Captain Lasky stood on the bridge of the Infinity and looked out over Earth below. While it wasn't his home, it was the cradle that held Humanity for millennia. The vast blueness of the oceans was rather mesmerizing from space. But before long, Lasky was shaken from his thoughts by the shipboard AI, Roland.
"Captain, we're ready to move. Everyone is aboard and accounted for. We've been restocked with provisions and gear. Everything has been stowed and locked down," Roland reported from the holographic pedestal next to Lasky. Roland, his avatar wearing a World War Two-era fighter pilot attire, held a clipboard in his right hand. Lasky wore his standard Navy BDU as he addressed Roland.
"Good. Helm, take us out of Earth's orbit. Plot a course for the meeting point the Arbiter gave us."
"Aye, Sir!" the Helmsman said over his shoulder as he worked on his console. Slowly the Infinity pulled itself out of the orbit of Earth and aimed the bow away. The Slipspace drive began spooling up as the Infinity made the distance from Earth. Lasky watched with a small smile out the viewport as the blue bubble of Slipspace opened up. The massive ship lumbered towards the portal, eventually passing through the event horizon.
"ETA on when we arrive?" Lasky turned to Roland and asked.
"Shouldn't be more than a couple of hours at most," Roland reported with a smile. With that, Lasky nodded and left the bridge.
"Okay, Viper Squad, gather around," Sergeant Clarence McCoy called out as he stood at the holotable. His black hair with greying strands throughout denoted his age. He had fought in the Human-Covenant war, as did a lot of the older officers. He wore the bodysuit of the standard ODST BDU. His hardened brown eyes watched as the other three members of Viper Squad gather around the table.
Each member wore the bodysuit of the BDU as they stood around and looked to their sergeant. The youngest of the troopers stood at the far end of the table. Her blonde hair with multicoloured streaks reached her shoulders and glistened slightly under the light of SOEIV pod bay. Her green eyes were as sharp as ever. The light radiated softly off her olive complexion.
The other two ODSTs stood on the longer sides of the table. Both were older than the female trooper but still younger than Sergeant McCoy. Both were men, one with dark brown hair and one with a sandy blonde. Each a fair to medium complexion as they watched. McCoy cleared his throat.
"Good. We're heading to a place where the Arbiter has said there is a strange anomaly," McCoy said as he pressed a button on the table. A holographic sphere popped in front of them. "From what we were told, It emits some kind of energy. However, we don't know what. The Arbiter had sent a probe through it, though. From what he says, it seems to be some form of intergalactic gateway, like a wormhole."
"Anything else?" The ODST with dark brown hair asked in a partial Russian accent.
"Other than it has static electricity coming from it, no. It had temporarily disabled the Arbiter's probe when it went through. And there appears to be no visible entrance or exit. What goes in our side goes out the other. A one-way trip, it seems like. Although we can send broadcasts through both sides," McCoy added on, as he pushed a second button for an image of the probe to appear.
They watched as the probe entered the anomaly and was suddenly flung out the other side. It rapidly spun as its systems had malfunctioned because of the EMP. Abruptly the female trooper heaved with a fist over her mouth. The other three turned to look at her.
"Sorry, sorry, I just can never get used to the feeling of transitioning into Slipspace," She said as she forced down the sudden churning of her stomach. The sandy blonde trooper chuckled.
"Don't worry about it, kid. Everyone experiences Slipspace a little differently. Slight nausea isn't the worst thing to happen to some people," He told her in his thick German accent as they left the mission table. They left the pod bay and walked out into the hallway.
"What's worse then?" She asked as they walked down the corridor.
"Heart failure, death, sudden disappearance from the entire ship," The dark brown-haired trooper said in front of them as he raised a finger with each thing he listed.
"Oh," the female trooper responded, looking somewhat worried.
"Stern, Sherkov, stop pestering the lance corporal," McCoy said over his shoulder as they walked through a door into the mess hall.
"Yes, sir," both men replied as they walked to the line of people getting food. The female trooper walked to the booths to claim a seat. She sat down and slid to the back of the booth to stare into the black void of Slipspace.
"Meyer," McCoy addressed her as he sat down on the opposite side of the booth. He slid in, so he sat opposite her.
"Sir," Meyer addressed her commanding officer.
