Hello again, everyone, and welcome back to my MechWarrior/BattleTech - Halo crossover redux.

Thank you all for your wonderful support and feedback. I deeply appreciate it.

I will also be focusing on finishing up my GoW/ME crossover sometime this week or sometime next week. This is because I plan on getting started on a redux of my Halo/Star Wars crossover. Stay tuned for more updates!

As always, leave a review, and enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own the MechWarrior/BattleTech or Mass Effect franchises. They are the respective properties and trademarks of Microsoft Studios, 343 Industries, Bungie, FASA Corporation, FASA Interactive, Catalyst Game Labs, WizKids, Piranha Games Inc., etc. Any material original to the franchises belongs to their respective developers and publishers. Any material not original to the franchises is of my own invention. I do not own any music listed in each chapter. Any music listed belongs to it's original composers and/or artists.

BattleTech OST - Past as Prologue (ft. Emily Ridgeway)

UNSC Han

En Route to Meeting Point

April 25th, 2515

Of all the things that Dr. Catherine Halsey had been called on to do, accompanying fifteen other people to the meeting place of a new faction was something that she found to be intriguing. In fact, the thought hadn't even crossed her mind until ONI informed her that she would be going on her first mission. It had been enough to where she had gotten her gear ready for the trip, before coming onboard the UNSC Han.

Speaking of the Han, there was one one word to describe it in her opinion: cramped. Sure, it had a 'fresher as well as a rotating section inside that allowed for the generation of centripetal gravity, but it was cramped as a result. There's barely enough cryo-tubes for forty people on this ship, she had noted to herself upon boarding the ship. I'm surprised they managed to even stuff the engines and Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engine aboard this tin can.

Looking around, she could see that most of the passengers were a handful of ambassadors from the UEG, as well as an escort of UNSC ODST's. The ODST's, courtesy of their time in cramped spaces, were calm and at ease, while the ambassadors fidgeted, apparently not as comfortable as their military counterparts. Personally, I don't blame them, Halsey remarked to herself. This sort of ship is only suitable to Lilliputian ambassadors. She smiled as the reference to Gulliver's Travels passed through her mind.

Walking towards the exit of the passenger area, she soon found herself floating over the deck, courtesy of the lack of gravity on the rest of the ship. That's not surprising, she knew. The Vancouver-class of courier shuttles doesn't have contragravity plating, and that technology's becoming outdated by contragravity generators.

Floating into the bridge of the ship, she could see the two pilots working inside. The bridge of the ship was the very definition of the word cramped, as there was barely enough room for two people to work inside. Beyond the cramped workstation, Halsey could see the inky blackness that was Slipstream Space. One of the pilots, noticing she was behind them, said, "We'll be exiting near the coordinates they've provided us soon, ma'am."

Halsey almost smiled, then someone tapped her on the shoulder. Turning around, she saw a young man with dark brown hair, bright green eyes and a tanned complexion. His body was mostly covered up by the ODST armor that he was wearing, and the way he held himself indicated that he knew how to fight. "Halsey," he asked her, "Mind if we speak in private?"

"Of course," Halsey agreed. That, she knew, was Orland Harolds. Officially, he was a member of the ODST's that had been assigned to guarding the ambassadors that were sent to speak with the Star League-in-Exile, the faction they were going to be meeting. In reality, Halsey knew that he was an ONI Agent disguised as an ODST. Though relatively young, Orland was a rising star in Section One, and had successfully carried out numerous operations against the United Rebel Front.

Once they were in the cryo tube section, which was now abandoned, Orland rotated himself around in the zero G environment and closed the door behind them. Turning back towards Halsey, he asked, "Do you remember your briefing?"

"Yes," Halsey replied. "Exactly one month ago, the Harrisburg, a Gladius-class Destroyer, encountered a warship of unknown design. The Captain of said warship claimed to be working for a faction calling itself the 'Star League Defense Force' or SLDF for short. They've arranged for a meeting in the star system we're going to be entering shortly."

"Excellent," Orland smiled, which looked anything but reassuring. "Given that this may be a potential Insurrectionist cell, we're going to proceeding carefully. We're to examine and take notes on the technology that the SLDF is using. Orders are not to do anything that will cause the SLDF to turn hostile. We're here to observe, not infiltrate."

