A/N: Yes, I know I'm delayed. Won't bore you yet with the reasons why.
This chapter is a little different than the ones I've previously written. I hope you'll enjoy it!
\Auto-diagnostic running ...
\Warning. System critical. Extensive matrix fragmentation detected. Reboot required.
\Reboot in progress ...
\Welcome home, John ...
\Matrix defragmentation in progress ...
\I'm not doing this for mankind ...
\It won't be me. You know that, right? ...
\Before this is all over, promise me you'll figure out which one of us is the machine ...
\Defragmentation complete.
\System startup ...
What would you be willing to do to keep him safe?
Would you give up your existence?
Would you sacrifice yourself for him?
STOP!
That single thought compelled her to open her eyes to—wait.
Open my eyes.
She had real eyes! It was not just an advanced, holographic version of human eyeballs like the one she was used to. It was real! But it also felt odd… slightly.
She finally followed her impulse to open them. And as she did…
John…
Her mind was still capable of processing thing thousands of times faster than a human brain. She was still an AI, after all, but her body—a body!—could perceive everything. The movement of oxygen and carbon dioxide molecules mixed with a few other elements—an atmosphere—all around her; the temperature—25°C, or 72°F—; a funny tingling inside her.
Suddenly, a bright, blinding light engulfed her like a flame. She felt her new body being torn into billions of base molecules—
—and being reintegrated as the light faded.
John was gone.
She had noticed her surroundings before all this happened but had been so focused on the Spartan that she didn't process it. She took a moment to analyze the images she had captured—through her eyes—and came to the conclusion that she had been aboard a human vessel. But now, somehow, she was in another ship's command center—Covenant, CCS-class battlecruiser.
Who are you?
I am what remains of the Forerunner once known as the Librarian…
I need to get back.
You will. But not yet. First, you must know of the Didact's plan…
It is his destiny…
I'll do whatever it takes.
You can be safe. You can survive. But first, you must die…
Again, another bunch memories flooded her processes. It seemed like nonsense, but deep inside she knew it had to mean something. Something very important.
She heard a voice calling her by name. She knew that voice all too well. And as she turned to her right, towards the source of that voice…
There she was. Her mother.
But she looked different. Wearing that armor, she resembled a Covenant Elite more than a human.
"Where am I?" she asked her.
"Don't worry, my dear," was the reply. "You're safe now."
A number of Sangheili walked behind her, wonder etched in their faces. Behind them, a considerable amount of corpses lay on the floor. But they didn't smell like corpses. Her first reaction was to run, but there was no way she would be able to outrun them, let alone escape this ship. Besides, as time passed, she realized they weren't there to harm her or her creator. In fact, judging from the subtle body language they displayed, they seemed like they were at her service.
This was confirmed when one of the aliens addressed the armored woman. "Shipmistress, welcome aboard. My ship and my crew are at your complete disposal."
"Thank you, Shipmaster," she replied.
Putting her mind at ease—just a little bit, anyway—she allowed her next question to leave her lips. "What happened?"
"I know things may be confusing right now," the other woman replied. "Give it some time."
Will I remain like this?
Only for a while. Then you will sleep until such a time when he can bring you back.
What is that?
A key. A key to all of our legacy. Here is where you will rest…
Yet another jumble of thoughts. A key. That's when she noticed the two pieces of Forerunner tech in her mother's hand.
And in a flash, it all came to her.
She had met the Librarian on Requiem. She had told her of a way to survive, to save herself. Something about leaving a small part of her behind, and the rest would follow later.
Then the battle over Earth aboard the Didact's ship. A Slipspace event forming under the Composer. The terrible weapon being fired. The HAVOK going off. Her farewell.
Her crazy journey through Slipspace all the way back to Requiem. Her second meeting with the Librarian, where she showed her a device called the Janus Key in which she would be stored, placed in some form of stasis or hibernation. Her final moments before closing her eyes inside the Key surrounded by her fragmented personalities already there.
My fragmented… It was until now that she realized. She was no longer hearing other voices inside her mind! It was just her. She had been fixed!
No—that was a misnomer. She had been improved. Now she could feel every cell in her body—every artificial cell. Microscopic machines smaller than a needle's tip.
