Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It is the 26th Century.

We live in a dark chapter in humanity's history. For almost four decades, we fought a never-ending war against not just aliens seeking to exterminate us out of religious fanaticism, but also against our own people. Even after the war against the alien menace is over, there are still fighting left to be done.

...And we are the ones to do this task.

Two years ago, I heard news that a rampant AI had corralled a third of our Artificial Intelligences and revolted against us, subjugating our worlds, including my own. Hundreds of thousands of lives lost, and millions more without power and under fear of persecution by these rogue intelligences.

Luckily, the revolt ended as soon as it truly began. The AI that started the revolt, Cortana, seemingly gave her life to deny a Halo ring from a Covenant splinter faction. After this, while our comrades far from home are dealing with external threats, I was assigned to deal with internal issues under orders from the Office of Naval Intelligence.

As shady as the organization might have looked, at least the ONI, which my life is centered around, is very kind to me. However, in recent years, I may have learned too much during my tour at Zeta Halo, and now they want me to be captured or, worse, dead.

With ONI torn to its very roots, it is up to us to take control and hopefully steer humanity to the right path. Hopefully.

But this is not just a story of this universe, no. This is a story of my adventures. Adventure is my life. And to spend this life is to enjoy it while it lasts.

I am Yamaguchi Hitoshi, newly appointed captain of Spartan Fireteam Flower, and this is my story.

Canberra, Oceania District, Earth. 

December 24, 2560.

Yamaguchi Hitoshi wants nothing more than to be free, if she's not already free enough. More than that, she wants to leave behind a legacy, a legacy that's far more impactful than something simple like raising a family or contributing heavily to society. Either way, those are the two things she seeks, but one of which is overly far-fetched given the current circumstances.

All of it feels like a dream and a nightmare in one. She knew things that she shouldn't know, fought enemies that made her want to erase any thought of them from her mind, and now a large part of the very organization she grew up with for years is setting its sights on her. 

Watching the Australian sunset from the rooftop of the Canberra Police Department Building, she contemplated everything that had happened in the past three years. She thought of many pleasant and unpleasant things that had happened in those turbulent times. It gives her the chills in her spine.

Looking beside her, sits her blue-haired sister, two years younger than Yamaguchi. She's just as motivated as she is for an adventure. The siblings are a very ecstatic bunch when it comes to the thrill of the action, but when they get serious, they matter to each other as much as the whole world matters to them. There's no better camaraderie than sibling love, as weird as it sounds. Pushing that train of thought out of her mind, she turned towards her sister, whose blue eyes still gazed towards the setting sun.

"Hey, Rishikaze-chan?"

The addition of a Japanese honorific caught her attention. "What... can you please stop calling me with an honorific, Yamaguchi-sama?"

The magenta-haired older sister felt awkward from the response, but she overcame it with a proper retort. "Well, now we're even," she smiled at her, and she chuckled back. Just a normal sibling interaction, it seems like... Until she heard a slight growl in Yamaguchi's stomach.

"I'm hungry." 

Rishikaze chuckled again, her voice getting softer. "First time having the older sister get hungry first. Wanna get down to eat?"

she nodded back to her, to which Rishikaze replied, "Great!"

In an instant, they quickly stood up with the wind blowing through her hair, a breath of fresh air cleaned the older sibling's mind of any distraction as they went down to the ground floor of the building, walking down through a spiral staircase, since the entire city is currently under a week-long power blackout, and so the elevator is unusable.

Walking down the stairs isn't what she would call an exercise, though, being a 6-and-a-half-foot-tall armored giant with state-of-the-art technology embedded into the skinsuit that holds her GEN3 MJOLNIR  together, it's ironic that she would think that way.

When they reached the ground floor of the building, they turned straight for the hallway that leads to the entrance, where their Spartan fireteam is encamped. A middle-aged woman, who looks like she's a decade younger than she actually is, stands by the makeshift table assembled for the two, which is nothing more than a couple of boxes.

"Ah, Mom. What's the dinner for today?" Rishikaze spoke in a broken American accent. While the sisters are of Japanese descent, centuries of intermingling between cultures have led to wild personalities being made. Yamaguchi's sister is one such example.

"We cooked some of your favorite ramen with you." Their mother spoke in a flat tone. It may cause others to look at her with concern, but to the sisters, that's just who she is. After all, she has seen so much carnage over the past 30 years of her life that it's hard to lighten her mood.

The only times when she expressed such positive emotions were when she took care of her daughters, Yamaguchi and Rishikaze. Whenever they are mentioned in a conversation, she always has a slight smile in her face. Or at least that's what her colleagues say. 

It is always nice to feel comfort in a world where everything seems to fall apart. It is a lesson the siblings would always consider.

"Really? Thanks, Mom." Yamaguchi began to smile as she walked towards a table near the counter. Using a chair she took nearby, she and her sister sat down and, without any chopsticks, resorted to using forks and steadily devoured their meals. Ramen is not our only favorite food, but since supplies in this city are scarce, that is our only solution to a female Spartan's growling stomach.

Once they finished their meals, Mrs. Hitoshi's agents quickly cleaned the table of utensils and disposed of them nearby. After this, the Spartans waited for a moment before they heard a greeting from a familiar face.

"Hey hey! Yamaguchi!" 

"Cassidy?" Yamaguchi asked. "Are we set to go now?" 

Cassidy shook her head. "Nope, I just wanna see you guys. Mission will start the next day, tho." Yamaguchi copied her gesture in turn. Another Spartan, part of the same batch as herself, is a childhood friend, though she lives in another city in the same colony, her ancestry instead traced back to the first Lunar settlers of the early 2100s.

Like the Hitoshis, she has quite a history.

"Howdy." An adolescent Spartan waved at her with a stone-faced expression. His name is Charles Oliver Jr. He's an excellent driver, but he's still working to learn how to fly a starship. 

"Oli, have you prepared our Warthogs yet?" She asked.

"Good as new, boss." Oliver nodded. 

She nodded back to acknowledge his answer. "How about our Falcons?" His expression changed slightly, but his answer was no doubt positive.

"They're already fueled and loaded. Ellis and Klara are waiting nearby. Just want to point that out." Oliver said as he walked past his leader, Yamaguchi. 

Although Yamaguchi is very carefree outside of combat, her mood swings into a cold sense of duty whenever she is assigned to a mission. Her mother had taught her how to control and balance these emotions.

There is no time for respite. The mission will start the very next day, and everyone, including the Spartans, is itching for all this chaos to end. Yamaguchi herself cannot help but feel important whenever these kinds of things happen. Pushing that thought away, she begins following her fellow teammates towards the front courtyard of the police center along the path towards the gates, where, beyond that, their rides are being maintained. 

It won't take long before the crux of the operation begins.

CDP Helipad 04

The faction of ONI agents loyal to Mrs. Hitoshi is busy preparing their vehicles for the operation set to begin the next day. weapon racks and magazines are being refilled by mechanics, with electrical systems, fuel, and most of all, manpower, being gathered and replenished. A culmination of a week's hard work of securing Canberra from the main ONI faction under Serin Osman's leadership.

Yamaguchi, accompanied by her fireteam, reached the landing pads, where the rest of her squadmates stood by to wait for further orders. As a personal routine done before battle, she mentally recounts her teammates' unique perks, as while both she and Rishikaze are jack-of-all-trades commanders, her friends are more specialized. That way, she can adjust her tactics more efficiently to get which Spartans to go against which enemy at a specific spot.

Leoben Podzinskiy is a marksman, a talented one in fact. The reason he chose this role is odd, since he did not really interact with anyone that much compared to the other Spartans, which is ironic considering that he is consulting with the higher-ups a lot.

Charles Oliver Jr. is a born driver, and there is not much to say about anything important about him, except for the fact that he's smart but can drive better than most Spartans.

Klara Radzinska is a melee monster, and is yet to adapt to ranged weapons given enough time, a time which she did not bother to use at the moment.

Ellis Vagner, although being the youngest of the bunch, can pack a more-than-average punch against her foes, in both mass and firepower. 

And lastly, Cassidy Preston, a charismatic and very adaptable girl like her commander, is able to coordinate her team's logistics and ensure longevity for the team outside of combat.  

Fireteam Flower is a family, not a squad. And sometimes nothing is stronger than family. It will be a saying that will be repeated for the rest of their lives. 

The team gathered at the landing pad, all ready, making final preparations. All weapons were given their final tune-ins and check-ups, their GEN3 MJOLNIR Mk. VII armor (only Yamaguchi has a Mk. VI helmet to make her look like the Master Chief), cleaned and customized for urban warfare. Yamaguchi herself walks towards them to give a final speech, because this mission will decide the fate of the United Earth Government, the UNSC, and the humanity she fought to protect. Although she was not good at being formal with anything, she makes up for it with some casual lightheartedness.

"Well, I know you all have been through a lot, trust me, I had that feeling." Yamaguchi laid her eyes on each of her teammates and their auxiliaries, breathing heavily, lasting for a few seconds to make up any words worthy enough to come out of her mouth. "But today, we're going to end this once and for all. I think it is time for us we take center stage and take back what was ours, our lives, our freedom. I knew something like this would happen ever since those incidents, like Mr. Giraud. I'm glad that we're ready for this. Tomorrow, we're taking the UNSC-no... humanity, back. Understood?"

All of Yamaguchi's teammates nodded. It seems that everyone else has accepted the reality, the present circumstances, and the future they are preparing for. No shouts, no war cries, only cold silence and looks of determination.

Yamaguchi smiled. "Let's go."

Her words couldn't come at a better time, as her mother's strike force is now preparing for a sortie. Various armored vehicles, mainly Warthogs, Scorpions, and some self-propelled artillery, are departing the building's large parking lots one by one. Only the aerial contingent, of which Flower is a part, remained, ready to depart.

All seven next-generation Spartans boarded their Falcons and, with a gesture from Yamaguchi to the pilot of the adjacent copter, the strike team lifts off from the helipads, rotors spinning and thrusters firing, heading directly to what remains of Sydney. How long they will take to go there is irrelevant at this point.

This is a coup on a level never seen before in human history. Though the main part of the operation is under Mrs. Hitoshi's command, other units from different branches of the military took matters into their own hands to end the chaos. This is no longer a coup anymore; this is a full-scale rebellion.

The next 24 hours will decide humanity's fate.

6:00 AM

December 25, 2560

The roars of spinning rotor blades and the sound of vehicle engines in the sky and on the roads, respectively, drew very little attention. The entire Australian coast is desolate, homes are abandoned, and the only people still present are professionals: firefighters, police officers, and first response teams.

The sun is beginning to rise on the coast, the sky turned into a golden orange view, and the water even reflects it to give a beautiful glowing look. It's the first time Yamaguchi has viewed such a sunset before in her life. And viewing it from the Falcon's passenger seat amplifies the experience.

This beauty is a reminder that all is not yet lost for mankind. Earth, despite its flaws, is a wonderful planet. Although it is not her home, she is proud to serve her and her colonies, or... what remains of it.

She looks to the other side of the helicopter, taking a glance at the horizon to see Sydney, and to be honest, it has seen better days. She has heard what Cortana's Guardians did to that city, but it was multitudes worse than she could anticipate.

The destruction became more apparent as our convoy went into the city. Its outer region lies in ruins, the metropolitan area is essentially scorched to the ground, leaving only a few high-rises standing, yet in bad condition. The UNSC Plateau, a Strident-class Frigate, lay to rest among the post-apocalyptic urban landscape. UNSC HQ is utterly vaporized, leaving only a water-filled crater in its wake. But that specific location isn't where they're going today.

As far as she can recall from the briefings, UNSC HQ, formally known as HIGHCOM Facility Bravo-6, can be accessed from different parts of the city via ONI's underground access networks. If anyone's still alive, if they can assume they are, they will expect some form of resistance. 

The facility had been abandoned for less than a year now. Much of HIGHCOM, including Osman, has fled to God-knows where, but now she's back. Every time she thinks about that snarking bastard of a woman, she can barely resist wanting to punch her in the face for keeping a lot of things from not just her, but from humanity, secrets that must be needed to go public to ensure its survival as a species. All they have to do is clean up the rest and take the reins.

They landed on an open plaza right next to an intersection on a major road. All of my team disembarked with our equipment. Mrs. Hitoshi, however, will land in a different location with her entourage of ONI officials.

Thankfully, she is able to ensure that their objectives will be clear for Flower's insertion. Speaking through the intercom, she addressed,

["Fireteam Flower, rest assured that there's no need to cover the districts for any threat, the 94th Spec-Ops Unit from our folks in the Army will take care of the business above ground.]

"Copy that, Admiral," Yamaguchi responded.

With a gesture, Flower moved forward. Ellis and Klara are Yamaguchi's vanguard, keeping an eye on threats that lay beyond their sight with their weapons raised. Her MJOLNIR can only do so much to scan any hidden threat in every hallway or street corner.

Half an hour of walking soon passed. Together with a small element of the 94th behind the Spartans, they ventured into one of the hidden entrances that led to HQ, located near a convenience store, of all places. The entrance leads to a decently sized room with a central platform, which they quickly identified as an elevator.

As protocol dictated, Yamaguchi's muscle memory took action as she tapped into the digital monitor to activate the elevator. It succeeds, and the strike team will slowly descend a thousand meters deep underground. She readies her Z-750 for the probable scenario that there would be someone still down there.

The journey underground did not take long either. When the elevator doors opened, they were greeted by absolutely no one. Not a person in sight, just an empty hallway with failing lights, which can give any normal person a shivering spine. 

The strike team, Yamaguchi's Fireteam Flower, and around ten Army soldiers from the 94th made their way to secure Core 5, the ONI section of Bravo-6. However, just as we are about to open another door that leads to an adjacent room...

Their suspicions have been confirmed. Her modified hearing can make out muffled voices from the room they are about to open.

"We have contact..." Rishikaze muttered from behind her back, to which her sister simply replied,

"I know." Using the Mk.VI helmet's intercom, Yamaguchi immediately connected to the other team. "Admiral, we have contact beyond the door towards the main lounge, over."

[Well crap. Looks like we'll have to do this the hard way. Eliminate them.] 

My mother's words were sharp and clear like a polished knife, even through the radio. Yamaguchi quickly responded by gesturing the Spartans to activate their cloaking devices while the Army soldiers behind us hide behind the corridors to our left and right, giving us the element of surprise.

When the door opened, a few soldiers armed with Assault Rifles stared at what they saw as an empty doorway. Using this confusion, Yamaguchi lets her sister activate a plasma grenade and throw it onto the floor next to three personnel. And before they knew what was going on....

KABOOM

The screams of the guards rang across the room as the grenade detonated. None of them would've survived such a well-placed grenade. In an instant, Flower decloaked and fired their weapons. Yamaguchi struck first blood at the guard standing near the benches with a well-placed shot of hardlight, ending his life before he can fire back. Klara rushed forward and slit the throat of another guy at the counters, bringing the fight to silence.

The skirmish ended as soon as it began. Yamaguchi reported her status to the other team and moved on towards our first objective.

"Quick and easy, just like that." Klara said as she unsheathed her knife back to her shoulder guard.

"Hmph. Easy for you to say." Yamaguchi replied back with a tone that her comrades knew that she's smirking behind her visor.

Putting that aside, their mission continues unabated, clearing a few more hallways and rooms of any delinquent foolish enough to guard an underground facility despite the situation above ground. 

just what is going on here? 

Deeper and deeper into the facility they go, coupled with more and more resistance being dealt with ease, along the way the team activated the emergency generators that power the facility and light a path for the Army soldiers behind them.

As they approached Sub-Level 13 Section 4, which is one of several office sections that sat adjacent to the hallway, Mrs. Hitoshi spoke to her daughter through the helmet's intercom.

[Team 1, We have taken the archives. I'll be waiting for you at the rendezvous point in the main chamber. It is located in a bunker far below your position, built to resist nuclear strikes and the occasional nuclear fusion detonation]

"Affirmative, Admiral. I'll be heading there."

Rear Admiral Mikayla Hitoshi and her entourage of agents and many soldiers from different branches of the UNSC are storming through the expansive data vaults, killing every guard they see with little prejudice to show for it. Despite her age, she showed an incredible level of athletics to weave through defense after defense. 

As they reached deeper into the facility, resistance became intensified and the strike team starts to clear up with haste. They knew that the longer their enemies hold, the more likely chance that they will destroy everything that the team wants. 

And she cannot let it happen.

Despite the "insurgents" being well-fortified within their liminal encampments, they make up for it with the ridiculously advanced technology they wield. The Spartans who are busy clearing a bloody path across the base are armed primarily with Forerunner and Archaeohomina weaponry. 

Yes, you heard that right. The Spartans invading the base are armed with weapons dating back a hundred thousand years. Mikayla does not care about protocol nor caring about keeping secrets anymore. She wants the world to know that Humanity is not done, and that she has the proof for everyone to see. 

These thoughts motivated her for much of her life, and it does motivate her now. A pull of a trigger from her pistol and the death scream of an insurgent pulled her out of that train of thought. 

And she smiled.

Finding another hallway adjacent to them, she lifted her arm and swung towards said hallway, directing some of her troops to clear that area by themselves. She has sufficient manpower to take over every corner of the facility, which gives her the opportunity she needs to take down her soon-to-be predecessor.

After dealing with three more guards, now just bodies on the floor to be disposed of, Mikayla's team finally made their way towards the waiting room, one of three dome-shaped rooms that lead to the main chamber. With CCTV cameras rendered inoperable before the mission even begins, they are safe to prepare the final approach.

If there is one thing Yamaguchi desired in battle, it is to pick on people's outcomes, choosing their fate. She is a Spartan, so maybe she can do anything. Killing people is one thing, but killing people when you know they deserved it is another. 

There is a difference between killing a boss and killing its minions. The boss is the cause of everything, and the minions do their bidding, against their will, most of the time. Is it callous slaughter? or an act of mercy?

Well here, they deserved it. They are working for the wrong person, and they deserve it. Doesn't matter if they are in the wrong place at the wrong time. That's what Spartans are originally made for, after all. 

Those ONI Agents- no, resurgents, are the cause of every problem that doesn't involve the Covenant 80 percent of the time. They wanted power; they wanted to be the masters of a galactic chessboard, silencing anyone who knew too much.

But today is the day they get usurped.

And what a satisfying event to live through.

A train of thought such as this can drive a man mad, but who else hasn't? The smile behind her Mark VI MJOLNIR Helmet says a lot about her. Even as she slaughters anyone trying to defend the facility, she felt proud for the amount of blood she spilt for the sake of giving humanity the upper hand.

On the contrary, she has enough sense to know that this mindset is not the same for her friends. They're here to finish the fight, not revel in it. 

Yamaguchi's train of thought ended there as Flower reached a dome-like room, dimly lit by neon lights. The heads-up display in her visor is showing me that the main chamber is on the other side of the door. She tapped her helmet commlink to inform the main team.

"Yamaguchi here, Flower has made it to the waiting booths."

[Nice work. Use the charges to give Osman a welcoming party.] 

Mother's bland humor never gets old, huh? Grinning like a deviant, Yamaguchi turned to Ellis and nodded. The signal sent to her is enough for Ellis to act, who then takes out a satchel charge from her magnetized thigh armor and plants it on the door. 

Satchel charges isn't the type to break down a blast-proof door, but being Spartans, adaptability is our middle name. These explosives are modified so that they can generate a force the equivalent of ramming a wall with a Warthog going 45 miles an hour... in one direction.

Yes, one direction. That's enough to blow out most blast doors, but not those you can see in bunkers or fallout shelters. 

Tapping the activation codes went by in an instant, and the timers started to tick. The same can be said from where my mother is. The timer ticks to zero, the fireteam raises their shields, and the bomb goes off.

Two bombs, actually, the blast doors came flying into the main chamber, probably crushing someone unlucky enough to pass by when the explosion occurred. The teams of mother and daughters meet up and pour fire on all directions. Anyone still fighting them is probably dead or dying after twenty seconds of the bombs going off.

The smoke clears, and we see the main chamber in all its dark glory. A large semicircular table with seven chairs. Behind it is a massive ONI insignia, dimly lit by hidden LED lights.

At its center was their target.

Serin Osman.

All weapons trained on her as she remained unmoving, unflinching, probably trying not to look like a coward. 

"You..." She started, staring at Mikayla, whose face mirrored Osman's.

"Do I need to repeat my words for you?" said Mikayla, the wrath of motherhood made manifest with every word spoken or will be spoken. "You know I hate being kept in the dark. And I am very sure you're not going to lecture me with the 'curiosity killed the cat' bullshit."

Osman shouted back. "Revealing everything will result in the loss of the humanity we all know and love. Panic and mass hysteria, is that what you want?"

"No." Mikayla growled. "Humanity will understand. We all will. It is an insult to our very core as a species to hide our potential from us, no matter the reason."

"Insult?!" Osman retorted, mockingly bellowing out against her greatest rival. "Who do you think you are?! Claiming to speak on behalf of humanity! You are just another pawn in the great game. Watch your words, for they are meaningless."

"Yes. I am a pawn." Mikayla murmured, making a sly grin before she added, "But the truth is, I'm way up there in the hierarchy than you initially thought. A master controls his pawn, but a pawn can control other pawns, below or alongside it. And my position has given me the right to decide for the best of humanity. You don't."

"Then ask me this: Why are you here?"

Silence gripped the dark room, no one answered for almost half a minute, yet the team's posture remained the same. Yamaguchi's Z-750 is still aimed towards the treacherous Admiral as she responded.

"Well, the answer is simple," Osman added. "I am here to take everything with me to an undisclosed location."

"I thought you already had," Mikayla replied as her weapon was now aimed at the Admiral with contempt. "Or maybe, you're just trying to usurp control. I won't allow it. I will not allow you to prohibit us from removing our ability to understand the unknown."

"Have you forgotten what I said earlier?!" Osman yelled back.

"I wish I had. But one thing's for certain: I did not forget the vows I upheld for forty years. I will protect the human race, especially if it means protecting my family."

Osman made an evil smile, something that makes Mikayla's Spartan daughters cringe. "Ah, your miracle daughters? It's a shame you led them all to me."

"I'm not offering myself to you, bitch." Yamaguchi impulsively said, which caught a bit of attention from my teammates. "Zeta Halo made me rethink my life in ways I never could've imagined. It unlocked something within me that YOU are trying to understand by doing whatever fucked up shit you'd do, or keep me in whatever Midnight Facility is. And I'm not allowing that."

The mention of that secret facility shook her. "What? Y-You know about that place?!"

Mikayla chuckled hard like a drunken sailor, reveling in the Admiral's powerlessness. "See what I mean? My family represents the humanity we are saving, Osman. And you don't deserve to be in that vision. Save your breath for the judges, Admiral."

With a snap of my mother's hands, Yamaguchi pulled the trigger.

Osman falls down to the marble floor unconscious, barely alive from the stun shot of the Spartan's Binary Rifle, before she can yap any longer. Yamaguchi made a slight smirk on her face when that happened. It was an anticlimactic yet satisfying conclusion, but her mind keeps telling her that it is not over yet.

"What now?" Yamaguchi asked her mother.

"Have fun at the archives." Wait... really?! "Be careful not to break anything, though. We still need to retrieve all that classified information."

Unable to contain their ecstatic excitement, the Hitoshi siblings hastily bowed and saluted in unison. "Yes, ma'am!"

Once the team left the room, muffled cheering soon followed.

Chapter Text

Traversing the underground hallways of the deepest, most secretive parts of UNSC HQ, Fireteam Flower made their way to a place only a select few have the authority to access. The awe-inspiring prospect of hidden knowledge being released into the public is a dream come true for those who want to look forward.

Dreaming big isn't easy, for almost everything ONI hides is nigh incomprehensible to the simple human mind.  But like always, it's the boys and girls on the frontlines who get to have a front-row seat, but most of the time, they do not get the wider picture. The Spartans of Fireteam Flower, however, tend to be more unorthodox with their line of thinking, a side effect of basic human treatment.

Yamaguchi and her team, though stoic and calm on the outside, were nonetheless excited for their next assignment given by the newly-promoted Admiral Mikayla. They are to help the archivists and data miners loyal to her extract everything valuable that can be salvaged from the now-defunct archive room.

The team walked single file through the doorway, only to be greeted by a dark yet magnificent sight. In the dimly lit room, Rows upon rows of supercomputers and reverse-engineered data storage facilities lined the entire expanse of the room like bookshelves. The seven Spartans looked on in awe and amazement, wondering what they could discover in these hidden records. Existential dread be damned, there is only curiosity and excitement. 

That excitement did not last, however, as they were greeted with a salute by a lieutenant from the UNSC Army, particularly the 94th Special Forces, one of several soldiers guarding the room.

"How's the backup storage units coming along?" Yamaguchi promptly asks the lieutenant, who then relays the information as they go along the pathways.

"According to our technicians," The lieutenant says. "Backup copies are still 7% complete. we still have to wait for another hour or two before we leave with what we have."

Yamaguchi simply nodded before continuing their stride across the room. They walked for quite a while, not knowing what to do first with all the information they had access to. The Army lieutenant who briefed them on the current status had long since parted ways to deal with other matters elsewhere in the room. 

One by one, the team silently splits up, each going their separate ways to find something interesting to read. Yamaguchi herself continued her original course and found something interesting. One of the nodes, the 'bookshelves' of the database, has an English inscription written on a small piece of duct tape near one of the cooling vents.

>100k yr. old info

Yamaguchi knew what this meant for her. 

Grinning like a child gazing at a unicorn, the young Spartan lady proceeded to a nearby monitor screen at the side. The information she is about to access is obviously very classified, but she has a few "tricks" up her sleeve. She uses her mother's passcodes to access the files, and if that doesn't work, she has override codes as a backup solution.

Luckily, she does not need to resort to that... for now, at least. With quick fingers, she inputs her mother's passcodes into the screen, and it hums in acceptance. Now that she has free rein of the system, she begins scrolling downward for anything that piques her interest.

The first files she sees are nothing relevant. They're interesting in it's own right, but not enough to catch her attention. The recent capture of the Janus Key provided her with a wealth of options in this vault. Among the lists are surviving Forerunner facilities, artifacts, and notable locations.

As she goes deeper into the list, the more obscure these finds become. Then, one file catches her eye.

File No.338: Maethrillian

Maethrillian. It's a name she cannot recall by memory, but it's one her mother used to talk about when discussing Forerunner megastructures. According to her, she found out about its existence via the Covenant, and that it is the catalyst for the Fall of Reach. 

Whatever this Maethrillian is, it'd better be important. 

When she opens the entry, one of three in the whole file, she finds a startling report from an old organization, one that she does not expect to be here out of all the organizations. Its emblem is the night sky with a blazing OV-series shuttle flying out of it.

NASA.

What the fuck...?

Yamaguchi's head recoiled for a few seconds to take in this startling revelation, her face looking like someone told her the sand is yellow. I wonder what NASA's got to do with this?  She thought. Scrolling further down, she found a hidden report written by Dr. Julius Wraiks, from August 3, 2053. It reads as follows:

[Last Sunday, July 27, 2053, our astronomers from the Mauna Kea observatory reported a strange anomaly in the Orion Molecular Cloud Complex, approximately twelve hundred light years away from Earth. We cannot deduce its components due to its concealment by molecular gases, but we know that it has very dense material of unknown origin. Some in the scientific community deduced it was a planet, the farthest known terrestrial body ever discovered. Others believe it's a gas giant due to its approximate diameter of a hundred thousand kilometers; other than that, we don't know much else unless more information has been reported. We classified this anomaly as Omega 58 Orionis, officially labeled as a brown dwarf star.]

[Due to the unusual nature of this discovery, I know that this portion of the report is going to fall on deaf ears, for what I'm gonna say next is just me rambling about my own opinions on this. Omega 58 Orionis... I don't think it's natural, it's weird, I know. Though there will be more info about the anomaly coming soon in the next few months or so to back up my claims, it doesn't matter, because thinking about that pale black dot in that star-forming cloud of dust and gas is keeping me awake at night.]

[For now, I will do my best to tell the official story. I may keep this secret to the grave with me if I wish, but I know that the people who will come after me may need this report.]

The report sends shivers down the Spartan's spine, but not enough for her to close the file completely. She composed herself, just like she was trained to do, and opened the next report, much more recent this time, from Professor Alan Cardey of ONI Section Four, dated January 18, 2554.

[There are a lot of reports about Omega Orionis over the centuries, a lot of them have been lost to the digital sands of time. ONI knew what was up with these findings, only to throw them away during the war, thinking it had led to a bit of a dead end. They've made a big mistake.] 

[After visiting the Forerunner Shield World of Trevalyan, to check on my wife, who's a part of the research organization stationed there, I noticed something about the shield world that makes me think of Omega Orionis. If the Forerunners can build a 2 solar radii Dyson Sphere, who's to say that Omega Orionis is a Forerunner construct as well? Maybe another Shield World? I cannot say for certain, but it is very, very interesting to think about.]

[Soon, when slipspace travel is fast enough that going from Earth to Tau Ceti takes minutes instead of weeks, we may reveal the true face of this anomaly. I've heard from our Sangheili allies that it is called "Maethrillian", the throne of their gods, the Forerunners. I don't know if Omega 58 Orionis and Maethrillian are the same thing. If it does, we're in for the discovery of the millennia.]

Yamaguchi smirked as she closed the entry, wanting to prove that man right, but the discovery would have to wait. With a satisfying mental remark, she closed the whole file.

She then continuously scrolled for another minute into another file in the same node as before. She opened the file, but was blocked by a restricted access notification. Her mother's passcode doesn't work this time, meaning that it's very, very important than the files about Maethrillian.

When she uses an override code to bypass the restriction, it finally allows her access to the database again. She then looked into the file.

File No. 432: Project ARC DREAM

There are two entries in the file. The first entry is a brief two-page summary of ARC DREAM.

The wording is subtle, but Yamaguchi can get the point. Minutes passed as she reviewed the entry word for word, her eyes skimming across every sentence. There is nothing in this universe that can describe the expression she is currently having. Though silent, she smiled. Her smile turned to a grin, not from a hidden ulterior motive, but from happiness, from joy, from the satisfaction of victory.

ARC DREAM is about the Archeohomina, and Yamaguchi, being the history lover that she is, gawked at the prospect of seeing her ancient ancestors come to light after a hundred thousand years of being forgotten. God knows what kind of technology they have, it's so... promising.

Only God wonders what kind of power fantasy she's playing in her mind.

Pushing those thoughts aside, she then opens the second and final entry.

ONI XENO-MATERIALS EXPLOITATION REPORT 15Y1198 

Now that is familiar. Yamaguchi is very much aware that her mother has a lot of friends in the Xeno-Materials Exploitation Group, since they are the reason why the current secret Spartan generation has a lot of Forerunner and ancient human weapons as part of its arsenal, not to mention that the GEN3 armor of Flower has elements of reverse-engineered tech integrated in the system, making the fourteen Spartans under Mikayla's command pretty unique compared to their mainline counterparts.

Opening the report, she glanced at the screen. The first thing she sees is an image, implied to have been taken by an ONI probe while examining whatever's in the picture, labelled Site Yankee-002-G3. Once she adjusted the image quality, her eyes widened in utter shock as she saw what looked like a warship in the middle of nowhere. This mind surprise lasted for a few seconds before she reads the text below it.

[EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Reconstructed from an artifact located at Site Yankee-002-G3, the discovered vessel does not conform to any known alien design. Damage patterns on the original hulk were consistent with Tier 1 high-energy and tractor-pressor weapons, but there is no evidence of Flood Super Cell infiltration or signature cryptostructures, which are common signs of ZETA debitage. We assess that the vessel is archaeohomina in origin, and further analysis should be immediately assigned to Project: ARC DREAM]

[TACTICAL ASSESSMENT: Full simulation of tactical capabilities is ongoing, but initial simulation of primary weapon systems indicates that offensive mechanisms are a high probability match for weapons translated as "Fibril cutters" in Forerunner records. Further investigation of this line of information has been assigned to the team on AZURE MOON. Other systems appear to be a variation of particle beam accelerators, though the science team believes this to be superficially homologous.]

Holy shit. That is the only thought Yamaguchi can think of. She doesn't know if her mother knows about it, but what matters is that it's a very promising discovery. Her hands begin to shake from all the excitement brewing deep beneath her subconscious. 

Ancient humanity is a fascinating topic to think about, and to know that this is going to go public in a few months makes her heart and brain race in tandem. No emotions are this extreme when thinking about the legacy of the old. It feels like that's where she belongs.

She wanted to be the girl who wants to leave a legacy as big as the Forerunners.

And there's no better way to do this than to have the whole family in on the change. She has lived her entire life admiring a hero, but with this knowledge, she can become just like him, maybe even surpass him.

The Master Chief had taught her everything she needed for this lifelong journey. There will be many hurdles along the way, but she can manage this with enough allies, effort, and most of all, enough fucks to give against anyone stupid enough to mess with her.

After setting her thoughts aside, she closed the ARC DREAM file and took in whatever information she had just learned. Her mother would be proud of her, but that's the least of her concerns. She's an adult now, and she can take care of herself.

Yamaguchi turns around and leaves the node, shutting down the terminal in the process, but not before archiving everything she has seen and leaving the node open for the others to gather easily without much effort.

One must wonder what kind of possibilities her ambitions would follow.

It does not take long for the whole team to be reunited once more on their way out.

"So, what's on your mind, Captain?" Leoben quickens his pace to catch up with Yamaguchi as her team traverses the hallway leading towards the nearest exit. The magenta-haired Spartan side-eyed him and smiled.

"A lot." She replies.

"A lot?" Rishikaze, walking a few paces behind her older sister, repeated her words. "You mean, plotting some anime-esque hero's journey with all this Forerunner stuff?"

Yamaguchi's eyes went wide for a moment before her expression calmed down, with a lighthearted chuckle. "Hahahaha, always reading my mind, are you, sis?"

"Always has been." 

The older sibling rolls her eyes, not in irritation, but in her signature sarcastic demeanor. "You have great senses for someone who doesn't have a PhD in metaphysics."

"We're Spartans! We have a PhD in everything!"

"PhD in killing, perhaps?"

This incites a louder cacophony of laughs from the team at Rishikaze's expense, who shyly pouts in response. After the banter dies down, Yamaguchi sighs as the team silently exits the facility into the post-apocalyptic surface. She hadn't thought much about what's next for her team, maybe her mother can tell her something.

Yamaguchi gestures to her team to go towards the extraction zone in the downtown area, except Rishikaze. Family matters took hold of the operation, so the siblings went to find their mother, who was waiting for them three blocks away in a parked Condor.

While walking across another street, the sisters take their time to bask in the scenery by themselves. Despite the loss of so much infrastructure within a short time, it makes for some good scenery. While the normal folk would lament at the destruction, the Spartans see the hope that lies within, the hope that it will be rebuilt into something that surpasses anything that came before.

"Nice view, isn't it?" Rishikaze quipped to break the silence. Yamaguchi smiled, never once moving her head. The blue-haired little sibling surely knew she was smiling, reminiscent of their sisterly bond. 

"Yeah. Like a movie." She replies, "One day, this city will be rebuilt, and people will be happy to be in their homes again."

"But we're soldiers," Rishikaze said. "We're only meant to fight."

"That doesn't mean that we can't build something that helps others," Yamaguchi replies. "I wanted to do something with being a Spartan without the need to kill others for it."

The blue-haired little sibling slightly frowns with subtle agreement in her eyes. "Me too."

The sisterly talk continues throughout the trip, switching between philosophical small talk and hilarious banter. Upon arriving at their destination, they found a very busy place. The entire plaza is filled with crew hard at work, Marines, and Army soldiers minding their own business. The chatter of the crowd and the hum of engines make up the lively ambience.

Approaching the Condor, the Spartans see their mother inside the passenger compartment, presumably waiting for them. When they entered the dropship, she greeted them.

"You did good, girls." The appreciative voice of the middle-aged woman caught their attention. "The reports from your teammates speak for themselves." Her daughters looked at each other and smiled like they were hiding something embarrassing.

"It's nothing." Rishikaze makes a small chuckle from her lips. Her older sister kept her cool and got to the point.

"We have found something very interesting in the Archives," Yamaguchi says. "We extracted everything we have, declassifying all kinds of information from war crimes to Forerunner locations. Few caught our attention, so it'd be best if I told you here."

"No need, I will read the reports in private since we don't have long to stay here in this city. Would you mind knowing more during the next briefing instead?" Mikayla suggested promptly.

"Yes, ma'am." Both Spartans responded in unison.

"Then you're dismissed. Come back when it's time to leave."

Ellis Vagner swings her energy sword against a piece of Elite armor used as target practice, akin to cutting butter with a knife. Her posture is lackluster, making her struggle to keep herself balanced when returning to the starting position.

"Your return posture is lackluster. A Zealot can do better than that." Klara's arms crossed, her face showing her slight displeasure behind the helmet's visor.

