July 19th, 2552

Distant orbit of Epsilon Eridani

04:00 Hours

The UNSC frigate Black Baron, a Paris-Class Heavy, floated calmly on its designated patrol pattern. Captain Richards watched the darkness of space pass by the view-screens on his bridge with a cup of freshly-brewed coffee in one hand and a bagel in the other. Routine patrols around Epsilon Eridani were incredibly bloody boring, considering half the buzz he was hearing over the com of a mass of new ships arriving in-system for retrofits and repairs after Sigma Octanus and a slew of other distant ops. He sipped his brew calmly, looking around at all stations.

Manning sensors and coms were two green members he'd yet to bother learning the names of. Beside them was the Commander and his Executive Officer, Ava, however. The young woman was an eagle-eyed beauty that was a stickler for the goddamn rules, up to the point it pissed off even some of the veteran staff. The Captain didn't care, so long as order was maintained aboard. Morale was screwed as it was

Ava Weathers was a fair-skinned girl, with blue eyes and burnished gold hair. Her uniform was spotless, her rank pins were polished to the point that, if the rays of the sun hit'em the wrong way, they'd blind someone and the leather navy shoes she wore shined with polish.

She tugged at her collar, sighed and arranged the holster for her sidearm on her hip. The M6G Magnum was an unwieldy pistol for a dainty girl like her, but she was still one of the better shots aboard, beat only by a pair of his own Marines and the single ODST that had hitched a ride with them so he could more quickly get to Reach.

He didn't care to ask the Trooper why he'd hauled ass aboard a ship when he could've joined with his company. He really didn't give a shit about what a Jarhead was doing with his time. He hummed, bit down on his bagel, then sighed deeply and walked up to the edge of the viewing screen, looking at the bow of the ship. One of the two forward prongs of the ship, it contained the MAC, the UNSC's force equalizer.

God, he loved the fucking MAC. Every time it fired, the man had half a mind to ask it to marry him. A Magnetic Accelerator Cannon that fired a slug at speeds fast enough to bust a hole the size of a school bus through the hull of any ship unlucky enough to be caught with its pants down, both metaphorically and, in the Covenant's shielded pieces of shit, literally.

He asked, "Status report?" With the most uninterested voice in the world.

"Like the last couple of times you asked, sir, all clear. Scopes are clear, the view's clear and the voids are clear," Sighed the Commander as she joined him up front. She looked at him and asked, "How many coffees have you had today, captain?" with her usual impassivity. The man shrugged.

"I'd say about three…?" He replied absentmindedly, before taking a sip of the lukewarm drink. He arranged his uniform and patted it down, noting the semi-glare his XO was giving him, before sighing and stating, "Listen, we've been on patrol for a little over three days at this point and found nothing. If they want us awake 24/7, I'll drink my goddamn coffee…"

"Understood, sir," She replied with a degree of disregard, sighing and pinching her brow.

Some of the crewmen chuckled at the antics of the two Reach locals, while others just simply chose to keep their laughter to themselves. The ship continued on its route this way for the better part of a few more hours, with the crew just killing time by chatting or doing their jobs. Shifts changed, the Captain was sitting in his room and the entire thing was just… Boring.

So, when the alarms blared, the sensors sang like an out-of-tune choir of Catholic altar boys and the crew scrambled like a bunch of kids going toward the ice cream truck, the Captain took this opportunity and scrambled back to the bridge in full dress uniform. He walked onto the deck and asked, "Status report? The hell did we find?"

"Sir, unidentified small-sized contact 400,000 klicks out immediately to our two o'clock…" Reported the sensor station crewman. The Captain approached and looked at the Radar-like screen that pinged the target ahead of them.

"Anything from them? A ping, a signal, anything?" The Captain gazed upon the comm.

The crewman shook his head, "Yes, sir. They're transmitting dead air, though. I'm detecting faint broadband radio transmissions from within the ship, as well as information packet receiver systems akin to our own single-beam communication systems."

