Chapter 24: Unforgotten Memories
"No one gets in, unless you hear me directly say otherwise. If they somehow escape the room, it isn't your job to keep them there, it is your job to keep them safe. Understood?"
"Yes shipmistress!"
Watching as two elite majors salute me, I finally turn away from the unassuming doorway to the now crowded passageway. Sangheili warriors all were taking curious glances towards the doorway, but thankfully they were well disciplined enough to know not to agitate the guards.
Turning to glance toward the patiently waiting Ussa, I gestured for him to follow behind. Now that I knew that the two humans were secured safely within their impromptu quarters, I could focus on the task at hand.
Making sure I can trust those that I think I can.
Walking calmly back towards the missionary ship, I grit my teeth even as I heard the heavy footsteps of Ussa following behind me.
Eventually, we made our way back to the hangar, the fishhook shaped ship undisturbed from when we left it. Several menial workers were swarming around it, though thankfully it appeared as if they were simply resuming their previous tasks, only giving the ship a passing glance.
Even though I breached the ship less than an hour ago, the feeling I had when entering it was drastically different this time around. Gone was the grim determination to gain control of a conflict, replaced with the nervous jittering I had when I thought back to the world filled with luminations. I knew that this situation requires the utmost care and concern, or it would end in the worst possible way.
And I know I can't do it alone.
Eventually, the two of us made our way to the command center of the small ship. Waiting for the soft metallic thumps of Ussa's feet stopping behind me, I simply press a command button on the central terminal to shut the hatch, sealing us inside.
After all, it wouldn't do well for someone else to wander in and hear this, now would it?
Thinking long and hard for a moment as to how exactly I wanted to proceed with this, I tried to organize my thoughts.
I knew for a fact that some truths will remain unsaid today, but in the end I knew that some part of me needed to come clean. If this situation gets too far out of hand, I knew I needed someone else to have my back and understand my motives even if no one else did.
Ussa was the obvious choice, even if it didn't seem like it at first. I already had the undying loyalty of my closest friends like Timore and Aris, so they needed no convincing. Ussa, on the other hand, was a bit of a loose cannon. His complete religious zealotry to the Path was easy to see, and if the hierarchs declared the humans to be killed on sight, I felt that he would be the first to jump onboard.
As of right now, this will be the first time since I was reborn as a kig yar that I will even mention anything about my previous life, even if some of it would be censored. Even my mother, whom I trusted like no other, I didn't mention even a word. Yet here I was, about to talk about a secret I haven't told anyone else.
Hearing the odd shifting of weight behind me, I turn to see the hulking elite standing stiffly, almost as if he is waiting for some kind of serious topic or order to come his way.
The awkward silence caused my thoughts to drift a bit, unsure exactly how to start the conversation. Tracing my finger over the luminary, I took in a deep breath. Quickly steeling my nerves, I began where my thoughts first took me. Squaring my stance, I place both of my hands onto the holographic table in the center of the room, holding my weight up as I make eye contact with the gold clad elite.
"How did you recognize me?"
Whatever Ussa was thinking I was going to bring up, this was definitely not it. His stuff posture seemed to grow a bit more tense before my words cut through his thoughts. Obviously appearing confused, the gold elite shifts a bit before he voices his thoughts.
"I'm sorry shipmistress, but I am unsure of-"
Unwilling to delay, I wave him off and clarify.
"Back in the council chamber… I was fully armored, and at that point it had been several solar cycles since the day I ran from the Oracle. How did you recognize me?"
For the first time since I met him, Ussa looked smug.
"I didn't."
Tilting my head in confusion, I gesture for him to continue.
"The holy Oracle, which had been silent for millennia, speaks to a kig yar. Out of everyone there, he picked her-, you," He said, gesturing towards me with a casual wave of his hand. "Out of a mob of millions. Then, several years later, the word of a powerful kaidon comes into the chamber, telling the tale of a kig yar single handedly ending what for all intents and purposes would have been an extended and drawn out rebellion?"
