Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

If one were to ask what Xen was, you would get a multitude of answers.

If you were to ask a member of the religious hegemony known as the Covenant Empire; you would most likely be cut down on the spot for even daring to mention the ‘Hells where Demons Lurk’. And for those that were more logical, it would evoke reactions of fear; and you would be ordered to keep your mouth shut, or else you might draw ‘their’ attention. 

If you were to ask a member of the Turian Hierarchy, you would be given an odd look for even mentioning the place where the Spirits lurked.

For Asari, it was the realm of malicious demons, antithetical to the goddess Athame and her gift of biotics.

For the Vortigaunts, it is a place of solace; a safe haven and home to their friends and protectors, the ‘Old Ones’.

For Guardians, it was the realm that held one of the most powerful wielders of darkness; and the original bearers of light.

For the more scientifically minded (such as the Salarians), Xen is an anomaly in their perfect and structured little world. Xen, by all scientific accounts, should not exist. It was known as ‘The world between dimensions.’ It was the crossroads of the multiverse, where the ‘junk’ of the multiverse was dumped and left to its own devices.

There had been visitors to Xen, besides the Vortigaunts of course, in the past; mainly by the Protheans and the Forerunners. Both had been kicked out of the World between Dimensions with their tails tucked between their legs.

They refused to speak of what they had seen, once they had returned to their respective universes, but there was one thing they did speak of to their respective peoples. 

Xen was not uninhabited, many creatures and animals called it home; but this was not a shock to anyone. It was to be expected of course, even if it existed outside the laws of space and time; it was still a place filled with planets, nebulae, and stars.

No… what had truly spooked them, was that a sentient race inhabited this border world.

They called themselves… Humans.

“A race as old and as long lived as humanity, you would think that they would know how they came to be in a place as harsh and as cold as Xen.

“Alas, not even the oldest of humans are old enough to remember how this came to be; all they have are legends passed down to each other through song and epics. After talking and interviewing the various clans; and talking with a number of ‘nomads’ that do not associate with those clans, I have come up with a theory.

“The most prevalent human legend is the tale of what they call ‘Genesis’.

“Human years are quite… skewed, so the dates don’t really match up; but they claim that their God, in seven days and seven nights created the universe. Which universe they speak of is not something I am able to determine, but my main source has noted that there are multiple universes where humans evolved like a normal sentient race.

“But she also pointed out that many of these universes are only 7 billion years old.

“But I digress.

“This God then created the sky, the oceans, the ground, and animals to populate all three realms. Then on the seventh day, their God rested, looked upon his creation and saw that it was good.

“Then, their God made the first human; and from that first man, came the first woman. This area of legend is muddled, and differs wildly from tribe to tribe; nomad to nomad, but that starting bit is the same throughout.

“The one theme that remains consistent, is that humanity seemed to constantly fight with their God; have grave misfortune and death befall them, and they would come running back to their God, and then good fortune and love would follow. Many compare the relationship to that of a child disobeying their parents, and then realizing the error of their ways and returning to them.

“But the legends say that eventually, their God tired of humanity’s constant disobedience.

“My source has told me that, ‘In most tales passed down to us, God could get quite snarky when he wanted to. When he banished us to Xen, he gave us our gifts and connection to the Vortessence; and essentially said, ‘You know, I’m really tired of you going and getting into trouble and coming running back to me to bail you out. I’m sending you to the junkyard of the multiverse, sort things out yourself.’’

“Now what does this all mean?

“From a scientific and anthropological standpoint, it stands to reason that ancient humanity was forcibly moved from their homeworld into Xen by some ancient Alien race; and they interpreted this move as their God punishing them for their wars and infighting amongst themselves.

“Is it possible for us to make an alliance with humans? I cannot say. But what I will say is that they are a most interesting race.”

-Professor Mordin Solus, STG Report.

The bright blues, purples, greens, and reds of the nebula in which the ‘Core’ of Xen resided was something that never failed to take one's breath away.

For Yehochanan (or Jane for short) of the Hunters Clan, she always wondered what it was like to see what was outside of her people's realm. Jane always found her thoughts roaming like this whenever she was on the hunt; or whenever she was herding the various animals that wandered the border world.

She stalked quietly through a cluster of foliage, watching a bullsquid as it drank up some water; the predator keeping an eye out for any form of danger or potential prey, such as headcrabs.

Jane froze for a moment when the bullsquid's eye rolled over towards where she was sneaking, and she held her breath and prayed that her milky pale skin and red hair did not give her away. 

She had forgone her normal loincloth, tooth necklace, wolfs-cloak, and rib-bone chestplate; carrying only a simple spear, and having rolled around in the mud and dirt. She had no animal skin smells, and while her milky pale body was something that could be easily spotted; the mud covering her should be enough to camouflage her.

She had even gone so far as to dampen her vortal connection so that the animal didn’t sense her presence.

After a long moment, the bullsquid went back to drinking its water, so Jane struck. Her spear flew through the air, and buried itself in the bullsquids leg; and the animal bellowed in rage and pain as yellow blood spewed from the wound.

It immediately fixed its angered gaze on the direction the spear had been thrown, and spat a wave of acid; the deadly chemicals glowing green in the nebula's light. 

But Jane had already moved and hopped out of the woods, having done a quick teleport away from where she had launched her initial attack; and reappeared behind her wounded prey. A wolfish grin crossed her face, and Jane quickly wound up her arms, emerald green lightning sparking and crackling for a moment; before she released the vortal lightning.

The bullsquid screamed in pain, before falling to the ground dead; twitching and sparking for a few moments, before going still completely.

Jane waited for a moment to make sure it was dead, then she whooped and cheered loudly. “Yes! HAHAHA! I’m gonna be eating good tonight!” She shouted, doing a quick dance before strutting over to the dead bullsquid and grabbing her spear.

She yanked it out and hopped backwards from the spray of blood, and began cheerfully whistling as she grabbed the corpse and hefted it up onto her shoulders.

She started to walk, when she sensed another presence nearby and froze; before she dropped her kill and turned, pointing her spear in the direction of the presence that she had sensed.

“This is my meal! Stay back!” She ordered, winding up a charge in one hand, while cocking back her spear arm in preparation to throw.

A loud chuckle came from the bushes, and Jane nearly dropped her spear in surprise as her friend Kaiden emerged. “I know it’s your meal Janey, I was just wondering if you could share?” He asked with an easy going smirk, crossing his arms over his bone chestplate; before he glanced down and raised a brow. “And also wondering why you are not guarding your womanhood?”

Jane blushed heavily and stabbed her spear into the ground, before shifting her hands over her womanhood and breasts. “I couldn’t wear any skins or trophies, or it would have smelled me.” She mumbled, shifting from foot to foot.

Kaiden rolled his eyes and held out an arm. “You’re so easy to fluster. I swear, for all the naked hunting you do, the Hunting clan is made up of prudes.” He grumbled, before removing his own loincloth and bone-plate. 

Lifting his hands, he telepathically lifted them over to Jane, who had turned as red as blood. She squeaked loudly upon seeing him declothe and turned away, before grabbing his bone-plate and cloth out of the air and pulled them on. “Thanks.” She mumbled, still pointedly not looking at Kaidens exposed manhood.

“Relax kid.” Kaiden grumbled, walking up and levitating the Bullsquid. 

She just gave a loud squeak in response and pulled the shadows around her, disappearing from view. Kaiden rolled his eyes and hauled the bullsquid towards where Jane’s cave was and dropped it at the entrance.

His loincloth and bone-chest plate was tossed at him from inside; and he pulled them both back on, even as Jane emerged from the darkness. Still a little red faced, but wearing her own bone-chest plate, wolf’s cloak, and loincloth now. 

She pushed past him and began cleaning the kill, while Kaiden crossed his arms and leaned against the cave wall.

“So, how’re ya doing kid?” He asked, watching as she removed the liver and set it on the ground; probably so she could feed one of the Xenian Wolves that roamed around the archipelago. She always tried to have some food ready for them, mainly because she thought they were cute. 

Jane shrugged as she pulled out the intestines, throwing them onto the pile of ‘inedible for humans’ parts. “I’m okay, I was working with houndeye meat, some onions, and apples.” She said.

Kaiden frowned, “And… have you interacted with other tribes? Or members of your own clan for that matter?” He asked, already guessing her response.

The confused expression she gave him told Kaiden all he needed to know.

He sighed, “Look, Ash and I have been thinking; you need to interact with other people more, kid.”

She pouted and gave him the puppy wolf eyes that would have brought a lesser man to his knees and gushing about how cute she was; but Kaiden was unmoved, having grown a resistance to it over the years.

Yehochanan of the Hunting clan had no real family to speak of.

She had other clan members that looked after her, but for the most part she had been left to herself. Kaiden and Ash had both come to this particular island fifteen years ago; Ash wanting to have a child, and wanting a new place to live with better hunting grounds. So it was a bit of a surprise to meet little Jane, ten years old and only barely having a grasp on her vortal powers, wandering around in a jungle of Shining Trees all by herself.

Once they had learned that her parents had been lost to the Tower when she was very young, Kaiden and Ash had taken it upon themselves to look after the girl; and even saw her as a younger sibling at times.

Only problem was that little Jane was skittish at best; and she scared easily, especially when it came to interacting with other people.

It had taken months for Kaiden and Ash to build up enough trust with Jane before she had been willing to treat with them; which was helped when Ash had given birth to their son, and the two of them had brought him to meet little Jane.

Jane was far too curious for her own good, in spite of her skittishness.

Kaiden sighed and closed his eyes, shaking himself from his thoughts while Jane continued staring up at him with a hopeful gaze.

“Yehochanan.” He said sternly, and Jane cowered at the use of her full name. “You’re twenty-five. You’re old enough to live in your own cave, but you’re still too young to live alone like this without a clan or tribe.” And too old to be pulling the wolf pup routine on me… and yet it still nearly worked. He thought, leaving that unsaid. He was nearly 100 years old, and somehow Jane was still able to make him breakdown with those wolf-pup eyes.

Jane just looked down and kicked her heel into the ground, “Can’t I live with you and Ash?” She asked.

Kaiden smiled sadly, “Sorry kiddo, food’s a little tight right now; especially with how much James is growing.” He said gently, before adding. “And you know how the rules go.”

He really would have taken her in with Ash and his son, he really wanted to as a matter of fact; but she was too old, and it would be seen as unseemly to do so. Once a child reached 13, they were given their own cave to live in; due to both their developing bodies, and because it taught them self reliance early.

She grumbled loudly and huffed, going back to cleaning her kill.

Kaiden sighed and looked away in thought; and he grimaced as he caught sight of the Nihilanths Tower. It stood on a truly massive island, and it seemed to stare them down even with all the distance that separated them.

“Look… The courting festival is coming up soon.” Kaiden said, “So I’ll cut you a deal. You go to the tribe today or tomorrow, and sell your animal skins… or you go to the Courting festival.”

The horrified look on her face told Kaiden her answer; and he laughed all the way back to his cave.

Captain Jon’Shepard vas Chitikka, Ex-Citadel Council Spectre, sat in the command chair of his cruiser, scowling behind his mask. 

He glared down at his pilot, Julius ‘Joker’ Moreau, and he took a little bit of pleasure on seeing the Turian squirm uncomfortably in his chair. Jon only needed to glare at the other man for a few more seconds before he finally cracked from the pressure.

“Garrus was the one that set up the betting pool!” The Turian squawked, cringing as Garrus shot him a look of betrayal.

 “Traitor.” Garrus grumbled, before giving Jon the most innocent look he could manage. “I wasn’t alone Shepard, Kas also helped out with it.”

“Hey!” Kas’Goto vas Tasi exclaimed, popping in out of nowhere, her silvery eyes flashing behind her red mask. “That’s more than a little hypocritical, Spike! Calling Joker a traitor when you sell me out not a half a second later!”

Jon sighed and rolled his eyes, leaning back in his seat and wishing he could remove his visor and rub his nose. “And can you all tell me why you all set one of the bets to, ‘Shepard sets up a harem’?” He snorted, “For Ancestors sake, I made bets into that damned thing, and you two didn’t tell me about that particular bet!?”

“To be fair.” Garrus started, shifted in his own seat, “I did tell Kas it was a bad idea.”

Kas just blew a raspberry at Garrus. “C’mon Spike, half the women on this ship pine after him.” She vanished from sight for a second, then reappeared; poking Jon’s chest muscles. “I mean, look at him . He has a perfect six pack, and muscles that you can see through the suit!” She exclaimed, still poking him; even as Jon sighed and shook his head.

“Kas.”

“Yes?” She asked, sounding far too innocent for Jons tastes.

“Please stop touching me.” He said, trying his best to sound bored. “Not to say I don’t like it, but I tend to avoid cockblocking my friends.”

He smirked wickedly as Garrus made a choking sound, while Kas squeaked and jumped backwards while vanishing; reappearing on the opposite side of the bridge, practically squishing herself against the bulkhead to get away from Garrus.

Joker laughed and spun his chair around, continuing to pilot the ship forward towards where they had last seen the anomalies.

“So… Who were the crew going for?” Jon asked, smirking now as he leaned back in his seat.

Garrus seemed to deflate, and grumbled something about having to refund all the money in the ‘harem pool’ before he said, “We had a healthy number on Jak.”

Jon winced slightly at the thought.

