August 14, 2026

Unknown Location

"Warning! Medical stasis shutdown. All systems impaired... Assessing driver functionality. Processing... … …"

"Driver structural integrity: 86% Repairs underway. Processing... …"

"Warning! Insufficient materials necessary for repair. Assessing functionality of remaining 86%. Processing... …"

"Remaining structural integrity: 100%. Processing... … Medical stasis lifted."

Maria groaned as her shell relaxed from it's frozen state, letting her move freely once more. Her vision swam as her HUD flashed and sparked as it calibrated itself, before it settled into it's usual format and she began to see clearly.

She was looking up onto a cream colored ceiling that arched upward until it made a dome above her head. With no other defining features besides a ring of brightly glowing... stuff set into the walls, bathing the room in a soft white light.

"Clear to proceed." She ignored SECOND's voice for moment as she tried to remember what had happened. The last thing she remembered was staring out the window of the Black Depths as it entered the wormhole, then seeing red eyes reflecting from behind her. Then pain. Pain everywhere, as her shell went into medical stasis and she lost consciousness.

Grunting, she rose into a sitting position, looking about at her surroundings. The room was far different to the spartan feel of the Black Depths. Graceful curving walls, the same color as the ceiling, encompassed her and gave her the calming metal picture of waves, splashing up against the seaside. To her right was closed door, lacking any kind of interface to open it. The mattress she was lying on was made of, what looked like whale skin, filled with a soft padding that let her body sink in like quicksand and incredibly conformable.

But... where were the others... and what had SECOND said about only 86 percent? She realized she couldn't feel her right arm at all, like it didn't even exist. With growing dread, she looked down.

Her arm had been cut off at the shoulder, not even leaving a stump. Her nanoshell had healed the wound perfectly, but apparently without stuff to use it couldn't form a new arm. But maybe if she found her severed limb the two could reattach without needing to make a new one. Where was her arm anyway? The room was completely bare, with nothing besides the bed she was lying on.

She was about to stand up when the door opened, and a curious variant of a Charybdis Stalker entered. It's harness was so different from the battle scared one that Xar wore. It was far more graceful and appeared to be made entirely for comfort, unlike it's armored combat brethren. The actual alien inside was a light baby blue, not unlike Xar, but it was smaller then the battle hardened captain.

It's eyes imminently locked onto her and it crossed the room in a few strides.

"Ah good, your awake." It said in a female voice, resting a hand on her shoulder to keep her from rising. "How do you feel?"

"Alright," she replied hesitantly. Glancing up into the strange, but not so unkind, blue eyes.

"Good, you were quite a mess when Captain Karoth brought you here. Your harness was shut down from an EMP attack and there was some concern that we would lose you. But apparently we didn't didn't need to worry about that now do we." It said giving her shoulder a comforting squeeze, oblivious to the discomfort it caused.

"That's nice. But how did I... get here? Where is here anyway?"

"Colony Horizon of course. I'm sorry, I would love to answer all your questions, but the Marshal requested your presence in his office when you woke up. Are you feeling well enough?"

"Yeah." She shrugged off it's hand and stood up. "I'm sorry, but who are you?"

"Oh! Where are my manners? I am Salne'Varsel of clan Belcona. Captain Karoth already gave us your name, Doctor Maria Walker."

"Maria is just fine."

"Very well, Maria. Come, the Marshal is waiting." Salne moved back to the door, which opened silently upon detecting her presence, and entered into the hallway beyond. Maria followed her out and was spellbound by the sight outside.

The wall in front of her was taken up by a large window that continued along the curving outer wall as far as she could see, but it was the outside view that stunned her. Mostly the school of fish that flashed by the window at that moment. They were underwater.

"What is this place?" Maria asked with awe, leaning against the window and looking into the dark waters.

"The hospital wing," Salne replied coming up beside her. "You should wait until the sun comes up, the view is far nicer when it does."

"Really, what time is it?"

"Very late or really early, depending on your point of view. But..." She suddenly put a hand to her hand where her ear would have been, listening to someone over comms. "Yes Marshal, she's awake... … I was just bringing her there, sir... Yes sir... … I will tell them if I see them... Yes sir, right away." She turned to Maria.

