Disclaimer: I own no franchise mentioned in this work. Halo belongs to 343, Mass Effect to Bioware.

Well well well, what is this but a chapter that's on time?

*IMPORTANT*
A guest review has brought to my attention a spat of reviews on stories written by one Coeur Al'Aran that advertise other stories within the review section. This is a troll targeting multiple authors. I will do my best to keep the guest reviews of this story free of such nonsense, but if you see it on other stories, that's what is currently going on.

If you like RWBY, Coeur is a fantastic author. As he has stated in his most recent AN's, however, he does not have the luxury of time to sort through the deluge of garbage reviews.
*END IMPORTANT*

Three years since I started writing this story. Chapters may have come slowly, but still here and hope to continue as this year is going to be huge for Halo.

If you have a particular question, please PM me. Apologies, but review responses were simply getting too large for chapters.

Hope you all enjoy!

10th Day of 6th Month, 2459/June 19, 2589/June 19, 2180

Citadel Embassy

Earth

While staying on Earth, Shepard had sparred with almost everyone else in the security detail. Most of them were certainly better than average at hand to hand, but it was only the Spectre's and Commandos that could give her a real challenge. Aside from the diplomatic retinue, however, Jane had also coerced most of their UNSC counterparts into a bout. The marines were decent, obviously experienced with escaping from the inhuman strength of Covenant species rather than fighting other humans, but still.

The only opponents that had truly outmatched everyone else were a squad of Spartan IV's that had shown up at the embassy for some reason. Regardless of whatever command structure had put special operations soldiers on guard duty, one of the Spectre's had challenged a Spartan to a fight. No one objected after having seen the footage of what the Master Chief was capable of, all of them curious how they would fare against opponents that had become legendary to the Covenant.

After thoroughly trouncing the best fighters present, the Spartans had proven much more social that Blue Team as they discussed their origins. While far more numerous than their predecessors, the fourth generation of Spartans were also inferior due to the much broader selection pool for their class. Most of their number had served extensively during the war against the Covenant, though some of the newer recruits were being selected for their performance against Post-War threats.

Fortunately for the Citadel security detail, Blue Team itself had been present to watch those that would be working with them, gauging ability and experience much like Shepard had done in her leadership role.

Seeing the two different generations of soldiers next to each other had given someone the brilliant idea of convincing the best CQC fighter from each to step into the ring. Oddly, the woman with 087 on her armor had stepped forward without issue, the rest of her team merely watching as she took her place. The IV's, on the other hand, had argued against the idea and only after numerous taunts did they finally send one of their number in.

Jane was focused exclusively on the fight, determined to get an idea of what a member of Blue Team was actually capable of when put against an actual opponent. More than a few bets were exchanged as the two Spartans took their places.

There was no posturing or taunting in such a heavyweight fight, each combatant already tensed and ready to engage. Neither showed hesitation as the match countdown reached zero, each having sized up the other and planned out their actions before the battle began.

It was immediately obvious that 087 was superior to her opponent as the smaller Spartan IV dodged away, moving far faster than a heavily armored human had any right to. Now that he was flanking his opponent, however, the IV was able to launch his own attack. Predictably, the punch did not land as the member of Blue Team dodged.

The fight continued on in this vein, each attempt at gaining the upper hand expertly redirected or avoided. Shepard was sure that several blows would have been fatal had they landed, but it was not her place to intervene as she was not even sure what an out of hand fight was between Spartans. Even with all her experience, it was difficult for the Commander to keep up with the pace of combat. From what she could see, however, it almost looked like 087 was holding back, not that that was surprising. It wasn't much, just the slightest delay that allowed her opponent to counter, but it was definitely there.

Suddenly, 087 stopped, her head whipping to the side to look at something outside the ring. Before Jane could figure out what, the Spartan IV charged in frustration as he finally was given an opening.

If anyone had believed that it was a fair fight before, they were quickly educated otherwise as the larger Spartan moved. With a twist that was inhumanly fast, 087 positioned herself behind the IV and planted her leg, causing the other Spartan to jerk to the side. 087 did not relent as she followed the motion, pulling her opponent off balance even more as she turned him to face her.

The IV then hit 087's leg, causing him to tip backwards as his foot stopped moving while his torso continued forwards. With a single hand, 087 grabbed the front collar of her opponent and slammed him back-first into the floor, resulting in a resounding clang as several hundred kilograms of armor and augmented human hit the deck.

There was no celebration from 087 at her victory, inevitable as it may have been. Instead, she merely rose from the kneel she had taken when finishing her opponent and held out a hand to the dazed Spartan IV.

With the fight ended, Shepard finally took the time to figure out what had distracted the Spartan-II. A screen in one corner of the room seemed to be the culprit, though Jane wasn't sure why as she along with everyone else had been ignoring it. Now that she took the time to watch, however, the Commander noted that the channel was set to some news station, with various tidbits of information scrolling on the edges.

It was quite clear what had caught the attention of the Spartan as a graveyard of ships was shown next to a human reporter. From that single shot, Shepard could tell that their trip to Earth had just become vastly more complicated. Glancing over at the two Spectre's, it was clear that they had reached the same conclusion as Saren noticed her gaze and nodded meaningfully.

As Jane began taking off her training armor in favor of her usual equipment, she listened to the newscast in the background, "-assembled for a possible response, the Council of Guardians has been called into an emergency session to determine a course of action. An investigation into the incident has already been started by the Office of Naval Intelligence in coordination with allied forces that were present during the attack. A press release earlier today points to groups from the Terminus Systems, as they're called by the Citadel Council, though some sources we talked to also mentioned the Batarian Hegemony as a likely suspect. When contacted for comment, ONI discouraged this idea until more information is known, likely due to the status the Hegemony holds with the Citadel."

