Star Wars: Odyssey of the Infinity

by IX404

During a routine safety test, the Slipstream Space Drive of the Infinity malfunctions, catapulting them into unknown space. Little do Lasky and the members of the Infinity know is that they will soon change the fate of a far away galaxy.

4. Greeting The Newcomers

Hello again, everyone, and welcome back to my Star Wars/Halo crossover redux.

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

I also fixed a typo in the headers of each chapter. Instead of saying ABY, the dates are now in the appropriate era, which is BBY.

As always, leave a review, and enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own the Halo or Star War franchises. They are the respective properties and trademarks of Microsoft Studios, 343 Industries, Bungie, Lucasfilm, 20th Century Fox, Disney Films, etc. Any material original to the franchises belongs to it's original developers, producer 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.

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Halo CE OST - Ambient Wonder

UNSC Infinity

Hangar Bay 21-Delta

April 11th, 0 BBY, 8PM (October 26th, 2558, 8PM)

With the ship now safely in Slipstream Space, Lasky was finally able to relax. His shoulders slumped as he sat down and rubbed his face with both hands. Today's been a rough day, he silently admitted as he felt the stress leaving his body. First an accident with the Infinity's Slipspace Drive, now a first contact scenario. Who'd I piss off to deserve this?

Cortana, seeing the adrenaline of the battle wearing off of Lasky, asked, "You OK?"

Lasky took a moment to collect himself. "Yeah," he said. "Really big day. First a knock on the head when the drive malfunctioned, then this happens." Looking at her, he asked, "Did you figure out more of the Death Star's schematics?"

"Yeah," Cortana replied. "I don't know what deranged madman provided the funding for the Death Star, but I can say that they knew their stuff. Like I said earlier, they only activated a single reactor, which allowed them to blast a pretty big crater, larger than even a Super MAC crater."

"Did you find out who designed it?"

"Yep," Cortana replied. "One Galen Erso, though according to the COM-link that I had with Blue Team, Galen wasn't too happy with the Empire. I heard Jyn Erso mention something about a bomb with a fuse at the center of the device, and I think I've figured out what it is."

That had Lasky sit up straight almost immediately. "Do tell."

"Gladly. From what I can tell, Galen Erso hid a flaw that is not easy to find if you're not literate in terms of engineering. According to my simulations, any damage to the reactor module inside of the Death Star will cause a chain reaction that'll cause a massive detonation, enough to blast the entire station apart. My simulations reveal that if the station blew, we're looking at a blast that's equivalent to a NOVA Bomb going off."

Lasky whistled. "I pity anyone that's too close to the detonation when it happens." Getting up, he asked, "What's it's primary weapon?"

"The one we saw demonstrated?" Cortana answered. "According to the schematic, we're looking at a high energy particle beam that's created from eight tributary beams. Once they converge, they create an even more powerful particle beam that can destroy an entire planet if the weapon's fired at full power. A single reactor ignition, like I said earlier, is enough to blast a massive crater out of a planet's surface."

"I see," Lasky noted quietly. It was clear to him that the Death Star was meant to be more than just a space station. It was meant to be a weapon designed to strike terror into the hearts of anyone that dared to resist the Empire. At least we know it has a weakness in the design, he said to himself. "Anything else?"

"Aside from that, it's a pretty impressive station," Cortana remarked. "It can house over 1.2 million personnel inside of it, and it has a pretty large garrison too. It carries enough food and water to last for four years with the personnel that it has, and it can move pretty quickly too. Still, the fact that they need a giant superweapon to maintain order says something about the Empire."

"It does," Lasky agreed. Already, he could tell that the Empire was likely a dictatorship that valued power over all other considerations. Turning his thoughts away from the Death Star, he asked, "How about our guests on the ship?"

"Doing pretty well, all things considered," Cortana remarked. "Trauma teams are still getting the injured to the onboard hospsital, but their chances are good so far. I'll know more once they get to the actual medical bays."

Lasky was about to speak up when the 'com chimed. "Flight Officer Merrick here. You there, Captain?"

Keying his end of the 'com, he said, "Lasky here. What do you have, Merrick?"

"We're about to get to work on the Tantive IV," Merrick replied. "Given that we have a foreign dignitary onboard, you and Envoy Melody might want to get down here as well. We'll see if we can get the ship opened up by the time you guys get down here, but no guarantees on that."

"Copy that," Lasky replied. "Do what you can."

"Will do. Flight Officer out."

Melody came over to Lasky a second later. "What now?" she asked.

Lasky rubbed at the bridge of his nose. "We'll head down to Hangar 21-D," he said to her, "after we get ourselves cleaned up. We'll need to look our best if we're to make a good impression on Leia Organa. I'll also have Jordan come down to the hangar to help with the Tantive IV's troubles, while Spartan Blue Team serves as our bodyguards." As they walked off the bridge, Lasky turned to Conners and said. "You have the bridge, Conners."

"Aye, Captain," Conners replied. "I'll make sure that it's nice and boring when you come back."

"Please do," Lasky sighed. "I'd rather not have to deal with another emergency, aside from the one that's ongoing right now." He turned as he began to head to his quarters. It was time to get cleaned up, and make contact with a new galaxy.

. . .

While Lasky and Melody were getting themselves cleaned up for their first meeting with Leia Organa, Merrick and the rest of the flight crew were having their own troubles. Standing on the ground floor of the hangar bay they were in, Merrick could clearly see the damage control team working out how to get the door open. More than a few of the technicians were scratching their heads, while the rest were working with the Huragok to peel open certain panels without destroying them.

That ship's in a lot more trouble than I thought, Benjamin though to himself. First they have trouble with the damned thing that lets them go to FTL and now this. Scratching his head, he began to wonder if he should've called in sick today.

"DAMNIT!" he could hear Barnard, a member of the damage control crew, snarling before a loud CLUNK echoed in the area. "Damn thing's frozen shut! It won't move no matter what I do!"

"Keep trying it," Benjamin ordered. "You'll figure out a way to get inside." As Barnard went to work, cussing the entire time, Benjamin looked at the ship itself. I hope we can get in, he said quietly…

He wasn't the only one that was wondering about what was going on. Onboard the Tantive IV, Captain Antilles was starting to feel a little heat in his face as he strode down one of the hallways. Gone was the crisp, clean white lighting inside of the ship. Instead, red emergency lights had come on, casting the entire place in a dark red hue, while causing the white surfaces to take on a pinkish-red tint. Looking into a maintenance hatch, he could see a team of eight men working on part of the electrical system for the Tantive IV.

He sighed, while wiping at his face. Docking to the Infinity wasn't what was causing the trouble. The trouble was that, when the ship switched from it's onboard power to the power supply the Infinity used, they had a transient surge in the relevant circuitry. That had blown several relays, which had caused most of the doors to literally seal themselves shut, while also causing trouble with the life support system and lighting. Now, the crew was working overtime to get the relays to behave themselves while solving the electrical troubles at the same time.

To make matters worse, not even their protocol droid or astromech droid was of much help. Turning back towards the corridor, he could see C3P0, as well as R2D2 working at a nearby terminal. C3P0 was a protocol droid, which was a fancy way of saying that he was designed to allow sapient species to communicate with each other more effectively, while also solving problems and planning out various events. R2D2, on the other hand, was an astromech droid. His job was to help with the maintenance and repair of starships and various other things. That meant that he had a wealth of information to work with.

Seeing R2 using his scomp-link to access the database, he asked, "Did R2D2 narrow down the malfunction yet?" In response, R2D2 beeped rapidly a few times, while throwing in a few tones as well.

3P0, living up to his job, said, "He says that he's found the general area of the malfunction, as well as the source of it. Have the technicians work on Relay Bank R3-21. He'll see if he can adjust the power regulators."

"Sure," Antilles agreed. Walking to where the technicians were, he said, "R2 says he found the source of the malfunction: the power regulators are malfunctioning. Adjust Relay Bank R3-21 while he fixes that."

"Got it!" one of the technicians replied. "We're working on it right now!" They quickly went to work at the relay bank in question, with hydrospanners and other tools exchanging hands rapidly.

Antilles turned back towards the corridor, just in time to see Leia coming towards him. "How long until the power's back online?" she asked. "It wouldn't do well for us to appear as though we've got more pressing matters to worry about than the power and Hyperdrive Motivator."

"We'll have it on as soon as possible," he reassured her. "We're working as fast as we can. Peaking inside the maintenance corridor again, he asked, "How long until the relays are fixed?"

Apparently, he wasn't the only one that was hot in the face, as one of the technicians said, "It'll be done when it's done!" Realizing who he was speaking to, he said, "Sorry, sir, ma'am. That was unprofessional on my part. It's just frustrating dealing with a recalcitrant ship that won't behave no matter what we do!" He sighed as his shoulders slumped.

For the first time since the battle had ended, Antilles felt sympathy for the technicians of the ship. Walking over, he hugged the man with a single arm. "I know the feeling," he said. "This ship's gotten old, and she's having a lot of trouble as a result. You've got my full confidence that you'll be able to get the ship working properly once more."

