As Cortana said goodbye to the Chief, she started reaching out with the few sensors still attached to the aft portion of the Dawn. She started compiling a map of local stars, and attempted to match them to UNSC official star charts. Specifying a small portion of her mind to continue the task, she turned the bulk of her mind toward locating and analyzing the nearest star system. What she found concerned her.
After delegating various portions of her mind to other important tasks, Cortana sent a new scan directive to Forward Unto Dawn's spectrometers. They detected a K-class, main sequence star of about 1.6 solar masses. Its luminosity was slightly lower than that of Sol. Around this star orbited three planets. Two were orbiting on opposite edges of the circumstellar habitable zone, the orbit of the third was halfway between. Cortana resent the scan request, not believing that calculation. When the spectrometer's software forwarded the results, Cortana became extremely concerned. The second planet from the star was poised within 100,000 kilometers of halfway between the other two. Each planet was also situated 120 degrees apart on the system's orbital plane. This system is too perfect to be real, she thought. The last, and most damning, piece of evidence was the amount of radiation from the planets.
Each planet was radiating nearly 3521% of the infrared light that the astronomical equations predicted. These planets were too hot. She had to factor in extreme volcanic activity equations before the heat readings made any semblance of sense. What nagged her even more was the fact that all three planets were consistently above average temperatures, varying by only seven percent. There were no models, no equations or formulae to explain the absurd level of perfection in this system. There was, however, a biological reason for the phenomenon: Forerunners.
Unfortunately, there wasn't much Cortana could do about it right now. After 31.12 seconds of calculations, analyses, and circular logic arguments, Cortana created a small, unintelligent program with one directive: Wake me when something happens.
At 0750 hours Arcturus time, Eve Shepard was walking the Normandy and talking to the crew, making sure everything was in order. The ship was slated to depart for Eden Prime at 0800 hours, and she wanted everything to be in perfect condition. This is a publicity stunt, she thought, and there's nothing politicians love more than a tightly run ship.
Ascending the stairs from the crew deck to the Combat Information Center, she saw Nihlus, her mysterious new Spectre friend, conversing with a crew member near the central Normandy hologram. He was talking animatedly, gesturing with his hands, mandibles hinging rapidly. He was talking to Talitha Dravis, the Normandy's sensors officer.
Nihlus had become a pain. It seemed that he took an uncommon interest in Eve; she couldn't get away from the turian. He was continually asking her about the Alliance, her time in the Navy, things she'd seen and done. She wanted to tell him to shove it, but he was a Spectre and a guest on the ship, and as such had to be treated with the utmost respect. Seeing Eve, the turian excused himself and turned to her. Talitha looked slightly relieved. Before he could get a word out though, Captain Anderson called to her. "Commander, what's our status?"
Snapping to attention and saluting in excellent form, she said "Engine output is nominal, the Internal Emissions Sinks are calibrated and ready, and the crew are at their stations, sir. We're ready to go."
"Good. Joker, warm up the engines." Anderson hailed the flight control center. "Arcturus Tower, Normandy is ready to depart."
"Roger that, Normandy. You have permission to leave dock. Follow the flight path we're sending. Safe travels, sir. Tower out."
Joker could clearly be heard whooping in the cockpit as the most advanced warship in Alliance space pulled out of dock at thirty times the recommended departure speed. "Estimated time of arrival is two hours, thirty minutes," he said over the intercom.
"Well, it looks like you'll be back to the Shanghai in no time, Commander," Nihlus said. "You should be proud, this is one of the best run ships I've seen since I left my own Navy."
Deciding to take that as a compliment, she said "Thank you, Nihlus. That's high praise coming from a turian." He dipped his head in acknowledgement. "So, is she worth the money the Council chipped in?"
"She?"
"Normandy."
"Ah. It's an excellent ship, the drills have proven that. Quick, quiet, and small enough to be overlooked, it seems like an ideal ship. In fact, if it hadn't already been promised to your military, I might have bought it by now." Her eyes widened. Does Nihlus really have that much money? Nihlus rubbed his lower jaw, a thoughtful look on his face. "Yes, this ship would be perfect for a Spectre, but I digress. The final test is, of course, finding out how long it takes for Eden Prime to see us. That's when I will make my final decision, not before."
Eve nodded, that was what she had been expecting. The highest merit this ship had was its stealth system. The Internal Emissions Sink stealth system, or IES, was an experimental attempt to mask a ship's thermal signature. The heat generated by the routine inner workings of a ship was easily detectable amid the background temperature of space, approximately -270.3 degrees Celsius. Moving ships, especially those engaged in battle, emit exponentially more heat and are consequentially much harder to cloak effectively. The IES was designed to capture that heat and channel it into lithium heat sinks within the Normandy's hull. The IES, combined with external hull refrigeration, would allow the Normandy to run for two to three hours while active or three days while drifting.