Nanites.
Several schematics of the machines which now composed her physical being popped inside her mind. Information she knew nothing about. New information, coming from… where?
Atlantis. Lanteans. Asurans. Asuran nanites.
Terms she had never seen or heard of before, yet she understood them clearly. She understood what she was now.
A Replicator. A human-form Replicator.
"Shipmistress," she heard one of the Elites say, "your entire crew is here, and they are all alive, though it may take them some time to regain consciousness."
"Very well," her mother replied. "Let's get out of here. Now!"
"Wait," she said. "Where are we going?"
"Somewhere safe," the other replied. And as she turned and walked up the ramp that lead to the raised platform in the middle of the cruiser's command center, she added, "Welcome back, Cortana."
In orbit above the Ark
USS George Hammond
0531 hrs. October 11, 2558 (Military Calendar)
Ten minutes before reboot
"Attention, crew. We have Spartans on board. I repeat, we've been boarded. Everyone, keep your Active Camo engaged and hold your fire. Avoid all contact with them unless you're absolutely certain you can overpower them. Until we know what kind of Spartans they are, do not kill them."
Several Elites replied some variant of "yes, Shipmistress" through the COM channel.
Halsey knew her only hope now was that Luminous Truth would arrive in the nick of time… and if it didn't, she would be forced to commandeer Hammond and escape with it—and its crew.
"They're here for you, aren't they?" Daniel said. Halsey would not respond; she had more important things to consider now than morality. But Daniel would not stop. "Catherine," he continued, "I know you're thinking a lot of things right now, but I beg of you, hear me out just one more time. I'm not gonna tell you what to do; just make sure that no matter what decision you make, you will not sacrifice your soul in the process."
"My soul?" Halsey said ironically with a smirk on her face. "Oh, I'm afraid it's already to lave to save my soul."
"No," Daniel replied firmly. "As long as there is still goodness in the heart, it is never too late for anyone to do the right thing."
"Why do you worry so much about me?" Halsey said exasperatingly. "Why do you care about my fate?"
"Because I can see goodness in you!" he replied, leaving Halsey speechless. She started to walk quickly in circles all over the room. How could he still anything good in her, especially after all she had done?
"You have to stop trying to control everything around you," Daniel continued, "because no matter how hard you try, you just can't. The only one thing we can ever truly control is whether we are good or evil."
"Did the being who helped you ascend teach you that, too?" Halsey asked rhetorically. Then, he grabbed his arm and brought him to the brig's door. She knocked to let the guards know she was leaving, and as they opened the door, she told them, "Let's move."
Halsey lead the way back to the 302 Bay, even when she had no idea of what to expect out here in the ship's corridors. Were the Spartans who had boarded the ship hers or Infinity's? Perhaps Lasky would think of her now as an asset, someone with potentially valuable information about 'Mdama. Did they have orders to kill her or to capture her? Perhaps they had orders to take just her and kill her Elites. She could not allow that to happen.
She felt surprised to see all of her Sangheili gathered at the hallway leading to the Bay. "What are you doing?" she asked them.
"Shipmistress," Edo said, "we will hold them off long enough for you to escape. Luminous Truth will be here soon."
"Yes, and we're all going together," Halsey replied.
"No. You will go. Our movement needs you more than they need us."
Halsey couldn't believe what she was hearing. "I need you. I need every single one of you alive."
"Shipmistress," Guko said, "you are the only one who can use the Librarian's Gift. We can't afford to lose you. You must survive to fulfill our goal. If it takes our lives to ensure it, then so be it."
Halsey didn't know what to say. These aliens were willing to sacrifice themselves for her. Aside from her Spartans, she knew of no one else who would do such a thing. Among her own people, she was considered a monster, a mad woman, a true demon. Surely, more than one human would gladly put a bullet between her eyes. But this… she felt overwhelmed, and the only thing she could say was, "Why?"
"Please, Shipmistress," Guko said. "Let us fight for you. Let us die for you with honor."
Now she felt powerless. With those words, Halsey knew there would be nothing she could say or do to convince them otherwise. They would be killed, and she would not be able to prevent it. But she could avenge them in advance.
