Chapter 3: Warnings

'We're nearly there, son.' Glig-glig said as he huddled over to the viewscreen of the Alliance transport ship.' We're nearly at our new home!'

The smaller Unggoy went over to it's parent.' You think we can start a new life there, father?'

'Of course, Armstice station will be full of human AND Alliance costumers. Ah, Flig-yar...finally after all of the horrors we faced.

the Kig-yar pirates that enslaved most of the village, the terrible plague that claimed most of the planet and us nearly spending every penny we have for the ticket and the small shop at the station, we'll finally just for once have a little-'

A small musical tune alerted the passengers of the ship.

'Ladies and gentlemen, this is your Captain speaking...' the human captain said.' As a result of a unforeseen incident on Station Anchor 7, there will be some delay for when we'll dock on the station.'

'That's alright son.' Glig-glig smiled at his son.' It's just a little delay.'

'Also the following sectors have been damaged by the attack, such as the financial district, the..'

'Father...wasn't our shop at the financial district?' Flig-yar asked his father who remained frozen solid.' Father?'

Meanwhile on Armstice station.

'Talk to me, Zhar.' Johnson said as he walked alongside the Elite who listed the damage to the station.

'The Financial district, all the shops and restaurants, along with the docking bay and the shield generator. The Divine Justice tried to take most of the blows, but you know Covenant weaponry.'

'How long until it's fixed?' Johnson took over the electronically notepad Zhar wrote all the information on.

'The Huragok-I mean the Engineers, Commander, are already busy with the reparations. They should be done in three to four hours.'

'Quick little bastard.' Johnson looked at the notepad.' I see we got passenger ships?'

'Mostly for the celebration, but quite a few have opened shop here. Oh also I have this for you, Commander.'

Johnson blinked and glanced over to his second...and found the elite holding a cigar.

'My apologies, but I could only find Harvest-brand Cigars.' Major Domo Zhar'tal gave it to the Commander.' I hope this will suffice.'

'Zhar...' Johnson smirked as he lit the cigar.' This is the start of a beautiful friendship.

'If you say so, Commander.'

'Hell yeah if I say so.' Johnson exhaled.' The princess alright?'

'She and her people are coming aboard right now from the Phoenix and the Divine Justice. She...asked for a audience with our superiors.'

'Thought as much, send a message to Earth and Sanghellios. We-'

'Admiral Jilan al-Cygni has already established contact with the station and the Arbiter is already at the conference room.' Zhar said.

'Already? Damn...' the Commander said and followed Zhar to the conference room.' Captain Keyes and shipmaster whathisface joining?'

'Shipmaster whatshisface, Commander? Zhar blinked. ' I think you mean Shipmaster Hark'Vadam, since there can only be one Ship-'

'Zhar...do you know the concept of sarcasm?'

'According to your Dictionary which hails from Oxford, which is I believe from your home world, 'a sharp, bitter, or cutting expression or remark; a bitter jibe or taunt.' That is correct I hope, though I don't see why-'

'Nevermind...' Johnson groaned.' Enjoying the cigar though...'

'Well to go back to your query, yes both Captain Keyes and Shipmaster Hark'Vadam will be present.' The Major Domo replied.' They are waiting for you.'

'You know for a Commander of this station, I'm the last to know of what's going on.'

'It is your first day sir.'

'I know...right.' he doused the cigar.' Let the politics commence, that'll be all Zhar.'

'Good luck, Commander.' Zhar'tal saluted before he left.

The Commander entered the Conference room where the Princess was sat at the table. Next to her was Elizabeth and opposite to the Captain was the Shipmaster. To the Shipmaster's right was a silver clad Elite. According to the rather antique armour, he was the Arbiter. Opposite to the Arbiter was an ODST, who remained in full armour save for the helmet he kept to his side.

And of course on the large monitor was the head of a woman with a dark skin, which hunted at middle-eastern descent, and long black hair. From her shoulder any military man know she was high in rank, an admiral even.

'Admiral al-Cygni.' Johnson saluted before he sat down.