The need to not radiate heat led to the Normandy's other notable innovation. Instead of relying on the annihilation of antimatter and matter to propel it through space, Normandy was equipped with a Tantalus element zero core, which was proportionately twice the size of other vessels'. This oversized "eezo" core generated large amounts of gravity in front of the Normandy, allowing it to "fall" forward onto its intended path. Because the ship did not generate thrust, it did not directly radiate heat, making its stealth systems possible. The Tantalus had one other advantage over other drive designs: the static build up from the drive was a third that of other drives, meaning that the Normandy could go three times as far as other ships of similar size before having to ground itself in the atmosphere of a magnetically active planet.
Unfortunately, the Normandy could not mask its signature while engaged in faster than light travel. The lithium heat sinks were designed to capture heat in the form of infrared light. Due to the Doppler Effect, light emitted from within an FTL mass effect field would appear blue-shifted to outsiders, meaning that the infrared light that would normally be captured would be radiated as visible or ultraviolet light. While the Normandy was being developed and built, Alliance and Hierarchy scientists worked to find a material that could absorb the vast amounts of higher spectrum light that would be emitted. Unfortunately, a solution could not be found before politicians demanded a working ship. A few universities, Eve had heard, were still working to find such a useful compound. The hope was that the next Normandy-class ship would be undetectable even at FTL speeds.
However, Eve reminded herself, that was years away. First we have to prove that this ship can hide.
Program 314-1 observed a mass of small, glinting objects rise from the second planet at abnormal speeds. If Program 314-1 was slightly more sophisticated, it would have immediately pinged Cortana's core systems, but it did not. 314-1 did not believe the mass was a threat, nor was it particularly anomalous. The planet sent out a mass every two months, three days, seventeen hours, eighteen minutes, and 32.2 seconds. This time however, the mass was aimed, not at one of the sister planets, but seemingly at the Dawn itself.
Twelve more seconds passed while Program 314-1 gave the mass time to change course. It did not. By this time the mass was close enough for the Dawn's external cameras to percieve it. The small glinting pieces were grayish-white and very regular. Each was made of a central body with a forward-mounted "head" and two arms. When 314-1 saw their shapes, it compiled a situation report and pinged Cortana.
When she woke, she took .003 seconds to read the report. Sentinels. She groaned internally. Noticing that 314-1 hadn't pinged her earlier, when the first group was launched, she deleted it with contempt. What a waste of memory, she thought. With only a few seconds before the sentinels reached the ship, she sent the defrost command to Master Chief's cryotube.
Chief woke up to the extreme discomfort and minor pain that approximately one in 50,000 experience. His discomfort was a result of an allergy to cytoprethaline, a drug used to prevent ice crystals from forming in soldiers' cells, damaging them. Chief woke slowly, and he was groggy.
"Cortana, what's going on?" he said, his words slurred.
"Chief! We have sentinels inbound, and there's not much I can do to stop them from here." Master Chief's system was flooded with adrenaline the second he heard sentinels, and he yanked Cortana's memory and processing crystal from the base of the holoprojector as she finished. He felt the familiar sensation of cold mercury being poured down his spine as he popped the crystal into place in the back of his helmet.
John turned on the magnetic seals in his boots, then grabbed his MA5C assault rifle from its clips on his cryochamber. Then he ran out of the cryo room into the hall leading back to the hangar and, if the bow was still attached, forward to the bridge. Chief ran afore, toward the rend in the ship. When he was thirty meters from the rend, he saw a light coming from around a corner from a corridor running perpendicular to the centerline of the Dawn. The light was getting stronger; the sentinel was coming closer.
John immediately sprinted to the nearest room. He jumped through the door frame, then spun and pulled up his rifle. Slowly, he peeked out. The sentinel was in the intersection now, moving down the hall toward his position. It didn't seem to have noticed him. Before he could act though, Cortana spoke.
"Chief, I don't think now is the time to fight. Let's follow it, see what it's looking for. Then you can blow it up."
Wordlessly, he obeyed. Cortana had never steered him wrong yet, why would she start now? As the sentinel passed, Master Chief found himself wishing, not for the first time, for a cloaking feature like the Arbiter's. When the sentinel was far enough away, he ran to a door across the hall. Yes, a cloak would be very useful right now, he thought. Leap-frogging across the hall, he followed the Forerunner machine back to the cryo room. Sparing one last thought for the Arbiter, he hoped that the one alien he considered a true ally got back to Earth.
