AN: Since several people asked for it...here is the conclusion of Arc One of A Change of Fate! (yes its a tad late, but I got swamped with homework after I posted the last chapter *grumbles about that* ). Sorry...
High Charity, Holy City of the Covenant,
9th Age of Reclamation
Major Nar 'Saranee sighed ever so slightly as the Everlasting Solitude continued on its journey through Slipspace. The vessel may have escaped the destruction of its fleet at the hands of the humans, but that didn't mean the crew was safe. Everyone on board, from Nar himself, to the lowest Unggoy, knew that they were likely to be declared heretics or shamed upon return to High Charity. There was a bit of discontent at this, hence Nar sighing. But there was also a remarkable amount of unity in the ranks. All aboard this single Corvette viewed themselves as the last of the Fleet of Particular Justice, and so long as Thel 'Vadamee lived and commanded them, they would have a purpose in life. Thus, the remarkable level of unity with Kig-Yar and Unggoy working together to restore slightly damaged systems, while Sangheili wandered the halls keeping an eye on things.
Together we march to our doom. How poetic, Nar thought, with a rough approximation of a human snort.
Walking to the rear of the command center, the Major saw Thel begin to regain consciousness. The Supreme Commander shook his head, flexing his mandibles as he put a hand to his throbbing head. Raising his head groggily, Thel saw the Major approaching him.
"Where am I Major? And why am I still alive?" the Commander asked, voice even lower than normal.
"The Everlasting Solitude. Honor dictated that I get you off of the Ascendant Justice, Supreme Commander," Nar replied easily.
"And my honor dictated I die with my fleet!" Thel shot back, (shakily) getting to his feet.
Once he was at his full height, Thel turned a glare on his head of security. Nar returned the glance, staring right back at his commander. The two Sangheili stared at their counterpart, the rest of the crew stopping their tasks to see who would win this battle of wills.
"That would have done no good Commander," Nar said, not showing how it took all his willpower to talk back to his commander, "you know the humans better than anyone. And the experience you have with these new weapons was too much to leave behind."
"What good does that experience do when the Hierarchs will shame me and cast me out for not dying honorably?!"
"A lot, when our people will still listen to you. Retreat is sometimes the only option, you know that as well as I do."
Thel continued to hold Nar's glare, before finally letting out a sound of disgust and turning his head. He wasn't happy, but he acknowledged the Major's point. So far as they knew, no one had survived the battle other than themselves. Thus, they had to return to High Charity and warn the Hierarchs about the new human weapons. Even if it meant their death or shaming, it was a necessary task. However much it burned to do it...and Thel could tell that Nar wasn't any happier about running from the battle than he was.
"You are correct Major," Thel admitted, painfully, "however, did you retrieve the logs of Ascendant Justice before launching? We need them if the Hierarchs will believe our tale."
Nar nodded, and then gave a Sangheili grin, "I did, and did one better Supreme Commander."
Reaching behind a console, Nar tossed a large staff at Thel. The larger Sangheili caught the staff, and examined it. It was ornately carved, made of solid metal, and seemed to be shaped like on of the reptilian creatures they had found on human worlds before glassing them. Thel turned to look at the Major once more, the red-armored Sangheili pointing at a small indention on the Staff. Pushing down on it, Thel saw the front of the staff open with a crackle of golden light.
"What is this device? And where did you get it?" the Supreme Commander asked his subordinate.
"A Kig-Yar team took it off a human boarding party before returning to the Everlasting Solitude," Nar answered the second question first, "and it is a weapon from what they reported. A plasma weapon. The design is useless, but the firepower is immense. They reported it taking chunks out of the corridor, and their shields barely took two hits before overloading."
Thel looked at the staff with a new-found admiration. Resealing the weapon, he set it against a console, before turning back to Nar.
"So, this staff is a smaller variant of the new weapons on their warships?"
"So far as we can tell."
"Then send the Kig-Yar who retrieved it a reward. They may just have saved our lives."
Which was true enough. Recordings could be faked, though any Sangheili would sooner shoot themselves than lie to a Hierarch. However...possessing one of the new human weapons, would help their case immensely. As Nar had said, the design may be useless from a practicality standpoint, but if they could convince the more religious segments of their society to attempt to miniaturize the design, they could have a replacement for the Plasma Rifle, useful as it may be.
"We are arriving at High Charity now Supreme Commander," one of the crew called out, knocking Thel out of his thoughts.