Thinking for a moment, I try to understand his mindset. I needed to know why he stood up for me over the prophets if I am to try and convince him of what I am about to say.
"So it was a gamble then."
The elite respectfully dipped his head low, but I could still see his reptilian eyes studying me from where he was.
"The gods chose you for a reason. It is not my place to understand their will, and I know my faith has guided me true."
The religious zealotry was something that I have reluctantly gotten used to over the last two years, but for the first time since he joined me on my journey did I begin to think that maybe he was right.
Not the Forerunners, obviously, but maybe someone wanted me to be here. It would be naive of me to not believe in souls or the afterlife considering the fact that I am a reincarnated soul myself.
Or am I?
The circumstances of my rebirth still confused me, and I wasn't quite sure I would ever understand it. In the end, that was neither here nor there and I returned my attention to Ussa.
"Did you ever think that I ran for a reason?"
The elite seemed confused, tilting his head almost imperceptibly.
"Shipmistress, I'm unsure of what you-"
Waving him off, I make my way towards the luminary. I knew for a fact that if I told him everything, it wouldn't end well. I could, however, use his religious disposition to try and convince him of something that would otherwise be unbelievable.
A part of me was seriously debating on if I should even tell Ussa what I am about to, but in the end I knew I needed to. Now that I have found humanity, the chance that the war would start increased exponentially.
I needed allies. People that knew from the start that the war was wrong, and would stand with me against the might of the Covenant even if no one else did.
I needed warriors, to help fight the battles that I knew I couldn't fight alone. To make the stand against the overwhelming force that I knew that I could not fight alone if things went south.
More importantly, I needed friends.
Sighing deeply, I take the figurative leap of faith.
"Ever since I hatched… I've always had these… memories." I said, tracing one of my talons against the luminary control terminal. "I never understood why I remember things I haven't seen, but nonetheless they were there."
Glancing up, I fix my second in command with a deadly serious look.
"Even as a hatching, I saw alien worlds glassed. Innocent people fighting against a far greater force that they couldn't help to defend against. Billions slaughtered…"
Ussa shifted on his feet, but thankfully remained respectfully silent.
"I didn't think much of them at the time. I knew that maybe someday I would need to do something about what I saw, but it always seemed so far away… I always seemed so small and insignificant, with no way to do anything about it…"
Thinking back to that day seven years ago, it almost seemed like a different time altogether. I knew I was omitting a bit of the truth with what I was about to say, but in the end it was the truth nonetheless.
"When the Oracle spoke, it was a wake up call I wasn't ready for. The fact that it picked me out of that crowd told me that everything I saw wasn't just odd dreams and strange memories. That's why I ran. I wasn't ready… I still don't think I am."
An awkward silence came and went after I was finished, though I could easily see that Ussa didn't quite know where I was going with this.
To be fair, I don't really know either.
Before I could continue on with my rambling attempt to get him to understand what might happen, I watched as the elite rounded the navigation table, and began to eye me cautiously.
"Shipmistress, I am sure the gods wouldn't have chosen you for these… visions if you were not ready for the responsibility. I have heard the voice of the gods themselves choosing you, and I will follow them to my death if need be."
Falling down onto the floor, once again kneeling to show his sincerity even knowing full well that I normally didn't appreciate the gesture.
Normally.
Once again pulling him to his feet, I chuckled a bit nervously.
"Perhaps you are right, though let's hope there won't be the need for something so drastic."
Turning to fiddle with the holographic display, I pull up the luminary scan of the unknown human world, artifact scans and all.
The elite's eyes bugged out comically at the sight of so many artifacts on the surface of a planet. The sight almost made me laugh if it wasn't for the seriousness of what we were talking about.
"The reason I am acting so cryptic and bringing this up is simple. The alien worlds I saw burned were habited by the same species we just recovered from the ship. These people were… are important to our gods. I saw everything from holy artifacts and massive cities being destroyed, leaving nothing but death and molten glass behind."
