Chapter 22

Robo Reader 21-

Well, yeah but was just one Sangheili that was telling Jega what he found right? When there were three going over the tent's stuff and they were still rummaging through it? Or did you forget? I don't blame ya. It was just in a few sentences. Can easily be missed.

Yeah, they're in Central Asia. That's the point. They don't know if it's feasible or not to actually go to Southeast Asia.

Austin-

Eh… no Gundams for them yet. Though the future may tell a different story.

Warmachine375-

Eh, who cares about Doan? No one knew him. Well, anyone in the White Base anyway. Not the fandom. Besides Chief and Lilith of course. They probably know who Doan is if they find his journal as Robo Reader 21 helpingly provided.

Dragon-XZero-

Eh, we could do that. Might help the White Base deal with the fact that there are aliens out there. Granted, they already have one in the form of Lilith as she's technically an alien, but we could do that. Also will help them see that they're good aliens that aren't monster looking out there.

Guest- Yeah, he made a mistake. I suspect it was because I kept using M'Quve's name all the time when he was mentioned. He must have thought the random Zeon commander was M'Quve after I kept using his name so much.

Dragon Lord Syed 101- Zeon or Federation, depending on how I write the 08th MS team portion of this story.

White Base

Bright

"Captain, we're receiving a transmission from Echo-216." Said Marker as he relayed information to Bright, who groaned a bit before processing the information he just received. He had departed from the bridge just an hour ago in order to catch some sleep. Though he left for his quarters an hour ago, he couldn't sleep. His worry for Amuro was too great for him to just fall asleep. He had just been ready to go to sleep when Marker radioed him. Remembering that Echo-216 was the name of the ship that Master Chief came to the White Base during their conversation regarding Amuro and him leaving to find him, Bright immediately woke up fully.

"Did they find Amuro?" Asked Bright, hope in his voice.

"Yes sir." Said Marker. "However, they're requesting a psychological expert upon arrival. They're claiming that Amuro saw some things that mentally scared him." Upon hearing that, Bright blinked it before nodding.

"Understood." Said Bright before ordering Marker to contact their only doctor to be there in the right hanger when they arrive. After ending the call, Bright couldn't help but think of what Marker meant by Amuro seeing some things that mentally scared him.

"He's already seen the horrors of combat." Thought Bright as he went to get his uniform, wanting to be there to talk to Master Chief to explain this further. After getting his uniform on and exiting his room, Bright thought about this further as he went to the right hanger. "Then again, he's only seen combat from the safety of a Mobile Suit or in a fighter. He never did hand-to-hand combat and that is where I heard the most gruesome of sights can commonly be found." Upon thinking that, Bright realized what the problem was. "Wait, shit! Of course, Amuro must have been captured while investigating that distress beacon." Bright then slammed a fist into a nearby wall. "Damnit! I shouldn't have allowed him to send him by himself. I should have someone else with him or…damn it all." Sighing, Bright resumed his walking towards the hanger. Must as he regretted everything now, what's done is done and he could only pray that Amuro didn't see much that can mentally scar a kid.

Arriving at the hanger, Bright arrived just in time to see the Pelican Dropship fly inside the hanger and land after turning around so the front of the Dropship was pointing outside the hanger. Upon landing, the hangar doors of the Pelican opened up to reveal Master Chief, Lilith, and Amuro, who all got out of the Pelican. Upon walking towards them, Bright noticed that Lilith was holding Amuro tightly while the boy was looking down at the ground, looking glum. Upon seeing that, Bright quickened his pace as he went towards them as Lilith gave Amuro over to the White Base's only doctor, a civilian from Side 7 just like everyone else.

"What happened?" Asked Bright as he walked to Master Chief while Lilith watched as Amuro was led away by the doctor, a worried expression on her face. He looked…so distraught and down while they were making their way here.

"It was a trap." Said Master Chief simply as he gave Bright a report. "The distress beacon was a trap emplaced to capture anyone that answers it. According to Amuro, two Federation soldiers were used as live bait as well and they were killed during the capture attempt on Amuro."

"Damn." Said Bright as he heard all that. He should have considered the possibility that it was a trap made by guerrillas that hated both sides, pirates, or even Zeon soldiers. "And they subjected Amuro to torture for information, right?"

"No." Said Master Chief, causing Bright to blink in surprise. Before Bright can speak, Master Chief gave him some information that stunned and horrified Bright. "They wanted to eat him."

