So, I'm back with a new chapter.
Now we get to see what happens when Master Chief makes contact with the natives. Also, a quick note that the poll for Chiefs armor is officially closed as of the posting of this chapter.
So anyway, I won't leave you waiting any longer now.
Anyway, the original idea for this story goes to Worldwander2.0 and as always, all rights go to their owners as I own nothing!
It had been three hours since they had left the Pelican. And in those three hours, Chief had figured out that they were being trailed.
John wasn't sure by who or what, but because he was in unknown territory it made him cautious. As he then spent over two and a half of those three hours using every trick that he had learned at basics to shack those unknowns off his tail; to leave him free to begin his investigation of the settlement that Cortana had identified from orbit.
But as Chief started down what he assumed to be the main road to the settlement did Cortana get Chief's attention.
"Chief I'm picking up more radio traffic. We should check it out; as it might be a relay of some sort." Cortana informed him.
Chief understood her reasoning behind this. Because if he could get her access to the relay, Cortana could connect to whatever passed for internet out here. If that were indeed the case, then maybe they could gather the information they needed without going into town and draw undo attention to themselves.
"Set us a waypoint." He stated simply.
"Done, also I'll revise it as we get closer to the sources." Cortana informed him.
Without another word, Chief started moving towards the waypoint that Cortana had set for him. The trip there was mostly uneventful, as the surrounding landscape had sparse amounts of vegetation around. This made it easy for John to make progress towards their distention.
Even so, there wasn't much in terms of cover. As such if Chief were to suddenly find himself in a firefight, finding a quick escape route would be rather difficult.
As such Chief knew that he had to try to preempt any firefight before it happened. And that meant keeping a close eye on his motion sensor, all the while ensuring that he left little in terms of a physical presence.
Even with all these precautions, John's helmet scanners would pick up some sound or movement on the outer edge of its range. Thus, forcing him to stop and scan the area, before deeming the area clear and continuing toward the waypoint makers that Cortana put up for him.
This pattern continued for close to half an hour until Chief came to the edge of a small depression in the ground. In the middle of which was a large pole-like structure that was vaguely similar to some of the relays that you would find on most UEG frontier colonies.
The relay; Chief assumed that this was it was weathered and worn-out bronze-gray, with a stocky base and a thin tower that ended in a radio dish of an unknown style.
Still Chief didn't care for what it looked like, so long as it gave him and Cortana what they needed. As he then approached the ancient-looking structure, all the while scanning the area for the slits hit of trouble.
"Chief," Cortana said getting his attention. "If you can find a way to get me access; then I can start to learn more about our new home."
Upon hearing this Chief immediately approached the base of the relay and what looked like a maintenance access panel. Which upon further inspection turned out to be the case, even though he couldn't read the writing on it that spelled it out anyway. Still, this was of little interest to John, as he then grabbed and ripped the panel clean off, exposing the electronics and equipment that were hidden underneath it.
"There's a slot for my chip right there," Cortana informed him as a new marker appeared on his HUD.
Taking a moment to locate and ensure that the chip would fit into the slot, all the while ensuring that there was no danger to Cortana. Chief then yanked the AI chip from his helmet and plugged it into the mess of electronics that made up this relay.
For a moment nothing happened as the Chief backed up a couple of steps and started scanning the area while Cortana started working. Still, it didn't take long for Cortana to start finding the information they needed.
"That's, interesting…" Cortana muttered.
"What is it?" Chief inquired as he continued scanning the area.
"Seems that planet this isn't the system's main planetary body. It's almost like Reach in a sense that it-" Cortana started to muse to herself but was stopped by the Chief.
Because he knew that she could go on about this sort of thing for some time. But what he needed at the moment was information relevant to their current situation.
"Does it have a name?" John pushed for the information he needed.
"Ah, sorry almost got carried away: Concordia a moon and mining colony in orbit of the rather infamous planet of Mandalore." This raised a couple of questions in Chief's mind as she told him this.
As infamous wasn't simply thrown around by Cortana that often. Then again there were more important things that he needed to know. Such as where the world of Mandalore even was located in their galaxy.
"How far out are we for UEG space?" Chief inquired as he continued to scan the area.
As Chief couldn't shack the feeling that he was being watched in some way. And considering that Chief had experienced this feeling enough times to know when he could trust it. As Chief knew it well enough to know that he was being watched or at least observed by someone. As such he continued to scan the surrounding area hoping to locate the person who was watching him.
"I'm still working on that. Hmmm… that's interesting." Cortana mussed as she continued to shift through the data streams.