Another voice offscreen inquired, "Do we have any idea when travel restrictions will be lifted?"

"There are no restrictions for entering or exiting the system, but any flights might be diverted due to cleanup efforts. Several Guardians continue to hold position in low atmosphere while the fleet cleans up the debris in orbit, however, the local administration estimated approximately two days before civilian transports will resume regularly scheduled routes from planetside spaceports. In the meantime, all flights are being directed to orbital tethers" the reporter stated. "The limits on travel to Eleutheria remain in place so we do not have footage, but the UNSC has stated that any Citadel refugees rescued from the attacking forces will be settled within that area."

Whatever else was said went unheard by those in the room as the screen was shut off by one of the Spectres. Turning back to the crowd, Garrus merely nodded to the Master Chief and ceded the limelight. Rather than 117 speaking up, however, the leader of the Spartan IVs began, "Protesters are already being reported, none close to us yet but we've already received word from above that you're being sent home early. Blue Team will be moving with you to evacuate the Embassy as well as guide you all to the local UNSC spaceport. We'll be going underneath the city rather than through the streets so we won't see crowds, but don't let your guard down. My team will move ahead to scout and disrupt any resistance along our route. Chief?"

"Engage only if absolutely necessary. Let's move," the Master Chief stated, short as always. The leader of the Spartan IVs saluted before the team of five moved out. Since she already had a head start on the others, Shepard was already in armor by this point. After quickly conferring with the Spectres, she made her way through the building to ensure that everyone and everything important was ready to go.

Fortunately the civilian members of the group had already been alerted by the UEG as to the situation. Considering the size of the bureaucratic machine that made up the UEG, it was impressive if not suspicious how fast they reacted to the attack. At the same time, however, Jane had to acknowledge that they had years of experience in planning for such emergencies after the Covenant War, similar to how the Systems Alliance had maintained plans to ensure their continued survival.

With the chaos distracting her, it seemed like no time at all before everyone was ready to go. Shepard made her way through the group to do one last check before taking her place next to the members of Blue Team up at the front.

Seeing that they were ready to go, the Chief led the way into a seemingly innocuous door on the ground floor of the Embassy. Rather than a storage closet or room or anything else that would be reasonable to expect to be behind the door, a set of stairs led down into a cement shaft. As Shepard reached the first step, she peeked over the edge of the railing. After a couple seconds to judge distances, Jane turned to one of the members of Blue Team and asked, "How far down are we going?"

"Not far, the undercity has cargo rails to keep traffic up top to a minimum. We will take one of those to the objective," the Spartan replied tersely.

Everyone kept their silence after that as they quickly moved down before exiting the stairwell at yet another bland door. From there, it was a short walk through a maze of underground infrastructure before they reached a yawning chasm. There were no lights except the ones that were carried by the security force, but even those beams could not pierce the darkness completely. Slightly in awe, the Commander questioned, "How far down does this go?"

Surprisingly, it was Garrus who answered, "If it's anything like the sub-level transportation that I found on the Waypoint, very deep. Terraforming equipment is used to excavate an area down to bedrock for large cities. They use it for new colonies and rebuilding those lost during the War; apparently the Forerunners liked to bury their stuff and building population centers on top doesn't end well."

"Glassing bunkers are standard as well," Spartan 104 stated. "Removing topsoil reduces the chance of being trapped by melted material."

"That is remarkably, er, practical?" Liara commented hesitantly from her position next to Benezia. "Why did you expect anything to put up resistance down here?"

Saren glanced back at the asari and answered, "There's always something lurking in places like this, no matter how good everything above it looks."

Any further conversation was cut short as a soft hum heralded the approach of something on the rails. It was easy to spot the personnel transport due to the lights that were strung up along the top of the basket. While not particularly luxurious, the cart was certainly spacious enough for everyone to fit.

What really surprised Shepard, however, was the appearance of a bridge of light between the ledge they stood on and the cart. The Spartans seemed to understand the inevitable skepticism of the feasibility of such a ramp as one of them led the way onto their transport. Seeing that it supported the not inconsiderable weight of the UNSC soldier, the civilian component followed hesitantly while the security made sure they weren't followed.

As the last of the diplomatic party to board, Jane couldn't help but glance down nervously at the faintly transparent bridge of light. This was not helped when the five Spartan IVs appeared out of the dark and followed their older brethren onto the ramp as well, leaving the thinnest barrier of light to hold the weight of not only herself but eight massive supersoldiers as well.

Whatever the hell the thing was made of, however, it was far stronger than it looked as Jane made it across without feeling any sort of give. The Spartans seemed unconcerned as well as they entered the trolley and took up positions on the edges. With a snap and a hiss, the ramp disappeared as they began to move forward.

Shepard quickly realized that watching out for anything was a fruitless endeavor as the only visible objects were the rail above them and a cargo container every once in a while. After making her way around the various groups to check in with the security detail, the Commander joined a discussion between the Ambassador and Spectres.

"There was no word from the Council about this," Benezia said, obviously trying to help in what little way she could to figure out what had happened.

Saren turned and inclined his head to greet Shepard silently as he replied, "This is too blatant for the Council. They wouldn't send us out here to learn about Earth only to attack while we were still on the planet. What I'm more concerned about is where that footage is from; I haven't heard of any planets near Citadel space with a human presence on them, Alliance excluded of course."

"No rumors that I was able to catch," Garrus added. "How did a force of any respectable size reach a Warden world, though? How did they find it? I agree with the initial guess of a pirate attack, but the only place that they would be able to move around is in the Terminus."

