Sorry about the very short chapter today, next one will be much better. In response to hornet07's question about the Jiralhanae, I've included a brief history of the Jiralhanae which should answer any questions about how they are able to compete with the CSA. It's also worth noting that many of the Jiralhanae's technologies are based off of captured CSA research, which helps them keep up with the CSA's weapons, and that while the CSA dedicates little of it's economic, industrial, and population power towards warfare, the Virapak uses all of it's ability to fight, as every last Jiralhanae hates the CSA. So, without further ado, enjoy the unfortunately-short chapter!
-A History of the Jiralhanae from the Battle of Installation 00 to the events of LITD (2874 AD)-
*After the destruction of High Charity, and later the Ark, the San 'Shyuum were on the verge of extinction. They fled with the remaining Jiralhanae into deep space
*The San 'Shyuum teach the Jiralhanae how to build advanced technology, and how to sustain a society. The San 'Shyuum are reluctant to do so, but must out of necessity.
*The Jiralhanae look at the society that they've built. They control fully functional industry, military and agricultural systems. The San 'Shyuum are no longer needed. The San 'Shyuum are quickly killed; their deaths are as quick as they are brutal. The Virapak is formed. It's mission: destroy the CSA.
Fireteam Delta walked back to the hangar, fully geared up. They climbed aboard a Valkyrie dropship that was waiting for them.
"So Bob, what's with the name?" asked Zippy as the Valkyrie pulled away from the Ascension-Class cruiser and towards the mysterious wreck.
"My parents entered a contest for most ridiculous baby name" Bob explained "I won."
"Why haven't you changed your name?" asked Urst "I doubt your parents would be offended, under the circumstances"
"I like it" Bob said "It's unique. I'm the only Kig-Yar named Bob in the entire galaxy!"
"I guess there's that" Urst replied.
They were getting close the the wreck now. The grey hull loomed in front of them. The ship was tiny: only 200 meters long. However, it was plain to see that a large portion of the ship had broken off long ago. The whole scene was eerily quiet and still. Lizzy felt like they were encroaching on a burial ground. It dawned on her that they probably were.
They finally reached a hole in the hull. The Valkyrie maneuvered itself so that they could exit out the grav lift and onto the hull. They drifted into a hallway; the artificial gravity had failed long ago.
"Look at this place" Lizzy said. The hallway was a drab grey and utilitarian in appearance. Holographic and flat screen terminals flickered as they floated by. Some kind of ice crystals hung in the air. They reminded Angler of snowflakes. The mysterious voice continued its message over the intercom.
"This place must be over three hundred years old!" Lizzy said.
They eventually came to a small room. There were odd cylinders lining the walls. What could they be...
"Cryo tubes!" Lizzy exclaimed. "These are cryo tubes!"
"Alright, everyone look for survivors in the tubes" said Zippy "Bob, you check out that terminal"
Delta started checking the cryo tubes as Bob floated over to the terminal. The whole room was covered in ice, and their lights casted a soft blue glow. Even though their suits were heated, the whole room felt cold to the team. The atmosphere was completed by the floating ice. The room felt very sill, a place long forgotten by time.
"Interesting" Bob suddenly said, cutting into the silence "There appears to be some kind of ancient AI in here. It seems to have put itself into a hack-job state of stasis. It is badly damaged, but I'm sure it can be saved by someone who is an expert at this kind of thing"
Bob worked on moving the AI onto a storage stick while Delta continued to search the pods. 'This is stupid. There is nothing here' Angler thought as he wiped away the mist on the window of yet another empty pod. He came to the pod in the center, aligned with the door. He wiped away the mist, and the pod was not empty.
"I've found something!"
Told you it would be short. However, next chapter we get to meet the new evil! That one will be much longer and generally more interesting. Stay tuned, and as always please review!