A Helping Hand and A Turn of Fate
…Incoming signal…
…Signal received…
…Decrypting and scrubbing…
…Signal identified…
...Spirit of Fire…
…Cryo Room 3…
…March 11th, 2531…
...Playback of Signal authorized…
"Captain, I would much rather stay awake to monitor this area."
"Professor, there's been no sign of the covenant for almost two weeks. There's nothing to do now."
"But, Captain-"
"But nothing, Professor." Said the elderly captain, as he slowly and gently, pushed the young female professor into a cryo pod. "You got us all out of there alive. Get some rest." He finished as he keyed in some numbers for the pod.
The young woman looked at him with a solemn gaze while speaking in an equally somber tone. "Not all of us, Captain. Not all of us." She said just as the pod finished closing. The last thing she sees is the overwhelming sadness and guilt in her Captains eyes just before darkness consumed her vision.
Captain Cutter, 52 years old, with greying hair and a saddened gaze looked at the sleeping professors' face for a few moments before turning and walking down the walkway. Stopping just a few feet away he did the same for another pod and straightened himself while giving the pod a nod. A nod that was meant not only for the person whose pod it was, but for all the others he had lost while they were under his command.
The name on the pod…SGT. J. Forge…
A name that when said, gave the thousands of men and women around the ship hope, laughter and in most cases, annoyance.
Now…
Now it was a name that only gave people sadness and despair.
With that respect paid, but not enough in his opinion. James Cutter continued his path down the walkway and out of the room and to where he felt most at ease.
…Sprit of Fire…
…Combat Bridge…
…March 11th, 2531…
Cutter strolled onto the bridge with a relaxed gait as he looked around the now eerily silent bridge. Which was fine with him, he needed some space to think and mourn in peace. Sitting down in his command chair, he spun around to gaze at the infinite amount of stars around him. It never ceased to amaze him with just how many were out there…
Shaking his head slightly he began to ponder the many issues that now plagued his ship.
His Phoenix-class Carrier with the motto "Exitus Acta Probat", meaning "The Outcome Justifies the Deed", sat at two and a half kilometers in length suffering many battle scars from the last couple of months. Its latest engagements spanning from Harvest, to Arcadia, to this so called, Shield World. In his opinion, it was more like a containment vessel for the parasitic life forms they had fought and lost so many to. And to think that inside of this Shield World would lay in dormant slumber, an ancient armada of ships the covenant believed to be powerful enough to wipe out humanity without so much as a challenge.
The captain in him demanded that he attempt to secure at least one of these behemoth ships for the UNSC to study and perhaps use against the covenant. However, the human in him had demanded he attempt to save as many of his crew as possible. To bring his people home to their families while getting back to his own wife and daughter. He had been faced with two choices during this last tour of duty. Life or death.
Of course he had chosen life for his crew without so much as a second thought toward the vast technology and the armada waiting inside the planet.
Once again he mentally shook himself to get back to the main issues.
The biggest problem…
They no longer had a Slipspace drive to take them home…
They were adrift in the black of space with no way to know where they are in the galaxy…
Lost and alone…
Sighing to himself he looked out at the stars once again after he realized he was staring at his command console next to him. Suddenly a blue holographic woman popped up the same console only getting the slightest twitch of surprise before it was hidden under years of experience. The A.I. spoke up in a soft, accented, voice looking at him with concern. "A credit for your thoughts, Captain?"
With a small exhale he sat up in his chair-when did I do that-to address her. "To be truthful, Serina. I'm not sure what to think." He said as he wiped the tiredness from his eyes. "We are drifting through space for the next, who knows how long, and there's absolutely nothing we can do about it. The Spirit is in bad shape even without a Slipspace drive. Half of our deck guns are offline or destroyed; The port side of the ship is basically gone along with half of the D20-Herons. Half of my crew is dead or MIA and most of our on-board factories are offline. Our MAC's are nearly out of ammunition and the systems for them are dodgy at best even after two weeks' worth of trying to repair it." Taking in several gulps of air, he managed to calm himself a bit to speak in a more even tone rather than the anger that began to seep into his voice the more he went on. "Not only that, but on top of that, we only have one of the four atmosphere scrubbers online. So if those aren't fixed than very soon only a limited amount of crew will be able to wake at a time to get things done." Taking one last calming breathe to ease himself he looked once more at his three year companion as his ship-board AI, hopelessness seeping into his voice.
"…What can I do, Serina? How do I tell my crew, My Family that I cannot get them home? That I can't let them see their families again. Not even able to tell where in the hell we are so we can send out a beacon for the UNSC to hear."
Serina watched with sadness as her captain let a few tears fall without knowing. Watching as her closest friend went through these emotions with no one there to help. She straightened herself as she came up with the easiest solution to her friends problems. Whip him back into shape.
Her face, while a hologram, did in fact grow angry; if by only the slightest narrowing of her features. "Captain James Cutter. Get off your ass and lead these people." She saw when his face became one of shock with the widening of his eyes.
He opened his mouth to speak only for Serina to cut him off. "You can mourn later, Captain. Right now your family needs you to guide them through this. They are just as scared as you are, you know? They want just as much as you to go home to their families. However there is one fact that you need to consider about them that you are neglecting to remember. Do you know what it is, James?"
While she had been speaking, Serina looked on in pride as her friends face and posture slowly went back to the calm, collected and wise captain her and the rest of the crew, the dead and the living, had followed to hell and back. The one person who never once treated her as if she was nothing more than a slightly more advanced computer rather than the woman whose brain was flash cloned after death to become a smart AI. Just because she now had this form did not mean she didn't have feelings and emotions-.
Now it was her that mentally shook her digital head to get back on track. Looking on as his eyes slowly hardened once more and whispered.
"…What is it?"
She smiled at him gently even as she kept the stern look in her eyes. "They knew what they signed up for, James. We both know this just as we both know that they trust you without question. You have gotten them through many engagements that most don't survive, much less win. Your crew will follow you into hell and fight for an eternity if it meant that you led them through it. Just as I would…"
Slowly a smile came over his face as he looked at her. "Truly, I could not ask for a better AI, a better companion…"
"A better friend…"
They smiled at each other for several seconds as they thanked the other for the help.
Suddenly, Cutters voice became that which she was waiting for.
"Serina: status." She beamed at him and in her usual sarcastic and humorous voice spoke up at him.
"Welcome back…Captain."
…
Leaving only the engineering crew unthawed, James had them gather in the ready room for briefing.
Being the first to arrive, James had Serina setup everything that they would go over on the holo-table. The first being the atmosphere scrubbers that prevented mass repairs on the ship as long as they stayed offline. The second most important repair needed was the factories in the lower back section of the ship. Without those they would have a hard time producing the materials needed to make all the repairs. Next would be the sensor suite so that they could detect any hostiles and gain information on their surroundings as well. Last would be the MAC's systems. Sure, if they repaired the deck guns first they would be able to put up a fight, but without the MAC's, going against any covenant ship guaranteed death.
All in all, they had several months of work to do and quite literally all the time they could want to get it done.
When they had finished briefing the engineering team, James looked them all in the eyes as he spoke. "We are stranded in the middle of nowhere with the unknown ahead of us and enemies at our backs. This is our home people. Those of us who are left must help keep each other alive. Let's get to work, people." He said with a nod.
The engineers all snapped a salute and gave a resounding. "Aye, sir!". Before leaving for their tasks.
The captain gave one last look towards Serina before moving to leave the room with some parting words. "That includes us, Serina. Let's see what we can cook up, huh?"
A small smile at his back was the only answer he needed.