Chapter 2-Getting Acquainted

The Chief walked through the Rebel ship, attracting a stare or two from a soldier. What was left of his ODST squad, walked behind him, admiring the new Laser Rifles. The Rebel technology was amazing, but it was confusing as well. Cortana was happy entering and exiting the data streams of the Kendoran.

Good now she can't bug me and I can actually do some talking for once, Chief thought, smiling, knowing Cortana had heard.

"I heard that." She said in an amused voice, probably because the Chief had such a gruff voice, all he had to do was say "Boo", and the Rebels would do anything for him.

His MJOLNIR armor didn't give him the names of any of the Rebel soldiers like it would've for a regular Marine. The hallway was a cream color, with endless doors with X-shapes on them. One opened, revealing a tall, lanky man with a belt and a pistol, followed by an enormous creature that could've have (with armor and all) passed as a Hunter in the Covenant army.

"The ship is undergoing maintenance at the moment, due to a recent battle with the Empire. The bridge is just up ahead and you can meet the Captain, discuss our allegiance, and exchange technology. We would especially like to know how to make that armor you where."

He added, "What was it called?"

"MJOLNIR." The Spartan answered simply.

They arrived at the bridge, entered after the door slid open, and walked into an immense circular room with Rebels and computers. They all wore white, high-collared shirt-type things. An oddball took on a black shirt though, and the Chief expected that to be the Captain. Cortana hummed a tune as she entered into the computer data arrays and played around.

A central up-lift in the floor seated a high chair with buttons on the arms and a control panel in front. Four bridge personnel sat around the up-lift and monitored the hull status. Two more sat around those, and monitored shield conditions. More people sat around them and monitored miscellaneous things like the Life Support Systems, engine temperature, Sensor Array, and Communications Array.

"Aw! Our new friends!" A man greeted them. He was in his mid-forties, sported a go-tee and was balding on the top, with his hair going gray. He was stout and fit, strong legs supported his upper body and broad shoulders. His jaw was wide and thick, his nose was long and narrow. He had blue eyes. "I am Captain Owen Orsolen of the Kendoran. Welcome aboard."

The Chief opened his mouth to say something, but told Cortana to go ahead and got a response, "Thought you'd never ask."

"I am Cortana. AI of the formal ship, Pillar of Autumn. We have accepted the offer of alliance and look forward to meeting up with the rest of your group, as well as your leaders."

"Where'd that come from?" He inquired, curiously.

The Chief pointed to the external speakers before saying, "She's in my head." He stuck out his hand, "I'm Spartan 119 of Earth. Master Chief as formality." The Captain shook his hand.

"Good to have you aboard, especially after living an encounter with Vader for the first time."

The ODSTs took the time to meet Captain Orsolen and the rest of the crew, while Chief got permission to put Cortana in the ship's mainframe. She popped up in the nearest pedestal, and was just exactly the way Chief remember her. Snippy, casual, serious, and relaxed all at the same time. She appeared blue this time though, instead of red or purple. Her hair was a bit longer and her eyes were luminescent. Data scrolled across her body, as she looked and protruded through the ship.

"So, when did the Covenant finally attack you?" The Captain asked.

"They attacked a peaceful, unarmed planet called, Harvest, some years ago. The United Nations Space Command, or UNSC, sent a fleet to investigate, only to bring back one badly beaten ship." He paused, then started with, "The crew said that this one little ship had destroyed all the ships. That was when me and my siblings were called to battle the alien race we came to know as the Covenant. We were winning our battles up to the point of a battle." He sighed, remembering that that battle was the one that had ended his Spartan-II brothers and sisters' lives.

"The battle took place at a major military planet called Reach. We defeated a fleet of Covenant troops, with help from our MAC Gun insertions, but only encountered another, bigger fleet. That one managed to get ground troops on the surface." He continued, "My brothers were sent down to try and contain them and save the MAC Gun cores. I took a squad with me to secure the memory bank of a docked frigate, in a space station that had an abundant number of Covenant. With the help of some Marines, myself and one of my sisters managed to destroy it, but she was soon killed by an Elite with a cloaking device on.

"With that accomplished I went back to the Pillar of Autumn. There I learned that Covenant had overrun the ground teams, killing the rest of my kind. With the MAC Guns disabled and the Autumn the only UNSC ship left in the system, the Covenant were free to glass our planet." The thought of his siblings melting in the molten metal flooded his mind, "Following Cole Protocol though, we made a blind jump through the deep reaches of space and arrived at the structure, Halo. This system was under Covenant control too, so basically, we were trapped.

"We managed to destroy Halo, but I was the only one that escaped by luck or chance, it still troubles me. We returned to home, or Earth, where I got my new Mark VI armor. Only hours after though, a Covenant fleet arrived and survival seemed impossible. But again, by luck or chance, we drove them back and followed them through Slipspace to a second Halo. We destroyed that and most of the Covenant holy city, since then we've had no contact or anything until you called. The Covenant are still in a civil war, and we have gotten some Elites to convert."

"Sad. I'm sorry to hear what happened to your siblings, Chief. I hope that our fleet and soldiers will offer you as much hospitality as the UNSC would."

"Sir! Incoming ship out of Hyperspace!" A bridge officer interrupted.

The Captain turned and said, "On screen!"

It appeared as long, slender block at first sight, but a closer view revealed details of a bridge, MAC Gun, Lifeboats, automatic turrets, and a name. The name seemed familiar to Chief, but he couldn't quite place a finger on where he'd seen it before. It struck him seconds after though, this was Captain Miranda Keyes' ship. More ships were dropping out of Slipspace, while the first one came to a halt and the image of Keyes showed up on the screen.

"It's good to see you Master Chief." She prompted, while resting her head on her hand.

"Captain Keyes." He breathed, more a sigh, "I didn't think anyone knew the coordinates of where I was. I left my tracking beacon at that structure, unless—Cortana!"

"Hey you said you wanted to have coffee with Johnson, I assumed he was on Captain Keyes' ship." She answered.

"Hmuh! You were right on the ball Cortana." Someone said behind him. The Chief turned and saw the tall, dark-skinned, hard-faced UNSC Marine he had known for almost ten years now. "Glad to see me? I thought I'd bring some friends along." He pointed out to the other ships coming out of Slipspace.

"Yes. Very," Cortana said, "He never gets me anything." The AI construct pointed at the Chief.

"Going on about that again, huh? Listen, I'm never in any place to get us anything, save a few dead bodies and Covenant flesh."

"Well, anyway," Miranda interrupted, "I'd most certainly like to meet the captain of the vessel, Chief."

He thrust his finger at Captain Orsolen.

"I'm Captain Miranda Keyes."

"I'm Captain Owen Orsolen. Glad to meet you ma'am."

"The pleasure is mine," She answered back.

The Chief turned to Cortana, then Johnson, then Keyes, and smiled, knowing the Empire had a jack-load of new troops to deal with.

Getting Acquainted.