Disclaimer: I do not own either Kantai Collection or Halo, nor do I gain any monetary funds from either them or this fanfiction.

Author's Note: Read and Review! More edits done to previous chapters to make the more technical aspects make sense, have a read!

Italics - Radio, Ship names, thoughts, etc
Bold - Jarring events

Leviathan watched the road pass by as the bus rocked and gallumped its way towards Manila, the old vehicle needing a bit of a tuneup, but otherwise not in too bad a shape. Looking out the window, the cruiser marveled at the sight of so much greenery in the daylight, though admittedly she only did so with half a mind. The other half was picking up more information from her relay attached to the MILNET satellite above, beaming down its pirated knowledge for dissection. Not a whole lot of updates on the search for her it seemed, which was good, but only a few bits of relevant data in regards to the rest of the planet's state. Not that that wasn't valuable in and of itself... Info is info, and when you're flying by the seat of your pants in an unknown situation, ANYTHING becomes worth its weight in gold...

Still, it meant that while Levi was physically just watching the view, her mind was abuzz with collating the data that they'd already gained and what it meant. It seemed that despite having been at war with these Abyssals for 5 years now, there was still precious little on them that wasn't mostly conjecture and guesswork. The ability to appear and disappear nearly at will was the primary reason for this, and Leviathan had to grimace at just how much she sympathized with the local humans. The Covenant had operated in a similar fashion, popping in and out of Slipspace from the Devil-Knew-Where to attack the UNSC only to retreat back where they came from afterwards. Even after 27 years of warfare with them, humanity only had a bare inkling as to where SOME of their worlds were, and there wasn't a prayer in Hell of getting near them given the situation they'd been in. The only real locations they'd ever found that they could strike at were mining or refinery worlds, minor colonies set up to feed the Covenant war-machine that were ruthlessly savaged whenever they were found, but ultimately these were merely pinpricks to the alien armada... Mosquito bites that could bleed them, but not kill them. Meanwhile the UNSC lost world after world that they couldn't afford to lose... and untold numbers of precious civilian lives that were robbed from them...

By comparison though, this Abyssal War was relatively simpler. So far, the Abyssals were content to attack coastal shores and such while leaving the mainland nations alone for the most part... but 'relative' didn't mean that it was any less dangerous for humanity here. Given how it seemed that international trade was done mostly by sea, and that those convoys were being ruthlessly attacked, many nations were endangered simply by the threat of these Abyssals. The reports she was reading said that already 3 such nations had fallen, swallowed by their neighbors once they were unable to sustain themselves, and now were nothing but a memory...

She frowned, then mentally flipped over to another batch of data while Hephaestus continued to analyze the incoming transmissions. These ones were the profiles of the Abyssals themselves, or at least the ones that had been seen and categorized thus far. Many of them were named after an old Japanese poem, and the details of them were... Well, if she were honest Leviathan would have said that they were extremely questionable. Many of them showed weapons and armaments that would have been pre-space travel era, pre-expansion as some said. In terms of such capabilities, getting hit with such weaponry would have been laughable to many ships of her own make... But it NEVER paid to be cocky. Leviathan KNEW that she was never rated for atmospheric battle after all. The fact that she was able to even move in atmo without immediately taking a dirt nap was already something that she had no real explanation for, and she didn't feel like testing the limits of whatever bullshit was allowing her to do so. As far as she was concerned, one hit from one of the larger cannons against her maneuvering thrusters was likely to send her right into the drink. Sure, she could SURVIVE the hits with her armor, and even going underwater might not be a problem in terms of surviving... But again, she didn't want to test it too far, lest she find out that it wasn't the case.

That, and Murphy LOVED to stick it to those who assumed things... All the armor in the world wouldn't matter worth shit if an explosive shell hit one of her missile pods with the tubes open after all...

What REALLY got to her though were the less... defined aspects of the Abyssals. According to the reports, most of these Abyssals had some strange ability to switch between a humanoid form and some conglomeration of steel-hull and sea monster. The implications of that, at least in terms of scientific verse, were extremely worrying. Not even the Covenant had shown themselves able to micro-size that kind of firepower to something resembling human form or size, let alone have any explanation for where all the extra mass went. The fact that it seemed to be some sort of techno-organic hybrid didn't change that at all. Given her current form, Leviathan had to draw another parallel to the Human-Covenant war: Whatever she had in terms of ability to become 'human' and still retain her capabilities... These Abyssals were better at it, or at least seemed to be. Given how little she knew of her current state the Marathon-class couldn't state it definitively, but it certainly seemed to fit what she saw.