"I know!" She snarled back and vented her frustration at another set of armor beside the sliced one. She strikes twice this time, the blade swinging so fast that the pole carrying the armor is sliced along with it. 

Leoben steps forward and pats Klara's shoulder. "Hey, don't be harsh on her."

The brunette relented and bit her teeth. "Sorry..." She mutters.

Ellis turns to see her senior teammate and reassures her. "Hey, Klara... I don't mind being put through the wringer. It's how Spartans are trained, you know? Compared to our regular training, you're just soft."

"Eh?! It's not like I like you or anything! Hmph!" Klara angrily pouts and averts her gaze from the younger Spartan. Leoben and Ellis tried their best to contain their laughter with little success.

"First time I've heard that line in years!" Leoben said, his voice cracking word for word as he tried to calm himself down from the immense cloud of hilarious thoughts swirling his mind. After the laughter finally dwindled, Klara composed herself.

"Alright, fine, I give up. I guess I am just being soft, huh?"

"Haha, always knew that. We're all family, aren't we?" Ellis smiles with a look of optimism across her face.

Unlike the previous generations of Spartans, Fireteam Flower enjoyed their free will despite being under ONI's supervision. Luckily for them, they are under the care of one of the organization's most morally good personnel. They are trained with the intensity of the ancient Spartans of Greece, yet their capacity to choose for themselves is neat.

They are taught not just to fight, but also the lessons taught in life. There are only fourteen Spartans made under Mikayla's oversight, and being a mother herself, she taught her "children" everything, going as far as to reveal the universe's deepest secrets at a young age.

She made the correct choice by giving them everything they needed.

And it is very much apparent now with how Flower's members interact with one another. In the words of a Navy officer who is one of the few people who know the truth behind the program...

"Unlike the IIIs and the IVs, they truly are Spartan-IIs but better." 

The man who said those words isn't one of sarcasm or mockery, but of respect. And it speaks volumes to their potential. Ellis, Leoben, Klara, and others like them... They are born to be the best and brightest. 

It is said that no person is born cool, and this assumption is correct. However, ONI made them cool, a redeeming quality that often gets lost among the laypeople of their generation. 

As they stared into the early afternoon sky, the Spartans' joy breezed like the wind, as if they understood everything. Everything that had happened —the blood, sweat, and tears they shed to get to this point —is not just a miracle of ingenuity; it's a miracle of life. 

With a happy tone, Klara gazed upon her friends. "Let's meet up with Yammy and Rishi, Oliver and Cassidy are probably returning from their survivor hunt by now. Race you to the Admiral!"

Klara booked it as soon as she finished speaking. Ellis's child-like glee takes over and runs after her. Leoben, however, remained calm and sighed, wondering about how much of a child they still are, despite being Spartans. Some things never change.

It did not take long for the team to be reunited once more in the base camp. Yamaguchi and Rishikaze finished their familial pep talk, Oliver and Cassidy went back from their recon, and the rest of Flower arrived at the extraction point as well. 

It takes a minuscule amount of waiting before the order is given to depart the ruined city. The Falcons have already left, and so are the UNSC Army, so they will have to take the Condors alongside the Admiral. As the dropship lifted off the ground, the first among five present, Yamaguchi looked back at the city as the ship rose higher and higher.

She's familiar with the place, not Sydney specifically, but the destruction is all she sees as a Spartan. So many lives, so many livelihoods lost to the twisted views of the creation, turning against the creators. Humanity's future, as of today, remains uncertain.

She wants to see it all rebuilt, but it is not her to decide that. As the Condor's back doors closed, she looked back at her sister, her friends, and her family. What do they think? What of their ever-changing lives? Do they have a say in the mysteries of the universe?

It feels like she's the only person in existence who knew how extremely important their future is. Deep inside, she shudders at the thought. All it took was a glance from her mother and sister that pulled her from her doubts. No matter what, there's still a family to protect.

The five Condors carrying Mikayla, the Spartans, and her cadre of ONI officers and technicians, flew out of the Earth's atmosphere many times the speed of sound. The flight took almost an hour, before they arrived at their destination.

Floating high above the Earth, anchored in the planet's gravity well, is a ship that stood the test of war and time. It has lived through centuries of bringing people to their new homes, fighting a losing war to protect those people, and surviving to see humanity's reclamation.

The ship will bear a new purpose, one that mirrors the woman who called it home.

Chapter Text

The five Condors approached the massive vessel, landing on the two main hangars flanking the MAC cannons that sit below the bridge. The hangar itself is expansive, housing a diverse range of vehicles. They did not spare them in being part of the ship's identity, as every manned and unmanned vehicle has a name adorned on their chassis and hulls:

Actium.

The UNSC Actium is a former colony ship, now warship, of the Phoenix-class. 2.5 kilometers in length, it dwarfed the two Strident-class frigates flanking its sides. Named for the naval battle on the Ionian coast of Greece, it also honored the Inner Colony of the same name, home to less than half a billion souls lost during the Human-Covenant War.

Now, it has served under ONI, and it has been that way for almost a year. It is the largest and most powerful ship in Mikayla's arsenal, armed with state-of-the-art weapons and other unique technologies, including a reverse-engineered slipspace drive and modified factories.

Contrary to the ship's size, it only houses a relatively small crew compared to others of its kind, replacing much of the ship with sophisticated automated systems, further enhanced by reverse-engineering Forerunner technology. The refit that made the ship into its current state did not take long, as the ship stumbled upon a Shield World during its first post-war voyage. It is this voyage that caught the attention of Mikayla (and to an extent, ONI), who used the ship to further her own goals.

The crew, including its Marine and Army complements, is all loyal to the Admiral thanks to her friendly, no-strings-attached personality that drags people into her circle of trust. Due to the power vacuum left over by the Sydney attacks, she assembled a large enough force with the Actium at its head to take power in the organization.

Now, with the deed done, the family returns to the home that will take them anywhere.

The Condor's landing gear opened and gently touched the floor of the hangar bay, opening its doors as its passengers walked out, heading towards their quarters.

"Home sweet home!" Ellis cheered out loud, though everyone who heard it, save for the Spartans, was too busy to listen.

"Yeah. Infinity's just a vacation spot. Sad we may never see that beautiful S-Deck again..." Rishikaze ponders with a subtle frown on her face, but Cassidy reassures her.

"At least we still have the Eternity." She says, "Sure, it won't be completed for another half a decade or so, but the way things are changing now, I'm sure it would be sooner rather than later."

"Won't be surprised if Palmer and Lasky are in charge again!" 

Those two names were as familiar as the armor they wore. They were really nice people, Palmer especially. She was a kind teacher to the Fireteam. In a way, she helped them walk, so that Blue Team could help them run. Lasky is more of a cool uncle to them, which is what gave the team their own personality. 

In a way, it's a good thing Mikayla's Spartans are close to the Infinity's command staff by virtue of standing alongside Admiral Hitoshi often. 

Now, with them out of the picture, not dead, but not really around to be supportive, the team would have to rely on themselves to survive. After a short laugh from Rishikaze's banter, Yamaguchi clears her throat.

"That's enough bantering, folks. We should stop by the sick bay for the occasional augmentation check-ups. Once that's done, we'll play some games before dinner. Good enough?"

"Sounds good to me." Her sister instantly agrees, and it does not take a few seconds for the rest of her team to agree as well. Their mother, standing behind them, can only watch in proud silence from the dropship's ramp.

"Well... let's go then." The team quickens their pace as they enter the hallway. Mikayla chose not to follow them, and she smiles, proud that her years of hard work have paid off.

Being a parent and an admiral is not an uncommon luxury within the UNSC, but what stands out for her is that she truly dares to prove that she genuinely cares. She balanced between those she loved and the species she defended, and though it has problems of its own, she made it this far thanks to a lot of trustworthy allies.

It's a good thing she passed these lessons down to her children, because they make good leaders when they are.

The recent check-ups showed that everything is fine with the Spartans' physiology. After the hours-long process is done, the Spartan fireteam has earned a day's worth of free time in their hands, plus another two days' worth of training. Their schedule is wonky at best, due to unforeseen situations, but it is something that they can manage.

In their spare time, these Spartans would do just about anything on the ship that doesn't inconvenience the crew or their surroundings in the process, a testament to the amount of free will that's encouraged as part of their training. 

The siblings, stripped of their armor to nothing but their nanocomposite bodysuits, enjoyed their free time in reading books, whose words date back far longer than when it was properly written down in their language. 

They enjoyed a lot of topics, eager to open their minds to the greater picture, balancing them with the smaller details hidden between the lines.

As Spartans, they are trained to be analytical, making them use their augmented minds to it's full capacity to outsmart opponents and make quick decisions that can decide the course of any engagement. 

"Does this count?" Rishikaze pointed at the page of a book she's reading.

"No, not really. Logistics behind it is far above our pay grade." Yamaguchi replies, skeptical of her sister's choice of topic.

"I thought you liked this kinda stuff..."

"Oi, don't get too ahead of yourself. By the way, you should study some samurai stuff if you're interested."

Rishikaze sighed. "Okay..." Despite the groan, deep down she loves the culture of feudal Japan, particularly samurai culture, for she wants to wield the blade as good as they. "You know what, you have a point." She said.

"What?" Yamaguchi blinked.

"We should read the stuff you like. We wanna be better leaders, right? Instead of studying the things they do, why not just study the individual behind them? We talked about this before."

"You're saying I'd choose between combat and leadership? We'd do both, right?" Yamaguchi said.

The younger sibling chuckles as she leans back against the wall. "Of course we do! So, you finished with Alexander yet?"

"Yeah, Wanna talk about Napoleon after this..."

The banter between topic after topics continued for hours on end, indulging in a variety of subjects that normal people would barely keep up with, accompanied by a few laughs here and there. 

In the nearby gymnasium tailor-made for the Spartans, three of Flower's members are working out in their spare time to help move their bodies when not in combat.

Klara and Leoben are in a boxing ring, exchanging swift dodges and heavy blows. Unironically, it is Klara who is relentless in this brawl, aiming for Leoben's shoulder and knees.

The pair squared off for a brief moment, their faces screwed in concentration as they circled one another. Their fellow teammate, Oliver, who is sitting down on a bench after finishing his own workout session, cheered Leoben on alongside the UNSC Marines who came to stop by after finishing their own training regimen.

"C'mon, Leo, give it to her!" One of the marines cheered. With a silent obligation, Leoben landed a one-two punch against Klara, who swiftly blocked with her arm before kicking him to the gut, but he is resilient and barely budged.

Leoben counters by kicking Klara to the side of her hips so quickly she didn't have time to move; the force of the kick sent her tumbling sideways. The attack did not make her fold as he expected, but it was enough to back her into a corner.

Klara came back up again and lashed out with a flurry of punches. Though all of them are parried, one of them landed square into the chest. The second punch right after is blocked by Leoben, holding her wrists. Then, the skulls of the two Spartans collided: Leoben makes a daring headbutt against Klara.

The melee specialist gasped out in a string of pain as she tumbled to the ground, with Oliver and the marines cheering. 

"Hey... no fair!" Klara whines in disappointment, her hands hiding her face to conceal her pout of embarrassment.

"Nothing's fair in war, Klara," Leoben said with a reassuring smile. He extends a hand for the Russian girl to hold until she stands up to her full height. 

Though the audience is leaving with something to talk about, at least the three Spartans can have some private time by themselves.

"You did good, Leoben. You're starting to notice my movements." Klara quipped.

"Yeah!" Leoben pointed out with a smirk. "You're good at being quick, you're starting to remind me of Kelly."

"That woman from Blue Team? Don't mess with me, I'm far from being just like her. I'm only interested in stabbing shit."

"Well, at least you gotta make it quick, right?"

"Good point." 

Klara looks back at Leoben, knowing full well that the conversation would descend into a flirting contest if this keeps up. Good thing Oliver is there for them.

"Hey guys!" The specialized pilot speaks aloud. "That was a good fight. Klara, how's your head?"

Klara instinctively rubbed her forehead before replying with a fake chuckle. "I'm fine, I'm fine!"

Leoben can hardly contain his own laughter, much to his teammate's embarrassment. Oliver had noticed for a while now that the two had gotten quite close last time he interacted with them.

Deep down, Oliver begins to wander within his mind, even as he tags along with his two teammates down the ship's corridors. Thinking of the bigger picture, he felt a sense of unease, mainly thanks to the sheer importance of their last mission.

His optimistic side doesn't waver, deep down he knows that everything will be alright for the family he has made with his team. 

Hours later...

On the bridge of the Actium, Cassidy and Ellis are busy shuffling through a holographic presentation of data extracted from ONI's top-secret archives. Admiral Mikayla is with them, standing opposite the Spartans in the central holotable.

"I'm planning to release them to the public, but first, we need to have support from the government." She says, earning the not-so-surprised faces from her Spartans.

"How about our trip to the Maethrillian?" Cassidy asks, her blood boiling for an expedition. 

"We are still proceeding with the original mission, but I'm not coming with you."

For a second, Cassidy and Ellis frowned for a moment, before a middle-aged man in his silver uniform adorned with the captain's badge steps in alongside the ONI Admiral. Cassidy knew this man; he's one of the very few captains who survived the Human-Covenant War from beginning to end, but he did not really get the fame he deserved, which, in his own words, benefits him.

"Captain Milo will be your mission handler. But due to the nature of my work, I won't be seeing you for quite some time."

It hurts to think that Cassidy would be the one to tell the Admiral's own daughters about this. Although they are raised like normal people, it has the side effect of things getting out of control the moment someone isn't there to light a path for them.

It's for this reason alone that Fireteam Flower struggled to survive in Zeta Halo, only managing to stay alive thanks to the Master Chief's efforts to retake the ringworld. This mistake must not happen again.

"Don't worry, kids, I've got you all covered. I've been working with Lady Miki for quite a while now, and she can trust me to do the uncle work while she's away."

Cassidy almost choked her words before a gaze from the Admiral spurred her on. "Y-Yes, sir, I'm glad you're here to help us."

"Mom?" Everyone stared at the voice that called Mikayla out. Yamaguchi and Rishikaze, still in their bodysuits but wearing pants, walked up towards the table just in time to hear the news.

"Oh, Yamaguchi. Sorry for not telling you sooner, but... I won't be back for a few months."

"I know, ma'am." The elder Hitoshi sibling switched to her military demeanor, yet a hint of self-reassurance still went through. "You have a lot of work to do, shame we can't go on an expedition with you."

"Miss Hitoshi, the crew of the Actium will support you always," Milo reassured the lead Spartan.

"Thanks." The sisters saluted the captain, the gaze of authority and respect reminded each other that they are all in this together. Even though the rest of the bridge crew are still busy in their stations, they know what they signed up for.

"So... about Maethrillian." Rishikaze followed up on the topic. Mikayla felt a hint of surprise that it wasn't properly discussed sooner. She clears her throat and begins the (unofficial) briefing.

"Ah, so about Maethrillian... " The ONI Admiral gazed at the holographic reports. "First things first, we don't know what it looks like. From the gathered evidence supported by the NASA report, our estimation suggests that the size of the object could be..." She paused as she double-checked the report. "...a hundred thousand kilometers in diameter, give or take."

"That's like two Earths less in diameter than the Ark... It's cool that people five centuries ago can detect an object smaller and farther than most exoplanets out there," Rishikaze mumbled audibly. 

"Indeed. We initially assumed it to be a large Shield World, which is not that far-fetched considering Trevalyan is a Dyson Sphere that was encased in a slipspace bubble. The Covenant used to call it the throne of their gods, so that place must be very important if that's what they're calling it."

"What if it's their homeworld?" Ellis questioned. Intriguing, but Mikayla's blank expression proves otherwise.

"It's not. The capital of an empire doesn't mean a planet. For example, High Charity is a large space station acting as the capital of the Covenant. I've dug into the Bornstellar Relation recently, and we found out that the Forerunners' original homeworld is not that far from Maethrillian, yet it's located in the same complex."

"What's its name?" Yamaguchi asked.

"I don't know its English translation, but the records say it's called "Ghibalb". As far as we know, it's a dead world by now, so we can't find anything important unless the UNSC starts to explore the complex."

This is not the farthest location any human has ever been. Humanity has several outposts in many Forerunner locations, such as all but two of the Halo ringworlds. But with modified slipspace tech on the Actium's small fleet, they can make the distance within days instead of weeks or months.

"The Orion Complex is like... 450 light-years out?" Rishikaze pointed out. "Before the war, it would've taken us a year or two to get there if we jumped every hour or so." 

Ellis added, "...but now that we have the tech to get there..."

"We're gonna be there by New Year's Eve!" Yamaguchi finished excitedly, which gives a sense of adventurous hope for the Spartans. There is no cooler way to celebrate the new year than by discovering something big.

"Looks like we all have that same idea..." Milo lets out a chuckle from his throat, sparking a few laughs from the Spartans that seemed to enjoy the humor. Once it dies down, Mikayla reassures them one more time.

"Once again, I'm sorry I'm not gonna be there to celebrate the New Year's with you, but I'm excited to hear a lot from you once you return."

"We promise!" Mikayla's daughters proudly acquiesced and saluted. Knowing that they will be on their own again, she frowns a little, but quickly smiles, knowing that it is their time to truly shine, with a little bit of support. She has the Actium's crew, after all.

Mikayla then tensed up, before formally saying, "Very well, you're dismissed. Ellis, Cassidy, you're dismissed too."

"Yes, ma'am!"

All Spartans shouted in unison, saluted, and began to leave the bridge. As the hums of the doors opening and closing reached his ears, Milo complimented his superior, making a slight smile hidden from her view. 

"You've raised quite the squad, Admiral. When I first heard about them, I thought you were trying to do what Dr. Halsey did to the IIs. Good thing I was wrong about that."

Mikayla, still busy scrolling through the data, replies. "All I want is for them to do the best for humanity. They were like that since birth. It may sound like I'm indoctrinating them, but I'm just giving them a choice."

"A choice to leave or...?" He said.

"No. A choice to pick a life for themselves. Being Spartans is cool and all, but I wanted them to be the person they become, as if they weren't Spartans in the first place. They're only fourteen of them, so it's best if I can invest in a few rather than whatever the hell Section 2's doing to the Spartan IIIs."

"Huh, good for you."

Mikayla takes a deep breath before switching the holotable off. "I'll be heading for the hangar bay. In a few weeks or so, we'll begin pleasing the masses."

Before the ONI Admiral leaves the Bridge herself, Milo turns to her and waves his hand. "Good luck, Admiral. Keep the masses hopeful back there."

She nods and turns away.

Before the journey to the Orion Complex would commence, Fireteam Flower gathered in a small lounge reserved for them. They met just after word had reached them that Mikayla had departed the Actium, bound for the Ark Portal at Voi for some reason. The past half-year has been a tormenting time for Flower, and they will only hope that their expedition can proceed smoothly.

A long silence gripped the whole room, with the only sound they could here being the ship itself. Each member tried to cope with the wider picture of the galaxy and felt like they were being pressured. They wait for the first person to speak as they all lay out their cards on the table.

It's easy to live a normal life here, but having eldritch horrors roam around like this under their noses terrifies them. The only thing keeping them focused was the advice Mikayla had taught them for much of their lives. It's never easy to be something greater than yourself.

Yamaguchi has heard stories from her mother about the Mantle of Responsibility, a way to safeguard the galaxy and be the stewards for lesser lifeforms. It's cool and all, and humanity deserves it, but she has to make sure that everyone by her side will survive to see this outcome. 

Like the leader that she is, she breaks the silence.

"So... what's our plan for Maethrillian?"

"Nothing important for the most part. Recon... artifacts..." Cassidy replies. "I guess we should go look for anything important ourselves."

"How about the Flood?" Ellis spoke, her voice darkened with a slight shudder in her face.

"Flood search-and-destroy containment protocols are still ready for when we detect even a single spore from that place. But it will take a while if the structure is as big as Mikayla estimated." Yamaguchi assures.

"We'll be prepared." Her sister nods in agreement and determination. The team switches to another topic, about what Mikayla is doing.

"What about Admiral Hitoshi?" Leoben says. 

"She's working with the government on how to properly publicize all of ONI's classified information, xenoarchaeology included." Cassidy points out. It makes every Spartan's head shoot up. Rishikaze's eyes lit up with a curious gaze.

"How long will that take?"

"A few months, give or take."

"You don't say..." Ellis mutters dryly.

"To assure you all, it's not gonna end up like that bitch Osman said it would. Humanity is subjugated by the Created for a year and a half, showing the masses how cool we are before becoming cavemen would at least give us the hope we needed." Yamaguchi growled at the mention of Osman and changed her demeanor as she spoke about hope. Knowing the fool, everyone in Flower can say the same thing about her to varying degrees.

"Good thing she's doing her part. We'll be doing ours by ourselves now. Just like Zeta Halo." Rishikaze replies unhappily.

"We'll be fine." Her older sister sarcastically says,

"Don't jinx it." She scowled back.

As they continue to discuss and banter, Milo announces on the speakers that they will be commencing a slipspace jump within the hour. Though the conversation turned into a contest of who has the better sense of humor, the main topic is still ingrained into their minds, no matter how far they diverged from it.

They would have to do this on their own by choice. Zeta Halo is merely unintentional, but at least it provides the team a challenge to prepare them for this moment.

When the hour is done, time and space are ripped at the seams in the form of a wormhole shining in a blue hue. The Actium and it's two escorts warped into the extradimensional substrate, on their way towards the Orion Complex.

Chapter Text

Orion Complex

January 1st, 2561

Exiting slipspace in:

3...

2...

1...

Three flashes of light shone as space-time ruptured within the star-forming complex. The Actium and its two escorts exited slipspace after less than a week of travel. The exit itself rocked the ships for a moment like a car coming to a halt, but that sensation only lasts for a second thanks to the modified inertia dampeners.

On the bridge of his ship, Milo gets up from his chair to get a better view of the space beyond the reinforced windows. Looking out, he saw wreckage everywhere. Pieces of debris float around the void, illuminated by the glow of the nebulae that make up the Complex.

Remnants of warships and stations that haven't been touched for over a hundred thousand years, now the subject of awe and existential wonder from the crews of this small, insignificant task force.

This is a graveyard.

Back on the bridge, Milo's stoic face returned, and he called on his bridge crew to assess the situation.

"What are we looking at here?" He said.

One of the bridge officers promptly replies with a hint of surprise of shock in his voice, "Forerunner ship wreckages, all of them... Scans show that some of the hulks resembled War Dragoons."

Milo begins to ponder that fact for a bit. There are intact dragoon ships located and stored in Trevalyan as an automated countermeasure. To see such similar ships in such poor, desolate condition is a grim reminder of how much the Forerunners had lost.

"I can see a few Fortress-types," Milo mutters, his mind wandering back to the classified data he reviewed. Records say the largest are around 50 to 60 kilometers in length. While the size varies, it still lives up to its name.

One of the fragments of a ship of that type floating nearby is calculated to be twice as large as the Actium herself, a testament to the Forerunners' obsession with Macro-engineering. "Good lord..."

Then, he saw something that really floored him. Soil, actual soil, is located on the surface of a massive fragment that feels eerily familiar for some reason. Acting on impulse, he orders,

"Scan that fragment, I have a feeling it's not a ship."

Tapping into the consoles, one of the bridge officers acquiesced and began his work. Milo, meanwhile, takes a seat once more to contemplate what he'd seen. A slight chuckle left his throat, wondering what the Spartans below deck would say.

"It's so beautiful..."

Yamaguchi's eyes glimmered in subtle joy as she looked out the window in the ship's observation deck. A massive amount of destroyed Forerunner ships with the nebula superimposed in the background, an image worthy of being in the history books.

Rishikaze and Leoben have already taken a few photos by now, while the rest of her team are gazing at the wondrous sight by themselves. The amount of resources that can be extracted from them is enough to rebuild a colony within the decade.

However, her history-loving side wishes to preserve these wreckages, knowing that they are a good reminder of the sacrifice the Forerunners made to stop the Flood, even at the cost of their own species' existence. However...

She could've sworn she saw a few bodies or two floating around.

Meanwhile, her younger sister is gazing at the graveyard from another angle, when she notices something behind all the wreckage. She doesn't know what it is at first, but it triggers a memory during her time on Zeta Halo.

I swear I've seen that before.

"Ummm, sis?" 

The bluenette sibling noticed that Yamaguchi is engrossed with her own view, forcing her to raise her voice to get her to notice. "Yamaguchi!"

It worked; her head snapped back to her little sister before walking in her direction. "What is it?"

"You've gotta see this..." Rishikaze points towards the strange wreckage found amidst the smaller debris of ships. Yamaguchi takes a look and squints. 

"Huh? That looks familiar..." She said, trying to piece together something coherent in her mind. "Curved structure... hexagonal base... It's like Zeta Halo..."

Then, something in her mind just clicked, like a bomb going off within her consciousness. The structure she saw is not a mirage of memories, but of concrete evidence that should or should not have been there. 

"Is that a Halo?!" She loudly spoke, getting everyone's attention. Her team begins to flock to her space, as they saw the Halo fragment as the Actium passes by it. The team is baffled beyond belief, not knowing there are more Halos out there than the seven for the current Array.

"I thought there were only seven of them..." Leoben said.

"Yeah... but it looks more like Zeta Halo though. It doesn't look like something similar to Delta or Alpha Halo. Wonder what's that all about?" Cassidy replies. Their minds are beginning to ask some pretty deep questions. They wanted answers, but despite their augmented minds, could not come up with a useful one.

"We'll have to find out once we-"

"LOOK!" Ellis shouted. Flower then flocked towards her and pointed towards a planet-sized structure coming into view in the front. It looks small at first glance, but it is getting larger and larger, and it does not seem to end.

Maethrillian, in all its glory that has long since passed, felt like it was gazing back on those who are paralyzed by its magnificence. The crews of the three UNSC ships flocked towards any open window to see the megastructure for themselves. Fireteam Flower, who by this point had the entire observation deck to themselves, was suddenly joined by dozens of crew members who happened to be nearby when the commotion was brewing.

The massive Forerunner megastructure was composed of nine perfectly circular platforms arranged in a spiral along a central rod, decreasing in size toward either end of the rod, with the widest central one being approximately a hundred thousand kilometers in diameter. The topmost one seems to be fractured into two pieces.

the Actium's squadron flew into the massive structure, and searchlights lit up to visually analyze the interior. The size difference is so apparent that it's like a starfighter traversing through the inside of High Charity.

Each of the platforms is covered with massive cityscapes, with ports for commercial and military use lining the edges of the circular platforms. The UNSC ships travelled in the gap between the centermost platform and the platform above it to find a large enough docking bay for the ships to land on.

Scans show that the gravity of the station is powered by numerous Buffer Field Emitters lining the whole interior of the platform, a common technology seen in other Forerunner vessels, but on a planetary scale. 

Then, glowing lights start flickering one by one in the distance, seemingly getting closer and closer. "Several signals detected, they're heading right for us!" The scanning operator reported. Milo did not flinch at orders, knowing what those signals were; he had seen them before.

"Hold your fire, they're Sentinels, they're only scanning our ship."

The captain is proven right as the Aggressor Sentinels circle the ship, passing by windows and analyzing the reclaimers. Even without a word to speak, they have proven their friendliness through subtle means.

At least, until the ship starts to shake.

Like a crowded bus hitting the brakes, the Actium shook, almost as if it were caught by something.

"What's happening?!" Milo yelled as he struggled to keep himself in his seat.

"We're caught in some kind of... tractor beam, sir!" The nearby operator replies.

Milo knew what would happen; they're being dragged into someplace he isn't familiar with, yet is confident in his crew's guarantee of safety. But looking out the window immediately confirms the answer. There is a large dockyard-like structure, large enough to house ships four times the size of the Actium. 

"Do not attempt to resist; let them guide us." He said.

"Aye, sir!"

Flanking the edges of the yard are two sets of four detached docking clamps held together by hardlight emitters that keep the claws and the ship itself in a stable position. Everyone held on to anything as the ship landed relatively smoothly on the hard-light surfaces.

Once the ship came to a halt, Milo ordered the thrusters to deactivate, settling on the dockyard. But it did not end there, as the massive docking clamps carried it downward a few hundred meters, down to the point where the levels of the platform overhanging the yard align with the airlocks of the Actium's "wings" that carry its complement of D20 Heron dropships.

After taking a few seconds to think about what just happened, he begins to yell out a flurry of orders.

In the observation deck, Fireteam Flower had enough satisfaction for the week. After seeing Maethrillian's star ports responding in tandem with the sentinels to bring the ship down safely, the Spartans were left with faces of surprise and utter awe. By this point, the other crew members are leaving the room to take a good view elsewhere.

Though it did not last long, it was enough motivation for them to be ready to explore as much as they could. 

"That... was... COOL!" Rishikaze beamed in excitement, ironic that she still acts like a child despite having an insane body count under her belt. Yamaguchi's expression mirrors her sister's, but more of an impressed type of awe, accepting all the joy of experiencing ancient wonders like this.

Oliver, however, is a little bit skeptical. "Does the station retain some atmosphere for us to breathe in?"

"Yeah, I think," Klara said, sitting on a not-so-sturdy steel chair, looking at a holographic screen with numbers counting back and forth. After confirming to the team that Maethrillian is indeed accessible without needing to wear a spacesuit, Yamaguchi calms her nerves and begins to plan.

"Alright, what are we gonna do?"

"The usual thing? Like, setting up firebases and whatnot? I mean, that's what our superiors would normally ask us to do when discovering new stuff that's important." Klara replies, raising an eyebrow. 

Yamaguchi insisted. "It'll be different. We're looking at the third-largest thing the Forerunners ever built! Maybe Milo can let us get some ideas to cook with."

"Yeah, but we're getting a bit ahead of ourselves. Let's focus on establishing a permanent presence on this station."

The Hitoshi siblings sometimes disliked this kind of patience, one of the many things these two have in common. Impatience is a trait Spartans don't usually have, but it can make a difference if they can do anything about it.

Klara knows that her leaders are determined, but even that has its limits, one that the siblings are trying to push as time goes on. Luckily for her, they accepted the reality of the mission and sighed in unison.

"Fine. Let's set up camp on the platforms." Yamaguchi says, turning to her sister with tasks to do, but before she can say anything, the speakers begin to activate, and Milo's voice seeps in through.

[Fireteam Flower. You have a new mission today, which is simple enough that you don't have to go to the bridge to meet me in person. You're gonna help the crew set up shop around the shipyard. Do the heavy lifting for us while the Research team does their work.]

Silence gripped the whole Observation deck. Flower doesn't know how to react at first, seeing that the sudden chime-in of the ship's captain is, in all senses of the word, anticlimactic. They did not get the usual intense holotable briefings, just simple advice that even a normal parent would say.

"Called it." Klara snickers behind Yamaguchi's back, who shot back at her with a glare of embarrassment and frustration. The rest of the team cannot resist making similar acts of amusement at their leader's expense.

"Shut up." Yamaguchi dashes out into the elevator, her team trailing behind her as they begin the duty that would last longer than they would've hoped for.

 Port Side Hangar Bay - UNSC Actium.

The UNSC Army is an under-appreciated branch of the United Earth Government's military arm. They won the most battles out of the branches in the UNSC, but they suffered greatly. A billion servicemen gave their lives for Earth and her Colonies.

But what makes it worse? One might find this question odd, but the man sitting on a crate with his hands tired after moving everything into the Condors to be sent out can testify to that assumption.

He was born at the height of the Covenant War, born in a now-destroyed Outer Colony, and if it wasn't for his parents being alive to see the end, he would've been a Spartan III by now, which is a blessing and a curse, if ONI's files were to be believed.

However, there are times when he wishes he could be a Spartan, to do simple tasks like doing logistics like a household chore. But at the same time, he cannot express how much he appreciates his company for helping him along with the life he's living now.

"Hey! Sullivan!" The voice of a rookie brought him out of those thoughts. "Can you help us carry those supply crates?"

Sullivan smiles. He picked himself up and went back for another workout session with his friends. The soldier gladly pushed the crate along the ramps of the Condor, into the passenger bay. Then another box, and another box, and another.

An hour passes, and it's the same routine. Once the Condor flies out, they load another. The Army soldiers helping out are a nice change of pace on the ship, since it helps relieve the burdens of the ship's maintenance workers.

Another hour passes by, and the hangar bay is being emptied of everything to be brought out into the station. As he loaded the last set of crates by himself, another set of hands began to help push them along. 

Looking to his side is a sight he'd never think he'd see today.

A Spartan? Helping with such menial tasks as loading a crate onto a Condor? Surely he's been drinking lately, but that assumption is quickly shot down, as he is too good to be doing that. The young man stared at the Spartan, whose exposed head turned to look at him once the job was done.

"Who are you, soldier?"

Shying away from a Spartan can do him no good, so with a flash, he quickly straightens his posture and salutes.

"2nd Lieutenant Sullivan McCarey, UNSC Army 94th Special Forces Unit."

"Ah." The Spartan replies with a slight nod. "I'm Leoben. Spartan Fireteam Flower. Introductions aside, you look tired."

"I'm fine, sir..." Sullivan almost stutters, but holds himself together.

"Where's your Company Captain?"

"Starboard Hangar Bay, he's been busy himself, sir."

"I see. You should take some rest, Lieutenant McCarey." 

That offer makes Sullivan snap his head straight to the Spartan's pitiful gaze. "Sir?"

"You deserve it, Lieutenant. That's an order."

That choice of words makes him internally shiver for a second, but the soft tone of the Spartan that's obviously younger than him calms his nerves, and content with the work he's done today, he saluted one more time.

"Sir, yes, sir."

"No need for formalities, you can call me Leoben. See ya."

The Spartan calmly left the scene like it was a normal day for him. Transhuman dread be damned, that is as human a Spartan as he can be, at least from his eyes. He did not get military service long enough to see a Spartan-IV, so he does not wonder what they operate like.

But one thing's for certain, Spartans really are human after all.

After sighing, he returns to his teammates, also resting in the corner, watching the maintenance crews work on the land vehicles to be deployed outside.

Nearby, Ellis and Cassidy finished loading the last Condor for the day, pushing their stamina to the limits. With a huge, satisfying sigh leaving her mouth, content with her duties, the latter Spartan quickly gets up to take a drink at the nearest cafeteria. Ellis, meanwhile, will stay and wait as she watches the crew do their work.

As she walks along the long hallways of the Actium's interior, her journey is temporarily halted by a minor scuffle between two UNSC Marines, as she watches by, trying not to bother them. The scuffle escalated into a full-on brawl, as nearby crew members stood by and watched.

The sudden violence cannot be tolerated, not even when they're in uncharted territory. Cassidy barges in through the growing crowd, the hulking six-foot Spartan intimidates all who see her stature, instinctively moves aside to let her in.

There, she sees them.

One of the marines is on the ground, struggling to get up as he gets punched again and again by the other. Unable to contend with this, Cassidy broke up the fight, using her might to push the two apart.

"That's enough! Both of you!" She snarled. The Marine on the ground pleaded with her.

"He started it-"

"I don't care if he started it!" Cassidy yelled back, and spit sprayed from her mouth at the level of frustration she seemed to be getting. She then turns to the perpetrator of the fight. "I tolerate no infighting on this ship. Report to your company captain, or else I'll punch both your brains out. If any of you have a problem, speak to the guy instead of lashing out like a dog."

The crowd and the scuffling Marines went silent. But knowing that a Spartan is not to be messed with, the two Marines complied. One of the bystanders helped the injured Marine out and carried him to the sick bay, while the offending Marine went the opposite way, which Cassidy knew led to their company commander's office.

She sighed, watching the crowd disperse. She rarely peacefully resolves fights, something she trained herself to do, but when things aren't going her way, it tends to get brutal, and for good reason.

Everyone who saw that fight learned a lesson that day, if they hadn't learned already. 

Arriving at the cafeteria, she ought to find something to eat that can cool her mind now, if coffee isn't enough for her, that is. Among the rows and rows of tables and seats are two of her teammates, Yamaguchi and Rishikaze.

After getting her own set of meals, she went to where her teammates were and sat down.

"Oh, hi, Cass." Rishikaze started, her greeting a warm smile that softens the mood.

"Rishikaze..." Cassidy mutters before quickly sitting down beside her. Yamaguchi finished chowing down on her meal before noticing her teammate's expression.

"You good, girl?" Yamaguchi replies with subtle humor. "Feels like you're not yourself today."

Cassidy takes one sip of her coffee and mutters blankly. "Had to break up a fight down the hallway, two Marines, from the same company, no less, are having a beatdown for some reason. Not knowing why seems to tick me off."

Much to Cassidy's surprise, her leader shrugged the testimony off with a slight joke. "Sounds like a regular Tuesday for you."

"As if." Cassidy snorted. 

"That's the reality, Cass. You never know what kind of people you're facing at first glance. Keep your cool next time, or else everyone's gonna be pointing fingers at you."

Cassidy sighs, loosening her posture. "You're right."

