On the Illusion of Might

by evevee

We thought ourselves powerful, able to conquer a galaxy with nothing but toys. When we overcame every challenge, breached the space between the galaxies themselves, what use were the words of a race ashamed of their own past? Yet we cannot deny that we were warned, for while a challenge to a human is laughable, a challenge to humanity is a death sentence.

3. Alliances are Made

Disclaimer: I own no franchise mentioned in this work. Halo belongs to 343, Mass Effect to Bioware.

Because people are still confused and it may help me keep dates right anyways, I am just going to put the Halo CE dates beside ME equivalents. If there are parentheses - (-) around the date, then it's for YOUR information. If the dates are separated by a slash -/- then both users of those calendar systems know the other's equivalent. The date that comes first is the date format of the species whose point of view the section is in.

This will make sense in a few paragraphs, but to be clear, the Yonhet DO exist in Halo canon. I'm not just making them up as an OC species, nor will they play any large part in anything, nor are they super-special or whatever. Just a random Covenant Fringe species.

Now for Review Responses! If you don't care, skip to the breakpoint below. For responses, later reviews will be listed first, because I'm lazy and can't be bothered to reverse-order them.

MoonBurner: Wait no more, until you get to the end of this chapter. Then more waiting. Huzzah... Anyways, as of halfway through this chapter, the Council has been exploring Andromeda (to them, Milky Way to us) for about 7 years and 5 months or so. Plus or minus some days and such.

Guest #1: Thanks, my mistake. I haven't bothered correcting it in the Intro since it's an author's note and not a story point, but you are correct in that it's 3 million. That's still small, but it is much larger than 300,000 (duh). Much appreciated. :)

He Who See's: I'm not sure if you were trying to insult me with the word 'chud', but as far as I saw, Chud comes from a 1984 horror film and is an acronym for 'Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dweller'. I'm going to be honest, that's more amusing than anything else. As for who's furious or unstable, I'm not sure who you're talking about since your subjects kind of blend.

Guest #2: Criticizing the president of my country doesn't make me a communist, it makes me a thinking being with the right to free speech. I do like how you automatically assume that I'm talking about Trump, however. World's a little bigger than the US, buddy. I could easily be talking about Kim Jung Un, who had his uncle executed with an AA gun.

Worldwander2.0: HW2 and the such will be touched on this chapter and next chapter. I will say, Atriox is fun to write. I really hope Atriox becomes the main antagonist of Halo 6, however unlikely that may be to pass. Just something besides what they created in H5.

Abraxas01: Followed up it has been and will continue to be, muse be willing. :)

Hunter80195: Glad to have you on board.

Fandango12345: I appreciate that you care, and feel free to PM other such considerations or concerns if you have them. Indeed we will see, thank you!

Lord NV: Yeah, fixed the time thing hopefully. I've given up trying to have readers separate the three main time systems of the Covenant, ME, and Humans. All dates that are not on a CE calendar have been provided for reading convenience. For the neuro-constructions, their survival confuses me as well, but it's canon from Halo 5 and it allows me to push the explanation onto 343i instead of dealing with it myself. Eh, you can ignore the bridge appearance, my apologies that it was confusing. Don't know why I bothered it's not a large part of the story, for now.

Airmailmrcool: Thank you, and will do!

DLM4: Done. Yeah, I don't want everything from an audience PoV. I like to go a bit more in-depth for culture and other such trivialities.

Masterix: Thank you!

Hiei-Uchiha: Of course.

Sithdoom: ME controls an entire galaxy, but it's not the Milky Way. They don't control the Orion Arm because they aren't in the Orion Arm. I do agree with you, though, that even Canon ME seems far too small to control a galaxy.

LordLoverDuck: Eyup.

ThePhenakism: I think you meant chapters, in which case here's one now!

Guest #3: They aren't in the Milky Way, they're in a galaxy that orbits the Milky Way. A much, much smaller galaxy. Which they still only control a small part of, but ME races like to think that they control the whole thing. Y'know, Citadel Council rules galaxy, etc etc.

Berserker of Klyntar: Glad you're enjoying it. I think that the Council could take on the UNSc in space, but there's no way that Council forces could take over planets groundside. In a Mako vs. a Scorpion, I'll give you one guess as to what wins. Hint, there's no way the peashooter on a Mako could damage a main battle tank fast enough. Orbital bombardment could win, but that's kind of final.

Husebad: If you remember the end of Halo 3, Cortana said that she'd drop a beacon but it might takes years for the FuD to be found. That was that beacon.

Revenges197: Uhh, yes, I can stop the Flood like that. I don't want to deal with them. Quite simply, Flood vs. Anything wins. Reapers, Citadel, Forerunner, Precursors, they would or did fall to the Flood. I can assure you that the Flood will not be used in random fights or even large-scale conflicts. Galactic conflicts...maybe. ;) How else would I remove them? The moment the Flood get off planet, Ding, end of story. Everything is screwed. I haven't received any hate for it, and I honestly just don't want to deal with the implications of a Flood invasion. Sorry to disappoint.

Fdsadsaw: Here you go, sorry that it wasn't 'soon', per se.

SpecterXCove: Cool.

Linx007: Glad that you're enjoying it.

Zerochance117: No problem, thank you, and wait no more.

Jarediscool: Glad you like it.

Now that that's all done, onwards, to more shenanigans!

---

First Age of Realization, Fourth Cycle/January 12th, 2565

Negotiations to form the Wardens of the Mantle

Ealen IV

"Forty cycles have we fought, bled, and died to reach this day. Now, we come together to finally discard the past that has haunted us. Today, the Covenant is dead, the False Prophets gone, and those who would revive their lies defeated. We are present to forge an alliance, a bond between our races, not made of ignorance, but of knowledge. Not to wage war, but to bring peace. Our wars are at an end, each of our species united. Now, we must pick up the pieces and continue, not alone, but together. The threat of the Flood has been eliminated, but they are not the only adversary we shall face."

"I propose to all assembled not a covenant made of ignorant worship, but a union forged in the quest to learn and protect the knowledge of those who came before. As a pact between equals, governed by elected officials in a representative role, I officially present the offer to each of you to join the Wardens of the Mantle."

The Arbiter sat after finishing his speech. Around the table were arrayed the heads of state for each species, while in front of each lay a holopad that contained the details of the proposed alliance. All present had received the documents beforehand, the Arbiter's words were merely to officially present the offer.

