6:00

Alpha rally point

Kelly and Fred had carefully made their way across the forest, the rally point was straight ahead and there was no sign of Katana team. Fred was getting surer that Katana wasn't going to show up, they had all trained for various events and this was sure to qualify as that kind of event.

The sudden thud from behind them and Fred turned with his rifle pointing at… "Liam?" The Katana team leader's rifle was pointing at his head as he made his way out.

"Sir we thought you were one of the others." He said in a plain calm voice.

"Who do you mean by others?"

Liam called the rest of Katana out, and there was an additional person with them, a humanoid like being with an environmental suit stepped out its figure exactly like the shape of the alien mentioned by Tanya but more feminine in shape.

"She and about twenty seven others are here but the rest are at a camp not far from here."

The alien started speaking as she pointed at them, the translators that Tanya adapted kicked in.

"How many of you are there?" She said appointing at Fred and Kelly.

Liam told her. "More than enough to get your crew back safely."

She replied with. "Thank you, my family are in danger, the slavers attacked our vessel over, your companions found me not far from the base."

"No problem, though it would be advisable to keep to yourself. What is your name?"

"Avi'rilo vas Idenna, I'm of the quarian migrant fleet."

He replied. "Okay, Avi stay here with Katana, Liam get your team prepped, Linda and the others will be heading back with the other quarian."

Avi asked. "Which one of us is it?"

"Your commander, Unare'vael, he survived by escaping, though he left behind some clues as to where."

"Unare'vael? Keelah, we had hoped someone might find him, not the slavers."

"Well it shouldn't take long, Al and Jen will form a perimeter around the camp with me and Linda, and then we plan how to get your people out."

XXXXX

Plateau 500m west

The run to the plateau was simple, climbing it was a bit harder, the wall of the rock face was brittle and kept breaking under the weight of the Spartans, and it was then that Linda decided to use the ingenious method of the suit enhancement, digging into the walls with their wrist daggers and hidden blades in the boots.

They had reached the one place that the quarian had mentioned, the only place around that could see the stars and the constellations was the plateau. Now reaching the top the Spartan team hauled themselves over the top, there was nothing up there, moving about the plateau they found someone.

There was an alien crouching under a den, the alien noticed them and panicked, reaching for its sidearm Ash reached out and grabbed the weapon and then knocked the alien on the ground before it could react.

"Well, that's been taken care of, so how do we get him down?"

XXXXX

Rally point alpha

Fred and the rest of blue team had their reunion after half an hour, the walk to alpha was quick but the climb down for Linda was slowed due to the extra weight. Now being finally introduced with their quarian allies they were formulating a plan to remove the slavers base.

"We scouted the region, the base is surrounded by turrets and the area around it was cleared, there are a few detainment pens where the quarians are being held. Though this complicated seeing all the guard towers are facing the outside, and there is security mechs emplaced along each pen."

Fred explained from the recon.

"So if we try we could end up with a slaughter on our hands, and we can't take out all the guards at once and think things are going to end well."

Kelly said as the map drawn up on Fred's TAC display showed the layout and the most likely outcome.

There was a shift in the timing for the guards, and this was during the morning to night.

"It looks like we can infiltrate, but the guards and the mechs are the bulk of the problems, though they aren't on alert, we could probably take the guards along the wall and the towers, but the main command room for the mechs might be harder."

Liam interjected. "But not something we can't do, and besides my team will deal with the command room, we have the skill and capabilities."

"Are you sure about this?" Fred asked.

"Sure enough sir." Liam replied.

"Then let's get to it Spartans, the quarians will be going to release the others while blue team deals with the guards."

XXXXX

Unare was getting out of his unconscious state, his head ached the blow to the head hadn't improved his condition, punctures in some areas of his suit had been covered and antibiotics had flooded his suit, but he was still shaky.

He looked about at his environment, the large bulky figures from before were now gathered, and he noticed someone near him, it was Avi.

"Avi, what happened?"

"We were saved; these beings hear the distress beacon and came to help." She said pointing at the large armoured soldiers.

"So does that mean we can get the rest of the crew?" He asked.

"Yes, they are going tonight, hopefully get everyone out."

"Are you going as well?"

"Yes once the guards are distracted I can get everyone out and meet up with them here."

"Good luck, and please caution." He said.

XXXXX

0900

It was now night time, blue team chose their targets, the guards along the wall were their first problem. And Katana were going to deal with the command centre.

As Fred checked his timer it reached the exact moment… now.

Before any could react six guards along the perimeter vanished, and the guards at the base complex were also gone.

Avi moved carefully to the holding pens, there she saw the other crew still alive, but some wounded and others hungry, She was not happy with the slavers.

The signal came as more guards vanished; the batarians and turians never knew what hit them.

A small explosion finally got everyone's attention; Katana had breached the command door and was assaulting the centre.

It was a fast fire fight, which resulted in one-sided casualties; the commander who was in charge was killed when Liam drove a knife into his throat and crushed his windpipe.

Avi quickly set the members of her species free; the Loki mechs were powered down.

Escaping the quarians made their way back to their camp where the Aspire would have sent a shuttle to retrieve them.

Blue team and Katana set charges and burnt the whole complex down, letting it be known someone else was not going to tolerate this.

"Sir, eta on pick up?"

"Soon." Fred said watching the sky for the pelican.

There were now over a dozen crew of the Cyniad awaiting rescue.

