Wayward Guardian

by willtheboss

A young ONI officer is marooned alone aboard the UNSC Infinity above a mysterious planet. To survive and return The Infinity to the UNSC he will have to face the demons that the planet holds, as well as his own.

2. Chapter 1-10

Wayward Guardian

1520 hours, August 9, 2555 (Military Calendar)\

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Killian Court

Cambridge, Massachusetts, Earth

Professor Charles Bartlett looked over the latest batch of sensor readings from his data pad as he took a large bite from his salami sandwich. He had been in the control room of the campus particle accelerator for the entire morning and most of the afternoon. Needless to say, he was eager to breath fresh air and feel the sun on his skin. The short, plump man sat on a bench covered by the shade of an oak tree and thumbed his data pad with a worried look on his matured face. He ran a hand through his gray, thinning hair and keyed the earpiece on his right ear.

"Jane? Are you there?" Bartlett inquired.

"Yes Professor," said a young female voice, "Is this about the latest readings?"

"Yes it is," Bartlett replied with a full mouth. "Are we sure these are accurate?"

"We're not sure. It could be a calibration error," Jane said.

"What does Magni have to say about this?" Bartlett said with an up turned eyebrow. Although he didn't care for the AI's personality, the professor valued the construct's opinion on all matters concerning the operational capacity of the accelerator.

"He doesn't know either. But…" before Jane could finish a deep male voice cut her off.

"I never said I didn't know for the record. I only need the calibration report from this morning and I can finish my calculation," the AI said matter-of-factly. The professor exhaled deeply.

"Didn't we have this talk before about not cutting in or even listening in on people's private conversations Magni?" Bartlett said with a hint of annoyance in his voice.

"My deepest condolences professor," said Magni, truly sincere. "But you wouldn't happen to know where the report is, would you?"

"Yes, it's in my office," Bartlett said reluctantly as he stood up from the bench and wiped crumbs from his pant legs. "I'll be back down there in fifteen minutes." With that the professor took off the earpiece and began walking towards the office buildings on the other side of the campus. It was hot and humid and his shirt clung to the sweat on his chest. Unfortunately the air was still, which only added to the heat of the day.

Throughout the campus were information kiosks that showed on monitors the local and interplanetary news. Bartlett passed by a kiosk with a group of students around it watching a report on the recent Sangheili attacks on human ships. Ever since the end of the Great War, relations with the alien species have been extremely volatile. Peace talks with the so called leader of the Sangheili, Thel 'Vadam, have broken down in the wake of the rise of the Covenant Storm and other terrorist cells. Contrary to the public, Bartlett had no delusions of the current situation. The new Sangheili ran organizations still worshiped the Forerunners, but have abandoned their belief in the "The Great Journey" and now pursed Forerunner technology to continue their war against the humans. This being information he had learned from colleagues in the xenobiology field, through less then official channels.

Bartlett walked up the white marble stairs to the entrance of the office building and relished in the crispness of the air conditioning where he exchanged a friendly smile with the woman behind the help desk. He continued down the hall and saw a propaganda poster of a UNSC flag behind the words: "We have prevailed". Bartlett let out a 'hmpf' and turned away in disgust. He cared little about the UNSC and the central government. Before the Covenant, the UNSC was a tyrannical and oppressive regime that pissed on the little guy, and has remained that way until the present day.

The professor put the thought out of his head as he strolled into the physics wing of the building and approached the secretary's desk.

"Hello Susan. Any messages?" Bartlett said as he wiped sweat from his brow.

"Nope, no messages. But there is a young man here from the Navy that needs to speak to you," said the secretary.

"The Navy?" Bartlett was perplexed. He wondered what on God's green Earth would the Navy need him for. "Is he in there now?"

"Yes. He's only been in there a couple minutes. I was actually about to call you."

"Thanks," Bartlett said over his shoulder as he turned down the hallway to his office. He opened the door and saw a man with broad shoulders and short black hair. He was wearing a jet black uniform sitting with his back to Bartlett, facing his desk. The only contrast in color on the uniform was the silver metal bars on his shoulder signifying his rank. He closed the door and the young man turned his head. "How do you wear that straight black uniform on a day like this?" Bartlett joked with a grin. The young man stood up and faced him. The solider was indeed young, twenty one would be a good guess. He was of Asian decent and the uniform accented his tone body.

"Professor Charles Bartlett, director of dimensional physics at M.I.T.?" said the solider ignoring Bartlett's quip.

"Yup that's me. Is there something I can help you with?"

"I am Lieutenant Junior Grade Akio Tian. I represent the Office of Naval Intelligence section three. I was hoping we could discuss a business venture," said the young man with a courteous smile.

"What kind of 'venture' is this, Lieutenant?"

"One of great importance to humanity. What if I told you that you had the opportunity to work on the greatest technological achievement humanity has ever produced?" Akio said with enthusiasm.

"I would say it sounds too good to be true," Bartlett said as he walked around his desk and sat down in his leather chair. "What sort of project is this?"

"I'm sorry but I'm not at liberty to discuss specifics at this point but I can tell you that your years of research of Slipstream space will be invaluable in this endeavor," Akio commented as he took his seat again. His voice was even and calm that presented a sense of control about him.

"How long will this project go on for? I have other undertakings in progress. I actually am in the middle of experimentation at the present moment, Lieutenant," Bartlett said with a slight frown on his face. He was becoming annoyed with this young man's cryptic and limited responses and wanted to end this conversation as quickly as possible.

"I'm sorry for taking up your valuable time professor, but this is of significant importance to the human race. You will, of course, be compensated for your time. And we understand your past…" The young officer paused looking for the right word, "dealings with the UNSC."

"I don't think you do," Bartlett said as he narrowed his gaze.

"We understand that those were troubled times in our history, but humanity is now united in a common goal: rebuild the human civilization. We all must do our part, and your part is working on this project," Akio said. Bartlett simply stared at the officer unmoved and nearly enraged that this kid brought up the insurrection and the civil war when he wasn't even alive or too young to grasp it. Akio then looked down and picked up a black leather brief case and laid it down on his lap. He looked toward the holoprojector on the professor's desk and said, "Nero, is the room secure from eavesdroppers?"

Bartlett had a stunned look on his face as the AI resolved in front of him. The AI stood about eight inches tall on his desk wearing a full set of gold encrusted samurai armor, his arm resting on the hilt of his katana. "We are alone sir," the AI spoke with a strong voice and the slightest hint of a Japanese accent.

"How did he get here?" Bartlett questioned. "Has he been registered in the college's network?"

"I'm afraid he hasn't. But I have been given the authority to bypass certain…" Akio chose his words carefully again, "regulations to ensure the security of this information." He opened the brief case, took out a folder and laid it on Bartlett's desk. Tian spread its contents out on the desk for the professor to see and take in. There were two pictures of what looked to be finger sized shards of a diamond with a yellowish hue. Upon close scrutiny, Bartlett saw small glyphs on the crystal's sides.

"These are Forerunner symbols," he noted as he picked up a picture, squinted and brought it closer to his face. "Yes these are definitely Forerunner." he picked up another piece of paper and glossed over its contents. Bartlett spotted the mathematics of Slipstream Space vector calculations along with multidimensional and compressed space equations that he had never seen before. Being the director of dimensional physics at one of the most prestigious research institutions known to humanity; this was big news. "What are these theories? I have never heard of anything like this being discovered."

"That is the core mathematical principle that allowed researchers in the UNSC to refine our Shaw-Fujikawa translight engines to levels of unprecedented destination accuracy and speed of travel," Nero chimed in. Akio placed his finger on a close up picture of the Forerunner crystal shard.

"We learned this by studying the Forerunner artifact. And your current research is the closest anyone is to finding this out on their own. We at ONI believe you can help us further refine this Slipspace technology to the point that it would far surpass anything the Covenant had or even dreamed of, it might even rival what the Forerunners had," the ONI officer let this sink in before continuing. He nodded toward Nero on the desk and the AI disappeared as the image of a star ship materialized in his place. "This is the UNSC Infinity. The most advanced ship in the known galaxy. Construction is nearly complete with only a few systems not yet finished. One being the Slipspace engine. With your help we can put the crown jewel on humanity's greatest scientific achievement ever."

They sat in silence as Bartlett absorbed this new information. It was a truly once in a lifetime opportunity that only a select few people would have the honor to participate in. No doubt, if he succeeds, it would result in a prestigious award that would open a myriad of doors for him in the future. It was a lot to take in at once and Bartlett would need some time to mull it over.

"I need some time to think about this," the professor said quietly.

"Yes absolutely, I completely understand," Akio stood, organized his papers and placed them back into the suite case with care. He reached into his uniform and took out a business card and held it between his fingers.

"Call this number from any phone and an ONI representative will take your answer," Bartlett took the card and placed right down on his desk. Akio began to walk towards the door when he said, "I hope it is understood that this is classified information and I need not to tell you that what was discussed here, doesn't leave," Bartlett sat in his chair looking away from the ONI officer with a frown on his face. Tian was almost at the door when he turned around, "Oh and professor."

"Yes what?" he said as he looked up to see the soldier with his hand extended towards him.

"It was a pleasure meeting you."

Bartlett took Akio's hand a grasped it meekly and glanced into his eyes. "You too, Lieutenant," with that, Akio walked through the doorway and shut the door behind him, leaving the professor alone with his thoughts.

2250 hours, August 9, 2555 (Military Calendar)\

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Physics wing

Cambridge, Massachusetts, Earth

The professor closed his eyes and dropped the data pad he held in his hand to the floor from his cot in the corner of the office. The accelerator had been running since his conversation with the young Lieutenant in the afternoon and would be running well into the night and early morning. Bartlett had always kept a cot handy in his campus office for this very instance: all night physics experiments. His fun idea for a Saturday night. But Bartlett had little fun during the rest of the day's experiments on account of the memories of his encounter replaying in his head over and over. From the beginning of the conversation he didn't like Akio. Bartlett thought he was a privileged, spoiled brat who has never known strife or hardship in his life. Just another ignorant, emotionless uniform that was a machine programmed to follow orders by the corrupt leaders of the UNSC.

The professor started to think of earlier times when he lived in the outer colony of the Eridanus system, specifically Eridanus II. He thought of his loving parents who provided and supported him all his childhood and early adulthood. He remembered the day his father came home and told him and the rest of the family about the insurrection and how they were beginning to take control of the system. Bartlett also remembered his parents supporting the separatists, however, they never went so far as to commit acts of violence to achieve a political agenda. Looking back, he always knew that the UNSC would never seriously consider the possibility of relinquishing the outer colonies so long as they saw the Innies as a threat.

Bartlett and his parents participated in a peaceful separatists march in 2508 in the city of Luxor. All day UNSC marines had kept a close eye on the march looking out for any signs of danger or aggressiveness. The passive and innocuous mood of the demonstration was broken when a young group of protesters began to shout profanities at the soldiers and further provoking them with threats of violence. The powder keg lit when the young protesters charged the marines. They open fired into the attacking dissenters but continued to fire on the rest of the crowd, killing twenty three innocent people. Among the dead were Bartlett's parents.

That day changed him for the rest of his life. One week later, he had joined the insurrection and was participating in open war against the UNSC. During his time in the rebel group, Bartlett had done things that still haunted him to this day. He had planted a bomb in front of a military recruitment office and detonated the device killing fifteen people. When the Covenant arrived, the insurrection was almost forgotten over night and Bartlett used this as a cover to leave the insurrection and begin anew away from the Covenant threat in the inner colonies. It would appear that the UNSC had no suspicions of his past rebel activities even though they apparently knew his motive.

The professor turned over in his cot and pulled the blankets further up his body. He began to drift off to sleep when the thought hit him like a freight train: Destroy the UNSC Infinity within Slipspace. The theories he was trying to prove postulated that, while there is Slipstream Space, a dimension where normal space is "folded up" and condensed, there are dimensions where normal space is further condensed and folded to the point where normal matter cannot exist and is completely annihilated and lost to higher dimensions. He could possibly achieve this with the Forerunner crystal but there was no way in telling if it could unless he got up close and personal with the artifact. Bartlett sat up in his cot with a cold sweat. Am I really considering that I destroy ONI's most expensive scientific endeavor and humanities ace in the hole for the upcoming years of post war? Bartlett attempted to push the thought out of his head and laid back down in his cot.

The professor laughed to himself at the idea, him destroying an entire star ship by sending it into Slipspace. He turned over in his cot again trying to find a comfortable position. It's really not that crazy of a thought, Bartlett told himself. He swung his legs over the cot, stood up, walked over to his chair behind his desk and sat down. He turned on the computer and began searching for Slipspace drive malfunctions that resulted in a lost or destroyed ship. He was surprised to find dozens of reports of these sorts of accidents. If the Infinity were to be destroyed in a Slipspace "accident" it would be written off exactly as that, an accident. No one would suspect it to be sabotage.

The professor then remembered his commander from his days in the insurrection. Soon after the Covenant showed up many in the ranks of the insurgency began dropping out and opting to fall in line with the UNSC and take safety over freedom. Bartlett remembered the commander telling him that if this war with the aliens ever ended, the UNSC would go right back to the idea that they can control the entire human civilization from one central government. The Infinity would be the UNSC's tool for making the very numbered outer colonies fall in line to their rule.

Anger swelled up in the professor from the thought that in twenty or thirty years from now, when the outer colonies would be re-terraformed and re-colonized, that the UNSC would be using ships like the Infinity to continue their tyrannical rule over the human population. It sickened Bartlett to think of the oppression that would come of it and that he could have stopped it before the ship came to be.

How could I even initialize the Slipspace drive? The ship's AI would lock me out before I even had a chance to do anything. A faint memory then came to the Professor. His commander was a brilliant computer scientist and had given up a promising career in the subject to enlist in the rebellion. The commander had a computer program that temporally shut down a ship's AI so that the rebels could take over a ship or capture the AI for its wealth of military knowledge. However the code was never used because the Covenant showed up and his insurrectionists unit never had a chance to follow through with the mission. But that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. The crew of the Infinity would never expect it and there would be no safe guards from that particular program, as it had never been used before. This might actually work.

Bartlett had made up his mind. He would finally claim victory for the insurrection and he would avenge his parents' death. Bartlett would destroy the UNSC Infinity in a Slipspace anomaly.

1230 hours, August 11, 2555 (Military Calendar)\

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dave's Coffee Hut

Cambridge, Massachusetts, Earth

The professor sat alone sipping his cappuccino under the awning of a coffee shop while he looked over his shoulder anxiously. Ever since he called the ONI representative and gave them his answer to join the project, he felt as if he was constantly being watched, that somehow the UNSC knew about his decision to sabotage the Infinity. Of course he told no one of his plans. But the feeling still nagged at him relentlessly. Perhaps ONI would put two and two together and figure out that he was meeting his old rebel commander at the coffee shop to get the computer virus. Bartlett shifted uneasily in his chair as he spotted his old friend and insurrectionist walking across the street to the coffee shop. As he drew closer Bartlett couldn't help but forget his feelings of anxiety and was genuinely pleased to see an old friend, with whom he had been through much with.

The professor stood and smiled as the commander walked under the awning and extended his hand, "Marcus, it's so nice to see you," Bartlett beamed.

"Charles! How have you been you damned nerd?!" Marcus exclaimed as he ignored his hand and gave him a constricting bear hug. Bartlett was surprised to see that Marcus had aged very well. He was tall and muscular, for his old age, and his brown hair had streaks of gray that accented his experience. "I hear you're a professor now, at MIT. Very nice."

"Thanks," Bartlett said as he and Marcus sat down. "I've been well. Spending most of my time here doing research. What have you been up to? Still with that slut Irene?" It was an old inside joke. Marcus had had a girlfriend throughout the insurrection and the men of his unit always joked that if the chance arose, Irene would have slept with every member of the unit.

"Aww, we had a couple of kids, did the whole family with a house thing. Until she up and left me and took my kids with her. That was seventeen years ago," Marcus said with a grin.

"Marc, I-I'm sorry to hear that," The professor apologized.

"Don't worry about it friend. I'm over it. It was ages ago. I want to hear about this project of yours. What's it all about?" Marcus said.

Bartlett involuntarily looked out of the corners of his eyes searching for a threat but found none and continued, "I need your help with my research. I've hit a snag and could use your help with this entrenched bungler." It wasn't much of a code word but the phrase 'entrenched bungler' was an old insurrectionist code that meant that the UNSC was afoot and they needed to cease operations and hide. Instantly Marcus remembered the phrase and could tell from Bartlett's tone and body langue that this was sensitive information and whatever it was it had Bartlett scared.

"I don't think this is a good place to talk," Marc said solemnly. "Come on, follow me."

The pair said nothing as they stood up and left the coffee shop and walked across and down the street. The professor felt a ping of regret for bringing his old friend into this but it had to be done.

"Here, the blue one," Marcus pointed to a car parked on the side of the street. "Get in." Without a word Bartlett stepped into the car and sat in the passenger seat. They closed the doors behind them and Marcus started the car and pulled out into the street.

"What's this all about then Charles?" Marcus inquired with an even voice.

"I'll tell you flat out, I'm going to destroy a classified UNSC warship as its docked in space within a Slipspace anomaly," The professor was shocked at his own words as the gravity of the situation donned on him.

"You're gonna do what now?!"

"This guy from the Office of Naval Intelligence came to my office the other day saying they need my help to finish the Slipspace drive on a classified ship called the Infinity. He showed me these pictures of an Alien artifact that they found on Reach and said that with the artifact and my help they can finish the ship," Bartlett looked at him sincerely.

"I… Err… Where do I come in on all this?"

"Remember that mission we were gonna run to capture that UNSC destroyer out by Arcadia? And you made a virus to shut down a ship's AI for a few minutes?"

"Yea. I'm guessing you want to borrow it," Marcus responded.

"Yes. I need the ship's AI to be out of the game for awhile as I make preparations for the 'bomb'," Bartlett used his fingers to make quotes around the word bomb because what he planned to do didn't really involve a bomb. He was going to send the ship to an alternate dimension within Slipstream Space.

"Why?" It was a simple question that had occupied the majority of the professor's mind for the last two days.

"I'm tired of the UNSC. I'm tired of their regime. I'm tired of hiding behind them from the Covenant. In twenty or so years when the outer colonies are re-terraformed, do you think they will let them govern themselves? Do you think for an instant that they would learn from the rebellion and end the central government once the outer colonies are re-colonized?" Marcus agreed with him on every point. Once the outer colonies where resettled it is likely that another civil war could start. "If the UNSC gets their hands on this ship, there would be no end to their reign. No one will be able stop them, unless we seize the initiative."

"But if your gonna be on the ship when this happens, that's a one way ticket. There's no coming back from that," Marcus said with compassion in his voice as he turned the steering wheel of the car and started down a new road.

"I know. But it doesn't matter, I won't be around much longer," Bartlett said.

"What do you mean?"

Bartlett inhaled deeply, "Last month I was diagnosed with stage three liver cancer."

"Charles, I'm…"

"Don't be. I'm gonna make the last of my time here worth something," Bartlett said with a look of determination.

