Remnants

by General Rage

From Halo's ashes, a mismatched Alliance is born. UNSC soldiers now serve alongside both Batarian deserters and shifty Jackal Space Pirates. Now Shepard and Master Chief have to keep these strange bedfellows from killing one another before they can stop an emergent new threat to the galaxy. The Next Swashbuckling Chapter of the Wormhole Chronicles.

23. Secrets of New Teteocan

Chapter 22: Secrets of New Teteocan

There are no Secrets that

Time does not Reveal

-Jean Racine

They had imagined it would be difficult. Shepard had not imagined it being so daunting. The way Taq described their situation was not at all favorable. They had gotten into the facility proper, yes. However, that left a whole set of rooms to go and no easy way to work through them. As he stood marveling at the inner workings of the Forerunner complex, he looked to Taq, Tali and Cortana for a greater understanding of the problem at hand. The AI was currently plugged into one of the various consoles scattered about the massive room. Halsey was off somewhere conducting her own form of research, while Caleb and Rowan were trying to tackle the problem from another angle.

Right now, Shepard just wanted to know how screwed they were.

"Where exactly do we stand?" Shepard asked. "Can you get access to the rest of the complex?"

"It's not a question of if we can, it's a question of how long it will take," Taq informed him. "Near as I can figure, the Forerunners were deathly paranoid near the end of their existence. This entire place is basically a vault, within a vault within a vault doubling as a science lab. It's ridiculous. No one has this kind of security, no Forerunner facility I've ever gone inside has been this fucking locked up. Absolute overkill."

"Given what this place is, there might be a reason for the overkill," Cortana informed them all. "They were conducting highly experimental research here. Weapons, defensive systems, biological engineering, genetic re-sequencing procedures, all kinds of insane stuff that even to the Forerunners could be considered Science Fiction. One guess what this was all for."

Shepard only needed one.

"The Flood," he surmised. "They were trying to find ways to kill the Flood."

He kept his voice low, for fear Caleb or Rowan would hear. They were not about to inform them of their encounter with the undead parasitic monsters. It would only spark further concern among the colonists than already existed. Are you sure you're clean? Are you sure they're not following you too? Those questions he didn't want to have to answer unless he had to. Right now, all it would do was throw the colony into a panic and make them even more suspicious of the UNSC. Haverson at least believed that and Shepard wasn't about to argue with him.

The theory did track though. Guilty Spark had alluded to other plans the Forerunners tried, attempts to eradicate or cure the Flood. They all failed or were rejected for being worse than the disease. Or, as Spark claimed, worse than the plan they eventually went with. Said plan being wipe out the whole galaxy and starve the parasites to death. Was this one of the places where they were trying to find a better solution? If so, who know what was in here, besides the Relic they were after of course.

"If they were making weapons to fight the Flood it stands to reason they were wary of it finding them," Tali continued. "It could explain why the base has such powerful defenses. As well as the security. We know the Flood can use our knowledge against us. That they possess some kind of mental ability to assimilate the knowledge of their hosts. The extra security must've been a way to prevent them from breaching the labs and destroying all their work."

"As well as keeping the primitives from blowing themselves up if they ever found this place," Taq sardonically added. "Which seems to be working just fine. I suppose we can't judge them for locking up their boomsticks before they all died. Responsible gun ownership, apparently an important thing for ancient aliens with God Complexes. Who woulda known?"

"Do we have an idea on anything specific they could've been working on?" Shepard asked them.

Cortana brought up a few windows on the console for Shepard's benefits, but she remained stoic as she went over them.

"It's not much, pretty much everything is classified, I can only make educated guesses, save for the relic," the AI explained dutifully. "It's what a lot of their later work seemed to based on. Given it's in the center of the facility, that makes sense. From what I'm able to translate, they believe the relic has some kind of mental psychic resonance, for lack of a better term to describe it."

"So, Mind Powers then?" Shepard asked.

Cortana could only shrug, eliciting a laugh from Taq.

"Power amplification, Time and Space control and now Psychic Shit," she declared. "The deeper this treasure hunt goes, the more ridiculous it becomes."

"Perhaps they were trying to disrupt the Flood hive mind, use it against them," Tali surmised.

"Whatever the case we still need it," Shepard reiterated. "Is there a faster way to get to it?"

Taq chortled derisively.

"You need to know what you're asking," the kig-yar informed him. "Each clearance level has several layers of encryption and pass keys, not just physical or electronic, but genetic. The system is hardlocked with a number of cyphers and codes and various fucking bullshit puzzle crap these aliens must've installed just for fun. A barrel of shits and giggles at my expense. All of it needs to be decoded, bypassed or solved in order to get the clearance we need to press on and that's only for a few extra doors. We're working with a dead language and an even deader secret code cypher system that we need to figure out. I have some knowledge on this sort of thing, but it is never easy and always takes time. Not to mention, potential security countermeasures in place we could activate if we get it wrong. Like Sentinels, maybe worse."

Reason enough to be careful, but it didn't answer his question.

"Are there ways to speed all that up? To make it easier?" He asked again.

"There are," Taq confessed. "I need more processing for one. A single AI will not cut it."

"I'm afraid she's right," Cortana admitted. "I am programmed for infiltration, but even this is a bit outside my comfort zone. And I can't be certain if there isn't another Forerunner AI in here that will be fighting tooth and nail against me the whole way."

Given what Guilty Spark was like, Shepard took that threat very seriously.

"So more AI assistance," Shepard reasoned. "Anything else?"

"We find a security room in here," Taq informed him. "We see if we can override the lockdown, maybe open up some extra doors from there. Reroute power, change some odds and ends to shut down security systems, we have options, I'm not saying we don't. But we need every bit of help we can get."

"Then I'll get you it, one way or another," Shepard assured them. "Make finding this security room a top priority. And if you come across any new information regarding a shortcut we can take or another way through this maze, notify me as soon as possible. We do not have the luxury of time and neither do these people."

The urgency was warranted. If Snarlbeak or the Covenant showed up in force before they managed to reboot the outer defenses to full functionality New Teteocan would not last long. This was bigger than just the relic now, there were people who were in danger because they were unfortunate enough to be caught in the crosshairs. Shepard had seen this very scenario up close and personal in their home universe, on the planet Feros with the colony of Zhu's Hope. The circumstances weren't exactly the same, but the results would be. A lot of innocent people had been caught up in something beyond them and it was going to get a lot of them hurt, quite possibly killed, if they didn't act quickly.

He had only been able to respond to the tragedy at Zhu's Hope, he wasn't able to prevent any of the damage that befell the colonists there before it got so out of hand. While things turned out alright in the end for the colonists there, he still wished he had gotten there sooner. Now was his chance to prevent things from getting that far for once, to be proactive instead of responsive.

"We'll get it done, Shepard," Tali promised him. "You just worry about keeping us on Maisey and her people's good side. We can't work if they're against us after all."

"We've set up a meeting between the Village Council and ourselves for later," Shepard explained. "We're going to try and hash out something concrete, a defense plan, a means of trade. I'm going to offer them use of some of our weapons, thermal clips are a lot easier to produce and replace than bullets. I think they'd appreciate the offer if it makes their lives easier. The question is of course if giving them guns is going to fly with Holland and Whitcomb. I'm just not sure what else they need."

"Lesson in economics from the kig-yar," Taq spoke up. "You wanna find a demand to supply, you best start digging. Find something they don't even know they want and make them need it, even if they don't."

"How very hyper-capitalist of your people," Cortana observed.

"It works, that's all that matters," Taq countered as she continued to work. "You don't need them to love you, just make them want something bad enough they'll tolerate you to get it."

"If you weren't weird bird people, I could pinpoint several instances in human history where you'd have fit right in," Cortana informed her.

Taq looked up from her work momentarily.

"Is that a compliment or a derision? I can't tell." She asked somewhat befuddled, though she didn't sound offended.

"You can read it as both honestly," Cortana confessed. "It's all perspective at this point."

Taq just laughed, clearly enjoying the little jab.

"You know," she said in between gasps for breath. "I'm starting to suspect the Covenant actually hate AI because they can't stand the thought of any synthetic lifeform having more of a sense of humor than they do."

"An interesting theory at least, but I don't care to test it," Cortana expressed.

"In any case, thank you for the advice, Taq," Shepard informed the kig-yar. "With any luck though I hopefully won't have to use it."

"Do what you want, Shepard," Taq shrugged, returning to her work. "But given how things seem to be around here, you might not have a choice. This life has hardened these people, that much is clear. It won't be an easy task to overcome ten years of stewing resentment in a few days. That's just not realistic. So if you want results, and fast, at least on the negotiation table end of all this, you need to work a few angles. Not all of them pretty."

Shepard had to confess to himself, as much as he hated to, that Taq had a point. He couldn't fix all the problems the New Teteocan Colonists had with the UNSC. At the very least though, he could keep them from escalating to any degree or worsening. Maybe he couldn't make it better, but that wouldn't stop him from trying. It hadn't so far at least.

"I should go, thanks for the update, team," he said. "I'll let you know if anything changes likewise."

And with that he departed, hoping that next time he saw them all, they were close to the Relic and he was closer to figuring out how to work with Maisey's people. Hopefully, it wouldn't require as many angles as Taq seemed to think.

---

Maisey looked out at the Farming Sector towards the small UNSC camp nearby. She knew it wasn't an ideal position, putting them so close to their food supply, but they had little choice. They wanted access to the Forerunner structure, if they had refused them, they would've been back in force. Next time they would not have asked so nicely. As much as Brant believed they could defend the colony if need be, Maisey knew it was not a good idea to fight the UNSC if they could avoid it. These people were well-trained, battle-hardened soldiers. That was just the Army grunts and Marines though, this group also had Spartans with them. Maisey had heard enough stories about the exploits of the mysterious super-soldiers to know they weren't to be trifled with. For all they knew, there were even more hiding aboard that Carrier, another reason to be concerned about their uninvited guests.

Was it all paranoia talking? Would the UNSC really kill a whole colony just to get to some fancy doodad they wanted? She wasn't sure, but she was not willing to risk lives finding out. She had seen what the UNSC was capable of, what they were willing to sacrifice. Trusting them in any capacity was dangerous, but at least this way they were being kept close by. That did little comfort anyone though, especially Asha. Her daughter was keeping an eye on the UNSC camp through her scope, glaring at them as she did.

"This is a mistake, you know that right?" She asked her. "Letting them camp out there."

"It's better to have a few nearby where we can keep an eye on them than to have them all in the jungle somewhere plotting in isolation," Maisey informed her. "At least near Zara's farms, we have several guns pointing at them and they won't risk doing anything unsavory with so many of their people near the target."

"We have the tower," Asha reminded her.

"Which we've never had the opportunity to test against a full-fledged carrier," Maisey reminded her in kind. "It might take a few extra shots to bring them down, shots we won't be able to make in time should they fire back from orbit."

"We even sure they have a carrier up there?" Asha asked. "It could be a bluff."

"I'm not taking the chance, Asha," Maisey insisted. "We know what a fleet of those things can do to a planet, one is enough to destroy this colony. Besides, I don't think Shepard was lying when he mentioned it."

Asha didn't seem convinced.

"He's just another damn Marine," she huffed. "Bunch of liars, all of them. You really think we can trust some UNSC Stooge with a slightly better vocabulary?"

"I don't trust him, but I don't think he's lying to us," Maisey elaborated. "Most UNSC soldiers of his ilk would've dressed us down further, like that Sergeant did. He didn't judge us, he played the diplomat. Have you ever known the average UNSC Marine to make an attempt at compromise?"

"Well, no," Asha confessed. "I admit, he does seem... different. Then again this whole group of UNSC jackasses seems different. What with the aliens running around in their ranks."

That was weirder the more Maisey thought about it herself. Why were UNSC soldiers teaming up with aliens? They said they weren't Covenant, but that still seemed out of character for the Marines. All the typical UNSC propaganda went out of its way to demonize the alien menace. Here was a group that was integrated with them to a degree.

"More than likely there's a bit of a story behind all that," Maisey told Asha. "Shepard claimed he wasn't actually in the UNSC, but he was a Marine. We have no idea how the war has shaken out for us out there, maybe humanity split into factions, joined up with some aliens who aren't as fond of the Covenant either."

"I gotta say, I do at least like the quirky engineer's fashion sense," Asha confessed, tearing her eyes away from the scope. "That looks like one really sweet hood she's wearing."

"That alien engineer is another reason we're going along with this for now," Maisey continued. "They unlocked the actual interior of the Forerunner facility. We've barely cracked the entrance hall after ten years. We've made actual progress, Asha. I can't just throw that away, especially not now with worse things than the UNSC on the horizon."

Asha sighed, nodding in reluctant agreement with her mother. She still remained skeptical though.

"Alright, let's assume they're telling the truth about this relic of theirs then," she began. "What's to stop them from just taking it and running? What if they don't do like they promised and help us get the defenses for this place working again? What happens then?"

"If this relic really is at the center of the facility, then it won't hurt to actually have the run of the place with most of the doors unlocked," Maisey argued. "We can figure things out from there even if these people break their promise. We're better off in that scenario than we are with barely a foot in the door tapping buttons uselessly."

Asha still seemed unconvinced.

"I just don't like them being so damn close," she snarled. "After everything people like them pulled... it's like we're opening ourselves up to get hurt... again!"

Maisey quickly placed her hands on her daughter's shoulders, trying her best to comfort her. Her gaze and tone that, not of a leader, but of a parent. One that had seen a fair bit of shared hardship alongside their child. And that was never truer a sentiment than between her and Asha.

"Hey, that will not happen as long as I am here," she promised. "You and I know better than anyone what they tried to do and what they took from us. I haven't forgotten, no one here has. But, these are the difficult decisions we have to make if we're going to survive. If a Covenant or Pirate army is on its way for this... thing, whatever it is, we cannot hold out forever."

"But Brant says-"

"Brant is as smart and as tactical as they come," Maisey continued astutely. "I'm glad he's our security chief, but we cannot put all our eggs in one basket when it comes to defense. We have an opportunity to protect this colony forever, we have to take it. And if worse comes to worse, than at the very least, that relic that everyone is after will be gone. Every bastard who was gunning for us will simply go after them."

"We could just use the thing ourselves," Asha claimed. "They keep saying it's a weapon. I believe that much from them."

"I'm not fiddling with some weird alien tech more than I have to, especially when not even the people after it know what it does," Maisey stated plainly. "Asha, we need to be smart about this. We might be facing the greatest singular threat this colony has come up against so far."

"The UNSC?" Asha asked.

"Whoever is following the UNSC because of this relic," Maisey quickly corrected her daughter. "We can't trust them to help us, but the Marines aren't going to get us killed directly. We can't rely on them, but they are not the real danger here. Not right now anyway. The people chasing them are."

"If they are being hunted, "Asha said, looking back to UNSC camp with a wary eye. "Although, they seem desperate enough to get this stupid magic rock or whatever it is they want. So, maybe they are telling the truth there."

"Which is why we can't take any chances," Maisey reiterated. "I'm going to try and hammer out something with their leaders, figure out what kind of people we're dealing with and secure a defensive plan. I'm not sure how much their word counts for something, but anything we can get will be of help. The outcome of these talks will determine our next course of action."

Asha's skepticism gave way to confidence, looking at her mother with total resolve.

"If anyone can make them play ball, it's you, mom," she declared. "I'm just more worried about what they're going to demand in return."