Minutes pass without any conversation; all three supersoldiers are busy finishing their meals. Yamaguchi retreated into her own mind to evaluate what Cassidy had experienced earlier. Rishikaze gazed off into nowhere, minding her own business. 

Without something to do, the siblings went back to their barracks, leaving Cassidy behind in the cafeteria to reflect on their conversation. 

four days later...

It's quiet. Eerily quiet outside. If not for the humming of reactivated systems and the stomping of their boots, they could've been wandering the vast expanse of the platform as their sanity slowly slipped away.

But Fireteam Flower takes more than just existential dread to break their spirits, far from that, in fact. Their first mission in exploring Maethrillian is simple: find a facility that takes on the role of a Cartographer seen in other installations.

Travelling on a pair of M10 Warthogs, the team covered hundreds of miles of ground, its topography and locations marked on their ever-expanding maps in real time.

They arrived at a massive facility located approximately four hundred kilometers away from the Actium's dockyard. due to a hundred thousand years of neglect, some portions of the Capital were devoid of all power, leaving entire sections of the massive platforms in total darkness, despite efforts from what few Sentinels remained here.

"We're here at the massive structure. It's mostly dark, but the Sentinels that've been trailing us have been working on restoring its power." Yamaguchi says through the Actium's comm network.

[Proceed, report once you get out.] Milo's voice responds.

"Yes, sir." She replies. Using her hand signals to move into the structure, they turned on the search lights integrated in their weapons and helmets to see through the still dark place.

The entrance leads to a long yet narrow hallway. As they reach deeper and deeper into the facility, contact between the Actium and the fireteam is impossible. Flower will be by themselves from now on.

An hour has passed since they entered, and they're three levels deep.

Another hour passes, and they went through a few hardlight bridges to cross gaps that led to whatever abyss lay below their feet. In the fourth crossing, Cassidy is becoming bored.

Once they travelled another two levels down, they came across an ominous sight. They arrived at a massive docking facility of some kind, which is located in a tunnel hundreds of meters in diameter. 

Lining up these tunnels are Retriever Sentinels, the largest kind of sentinel commonly found in many Forerunner locations. One of which seems to be damaged, but that does not change the fact that it makes the Spartans look like ticks in comparison.

"Retrievers." Rishikaze mused. "That's somethin' you don't see every day."

"Yeah..." Leoben's rough Polish accent bellowed from his helmet. "I've heard that they're the ones that made the Ark portal at Voi." He said.

"You could say the same for anything built by them." The bluenette second-in-command replies.

Klara nodded. "This must be a repair base for them or some kind..."

"Yeah. It's best if you don't-'

Yamaguchi gets interrupted when she turns around and sees that Cassidy's curiosity has gotten the better of her. A loud beeping noise blared, and their realization set in.

"What the..." Her eyes pointed towards her teammate. "Cassidy, what did you do?!"

Cassidy tries to defend herself when all of a sudden, one of the three Retriever Sentinels begins to activate after slumbering for millennia. However, its frame is heavily damaged, yet it still poses a menacing threat.

Even worse, its blue hues are glowing orange, flickering on and off between those colors of light that lined its frame. It's struggling, but every Spartan present knows...

It's coming for them.

"Scatter!" 

The Spartans scattered, just as the Retriever lifted one of its many claws upwards and hammered down on where the fireteam used to be. It may be large, but it is slow, as time slowly catches up with the old construct.

"Take that thing down, now!" Yamaguchi's voice yelled in furious determination as the squad opened fire in tandem and in intervals with each other, throwing off the Sentinel's aim.

Cassidy begins to concentrate, her senses focusing on nothing but doing what needs to be done. On impulse, she leaps off the platform and uses an energy sword as a hook to keep her from falling off.

Her teammates are in shock. Yamaguchi felt proud at first, only for her frustration to take over. "What... CASSIDY!!!"

Cassidy can't listen. Not yet. She yanks one of the massive sentinel's armor plating, exposing it's complex technologies within. Then, in her anger, the same anger that drove her into threatening two bickering Marines into stopping a fight, begins to take hold.

And she punched. And punched, and punched, and punched.

It doesn't matter what the Forerunners use to make such advanced alloys. If it bends, it means it can be broken. She punched all she could until she could do no more.

Then, Yamaguchi's voice enters her consciousness.

"CASSIDY!"

"Y-Yamaguchi...?" She mutters, amidst the gunfire and the explosions. Then, she made a conscious choice. She opens her comms and replies to her leader. "Captain, aim for the eyes, that's it's weak point. I'll distract this huge thing long enough!"

She receives no response. But knowing her trust means that she acknowledged.

Fireteam Flower redirected themselves between both sides of the bridge, all aiming at its three massive eyes the size of an entire house. Its shielding is long gone by then, meaning it's easy pickings for the team to handle.

But the Sentinel is not going down without a fight. The few in-built weapons systems start activating, unleashing a barrage of hardlight, forcing the Spartans to scatter and regroup somewhere else.

The retriever's arms swing in almost every direction, and the fact that its smallest arms are comparable in size to the legs of a Scarab is not making things any easier for them.

The battle turned into a stalemate, neither side making decisive moves against the other. But then, another beeping sound blares out. Another Retriever Sentinel has awoken.

Oh, we're done for. Yamaguchi's hope for victory begins to tighten. Much to her team's surprise, the second Retriever charges straight for its corrupted yet still-alive companion, ramming it with a force so strong it sends Cassidy flying into the other side.

Though she is recovered by her teammates, Cassidy can only watch as their unexpected ally brutalizes its corrupted sibling into a scrap pile falling into the void.

A hardlight bridge is activated soon after the console is found. Yamaguchi worriedly hurries for her friend and grabs her shoulders. "Cassidy! You alright!?"

Getting back up from the hard landing she took, Cassidy, expecting to be scolded, still does her best to mitigate the argument.

"I... I'm sorry... I-I thought that console would activate the bridge..." She mutters, causing Yamaguchi to frown, which then leads to her embracing Cassidy tightly, their armors rubbing against one another.

"It's not your fault, Cass. We're not familiar with this place, so, naturally, mistakes can be made." She reassures, "I just wanna know you're safe."

Then, Leoben interjected at that moment. "Yeah, you got the whole fuckin' squad worried! Stop trying to take matters into your own hands, Cass. We don't want Flower missing a member."

Cassidy sighs, her saddened expression changed into one of acceptance. "Yeah... I'm sorry. I won't be reckless next time."

"Don't pull yourself down like that! Everyone in this team is reckless! At least you have to warn us..." Yamaguchi released her embrace and pats Cassidy's shoulder armor. 

"Right."

"Sooooo... what now?" Rishikaze mumbled. 

"We go on, of course!" Yamaguchi replies, before putting her helmet back on. No response is needed to know that their leader is still on the mission. After calming down for a minute, they finally continue their journey towards the station's Cartographer.

Eventually, after another hour or so of walking across hallways, bridges, and temple-like complexes, they finally managed to reach a decent-sized room tall enough to fit a Condor facing upwards. 

Pillars of unknown alloys lined the room's wide perimeter, and at its center is a holographic emitter with several consoles at its rim. The team approaches the consoles with caution, but Yamaguchi herself doesn't bother with anything but the information stored within.

"Looks like we found the prize!" Rishikaze proudly bloomed, gesturing a high-five with Klara, followed by a few cheers from the other members.

"Don't get excited yet, team. We still have to extract whatever we have from here. Dunno how much, but it'll be a treasure either way."

Yamaguchi happily taps onto the familiar console systems. One tap, a hologram of Maethrillian and its surrounding debris field flickered to life. Tapping into the controls again, the screen flickers into a topographic map of each of the platforms.

Luckily, the Cartographer has superluminal communication nodes, meaning that the data can be transferred into the Actium near instantaneously. They don't need to guard the entrance due to how fast the process takes.

Once the deed has been done, they leave the facility, leaving a beacon just in case they come back. Imagine the data Milo had to analyze? That would be a herculean effort.

Luckily for him, the Spartans barely liked being idle. 

Actium's Bridge.

"Good work, Spartans. You've made a huge service for the UNSC." Milo formally addresses Fireteam Flower. There's no need to give them an award, for they got everything they wanted. He turns his gaze to the siblings in command. "Captain Hitoshi, I think it's a good time to relish on the prizes you've sent here."

"Yes, sir." Both siblings do their salutes, but in a more casual manner. But Rishikaze steps forward and says,

"Should we look back at the classified files, sir? On our end, we completed at least half of our objectives for the journey."

The sudden statement caught Milo's attention as he turned his gaze away from the holotable. "Half?" He mutters.

"We've been planning for another mission for Site Yankee 002-G3, sir. How long should we stay here on this station until we leave?" Yamaguchi said.

"Two weeks, give or take. We still must leave a permanent presence on this station before we go, probably leaving an escort behind, but that's on me to decide."

Two weeks is nothing to anyone who is working hard hundreds of light-years away from home, so the Spartans acquiesced to the offer.

"We'll make do with two weeks." Rishikaze nods. "The station has superluminal communication arrays; we can make contact with the UNSC with a drastic ten-minute delay, give or take." 

Milo chuckles after taking another drink from his mug. "Thanks for reminding me." He says, then approached the sisters and mutters with a slight smirk, "You and your team are doing remarkably well, but what can I expect from a squad of Spartans tailor-made to be the heroes of legend? For now, you're dismissed."

The flattery from a handsome captain can make any lesser man or woman gleam at the compliment, but Yamaguchi's team stood firm. They understood the reality behind being a legend and the amount of material and moral sacrifices made to make it possible.

But Yamaguchi smiled slightly. She understands the fact as much as everyone else, but she is also the first to look beyond.

As the team is leaving the bridge, Milo turns back and calls out, "Miss Preston, may I have a moment, please?"

Cassidy mutters, "Yes, sir," and turns back. Yamaguchi, however, continues on, looking back to see her friend in conversation with the captain as the doors close.

Six days later.

In a Forerunner skyscraper that dominates the artificial station's skyline, Fireteam Flower is on their own again. They're not far from the dockyards where the Actium is docked, but the building they're on is tall enough that they can barely see the edge of Maethrillian using binoculars, and if they have a telescope, enjoy the sight of the debris field beyond.

It's a small camping trip for the team, directly permitted by Milo, which allows them to spend their time in the lonely cityscape. The levels of freedom aren't usually permitted, but Milo knows Mikayla's stubborn confidence in the safety of her daughters, which pushes all of his doubts aside, but he can still keep an eye on the Spartans just in case.

Yamaguchi sits on the floor, still in her Mjolnir. In front of her is a piece of paper, a commodity that's rare in the UNSC by the 26th Century, at least in where she came from. 

Using a set of pencils, she begins to outline Maethrillian's interior from her point of view. 

She is not a great artist, but she does have photographic memory, which allows her to make a few details accurate, even if poorly drawn. 

Then, she begins to draw ships coming in and out of the station, all kinds of ships, from those she found on old 21st Century science fiction, to contemporary UNSC ship designs, anything she can recall from her childhood.

Rishikaze walks in curiously, wondering about what's keeping her sister occupied for hours, even as their teammates are on their own business.

"What are you drawing, sis?" She asks.

"Planning," Yamaguchi replied.

"Planning for what?" 

"Making this station a lively place again. If the UNSC isn't enough, this will be the center of something new." Yamaguchi showed her younger sister the 'artwork' she made, and made her think.

"Oh? Power fantasy again?" She asks with dripping sarcasm in her tone.

Instead of denying it, Yamaguchi chuckles and admits it. "Yeah, kinda. Is it wrong to dream about delusions of grandeur? We have all the time in the world to make it happen."

"Not for girls like us, it's too much to ask," Rishikaze replied.

"Mom says otherwise," Yamaguchi counters. "There's no such thing as too much, unless you're talking about human lives."

"Eh, fair point."

Yamaguchi continues to add more details to her drawing, making it a genuine piece of art, before her mind clicked off another topic.

"So, what do you think of the archaeohomina?"

Rishikaze replied, "Intriguing. I can see why you're on such a power trip right now. The universe simply screams 'Humanity fuck yeah' on everyone's faces."

"Hahaha! So true." 

The banter continued for hours, just like the many times they were together in one place.

One thing's for certain, planning big doesn't mean they know every step of the way towards true success. Like the universe, it is unpredictable, yet bound to the laws upon which reality is built.

Yamaguchi tends to be mentally everywhere at once, which puts a strain on her combat effectiveness, and really, it's the only thing that's holding her back. She has an ambition to fulfill, but not without the prospect of pissing other people off.

But for now, she will focus on the current journey, and see where this will bring her.

Chapter Text

January 23, 2561

Again.

Slipstream space ruptured into uncharted territory. Three Condors carrying Fireteam Flower and an entourage of the Actium's ONI operatives jumped into the coordinates of Sector Yankee-002-G3.

The trip is slightly challenging, not because of the obstacles along the way, but because the derelict ship they were looking for is located in interstellar space, light-years away from the nearest stars, plus there is no beacon to ping its location with. 

While the Spartans and their associates remained silent for the whole trip, the supersoldiers were in awe at the magnificence of the massive derelict ship as they made a few flybys overhead. One can imagine the excitement and anxiety the Spartans must have felt; it is a testament to how dedicated they were to the cause.
 
The ship is massive, its hammerhead bow and enormous midships section complement its low-profile engine section, flanked by two considerable fins that hold a yet unknown purpose, giving the ship the appearance of an aquatic creature.

The hull, however, is far from being intact. Much of the ship's upper plating is torn and buckled amidships, exposing a great portion of its interior framework. The damage is consistent with Forerunner energy weapons, as described in XEG's report, meaning that this particular ship has seen rough combat.

The pilots would notice a trio of hangar bays near the warship's equator, where the upper and lower midship hulls (at least the part that is intact) meet. The Condors slowed their descent, their landing struts, a design trait inherited from the Pelican, lowered as vertical thrusters fired up.

Awaiting them are the scientists working on the ship. A few dozen, to be exact. they're here because of their 36-hour cooldown period, and the hangar they stayed in is the only "normal" place where they can rest easy without something bizarre happening to them in their sleep.

When the dropship's ramps open, they are immediately stunned to see not one, not two, but seven Spartans plus a few dozen ONI operatives, all gathering in front of the scientists. The lead Spartan approached them while her companions stood with their weapons in parade formation.

"Good day, scientists." The lead Spartan removed her helmet, revealing an obviously female face. "I'm Yamaguchi Hitoshi, Spartan Fireteam Flower."

One of the ONI Operatives stepped forward and introduced himself to the scientists. "And I'm Lukas Fritz, ONI Section 4."

"I'm Karl Hebron, nice to meet you." The scientist, one of eight present, introduces himself as well.

"Dr. Hebron," Yamaguchi spoke. "It's a pleasure to meet you, but we have a more pressing matter at the moment."

The scientists' reaction turned from indifference to nervousness. Hebron, unflinching with a drooping expression, replies earnestly. "How so?"

"There is a coup back on Earth, and Naval Intelligence is changing as we speak. As part of ONI's declassification effort, CINCONI Admiral Mikayla Hitoshi sent us here to inform you of the change."

Lukas then adds more to the Spartan's words. "...And we are here to take over the ship for such a purpose. After all, humanity would learn a great deal from these discoveries."

Hebron rubs his chin, bemused and intrigued. Much to the confusion of the new arrivals, he laughed as if he had been told that birds aren't real. "Hahahaha... am I dreaming?" He asks, "ONI? Speaking the truth? I must be dreaming. How many hours have I wasted sleeping?"

Yamaguchi chuckles and shakes her head. "You ain't dreaming, doc. The future is now, and there's no stopping that."

With a pang of sympathy, she taps Hebron's shoulder to remind him of the reality he is in. At this moment, she cannot tell if his reaction is good or bad, but his stubborn smile at the end confirms that answer. He extended his hand and said,

"Captain Hitoshi, welcome to Site Yankee-002-G3."

Yamaguchi extends her hand and shakes hands with the scientist, adding, "Well, let's not overstay our welcome here. Lead the way, doc."

Hebron gestured to the newcomers like a tour guide, and they followed him. The entire team enters an expansive hallway, and much to their surprise, Hebron followed as well, despite being in his cooldown period.

Yamaguchi and her fireteam can barely contain their excitement as they explore the ship, but they maintain enough formality to engage in conversations with the scientist. 

"It seems that the UNSC is really pulling their shit together, huh?" He remarks, slightly grinning. "I'll hand over the ship to you, Captain. But be warned, staying for too long on the ship can have some... really dubious effects."

"Not the first time I've been in those situations." Yamaguchi barely holds a chuckle from her throat.

"Huh?" The good-willed ONI scientist stared at her.

"Nothing important, doc." To divert his attention, she calls on the Actium's resident ONI agents. "Hey, Lukas."

"Yes, ma'am?"

"Gather anything you can find on this ship, but don't stay for too long."

The priceless grin the Spartan girl makes can make a normal person feel uncomfortable, but to Lukas, it's a signal that something big is happening. Without a word, he and his men parted ways from Hebron and the Spartans.

"That's phase one of my plan done." Yamaguchi chimed in as they entered the dark hallways of the ancient human vessel.

"You didn't tell us that the plan has phases." Cassidy pouts, much to her captain's amusement.

Yamaguchi isn't always known to be a great planner, despite her prideful claims as such. In reality, much of the hard work is thanks to her mother, whom she sometimes credited in many of her decisive moments in battle.

One would wonder if the line between incompetence and unconventionalism is blurred to the point that it baffles all those who would meet her in battle. But that's her charm as an independent officer.

"So... what's our Phase 2, then?" Rishikaze promptly asks.

Yamaguchi then gives her orders with a slight shrug. "Nothing much, explore as much of the ship as you can. Scientists are working here, so you either go with them or go on your own if you're brave enough. This ship barely has any power. If there's a way to bring this old lady back to life, leave it to us to do the job."

"Dr. Hebron told us that the scientists working their current shifts are not far from here. Whilst we're waiting, and Leo, I would like to go with them." Klara replies.

"Go ahead. Cassidy? Ellis?"

Cassidy and Ellis affirm their decision to separate from the team. "We're on our own, thank you." 

"Oliver?"

"I'll stay with Klara." The specialist pilot replies.

"Same here," Leoben says.

"Then it's decided then. Stay safe out there, team."

The Spartans snapped into attention, their stances straightened, and performed a quick, formal salute, the ultimate form of respect for authority, even in unorthodox squads like Fireteam Flower. Their formality hasn't been lost on them. 

"Yes, ma'am!" 

With a smile, Yamaguchi bid a little farewell as her friends parted ways. Only her sister remained by her side, off on their own personal adventure. Normally, they would've gone through a heap of mental gymnastics to even find an excuse for the siblings to be alone together, but this is a situation where it isn't a necessity.

The sisters will spend their time alone to their own ambitions and dreams. 

Neither sibling thought they would achieve it alone, nor that one would think the other outlived her own usefulness, no. But if there is anything that brings them together more than their blood, it's their shared love of the indomitable human spirit.

For now, though, they will be busy conquering the darkness.

"Jeez, it really is dark in here..." Rishikaze bemused herself, even though her and her sister's helmets had small searchlights attached to it's sides.

"Yeah. We gotta find some way to restore power to the ship without breaking it." Yamaguchi replies, before she paused with a realization lighting her mind up like a flashbang. "Sis, have you seen the logs?"

"No, why?"

"It says the ship is six kilometers long, yet it's classified as a cruiser."

Rishikaze looked at her like she had been told the grass is green. "You're kidding... right?"

"Nuh-uh, that's how it's described in the Bornstellar Relation." 

"Holy shit." Rishikaze felt like she was about to pass out as her augmented brain struggled to comprehend the classification of a ship that size. "So you're telling me..."

"...That a ship slightly larger than the Infinity is the main ship of the line of our ancient ancestors? Honestly, I should've been surprised, but considering their technological prowess is comparable to that of the Forerunners, it's not that surprising at all."

Yamaguchi felt that her sister wasn't satisfied with her answer, but she could make up for it with a little brainstorming. 

"Hey, imagine an entire fleet of these ships? I'm sure there are more types than just this, big or small. But hey, the galaxy will be ours in no time if we have all this!" Her voice boomed with enthusiasm, which made Rishikaze mirror her sister's expression.

"You bet we will!"

The sisters' laughter echoed in the hallways of the ship.

It took them half an hour to regret that decision.

Cassidy and Ellis shared a common fear of the dark when they were young, before they joined Mrs. Hitoshi's Spartan program. Though these fears are largely suppressed as they mature, this fear is still ingrained into their very consciousness. 

At the back of their minds, they still instinctively became weary. Like a pair of kids stumbling upon a haunted mansion, they slowed their pace, cautiously rounding every corner. "Cassidy, it's way too dark; we can't go any further that way." Ellis points towards a dark exit towards a nearby bulkhead.

Cassidy grunts before she forces herself to move into another dimly lit corner. "Damn... I hope we can find some way to restore power to the ship."

"Yeah... I'm getting freaked out. The longer I stay here, the crazier I'm getting crazy... Glad I have you here."

Ellis can feel her eye twitching as they detoured into another corridor. They are now exploring new areas of the ship yet untouched by scientists, traversing hundreds of meters of hallways.

Cassidy's own fear of the dark is more repressed than Ellis's, which makes her just brave enough to walk the dark corridors of the massive ship. Her helmet's search lights are on at all times to help her navigate. 

As a safety measure in case they became lost, Flower updated their helmets' HUD to track their steps, allowing them to retrace them back to their starting point if they feel the need to get back to the outside world and take a breath.

Cassidy begins to plan out her next course of action. "Hmm... I suspect that the power generators must be located near the stern where the engines are, so if we keep walking, maybe we can rendezvous with Yamaguchi and the others."

"Good idea." Ellis nodded.

The two girls hold their hands so tight that only a Jiralhanae can force them apart. Spartans rarely bond over something as trivial as this, but considering their shared origins, it's only natural they'd be acting like teenagers sometimes, contrary to their battlefield effectiveness.

For now, the journey through the abyss continues.

"Incident reports? Mr. Seine..." Klara mutters beneath her own breath, and Leoben stares with curiosity and concern at the scientist who is working on his own shift.

"Yeah, there are a lot of cases of weird psychological effects on the scientists working here." Dr. Robert Seine replies with a nod. He is one of five scientists present on board the derelict ship working their 6-8 hour shift and is eager to share the news with the newcomers.

"Can you give me some examples, please?"

Seine is already scrolling his data pad for the incident reports. Once he gives them to the Spartans, Leoben plays the first recording, with Klara removing her helmet to fully hear the recording.

[INCIDENT REPORT 003]

A noticeably female voice starts speaking; her vocal expression is one of heavy concern.

["I know we work long hours, but I'm concerned about Jackson. He looks like he's sleepwalking half the time, he moves like none of the rest of us are even there, and he keeps bumping into me while muttering under his breath. I managed to listen in one time, and he's just saying all of our names over and over again. What the hell is this about?"]

The recording abruptly ends, which leaves the Spartans silent and unmoving, until Leoben puts the datapad back on the table.

"It sounds like he has a mental illness." Klara figured. "Doctor, does Jackson have a history of mental health issues or something like that?"

Seine replies, "I checked his profile and medical records, with permission from one of his close friends, looks like there's no history of any mental or physical issues. For all intents and purposes, he's just a fine man."

"I see." Leoben nods. "Let's continue with more examples. Here."

He then pressed another file in the data pad, and a voice recording played once more.

[INCIDENT FILE 008]

A male voice spoke this time, and everyone closed in to listen carefully.

["I reprimanded Horne earlier today for ignoring his duties. We've got a tight timeline to work with while aboard this ship, and I caught him skulking around, saying he was trying to find the source of a hum that kept moving whenever he got close to it. I don't hear any hum;  he's either messing with me, or he's in need of a serious psychological evaluation."]

Once the recording stopped, Klara mutters. "Hums..." For a moment, she considers closing her eyes to prove it for herself, but instantly gives up, not wanting to risk it in front of several people.

Leoben scrolled again and picked out three more reports, 012, 013, and 015. He then sets them to play it back-to-back.

[INCIDENT FILE 012]

["I asked Jerry what was on his to-do list today when he said he was watching the walls. I said, 'What? What's that supposed to mean?' He said he sees shadows moving in them. Shadows. I said that it's probably just the rest of our team in the room getting set up. He said 'no, there are too many.'"]

[INCIDENT FILE O13]

["Ever since we found that suit apparatus that we adapted into Project ENOCH, Hudson has gone completely non-verbal! He just presses his lips together like he's trying to whistle but doesn't make a sound. I'm concerned about the null-state stasis containers as well. An electric variety of objects not accounted for in our inventory have been brought aboard. Holloway swears she saw Hudson laying out his morbid collection of alien bones on the floor, as if it was some kind of ritualistic offering but... when she got another pair of eyes over there, they had gone without a trace, I don't... guh... I really need some shore leave..."]

[INCIDENT FILE 015]

["Had the strangest conversation with Nicholas today, and I'm not sure what to make of it. He started talking about his wife back home... strange. Of course, because as far as I know, he lost his family back on Kholo. But he was recounting his wedding day when suddenly I realized that he... he was... describing my wedding day! Red wine all over my wife's dress as we took a tumble during the first dance. He described the incident exactly as I remember it, as I lived it. But that was five years ago, and I've only known him for two. He froze up when I told him that was what happened to me and hasn't spoken to me since."]

"Whoa whoa whoa! Pause!" Klara gestured to her teammate to turn off the recordings as she was processing what she had just listened. She is utterly baffled and surprised.

"What's wrong?" Leoben asks.

"You're telling me... this ship is making your brain go nuts, but not only that... you can recall other people's memories?"

"That's what the report implies, I guess so." Seine replies nonchalantly.

"Oh dear, this ship's gonna expose any secret to literally anyone!" She exclaimed. Klara doesn't like showing secrets, even more so than Yamaguchi when she's plotting. Inside one's mind is something you shouldn't pry into. She upholds privacy more than anyone else in the fireteam.

Klara almost panicked, were it not for Leoben keeping her seated.

"Calm down, Klara. I'm not done yet." He said, before turning to the scientist with a fake smile and hastily continuing the conversation. "Aaaanyway, I'm curious as to what this... Project Enoch is, it's mentioned in File 013. What is it?"

Seine's eyebrows raised at the mention of ENOCH, and he slightly chuckled. "Ah... ENOCH is one of the few sub-projects born from ARC DREAM. It's reverse-engineered Ancestor tech, which allows us to garble a digitized recording of our voices while still sounding understandable to natural human hearing. We used this often to prevent leaks and stuff."

"Oh, I see, it's like an autotuning device for censorship?" Klara's attention rebounded as she got hooked into the discussion like an eager student.

"Pretty much."

After Seine's response, the Spartans are becoming concerned about their psychological status after hearing those five reports. Voices, shadows, intrusive memories... It's all an effect of mental health issues, instigated by the ship itself. 

Something is really off about the ship. But forget about that, they need to see if their members are still alright. Dreams are the least of their problems currently. Four of their members, one of whom is their leader, are out on their own. Only God knows what's going on their side.

They're used to seeing dark spaces. It's ONI's trademark. But the mysteries surrounding the ship are as disturbing as it is fascinating when it is dark. They wonder if they've gone too deep to the point of no return, or rather, they've only scratched the tip of the cosmic iceberg. Such curiosity can be a detriment to the average individual. But to the Spartans, with a couple of years' worth of experience pertaining to these issues, they do not mind walking into the unknown at all.

Whatever the case, they wanted to know more, but they had to be cautious. 

But thoughts like these can get into their heads quickly, and without even realizing it, they're starting to take effect.

Yamaguchi's mind began to wander, as aimless as their trek through the ship. She wonders if she's getting dizzy, so she and her sister take a short rest on a nearby seat suspended in mid-air by graviton emitters. 

It didn't take too long before the ship would react to their presence.

Yamaguchi and Rishikaze reminisce about their childhood days, as always, when they are left alone. They begin to think about the cherry blossom skies of their home planet, running across the grassy hills overlooking the city. Memories of the siblings fighting each other while wearing cosplays of whatever character they remembered the previous night.

It was a fun time before the Covenant arrived. Even as the world is under siege, they are still bound together as they flee with their family off world. Even as they seek refuge in their ancestral homeland, they still find ways to smile in the face of humanity's final hour.

They reminisce about their father's insane stories about the Spartans, and how the Master Chief himself ended the war by himself. Such a childhood is rare among the Spartans of the current era, and it is one of the many things that make them unique.

But then, Yamaguchi begins to recall memories that seem fine at first but feel... odd.

She remembers everything she experienced, but for some reason... she's recalling...

Wait, that's weird... why am I recalling someone else's memories? 

The first thing she noticed was that it seemed like she was looking at herself. It was one of those cosplay fights she had with her sister, but it was from Rishikaze's perspective, not Yamaguchi's.

Trying to push away those thoughts for a moment, she opens her eyes to the sight of Rishikaze's confused expression, her eyes open, mouth slightly open, her face slightly pale.

"Sis, you good?"

No answer.

"Rishi... Snap out." 

Yamaguchi snaps her fingers between her sister's eyes, which prompts her to regain her senses.

"W-Whaa? Yamaguchi... what?"

"Rishi... I have one of the weirdest recollections of my memories..." She doesn't even hesitate to say it out loud. Yamaguchi almost fumbles her words as she comprehends what is going on. Her sister replies,

"What is it?"

"I am recalling events from... your perspective... if that's the right word." Yamaguchi paused, not knowing how to describe the situation. "Well, I'm not even joking, your memories are in my mind, even all the events where we were apart, I can remember everything from your POV, it's... weird."

"What are you talking about-" Rishikaze almost doubts her, when all of a sudden, a part of her memory triggers suddenly, beginning to recall memories which is familiar at first, but then she recalls moments where she's not even present. Oh shit.

"Oh... Oh no... me too..."

Yamaguchi can feel her jaw drop to the floor. She quickly stands up, almost freaking out at what is happening. "You too? We're recalling each other's memories now?!"

"That's what I was thinking! I was about to say about how we're soulmates or something, but then something clicked in me which I haven't even considered when stepping foot onto this pile of history." Rishikaze replies.

"And that is?"

"Don't you think neural physics has something to do with this?"

Yamaguchi's mind clicked as well. Neural Physics is a philosophy as old as the universe itself. According to recovered Forerunner and Archaeohomina reports, neural physics is a concept based on the fact that the universe acts as a singular consciousness, upon which living beings gain sentience.

The Domain is an explicit example of neural physics. And since ancient humanity has access to Precursor relics...

The Spartan's eyes went wide as she connected the dots. "Oh my God, you're right." Without a beat, she steps forward, facing the very walls of the ship itself. Rishikaze knew what her sister would do, knowing the topic at hand.

Yamaguchi closed her eyes and calmly touched the walls with her right hand, intending to 'mentally link' herself with the ship, to test her theory out.

Deep breaths gave way to silence. 

Suddenly, something is tugging her forward. At first, she feels like she's walking. But seconds later, the tugging turned that feeling into something fast-paced, it's like she's accelerating, from a jog to a run, to a sprint. 

Then, a cacophony of voices, some of which are whispers. It clashed with her mind, which disorients her, even to the point of physically wincing. whispers gave way to talks, and talks gave way to screams, echoed by gunfire and other sounds. Human, Forerunner, and later... Flood. The increasing cacophony made her snap her back into reality; her eyes shot open as she backed off from the wall and into the grav-chair. Her skin is pale and sweaty, and her arms are shaking for a moment. And for a moment, she felt something she disliked experiencing.

She feels terrified.

"Big sis! Are you all right?!" Rishikaze worriedly exclaims. Yamaguchi shakes the existential horror from her mind and whispers.

"Yeah, I'm... fine...." She speaks.

"What was that?"  

"Voices..." Yamaguchi stutters amidst her heavy breathing, trying to recall what she has just experienced. "A lot... of voices... gunfire... screams... shadows..."

Rishikaze cannot grasp the full picture of what's going on with her sister, but the vague words she is saying can make her titanium bones shiver at the mere thought of it. The ship is behind all of this, and they need to find out. This is the first time the sisters felt a collective dread of something as trivial as the ship itself, but they won't let those fears get into them easily.

"Sis, calm down, okay?" Desperate to give her an answer, she mumbled. "T-This ship is causing all of this... we need to do something about it!"

"Hm." Yamaguchi nodded. "I know, but our mission goes first. We need to find the engine room and reactivate the ship! Messing with our minds is probably the least of our worries if you ask me."

"Whatever you say..."

Rishikaze is often portrayed as the reckless little sister, eager to earn some glory where she can, but no one can deny that Yamaguchi can exceed her younger sister in those terms. The siblings are stubborn in their own style.

After that ridiculous mental mayhem that ensued, they continued their trek through the ship. Losing contact with the rest of their team is no longer a concern. Rather, it's about setting the ship back up and running.

Cassidy and Ellis went the opposite way, heading towards the bow instead of the stern, where the Hitoshis are heading. But they did not know that. All they know is that they're going in mostly blind, praying that they will meet the siblings along the way.

There is lighting in this part of the ship, yet even still it's so dim it hasn't taken away the fact that how ominous its surroundings is. Some sections have their lights flicker; others are consumed by total darkness.

The whole time they are holding hands, trying not to let go. They may be Spartans, but they still have the same dread normal humans have. Only by sticking together will they make it out in one piece.

They've been walking for hours, and they feel like they've walked for hundreds of miles non-stop. Their Spartan physiology is somehow not working as intended. And they begin to wonder why.

"I'm tired..." Ellis moaned, trying not to trip over as she clung to her teammate's arm.

"C'mon, please..." Cassidy mutters.  "One more level and we should get to the bridge. Just one... more..." 

Cassidy suddenly felt something was wrong.

Very, very wrong.

It's not possible. Never should be possible. Something is calling them from the depths of their conscious. Them. Both Cassidy and Ellis. They can hear and feel something, or rather... someone, whispering to them.

Listen.

My Children.

Listen.

"W-What... What's going on?" Ellis whispers.

"I don't know..." Cassidy replies.

The voice spoke again, this time they could feel the effects of every word, like a memory being unlocked, or an idea springing out from the mind, yet those words were as elusive as a half-remembered dream. 

Protocol Measure. Kept the ship locked down. 

Door. Two corridors. Left.

"Corridor... Should we go there?" Ellis asked her teammate.

Before Cassidy could reply, the voice within her mind spoke again.

Trust me.

She has heard that phrase many times, almost as if the entity lurking in her mind is goading her to do her bidding. Could she trust her head? After a look of reassurance from Ellis, the two Spartans made their decision and made their way towards the door, but not before limping through the two corridors between them and whatever lies beyond.

The door, a mechanical sliding door with a central lock mechanism, and seemingly untouched for millennia. Then, a slight headache engulfed the two Spartans.

The entity within them begins to speak more clearly. It has begun to stir.

I have things to show you, my children.

Things old, forgotten.

Long buried. Longer lost.

Events that did not happen here.

It happened far away, in another place.

But we must make due.

Cassidy and Ellis draw their breaths together. Their joined hands together clasped the door's locks, willingly choosing to make way for the entity to inhabit their minds, as if they had no other choice but to do so. Another mind, another self. Cassidy and Ellis' Mk.VII helmets, the only parts of Fireteam Flower's entire armory (that isn't a weapon) that's made out of reverse-engineered ancient human tech, begin to whisper whistles and clicks that she can somehow understand.

The helmet is brand new, debuting during the coup at Sydney. She never knew it had a feature like this. And it is making her speak. It wasn't forced; the helmets were doing the "talking" for her. The language felt... oddly familiar to the two. 

As the entity talks through the helmets, the room powers up. Lights begin to receive power, illuminating the hallway they're in. The door suddenly unlocks; it creaks and groans as one hundred thousand years of history is churning back to the way it was.

Compelled not by the entity but by the urge to explore further, Cassidy and Ellis exchange slight glances with each other before venturing into the unknown. But through the door, complete darkness reigns again.

Instead of feeling fear like earlier...

The Spartans felt... nostalgic? Comfortable? They cannot know for sure, but they feel like they've come back to a place they know as home.

The entire ship emits an ethereal sense of familiarity, something that, instead of making their nerves shiver, makes them feel at peace. It's like walking through limbo, with no beginning or end. Then, the dream-like trance begins to twist into something so real yet not real. Their vision blurred, and silence reigns.

The hidden story of a hundred thousand years ago, begin to unravel.

Chapter Text

108,447 BCE

Five thousand six hundred seventy-nine days have passed since the fall of Guvarjaka to the Forerunner onslaught on the nearby sector. The crew of the Twister-class Prime Cruiser Bhuvaneshvari is very on edge, knowing that the Forerunners will utilize their superior slipspace technology to jump on them where they least expect it.

Not only that, but they also received distress calls from the neighboring Evul System, ten light-years away. The Shaping Sickness has also made its way there. With no other choice, the captain of the Bhuvaneshvari kept running.

But there is a reason why he is running.

There is something he needs to keep safe, both from the hands of the sickness and the clutches of the Forerunner Ecumene. There is nothing to lose here, to keep the precious cargo safe. 