"Alright I can help you. But you do realize that ONI is probably watching you. It would be a safe bet that they saw us at the coffee shop."

Instantly Bartlett regretted this meeting. ONI would know that he was plotting something. "We need to cover our tracks. They can't find out," Bartlett said.

"It's ok I got an idea. While they might have heard what we said at the shop there is no way they can know what we are saying here," Marcus motioned to the car that they where in. With that he turned the wheel again and started heading towards the college campus.

This might just work. Bartlett kept repeating this to himself during the drive back to the college.

0650 hours, August 12, 2555 (Military Calendar)\

Aboard UNSC Point of No Return

Outskirts of Sol System, Oort cloud

Akio had only been on this ship once before, for his briefing into the Infinity project. Technically, Point of No Return didn't exist. It was the command and control platform for the UNSC Office of Naval Intelligence, NavSpecWeap section III. Tian was only one of about thirty officers in the galaxy who had access to "Odin's Eye", a secret meeting room in the ship that was surrounded by a Faraday cage that blocked any electronic signals from getting in or out. Even though he was just a Lieutenant, his position within the UNSC, deputy director of special activities division within Infinity, allowed him access to this classified ship and meeting room. Every black ops mission, every dirty little secret ONI section III had came across someone's desk here aboard Point of No Return.

The young Lieutenant had kept a close eye on professor Bartlett after their meeting three days ago on Earth. He had a surveillance team monitor the professor's every move, just in case he spilled the beans about Infinity. Bartlett struck Akio as a bitter old man who cared little for the betterment of humanity and was only interested in the merit he would receive from working on Infinity. Also there was the meeting he had with another man around Bartlett's age yesterday that just seemed… off to Akio. It didn't add up. The two men greeted each other like they would be there for a while and do some pleasant catching up, but the mood quickly changed after Bartlett asked for the man's help with research. Then they had gotten into a car and drove in a circle for ten minutes before returning to the college only four blocks away from the coffee shop. Why had they taken a car when it was such a short walk? Why had the mood of the conversation changed so drastically? After their drive, the pair exchanged no words when they got to the college and went straight for Bartlett's office to discuss the man, named Marcus Treffman, taking over Bartlett's position of the current research study he was doing at MIT. Akio had ordered a background check and nothing abnormal had come up. However Marcus's record seemed too generic, as if it had been faked.

Akio had a bad feeling about Bartlett, and he wasn't going to sit around and do nothing. He asked his commanding officer (CO), Captain James Westfield, director of special activities division within the UNSC Infinity, to arrange a meeting with the Captain of Infinity, and the officers responsible for overseeing the construction of the ship to discuss the possibility of professor Bartlett being a security risk.

Tian sat outside the entrance to Odin's Eye and waited to be ushered into the room by ONI security personnel. He ran through a mental checklist quickly to ensure he had all of his ducks in a row. Akio knew the meeting had to go off without a hitch or the high ranking officers would see this as a waste of time and he, and Captain Westfield, would pay for wasting ONI brass's time. Although Westfield is a skeptical man, he believed Akio's judgment of Bartlett and arranged the meeting. However, Westfield wasn't about to bar Bartlett entrance to the project on a hunch from a very young officer.

A security guard entered the waiting room where Akio sat and said, "They're ready for your briefing now Lieutenant."

Akio took a deep breath and stood up. He straightened his pitch black ONI uniform and smoothed out the creases out before he followed the guard. The two walked down a narrow hallway before reaching a security checkpoint where Akio submitted to a fingerprint scan, biometric eye scan, and voice recognition before continuing past into another waiting room. The guard who ushered Akio stood at the door of the waiting room and said, "Wait here for the doors to the cage to open. It shouldn't be more than a minute sir."

"The cage" was the nickname the crew ofPoint of No Return gave to Odin' Eye.

"Thanks," Akio said to him as the door shut to the hallway leaving the young officer by himself. Tian waited for about thirty seconds before he heard a series of metallic locks disengaging before the door to Odin's Eye opened. Inside were three men sitting around a table in the center of the room. Akio instantly recognized two of the men; Captain Westfield who was closest to him on his left, to Westfield's left was the CO of Infinity, Captain Andrew Del Rio, and the man to Rio's left Akio had not seen before. In the center of the table was a stack of data pads and a holoprojector directly next to them. On the far wall was a large display screen.

"Good morning, Lieutenant," Westfield said with in even tone and nodded in his direction. "I trust that you have met Captain Rio," Rio nodded in Akio's direction and he returned the gesture. "And this is Rear Admiral Rich, director of ONI section three."

"Good morning sirs," Akio said as he stood as straight as he could at attention. With that, the three men's faces turned white and Rear Admiral Rich buried his face in his palm as Tian heard an elderly woman's voice behind him.

"And I am Admiral Parangosky," Akio turned to his side to let the old woman pass by him as he stood straighter then he thought possible. He had heard rumors about this woman. The Admiral was possibly the most dangerous person in the UNSC. Hell, probably the most dangerous person known to man. She was the director of ONI and was in command of the most formidable clandestine organization ever formed by man. She reminded Akio of the grim reaper.

"Good morning, ma'am," Akio said calmly as the elderly woman almost limped past him and sat next to Rear Admiral Rich.

"I didn't know you were stopping by Margaret," Rich said as he looked towards Parangosky. She shot him a glance but her voice was placid and showed no sign of emotion.

"I thought I would stop by and hear what the young Lieutenant had to say," with that the doors to Odin's Eye closed with three metallic locks engaging into place, closing the lid to what Akio thought was a coffin. Parangosky motioned towards Akio, "Whenever you're ready, Lieutenant."

"Thank you, ma'am," Tian took a deep breath and collected himself before saying, "I asked Captain Westfield to arrange this meeting to discuss a possible security risk to Infinity and her crew. If you would," Akio motioned to the stack of data pads in the center of the table and each officer took a pad. "On page three is a picture of the potential risk," he then walked over next to the screen and brought up the picture of professor Bartlett. "This is professor Charles Bartlett, director of dimensional physics at MIT. Recently I recruited him onto the Infinity project to overcome recent set backs with the Slipspace engine. As per SOP he has been under surveillance since our meeting. I have come to believe that Bartlett either divulged classified information and or is conspiring to sabotage Infinity."

Captain Rio lifted his head and leaned back in his chair with a concerned look while Rear Admiral Rich removed a flask from inside his jacket and took a swig, "Okay, what proof do you have, Lieutenant?" the Admiral asked.

"On August tenth at 1034 hours local time, we intercepted a message sent from Bartlett's personal email account to one Marcus Treffman," Akio then brought up Marcus's picture next to Bartlett's. "The message requested that Treffman meet Bartlett at a café four blocks from the MIT campus. If you turn to page fifteen, there is a transcript of the message and a partial transcript of a conversation Bartlett had with Treffman before they left the shop."

"So they had some coffee and talked a little. What's the problem, Lieutenant?" Rear Admiral Rich spoke up again.

Parangosky unexpectedly came to his defense, "He might be able to get to it if you would stop interrupting," she nodded towards Akio to continue.

"The conversation's mood was lighthearted before Bartlett asked Treffman to help with research and then it took a turn for the solemn. You can see in the transcript Treffman opted to take the conversation else where, to his car parked a half a block away," Akio removed the pictures from the screen and began a video of Bartlett and Marcus getting up and walking to the car. The cameraman was clearly being stealthy as he remained behind the two men and kept a distance. "They didn't talk at all on their walk to the car despite their apparent eagerness to catch up with each other. Also it strikes me as suspicious that they choose to continue the conversation at a place that we can not observe them after the conversation became serious," Tian brought up an aerial view of the city and highlighted the route the car traveled. "They drove in this circle for ten minutes before returning to the campus that was only four blocks from the café. After they got to the campus they exchanged no words until they got to Bartlett's office where they discussed Treffman taking over Bartlett's research program, as he would be away for some months."

Rich had a smirk on his face as he took another swig from the flask. Captain Rio sat with his arms crossed and looked over his data pad. And Parangosky simply looked at Akio, "What's your assessment, Lieutenant?" she inquired.

"I believe that before they got up and left, Bartlett snuck in a code word or phrase that indicated that he had sensitive information to talk to Treffman about. That's why they went to his car, because they knew we couldn't observe them in there and that's the reason they drove in a circle for no apparent reason, to talk about Infinity. I think Bartlett divulged information about the ship or they discussed plans to sabotage Infinity. And when they returned to the college they used the conversation of Treffman taking over Bartlett's research as a cover for their conspiring," Akio concluded and turned off the display screen and fell silent.

Rich was the first to speak, "So some old nerds talked about their science projects. I don't see any danger in that."

"Yes sir, they did. However, the conversation swing points towards the likely use of a code phrase to escape to a private discussion area," Westfield pointed out.

"Has it been confirmed that Treffman is taking over the research program?" Rio spoke up for the first time.

"He has. It is already in the college's network," Akio said.

"Then where's the problem?" Admiral Rich asked with upturned hands.

"Marcus Treffman has a PhD. in computer science, not physics," Westfield chimed in.

"Then he asked an old personal friend to look over his project while he was away. Can it be implied that the two are friends from the transcript, Lieutenant?" the Rear Admiral asked already knowing the answer.

"Yes sir. It can be implied that they are friends. However I believe it to be out of place that a computer programmer took over a particle accelerator sir," Akio stated.

Rich simply let out a 'hmpf' and sat back in his seat. Rio then spoke up again, "Do you have anything on Marcus?"

"Nothing particularly striking. However a background check revealed a very bland record, one that has probably been faked," Akio said.

"You can't say that for sure," Rich said as he glanced at the report of the back round check on his data pad. "It is generic Lieutenant, I'll give you that, but it is also very in depth."

"Yes it is sir, but Marcus, being well versed with computers, could have taken someone else's record sir, changed some parts here or there and he would have a convincible fake record," Akio retorted.

"I'm not sure if there is enough information here to prove Bartlett and Marcus is conspiring. What would you have us do if we where to believe this Lieutenant?" Rio asked.

"I would say that Bartlett and Marcus should be detained and held until Infinity is made public."

"There just isn't enough information here to justify that, Lieutenant," Rear Admiral Rich said.

"I agree. While this does raise some questions, it's not enough to convict Bartlett and Marcus," Rio concurred.

"Very well, Bartlett will be admitted entrance to the program. However, I want extra security on Infinity while he's there and I want him watched by MP's anytime he is in a lab. I am inclined to agree with the young Lieutenant," Parangosky said as she locked eyes with every officer. "Understood?"

"Yes ma'am," everyone said except for Rich. With that they all stood up and the doors to the cage opened and they began to file out. Akio stayed behind and organized himself before leaving when he noticed Parangosky was still in the room.

"Hang in there, Lieutenant. You'll make it one day. I know this because you remind me of myself."

"Thank you ma'am," he said as she patted him on the shoulder and walked out of the room. Akio was flabbergasted. Of all the stories he had heard of the director of ONI, this was the least likely thing he would ever believe to happen. Perhaps he really did remind the Admiral of herself. The thought scared Akio as he imagined himself as an elderly UNSC officer who was as cruel as death itself. He shuddered at the thought and strolled out of the room.

0745 hours, August 22, 2555 (Military Calendar)\

Aboard UNSC The North Star

Outskirts of Sol System, near Oort cloud

Waking up was the worst part about cryo sleep. Akio could never get over the sensation of gagging on your own breath as you cough up partly frozen mucus that has been lodged in your lungs. He sat on the edge of the cryo chamber with his legs hanging off the end as he vomited green and blue phlegm and tried to gain his bearings. Tian had only been in cryo sleep for a few days during their voyage from Earth to the Oort cloud, where Infinity was docked near the space station Ingenuity for construction, but that didn't make waking up any less unpleasant. The young officer surveyed the cryo bay and saw the other pods beginning to open as naked human forms began to materialize in the haze from the gases and steam of the pods. Quickly the room was filled with sounds of people coughing a convulsing as their bodies reacted to the mucus in their lungs and tried to expel it by throwing up. It was enough to make someone not waking up from cryo to loose his lunch just by listening.

After his meeting with the ONI top brass aboard Point of No Return, Akio traveled back to Earth and prepared for his permanent relocation to Infinity. In that time he had meet with his parents and his sister back at his home in Langfang, a city just to the south of Beijing. He wanted to spend time with his family before he was sent to Infinity because God only knew how long ONI would keep him there. Tian also meet with Bartlett once more to brief him on the details of Infinity and the project he would take part in.

Akio placed his feet on the deck of the cryo bay and with shaky knees, stood straight up and walked over to a wall of lockers on the far side of the room. As he walked over he saw Bartlett being helped out of his pod by a technician and was reminded of the professor's old age as Bartlett struggled to gain his footing. Akio reached the locker with his name on it and opened the locker and took a towel from it. After showering off and cleaning himself up, Akio put on his ONI uniform, walked out of the shower room and made his way to the cabin of The North Star. Tian sat in a window seat as he thumbed his data pad. Captain Westfield had sent him the technical specifications for the new Clandestine Operator Battlefield Recon Armor (COBRA) during the Slipspace journey between Earth and the Oort cloud.

Normally this would be impossible as communication between ships in Slipspace is impossible, but thanks to the technology reverse engineered from Forerunner tech, Infinity is able to send messages in and out of Slipspace. Forerunner technology was also apparent in COBRA primarily its new shield system and the user interface. In all other UNSC powered assault armor the wearer is almost always a Spartan, being the only humans capable of controlling the MJOLNIR armor and Semi-Powered Infiltration (SPI) armor without killing themselves. However, COBRA has been designed to allow humans, without the augmentations of a Spartan, to control it. On top of that COBRA supports powerful armor attachments including; Visual Intelligence System Reconnaissance (VISR), active camouflage, optional jet pack attachment, bubble shield, and hard light shield. Tian was most impressed by the hard light shield's ability to appear from nothing and completely protect the user behind it with an impenetrable shield. He had already seen demonstrations of this new technology and was significantly impressed.

However COBRA wasn't without its flaws. While the hard light shield was impenetrable, COBRA's primary shields that covered the entire surface of the armor was not as strong as previous powered assault armor's shield systems and the hard light shield could be deployed for only a handful seconds. Even though the surface shield was not as strong as others, it required a significantly less amount of energy to operate and far less time to recharge to full strength. Despite this one short fall, COBRA was the most advanced personal armor system humanity has ever produced, and Akio was to be issued the first set for testing on board Infinity, as he has already been trained on the prototype for COBRA.

COBRA also had one new innovation that separated it from the other powered assault armors: a permanent AI. The MJOLNIR armor does have an AI port to allow a construct to reside in the armor and merge the biological mind of a human and the computerized mind of an AI, allowing the wearer to be extremely effective in combat and adapt to a myriad of situations. Anyone who wears COBRA will have not only the power of the suit at their finger tips but also the digital advantage of an AI at all times. The AIs in COBRA, while useful in combat situations and clandestine operations, were not as sophisticated as a ship board 'smart' AI but at the same time they have more personality and processing power then a 'dumb' AI. After receiving the upgrade to his neutral lace, Akio is eager to meet his new companion during the armor fitting and preliminary tests on board Infinity.

Tian looked up from his data pad to see Bartlett standing at the doorway to the cabin with a pale face. Bartlett looked around the cabin for a familiar face when he spotted Akio looking up from his data pad. Akio motioned for the professor to come and sit next to him as he slid the data pad into his jacket pocket. As Bartlett sat down he let out a strained huff.

"Cryo sleep doesn't agree with you?" Akio asked with a grin.

"Actually I've never really had a problem with it. Never really been prone to 'freezer burn' until now," Bartlett said as he rolled up his sleeve and revealed a black and blue scar that looked like road rash on his right forearm. "I guess that's just one of the perks of being old," the professor joked as he rolled his sleeve back down his arm.

"What did the medic say about it? It didn't look to bad."

"Yea, that's pretty much what they said, that it's not so bad," Bartlett looked away and continued. "It should heal up in a few days. But it hurts like hell and the hot shower only made it burn more."

They sat in an awkward silence for sometime before Bartlett spoke up again. "Lieutenant?"

"Yes."

"May I ask you something?"

"Sure, what is it professor?"

"I don't want to come off rude but," Bartlett hesitated for a split second before continuing, "How is it that you are in such an important position in ONI when you're only twenty one?"

"You're not being rude professor," Akio said smiling at Bartlett. "I was accepted into East Asia University when I was fourteen and graduated with a bachelors in mechanical engineering and a bachelors in electrical engineering as well."

Bartlett held up his hand with a stunned look on his face. "You where fourteen when you were accepted into EAU? The most prestigious engineering university in the inner colonies?"

"That's the one. After I graduated with the two four year degrees at eighteen I was approached by the Navy with some job offers. Being so young and "talented" as they put it, they thought that my skill set would be useful in the UNSC," Akio turned his head and looked out the window before continuing. "I decided to join ONI after OTS and they put me through two more years of school. Mostly engineering classes and some military history classes as well. All the while, during those two years, I trained with ONI," Akio paused and took a breath, "I can't say what kind of training, of course."

"Naturally," Bartlett replied.

"After I finished training with ONI, I was stationed on Infinity. And that's pretty much how I came to be here."

"You obviously could have gotten any job in nearly any career you wanted. What made you want to serve in the UNSC?"

Akio noticed Bartlett's pronunciation of "UNSC". The professor strained to say it, like the words leaving his mouth were poison. He ignored it and replied, "With the war going on and the obvious fact that humanity was slowly circling the drain, I felt that I had no choice to serve. Not for a flag or a country or even the UNSC, but for humanity. To be apart of the fight for our existence. I couldn't imagine being anywhere else," Akio paused and looked at the professor.

"Hmm," Bartlett said a little indifferently as he reached into his pocket and pulled out his own data pad. He warmed up the device and began looking over equations and data reports from Infinity's new Mark X Macedon prototype translight engine as the pair fell into another awkward silence.

The professor seemed different somehow compared to their first encounter at the college. He was more talkative and more upbeat. Even during the briefing back on Earth he seemed friendlier towards Akio than how he treated him in his office at MIT. It was unsettling that his demeanor had changed, even though it was for the better. Perhaps the old man finally realized what an opportunity it was to work on the Infinity project. Still, Bartlett made Akio nervous and he would have rather brought on a different scientist to the project, but it wasn't his call. Akio had to just grin and bear it and keep a close eye on Bartlett.

Akio felt his own data pad vibrate in his pocket and took it out. It was a message from The North Star's navigational computer.

ETA TO UNSC INF-101 INFINTY: 10 MIINUTES. APROACHING VISUAL RANGE IN 20 SECONDS. PREPARE FOR DEPARTURE.

