Escape Velocity
Chapter 2: The Visitors
Obligatory Disclaimer
I am not affiliated in any way to the companies who brought you Halo or Mass Effect.
This material is rated M for Mature Audience. It contains violence, coarse language and adult themes.
The night sky above Reach was peaceful, the heavens painted with a brilliant mantle of stars dusted above a dark shade of azure of the nebula beyond. Situated near the system's asteroid belt, the planet is regularly privy to light shows as asteroids entered the planet's atmosphere and burned up streaks of light.
Four such shooting stars illuminated the upper atmosphere, composed of steel and ceramic, each containing within its protective shell a Spartan. As its undercarriage sizzled white hot, the most each Spartan could feel was the slight shudder of turbulence.
In one of the HEV's Carter eyed the viewport as the dark outline of the planet below grew beneath him. His eyes then turned to the small screens on either side of the viewport. To the two o'clock position was Jorge, to his five and seven was Jun and Emile. All of them were silent; each of them listening to what little intel came through the radio.
"… has designated the vessel as the Normandy. Its hull configuration is unlike anything we have ever seen before. Human, Covenant or otherwise. The writing on its side suggests that the vessel is of human origins, but we're not going to take any chances. More puzzling than its origin or shape are its capabilities. It didn't set off any of our alarms before it hit the atmosphere. No gravimetric fluctuations or slip space ruptures associated with vehicles coming out of FTL, and no RADAR, LADAR, infrared or UV signatures detected. It managed to bypass the nuclear minefield without triggering a single sensor."
"Damn," Emile retorted over the radio, shaking his head, "we could use something like this."
The voice on the other end continued. "… fast response teams have established perimeter one kilometre from its radius, mainly comprised of marines and ODSTs. Additional Spartan forces are en route but you will be the first on the scene. Your mission is to confirm the occupants of the Normandy and secure the vessel. The UNSC Grafton will hold its position two kilometres from the crash site, and the Savannah to the south, just in case fire support is needed. Good hunting Spartans. Iroquois actual out."
The radio died, leaving the Spartans to themselves as their drop pods hurtled through the lower atmosphere. "Thoughts?" Carter offered.
Jorge leaned in closer. "Says here that the UNSC Normandy was a destroyer that was lost in the battle of Alpha Aurigae, commanding officer was one Captain Ronald Drake."
Emile scoffed. "Looks to me that the Normandy is pretty much intact, and seems far too small to be a destroyer… a corvette maybe."
"Do you suppose there are humans in there, Commander?"
"Well, Noble Five," Carter began as the ground quickly came up on screen, "we can ask them when we get the chance."
The ground erupted in plumes of dirt and smoke, small impact craters forming where the HEVS embedded themselves into the soil a short distance from each other. One by one the pods' canopies were jettisoned and one by one the soldiers climbed out. As Carter hauled himself out, he retrieved his rifle from the small arms compartment and scanned his HUD.
"Crash site is half a click to our south. Time to introduce ourselves."
"Uggh."
A cry of pain knifed through the darkness like a sabre, drowned out by panicked screams and shouting.
"Unng… aaaahhh!"
There is a sound of something struggling in the darkness. A brief electrical spark illuminated the figure of Jeff Moreau curled upon the floor of the Normandy's cockpit, clutching his shoulder, writhing in pain. Embedded in his chest is a large piece of glass from a shattered terminal protruded like the hilt of an icy dagger from his bloodied fingers.
"Nnngh…"
For several moments there is only the sound of his shallow pained breathing as he tried to remain conscious. An eternity goes by before, with one final agonised effort, he is able to pull it free, bringing with it the sickening sound of sinews tearing as the final length of red-soaked glass slides free from his chest. It fell from his grip, a numbing warmth traveling the length of his spine as the life fluid begins to gush from the wound.
Jeff placed a hand over his chest, applying pressure to the wound and struggled to his feet. The injured helmsman glanced to his side at the chair adjacent to his. EDI likewise lay still, her eyes open wide but lifeless. The injured helmsman turned from the cockpit and began to make his way down the corridor when his legs gave way and he stumbled, crying out as he hit the floor a second time.
He glanced up and found, in between electrical sparks and flashes of torches, the crew scrambling around attending to the wounded. The hallway was ruined, exposed cables hung from the ceiling and the deck was carpeted by broken glass. Joker tried to call out for help but finds blood at the back of his throat. His world began to darken and he felt his heart slowing in his chest.
Then, as sight slowly gave way to darkness, he could almost swear that he heard something calling out to him. It was Ashley.
"Joker? Joker! Oh shit, he's bleeding! Get doctor Chakwas! Oh God…" she lunged over to Joker and placed her omni tool hand over the open wound. The device activated, a bright orange interface came to life. Ashley fingered a number of keys and the slight hiss of medi-gel being administered, the salve filling up the wound. Ashley half expected Joker to jolt with the initial sting of the antiseptic but the helmsman lay still, his chest barely rising with each breath.
It was then that she saw that she heard a voice coming through her line.
