Chapter Twenty One
December 31 2536, Covenant Shipyard Crafted Virtue (UNSC Asteroid ID K7-49)

Will glanced up at the clock, they had been lying in complete silence for almost two hours now. He could feel Nese's back pressed against his own, her breathing timed with his own. She wasn't asleep, he could feel her occasionally look over at him. He finally felt like he could talk to her, and rolled over.

The instant he moved she had rolled over as well, "Will... Do you not like me?"

He smiled, "No, I do. But you have to understand that I just recently became comfortable with being around alien species. I had been putting up an act when I first arrived, I was actually terrified." He hugged her tightly, "And I also like Kev, and I don't want to hurt her either."

"I would never ask you to do anything to hurt her Will, all I ask is that you be open to me as well," she replied, hugging him back. "When will this forcefield open, it's freezing cold in here."

Will chuckled lightly, "We still have three hours. Here, if we stay cuddled up like this it'll feel a little warmer."

She smiled, and leaned against him again, pulling the sheets up again, "Well, at least I have you to keep me company."

"And I have you, the time will seem like no time at all." Will smiled. "So have the plans for leaving been put into motion yet?"

She nodded, "They have. The ship arrived with Mawo's fleet, and it's still undergoing repairs." She gave a slight giggle, "Anla 'Natodee was most upset to learn of the delay. He is not enjoying his captivity."

"Yeah, well, as far as I'm concerned he can stay locked up. What do we need him for anyway?"

"Will, we need everyone we can get if this settlement is to work. He might not be the most friendly, but I assure you he will do his job properly."

Will scoffed, he wasn't happy. "Let's just get going before Vare has any more ideas."

Nese smiled, "It seems like ever since we captured you life has gotten more and more exciting by the day."

"What can I say, I'm a lot of fun," Will said with a grin.

Nese leaned close, their faces inches apart, "Yes you are, which is why I find you so... Irresistible."

Before they could kiss, the forcefield lowered, Sol and Kev standing there. "So you are in here," Sol said, a grin on her face.

The two pulled back from each other and looked up. Nese blushed, "Sol, Kev, what's going on?"

Kev walked in and hugged Will as he stood up, he returned the embrace with a smile. Sol stepped back, letting them all out, "You received an urgent communication."

December 30 2536, UNSC Montpelier in Deep Space

"We've dropped out," Ajax said, turning his chair to look at the Ward sisters.

Jacquelyn also turned around in her chair, "No sign of the Covenant yet, but if they were following us they should be here any minute."

Chaos laughed, "I'm ready and waiting for them."

Emily sighed, "Stick to the plan, for now."

"We take out one ship, broadcast our message, and jump back into Slipspace," Carolina said. "I've recorded the message. All we have to do is hope it gets to whoever has him."

"Covenant!" Chaos called, "Just as we predicted."

Everybody took their positions, Jacquelyn on tactical read out the sensor information, "One Capital Ship and two Cruisers, they are charging weapons."

"Chaos, give me the path," Ajax called, starting their fusion reactors to maximum, the engines flared to life, pushing the ship toward the Covenant.

"Calculating. Just don't get blown up before I finish," Chaos said. "Displaying on your secondary screens."

Ajax glanced over, the route she was calculating in real time appeared. "Got it, setting a course."

"Carolina, do you want to take weapon systems?" Emily asked, her voice completely calm.

The sister smiled, "Why thank you. Chaos, transfer weapon control to this station." She sat down across the bridge from Jacquelyn. "Weapons all armed and ready. Awaiting your order."

Emily stood, looking around, "How long till we're in position?"

"Ummmm, 40 seconds," Jacquelyn reported. "They are firing at us!"

"Ajax, give me thrusters," Chaos said. "I'll dodge, you fly." He transferred the controls to her, and the ship started to roll. "Hold on to your sanity!"

The plasma all shot past them, but none of them hit. "All shots clear... They missed," Jacquelyn reported. "They're charging second shots."

"Too late, we're almost on top of them," Ajax said.

"Carolina, open fire on the target," Emily said. "Show them what happens to those that mess with the Ward family."

"Firing," she replied. Missiles and bullets shot out across space and impacted the Covenant's shields.

Jacquelyn brought up the scans of the shields, "Their shields are falling. 90%, 80%, 70%. Not fast enough."

"Chaos, what's the status of the experimental technology?"

"Pulse Lasers are online, but they haven't been used yet," she replied. "But to hell with the warnings, blow them up."

Emily smiled, "I agree. Carolina, switch to Pulse Lasers and continue firing. Jacquelyn, bring the secondary reactor online, we need the power boost."