Some of them were even more worrying. From what she was reading, these Abyssals didn't just mimic ships, but apparently had units that functioned as entire installations and bases. These installation-types were likely to have the capability to refit entire fleets of their fellows, while still possessing the means of being mobile. If anything, it meant that they effectively had an entire fleet's worth of mobile ports, akin to how Cradle had for Leviathan's old battlegroup... That meant that they could set up shop anywhere and be ready for combat in hours, a major advantage when one thought about it. Their ability to hide themselves so completely from humanity's sensors and satellites as well meant that it only made sense why the locals hadn't been able to flush them out...

Another bump in the road drew Levi's attention back to the front of the bus, as well as the few people who were aboard it as well. An elderly man looking like he was taking the bus home was nodding off, his head bowed over his hands as they rested on the top of his cane, his wrinkled skin showing the years he'd weathered. Across from him were a pair of young adults, a man and a woman, with backpacks and a pair of suitcases. Likely college kids out traveling, though they seemed to be a lot more somber than she imagined travelers would be like. Then again, she only knew such things from half-hearted scuttlebutt and jokes from her crew. The only 'travelers' that she'd had actual contact with were refugees fleeing their burning homes... Laughter was as rare as gold amongst such people...

There were also two maintenance workers of some sort, wearing bright orange vests with thick leather gloves and boots passed out on the back seats, white hard hats tipped over their faces as they snored. Probably heading home like the old man was, their shift-work done for now as they took the easy route back... By comparison, Levi had her coat wrapped up in a bundle inside a bag next to her, her sidearm/turret/whatever! tucked inside of it with its holster so as not to draw any more attention than she was. Apparently pale skin and colored hair like hers was rare, but then that was true back 'home' as far as the cruiser was concerned, so that made sense. She'd found a place that sold caps and sunglasses, and used some of her ill-gotten cash to purchase them as well as the bag she was carrying her coat in, the reflective lenses hiding her bright yellow irises from casual view and at least keeping the worst of looks from going her way. Leviathan's tacpad was still on her wrist, but while it gained some glances in and of itself, said glances didn't seem to be the worried kind as much as they were just curious, so she wrote that off as 'not a current issue'. The most she'd done was get a pair of ear-buds to plug into it that made most just think of it as some sort of music player.

Sipping again at her water bottle, Levi noted that they were passing into one of the cities now, and given the size of the island on the maps along with all the towns and other cities in the way, it was likely to be the rest of the day to reach Manila itself. Taking a cue from the others, Leviathan figured she'd best get some shut-eye in now, while she still had the chance. "Heph, keep an eye out for me, will you? I'd switching to night-cycle mode, give the crew a chance to rest before we get into things. Alert me if anything important comes up, okay?" she whispered to her AI. A simple acknowledgement icon blipped on her tac-pad's screen before the warship-woman settled back in her seat and closed her eyes...

Deep in the ocean, monsters growled and roiled in the depths, preparing weapons and ammunition while more humanoid forms tended to their own. The surfacers had had their base destroyed, much to the joy of the Forgotten and the Feared, but now it was time to punish their helpers. The Dwellers of the Deep had believed that they'd made it clear to all the nations above that if they aided their immediate targets in any way, shape, or form, that there would be consequences. The people of the Philippines had allowed this to occur, and despite the defeat the Abyssals had inflicted on them it did not change the fact that the island-goers had aided Japan and America. An Example had to be made...

Tenryuu chuckled as she watched DesDiv 6 go sailing for the docks, smiles covering their faces as they headed into Manila's port to top up their tanks and get some much-needed down-time. After having escorted the Combined Navy's forces down to Manicani to check what had happened to the base there, the light cruiser and her kindergarten group had been stuck patrolling the area between the islands while CarDiv 5 and its escorts kept watch over the crews combing over the base itself. Tatsuta had gone back with her own division in order to keep the wounded and sunk ship-girls safe, leaving her sister to the more boring (yet still important) job of keeping the seas around the islands safe.

That didn't change the fact that it was boring as hell! At least she wasn't alone in misery... Looking over at where Ashigara and CruDiv 8 were discussing deployment routes over the radio with the captains of the normal steel-hulled ships that were with them, as well as the American ship-girls Houston, Maryland, and four destroyers from Taffy-3 who already on patrol. It was a pretty heavy bunch to send out if you were expecting subs or aircraft, but with the inclusion of Taffy-3 especially you had some pretty hefty fighting weight to throw out at any Abyssal force that came at them. Those little destroyers were some of the most bad-ass ships outside of her own loveable girls, and she had been happy to see them coming to help! The battleship-girl Hyuuga was also present, though she was mostly glowering out at the sea itself instead of talking. Likely pissed that she had missed the battle at Manicani herself, and daring the Abyssals to try their luck on her as she stood with her own katana in her hands, blade-tip balanced on top of the waves...

