NH3: The next chapter! Let's see what happened. Sorry it took so long…
(SAQ comes up running, panting like crazy)
NH3: Where were you back at chapter one?
SAQ: Writing fanfics. R&R please!
HALOHALOHALOHALOHALOHALOHALOHALOHALOHALOHALOHALOHALO
1630 hours, April 6, 2553 (Adopted Sangheili Time), Seeker of Truth, heading toward Earth, in Slipspace.
When the Arbiter told Nico his idea, Nico immediately wondered where he had gotten it.
"That…must be the…craziest idea in history. Thing is, it just might work," Nico said. "You want to enter the anomaly, head back in time to just a few minutes ago, and ship the NOVA bomb yourself?"
"Our ship is far faster then the human's ships. We can save Earth," the Arbiter cried.
"How would we get away?" Nico asked.
"We would jump to Slipspace," the Arbiter replied. Nico thought of his idea for a moment. There were so many unanswered questions, so what would happen? But Earth was destroyed, the anomaly was collapsing slowly, and Nico had to make the decision now. He took a deep breath.
"Yes, Arbiter. I relinquish my command to you," Nico said.
"Thank you," the Arbiter said. "Bring engines to full speed. Head for the time anomaly."
"Calculating approximate times…got it. You are free to go in five seconds," Cortana said. Nico understood why: to put them all in the right position in time, it had to be calculated exactly right. They couldn't afford a mistake, even in nanoseconds.
"5,4,3,2,1,0! Engines to full speed, now!" the Arbiter yelled. The crew members rushed to accomplish these tasks.
"Collision Imminent," said a warning sound. "Please evacuate now." The warning was squelched be Cortana, who said that was normal. Nico got shivers from what would happen if Cortana was wrong.
"Approaching anomaly," Nico announced to the Arbiter. He walked over to the NAV officers station and computed the mathematics in his head. "in twelve seconds."
"Excellency! Unknown contact… it's a…wall?" yelled the NAV officer into Nico's ear; Nico was quiet enough that the officer didn't know he was there. But he was right, for Nico saw on the screen a large contact heading toward them.
"That's no ordinary wall, that's a spatial wave!" Nico said. "Arbiter, blast through them!"
"Fire all turrets!" the Arbiter commanded. Several blazing trails of plasma launched forward, heading toward empty space…until they collided with the invisible wave heading toward them. A hole quickly burned through it and Seeker of Truth sailed through it. It didn't really matter: five seconds later, they were being thrown around again as they entered the time anomaly. Seconds seemed to turn to minutes as the crew was thrown around the bridge, getting bruised and some cracks splitting the hellish room.
Suddenly, it stopped. Nico fell to the floor gracefully and landed, stumbling as the energy kept propelling him down; the gravity had cut out, damaged in the transfer. It took Nico time to register this in his head, until finally, he pushed gently toward the ceiling, where the Arbiter had hooked himself.
"Damage report!" he yelled, the force of the change in air currents bobbing his head slightly. A Sangheili crawled in midair along the railing to the engine station and carefully removed the dead officer that sat their now. The body floated up toward them, and Nico found something very curious about the environment. The bridge seemed expanded largely, hence the distance from floor to ceiling now.
"We are not reading any damage," the Sangheili said. This was even more peculiar. They should have sustained some damage. And what about the gravity?
"Cortana, can we have an explanation?" Nico asked.
"Since this isn't our time, we are in our own stable time bubble. This has expanded the space we are in greatly," Cortana responded calmly.
"Then why are we floating?" the Master Chief asked. Nico saw him gripped to a control station below.
"The gravity is still there, but it is related to the mass of objects, not artificially induced substances. It is still there, but there is no effect," Cortana said.
"Interesting. I have never been in such an environment," the Arbiter said to Nico. Nico nodded in agreement.
"No one has," Cortana said. "Chief, I need control of the ship. We are on a limited schedule." The Chief slotted it in a nearby station and put his hand through a holographic symbol.
"Got it! Hang on, the effect of movement will affect your space," Cortana said. The engines roared through the hull again and Nico fell toward the back wall with everyone else.
"Calculating countdown times," Cortana said. "Setting timers for twenty-three minutes until NOVA bomb detonation." A timer appeared on Nico's view: Sangheili used a retina system as their HUD.
"The prowler Point of No Return is seven minutes away. Everyone should suit up in the armory and gather in Airlock 55," Cortana announced, lighting up a path using trails on the floor.
"Tell the Forerunners to join us as well," the Arbiter said. He floated to the door that was now 'down' and entered it. The Master Chief and Nico followed him, along with two Sangheili. They reached the armory and grabbed only Carbines and Energy Swords. They continued along to the airlock, where the Forerunners waited, increasingly adapt in the zero-gravity situation.
"Reporting for duty, Excellency," Sufiyan shouted.
"At ease," Nico said as the Arbiter set the controls. The doors closed behind them and the doors in front opened. The first thing the noticed was the crew member running, apparently stopping due to shock. Nico peered in and saw that he wasn't petrified, but frozen in time.
"The time bubble has encased the ship and shut it into a non-passing state. They are moving and the bomb is ticking, but not in our bubble. The crew will register that the bomb just disappeared when we actually took it. Even though the bomb will have seemed to stop, it will explode in real time at the end of the timer," Cortana said on the com. Nico settled his feet on the floor, held by gravity, and ran to the cargo area, everyone following him. After a few minutes in their time, they found the bomb, along with several frozen technicians around it. Nico checked the timer: 12:14.
"We are losing time. Grab the bomb," the Arbiter said when Nico pointed it out. They carried it out to their side of the airlock and left it there; they would eject it at a safe location. They ran back to the bridge for the next part of the plan.
"Cortana, transfer to Slipspace!" the Arbiter yelled as they rushed in. There timers were now at 2:51.
"Proceeding," Cortana said. The portal leading into Slipspace opened up and the ship pushed into it.
"Now, put us at a safe distance and eject the NOVA bomb," the Arbiter continued. Cortana didn't need to be told; they were leaving Slipspace already.
"Ejecting…uh, problem! Big problem!" Cortana said.
"What is it?" Nico asked.
"The airlock is not responding!" she yelled through the speakers.
"I'm sending technicians to fix the airlock!" Nico said, typing orders as fast as possible.
"We're not going to make it!" Cortana said. The timer was at 37 seconds. Time was being messed up in the very confines of their bubble, making seconds longer then what was thought to be!
"We have to try!" the Arbiter said. "Any word on the airlock?"
"None, sir." The com officer replied. The timer still skipped huge proportions, and finally it was in the last ten seconds. This evaporated in one huge chunk. Nothing happened. Nico realized something no one had considered.
"We are truly idiots," Nico said as he began to laugh.
HALOHALOHALOHALOHALOHALOHALOHALOHALOHALOHALOHALOHALO
NH3: Sorry it took so long everyone. I had to figure out how this whole thing would work. Why didn't the bomb blow them all up as the time was being disrupted inside the bubble? Hint: read the part where they entered Point of No Return.
SAQ: You didn't need to figure out anything. You were just being lazy!
(NH3 holds up a roll of duct tape and a mallet)
SAQ: Ack!