UNSC Dominion, Unknown Space
September 10th, 1956 Local Time, 2552
Richard's previous experiences failed to shed any light on what had just occurred. He had performed countless slipspace jumps in the past, and as such, had also been witness to a fair few malfunctions. Reliability on slipspace drives was a top priority, but minor issues were very common, things like inaccurate jumps could take a ship millions of kilometers off course, and far more disastrous occurrences were not unheard of. But he had never seen, or even heard of a slipspace drive being turbulent, let alone such an unnerving portal.
It looked almost... sickly. Richard thought, feeling a bit of vertigo as he watched the portal disappear on one of the bridge monitors.
He took a momentary glance around at the rest of the bridge crew, all of them seemed nervous, but their discipline kept them focused on their tasks. He looked at his helmsman, Ensign Williams, who had not yet provided an answer to his question.
"Helmsman?" Richard prompted, as the man snapped up to attention. "Where are we?"
"I'm ah... still working on getting us away from the portal, Sir." Ensign Williams said apologetically, looking up from his station. "Lieutenant Chen might be able to help you."
Yes, you should ask the Astro-Navigations that, you moron. Richard critically thought, as he realized that his panic must have affected his judgement. "Lieutenant, do you have anything?"
"Trying to figure that out, Sir." Lieutenant Chen said. "But wherever we are, we're out of the Zeta Doranus System, our sensors even find the star, let alone Onyx."
"Lieutenant Bradford, do we have any casualties?" Richard said, keeping the worry out of his voice. Bradford handed over his datapad before speaking, allowing Richard to read the report for himself.
"None sir, a few things were knocked over, but we're all alive and unharmed." Bradford reported. "But I'm afraid I still don't have an update on the slipspace drive."
Richard's stomach fell, maybe they weren't safe after all. A damaged slipspace drive could easily kill them all if not properly handled. He returned Bradford's datapad and issued his next orders. "I want a technician team in HAZOP gear to check the slipspace drive, make sure we don't have anything else go wrong."
"On it, Sir!" The Dominion's operations officer, Ensign Gillespie, said before getting to work. He also doubled as the ship's communications officer, responsible for delivering orders to the other parts of the ship. Technically there were supposed to be two officers manning those positions, but for whatever reason, Gillespie handled both.
"Ben, is that suit rated for radiation?" Richard asked. Ben hadn't moved since he had last spoken.
"Yes sir." Ben confirmed.
"Go with them, Curie's eyes might be useful, and they might need some help." Richard ordered. If he remembered correctly, Curie's personality was derived from an old earth scientist, who had apparently done some work with radioactive material. Hopefully, she would be able to help with figuring out what had happened to the complicated device.
"Yes, Sir." Ben repeated, before leaving the bridge, Curie sent him a brief note of acknowledgement to his datapad.
Richard turned his attention back towards their broader situation. "Lieutenant Chen, do you have anything?"
"Nothing yet, Sir." she reluctantly answered. "I'm trying to match up local star-charts with where we are now, but I'm getting nothing."
"What do you mean?" Richard asked, afraid he already knew the answer.
"We're in deep space, I'll double check the numbers but initial readings say we're far outside of UNSC territory, if we can see it at all." Lieutenant Chen reported, pursing her lips in a dissatisfied manner.
"That's impossible, even if we entered slipspace, there's no way we were traveling any more than a few seconds." Richard pointed out. "Maybe the navigation computer was damaged when we tried to jump?"
"It's certainly possible Sir, but I'll need time, I may have missed something." she replied, a hint of frustration in her voice, although it was clearly not aimed at him.
"Do it, let me know when we have something concrete to work with." Richard said.
And while she's doing that, maybe the rest of us can figure out what the hell just happened. Richard thought.
"Helmsman, keep us on a steady burn away from that portal." Richard ordered, opting to go with caution over curiosity. "I don't care where we're going, but if that thing opens up again, we don't want to be there when it does."
"Aye sir." Ensign Williams confirmed. "Warming up the thrusters to a standard burn."
