Chapter 14: Aftershocks

2336 Hours, August 3, 2563 (Military Calendar)/
Lambda Serpentis System, Aboard Covenant CCS-class Battlecruiser Insurmountable Strength

Fleet Master Ptolemaeus ran through the massive corridor of the ship. A voice from a PA system barked, "Fleet Master Ptolemaeus needed in the control room."

The Jiralhanae growled to himself as he arrived at the door leading to the bridge. It whooshed open quickly and he barked, "What's the matter?!"

The control room was filled with brutes running back and forth and chattering loudly. Most didn't hear the brute when he entered, but one looked back and bowed. "Sir, we've detected a major energy spike in the outermost sector of the system."

Now, Ptolemaeus was intrigued. He sat down in his captain's chair and said, "Where is it?"

A navigational officer hit a switch and a holographic map of the LS System appeared before the fleet master. Each planet and star had its own energy reading listed, but one planet's signature put the others to shame. The navigational officer said, "Sir, that planet's energy level just tripled a few hours ago."

Ptolemaeus stroked his chin. "What's so important about that?" he rumbled in his deep voice.

The navigational officer turned around in his seat. "Sir, that's one of the possible locations for the Forerunner relic."

Immediately, the brute leaned forward in his chair and barked, "What planet is that?!"

"Novus Pacis," yelled back someone.

"Novus…" muttered the Jiralhanae fleet master. The name seemed familiar… "Wait, the planet where our troops and humans are coexisting?"

"Yes, sir," replied a brute major.

The brute leaned back with a sigh and shook his head in wonder. Who would've thought that the Forerunner structure they've been looking for for years was right under their noses? The best part: They already had thousands of Covenant on that planet and when he gave the order, they would immediately got to activate the structure, having so many Reclaimers on hand. He smiled and said, "Get the prophet for me. He'll want to hear this news!"

Silently, Ptolemaeus thanked the Gods that he'd found the relic and wouldn't suffer the same fate as Marcellus.

A minute later, an image of the prophet appeared. He seemed irritated and was frowning deeply. This news would certainly brighten his day!

"What is it, Ptolemaeus?!" he demanded, slamming a fist on his gravity throne's armrest.

The Jiralhanae smiled and leaned forward. "We've turned up some interesting results on that Forerunner search, sir."

The prophet's fist stretched out and his jaw dropped in shock. He leaned forward, quite like his fleet master was, and asked, "Explain this to me, Ptolemaeus. What have you found? When?"

"Just now. One of the planet's energy levels tripled a few hours ago, sir. That planet is one of the possible locations for the Forerunner relic."

"What planet?!" asked the prophet in anticipation.

"Novus Pacis," the Jiralhanae said with a grin.

The prophet's reaction was unexpected. With a sigh, the old alien leaned back in his throne and shook his head. Running a hand over his wrinkled face he muttered, "This complicates things."

Now, Ptolemaeus was confused. "Why, sir? We can call any brute down there to activate the structure. How is this a 'complication'?"

The Prophet of Reclamation glared at the brute and hissed, "We can't simply call in the troops, Ptolemaeus. That would alert the humans too quickly. No. We need to activate the relic as quietly as possible. If the humans knew what we were up to, if could spark another war."

The Jiralhanae leaned back in his seat and groaned. "What do you suggest, sir?" he asked.

"You must go there yourself and activate it, my friend," ordered the prophet.

Ptolemaeus looked up in shock. "What?" he barked. But then he composed himself again and said, "Sir, we're on the other end of the system. It'll take days for us to get there." Their engines were having increasingly bad problems with overheating and he didn't think their ships could get there as fast as they usually could.

"Then it'll take days. It doesn't matter how long it takes you, Ptolemaeus. No one else knows about this."

The Jiralhanae nodded. "Yes, sir," he muttered. "Permission to pursue this relic, sir?"

The prophet smiled before folding his hands together and saying, "Granted." Then, his image disappeared, and Ptolemaeus breathed a sigh of relief.

He turned to his navigational officer and said, "Set a course for Novus Pacis."

"Yes, sir," came the quick reply. Moments later, the same brute announced, "Course set. Estimated trip duration: 50 Hours. "

0102 Hours, August 4, 2563 (Military Calendar)/
Lambda Serpentis System, Aboard UNSC Frigate Intercession

An alarm blared through the ship as the newly promoted Colonel Brian Vorster ran from his personal quarters. Thanks to Brewster and Lanasky's new allies throughout the UNSC infrastructure, this ship and his new promotion, had been relatively easy to acquire. They simply had a records officer add in new reports about Vorster's great deeds and he quickly rose in the ranks. While he technically wasn't a naval officer, they'd bribed the real captain of the ship to let him take the reins for this assignment. He buttoned his jacket and dodged to young officers as he burst onto the bridge and barked, "What's all the racket about?!"

"Sir, a planet's energy level just tripled a few hours ago," replied an operations officer.

As Vorster plopped down in his commanding officer's chair, he tapped several buttons around him and watched a holographic map appear in front of him. "What planet?"

"Novus Pacis, sir," came the reply.

"Wait… Novus?" he asked himself out loud. Sure enough, the planet's indicator on the map was flashing furiously and there were rapid reports coming in about it. "Is this planet on the map of possible Forerunner locations?"

"Yes, sir," a navigational officer replied.

Vorster ran a hand through his ruffled hair and mumbled, "I can't believe it." Of all the possibilities in the system, it had to be the one planet humanity was inhabiting. What's worse: The Covenant were there as well. Hmm… the Covenant… "Has that Covenant battlecruiser made any moves yet?"

"Affirmative, sir. They've adjusted course for Novus Pacis."

Wow. Only a few hours ago they were headed in the opposite direction. There was definitely something on that planet. "Have we done likewise?" he asked.

The navigational officer turned around in his seat and gave him a strange look. "Awaiting Admiral Brewster's permission, sir."

"Of course," he muttered under his breath. He turned to his communications officer. "Get Admiral Brewster on the line." Then he turned to his navigational officer. "You, adjust our course to follow that Covenant ship. We'll just leave out that little detail when I give my report," he said to himself with a grin.

Moments later, the image of Brewster appeared. He was obviously tired, and it occurred to Vorster that it was the middle of the night. "This had better be good, Brian," the admiral growled.

Vorster cleared his throat and said, "Sir, we think we've found the Forerunner artifact."

Instantly, the signs of his exhaustion vanished and Brewster demanded, "Where?!"

"Novus Pacis, sir."

"Damn, we don't have any contacts there." The man sighed and asked, "What have the Covenant done?"

"Adjusted course for the planet, sir," replied Vorster. "We're going to do likewise soon."

"Good." Brewster smiled and linked his fingers together. "Let's try and race our Covenant friends to the relic. It'd be a shame if all this was wasted because they got there first."

Vorster instantly recognized the veiled threat and smiled despite his quickened heartbeat. "Don't worry, sir. We'll get there."

Brewster frowned and leaned forward. "You'd better," he hissed before ending the video feed.

Vorster leaned back and sighed as he thought about his task. He had to outrun a Covenant fleet, get on Novus Pacis unnoticed, and activate the Forerunner structure. Fun. He massaged his brow as he asked, "Navigator, how long till we get there?"

"ETA: 48 Hours, sir."

Yup, we gots problems now. If you guys look closely at the times you'll there's a two hour difference. Meaning that they're both gonna get there about the same time. Uh oh! LOL! Anyways, hope you guys are enjoying this story! Please, review!