It's too valuable even to destroy said cargo, even if it's a part of some asset denial mission. The power it holds, its connection with the Precursors, and the potential it carries must be protected at all costs.

Forthencho Oborune, the Lord of Admirals, has entrusted the Bhuvaneshvari's captain with a mission that may potentially last his entire lifetime. 

And true to his word, he kept going.

"Have we lost them?" Captain Malthelus warily asked his bridge crew. The navigation officer sitting to the left of the room reported as he scrolled through holographic screens with his neural interfaces.

"None, Lord Captain. Slipspace corridors are all clear. Real space scans show the same results. We're in frontier territory, sir."

Malthelus breathes a sigh of relief; he knows he's not out of the woods yet. A few more jumps would calm his inner conscious, but for now, he is safe.

"Delay jump preparations by 100 hours. The ship, though classified as a Prime Cruiser, is hundreds of years old, probably obsolete by the time the Forerunners invaded the United Interstellar Human Empire. 

The ship is home to more than 8,000 souls of different species and races. Though only a tenth of whom are San'shyuum, an alien race known for their similarly advanced technology, unique culture, and slender biological frame.

Malthelus' responsibility lies in what he has now. He joined the Navy to aspire to be someone as cool under pressure and as tactically brilliant as Forthencho. Only then did he realize the burden he's under, too late. Or is it?

"Servitor TCX-398-210B." He mutters to the ship's servitor, the human version of the Forerunners' ancillas. A holographic cube appears next to him from the holo-emitters on the ground the captain stands on. While the cube doesn't have a face, the male AI's voice tells more.

"Yes, sir? Before you say anything, I would prefer to be called Trax. So, how can I help?"

"How's the cargo?"

"30 kilotons of Polysymite are secure as always, Captain. Though two of the sixteen cargo bays have major battle damage, worsened by continuous slipspace jumps. Two, at best, four more jumps will be catastrophic."

Malthelus' choice has been made. Even as the enemy is looking for them, the safety of his crew is his biggest responsibility. He takes a deep breath and unleashes a flurry of orders.

"Get the engineering crew to repair the ship's damage! Have the guards transfer the polysymite in the damaged compartments to be moved! The cargo is delicate, so keep it safe at all costs!"

Bhuvaneshvari's engineering deck, Cargo Bay 09

A human soldier pushed a levitating box full of the precious crystals into the hallways. She is one of hundreds of humans and San'shyuum crew working double time to transfer the cargo to a safer area of their ship.

Around her, different types of humans work together to solve difficult tasks without any issue.

She is a Lonjamanune, a human subspecies that once thrived in Erde-Tyrene, now only comprising a small percentage of the total human population of the galaxy due to the quick rise of the Hamanush as the dominant variety of humans in their empire.

The Lonjamanush, commonly known as the Denisovan Sub-Rate, is well known for their short stature, darker-than-usual skin, and their long and low skull makes them resemble their genetic cousins, the K'tamanush. 

The soldiers' comrades are a mix of different subspecies of humans from all across their territory. As Forthencho once said during his speech during his iconic speech at Charum Hakkor before the war:

"We are one great race. United in power, concerted in our goals."

Even as their empire is crumbling from all sides, those words still hold their credence.

Hours pass by in seconds to her, as the repeating process of bringing the cargo to somewhere safe really affects one's perception of time. When she finished her job, she stumbled upon another human, a male K'tamanune, crouching on the side of the hallway.

He wore the same silver power armor as her, although it showed signs of damage. He seems to be staring at a holographic photograph of someone he knows dearly. The Lonjamanune woman can't tell what exactly, but she knows that he misses them. She had lost so much as well; none can deny their sympathy for one another.

She sits down beside him to find his face wet with tears, trickling down his white facial tattoos, which signify his social status and rank in the military. He is a Pravi, or Private in some dialects.

One can easily imagine what that K'tamanune has gone through.

"You alright?" The Lonjamanune woman speaks up, removing her helmet to show her dark face, which shows signs of early aging.

The K'tamanune shook his head before he looked up to realize who he was answering to. His eyes go wide for a moment before calming down. "Oh. Lieutenant..."

"Navai, Navai Kennara." The Lonjamanune woman introduced herself before continuing he awkward exchange. "And you must be..."

"Lvan. That's who I am." He sighs after he finishes his introduction and instead stares back at a holographic photo of his family. Navai felt pitiful about the man, and rightfully so.

"I'm sorry," she mutters.

"Don't be. We all lost someone dear to us at some point." Lvan replies. Navai's face tells the rest of the story: she had lost many people dear to her as well. But before he can continue the sad conversation, he notices the Lonjamanune's accent, which he finds odd. "You... You're from Heian, aren't you?"

That response surprised Navai, who turned to the man and said in confusion and subtle shock in her voice. "How did you know?"

"Your accent, of course," Lvan replies. "Also, I can tell you've been in this ship far longer than I have. Even the name of the ship itself comes from your world. You know? The goddess of material wealth or something like that?"

"It's correct. The clan nearest to my home worshipped her." 

"I see." Said Lvan, becoming curious about the woman's background. But that curiosity is as long-lasting as the average skin cell in their bodies. Navai asks something that confused (yet intrigued) not only Lvan, but also herself.

"Say, have you ever wondered what lies beyond the universe?"

"Something only the Precursors would know," Lvan answered.

"Maybe we can find that out ourselves?"

The K'tamanune soldier almost snorted before retorting with critical skepticism in a single word. "How?"

"The cargo we're supposed to protect," She figures. "I've heard rumors that it has properties comparable to those of neural physics; some say that it has the power to tear the fabric of reality and reach another one."

That is a very foreign concept, even to a Tier 1 species like humanity or the Forerunners. The ability to travel to other universes is something only the Precursors would do, so it's not that far-fetched to think that their mission is very important, but at the same time, it sounds like the ramblings of a delusional person.

"It's just rumors, woman. I can't see anything about it being true."

"Then what if it is?"

Lvan looked at her. Not in disbelief, but with intrigue. Just from looking at the few data banks he has in his free time, he knows the war is all but lost, and humanity is on the verge of annihilation.

Some seek escape through self-termination, others give in and let the Forerunners do as they wish, and some would prefer to be infected by the shaping sickness than live to see the Forerunners destroy their homes and kill their beloved.

But an escape into another universe, another reality...

He will live a life like no other. Far from the reaches of anything he has ever known. It was his dream long ago, before the dark times. For a century, he lost hope in ever achieving that dream. But now he has.

"Then I will be with you and your comrades till the end," Lvan replied.

"So you wish to escape?" Navai says.

"More or less."

"People would say you're crazy if you'd said that sooner." 

"Perhaps."

Not everyone in the Bhuvaneshvari has the same idea of escape, but it is a tempting idea to talk about. They've been stuck on a runaway warship for more than a decade now, and they really need some fresh ground to step on and some fresh air to breathe in.

Oh, how they could've wished for it sooner. 

Captain Malthelus ordered a directive he knew he would use until now. He gathered all of the ship's smartest scientists and conducted an investigation on their cargo. 

All alone, and with little hope of getting back towards human space, the ship must come into terms with its current, and potentially final purpose.

"Doctor Pvihva?" The captain spoke first.

The doctor mentioned is a fellow Hamanune, just like half of the ship's crew. Malthelus personally requested her to study the polysymite. Standing beside Dr.Pvihva is a San'shyuum scientist working with her, going by the name of El'Entrae, or Ellena for short.

"These crystals have a high deficiency of dark energy, probably the most deficient out of everything else in the universe," Pvihva reported, which gives Malthelus quite an eyebrow-raising response. Her San'shyuum companion added,

"As the Human Council's report implies, the crystals inhibit properties that resemble Precursor neural physics. It's the first we've seen of this magnitude and..."

Malthelus listened to both of the scientists' testimonies on the polysymite issue. Once the conversation is done, not even a minute later, he begins to stare at the bright blue crystals held in a zero-gravity stasis field.

Every time he stares at the glowing crystals, it feels like he's gazing at a quasar from the distance of a neighboring star system. Something about it is so fascinating yet so eerie and existential, it almost discouraged him from looking any further.

However, another feeling crept up his spine. His mind felt like a recreational bar being crowded by thousands of people from all walks of life on one busy day on Charum Hakkor. This crowded feeling, perpetuated by the duration during which he stares at the crystals, begins to feel like he has seen everything.

Not metaphorically, but literally.

It's subtle, but very apparent. He felt like he had seen multiple facets of existence coexisting simultaneously and apart at the same time, billions of years going by within a heartbeat, and the light still shines.

He took his eyes off the crystals and began to ponder.

"I guess you are right in your assumptions," Malthelus remarked. "However, the properties of the crystals speak for themselves, it seems. Tell me, you'd think this has more to this than what we currently know?"

"Yes, as I had suspected, sir," Pvihva replies, her face becoming more stern. "Though humans thoroughly understand neural physics more than the Forerunners, the polysymite crystals' existence has the potential to challenge everything we know about neural physics."

He then turns to El'Entrae. "Ellena, does your hypothesis of the crystals being able to tear reality asunder hold true?"

"It is unclear whether the crystals have that power, sir. But given that it has neuro-physical properties, as Dr. Pvihva said, I wouldn't doubt its probability of its potential."

Both scientists have made their points clear, but it still leads to a proverbial dead-end that leaves everyone with more questions than answers. Normally, this would be the case for any Precursor-related topics, but this is different.

They will be hiding these crystals, without knowing of their true significance.

With a slight sigh, Malthelus addressed the scientists.

"You've all made good jobs, ladies. Progress has been made. However, the mission to conceal these from the hands of our enemies remained first and foremost. Even if the ship falls with all hands, as long as the crystals remain untouched, it will be a success nevertheless."

"Yes, sir." Both scientists nodded in agreement. 

"Very well. Continue your research. I hope you'll find something promising."

One year later...

The six-kilometer behemoth known as Bhuvaneshvari exited slipspace once more. The ship and her crew are greeted by the sight of a terrestrial world, one they have not seen in five years. Malthelus, once more on the bridge, stared at the empty space as the ship's servitor, Trax, scanned the planet for them.

"The world is extremely rich in silicon deposits, plus it has a very strong magnetic field, one that rivals the large gaseous worlds, yet somehow it retains the perfect ingredients to sustain life for long-term habitation."

Interesting. Malthelus ponders on the nature of the world. "What of the surrounding space?"

"The planet, and the star it orbits, is part of a small star-forming complex; the strong radiation and gas fields make electronic and subspace detection almost useless. Perfectly suitable when concealing something of great importance."

The captain's mind clicked in an instant. This world is where the polysymite will be kept hidden from outside hands. A great opportunity is in Malthelus's hands, an opportunity to end the long journey here and now, and let his crew live out the lives they desired.

When news reached the lower decks, both Lvan and Navai embraced each other warmly, knowing that their hopes were not in vain, joining the other thousands in a celebratory occasion. The scientists, meanwhile, are content with the work they have done for the crew, but their work on uncovering the secrets of the crystals remains to be seen.

Over the coming months, the ship will lie dormant in the silver forests of the world, which they now call Silla. The mixed and diverse crew of the ship renewed their lives as simple living beings, toiling for whatever resources they could find.

Due to the severe lack of subspace communication between them and the rest of civilization, a few select volunteers will return to human space to inform Forthencho of a mission well done. They never came back.

And so, as their comrades back home are forcefully devolved into primitives by the Forerunners, the crew of the ship that brought them to Silla already became primitives by their own willingness to start anew, and in fact, they fared just as well as their now-distant relatives on the now-quarantined Erde-Tyrene.

But...

That will only last for another 10,000 years.

The Great Purification will erase all traces of what a paradise with a closely guarded secret had once been.

No one knows if that secret persists to this day.

Until now.

Chapter Text

"Wait..."

A sudden realization dawned on Cassidy's head. What the entity is telling her is a story. Not a story of someone, but of herself.

"Who are you, really?" She says mentally.

The entity speaks again.

I am the one who guards the secret to reality,

Or at least, the soul guiding you to it.

In a dream of a pristine shoreline, Cassidy and Ellis stand motionless as the dreamscape flows smoothly like the sea. In front of them, closest to the water, is a brown-skinned woman of similar stature. At first, it seemed like she was looking at the ground, but when she turned around, they found that her head is slightly different in proportions, but her face is just as beautiful as that of a homo sapiens.

Her smile radiates genuine pride, but hints at something melancholic deep within.

The woman in the dream, clad in silver, never moves her mouth, but her voice radiates into the minds of both Spartans.

I am Navai.

.

.

.

And I'm here to help.

Cassidy and Ellis found themselves at what seemed to be a dead end at first. Looking to the side, they see a ladder that leads them directly straight for the antechamber leading to the bridge. 

The entity showed them the story of a somber, yet ominously hopeful outcome. It's ominous, considering the implications that the Halos would wipe out anyone left on that silicon planet, assuming they survived that long.

As the pair climbed the ladder, Cassidy began to ask herself, or rather, the entity within her.

"How did you find yourself inside me... or us...? I thought you led a peaceful life."

The entity replies thoroughly, yet Cassidy's mind is wracked with heavy emotions, like anger, regret, and hopelessness. It does not bode well. The girls' helmet speakers begin to form coherent sentences straight from their own lips.

Yes.

I do lead a peaceful life on that planet.

But my tale does not end there. 

"What happened?" The Spartan mentally asked.

I was sent back to Charum Hakkor

to let the Lord of Admirals know that

Our mission is indeed a success.

But we came back at the worst of times.

The Forerunners had laid siege to the planet. 

Due to my age, I can't fight as much as I used to.

So I gave myself up to them.

"And...?"

Like Forthencho and over a million souls, I was composed once the war was over.

My consciousness is but data now, thriving in the Domain.

How I ended up here with you is another mystery to me.

Cassidy did not say anything else. Ellis can hear the conversation, since the entity has linked both Spartans' consciousness like a tied ribbon. Yet, the girls haven't lost sight of their original mission.

They keep their minds trained on all they have learned in this journey, compounded by the determination to unravel the secrets Navai has shown them.

When they reach the end of the ladder, and begin to traverse the antechamber towards the bridge. Once they arrived, the helmet speakers spoke again. If Navai can communicate with the two in this manner now, it must be serious.

A series of whistles and clicks followed as Cassidy and Ellis' consciousness gets overtaken by Navai's as she says,

We have come this far.

There will be no secrets between the three of us.

For the first time since the beginning of the paranormal sequence that led the Spartans across the ship, Cassidy spoke audibly.

"Right." She then turns to Ellis, calling out her name. "Ellis."

"Hm?"

Cassidy smiled as she felt Navai's presence slowly fade into the backdrop of her own subconscious. There will be no more dreams for a while. Navai arrived at the shores of her mind and imparted to the youngsters something that had long been forgotten, which she, or rather, they had determined must be remembered. 

And now, she returns to the proverbial ocean, never to be seen again. Or at least that's what the Spartans thought. What she showed them cannot remain a dream. It is real. They are real. They serve as one vessel for the hardships she endured, because that makes them real, too.

The Spartan duo understood this all too well.

But hope is well within their reach. 

There is one thing left to uncover, something that is more tangible than vivid fever dreams and illusions. At last, they reached the bridge of the ancient vessel. They weren't weary, they're simply satisfied.

Cassidy, to honor the entity that dwelled within her, can only say a silent "thank you" as she and Ellis traverse the lower levels. Amidst the dim lighting and the luminous background of outer space beyond the windows, they see rows upon rows of terminals, monitors, and various interface consoles, arranged in a crescent-shaped pattern to complement the bridge's overall layout.

At the center is a large table, ten meters long and three meters wide, flanked by a dozen more terminals for different stations. Cassidy reminisced about how she and her fireteam debriefed their missions on a small yet similar table on the Infinity's bridge before the chaos that is Zeta Halo.

Though faint, the Navai entity guides the duo towards the central briefing table. After an exchange of nods, they let the entity take over once more, moving their lips to form clicks and whistles that authenticate their helmets' technology.

It's an activation signal.

"Whoa..." Ellis audibly spoke again.

For a moment, everything remains cold in a silent stillness. Only the girls' breathing echoed within their own helmets. Perhaps it is all too far gone? Not to the Spartans, no.

Then, a low hum emanates from the table a split second before a holograph sputters to life, expanding instantly into an area that encompasses the whole table. The girls stepped back at the sudden jump scare, but they quickly composed themselves as they analyzed what they had just seen.

Fractal formations of light fizz and buzz, attempting to resolve into coherent images as if they have forgotten how. The trio: The Spartan duo and the geas that binds them together felt the rising swell of excitement and joy.

At that moment, the holographs take their intended form and resolve into a series of square-shaped boards with a variety of symbols and read-outs, like a data pad the team usually uses. It explodes outwards to fill the room.

In awe, Cassidy tapped Ellis to get her attention and pointed her finger at where Site Yankee-002 G3 is. 

As the helmets recorded the information, it brought quite shocking news.

Site Yankee-002 G3 is located in the local star system, or rather, near the edges of said star system. It shows the orbital paths of three small planets and a dense asteroid field, as well as the Strident-class Frigate UNSC Hamburg... wait...

Why is the Hamburg there? Are they there to pick them up? It's barely a day since-

Never mind that.

Navai takes over Cassidy's mind again. Just Cassidy this time. She moves the girl's arms, raising them as if to begin conducting a symphony.

"Cass, what are you..." Ellis whispered. Before she can get a full question out, Cassidy pulls the hologram back, expanding the view to other local star systems, then the Orion Arm, the core of UNSC space.

Ellis can barely catch a glimpse of how far the Ancestor ship is from Earth, or Erde-Tyrene, as labeled in the holomap. It is around 1877.23 light-years away. Not far on a galactic scale, but pretty far nonetheless, considering that UNSC presence barely even reached 500 or so light-years until the Maethrillian expedition. Even still, Cassidy continued to motion her hands, zooming out more and more as she settled on a yet more expansive view of spaces beyond.

That is where they see it.

Though the Forerunners steamrolled humanity so hard they are forcibly devolved into cavemen as punishment, there are many places that the Forerunners did not know of, places they couldn't or wouldn't reach.

Humanity has expanded on the opposite side of the Milky Way, pushing beyond the Perseus Arm and ever more towards the borders of intergalactic space. Forerunners feared to tread there, as if there was a suppressed dread that lives within their own genetic memory from ages past.

Under normal circumstances, it will take longer than the average human lifespan to rediscover these lost territories yet to be found. But if there is someone who will venture there first...

It'll be Fireteam Flower.

There is so much to be discovered out there, more of humanity's advanced ancestors. But excitement fades away, and Navai wonders why.

Cassidy knew that these untouched regions of ancient human space would be long gone by now, thanks to the firing of the Halos. But encountering their ancient ancestors in the modern day is, ironically, the least of their priorities.

Finding the silicon planet and its stash of neurophysical crystals is their main goal. 

Cassidy zoomed inwards, found a nebulous shape that seemed eerily familiar from her dreams. The nebula that contained the silicon planet's star system, perhaps? Curious, she zoomed in further until she found a world that was not too dissimilar to Earth, except for its silvery landmasses.

According to official records, the planet is classified as an uninhabitable world with zero material value. The fact that it's hidden in a nebula helps a lot, as information regarding its atmosphere and geography is all but lost to the sands of time.

Either way, they found what they were looking for, at least that's what Navai made her think.

Cassidy, unable to hold on to her excitement, hastily called on Ellis to act.

"Ellis? Go warn the others, NOW!"

The young Spartan broke into a sprint out of the bridge, using her helmet's HUD to retrace her steps back to where they came.

In the shadows of both of their conscious, Navai feels delighted.

Yamaguchi and her sister, despite the temporary stop due to the fact that the ship is being a little bit fishy, continue ever onwards toward the rear of the ship. Luckily, they can only travel half the length of the ship to get there, assuming that the core room and its auxiliaries are more oriented towards the stern.

Despite not having a geas guiding them along, they still found ways to access unexplored areas of the ship, often by force. Like a team of tomb raiders, any door they can't easily open is instead met with a single hard-light bolt from their rifles.

The clocks on their MK.The VI helmet HUD starts ticking on and on. The sisters begin to notice how much time they've spent wandering the empty ship by themselves. However, being the stubborn sisters as they are, they strode forward. One long hallway leads to a room, which leads to another hallway with a few turns to keep track of. Rishikaze momentarily looked back to check on how far she'd gotten, and to her surprise, she and her sibling had walked an entire third of the ship's length.

Meanwhile, Yamaguchi stumbled across an advanced door bigger than the ones they've accessed so far. She bent forward, using her helmet to scan for any clue about what lies beyond, since the door itself is sealed shut.

The room just behind the door is an elongated compartment, but the scans went a little bit further and caught a glimpse of something unimaginable. The space has abruptly expanded at a certain distance from the door, which implies that the room beyond is an antechamber to a larger room.

"Sis! We found it!" Yamaguchi exclaimed in excitement. "We found what we're looking for!"

"The engine room or the core room?" Rishikaze replies with as much excitement and rushes to her sister's side.

"Maybe. The room just beyond here is probably the core room antechamber, probably part of its engineering spaces." She figures. The magenta-colored Spartan looks back at her younger sibling. "Let's pry the door open, shall we?"

Rishikaze nodded. She dashed to the side, expecting to find a console that she could use. Once she found one, she instinctively placed her hand on the console, which then automatically activated on its own, much to her surprise and enthusiasm.

Despite a sense of familiarity washing over her, this does not stop Rishikaze from being herself and begins randomly moving her hands around and 'typing' the console, expecting it to work any moment.

After two minutes, the door suddenly unlocks itself and begins to open slowly, like a temple being opened after unlocking a secret mechanism. 

"Let's go."

With a reassuring nod, both sisters remained silent as they walked across the long engineering deck that acts as the antechamber to the very heart of the ship itself. Like a miracle waiting to happen, lights begin to flicker into existence, brighter than ever before.

They reached into the main room itself. Standing on an overhanging console station platform overlooking the core, the girls are, for a brief few minutes, locked in a trance at the sight of something with great potential.

The core of the ship can be described as a donut-shaped chamber, with a pair of centrifuge machines, one at the top and one at the bottom, built inside a spherical cage, presumably to contain the immense amount of energy the ship has. Based on the approximate location of the Spartans, the core is located in the very back of the central body of the ship, just in front of the two tall fins that dominate the stern, just beneath the ring layers of generators and stylized structural frameworks, which are exposed out in the open.

Fortunately, the core room is the least damaged part of the ship, if it had been damaged at all. 

"Hell yeah! Looks like the ship is now ours!" Rishikaze confidently yelled into the expansive 500-meter-diameter chamber, resulting in a series of echoes that reverberated not just in the room but across the ship, contributing to its subtle neurophysical properties.

"Hold your horse, sis. Let's get the power back on first, and see what happens next..."

Yamaguchi sat down on a levitating chair and began accessing the consoles. Without any foreign interference in both the mental and spiritual realms, she can work her way into how ancient human tech works, though it takes much more time.

Minutes pass, until...

With a press of a holographic button, the ship begins to stir.

The ship's core has been reactivated, something that's usually done on the bridge. The whole ship begins to shake a little as the centrifuge machines begin to generate a matter-antimatter reaction amplified by generators that lined the spherical cage it is encased in.

Yamaguchi stands up, utterly amazed at the result. "W-We did it!"

"YEAHHH!" Her sister cheered and hugged her. 

Then, their comms are beginning to make heavy static noises that irritate their eardrums, but only temporarily, as a voice begins to speak through their helmet comms.

["Ca...ain Ya.....chi... Can you he... me?!"]

Yamaguchi instantly recognized the voice and called back. "Ellis?! Ellis, your comms are weak. Can you repeat?"

["C-Captain Yamaguchi! What just happened?! The power's back on! Have you...?!"]

"Yes, I am! We've reached the engine room and manually restored power to the ship!"

["Oh, thank goodness!"] Ellis sighs with heavy relief. ["Rendezvous at basecamp! We have something to tell you personally!

That in itself is good news, but Yamaguchi still needs to hear from Cassidy. "Where's Cassidy? I'd better hope she's not doing something clumsy!" She asked.

["She stayed on the bridge, actually."]

"The bridge?"

["Yeah... we have quite the experience on our way there, but we'll tell you once we meet again back to where we started."]

"Good idea. I'll be there soon."

Once the comms ended, Yamaguchi turned to her sister. "Rishi, let's head back to Basecamp. We'll meet with Ellis there."

"Right." Rishikaze nodded.

The Spartans then leave the chamber as quickly as possible, now brightened by the new lease of life they have given to the ancient derelict warship. 

On their way to the unexplored areas of the ship, Klara, Leoben, Oliver, and Dr. Seine are caught by surprise as power abruptly goes back on again. Confusion and shock temporarily rock the group, catching even the off-duty scientists off guard. 

"What the hell...?" Oliver mutters, taking his eyes away from his datapad due to the seemingly sudden flashbang that came just as the lights turned on. 

"The power's back on? How...?" Seine says.

Klara and Leoben exchanged a short glance before looking up towards the ceiling. The former closed her eyes and smiled.

"Yamaguchi..."

The slight utterance of the name granted everyone's attention, including Seine. "What did she do?" He questioned.

"Looks like she restored power to the ship. Somehow."

Seine stared back at Klara, slightly dumbfounded.

"How is it even possible? The ship is heavily damaged, and even if we can get this ship moving, we can't use its slipspace drive, wherever it is."

Klara waved the scientist off with a shrug and a slight smile. "Yeah, yeah, we know. But... No need to worry about that. Besides, help is coming our way."

The scientists looked at the Spartans, wondering about what Klara said. However, Seine chooses not to reply. From the smiles on these soldiers' faces, it seems they knew what they were doing. Though at the back of his mind, he's starting to doubt his insurance, he still has hope that it's to their benefit as well.

"Power systems online, restoring ship-wide communications," Cassidy spoke through the ship's advanced intercom as she activated it using one of the stations lining the upper platform. With Navai's subtle guidance, many of the ship's systems, like weapons and communications, are beginning to wake from its hundred-thousand-year-long slumber.

The slipspace drive is questionable. Due to the ship's damaged state, it cannot jump without risking the ship's destruction. Instead, Fireteam Flower had made favors with those loyal to Yamaguchi's mother.

The UNSC Hamburg is this favor.

Though merely a Strident-class Frigate, part of Mikayla's small fleet that played a major role in the Sydney Coup. The ship is heavily refitted with Forerunner tech, even more so than its contemporaries. 

Usually, an UNSC ship would show up to rotate scientists and supplies in and out of the ship, but this is different. 

This ship will help repair the ancient vessel. Cassidy thought about this for a whole while.

However, one might ask how? Without schematics of the vessel, repairing it is an impossibility. Even if it has records of its schematics anywhere, the resources involved would be intensive.

Unless...

The ship can repair itself.

Navai?

Each Prime Cruiser has an army of nanobots to help repair the ship during long voyages.

Then how long can this process take? 

A few weeks, if we count the Erde-Tyrene rotation into account.

It means that it will take them half a month at most to make the ship slip-space worthy again. Though not the best of news, it's something she can take with faithful consideration, so she begrudgingly accepts. Though with help from Hamburg and their much-needed repair crews, the effort won't be as challenging as expected.

After some time thinking, Cassidy's mind finally clicked.

And she begins to work.

Yamaguchi and Rishikaze sprinted and climbed across the ship's hallways, narrow or expansive. Like a marathon, the supersoldiers made their best use of the agility given to them by their augmentations.

Due to their unable to handle their excitement, the race becomes more personal, as both sisters find really creative ways to handle any obstacle in their path. Turns out ancient alloys older than the Ice Age by a significant margin can be bent by a child, at least in the Ancestors' standards.

Before they make a quick turn to the ship's starboard side, she comes across a familiar face earlier than she'd expected, by chance.

Yamaguchi slides to decelerate herself, only to come across an equally surprised and happy Ellis Vagner, distinguished by her blue-striped, white-painted Mk.VII Mjolnir helmet. 

"Yamaguchi!!!" Ellis screamed as she leaped forward, barreling towards her commander to hug her. The two Spartans collided and almost tumbled. If not for Rishikaze standing a few inches behind them, they would've fallen to the ground.

"Whoa! Ellis!" Yamaguchi breaks from the hug after a few moments. She noticed that Ellis' tone of voice felt like they hadn't met in years. She mentally laughed at how much the youngest member of her fireteam missed her.

She can only wonder how much she and Cassidy have been through to get this response. Ah, pitiful happiness. 

"So... you actually went the other way?" Rishikaze begrudgingly asked out of nowhere. 

"Hehe... you can't blame us for separating, given that the entire ship is dark the whole way through." Ellis rubbed her head with a fake chuckle.

"Not anymore," Yamaguchi replies. Taking note of how it's just Ellis who encountered the siblings by herself, she then asks, "Where's Cassidy?"

Ellis then said, "She's at the bridge, near the base of the ship's hammerhead bow. I'll retrace our steps."

"Good. I'll call the others."

Ellis nodded, and the trio began to quicken their pace towards the bridge, navigating the paths they had gone through before. While jogging with haste, Yamaguchi turns on her helmet comms, which now work again, and begins informing everyone else on the ship.

"This is Captain Yamaguchi Hitoshi of Fireteam Flower. Meet me at the following coordinates with the projected route used to get there." She declared while simultaneously tapping the coordinates and the pathway to be uploaded to the helmet HUDs of the three Spartans still at the hangar.

Only one Spartan replied.

[Leoben here, see you soon.]

That reply is more than enough to know that everyone is coming. As for the next step, that will come once everyone arrives and begins to settle down to make their next move. 

The trio arrived at the bridge, only to find Cassidy completely entranced by whatever she was doing in the nearby stations. While Ellis rushed to basically knock her to her senses, the Hitoshi siblings are distracted by the big, blue, glowing mass of light in the form of a hologram of the Milky Way galaxy sitting right in front of them.

"Holy shit." Rishikaze blurted out.

"Ellis, what's this map?"

Yamaguchi turns to see Ellis shaking Cassidy's whole upper body to bring her presence of mind back into the ship. The Martian girl turned towards her and quickly answered. 

"It's a map of the galaxy, of course!" She says as Cassidy is trailing behind her, waving at the siblings to say hi. "However, there's a catch," Ellis added.

The Spartan siblings' eyebrows are now raised; now they're intrigued. Ellis continues to explain things while Cassidy controls the holographic view of the galaxy hanging above their heads.

"You see, our advanced ancestors have much more territorial expanse than what we give them credit for." Ellis points towards the galactic map. "Humanity has been skirting the galactic rim, probably colonizing numerous more worlds along the way."

"And... so?" Rishikaze said that the fact is barely shocking at all; it's just more planets that used to be human. Either way, the Halos would've gotten to them even if there were stragglers or not.

"We found a world that seemed particularly interesting to us. Right.... Here." 

Yamaguchi and Rishikaze looked at the map as Ellis pointed towards a planet they found. She then continues, "The planet we found is located in a gas nebula. It has a nitrogen-oxygen atmosphere, like the Earth; however, much of the planet is almost made out of silicon for some reason."

"What?" Yamaguchi stared at Ellis' face and blinked, trying to comprehend what she just said.

"Crazy, right?"

"Yeah... it is crazy. What's so important about a planet made up of mostly a single element?"

"It hides a big secret that not even the Forerunners know exists. It's a Precursor artifact that somehow survived the Halo array's devastating pulse, and I was thinking we should go there someday to investigate what it is. Since that planet is so untouched that it doesn't even show up in Forerunner star charts, there's a near-zero chance that the Flood would be there as well."

That lightens the whole group. "Did you just say Precursor artifacts?!" Yamaguchi exclaimed, surprised at the prospect of such a discovery being made.

"Yep!"

"This changes everything." Yamaguchi begins to form another plan in her mind, one that directly overrules all contemporary objectives. "Once this ship is repaired as soon as possible, we can head directly to that planet. The level of technology they possess is something that humanity couldn't reverse engineer right away. It's something only ONI can have. Whatever it is, I hope it'd be worth the journey."

"But there's one question..." Rishikaze interjected her older sister. "How did you know all this, Ellis?"

Ellis didn't answer. Instead, Cassidy speaks up, her dull eyes staring into her commander's. "This information does not come from the ship itself. But rather... It's our genesongs."

The sisters went silent.

An hour of explanation later...

"This is weirder than what we got on Zeta Halo..." Yamaguchi said, comprehending the explanation. "Even more baffling is the fact that both of you have the same person connected between you. That... has never happened before."

Ellis sighed and replied with a slight smile. "At least that's what makes us special."

Rishikaze, however, felt worried about the two Spartans, as she seemed to think that they were quite inexperienced in the whole geas business that runs rampant among Mikayla's Spartans.
"So... are you sure you're okay with this... Navai girl running around in your heads?" 

"We spent a few hours in conversation with her. She's as human as the rest of us, so understanding each other is the very least of our problems. Plus, this phenomenon is presumably confined to the ship. I don't know if it works anywhere but."

"I see."

A few minutes pass in cold silence. The hums of human technology reverberate throughout the whole bridge, pondering on what they should do with the mountains of information they have collected by themselves. Until...

The door opens. 

"Yamaguchi! Rishikaze! Ellis! Cassidy!"

The four looked at the source of the cacophony of voices calling out to them, only to see the last three members of Flower now reunited with the rest, while behind them were Dr. Seine, Mr. Lukas, Dr. Hebron, and a couple more scientists entering the room.

All of a sudden, the bridge became just as lively as it was when the ship was still in service a hundred thousand years ago, albeit for a different reason. 

"Oh, you're all here!" Yamaguchi excitedly exclaimed. "Finally, we're just about to start planning for something new!"

"Really? We are eager to hear your plans. Absurd or not, it's up to us to straighten it out if necessary." Dr. Hebron replies with a reassuring smile. Though everyone else in the latest round of visitors has taken their sweet time admiring the room, that would be short-lived.

Over the coming hours, the entourage of the future begins to plan their next move.

UNSC Hamburg, four astronomical units away.

In the asteroid belt, en route towards the derelict ancient human warship, the Strident-class heavy frigate Hamburg is on its way towards the ship to meet up with Fireteam Flower's contingent, which landed just yesterday. 

The Hamburg is a veteran of the battles of Venezia and Boundary, serving under Battle Group Omega. The ship has been through a lot of action, and her crew is tough and loyal, the right ingredients for Mikayla to sway them to her cause.

Now, with the issue over, the Hamburg is filled to the brim with materials and heavy industrial equipment. The ship is originally mean to be assigned to rotate the scientists out of the ship to be replaced with new ones, but that has now changed. There is a little secret tagging along with them, though.

In the ship's observation room in the ventral portion of the bow, a lone Spartan gazes into the darkness, silently taking in the view of the stars beyond. Her Mjolnir MK.VII color scheme makes a distinguishing resemblance to Cassidy Preston's armor.

The thing is...

It's no mere coincidence that they have the same color scheme. She's as tall as Yamaguchi, though the difference is measured in mere millimeters. Her face resembled the pure Lunarian beauty of old mythology, only ruined by scars of battle and augmentation, though she didn't care much about looks.

A door opens with a hiss. Another Spartan enters.

"Miss Preston, we're nearing Yankee 002-G3. We should head to the Condor right away."

The girl sighed. She recognized the German accent from a mile away. "I'll be there."

She did not look back when the Spartan left the room, leaving her alone again. But that feeling will be short-lived. When she takes a peek into the stars again, she sees the derelict ship beyond the celestial body, concealing its presence from her point of view.

She opens her helmet comms and turns around to leave the room. 

"Fireteam Tulip, wait for me at the hangar. We're sortieing in five minutes."

Chapter Text

Over three dozen people stood by and watched as the Condors belonging to the Hamburg landed a mere distance away, the loud thrusters of the dropship turning silent as the loading ramps opened. The first to emerge from the Condor's passenger bay is a Spartan who, after removing her helmet, bears a striking resemblance to Cassidy, armor-wise. Their Mjolnir has almost the same color scheme, barring a few minor details. 

Six more Spartans emerged from the craft, all having different vibrant colors emblazoned on their Mjolnir. Their chest plate bears a small emblem of a tulip, rather than a lily flower, seen on Yamaguchi's team.

The first one out removes her helmet, revealing a face they've known for a long time. That face, and a few others, show signs of slight shock and surprise, as if they found out they're alive after being missing for a long time. Out of the seven in Flower standing in attention, only one surrendered the urge to hold back her emotions.

"Alice!" Cassidy cried out as she approached her sweet older sister, Alice Preston. The siblings embraced each other for a short moment. They haven't seen each other in a month, it's supposed to be nothing to be worried about, but with the whole geas business, it only makes the reunion more heartfelt than normal. 

"Ah, Alice Preston, haven't seen you since before the coup!" Yamaguchi exclaimed as Cassidy released herself from her sister's embrace to give way for a conversation between the Fireteam leaders. 

"So have I, Yamaguchi. But... how the hell did you get here so quickly?!" Alice's mood changed from happiness to surprise, for she did not expect Flower to be here at all.