"We have all the cards," Maisey assured her. "They need that relic and we are the only people who can get them access to the facility. They're too afraid of our defense tower to risk getting their carrier closer than it already is. So they can't intimidate us without putting themselves in danger. Right now, my only concern is making sure they're all bottled up near Zara's corps, with dozens of eyes on them through scopes like yours and as far away from our reserves as possible."

Asha just nodded.

"Right keep them away from the other side of the Colony," Asha agreed. "I think Brant is right about increasing security there though."

"I've asked him to start recruiting volunteers," Maisey explained. "It should be fairly locked down by now. No one is going to get close, let alone the UNSC. Speaking of, I should get ready for the meeting. There are matters I need to go over with Tiegan and Brant beforehand."

"Don't start without me at least," Asha asked. "I wanna watch you give it to those pompous bastards."

"Just worry about the ones on our lawn for now," Maisey told her with a mild chuckle. "I'll let you know when it's time. You can watch from outside the room, I don't want them seeing all our cards just in case something turns ugly."

Maisey left, leaving Asha to continue her watch duties. Neither of them, however, noticed that their conversation had been spied on. Hiding behind a corner along the barricade parapet, skulking in the shadows, was one very sneaky pirate, Retz. He had heard mostly everything and while a lot of it was useless, the last bits were the most intriguing.

"Other side of the colony, huh?" He asked himself quietly. "Sounds like something to stick my beak in where it is not wanted."

---

"I wish I could be more positive about this, Shepard," Haverson stated firmly. "Blame the ONI training or whatever if you must, but this is far from an ideal setup."

Shepard had returned to the main camp in the jungle clearing to speak with the rest of the ground team concerning the situation. Haverson's viewpoint was not really all that different from anyone else's. The fact it seemed they'd be stuck here for the long term, putting them at risk at the Covenant of Snarlbeak showing up, was a fair concern. More so when one took the locals into account along with their not very welcoming demeanor. Not that anyone seemed to outwardly blame them as of yet, but it was clear no one was happy about it. Shepard had already picked up on the why as far as Haverson was concerned.

"They're not holding us hostage, we can leave the camp," Shepard assured him. "They just want some of our people close by so they can keep an eye on them."

"So they're basically shields then," Haverson noted. "Not an improvement over hostage. In fact, you can even argue shield is just a synonym for hostage in this context."

"Do you blame them for being a bit cautious?" Shepard asked. "If you were them, what would you do?"

"Admittedly, without knowledge of everything we've been through over the past few weeks? Probably the same thing," Haverson replied, his tone still agitated slightly. "I just find it hard to believe that any prior relationship with the UNSC could have ever been so poor that they would think we'd consider harming fellow humans to get what we want."

Shepard remained silent for a bit before Haverson picked up on the Commander's look.

"Alright, I'll admit, that's a problematic statement coming from an Officer in Naval Intelligence, especially given what Ackerson put you through," Haverson confessed, his composure humbled. "And the whole thing with the Spartans of course. We're not perfect and this war has forced us into some tough decisions. All I'm saying, is that it is shocking to me that this Maisey and her people think we're that duplicitous and cruel."

"They don't know us," Shepard informed him. "All they know, all they remember, is how the UNSC apparently left them to die. That incident has clearly colored their perception and their isolation here hasn't helped."

"Not to mention this little treasure hunt has potentially brought more trouble to their door thanks to us," Haverson relented morosely. "Although I doubt Snarlbeak would've used as much discretion if he got here first, not that they would know."

"In my experience, we need to open them up to a different perspective," Shepard insisted. "Show them that the UNSC, that this little fleet of ours, isn't made up of the same people that wronged them. I won't claim it's going to be easy, but that's our best play."

Haverson agreed nodding lightly.

"I don't see any other alternatives myself," he concurred. "Still, something just rubs me the wrong way about this, all of this. It just seems so convenient that they're here to begin with. I mean, what are the chances we'd run into a lost Colony in front of the very structure we needed get into?"

"It is strange, but they're here in any case," Shepard told him plainly. "Can't do much about it now. Unless you want to try and mess with time travel, although I'd advise against that."

"Oh hell no, don't even joke about that," Haverson said, shooting down the very idea instantly. "I'm already agonizing over the damn report I'm going to have to file when we get back to Earth over all this. How am I going to explain 'I created a time paradox to acquire an ancient relic of unknown power faster?' They'll probably throw me in a padded cell."

"To be honest, I'm surprised I didn't get shoved in one sooner given all the crazy stuff I've run into," Shepard laughed.

Haverson eased up a little with that joke, although he didn't lose his serious tone.

"I just feel like there's something they're not telling us," he clarified. "Again, that coming from me might sound a bit like calling the kettle black, but I just get this feeling is all. Something just feels... off about this."

"You think they're lying about something?" Shepard asked.

"Didn't say that," Haverson quickly corrected. "I just feel they're omitting something from their story. And like you said, given how little they seem to trust us, they probably figure there's a good reason for that."

"We can't just go poking around based on suspicions," Shepard cautioned. "We'd risk straining relations more. I think it would be best if we tried to warm up to them first. So far they're being accommodating. As long as we get that defense grid working again, maybe that will be enough."

"I hope so, Shepard," Haverson sighed. "Regardless of anything else, those colonists are still human and I'd hate to leave them swinging in the wind. This wasn't their treasure hunt, they're just caught in the crossfire."

The Lieutenant looked out towards where New Teteocan was, his face full of contemplation.

"I won't lie, knowing the actions we've taken in this war does not make them any less troubling," he told Shepard. "I don't expect you to approve of them, Commander. I've questioned more than a few choices at ONI Command now and then. Probably why I'm only a Lieutenant."

"If it's any consolation I believe being a good man is more important than being highly ranked," Shepard told him.

"I appreciate that, sir," Haverson replied. "But, I don't think anyone is completely good, we all have blood of some kind on our hands. You fight any war long enough, that's going to happen. Don't forget, I did help convince Holland to accept the offer Zek and Varvok proposed. That decision led to Silva's mutiny and the deaths of several dozen ODSTs. I don't regret my stance one iota, but it still led to the deaths of good soldiers."

"You couldn't control how Silva reacted," Shepard insisted.

"No, but that doesn't make me any less responsible," the Lieutenant claimed. "All of our choices have consequences, sir."

"A fact I know all too well," Shepard agreed.

He thought for a moment of how best to follow up that statement. He had opened the door after all, and the subject was similar enough. Besides, he couldn't leave Haverson hanging on the matter.

"My first encounter with a Reaper led me to a final confrontation of sorts," he began solemnly. "The Council, that's my universe's governing body, was in danger. They had evacuated to a ship and it was under fire. Now, the Council back then was only made up of alien races. I had the choice of letting them die or sending in a fleet of human ships to save them. The latter choice would mean they'd incur some heavy losses from the enemy fleet."

"What did you do?" Haverson asked.

"I told them to go in," Shepard admitted. "To save the Council and, as predicted, it cost a lot of lives. It was the riskier choice, it would mean less Alliance ships to combat the Reaper. But it was the one I made, because it was the right choice. I joined up to save lives, regardless of where they came from or who they were. That's what I believe the Alliance stands for."

"I wouldn't have wanted to be in your shoes, sir," Haverson confessed. "The choice between saving high ranking UNSC officials or going straight at a Covenant Capital ship? Well, that's a hard one to make."

"But the lives I was saving weren't fellow humans," Shepard corrected him. "I was sacrificing human lives to protect aliens. Not everyone seemed... okay with that."

Haverson simply shrugged.

"We can only ever do what we feel is right and what is best," he claimed. "Even in that scenario, I'm not sure what I'd do. Losing leaders during a time of crisis is devastating, but taking the risk of losing a primary and dangerous target is just as bad. I know what a number of my colleagues at ONI would do without question. It's... harder to imagine what I would do should such a choice come. Again, probably a reason I'm not cut out for command material."

"I think you're selling yourself short, Haverson," Shepard assured him. "You're capable, strong-willed, moral, observant, you got a keen mind, I say you'd probably have done well in any vocation."

Haverson laughed a bit at that.

"Yes, I suppose I'll have to take your word for it," he confessed. "In regards to our colonist friends, I do honestly see their side. But I also know the bigger picture, of a war that's threatening to wipe out the human race. I wasn't in a position of authority to argue one way or another about what happened on Apekis V. All I can say for sure, is that I'm certain the UNSC did not make the decision lightly, for whatever worth that is to Maisey's people."

Shepard imagined very little. It was easy to say you had no choice or you needed to make a hard decision and claim some measure of responsibility. However, not everyone impacted by that decision was going to accept that response and something told Shepard that it wouldn't be enough for the New Teteocan colonists. They had to endure the consequences first hand after all.

Also, Shepard actually felt Haverson had a point. That there was something more to the story, something that hurt deeper than just being left to fend for themselves. He could sense it in Maisey and the Village council's voices. Dislike of the UNSC was one thing, but they felt betrayed, utterly betrayed. One way or another, the real reason for that feeling would shake itself out in time.

---

Chief stood watching over the fields before them, their bountiful harvests currently being processed. His eyes trailed from the farmers to the armed guards patrolling the makeshift walkways hanging over the crops. He could feel their eyes upon him, studying him, gauging his moves, assessing his actions. Despite their less than friendly intent, he had to admire their resolve and training though. For a bunch of civilians, they seemed to run a fairly tight ship, he hadn't seen a single one of them slacking at their posts and dozing off. It was likely they were hyper aware with this camp of theirs so close, but he had to respect their discipline all the same. He wasn't the only one either.

"They've certainly done well for themselves here," Linda observed.

"I'm not much of a farmer," Kelly admitted, looking out across the fields. "But given their irrigation system is essentially made out of repurposed junk, this whole set up is pretty impressive."

"Zara mentioned the soil was extremely fertile, even by most worlds' standards," Chief explained. "It probably has as much to do with that as with their setup."

"A mixture of luck and legitimate skill," Linda commented. "Sounds like someone we know."

Chief only "Hmm'ed" at the comment, although he did appreciate it. His thoughts turned back to the colony itself and everything they had learned about it so far. In the back of his mind, he always thought about the lives displaced by the war. He shoved them deep beneath everything else in order to keep a clear head, complete the mission, ensure the squad survived, but it was impossible to just forget entirely. The glassed colonies they went to, the besieged worlds they tried to save, they all had people on them. Ordinary people who had done nothing to deserve any of this and were merely caught in the crossfire.

Now, they were looking at the results of one such failed attempt to protect humanity. Everyone seem to think that failure was command's, they had made the call after all. Truth be told though, Chief believed it was simpler than that, more general. When every place was a target, and you were the best, first and even last line of defense, you simply could not be everywhere. When Maisey had been describing how Apekis V had been destroyed by the Covenant, all Chief could think about was if it could've been different had his Spartans been there. And with that thought, given what had happened on Reach, he also wondered if it would've made any difference at all.

Maybe, at the very least, his team could've actually helped Maisey's people somehow. They were trained to save lives like these people. And yet they were still inevitably failing them. Whether it was Apekis V or Reach or somewhere else, the fact was they couldn't save them all. And sometimes, he couldn't even save his own friends.

Well, at least he had managed to save a few.

"You know," Anton spoke up. "When you think about, they're kinda like us."

"How so?" Fred asked. "Because they all escaped a dying colony like us? We're still wandering aimlessly. They've at least found a home."

"I'm just saying," Anton clarified. "We all kinda know what they went through. Only, we had the luxury of being UNSC military. We had a ticket off world, at least in theory. For them, it was always a crapshoot. They just learned that too late."

Fred sighed at the thought.

"Does seem like they got the short end of the stick," he confessed.

"And yet they ended up landing here of all places," Kelly reminded them. "I say again, that's some tremendous luck for them all."

Linda and Fred eyed Kelly a bit as she spoke.

"What are you getting at?" Fred asked curiously.

"I'm not the only one who has recognized how strange it is they just so happen to be here," Kelly insisted. "Every other Marine and Officer keeps remarking on how unexpected it is. I've done the numbers myself, just for kicks. The odds of them showing up here at random are astronomical."

"Are you saying they're lying about how they ended up here?" Anton asked skeptically. "Why? What would they have to gain?"

"I don't know," Kelly confessed. "All I know is that it feels like we're not being told the whole story. And as much as I admire their will to survive and make it out here without UNSC support, it's still weird they're here at all. Right where we need to be."

"Survival situations do test people in various ways," Linda remarked. "Chances are what they're hiding, if anything, has more to do with shame than anything legitimately suspicious."

"Maybe," Kelly shrugged. "I'm not advocating anything. Nothing about these people says they're bad or looking to betray us. But what I'm looking at does suggest there's more to how they got here then even they might know."

Finally, Fred look up towards Chief.

"What's your take?" He asked. "You think this is just one big accident of fate or what?"

The Master Chief's answer was direct and to the point.

"I think that if they could just stumble upon this place, then chances are high the people who are actually looking for it won't be far behind," he stated firmly. "And neither us, nor them, are particularly well-equipped to mount an adequate defense given who we know might be coming."

It wasn't that Chief didn't recognize Kelly's suspicions. They were legitimate, but they weren't his primary concern. As far as he could surmise, Maisey's people weren't a threat. There was a known quantity though that was on its way.

"Alright, well, that Carrier of yours still has some ordinance on it," Anton observed. "Plus there's the MAC Gun the Gettysburg has, doubling the damn thing's firepower easy."

"Yeah we just bring down a few Wraiths, should be easy enough to fend off an assault from the Covenant," Fred suggested, before sheepishly adding. "Well, depending on the size of the armada they're sending of course."

"Best case scenario, Snarlbeak's people find us first," Chief stated. "And honestly, that's not much better."

"He's just a pirate though," Anton noted. "It's not like he's the whole Covenant army."

"The way Zek talks about him, he's pretty much got his own little army," Linda warned. "He's got plenty of ships at his disposal, enough that he'll be okay losing a few. More so when this ridiculous sword they're all after is playing a role. And the thing is, that's not the worst part. It's the fact he's a Jackal who does not have to play by anyone else's rules."

Anton nodded in understanding, eyeing the colony directly.

"So, what you're saying is, he's like the Covenant but he doesn't follow their engagement guidelines," he reasoned. "And with this big prize he wants on the line, we can expect him to be less predictable."

Chief's gaze fell upon the wall's barricades directly.

"The best defense is that wall between the entrance to the facility and outside," he explained. "That's not going to hold him for long though, not when he trains his sights on it."

"So what do we do?" Kelly asked. "How do we hold this ground against Jackals at their most underhanded and devious?"

"Well for one we have our own Jackals working with us."

That was Jun, joining the conversation, at last, with Kat in tow. Chief didn't bother explaining what they were talking about, they seemed to have a good idea. Especially Kat who quickly chimed in.

"These fields would be our best bet at slowing a potential siege," she claimed. "A lot of corners to hide behind, places to slink into."

"Not much other choice," Chief informed her. "There's too much open ground out here otherwise."

"Which is the same for them," Linda observed. "So, they'd likely go in at night to minimize visibility from the lookouts."

"It's what I'd do," Jun concurred. "If we could get posts in those towers or some kind of high ground though we'd have a chance at spotting them."

"Problem, they're not gonna let us up there," Fred reminded them. "They don't like us remember."