"What!?" Yelled Bright, catching the attention of Lilith and a few others that were around. The bare minimum to keep everything afloat. Looking at Chief in shock at what he said, Bright demanded him to explain himself. "What do you mean they were planning on eating him? What human being would do such a thing? These islands are completely fertile and full of life. What would be the purpose of resorting to cannibalism?" As the few White Base crewmembers were reacting in horror at what they heard, Chief kept calm and told Bright something that shocked him even further.

"They weren't human." Said Master Chief simply, stunning Bright. Before he could ask what Master Chief meant by that, the Spartan went inside the Pelican and soon brought out something that stunned Bright and the White Base crew. The dead body of a Kig-Yar, or a Jackal, the nickname that the UNSC gave to the Kig-Yar race, along with others less flattering.

"This is one of the things that attacked Amuro." Said Master Chief before dropping the dead body in front of Bright, who was stunned at seeing such an inhuman beast be presented to him. Its glazed eyes were large, bird-like, and the bullet hole in its head was spilling out blood that was colored bright purple, nothing like the blood of humans. As Bright tried to process all this, Lilith walked over to the Spartan and spoke.

"You think that it was wise to just outward tell them what happened and to do…this?" Asked Lilith as she pointed with her staff at the dead Jackal corpse. She had protested a lot when Master Chief brought the corpse of a Jackal onboard the Pelican. She said that not only would it traumatize Amuro upon seeing the dead alien corpse for a variety of reasons, but it was disrespectful to just use a corpse as proof of an alien's existence when she had spells that can show Bright what they saw along with the fact they can show Bright the alien weapons and equipment they looted, something that Lilith was torn on. Master Chief, however, wouldn't budge and thus Lilith was forced to avert Amuro's eyes from the corpse as they flew back to the Pelican after gathering everything they can take back to the White Base. There was something back at the island they wanted to take, but it was simply too large for the Pelican to carry.

"He needed physical proof. Proof that can't be denied no matter what." Explained Master Chief as Bright was finished looking at the corpse and looked at him, speechless at what he just saw. "Besides, I have the feeling we'll be seeing more of them later on." Before Lilith can speak about this, Bright spoke up.

"That's…that's an alien." Said Bright as he tried to process this to no avail. An alien. Like an actual alien. Not a designation of a human from another country or government entity. An actual extraterrestrial alien. And not one of those near-human ones from fictional stories he read about when he was a kid. But an alien so inhuman that it looked like a monster. A bipedal monster bird to be precise.

Grabbing his head as a headache began to form, Bright looked at Chief and asked him to explain further what happened and in detail.

"Understood, but we need to gather the rest of the senior staff along with your pilots." Said Master Chief. "They also deserve to know what happened with Amuro. We can tell the whole crew later." Bright sighed at this before nodding in agreement before leaving to contact the bridge and inform them to get the senior command staff together. While this was happening, Chief was looking at Lilith and told her that she was going to. She needed to know as well. Blinking at that, she then asked about Amuro. The boy was clearly traumatized after what he had to endure back on that island and he needed adult supervision.

"He does." Admitted Master Chief. "But you also need to know about these aliens and what organization they belong to. Perhaps more so than anyone else but the captain. Don't worry about Amuro. I'll have Fernando keep an eye on him." Upon hearing that, Lilith thought it over and nodded in understanding. While she would very much like to take care of Amuro herself, she trusted Fernando to do it for her while she learned about these aliens. Plus, she cannot deny that the curious part of her wanted to know more about these aliens and what they were doing on that island. Their culture, their way of life, and why they were eating human flesh. The historian part of her was near bursting with curiosity about this alien. Perhaps morbidly so.

With that, the two walked to Bright as he contacted the Bridge, informing them to wake Mirai up along with Kai, Ryu, and Hayato so that they can all hear what Master Chief had to say regarding Amuro's captors. After doing so, Bright ended the call and sighed.

"This is going to be a major headache. I can feel it." Said Bright as he pressed a hand on his forehead. While Lilith looked at him in sympathy, Master Chief was speaking privately with Joy on what to reveal and what not to reveal to their allies, having turned off his armor's speakers to do so.

Later

Bright

It took more time than necessary on account of most of the people that Bright wanted present were sleeping, but eventually, everyone was present at the bridge. Some were understandably cranky for being forced to wake up, but everyone was listening in on what Bright had to say. Pacing around in front of the assembled group of conscripted personnel, Bright spoke up.

"Right, before we begin the real purpose of this meeting, let me assure you all that we found Amuro and that he's alright physically." Said Bright as he looked at everyone. While Hayato and Ryu were relieved to hear that, happy that Amuro was safe, Mirai frowned at what Bright said about Amuro being fine physically.