"We learned of Site Yankee via the data vaults we took during the coup, so we asked Mom about it, and she approved of our operation. Took us an entire month to get here."

"I'd never thought the Actium would be THAT fast... In fact, we've been on our way here since mid-December; the journey we took is slightly longer." Alice sighed before looking at Yamaguchi with a reassuring smile. "I'll explain more later, okay?"

"Fine..." Yamaguchi replied nonchalantly.

"More Spartans? Hoho, I think I'm feeling kinda safe now." Seine humorously remarked as he watched Hebron and another scientist introduce themselves to Alice. 

Meanwhile, the only male Spartans in both Fireteams are in their own little conversation just a few feet away. The fact that these two separate teams get along very well is proof that Mikayla's Spartans are just one happy family of WMDs.

"Ey, Sergei! It's nice to meet you again!" Leoben happily sneered as he made a bro hug with a comrade from Tulip, Sergei Kalster.

"Ahahaha, nice to meet you too! So, how's your tour?" Sergei excitedly asks.

"It went well, that's all I could say! This ship is hella weird, wouldn't recommend wandering around for too long."

"Ah, too bad. I'm as much of a sucker for ancient tech as your captain." Another voice spoke behind Sergei to the left. 

"Sobieski?" He turns towards the pale-haired Spartan who just removed his helmet. 

"Miło Cię widzieć (It's good to see you), Podzhinsky." He replies with a hushed tone, a recognizable trait of his that makes him distinguished from his peers. One thing to note is that he is half Polish and half Japanese by blood, as her father comes from Nova Hokkaido. It is why he is named Sobieski Kazumi, as odd as that name would sound to some people.

"So, what are we planning today?" The only other male Spartan in Tulip approached them. His appearance is reminiscent of a Spartan II post-augmentation; a young man with very little hair, he might as well be bald. His name is Jasper Keyes Jr.

His family is an interesting one. The legendary captain, Jacob Keyes, actually had an uncle who had a son. Said son grew up in the Human-Covenant war and started a family of his own, and had two sons, one of whom was Jasper Jr.

The familial ties alone are what pulled him into ONI's, or rather, Mikayla's sphere of influence.

"We're gonna help rebuild the ship as quickly as possible. Although it can repair itself, we can speed up the process as much as we can." Leoben replies to Jasper's question, but another of his comrades barges in. The atmosphere, while lively, is starting to get a little bit overwhelming.

"So it can repair itself? Sweet!" This time, it is Theodore Vakusha who spoke, standing at the far side of the group. He is one of two Spartans in Tulip specializing in melee, but he is unique as a decent all-rounder, like other Spartans.

"How long does it take, just an estimation?" A blonde-haired Spartan standing beside Jasper asks. His name is Patrick Schnieder, who, as his name suggests, is of German descent, so he speaks with an accent.

"Two weeks to a month, at best." Leoben slightly winces at his own words, knowing it's the truth that they're gonna be on the ship for a while.

"Hey, at least we're all together now, right? "

On the other side of the hangar, Ellis and Klara are having a moment with the only other girl in Tulip, a girl of Chinese descent named Anxi.

"So, how's Ellis?" She asked first. The atmosphere is quite tense, yet Klara raised her head and answered.

"She and Cass have activated their geas while on this ship."

Anxi's expression turns serious, her stern look turned into one of surprise and shock. "What? How?"

Klara gestured. "The ship triggered their subconscious, and an entity is talking to them through that. Even more odd is that it's only one entity. One."

Anxi questioned. "One in two? I've never heard of a case like that in any Forerunner records, or maybe I missed a few... Anyways, so what's the deal with her and Cassidy's single geas?" 

"Well, we are tasked to repair this ship so that we can make a journey to a planet that is of vital importance. Yamaguchi will brief your team when we get there."

Anxi smiled. "So you're going on a treasure hunt?"

"Perhaps." Klara paused before she stared Anxi square in the face with a confident smile. "But I wouldn't doubt the value of what lies in the end until I have seen it for myself."

Anxi nods in agreement. This type of mission is a signature of Fireteam Flower, always going into the unknown, pretending to know what lies beyond based on expectations. But being military individuals, that is rarely the case from a tactical and strategic standpoint, since going in blind is just asking for a funeral by this point.

After a few more minutes of banter between Fireteams, Yamaguchi and Alice assembled their teams for a briefing on the ship's bridge, with the scientists leading the way. Tulip is in awe of the ship's aesthetic, mirroring Flower's impression when they first landed, not even a day ago.

"Cassidy, may you do the honors?"

On Yamaguchi's orders, Cassidy activated the holographic table sitting in the uppermost elevated level of the ship's bridge. A hologram of the ship sputters to life. With the motions of her hand, she zoomed in and made the blue image of the ship grow big.

The hologram of the ship itself is tainted by red areas that flicker slowly. These are the damages the ship sustained when it was first discovered by ONI.

Some of the dorsal starboard hull amidships is basically torn open. Battle damage due to energy weapons is visible throughout much of the ship, with the most severe being the port side adjacent to the hammerhead bow, its fibril cutter emitter being mangled into pieces.

It appears that the ship sustained worse damage the further they went toward the bow. It's a miracle that the bridge and antimatter core room are mostly intact and functional. Beside the hologram is a tab displaying the ship's progress on its automated repair systems.

The time displayed to show how long it would take for the automated nanobot repair system is staggering, almost 5 months to repair the entire ship to make it as good as new, even more so than Navai's estimations. No one has that amount of free time to repair and potentially man a ship they just arrived in more than 24 hours earlier.

And this is why Tulip and Flower will discuss the future of the ship.

"Greetings, my fellow Spartans." Yamaguchi started. "Our mission is one of, if not the most important one to date, so I'd like you all to listen carefully."

Everyone closed in, huddled around the table. In the center of the table is a piece of old bond paper and a ballpoint pen. Then, the explanations begin.

"So, to recap events here, we had just arrived at Site Yankee 002-G3 to retrieve the derelict Prime Cruiser belonging to our ancient ancestors. However, certain issues involving Miss Vagner and the younger Preston had given us some pretty shocking revelations."

The hologram begins to change, per Cassidy's actions.

"According to the testimony of an ancient human woman who subconsciously cohabited with two of my members simultaneously, there is a planet sitting right at the edge of the Milky Way, hidden in a star-forming gas cloud. The atmosphere is actually not detectable from here, but according to Navai, it's basically Earth-like. However, much of its geological structure is silicon-based, a one-in-a-million discovery, if I say so myself. The planet hides a secret that we should look into." Yamaguchi then pulls the paper across the table towards herself, picks up the pen, and begins to draw what she's about to explain next.

"There is a Precursor artifact lying in wait deep beneath the planet. At this moment, I don't know if it survived the Halos or not. It's a high chance due to it being, obviously, Precursor, but I'll be damned if it's gone, so we're gonna have to find out ourselves."

"So how do we get there?" Vakusha begrudgingly asks.

"This ship, of course. After we make some quick repairs to it, enough to make it slipspace-capable again. But just one question... Alice, how come I have never heard of your journey here?"

"Well..." Alice begins to explain. "We are sent to Site Yankee on direct orders from Mikayla to fix the ship, like... days before you and your mom threw Osman into the ditch."

The entire room, except for Tulip, vehemently looked at Alice with varying degrees of surprise and shock. But before anyone can say anything, she continued.

"It was a top-secret mission, one that not even our sister fireteam would be informed of. Mikayla originally proposed Osman's arrest as a cover for our expedition to Site Yankee, making sure that some random prowler didn't just jump us all of a sudden because the ONI loyal to the status quo didn't like our sneaky moves."

"So what happened?" 

"For a while, we went along with this plan. The fact that you're here means that it has changed somewhat. We only heard the news of the coup, like... a couple of weeks into the expedition, so I just assumed you're gonna be staying at Earth for a while."

"Oh... Yeah, we actually changed the plan ourselves since we discovered Site Yankee via the data vaults in HQ. I was excited, so I asked Mikayla about this, and she approved. Guess what we found in our first stop?"

"What is it?"

"We found Maethrillian."

"WHAT THE F... WHAT?!"

The overreaction caused everyone to slightly laugh. Either way, it does not stop Alice from staring into Yamaguchi's sly smirk with a jealous temper. Her face felt like she was about to detonate like a Shiva warhead. But, not wanting to risk verbal and potentially physical violence, she quickly wiped off her humor and apologised.

"Okay, okay, sorry that you didn't get to do it. At least you'll make up for it by working together today, good for you?" Yamaguchi sounded like she was being sarcastic, but the feelings behind those words are genuine enough.

"Fine by me." Alice's frown reversed into a smile. And then the briefing continues as normal.

"So... what kind of artifact are we looking for here?" Anxi asks.

"Navai says it's a crystal of some kind. Uhm... there is a ship which I think is the same class as the ship we are in now, that is carrying them to that planet..." Ellis replies, though her voice cracked at a few points due to her difficulty recalling certain points of the dreams.

"What kind of crystals exist that made that soul in your head want to show it to you?"

Now it's Cassidy's turn to speak up. "It is pretty subjective, since dreams can sometimes be metaphorical, but Navai said that these crystals hold the power to tear the fabric of reality and access other realities. Or at least that's what the rumors say."

The statement made the whole room silent. Shock, awe, excitement, dread... a whirlwind of emotions short-circuited even the augmented minds of Mikayla's Fourteen. Yamaguchi and Rishikaze's thoughts went into overdrive, a million outcomes and a million scenarios are imagined within the space of a few milliseconds before reality sets in.

The first to speak, however, is Alice, dumbfounded by this revelation.

"Y-You're kidding, right...?"

"As I said, the dreams are subject to interpretation. But what we do know is that a silicon planet exists, so is the ship that brought these crystals."

Before Cassidy can say any more, Yamaguchi slams her palms into the holotable, causing the blue projections to glitch out for a moment. Her face is one of stubborn determination that can only be rivaled by the Spartans II's.

"This.... this changes everything!"

"Yamaguchi..." Her sister mutters aloud. Unfaltering, Yamaguchi asserts herself.

"Look at what we can do with these. This level of technology is a revolutionary step in every conceivable way. Personally, this is something out of someone's cheesy fanfiction as ancient as the International Space Station. By the love of God, we can rebuild the UNSC without pissing anyone off in our own reality! A whole frontier is waiting for us!"

All of a sudden, Dr. Seine interjected in the rant. He says, "Yes, while I agree with your statement, you have to consider the potential politics that would bring with this power tripping of yours."

"With due respect, doctor, do I look like I care?" Yamaguchi retorted.

"No, but this meddling will someday be your own undoing. Even if those realities are lenient to our cause, you can't just build political and military relationships out of goodwill and goodwill alone, even if it's for the benefit of rebuilding all that we have lost in the war against the Covenant."

"Bet." Yamaguchi grinned.

Much to Siene's shock, the Spartans all agree with Yamaguchi's points, snickering and cheering much to his chagrin. Though some may have their own reservations about certain details of her plans, the main idea is convincing enough to side with her.

"You know what, she may have a point." Another scientist spoke.

"Dr. Hebron?!" Seine turned to his superior. 

"You see, her mother is having a fun time declassifying ONI material for the benefit of humanity. Though their methods are somewhat questionable at first glance, in the end, it serves as a win-win for everyone involved."

Seine doesn't know what to do; everything about these Spartans is as complex and contradictory as the ship they're standing on. At this point, he considers giving up on the argument entirely, much to the Spartans' joy.

After another hour of intense discussions and laying out plans, the entire crew parted ways, ready to do their utmost to make the ship slipspace-worthy again. Yamaguchi, however, retained one thing in her mind.

She's gonna prove Dr. Seine wrong.

Two weeks later... 

Hamburg's worker bee vehicles and construction drones would get to work on the Yankee-002 G3 warship as soon as possible. With the help of the ship's already effective automated repair systems using nanobots and mass-shifting of entire bulkheads, the ship is slowly being patched up.

The Spartans of Fireteams Flower and Tulip worked tirelessly to put the ship back together in some capacity, welding hull fragments, attaching sheets of metal like puzzle pieces, and recalibrating the nanobots with the help of some tech work in the bridge. They cannot repair the entire ship fully, but it's only enough to make it slipspace-capable.

The scientists, however, took some much-needed rest in the comfort of the frigate. Today, only two of them stayed up to continue to work. 

Doctors Seine and Hebron understood the Spartans' motives more than anyone. Though they might not agree on some of their points, the overall goal is, in theory, universally beneficial.

Plus, everything they've done so far has the potential of giving humanity a power boost to make up for all the setbacks the UNSC has endured over the course of more than 30 years. So it's reasonable they'd want to do anything to help their fellow humans.

But the ambitions of these Spartans are obvious yet incomprehensible at the same time. It felt like Mikayla had probably raised them not as soldiers, but gods, hell bent on twisting the galactic narrative to seek their own ends. But at the same time...

These young men and women are enjoying themselves to the fullest; to an extent, they might not have taken their jobs seriously, as if they are living a normal life in some kind of paradise. They act like children sometimes, but somehow...

"Hey, young man." Hebron's voice reverberated within the helmet of his spacesuit. He is outside the hull, inspecting the work being done on the massive ship. "What's bothering you?" The middle-aged scientist inquired further. Seine, standing still watching them work, felt like he couldn't do anything but speak his mind.

"I dunno, doc... These Spartans..."

"Yeah," Hebron interjected and made a slight smile behind his own visor. "Though it turns out that they being humanity's saviors ain't just an exaggeration, however, these madlads took it to the next level."

"I'm talking about how ambitious they are, doc. They scare me sometimes." Seine retorted.

"Maybe. Ambition is a part of life; it's why we're here to begin with. But Yamaguchi and her lackeys ain't bigots. They probably learned much from Admiral Mikayla, who herself is already a decent person. I'm sure you'll be fine dealing with them."

Siene shakes his head with a smile and chuckles. "Hmmm.... Maybe I'm just overthinking myself... hehehe... I hope you're right."

Meanwhile, in the ship's upper hull, the Spartans and the hordes of repair drones and ponds of nanobots attach whatever alloy that fits with the ship's systems. Fortunately, according to the ship's schematics, the vessel's hull plating is made out of the same alloy that is commonly used in standard Forerunner macro-engineering, such as shipbuilding and installation construction.

According to Ancestor records, it only applies to some outdated ship classes dating back a few thousand years before the war against the Forerunners. This ship is probably outdated by the time the war hits its crescendo. 

This makes the job a whole lot easier.

Two worker bee drones use their thrusters to push a large slab of alloy into a gap that is shaped like the slab it's meant to fill. Guided by the Spartans of Fireteam Tulip, they managed to finally seal the massive hull breach in its dorsal midships section, with the nanobots doing the rest of the sealing.

"That's the dorsal midships hull done!" Alice announced on the intercom. "Yamaguchi! Inspect the interior, find and fix anything that might cause a breach if this ship jumps. The ship's schematics might help!"

["On it, Alice!"] Yamaguchi replies. She and her fireteam are busy restoring the interior of the vessel. While the nanobots restore bent plating and electronic systems, the Spartans have a challenging yet fun job of making the ship as good as new, like arranging furniture.

Though the Spartans have done exceptional work, as tedious as that might be considering the size of the ship, it surprisingly has a small number of rooms within its bulkheads, which saved a lot of time due to the auto repair system. The reason for this design is actually clever. The class of which the derelict cruiser is a part is one of the few ancient human ships that can shift its interior to the crew's preferences, similar to how Forerunner ships shift their own spaces, albeit in a quicker fashion.

The ship's nanobots are the pinnacle of Ancient human engineering. These microscopic critters can weave the alloys together like clay without violating the law of the conservation of mass. But this magnificent feat is only possible if there are spare plating brought in from the outside or from the internal warehouses.

Good thing Hamburg has brought some from ONI's inventory.

Five days later...

In the ventral hull, more drones and nanobots are patching up the battle damage sustained. The damage is minor in the standards of the ship, but it's still a big thing to fix. With much of the ship patched up, everyone gets to have a 2-day rest period to refresh their physical and mental strength.

In the hangar bay, equipment is being carried to the bridge to hopefully get the ship into operational status. There, Lukas drinks his daily cup of coffee to continue his work. 

Then, a Spartan approached him. He's a member of Fireteam Tulip, it seems, returning from his work outside. It's Sergei Kalster. "Hi again, Spartan." Lukas jokingly greets the Spartan before taking a spare cup and reaching out to him. "Here, want some coffee?"

"Nyet," Sergei replies nonchalantly. Instead of leaving, though, he sits down on a box adjacent to where Lukas is sitting.

"Don't be a shy boy, Corporal Sergei." The Spartan stared at him with a hint of shock and embarrassment as the unflinching ONI official poured coffee into the spare cup meant for the supersoldier. "I don't mean to offend you, but you're pretty tired; you've been working for two days nonstop. Even Spartans have their limits, right?"

Sergei calmed down and relaxed his face. "Sorry. I'll go take a rest, I guess." He then takes the cup of coffee and drinks it. Coffee is something he has never tried in years, but the taste and the smell felt like he had drunk it yesterday.

Though the caffeine barely affects anything to improve a Spartan's work capability, it still refreshes the mind, which is almost as important as the physical aspect of work. 

"It's good." He says blankly.

"Good to hear that." Lukas smiles before he switches the topic. "Hey, kid."

"Hm?" He turns towards Lukas.

"How's Spartan life treating you?"

"Good. Nothing too complicated, I guess." Sergei replies. Simple as the question might be, the implications of it coming from an ONI official alarm him a little. Rather than a backhanded compliment, Lukas sipped his coffee.

"Hm. If your father had been alive, he would've been proud of you." The sudden mention of Sergei's late father made him tense a little bit, resisting the urge to crush the fragile Styrofoam cup with his hand. But he backs down on the outburst and makes a light response.

"I see." He then asks, "How did you know about my father?"

"I was classmates with him back in the military academy," Lukas explained, staring into the roof as he recalls his memories with a sad smile. "He was the best man I ever met, even considered joining the Navy alongside him. However, the war has put a halt to those plans. I dropped out after I gained a favor from ONI, which left him... his wife, and two others on their own."

"What happened afterwards? My mom never really told me everything about dad... she's insistent on being silent. I wonder why?" Sergei mutters. Before Lukas could answer, a certain pink-haired Spartan approached them with a hidden smile behind her helmet.

"Lukas!"

"Yamaguchi?" Sergei quipped to himself as Flower's captain removes her Mk.VI helmet and turned to Lukas, who suddenly got up to straighten his posture.

"How's the exterior?" Lukas says. 

"Almost done! Can't believe we've all done this in a couple of weeks! The ship is coming together as intended. Though we ran out of materials before the rest is patched up, but what matters is that Dr. Hebron reported that the ship will be slipspace-capable, at least in theory, in just a few more days."

"Nice to hear." Lukas smiles before taking another cup laden with coffee and gives it to the magenta-haired Spartan. "Want some coffee?"

"Oooh, thank you!" Yamaguchi happily received a cup before turning around and trotting out of there, delighted with the drink she received. Lukas chuckles with a hint of pity. 

It's a wonder the Spartans he's been hanging out with for the past few months have more liveliness than their predecessors. Part of the reason is due to the lack of indoctrination, which somehow helps them improve their capabilities, a fact that kept him awake on rare occasions.

He turns to Sergei, having some time to himself and his coffee. Then he turns back again towards the rest of the expansive hangar bay in the ship's equator. 

Hangar Bay, derelict ship, around a few hours later...

"How are you feeling?" Anxi speaks out to her fellow SpecDiv Spartan, Ellis Vagner.

"I'm fine. It's just... I feel kinda detached right now. Not that it concerns you, but..."

"...but it is concerning. Your genesong is activated somewhat; it might cause some long-term effects on your mental state."

"Stop being concerned for meeee.... I'm fine..." Ellis pouts.

Anxi replied by caressing Ellis's head like a mother would do to her child, making Flower's youngest member start feeling embarrassed. The Chinese-descent Spartan smiled in an oddly for no reason, which doesn't help Ellis at all, who begins to flail around to keep her from teasing her more.

"Uuuuh, stop it!" She pouts.

"Anxi, that's enough."

The two turned in the direction of the voice only to see the Preston siblings staring down upon them. Alice wore a stoic expression and an imposing stance, in contrast to her little sister, who feels slightly ashamed of how Ellis is treated by Anxi, and is scratching her own head with a fake smile.

Anxi reluctantly lets go of Ellis, who began to immediately distances herself from her and instead attached herself to Cassidy's side. After a short chuckle to vent the humor away, Alice then says,

"Anxi, you'll be at the bridge."

"What for?" She replies.

"You're the SpecDiv's linguist, you'll be on the bridge today to decipher the language of our ancestors."

"Y-Yes ma'am!" Anxi shot up and saluted. The Spartan has a specific interest in xenolinguistics, meaning that she never really has any interest in combat (except for when she needs to defend herself) because most of the time she'd be deciphering alien languages. But that will soon change as technology begins to advance enough to transcend the language barrier.

At first glance, it might go against what a Spartan is made for; however, she is no pushover when she IS in combat. After all, there's this certain woman named Olympia Vale to speak for that.

"So, what's for me?" Ellis asked.

"Just be on standby once you return to your work shift for repairing the ship. Once everything's done, be at the bridge with the rest of the Spartans. Yamaguchi's orders, by the way."

Without anything else to say, she silently saluted and left, heading for a different path to the rest of the ship than Anxi. After a minute or so of silently watching the repair crews do their work, Cassidy turned to her big sister and said,

"Hey, sis, can we play tabletop wargames?"

Alice knew what she meant, and her own face showed for it. "Uhh..."

"Please?"

"Uh, fine. I have a few painted minis; you can find the rulebooks in my quarters. I'll be there in an hour or two once I'm done inspecting."

"Yay!"

In the Hamburg, Theodore, Jasper, and Patrick are busy maintaining their weapons in the ship's workshop. Using towels and sometimes cleaning equipment to refurbish their arsenal as good as new. Just like Flower, Fireteam Tulip typically customized their weapons to their style.

Flower and Tulip might look the same on the outside, due to being a blend between the best aspects of all the previous programs. Both teams have similar battle doctrine and training, with the main difference being that Flower acts more like a Black-Ops team like Kilo-Five, while Tulip is in a role similar to Noble Team.

Tulip is usually assigned to the middle of the most intensive warzones, accompanying fellow UNSC planetside units such as the Army, Air Force, the Marine Corps, and the ODSTs. As such, their weapons are customized to handle any environment while emphasizing equipment attachments to their armor and vehicles for better coordination with the regular UNSC forces.

Theodore Vakusha is mainly a melee expert, armed with a pair of combat knives and an energy sword for good measure. It also can't be helped that he uses a shotgun with a bayonet attached under the barrel.

Jasper is the all-rounder, armed with the typical MA5 Assault Rifle, while also carrying a Light Rifle and a plasma pistol. Typically focusing on ranged attacks, he prefers fighting up close while dishing out bullets and plasma onto the enemy.

Patrick Schneider, however, thanks to his large stature of approximately 6'8", mainly uses heavy weapons like SPNKr rocket launchers, handheld miniguns, a pair of Z-750s, and a few more to pepper the enemy with fire support.

Again, just like with Fireteam Flower, Tulip's weaponries are more of a preference, since the loadout of weapons depends on the mission given and the situation at hand.

"Hey, guys," Patrick spoke in a German accent. "Have you heard the news back on Earth?"

"No, why?" Vakusha asked as he was placing his cleaned sidearm back into its holster. 

"I've heard that Admiral Mikayla is planning on declassifying ONI secrets. Not about the war, though, it's about the xenoarchaeology business."

"Bound to happen someday," Jasper replies, turning to his teammate. "I'm only surprised as to how quickly this all happened. Christ, imagine the hysteria..." He worriedly says.

Vakusha replied. "Don't worry. Humanity needs something to unite all of us. This might be a big gamble for the higher-ups back home." 

"How much are you gonna bet on that working out?" Jasper said jokingly, giving his two teammates a good laugh.

"Not much. Spartans don't have a minimum wage. The only thing we pay for humanity's future is the blood of our enemies!" Vakusha said, grinning at the prospect of his comrades' reactions.

"Good one!" Patrick exclaims while Jasper laughs.

"Thanks, Pat." Vakusha smiles. "Oh, by the way, I just realized your birthday's next week! Where should we celebrate them?"

"Eh?" Patrick turned towards the half-Hungarian, his eyes going wide with a baffled expression painted all over his face. After calming down, he replies, "Well, if why don't do it on the derelict ship?"

"Ohhh, that's a great idea!" Jasper shrugged. "Nothing's better than to celebrate someone's birthday on a hundred-thousand-year-old vessel!"

"Well, I guess we don't need a surprise then."

"Oh, you sweet summer child...."

One week later...

The Hamburg's captain sits idly in his office, which doubles as his personal quarters. Nearing his fifties, he has seen everything, just like everyone else his age. The war has left a deep impression on his life, and despite being a Navy officer with very few obligations for other branches of the military, he thinks that it's worth a try to teach the youngsters how to overcome harsh times.

By now, too many things have changed all of a sudden. From a large-scale war against the Banished, to a top-secret mission sponsored by a scary-looking old lady with a heart of gold, tasked with taking care of her "children", a situation similar to that promising young upstart commanding a certain Phoenix-class warship.

His thoughts are interrupted by the hissing sound of the doors opening. A pair of Spartans enters the room, clad in Mjolnir that might as well be an art piece. They removed their helmets, revealing their scarred yet gorgeous faces.

"Ah, you must be Admiral Miki's team leaders."

"Yes, sir." Alice Preston and Yamaguchi Hitoshi replied in unison and saluted. 

"Miss Preston, and..."

"Hitoshi. Yamaguchi Hitoshi." The Spartan with the flowing magenta hair responded.

"You're Admiral Miki's daughter! I should have known!" The captain chuckles before introducing himself. "I'm Captain Harry Hoffmann, UNSC Hamburg. Please, take a seat. It's a pleasure to meet you, Captain Hitoshi."

"Thanks for your kindness, Captain," Yamaguchi replies. The two Spartans took a seat on the nearby couch and placed their helmets on the stubby table in front of them. Hoffmann sits down on the other end of the room on a simple folding chair.

"I've heard that you've been hard at work."

"That is one hell of an understatement, Captain! Working 18 hours a day can be exhausting for everybody else, but it's just a regular Tuesday for us Spartans!" Alice gleefully said.

"Huh. Honestly, I didn't really take you for a bunch of builders. It's weird."

Yamaguchi replied, "That's what I'm thinking too, but the ship's repair systems made most of the work for us. The alloys Mikayla arranged for you and Tulip are compatible with the ship, so it should be alright with the integration process."

"And what about the journey after this?"

"Without any delays, we'll complete a round voyage by April. This means you'll be serving as the ship's escort."

"I suppose this should be expected." Hoffmann sighs, taking a small glance at a picture frame standing on the table before saying, "Nevertheless, how is Milo doing?"

The name sparked Yamaguchi's mind, and he replied. "Him? The Actium's captain? He's doing well. For all I know, he's probably heading back to Earth after making sure Maethrillian basecamp can last long on its own."

"Business as usual for him then. I was friends with his older brother while we were still cadets in the Naval Academy on Luna. He died on Reach, leaving me to mentor Milo on my own."

"Oh, really? I guess mom has a thing with friendships, huh?" Yamaguchi makes a fake chuckle. Hoffmann went silent for a moment as he took in her words a little longer than usual before he laughed as well. 

"Hahaha. That was my thought as well. Granted, my family has ties with ONI as well, so in a way, it's an inevitability for me to be here. Makes one wonder what she has in store for all of us?"

"Oh, it'd be good!" 

"I can bet on that," Hoffmann replies. 

"Glad for you to be here by our side, Captain. Once we're done finalizing the ship's systems, we'll conduct a test slipspace jump to the nearest system. Do you think Hamburg can keep up with it despite the technological gap between the two ships?"

With confidence in his voice, Hoffmann replies with a slight smile. "Of course, my dear, your mother authorized the refit of many of the ships loyal to her with Forerunner-based slipspace drives. We can keep up as long as we know where to go."

"Good to hear that, Captain."

Yamaguchi stands up and extends her hand; Hoffmann does the same. The two shake hands with smiles of affirmation. "Looking forward to working together with you, Captain Hitoshi." The Hamburg's captain says.

"Likewise." 

Bridge, a week and a half later...

After more than three weeks of almost non-stop hard work in a remote place in the galaxy with very little help, ONI has done the impossible. Using what resources they have available, they can repair the ancient human cruiser.

They cannot repair the ship fully due to obvious reasons, but they can only repair the vital areas of the ship and patch up the rest, just enough for it to be capable of travelling through slipspace without the risk of tearing itself apart the moment space-time cracks open like punching through glass.

But at least, they achieved the impossible task of repairing a six-kilometer ship to a favorable capacity within a short amount of time. What would've taken years, including all the bureaucracy that comes with it, has only taken approximately a month.

Now, in the ship's bridge, the five dozen or so personnel tasked with the ship's systems are all assembled, ready for the final briefings before the ship sets sail sixteen hours after this. 

On one end of the central holotable on the upper deck are the fourteen Spartans of SpecDiv, with all their plans laid out on said table. On one end, facing the doorway that leads to the antechamber are Dr. Seine and Dr. Hebron, the two leading scientists of what could be their last shift on the vessel.

Except for a few spare spots for the specialized Spartans, the different stations on the bridge are all manned by Lukas and his retinue of ONI operatives, mostly assigned from the UNSC Navy. Though the bridge typically needs more crew to operate at its fullest capacity, the most important ones are prioritized, leaving much of the bridge empty for now.

"So... today is the big day, huh?" Vakusha murmured with a confident smile on his face.

Yamaguchi stands at the side of the table facing the rest of the bridge. All of the Spartans have their helmets removed, presenting faces from all across human space. With everyone gathered, ready to listen, she begins her declaration.

"Now, today is the day we will set forth into the unknown. While many ships in the UNSC had travelled similar distances to find Forerunner artifacts, we are embarking on a journey to a region of space yet unexplored even by the Forerunners themselves. Apart from our ancestors a hundred thousand years ago, we will be the first modern humans to set foot in that region of space. While shrouded in secrecy at the moment, I assure you this will all be in the history books at some point."

Everyone firmly nodded in agreement.

"So," Yamaguchi continues. "It's been more than a month since we discovered this derelict Ancestor warship. We made loads of discoveries, learned quite a few revelations, and now we are setting sail for the unknown. It's a big gambit to some, but it is a gambit we're willing to take. Are you all ready?"

The Spartans snapped to attention and saluted.

"Yes, ma'am!"

After silent nods of affirmation that everyone is indeed ready, Yamaguchi takes a deep breath, and at that moment, the course of history will be in their hands.

"Now then... Get to your stations! Let's get moving, crew!"

"Aye Aye!" Lukas and the other officers shouted back.

In an instant, the Spartans quickly dashed their way towards their respective stations. In the last week prior to this, they've been training on how to control the ship and familiarizing themselves with the controls and the language of their ancient ancestors. It may not be much, but it is enough.

"Hamburg, do you read?" Yamaguchi says through the commlink.

[Copy that, Flower Actual. We linked our ship with yours so that we'll be in Slipspace together. Much of our power has been diverted to shielding, so we'll be safe on our end.]

Yamaguchi smiled for a moment when she heard Hoffmann's words. She learned it from the Chief's records, about how the UNSC Gettysburg, a Paris-class Frigate, linked itself with a Covenant carrier, the Ascendant Justice. It's a neat touch with contemporary history.

"Very well." With a gesture she will never get tired of using, she orders the crew to get the ship moving. "Move the ship, now! Accelerate to cruising speed!"

"Accelerating to cruising speed!" One of the ONI officials said.

For the first time in millennia, the ship's twin antimatter engines roared to life. Gravity-based RCS systems are activated as the ship begins to turn away from the system's star. The ship, having some of its damage still prevalent, is mostly patched up to make it slipspace capable again.

The ship's frame makes a creaking noise in the bulkheads, the hull bending and tweaking as all the makeshift repairs they've been doing are slowly becoming undone, the longer the ship is moving. At best, the ship can only jump at least ten times before it comes apart. At worst, it can only jump once. No one knows how many jumps they will have to do to make it to their destination.

This anxiety is present in everyone in both ships. In the days before the launch, contingency plans are planned out in advance to prepare for the worst. As the clock starts ticking, the ship's slipspace drive is starting to stir. 

"Prepare for slipspace jump," Yamaguchi ordered.

"One minute until jump!"

"Reactor is at full energy capacity!"

As the ONI officials and her Spartan companions voiced the ship's status with ever-prevalent updates, Yamaguchi waited. This is the adventure she had always wanted, it was fraught with risks, yes, but as her Mother said all those years ago.

...You are made to counter anyone and anything, even when the odds are against you.

Ten seconds to jumping...

...Nine.

...Eight.

...Seven.

...Six.

...Five.

...Four.

...Three.

...Two.

...One!

"JUMP!"

With a crack in space-time and a flash of light, a new era is taking shape.

Chapter Text

April 5, 2561 

Earth.

Admiral Mikayla rests on her chair in her office in Tokyo. The past two months have been the busiest of her life. Due to the declassification of almost all xenoarhaeological finds that hadn't been publicized yet, people begin to take notice of the bigger picture and start to look towards ONI for answers.

In a way, she singlehandedly broke the common stereotype of ONI being a shadowy government agency that hides big secrets and silences anyone who knows too much. However, ONI is still on that stereotype, but in a more reduced and controlled manner.

As these thoughts linger in the Admiral's mind, she begins to shuffle through reports from the different ONI Subdivisions to check on their progress. The organizational reforms she made have shaken it to its foundations, and this is the first time she will be seeing the results.

There are a dozen files. Each one pertained to a different sect of ONI.

First is Section Zero, the Internal Affairs Department. This is the first section that sided with the Admiral years before the Coup. A few of her friends work there, and they sure did a wonderful job pulling it to her influence. 

Section One is the least prioritized in her bucket list. Other than declassifying the locations of certain worlds like Trevalyan, not much has changed.

Section Two is the most affected by her reforms. The way ONI handles propaganda is altered significantly, in a way that what they say is true without hinting at the scope of said truth. It is hard, but she is sure to find a way.

Section Three is already on her side, since Mikayla started her ONI command role via Section Three (after five years of retirement from Section Two), and is intimately familiar with how they operate. They are responsible for the creation of the Special Division, whose members comprised of children whose family members have good relations with ONI, including Mikayla's two daughters. 

Section Four is, at the moment, busy finding new planets for its own use. Now that she thinks about that, she begins to ponder her Spartans. She wonders if they're still okay out there-

*Ring~~*

The table's holoscreen rings like an old-fashioned telephone. Instinctively tapping into the screen, she is greeted by a face she hadn't seen since the Created Uprising. He is a middle-aged man wearing his white UNSC Navy uniform; his shoulder insignia showed his rank: a Rear Admiral.

["Admiral Hitoshi, good to see you."]

Mikayla's face lights up with delight and surprise. "Admiral Liam Price hadn't seen you since you left Earth."

["It's Rear Admiral now, Miki. I got demoted when I got into some controversy in handling affairs with the NCA. Luckily, Lord Hood saw some potential in me, and I became his Adjutant despite the setback." Price says before quipping jokingly, "Christ, have you been living under a rock this whole time?"]

"Hey, that's what I get when I'm working on something good for Spartan Ops lately."

Price's voice turned into relief. ["Good to know you said that, since I'm here to say thank you. You literally saved my career by pulling off a stunt this crazy."] He said.

Mikayla's eyebrows raised. "How so?" 

["Declassifying a lot of ONI's secrets seemingly gives me a reason to become active in the field again. I've heard that there are a lot of mothballed ships ready to be refitted and reactivated to be placed under my command."]

Mikayla knew what he'd meant, and, satisfyingly smirking, "Yeah... I requested Hood for that."

Price's dim eyes widened, but he is quite tired to do something energetic, so he instead smiled back at Mikayla, his reply sharp and concise. ["I owe you my everlasting support."]

"Don't sweat it, I'm just doing my job."

["And you've done an even better job! You sure are a lot better than your predecessors. I hope you learn to appreciate that."]

"Thanks, Admiral. Hope you got your ships."

The call ended with a push of a button. Mikayla leans back in her seat and sighs with satisfaction. She turns on her holographic monitor again and checks the latest news. Across Earth and about 60+ worlds that remained with the UEG, humanity is more united than ever, the opposite of what Osman, or even ONI, expected should these dark secrets get leaked.

Humanity's long-lost heritage has come to light, and it has united them in times of great strife. After 27 years of war with the Covenant, plus 8 more years of proxy conflict, civil war, and political upheaval, the people have had enough, and Mikayla gave them something to rally around.

For now, she rests in her office, waiting for her daughters to make history... somehow.

Unknown space...

April 7, 2561

A doorway between real space and the dimension known as slipspace ruptured in a matter of moments. The ancient human prime cruiser exits the dimension in tatters. In a scene that mirrors the Pillar of Autumn's arrival at Installation 04, the massive ship barely held on as the laws of physics caught up with it.

