Chapter 9: Preparing to Save Humanity
Holy Crusader flagship Perpetual Devotion on outbound vector from High Charity
8th Cycle, 5th Division, 3rd Stage, 9th Age of Reclamation (Covenant Holy Calendar)
1120 hours, October 27, 2552 (UNSC Military Calendar)
"While I was in High Charity's mainframe, I had access to data that was held in the Forerunner ship in the middle of the city," Cortana's slim figure stood on a small pedestal on the raised platform in the middle of the bridge of the former Covenant ship. "The Covenant may have had technology that was far superior to our own, but the Prophets were keeping a lot of better technology hidden from you," she spoke directly to the Arbiter. "There was technological data on that ship that would have made you unstoppable against Human weaponry. They must have been planning this whole thing for quite some time."
"Everything the Prophets told us have been lies," the Arbiter told the AI. "We are not the brainless body guards they thought us to be. They must have known that we would learn the truth. That must be why they were so eager to befriend the newly found Jiralhanae race. It would take them forever to learn the truth with brains the size of theirs."
"From my analysis, the Prophets seem to thrive on trickery and deception of others," Cortana continued. "But I digress from my point. I've taken the data from the Forerunner ship and have analyzed as much as I could. I've also added that data to the databanks on this ship. Is it possible to access the databanks on other ships from here?"
"Yes," replied the Arbiter, "you can establish a link to every vessel in our fleet from this ship."
"Good, this data has to be shared with every single ship," Cortana said. "From the data, I've found a way to travel through Slipspace at extreme speeds."
"Excuse me, construct," the Arbiter interrupted, "but what is Slipspace?"
"You must call it a different name," Cortana explained. "It is the alternate dimension used for interstellar travel. I've also slightly improved the data I've found. We need to reprogram the Slipspace generators on each ship with this new data. I have already done so on this ship. With it, we should be able to travel from here to Earth in a little over three hours when a normal Slipspace jump would take nearly two days."
"Excellent work, construct," the Arbiter was grateful for some good news finally. "The Huragok on the other vessels should be able to reprogram the generators quickly. We could be en route to your planet in no more than a unit, or fifteen of your minutes."
"Should I calculate a Slipspace vector for the fleet yet?" the AI asked.
"Go right ahead," the Arbiter said. "And make sure the fleet arrives in formation."
"Cortana," Commander Keyes stood nearby patiently listening, "we don't want to jump directly to Earth. We want to arrive in the Sol system just outside the asteroid belt to give me and Johnson a chance to contact the brass at HIGHCOM and make sure they don't fire on us."
"Yes ma'am," Cortana obliged. Her purple figure tinted to a dark blue and numbers and symbols scrolled up and down her body as she calculated the Slipspace jump for the entire fleet of nearly two hundred ships.
"Teru 'Barukomee," the Arbiter turned to the officer at the communications panel. "Record this message and send it to the fleet."
"Right away, Arbiter," 'Barukomee tapped at his controls. "Ready to record."
"Ship Masters of the Holy Crusaders, you are receiving new data that will make our journey through the alternate dimension significantly faster. Have your Huragok reprogram your generators with this new data as quickly as possible. Time is something we do not have much of. When the reprogramming is complete, send an acknowledgement signal to the Perpetual Devotion. When I have received everyone's signal, I will give the order to jump. The Human construct onboard this vessel will send each of you entry vectors and exit coordinates for the jump along with the special data. Await further orders when we arrive in the Human's star system. We will crush the opposition and make the Humans proud to fight alongside the Holy Crusaders. This has been the Arbiter."
"Message sent, Arbiter," said 'Barukomee. "Awaiting acknowledgement signals from the fleet."
"Very well." The Arbiter turned to Commander Keyes, "You may retire to your private quarters for now. I will summon you when I need you."
The Commander nodded and left the bridge. As soon as she went through the door, two Sangheili recruits standing by the door turned to escort her. The Arbiter had ordered the escorts to follow her everywhere for her own safety. He trusted that she would not harm any of his brethren, but it was his fellow Sangheili he did not trust.
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Commander Keyes entered the small room that was her "private" quarters, which she shared with Sergeant Johnson. It's not that she didn't enjoy the Sergeant's company, but she would have liked to have a space to herself. She turned around and thanked her escorts who exited the room and stood on either side of the door. Johnson, who sat on a table across the room, stood up and walked to her.