Still, all of them agreed that being able to see all of these islands and yet not be able to visit them except when putting in for fuel was more than a little depressing, even though they were supposed to be on the lookout for some new type of Abyssal that had cropped up in the last battle that had unknown capabilities. So when they FINALLY got permission to cycle through for some shore leave the girls had been ecstatic! Tenryuu herself was looking forward to looking into some of the local gyms, as she'd heard plenty about the various martial arts that were common amongst the islands, and wanted to see if she could use any of them herself! Sure, she wouldn't be a master of them, but even a trick or two up her sleeve would be one more to enhance her skills with, right? Maybe she'd show this Ju-class or whatever it was what real warriors were like! "Oi! Akatsuki! Ikazuchi! No fighting over who goes first! I don't want to have to play referee all day!" she called out to the destroyer-girls as the two in question started bickering over who got to go up the ladder of the dock first. Inwardly, the cruiser wondered if the two did it on principle, or if they did it to just mess with her... Some days it really did seem that way.

Shifting her radio over to Ashigara and CruDiv 8's line, Tenryuu grinned. "This is DesDiv 6 officially starting our downtime. Try not to have fun without us out here, okay? I don't want to hear that you all got into a fight without me!" she said.

"Oi! Worry about your own self! I don't want to have to find someplace else because you all ate out the local diners! Save some for onee-san and I!" came Chikuma's response, while her sister chuckled.

"Don't worry, with my eyes I'll spot them LONG before they get in range if the enemy shows up! If you're late to the party, it'll be your own fault Tenryuu-san!"

"Oi! Are you insinuating that I'm getting slow, greenie?!" the one-eyed cruiser asked with a challenging tone to her voice.

"No no no! I would NEVER do that Tenryuu-chan! I'm just saying that with all that foreign food you might over-indulge yourselves if given the chance..."

"YOU TAKE THAT BACK YOU OVERGROWN SMOKESTACK OR I'LL...!"

"Hey, HEY! Ease up there girls, we're representing our nations here! No need to start a fight!" Ashigara interrupted admonishingly, before turning to Tenryuu directly. "Go have fun Tenryuu-san, we'll be waiting eagerly for when you get back!"

"Tch, fiiii~ne! But no promises on whether or not the ice-cream is still around! You know how much destroyers eat!" Tenryuu said as a parting shot, smirking to herself as her feet touched concrete before her rigging vanished. Looking at her gaggle of girls all waiting patiently for their fearless leader, the kanmusu's smirk grew into a full grin. "Alright girls, let's paint the town red!"

"WAHOO~!"

At sea, American flags flew over the masts of the American amphibious command ship USS Blue Ridge as it sailed along with the guided missile ships USS Bunker Hill and USS Thomas S. Gates and an additional pair of fast-combat support ships. As the Abyssal War had entered its second year, and the US started to acknowledge that kanmusu were necessary to winning the war, amphibious ships like Blue Ridge found themselves in a dual-purpose role. Not only did they function as command vessels for the human Navy staff, but also as a makeshift tender for the shipgirls themselves that they could park themselves at when at rest or in need of fueling. As a result, the Ridge had found herself the defacto flagship for American fleet-girls in the Pacific ocean, while her sister ship Mount Whitney was doing the same in the Atlantic.

Right now though, Blue Ridge was playing home to several other ships, though many wouldn't have believed it if they'd seen it. Several girls that looked like they were only just barely out of high school and one that looked to be a cow-girl in her twenties skated along the water, various accoutrements like those of old naval vessels on their back. Inside Blue Ridge itself, four eyes stared down at the simulated ocean surface of the tactical plotting map, two brown and two blue, as they contemplated what they saw. The brown eyes belonged to one Admiral Gerald Stephens, currently in charge of naval operations within the West Pacific and a man known for keeping a steady head and an open mind. He was nearing 50 years old now, though he looked ten years younger than that if anyone were to say, and his black hair was showing a salt-and-pepper look beneath his cap. He was whipcord thin in places, yet despite this slighter stature gave a feeling of being made of steel while remaining unflappable...