The violent biotic Quarian was a hot one, but she was also crazy and violent. She wore a ‘reverse suit’, which was just a regular envirosuit but flipped. A regular envirosuit had the intimate areas transparent, which were then covered with a Raelk and Sehni ; while the rest of the body was covered up by the suit itself. It was a way for couples to be intimate when a clean room wasn’t available.

A ‘reverse suit’ was only used by prostitutes; as it flipped the transparency areas, with the nipples and groin being covered up, but the rest was transparent.

Adding to that, Jak had a very hot temper and her biotics were on par with an Asari Battle Matron; not someone he wanted to tangle with. Hell, he wouldn’t put it past her to use her hair-quills to do some acupuncture on him in the middle of sex.

Still… she’s quite nice under that prickly personality… doesn’t look that half bad either. He thought with a dreamy expression, before he shook himself out of it. 

“Who else?” Jon asked.

“Miri.” Kas replied, no longer hiding herself in embarrassment; and was back to her normal jolly self.

“No thank you.” Jon said flatly.

The buxom Asari Ice Queen was not someone he wanted to share a bed with; in any lifetime… granted, it was fun to tease her and tweak that perfect little nose while admiring those giant ‘assets’... 

No! Bad Jon! He shook his head, “Next.” 

Garrus winced, “Tali.”

The expression of disgust on Jons face was clear, even through his visor; and Kas stepped in before it could get ugly. “Yeah, we thought it was weird too.”

“She’s like a little sister to me.” Jon barked, “Who bet on that one?!”

Garrus held up his talons. “Relax, we’ll handle them. Don’t want to scare them off, now do we?” He asked.

Jon grumbled something under his breath. “Anyone else.”

“Only significant other candidate was… Liara…” He looked away while Jon bowed his head slightly.

“I told her it was over.” He said, his voice cold. “After she handed my body over to the QueensWatch; I thought I made it clear to all that it was over between us.” 

“Jon…” Garrus said slowly, gently, “I know the two of you are trying to remain civil for the team's sake, and I know things were said that cannot be unsaid…” He took a breath. “But she’s still our friend, even if she's busy doing Shadow Broker stuff.”

Jon looked away. “I know… Garrus… But I can’t. She used us… Maybe someday I’ll forgive her, but not any time soon.” He finally said.

Silence reigned for several seconds, when Kas jumped up from where she had been sitting, “Well that got depressing really fast.” She exclaimed, before shooting forward and grabbed Garrus’ hand. “C’mon Spike! We got some people to refund.”

“But-But-But! My money!” Garrus whined as he was dragged out.

Jon chuckled, his melancholy fading away as he stood, “Alright, Joker I’m out; you good here?” He asked.

“All good Captain.” Joker replied, his mandibles buzzing slightly.

Jon nodded and went to walk out when Joker spun in his chair and said, “Oh, and Captain?” Jon paused and turned to face the pilot. “My money’s on Jak, don’t make me poor.”

Jon snorted and kept walking, trying to ignore Joker as the Turian laughed at him. Bah! I’ll show him. He thought before he stopped and winced as his most recently added crewmember stepped in front of him.

While Geth may have been sentient, it always caused Jon a healthy amount of discomfort talking to one; mainly because of how Geth always ran on logic, and nothing else.

“Creator Shepard.” A feminine sounding voice came from the Geth’s head, and Jon gave it a nod.

“EDI.” He replied, “I think Joker needs ya up in the cockpit.”

“Pilot-Moreau has not requested my assistance.” The Geth replied, sounding confused as it tilted its head.

Jon sighed, “Perhaps not, but we’re coming up on the anomaly soon, and I’d like you up there in case something happens.” He explained, which was mostly true; as the anomaly that the QueensWatch had sent them chasing after was potentially dangerous.

But he also didn’t want to deal with EDI and her- It’s literal mindedness.

“Of course, Creator Shepard.” The Geth replied, before walking past him.

Jon took a breath and released it before continuing on his way to the engineering section. It never ceased to amaze him how Salarians, Turians, Asari, Batarians, and Quarians could all work together under the concept of fighting the Reapers; and it was also surprising how many of them were willing to accept the fact that he just came back from the dead.

Then again, the QueensWatch had probably hand picked all these people for him; so that wasn’t a surprise.

“Ah, Jon.”

Jon turned and smiled as Tali walked over, bouncing on her toes as she bounded over from her work station. “How are you doing M’łodsza sios’tra ?” He asked, rubbing the top of her helmet as if he was doing the same to her hair-quills.

Tali fussed with her Sehni for a moment, and gave him an annoyed glare before deflating somewhat. “Mostly okay, Ken and Gabby are being their usual selves.” She sent a glance over his shoulder, and Jon turned around to see what she was looking at.

Ken’Donnelly was clearly flirting with Ghabbika Drabkass; the Batarian women looking both flattered and annoyed by the Quarians banter with her.

Jon chuckled and shook his head. “Has Jak been causing trouble?”

“Beyond asking me if her suit decorations look good? No more than usual.” Tali replied, sounding slightly uneasy, bashful, and disgusted all at the same time.

“Wow, high praise. Maybe I should break a few things or run around naked just to shake things up.”

Tali visibly tensed, and Jon sighed as his little sister-figure spun around in a purple blur. “Why are you out here instead of in your hidey hole?” Tali demanded.

Jak’Nikt vas Tasi smirked in reply, “Because Mr. Gallant Knight was asking around, that’s why.”

“Ladies, play nice.” Jon warned, even as he looked over Tali’s shoulder to make sure Jak wasn’t armed or anything.

If one were to look at her, you would think she was covered in tattoos; when in reality it was just painting and stickers that Jak had put onto her suit. Her nipples and groin were the only things covered up, while the rest of her body was visible for all the world to see. Even her helmet and mask were transparent.

She was a beautiful woman, even an idiot could admit that.

Slightly scarred, but otherwise smooth light blue skin; midnight blue hair-quills that trailed down to her chin, bright mercury eyes, a heart shaped face…

Jon shook his head, “Well, since you’re here, is there anything you need Jak?” He asked, already knowing that something vulgar was going to come out of her mouth.

Jak just adopted a thoughtful expression for a moment, “Eh, maybe some sex if anyone was willing; but I’m good otherwise.”

Tali growled, “I know you installed that nerve-stim pro; just… mute your damned vox-mitter next time you use it.”

Jak just laughed, her eyes flashing in amusement. “Maybe next time you can join me; or Mr. Gallant Knight can.” She said in a sultry voice, gliding past Tali and running her hand across Jons chest for a moment.

“I’ll pass.” Jon replied flatly, “Jak, have you not been taking your medication?”

“So what if I haven’t?” Jak retorted, frowning and crossing her arms.

“Because you need to take them, and I can tell if the fact that your sex drive is going up.” Jon stated simply, crossing his arms in kind and giving her a stern glare.

Even a suit like Jak’s had special functions built into it; among others, it had a medication cocktail that dispensed vitamins that Quarians couldn’t normally get, along with water. It also had a drug that reduced a Quarians sex drive, not by much; but enough so that they didn’t rut like animals whenever they felt the urge. 

Jak scoffed, but reluctantly brought up her omnitool and typed in a few commands, followed by a faint clicking sound coming from her suit; then she seemed to visibly tense for a few seconds, then she relaxed. Though if Jon were to guess, he would put money on Jak being quite unhappy with him.

“You always ruin my fun.” She grumbled.

Jon just rubbed his visor, “I’m just looking out for ya Jak.”

“Captain, you’re needed on the bridge. We’re approaching the anomaly now.” Joker's voice sounded over the comms.

“Right then.” Jon sighed, “Duty calls. See you girls later.”

He turned and started walking back to the bridge, but he saw Jak following him out of the corner of his eye. 

He shot her a look, and the biotic just shrugged. “Eh, could be exciting; may as well take a look.” 

Jon shook his head, “You sure you’re not stalking me?” He asked, smirking slightly.

She had a temper, but it was always fun to watch it. She never hurt anyone, being more bark than bite; and he had to admit that she was cute when she tried to be intimidating, especially when she tried staring down Samara that one time.

Jak just glared at him, though he could see her cheeks turn a little blue for a moment before she turned her gaze forward, muttering to herself the whole way.

Jon just smiled, Today is a good day.

The Young Wolf, Iron Lady Whisper-11, the next Hunter Vanguard; there were many ways that people referred to the young Guardian Hunter.

But chief among them was that she was the next Cayde-6.

She was just like her mentor in many ways; sarcastic, irreverent, joking… and above all else, really good at her job. However much one may have disliked her class clown personality, you could not deny that she was probably one of the best Guardians that had been created. The only problem was that Cayde-6 was her mentor.

Cayde and Whisper didn’t see this as a problem, and in fact many joked to Cayde whenever he bragged about something Whisper had accomplished; that he was bragging about his ‘kid’ to anyone that would listen.

Not that Cayde or Whisper really denied how they saw each other; as the young kinderguardian always seemed to follow in her mentor's footsteps whenever she could.

And at the moment, she was doing something that would have Cayde doubled over laughing and clapping; and having Ikora Rey and Commander Zavala shaking their heads in disappointment. ‘What was she doing?’ you might be asking; well she was dancing in the middle of a warzone while singing of course, and having her Ghost provide the music to sing to (against his will of course).

“Boom boom, boom boom.” 

Whisper kicked her feet and drew her Sunshot Handcannon, and quickly blasted a number of Scorn running at her; the explosion of solar energy cooking the group of them as their leader fell dead from a hole in his head.

“Gonna shoot you right down.”

Whisper grinned as much as an Exo could grin as she fired several more shots at a few more Scorn; her light blue eyes and yellow mouth shining brightly, while her white and gray head bobbed to the beat, even as she continued to sing.

“Take you in my arms.”

A Scorn launched itself at her, and she did a perfect pirouette; causing the Scorn to overshoot her and crash into a cluster of his comrades, all of whom she promptly cooked by shooting one in the head.

“I'm in love with you.”

She holstered Sunshot into her Lucky Pants (a revival-day gift from Cayde), and then drew her auto rifle Arc Logic ; and began spraying into the Scorn while pirouetting again, taking a large number down with only one magazine. 

While to an outsider, it looked like she was just spraying bullets; to someone who could actually process it fast enough, one could see that she was actually one tapping each individual Scorn as they approached. 

She was just aiming and firing so quickly, it looked and sounded like she was just spraying bullets.

“Love that is true.”

She saw a Scorn Baron at the rear of the pack, and she quickly formed a Golden Gun and lined up a shot to take out the enemy boss.

“Boom boom, boom bo -OOOF!”

Whisper was sent flying off to one side as a Scorn mace smashed into her side.

She slammed into the wall of the cave, her Golden Gun disappearing, while she dropped Sunshot to the ground. Ghost quickly returned the weapon to Whisper's backpack, before he appeared and chirped angrily at her. “This is why you don’t screw around in combat.”

“Ah, I’m fine.” She grumbled, pushing herself to her feet and drawing her broadsword; Young Wolf's Howl , and she settled into a proper mordhau fighting stance even as a dozen Scorn gathered around her. “But now I’m pissed, they interrupted my singing.”

“Your skewed priorities never cease to amaze me.” Ghost remarked, disappearing back into her backpack.

Whisper ignored him as she began tearing through the Scorn, grumbling the whole while that they had interrupted her flow. As her broadsword decapitated one Scorn, her comms channel lit up, and she smiled slightly as the familiar voice of her mentor filled her ears.

“Hey kid, how’re things going?” Cayde-6 asked, sounding bored, which meant that he was probably in the tower somewhere.

Whisper ducked under a swing from a mace, and stabbed into the Scorn raiders heart. “I’m a little busy at the moment.”

“So I see.” Cayde replied, sounding amused now as he doubtlessly tapped into her helmet feed. “Look, once you’re no longer busy; I need you to do me a favor.”

“That being?” Whisper asked as she kicked a Scorn Raider back, drew Sunshot ; and blew his head off with a single round, causing an explosion of solar energy that took out a cluster of enemies. 

“Well, Ikora found some kind of portal near your position. The Vex seem to be very interested in getting it up and running.” 

Whisper groaned, even as she spun and bisected a cluster of Scorn. “Please tell me that I’m not gonna have to deal with that nutbag Asher again?” She begged.

“Don’t worry, I’ll be your handler for this.” Cayde assured her. “And hey! I actually got a full briefing prepared and everything, and Zavala can’t interrupt me.”

“What is there to say, Cayde?” Ghost said, speaking up while Whisper was occupied in mopping up the last of the Scorn. “There’s a Vex portal that needs to be shut down. Briefing done.”

“Awwww… You guys ruined my briefing again.” Cayde whined.

“If Ghost could sum it up in one sentence and ruin it, it wasn’t much of a briefing Cayde.” Whisper retorted, drawing Sunshot and blasting the last three Scorn. “Alright, I’ll get moving towards this portal.” 

“Good, I’ll stay on the line and make sure you don’t need backup or anything.” Cayde confirmed.

Whisper smirked, “You just want an excuse to get out of the tower, don’t you?”

“....Maybe?”

“Ha! Good luck with that Old Man. Ghost! Give me some good traveling music, this is gonna be a long ride.”

John quietly placed Linda into the cryo tube, a slight tremor in his hands from grief and bitterness as he did so. She was clinically dead, but the cryopod would preserve her brain functions long enough until her heart could be restarted and her body healed. 

Which was more than could be said for James, since he was floating helplessly out there in space.

