A/N: Here we are, Cairo Station, and a bit more. Once again, I'd like to remind you all this is AU.

October 20th, 2552 - Cairo Station

"…People call me a Hero, the say that because I saved their lives, their friends', their families… they wouldn't call me that if they knew what I really am…

What is a Spartan, Keyes? Did your Mother tell you?"

That conversation had haunted her for years, it had opened the divide between her and her mother, but she hadn't expected an answer, not even when she made Commander and began carrying Spartans to battle.

Miranda stared out of the window of Cairo Station; there was an Award Ceremony later for the Master Chief and Noble Team where she would be accepting an award for her late Father, Jacob.

She couldn't help wringing her hands, nor ignore the tightness constricting her heart, she knew Noble had made it off Reach but that they were down one of their number, and that they'd ensured her mother was evacuated.

While she was honestly relieved her mother was fine, she had to fight back tears as it drove home the loss of her Father, she wasn't sure she could take it if Orion…

The blast door to her left opened and cheering burst through, she turned to look and saw nine Spartans walk through in two groups, one of four and one of five, the group of four were still wearing their helmets while the group of five had them clipped to their waists, between them were her mother, Doctor Catherine Halsey, and Staff Sergeant Avery Johnson, the former staying close to the group of four.

"Noble, Ten Shun!" the group of five snapped to attention and saluted at the command of the dark blue armoured man, the group of four Spartans and Johnson responding a split second later, while Dr Halsey looked on indifferently.

"At ease," Miranda commanded, noting how Noble were more relaxed than the other Spartans, then she noticed him… or rather his absence, "Noble Leader, I thought Spartan Bravo Three One Two was assigned to your team?"

Noble shared significant looks while Johnson and the other four looked on in confusion as Halsey frowned.

"Six didn't make it," the red armoured Noble said, looking guiltily at the floor.

Her eyes widened in horror as the vice on her heart tightened, "No!" she begged softly.

The largest of Noble team, who like Six wore the older MK IV armour, stepped forward, taking something out of a pouch on his belt, "I take it you are Orion's girlfriend, Commander?"

She seemed surprised that the Spartan knew, but then recognised the number printed on the collar of the man's armour, "Yes, I am," she said, her voice wavering slightly, "Are you Jorge? Orion spoke fondly of you."

The Spartan smiled, "I am," he said gently, he then held up the object he'd pulled out of the pouch, "Orion and I were ordered to deliver a modified Slipspace drive to a Covenant corvette and use both to destroy a CSO Supercarrier, the Long Night of Solace, during the boarding action both the Pelican and the drive were damaged, Orion decided to stay behind to ensure the bomb destroyed the carrier."

She couldn't hold it back, Jorge's tale brought it home hard, tears streamed down her cheeks as sobs wracked her body.

As she cried in her hands, she felt large armoured arms wrap gently around her, she leant into the embrace subconsciously and cried.

She didn't know how long she stood there crying, but no one moved or spoke, until she could cry no more.

"Thank you," she said quietly to Jorge, it seemed Orion was right when he said Jorge was a gentle giant at heart.

Jorge smiled warmly, "Orion was my brother, the least I can do is offer what little comfort I can."

Miranda looked down as the Spartan took her hand, held it palm up and placed Orion's tags into her palm.

"Before we parted, I promised Orion that I would find a way off Reach and get these to you," Jorge said sadly, "he also told me to tell you he was sorry he couldn't keep his promise."

Fresh tears spilled down her cheeks as she traced a finger over the gold bands.

"Thank you," she said, looking up, the pain shone brightly in her eyes.

Jorge nodded sadly, "and for what it's worth, my condolences on the passing of your father," only Cortana noticed Halsey's reaction to those words.

"Thank you," Miranda said again, wiping her eyes on her cuffs, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to keep you, I know you all have a presentation to prepare for."

"If you need to talk, come find me," Jorge offered as the others filed past, "I can probably tell you a few stories about Orion."

"I'd like that," Miranda agreed, starting to walk with the Spartan into the station.

Cairo Station, Gaia high orbit- January 4th 2553

It was rather humbling, just standing there watching the world go by, it made you seem rather small, your troubles miniscule compared to the worlds…

Or they would if her hip didn't still ache, the angle of the impact meant the spiker round had broken her hip awkwardly making it difficult to heal.

Still, things could be worse; at least the Loyalists were far from Sol now.

"Commander Keyes?"

Miranda turned around to see a man in his late thirties standing beside her, also admiring the view.

"Captain Lasky, sir," Miranda replied, awkwardly switching the hand holding her crutch to salute.

"At ease," Lasky said, returning the salute, "how's it coming?"

