East of a blue sun, west of a red moon, darkness drifted inconceivably larghetto.

Captain Keyes hardly noticed or cared. Not even his crew bantered a word or eye at the cosmos. It was an all too familiar sight on the holographic screens.

But a frown remained on his face.

"Cortana, all I need to know is did we lose them." Keyes sternly sighed, puffing a smoke from his 20th century pipe.

"Well, for once, we have." Cortana calmly reassured, promptly appearing on the holo-table as a blue feminine figure.

Keyes almost coughed at the AI's response. Whether it was the fine tobacco or his military discipline, Keyes withheld every urge to express his surprise. It was an answer he never expected. Never, ever, ever.

"We have? Are you sure?" Keyes stoically scrutinized.

"100%."

"Cortana..."

"I know, it's hard to believe. But we lost them."

"Hmm..." Keyes scratched the back of his head, eventually issuing a command, "Coordinates?"

"Nothing yet. I've scanned and crossed referenced the consolations, yet I got nothing. Though my maneuvering options were limited at lightspeed, I'm very much surprised that the Covenant didn't get here first."

"Let's not kid ourselves, Cortana. Who knows that the Covenant might be-"

"Lingering somewhere? That's what I was wondering the moment we arrived."

"Well..." Keyes walked around, spotting a distant alpine planet on screen, "What about that planet?"

"Uh ... nothing."

"Ngh ... well don't that beat all? Then-"

"Oh whoa."

"Hmm? Report."

"I just received a message, though I can't identify the source ... not yet at least."

"It's got to be one of our own, hell even Covenant."

"Well, it sure isn't the Covenant, but none of our encryptions match with this message whatsoever."

Silently, Keyes exhaled another puff of smoke, worrisomely sighing afterwards, "Cortana, what else could you find out?"

"Uh ... yeah, about that. I think it's best I show you rather than tell you."

"Put it on screen."

Snapping her right fingers, a holographic projection replaced her.

There before him was live footage of the alpine planet in question. But a few seconds later, the footage fizzled and instantly zoomed left. So far, nothing unusual could be seen, though Keyes didn't say or do anything ... not yet.

But then, Keyes leaned forward, squinting ever so slowly...

"Cortana...? Are my eyes deceiving me, or am I seeing ... three ... flying ... penguins?"

"Uh yeah, you can say that." Cortana murmured, equally perplexed for a moment, "Huh, this is interesting..."

"Hmm?"

"On one hand, they have no shields, and their thrusters and reactors are like ours. But on the other hand, their weaponry is completely laser-based."

"No air compliments? No cannons? No ... missiles or PD turrets?"

"Nada."

"Well, there's some relief. From over here, they don't look that big."

"Each one is 300 meters long, about comparable to our corvettes."

"It's not the size I'm worried about, it's their speed and intentions."

"That's funny you say that. Despite bearing down on us, they're not powering up their weapons, and their comm traffic is unusually quiet."

"Hmm..." For a moment, he didn't say anything, "Well, if they're going to come at us like that, bring the ship to TAC CON Alpha 2."

Immediately, a soft alarm roared over the intercom, prompting every crewmember to their stations.

"Load the MAC gun, but don't power up yet. I want to see if they're willing to talk."

Cortana was about to move her lips, but Keyes spoke again, "Have you managed to decipher and translate that message?"

"Almost. Give me two more minutes."

Curtly nodding, Keyes took a moment of silence to take a brief smoke; however, he took a sudden double-take, uttering a doubtful question, "Wait, did you say two minutes?"

"Yep."

"Huh, that was-"

"Uh ... can I get back to you in sec?"

"Oh of course."

For a moment, Cortana had completely vanished, leaving the captain with unknown vessel's data on screen.

Before the pipe's mouthpiece touched his lips, however, a voice chimed in, "Oi ... uh, oh goodness, where am I?"

"Who is this?" Keyes barked, "Identify yourself!"

On the holo-table, a figure backpedaled into view.

"Well, well, what do we have here?" Cortana appeared and stood in front of the unknown AI, "Looks like you did more than just aimless wandering."

"W-W-Wandering?" The mysterious AI, a 155cm tall bipedal avian humanoid, stammered, "But I was sent here to help with translation."

"Search him." Keyes stoically ordered.

For a moment, the secretary-bird-esque AI kept his arms up at chest level, where Cortana subsequently reported, "All clear."

"Very well. Now, who are you?" Keyes questioned inquisitively.

"My name is Tl'kahm. I'm a communications and encryptions specialist (CES) programme sent by the SAS Prestigious Plumage."

"Prestigious Plumage?" Keyes parroted, "That's a very English name."

"Very ... what?"

"Sorry, that's on my part." Cortana informed, "Translation was surprisingly fast. All I needed was grammar and morphology chart, courtesy of Tl'kahm."

"I didn't tell or give you anything, though." Tl'kahm uttered.

"No, but your programming said otherwise."

"Please, don't hurt me. It's been ten minutes since we sent our greeting card. I was sent here to assist with translation."

"Translation, eh? Then what why did I catch you mulling around in our B-Net?"

"I was terrified and assumed the worst."

"Well, you could've asked instead of hiding in the dark. Only because you didn't damage or hack anything that you haven't been purged."

"I'm sorry, there's much I don't know, madam. With all due respect, we expected translation to take days, not mere minutes. How's that possible?"