"The Swords of Sanghelios accepts these terms," Rtas 'Vadum announced. Thel was technically a neutral party for introducing and inviting the other species and as such Rtas took his place representing the Swords.

The next to speak was the Unggoy Chancellor Fupklaz, "The Unggoy Republic stands with the Swords of Sanghelios and accepts your invitation to join the Wardens."

Mahola Yote Rupni, the Lekgolo representative, stood and spoke, "There was honor in our union once. We would have it be so once more. The Mgalekgolo accept."

Those three were the known supporters of the agreement as each had united under the Swords of Sanghelios to defeat the Covenant Remnant. Now the unknown parties would speak their part, determining whether this proposed alliance could heal the rifts that the Prophets had caused. The Arbiter, along with the other leaders of the species united with the Swords of Sanghelios, had written the alliance to hopefully alleviate the tensions between the Jiralhanae, Sangheili, and others involved in the Great Schism.

Instead of a Council made up of only two species with one above the other in that body, any and all species involved with the Wardens would be granted a seat on each of two ruling bodies. The High Senate would be made up of the leaders of each species while the Council of Guardians would be made up of military leaders from each species. All joint offensive military actions would have to be approved by both bodies while defensive actions would be solely commanded by the Council of Guardians.

The design philosophy for the form of government was drawn from humanity to prevent the deception and manipulation that the Prophets had used in the Great War. The individual species would be left to their own devices for the most part, with the High Senate being called to mediate large-scale interspecies conflicts or possibly intraspecies conflicts if tensions decreased and the measure was requested. It wasn't perfect, but it was far better than the absolute rule of the Prophets in the Covenant.

"The Kig-Yar kingdoms decline your invitation. We have no wish to be limited by your laws," a Kig-Yar queen declared. That one had shown up at all was impressive, although their refusal was unsurprising. The attempted central government of the Kig-Yar had quickly collapsed back into their standard pirating ways. The UNSC and Swords of Sanghelios had ceased all diplomatic contact with them after a Kig-Yar ship had rammed a Forerunner Guardian in an attempted hijacking. It had gotten them nothing but a destroyed ship and an irritated Spartan team aboard the vessel, but they had been invited to this meeting for one last attempt at talks.

Lydus, the new Chieftain of the Jiralhanae, rose and faced the Arbiter, "When we first came here to end the conflict of a generation, I did not hold much respect for Sangheili. Your fight against those who would destroy us has earned my respect. The Jiralhanae accept your offer. We may not be very good at talking, but when the time comes to fight, you shall have the Jiralhanae packs at your side." The Arbiter nodded in his direction, knowing that Lydus had fought hard since their first meeting in 2558 to obtain the position of Chieftain to bring unity to his race. Lydus lifted his chin to the Arbiter before taking his seat once again.

The Yonhet leader of the Fringe systems stood and spoke as the Jiralhanae sat, "The Allied Systems of the Fringe graciously accept your offer to join the Wardens." All former Covenant Fringe species had come together in the wake of the collapse of the religious juggernaut. To show the wide-reaching spread of the Warden's, their unified government was offered to join, even though the Fringe systems held almost no military or strategic value.

The Fringe species had been quickly expanding after the Great Schism, and though they had made progress, even the Kig-Yar could easily crush them without Sangheili protection. Their military was virtually nonexistent due to the presence of the Covenant, but strides were being made to expand so they could at least provide meager self-defense.

A series of chirps and whistles precluded a synthesized voice translating for the Huragok hovering beside the table, "What role do the Reclaimers play in this pact? None are present for this meeting and yet they hold the Mantle that you wish to protect."

The Arbiter quickly explained, "We shall approach the humans when we are united here. They shall be offered the same terms as all other species. The involvement of the Reclaimers is indeed crucial to the success of the Wardens, however, approaching them while we are divided would turn their acceptance or refusal into a political storm that would take years to solve. Presenting a united body for them to communicate with will allow us, and them, time to adjust without the added stress of a changing political climate to interrupt the early stages."

"So long as the Reclaimers are willing to accept this alliance and all within are equals, then the Huragok shall join the Wardens of the Mantle, " the Huragok responded. Thel nodded at this, knowing that the Huragok had begun to work closely with humanity while they took charge of the recovery and investigation into Forerunner ruins. Many Huragok had been integrated onto human ships as the humans began to use more advanced technology, allowing the Huragok to repair problematic systems that the Reclaimers had yet to fully understand.

The Arbiter looked to the last species that had not spoken. The Yanme'e as a race were virtually extinct after the end of the Blooding Years. Having sided with the few remaining Prophets during the Great Schism and then the Covenant Remnant during the ensuing years, the species was pushed back to their home system.

"Accept... not we... independence is us. The Great Journey shall proceed in... with... Prophet's will!" Her speech was broken up, likely due to her fervid composure and subsequent use of pheromones, but it was understandable what she was trying to convey.

The Arbiter saw several of the other leaders arrayed around the table glance around hesitantly. He quickly spoke to assuage their awkward manner, "The Great Journey was a lie created by the False Prophets. You would do well to recognize it as so and realize the futility of any attempts you make to finish the firing of the Array. The Reclaimers are beyond your species now. Attacking them will finish what your alliance with the Loyalists started. Have no doubt, you and your species will be annihilated should you try to even come close to Halo. The humans did well to disable the Array, but even then they will not allow anything near the rings."

"The might of the Jiralhanae packs stands to enforce the Arbiter's words, bugs. Only the Reclaimers have the authority to deal with the rings. Considering their purpose to contain the Flood is now gone, the decision to render the rings inert to activation is supported by the Jiralhanae," Lydus said. After speaking, he made eye contact with the Arbiter before nodding slightly. The Arbiter nodded silently back, knowing that Lydus' words were an unspoken offer to begin their collaboration with cooperation instead of political conflict.

The Yanme'e queen hissed at the threat, receiving an amused grunt from Lydus in return. The Arbiter stood to speak as this occurred, "So it shall be. On this Cycle, in the Fourth Solar of the First Age of Realization, those who have agreed to join the Wardens of the Mantle are welcomed into its ranks. May the Mantle guide you all."

Within seconds the Kig-Yar and Yanme'e queens turned and headed away, probably looking to get out of system as soon as possible. The rest of the assembled species began to mingle as the various generals or other leading figures approached from the edges where they had been waiting. The Arbiter could pick out snippets of several conversations between individuals, most focusing on possible defense pacts or trade agreements. It was a far cry from the chaos and hatred that had followed the end of the Great War.