Tian slid the data pad back into his pocket and turned to Bartlett, "Hey. Wanna see your home for the next six months?" Akio leaned back in his seat so Bartlett could see out of the window. Past the blue and purple gases of the Oort cloud, the structure of the space station Ingenuity began to materialize in the haze. However, Ingenuity paled in comparison to the silhouette taking shape behind it. At a staggering 3.5 miles long Infinity is 0.2 miles longer then a Covenant Assault Carrier. While The North Star moved through space, Infinity became clearer as the clouds of particles and gases moved from view. The titanium alloy armor gave off a dull silver color that contrasted with the pitch black of space. Infinity was a small space faring city in itself. When it is fully staffed, Infinity will be home to seventeen thousand UNSC personnel, including the Spartan IV program. But, for now, the ship had a skeleton crew of only two hundred and fifty three comprised of the command crew, technicians, and scientists. The Spartan IVs where due to arrive in about two weeks time, depending on how long their Slipspace journey takes them.

"Oh wow. Its… really big," Bartlett said, his eyes wide.

"Yea, its pretty mind boggling the first time you see it," Akio grinned.

Bartlett gaped in silence as The North Star drew closer and closer to Infinity. Akio could make out the lettering on the side of the ship 'UNSC INFINITY' right next to the UNSC flag painted in all white. The transport ship coasted past the Infinity and docked with Ingenuity. Tian heard a series of metallic locks engaging as the cabin shook and was captured by Ingenuity. Everyone in the cabin stood and shuffled towards the exit of the craft. Akio stood at the doorway when a red light overhead of the door turned green indicating that the pressures had equalized and it was safe to open the door. The young officer touched the screen next to the door and it opened with a hiss. Bartlett was right on Akio's heels as they walked down the corridor to the air lock of Ingenuity. Motion sensors tracked their progress and opened the air lock when they approached it. Behind the door was Nero's holographic projection smiling at the pair of men.

"Good morning gentlemen. I trust your trip was comfortable," Nero said.

"Yes it was. Nice and relaxing," Akio said sarcastically referring to cryo sleep.

"Its very nice to see you again, professor Bartlett," Nero said with a slight bow.

"Thank you. Its good to see you too… uh I'm terribly sorry but what is your name again?" Bartlett asked.

"Nero, and don't worry about it professor, I don't mind at all. Captain Westfield is waiting for you gentlemen by the airlock to Infinity. Walk straight down this hallway, take the second left and then a quick right you should see him there. I'll let you know if you made a wrong turn," Nero informed them.

"Thanks, see you around," Akio said as the pair started down the hall. Behind them Tian could hear Nero welcoming the other passengers from The North Star to the space station. They came to the air lock and Captain Westfield was sitting by a table looking over a data pad when he saw Akio and Bartlett approaching.

"Sir," Akio said as he snapped off a crisp salute.

"Good to see you gentlemen," The captain said as he returned the salute and extended a hand to Bartlett. "I trust the Lieutenant has brought you up to speed, professor."

"Oh yes. His briefing was quite thorough," the professor assured as he released Westfield's hand.

"Good. Then we just need, ah here he is now," Westfield said looking over Tian's shoulder as he spotted a skinny, brown haired man approaching them. "Professor Bartlett, I would like you to meet Doctor Stanley Barnes. He is the head of the scientific team on Infinity."

Barnes walked up to the group and nodded towards Akio, "Lieutenant, and professor Charles Bartlett. I've heard so much about you. I've read you thesis on eddie currents in Slipstream Space. Very insightful."

"Thank you Doctor. I'm very eager to begin this project," Bartlett replied with a smile.

"Then we shall not niggle. Join me to the lab?" Barnes said motioning for Bartlett to follow.

"Yes of course."

Bartlett and Barnes took off down the hallway leaving the Captain and the young Lieutenant by themselves. Westfield turned towards Akio and said, "Your fitting for COBRA has finally been green lighted for tomorrow. Barnes and his band of eggheads have been taking their sweet time with the final pre tests. I thought we would never get to this point."

"Yes sir. Did the rest of the command crew still want my report on Bartlett's possible security risk?" Akio asked as they turned towards the air lock.

"Yes they did. I need that on my desk by 1800 to give to them. Apparently Rio has had some second thoughts about Bartlett and wants the rest of the command to know about it," Westfield then keyed the air lock and it opened with a hiss and the two ONI officers took off down the walkway between Ingenuity and Infinity.

"Yes sir. Was there anything else?"

"After the COBRA fitting, Barnes wants to go directly into war games to see how you initially react to the armor."

Akio looked at Westfield with a slight smile, "Really? They want to put me in the armor and go through combat tests sir?"

"Yes. But be ready for anything. I think they're going to try and throw a curve ball. You know how Barnes would love to see COBRA fail," the captain warned as they reached the other air lock.

"I'll do my best sir," Akio said as the door closed behind them.

"Just send me the report, and I'll see you tomorrow at 0530 for the fitting and War Games," Westfield said as Akio turned and saluted. He returned the gesture the two parted and took off into the bows of Infinity.

0535 hours, August 23, 2555 (Military Calendar)\

Aboard UNSC Infinity, Armory 034B

Outskirts of Sol System, Oort cloud

Barnes yawned directly in Akio's face as the scrawny scientist tried to zip up the front of the skintight suit that Akio had to wear underneath COBRA. The man's breath was fowl and Akio grimaced as he turned his head away from the smell.

"Oh, sorry, Lieutenant," Barnes apologized, realizing that he had just yawned in the young officer's face. "Guess I haven't woken up yet."

Akio exhaled deeply in frustration as Barnes turned his attention back to the set of consoles on the wall behind him, "Don't worry about, doc."

Akio had a mixed feeling of dread and anticipation for the fitting. He had seen the videos and read the reports about the failed attempts to fit MJOLNIR armor on non-Spartan personnel. Summed up in one word, it was gruesome. Subjects who merely meant to turn their head ended up turning their entire torso nearly two hundred and seventy degrees, instantly breaking their spines. Needless to say Akio wasn't eager to shatter his spine.

"Ok," Barnes clapped his hands together and smiled. "I think we're ready to begin putting on the gel layer."

It took three technicians to help Akio get into the gel suit. Being the first time he has put on the armor, it was quite awkward for the young officer to fit it on. Normally, a system of mechanical arms would put the gel suit and the armor plates on the wearer but, being the first time, it required a gentler touch.

The gel suit loosely fit Akio's body and in some places just hung in place. A technician approached Tian with a large backpack looking housing. "Is that the power supply?" Akio asked the technician.

"Yes sir. And when it comes online the gel layer will form to your body and match your skin temp," the technician replied.

Akio felt the extra weight on his back as the scientists locked the power supply in place. The gel layer's piezoelectric material activated and began to conform to the contours of Akio's body. It felt as if he was being encased in a cocoon from the neck down. At first it compressed his body tightly and then began to release slowly, forming to his every line. After Tian felt the gel suit stop moving around his body, it felt as if it nearly disappeared from his body as the layer matched his skin temperature. If he couldn't look down and see the gel suit, Akio wouldn't have known he was wearing the gel layer at all.

"Wow, that's amazing. I can barely feel it!" Tian exclaimed.

"Cool, huh?" Barnes said over Akio's shoulder as he calibrated the power supply.

Over the next hour Akio remained painfully still as Barnes and his team of technicians slowly put on the pieces of the armor for the suit. Every time they put on a new piece they had to align it properly and test its connectivity to the power supply and the gel layer. It was slow and tedious work and Tian was relived to see a technician approaching with the last piece of the armor: the helmet. The technician carefully placed it on the Akio's head and locked it in place.

"Alright Lieutenant, I'm going to fully power up the suit now. Don't move at all, not even a twitch. Try not to even think about moving and we should be good," Barnes warned in his most assuring voice.

Barnes typed commands into the computer in front of Akio that was connected to COBRA. The armor's helmet visor lit up displaying start up information and the basic layout of the suit's graphical interface.

"Now, I want you to only think about moving your left forearm up to your chest. Only think about it at first, then with as little motion as you can, slightly move your arm up," Barnes commanded giving a pause between each word.

Akio did as he was told and thought about the movement and pictured it in his head. When nothing happened he keep the thought in his mind and began to flex his bicep to move his forearm. Akio knew he was about to engage his bicep to move his arm but before he even felt the muscles move, his arm shot straight up and his hand struck his helmet. The impact from the hand knocked his head back and the suit continued the movement reeling Akio's head back so violently that he fell backwards and landed on his back.

"CUT IT! CUT IT! CUT IT!" One technician yelled and made a run for the computer, but Barnes was already there and swiftly punched in the commands. Stars played across Akio's vision, but he could make out that the visor had gone blank. He could feel the weight of the armor pressing down on him because the suit no longer held itself up.

"I got it!" Barnes yelled back to the technicians as he turned from the computer and knelt over Tian to inspect the helmet and left gauntlet. "Looks okay. No visible damage. I think the armor is fine."

"Ugh, don't worry 'bout me. I'm fine. Good thing the armored helmet was here to stop my hand from breaking my head open. It's all good," Akio said through the suit.

"Here, take his arm, help me lift him back up," Barnes said motioning to another technician. When Barnes and the technician couldn't lift him back up, a second and third technician knelt over and helped pull Tian to his feet. To help Akio keep his footing under the weight of the unpowered armor, Barnes activated the system of mechanical arms, which would normally put the suit on the wearer, to hold Akio up.

The Lieutenant gained his footing and shook his head to clear out the stars that were dancing across his vision. Barnes's face filled the visor but even though he was in such close proximity to him, his voiced sounded muffled, "You okay in there?"

"Yea. I'm good," Akio said with a huff.

"All right, we're going to power it up again. Same as last time don't move until I say so," Barnes instructed.

"You got it Doc."

Barnes, along with the three technicians, stood behind the computer terminal and activated COBRA. The visor lit up in the same way, displaying the basic information about the armor. Akio felt the gel layer stiffening, forming to fit his body. Barnes hit a key on the computer and the mechanical arms retracted back into the floor. Tian stood perfectly still, waiting for Barnes's go.

"Okay Lieutenant, lets try this one more time. First just think about moving your arm, then with as little effort as possible try and move your arm," Barnes said.

Akio once again thought about moving his arm. He pictured it in his head but the armor remained static. Tian closed his eyes, bracing for another smack to the head when he began to move his arm up. Just like last time he knew he was about to engage his arm, but before he felt his muscles tighten, his arm moved with lightening speed up to his chest. Akio opened his eyes and slowly moved his head to look down. His arm was bent at the forearm and his hand was across his chest.

"I'll be Goddamned," Akio said, this time his voice going through the suits speakers.

"Good, good. Lets keep this going. Try to move your other arm," Barnes said, giddy as a schoolboy.

Tian then moved his right hand up to his chest just like his left hand. It traveled the distance with inhuman speed and seemed to stop on a dime. Akio had thought that because the armor is so heavy and his arm was moving so fast, that there would be extra forward momentum that would have pushed his hand into his chest. But the Lieutenant felt nothing. It was as if it stopped literally within a nanometers distance.

"Before we go any further," Barnes held his hand up as if to calm himself down, "we need to install your construct." He removed a data chip from a port on the side of the computer console and walked around Akio to access the AI interface behind Tian's head.

"Deep breath Lieutenant," Barnes instructed. Akio closed his eyes and breathed deeply. He heard the small motors in the interface port grab hold of the chip and pull it in. For a moment it felt as if someone had injected an icy cold liquid into Akio's head. There was a sharp pain in the center of his forehead. Then the coldness and the pain subsided.

"Akio, meet Nezha."

The AI materialized in the center of Akio's visor. Each construct chose it's own physical appearance, or avatar. Nezha had chosen to take the form of a Chinese style dragon. Like most Chinese mythological dragons, Nezha had one hundred and seventeen scales, eighty-one Yang scales and thirty-six Yin scales. The Yang scales are a faded green giving the impression that they have endured some abuse, while the Yin scales are a pristine gold. The AI's avatar turned its head around as if looking for something or taking in the view of the inside of Akio's helmet. The AI seemed almost uninterested in paying attention to Akio, until it stopped moving its head with a huff and squared its gaze with Akio's.

"I think this new dwelling space will do," Nezha's voice was a combination of multiple voices speaking at once that created a slight reverberation in Akio's head. Overall his voice was deep and male in nature. "Nice brain activity. I'm showing a ninety three percent cognitive phase match between your cerebral cortex and COBRA's neural matrix."

"Thanks," Akio said hesitantly, unsure how to respond. "Nice uh, scales."

"I appreciate your effort to return the complement," Nezha replied. "Hello, Akio Tian."

"Hello… to you, Nezha," Akio found it difficult to find his words. "Dumb" AIs, although extremely knowledgeable and insightful within their areas of expertise, have limited personalities and creativity. This is not the case for Nezha. Even though he doesn't fall into the category of "smart" AIs, Nezha's personality is vibrant and his intellect is fierce. Smart AI's unmatched creativity and intelligence comes at a price however. Due to the nature of their neural networks, smart AIs have an expiration. Sooner or later when a smart AI collects so much data and so much creativity, their neural network begins to unintentionally fire and activate. They begin to think to such an extreme degree that they cannot control their basic functions. As if a human's brain is a state of such immense activity, the brain forgets to send electrical impulses to control the heart and lungs.

When these short circuits within the AIs neural network become intense enough, the construct enters a state of rampancy. In lay mans terms, the AI slowly goes insane and then dies. On the other hand, dumb AIs are not subject to rampancy due to their limited creativity and knowledge. But Nezha was somewhere in between the two types of constructs. Thanks to the technology gleaned from the Forerunners, the UNSC has been able to design a new series of constructs, designated Vigilant class. The new Vigilant class AIs are designed to have growing creativity and intelligence like smart AIs, but have a limit to how much and how quickly these qualities develop. Eventually Vigilant class AIs will descend into rampancy and effectively die. However theoretically, it will take much longer for them to reach rampancy then a smart AI.

"Okay, now that the introductions are out of the way, Nezha," Barnes said. With that the AI faded from the Akio's visor and re-appeared on a pedestal next to the computer console. "I need you to begin your analysis of the cognitive phase match integration."

"Yes Doctor. I have begun my preliminary calculations and my initial figures show a five to six percent increase in the cognitive match," Nezha stated rather proudly.

"Wait. I thought Nezha was inside my suit. How is he there?" Akio questioned, pointing at the pedestal.

"He is in your suit, but COBRA can project its AI construct to a near by holopad if need be," Barnes's stated.

"Okay. So if he is inside my suit, is he inside my mind? Will he be able to read my thoughts or control me through my mind?"

"Nezha is and is not in your mind. He is more like a moderator between your mind and COBRA. He cannot initiate thoughts or ideas in your head but he can amplify the ones coming from your cerebral cortex to COBRA. In short, he allows better communication between your mind and COBRA, giving you more control and enhanced handling of the suit," Barnes explained.

"So does Nezha increase my reaction time?"

"That and much, much more," Nezha chimed in.

For the next eight hours, Akio re-learned how to walk, run, jump, fire a rifle, clean his weapon, and basic drill movements. First came the dexterity tests. Akio had trouble manipulating small objects in his hand with the bulky gauntlets, which was only made worse when Barnes activated COBRA's shields. Even though the shields are mere nanometers off of the surface of the suit, it made holding objects in his hand slippery and clumsy.

Tian ran countless obstacle courses to calibrate the connection between his mind, Nezha, and COBRA. Slowly but surely, Akio began to run the courses with no problem. Vaulting over bars, ducking under walls, scaling simulated rock faces, all while getting used to the feel of the suit. Tian then moved to the range. He had already attained the merit of sharpshooter, but COBRA made Akio hyper-accurate. Inside of a half an hour he was hitting bulls eyes' from the hip at a hundred yards.

Akio had never felt more alive with COBRA on. Every little muscle impulse or twitch was translated into lightening quick motion. All he pretty much had to do was think about what he wanted his body to do and it would follow his commands precisely. Tian could now jump almost four meters into the air, run at speeds up to fifty five km/h, and lift two tons. He had become a walking tank.

After completing the last obstacle course, Akio saw Barnes along with the technicians huddled around a computer console. Barnes noticed Akio had finished the course and waved to Akio to join them. Tian jogged over to the group and stood next to one of the technicians.

"That was a good run Lieutenant," Barnes complemented with a nod.

"Thank you," Akio held back the impulse to say sir. Barnes was a scientist and a civilian, who didn't need the military formality.

"I think after a chow break we can move to the War Game simulation. I just need to clear it with Captain Westfield. Ted here," Barnes said turning to a technician, "Will show you how to eat while wearing COBRA."

Akio disliked eating with the suit. The food came through a small tube in the helmet, which extended into his mouth and injected the paste right down his gullet. He had thought the Meals Ready to Eat (MREs) was bad, but this was just awful. It was as if someone took an MRE and blended it up with cardboard. Akio had just forced another mouthful of the paste down to his stomach when he noticed Barnes walking across the training room floor with a data pad in his hand.

"Lieutenant," Barnes called out, "The War Games match has been approved. It's set for 1700, which is in," he paused to look a the clock on the data pad, "fifteen minutes. Captain Westfield will meet you up in the armory. I on the other hand need to get to the engine room."

"Sounds good Doc," Akio said as Barnes walked out of the training room. Tian then did the same after finishing his "food". He took the inter-ship tram system to the War Games deck. Infinity has the largest and most complex tram system of any UNSC space faring vehicle. This is not surprising when the ship is a flying city at 3.5 miles long. On the tram, Akio was accompanied by Keepers, another one of the UNSC's latest creations based off of Forerunner tech.

The Keepers are small, unmanned multipurpose drones. Closely related to the Forerunner Sentinels. Keepers came in numerous different verities and designs for a wide range of applications. They usually came in one of two basic designs; those that fly and those that travel on the ground. The flying Keepers used two different modes of propulsion. For in atmosphere, they used a quad rotor set up, and for in a vacuum they used anti-grav pods or micro ion engines. On the ground, Keepers used heavy-duty wheels or treads to get to where they need to go. Weighing in on average at three to four hundred pounds, their sleek design with a silvery and slightly blue metal, made them a remarkable piece of technology.

Using its robotic arms and on board tools, maintenance Keepers could repair and maintain nearly every system or device on the ship. However the maintenance Keepers did have a limit to what they could repair, primarily the Slipspace engine and some of the more advanced weapon systems. But that's what the thousands of soon to be arriving technicians are for.

The tram slowed to a halt as it approached the stop by the armory. There was a high pitched beep that sounded to indicate that the doors are about to open. The glass doors opened with no sound at all as Akio stepped off onto the deck. A small group of marines waiting for the tram, stopped their conversation to see Tian walking out of the tram in full armor. They all snapped to attention and saluted the young Lieutenant. Akio maintained his brisk pace as he returned the salutes.

Tian continued down Infinity's halls to the armory and the War Games deck. A camera identified Akio as he arrived at the door to the armory. From a small crystal projector on the control console of the door, Nero projected himself on the floor and stood six feet tall next to Tian.

"Good evening Lieutenant. I must say that armor suits you," Nero remarked as he put his hand to his chin and looked Akio up, head to toe.

"Thanks," Akio nodded, "I'm meeting the Captain here for the War Games."

"Yes indeed. Westfield is waiting for you inside," Nero said as the doors parted silently. Nero's projection disappeared as the crystal deactivated.