"What do you mean physically, Bright?" Asked Mirai as she looked at Bright. "Was he tortured while he was away?"

"No. At least in the normal sense." Said Bright. Deciding now was a good time to tell them what happened to Amuro, he spoke up. "The…people that captured Amuro had the goal of eating him as a source of food." That statement had the reactions that Bright expected of everyone. They were of horror and shock that something like that befall on Amuro. Before anyone can speak, Master Chief spoke up.

"Before any of you ask, it wasn't humans that tried to consume Amuro." Said Master Chief as he walked next to Bright with Lilith in tow. "It was an extraterrestrial alien that tried to eat Amuro along with several others of its kind and another alien as well. We fought and killed them all, but not before Amuro was forced to witness them consuming a few other humans. Children included." While most were reacting in horror at this news, Bright as well, Kai voiced something that he found completely nonsensical.

"Whoa! What do you mean that aliens were responsible for kidnapping Amuro and trying to eat him!" Yelled Kai as he looked at Master Chief incredulously, not believing this. "You realize just how crazy that actually sounds, right!? Aliens don't exist."

"I'm afraid that he's telling the truth, Kai." Said Bright, causing attention to be drawn to him instead. "I've seen the corpse of one of the aliens that attacked Amuro. It was one hundred percent real. I'm sorry, but aliens do exist. What I want to know, along with everyone else I imagine, is why aliens attacked Amuro and why they're here on Earth in the first place."

"That's something I have the answer on." Said Master Chief. "In addition, I have a confession to make. I'm not from this universe."

"…What?" Asked Kai in stunned shock at Master Chief, completely dumbfounded at what he just said. So was Hayato and Ryu. Mirai and Bright were less affected on account of a theory they had regarding Master Chief and his seemingly advanced suit of armor as well as the Pelican but were still nonetheless dumbfounded with what he just said. Lilith would have been affected too if she also wasn't displaced from her own universe.

"As am I." Said Lilith as she held her staff tightly, a bit embarrassed at what she was about to reveal. Though it was mainly for the reactions that she'll get from everyone. "I come from a place called the Boiling Isles. It's an archipelago within an alternate dimension that is far different to what you humans are used to." Those two-confession caused everyone to stare in disbelief at both Master Chief and Lilith, everyone was speechless. Eventually, Bright spoke up.

"I…I presume you have proof to back this all up." Said Bright as he looked at the two in disbelief, trying hard to process the idea of alternative universes and dimensions and that he had two such beings aboard his ship. Or at least beings that claimed to be from said alternative universes and dimensions. Sure, he had theories, but to actually have them be confirmed was…beyond stupefying for him. "I can't just trust your claims about this without proof."

"We do have proof. Physical proof." Said Master Chief before handing Bright something that he had been holding onto since coming to the Bridge. Bright took the item and was flabbergasted at it. What he was holding was a standard UNSC datapad. A standard issue device that anyone in the military with a sufficient rank can get for themselves. To someone like Master Chief, it wasn't anything special. Or even just a standard UNSC soldier. To someone like Bright, whose society hasn't yet achieved FTL speeds to enable travel to different star systems in a reasonable amount of time, it was a technological masterpiece.

Powered on, the datapad was showing Bright pictures and data of common UNSC airships and starships that surpassed anything the Federation had in its arsenal, beyond, of course, the Project V materials. Even though Bright wasn't an expert in the inner workings of technology, he could tell all this was beyond what the Federation had with the exception of the Project V Mobile Suits and the White Base. Heck, the datapad itself was something that Bright knew beyond a doubt rivaled the White Base's computers. A portable computer that stored data that can be carried by hand without issue? That was something straight out of a sci-fi comic book. And Chief wasn't done yet showing proof that he was from an alternative universe. A highly advanced alternative universe.

Extending out his palm, Chief asked everyone to gather around him, stating he was going to reveal definite proof. When everyone was gathered around him, a tiny blue hologram of a woman appeared out of the palm, a big smile on her face.

"Hi!" Said the woman, stunning everyone and backing them back off. Even Lilith was stunned at the appearance of the hologram and landed on her butt in shock.

"W-what is that!" Yelled Lilith as she looked at Chief with wide eyes. It looked like some sort of magic, but she knew for a fact that Master Chief didn't use magic. Not to mention he didn't use a spell circle to bring that tiny woman in his hand. Instead of answering, Master Chief looked at the woman in his hand and nodded. Upon seeing that, the blue hologram of a woman spoke up.