Rtas walked up, drawing the Arbiter's attention away from the others, "If this is any indicator, this alliance should forge a bond stronger that the Covenant ever could hope for. When do you plan to approach the humans about their participation?"

The Arbiter considered the question for a short time. They would have to wait until the Wardens were an integrated force, but wait too long and they would risk humanity taking their new conglomerate as a reformed Covenant. "Perhaps a few short months. At most a full Solar Cycle. What of the reports from our fleets?" the Arbiter asked.

Rtas gave him a glance but knew that the Arbiter had been listening to the conversations around them just as well as he. He responded, "Without the Loyalists destroying our vessels, our buildup has accelerated immensely. We are quickly approaching 1000 combat-ready vessels, although we will have to slow down as we are beginning to run out of those who will crew the new vessels. We have plenty of veterans amongst the populace, but it seems that the human measures have indeed worked."

The measures which Rtas spoke of were suggested to the Swords of Sanghelios by human industrialists. Without the scientific knowledge of the San 'Shyuum and the Huragok taking positions on human vessels, the Sangheili were barely keeping their fleets from disrepair. This quickly changed in the First Cycle of the current Age, or in human years early 2560, when the UNSC and Swords cooperated to the point that human scientists were allowed to assist the Sangheili.

Within months Sangheili engineers were being trained to both maintain and construct new vessels. Without the Storm to contest their colonies or ONI interference, the Swords quickly began their assault on the remaining Remnants of the Covenant, eventually defeating them and leading to the current meeting.

Along with the training of engineers for their forces, the UNSC also assisted the Swords with more domesticated forms of living. Many Sangheili had come into the possession of large tracts of land and material as the appalling casualties from both the Great War and the Blooding Years became apparent. Those who had made it home against all odds had quickly turned to farming or other such pursuits, ashamed of their actions under the Prophet's lies.

The days of being a purely warrior race were over as many Sangheili understood that their reliance upon the leadership and resources of another race without developing their own was a major weakness.

The Arbiter drew himself from his reminiscing once more. He mentally cursed, annoyed that these political proceedings were causing his attention to drift so easily. He would have to perhaps challenge some of his entourage to a duel on their jump back to Sanghelios. As he watched the crowd, he saw Lydus finish dialogue with the Unggoy. The Jiralhanae caught his gaze and began to make his way through the crowd.

As Lydus arrived before the Arbiter, he spoke, "The others are nervous about the Reclaimers becoming irked that we did not invite them. These fears are not unfounded. I wish to accompany you when you offer the Reclaimers their spot in the Wardens."

Rtas glanced at the Arbiter as the Sangheili leader drew back at the question. The Arbiter narrowed his eyes but conceded, "I am not entirely sure what your objective is, however, I do not see any reason to deny you the right to take part in the proceedings. You are welcome to partake in the pleasantries that are liable to ensue when the humans learn of this alliance."

"You do not think they will accept the invitation to join?" Rtas asked, bringing the attention of both the Arbiter and Lydus to rest on him.

Lydus responded, "Will they accept? Yes. Will we live to see them accept? That is the question that should be asked." Both the Arbiter and Rtas snorted at Lydus' words.

The Arbiter somewhat agreed with Lydus in that humans did seem to take prolonged periods of time to decide upon a course of action. What all three of them knew very well, however, was that once humans decided to do something there was no known force that could singlehandedly stop them. "Their decision should not take long. They wish to avoid another conflict just as much as ourselves," the Arbiter assured him.

Lydus nodded at that before replying, "Indeed, Arbiter. For now, I must go to oversee the packs. Contact me when you are ready to discourse with the humans. May the Mantle guide you both."

"May the Mantle you guide us all," the Arbiter responded in kind. As he and Rtas watched the Jiralhanae Chieftain leave, the Arbiter slowly relaxed his posture from the stiff diplomatic standard. It was hard to believe that peace was finally returning to his species after so long. It would be decidedly nice to not have need to review various casualty reports every Cycle.

Rtas started to walk towards the exit, calling to the Arbiter as he went, "Let us go, Arbiter. There is much to be done now that we have succeeded here." The Arbiter glanced around, noticing that all other assembled parties had left, leaving the Sangheili as the only ones left. As his footsteps guided him to the entrance, Thel's mind fell back into the thoughts of his responsibilities as leader of the Swords of Sanghelios. For now, it would be his duty, not as a warrior but as an Arbiter, to continue to lead his people, and so that is what he would do.

---

December 16th, 2565

ODP Sydney

Earth

The view out the window presented a truly beautiful sight. Fleet Admiral Lord Terrence Hood gazed through the glass pane, observing Earth and all the objects in orbit above it. Various vessels drifted serenely against the background of the surface, supplemented by other artificial constructions strewn about. Seventh Fleet was stationed in various battlegroups distributed amongst the ODP grid above Earth.

The grid had been rebuilt after the Great War after it had shown its usefulness before being expanded after the Didact's ship attacked. The grid at present contained 750 platforms, all upgraded with the developments from the war, including energy shields for anti-boarding and defense measures. With the enormous strength of the ground-based power feeding the stations, the barriers had enormous damage resistance on par with Covenant capital ships.

This massive buildup had been precluded by the Chief's debriefing after his time AWOL. With the location of Genesis and the knowledge the Domain held, the UNSC was able to utilize Forerunner sentinels for resource production and directly utilize the few remaining Forerunner shipyards. Steps were immediately taken to secure the planet and the information gathered was analyzed and indexed, although it was highly classified so as to prevent a massive technological shift from destroying the newfound peace humanity had achieved within and abroad.

Along with the ODP's was the massive conglomeration of ships that was Home Fleet. Made up of Seventh, Second, and Sixteenth fleets, the massive force numbered almost 950 ships. While Second and Sixteenth were 250 ships each, Seventh fleet was by far the largest human fleet with an amazing 450 vessels.

The Seventh fleet and mainstay force of Home Fleet was still led by the UNSC Infinity, although the flagship was nowhere close to the largest vessel in the fleet anymore. That honor belonged to the UNSC Dauntless, the ship that now led Battlegroup Sierra.

Sierra was formed from the Dauntless and its escort of Forerunner Guardians. All fleet operations of the battlegroup were solely Spartan missions and fell under the command of Cortana. Her rank of Vice Admiral, while made possible by AI rights bills passed after the Great War, was in large part due to her control over the Prometheans and the Domain. Her posting aboard the Dauntless allowed the enormous might of the vessel to be piloted without using tens of thousands of UNSC personnel to crew and maintain the ship. Battlegroup Sierra was technically part of Home Fleet but spent most of its time parked in orbit of Reach.