The young Lieutenant stepped into the armory and took the room in. He immediately saw Captain Westfield standing with his back to him looking at a screen on the command console. Perusing the tables and wracks filled with weapons and ammunition, were a dozen former ODST's. The troopers were pulled from the top performing and combat hardened units of the Helljumpers to serve as MP's and security on Infinity. To Akio, they would be the opposing team.

"Captain Westfield, sir," he stood at attention and saluted his CO. "Reporting as ordered."

Westfield turned around and returned the salute, "Evening Lieutenant. Please help yourself," he said motioning to the tables and gun wracks, "We're going to begin momentarily." The Captain returned his attention to the console.

Akio went directly for the gun wrack that held the M395 Designated Marksmen Rifles, or DMR. He inspected the weapon for any malfunctions or problems. When he was satisfied that the weapon is working order, Akio began to collect his ammunition. During OTS and training to become an ONI field agent, Akio had gone through rigorous combat training and had passed with flying colors. Simulated combat was nothing new to Tian. He rarely came up short compared to his classmates, and often out performed the instructors. But these MP's had real combat experience. Something Akio didn't have. But he had something they didn't have: COBRA.

The MPs shot glances at Akio from over the tables as they collected their own arsenal, curious about the hulking mass in the middle of the armory. Finally one of the soldiers spoke up.

"So are you one of those new Spartan IV's?" the soldier asked hesitantly.

"Nope," Akio replied without looking up.

The soldier crossed his arms, displeased by Akio's short response, "So, who are you? Or is that classified?" the MP paused and then realized that Tian was an officer, "Sir."

Westfield had over heard the exchange and looked back slightly over his shoulder at Tian. Akio looked at the Captain, silently asking permission to answer the question. He gave a slight nod.

"I work within ONI," Akio said.

"Ha. Nice, he's a spook," another MP grumbled.

"Why are we doing this Faraday? I thought we were transferred here to be MP's. Not work with spooks and limp dick science dorks," said the first soldier to speak up.

"I don't know Wyatt. I just work here, I don't make up the rules," Faraday said. Judging from the orange band on his right shoulder, Akio determined that he was the squad leader. "But I ain't complaining at the chance to beat a spook up into a fine pulp."

Akio looked up from his weapon. Akio stared into Faraday's visor and the MP stared into his. The tension was broken when Captain Westfield approached the table.

"Listen up. I will now brief you on today's War Games simulation," Westfield punched a series of commands into a keyboard on the side of the weapons table. Above the table a holoprojector hummed to life. A detailed projection of the combat area loomed above the table, "The exercise is set to happen in combat arena three, or Foundry. Red team's objective," the Captain said pointing to the MPs, "Will be to guard a flag in their base and eliminate the Blue team," Westfield pointed at Akio. "And Lieutenant Tian's objective is to take the Red team's flag and return it to his own base."

A MP spoke up from the back of the room, "So we're playing capture the flag sir?"

"Not exactly. Blue team has no flag. The exercise ends when either team is eliminated or Red team's flag is successfully returned to Blue base," the Captain paused to change the holoprojection to a simunition round. "As you all have used in the past, you will be using simunition today. They aren't lethal, but you will treat today's training as a live fire exercise. The rounds will disperse a paint when it impacts a solid object. If the paint lands on your armor or any part of your body, your armor will lock up." The projection changed again to a video display of the piezoelectric material in the armor and battle dress uniforms, or BDU's, being hit by the paint and engaging. Once activated, the piezoelectric material turned almost solid, effectively rendering the person incapacitated.

The Captain continued, "A single body shot will slightly lock up your armor, and another body shot is a kill. Headshots are an instant kill. One shot to any extremity will lock it up." Westfield paused and looked at Akio, "This of course only applies when the Lieutenant's shields are down, which will compensate automatically for hits." Normally simunition, consisting of only paint in a soft case, would take a really long time bring down Akio's shields. So Nezha will be lowering the shields to match real damage from a bullet.

Westfield keyed a command into the console and the projection retreated back into the holoprojector. "Gather the rest of your gear, the exercise begins in three minutes. Good luck," the Captain turned away from the table and walked back over to the command console and the window over looking the training area. Akio quickly grabbed three grenades, two flash bang grenades, and a side arm with a couple magazines. He slung a bandolier of six magazines holding fourteen 7.62x51mm SIM rounds for the DMR and walked past the MPs to the door.

"Good luck sir," Wyatt said candidly to Akio as he passed him. Tian responded with a polite nod in his direction.

"Yea, he's gonna fuckin' need it," Faraday hissed as he passed Akio. The Lieutenant stared into his visor again until he was out of sight out of the door.

Tian made his way down to his starting area in Foundry. It was a room with a single opening leading to an upper ring that encircled a lower area. The upper ring had four corners, which at each corner, had another room much like the room Akio was beginning in. The room opposite of his is the Red team's base and held the flag. In the lower area of the training room was four individual structures that together made a small bunker. Stairs and experimental grav-pads offered modes for traversing between the upper and lower area.

"Do you have a game plan Lieutenant?" Nezha's voice almost made Akio jump. The AI hadn't said anything to him sense the obstacle course. Consequently Akio had forgotten that the AI was even there.

"Jeez, you scared me," Tian stated.

"What? Forgot that you have another mind inside your own?"

"Yea. Still getting used to it."

"Anyway, I think they are going to try and hold down the center. Keep you suppressed so you can't move around the upper ring, while the rest of their team flanks you from both sides," Nezha suggested.

"Hmm. I'll watch out for that," Akio pulled the charging handle on the DMR and chambered the first round. Over a loud speaker Westfield's voice came over.

"T-minus ten seconds to start. Safeties off," A small LED on the weapon changed from green to red indicating that the safety had been remotely disabled. "War Games start in five, four, three, two… one! GO! GO! GO!"

Akio sprinted out of the opening and hugged the wall that was directly out front of the starting room. He peaked around the left corner and looked across the field. Nezha was right. Akio saw five MPs already running towards the center bunker. Tian shouldered his rifle and sighted in a hostile in the open area between the upper ring and the bunker. He exhaled calmly and pulled the trigger. The MP's head jerked back from the impact of the simunition round and white paint sprayed across his helmet. The soldier froze in place and fell to the floor.

Eleven left, Akio thought to himself.

Two MPs opened fire from around the wall in front of Red base. Akio calmly retreated to cover and counted three seconds. He crouched and looked around the wall again with his rifle leveled. Tian put a round in the leg of an MP who was a little too far out from the cover of the wall. The MP lost his balance and fell completely out of cover. Akio squeezed off two rounds center mass freezing him in place.

Ten to go.

Tian's shields flared and white paint spattered off the wall. He hastily returned to the safety of the wall.

"They got a base of fire set up in that bunker," Nezha said with an I-told-you-so sound. Akio hadn't thought that they would set up so quickly there. He figured that he would have time to make his way to the corner room to the left.

"I got it," Akio took two grenades off his belt, pulled the pins and lobbed them into the bunker. Instead of high explosives, the grenades had a small black powder charge in the center encased by a lining holding the paint. When detonated they sprayed paint over a fifteen meter radius 'killing' anybody unlucky enough to be there. The grenades went off like firecrackers. White paint coated the inside of the bunker.

"War Games roster says that grenade put another two down," Nezha reported.

Eight.

The MPs on the other side of the area opened up on Akio forcing him to hide again.

"Nezha can you activate COBRA's active camouflage?" Akio asked.

"Yes. Give me a minute to… Akio! Check your six!"

He hadn't been keeping an eye on his motion tracker. That mistake, combined with his attention being on the opposite wall and the bunker, allowed three MPs to sneak around the side of the upper ring Akio hadn't been watching. Three grenades came around the corner and stopped about four meters in front of Akio.

Instead of running away from the grenades, he ran right over them towards the attackers. Akio rounded the corner staring three MPs down. He side stepped the closest one, grabbed the man's rifle and hip, and threw the MP behind him towards the grenades. He landed on his tail bone right on top of the grenades as they detonated.

Akio leveled his rifle and put three rounds into the next MP. The last one opened fire point blank into Akio's shields. But it wasn't enough to break through before Tian smacked the weapon out of his hands with the butt of his own rifle. Akio took a step closer to the man and brought the muzzle of his rifle just under the MP's chin. White paint covered the man's helmet as he screamed in pain from the impact of the round.

Five.

More rounds bounced off Akio's shields as an alarm rang out. Akio again retreated to the cover of the wall and allowed his shields to recharge as more paint sprayed off the corner of the wall.

"I think you broke that guy's ass," Nezha said flatly. Akio looked down at the MP who he threw at the grenades. He was frozen in place on the ground with both his hands on his buttocks, covered in white paint. Tian glanced at the MP's name tag. Under the paint was the name Wyatt.

"Sorry buddy."

Akio thought he heard someone strain to say bastard when Nezha cut him off.

"Got it. Active camouflage up and running."

Tian looked down and saw himself fade away into a shadow. The camouflage was good, enough to easily fool the unaware and unprepared, but there was still a shimmer of an outline of Akio. He moved to the other corner of the wall and snaked his head around. The two remaining MPs in the bunker cautiously looked through the windows, attempting to see where Tian would go next. Akio crouched and slowly moved out from behind the cover of the wall. They didn't seem to notice him so he continued down the stairs that would take him to the lower level. Moving ever so slowly, Akio crossed the open area between the upper ring and the bunker.

"Alert, active camouflage buffers overheating. Shut down in five seconds," Nezha warned.

Tian cursed silently and stood half way up to move faster. The camouflage disabled as he reached the wall to the bunker, just under a window, out of sight from the MPs inside.

"A little warning next time."

"What? I did."

Akio reached for a flash bang but went for his last grenade instead. He pulled the pin silently and counted to three. The grenade pinged against the concrete of the bunker followed by the words of a panicked MP.

"Shit! We're dead!" The two men tried to pick themselves up to get away but it was too late. Paint covered the walls of the bunker that had not already been coated. Akio rounded the bunker and stepped in. One MP had actually survived with only a disabled leg. He saw Tian and reached for the MA5D on the ground, which earned him two rounds to the chest.

Only three left.

Akio positioned himself in the bunker to see the wall that was in front of Red base. Oddly there was no movement on the motion tracker. He moved out of the bunker, closed the distance to the wall of the upper ring and paused. The ammo counter on the DRM read four rounds left. Akio ejected the clip, slid a fresh one home and yanked the charging handle. Keeping an eye on his motion tracker, Tian stepped into the grav-pad and was sent skyward about seven meters into the air. He landed noiselessly on the concrete and scanned the area.

Nothing.

The entrance to Red base was unprotected so Akio stuck to the wall up to the corner leading into the room. He looped a fiber optic cable around the corner to see inside. White paint splashed over the cable and more speckled the corner.

"Well they're dug in there like a tick. Any bright ideas?" Nezha inquired.

"Yea, just one. How long can the hard light shield be deployed for?"

"Five to ten seconds. Depending how much punishment it takes."

"I need you to deploy it, track the incoming fire and have the shield up to block it," Akio said.

"Ok easy enough."

"I also need you to drop the shield for an instant to allow my bullets to pass."

"Working…," the AI paused running internal simulations, "I don't know if the shield can deploy and re-deploy that quickly," Nezha said irresolutely.

"Guess we're gonna find out. Get ready," Akio said with a grin. "NOW!"

He rounded the corner with the hard light shield deployed by his left hand, rifle leveled in his right. Akio took the room in instantly. Behind a hip high wall of sand bags was an MP with a mounted turret. To the right an MP fired a BR85H SR from the cover of a crate. With the help of the on board targeting computer on COBRA, Akio sighted in the MP manning the turret.

The shield held firm as rounds impacted it and white paint sprayed off the sides. Akio tightened his grip on the trigger and began to squeeze. Nezha followed his muscle impulse, compensated for the time for the mechanical parts to engage and the smokeless powder to combust and propel the bullet down the barrel. For Nezha, the nanoseconds time interval that the hard light shield was down was equivalent to a moments pause. Akio never even saw the shield flicker. All he saw was the MP behind the turret twitch slightly and then fall over.

The MP quickly retreated to the safety of the crate as Akio went back around the corner of the doorway. He pulled the pin on a flash bang and tossed it inside the room. Even though the MP's visor on his helmet automatically polarized, it wasn't enough to save the man from the blinding and disorientation effects of the grenade. Akio heard the MP coughing from the smoky haze that filled the room from the flash bang. Tian entered the room and bee lined right for the crate. He jumped on top of it and aimed his rifle at the MP as the man looked up. Two empty casings pinged against the floor next to the frozen body of the MP.

One.

"There's the flag," Nezha said and a waypoint appeared on his visor over the flag.

"Thanks, I can see it just fine. I'm only standing right next to it," Akio joked.

"Glad to know I could be of some use."

"Yea well, nice job with the shield," Akio said sincerely as he unhooked the flag from its stand and stuffed it inside a pouch.

"We still got one hostile left," Nezha said choosing to not respond to Akio's complement. "Keep your guard up."

Tian looked toward the door and shouldered his rifle. He moved out of the room keeping a close eye on his motion tracker. Akio paused at the corner of the wall looking over the bunker. The last MP was no where in sight. It was clearly a ploy to draw him into the open and into some sort of trap. But what? Akio activated the camouflage unit and jogged out into the open. From the upper ring, he kept a close eye on the bunker waiting for the last MP to start firing from cover.

A small metallic ping resonated from behind him.

Akio looked down to see around his armored foot was a thin wire. A blinding white light burned his eyes followed by the concussion of a flash bang. Akio's visor polarized to protect him but it had been too late.

"Look out! Six o'clock high!" Nezha's voice sounded muffled even though the suit's speakers were right next to his ears.

Akio had noticed the four massive concrete arms overhead merging above the bunker, he just hadn't expected someone to get up there. From the concrete arm, the last MP was able to track Akio during the entire exercise from above him. And when Tian sprung his trap, the former ODST was ready to drop in on his quarry.

Akio's camouflage flickered as he turned to face his attacker. A small rocket engine wined to life as the MP stepped off the ledge of the concrete arm. The jetpack wearing MP glided through the air brandishing a M363 Remote Projectile Detonator, aka Sticky Detonator. Akio noticed the orange band on the man's arm.

The M363 emitted a small puff as the airborne hostile fired it at the ground near Akio. The projectile dug into the ground three meters away from Tian. He crouched and covered as much of his body he could behind his hard light shield, dropping his DMR. The charge detonated with a blinding flash. Luckily Akio's visor was still polarized so as he could escape being blinded again. White paint burst out in every direction as Akio's shields collapsed and warning bells blared in his ear. He felt a stinging sensation as the armor in his left leg locked up from white paint spattering onto it.

He lowered his arm, retracting the hard light shield, and grabbed his M6H side arm. He sighted in the airborne MP and open fired. Akio rotated his body to track the hostile, but was stopped by his inert appendage and fell over. The MP had found his own side arm and opened up on Akio when a round impacted his thigh. The MP dropped to the ground and rolled over as Akio lost his balance. Tian stuck his arm out to break his fall, tucked and rolled onto his good leg with the M6H pointed at the MP, who had sat up from the fall aiming directly at Akio's head. They squeezed their triggers.

"CEASE FIRE! CEASE FIRE! Abort the exercise!" Westfield's voice boomed over the loud speaker.

1655 hours, August 23, 2555 (Military Calendar)\

Aboard UNSC Infinity, Engine room

Outskirts of Sol System, Oort cloud

Professor Bartlett eyed the container across the engine room that held the Forerunner crystal from over his computer console. He had developed a deep appreciation for the ancient civilization. To be able to manipulate space, and possibly even time, with such a small innocent looking object, boggled the mind.

Bartlett fiddled with his watch nervously. The watch was once his father's and had been with Bartlett throughout the engagements of the insurrection. It now served a more subversive purpose. The professor had gutted the innards of the watch to conceal a data chip with the computer virus on it. When the timing was right, Bartlett would make his move.

A beep and a hiss sounded from the engine room door as it parted and Barnes strolled through, breaking Bartlett's train of thought. The professor quickly took his hand off the watch and returned his attention to the screen to avoid drawing attention.

Barnes walked in Bartlett's direction, "Ah, Professor Bartlett. Have you looked over the composition report?" he said putting down a stack of papers on a near by table.

The Professor inhaled, "Yea I have. I was wondering, would it be possible to get the official ONI report of how the artifact was procured. I think it would help our research."

"Ha ha," Barnes chuckled, "I don't think so. I haven't even been given access to that report. I don't think they're gonna start handing out ONI secrets. But it would help to have it."

"Ok. It was just a thought."

Over the next few minutes they sat in silence doing their respective work. Bartlett continued to unknowingly fiddle with his father's watch as he mentally ran through his plan. He will have to wait until they open the case holding the artifact to get to it. Then he will have to find a way to dispatch the two MPs at the engineering room door and Barnes.

While looking at the composition report, an idea hit the Professor to get the Forerunner crystal out. "Doctor Barnes?" he said from over his computer console.

"Yes."

"Might we put the crystal through the spectrometer again? I'm not sure if the data on the lower half are accurate."

"I saw that too. Yea, it's probably a good idea to run it through again. Gimme a sec to open the case here."

"I'll help you Doctor," Bartlett swallowed his anxiety and followed Barnes over to the case. Barnes stood before the door to the case and swiped his ID card at the panel next to the door. A green light lit and a beep sounded to indicate the case was open. Barnes picked up a set of tongs to handle the crystal. Bartlett's heart raced as Barnes opened the door

Now. The timing is perfect. Now is the time to strike. Now. Bartlett breathed deeply to gain control of his heart rate. He positioned himself directly behind Barnes.

"Doctor Barnes! What the hell is that?!" Bartlett said.

Barnes turned his head, "What I don't…" he was interrupted by the Professor. Bartlett grabbed Barnes's head, reeled it back and drove the man's temple into the metal frame of the case. A sickening crack echoed through the engine room from the fracturing bone. The Doctor's body fell lifelessly to the floor as dark crimson blood escaped through a deep laceration on the side of his head.

Bartlett stood over his victim as the reality of the situation dawned on him. The Professor's heart raced from the sound of an MP's boots hitting the floor; the sound fast approaching to the corner of the engine room. Bartlett swiveled his head around and scanned the room for a deadly weapon or concealment. His eyes landed on a set of jumper wires on a near by workbench. Bartlett turned his head around to look at the side of the massive engine. There was a mixture of exposed wires and power conduits running along the side of the engine.

Bartlett took the jumper wires and connected them to two wires. He circled around the edge of the engine, the cables just long enough to reach around the side so as Bartlett could be hidden. The footsteps sound right next to Bartlett as the MP's shadow snaked along the floor. The Professor chanced a look around the corner to see the lone MP knelt over Barnes's body. Bartlett sprang from his cover wielding the live jumpers

"Sargent! I need a medic over…," sparks arced across the soldier as he let out a short scream before convulsing violently and collapsing in a smoking heap. The other MP sprinted toward the sound of the commotion. Bartlett knelt down and removed the side arm from the MP's holster and held it up towards the edge of the engine. Bartlett pulled the trigger as soon as the gray and black figure of the MP rounded the corner. The odor of cordite filled the room from the spent cases that pinged when they hit the floor. Blood pooled around the MP's corpse as Bartlett stood, inhaled, and contemplated his next move.

