Chapter 2 - Military Council

"What is that thing? Some sort of iron wagon?"

"If that's the case then where's the horse? And look, there's some sort of canon mounted to it. It's nothing like anything I've ever seen." Two members of the military police had started to look over the strange vehicle brought to the capitol by the strange man accompanying commander Pixis. The man towered over them and left them motionless when he'd first arrived. His presence was overwhelming for them, not to mention he showed up a day after wall Maria fell and is now attending the military council. It all seemed very odd to them.

Chief took in his surroundings, everything from the architecture, to the clothing, to people's mannerisms all denoted a 17th or 18th century society. It felt strange knowing that there were humans on unknown planets that were so far behind technologically. After his encounter with commander Pixis after entering the walls, he was escorted to the inner capital where he was now attending the joint meeting of all branches of the military. He has picked up a few things from his discussion with the commander on his way here. While there was both a military and governmental body, the military handled anything occurring outside the capital, with the nobility existing for no other reason than to indulge themselves, something not uncommon for this era. The military had three branches: The garrison which handled protecting the walls and maintaining order, the military police which controlled the capital, and the survey corps which handled exploration beyond the walls. Pixis had explained that it was illegal for anyone outside of the military and primarily the survey corps to leave the safety of the walls. These details would be important going forward, as it seemed likely he would be stranded on this planet for a while.

The council chamber was in chaos. A very disorganized argument was taking place between the scouts and military police over how to respond to the wall's destruction and how to deal with the sudden and massive influx of refugees they now had to deal with. They were so fixated on their discussion, they didn't even notice Chief and Pixis enter the chamber. A few minutes of this continued before who appeared to be the head of this council approached his pedestal and slammed his gavel down on the podium snapping everyone to attention.

"This military council is now in session, before we get into the main point of discussion, Commander Pixis, I see we've brought an unusual guest. Would you like to introduce us."

"Of course Chief Zackly. I know this was an emergency council called to discuss yesterday's incident and I believe this man factors into that. This gentleman appeared outside of trost along with three refugee children yesterday evening. Reports say he faced off against and killed a 10 meter titan on ground level without the use of ODM gear. Upon entering trost one of the guards foolishly stuck a sword in his face out of fear. The man snapped the blade cleanly from it's hilt with one hand. While I personally did not witness the titan subjugation, I was witness to the second feat." Pixis stood from his chair and continued. "From what he's told me, before yesterday, he had never even heard of a titan and yet he was able to act and adapt to the situation in order to save three kids. If the report is to be believed, then this man possesses strength and combat expertise that dwarfs even our most elite soldiers. Yesterday was a devastating tragedy, but this man may be someone who can change that tragedy into an opportunity."

The revelation caused a big stir in the room as each branch discussed among themselves. Was the action he took really that impressive. Apart from the size, these titans were hardly difficult to combat and if anything were quite predictable for the spartan. Zackly slammed his gavel.

"Officers remember that this is to be a civil discussion, please maintain your composure, we've barely started." The man turned his attention back to Pixis. "Even if he's as talented as you say he is, how can one man make that much of a difference? Our military in recent years has the most talented soldiers it's ever seen, what's one more."

"I'll admit I don't know the details myself, but you can see that this man is unique, his armour and the iron carriage he arrived in are the most obvious examples. I brought him here so he can explain to all the leaders of the military who he is, where he came from, and what he plans to do. Once that's done, then we can pass judgement on him." Pixis took his seat again. Chief didn't care for the politics, he'd always felt more comfortable in battle, but right now information was the most important thing.

"It's an interesting assessment Pixis, how do the Scouts and MP feel about this matter. Should we hear this man out?"

The scouts' commander spoke first, a relatively tall man with a short blonde hair and a rather cold and blunt expression. "Sir as you know the scouts have always pursued humanity's progression and are always the first to step into the unknown. If this man can provide even the slightest bit of hope after yesterday's events, then it's worth any amount of time and effort to uncover it." The short speech was simple, but profound. Chief could tell this man could raise his soldiers morale and could keep up the fight even in the bleakest of situations.

The MP spoke next. "While I can't say I'm as energetic, as newly appointed commander Erwin, I will say given how far this discussion has been derailed from its initial purpose, it wouldn't hurt to press the matter further.

"Very well, then let's turn this discussion towards our guest. State who you are and what you came here for."

Chief stood from his creaking wooden seat which could barely hold his weight. "Chief Zackly, I believe it was, I am Spartan-117 Master Chief Petty Officer of the UNSC Navy

"You're a member of the military?" Zackly Chuckled, "Within the walls of humanity what other military would that be? You're clearly not a member of ours."