All the while John was starting to get restless, as he continued to scan the area. Knowing that there was someone there, he then tightened his grip on his MA5, hoping that his inability to locate the target didn't come back to haunt him as Cortana finally answered his questions.
"It seems that we've drifted further than I thought," Cortana informed him as she continued looking through the data.
Still, it didn't escape Chief attention that she failed to say how far they had gone. As such Chief asked the only question that could be in this situation.
"How far out did we go?" The question was as simple as it was important.
The answer he got from Cortana would dictate their next move. For a moment Cortana went quiet as if thinking about something before answering.
"John," Cortana said with a heavy voice, "We're outside of Milkyway Galaxy." Cortana decided not to hold back the truth of the matter from John, as he needed to know the situation, they were in.
John of course took in this information in silence; all the while his mind was racing. With both the implications, this meant for them while also trying to figure out how they could've drifted so far so fast until it hit him.
"Could this have anything to do with the portal?" Chief inquired.
As he knew that the portal that they had planned to take back to earth from the Ark had collapsed before they had gotten through it. Hence why they had been stranded in the aft part of the Dawn, as the portal had collapsed on the ship cutting it into two pieces.
"It is probable, though I can't say anything for certain," Cortana said, to which Chief understood what she meant.
As Forerunner technology was difficult to understand at the best of times. As the Forerunners' technology was on a completely different level than that of the Humanities. As the Forerunners had built many artifact worlds, stars, and many other mega structures that had yet to be discovered by UNSC and the galaxy at large. So, to Chief, it wouldn't be a big leap of logic to say that the portal had dumped them here.
Even so, there was still one last question that John had for Cortana. The one question that would determine what their next course of action was, as John already knew she had the answer to it.
"Can we find a way home?" This question was first and foremost on the Chiefs' mind.
"No. Not at least with this galaxy's technology. It would be best for us to try and send a signal home and see if they can come and retrieve us." Cortana informed the Chief of the conclusion she had come to only seconds before.
As Cortana had already taken a look at what this galaxy used for faster-than-light travel.
Though impressive by UGE standards, Cortana couldn't notice the gaping flaw in it couldn't stray too far from marked routes, less it runs into unknown obstacles and dangers. This characteristic made it extremely different from UNSC and Covenant Slipspace drives. Though Cortana could see the advantages and disadvantages of each mode of transport; she didn't want to rely on a completely unknown technology.
Especially considering that fact, Cortana wasn't even sure that a Hyperdrive as they called it would be able to make the journey through the void between galaxies.
Having considered these facts, Cortana honestly placed a better odd for them to send out a signal and have the UNSC figure out a way to bring them back home. As they would have the time, energy and resources to mount that kind of rescue effort; and besides once they learned that Chief was indeed alive; Cortana didn't imagine that they would simply leave him stranded out here without at least attempting to bring him home.
"… Understood, how are we planning on sending this signal?" Chief inquired.
As Chief didn't have the information that Cortana currently had access to, as such needed to be filled in on some of the more important details.
"I'll explain that later. As I need to give you a rundown of this galaxy's history, needless to say, we won't be lonely in this galaxy." Cortana explained.
Chief for his part had many questions as to what she meant by this. Still, the first and foremost questions in his mind were related to that current situation. As Chief still needed more information on this system, its local inhabitants, possible species and local hazards they might come across alongside a multitude of different things.
But those questions would have to wait, as Cortana had been buying herself time when she had said this. As she was still trying to crack the local language barrier; which case was proving itself a rather tough nut to crack. This fact alone was holding up the amount of information that she could translate and then rely back to the Chief. This was proving rather annoying for Cortana, who didn't like being held back by such triviality.
Still, this was going to prove the least of their worries; as John's motion tracker then picked up a blip that was well inside of its range. Upon seeing this and the fact that it was moving towards him from behind him, Chief then spun around to face this unknown contact, at which point he came face to face with a humanoid figure clad in dirty gray armour who was looking back at him from behind a piece of a solid cover.
The armour was of a different design and make than any Chief had come across before, with a T shape visor in the helmet the most notable part of the armour. Also, the Chief immediately tell that the armour was made mostly for movement rather than giving its wearer protection. Even so, it did protect the most virtual areas of the personnel, alongside which it Chief immediately noticed the small jetpack that was attached to the back.
Making notes of the stranger standing in front of him, Chief once again turned to Cortana to hopefully defuse this situation.
"Cortana, what's he saying?" Chief asked as he continued stranger down the stranger in gray armour.
He then said something else that Chief couldn't understand, but his body language slipped into that of a combat stance.