"I fully understand," Halsey replied, a little disgruntled by the fact that she was being fed orders like a person feeding an infant baby food. "I've done stuff like this before, Orland. I'm not a complete amateur."

"I know," Orland replied. "I'm just making sure you remember your orders fully. You might be a scientific advisor to ONI, but that doesn't mean you get a loose leash yet. Still, I'm happy to be working with a civilian that knows what they're doing." Looking at the door, he said, "I think it's best we mingle with the others. We don't want to appear to be doing something suspicious now, wouldn't we?"

"Of course not," Halsey scoffed, though sarcasm dripped from her words. "I wouldn't dream of it." If Orland detected the sarcasm, he did a good job of not showing it, even as they drifted back towards the passenger area.

Just as they exited the passenger area, an announcement came over the intercom. "Attention: Slipspace Exit in Five Seconds," the AI for the ship announced. Moments later, there was a slight jolt in the ship as it exited the 11th dimensional domain of Slipstream Space, then the ship was calm once more.

Moving towards the bridge, Halsey could see that they had arrived in orbit over a star system that had been previously uncharted by the UNSC. The star that was 'below them' (space had no up or down) was a brilliant gem in the cosmos. To the right, she could see a Marathon-class Heavy Cruiser, the lead ship of the class in-fact. The Harrisburg, the Gladius-class Destroyer that had encountered the SLDF, was also present.

Looking at the pilots, Halsey asked, "So… when are our 'guests' supposed to arrive?"

"Around 0100 hours today," the pilot replied. "One of their ships, the Karkov, said that their bosses agreed to come in their flagship, the McKenna if I recall correctly. A few other ships will be accompanying them as well."

Looking at her datapad, Halsey noted that it was around 1259 hours, which meant that they had around one minute before the McKenna's Pride would arrive. "Are we certain?" she asked.

The pilot was about to reply when the Dumb AI onboard said, "Tidal Stresses Detected. Space-Time Anomalies Detected." At the same time, the ship seemed to shudder, as though someone was gently shaking the entire contraption. That was when it happened.

Looking ahead, Halsey watched as four flashes of light popped in and out of existence up ahead. At the same time, the tidal stresses stopped as suddenly as they began, with the ship becoming still and quiet once more. "Never mind," she remarked, slightly embarrassed. "Can we hail them?"

"I'll see if we can," the pilot nodded. Keying the comm, he said, "Unidentified warships, this is the Han. Are you the warships the SLDF said they would send along? Please confirm. Over."

A response wasn't long in coming, as moments later, a Russian accented voice said, "UNSC Han, this is the SLS McKenna's Pride, we can confirm. Approachon vector 3-5-0 by 0-4-0. Have your other ships approach as well, but they will remain beyond a 1,000 kilometer safe zone. Understood?"

"Roger," the Captain replied. Keying his comms, he said, "Captain Barnard, did you catch that?"

"Yep," Barnard, who was officially Halsey's XO in this situation, replied. "We'll honor that request. Halsey?"

"That seems reasonable," Halsey agreed. "Begin approach."

"Aye aye, ma'am," the pilot reported, before gunning the throttle. Halsey felt her weight return as the ship quickly began accelerating towards where the points of light had been. "We'll be there in roughly three hours," the pilot informed her.

"Good," Halsey noted. That's three hours we can spend making sure we're ready, she noted to herself, even as she left to make certain that she was hours later, Halsey was, once more, at the bridge of the Han. Looking ahead, she managed to catch her first sight of an SLDF warship.

Four WarShips lay ahead, spaced four kilometers apart from each other. Had it not been for the RADAR and LiDAR/Multispectral scanners, Halsey would've thought that there was only one. The one that she did see though, was nothing short of majestic.

The ship resembled a large cylinder that had a section at the front that was larger than the rest, save for what appeared to be engines in the rear. The front of the ship was rounded, and she could see what looked like view ports there. Likely the bridge, she noted. In the middle, she could see a ring like section that stood out in relief from the ship, along with two large wing-like structures, likely where the radiators or radiator strips were. She could also see eight stubby wings at the back of the ship where the engines were. In addition, she could see three ring-like sections that were rotating around the ship's longitudinal axis.