"Come on, he's getting impatient." Without giving Maria time to argue she turned and walked down the hallway, with Maria tagging alone behind.

The hallway had a gentle curve, and felt as if they were walking in a large circle. But after a minute of walking they came upon a break in the window where another hallway branched off into the dark waters. Salne turned into this and as they went further the light rapidly vanished until they walked in almost complete darkness. Due to this hallway being completely made out of a glass tube with only a metal catwalk in the middle and no light fixtures anywhere in it's length.

Looking up through the dark waters Maria could see a faint outline looming on top of them, like a skyscraper from New York.

Light suddenly flooded the walkway as they entered another circular hallway with doorways appearing on the inner wall every five meters. They turned right and continued for a few seconds before Salne stopped at a door which opened into an elevator.

"Administration," she requested when they had both entered. The doors closed and the elevator shot up like a bullet before stopping at the top level after only a few seconds. They exited into a reception room with a lone alien sitting behind a desk tapping at a datapad, he looked up as they entered.

"The Marshal is waiting for us." Salne said and he nodded, tapping a button on the desk which unlocked a door behind him.

"Thank you," but the receptionist was already engrossed in his pad.

The door opened before them, leading into a well furnished office. A desk with a padded high backed chair behind it and two other chairs sat in front of it. Through the windows on the far wall a dim light shown through as the sun rose into the sky above the water. Standing before the windows was the large hulking form of a Devastator, both of it's weapon were replaced by four fingered hands which it had clasped behind it's back. It's gel body was the same color of Xar's, if it wasn't that big she couldn't have told the difference between them.

"Thank you, Varsel. You may go." It said in a deep rumbling voice, undeniably male which sounded like rocks grinding together. Salne saluted and left, the door locked behind her leaving Maria alone with the Marshal.

"I apologize if you wanted to go back to sleep." He said after a moment turning to face her. "But there are urgent matters that need to be discussed. First is the matter of Horizon's safety. Captain Karoth is certain that you bear no ill will against us, but I want to hear it from you. Would you betray us to our enemies?"

"No, I don't plan on it." She replied, nervously looking up into the alien's blazing eyes. It stared at her for a minute considering her answer, then sighed.

"If that's the best I'm going to get in these troubled times then I'll take it." He stomped towards her and, surprisingly, held out his hand for shaking. "Marshal Vorlen'Karoth, at your service."

"Karoth," she asked shaking his hand. "As in you are his...?"

"Brother, yes." He interrupted with a bit of humor. "It's hard to believe isn't it?"

"Yes... It's just you're just so... different." She faltered at his assumption of her answer, she was going to say father.

"Not as much as you would think." Vorlen lumbered back to window and gazed at the rising sun above the water. "He was diagnosed with Genock syndrome while still in the womb. It is a genetic defect that stunts our growth and ability to take in nutrients when we are born. Few survive more then a couple days, and the ones that live are shunned for their small size."

"But he looks normal."

"Normal for another clan, maybe. But for a Halkava he is laughably small." he looked at her again. "But I don't suppose..." He was interrupted by the door opening and in stepped the man in qeustion himself.

"Brother!" Vorlen exclaimed lumbering up to rest a giant hand on Xar's shoulder and shook it affectionately. "Your looking better then last night. I trust you slept well?"

"Well enough." Xar replied, his voice lanced with static as if he was yawning. "But you could have let me lie longer then... five hours."

"I'm sorry but have urgent matters that need tending. Also your new friend has, somewhat, assured me that she is no threat to us." Xar looked around his brother, spotting Maria he nodded in greeting. "But time will tell if she holds true to her word." He said while walking back and sitting down behind his desk, motioning for them to have a seat.

"You're that paranoid that she'll betray us?" Xar asked, sitting down in one of the chairs.

"It's my job to be paranoid. Horizon's safety is my top priority and with so few military forces, even security guards, I can't let anything slip that would jeopardize us."

"She's no..."

"Brother listen," Vorlen interrupted with a raised hand. "We have no military defense, at all! Aside from a meager security force, we have nothing! If another species wanted us gone, they could wipe us out in one strike! So until I am completely assured she isn't a security risk, she can not leave this world." He gave a deep sigh. "I hope you understand my position here."