That perked up the technician, as his expression went from crestfallen to hopeful. "Thank you, sir," he said a moment later. "Hearing that means a lot to me and my crew. We'll get this ship fixed up so well that it'll be like she's fresh from the shipyard." He quickly returned to his crew, with said crew now moving with more energy than before.

Antilles smiled. The repair crew, despite the troubles they were having with the ship, was one of the most professional and loyal ones that he could find at Alderaan, though they were also loyal to the Rebel Alliance. They had gotten the ship to work properly before, and he bet every credit in his wallet that they could do it again. Looking at Leia, he said, "Like I said, we'll have power back again. At least life support still functions."

"That it does," Leia agreed. Just as she turned to leave, she heard a triumphant shout. "What is it?" she asked, snatching the words right out of Antilles' mouth.

"R2 got it!" the man in question remarked as R2D2 rapidly beeped. "Sounds like the power regulators were not doing their jobs right, just as he said. The system should start to behave now." Right on cue, the emergency lighting turned off, before being replaced an instant later by the comforting white light that was normal for the ship. That was cause for some heartfelt cheering.

"Nice work, gentlemen," Antilles smiled.

"All of our work is nice," one of the technicians smirked. "When we fix something, it stays fixed. Drinks are on me when we get to the nearest cantina."

"Don't drink yourself into a stupor now," another technician playfully ribbed. "We'll be dragging your scruffy butt all over the place until you become sober again." The crew laughed, with the technician in question laughing as well.

Antilles smiled. People like them make the Alliance and Alderaan great. The Empire lacks the same… enthusiasm, or morality for that matter. Looking at Leia, he said, "Shall we go meet our hosts?"

"Gladly," Leia agreed. "What about C3P0 and R2D2?"

"R2'll will go with you in case Bail Organa calls" Antilles said. "3P0 will also head with you to assist in communicating with the newcomers, if they're human that is…"

Outside of the Tantive IV, Merrick was just about to head up there with a plasma cutter when Barnard Needs, one of the members of the damage control crew, whistled. Coming up to the Tantive's airlock via a catwalk that had been extended to the Tantive IV, he asked, "What is it?"

"Power's back," Barnard explained. "From what we can tell, they were able to get their system to work with ours. We should have this door open in a jiffy."

"Very good," Merrick said. "Once that's done, we can finally get to work on this poor baby." Turning around, he jumped when he saw two familiar faces coming towards him and the work crew. "Looks like the Captain and the Envoy are here as well, along with Spartan BlueTeam," he remarked. "Be with you guys in a moment."

Down on the ground, Lasky was able to take in the sight that was the Tantive IV. To him, the entire ship looked nothing like a diplomatic ship that one might see in the UNSC. Instead, it looked like a agglomeration of tubes, tanks, squares, rectangles and other things that had been lumped together before being welded and bolted into a solid mass of metal, or at least the rear did. The center resembled an cylinder that had four trapezoidal sections bolted on at 90 degree intervals, allowing some turrets to be installed. The front was a large cylinder that had slightly tapered ends, as well as a view port. The entire ship was also quite long, and Lasky could tell that it was almost too long for the hangar bay.

Melody, who was observing the ship, had her own thoughts on the Tantive IV. "It looks like a military vessel that was repurposed for political uses."

"That it does," Lasky agreed. "It's an ugly mess, if you ask me. I just hope that there's a silver lining to all of this."

"Same here," Melody agreed.

While the two talked, the Master Chief and the rest of Blue Team were also examining the ship. The Tantive IV was barely larger than a Mako-class Corvette and it wasn't nearly as tall or wide either. Already, he could see areas that a skilled gunner could target to destroy key sections of the ship. Fred, who was also checking the ship over, said, "I wonder how they avoided having that ship destroyed in the first place. There are a lot of exposed areas that could be targeted."

"My thoughts exactly," Kelly added over the TEAMCOM channel they were using. "Whoever designed the Tantive IV didn't give much thought to how well protected the ship ought to be. What about you, Linda?"

"Same here," Linda added. "Too much of the engine's vital components are exposed, and the hull plating's thinner than that of a Mako-class Corvette." Chief nodded silently, even as they kept up with Lasky and Melody.

Walking towards the ship, they quickly began ascending the steps that would take them to the catwalk that had been extended towards the Tantive IV. As they did so, they spotted Merrick coming towards them. "Flight Officer Merrick reporting for duty!" he said while standing to attention and saluting.

"At ease," Lasky replied. Once the man was at ease, he asked, "What's the status of the Tantive IV?"

"Lousy right now," Merrick said. "The entire ship's been banged up, likely from a previous incident if they're saying their 'Hyperdrive Motivator's' bad. I don't know what the hell a 'Hyperdrive Motivator' is, but I'm guessing it's how they enter FTL flight judging by the name."

"You'd be right. According to Cortana, it's the primary FTL thrust initiator for their ships."

Merrick whistled. "Damn. No wonder they want that thing fixed up as soon as possible. Without that, they're basically stuck in a star system. Good thing that we came onto them when we did, otherwise they'd be in a pickle right now." Taking a breath, he said, "We're currently working on getting the front door open. Hopefully we -"

"Sir!" came a shout from Barnard. "We've got the doors working again!"

"Perfect timing," Merrick remarked. "If you'll excuse me, sir, I've got to coordinate with the damage control team."

"Please do," Lasky said. Looking at Melody, he said, "You ready for this?"

Melody looked determined. "Don't worry about me. If I survived the Carrow Conflict, then I can handle an intergalactic first contact, Lasky. I'm ready to make first contact, even if I have to argue long and hard with these new people."

Lasky smiled. That was one thing that he knew about Melody; when faced with adversity, she didn't give up and wilt under the pressure. Instead, she hunkered down and worked the problem until it was solved in it's entirety. "All right then," he said. "Let's go make a giant leap for mankind." The two advanced to the door, just as it opened…

On the other side, Leia could feel her heart hammering in her chest as she approached the primary airlock for the Tantive IV. Brushing the dress she was wearing, she willed her heart to calm down, while taking deeper breaths. Nearby, her guards looked at her with concern, while Antilles came over to her. "You OK?" he asked.

Leia let the breath she'd been holding out, spoke pleasantly. "I will be fine," she reassured Antilles. "We are about to make history, Antilles. This is the first time that we have encountered a faction that is capable of building a Star Dreadnought. We have to make peaceful contact, otherwise we might all be destroyed. The fate of the entire galaxy rests on my shoulders."

"I know the feeling," Antilles said as he gently laid a hand on Leia's shoulder. "I feel that kind of pressure every time I go into battle with this fine crew of mine. No matter what happens next, Leia, know that I'm with you one hundred percent of the way. I'll whatever is necessary to keep you safe, be it transporting you from one side of the galaxy to the other, or waging war against the Empire."

Leia smiled. "I didn't know you had a way with words."

Antilles shrugged. "I have my moments, Ambassador. I might not be as eloquent as you, but I certainly know how to give a speech." Looking at the door, he said, "We're about to meet the newcomers. Time to go to work."

"Agreed," Leia said. "You ready, 3P0, R2?"

R2 beeped out an affirmative, while 3P0 said, "Certainly. However, I am always nervous when meeting a new peoples. What if they try to harm us and melt me down into scrap?"

"We'll be fine," Leia reassured him. "I'm certain that the Infinity and it's crew are much more reasonable than the Empire. Now, let's delay no longer."With that, she advanced to the door just as it opened. At that moment, she laid her eyes on the two people standing at the door.

The first of the two, Leia, noted, was a handsome young human man. He stood tall, around the same height as Captain Antilles, and was wearing a white tunic, over which was a jacket that was also white, along with white pants and black boots. A pair of black bars adorned the left breast of the jacket, as well as a few colored ribbons. A pair of epaulets were on his shoulders, with each one having four gold bars, and a gold five point star above them. A pair of five point stars also adorned the left and right sides of the single breasted jacket's collar, and on the man's head was a black cap that had a white brim.

The handsome part came when she looked at his face. Both the man's eyes were a dark brown color that matched his equally dark brown hair. His facial features were slightly rough cut, though that only served to accentuate his appearance instead of detracting from it. The eyes, though, seemed to hold the wisdom and sadness that Leia had seen in other soldiers before. This one knows how to wage war, she noted to herself.

Then there was the woman, also human, that was standing next to him. The woman's skin was quite dark, reminding Leia of a photograph she had seen of the late Saw Guerrera. Her braided hair was black in color, while her eyes were a dark green color. She wore a dress that had a black jacket over the top, as well black pants and black dress shoes. Leia could also see what looked like a strip of blue that was over a white undershirt. Odd formal wear, she noted to herself.

Then she noted the guards that were with the two individuals. All of them were tall, taller than even a Wookie if she wasn't mistaken. There were four of them, with most of them in grayish-white armor that covered them from head to toe, while the last one was in olive green armor. Their hands held weapons that she didn't recognize, though from the looks of it, they could cause a significant amount of damage. Must be their bodyguards, she noted to herself.