Inside, almost everyone was rocked off their stations, while simultaneously reporting the ship's status as the archaic hums of emergency alarms blared throughout the mostly empty ship.

"Newly repaired areas are being buckled! Bulkheads 58 through 74 have been de-pressurized!"

"Engines are malfunctioning!"

"Slipspace drive is forced into an automatic shutdown somehow, I can't reboot the system!"

On the bridge, Yamaguchi grits her teeth, clenching her fists at the possibility that they might not return. In a furious flurry, she shouted, "How's the Hamburg?!"

"Hamburg's shields are holding, but the hull sustained minor ruptures. All is well on their end." One of the ONI operators replied.

Before she can breathe a sigh of relief, a transmission from the docked frigate is being sent. Hoffmann's voice bellowed through the archaic comms channels. [Hamburg to Flower, requesting permission to undock."]

"Granted." She instantly replied. As she watched the silver world beyond the bridge's view with her determined eyes, the Hamburg detached itself from the massive ship, using its maneuvering thrusters to evade the stricken ship to a safe distance.

Once the ship stopped creaking like the floorboards of a wooden house, everyone began to scramble around the ship to assess the damage. The damage reports and short repairs continue for hours, as Hamburg's crew once more worked together with the Spartans on board to help patch up the sections ravaged by the transit. On the bridge, Yamaguchi and Alice examined the full extent of the damage.

As expected, much of the poorly-patched-up areas of the ship, mostly in the dorsal hull, were ripped apart; the same can be said for the ventral hull. Yamaguchi leaned forward and shook her head pitifully. If the ship is fully crewed, that's probably a tenth of the crew dead or missing.

"We're lucky." She spoke first, gaining Alice's attention. "We're so fucking lucky."

"Yeah..." Alice nodded with a slight frown and reassured her. "But, at least we made it."

Yamaguchi nodded. At least the sublight engines are fine; it's good enough. She turns towards the navigation station in the front of the bridge near the windows. "Lukas."

She did not say anything else, but it's enough for the middle-aged ONI official. "Yes, ma'am. All crew, scan the planet."

Minutes of chatter followed as reports are stated, recorded, and organized in the central holotable. Yamaguchi and Alice read the reports as it updates in real time, all the while using her helmet to translate the content to English.

"It's as the geas described." Alice figured, hand rubbing her chin. "It's true, the planet is mostly silica-based geologically. The magnetic field was quite strong 100,000 years ago, and still is today, which is impossible due to iron being rare on that planet. Something tells me that this world is artificial, even before discovery."

"Huh... you have a point," Yamaguchi replies. "I barely know any geology, but I can easily tell that the planet we're looking for is not normal, not in our standards, at least. Is life plausible here?"

"Maybe. The atmosphere is a bit like Earth's, but it's a bit fuzzy due to having the same distance to its parent star as Mars. That silvery paradise there must have a one helluva cold winter."

"I agree."

"So how do we plan out the expedition?"

Yamaguchi stared at her counterpart, tapping her finger with a slight grin.

Hamburg's briefing room.

Captain Hoffmann stared at the datapad Yamaguchi had given her. All fourteen Spartans, plus Lukas and Dr. Hebron, are present for the meeting on what to do next, now that they've arrived at their destination. 

The table has a less sophisticated holo emitter than the one on the ancient cruiser, but it tells just as much information. All eyes are on the hologram as Hoffmann analyzes Yamaguchi's expedition proposal.

"Huh. I kinda like your flair in this." Hoffmann spoke, granting everyone's attention by tossing the data pad, sliding across the holotable until it reached the edge, where Yamaguchi was standing. 

"Really?" Yamaguchi's excitement flared up inside her. 

"Maybe. There are flaws in this, however." Hoffmann replied. "It's better to hypothesize on how to live in that world, but it will be challenging in practice."

"I am aware that the Hamburg doesn't have the facilities to make a firebase from scratch, but we can use the classic pressurized tents the early Martian colonists used to have. It's good enough for us."

Hoffmann realized what Yamaguchi had meant. "Hold on, are you intending to go down there by yourselves?"

Yamaguchi confidently nodded, then added, "...Nah, we're adding Doctor Hebron into this, right?"

"Always." Hebron reaffirmed with a casual thumbs up, then turned toward Hamburg's captain. "You have some spare environmental suits, sir?"

"Always in abundance, Dr. Hebron."

"Nice!" Yamaguchi clasped her hands and turned towards the rest of her supersoldier family. "What do you say, folks?"

The first to react is Fireteam Flower. Yamaguchi's own sister ecstatically responded, "I can't wait to go down there!"

"Me too!" Klara replied.

"Me three!" Said Leoben.

"I'm eager to uncover the secrets of this planet!" said Ellis.

"So am I!" exclaimed Cassidy.

On the other side of the room, Fireteam Tulip voiced their excitement in their own little corner. Once that's done, Alice turned to the rest of the room and declared, "Fireteam Tulip is up and ready to go, Captain."

Hoffmann looks on in surprise at how explicit the Spartans are in showing their true selves; it kinda reminded him of himself when he was younger. Standing next to Hebron, he chuckled and voiced his remarks. "It seems that our little band of superheroes is in their adventure phase right now." He spoke.

"Pretty much. If Seine were in my place, he would've been like his grumpy self, right now." Hebron replies nonchalantly. When the lively mood dies down, all of SpecDiv's Spartans lined up in attention, waiting for orders.

After what feels like hours, Hoffmann straightened his posture and declared to the supersoldiers, "As captain of the Hamburg, I hereby approve your joint expedition into the planet, learn as much as you can. If you find something, inform me. Good luck out there."

"Sir, yes, sir!" The Spartans all saluted. It's not a gesture of answering to a higher authority; it is one of respect as equals. Yamaguchi is technically in charge of everything, but at least she has to respect the rules of others.

With a new road head for the twin Fireteams, they left the war room with excitement unlike anything seen in previous Spartan generations.

Once they leave, Lukas, who has been standing in the corner enjoying the moment, also departs the room, but not before Hoffmann stops him.

"Mr. Lukas, wait a moment." The captain says. Lukas halted himself and turned towards him. 

"Sir?"

"I'm afraid I couldn't let you join them on the surface. You'll stay here and try your best to repair the ship while the Spartans are away. Are you okay with that?" asked Hoffmann.

Lukas nodded, then saluted. "I'll do my best, Captain."

Several hours later...

Three Condors flew from the pair of ships hanging in geosynchronous orbit around the silicon planet. As they fly down, sensors pick up atmospheric readings that match up with the cruiser's scans of the planet.

The magnetic field is slightly diminished from what it was a hundred thousand years ago. The atmosphere is 10% thicker than Earth's, though cloud cover is rare in the area the SpecDiv Spartans are heading towards.

The largest landmass on the planet, almost the same size as Eurasia, looked like a barren wasteland at first glance, but the closer they are to the ground, the more lively it becomes. Plate tectonics is speculated to be non-existent, akin to Venus or Mars.

The surface in the continent's interior bears the mirror image of Earth's own moon, but with jagged yet brittle hills and rock formations, its bases being covered in dense jungles of grayish-blue trees. Anything resembling an impact crater texturally looks like glass if one squints too hard.

To their east is a massive desert made of quartz; the planet's star shines its light into the desert, making it akin to a sea of diamonds. Quartz-dust dunes exist on Earth, but not one that's this extreme.

Water still exists; in fact, half of the planet's surface area is water. But most of them are pretty shallow. They are also very clear, due to having little to no nutrients. 

The planet, by all intents and purposes, shouldn't prosper in such a way that humans can easily live on for long periods of time. It defies logic, which is why Yamaguchi brought up the theory that the planet is in some way artificial in nature, but at first glance, there is little to no proof of such a claim.

This is why Flower and Tulip sortied out.

The three Condors touched ground in regular brownish soil in an empty spot in the middle of the forest. Small organisms gathered around the landing site, their instincts driving a sense of curiosity as they watched the spacecraft land. Like any animal, they all scurried away to the forest.

The landing pads lowered, and out came the Spartans.

"Welcome to paradise," Yamaguchi says, her helmet's speakers booming out her voice that's louder than what she said with her mouth.

"Let's see if that is true," Alice replies.

Though they admired the scenery for a good portion of a minute, the fourteen supersoldiers all began to stare at each other, seeing if one of them was brave enough to remove their helmets.

Until... one did.

Taking a risky gamble, Cassidy Preston removes her helmet first, followed by Ellis, then Patrick, then Anxi, then Leoben, and so on. To everyone's delight, they can breathe like normal, although the differences in atmospheric composition make them feel like they're breathing in smog.

"The atmosphere is quite thick, but it is still breathable," Cassidy said as she rubbed her own nose with her free hand.

"You gotta thank our augmented lungs for that. It's almost like home." Klara quipped, which caused a slight chuckle among Flower's members. 

After spending another hour exploring a mile of ground surrounding the landing site, they begin to set up camp. Like a typical boy/girl scout group, they work together building their little outpost, complete with a communications array for contact with the two ships in orbit.

Though not necessarily essential to the well-being of the Spartans, the camp can be a good place to live in for the other humans tagging along with them. Dr. Hebron is with them, wearing an environmental suit, and has his hands full with research in his tent.

"Hey doc, what do you think of this world?" Yamaguchi asks.

Hebron turned to the Spartan and remarked, "The plant life on this planet confirms my hypothesis. Despite the unusual geological makeup of the planet, life akin to Earth still blooms here. Personally, I think this world is a paradise."

Yamaguchi replies, "If terraforming techniques work here, then yes." 

"It can work. But the distance of this world from known UNSC space would make actual colonization a daunting task. I'll leave that kind of matter to Admiral Mikayla's decision, but knowing her, she's probably just as busy as we are now."

The magenta-haired Spartan smiles. Of course, they're busy. Everyone is busy, depending on who they're asking. "Have fun, Doc. I'll go check on my teammates." She said, waving goodbye before leaving the tent Hebron is using as his personal lab.

Outside, Yamaguchi saw a few members of both Flower and Tulip gather around a certain tree. Curious, she walks to the commotion to see what's going on. 

"What's with the commotion?"

Rishikaze, who is at the rear of the crowd of half a dozen Spartans, greeted her sister with a wave and gestured at the tree. "Hey sis! Look!"

"What is it about?"

"This tree here produces blue rubber!" She replied.

Blue rubber? Yamaguchi stands there with a baffled expression. She walks towards the commotion and peeks over her teammates' Mjolnir. There, she sees Anxi placing a spare cup at the end of a long tapping panel.

From what Anxi is doing, she deduces that she cut a thin layer into the tree's grey bark, exposing the blue trunk beneath, allowing the tapping panel to yield latex, which flowed into the cup at a slow pace.

"How did you find out?" Yamaguchi mutters.

Anxi makes a gesture, pointing into the forest. "Pure guesswork."

The captain of Flower looked around and understood what she meant. Lots of trees as far as a couple of dozen meters in front of her are cut similarly, but no latex is flowing out of them. She begins to wonder how much time she spent trying to find a rubber tree.

Yamaguchi placed one arm on her hips and said, "Curious... what's with you and making rubber?" 

Anxi explained, "My dad runs a small business back home in Tribute. I grew up learning how to harvest rubber. The estate that I grew up in has a small workshop from where the rubber is processed and turned into whatever we want to sell them."

Yamaguchi knew Anxi's father was a businessman (granted, she never looked deep into Tulip's personal profiles all that much compared to Flower's), but never in her nine years of being acquainted with Anxi did she think that she would be the type of person to have a thing for rubber. More than that, why hasn't she explained that fact when they were first getting to know each other?

That is a question for another time.

"I see."

The planet is thus named Gamma Asicos Silica, or Asica for short.

The Spartans couldn't come up with a better name, so Dr. Hebron decided to name it after something fitting. While it is unoriginal to name any celestial object after something that can be translated into Greek, it remains the staple for naming ancient worlds, be it Forerunner or Ancient Human.

Two full days have passed since they landed in Asica. Two Earth days, to be precise. One day in Asica is 34 hours, so it's barely one and a half days on that planet. 

Fireteams Flower and Tulip are gathered once more for a briefing. By this point, everyone knows where they will go next. Yamaguchi stands on one side of the foldable table, with Fireteam Tulip on one side, and opposite them is Flower.

Yamaguchi begins to speak. "So, it's been at least 48 hours since we first landed, now it's the time we get on with our true mission."

Ellis finished the statement. "...To find the missing cargo that was once guarded by the inhabitants of this world."

"Indeed. I'll ask Captain Hoffmann to have a deep penetration scan of the planet's surface, and if there is something odd, they'll notify us and head towards its location."

Then, Leoben raised his hand. "But ma'am, the Hamburg lacks such equipment for deep survey scans at this magnitude."

"It doesn't, but the Ancestor cruiser can."

Anxi replies, "How long do you think this would take?" 

"Hours at least. A day or two at most." Yamaguchi then turns to a certain Tulip member. "Theodore, you're the cruiser's communications officer I had assigned. Can you confirm my estimates?"

Vakusha begins to ponder in silence as he recalls the capabilities of the ship's scanners and other radar systems. 

"Yes, give or take 6 to 7 hours. 4 hours if the arrays are fully intact. Due to the damage sustained before discovery and after the jump, we can spend half a day to scan the planet in thorough detail, but a clearer scan will take 8 or more, depending on weather conditions and other natural factors."

"It's good enough. Thank you, Theodore." Yamaguchi said, with Vakusha replying with a nod of approval. Flower's captain turned towards the other thirteen Spartans and finished the rest of the briefing.

"The Hamburg will provide anything we need for the expedition. Bring your weapons as well, just in case there is hostile wildlife in the area. Keep in mind that this world is mostly silicate-based, so be careful of where you're going. One wrong move on the wrong type of ground will be fatal. Understood?"

"Yes, Ma'am!" Everyone nodded, including Alice. Though there are two fireteams with two leaders, everyone knows who Yamaguchi is. She is a leader, a leader where trust comes above all else, and ensures that there is something meritorious to support it.

"Now, let's get to work."

Yamaguchi leaves the table, taking her helmet and putting it on. The rest did the same, one by one, and sortied out to prepare for the days ahead. Soon after, she opened her helmet's comms systems and spoke. "Flower to Hamburg, do you read?"

["We can hear you. What's the situation?"] Hoffmann's voice rang in her ears; he expects some progress, but Yamaguchi only needed a request.

"Captain, inform Lukas of what I'm going to do here. We're gonna need your men and the cruiser to make this work."

Cassidy and Ellis are busy assembling the upgraded control tower. In its current form, it resembled more like an electrical post than a tower built for deep space transmission. In front of them are two screens diagonally placed to interface with the tower.

One of the screens is constantly updating the derelict cruiser's deep scans of the planet every three minutes. While Yamaguchi waits for the full scan, everyone else is sprucing up the camp, turning it into what is essentially a small fort.

As the sun begins to set, and their first day on Asica comes to an end, everyone begins to take a good rest while the ships in orbit continue to scan the planet. However, Cassidy and Ellis stayed up very late to watch over the tower on their night shift.

Their visions began to blur, but thinking they were just sleepy, they halted their work and went back into their tents to rest.

No. Not Yet.

I must see.

Their geas is acting up again, and she's pressuring them to stop. Cassidy shakes her head, turning towards Ellis, who looks just as confused as she was. All of a sudden, her mind goes blank, and her body stiffens. 

Only one will do.

The voice whispers in Ellis' mind, and the Spartan's sanity returned, but Cassidy becomes unresponsive. "Cassidy?" She says, but the lunar-borne blonde did not speak. Her eyes have become dull and almost soulless, which creeps Ellis out. She then guessed,

"Navai?" 

Calling the name of a long-dead ancient human certainly elicited a response; Cassidy's head turned towards her, and she stared at Ellis for what seemed like the longest minute in her life.

Cassidy silently walked towards the console and began to impulsively interact with its controls. Ellis watched on as her possessed teammate accessed the data on the cruiser's deep scan of Asica.

"You're still up at night?" Yamaguchi, who exits the camp to check on the commotion, speaks from behind Ellis, who instinctively panicked for a second before seeing her Captain's eerie face staring at her in confusion.

Ellis begins to stutter. "C-Captain... Uh..."

"What's wrong?"

"Cassidy... Navai... she took over."

The answer bolted Yamaguchi's expression from dazed to outright surprise. She quickly ran back towards the camp to alert everyone in the camp.

It is now nighttime. Without a moon to bathe the planet with reflected sunlight, the planet relies on its biosphere and its abundance of glowing plants and animals to illuminate the darkness.

In the camp, the two fireteams gathered around the communications post to investigate the situation. Cassidy is still possessed by Navai, and no one knows how long that will last, but that is the least shocking part. What's truly shocking is the data she extracted from the Hamburg's and the ancient cruiser's deep scans of the planet.

Through Yamaguchi's data pad, she examined the extracted data. Then, she found two anomalies, not too far from each other. "W-What is this?" 

"Can I see?" Rishikaze approached her sister and stood beside her to see the data. Other Spartans are listening in, ready to hear what the sisters have found.

"There are two anomalies in this scan... The first one is small, about six kilometers long and several hundred meters wide. It looks suspiciously like the ancient cruiser, similar to the one they currently have. It is located in a deep jungle, around 900 kilometers away from the camp.

The second, larger anomaly is deep underground, resting underneath a mountain range about 30 kilometers away from the first anomaly. Curious, Yamaguchi gave the datapad to the possessed Cassidy, hoping that the geas that controlled her could give the Spartans a clue on what they're seeing.

"What is the first anomaly? Tell us."

Cassidy remained unresponsive to Yamaguchi's question. But that only lasted for a minute, as she began to tap into the data pad for some reason. Then, she handed the datapad to Yamaguchi, who began to read what she had typed.

"B-Bhu... Bhuva... nesh... vari...?"

It sounds Indian, based on Yamaguchi's limited linguistic knowledge. Anxi's words confirmed her answer. Turning to the other Spartans, she asks, "What does that mean?" 

Nobody says a word. At best, they shrugged and shook their heads. Until... someone answered.

"It's the Hindu goddess of the physical universe." Yamaguchi turns around to see Dr.Hebron in his environmental suit, standing at the entrance of his lab tent, surprised. She mutters,

"Dr.Hebron?"

"I see that the mystery has been cracked." He remarks.

"Huh?"

Dr.Hebron takes a slight glance at Cassidy, then turns towards the Spartans. "The anomaly you see is a ship belonging to the same class of warship as the one found at Site Yankee. It appears that the name 'Bhuvaneshvari' is the name of that ship.

"And the second anomaly?" 

"We still don't know for certain what it is since it is deep underground, so the scans are fuzzy and mostly unreliable at best," Hebron replies with a serious tone and expression.

"So which way should we go?" Alice interjected in the conversation. "The cruiser or the underground?"

"Cruiser comes later," Yamaguchi replies nonchalantly, which causes a few of her teammates to get surprised. "I wanna know what that anomaly is. If that is what I think it is, it'll be a jackpot."

Dr. Hebron crossed his arms and shrugged. "Whatever you say, Captain."

"When should we go?" Klara asks.

"Tomorrow morning, we'll set out via Condor," Yamaguchi replies.

Alice turned her face towards her teammates and exclaimed, "You heard her folks! You all agree with the plan?"

"Always, ma'am!" Everyone declared, nodding at her with a reassuring gesture. Before Yamaguchi could say anything else, a loud thud rang out from behind the Spartan. She turned around to see Cassidy's limp body behind her.

"Cass!" "Cassidy!" "Sis!"

Everyone rushed to the unconscious Spartan's side. Two of Tulip's members carried her towards the tent to recover, while the rest began to prepare for tomorrow's expedition.

The next day.

Yamaguchi felt quite disappointed when she found out that Cassidy still hadn't woken up from the paranormal event that had happened last night. It's nothing to worry about; her vitals are still fine, but it's worrying to leave a fellow Spartan behind.

She conceded to the reality of the situation and assigned Klara to take care of Cassidy while they're away. Now, the expedition comprises only twelve Spartans of Special Division, plus Dr. Hebron.

In the morning hours on Gamma Asica, two of the three Condor lifts off from the camp and head eastward, their engines emitting long contrails that can be seen for many miles due to how flat the landscape is below them.

For all the beauty this world holds, it is still fragile in the eyes of the cosmos. Whatever's giving life to a world where life isn't supposed to flourish is but a miracle none can comprehend. All that matters now is that there is a secret waiting to be uncovered down there.

The Condors screeched overhead, covering hundreds of miles of ground. A couple of minutes into the journey, A faint screeching sound vibrated in the passenger cabin on one of the dropships. The first to notice is Patrick, and he informs his captain without delay.

"Captain? I'm hearing something from outside."

Alice noticed his teammate and turned her head to the door to the cockpit. "Pilot, you see anything out there?"

No response for a few seconds, the pilot is probably checking the windows. Then, a reply came through. "I'm seeing a flight of small creatures on our wing. They look like... small dinosaurs... with wings!"

A small gasp exits several of the Spartans. "Wait, what?!" Anxi exclaimed.

Alice stands up from her seat and enters the cockpit to see for herself. What she saw with her blue eyes stunned her with a slackened jaw. Outside, are a dozen or so flights of these velociraptor-like creatures with dragon wings for flight.

Compared to the size of the Condor she is in, it's not even close. At best, they're about the size of a cheetah. She might not be an animal expert, but she knows how they operate. They're not very territorial, which is good, or else their ship would've been swarmed like Drones. She's not sure if they're carnivorous or not, which makes her breathe a sigh of relief at the fact that everyone brought weapons.

Turning her gaze to the other Condor to her right, she opened her helmet comms and contacted her counterpart with excitement. "Yamaguchi! You seeing this?!"

["Yeah, I can see them too. There's a lot. Are you sure they're dangerous?"] Yamaguchi replies, her voice implying that her expression mirrors her counterpart's.

"Not really. Where do we think we are now?"

["We're near the location of the large underground signal, it's located in the giant mountain range we'll be passing by in a few short minutes."]

Alice notices what Yamaguchi has said. Looking over the edge of the window is a gigantic mountain range full of valleys and sharp mountains bathed in the gray hue of silica-based minerals.

"Captain, we're nearing the location of the second anomaly." The pilot says, which notifies the lunar-borne Spartan.

"Right. Prepare for landing." Alice then returns towards the passenger seat to inform the rest of her team, ready to exit the ship the moment they land.

The landing site near where the second anomaly is detected is a lush valley with a small river at its center, flowing from north west to south east. Unlike the rest of the planet, it is filled with a diverse array of flora and fauna not seen anywhere else in this grey world.

The two Condors landed smoothly in the only flat ground expansive enough to accommodate the dropships. Once more, their landing ramps went down, and out came the Spartans with their accompanying scientist.

Once the twelve Spartans of Special Division meet up, they begin to plan their next move. As they walked into the forest away from the landing site, Dr. Hebron reported his sightings to the supersoldiers.

"Captains, may I remind you, there is a cave entrance not far from here, which all but confirms that the second anomaly is deep underground."

"Then we shall go there," Yamaguchi replies. "Klara, Leoben, do you have any safety gear with you?"

Both of the aforementioned Spartans confirm with a nod. They carried a vast array of gear for exploration, many of which are upgraded to handle the immense bulk of the young superhuman adults. Though they have the armor to handle any unfortunate accidents, they'll have to make sure they have every means to escape when the worst comes to pass.

"Wow, you guys are ready for anything," Patrick remarks with surprise on his face. Ellis pats his shoulder and smiles, "That's our captain for ya." She says.

Though the Special Division is formed as one batch, the two fireteams have yet to fully understand each other after 15 years of camaraderie since their indoctrination. A lot has changed since then, so any kind of development on the part of the humans behind all the power armor may come with a slight gasp and smile sometimes.

"Now, should we proceed?" Yamaguchi says, riling up her fellow Spartans to prepare for their journey into the cave.

"Hoorah!" Everyone cheered. 

"Well, let's go!" 

Yamaguchi and the rest of the Spartans left the cave entrance and dived deeper into the subterranean complex. Using beacons and safety harnesses, they slowly trudge along the largest passageway in the whole cave system.

Silica-majority stalactites and stalagmites litter every corner of the cave. Since silica-based rocks are brittle, the Spartans kept a close eye on one another and on their surroundings, preparing for any catastrophe befalling them. 

A hundred meters go by, and communications with the outside world start to get slightly fuzzy. At around 400 meters below ground level, they encountered a shallow ravine that cuts off the path. Going around it means travelling another 200 meters around the ravine through a narrow pass. 

Not risking the chance to fall due to a simple misjudgment of one's own footwork, the Spartans decide to zipline straight to the other side. The bedrock that lines the cave's walls is tougher than the silica near the surface; as such, it can handle the weight of everyone one by one.

After another couple of hours of exploring, they breached the 1 km threshold. They are now completely isolated from the outside world, with no hope of communicating at such depths. The cave system then diverges into three narrowing paths. Fortunately for them, the exploration team is still tracing the location of the anomaly, so they chose the path to their left.

Six hours and four kilometers deep into the cave system, disappointment reigned over everyone when the path they'd been following led into a dead end.

"Damn it!" Alice exclaimed, trying not to release her pent-up emotions right now. 

"This expedition is starting to get a little bit... complicated." Dr. Hebron commented.

"Understatement of the decade, doc." Leoben's frowning face behind his helmet stared at the dead end. However, Yamaguchi's scanner, which tracks the data of the anomaly they are searching for, keeps beeping.

"Huh? The anomaly is still detectable here." Yamaguchi says, but Alice walks in and tries to suggest something.

"Should we turn back?"

Yamaguchi tensed and retorted, "I'm not giving up, not when we've gone all this way." She ponders what to do next. As her teammates lament their journey, one of them starts to take matters into his own hands.

Jasper walks by Yamaguchi's side, jackhammer in hand. Oh no, what is he gonna do?! 
Yamaguchi grabs his shoulder and shouts, "Keyes, no!"

"The anomaly is below our feet. If we dig in, we might get what we want." Jasper shrugged Yamaguchi off and distanced himself, ignoring the cries of his batchmates.

"No, no, no, don't do it!" Alice yells.

Too late. Jasper activates the jackhammer and starts digging in. The cave vibrates from the attempted mining the madman of a Spartan is doing. Then, the floor beneath them starts to crack, and it collapses.

Half of the team: Yamaguchi, Rishikaze, Ellis, Leoben, Alice, and Jasper, fell into the seemingly endless chasm beneath, screaming and cursing as they fell deeper and deeper, with no means of getting out nor to slow their fall. All of a sudden, the voices vanish. It did not echo into the darkness, for some strange reason.

Something stopped the sounds from coming into them. Hebron, Oliver, Patrick, Sobieski, Anxi, Theodore, and Kalster all watched in horror as they watched their fellow teammates fell into certain doom. Even if they survived, they'd be mortally wounded, at worst.

All they can do for now is pray.

Yamaguchi is no stranger to foolishness. In hindsight, she should've considered the unpredictable recklessness of her teammates when making her decisions, and at times, that mistake nearly killed her in some situations, only surviving due to dumb luck or the fact that everyone is there to help her out. As she fell into the somehow ever-glowing chasm, something stopped her.

Her eyes snapped open, and she immediately checked for any injuries. She cannot feel any pain whatsoever, nor can she hear anything from her teammates that implies an injury. The surroundings are blinding her, even with polarized visors in her helmet. Breathing heavily, she bolted upright and checked her teammates.

Everyone is fine, too. She breathed a sigh of relief and began to wake them up. Her sister is the first to wake up, still panicking, and is met with sad joy when she sees her sister's face again.

Ellis and Leoben are the next to be awake, followed by the Spartans of Tulip who fell with them, including the man who led them here. As soon as Alice woke up, she heavily berated Jasper for the reckless act that could've ended their lives, but all that is overshadowed by what Yamaguchi saw.

"What is this?" She said, even though she already knows the answer.

Everyone stopped to gaze at the massive cavern full of crystals and gems whose properties bend reality to whatever shape it. Whatever they are, it is incomprehensibly beautiful. Then, with the glow of ethereal energies reflecting in her eyes...

Yamaguchi smiled.

Chapter Text

Yamaguchi smiled.

She saw everything and everyone at once, each crystal she sees catches a glimpse into what could've been, and what would've become, from the fantastical to the surreal. All at once, the revelation of the universe has dawned upon her. Everyone shared that same sensation upon realizing what they'd stumbled upon.

"A-Are these...?" Rishikaze mutters, unable to complete her own remarks due to the incomprehensibility of what she is seeing.

"Yes, they are," Ellis added, her eyes going wide. "This is the secret our ancient ancestors had closely guarded. The key to the doorway beyond reality. This is..."

"...Polysymite." Yamaguchi finished. She cannot believe her eyes. She expected something good out of this unnatural world when she first found out about its existence, but not THAT good. She initially thought polysymite was just one crystal, not an entire cave system of them.

Neural physics reigned in this deep part of the planet. How it survived the Halo Array is beyond their understanding, but what they do know is that time and space are utterly meaningless in this space, at least that's what Cassidy's geas told them, because most of their team's instruments still work normally.

Rishikaze took her sister's scanner and gathered as much data as she could about these reality-bending crystals. Ellis and the others wander around, analyzing each of these crystals with their own eyes.

"It's almost like you could see everything in there," Leoben remarked.

"True," Alice replies.

Meanwhile, Yamaguchi walked towards a nearby rock formation she could grab onto. She grabs one of the crystals, the size of a HAVOK warhead, and inspects it for herself. She tries to squeeze it, testing its durability. But then, the crystal begins to shake ominously. As if a flashlight shines a whole rainbow at her face, the crystal emanates a massive burst of light for a moment.

Yamaguchi lets go of the crystal with a shriek, which causes everyone to gather around to protect her. "Sis!" Rishikaze worriedly yells. Yamaguchi shrugged it off, exclaiming as she breathed at a faster pace than usual.

"I'm fine! But the crystal..."

Everyone gazes at the glowing crystal floating in mid-air. The light begins to converge at the core. After less than a minute, the crystal's light expands like a supernova, engulfing everyone in the immediate vicinity in an energy field in the form of a cloud-like barrier.

"What... what is this?!" Alice exclaims in shock as everyone recovers from the energy burst. Then, what they saw stunned them to their core.

The energy field surrounding the Spartans formed opaque shapes, their borders barely recognizable, where it was difficult to perceive where one ended and the other began. Numerous scenes flash in those shapes, some difficult to interpret due to the light and the energy cloud limiting their vision.

But there are some scenes that they can see clearly. Worlds of myth and legend, some of the utopia and the dystopia, the what-ifs of history coming to life, warriors battling unending hordes of evil, scientists inventing all manner of tools and weapons. Planets destroyed, restored, and given life, heroes battling villains, normal schoolchildren going to school, and much, much more. Concepts of magic, technology, and all such things that only existed in fiction are all true there. And at the end of it all, they saw themselves.

Yamaguchi cannot believe her eyes; it is too much for her, yet at the same time, it feels like she has entered a state of nirvana. As the vision faded from everyone's eyes, the crystal's light slowly faded and drops into the ground.

"W-What the hell did we just...?" Jasper mutters. He is still in shock. 

Rishikaze is the first to recover and approaches her sister worriedly, who is sitting on her knees. "Sis...?" 

What she saw rocks her conscience. Her older sister is locked in a thousand-yard stare, tears flowing from her eyes. Rishikaze calls out her name one more time, and then... she responds.

"This..." She sniffles. "I remember now. My wish. My goals. It all led us here."

The answer baffles Rishikaze, giving her sister a confused look. Then, within her consciousness, a memory begins to surface.

2554.

It is a bright sunny day in Nova Hokkaido's only remaining intact ONI facility, hidden in a mountain range not too far from Tatsurogaki. The war against the aliens is mostly over. Emphasis on mostly.

Yamaguchi and Rishikaze are conducting independent training as part of their indoctrination into the small-scale Spartan IV Special Division Program, which their mother helped build, alongside a few people willing to give their child a purpose.

They don't know how many kids are gonna buy into the fact that they'll be in a morally dubious situation, but at least everyone, parents included, has something to do with ONI in some capacity, with some consent involved.

After a long afternoon training session with their parents away for a while, the sisters played video games, ate their dinner, and went to bed before the sun even set, since a day on Nova Hokkaido is 33 hours.

As they watched the beautiful sunset from the shrine their family owned, Yamaguchi began to ponder the true purpose of why she wanted to become a Spartan. Wanting to be war heroes like the Spartan IIs is a bit of a stretch; she wanted something more than that.

She turns around and asks, "Hey, sis? You know, I think I know why I wanted to become a Spartan." 

"What do you mean? Isn't that obvious?" The blue-haired younger sibling replies.

Yamaguchi speaks her thoughts out. "That's what I thought, at first. I've seen how horrible this world is. Our mom told us everything, you know? It's like we live in the worst timeline in a visual novel. I wanted to be a Spartan so that I could make people happy and give them their happy endings."

"You know that's beyond our pay grade, right?" Her sister gives Yamaguchi a skeptical look.

"I really don't care. I am willing to take that as a damn challenge. It's in our blood to succeed, so what do you say?"

Yamaguchi's smile is just as infectious as the Flood. Rishikaze, unable to say no, conceded. "Promise me we'll see our dreams realized."

"Everything we have is at our disposal. We can make our dreams as we see fit."

Rishikaze's eyes went wide for a moment, but, thinking by the context of that memory, she began to sniffle a chuckle. "Hahaha..."

At last, Yamaguchi broke from her trance and quipped at her sister. "What's so funny?" 

"You're still a child, big sis. You come all this way for that power fantasy?" Her sister teasingly retorted, which irked her magenta-haired sibling with embarrassment upon realizing what she had meant.

"N-No! That's not-"

"Ah Ah ah, sisters don't lie, remember the rules," Rishikaze replies with a grin. At the back, the four other Spartans looked on, flabbergasted at the sudden sisterly banter.

"Those girls..." Ellis scratched her head with an embarrassing smile.

"If only my sister were here..." Alice lamented with a tinge of humor in her lips, which caused a slight chuckle. 

The revelation of what they've found hasn't yet sunk in on them, as the Spartans then quickly gathered to discuss the foreseeable future and what to do with the knowledge of these universe-changing materials. 

"So, what now? What of..." Rishikaze is the first to speak, yet she staggers halfway through her words and pauses. For such an outspoken girl to fall silent after what she had just learned speaks volumes to the gravity of the discovery.

"...The polysymite. We need a whole crate or two of these things to send back to Earth for study." Alice suggested, which caught Yamaguchi's attention for a brief moment. However, Jasper spoke first.

"Great idea! But where should we test them? Many of the facilities we have left on Earth are damaged due to how much our thrashing and Osman's asset denial have done to the infrastructure."

"...All except one."

Everyone's eyes gazed on Yamaguchi and her sudden answer. Uncrossing her arms, she pulls out her datapad and turns it on, it's blue hued screen morphing into shapes, words, and images. She showed them what's on the screen.

"Admiral Mikayla's office in metropolitan Tokyo is more than just that. It's also a research facility where ONI officials from all sections work together. Even better, there's a massive laboratory a couple of miles below the surface, much of the technology used to make the Mjolnir that we specifically use traced it's origins to this lab."

"No wonder she's ready for anything. Great idea, let's get these shiny rocks to the surface!" Alice remarked. The Hitoshi sisters nodded in unison, brimming with confidence.

The conversation is interrupted by static on everyone's helmet comms. They all put on their helmets just to be blasted by a garbled message into their ears.

["...hear...e! I r...peat, Can an... ne hear me?! It...!"]

The voice is constantly cut off by static, but Ellis recognized who the speaker is. "Wait... Lieutenant Anxi!  We're alive and breathing down here!" she yells back. After some recalibration of their signals, the communications start to get clearer, the emotions of the words spoken becoming more obvious.

["Oh tha... k go...ness! We thought we lost you!"] Anxi says worriedly.

"Well, we're all here, speaking to you right now, Lieutenant," Yamaguchi responded with a smile, looking up towards the hole Jasper dug out of determined recklessness. The magenta-haired captain adds, "Tell the rest that y'all are lending us a hand. We found what we were looking for, and we need a couple of bags worth taking back to base."

["Copy that! We'll lower them for you!]

"Thank you."

Yamaguchi then turns towards her batchmates with renewed determination in her face. "Spartans, let's get to work."

Everyone knows what their de facto commander will do next, and so, they followed her.

The entire expedition returned to the surface, bringing with them the polysymite crystals needed to be sent back to Earth for study. It took another 16 hours to exit the cave, even though they had markers guiding them, plus the process of extraction to the surface is slow due to the strict importance of not losing even a single crystal.

It's like I just came across a burglary. Leoben thought with a snicker from his mouth. The twelve Spartans all carefully loaded the crystals in proper crates to be stored in their dropships. Once that was all done, they assembled their equipment and left the area.