Richard then turned to their weapons officer, Lieutenant Gage. "Weapons, are we still operational?"
"Archer pods are cold but ready, and the MAC is operational, but uncharged. Point defense is online, but I'll need to rekey the system." Gage reported, his voice notably uneasy.
"See to it." Richard instructed, hoping that an order would keep him focused. Spinning his attention around to the main console on the Dominion's bridge, it was currently a display of the Dominion itself, and it read mostly okay, with the exception of the slipspace drive.
"Sir, the HAZOP team is still getting ready, but the Spartan confirms the drive has... melted, Sir." Ensign Gillespie reported after double checking what he had heard.
Richard sighed, this was getting worse and worse. Wherever they were, they were stuck. "Keep me informed."
"Aye sir." Ensign Gillespie said before returning his attention to his station.
There was a brief pause as everyone worked. Richard doubled checked the damage report on his datapad, nothing at changed.
"Sir, I'm getting numerous update requests from across the ship." Ensign Gillespie said. "It seems like we're the only ones who know the whole situation."
"We don't know the whole situation." Bradford pointed out, echoing Richard's thoughts.
"Well, that doesn't mean we can't offer some reassurances." Richard replied, before reaching for the intercom. "All hands, please continue with your duties as normal. We are working on the situation as we speak, we will brief everyone once we know what just happened."
I really hope we're close to UNSC space, I don't want to have to explain to all these souls that we're lost in deep space. Richard thought bleakly. I can fight the Covenant, not a vacuum.
"Sir, CIWS is online." Lieutenant Gage said, his demeanor still shaky. "All weapons are online, safeties on."
"Good, run a check on the reactor in the meantime." Richard said, opting to give the wavering man another task to keep him focused. Once that was done, he turned to Lieutenant Chen, who looked extremely frustrated. "Lieutenant Chen?"
"Sir I'm running the starcharts past the A.I now, give me ten seconds." she said, unable to keep the annoyance out of her voice. Under the circumstances, he tolerated the outburst, waiting for her next update.
"Starcharts came back negative sir, we're... nowhere in known space." Lieutenant Chen said, obviously distraught.
The rest of the bridge crew paused in their tasks, the fear and concern becoming a little more palpable in the room before everyone slowly went back to their tasks.
Richard clamped down on his own concern and issued his orders rapidly, he needed to maintain discipline. "Gillespie, keep me informed on the slipspace drive. Williams, try to figure out what the hell that portal was. Lieutenant Chen, triple check everything, I want to know if a single star we can see is recognizable."
"Yes sir." They all said, getting to their orders.
""Technicians are equipped and examining the drive." Gillespie reported after a few seconds. "Sir, private communication coming for you now, it's from the Spartan."
"Patch it through my earpiece." Richard replied, hoping for good news.
"Hello? Commander, do you read?" Ben's voice said in his earpiece.
"I read, what the hell's going on down there Sergeant?" Richard asked.
"HAZOP crew is looking at it now, the drive is cooked. Some of the more sensitive components liquefied, but that outer shell seems to have held." Ben reported. "The room's flooded with hazardous material, but we have it contained."
Richard grimaced. When he heard the drive melted, he didn't think that Ben was being literal. What the hell could have happened? They aren't even supposed to generate much heat let alone enough to melt superconductors!
"Can they fix it?" Richard asked.
"Can you fix it?" Ben relayed before Richard heard a mumbled and grumpy-sounding response in the background. "Short answer, no."
Richard sighed. He'd figured as much. "Alright, tell them to get the chamber cleaned up and see if you can help out, decontaminate your armor when you're done. I'm going to get a report made on the situation before I brief the crew."
"Good thinking sir." Ben said. "Anything else?"
"Not at this time, Out." Richard said before ending the communication.
The rest of the bridge crew looked at him expectantly.
"The drive can't be saved." Richard reported, unable to keep the bleakness out of his voice.