"Well that's where they are then," Shepard stated. "I recognized some of the wreckage, a lot of those vessels are commonly used by slavers in raids. The Council could use this opportunity to finally make some progress in containing the hives of criminals that infest the area."

Benezia shook her head and interjected, "The Council won't do anything, not if they can avoid it."

Saren looked ready to argue but suddenly froze before flaring his mandibles and agreeing, "They'll send some STG assets and perhaps a Spectre or two, but it will not be a large scale action."

"Why not? They can flex their military power and build relations with the Wardens," Garrus pointed out.

"The Council deals in the realm of politics, not fighting," the older Spectre replied, shaking his head. "It's not like the Hierarchy forces you served with before entering the Spectres. Nothing is ever as simple with them."

Jane scowled and questioned, "Batarians?"

"Indeed, as much as the Council may dissociate themselves with the Hegemony's less legal actions, they're still a member of the Citadel and provide an influence in the Terminus. The Council won't risk that delicate relationship in response to this attack. So long as the Wardens don't bring it up, none of the Councillors will either. A mutual agreement of silence, shared by the Hegemony as well since they can't protest without blatantly revealing that they were behind it," Benezia explained.

Shepard hummed in acceptance as she deduced, "And the Wardens won't make a fuss since they don't want the Council questioning them taking worlds out in the Terminus. Won't the Council be concerned about a foreign power moving to acquire territory so close though? Though I suppose that finding them would be the first issue."

"Precisely," the Asari replied. "The STG may have an ear to every door, but there's only so much they can learn."

"Slipspace does make it rather difficult to follow anything," the Commander admittedly readily. "What about the Broker?"

Saren scoffed slightly and answered, "He probably knows where they are from contacts in the Terminus. If the Hegemony was involved and knew where they were going, the STG probably has the information. Problem is, they won't reveal that they know to keep the Hierarchy from going on a crusade."

"I didn't think of that option," Benezia granted. "You think that the Turians would be so rash, Spectre?"

"With their attitude, absolutely," Garrus said with a firm nod. "They'd probably attack a race during first contact for breaking Citadel Law, regardless of if that race not only knew the law but was even obligated to adhere to it. We don't have the fleets to take the Terminus, but a targeted strike is certainly within the capability of some of the more ambitious admirals."

"Part of our part in being here was to evaluate the capabilities of the UNSC. There's just too much to learn, as you all know," Saren added. "Even just glossing over things, though, it felt like parts were...missing, I suppose. Something being kept back."

While the Matriarch gave the Spectre an odd look in doubt, Jane understood the sentiment. After all they had been shown, she still got the feeling that something was missing, as Saren had put it. A tickle in the back of her mind, a sense honed by battle to subconsciously notice oddities in the environment.

Knowing that thinking on it would get her nowhere without being able to speak in private with other members of the party, Jane stated, "Let's focus on getting offworld and back to Alliance space for now. If there is something to your suspicions, then the UEG has managed to hide it from everyone I have talked to. I don't trust our words to stay private, regardless."

The others agreed, albeit hesitantly in some cases. So it was that they traveled through the warren of tunnels, eventually arriving at yet another nondescript platform that seemed to be nearly identical to the one they had left. Another sketchy walk over the odd bridge of light led directly to an impressive set of doors to a spacious cargo elevator. Shepard failed to spot any security or a manual way to open the doors, yet their entrance directly into the UNSC base made her sure that there was some form of identification that was necessary.

Since they had arrived via cargo lift rather than the front entrance, it was a short walk to the small ship that would be transporting them off world. Multiple squads of UNSC soldiers passed them on the way, giving the group interested looks but also shying away from the intimidating forms of Blue Team.

Before she boarded the vessel, the Commander addressed the Master Chief, "See you on board?"

A nod was the only answer, yet it left Jane with no doubts that it was the correct one.

10th Day of 6th Month, 2459/June 19, 2589/June 19, 2180

Eleutheria

Bastion

When the Shadow Broker had directed her to be captured by Batarian slavers, Tela Vasir had very nearly killed the agent that relayed the order under the assumption that he was trying to get her killed. After interrogating the poor salarian and a call directly to the Broker, or as close as was possible, she had determined that the orders were not some poor attempt to get rid of her. It didn't take much digging with her connections to determine why the Broker had given such odd orders. Multiple slaver parties had already been moving out of their usual haunts and congregating deep in the Terminus alongside several Hegemony fleets.

Given her operational freedom from the Council and her skillset as a Spectre, it wasn't hard for Vasir to slip onto a ship that she knew was outbound for the gathering force. A few good beatings to the dregs in the slave hold and no questions were asked, letting her blend in as nothing more but another unfortunate victim.

Several weeks passed quickly, though the constant boredom began to wear on Tela's patience. One of the Batarian guards tried to get a bit handsy, but a brief flare of biotics had convinced him to pursue a less deadly target for his fun. Several slaves had discovered her armor hiding place, though they were quickly quieted by some half-truths about her status and mission here.

Finally the wait was over when the entire ship shook violently, causing cries of alarm and pain. Amidst the chaos, Vasir began to quickly put on her armor in anticipation of action. Even once she was fully armored, no one paid her any mind under her dirty sheet as the ship steadily shook, indicating that they were rapidly entering the atmosphere of a planet.

Eventually the shaking stopped, followed shortly thereafter by a resounding thump, sending the unprepared slaves to their knees. Vasir ducked down as well to avoid attention, a prudent move as seconds later a Batarian came running into the hold. A couple shots from his weapon quieted down the mass of slaves, allowing him to announce, "You will attack the enemy when we land. Disobey and you die."