When the Spartan branch was separated completely from ONI command, many changes occurred. ONI itself was severely culled, a result of their illicit dealings with Kilo Five as well as the uncondoned sentencing and execution orders for Halsey. The intelligence network that had been built over the course of the Covenant war was largely left in place, but significant oversight was built in as well to prevent the egregious violations that had occurred under Parangosky and Osman.

As for the Spartan branch, its command structure was reorganized and altered to fit the needs for the tasks they would undertake. The rank of Master Chief of the Phalanx was created specifically to suite the Chief as the supreme commander of all Spartan deployments. Equal to the rank of Admiral in the UNSC Navy, he commanded all ground operations conducted from the Dauntless while Cortana commanded the ship combat functions of Sierra. As with all military branches, Fleet Admiral Hood held ultimate command, although for the Spartan branch he usually stuck to managing the interactions between the UEG and UNSC while providing synchronization between other branches.

Behind the defenses of Earth, Hood could make out the massive shipyards that were producing vessels to continue to build up the human fleets. Various random fleets were positioned between the stations and yards, protected by the sphere of ODP's and Home Fleet. Most were dropping by to receive vessels to supplement or replace others. The same was true on Mars, Luna, and all other celestial bodies that humanity inhabited in the Sol system. A portion of the area under the grid was taken up by a joint Sangheili-Jiralhanae party that had entered diplomatic talks with the UEG about joining some pact known as the Wardens of the Mantle.

Hood didn't know much about it due to the sensitive nature of the proceedings, but he honestly wasn't too concerned with whatever it was. His attention was not focused on the alien vessels amongst several thousand UNSC vessels but instead upon a massive unoccupied gap in the net. Usually the commercial and military traffic that surrounded humanity's homeworld day and night would quickly fill the gap, however, Hood had ordered a no-fly zone around the area.

The Chief would be dropping out of slipspace soon and while the slipspace drive on the Dauntless may be incredibly accurate, having a ship as large as the Dauntless come hurtling out of slipspace into a busy airspace was asking for trouble. Many vessels took a wider than strictly necessary berth around the area, mostly because trying to see the vessel from close just presented a large wall instead of a view of its form. The UNSC hadn't even tried to hide the existence of the Dauntless from the populace, although its posting at Reach kept it from public view since the planet was a military fortress world.

This was more to get its bulk out of the way of civilians rather than any attempt to try and hide the ship. Having a vessel the size of a small moon constantly making entrances and exits would be noticed, so instead the Dauntless was publicly commissioned and entered service shortly after the Chief's and Cortana's return before being sent on its way. Even then, the traffic at Reach meant that Chief and Cortana often took one the escorting Guardians rather than the flagship.

As he finished his thoughts, Hood saw the ragged white edges of a slipspace portal burst into existence at the edge of the clearing. Several more rifts appeared as escort Guardians quickly emerged and formed with the portals closing behind them. Within seconds of the arrival of the Guardians a much, much larger tear formed, quickly expanding to dwarf any and everything around it. From within the spinning vortex the massive form of the UNSC Dauntless began to form. The ship slowly appeared from the horizon of the portal before moving to enter a defensive position with Home Fleet.

Hood turned from the view as the door to his office opened. An ODST walked in, glancing at the view of the Dauntless in the window before stopping and saluting Hood. "Fleet Admiral, sir! Your presence is requested on Earth. The UEG Senate has reached a decision concerning the alliance offer from the Sangheili and Jiralhanae. They wish for you to be in attendance for the proceedings.".

"Understood. Dismissed," Hood promptly responded. The ODST finished his salute and exited the room. The Fleet Admiral made his way to his desk, typing in a few commands to send some messages he had written up earlier. With that done, he exited his office and made his way across the massive station to the orbital elevator that lead down to the city of Sydney below.

As he stepped into the small personnel lift, Hood mentally prepared himself for the inevitable inquiries on UNSC naval power estimates and other such military matters. The bureaucratic mess that was likely to come his way after the official ceremonies concluded was going to be the bane of his day for a while after this was done.

---

December 16th, 2565

Sydney, Australia

UEG Senate Building

The massive space of the Senate building was filled with representatives from across the UEG. Arranged with an array of podiums and desks at the front of the room, chairs radiated out from the center to form a semicircle. There were two levels to the chamber, both of which contained 500 seats. While not all seats were needed at present time, all seats that were assigned to a world had a delegate in them for the current discussions.

Nearly 800 delegates made the gigantic chamber feel somewhat full, but there were still many obvious seats for future colonies. Admiral Lasky was seated on the second level of the chamber, to the far side in an area reserved for military figures.

The high number of representatives was a result of the reforms and amendments caused by the Insurrection and New Colonial Alliance. All colonies were given representation and many colonies possessed a force drawn from the recreated Colonial Defense Force. With the upheaval of the Covenant war finally starting to visibly fade, many of the UEG's decisions were made with cooperation. Much of the gridlock that had paralyzed the pre-war Senate had dissipated with the horrors of the war. Of course, there was the usual status quo of bickering over details, but the speed at which they could come to a decision was impressive.

The Arbiter and Chieftain Lydus faced the main body of the Senate, standing to the left of the Senate leaders. The Senate body itself was debating the proposal for joining this Wardens of the Mantle. Currently, the opinion appeared to be overwhelmingly positive in joining the Sangheili and their new allies. With the defeat of the Remnants as well as the growing might of the UNSC, solidifying relations and alliances with the other known powers of the Orion arm was popular with the public.

Acceptance of the Mantle of Responsibility had resulted in many humans reconciling with the Sangheili as the horrors of their own war progressed. When the UNSC's alliance in the final days of the Great War was released, public sentiment grew from reconciliation to increasingly positive due to the assistance of the Elites and the deception that they had suffered. As had happened after their own World Wars, relations between the previously hostile factions grew less heated as the Remnant gave both sides an enemy to focus on.

As the Senate finished their arguments, the president of the Senate stood and called, "We have all heard the positions on this matter. I now say we vote to decide." He reached to the desk in front of him, typing a few commands before declaring, "The vote for the UEG to join the proposed Wardens of the Mantle is now in session. This session will close in one hour."