Swallowing heavily, the Chief walked out of the cryobay and towards the bridge, hoping to receive at least some good news from the Captain. He was instead greeted by controlled chaos and a sight which he had seen many times; but one that he had never gotten used to. The sight of a planet being glassed.

Only this time, it wasn’t some colony that had been found; it was his home.

And his family was still on the surface. Dr. Halsey, Fred, Kelly, William, and all the rest were still trapped down there; and there was not a thing he could do to help them. All he could do was hope that they would find a way to survive the onslaught of plasma from orbit.

“Cortana, how long till we jump to slipspace?” Captain Keyes asked, his cool voice breaking John out of his thoughts; then the Pillar of Autumn jerked to the side somewhat.

“Sorry Captain, avoiding some Pulse Laser fire.” Cortana replied, “Thirty minutes to slipspace jump.”

Keyes nodded, and turned to the Chief; blinking as he took in the Spartans battle damaged armor. “Chief, I trust the mission was a success?” He asked.

The Chief nodded in response. “Yes sir, I wouldn’t have left otherwise.”

Keyes sighed, a relieved smile crossing his face for a moment. “The Earth is safe for another day.” He breathed out.

John glanced over at Cortana, then back at the Captain, and he said hesitantly; “Sir… One of my men, when we were boarding the station his thruster pack was punctured; and he went sailing off into the black. Could you see if he’s still alive?” 

Keyes blinked, then nodded, “Aye Chief, the least I can do.” He turned to one of the officers; and she gave a few sensor pings, before turning and giving a sad head shake. Keyes nodded and turned back to John and said, “I’m sorry Chief. Nothing.” 

“Acknowledged.” John replied, unable to keep the bitterness out of his voice.

It was a terrible way to die, drifting alone in space and slowly running out of oxygen. It was not an end that befitted a Spartan like James. Reluctantly, the chief brought up the list of Spartans under his command; and marked them all as MIA, pausing on Kelly, Fred, and Linda’s in particular.

He looked down at the deck, even as the ship jerked again to avoid more pulse laser fire; simply choosing to stand there as the minutes ticked by.

“Are you alright?” Cortana whispered in his helmet as they began activating the slipspace drive, and John sighed.

“I’ll adapt.” He replied, even as the slipspace portal opened in front of them.

“That wasn’t an answer.” Cortana noted.

“It wasn’t.” And he had nothing more to say as they began to enter the portal.

“Alright Gordon, your suit should keep you comfortable through all this. Now, if you would be so good as to climb up and start the rotors; we can bring the Anti-Mass Spectrometer to 80%, and hold it there until the Carrier arrives.”

This would be an interesting test, Gordon would admit that.

He walked over to the ladder leading up to his work station, and started climbing; taking care to not hit his helmet on the rungs as he climbed upwards to the platform. Once he got to the top and walked over to his work console, quickly logging in and typing his password; his fingers being literal blurs as they began activating the different programs and routines.

He had to be careful as he typed.

The Hazardous Environment Vehicle Mark IV, mostly just called the HEV Suit, had originally been developed for the military; but it had been deemed to be too expensive to produce. Indeed, only 150 had been built; at least, of the Mark IV, since he didn’t know what had been done with the Mark III, II, and I’s once the IV had been developed.

It used microscopic nanites controlled by the suits AI to enhance the users strength, speed, endurance, reaction time, and their healing factor. And that wasn’t even mentioning the high impact reactive armor that could tank a number of .50 BMG rounds.

It was safe to assume the HEV turned its user into a walking tank.

Finally, after a minute of typing, Dr. Hood got back onto the mic, “All good Gordon?” He asked.

Gordon brought up the text box, and typed, “ Yes, all good, staring now. ” Then he hit the red button activating the rotors. He grimaced behind his helmet as he caught the broken emergency shutdown button; and he saw the sticky note that he had written.

“ Must be fixed before next test. -Dr. F ” 

I hope they actually followed through on that in case something goes wrong. He thought to himself, even as the Anti-Mass Spectrometer booted up, slowly lowering the energy rotors, and starting its spin.

“Very good. We’ll take it from here.” Dr. Hood stated, and Gordon turned his attention back to the readouts he was getting from the massive machine.

“Power to stage one Emitters activating… now.” Dr. Stern relayed over the mic, and the central beam activated with a flash of yellow light; the energy crackled as the room began to shake from the sheer power being exuded by the AMS.

Gordon glanced over to make sure the beam was properly discharging, before turning his attention back to the energy readouts. Hm… The discharge seems to be a little high, but it's within tolerance. Gordon noted, quickly writing it down in his notebook.

“Power to stage two Emitters activating.” 

Doctor Hood came on then, sounding slightly uneasy. “Uh, Gordon, we cannot predict how long the system can operate at these levels; nor how long the readings will take. So please work as quickly as you can.” 

Gordon gave a quick nod, and typed back, “Understood.”

The rotors began discharging more energy, and immediately the power began jumping upwards. Gordons eyes widened as he saw the energy spike, and his heart skipped a beat when Dr. Stern relayed, “Overhead capacitors to 105%.”

He quickly typed out, “Guys, isn’t that dangerous?!!!”

He knew they saw his message, as Stern cleared his throat, “Um… It’s probably not a problem, Gordon, probably… But I’m showing a small discrepancy in… Well, no, it’s well within acceptable bounds again. Sustaining sequence.”

Doctor Freeman grimaced, and would have questioned it further, but then Hood came back and said, “We’ve just been informed that the sample is ready Gordon, look to the delivery system for your specimen.” Gordon looked over and saw the cart rise up out of the floor, and grimaced.

Work fast then. He reminded himself, even as he scrambled down the ladder.

Hopefully this won’t be too bad.

Jon crossed his arms as he observed the wormhole in front of them.

“So what have we got on it?” He asked to noone in particular.

“It’s a wormhole.” Jak remarked next to him, stretching and sounding bored, “You need to have your eyes checked Sir Knight?” She asked sarcastically.

Jon rolled his eyes and looked back at the rest of the ground team that had assembled on the bridge to look at the scientific anomaly that the QueensWatch suspected was being used by the Reapers. It didn’t look like much, but as Jon had learned the hard way, looks could be deceiving.

Zaid snorted loudly, and simply began drinking from his favorite flask; the old Turian looking more bored than anything else.

Thane seemed to be memorizing everything he could about the portal, the Drell no doubt wanting to commit it to memory while he still could.

Grunt also looked bored, but then anything that didn’t involve fighting or eating seemed to bore the baby Krogan.

Miri was sitting in the co-pilot's seat and was absently filing a report to be forwarded to the QueensWatch director; though Jon could tell the Asari was keenly interested in the portal, mainly because of how it had just popped in from nowhere so far as anyone could tell.

Samara stood serenely watching with no comment, while Mordin babbled away at a kilometer a minute; recording everything he could find.

Jakob stood next to Garrus, the Turian and the Batarian quietly conversing with each other; while Kas leaned on Garrus’ shoulder, quietly counting the credits the two had to refund to the participants of the betting pool for the Captains ‘relationship’ choice.

Tali was still in the engine room, while EDI sat at the navigation console; the Geth was still typing away as she ( It, it is not a person. Jon reminded himself.) helped Joker bring the Chitikka around to get a closer look at the Wormhole.

“Not too close.” Jon warned the two of them, “I don’t want to get sucked inside because we got too close.”

Jak giggled, “That’s what your Ex said.”

Jon winced as snickers emerged from the less mature crew members, “I may have walked into that one.” He admitted, then he turned to Joker, “How close do you think we should get.” 

Joker grimaced, and he buzzed with unease. “Hard to say, honestly.”

“Give me an estimate at least.” Jon ordered.

Joker opened his mouth to speak, when his console started beeping and flashing. “The hell?” He asked, quickly typing in several inputs. Or at least, attempting to, but none of his inputs seemed to be working. “Shit. Shit! My commands aren’t being accepted!”

“EDI! Hard about! Get us away!” Jon snapped, all levity vanishing in an instant.

Green sparks began to burst out of the consoles and through the various electronics; while EDI shuddered and buzzed. “Warning! UnknOWn ENerGy sURge dETEcteD!” The Geth warbled, her voice modulating uncontrollably.

“Shit! Bosh’tet ! Mother-! Tali!” Jon roared into the comms channel as the crew scrambled about. “What in the Ancestors is going on!”

He never got an answer, because a bolt of green lighting struck him squarely in the face

“Captain! Something’s wrong!” 

Keyes and the Chief both looked at the AI pedestal, where Cortana now stood with a panicked expression on her face. 

Before either of the men could ask her what was happening, the Slipspace portal in front of them started sparking with green energy; while all the electronics in the room started sparking with the same energy. Cortana yowled in pain, her avatar changing from purple to green while she held her head; and the Chief felt his neural link with his suit start to itch.

“ Yank me-yank me-yank me! ” Cortana screamed, while the crew jumped away from their own consoles; many of them shouting in pain as they were shocked by the green energy. 

The Chief stepped forward and pulled Cortana’s chip out of the pedestal; but the sparks did not abate, and the Pillar of Autumn entered the slipspace portal. Then a bolt of the green energy lashed out from Cortana’s AI pedestal and struck him in the chest.

John felt as if he was being pulled in multiple directions at once, then darkness consumed him.

The Young Wolf whistled merrily as she blasted the last Vex Goblin in its chest.

“And that should be the last of them.” Whisper stated cheerfully.

“Damn kid, you don’t waste time; do ya?” Cayde asked, sounding impressed. “You’re almost as good as me… Not quite, but almost.”

“Careful Cayde, you’re going to inflate her already large ego.” Ghost grumbled as he emerged from her backpack, moving towards the structure that seemed to control the Vex portal. It was off at the moment, so neither the Ghost nor the Guardian were all that concerned. “Now… what do we have here?”

He began to scan the portal, wondering where it led; perhaps if they were lucky it led to the Vex homeworld, and they could find a way to destroy it.

“This is Zavala. Status.” The stern and unyielding voice of Commander Zavala, Titan Vanguard and Field Commander of all Operations, came over the radio.

“Aw c’mon Zavala, I got this on lock and key.” Cayde grumbled.

“You couldn’t even remember to lock up your loot stashes properly. How else was the Fallen able to steal from it?” Ikora Rey, Warlock Vanguard and Spymaster of the Hidden, interrupted. “What do you have, Guardian?”

“Not particularly sure.” Whisper admitted, “We got that it’s a portal and… not much else.”

“It… It makes no sense if I’ll be honest.” Ghost added, still scanning it. “It… it’s like a door that leads to more doors; if that makes sense. At least, that’s what the Vex are calling it at the moment.”

“Interesting.” Ikora muttered, sounding intrigued. “From the sounds of it, you might have found the entrance to the Vex Portal Network Hub.”

“Yeah… step away from that portal, Kid. I can tell you getting trapped in a Vex portal network is not fun.” Cayde warned.

For once, Whisper didn’t try to act contrarian. She remembered the nightmare of trying to free Cayde from that network on Nessus; and she did not want to relive those experiences from the other side.

“Wait…” Ghost muttered.

“Is something the matter, Ghost.” Zavala asked bluntly.

“Something… there’s a buildup of… Light?! ” He exclaimed. “Light energy is flaring on the other side of this portal!”

“Ghost, back off from it!” Whisper ordered, taking a step forward and grabbing Ghost to yank him back; knowing how stubborn he could be when it came to examining something. That proved to be a mistake, as emerald green sparks began arcing out of the portal; and one struck Ghost at the exact same time she grabbed him.

The Young Wolf screamed in pain, unable to hear the shouts of concern from the Vanguard, even as she stumbled forwards and fell into the portal; taking her Ghost with her.

Gordon pushed the crystal into the Anti-Mass Spectrometer, and immediately the device began throwing off green sparks; and immediately, the sensor arms closed around the sample while alarms started blaring.

Dr. Stern screamed into the microphone, while Hood bellowed, “Gordon! Get away from the beam!”

Gordon hopped backwards, wide eyed as the vibrations from the Anti-Mass Spectrometer increased to the point that it felt like the entire underground complex would collapse in on itself.

“Oh dear!”

“Oh my God… Oh dear God!”

“Shut it down!”

“Someone get him out of there! And shut it down!”

“Shutting down!”

The overlapping voices made it hard to concentrate, but Gordon took off in a sprint towards his own control console on the balcony. Scrambling up the ladder three rungs at a time, trying to get to the emergency shutdown button. He had no idea if it was fixed or not, but he had to try.

“It's-! It’s not shutting down!” Dr. Stern screamed.

BOOM!

The explosion startled Gordon as he reached the top of the ladder, and he saw that the control room had exploded. Beams of emerald green energy were being thrown off the Anti-Mass Spectrometer; smashing into walls and pieces were being blasted away.

Gordon sprinted over to his control panel, and smashed the Emergency Shutdown Button.

The console sparked, and smoke started rising from it, confirming to Gordon that it had not, in fact, been fixed between this experiment and the last one.

Had he been able to speak, Gordon would have been cursing and raving at the Black Mesa managements incompetence; but as it stood, he contented himself to punching the now useless button once, before stepping back and watching the disaster unfold.

He closed his eyes and accepted death as a beam of green energy smashed into his chest; and darkness took him.

Chapter Text

Yehochanan was very self conscious as she walked into the large underground cave.

