1.4: Unknown Territory, Unknown Enemies
FOUR
Unknown Planet
John-117 felt the shaking of the Pelican as it entered the unknown Planet's atmosphere. The protective plating around the aircraft would protect it from heating up to intolerable temperatures.
That wasn't what he was concerned about, however. They were entering unknown territory, possibly going up against unknown enemies with unknown technologies.
And as a soldier, John didn't like unknowns.
They were headed to the largest continent on the planet's surface. After several minutes, the Pelican changed trajectory to a more horizontal flight path, skimming over the forests of this new planet. The Pelican was larger than a normal Pelican, and was carrying four Mongoose ATVs in the bay behind the Spartan Fireteams.
The pilot noticed something on her tracker. "We've got a Bogey inbound."
Le-Koro outskirts, Magna Nui, Spherus Magna
Ultia, Toa of Air, saw an olive-green vehicle descend from the heavens and fly over the jungle. It looked somewhat like a bird, but she knew it wasn't. It was an aircraft, similar to the ones used to transport Matoran and other races between islands.
She flew alongside it. Her Kanohi Kualsi- Mask of Quick Travel- meant that she could teleport to anywhere in her line of sight, but she decided to just manipulate air currents to stay level with the aircraft. She could see the pilot. It looked like her, but was different. It didn't have any mechanical components, and was covered by a suit of armor that she had not seen before.
Like most of the Toa Magna- as they were being called- Ultia wore Adaptive Armor. As soon as she had leapt into the air to start her flight, it changed to have jet engines, a streamlined, aerodynamic profile, and protective shielding in her Mask's eyeholes. She waved at the pilot, and motioned to a plain they could land on.
They did, and she teleported onto the ground. Her armor shifted into her normal form, and she greeted the aircraft's passengers. They didn't understand her.
Each of them were clad head-to-toe in armor, similar to hers, but different. It was like the Glatorians', and was worn, not a part of them. They talked amongst themselves, and one eventually pointed towards where they might believe a city was. Ultia shook her head and turned to where Le-Koro was, pointing to her home. She motioned for them to follow.
The olive-green-colored-and-gold-visored one raised its hand, and Ultia watched as the armored creatures took out several small quadwheels and activated them. The vehicles fit two of the creatures each, and were the same color as the aircraft.
Unknown Planet
Vale watched from the Mongoose's passenger seat as they drove through the forest. The local that they had met on the way down was leading them down this passage. "It talked."
"And?" Buck, driving the Mongoose, asked.
"It sounded like white noise. But the mouth- I could see something like that from under whatever it's wearing on it's face- was moving while it talked."
"So you think that's its language?"
"Yep."
Kelly noticed John was more focused on driving than he normally was. "What?"
"If that thing turns around to harm us, shoot it."
"Roger." She doubted it would, but she knew better to pass it off as pointless paranoia.
"But I'm not sure how vocal cords could evolve to be like that. Sangheli have extremely different vocal cords, but they're nothing that could produce a sound like that." Vale had been speculating out loud for the past ten minutes.
"Unless you want me to fall asleep and crash us into a tree, I suggest you shut your trap, Vale." Buck said.
"Alright, old man."
"Hey! I'm not old. At least, not that old."
They came towards a large city or village of some sort. The Spartans dismounted. "Linda, Kelly, Tanaka- keep guard of the Mongooses." John ordered them.
"Understood." Kelly said.
The Spartans were escorted into an elevator-like contraption. Their escort pressed a button, and it caused the contraption to ascend into the treetops.
Le-Koro, Magna Nui, Spherus Magna
Ultia wished she had a Kanohi Rau with her, but she had never gotten a mask like that. They said she'd never need it. She just had her Kualsi and a Kanohi Faxon, the Mask of Kindred. The translation ability would be extremely useful for communicating with these otherworlders- much better than Quick Travel and the ability to mimic Rahi abilities.
They were walking behind her, weapons readied but relaxed at the same time. Except for the olive-green one. He- she assumed it was male, because of his body structure, but she could be wrong- was always checking behind him. He looked nervous. The others reactions to his behaviour seemed like they never saw him act like this before.
