Author's Notes: Next chapter, you'll get back to the action. As for now, have some world-building.
Chapter 5: No Borderlines We Stayed Behind
[2587, November 25th, Reach Orbital Ring Shipyards]
Captain Toshiko Sato gazed out the thick two-meter protective transparent anti-ballistic window at her old ship, the Stone Angel, as it sat in the decommissioning dry dock. Great swaths of the ship's armor were carved off and pulled away by sizable construction drones. The name that once graced the ship's side was missing various letters as the underlying panels were pulled off and carted off to the scrap yard. It was a depressing view, really. The Stone Angel had stuck with her through thick and thin, and now it was being decommissioned due to excessive structural fatigue. Well, that, and having a hole blown in its midsection. It was akin to having its keel snapped; there was no way to fix the aging Prowler.
"An old soldier is laid to rest," a voice cut through Toshiko's vigil.
Captain Allana Lalonde walked up to Toshiko. Both were in full dress uniform, and a few new shiny medals sat on their chests.
"More like a senior citizen," Toshiko joked, "Don't get me wrong, I was proud of my ship, but it was old. I really can't say that I'm sad to see it go."
Allana raised an eyebrow skeptically, "You don't really mean that, right?"
Toshiko grimaced, "I guess… Pragmatically speaking, I know that the Stone Angel was an archaic pile of junk… but it was my archaic pile of junk."
Allana nodded, "I know that feeling. It's like losing an old friend."
Toshiko turned back to the sight of her ship being continually dismantled and sighed, "I guess I'm more concerned about what I'm going to do now. I was merely the chaperone of a scientific expedition out in the boonies. What am I going to do now? I doubt ONI is going to give me another assignment. I mean, I'm not important."
"Alright, stop insulting yourself," Allana scolded her fellow captain, "You single-handedly defeated an alien vessel with a Prowler! It was bigger than you, and from what we now know, more powerful than you! Surely there are many ways in which ONI or the UNSC could use you!"
Toshiko frowned, "I'm not sure… am I really enough to warrant that kind of attention?"
"If you weren't I wouldn't be here," a new voice interrupted Allana and Toshiko's conversation.
An aging Caucasian man with grey hair in full uniform addressed them as he entered the observation deck.
"Admiral Lasky, sir!" both Allana and Toshiko snapped to attention. The Admiral chuckled.
"No need for that," he laughed, "We're off-duty."
"We are just being respectful, sir," Allana smiled.
"Also… uniforms," Toshiko gestured at the three of them, "even if we are off-duty, it doesn't look like it."
"Well, don't get too comfortable. Turns out both of you have new assignments." Lasky pulled two thin datapads and handed them to the two of them.
Toshiko's mouth fell open as she read the orders, "So soon? I thought I'd at least get some downtime."
Lasky shrugged apologetically, "Sorry, these come from the top."
"Halsey gave me this assignment?!" Toshiko said incredulously as she read the rest of the assignment.
"I'm being reassigned to the front lines?" Allana stared skeptically at her orders, "I'm also getting a brand new ship? I know I'm good, but I didn't know I was that good."
Lasky grinned, "We only select the best of the best to fight the Covenant Remnant."
"What are you doing?" Allana asked Toshiko, who replied, "Classified, but… we won't be working together anymore."
"Oh," Allana blinked in surprise, "Well… It's been a pleasure working with you." She extended her hand.
"The pleasure was all mine," Toshiko shook her friend's hand, "May we meet again."
"That's all a soldier can ask for," Allana replied, saluting her friend, and leaving.
Toshiko returned her friend's salute and left at the same time.
Admiral Lasky stayed for a few more seconds, gazing at Reach. It spun slowly as the sun played across its surface. Countless dots darted about as ships of Human, Sangheili, and Kig-Yar design entered and left the planet's atmosphere. The thousands of space stations glittered like diamonds in the sky, next to the twinkling lights of far-off stars. Near the observation deck, an orbital elevator neared the shipyards as it sped along on its orbital tether. Everything was outlined by the stunning aurora of the planet.
"We've come a long way," he muttered, before turning around and leaving the observation deck empty and vacant.
[Location Classified]
"Exactly how many gates did the Forerunners build?" Dr. Catherine Halsey asked with incredulity as she stared at the holographic display of the galaxy. Across it, numerous blue dots indicated the location of various Forerunner Slipspace gates.
"I cannot say for sure," Iridescent Vortex replied, as cheerful as ever, "this map only represents about 17% of the actual data concerning the Extragalactic Exploration Program. All other data was lost when the Domain crashed."
"Hm," Halsey pondered on the situation for a bit, "Dr. Zeng, what's your take on this?"
"I think that this is a great opportunity," Dr. Sophia Zeng answered thoughtfully, "The Forerunners apparently provided some survey data along with this data, so we should start colonizing some suitable galaxies. This one," Dr. Zeng indicated a specific gate, "seems promising."
Halsey nodded, "I'll contact the president about it. We should probably keep an eye on the galaxy that we just discovered, though."
"Yes, we should," Sophia grimaced in distaste, "a fucking Empire, for crying out loud! Some sort of mystical tyrant too! I'm not sure I want to know what is out there, anymore."
"Well, first things first," Halsey brightened up considerably, "we should use one of our newly acquired Keyships to access the Ark. Maybe we can bring my Spartan home."
Dr. Zeng cast a skeptical glance at the Director of ONI, "It's been five decades… I don't think he's alive anymore."
"You don't know him," Halsey snapped, "Have a little faith."
Dr. Zeng shrugged, "Hey, all I'm saying is that he hasn't had access to the medical technology we have now. The odds of him lasting this long are astronomically low."