One brave and misguided turian tried to speak up, but the slaver showed no mercy as he fired a burst from his rifle. Surrounded by slaves compelled by the threat of lethal force or control chips, there was no choice for Vasir but to maintain her position in the crowd. A quick glance allowed her to spot at least a dozen slavers, each armed and armored. While she was confident in eliminating them in a fight, there was nowhere for her to take cover amongst the mass of slaves.

Ultimately, the choice was made for her as the door to the slave hold opened, allowing brilliant sunlight into the space. Even though they may have been blinded after spending so long in the dark misery of the hold, the slaves eagerly moved towards the escape. Vasir moved with them while keeping an eye on the slavers to ensure she was not spotted.

Fortunately, the Batarians were far more concentrated with yelling orders at their underlings.

Unfortunately, those orders were for the mass to continue forwards, carrying the Spectre along with them. Without the hold to keep them crammed together, however, the group began to split up, giving Vasir a view of the battlefield.

To either side of her were other groups of slaves, each as disorganized as the one she was a part of. Behind them were more ships, each letting forth yet more of what Tela finally identified as cannon fodder. It seemed that whoever commanded the ships had at least part of a brain, however, as they had not landed directly in front of whatever enemy they would be fighting but rather in a large, open field that would allow them to coordinate.

Vasir was under no illusion that the numerous slavers would be able to work together well, however, an assumption that was proven true as the slaves spread across the area in a disorganized mess. Rolling her eyes at the display, the Spectre turned her attention towards the horizon to try and identify what enemy had the Batarians so riled up. From her current position the only thing visible was a thin line ascending into the sky some distance away, though she had no idea what it was.

Once the slavers had gotten their act together, they ordered the horde to march. Since the Batarians were using the slaves as bullet sponges, they took position at the back. This forced Tela to the front of the force to make sure that she did not encounter any of the mercenaries.

Seeing the opportunity for what it was, Vasir discretely fiddled with her omni-tool beneath her makeshift cloak. The pace that the slavers set was only a slight jog, allowing the Spectre to successfully break into their comms. Panicked calls immediately started pouring in as the connection was established, Tela jerking her head slightly in annoyance as her earbud compensated for the sudden volume change.

As she began to actually listen to the comm chatter, however, the Spectre frowned in concern. From what she could make out in the chaos, the Batarians were engaged in a significant battle in orbit. The slave transports had been a large part of the fleet but had slipped through to the surface before the heavyweight fighting really began. Now that the capital ships had collided, however, it seemed that the Hegemony had greatly underestimated both the number and the capability of their enemy.

Within minutes the communications had dropped to almost nothing, either desperate calls for assistance that would never come or calls for retreat that were swiftly silenced. Luckily, the Spectre had managed to catch some references to members of the Wardens in between the disorganized shouting. While she didn't know much about the species that made up the newest galactic superpower, she knew that there was a good chance that she could survive considering their rescue of the slaves on Logasiri.

Of course, that was assuming that this was the same faction of the Wardens that executed that attack. Information from the Broker had indicated that there were multiple different organizations that operated beneath the Wardens of the Mantle, each using radically different methods to accomplish their goals. Considering that the Hegemony had gone and attacked a colony that they somehow learned about, it was entirely possible that every living thing was about to be annihilated from orbit.

At least, that was what the rumors claimed.

Regardless of whether the enemy was fielding vast warships capable of planetary destruction, Tela knew that her current goal was to simply survive the coming battle. Compared to the slaves around her, she would have a far better chance, but if the battle was anything like the one in orbit it would not be easy, even for her.

Some time later, the Spectre was finally able to make out their adversary awaiting their arrival. Vasir evaluated the situation and concluded that the Wardens were content to maintain their defensive positions, allowing them superior firing lines and fallback routes. She did find it odd that they were lined up and easily visible rather than utilizing their superior knowledge of the land to outmaneuver the Batarians.

Whoever was commanding the slaves either did not recognize that fact or did not care as the Batarians gave the order to charge. The slaves did not have a choice in the matter, the control chips ensuring that they followed their orders as they understood them.

Stuck at the front of the formation, Vasir was forced forward as well, lest she be overrun by the thousands that followed behind her. Oddly, the charge did not seem to phase the enemy, no fear or anger or even any sign that they acknowledged the approaching mass of beings. As she drew closer, the Spectre suddenly realized why that was as she noted the distinctly mechanical nature of the frontline.

Taking only a second to wonder what in the Goddess' name the Batarians had picked a fight with, Vasir quickly began to fall back towards the bulk of the horde. Considering that she was a Spectre and they were malnourished slaves, it was not particularly difficult to simply slow down and let them run past.

Even now, however, with the obvious hostile intent, the machines did not open fire. Rather, a strange whistling made itself known, quickly becoming noticeable above even the din of the slaver's screams.

Suddenly, the air itself seemed to explode as it was filled with opaque gas, obscuring all sightlines. Spurred forward by their nature, the slaves charged forwards into the mist. All coordination was almost immediately lost as numerous slaves stumbled and fell, incapacitated by the attack.

Whatever the weapon was, it was absolutely devastating as more blasts rocked the air above the Spectre. Even then, however, the slavers urged their forces forward, determined to try and reap some benefits now that they were trapped on the planet. It was only her experience that allowed Vasir to stay conscious as she put on her helmet, no longer concerned about being seen.

Suddenly, a horrendous sound echoed around the battlefield, followed almost instantly by every electronic that Vasir had shutting off. Whipping around, she noted that the slaves were no longer coming forward, leaving her standing alone and blinded in the gas. Glancing upwards, Tela was briefly able to see what had caused the sound.

Stepping back in surprise at the intimidating thing hovering above the battlefield, the Spectre could only stare in wonder. Like a bird of prey, it towered above, blue lines streaking through pieces held together by nothing but air. Silver metal unlike any she had seen before shone in the sunlight, all of it molded to create a truly fearsome ship.