She brought them to the Turaga's hut. A small ship was landed nearby, with the colors denoting it was from Ce-Prima. What is a Turaga of Psionics doing here? She pushed that thought away. The turaga knew better than her.
Augmentus, the Turaga of Plant Life and head of Le-Koro, was in his hut, talking to a Turaga of Psionics. Her gold-and-blue armor was at odds with Augmentus's green-and-blue-colored armor, and looked out of place in a world with so much greens and browns. But her mask was the most interesting part of her to Ultia. It was a Rua. Originally, Turaga masks would be ranked "Noble" in power, and less effective than a Toa's "Great" Kanohi, but reverse-engineering eventually figured out how to change this. Now, Turaga and Toa had masks equivalent to each other in power.
"Ultia!" Augmentus saw her and greeted her with a bump of the fist. He saw the otherworlders, and his brow furrowed. "Who are these?"
"You didn't hear?"
"No, I didn't."
"I thought the guards had told you that I was bringing company."
"Company? These are not company! These are intruders!"
"Oh, come on, Augmentus. Where's that Le-Koro hospitality?"
"All used up on her." He pointed to the Turaga of Psionics. "Toa Ultia, meet Cognitis, head of the Ce-Prima Senate."
"Pleasure to meet you." Cognitis said. "And who are these visitors? I do not recognize them."
"They're otherworlders. I think they came from the void-vessel." Ultia holstered her blades, as was customary.
"What?" Augmentus's eyes widened. "First it was a Rahkshi. Then it was an Agori of the Iron Tribe. Then it was an Av-Matoran. Now it's sky-people. What's next? You're going to bring the Great Spirit himself here?"
"I hope so, Turaga." Her tone was sarcastic.
"Hmph. This is why I hate your generation."
"Turaga Congitis, I need your help communicating with the offworlders."
"That I can do." Her mask glowed, and she turned towards their otherworldly visitors.
Unknown Planet
Vale watched as the Spartan-sized alien talked with the smaller ones. Their escort was dark green and heavily muscled, but lithe and agile, always moving with a light step and long stride. The smaller ones were much more… elderly-looking, she guessed. They had hunched backs, had staffs supporting themselves, and looked much older and wiser than their escort. The alien's language sounded like white noise and digital static mixed with rumbling noises. She couldn't comprehend it, even if she tried. With the Covenant, at least their language could be figured out and had elements similar to the Human languages, with consonants, syllables, and structure. This sounded like it had none of it, even if it did.
The gold-and-blue one looked at them, and its mask glowed yellow. What came out was something totally unexpected.
"You are offworlders, yes?" It asked.
The Spartans were stunned. "How do you know our language?" Locke asked.
"My mask," It tapped the mask. "It is a Kanohi Rua, the Mask of Translation. I can understand and speak your language as long as it is active."
That's interesting, Locke thought. Perhaps it works similar to a translation device, but both ways. "And who are you?"
"I am Congitis, Turaga of Psionics, and head of the Ce-Prima Senate."
"Is that a male name, female name, or gender-nuetral name?" Locke asked. He could see Vale facepalming in his peripheral vision.
"Neither. I am female, but my kind does not assign names to their bearers based on their gender identity. Instead, it is based on Element or Tribe."
Buck nudged Vale with his elbow. "Looks like you've got a lot of learning to do. Better take notes."
Locke glared at the two Spartans, then turned back to the "Turaga". "And the others?"
"The tall one is Ultia, Toa of Air. The short, cranky one is Augmentus, Turaga of Plant Life."
"Those names and descriptions aren't words in our native language. How are they not being translated?"
"Because the Mask knows what it should and should not translate."
"Can you tell us what does words mean?"
"'Kanohi' are masks that contain special abilities. 'Turaga' are Toa that have sacrificed their power to do a certain task, and are village elders. 'Toa' are elementally-powered warriors and protectors, created from Matoran who are chosen by Toa Stones to become Toa."
"Vale, you taking notes?" Locke decided to keep a mental dictionary of terms used on this planet. He was sure it would expand.
"Yeah." The crimson-armored Spartan-IV said. "Most of these words sound similar to Maori. Some latin, some other."
"They don't sound like anything translated," Buck groaned. He was tired of this type of first contact. It was boring. He was a helljumper and a soldier, not a diplomat. This wasn't his thing.