Halsey looked despondent for a moment, before glaring at Sophia, "At the very least, we can bring him back for a proper burial."
[[Visit the Museum of Humanity this weekend for free admission!]]
"Huh, what do you make of this?"
A Marine was at a loss at how to reply to Professor Anders.
"I don't know ma'am. I'm not a scientist. That's why you're here."
Anders glared at the Marine, "You're no help."
The two of them stood in front of a tall Forerunner spire on the station, which they discovered was called the "Ark". A large portion of the Ark was desolate; destroyed by some sort of cataclysm that also inconveniently destroyed most of the station's interfaces. It looked as if the buildings had been reconstructed, but the ecosystem was still eliminated.
"Professor Anders!" one of the Marines near the scouting party's Warthogs called out, "We've got a message back from base!"
"What is it?" Anders asked expectantly as the Marine approached her.
"One of the Reconnaissance teams found what appears to be an ancient Forerunner Slipspace engine. It looks like it's still in operational condition." He answered.
"That's great!" she exclaimed, "I think we just found our ticket home!"
The scouting party, along with Anders, loaded into the Warthogs, which sped away, kicking up a cloud of dust.
[In orbit above Earth]
The Honor-class Carrier was one of the most notable of Sangheili ship designs. It greatly resembled the old CCS-Assault Carrier, but was a bit more angular, and was adorned with a grey and green paint job. The Light of the New Day was accompanied by two SDV-class Heavy Corvettes. True, they were old Covenant ship designs, but they worked. Really, the only thing that was different about them was shields and a green and grey paint job.
Fleetmaster Vasa Nar 'Ratin stood on the bridge of his Honor-class Carrier Light of the New Day. He clicked his mandibles impatiently as he waited.
"What is taking those humans so long?" he asked no one in particular as Unngoy and Kig-Yar ran around the Bridge, maintaining the massive ship.
"We're being hailed by the Human Admiral, sir!" an Unngoy crewmember called out.
"Put him onscreen," Vasa ordered, and the highly decorated Hispanic human appeared on the Bridge's viewscreen.
"Well, Fleetmaster, are you ready to go?" the Admiral smirked cockily.
Vasa gave him the Sangheili equivalent of a frown, "We are ready to go, Admiral. It is you that we have been waiting on."
The Admiral shrugged, "Sorry, we had some engine trouble."
The human Admiral was in a civilian version of an Infinity-class starship, modified for deep space exploration and colonization. It had been changed for that mission, to serve as a research vessel.
"Regardless, you must be prepared now," Vasa snorted in annoyance, "the way to the Ark opens."
Down on Earth, one of the newly acquired Keyships activated the portal to the Ark. The space in front of the four ships began to distort.
"Helm, set course for the portal." Vasa ordered.
"Aye, Sir," one of the Kig-Yar acknowledged, manipulating the holographic controls. The Light of the New Day's Repulsor Engines flared to life, as it pushed the massive ship into the Slipspace portal. The other two corvettes and the Infinity-class vessel followed.
[[Join us tonight at 9 for a special on the history of the Covenant's former capital city, High Charity.]]
"This is impossible!" Professor Anders exclaimed, smacking the Forerunner console in front of her. Like the past few hundred times she tried, the spherical interface just flashed red and displayed the same series of glyphs that it had been repeating at her for the past hour. She was pretty sure it said "Access Denied".
"That is certainly odd," Serina spoke over the radio, "everything else on the Ark works for humans, I wonder why this one locks you out."
"I'd like to know the same thing," Anders added, "Why is this specific console the only one that locks me out, and is it a coincidence that it happens to be the only one that can activate the Slipspace engines?"
Anders and Serina were so lost in their speculations, they didn't notice the rising humming noise until it was almost a roar.
"What's going on?" Anders shouted in surprise as the entire room began to shake. The massive Slipspace engines that dominated the space began to glow with an inner light, as they emitted a roaring shriek.
"Slipspace anomaly detected over the Ark!" Serina reported hastily, "Ships are emerging!"
"Sorry, but you and the ground team are on your own," Captain Cutter spoke over the radio.
[UNSC Spirit of Fire-Bridge]
"Red Alert! Serina, sound General Quarters and spin up the MAC! Warm up the Archer pods and prepare the deck guns! Put some distance between us and that portal!"
Captain Cutter barked out orders to his Bridge crew as the roiling tear in the fabric of space and time frothed not so far from his ship.
"Captain!" Serina said, alarmed, "Detecting four ships exiting the portal, 4000 kilometers off our bow!"
"What can you tell me about them?"
"Two of them match Covenant corvette profiles, the first resembles a CCS Battlecruiser… but I can't make out the fourth ship."
"Get me a targeting solution on those corvettes, Serina. Keep putting some distance between-"
"Sir!" one of the Bridge crew yelled, "We're being hailed!"
"Open a channel!" Cutter ordered.
There were a few seconds of static, before a distinctly human voice came over the speakers.
"Well, well, well. Guess you aren't so lost after all. This is Admiral Hackett of the UNSC vessel Everest. Welcome back from history, Spirit of Fire."
Author's Notes: Well, that was fun. Sorry for the short chapter, but I really don't have much to work with. I am just setting up the stage for the next chapter, which takes place five years later. You'll get one of those annoying timelines, sorry.
If anyone noticed my little ME reference at the end… well, remember when I said that I'd be writing a Mass Effect/Halo crossover? Yeah, I'm doing that. It's the sister fic to "The Bow and the Gun". So go give "Fifty Shades of Overkill" a read.
As always, read and review. If you have any questions about the technical aspects of this story, PM me. I'll gladly discuss the mechanics of Turbolasers vs. Energy Projectors all day long.