Halsey let go of Daniel, and in a sudden burst of fear for her crew and rage against the UNSC, she crossed the hallway, opened the Bay door, entered into the cavernous room, spotted Palmer, walked towards her, grabbed her by the neck with her artificial Sangheili left hand, and yelled, "You! You are the only one responsible for all this! You and your so-called Spartans…!"
She ignited her energy sword and swung it back, her intention to drive it into Palmer's body until she expired her last breath. Palmer was aware, and even when she was being choked, she stared at her, almost challenging her to do it. But just as she was about to strike her down, she felt a pair of piercing eyes looking at her. She turned to see Daniel standing at the door, his expression one of despair.
And she finally realized what he had meant about her soul.
True, she had ruined her Spartans' lives by kidnapping and conscripting them into the UNSC as children, even when they had turned the tide of the war against the Covenant. She had ordered the attack on that colony months ago to get her hands on all the medical stuff she'd needed. She had ordered Palmer's Spartans killed when they came looking for Sullivan back at the Ark. She had ordered the attack on Infinity two days ago. But while those orders and decisions had cost many hundreds of lives, she had never actually killed someone with her own hands. Those deaths would weigh in her conscience forever, but their blood was not entirely in her hands—at least not in the same way Palmer's would be if she continued down this road of anger and hatred.
And by then, it would be too late for her…
She turned off the blade with shaky fingers, and her eyes became filled with tears she could not control. Her robotic hand loosened her grip on Palmer's throat, and the commander fell to the ground, wheezing and coughing. Halsey still abhorred her with every cell in her being, but now she couldn't kill her either. She took a deep breath in an attempt to control herself, and looking at both Palmer and Sullivan, she said, "For what is worth, I never intended for any of this to happen."
She turned around and walked away, passing Daniel on her way out, not even taking a moment to look at him. She would never see him again.
Once outside, she closed the door. Her Elites looked at her, and she looked at them. There was nothing left to be said. She just nodded at them, and they nodded back.
She began her sprint towards the Core Room as she contacted her protégée. "Nal! Did McKay finish his work?"
"He fried the matter converter in the process," Nal replied, "but he did."
"Is he still there?"
"No, Shipmistress. I ordered that he be taken back to the others once he was done."
Halsey hadn't even noticed McKay on the Bay. "Is the Core still active?"
"It is. Language is set to English. Ready for the final step."
"Good! I'm on my way!"
She hadn't run into a single Spartan by the time she reached the Core Room. As she walked inside, she was startled to see the final result of McKay's long work.
Cortana…
Before she learned that 'Mdama had known about her and her followers for some time, her original plan had been to take Glorified Wisdom to the coordinates where, according to the Janus Key, they would find a Forerunner facility used over 100,000 years ago to create Forerunner Monitors. There, she would be able to provide her beloved AI with a long-term solution for her rampancy—which she had learned of thanks to John's debrief post-New Phoenix incident—, even if that meant she would now be trapped inside a bucket for a very long time. Needless to say, 'Mdama had ruined that plan. But these people had provided an alternative.
She recalled when, two days ago, she heard about these Replicators—an artificial version of the Flood, as she'd put it. While it crept her out, when she remembered Colonel Mitchell mentioning a human version of the Replicators, she knew she'd found an answer to all her problems. All she had to do was to find out how to create one.
And that was where McKay came in. She had asked who among Hammond's crew knew how to build a human-form Replicator, and Dr. McKay had inadvertently been the one to admit it when he'd asked in return, "What would you need a Replicator for?" Something in his eyes had given him away, and now she could see she'd been right. Seeing a chrome template of a faceless human vertically suspended over the floor now made her feel somewhat relieved. All this—her hardships, her pain, the sacrifice her Elites were about to make—would be more than worth it once Cortana was back with her. The knowledge she had acquired while on Reach, Halo, the Ark, Requiem, and who knew how many more places, would be of great use when racing against 'Mdama to collect the Forerunner tech she needed to take her revenge on the one person who had given the order to execute her.
No… How could she do such a thing now, after all Daniel had been trying to teach her? Could she really be capable of doing what she had intended to do all this time?
One step at a time, Halsey thought. First, she needed to get Cortana out of that key and into this new body.
