A massive warship sat docked in a construction gantry kilometers above Earth's surface, EVA engineers working on the finishing touches and her captain looking on. A man with boyish looks that belied his age approached. "Beautiful, isn't she?"

The captain noticed the new arrival and snapped to attention. "Admiral Lasky, sir!"

"At ease, Forge." Rear Admiral Thomas Lasky walked over to the window. "Still not used to people calling me 'captain,' much less 'admiral.'" He looked out at the warship. "Your father would be proud."

"Nah. Dad would've preferred I become a marine. He used to say, 'Spacers can't see the expressions on their enemies' dying faces.'" Marsha Forge, daughter of the (in)famous Sergeant John Forge, turned her gaze to the ship she was soon to captain. "Up here, however, you can deliver the wrath of God with impunity against groundpounders." She sighed. "She's due to sail tomorrow. I wish he could be here to see it."

"I know how you feel. Do you need a moment?"

"What will she be doing?"

"These are the orders for her maiden voyage."

She took the datapad and flipped through its entries. "So, we finally found the Storm remnant." She handed it back. "Time to finish them off, then. Do you need anything else, sir?"

"That's all for now. Dismissed, Captain."

"Admiral." As he walked away, she returned to her study of her new ship.

The Golden Rain was the first ship of her type, the UNSC's first battleship. As befitting a ship of that category, her firepower was unparalleled.

Like most UNSC warships, the Rain had considerable forward armament, consisting of two Mark X(R) Heavy MAC guns backed up by four Forerunner-grade energy projectors.

However, like the bluewater warships used on Earth centuries earlier, she also possessed one hell of a broadside. Each side mounted an unheard-of eight Mark IX Heavy-Coil MACs and another quartet of energy projectors. That arsenal was supplemented by eight thousand Howler and Rapier missile pods and several dozen plasma torpedo launchers. For point defense, eight hundred 70-millimeter gun turrets, four hundred pulse laser turrets, eighty Onagers, and a hundred fifty anti-air missile turrets were dotted along the five-kilometer hull.

There were also less savory weapons stored in her bowels, Marsha knew. The nuclear options, which she hoped to never need to use, were two Nova bombs, twenty Shiva missiles, and a full hundred Furies.

Her defensive capabilities were just as impressive. Seven full meters of Titanium-A3 battle-plating provided greater armor protection than any previously constructed vessel, save those of the Forerunners. The armor was reinforced by a shielding system as strong as the Infinity's, granting exceptional durability.

Another similarity to the Infinity was the ability to carry a battlegroup within its frame, this one consisting of a half-dozen Iroquois-class destroyers.

A new arrival brought her out of her musings. She turned to look at him and craned her neck to look him in the eyes. "Go ahead, Commander."

"The ship is ready for you to come aboard, Shipmistress." Marsha's executive officer, Kir'se Taham, clearly demonstrated how well humanity was integrating into the galactic community. A full twenty percent of her crew were Covenant.

Non-humans, she reminded herself.

After the Storm's crushing defeat at Requiem, the Arbiter had personally invited the human race to join the Covenant. While humanity was understandably leery of allying with the races that had been trying to kill them for over thirty years, the terms were eventually deemed acceptable.

In the past two years since, every ship was hosting both human and non-human crew. The Golden Rain had the highest concentration of non-human crew on a predominantly human vessel.

"Good. Lead the way."

"Dropping out of Slipspace in 3…2…1. Huh. We're only a kilometer off target."

"That's the most accurate jump I've been on. Anyone got eyes on our fellows?"

"Both the Infinity and the Shadow of Intent are with us, but I think we should worry more about the unknown ships at least eight hundred ninety six point seven kilometers away," said Athena, the ship's AI.

"'Unknown?'"

Athena's avatar, modeled after the goddess that was her namesake, snapped its fingers. "See for yourself."

The holotable displayed a warship design unlike anything deployed in any Covenant fleet. It was chevron-shaped, with a massive engine pod on top of each side of the fuselage. An additional pair of engine pods was off-set below and to either side of back of the fuselage. Weapon barrels dotted the top, bottom and sides of the ship, all pointing forward. Two hangar-style doors were positioned above the each lower engine blister. "Here's the kicker: it's exactly five point one zero seven kilometers in length and the largest in their fleet. Each of those ships measures a base seven length."