"Huh…" The man hummed, then ordered, "Attempt a hail, then. But keep our weapons hot. Bring us to yellow alert. Helm, take us toward the object and be ready…" and, before long, all his orders were completed, the ship blaring a singular, low-tone alarm as the lights aboard glowed gold.

The Warship moved forward through the void, closing the distance between it and the unidentified object, all while the radio operator was attempting to ping it repeatedly. Despite that, the UNSC warship found itself closing distance with the strange contact. And as they came closer to the area, the crew's eyes widened.

They laid eyes upon a vessel, about the size of a corvette, floating amidst the ice rocks and frozen Oort Cloud. It was sitting there, motionless, although it was clearly powered, considering the fact the UNSC sensor crewman reported, "We're detecting an active nuclear reactor aboard, sir. Seems the ship's powered and active… Though I can't, for the fucking life of me, figure out why they aren't answering… Wait a minute… Sir, rads detected aboard. They're mild right now, but the Reactor aboard seems to be failing."

"Well, shit…" Sighed the Captain, then ordered, "Safety procedures demand we prepare for any dangerous situation. Prepare a team of Marines and Techs to go aboard via a Pelican to see what they can do to fix the Reactor. Is the reactor at risk of Wildcat destabilization, ensign?" and gazed upon the Sensors crewman. The man shook his head and Richards then ordered, "Then we bring the ship aboard."

"... We're getting a radio ping-back, sir," The Comm crewman reported. The Captain made one motion of his hand, ordering the man to play the signal. Various tones and beeps started playing over the bridge's PA… And the incoming stunned the crewmates of the warship. Numbers, spoken in German, bit by bit.

"39486… 60170… 24326… 01064…"

The Captain licked his lips, nervous, then barked, "That might very well be their Mayday... Get that ship aboard, now. Prep a decontamination and repair crew in the hangar alongside a medical team. Let's get those people aboard. If ONI fucking has something to do with this, I expect an immediate explanation from them the moment we break for Reach's orbit. Move it!"

"Aye, captain!" The crew chorused. Before long, the crew belonging to all shifts had immediately mobilized themselves to work. The shipboard company of Marines, clad in their own CBRN kits, marched alongside the ship physician, medical staff and a team of engineers and decontamination specialists while the Black Baron swung about to bring the unknown vessel aboard.

Descending down to the rear hangar of the UNSC ship, the crews waited for the room to repressurize. From within the confines of the hangar's large cargo elevator, the group and the ship's lead physician, Doctor Micah Stone, watched with muted awe as the unknown vessel, its hull marred by meteorite strikes and the marring cold of the uncaring void, was brought aboard and gently set down. Beside it sat the UNSC Pelicans that had brought it aboard, landed, crew checking the vessel out.

The rear door of the hangar closed and the hiss of repressurization filled the ears of the crews aboard. The door to the elevator opened, the Marines marching out first, MA5B Assault Rifles cocked, safeties falling off, as the doctors and crew walked up to the surprisingly-large vessel. The infantry surrounded the ship while the Eggheads and Skunkworks group moved in to check it.

One of the Engineers approached the side of the vessel, looking up at the cockpit to see that the lights had been turned off, presumably to conserve power or not overstress the reactor further than it already had been. He then hummed, running a gloved hand over the surface of the vessel itself. He paused, feeling a seam. He ran his fingers up the seam, then noticed the German and, surprisingly, Chinese writing.

"Found the Airlock!" The man reported. Before long, the doctor and a squad of Marines had gathered up ahead of it. The massive ship had a stripe design, it was triangular and it was weird, but the fact that the airlock remained on the side and that the languages they saw were from Earth's many nations and nationalities told them this might just have been a lost exploratory vessel.

Or ONI.

Probably ONI.

The Marines tensed up as the doctor called the captain, stating, "Sir, this is doctor Stone. We've already found our way in. Shouldn't be long before we're inside the ship…" as she took a step back to let the engineering corps work their magic.

"Good to hear, doctor. Be careful, though… We don't know the state our… German-speaking friends may be in…" He seemed to hesitate in the reply.