She pulled both pieces of the Janus Key from inside her arm and linked them together. The holograms appeared just as usual, but when she placed it on the small tray to the side of the Core, they vanished. Both halves remained fused, and the Key floated above the Asgard panel. A depiction of the galaxy appeared on the alien screen, highlighting every star system with Forerunner tech on it. The device was now linked to the Core.
"I'll stand guard outside the door," Nal said.
"No, Nal—" Halsey began, but she saw the female Elite's eyes burning with the same passion and determination as those of the other Elites who had remained behind. She sighed. "Fine, but keep your camo activated and move only if you must."
Nal nodded and vanished, and Halsey went back to her work. She ran a quick search for all of Cortana's fragmented personalities in the Key. It didn't take long to locate them all. Then, she opened a new search routine. She would take as much information about this ship's tech as she could, starting with shield and transport beam specs. She would also include everything there was on the Core about the Replicators, in case Cortana needed to fix herself in the future. Finally, when the Core displayed her search results, she gave the command both to copy all that data and to move all of the AI's fragments into the Replicator body. She knew Cortana's own self-diagnostic routines would take care of reintegrating all of the fragments and information afterwards, so she just allowed the transfer process to run freely.
She felt a need to reopen a channel to eavesdrop into the current situation of her crew, but she didn't. Instead, she decided to move the transfer process to the background and check on their chips' signals—and in doing so, she discovered something interesting. While the Core was picking up a large cluster of signals where the Elites were about to make their stand, as well as two signals—Nal's and hers—at the Core Room, it was also detecting four other signals near a small section of the deck she was on tagged as "Ring Room". A possible point of entry for the Spartans?
But that was not what bothered her. If that was where the Spartans had come from, then those four signals had to be of the first Elites to encounter them—and they should not be transmitting. The chips McKay had designed only worked as long as the user was alive, which could only mean one thing.
Those Elites were still alive.
Now she had to know what was going on. She opened a channel, and the now familiar sound of Zat fire mixed with the sound of another weapon came back through her helmet's comm. The Spartans had reached the hallway leading to the 302 Bay, and now a firefight was developing. She stared at the screen for a couple of minutes while listening carefully to the noise of the fight. When not even one signal being broadcasted from the chips faded, she realized the Spartans were only incapacitating her crew, not killing them.
She might still have a chance to save them all.
She closed the COM channel and turned to see the Replicator body. It was slowly changing, adapting itself to the image of the essence being stored into it. Hair began 'growing'; facial features began appearing. It was like looking at a fetus quickly evolving before her.
When the progress bar on the screen displayed '100% Transfer Complete', Halsey prepared the transport beam system to take her and her people out of here—and as she did, she received a hail on her COM. "Shipmistress Halsey, this is Shipmaster Lon 'Xaka, commander of the cruiser Luminous Truth. We have arrived and are ready to provide assistance."
Halsey breathed in relief. "Understood, Shipmaster 'Xaka. Stand by." Her fingers flew all over the Asgard interface as she accessed Hammond's sensors to determine the cruiser's location. In a matter of seconds, she located its command center and locked onto its coordinates. Suddenly, she heard a couple of shots being fired just outside the room, and when she turned to see, Nal was on the floor.
She had to take her crew out of here now.
Halsey gave the Core the final confirmation. She instantly felt the funny sensation of the beam transport disintegrating her. Just as she was about to be taken away from this amazing ship, she looked at the entrance once more… and she caught a glimpse of him…
"Shipmistress," Lon 'Xaka said, "your entire crew is here, and they are all alive, though it may take them some time to regain consciousness."
"Very well," Halsey replied. "Let's get out of here. Now!"
"Wait," Cortana said. "Where are we going?"
Halsey looked directly into her eyes. Even when she knew the person before her was still an artificial entity, she couldn't help but feel like she was talking to a living, breathing human. "Somewhere safe," she replied. And as she turned and walked up the ramp that lead to the raised platform in the middle of the cruiser's command center, she added, "Welcome back, Cortana."
"Shipmistress," someone below called out, "we're detecting a crippled human ship nearby. Shall we finish it off?"
"No," Halsey replied without hesitation. "Just take us into Slipspace."