"Right," Jacquelyn replied, bringing it online. Her console beeped, "Their firing again."

"Firing Lasers," Carolina reported. "Continuing to fire point-defense turrets, while we are in range."

Jacquelyn smiled, "Their shields are falling much more rapidly. 50%. 35%. 20%."

"Brace for impact!" Ajax yelled as a plasma bolt clipped the side of the ship, sending a shake through the bridge.

Emily grabbed her seat to stay standing, "Don't worry, this ship was designed to take a few plasma hits. The hull will hold. Keep firing!"

"Shields almost down! The ship is trying to move away from us!" Jacquelyn called out.

"Following," Ajax said, putting in the new course.

Carolina swore, "Pulse LASERs are done. The system is fried. Switching back to missiles."

"Shields down!"

"Carolina, launch the nuke to the position I'm inputting," Emily said, typing in a nearby console.

Carolina waited, and targeted the area. "Launching!" The main screen switched to track the nuke, it had to be marked digitally as it was coated with the same material as the hull was and was almost invisible to the naked eye, and sensors.

"Ajax, full retreat," Emily sat back down. She hadn't raised her voice or even looked concerned the entire battle.

He nodded, "Retreating, full power. Continuing evasive maneuvers."

"Nuke in position," Carolina said. "Detonation in three... two... one." A flash of incredibly bright light filled the space where the Covenant Cruiser had once been. The screen switched to a tactical map, now only showing two Covenant ships.

Emily smiled, "Transmit the message, and dump secondary power to the slipspace drive. Quick charge and get us out of here."

Carolina got up and moved to the console controlling communications, "Transmitting on all frequencies."

"Transferring power, slipspace drive charged in ten seconds."

Ajax nodded, "Chaos, give me the exit course."

"Right away, cute boy."

Emily just sat there and watched them all work, and as the ship shuddered forward into the slipstream she stood, "Good work everyone. That went perfectly."

December 31 2536, Covenant Shipyard Crafted Virtue (UNSC Asteroid ID K7-49)

Will, Kev, and Sol all stood behind Nese as she accessed the communication that had been sent to her. She looked surprised, "This was sent from a ship that's perusing one of the Human's advanced ships that was found at Sargasso."

Will's interest picked up, "Sargasso?"

"Yes, their headed directly for our space. They recently destroyed one of our ships, but before jumping back into the void they sent this." Nese stepped back and let a large video play. Covenant subtitles appeared on the screen translating the message for those who couldn't understand the Human language.

"This is Carolina Ward, Human survivor. I wish to address the Covenant at the asteroid at the coordinates attached to this message," she paused. Will was speechless, and the rest of them couldn't look away from his sister's message. "You took my brother. That was a bad move. I will get him back, and if he isn't still alive when I get there I will personally hold every single one of you alien bastards responsible."

Another woman stepped into the camera view, "Will, it's Emily. I'm here too. Don't worry, we'll get you. Julie and February are also on their way, with more reinforcements. We'll get you back, safe and sound. Just hold out a little longer."

Emily left and Carolina smiled, but there was anger like Will had never seen in her eyes, "There you have it. See you soon, best be ready for us." The video ended, and Will started laughing uncontrollably.

"Will? Are you alright?" Kev asked, putting a hand on his shoulder lovingly.

He calmed himself down, "Oohh, those two are always so much trouble when they got to together. I highly suggest you take them seriously, they won't stop till they get what they want."

Nese smiled, "Considering they took out one of our ships already, and without taking any damage to their own vessel, I believe you."

Sol stepped forward, "Who are Julie and February? More family?"

"Friends, from New Harmony, where you captured me. Glad to hear they care enough to come get me."

Kev hugged him, "Knowing you like I do, I can understand completely." Nese and Sol nodded in agreement.

Mawo smiled, stepping up the deck looking out over a large repair bay. Beyond was a ship from his fleet that had been heavily damaged. He was ordered to leave it behind, but when he inquired into the order he found it came not from his superior, but from the Priestess. "What are you up to Nese?"

He headed down, nodding to the workers as he went. They knew enough to leave him alone and not to question his orders. He found a floating Huragok and gave it a small tracking device. "Install this into the ships systems, but make sure it won't ever be found. Understand?"

The alien took it from him, chipped happily, and floated back into the ship. Mawo grinned, even if he had to leave the ship behind he would be able to keep tabs on it easy enough. Whatever the Priestess was planning with her Human studies would certainly be interesting.

Author's Notes: I didn't want to wait for an entire week to go by since I had this chapter finished finally. Until I get back on my writing feet I'll just be releasing as I write. I hope the continuation of the series is as good as when it started.