On the other side of the exchange, Lasky found himself examining the person that he assumed was Leia Organa. She's beautiful, Lasky noted as he looked at her dark brown eyes and brown hair. Leia's face was also well sculpted, accentuating her beauty even more, with the white flowing dress that she wore complimenting her even more. Her hair was in a bun that was hidden under a white veil made from a cloth that Lasky didn't recognize.

Then there was the rather curious pair of individuals nearby. Lasky found himself looking at a gold-plated robot of some kind. It was clearly human in shape, which he noted was likely to help put someone at ease. Between the individual sections of anatomy where what he guessed were motors or hydraulics, though he couldn't see much underneath what he guessed was a flexible protective layer of some kind. Two large optical sensors gazed outwards, while a narrow slit was where a mouth would be. The other robot was just as odd as well. It was short and squat, barely coming up to Lasky's thigh in terms of height. Three legs extended from the cylindrical body, with treads attached to those legs. It's upper portion was round, like a semi-circle, and it rotated around, while a light on the front winked from red to blue and back.

Melody was also looking at Leia with some keen interest. To her, the dress indicated that Leia was quite wealthy, while her stance indicated that she was experienced with making contact with newgroups of people. Still, she could sense an underlying tension in Leia's stance, likely a reaction to the unknown.

A moment later, the woman spoke. "Greetings," she said, "I am Princess Leia Organa, a junior Senator of the Imperial Senate and an Ambassador from the planet Alderaan. Thank you for bringing us aboard your ship."

"It was the least we could do," Lasky agreed. Clearing his throat, he said, "I'm Captain Thomas Lasky of the UNSC Infinity, and a member of the United Nations Space Command. With me is Envoy Melody Azikiwe of the United Earth Government. We are honored to make your acquaintance."

"As am I," Leia agreed. Deep down, she was oddly relieved to see fellow human beings, though she brushed it off as a spur of the moment emotion. Looking at Melody, she said, "I am pleased to meet you once again, Melody. I presume you were the person I was speaking to earlier today, yes?"

"You presume correctly," Melody said. "It was a stressful situation earlier, but I am very happy that we all lived to speak with each other once more, Princess Leia."

"I am as well," Leia replied with a smile. "In addition, Princess is a title used by my people at Alderaan. When I represent the Senate, they call me Senator Organa."

"Oh," Melody said. "My mistake. I meant no offense."

"None taken," Leia replied. Hearing Antilles clearing his throat, she smiled and said, "Oh, my apologies. This is Raymus Antilles, the Captain of the Tantive IV."

Lasky turned his eyes towards the man in question. Raymus Antilles was also quite handsome for a Captain, and Lasky noted that he shared the same eye color and hair color that he had. The difference came in their facial features, as Raymus Antilles' features were more refined and less roughly hewn. "It's a pleasure to meet you," he said to Raymus.

"Likewise," Raymus Antilles replied. His voice was rougher, but not by very much. Looking around, he let out a long, low whistle. "You're the Captain of this ship?"

"Yes," Lasky replied.

"Impressive," Raymus noted. "It makes the Tantive IV look like a piece of junk." He chuckled at the remark, then said, "Still, she's a nice ship, though as you already know, she's fallen on hard times. The Hyperdrive Motivator's shot, and we're having trouble with the electrical grid. Part of the reason it took this long for the doors to open properly, in fact."

"I'm glad we'll be able to lend assistance then," Lasky remarked. "I've got my top engineer on the way here, as well as the damage control crew for this hangar." Motioning to Merrick, who had been quietly standing nearby, he said, "This is Flight Officer Benjamin Merrick. He'll be helping coordinate damage control."

"Nice to meet you," Merrick said as he extended a hand, a hand that Antilles shook firmly. "I also manage the flight operations crew here, as well as a few other teams." Looking at the ship, he said, "I must admit, the ship has a nice bit of charm, in an industrial manner."

"She does," Raymus agreed.

"Still, like you said Antilles, this ship needs some TLC."

That brought a confused look onto Antilles' face. "TLC?" he asked,

"Tender Loving Care," Merrick explained. "We use it to describe a ship that needs some work."

"Ah," Antilles noted with a nod. "I see. Well, she could use a little of that TLC here. You think you can help us out?"

"Between myself and a few others, definitely," Merrick remarked. Looking at Lasky, he said, "Sorry for holding you up, Captain. My boys and I are just eager to get to work."

"I can imagine so," Lasky agreed. Looking at the robots, he asked, "And who might you two be?"

"Me?" the robot asked in a voice that had an accent that reminded Lasky of when he visited the British Isles. "I am C3P0, human-cyborg relations. It is my task to help sapient beings communicate with each other. As for my compatriot, R2D2, he is an astromech droid, and is designed to assist with maintenance and repairs, also with astrogation."

"So you act as a translator while he acts as a repair man and navigator, yes?"

"Precisely," 3P0 replied.

"Good," Lasky noted. "We might need a protocol droid of our own, and an astromech as well." While he sounded serious, Lasky knew that protocol droids wouldn't be needed. One of the things that had come about since the rise of the UEG was the use of machine translation. With the use of translators, a man speaking Russian could easily understand a man speaking Swahili. It was then that he noticed someone missing. "Where's MacCallum?" he asked.

"Good question," Merrick remarked. "I have no idea."

"Over here!" came MacCallum's shouted as he came up onto the gantry. "I swear, I'm still not used to this ship, even after gotten a tour of her!" Spotting the Tantive IV, he looked at the ship for a moment, then said, "What a piece of junk! Who built this ship?! A child?!"

While the comments would've been insulting otherwise, they helped relieve some of the tension the others were feeling. Antilles looked cross for a moment, then he laughed. "She's not the prettiest ship, I'll admit that," he said, "but she gets the job done. I take it your this 'MacCallum' Lasky mentioned."

"Yes sir," MacCallum remarked. "Ship Systems Specialist Jordan MacCallum at your service. I also brought along some more Huragok to help work on the ship." At that, the Huragok that was with Merrick floated into view, just as two more appeared.

Leia had never seen such a species in her entire life, nor could she find any that she could compare them too. To her, the aliens looked like giant floating sacs that were a bluish-purple hue in color. A single head snaked out from the front, with that head having six eyes, no mouth and a sky blue color. A number of tendrils extended out from underneath it.

3P0, seeing this, let out a startled cry, while R2 gave a long sound that Lasky could only describe as a surprised raspberry. "Good gracious me!" 3P0 shouted. "What manner of sapient is this?!"

"I'm wondering the same thing," Leia remarked. She'd never seen anything like it before in her entire career.

Lasky smiled. "That, Princess Leia, is a Huragok, or Engineer as we call them. They're a species that, as the name implies, specializes in engineering, maintenance and repair."

"And they're experts at that craft," Jordan added a second later. "I swear, if you threw a ship that was practically destroyed at them, they'd fix it in half an hour." Looking at Leia, he asked, "You don't mind if we bring them along, now do you? They're mighty curious, and if they see new technology, they learn about it as much as possible before trying to improve it as much as possible."

Leia pursed her lips slightly as she thought to herself. Technically speaking, she knew that the final decision lay with the Captain and not her, though the politics of the situation did complicate things. It then occurred to her that allowing foreign engineers onto the ship would help strengthen relations with this 'United Earth Government,' if that was the government that Lasky and Melody served.

She glanced at Antilles, who nodded at her, having considered the same conundrum as well. "I would be glad to have them aboard," she said a moment later. "However, it is Captain Antilles decision that has the final say."

"I'm fine with it," Antilles said a second later. "Besides, we'll need all the help we can get. It doesn't matter to me if there aliens onboard my ship. You're welcome to come aboard so long as you don't cause trouble."

"Splendid!" Jordan said with a smile. "Then I'm happy to say that we're more than eager to get to work." Whistling at Merrick and the others, he said, "Let's get to work, boys! This ship is sick and she needs a doctor!"

"While they work on the ship, we can speak in one of the conference rooms onboard the Infinity," Lasky suggested to Leia.

"That would be splendid," Leia agreed. Turning to 3P0, she said, "I think it is best that you stay onboard. I doubt that any of us might understand what the 'Huragok' is saying. R2 will accompany me."

"As you wish," 3P0 replied. With that, he went back inside the ship, while R2 remained with Leia.

As he left, Leia turned to Lasky and asked, "Shall we?" Nodding at her, Lasky signaled Blue Team to escort them to the conference room, while Raymus had a few guards do the same for Leia.

Once she stepped out of the ship and into the hangar bay, Leia got a very good idea of just how big the hangar bay was. To her amazement, it was twice as tall as the Tantive IV, and wide enough to hold four more ships of the same size. To the right, she could see a bluish field that she realized was the mag-con field that prevented the ship's atmosphere from being blasted out into the cold, hard vacuum of space itself. Beyond the field, however, were doors that were sealed shut, for what purpose she couldn't guess. The hangar was also quite busy too, with large gunships and what looked like Z-95 Headhunter starfighters being tended to by teams of technicians. "What are those?" she asked as she walked with Lasky and the others.

