Legacy of the MANTLE

Mojo

Markhab II Was a bountiful jungle world orbiting twin suns in an elliptic orbit. It was not a major Protoss hub, but it sported some very nice vistas to behold, and some rather large and ferocious animals. In short, it was a paradise world, and as such enjoyed the protection of the Golden Armada.

Currently praetor Mojo was orbiting it in his super carrier: Ki nala atum, meaning something like We are as one. A fitting name as his fleet contained both Khalai and Nerazim Protoss. Several golden carriers of the Khalai mingled with their Tempest class carriers used by the Nerazim. The tempest class carrier diverted from the Protoss carrier by focusing on the ability to cause massive damage to single targets with it's energy projector. It also needed to take into account the fact that the Nerazim did not have the same wealth that their Khalai kin had. Therefore it was smaller then the normal 800 meter carriers. At 650 meters they made good deterrents against large fleets attacking the normally few carriers any ordinary fleet consisted of. They were also much less costly in that they didn't require as many resources to build, an adaptation that the dark templar had been forced to make. His own flagship dwarfed the others at it's 1,8km length.

Five carriers and eight Tempests made his fleet formidable. Something that had not been lost to the Protoss on the planet. Mojo would have liked to leave them alone as he had never seen eye to eye with the degenerate ways of the Tal'darim down on the surface. He himself was of the Auriga Tribe, signified by his orange eyes. He was also a member of the Daelaam, the united Khalai and Nerazim Protoss under the leadership of the young Hierarch, Artanis. Though Mojo was twice his age he still had a lot of faith in the young one. Maybe it was respect for his accomplishments or the hard work of keeping the fragile peace, but respect was still respect.

"Praetor, we are being hailed from the surface again."

The words pulled him from his thoughts and he focused on the screen in front of him. "Patch them through. Lets see what demands they will make now."

On the screen appeared a Protoss with very dark hide, The local leader of the largest collection of Tal'darim on the planet.

"You will leave our world and never darken our skies again. Your presence is a stain on our skies." The Protoss on the screen kept jelling profanities but Mojo had already stopped listening. It was the same message they had received every day since their arrival. If Mojo had a mouth he would have sighed at the situation. It was something he had learned to appreciate after his cooperation with those humans who saved him from the pirate Schezar. the act seemed to do wonders for the human commander and right now Mojo could use some change.

That came in the form of a fleet of Human warships who materialized from portals of unknown make. This development came at just the right moment. Now he could finally do something other than listen to the Tal'darim. And besides, the 24 Human ships just might be enough to represent a challenge.

Not wanting to assume anything, Mojo reached out with his mind. He eventually encountered the mind of their leader. He shared this knowledge with his brethren in the teleportation chamber and told them to prepare to receive on his command. It was going to be interesting to see how the good Admiral would react under these conditions. Would he panic and run or would he stay and fight? Hmm, Mojo was sorely tempted to find out, but first he needed to show some patience. His fun would come, sooner or later.

Sitting in the bulky armor that contained the master control for his ship, Mojo engaged the comm.

"Admiral, we have cleared the portal." The AI stated as soon as the last ship exited it's portal.

"Good, map the system and prepare your self, we may encounter Protoss out here so be careful. I don't want to accidentally start a war with them."

"SIR! We have ships in orbit of the planet. Scans say that they match Protoss ships."

This started well. Anderson had not expected to see them so soon. "Comm's, I want you to hail them now. Use all frequency's at our disposal, just get me a response."

The officer turned around to face the Admiral. "No need, They're hailing us." He then pressed a button and the front screen changed to show the bulky, armored form of a Protoss ship captain.

It spoke with absolute confidence and frankly seemed entirely too enthusiastic to see the human fleet.

"I am Mojo, Praetor of the Protoss. You have entered the Protoss realm and I ask that you explain why!"

His voice seamed to echo in a booming manner unlike anything Anderson had ever encountered before. Also, he didn't have a mouth. Something that made him wonder exactly how he could speak in the first place.