As the black void vanished, the Everlasting Solitude came to a slow halt outside the defense zone of High Charity. Hundreds of Covenant warships floated through space, escorting the massive form of the Holy City of the Covenant. One ship stuck out like a sore thumb however...a heavily damaged Supercarrier. It didn't take a genius, or the IFF, to identify it as the Long Night of Solace. The ship must have fled the battle after taking the damage. That could be a very good thing, or a horribly bad thing. On the one hand, it mitigated the fact that Thel and his crew left. On the other, the Prophet in control of the vessel may have reported a different set of events, and if so...it would be ones that made him look good, and the Sangheili look bad.
"We are being hailed."
"Identify yourself," a curt Sangheili voice said.
"This is Supreme Commander Thel 'Vadamee aboard the Everlasting Solitude," Thel replied.
There was some noise on the other end, obviously some amount of shock at Thel surviving, "Very well. Land immediately, the Hierarchs have requested a meeting."
At that...the line was cut. Thel sighed slightly, knowing that even the Hierarchs couldn't help him now, not if the Prophet on the Solace had convinced the rest of the Prophets and Sangheili council that he was at fault here. All he could do was make his report, and hope for the best.
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"...as you can see, Supreme Commander 'Vadamee is at fault for the defeat we suffered against the humans," the Prophet of Restriction was saying, as he finished his report with the damaged hulk of the Long Night of Solace projected as evidence.
Riots rose up from the Sangheili side of the Council Chamber, as white-armored Councilors protested. The Prophets stayed silent, observing more footage of the battle. Even the most vocal of the Sangheili soon stopped shouting however, as the High Prophet of Truth rose a single spindly hand. Floating forward, he fixed his eyes on the lower-ranking San 'Shyuum in front of him. Restriction flinched slightly under Truth's gaze, before the other Prophet mercifully turned to survey the rest of the chamber.
"While I am loathe to condemn a hero of the caliber of Thel 'Vadamee, the Prophet of Restriction has brought forth irrefutable evidence," Truth said, his voice amplified by the chamber, "it is quite clear that the Supreme Commanders leadership suffered, as he let the new weapons the vermin had in orbit of their world destroy his fleet. As such..."
Before Truth could finish, a messenger Unggoy came in, quailed under his gaze, and stammered out his message.
"Hei...Hierarchs, a Corvette attached to th...the Fleet of Particular Justice has...arri...ved," the poor creature said shakily, "Supreme Commander 'Vadamee is aboard."
If the shouting from the Sangheili side of the Council had been loud before, it was absolutely deafening now. They were shouting out of happiness that their war-hero was still alive, and that it was foolish to doubt him in the first place. While that was drawing the attention of his fellow Hierarchs and lower-Prophets, Truth turned from the petrified messenger, to look at Restriction. And he saw the other Prophet angrily muttering under his breath. Raising a single brow at the lower-ranked Prophet, Truth got his attention.
And he looked as terrified as the Unggoy did.
Interesting...he must have been lying about something. I could use this to my advantage...blackmail him to my side, while still discrediting the Sangheili...Truth mused, before turning to the messenger, "Allow Commander 'Vadamee to land, and have him and his crew sent here. We must determine how they survived."
"Yes Hierarch!" The Unggoy shouted, before scampering off.
As the two sides of the Council continued their shouting match, Truth waited patiently for the new arrivals to show up. While it would normally have taken well-near an hour for them to arrive from the docks, with the fact the Hierarchs wanted to see them...it didn't take long for 'Vadamee and as much of his crew as could fit in the chamber to arrive. The golden-armored Sangheili came first, a red-armored Major walking beside him, with a handful of lower ranked Sangheili escorting the highest ranked Kig-Yar and Unggoy of the vessel bringing up the rear. It was interesting to note, however, that they all walked united. Even the normal antagonistic tendencies of the Kig-Yar towards the Unggoy weren't there...very interesting indeed.
As 'Vadamee and his Major reached the point next to Restriction, they both went to their knees and bowed deeply.
"Thank you for seeing us on such short notice Hierarchs," 'Vadamee said, "I apologize for the delay in returning to High Charity."
"Rise," Truth said, raising a hand as Thel and the rest of his crew stood up, "I am curious how you survived Supreme Commander. According to the Prophet of Restriction, only his Supercarrier survived the battle. You died honorably with your fleet."