"That?" Lasky asked. "That's the F-41E Broadsword. It's one of our multirole aerospace fighters. Why do you ask?"

"Just curious," Leia said. "It reminds me of a Z-95 Headhunter. They're old and obsolete starfighters, but they are incredibly durable."

"I see," Lasky noted. "Well, I can assure you that the Broadswords are up to date and quite lethal." As he said this, they walked down the gantry and towards the back of the hangar bay.

It was here that Leia spotted an oddity. To her surprise, she watched as a large tram of some kind appeared, with the cars coming to a complete stop quite quickly. While that wasn't too surprising, as she knew of a few ships that used trams, what had her attention was that the tram didn't use conventional repulsorlift technology. "Captain Lasky, may I ask a question?"

"Sure," Lasky replied.

"Why does your ship use trams?" she asked. "I know of ships that use a similar system, but I can clearly tell that this isn't repulsorlift technology." She pointed at the tram, which now rested on the rails.

"Repulsorlifts?" Lasky asked. "You mean anti-gravity systems?"

"Yes," Leia explained, "if that's your version of repulsorlifts."

"Ah, I can explain. Anti-gravity technology is still quite expensive in the UEG, though we do have a rough equivalent known as mag-lev technology. We use that onboard the Infinity's tram network. As for the trams themselves, the ship is over five and a half kilometers in size, so walking to your destination would take too long. The trams are here as a more efficient form of travel."

Almost immediately, Leia saw the practicality behind that method of transportation. "I see," she said a moment later. "I did not wish to be rude by asking you about this. It's just that repulsorlift technology is commonplace throughout the Empire."

"I understand," Lasky replied. "And there's no need to apologize, Leia. I'm actually happy you asked." With that, they stepped inside of the tram, which quickly began to accelerate. Before long, Leia could see the tram tunnel rushing past the tram cars in a blur. The car stopped periodically to pick up or offload personnel, before proceeding along.

Eventually, they came to a stop at one of the stations, with Lasky and the others quickly stepping out. Following Lasky, Leia took time to look around the ship itself. Everywhere in the hallways that they moved through, she could see personnel quickly moving to and fro about their daily business. The lighting was also quite ample, with not a shadow intruding anywhere one might need to look. Spotting men in body armor, she asked, "Who are they?"

"UNSC Marines," Lasky explained. "The Infinity has a compliment of ground forces for when we need to go ground side. As such, a compliment from the UNSCDF Army and Marines are stationed on the ship for such an eventuality."

"And the men that are your bodyguards?" Leia asked.

"Spartans. They're our most valuable troopers, as well as the most lethal." Lasky didn't say much, though from the tone of voice that he had, Leia could tell that he meant what he said.

Eventually, they came to a door that had a plaque that said Meeting Room 4-C. A pair of men stood outside the double doors, each one fully armored from head to toe, leading Leia to assume that these were also Spartans. The doors opened to reveal a room that had a long, wood table that had eight chairs arranged around it. The walls and ceiling were a gunmetal gray material, while the floor was a darker shade of gray.

On the back wall, Leia could see the symbol of some kind of bird that had it's wings outstretched. Over it's chest was a shield that had the abbreviation UNSC in large bold letters embossed onto it. Beneath the bird was a large sphere with two curving lines stretching from one side to the other. A ribbon underneath the sphere were the words 'United Nations Space Command.' Two smaller globes were on either side of the bird's wings, while a five point star was between the U and N on the shield. That must be their emblem, Leia realized, and it fit. She felt a sense of power and authority being projected from the emblem.

As the doors opened, Leia motioned for her guards to remain outside, with Lasky having the Spartans doing the same. Once he, Leia, R2, and Melody entered the room, the doors slid shut, with a very slight hum being heard before all went silent. As they sat down, Leia said, "Once again, Captain, thank you for hosting us."

"It's a pleasure to do so," Lasky said. As he settled into his chair, he said, "Now, you informed Melody that you wanted to speak with us and make contact with your Imperial Senate. Is that correct?"

"Yes," Leia agreed. "The Imperial Senate is one of the major governing bodies in the Empire, though if I'm going to be honest, it's little more than a figurehead at this point. I wouldn't be surprised if the Empire decided to do away with the Imperial Senate before long."

"Why is that?" Melody asked. "Is the Empire more of an dictatorship with an advisory council?

"Something like that. The Empire is an autocracy, though the military is the body that has the final say on most matters. The one that is in charge of the Empire is Emperor Palpatine."

Hearing this, both Melody and Lasky shared a subtle glance with each other. "So your government is a junta," Lasky observed.

"A junta?" Leia asked.

"A junta is a government that is led by a committee of military leaders," Melody explained. "It's used to denote an authoritarian government that is characterized by an oligarchic military dictatorship."

"I see," Leia noted. "If that's what you mean, then yes. The Empire is a junta, and the Imperial Governors are all members of the military." Looking at Melody, she asked, "What about you? Is your 'United Earth Government' a junta as well?"

"No, I'm happy to say," Melody replied. "The UEG is the governing body of Earth and her colonies. We are a representative democracy that utilizes the principals of subsidiarity and federalism to improve the efficiency of the system. Currently, Ruth Claret is the President of the United Earth Government. She's currently in the first term she'll lead as President, and then she can go on to serve for twelve more years, each one split up into a term she can be elected for. After that, she is ineligible for election."

Leia sighed subtly. Deep down, she had been worried that the UEG was a military junta like the Empire, though it was becoming clear that was not the case. "I see," she said. "I am quite glad to hear those words, though this has me wondering what the UNSC is? Is that your military?"

"Yes," Melody replied. "Lasky can tell you more on that."

"That I can," Lasky concurred. "The UNSC is the exploratory, scientific and military arm of the UEG. We were formed nearly four centuries ago in response to clashing political ideologies that nearly tore apart our home system. Since then, we have served as the sword and shield of Humanity in our galaxy."

"Did you say 'your galaxy?'" Leia asked, picking up on that in an instant.

"That's correct," Lasky confirmed. "We're from another galaxy, specifically the Milky Way Galaxy. Currently, we're in the Andromeda Galaxy, which is the Milky Way Galaxy's cosmological neighbor. Why do you ask?

For the first time in her life, Leia was practically dumbfounded by those words. These fellow human beings are from another galaxy, she said to herself. "I… I'm…", she stammered. Collecting herself for a moment, she said, "Do you have evidence of this? No one's ever been outside of the galaxy before."

"Why is that?" Melody asked.

"There is a hyperspace anomaly at the edge of the galaxy that prevents our hyperdrives from leaving the galaxy's edge," Leia explained. "All star charts show it as a hazardous zone that is not to be traversed at all costs. Those that have tried have never returned."

"I see," Lasky replied. "The good news is that we have evidence that we came from another galaxy." A moment later, he said, "Gabriela? Cortana? Are you two there?"

"That we are," the two AIs replied.

"I remember those two," Leia said. "They helped guide the Tantive IV into your ship."

"That they did," Lasky agreed. "Now you're going to meet the two of them." As he said this, two panels set into the center of the table moved down before retracting into the table itself. This revealed a holographic projector set into the table, while a similar protrusion deployed from the ceiling.

A moment later, Leia watched as two individuals appeared in the center of the holo-projector. The first was a woman in a similar uniform as Lasky's, only it lacked the shoulder pauldron and had a series of stars on the shoulder straps. Both of her brown eyes scanned the room, while her brown hair shifted to follow her head as it turned. The other was much more esoteric. Leia found herself looking at a woman that was bright blue in color, with black hair and blue eyes. Her blue skin was covered in what looked like computer circuitry, while lines of what looked like code ran down parts of her body.

"Leia," Lasky said a moment later. "Meet Gabriela and Cortana, two of the AIs onboard our ship."

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Cortana said to Leia.

Leia was silent, then she remembered her manners. "The honor is mine as well," she said. Looking at Lasky, she asked, "What is an AI?" R2, who had never seen an AI before, gave a series of whistles and beeps.

"Nice to meet you too, R2," Cortana replied. 'As for your questions, I'll let Melody answer. Floor's yours."

"Thank you," Melody said. "An Artificial Intelligence is a computer program that is capable of thinking and reasoning for itself, while also experiencing emotions as well. Cortana and Gabriela are Smart AIs, meaning that they have full sapience. Dumb AIs have some of the properties of a Smart AI, but are designed only for a single purpose."

"I see," Leia noted. "So your AIs are droid programs, yes?"

A that, Cortana looked insulted, though Gabriela cleared her throat, an oddly human-like sound. "I think you might have the wrong impression," she said to Leia. "A droid is your galaxy's equivalent of a Dumb AI, meaning that they have some level of sapience, but are designed for a single purpose, nothing more, and they cannot branch out from the programming they were given.

"Smart AIs, on the other hand, are not only capable of learning new functions that are not a part of their original programming, they are capable of full sapience. We feel the same emotions as other human beings, and we learn like them as well. Does that help?"

