Captain Nikolai Mikhaelovich of the prowler To Kill a Mockingbird sipped on his caffeinated drink. It definitely wasn't good enough to be called coffee, but it was strong, and that was something he needed right now. A routine patrol on the edge of the remaining inner colonies, looking for covenant activity. Most of the remaining ships stationed above the last colonies had been recalled to earth, a pittance had been left at the half dozen remaining worlds. His prowler and the corvette Lady Luck were the only two ships stationed at the colony of Shanxi.
With a sigh Nikolai turned to the crewman operating the ships sensors, "So, what exactly did you wake me up for?"
The crewman, a lieutenant by the name of Richard Hall, replied the question, "Looks like a gravitic anomaly, similar to a slipspace rupture, but without all the exotic radiation. We should be coming into lidar range soon." The lieutenant punched in a command on his console and a holographic display lit up, showing an object.
"What exactly am I looking at?"
It was massive, blue, and glowing. Shaped like a tuning fork. Strangely enough a pair of rings rotated back and forth across its core.
"I don't know… maybe a forerunner artifact, like from that briefing we got from the higher ups about a month back?" The lieutenant touched a few controls and the view zoomed in.
Nikolai sipped his drink again, "Lieutenant, are those rings starting to spin faster?"
"Uh… Yes sir! Oh shit, ships coming out of the structure. No match to known covenant profiles."
Nikolai sighed and strapped into the command chair, "Helmsman, keep us as quiet as you can. Lieutenant, launch a probe towards the relic, and implement the Cole protocol. This is going to get interesting."
ooooooo
Shepard saw the chieftain activate his overshields. He reacted on instinct, diving to the side and tackling his alien ally out of the way. The gravity hammer impacted behind them, sending them flying into the side of the corridor. If he had more time to think, he would have shook his head at having an alien 'ally'.
Damn it, just a few dozen feet and we would have had this wrapped up. He stood up and fired at the chieftain. The bullets bounced harmlessly off his overpowered shield.
The brute was highly overconfident, obviously wanting to stretch out his moment of glory. Shepard ducked a swing from the butt of the hammer, and rolled into the corridor beyond.
The brute brought his hammer up lazily, "I will enjoy making you suffer!"
"Don't you know? It's not polite to play with your food." Shepard threw his empty MA5C at the chieftain, hitting him in the head, breaking his line of sight. He used the small distraction to pick up a needler off the ground. He sent a wave of pink projectiles arcing towards the chieftain, unfortunately each one exploded on contact, not finding purchase in the brute's power armor.
The brute laughed at the attack, and took what looked like a few practice swings with his hammer.
A pair of shotgun blasts from the alien hit the chieftain, causing the brute to stumble. He turned around and roared at the alien. Shepard took the opportunity to pull his pistol and drilled several rounds into the brute's head. It slumped over, dead.
Shepard walked over to the fallen brute. He put his hands on his knees and took a few deep breaths to try and calm his rapid breathing. The alien walked up as well, her shotgun was still aimed at the dead brute.
"It's dead, don't worry," Shepard assured her even though he knew she wouldn't understand him. He indicated his nameplate with his hand. "I'm Commander John Shepard."
The alien looked at him for a minute before figuring out what he meant. She replied by saying something that sounded like gibberish to Shepard, he only caught the beginning 'Talizor-something'
Shepard depolarized his visor and offered a hand to the alien, "thanks." She seemed hesitant but took it in a surprisingly firm grip.
Shepard released her hand and walked back into the control room. He was moderately surprised to find the other alien crouched over joker, applying some sort of salve to his wound.
Shepard didn't know what it was, but the alien obviously thought it would help the pilot's injury. Still, he pulled out his biofoam canister and crouched down next to the pilot as well, only to find something a lot better than biofoam already in the wound. Whatever gel the alien had spread in the wounds seemed to be actually healing the wound. The blood had mostly stopped flowing; Shepard could see the bone of Joker's leg and the shattered bits of it from where the spike of metal had hit it.
The flesh inside the wound was literally knitting itself together. The alien seemed to know what she was doing. Shepard left his med kit with her; hopefully Joker would live, and once they got back to UNSC space the doctors might be able to give him his leg back. He stood up and walked to the hidden main control console, aware of both alien's eyes on him.
Most models of ODPs, at least those with a super-MAC, were designed to be operated by an AI, normally a dumb AI. The majority of the 'crew' were assigned to help repel boarders, damage control, or help coordinate the fleets and fighter defenses. In direct combat with the enemy, the station could be controlled solely by an AI, though a dumb AI would need human oversight.
Shepard shook his head at the overly spacious control room. Plants, long dead, lined the room. In one of those planters was a slightly hidden handle. He pulled it, and out folded an actual control panel, just next to the AI holographic projector.
It was just an oversized keyboard and a touchscreen. Using a MAC gun manually was a very precise operation. A manual control joystick was something out of popular fiction.
Soon he located the systems controlling the backup reactor, and he started the emergency MAC charge sequence with his ONI override code, or he tried to. The system locked him out, and the holopad flashed and materialized into the avatar of an AI.
