A special thank you to justreidabook for searching through this chapter and correcting how ever many spelling mistakes I made and, well, anything that I did wrong.

(Which is a lot)

[*Whining* Aw, shut up.]

Enjoy.

"I have walked through valleys of sins and oceans of night. I have looked deamons and traitors in their eyes. I have heard the whispers of dark things that wanted my soul. And never once have I encountered anything that has struck the fear into me that a Xenos would feel if it truly understood the resolve of the Human race."

Dark clouds are smoldering into red,

While down the crater, morning burns.

The dying soldier shifts his head,

To see the glory that returns;

He lifts his fingers towards the skies,

Where holy brightness breaks in flame;

Radiance reflected in his eyes,

And on his lips, a whispered name.

And so it begins.

Location; Unknown

Ajax awoke with a start, bolting forwards and against his command chair's restraints.

He wiped his hands against his face groggily in the hopes of swiping away the haze in his mind.

When the haze finally went away, Ajax could only blink dumbly for a second as he tried to comprehend what had happened.

When he remembered the wreckage in orbit, he immediately pulled up the diagnostics for his ACU onto the screen in front of him.

Breathing a strong sigh, Ajax was glad the ACU wasn't too beaten up from the fall. In fact, it had mostly repaired itself while he was unconscious. Just 13 minutes until it would be operational again, enough time to head to the A.I terminal and see what he could do for his companion.

But first thing's first.

Ajax clambered out his chair and started looking for some more nanites. Surely the nanites had replenished themselves from the mass deposit put away just for them.

Ajax sighed in relief when he found the refilled nanite injector before injecting another dose into the ACU.

With that done, Ajax turned his attention back to the screen. 7 minutes.

Nodding to himself, Ajax started his way to the back of the head, towards the A.I 'mind', the black box. When he got there he wasn't entirely surprised to find the it had been disconnected from the rest of the ACU in the crash, but he was pleased that it wasn't worse and that it wasn't going to be too hard to fix.

Really, he thought it would be harder than just... plugging the black box back into the system.

Finishing the connection, Ajax made his way back to his seat. On his way back, he was greeted by the A.I 'Bane'. He still didn't know why Bane had chosen that name, but he did.

"Thank you, Field Marshal. I was afraid I was not going to come back on-line."

Sitting back into the chair, Ajax replied.

"Can't have you sleeping, now can we?"

Bane's voice showed amusement. "Quite right, Marshal. The suit should be operational soon."

Ajax sighed, before giving his reply. "I can see that, can we start construction?"

"We could..."

"Than do it, generators and mass extractors."

"Starting on the generators, but there aren't any mass extractor blueprints. They seem to have been wiped from the memory core. May I ask why you want to start early?"

Ajax nodded lightly at the Bane's inquiring tone. "You may. Upon entering atmosphere, I noticed wreckage orbiting the planet."

Bane's voice filtered in, curious and surprised. "Wreckage... in space? I did not know the Coalition had any spacecraft."

"That's because we don't. Well, no military spacecraft. We haven't needed them since before the infinite war, and as far as I can remember, the Seraphim and Rhazghoul don't either."

"Are you saying what I think you're saying?" Bane's tone went suspicious.

"That either this is another off-shot of Humanity, or..."

"Or another first contact. Hopefully either whichever one it is won't be hostile. Generators completed. May I suggest constructing a few mass fabricators?"

Ajax nodded, "Yes, I'll do that."

Pulling up the screen in front of him, Ajax panned the camera around a bit before selecting the Tier 2 Mass Fabricator and placing several down, seemingly at random.

Next, he selected the Tier 1 power generators and placed a few per fabricator.

Then, he chose the mass storage and placed several per fabricator.

Lastly, Ajax went for the power storage icon, and placed several around the power generators. Satisfied that resources would be gained at an adequate pace, he turned his attention to the timer. It'd take a while, but it was manageable.

Turning, Ajax spoke, "Do you have a connection to the other commanders?"

His reply was immediate, "No, but the sensors do not detect anything that could contribute to their destruction. But then, our sensors are not the best thing to rely on at the moment."

Nodding, Ajax couldn't fault Bane. The sensors weren't that effective. That's what scout's and specialized sensors were for. After all, why outfit an ACU with sensor equipment if it could create something more effective in time for it to actually make no difference anyway?

Shaking his head, Ajax panned the camera around, trying to get a more detailed view of his surroundings.

The crater he had created upon landing was large enough to fit the buildings he was creating in it, and was maybe big enough for an aircraft factory and several tier 3 fabrication buildings as well, before he would have to climb out of the deep hole. The sides were sheer cliffs going straight up. He'd have to take a transport to get out. The sensors detected a wide ring around the crater that was clearing of tree's. There was something... off about the planet. It was odd, but Ajax couldn't quite place his finger on it.

Any further searching was cut off by the interruption of Bane.

"Field Marshal, it appears this planet has a dextro-amino cell structure. I would advise creating green houses if you plan to stay here for an extended amount of time."

Ajax blinked, so that's what was off, nodding in acknowledgment, he replied. "I'll get on it after the immediate surroundings have been searched."

"Acknowledged, building cue nearly done."

He nodded again before panning the camera back to his growing base. The buildings were nearly done, and he had just started generating resources faster than they were being used. Checking the blueprints, Ajax was pleased to find the aircraft, land, and naval factories were still there. Pulling up an air factory, he was again pleased to find enough room for the factory and a trio of tier 3 fabricators.

Selecting the factory, he placed it so that the fabricators could be placed around it comfortably, leaving enough room for him to navigate through while being close enough for matter transference.

