Out in the dark, endless vacuum of space was the remnants of a hard fought battle. The aft half of the ship was still drifting along like that, even long after the battle had been won. But even in that state and after all that time the ship still held precious cargo.

Only one of them had been awake, as she had been for years. She had been counting they're time aboard here, starting from day one which had since stretched to years long ago. She preoccupied herself with counting down to the next second they'd be lost.. and hopefully found. Perhaps now there was-as slim as it may seem-a chance at that.

"Hmm. Interesting" Cortana hummed aloud as she looked into the endless void of space. There were always bright stars to be seen no matter where you looked, perhaps even a distant planet. But no matter what it was, it was always out of reach.

But finally, now there was something else, something much closer, so much so that it took up her entire view. It had already been a few years adrift in space, but now that would all change as they drifted closer to it.

"Chief" she said before turning to the nearby pod, where encased inside was Spartan 117. The only light in the room was emitting off of her and it reflected onto the pod "I might need you soon enough" she said looking through her reflection in the glass to see him. It was blue for a moment before flashing red and other furious colors. She disappeared in the pod's reflection; only a haze of pixels could be seen instead and she was unrecognizable in it. After another 'moment' she then looked down to the planet and normalized as she did. All she could see was vast oceans of red; deserts no doubt, but there seemed to be life on it. Human perhaps? They'd find out soon enough. "This looks like our stop" she said aloud and waited for an answer even though none had come for the last few years. Not from the UNSC or him. "It might get a little rough, but we've handled worse, right?" she said helplessly to the dormant man who did not answer. "Maybe they think we'll be a shooting star" she forced a smile and even a little giggle.

When all Cortana heard was silence she turned over to view the planet once more. "So.. what are you called?" she asked as it got bigger and brighter.

Down on the planet was something that neither Cortana or the Chief would be expecting. And waiting on that planet was some one who had dealt with they're kind before, but never anything like them.

Ape City

Dr. Zaius let out a grumble as he walked through the brightly lit halls of the administration building. So much had happened recently. So much had been revealed. So much...

Slooped and stumbling he brought a hand up to hold his head as he felt a splitting pain come over him. The rattling of the humans in they're cages this night didn't do anything to help him sort things out. So many names ran through his mind as he tried to process everything he'd been through.

Head strong Zira, curious Cornelius, tenacious young Lucius, but one stuck out for him in particular.

"Uhh... Taylor" he let out exhausted as he held his head. It seemed no good lamenting on it, not since he was gone for good. Gone to die in the Forbidden Zone with the female. It seemed inevitable. Not just his death, but that Zaius had to meet him.

He closed the door to his office, successfully cutting himself off from the world if only for a little while. He shuffled over and took a seat behind his desk. Everything was glumly lit up for him by the moonlight trickling in through his ever open window. Once seated back in the comfort of his office he bured his face in his hands and let out a sigh from his chair.

'It doesn't matter now' he thought in the near darkness 'With him gone and the evidence destroyed..' he shook his head breaking his thoughts '.. none of it matters' he reminded himself, almost out loud. He was suddenly jolted from his thoughts at his desk by shouting from outside.

"Dr Zaius! Dr Zaius!" he heard some deep voices holler for him from behind his door. No sooner had he heard them had they appeared before him. Barging through his door like the muscle bound gorillas they were, they stopped before him, but kept on making noise. "Dr. Zaius! Dr. Zaius!" they repeated to him without lowering they're voices.

"What?!" he shouted, holding up his hands to cover his eyes from the light they forced back into the room "What is the meaning of this?!" he responded to them just as loud.

"It's urgent. You must come quickly" The Chief Defender of the Faith scowled at them after lowering his hand.

"And what is so urgent that you would come to me without so much as an excuse?" he spoke down to them from his seat.

"It's out there sir!" one of them pointed while the other nodded "Out there in the Forbidden Zone!" The mere mention of that place brought a bad taste to Zaius's mouth and another great headache. He snarled at both of them.

"Our scouts reported it sir" the other spoke up.

"Reported what? Speak! I am in no mood for any sort of games" The two gorilla's paused and looked to each other before looking back to Zaius.

"They told us sir- they said something fell from the sky". Now it was Zaius who was truly skeptical.

"What?" he snapped quizzically.

"That's what they told us. It was covered in fire. There was a thunderous sound, the ground itself shook" they rambled on to him and Zaius listened intently, silently nodding with each word and development.

"Are you sure they were not dreaming this?" he asked with reservation in his voice, though with all the recent developments he knew better than to question anything at this moment.

"It was no dream sir" they cemented they're stance and Zaius went silent; pondering to himself. "What would you have us do?" they asked after a few moments of silence. He was quick to give them an answer.

Zaius sprang up from his seat "Gather a search party along with all the who witnessed this falling object. Everyone will be armed, given a horse and supplies. We set out immediately"

"Yes sir!" they nodded and ran out to assemble a group.

Once he was alone again Zaius collapsed back into his chair. Feeling another headache coming he rested his head in his hand.

"Not again, not again. Too soon, too soon" he kept muttering. But it wouldn't happen again, not if he had anything to say about it. This won't be like last time. He wouldn't have another 'Taylor' on this planet. Whatever this was and who ever came with it, he would not let history repeat itself.