Reaching over to rest my hand on a well muscled arm, the gesture has the desired effect as the zealot tears his gaze away from the holographic display and turns his slitted eyes towards mine.
"Why are you telling me this shipmistress?"
Giving him the most serious expression I could, I dropped the bombshell.
"Because the worlds I saw, filled with innocent people, were glassed by the Covenant."
A dead, eerie silence filled the chamber after I said that. I could see the shock filling his face, followed quickly by disbelief.
Turning back towards the holographic display of the human world, I study the odd floating orb for a moment before I continue.
"I don't know if what I saw was inevitable, or was simply something that could be, but I will do my best to make sure it isn't. I will focus all of my resources and time into making sure that first contact goes as peacefully as possible…"
Turning back to the confused elite one last time, hoping to see the same determination and loyalty he placed onto me only moments ago.
"But if it comes down to doing what is right, and what is easy, I won't hesitate. I need to know if you will still follow me. No matter what I've seen, I don't know everything. It's mostly flashes and the odd tidbit of information, and I'm not even sure if what I saw is still a given…" Bringing my hand up to scratch the back of my feathers, I realize I still have my EVA attachment on my armor, and drop my hand awkwardly. "But I know I will need people I can trust, and that trust me, so in the end I'm only asking one thing from you Ussa."
Gesturing to the holographic display, I tilted my head and hoped against hope that this little gamble of mine would pay off.
"Do you trust me? While I will do everything I can to prevent a war, I can't ignore what I have seen and I would be naïve to assume it still won't happen."
Unsurprisingly, there was a split second of hesitation in his response as he glanced between the luminary display and myself. The hesitation didn't seem to come from indecision, however, but more the enormity of the task at hand.
Before he smiled.
"I do."
I watched his clenched fist impact his chest with a soft thump.
"I have had the pleasure of training you in the operation of this ship, and during that time I have seen what a kind and honorable leader you are. My blade is yours to guide."
Feeling as if a massive weight was pulled off my shoulders, I smile brightly up to the golden elite.
"Good! It might be a long road to go, but with friends like you helping me along, we might just avoid catastrophe."
Suddenly, a deep voice that could have only come from an elite came through my helmet, gaining my attention quickly.
"Shipmistress! Requesting assistance in the brig."
Blinking, I flip my communications on and respond.
"What is the problem?"
"It appears as if it is difficult to keep a huragok locked up when they can hack into the energy barriers."
A moment of silence comes and goes before the voice comes back through my helmet, though it seemed a bit more subdued and reluctant.
"The… jiralhanae might be of some use in this. We are holding it down using a bit more physical persuasion, but this is new territory for us."
Snorting, I shake my head in exasperation.
Of course it's hard to lock up a hyper advanced alien supercomputer behind an energy barrier. They make them with their own bodies!
"Understood, I will fetch him for you."
Turning back to the holographic table, I begin to pull all of the data from the nav computer and the luminary onto a datapad before purging it. Turning to Ussa, I hand him the device.
"Bring us to the alien planet, but make sure to keep our distance. I will not be the one to initiate this war. We will take this slow and steady in an attempt to gain trust. Brief the bridge staff on the situation with the luminations, but make sure the news doesn't get out too quickly… In fact, cut communications with the fleet for now. First contact needs to go off without complications."
Watching him give me a salute, he gently took the datapad.
"As you command."
Nodding, I begin to make my way out of the Missionary ship.
"If you need me, I will be on damage control."
(\\\(*v*)/)
It seems as if the news of a new undiscovered alien race spread through the ship like wildfire. Even on my casual walk through the corridors towards Timore's workshop, nearly every hushed conversation was about the news.
It was unsurprising really, as the discovery of a new sentient race was always a big deal within the Covenant. Sadly, unlike those around me, my joy was muted at the realization that the fate of an entire race fell onto my shoulders.
Sadly, in my haste to get these humans home, I wasn't able to get my talons on a computer in the human ship, which really only left one option in order to start communicating with the humans.