Moving the screen back to the surrounding country side, or what the sensors could 'see', Ajax glanced at the resource storage. It was starting to dip down again. Flicking his eyes back to the map, he slightly felt like he had a visual inhibition, only being able to see what was visible and calculated differences from what the sensors picked up before impact.

Shaking his head, Ajax was interrupted once again by Bane.

"Field Marshal, the construction of the factory is nearly complete. You seem to be drifting off with an alarming regularity."

His concern was clearly visible in the last sentence. Ajax blinked. He hadn't drifted off, had he?

"It's nothing." Ajax waved off. "Just got nothing to do this early into the... invasion? Does this count as an invasion?"

Bane replied, sounding all too amused, "I would classify this as being stranded on a unknown world that may have intelligent life. Factory is complete."

Nodding, Ajax ordered, "Build three Hummingbird's and have them search and patrol the perimeter," The factory activated, starting to fabricate the required planes from the mass storage deposits, "Once they've all been created, have them head in different directions and scout the planet for anything and everything."

"Yes, sir."

"Good" Checking the storage, he calculated the required mass and energy. Satisfied with the answer, Ajax queued an engineering drone to his suit. Might as well get a few of them back.

Turning his attention back to the camera feed, he panned the visual until it showed his visible surroundings. Searching, just in case Bane saw something deemed he had unimportant, he queued the another engineer drone as soon an the first one was finished.

When the scout planes were completed, they split up. One headed to where Arathorn had landed, one to where Gautama had landed, and the last one circled his base in increasingly larger circles.

Ajax queued up a trio of Engineers from the factory to start building around the outside of the hole he was in and a C-6 Courier to get them out of the crater once they finished. As soon as they finished building, he tasked the C-6 Courier to grab the Engineers and place them on the lip of the 'crater' before tasking the C-6 to transport future Engineers from the aircraft factory to outside his rather defensible and well hidden base.

Before he could continue on, Bane interrupted.

"Sir, I've found Gautama. She's sending us a signal."

The screen in front of him showed Gautama briefly before shunting her to the top right corner so that he could continue with what he was doing. Whereupon he tasked the Engineers to build several Tier 2 power generators encircled by Tier 2 fabricators, before bringing his attention back to Gautama.

Without hesitating, she started off. "Field Marshal, I am in need of mass and energy. Can we share the resources we have at the moment?"

"Yes, just give me a moment." At the shrewd look she shot at him, he elaborated, "Just so I can share the output, I could send batches over now if you want."

Gautama nodded stiffly before replying, "That may be the best course of action."

With that, she closed the connection.

Ajax couldn't hold the small sigh, hopefully she would relax a bit. If not, it would be a challenge to do anything productive.

He maneuvered the camera so that he could see how she was fairing.

When he saw the base, he snorted.

The tactic she used was more destructive than anything he could come up with. And that was saying something, with what he had access to.

The hole was both deeper and wider than his, meaning that she hadn't used thrusters to slow down her descent. Her crater was practically smooth, making her have to level the sections she wants to build on before building.

Further musing was interrupted by a picture of Arathorn showing itself on screen.

His scowl was lighthearted, for a Cybran at least.

"You took all the atmospheric pressure away. I am floating over here!"

Ajax chuckled slightly, "At least I used thrusters, Gau just threw up a shield!"

For a moment, the corner Cybran's mouth twitched ever so slightly upwards, "I thought there were some brains in there. I would have hated to see you go so soon."

"I'm not going anywhere." Ajax stated, trying to keep a straight face.

"If you say so." Was his clipped reply.

Sighing, Ajax turned serious, "Do you need help?" It wasn't a question, really.

Arathorn snorted, before boasting, "While you were unconscious, my base was built to it's maximum potential. I have scouted this entire planet and have hacked into the satellite that is currently watching us."

Ajax snorted a cough out at the Cybran's words, "There's a satellite in orbit?!"

Arathorn nodded.

"And you hacked it?" Another nod, "While I was unconscious?"

Another twitch of the Cybran's lips betrayed his amusement, if only vaguely.

"You were unconscious for three days, so I took the preemptive and made a base."

Ajax blinked, twice.

"So, if anything, I should be offering my help to you."

"Err? OK then, did not see that coming." Ajax stated, scowling at the screen.

Arathorn interrupted him before he could start off further.

"I will share my resources with you and Gautama so you can build your bases up as well."

Ajax nodded, and then replied, "Once we've finished our primary bases we should see what our observers want with us while expanding until we've covered most of the planet."

"Actually, we can cover the entire planet. There is nothing here except ruins."

Ajax nodded distractedly, "Yes, we should. Send your resources to Gautama. She needs them more than I do, as much as she would hate to admit it. Here's the link." He tapped the button to link the Cybran to the Illuminate, "I believe she will find your help most... well, helpful."

Arathorn nodded calmly before disconnecting.

Ajax sighed. While Arathorn understood that he did not want to take the Cybran's freedom, Gautama still viewed him with plenty of suspicion. He would have to rectify that.

OK, I'm wrapping it up here.

My apologies for the wait, but I do have 5 stories that I am working on... Simultaneously. This isn't even the first one to the bunch.

Anyway, A few riddles to fill in the space.

I am so delicate, the slightest noise will break me.

I am many different instruments but you only play one.

Sometimes music will come out, even if you played none.

This easy way to play, is actually quite fun.

Tell me what instrument am I and this riddle will be done.

I have a face, yet no senses.

But I don't really care,

because time is the essence.

I am born blue,

from my great mother,

the sustainer of life.

But when I finally breath and emerge from my home I am red.