'Commander Johnson.' The Admiral nodded.' Now we're all here...' she turned her gaze to the Princess.' Tell us where your from princess Asina.'

The leader of the Alayhnia sighed before she began her story.

'My people are from a planet called Talaris, it's the other side of galaxy, near one of the holy rings.'

'Near a Halo?' The admiral asked.

'Yes, from what I could gather from your databases the Commander was willing to share.' She motioned to Johnson who gave a small nod.

' How can you speak our language?' The Admiral asked.

'I can hear you speaking in my native tongue.' The Arbiter said.' Yet the humans present can also hear you very well, despite the fact none of them speak it.'

'English to me.' Johnson said.

'My family line is one of the few with a gift. We can talk with other species via some kind of...telepathy. When the first alien visitors came, we rose in power and thus became what in your cultures could be called 'Monarchs'. '

'You had other alien contact?' The Shipmaster asked.

'Yes, we did trade with them. Goods, technology...if it weren't for them we would never have been able to create ships, which surely would have doomed my race.'

'Why did you flee your world then, why are you here?' Hark'Vadam asked.

Asina took a long moment, her pained expression said enough to Terrence.

'You lost your homeworld, didn't you?' Terrence asked.

Asina gave a small nod.' Talaris and the other races created a...expedition into the Holy Ring. To try and find out what it was exactly. For generations it was the inspiration of poets, artists...and even scientist. Only with enough funding did we create a large enough fleet to fully investigate what it was exactly. However we lost contact with the entire fleet ten minutes it entered it's atmosphere...three months later we found out what caused the fleet's disappearance.'

'What happened?' Johnson asked.

'They call themselves 'the Rippers', beings that hate all organic life. They are mechanical...monsters is the best word. They are led by Monitors, large floating orbs with a red eye fuelled by hatred itself. Something...awoke them from their slumber. They went across our system, each planet fell one by one. They destroyed everything and killed everyone. Men, women, children...'

Again she paused.

'Millions died in the first few days, Billions at the end of the month. There was nothing that could stop them. The only thing we could do was flee our worlds and seek a new home. The remnants of our armies and navies held the line while we fled...we haven't seen or heard from others of our kind for decades now.'

'God...' Elizabeth gasped.' How many years ago did you flee?'

'In earth terms...about two hundred cycles, it is only now we entered your galaxy...and we are still being pursued. The enemy you call the Covenant are in the thrall of the Rippers. My guess is one of the monitors came over and persuaded them to take up arms against us, at least that's what the scanners of my ship said before they attacked us.'

'But if these Rippers hate organic life don't they?' Johnson asked.' Why would they use the Covenant?'

'Slaves are still useful, even if they are disgusting.' The Arbiter muttered.' This is dire news.'

'The Forerunners machine's gone haywire...' Captain Keyes shook her head.' We never assumed Halo had that much of a force behind them.'

'How big a force are we talking about?' The Shipmaster asked.

'Infinite.' Asina replied.' Every wolrd they took, the more resources they had to create more soldiers, more ships. Every raid we did on them, every sacrifice was nothing. They forced us to make moral choices with the cost between thousands and millions. They are ruthless, they have no mercy, they are Rippers.'

'Light bulbs gone rampant...' Johnson sighed.' Fantastic.'

'But...we came here for a reason.' Asina said.' My people believe the creators of the Rippers have found a way to control them. We've tried to find every possible holy ring or 'forerunner' installation for it. And we found a planet that might.'

'What planet?' The Admiral asked, but before Asina could reply Johnson already knew.

'Titan VI.'

'Titan VI?' The room asked in unison, save for the ODST 'Rookie'.

'Yes.' Asina nodded.' The planet in your database is indeed the one we are looking for.'

'But there is nothing there but ruins!' Capain Keyes pointed out.

'We did find a few noteworthy items there...' the Arbiter said.' Maybe we should go there and see what we can find.'

'I'll speak to UNSC command and see if we can find any leads to these 'Rippers'.' The Admiral said.' Until then I suggest the Alayhnia stay on Anchor Seven until we can find a suitable planet for them to life on.'

