This is the rewritten version of the second chapter. Just like the first, I thought the original was subpar, so I did my best to improve it.

Disclaimer: I do not own Halo or Mass Effect. All non-original characters belong to 343 and EA.

[(|)]

As the cryopod began thawing, Cortana watched as Chief began to stir. Suddenly he slammed his fists into the glass.

"Chief! Easy. You've been out for a while," said Cortana.

"Where are we?" he asked, as he looked down at her.

"We're still adrift on the Dawn."

"Why did you wake me?"

"Hang on. Bringing your systems online now." As she said that she activated his HUD and the rest of his suit's electrical systems and subsystems.

"Okay, activating artificial gravity generators," she said, and the ship's PA announced it.

"Partial system restoration. Initializing system diagnostics."

"It looks like there was some damage done to the cryopod systems. You'll need to pull the manual release lever," Cortana instructed Chief. She watched as he pulled the lever. After the door was lifted up he stepped out and walked over to her. She smiled up at him.

"Seems like old times."

"Ready to get back to work?" he asked. Cortana crossed her arms.

"I thought you'd never ask."

Chief pulled her out of the holotank and stuck her chip in his helmet, immediately feeling the cool, liquid sensation that happened whenever he put her in his helmet. He then walked over to the armory, grabbing an MA5C Assault Rifle, an M6G2 Magnum, and plenty of magazines for both.

"We've got intrusion alerts lining up on multiple decks. Our best bet to figure out who's boarding us is the bridge, four floors up," Cortana informed him as he loaded his weapons and began heading towards the exit.

"Could it be a rescue team?" Chief asked. "How long was I out?"

"It might be a rescue team. We've been drifting for one year, 3 months, 24 days."

"That seems a bit early for someone to have found us. What's the best way to the bridge?" he asked.

"There should be an elevator two rooms over. I'm marking it on your HUD." Chief continued to move through the ship, his rifle at low ready. He was watching his motion tracker for the slightest hints of contact, enemy or friendly. After a few more seconds he reached the elevator doors.

"You'll need to pry them open, Chief," said Cortana. "Some of the elevator doors took damage when the Dawn was cut in half. The cars are also damaged, so you'll have to climb. Don't worry, the doors for the bridge are still functional." Chief simply walked forwards, slung his rifle onto the magnetic clamps on his back, then grabbed the doors. With one hand on each door, he began to push the doors apart. Successfully pulling them apart, Chief jumped into the elevator shaft and began to climb and jump from handhold to handhold. As Chief climbed towards the door, he noticed several red dots on his motion tracker that were heading towards the door.

"Guess they heard us coming," Chief remarked.

"I'm not picking up any UNSC IFF tags. That means we're either dealing with civilians or the Covenant. Either way, I suggest we try talking things out."

"What if they don't want to talk?" Chief asked, as he saw the ten dots form a half circle around the elevator door.

"Then we do this your way," replied Cortana. Reaching the door, Chief could see it was already open. As he pulled himself onto the bridge he was able to get a look at the people who had boarded his ship.

There were ten of them. All of them appeared to be human in both size and body shape. They all wore black armor, with black helmets that concealed their faces except for some clear material over their eyes. Their weapons were curved, looking much more like something the Covenant would use, with blue lines over them. Two of them had orange holographic constructs around their arms, while one of them had a strange blue-purple glow coming from their hand. It was obvious they were professionally trained, which ruled out civilians or insurrectionists. They were far enough away from the elevator that a normal person would not be able to get within melee range before being shot..

As Chief assessed them, the one directly in front of him stepped forward and shouted in a loud and clear voice.

"Halt! Don't move or we will open fire!" It was obviously a man's voice, modified by his helmet.

"Hmm. That's definitely a human speaking. But I've never seen these armor or weapon designs before. And the readings I'm getting from your suit can't possibly be right." Cortana sounded extremely fascinated with these newcomers.

"So you're saying we should do what they say?" asked the Chief, double checking that the external speakers were off.

"I'm saying that we don't know what these people are capable of. These weapons are like nothing I've ever seen. I'd rather find out what they do by shooting them, not being shot by them."

"Fine," said Chief. Seeing that he wasn't moving, the officer, for that's what Chief assumed he was, continued speaking.

"Okay. Now you will slowly raise your hands above your head with your fingers straight and your palms facing outward toward me," he commanded. Chief did exactly as he was commanded. After raising his hands above his head, the officer immediately relaxed and lowered his weapon. The rest of the soldiers kept their guns trained on Chief.

"Thank you for your cooperation. Now, we were sent to rescue this ship and search for any survivors. So why don't you give me your name?" he asked Chief, in a tone that showed he wasn't really asking.

"Master Chief Petty Officer SPARTAN-117 of the United Nations Space Command Navy," Chief responded. He saw that some of the other soldiers were looking at each other, and their body language indicated confusion. The officer spoke again.

"All right Master Chief. I'm 2nd Lieutenant Kaur, Systems Alliance Marines. Could you please tell me what the United Nations Space Command is?"

"Cortana?" Chief asked, speaking on his internal comm.

"Sorry Chief, I've never heard of any Systems Alliance. I've also compared their armor and weapons to everything in my memory and the UNSC was never developing tech like this as far as I know."

"Any suggestions?"

"Their technology is advanced, and they haven't heard of the UNSC. It's possible that when the Halo fired and we were torn in half, that we didn't just travel through space, but also through time. It's been hypothesized that if one were to significantly disturb a slipspace rupture while going through it, and I think the Halo ring firing and destroying itself definitely counts as a disturbance, that you might travel through more than just space. It's entirely possible that while we've only experienced a year, that we've been gone for centuries. Try asking for a date," Cortana suggested.

"Master Chief, I will ask you again. What is the United Nations Space Command?" The Lieutenant spoke up again, and this time there was a very slight tinge of impatience in his voice.

"Sir, what year is it?" Chief asked.

"Hey asshole, the Lieutenant asked you a question. You better answer it before I make you answer it!" shouted one of the other Marines. Chief knew the type. Probably a jumped up teenager fresh out of basic, that didn't know anything except shouting and obeying orders. He noticed the leader turn to address the man, but must have switched to his internal comm since Chief didn't hear anything.

"Apologies for the outburst Master Chief. It shouldn't happen again," said the Lieutenant in a conciliatory tone. "You asked me what the date was, right?"

"Yes, sir," answered Chief.

"In that case, the current year is 2183 CE," said Lieutenant Kaur. "Why? Is there some sort of problem?"

"Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore," said Cortana.