Whatever the thing had done, it seemed to have affected the slavers as well as Vasir caught sight of them beneath the monolith. They seemed greatly reduced in number as they rose above the dissipating gas, climbing atop a hill to survey their inevitable defeat. Several of them fired their weapons up towards the massive craft, obviously having no effect.

With her experience as a Spectre, it was easy for Vasir to predict that a counterattack was forthcoming. What she did not account for, however, was one of the Hegemony commanders suddenly being thrust aloft by a glowing blade coming through his chest. Yells from the other slavers were quickly silenced as several more of the massive creatures appeared from thin air, slicing through the Batarians without effort.

Eyes widening at the brutal display, Vasir turned to try and flee the battlefield. Her stride was cut short as she caught sight of the machines advancing towards her through the mist, unsurprisingly unaffected by the gas. Recognizing the dangerous position she was now in, Tela flared her biotics and charged to the side, trying to evade the advancing enemy.

Glancing back, the Spectre caught a flash of red going to her right before the world went spinning. Clumps of dirt and rock splattered against her armor as four smaller explosions rumbled the ground shortly after.

Vasir groaned as she rolled over and slowly climbed to her feet, taking only a second to note the large crater that had been left by the near miss. Looking back up, the Spectre identified her attacker.

Large and armored in similar metal to the ship above them, the creature looked like its body was far too large for the slender legs that supported it. On one arm was a large glowing cannon, though Tela couldn't tell if that was an aftereffect of the shot or another charging up. The other arm had a nasty looking blade made from what looked like blue light.

As Vasir levelled her weapon in preparation for a fight, the creature suddenly seemed to teleport forwards, zipping from side to side and ignoring any shots that she managed to get off. Before the Spectre could react, a shining blue blade was sweeping towards her head. Tela ducked but wasn't quick enough to avoid the blow entirely.

The weapon clipped the top side of her helmet, sending the Spectre sprawling from the force behind it. Reeling from the strike, Tela kept the presence of mind to roll away from her attacker to make a killing blow harder to land.

Once her vision had stopped swimming, the Spectre noticed that the machine had not moved to pursue her. As she looked up into its eyes, however, it took on an aggressive stance and let out a strange screech. Snarling in response, Tela pulled out her weapon and fired away.

Rather than avoiding the hail of rounds, the machine simply ignored them, the worst damage being small scratches from the sand-sized pellets deflecting off its superior metal carapace. It suddenly leapt towards the asari, knocking aside her weapon and pinning her to the ground before she could avoid it.

The glowing mask that made up its face glared down at her as she roared in defiance. Suddenly, a thin line appeared down the middle of the mask before the metal seemed to peel apart. A horrifying blue skull that looked disturbingly similar to that of an asari screamed back at the Spectre before her world went dark.

Considering how she had left the world, Vasir was genuinely surprised to be waking up at all. After letting her eyes adjust to the ambient light, she noted that she was beneath a canvas tent of some type, obviously a temporary shelter. Turning her head to the right, a turian stared down at her as if expecting some reaction. When none came, the fellow alien looked to something on Tela's left. Turning her head, the Spectre tensed at the sight of one of the lopsided machines that had taken her out.

Rather than attack or do anything at all for that matter, the thing just locked eyes with her and twitched the plates of metal on its back.

After a second of staring, Vasir was drawn back to the turian as he said, "I'm glad you're awake, we were about to move your bed."

Resisting the urge to roll her eyes at such an inane statement, Tela replied, "How long was I out?"

"Several days," the turian responded. "You were brought into Eleutheria to recover."

"And that?" she asked, nodding back at the machine.

The turian shrugged and answered, "It followed and wouldn't leave."

The Spectre swung her legs over the edge of the small cot and sat up, wincing slightly at some lingering pain but forcing it to the back of her mind as she stood. She stretched to try and diffuse the stiffness that came with being bedridden as she questioned, "You mentioned that we were moving?"

"Evacuation orders from the humans. They have a ship coming in to help with the slaves from the Batarian raid," the turian explained.

Vasir narrowed her eyes at that confirmation of who owned this planet. After a quick check on her equipment, the only thing she found missing were her weapons, unsurprisingly. Another look at the machine showed her pistol and rifle firmly attached to its sides, likely magnetically locked. Ultimately, it wasn't worth even trying to acquire them as even her skills as a Spectre wouldn't let her fight off this world if she had wanted to try.

With everything in order and no reason to stay in the otherwise empty tent, Vasir grabbed her helmet and made her way to the exit. The turian fell in behind her much as a slave would, though she ignored that in favor of keeping her senses on the thing that continued to follow her as well.

As she drew back the flap, Tela was blinded by the sunlight outside. She stepped to the side to let herself adjust as the turian and machine followed, neither as bothered as herself it seemed. Several seconds later and the spectre opened her eyes to one of the most drab yet modest cities she had seen in a very long time. With as much time as she had spent in the Terminus, it would have come as no surprise to Vasir to be living in a tent city for the foreseeable future as the Wardens negotiated the return of Citadel citizens.

That hardly seemed to be the case as what looked like a permanent settlement spread out before her. While admittedly somewhat lacking in decor due to the dark gray metal that the UNSC seemed so fond of, the city was nonetheless functional for housing a large displaced population. Turning to the tent she had exited, Tela noted the tent city she had expected spread out from the edge of the actual buildings, though it was obviously in the process of being torn down as a large number of former slaves carried away the temporary structures.

Remembering the turian's passing statement about an inbound ship, Vasir turned her attention to her omni-tool. A short bit of fiddling later along with a scan of active comm channels and she was tuned into the orbital traffic control that was being broadcast on a reserved radio frequency. From there, it wasn't difficult to route the input through her translator, allowing Tela to listen in to the constant stream and know that the airspace was far more busy than a backwater planet like this had any right to be.