"I'm technically fit for Duty," Miranda replied, switching hands for her crutch again, "but as I still need the crutch, the doctors won't clear me."

Lasky nodded then turned to look out the window again, the two stood in silence for several minutes, just watching the ships, shuttles and fighters, weave their way through the anchorage.

"I don't believe it!"

Lasky looked over to see Miranda glaring at a Marathon class cruiser; he followed her gaze and grinned at the name.

UNSC Ghost of Reach

"You can't stop people wanting to honour their heroes," Lasky said sagely, "there was a petition to rename Infinity after the Master Chief, but HIGHCOM vetoed that as it would require going into Classified Files."

"Doesn't mean I like it," Miranda grumbled.

"At least we know he survived Reach," Lasky told her, "If what his old squad say is true, he's either looking for a way back or run out of options."

"Doesn't make it hurt any less," Miranda countered, 'If anything, it hurts even more.'

"I didn't come here to stare at ships, Commander," Lasky started, "though it makes a nice change of pace."

Miranda shared his small grin, then looked at him.

"Command of the Infinity is officially passing to me once she's commissioned," Lasky said, turning to Miranda, "as Del Rio's getting a Vindication and I've been promoted, that leaves me in need of an XO, you're at the top of my list."

Miranda opened and closed her mouth twice before answering, "Sir, I lost my Command!"

"In Amber Clad was boarded by a hostile force while its marines were already in action," Lasky responded, "and there's no way you could have known the Flood could find a way aboard. I know it's a bit of a demotion, but you are still the best candidate for the post."

"The Commissioning is in three months, you have time," Lasky finished, "think it over then get back to me."

As the Captain left, Miranda knew what her choice was.

UNSC Infinity, Bridge, May 4th 2557.

The holotable shimmered to life, illuminating the holographic figures of Lord Terrance Hood, CINC of the UNSC, Admiral Serin Osman, Head of ONI, President of the UEG, Ruth Charet, and Prime Minister of the United Solar Nations, Jon McIntyre.

At the table in person were Captain Thomas Lasky, Second in Command Commander Miranda Keyes, Spartan Commander Sarah Palmer, Noble Commander Carter Avon, and Roland, Infinity's AI.

"Doctor Halsey discovered that the Voi Portal has multiple destinations," Lord Hood began, "the portal was reactivated and with the help of the Huragok a probe was sent through with a new type of transmitter, last week we received its signal after two months of silence, it is broadcasting from the Avalon Galaxy."

"But that's on the other side of the Dwarf galaxy?" Palmer said.

"We know," Osman agreed, "I ordered a Prowler through to scout out the nearby systems for possible… there is a Forerunner outpost in the Portal system but it is essentially a target beacon, no tech beyond the Transponder, power station and the bare essentials, so after setting up an Alpha Base, I gave the order for the Prowler to explore nearby systems… they found three worlds with Human populations…"

"That's not possible!" Carter protested.

"Covert retrieval of blood samples from one of the worlds, the population having an Angle like tribal culture of similar development, revealed that while Human, we are not related to them," Osman explained, "they are, for all intents and purposes, a parallel development of the same genetic structure, in fact our best researchers think they've undergone an additional evolutionary stage."

"Your orders are to lead a small battlegroup through in order to support a joint colony settlement by us and the Separatists on the beacon planet, renamed Orthys, then make contact with the discovered developed world once the colony is secure and stable," McIntyre continued.

"Be advised that our enquiries on the ground indicate that both primitive civilisations were ruled or, at least, influenced by beings worshipped as Gods," Osman explained, "for this reason, I've ordered the Prowler to monitor the developed world and collect as much intel as they can."

"How many ships will be deployed?" Lasky asked.

"Twelve," Lord Hood answered, "Infinity will be accompanied by two Marathon class cruisers, two destroyers and four frigates, this is not counting Infinity's sub-vessels."

"Escorting three colony ships carrying five thousand people each," President Charet finished.

"The Sangheili are sending the same number of colonists and colony ships escorted by six heavy corvettes, three battlecruisers, an armoured cruiser and two assault carriers, including the Flagship," Osman said.

"The First Contact protocols have been revised with input from the Separatists," McIntyre added, "and they are to be represented as equals in any talks, it's been difficult but both sides want this peace to last."

"And if contact isn't peaceful, sir?" Miranda asked.

"Try not to drag us into another war, but do not be afraid to defend our people with maximum force if it is necessary," President Charet answered.

"Report to Aerilon to meet up with the battlegroup, General Holland will be in overall command of the Expedition," Lord Hood ordered.

"Sir, Yes, Sir!"

"Aye Sir!"

System with advanced inhabited world, 2557 - ONI Prowler Red Horse, Tobias Foucault commanding

"Captain Dare to the Bridge!"