He didn't fail to see the reality of their situation, they were now lost in deep space with no way home. What was supposed to be a routine jump had made a turn for the worst.
At least we didn't get teleported to Oblivion. He thought, most slipspace drives didn't leave survivors when they malfunctioned.
"Lieutenant Chen" Richard said, hoping for good news. "Where actually... are we?"
"Well... there's a starsystem nearby, we're technically in it, if only by a small margain." Chen replied after double checking her console. "It's not mapped, but it's where we are. We're still gathering some basic data on some of the different bodies."
Richard did everything he could to maintain composure, but he wasn't afraid to admit he was more than a little worried, and that the pressure was quickly getting to him. He was able to successfully keep his attitude of confidence up, albeit with a lot of effort. He took a moment to let the tension pass slightly before discipline clamped back down.
"Ok, get me some scans and keep me informed, I want to know what we have to work with." Richard said as he straightened himself up, he had to be an example to follow, and good posture was a part of that. "Ensign Williams?"
"I'm working on figuring out what happened now." Williams confirmed, he seemed less downtrodden then the others. "I'm going to need some time."
"Keep me informed." Richard said.
"Sir, are we screwed?" Lieutenant Gage asked, going very much so out of line, his voice shaking. Richard was more then a little disappointed, he had expected better from a bridge officer.
"Stow the bellyaching Lieutenant." Richard sternly retorted. "We still have our ship, we aren't done just yet."
Meanwhile
Getting the armor decontaminated took some time, but eventually Ben was cleaned up and was free to wander the ship while they waited for new orders.
"Curie, what should we do?" Ben asked, looking for some form of instruction to follow. He was uncomfortable with being left to his own devices, something that he was always trying to avoid.
"We could always go meet our new fireteam?" Curie suggested. "That is what we were supposed to do before we were called to assist with the slipspace drive."
"What do you know about them?" Ben asked as he changed direction.
"Fireteam Onyx is a special unit currently composed of eight Orbital Drop Shock Troopers and yourself, as well as me." Curie said, bringing up their assignment orders on his HUD. "Although we haven't received any assignments beyond transfer orders to Concord, we are listed as a direct action unit."
No surprise there, they don't make Spartans just to have them drive desks. Ben thought.
"ODSTs?" He asked. "So they're experienced?"
"Indeed, they were handpicked by Monsieur Kurt himself." Curie said, the surprise in her voice indicating she had not previously known that.
"Interesting." Ben said genuinely. If Kurt had picked them they must've done something impressive and noteworthy.
Ben had always been fond of the ODSTs, he'd paid close attention to learning about them, and some of the staff on base were transferred to ODSTs. Unlike the Spartans, they had no Augmentations or Power Armor, but they had still earned a legendary reputation even without those advantages. To go into battle knowing so many of the odds would be stacked against you was something that Ben found very admirable.
"Six of them are currently asleep, the other two are in the starboard armory, helping with weapon maintenance." Curie reported.
"I'll head there." Ben said, adjusting his direction once again. Occasionally passing a crew member who would gawk at him as he passed. He didn't like the looks that the crewmembers gave him. They looked at him as if he was some sort of all powerful demigod, when in actuality he was just another human trying to do his job.
When Ben did arrive at the armory, he was greeted by two ODSTs, in their armor's undersuits. Both of them stopped what they were doing and turned towards him as he walked into the room.
Ben sized them all up as they looked at him. There was one with an out of regulation haircut and a scar on his nose who gave an attitude not of shock or fear like some of the crewmembers, but interest and respect as he looked back at Ben. The other one was a woman with long, very out of regulation red hair and green eyes, who looked at him with an expression of excitement.
"So that's him then?" The man with the scar on his nose said. "Our Spartan?"
"No Nathan, I'm sure it's the other guy right behind him." The woman with the red hair cheekily replied before turning to Ben. "Sorry about him, welcome aboard Spartan."
Ben thought about what to say for a second before responding. "Thank you." he said as he took a seat next to them and grabbed one of the battle rifles they were working on and began to silently work on it. For some reason the ODSTs looked at him expectantly.