1720 hours, August 23, 2555 (Military Calendar)\

Aboard UNSC Infinity, War Games arena No. three "Foundry"

Outskirts of Sol System, Oort cloud

Akio stared into the MP's visor as he returned the glare, both with itchy trigger figures. Tian's shields shimmered back into place, he inhaled deeply to steady his heart rate and breath as he holstered the M6H and stood up. The MP got on his feet as well and tore his helmet off and threw it to the ground.

"What the fuck man!" He threw his arms in the air out of frustration. "I had this spook asshole dead to rights!"

"Stow it trooper!" Westfield's voice came over the speakers again. "Tian, square yourself away in the armory and report to the bridge. On the double Lieutenant."

"Aye sir!" Akio yelled so the Captain could hear him over the speakers. His heart still pounding from the adrenaline of the fight, however he was not in the least bit tired. The feeling of wearing COBRA was indescribable. The armor made exerting himself to super human levels, a simple task. Yesterday he was a cunning clandestine field operator, today he is a cunning clandestine field operator with armor used by the legendary Spartans. While extremely effective against even the most battle hardened combat units, former ODST's as a point of fact, Akio along with COBRA and Nezha, will never be as lethal and tempered as the Spartans.

Akio turned and began to walk towards his starting area. The casualties of the simulation began to stir and shake off the disorientation. Some got to their feet to tend to injured parts of their bodies, others simply laid on the ground trying to ignore the pain. Out front of Blue base, Wyatt stood with both hands on each cheek of is butt. The MP noticed Akio and faced him.

"Good game sir," Wyatt removed his hand from his ailing anus and saluted the young Lieutenant.

"You too Corporal. Be sure to get some ice on that," Akio said with a grin inside his helmet.

Wyatt cracked a smile and said back, "Will do sir."

"Well that was a hoot," Nezha giggled as Akio walked into the starting area and towards the door leading to the armory.

"I suppose you could call it that. But what's so damn important that they needed to stop the War Games?" Akio wondered.

After quickly returning his gear to the armory, Akio jogged down the halls to the tram stop. Along the way he passed combat Keepers armed with an array of small arms. Combat Keeper's main purpose was security work on Infinity. Filling rolls such as guards for key components of the ship or the first line of defense for repelling hostile boarders. Only during emergencies would combat Keepers patrol the halls of Infinity. Knowing this made a pit form in Akio's stomach.

Akio reached the platform of the tram stop as a tram pulled up to the station. A Keeper posted by checked his clearance as a fully loaded squad of MP's filed out of the tram. While on the tram, the ship wide intercom system activated, sounding a whistle to get the attention of everyone on Infinity.

"Now here this, now here this," Nero's voice came on over the intercom, "all hands to condition red. General quarters. All non-essential personnel evacuate to space station Ingenuity. Combat teams report to your staging area. Repeat, all hands to condition red. General quarters."

"This can't be good," Akio said as he took a seat on the tram.

"Hold on, give me a sec. I'm accessing the ship's network," there was a moments pause before Nezha spoke up again. "There's a report of gun fire in the engine room. I can't confirm anything but from the look of things, it could be true."

"Hopefully when we get to the bridge they'll have an explanation for us," Tian said.

The tram slowly came to a stop at the bridge station. More MP's checked Akio's clearance as he exited the tram and approached the blast doors to the bridge. Inside, the bridge was a storm of activity. MP's were posted at every door while officers ran from one screen to another, trying to get a handle on the situation. Akio scanned the bridge looking for Westfield when he spotted the Captain standing next to the holo-table in the center of the bridge talking with the rest of the command crew. After seeing Akio in full armor, the bridge crew moved aside, allowing him easy passage through the fray and commotion.

"Lieutenant Tian reporting as ordered sir," Akio said as he approached the holo-table. Akio recognized all the officers around the table. There was Captain Del Rio, Commander Lasky, Infinity's executive officer, Commander Palmer, head of the Spartan IV division, Commander White, director of security on Infinity, and Nero projected himself on the side of the table. Only Westfield seemed to notice that Akio had arrived.

"It seems that you were right Lieutenant," Westfield said without looking up from the data pad he held in his hand.

"Right about what sir?"

"Bartlett, he's killed Barnes and two MP's in the engine room and has locked himself in."

"He's planted a worm in Infinity's network," Nero interjected, "I can't access the door controls and I'm losing systems by the minute."

Commander White looked up from the table to address Del Rio, "Captain, I sent a squad of MP's down with a maintenance Keeper to start cutting into the engine room."

"What's the ETA for them to cut through?" Del Rio asked.

"About two hours at the rate they're going," White said grimly.

"God damn it," Del Rio muttered under his breath. "Nero how long until you have engine room door controls?"

"I-I can't say Cap-Captain. The virus is infecting my cog, cognitive processes," Nero's hologram flashed on and off as static sputtered around his avatar. "I will mossssst likely experience a system wide sh-sh-shutdown if I can't purge the virus."

"Coms," Del Rio said turning to the coms officer, "warn Ingenuity of the network breach and move them to minimum safe distance from Infinity."

"Aye sir," the officer said.

"Captain the…" Nero was cut off as his projection shrunk into the holoprojector. Static played across the bridge's view screens as they, and the lights, shut off activating the red emergency lights.

"Sir! All decks losing power. Nero is offline!" Shouted the navigation officer.

"Reroute any remaining power to Nero's server room and…" Rio was interrupted as the main view screen snapped on showing Bartlett in the engine room holding the Forerunner crystal. Akio almost didn't recognize the aging professor. There was a coldness and emptiness in the man's eyes that made him appear inhuman. The lack of light in the engine room made Bartlett's skin a lifeless shade of gray.

"Look at you people. So proud of your ship and yourselves. So sure that the UNSC has won the war and saved humanity. Nothing can be farther from the truth," Bartlett hissed. The lights to the bridge reactivated as some of the consoles and terminals began to re-boot.

"Humanity is in shambles because of the UNSC. What's left of the outer colonies has been forgotten and left to rot by your superiors. Some day soon, humanity will be free from the UNSC and the disease you have spread through us. The UNSC's down fall begins today, with the destruction of this ship," Bartlett held up the Forerunner crystal.

"Oh my God," Lasky gasped.

Bartlett turned the crystal over in his hand showing a pulsing Forerunner glyph on the side of the artifact. "One day we will win, no matter what the cost," Bartlett said, reciting the old insurrectionist threat as he thumbed the glyph. The crystal began to glow a yellowish hue as it started to reconfigure in Bartlett's hand.

"Captain! Immense power fluctuations coming from the engine room," yelled the engineering officer.

The view screen started to flicker and flash as Bartlett walked the crystal towards the side of the massive engine. The screen was over taken by a blinding light and was replaced by static. The deck reverberated beneath their feet as the entire ship shook causing the bridge crew to grab onto railings around the holotable.

"Čerenkov radiation fluctuating! We're being brought into Slipspace," the navigation officer yelled.

A loud bang reverberated through the bridge as a ghostly wall of blue and white energy traveled through the room and continued past the walls the bridge. The view screens showing outside of the ship flickered with static as the black of space was replaced by a white and yellow energy field that surrounded the ship.

"Nav, report!" Del Rio yelled over the sound of electricity arcing across consoles and control panels.

"Infinity has been pulled into a Slipspace bubble. The engines triggered the transition to Slipstream Space by itself. I can't drop us out Captain."

Nero's hologram sparked to life as the AI projected himself on the holopad.

"I'm back online. Operating at thirty percent capacity," his voice was flat and devoid of emotion.

"Nero do you have control of the engines?" Lasky asked.

There was a noticeable pause before he spoke, "Negative. The engines are no longer communicating with the ship. I've lost all connection to the engines."

"Nav, fire the emergency thrusters! Move us out of the bubble," Rio commanded.

"Sir, the system is not responding. I have no control of the emergency thrusters," the Nav officer retorted.

"Alert, back round radiation levels rising. Approaching toxic levels," Nero reported.

Del Rio turned to Palmer and Akio, "Commander, take Tian and a squad down to the engine room and get me control of my ship."

"Aye aye sir," Akio said simply.

"I'm on it sir," Palmer said. "Lets go Lieutenant."

Akio followed right on Palmer's heels. She was only wearing the body suit that goes under the gel layer to her armor but she still moved with lightening speed. They stopped by a weapons locker by the doors to the bridge. She punched in a security code on a panel by the locker. She opened it and grabbed herself a MA5D and some extra magazines.

"You may need this lieutenant," Palmer said as she handed Akio an assault rifle and a bandolier. Akio took a M6H and holstered the weapon on his thigh.

The pair ran out of the bridge and into the maze of hallways and corridors. A squad of MP's could be seen running down an adjacent hallway towards Palmer and Akio. Palmer slowed to a trot and stopped at the intersection of the hallways and addressed the lead MP.

"Commander Palmer, Sergeant Major Faraday and fire team Romeo reporting as ordered ma'am," Faraday said as he snapped off a salute.

"You're with us fire team Romeo," Palmer said as she turned and continued down the hallway. Tian spotted Wyatt in the middle of the group and gave a slight nod as he began to follow Palmer. The group ran through the halls, sometimes slowing down to allow the MP's to catch up with the Commander and Akio. They came to a tram stop and filed into a tram. Palmer keyed the control panel and the tram door closed with a hiss as the tram sped away.

Palmer placed a finger on her earpiece to open a coms channel to the bridge, "Palmer to Infinity bridge." There was no response, only static. "Palmer to Infinity bridge. Do you copy?"

"Infinity bridge to Palmer. Send traffic," Lasky's voice came over the channel.

"What's the story on the radiation?" Palmer inquired.

"Nero sources the radiation to the Slipspace anomaly. Current levels at 50 milli-Sieverts and rising," Lasky reported.

"The radiation is making it past Infinity's hull? How?" Palmer asked.

"We don't know how and the ship's shield's are offline. Get to the engine room and shutdown the Slipspace drive before the radiation levels gets any higher. We'll keep you posted on the levels. Lasky out."

Palmer keyed the earpiece again to close the channel. She turned to the MP's to address them, "Listen up Romeo. We have a lone saboteur in the engine room. He's used a Forerunner artifact to pull Infinity into a Slipspace anomaly. Radiation is penetrating the ship's hull and levels are rising. We need to shutdown the engines and kill or capture the saboteur."

"The saboteur is sixty seven year old Charles Bartlett," Akio said to the group. Tian uploaded a picture of Bartlett to the HUD's of the MP's. "He has killed a science team member and two security personnel. He is confirmed armed and dangerous. Priority is to shutdown the Slipspace drive and retrieve the Forerunner artifact. Try to take him alive but don't hesitate to put him down."

"Aye aye, sir," The MP's said.

"Alert radiation levels reaching toxic dose. Levels at 400 mSv," Nezha warned the group through COBRA's speakers. The tram began to slow as it approached the engineering room stop. The doors parted and the group ran out down the hall to the engine room. Akio could hear the plasma torches of maintenance Keepers cutting into the doors. They rounded the corner of the hallway and ran to the door. The MP's around the Keeper noticed the group and the lead MP greeted Palmer.

"Commander, we're about a quarter of the way through. It'll take another two hours to cut the full way through," The MP reported.

"Alert! Radiation spiking at 1 Sv!" Nezha warned.

"Not enough time trooper. Lieutenant, get your AI into the console there see what he can do. Nero couldn't open it but he was infected by that virus, maybe your AI can open it," Palmer said. Akio reached behind his head, ejected the data chip and grabbed it.

"Good luck," Akio said to Nezha. He pulled the chip out and inserted it into the console. One MP suddenly threw off his helmet and vomited as he collapsed to the floor on all fours. Another MP fell to his knees and strained to breathe.

"It's the radiation. It's starting to take affect," Palmer said as she put a hand to her forehead.

"Nezha," Akio said.

"Working," Nezha replied. The MP's wobbled in place as the radiation penetrated their bodies and slowly destroyed their cells. Palmer blinked rapidly as if to clear her vision. The sparks from the maintenance Keeper danced across the floor sending wild shadows up and down the walls.

It was then Akio noticed he didn't feel anything. The MP's doubled over and whimpered from the nausea. All but two were still standing from the effects of the radiation. The rest were on all fours, curled up in fetal position, or flat on the ground. Akio didn't feel any nausea or pain. The thought was ejected from his mind when Nezha spoke up.

"Alert, radiation intensifying! Spiking at 1.7 Sv!" Nezha warned.

Palmer yelled out in pain as she and the rest of the MP's held their heads. Palmer fell to the floor and held herself up with one hand. Some MP's removed their helmets only to cough up blood and stomach bile.

They were all dying. Right in front of Akio's eyes.

"Lieutenant," Palmer croaked. She held out her hand. Akio grasped it firmly, knelt beside her and stared into her eyes. Akio could tell that the life in her eyes was escaping. And Palmer knew that too. "Protect this ship. Do whatever it takes."

"I will, Commander," Akio said sincerely, meaning every word.

"Got it!" Nezha yelled as the door lifted.

Palmer's eyes widened as she suddenly sat up, inches away from Akio's visor. Her voice was of pure desperation. She spoke from within, as if her words were predetermined.

"Protect him," Palmer whispered. "Defend the balance," her eyes slowly shut as her body went limp in Akio's arms.

"Lieutenant!" a voice yelled out to Tian. It was Wyatt. He stood over Palmer and held Nezha's data chip in his hand. He put the chip into Akio's hand and pointed at the door, "Lieutenant, the door. Get to the engine." Akio looked into the MP's visor for a heartbeat before he snapped himself out of the daze.

Akio reached around his head and inserted Nezha's chip back into his helmet. He walked through the doorway and scanned the room with his rifle leveled. The lights in the room had shut off making the only light source a pulsing yellowish hue emanating from the back corner of the engine.

"Radiation at lethal levels! Akio please hurry!" Nezha cried.

Without thinking Akio ran toward the pulsing yellow light. He rounded the corner of the engine and three sharp cracks echoed through the room. Alarms blared in Akio's ear as his shields tried to cope with the impact from the three bullets. He slid back behind the corner.

"Contact front. Lone shooter," Nezha said as he highlighted a blip on his motion tracker. More rounds pinged off the side of the engine as Akio waited for a break in the fire. The soft metallic click of a firing pin striking nothing hung in the air for a split second.

Akio turned the corner casually, rifle shouldered, to see Bartlett sitting against a computer console holding an M6H. Bartlett dropped the empty weapon to the deck and looked around himself. He squared his sight with Akio and took a breath to say something. The odor of cordite filled the room as a single ejected casing fell to the floor from Akio's rifle.

"Akio! The crystal!" Nezha put a waypoint over a finger sized crystal hovering a meter off the ground. It emanated the yellow pulsing light and slowly bobbed in place. Akio reached his hand out to it and it began to reconfigure in mid air. He waited for it to stop moving before a glyph appeared on the side of the crystal.

Akio thumbed the glyph and then it seemed the universe stood still, frozen in place.

xxx

The lights in the engine room flickered back to life as the crystal dropped out of the air. It pinged against the deck and slid a few meters away before it came to a stop. The ping of the crystal hitting the floor echoed through the engine room. Akio stood frozen in place, his body numb. The speakers in his ear beeped, signifying that his shields had recharged. The sound seemed to echo in Akio's own helmet and head. Tian looked down at his rifle and switched on the safety. Again the sound of the click echoed in the air.

He then remembered Palmer and the MPs, "Clear," he yelled back to them. His voice reverberated through the room and was meet with no reply. Akio flexed his arms and walked over to the crystal. He picked it up and held it close to his visor.

"Commander, saboteur neutralized and Forerunner artifact secure," Akio yelled back to the group again. Something nagged at Akio in his stomach. He had just spoken with the MPs and Palmer. Couldn't they hear him?

"Akio…" Nezha said softly.

The pit in Akio's stomach grew larger and heavier. Without thinking he put the crystal in a pouch on his waist. Tian looked down at Bartlett's body. His white lab coat slowly turned red as blood escaped from the bullet wound in the professor's chest. Akio looked the man over in awe. It was the first time Tian had taken a life. The man's jaw hung slack as blood slowly dripped from his chin like molasses. His eyes looked aimlessly upward. Stuck in place.

Akio looked away and swallowed the lump in his throat. The pit in his stomach nagged at him again.

"Commander!?" Akio yelled this time. Still no reply. The pit in his stomach turned over and over. It felt like his guts where being turned inside out. He could feel sweat beading on his forehead. The pit compelled Akio to walk towards the doorway. Slowly at first, but the pit again turned over and over forcing him to run towards the door.

"COMMANDER!?" Akio screamed, desperate for an answer. He was at full sprint when he rounded the corner of the engine and came to the doorway. He stopped himself a meter away from the frame of the door.

Their bodies laid spread out on the floor. At his feet, Palmer's body laid face down, unmoving. The hallway to the engine room was narrow and the MP's corpses had fallen on top of each other, creating a pile. The numbness had spread to every inch of Akio's body and the pit had formed into a knife digging around his innards. Akio reached up to grab his helmet. His armored fingers fumbled to find the release to take off the helmet.

Nezha spoke but his voice sounded distant, as if he was under water, "Akio don't. The suit is probably what protected you from the radiation. It could still affect you. Don't…," Akio didn't hear the rest as he dropped the helmet to the ground.

All the energy drained from Tian's body as his knees gave out and he fell to them. He stared at the corpses in front of him. He opened his mouth to speak but only a strained croak passed his lips. Akio reached out and clung to a hand full of Palmer's jump suit. His body collapsed on top of the corpses as he began to sob. The young Lieutenant cried uncontrollably.

It's my fault they're dead. I wasn't quick enough. Their blood is on my hands.

Near by on the console for the door, Nezha projected himself over Akio. The construct's green and gold dragon avatar hovered over Tian.

"Lieutenant…. There's nothing anyone could have done," Nezha said softly.

"YES THERE IS!" Akio yelled suddenly as he sat up and waved an arm at Nezha. "I was right there! I could have stopped it!" The pair said noting as Akio began to sob again. He then remembered the bridge. Maybe the radiation wasn't as strong on the bridge and someone could have survived.

"The bridge. Open a com to the bridge, Nezha. Who's still alive there?" Akio asked hysterically. Nezha only stared back at him. The reality had set in.

"No," Tian said flatly. "They can't all be…"

"Lieutenant," Nezha cut him off before he could finish, "What we need to do is find out where we are and make contact with either UNSC HIGHCOM or ONI."

Akio didn't hear what Nezha had said. He could only hear his own thoughts.

Its my fault everyone is dead and I've doomed this ship.

Akio looked down at his side arm and un-holstered it. He held it in his hands and felt it's weight. Tian clicked the safety off and pulled the breach back, chambering a round. He wrapped his fingers around the handle and trigger of the pistol.

On a near by holopad, Nero projected himself. He spoke clearly and fluently again, "Akio! Don't do it. If you do then this ship will truly be lost and their deaths will be in vain."