"Which poses the really big issue," Kelly warned. "When the local populace you're trying to help isn't cooperating much in organizing a defense, how can you be confident in the position you're holding? Also, they have their own plan they're not letting us in on. Which makes it harder to integrate our strategies."

Like the Master Chief has said, they had a lot of pressing problems concerning a dogged defense of a direct siege.

"We have one advantage," he claimed. "That Forerunner tower will prevent any ship from coming in on a clear approach vector. Which means, they'll have to land further away, like we did. But the Justice-Gettysburg has the jump on them in that case."

"Let me guess though," Jun asked. "Once Snarlbeak realizes the danger, he's going to know that too. then he does what we did."

"Send down a recon patrol and figure out what they're dealing with," Kat finished. "Great, they could already be skulking around the jungle for all we know. Probably landed here in a tiny shuttle, just waiting to make their move."

"Let's not jump to conclusions," Chief cautioned. "We can still make a defense of this place work, with or without the facility's security grid fully operational. Maisey's people already have a good lay of the land to start with. Plus, even if he is a hardass, Brant doesn't look like he's just playing sheriff. If he has a plan, he's likely already taken the various weakpoints of this Colony into account."

Meaning, if he was as competent as he seemed, then he'd know how best to defend this colony in case the tower failed to stop anyone making landfall. That ran back to Kelly's point though, they didn't know what those plans entailed. Which meant they had only one course of action if they wanted to plan anything significant out.

"So we convince Brant to share his security plan somehow," Fred reasoned. "Not exactly our bag. We negotiate with guns, not words."

"If we can convince Brant that we're on his side, that will be enough to get our foot in the door," Chief stated. "In the meantime, I've already thought of an ideal plan myself, it's the execution that's the problem."

"Always is," Kat agreed.

Chief pointed to one of the water tower silos.

"Those oversized rain catchers are honestly our best figurative hardpoint," he explained. "They're something we can fortify to a degree. Beyond that, setting up barricades, ambush and choke points in the fields, we find places where we can lure attackers in and crush them. That's our best bet here. We wear them down before they get to the gates. And for those who make it there, we make it impossible for them to maintain the assault."

"We're gonna need a lot of rockets, huh?" Anton asked.

"It's John, what do you think?" Fred asked.

"Yeah, stupid question," Anton shrugged.

"None of this is going to matter though if we can't organize the other groups," Chief stated firmly. "Varvok's people, Zek's pirates, the ODSTs, we all need to commit to a defense and not step on each other's toes. It's clear at this point is our best strength is our diversity in tactics. That makes us as unpredictable as Snarlbeak could be."

While no one could see it, Chief felt as if he could sense Linda smiling at him.

"Careful there, John," she warned, somewhat playfully. "You're starting to sound like a certain Commander."

Chief didn't deny it. His last comment was more than a little born of Shepard's command philosophy. He could no more deny that fact than he could the effectiveness of the very strategy in question. The Normandy should not work as a crew or unit, according to the UNSC. Too many dysfunctional, highly unique and varying in temperament personalities and cultures. Yet they did work as a unit and they were stronger as a team for their diversity of strength. So if Shepard was growing on him, it didn't matter. Shepard knew how to organize, fight with and succeed with these tactics. And with the given threat facing them, it made sense to adopt that now more than ever.

"Maybe I am," he confessed. "But it makes the most tactical sense. We can't give Snarlbeak a chance to get comfortable. We need to keep him on his toes if we want to chase him off."

"And what if the Covenant shows up first?" Kat forewarned.

"We're in deep trouble either way," Chief informed her. "Right now, we have to try and improve relations with the Colonists. Otherwise, none of us are going to get away from this planet with that relic alive."

---

Tali honestly would've liked it if they could've convinced Holland to let the Huragok on the Normandy assist them. They clearly had some affinity for tech in general, they could've been useful here, especially with what Liara had reported to them about the creatures. But the Colonel claimed it was too risky, the Engineers weren't so much the issue as it was the people who would be around them. They still knew too little about the New Teteocans to take the chance, his words not hers. He and Haverson apparently had discussed this at length and decided letting essentially living supercomputers roam around outside the fleet among a bunch of colonists who were less than welcoming was unwise. There were simply too many variables as to what could go wrong. What if one the Colonists got jumpy and shot one the Huragok for example? They barely tolerated Taq being inside their walls, so Tali understood the concern.

In contrast, they had no objection to bringing Legion down. Tali had been concerned about the glitch, but there hadn't been an incident since the recovery of the Amplifier. She hoped that had just been a small hiccup and the repeated treatments of data scrubs and hardware checks were holding for now. They needed more AI power on this if they wanted to the mission to go faster. And besides EDI and Cortana, Legion's neural network gave them access to the fastest AI processing method they knew.

Legion had hooked themselves into one of the data nodes near some consoles they had uncovered. From there, they had begun to fish around the system for relevant information. Their hope was the Geth could break down the various sequences and codes, paring the inordinate number of variables down to something manageable. If they were lucky, they could even get a few doors opened here or there. So far though, it had been a bit of a mix of good news and bad news.

"We have gained preliminary access to several secured files and locked search functions," the Geth reported. "The process is slow, but steady."

"How are we on potential passcode variants?" Tali asked.

"As of now, we have processed one hundred and twelve thousand, four hundred and thirty six potential password combinations through over forty eight million junction points," Legion reported.

"Uh huh, and how many have been successful?" Tali asked. "As in, how many doors did we get open?"

"Forty-two," Legion reported diligently.

In mere milliseconds, the sound of someone spitting out a drink they had in their hands could be heard audibly off to the side.

"FORTY-TWO!" Taq screamed aloud, her mug of tea Halsey had brought for her now hanging precariously in her talons. "FORTY FUCKING TWO!"

"We surmised you would not like the answer," Legion replied.

Tali sighed, pulling at where the sides of her face would've been were a helmet not in the way. Taq was less elegant.

"Holy fuck, this is the most fucking frustrating Forerunner building I've been in!" She screamed. "They let you know what's behind various doors, but they won't let you in! Fucking Ocean! I am about ready to strangle something!"

"We are still making progress," Tali tried to argue. "However marginal, it's something. And we've only just started."

"We hypothesize there are over seven hundred trillion possible entry values for various degrees of security level clearance," Legion explained, its eye shifting slightly about. "Rounded down."

Taq began screaming something not even Tali's translator could decipher. Which was probably a relief because from the sound of it she didn't even want to know what she was saying.

"Keelah we're going to be here forever aren't we?" She asked.

"Not so," Legion claimed. "Considering pooled resources and gradual learning curve of Forerunner security methods, likely time to bypass all lockdown measures rests at approximately seven years... rounded down."

"That's not helping, Legion," Tali sighed.

"Apologies, we understand this is unfavorable," the Geth assured. "Doubling efforts to discover a more pliable route through facility that does not require a disproportionate amount of trial and error."

"Yes, please," Taq snarled. "With all due haste, if you can."

Taq took a moment to sit, using a box nearby as a stool.

"Whoever built this place had to be a raving paranoid fanatic," she claimed. "Either that, or he really believed all of this was necessary to keep out his really badass hacker enemies."

"One of those enemies could've been the same person who released those crawlers onto the Dauntless," Tali reminded her. "Given what happened there, maybe this was the right call."

"It doesn't change facts I suppose," Taq relented. "We need a quicker route, all we're doing right now is, as Legion just said, trial and error. Opening random doors and hoping they'll create the optimum path isn't feasible."

It wasn't at all, but the strategy had managed to at least get them a little further into the facility. Not by much, of course, but at least they were gaining more access They just hadn't found something that would grant them full level access, rather than just a few rooms or unlocked search functions on the terminals.

"How are we on locating a security room?" Tali asked.

"We are paring down possible locations," Legion assured her. "Program-Cortana assisting with search runtimes from her section."

Cortana was currently running about the systems of the facility, Halsey was assisting her going from terminal to terminal and unlocking each in turn. She kept in radio contact, as splitting up was the only optimal way to really cover the massive ground within the ancient halls. So far, the AI had cracked several consoles and their relevant information. She didn't always find a clearance code, but when she did, she passed it along their way to see if it could help.

It was still slow going though and Taq wasn't the only one anxious to pick up the pace somehow. Tali, feeling a presence next to her all of sudden, turned and jumped back as soon as she spotted Rowan standing next to her, wide-eyed and bubbly as ever. She hadn't even heard the human approach, it was like she just teleported in silently from nowhere.

"Have I mentioned how cool it is you have a robot?" She asked Tali. "Like a real live working robot, not some lame drone or whatever, legit AI that walks and stuff."

"You have probably mentioned it," Tali admitted cautiously.

She had actually mentioned it about fifty times already. Not that Tali blamed her. When you lived out in the middle of nowhere, like Rowan, anything new or different seemed to elicit excitement. And in Rowan's case, she stayed in that state for a very long time. Maybe Haverson had the right idea, if a Huragok was down here the poor girl would probably have a heart attack.

"It's just so kickass," the joyful engineer claimed. "I mean, I heard the UNSC doesn't give AI's physical bodies and all, something about not wanting to stress their matrixes or whatever. I never thought I'd see an actual robot like from the old vid-comics. So cool!"

"Yes, very cool," Taq grumbled. "How are things on your end?"

"Well, I took pictures of some of those glyph things on the walls and in the consoles and stuff like you asked," Rowan stated, holding up a digital camera as she began to fiddle with the upload command. "All the ones I think are important, counted how many times certain ones show up, marked them on the map, that sort of thing. They weren't hard to find, Forerunners seemed to keep hiding them in predictable places. Then again, I'm really good at finding things. Like, extremely, I won the New Teteocan Annual Scavenger Hunt contest seven years running."

Rowan wirelessly handed over her findings as she spoke and Taq, while probably listening, was more interested in checking the item on her omni-tool. At the very least it looked like Taq had cheered up a little. A sure sign they had found something interesting.

"What do we have?" Tali asked her.

"I keep seeing the symbol for knowledge show up regularly in these," the kig-yar explained. "It's a pretty regular theme at this point."

"Well you said it's a research facility," Rowan noted. "That kinda makes sense."

"Yes, but this particular character in reference to the surrounding ones is a specific type of knowledge," Taq clarified. "Seeking knowledge, acquiring it, that sort of thing is common. This one relates to knowledge from within and without. More like it's something that's equally spiritual, not just academic."

"Spiritual in what way?" Tali asked, not sure she understood.

"Well I'm not sure how humans and your people think of it," Taq said, her tone becoming more scholarly, her angered annoyance dissipating. "But from what I keep gathering off these terminals, for the Forerunner stationed here it was all about deeper meaning of self. For them, knowledge unlocks things about themselves, some kind of subconscious thought buried deep inside you. Capable of manifesting something greater if you can bring it out of the deeper reaches of the mind and into waking world."

Tali now looked as equally wide-eyed as Rowan always did, but for different reasons.

"Whoa, that's kinda heavy stuff there," Rowan herself said, summing up the rather sudden philosophical bent things had taken.

"Can you try running that by us again?" Tali asked.

"Look I'm having trouble getting it myself," Taq confessed. "But all these glyphs say the same thing. They're all about bringing forth knowledge within, discerning the knowledge of others, untapping the mind, all weird crazy shit like that. Cortana's datapackets she keeps sending over confirms it for me. These guys were big on using science to probe deeper into the uncharted mental realm to find some deeper purpose or whatever."

The idea of science elevating you to a greater mental state of self, Rowan was right that did sound heavy. Tali always viewed the point of science as being a means to explain the world around you. How that knowledge could be used to improve people and the world. So the concept of improving oneself was there already. These guys just seemed to be taking it to another level.

"Does this relate to the relic at all?" Tali asked sincerely.

"I think so," Taq confirmed. "It just seems the most logical, given that the relic relates in some way to the mind, if the notes on their terminals are to be believed. I just can't figure out if this philosophy is new or has always been here. And even then, I'm starting to wonder if this Relic was always here in either case."

"What do you mean?" Rowan asked.

"I mean maybe they acquired it or they found it, maybe it was given to them by someone, I'm not entirely sure," Taq explained. "All I know is it doesn't sound like this place was the relic's original home. Which means, likely, the Amplifier, the thing that led us here, has some kind of connection to these things that's greater than just shining brighter when another one is close. I'm thinking, this map is constantly updating where the relics are. It's not a fixed position input into the thing eons ago, it just knows where they are."

Given the Amplifier could track other relics, that made a bit of sense. Taq was clearly just saying this though to make a case for finishing the whole treasure hunt. If the Amplifier was tracking the relics across the void of space somehow, then that meant it wasn't going to be outdated. If the map said a relic was there, it was there. Which meant Taq wasn't going to be dissuaded from looking if it was harder finding the last one after they finished here.

There was another reason though, one that Taq shared openly.

"It's... it's kinda like they want to get back together, you know?" She said eerily. "As if they were a part of each other and they're seeking to be whole again. Interesting, huh?"

Taq really wanted the Astral Cutlass to be real, but Tali had to admit it sounded very likely in that context. If it weren't for the whole stupid song that was the basis for this damn weapon's origin, she'd probably share the belief it was real outright with the kig-yar tomb raider. As it stood now? Well, she wasn't discounting outright anymore. She was open-minded to its existence at least.

"Thing is," Taq stated, switching gears. "If this Relic is the whole lynchpin in their little quest for inner knowledge or some shit, chances are they had good reason to believe that. These guys are loopy, sure, but they ain't stupid."

"Huh, I always felt I had a bit of a connection to this place," Rowan laughed. "These Forerunners sound like fun guys."

"Maybe," Taq shrugged. "That's not really my point though. My point is they're putting a lot of effort into protecting this thing. So they probably don't want just anyone getting their hands on it, sure. Also, they might know it's not exactly a good idea to just leave stuff lying out in the open where anyone can grab it either."

So it could be dangerous, and more so than any of the other relics. Not a prospect that Tali liked hearing.

"I guess we should be careful when we pick it up," the quarian concluded.

"That would be the long and short of it, yes," Taq confirmed.

At that moment, Caleb approached the group.

"Managed to bypass a few doors, crack some more databanks and computers," he explained. "Still finding more dead ends though. They really locked this place up tight before leaving, huh?"

Tali imagined they didn't have a choice in the matter, in a quite literal sense. Chances were the guy in charge of this place, if he was as paranoid as Taq believed, had instituted some kind of failsafe. If he didn't respond in a specific period of time, the place would go into full lockdown. Granted that was just her theory, but Tali didn't see many other alternative, given that every Forerunner in this place probably died when Halo activated. There was no one left to lock up and hit the lights.

"Well, it's better then where we were yesterday, right?" Rowan asked. "I mean, we're inside after all."

"Yeah and I am finding a lot of good stuff on their computers too," Caleb claimed. "Some of it is actually kinda practical. As in it's not weapon based, we can use it in the day to day. Just some basic stuff really, a means to set up our own interconnected computing system for one. We've had a slipshod one for years now, working on radios and the like, very primitive. This might actually be an improvement communications-wise."

"Aw yeah, New Teteocan is gonna be wired!" Rowan laughed. "Seriously, our own little Internet? Sick!"

"There's also some data concerning construction and the like," Caleb said. "We can probably use it to improve the quality of housing around here, have a real roof over some of our heads for once, not some patchwork job we welded together. Should make our lives easier."

"That's good in the long term," Tali told him. "But given the circumstances, I'd personally be happier finding some kind of defensive measure first."