It would have taken an idiot not to notice the emphasis Truth put on honorably. Thel wasn't an idiot, and gave a small Sangheili frown. He had known Truth wasn't likely to be happy, but he to hear it...it wasn't easy. This was the leader of his entire society after all.
"I nearly did perish in the battle Hierarch," Thel said, "if the head of my security detail, Major Nar 'Saranee had not saved my life, I would have died on the Ascendant Justice. Only his intervention, and the rest of my surviving crew, allowed me to be here."
At hearing that, Truth turned his eyes on the red-armored Major. To his credit, 'Saranee didn't flinch under the gaze, though if he were a human he would be sweating.
"So, you are the one who kept the Supreme Commander alive?"
"Yes Hierarch."
No shaking voice either. Impressive...Truth thought, before asking his other question, "And why did you do so? Sangheili culture demands that a commander die with his fleet."
"I did so because the humans have developed new weaponry Hierarch," 'Saranee answered.
Nodding his head slightly,while inwardly losing his cool as this ruined the chances of hiding what had happened at the last human world, Truth turned back to 'Vadamee.
"And you? How effective are these weapons that the Major claims the humans have? The Prophet of Restraint only mentioned the satellites they possessed."
Truth didn't fail to notice the sharp glare 'Vadamee leveled on the Prophet, but chose to ignore it. As he waited for an explanation, one of the lower ranking Sangheili on 'Vadamee's crew walked forward. He was carrying a staff of some sort, prompting Truth to raise his brow once more. Even more so when a plate of ship armor was brought forth by another member of the crew. 'Vadamee looked up at the platform, and Truth realized he was asking for permission to do something. Giving a small nod, Truth watched as 'Vadamee pressed a button on the staff. The front end split open with a burst of gold light. But what was more impressive...with a small tap of another button, a gold burst of plasma shot out of the staff, creating a crater in the plate that a Plasma Rifle would take repeated fire to manage.
Even Truth himself was somewhat slack-jawed at that. Granted, he had known the humans possessed plasma weapons...the ill-fated attempt to capture the Marker Crystal had brought that up. But to miniaturize them...even if it was a horribly designed weapon, it still had a lot of firepower behind it. It also destroyed any chance he had of hiding the humans new-found technological prowess.
"Plasma weaponry..."
"How did the humans develop it?"
"It is nothing like our own weapons..."
Murmurs went through the Council, on both sides. Raising a hand, Truth got attention back on 'Vadamee, who had handed the staff weapon off to the Sangheili who had brought it forward while a pair of Honor Guards removed the damaged armor plate.
"So the humans have made infantry plasma weaponry," Truth 'mused', "so long as their vessels don't possess it, they can do nothing to stop our glorious crusade, temporary as this setback may be."
Maddeningly though, 'Vadamee shook his head, "If only that were the case Hierarch. The human vessels possess similar weaponry."
And with that, the view of the Long Night of Solace changed to a video taken from the Ascendant Justice. A video showing human vessels with golden shields taking Plasma Torpedo hits and continuing to fire. And the weapons they fired...golden bolts of plasma similar to the staff. While they appeared weaker than Covenant weaponry, the very fact humans had plasma weaponry spoke volumes.
Heading off the Council before they could get up to their normal argumentative-selves, Truth spoke up, "This does go a way towards explaining how you lost your fleet, Supreme Commander. However, that does not change the fact you lost to the humans. I move that Thel 'Vadamee be stripped of his rank."
"We agree," both Mercy and Regret said, speaking for the first time since 'Vadamee had arrived.
A chorus of approval came from the rest of the Council. Thel bowed his head, accepting that it could have been a lot worse for him. Of course...he who tempts fate...
"However, he has still proven an effective Commander," Truth continued, "with this in mind, I am appointing Thel 'Vadamee as Arbiter of the Covenant. The crew of the Everlasting Solitude are similarly stripped of their rank. That vessel, and its crew, are now your own Arbiter. Use them as you will, to regain the honor you lost with your fleet."
Shocked silence entered the chamber, all the Council, the Prophet of Restriction, and both the other Hierarchs unable to form words. But none were so shocked as the new Arbiter, who hadn't even been given the chance to accept or refuse the offer. For Truth to make such a unilateral decision to appoint him...and the last survivors of his fleet...to suicide status, meant that he wanted to get rid of them. And Thel realized that, even as he realized this was the only way to restore his honor.
