Chapter 1, the plot thickens!

May 14 2650, Arcturus Station, UNSC Headquarters.

For nearly all of known history Earth, the home world, has been the beating heart of man. The great capital of nearly everything imaginable; it could be home to the greatest scoundrel or the most enlightened scholar. It was the center of everything that man created and was the crown jewel, even during the attacks by the Covenant Earth stood proud and defiant as her people defied extinction. Most importantly to the old Covenant Earth was the head of the serpent of the UNSC, Reach may have been the arms holding the swords and the shields but Earth was the head. Highcom, ONI the UEG government all was on Earth and if Earth could be snuffed out, the great jewel crushed, than man too would be destroyed.

Now however almost a century since the end of the Great War Earth was rebuilt, her proud and glittering mega cities rebuilt taller and larger, her navies rebuilt and redefined her sword and shield; Reach was reclaimed. One part however did not return. After the assimilation of the 5 species Human, Sangheili, Unggoy, Mgalekgolo, Huragok, a new capital needed to be built. This capital would be the heart and the head of all species in the alliance; it would be the ultimate display of friendship and power. A reminder to the rest of the galaxy how far the NSA had come. Thus Arcturus Keep was born. Construction began in 2583 in a neutral zone of space near the gas giant dubbed Themis the space station was coordinated and built between a collaboration of Sangheili and Human experts and quickly assembled by tens of thousands of Huragoks. Planned to be twice as large as the colossal high charity it took near 3 decades just to finish half of the Keep. Now 50 years since then the Keep is all but complete, holding the entirety of the NSA parliament and Executive office it is the most heavily defended station in NSA space, rivaling the defense of Earth and Sanghelios combined. Throughout the Keep the fruits of Human and separatist covenant assimilation can be seen, the architecture itself is an odd combination of the flowing aquatic lines of the covenant and the blocky utilitarian design of the UNSC. It retained the original main mushroom mega structure of the old High Charity but it also branched out into to massive wards that thrust out to the far reaches of the void. Home now to over 30 million organic life forms and many more synthetic constructs it is unrivaled in prestige and authority. To live in the upper wards of Arcturus designates wealth and authority. Now in the highest ring of the wards within the cap of the mushroom structure reside some of the most powerful officials within the UNSC.

A small nondescript building among the several hundred skyscrapers that make up the ward is about to host the most important meeting in UNSC history since the formation of the NSA. A small office room of dark pine wood floors and paneling, with a massive mahogany table taking up most of the room sat the generals, Admirals and chief executives of all species. They were about to decide the fate of the galaxy.

At the head of the table furthest from the large double doors that make up the only entrance to the room sits a man by all accounts should have withered and died long ago. His name: High Admiral Lord Terence Hood.

"Sir the last of the generals from Sanghelios have arrived", states a young nervous looking secretary.

"Good, get everyone else out of here Jim", commands Hood in the same strong but firm voice that had kept the UNSC from near destruction dozens of times. The aide nods his head and goes about clearing the room of anyone above admiral or general, the exception being two massively armored Spartan V's standing guard flanking the door.

"Generals, admirals please take a seat so we can start this meeting", Hood further commands the delegation. "Now you may be wondering why you have all been called away from your fleets or armies", Hood begins with an apprehensive air. "While I am not qualified to explain everything to you I can assure you this; in the next few hours the fate of the entire galaxy will be decided". All look to Hood with dark looks on their faces, the last time that was stated a Forerunner research station was found completely overrun by flood. The scientists that discovered the station not knowing what the flood was nearly doomed the entire NSA to a flood outbreak. "To fully enlighten you on the situation we are dealing with I would draw your attention to Director Jack Harper of the Galactic Security Agency", Hood Introduces Harper.

A Caucasian human with short finely groomed jet black hair, bright almost glowing blue eyes, and dressed in an expensive looking suit stood up to address the room. He seemed to move with an uneasy grace that seemed like it took years to practice even though he was clearly very young. When he spoke he did so with such a smooth and commanding voice you could almost confuse him for a high ranking Admiral who'd commanded in the navy for many years.

"As High Admiral Hood said we face a matter of upmost delicacy and danger", Harper said as his impressive blue eyes swept across the room. "For years we have been content in our belief that our government and the tattered remnants of the old covenant were the only spacefaring civilizations in the galaxy. I am here to tell you that that assumption is wrong". After Harper finished speaking there was a few moments of deathly silence, the officers and officials all looking liked they'd been hit over the head with a gravity hammer. Then all hell broke loose.