"My destination is CTN 0453-0. I'm an artificial intelligence created by the United Nations Space Command to assist in the termination of a hostile entity to the UNSC." Explained Joy as she looked at everyone, finding their expressions of disbelief and shock to be somewhat amusing. "Though, if my destination is a bit boring for you all to use, you can call me Joy. It's the name that I picked for myself so that people can get to know me as a person and…well, an AI." She then nervously laughed while everyone was trying to recover from all this. After a few minutes, Bright spoke up.

"T-this is…" Said Bright as he tried to process all this and failing. Artificial Intelligence. Advanced computer technology that makes the White Base look primitive. Magic. Aliens. This was all way beyond Bright's paygrade and what he signed up for to fight the Principality of Zeon. And that wasn't including the fact that he had to captain a ship filled with civilian conscripts and teenagers. "I…I can't…"

"I know this is a lot to take in, but it's all true." Said Master Chief as he saw Bright and the others trying to process all this. "If you need more time, we can discuss this all later."

"Perhaps that's for the best." Said Joy as she looked at everyone. She didn't need the scanners from Chief's suit to see that they were all tired and needed rest. "Sleep is an important part of a human's routine. Not having enough sleep can be detrimental to one's mental and physical functions. Let's save this all for tomorrow, Chief. I don't think they can handle more information." Master Chief nodded in agreement at that. Though they didn't reveal everything they wanted to show and reveal to the White Base pilots and senior staff, nor did they explain much of what they revealed, it was perhaps for the best that they stop here. Everyone was exhausted and there was no need to rush to give them more information. Not yet at least.

He soon asked everyone to head towards their rooms to catch some sleep. For one reason or another, the group of young men and women began leaving the bridge. All in shock at what they just heard from both Lilith and Master Chief along with the reveal of Joy to them, leaving the three people alone on the bridge. The two operators had left to catch sleep of their own a while ago. Seeing that she was alone with Joy and Master Chief, Lilith spoke.

"Do you think that we broke them?" Asked Lilith as she looked Master Chief and Joy with worry. "I mean, they looked rather…frozen from everything that we told them. So shocked. So…disbelieving at what they heard. I'm worried about them. Along with what they'll do after they process everything we told them. Will they keep to the deal or will they do something harmful to us?"

"I trust they'll keep to the deal we made with them." Said Master Chief as he looked at Lilith. "If they don't, we'll just have to escape. Simple as that."

"But I don't want to fight against these people. These children." Said Lilith, knowing that they'll have to fight these people if they have to escape from this ship and she refused to do such a thing. She had grown attached to these teenagers since becoming a member of this ship, listening to their woes and complaints about Master Chief and their situation as a kind mother would to her frustrated child. She couldn't bring herself to harm them.

"You won't." Said Master Chief as he looked at Lilith. "And neither will I. Trust me. I already have a plan in motion just in case. One that doesn't involve hurting these people." Lilith was relieved to hear that. If she had heard it from anyone else, she would be skeptical, but she saw Master Chief and his plans. She saw him in action and he wasn't the lying type from what she's seen so far. Cold and blunt, but not the lying type. So, she was assured. She was, however, surprised when she heard his next sentence.

"But I doubt Bright will do that." Said Master Chief before explaining. "He needs all the help that he can get and he won't put his crew in danger more than he has to. Attacking us will only lead to his crew getting in danger. A danger that has the potential to do more damage than the Zeons ever could. Unlike them, we have a chance to hit critical components and locations aboard this ship. We can capture their Mobile Suits without much issue. Not to mention we have knowledge of this ship that their enemies will mark us as heroes for giving them. So, Bright would have to be a complete idiot for trying to do anything to us that will compromise our deal. And I don't think he is. Do you?" Upon hearing all that, Lilith just slowly nodded, realizing that Chief was right. Relieved that it was only a small chance that they'll have to escape the White Base and leave these people to their enemies alone, Lilith sighed.

"I see." Said Lilith before turning to face Joy, her curiosity lit up when she saw the AI. Being a recent Historian, her curiosity was lit up upon seeing the harmless AI as it wasn't anything she had seen or heard about in her entire life. "So, this Joy? She's an Artificial Intelligence? What is that exactly? How did it come to be and what's her purpose?" Upon hearing that, Joy looked at Chief, wondering if it was a good idea to tell her. They may have revealed her to Bright and the senior staff, but that was because it was the quickest and most solid proof, they can give them without letting on aboard the Pelican or letting them dissect Chief's suit of armor. Neither of which was on the table. So was the dissection of the Banished weapons and armor. Either of which can use a terrible explosion if dissected wrong. Something UNSC scientists found when trying to dissect Covenant weapons during the initial years of the Human-Covenant War. When Chief nodded, Joy gave a smile before looking at Lilith, who was eagerly waiting to hear her words.