The blue eyes across from him on the other hand were set in a face that wouldn't have looked out of place on an angel. The woman's face was young, with doll-like features to her features while a white hair ribbon held back black silk locks in a page-boy cut. She wore a purple dress that cinched in at the middle with a gunmetal-grey corset of steel, the skirt extending down to just above the ankles, with armored boots peeking out beneath the hem. A pin looking like an antennae extended off the headband of USS Maryland as she looked along the plotted routes of the various fleets in the area, delicate fingers tapping at the table's edge. Like the admiral across from her, she gave off a cool and collected aura that put others around her at ease, yet this aura didn't change the fact that the duo seemed to be contemplating something serious...

"Spratly and Paracel are spread out enough for them to group up in before launching from out of the South China Sea, but there's a lot of open ocean between the Philippines and the Mariana Islands. In addition, we have no idea if they even need to come from any of those areas, or if they still have whatever assets they used before in the area," Stephens said as he looked down at the aforementioned areas. "It's the same problem as always... Too much sea and not enough ships to keep an eye on all of it."

"Sir, given the nature of the attack on Manicani, I will agree that it is likely that they still have at least some assets in the area, but I strongly believe that after what we found that they likely will have reinforcements for their forces coming in from the Marianas. It makes little sense for them to pull forces back from China in order to strike at the Philippines, as that would allow the Republic to scoop up more area while their backs are turned. The Trench is still considered to be one of their primary power bases, and the Abyssals defending that region haven't suggested anything else..." Maryland said in reply.

"But that doesn't mean that they truly follow that. We've never gotten anything in there to be certain. For all we know they're denying it to us simply because they can. The islands are a good place for their remaining assets to fall back to though, and since we still don't know what their true numbers are, they could very well be pulling forces out of the Chinese sea without any loss of coverage along the coastline. As much as I hate to say it, we're going to have to maintain corridor patrols until we're certain that they're dealt with."

"You truly believe that they'll launch another attack so soon?" the shipgirl asked, to which Stephens nodded.

"They've attacked any port that aided the Naval powers prior, and while China does have the means to strike out at anything that pops its head out long enough close to their shores, they don't have the reach to defend the Philippines... And the Abyssals have shown that they definitely want this to be a war of hearts as much as a military conflict. Their terror strikes along the coasts have been holding steady for a while now, but they've been going after key zones in preparation for something too. For them to find and hit Manicani as hard as they did means that they've figured out at least part of our plans for the area, and if they want to maintain their control over what they've taken they have to try a punitive strike at some point. They've avoided hitting capital cities prior, but again, it's only a matter of time until they start at least trying to raid them. We can't keep up an infinite tempo... but if we can figure out where they'll strike next, then at least we'll have a chance..."

Maryland nodded. In truth, both of them had come to the same conclusion long ago, but they were both still hopeful that either of them had come up with something since then. Right now they'd plotted several places that the Abyssals were likely to hit, with Davao, Panabo, Tacloban, Illoilo, Surigao and General Santos City as all big targets... Of course there was Manila itself, but neither of them believed that they'd attack such a major city yet... Or at least, they hoped.

"We can have Taffy-3 maintain patrols up the eastern coasts then, and use the sonar nets to try and look for cavitations as an early-warning signal. They've been increasing the number of them since December, so they should have a pretty good net to work with," Maryland said, while the Admiral nodded.

"Yes, though I'd like to add JCruDiv 8 to that patrol mix too, if Goto'll let us borrow his girls. I know that Houston is good for doing the same, but I do want to keep things on a civil level, and it'll certainly do well for her to know some of the other shipgirls abroad. We never know when we'll have to do so on the fly after all, and she hasn't had as much experience with the Japanese ones yet. May as well make it a trade with her and Thomas."

The battleship nodded at that. Houston had only recently been summoned, and while an effective shipgirl herself, had been kept closer to home than some. In truth, this was her second international sortie, and the first time where she'd actually be working close to her Japanese counterparts. The only real worry would be if she came across anyone else from Sunda... But given how she had reacted so far to the situation with the Abyssals and how she'd shown no complaint at escorting a food convoy to Japan prior, it was unlikely that the cowboy-like shipgirl would cause any fuss. And having the Thomas S. Gates there would help in case there was anything amiss. The guided missile ship had been saved from the breakers when the Abyssals attacked, and had been used in no less than seven skirmishes so far, supporting the fleet-girls themselves with her LRASMs. Abyssals may have wreaked havoc with radar and sonar at the best of times, but that didn't stop a more direct shot with visual targeting, and it never hurt to have a little extra 'oomph'... The only question now would be if they could manage the exchange without issue...

