"You ever wonder what's up there?"
"Like what?"
"Maybe someone up there is wondering what it's like here?"
"I guess... Do you think we'll ever meet them?"
"I hope so. Don't you?"
Foreword: so here's something cool for my readers; a while back I looked at Ever Wonder What's Up There and thought 'hmm, this could do with a major revision' so I started work on this, the EWWUT REMAKE. Since we're coming up on the first year anniversary of the story that launched me to where I'm at right now I decided that it was time to start posting chapters of the remake. The original will still remain on this site, so that you may compare chapter to see what changed. I'm NOT re-doing the plot, but the dialogue is re-written so that it fits better within the story and it hopefully will make more sense. So I hope you enjoy the Ever Wonder What's Up There REMAKE!
Ever Wonder What's Up There REMAKE
Written by Codename: One
Chapter One
Messages across the Stars
February 9th, 2531
Procyon system
UNSC destroyer Marathon
Captain: Commander Michael Preston
Mission: Classified
Destination: Unspecified
"And so every night and day we raise the celestial bodies that grant life upon our planet. Join us, and we will live in Harmony everlasting."
Commander Michael Preston played the message they had received, his ship having intercepted it while in the Procyon system. "That's all we received and the message just repeats, Sir. No idea who sent it or where it came from" the Marathon's communications officer, Lieutenant Jeff Chambers said as he sat at his station.
"Well the person who recorded it is obviously female" Commander Preston stated, listening to the message once again. The voice was regal but silky, firm but smooth, almost like it flowed from its owner's mouth without effort.
It reminded the Commander of his mother.
"And so every night and day we raise the celestial bodies..."the message began again, Preston tuning it out as he went over what it possibly meant.
Is she trying to tell us she raises the sun and moon? That's impossiblethe Commander thought, tapping a stylus against his chin as he mulled it over.
"Can the message be traced? Can we find out who sent it?" Preston asked the comms officer as he sat down in the command chair, the comms officer briefly looking at his console before turning to face Preston.
"Sir it would appear as though the message has come from an uncharted star system on the edges of space, in the Cygnus arm" Lieutenant Chambers announced.
"Good work, plot a slipspace jump to the Perseus arm and prep for a deep scan" Preston ordered his navigation officer, Lieutenant Anthony West.
"Aye aye, Sir."
"Let's see if we can't find the sender of this message."
"My name is Princess Celestia of Equestria, and we are waiting here for visitors from the stars. If anyone out there is listening we would greatly enjoy meeting you. My sister and I rule a peaceful land of love and happiness and if you were to come you'd be met with open arms. If you wish to know more about us my sister and I are immortal Goddesses with the power to move entire galactic satellites, and so every night and day we raise the celestial bodies that grant life upon our planet. Come to us, and we will live in harmony everlasting" Princess Celestia declared, recording her message with the magic granted by her horn and firing it deep into space, hoping someone would hear it.
"Think anyone will get it?" Princess Luna asked as she approached her older sister on the balcony built outside Celestia's chambers at the top of the royal castle.
"I do not know, all I can hope is that someone out there is listening" Celestia answered, turning away and entering her bedroom as Luna followed.
"We were imprisoned for over a thousand years, and in that time we saw hide nor tail of other life; I do not contend there is anything out there" Luna said, expressing her doubt in the existence of aliens.
"We have sat alone for as long as anypony can remember, and Icontend that it would be foolish and naive to assume that the only forms of sentient life in the galaxy are the ones native to this planet" the sun Goddess Celestia responded.
"Are you not worried that hostile aliens will receive that message and come to exterminate us all in a cataclysmic war that will physically and emotionally scar us all for years to come?" Luna inquired as the two of them sat by the large bookcase set in the wall.
"My dear sister who in the galaxy would want to be hostile with us? I explicitly stated in that message that we live in a land of love and happiness and that all visitors would be greeted with open arms; I do not contend that anything bad will come of this."
"Evil aliens probably do exist out there, don't forget that, 'Tia" Luna commented.
"You have been reading too many Horsen Wells novels, sister. I'm confident that we will be visited by friendly and peaceful aliens. In fact, they may even have interesting items to trade with us and I'm certain they'd be willing to share their culture with ours. Doesn't that sound fun, Luna? The idea of studying alien ideology, religion, technology?" Celestia asked, trying to make her sister see the bright side.
"I will admit, the prospect is very enticing!" Luna conceded, a smile spreading over her face; when she and Celestia were younger they would always play in the gardens and pretend they were fighting aliens from another planet.
The memories were grand.
"See? You should always focus on the positive, no matter what kind of situation you're in" Celestia stated, briefly thinking back to the thousand years she spent alone, knowing she had been partly responsible for her sister turning into Nightmare Moon.
"Indeed, though I must ask; have we ever been visited by aliens in the past? Other than those ones..." Luna said, trailing off as Celestia gave her an evil eye.