"I do brother. But how did you end up in your position? Last I heard you were a Field Sargent on the Valor's Gate, not a Colony Marshal."

"What's to tell? The Horizon rescued me from my escape pod when the Valor's Gate was destroyed. We settled here and because I had the most military experience they asked me to be Marshal." There was a sullen silence after the mention of the lost vessel before Xar spoke up.

"How many did we lose?"

"Over eighty nine percent of the civilian fleet in the first assault, along with three assault fleets. When the Machines arrived they took out another seven percent and rest were hunted down when they fled. So far as I know we were the only Colony ship to have escaped undetected."

"Have you heard from the fleet, Eternal Lasting?" Xar asked hopefully.

"No. You are the first outside contact we've had since the battle."

"What battle?" They both looked at Maria, who sat quietly in the other chair resting her one arm on Vorlen's desk.

"It's a long story," Xar said leaning back. "But then again now we each have one to tell."

"True."

"Whats this?" Vorlen asked, perplexed.

"An exchange of histories nothing more."

"I see. Well, out of common courtesy we should begin first." Vorlen lent back in his chair and relaxed, slipping his hands behind his head in a typical relaxed pose. "Believe it or not, but we actually have no idea where our species first began. What we do know is that this is the second time we have evolved because of the Dark Age."

"And what was the Dark Age?"

"A time of biological degradation," Xar answered cutting off his brother. "We found ancient records from before the Dark Age giving proof that our species was once the dominant rulers of our galaxy. But it was a galaxy consumed by war. Terrible weapons were developed that could destroy entire star systems in the blink of an eye. But even worst, we discovered that there were traces of a galactic wide bio-weapon that eradicated all life it encountered, except us." He shook his head sadly. "Even thinking about it brings me shame. Us, the destroyers of the galaxy, and ourselves."

"What happened?" Maria asked breathless.

"The bio-weapon mutated. How and why, we don't know. But it's effects on us were severe. Causing our biology to degrade, essential devolving us back into animals, swimming in the oceans. That was the Dark Age."

"But your here right now. Shouldn't you still be... swimming in the oceans?"

"Possibly, if it weren't for the Father." Xar looked to his brother. "You were always more interested in this than I, please continue."

"Fine. We don't know how long the Dark Age continued on for, maybe seven million years before the Father made his appearance."

"Who was he?"

"No one knows. Some thought that he was a Charybdis who escaped the effects of the bio-weapon by hiding outside of the galaxy. Anyway there are hundreds of different stories involving him so that finding the real one is impossible. But..." Vorlen anticipated Maria's question before she asked. "...A fact that makes his involvement and existence undeniable is that because he personally jump started and advanced our second evolution by millions of years. We literally went from the stone age to the modern era in a period of less then a thousand years. Then he vanished."

"Vanished?"

"Yes, we're still wondering about that ourselves. Anyway, though we had advanced technology far beyond our evolution stage we were still behind culturally. It was probably a mistake on the Father's part or he could have done it intentionally, who knows." Vorlen took a breath after his explanation and pressed a button on his desk making a small holoscreen appear above it's surface. "Would you like anything?"

"Just my usual please" Xar replied then turned to Maria. "What about you?"

"I'm just fine, don't worry about it." Vorlen eyed her for moment before typing onto the screen sending their order down to the kitchens before the big morning rush claimed the cook's full attention.

"Now, where was I? Ah yes. Even though we had advanced technologically and our minds were on par with what they were before the Dark Age, minus genocidal traits, we still had not come together as united nation. Instead we were divided up into clans scattered around our new home world, rebuilding and living in the ruins of our old cities."

"How many clans were there?"

"Possibly thousands, but over time the number decreased as alliances were made and clans joined together into one. Soon there were only seven that spanned over our world. There was the Mechona, masters of the technological world. The Belcona, the peaceful side of our species and caretakers of the ocean farms. The Kralcona, mostly scholars who searched for knowledge and in some cases prevented actions which would led to our downfall. The Tarlaren, architects and builders raising many cities from their obliterated state into shining jewels of a new age. The Darcul, masters of infiltration and other... sneaky stuff. Our clan, the Halkava. And finally the Volkasak, the dominant military force of our species."

"But what was your role? The Halkava, I mean."