The tunnel system that filled this particular island in the archipelago that lived in the shadow of the Nihilanths Tower had been carved out by Antlions some time ago, but the Tribe of Shadows had driven them out long before she had been born.

Technically, she belonged to the Tribe of Hunters; as her parents had belonged to them, but in reality Jane belonged to no tribe but her own.

Older sibling figures they might have been, Kaiden and Ashley were not her tribe.

Jane swallowed as dozens of people walked in and out of the hub; when one of the Xenian Wolves trotted up to her, sniffing her pack. She smiled slightly and knelt down, fishing out a piece of jerky before tossing it to the canine.

The Wolf huffed and tore into the piece of preserved meat, before lolling its tongue out at her; prompting a tiny giggle in response.

“Watch it.” A gruff voice barked, and Jane stumbled as someone pushed past her; and she felt a warning aura flash at her through the Vortessence.

She glared after the man, but forced away her annoyance before continuing into the Hub. Many people came to barter and trade, some offering Spears made from glowing wood; some offering to sell power crystals to boost one's vortal abilities, others offering simple clothing or trophies from kills.

Jane didn’t like coming to the Hub, because she was an outsider to all the tribes that used it.

All of them had their own cultures, beliefs, and traditions that they followed; and there were very few things that were universal amongst them. First was their universal dedication to the One True God; second was their belief that those that lived outside the tribes were not to be trusted.

You had to earn the trust of others before you could treat and trade with them.

Fortunately, time, along with Kaiden and Ashleys help had taught Jane who to avoid and who to approach.

The Tribe of Shadows for example, she avoided on principle. They dealt with any perceived threats to the Tribes' safety, and adding to that; they were just odd in general. They forwent any types of clothing except animals teeth from kills, and Jane knew they saw her as a potential threat.

The Tribe of Civilization was another.

Unlike other groups, they actually attempted to do more than live in nature; they made clothing, they grew crops, they built buildings (what little they could manage at least), and were not as attuned to the Vortessence as other groups.

Their clothing covered up most of the body, and Jane knew that by their standards she may as well have been naked; seeing as her loincloth only covered her womanhood, her bone chestplate only covered her breasts and stopped just above her stomach, and her wolf cloak only covered her shoulders and the top of her head. 

Which covered everything important, so she didn’t see what the problem was.

The Tribe of Trade was the one group she could go to reliably, since they didn’t really care who you were so long as you had something worth their while.

Thankfully, she had her various skins and pelts, which the Traders were always happy to take and trade. It was how she had gotten her wolf-pelt cloak after all; as she’d found a dead great wolf and a dead bullsquid next to it. She’d brought both, and told them to keep the meat so long as she got to keep the wolf's pelt; to which they had obviously agreed.

When she reached the tunnel where the Traders tended to set up shop, she took a breath and went inside; making sure to avoid the clusters of people.

She had to resist the urge to flare her powers and force the people to make space; as it would have been beyond rude and even considered a provocative act to use her powers that way.

Eventually, she came to a small lean-to where the Trader David was normally set up.

He was one of the older humans she had met, easily 1000 years old; which made her nothing more than an infant compared to him, with her mere 25 years of life. He wore a tunic that trailed to his knees, a belt around his waist holding a pair of obsidian knives; and his woolen cloak had the front half swept over his left shoulder.

“Ah, Yehochanan.” He said with a smile.

Jane swallowed heavily and looked down, “Just, Jane please, sir.”

He chuckled heavily and shook his head, “Of course, of course; now, what do you have for me?” He asked.

What followed was several minutes of haggling over the various skins and furs that Jane offered; as was usual when it came to dealing with David. The old man loved to haggle with prices and trade, and he seemed to take a particular delight in forcing Jane to haggle; since she always just tried to take the price he offered her.

After half an hour, she finally got to a price that was acceptable to him, and she handed the pelts over; and she got several pounds of fruit and preserved beef in return.

Despite her usual discomfort in interacting with the crowds, Jane was actually feeling somewhat high spirited as she was leaving the Hub, levitating her baskets of fruit behind her, while the Xen-Wolf from earlier trotted up to her.

Jane smiled and petted the wolf and scratched it behind the ears, eliciting a pleased whine from the canine; before Jane felt something strike her in the stomach.

Splat!

Jane yelped and stumbled back, while the wolf spun around and settled into an aggressive stance and growled. She looked down and blinked, and wrinkled her nose in disgust.

A rotten fruit had been thrown at her, and struck her in the area where her chest plate didn’t cover her up; and what was worse, was that the rotten fruit juices (which smelled absolutely awful) were staining her loincloth, her chest plate, and her face.

Jane growled angrily and searched around to see who had thrown it, but found no one.

Huffing angrily, she stormed off towards her cave; while the wolf went back to begging passing customers for more food. She was only half way back when the smell started to become a bit too much for her; and the parts of rotted fruit that had gotten on her face were actually starting to make her eyes water.

Deciding to take a detour, Jane walked over to a small pond that flowed in the more wooded areas of the island.

It was a shallow thing, only coming up to her knees; but it was at the base of a large luminant tree, and the nebula gave the sunshine a green tint.

Sighing, she set down her baskets of fruit; then carefully removed her wolf-cloak, since it had thankfully avoided getting rotted fruit on it, and she wanted to avoid dirtying it. It was already going to be a pain to wash her chest piece and loincloth; she did not want to add onto her work.

She removed the bone plate first, and set it in the water; letting it soak for a little bit, then untied her loincloth and began to use it to scrub the bits of rotten food from her bone-plate.

She made sure to rinse her stomach, her face, and her legs as well; then just sat in the water humming to herself as she got the stains off the chestplate.

That was when it happened.

Jane felt a spike of pain behind her eyes, and she dropped her bone plate and loincloth into the water; before holding her temples and giving a loud scream of pain. She fell back into the water, her bright red hair getting soaked as she rolled back and forth; still screaming in pain as the telepathic backlash in the Vortessence made it feel like spears were being driven into her eyes.

She forced her eyes open, and she could see bright green energy arcing throughout the Nihilanths tower; while the massive portal that led to his pocket dimension at the top of said tower was flashing blood red. 

“So comes, others…”

Jane screamed again as the Nihilanths voice echoed through her mind, the eldritch alien sounding amused as he broadcasted his message throughout the archipelago of islands that floated through the nebula. 

Jane lay curled up in the water for several minutes, tears streaming down her face; when she felt the familiar feeling of a ripple through the Vortessence, the feeling of someone being teleported near her.

Forcing herself to her feet, Jane charged her vortal energy; electric green orbs of energy forming in her palms as she stood. She was dimly aware that her loincloth and her bone-plate were floating away, but she wasn’t concerned since the pond was closed off.

She was more concerned with the intruder.

“Who’s there!” She barked out, trying to tell herself that there was no waiver of fear in her voice. 

Gibberish was what greeted her back, and she blinked in confusion; before she held out her hand, and her spear flew into her hand from where it had been set next to her fruit baskets and wolf cloak.

She cocked it back in preparation to throw, while she kept her other hand charged with a Vortal Bolt.

She was fluent in Vortiguese and common, so she was a little befuddled at what the mystery person's language could be; when the mystery person rounded the corner of the tree. He was muscular, but he wore strange clothing that clung to his body; with flowing belt garments over top of it.

He held some queer looking object in his arms, and was pointing it at her.

Jane felt her face turn as red as her hair as she realized that this was a man, and she was naked in front of him; but survival outweighed embarrassment for the moment.

“Who the hell are you!”

Everyone on the bridge was in a blind panic, except for the more calm members of the crew. But even they had a controlled urgency to their steps.

Miri bit down a curse as the Chitikka emerged on the other side of the wormhole; the emergency running lights having turned on, and the artificial gravity flickering on and off intermittently as Chief Engineer ‘Zorah was forced to divert the power to the shields and engines.

Jokers talons raced over his instrument panel, struggling to keep the ship going as the Chitikka continued on its course.

“Spirits damn it, I can’t control the ship! It’s like it's fighting me!” Joker snarled.

Miri glanced over at EDI, who was still shorted out, and then glanced out the viewing port; and froze for a moment as she got a good look at what was in front of them. They were in the middle of a nebula; but that was not what the surprising part was. The surprising part was the numerous islands the size of asteroids that populated it.

As in, they were literal islands that had gravity and seemed to support life, if the fact that many of the asteroid-islands seemed to have vegetation on them.

Some were even draining water out into the open void of space.

“Shit! We’re going in!” Joker snapped.

Ship now! Reality breaking islands later! Miri reminded herself as she activated her own control panel and tried to assist Joker in getting the ship down.

She knew Shepard, wherever it was that he had disappeared to, would never forgive her for destroying his ship. So she had to make sure it landed intact, instrument malfunctions be damned. “Full power to the landing thrusters!” Miri barked into the comms, “Take it from the gravity and life support if you have to.”

“On it!” Tali’s voice replied, and barely a second later all gravity shut off; and the air vents stopped circulating.

Joker yanked back on the stick, and the Chitikka heaved backwards slightly; then it slammed into the ground. Thankfully, Joker's last second burn had softened the impact considerably; but Miri had no doubts that they had more to worry about than a scratched paint job.

“Report.” Miri barked out.

“I’m good… though I ride on top from this point forwards Spike.” Came Kas’ voice, sounding slightly strangled.

Miri glanced back, and saw the Quarian thief being crushed under Garrus; and she rolled her eyes and waved a hand, quickly getting the two off each other before focusing on the rest of the ground team. “Everyone else all right?” She asked, getting grunts and nods from everyone except EDI; who still lay motionless in her chair.

Sighing, Miri barked out, “Jakob, Garrus, Kas, get EDI down to the Engineering sections; see if Tali can’t get it back online once she’s done assessing damage to the engines and the ship.” 

“On it.” The Batarian replied, the three of them already moving to carry the Geth off the bridge.

“Doctor Chakwas, casualty reports?” She asked, tapping into the ship's comms network.

The old Quarian was quick with her reply, “Four injured, two of them were minor sprains and bruises; but the other two have broken limbs.” 

Sighing, Miri pinched the bridge of her nose. “Understood… Could have been far worse, so I’ll take it.”

Joker spoke up then, “Hey! I just sent out a sensor ping to see where we are, and guess what?” He said with a proud smile on his face. “I found the Captain, he’s all good and healthy; he’s just on another one of these… weird… asteroid-island thingies that break the laws of physics.”

Miri rubbed her temples, “Thank the Goddess for small miracles I suppose. Put me through, we’ll need to figure things out and where to go from here.”

Whisper hit the ground and groaned loudly.

“Ow… that hurt a lot…” She grumbled before holding out her palm, “Ghost, you okay little light?”

“I was until you called me Little Light.” Ghost replied, appearing on her palm, a few scorch marks on his white shell. “Ikora, Zavala, Cayde; can any of you still hear us?”

“Kid! You’re still alive!” Cayde exclaimed, “Oh my cotton socks, thank the Traveler you’re okay. You’ve been gone for hours.”

“Um…” Ghost and Whisper shared a look of incredulity. “Cayde… it’s only been a minute.”

“What? No-no-no, it’s been a few hours since you went into that portal.” Cayde retorted, sounding bemused and worried. 

“No. It’s only been one minute and 23 seconds since we entered that portal.” Ghost insisted.

“.........” 

“Cayde?” Whisper tapped the side of her head, frowning as nothing but static filled her ears. “I think we might have lost him.”

“You don’t think?” Ghost retorted, before he floated upwards and looked around; chirping as he caught sight of something. “Wow… uh… just, wow…”

This oughta be good. Whisper grumbled as she jumped upwards onto a nearby tree, taking note of its bioluminescence for a moment before she started climbing upwards to reach Ghost's level. She reached the top of the tree and looked in the same direction as Ghost was looking, and her jaw dropped.

“Thaaaat is some freaky bad guy cliche stuff right there.” She muttered.

The massive Tower that stretched upwards from the giant island floating in space was something that looked like the lovechild of Tolkien’s Eye of Sauron and Lovecraft's Cthulhu. It stretched upwards into the sky for miles, and at the very top of the tower was a coalition of darkness energy that made Whisper feel like she was choking on air.

“What… What is that?” She demanded, pointing at the sphere of crimson and black energy at the top of the tower. “That right there makes the energy Crota and Oryx output look like child's play.”

“That…” Ghost chirped and spun his plates. “I don’t believe it. That is a portal that leads to a pocket dimension.” He gasped.

Whisper froze for a long moment, then drew Sunshot and looked down at her favored hand cannon. “I’m… pretty sure I can’t outfight that.” She admitted.

“All of the Guardians of Earth gathered in one place couldn’t manage to fight whatever created that.” Ghost snapped. “This is bad, we need to get out of this place and back home; or at least find a way to reestablish communications with the Vanguard.” 

KerZAP!

The two wielders of Light froze, and Whisper looked down to see an alien standing at the base of the tree.

It was bipedal but with backwards bowing legs; it had three arms, one in the center of its torso, and the other two in the more standard place. It was spindly and hunched, and it was naked except for shackles on its wrists, neck, and groin areas; and the shackles glowed emerald.

Whisper peered into the energy spectrum, and suppressed a gasp of horror and surprise.

The Alien could clearly wield the light, and while its power was not at the level of a Guardians; it was still a healthy amount of power. But the power felt… wrong, almost twisted; and the darkness energy being emitted from the shackles the creature wore told Whisper the answer.