"I've failed them," Akio said, his voice a whimper. "It's my fault."

"We can still save Infinity, Akio. But I need your help to do it," Nero said.

Akio dropped the handgun to the floor. He looked up at Nezha, who simply nodded to him. Tian turned to Nero and said, "We take care of them first," pointing to the bodies. "We make sure they are treated right."

"What did you want to do Lieutenant?" Nero asked.

"We give them a proper funeral. Get the Keepers moving, Nero. Start transporting the bodies to the closest air lock. And get me body bags," Akio said standing up.

"Aye sir," Nero said as his projection brought up a holographic panel in front of him. "You should know Lieutenant, we came out of Slipspace near an unidentified planet and there are some…"

"I don't want to hear it," Akio said cutting off the AI. "Not until we take care of them," he said gabbing the arms of a MP's corpse.

From all over the ship, Keepers moved two hundred and fifty three bodies to the air lock by the engine room. Akio cared for and prepared every corpse for it to be jettisoned. He had to cross their arms, close their eyes, and put each and everyone of them in a body bag. Everyone he had worked with and had failed. Del Rio, Lasky, Westfield, Palmer, the MPs, the science team. Akio worked without stopping for countless hours. Repeating to himself the mantra, 'take care of them, make sure they're treated right', Tian worked without eating or sleeping.

Akio paused for a moment when he came to Wyatt's body.

Why did I survive? What makes me worthy to continue living? Akio asked himself. Tian gingerly removed the MP's helmet and studied the man's face. He didn't look like a Helljumper who had fought the Covenant with his own two hands on numerous worlds. He had a baby face that, with his bright blue eyes, radiated a look of innocence. Akio held back tears as he closed the soldier's eyes and zipped up the body bag.

Akio held a firm salute as the last black body bag melted in with the inky black of space. He keyed the console to close the air lock and started to walk to the engine room in silence. The door to the engine room had a deep cut in it where the Keepers had tried to cut through. Akio ran his armored fingers over the now solidified bubbles of metal around the cut as the door opened with a hiss. The engine room was filled with a dull hum from the engines that could be felt in his teeth.

By itself on the deck was Akio's helmet. Drained from taking care of the deceased, Akio sluggishly walked over and picked up his helmet. He looked into the reflection on the visor and didn't recognize himself. Deep bags had formed under his eyes that were blood shot and red. His pale skin contrasted with the black of the gel layer. Akio looked up from the visor to see Bartlett's body still sitting against the computer console. Blood stained his white lab coat and had pooled around the body.

Nearby on a holopad, Nero projected himself, "I didn't have the Keepers move him to the air lock. I don't think he deserves the same treatment the crew got," Nero said in a friendly tone.

"No he doesn't," Akio replied flatly. He stood looking at the body in an awkward silence. Finally he slid the helmet over his head as the visor's display booted up. Nezha's face appeared in the corner of the visor, as if he would say something, but Akio spoke first. "I'm tired," he stated, his voice devoid of emotion.

"Then get some rest Lieutenant. We have to figure out how we are going save the ship when you wake up," Nezha said, attempting to sound optimistic. Akio stared to walk towards the door and passed Nero's projection.

"Lieutenant. Actually there are some pressing issues that require your attention," Nero said.

"Not until I sleep Nero," Akio replied while walking out of the door.

Nero's projection deactivated but he continued the conversation through a coms channel. "Protocol aside Lieutenant, we have been out of the anomaly for eleven hours now and we haven't dropped so much as a distress beacon. Our priority should be to contact…"

"Then do it," Akio interrupted. "Drop a beacon. Signal who ever the fuck you think will help us. For now, I am going to sleep." Akio stopped in the hall and sat down with his back to the wall. "Don't wake me up unless the ship is in immediate danger."

"Aye sir," Nero said sadly as he closed the coms channel. Akio shut his own eyes and drifted off to a deep but hallow sleep.

1524 hours, August 24, 2555 (Military Calendar)\

Aboard UNSC Infinity, Engineering Sector

Location unknown

Akio opened his eyes slowly to the hard white light from the LEDs in the ceiling of the hallway. He had slept in full armor in the middle of the hallway leading to the engine room. He was met with silence and an unnatural stillness in the hall. His joints where stiff and popped as he stood up from the deck.

"Morning," a voice said in Akio's ear. It took him a moment to realize that it was Nezha speaking to him through the speakers in his helmet. He collected his thoughts and ran through what he could remember. Bartlett had indeed turned out to be an insurrectionist and somewhat successfully carried out his plan. Everyone on the ship was dead, except Akio. However the ship hadn't been destroyed, only transported by Slipspace to some far off place in the galaxy, or universe, or possibly even another dimension created by the Forerunners. Or even the ship could have been thrown through time. Now it was up to Akio to return the ship to the UNSC, whatever the cost.

"Any thing happen while I was out?" Akio asked Nezha.

"No, nothing. But we should really get to the bridge and find out where we are," Nezha said.

Akio said nothing as he walked down the halls to a tram stop. He boarded a tram and took it to the bridge. Cameras tracked him as he approached the door to the bridge. The doors parted with a hiss as he stepped into the bridge. It was an eerie sight to see the bridge empty of naval officers and personnel. Akio had never seen it empty before. The consoles still displayed engine read outs and sensor data, but for no one except Nero, who didn't even use the screens. The pit in Akio's stomach continued to turn and churn his innards.

"Lieutenant," Nero said as he projected himself on the holopad next to the holotable. "Its nice to see you."

Akio ignored the AI's pitiful attempt to make conversation as he looked out of the windows separating the bridge from the void of space. The majority of the view was taken up by a vibrant blue and green planet. Clouds speckled the sky as they performed a meteorological dance. A bright yellow sun peaked around the horizon of the planet as its ray's casted shadows in the bridge of Infinity.

"Earth?" Akio asked with a hint of hesitation.

"No, this planet is unidentified," Nero retorted. "And I have absolutely no match on near by constellations with any of the databases at my disposal."

"What you're saying is that you have no idea where we are," Akio said with a huff.

"Yes. But there are some things about the planet that are…" Nero paused looking for the right word when Akio cut in.

"Abnormal."

"Disturbing," Nero finished.

"How so?" Akio questioned with a raised eyebrow. Nero brought up a holograph of the planet over the holotable as points of information swirled around it displaying the full bank of sensory data from Infinity.

"For starters," Nero began, putting an extreme inflection on his words. "Look at this planet's single moon," he said while bringing up a holograph of the moon next to the planet, circling in orbit. Akio was speechless as the miniature moon revolved around the holographic planet.

It looked identically similar to the moon orbiting Earth. All the craters and shadows looked identical to the moon's features he saw when he left Earth for Infinity only three days ago. Akio couldn't formulate his words, only half-baked syllables passed his lips.

"Everything about that moon is exactly identical to the moon orbiting the Earth. The diameter, distance from the planet, elemental composition, gravitational attraction, orbit cycle, craters, everything!" Nero exclaimed. He didn't give Akio a moment to breath as he continued to recite his findings. Nero expanded the model of the near by solar system to show the sun at its center. "That star is a G-type main sequence star with a diameter of 1,392,684 kilometers and a surface temperature of 5778 kelvin."

Nero awkwardly paused, waiting for Akio's reaction to this information but none came.

"It's identical to the sun. The star in the Sol system," Nero said. "Photospheric composition, rotational characteristics, radiative zone, atmosphere, magnetic sphere. They are all identical to the Sol star within a hundredth of a percent accuracy."

Nero waited to let Akio process the information as he picked up a data pad from the table and looked over sensor data. He looked up from the pad and said, "The distance to the planet from the star… its…"

"Exactly one astronomical unit away. The same distance between Earth and the sun," Nero interjected.

"What is this?" Akio said completely dumb founded.

"It doesn't stop there," Nero said as he collapsed the model and displayed only the planet. "The planet itself has some remarkable similarities with Earth and some features that I've never seen before."

"Lets start with the similarities," Akio said with a huff.

"Ok I'll just list them for you, as I have for the others: diameter, atmospheric composition and pressure, orbit, rotation, axial tilt, i.e. seasons, the mass's are the same so acceleration due to gravity is 9.8 meters per second squared, tectonic plate activity, and weather!" Nero's avatar threw its arms in the air out of awe.

Akio's eyes where glued to the projection of the planet. He noticed the landmasses where far different then Earth's. There was one vastly large continent that took up the majority of the eastern hemisphere and extended to the northwest toward a large island off its coast. Directly west of the large landmass was a smaller continent in the shape of a 'C'. The lower half of this continent extended to the east in a series of islands. To the south of the large continent was another set of islands running east to west. And in both polls where two icy continents.

"The land masses are dissimilar. Is it possible that the Slipspace anomaly sent the ship back in time, and this is how the Earth's tectonic plates looked some time between Pangaea and the current continents?" Akio asked.

"No. Geologists on Earth have mapped out the continental drift since Pangaea and these landmasses don't come anywhere close," Nero said. "Further evidence that this isn't a past Earth is the existence of what I've come to call, the Aura."

"The Aura? A little metaphysical for an AI don't you think?" Akio jeered.

Nero didn't say anything in reply as he projected lines around the planet to simulate the flow of energy in the Aura, "There is this shell of energy, like a magnetic field, around the planet but its different."

"Does the planet have a magnetic field?" Akio questioned.

"Yes. It's stronger then Earth's, and this Aura is intertwined with the planet's magnetic field," Nero explained. "Unlike the magnetic field, this Aura doesn't come from the poles of the planet, but from the surface of the planet itself. It's like there is this charge of energy just floating around the planet."

"Ok," Akio said as he took a deep breath. He had to assess the situation and work out a plan to find out where they were and how to get the ship back to the UNSC. "Give me a full status report on Infinity."

"Life support, and artificial gravity operating at one hundred percent. We have rolling black outs throughout the ship due to the power system. Ever since Infinity exited the Slipspace anomaly the power system has been going haywire," Nero reported.

"Shut everything down that isn't essential and cut artificial gravity to all decks except the one that we're on," Akio ordered

"Working," Nero paused for a moment, "done. Currently engines are flat lined and I have no control over maneuvering thrusters. Docking thruster and emergency boosters are operational and will be enough to keep us in geosynchronous orbit. FTL drive has flat lined as well."

"So we're not going anywhere any time soon," Akio said.

"Yes sir. We can't even adjust our orbit. We are stuck here in geosynchronous orbit over the south eastern hemisphere of the planet," Nero informed him.

"What about weapon systems?"

"The four MAC guns, all missile pods, and the pulse laser defense system are offline. However the 70mm point defense system is online as well as the 120mm point defense system."

"At least we have some defense. Keep them warmed up," Akio ordered.

"Aye aye Lieutenant. Hull integrity at eighty seven percent, and Infinity's shields are offline," Nero replied.

"Coms?"

"Coms are online and operating at one hundred percent. But there are no signals on any UNSC, civilian, or even known Covenant bands," Nero said.

"What about our distress beacon?" Akio inquired.

"Transmitting now for about ten hours. However its most likely going to take a very long time before it reaches someone. That is if there is anyone," Nero said. "But there's one more thing about the planet that you should know lieutenant."

"What is it?"

"In the south pole of the planet there is unusual radioactivity and neutrino activity," Nero said puzzled.

Akio thought for a moment and remembered that he had the Forerunner crystal in his pocket, "Is it possibly the result of Forerunner technology?"

"I can't say Lieutenant, but I can say it seems to be coming from one place. And the radioactivity isn't very strong," Nero said.

The planet perplexed Akio. How could this all be so similar to the Sol system and Earth, yet clearly is not it? How did it get here? When did it get here? Is it inhabited like Earth? Akio stopped his train of thought and concentrated on the idea that the planet was inhabited.

"Nero, are the MUGS operational?" Akio asked. The Multiple Utility Geosynchronous Satellite system was designed just for Infinity. Over three hundred satellites would be deployed from Infinity and travel to a section of the planet and remain in geosych orbit. The satellites performed several roles from reconnaissance, to orbital strikes from its mounted 100mm MAC guns, to supply drops. The MUGS would be used to have complete control of a planet once Infinity was in system. Ground forces would have constant real time images of any part of the planet and have access to supplies and fire support. Akio was interested in their ability to scan and map out the entire planet surface, to hopefully find signs of intelligent life or civilization.

"What would we need the MUGS for sir?" Nero asked.

Akio was taken back. "To study the planet," Akio retorted.

"Why would we study the planet if no one will be around to see the results? You'll be in a cryopod dreaming away," Nero replied.

"What? Why would I be in a cryopod?"

"Protocol. UNSC protocol dictates that we are to drop a beacon, repair the ship if possible, and all crew be put in cyrostasis until help arrives," Nero explained.

"But I'm not going into a cryopod. I'm not going to just waste away sleeping," Akio said.

"Lieutenant, it could be years maybe even decades until we're found. Most likely I will go rampant long before help arrives. Your survival must be ensured so Infinity can be rescued and returned to the UNSC," Nero said.

"I'm not going into cryo Nero, and that's that," Akio said definitively.

"Tian, it would be best for all of us if…"

"Don't tell me what's best!" Akio snapped at Nero. "I am now the ranking officer on Infinity and she and all of her cargo and crew," Akio pointed to Nero's avatar, "is under my command. Launch MUGS and begin mapping the planet's surface." Akio wouldn't waste his time alive. He had for some reason survived the radiation in the anomaly and he wasn't about to waste this chance at life.

Nero hesitated a moment before speaking, "Aye aye sir. Estimated time until MUGS system is in place, three hours twenty minutes." Nero deactivated the holopad as his avatar faded back into the pad.

Akio walked around the holotable studying the planet. He was hypnotized by it. The planet seemed to call him to it. Tian pressed a key from under the holotable and a chair configured itself from out of the deck. He removed his helmet and placed it on the holotable as he reclined in the chair. Bright blues and greens danced across the windows as the planet slowly turned beneath him. Akio suddenly remembered that he had forgotten to tell Nero something before he had snapped at him.

"Nero," Akio said.

Nero's projection materialized from the holopad, "Yes Lieutenant."

"Out of all the damaged systems, which can the Keepers repair?" Akio asked.

"The Keepers will be able to repair all weapons systems, however the pulse laser defense system was incomplete before the anomaly and will be offline until we make it back to a UNSC hub. The FTL drive has completely flat lined and I doubt there is anything the Keepers can do. The engines aren't in any better shape. Restoration at this point is unclear," Nero reported.

"Ok. Activate the Keepers and start on the repair effort," Tian said softly.

"Aye aye."

"Oh and could we get some music in here. My rock play list from my personal files will do fine," Akio said putting his armored hands behind his head.

Nero said nothing as his avatar disappeared. A second later music began to play through the speakers on the bridge. Akio wasn't fond of the recent civilian music. He preferred what people called ancient rock, bands and artists from over well over five hundred years ago. Aerosmith's "Rag Doll" blared from the speakers. Akio began to close his eyes and drift away with the music. Unbeknownst to Akio, Nezha projected his self from the holopad on the table.

"I think I know what saved you from the radiation," Nezha stated.

Akio opened his eyes and turned his head to the holopad, "What was that?"

"I said, I think I know what protected you from the radiation," Nezha repeated.

"Oh," Akio paused to contemplate the though for a moment, "ok. What do you think it was?"

"The new shields on COBRA. Only the Infinity and COBRA is outfitted with a shield system reverse engineered from Forerunner shields. All other powered assault armor's shields have been based off of Covenant tech, and Infinity's shields where down in the anomaly," Nezha said.

Akio didn't care much for how he survived. He only cared that he did survive and that he wouldn't waste the rest of his life. "Ok. Sounds about right," Tian sighed. There was an awkward silence before Nezha spoke up again.

"And what if there is intelligent life on the planet Lieutenant?" Nezha pried. The AI surprised Akio. He had been able to interpret Akio's motivations with very little information.

Or am I that easy to read? Akio thought to himself.

"Then we see if they can help us. Maybe that energy reading in the south pole of the planet is Forerunner tech that will help us out of this mess," Akio said as he turned his head back and closed his eyes. Nezha didn't reply but only deactivated the holopad. Tian listened to the music and hummed the beat. He thought about what kind of life might be down on the planet. As his thoughts drifted in and out of his mind, he slowly fell asleep.

Akio stirred from his sleep and slowly opened his eyes. His whole body was numb from the freezing wind that whipped around him. Snow crunched under his hand as he planted it in the ground to support his body. He was in the middle of a blizzard in a frozen wasteland. He called out against the wind, hoping for a response, but none came. Tian stood up and brushed the snow and ice off his crisp ONI uniform. He was a black figure in a sea of white.

Ahead of him Akio could see a soft blue light pulsing in the distance. He walked toward it and called out again. Still no response. The pit in Akio's stomach took hold again and began to churn over and over. His walk turned into a jog and then to a run. Again he called out and again he was met with silence. The run turned to a full sprint. The pulsing blue light quickened its pace. The wind stung Akio's cheeks and snow crept into his boots. He continued to run towards the blue light but it seemed impossibly far off.

Akio's foot suddenly fell through the snow as his whole body followed his falling foot. He fell in free fall for a short time before he hit solid ground. It was a smooth polished red floor and gold encrusted pillars stood all around him. A tall cloaked figure towered over Akio. It wore a long red robe with black shoulder tabs that flared out to the sides. The figure raised its arms and flames grew all around Akio. The light from the flame lit up the man's face. It was the face of an Asian man with straight black hair and a long black goatee.

Tian shut his eyes and blocked his face from the heat of the fire with his arm. The heat faded away as Akio removed his arm from his face. The blue light pulsed right in front of him as it began to take shape. It was a blue arrow with a small boy trapped inside. The pit in Akio's stomach forced him to run at the arrow. He called out to it but his vision slowly faded to black.

"Lieutenant," Nero's voice was distant and muffled. Akio flinched as his body returned to the real world. He was back in the chair on Infinity's bridge. "Lieutenant wake up."

"Hmm, what?" Akio said rubbing his eye. "How long have I been asleep for?"

"A little over an hour now. But the MUGS have started their scans and…" Nero paused, choking on his words in his holographic throat, "well, just look."

Akio stood from the chair and walked over to a screen mounted on the wall of the bridge. Displayed on the screens were images from the northeast plains of the large continent.

The young lieutenant stood rooted to the deck as the camera on the satellite flew over an enormous city. Buildings made from stone, granite, and marble. Buildings with shingles, windows, and multiple floors. With balcony's, and tents spilling out into a complex road system that slithered through the structures. The city was miles in diameter with raised tracks for a train system heading out in all directions from the middle of the city. In the center was a massive palace. Made from a red stone with an expansive staircase leading to what looked like the front, and a large open courtyard.

Along with the sheer size of the city, what grabbed Akio's attention the most was the series of walls that encircled the city. The city itself was broken into three different sections by three walls. Used perhaps as a defense against attacking armies, or maybe the city followed a strict caste system. Whatever the reasons for their being there, they got the job done. The walls easily stood at two hundred and fifty meters tall and at least a hundred meters thick. The scale of the wall sent Akio's mind into a tailspin. Technically because the walls are so big, they will be characterized as a geographical feature.