Lasky watched senators from every planet in the Unified Earth Government start communications on their desk displays. Interactions were kept to text form, both for the sake of secrecy and because having 800 people attempt to have individual conversations at the same time would never work.

The Admiral turned his attention from the proceedings and put his hand to his ear, starting a communication. A quick mental command to his neural interface brought the frequency to the same as the Sydney ODP sitting in orbit above. Lasky spoke quietly as the connection was made, "Inform Lord Hood that his presence will be necessary for the announcement of the Senate's decision."

"Yes, sir," Lasky heard in response. Before he could close the connection, the officer on the other end spoke, "Sir, you should also know that Battlegroup Sierra has just arrived back in orbit. Would you like me to contact them as well?"

"Do so. Lasky, out," he replied before closing the connection. While he was waiting, Lasky rose from his place and made his way out of the chamber. He would need to greet Lord Hood and the other HIGHCOM officers and then proceed with them to the military section of the chamber to hear the Senate's decision. The admiralty had begun attending Senate sessions at the behest of ONI Section II so as to show cooperation between the UNSC and UEG leaders.

This political show was needed by the UNSC to help alleviate some tensions with outer colonies after the New Colonial Alliance and the UEG successfully negotiated for the Colonial Rights Bill. The military powers the UNSC had had during the Covenant War were quickly discarded by Hood when the war ended, but with the enormous military buildup in the post-bellum era the outer colonies were afraid of retribution. The presence of HIGHCOM officers in the Senate and the cooperation between the two bodies had proven an excellent method to decrease these tensions.

Lasky eventually arrived at the entrance to the UEG Senate building. He took a position at ease to the side of the large entrance hall, waiting for Lord Hood. For now, they would deal with the situation that would result from the UEG's decision, whichever way it went.

---

December 16th, 2565

Sydney, Australia

UEG Senate chamber

Lasky stood with the other HIGHCOM officers present in the system above the Senate floor. They were watching as the last few senators ended communications with the leaders of their home planets and then casting their vote as the session neared its end. Lord Hood had arrived only a few minutes prior along with several other officers.

As Lasky watched the proceedings, the president of the Senate spoke to the chamber, "This voting session is now at an end. The votes will be tallied and verified. The results will be announced momentarily." With those words, the president sat and began the process of verifying all votes. While the process used digital voting, all votes were authenticated by each Senator's terminal for security purposes. Lasky's attention was drawn from the floor as the door to the UNSC section opened. Both the Master Chief and Cortana emerged, stepping out onto the balcony.

Cortana was still in the hardlight form she had created at Genesis seven years prior. She was wearing a standard UNSC naval officer uniform with her Vice Admiral pin and her various awards attached to the front. It was strange to Lasky to see Cortana in uniform as she only wore it for large-scale public events such as this. Her usual attire was her hardlight body or a ship's computer, dependent on the vessel she was on.

The Master Chief's armor was easily mistaken for the standard MJOLNIR Mk. VI Gen 2 that Spartan IV's wore. While significantly different in function and capability, the outer shell kept the projection of strength and was recognized as a symbol of hope on any battlefield.

Interior component modifications had come from the Ancient Human armor given to Blue team by Forthencho. Several standard-issue tools for Spartans had been integrated into the armor after UNSC personnel had had a chance to examine it. Lasky did not know the full specifications of the MJOLNIR Mk. C by memory, but he knew that it was extremely powerful.

It was originally proposed for all Spartan units to receive Mk. C armor, however, issues were quickly encountered in that plan. Several member of HIGHCOM had pointed out the disciplinary problems with the IV's, which might prove to be an issue if unstable individuals were given access to such weaponry. Another issue was the cost of production and replacement. With the number of Spartan's lost in Requiem, analysts had determined that the effectiveness of the IV's was not short due to their armor but their overconfidence with having received equipment that had previously been only for legends.

With those arguments, the Spartan IV's were to continue using UNSC produced armor systems, which were both cheaper and satisfactory in combat conditions. The sets of Mk. C that were produced were either equipped and customized by the remaining II's or stored on the Dauntless.

As for the UNSC Dauntless, when it had returned to Earth alongside the Infinity, ONI personnel had wanted to crawl all over the vessel. UNSC HIGHCOM had prevented that from occurring and instead the ship was commissioned and investigated by UNSC scientists. A series of events occurred that eventually lead to ONI attempting to forcibly take control of the vessel from Cortana and the Chief. This had not ended well, with the ONI force getting slaughtered by Warden for boarding against the will of the captain. This event, along with the previous violations of orders, led to the ONI purges.

Back in the chamber, the two legends made their way through the crowd, Cortana splitting off to stand by Lasky while Chief, as Commander in Chief of the Spartan branch, made his way to Hood. Many gazes were drawn to the Spartan as he came to a stop beside the Fleet Admiral. It was rare to see the Spartan out in such a public space, although this occasion did call for his presence.

Observations and stray thoughts aside, Lasky turned his attention to Cortana. "Good of you to show up," he joked with friendly humor.

Cortana smiled back and responded, "You're lucky. If Jolly Green wasn't commander of the Spartans, you would never get him anywhere close to the Senate." Lasky snorted at that, knowing that it was very true, not just of the Chief, but of all the II's.

They both ceased their short exchange as the Senate President stood and spoke, "All votes are now official. I am proud to declare that on December 16th, 2565, the UEG Senate ratifies and accepts all terms and conditions for entry into the organization denominated as the Wardens of the Mantle."

There was a pause as the Senate President sat and the leader of the legislative branch of the government spoke, "As elected President of the UEG and all of its affiliated organizations and functions, I, Peter Lebeau, sign into order the agreement for the UEG to join the Wardens of the Mantle on December 16th, 2565."

Polite applause came from all over the chamber as this announcement came. Several rumors had been circulating that there would be vetoes or something of that nature by the tiny group of hardline anti-peace advocates who wanted to use the UNSC's growing power to annihilate all aliens. UNSC HIGHCOM had ordered ONI to quietly reduce such pandering to fear and the Senators that were elected on such stances were being weeded out by propaganda from Section II operatives promoting the joint UNSC-Swords operations.

The admiralty made their way down to the main floor of the Senate chamber, the procession following the chain of command. Lord Hood descended first, followed by Chief and then the other UNSC officers. Hood and the Chief were the only two branch commanders present in the Sol system currently, the others located at the fortress world of Reach.

