March 19th, 2521
Aboard the UNSC Pioneer, Halberd-class destroyer
Edge of UEG territory during ISEKAI event

Alarms blared in the bridge, sending bridge crews into action as UNSC Pioneer's sensors detected something strange and communications got an mission update from an local ONI survey probe.

"Report!" Captain Sturgeon barked at his crew at the bridge.

Captain, ONI survey probes have reported strange space-time distortions surrounding the entirety of UEG territory for a brief moment then the stars beyond UEG territory suddenly changed. After that, they detected some strange signals in a nearby star system." Sensor officer Biggs reported after reading the data update from ONI survey probes from nearby star systems. "FLEETCOM Alpha wants us to investigate that nearby star system to find out what is causing the strange signals, sir."

"Very well, contact UNSC Midsummer Night and Chioglossa link up with us and put them at screening formation while we remain in the center." Captain Sturgeon ordered.

"Yes, sir, transmitting orders to nearby frigates." Communications Officer Clement obeyed as typing on the interface. "ETA of frigate's arrival is three mikes out, sir."

"Good. Give me ETA for arriving at that nearby star system." Captain Sturgeon ordered.

"Captain, that unexplored star system is roughly seventy-five light years away from us, so approximately a month for ETA to arrive there." Leif, appearing on a 3D holographic table, revealing himself as an ancient Viking explorer from old days on Earth, the AI attached to UNSC Pioneer reported.

"Captain, UNSC Midsummer Night and Chioglossa arrived and went to the formation with us." Sensor Officer Biggs reported as the Captain nodded at this.

"Good. Set the course to the edge of that star system, and follow standard operating procedures." Captain Sturgeon ordered. "Spin the drive up."

"Plotting the course, sir." Navigation Officer Townley replied by typing on the interface, causing alarms to sound through the ship for imminent Slipspace jump. "Initiating Slipspace jump."

The space started to distort then ripped itself apart in front of the ships, turning to an gaping maw of swirling energy emitting exotic radiation as ships moved to the rift as the space suddenly turned to pitch blackness, signifying successful jump.

April 18th, 2521
Unknown Star System

"We're about a half mike out from Slipspace jump to this star system, Captain." Navigation Officer Townley reported.

"Good, as soon as we are out of Slipspace, have sensors tuned up to scan the system out. Have Midsummer Night and Chioglossa aid us on this as well." Captain Sturgeon reported as the ship rumbled when it exited the slipspace jump at somewhere in star system.

"Yes, sir!" Sensor Officer Biggs declared as rapidly typing on the interface computer linked to the ship's powerful sensors started to work its electrical muscle to scan the entire system out.

Captain viewed sensor data and started to roll in his computer, reviewing it. Most of them are benign planetary data being made out of atmosphere composition, mineral composition, planet sizes, surface area, etc. It revealed a classic Sol-system style G-class star with seven planets along several moderate-sized asteroid fields with decent resource deposits. Most of them are rocky or gaseous planet but there is two potential planets for future colonization, as one is near-Earth-like planet with right conditions for human life while other is more akin to Mars-style planet, not suitable for human life due to weak magnetosphere and toxic gases without terraforming technology to terraform that planet into Earth-like condition.

"Sir, you need to check this out." Sensor Officer Biggs reported as additional sensor data rolled in his station and brought that data up to the holographic table.

"What am I looking at?" Captain Sturgeon ordered as he stared at readings of sensor data on a holographic table.

"Captain, it detected some kind of several artificial signatures at that near Earth-like planet and one artificial signature at another edge of this star system." Leif reported. "According to sensors, all artificial signatures' temperature appears to be millions of Celsius, consistent with some kind of starship thruster as that thermal reading is pointed at one way away."

"It is obvious, we are facing a First Contact situation." Captain Sturgeon declared, causing the bridge crew to quieten at this declaration.

"Navigation, I want us to move to that near-Earth planet and stop by ten thousand kilometers away to initiate contact with those artificial signatures." Captain Sturgeon ordered.

"Moving forward to that near-Earth like planet, ETA arrival is a hour out at standard speed, sir." Navigation Officer Townley reported typing on the station, causing the ship to suddenly move as its fusion engine blazed in power, generating hot plasma jets at millions of degrees out, propelling the ships forward.

"Meanwhile we are on the move, I want our sensors to be tuned up at maximum levels to find more about that artificial signatures on the planet, pronto." Captain Sturgeon ordered.

"Yes, sir! Tuning the sensors to active mode." Sensory Officer Biggs answered by typing commands on his computer. Soon as it scanned that location, new additional data rolled in, causing Leif startle in surprise, alarming Captain Sturgeon.

"Report, Leif!" Captain Sturgeon barked.

"Captain, according to sensor data, there are approximately four artificial signatures, one that is egg shaped ship is in orbital while another two is aerodyne shaped and one is the same as the first one in orbital is on the ground. Clearly signs of unknown ships considering those designs. But, this sensor data is perplexing to me as it is also reporting that the planet is full of humans." Leif answered in a confused tone.