"This is Commander Carter of the UNSC to the unidentified space craft. You have entered a restricted area. We've got artillery zeroed in your position and if you do not state your identity and purpose, you will be fired upon. "
"This is Commander Carter of the UNSC to the unidentified space craft. You have entered a restricted area. We've got artillery zeroed in your position and if you do not state your identity and purpose, you will be fired upon. "
Releasing the button, Carter waited but silence answered him. He took his time and scanned the stricken vessel. Everything suggested that the design was human, but it was unlike anything he had ever seen before. Four proportionately oversized nacelles and the sleek designs suggested an emphasis in speed rather than firepower.
He began to reach for his comms again when a voice came on line. "Commander Carter, Do you copy? This is the Systems Alliance frigate Normandy. We have suffered catastrophic systems failure and a number of my crew are hurt bad. Are you there? Requesting immediate aid. Please!"
The Spartan reached for his comm relay when he felt a hand fall on his shoulder. It was Jorge, and he was shaking his head. "What if it's a trap?"
"What if it's not?"
"Commander, we're here to-"
"I don't have time to argue, Noble Five!" Carter growled, shrugging off Jorge's hand. "You and Jun, fall back to the tree line and back us up. Emile, you're with me."
Emile pumped his shotgun and nodded. "Right beside you, Noble One."
As Jorge reluctantly moved back towards the tree line, Carter reached for his comms, first changing the frequency. "Grafton, this is Noble One, are you getting this?"
"Loud and clear, Noble One."
"Send Pelicans to our position, possible medical response required."
"Roger that, Noble One, medivac pelicans inbound-"
"Grafton-," Carter cut in, "maintain yellow alert. Keep our position painted. We have not, repeat, we have not yet confirmed friend or foe."
"Acknowledged, Noble One. Over and out."
Carter switched the frequency back. "Normandy, this is Noble One. Medivac inbound. I am on site, ready to provide assistance."
There was a tentative pause.
"I hear you, Noble One. Opening port airlock."
A loud pneumatic hiss sounded over the side of the Normandy as the pressure seal of the airlock broke off. The bulkhead slid open a strange figure emerged, stepping out into the grass below. A woman. She wore a strange azure armour, the battle plating stained deep crimson. As she looked up she paused as if caught by surprise by the massive figures with guns in their hands.
This moment lasted just one heartbeat before her gaze hardened. She inspected both of them in turn before finally fixing her attention on Carter. "Noble One, I presume?"
Carter nodded. "What's the situation?"
"We've got four wounded, one critical. Our systems are down and we cannot treat their wounds locally. We're applying field treatment but if he doesn't get to a medical facility-"
"ETA on medivac is one minute. Do you need help evacuating the ship?"
She shook her head. "No. We've got this." She reached for her earpiece. "Vega, bring them out, help is on the way."
At once, Carter saw men being stretchered out of the airlock. Most of the men wore the same configuration of armour as the woman, azure hard suit with white stripes running along the side with a stylised A above the right breast. They moved and acted more like disciplined soldiers than zealous rebels insurrectionists.
From his side, he noticed Emile eyeing talking to one of the soldiers when a strange thing came to view from the airlock. Unlike the others, this one wore a strange red armour of ancient design, his head insectoid with two pairs of eyes. Carter froze for half a second with a hundred thoughts running through his head. From his peripheral, he saw the barrel of a shotgun rising as Emile trained his weapon upon the creature's head.
"What the fuck is that?" Emile screamed, throwing a glancing look at Carter who by now also had his rifle pointed at the alien.
Carter felt his finger tightening around the trigger. "Ashley, you have five seconds to explain yourself."
"Javik is an ally," Ashley responded, "he is not an enemy, we are not your enemies but if you pull that trigger…"
"Are you threatening me lieutenant? Do you know what kind of shit you're getting yourself into?"
The tension was broken as a line cut in with a voice over his radio. "Noble One, this is Noble Actual."
Carter's finger just stopped short of the trigger. "I read you, Noble actual."
"Stand down, commander. We do not want to start another conflict if we don't have to. The Savannah and the Grafton are deploying pelicans to secure the area… we will be moving the Normandy and her crew to Sword Base for further investigation. Is that understood?"
He investigated the creature a final time before replying. "Yes."
"Please confirm that this is understood, Noble One."
"I understand."
The radio cut out and Carter reluctantly lowered his rifle, turning a frigid glare at the human lieutenant. The whirr of jets grew louder as the incoming Pelicans made their final approach. "Lieutenant Williams, you've got a lot of explaining to do."
1630 Hours May 2 2552
Sword Base, Badab Ice Shelf
Three days had passed since a mysterious ship was taken into Hangar Four, locked under the pretence of quarantine. Since then, the hangar has come under heavy guard, a brigade of marines assembled around its doors, knowing only that what is inside must be kept inside. For three days the base was kept under heightened alert, kept under the careful watch of the fleet amassed above in orbit.