"Well?" he asked.
"We are going to Earth as soon as we can," Keyes explained. "Cortana found something in High Charity that will make the Slipspace jump fifteen times faster, but we need to wait for the whole fleet to reprogram their Slipspace drives. The Arbiter said we should be able to jump in about fifteen minutes, and it's been about ten since I left the bridge."
"Well, at least we have a chance to get there before the battle's over," Johnson said.
"Excuse me, ma'am," Cortana suddenly appeared in the middle of the table Johnson was previously sitting on. Her two-foot tall, purple figure almost matched the color of the walls. "We will be entering Slipspace shortly. We are waiting for about ten more ships to report back."
"Good, is everything all plotted out?" the Commander asked.
"Yes, we will arrive in the Sol system just outside of the asteroid belt as you asked, and we will also arrive in a tight formation," Cortana explained. "The journey will be slightly shorter than expected because of the formation I have plotted. The tighter our formation, the faster we will journey through Slipspace. Odd, I know, and I haven't quite figured out the reasoning for this peculiar property."
"Excellent work, Cortana," Keyes said. "Johnson and I are ready."
Suddenly there was a slight rumble throughout the ship. At the same time Keyes felt vaguely nauseous for a moment.
"We have just entered Slipspace," Cortana announced.
"I noticed," Keyes replied.
"If you don't mind me asking, ma'am, could you give me some more details about this whole situation?" Cortana inquired. "Your explanation when you picked me up on High Charity was rather vague. And since we have plenty of time before we get to Earth I thought I might learn a little more about this new 'alliance.'"
"Of course, Cortana," Keyes walked over to the table and eyed the large, oddly shaped chair meant for an Elite. She opted to sit on a nearby stool, which looked more comfortable. She then began to tell Cortana everything that had happened since she left for Halo's control room with Tartarus.
While the Commander told her story, Johnson strolled over to one of the large beds and lay down. He hated being on spaceships, much less while they were in Slipspace. He wanted to have solid ground beneath his feet not some strange purple metal with fake gravity. He had more freedom on the ground without the tight winding passages on a ship. So with nothing to do for the next three hours, Sergeant Johnson slept and dreamt about being back on Earth kicking the crap out of a bunch of Covenant bastards who dared to touch his beloved homeland.
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"We have entered the alternate dimension, Arbiter," announced the young Sangheili officer at the ops panel.
"Very well," said the Arbiter. "'Barukomee, get me the Radiant Essence on a visual link."
"Right away," the red-armored Sangheili tapped a few controls and the face of a golden Ship Master appeared on one of the viewscreens that was formerly dominated by the complete blackness of the empty dimension used for quick interstellar travel.
"You called, Arbiter?" the Ship Master said cheerfully.
"It's good to see you up and well, Niko," the Arbiter smiled. He noticed that 'Gorlomee had a mechanical arm in place of the one that had been blown off by Tartarus. The metallic skeleton attached to his shoulder matched the hue of walls on the bridge on the screen. "How are you adjusting to your new arm?"
"It feels just like my own," 'Gorlomee raised his mechanical left arm and scratched the back of his neck with ease. "It is amazing what our medical team can do with such critical wound."
"Are you enjoying your new command?" asked the Arbiter.
"Quite so," replied 'Gorlomee. "It is much bigger and more powerful than the measly little frigate that was my previous command. You have my gratitude Arbiter."
"You deserve that vessel, Niko," the Arbiter bowed slightly then chuckled. "I hope you take better care of it than that toy Banshee I gave to you when we were only nine stages old."
'Gorlomee laughed at the memory, "That was not my fault. Kado was the one who flew it into the tree."
The Arbiter just continued to chuckle at Niko's response.
"But I will take good care of this gift," 'Gorlomee continued. "It is much more valuable."
"Good. Now go make sure your vessel is battle ready," the Arbiter said. "We must be ready to expect anything when we enter the Humans' system."
"As you wish, Arbiter," the Ship Master bowed and the viewscreen returned to the black void.
"Duku 'Zerrazee," the Arbiter turned to a golden-armored Sangheili standing at the rear of the bridge. "I give you my command while I am gone. Call me when we get close to the Sol system. I am going to my quarters for some much needed rest."
The former Master of the Perpetual Devotion bowed and took the Arbiter's place on the control platform as the Arbiter walked out of the bridge.