"What? Humans out there so far out? I'm pretty sure that we haven't started to expand further after the newest colony, aka Ragu with several thousand colonists, was settled at STR-901B star system two dozen light years away from Harvest six years ago." Captain Sturgeon said in a puzzled tone.

"Perhaps Insurrection's new hiding places, sir?" Ensign at the bridge suggested.

"Unlikely, Ensign, as Insurrection is mostly focused in inner colonies and some in outer colonies and they wouldn't dare to go beyond unexplored areas due to their aging ships and other factors." Leif answered.

"Sir! We have incoming communication on wide broadcast from the planet!" Communications Officer Clement cried out, causing the bridge crew to startle in alarm.

"Have that broadcast on so we can hear what they want to talk about." Captain Sturgeon ordered as the Communication Officer shouted in affirmative, typing rapidly away on her station.

Static noise is heard throughout the bridge then it cleared up:

"Mayday, Mayday, this is Governess Dionne Barlowe of Dumassas planet, we are under attack by pirates! Can anyone respond? We need help!"

The bridge crew is shocked in stupor at this clear English broadcast.

"Damn!" Random ensign replied in a shocked tone. Captain Sturgeon didn't fault him for this, as he was also shocked by this fact.

"Orders, sir?" Leif asked in a hesitant tone as Captain Sturgeon thought about this.

"So be it, we shall help them and find out what is happening afterwards." Captain Sturgeon replied. "Battle Stations! Have our MAC safety off and prepare our Archer pods and PDGs! I want us to go to that planet as fast as possible!"

Alarms started to sound through the ship, jolting crew members into action. "THIS IS NOT DRILL! THIS IS NOT DRILL! MAN YOUR STATION!" General broadcasts shouted throughout the ships.

"Yes, sir! Increasing our speed to the maximum thrust possible!" Navigation Officer Townley shouted as typing away on his computer. The ships' fusion engines glowed harder, causing the ships to move even more faster. "At maximum speed, we're four mikes out from that planet, sir!"

"Good! This ship will focus on Tango-1 at the orbit, we will fire a second MAC barrel at low charge with a light slug then a few Archers to disable weapon emplacements to allow us to capture that ship intact. Notify our Marines to prepare for a boarding party and landfall on the planet!" Captain Sturgeon ordered.

"Yes, sir! Marine Commanders are notified, they are preparing their men for landfall and boarding party!" Communication Officer Clement shouted. "Captain Jenkins will lead his ODSTs to that ship and capture it!"

"Good!" Captain Sturgeon exclaimed then had a sudden thought afterwards.

"All right, I want you to send initial AAR tp the FLEETCOM HQ in Reach." Captain Sturgeon ordered.

"Consider it done, Captain. Data will be at Reach in a few hours." Leif confirmed, mentally sending AAR through Slipstream to FLEETCOM HQ at Reach.

April 18th, 3000 AD
Dumassas
Bloody Punishers Union-class DropShip Blood Iron Price

"Cap'n, raidin' parties 'as reported that there they 'ave successfully beaten dumassas milita force, allowin' us to raid their storages o' grub, weapons, etc." Perry at the communication station reported. The captain with classic tricorn hat and fake pigeon on his shoulder smirked coldly.

"Jolly, keep it to the sky. Soon, we'll enjoy booty at Tortuga dominion after this here!" Captain Jakobs crowed in an evil tone.

"What the 'ell be this here? sensors be banged to the sky or something, as it be reportin' three ships with multi-million tonnage range each be on way to us, they'll arrive at a 'our!" Tyde at the sensor station shouted in a panic tone. Captain Jakob's blood ran cold at this tidbit. WarShips?! He thought in panic.

"Be more clear, ye stupid shite! 'ow many tonnages per ship?" Captain Jakobs ordered.

"Leadin' ship be only 485 meters long with 1.8 million metric tons! two slightly smaller ships at 478 meters long at 0.93 million metric tons each!" Tyde shouted from the sensor station. "Based on what sensors be tellin' me, them ships be warships! they 'ave detected there be large magnetic-type spinal cannons followed by large amount o' missile pods, smaller magnetic-like guns dotted on their ships overall length!"

"Well, damn to the depths. We can't fight them warships at all! our dropships be old, 'ad patchworked armor plates an' 'alf o' its total armament be workin'." Captain Jakobs cursed. "We must set sail fast as possible! notify our fellow raiders on the ground to set sail immediately!"

"Commander o' the raidin' force 'as acknowledged yer order, cap'n. They'll set sail an' be on dropships on ground in few minutes then set sail the system." Perry answered from his communication station.

"WHAT THE FUCK?!" Tyde at sensor station screamed in hysterical tone as Captain Jakobs startled at his hysterical shouting.

"Avast yer wailing! what be ye seein'?!" Captain Jakobs bellowed at shaking Tydes at sensor station.

"Cap'n, they just sped to the sky to daft speeds that there I thought it been impossible, they be movin' at a 'undred gees an' be on us in four minutes!" Tyde cried in a frightened tone.

"What?! movin' at a 'undred gees?! we don't even 'ave enough time to be gone, ye filthy dog!" Captain Jakob shouted in panic. "No choice then! we will 'ave to fight! move us to the location to cover our three dropships in ground to buy time fer set sail!"