Once more, the Condors lift off into the blue sky, heading back towards their encampment hundreds of miles away. They pass by the intact hulk of the Bhuvaneshvari in the forests, but they don't have the luxury of time to investigate the ruins, leaving further exploration to anyone brave enough to travel thousands of light-years just to see it in person.

The Spartans, and by extension, ONI, have much more important matters to deal with, amidst their universe-changing discovery. In the half an hour it took to return to base, Yamaguchi and the others were in heavy discussion on the implications of what to do.

"I guess now is the time to let loose with our imaginations, while we have the time,"  Rishikaze speaks first. Despite being the younger sibling, she is an outspoken individual, being critical of not just the situation around her, but also of the thoughts of those close to her, covered by a facade formed out of her sense of humor, befitting of her role.

Oliver, who is not the pilot this time, then replies, "Wonder what we're gonna do with these... reality-bending crystals?"

"The real question should be... should we do this like a drugged conspiracy theorist in a bar or like a real pragmatist?" Leoben says with a smile, which incites quite a storm of laughter from his teammates. Then, the team leader spoke.

"Well, if we're being serious, I do hope we're gonna expect the UNSC to have a foothold in other dimensions. Granted, the UEG is no TSAB, but it's up to ONI when it comes to foreign policy."

"TSAB? Wait... you watched that ancient-looking anime?" Her sister asks with genuine curiosity, since Yamaguchi never really showed that much of an otaku aside from the hobby of cosplaying.

"Yeah, at least once or twice. Took some notes, actually, I hope it's still somewhere in my quarters in the Actium. At least I got something to say thanks for when I do meet them in person, since we have the crystals to make it possible."

"Right."

"How about making allies?" Ellis suggested, which caught everyone's attention. 

"Possible, but the bureaucracy involved would be atrocious," Leoben answers. 

"Unless we befriended a few important people in different positions, then maybe we can have a better chance. Proving our worthiness is easier said than done, though." Rishikaze says.

The discussion went on the entire duration of the journey, They discussed topics they weren't meant to be discussed as soldiers, but due to how important they are now, they have no choice but to meddle with such matters because they are the ones who started the whole fiasco, even if it escalated into something on a scale never before seen since the time of the Forerunners.

But for the time being, they've put aside the future for the moment and wait as they continue their journey back to the camp.

Cassidy and Klara watched the Condors touch down at the landing site, not too far from the camp. After heading to that dusty area, they are eagerly greeted by the happy helmets of her teammates descending the ramp. Of course, it's her sister who first opened up.

"We're baaaack!" Alice ran up to her and embraced her younger sister with a force strong enough to break the spine of an un-augmented human. 

"H-Hey...! Alice...!" Cassidy struggled to breathe as she was squeezed between her sister's arms and her Mjolnir chestplate. Klara's slight laughter doesn't help a lot in this case. 

"Cassidy, you're awake?" Yamaguchi asks, and the slight nod from the blonde lunar-borne Spartan confirms it. She then adds, "Well, guess what we found."

"Have you brought something from the crashed cruiser?" Cassidy replies, her eyes lighting up.

"Eh... not really. It's even better than that!" As she spoke, two crates with a slight aura of omnipotence emanating from it can be seen in the dropship's passenger bay, but it hasn't been hauled out yet, which confused the younger Preston.

"Why hasn't it been brought out yet?"

"Slight change of plans." She replies. "We found what we're looking for, now it's time to bring the goodies back to Earth, since I don't think we really have anything to do with this planet. If ONI has interest, Section 4 will handle that."

Oh. Cassidy begins to mentally connect the dots. Just as Yamaguchi walked past her, telling everyone to pack up their things and leave the damn planet, she realized what her captain meant. A secret the Bhuvaneshvari landed on Asica to hide and protect. They must've found it. 

She remained silent, however, understanding that Yamaguchi tends to know better than anyone else the secrets of the universe, and only informs them of anything they need to be informed of. It irks her, but knowing the Hitoshis, it's just a family trait to keep such secrets, and she, like others of her batch, is more than trustworthy enough to keep their eyes open to the truth.

Meanwhile, Yamaguchi enters the main tent, and she turns on her makeshift holotable to communicate with the ships up in orbit. A hologram of a middle-aged man in his UNSC Navy uniform flickers to life, his expression being one of an unsurprising mood.

["...Well, that's earlier than I expected."]

Captain Hoffmann's first words make Yamaguchi chuckle a bit before replying, "Yeah. We have what we're looking for. We're gonna leave the planet to Section 4, if possible."

["Permission granted, if you're asking,"] Hoffmann replied with a smile. 

"Oh yeah, right. Thanks, captain. I was about to say that we'll be heading back to Earth. Should we bring the cruiser with us?"

["I'll consult Lukas in that matter. For now, expedite extraction from the planet. I'll check on you again in a few hours."]

Yamaguchi saluted as Hoffmann's hologram dissolved into the screen, and she smiled. After an impromptu exercise in the form of stretching her arms, she went outside to help the others pack up their things into the third dropship, while also deciding to leave the camp as it was when they left it, just in case ONI Section 4 or the UNSC Navy stumbled upon the planet in the future.

After several hours, the trio of Condors finally took off for the last time and begins it's journey back to their small task force waiting in orbit. Though some lamented the fact that they won't be seeing the planet again, Yamaguchi remained stoic. It won't be the last.

Reaching into low orbit, they managed to link up with the two ships. Yamaguchi looks out of the cockpit from the navigation seat, just behind the pilot's seat. The two ships seem to be very busy while they're away, crews from the Hamburg are all over the ancient cruiser.

However, there are not as many crew repairing it as she had expected. Moreover, she is told to land on the Hamburg, not on the cruiser. After obliging, the trio of dropships landed in the frigate's only hangar bay large enough to fit them inside.

Once the dropships touched down, everyone disembarked. Aside from the few deck workers rushing in to quickly maintain the dropships, only Hamburg's captain is present to see them.

"Good to see you," Hoffman spoke with anticipation. 

Yamaguchi walks up to the captain, ahead of her entire Spartan retinue. She is a bit skeptical after that detour, so she asks, "Sir, why did you redirect us to land on this ship?"

"I've heard distressing news from Lukas."

The magenta-haired Spartan's face tensed, expecting the worst. "What is it?" 

Hoffmann replied with a heavy sigh, his face betraying no emotion. "The Ancestor cruiser is badly damaged from the risky slipspace jump we undertook, even with emergency repairs. Doing the same jump just to get home will result in destroying the ship."

Her eyes widened at the captain's words. Though it is shocking, it's not the worst outcome. While they still have a way home, the journey home will take longer than usual. 
"I... I see. So, how long do you think our return trip will be?" She asks.

"A month, assuming a continuous slipspace jump in two-hour intervals. A long continuous jump may be faster, but it is far more risky."

Yamaguchi nodded. "What about the ship?"

"We'll leave it behind in low orbit. Lukas already made his decision; he and his crew are leaving the ship as we speak."

"Very well."

Hoffmann nodded and set himself aside to let the Spartans pass and access the rest of his ship. While the Spartans went to a spare compartment serving as their temporary quarters, He oversaw the transportation of polysymite to their cargo holds and went back to the bridge.

In the portside observation deck, Lukas watched in silence at the ancestral warship. He felt almost sympathetic to the ship, seeing it abandoned once more, as if it were a hundred thousand years ago. It pains him to see it float way into the void, orbiting the now-abandoned silver world.

But he reassures himself that the treasures Mikayla's Spartans have found are more than worth the sacrifice. In all fairness, despite being an ONI agent, he is an archaeologist at heart, yearning to bring what he found back to his home on Earth.

But alas, it wasn't to be.

There is a hiss coming from behind. The door opens. Lukas looked back to see a familiar face, wearing the familiar ONI labcoat and a shaved beard.

"Sorry, may we have a chat?" The man said with a hint of reassurance in his voice.

"Dr. Hebron." He replies, unsure of what to say.

Hebron then stood beside the ONI agent, both men now gazing at the ancient cruiser with the thought that this would be the last time they would see it in person.

"We all feel the same way, Agent Lukas." He says. "The more I look at the ship, the more I begin to think that Yamaguchi does have a point."

"How so?" Lukas turned towards the middle-aged scientist, who chuckled slightly at what he was about to say.

"You know how we all love being nostalgic? The fact that we love our past despite the truth of said past? Take a look at that ship and see what I'm talking about here."

Lukas stared at the damaged hulk in the void. A minute passed, pondering on what the scientist meant by those words. But then, his mind clicked. 

When he was surfing the databases of the ship, he gathered a treasure trove of information regarding ancient human civilization. After recalling that memory, He begins to understand now. But at the same time, he mentally winces, because it sounds quite stupid.

"Don't tell me she's doing this to get humanity back to its 'glory days,' isn't it?"

Hebron smirks. "No. It's even better. Or worse, depending on how you look at it."

Lukas gives Hebron a confused look. The latter acknowledged the expression with a smile. "She's planning to bypass this universe entirely, and look for other... domains. I don't know if this joint effort will be on her own accord, but what I do know is that the plans she's making are extremely ambitious."

The ONI agent felt terrified for the first time in a long time. Just what kind of people are they to have such ambitions for a Spartan of all people? What kind of conditioning has given them?

These questions brought terrifying implications, and only God or whatever eldritch deity out there knows what kind of future the family that began this whole scheme would bring. Maybe Seine was right; they're probably in the middle of some supervillain origin story, and he's just a pawn in their great interdimensional game.

With a sigh, Lukas sits down in a nearby chair and ponders his options. Hebron, meanwhile, continues to gaze at the cruiser. 

Then, the shipwide radio opens. The ship's captain has made an announcement.

["Attention all crew, this is your captain speaking. We are now preparing for a long trip back to UNSC space. Set combat readiness to Condition 2 in preparation for unexpected encounters. We will prepare to jump in T-minus two minutes."]

In the cargo holds of the ship, Yamaguchi sits on the floor, still wearing her armor. It's been a few hours since she formally dismissed her teammates so that they can have fun with their leisurely activities to pass the time, occasionally meeting up during meals or practicing makeshift wargames.

While in the cargo bay, she took her time writing her logs on her personal datapad. She poured all her thoughts into digital form, curious to know what she sounded like whenever logic and reason are replaced by her own ego when things went the way she had hoped.

Self-reflective therapy is her favorite pastime, taught by her experiences as a soldier and as a human being. It will be wise to thank her mother for raising her and the others very well.

Looking back a few weeks or so, I felt like I got carried away. She thought.

Multiversal travel is a dream come true for me. I wanna meet the characters I liked and recruit them to help against whatever apocalypse is heading our way.

Now that I think about it, there are hints of that possibility. Oh well, I'll put that concern aside for now. I guess I'll be building friendships now.

Yamaguchi smiled at the thought of making friends as a Spartan. Knowing the multiverse theory to heart, there are an infinite number of universes out there, waiting to be explored.

If the polysymite crystals stored in the boxes right in front of her have the power to do such things, who knows what kind of crazy stuff ONI would do to make it work effectively? 

Oh, right, her family's in charge of this whole business, of course, she would know. Silly me.

A hiss of a door opening brought her out of her own thoughts. She can make out her sister's blue hair without even moving her head. She sighed as Rishikaze greeted her,

"Hi there...."

"Rishi-chan," Yamaguchi mutters back. Rishikaze looked at her elder sister with pity and walked up to her side. The honorific slip-up recoiled her for a moment, but her playful expression returned just as quickly.

"So... about the short conversation we had at the caverns..." She started, which got her sister's attention. "You actually believe what you've said years ago?"

Yamaguchi thinks back to the little altruistic tangent she had after gaming with her sister. She nodded to confirm her answer, which surprised her sister.

"What..."

Yamaguchi replies, "Yeah, I know what I said. It may be a childish belief then, but times are changing, and this might be the best time to realize that dream. It's our purpose as Spartans to fulfill that belief, because we have the power to do so."

Rishikaze suddenly frowns a little. "I know... But... I'm kinda worried."

"About what?"

"About what you'll do with this!" She points towards the crates full of polysymite. "Seriously, I might be laughing back in the cave, but in reality, I'm starting to have second thoughts."

"Absolute power corrupts absolutely." Yamaguchi guessed with a quote. "Is that what you're afraid of?" 

The quick guesswork stunned her sister, who replied with less eagerness. "I-I guess."

Yamaguchi shook her head with pity and placed her hands on her sister's shoulders. "I might jinx it some years down the line, but our mother taught us enough to be humble about it. Yes, I like to be important, I like to make people do whatever I want them to do if circumstances let me, but I promise I won't go that far."

Rishikaze's eyes start to water. "Promise?"

"Sisters never break each other's promises. We vowed since our indoctrination into the program that we would never stray from our values as human beings. Am I clear?"

The bluenette nodded, and Yamaguchi smiled and said,

"That's my little sister," before kissing her in the forehead.

A faint rumble, signifying that the ship entered slipspace, shook them a little. Then, the Hamburg's shipwide speakers activate. 

["Attention, Spartan Fireteams Flower and Tulip, proceed to the briefing room in 0900 hours."]

Hoffmann. Yamaguchi thought. She then turns to her sister and happily says, "Let's go."

Rishikaze nodded, and they left the storage room to meet up with their batchmates.

Two days later.

Almost a hundred light-years away from Earth, the dwarf planet of Vyrax is home to a listening outpost located in its orbit. Crewed by two people, they monitor ship movements across much of the system. Though the planet itself is uninhabitable, it is home to a former Sangheili mining colony.

It is their 9th day in the small station, and the crew is bored as hell. The so-called leader, Pierre, walks up to his friend, who is watching something on his data pad. He nudges his friend's shoulder, saying,

"Oi, Dylan!"

"Huh...? What, you're interrupting my favorite character's lore video!" Dylan complained, which makes Pierre pinch his own nose at the frustration.

"I need your help watching the monitor because something's up with our sensors!"

"Huh?" Dylan quickly stopped the watch session and puts on his jacket, rushing straight to a sizable room with consoles that monitor everything in a 100 AU radius. Checking the screens, he finds a bunch of signals on his screen.

"I'm detecting various signals in the outer system," Dylan says, to which Pierre replies, 

"A lot of them. We should contact Maribel III's orbital station immediately."

"Don't do that just yet, we gotta check if the signal is false or not," Dylan replies.

Another two minutes of checking their long-range sensor arrays had passed before a
mechanical voice began to repeatedly utter the most terrifying words anyone can hear.

[Slipspace Rupture Detected]

[Slipspace Rupture Detected]

[Slipspace Rupture Detected]

"Oh, shit."

New York City, Earth.

10 days later...

Admiral Mikayla watched the television from her new posting in HIGHCOM's new headquarters in the old United Nations headquarters. She has a bucket of popcorn in her hand, a leftover from a friend's night out in the theaters. 

On the screen, she sees a comrade, President Ruth Charet of the Unified Earth Government. Mikayla was one of the few high-ranking ONI officials who actively supported Charet's election into the position.

Though she is not the mastermind behind Charet's rise to power, Mikayla likes to think she is. She puts up a creepy smile of satisfaction on her face when Charet makes an appearance on the news, declaring a new future for humanity and displaying all of the ancient human stuff ONI had declassified, partially against their will.

Her victory is short-lived, however, when the door opens, and one of her agents personally enters the room to greet her. "Ma'am."

"Yes? You should've called me to the war room downstairs." She quipped.

The agent tensed up and apologised. "I'm sorry, ma'am, but this message is urgent; someone requested to send this in person." 

Mikayla sighed. If this message is so urgent that it had to be sent in person, like classic mail systems, then shit must've somehow gone from bad to worse somewhere in the galaxy.
"What is it?"

"There is an urgent distress call from the Swords of Sanghelios; they're fighting a strong Banished naval contingent in the Maribel system."

Mikayla's mind clicked. That system has a colony, home to a joint community of humans, Sangheili, Unggoy, and Kig-Yar. For all she knew, it had nothing of value on that planet, save for a small Forerunner outpost that didn't do anything beyond having subspace communications.

"That is odd. What of the Elites?" Mikayla says, intrigued by the other news.

"It's the Fleet of Retribution. The Arbiter is leading them."

Mikayla starts to get baffled by what she had just heard. Half the Sangheili fleet is there, along with THE leader of the second most powerful species in the current galactic community. 

"Is that a coincidence or...?" 

"The Sangheili are stationed there to resupply their fleet and are currently on their return trip to Sanghelios. From what our spies have picked up, it seemed like they're not expecting the Elites to be there at all."

"Jesus Christ..." Mikayla sighed again. For the first time since the end of the Human-Covenant War, she is forced to intervene in intergalactic politics again. At least she finally has the resources and manpower to do whatever the hell she wants. "Where's Admiral Price?"

"He's assembling his designated fleet off of Saturn. The Actium and its two escorts are nearing the Sol System, and it should be arriving by tomorrow."

"Very Well. Tell him to head to the Maribel System. Tell him to take care of my ship."

"Yes, ma'am."

Chapter Text

Saturn

2 days later

Not too far from the gas giant's iconic ring system, a fleet of warships is being gathered. Divided into three squadrons, they are mostly a fleet made up of older ships. Due to the scarcity of the UNSC Navy at this time, with the total number of active ships reaching barely less than 270 before Battle Group Omega formed the previous year, Mikayla and a few other UNSC admirals use whatever influence they have to salvage as much hulls they can find in debris fields above destroyed colonies, and under Mikayla's orders, rebuilt with Forerunner (and sometimes Ancestor) technology to increase the overall capabilities of the ships many times over.

One by one, the ships exit slipspace and are now assembling for a mass jump to Maribel III. The first to arrive are a mixed bag of newly built ships and revived hulls. 

The first group, designated as Task Force 7 (alternatively known as the 7th Assault Task Force), is led by Rear Admiral Martin Edwards, commanding through the flagship, the UNSC Evocation, one of the new Vindicaton-class light battleships. Flanking it are two Autumn-class heavy cruisers, a modified Halcyon design based on its namesake's configuration at the time of its last voyage. Those were the Manchuria and Seattle, the latter of which is commanded by Gilbert Hawthorn, an officer who is loyal to Mikayla's ONI faction. 

Three frigates lined the battle group's port side: the UNSC Barcelona, a Strident-class frigate, and the Anlace-class ships Just Cause and Cannonball.

However, at the rear guard is the fleet's second half; these ships are reborn from wrecked hulks found in debris fields in the orbits of glassed colonies. First off is the UNSC King Charles III, a rare Eion-class battlecruiser, an early war design that didn't see much service. Alongside it are three Paris-class frigates salvaged over Reach: the Geneva, Samara, and Jutland. 

However, there's one outlier, and that is the UNSC Old Jamestown; it actually survived the war, and it is supposed to be decommissioned when the Created Uprising happened, which provided an opportunity for ONI to acquire the ship for their own use.

The next to arrive are a mixed bundle of frigates and destroyers, which is hastily formed as the 44th Escort Flotilla. Originally, the Hamburg was supposed to be the flagship, but since it is on its own mission, its sister ship, the Ingolstadt, will take its place. 

The rest of the battle group is as follows: The Halberd-class destroyers Natsu and Steelman, the Charon-class Tsushima and Peacekeeper, and Paris-class frigates Krakow and Katrina are all revived hulls, while the Event Horizon and Kerch, a Paris and a Halberd respectively, are all veterans that survived the whole war.

The last ships to arrive are an octet of frigates, collectively known as the 72nd Squadron, all revived hulks. The first half are Paris-class Frigates: The Louisville, Admiral Gorshkov, Novorossiysk, and Kelly Petermann. The other four are Stalwart-class: Jack Fisher, Golden Gate, Karakorum, and Amatsukaze.

All in all, the fleet is mostly assembled. Mostly. The Actium is a few hours away, and is scheduled to be with them before they all go together.

Edwards is getting impatient. The longer they wait, the fewer chances their Elite allies would have of holding out against the Banished. But his newly assigned superior, Admiral Price, is brimming with confidence, planning out what he wants his fleet to do when they arrive.

"You know, I do hope you'll transfer your flag from here." He snickered, which got his attention with a raised eyebrow. That kind of remark would usually end badly for any subordinate, but instead, Price chuckled.

"I'd advise you to stop talking to your superior like that. On the other hand, I am planning to transfer to the Actium when it arrives. We get there when we get there."

Edwards is surprised at the response. "With due respect, sir, I was just joking." He says.

"Then you have to do something with your sense of humor," replied Price, receiving a nod from the Rear Admiral. Once they spent the rest of the wait to their own thoughts, Edwards's mind wanders to the ships he's viewing from the bridge.

Most of them are old designs, no match for the advanced technological advantage the Banished have. For all he knew, the UNSC was scraping the barrel to get whatever ships they had in the reserves to assemble this fleet. But something's... off.

The ships looked so new yet looked like they've been stitched with duct tape. Advanced tech jammed into years-old wrecks with little rhyme or reason, but it clearly has a purpose. At its core, they're still their old selves, given new life to bring down the enemies of mankind.

That uncanny thought turned into an optimistic one. For once, the fleet can stand a decent chance against the Banished without losing half their ships in the first minute or two. 

Then, the Evocation's shipboard AI reported, [Three slipspace ruptures to our port side.]

Edwards looked out from the bridge as three ruptures from the alternate dimension spat out the final piece their fleet needed. The Phoenix-class UNSC Actium, and the Strident-class frigates Javelin and Vulture.  Then, a new voice spoke through the comms channel.

["This is Captain Milo of the UNSC Actium, sorry we're late."]

Price then responded via the same comms channel. "Acknowledged, Captain. I will be transferring your flag to your ship. You are hereby assigned to the 7th Task Force as the overall flagship of the UNSC 5th Expeditionary Fleet."

["Yes, sir. We're proceeding to head in formation alongside the fleet."]

The rest of the day went swimmingly well. Price and his command staff have been transferred to the Actium as it turned its bearings to run parallel with the rest of the fleet, along with its two escorts. With total fleet numbers exceeding thirty ships, the operation will now begin in earnest.

Price opened a comms channel in the bridge of his new flagship with the rest of the fleet and announced, "Attention 5th Fleet, this is your Admiral speaking. We will now commence a slipspace jump to the Maribel system and crush the enemy seeking to harm our Sangheili allies. Do your best to kick ass, ladies and gentlemen. Godspeed."

Once the speech is done, all ships are now on standby, confirmed by the commanding officers of each of the three groups. Then, the last report finally gives him the go-ahead for departure.

"Replacement of ship-borne fighter craft with F-41 Broadswords is complete!"

Then, Price shouts,

"COMMENCE SLIPSPACE JUMP!"

As one, the fleet fired its engines. As one, they broke through the substrate of reality and entered slipspace.

Banished tactics are odd today, not something one Thel Vadam expected. He initially thought they would aggressively attack the fleet. Their numbers are more than enough to overwhelm them. Analyzing the battle from the bridge of the Kerel-pattern (CAS-class) Assault Carrier Shadow of Intent, he and the shipmaster, R'tas Vadum, are now considering the developing situation with the time their enemies unknowingly gave to the Elites.

"I wonder if they're led by a fellow Sangheili?" Thel guessed as he was pointing at the hologram of the Banished fleet. "If so, that explains them holding back their fleet. They're mimicking our tactics."

"Should we press on the attack?" R'tas suggested, to which Thel responded with a straightforward look. 

"No. It is too much of a risk to our outnumbered fleet. If they attack, we will let them." 

The Sangheili clad in gold armor, hailed by his people as their Arbiter, placed his trust in his subordinates to do what needs to be done; such is one of the core values of his species. But he knows that honor is not everything. In fact, he learned much from human culture that sometimes, everything must be put aside if it means more of his kin will live to fight another day.

"So be it, then." Thel continued. "We will defend this planet, no matter the cost. Not one single Banished ship gets to atmosphere."

Then, one of the Elites on the command consoles reported, "Shipmaster! Half their fleet is launching a mass assault into our center!"

Then, R'tas shouted the iconic command, one that ensures the crew that they won't hold back any longer. 

"All ships, fire at will! Burn their mongrel hides!"

The Fleet of Retribution in orbit above Maribel III is different. Long gone are the days when the fleet didn't exceed twenty ships, always going around the galaxy and defending their core territories.

Now, they are a force to be reckoned with. Equipped with millennia-old Sangheili ships dating back to the War of Beginnings against the San'Shyuum, along with a reconstruction effort that brought incomplete Covenant hulls to service from their planetside yards.

Yet even with their increased numbers, the fight is brutal.

The battle begins with the Banished fleet firing a volley of projectiles and plasma at the Sanheili fleet. Most, if not all, of the ships that went full afterburner into the fleet have Jiralhanae crews manning them. In the first attack alone, six of the Elites' ships are turned into burning wrecks. Fortunately, most of them are corvettes.

R'tas used the reckless move to his advantage, letting his own ships fall out of formation as a way of feigning a rout that his enemies would, in their eyes, exploit. This brought the Banished ships into a crossfire, where every Sangheili gun brutally tore the ships into pieces.

In the bridge of the Banished flagship, the Elite commander was pleased. The reckless move to throw half their fleet into the Sangheili lines is an intentional move to weaken their defenses to allow his fresh reserves of Brute Dreadnoughts and other supporting craft to finish the job.

He knows that R'tas is a very competent commander, and he is willing to play that to his advantage, adapting the surprise factor of his stumbling into the whole fleet by chance.

"First wave casualties are exceeding 50%." One of the bridge crew reported.

"All according to plan." He mutters. If he's a human, he might as well be deviously grinning right now. "All ships, commence attack."

At that moment, the second half of the fleet moves forward, bringing all its might into one massive frontal assault. The first volley cuts down a Ket-pattern (CCS-class) battlecruiser in an overwhelming barrage, with two more seriously damaged. Several other escorts are hit as well, and the Shadow of Intent itself is suffering moderate damage, yet still maintaining its combat capability.

"Multiple hull breaches! Reports confirmed Banished boarding parties!" One of the Elites reported. R'tas knew he's been outsmarted, and that doesn't matter. If they die, they might as well take as many Banished as possible with them. 

"R'tas, my friend," Thel says, which caught Half-Jaw's attention. "I will hold them off."

He ignites his energy sword, much to the shipmaster's enthusiasm. "I was about to say that," says R'tas. He would be smiling if he had a human mouth.

Before the Arbiter exited the bridge, one of the Elites reported again. 

"Multiple slipspace ruptures to our port!"

"More enemies?" R'tas inquired just as he got back to his seat. 

"ID confirmed, they're human ships! UNSC Navy!"

Those words stopped the Arbiter short of the doorway. He may not have the anatomy to smile, but deep down, that feeling of relief is genuine. But for now, he has to deal with some unfortunate boarders first.

UNSC Actium.

"All targets in MAC gun range!" One of the bridge officers said. As the fleet completes its adjustment of formation, Admiral Price grits his teeth and gives the order.

"FIRE!"

The vanguard frigates opened the pair of large hangar bays in their midships to reveal a pair of Onager Mini-MAC cannons, one on each side. As the order is given, a volley of high-powered MACs and salvoes of nuclear missiles are hurled their way into the Banished rear as it is bearing down on the Sangheili fleet.

What followed was a spectacle unlike anything the UNSC had ever seen since the Battle for Earth. At once, dozens of Banished ships and escorts are cut apart. The MACs disable the shields while the nukes (equipped with armor-piercing casings for ship-to-ship warfare) finish the job.

One of the four Banished Dreadnoughts is hit by not one, not two, but five MAC strikes and a follow-up attack with three nuclear warheads, tearing the ship in two mangled pieces. The Sangheili fleet maneuvered just in time to avoid the hurling wrecks.

Then, out come the fighters. 

54 heavily armed F-41 Broadswords poured out of every available hangar space in the fleet, accompanied by ten Longsword fighter-bombers. Making a beeline towards the Banished fleet, which is still reeling from the initial strike. The lead Broadsword's pilot addressed the rest of the airgroup.

"This is Barracuda of Serpent Squadron, all callsigns report in."

["This is Highwater 1-1, Ready for a bombing run!"] The lead Longsword pilot reported.

["This is Minotaur, your friendly neighborhood ONI operatives."] The lead Broadswords from the Actium's hangar bays reported enthusiastically.

["Whoa! You're ONI?!"] One of the Broadsword pilots shouted through the radio. 

Barracuda barked back. "Cut the chatter, Serpent 3-3, we got Red Covies to kill, so stay focused!"

["Y-Yes, sir!"]

As they approached the fleet at high speed, the Broadswords split up in all directions into eight flights of four spacecraft each to target starfighters and ships alike. 

The Broadswords that went for the capital ships don't have any anti-ship missiles in their class-III hardpoint in the fighter's belly. These fighters are the advanced F-41G variants, which are an ONI-sanctioned modification of the existing F-41E. 

To call it a modification is an understatement. The design of the craft, from the size to its shape, remains the same; however, its internal systems and propulsion are basically different things altogether. Its power output is increased threefold, and the reason for this is the application of a pair of hardlight sterilization beams used by the larger Sentinel variants, attached to the bottom of the wings where the M6088 missile delivery systems were.

These beams are so powerful that they can penetrate Covenant hulls with ease, and as such, the fighters that carried them have powerful reactors, also reverse-engineered. 

One by one, many Banished ships fell prey to the angry storm of UNSC warships with the power of two rivals from an age long passed. The first to fall to the human onslaught are the ones already brawling with the Sangheili ships.

The rest of the Banished fleet met with the UNSC fleet head-on. Thanks to the fact that much of the fleet has experienced captains, they are now given free rein to cause as much destruction as they possibly can. The ships' shielding is many times stronger than that of everyone else on the battlefield, so they can take a beating no other ship can take.

And so, they charged into the maelstrom. With quick thinking, some frigates have ODST droppods laden with explosives to bombard the sides of the larger Banished warships with just a simple turn of an axis. 

The destruction is immense. By the time the UNSC regrouped on the far side of the planet's orbit, two-thirds of the Banished fleet had been destroyed, all under 15 minutes. However, the Sangheili fleet is still suffering from mass boarding actions, and multiple detachments of Marines are being sent to help relieve the siege.

That is when the "second wave" arrives.

Another slipspace rupture appeared over the planet. Out of it, a Strident-class Frigate accelerates into real space, hanging back for some reason. Everyone noticed the arrival of the newcomer, including the Actium.

"Sir, slipspace rupture 30,000 kilometers out!" One of the Actium's bridge officers reported.

"Identify." Captain Milo replies. In fact, everyone hopes that the ship is what they think it is. And it did not take a minute to confirm that.

"ID confirmed, it's the Hamburg!"

"They're here..." Price mutters with hidden excitement in his aging voice.

From the UNSC Hamburg, seven OF-92 Booster Frame fighters launched from the empty ventral cargo holds of the frigate, igniting their booster engines. Piloting them are the Spartans of Fireteam Tulip, with Flower serving as the passengers.

"Optimize mobility! Prepare for battle!" Alice yelled through her helmet's intercom. At that moment, the 12 Multiple Independently Targeted Vehicle Pods, six on each wing, reveals itself. Adding to the already impressive firepower is a single underslung Gauss cannon, a pair of ball-mounted ventral rotary cannons, and a single Gatling gun at the top for the passenger.

Yamaguchi watched the battle, perched above Alice's head as she contacts the fleet. "This is Captain Hitoshi of Fireteam Flower! The Cavalry has arrived, I repeat, the cavalry has arrived!"

["Acknowledged, Flower. It's been a while."] A familiar voice rang in her ears. Yamaguchi smiled.

"Milo, good to see you too!" 

The Actium's captain then sends a transmission to everyone in Special Division. ["I'll relay Admiral Price's orders to you: Head for the Shadow of Intent, clear the ship of Banished boarding parties."]

"Affirmative." Everyone replied in unison as their Helmet HUD updated their mission profile. With nods of reassurance, they dived once more into the fires of battle. The seven Booster Frames accelerated head-on into the mess that is the battle. 

The UNSC fleet is sandwiched between two battered Banished formations: the reserve fleet and the vanguard that's getting mauled by the Arbiter's fleet. As they weaved across the battlespace, they shot down any Banished fighter craft in their way.

"Seraph formation, two o'clock!" Rishikaze's voice boomed on the commlink, and Yamaguchi turned to see a squadron of a couple of dozen Seraphs all coming towards them.

"Ignore them, head for the Shadow!" She responded. The seven Spartan fighters quickly descended into the anti-aircraft range of most of their allied ships. To their relief, some of the Seraphs were shot down by stray fire. Then, a pair of Broadswords pass by the advancing Spartans, taking out two more Seraphs.

"Whoa!" Alice exclaimed as the entire formation dodged the oncoming allied fighters just in time. The Division Commander is rightfully pissed at the reckless flying.

"Okay, who's the savior that almost caused a collision?!" Yamaguchi yelled at the comms. To her surprise, someone responded.

["This is Serpent Leader, callsign 'Barracuda.' Sorry for the slight jumpscare. We'll cover you as much as we can."]

Yamaguchi sighed and responded. "Be careful who you're flying to next time, Serpent Leader. Anyways, Good luck and keep up the good fight."

["Likewise, Captain."]

The division remains steady in its course, with allied fire and fighter support making the trip relatively easy. The intensity is not unlike Operation Warm Blanket, but at least no one died in the flight part. Maneuvering through the debris of destroyed ships is relatively more challenging,

Then, they see it, the Shadow of Intent. The ship suffered moderate damage, and Yamaguchi can quickly deduce which side hangar is where the Banished are making a beachhead. With their course set, they go full afterburner and charge straight for the enemy.

After disposing of the last of their missile armaments by dumping them into the Shadow's occupied cargo bay, Yamaguchi readied her weapons and shouted, "Flower! Prepare for insertion! Tulip, take care of the airspace for us."

"Copy that!" Alice happily responded. Yamaguchi then prepared to launch herself into the hangar, counting down in...

"Five! Four! Three! Two! One!"

Seven Spartans leaped with all their strength. Meanwhile, Tulip fired a barrage of Gauss cannon fire to throw off the Banished soldiers in the hangar in time for the grand entrance.

In the occupied hangar bay, the Banished forces, mostly comprised of Jiralhanae, Unggoy, Kig-Yar, and a few Sangheili, watched in utter shock and confusion as fires and explosions raged around the landing side, unable to do anything since most didn't even know how to fight fires.

Then, out of the blazing inferno, are seven next-generation Spartans of the UNSC, safe from the fire under the protection of a bubble shield. The aliens looked on not with determination, but with horror, seeing what they're facing up against. Some gazed at the lead soldier's Mark VI helmet, and quite frankly, saw the Demon himself through that obviously female supersoldier.

"Another happy landing, folks." Rishikaze started.

"We got ten minutes to clear the ship, tops. Ya'll okay with that?" Leoben replies. Klara, Cassidy, Oliver, and Rishikaze nodded.

Yamaguchi readies her Binary Rifle. "Well then, let's sprint this! Don't fall behind." 

"Copy that!" Everyone responded at once. The Spartans then locked themselves into sprinting position with weapons raised, ready for a run-and-gun across the whole ship. The Banished seem to be prepared as well, all weapons pointed at the Fireteam.

Then, the shield collapses. "GO!" 

Time seemed to slow down from their perspective as Yamaguchi and her team leaped into a sprint within milliseconds. As Spartan Time kicked in, Fireteam Flower unleashed their fury, which they had held back for months. From the eyes of their enemies, they are moving at speeds incomprehensible to them. They head towards the doorway, guns blazing. Klara fired her Spartan Laser into an overpass above the door, sending many into a panic.

"The Demon is here!" Shouted one Unggoy before getting cutdown by rifle fire. With quick thinking, Ellis fires a plasma pistol into the door's controls, opening it for the whole team to continue their sprint into the ship.

As one team, they charged forward, their guns still firing as they killed every Banished in their way without stopping. 

"Klara!" Yamaguchi shouted.

"I got it!" Klara replies, charging up her Spartan Laser while she throws a pair of plasma grenades to a squad of dug-in Banished Jackals and Grunts in a nearby room to her left. At the same time, Ellis threw a couple of frag grenades in the room to her right.

The grenades exploded, killing every alien inside. Klara fires her laser, clearing a path for the team to sprint ahead. Meanwhile, Rishikaze spots some Banished in an overpass, and she takes this opportunity to leap high into the air, unholster a pair of submachine guns, and let loose a spinning upside-down volley between the alien boarders.

Behind her, Ellis leaps forward and retrieves a pair of plasma pistols mid-air from the aliens Rishikaze has killed. And so, the headlong hallway charge continues.

Fire tore through the air as the Banished forces broke through the doors leading into one of the ship's massive bulkhead compartments. The half a dozen Elites guarding the room dug in to defend the area, but they are slowly losing.

"Charon to bridge, Banished forces heading for compartment 74! Requesting reinforcements!" shouted one female Sangheili as she gunned down two Unggoy with her plasma pistol and injured another before her shields went down due to a stray Jackal sniper.

The five other Elites in the room with her held the line with their expert swordsmanship, cutting down two brutes at the cost of one of the Elites being gunned down by a spiker.

