SPACE

The ship carrying John, Garnet, Freya, Amity, Marcy, Atreus and Mimir soared through the stars. Atreus wondered what lay outside as there were no windows. He felt the ship come to a slow approach as it began a small descent. The sounds of whirring metal and hydraulics filled the air, as the ship slowly came to a stop. The door unfolded open towards the ground, hissing steam filling their ears. Outside a group of humans in white and green armor stood next to an admittedly odd sight.

It was a short furry reindeer, standing on two legs with two giant antlers surrounding a big poofy hat. He also wore red shorts. His body was shaped more like a human child than anything. Everyone rose to their feet as the soldiers came in with a stretcher.

One said, "Who's injured?"

Marcy pointed out Amity and they slowly lifted Amity to place her on the stretcher. The reindeer spoke in a childlike squeaky voice. "Bring her to medbay six!"

The soldiers saluted and began carrying the unconscious Amity away with the reindeer right behind.

Garnet said, "That's Chopper. Our resident medical officer."

Freya narrowed her eyes and said, "And he's...a deer?"

John walked off with Garnet as he said, "We've got a lot to catch you up on."

A woman clad in brown and black leather with a hood walked around the side of the ship. She had dark brown skin. She said, "Glad to see y'all made it back in one piece."

John said, "They had already left by the time we got there. They got the girls."

The dark skinned woman said, "Damn it. We got there too late."

She turned to the increasingly confused passengers and said, "Hi! I'm Connie."

She held her hand out which Freya hesitantly took and shook it.

Freya said, "I'm...Freya."

Connie said, "That means you're Atreus, you're Marcy, the head is Mimir, and Amity is who we just sent to the medbay."

Atreus said, "They promised we'd get answers if we came."

Connie said, "I did. And I'm upholding that promise. Come with me."

Atreus grabbed Mimir and they began walking out. During the walk Atreus asked Mimir, "Does...any of this seem familiar to you Mimir?"

Mimir said, "Sad to say lad, but I'm as in the dark as you are about all this. I can't even say for sure where we are."

Connie said, "That I can answer now. You're onboard the UNSC Infinity."

Mimir raised an eyebrow and said, "On...board?"

"You have naval vessels right?"

Mimir replied, "Yes..."

Connie said, "Well think of the ship you were just in as a dinghy, and this is the main ship it came from. Instead of cruising through the water, this cruises through the stars."

Mimir said, "And the ship's called Infinity?"

Connie replied, "Yes. And we have quite the crew."

They walked through many grey and silver hallways, flanked by various soldiers and even stranger colorful characters. They went through various elevators and finally arrived in a central bridge area. There was a circular console with a glowing map surrounded by various humans on consoles and screens and a massive window in front that showcased the stars.

Atreus, Marcy and Freya stared outside, enraptured by the cosmos before them. On the opposite end of the room was a pair of steel doors, where Connie waited.

Freya said, "This is...beautiful. I never imagined the night sky would have so many stars..."

Marcy said, "If it weren't for the multiple instances of imminent death this would be really something amazing..."

Connie said, "There's a lot out there. More than you can imagine."

They turned to Connie as the heavy doors opened, leading to a lit room with a table in the middle surrounded by chairs.

Mimir said, "So who exactly is the captain of this vessel?"

Connie said, "We don't have a captain. We have a council. Too many of us are natural leaders so we all meet together to figure out what to do next. This room also doubles as the 'explain things' room."

The door opened, and an imposing figure stood in the door. He towered over Freya but still hunched over. His reptilian skin peaked through his silver armor that seemed to layer over itself. His arms and legs were lanky with three fingered hands and two toed massive feet. His legs were bent and reptilian, giving him an almost saurian look.

He stomped into the room. Connie said, "You don't have to be in here for this one, Thel. I got this."

Thel, the creature's name apparently, replied, "It will go quicker if I help."

Marcy said, "Who is this?"

Connie said, "One of the council members."

Thel said, "And one who wishes to inform you sooner than later. Let us skip the pleasantries."

The table receded into the floor as plates shifted over it and the room went dark. All around, holograms began appearing, visualizing what Connie and Thel were about to describe. Atreus set Mimir on the floor.