"Cap'n! them ships suddenly stopped at 10,000 kilometers away from us!" Tyde shouted in a puzzled tone. "Energy buildup detected! massive magnetic buildup at that there leadin' ship's bow!"

"DODGE!" Captain Jakobs screamed but that was too late when a slug from that leading ship traversed across distance in a matter of seconds, not enough time for DropShip to move. The slug slammed the DropShip, causing the DropShip's armor to badly bent inwards, causing engines to shut down suddenly as the crew of that DropShip was thrown around like ragdolls due to sheer kinetic energy generated by a slug moving at impossible speeds.

After that, the leading ship suddenly fired a dozen missiles at the DropShip, peppering the DropShip's overall length, resulting in most of the weapon emplacements to be destroyed or disabled. It did little damage to the surrounding armor plate as well.

Soon as that ended, the leading ship vomited out several shuttles, gunning for the DropShip.

April 18th, 2521
Unknown Star System
UNSC Pioneer

"Captain, we're 10,000 kilometers out! The target is locked on that ship's engine section with the aid of Leif! Second MAC barrel charge is at 50%!" Weapons Officer Williams shouted.

"Good! Fire secondary MAC barrel at that target then fire Archers A1-12 to disable their weapon emplacements in case!" Captain Sturgeon ordered as the ship rumbled when it fired its secondary MAC in anger at the ship. Slug covered the sheer distance in a matter of seconds then followed by ship's bellowing smoky plumes from one pod, twelve missiles following after the slug trajectory.

Soon as the slug impacted the ship, it smashed itself apart at the estimated engine section, causing the armor plate to bend inwards and some armor flew off in pieces like giant shrapnels in space, resulting in engines to suddenly shut down. Twelve missiles arrived at the ship, adjusting its trajectory to target weapon emplacements based on sensor data provided by ships, exploding in a large explosion, destroying it as that ship rocked from powerful impacts of missiles.

"Captain, our MAC at even low yield barely penetrated their armor as it only tore some armor off but it caused a large inward bend that disrupted the engine's sensitive components." Weapons Officer Williams reported in a professional tone. "Archers did barely better, as it has impacted most of the estimated weapon emplacements and destroyed it."

"That can't be right, as that armor is strong enough to shrug off an direct MAC hit at low charge at cost of some armor and inward bend. Not even Insurrections have developed new armor plating to withstand better against our MAC hits as they were still using Titanium-A as standard armor." Captain Sturgeon frowned. "At least Archers did a better job at destroying weapons emplacements considering that emplacements aren't usually armored most of the time."

"Sir, I think that we're potentially dealing with a new human faction that we have not seen before." Leif responded in a thoughtful tone.

"You may be right, Leif. In case we need more information, tell Captain Jenkins to get his men ready for boarding that ship. We'll cover him by ourselves. I want UNSC Midsummer Night and Chioglossa to spread out to keep watch on those three ships on ground! Prepare our ground troops to land on the planet to aid Dumassas people!" Captain Sturgeon ordered.

"Orders sent! Midsummer Night and Chioglossa acknowledges this order and is on the move towards orbit and is sending Marines to ground, sir!" Communications Officer Clement affirmed as the ship moved to the stricken ship to cover several boarding shuttles headed for it.

Soon as UNSC Pioneer got close enough at a few hundred kilometers apart as boarding shuttles loaded with ODSTs started to latch on the reported hatch door of the ship then fired its thrusters to stabilize that ship. Suddenly, one weapon emplacement swiveled, firing its invisible beam at the ship, creating molten lines of the ship's bow and mid section, rocking the ship for a bit.

"WHAT IS THAT?!" Captain Sturgeon screamed as alarms wailed on the bridge.

"Armor section B and D is down to 55%!" Damage Control Officer Henderson shouted after reviewing data provided by countless sensors installed on the entire ship.

"Based on what I read from reviewing sensors, it appears that the ship has a powerful laser weapon on gamma ray wavelength that can melt through our armor down to 55% in one hit." Leif reported, causing Captain Sturgeon to raise his eyebrow. "Also, I detected that massive thermal buildup after firing the laser, I presume that they can't fire it often due to thermal buildup, they must wait to cool down to fire again."

"Fire Archer A-13 to disable that weapon, pronto!" Captain Sturgeon ordered.

"Yes, sir! Firing Archer A-13!" Weapons Officer Williams affirmed as the missile launched from the pod and destroyed that laser weapon emplacement in a matter of seconds, causing the bridge to relax slightly.

"Sensors, I want to double check to see if there are hidden surprises on that ship." Captain Sturgeon asked.

"None, sir, we have checked it, all of them are down. Leif also confirms this too, sir." Sensor Officer Biggs reported as Leif in holographic form nodded, confirming his report as Captain Sturgeon relaxed.

"Good, now we must wait for ODSTs to capture that ship. I want a monitor to show ODST's video feed to watch it in real time." Captain Sturgeon ordered.

"Done, captain. One monitor at the upper ceiling is connected to ODST's cam feed." Leif confirmed that the monitor at upper ceiling switched its screen to ODST's camera feed, revealing Pelican's interior filled with ODSTs.