AN: Here we go, chapter 2 and so soon as well
12/1/12: Fixed some of the more glaring issues that were present in the chapter to improve readability.
Disclaimer: I do not own either BioWare's Mass Effect or Microsoft's Halo, this is a work of fiction as written by Hunter152 for the sole purpose of entertainment.
Time moves forward, always inexorably marching forward to its own tune and rhyme. Only the Forerunner have ever bent and shaped it their will in the times before now. Them and the Precursors before them and maybe even the ones before them as well. Now however, time is left to its own devices and its own will. Artifacts and technology, long lost, still remain that exist to give some measure of control that would be hard to achieve otherwise.
One would do well to remember however, that when one plays with the universe, sometimes it plays back with you.
1120 Hours, August 14, 2552 (Military Calendar)/
Reach, Epsilon Eridani System
She had been stationed on the verdant world of Aztec about a week's long jump core-ward. It would undoubtedly only exist as glass and fire by now. Its greens and blues turned to browns and oranges. A shame as fewer and fewer of such jewels would remain to humanity now.
She had been deep in hostile lines when the recall had come in and she had had to pull out. The terrain had been both a blessing and a curse as with her armor and rifle she could have hid for weeks and picked off as many Covenant infantry as she had the ammo and the will to do. It also seemed to be the perfect habitat for the Jackals as well.
Despite hers and her fellow Spartans ability in the theatre of ground warfare, while enough to slow and even stop at times the Covenant on the ground, it would only delay the inevitable. Eventually the enemy would get enough ships into the system to push back the defenders and then start the glassing. Once that started, nothing could stop it, like trying to stop the tide with sandcastles, it all would be washed away eventually. The only safety came by not being found.
Dodging enemy patrols and the unforgiving terrain of the monstrous jungle that gave Aztec its name, she had left. She had reached the FOB hidden in the forest to find a Pelican waiting and ready to go when she got there and a full battle group in orbit to escort her and other Spartans to Reach.
Reach hadn't changed at all in the five months since she had seen it last.
Spartan-058, Linda stepped away from the cockpit as it made its way to the surface of the planet below. While she hadn't yet received any specific orders outside the recall, she was to report to FLEETCOM at 0730 on the 19th to receive a briefing with the rest of the Spartans that could be reached and recalled by that time.
She made her way to the back of the dropship as it made its way to the Military reservation where the Spartans were to be quartered till then, the very same one that they had been quartered at when they had started training. She made her way to the back of the bay, sitting down next to Isaac, someone she hadn't seen in well over a year, with Kelly, who she had been part of a squad with right before Aztec, being right in front of her. It was just the three of them in the troop bay, everyone else either there already or on their way.
Bringing her hand across her face she did the 'smile' pantomime that all Spartans knew, getting one back from Kelly and a quirking of the lips from Isaac before he too, signed back. She spent the next couple of minutes getting back in touch with other two as they caught up with what they had been doing, within bounds of classified information of course.
Isaac and Kelly had been on the world of Char, which despite its location in the inner sphere of the colonies lived up to its name by being rather close to its sun, enough to give it its name at least. Primarily an exporter of materials, namely parts for the superconducting magnets for MAC's and various heavy metals used in the creation of the Titanium A alloy which was used in just about everything by the UNSC.
As these materials were rather important strategically for the UNSC, the battle there had been raging for several weeks with both sides throwing ships at the other. Eventually though, the UNSC would have to withdraw as either the Covenant would show up with enough ships to sweep aside the Navy, or the Admiralty would abandon the planet to save ships from the hopeless attempt of saving the colony. In the meantime however, they would try to buy time to get as much material and people off the planet as they could.
It was a story that had repeated itself across the breath and length of the colonies as so far not a single colony found by the Covenant had been spared. The only difference was the number of ships and people that had died to slow down the tide that Covenant were.
In response there had been a rather large exodus of peoples into the inner colonies, causing problems of its own across much of UNSC controlled space. Populations had boomed on dozens of worlds by millions practically overnight. Even Reach, as a military stronghold, and its surrounding system of planets hadn't been spared as its earlier population of 700 million grew to 1.3 billion.
As she was thinking this the dropship tilted as it flared for landing, the pilot's voice announcing the imminent landing.