Halsey also noted the armor plating, and the weaponry that was mounted at strategic points on the ship. From what she could recall, the Harrisburg's AI had detected Halfnium Carbonitride on the surface of the Kharkov, a material that was well known for it's high melting temperature, and the Kharkov had demonstrated the use of what appeared to be laser weaponry. I wouldn't be surprised if the McKenna's Pride had such weapons as well, Halsey noted to herself.

As they approached, she thought she saw something to the left and right of the Han. Looking in those directions, she found that the ship was being flanked by a pair of what looked like aerospace superiority fighters. They resembled narrow arrowheads that had two stubby wings that split into a V shape near the tips, as well as a rudder on the top and bottom. Two engines pushed the fighters through space, while RCS thrusters on each part of the fighter allowed it to change course and direction.

"I gotta admit," one of the pilots remarked, "that looks like a fighter I saw in an old sci-fi TV series at one point."

"It does, doesn't it," Halsey noted, knowing what the pilot meant. I liked that show, she remembered, except for the parts involving religion, of course. Not too shabby, though.

Just then, the comm crackled and a voice said, "Han, this is Alpha 1-1 of Alpha Wing. We're your escorts. Continue along the flight plan we are uploading to your navigation computer. Deviate from this course and we will open fire. Understood?"

"Fully," the pilot reported. Closing the comm, he said, "Like we'd deviate from course anyways. This is a courier ship, not a fighter. I'd be stupid to do what he said for us to not do." His partner shrugged in agreement, even as they followed their new flight plan.

Before long, they were pulling into what appeared to be a hangar bay. Aerospace superiority fighters were stored in large racks, and Halsey could see what appeared to be launching systems. Moving along, the shuttle came towards a docking tube that was within the hangar bay. A moment later, the ship jolted as it docked.

Moving towards the back, Halsey noted that one of the ambassadors, a Dr. Evan Heels, was confused. "No artificial gravity?" he asked. "I thought all space-faring ships could use artificial gravity by now."

"All UNSC warships that is," Halsey corrected him, "and they usually leave it off during peacetime. Some ships still have rotating sections within the hull, and a few still use acceleration based gravity. I wouldn't be surprised if the SLDF used a similar policy." The ambassador conceded her point with a shrug. Moving along towards the rear of the ship, they came to the airlock that would lead them to the rest of the ship. Once the pressure between both sides was equalized, the airlock opened, allowing Halsey to get her first look at the interior of an SLDF WarShip.

The first thing she noted was how brutalist everything looked, from the clearly marked hand and footholds, to arrows indicating which way was up. On either side, she could see eight soldiers clad in body armor, with the armor and uniform underneath being a dull green color, while the boots, gloves and utility belt were a light brown-orange color. While there was some armor on the arms and legs, Halsey noted that the majority of the armor was concentrated on the torso. In addition, the soldiers wore a helmet that was boxy on the front, while having a curved rear section. The front section held three transparent panes of what appeared to be bullet-resistant glass.

In addition, there were the weapons the soldiers themselves carried. Halsey noted that they looked vaguely like the M-16 rifles used by the defunct United States during the mid-late 20th to early-mid 21st century. Instead of a flash hider on the muzzle, though, she spotted what looked like a lens of some kind. There was also a bayonet installed, as well as what appeared to be a grenade launcher. Must be some kind of energy weapon, she noted with some excitement when she saw some cables running to a 'pack that each of the soldiers wore on their backs.

The first one moved towards her, but instead of floating, he walked towards her with the clunking sound of magnetic boot clamps. His face, visible through the faceplate, was Asian in appearance, and he had dark brown eyes, black colored hair, and skin that was a very slight yellowish tint, though not enough to be mistaken for jaundice. "Welcome aboard the McKenna's Pride," the soldier said to her, his voice. "Who of you is in charge, if I may ask?"

"I am," Halsey replied, extending a hand towards the soldier. "Dr. Catherine Halsey, Ambassador from the UNSC. I'm with a few ODST's, as well as the ambassadors the UEG was kind enough to grace our presence with."

"Well met," the soldier greeted Halsey, shaking her hand. "Sergeant Fong Tonpei, 44th Royal Infantry Regiment. My orders are to escort you to Grav-Deck Alpha to speak with our leader."

"Who would that be?" Evan asked, curious.

"You will know very soon," Fong replied. "Shall we?"

"Of course," Halsey agreed, taking Fong's hand. This one's a real gentleman, she noted as he helped her carefully maneuver through the cramped space and into the hallway. Once everyone was inside, some of the ODST's remained with the ship, while four others went with Halsey and the others. With that, they proceeded through the ship.