"It does," Leia replied, surprise suffusing her veins. "I've never heard of a computer that's fully aware of itself, as well as what it can do. It's never been done before in the entire galaxy, as far as I am aware."

"Understandable," Gabriela said. "I would be surprised if I didn't know what an AI was too. We are getting sidetracked however." Pulling up some information readouts and holograms, she said, "Here you go. All the evidence you need that we're from another galaxy."

Looking at the holograms, Leia could see that information. AS she looked through it, a confused expression came over her face. Leaning back, she said, "I understand that you had a malfunction with your form of FTL flight, but didn't know it was that serious. What form of FTL flight do you use?"

"I can explain," Gabriela said. "The UNSC uses a form of FTL flight known as Slipstream Space Flight. This form of flight allows us to utilize Slipstream Space, an 11-dimensional form of space time where the laws of physics are dramatically different from that of normal 4-dimensional space-time.

"As for how we ended up here, we were conducting a routine test of the Infinity's Slipspace Drive when we suffered a malfunction. That malfunction resulted in our ship traveling the 2.5 million light year distance between our home galaxy, the Milky Way Galaxy, and your galaxy, known to us as the Andromeda Galaxy. When we cut power to the drive, we arrived over the planet you call Scarif and, as they say, the rest is history."

"I see," Leia noted. Even before she had docked to the Infinity, she knew that they had come from somewhere different, though she expected them to have come from the Unknown Regions, not another galaxy far away from theirs. "Perhaps we can work out a form of agreement to preserve peace between our two factions."

"That we can," Melody agreed. "Maybe by sharing each other's history, we can better understand each other. Mind if you start first?"

"Not at all," Leia agreed with a smile. "The galaxy that we live in has been quite turbulent recently, though this was not always so. Thousands of years ago, the government that precedes the current one, known as the Galactic Republic, was founded to allow all species in the galaxy to live and work alongside each other in peace and harmony. Much of this was possible thanks to the work of an organization known as the Jedi Order."

"Jedi Order?" Melody asked.

"Yes," Leia replied. "The Jedi were a group of individuals that used a mystical power known as the Force. I admit, I know very little of it, but my father, who spoke with many Jedi, did tell me that it is an invisible energy field that all living things create. The Jedi were masters of the Force and were able to use it in ways that boggles the mind. For thousands of years, they helped keep the peace and maintain order in the Republic.

"I take it that didn't last forever."

"It did not," Leia agreed. "The unity of the Republic was threatened when a number of planets, under the guidance of a man called Count Dooku, seceded from the Republic and formed the Confederacy of Independent Systems, or CIS for short. They were known more commonly as the Separatists, though they began waging war against the rightful authority of the Republic. To stop them, the Republic turned to the use of a clone army to wage war against the Separatists."

That detail caught Melody and Lasky's attention almost immediately. "Clones?" Lasky asked. "You're saying that the Galactic Republic used clones?"

"Yes," Leia replied. "This was because of the Russan Reformations, which not only restored power to the Galactic Senate, but also did away with a galactic military. Without a clone army that was well trained and ready for war, the Galactic Republic would've been vulnerable to the depredations of the Separatists. Why do you ask?"

"Cloning is a highly controversial topic in the UEG and UNSC," Melody explained. "In the UEG, for instance, flash cloning organs is legal, but cloning a full human being is illegal. The ban was created on moral and ethical grounds."

"I see," Leia noted. "Personally, I do not agree with the Republic's decision to create the Grand Army of the Republic. In addition, I was born during the last days of the Clone Wars."

"Understandable," Lasky agreed. "Go on."

"According to my father, the war with the CIS waged for three years, though the fighting became so intense that many people lost their lives. It was then that, near the end of the war, that Chancellor Palpatine accused the Jedi Order of instigating the war and allying with the Separatists, along with attempting to assassinate him. To stop them, he issued Order 66, which ordered the deaths of all Jedi. The order was carried out with ruthless efficiency, and the Jedi Order was destroyed.

"With the Jedi gone and the CIS defeated, Chancellor Palpatine changed the Galactic Republic into the Galactic Empire, and restructured it into a military junta as you called it. For the past nineteen years, the Empire has ruled over the entirety of the galaxy with an iron fist. However, the Senate was preserved, leading to the creation of the Imperial Senate. To this day, that is how things have been, and the Empore has ruled with an iron fist."

As the room fell silent, Lasky and Melody exchanged a look with each other. From what they had learned, it seemed that the formation of the Empire was a bit too… convenient, and that what they heard had likely been created as propaganda. Turning to Leia, he said, "I take it there's a different version. Yes?"

"That is correct, and that is the one I believe to be true," Leia agreed. "My father says that the Jedi were honorable and noble, and did not wish to side with the CIS. To him, Palpatine wanted to get rid of the Jedi, as he saw them as an obstacle to him obtaining absolute power over the Republic. To express such an opinion, or even to stand up and resist the Empire, is seen as treason and is punishable by death."

Again, Lasky and Melody glanced at each other. It was clear that while the Empire was trying to paint itself as a legitimate government, it was anything but. Good leaders don't punish civilians by executing those that disagree with the government, Lasky said to himself. He was firmly aware that the UEG and UNSC had been doing something similar to the Insurrection, though the recent war had begun a reformation process that would, hopefully, see the UEG become something better.

Melody, who was having similar thoughts, said, "I see. From the sounds of things, you support the Rebel Alliance."

Leia nodded hesitantly. "I do not agree with most of their methods, but I agree in that the Empire needs to change, otherwise it will fall apart and anarchy will ensure. Plus, the Emperor must be held responsible for what he has done." Looking at them, she said, "I've shared with you some of our history. Mind if I hear yours?"

"Certainly," Lasky agreed. "As you know, the UNSC and UEG were formed four centuries ago, in the year 2163 to unify Humanity in our galaxy under a single banner. This came after the Rainforest Wars, which saw the neo-communist Koslovic and neo-fascist Frieden factions of humanity wage war against each other. To stop the conflict from escalating, the United Nations, the precursor to the UEG, created the UNSC to bring a halt to the fighting. Once the fighting ended, the United Nations, in 2173, restructured itself into the UEG or United Earth Government.

"It was around the late 2200s that Humanity in our galaxy began to colonize the stars. This was all possible thanks to the invention of the Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engine, or Slipstream Space Drive, by Tobias Fleming Shaw and Wallace Fujikawa. For the next two hundred years, we began to expand out into the stars peacefully, in what was known as the Domus Diaspora."

"I take it that, just like us, things didn't stay that way," Leia observed.

"An astute observation," Melody agreed. "It was around the mid to late 2400s that things began to go downhill. By this time, human controlled space was split into two sections, known as the Outer and Inner Colonies, respectively. The Outer Colonies, due to poorly thought out laws by the UEG Congress, began demanding equal representation, with some calling for secession from the UEG as a whole.

"It was the Far Isle Rebellion when things really began to heat up. Due to a colossal error in judgment, the CO of UNSC personnel on that colony authorized the use of WMDs to crush the rebellion, leading to the colony's destruction. While the CO in question was court-marshalled and imprisoned for his actions, it fueled the fires of rebellion, leading to the creation of the Insurrection. For over four decades, we were fighting back and actually winning, then it all nearly fell apart."

"Why?" Leia asked.

"The Covenant-UNSC War," Lasky replied as he had Cortana and Gabriela bring up more info.

"I'm sorry… I don't understand."

"I can explain," Lasky replied. "It was around 2525 when we lost contact with one of our colonies, an agricultural world known as Harvest. When a UNSC Battle group went to investigate, only one of the ships came back. They faced off against a ship of unknown make that nearly wiped them all out. They got this transmission, though, just as they escaped." A moment later, he played an audio file.

The voice that Leia heard was both human, yet inhuman, at the exact time. "Your destruction is the will of the gods, and we are their instrument. We are the Covenant, and we shall be your annihilation." A moment later, the file ended.

"That," Lasky continued speaking, "was the start of the Covenant-UNSC War. The Covenant was a coalition of alien races that had formed due to a common religious ideology. They worshiped an extinct species known as the Forerunners, revering them as gods that had ascended to a higher level of existence. As for us, though, they saw us as heretics and defilers of their gods gifts." It was then that Lasky had Cortana and Gabriela show Leia images of the Covenant-UNSC War.

For the first time in her life, Leia felt pity and sorrow for the UNSC, as well as pure horror at the horrors the Covenant had inflicted onto the UNSC. She watched as a brave father fought back against a reptilian creature despite knowing that he would die, while his wife and child screamed in terror as they fled. She watched as countless brave soldiers laid down their lives to defeat the Covenant, and to buy Humanity a future.

As the images came and went, tears began to roll down her face. When Lasky noticed this, he stopped the footage, causing Leia to jump slightly. Wiping her tears with a part of her dress, she said, "By the Force… this… this is horrible… Why… why would the Covenant do this? Why would they murder innocent men, women and children?!" By the end of that sentence, Leia was shouting in anger and horror.