The head communications officer spoke up. "Ma'am, we're being hailed."

"By who?"

He gestured to the hologram. "Them."

"Patch it to the Admiral." Let him deal with first contact.

"Yes, ma'am."

A few minutes later, Lasky radioed. "The new aliens want to talk. I want you to arrange for the Iroquois II to act as neutral ground. We'll meet them there."

"'We?'"

"I want you to come. Bring Taham and Sharilar."

"Understood, sir." She had that connection cut. "Tell S-312 to armor up and meet us in the hangar, the hangar crew to prep a Pelican, and the Iroquois's captain to deploy. And tell them all I want it done yesterday. Come on, Commander."


Half an hour later, Marsha sat in the Iroquois II's briefing room, busying herself by studying who else was in the room.

Lasky had brought along the Master Chief and Commander Palmer. The Chief had refused every promotion that had come his way in the past four years. Rumor had it that he had also become more taciturn since the loss of Cortana, if that was even possible.

The Sangheili had sent over the Special Operations Commander of the Covenant, R'Tas Vadum, Arbiter Thel Vadam, and their three bodyguards, a female Spec-Ops Elite and a bond-pair of Mgalekgolo.

R'Tas's years of service were beginning to show, mainly in his right leg. A Storm Covenant Elite had severed it just above the knee; a human-made prosthetic had replaced all that had been lost, and it clanked with each step as he paced, speaking with Lasky.

The Arbiter, by contrast, appeared to be the picture of calm. However, a tap of a finger every few seconds told of his waning patience.

The female, Dor'n Moramai, was conversing peacefully with Kirse, but her hand never strayed far from the hilt of one of her energy swords.

The Mgalekgolo stood, unmoving, on either side of the door.

The captain and XO of the Iroquois were likely on their way, escorting the alien delegation.

That brought Marsha's thoughts to the last member of the Covenant delegation. Sharilar-312 was one of the only two members of Noble Team to survive the Fall of Reach. She had been taken prisoner rather than killed and then released sometime during the Great Schism. The details still weren't clear, even eight years later. She and Jun had since been upgraded to Spartan IVs and were now the commanding and executive officers of the Spartan contingent of the Golden Rain, respectively.

At that moment, the aliens arrived. Marsha was shocked as seven individuals from five species (not counting their human escorts) walked into the room.

The one who entered first looked like an anthropomorphic cat. A red bandanna covered the spot where his left eye would be and a prosthetic replaced his right arm from just above the elbow. He carried himself with the air of an experienced officer, but Forge would bet that his fighting days were years behind him.

Following him was what appeared to be a blue-skinned she-elf.

Behind her was what could best be described as an angler fish perched at the top of a humanoid body.

Next to enter was a pair of dinosaurs. One of them was over six feet in height and had orange scales where his light body-armor didn't cover. The other was seven feet tall in a suit of heavy, possibly powered, armor and had violet scales. Well, she assumed the patterned violet patches at the joints of the armor were scales.

Bringing up the rear were armored humanoids with short, hooked horns and stout muzzles. With their massive size, nearing nine feet, were it not for how short those muzzles were, Marsha would have thought them Brutes with some new design of armor.

With the exceptions of the elf and the fish, every envoy was armed. The three bodyguards had what looked like rifles, while the cat and dinosaur wore heavy-looking pistols on their hips.

The assigned speakers took their seats, leaving a space next to the cat. "Are you expecting someone else?" Marsha asked.

He opened up a pouch on his vest, causing every Covenant soldier to tense up. A glowing golden orb floated out and into his hand. He placed it at chest level above the empty chair, where it hovered. Seconds later, a holographic projection of another cat, this one wearing an extravagant robe, much like the other civilians. "Greetings. I am Tamara, the Pride Mother-class AI assigned to Lord Admiral Mukirr's ship. I will be translating for my organic companions, as their anatomy, for the most part, hinders speech in your tongue."

Mukirr began by introducing his companions. The elf was Magistrate Cassandra, the fish Magistrate Orphus, and the orange dinosaur Admiral Tyrannous. Arbiter Thel voiced a question that had to have occurred to all of the Covenant in the room. "Do you not worry about the risks of having so many of your senior leaders in one location?"