"Ah ah ah," the AI scolded him. The avatar was of a Greek appearance, like a lot of AIs, dumb and smart. 'She' wore a form fitting toga, sandals and a helmet that appeared more roman than Greek. It also carried a bow in its right hand. "I can't let you do that Dave."
Uh oh, thought Shepard having seen the old movie she had referenced, out loud he said something else entirely, "Uh... who are you?"
"Me? Well... how nice of you to ask, most spooks say stuff like 'AI do this, AI do that' Inconsiderate assholes." She stuck out her tongue like a petulant child.
The shotgun wielding alien walked over at this point, her shotgun very obviously pointed at the holopad. The alien gave Shepard a look that could have been interpreted as 'are you insane?' For her part, the AI just ignored the alien.
"Sorry, I don't think I caught your name?" Shepard started to get worried. This AI was obviously rampant, but maybe he could try and convince it to shoot the cruiser outside. At least then the Midnight Dreary could safely return to earth. Hopefully it wasn't like the rampant AIs of fiction, who only seemed to exist to kill their creators.
"Oh, right I'm UNSC 'Smart' AI 0147-01 Artemis, though I liked 'Artemis' or 'the ol' sunny bitch' better than my full name. I'd shake your hand, but this stupid bow is in the way!" The avatar shook the 'hand' holding the bow as if it could shake it off.
Shepard smiled a little at the AI's antics, "Ok, uh... my name is..."
"Commander John Shepard, UNSC Office of Naval Intelligence, section I, assigned as executive officer of the prowler Midnight Dreary. That right?" The AI looked at him expectantly.
"Yeah, so why can't I charge and fire the MAC gun?" Shepard raised an eyebrow, "Did I not ask nicely enough?"
The AI cocked her head to the side. "Maybe, maybe not." A small chime sounded, identical to something one would hear from an oven when it was done cooking. "Cookies are done!"
Shepard decided right there that this AI truly was insane. Maybe if I cut her control wires to the console I could get the station to fire.
He was interrupted from his thoughts as the AI started talking in some sort of alien gibberish. The shotgun wielding alien jumped as if startled and replied with more gibberish.
"A-ha! It works." The AI let out a squeal and seemed to prance around her little projector space.
Shepard sighed and face palmed. The alien stood there looking extremely confused before saying something in her language.
"Oh, she says she hasn't ever heard of an AI that behaves as erratically as I do. She also says your race must be stupid for programming an AI like me." Artemis stopped dancing and smiled at Shepard.
Shepard sighed again, deeper this time. "I don't think I have either. Oh well, I don't suppose you'd give me a copy of that translator would you?"
"How much?" The AI smiled sweetly.
"What!"
"You heard me, how much do you want to give me for a translator?"
Shepard raised an eyebrow, "You know, I think I left my wallet in my other suit."
The AI pouted and crossed her arms, which looked rather awkward the way the bow was programmed. Then she snapped her fingers, "I've got it! I want a new avatar."
"Uh, well..." Shepard rubbed the back of his neck, trying to think of something. "I can't program you a new one, but if you help me destroy that cruiser and get back to earth before the covenant glass it I'll try my hardest to convince a computer tech to do that for you."
Something changed in the AI, her appearance immediately red shifted, and her face took on an extremely angry expression. "Did you just say the covenant are going to glass earth?"
"A small fleet slipped in with one of their hierarchs a bit less than a month ago. We managed to stop them, but the last assault carrier fled into slipspace with one of our frigates in pursuit. That broke the floodgates, ships have been arriving at earth for the past three weeks. The fleet and ODPs managed to take out a lot of them. And apparently some sort of civil war took out a lot more, but there were too many of them, the home fleet was down to two dozen vessels when we left. The only thing that's been saving us is the fact that they're more interested in some sort of forerunner ruin than in glassing earth." Shepard took a deep breath. Even the condensed version was pretty long.
"So why are you here? Running away?" The AI asked, still glowing red.
"No, we're here to save earth and the remaining colonies. The frigate that followed the assault carrier found some sort of forerunner structure. Apparently it was a galaxy destroying super weapon at the center of the covenant religion. The crew of the frigate convinced the elites that they were a part of a mass suicide cult and they stopped the brutes and prophets from activating the weapon. The only thing is what they found on earth is some sort of master control. The survivors of that frigate, and the elites know what we need to do to stop the covenant from destroying the galaxy. So that cruiser needs to die before our ship can flee to slipspace."
The AI closed her eyes in thought while her color slowly faded to blue. "Okay I'll help, if earth is threatened, then these covenant bastards need to die." Artemis closed her eyes, "Initializing charging sequence. Bringing backup reactors to full power. Charging coils, estimated time of complete charge, fifteen minutes."
Shepard glanced down at the small computer display on his left wrist. 'Downloading translation protocol v1.7.02' the loading bar began its slow trek across the screen.
An orange hologram sprang to life on the alien's wrist, apparently an advanced version of his own combat computer.
Shepard heard a small beep. The translator had finished. He turned to the alien and took a deep breath. "Can you understand me?"
She whipped around to face him, "How in the name of the ancestors did you manage to get a translator working so fast?"
Shepard smiled, "Nice to meet you too."