"What, that's it?" Nathan asked, seemingly disappointed. "I knew you guys weren't talkative, but-"
"You always try to make a bad first impression Nathan?" The woman asked teasingly.
"Only to important people, but you knew that." Nathan replied, seemingly without sarcasm.
"That seems most unwise." Curie said, speaking from Ben's helmet. She noticed from their surprised expressions that the ODSTs did not expect her presence, so she continued speaking. "Oh, my apologies, I forgot to make introductions, I am Curie."
"Wait, are you an A.I?" The woman asked, her expression of surprise fading into one of curiosity.
"Oui, I am." Curie confirmed. "I am interfaced with Ben's armor through his neural interface."
"Ben and Curie?" Fairfire asked, seemingly caught somewhat off guard. "I'll admit, not the names I was expecting, but I guess if that's your name then that's your name."
"It is." Ben confirmed, not quite sure what had taken her by surprise. "I take it you're Staff Sergeant Fairfire?"
"I am, and this useless ball of muscle next to me is Private First Class Winters, but everyone calls him Nathan." Fairfire answered.
"Yo." Nathan added, seemingly more interested in cleaning the M6C/SOCOM he was holding, taking an extreme fascination with the black finish.
"Pleased to meet you Sir." Ben said, in making an effort to be a bit more friendly. "I've been told you were all handpicked by Lieutenant Commander Ambrose. That's one hell of an endorsement."
"Yeah, I only talked to him one time, but he seemed friendly enough." Fairfire said, seemingly totally unaware of just who she had been speaking to. "He said we'd be working with a Spartan, but I wasn't aware we were getting an A.I as well."
Huh, that's an oversight, I'd better fill in the blanks. Ben thought. "We go everywhere together, we're effectively squadmates."
"Indeed, I was assigned to monsieur Benjamin several years ago. I've known him during most of my lifespan." Curie added.
"Are you a smart or dumb A.I?" Nathan asked.
Ben tried his best to ignore that, but still gave Nathan a glare from behind his visor.
I figure the answer would be obvious. Ben thought.
"I am a fragment of a smart A.I." Curie answered.
While Curie explained the intricacies of Smart A.I fragments to Nathan, who did his best to pretend he was interested, Ben put more attention into the rifle he was servicing. After about a minute of silence, Fairfire spoke again.
"So Ben, do you know what happened with the slipspace jump earlier?" Fairfire asked.
"The drive melted." Ben said nonchalantly.
"Oh." Nathan grimaced, quickly followed by . "Are we going to be okay?"
"We'll be fine, we should be able to get back to Onyx for a replacement drive soon." Ben replied. "I can't imagine we traveled that far when we went through that portal."
"What portal?" Fairfire asked, now curious.
"We initiated the slipspace jump, and we ended up going through this green portal, instead of the normal ones." Ben explained.
"Uhh..." Nathan dragged the sound on, never actually forming any words.
They were interrupted by the sound of the intercom coming online. They all stopped working on the weapons and paid attention.
"Attention all hands, this is the Commander. I regret to inform you that we are no longer in the Onyx system and our slipspace drive has suffered irreparable damage due to a presumed malfunction." Richard said in a voice that boomed throughout the ship. "As of now we are lost in an unknown system and we do not know the way home."
The ODSTs displayed looks of worry, but Ben was just confused. How could they not be in the Onyx system anymore if they had never entered slipspace?
"That seems rather unfeasible." Curie quietly commented.
"The only damage we have sustained was to the drive itself. We are working on the situation, for now, continue your duties as normal. We will update you as we gain more information." Richard said, his words slightly calming the ODSTs.
The armory was silent for several seconds even after the intercom turned off.
"Well, that's it, today sucks." Nathan said, only somewhat jokingly.
"Uh, yeah." Fairfire added. "What the hell happened? Were you on the bridge Ben?"