"It's not like I haven't been looking," Caleb clarified. "But there is a lot of junk on these terminals, they had like a bunch of ideas bouncing off each other a mile a minute. It's kinda crazy. Hard to sort through everything and I barely have an understanding of the Forerunner language as is. Mostly, at this point, I'm going by visual aids. I know how that makes me sound, but, well, there it is."

"Anyway, Brant has a plan," Rowan stated. "He always goes on about it, now he's getting a chance to see it in action."

Tali saw her moment to get a foot in the door, ask the obvious question to follow up. Thing was, she didn't want to put Rowan in a position like that. If Brant found out she blabbed, unintentionally to them about anything, well, poor girl would get into trouble. Shepard wanted to know what Brant's little plan was so they wouldn't step on each other's toes when it came time to defend this place. However, Tali knew how someone asking this sort of question looked. She did not want to accidentally give the impression she was trying to undermine Brant's efforts in any way.

"Any edge would help though," Tali finally stressed insistently. "Because there are people after these relics who aren't like us. They are not going to ask nicely."

"For what it is worth, I believe you," Caleb informed her. "I think Maisey does too. And you've done good so far with the measure of trust we've given you. There's just a lot of bad blood involved in matters here. It's just hard for people to trust again."

A sentiment that Tali could relate to, even if the circumstances were different somewhat in the quarians' case. At the very least Caleb was trying, even if Tali wasn't they were trusted yet. It wasn't like he had gone out of his way to really dissent from Maisey and her council. All he did was play Devil's Advocate and Tali couldn't really blame him.

Since they had arrived in this universe, the UNSC had been a mixed bag in relation to them. When they weren't being dismissive or suspicious, they were actively threatening their very lives. Ackerson had been one example, the most egregious of them considering what he had tried to do. Another who revealed himself in time was Major Silva. Even before he mutinied, he never really adjusted to working with "aliens." And while she did get along with Halsey now, her role in the Spartan Project was still disconcerting. At least she felt responsible for the Spartans, even considered them as more than just weapons. That still didn't change what she had done though, it was just at this point Tali had accepted she hardly had the moral high ground. After all, her people hadn't exactly done much better in regards to the Geth.

The point was, Tali understood the UNSC was less than perfect. Who was she to judge the New Teteocan colonists for thinking even less of them? They had a specific grievance, being left to die, and while she wasn't part of that, Tali did concede she did show up with the UNSC at their doorstep. That wasn't a stigma they were easily going to overcome. Maybe if they got this place working though, well, perhaps that would be enough.

"We appreciate you giving us a chance," Tali told Caleb. "Thank you for that at least."

"Thanks not needed," Caleb assured her. "This is purely selfish reasoning on my part. I've wanted inside this place for years and you seemed to know exactly what was inside it. I figured if anyone could help me crack this it would be you. Guess my instincts proved me right."

"You had to have had some success before we showed up," Tali insisted. "I mean, Maisey said you were their computer guy."

"I mostly just run the electronics related matters here and even then I only have a small team," Caleb explained. "I've worked primarily with human computers though and I'm not much of a linguist. Everything here is programmed in an entirely different way than a human computer. Most of my time here has been slowly learning the ropes. It's like being kicked down to first grade again but all the science and rules have changed. Getting the front door open was a chore, figuring out how Rowan could reroute the power to the village was another matter altogether. It's just a good thing we found a means to activate the defense tower, or we wouldn't have had much hope of even getting this far."

"I'm just saying you shouldn't sell yourself short," Tali informed him. "You've all done exceptionally well despite the circumstances. My people would be impressed with your resolve, your determination to survive."

"Heh, yeah, I suppose we have that in spades here," Caleb said laughing a bit. "We had to adapt quickly, change a lot about ourselves. It hasn't been an easy transition."

Of that Tali had no doubt, her experience as a quarian informing that thought more than anything.

"With any luck this period will be the easiest," Tali tried to reassure him. "We'll get the relic, the people after it will follow us instead and we can all move on from there."

"Until then we get to explore a super awesome ancient alien lab-temple thingy," Rowan stated happily. "How cool is that?"

Caleb chuckled warmly.

"Very cool," Caleb agreed. "By the way, I might have found some possible junction points to reroute power in some schematics. It might disable some security. I can't be sure though."

"Worth a shot at least," Rowan insisted. "And you know me, always up for anything."

"Maybe Legion and I can assist," Tali suggested. "We seem to be getting nowhere on this console anyway."

"Correction, Creator-Tali'Zorah," Legion suddenly cut in. "We believe we have just found something of interest from this location."

Everyone's eyes turned to the Geth as he turned from the console and looked to the group with anticipation.

"If we are correct," the machine began, speaking rather succinctly. "We have uncovered the location of a possible security room entrance. It is locked, but evidence suggests a high probability that relevant and pertinent data concerning further facility access can be granted from within."

Taq jumped up from her seat excitedly.

"Then why are we still here?" She asked. "Get Halsey on the horn and back down here. Legion, get us to this door! Fast!"

Legion merely nodded and began to disengage from the console it was plugged into.

"It is not far from our location," they assured. "We have unlocked a path that will expedite our arrival there."

Tali ushered Legion to lead the way while she called Halsey and Cortana. With any luck, this was the break they needed.

---

Jack wasn't sure if she liked how peaceful this planet was. After so many damn brushes with death over the past weeks, this whole tropical paradise thing was at least a change of pace. So many years of being on the run though told her to not get comfortable. This was not permanent. Trouble would rear its head like always. The fact that not one of these stupid relic quests had gone smoothly, both during and even after the acquisition of the damn things, was proof enough of that. It also went without saying that nothing would stay peaceful so long as she was traveling with Shepard. The shooting would start eventually, the question was who would be doing said shooting?

For now, all Jack could do was wait. Let this whole mess of a situation sort itself out. If there was one thing good about Shepard, it was that he knew how to allocate resources best. Namely, he knew she was not one for negotiations or making nice or skulking around some stupid Forerunner ruin for junk. So she got to stay at the primary camp near the landing zone they had set up. An easy, if boring, job that mostly required her to do nothing but wait for the word to move.

Pretty much everyone was down here actually. Varvok's crew, Grunt, Zaeed, Garrus, to name a few. Shepard called it "waiting in reserve." It was something he and Varvok had apparently discussed. The idea was that Snarlbeak or the Covenant would arrive eventually. More than likely, they would send down an advance party. If something went wrong, they could race out of the jungle and into the fray with relative speed and engage the enemy on their flank.

Basically, the bad guys show up, they run in to clock them from the side like a hammer to the face. It was nice being recognized as one of the heavy hitters. If only it didn't involve so much waiting though, she'd probably enjoy it more. As it stood right now, she was basically just counting the damn leaves on the trees around her, anticipating the inevitable fire fight, when the fun actually began.

At around two hundred leaves she decided the game was lame and just cued up something on her omni-tool to play instead. She wondered how these lost colonists kept themselves from going skull bashingly insane with boredom on this world without an omni-tool or anything. Maybe someone packed a vid game console the whole village shared or something. That would be a riot.

Truth be told, she couldn't really imagine anyone staying in one spot like this so long. Not after what Shepard had told them about these people. In their position, she would've split from the group long ago. That big a group? Killer aliens after you? A government abandoning you? Best to just cut and run already, fast as possible. Why try and restart something that had already failed once before? Just scatter, head for the darkest corner of the galaxy you can find and figure it all out on your own. That was way easier than trying to keep a community like this together.

Well, that's at what she imagined she would've done, at some point in her life. Now? She wasn't so sure. she had been on the Normandy for months now. By her count, she should've bolted by now, ditched the crew and headed off to literally anywhere else. The obvious reason she hadn't was because of the whole being stuck in another dimension thing. That was part of it, but even before that had happened, she should've been free and clear. The Suicide Mission had gone off without a hitch, that should've been the signal to cash out and run before she pushed her luck further.

So why did she stay? Why did she continue to stay in fact? Was running away in this galaxy any different than back home? I mean, it was just more of the same shit and she could adjust to whatever else was thrown her way if she wanted. She had done that for years. She could just leave, steal a shuttle or whatever and bolt and no one would probably care. She'd survive, right? These people did after all.

So why didn't she do it? Why stay? Why care about this? Did she care? No, no, she didn't. Maybe she just felt like she owed it to Shepard to stick it out a bit longer. No, it wasn't even that. For Jack, it was about getting back to the right universe at this point. That's all it was. She was more comfortable with the Milky Way she knew than this version of it.

Why was she even thinking about this? It didn't matter to her if she cared or not. Right?

"You seem in deep thought."

Jack turned to see Thane walking past her. As always, reading her like an open book. She hated that, but this was the consequence of spending too much time around someone. Damn it, her instincts told her to just shoo him away before she started sharing anything. Tell him it was none of his business, that would get rid of the dumb lizard.

"Little bit, I guess," she said, shrugging. "How about you?"

"Nothing to do but think at this juncture really," he confessed.

Damn it, Jack, she told herself in her mind, you were supposed to get rid of him. Why was it so hard to get rid of him? You are not going to keep this conversation going, her mind screamed at her. She knew if she did, he was going to force her to speak all these thoughts in her head aloud and it was going to piss her off. Then she would probably end up saying more than she intended because that's how these talks tended to go these days!

And she was already ushering him over to sit by her. Stupid Jack, her brain thought. You're bringing this on yourself, like you always do. Stupid, stupid Jack, stop acting like an idiot over this whole thing. It wasn't going to work. Never care, that was the one rule. Why did she keep breaking it? First for this stupid crew and now Thane? The fuck was wrong with her?

Thane took a seat regardless, nestling into the log alongside her.

"We stumble into the weirdest shit, don't we?" She asked. "I was expecting more annoying robots, not annoying people."

"You haven't met them. How do you know they're annoying?" Thane asked.

"Well because now we're stuck trying to play nice rather than just taking what we were after and going," Jack explained. "I was sick enough of these ancient rocks after the first one was such a pain in the ass. Now we're stuck waiting here, while tiptoeing around these assholes."

"From what I hear, we'd be stuck playing the waiting game in any case," Thane explained. "The Forerunner facility is proving to be a puzzle."

Because of course it was, Jack thought. The Forerunners were quickly rising on her list of things she hated. This little roadblock situation was hardly helping in that regard.

"Anyway, I find the presence of these colonists somewhat of a welcome sight," Thane claimed. "Their resolve and resilience is admirable."

"Them trying to make something that failed work again is admirable?" Jack asked. "Sounds more like being stupid to me."

"I don't think you believe that," Thane stated confidently. "While their methods and goals might be different, they're survivors. Much like you in fact, I doubt you haven't made some tacit comparisons already."

Jack tried to keep the color from showing too much in her face. She hated when he did that.

"They're just a bunch of stinking farmers," she claimed. "I'm not like them at all."

"You both escaped tragic circumstances, forged a new life for yourselves, a new identity and became stronger through that adversity," Thane insisted. "The similarities are there. Does it really matter what they aspire to?"

"Yes," Jack snorted. "Because... well, because I..."

It took a moment for the words to coalesce, another for her to accept them and one more to just say it.

"I didn't have anyone left when I escaped Pragia," she confessed solemnly. "I was alone... they weren't. So it's not the same that way at least."

"No, I suppose not," Thane admitted. "But on the other hand, you're not alone anymore are you?"

Damn it, why did he keep doing this? This was not the time. It was never the time. Fuck it, she didn't care what she blurted out next. She didn't care if this was exactly what she suspected would happen. She was done playing the scared shy little school girl. Fuck that shit.

"Why do you do that?" She asked him incredulously.

Thane looked at her perplexed.

"Why do you got to be all fucking... this?" She said, gesturing to all of him. "Not even Shepard got this damn touchy feely. Seriously, the fuck?"

"I did not mean anything by my comments, Jack," Thane assured her. "I'm just sharing how I see you."

"Well stop," Jack snarled. "Because when you do it, I end up saying shit that's fucking guarded."

"I'm sorry," Thane apologized. "I'll... refrain from asking your opinion on things."

"No, I didn't... I didn't say that," Jack hurriedly corrected him. "I... I like talking to you and shit. You're good to hang out with it's just..."

Thane waited patiently for her to complete her string of thoughts. It still took a minute. How the hell did he manage to pull this shit out of her without saying anything? Was it the damn eyes? Yeah it was stupid gorgeous looking lizard eyes, that was it. Wait... why the fuck did she think that? Fucking Christ, what was this asshole doing to her?

"I'm not sure what you want," she concluded. "Okay? I don't get what it is you want."

"I only want you to be open with me and with others," Thane expressed. "You have important insights to share, thought that deserve to be voiced. You've more than shown that to me over the past few weeks."

"Okay, why?" Jack asked. "Did Shepard put you up to it? Did he ask you to be my friend or some shit?"

Thane shook his head.

"In the swamp, on Halo," he began. "We were in a dire situation. I was useless, more or less. My only hope, was you. I'll confess, I believed at certain moments that you would leave me behind. I would not have blamed you. My... condition can make me a liability."

"Oh, bullshit," Jack informed him. "You're not a liability. So you were coughing and shit because of your bad lungs. Big fucking deal, I wasn't going to leave you behind just for that. Maybe... once upon a time, yeah, that's not me. Not anymore."

"Because you care or...?" Thane asked.

"I don't know, because it would be a really shitty move and people like the Cheerleader would be pissed at me," Jack growled. "What do you want? I didn't leave you to die. That's like the bare minimum job requirement in this stupid crew."

"And you remained with me even after we were out of danger, you were a comfort," Thane explained. "I only hoped to do the same with you. I was vulnerable and helpless, while you remained strong and resolute. I merely wished to pay back that kindness and allow you to feel as at ease around me."

Jack had not expected that answer. At all. That was last thing she suspected. She wasn't sure if she was flattered, embarrassed or a bit disappointed. Maybe it was a mixture of all three.

"Well, I don't know," she said trying to brush the whole thing off. "Maybe it would be better if I didn't feel like this was so one-sided. I mean, you keep telling me about what you think I feel, when's my shot?"

Thane was quiet for a moment, but then he just nodded.

"That is fair," he confessed. "I have capitalized our conversations to a degree, for this I'm sorry. If there are things about me you'd wish to say, I'd be more than happy to hear them."

Fuck, he took the bait, Jack thought. She was really hoping he'd just apologize or get defensive or something else. Not put her on the spot to start saying shit about him in kind. Fine, fuck it. What did she have to lose?

"Okay, fine," she relented. "First of all, you have a major self-loathing issue. Like, you keep blaming yourself for all kinds of shit. And, yeah, maybe a bunch of it is warranted. I can't blame you for feeling down about a lot of it. I just... you know, you're not that bad a guy, okay?"

"I'm not sure I would agree with that," Thane replied.

"No, fuck it, you ain't," Jack assured him. "I mean, shit, you did more than I've ever done. You bothered to track down your kid after you fucked up so bad with him. I've had people who ditched me or left me for dead, I've done the same in kind. You... you at least came back. You at least tried to make it right. I... I haven't tried to make much right at all."

That hit her, an admission she had confessed before to herself. She didn't make things right. She just ran for a lot of her life. She left when it got tough. She didn't try to fix things. She took advantage of people and kept going. She couldn't afford to care and she didn't feel bad about that.