"Where the hell did you get this information?!" One Sangheili Admiral roared.

"How can we now it's accurate?!" Screamed another.

"I'll become a prophet of the old covenant before I believe anything you spooks say!" Trumpeted a rather grizzled looking Human Admiral.

The room then proceeded to descend into further states of chaos as officers and officials from different species began to roar at each other about how this is just a plot to grant one of them emergency powers. Another thing that the UNSC retained from the assimilation is the granting of emergency dictator like powers to the military in a time of war. Such powers would make the High Admiral selected by the senate have near unlimited power; such dictators could order the destruction of an entire race if necessary. Luckily the rest of the High Admirals had the power to impeach such a ruthless warlord and replace him or her with one of their own.

Such was the room descending into something that could quickly become a brawl, the only people quietly sitting, (or in the case of the two Spartans standing), were Lord Hood and Director Harper with an oddly happy grin on his face as he looked around at his handy work. Lord Hood on the other hand looked like he might explode.

"ENOUGH!" Hood finally exploded. All heads swiveled to his direction, several Unggoy admirals were hastily let down and more than a few humans were dropped from the clutches of several Sangheili. It took a lot to anger High Admiral Hood these days but the sight of his charges, the entirety of the room save the Spartans, descend into chaos made his blood boil. "You are the best and the brightest in the Entirety of the NSA! You are all here because you have shown great aptitude, ingenuity and skill in the face of danger! You have all stared down the face of death at one point or another and if I hear so much as a raised voice from anyone else in this room I swear to all that is holy you will be court martialed and made a cook!" Hood finished his tirade with a huff. "And Director Harper you will contain your theatrics or I will personally see you expelled from ONI! Is that clear?"

"Yes High Admiral", came the immediate dutiful response from the entire room.

"Good, now Director I believe you give an explanation to all this, preferably without theatrics".

"Of course sir, now as I have said we are not the sole space faring civilization anymore. ONI has had this information for little over a decade now and it has been decided that it is time to act. We are not here to validate this claim, as I can assure you it's correct, we are here to decide what we will do with this new civilization", Harper announced with a slightly subdued tone to his voice now. "Now Cerberus can you please bring up a map of the galaxy for us?"

"Yes sir", said the GSA smart AI Cerberus as the map of the entire galaxy flickered on above the center of the table from small almost unnoticeable hologram projectors.

"Now then I am going to explain to you why it is paramount we deal with this government as soon as possible. First I'd show you all our territory. Large swaths of the map became tinted a deep crimson red. "Next color all non-colonized and unmapped space grey". The rest of the map became light depressing grey. "Finally I'd like to show you the rest what this new government's territory looks like". At this large circles of deep blue popped up separated by each other by seas of grey.

"It looks like Swiss cheese", remarked a Human Admiral, "Who in their right mind would colonize like this? You can't possible defend all of that well enough. And besides the rest of the space might not all be garden worlds but I'm sure there's at least some value to it".

"Ah yes and that brings me to my next point", Harper began, "As I have said ONI has been observing this Civilization for some time this apparent Citadel Council is very restricted technologically. They base all of their technology on the theory of the mass effect, a form of FTL by which the mass of an object or ship is altered to allow it to travel at FTL speeds. That said we have never developed this tech as it utilizes dark energy and as I stated before it severely limits technological advancement. They however jumped on the mass effect bandwagon as remnants of another ancient race, the Protheans, allowed very easy reverse engineering", Harper stated as if he was almost reading from a text book.

"Another reason we have not touched this tech is because it utilizes a very dangerous, very unstable element: element zero. This element is the crux in almost all their technology as it powers their FTL drives, weapon systems and shield technology. This makes it very easy to build or maintain systems but utterly destroys any innovation in either different tech or power taxing systems. Now to answer why their territory looks like it does I need to bring you up to speed on another little piece of tech: the mass relays. These little babies have by all estimates existed for near uncountable amount of time, definitely predating the Forerunners by millions of years", Harper continued in his now bored sounding voice.