The next day found many things both old and new for the area and those within it. The sun was shining fairly well, and the weather was set to be beautiful throughout the day, with only a few clouds lazily going about the sky. The humans within were already up and starting their day with as much cheer as they could, moving to offices or markets and creating a bustling atmosphere that felt all the more relaxed knowing that there was an entire fleet of ships in dock protecting them from anything that might come their way. In a hotel near the port itself 5 ship-girls were still sleeping in, their tummies filled to near bursting as they lay in a puddle of adorableness around a sleeping Tenryuu, a story-book still draped across her chest from where she'd been reading to them the night before. In the port, several other ship-girls were starting to get up and moving as well, Ashigara handing off the night-watch to a human captain before going for her own shut-eye and passing Tone and Chikuma on the way to a nice soft berth...

On the other side of the city, a newcomer was stepping out into the sunlight as she got off an old bus and looked out amongst the tall buildings, a smile on her own face. "So, this is Manila, hmm? Doesn't look too bad..." Leviathan said to herself as she watched the others go, the old man tottering off on his cane while the construction workers went off to find a cab to take them the rest of the way home. "Alright, time waits for no woman... Let's see what we can do..."

"I would recommend finding someplace that we can use as a port-of-call so to speak. A hotel or such that we can rent so as not to look too far out of place. While we can go for a long time without downtime, we may need to store things that we come across without always having them on us," Hephaestus said in her ear through the earbuds plugged into the tac-pad. "We'll also need to access the local datanet proper for more information, but since we're here we should be able to do so without drawing too much attention."

"Got it," Levi muttered, before slipping into the flow of human traffic, looking for a ubiquitous gas station or newsstand where she could get a local map. She'd managed to get a good account of her internal stores now, and from a certain point it seemed like she'd gotten an ideal load-out for her class. Her MAC ammo was missing one round out of her 120 round capacity, but the rest of her ammo stores were full up now, with only a few dozen rounds short for her point defences. The Archer missile pods were fully stocked, and all of the cruiser's internal armories were loaded to the brim with everything needed for her Longswords and Shortswords, as well as a surprising pair of Scorpions and a quartet of Warthogs in her internal bay!

Her crew on the other hand... Leviathan was still wondering exactly what the hell they really were, but given how they were obedient and seemed to know what they needed to do, she really wasn't in any shape to start questioning how they got there. Probably the same mess that had turned HER into a human in the process. She knew her original crew was gone... There was no way to try and rationalize it any other way. She'd seen, and felt, them die inside of her, and the pain that brought couldn't be faked... but for now, it was good to know that she had someone to back her from the inside.

Where Leviathan was a bit more worried, were her barracks. She had a small group of marines for internal security as well as for boarding parties, and she'd had her ODSTs with their SOIEV bays since her second refit. But the little beings that were taking those roles now? Levi could swear that she was playing host to a set of gremlins! The black-armored little buggers were marching down her halls at double time, chittering like little devils while green-armored versions shouted obscenities at the others over some kind of prank involving swapping the rations' mashed potatoes with toilet paper! Honestly, it wasn't the WORST prank the cruiser had seen pulled on her crew, but the knowledge that it wouldn't end with whatever afterlife hallucination this all was was both an amusing comfort and an annoying headache that she could already feel coming on...

Bringing her focus back to the present, Leviathan looked down at a map of the city tucked in with a couple dozen of its brothers at a news stand, and a quick purchase allowed her to peruse it at her leisure while the salesman wished her a good day. Waving goodbye with a smile, Levi opened it up and started hunting down a place to rent, using her passive sensors to keep from bumping into anyone as she went. It took less than an hour before Leviathan found one close by the bus depots, and while it wasn't exactly the fanciest of places, she knew she wouldn't need it to be either.

Another ten minutes after checking in at Lakbayan Hotel Manila, Leviathan found herself in a small room with some basic amenities, and a quick thank you to the staff meant that she was able to finally have some solitude in which to get down to business. Sitting down on the double bed within the room, Leviathan flipped her tacpad up to talk to Hephaestus. "Okay buddy, let's see what the local 'net is like, hmmm?"

"What shall we look for first?" the AI replied.

"Look up geographical and planetary data first, then look up star charts and such. I doubt the latter will be available in anything but the most basic means, but at least it'll be something. Also, let's look up historical records as the secondary. See if we can clear up what the hell is going on with it..." Leviathan said.

"Roger that captain. Anything else we should be on the look out for?" Hephaestus asked, several subroutines loading up as he started tapping the local computer and communications network.

"I'll do that myself. I'm going to look up the cultural norms for this place. Don't want to be outed as an outsider by making the wrong turn of speech, right?" she replied.

"Very well, I'll let you know when I'm done."