Connie said, "So...as you probably know by now, there are worlds far beyond your own. But it's a little bit more complicated than that. Any of you know about the multiverse theory?"

Only Marcy raised her hand. The hologram began showing a single stream of light and energy.

Thel said, "The multiverse is the concept of multiple realities paralleling our own. Say you chose which direction to walk in the morning. There now exists an alternate timeline where you chose a different direction. Or one where you didn't walk at all."

For each option the stream branched out. Further branches began appearing as Thel continued talking.

"This chaotic and frequent branching of existence gave rise to many different worlds."

The hologram zoomed out to trillions upon trillions of streams and branches creating a massive network of existence.

"That's how it worked for a while..."

Connie said, "Thel, and I, and most of the people here were once just like you. Going through our worlds and routines..."

The hologram disappeared.

Thel said, "But everything changed when he appeared...The Imperator."

A man clad in dark metallic armor and a black hood with a smiling mask appeared.

Connie said, "He found a way to travel the multiverse, finding a spot in existence between all realities. There he forged a new world, and attempted to forge a new empire. All part of some grand plan to unite us all into this perfect being. It wasn't real though. It was a trick by darker forces to spread chaos and misery using him as its puppet."

Thel said, "I served under him as his second in command in his empire. But I was never truly on his side."

Connie said, "Me and Garnet, and John, and so many others formed a resistance to stand against him. We won and we stopped his madness. We were kind of stuck there, but not for long though. We had found a way home, but work was slow going for a while."

Thel said, "That's when something far worse than we could imagine appeared..."

Connie said, "Those dark forces? One was simply called the Darkness. An omnipresent primordial entity. I guess...after Steven stopped being a worthy host it..."

Atreus said, "Steven?"

Connie stopped herself.

Thel said, "Steven is the Imperator's true name. I suppose she planned on saving that info prior to that slip of the tongue."

She then said, "Yeah...I knew the Imperator before he became that. We were friends, before he did this to me."

She rolled up her left arm sleeve, revealing a metallic arm in place of a real one.

Connie said, "Moving on..."

Freya said, "You said something else came along. Something worse than this Imperator..."

Marcy said, "It was the Hive wasn't it?"

Thel said, "You pick up quickly for a child."

Marcy said, "It was Crota and Omnigul...they were who showed up right?"

Thel said, "I retract my previous statement."

Connie said, "Not Crota. Even worse than that...his father."

A hologram appeared in the center of the room. It was a massive draconic figure. He stood tall on two legs with chitinous armor. He wore a cloth around his legs and his body sported a brownish skeletal armor layered form. His head had two flat horn-like protrusions pointing directly to the sides outward from his head. In the center of his head was a black circular domehead with three glowing white eyes. His teeth seemed to extend all the way back to his neck, giving him a menacing grin and a mouth as wide as his head. He had two massive wings which he kept hooked around his neck almost as if it were a cape.

Connie said, "Oryx...the Taken King."

Thel said, "When he arrived in our world, it was almost without ceremony. None of us had time to react before he did what he did. With one blast, that dimension was shattered. That space was connected to every dimension out there, whether tangentially or directly. The energy from that destruction echoed through the whole of the multiverse. For a single instant, nothing existed. Then it all existed at once."

The multiverse web was shown shattering before the pieces began reforming into spherical objects.

Connie continued, "The multiverse was broken, but in its place was a single universe. Every dimension reformed into a new planet in this new universe. A new world. Traveling to other places no longer required dimension hopping. Now you just need a ship and enough energy to get from A to B."

Marcy said, "When did this...happen? I'm sure someone would've noticed all of existence stopping for a second..."

Connie said, "Unless you were in the SBS when it happened, you didn't experience it. The most you probably got was a headrush."

Thinking back, each of them remembered the minor bouts of lightheadedness they contended with."

Connie said, "That was all of your multiversal selves condensing into a single point. Your memories overwriting these alternate versions."

Atreus fell back and sat on the floor as the revelation slowly hit.

Thel said, "Connie, the Master Chief and I landed on his home. He's a high ranking soldier and was given authorization to bring a ship to find and combat Oryx."

Marcy said, "Combat him from what? What does he want?"

