach ache. She ate too much during her morning meal."
He chuckled fondly, and poked the cub in question his youngest daughter, causing her to purr. "Just like her father then…"
Myra cocked her head curiously at him. "What troubles you Nyr' I can smell your worry."
He sighed wearily, growing serious, "The battle did not go well my mate. We lost two frigates claiming only one of the enemy's." He admitted. "The enemy command ship and it's remaining escorts fled."
She nodded, a stinging defeat for their side. "And now we chase them?"
"Yes, alone too if I'm not mistaken."
She looked troubled. "Can we defeat such foes?"
"I don't know, perhaps if we're lucky. I admit it is even odds on whether or not we will arrive at the same place they will, it was a blind jump."
She grimaced growling under her breath. "Garael, you had to pursue or risk him accusing you of cowardice in the line of duty, yes?"
Nyrrevus nodded stoically. "Yes, if nothing else we might be able to claim we gave chase this way."
Myra paused before she patted him consolingly on the shoulder. "I'll prepare you a small meal. It is nearly midday anyways. Perhaps we shall be fortunate and Prophets willing the humans will not be there when we arrive?"
He nodded dutifully, neither of them were very devout members of the faith in truth, submitting to the Covenant because it was tradition and their honour demanded they support the High Chieftains who were more stringent in their belief. "If the Prophets will it."
They silent for a time, before his mate spoke up. "What are their names?" She asked, and he looked to her in confusion. So she clarified. "The Human vessels, they always have such interesting names. So different from our own."
He nodded understanding. It was a quirk of Myra's personality that she took interest in such things, one he was fond of, so he often indulged her curiosity. "Stand and Deliver, Saratoga and Atlanta if the Luminary is to be believed." He relayed, his tongue stumbling somewhat over the alien words.
The Luminary was a curious device, modelled extensively around a backwards engineered Forerunner sensor suite, the device performed much of the identification and translation work for the ship and it's personnel.
Myra bobbed her head as she pondered those names. "I wonder what they mean?"
He shrugged. "Who knows, something heretical no doubt." He grumbled. After all wasn't everything with the humans? Or so the Prophets always said.
Eight Hours later
Covenant Corvette Faith's Hammer
Slipspace, Location Indeterminate
Nyrrevus stamped tiredly onto the bridge, Solan finally calling for relief a short time previous. He had made the…mistake, once again, of settling in for a nap after his meal, and had slept away a good deal of the day. Something which always left him a bit grumpy, not to mention the crick he'd developed in his neck lying down as he had.
As it was, it was time to drop out of slip space and get their bearings. In all likelihood the humans would not be present, their FTL drives being notoriously slower than their Covenant counterparts. That was assuming this was the same destination as the one the Humans had intended.
"Dropping out of slip space in 3-2-1," Chanted the helmsman, then pressed the control cutting their drive and dropping back into the traditional three to four dimensions of reality.
A star appeared far in the distance as they exited, a planet nearer at hand, a small green and blue world with a pair of moons orbiting it. "Hostiles, position?" The Chieftain demanded thumping down into his chair.
There was an angry tone from one of the consoles and the operator growled a curse under his breath, before retrying his scan. Nyrrevus raised an amused brow at the Minor as he cursed again. That last imprecation against the console's mother had been as vulgar as it was amusing.
The console lit up red and again it made the angry tone. "Uh…No hostiles detected Chieftain." He assured his clansmen. "I just…the navigation system is being difficult. Permission to run a diagnostic?"
He waved his hand, granting permission. The immediate threat was absent he could relax at least a little for the moment.
He watched the small world ahead of them turn in the pale light of it's star. Again he heard the helmsman curse. "Chieftain, I believe we have a problem. Either we did not arrive at our intended destination or the sensors are faulty. May I get the Huragok to take a look at it?"
The Chieftain nodded, the vessel had sustained no damage in the previous battle and the engines were not faulty, the Huragok was likely tending to standard maintenance at the moment. "Permission granted helmsman Spath."
He considered the distant world as the helmsman spoke over the comm to the engineer. "Sensors, are their any life signs coming from that planet?" he asked pointing vaguely towards the planet.
There was a pause as the operator at that station worked. "Affirmative Chieftain, but we are too far away for a clear reading. Do you desire us to approach?"