So he rose to his feet, looked the Prophet of Truth in the eye, and nodded his head, "I accept your gracious offer Hierarch. What would you have your Arbiter do?"
Truth grinned fiercely, "For now, watch as the Sangheili redeem themselves for their failures in recent days. For even now, we approach a Ring of the Gods!"
"WHAT?!"
Practically every voice in the Council said that one simple word. While Truth, Regret, and Mercy had known of Halo, the rest of the Council had been kept in the dark. With good reason, as they didn't want riots or anything similar.
"Yes, I did not misspeak. The Sangheili of the 2nd Fleet of Retribution discovered Halo. They have been securing it while High Charity has approached. We should be arriving now."
And indeed they did...arrive to a field of debris, the barely recognizable ruins of Halo.
1700 Hours, September 13th 2552 (Military Calendar)/
Soell System, Halo Installation 04, Unknown Location, 30 minutes before the arrival of High Charity
As the small human group felt the golden light fade from view, they saw themselves once more in the Control Room of Halo. Spark and a small group of Sentinels were floating around them, waiting for the Reclaimers to recover from the discomfort of teleportation. Which took a bit longer than last time, due to their exhaustion from the run through the Library. Once they had recovered though, Spark floated up to Six, the one still holding the Index.
"Come Reclaimer, we must place the Index in its position to activate the Ring. We cannot risk the Flood leaving this Ring," the Monitor said eagerly, moving to 'lead' Six to the center of the Control Room.
For her part, the normally fairly quiet Spartan was sending rapid fire messages to the rest of her team.
"Is Kalmiya ready?" she asked
"Should be," Kat replied, no outward sign of communication, "she has had time to infiltrate the systems. If we have any way of stopping this Ring, its her."
"Still more risky than I like,"Jorge said sourly, "I don't like playing God with the entire Galaxy."
"No choice big guy," Carter said, setting a hand on Jorge's bicep, "We have to stop this Ring, and there isn't another option."
"Oh just get on with it already! Enough with the sentimental crap. Ugh!" unsurprisingly ,that was from Emile who wasn't even trying to hide his impatience.
For his part, Cam let out an annoyed sigh. Sure, having the helmets and radios meant the Monitor had no clue what was going on, but it also meant he didn't. And he didn't like that, not one bit. It was like working with Replicators or something.
Ignoring Cam, Six walked forward and, taking a deep breath, inserted the Index. The Control Room started to shake slightly, as long disused generators roared to life over the Ring, powering up and preparing to fire the life-ending weapon. But, just as suddenly as it started...it stopped. Silence came back to the Control Room, as Spark started to freak out, floating back and forth across the area.
"What is happening?! This ring has had one-trillion successful test firings, it should not be malfunctioning!" the Monitor shouted, his eye disturbingly flashing red on occasion.
"Looking for this?" a female voice said, as a massive hologram of Kalymia came to life (Cam's idea).
If it were possible, Spark would have had a stroke. As a machine however, he settled for pure anger. Something he had never felt before, but he was channeling perfectly now.
"A construct? A construct IN THE CORE?!" the Monitor shouted, "Unacceptable, absolutely unacceptable!"
"Oh shut up," Kalymia said, absolutely uncharacteristically (this time Emile's idea, though Kalymia couldn't bring herself to his level), snapping her fingers and sending Spark to the ground.
"I think I'm in love!" Emile shouted, laughing as Spark floated back up.
"Remove this construct at once Reclaimer!" the Monitor shouted, rounding on Six, "the Ring must be fired, and the Index must be preserved!"
"You mean this thing?" at that, Spark turned to see Kalymia holding the Index in her hand...before absorbing it into her data-matrix, "sorry, you aren't lighting this Ring off."
"WHAT?!" Spark shouted, all higher thought fleeing from his mind.
"You heard the lady, we aren't firing the Ring," Cam said, stepping forward.
Sparks anger faded somewhat, replaced by confusion as he looked between the Reclaimers and Kalymia. He wasn't sure what was going on, or what to do. All his protocols said, quite clearly, that if the Flood were released to find a Reclaimer to activate the Ring. And, nothing said they would refuse to. It was unbelievable. They had just fought the Flood, they clearly knew the threat. Why...why were they refusing?!