As she and her fellow Spartans out of the ship and towards the waiting troop carrier variant of the Warthog she couldn't help but notice the increased number of marines on the base. She knew that more and more people were joining the military as the conflicts with the Covenant brought the march of war to their doors that they saw little hope except to fight. This however wouldn't account for what appeared to be veteran marines instead filling up the base unless something else was happening that would explain their presence.
More than a few of these same marines were shooting looks towards them as they moved across the pad towards their ride. Already word was getting around as at their height and build, they could have only been either really tall marines or Spartans.
At least they weren't the first ones here as it didn't seem they were too surprised by them showing up. She wondered what they would think if they were told that they were in the same base where the Spartans had been trained.
0855 Hours, August 20, 2552 (Military Calendar)/
Reach, Epsilon Eridani System, ONI CASTLE Base
Colonel Ackerson made his way through the hallways towards the section that he headed, people around him moving out of his way as soon as they saw him. While they might have respected his rank or position, which any other day would draw the same reaction. Today, it would have to be the absolutely furious look that he was throwing at the datapad in his hand that did so.
Not only was he being reprimanded by Admiral Stanforth for purposefully endangering UNSC equipment and personal, but for going above and beyond what was needed for an evaluation of those freaks of Halseys.
While he was glad on some level to see that better and more advanced tech was being developed that would latter help and support the marines on the ground and the UNSC as a whole, it was annoying that he couldn't have struck more than a childish blow against Halsey, much to his chagrin. Now he would have to be on guard against something of the same from her or by some proxy of hers as she was wont to use.
Reaching his office and initiating some targeted ECM against the usual bugs that were par the course when in the Intelligence department, as everyone was always trying to know what you knew to get ahead. It couldn't be helped as it was part of the job.
Sitting down, he said into the air "Araqiel".
"Yes Colonel Ackerson?" the excited voice of his personal assistant AI said as it formed on his desk.
"I'm going to need you to take custodianship of some files for me, as no doubt Halsey will come sniffing soon" he said.
Frowning, or at least what approximated as a frown, Araqiel said "Very well."
"Take all the files that have to do with the S-III project, the crystal and everything else in the hidden files" Ackerson said, "leave the rest, none of it is important."
"Done."
"Continue monitoring of network, I have some work that requires privacy for the time being," he said and once the form of the AI had disappeared, turned the ECM up just in case.
Taking out a standalone datapad he pursued the report on it.
While he constantly had to keep track of what was happening with the Spartan-III project, as that had been sanctioned under ONI with his leadership. He kept this other project under strict lock and key, ones like the Forerunner crystal, and only got updates through dead drops.
Not that it had saved him from Parangosky eventually finding out, but at least had given him enough time to get far enough into ONI so as to be able to research it independently without it being taken away from him.
While he, well the scientists he had studying it, had no idea why, apparently sometime after it had been found the crystal had become active in electrical and chemical ways, often in response to high energy fields interacting with it. While they weren't sure how it did it, the crystal had showed increased activity when near slipspace technology and showed acute space and time bending properties in regard to that.
That had become apparent the first time they had tried to move it off world for more remote study but that had failed. Somehow it had made the prowler that jumped move only 20,000km's from where they started. That was after spending somewhere close to 10 hours in slipspace and later finding out they had somehow only been gone for under a minute in realspace.
It had also almost cracked the crystal in half as an even larger crack had formed after at the start of the jump. They hadn't tried to move it after that for fear of having it bread completely.
Now the crystal spent its time next to an unseated Shaw-Fujikawa drive to study the relatively mild effects that came from just being near it. Already they had been able to bring drift down by 20% and a speed increase of 5% just from doing so.
They hoped they would probably be able to do more once they pried Halsey off her prize by SWORD Base but that didn't look to be happening anytime soon, especially after showing the Admiralty her little trick and pony show from earlier.
He was interrupted from further thought as despite his door being locked earlier, was opened.
Halfway to reaching for the pistol he kept under his desk did he finally realize who was standing in the door.
"As Parangosky's pet I should have expected to see you by now" he snarled at the person, "Serin Osman."
2100 Hours. August 24, 2552 (Military Calendar)/
Reach, Epsilon Eridani System, FLEETCOM
Linda once again found herself in the very same auditorium that had marked all the important parts to her life as a Spartan, except for receiving her armor.
Around her were the rest of Spartans that made up almost the entirety of those still active. Twenty three Spartans total were in attendance today, and it would mark the first time they had had so many in the same place since the end of their training. Not even that many had been there for the first armor fitting. It was a comforting feeling to be able to look around and see so many of her fellow Spartans around.