Even though the fact that she had been presented with such an option meant Luminous Truth was now weapons capable, she would not do it. Not anymore.
Maybe Daniel was right, after all.
In orbit above the Ark
USS George Hammond
2237 hrs. August 7, 2013
Six minutes before reboot
"…For what is worth, I never intended for any of this to happen," Halsey said, and she left.
Daniel sighed heavily. For a moment there, he'd feared she would kill the Spartan. Now he was absolutely certain that Halsey was trying to do the right thing. His words had not been for nothing, and he hoped they would remain in her mind well after she was gone.
As soon as the door was closed, Sam ran to embrace Daniel. "Are you alright?" she asked.
"I'm fine, Sam," Daniel replied.
"It's good to see you again, Danny," Mitchell told him, clasping his hand on his shoulder.
"I thought it was 'Jackson' now," he said, extending an open palm to let him know he held no grudges for what had happened two days before. Mitchell accepted it with a smile. Teal'c walked up to Daniel from behind Sam, and in an unusual display of emotion, he too embraced him. There were no words; for this Jaffa, such a thing expressed more than words could, anyway.
Rodney was there as well. "I thought you were a goner."
"Déjà vu," Daniel said, recalling the first time Rodney had said those very same words to him. "I could've thought the same about you, though."
"Yeah, well… you know."
Daniel didn't know, but he nodded regardless. He finally took a moment to look around him, and he noticed something strange in everyone's faces. Hope. "Is there something you guys should tell me?" he asked.
"Don't worry," Sam said. "Let's just say that we're about to be rescued."
Daniel shot her a double take. She knew? After all, the only reason he knew about an unknown number of Spartans aboard was 'cause he'd been with Halsey when she got word.
And suddenly, the noise of a heavy firefight resounded through the closed Bay doors.
The racket lasted for several minutes. Then, the doors were opened again, and a pair of massive armored figures stepped inside, their faces hidden behind a helmet, weapons at the ready. So, this is what a Spartan looks like, Daniel thought.
"Oh, thank God!" Rodney exclaimed from behind him.
"Where's Dr. Halsey?" one of the two Spartans asked after taking a quick look inside the Bay.
"She might be hiding in the Core Room!" Rodney shrieked.
"Linda, keep these people safe," Daniel heard the Spartan say to his peer. "I'll go get her."
The other soldier nodded. "Good luck, Chief," she said. The first Spartan left in the same direction as Halsey did before. Then, the one who had remained said, "Please, remain calm. You'll be able to leave shortly."
But Daniel could not remain calm. From where he stood, he could see at least two Sangheili lying flat on the floor, and he had no way of knowing if they were dead or just stunned. And while he hoped these people had only come to capture Catherine, he had to be sure they had not been sent here to kill her.
And so, he ran away, heading for the Core Room.
"Wait, sir!" the Spartan called out, but he ignored her. He just ran as fast as he could. He knew these ships like the back of his hand, so he had no problem taking shortcuts and making hard turns where needed. His legs hurt, but he had to try and get there before the soldier did. But when he arrived, it was too late. The Spartan was already aiming his gun at someone inside. There was another alien at his feet.
And the light of the transport beam flooded the place.
There had been another alien at the Spartan's feet. Just like there surely had been someone in the Core Room.
But now, it was only Daniel and the giant soldier.
Daniel walked inside. Indeed, the room was empty. The Core was still online, displaying an image of a weird-looking bulbous spaceship. There was an Asgard transportation notification confirming the successful transport of several people from Hammond to the other ship. Then, a blue light shone through the room's window, being reflected off the metallic surface of the Asgard Core.
He moved away from the device and looked outside. A large, bright whirlpool was forming at the bow of the same alien ship he had just seen on the screen.
In orbit above the Ark
USS George Hammond
0540 hrs. October 11, 2558 (Military Calendar)
Seven seconds before reboot
She was alive! She was human! But how?
His mind was a mess right now, filled with memories of the first time he met Cortana, of their ordeal on Reach and Alpha Halo, of the attack on Earth, of leaving her behind on High Charity, of returning there for her, of their escape from the replacement Halo, of their arrival on Requiem, of her rampancy, of the Didact's ship, of their last moment together—all at the same time. It felt like it had all happened the day before.