"Reclaimer, I have to ask you to activate the Ring now. You have fought the Flood. You know what could happen if they escape, and they will if we don't activate the Installation!"
"Nope, not happening. I'm not committing genocide on the Galaxy," Cam replied casually, "they are limited here. Why would we need to activate every Halo in the Galaxy to stop them? The Installations are linked after all, correct?"
"Correct...but what if Flood have compromised the other Rings too?"
"They haven't, at least not 02 anyway."
Spark's thoughts ground to a halt there. Before they caught up again, and he turned on Cam.
"You KNEW ABOUT THE INSTALLATION?!"
"No need to yell eyeball," Cam said, rubbing his ears.
"You've been to Installation 02...you've met 007 Grieving Light then," Spark said more calmly, "I'm sure she's told you how important it is to stop the Flood. So help me."
"Nope."
If Spark were human (or still human in any case) he would be pulling out his hair in frustration. His program was running hotter by the second, as he tried to rationalize the stubbornness coming from the Reclaimers.
"If you won't activate the Installation, how will you stop the Flood? Well?"
"Blow it up," Emile replied, at which everyone turned to look at him, "what? Any Flood that don't die that way, will die when what's left of the thing crashes into that big-ass planet outside."
"Blow it up...destroy my Installation?" Spark muttered, eye flashing red and blue.
"Great idea Emile!" Six congratulated him, "for once I find myself in complete agreement with you."
"I don't like the idea, but its blow it up or let the Flood leave..." Jorge said softly.
"Yeah, but how are we going to...look out!" Kat shouted, pushing Cam to the side...right as a beam of red light shot from Sparks now fully red eye.
Cam fell to the ground, Kat landing on top of him. He tried to get her to move...but then the smell of burnt flesh hit his nostrils. With a feeling of dread, he removed her helmet and saw lifeless eyes staring back at him. And when he looked down...a burnt crater was now carved into Kat's body, Spark's beam having gone straight through her shields and armor.
"What the hell?!" the other Spartans all shouted, weapons trained on the now red-Spark, and his Sentinels.
"Destroy my Installation? No, I don't care if you are Reclaimers, I wouldn't care if you were Forerunner...this Ring, is mine."
With that, the Sentinels opened fire on the group, while Spark hung back, no longer cheerful and blue. Thankfully for Noble, they had the Goa'uld shields, which they promptly brought up while Cam grabbed Kalymia. Taking cover behind Jorge, he dragged over Kat's body and commed the Odyssey.
"Sam? Sam?! Please tell me you read me!"
"What is going on down there?!" Sam's beautiful voice came through, "I'm reading weapons fire, and Kat's transponder is out!"
"She's dead," Cam replied shortly, "the Monitor and his Sentinels took offence to the idea of blowing up the Ring to stop the Flood. We need an emergency beam out now!"
"Got it!"
And with a musical chime, white Asgard beams sent the human group back into space. Spark floated to where they used to be, curious about the technology, but still righteously angered with them. He may have faded back to blue with them gone, but that didn't change much. Turning to one of his Sentinels, Spark barked out a question.
"Where are they?"
"No data. Cloaking device probable." the machine replied 'in Spark's head' so to speak.
Spark growled, turning back to the Control Room's terminal. Floating up to the device, he activated Halo's defenses. Weapons sprang to life over the Ring, trained at space. The Covenant vessels floating in orbit started to scatter, even as a Frigate was destroyed to make a point.
Back the Hell away from my Ring!
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Meanwhile, the Odyssey stayed under its Cloak, the crew watching as any Covenant ship that tried to get within communication range got blown up for its trouble. The ground team must have really pissed off Spark. Speaking of which...
"Cam, are you okay?!" Daniel asked, running up to his friend.
The Colonel walked in, uniform burnt and bruises covering his body. He had taken some glancing hits while grabbing Kalmiya, but...at least he was alive. That was more than could be said for Kat, who Noble was currently sitting with, mourning their loss. Sam got up from the Captains chair, letting Cam wearily sit back down. He sighed, and put his head in his hands.
"I'm fine Jackson. That Monitor though...I'm glad we met Light first. He is insane. I didn't even know they had weapons, but it tore through Kat's shield like it wasn't even there," the Colonel said, the sight etched into his memory, "we have to destroy the Ring now. He'll figure out how to fire it without the Index, and then we're all screwed."
Sam walked forward, "Is destroying it the only way?"