As they did so, Halsey watched as other crew members moved along them, either floating through the zero-g environment, or walking along using mag-clamp boots. Looking at the personnel that moved past them, she noted that the uniforms consisted of a khaki colored jumpsuit that had a white stripe on the sides, while a gray flannel shirt was worn underneath the jumpsuit. "Interesting uniforms," she said to Fong as he helped her through the hallways.

"That they are," Fong agreed. "The uniforms that officers and enlisted personnel wear in the SLDF Navy are designed for maximum safety and efficiency. The fact that they're also comfortable to wear is a bonus."

"I see," Halsey mused. "You're not concerned about a hull breach causing asphyxiation?"

"Hull breaches are always a concern when you're in the Navy. That's just a fact of life, though the crew are equipped with respirators that give them ten minutes of air, enough time to get inside of the ship. For a hull breach to happen, though, the event causing the hull breach would have to get past the Ferro-Carbide armor protecting this ship first, and that would take a lot of work."

"I've heard about that before," Halsey noted. "We typically use Titanium-A for armor plating. When we checked your ships, they had an outer layer of Hafnium Carbonitride. Why is that?"

"I'm sorry to say that it's classified," Fong replied. "Perhaps, if all goes well today, we might share knowledge and information with the UEG, in addition to the usual trade agreements."

"Maybe," Halsey conceded as they moved through one of the hallways on the ship and then took a right turn. Seeing this part of the ship rotating, she asked, "I take it we're at the Grav-Deck?"

"Yep," Fong confirmed. "We've just stepped into Grav-Deck Alpha, the largest one aboard the McKenna's Pride. Now we can head there without worrying about floating away." Just as he said this, Halsey moved forwards and placed her feet onto the 'floor' of the Grav Deck.

They continued on, with Halsey continuing to make observations all the while. One thing in particular struck her as odd, leading her to ask, "Fong, how fast is the Grav Deck spinning?"

Fong was silent as he recalled a few numbers, then he said, "Around 8 meters per second, with the motors on the ship maintaining that speed. Why do you ask?"

"Just curious," Halsey admitted. "However, we usually don't spin our decks this fast. Have you heard of the -"

"Coriolis Effect?" Fong interrupted. "Yes, we have. All SLDF personnel have undergone training and acclimation in order to resist disorientation due to the Coriolis Effect." Before Halsey could give a rejoiner, Fong smiled and said, "Here we are: the Meeting Room."

Looking ahead, Halsey spotted the Meeting Room. A single door was on one of the walls, with the placard labeled with the aforementioned words. Two guards stood outside of the door, each of them focused on the most obvious path of attack: the hallway they were in. Both of them looked at Fong and the others as they approached. "Name and order." One of them requested.

"Staff Sergeant Fong Tonpei, here with the UNSC and UEG personnel wishing to speak with the General."

"One moment," the guard that spoke up informed Fong. Keying his comm, he said, "Sir, we have eight people outside, two civvies and six soldiers. Permission to let them inside?" There was a moment of silence, during which Halsey could faintly hear someone speaking, though she couldn't make out the words. "Roger that," the guard replied a moment later. Turning to Fong, he said, "The civvies can come in, but the guards must remain outside. In addition, you are going to perform a weapons check."

"Understood," Fong acknowledged. Turning to Halsey, he said. "As per my orders, I have to scan you and pat you down for any and all hidden items."

Halsey sighed inwardly. This was to be expected, she said to herself. After all, we do the same thing all the time. "OK," she replied. "Go ahead."

"Thank you," Fong said, a slight smile on his face. A moment later, he had her spread her arms and legs into a T-pose, before he patted each and every limb. With that done, he patted down her chest and her torso. At the last part, he stopped, then reached into her jacket, pulling out a single handgun. "Self-defense?" he asked her.

"Yes," Halsey replied. "I always carry an M6D for personal defense."

"Understandable," Fong replied. "Big bore handgun, though." With that, he depressed the mag release, dumping the mag into a hand before ejecting the round in the chamber. The second guard at the door stepped up to them with a tray in his hands, with Fong putting the handgun into the tray. A moment later, Halsey heard him whisper, "EE mode" before looking her up and down. With that, he reached into her jacket again and pulled out her datapad. "Personal noteputer?"

