Prologue
Emergency Status Report
Date: 1 August 2562
To: All members of HIGHCOM
Subject: Missing UNSC Command Carrier.
I cannot begin to explain the severity of the situation at hand. As we all are currently aware one of our newest Carriers went missing. Yes, an entire damn Carrier went missing. Current reports indicate that UNSC Sol went missing when it went into Slipspace on the 13th of July 2562. She was supposed to arrive in the Epsilon Eridani System at Reach for a military training exercise. Reach is 10.5 light years away from Earth and with the Slipspace drive UNSC Sol was equipped with she should have arrived within 2 days at Reach.
Yet here we are almost a month later with a missing top of the line Super Carrier and the Fleet Admiral that was in Command of her. Fleet Admiral James Becket. We also have 10 frigates that were stationed in Sol that are also missing. As well as an entire Marine Battalion, not to mention Sol's and the Frigate's crew. That brings the missing personnel up to 19 000. And let's not forget about the Spartan IV team also stationed there.
That is why I Fleet Admiral Lord Terrance Hood calls for an emergency meeting at High Command in Sydney Australia on Earth.
Transmission End
Fleet Admiral Terrance Hood.
"This is just what I needed today"….sighs while muttering to myself. 'What on Earth happened to Sol. She just went into Slipspace and never arrived at her destination. This has to be the first Slipspace accident in decades.'
I can't help but look at the beautiful green trees that surround me. The dark greyish concrete that makes up all Military fortifications here at HighCom really makes me appreciate nature. The beautiful green standing against the ugly grey concrete.
I continue walking along the pathway passing by many officers and military police. They all salute me so of course I salute them back. It is normal after all since I am head of the UNSC. I find myself standing before a security door. "Password Please" asks the V.I.
"Vivat Terra et Humanitas" Long Live Earth and Humanity…Humanity how we were brutally decimated, wiped out, erased and slaughtered like animals by the Covenant Bastards. I will never forgive them, yes they are one of our closest allies now…but I will never forgive them for all the innocent people they slaughtered, our worlds they burned to molten glass all in the name of religion.
'I need to erase these negative thoughts' At least for the duration of the meeting.
My feet carry myself through the white marble corridors towards the conference room. 'What are we going to tell the civilian population about this situation, how will they react? How will the families of the crew and soldiers on board the UNSC Sol react?'
'Breathe in, breathe out' After calming down the automatic doors open and I step into the conference room with the intent of not wasting any time. "Ladies and Gentlemen, we all know why we are here today and I trust you all have read the documents I send earlier". Without wasting time, I stand in front of the holographic projector that shows a Hologram of UNSC Sol.
My eyes meet those of the various other Admirals, Fleet Admirals and Generals of the UNSC. "UNSC Sol part of the Sol-Class Command Carriers meant to replace our aging Infinity-Class Super Carries is missing following what we can presume is a Slipspace incident or anomaly, whatever you want to call it"
"So far reports I got from our Scientists and AI is that UNSC Sol could be apparently be anywhere, she could be on the other side of the Milky Way, she could be in another Galaxy or on the other side of the damn Universe."
"The scientists also report that the chances of them surviving the slipspace incident is high, we just don't know at what part in this massive universe they ended up in"
Carefully watching the reaction of the people that make up HighCom in front of me, save for the empty seat of our missing Fleet Admiral. Most of the expressions on their faces are solemn while some are angry and few are bored. 'I am going to have a word with those last few after the meeting, how dare they be bored when we have 19 000 soldiers missing!?'
"That is the best-case scenario for the crew of the UNSC Sol, the worst-case Scenario is that they exited Slipspace inside a planet or sun. The main problem we are currently facing is what we are going to tell the Civilian population and the rest of the military about the fact that a Human Carrier is MIA. Does anyone have any suggestions?"
"We could use it as an excuse to attack the Swords of Sanghelios?" 'What?' Did someone actually just suggest something so stupid and retarted…judging by the gazes of everyone else in the room they agree with me that what this Admiral just said is just plain retarted.
"Are you Crazy!? Why the hell would we want to go to war with the Arbiter and his people!? Jeremy, I know you hate them, everyone in this damn room hates them, but if it means preventing more human blood from getting spilled, we are not going to war with them! Not to mention this is completely unrelated to the current situation." Said a female Admiral on the other side of the table.
a General gives his input this time. "I completely agree with Admiral Veronica. That is a stupid suggestion Jeremy" Every other person in the room including myself nods our head in approval. "Is it possible to just cover this incident up?"