Cam nodded, "Destroy it, let the Flood escape, or let Spark commit galactic scale-genocide...take your pick. I'd like to think Light could stop her Halo from lighting off, but we can't be sure."
"How are we going to destroy it though? It's not exactly small you know," Daniel asked.
"Centrifugal force," Sam replied thoughtfully, "the Ring has to rotate at least somewhat to maintain that environment. If you punch a big enough hole in it..."
"The rotation will tear it apart," Daniel replied, "very devious Sam."
Cam watched them talk, thinking back to something currently sitting in a cargo bay, gathering dust. The orders had been to not use it unless they came across a major Covenant base...but he thought this took greater precedence. He just didn't particularly like the idea of being the first man to use two universes biggest nuke. Not much real choice in the matter though.
"Actually, I have a better idea," he said, tapping some instructions in his command station.
"What?"
"The NOVA."
Both Sam and Daniel gaped at him, joined by the UNSC crew. That thing was already at planet-cracking levels, even before they stuck Naquadah on it. God only knew what it could do now...there may be no kill like overkill, but this was a bit ridiculous. And Sam said as much.
"You can't be serious...we don't need that much firepower to punch a hole in Halo!"
"We ain't punching a hole in it," Cam shot back, "the Flood could still survive. No...we need to vaporize the thing. And take Spark with it."
And now they realized what Cam was thinking. Both pragmatically, and from a revenge for Kat view, Spark couldn't be allowed to survive. And it was certainly possible he could escape the Ring if they just let it tear itself apart. Thus, potentially planet-obliterating firepower.
"NOVA is ready sir," a voice said over the radio.
"Send it out then."
A brief flash of light revealed the Odyssey as it dropped its cloak to beam the NOVA. Weapons fire from Installation 04 zoned in on the small ship quite quickly, but as the cloak came back up, it just passed clean through the phase-shifted ship. The distraction, however, meant that Spark and his lackeys, nor the Covenant, saw the brief flash of white light over Installation 04. Sitting there, was the massive (by nuke standards) form of the prototype NOVA bomb. As the countdown on the device neared zero, no one quite knew what would happen...then it hit zero.
A flash of white light came into being, overloading the sensitive sensors on every Covenant ship in the vicinity. Shipmasters shouted orders, crews ran to their stations to try and identify what had happened...before being vaporized as the ball of energy slashed through space. Covenant Cruisers popped like balloons, their shields providing no protection against the raw force assaulting them. Those closer to the epicenter simply ceased to exist, as energy sufficient to crack a planet in two spread out from its original detonation point.
As for Installation 04, Alpha Halo? The raw destructive power of the NOVA vaporized the half of the Ring nearest to the detonation point. Trillions of tons of metal, earth, and plant life, ceased to exist in a matter of milliseconds. The parts that weren't vaporized were flash-burned, oceans and continents evaporating and melting under the intense heat and destructive force of the NOVA. Structures that had stood for 100,000 years, were obliterated in seconds. Sentinels were disabled by the EMP, before shattering as they were tossed around the surface like toys.
As the energy wave continued to spread its destructive energy, parts of Installation 04 spun off into space, centrifugal force and the NOVA's power sending them spinning into the distance. The few Flood that survived the initial damage were killed by the radiation and fires, no piece of the Ring left untouched. Even Threshold herself began to show effects, clouds being blown aside, a massive hole forming in its atmosphere, at least the size of Earth.
As the power of the NOVA finally began to fizzle out, the crew aboard the Odyssey could barely believe their eyes.
"What have we unleashed..." Daniel muttered, eyes wide.
"Nothing...nothing could have prepared me for how powerful that is," Sam said, awe creeping into her tone...and this was the woman who had blown up a star with nothing but a Stargate.
"Is the Ring completely destroyed?" Cam asked the slack-jawed sensor operator.
"Huh," the woman said, before quickly looking at her station, "a few small fragments are left. One is heading for a moon, the rest look like they will be pulled into Threshold."
Cam nodded, "Good...get us out of here."
And with that...the USS Odyssey left the destruction behind, hopefully forever.
AN: R.I.P. Kat.
Sadly, war is Hell. People will die.
And thus ends Arc One. Arc Two will begin soon, and roughly cover the events of H2 and H3. Roughly, as the butterfly effect is in full force. Before that though, we'll have a brief interlude chapter. See you all then!
EDIT: And I removed Spark.