"The buildings," Nero said, his projection holding both sides of his hips, "look at the architecture."

Akio looked closer at the screen to make out individual structures. They were clearly eastern Asian in design. Akio had grown up around that style of architecture while living Langfang for the majority of his life. What was human architecture doing on an unidentified planet, in a huge metropolis?

"Nero," Akio said, forcing himself to turn his attention away from the screen. The AI didn't respond. "Nero," he said again.

"Yes Lieutenant."

"Have the MUGS found anything else?"

"No, nothing else yet. But they've only begun a fraction of the scans of the planet's surface. If there is a city this large, then I have no doubt that there are other settlements on the planet," Nero reported.

"Settled by who though?" Akio wondered who could be down there on the planet. Humans who had broken off from the UNSC and started their own secret world? Was it aliens who had architecture that looked like Asian architecture? Where they apart of the Covenant? Forerunner? Whoever they were Akio would find out.

The MUGS couldn't pick out biological features with the equipment they had on board, but the STARS could. The Stealth Tactical Aerial Reconnaissance Satellites are baseball size satellites that provide topographical intelligence and a coms relay station for ONI. STARS could also track and identify enemy positions. Akio would use the STARS to identify whoever populated that city.

"Nero, do any MUGS over the city have a STARS package?" Akio asked.

"One is flying over it now. Spinning up launcher. STARS away. ETA until its in position, three minutes," Nero said.

"Good," Akio said. "As soon as it's in position start scanning the streets of the city."

On the other side of the holotable Nezha projected himself, "This is absolutely astounding. Simply unprecedented. An inhabited planet in a solar system with near identical features to the Sol system," Nezha speed talked. The AI turned to face Akio, "Where in the hell are we?"

"I really have no idea, but maybe these inhabitants can help us out," Akio speculated.

"I doubt it," Nero said pessimistically, "initial analysis of the city shows no electrical grids or signs of motorized vehicles. It is most likely that the civilizations of this world are pre-industrial."

"Then how did they engineer those walls around the city being a pre-industrial society?" Akio inquired.

"How did the ancient Egyptians build the pyramids of Giza?" Nezha retorted.

He had Akio there. He only said back, "Aliens."

"Moving past that," Nero said ignoring Akio's silly response as his avatar took a breath, "the MUGS are picking up other possible settlements."

"Show me," Akio said turning to face another screen on the bridge.

"MUGS are picking up another major settlement in the southwestern area of the large continent, and another large city in the crescent continent," Nero said while the satellite images came up on the screen.

The city in the southwestern area of the large continent was unlike any city Akio had seen before. It looked as if the city was carved from a mountain creating multiple cones shaped hills. Neighborhoods and buildings scaled the hills coming up to a point. There was an enormous trench that surrounded the mountain city that separated it from the other mountains in the area. The city in the crescent continent wasn't as large as the first city. However it looked more orderly with organized roads that ran parallel to each other and came to neat intersections. Most, if not all, of the roofs in this city were made from red shingles. And a tall palace stood in the center of the city with ornate gold designs. The city also sat at the top of a mountain that encircled the city with huge jagged rock formations.

"STARS entering operational area," Nero stated, cutting off Akio's concentration to the screen. "Coming online now."

"Bring it up on the holotable," Akio said.

The holotable built a small community with a few buildings and a road. The STARS repeatedly scanned the area adding more detail to the miniature community each time. The STARS finished scanning as ghostly figures walked up and down the holographic street.

Akio saw people. Humans.

People behind stands selling goods. People entering and leaving buildings. People with young children that held their parent's hands as they traversed the immense city. People who sat outside of eateries at tables and conversed with others. People who pulled carts down the roads with various merchandise for sale. Akio stood speechless as the hustle and bustle of a pre-industrial human society played out on the holotable.

"Scans confirm homo sapien bio signatures," Nero said flabbergasted.

Akio had all the convincing he needed to go to the planet's surface and find things out for himself. He would start by investigating the energy readings in the South Pole.

"Nero, how long until the MUGS start scanning the South Pole?" Akio asked.

The AI had a moments pause, his holographic face wore a mask of confusion, "The MUGS will be over the South Pole in fifteen minutes."

"As soon as they are over, launch STARS and find out whatever you can about the region. Keep me posted about the neutrino and radiation activity," Akio said as he picked his helmet up from the holotable.

"Where are you going Lieutenant?" Nero inquired, already knowing the answer.

"The South Pole of the planet. If there is Forerunner tech, I'm going to find it and hopefully it will get us home."

"You don't think the crystal can get us back?" Nezha interjected.

Akio had again forgotten about the crystal in his pocket. Suddenly it felt as if its weight multiplied in the pouch. He reached in the pocket and took out the crystal and held it in the palm of his hand. It now pulsed a faint light blue instead of its original yellow.

"Maybe, if we knew more about it," he looked at the artifact and wondered about all the places it could take them. And all the different ways it could transport the ship into oblivion. "Its too great a risk to use this again. Not until we know how to work it."

Tian put the crystal back in his pocket and slid his helmet over his head. Nezha's projection deactivated as the AI's face appeared on Akio's visor.

"And you think the Forerunner tech knee deep in ice will have an instruction manual with it?" Nezha asked sarcastically.

Akio didn't appreciate the AI patronizing him, but he didn't let it get to him.

"Who knows Nezha," Akio sighed. He turned to Nero and said, "Alert me when the MUGS are fully in place. Keep looking for settlements and let me know if there are any changes in the radiation or neutrino activity."

"Aye aye Lieutenant," Nero said.

Akio crossed the bridge to the door. "You have the con Nero," Tian said as the doors parted.

1700 hours, August 24, 2555 (Military Calendar)\

Aboard Pelican drop ship, en route to unidentified planet

Location unknown

Tian rocked back and forth in the passenger hold of the drop ship as it bounced gently. The Pelican was beginning to enter the planet's atmosphere in a flight predetermined by the autopilot, coded by Nero. Turbulence shook the Pelican as Akio held onto a crate strapped down to the deck to balance himself. Inside the crate sensor equipment shifted around. Tian would need it intact to locate the source of the abnormal energy readings and hopefully the Forerunner tech that created it.

Akio walked to the front of the passenger hold and keyed the controls to open a door to the cockpit. He maneuvered around the pilot and co-pilot seats and looked out of the window. From low orbit, the planet looked strikingly similar to Earth. Clouds sketched across a blue sky with bright green landmasses littering the surface. Infinity was now just a silver dot in the distance on the edge of view in the window. Bright flashes of red and orange filled the cockpit as the atmosphere of the planet began to heat up the underside of the Pelican.

"We're beginning our entry, Lieutenant. ETA to drop zone, two minutes," Nezha reported through the speakers in Akio's helmet.

"Right," Akio said as he turned around and walked back into the passenger hold, the door shut automatically. On the wall of the cargo hold was a weapons locker that held some rifles and PDW's. Akio removed a M7S caseless submachine gun from the locker and placed it on the magnetic pad on his right thigh to carry the weapon. He then grabbed a bandolier of ammo and threw it over his shoulder. The Pelican shook violently as the crate rattled around on the deck. Akio reached out and grabbed a handle on the wall of the cargo hold until the turbulence passed. The sound of the engines started to fill the hold as the atmosphere of the planet gave something for the sound to travel through.

On the deck next to Akio was a duffle filled with survival gear and surveillance equipment. He didn't know how long he would be here so Tian packed expecting the worst. Akio had enough food to last him two weeks, if he was careful, and enough medical equipment for a combat surgeon to treat a dozen men. The surveillance equipment was pretty standard. A hyperbolic dish to listen in on far away conversations, micro cameras and microphones, and an experimental MRVTOL-UAV (Multi Rotor Vertical TakeOff and Landing Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) or Quadrotor for short. With four sets of propellers this UAV was small, quite, and fast. Not to mention near invisible. The Quadrotors were equipped with an experimental active camouflage module that made it almost as invisible as COBRA. The Quadrotors were designed to track HVTs in complete silence and relay video and audio data to a command station. However the Quadrotors performed intelligence gathering missions only as they lacked any offensive capabilities.

A red light came on in the cargo hold indicating that the drop ship was one minute out from the drop zone. Akio knelt over the crate and untied the knots holding it in place on the deck. Above him in the mesh lacing over the seats laid an SRS99-S5 Anti Materiel Rifle. He grabbed the rifle and a few magazines from the mesh lacing as the red light turned green.

"Remember to keep your hood on or you'll catch a cold," Nero joked over the coms.

"I will mom," Akio chuckled as the ramp began to open slowly. Instantly frozen air whipped into the passenger hold bringing specks of snow and ice with it. A tornado of activity quickly filled the small hold. Akio slid a magazine home into the sniper rifle and magnetically secured it to his back. He walked to the edge of the ramp to look at the ground below. It was night and the only light came from the green light in the Pelican and the soft silver glow of the moon trying to get it's light past the clouds of a blizzard. Slowly the ground became clearer as the Pelican descended. Snow flew up from the ground due to the exhaust of the drop ship. Akio walked back behind the duffle and kicked it out of the back of the drop ship. It landed with a thud about a meter away on the ground. Next was the crate. Akio gathered the line he used to secure it to the deck and slowly pushed the crate to the edge of the bay. Before he jumped off Tian grabbed two long narrow sheets of metal, that he had prepared earlier, with the tips angled up and threw them out the back of the Pelican. The snow crunched beneath Akio as his armored boots hit the ground. The snow was thick and came up to his knees. Akio grabbed the crate from the edge of the ramp and placed it in the snow.

"Recon one to Infinity, landing party is unloaded," Akio reported over the coms to Nero.

"Copy that Recon one. Bird is coming home. I'll be on station, Infinity out," Nero said. With that the ramp closed and the Pelican's engines wined to life as the craft lifted into the air. Snow cascaded around Akio's armored form as the Pelican quick disappeared into the winter storm night.

Akio took a moment to take his surroundings in. He couldn't see far at all, maybe fifty meters in any direction. Tian activated his armor's VISR system. Instantly the horizon was visible far off in the distance as hills of snow and ice became outlined on his visor. Akio looked around himself three hundred and sixty degrees. For a split second the icy landscape reminded him of the dream he had on Infinity's bridge as the pit in his stomach started to form.

He cleared his head of the thought and concentrated on the task at hand. Akio laid the metal sheets in the snow parallel to each other and placed the crate on top of them. They would do as makeshift skis so Tian wouldn't have to carry the large bulky crate. With the line from the cargo hold Akio strapped the crate to the skis and left a good length of line for him to pull the load. Akio placed the duffle on top of the crate and looked at the small data pad attached to the left arm of COBRA.

"How far to the epicenter of the energy readings," Tian asked Nezha.

The AI brought up a small map of the South Pole on the data pad, "About ten kilometers to the west but that's only an estimate. We'll have a better idea when we're closer."

Akio picked the line up from the snow and began to walk through the blizzard. Fortunately for the young Lieutenant, COBRA protected him from even the most extreme environments. The armor continuously matched Akio's skin temperature making for a perfectly comfortable suit. The blizzard was no deterrent to Akio. He walked through the winds and the snow effortlessly, however Tian had to keep an eye out for possible cracks in the ice beneath him. He had no way tell if he was over water or dry land. The snow was just too thick to tell. After hiking for about an hour, Nezha spoke up.

"Ok we've gone about half way. We should set up the equipment and try and get better readings," Nezha stated.

Akio stopped walking and dropped the rope. "Sounds good," Akio opened a COMs channel to Nero, "Recon one to Infinity, do you copy?"

"Infinity to Recon one, I copy. Send traffic, over," Nero replied.

"Setting up sensor post, prepare to receive transmission. How copy, over?"

"Good copy Recon one, STARS are on station and ready when you are, over."

Akio pushed the duffle off of the top of the crate and took the lid off. The sensor device was cylindrical and stood about a foot and a half tall. He carefully removed the device and sat it down in the snow. Tian keyed the control panel on the side to start warming the device up and to wirelessly connect to Akio's armor, to give Nezha control of it.

"It's booted up. You should be able to connect Nezha," Akio told the AI.

"Gimme a sec," Nezha said as a load bar appeared on Akio's visor. It quickly went from one end to the other. "Ok starting scans," Nezha stated.

"Recon one to Infinity, transmission commencing, over," Tian said over the COMs as he setup a data link to the local STARS and then to Infinity.

"Copy that Recon one, receiving transmission. Analyzing data, stand by, over," Nero responded.

The device hummed softly as it looked at the subatomic particle activity in the area. LEDs blinked on the top of the metal canister indicating it was picking up neutrinos and radioactive particles flying by. Akio looked around him and saw only a desolate white backdrop with an inky black night sky. While panning back and forth Akio caught a glimpse of something in the snow a couple meters away. Curious, Akio focused in on the spot and the VISR automatically outlined the object. To Akio it looked like a divot in the snow. Tian walked over to the spot and stood over it.

It was without a doubt a footprint. There was a set of footprints in the snow leading to the west.

"You see this Nezha?" Akio asked.

"Yea. There's another set heading in the same direction two meters to your right," Nezha informed him. Sure enough right where Nezha said there was another set of footprints.

"It can't be animal tracks, they're too narrow," Akio commented.

"It looks like they where left by someone with snow shoes on."

"Is there any resident heat signatures?" Tian asked.

Nezha switched on thermal imaging on the VISR. A palate of colors displayed over every object in view. Darker colors to indicate colder temperatures, while lighter colors indicated higher temperatures. The sensor equipment was the warmest thing in the area next to Akio, but COBRA suppressed any heat signatures to prevent being detected. The inside of the footprint had a slight discoloration.

"Nezha, enhance."

Slowly the thermal imaging recalibrated to detected ever slighter differences in temperature, causing the slight discoloration to become clearer. There was a fraction of a degree difference in the temperatures, but it was there. Someone in the last six hours had made these tracks.

"Infinity to Recon one," Nero said over the COMs breaking Akio's train of thought. "Data transfer complete, stand by to receive updated coordinates. How copy, over?"

"Good copy Infinity, ready to receive updated coordinates, break. Be advised we have found evidence of local inhabitants, over," Akio reported.

"Roger that Recon one, transmitting coordinates, break. Advise to use Quadrotor to scout possible settlement, over."

In the corner of his visor, another progress bar tracked the incoming message relayed by the STARS from Infinity.

"Got it, coordinates received," Nezha stated. "Its about 4 kilometers to the west, north west. The tracks head in that general direction."

"Recon one to Infinity, coordinates received, break. Following tracks to new coordinates on foot. How copy, over," Akio said over the COMs. There was a pause before Nero responded.

"Good copy Recon one. I'll be on station, Infinity out," Nero said as the COMs channel closed. Again Nero was upset with Akio. Tian could tell that the AI wants to have as little involvement with the planet as possible, and him being on the surface following tracks in the snow to a possible settlement, was not Nero's idea of a low profile.

"Power down the equipment please," Akio said to Nezha as he began to gather the rope. It took a few minutes for the device to power off and for Akio to pack it away. Icy winds swirled around Tian as he tied the crate to the makeshift skis.

"It's a good idea to have the Quadrotor follow those tracks, and see what's at the end of them," Nezha stated matter-of-factly. Akio pulled on the rope, tightening a knot.

"You think?" Akio said truly unsure.

"Yea, why not. It can't hurt. Can it?" Nezha joked.

"Give me a minute to set it up," Akio said as he finished tying the crate down. He stood over the duffle and whipped the snow off the top that had accumulated since he had stopped hiking. The Quadrotor was disassembled in the bag, but Akio had to only attach the four arms to the body of the craft. The UAV was designed with portability in mind, with a length of only a foot the craft could be deployed quickly without the need for tools. Akio held the assembled Quadrotor in his hand and switched it on. The propellers twitched as the craft beeped, indicating it was starting up properly.

In the corner of his visor, Akio saw a readout of commands being sent to and received from the Quadrotor. Nezha was programming the Quadrotor to follow the tracks and set up data links to the local STARS.

"Ok she's buttoned up and ready to go," Nezha said as the activate button appeared on Akio's visor. Tian started the Quadrotor's mission as its propellers started to spin up. The UAV lifted off of his hand and wobbled from side to side, trying to get a handle on the crosswinds. The craft angled itself forward and activated its camouflage system as it flew deeper into the blizzard. Almost instantly Akio lost sight of the craft, but was saved when Nezha set a waypoint over the UAV.

"Let me know if something comes up," Akio told Nezha. He knelt over the duffle and zipped it up, careful not to let too much snow in it. Akio threw the duffle on top of the crate carelessly. Tian grabbed the rope and started to hike again through the blizzard. As he hiked, Akio checked from time to time the video feed from the Quadrotor. Included in the sensor equipment on the UAV was a thermal imaging camera, allowing the Quadrotor to follow the faint heat signatures in the snow.

Akio mindlessly put one foot in front of the other as he pushed his way through the snow and ice. He finally had a chance to simply think and process all the events happening to him now. Bartlett's face continuously popped up in his head. Akio was still getting over the fact that the aging professor had sacrificed himself to try and destroy Infinity. Tian silently cursed his superiors in ONI for not seeing what he did. If they would have believed him, Bartlett would be off in some hole somewhere, another scientist would have been brought onto the project and two hundred and fifty three people would still be alive. Not to mention Infinity would be in the Oort cloud, not orbiting some mysterious unidentified planet with a pre-industrial human society. Which still requires explanation.

The pit began to form in Akio's stomach as the faces of the command crew flashed across his mind. Bartlett had started the anomaly, but Akio had failed to stop the artifact in time. The crystal shifted around in the pouch on Akio's hip as he hiked through the snow. It felt heavier to him as if its weight increased when he thought about it. Akio thought about Palmer. More specifically, what she had said to him when the door to the engine room had opened.

Protect him… defend the balance.

Who was 'him'? What did she mean by balance? Did she mean Nezha, or perhaps Nero? The rope in Akio's hand suddenly went taught as a metallic thump echoed in the air. Tian turned to see a rock sticking out of the snow like a miniature ice berg in front of the crate. The left ski had collided with the rock and a visible mark remained on the tip of the ski. Akio sighed as he dropped the rope and shuffled through the snow to the crate. He pushed it around the rock as Palmer entered his mind again.

"Nezha?" Akio asked as he stood up straight.

"Mmm, yes?" Nezha replied with an inflection on his words.

"Do you remember what Palmer said to me right before she died?" Akio's voice was solemn and soft.

"I do, yes," Nezha answered, now matching Akio's solemnness.

"She said protect him, defend the balance," Tian focused on the Commander's face in his mind for a moment. "What do you think she meant?"

"I'm not to sure, eel-tee," Nezha said light heartedly, using a slang term for Lieutenant, "I'm not sure if it meant anything. She could have been delusional."

"No, I don't think so," Akio said, contemplating the thought. "Even though the Commander was dying, I could tell that she had it together. She said it for a reason."