"Give me a moment. I'm still trying to identify the language." Cortana said as she tried to shift through the many languages used throughout the galaxy.
But it seemed that the armoured man was going to give her that time. As he then raised and pointed his weapon at Chief and barked something he guessed was a command of some sort. But instead, the Spartan levelled his trusty MA5 rifle at the man.
At which point he said something else which Chief couldn't understand. All the while Cortana raced to set up a translator to defuse the escalating situation. But at this point, Chief knew that time wasn't on their side.
"Cortana; I need that translation now!" The Chief was seconds away from pulling the trigger.
But the moment he said that the stranger opened fire. A red blaster bolt flew towards the Chief.
Chief didn't even bother to avoid the attack. Mostly out of fear that it would hit the exposed elections behind him, as John wasn't sure what would happen to Cortana if the relay was damaged or destroyed.
He didn't want to find out, so he took the Blaster bolt head-on. With his shields flicked to life to protect both him and the AI behind him; Chief opened up, aiming to kill.
"Gar di'kula ori'vod!" Valerie cursed her di'kut excuses of a brother, as she watched the firefight develop between the two of them.
She had known that Nars would pull this kind of stunt. As such, she had been hoping that she would be the first one to get the armoured giants and avoid this kind of situation. But she hadn't been able to. As such all she could do now was help clean up her ori'vod mess.
Still, Valerie was just thankful he hadn't started with his disruptive right off the bat, but then again, the stranger was standing in front of the main relay for the area.
Because if Nars missed with his disruptive hit the relay would've knocked out Comlinks for miles around. And it didn't take a genius to figure out what happened after that, as Mandalorians weren't exactly the forgiving types.
"Why do you have to kriffing doing this Nars?" Valerie continued asking herself, as she then changed over her rifle to that of its sniper configuration.
She knew half the answer to her question, but that still left another fifty percent unanswered. Still, it wasn't like that mattered right now, as she finally had a chance to get a good look at the strangers' armour. Needless to say, it was of a style and make she had never seen before.
On top of a jet black undersuit of unknown make were armour plates coloured in olive green. Still, the parts of the armour that stood out the most to Valerie were the two semi-circle-shaped shoulder guards, the large, rounded chest plate and finally the helmet with its orange, gold visor that was even visible through her blasters' scope.
'Just who or what are you?' Valerie asked herself as she finally took note of how the fight between it and her brother was going.
Needless to say, it was going rather poorly for him, as he had already been forced out from behind his cover and was already using his jetpack to stay alive at this point. As the giant was proving a rather skilled handler of his slug thrower, Valerie could tell that it was only Nars erratic flying that was keeping him alive at this point.
Still, Nars didn't dare use any of his more potent weapons out of fear of damaging or destroying the relay behind the armoured giant. Still, that didn't mean that he wasn't holding back in using them if he was pushed too far. And it was looking more and more that he couldn't afford to hold back.
As the giant was slowly but surely starting to zero in on him, Nars then took a couple of hits on the chest plate. At this point, the giant seemed confident enough to do something that Valerie couldn't understand at first. As he then released his grip from underneath the rifle and reached for something behind him.
Noticing this sudden change, Valerie watched as the stranger then reached into the relay and pulled something out of it that he plugged into his helmet.
At this point, things clicked in Valerie's brain as to why he had stood his ground in the first place.
But this revelation could wait, as Valerie could see a prime opportunity as she then aimed at the stranger's weapon.
After a moment to ensure her shot, Valerie fired!
As the blaster bolt immediately found its target, it hit the slug thrower dead center forcing it clean out of the giants' hands.
Seemingly unaffected by this sudden change in his situation: Valerie then watched as in one swift motion, he then drew his sidearm, while also turning in her direction. Just as she noticed that something had left his free hand.
It took a moment for her brain to process what it was seeing. But by then it was already far too late, as the object landed less than three feet from her.
"GRENADE!" Valarie cried out in a panic; as she then tried to roll clear of the blast.
But sadly, for Valerie, her reaction was too slow as she suddenly found herself flying as the blast knocked her back. Leaving Valerie trying to figure out whether or not she was going to live despite the protection from her armour.
But a glance at her helmet's HUD showed that she was mostly okay. But her body told her a different story, as it was obvious to her that the grenade had done some damage; as the right side of her body was aching in a too familiar way. Cursing her as she tried to roll over, Valerie was forced to watch as her brother was then taken down by a weapon she had never seen.
It was a pistol-like weapon that was lit bright green, this intrigued Valeria hadn't seen a weapon like this before.