Her battle companion and best friend—her only friend. Because Halsey was the only mother he knew, and his fellow Spartans his brothers and sisters. But Cortana…
He wanted to say something, to do something. He wanted to drop his weapon and ask how this could be possible. But his sense of duty prevailed, and he kept the gun raised, aimed at Halsey. Maybe she would be able to explain this later. He was about to pull the trigger, when a bright light engulfed both Halsey and Cortana.
Colonel Sheppard had said something about a 'beaming technology' during the mission briefing. This had to be it. Halsey was escaping, and he could not allow that to happen. He fired.
The shot went through the light and hit the opposite wall.
The light faded. The room was now empty.
He heard footsteps approaching, stopping right next to him. He didn't turn to see who it was, although he could tell it was not a member of his team or an Elite. A man with glasses stepped inside the room and stared at the alien device.
John knew he had to refocus, to complete the rest of the mission parameters. Halsey had escaped, but the Elites they had incapacitated would surely know where she was going. He had to make sure there were no more of them running around before gathering and imprisoning them all in the same Bay where they had imprisoned the crew of this ship.
"Chief," Linda came in on his COM, "I-I don't know what just happened. The Elites—they're gone!"
"What?" John instantly replied. He looked behind him to the spot where the Elite guarding this room had fallen. It was gone, too.
"There was a bright light in the hallway, and they—I think they were beamed away. You think the man who left a few minutes ago could've done it?"
"No," John said. "I don't think so. He's here with me."
Then, another light coming from outside the ship illuminated the place. The man with the glasses walked towards the window and stared outside. John walked up there, as well. He saw a CCS-class battlecruiser as it started its passage through Slipspace. Moments later, the ship—along with Halsey, her Elites… and Cortana—disappeared.
"Blue Team," he announced on the COM, "Dr. Halsey has abandoned ship. Meet me back at the Ring Room. Linda, allow the prisoners to leave the fighter bay. Hammond is theirs again."
Four status lights winked on his HUD after a few moments. Now that the ship had been retaken, John and his team would return to the Odyssey, and from there to Infinity. They had set the prisoners free, but Dr. Halsey had escaped. It was a half-accomplished mission—a failed mission in their book.
He left the room without saying another word.
In orbit above the Ark
UNSC Infinity
0000 hrs. August 8, 2013
Sheppard found himself in the middle of a massive hangar bay filled with dozens of air and ground vehicles and large numbers of people moving all over the place.
Captain Lasky, Commander Palmer, Major Sullivan, and the Spartans, had returned to their ship an hour ago. Shortly afterwards, the captain had sent a message to all three Daedalus-class ships, extending an invitation to their respective COs to come over to Infinity. As it were, Caldwell had chosen to remain on his ship and stand guard in case something else came up, while Sheppard, Mitchell, and Sam, had immediately warmed up to the idea of visiting what could easily be the biggest ship they had ever seen—excluding Wraith Hive ships, of course.
Someone simply called 'Roland' had provided them with a set of coordinates they could beam to. Now, here they were.
"Welcome aboard Infinity," a voice behind them said. Sheppard spun around to see a hologram of a World War II pilot staring at him.
"And you are…?" Mitchell asked.
"Roland, ship's AI, at your service," the hologram replied.
"An artificial intelligence?" Sam asked with a childish voice, staring at the hologram with curious eyes.
"That's right, ma'am," Roland replied. "Captain Lasky apologizes for not being here to receive you personally. He asked me to guide you to the bridge, where you will meet with him. Would you like to take the short route or the scenic route?"
"The… scenic route?" Sheppard said.
"Good," the AI replied, "because that is the only option we have available right now, anyway. Our ship-wide transit systems are still down after Halsey's attack."
How about that? Sheppard thought. An artificial intelligence with an actual sense of humor.
Roland pointed them to a vehicle parked close by. A car—a pickup truck with no roof and with handlebars on the bed for passengers to hold on to. Kind of like those trucks used by policemen and the military. In fact, a man in uniform was sitting on the driver's seat. Sheppard found it curious that a human civilization 500 years ahead of his still relied on wheeled transportation.