"I know why," Lasky said in response to her shouting. "When you get a group of religious zealots to hate something enough, they turn from people into animals that want nothing more than to rip and tear you apart. The Covenant saw us as sub-sapient, little more than vermin to be crushed underfoot."

Just as he said this, R2, who had been listening quietly, immediately began to beep and whistle. "What's going on?"Melody asked.

"I think I know what he's saying," Cortana informed them. "I think he's saying that he's being contacted by someone named 'Bail Organa.' Any idea who that is?"

"I know who," Leia said as she tried up the remaining tears on her face. "Bail Organa's my father. He's probably trying to get in contact with me. May I speak with him?"

"Of course," Lasky replied. "Go ahead."

"Thank you," Leia replied. A moment later, she motioned to R2 to begin transmitting the message. A moment later, Lasky watched as a hologram formed from R2's holoprojector. The image resolved into a bluescale image of a man dressed in fine robes, as well as a pair of dress pants and dress shoes. The man's face, though, was the most eye catching part, as Lasky could see that the man had black hair and a beard of the same color. While he couldn't see the man's true eye color, he could see the man's facial expression, which was visible concern.

"Senator Leia," Bail said in a smooth and rich voice. "I received your message over a hour ago, and I've been trying to contact you since. What's happened, and why are you crying? Are you hurt?"

"I'm all right," Leia replied. "I was speaking to the Captain of the Star Dreadnought I am currently onboard at his invitation. He was sharing with me his people's past. It was most dreadful what happened to his people." She took a few minutes to explain to Bail what she had learned.

When she finished, Bail's expression was drawn, as though he'd heard some of the most terrible news of his life. "I... I see," he said softly. "I'm sorry to hear that. It seems as though they've gone through a terrible war, though it gladdens me to hear that they are thriving once more. I'm also relieved to know that you are safe. May I speak with the Captain of this Star Dreadnought?

"Yes," Leia replied. Turning to Lasky, she said, "Captain Lasky, this is senior Senator Bail Organa of the Imperial Senate and former Ambassador of Alderaan. Senator Bail, this is Captain Thomas Lasky of the United Nations Space Command and Envoy Melody Azikiwe of the United Earth Government. They are the ones in charge of the Star Dreadnought."

"Pleased to meet you," Lasky replied.

"As am I," Bail said. "My daughter says that you invited her onboard your ship. Is that true?"

"Yes," Melody replied. "Leia asked if she could come onboard so that, when she called your Imperial Senate, she could ensure that there was no misunderstanding once she tells them that what happened was an accident. We were testing our FTL drive when it malfunctioned and threw us into a battle between the Rebel Fleet and Imperial Navy. We accepted, and Lasky granted her permission to come aboard."

Bail sighed. Now that he knew that Leia was not in harms way, he focused on what they were going to do next. "I see. Since that is the case, my daughter, Leia, has her work cut out for her. You must be wary when it comes to dealing with the Imperial Senate. The military controls it, and if the Imperial Senate doesn't toe the line when it comes to their agenda, they will not listen to you or to her."

"We're well aware of that," Melody replied. "From the sounds of things, the Empire really doesn't like having to deal with something that makes it look bad."

"And that they usually resort to violence if things don't go their way," Lasky added.

"That they do," Bail agreed. Hearing something, he turned to the side and whispered to someone that was out of view. When he turned back to them, he said, "I'll need to cut this call short. My men are saying that we are approaching Coruscant, and I will need to head to the Imperial Senate. I sincerely hope that, whatever happens next, that we continue to maintain the peace."

"Agreed," Lasky said. "The last thing we need is another war."

"Sam here," Melody added. "Take care, Senator."

"And you as well," Bail replied. "Turning to Leia, he said, "We'll speak another time. See you then." With that, the holo-transmission ended.

"He sounds like a nice person," Lasky observed, though he internally noted what Bail had said earlier. "Also, we don't have that form of communications."

"Really," Leia asked. "You might have to look into that. As for Bail, he is a good man that wants to help as many people as he can." Turning to Lasky, she said, "You said that your people were fighting in a war. How did you win?

"We won after a major struggle against the Covenant," Lasky explained. "We destroyed one of their religious artifacts, which caused a schism in the Covenant. That was good news, as that not only allowed us to defeat the Covenant, it allowed us to bring the war to an end."

Leia sagged slightly with relief. "How did you defeat the Covenant?"

The destruction of the Covenant began when the Schism began," Lasky explained. "It began when a member of the Covenant, known as Thel 'Vadamee, a member of the Sangheili species, was stripped of his rank of Supreme Commander and forced to become the Arbiter. It was a punishment in the Covenant, with each Arbiter being used to resolve a conflict, though the Arbiter would always die by design. When he discovered the truth about our species, which was that our species was to inherit the Forerunner's technology, he told everyone that he could, while surviving every attempt by the Prophets to kill him.

"This led to a major schism, which saw the destruction of the Covenant at another Forerunner installation, also known as the Ark. Chief was instrumental in not only destroying the Covenant, but in also containing the Flood threat once and for all. Were Chief not around, we would've lost the war, and our entire species would've been wiped out. Since then, we've been rebuilding from the war, though once more, we are the giants."

As Lasky fell silent, the full weight of what the UEG had gone through sank into Leia's mind. They had waged a war for their very survival and had survived through sheer luck and sheer skill. It then occurred to her why they built the Infinity: it was to be the UEGs greatest defense against extinction, and against any threat that would come their way.

Taking a shuddering breath, she said, "I-I thank you for sharing this with me. What you've been through, what you have fought against, would've shattered lesser governments. In addition, this 'Master Chief' must be a warrior of the highest level." After a moment, she asked, "What became of the Sangheili and the other members of the Covenant?"

"With the San'Shyuum's deception exposed, the Covenant shattered," Lasky explained. "The Sangheili are now our allies, though splinter factions that believe in the Prophets still exist, along with the other Covenant races. In fact, I would like to introduce you to a Sangheili, if you don't mind."

"O-of course," Leia replied, having regained her composure long ago. As she said this, the door opened, prompting her to turn around. What she saw was a species she had never seen before in the entire galaxy. The creature that stood before her was tall, taller than even the Master Chief, with two digitigrade legs supporting it's upper body, which had a strong, muscular torso. From it's large upper chest came two arms that ended in four fingered hands. Each hand had two thumbs and two fingers.

The shoulders supported a long neck, which held an elongated skull. It had no mouth, but rather four mandibles that were lined with teeth. Two yellow-orange eyes gazed at Leia with a sharp, predatory intelligence that nearly made her shrink in her seat. The alien was covered in a black bodysuit that had ornately shaped gold plates covering it.

Lasky didn't react, as he knew this particular Sangheili. "This, Leia, is a Sangheili. This one, in particular, is one of twenty four assigned to the Infinity. I would like to introduce you to N'tho 'Sraom. N'tho, this is Princess Leia, a member of the Imperial Senate."

To Leia's surprise, the alien bowed slightly, placing a fist over it's chest speaking. He, as the Sangheili was unmistakably male, said in a deep but smooth voice, "Greetings, Princess Leia. It is an honor to be meeting with you."

Recovering herself, Leia stood up and bowed slightly as well. 'It is an honor to be speaking with you as well," she said. "Tell me, though. Is what Lasky said true?"

N'tho was silent, though Leia could see him bow his head slightly. Guilt and shame were clearly evident in N'tho's eyes and in his voice when he spoke. "Yes. The Prophets tricked us, twisting our minds with their lies when they set us upon your species. Were it not for the Arbiter and the Demon showing us the truth, we would have exterminated your species in the galaxy we came from. Thanks to them opening our eyes to the truth, we have rejected the lies of the Prophets and now see the Humans as friend and ally, though not all of us believe that to be the case."

"I see," Leia noted. "You said Demon, by the way. Who are you referring to?"

"It's a name for the Master Chief the Covenant gave him," Lasky explained. "I don't know whether it was an insult or a compliment."

"An insult to be certain," N'tho explained as he sat down next to Leia, "but one with a modicum of respect. I was one of three Sangheili that fought alongside the Master Chief when we broke free from the Prophet's lies and deceit. In time, we came to call him ally, and he is one of the few that called Thel 'Vadam, the Arbiter, friend." As he spoke, Leia could clearly hear the respect and admiration that N'tho had for the Master Chief.

Sitting down, Leia processed all that she had heard. The Imperials made a mistake by attacking the UNSC, she realized. By doing so, she realized that not only had the Empire fought an innocent group of waylaid explorers, they had also nearly provoked the wrath of a government that had fought for it's own survival and one that had won against overwhelming odds. If the Covenant could not defeat the UEG, then what hope do we have, she wondered.

Taking a breath, she said, "I see. It's very clear that the Empire made a mistake in attacking all of you. When we can, I will speak to the Imperial Senate and arrange a meeting that, I hope, will clear up any misunderstandings about what happened."

"That would be nice," Lasky remarked. "We don't want another war if we can help it."