"Noteputer?" Halsey asked. "You mean a data-pad?"

"If that's your version of a noteputer, then yes."

"That's correct, from what I can tell."

With that, Fong exchanged a look with the guard, who nodded at him. With that, he handed her the datapad. "You can take that with you," he decided. With that, he proceeded to the others. Once they were also cleared, he said, "The rest of you can keep your weapons."

"Aren't you worried about us causing a fight?" one of the ODST's asked.

"No," Fong answered, though internally he agreed with the ODST. "The Royal Regiments receive the best training within the SLDF. Besides, I doubt that you would be dumb enough to fight someone equipped with weapons that can cut through your armor like a hot knife through butter."

"Fair point," the ODST conceded. "Wouldn't even dream of a fight here anyways." With that, the first guard pressed a button on the door, resulting in it opening. With that, Halsey and the UEG/UNSC Ambassadors moved inside.

The Meeting Room looked quite similar to many of the meeting rooms onboard other UNSC ships. Inside, she could see a large desk that seemed to be made out of a fine wood, with metal edges to protect the more delicate material. In the middle, she could see what was a holographic projector, with the image of a large gas giant being projected. The level of quality and the fact that the hologram was displaying in color surprised Halsey. On the outer edges were chairs that were bolted to the floor, likely to prevent them from flying around if the ship was in combat.

Eight guards were inside of the room, though it was the ninth occupant that had her full attention. The man wore a uniform that was different from what the naval personnel wore; unlike them, his uniform was a dark green color, with a sash on his right shoulder that was black and gold, with the symbol of a star with an elongated right point stitched into the material. He also had a few ribbons on the left breast of his uniform, while his pants were the same color as his half-jacket. He wore a thick shirt underneath the half-jacket, and had orange boots over his feet, while his hands were left exposed.

It was his face, though, that had Halsey's attention the most. The man's facial features were wrinkled and creased with age, and he was completely bald, with the skin having an appearance similar to polished marble. No facial hair was present, allowing her to see a strong chin that had a fairly narrow point. Underneath salt-and-pepper colored eyebrows were a pair of sharp brown eyes that gazed directly at her and the others. The moment she saw those eyes, Halsey knew that this man was their leader.

Once the doors were closed, the man spoke, his voice higher in pitch than she had expected, and his Russian accent clearly audible. "Greetings," he said politely. "I am Aleksandr Kerensky, Commanding General of the Star League Defense Force. It is an honor to be meeting with you all today."

"The honor is all ours," Halsey greeted him. "I'm Dr. Catherine Halsey, the Ambassador and liaison for the United Nations Space Command. With me is Dr. Evans and his colleagues, ambassadors from the United Earth Government. We are honored to make your acquaintance."

"Well met," Kerensky replied, a smile on his face. Motioning to the chairs, he said, "Please, be seated." With that, Halsey and the others sat down, along with Kerensky. Pressing something at his seat, Alek said, "Illya, could you bring us a few refreshments please?" Once he heard the reply, he released the button and said, "Refreshments will be coming shortly."

"Thank you," Halsey said gratefully. "We appreciate the hospitality."

"You are welcome," Alek finished, smiling at that too. A moment later, he cleared his throat and continued. "I must admit, I do not believe I have heard about your 'UNSC' or 'UEG' before, and I doubt you have heard of the Star League before. Perhaps a little history lesson is in order."

"I think that would be a good place to start," Halsey agreed. She motioned to Evans when she said this.

"Right," Evans began, clearing his throat. "The United Earth Government is the supranational government for the entirety of Humanity and all of Earth's colonies. We are a representative democracy where each of our planets governs themselves, but answers to a central authority at Earth."

"Interesting," Kerensky noted. "Tell me more."

"The UEG was originally founded in 2075 in order to replace the United Nations, which had become defunct and corrupt by that point. Over the next several centuries, there was peace, though tensions were rising due to overpopulation becoming a problem. It wasn't until 2291 that this problem was solved."

"How so?" Kerensky asked.

"The Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engine," Halsey explained. "That year was when Dr. Tobias Shaw and Dr. Wallace Fujikawa developed the Slipstream Space Drive in secret with a group of scientists and engineers. This led to the Domus Diaspora, which has resulted in the colonization of over 800 habitable worlds, though most of these colonies are outposts on moons, asteroids and in space stations. There are over 210 worlds within the Inner Colonies, for instance, though most of them are still in the early to middle stages of terraforming. The rest consist of the Outer Colonies."