Four hours later had the stoic cruiser backed into the corner of the room, feeling half-horrified and half-terrified as to what she'd found. Oh she'd come across the cultural data she'd needed alright. There was a lot of it actually, given the multitude of nations and the cultures that were found on this planet. More than she'd expected certainly! Hell, there'd even been some that were specific not to land, but instead to those who frequented the datanet, or 'internet' rather, that she'd been curious to.

It was like falling into a gravity well. The deeper she went the more and more horrified Leviathan had become, while at the same time she couldn't turn away... It had taken Hephaestus reading her distress to sound off a fire alarm inside of her bridge and snap her out of it!

What the HELL was wrong with this planet?!

"Are you alright? Leviathan?" Hephaestus asked.

"What kind of society could POSSIBLY be THIS hedonistic?!" she shuddered. "It's... It's more than..."

Hephaestus did a quick check of his ship-girl partner's search, only to have the digital equivalent of a heart attack. "Oh... Oh dear... Um, Leviathan, I highly recommend you avoid such things in the future. It can be..."

"It's 80% SMUT! What the hell kind of planet are we on that THAT is normal?!" she said. "And... And the... How do you make PORN out of a fucking airplane?! Or that bit with the..."

"FOCUS!" the AI shouted. "Even the most secure datanet always has things like that in the civilian sector. It's not exactly new for humans to... obsess over unhealthy practices, but you shouldn't dwell on it."

"But they even had..."

"STOW THAT SHIT SAILOR!" Hephaestus roared in her ears, causing her to cringe and nearly hop to attention at the sound of a Non-Com's voice in full Authority mode came out of the tacpad's speakers. "Look, I've found what we were looking for, so let's focus on that, okay?"

Visibly shaking herself from her stupor, Leviathan took a breath to recenter herself. "Alright, what have we got?"

"Well, first the bad news. Despite all sense and logic, this planet is indeed known as 'Earth' to the locals."

That immediately caused the cruiser to frown. "Seriously? I was hoping that it would have turned out to be garbage... Ugh. So, any evidence that says it was ever named something else? Of a previous civilization that they overthrew or some crap like that?"

"None that I've been able to find, and there's a LOT to go through... Still, this is worrying. The amount of historical evidence they claim to have is in the several thousands of years, enough that I'd have to question our previous theory."

"Heph, if you're seriously going to suggest that this is THE Earth, I'm going to have to hear a damn good theory for that..."

The digital intelligence frowned at that, but conceded the point. "I am merely putting forth questions. We know very little about what has happened to us, and less about how it occurred. It could very well be that this IS Earth, merely not the one we know."

"Come again?" Levi said, skepticism dripping from her tone.

"If we take into account the dates specified in... well... Everything we've come across, then it points to this in fact being Earth but... not our time."

"... Yeah, no, I'm going to flat out have to reject that one straight out, Heph," Levi said, shaking her head.

"Yet the evidence does show..."

"That someone put a lot of time and effort into making it a convincing tale, but without anything in our OWN archives to prove or disprove it, it's just that... Claims. Right?"

Hephaestus made a hum that indicated that he thought his ship-counterpart was just being stubborn. "That may be, but without any means of disproving it either, we can't rule out..."

"We most certainly can."

To this Hephaestus felt irritation go through his circuits. "And how can you do that? What reasoning do you have?"

Leviathan raised up her hand, holding up a finger. "These Abyssals, they're known throughout this planet now, right?"

A quick check of the data had Hephaestus nodding inwardly. "Yes, they're known along all of the coastal areas, and are for the most part common knowledge inland too."

"So these people are at war with a bunch of beings that can shift between ship-form and human-form, according to the data, right?" she said, holding up a second finger.

"Yes, what are getting at?"

"When in the UNSC's history was there ever a conflict like this one?" Leviathan asked, holding up a third finger.

Now Hephaestus WAS irritated. "We don't have access to any historical data of our own, so that's a moot point and you know it! Why are you..."

"How strong do you think I am Hephaestus?"

That caused him to blink. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"How? Strong? she reiterated.

A quick moment of thought later had the AI answering. "I'd say that we have insufficient data to make such a calculation."

"Strong enough to punch a hole through a tank at least?"

"That's... a fair assumption," he said. Considering how much the internal sensors said Leviathan had held back against those thugs beforehand, it wasn't an unreasonable guess to say that she could probably flatten a Scorpion MBT without even sweating if she REALLY wanted.

"So we have here, on this planet, a group of beings able to tear apart armored vehicles and bombard cities while only taking up a fraction of the space needed for similar vehicles with those capabilities. And if some of that stuff that I came across has even a REMOTE chance of being true, then these beings are opposed by similar ones on humanity's side, with not dis-similar capabilities, right?"