Turning her gaze upwards, Vasir blinked as she noticed the silver ship from the battle floating in the sky, silently watching everything below. Whatever it was, it seemed that the former slaves had gotten used to it as no one was paying the massive ship any attention.

"I must go help with other projects. You are free to wander the city, but the humans likely won't let you leave," the turian warned before breaking off back towards the tents.

Vasir raised her eyebrows at that before looking back at the machine. It stared back, shuffling in place slightly but not intimidated in the slightest by the Spectre. Sighing in annoyance at the situation that the Broker had put her in, Tela decided to make the best of it and moved towards the city.

After an hour of wandering the streets and scouting out the area, she took a seat in a secluded area and began typing on her omnitool. Notes on the human soldiers and civilians helping the population came first, quickly followed by observations about her follower and its similarity to the dreadnought-sized ship that hovered above. Oddities such as the lack of aircar traffic and the lack of many common amenities could be easily explained by the amount of work that still needed to be done on far more important things such as infrastructure. Even then, it was obvious that this population center had been built for the sole purpose of housing the freed slaves which allowed Vasir an insight into the logistical capabilities of the Wardens.

It was while she was listening in to the chatter in orbit in an effort to record the numerous ship designations that the thing above the city finally moved. As day had gone on, the ship had cast a shadow over the city itself. It was the sudden change in light that alerted Vasir as she looked up sharply to see the wings moving, as if the ship itself were stretching after a long nap. It was a disturbingly organic motion, one that actually caught the attention of the people around the Spectre as well.

After a few seconds, Vasir's omnitool caught up to the machine's communications as a controller called out, "Bastion Control to Guardian 8132, break and move to hold seven kilometers East of current position."

"Acknowledged," a voice replied, causing the spectre to freeze. She had encountered many things during her long life, including the mechanical creations of the Quarians that had so nearly spelled the end of the Citadel Council. The thing that just replied on an open communications channel had that same distinctive voice, as if talking in a language that was not and never really would be one that they could speak naturally. Having a machine like the one following her was bad enough, but it seemed that the humans had somehow decided that going further was a fantastic idea and made an entire atmospheric capable dreadnought controlled by its own circuitry.

The possibility that the humans would actually use fully realized AI to control such things was the next thought on Vasir's mind as she glanced between the ship and her unwanted pet. She had been under the assumption that a decently made VI was the worst on board, after all the thing hadn't taken any particularly advanced actions. Vocally responding to orders that would have just as easily been sent through a terminal indicated a far more independent intelligence, one that could choose to obey.

Much as she would like to concern herself with whatever foolishness the Wardens were up to, Tela's attention was once again drawn skyward as a hole in reality itself opened behind the Guardian. She had heard about their strange method of travel, but looking at the technology in action, the Spectre could only think that the gaping blackness which swallowed the ship was just wrong in some primordial way.

Regardless of what this 'slipspace' was actually made of, it did seem to work very well as Vasir looked to the East. Sure enough, an identical portal opened almost as soon as the first closed, disgorging the machine just above the horizon. Even from this distance, Tela could not shake the feeling that the thing was watching over the city like a predator ready to strike should anything threaten them.

"This is SinoViet Super-Heavy X-102, transferring from system traffic control. Inbound to restricted airspace, requesting lane for cold re-entry," a new voice called out from her open omnitool.

The Spectre glanced down at the mention of a new ship class and made note of it as the controller replied, "Bastion control to SVX-102, request granted, lane 33-I is yours. Airspace was just freed, you are cleared to hover with low turbulence restrictions."

"Affirmative control, SVX-102."

It wasn't exactly difficult for Vasir to deduce that the inbound ship was what had caused the Guardian to move. As the constant stream of radio chatter continued, Vasir took some time to look through her previous notes for some of the terms she had heard. SinoViet seemed to be either a company name or ship class, though Tela leaned more towards company as she had not heard the name before. Super-heavy was likely a cargo load classification while X-102 was just an alphanumeric designation.

What had the Spectre somewhat confused was the declaration of a cold re-entry. In Eezo terms, that usually meant a ship would use its core to reduce its mass so that it could lower itself into a planet's atmosphere rather than using the friction of re-entry to slow down. While certainly possible, it was not a particularly popular maneuver as it was rather slow and almost every ship could survive the heat of re-entry anyways.

From the request for an approach lane to perform such a landing method, it was obvious that the Warden ship was certainly capable of de-orbiting by skimming the atmosphere to bleed speed at the least. This left Tela wondering why they would descend slowly instead, a question that seemed best answered by the airspace restrictions that were apparently in place. Most ships would be able to simply de-orbit and slow down well before reaching the ground, but then again it was already clear that the Wardens could bring ships far larger than a frigate down to the surface.

After a while of waiting, Vasir finally caught another transmission from the inbound vessel, "SVX-102 to control, beginning our descent, 33-I is free."

"Confirmed 33-I clear, you are approved for descent. Slight cloud cover on the surface but otherwise clear," the controller replied. Tela glanced up at that, noting that some clouds had indeed rolled in, though fortunately they were not thunderheads. Even so, she scowled as a visual of the ship would be almost impossible until it was literally on top of the city.

It took a good bit of time for the ship to descend, giving the Spectre some time to move away from the city. She ended up near the top of a hill, her loyal machine following behind. A group of UNSC soldiers had taken note of her stroll but hadn't interfered as they sat amongst supply containers that had been stacked on the edge of the settlement.

Eventually, however, one of them got up from their game of cards and climbed up the hill to approach the Spectre. Vasir glanced down at the man, noting how he examined her armor before speaking, "Might want to find some cover, we got a civvie hauler coming in soon here."