As the battle wore on, they started to get exhausted to the point they'll have to guard the entrance that leads to the rest of the ship with their lives and what few ranged weapons they have left.

"Hold fast, kinsmen. Guard the door with our lives." Charon speaks.

More and more Banished rush into the room, and the five remaining Sangheili fire every weapon still at their disposal. The Banished forces came to a halt, responding with their own attacks on the beleaguered defenders.

All of a sudden, a human-like shout emanates from the hallway the Banished came from.

"YAAAAAAAHHHH!"

Then, in a flash, one of the Brutes was dropkicked from behind by what looks like a Spartan. Despite being a warrior, Charon winced at the sound of crunched bones and the splattering of Jiralhanae flesh as the beast fell forward, sending everyone except the Elites into a panic.

Gunfire soon followed, and in just half a minute, the whole Banished contingent is dead, the bodies of Jackals, Grunts, and Brutes strewn across the floor.

Charon exited her barricade and went to inquire about the humans who just saved them. "You... you are..."

The Spartan removes her helmet, revealing a young adult woman with short blue hair. "Hello, fellow warriors!" She cheerily greeted the allied aliens.

"I never thought you'd be the ones that saved us," Charon mutters.

The bluenette replied, "I'm happy to oblige! I'm Lieutenant Rishikaze of Spartan Fireteam Flower!"

Rishikaze extended her hand and shook the Elite's maniples. Charon responds, "I'm Enforcer Svri 'Ottam. You may refer to me as Charon. You are a lieutenant. Where is the rest of your fireteam!"

Right on cue, another voice bellowed from the hallway Rishikaze exited from. "Rishikaze!"

"Eh?" 

The bluenette turned around to see the rest of her team entering the room. Leading the way is a Spartan who shared almost the same Mjolnir design as Rishikaze, with the only thing distinguishing the two being their paint jobs.

"You could've waited for us, you know!" The Spartan clad in magenta complained.

"Damn... Just when I thought I was the fastest one..." Says another Spartan.

"Hehe, sorry... But hey, at least I saved a few Elites." Rishikaze gestured to Charon and her four surviving companions. Yamaguchi stared at the lead Sangheili warrior.

"You must be Enforcer Charon, right?" 

Charon nodded. 

"Can you tell me where the Arbiter is?"

"He's currently engaged at the large forward hangar bays. The Banished attack you've fought until now is a diversion to allow a greater number of forces to land on the main bays." 

Yamaguchi nodded and replied, "Thank you." She then turns to her teammates. "Let's go, team, let's not keep Arby waiting."

Everyone nodded, and Flower moved on, passing by the Elites towards the doorway they'd defended just a few minutes ago. Yamaguchi and Rishikaze quickly followed them. If they stayed a minute longer, she would've asked them to accompany the Spartans, but alas, it wasn't to be.

But that doesn't stop her from following them, though.

"For Sanghelios!"

Every warrior echoed the Arbiter's war cry as they repelled the boarders with unrelenting fury. Hundreds of Elites fought ferociously against the mixed bag of banished enemies. Using crates and shields as makeshift defenses, they held back the tide, as plasma and bullets decided the fate of the ship.

Thel moved forward with a hulking grace, befitting of a warrior who holds the title. His guards fought just as well, making sure that their leader didn't get flanked. The Swords of Sanghelios' auxiliaries are putting up one hell of a fight despite their backs completely to the wall.

He sliced some poor Banished-aligned Unggoy in half before shooting a Brute's head with the plasma pistol he took from said Unggoy's corpse. One of his guards sniped a duo of suicide Grunts with a Type-27 Zubo beam rifle, preventing a nasty predicament for the Sangheili's part.

Then, more Banished Phantom dropships arrived, bringing in a fresh set of reinforcements while laying suppressive fire on the Arbiter's forces, pushing them back once more. Just as the situation seemed to be against his favor, luck has shown.

The familiar sound of gunfire tore through the Banished ranks. The Arbiter gazed at the suddenly dead enemies in front of him before looking back to see who fired them.

There, he sees a familiar sight.

The helmet of the demon he feared and respected.

The Spartans have arrived.

Yamaguchi and Rishikaze tore through the Banished lines, dashing past their Sangheili allies and diving straight into the bloody mess that was the front launch bays of the Shadow of Intent. 

All rules of war are thrown out the window, as Flower embodies the demons these aliens feared for so long. With her Z-750 rifle and energy sword, she tore through everyone she came across, brutally pulverizing flesh and bone with inhuman speed and inertia, moving in a grace that seemed out of this world.

Rishikaze was much more crude, gunning down anyone she saw, and when she ran out of ammo, she went in for the kill. One of the Brutes tries to strike her down with a gravity hammer, but instead of dodging, she gleefully parries the strike with a backflip kick, negating the graviton pulses of the hammer, knocking the wielder back a few feet. She then went in for the kill, stabbing her glaive into the Brute's skull.

The rest of Fireteam Flower are much more laid back in their approach to mass alien slaughter. They still have the ammunition, so they prefer using that rather than going in close and personal. Ellis and Klara were the first to go, supporting the Elites already engaged with the Banished forces.

Oliver, being the skilled driver that he is, stole a Type-54 Ghost speeder and rammed the enemy with guns blazing, running over a whole horde of Banished Unggoy while the allied Unggoy managed to dodge just in time, seemingly annoyed by the human's recklessness.

After killing another Banished Elite, the Arbiter watched the Spartans in all their terrifying glory. He understood how resilient these soldiers are, and it is the reason why his species holds humanity with high regard.

They fought with honor, yes, but the capability of such soldiers when all of that is ignored is something to behold and something to be feared. He's fortunate that he's on their side.

He noticed something about the leaders of that specific Spartan Fireteam. Their combat movements, while just as graceful as it is brutal, remind him of a certain Demon, his former enemy, now friend, the demon whom humanity praised as their hero. 

Those were the Master Chief's fighting style, a crude yet tactical approach. Yet these female Spartans seemed to at least imitate his style, adding in their own unique forms and certain types of brutal efficiency into the equation.

When the last of the Banished forces were cut down, the Arbiter approached Yamaguchi, and he inquires them.

"Spartan."

Yamaguchi removes her helmet, revealing an angelic face and flowing magenta hair beneath. The Arbiter's voice caught her attention, and replies, "Oh, you must be..."

"I am Thel 'Vadam." He introduced himself. "I'm the Arbiter of the Swords of Sanghelios." 

"Yamaguchi Hitoshi, captain of Spartan Special Division Fireteam Flower."

"Hitoshi..." Thel begins to ponder, as the name seemed rather familiar. "Your mother is the Admiral of ONI, correct?"

Yamaguchi nodded. "Yes. It's no longer the ONI you know, sir, but I can assure you-"

"I understand the news, Captain." Thel interjected, then he asked, "That style. It reminds me of the Demon."

Yamaguchi's eyes have gone wide, realizing who the 'Demon' the Arbiter is referring to. "The Master Chief? Y-Yes, John taught us most of our fighting style."

The Arbiter nodded. "As I assumed it to be. Never mind that, is 'John' the Chief's real name?"

Yamaguchi nodded. The Arbiter never interacted all that much with the Demon he once feared in the past. In the few occasions that he did, it was in the middle of battle. He never really told anyone anything related to his life, only bound to his duty as a soldier. To hear it from the lips of his successors is a wild prospect, which Thel finds amusement in.

"I see." The Arbiter says. "The demon that everyone, myself included, had once feared is still a human in the end."

"And I'm willing to show that to everyone," Yamaguchi replies with a tone of confidence that the Sangheili can respect. The Arbiter turns around to see his injured forces. He says,

"Very well. Make him proud."

The Arbiter walks away without another word. Yamaguchi will remember those words for the rest of her life. Though the Master Chief is hard to please, god willing, he's a soldier who upholds duty above all else, it doesn't stop Yamaguchi from proving that she will surpass him someday.

Thinking back to the discovery of the polysymite crystals, she now has the power to change everything at a whim. With the multiverse at ONI's disposal, God knows what she can do with it.

Yamaguchi looks back at the Arbiter one last time before she is called upon by her sister on the intercom. Then, she rendezvous with the rest of her team, who have done just as much effort in repelling the Banished as she has.

In space, the battle is going much better than Price had expected. Whether by sheer luck or through Mikayla's miracle refits, every single UNSC ship is still operational. Some frigates might suffer minor to moderate damage, but all in all, none of the ships are badly damaged enough to render them unsalvageable.

The UNSC fleet put up a dangerous amount of firepower never before seen in UNSC history, as reverse-engineered Forerunner/Ancestor beam weapons, highly accurate Mk. 40 Spitfires, and advanced missile systems turning their Banished counterparts into Swiss cheese, or worse, nothing but dust, echoes, and debris.

Fireteam Tulip's fighter support helped the Sangheili fleet regroup to form an immediate counterattack. With the help of the UNSC fleet, the Banished are forced to retreat with only 10% ofitss forces surviving.

"Holy shit, we actually did it," Milo remarks from his seat on the Actium's bridge, smiling and beginning to laugh in relief, knowing that few of their forces were lost.

"Yeah." Price sighed as he took off his hat and placed it on the holotable. Then, the communication lines between the human and Sangheili fleets opened.

["This is the Arbiter speaking. I am forever grateful for your untimely support against the Banished."]

Price replies, "Thanks for the humble gesture, Arbiter. We will now leave the system to leave the people of Maribel in peace."

["So are we. Your Spartans have done a lot in repelling our enemies. The Master Chief's influence is strong in them."]

"Admiral Mikayla trained them well. Zeta Halo proved to be their starting point to greatness. I'm starting to believe that these soldiers would prove to be more than just Spartans."

["The feelings are mutual, Admiral. Our return home will begin."]

"Very well. Godspeed."

As the communications turned off, Price and Milo noticed a Phantom dropship making a flyby alongside the fleet, escorted by the seven booster frames that were launched from the Hamburg earlier. Price then declared to his bridge crew,

"Once they disembark, set course for Earth."

The Navigation officer replies. "Yes, sir."

Yamaguchi steps off the Phantom. As her boots collide with the floor with a loud klang, she stretches her arms and takes a deep breath. After months of being away, she is finally back to the place she's familiar with.

"Home. Sweet. Home!" She quipped at herself. What she didn't notice was that several UNSC Marines present at the hangar were saluting her. Feeling a little bit confident instead of embarrassed, she saluted them back. "At ease, Marines, back to your daily stuff. Give your supersoldier heroes some much-needed rest!"

"Sir, yes, sir!" The Marines all shouted in unison before parting ways to do, well... whatever they're doing before that.

She sighed with pity. With a gesture, she led her teammates towards the bridge to be debriefed. Finally home, they deserved to earn their rest after working and toiling for their dreams to be at least set in stone.

Though she knows this isn't the end, the UNSC, however, is going to have a whole new package to be burdened with for the rest of its existence.

Chapter Text

A few months have passed since Fireteam Flower departed the Earth. Another three to four months of adventures, hardships, and revelations. After working in isolation from the rest of the galaxy for almost a quarter of a year, they return to see Earth transformed. Not in a literal sense, it's that the vibes are a stark contrast to the last several years.

Not much has changed visually. Sydney is still in ruins, so the UNSC and the UEG transferred their seat of power to New York. What's very apparent is that the morale among the population is at an all-time high, something that's never seen before in human history. People are out on the streets with renewed vigor, and some of them joined the military out of patriotic pride.

They have never seen such a determined and optimistic atmosphere before. From the reactions of the program head, Admiral Mikayla, it appears that her plan to reveal ancient humanity to the modern mainstream media has been a success.

Across the planet, banners are waving everywhere, with slogans written in all kinds of languages, declaring to the universe that humanity's rightful place is among the stars.

God knows how the multiple alien communities living on Earth are feeling right now. Xenophobia is nothing new to humanity, but this wave of patriotism might cause some people to go overboard with it, something ONI, and to an extent, the UEG, could not allow.

But for now, the Office of Naval Intelligence will have to deal with its own shortcomings.

Tokyo, Japan.

June 2, 2561

Three and a half kilometers below the Earth's surface, a massive laboratory complex exists, commissioned by ONI in the 22nd Century. The entrance of which is a skyscraper owned by a company with secret ties to the organization. It is home to one of the best ONI research facilities in the entire UNSC, second only to Castle Base on Reach. 

There, Mikayla rallied the best personnel the organization could offer and helped reverse-engineer the neuro-physical properties of polysymite. Resources are pooled from all departments as a new large-scale project is taking shape:

Project: BOUNDARY

Another night passes with very little progress. The motherly ONI Admiral arranges all the paperwork she and her daughters have helped fill up with signatures, both digital and handwritten. 

Her office is dark, with the Tokyo skyline illuminating just enough for her eyes to see the details in her paperwork. She ponders how the polysymite was to be used, and
How to use it in a way that can benefit humanity.

It's ONI's job after all, it's just that they just don't get their hands dirty as often as before she took command. 

Once her daughters had done their job and left the room, she removed her eyeglasses and tried to take a nap on the table. Minutes later, the screen she was sleeping on began to ring. Someone's calling her. Uggggh, it must be Dr. Hebron again... With a disappointing grunt, she answered the call, only to be greeted by the last person she'd expect to hear on a call.

["Good evening, Admiral Hitoshi."]

That voice belongs to the most grayest woman in human history, who created the Spartan Program, spearheading humanity's technological advancements, and most of all, the woman who committed a war crime by making a cloned brain to make an AI that caused all of the chaos of the past two years.

"Dr. Halsey!?" She mutters with a slight shock in her tone.

["I apologise for startling your rest, Admiral."]

"Right. Okay..." Mikayla sits upright before she replies, "How did you find out?"

Halsey slightly makes a muffled snicker. ["Of course, many of the people you hired used to work for me. Nevertheless, you will be receiving much of the technical aspects of the Project from me, so it will be nice if we cooperate to understand the secrets your Spartans have found."]

"I hope you don't dig deep in, doctor. Most people don't really like you all that much." Mikayla paused for a moment. "...Not even my family."

["I see. But I do have documents to give to you, if that is what you prefer. They're picking up dust in my databases since they're so old they're probably allowed to drink."] Halsey replied. Mikayla knows she's smiling right now.

"Documents of what exactly?" The heterochromatic admiral replies.

["The theories on how peculiar natural resources can be placed on a device that can be connected to already existing systems without too many modifications. Such as your... polysymite crystals, for example."]

"I see. So you're saying that materials like Polysymite can be equipped onto any starship with only minor modifications?"

["It will take some time to perfect it, but if done right, it can simplify the process without too much hardware required to make it work effectively. I've made lots of theses regarding this issue, especially on the usage of slipspace crystals. I hope you'll appreciate my contribution."]

"Very well," Mikayla replies, followed by a sigh.

["I hope this project can have its utmost benefits to the future of mankind."]

Before Mikayla could reply, Halsey hung up on the call. What a woman... she thought, gritting her teeth at the audacity to leave the call like that. After taking a deep breath, relaxing her composure, she begins to see the value in herself. She may have some moral issues, but as long as she's contributing to humanity's survival without violating human rights in any way, she will be okay with that prospect.

Working alongside Halsey hadn't been something she'd considered during her first forays into working for ONI Section 3. For much of her career, she has worked in Section 1, working at the frontlines to gather intel.

But now, with her rapid rise to power, she will have to consider having her family compete with the intelligent and corporate giants of the UNSC and the old ONI.

After sipping a cup of coffee, she makes another call. 

UNSC Headquarters, New York City.

The next day

Admiral Price sits on the couch, drinking a cup of tea while his superior, Fleet Admiral Terrence Hood, reviews the ONI files his adjutant had submitted. While there are some contents the aging Commander-in-Chief of the UNSC Navy would had his eyes wide open with shock, some really didn't surprise him all that much.

Price waited, and waited. Then, Hood gently arranged the files and put them aside on his desk. He then says,

"Admiral Price. This report... It is no doubt credible, but this is too good to be true."

Price chuckles as he puts down his cup. "I asked the same thing myself, Admiral."

Hood sighed. "The technology the Spartans have discovered could have major ramifications for the future of the UNSC. Now I know the full scope of their power, and it sets a dangerous precedent for the rest of the organization."

"I understand, but rest assured that everything they've done is for the benefit of everyone in this galaxy. But in the end, it is humanity that will be rewarded, first and foremost."

"There are some officers in your fleet who claim to be loyal to their 'Queen'. I wonder who that 'queen' is. Just curious, that's all," replies Hood.

Price smirked. "Lady Miki herself, Admiral Mikayla Hitoshi, who, bear in mind, created a mini Spartan generation to use as her right hand."

Mikayla. That name rings a ton of bells. From what Hood can remember, she was an ONI agent working active duty in the Navy during the early years of the Human-Covenant war. She is relatively famous in some circles in the fleet, yet she quietly faded away into obscurity as the war drags on, only to reappear in the past few months as head of ONI for some reason.

He has heard of her, but he hasn't known her all that much in-person. However, he knows very much about her husband: Nachibana Hitoshi, formerly Nachibana Yamagiri, before his marriage in 2537. He was a Navy officer serving from the mid-2530s and retired just seven years ago. He is notable for his unorthodox tactics during the Battle of Earth in 2552, including the famous 'Drop Pod Barrage', where he loaded spare ODST drop pods with explosives before firing them against Covenant ships.

His memory of the event in the battle flashed before his mind. Just when the Master Chief jettisoned himself from Cairo Station to give the Covenant back their bomb, Nachibana is busy doing his own stunt by knocking out one of the battlecruisers using that tactic, much to the surprise and shock of much of his command staff. Pulling back into reality, Hood replies,

"I see. That couple really is something to behold. The UNSC needs more people like them."

Price smiled. "Definitely. Also, one more thing, Lord Hood."

"Hm?" 

"Since the ship Admiral Hitoshi has sent me to Maribel III is still under the Navy's oversight, I'd like to request that these ships give me full command of the fleet, and by extension, her."

Hood's eyebrows were raised. Even then, Price continues.

"Mikayla wanted these ships to become a permanent expeditionary fleet under ONI's jurisdiction, alongside their Army, Air Force, Marine, and ODST detachments."

A true multiversal fleet? That's something Hood hadn't considered until just now. He expected a portal of two in a secret base somewhere, but an entire fleet? It's a logistical nightmare, for sure, but he is confident that ONI, now in the hands of someone competent, will make sure everything is running smoothly without turning it into another problem for humanity to solve.

He ponders whether to see this kind of wacko idea realized, but at this point, with the implications of horrifying threats across the galaxy, he needs everyone to find solutions to keep humanity safe without violating the Mortal Dictata tenfold.

As the afternoon sun begins to set, he has made his choice.

UNSC Actium.

Sullivan McCarey's past time is to watch the world flow. With nothing but a plastic chair, he gazes from a catwalk to see the workers and vehicles moving around, doing maintenance and other sorts of stuff you'd see in a hangar bay. 

The previous battle at Maribel III was so quick that his unit never saw action. But at least he has the free time to train the men and women of his company while enjoying the 26th-century social media as it burns to the ground at the revelation that the long-dismissed theory of ancient aliens and advanced ancient humans is proven to be real.

Huh. He's never the type of person to be obsessed with conspiracy theories, but to have ONI all of a sudden come out and say that their ancient ancestors are technologically advanced and are rivals with the actual ancient aliens, it makes one wonder what the fuck happened to ONI to make them reveal all of them.

But, he didn't care. What happens, happens. He enjoys the total war raging online, and it is the only thing keeping him sane when the Actium goes into long voyages, like several months ago.

Someone climbed the steep stairs to the catwalk to greet him. It's the leader of one of the special squads in his unit, 2nd Lieutenant Jenny Birkins.

"Oh, what's up, Jen?" Sullivan's sightseeing ended as he leaned forward to sit upright and get another sip from his water bottle. 

"Nothing, boss. Just came here to visit." Jenny replies with a slight smile. Sullivan shrugged and let his friend take a spare chair and sit down beside him.

Sullivan and Jenny were friends before they joined the Army. Having come from the same neighborhood, funnily enough, a fact he did not learn until a few months ago. He knows that they come from the same city, but the same neighborhood really blew his mind back then.

Since then, they've been close. However, the duty-bound Sullivan remarks that romance is the least of his priorities, much to Jenny's slight disappointment.

"So..." Jenny speaks first. "How are you feeling?"

"I was about to ask the same thing." Sullivan quipped.

"Well, I felt off, for some reason. I wonder how much has changed since we first met." Jenny replies, her emotion barely showing, yet her voice can tell a lot more to her superior than anything.

Sullivan nodded in return, his eyes still gazing at the hangar. "Yeah. We joined just in time to see the war end. And fast forward to last year, things have escalated. Back home, everyone is happy for some reason. Not just happy, brave, determined... all that stuff."

"I've heard rumors," Jenny explained. "ONI declassified a lot of stuff. Whatever that 'stuff' is, it's riling everyone up. Many new people joined the military all of a sudden, almost as if they had found a reason to fight."

"You can say that again." 

"I just contacted my parents, and my father sent me a few articles, something about our ancient ancestors being an advanced interstellar empire or something. My old man's pretty excited."

Sullivan gestured. "Ah, yes, I've seen that shit everywhere on Waypoint; it has been the no.1 trend for the past two months already." 

"I wonder how that will change us? For the better or for worse?"

Jenny's words caught Sullivan off guard. Granted, he was about to say the same thing to her, but coming from a commander of another squad, who may or may not be romantically interested in him, is an appalling thought.

"I don't think we'll change all that much. Our equipment can, our bodies can. But in the end, we're still us." He smiles.

Jenny replies, "Indeed."

The two continued their conversation until the next training session for the 97th Special Forces Unit. Though their words would be empty for now, none could have prepared for what his life would be like. But for now, he will enjoy the life he has now. 

London, around the same time.

A certain dark-skinned journalist traversed the busy highways of central London. Wearing a simple t-shirt and trousers that made him look like a beggar at first glance. Despite the less-than-ideal attire, he is someone who benefited from recent events and collaborated with the same organization that threw him into a distant prison to be forgotten, up until a few months ago.

As he walked along the sturdy banks of the Thames, a certain agent bearing the mark of the organization he despised (or rather, used to despise) walked up to him and watched the city move on. 

The atmosphere is wet and dull, typically the norm in the British Isles, which persisted despite climate change in the last five centuries.

"For a city this big, it sure is quiet." The agent says. The journalist looked towards him and recognized who he was, his mouth slightly open with stark realization.

"Wait... I've seen you before." He said. The agent chuckles in response and takes off his raincoat.

"Haha, well, that's me, Benny." 

"Lukas Fritz? Never thought I'd see you here." The journalist replies with a positive mood this time. Lukas replies,

"Yeah. I'm on shore leave, actually. Just wanna see how you're holding up." 

"I'm fine." He nonchalantly replies. 

Lukas asks, "No, really, how are you feeling right now?"

Benny sighed. "I'm really quite happy with what your colleagues have done. It's unexpected, really. Something happened to ONI that made them declassify all sorts of stuff."

"The new commander-in-chief of ONI has a following of her own, aiming to dismantle the so-called 'tyranny' you once tried to go against. As weird as that shit might sound to you, you should be happy." Lukas says.

"Maybe. But some secrets still haven't uncovered yet, and I want people to know without you guys pulling the strings."

Lukas' voice turned serious. "Hey, my buddies aren't that snitchy." 

"You sure?"

"You're free to join us if you wanna find out. Small tip: Head to Tokyo if you wanna be the change you want to see in this world."

Well, that was odd. Benny scratched his blue hair, crossed his arms, and asked, "Well, if the truth is all that matters, I wouldn't mind. Your guys seem to be doing a fine job."

Lukas sighed and shook his head with a smile. "I'm with Section 4, tasked with finding alien worlds. Go back to working with Section 2 if you'd like; the recent reforms gutted the whole branch from the inside out. Trust me, you'll be comfortable there."

Benny sighed. "Well, whatever you say."

Meeting Room, ONI Tokyo Facility.

The atmosphere is tense inside, not because of a heated debate or a disagreement between the Spartans, but it is about the personal relationship between two certain Spartans, one of whom is dealing with a tragedy. Much to his annoyance, it causes a slight misunderstanding.

"You're gonna do what now?!" 

Sergei, Anxi, Oliver, and Theodore stared with surprise and shock at an uncaring Leoben who seemed to be ignoring them. He nonchalantly addressed their over-the-top reaction with,

"I know what I said."

"Wha-just like that?!" Anxi exclaimed.

"Don't tell me you're joking," Theodore says.

Leoben cracks a small chuckle deep in his throat. If he were joking, he wouldn't have told them in the first place. He's not the kind of person to make jokes of that caliber.

Then, another Spartan enters the room, it's Cassidy. Confused at the commotion happening with her batchmates, she asks, "What's with all the commotion!"

With a snap of her head, Oliver turned to run for his teammate and grabbed her shoulders. "Cass! Bad news, big bad news!"

"What is it?"

"Klara's not feeling like herself today, yet Leoben still insists he wants to hang out with her!"

Cassidy's eyes go wide for a moment. While it is clear that these two would've done that long ago, she is shocked that Leoben chose to do it at the right time. The first part is right, Klara has indeed in a not-so-good mood over the past week, refusing to tell them what's going on.  The sister of Tulip's captain walked up to her fellow teammate and patted his shoulder. "Calm down, Leoben, calm down."

Leoben makes a heavy sigh, rubbing his forehead in quiet frustration. "I just wanted to see her, okay! She may be a Spartan like the rest of us, but we're still fragile human beings!"

Everyone did not reply for a good portion of a minute. Maybe they're being pitiful? Maybe that only applies to Alice; her face looks like she knows what's going on, but in reality, she's probably underselling the whole problem. The captain of Tulip crossed her arms and replied while her mind was in high gear.

"Alright, you have a point." Alice's words caught Leoben off guard for a moment. Meanwhile, the other Spartans are murmuring their own thoughts into one another. He did not mind, but he knew they would understand.

"Well, whatever you do, sniper boy." Sergei quipped, before making a quick salute to his fellow batchmate. "Bring her home safely."

Leoben turned to see his fellow Batchmate from Tulip and nodded. "I'll be going now." He turns away from his fellow Spartans and leaves the room in silence. The Spartans of both Fireteams are left to their own thoughts.  

Yamaguchi and Rishikaze, for the first time in what seemed like forever, finally work in a civilian role as assistants to their mother. Mikayla encouraged them to fit in with non-Spartans, AKA the rest of humanity, as a way of growing alongside being soldiers.

The siblings simply wore their bodysuits with a lab coat on top. Assisting them is the sub-manager of Project Boundary, Dr. Hebron. He has come a long way from being the most senior scientist in the Site Yankee project, and now he will do his utmost to learn the secrets of the multiverse.

Assisting them are two new ONI scientists: Dr. Miguel Hirata and Dr. Miyazaki Ando. Miguel was born on Europa, the moon of Jupiter, while Miyazaki lived only a few miles away in the Hinode neighborhood of Tokyo's Toshima Ward. Both scientists were part of Section 3, working for Halsey to help develop the GEN3 Mjolnir platforms. Using Halsey's information regarding how polysymite should be theoretically used, they begin a series of experiments that tinker with the ethereal properties of the crystals.

They've been working on Project: BOUNDARY for almost a month now with considerable progress, but not to the extent that it will become a game-changer from a cosmic political standpoint.

Then, some news arrived.

Some baffling news.

"Heh?!" Yamaguchi's jaws hang as she reels back from what her mother has just told her. "You want us to put polysymite into fusion coils of all things?!" 

Miyazaki took off her scientific goggles and nodded, "Yeah, I'm with Yamaguchi-san for this one. It's a bit of a risk to use them in the same manner as contemporary energy sources."

Mikayla sighed and replied, "For a counterpoint, if Halsey's the one saying it, then you should trust what she's saying. However, take a little bit of liberty with how you should go about that process. It's all up to you."

"Y-Yes, mother..." Yamaguchi sighed. 

Miyazaki smirked while eyeing the Spartan before replying to the admiral, "Yes, ma'am." 

"Very well. Meet me later at lunchtime, Yamaguchi." Mikayla says before leaving the lab without any further elaboration. When the doors closed, everyone in the room sighed.

"You know, I'm starting to think..." says Yamaguchi, "...that Halsey has a point in using Fusion coils."

Miguel walks forward and adds his own statement. "I'm thinking the same thing. Do you think that polysymite can hold its strange energies in the same way as regular plasma or fusion-based energy?"

Miyazaki replies, "I think it might be feasible, Miguel. But if we were to have a chance of making it work, we might as well make a unique design that's similar to the coils, which means we're gonna do a lot more reverse-engineering than we already could have."

"It's even more than just that." Another voice spoke. Everyone turned to Dr. Hebron, sitting in his chair. "You still have to make it compatible with slipspace drives because this is more of a Navy project, if anything."

Yamaguchi knew that Hebron was right. The only way to project power in a hypothetical multiverse is a navy. Granted, the UNSC Navy is in a sorry state compared to three decades earlier, but with the opportunities gained from simply having access to other realities, maybe humanity can still have a chance.

"Well, that's something we should consider from now on." She sighed. She then turns to see her sister arranging reports in a datapad. "Hey, Rishi?"

"Yeah?" replied the bluenette.

"Check the archives, see if we can find any ONI or Forerunner records about charting dimensions."

"On it!" Rishikaze quickly got out of her chair and ran out of the lab, her Spartan agility making the act feel comical from everyone else's perspective.

Hebron smiled with pity in his face. Oh, those kids. 

A few hours later...

Not far from Tokyo, in the bustling starport in Kamakura, Klara and Leoben went to have dinner in a cafe in the town center, donning casual clothes. This is not a date they've planned for months; this is an emergency. Leoben knew something was wrong with his closest friend, who failed time and time again to hide her true feelings from him.

The two sat beside the window, a perfect spot where they would get to see all the commercial and military vessels enter and exit the port, all the while eating cheese-filled mochi to their hearts' content.

"Leo, one question." Klara began after she swallowed the last bite of a cheese mochi. "Since we've been on leave for almost a month now, I wonder how things would go from here; everything's changed."

"I'm sure it will be fine," Leoben replies nonchalantly. "As long as you're here, that is."

"Is this your attempt at flirting?" Klara's voice rose with an irritated tone, trying not to get flustered.

Leoben fixed his Polish accent and replied, "At least it's the truth. I can't deny we're being a little bit too close recently. Not that I'm complaining."

"Tch... I guess you're right." 

Silence fell for almost half a minute before Leoben noticed his friend's saddened expression. He asks, "Klara, there's something I'd like to tell you. You've been feeling down over the past few days. Is there something wrong?"

Those few words caught Klara's full attention with surprise on her face, her eyes going wide, and her mouth looking like she was about say something. Not bearing to keep her boyfriend waiting, she replies with a muttered explanation.

"You know... I have no parents, right?"

Leoben nodded. Klara's parents died early in her life, when an insurrectionist attack killed thousands in St. Petersburg, including her parents, leaving Klara to the care of her grandmother, whose health is sadly deteriorating at an alarming rate from an obscure disease from the Outer Colonies that, even with the best medical aid around, is only delaying the inevitable. Leoben connected the dots, and a realization began to form. Klara then says,

"Well... my babushka... passed away last week..."

Leoben's eyes go wide. Granted, that was inevitable, but how come he's never heard of this news sooner? Usually, Mikayla would inform the SpecDiv Spartans of the wider news through personal calls or conversations, but since she's figuratively buried in all her work, the Spartans were left vaguely informed at best.

Her grandmother was the only person she had known fondly since she was a child. She lets Klara into the Spartan Program because she entrusted her granddaughter's safety to Mikayla, who gladly kept her word even until now. Three weeks of shore leave is more than enough time for Klara to see her in the hospital. But even if she accepted that her grandmother's life is nearing its end, the painful truth still broke her. Once she recalls those fresh memories, tears begin to flow from her eyes. 

For a normal person, to see a Spartan in such a state is terrifying, because they know that something has gone terribly wrong to the point that a supersoldier of humanity begins to openly cry. On the other hand, it shows that Spartans are just as human as anyone else, regardless of achievements or ability.

Leoben understood how painful the loss of a parent or a grandparent would be. His father and uncle died in the glassing of his homeworld. Had things gone terribly differently, he might as well be ash in the skies of Reach, or a part of the planned Spartan III Delta Company because ONI would sought him out anyway.

Filled with sympathetic grief, he approaches Klara and hugs her tightly.

"I'm sorry."

Klara sniffles and embraces him. "W-What do I do now?"

"Don't worry, Klara... The Special Division is your new family now; you should learn to appreciate that." Leoben says as she wipes Klara's tears. She is reminded of her grandmother saying the same thing several years ago. She looks up at him, seeing his pitiful face, and begins to calm down.

"Yeah. Maybe." She says with a few hiccups, still unsure of her feelings.

Leoben then smiles. "Our team will be with you. I'll be with you. No matter what."

Klara nodded and buried her face on his chest again. 

It's rare to get an opportunity to have time to indulge in anything other than fighting and exploring. Even when they're sparring during the voyage to Maethrillian, they don't show that much affection because they simply don't have the time.

Now, after being in a close relationship for almost a month, they finally let out the feelings they held back for much of their lives. Leoben consoling her fellow teammate is only the beginning. Wondering where to move on from the ever-changing society they returned to, they plan on visiting ONI Tokyo Labs to see their captain, since Project Boundary is something they look forward to, even though they're far from being quantum physicists. Klara's late grandmother already had her funeral two days prior, and a cremation at that, so that option is off the table for now.

June 12, 2561

Deep down in the ONI labs in central Tokyo, there has been some breakthrough progress. After acquiring a set of empty Forerunner hardlight coils from the Xeno-Materials Exploitation Group, they begin retrofitting them with power conductors and regulators.

Miyazaki closely analyzed the crystal using the equipment at her disposal. By equipment, it meant experimental equipment, some of which is built just for tinkering at polysymite.

"The crystal is stable, no fluctuations." She reported to Hebron, who double-checks his datapad. After reviewing the schematics of what they're about to build, he turns to Miguel.

"What's the status of construction?" 

Miguel is busy controlling the nanomachines and small robotic arms, and he replies with, "Final pieces are getting attached. Once it's done, we should get a shard inside it."

The theory is that the shard generates a lot of power. A 10mm shard has enough energy stored to power whole planets for decades, at least that's what Halsey's calculations imply, since there seems to be no confirmed limit.

To harness the reality-bending properties of the crystals, the coil is used as a battery, where the reality-bending energies are stored inside. To use the coil for external control, it has to be plugged into the slipspace drives of ships bigger than a slipspace-capable Condor.

It's a crude method, but that is the best they could do with the knowledge they currently have.

"Okay..." Miguel takes a deep breath. "I'm inserting the crystal... now."

Out of everyone in the room, except for Hebron, Miguel is the most proficient in handling experimental equipment, especially since they're the ones who designed and built it.

The tiny robot claws chipped a ten-millimeter shard of polysymite from a crystal the size of a grenade. Slowly, carefully, the shard of energy is put into place, straightened with a few bumps and adjustments. The mechanism that holds the crystal closed itself, leaving it immobilized.

Miguel gives his partner a thumbs-up. "Ando, you're up."

Miyazaki then tapped into the console, typing entrance codes and activation plug-ins into the system to make a catalyst for the device's activation. After a minute, she hits enter. 

All eyes turned towards the converted coil as power began to surge into it. The crystal within glows white-hot for a good portion of a minute. Anyone who isn't wearing anti-flash goggles would have been blinded by the light. It seems that 'anyone' isn't in the room currently.

When the minute is out, the light recedes. With that, the scientists and their Spartan audience took off their protective gear as the result was being brought out. The Forerunner hardlight coil is now glowing in all sorts of colors like an old RGB light stick, concealing everything in the coil's center, including the crystal.

"Yes!" Hebron raised his arms in victory, and everyone cheered as well. The room is ecstatic as a historic moment unfolds. Though no one but ONI will know of this victory, it is still a victory nonetheless. When the excitement dies down, someone begins to speak.

"So..." Yamaguchi started. "Where should we test this?"

Good question. Hebron replies, "I'd suggest testing it on the Hamburg."

"Hmmm..." The magenta-haired Spartan rubs her chin. "It's sensible-"

"How about Mom's prowler?" Rishikaze interjected.

"The Argo?" 

"Yeah! The heavily modified Winter-class Prowler! Y'know, the one that's bigger than normal? The one whose interior looks more like a passenger plane than any other ONI ship around?"

Yamaguchi ponders for a moment. It is a rare variant of the ship, so using it as a testbed is a sensible choice. But the risks are too high, and they cannot afford to lose it. The only problem in this thought process is that the person thinking of this prospect is Yamaguchi Hitoshi. No way in hell she would allow this opportunity to go beyond the veil and go unnoticed.

With a smile, she replies,

"I'll tell her."

Rishikaze went ecstatic. The sisters quickly run out of the lab before the scientists can say anything. Miguel and Miyazaki shook their heads with a smile, while Hebron muttered with a sarcastic tone,

"I can't believe I'm babysitting super children..."