"Classified."

The avian AI didn't say anything, though he drooped his shoulders and head in shame.

"Say, you're very peculiar."

"W-What do you mean?"

"I analyzed your programming, and about the only thing you can do is reading, comprehension, and speaking."

"I'm a translator."

"Well, we already knew that from the start."

"I do apologize for hiding, though. CES programs like myself are defenseless; that job falls to security and defense (SD) programmes."

"Like Khannstb'al?"

"Aye? What happened to him?"

"The moment you all stepped into the system, I locked you out, but you were more elusive."

"Can you release them?"

"Oh? Why should I?"

"I'm not an astute multitasker like you; we programs perform very specific specialties."

"But you were smart enough to elude me momentarily."

"By standard protocol, when an SD programme has been incapacitated or corrupted, all other non-combatant programmes are ordered to send an emergency report at once. Had you not stopped me, I was to purge myself from your system once I sent my report."

"What would your people have done had they got your report?"

"They would have moved to Priority Three Alert - prepare weapons and send another greeting card."

"Third time is a charm I assumed?"

"Hmm?"

"It's an idiom of ours. Basically, after three tries, they would have shot at us?"

"Exactly so. In that case, that would be a Priority One Alert."

"Welp, we wouldn't want to keep them waiting."

"Cortana, Tl'kahm?" Keyes sternly reminded, "As you were."

"Right, right." Tl'kahm lowered his hands, producing a piece of paper in his right hand before calmly reading, "Ahem ... This is the captain of the SAS Prestigious Plumage. We, the United Stellar States, are more than happy to welcome you. Unfortunately, we know very little of your intentions. We are sending this message to establish First Contact as soon as possible. In it, beside our salutations, are three AIs: a translator, a constable, and a historian. Rest assured, we will not fire upon you lest we're struck first. Best of luck and we wish to hear from you soon."

"That's a pretty long greeting card."

"We estimated that it would take days over even weeks to translate. Quite frankly, we didn't expect you to translate this in minutes. Therefore, with all due respect, you have all the time in the world to reply."

"Ah..." Keyes sighed relieved as he took a puff from his pipe, "I wish it was always like that..."

"Huh?"

"When was the last war your people fought?"

"I'm sorry to say, that's Datnaq's job."

"Your historian." Cortana chirped.

"Yes, madam."

"Uh huh ... so that's why you and him never fought back."

"SD programs like Khannstb'al oversee our safety and security. Without them, programs like me would be virtually defenceless."

"Well that explains the lack of any electronic footprints."

"I was that destructive?"

"No, not even close. I've seen Covenant AIs leave a bigger than mess you."

"Covenant?"

Silently, Cortana turned and looked up at Keyes. For a long moment, nobody said anything, but after a long puff, Keyes quietly nodded.

Within seconds, two more holographic figures appeared on screen.

"Khannstb'al." Tl'kahm humbly bowed.

"At ease." Khannstb'al expressionlessly nodded.

"Sorry about the hands." Cortana stoically apologized, "No hard feelings, I hope."

"It's understandable. You were doing your rightful duties to protect your ship."

Besides his left, Datnaq gave Tl'kahm a hug, "Aye, good to see you again."

"Oi, not so tight, please. That hurts." Tl'kahm softly grunted.

"Sorry, sorry, sorry." Datnaq nervously reeled back, "I feared you were ... you know ... captured."

"Sheesh, clingy much?" Cortana deduced internally.

Suddenly, Keyes cleared his throat out loud, attracting the attention of the four AIs.

"Cortana, I believe it's best we now show and tell our story."

"Ah, history." Datnaq clapped his three-digit hands together, "We would love to hear more about this ... Covenant."

"Well, you might want to grab a seat, this is going to take a while."

"No worries, we have plenty of time."

Before anyone could continue, Khannstb'al suddenly chirped, "Datnaq, you'll need permission to access our databases, which will require us to send our first contact report."

"Gentlemen," Keyes inquired, "May I make a suggestion?"

"Of course."

"As captain of my ship, will it be safe for me to speak to yours?"

"On screen or in person?"

"Oh, why, on screen."

"I can arrange for that. Standby."

Once Khannstb'al disappeared, there was a moment of silence.

The, one of the UNSC officers hollered, "Captain, we have an incoming transmission."

"Patch it through."

Looking at the holographic display, Keyes barely withheld the urge to blink twice. On screen, there was lone avian figure dressed in sleek silver armor. With red accents and stripes traced around its four eyes and upper head feathers, Keyes was unsure how to respond, never mind knowing this species' name.

Initially, the avian captain's beak slit open a few times, where a brief flurry of clicks and several caws escaped its lips.

"His name is Captain Mlaq Lanich." Cortana translated, much to Keyes' partial surprise, "He asks who you are."

"I'm Captain Jacob Keyes of the UNSC Pillar of Autumn. I assume you are in command of the SAS Prestigious Plumage?"

For a few seconds, nobody exchanged answers, but Mlaq eventually replied, but it was Tl'kahm who provided the English translation, "Indeed. I apologize for our earlier intrusion. We are more than happy to share our history with yours and establish diplomatic ties as soon as possible. I must say, your AI technology is extremely advanced."

"It's perhaps the only advantage we had over our invaders."

"Ah yes, this ... 'Covenant'. Perhaps we can start from there."

"Alright, folks, here we go..."