There was a flash on Apollo's Visor. Omega had been flashing Apollos HUD, hoping to stimulate him awake. Snapping from the floor, Apollo got on his feet, the first thing he noticed was the rooms orientation, Apollo had to stand at an angle in order to stay balanced. "Status" Apollo ordered into his helm. "Well, we crashed" Mac said as the screens on the consoles flashed on, showing her pilot avatar with her hands on her hips. "Good News is the Solace is in one piece, her correctional thrusters are damaged but that can be easily remedied with a few utility drones, and no hull breaches" She said enthusiastically. "Bad News" Apollo asked. There was a pause "Main Thrusters are beyond repair, and the probes launched before planetary entry, don't have a clue where we are". Apollo held his head, as he felt light headed from standing up too fast.
"Can we get airborne?". "After i fix the correctional thrusters, the Solace could easily leave the planet." Mac said. "But without the main thrusters, it would take weeks to leave this planet's orbit." Apollo left the room and started back to the bridge. The doors opened automatically for Apollo. Exiting the room, he walked back up the passageway. Getting to the ladderway, Apollo groaned silently to himself. The orientation made the ladderway quite literally a ladder. Using the bottom of the metal steps, Apollo gripped them and scaled slowly up the ladder. Getting off was the trickiest part. Using the handrails, Apollo took one of his legs and pushed against it. Sliding his body along the floor, he pushed away from the ladderway until he had enough floor to stand up safely without falling back down.
Getting back on his feet, he walked to the bridge and his visor readjusted for the bright light emitting from the bridges windows. He saw the faint tips of what looked like pine trees. Despite the situation, The view was pleasant. There was a flash from the terminals near the window that snapped Apollo out of his daze."How long was i out" he asked checking the status of the bridges subsystems from the ships control console. "Close to Four Hours" Omega Replied. "Where are we". "Unknown, this planet isn't known on any data-banks". Apollo frowned."so we're in Uncharted space?""Basically, after examining the info the probes have gathered, there might be a possibility that we've altered course. Apollo Tried to remember his last thoughts before the events of the engine failure.
Apollo was part of a special Spartan Project ONI assembled. He remembered entering the bridge and Mac already had the Helm. They were to head to a Starbase to pick up supplies and a crew of scientists familiar with the Top Secret Ship. They were originally supposed to piggyback off a Super Carriers Slip-space Field to the Starbase. ONI however wanted to test the new hyper drive Solace was a specialized Stealth Ship with a Prototype Engine That allowed a unique type of Hyperspace Travel. The Engine's capabilities were beyond Apollo's understanding but what he new is that is was capable of creating a bubble around the ship, this bubble shielded the ship from the harsh effects of inertia and force while the ship could move at hundreds of times faster than the speed of light with ease, This allowed the Ship to have its Stealth Suites operational without having to disable them for Slipstream events.
"Mac, what happened to you up there" Apollo asked, trying to read the scramble of code diagnostics on the console. "Well, We flew into an anomaly. From the data i could gather right before my power failure, I believe we went through a wormhole". Apollo snickered, "all right, and what gave you that conclusion?". Mac replied with excitement. "The bubble propels us using pressure, the ship's uses its gravity generators to propel the bubble, something however put the bubble under an intense amount of pressure and forced us to move at an immeasurable amount of speed. When i tried to compensate for the change, i must of popped the Solaces, Safety's for the reactor, forcing my system to shut down." All Apollo could think about was the humor he found, thinking about the Faces of ONI personnel as they realize that there impatience has cost them their precious Prototype's. The ship contained Prototype drones, Vehicles, Mechs, weapons, AI's And a Spartan. Everything on-board the ship was one of a kind, making it one of the most priceless pieces of equipment in the galaxy. He found such Ironic Happiness in their Failure, Granted he wouldn't have been born if it wasn't for ONI, But they were also responsible for all of his terrible hardships.