While no doubt if they were any other unit, everyone would be talking and catching up. As it was, every single person was quiet as this gathering had to be something rather serious as otherwise there would be no reason to gather them like this. Catching up could come later, the briefing and disciple came first.
Striding up from the side came two uniformed officers and an older ageing woman. She instantly recognized the woman as Dr. Halsey, the one who had made them Spartans along with CPO Mendez. The younger officer, a Captain, she didn't recognize, the older one next to Dr. Halsey, she did. She was already rising, along with all the other Spartans as John barked out "Admiral on deck!"
The now identified Admiral Stanforth returned the salute and an "At ease Spartans."
Not that this made the Spartans actually do so but it was enough for him to continue with an entertained smile on his face.
"Good evening Spartans" he said, his voice carrying across the room rather easily, "Tonight we are gathered here to talk about a rather important mission, one I believe, that will require all of you gathered here tonight. "
Walking towards the center of the stage, a holographic screen appeared showing the symbol of the UNSC which quickly changed to the still shot of an alien Linda had never seen before.
Stopping next to the projection Stanforth continued, "This here is most likely the first time any of you have seen one of these. We only just recently learned of them and what we did led to this very briefing. This ugly son of a bitch is what the spooks have taken to calling a Prophet."
Pausing for second he continued, "Apparently these Prophets are the closest thing to leaders that the Covenant have, at least according to intercepted data, having the power to order fleets around and having high importance to the leadership of the Covenant. "
"As of the moment, we have been refitting the good Captains' Keyes new ship for a vital mission." Pausing to look each and every of the Spartans in the eye, Admiral Stanforth continued, "and that is to deliver you Spartans into enemy space and to capture one, if not more of these Prophets, then to extract with them to UNSC space."
"While this may sound like a suicide mission to most people, I, the admiralty, the good doctor and Captain Keyes here all believe that it is our best chance for surviving this war. We intend to take the fight to the enemy, and for that we need the best soldiers we have."
Stopping, looking at the Spartans, still standing at parade rest, he continued, "Those of you who don't wish to take part of this are able to stand down from this, are there any of you who wish to do so?"
Not a single Spartan moved.
Sharing a smile with Dr. Halsey before turning back to the assembled Spartans he said "Very good, thank you. I will now turn this over to the good doctor here to explain more in detail everything that is going to happen in support of this operation, Dr. Halsey?"
As the Admiral moved back and Dr. Halsey moved forward to talk, Linda couldn't help feel like everything was about to change.
0400 Hours, August 30, 2552 (Military Calendar)/
Reach Orbit, Epsilon Eridani System, UNSC Pillar of Autumn
The hum of a ship, its air filters blowing, the deck imperceptivity vibrating near the engines at times, the chatter of voices from the mess and everywhere else, all served to remind her of where she was and what she was doing there.
She had received her orders with her fellow Spartans, brothers and sisters long absent and meetings overdue, back where it all had started.
The briefing had moved forward from where Admiral Stanforth had left off until an hour into Dr. Halsey's briefing on the Covenant caste system, they had been interrupted by a message from FLEETCOM that had come for the Admiral.
The Covenant had found Reach.
While the news that the Covenant had found reach was distressing on many levels, the good news was that apparently it was only a small detachment of soldiers and a single corvette at the time.
Luckily the fleet had discovered the ship rather easily as it slipped into the system right in the middle of an orbital dock which had destroyed the ship, with only a few of the Covenant making it off the ship before the fleet blew the rest of it to kingdom come.
The fact that the Covenant had somehow found Reach would mean that more would be coming, and they would never stop coming until Reach and the rest of the system were destroyed.
So far the incident had been hushed up so as to prevent a panic, but soon it would leak out and pandemonium would rule. In preparation for the imminent arrival the Covenant fleet, ships from surrounding systems had been trickling in. The defense fleet had grown from its already large 150 ships to something approaching 250 with even more coming in by the hour. If that didn't alert the civilians to the fact that something was about to happen, then nothing else would.
For the past 6 days all the Spartans had been confined to the Pillar of Autumn. The ship was still finishing its refit, thankfully leaving the surface of the planet and was currently in orbit finishing tests on the experimental reactors, and calibrating the new Slipspace drive it had been fitted.