"Yessss...?" he said, now curious as to where she was going with this.

"And, in that case, it means humanity is able to field forces of such capabilities in an organized fashion, right?"

"Yes, but..."

"Hephaestus, if humanity could do that 500 years ago then WHY THE FUCK WOULD WE NEED A GODDAMN SPARTAN PROGRAM?!"

This caused him to reset his external sensors in surprise. "Pardon?"

"Think about it, Hephaestus. If we had the capability to create, summon, build or train such people, do you not think that we would have had a standing force of them sooner? Don't you think, that with a conglomerate of alien races all looking to wipe us out, that the UNSC wouldn't have turned over Heaven and Hell together in order to put together a force of such power? I don't know about you, but I FLAT REFUSE to believe that if we had access to this shit 500 years ago, that we would have opted instead to throw together armies consisting only of normal human beings, with only a bare HANDFUL of individuals that were put through the most grueling hell imaginable in order to turn them into superhuman soldiers... When instead we could have had soldiers capable of wielding the firepower of entire armor divisions that could be deployed just as easily!"

Hephaestus paused as he routed that through his processor. "Ah, so you mean that..."

"That there is no way in Hell that this is Earth's past, because if it was, then the UNSC would have been entirely different from what it was, and we could very well have stomped the Covenant into dust! I know I'm exaggerating a bit here, but with an army like that, we could have had the means of capturing enemy bases and installations and possibly even SHIPS that could have given us the means to bring the fight back to them! We wouldn't have been constantly on the back-step due to being kicked off our own worlds, and maybe... Maybe..." Levi said, her fists shaking as she trailed off.

"...I understand. In retrospect, it was foolish of me to put that forth as a theory."

Leviathan breathed in deeply before letting it out. "No... No it wasn't. It was just one more that needed to be tested before being discarded. Don't hold it against yourself."

"Very well then. Though, if I may ask...?"

"Hmmm? About what?"

"What do you mean by 'most grueling hell'? All data on the Spartan Program was kept under lock and key, and even as Stanforth's personal assistant I didn't have access to..."

"That's classified, Hephaestus."

That response caused him to pull up short, but in the end had to concede the point there as well. "Very well. So... What now?"

"Now? Now I want to get in some maintenance and see about getting some fresh air. Take some time to process this all before starting at it again," the cruiser spoke, standing up from her bed. "Keep looking through the data for now... I'll be back in a bit."

"Where are you going?"

"Humans generally take showers, right? In order to clean up? I'm going to give it a try and see if that works."

The AI harrumphed. "Very well. I'll be here if you need me."

Water cascaded off of Leviathan's form as the she finally stepped out of the shower. Sure enough, she felt cleaner than she had been prior, though she still was a bit leery on the feeling of being wet. It just didn't feel natural to her, though the heat was a welcome sensation compared to space's chill. Stepping out, she wrapped her hair in a towel and started to rub at it to get it dry, before moving down her body to do the same with her skin. Like her arms, Levi's form was a combination of pale skin and sculpted muscle, with only a bare minimum of fat that kept her from looking unhealthy. The tattoos that were on her arms and shoulders were mostly absent on the rest of her, though there were a few marks around her ankles, a double set of triangles opposing one another as though they were interlocking... It was an interesting thing to note, but ultimately didn't seem to be anything but cosmetic, so the cruiser just shrugged it off.

Moving over to the mirror and sink, she took the complimentary toothbrush that was supplied by a thoughtful staff member and put a little toothpaste on it before sticking it in her mouth. Her mind still whirling from the debate and its implications before, it took Levi a moment before she realized that the toothbrush was no longer brushing her pearly whites, but was instead scraping bare plastic against them. Blinking, she spat out the collection of toothpaste and fibers within her mouth before looking at the toothbrush itself. It had been completely stripped of all its bristles, and almost had a polished quality, as though it had been sanded down. Looking into the mirror, Leviathan pulled back her lips to look at the back of her molars...

Only to find that she didn't have any. Where on humans she would have expected some flat teeth perfect for crushing and chewing, the back four teeth on each of her jaws were instead filled with saw-edged fangs! The triangular teeth were slightly curved so that they pushed forward, then curled back to face straight up, meaning that they could grip tightly to whatever they bit down on...

To Leviathan, this one was just a bit too weird. Being human? Sure, completely weird in and of itself, but at least humans were a known factor. Tossed into some strange world where people thought and fought like 500 years ago? Bizarre as well, but at least had a semi-reasonable explanation. Having some kind of mutated predator's features hidden in with what was there prior? This shit was starting to get right up there onto the 'Need to Find out Sooner' list instead of the 'Deal with it Later' one. Throwing out the toothbrush as a loss, she swirled some mouthwash around and spat it out into the drain and called it done before walking out of the bathroom, when the ship-girl felt something ping along her spectrometer.