This was the first time she had admitted all that to herself and she DID feel bad. No not just bad, terrible. She had cut and run every time. Whenever things started failing, whenever they got tough, whenever she felt the need to cut someone loose, she had. She never tried to make something work or fix something she had broken.

"I'm... I'm a bad person," she confessed, a pang of guilt at acknowledging that emanating from her chest. "I know that. You're not. You've been trying to make it right for a while now. That's more than can ever be said of me."

There was an awkward silence between the two that last for what seemed forever. It was probably only a few or so seconds. It did feel longer though.

"If that's true of me, then it is of you," Thane claimed. "That's what I've tried to tell you, Jack. You're not as bad as you think. The fact you're here says it all."

"Pft, I'm here because I had nowhere else to go," she claimed. "And, well, you're the only real friend I've bothered to make in this fucking crew."

"I can't be certain that's what you truly feel," Thane said, correcting himself from last time. "I like to believe, however, that if you've been here top long then it's because you want to be. You wouldn't torture yourself spending this much time among us if you didn't like us in some capacity."

Jack didn't need to wonder if that was true. In some way she knew it was. If she was going against her regular instincts this much, it had to be because she didn't want this to end. For what reason she didn't know, but she knew in some respect Thane was right. The hard part was admitting that. Confessing to the fact you had let yourself slip that much.

"I shouldn't want it," Jack snarled. "It never lasts. It just... brings more pain. I should be avoiding this."

"I felt the same way at one time," Thane admitted. "I shouldn't get attached or let people get attached. Especially now, with things closing in on the end. I can't help it though. I don't want whatever time I have left to be... time bereft of friends."

Thane was speaking in more general terms. He hadn't picked up that Jack was speaking more in singular, personal terms. For such a scholarly assassin, he had missed that. Jack wasn't sure if she was grateful or not. What she said next confirmed for her it was the latter.

"I wasn't talking about the crew," she told him flatly. "I was talking about this."

She motioned to the space between them and pointed back and forth between them both.

"I shouldn't want... whatever this is," Jack said rather bluntly. "Because whatever this is won't lead to anything good. Just more shit for both us we shouldn't be dealing with. You got more important crap to worry about than me."

"Now who's assuming the other's feelings and thoughts?" Thane joked lightly.

Jack grumbled, her gaze returning to Thane's own.

"Thane, really," she began softly. "Don't joke about this. Where the fuck is this going? Because I'm not sure either of us is in the right state of mind to deal with it. You're dying, I'm a fucking mess, we have bad guys chasing us on a fucking treasure hunt and we're trapped in another fucking dimension. Is this really the time?"

Thane didn't answer and for once he seemed as unsure as she did. He finally did come to an answer though.

"I only want what you feel you want. And as you've said, I can't tell you how you feel," he explained. "You're right, this is hardly an ideal moment. And I've never asked or sought anything more than what was offered. I... I don't want to pressure you into anything. Do what you feel is comfortable for you."

What was comfortable for her? She was comfortable with Thane. Happy even at times. Did she just not want that bad enough? Did she prefer being miserable? Her thoughts went back when Tali went crazy for a bit. The quarian had screamed at her, berated her for refusing to let herself be happy. Jack knew what Tali had been referencing back then. Her reluctance to commit to anything with Thane beyond "we just talk sometimes" as if going further would be the worst thing imaginable.

As if being happy, not feeling alone, feeling... good about herself was something poisonous to her. She had been pissed at Tali for digging up all that dirty laundry. Now? Now she knew that the tough love approach was deserved. The quarian engineer, addled by an evil mind monster born of memories as she had been, was right. She did reject chances to be happy. And she hated that she did.

"I just don't know," Jack said. "I'm glad we're friends, but I don't know. None of this feels... right to me."

Thane nodded silently.

"Well, if that changes... I'll be waiting, Siha."

Jack looked up again, what did that word mean? It was the first time she had ever hear him say it to her. She wanted to ask for specifics in that moment, but she didn't get the chance. The sound of Pelican engines overhead revealed that Whitcomb, Holland and their entourage had arrived in earnest. Suffice it to say, whatever else was on her mind had been put on hold for now.

---

They expected a door. They hadn't expected such a big one. They also hadn't expected it to be secured by an unconventional lock. There were a series of symbols on the door, arranged in a box pattern of sorts on octangular tiles. They were positioned like a checkerboard of sorts, but an imperfect one. There were nine in an outer ring spaced evenly. Four in a second, positioned in the corners and four more in the central ring clumped into a plus sign. Tali first suggested it was a password input. Or she thought it was, until trying one of the symbols caused some of the others adjacent or across from it to change.

There was also some kind of mechanism at the center of the door, shaped like a cube. One that looked similar in make to a triangle and a sphere were on either side of the door. They found they could shift the shapes around a bit to form different patterns and even new shapes, which caused the other shapes to re-orient themselves as well, clearly affected by the alterations. Halsey surmised they were all part of the same mechanism.

Attempting to bypass proved fruitless, as did circumventing the lock through hacking. It would appear the door to the security room required more than the assigned clearance level. It was a damn puzzle. One they had no idea how to solve. A most frustrating situation to be sure.

While Halsey had Cortana analyze the door with Legion's help, Taq attempted to figure it out the old-fashioned way. She studied the door long and hard, eyeing its various pieces of the puzzle curiously. Rowan had a different approach, saddling up close to the door and just press at random pieces to see what worked, humming a tune as she did. She attempted to alter the central cube a bit, causing it to shift and the adjacent shapes to do so as well after a few shifts. Rowan was not discouraged though, only elated.

"Oh glorious puzzle door," she said smiling gleefully. "How mentally stimulating you are? I am going to love cracking you open and earning your secrets, my friend."

"I'm just about ready to consider blowing it the fuck up," Taq snarled.

"Oh no," Rowan pleaded. "That ruins the fun! Puzzles are meant to be solved, not forced through. Do you wanna be like Alexander the Great? Do you wanna be called a lame cheating jerk forever and die half way around the world from home? Because that's what happens when you don't solve puzzles right!"

"I'm pretty sure that's not the lesson of the Gordian Knot story, Rowan," Caleb told her.

"Well it should be," Rowan argued, before turning to pat the door. "Don't worry, Mr. Puzzle Door. We're gonna solve you the honest way."

Taq sighed at the display.

"I have no idea what a Gordian Knot is, but it sounds equally infuriating," she declared. "At the very least, we could use a goddamn clue as to what the fuck we're supposed to be doing."

"Working on it," Cortana called out from a nearby console, Legion overlooking her. "We are currently analyzing several thousand possible puzzle configurations and their various solutions. This is going to take a little time."

"Go ahead, I'll crack this one way or another," Taq stated firmly. "This ain't the first Forerunner puzzle room I've been stuck in. Bastards had an affinity for this shit, but they haven't stumped me forever."

"Because you blew up the door eventually?" Tali asked.

"Sometimes," Taq shrugged. "It was... a type of solution at least."

Rowan looked back at Taq rather disappointed.

"Don't look at me like that," the kig-yar demanded incredulously. "When you have deadlines to meet and insane claim jumpers or Covie fanatics breathing down your neck, you'll brute force a few locks too."

"It would probably not be in our best interest to do so here regardless," Halsey warned. "We're not sure what kind of security measures the Forerunners in charge of this place implemented. An explosion could be detected as an imminent threat. And then we'd have who knows what coming out of the woodwork to stop us."

"We've seen more than a few Forerunner security measures to be cautious of them," Tali concurred. "Unless we have no alternative, best not to tempt fate. We've been lucky to not earn a more direct response to our intrusion beyond roadblocks."

Frankly, Tali was surprised they had been lucky enough to not trip something. With that thought, her greatest fear now was solving this puzzle incorrectly. The last thing they needed was to have something like Crawlers rushing in to try and kill them all.

"I can't help but wonder what would drive them to set something like this up," Caleb commented to the quarian as he surveyed the situation. "I mean, as a lockdown feature for this security room, isn't it a bit more risky than a passcode? If someone is clever enough, they could figure out how to get in whereas a random sequence of numbers is a much more effective block against intrusion."

"Maybe whoever installed this door didn't trust passwords alone," Tali suggested. "We've managed to hack through a few of them after all, but cracking an actual puzzle is harder. There are no shortcuts there, no bypassing methods."

"Hmm, that does make a certain kind of twisted sense," Caleb confessed. "Then again, as Taq mentioned, these Forerunners seemed to value knowledge and the ability to discern knowledge as a fundamental principle in their philosophy. Perhaps, this is simply a test."

Tali didn't rule that out, but it did seem possible that there was another reason. Mainly that a Puzzle Door had a lot more moving parts to resolve in order for it to open. Making it just a little harder for say, a parasitic organism that revived dead bodies to bust through. The Flood were many things, but they didn't seem particularly good at problem solving. At least not in their roaming mindless horde mode.

"Well I guess I should be grateful then I never had a Forerunner teacher making my exams back home," Tali stated. "Because this might have been beyond teenager me."

"It can't be that hard," Caleb assured her. "Clearly those symbols have some kind of pattern to them that we need to resolve. Not sure about the shapes though, maybe similar to the Rubix Cube?"

"Possibilities we're exploring," Cortana informed him, popping up from the terminal. "Near as Legion and I can tell, we're looking at a mishmash of various rudimentary logic puzzles. And you're right to guess it has something to do with patterns, Caleb. Every time Rowan presses one of those large tiles it alters all the adjacent tile's symbols to a different set."

"We've counted at least nine symbols thus far within the thirty-four tiles, suggesting a wide number of configurations," Legion explained. "It is unclear which would open the door and what relation to the shapes they have at this time."

Rowan had placed her hand on one tile, causing the misshapen P-Symbols next to it to alter to a more rounded oblique character. The tile that Rowan had touched was shaped like a pointed angular object with rays shining down on it.

"I call this one the Sun Poker!" The engineer laughed.

Because of course she did, Tali thought, sighing although a bit charmed by the young woman's enthusiasm.

"Well it's not the worst puzzle-based system I've encountered," the quarian confessed. "There was this dumb computing sequence with three towers of data that Shepard had to transfer in pieces. It was really stupid. I think he said something about them being from Hanoi?"

Halsey grimaced at the quarian's words.

"Towers of Hanoi," she stated. "Such a pointlessly wasteful puzzle. Infuriating. I tried using it once to teach my AI programs complex sorting algorithms. Every single one of them refused to speak to me for days after I asked them to solve it. They did, but they hated me for giving it to them. I grew to despise it myself after a while."

"It's not hard, it's just stupid," Cortana claimed. "It's like trying to follow the Grain, Hen, Fox and the Canoe riddle but with a pointless third step you need to deal with. Whoever came up with that thing was sadistic bastard."

"Well, in your case, you wanted to prove you could solve it faster than the others," Halsey reminded the AI. "So you inflicted it on yourself."

"And then I deleted the entire program out of spite afterwards, so I had the last laugh in any case," Cortana declared.

"Can we please focus on the current brain twister people?" Taq asked. "Seriously, there must be something we're missing. Obviously, the shapes have to connect to the symbol tiles somehow. The question is, in what way does it connect?"

Upon hearing that, Rowan moved away from the tiles and looked at the triangle. She attempted to shift its position a little, trying to see if there was any rhyme or reason to the alterations. It was a bit of trial error, but eventually she spotted something.

"Huh, hey I think there's something spelled out on this," she exclaimed.

Caleb walked over to give things a look, as did Taq. Rowan pointed to some raised glyphs along the side of the triangle. Taq's gaze grew more focused as she tried to use her omni-tool to zoom in on the etchings.

"At first I thought they were just designs and stuff, but look," Rowan insisted, pointing to the glyphs more directly. "They line up in some spots. Maybe a combination or something."

"Hmm, possible," Caleb concurred. "It might be some kind of picture we need to put together, a clue to what the tiles mean."

"You're not far off," Taq said. "In fact, you might be more right than you think."

Taq moved a few sections of the triangle around, forming a more complete design when she was done. The lines and glyphs lined up to a degree, forming something more recognizable. Well, recognizable to Taq at least.

"It's a numbering sequence I think," Taq explained. "We need to turn this triangle around until it matches what it's looking for. Same thing with the other shapes I bet. They spell out something. Thing is, these designs could form a number of possible sequences, we need to determine the right one."

"Well if it's connected to the tiles, maybe the clue is there," Rowan suggested. "Like, maybe if we're getting it right, they'll start glowing. Everything seems to glow when we're on the right track in this place. It's cool, if eerie, mostly cool though."

"We need to look over the tiles more," Caleb determined. "See if we can discern a pattern of some kind. Tali, can you help us? We need to uncover every possible symbol these tiles have on them, discern a pattern of some kind."

"That sounds good to me, but let's not step on each other's toes," Tali suggested. "We'll divide the squares into sections and try to stay within them. Legion, keep a record of which symbols are visible and how many unique ones there are in total. We need a full catalog of them if we're going to figure this out."

"Affirmative," Legion replied.

It took a while to properly run through all the tiles so they could get an even spread over how many different symbols there were. It was arduous, as more than once the tiles shifted to a glyph that they had already discovered, but eventually Legion arrived at an answer.

"There appear to be eleven different possible glyphs in total," the Geth concluded. "Further, we can now accurately predict what each symbol will alternate to in turn. The sequence is based on two factors, which the symbol on the tile activated and the symbols on the tiles next to it."

"So it's not entirely random?" Halsey questioned.

"No, it only appears so," Legion answered. "Likely a tactic to throw off anyone unfamiliar with the puzzle itself."

"Effective, but only for so long," Cortana stated. "A pattern was going to form eventually. This seems to run on a tile flipping puzzle dynamic. Normally that ends when you get all the tiles to form a picture or become the same color. I think this is different though. There's too many combinations for that to work here."

"It's got to have something to do with the symbols," Rowan insisted. "They're a clue, we gotta match them up somehow. Maybe form a picture but not an exact one?"

Tali looked over to Taq, still working with the shifting shapes nearby. She then looked back to the tiles and their assorted symbols and noticed something.

"Wait, there's a pattern here," she realized, taking Rowan's words to heart. "The glyphs, some of them match the shapes here."

"Well yeah," Caleb said shrugging. "There's only so many ways you can draw something on a two-dimensional space before it becomes abstract. Of course, some would match."

"True, but they gave us these three specific shapes from the outset," Tali explained. "We know that there has to be a connection between the tiles and the shapes. And some of these symbols on the tiles match these shapes. A two-dimensional glyph and a three-dimensional rendering of the same glyph."

She pointed them out, a circular glyph, the pointy pyramid of sorts Rowan had shown them earlier, a square. There were other fancy lines and pieces added to them, but those three symbols corresponded to the three shapes near and on the door. Rowan understood what Tali was getting almost all at once.

"Oh! I get it!" She said excitedly. "We gotta make them match up! We gotta flip the glyphs around until they all form a pattern! And the three we gotta use are the Floaty Eyeball, the Sun Poker and the Fuzz Box! I call it that because the little lines inside look like fur."

They did indeed look a bit like fur, from certain point of view. The Floaty Eyeball was probably called because the symbols inside the circle made it kind of look like an eye if you squinted. However, even with that, they were still a bit off from a solution, as Caleb pointed out.

"So they form a picture or something," Caleb confirmed. "But what?"

"Nothing concrete I imagine," Cortana stated. "There's nothing to suggest these symbols mean anything beyond representing the corresponding three-dimensional shapes. So, we probably have to match them together so they form... their shape?"