This alien was being controlled, and even if it didn’t show it; Whisper could feel the pain the alien was experiencing.

She glanced over at Ghost, and he chirped and spun his shell plates; the equivalent of a shrug for him, and she shook her head and jumped down. Fortune favors the bold after all. She thought as her cape flapped behind her as she fell.

The impact of her landing alerted the Alien to her presence, and it immediately spun around and charged orbs of light in its hands; before unleashing a beam of lightning.

Whisper dodged to the left in surprise, both at the speed of the attack and from the power it unleashed. She could feel the air itself burning from the power of the attack, and she glanced to the right to see that there was now a smoking hole in the trunk of the tree that she had jumped down from.

Right! Not getting hit by that! She thought, even as the Alien built up its light energy again; only this time it smashed the ground, and sent a shockwave outwards.

Whisper was thrown backwards several feet, both due to being taken off guard and because of the power; but she quickly recovered and rolled with the impact on the ground.

Enough of this.

She drew Sunshot and fired, sending the slug of solar energy into the Aliens head; and its head promptly disappeared, its body falling lifelessly to the ground while its chais stopped glowing its emerald green color and returned to a more natural looking steel. 

Ghost immediately floated over and began scanning the alien's corpse.

“Unbelievable… This Alien can wield the light, and yet it's been chained by darkness.” Ghost exclaimed.

“Which means we’ll need to be careful.” Whisper noted, “More specifically, you need to be careful. The last thing we need is to have you explode like a pinata.” 

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Ghost grumbled, before a spark from the shackles zapped him. “OW! That hurt.”

“Right, enough of that.” Whisper snapped, walking over and snatching Ghost up; her surge of protectiveness overcoming her curiosity. “Your damned curiosity got us into this mess; and I’d rather not end up trapped here because you couldn’t keep your scanners to yourself.” 

Ghost chirped in annoyance, but he didn’t contest her logic; especially when the sound of foliage being crushed got his attention. “Well… million glimmer question then, is this wildlife, more natives, or something else.”

Whisper turned towards the sounds, and when a three legged dog creature with a giant bug-like eye taking up the front of its body emerged from the foliage, Whisper drew Sunshot with a sigh. “Looks like some wildlife then. This ought to be fun.”

She paused for a moment as the alien animal came up to her; chirping loudly and hopping around. “Well… maybe I’m being a bit too hasty. Maybe this is some kind of alien ambassador or something.” 

“I highly doubt that.” Ghost grumbled from her backpack where he had taken shelter.

Then the bug-dog began whining and scratching the ground, before it braced its legs and began emitting a high pitched whine that would have been irritating to the human ear. Whisper took a step back as three stripes on the animal's back started to glow a bright neon blue; then a shockwave burst from the creature.

Whisper went flying backwards and smashed into the tree, while the bug-dog began jumping up and down; squeaking and barking. 

Whisper growled and slowly pushed herself off the ground, her back sparking slightly which Ghost immediately fixed up for her. The Exo Guardian was not happy, and she grabbed Sunshot off the ground from where she had dropped it.

As she did so, more bug-dogs came running out of the forest; and Whisper shook her head. “Alright, I’m done acting nice; now I’m pissed.” She growled.

“I advise you to keep your distance then.” Ghost pointed out.

“Duly noted, now shut up and let me do my job.”

And with those words, she began shooting; no music, no playing around.

Because the Iron Lady of Wolves was done messing around.

The Master Chief rolled on instinct when the pulling sensation finally stopped, and he found himself flying through the air for a moment; when he hit the ground hard. 

He kept a tight but gentle grip on Cortana’s chip as he rolled, before his back smashed into a rock; which brought him to a dead stop. The Chief grunted as his head came to a sudden stop, but otherwise he was fine as he slowly relaxed out of his combat roll.

He quickly slotted Cortana’s chip into his head, and held out his hand as her avatar appeared on his palm. “Are you all right?” He asked.

Cortana took a breath and nodded, “Better now that I’m not getting zapped.” She confirmed.

The Chief looked around, and took note of the twin stars and the nebula that blanketed the sky above him. "Where are we?" He asked.

"I don't know." Cortana admitted, even as her avatar looked upwards. "But I am picking up the Pillar of Autumn nearby with your suits FOF sensors."

“Open a channel.” He ordered.

“On it… Chief? I’m… Am I the only one hearing that?” She asked.

John blinked in confusion, then tilted his head as his helmet audio receptors and his own enhanced hearing picked up something that was very familiar to him

Gunshots.

“Someone else was deposited here?” He asked.

“I see no friend or foe tags in this area Chief. Whoever they are, they aren’t UNSC.” She replied.

“Insurrectionists then.” John decided, “You work on contacting the Autumn , I’ll figure out who’s out here.”

“Copy that. Be careful Chief, we don’t know what’s out here.” Cortana warned him, sounding very worried for the briefest of moments before she seemed to shove the concern away. It was like he could feel her concern through their link in the AI chip slot.

“I’m always careful.” He replied easily, a tiny smile on his face that was hidden by his helmet.

And with those words, he took off towards the sounds of battle; the one place he felt at home.

KerZAP!

Gordon opened his eyes again as he was deposited on the ground, the fire alarms and warnings blaring all around him as the Test Chamber fell apart; the Anti-Mass Spectrometer still throwing off beams of energy. 

Not dead! Gordon thought as he realized he was on the base level and not up at his console. Gotta get outta here!

He started running for the blast door, and started yanking on the emergency release to open the damned thing up; when another beam of energy struck him.

KerZAP!

Gordon stumbled as he suddenly found himself teleported into a cave of sorts.

His eyes widened as he landed in a pool of glowing blue and purple liquid, and he came face to face with a squid face monster. He sucked in a breath and stumbled backwards, but the monster seemed more interested in drinking the strange liquid than in him.

Gordon looked around the cave, and found it filled with glowing plants and crystals.

But then he saw something that shocked him to his core.

He still remembered visiting the Anthropology museum with his parents and big sister when he was a teen, and he remembered the paintings and statues of primitive homo-sapiens; dressed in scanty clothing made of animal skins that made teenage him giggle at how revealing it was for the women, and using wooden spears and bows and arrows.

That was what was staring back at him.

A man, a woman, and a little boy standing in the darkness. They wore chest plates made of bone (which conveniently covered the woman's chest area), loincloths, and carried spears. They were also painfully pale, and they stared at him in naked shock.

Ooohhh… I hope I haven't traveled back in time, cause this’ll be awkward. He thought with a wince.

KerZAP!

Gordon found himself in darkness again, but it felt solid this time.

“Gah-lah-lung…”

Gordon froze at the strange sound, and he immediately turned on his flashlight.

Had he had a voice, he would have yelped in surprise; but as it stood, he simply breathed in and out rapidly. It was an alien ! An honest to God alien, with bowed legs, spindly arms, a large eye on a skinny head; three arms, and more eyes above the big one!

The nerd in him was freaking out, but the scientist part of him was on the verge of a heart attack as four of these aliens stared at him in curiosity; glancing at each other for a moment, then walking forward and moving to grab him.

Before they could reach him, everything went black.

KerZAP!

The Pillar of Autumn exited the slipspace portal almost as soon as it had entered, but that was of little comfort to Captain Keyes. 

The last Spartan they had that was still active and good to go was now missing; and the only other Spartan he had was clinically dead and in a cryo pod. “Report!” He barked.

“Sir, engineering reports the engines have stalled. We’re drifting.” Ensign Lovell reported.

“Tell them to get the engines back on line, and see if we can’t find out where we are.” Keyes ordered, cupping his pipe as his mind raced through the events of the past few minutes.

“Uh… sir?” Lovell suddenly said, drawing Keyes’ attention outside the window; and the old Captain managed to avoid dropping his pipe in surprise.

But only just barely.

Lovell said it the best as he whispered, “Sir, I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore.” Before his console started beeping with an alarm, and Lovell hissed a curse before turning, “Sir, four Covenant Warships detected.”

“What classes?” Keyes asked, already mentally considering his options. 

“One Covenant Carrier, two Destroyers, and a Corvette sir.” Lovell reported dutifully.

Keyes fought down a grimace, even as the Pillar of Autumn shuddered slightly; her engines finally coming back on, recharging the weapons and the thrusters. “Get us into that asteroid field then. That’ll slow them down, or maybe even hide us.” He glanced through the window at the Lovecraftian Tower that took up that massive island.

“Find us an island to hide behind… Not that one.” He added, upon seeing the horrified expression on Lovells face.

“Copy that sir.” Lovell replied dutifully.

Jon’Shepard yelped as the pulling sensation stopped, and he smashed into the ground with a loud splash!

He groaned loudly, laying face down in the water that he had fallen into; his suit automatically sealed his visor so that it would recycle his air until he was no longer under water. He wanted to keep laying there, but he knew he had to get moving; especially given the wormhole shenanigans that he and his ship had been subjected to.

Putting his arm into the water, he rolled over onto his back, and froze as he stared upwards.

He was apparently laying at the base of a tree, which was glowing a dull green with bioluminescence. But that wasn’t what caught his attention; what had caught his attention was the fact that the atmosphere and sunlight of this planet that the wormhole had dumped him on was in the middle of a nebula.

That was a scientific anomaly and a half; not even considering all the crazy shit that had happened with all those green sparks and the wormhole. 

Grumbling, Jon pushed himself to his feet and drew his Geth Pulse Rifle off his back. “MFV Chitikka , this is Captain Jon’Shepard; do you read, over?”

There was static for a moment, then Miri’s voice came back at him. “Shepard, the ship has crashed… I… Shepard, wherever that Wormhole sent us; this place…”

He had never heard the QueensWatch operative at such a loss for words, and he couldn’t help himself as he grinned and said, “What’s the matter, Miri? Jak got your tongue?” 

“Very funny.” The Asari growled, “Shepard, whatever happened… This violates so many rules of physics. You were teleported away from the ship itself, while the ship was sucked through the wormhole and deposited us… here… wherever here is.”

“Explain what you’re seeing.” He ordered. 

“Shepard, we’re in what looks like an archipelago of islands just floating in space; and all of these little islands hold atmosphere and have life on them… but some are smaller than asteroids.” She explained.

“Huh…” Shepard hummed, when he heard some water splashing. “I’m linking my helmet feed to you guys. Are you getting it?”

“You got it Shep.” Kas intervened. “Any crew not assessing damages or securing a perimeter are currently in the Comm room and watching.”

“Great.” Shepard grumbled, before he looked behind him.

Open space greeted him, and far off in the distance was another island; with a giant, menacing tower stretching miles into the sky… space… whatever it was. “Okaaaay… that’s not something you see everyday.” He muttered, before walking to the edge of the pond and looking down, seeing nothing but space below him.

“You weren’t lying when you said this place violates the rules of the universe.” He admitted.

“I’ve pinged your HUD to where the ship is. I’d send the shuttle, but the crash destroyed its engines, meaning that it’s grounded until it’s fixed.” Tali suddenly said over the channel, and Jon nodded.

“Got it.” He said, already looking around to find a way out of the pond; when he heard the splashing again, followed by a loud barking sound.

Jon swore and brought his rifle to bear, “Looks like I’ll be dealing with some wildlife.” He grumbled.

“Oh, try and drag some back for Grunt! He’d probably want to try to eat some of the food.” Kas exclaimed.

Jon ignored her as he rounded around the tree; then he froze wide eyed.

An alien stood in front of him, clearly sentient. It looked like a cross between a Quarian and an Asari; as it seemed to have Asari physiology, only it had painfully pale pink skin, and its flaming red hair trailed down to its waist.

Oh, and it was also naked, and given that it shared the physiology of Quarian women and Asari; Jon was, to put it mildly, flustered at the sight. But the more professional part of his mind quickly shoved that concern to the back of his mind and kept the rifle pointed at the Alien woman.

In its right hand, it held a spear cocked back and ready to throw; and its left…

Jon did a double take on seeing the crackling emerald orb of energy in its hand; and he was suddenly reminded of what had happened before the wormhole had sucked in the Chitikka , and the energy that had surrounded him before he got teleported.

The alien woman looked frightened, but she settled into a fighting stance and barked something else; he could hear the waver in her voice, but he could see her settling into a fighting stance nonetheless.

“Um… guys? Options?” Jon asked.

 A very long silence followed, until Kas finally answered.

“Um… set up a new betting pool to see if you hook up with this lady?”

“...Ancestors damn you all…”

The Alien barked again, and jabbed her spear in Jon’s direction in a threatening manner.

Okay, new alien race, primitive; clearly not past the hunter gatherer stage of evolution, doesn’t even have clothes. Take it slow, treat it like a really smart animal. Jon told himself, remembering some of the first contact measures that he’d been taught as a Spectre.

He held up one hand, and slowly collapsed his rifle; wincing when the alien woman flinched backwards at the sight of his weapon collapsing. “It’s okay…” He said slowly, attaching his rifle to his back and taking a few steps away from the alien. “I’m not here to hurt you.”

The Alien blinked, and while she clearly didn’t understand his words; she did seem to understand that he was trying to deescalate the situation.

She flexed her fingers, and the orb of emerald lightning faded away from her left hand; and Jon breathed a sigh of relief, though she notably didn’t lower her spear. She barked something, and this time her pale face turned the same shade of red as her hair.

Jon blinked in confusion, especially when she made a gesture with her free hand. “Um… I don’t know what you want me to do.” Jon admitted.