I had to give them one of mine.
Now that the situation with Ussa was resolved, I could focus my attention back on making sure first contact goes well. Sadly, that led me back to the issue of our one-way language barrier.
I still remember the human artificial intelligence from the games, and how advanced they were. To this day, I've noticed that the Covenant don't use anything of the sort if you discounted the huragok, but I knew if one of the human AI were able to analyze one of our own computers, then we would have an odd sort of two way communication with the AI acting as a translator.
However, I was sure that Floats and Timore could make something similar enough to a computer based dictionary that we could hand the humans so their AIs could translate for us, making the issue a moot point.
And because until I make my gods forsaken vocal cords work correctly, I will NOT make a fool of myself!
"Did'n you hear?" The scratchy sound of an unggoy reaches me even as I make my way down the passageway, "There's a new race! I heards that we unggoy will finally be movin' up in the world!"
The sound of a soft 'thunk' could be heard as a soft yelp of pain soon followed.
"Of course I heard, stupid! Literally everyone is talking about it! I wouldn't get your life on it though. The last race we found was the jiralhanae, and look how that turned out."
Shaking my head I rounded the corner towards the engine rooms, or more specifically, one of the small storage rooms. Following my memory, I ended up standing in front of the unassuming doorway that led to my friend's workshop.
Lightly knocking on the door, I heard as Timore's muffled voice called out from inside.
Pressing the command button to enter, I took a quick moment to examine my surroundings.
The workshop was as messy as ever, with several projects my friends have been working on all sitting on top of a work table which lined one of the walls. Everything from discarded deployable covers to dismantled plasma rifles.
As always, the odd gadgets in the room confused me, but I was quickly brought out of my musings as to what all of this could be when Timore's deep voice cut through my thoughts.
"Hello Sohm! What brings you here today?"
Looking up to the soot covered jiralhanae, I nearly giggled at the sight. His carefully braided beard seemed to be the only survivor of his endeavors, as his fur seemed to be more black than the usual brown. He had two oddly shaped goggles over his eyes and a deactivated plasma welder in his hand.
"Bwooo!"
Smiling up to my friends I turn my attention away from the jiralhanae. I spot as Floats pokes an odd device sitting on the massive work table with one of his many tentacles. Smiling over to my friends, I gesture towards the door.
"Sadly my friends, this is on business. I need both of you to follow me."
The two of them seemed confused for a moment. Admittedly, this was the first time I actively called them away from their work like this for something official, but it didn't really matter.
Timore simply grunts for a moment, turning back to his work.
"Just one second. I need to stabilize this before I can leave… should only take a second."
The excitable engineer slowly floats towards the door behind me, thankfully not being delayed by . Quickly moving his tentacles in an attempt to communicate, I follow his motions.
"Is something wrong?"
Waving my hand in a dismissive gesture, I shake my head.
"No, but I have two projects I need you two to work on."
Timore, apparently done with his task, made his way over to an odd leather sack, throwing in his plasma cutter before grabbing it by its single strap and making his way towards the door. I could tell simply from the metallic clanging the bag made with each step that it was most likely full of tools.
"A project?"
Turning, I made my way outside the door with my two odd friends following closely behind as we made our way to the brig.
"We have recently come across a pirate vessel, and one of the occupants was a huragok."
Ignoring the happy whistle coming from Floats, I continue.
"Until I can be sure that the two we managed to capture alive won't be a threat to The safety of our crew, we need them contained… but you can most likely understand why it is so hard to keep a huragok contained inside an energy shield.
Timore's deep laugh resounded through the corridor, startling a few unggoy who promptly took off down a different hallway.
"I see. Well, I hope you have a bit of scrap metal I can use for bars and a latch. It won't be pretty, but I can get the job done. I know enough about this one," he said, gesturing towards Floats, "to know how hard it is to keep them in place."
Noticing that Floats was uncharacteristically quiet, I turned my head to see him drooping a bit. Feeling sorry for putting what he surely saw as another friend in jail, I tried to comfort him a bit.