"You're not going to get anything to eat?" He asked her.
"Nausea still kicking around," Meyer replied as she noticed Stern and Sherkov come towards them.
"So old man," Stern started as he sat down with his tray of food next to McCoy.
"Old man?" McCoy asked, feigning offence. Sherkov sat down beside Meyer, also set down a tray of food.
"Do you know what we're going to be doing this mission?" Stern asked as he stirred the mashed potatoes on his plate. McCoy sighed and looked to the table.
"I don't. My best guess would be security detail. Make sure the eggheads don't get snatched up by some space monster," McCoy responded, looking to each trooper.
"Or make sure they don't suddenly switch sides. Big security risk with a rogue scientist," Sherkov said, pointing his fork at McCoy.
Stern hummed in agreement as he ate the potatoes. Meyer turned back to the window as the other three continued talking.
"Attention all hands, we'll be leaving Slipspace in the next few minutes. Report to your stations," Roland announced over the ship intercom. The Infinity became abuzz with activity. Crewmen, troopers, everyone was rushing to their predetermined stations. Viper Squad hurriedly returned to their pod bay.
Lasky stood on the bridge and watched as Roland began to count down, "Exiting Slipspace in 3… 2… 1."
The Infinity left the blackness of Slipspace and came out behind Arbiter's ship. The Arbiter's CAS-class assault carrier loomed in the void. In front of the Arbiter's ship sat the anomaly. It had white edges that transitioned to black as it got closer to the middle. You could almost make out the small arcs of electricity that radiated across the surface. There also appeared to some colours that fluttered about the orb, but it was hard to tell.
The Infinity pulled up alongside the Arbiter's vessel and held position. Lasky turned to Roland, "Hail Arbiter's ship. We need to decide on what we're going to do."
"Aye, sir."
Several seconds later, Arbiter appeared on the forward monitor of the bridge, "Shipmaster Lasky. It is a pleasure to see you again."
"Likewise Arbiter. Now, what is it that I'm looking at?" Lasky asked as he looked past the screen to the anomaly again.
"From the best my crew has been able to discern, this portal appears to exit in a completely different section of the universe," Arbiter explained. A diagram of stars was pulled up on the holotable behind Lasky. He turned around to examine it. Upon closer inspection, they weren't like any of the constellations the UNSC had on record. After a couple of seconds, he turned to face the screen again.
"So what are we dealing with?" Lasky asked as he approached the screen.
"The best guess we have is that it might be another galaxy," Arbiter answered. Lasky hummed in thought and brought his hand up to his chin.
"Understood Arbiter. I'll send word back to command. Maybe we'll be able to get more help out here," Lasky said as he thought over his actions.
"I will contact the council as well. This could very well be a threat to every species in this galaxy," Arbiter stated.
"I'll contact you once I've heard from the UNSC," Lasky said.
"As will I if I hear from the council first," Arbiter added.
Lasky nodded as the communication cut.
"Sir, HighCom and the Admiralty has sent a message. They'll be sending additional vessels, several Autumn-class heavy cruisers, a couple of Punic-class supercarriers, several Halberd-class destroyers, several Paris-class heavy frigates and Charon-class light frigates. Along with our compliment of eight Strident-class heavy frigates and two Anlace frigates. We'll be running a small armada effectively," Roland reported to Lasky as he appeared on the bridge.
"Will we see any civilian vessels?"
"They will be sending several science vessels to help understand the anomaly," Roland added as he watched Lasky pace about. Lasky stroked his chin as he looked at Roland.
"Did they say anything about our orders?"
"We are to wait for the fleet's arrival. They will also be sending an admiral to help coordinate it. From there, we take orders from the admiral," Roland responded. Lasky nodded as he stopped pacing and looked out the window.
"Contact Arbiter."
"Aye, Sir," Roland said as he set about hailing the Arbiter's ship.
Meyer sat in one of the SOEIV pods as she blew a piece of hair away from her face. She sat hunched over with her chin in her hand. She watched Stern, Sherkov, and McCoy stand around the mission table. Having finally given in to her boredom, she stood up and walked over to the men. She walked over and leaned against the side of the table.
"Glad of you to join us, kid," Stern said with his German accent.
"Yeah, we were just going over some more details about this whole anomaly," Sherkov added.