The alien growled, and her hand glowed emerald again and lashed outwards. Jon flinched and forced himself not to react as it felt like he was being put into a biotic stasis; then he was lifted off his feet, spun around, and plopped back down facing the opposite way from the alien woman.

He was pretty confused, but he didn’t move; not wanting to aggravate the biotic alien.

That’s what that has to be, Biotics. He told himself, even though it looked nothing like biotics; and how it was completely the wrong color. Suddenly, he felt that tingly sensation again, and he was spun around again to face the alien once more. 

He blinked, and felt his face flush again as he realized that she had been putting her clothing back on. Though calling that stuff clothing is generous at best. He thought. 

She wore only a simple loincloth, a chest-plate that seemed to be made of bone; and more than that, the chest plate didn’t even reach the top of her belly-button, and when she turned to the side Jon could see a healthy amount of skin and shape. 

Her only other article of clothing was a furred pelt that she wore as a cape; though it also had a hood that she drew over her vibrant red hair, and said hood had the shape of some sort of canine creature.

Then Jon noticed that the alien woman was completely soaked, as was her clothing; and he felt his embarrassment only increase. Ah… Ancestors damn my luck. I bet she was bathing when I dropped in here. He realized.

“Well Captain, you managed to walk in on a woman while she was cleaning herself; and you didn’t even mean to.” Kas exclaimed, and Jon muted his voxmitter.

“Not helping Kas.” He snapped angrily, even as he kept his body language calm and relaxed.

“Fascinating. Biotics of some kind. Intelligent race. Mammalian like Quarians. Hair-Quills? No, regular hair. Hunter Gatherer society?” Mordin rambled off, which Jon did his best to ignore as he took a step forwards.

The alien woman tensed and gripped her spear, but didn’t retreat or use her strange biotics again; which Jon took as a good sign. He set a hand on his chest and said, “My name’s Jon. Jon’Shepard.”

The alien blinked, then she spun her spear and stabbed it into the ground; before bowing her head low, “Yeh-hoh-chee-naan.” She said, slowly and pronouncing each syllable for him to follow along.

“ Yehochenan. ” He repeated, testing the forign sounding name on his tongue for a moment; then he nodded, “Yehochenan. Thank you… you mind telling me where we’re-And I completely forgot that you can’t understand me, fantastic.” He grumbled, setting his fists on his hips and sighing.

Suddenly, the woman tensed again, and her arm glowed green.

She wound it up like she was throwing a grenade, and lashed her arm forwards. Jon would vehemently deny later that he yelped in surprise, though the footage would show otherwise. As it stood, Jon hopped to the side; his gaze following the beam of emerald energy as it tore through the air.

Jon’s eyes widened when he caught sight of the beam hitting a massive creature, which was bipedal and with tentacles on its front.

The beam struck it in the face; and the animal roared in anger, before cocking its head back and spitting a wave of glowing green liquid.

Jon’s instincts took over, and he rolled away from the animal as the green liquid slammed into the ground where he’d been standing only a second before; while Yehochanan went the other way, her furred pelt flapping behind her as she cocked back her arm and threw her spear.

The primitive weapon buried itself in the side of the animal, which roared again before spraying more liquid at the alien woman.

Jon drew his assault rifle and fired a quick burst into one of the animals eyes.

The alien creature gave a mournful whine before collapsing to the ground.

A shriek drew Jons attention, and he realized that Yehochanan was on her knees holding her ears, and he felt a pang of guilt as he realized that the sonic boom of the gunshots had probably startled and deafened her; probably scared her too, given the fact that she was staring at his rifle with an expression of fear.

“Whoops.” He muttered, before he slowly put his weapon back onto its holster.

He walked over to Yehochanan, and she flinched backwards and fell onto her butt into the water; crawling backwards in fear.

Jon held up his hands again and he said, “Hey, sorry about that… uh…” He tried to think of how to get his point across; then he thought, Sod it. He put his hand to his chest and bowed his head. “I’m sorry.”

The woman stared at him, but given how she was no longer cowering away from fear; he took that as a win. He held out a hand to help her up; and after some hesitation, she took it, and he hoisted her up.

She was surprisingly light when he considered that she was the same height as he was. 

To his surprise the alien woman giggled slightly, then she grabbed her spear out of the dead animal, and waved her hand; and Jon's eyes widened as the green energy surrounded a pair of baskets that seemed to be full of some kinds of fruits, and the baskets floated upwards about half a meter behind her.

“kəm.” Yehochanan, said, gesturing for him to follow her.

“I… think she wants me to go with her, what do you guys think I should do?” He asked.

“Go with her, so long as she presents no danger to you or attempts something that might kill you.” Miri advised. “We’ll send a team to retrieve you… Only Quarians so she doesn’t get too much of a shock.”

“You want to bring her to the ship.” Jon said flatly.

“Yes.” Miri replied, “We need a guide, and this alien clearly lives here; so it’s the best thing we’ve got.” 

Jon sighed, “Right then.” He drew himself up and nodded; which she surprisingly understood, as she gave him a friendly smile and turned and started walking away.

He started walking, though he made sure to set his pace so he stayed astride of Yehochanan; as she always slowed down whenever he seemed to fall behind her. So she’s willing to trust me, but not enough to let me out of her sight… Smart. He admitted, though he still found it to be surprisingly naive on her part to be so trusting of a stranger like him.

"Alright… what do we do with her guys?" He asked, making sure his voxmitter was muted as he talked; even as he watched the alien out of the corner of his eye.

"Fairly obvious what we do with her." Miri replied. "Council rules are clear when it comes to first contact with an Alien race that hasn't even moved past the hunter-gatherer stage."

Jon kept walking steady, but he couldn't stop the growl that worked its way out of his throat. "You mean kidnap her?"

"Shepard." Garrus cut in, a placating tone in his voice. "You do realize that even though she's primitive, she does seem to understand that you aren't normal. Frankly, I'm surprised she hasn't tried to kill you yet."

"And what will happen if she goes back to her people and tells them what she saw?" Miri pressed.

Jon didn't respond to either of them, not wanting to give them the satisfaction that they were right. "We'll work it out as we go." He stated bluntly, ending the discussion. He glanced at Yehochanan, and he unmuted his voxmitter. "Listen, uh, since you have a kind of biotics; I suppose it would be too much to ask for you to have an equivalent to an Asari mind meld?"

She just stared back at him uncomprehendingly, and Jon grumbled under his breath. "Right, can't understand me." He thought it over for a few seconds, then made some vague gestures towards the path they were on. "Where. Are. You. Taking. Me?" He asked, punctuating each word with a gesture he hoped made sense.

That only seemed to confuse the alien more, and Jon stiffened when he felt an alien presence at the edge of his mind.

Confusion was what he felt, and his jaw dropped behind his mask as he realized that it was the aliens' emotions that he was feeling.

"Uh, guys?" He started, his voice sounding strangled. "Uh… have you ever heard of an alien being able to share the emotions they are feeling with another?"

"You mean like through a Meld?" Miri asked dismissively.

"No, as in she's not touching me; but I can feel her confusion touching my mind."

There was a very long pause, then Miri said, "Tali and Kas are on their way to you. Don't aggravate this alien until they get there, and keep your biotics on the low."

"Copy that." Jon replied. 

 Now he just needed to figure out how to talk with this woman; and figure out where the hell he was, and how to get back home. 

This isn't going to be fun.

Chapter Text

Jon was no stranger to long walks.

His training to become a Migrant Fleet Marine and later a Spectre had mandated him to be able to go for days without stopping. His biological and technological enhancements upon his revival by the QueensGuard had pushed that endurance even further. 

He still remembered trekking through the Savannah’s of the Bag’na O’ceaniczne region after weeks of physical therapy to get him back into shape and make him combat ready again.

But this place was absolutely brutal.

The jaw dropping and vast nebula, the beautiful bioluminescent plants and foliage, the priceless crystals that seemed to light up places as if they were streetlights… All of it was a beautiful mask over a brutal and powerful place where only the strong thrived. 

Case and point, his current guide.

Her thin stature and frame were deceptive to say the least. They trekked through the jungle, climbing up near sheerfaced cliffs at some points, and waded through swampwater; and not once did she flag or tire, and while he wouldn’t say he was exhausted, Jon would admit that he was getting slightly winded.

The sheer variety of differing wildlife and environments was staggering.

Of course, Mordin wouldn’t shut up about said variety. “Incredible! Jungle Biome, Mountainous Terrain, Swamplands, more standard woodlands. Plenty for predators to roam and hunt. Plenty of flora for herbivores.”

Jon sighed, “Really fascinating Professor… Really fascinating.” He grumbled.

Every once and awhile, his guide would glance back at him; as if to make sure that he was still following her, then she turned her attention back outwards. She seemed to be a little twitchy, jerking her head left to right and up to down; and Jon wondered if she had some form of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Personality.

It would make sense if she did. He mused, In battle, those who are able to switch attention from one thing to another rapidly are oftentimes the best.

As much as he didn’t want to admit it, his own thoughts were distracting him. The two of them trudged through the muddy swamp water; Yehochanan still looking alert and on watch as she walked, while Jon kept an eye out with an experienced eye.

But he was looking about as a soldier, not as a hunter; and more importantly, not as a prey.

ZIP! “ACK!AGH-UGH!”

Jon choked as something wrapped around his neck and started choking him while also lifting him up into the air. He kicked his feet and grabbed onto whatever it was that was choking him, and looked up to see some kind of animal attached to a tree branch. It was pulling him up with its long tongue, and he could see an inner mouth gnashing its teeth in preparation for a quick and easy meal.

Fuck that!

Jon drew his pistol and fired; and at the exact same moment, a spear flew through the air and stuck the animal in the side.

The animal's tongue immediately went slack and released him; and its inner mouth opened and vomited up blood, half digested food, and bones. Jon fell ten feet down into the murky swamp water below with a massive splash, and he gasped for air as he massaged his throat; making sure his windpipe hadn’t been crushed.

“Ow…” He groaned, even as Yehochanan stood over him with a concerned look on her face.

“Är yo͞o ôlˈrīt!” She exclaimed, kneeling next to him and putting her hands on his neck; both of them glowing with green energy.

“I’m okay… I’m okay.” He wheezed back, guessing her words even if he didn’t understand them; and he could sense her concern tickling the edge of his mind. He quickly sat up, looking down at his suit and Raelk; wrinkling his nose in disgust. “Ah… fuck, now I’m covered in blood and gore and muck. I would be arrested on sight if I approached anyone looking like this.” He complained.

While Yehochanan may not have understood his words, she understood his sentiments; as she leaned back slightly and gave a look of disgust at the blood and gore covering him. “Yək.” 

Grunting, Jon slowly pushed himself to his feet; then looked up at the now dead animal, still stuck to the tree branch. He looked back down at his suit in disgust, then felt a spike of panic when he realized he couldn’t see the chain for his locket. He quickly dug into the normal pocket that he kept it in, and sighed in relief as he brought it out.

Still have you with me Jun. He thought, quickly stuffing it back into his pocket before turning his attention back to a curious looking Yehochanan.

“What is that?” He asked, pointing upwards towards the dead creature with his pistol. 

Her face set into a grim frown, “Bärnəkəl.” She said, crossing her arms and peering at him curiously. Then she stuck out her tongue and pointed at it, “təNG.” , then she made a show of pretending to choke, “CHōk.” Then she made a slashing motion across her throat. “Kil.”

Jon blinked, taking a few seconds to process the information, then understanding dawned in his features. “Ah… So that thing is called a-” He rolled the forign word around for a moment. He was an expert in languages (a requirement for a Spectre), and fluent in his native Kheelish, Batarian Kharshaneese, Turian Palavanese, High Thessian, and Kurshesh.

As a result, he picked words up quickly, so while he didn’t have the word perfect; he didn’t mangle it as much as he thought he would. “-Barnacle. And it kills by choking its prey with its tongue.”

Yehochanan actually blinked in surprise, then smiled widely and nodded rapidly. “Yes! T͟Hət īˈes hou it hənts.”

“I actually managed to catch a word or two from that.” Jon mused, before shaking his head and waving his arm. “Go on then, lead the way.” He said.

She gave him a look, before turning on her heel and kept walking, and Jon followed closely behind; making sure to keep a sharper eye out now, thanks to his close brush with death. After a moments thought, he got onto the radio and asked, “Miri, has Tali and Kas left the ship yet?”

“Negative.” Miri replied immediately, sounding slightly distracted. 

“Good, order them to stay aboard the ship.” 

“What?!” Miri snapped, “Shepard, you only have two days worth-”

“I know, and I can go without for an extra day while you guys get the shuttle repaired.” Jon retorted. “I have my wonderful guide here in front of me, and I’ve still nearly died several times over. Just check my helmet cam footage from a few minutes ago.”

There was a long pause, presumably because Miri was indeed checking the footage, before she responded. “ ...Very well… ” She finally growled, grudgingly acknowledging that he was right after watching him get strangled by the Barnacle. “Mordin’s freaking out by the way, wants to figure out how something like that eats if it just relies on luck for something to touch its tongue.”

“You’ll have to ask my guide once we crack her language.” He stated, then stopped when he nearly ran into her back. “What have we… oh…” The star filled sky greeted him, and he had a distinct feeling that they had reached the end of the island.

He took a breath and peered over the edge, and confirmed that there was indeed nothing but void underneath.