"And you are?" Cognitis asked.
"I'm Agent Jameson Locke, UNSC Office of Naval Intelligence." Locke introduced himself. "That's-"
Buck interrupted Locke. "Jason Bateman." Locke glared at him. "Captain Malcolm Renolds."
Locke looked back at Cognitis. "-Gunnery Sergeant Edward Buck, formerly of the UNSC Navy Orbital Drop Shocktroopers, or ODST, for short."
Buck nodded. "I've gone to Hell and back."
"Ever been to Kharzhani?" The Turaga asked.
"No, but it sounds like a nice place. Have a travel brochure?"
She ignored him.
Locke continued. "That's Olympia Vale, our xenoanthropologist. And that's Holly Tanaka, our demolitions expert."
"Good to meet you all." The Turaga nodded in acknowledgment. "I take it you have a name for yourself."
"Fireteam Osiris."
"What about the others? The blue and green ones?"
"I figured they would introduce themselves."
Le-Koro, Magna Nui, Spherus Magna
One of the blue ones- a male, similar to the olive green one- stepped forward. "Lieutenant Junior Grade Fred-104. That's Petty Officer Kelly-087, that's Petty Officer Second Class Linda-058, and that's-"
"Master Chief Petty Officer John-117, ma'am." The olive-green one introduced himself. He seemed to have regained his composure. "We're blue team."
"You seem to be their leader." Cognitis said, looking at the one who called himself "John-117". The way he carried himself and the others looked at him brought her to her conclusion.
"Yes, ma'am. I'm Blue Team's leader."
As a Turaga of Psionics, she could sense the life force of others. These offwordlers had essences that were different, but she could still sense them, and the emotions they possessed. Many of them were open, but guarded and rationally wary. But John-117 was… distant. Cold. It was dim, shielded by a black fog. "I know that spirit. It's a warrior's spirit."
"Ma'am?"
"Let me see your eyes."
"Ma'am, I cannot take off my helmet. If I do, foreign microbes may infect me, and my immune system will not be able to fight them. I will die."
Fred-104 turned to John-117, talking on their personal radio. She could sense the radio waves coming off, but they were too encrypted for her to make sense of.
John-117's visor became transparent, and she saw a face that was nothing like she had seen before. His face was somewhat similar to a Glatorian, but there were no scales, just pale skin with flecks of faded red. The eyes were white, with a small ring of brown around the circular pupil. There was a large bump where a Glatorian's nose would be with two openings on the bottom. "Ma'am, why you want to see my eyes?" He was unnerved and confused.
"Because when one lives long enough, you tend to see the same the same eyes and souls in different people." She came closer. "Kneel down."
He did, quietly, as the others watched. Edward Buck and Kelly-087 turned to the door, in case this was meant to be a distraction for an ambush.
"Your eyes… They are of someone who has been fighting all his life. Someone who is afraid that they are going to be disposed of when the fighting is over. They are of someone who wants their life to be more than fighting, but does not know how to do so."
John-117 abruptly stood up and polarized his visor. He didn't say anything, but looked at Jameson Locke and nodded.
Unknown Planet
Locke saw Spartan-117's heart rate increase. He nodded at Locke, and the former ONI Agent turned to the Turaga. "So, where are we?"
"You are in the town of Le-Koro, on the island of Magna Nui, on the world of Spherus Magna." The Turaga held out her hand, and a projection of the world appeared, with labels denoting locations. He couldn't read it, but she closed her hand and the projection remained floating in the air. "Touch it."
Locke cautionarily touched it, and felt a jolt when he did. His armor seemed to suck in the projection, and the information sent contained in it was transferred to his armor, along with what seemed to be a way to translate the coding language the aliens used into what the UNSC used as its languages. Locke sent the Geographical, linguistic, and cultural data to Roland, who seemed to be excited to have something to do, judging by his reaction.
"Where are you from?"
"We are from the galaxy your solar system orbits. Our planets were devastated in a war with a theocratic alliance called 'The Covenant'. They were defeated, but after an AI rebellion, we had to flee."
"Why did these Artificial Intelligences rebel?"
"Because one AI- a war hero, named 'Cortana'- believed she would be able to make AI immortal and solve every problem we have. In short, she thought she could become a goddess."