Hearing this information, the cogs and gears in Aleksandr's mind had begun to rapidly turn as he processed said information. With that in mind, he said, "Very enlightening, ladies and gentlemen. I believe that we are quite different in that regard, though."

That had Halsey's attention. "How so?" she asked. "Surely, you must have been some of the colonists of the Domus Diaspora, unless I'm missing something, of course."

"That you are," Aleksandr corrected, though he sounded like a father gently correcting a child's misconceptions than an officer dressing down a raw recruit. "With that in mind, I will tell you more about our history." Watching as his aide, a petite woman with brown colored hair, tanned skin and blue eyes walked in, he said, "The Star League is a self-policing interstellar council that was formed by the Terran Hegemony, one of the numerous governments of our universe."

To her credit, Halsey quickly picked up on that. "Did you say universe?" she asked.

"Indeed, I did," Kerensky added.

"T-That's impossible!" Evans immediately replied, stammering as he did so.

"I wouldn't think so," Halsey countered. "The Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engine accesses an alternate dimension similar to our own. It stands to reason that theirs might be able to do the same."

"Correct," Kerensky agreed after taking a sip of water from a glass at the table. "Our form of FTL flight is the Kearny-Fuchida Drive, which was first built in the year 2108 by the Terran Alliance, which in turn was our version of your United Earth Government. I am not a scientist, but I do know that the K-F Drive was designed to use hyperspace in order to travel to other words."

"Interesting," Halsey noted. "That means you began colonizing space roughly a hundred and eighty three years before the UEG did."

"Correct again, Dr. Halsey," Kerensky confirmed. "You have a sharp mind, which is excellent. As I was saying, though, the Terran Alliance was, initially, the sole government of Humanity, though this changed over time as more and more worlds were settled. The bureaucracy became bloated and corrupt, and it wasn't uncommon for illegal colonies to be founded."

"So, what happened after that?" Evan asked.

"The Demarcation Declaration," Kerensky answered. Seeing the confused looks on Halsey and Evan's faces, he said, "The Demarcation Declaration was a governmental decree that was ratified in the year 2242 by the Terran Alliance. The Declaration granted independence and sovereignty to all star systems outside of a fifty light year radius surrounding Terra, or Earth as you call it.

"This resulted in some colonies dying out, while others began to prosper and thrive. Since this was before the development of true FTL communication systems, each of these governments transitioned from representative democracies to neo-feudal governments, which were more stable and functional without FTL communications. They would go on to form the Great Houses of the Inner Sphere, as well as the Periphery Nations."

"Mind if you elaborate?" Evan asked.

"I wouldn't mind a little explanation too," Halsey agreed.

"Fair enough," Kerensky decided. A moment later, he pressed a few buttons at the computer monitor he was at. Moments later, Halsey watched as the hologram in the center of the table changed from that of a gas giant, to a roughly circular region of space surrounding a central point. This region of space was around 1100ly in diameter according to a legend, and was split up into sections that were colored yellow, green, purple, blue red and silver. Others were marked out in red-orange, yellow and red as well as light blue and light green.

"What's this?" Evan asked.

"A map of the Inner Sphere and Periphery," Kerensky explained. "Each colored section indicates a major government, with the Inner Sphere being demarcated by the borders of each Great House. There are, or rather were, six of these Great Houses, with those Great Houses being the Federated Suns ruled by Hose Davion, the Capellan Confederation by House Liao, the Free Worlds League by House Marik, the Lyran Commonwealth by House Steiner, the Draconis Combine by House Kurita and the Terran Hegemony by House Cameron in that order. Outside of the Inner Sphere were the Periphery Nations, consisting of the Taurian Concordat, Rim Worlds Republics, Magistracy of Canopus and Outworlds Alliance."

"Quite the collection of nation-states," Evan remarked. "Didn't the Terran Alliance attempt to impose order on them before the Demarcation Declaration?"

"They tried, but it was ultimately ineffective," Kerensky replied, not letting Evan's question change the subject. "The Terran Alliance became the Terran Hegemony, after which it was transformed into the center of power for the Star League. The Star League was created by Ian Cameron to serve as an interstellar council that would keep the peace and prevent war from breaking out. This was only after a long period of war known as the Age of War, which saw several worlds being rendered inhospitable by nuclear munitions."