He looked back at Yehochanan, who seemed to be a little amused, and he gestured out at the emptiness. “So… uh… what now? I didn’t exactly bring my jetpack for a spacewalk.” He remarked.

She rolled her eyes, and stepped up and pulled him into a hug. 

Jon stiffened, and then felt a tugging sensation in his gut; before his vision was filled with green light. 

KerZAP!

Jon stumbled, and Yehochanan let go of the hug that she had used to apparently teleport him from one island to another. She grimaced and held her head for a moment, but Jon was too busy trying not to lose his lunch to really notice or care. “Ugh…” He swallowed back the bile, “Thank the Ancestors I’m used to rough rides.” 

Yehochanan shook her head again, then looked down and froze; before giving a loud sigh.

Jon glanced over at her and choked down a laugh. The blood, gore, and bile from the Barnacle that still coated his suit had apparently rubbed off on her somewhat; as her bone chestplate and loincloth both had very colorful stains on them, as did her stomach and her face.

She grumbled something, and turned and kept walking; and Jon quickly moved to follow.

He hoped they would reach wherever her place was soon, because he was getting tired of all the walking.

The Master Chief moved through the various bioluminescent plants and fungi with relative ease; his armor allowing him to bull through any obstacle in his way. Cortana had kept an eye on his motion tracker for him, even as she kept in contact with the Autumn . 

The Covenant had followed them to this strange place, and the ship was hiding behind one of the many islands that dotted the nebula; some of the islands that dotted the area were nearly as big as small moons.

Which was just more examples of physics being utterly broken in this place.

“I wonder…” Cortana muttered in his helmet, even as the gunshots that John had been following slowly drew closer. 

“What?” The Master Chief asked when she failed to elaborate; instinctively taking cover when what looked like a giant manta ray flew overhead.

There was a pause, and the Chief could feel Cortana thinking about her answer through her AI chip; which meant that she had likely been contemplating whatever it was that was troubling her for quite some time. 

“When the Autumn entered slipspace, an anomalous energy engulfed the portal just as we entered it.” Cortana started to explain, even as the gunshots drew nearer still. “Ever since it was discovered, ships have always reported Slipspace anomalies; though most of the time, it leaves the ships unaffected.”

“And sometimes, the ships disappear.” The Chief finished, “You think that… this place is where they go?”

“It’s possible. Slipspace isn’t so much a different dimension so much as it’s a different universe that runs parallel to our own; and yet is compressed compared to ours, which is why travel is faster.” Cortana mused.

“So we may still be in slipspace… or in another universe.” John speculated.

A sigh was the answer to his theory. “I was afraid you’d say that, but yes… I’m pretty sure that is what happened to us. We’re either in some strange pocket of Slipspace where there’s actually life; or we’re in another universe entirely.”

Bang!Bang!Bang!

Cortana paused, as did John, and both had the same thought. “That’s not a UNSC firearm being used.” Cortana said, “And it’s not Covenant or Insurrectionist either. I don’t recognize any weapon in the UNSC database that makes that sound.”

Rather than speak, John shouldered his MA5B in response and pressed forward; coming to the edge of the foliage and looking upon a clearing.

He blinked in surprise, and he could feel Cortana do a quick double take through their link. “Okay… I… guess we aren’t the only ones who are displaced.” She finally said as they watched what was happening in front of them.

In front of them, at first, could have been easily mistaken for a human if you were to look at her from the neck down. 

She wore what looked like a strange combination of cowboy clothing, and modernized medieval armor. She wore a hooded cloak, which concealed her face in shadows; but he could still see flashes of it as the woman whirled through the alien wildlife, fighting like a gunslinger from those old North American Folk stories about the wild west.

Her face, or rather her head, made it clear that she was some kind of robot; her glowing blue eyes and the yellow glow coming from her mouth only reinforced this notion.

She had a rifle and a two handed broadsword strapped to her back, and was using a pistol that seemed to have elements of old single action revolvers; but John couldn’t be sure, given how fast the robot woman was twirling and shooting the pistol.

“Options?” The Chief asked, not pointing his assault rifle at the robot, but not taking his eye off her or his motion tracker.

“Help her out?” Cortana suggested.

The Chief remained silent for a moment, then said, “We don’t know if they’re hostile or not.” 

“We’ll just have to take the chance Chief, because we need a landing zone and some friends; and right now, this is the only shot we have of getting both.” The AI replied.

John sighed softly, even as the robot woman was blindsided by one of the creatures she was fighting. A Three legged dog with the face of a bug-eye; which emitted a loud screeching sound, and then a shockwave.

“ AHHHH-OOF! ” The Robot woman slammed into a nearby tree and dropped her pistol, and John made his decision.

He burst through the foliage and fired a quick three round burst into the wild animal; which immediately shrieked and warbled as yellow blood spilled out of its wound, before it pivoted and charged at him. 

Whining loudly, three stripes on its back glowed a bright blue; and then it unleashed a sonic blast.

MJOLNIR Armor and John's own augmentations made it so that he was too heavy to be sent flying like the robot woman had been; but he still stumbled backwards somewhat, and his energy shields immediately dropped to zero, while some of the circuitry sparked.

Foxtrotting Hell! That thing packs a punch. John realized, and immediately began putting several more bursts into the animal before it slumped to the ground dead.

Several more burst out of the brush, followed by what looked like a sort of two legged cthulhu reptile with leopard spots on it. The Cthulhu monster snorted and spat a wave of green liquid at the Chief, which he deftly avoided and immediately put a bullet through its brain. The two sonic bugs squeaked and jumped at him, and the Chief immediately shot one; then the other managed to unleash its sonic blast.

This time, it was close enough that it actually knocked John onto his back; and his HUD immediately glitched and winked out.

“John!” Cortana exclaimed.

The Chief batted the animal aside, crushing bone and muscle alike as the creature went flying; before smashing into a tree and exploding into a pile of blood and animal guts.

“No more hostiles detected… Chief, your suit took some damage from that. I’m rebooting some of the systems now.” Cortana said, sounding worried. “I’m also calling for extraction from the Autumn for both us and our Robot friend.”

“Understood.” John ground out, pushing himself to his feet; feeling very sore all of a sudden.

“Ow…” A new voice, female and slightly synthetic sounding, reached Johns ears; and he looked over to see the robot woman pushing herself to her feet. She made a motion like she was cracking her neck, and put a hand to where her spine would be. 

“That was a pain in the ass to deal with.” She grumbled, having the tiniest hint of a southern drawl.

John slowly walked over to her, still keeping his rifle at the ready just in case; and masking his surprise at the fact that she was speaking English. “Are you alright, ma’am?”

“I’m good, beyond feeling like I’m an old lady with all the joint pain.” She grumbled, before finally pushing herself to her feet. “Thanks for the assist Guardiaaaa-who the hell are you?” She asked, staring at his reflective visor with a stunned expression.

And wasn’t that a novel thing? The robot had a gray-white skin, a pair of antennas on her head, a purple marking on her face, blue glowing eyes; a yellow glow coming from her mouth, and above all else she had moving plates on her face and was clearly able to emote to some degree. 

There was a flash of light, and John had to fight off the urge to raise his weapon and point it at the small orb of metal with a white spiky shell as it suddenly floated out of the robot woman's hood.

The floating object chirped loudly, and it said, “Oh Traveler, my scans register you as human; yet I’m seeing an alarming amount of biological and technological augmentations in your body. I think it would be more appropriate to call you a cyborg.”

John shifted, “Identify yourself.” He ordered.

“Hey, we asked first, Mr. Machine.” The robot woman crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes at him.

“Classified.” John immediately said, though he fought down a wince as he felt Cortana direct a healthy amount of ire at him.

“Well Mr. Classified.” The little spiked orb said sarcastically, “Would your friend residing in the corner of your mind like to introduce themselves as well?”

Cortana immediately projected herself onto his shoulder, a stunned expression on her face. “Wait, you could detect me?” She asked, sounding both alarmed and excited at the same time.

The little spiky orb chirped, “Of course I could, I could see your matrices interacting with his brain.” It replied, before it blinked, “Oh, where are my manners? I am Ghost.”

Cortana smiled slightly, and the Chief felt his concern grow slightly. “Hello Ghost, I’m Cortana. I must say, it’s interesting to meet another AI from another universe.” She remarked.

“Well…” Ghost started, tilting himself slightly while the odd plates that formed a shell around his core spun. “I’m not technically an AI, but I suppose to a lightless being like yourself I would look and sound very much like one.” He said, then paused, “Did you say another universe?”

“Yup.” Cortana confirmed.

“Cortana.” The Chief started to warn, when the AI spun around at him and put her hands on her hips. 

“Chief, we need friends here; and ONI would kill for the opportunity to talk to an actual, living, robot.” She turned back to face Ghost and the robot lady. “The caveman here is Master Chief Petty Officer Spartan-117, NAVSPEC Warfare.” She listed automatically, then grinned. “Now that I’ve given his name, what’s yours?”

Ghost turned to look at his friend, who shrugged and tilted her head. “Oh, no one special.” She said, “Do you want the full list of titles?”

“I wouldn’t.” Ghost said, “I think you’ll melt their brains given how long it is.”

“Oh don’t hold back.” Cortana’s grin only widened, “I’m dying to hear who it is I’m talking to.”

“Oh, very well.” The robot woman smiled, “My name is Iron Lady Whisper-11, also known as The Young Wolf, Godslayer, The Slayer of Oryx, Cursebreaker, Hivesbane, Kingslayer, Shadow of Earth, Rivensbane, Hero of the Red War, and Field Commander of the Hunter Vanguard.” She tilted her head and hummed. “Did I miss any others?” She asked.

“None that were important.” Ghost sighed, then turned to Cortana. “So… Another universe you say?”

The Chief was still processing the long list of titles, but only two were sticking out to him. Iron Lady, which denoted a form of Nobility; like Lord Hood was of Nobility in the United Kingdom as well as being CINCNAVY.

The other was Field Commander, which meant that she was probably an officer; and the equivalent to a bronze or silver leaf in terms of rank.

Cortana, meanwhile, just crossed her arms. “I’d love to talk more about this alternate universe stuff; but right now, our extraction is here. We’ve got a whole ship filled with Marines and Soldiers; and a number of others who are very interested to meet you.” 

A Pelican whooshed overhead, and slowly lowered itself into the clearing; its ramp opening up as the crew chief waved them over. “Mind tagging along?” Cortana asked.

Ghost and Whisper just traded a look, and Whisper-11 just shrugged. “Eh, why not. Worth the try to see where we are.”

Ghost just sighed as the small group went and boarded the Pelican. “This is not going to be fun.”

“You know… I wonder… if the gravity… is increased on certain sections.” Jon panted as he and Yehochanan continued to climb a small hill; using trees and fungi to help pull himself along as his legs pushed him upwards.

“I think it actually is, Shepard.” Garrus’ voice filled his ears. “I took a quick gander around the perimeter we set up after the ship crash landed; and there were certain sections where it felt like my armor was heavier, and others where it was lighter.” 

“Oh… Well fantastic.” The Ex-Spectre whined, even as his guide turned and waved her hand. “Please, Ancestors preserve me, let us be reaching the end.” 

Yehochanan sprinted up to the top of the hill, and Jon shook his head and jogged up with her; then froze as he came face to face with one of the biggest varran type animals he’d ever seen.

Jon made a strangled sound and quickly drew his pistol and fired on instinct; given how every single animal he’d come across so far had tried to kill him. The furred Varren yelped and whined, jumping backwards as it bled from its shoulder; limping slightly as it whined some more.

Jon heard Yehochanan scream something, and then he started choking on his breath; slowly getting lifted up into the air as an emerald green glow started coming from his throat. 

He gasped and wheezed, and suddenly an enraged looking Yehochanan got right in his face. 

“Yə SHät mī Urbahrah!” She roared furiously.

Jon knew enough about hunter-gatherer societies to get the context of her anger, and realized that he had probably shot her pet, or some other tamed animal. So he choked out, “Sorry! I’m sorry! I thought he was attacking me!” 

She continued to glare at him for several moments, then the hold on his throat and neck ceased; and Jon fell to the ground, gasping and choking for air. Yehochanan didn’t even spare him a second glance as she strode over to her tamed pet, which allowed Jon to get a good look at it now that he wasn’t pumped full of panic and adrenaline.

It had black and brown fur, with some patches of light gray thrown in as well; and while it was clearly some kind of canine, it was huge . Its head easily went above Yehochanan’s and Jons own; in fact, Jon was reasonably certain he could ride the damned thing if he wanted to.

It had the one paw raised, and was whimpering while his owner poked and prodded the wound. 

Feeling guilty, Jon forced himself to his feet, still panting a little bit from the brief suffocation that he had suffered through; before sighing and dug into his medbag. He pulled out a small vial of medigel and slowly walked over to where the alien and her pet stood.

He was glad he remembered to pack some, the QueensGuard First Aid invention had saved his life on numerous occasions.

The furred Varren growled as he drew closer, and Yehochanan barked at him; her furious glare not abating one iota. Jon held up his hands in response, and shook the small vial of medigel. “I’m sorry… This will help him, I want to make up for what I did. Alright?” He said slowly, trying to show that he meant no harm and wanted to make amends.

Yehochanan narrowed her eyes at him, and he was hit by a barrage of mistrust, hurt, and anger at the edge of his mind. 