"I was aware, is it dangerous?" Vasir asked without much concern.

"More windy than anything," the man responded. "Fancy armor, ain't seen anyone else with the like."

Tela tightened a fist and said, "The Batarians are not particularly competent at searching their ships."

Rather than prying further, the human just shrugged and stated, "I'm no spook, just don't cause any trouble." With that, he turned and walked away, leaving the Spectre to wonder what a 'spook' was.

Disregarding the slang, Vasir slipped on her helmet as she noted a dull roar signalling the final approach of the vessel. Looking up into the white undersides of the clouds, she waited for the ship to appear. Rather than a ship, however, the Spectre noticed a massive shadow racing along the clouds, rapidly approaching the city. She furrowed her brow as she tried to calculate the size of the craft based on that information, only to come to the conclusion that it was large, very large. She huffed in impatience at that, watching the shadow race past her and casting the surrounding area into slowly growing darkness.

Suddenly, the clouds above seemed to shift, sinking towards the ground as a mass pushed them down from above. It was hard to see the exact outline with the flat light, but even with her helmet optics, Vasir could only make out the edge running parallel to the city limit.

As she scanned the sky, Vasir's attention was caught by motion in her peripheral. Snapping her head over, she noted how the clouds seemed to flow along the sloped metal face that began emerging. Like the flat side of a spearhead pushing through mud, the keel of the ship split the cloud layer.

Entranced by the sight, it took a sudden blast of wind to make Vasir process what she was witnessing. As the engines of the massive craft flared and wind began flattening the grass around her, the Spectre took a step back in mute horror as she took in the sight of kilometers of metal coming to a halt so close to the surface of a planet. Her helmet began to soften the roar that vibrated the ground as Tela knelt down in the grass, working quickly to open up her omnitool and point it at the unbelievable sight.

After a couple seconds of panning the view, a rough outline of the visible parts of the ship appeared as her omnitool ran through its calculations. The dimensions continued to change as more and more of the ship broke through, revealing a hangar that was already buzzing with activity.

Several minutes later and the clamor of engines died down as the howling wind finally abated, leaving the Spectre to her thoughts as she stared at the dark red 38 that had settled on her omnitool. The humans hadn't been directing a ship into position, it was a full-blown space station sitting several hundred meters above the surface.

Eventually Vasir gathered herself and organized her thoughts before turning to look at the UNSC soldiers. They were ignoring her presence in favor of admiring the ship above them, making it clear that this particular class was not a common sight. Even with the massive distraction above, however, they were still soldiers and as such noticed her approach.

The one who had first approached her stepped forward again and smiled as he observed, "You look a bit shook. Bit different than what you're used to?"

Vasir grit her teeth and lifted her chin, bristling at the implied weakness. She kept her tone civil as she replied, "What in the Goddess is that thing?"

It seemed that the soldier didn't know the answer himself as he turned to his comrades and spoke in a language that her translator could not understand. After a short wait, the human responded, "New ship from SinoViet, they do a lot of heavy industrial work. They were cleared to build an anchor, apparently brought along some supplies to drop off here at the same time."

"But how did you build it?" Tela pressed.

"Rumor has it that SinoViet was commissioned by HIGHCOM to throw some designs at Genesis to see what it could do. One online poll later and they had a nineteen kilometer dreadnought with enough firepower to level a planet. Well, for you Citadel people, it's, what, 38 of your kilometers?"

Vasir merely nodded, her mind racing. Eventually she was able to get out, "An Extranet vote led to a company accidentally making this?"

"It's a ship from an old, old human space movie. First choice was a moon, the Navy nixed that idea pretty quickly though. Heard from a buddy of mine on Circinius IV that things got a bit out of hand and now there are two of them," the soldier explained.

"They're still allowed to have a functioning warship?" Vasir asked incredulously, ignoring the implications of his comment on building a moon in favor of her sanity.

The idea didn't seem to faze the human at all as he shrugged, "Hardly the first they've had, SV builds for the sky guys. Couple major anchors on Reach, big player in the Mars yards, expanding into the glasslands, they have more than enough reason for a corporate fleet. So long as they behave, the UNSC lets them be, same deal with most of the big corps. It's quite the ship, with plenty of shields to match her guns, but being on the frontline isn't her role."

Tela nodded, gazing up as she processed that information before saying, "Thank you for the information."

"Sure, I s'pose. It's all hearsay or just common knowledge," the soldier dismissed lazily. "If us ground pounders know it, it ain't anything to write home about. Navy isn't anything to us but an unreliable taxi service."

That got a few laughs from his comrades, drawing the human's attention as he gave a jerk of the head to the Spectre before rejoining his squad. Vasir ignored it and turned around, stepping around her machine as she found somewhere quiet to write down what she had learned as well as her thoughts on the matter.

Now free of the Asari they had been tasked with intercepting, the squad of humans began to make their way towards the landing zone of the transports coming down from the SinoViet vessel. Their way was unimpeded as those working the area immediately moved aside once they noticed the distinctive circle and pyramid logo of ONI emblazoned on each soldier's uniform.

15th Day of 6th Month, 2459/June 24, 2589/June 24, 2180

Citadel

Council Chambers

"What exactly are they expecting us to do about this?"

"Far too much, unfortunately if not unsurprisingly," Tevos replied. "They have yet to communicate through official diplomatic channels, obviously, but it's fairly clear that pressure is coming down from above. Given the chance, they'll push for war."

Valern interjected, "Reports from our returning Ambassador would warn against that. Humans are still willing to attempt operations from the SSV Normandy. Does the Hegemony have the sway to interrupt that?"