"Greetings, Praetor. I am Admiral David Anderson and I represent the UNSC and the UED. I am here to try and establish some kind of friendly relation with the Protoss people." Anderson hoped that he hadn't said something wrong as the mention of the UED made the Protoss glowing eyes narrow in response.

"The UED is responsible for many crimes against both the Protoss and against the Terrans of this sector. I will decide whether to let you pass or not myself." Mojo's voice was stern but held some hints of amusement to it. Something was obviously humorous about the situation but Anderson couldn't tell what.

"What can I do to prove our good intentions, Praetor? I could come over to you and meet in person." To Anderson, that seemed like the best choice. If it was true that all Protoss were telepathic then all he would need to do was read his mind. There he would find all the proof he could need.

On the screen, Mojo nodded his head. "Your presence would be required. We will bring you here." Again with the slight hint of a joke in his voice. It was like he knew something funny was about to happen and could barely contain himself. Maybe Anderson had been lucky and found the one Protoss who didn't take himself quite as seriously as he had been told the rest of them did.

Then again. It could also be that they had somehow teleported him from the bridge to the Protoss ship without him noticing it until after it was done. Back on the Enigma, captain Cray only raised one eyebrow when he noticed that the Admiral suddenly glowed bright white and then vanished. The bridge crew on the other hand panicked and was about to open fire. The captain stopped their foolishness before they could start a war. It wasn't because he had any form of trust for the Protoss but because he could in fact see the Admiral walk onto the Protoss bridge.

After calming them down he turned his attention to the screen. "Are you OK, Admiral?"

"I'm fine, Captain. The teleportation was very smooth." Anderson then turned to face the Protoss Praetor. "Now that I'm here Mojo, let's continue our talk, shall we?."

Mojo was impressed by this humans strength of will. Most would panic once they faced the might of the Protoss, but not this one. His mind maintained the focus of the mission. "Yes, now that you are here, we shall see what the truth behind your visit is." Mojo didn't need to ask any questions as he could just read his mind, but it was more polite to do so.

Their discussion took several hours and passed all topics, ranging from the exodus of the Koprulu inhabitants from earth to the suspicions that the CAA were behind Humanities current predicament: the Insurrection and the mysterious UED fleet. Once the talking touched the subject of the Magistrate, Mojo suddenly became very interested and wished to meet her in person. Something Anderson was wiling to allow as he had completed at least one part of his objective of making friends with the Protoss. He hoped that after the meeting, Praetor Mojo would lead him to the Hierarch.

"If you will follow me, Admiral. We shall go to your vessel and meet with the Magistrate. She is well known to us Protoss for her leadership of Raynor. The skill with which she handled the zerg and the political backlash from that is worthy of respect."

Anderson had by now realized that he knew next to nothing about Shepard, something he was going to fix later. They didn't walk to the teleportation chamber, but instead stepped on to a portal field and teleportated there. From that room they made a careful jump on to the Enigma. Anderson was impressed by the highly advanced tech the Protoss possessed and he hoped that the UNSC would eventually be able to create their own one day.

On the bridge, Captain Cray was talking to the ONI scientists about the potent power the energy projector weaponry represented and what they could do to protect them self from them, should the need arise. Suddenly, two cylinders of bright light materialized and when the light dissipated, left the Admiral and the Protoss Praetor standing on the bridge. To their credit, only one of the marines on guard duty pulled his weapon, by sheer reflex!

The captain turned to face his superior. "Welcome back Admiral, and to you Praetor, welcome aboard the UNSC Enigma. I hope your meeting has been pleasant."

David thanked the captain and then started to walk towards the lift that would take them to the medical ward, where Shepard was recovering from the bonding process with the midi-chlorians. They were followed by three guards. Not because they mistrusted the Praetor, but because regulation stated that the commanding officer should always be guarded by at least three soldiers when not on the bridge.

Some of the bridge crew snickered a little when Mojo had to comically bow down to fit through the doors. Sure, the legendary Spartans had to bow their heads to get through some doors, but it wasn't so obvious for them. In his defense, Mojo was nearly 2,5 meters tall.