Apollo was born from a test tube. He was supposed to be ONI's solution to the Super Soldiers they needed for future Spartan Projects. The Only love he ever experienced in his life was an AI named "Mother". the AI that was responsible for his mental stability as a child. She was implanted into his neural interface at birth. Apollo's Brain was altered to allow Cybernetic connections at the beginning of birth. This, However, had unforeseen consequences. When, he was "hatched" as the ONI scientists said, The Modified Neural Interface interrupted His Brains connection to his eyes. He was simply Blind. Using the Neural interface, they linked his mind to a Virtual Reality system where "Mother" could care for him. "She nurtured him, and gave him the Childhood of a boy born on a Farm. Throughout this fake life, he never met a single person other than Mother. In the Real World, his body was slowly being altered to allow "Prototype" augmentations to be inserted into his body. At the age of seven, he was ripped out of his fake world and implemented into the twisted world Of ONI's Valkyrie Program. He spent the rest of his Life Attached to a Helmet for his sight and Trained him to be the Galaxies Most Deadly assassin.
"Well, I launched a few UAVs and i found something you may want to see" Omega said. Apollo looked up shaking off the thoughts of the past. "Put it on the Main Screen" a Holographic video appeared in front of the window. It showed an overview of a settlement consisting of a couple dozen wooden buildings. It was surrounded by pine trees, and had a small lake on its northern side. Apollo peered closer at the video feed and eyed what looked like a well in the center of the town. He saw People walking around the town with Horses strapped to wagons. "Are thos-"."People" Omega interrupted "Yeah, those are definitely Human's". "The Hell is going on" Apollo said loudly to himself. "Whats interesting though, is the lack of tech." Mac said, putting in her two cents. "All wooden buildings, Horses and wagons for transporting. No source of electricity it looks like"She added.
"How Far is the settlement" Apollo asked. "About 10 klicks South, South West". Apollo Shifted in His stance, the way his feet were resting on the angled floor started to make his ankles ache. "What can you tell me about this planet". "Well if there was ever a planet that could Sister Earth, this is it." Mac said with enthusiastic Joy."She has nearly the same mass, has nearly the exact same environment and her Spin gives her a twenty four point five hour planetary rotation". Apollo Looked for the Helm, He was Fed up trying to stand on the ships angled floor. "Get Comms with ONI, Omega"Apollo said straining his voice as he squeezed into the surprisingly small but luxurious Command Chair. "Mac, get the thrusters up with the on-board Utility Drones and get us planted on flat ground". He said as he put his elbow on the armrest and leaned his head against his closed fist. " Going to try and sleep off this damned headache, Wake me if something comes up". Omega flashed his Hud green to acknowledge his orders.
Apollo preferred AI's over people, the Only People he had ever worked with were the Heartless Scientists of ONI and the few Spartans he participated with In a half a Dozen Wargames. In The Spartan community, he wasn't liked. His Training taught him to rely only on himself and put him in a mind-state of "Mission Before anything Else". He was Delighted at the thought of finally working with Soldiers with his similar talents, but During the Wargame Simulations, He had left Spartans to their Deaths while he pursued to accomplish his objectives. He was always successful, but his lack of teamwork left him excluded from the Spartans, and had also earned him the cruel nickname of "ONI's Pet". He distanced himself more and more as time went by. ONI seemed to notice and pulled him out of the Spartan Wargames program. He Continued his training as a lone wolf, Excluding himself forever away from the other Spartans.
Apollo closed his eyes and nearly fell into a trance when Omega startled him with a flash of his HUD. " I've," Omega paused for a minute, as if trying to find a better way to say bad news. Making a sigh Omega continued " I've found our relative position" . There was a long pause. Omega said nothing until Apollo said "Well". We are currently in The Galaxy Messier 81, better known as Bode's Galaxy". "Oh Shit" Mac said over the ship intercom, surprised by Omega's findings. Apollo wasn't familiar with the distances between galaxies so the impact of the news had very little effect on him. "Which Means" he said, indicating that he didn't have a clue on how that affected things. "Which means the Message i have just sent to Oni's Relative position from us, will take about five million plus years before anyone receives it." Apollo Perked his head up."wait, wait, wait. How far are we from Earth?" Apollo asked, seeming calmer than he thought he should be. "Well, roughly eleven million light years away" Mac said like she was simply answering a simple math question.
There was a long silence on the Bridge. Apollo was staring blankly out the view, into the Blue sky. "Its, Its not possible" he thought to himself. How could a small anomaly, cause such a catastrophic turn of events. Stranded on a planet, and his home, a distance so far, the distance was incomprehensible. Apollo grabbed his helmet and pulled it off his head. He calmly put the Helmet on the control console and stood back up, running his hands in his hair. His frustration was threatening to make him lose his temper. Mac was about to add additional info, but before She could finish her first word, Omega made a Loud chirp from Apollo's helmet, hinting to Mac to silence herself.