Dare hurried through the door and onto the bridge as the call played for the third time on the overhead, "Commodore Foucalt," she greeted, she then saw what was sitting in space in front of them, "is it them?"

"Someone claiming to be the God Tanith just showed up and demanded a status report on a weapons shipment," Foucault explained, "from what we've been able to decrypt, he showed up three days ago and let them shoot at him, leaving once they realised their weapons were doing no damage, then return a day later to blackmail them into making these Phased Weapons to send through the 'Stargate' to a planet called Tau'ri."

"What, exactly, is a Star Gate?" Dare looked over her shoulder at her husband, Second Lieutenant Edward Buck the ship's ODST commander and de facto CO of the ships small marine complement.

"An ancient alien device that functions similar to the Slipspace transportation portals on the Ark," Dr Henry Glassman, the resident science officer on loan from Infinity, explained, "except they don't use Slipspace physics, function as a bridge between planets from single figure lightyears to, potentially, intergalactic distances and are far older than the Forerunners."

"How old, exactly?" Dare matched her husband's curious look.

"At least five million years," Buck's face was priceless.

"And they still work?" he asked incredulously.

"Indeed," Glassman noted, "as resilient as they are advanced, quite fascinating."

"Any idea how many there are?" Foucault asked.

"Thousands, perhaps tens or hundreds of thousands, in theory you can have as many gates as addresses…"

"Sir, the gate has just activated, they're broadcasting an invitation to the Tau'ri!"

"I want every sensor we have on the gate when they come through!"

"Sir! Massive explosion in the Capital!"

"Cause?" Foucault barked.

"One of the Planetary Defence Guns fired on a warehouse," the sensor operator reported, "by manual override by the looks of it, seems the Tau'ri discovered the plot by the Curia and destroyed the stockpile. Sir, Stargate's activating!"

"The Tau'ri are calling for reinforcements," Franklin, the ships Smart AI, reported, "both through the gate and by ship."

"Keep an eye on them, I want to know what the Tau'ri can bring to bare and how they, and the enemy, perform," Foucault ordered.

"Aye, sir!" Franklin acknowledged.

Franklin watched the data streams carefully, analysing the information they carried in minute detail.

The Tau'ri had obviously prepared carefully for Through-Gate Planetary Assaults, they had deployed a number of vehicles designed to go through a Stargate that were at least comparable to the UNSC equivalent.

The Tanks resembled the old M145, but seemingly dispensed the artillery mode and extra tracks to fit through a gate, they were few in number but had made their presence felt keenly.

Next were the self-propelled guns, the first was built on the same hull type as the tank but mounted a Rail Gun in a fixed mounting. The second was similar to the tank, but featured quad pulsed plasma cannon in a high angle mount for AA duty. Both, like the tanks, had left the enemy reeling in the steady advance across the city with the latter being chiefly responsible for keeping enemy fighters at higher altitudes.

The last was a monster, over fifty metres long, it mounted a single Onager class MAC in a retractable armoured housing and was obviously designed for low orbit defence. The five examples present had forced the enemy to clear the skies over the capital quickly, before extending that to a large part of the hemisphere as they deployed properly, Franklin had counted over a hundred ships escaping the planet via the gap provided by the SPGs and the three frigate class Tau'ri ships.

The ships had arrived within thirty minutes, catching Tanith by surprise and driving his ships from the planet, allowing numerous dropships and larger landing ships to deploy Marines and Army reinforcements to the surface.

The Frigates were powerful, mounting a Plasma equivalent to the UNSC MAC, as well as a powerful Particle Beam based secondary battery and numerous missile pods. Thinking for a moment, he realised that they resembled a Paris-class rather closely.

New spatial ruptures opened, he immediately turned his attention to the new arrivals: one larger vessel of destroyer tonnage, two more of a smaller frigate type and…

Franklin instantly pulled out of the streams and materialised on the Holo-tank in the centre of the bridge.

"Captain! It's…"

"I see it."

The bridge crew watched in stunned silence as the rupture closed behind the ghost ship, which promptly turned to face Tanith's ships, turrets swivelling as a transparent violet bubble shimmered into place, a flash silhouetted the ship as a massive plasma bolt rocketed at the Goa'uld ships, all eyes lay on the burned and scared lettering on the ship's starboard side…

UNSC SPIRIT OF FIRE

Tollana, Capital City, 2001-Tau'ri Gregorian Calendar

I looked up, signalling to those following to stop, the familiar whine of a Death Glider drew closer, I stumbled on a rock as I sought cover but I stopped to look up again as a deafening roar drowned out the Glider. The glider passed directly over, trailing smoke and weaving desperately, a second later there was a dual metallic report and two high velocity slugs punched through the glider's fuselage, making its wings fold upwards like a greeting card closing, and impacted on the buildings on the far side of the garden, the green blur of a Tau'ri fighter bomber thundered through the smoke trail before climbing back into the clouds.