They drew the eyes of every one they passed on their way. It was understandable as only the bridge crew had seen a protoss so far. Once they reached the room where Shepard was they learned that she would be sedated for the next two days.

"This is not a problem for me, Admiral. I can simply communicate with her mind and leave the body alone." After his statement, Mojo sat down next to her and started to meditate. He sought to connect to her presence. This would eventually prove to be very taxing as he would have to simulate the Khala by himself, and then draw her mind into the fold. If she resisted he would have been forced to overpower her and that could lead to some very interesting side effects. Like killing everyone on the ship, or worse, destabilizing the nuclear reactors down in engineering.

It took him nearly an hour to finally connect to her.

Shepard had enjoyed a relatively quiet sleep. It all changed when she noticed the presence of someone very powerful come close to her, and it wasn't a ghost. No, instead this presence felt very old and full of wisdom. There was a sudden pull on her mind that she hadn't felt since the zerg had cornered her people on Mar Sara. 'Who are you?' she asked within the darkness of her mind.

'An old friend, Magistrate. One who seeks to communicate with you'

'I don't recognize you, leave my mind before I make you.'

'Strong words, Magistrate, but you will find me very difficult to cast out.'

'What is it that you want?'

'My name is Mojo. I am curious about the good Admiral who has apparently made a good enough friend with you to allow his scientists to experiment on you. Tell me, why do you trust him so?'

So it was a Protoss who had come, but that would mean that either Anderson had taken his fleet to them or they had come to him. She had no personal experience of the Praetor but before she left the Raiders, she had been told of his alliance with the Dominion Alpha Squadron commander who joined Mojo, and eventually both of them joined Raynor.

'Anderson is very honest, his mind only confirms that his greatest wish is for peace among the stars. It's something that I can respect. I can't find any reason in his mind to doubt his words. That and I really don't want another fleet from earth to try and conquer the Koprulu sector. If I'm right here with him, then I can make sure that something like that never happen again.'

The presence seemed pleased though it didn't feel as if it was in response to her words. The truth was that as she spoke, Mojo could see what her memories referenced. this was as close to the Khala as he could hope to get when uniting with a human, and for him it was a great achievement.

'I thank you for this reveal. I shall leave you to your rest now.'

When his presence retreated, Shepard's mind went black. soon the darkness returned and sleep once again claimed her.

After his talk with the Magistrate, Mojo returned to the bridge to speak with Anderson. They would be allowed to travel further into the protoss territory and to meet with the Hierarch. But only one ship would be given permission and it would be escorted by two carriers. Anderson decided that it would be far more friendly to arrive in something smaller than his flagship. The UNSC frigate Hope would be a symbolic choice.

When Shepard finally came back from her sedation she found herself in the ONI medical ward instead of the normal one she had expected. With her in the room was the head scientist as well as the tall protoss she suspected was Mojo. First she needed to make sure that there was nothing wrong with her after the midi-chlorians had been injected.

"There has been no unexpected side effects so far and our data says that the bonding process has been completed. We want to run some tests to see what the effects are, but those can wait for now. In fact, it's probably best if we wait a few more days before we put you in the training room. For now we want you to slowly experiment with your powers." The doctor finished ticking of his check list before he added; "If you feel that something is wrong then come here immediately."

"I will, doctor." Thanking him she then turned to the tall protoss.

"I assume that you are Mojo?"

"You would be correct. I am bored keeping watch over this world and therefore seek to improve my understanding of humanity. I hope you don't mind, but I would like to leave these doctors to their research. How about we go and get something for you to eat, you have been without proper sustenance for three days now." Mojo had another reason for coming here in person. For the past few days he had noticed her powers growing rapidly but not once had he noticed the uncontrolled outburst that plagued most human psionics as their powers matured.

Once they hit the mess and Shepard got her food they started talking. Subjects of discussion shifted from how he was captured by those pirates to her attempts at growing food during the interbellum. Being a Protoss, Mojo had no need for food as his kind survived by photosynthesis and by absorbing water through their skin. He was merely entertaining himself as they waited for Anderson to return from his trip to Shakuras and the meeting with Artanis.