"Oh, I... right... you can call me Tali. Thanks for saving me from that thing I just froze up when it charged. I... Keelah, I owe you one." The alien wrung her hands nervously.
Shepard was extremely surprised at the almost human behavior. He was expecting something more, well, alien, from an alien.
"You can call me Shepard, and you helped me take the bastard down, let's call it even eh?" He turned to see the other alien walk up dragging Joker along with that glowing blue effect surrounding her.
"Your comrade will live, though medi-gel will not heal his spine."
"Hey commander, who knew aliens could be hot? And on our side. I think my plumbing still works, I tell you what; if I could still use my legs-"
"Joker, don't finish that sentence." Shepard rolled his eyes at the pilot. He turned and addressed the aliens, "I don't really know who you are or why you are on this station, but thank you for helping us."
The alien who helped Joker took off her helmet, revealing a blue and very human looking face. Along with some strange fleshy ridges along the top of her head. "My name is Liara, and I must confess though I am grateful you fought those beasts, we didn't have much of a choice in the matter. They weren't very interested in talking."
Shepard smirked, "The covenant aren't big on the talking side of things, they prefer to shoot first an-"
Artemis interrupted them before he could explain further, "Alert, enemy boarding parties have detected power buildup. They are converging on this location. You need to hold this location for another twelve minutes before the gun can fire." A countdown appeared, replacing her avatar.
"Hell," Shepard started striding purposefully to the nearest arms locker. "I don't suppose you'll help us? If we can shoot down that cruiser our vessel can pick us up."
"Where would we go? Your planet is destroyed." The blue alien reminded him.
"Reach wasn't our only world, but we'll make them pay dearly for it soon enough." Shepard called back over his shoulder. He reached the locker and began pulling weapons out. Once he ran out of room on his magnetic plates he started stacking them like firewood in his arms. He brought them back into the control room and set them out on the floor.
Two shotguns, three BR55 battle rifles a MA5C assault rifle, four M7 SMGs, and six pistols, along with plenty of spare ammo and a pair of grenades.
He found Joker had already pulled himself behind the planter with the hidden panel. Shepard handed him one of the battle rifles and several spare clips. His position would give them good fire support. He offered a SMG and a BR to each of the aliens, but they refused, drawing their own weapons. A shotgun and some sort of pistol respectively. He picked up the MA5C and a BR, placing them on his back. He grabbed more ammo for his sidearm and finally picked up a shotgun, pumping a round into the chamber as he did
"Covenant forces an estimated one minute from reaching this command center." Artemis provided a helpful update.
Shepard reached down and picked up a few plasma pistols from the ground. He test fired each at the ground, and seeing the looks from the aliens he tossed each of them one. Shepard pointed the weapon at the door and demonstrated firing a charged shot.
After that he bunkered in, indicating where his two alien allies should take cover. It wasn't long before he heard the strange shrieks made by Jackals, and the nervous squeaky conversation of a group of grunts. He placed his shotgun down beside him and drew the BR. Before the aliens came into his line of view Liara started firing at them, being further up and to the left. Sloppy of me, he though to himself, Should have had them let the enemy all get into our sight before opening fire.
Liara ducked back into cover as a hail of plasma and needler rounds came flying from the covenant troops. Shepard took note of when the sounds of weapons fire came vs. when the plasma rounds came around the corner. He primed a frag grenade and threw it against the far wall. It bounced back around the corner. A few high pitched shrieks told him that he would get at least a few of them. The explosion and flying bodies told him that he was right.
"Forward you fools! Kill the humans!" A brute yelled. Probably the leader of this little pack.
A bare three grunts and two jackals came around the corner, the brute following close behind. This time the alien held her fire. The jackals were being cautious this time, their shields were already pointed and they were hunched down ready to fire. Three quick bursts and the grunts fell behind them. The brute fired its spiker at Shepard so he ducked down behind his cover, dropping his BR and picking up his shotgun.
He took a risk to peek back up. The shotgun wielding alien, Tali, was waiting for the Jackals to inch forward and expose their backs to her. Unfortunately for her plan the brute was right behind them.
Shepard brought his shotgun up; at this range the spread was only a few inches. The shotgun was one of the few weapons effective against the covenant, even if it was only at short range. An eight gauge shell worth of buckshot was sent into the brute's chest armor. Its shields flared, so Shepard sent two more shells his way before ducking back into cover. A pitiful gurgle told him the brute was down. Two more weapon reports from the alien shotgun told him the rest of this group was down as well.
"Sound off! You two okay?" Shepard yelled out to his allies.
"I am fine Commander." Liara didn't seem too fazed by the battle.
"No contacts Shepard!" Tali wasn't quite as calm, but wasn't in hysterics either.
"Joker?" Shepard glanced back to the control console where he saw the barrel of a rifle poking out.
"Damn Shepard, you've got to let them get in here before I can shoot 'em."
"Liara, next time, wait for them to get in the kill zone before you open fire. Other than that you all did good." Shepard tried to look back for the countdown, but couldn't quite see the numbers, "Artemis, what's the time until firing?"
"Seven minutes remaining commander."
Well, this will be a long day.