The garden was silent, besides the burning ruin of the Glider, until two metallic booms signalled a pair of Tau'ri anti-orbital self-propelled guns were nearby.

"I never thought I'd see the day we'd be rescued by a primitive race," I shot a frown at the speaker, a friend from the Curia's Legislative Department, Torren.

"They are young, not primitive," I argued, "the scale and technology of their forces deployed here proves that."

"Can't disagree there," Torren acknowledged, "but the Goa'uld shouldn't have got past our Ion Cannons."

"Somehow they developed a new Shield type," I scowled, leading the group on, "The Curia knew a week ago but only Omac refused when the Goa'uld offered to spare us in exchange for sending phased bombs to Tau'ri."

"What!?" Torren shouted, flinching as an explosion went off in the next street, "That's Impossible! I'd know, I have to ensure the records are archived correctly, there was no mention…"

"It was not recorded," I explained, palming the communications device Sam gave me, "so none would know of the billions slain to keep them in power."

I activated the device, selecting a Tollan frequency, "This is Narim of the Curia, is there anyone in this district? Has anyone reached the Vault?"

"This is Vault Command, we read you Narim."

I couldn't believe my luck, "I'm approaching the Vault with a group of survivors, can you let us in?"

"Depends on how many are with you," the controller replied, "and on how long the Tau'ri can keep the enemy back."

"I have about a hundred with me, and there are more groups following our trail," I said, as one of the roads leading to the island the Vault was built under came into sight.

Tollana, Capital City, Vault of Ages. 2001, Tau'ri Gregorian Calendar.

The gunfire was getting closer, a bad sign as it meant the Jaffa were advancing, but it also meant the Tau'ri were still fighting.

"Humbling is it not?" Torren asks, "Where we are running for our lives, the Tau'ri fight to save our culture, even after our less than warm attitude to them."

It was indeed, the Vault Commander had informed them that five Tau'ri ships were now facing off against seven of those advanced Hat'taks that had ignored their vaunted Ion Cannons as cattle ignores flies.

Although Narim questioned how they built five capable warships in the four years since their first encounter when they were so primitive, especially the two kilometre ship, he wasn't about to jinx himself.

They had thought that only a hundred or so were following them to the Vault, there had actually been thousands.

Fortunately the Tau'ri had been able to keep the fighting away from the Vault, according to the Commander, nearly seven thousand had trickled in after their group, he could only hope the Tau'ri could hold out until the rest were safe.

Six thanked whatever God was listening for whoever invented the Type-51 Repeater, it's fire through overheat feature had been built in to the SGC's first combat Plasma Rifle, the UCPR -03, it was too heavy to be used except as a squad support weapon or by Spartans, but it was a good compromise between the rate of fire and accuracy of Covenant weapons and the power and cell capacity of the Mak'tok staff, the only downside was the weight and it overheated like other Covenant weaponry.

But that mattered little when there were So. Many. JAFFA! Tanith must have set Rings down somewhere, there's no way in Hell that the Curia would have let this many land, not if they wanted to keep it quiet.

"Bastards have to have Rings on their ships," SSGT Forge called out, frantically reloading his DMR.

"Maybe even a Stargate," Bailley added, ducked a staff shot.

"Noble Six calling any ship available, we need support urgently, in danger of being overrun!" Six said loudly into his mike, trying to radio someone.

"Noble Six, this is Hyperion we are vectoring our air wing now, fall back to the Vault they'll cover you."

"Confirmed, Hyperion," Six replied, then switched to the squad channel, "we're falling back, retreat by section!"

The surviving soldiers silently acknowledged, one section falling back as the other two covered them, then the retreating section would stop to provide cover fire as the next section fell back, which was repeated to cover the third section, etc… while this allowed an orderly withdrawal it also permitted the Jaffa to advance, by the time the incoming gunships attacked only seven of the original thirty four remained, three were severely wounded.

ONI Prowler Red Horse

"Franklin, did I hear right?" Foucault asked.

"Yes sir," the AI confirmed, "Noble Six's IFF is active, though not synced to our Battle-Net I can confirm its authenticity."

"Seems Ackerson's pet wolf is one stubborn Son of a Bitch," Foucault commented, he turned to the comm officer, "Message Orthys, confirm presence of the Tau'ri and inform them the Tau'ri found one of our ships and a Spartan, requesting reinforcements."

The Lieutenant carried out the Commodore's order as the man gazed at the Spirit, now holding station in orbit east the Capital, a steady stream of fighters, dropships and shuttles oing between it and the planet.