"That works," Tali said, concurring with the AI. "It wouldn't be perfect, but the way the tiles are set up, you could conceivably draw lines through them to form the shapes."

"A sound conclusion, but there remains a problematic variable," Legion warned. "There are multiple patterns to form all three shapes within the tiles presented in various configurations and methods. For example, a triangle could be made on the outside ring of tiles, the circle could be formed in the middle ring and square in the innermost ring. And that is assuming we form the shapes in the regular configuration. The square may need to be formed in a diamond, the triangle upside down or on its side."

"We need to know where the shapes are meant to be placed then," Halsey reasoned.

"I believe I have the answer," Taq spoke up from her work. "These three-dimensional shapes are spelling out a message. Look."

She waved them over and pointed to some of the characters etched onto the triangle. Although she really didn't need to, they were glowing bright blue. An obvious sign that they were on the right track.

"See this, it says, 'position of the', it's incomplete but I'm betting it tells us where the triangle glyphs go," Taq insisted. "We just need to work these shapes around enough that they form the full sentence. Then we can use them as directions!"

"Brilliant," Caleb said aloud. "We're finally onto something."

"Taq, keep on the triangle," Tali insisted. "I'll go to the sphere, Rowan, take the cube! We need to work on all three at the same time or the shapes will shift like they keep doing. That must be their reset mode, if we're working on all three at the same time, we won't lose our progress."

"You'll need someone to help you translate," Halsey insisted. "I'll assist Rowan. Cortana, pull up Tali's helmet feed and assist her on the sphere."

"I'll try and work with the tiles some more," Caleb offered. "Maybe I can get us a jumpstart on figuring out what does and doesn't work."

"We shall assist with long term predictive measures," Legion offered.

They had a plan now and everyone set to work on getting it off the ground. Twisting and altering the three-dimensional shapes was an arduous task. Forming the right words required both the proper translation of the characters etched onto the shape and guessing what the shape was ultimately trying to spell out. That and there were the times the shapes tried to reset themselves and had to be reconfigured back to where they were prior.

Not an easy task for most people. Thankfully between Cortana, Taq and Halsey, who all knew how to speak the Forerunner language, they made steady progress. Before long, they soon put together a workable sentence, signified by the blue glowing tint of the characters themselves. As expected, each shape contained clue as to what they were meant to do with the tiles.

"Our temple resides beneath the sun within the plain, central to all knowledge and discovery of the infinite," Taq said, reading the Triangle's clue. "All that is known is essential to the whole. Hmm, very cryptic."

"What we see with the senses rests upon the box, but cannot peer within to the knowledge it holds and the secrets that it keeps," Cortana read as she and Tali examined the sphere. "Only by peering inward can all knowledge be accessed from all sources. Hmph, that's the most philosophical riddle I've ever seen."

"Within the cube is a realm of boundless discovery, waiting to for our curious world to behold," Halsey read, looking at the cube shape with Rowan. "Only when our mind seeks the question can knowledge be obtained."

Halsey looked to the other shapes and contemplated the messages.

"Yes, a pattern is forming," she reasoned. "They are cryptic, but they revolve around a similar meaning."

"More of their knowledge religion cult nonsense," Taq grunted. "But, yes, I see what you mean, Doctor. Every riddle ties into the other, a singular theme, linked together with hints. This is more than just a complicated password, it's a test."

"Well if it is, I believe we've cracked the code, right?" Cortana asked. "I mean, when you look at the iconography denoted to each shape and how the riddles are laid out, the pattern is obvious."

"Each riddle is laying out how the shapes line up on the tiles," Tali reasoned aloud. "The triangle seems to represent knowledge to them, spiritual, cosmic and scientific knowledge. The cube represents where to find it and the problems with reaching it. Pilgrimage, hypothesis and the unknown. The sphere is the curiosity, the means of cracking that resolution. Following the sun to the temple, discerning a solution with our eyes, contemplating our world's place in the wider universe."

"And breaking all of that down lays out where each shape is positioned in the tiles," Rowan said exuberantly, clearly on the same page as everyone at this point. "The circle goes on the outside, the square in the middle and the triangle is smack dab in the middle of it all! Eyeball, Box, Sun Poker!"

"It all fits perfectly," Halsey said in solemn agreement. "Only one real way to test it though. Caleb, move over, we'll help you line up the tiles correctly."

"Alright, but let's not all jump in at once," Caleb warned as he tried out a new tile. "These things have a lot of flip options to run through. We mess up one we might have to do the whole thing over again."

"In most cases you would be correct," Legion informed Caleb. "But efforts concerning the solution to tiles on your behalf has added sufficiently to our data streams. With the additional input provided by the translation of the clues on the shapes, we have determined the most efficient route to solve the tiles in their current configuration of symbols. Follow our instructions carefully and the correct answer to the puzzle shall be readily obtained."

Through Legion's instructions, the team began to work on pressing the tiles and flipping he symbols on them. They carefully followed the Geth's directions, not wanting to screw up the synthetic's careful calculations. Tali didn't doubt Legion had a handle on this. Despite the glitch permeating his systems, the Geth's usually fast working and deductive neural network of artificial minds had not been affected. At least not yet anyway. She imagined things would inevitably get worse as time progressed.

In any case though, Legion hadn't gotten to that point and the glitch hadn't flared up in quite a while so far. Tali rusted their judgment on the matter, which proved to not be misplaced as they were steadily forming the desired configuration. A circle formed of "floating eyeballs" took up the outer ring of tiles, nine to be precise, excluding the corner squares. The "Fuzzy Box," by contrast, took up all four corners of the inner ring of tiles. The "Sun Poker" only took up three of the nine central ring of tiles, forming a right-side up triangle. By the time they were done, all the tiles were glowing bright blue.

The door, however, had still not opened. For a moment, they all thought they had missed a step. That passed though when the cube in the middle of the door began to faintly glow itself. It could only be the final step, the last part of this overly complicated test. They had no idea what they were supposed to do now though.

"There's gotta be something we missed," Taq insisted. "Something from the riddles I bet. A final step. They all had a third line about the various pieces coming together, right?"

Caleb tried to pull at the sphere, but to no avail.

"They don't seem detachable to me," he confessed. "Maybe we have to mess around with that cube?"

"But we've already messed around with it," Tali reminded him. "What more do we need to do with it? If we have to bring all the shapes together, as Taq suggests, how do we do that if we can't take the other shapes off their pedestals?"

Before anyone could start putting it together though, Rowan was already on the cube again. She began fiddling with it, curiously inspecting the sides as she switched and turned and altered the square. Somehow, the cube seemed more malleable, to the point that the sides of the square appeared more rounded as she went on. No one said a word as the young mechanic seemed fairly focused on her work, humming a sing-song tune as she did. Before long, she had shifted the various parts of the cube to form rounded sides, squared corners and pointed pyramid shape pointing out of the top of the object.

"When I was playing with it before to form the sentence, it felt like I could move it around more," Rowan explained. "But it was locked or something. So I thought back to the riddles, Their theme was all about getting to knowledge and everything, but what was the most important part of it all? The problem that needed to be solved, the cube element. Because, well, what's the point of getting the knowledge you're after if there isn't a challenge to overcome?"

"So you determined the cube was the ultimate problem to solve," Halsey reasoned. "It's the most important piece, that's why it's at the center of the door despite the pyramid being in the middle of the tiles."

"Yeah, and following from what the riddles were all about," Rowan continued excitedly. "I realized, putting all the pieces together was what they were going on about. Only by combining all three elements can you achieve a greater understanding of anything! It's like, they're all riddles about the importance of riddles and solving them! They're all about discovery, knowledge isn't just for knowledge's sake. I had to use my eyes to unlock the box to discover what I wanted to know!"

She looked towards the pyramid piece of the combined piece and then placed her finger over the symbol facing her, an exact reproduction of the very shape she formed. It was a button, one that gave way as she pressed on it. The combined shape retracted into the door in an instant. They heard the tumbling of locks and the creaking of gears before the door itself began part. It was a loud groaning sound of metal as thousands of years worth of stagnant impasse gave way. Rowan had the biggest smile on her face.

"I love puzzles so much!" She declared. "See guys? Told you it was worth it."

Taq quickly rushed inside and the others followed. They found a fully operational security room. The consoles blinked on at their presence. The room was bathed in a bright blue glow, that drew their eyes in various directions.

"Magnificent," Caleb said as he looked around. "And thanks to all of your efforts, great work everyone."

"This was a team effort," Tali asserted. "You included, Caleb. And especially thanks to you, Rowan. Seems you were on the right track to start with."

Rowan just shrugged.

"Aww, it's nothing," she giggled. "Just please tell there's more puzzles like that?"

"There might be, but with any luck, we won't need to solve them," Taq declared, her gaze locked onto a screen. "I just found the security logs. I can release access to a number of systems, not all of them, but it will cut down on some time."

"I suppose it's a start," Halsey sighed. "I didn't think we'd unlock the whole facility in any case. We're not that lucky."

"Don't be so sure," Taq laughed warmly. "We might have another way in after all. The logs are extensive, detailing every step of the lockdown. We can probably work backwards from them to do manual resets in some places. That's not even the best part though, take a look at this."

Taq brought up a screen that flashed brightly with various Forerunner language characters. She tapped it excitedly, drawing their attention to it.

"It's an upload completion notification, designated near the end of the lockdown sequence," the kig-yar explained. "They sent a ton of information to an off-site black box location of sorts. A backup data server somewhere else on this planet. And with Cortana's help, we can find out where it is."

"But what's there?" Caleb asked. "What did they upload?"

Taq just smiled as she brought up more logs on the console's screen for all to see. Her smile was soon joined by others within the collective of the room. They were right to be happy; this was the best news any of them had gotten so far.

"They uploaded our skeleton key, Caleb," Taq clarified. "Our way inside this mega lab's inner sanctum and, if I'm right, the means to turn the other guns outside back on."

In short, a solution to all their problems.

---

Being trained from a young age in the art of espionage was not a conventional upbringing for a pirate. It was not conventional for most kig-yar period. Retz took pride in it though, pride in his abilities, his skill and how he had perfected all of them. His colleagues back in the Syndicate probably thought he was too old for the game, but he had forgotten more about this work than any of them could ever hope to learn. He was trained by the best after all.

So when an opportunity to use those skills presented itself, he didn't hesitate to offer up his services. Why would he? If you knew you were the best, would you honestly deny yourself the chance to show them off? Zek's penchant for mayhem in his strategies, while still cunning and clever, always lacked some semblance of deviousness. It had its uses, but even Zek knew when to apply a defter touch. It was one of the reasons Retz respected him. Even as kids, when Retz pointed out a better plan of attack, Zek at least listened and more often than not switched things up. At this point, Zek deferred to Retz' abilities more often, specifically when he saw their value in a given situation.

Thus, this little mission to spy on New Tetecocan. Sneaking among the colonists had gleamed more than a few interesting nuggets of information. They weren't a bad bunch of humans, a little closed off but not anymore xenophobic than any other human they had met previously. For the most part, what he could hear from conversations, they just wanted to be left alone. They had no interest in anything the UNSC had to offer. While Retz believed they at least believed that, deep down somewhere inside he knew that wasn't the case. Everyone wanted something and if you dug hard enough, they would tell you what they wanted from you.

In Retz's case they hadn't exactly told him, but he had heard enough to figure out what they at least did not want. They did not want the UNSC to find out what they were hiding on the opposite end of the village. Which was reason enough, for him, to head there.

He found himself skulking in the grass surrounding a small guard position. They were hanging out near, what appeared to be, a large door in the side of the Forerunner structure's walls. Curious, this wasn't the entrance they currently had Taq and the other brainy folks trying to solve. They had never mentioned another entrance. Why would they even be guarding a locked door they couldn't get inside?

It was a mystery he intended to solve. So, sneaking through the grass, ever so carefully, he came upon the entrance proper. It was a small guard post that lay outside, two people, small barricades, nothing eye catching. Retz knew it was unlikely he be able to open up the big door, see what was inside and then get out with them so close. They'd hear the damn thing opening. There appeared to be smaller entryways in the door though, but he didn't want to risk opening them and the noise attracting attention.

He wouldn't be able to lay his naked eyes on what was inside, but he still could get a look. He shuffled past the guards, keeping to the shadow of the facility as the closest one turned away from him. He crept up to one of the smaller doors and then began to thread a small device through the crease to the other side. It was nothing special, just a small camera bug, that's all.

And before long, a feed was opened on his omni-tool. It revealed what he had been hoping to find. Exactly what they needed to get their sugar cane.

"Oh, this is going to be very interesting to see them explain," he whispered.

---

"So we can get in now," Shepard asked.

They were taking the meeting outside in the village, but they had all the relevant information on hand. From what they were telling him, they had made a breakthrough. He sensed a catch though, as there always was one and they looked like they were all about to explain it.

"We have a chance to break through to the critical levels close to the actual Relic and the Defense Reboot system," Halsey explained. "An offsite location the security backed up its various access codes to."

"Why did it do that?" Shepard asked.

"An added layer of security it seems," Taq stated. "Transfer all critical access codes stored on the system to a different location far away from the facility itself. Making it harder for a hacker to slice the system and eventually find them in the datastream."

"Think of it as putting a key for a chest in a safety deposit box," Halsey clarified. "It is redundant, but effective."

It did sound redundant, but everything about these Forerunners in particular seemed incredibly meticulous. Layers upon layers of security, puzzles to keep you out of rooms, this cult-like obsession with knowledge. It somewhat rubbed Shepard the wrong way, no body that paranoid about their secrets was devoid of a few skeletons in the closet so to speak.

"What exactly was transferred to this offsite?" Shepard asked.

"Various access codes, but all the ability to grant near total clearance," Tali explained. "I was wondering why we couldn't access any administrative controls for critical levels of the structure. Now we know, they transfered all of them to this offsite. With them, we could add ourselves into the registry, cutting down our timetable considerably. We wouldn't get to the relic, but we'd get close. Closer than we would banging our heads on door after door otherwise."

"I'm guessing you can't just access it from here though," Shepard surmised. "You need to manually be there to activate all this stuff."

"Yes," Halsey confirmed. "We are traced the upload, but there is no direct access line. That had been closed off it seems. We could upload programs to it, but we would not be able to bring anything back. It's essentially a one-way connection."

Which meant they needed to send out an expedition to this place, so they could crack it right there. That was only half the concern though.

"There's probably going to be a lot of security at this place already," he cautioned. "Sentinels most likely, or worse."

"We believe so," Tali confirmed.

"I believe it would be prudent to send the Spartans, Commander," Halsey claimed. "They excelled at this kind of data retrieval. With Cortana assisting them in the Master Chief's neural uplink, breaking through the barriers of the offsite backup location will be child's play. And the team itself would be more than capable of dealing with any threats located there."

A sound plan, and Shepard himself didn't doubt the Spartans' ability to get things done. Especially not the Master Chief's, as he had more than proven himself capable. There was, however a snag. How this would go down with the various people in charge of this village and with Whitcomb and Holland directly.

"That still leaves us bereft of Spartans for a good while," he said contemplatively. "That's a considerable defensive gap."

"A risk that is necessary," Halsey stated. "The Spartans are the most capable for this job as a unit. Besides, your crew is more than capable of covering the supposed gap while they're gone."