"No, this isn't a couple of hundred personnel that went missing. We are talking about 19 000 men and women that are missing, it would raise suspicious eyes if we try to cover this up"
"Are we certain that it wasn't Sabotage by an Insurrectionist group?" asked an ONI Admiral.
"We have no idea, all that we know is that Sol entered Slipspace and never arrived at Reach, like Lord Hood and the scientists said, they could be anywhere or either dead"
"Could they perhaps have defected and joined an Insurrectionist group?" Asked someone else.
"Hah! please, Becket would never betray the UNSC nor humanity, that guy is a fanatic when it comes to the UNSC and humanity and he would do anything to protect it. I heard he once executed a family in the street because said family helped some terrorists escape UNSC custody. The guy is as ruthless and loyal as they come."
"Yeah I know. I once had a conversation with him at a meeting a couple of years back. We ended up talking about how far we will go for the UNSC and Humanity….safe to say he will do ANYTHING and I mean ANYTHING to ensure humanities survival, I was both inspired and mortified."
"I also heard he cares greatly about the men and women under his control even his AI"
'This conversation is steering into the wrong direction' "Enough about Becket we need to do something about our missing Carrier otherwise there would be outrage among the civilian population."
"So, we should tell the media and people of the UEG the truth?"
"Yes, we should tell media the truth about what happened to the UNSC Sol, she suffered a slipspace incident and went missing, everyone on board is presumably dead." Explains Admiral Thompson.
Nods my head in approval before speaking up. "Good this went quicker than I expected. We will tell everyone that Sol is missing and everyone on board is presumably dead, is there anything else we should add?"
"We could reduce the chance of riots happening by giving the relatives of Sols' crew compensation for their loss, let's say about 200 000 credits per family?"
"Hmmm I agree, 200 000 credits isn't too low for the family and isn't too high for us to pay, as long as they don't riot or do something extremely stupid."
Multiple voices of agreement rings out as everyone approves of the compensation to the families of the missing crew.
"We should find a new Fleet Admiral now that Becket is either missing or dead."
"Yeah, we need to find someone to fill Becket's empty seat and we need to do it carefully and thoroughly, after all Fleet Admiral is one of the highest positions someone can obtain in the navy." Another Admiral agreed causing most in the room to voice their approval as well.
"Approved. We shall provide compensation to the families and find a replacement Fleet Admiral"
"If I may interrupt, I also believe it is best that we currently stop production of the Sol-Class Command Carrier, after all the Slipspace issue could also be present in them and that would obviously just cause us more problems than necessary."
"It is going to cost us allot of money to stop the production of the Sol-Class but if it means saving more human lives than that is the best course of action."
"Agreed."
"Agreed."
"Agreed."
"Agreed."
Multiple more voices step in addressing their approval.
I look around the room for anymore suggestions.
"If that is all this meeting is adjourned" The following five minutes is everyone leaving the meeting room and returning to their posts across UNSC controlled space.
I find myself standing in front of a memorial. Not just any memorial, it is one of many memorials built around earth and the other remaining human colonies. These memorials are meant to represent the billions of human lives lost in the Great War or as many other know it the Human Covenant War. "Those damn religious xeno freaks" We didn't do anything wrong to them, mankind just went to explore and colonise the stars yet the aliens attacked us. We sued for peace yet they burned our worlds…we colonised 800 worlds, made most of them into paradises…now there are only more than a dozen left and 16 billion humans out of the 40 billion are left.
The Swords of Sanghelios may think that we forgive them…they don't know that we are just waiting for the perfect time, the right moment to strike them down and secure the Milky Way Galaxy for humanity and to claim what is ours.
The tip of the liquor bottle meets my lips as I gaze upon the starry night sky. "Wherever in this universe you currently are Sol, you better make the enemies of humanity shiver and whimper under your shadow".
Author Notes:
This is my very first fanfiction that I am writing. I literally wrote the prologue in under 4 hours with breaks in between. Sorry if the language and grammar is not up to standard because English is my second language with Afrikaans being my first.
The reason why I am writing this is because there is way too many smut and crack Arknights Fanfiction. And even fewer Arknights fanfiction that involve True Humans (that's us here on Earth). So I decided why not write one myself since no one else is going to.
The other reason is because I want to write how I believe it will play out. how an advanced space faring Humanity that doesn't experience racism or discrimination on a massive scale against itself but also one that survived a war of genocide against an Collective group of aliens interact with the various races of Terra that are stuck in an endless cycle of hate, genocide and discrimination as well as stuck on their own planet.
Then again since this is my first fanfiction, I would appreciate any and all criticism that would help me improve my writing ability.
The prologue is 1764 words long excluding my Author Notes.
Peace out.
…PS, Google Sol-Class Command Carrier.