"We could be called multi-functional, but note that the roles I listed didn't really apply until after we had united in the seventh century. But before that we were all war mongering idiots fighting over land and other resources. Though as time went on we began to develop our own clan traits, and some in the Belcona became total pacifists and tried to convince the rest of their clan to follow in their footsteps. They nearly succeeded and even to this day the Belcona are still reluctant to enter combat of any kind, even in the face of destruction. But still, they have their uses."

"Like what?"

"Diplomats, doctors and other peaceful roles in a vast empire." Xar replied. "Not to mention they made up almost twenty percent of our general population at it's highest. When our united race reached out to the stars once again in the nineteenth century they were the primary colonists who expanded outward. Reclaiming worlds that were abandoned in the Dark Age and were best at peaceful first contact with new species that had risen up in our absence."

"No other clans ever made first contact?"

"The Volkasak did once. The species panicked at the sight of the incoming dreadnoughts and fired a warning shot at them. When we learned what happened we rushed to try and correct the misunderstanding. But when they arrived they found the species home world in ruins, annihilated from above. None were spared. The captain and his crew were held guilty by all the other clans of war crimes not committed since before the Dark Age and were executed. The Volkasak were outraged at the so called injustice to their people, which created bad blood between us for centuries to come... and which possibly lead to our downfall."

"How so?"

"There was one law, the most heavily enforced one in all of our galaxy. That if any weapons from before the Dark Age were found, they would be destroyed. This law was agreed to galactic wide among every species we encountered, for such were the destructive tendencies of all our ancient weapons. The Volkasak secretly had no respect for this law because of their belief that they were destined to rule the galaxy and so they would use anything to help them achieve domination. For centuries we were unknowingly in an arms race, finding and destroying weapons before the Volkasak came close to claiming them. Then in an unmapped corner of the galaxy they found what they had been searching for, it wasn't a weapon per-say but the effects it had were horrifying. Knowledge and a way of assimilation of organic material into a single entity. As a military officer I can see the advantage of having your soldiers linked together, but this? Losing ones self to join that monstrosity is pure and utter madness. But that didn't stop them and for a century they studied and refined what they had found until they began their first attempt at a hive mind. The other clans had no idea what the Volkasak were doing and so when colonies began going dark in the far arms of the galaxy we had no idea what was happening. I myself led a search operation to a recently dark colony were their recent "harvest" took place." He shuddered at the memory. "It was terrible. The hive mind had grown out of their control and adopted the Volkasak's beliefs about being superior, and deemed any other life form as food for it's expanding influence and war machine. It mocked us by creating weak vessels in our own forms, taking the harnesses of the dead and filled them with copies of the warriors who worm them proudly. We tried in vain to retake the colony with what forces we had, which were formidable, but we fell under the overwhelming forces of the hive mind. We were forced to retreat, abandoning what survivors remained and sacrificing the system to it's expansion. For the next century we waged war against the abomination as it spread across the galaxy, dividing itself to create more hives with it's same purpose. It was galactic wide massacre, for every soldier we lost another joined a hive. We fought, until we saw no other option..."

"Systematic purge of the galaxy." Vorlen took over when Xar didn't continue. "Supernovas detonated, destroying what was left of our war torn home."

"But what about the other species, and how did you escape?"

"The war had already claimed it's victims. In the final years of the war we were the only ones left, the hives had eradicated the rest. As to how we escaped, it was with brute force. We had gathered what was left of our fleets and the last of the civilian population and broke through the enemy line before they could properly respond. We were far outside the galaxy when the supernovas exploded, taking our worst enemy and our home with it."