Nyrrevus shook his head. If they could not get clear readings on the planet, neither could any there get readings on them. If the Humans had been so foolish as to lead them directly to one of their worlds, it would likely be defended as Reach had been, attacking it alone with his relatively small vessel would be suicide, no it was better to wait.
A few minutes later and the door onto the bridge slid open, the trilling whistles of the Huragok heralding it's arrival as it drifted towards the helmsman who was waving it over.
Huragok, were curious creatures, Nyrrevus reflected. They cared nothing for the typical activities of other sentient species, caring for discovery and the manipulation of machines instead. with a sort of naive innocence that even his kind tended to find somewhat charming.
The Huragok proceeded to the console and rapidly began disassembling it, a minute later rebuilding it before drifting to the luminary, and repeating the procedure. It then returned to the Helmsman and trilled mournfully to him, getting a low grumble in response before drifting towards the shipmaster's chair.
"I am sorry Chieftain, but I could not find any malfunction in the equipment you required me to examine." Heavier than Some trilled, his translation collar interpreting it for the Chieftain's ears. It's tentacles rolling and unrolling in distress.
"Then we did not arrive at our intended destination?" He clarified. He wasn't sure if that was good or bad for his plan to appease the Prophets.
The Huragok flailed in a decidedly negative fashion. "No Chieftain, this ship travelled the correct time in slip space on the correct vector. This is where we are supposed to be."
Nyrrevus felt his brow furrow in confusion. "Then why is the console reporting an error? Surely if we are where we were intended to be…"
The engineer was already warbling and flailing excitedly "While the course was correct, as was the travel time the astrogations readouts are not matching those we should be receiving given our position. We have arrived at the correct grid coordinates on the galactic map, but the stars do not align with those the Luminary predicted prior to jumping." The Huragok explained.
"Then the issue is with the Luminary." It was more of a statement than a question.
The creature jerked it's head side to side, "Negative. Luminary functioning properly, aside from consecrated alterations to identifications. This ship is where it is supposed to be, but where it is supposed to be is not here…" The engineer struggled to explain.
He blinked at the creature and sighed. "Engineer Heavier than Some, is it possible that the Luminary is mistaken, or that the…anomalies we encounter while in transit could cause such an error?"
The Huragok stilled. Then began flailing wildly trilling excitedly. "Luminary correct, no errors or malfunctions found. However, anomaly could account for issue, would need to run experiments…Warning, require more power to the Luminary, may I proceed?"
He waved his hand ushering the strange being off.
It was two hours later when the creature returned. "Chieftain, while inconclusive, results from diagnostics and experiments on the slipspace drive suggest the anomaly may indeed be responsible for the error detected. However no means exist to confirm hypothesis."
"I don't need confirmation. Can you explain what has happened?" He asked, feeling a headache coming on.
A bob of the head, "Slipspace is a secondary reality split from the reality ascribed by the traditional four dimensions." Heavier than Some explained patiently. "That is to say it is a different dimension unto itself. It is known from time to time to act in ways not typical of normal space and time. There are over two hundred recorded incidence of limited temporal travel in Covenant and Forerunner databases. Most involving ships arriving a few hours before they left. However other anomalies have been theorized about extensively…"
Nyrrevus blinked at the creature watching him patiently for signs of understanding. "You're saying we may have traveled through time."
The floating entity gave an indecipherable shrug. Or what counted as a shrug for a creature with no shoulders and which floated using a bag of explosive gases. "Yes, and no. As I have stated I have no way of confirming it but I believe this vessel and it's crew have travelled not only backwards in time, as suggested by the apparent spin of the local galactic arm, but possibly from one reality to another as only a handful of the stars detected match those in our database…"
Were this any other creature speaking to him Nyrrevus would have done one of three things. First if it had been one of his Jiralhanae telling him this he would have laughed at him. Second if this had been any other member of the Covenant he would have called them a liar. And finally if a human had dared to suggest such a thing he would have killed him for daring to mock him. That it was a Huragok, a species which didn't understand the concept of falsehood or humour particularly well, he instead pushed to his feet and approached the window. His crew, having overheard his conversation with the Huragok had stilled and were now watching him fearfully.
"If we are not in our own reality…Then where are we?" He murmured quietly. "Where have the Gods taken us?"
Author's Note: There you go. Hope you enjoyed it. Please Review and comment.