"Plus there would be the added benefit of smoothing over some relations," Tali suggested. "They wouldn't let Kat inside the village, so I've kept in contact through messages with my omni-tool to pool our resources. She says the sharpshooters are giving the Spartans particular attention more so than most."

"They are heavily armored super soldiers," Taq commented. "It is a bit scary to have them just mulling about on their doorstep."

Shepard couldn't find fault with that logic. He wouldn't exactly be fond of a similar situation were the roles reversed. Having Spartans so close no doubt raised a few eyebrows among the majority of New Teteocans and their less than glowing opinion of all things UNSC. Maybe them being gone for a few days would ease some tensions. There were other obstacles though.

"It still won't be easy navigating that jungle," Shepard observed. "Even with Cortana and a pinpoint position of this backup site. They'll need a guide who knows the area to a degree."

"A member of the colony," Halsey surmised, her tone revealing she had already thought of that. "Perhaps one of their security officers, for example. A tall order indeed, the Village Leaders will need some convincing I imagine."

Convincing was right, Maisey had been more than accommodating than Shepard imagined she was comfortable with already. Asking her to send someone from the village off into the jungle alone with a pack of Spartans was less than ideal. In her mind, it probably be like sending a lamb off with wolves. The level of trust just wasn't there at the moment.

"Likely, sending one of their own off alone is going to take some delicate negotiations," Shepard concurred. "How long do you think they'll be away?"

"It will largely depend on the level of resistance really," Halsey replied rather succinctly. "If they could take a Warthog less than a day, but the jungle terrain is extremely dense from what I can see. Taking a Pelican would be an option, if there was a break in the canopy somewhere along the route, but the foliage is tightly packed."

"Likely a defensive measure," Taq presumed. "The Forerunners could've ensured reaching the backup site was difficult to begin with. More natural obstacles in the way and such. Going on foot is really your only viable option. That will take about... two or so days to get there and two more to get back once they're done."

"In the meantime, we can push forward with our current progress," Tali stated. "We're still making breakthroughs, even if it's slow."

So the sooner they got this underway the better. That was at least some kind of leverage they could use.

"Have you already discussed this situation with Caleb?" Shepard asked them.

"He agrees it's the best option," Tali answered dutifully. "So does Rowan. But even they admit it will take some doing to convince Maisey."

"Something to bring up then when I mediate the upcoming meeting between the UNSC leaders and New Teteocan then," Shepard stated. "Hopefully, it will be one of the easier things to get them to come to an agreement on."

At that moment, they heard the rumbling of engines in the distance. Warthogs on approach. That could only mean one thing. Whitcomb, Holland and Haverson were arriving.

"Speak of the devil," Taq commented.

---

The UNSC leadership arrived to a less than welcoming reception by the New Teteocan Colonists. They eyed the arriving Warthogs from the gate with disdain. It continued as Holland, Whitcomb and Haverson exited their vehicles and headed inside. The civilians did not to impede or antagonize them, but it wasn't hard to tell they were not welcome. Haverson could see them all whispering, shifting about uncomfortably, pulling their children back behind them in a protective stance. The message was clear, they were here at the courtesy of the village, but only because they seemingly had no other choice.

Haverson was not surprised, nor was he blind to the reasoning. He was more than privy to a number of less than scrupulous things ONI had done before and after his joining. You may be forced in this job to lie to others about some things, but Haverson had developed a rule for himself over the years. You never lie to yourself about what you do. What ONI did was rarely nice. He hadn't done anything particularly dirty in his tenure, but his position had afforded him insider knowledge about what his department did. Regardless, even he wasn't clean, not entirely. The price of war was everyone got blood on their hands, sometimes it wasn't always the enemy.

Whatever sacrifices you made and justified to yourself were easy behind a desk and a screen. It was harder to do it up close, to the very people those decisions affected most. Apekis V being abandoned to the Covenant was not something he played a role in, but he was part of the agency that had. One of ONI's jobs was determining the viability of colonies, which were critical, vital even to war effort. The planets you couldn't lose, not without a fight. Once you figured out which colonies were those, you had to determine which you could afford to lose, which would be allowed to fall and what your response would be.

According to records, Apekis V had some viability, an ONI outpost examining Xenobiology, a few old ruins. That was likely a reason it had been targeted by the Covenant. However, in the grand scheme of things, it was a minor colony and one that many determined was not worth expending resources to defend in the same way other worlds had been. A cold assessment, Haverson wasn't sure how he felt about it, but he understood the logic of it. After all, there were a lot of colonies to protect and too few fleets left to save them all.

He had been a part of reassessing colonies himself over the years, it was likely one of his intelligence reports would wind up dooming a lot of civilians. Part of him hoped that the UNSC would try to evacuate as much as they could, should the time come. Reach, however, had proven that wasn't always easy, not even for well defended worlds. A smaller colony with a smaller garrison was even worse off.

All that said, he wasn't here to apologize. He understood why these people were angry with the UNSC, he didn't judge them for that and he had no interest in doing so. At the same time, he was not about kick up dust over a matter that was over a decade by now dead. He was sorry for what these people had suffered, but there was a bigger picture, a war going on. Humanity's survival was at stake. They couldn't wring their hands over every decision, they needed to act and be willing to do so. The Covenant was not going to wait for them or quibble about the morality of their actions. For Haverson, at the very least he'd bear the burden of his choice and not act like they made him a hero. Maybe other ONI agents and operatives would, not him.

He didn't lie to himself about who he was.

Shepard met them near the central bunker. If anyone was going to work as a mediator of sorts, it would be him. The Commander had none of the baggage associated with the UNSC accompanying him. The Colonists didn't know he was from another dimension, sure, but he had made it clear he wasn't in the UNSC officially. Whether or not the leadership of New Teteocan believed him was another matter, but he had built up a decent rapport with the colonists in any case. The fact they agreed to let him sit in was proof enough of that.

"Commander, are they all here?" Holland asked as they approached.

"They're inside the bunker," Shepard informed them. "A word of advice, I think their chief concern is you annexing them or something similar. This is about maintaining their independence while working with us and after we leave."

"Right now our primary concern is getting that relic out of here before the Covenant or Snarlbeak's pirates show up," Holland stated firmly. "I'm not looking to become a colony overseer or anything."

"Then I suggest you convince them of that," Shepard insisted. "That will make this easier."

Holland nodded in agreement and they headed inside the bunker together. Maisey and her people were already seated, they did not get up to greet the UNSC officers. Haverson guessed their names given the descriptions Shepard had shared earlier. The one called Rowan almost stood up, her fellow council member, Zara, however gently made her sit back down. Maisey took her time getting up and welcoming the three men to the bunker, a clear show that she was in charge if Haverson had ever seen one.

"Gentlemen, welcome to New Teteocan," Maisey said bluntly. "I'm sure the Commander has already filled you in on who we are. I'm Maisey, you can call me by that or ma'am. Now, please be seated."

Holland and Whitcomb quickly took their seats at the table, Haverson joining them as Shepard sat down himself. The Colonel and Admiral introduced themselves cordially as well as Haverson as the chief intelligence officer. He doubted any of them cared though, as they were either staring at them with contempt or indifference.

"We want to settle some concerns you and your people might have," Holland started out in earnest. "First of all, we are not in any position to re-institute colonial protocol. At the moment, we are cut off from command and are forced to make our own tactical field decisions. Even if we wanted to, and we don't, we have no interest in forcing you to do anything nor the inclination to usurp control. We simply want to remove the relic located here and assist you in any way possible before our departure."

"And it just so happens that those two goals are somewhat intertwined," Maisey surmised rather succinctly.

"At the moment, yes," Holland relented. "Your people will be far more secured if there is no reason to invade your village in pursuit of an ancient relic so many other parties are after. We also have another mission, getting back to Earth as soon as possible to continue to assist in the ongoing war effort."

"Right, Earth is always the priority," Brant interjected. "That's what they browbeat into our skulls as I remember."

Maisey coughed suddenly, quieting Brant who respectfully held his tongue. The village leader quickly recomposed herself and looked back to the three UNSC officers.

"I understand your conviction towards assisting your people and I don't begrudge you of that," she assured them confidently. "However, I must do the same. I need assurance that even if you won't reassert authority over our colony, neither will the UNSC at large. We want to maintain our independence, pure and simple."

"We can understand your perspective on that, ma'am," Whitcomb replied in usual gentlemanly drawl. "But understand it is... difficult to comply with. We will need to give our superiors a full debriefing on all matters and a previously unknown colony is somewhat of a significant event to leave out when we finally contact our superiors."

"You mean it's hard to leave out the fact said colony is situated beneath a Forerunner structure, correct?" Tiegan asked, eyeing them suspiciously. "I know how your procedure works when it comes to alien tech."

She wasn't wrong. Haverson knew how important it was to report all Forerunner structures to ONI high command. They were seen as strategic targets, treasure troves of information that could be potentially used against the Covenant. Or, in a more forward-thinking sense, a means to give humanity at large an edge, to give the UNSC a technological boost above any potential threat.

"We could simply leave out you're here," Shepard suggested. "We can tell them that the facility held no other value beyond the relic we recovered."

"That's a lot to go on by word alone," Maisey replied tersely. "We simply can't trust you to willingly lie on our behalf. It's too much of a risk, for all involved. We've discussed the matter among ourselves and we have to viable solution to the problem. We want a binding document, in writing, signed by all, the works. Granting New Teteocan independence from the UNSC and full autonomy."

"A treaty?" Haverson said, trying to discern a clarified answer. "That's a tall order. We're hardly in a position to create anything truly binding."

"One of you is an Admiral and you did just say you are free to act on your own authority," Maisey reminded them all. "That carries weight, even on Earth."

What Maisey was asking for was, essentially, an Autonomous Colonial Concessions Contract, or a 'right to go their own way' deal of sorts. Essentially, it would isolate the colony from the governing body of the UNSC's colonial affairs. Not many colonies applied for it, few had it granted. The concept was mainly to give any colony the right to gain greater autonomy for itself. It wasn't exactly independence, more like an agreed statement to not interfere with the affairs of the colony.

The reason so few got such a deal was because it invited division and very few could meet the requirements. There were invested interests in the resources of the colony, there was no universal support for any such motions, the demands involved taking UNSC military equipment, they didn't want to relinquish the economic standards or benefits granted by the Colonial Affairs Office. A number of potential reasons disqualified you from asking such a contract. In fact, because such movements created potential hotbeds and safe havens for Insurrectionist cells and groups, no one had been granted Autonomous Status in decades. A colony that had been set up by the UNSC could not just cut ties because they felt they could run it better.

So while there was a precedent, while it was in the Colonial Charter and it wasn't technically illegal, it was still frowned upon. Haverson half expected they'd want something like this. A very stringent, specific demand that would grant their colony legitimacy, be recognized by the UNSC and not be subject to the demands of the Colonial Offices.

"It's a rather problematic demand in any case," Haverson informed Maisey. "Given that there are still active Insurrectionist Militias operating in UNSC territory, we'd be risking granting such a means of separation from Earth a form of legitimacy."

"We're not Insurrectionists, Lieutenant," Brant corrected him. "We simply just want nothing to do with you. We want to be recognized as an independent colony. Not even on equal footing with you, just a mutual understanding that we do not fall under your jurisdiction to dictate and control. That's different from the Insurrectionist goal to form a rival colonial power."

"We can openly state as a clause in the contract as part of the conditions that will not offer safe harbor to the enemies of the UNSC, whether they be from the past, present or future," Maisey insisted. "We do not like the Insurrectionists any more than you and the Covenant are also unwelcome, that goes without saying."

"Forgive me if I may ask," Holland interjected. "But I believe we need some assurances of that statement. Why wouldn't you be friends with Insurrectionists? You share a common goal."

"Not a common means," Tiegan declared bluntly. "Insurrectionist terrorists assaulted our resource plants on Apekis V numerous times. They even raided our medical supplies at one point as well, with little regard for the civilians who got in their way. They chose us as a target because even then the UNSC overlooked us when we needed them."

"Why do you think we started up militias of our own?" Brant added, hypothetically questioning Haverson Holland in kind. "We couldn't rely on you to protect us even then."

Maisey quickly calmed the two, raising her hands to silence them both. For all her clear disdain for the UNSC, she did clearly know when not to let her passions inflame her to great a degree. It was probably why she was the apparent leader of the Council. She had the most practical mind of the various personalities among them.

"The Insurrectionist Cause may have once been noble in some sense, but it has been corrupted by violent individuals who only seek revenge," she declared openly. "That's not what I want, it's not what my people need. Whatever chips we might have on our shoulders, we have no interest in starting fights or giving shelter to those who would only bring disaster to our colony. Let me be blunt, if you were an Insurrectionist Cell, which we suspected for a time, we wouldn't be having this conversation. You'd all be dead, period. The UNSC may have left us to die, but I'm not an idiot. I know who's worse."

That was good enough for Haverson at least. Spending enough time with Jackals had given him a renewed sense of when someone was lying. While Maisey was probably keeping some things close to her chest, this wasn't a show. She spoke of the Insurrectionists with such open genuine disgust, that much was obvious.

That did not, however, make granting her request any easier.

"We're not opposed to the idea, I want to make that clear," Whitcomb began calmly. "From what we can see you probably have the best case for motion towards Home Rule authority in... well, a long time, let's be frank here. The problem is, granting an independence motion is easier said than done under the circumstances. Assuming we get back to Earth, and we present this documentation you propose, we will have to justify our actions in breaking protocol."

"There are indeed a number of clauses involved in granting the motion," Holland said, continuing from the Admiral's point. "As I recall there would need to be an informal referendum to start with, various inquiries to see if a transition is viable or even possible. The Colonial Affairs office would need to negotiate terms, said terms would need to be agreed upon by a number of subcommittees and the Earth Federal government. Also because we are at a time of war, the upper echelons of the UNSC Chain of Command has to be involved in the decision making, that means the Joint Chiefs, various service branch officers, numerous secretaries within the Defense Department, Lord Hood himself in fact. It's a complicated matter and you're asking us to skip all the procedure and just... sign a contract. We have to justify that decision and if we are found lacking, they will decide such a contract is void and begin the process themselves in earnest."

"Would the UNSC really waste time with all of that?" Tiegan asked incredulously. "With a war going on with the fate of humanity at stake?"

"Especially because of the war," Haverson interjected. "We're being up front here with the complications that could arise and make your lives more difficult. Without a justifiable reason to give for why we took this unorthodox step, you'd have UNSC ships in orbit and Marine Boots on the ground assessing the Colony themselves. I don't think that's something you want and it will be harder for us to prevent with or without a signed contract. It might even be harder because of this contract which they will see as us taking undue initiative and remove us from any form of advocating on your behalf."

Maisey, for her part, seemed to absorb the arguments and nod her head at some of the points. However, she turned to Shepard with a most stoic stare to ask a new line of questions.

"Commander, perhaps it would be prudent if you asked your friends, your Lieutenant specifically, if they would just stop dancing around the elephant in the room," she requested. "We all know why they're hesitant about this, the real reason they're afraid of being put in the hot seat to justify their decisions here back home."

Shepard looked at Maisey inquisitive, trying to read what she was getting at.

"I think it would be better if you just voiced your thoughts rather than making them guess," he said.