"Well, for starters, an Artificial Intelligence is something that…"

Meanwhile

Banished

Jega

"Are you certain of this?" Asked Jega as he looked at the assembled Banished officers. All of whom were gathered around a restored holo-table that revealed their general area. After figuring out the ranks and titles of the gathered Banished soldiers, they figured out who was a capable officer and they formed a makeshift command structure with Jega in charge. It wasn't perfect and some Jiralhanae Chieftains growled and huffed at the idea of sharing power with Sangheili, but Jega kept them at bay with promises of meat and plunder, which kept them docile. For now.

"Yes, Blade Master." Said one of the Sangheili that had looked through the intel that they acquired from their raid of the human base. "This project that we uncovered is in a landmass called Southeast Asia on Earth. Apparently, it's some sort of super weapon that can destroy an Earth Federation fortress called Jaburo with ease and not worry about retaliation. The specifics about how it achieves this or how it's possible are lost to us at the moment, I'm afraid. However, what we do know is that it's still under testing, but nears completion. If we strike soon, we'll be able to take this weapon for ourselves and use it against the humans."

"Possibly." Said another Sangheili before speaking up again. "But how do we achieve this? This weapon is located in Southeast Asia and according to the maps we took from that base, we're nowhere near it." The Sangheili then brought up a human map that showed the planet's entire surface. He then pointed to their general location on the map. "According to this map and information we acquired from the base, we're in Central Asia. Southeast Asia is here." He then pointed to Southeast Asia, showing the general distance between them and the weapon. "How will we travel between these two land masses and be there to plunder this weapon before it's finished? Much less without drawing the attention of the humans?" As the gathered Jiralhanae and Sangheili spoke amongst each other, some more hostile than others, Jega looked at the holo-table. Bringing up the general location of their base along with the location of the human bases and villages they knew about, Jega wondered what to do.

After sacking the Principality of Zeon base for anything of value along with several human villages, the Banished retreated to their base to enjoy their spoils. The Huragok were sent to work on the three mechs they acquired from the base, which they later learned were called Zakus from the intel they took from the base. To modify them for Jiralhanae and Sangheili usage along with a few additional modifications to make them more…dangerous than their common counterparts. It'll be a few hours before they can be ready for combat, but Jega was confident that they won't need them yet so long as they remain hidden from the humans.

Twitching his mandibles, Jega pondered on what to do. One on hand, they can stay here and plunder what they desire from the bases and villages that still remain here, but that will only sustain them in the short term. Plus, these were small fries. Appetizers. According to the intel, this region was of little strategic importance beyond being part of the front lines of a war between the Earth Federation and the Principality of Zeon. While a good thing in its own right is if they wish to remain hidden from the humans, Jega wanted more. The Banished desired more. They wanted to be known and feared by these humans. And this weapon in Southeast Asia may hold the key to that for them.

That being said, they must be careful. They were only a handful of warriors and soldiers with limited supplies against two nations. Two weak nations of humans, but nations, nonetheless. They could overwhelm them with sheer numbers, despite their technological advantage. No, they must not be too rash. They must be patient. Wait until the opportunity presents itself. The prophets were too impetuous in their banishment and genocide of the Sangheili and it cost them the war and the possible extinction of their race by those races they deceived for thousands of years.

Thinking about it while his compatriots argued amongst each other, Jega decided that they'll continue raiding these villages and human bases for now. Wait until they can capture a human airship that can take them to this Southeast Asia without the worry of being detected by either human nation. Or, if it presents itself, something that can present a bigger prize than this super weapon.

Thus, he spoke to his fellow Banished and told them the plan.

"For now." Said Jega, speaking loudly so that everyone can hear him. Once everyone's eyes were at him, Jega continued. "We'll raid the weakling humans for whatever value they have. We'll only proceed to this Southeast Asia once we acquire proper transportation there. Unless there are any objections to this, let us continue our raiding on the humans." Seeing that no one was protesting, Jega left the meeting room to check up on the status of the Huragok on modifying the Zakus to their specifications and demands. With twisted amusement, Jega wondered how these Principality of Zeon humans will feel when the Banished used their own weapons against them. Only better.