"Yes." Ben said. "I can't tell you what happened. But I know Commander Miller personally, we can count on him."
"I hope you're right." Fairfire said, notably less confidence.
"Should I wake up the rest of the team and brief them?" Curie asked.
"No, let them sleep." Fairfire said. "I have a bad feeling we're all going into cryo soon anyway, especially if we're lost in deep space."
Meanwhile
The Dominion's Bridge
"Sir, my report is ready." Ensign Williams reported.
"Go ahead Ensign." Richard said, his voice slightly weary.
"Why do I have a bad feeling about this?" Bradford asked as he returned to his position beside Richard's chair.
"The only official recording of something like this ever happening was a case with a colony ship called the UNSC Brisbane about 200 years ago, it attempted a slipspace jump and was seen and recorded having entered an orange slipspace rift." Williams said.
"The one we entered was green." Richard pointed out.
"This is the closest incident I could find. Anyway, before the ship entered the portal the shipboard A.I let off an SOS, however nobody could respond before they entered the portal." Williams continued.
"And?" Richard said.
"They were never seen again, presumed lost with all hands." Williams said bleakly.
That news set in on the bridge crew hard. Richard could almost physically feel the tension in the room increase.
"Lieutenant Chen." Richard said after some pause. "Is that report on our surroundings ready?"
"Yes sir." She said. "We're surrounded by unexplored stars, none of them match anything in our databanks."
Richard sighed. Their last hope at an easy way home vanished with the news.
"It gets worse." Lieutenant Chen said. "I've matched up the local galaxies in our starcharts... nothing, we're not in the Milky Way."
Richard grimaced, their hopes at returning home at all may have just vanished. Even with Slipspace technology, humanity had never reached the rim of the Milky Way, let alone left it entirely.
"Tell me you have some good news Lieutenant." Richard said, not actually expecting any.
"Actually, I do." Lieutenant Chen said, sounding slightly more cheerful. "We're currently in the gravity well of a yellow dwarf, with a handful of planets in orbit. One of which you will have to see to believe."
Richard looked as she put a camera feed of a planet on one of the screens on the bridge, and Richard was utterly shocked. The planet was green and blue, with oceans of what looked like water.
"I'm not done scanning it yet, but from what I can see, it's a fully formed Earth-like world, and it's very similar in size and gravity." Lieutenant Chen said. "Beyond that, I won't know anything until the shipboard A.I is finished scanning it, for all I know those oceans are made of liquid cobalt and the atmosphere could be pure methane."
"Keep me informed." Richard said. He'd almost begun to think he'd have to order his crew into indefinite cryosleep, but thankfully it appeared he wouldn't need to.
"Sir?" Lieutenant Gage said shakily. "Permission to speak freely?"
Richard sighed. "Granted."
"Sir I have a family back home, what will happen when-" Gage began.
"I don't know Lieutenant, I don't know." Richard said honestly, despite how out of line he was, Richard sympathized with the nervous officer. "Worst case scenario, they've at least got each other, not to mention a pension."
The weapons officer went silent, before turning back to his station, the silence from the man feeling unnatural and forced.
"Lieutenant Gage." Richard said. "Are you fit to man your station?."
"Yes sir." he managed in between ground teeth
Richard needed a fully operational bridge crew, even if it looked like he wouldn't need to use weapons at the moment. But more importantly, having a man break down on the bridge was bad for morale.
"Take a few minutes to compose yourself and then get back to your station. The rest of you listen up." Richard ordered, receiving a grateful nod from the older Lieutenant as he left the Bridge. "Williams and Chen, plot a course for that world, get me scans on everything. Gillespie, I want a briefing on our situation ready to distribute to the crew, we'll need to tell them the bad news at some point."
"Aye sir!" They all said, their professionalism restored.
"Engine speed sir?" Williams said.
"Heat up the reactor, get us a full burn, there's no sense in pushing our equipment." Richard said.
"Aye Sir." Williams said, who began to work on his new task.
Richard sat back in his chair, it was going to be a long night.