A hologram of the device incased in what looked like an ice moon appeared. "These relays allow near instantaneous travel between thousands of light-years. Now you may be asking yourself, if these relays allow such fast travel why does their territory look so..." Harper paused looking for the right word, "looks so incomplete. You see these relays work in pairs and because of that the area in between dubbed 'relay dead zones' is uncolonizable by their governments". A new map appears listing all known relay locations; none of them were in NSA territory. "Because of this if we were to continue as we were our governments may not have contact for the next several centuries. That is if we didn't just discovery a relay within our own borders", Harper then gestures to the hologram above the table. "This relay was found on the outskirts of Shanxi space nearly 20 years ago, before the idea of the colony even existed".

"And why has this machine not been recovered yet?" Queried a rather unassuming looking Unggoy.

"Simple to tamper with any relays in their government is considered a grave offense; they seem to have a way to keep tabs on all their relays in known space and they'll quickly send a patrol fleet to deal with the offending party who tampered with the device", Harper answered.

"All well and good but what is the point to all this yammering", intoned a rather bored looking Sangheili General.

"The point is that we have to decide what to do with this government. If you were all to read the history we have managed to take from this so called extranet, you will be able to see they will react to great hostility towards us. Most would even see our good friends the Huragoks as dangerous machines that would destroy us the moment they had the chance". There were many snorts from around the room at this; the pacifistic nature of the Huragoks was well known. "No it seems to me there is only one way to deal with an entire government built around rules the outlaws entire species in our government; they must be brought under heel and quickly".

"What do you mean", asked Hood quite worried where this may lead.

"It is quite simple really, this council made up of the strongest of the species in their government rules over the others in tyrannical fashion, we will liberate the other races and bring the council to answer from the many crimes they have committed", Harper again gained his commanding and smooth voice, "We will instigate a little accident at the relay allow an invasion of Shanxi perhaps the destruction of several ships, and when they think they have the upper hand we send forth our fleets and liberate they colony! With this great act of war the Council has committed it will be only a short order for the NSA to grant emergency powers to the UNSC and to declare war. Once this has come to pass we will send forth our great fleets from all corners of our mighty alliance, we will make this Council quake and they will have no choice to make many changes… our changes!" Looks from the military men that once harbored suspicion and worry at Harper's words slowly changed to agreement and understanding as he unveiled his plan; his silver tongue quickly making the generals and admirals see his point of view. "We shall be the instrument in the destruction of tyranny! The bringer of freedom and knowledge to entire species shackled to tyranny and squalor. And above all we shall ensure that never again shall the people of the NSA fear invasion from any species!" A great roar of applause grew up from the entire room even the usually stoic Hood had a smile on his face at Harper's inspiring words.

"It goes without saying that what we suggest is underhanded and cruel, and may very well lead to the deaths of many in the UNSC, but if we ignore this opportunity and allow this council to level the playing field think how many more will die. I for one agree and put full confidence in Director Harper's plan", at Hood's statement all remaining disagreement for the motion was crushed nearly instantaneously and after a quick vote the motion carried.

After the meeting Hood stayed thinking on what had happened, the galaxy was changing and he sometimes felt like he was powerless to affect it anymore. Three years after the end of the war a Forerunner installation was found that specialized in medical research; after going through all this research the UNSC developed top secret technology they dubbed nanites. The nanites theoretically had the power to alter or remove the aging genes in human chromosomes creating immortality, but they had never been tested and many worried about side effects. Hood catching word of this volunteered to be injected with the nanites, if there was even a slight chance he would be able to prolong his ability to protect the people he loved he would do it. Now nearly a century earlier he wondered if it was worth it, only two others had been injected with the nanites, Dr. Halsey the new director of ONI, and the Spartan John Sierra-117 the only gift he would agree to, being able to live with Cortana forever. But know Hood wondered if it was worth it he had seen 3 generations of UNSC leadership and he was getting tired, this war may be the end of it. 'I'll weather this storm for the sake of the Nation I love but at the end of this I deserve a nice long rest, a permanent rest' Hood thought with finality. He then moved to make the necessary preparations for Harpers plan.

A/N I know not the great first contact battle that you all wanted but I thought it was necessary to finally introduce some plot to the story and answer some questions before we get to the meat of the story. Don't worry tomorrow the chapter you're all waiting for will be complete and let me tell you it's quite nice if I do say so myself. Until then thank you for all your continued support, as a first time writer I was nervous if anyone would like this story, I'm glad and honored you have taken the time to read and judge my work.