"Don't worry, sir. I'll have the major keep the Jarheads in check…" She replied with half a mouth, garnering a few chuckles out of the Marines. The leader of the men hummed and readied his shotgun, preparing to lead the insertion team.

A hiss filled the hangar and the entire group tensed, turning to the airlock. The engineer from before had managed to find the handles to the airlock. Pressures equalized between the two starships' hulls and the geiger counters of the crew had a minor spike come up. Calmly, however, the Doctor stated, "Radiation levels are within acceptable parameters for exploration with CBRN Gear."

The group tensed, still. Weapons raised, they listened as the Doctor requested, "Permission to go inside, captain. The door is open… We have unsealed the hushed casket…" and just about everyone paused. Doctor Stone was, to say the least, one of the more eccentric medical staff of the UNSC.

The Captain's approval was a hum and an affirmative grunt over the radio. She nodded to the men and lifted a flashlight from her uniform's rear pocket, turned it on and aimed it at the corridor. Darkness was pierced, revealing the insides of the ship's airlock. Industrial, familiar, yet so different.

The Marines also powered on the flashlights on their MA5Bs, heads-up displays updating as they proceeded inside. Pushing in, the group found themselves walking into what seemed to be the lower deck of the ship itself. Multiple doors, bulkheads, up-armored, were tried, but none opened, sans one in the cross-intersection. The one leading further to the rear.

The Major took point with his shotgun, scanning the area tensely. Audible, though muffled, were the sounds of their boots clanking against the grated floor of the ship and, for each Marine, the thumping of their heartbeat and their heavy breathing through the CBRN suits. Pushing forward into the next room, the Major came upon three more locked doors and a ladder.

"Looks like the only way is up," Commented doctor Stone. She nodded to the Major and let him climb first alongside a pair of Marines. The man simply followed what he had been indirectly ordered to do, climbing up the ladder with his pistol drawn. First on top, the man took a step to the right and let the other Marines march in, followed by the Doctor and engineers.

"Multiple doors…" Reported the Major.

"Rads are coming from the door ahead of the ladder," An Engineer with a scanner said, "Through this door and to the left…"

"We're splitting, then. A team takes the front and side doors. I, two Marines and a pair of engineers take the rear doors…" The Doctor stated as she hefted her sealed, lead-lined container, in which her medical kit and supplies were. She paused, however, when a Marine lifted his hand.

The air in the room grew heavy, each soldier and crewman tensing. The doctor looked to the Marine that raised his hand, then asked in a whisper, "What is it, trooper…?" just as she noted the faint outline of a gray dot on her heads-up display's motion tracker. It winked off, then appeared again.

She blinked, then took a step back as the Major stepped up to the door, drawing his shotgun and tapping a button. The door split in two, opening with a hiss of depressurization, before the old Marine aimed his shotgun forward and into the darkness. He saw another trio of doors, one on their right, one dead ahead and one on the left.

"MT's picking up movement dead ahead…" Murmured the officer.

"... And Rads from the left on the scanner," The Engineer reported. The Marines fanned on inside the hallway at the stern of the vessel, weapons at the ready, followed by the Engineers and the Doctor and her staff.

"That's the reactor, then…" Murmured another Engineer.

"Benitez, Keller, Touma, you're taking guard duty…" He ordered three of the twelve Marines in the room, "Keep the engineers safe while they go down on this old bitch… Doc? We're moving with you, on your mark. Torres, report to the Captain. Tell him we may have found the crew… Or what's left of it."

"Sir," The soldiers chorused. The Doctor nodded, then stepped forward, toward the door to the rear. She paused at the door, turning to see the engineers seemingly having to force the door to the reactor open. She saw them put a specialized wedge in the airlocks thin seam, before sighing, turning away and putting a hand on the door.

She felt the slight chill against her glove and murmured, "This must be a cryogenics room…" as she pressed a button. The Marines formed up with her, weapons at the ready, as the door slid apart, revealing the rearmost room of the ship. A massive area filled with technology, multiple computer towers in the back, glimmering with lights, green and red, against the rear wall, as well as a singular cryopod, a massive, bulky 'coffin' with all the beauty of a brick.