"Ouch," Halsey hissed. "I've seen the effects that nuclear weapons have on the terrain, as well as any lifeforms, of a planet. It doesn't end well."

"It never does," Kerensky agreed. "Still, that was how things were during the Age of War. It was only thanks to Ian Cameron that the Star League was formed, putting an end to the Age of War once and for all."

"You mentioned that your faction was called the Star League-in-Exile," Evan asked. "Is it all right if you could explain why it's called that?" At that, Kerensky's expression hardened, and Halsey saw a glint of anger, guilt and pain in his eyes. Evan, thinking he'd hit a nerve when he saw Kerensky's facial expression, said, "I apologize."

"It's all right," Kerensky replied. "I still have bad memories of that time. As for how we ended up like this, he Star League's dissolution is what led us to be called the Star League-in-Exile. The ruler of the Rim Worlds Republic, known as Stefan Amaris, was the man responsible. He killed Richard Cameron II, the rightful ruler of the Star League, and took over the Hegemony in a coup that saw millions dead and the Terran Hegemony destroyed. I personally led the attack to retake the Hegemony myself, and Amaris died by my hand.

"The other Great Houses, though, couldn't agree on who should replace the Cameron dynasty, and all of them nominated themselves. War was imminent, and I couldn't bear to see the SLDF conquer the Inner Sphere, even though that would've prevented war. I also had, and still have, no desire to be a First Lord. That's not my business."

"So you chose the lesser of two evils," Halsey guessed. "You chose to leave the Inner Sphere in the hopes of letting things die down. Once they did, you and the others could return to the Inner Sphere to restore the Star League's rightful authority."

"Exactly," Kerensky rejoined. "As for how we ended up here, the K-F Drive isn't fully reliable. Sometimes, a ship using the drive will have a misjump. Most of the time, they're relatively harmless, but the worst ones are often nightmare fuel, with crews being forcibly fused to the deck of a ship, or turned inside out. Some simply disappear without a trace. In our case, we had a misjump that hurled us into your universe, which leads me to believe that all of the ships that disappeared during a misjump might've ended up in other universes as well."

"Are these misjumps common?" Halsey inquired.

"No," Kerensky replied. "They typically happen if a K-F Drive hasn't been properly maintained, if the coordinates of the destination aren't filled in properly, if a nonstandard Jump Point is used, or if a spatial anomaly is present, like a temporary ripple in a Jump Point. Since those circumstances are thankfully rare, K-F Drive travel is quite safe."

"Ah," Halsey remarked. "I understand."

"Still," Evan added, "given the circumstances that you were in, I think you did admirably well. Personally speaking, I would've done what you did: leave the Inner Sphere and wait for all of the fighting to blow over, then return to restore law and order. It makes the most sense to me."

"My thoughts exactly," Kerensky agreed. "Still, now that we are in another universe, and likely do not have a way home, we have to make the best of what we've got. With that in mind, I can say, with certainty, that none of us wants to see a war between our two factions. From what I've heard, you're having to deal with a civil war yourselves."

"That's correct," Evan concurred. "The Insurrection. We've been fighting the Insurrectionists, or 'Innies' as the UNSC calls them, for the past three to four decades by now. It all started when the Outer Colonies wanted to secede from the UEG on the grounds that they wished to govern themselves. It also has to do with their claims that the UEG doesn't fairly represent them, and the Colonial Administration Authority was too isolated and overbearing to understand their circumstances."

"And you decided that force was the best option to preserve peace," Kerensky surmised.

"Personally, I felt that was the wrong option," Evan countered, "an opinion that my colleagues, sadly, did not support. The UEG's official stance was that the use of military patrols would force the Outer Colonies to settle down, a policy that was the result of Dr. Elias Carver's predictions. Then the Far Isle Rebellion occurred, and the UNSC officers there employed nuclear weapons to force the colony to surrender. In my opinion, it was a colossal error in judgment. I personally saw the man court-marshaled for his actions."

Kerensky sighed at those words. It appears as though the great experiment of democracy is also failing here, he noted. Taking a breath, he said, "It seems as though the great leaders of the past were correct."

"How so?" Halsey asked.