"For years we traveled in dark space heading towards the nearest galaxy we could find. As we arrived in this galaxy we thought we had had found a new home. But the dream was tainted by the ruins of multiple species, as though the grim reaper got bored and purged them from existence. As our last leaders puzzled over this troubling find, our old enemy returned. The hive mind had survived and followed us through dark space. Bearing the crest of our fallen clan, the Volkasak, from that day it has been their official title. They targeted the civilian fleets before we could react, destroying them with out mercy. But it seemed our earlier attempt had some effect on them. They were less coordinated, their fleets operated separately as though they were truly independent hives. Though we had little time to think about that as we engaged in the largest navel battle in history. Our combined fleets, more than seventy five hundred thousand strong, were an equal match to their stolen and hurriedly adapted ships numbering around the millions. We fought for days and our fleets dwindled into the mere hundreds, defending the colony ships as they tried to flee into the galaxy. Then when we were fighting on deaths door, they retreated, fleeing into the darkness of the galaxy. We were surprised, for they never retreated not once in the century we fought. But their intent became apparent as we were swarmed by strange ships within minutes of their departure. They were barely the size of a light crusier and their weapons pathetic, but their sheer numbers against our damaged ships was a crippling blow. For every one we struck down three more rose to take it's place, until all but seventy four of our ships remained. Which leads to a blank spot in our Intel." Vorlen finished while looking at his brother.

"Records show that the remainder of the fleets Eternal Lasting and Breaking Justice fled into different sectors, but we have nothing on the Black Depths. Care to fill in the blanks?"

"After we were given the order to retreat we randomized our destination coordinates and ended up in a system crawling with them. They surrounded us and boarded the Black Depths with husks in a..."

"Wait. Husks?"

"Corpses filled with implants to give the appearance of reanimation of the dead to serve the machines. A creative psychological tactic but completely unethical." Vorlen looked down at his desk considering the threat before he nodded, motioning for Xar to continue.

"Anyway, they boarded the ship though their occupation was contained in the rec-center and from there, eradicated. Then in an attempt to lose our pursuers we entered a planets atmosphere and try a slingshot maneuver. But we misjudged the damage the ship had sustained and crashed on the surface which led the machines to believe we were dead, a small blessing. I then ordered everyone into stasis after we made certain they had left the system, though it seemed the machines had agents on board to insure our destruction. I'm unsure of the exact details but it seems their agents awoke days before the sound off and canceled the awaking timer. Then they took their time changing my crew and they would have taken me as well if not for her timely appearance." He nodded towards Maria then continued on to explain their run through the ship and their encounter with the Guardian husks on the bridge. Then at Maria's prodding gave a short and rather graphic description of the husk's success with amputating her limb and it's swift termination. He then went on to reaching the coordinates Horizon had sent them and his decision to abandon the ship in the surrounding asteroid field to prevent anything besides them from making it planet side while they landed in a dropship. Then he pulled a datapad from his hip and handed it to his brother.

"The crew roster," He explained as his brother took the pad. "I understand some here might have had family on board, please insure they get my condolences."

"I'll make sure they do." Said Vorlen as he scrolled down the pad. "But now I believe it's your turn human." He looked towards Maria who nodded before diving into the events of the past decade.

The sun was high in the sky above the water when she finished. The two brothers had listened with keen interest, occasionally asking questions but for the most part remained silent until she was done.

"Interesting," Xar murmured to himself.

"Indeed, though it seems any kind of negotiations with the humans will be impossible because of their interference."

"Unfortunately."

"So what happens now?" Maria asked, uncertain of her position in this place.

"First it would best to get you fitted with a prosthetic." Xar said while rising to his feet. "A task Engineer Kallas would be delighted to assist with, I believe. And if that harness is as advanced as you say then synchronization shouldn't be a problem. After that I believe the Marshal can find a place for you among us. Brother, if you could please transfer my order delivery to the forge I would be most grateful." Then after motioning for Maria to follow him, they left the office and headed down to the lower levels of the colony.

Now seemingly alone, Vorlen sighed and lent back into the soft padding of his chair.

"Well, what do you think?" He asked empty air. As he spoke, the faint blur on the far wall decloaked into the familiar form of Ori'Telpon of clan Darcul, his personal adviser and second in command. The guardian shrugged as he gazed at the closed door.

"He seems normal enough, though I wouldn't put my faith on that alone. The human though, she could see me, I know it. Still she seems like the honorable type and I can't see any problems coming from her."

"I hope your right." said Vorlen. "But if not, Protocol Beta Nine will suffice."

"Termination of target and recovery of any technology and Intel?" Ori clarified, receiving a nod from the Marshal. "Understood. But what of Captain Karoth?"

Vorlen bowed his head and grimaced before saying quietly. "If Captain Karoth has been proved to be under Machine influence, then under the new Order 119, you have full authorization to terminate."

oOoOoOoOoOo

The streets of New Vegas had been turned into a graveyard. Smoking ruins of buildings lay on ether side and craters filled the street that General Barnes now walked. It reminded him to much of New York after the invasion.