Omega knew Apollo fairly well, they had been linked to each other ever since Apollo was pulled from Mother. Stripping Apollo from Mother had caused mental Instability that threatened the Future of The Valkyrie Program. To Remedy the issue, ONI implanted Omega, with the intention of Omega acting as a fatherly figure. To their dismay, Apollo undermined Omega's attempts to asserts his dominance over him, which made them Friends. This, however showed to work to ONI's advantage and they made a few tweaks to increase the performance of their mental link.
Apollo took a deep Breath, The world of Darkness was a calming escape for him. Slowly, he regained his composure. Though, he was blind, he still found the command chair with relative ease and felt for his helmet.
"Looks like that settlement has a few visitors" Omega said through the helmet, as Apollo Latched the ARGUS helmet back on. Putting a small display on Apollo's HUD, Omega displayed a overview of the settlement. Humans on horseback appeared wearing what looked like plate mail, and were all armed with sheathed Long swords. One of the horsemen held a Banner. The yellow banner which was trailed by red tails on the flag, had a Shield guarded by a Lions crest. The men went to one of the larger buildings, which Apollo assumed was some sort of Tavern. If he had questions of the area, this was the only place where he could get solid answers. He gave himself one quick deep breath and made his way to leave the bridge.
"Where are we going", Omega asked puzzled. "We aren't going anywhere, You are helping Mac with Repairs"Apollo Corrected him. Apollo came to the Ladder and simply jumped down to the bottom of the steps, He landed with a loud thud from his boots, and continued down to the ship armory. "where are you going then" Omega asked, shocked. "I'm going down to see if i can find some answers out there". Apollo found the Armory, which was protected by a security console. Apollo, using his index finger to press the numbered buttons, punched in his access code. The Console Flashed green, and the doors flung open. Inside, the armory lights flashed on. The room was relatively large for an armory that was meant for a Squad. Aligned on each wall was an assortment of Rifles, pistols and missile launchers. The entire UNSC arsenal in one, twenty by twenty foot room. Apollo already had an Armament in mind for the operation, Grabbing a DMR, he checked its condition. It was a brand new model, freshly cleaned and with a loaded magazine. Apollo popped it to his back, and the weapon locked itself to his armor.
15 mins passed as Apollo finished his Loadout for his mission. He grabbed an Assault Rifle, A Silenced pistol, 4 Tacpacks strapped to his torso and legs full of magazines. He then fitted himself with a Backpack with basic military necessities. Rations, First Aid and a few other essentials. He put it over the rifles on his back in an attempt to hide them as much as possible, the barrels could still be seen under the backpack, but it would have to work. Apollo grabbed a Woodland Brown Cloak that latched to small segments on his shoulders, hiding his spartan IV armor. He then wrapped the hood over his helmet, only to expose the two Green Eyes of his helmet, obviously for his sights sake. He took a look in The armories mirror. The cloak did a good job hiding his armors features, only exposing the Black armored boots of his armor. Proud of how he hid himself, he walked out of the armory and headed to the nearest docking bay.
He found the same docking door he used to enter the ship before it launched for its journey. Apollo undid his hood and pulled out Omega;s AI Chip out of his helmet and punched it into the doors console's chip slit. Omega quickly, configured himself into the Ship's functions and opened the door. Apollo knew Omega disagreed on him leaving without him, but Omega knew that arguing with Apollo had never ended in his favor. Once Apollo set himself on an Objective, there was no turning back. "If you need anything, set your distress beacon" Omega said. "I'll take one of the Warthogs to your position". Apollo looked at the console with a grin. "Don't worry about me, Just get this thing sitting on its gears properly". The console Flashed green.
Apollo looked down, out the door. It was a ten foot drop to the snow covered grass. With an effortless jump, Apollo landed on his feet and started his trek to the forward end of the ship. Looking over the vessel, the ship looked to have received little, if not any damage on the forward end. The Solace was A small Ship, only measuring with the length of 300 feet long, and 100 in height, she could barely classify herself as a shuttle. Apollo reached the nose and began South from there. Wrapping his Helmet again with the hood, he started off into the green pine tree woods.