Leia was about to speak when they heard a strange beeping sound. "Excuse me," she said. "That's from Captain Antilles." Keying her comlink, she said, "Yes, Captain?"

"Princess Leia," came Antilles' voice. "I apologize for the interruption, but we just got word that the Imperial Senate is ready to host the meeting you called. In addition, we'll need Cortana's help to fix the hyperdrive. Shall we await your return?"

Leia looked at Lasky, who nodded at her. "Yes," she said a moment later. "I will return shortly." Closing her comlink, she said, "I'm afraid we will have to cut this short for the time being. I need to return to my ship and speak with the Imperial Senate."

"Of course," Lasky agreed. "If you don't mind, we would like to accompany you to your ship."

"Of course," Leia agreed as she got up. "We'll need you onboard to show the Imperial Senate that what we say is true. Also, Cortana can help repair the Hyperdrive if she feels up to it."

As they did so, Lasky said, "Cortana, you think you can help with the Hyperdrive on the Tantive IV?"

"Sure," Cortana replied. With that, she and Gabriela disappeared, with Lasky and Melody following Leia.

. . .

While Leia was speaking with Lasky and the others, Jordan and the members of the hangar's damage control team were up to their elbows inside of the Tantive IV. Inside Deck 2 of the ship, Jordan was examining the Hyperdrive for the Tantive IV, and he was thoroughly confused. For one thing, he had no idea how a Hyperdrive was supposed to work, though he figured that he could puzzle it out given enough time. The other, though, was that he didn't have a schematic to work with and while there was a library nearby, it was in a language that he didn't understand at all.

The entire room itself was fairly small, large enough to hold a conference desk and a few other things. The entire room, though, was occupied by a large, flat rectangle that had markings all over it, along with cables coming out of it and going into the floor. This, according to Antilles, was the ship's Hyperdrive, the very device that allowed the Tantive IV to traverse space, ignore time, and thumb it's metallic nose at Einstein.

Right now, though, Jordan was more puzzled than anything. "Damn," he grumbled to himself, "and I thought Slipspace Drives were complicated. This is even more so, and I don't even know where to start." Turning to Antilles, who was nearby, he said, "I'm not qualified to work on hyperdrives. I don't know where to start."

"Damn," Antilles grumbled. "None of our technicians are qualified to work on it either. It was a long shot, but I'm glad you came to check it out."

3P0, who was nearby, said, "Is there anything that can be done?"

"There might be a chance that we can fix it," Jordan added.

"Oh?" Captain Antilles asked.

"We can have Cortana hook into the computer systems and use the schematics to tell us what we need to do," Jordan suggested. "We can even have one of the Huragok come in and fix up the damaged Hyperdrive Motivator, wherever that is. If we have her access the ship's networks, then we can figure out how to fix your ship. Still, you're the Captain of this boat, so it's your call."

As much as Antilles hated to admit it, he knew that Jordan was right. There was no one on hand that could fix the hyperdrive, and any engineers onboard the Rebel Fleet were inaccessible at this time. Taking a breath, he let it out in a long sigh and said, "Well, if it allows us to fix the ship." Turning to one of his men, he said, "Have the Comms Officer make a Com-link to the Infinity. Perhaps she can figure this out."

"No need to," came the reply over the shipwide intercom. The voice was so sudden that 3P0 yelped.. "I've been waiting and listening to you guys puzzle this out. I must admit, the firewalls on this ship are pretty poorly made."

"Cortana?!" Jordan growled. "Did you hack into the Tantive IV?!"

"No," Cortana replied. "Leia gave me her blessing to move into the ship network and help you guys out. Sorry if I startled you, 3P0."

"Good gracious me!" 3P0 gasped. "I didn't know that there was another droid in here."

"Will you stop with the whole droid thing?!" Cortana groused. "I! Am! An AI! No offense intended, but I'm way smarter than a droid ever can be, and I'm certainly much more capable too."

"I apologize," 3P0 stammered. "I didn't mean to cause offense. I have just never heard of an AI before."

"None taken," Cortana said diplomatically.

"I see," Jordan sighed. "Sorry, Cortana. Ever since the battle, my nerves have been jittery."

"That's all right," Cortana replied. "Now, the ship has a schematic of the Hyperdrive aboard it already. Could you allow the Huragok to access the systems?"

"You mean one of those strange aliens that came aboard the ship?" 3P0 asked. Right on cue, there was a trilling as one of the Huragok floated into the Hyperdrive Systems Room. While he knew it was friendly, Captain Antilles felt his hand subconsciously move towards his blaster pistol, and his guards did the same. Halting them, he allowed the Engineer to drift closer to them. 3P0, seeing this, nearly squeaked with fright, before remembering that they were friendly. "Oh, um… Hello," he said to it. "I am C3P0, human-cyborg relations." When he got no response, he asked, "Can you understand me?"

"He probably doesn't," Jordan replied. "But I can talk to him." Before 3P0 could ask what he meant, Jordan pursed his lips and gave a series of whistles and chirps. Much to 3P0's surprise, the Huragok nodded, before trilling while making a series of gestures with it's tendrils. "Slightly Too Heavy says that he's pleased to meet you as well, and that he can understand you as well."

"Slightly Too Heavy?" 3P0 asked. "Is that his name?"

"Yes," Jordan replied. "Huragok aren't born in the typical sense that a human being is, but rather manufactured. Two Huragok, when given the proper materials, will create another one, while gifting the new one a copy of their knowledge. The hard part comes when they have to make the gases that allow them to float. As such, they're named based on whether they float or sink initially, hence the name Slightly Too Heavy."

"How strange," 3P0 remarked as he looked at Slightly Too Heavy. "I would love to learn the language that your kind speaks, Slightly Too Heavy. I am programmed to be fluent in over six million languages, and I would love to add another one to my database."

In response, Slightly Too Heavy trilled and whistled. "He says that he would love to teach you his language as well, once he's done improving your individual components that is. What he did just ask for, however, was to access the ship network in order to get the schematics for the hyperdrive."

"Splendid!" 3P0 cheered. "My question, though, is how is he going to do so?"

"Good question," Antilles remarked with a shrug. In response, Slightly Too Heavy floated over to one of the computer terminals inside of the Tantive IV. Opening a panel, he snaked in one of his tendrils and began accessing the internal systems.

"Huragok are living computers," Jordan explained. "All they have to do is connect one of their tendrils to a computer's data access ports and then they can gather the info they need."

As he said this, Slightly Too Heavy pulled away from the computer terminal and floated over to the Hyperdrive and let it's tendrils over parts of the Hyperdrive, before coming to a stop near one of the components. A moment later, it reached inside, then, working quickly, it gently extracted a boxy component that Antilles recognized as the Hyperdrive Motivator. The alien ran a tendril over the surface of the device. What happened next had Antilles' jaw drop open out of shock.

In a few seconds, the Engineer disassembled the Hyperdrive Motivator down to it's tiniest components, it's tendrils splitting into smaller and smaller ones. It then promptly reassembled the Motivator, before repeating the process two more times. A moment later, it floated back over to the drive and, following Cortana's instructions, reinstalled the Hyperdrive Motivator. Floating backwards, it trilled and whistled a few times.

"What did it just do?" Antilles asked out of shock.

"Hang on," Jordan replied. "Let me speak to him." Whistling a few times, Jordan listened as Slightly Too Heavy made some gestures while whistling. "Ah. He says that he repaired a manufacturing defect that was inside of the Hyperdrive Motivator. Apparently, some of the circuitry was corroded. He was able to fix it, though, and he says that your Hyperdrive is functional now."

Antilles sighed, relieved to hear those words. "All this time, a tiny little problem was giving us that much trouble," he remarked. Smiling, he said, "Thanks for coming by. Tell Slightly Too Heavy that he was a lifesaver." Just as he did, Slightly Too Heavy trilled a few times.

"He said, 'you're welcome,'" Jordan translated for Antilles. "In fact, he's wondering if, when y'all have the time, if he could study a Hyperdrive so that he could improve upon it."

Antilles smiled. "I think that can be arranged. First, though, I have to return to the bridge. Princess Leia's about to contact the Imperial Senate." With that, he left for the bridge, leaving Jordan to puzzle out more of the ship's internal workings.

. . .

Far away from the Infinity, around an hour later, there was another meeting going on in the Imperial Senate. The interior of the Imperial Senate had changed little from it's Galactic Republic days, with the innermost chamber housing the entire Senate. Thousands of small pods, each designed for an ambassador from a sector of the Empire, were arranged across the entire surface of the room. In the center of the chamber was a large, ornate podium that was able to ascend and descend as needed. The entire room was lit up with enough lights to provide ample illumination.

It was in one of these pods that Bail Organa was sitting in, his entire body tense with anticipation and nervousness as other Senators entered. Some had come from worlds that were nearby in the Core Worlds, while others were using holo-communications to get in touch, as they were unable to attend in person. Once everyone was gathered, the Senate Speaker, a tall and elderly Twilek, said, "The Imperial Senate is now in session." Once everyone had acknowledged that, he said, "We have received a request for an emergency meeting at Senator Leia Organa's request. All in favor of hearing, please vote."