With a frustrated shout he kicked the side of a building, making a large dent in the metal. They had been to late.

The Ceph ship had arrived over the colony sooner then expected, catching them off guard. The newly assembled Sol defense fleet had arrived in the system just to see the Ceph ship vanishing into a wormhole before they could do anything. Efforts had then gone to assisting the bombarded colony, which was worse than he had thought.

Corpses filled the street, burned and twisted almost beyond recognition. Their armor unable to withstand direct plasma strikes. It angered him to think about how far they had advanced in the past few years and the Ceph could still walk right over them.

He looked back to the largest pillar of smoke rising in the distance which was the remains of the command center. It had been the first to be hit, and with it went the most of the colony command crew. Though hopefully not all, for they still needed them to keep the remaining population in check without resorting to martial law.

He reached up and removed his helmet with a hiss of air, allowing himself to breath in the unfiltered smell of destruction around him.

"Orders sir?" He turned at the question, eying the squad of marines standing behind him. Their new uniforms easily setting them apart from the civilians wandering around. He vaguely remembered Alcatraz seeing something like it in Hargreave's office when he confronted the man. Armor plating covered their shoulders and legs while around their waists were belts with pouches. Their helmets had been modified as well. The top of their heads were covered by another layer of armor and their visors had been turned blue instead of the usual red. Their rebreathers had also been upgraded for longer time in space operations. On their backs were reserve power packs which upped their suit power by almost a hundred percent. This entire new outfit was covered by a blue camo scheme but left the black nanoshell underneath untouched. They were all lightly armed with Hammer and Nova pistols, but hopefully they wouldn't need them.

"Fan out and search the area for survivors. If anyone finds Directer Gould inform me ASAP." The marines nodded at his command and scattered into the wreaked buildings leaving him to continue along the street alone.

He held his helmet in his hands as he walked, where to, he didn't know.

After wandering aimlessly for an hour, witnessing the destruction around him, he came across someone he didn't expect. Miranda Lawson was standing on the edge of a large crater in the street, staring down into the hole. Her helmet was off as well, allowing her black hair freedom from it's confines. With slight reluctance, Barnes joined her at the edge.

One of Gould's WarHammers lay destroyed at the bottom. It's chest section had been reduced to molten slag and the rest was barely recognizable from the charred rock around it.

"It's not enough." Miranda whispered so softly he barely heard her.

"What?"

"It's not enough." She said, her voice lanced with anger. "We have advanced farther then we ever have in centuries. And still it's not enough to keep them from walking over us like ants!" She gestured down to the Warhammer.

"If that is our best then I just..." She stopped, not wanting to sound like a coward before she corrected herself. "We need to be better. Humanity needs to be better, if we are to survive."

"I thought with the reapers we were set for life." Barnes challenged her with a small sneer, making Miranda sigh.

"Cerberus isn't as evil as you think. We're only looking out for humanity as a whole, which means considering all possible options."

"And when those options backfire?"

"We're also not as short sighted as you think. If they do turn against us, we'll be ready."

"With what?"

"I don't know yet." She said with growing frustration at his prying attempts. "And anyway, it's classified to anyone outside of Cerberus."

"Uh huh." Barnes frowned at this before he remembered why he was here in the first place. "On a different note, I'm looking for Gould. Do you know where he is?"

Miranda's face instantly lost it's hard edge and she bowed her head sadly. "He's dead," she said softly. "He was in the command center when it went up. No survivors."

Barnes felt like a hammer had struck him. Gould was dead? He didn't know what to think. The man had been his friend ever since he had first been put in his first nanosuit.

"Shit." He groaned and Miranda nodded in agreement.

"He was a good man." She said after a moment. "A bit on the crazy side though." This earned a small chuckle from Barnes, though it faded into awkward silence.

They stood together for another minute before Miranda turned and walked away, leaving Barnes standing alone on the edge of the crater, remembering times with a friend that would never come back.

A/N: OK, sorry for this taking so long, school is a bitch and beta readers who don't even respond to my requests suck.

No promises for the update time on chapter 8.

R&R plz