Hood made his way down an aisle and stepped out to the space below the Senate President's bench. Peter Lebeau met the Fleet Admiral and held out his hand as he spoke, "Admiral Hood. Good to see you present at such a momentous occasion."

"Indeed. An official collaboration between our united species would be quite beneficial to all parties," Hood responded. Lebeau nodded in response and moved off to talk to other officers and politicians. The Chief held his position behind Hood, Cortana in turn standing by his side. There were few who approached them, only the Senate President and some other high-ranking politicians engaging in pleasantries.

Soon, however, the tall form of the Arbiter stood before them, Lydus standing by his side. The Sangheili leader spoke, "Greetings, Fleetmaster of Fleetmasters, Demon, and Construct. I am glad that your Senate could come to an agreement so quickly. It will be an honor to fight by your side once again."

"I should hope that I may do so as well, Demon. Your prowess is legendary. I should like to see it for myself," Lydus added. The Chief nodded at the Jiralhanae in silent response.

Hood smirked and said, "I'm sure we can arrange something. Perhaps some joint operations or even wargames if you are agreeable." The Arbiter nodded to Hood to indicate his assent while Lydus laughed deeply. This would be the beginning of a strong alliance if this was the cooperation that could be shown during times of duress. The combined might of their species would lead them into a new era of peace, preventing the unknowns of the galaxy from ever causing another Great War.

---

10th Day of 6th Month, 2437 (February 24, 2566)

29th Citadel Exploratory Fleet, First task force

Foreign Galaxy

"Question is less what is it, more who created it," Mordin told the captain. They and the rest of the science team aboard the Covenant were examining a mysterious piece of metal that they had discovered. Floating only a few systems away from the Missing Star, as it was now called, the piece of metal was a dark shade of purple and was made of a material that matched nothing in any Council database.

After their discovery of the beacon, the THV Covenant had quickly returned to Council forces in the galaxy and shared their findings. The Citadel had responded by granting Garrus command of a full exploratory fleet to investigate the area further. Several other task forces in the foreign galaxy had been alerted to the encounter, although those groups were far from Garrus' position.

The fleet returned to the area and the search continued with a greater concentration on the signal frequency that had been used by the alien species. That had been two years prior and from that time several items that indicated intelligent life had been found. No translation of the transmission heard before had been attempted as there was only the one instance to pull language from and that contained few words.

Garrus' fleet of 32 frigates, four cruisers, and the Covenant itself had returned to the Missing Star and established an operations base on an asteroid in a nearby system. Garrus had split his fleet into four separate task forces made of 8 frigates and a cruiser each. The task forces went in several different directions to increase the search area while providing a reasonable amount of firepower to escape in case of hostilities.

Their forays into the surrounding systems had yielded a debris field from which the chunk of material that they were now studying had come. While nothing but scraps remained in the area, finding materials that did not naturally occur in space did lend itself to solidifying the existence of intelligent life nearby. There was no discernible shape and nothing but the strange material in the field. Whoever built the vessel couldn't be a great distance away for there would be a noticeable Eezo residue that would remain if an FTL core was destroyed.

Garrus responded to Mordin as he finished reviewing their current situation, "Who was here is a question we've been asking since our first discovery in this area. I'll contact the other forces of our discovery." Garrus turned and made his way out of the CIC, allowing the experts to continue with their jobs.

As he made his way through the Covenant, Garrus heard Equvia Acharian speak over the ship's intercom, "Sir, we are almost done dumping our static charge in the atmosphere. We are also receiving a communication from one of the task forces out on long-range patrol. Where would you like to receive it?"

"Direct it to my quarters. Send out orders to the force to prepare for some long jumps, I think we may need to get to their position quickly," Garrus commanded. The other task force leaders had explicit standing orders from Garrus to immediately contact him and wait for reinforcements if they found something. While it was possible that this was not the issue that the force commander was contacting him about, he doubted that it would be anything else. The commanders of each of the task forces were competent leaders that were trained to Turian standards.

Garrus reached his cabin and moved to his desk. The holographic display came up as the captain sat, flashing the new message icon in his face. Garrus quickly glanced at the timestamp of the communication, noticing that it was sent nearly six hours ago. He closed the notification and played the message, "Captain Garrus Vakarian, this is Commander Verasia Eudolin of the THV Karnack and the Third task force of the 29th Citadel Exploratory Fleet. I am sending this communique to inform you of a development in the sector we were assigned. We have picked up a transmission using the same frequency that you informed us to keep an eye on. The attached file is a recording of the transmission we received. I have ordered my task force to track and pursue the signal towards its origin. A trail of beacons will be left from our current coordinates to wherever our updated position is. We will not engage or attempt any contact with foreign forces and instead shall await your arrival. Commander Eudolin, out."

As the message from the Third force commander ended, the captain opened the audio clip that had been attached. His attention was caught at the first sounds, "Mayday, mayday, mayday. This is UNSC CFV 88 Spirit of Fire, requesting immediate evac, survivors aboard. Prioritization code 01730-58392-JC." Garrus leaned back as the audio clip finished for the third time. The captain had replayed the audio recording several times, but there was no mistaking.

Aside from some minor differences after the first few words and the ending, the message was exactly the same as the other. It was a different voice, but this was another distress call. The turian paused in his thinking for a second as something occurred to him. Why were there so many distress calls from the same species but absolutely no sign of planets or other celestial habitation?

He promptly rose and exited the cabin, making his way to the bridge. Orders were flying as he entered, "Lieutenant Acharian, proceed at our best speed to the coordinates I've sent to you. Send out a message to the Second task force to rendezvous with us there while Fourth returns back to base." Within seconds, the entirety of the First task force was turning away from the planet they had been discharging their static energy to and towards the coordinates of the Third force.

Acharian spoke from her position at the helm, "Engaging FTL drive now. Estimated arrival in fifteen hours. Second will receive the communication in eight hours and, from their last known coordinates, will arrive approximately two hours before us."

Garrus gave a nod as he responded, "As you were." The captain took a seat in his command chair as the stars and other celestial objects on the viewscreen rippled and distorted with the Covenant's jump to FTL. He tapped a few commands into his omni-tool and opened a channel to his task force, "All primary crew are to be relieved for at least eight hours rest before we arrive at our destination. I want all ships operating with their best shifts for whatever we encounter. Captain Garrus, out."