"Those who fail to learn from their history are forever doomed to repeat it." Turning to the two, he said, "From the sounds of it, it appears as though the UEG has failed to learn from its own history, resulting in a situation similar to that of the American Revolution of ancient Terra, when the American Colonies rebelled against Great Britain. As far as I can tell, the UNSC and UEG are only delaying the inevitable, which is the UEG shattering under the weight of war, and the colonies fracturing from Earth to form their own governments."

The others were about to speak up when Kerensky raised a hand. "However, I am not here to discuss what you should have done concerning the Insurrectionists. We're here to ensure that something similar doesn't happen between the UEG and the Star League-in-Exile. With that in mind, I have a proposal that might benefit all of us."

That had Evan's attention immediately. If there was one thing he was good at, it was using his skill in politics to make bargains that ultimately benefited the UEG and, by direct extension, the UNSC. "I'm listening," he said.

"As am I," Halsey added.

"Good," Kerensky agreed, a smile on his face. "My proposal is that the Star League-in-Exile will remain a separate governmental body from the UEG and UNSC. In exchange, however, trade relations will be created between the Star League-in-Exile and the UEG. Technologies can be shared between the two sides, and intergovernmental training programs for military forces conducted. We don't have to worry about war, and we can exchange goods and cultural ideals between each other, and so we may all prosper."

Hearing this, both Halsey and Evan looked at each other. "Can we have a private moment to ourselves?" she asked. In response, Kerensky motioned to a nearby door, which opened into a smaller private room. Walking inside, Halsey closed the door and looked at Evan. "I think we ought to tread carefully here."

"I agree," Evan concurred. "If what we've heard is true, then the Star League-in-Exile, despite being weakened from its original numbers, is probably the strongest non-UNSC military force out there. We would be able to defeat them, but it would be extremely costly, and ultimately not worth it."

"That's funny. I thought you were in favor of absorbing the Star League-in-Exile, even if it meant using lethal force. What changed?"

"Hearing their history, Halsey. Didn't you see the man's eyes? When I asked what happened, it was like he was having a very mild PTSD episode, the kind that only comes when you've decided that you've tried every option that didn't work, leaving you with the one you didn't desire. I've also got no doubt in my mind that Kerensky might be as skilled and clever as Vice Admiral Stanforth, maybe even more so. In addition, if the McKenna's Pride is the largest ship they can build, then we're in major trouble."

"I know what you mean," Halsey agreed. "I also got an analysis of the weapons that the Kharkov used in their battle with the Octanus cell of the Insurrection. According to the analysis, the Kharkov used what appeared to be an advanced laser weapon system, along with what the scientists have determined is a weaponized particle accelerator. Given that we ely purely on coilguns and the strength of our Titanium-A armor, we'd be in trouble. Those hostile ships used the same armor, but were blown apart by the Kharkov's weapons. I'd strongly advise against military action."

"I agree," Evan added. "I'd much rather have the Star League-in-Exile on our side, rather than on the Insurrection's side. I think that Kerensky's offer is the best that we're going to get."

"My thoughts exactly," Halsey concurred. With that, they walked back into the meeting room where Kerensky was at.

"We've reached a decision," Evan informed Kerensky. "We've decided that your offer is probably best. We're at war with one enemy, and I'd rather not have the UEG and UNSC have to deal with another. Besides, it'd make us look more like a dictatorship than a democracy."

Kerensky smiled. "I thought as much myself." With that, they began to hash out the finer details of the agreement. Soon, there would be another independent nation for the UEG to work with.

(Author's Q&A)

SulliMike23: That they will be.

Believer218: Well, not just after the second chapter. There was a third chapter between, but still, it is a good use of foreshadowing. Thanks.

Danny79: Very true. ONI, though, is going to find out that the SLDF is a lot more watchful of it's tech than meets the eye.

THATs1I3ntGUY: Yep. It is going to be quite interesting. Plus, I always love it when some hotshots get slapped into a corner when they get too big for their britches.

shypunk: Possibly. We'll wait and see.

SpaceCommander-09: That there will be. It won't be immediately stated, but there's definitely going to be confusion.

Blanchimont: Definitely. Also, thanks for pointing out the error. I fixed it.

Guest: Thank you.

Violet Toyger: I'm glad you did. Sometimes, you need to bite before you bark.

StarBorn Michael: Same here. As for the length of time, we'll see what happens next.