Prologue.

A solder in full body armor walked through a hallway of drab colored metal and what appeared to be pods with small windows set in them. A closer inspection would reveal that these pods held people who seemed to be in some sort of sleep. The solder continued his walk, lost deep in thought as he considered the state of things and how they had come to be.

Everything was quiet and calm. The crew and my team are in their stasis pods. All nonessential systems have been powered down and now that the crew is in cryo that means life support as well. I was the last one to go in to stasis and therefore my job to make one last check on everything to make sure there were no problems.

We had no idea how long we will be in cryo and with no one up to monitor things I couldn't afford to overlook anything.

I sighed as I walked down the empty hallways. My footsteps echoed in the empty hallway, or they would have if the air in this section hadn't been vented. This was not how this was supposed to end. I guess there are worse fates then drifting through space with a fried FTL drive, but after all we had gone through to save the UNSC.

The crew deserved a chance to go home and be with their families.

I stopped and looked out into space through a breech in the ship's hull, that the engineers had been unable to seal. I turned round and viewed the scorched bulkhead opposite the breech. I looked at the hole one more time and wondered if anyone had been in this hall when it had happened. I then opened the hatch that led to the next section and continued on.

Everyone aboard had been through a lot and so had the ship, as an eerie groan that had just occurred gave evidence too. She had served us well, though we took her into hell she brought us back every time, and she would again.

When we got home a friendly dry-dock would be waiting for her.

"Find everything in order Sir?" The ships AI asked as I entered the bridge and approached the command char and looked out the bridge view screen at the stars.

"Everything seems to be alright, at least for now." I replied heavily at the afterthought. "Have you completed your analysis of the ships systems?"

"Yes." She replied, her color changing briefly. "All non-essential systems have been powered down. Main reactors are in standby mode, as are all secondary reactors save one."

"Good. How is the crew?"

"Checking." it was a few seconds before the AI replied. "All stasis pods are functioning well within safety parameters."

"Very well then I guess it's time for me to initiate your hibernate mode."

"Yes but if anything should happen he can't handle, Jarvis has been instructed to wake me."

"What's the estimated time we can stay out here?"

"Baring no mechanical failure the crew can remain in stasis for approximately two hundred and fifty years before reactor shut down."

"And you?"

"I can remain in hibernation for an estimated time of thirty years before I begin to degrade. However this system of AI storage has only been tested once before."

"Well let's hope we aren't out here that long. Good night Rachel." I said in reply before initiating the AI's hibernation mode.

"Good night Sir." I only nodded, feeling quite weary myself and is must have shown as I got a small smile before she went into hibernation mode.

When I got to the cryo bay where my pod was located I got in, thankful the new pods didn't freeze burn you as easily as the old ones, and Jarvis, the ships dumb AI, activated it and I joint the rest of the crew in slumber.

How did we end up in this situation? You might ask. Well that is a long story, but it looks like I have lots of time on my hands. And since I have nothing better to do with my time I would tell you, however as I am about to fall into cryo-sleep. You will have to discover it on your own. There is a console in the center of the room I am sure you can find it as it is the only one on right now. There you will find that I have compiled all the data concerning the events that led up to now. Including my own personal log, but I warn you… This tail is not for the faint of heart.

UNSC Dumb AI Jarvis Cereal number JTN-0317-2.

I have been instructed by Spartan-B228 to allow you full access to the ships records, and to answer any questions you might have.

You are currently adored the UNSC ship Texas Ranger a refit Halcyon-class light cruiser. She was commissioned in 2510 decommissioned in 2521 and re-commissioned in 2527 as a test bed for experimental technology, she was then refit in 2552 for a mission into Covenant controlled space.