---

11th Day of 6th Month, 2437 (February 26, 2566)

29th Citadel Exploratory Fleet, First Battlegroup

Tracing Alien Signal

This signal was proving to be a much larger pain to trace than originally anticipated. After meeting the Second force, the two task forces had continued along the beacons left by Third until they had caught up. The First Battlegroup, created when Garrus combined the First, Second, and Third task forces into a battle-ready force, had been slowly tracing the signal across space since.

They had made seven different jumps following the repeating transmission, tracing the signal through two different systems. Whatever was broadcasting the call was nearby, the trouble in tracing it came from the dissolution and degradation of the transmission.

While it did become stronger the closer they came, pinpointing a single ship in the vast distances between solar systems was tricky business, especially with a degraded signal that was using inferior radio waves instead of the Eezo-accelerated communications the Citadel species used. Admittedly, it still took some time, but it was better than what these unknown aliens were using.

Garrus had his battlegroup prepare for potential hostilities when they encountered whatever was broadcasting the signal. It was almost assuredly a vessel that they were chasing down, as a beacon wouldn't be able to make some of the course corrections that this unknown ship had. Slingshotting across gravity wells or other such high precision maneuvers were beyond any beacons Garrus had ever seen before.

He looked away from his screen as Acharian spoke up, "All vessels are reporting with their primary combat shift active sir. Logistics reports that the signal has successfully been traced to the outer edge of a nearby system. If we follow its path towards the galactic core, we will approach the second arm of the galactic spiral in several hundred light-years, approximately two months of FTL travel."

"Understood, lieutenant. Initiate FTL jump." Garrus then opened a fleet-wide communication, "All ships and personnel, prepare for combat. Do not fire unless fired upon or by my command. Captain Garrus, out."

The viewscreen flashed as the group made its jump to FTL. The jump was a relatively short one, a mere three hours to the location of the system the alien vessel was at. Garrus spent the duration of the flight in the CIC, now clear of the science team sent with the mission.

Instead, various first contact scenarios were being discussed by the lead officers of the battlegroup. Most of the considered situations involved combat procedures and formations in anticipation of a hostile contact, however, some officers also considered the possibility of a peaceful contact.

Almost all given scenarios were models that had been created by the Citadel species a while before to present a common contact protocol. While they could send a message to the Citadel Council to request a diplomat for contact, it would take months for a ship to traverse the vast distance from the edge of the galaxy to their position.

As the briefing session came to a close, Garrus spoke, "We'll assess the situation and decide the best course of action when we arrive. Do not fire on any ship in the area unless it is by my direct order. This species might not possess Mass Effect or FTL travel, but starting a war is the last thing I want to do while we're so far out from help. Dismissed."

The Turian officers saluted, each holoscreen above the main table disappearing as they did so. Garrus' fleet contained no Asari or Salarian vessels, something that personally irked the captain a slight bit. The lack of vessels from either of the other Council species was due to their much lower number of vessels. The Turians were the only ones able to field enough vessels to confidently divert a respectable force this far into a foreign galaxy.

Garrus turned and left the CIC, walking back through the tactical stations to take his chair on the bridge. As he entered, Acharian called out, "Captain has the bridge. Ten seconds until we drop from FTL sir."

Instead of responding, the captain merely nodded to the pilot of the Covenant. Up on the main screen, the streaking lights of FTL travel flashed by before quickly resolving to the immense starscape that lay further into the galactic core. Scans had already been initiated by the crew and as he watched, Garrus could see their local star labelled on the view, a mere point of light that was barely brighter to the naked eye than those around it.

Also present were several planets in the system, all barren, rocky, and completely unfit for habitation. Suddenly, the view changed as the screen focused on a section of the void and enhanced it to show a small dot making its way across the expanse of space.

"I want as much information on that vessel as possible, lieutenant," Garrus ordered. The captain rose from his chair and move to stand directly behind Acharian's seat. He tried to examine the vessel in more depth but couldn't before statistics on the alien vessel appeared.

Acharian glanced over her shoulder as the captain walked up before turning back to her console as various information from the tactical console appeared. She diverted the information as she spoke, "Sir, the vessel measures an impressive 2.5 kilometers long and has an unknown mass. Material composition is titanium outer hull with various other elements. No Mass Effect fields or any other sign of Eezo. No internal scans, their hull appears too thick for our sensors to pierce. The vessel is travelling towards the center of this system and is lined up for a slingshot maneuver around a local gas giant."

Garrus looked down at Acharian in surprise as she told him about the predicted trajectory of the ship. He responded, "A craft that large doing a slingshot maneuver around a gas giant? The number of precise alterations to achieve that would be impressive, especially for a vessel with such a large mass. Their engine output must be enormous."

The pilot nodded at this, knowing quite well how hard such a path would be to plot and correct. "With their current velocity and where we first picked up the signal, tactical estimates that the ship has been adrift out here for about thirty years. That number may be more or less depending on how accurate our original position was along with their acceleration," Acharian told him.

The captain grunted at this and replied, "Impressive length of time to drift through an area this sparse. Bring the battlegroup in closer and keep shields at full, I don't want any surprises if there's anything alive on that ship. Bring it back up on main, keep the zoom at full. Stats off to the side." He saw the screen shift, the ship once more appearing and the windows moving to the sides. The vessel peacefully drifted farther away, appearing motionless against the backdrop of stars. The group soon accelerated, following the Covenant towards the massive ship.

It took them a small bit to get moving, but they began to match the unknown ship's speed as their mass effect fields were turned to full and their acceleration was increased. It was nearly an hour for all ships in the group to match the velocity of the unknown alien vessel and another to close the gap enough to get a full screen view of the hull.

As Garrus examined the ship in detail, he immediately noted the extensive battle damage to the port side of the ship. It looked almost as if the ship had collided or rammed another, likely in combat judging from the damaged wrecks of giant defense guns. He also noticed that the hull of the ship was blackened and charred, as if from immense heat. The pattern of melted areas would suggest that these were not random occurrences in this ship's long flight but instead the result of battle, probably the same battle that resulted in damage to the port of the ship.

"Distance?" Garrus asked.

Acharian glanced at her panel and reported, "463,000 kilometers and closing, sir. We've reached the top speed for the cruiser Eezo drives. We will reach the ship in approximately eight minutes."

"Understood. Begin to hail on the same channel as the other signals." the captain replied.

Acharian took little time to switch the Covenant's communication array to the correct radio frequency. Almost as soon as she began hailing there was a response. "Not sure if there's anyone on the other end but they are receiving, sir. Audio only, delay of 1.7 seconds. No translation package or any other data," the pilot told Garrus.