"Don't worry, I know that he won't attack anyone, but there is some data I don't want getting out quite yet, and he had access to it. I will set him free soon enough."
Seeing that my words did the trick, I smiled as we turned down another of the pink glowing hallways.
"Brrroooooouuu."
Before I could turn my head again, I felt a small tap on my helmet before some words scrolled across my visor.
"You said two projects… What is the other one?"
"Oh! Right! I need you to program a datapad with our language, the definitions of each word, and make it as easy as possible to access."
The two of them seemed confused for a moment before Timore spoke up with a single word.
"Why?"
Blinking, it took me only a moment to realize that these two were most likely cooped up in their workshop and didn't know what had just happened. Admittedly, it wasn't particularly surprising since they also didn't know I just led a raid against a pirate ship, but it still made me shake my head exasperatedly.
I really need to get these two to socialize with the crew more.
"We made first contact with a previously unseen space-faring alien species, and I am going to attempt to cross the language barrier in a similar way as to how we did it." I said, gesturing to Floats who nodded in acceptance. "Then maybe I can have you look one of them over? One of them was previously wounded from the pirates, and he might need you to tend to his wounds, but be gentle about it. They are still armed and very skittish."
My two friends seemed stunned by the news, but thankfully Floats reacted as expected.
"One is hurt? Oh the poor thing! Don't worry, I'll do my best!
Before I could even say anything, the overexcited blob was out the door and down the passageway.
"A new race?"
The surprisingly serious voice of my jiralhanae friend caught my attention as I turned back into the room. Timore had his full attention turned to me, seemingly shaken by something.
"Is something wrong Timore?"
The jiralhanae simply remained quiet for a moment, my soft footsteps contrasting to the deep rumble of each of his. It took a while, but eventually he replied, his voice cryptic.
"We won't be attacking them, will we?"
What?
The statement caught me off guard completely, so much so that I stopped in my tracks and Floats almost bumped into me.
"Why would you think we would be attacking them?"
"If you know your history, the Covenant has never been very… Peaceful with how they make contact. It has devolved into a war of assimilation without fail, every time."
Thinking back to my history lessons with my mother, I realized he was right. Thankfully enough, our ship was the only one that knew the humans existed and I was already doing everything I could to avoid war.
"No. Under no circumstances will I attack them unprovoked, and even then, it is their world we are heading to. They own it, so if they ask me to leave I will."
The brute looks at me seriously, giving a small but sad smile.
"I know you will. I'm more worried about the rest of the Covenant."
And with that, he turned and began walking down the passageway once again.
So am I Timore, so am I.
(\\\(*v*)/)
Stepping out of the brig, I giggled to myself at the sight of a frustrated sangheili minor holding a single tentacle of a flailing huragok, like an angry sentient birthday balloon. Thankfully, Timore seemed to know what to do and had an idea of how to keep the huragok contained.
Floats seemed to linger a bit longer inside the room before he followed closely behind me as the two of us made our way towards the quartermaster's dwellings.
Gaining my attention by flailing a tentacle in front of me, I turn towards my friend.
"Do you think we can see the aliens first? I don't like the idea of leaving him in pain."
Rolling my eyes, I nearly groaned in exasperation.
Of course Floats would want to heal the human first. If he didn't, I might think something was wrong with him.
Smiling to my friend, I switch directions and begin to make my way to the sangheili sleeping quarters.
Thankfully there weren't any more interruptions on our way to the unassuming door. The lockdown of the area was gone, and the crew were all roaming the passageway as if there wasn't a human staying here. I could definitely spot the glances toward the door and myself, but thankfully the sangheili were trained well enough to not let their curiosity outweigh their professionalism.
Another reason we put them here.
I could easily imagine one of my people trying to pick the lock of the door simply to take a look, but that was neither here nor there.
The two of us ended up standing in between two sangheili majors standing by, who promptly gave me a salute.
"Shipmistress!"