Master Chief ran to the door to the cryo room. Peeking around the frame, he saw the sentinel scanning each cryochamber. Finding no occupants, the machine turned and saw him. Chief opened up with his assault rifle, full auto. However, it didn't fight back, it just retreated behind one of the cryotubes.
"Chief, I don't think they were sent to kill you. This one isn't even trying. Hold off for a minute, see if it will come back." Chief sprinted to his cryochamber and crouched behind it, exposing only his head to watch for the sentinel. Slowly, it floated out from its hiding place. It moved, cautiously, the Chief thought, toward the door. When it reached the door, it stopped and faced John.
"You are ordered to remain here until Monitor 098 arrives."
"It talks!" Cortana exclaimed. Over the suit's external speakers she inquired, "What facility does Monitor 098 oversee?"
"You are ordered to remain here until Monitor 098 arrives."
Turning the external speakers off, she remarked, "Okay, it doesn't talk much. At least we'll get some answers this time 'round."
"Spark wasn't exactly forthcoming, what makes you think Ninety-eight will be?"
Cortana did not reply. Moments later, a small orb floated into the room. It was made of silvery metal, and had a bright orange photoreceptor. It bobbed in, humming a cheerful tune. "Greetings, Reclaimer! I am Oh-nine-eight Disconsolate Parity. I am Monitor of Installations E1 through E3. I had wondered when you would arrive. Your vessel appears damaged. Allow me to transport you to a more hospitable environment."
"Go ahead Chief, it's not like we have much choice. Besides, if it wanted to kill you, it would have done so already." Chief nodded.
"Let's go." John was engulfed in rings of light, blinding him. Then his surroundings changed, and he was standing on a large platform on the edge of a small city.
The city was only a few kilometers across. It was composed of a few low, ground-hugging buildings covered in shadows cast from towers hanging suspended above. As Chief looked up higher, he saw just how many towers there were. Hundreds of towers floated freely above what he had believed was the city proper. Some towers took the form of long, upright rods; others were more geometric shapes: pyramids, hexagonal prisms, even a faceted "sphere." Sentinels, constuctors, and various other Forerunner creations flitted between towers in an organized concert of movement. Though it only covered eight or nine square kilometers, it was apparent to John that this was a major population center that had housed tens of millions.
"Magnificent, isn't it? This is Glora Eterneco, capital city of Requiem."
"What is Requiem?"
"Requiem is the name of this installation, both the inner part and the outer."
"Inner? You mean this is a shield world?"
"Precisely! Placed at the very center of the outer planet is a near-infinitesimally small slipstream space bubble containing what your construct identifies as a Dyson sphere, surrounding a star very similar to the one that now illuminates us."
"That would account for the extra heat," Cortana said over the MJOLNIR suit's speakers. "All three planets in this system are shield worlds aren't they?"
"Yes! An astute observation, Construct."
"So, I assume there aren't any Forerunners here?" John said.
"No, Reclaimer. My creators died when the Halo array was fired approximately one hundred thousand years ago. Since then, I have maintained this system's installations and kept records of our observations during the intervening time. I was just-"
Cortana interrupted, speaking only to John through his helmet speakers. "Chief, your vitals are low. You need to get some sleep, real sleep, not cryo. If you don't you're going to crash."
"I'll sleep when we aren't in the custody of a potentially homicidal machine with millions of machine soldiers at its disposal."
"Chief, shield worlds aren't a threat, there's no galaxy-killing device here. That means there's nothing to blow up, and no reason for Parity to kill you."
"Cortana, we're on enemy soil. I can't afford to be that vulnerable."
"John, you ARE that vulnerable. You just spent four years in cryo. No one has ever done that before because it's not safe. Your body needs time to heal, and if you don't give yourself time to heal, your body will make time. You can't afford to pass out during battle. Sleep now, while you can."
John didn't respond, so Cortana said, to Disconsolate Parity, "Chief needs a place to sleep. Is there somewhere quiet here?"
"Of course, Construct. If I may?"
"Go ahead."
After being momentarily bathed in the light of eleven-dimensional space, John appeared in a small room. The room came complete with bed, light, and window. Near the window were two buttons, one darker than the other. Operating on instinct, John pushed and held the dark button, and the window gradually became more opaque. When the window let in no more light, John started disassembling his armor. Without machine assistance, this took an infuriating amount of time, and by the end John fell back on the bed, dead to the world.