Connie said, "Conquest. Control. But right now, his family and a new army. He's scouring this new universe, looking for his family to unite them and begin taking everything."

Freya said, "The last time you saw him, he sent you across this entire universe. How do you know this for sure?"

Connie said, "When we started, we planned to just find him to stop him from doing damage with this thing. As we began searching we started picking up a pattern. A new creature that looked like him here and there. A conversation where someone calls him 'father' or 'uncle'. It didn't take long to put two and two together..."

Marcy said, "Why did he want our friends...?"

Connie said, "Like I said, he's building up his army. Your friends had extraordinary power. Something he wanted. Something to Take."

Marcy said, "And after he takes their power...what then?"

Thel said, "No...that's not what Taking is. Taking, in Oryx's sense, is corruption. He will place a curse on them that turns them into his dark soldiers. His Taken...stronger than ever and subservient to him."

Marcy yelled, "What?! So, Anne is just gonna be his servant? His soldier?!"

Thel solemnly said, "Yes..."

Marcy said, "Then what are we doing here?! We have to stop them."

Thel said, "No. If they're with Oryx they're already beyond our reach."

Atreus said, "So you'd rather hide here like a coward..."

Thel said, "Where is your father now, boy?"

Atreus' fist clenched. His muscles twitched as he stomped up to Thel. Atreus gritted his teeth and said, "What was that...?"

Thel said, "Your father fell to Oryx's son...how do you think you'll fare against those that tower above Crota?"

Atreus yelled, "Well at least that'd be better than just sitting here while he's destroying who knows how many homes!"

Thel replied, "You're in over your head, boy."

Atreus was quiet before he finally yelled, "My NAME is ATREUS!"

Atreus stomped out of the room. Mimir called out, "Atreus!" as the door swung open and shut behind him. Freya leered at Thel as she left the room to pursue Atreus.

Thel said, "I see anger issues run in that family..."

Mimir said, "You ought to watch your tongue...that boy there is stronger and more courageous than you'll ever be."

Thel said, "Is denying reality true strength? I'm not one to insult his intelligence by lying to him."

Mimir said, "You don't have to break his spirit to do that."

Connie sighed and said, "Charming as ever, Thel..."

Elsewhere

Atreus was stomping away before Freya managed to stop him.

She said, "Atreus...I know, more than anything, what you're feeling right now."

Atreus said, "That's why we can't just sit back..."

Freya said, "We have to...though I would put it far more gently...that creature is right. We're not equipped to fight this. I made a promise to watch over you for him and I won't have you throw your life away in revenge..."

Atreus said, "I don't want that either!"

Freya was left stunned.

Atreus continued, "I...I know what my father did. I know how much he lost because of it...and I know the last thing he'd want is for me to give into that revenge. But this isn't about that. As long as they're out there, people will suffer."

Freya was given pause. She said, "He...he would be proud of you, Atreus."

Briefing Room

Marcy sighed and said, "Is there really nothing we can do?"

Connie said, "Not unless we find one of them and figure out what Oryx is planni-..."

An alarm sounded.

ALERT. CLASS 12 HIVE SIGNATURE DETECTED. DESIGNATE: DREADNOUGHT. ALERT. CLASS 12 HIVE SIGNATURE DETECTED. DESIGNATE: DREADNOUGHT.

Connie said, "What...?"

Mimir said, "The hell is that about?"

Connie said, "Oryx is coming to Midgard..."

Thel said, "A chance has presented itself. We must send our stealth team now."

Marcy said, "Wait. Does this mean we can save Anne and Luz?"

Thel said, "It means we have a chance at finding out more about where Oryx is going next. We can't guarantee we'll save your friends but this will be a start."

Connie said, "We'll do what we can to save your friends on top of that. But, you don't want to assemble the council first?"

Thel said, "To quote Bismuth, 'We must strike while the iron is hot'."

Connie said, "I'll call him up."

Mimir said, "Stealth team, huh?"

Connie said, "We have to find out what we can while we have this opportunity."

As she said this, she pressed some buttons on a wrist watch. A hologram of a man with pale white hair spiky, a wrap over his left eye and a metallic jaw appeared.

She said, "Raiden. Priority one. Get your team together. Stealth only."

Raiden nodded and said, "Understood. What's the mission?"