"You know we don't talk about them anymore, Luna. But other than 'them' we have never been visited by aliens" the sun Goddess spat, not angry at her sister but rather the aliens they owe both thanks and hatred to.
"I am sorry, sister, I know how much you dislike them, but they're gone now. No harm will ever befall our people by their hands" Princess Luna declared, wrapping a comforting hoof around Celestia's neck.
"Yes, of course... Anyway, if you will excuse me I have business to attend to. See you later, Luna" Celestia exclaimed, briskly cantering out of the room and slamming the door shut behind her.
Luna shook her head and stepped back out onto the balcony, staring up at the night sky and wondering what was up there.
February 10th, 2531
Tau Ceti system
Covenant Sangheili CSO-class supercarrier Divine Wind.
Shipmaster Thar 'Saramee
Mission: find new species to absorb into the Covenant.
"Qid ti crey ard nim ay ouse veh revatloe giccq jan vaint vil aaum zor qeont. Maur li, qid ouse uyl lar vaupalty zertauisin"the voice boomed from the loudspeakers hidden in the control room.
What a strange languageShipmaster Thar 'Saramee thought, looking over the words of the message displayed on the holo-panel before him. His ship had received the message in audio form but the words of it were also displayed for convenience's sake.
Judging by the glyphs displayed on the panel Thar deduced that it was similar, if not absolutely identical, to the language spoken by the humans.
Just thinking about the humans made Shipmaster 'Saramee cringe in disgust; if there was one thing he found dishonorable about his mission it's that killing humans was not the primary goal.
If humans indeed send this message then we will glass their planet, but if it happens to be another race that merely speaks their language then perhaps there might be hope. Either way I hope to conclude this mission soon and return to the front linesThar mused, though the possibility of it being another species was slim considering the language used by the being who recorded the message was used by only one species; the humans.
"It is clear that this message is a sign from the Gods; they wish for us to find these beings. To destroy them or absorb them I cannot be certain, of course" Thar's assistant, an Aristocrat by the name of Rav 'Taramai.
Aristocrats were members of the Sangheili culture who are skilled enough in the field to utilize the most sacred weapon, the Type-1 energy blade, in pristine combat. The title of Aristocrat is given with personal swords of their own, and once a Sangheili receives his energy sword he is no longer allowed to marry for ceremonial reasons, though he may choose to mate with any female regardless of marital status to ensure swordsman genes are passed on.
All wielders of energy swords are Aristocrats, including Thar 'Saramee, though Thar's sword was a special build with an ornate handle sporting 21 holographic Forerunner glyphs instead of the usual seven that are etched in.
This blade has spilled the blood of many enemies, and holds great honorThar thought, looking down at the handle of the currently deactivated weapon.
Finally, turning back to face Rav, Thar nodded and said "you are indeed correct, 'Taramai. Order a slipstream jump to the location of where this message originates; let us do the Gods' bidding and discover the ones who sent it to us" Thar declared, earning roars of approval from the other officers in the control room.
"Communications, record my following statement and return it to where we received the original message from" Thar commanded, preparing to recite an official response.
"Luna, come quick! I received a message from space! Somebody was indeed listening!" Princess Celestia shouted as she charged into her room, finding her sister still inside and reading a book.
Standing with a smile Luna approached the giddy Celestia and said "well I guess you were right then, sister. There are aliens out there."
"I am always right, sister. Here, have a listen" Celestia stated, channeling her magic to play the message.
"Greetings, I am the Sangheili Thar 'Saramee of the Covenant Empire. We seek salvation amongst the stars, ever searching for the holy rings which grant Godhood upon the true believers. If you are there, we will come. Let all who believe walk the blessed path"a deep voice rumbled, the speaker a clearly religious individual.
"This is so exciting!" Celestia exclaimed, practically bouncing in place like a foal in a candy shop.
"Sister, was that the language the sender spoke?" Luna asked, a thought concerning her.
"No, I had to translate it. Why?" the sun Goddess said, her exuberance dying down.
"We will have to greet the aliens when they arrive; what if hostilities arise due to our language barrier?"
"Luna, did you not hear the message? The one who responded to us is clearly part of a religious group. What religious conglomeration would have hostile intentions?" Celestia replied, mildly annoyed by her sister's pessimism.
"Perhaps you are right, but what if other species heard your message? These religious aliens may be friendly but any others that tuned in might not be" the night Goddess declared.
"Don't worry, Luna, these religious aliens aren't hostile, and I'm sure they'll get along fine with any other alien races that might show up" Celestia said with a toothy grin.
A/N: the table is set, and two factions currently at war with one another are heading to the most peaceful place in the galaxy. This sounds like a winner to me(even the author's notes are updated).
Legal note: Commander Michael Preston, Shipmaster Thar 'Saramee, and all related characters belong to me. Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and all related characters belong to Hasbro. My Little Pony belongs to Hasbro. Halo belongs to 343 Industries.