'We are greatfull, thank you Admiral.' Asina bowed.

'Until then it's best we keep this information to ourselves, Commander I want to have a talk with you later.'

'Will do, Admiral.' Terrence replied.

With that everyone got out of the room.

'I'll contact Sanghelios and see if there are any reports on the Covenant, Arbiter.' The Shipmaster spoke in their native tongue.' If the Brutes can rally ten carriers out of nowhere, there must be something we have missed.'

'A wise idea, be sure to contact the other worlds, only tell the leaders of the Alliance, I don't want a galactic panic.'

'Yes Arbiter.'

'The Admiral wants to speak to you, alone?' Elizabeth asked.

'Yup, probably to ask if I wash myself behind the ears.' Terrence smirked.

'We just talked about a threat larger then the Flood and you are still joking about?' she folded her arms above her breasts.

'That or I can cry about it, want to cast a vote?'

'Excuse me Captain, but can I speak with the Commander quickly?' Asina asked.

'Sure...i'll see you at the ceremony, Terrence.' Elizabeth said.

'See you there Lizzie.'

She smiled and left the two be.

'You two seem close.' Asina pointed out.

'We were both raised on the same refugee ship during the war. We kept in touch after...followed in our parent's footsteps. We helped each other cope, just friends though.'

'Family...sometimes filling a legacy could be quite stressing, believe me, I know.'

'During the meeting...you left out the prophecy.' Terrence said.

'I may be religious...but I am no fool Dark Hawk. My position and those of my people is weak enough already...that and I already told the people needed to know already of it. You.'

Terrence nodded.' Just saving the galaxy and trillions of lives...no pressure.'

Asina smirked.' You are not alone, Dark Hawk.'

'Good to know, go on, I'll make sure your people will have enough food and the station has enough room for shelter. Don't miss the ceremony, free appetizers .'

'I wont.' She said. Before he could reply she leaned in and placed her lips on his cheek.

'This is the human custom to say thank you, am I right?'

'One of the ways...and your welcome.' Terrence replied with a grin.' I'll see you at the ceremony.'

'Untill then.' She bowed and left.

With that Terrence closed the door and re-opened the channel to earth.

'Yes, mum?'

'It's Ma'm Sergeant, you don't know if this line is bugged or not.' The Admiral said.

'Aren't you head of ONI? Why would you bug your own channel?' Terrence went to lit the cigar again.' But I don't think you're here to tell me off.'

'No it's not, I want to talk to you about this prophecy the Princess told you about...'

Meanwhile at the bar

'We got transferred to this place then?' Riddick asked the group around the table.' Could've been worse.'

'How could this be worse?' Jenkins asked.' We're surrounded by aliens, get posted at the coolest place in the galaxy, and I have no doubt we'll be surrounded by green alien hotties to 'thank' us for their rescue.'

'Stop thinking with your groin and start thinking with your brain, Jenkins.' Hoshi rolled her eyes.

'Hoshi is just pissed off the male aliens are ugly as hell, don't worry, you can still tongue kiss a Elite if you want to.' Jenkins chuckled before he took a sip from his beer. Hoshi glared and slammed her fist hard into Jenkins' side, which made him spill out all his beer, much to Riddick's amusement and William's annoyance.

As Williams looked away from the scene, she saw a nervous looking man look left and right before he disappeared in a dark corridor. Her mind went back to the files about the Insurrection, his face looked so...familiar.

'Come on Williams!' Jenkins nudged her.' Join into the fun!'

She shrugged the idea of her mind and had a drink with her new crew.

Meanwhile the mysterious man went further into the dark corridor where a shadowy figure awaited him.

'Did you do it?' it asked.

'Yes, the guards are bought over, when the ceremony happens, the friendship between the UNSC and those...lizard monsters will end.' The man replied with fear, yet hatred toward the Sangheili.

'Good...' the shadowy figure grinned.' Long life the Human League.'

'Long life the Human League.'

TBC