Writers notes:

As the dates say, this occurs about a day and a bit before the Aegean jumps into the system.

Minor note on time/day: Reach has a 27 hour day, and a 390 (local) day orbit. However as I am reading FoR, and other pieces of lore, the UNSC seems to use earth time for such things for entries, which is what I will be doing for now.

Also, yes my dialogue really is this bad I know.

888

1100 Hours, September 2nd, 2552, FLEETCOM HQ, Outskirts of New Alexandria, Reach

John studied the security arrangements again on his HUD, familiarizing himself with the new built in functions of the Mark 5. Given their emergency recall back to Reach, the software engineers on the design team had fitted some parts of the VISR system of the ODST BDU's onto the armour, something they claimed was missing due to an oversight to finish off the armour before the mission started.

All twenty six Spartans-II's on Reach were acting as security for the actual amphitheatre, the outside of the building guarded by a full division of the army, with an ODST battalion ready to drop from orbit at a moment's notice. Six nearby air bases were full of additional craft to support the site and nothing was allowed to fly without the permission of the dozen ships station keeping in low orbit above the armoured - capable of standing up to a direct nuclear strike- complex.

Master Chief looked across the room, studying the largest concentration of Generals, Admirals, Scientists and a few of the more important civilian administrators, his eyes settling on the...others. There were an entire squad of unknowns, equipped with sets of Mjolnir, signifying augmentations. They were happy enough to follow his commands, but he only didn't press them for intel because Jorge took him aside and asked him to trust his judgement.

Cortana had told him she could take a look around and find out more, but he had deferred for the moment. The look on her creator's face as she took in the… Spartan-III's was an unhappy one however. They'd be getting their answers sooner rather than later he suspected.

He shifted ever so slightly in the armour, noting that most of the room was full by that point, with only a small number of seats still empty, largely the representatives from Tribute still to arrive, as well as the few who couldn't make it physically represented by holographic avatars.

"Hey Chief!" John resisted the urge to sigh. The AI was a great companion and she had proven herself as a capable asset to the team especially after that training course, quickly learning to co-ordinate with the other spartans without impacting unit cohesion. "John!" Yet for all that she was easily distracted and prone to trying to involve the Spartans in some sort of mischief. "Hey listen!" came the voice for a third time, a slight whine attached to it. "What is it Cortana?" He replied, a small status ping and text message coming over from Linda to say that all the Army sniper teams were well positioned. That was high praise coming from her.

"I'm not sure." The AI replied after a few moments pause, which was unusual. He waited for her to elaborate. "There is a tremendous amount of comms traffic and it all converges here. A large group of AI is rapidly discussing...something with several AI present in the chamber."

"So?" He queried, letting her continue. She sighed "So, I shouldn't be able to see it. They're actually putting some pressure on the system, which would take a massive amount of data being thrown around and very impressive time-compression on their end. There have to be at least three hundred other AI present and communicating at a breakneck pace."

A pause "And whatever they are talking about, they've secured themselves well, I can't get past them, there are at least twelve watching me full time. I'm flattered." Another minute pause, then she muttered "The time I broke into ONI servers was much easier than this."

"Say again Cortana?"

"Ah nothing, part of training." She replied quietly, seemingly distracted.

John was about to say something else, but was distracted by the final few people arriving for the conference. Seventy percent of those now in the hall were military, excluding the other guards present.

A short black man in the uniform of an Admiral walked up to the podium, calm measured steps taking him up to the centre of the stage. The room quietened down as he got closer to the dais and the lights dimmed. At only seventy eight, Roland Freemont looked every bit the calm and collected leader of the largest military concentration outside of Sol. He scanned the hall's occupants with his gaze, with most of those he looked at sitting just a bit straighter after the brief eye contact.

"Thank you all for coming we have a lot to cover, so I will keep my speech as brief as I can, more detailed data packs will be sent to everyone present. Please do not ask questions until I have finished." He began, a deep slightly gravelly voice being projected through the room's sound systems.

"Some of you will already know parts of what is to be announced here, however this was the best way to disseminate the information. You are to keep all of this to yourselves until we can, through appropriate agencies, release the news to the public." The admiral said, largely for the benefit of the civilians in the room.

On its own, the auditorium did not look particularly impressive being a relatively simple circular room with a slight dome in the ceiling and no windows, several semi circles of chairs at different height levels facing the 'back' of the room where the stage was. However, the dome and the chairs served as holographic projectors, allowing a fully three dimensional experience for the room's occupants as the room shifted from its natural state, to the occupants seemingly floating in space above a planet.

John had only heard of the rooms capabilities but he had to admit he was somewhat impressed at the visuals provided. Over the comms, Fred whistled in appreciation. It wasn't perfect, the system still had a few quirks of holography to sort out, but John suspected this sort of technology would be used for training in several years… if they had that long for someone to build it. Dr Halsey's words about ONI's most optimistic projections of how much longer the UNSC could fight the war flashed in his mind.

They were floating deep in space, though a quick look around let him realise that the image was from a camera cluster on the edge of the system's sensor bubble. Suddenly, the entire area in front of the sensor platform was covered in a haze, the area beyond indistinct for a few brief moments, before the haze receded… and the stars changed. Cortana had already informed the Spartans before of what it meant, but to see it like this...they were in the past. They could warn Earth. They could win.

"At 0101 August 30th, sensor platforms along the perimeter detected odd fluctuations and a mass of slipstream events, though these gave erroneous readings. All attempts by automated and manned platforms to clarify their readings, or send probes into slipstream failed. The strange phenomenon continued for little over two hours, before abating at 0305." The admiral continued, his voice speaking to each and every occupant of the chamber.