"If this anomaly has the same properties as a Slipspace portal, hopefully, it won't have any detrimental effects to the Infinity," McCoy said as he looked between the troopers.
"We're not actually considering going through that thing, are we?" Meyer asked somewhat hesitantly.
"Come on, kid, where's your sense of adventure?" Stern asked jovially.
"I joined the ODSTs to drop behind enemy lines, so the jarheads don't get slaughtered when they land. Not go galavanting through space anomalies. Which, by the way, we don't even know if there's a way back home from the other side," Meyer said heatedly as she crossed her arms over her chest.
"Stop worrying so much. We'll be fine," Sherkov said, trying to calm her fears.
"It's not just that. I have a younger sister back home on Earth. I just… don't want to imagine if I don't ever make it back," Meyer said as he rubbed her upper arms.
"We'll make it back," Stern said, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Besides, who else is going to clear a landing zone for the jarheads if we aren't around?"
"You have any other family Meyer?" McCoy asked as he looked to her with a caring look.
"I do have two older brothers. One is in the air force while the other is in the army. Mom and Dad are back on Earth. Dad's a retired jarhead while Mom runs a small café," Meyer responded with a small smile.
"Retired jarhead, huh?" Sherkov asked, intrigued.
"Yeah, he was on Earth when the Covenant attacked. But was relegated to a reserve role. In case the Covenant branched out from New Mombasa," Meyer responded.
"Well, at least it didn't come to that," Stern said.
Suddenly the intercom coming to life stopped their conversation, "Attention all hands, this Captain Lasky. Be advised we're moving to the anomaly and will attempt to cross through it."
"Oh no," was the only thing Meyer was able to get out.
In a relatively small star system with a few planets, a massive black sphere took form. It expanded to just over a kilometre tall and almost eight hundred and forty metres wide for several seconds. Several seconds passed before the over five-kilometre long form of the Infinity came barrelling through. Not long after that, it managed to start slowing down.
Lasky was on the bridge as he braced himself against the holotable. The sudden acceleration from the anomaly caused several people to stumble and fall throughout the ship.
"Roland, status report?" Lasky called out as the Infinity slowly came to a halt.
"Minimal damage to ship integrity and systems," Roland reported, sounding a little staticky. His avatar also appeared to have glitched a bit.
"What about the crew?"
"All personnel accounted for. Everyone is a little shaken up from the experience, but overall fine," Roland reported, the static having cleared his voice, and his avatar returned to normal.
"Get me a system scan. Find any and all points of interest," Lasky ordered as he straightened his uniform.
"Aye, Sir. It also appears the Arbiter's ship has also made the trip," Roland obeyed, having detected the Arbiter's ship, Spirit of Reconciliation, had appeared on the scanners.
"See if you can hail him. We need to coordinate our actions now," Lasky also ordered as he watched the bridge crew get back to work.
Meyer groaned on the ground from the sudden acceleration that thrust her into the holotable. The other troopers were picking themselves up as well from the acceleration.
"Iosef, Johann, Mya, you guys alright?" McCoy asked as he pulled himself up the side of the holotable.
"I'm good, boss," Iosef Sherkov responded as he sat up from the floor.
"Still conscious, if that means anything," Johann Stern called out from the ground as he groaned.
"Still alive, it seems like," Mya Meyer called out from her spot on the floor. She placed an arm over her face, shielding her eyes.
"Good. If that's how a ship is thrown from that anomaly, I'll take a combat drop any day," McCoy said as he stood up and looked to the troopers on the ground.
"You're getting too old for this shit," Stern said as he got up from the ground and leaned against the holotable. McCoy shot a glare at Stern before Roland's form appeared on the drop bay's holotank.
"Viper squad. Gear up; you're going ground side by Pelican. We've detected a crashed ship on a habitable planet not too far out from our position. Blue Team will also be dispatched as well. Sergeant McCoy, you'll be the commanding officer on this excursion. Meet in Hangar 23 in 10 mikes," Roland gave out orders before he disappeared.
"You heard the man Viper, armour up and meet in the hangar," McCoy ordered as all four troopers left the drop bay.