The pelican eventually came, with the other, loading the quarians aboard; the team secured everyone to the seats before take-off.

Avi had never experienced ships without inertial dampeners; this was a first for many of the crew.

The Pelicans escaped the planets gravity and reached the welcoming frigate overhead.

On board the crew awaited for the arrival of the quarians, Tanya had already explained to the med teams how to treat and what to look out for.

The black pelicans arrived in the lower bays, lifting them in the hatches opened; there a number of suited aliens stepped out.

The med teams moved forwards to secure them before anything else, and took all the wounded down to medical.

Avi watched as Unare was taken on to a stretcher and was taken, she was sure that he was safe, and that these new aliens were non-hostile.

Grey had never thought he'd see the day that an alien actually not shoot at them, he was helping move these quarians into the med bay with the rest of the company.

While this was occurring the remaining quarians were taken to the mess, it was easier to move them there instead of keeping them in the hangar.

There a proper check-up was detailed on the quarians health, and it was to provide a means of bottling them up without having them wander about.

Avi was sure they were safe, but it seemed these aliens didn't want to risk much so they set them in one place, the mess hall seeing all the tables, the crew aboard the ship seemed quiet and more secluded to their own.

Dr Halsey and Valerie were both to see to the health of the quarians with a medical team, when they first approached the quarians were curious or more suspicious of them, it went well though, a minor check on their DNA and they had a means or producing the necessary means of helping.

A few questions were asked by the quarians mostly about their fellow crew but that was really it, the med teams were now getting the necessary tissue to clone, and the chef was busy preparing to replicate some dextro-protein supplements or food.

1300hrs

Some hours passed and the Jordan had finally prepared some cleaned food, though he had to wear a bio suit and sterilise the whole kitchen, there was some protein pastes and some bowls though he was sure that he needed to put straws so it was more accessible to the quarians.

Serving the food, Jordan of the 151st and a few dozen others to clean the mess hall, the tables were set for the quarians.

Avi had known military standards when she saw these soldiers but the fact they looked young was an understatement, the chef was a similar heighted young man, him with his curly hair set out their food, though she was surprised at his skill in cooking.

The food was definitely well prepared and much time was put into it, the young man translated something in another language they couldn't understand but was sure to mean have a nice dinner.

The quarians were unsure to the polite attitude of their chef and his fellow subordinates, which were surprisingly older than himself.

XXXXX

After their dinner they were shown about the ship, though their guide was a human as he called himself, who had a longer standing job as security than military. He allowed them to look about until they reached the barracks of the marines.

There was a strange fact that they were actually changing and they had to wait a bit, once he was sure he allowed them across to their rooms. Though the quarian crew was sure about the fact that these were children, they could see a few hundred going about.

It seemed as though their military consisted of teenagers, no older than a quarian on pilgrimage or just getting their larger suit. They noticed how some of them looked though, more weary of conflict and others active but secluded, and they were all somehow involved in war.

This was more surprising and disturbing when they passed by, their rooms on the other side was isolated to the rear, and there was a door to exit and enter on both sides. And the rooms were built for 4 per each.

They were surprised that the ship was so large, nearly larger than a cruiser and had crew and soldiers aboard capable of tactical strikes.

Avi and the others talked about the mysterious ship and crew, if they were there to help, it could mean that the quarian people might have an ally amongst the stars.

XXXXX

18/1/2554

Unare was recovering well, and the ship that had rescued them was en-route to the migrant fleet, the humans had decided to assist them by meeting with the admiralty board to discuss terms.

Unare was now walking about he and the other 2 quarians were discharged out of the med bay with a clean bill of health.

Avi was also up and about with the quarian crew looking about as a group; they were surprised to find their injured crew mates in good condition.

They had a breakfast with the same protein paste, and then they were shown about the ship by another human, though he was an armoured soldier that dwarfed them all, his hair was blonde and slightly dirty and his face bore minor but plentiful scars, though his skin was pale like their own.

They had never known another species that actually lived inside their own suits, the quarians had to live with these as a consequence, but the humans didn't need their own, but these soldiers seemingly did.

Avi was now more curious as to how the humans came to be this far in the galaxy from their own sector of space, but this would be answered later.

As they were at the bridge she noted the entire strangely old looking tech, but some was much more unique, such as the holo projectors and the fact there were graphical displays of planets and star maps rather than a galaxy map. And the fact that there was a holographic projection of a female human waving at them…

"Hello and welcome aboard the UNSC Aspire, I am the smart artificial intelligence known as Tanya."

The quarians were stunned at first they had just found out there was an AI just waving at them.

Then a panic, Avi and the others looked nervous, the crew on the bridge seemed to think it strange.

"Is something wrong?"

The AI now reappeared at full height of a human and seemed to just look at them.

"No it's just we never had any good history when coming into contact with AI." Avi said.

"That's alright, I'm technically the ship's main computer, and navigations and such, I don't harbour distrust against organics."

"Well, I guess not, or the crew would have been dead." Unare said.

"That is not the way I would like to approach the topic." Tanya replied.

"So why aren't you trying to kill other organics?"

"My program is based on human designs and functions, really to say, I am human but part of me knows of what I really am and am not, to put it simply I am what I am."

The quarians had to discuss this amongst themselves.

XXXXX

Graves watched as the things unfolded, he knew it was going to be long but he had a plan.

(The quarian migrant fleet next. And BTW Tali is not yet born, we have to wait another 5 years.)