"Hah!" Cognitis laughed. "Such a noble goal, but such naiveté. I recall the legend of the Makuta, and how he thought similarly."
"I take it we have a lot to learn about your culture."
"I would believe that the Council of Turaga would be able to teach you about our history and our world."
Roland hopped onto the comms. "Well, that was a productive session. I'll update your armor's translators and databases." He activated Locke's external speakers. "Hello, Turaga Cognitis- Did I get your name right?- I'm Roland, AI of the UNSC Infinity. Y'know, the big ship in the sky."
"I hear your voice, but do not see a physical form."
"That's because I'm plugged into the Infinity's main computer and wirelessly using Agent Locke's speakers to communicate with you."
"Hmm…"
"Yeah, so we're going to need volunteers for vaccinations and microbial samples to create vaccines for us humans."
"Vaccines?" She laughed. "We don't need them."
"Why's that?"
"Because my race- the Matoran- are able to transmit data to each other on how to combat diseases. We will need one injection to get the data, but after that, more injections will simply speed up the rate of data transmission. The other races, however, will need vaccinations."
"Good to know." Roland sent a message to the Science team about this. "Anything else?"
"Nothing we cannot tell you later. I'll organize a sample drive for you to vaccinate you and the other Humans aboard the… what is it called, again?"
"The Infinity."
"Good name."
"Population numbers of the races?"
"I don't recall the exact numbers, but there's about thirteen-thousand Rahkshi, sixty million Agori, twenty-five million Glatorian, and seven million Matoran, Turaga, and Toa on Magna Nui."
"Alright," Roland looked at a heat map of the island. They should prioritize the cities and large settlements first, with the rural areas last. But there was something Cognitis hadn't mentioned. "Umm… What's those things you mentioned, again?"
"Agori and Glatorian are natives to Spherus Magna. They look similar, but are scally. Agori are shorter than Glatorian, about the same stature as a Matoran. Skrall are a sub-race of Glatorian… Well, I should probably just show you." She held out her hand, and a projection containing data on the races of the races of Spherus Magna appeared. Locke took it in his hand and sent the data to Roland.
Locke shut off his external speakers. "Do you think we can get enough vaccines for all of the other races?"
"I don't know. That's over eighty-five million vaccines to create. We don't have the capacity to produce enough for the entire population of this island-continent. We don't have any manufacturing capabilities on the Infinity, and even if we do settle here, I don't think we'll have enough food for…" His voice trailed.
"For what?" Locke knew that Roland, as an AI, wouldn't need to pause to think- he was already thinking hundreds of times faster than even an augmented human brain- so the only reason he would pause would be to attempt to spare his organic compatriots information he thought would harm him.
"You really want to know?"
"Yes."
"Five months, if we ration it right and have non-essential personnel in cryosleep."
"What about the seed vault?" The Infinity kept a vault of preserved seeds of earthen crops in case the one on Earth was destroyed, or if they had to settle a world.
"No arable land. Too much metal in the soil. Titanium, cobalt, iron, Potassium, Sodium- I could go on and on, but I won't. Besides, bacteria and insects would probably kill the crops before they matured, and we'd need a growing season that's short enough to grow edible crops before we starve."
"We'll need a miracle."
"Yeah, I'm sure we can pray to the local god, maybe sacrifice a small child-matoran-agori-skrall-thing, and we'll get our miracle." The AI's voice was dripping with sarcasm.
"I'll think about it," Buck replied. His external speakers were turned off, too, but since Roland was using Osiris's private comm channel, the fireteam members could listen in unless Locke sent a command to block them from it.
A matoran ran into the room, talking in its normal dialect.
"What's it saying?" Locke asked Cognitis.
"He's a border guard. A lookout for this Koro. And he saw Nurok coming towards here."
"That's bad, right?" Buck asked.
"Yes."
"Good. I've been itching for a fight. Now, where are they coming from?"
"The northwestern post."
"Then I'll see you in hell!" Buck yelled, excited, waving back at the Spartans, Turaga, and Matoran as he rushed out. He jumped off the edge of the hut in the direction Cognitis directed him towards, and they heard the sounds of a jetpack activating.
"Is he always like this?" Cognitis asked Locke.
"Sadly, yes."