Viper squad stood in the hangar with their complete kits. Johann had an M7S in his hands along with an M6H magnum in his leg holster. Iosef had an SRS99-S5 AM rifle along with another M6H magnum. Mya had a MA5D assault rifle along and the same magnum as the other two. McCoy had a BR85 with an M6H2 magnum holstered. Each weapon had sound suppressors attached to limit their sound signature.
Mya wore the standard ODST armour with muted pink accents on her armour. Johann had the CQB variant of the ODST armour with the large two-piece ballistic plate that replaced the standard left pauldron with no accents to his armour. Iosef had the sharpshooter variant of the armour with the right pauldron removed to offer more movement for the right arm with light grey accents. McCoy wore the standard armour but had a helmet with a mounted camera linked to the Infinity bridge with dark orange accents.
Blue Team approached the waiting ODSTs. Each carried their own signature weapons, with sound suppressors also attached.
"SPARTANs, good to have you on the mission. I'll brief you all on the way," McCoy greeted the SPARTANs and gestured for everyone to board the D79-TC Pelican. Everyone followed behind the sergeant, and each found their seat. Once everyone was seated and harnessed in, McCoy radioed the pilot.
"We're good to go. Take off."
"Copy that. We are lifting off. Callsign is Shrieker when you need a pick up on the ground," The pilot radioed back. They felt the Pelican lift and start to move forward. Before long, all the outside noise was replaced with silence from the vacuum of space.
"When we arrived at this system from the anomaly, Roland picked up faint energy signatures from a nearby habitable planet. Following closer scans using a probe, he found a crashed ship of unknown make and origin. While he didn't find any other energy signatures, it's clear that this planet was not the origin of this ship. We are to find out where that ship came from, who made it and if there are any survivors," McCoy addressed the ODSTs and SPARTANs.
"Are we expecting hostiles, sir?" Master Chief asked from his position closest to the rear door.
"We don't know. If there are survivors of this crash, we won't reveal ourselves unless we absolutely have to. On a separate note, the Arbiter is sending a Phantom with a couple Spec Ops Elites to support us. We'll be landing a couple of klicks out from the crash, so we'll have to hoof it to the crash. We are to remain undetected. In the unlikely event, something that requires us to be revealed is to neutralize whatever threat materialized. Any questions?"
"How badly damaged was the ship?" Johann asked on the opposite side of the Pelican.
"From preliminary scans, the ship mainly looked intact. Aside from the massive gouge it made in the ground and a blown-off engine, we should be able to walk inside. Anything else?" McCoy stated. As he looked around the troop bay and no one else had anything to ask.
"Good, be ready to hit the ground running."
The Pelican set down in a massive savanna grassland in the dead of night. The grass was blown around massively by the output of the Pelican's engines. The troop bay opened, and Johann and Iosef took the corner points and crouched. They scanned for threats as best they could with such tall grass. The SPARTANs followed suit and formed a wider perimeter away from the Pelican. McCoy and Mya came out last with weapons raised and ready.
The troop bay sealed shut, and the Pelican started to lift off just as the green Phantom arrived. Before the Pelican took off, the pilot radioed, "Give me a shout when you need a ride."
"Copy that, Shrieker. Have a pleasant flight," McCoy responded as the two Spec Ops Elites came down the gravity lift of the Phantom. They walked over to the group of humans.
"We are here to assist Humans," The first Elite said as it approached.
"Although we did not expect the Demons to be with you," The second Elite said as he stood beside his brother.
"The captain wanted to put the best foot forward. Troopers, activate VISRs," McCoy responded as he signalled everyone to start moving. Each trooper hit a button on the inside of their helmet, which caused the world to light up green.
"We have a long walk ahead of us," McCoy said to the two Elites as they followed behind. They only nodded in response as they walked through the tall grass.
Suppressed shots rang out as the ODSTs and SPARTANs engaged a strange native creature to the planet. Once the peculiar quadripedal alien was down, they approached. They noted the beak in place of a mouth. The feathers on its neck and shoulders. The head looked strangely avian while the rest of the body looked closer to mammalian or reptilian. The massive claws on its feet made it effective at hurting or killing anything in its path.
"What the hell is that thing? It has the head of a turkey… or vulture. Its body looks like that of a hairless bear, but much bigger," Stern asked as McCoy knelt beside it to examine it closer. Before long, McCoy stood up and looked to the rest of the group.
"Keep your guard up. We're not alone out here."