"Forgive me for asking, Mojo, but could you guide me in exploring the extent of my powers?" Her question was asked casually as if it didn't matter what his answerer would be. Shepard secretly hoped he would say yes. To be taught by a protoss how to wield her power would certainly be an experience and an opportunity of a lifetime.

"Certainly, Magistrate. I would be honored to be your teacher." He then raised his hand and levitated the fork from her plate. "Start small, learn how to manipulate something tiny first, the bigger ones will come in time. For now, Try to take this thing from me." He gave what equated to a protoss smile and resisted her attempts by outmaneuvering her.

Their pseudo duel of sorts drew a crowd and soon the entire mess hall were involved. Bets were being tossed back and forth on who would win as Shepard stood in one corner of the room trying to yank the fork from Mojo, while he did his best to resist. Eventually, he let go and the pointy piece of metal flew across the room into her hand, Prompting most of the crew to cheer and some to boo.

They left the mess hall to go to one of the training rooms to continue their light exercises. 'Light' being a full five hours of unarmed combat. Several crew members stayed just to observe as the tall protoss VIP seemingly treated the fight as child play. What none of them saw was the mental fight going on. After those five hours, Shepard ran out of energy and could no longer predict Mojo's moves any more. The fight became very one sided after that.

Some notes.

I often see the ship classifications blurred in these kind of stories, so just to clarify a few things heres a list

Dreadnought.

Massive, Heavy armor, heavy weapons. Used for planetary domination and fleet engagement.

Cruiser

Heavy warship, Lots of armor, large weapons. Used for fleet engagements.

Frigate

Medium warship, Light armor, medium weapons. Makes up the bulk of a fleet.

Destroyer

Medium warship, Heavy armor, One large weapon. Used for hunting larger ships and built to survive getting hit by their guns.

Carrier

Massive, Light armor, no main weapon. Used to ferry either troops or Fighters into battle.

Corvette

Light warship, Light armor, Light weapons. Used to scout the battlefield, Hunts larger ships in large numbers.

Only the Dreadnought, Carrier, Cruiser and Destroyer would qualify as Capital ships.

This way, a fleet should ideally consist of a Dreadnought flagship, a few Cruisers and the assortment of Frigates and Destroyers that represent the actual fleet.

For example, the Infinity would classify as a UNSC dreadnought. The Destiny Ascension, despite being smaller then a Halo cruiser would classify as a ME Dreadnought. The Starcraft Battlecruisers would NOT classify as such because they do not represent the largest ship class. The Jackson's Revenge as well as the Gorgon class from HotS are the Dreadnoughts of Starcraft. Loki would even qualify as a Super class in the same vein as a Covenant Super Carrier would against other covenant ships. This is just how I personally see it.

I hoped this helped, if not then don't worry, you're probably just as confused as I am

Undeen.

You are the first person here on FFN who I've seen that has brought up the Rate of Fire of ME weapons compared to HALO ones. Maybe I just haven't read enough fanfictions but anyway. I did go back and reread that part. You are right, that was needlessly unclear. I put it there just to shut up a few ME fanboys who just wouldn't shut up about the muzzle velocity of ME tech compared to Halo tech. I know that ME have greater velocity but it's how much force you hit with that counts.

Also, if you listen to the man explaining it in the game, he clearly says that the everest class fires once every five seconds. I'll go out on a limb and say that only dreadnoughts have a two second RoF because of their larger Eezo core and that cruisers and frigates have the stated five second RoF. It's still faster.

This is how I see it; ME ships have mounted a autocanon to their front while HALO ships have mounted a Howitzer to theirs.

As for Shepard's ability, that sounded so good that I just might have to use it. It'll certainly evolve the team based fighting we love. It'll be interesting to see how the others on her team will react to something like that. No promises.

Your comment about Eezo and it's phenomenal rarity made me smile. It's exactly how I see it.

ShadowCub

There will be no human Biotics. ONI will take one look at the rather EXTREME consequences they would face just to make a handful of biotics and say F**K this.