The admiral laughed. "Our ships are removing a number of those risks."

Rather than ask how, Thel let the issue drop and took the lead for the Covenant, introducing the human and Sangheili officers. "What do you wish to discuss?"

"First and foremost, colonization rights. I have forty five million civilians of eight species who need homes."

"What environments do you require?"

"As long as the atmosphere is not expressly toxic, we can adapt it to suit our needs."

"In that case, I'm sure we can spare a few planets."

"Eight, at least. Preferably in close proximity to each other."

"And with high population capacities," Tyrannous interjected.

Mukirr's response went untranslated. The Arbiter spoke again. "Very well. I believe that would be acceptable to the other leaders of the Covenant. What is the next topic of discussion?"

Orphus was the one who answered. "A non-aggression pact. It would not do for our ships or soldiers to shot at one another."

"Agreed. However, we can offer something much stronger than a mere non-aggression treaty."

"You're going to suggest a military alliance, aren't you? If so, you can save your breath. The Mrrshan Empire does not accept alliances."

"May I ask why?" R'Tas asked.

"The last race we signed an alliance with tried to coax us into fighting their war for them. A war against a technologically advanced and numerically superior enemy. When we declined the request, they annulled the alliance." The female voice reverberated in Marsha's skull

Dor'n tightened her grip on the energy sword. "What the hell was that?"

Mukirr pointed at Cassandra. "Elerians are telepaths. You'll get used to it."

Thel shook his head. "Regardless, what I am proposing is as much a cultural alliance as military."

At the Lord Admiral's confused expression, the Iroquois's captain, Michael Stravinsky, provided the shorter, clearer version. "He wants you to join the Covenant."

"What would we lose?"

"At worst, your technological edge. Every race of the Covenant is required to disseminate any technological breakthrough to every race that can make use of it. It wouldn't be fair, otherwise."

The Mrrshan Empire's dignitaries conversed with each other for a minute before Orphus answered the Covenant. "That term is acceptable. What other terms are required?"

"Every fleet is expected to be ready to defend any colony, regardless of which race rules it. Think of it as a mutual protection agreement between member-races of the Covenant."

"You mean that, were we to need it, the Covenant would be at our disposal?" Even with his inhuman face, Tyrannous's grin was plain to see.

"Within limits. You would not be able to order the fleet to go to war without the approval of the majority of the Covenant races."

"You use a democratic form of government?"

"Each race may govern themselves as they wish, but all receive a say in decisions that affect the whole Covenant."

Orphus nodded. "Much like the Galactic Council, then, only more effective. Are there any other terms to discuss?"

"Just some formalities. Trade rights, citizenship, that sort of thing." Lasky brought up a copy of the Writ of Union on his datapad and passed it over to Mukirr. "Is that acceptable for you, Lord Admiral?"

He read the pad for a few minutes before looking up and nodding. "Yes." He stood to his full height. "I, Lord Admiral Mukirr, speaking with all the authority granted to me by Empress Yarala Hrrsh of the Mrrshan, consent to the proposal to join the Covenant. If there is nothing else—"

R'Tas interrupted. "There is one more thing. We came here seeking fugitives."

"The Storm has been destroyed. We'll send over the prisoners we took."

Thel spoke up. "Is one Jul M'Dama among them?"

"Yes."

"Then kill him. We shall say that he perished in battle, restore what little honor we can to his name."

Mukirr nodded. "I understand."

Thel nodded in return. "I thank you, and hope that we can work together for many years to come."

ONI Intel Report: Mark X(R) Heavy MAC

Length: 4 Kilometers

Projectile Mass: 1500 Metric Tons

Launch Velocity: 6000 Kilometers/Second

Projected Impact Yield: ~5.8 Gigatons

ONI Intel Report: Iroquois-class Destroyer

Length: 491 Meters

Armor: 2.3 Meters of Titanium-A3

Shield Strength: 2.1 Gigatons (Estimated)

Armament:

2 Mark IX Heavy-Coil MACs

3 Shiva Nuclear Missiles

26 M42 Archer Missile Pods (50 missiles per pod)

10 70-millimeter Point Defense Guns