The Doctor and her escorting Marines paused, stunned…

Beside the Cryopod, sitting down, was a young woman with dark-blue eyes and short, black hair. She had a seam running from one cheekbone, over the nose, to the other. Her skin seemed synthetic, almost porcelain-like, and the black suit she wore with a scarlet chestpiece resembled that of the SPARTANs to some degree.

She gasped, looking upon the soldiers, then pushed herself to her feet from next to the cryopod. She seemed to be eyeing them all, suspicious, before the Doctor hummed and raised her hands. She greeted the girl, or Machine, whatever she was, with a wave, depolarizing her helmet's visor. She pushed down the Marines' weapons and looked to the Major, who offered her a mere nod. The other Marines also lowered their weapons.

The humanoid machine took a moment to register a human face, then disbelief seemed to set in. Her eyes grew a hint wider, but her face remained eerily impassive. She blinked once, twice, then waved back to the Doctor, before letting out what the doctor could only surmise was a cough when she hunched over.

The woman took one small step forward, before the Marine beside her put a hand on her shoulder. She looked back and said, "It's one of the two crew-members, Major. And she's unarmed. Look at her."

"We don't know what the hell she is, doc…" Replied the Major through gritted teeth.

"She's clearly made by humans, at the very least…" Stone replied calmly, offering the Major a smile, then turning toward the seeming human machine and stating, "Though I'd very much like to know what ONI was doing and if this was them…"

The radiation counters spiked hard once, clicking rapidly in the ears of the explorers, before cutting off. An Engineer breathed a sigh of relief and poked out from the Reactor room, stating, "We stabilized the damn thing! No thanks to the language barrier! Seriously, the German was hard enough to understand!"

"Thank you, Chief Engineer…" The doctor replied, then blinked. A migraine hit her like a truck, causing her to stumble. The Marines, who also seemed to have experienced this, caught her and lifted her back to her feet. She shook her head, took her helmet off and murmured, "Ow… That wasn't good…"

"Elster!" A voice, muffled, cried from the cryopod, more annoyed than afraid, "Let me out!"

The girl next to the cryopod hummed, then pointed to the keypad at the foot of the pod and asked, "May I…?" to which the Doctor nodded. The woman approached the pad and punched in its code. The Cryopod then peeled open, its many layers further moving away, revealing a young woman with bright white hair and dark-red eyes. She had a bandage on her cheek and wore a white sleeping gown.

With wide eyes and a far more expressive face than 'Elster', the young woman tried to stand to her feet, stunned by the new arrivals, then coughed and fell back into the pod. She swore to herself in German, then rubbed her behind. She and Elster were both stunned, however, to see the Doctor running up to her side. Giving her a scan, the doctor murmured, "Just as I feared… Radiation poisoning and cancer cells… Hm… Should not be too hard to fix…" and then looked to the girl, offering a smile, "Hello."

"Hi…" The girl replied, still surprised, "Y-You're…"

"We're human," She nodded, "I am Doctor Stone. The fine gentlemen with firearms at the door are the Marines that were escorting me aboard your vessel. We received your distress call, or whatever that string of numbers was."

"... It… Was supposed to be a Status Report, back home…" The girl stated. She coughed, then said, "Who are you all… You Eusan, like us?"

"No," The Marine replied. The girl visibly paled, her skin bone-white, as opposed to the faint, pallid white it was before.

"... Empire…?" The girl beside her asked, a sharp, focused and hostile undertone to her voice. Yet again, a negative answer via a shake of the head. Elster's face relaxed, though she crossed her arms and asked, "What are you, then…?"

"We're the UNSC," Smiled the Doctor, "We're your fellow humans."

The girl with white hair coughed again, a small droplet of blood staining her hand. The Doctor looked to her and said, "We shall deal with that. Stretcher-bearer, please…" before motioning to one of her medical staff. A man walked in with a folding stretcher, unfolded it and set it down, then moved to the other side.

Elster put a hand on his shoulder and he looked back, "What, y'wanna lift her?"