"Alright. Who wants to ride shotgun?" Mitchell asked.
Sam immediately hopped into the passenger seat. Sheppard and Mitchell climbed up into the bed. Not exactly comfortable, either. Aside from the fact that the humans from this galaxy had mastered space travel a long time ago, Sheppard began wondering what kind of progress had they achieved in five centuries.
"Are you ready?" the AI's voice sounded through the truck's speakers.
"Yeah, sure," Sam said. Sheppard thought she was acting like a kid on Christmas.
The truck began moving at a decent speed. Soon, they were cruising through the ship's corridors—quite wider than those of Daedalus-class ships. They passed through S-Deck, where Roland acted as tour guide and explained what the SPARTAN-IV program was, as well as the history of its predecessors. He also told them about the ship itself; where it was built and for what purpose, its total crew, some technical details, weapons capabilities, and whatnot. From time to time, Sheppard was able to catch a glimpse on some pink, odd-looking creatures floating around. He thought of asking about them later, but the AI must've thought of it first because when they were getting close to the bridge, he brought up the topic. He called them Huragok, or Engineers, as humans called them after the only purpose they had in life.
The final stretch was too narrow for the vehicle to pass through, so they had to leave it behind and walk. Captain Lasky was indeed waiting for them, as well as Palmer. Sullivan and the Spartans were nowhere to be seen.
"Welcome aboard," Lasky said with an extended, open palm—for the first time, by the way. Even when he had left from the Odyssey, the best gesture he'd made was a grateful nod as he boarded his Pelican. Sheppard understood the guy might still be somewhat distrustful of people claiming to be from another Earth, so he had let it pass. But as he now accepted the captain's hand and shook it, he could see he had no more doubts.
"Thanks, Captain," Sheppard replied with a smile.
"No," Lasky said while he offered his hand to Mitchell and Sam. "Thank you, for helping us get our people back."
"It was nothing, Captain," Sam said, shaking the man's hand.
"Don't be modest," Palmer said, walking up to Mitchell and offering him her only hand. "And please, accept my apologies for the way I treated you. It was unfair, even despite the circumstances."
Mitchell looked at Palmer for a moment before accepting the commander's hand and saying, "Don't sweat it."
"I would also like to apologize in person with Dr. Jackson later," Palmer continued, "but while I get the chance, would you please tell him I'm sorry and that I appreciate whatever he might have told Halsey to stop her from gutting me like a fish?"
"I'm sorry," Mitchell said, "I don't recall him ever saying a word to her when she was about to kill you."
"He didn't have to," Palmer said. "I noticed the way she looked at him. Whatever it was, she must've feared she would disappoint him."
"Yeah, I guess I noticed that, too," Mitchell said. "Don't worry. I'll tell him."
"Well," Lasky broke in, "I hope we can now put our differences in the past and—"
"Captain Lasky," Roland interrupted, appearing above a table in the middle of the bridge, "forgive my intrusion, but I'm receiving an urgent hail from the Daedalus."
"Put it on screen," Lasky said.
A nearby display sporting a logo of an eagle and the letters 'UNSC' suddenly changes to show Colonel Caldwell's face. "Captain Lasky," he said, "I think you'll want to see this."
He nodded to the officer at his right, and the image changed once more—revealing something that quite scared the hell out of Sheppard.
From a distance, Daedalus' high-res cameras were detecting the approach of a large fleet of purple-colored alien ships, the likes of which he had never seen before.
A/N: There you go. That was Chapter 12, and we're now halfway into this story.
I know I told you I would upload this sooner. I intended to, but I kind of got depressed and ran out of inspiration after I learned a few days ago that one of my dearest cousins got knocked-up by some moron (and yes, I'm writing this in case she gets a chance to read it in the future; that's what I think of him). Then, when I was starting to feel better, I got a crazy idea for a new fic, which some of you may have already read.
I want to put your minds at ease. My priority is still TFFR, and I'll be updating it more regularly than the other one. Just don't get scared if I suddenly take longer to post a new chapter here.
Next chapter will involve an epic space battle... if I'm able to get it right. So stay tuned, and I'll see you next week with more of this story!
Don't forget to review on your way out!