Then to her amazement, the weapon unleashed a large bolt of overcharged green energy that seemingly tracked her brother. Who for his part attempted to avoid this sudden threat, but it was already too late as the energy bolt impacted his breastplate. Thankfully it didn't kill him, but for his jetpack, the same couldn't be said. As the green energy made its way across his armour and shorted out his jet pack.
Now cursing as he fell through the air. Nars knew that if he didn't die from the impact then the giant below him would defiantly finish him off. So, in a final act of desperation, Nars drew out his disrupter and fired!
All the while Valerie could only watch helplessly as his shot missed its target completely and instead found its way into the exposed relay systems.
For a moment nothing happened, but only a second later the relay was consumed in a massive explosion!
At which point Valerie couldn't help but watch as the fireball rose into the sky above them. All the while the armoured giant used the destruction of the relays as cover to make his escape. All the while Valerie could only curse herself and her brother's stupidity. As there was no way that their grandfather could cover this up.
"I'm sorry ba'buir. I failed to keep your promise." Valerie muttered to herself, as all she wanted to do at this point was just lay there and try to figure out where it had gone so wrong.
But Valerie couldn't; as she knew that they couldn't be here once the Clans came to investigate. So, despite the pain, she was feeling. Valerie forced herself to stand up and started to make her way towards her di'kut, all the while wondering just what in the seven Corellian hells had they just brought down upon themselves and their diminished Clan.
"We're clear," Cortana confirmed before the Chief spoke up.
"Why did have me pull out?" Chief inquired as he continued to put distance between himself and the now burning relay site.
As he was still trying to understand why Cortana had told him to withdraw from the engagement.
"The weapon he was using was a disrupter; it's a nasty weapon wasn't sure if your shield would've stopped it. Besides, he had a friend, and there's no telling how many of them they were." Cortana explained.
But this was only half the reason why she had withdrawn from the situation. The second half she could probably explain to him later, as she had to prevent Chief from doing something rash. As he drew his carbine and sighted it back towards the relay.
"No," Cortana stated simply.
"They're a threat," Chief stated simply, as he brought his crosshairs onto one of his attackers.
"One we can deal with later. Besides I don't want to be here when the locals show up." Cortana made a good point about this.
As John could imagine, the locals wouldn't be happy about someone blowing up their relay. Still, it took him a moment before he lowered his carbine, as he realized that Cortana was right, but there was one other thing that Chief needed to deal with before they left the area.
"Is there a way I can retrieve my weapon?" Chief asked as he didn't have a chance to do so earlier.
As such he wanted to ensure that he could comply with the Cola protocol if he couldn't make the retrieval.
"Not now, I doubt that anyone's going to use it. Given how they use plasma-based weapons." Cortana said offhandedly.
Even so, Cortana was entirely sure as to whether the blasters fitted into that category. As she had only done a quick skim through the information; going for quantity rather than quality in the time she had available to her.
Chief gave her a sight nod of acknowledgment. Though he didn't necessarily agree with Cortana he accepted the fact that he would have to recover his MA5 later on. Even so Chief did have an obvious question for her.
"Is there any way that we can track it?" Chief then asked.
As he knew that some modes of the MA5 line did have this feature within them. Chief knew about this because such models of the MA5 had been used by the Office of Naval Intelligent during operation TREBUCHET in the outer colonies. As they had tracked the bugged rifle straight back to Insurrection supply dumps and bases. Allowing the UNSC to move in and deal with them.
"Perhaps, but I would need a strong antenna for such a thing. But given that the largest one was just blown up..." Cortana trailed off, as Chief completed her answer with another question.
"We need another, would the Pelicans work?" He asked as Cortana mentally shook her head.
But this was the way the Chief was, his eyes always on the main objective. Not that she minded, but sometimes she found that he could sometimes get too fixated on a certain thing. But that mostly happened when a situation like this arose, as she knew that he disliked having an opportunity to fix his mistakes slip through his fingers.
But unfortunately for John, he would have to let the natives win this round.
"Not with our current ship. Besides, we've got bigger problems to worry about." Cortana said as Chief's motion tracker started to go off went off.
"We need to leave the area." Chief started simply.
As he then suited actions to words and started moving. All the while wondering just how they were going make it back home, from this strange and seemingly hostile galaxy.
Mando'a dictatory:
Gar – Can mean you or your depending on context
Di'kula - Useless, worthless, stupid
Ori'vod - big brother, older brother, special friend
Di'kut - Idiots, worthless individuals, a waste of space
Ba'buir - Grandfather, Grandmother depending on context
And that's all she wrote!
I hope that you enjoyed this chapter, as I did do a rewrite of it. So let me know what you think.
And until next time have a good one.