It wasn't anything big, something like that would have gotten FAR more of her attention than just a spike like that, but it was a bit odd. Too small for anything that would normally register... Yet it almost felt like...

"Heph? You feel that?" she said, reaching for her clothes... uniform... whatever.

"I did. Cheronkov radiation spike," the AI replied from the tacpad.

"Any idea where from?" she said, throwing on her pants and the socks that had come with them as she started to feel her reactors spooling up to a combat readiness.

"Only a directional. Couldn't give you a pinpoint location I'm afraid, but it's coming from out past the port," he said, a map of the locale in question.

"Think someone was stupid enough to bring a nuke into port? I know that Insurrectionists have done that more than once. Even if they didn't always work, it still closed them down for days until the area was swept..." she said, getting on her boots.

"I'm not certain. Levels are all wrong for that, and the spike we detected would have meant the start of it going off, not just a ping. We'd have already seen, and heard, the blast if THAT were the case."

"Good point... Alright, we should check it out at least."

"Are you sure? That sounds like something the locals should take care of... We don't want to blow our cover..."

Leviathan pulled her muscle-shirt over her head and down to her waist, grabbing her jacket and holster as she did so and tossing them into her bag. "I know, but something about that..."

"Is this what humans refer to as 'gut instinct'?" Hephaestus said with only a hint of sarcasm.

"Probably... but I'd rather feel foolish and wrong than be right and caught dead. So, ready partner?" she asked, scooping up the tacpad and putting it on her wrist.

"Don't have much of a choice, do I?" he said, causing the ship-girl to chuckle.

Leaving the hotel with a word to the front desk that she'd be back, Leviathan made her way down the streets towards the river, figuring that she could probably hike along its length to get where she felt she needed to be. The sun was just starting to set in the sky as she jogged when another spike pinged across her sensors.

"There it is again..." she said, her eyes looking out from behind her glasses as she tried to spot what it was that kept making that signal.

"It's not a slipspace rupture, such things aren't done in atmosphere without a LOT of consequences, so I think we can rule it out," Hephaestus said.

"Maybe, but..."

C̛̪̠͕̞̠̓̂̏̾͠ȍ̵̟̬̻̜̘̪͙͝m̸̧̱̣̰͍̺͔̝͕̭̔͌͂̈́̈́̔̕m̩̭͚̟͇ͯ͊̕͠͞eͬ͊҉̥̪͜n̵͔̤͉̱̹͚̜͋ͬ͋̿ͣc̰̣̺̥̩̏͊́͞į̸̙̩̠̘̪̹̼ͭ̓͆̉ͮ̑̈́̓͝n̷͈̲̼̥͎͖̮̝ͮ̑̆̿ͥ̇̓͞g̹͖̩̟͕ͣ̑ ̸̟̝̜̽̒̂͜b̧̟̙̯͐̚o̮̹͕͓̤̍̽͑̅̔͐́̚m͙ͦ͐̅ͭ̌̌̑͆b̴̅͋ͤ̏̓ͤͬͨ̅͏͈̦̫̣͎ä͍͚͖̳̪̺̙́ͥ̄̓̾̽͛̚r̸̶̜͉̀̍̓ͬ͝d̸̠͚̆͐ͪ͆͜͞m̶̡̠͍̤̫͛ͨ̂͗ͬ̿̋͛é̵̯̲̜̮̝̻͎̽͛ͩͦ̌̀n̈́̉ͬͭͤ̍͏̝̯̟͖̘̪͖t͑ͤ̊̄̃̍̔͏̝͍͇̣̹͡

Leviathan stopped dead in her tracks as something flashed across her mind, and she looked out at the bay near the end of the river. "What...?"

Whatever she was going to say was silenced by the low sound of a KRUMP! followed by a slight shudder in the air. In the distance, Levi could see smoke starting to rise up, along with flares of flame as other explosions started to occur. Those around her were also stopping, seeing the port area turning into flame while shapes dotted the horizon... Some started to scream, and within moments many of them were running, each trying to find someplace away from where they were right then... To get away from the water...

Leviathan growled in her throat as she watched, her irises focusing as long-distance cameras tried to zero in on the position of the incoming shellfire, then out into the bay as Levi pulled away her sunglasses. "Heph..."

"Yes?"

"We might be tipping our hand a lot sooner than we thought..."