There was a brief pause as all the Senators voted. After a few minutes, the speaker said "The Imperial Senate recognizes and grants Senator Organa's request to communicate with us. Opening a channel now."

A moment later, a large holographic image of Leia Organa was displayed in the entire Senate Chamber. Steeling herself, Leia was silent for a moment, then she said, "Fellow Senatorsr of the Imperial Senate. Today is a day that I have every reason to believe will go down in history as either one of the greatest achievements of the Imperial Senate, or a harbinger of dark times to come." Using the silence for dramatic effect, she said, "Around an hour ago, Imperial forces engaged a ship from an unknown faction that appeared over the world of Scarif, in the Outer Rim.

"This happened when my ship, the Tantive IV, was undergoing repairs to the hyperdrive at the Rebel Fleet and, as such, was also stranded at Scarif. Before we could make contact, the Imperials assaulted the ship in the mistaken belief that the ship was reinforcements for the Rebel Fleet that was assaulting the Imperial forces at Scarif. During the battle, I was able to make contact with the unknown ship, and I was able to learn the identity of the crew and the ship. The ship, a Star Dreadnought of immense size, was under the command of two people." At that, she made a slight motion that was out of sight.

A moment later, Bail watched as the two people that he'd spoken with earlier, Captain Lasky and Envoy Melody, walked into view. A collective gasp rippled through the entire chamber as the Senators saw the newcomers for themselves. "These two gracious people," Leia explained, "are Envoy Melody of the United Earth Government and Captain Thomas Lasky, Commanding Officer of the Star Dreadnought known as the Infinity, and an veteran member of the United Nations Space Command, the military, scientific and exploratory arm of the UEG. When I spoke with them, I learned that they did not arrive at Scarif willingly. Instead, they arrived due to a malfunction with their primary means of faster than light travel, which resulted in them accidentally destroying a Star Destroyer.

"I also have spoken with them and have learned much about their history. For four hundred years, in a galaxy not far from our own, they have expanded peacefully into the stars, but are rebuilding from a war that nearly destroyed their entire species. A war that saw countless worlds destroyed and countless innocents die at the hand of a genocidal alien alliance known as the Covenant. For twenty seven years, they fought for the survival of the entire species, against odds that would make even the Clone Wars look nothing more than a skirmish."

At those words, images of the Covenant-UNSC War flashed into view. The senators gasped as they watched the horrors the UNSC had fought against. A keening sound came from one Senator as he saw a father valiantly defending his children and wife from a reptilian monster, while another Senator watched frozen as soldiers in armor fought valiantly to save as many innocents as possible.

There was also footage as well, with the sights and sounds of the battles waged there loud and clear for alll to see and hear. More than a few Senators were now crying as they saw the horrors the Covenant had inflicted, though more than a few were cheering at the victories the UNSC won. Footage of the battle over Scarif was also shown, though everyone was silent as they watched. By the time the images stopped, most were looking more than a little queasy, even as Leia continued speaking.

"My fellow Senators, we must come together as one to avoid a war that the Imperial Navy, in it's impulsiveness and foolishness, nearly started. We must negotiate with the United Earth Government if we are to prevent a war that will see even more death and suffering. The UEG and UNSC do not wish to wage war, but will do so in order to preserve their existence, just as they fought to do so against the Covenant. To those that can hear my voice, I implore you to vote to send an appeal to the Imperial Navy not to wage war against a faction that did not intend to cause any trouble with them. I ask that we cast a vote to have the Imperial Navy pay reparations for unwittingly dragging another faction into a war they do not desire to be a part of. Should we vote to do so, we shall continue the peace that has reigned since the end of the Clone Wars."

At that, the entire Senate erupted into an uproar, as Senators began to shout at one another, while others sat down silently and began to think. "ORDER!" the Senate Speaker shouted. "ORDER IN THE SENATE! WE SHALL HAVE ORDER!"

. . .

While Leia was delivering her speech, another drama was going on in the Imperial Palace, which had formerly been the Jedi Temple. Inside of the Throne Room, which had been repurposed from it's original role as the Jedi Council Chambers, Emperor Palpatine sat on his throne. A tall man dressed in flowing black robes, Palpatine, also known as Darth Sidious, looked decrepit and old, as though he had lived for thousands of years. One might be forgiven for saying this, though, as underneath that old and frail exterior was a mind that was able to rapidly process information and bring his enemies to their knees through a thousand plans and schemes.

Right now, however, he was speaking to two of his servants via Holo-Communications. The first was a man dressed in head to toe in armor, with a black cap that extended down to his boots. Most of the armor was hidden under that black cloth, though the chest plate, and a control panel under it, was visible, as was the helmet the man wore. The helmet completely obscured his face, and was shaped in a way that would appear to be highly intimidating.

The other person was a man that was dressed in an officer's uniform that was dark gray in color, alogn with grey dress pants and black dress boots. Unlike the first individual, his face was visible, revealing a face that had sculpted facial features, a sharp nose and bright blue-gray eyes. This was framed by sharp cheekbones, as well as gray hair that covered his head.

Palpatine was quite familiar with both of them. The first was Darth Vader, his sole apprentice and his right hand man when it came to dealing with threats to the Empire. The other man was Wilhuff Tarkin, a Grand Moff who's power and reach were extensive. All that Palpatine felt for them right now, though, was annoyance, especially at what he had just learned. "Tell me why you two decided to let the Rebel Fleet escape Scarif?"

"It was not my decision to let the Rebel Fleet go," Tarkin replied. "It was Lord Vader's decision." That caused the Emperor to glance at Vader.

Vader was no fool. When the Emperor asked a question, he also demanded an answer, and to not answer was to risk death itself. "When we arrived at Scarif, I felt a powerful tremor in the Force," Vader explained. "When we arrived, we came across a ship that was far larger than a Star Destroyer, and vastly more powerful."

That had Palpatine's interest piqued. "Elaborate," he softly demanded.

"I can provide more information, my Emperor," Tarkin added. "When the Death Star arrived at Scarif, we proceeded to destroy the Imperial Center of Military Research. During this time, one of our officers reported the presence of a ship that was over five times as large as a Star Destroyer. According to a message we received from Scarif, it had not only destroyed the Shield Gate at Scarif, it had also provided assistance to the Rebel forces at the planet. I am sending you footage and sensor information that we retrieved."

A moment later, Palpatine could see an image of the ship. While the quality was substandard, he could clearly see the ship that Tarkin and Vader were referring to. As he looked at the image, Vader continued to speak. "When I saw the ship, I sensed the entire crew onboard. I also sensed the Force delivering a warning to me. To attack that ship was to invite the wrath of the Rebel Fleet, and it was to also invite Death itself. Had I acted, the entire ship I was on would have been destroyed, and I would number among the dead."

"I see," Palpatine noted. He still felt quite irritated at the two for failing to stop the Rebel Fleet, though now he had a feeling that it might have been justified. "And you chose to let the Rebels go because of this ship."

"Yes," Vader said.

Again, irritation flowed off of Palpatine like a wave in the Force. He was about to speak when he sensed another presence in the Force. Reahcing out, he quickly identified the force presence, just as the door opened. out of the turbolift door walked an Imperial officer dressed in a red uniform. A cap was on his head, and the color of his uniform identified him as a member of Imperial Intelligence. "My lord," he said. "We have a development on our hands." Fear, as well as respect, flowed off the man

Palpatine's eyes narrowed. "A development? What kind of development?"

"The Imperial Senate called an emergency meeting, stating that a first contact has been established with a new faction," the officer replied. "It's on the holonet right now, sir."

"And you did not see fit to inform me of this?"

"We only found out just now, my lord."

Again, Palpatine felt annoyed by this. "You may leave," he lightly growled. As the officer left, Palpatine opened a private holonet channel, before listening closely to what was being said. One of the Senators, Leia Organa, was delivering a speech at that moment. As he listened, along with Vader and Tarkin, he could sense a shift in the Force. While small, it was enough to catch his attention, and that was all that was needed.

It wasn't just the Emperor that reacted as well. Upon seeing the images of innocent people dying, Vader's fist clenched and unclenched with murderous regularity. Even in his throne room, Palpatine could sense the anger and rage that Vader was feeling at the atrocities he was seeing the Covenant inflict. Tarkin also felt the same, though there was also admiration at the UNSC's actions. By the time the feed from the Imperial Senate cut out as the Senators called for a recess, Palpatine knew that things had changed. Looking at Tarkin and Vader, he said, "Vader, Tarkin, you are to come to Coruscant at once. You will be told more once you arrive."

"Yes, Master," Vader replied, his hologram fading out.

"Of course, my Emperor," Tarkin added before he too faded out.

As the last of the holograms faded into nonexistence, Palpatine began to think. This is most unprecedented, he noted to himself. As he thought this over, he quickly began to formulate a plan, one that he believed would help him make the most of this change of events. I will need to plan carefully. If all goes well, I will benefit deeply from this.