Waving them off, I turn back to Floats. Point an accusatory talon toward the excitable engineer, I needed to make a few things clear before we went in there.
"I know you are going to want to heal him, but I need you to be a bit less excitable than you normally are. We need to take this slow and steady. Understood."
Watching his head bob up and down passively with a soft "Bwooo." I smile a bit at my friend.
Hopefully the gesture of good faith and the medical marvel that the humans were about to witness would help me in my goals.
Satisfied that Floats wasn't going to tackle and hold the poor human down, I made my way to the terminal next to the door. I knew that I was the only one that knew the code to get in, but I still felt my heart speed up a bit as I typed it in.
Something I've noticed over the several years of living amongst the Covenant spending my time amongst the many warrior species was that no matter what you looked like, no matter your race or the people you hail from, everyone was more similar than they were different. Sure, societies differ and instincts changed from different evolutionary backgrounds, but the hushed whispers from the odd duty sangheili and the not so subtle glances from warriors into the room as the door hissed open showed the same curiosity I've seen from everyone else.
The watch as the red runes on the door turned green before the signature high pitched hum of the door resounded through the passageway and the inside was shown.
Thankfully for the first time, the two humans didn't point their weapons at me as I made my way into the room. I could hear the hushed whispers of the sangheili behind me as we made our way inside, causing the two humans to take a glance outside. My sharp eyesight could easily pick up the tightening of their muscles, causing me to quickly shut the door to relax their nerves.
"~Sohm 'Bir?~"
Johnson's voice was soft, almost questioning himself. Turning to him, I simply met his eyes for a moment. I knew he was simply trying to make sure it was me, so me recognizing the name seemed to put him at ease.
Thankfully, the gesture seemed to work as the tense muscles relaxed a bit. The two of us simply sat there for a moment as we took whatever time was needed to regain the small trust we had.
"Bwwoooo."
The two of us turn toward Floats, who was slowly making his way towards the prone human, still lying on the large bed. He appeared already nearby to the human's bedside, though that wasn't due to any sort of speedy entry but more the relatively small size of the room.
"~Umm, hi?~"
A moment went by before a few of his many tentacles began reaching towards the raised and bandaged leg.
"~Woah, hold on there! Johnson help!~" The human said, waving rapidly.
The quick and erratic motions startled the Huragok, who backed up a few feet and lowered his head.
"Bwwwoooo."
The situation almost made me laugh, if it wasn't for Johnson moving to place himself between his fellow human and the now distant huragok.
Byrne, for his part, didn't seem like he wanted to remain on the bed anymore. Reaching for a previously unseen pistol within his odd bag in the bed, he flipped himself upright and sat on the edge of the bed, now fully alert. Gripping his weapon tightly, he unsteadily gets to his feet.
Predictably enough, the motion caused a hiss of pain to come from the human as my sharp eyes caught some blood seeping out of his black skin tight suit through the odd foam.
Which then led to a sad whine coming from my floating friend as he begins to slowly inch his way closer to the human yet again.
Of course it wouldn't be simple.
Slowly making my way towards the two humans, I realized I yet again needed to play a game of charades.
"~Hey, back off!~"
Thankfully l, Johnson seemed a bit less intimidated by my approach.
"~Hold on, I don't think they are trying to probe you.~"
Byrne didn't seem so convinced, seemingly more content to stay upright on his wounded and bleeding leg.
My thoughts were cut short as Nath's voice resounded through the small compartment.
"Attention all crew, prepare for warp space jump."
Blinking, I realized that even the slight shudder of the ship would not be good for this human's leg, and yet I couldn't do anything about it. Even as I square my feet and brace myself, I turn towards Johnson with a bit of a pleading look in my eyes.
"Bwooo!"
"~Hey! Get off of me!~"
I was too late to react as Floats nearly tackled the human back onto the bed, using his surprising weight to hold the human down. I idly noted that Floats swatted the handgun out of the humans arms, causing a small clang to resound through the room.