The girl gave a nod, a hint of concern behind her eyes. The man lifted his hands in surrender, stating, "Alright, big girl, she's all yours…" as he backed off. Elster nodded, probably in thanks, then walked up to the girl and gently lifted her out of the pod. The white-haired one offered her a soft smile.

She then looked apologetically to the stretcher-bearer and said, "Sorry… We're… Both very attached to each-other."

"That's fine…" The Doctor chuckled. The Marines also let out a laugh as Elster, now under escort, carried the shy young woman out past them. The girl and Elster both looked to see the Engineers walking out of the reactor room, carrying their equipment.

As the group descended out of the vessel, they were greeted by eager researchers and Marines that were uneased. They watched Elster descend with the injured woman she 'cared for', followed by the Doctor and the Engineers.

Doctor Stone was fairly sure that their new arrivals were tantamount to a new 'First Contact scenario wherein Aliens were involved. Sure, they were human, or human-looking enough, when they came down to land, but that didn't really mean much to her.

She watched the young woman that had cancer, Miss Ariane Yeong, as per her own introduction, as she talked to Elster, a machine that acted, talked like and even seemed to be human enough to pass for one of their own. The Doctor had administered the medicine that immediately eliminated any risk of cancer from within the UNSC's stocks, then simply let both Ariane and Elster talk.

"Where do you think we are?" Elster inquired, looking around at the other people.

Ariane shrugged, smiling, "Don't know, but… This is incredible, honestly. We were flying a Penrose mission and, now, we meet a bunch of alien humans… I mean, look at them. Their technology just let them cure my cancer like it was nothing!"

"I agree, it is incredible…" Elster said cautiously, "However, we should be ready for anything…"

"You're far too paranoid, Elster. C'mon, have some fun! We literally just met aliens! And they saved our lives!" Ariane replied, offering her a smile. The Replika blushed, rolled her eyes, then sighed and leaned back into her own bed, looking at herself. She had been stripped of the armor in order for the doctors to be able to treat her for her own issues with cancer. How they figured the oxidant issue, however, was honestly surprisingly dumbfounding.

They'd simply taken a sample of her blood, scanned it, ran tests and… Well, they somehow reversed the over-oxidation by replacing the damaged oxidant cells within the stream. Such precision and technological capability told the girl they were a faction to be wary of, if they weren't allied.

Ariane then sighed, which caused Elster to look at her, worried. The girl shrugged and said, "I almost forgot we will probably have to call back home about this…" before she paused, eyes widening, "Wait, home!"

"Now, you realize…?" Elster hummed, allowing herself a small smile. She sighed, however, wiping it off her face, before stating, "Our people need us to find a new habitable world… What if running into these people might help us do just that?"

"Let's hope so," Ariane nodded. They heard the door to the medical bay open. A man and woman, both clad in bright white, clean-pressed uniforms stepped inside under the escort of a pair of Marines. The two girls looked at the pair, surprised, then Ariane waved and said, "Hey…"

"Evening, ladies. I'm captain Tomas Richards, of the UNSC Frigate Black Baron." Replied the man in uniform, "Apologies, but we have some questions pertaining to you and your ship…" and he eyed Elster. The Replika paused, unease, before nodding. Ariane also nodded, offering a more relaxed smile than her girlfriend. The man looked to his Executive Officer.

She stepped up, "I am Commander Ava Weathers, UNSC Navy. We have a lot to talk about before we arrive within Reach, though I'm going to assume you also have some questions, ladies. We will be doing as follows, for each question we ask and get an answer to, you will receive an answer back for a question of your own. Once we arrive in orbit above Reach, we'll talk about accommodations."

"That sounds good to us," Ariane replied, smiling softly. She paused, however, when she saw the stack of papers the woman pulled out of seeming thin air. Elster also blinked, looking to Ariane as if to confirm that the stack of paper was real. The girl chuckled, worried, then nodded, before looking to the Commander.

Ava hummed, eyeing the two suspiciously. She looked to the Captain who simply nodded, before beginning, "So…"