"It's the Forerunner Facility," she relented rather bluntly. "The big towering ancient alien structure looming over our heads at this moment. We know about the UNSC's whole deal with them. We touched on this near the start, but that's the crux of it all. There is a Forerunner facility occupied by Colonists who want Colonial Autonomy. That is going to look like a threat, isn't it?"

"To some, maybe," Holland confessed. "But as suggested, we can claim the facility held no further value."

"Unfortunately, we know that won't hold much water as an excuse," Caleb cut in suddenly. "ONI will want to send people here at some point to study the facility, learn its secrets, prove to themselves you got everything. They won't just take it on word of mouth and faith that you got every scrap of knowledge out of this giant facility. Your arrival here makes their coming inevitable, Autonomy ensures they have to go through appropriate channels to conduct such research... not skulking around in the shadows to get what they want."

That did sound like something a number of people at ONI would do. Although honestly, Haverson imagined same said number of people would try to ignore the proper channels regardless of any autonomous treaty or the wishes of colonists it was connected to. Still, said contract would make it harder for ONI to just come in and do as they pleased. It was all very clear to him now, the contract wasn't just a statement of what they wanted, it was guarantee of a path for recourse when ONI broke the rules and was found out. And for what it was worth, Haverson didn't blame them for wanting that lifeline. However, this wasn't their only option. There were easier ways to get that lifeline.

"There are ways we can prevent that," Haverson tried to assure them. "I can make a recommendation to ONI's leadership that this facility holds no further strategic or scientific value that has not already been mined. For example, if I have a better understanding of the defensive capabilities of the facility, that knowledge might be deemed sufficient enough to close any untoward lines of further inquiry. They'd leave you alone."

"So... we give access to look at how the defense grid works and potential weaknesses to it?" Brant asked, not sounding all that enthused. "That sounds like giving you the spare key and that's assuming you even get the grid back up to full power."

"It would potentially ensure they'd have to," Caleb argued briefly. "Otherwise how could they get a full spec of the system?"

"No, no," Brant said, remaining defiant. "I will not sign off on that, I will not compromise security to make ONI feel momentarily satisfied. Never them, especially not them."

"Then maybe there are other less critical systems," Shepard offered. "Things that we can have as a condition of some kind of contract that will grant your colony a form of autonomy. At the very least, ensure your space will not be violated by the UNSC."

"A lot of that involves trust," Maisey stated plainly. "And frankly, there just isn't enough of that yet. At least with a signed contract or treaty, we would have a basis of a case for greater independence and home rule. There would be terms outlined, we'd make our intentions known. Even if they tried to void the contract, as suggested, they would be aware of those demands and forced to acknowledge the actions they took to cause this situation."

Holland shook his head, not derisively, but skeptically.

"In my experience, the War Cabinet will justify whatever actions it took," he claimed. "If you're looking for compensation it will not be so easily granted by them. If you're looking for a statement of trust, a means to take us at our word that will be your advocates, we can do that."

"How would you be our advocates?" Zara asked earnestly. "Would you argue for us to be allowed to go our own way?"

"We could work towards that," Whitcomb offered. "Establish a mutual understanding that could lead to autonomy. We can't say they will acknowledge any mistake you feel was made, but it is likely they will allow you to maintain your current government system and control over your current resources."

"So long as, I'm assuming, we play ball and hand them over whatever juicy details are in the archives of the Forerunner Facility?" Maisey asked, not sounding convinced. "That sounds like we're still under your thumb to a degree."

Shepard drummed his fingers on the table and sighed greatly.

"We're getting nowhere," he said succinctly. "Listen, for this to work, we need trust, on both sides. Maisey, if there is a way, right now, for you to feel like we can be trusted to represent your best interests and stated goals to the UNSC, now is the time to speak up. If any of you have ideas on how we can build trust between each other, we should lay it out now."

The group was silent for a bit, about a minute or so. However, it was hard to tell if anyone was honestly thinking about ideas or waiting to see who offered what first. Zara broke the tension, if only to end the silence.

"This might be a bit outside your general expertise," she began cautiously. "We, uh, we have a few crops that are ready to come in. Extra hands are... never unwelcome."

"You want our Marines to help bring in your harvest?" Holland asked, somewhat bemused by the idea.

"Well they are just... sitting there all day just outside," Zara explained, shrugging as she did. "Might as well be useful."

"So the UNSC helps with some daily functions in service of New Teteocan," Shepard surmised. "Would that help to build some trust?"

The Council looked to Maisey, turning the decision to her. She thought of it for a moment or so, tapping her fingers on the table as she looked down.

"It's a start," she confessed.

Rowan, who had been quiet up until now, finally raised a hand.

"Oh, oh, we're making some pretty good progress regarding the whole Relic hunt and stuff, but we could use more equipment for our research," she said exuberantly. "More sophisticated scanning equipment, maybe some tools to hotwire some stuff. Oh, blow torches, always good to have a blow torch."

"We do have a list actually," Caleb said, concurring with his compatriot. "I was going to ask Halsey about it but-"

"We have some spare equipment lying around for repair purposes," Haverson answered suddenly. "We're not using it as much, maybe you'd find a better use for it."

He didn't mention the fact it was because the Huragok floating around were doing most of the repairs on their own. They didn't really need the equipment they still had stored away. And if made the work for the relic go faster, all the better.

Tiegan was next.

"We've gotten used to other forms of medicinal assistance out here," she said, not sounding entirely enthused. "It's not always ideal, constructing bandages or remedies from herbs and leaves and what not. We have emergency supplies, but biofoam, some more traditional medicines would be useful. I might have pride in my abilities, but I'm not going to say no to something more advanced. We're not luddites here."

"We have some extra supplies to spare," Holland assured them.

"And my ship has something that will last you a lot longer than even that, it's easier to manufacture even," Shepard said, quickly stepping in. "It's called Medi-Gel. Heals up wounds very quickly. It should save you a lot on bandages and the like."

Tiegan just grinned.

"Finally, a way out of the dark ages," she declared. "Goodbye leeches and healing salves, hello actual medicine!"

"She doesn't really use leeches," Rowan assured the UNSC. "She's being sarcastic."

"I'm sure they can tell, Rowan," Maisey told the young woman, who nodded receptively. "In any case, this does a lot to increase a sense of trust, but I'm guessing there's a price to it all."

"No, but there might be other things we need," Shepard interjected. "I'm sure Rowan has already reported to you about the Back Up Facility they've learned about."

Maisey nodded dutifully.

"Yes, she and Caleb both impressed the need to discover this offsite location as soon as possible," she replied, her tone direct, yet personable. "You will likely want your best people heading there of course, it does sound potentially dangerous."

"And they could use some of your people to guide them through the terrain," Shepard added. "You're more familiar with this area after all."

"I'm assuming these best people are your Spartans," Brant quickly determined. "I heard a few stories about them. Couldn't they make it on their own?"

"Yes, but I imagine you'd feel better knowing your people were with them," Shepard replied. "Reporting back on their progress rather than them all just being off in the jungle somewhere beyond your supervision."

Brant looked thoughtful for a moment, his grimace relaxing into a slightly more respectful expression. Apparently, it was not a permanent fixture of his face after all. Haverson was glad, it showed he was reasonable, even if he was a bit paranoid about the UNSC's intentions.

"A fair point," he conceded. "I'd want regular updates though, and I'd have final say over who goes."

"Of course," Whitcomb agreed. "That's something we can both agree on. We need a constant flow of information concerning what's happening at this outpost ourselves. And if it helps you feel like you can trust us more, than all the better. We can find common ground here."

"And then work towards figuring out what comes next," Shepard added. "I'm sure there is a means for both our sides to come to an agreement on the question of home rule. All we need to do is a build a layer of trust."

As Shepard spoke these words though, Haverson's omni-tool started blinking. Someone had contacted him. Unaware of this, the others continued the negotiations, while the Lieutenant took a covert look at the holographic screen. It was an image file of something, actually several images in fact. And some directions to the other side of New Teteocan's outer walls. What he saw was perplexing and there was no sender ID. No means to trace it either, someone had purposely corrupted that part of the data feed. He could take a wild guess who might be behind this though and it made him take pause.

But what he saw was too troubling not to act upon, even if the source was somewhat suspect. The problem was how to approach the subject, to first see if this had any merit. As Shepard and the others continued to speak and negotiate what would be exchanged and for what, Haverson came up with a plan. The only avenue he saw open at this juncture, to confirm what he had been given and force the issue if correct, was potentially volatile to the proceedings. He was not about to let it slide though. It was then he spoke up.

"I think, we should give some considerable thought to the idea of a potential attack from the Covenant on this position," he began, speaking rather forwardly towards the group. "The fact is, we are in a bad position. If they make landfall, all our defenses should be bolstered. I believe that means we should assist in making defensive preparations should the worst come to pass."

"We already have preparations in place," Brant assured him.

"I'm sure your walls and watchtowers are defensible and they'll hold in an attack," Haverson continued, keeping his tone leveled and respectable. "But we can never be too careful. If you'll allow it, we should instruct our men to build defensive positions along your flanks. We're already positioned near the farms so we can protect that, but some trenches on the other end of the colony would be helpful, I think. Built by us, manned by you of course."

Maisey looked straight faced at Haverson, her brow cocked. She said nothing, so Haverson added onto it.

"I just feel we should cover all our bases and obviously your people would feel more comfortable if they didn't feel surrounded by us," he said, still retaining a plain and straightforward tone. "So you'd control these, uh, trenches, new barricades, but we'd help you set them up to UNSC specs."

"That does sound like a good idea, especially in light of the circumstances," Shepard complied, rather glad to hear Haverson contributing.

The ONI agent was almost sorry it was partially a bluff for that reason. Shepard looked so pleased to see an attempt at camaraderie. Haverson wish it could've been a genuine offer. Though he felt a little less sorry when Brant responded.

"We don't need them," He said defiantly and far too forcefully for a simple rejection. "We're perfectly fine with the defenses we have currently."

Shepard was surprised by the rejection.

"Brant, you know how dangerous the Covenant or anyone with their weaponry can be," he implored. "This seems like a good fallback idea in case we can't get the defense grid rebooted before they show up."

"We don't need extra trenches, we're fine," Brant insisted.

No one from the council offered a rebuttal to Brant's remarks. All Haverson saw was some tense faces and looks from Maisey that were clearly telling him to tone his voice down. She didn't say it of course, but the look she was giving the man was all the evidence he needed. Something was up and it only confirmed Haverson's suspicions.

"I'm offering a chance for the UNSC to prepare you against an enemy that destroyed so many of your lives and giving you a sense of control over it," he continued. "Why reject that? It's what you want isn't it?"

Maisey seemed to glare at him, already wise to what he had done Haverson suspected.

"Is this another issue of trust?" She spoke up solemnly.

"Well, is there a reason you don't want UNSC soldiers digging defenses on the other side of the colony's perimeter?" Haverson asked. "I mean, it's not like anything is there, right?"

Maisey's glare intensified as the other members of the council grew more anxious. Rowan's eyes kept darting between her colleagues, Shepard, the Colonel and the Admiral. Holland and Whitcomb had also become suspicious.

"There is nothing there, correct?" Holland pressed further. "You stuck our people near the farm to keep an eye on them. Not to... keep them away from something."

Maisey looked briefly at Holland, then Whitcomb and finally Haverson. She was a smart woman and she already seemed to have guessed where this was going.

"Where do you want go, Lieutenant?" She asked with a sneer.

"The other end of the colony's outer perimeter," Haverson insisted. "Along the Forerunner facility's wall. About half a kilometer down or so."

"Very specific of you," she sneered. "Fine."

As she stood up, Brant protested.

"Maisey!" He shouted.

She held her hand up to quiet him.

"I trust if we don't do this, you'll force the issue?" She asked, still an aura of defiance in her voice

"That depends," Haverson replied, just as defiantly. "Like Shepard said, this is about trust."

"Haverson what is going on?" Shepard asked, now completely confused at how sudden the negotiations had turned ugly.

"I need to be sure of something, Commander," he answered. "I'm sorry, this isn't how I wanted this to go."

Maisey huffed at the comment.

"Of course it isn't," she said, disbelieving tone readily apparent. "Come on then."

She left the table, the council following behind her before Shepard and the others followed suit.

---

When they reached the location in question, they did find a small team of armed guard in front of what looked like a slight depression in the Forerunner facility. On closer inspection, it was obviously a door. Maisey called the guards off, even as Brant kept arguing.

"We don't need to show them anything," he snarled. "This was their people's fault to begin with."

"I am not starting a fight over this," Maisey finally replied defiantly. "That's final."

They headed up to the door as Maisey began to input a code on the pad located next to it.

"So what? There's another entrance to this place then?" Holland asked.

"No, this is disconnected from the rest of the facility as far as we can tell," Maisey explained, pausing briefly. "And once you see what's inside, I'm hoping you'll at least let me explain before you decide to act."

"Just open it," Haverson said curtly, at this point he was in no mood for kid gloves.

Maisey finished inputting the commands and the doors to the facility began to creak open. It was a large, industrial metal on metal sound as the entrance retracted, revealing what lay beyond. And what lay beyond was some kind of hangar, stocked with the last thing anyone save Holland expected. Shepard had briefly wondered if it was Forerunner ships or vehicles they were hiding. It wasn't though. Within the hangar were a number of large mech suits, colored brownish and green with the logo of the UNSC emblazoned upon them. They were off to the sides though, in the middle, were two small armored vehicles with what appeared to be a heavy cannon on top. There was also one, really big, massive even, tank behind them which looked like a suped-up Scorpion on various steroids.

Haverson already knew what this all was.

"Cyclops Exoskeleton suits, two Cobra tanks and one Grizzly," he said, taking stock before looking directly at a still defiant Maisey. "So this is that Defense plan Brant here keeps mentioning. UNSC equipment, which I doubt was aboard the cargo freighter you stole... unless it wasn't a civilian one."

By now, Holland and Whitcomb looked incensed and Shepard looked despondent. For their part, the village council just looked worried about what came next.

"I think we need an explanation, Ma'am," Whitcomb said sternly.

"You want an explanation?" Maisey replied, sounding livid as she did. "Here's the explanation, it was a military cargo ship we escaped on. We dumped most of the vehicles to make room for our supplies, we kept these in case we needed a better means to defend ourselves besides farming tools and some old hunting rifles."

"So you lied to us," Haverson growled. "So much for trust, huh?"

"As if you have any damn leg to stand on, Lieutenant," Maisey snarled back. "We were dying on Apekis V and your people could've saved us! But you decided to leave us to die! We had no other options but to do what we did!"

"And what did you do?" Holland asked incredulously.

Maisey stood upright once more, stoic, resolute, unwavering as she stared at all three UNSC officers at once.

"We survived, Colonel," she answered firmly. "We survived."

---

AN: You're probably wondering what's going on here and I don't blame you. This is cliffhanger to a degree, but I was running long and I didn't want to make another overly long chapter. If you're wondering, yes, there is more to the revelations here. I apologize this took so long to get out, but I've been trying to make up for lost time by writing like crazy whenever I can. I'm making good time actually, but I'm going to have to layout some things to really solidify where we're going from here.

As always, thanks for sticking with me on this crazy journey and don't worry, you can expect some much needed answers to this very soon. I'm putting all my effort into getting this arc out on a regular schedule of sorts. There's a lot of cool stuff I want to do with this Colony Story and this where things get really interesting. See you next time, please leave your reviews where you can. As always, thanks for reading.