"Not anymore," Sparatus responded. "Their Terminus connections will be hesitant to draw heat from the Wardens after this display. This many resources disappearing into the void is too damaging. They will have problems keeping their own worlds in line, their image of being the biggest Vorcha in the pack is broken."

"We are still unable to gather information on the world in question. Agents recovered a location from Batarian data but contact was lost with all elements after they entered the system. STG has sent several contacts to investigate, none have returned. Sending stealth vessels considered futile after failure to track Banished before. Current projections indicate heavily defended system, traffic unknown due to slipspace usage," Valern quickly summarized.

Sparatus sighed at that and grumbled, "We've never had a reason to truly explore the area, there are undoubtedly many planets that are off the charts. Devoting manpower to interfering in a conflict that isn't even within our borders will not be popular, especially with the products making their way into the black market. Either we allow the Wardens to solidify their foothold in the area or we get involved."

"Neither is preferable. Only other options are Wardens driven out of Terminus, extremely unlikely if not impossible given observed resources, or they do not retaliate. Higher possibility, human state in political upheaval given destruction of territory and discovery of other sentient life. Jiralhanae and Sangheili render inaction extremely doubtful," the Salarian Councillor considered.

Tevos thought for a second before arguing, "I do not agree with your assessment of the Earth Government. They are not Asari, regardless of the similar features. While slower than the Turians in making decisions, perhaps, they will be galvanized by the perceived threat."

"Sangheili honor, much like that of the Hierarchy, will demand that the insult does not go unanswered," Sparatus added. "The Brutes will just be happy for a chance at a fight. I believe that Tevos is correct, however. Civilians will not see this as a raid but as a declaration of hostilities, and any who support them will be grouped under the label of an enemy. From a military standpoint, the best option here is to hope that this is not brought up publicly by either participant."

"As weak as the Hegemony is, they will not mention this failure. With their continued secrecy, I feel confident in assuming that the Wardens will also stay silent. They will clash with each other and with luck the Wardens will become embroiled in the conflict, making it far easier to observe them. Eventually the Hegemony will claim that their colonial claims are being infringed upon and begin to press us for public support of a war effort. It is that catalyst that will decide the future of this Council," the Asari Matriarch stated confidently.

Valern titled his head before nodding in agreement and asking, "Where does that leave us? If we lose the Batarians, the Terminus will be unrestrained. The Wardens may solve that issue, but will our relations with them improve such that we can continue to reduce the barriers to their society? An interesting question indeed."

"Their naive belief in the ghosts of the Systems Alliance is dangerous," Sparatus argued. "Given a chance, they might forgo asking us to prepare and invade to secure our resources. It gives them an excuse, a reason to attack. If those same views start to fester in the populace of Citadel space, it could serve to divide and weaken our efforts to dismiss such nonsense."

"Forces are already spread out into the Warden galaxy," Valern pointed out. "Validating deployment of additional fleets to Terminus is possible, combat changes strategy on a much larger scale. Taking action against the Wardens could lead to attacks on units much, much farther away from reinforced positions. Withdrawing from foreign galaxy is not an option."

Tevos huffed and said, "We are in agreement that the Batarians will be left to the fight they picked. A travel warning is already in place for the Terminus but a warning of increased activity in the area could certainly be merited. The Republics will be withdrawing any isolated assets in the area but will keep a presence in important facilities."

"Last information I had indicated no appreciable Union resources. Will confirm but can assure that we are clear of any impending fight," Valern declared.

Sparatus narrowed his eyes at his fellow Councillor in doubt but did not bother taking up an argument as he stated, "Multiple Hierarchy fleets are deployed and shall remain so at relays into the Terminus. As for soldiers within, however, there are at least three Spectres in the region. Two have already made contact and will continue their missions to the best of their abilities, depending on the front line of combat. One Tela Vasir, however, has not responded to the SPECTRE office. Her last registered orders were a self-deployment to investigate suspicious Hegemony activity."

"That is a problem. Dead or captured," Tevos admitted.

"Or neither," the Salarian Councillor added. "If her guise was that of a slave, she may yet remain unknown. It is ultimately impossible to know without more information. Wardens have already demonstrated sympathy towards slaves, but when attacked they are capable of horrible violence."

Tevos considered that for several moments before frowning as she spoke, "There has been no contact with our ambassador either. I find it doubtful that the Wardens would eliminate her considering their tact in handling this crisis so far. Confirmation of their reports will have to wait until they complete their voyage back to Council territory in Systems Alliance space."

"That's expected, they do not know if we intend to become involved. Travelling dark is standard when a diplomatic envoy is under possible threat. I do agree with your assertion, however. Their claims are quite dubious," Sparatus responded.

"Dismissing the baseless Alliance beliefs in some galactic threat is far different than doing the same to the words of our own representatives. If it were only one with such fanciful descriptions of human wonders, I would be hesitant to accept such as truth. Some accounts do conflict, but there are far too many parallels to disregard some of our most experienced," Valern warned.

A growl resonated from the Turian while the Matriarch sighed, but neither argued against his point. Eventually Tevos continued, "Our foreign policy will have to wait until more pieces are set, for the moment our position is adaptable. Do we have any information from our teams investigating possible Forerunner artifacts?"

"Report came in last night, was verified independently by a secondary team. The ruin is functional, but it does not appear to match the descriptions of Forerunner architecture. One researcher made an interesting observation that it reminded him distinctly of human creations," Valern stated, moving the conversation away from the developing crisis.

The idea for the undercity came from Alexandria in Halo: Reach. I don't know how far the rails go in the canyons of buildings, but we never see the bottom as far as I could tell.

Have always wanted to do an Executor reference in this story, I like how it turned out.

-evevee