Linda and the rest of the Spartans had been growing restless, and they weren't the only ones as the tension in the air and the fleet had been growing thicker every day.
Just the other day two marine platoons had gone at each other in the barracks and now were now in the middle of occupying the medical ward. So far no one had died, but until something happened, it was only a matter of time until more fight broke out.
Linda's restlessness had been transferred into constantly cleaning her rifle and familiarizing herself with her new armor. While it was mostly the same as her old suit, it still had thousands of tweaks and differences that to those who worn it for years. Already they had realized, and had had to tweak dozens of small things that came about just from the shields alone.
The ship would be stocked and ready to go within the next 24 hours if what engineering had said. When the time came, they would be leaving on their mission regardless of whether the Covenant had finally shown up or not.
If the Covenant came before that time however, then they would have to fight.
0530 Hours, August 30, 2552 (Military Calendar)/
Reach Orbit, Epsilon Eridani System, UNSC Circumference
Ackerson cursed as he made his way to the back of the ONI refit prowler that had been commissioned to follow the Autumn into Covenant space. It had been intended to gather intelligence and leave some nuclear surprises in Covenant space but the situation that was currently at hand had scraped that idea.
Right now he was under orders to get off the planet, and to make sure that the Forerunner data and Artifact he had in the case in his hand did not fall into the hands of the Covenant.
While he didn't mind that he was being pulled from the doomed planet, he was mourning at the loss of the Forerunner Artifact near the pole as ONI was getting it rigged to blow. The other issue was that he didn't think the crystal in the case he was carrying would survive another trip to slipspace. He didn't have much of a choice in the matter however; as he was sure that if he tried anything that, that bitch Osman would track him down and kill him before following the order herself.
Finally reaching the compartment he was looking for, he entered right as the ship slipped its moorings and started to make its way to the jump point on the systems edge.
Setting the case down on the small desk in the corner, he was about to leave to go back to the bridge when sound like tinkling glass reached his ears. Fearing the worst he went to the case and opened it to look inside.
Somehow, the crystal had changed shape. Losing its tapered points it had somehow split into an almost flower shaped form and seemed to sparkle with white flashes in the depths of the material. More alarming however, was the rather prominent third crack in its side with fractures radiating out from it.
There had been a special box installed last minute on the ship to hopefully shield the crystal from the effects of slipspace. While the Circumference had yet to even start charging its drive for the jump and there were no nearby ships doing do somehow the crystal was reacting and as such need to go into the box right now!
He drew several looks from the ONI agents as he moved through the ship with the crystal in his hands. At least they moved out the way rather than get in his path.
Reaching the hold that held the box, the name being bit of a misnomer as it was bigger a scorpion tank, he very carefully placed it inside and sighed with relief as it noticeably dimmed and seemed to calm again. After making sure that the box was closed and secured, he made his way back to his compartment and sat down.
Breathing a sigh of relief, he pulled out his datapad to write down his observation of what had happened with the crystal.
The flash of light that was the Transition was the last thing he saw before he died.
1142 Hours, August 30, 2552 (Military Calendar)/
Remote Observation Probe 254896, Epsilon Eridani System
The remote probe had been placed in the orbiting Oort cloud at the far reaches of the system. It had been positioned there to provide some form of early detection in case of rouge stellar bodies or possible Covenant incursion into the far reaches of the system. Due to its extreme range and basic software, it would be unable to properly observe and interpret what occurred at 0542 Hours, August 30, 2552.
At 11:41:58 it detected a spatial anomaly originating from inside the Epsilon Eridani System, near the planet Reach.
At 11:42:23 the previously detected spatial anomaly grew outside the detection parameter of the device. A large optical/electromagnetic flash occurred at the same time that blinded all sensors on the craft.
At 11:42:55 reboot of instruments restores functionality of sensors.
At 11:43:02 sensor data shows lack of returns on the celestial bodies of the Epsilon Eridani System, conclusion by the probe is that its instruments have malfunctioned, notification sent to UNSC Station Fermion, no response.
At 13:59:56 positive returns from within the stored bounds of Epsilon Eridani System, radar returns match sections of Covenant ships, alert set to UNSC Reach FLEETCOM, no response.
At 15:00:00 further investigation of radar returns shows the classification of the Covenant fleet, 167 ships, as instead being a debris cloud.
06:52:14 September 5, 2552 positive return from UNSC Calypso.
07:14:32 recovery of probe by UNSC Calypso, end of recording.