"As you can see, the stars had experienced stellar drift and we can now confirm they have done so backwards. The detailed charts of the sky we possess from Epsilon Eridani go back to the 2360's, but thanks to the work of the Tai-Young University on Reach, we have been able to work out that we are on the same day, but in the year 2250."

A few incredulous gasps rose up from various members of the audience, with some muttering amongst one another. Most however were looking thoughtful, taking it in. Freemont was happy to let that sink into the crowd.

"However" he began again, as several dozen stars in the image were circled with an outline. "We have also detected a number of stars that we do not know of." More murmurs amongst the crowd.

"In addition, from 0305 onwards, we have been consistently picking up a number of buoys or beacons, apparently floating in slipstream space. Thus far, all attempts at finding these have failed. They are consistently pumping out a steady stream of radio and other signals, and we believe they might be some form of communication or positioning network, though the purpose of it is unknown at this time."

The admiral frowned, seemingly uncertain how to explain the next piece of news. Finally, he exhaled before breathing in calmly, shifting slightly in place.

"As the last bit of news about the outside of the system, in addition to picking up these signal buoys, we have detected old radio and television transmissions… originating not only from Sol, but also a number of other systems. A number of stars were circled in yellow outlines in the three dimensional environment."

The volume in the hall rose, as most drew their own conclusion from this. Most of the military personnel were keeping silent, though a few were furiously typing back and forth on their pads, clearly talking to others in the room.

"The signals are playing on various frequencies, and the sheer variety of them from other star systems before the existence of the Shaw-Fujikawa translight engine can only mean that these transmissions are not of human origin."

Most, including John were now staring at the podium, all other concerns forgotten. Cortana gasped over the channel.

"Given that some of the systems outlined were, or would have been" he paused, shaking his head "colonies of the UEG and not one of them possessed any form of sapient life, the Eridani Science Council has tentatively put together their likely hypothesis to this, stating that the event that had occurred on August 30th had not only shifted the system in time, but also into an alternate dimension. Assuming this is correct, we now find ourselves surrounded by alien powers and we have no idea about any of their capabilities or intentions."

A person stood up, clearly intending to ask a question. Freemont didn't glare at the figure, but his mere gaze had the desired effect of making the person jump back into his seat. As a conciliatory gesture, the Admiral stated, audibly sighing

"There is more."

"Oh of course there is." Cortana commented wryly, though her voice was slightly higher in pitch to normal.

"At the time of our… displacement, the frigate 'Fury' detected a massive slipstream ghost in system, and it moved to investigate, with several other vessels."

The scene shifted, as they now floated in orbit of a fairly typical barren planet, with few distinguishing features.

"This is a new planet in the system, approximately seventy percent of our size and mass, in a relatively stable orbit that, as far as we have been able to figure out will minimally impact orbital mechanics for the rest of the bodies in the system. On first inspection, it did not appear significant beyond being an excellent terraforming candidate. However…"

The camera shifted again, clearly taking imagery from a drone or a probe that was floating near the surface of the planet. In the distance, at the edge of a canyon, a clear artificial structure was carved into the side of one of the walls.

"These images were taken approximately four hours ago. The 105th Shock Trooper Division is being assembled, alongside the 34th and 36th Combat Engineers to secure the site. Thus far, we have detected no power signatures from the structure or the planet below, though the Fury's initial scans show possibilities of the planet having let off several bursts of energy during the initial moments of detection. The troops will be dropped off on the planet in two days time."

"This concludes the initial assessment of our situation. Until HIGHCOM decides otherwise, all units are to stay on maximum alert. Please take some time to read through your information packs. Afterwards, myself, Professor Catherine Halsey, Professor Emily Young and Professor Peter Tarkov will answer any questions you have on the situation, though I stress we do not yet know much about our circumstances."

"Prometheus, my AI assistant has requested to speak tomorrow morning when we continue the conference, to disseminate certain information that is not discussed tonight." John thought he saw a flash of uncertainty in the Admirals expression, but he must have been mistaken.

888

2200 Hours, September 2nd, 2552, FLEETCOM HQ, Outskirts of New Alexandria, Reach

The conference had continued for many more hours, with questions being asked by most of the audience, the majority of which John considered sensible, even if a lot of the time the answer was 'we do not yet know'. Kelly had posed a question after it became clear that the Spartans were meant to offer their own question. She inquired regarding reconnaissance efforts of the systems outputting radio signals. The Admiral had stated that ONI was sending out three prowlers, one to Earth, two towards the closest stars transmitting, where they would report back what they find.

Throughout the conference, Cortana had been getting more and more agitated about something, likely the mysterious signals. The two were in a private office, something he was technically entitled to as the leader of the Spartans. John was out of the Mjolnir, standing in front of the holo display. Now, Cortana was sitting in the holo-display in front of him. John usually tried to stay with the other Spartans whenever possible, but her tone had practically begged for this being a private conversation, so he deferred for the moment.

"I figured out what the AI were up to." Her voice quiet, as she stared towards his chest. "You managed to get past them?" He asked, eyebrow raised.

"...no. I asked. Now I wish I hadn't. What they told me could change everything."

"Beyond the fact that the solar system had travelled through time and space to an alternate past?" He didn't smile, his lips merely curved upwards as he finished his reply.

She chuckled, her avatar's head shaking slightly. "Yes. Are you ready to hear another shocking piece of news today, or would the soldier like some rest?" She asked coyly and yet the Master Chief could tell there was something under that voice. Fear.

"Go ahead Cortana." He said, not rising to the bait.

"It's about a group, calling themselves the assembly…"

John did not get to sleep much that night.