"From what I've heard, humanity is extinct beyond the walls. While that may be true on your planet, humanity continues to exist beyond it. There is a galaxy of humanity that I am trying to contact after crashing here.

"Slow down for a second. Planet? Galaxy? Crash? What in the world are you saying? Humanity outside of the wall went extinct a hundred years ago." The room erupted in chatter at the presumed mad man before them, all except that commander Erwin, who kept his stoic expression.

"Chief, yank me." Spoke through Chief's helmet speaker.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Chief spoke inside of his muted helmet. The rest of the room stared, waiting for his next response.

"The standard by the book responses aren't going to do us any good here. They lack the advancement to understand what you're saying. We need to win these people with a direct example of what they lack." Chief reached up to the back of his helmet and pulled out the AI chip. He held the matrix out flat in his hand and a small blue girl rose from it. The chatter was silenced in an instant.

"Greetings gentlemen. I apologize for my friend here, he's more suited for combat than politics. I'm the Artificial Intelligence Cortana. To keep things simple you can consider me to be a hyper advanced machine, although it's much more complicated than that. What i'm about to say will be difficult for most of you to understand, but please try to follow to the best of your ability. You believe there are no remnants of humanity outside your walls, but off of this world, out among the stars, humanity does live. It is however very different from the humanity you know. Your planet is isolated from the rest of the galaxy and has evolved separately from it. The humanity we know has far surpassed you, their knowledge and technology dwarfs yours by a good seven or eight hundred years. We are however far out of their reach and so we are the ones isolated and in need of your help."

The room remained in silence, most of the people present left in utter confusion. Zackly took the first step to progress the conversation. "I can't say I know for certain what you mean, but assuming what you say is true, how did you get here then?

"That's simple. How many of you saw a large ball of fire fall from the sky yesterday? Those of you that did, that was us or rather we were inside it. After the end of a fierce war, we were left adrift on a broken and inoperable ship for the past almost five years. We had hoped we would be rescued, but we ended up here instead."

"So you want us to help you return to where you came from then?"

"To be frank, no. There's nothing you have at your disposal that could assist us in that endeavor."

"What we want," Chief took over, "is the opportunity to salvage what we can from our wreckage and establish a forward operating base to conduct repairs and re-establish long range transmissions." His technical speaking confused the men once more.

"We need a place where we can properly prepare for our eventual rescue. Also a chance to research these mysterious creatures you can titans. Their physiology intrigues me."

"We understand that your military law dictates only authorized personnel may leave the safety of the walls. Being outsiders here, we will comply to the best of our abilities."

"Standard military training is three years, unless one of our branches are willing to conscript you as is. The scouts are also the only ones who regularly leave the walls, so the decision falls to them." All eyes landed on commander Erwin. Would he reject this unknown stranger, or blindly accept a seemingly mad man into his ranks.

"I propose a practical assessment, to see whether or not he is a liability. We will isolate a titan just outside of the gate and have him face it unassisted, if he succeeds by himself, he will be permitted to join. If the scouts are required to aid him, he will be sent for training." Erwin gave his answer.

"I see, do you agree with this proposal Mr. …"

"Spartan-117 and I accept those conditions."

"If you don't like the number, you can refer to him by his rank of Master Chief, or Chief for short." Cortana interjected.

"Don't you have a name you can give us."

"Not one I'm authorized to disclose."

"Very well Mr. 117, you can wait outside while we finish our regular discussion." Chief plugged Cortana back into his helmet and left the chamber. He exited the building to find a fee nosy MPs examining the warthog. It was mostly harmless, nothing they could do would risk damaging it. That was until one of them decided to inspect the gun.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Chief grabs the man's hand as he's about to grab hold of the trigger. "That thing's a lot more powerful than any guns you have. If you're not careful, you'll blow someone's head off." Chief releases his grip and the man hops down from the vehicle.

"You really should know your place." The man grimaces as he walks off with the rest of the MP.

"If only he knew you could kill them all in a matter of seconds," Cortana remarked.

"Don't give me any Ideas." Chief took a seat on the back of the hog and began to wait. It took two hours for the meeting to end and the officers to flood out of the building. When Erwin exited, he approached the man who dwarfed him by an entire foot, and informed him of their next action.

"Your assessment will take place tomorrow outside of Karanese district. There should be very few titans there, so the risk will be minimal. Prepare to leave within the next hour."

"Understood Sir."