On the ground, several scientists were locked inside the hangar, investigating every aspect of the mysterious ship and its crew. Standing atop the observation deck, the elderly Catherine Halsey inspected readings from across her station monitor as reports came flooding in. A hushed whooshing of sliding doors revealed an elderly man with a silver oak leaf insignia on his right breast.
He inspected the improvised lab and shakes his head in disapproval, wandering inside. "What made you choose my observation deck as your lab, doctor?"
"I like the view," Catherine replied, "It adds… perspective to my work."
Catherine briefly glances to her side and found the Colonel peering down at the ship below. "What do we know about our guests?"
The woman paused and turned her attention to him. "They have been cooperative. We've learned a great deal about them. Is there anything in particular that you want to know?"
He gazed a moment longer, inspecting the ship. "Where are they from?"
Catherine sighed and pulled up a file to her terminal. "When we brought their systems back online, we managed to gain access to their flight data records and corroborated the crew's reports."
Holland's eyes narrowed, his voice rising. "That they are what? From Earth circa 2186? Is that even possible?"
Catherine rose from her seat walked over to the glass. "There are more things in heaven and earth than there are dreamt in your philosophy."
The Colonel remained eerily silent.
"There can be a great number of possibilities, Colonel. Temporal distortion, dimensional breach, we don't know just yet and there is a very likely possibility that we may never know. I think the more important question is can we trust them?"
Colonel Holland sighed and crossed his arms. "Contact protocol with a new species, doctor: Assume hostility unless proven otherwise."
"So we shall tar them with the same brush as the Covenant?"
"Fact remains, doctor, we don't know much about them. To me, the human among them are just as alien as the others. The Office of Naval Intelligence expects us learn about them and we will base our opinions and decisions on those same facts."
"You mean the facts that I find, Colonel?" countered Halsey. "Yes Commander, we base our decisions on facts. Fact is they are not Covenant. Fact is their technology is fantastically different to ours. Fact is they don't know how to get back. Fact is they need us. These facts point to one obvious conclusion, Colonel: we need them."
"Is that your professional opinion?"
She nodded sharply. "Yes. It is"
Holland smirked and returned his gaze downwards at the ship moored below. "I will take your opinion under advisement, doctor. I must admit however that it may take some time before I can trust these… guests. It's a hard to ignore what happened the last time humanity found that it wasn't alone."
Sometime later…
Far below the hangar, beneath several hundred feet of steel, dirt and ice, a figure akin to an apparition walks a dim hallway in utter silence save for the echoing of her footstep resonating in the darkened sterile void. What little light there was shone off against her pristine white naval officer's uniform.
She paced down the hallway with a vacant glance, her long auburn hair bobbed up and down in a neat pony tail behind her. Marines lined the hallway, saluting her as she passed. Finally, she stopped at a massive bulkhead. Her deep green eyes noted a security panel to the right.
It scanned her as she approached. "Colonel Alice Sinclair."
An affirmative beep echoed down the steel hallway. The heavy steel portal clanked loudly as the magnetic lock released and the whir of gyros signaled the opening door. The chamber inside was dark at first, lit only by walls of computer terminals. Alice stepped inside and the doorway shut almost immediately. The darkness gives way to light outlining a massive cylindrical vial that runs the height of the room from floor to ceiling. The tube was lined with six inch thick bulletproof glass.
Inside the tube, suspended by cables and wires was EDI, the android stationed aboard the Normandy. Data siphoned from the platform registered on the nearby computer screens.
On the far end of the room stood Colonel Urban Holland studied a report.
"Colonel Sinclair, have you had a chance to talk to our visitors?"
"Is that what you're calling them now? Visitors?" she retorted icily.
Finally, Holland turned about and noted the other. "What else should we call them?"
"They are, in every sense of the word, alien." She approached the glass and inspected the facial features of the android. "Some of them may look human, but they are not one of us. They cannot be trusted. Not yet."
"I've spoken at length with Doctor Halsey on this subject. She would disagree with your assessment... with our assessment."
"There is no doubt they can be useful," Alice conceded, "we can learn a lot from these aliens and that is why the Office of Naval Intelligence has established the Alien Cooperative Under Military Authority. ACUMA will have two purposes. The first is to determine if they posses technologies to help us defeat the Covenant."
"And the second?"
Alice smiled coldly. "To see if they can be trusted."
A/N
Hello. I hope you've enjoyed this chapter. It is notably slower paced than the first, I really wanted to establish some of the hurdles these two factions would have to overcome before they can work together.
I've begun to add original content in this chapter. While you will be hearing more about ACUMA/ AKUMA and Alice, I will try to keep the focus on established characters.
To those worried about the tech-discrepancies, I'm going to try to work some magic between the two. As a spoiler, I aim to meld the technologies together. Rest assured that the Normandy and her crew will be making a significant contribution to the war effort WITHOUT being buffed or made overpowered. What fun would that be?
Finally, I would like to apologise if I make UNSC personnel seem apprehensive around the Normandy crew. I figured that they've just been presented with a lot of unknowns which will generally get people nervous.
Also, thank you for the reviews. I have made amendments where I found them.