Johnson switched his gaze between Floats and I for a moment before he brought his rifle up towards my friend.
The split second reaction I made to jump in between the gun and my friend clearly surprised him, but he kept his weapon raised. Reflexively, I brought my hand down to my sword. I knew who would win this fight if it came down to it due to the simple fact that we were too close and my shields were too strong, but that didn't help the fact that I was once again in a hostile situation I didn't want to be in.
Why does everything need to be difficult?
The grunts and odd whines from the human and my friend were easily heard from behind me as they struggled amongst themselves, the engineer using the exact opposite tactic than I wanted him to, but this was the most likely to work at this point.
And then we entered slipspace.
The unexpected shudder caused Johnson to lose his footing for only a moment, leading me to see an opening in his guard and attention. I knew it was probably a good idea to disarm him, but a bit of empathy stopped me.
How would I feel if someone I met less than two hours ago sliced my gun in half with an energy sword?
Johnson regains his footing quickly, returning to the pose he had mere moments ago. The two of us staring at each other in a stressful display as the grunts of an odd fight came from behind me.
I knew from experience that once Floats got his tentacles on you, you weren't moving until he was done.
"~Get off me!~"
Thankfully, the struggle seemed to be over, floats having done what he wanted to do. The engineer let out a happy "Brrooouuu!" As he floated back towards the entrance with a shiny purple energy shield placed around himself. It was pretty obvious that he expected one or both of the humans to attack him and he was simply taking precautions.
Thankfully, the human that was most likely to shoot was unarmed at the moment.
Even as I moved to place myself between the two humans and the huragok, I watched as Johnson moved toward his fellow human.
"~Byrne, you alright?~"
A snort of annoyance came from the human as he stood up, quickly grabbing his weapon and aiming it towards the two of us.
I don't think he particularly noticed that he wasn't having trouble standing, but I did. Giving my friend a sidelong glance, the engineer simply made an odd purring noise before shuffling behind me a bit more.
Thankfully, I wasn't the only one to notice this miraculous and yet completely predictable turn of events.
"~Your leg…~"
Byrne seemed confused for a moment, before he looked down, only to see complaints unblemished and cleaned skin under a small tear in his suit.
"~What the…?~"
Smiling, I relax my posture as I take my hand away from my sword. Poking my blob-like friend with my elbow, I gesture towards the two humans.
"I think they noticed your handiwork."
Floats poked his head out from behind me, a silly gesture if I've ever seen one considering he was significantly larger than me, and eyed the humans with a fair bit of caution. The purple rippling energy was still present even as he looked them over.
At this point, Byrne was already back on the bed, using the platform to more closely examine his leg. Poking at it with one of his blunt clawless fingers, he glanced back up to us after a moment in surprise.
Stepping a bit out of the way, I felt like I should give credit where it was due. After all, I'm not a medical miracle worker.
The human seemed a bit confused for a moment, before he softly said, "~… Thank you.~" Though I was pretty sure it was simply a polite gesture and he didn't expect an answer. Nonetheless, the message seemed to translate well enough as Floats replied with a happy trill and a purr.
Realizing that we have done everything we needed to do, I begin to make my way back to the door. Sure, it wasn't pretty, but at the very least the gesture was received.
"Alright, let's go. We still need to make a device so we might have a way to communicate with them after all."
"Bwoooo!"
The once again enthusiastic engineer followed closely behind, slipping out before we shut the door behind us without a second glance.
Those humans really need to calm down. Aiming a gun at everything isn't exactly the best idea in this ship.
The idea that one of those two might end up aiming their firearms at the wrong person inside of my ship and getting swarmed was a terrible thought. One that made me double check the locking mechanism on the door before turning back towards my friend.
The engineer seemed to be hunched over something, fiddling with it. This wasn't exactly an uncommon sight so I didn't think much of it.
"Alright, let's head over to the quartermaster, we need to pick up the computer you will be working on."
The engineer turned around, one tentacle wrapped around an odd device I've never seen before. Before I could see it fully, he began signing his language in front of me.