He nodded and stood behind Acharian's seat in parade rest out of habit formed from years of Turian discipline. "Send a first contact package with a simple Codex, " Garrus ordered.

The pilot typed on her console for a few seconds before she reported, "Package sent, still no response or reaction. Might be a dead ship sir, that damage to the side might've created a vacuum or allowed radiation to leak in. Many species unfamiliar with space can make such mistakes and seeing as they don't even possess FTL capabilities..."

Garrus considered that option for a short time before replying, "Anyone who possesses the capability to design and construct a ship this large would know the simple dangers of space. Let's try a more direct method." The captain straightened his back and took a very formal pose for first contact.

"Hello. This is the THV Covenant, flagship of the 29th Citadel Exploratory Fleet. We have picked up your transmission frequency on two different occasions. Are you in need of assistance?" Garrus asked. They waited for several minutes before he repeated, "This is the Turian Hierarchy Vessel Covenant to the unknown alien ship. Do you read?"

When they were sure no response was forthcoming, the captain relaxed his posture and spoke to Acharian, "Move us into dropship range and match the speed of the alien vessel. Tell all ships to standby, hostilities are to be avoided. I'll be taking a boarding team over, see if that elicits a response."

"Yes, sir. Beginning to slow down, we'll match the other ship in 30 minutes, allow you some time to brief the team," Acharian told the captain. Slowing down was a lot easier than increasing speed for Citadel ships. Instead of utilizing omni-directional thrust, the mass effect fields on ships with Eezo drives were decreased in strength, thereby increasing the mass of the ship and slowing it down very quickly.

This feature was also what limited the speed of Citadel ships, because a mass effect field could only keep decreasing the mass of an object to a certain point. Mass effect field collapses were an assured death for any ship due to the extreme stress caused by near instant deceleration. Mass effect may break the laws of matter and physics for normal materials, but even it could not violate the law of conservation of energy.

Garrus turned from the pilot's seat as he felt the subtle tug of inertia from the grav-plates underneath the deck adjusting to the change in speed as Acharian decreased the mass effect fields. He eventually reached the briefing room of the Covenant and saw that the Turian soldiers of his boarding team were already in armor and ready to go.

The captain strode to the holotable at the front where the alien ship was displayed and got straight to the point, "Our mission is to board the alien vessel we have found. We will attempt to locate and operate an airlock or hangar for clean entry, but if necessary, we will cut our way in. Terrain is unknown, presume a vacuum and foreign contaminants. Contacts are unknown and will not respond to hails." Garrus turned off the hologram and took his weapons from the officer who had been holding them while he briefed the team.

He continued speaking as he holstered his rifle and pistol, "Rules of Engagement are attempted contact with any living being aboard, anything with a possible weapon is to be treated as hostile. Do not fire to kill unless if fired upon or by my order. We have no translation packages or any form of contact from them besides their distress call. At this time the ship appears to be dead but our sensors cannot penetrate whatever they use for a hull. Judging from the thickness on the exposed structure of the port side, their hull is almost 60 centimeters of what seems to be some form of titanium. There are too many unknowns for us to draw up any reliable plan so I want everyone to stay flexible and alert. This has been a clean op so far, let's keep it that way and make first contact. Honor to your lives," Garrus shouted, saluting his team.

"Glory unto death," the assembled Turians shouted in response, returning the gesture. Garrus and the rest of the assembled Turians donned their helmets, checking the seals and performing other equipment checks as well.

The group made its way out of the briefing room and in short order arrived at the small docking bay of the Covenant. The bay could only hold two small vehicles, which in this case were two shuttles. Garrus entered the shuttle first, making his way to the cockpit as the rest of his boarding team loaded and secured themselves for the flight.

The pilot of the shuttle looked back at the captain before returning to prepping the shuttle for launch. Garrus watched until his omni-tool pinged and Acharian's voice came through, "We're making the final approach to the alien ship, sir. Still no reaction or any notable improvement in the scans. You're clear to exit the bay, it's a short ten kilometers to the vessel."

"Thank you, lieutenant. Keep on alert and be prepared for a quick pickup if we need to exfil. Have a team ready to engage hostiles if necessary. Garrus, out," he replied. He quickly sat in the copilot seat and strapped in as the bay depressurized and the bay doors opened.

There was a slight tug as the shuttle accelerated out of the opening and towards the alien ship. As they drew closer to the massive vessel, Garrus began to examine the outside for an open airlock or hangar, any sort of opening that would allow him and his team to infiltrate and examine the vessel.

The pilot suddenly tilted the craft and pointed it to a small opening under the damage on the port side. It looked to be a hangar bay that got stuck open from whatever combat this ship had endured. Garrus looked at the opening for a short bit, judging how easy it would be to get in or out if they needed to do so quickly. As the craft closed on the location, he tapped the pilot's shoulder and gave his approval, "It'll work. Keep on station for a quick pickup if necessary."

The pilot responded with a quick, "Yes, sir," as Garrus disappeared through the door to the troop compartment.

"Last equipment check, door opens in 30," Garrus announced to his team as the door to the cockpit sealed. The assembled soldiers finished up their checks, all of them making sure their seals were secure so as to prevent a quick end when the compartment depressurized. As the last of the his team gave him a quick salute to show their readiness, Garrus reached up and engaged his own helmet, sealing and pressurizing the internal systems for vacuum operation. He then reached up and hit the door controls, causing the shuttle's atmosphere to be compressed into tanks stored overhead. After that finished, the back door of the shuttle opened, slowly revealing the side of the massive ship as the shuttle pulled up to the door.

When they reached the crack under the hangar door, Garrus ran a quick visual inspection. The gap was about a meter wide, plenty to get through with some time but possibly troubling if they were caught in a firefight.

Several of his team moved through to enter the ship first, the captain himself too important to take point in an extremely risky entry. When the area was declared clear, Garrus made his way out along with the rest of his team. The shuttle pulled away from the door a short ways, close enough to return quickly but far enough so as to prevent unwanted boarding to occur.

Garrus looked around the massive space, the lights from his team showing them that the area contained several large items that looked to be dropships and several ground vehicles. He waved his hand towards a door on the side of the hangar as he spoke, "Alright, let's move. Keep it tight and clean and we'll all be home quickly. We've got a ship to explore."

---

May be a day late, apologies. Busy with final papers, programs, and other such nonsense that's required to pass classes.

-evevee