"Akio," Nezha's voice was one of compassion. The AI knew that Tian was blaming himself for the deaths of the crew. And he didn't need to be an actual human to see that the guilt was tearing the young Lieutenant apart. "It probably meant nothing. You should stop thinking about it."

Akio said nothing as he moved around the crate and picked the rope up from the snow. He started to walk again through the winter storm. Tian's head hung heavy as he hiked in silence, again recalling the crew that he had failed. For a moment Akio cracked a smile, remembering when he had thrown Wyatt on top of the grenades. The smile quickly faded as he remembered removing the MP's helmet and seeing his body float away into space. The pit in his stomach was fully formed now. It felt as if a dozen ball bearings were shifting around in his gut, mashing up his internal organs.

The young Lieutenant focused on the footprints as he trekked through the blizzard. The crunch of the snow under his armored boots was somehow soothing to Akio. The snow made a different series of crunches with every rhythmic footstep. Every so often Akio checked the video feed from the Quadrotor. Outlined in the snow was the two sets of footprints, they whizzed by as the Quadrotor flew a meter above the ground over the prints. The Quadrotor turned slightly once or twice to follow the tracks around a large boulder or hill.

Akio brought up the map of the South Pole on the data pad on his right arm and located himself on it. He was only about a kilometer from the epicenter of the energy readings. Akio thought to himself if he should break out the sensor again to get a closer reading, but Nezha spoke first.

"Akio," the AI's voice was a mix of excitement and anxiety, "the Quadrotor is picking up heat signatures and ambient light over a hill five hundred meters directly west of our current position."

Akio's heart quickened. If the Quadrotor was picking up was a settlement, Tian was only a stones throw away. But the energy readings where the focus of the mission. To possibly find Forerunner technology that will help him repair the Infinity, not go looking for Eskimo people on some uncharted and mysterious planet. But the temptation was great to meet them.

"Ok," Tian took a moment to breathe in and out, "have the Quadrotor fly to it and watch over the area from the air. In the mean time I'm going to set up the sensor again and try and get a better reading on the epicenter."

"Roger that," the AI simply said.

Again Akio removed the duffle from the crate and unpacked the cylindrical sensor. He booted it up and waited for Nezha to connect to it while he opened a COMs channel to Infinity.

"Recon one to Infinity, do you copy, over?" only static came back over the channel. "Recon one to Infinity, do you copy, over?" Akio repeated into the COM channel.

"Infinity… one, negative… to frequency… copy, over?" static filled the transmission as Akio strained to hear what Nero was saying. Tian could partially fill in the blanks and figured that Nero didn't copy his last and was telling him to switch frequencies.

"Partial copy on your last Infinity. Pushing to 5.6 Ghz, how copy, over?"

"Partial copy… switch to… 6.2 Ghz, how copy…"

Akio switch frequencies to 6.2 Ghz and keyed the COM channel once more, "Copy, switching to 6.2 Ghz, break. Setting up sensor post, prepare to receive data link, how copy, over?"

"Good copy Recon one, I read you, break," Nero was now coming through with little static. "STARS on station, ready to receive data link, how copy, over?"

Akio checked the connection to the sensor device and when he was confident in it, he setup a data link to the local STARS. "Good copy. Transmission commencing, over," Akio said as the sensor started scanning the area for subatomic particles. Tian ran a quick diagnostic on his suit's transmitter in hopes to find the cause of the static. But the results came back saying his radio equipment was in perfect working order.

"Nezha what's with the static?" Akio asked. The AI didn't reply. Only silence answered him. "Nezha… you there?"

"Sorry, I'm not sure," Nezha said, sounding very distracted. "But look at this."

Nezha opened the video feed from the Quadrotor. It hovered at the top of a low hill looking over a small village. The VISR outlined everything in the village and the thermal imaging camera captured the heat of everything as well. A wall of snow about a meter high encircled the small settlement and a small watchtower faced to the north looking out to the sea. The sea was only about twenty meters from the snow wall and what looked like two small boats floated in the water by the shore. Inside the village was one large igloo with three entrances and a hole in the roof for a chimney that smoke escaped from. Opposite from the igloo were two large animal skin tents and a half a dozen smaller tents littered the settlement. Heat signatures speckled the village, indicating the presence of fire or possibly body heat from the sleeping villagers.

The COM channel threw static in Akio's ear, forcing him to lose focus on the video feed.

"Infinity to Recon one, epicenter located 1.6 klicks to the Northwest, how copy, over?" Nero said as he transmitted the coordinates to Akio.

"Recon one to Infinity, solid copy, coordinates received, break. Be advised inhabitant settlement located five hundred meters west of my position, how copy, over?"

"Good copy Recon one, be advised a dead zone has been confirmed with a radius of 1.4 kilometers from epicenter caused by the local atomic excitement. Expect to experience complete communications blackout in that area, break. Remember the mission objectives, find Forerunner tech, how copy, over?" Nero said over the channel.

Akio didn't appreciate the AI trying to manage what he was doing down here. Tian breathed in deeply to quell his anger. "Good copy Infinity. I will come out of the dead zone in approximately eight hours and re-establish contact, how copy, over?"

"Copy that Recon one. Infinity out," Nero said as the COM channel closed.

"Well that explains the static on the radio," Nezha interjected.

"What does?" Akio questioned.

"The atomic excitement in the local area from the energy anomaly."

"Right," Akio said slowly. So now he would have no contact with the ship if something goes wrong. Akio then remembered the Quadrotor; it was still transmitting signals to Akio's suit. "But what about the UAV? How is it sending a signal to us through the dead zone?"

"I can't say for sure, but the majority of the atomic excitement appears to be high in the atmosphere. So a signal that originates on the surface that's going to a receiver also on the surface won't be washed out," Nezha explained to the young Lieutenant.

"Ok makes sense," Akio said.

"Yup," Nezha replied. "So where to now?"

"The epicenter. But we're making a pit stop first." Akio said as he walked over to the sensor equipment and began to power it down.

"Hmm. I do wonder, where will we be stopping Lieutenant?" Nezha said sarcastically.

Akio took a deep breath, "I have to see it for myself. I have to see them for myself." Akio picked the sensor up and placed it back in the crate. "Who are these people? How did they get here?"

"But the priority is Infinity. We have to repair the ship and return it to the Navy," Nezha said sincerely.

"I know it is," Akio said remembering the crew. "But I must see this for myself." Akio said as he put the lid on the crate. He worked in silence as he tied the box to the skis. The rope was starting to freeze over and it crackled in Akio's armored hand as he finished the last knot. He threw the duffle on top, picked up the line and began to walk to the west through the blistering winds.

"Do you really think you'll find him?" Nezha said softly.

Akio didn't respond. It bothered him that this AI is able to read him so well and know what his true intentions are. What Commander Palmer said to him in the engine room replayed over and over in his head. Akio couldn't figure out what she meant by the cryptic statement. But he hoped to find a resolution for the sabotage. A reason perhaps as to why it happened, or why he failed to save them. The AI knew that Akio was searching for answers. But the questions eluded the construct.

The walk to the village took only about a half an hour. The storm had begun to let up as limited rays from a rising sun broke through the cloud layer. Deep purples and oranges colored the sky over the white backdrop of the winter tundra. Akio continued to check the video feed from the Quadrotor. There was no movement from the village as of yet. But the morning sun would no doubt stir the villagers out of their tents.

The low hill that looked over the village came into sight just as the snow stopped all together. At the base of the hill Akio stopped and removed the duffle from the top of the crate. He rummaged through it until he found the parabolic dish, a ration of food, and a camouflage blanket. Akio placed the blanket over the crate and duffle and started to walk up the hill. His shadow was long and moved along the ground as silently as he did. When Tian approached the lip of the hill he got on his stomach and crawled closer to the crux.

"Nezha, I need you to activate the active camouflage but on a lower setting so I can use it longer," Akio said as he began to see the tops of the tents over the hill.

"I got 'cha," Nezha replied. The armor shimmered as the camouflage system activated. Even though it was on the lowest power setting, Akio was completely camouflaged in the snow.

Snow crunched under the weight of COBRA as Akio crawled up the hill. He could see the entire village from the vantage point. Tian removed the sniper rifle from his back and deployed the bipod in the snow. The metallic clicking of a round chambering echoed in the air as Akio pulled the charging handle and flicked the safety off. He reached behind him and grabbed the parabolic dish and set it up to his right. The dish connected to his suit and a small reticle appeared on his visor indicating where the dish was pointed. Akio shifted in the snow until he found a comfortable position. The soft hum of the Quadrotor's propellers buzzed overhead. Akio accessed the Quadrotor and set it to fly a lazy circle around the village. Akio closed the command window to the Quadrotor and looked over the village. He hoped they would start waking up soon and come out of their tents.

Tian laid in the snow and sipped what he thought was lasagna through the straw in his helmet. It was the first time he had a moment of peace and quite since he set foot on Infinity. The sun was now fully risen and the sky was speckled with clouds left over from the blizzard. A slight breeze shifted the top layer of snow around as it wisped between the tents.

"Movement," Nezha said in Akio's ear, "thermal imaging camera shows heat signatures moving around in this tent." A waypoint appeared over one of the smaller tents near by the igloo. Akio wrapped his hand around the handle of the sniper rifle, leaving his finger off the trigger and sighted in the tent. "It looks like someone's coming out," Nezha said with anticipation in his voice.

"Move the Quadrotor back, we don't want them to hear it," Akio told Nezha.

The animal skin on the front of the tent shifted as a hand emerged and pulled the fabric back. Out stepped a young teenaged girl wearing a thick blue coat that went all the way down to her knees with white fur pouring out from the collar. She had black hair that was done up in a tight bun with two strings of hair going from her bangs to the either side of the bun. Her skin was a soft shade of brown and she clasped both hands over her head and stretched from side to side. Akio stared at the young girl as she walked over and into the igloo.

"Her ethnicity looks like she's Native American," Nezha commented.

"Yea she does. But on Earth eskimos are of Asian decent," Akio said.

"True, but this ain't Earth kid," Nezha said jovially. Akio cracked a small smile at the obvious statement. "More movement inside this tent," another waypoint appeared over the tent next to the tent the teenaged girl came out of. The tent shook as the rough outline of a person's heat signatures fumbled around trying to do what appeared to be put on some kind of clothes. The front of the tent flew open as a teenaged boy stuck his head and bare shoulders out of the tent. He too had light brown skin and black hair.

"KATARA!" the young man yelled at the top of his lungs. Akio could have heard the boy yell on the hillside without the parabolic dish. It was clear that he was calling to the young girl in the igloo by name. But it surprised Akio that her name was easily understood, for a person on a mysterious unidentified planet with striking similarities to Earth. The boy paused for a moment before shouting again, "KATARA!" The young girl ran out of the igloo holding a wooden spoon, and approached the boy's tent to confront him.

Akio watched incredulously in utter bewilderment as the conversation unfolded before him.

"Shut up Sokka! Do you want to wake up the whole tribe!?" the girl said back angrily.

"No," he retorted quickly, "I just want to make sure you make my seal stew the way I like it."

"Agh!" she exclaimed as she threw the wooden spoon at him. The boy quickly retreated back into the tent to avoid the projectile.

"Hey!" the boy yelled as he cautiously stuck his head back out of the tent, "Watch it!"

"How about you get your lazy butt out of bed and make it yourself!" the young girl proclaimed as she stormed back into the igloo.

"Katara wait!" he called after her as he stumbled out of the tent shirtless and with his trousers only half way on. "Katara please I don't know…," he was cut off as he tripped and fell face first into the snow. "Uuugggh!" he yelled in frustration as he picked himself back up and brushed the snow off himself. He mumbled to himself as he began to walk towards the igloo, but turned back to pick up the wooden spoon and continued to curse silently into the igloo.

Akio was too shocked to talk or even think. The young Lieutenant was expecting to hear the 'aliens' speak in some incomprehensible language. On the contrary he understood every word in the transaction.

He understood it because they where speaking a derivation of the Chinese language, Cantonese to be exact.

Growing up, Akio's parents made sure he was in touch with his heritage. He had learned Cantonese despite it being all but unspoken in 2555. And the people of this small village spoke this dead form of Chinese that was invented some four thousand years ago, on Earth.

Akio laid silently in the snow to stunned to comment. The village and the immediate area seemed unnaturally still and quite after the pair had entered the igloo.

"Did you understand that?" Nezha finally said.

"Yes," Akio replied curtly, "I assume you did too."

"Yea."

"How in the fuck do they know Cantonese!?"

"This is seriously unexpected," Nezha said not answering Akio's impossible question. "This is simply unbelievable."

"What is this place?" the question had been dominating Akio's mind ever since Infinity came out of the anomaly. He felt as if he fell through the looking glass into a wonderland of impossibilities.

"We have to get out of the dead zone and contact Nero. He has to know this," Nezha said.

"No," Akio said absolutely. "We stay here and find out as much as we can. And we still have to get to the epicenter. We can't go back without checking out the energy source."

By seven in the morning, all the members of the village where up and out of their tents performing their daily routines. A group of middle aged women had set up an assembly line for cleaning linen in the center of the village. On the outskirts of the village, an aged woman watched over a group of young children chase each other in the snow. The teenage girl had not emerged from the igloo until late in the morning, hefting a large bulbous cauldron. Steam rose from the pot into her face as she carried it over to a fire pit by the center of town. A call was given that breakfast was ready and the members of the village dropped what they were doing and congregated by the fire pit.

The teenaged girl stood by the cauldron with a large ladle and dished out the stew. First the oldest members of the tribe, then the young children and finally the middle aged women. The teenaged girl and boy where last to get their food. As the village ate Akio noticed something about the village.

"Where are all the older men?" Akio asked Nezha. Besides the teenaged boy, there were no males in the village who appeared over the age of sixteen.

"Out on a hunting trip maybe?" Nezha answered.

"Over night? And in that blizzard?" Akio replied.

"Sure. Why not? Eskimo hunters would track and follow herds of caribou for days."

"I guess," Akio said reluctantly, "we'll have to keep an eye out for them."

The rest of the morning seemed to be a typical day for the village. Tending to fires, preparing hides, cleaning tents and staving off frostbite. By high noon, the villagers had a large piece of meat over the fire pit in the center of town for lunch. The teenaged boy used a machete to cut fillets of the meat for the group of younger children. They sat in a circle with the teenaged girl and ate their lunch. The young children began asking the teenaged boy to tell hunting stories as they ate.

"Tell us the story of the great blubber fiasco!" one child cried with a mouth full.

"What? You guys heard that last night," the teenaged boy replied.

"Then tell us about the time you fell through the ice fishing hole!" another kid shouted.

The teenaged boy blushed with embarrassment, "That one isn't so good."

"You just don't want to tell it because you cried like a girl after Dad fished you out," the teenaged girl said with a sly smile.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realize you had a great story to tell," the teenaged boy retorted.

The teenaged girl glared at the boy and then turned to the children, "How would you guys like to hear the story of the Avatar?"

The children giggled with excitement, "Yes! Pleeease?"

"C'mon Katara, will you please?" another child pleaded.

The teenaged girl shot a self-righteous look at the teenaged boy, who angrily took a large bite from his piece of meat and said nothing.

The teenaged girl looked over the children and began, "Long before you all where born, before your parents where even born, the Avatar kept peace and balance between the Water Tribes, Earth Kingdom, Fire Nation, and Air Nomads. But that all changed when the Fire Nation attacked," the teenaged girl said Fire Nation with a particular hatred as the children booed and hissed. "Only the Avatar master all four elements. Only he could stop the ruthless firebenders. But when the world needed him most, he vanished," the girl paused for dramatic effect.

"Where did he go?" one child asked from the group.

"No one knows," the teenaged boy said cutting in, "he just disappeared." The teenaged girl shot him another look before continuing.

"A hundred years later and the Fire Nation is nearing victory in the war. Two years ago, my father and the men of our tribe, your fathers'," the teenaged girl said pointing to the children, "journeyed to the Earth Kingdom to help fight against the Fire Nation."

"There by leaving me in charge!" the teenaged boy exclaimed, cutting in again.

"Uh huh?" the teenaged said inquisitively, "and who's in charge of you, Sokka? Gran Gran?" the teenaged girl chuckled.

"Nope," the teenaged boy said sticking his nose in the air, "I am my own boss."

"Right," the teenaged girl said back slowly before continuing the story. "Some people believe that the Avatar was never reborn into the Air Nomads and that the cycle has been broken."

"How can a person be reborn?" a child asked hastily.

"They say the Avatar is the spirit of the earth in physical form. After each Avatar dies, the Avatar spirit is embodied into a newborn child of the next Nation in the cycle. Water, Earth, Fire, and Air. So it can be said the Avatar reincarnates," the teenaged girl explained.

"So if the cycle is broken, can the Avatar come back?" another child asked.

"No," the teenaged girl replied somberly, "but I don't believe the cycle is broken. I believe one day the Avatar will return and save the world."

The group sat in silence as the teenaged girl finished reciting her story. The children absentmindedly chewed their food as they thought about the story they just heard. The group disbanded as the teenaged boy and girl broke down the campfire and started to clean up from lunch.

Akio laid in the snow on the hillside and absorbed this new information. It was a good insight to the culture of the small village and revealed some important facts about the current state of the world.

"So this world is broken into four separate states, or nations?" Akio said.

"That's what the girl said. But its odd that they would govern themselves in such a way," Nezha said.

"How so?"

"To base a nation on something as vague and ambiguous as natural elements, that just seems off to me. Why? This just raises more questions."

"Her story answers one though and provides us with an important fact. The men are off at war and this world is at war itself," Akio said.

"But what's this about an Avatar?" Nezha asked baffled. "A person who is the embodiment of the spirit of the world."

"It's a legend. A fictitious cultural story," Tian replied.

Nezha didn't reply as Akio continued to watch the teenaged girl and boy clean up from lunch. They packed away the meat in an animal skin bag and the teenaged boy slung it over his shoulder. He turned to the teenaged girl before walking away.

"Katara could you put out the fire while I put the meat away?" he asked.

"Sure no problem," she said as the teenaged boy began to walk away.

Akio expected the teenaged girl to grab the bucket that was besides her by the campfire. But she instead widened her stance, bent her knees, and raised her hands as if to take a fighting position. Tian though for a moment that she was being sarcastic to the teenaged boy about the campfire and was about to challenge him. But the boy kept walking away as the teenaged girl breathed in slowly with her eyes closed. The girl bent slightly over her front foot with her hands extended out in front of her. She pulled her hands back closer to her center and shifted her weight to her back foot.

Akio didn't notice at first what the girl had done, but as she moved the snow on the ground in front of her followed her movement. The teenaged girl raised her hands higher and the snow on the ground turned into water. The water streamed through the air, tracking the motion of the girl's hands. She held her hands still by her center and the water collected into a loose ball, hovering at about hip height.

She pushed her hands forward and slightly down. Again the water tracked her motion. The water streamed through the air and into the fire pit. The fire hissed and belched steam as it was extinguished.

Akio laid rooted to the ground, staring at the teenaged girl. The pit in his stomach sank as it rolled over and over. Again the girl raised her hands and more water streamed through the air and onto the fire.