"We don't need to. I can just use this!"
Confused, I tilt my head as I try to get a closer look.
"What is that?"
The engineer held up the odd device, letting me get a better look at it. The first thing I noticed were the English letters and a picture of an odd insignia of a bird on it. The letters spelled out UNSC, and it didn't take me much imagination to figure out where Floats got that from.
"It had a lot of navigation data in it sadly, and not enough of their language to get a proper translator going." My friend said, head dropping for a moment before he continued. "But I already copied and memorized that before purging it. The good news is, by definition, if this is one of their computers, then they can access it easily. We can put whatever we want into this and they should be able to access it easily."
The explanation made sense, and for all intents and purposes it was a great plan, there was just the simple issue of needing to deal with the fact that my friend was now a walking security threat to other human worlds.
Looking around, I spotted a few sangheili still glancing towards the door and myself as they chatted amongst themselves. I knew this wasn't the time nor the place to begin to have a conversation about alien worlds and their coordinates.
Grabbing one of his tentacles, I begin to physically drag the engineer behind me back to the workshop. I knew that I needed to have a chat with my excitable friend about pickpocketing state secrets from armed alien strangers.
(\\\(*v*)/)
Once we reached the workshop, the two of us set about completing the translator project we needed done before we arrived on the planet, and talking very briefly about what Floats downloaded from it.
We went over it for a bit, and it turns out there were five worlds that were plotted. Only one of which I recognized.
Reach.
Not even willing to open that can of worms, we both agreed that I was the only one that needed to know Floats had that information.
Eventually, the computer was completed and ready to go as floats handed me his handiwork. It didn't particularly look like anything special, but if he said it had what we needed on it, I wasn't going to complainS
Sadly, after everything was done, I was once again forced to wait… though not for very long. It only took a few minutes after I made it back into my chair on the bridge, we dropped out of slipspace.
No matter how many worlds I see, each new one will always make me speechless.
Looking down on the small green world above I see as the single large continent was engulfed in the blackness of night. The human cities and towns were easy to see as their lights gave them away. The sprawling spider web of roads and towns were a lot less widespread than I was initially thinking, leading me to believe this was actually a relatively small colony.
Determined, I take in a deep sigh before I begin to start ordering everyone around again.
As far as I could tell, our arrival was noticed. There weren't any probes or small craft heading our way, but there was one thing that made me sure we were definitely on their radar.
They attempted to contact us over a communications channel.
With no real option, we had to ignore it and begin our slow descent onto the planet below.
The command center was eerily quiet as everyone was well aware that we were jumping head first into the unknown, but the determination of my crew was something that made me a bit more confident.
"Nath, use the luminary scans to find an empty plot of land that we can use as a base camp."
A grunt was all I got in return as the ship began to angle closer towards the planet.
"Ussa, tell the hangar to prepare a phantom for the two aliens. I will bring them back to their people personally."
The thump of a fist meeting chest armor resounded through the room as I glanced back up to the swiftly approaching planet above. I could only hope that my Covenant cruiser wouldn't herald the coming of hundreds more.
—Authors Note—
Hello everyone.
The reason this was so delayed was as follows.
1: I have an overactive imagination. Sadly, this has led to me thinking of different stories, and I've needed to physically stop myself from writing them. Since I watched wandavision, it triggered the marvel nerd in me and I've thought of no less than 4 MCU stories I wanna write, but I promised myself I would finish one project before I start another… so it just ended up with me daydreaming about other stuff than this.
2: One person at my work quit, and another had an extended family emergency, leading me to have an EXCESSIVE ammount of hours. Cross your fingers, let's hope it doesn't last. I like my free time.
Anyway, multiple things happened in this chapter, though it was mostly just setup for the upcoming arc. Still fun to write though! Especially the balloon huragok part.
As always, read and review, and if you like it, consider giving me a follow and a favorite. I love to hear your feedback in the reviews and they make my day when I see a new one