Jon swallowed, and he didn’t bother to try and suppress the fear, worry, and regret he was feeling at the moment; figuring that if the alien could read emotions, she would be reassured by what he was feeling, at least a little bit.

Thankfully, it worked, as she seemed to relax slightly; though her anger was undiminished, she stepped to the side and gestured to her furred Varren. The beast itself growled again, but made no aggressive moves towards Jon, nor did it try to run away as he approached. Jon walked around its front and looked at the gunshot wound in the tame creature's shoulder.

It was a shallow wound, most likely he’d just grazed the thing when he’d fired.

Good, I won’t have to use too much medigel. He thought to himself, even as he pushed the fur out of the way and slowly put a dab on the injury.

Slowly, the furred Varren seemed to relax; and even gave a soft whine and turned to look at Jon, before it nudged his hand with its snout. Jon had seen this behavior with tamed Varren before, and hesitantly he scratched it on the top of the head. The massive varran sat down and gave a pleased growl; and began thumping its hind leg on the ground as Jon continued scratching.

Jon chuckled at the behavior; and over the comms line, he heard Kas exclaim, “Oh my Ancestors, it’s so cute!” She squealed in such a high octave that his ears actually hurt. “As soon as we get back to Citadel Space, I’m having a plushie made of it. It looks so fluffy!”

Yehochanan stepped up then, and she scratched the furred varren under its chin; and the beast huffed and licked her face, which Jon cringed at due to how unsanitary that was. Yehochanan just giggled and then looked back at Jon, and she inclined her head and said a few words that needed no translation.

Jon smiled in return, “You’re welcome.”

Yehochanan nodded, then whistled, and the furred varren stood; and then she walked into her cave, the beast following her. 

Jon paused, and then she turned and beckoned for him to follow. Alright… Here's hoping this isn’t like those childrens horror tales about Kelek’miin luring unsuspecting travelers to its den and killing them. He thought to himself.

He walked into the small cave, and was taken aback somewhat by how… homely it was. 

A small fire pit was in the center, with a hole cut in the ceiling of the cave to let smoke out presumably. In one corner was a pile of animal furs, which meant that was where the bed was; on one side were some slabs of smoked meat, along with some baskets of fruits and vegetables. 

In the very back of the cave were two pools separated by a rock wall, both of which seemed to have water that drained in and out. The one on the right glowed a bright blue, and was filled with a soupy liquid; while the one on the left seemed to be filled with regular water. 

Well, guess I won’t die of thirst. He thought, even as he walked up to when the massive varran was laying on its side.

Yehochanan made a series of motions with her hands, and an orb of glowing liquid came from the pool; which she guided over to the varren’s injury. Jon watched silently as she held it over the grazed wound, and he stood in amazement as the injury began to heal; the skin and muscle underneath knitting together.

“Incredible…” He whispered.

After only a few minutes, Yehochanan lifted the orb of the healing liquid back up; revealing the wound to be perfectly healed. She promptly dropped the orb back into where it came from, and then she walked over to the pool of water and washed her face.

Then she turned to Jon, and she grinned.

Jon gulped as she waved her hands, and a wave of water slammed into him. Jon yelped and fell on his ass as the water removed all the gunk, blood, and gore from his suit and his armor; before being banished outside. 

Yehochanan burst out laughing to the point of doubling over, and Jon couldn’t help but laugh along with her.

Here’s to a new friendship. He thought, as he settled in for a long stay.

Whisper smiled as she kicked back in the chair and put her feet up onto the table; her spurs clinking as she crossed her legs and sighed in relief. “Ahhh… It’s good to get off my feet for once.” She remarked, smiling and she put her arms behind her head. 

“Please get your boots off my conference table, I really don’t feel like ordering one of my enlisted men to clean it off at the moment.” 

Whisper smirked, “Well, since ya asked nicely; I guess I can obliged.” She said, taking her feet off the table and setting them on the deck; her eyes sweeping the people in front of her as she did so.

First was Captain Jacob Keyes. 

Ghost had quickly tapped into the database, the low level things only of course, and both had been impressed to say the least. He essentially had Commander Zavala’s strategic and tactical genius, mixed with Lord Saladin's harsh but fair personality. Whisper had to admit, he would make a great Guardian.

Next was Office of Naval Intelligence Lieutenant Senior Grade Elias Haverson.

Whisper had never liked spy’s, and the man seated next to the Captain was one of the bureaucratic ones to boot; one of those spy’s that didn’t have the guts to at least risk his neck and put his life on the line. Those ones, she could respect; not like the ones that sat around in offices and hemmed and hawed at all the data presented to them.

The third seat was occupied by the Senior Enlisted Marine on the ship, Staff Sergeant Avery Junior Johnson.

Already, Whisper was taking a liking to him given that he was smoking a cigar and eyeing up her weapons with an appreciative eye; and he was nodding at her sense of style as well with an easy going grin.

The fourth seat was taken by Major Antonio Silva, the Commanding Officer of the Orbital Drop Shock Troopers aboard the ship; and Whisper had to admit, she was a little conflicted about the man. 

You had to be the right breed of crazy and stupid to drop from orbit in a glorified coffin into a hardened enemy position. And the man had a pretty long service record that attest to his skill as a commander and as a soldier. But Whisper didn’t like the look in the man's eye; it showed a hint of pride that come Guardians tended to get when they believed they were the best.

The fifth was taken by 1st Lieutenant Melissa McKay, the XO of the ODST’s.

Whisper didn’t know what to make of the woman beyond the fact that she seemed competent and was probably a good soldier; and that was it.

And finally, there was the big guy; the guy who could beat Commander Zavala in a ‘I’m the more serious guy’ contest. The Master Chief, as he was known, a Spartan; humanities (or rather, this version of humanities) greatest warrior.

And Whisper could admit, he was a great warrior; given how quickly he adapted to those alien animals.

But the guy rubbed her the wrong way.

Maybe it was because he tried to bluntly brush off her attempts at a peaceful introduction; her attempt at a quid pro quo. Maybe it was because he never took off that damned helmet of his even though they were safely aboard a warship. Maybe it was because he hadn’t said one word to her since their dropship had picked them up.

He reminded her of those Guardians that thought they were the ‘Strong and Silent type’; when in reality they were just emo’s that mistook silence and stoicism for some kind of badassery, and were utterly forgettable people that never did anything notable.

But, then she could just be judging him unfairly; she’d decide later once she saw him in action.

Absently, she drew a knife and began twirling it between her fingers, and she tilted her head at the Captain; her hood rustling with the movement, “Well, I imagine y’all have a lot of questions. I may or may not have the answers; and Ghost will be more than happy to talk for me, so blast away.” She said, still spinning the knife.

“You’re from a different version of Earth.” The glowing purple-blue stripper stated, suddenly appearing in the center of the conference table. “What’s it like?”

Ghost popped out of Whispers hood, and started talking. “Well, to sum it up; we are the protectors of the last city of mankind. The Traveler, an ancient being, gifted us the ability to wield what is known as the light; and it sacrificed itself to defeat its ancient enemies to protect humanity.” He turned to Whisper, then back to the group. 

“A Ghost chooses its Guardian, and then brings them back to life. But, the Guardian loses all the memories they had of their previous life. Such is the cost to be an immortal protector of mankind.” He finished.

Whisper could see Haverson scribbling frantically into some kind of datapad, while the Captain remained unreadable. Mckay looked both disbelieving, but also fascinated; and Silva looked slightly scornful, and Whisper could practically hear the man thinking, ‘Yeah, pull the other one.’

Staff Sergeant Johnson just looked amused, “So, how does a robot lady like yourself fit into all this?” He asked, even as he smoked a cigar and blew smoke rings.

Oh, I like him. Whisper decided, and she grinned in response. “Well, I’m an Exo; that being a human who had their mind poured into a premade body. And I’m a Hunter.” 

Johnson raised a brow, “You don’t have a bow and arrow on your back; and you look more like a space-cowboy more than anything else.” He said.

Whisper shrugged, “Eh, a Hunter's main job is field work and going behind enemy lines to gather intel and strike when the enemy least expects it. As a rule, we hate being stuck behind a desk; which is kinda sucky for my mentor, Cayde-6. He’s the Hunter Vanguard, the Commander of all Hunters.” She explained, “I get the best command position a Hunter can want; Field Commander, which means I get to stay out in the field, boss other Hunters around, and shove all my paperwork on Cayde.”

“She means that literally.” Ghost interjected, “Any paperwork that appears on her desk, she immediately crumples it up and beans it at Cayde as hard as she can.” 

Whisper just grumbled something under her breath, before turning her attention back to the Captain. “So, we’ve given our side. What’s your story?”

Keyes was still unreadable, though the glowing stripper looking AI seemed to contemplate Whispers question. “Hm… That, is a long story.”

“Cortana.” Lieutenant Haverson interjected, “May I remind you that the Cole Protocol is still-”

“It doesn’t apply to soldiers and protectors of mankind.” Keyes interrupted, still not breaking eye contact with Whisper. “Cortana, go ahead and tell them. Everything.”

“Gladly sir. You may want to relax, because this will take some time.” Cortana warned.

Whisper just grinned, “I’m immortal little lady, I got all the time in the world.”

Thel ‘Vadamee sat in the command chair of the Ascendent Justice , watching dispassionately as the Hurogok went about their business.

He didn’t know what to think about this place, this strange realm that seemed to rest in slipspace. He, like all Sangheili shipmasters and fleetmasters worth their blood, was well familiar with how Slipspace worked; and was well familiar with how dangerous the alternate dimension really was when it came to traveling through it.

“Fleetmaster.”

Thel blinked and turned in his seat to face his two subordinates, the two he trusted the most on this tiny fleet. His ground team leader, Theso 'Kazamee; and the Banshee squadron commander, Voia 'Roosamee. 

It was rare for a female to be allowed to fight, but Voia was an excellent pilot; and Thel knew when to let a talent flourish.

“What knews do you bring?” Thel asked, standing in his seat and walking up to Theso and Voia. 

He was already calculating what actions he would need to take to hunt the human ship down; and he knew that splitting up the Destroyers and the Corvette would be a death sentence. He’d seen how the human ship fought above their fortress world, Reach; and he knew better than to underestimate a human shipmaster. 

But to find and outfight the human, he needed information; which was what he’d sent the two in front of him to do.

Theso shifted and glanced at Voia, before returning his gaze to Thel. “We have scouted the various islands with Phantoms escorted by Banshees.” He informed the shipmaster. “We were unable to find any sign of the human ship, nor any sign of landfall on the archipelago of islands that… float in empty space.”

Voia lifted her head. “I sent a team to land, but the wildlife is incredibly dangerous.” She added, “They ranged from smaller animals that can unleash a sonic blast that can send one flying; to massive tentacle faced predators that spray waves of acid.”

Theso nodded rapidly, “We immediately pulled back of course. There’s only three hundred Unggoy aboard, and about a hundred fellow Sangheili; so we decided it wasn’t worth the risk for the time being.”

Thel made no outward changes in his expression, but inwardly he looked at the two with pride.

Most other commanders would scream and rave about how they had acted without permission; or conversely accuse the two of cowardice and being craven, when instead they should have stood their ground and fought to secure a foothold. 

Thel was not like most commanders.

“You did well, both of you.” He said, giving the two junior officers a nod each. “Rest and regain your strength; have the Hurogok see to your armor and gear. You’ll need them when we inevitably find the Humans.”

Both minors saluted him and walked out of the bridge, just in time for the Prophet of Stewardship to come barreling in on his hoverchair. Speaking of Cravens. Thel thought as he turned to face the Prophet, and gave a slight bow of respect; the absolute minimum required of him to one of superior station.

“Fleetmaster.” The Prophet simpered, “I understand that landfall has been made.”

“It has.” Thel reported dutifully, “Unfortunately, the wildlife has been causing many problems with establishing a foothold; and our limited numbers mean that we must be judicious with our forces. Especially with the infidel's ship still hidden somewhere in this system.”

The Prophet of Stewardship just scowled, “Find this ship at once.” He snapped, “Eliminate the infidels and secure this land of the gods.”

Thel sighed internally, but bowed his head. 

“It shall be done, Noble Prophet.”

Chapter Text

“It seems to be a bit of a running theme, humanity always on the back foot no matter where we are; or what universe we’re in.” 

Whisper kept her feet kicked up on the table as she absently sharpened a knife, only half listening to Ghost as she contemplated everything she had been told. She had spent most of the rest of the day and most of the night exploring the ship. It had been 28 hours since she had first appeared in this strange new place; and she still wasn’t all that used to it.

She was in the mess hall, eating some potato chips while the crew and Marines that walked through pointedly ignored her very existence.

Which was to be expected, she was a robot; a foreigner to them, and their experience with anything not human or human made AI was not good.

Ghost simply analyzed the food and drinks that Whisper had gotten from the mess sergeant. The Marine had been surprised by the idea that she could eat, and Whisper had been happy to remind him that Exo’s were made to be as human-like as possible; both for easier interaction with other humans, and also so that the human who had their brain poured into one could adapt easier.

Ghost hummed loudly, “I do wonder how such a thing is possible. The Exo Stranger told me about parallel universes and all that; and even told me about a central nexus to it, but I never really knew what she meant by that.”

“The Exo Stranger?” Cortana asked, appearing on the table with her arms crossed; even as Whisper continued eating. “Who’s that?”

Whisper shrugged, “She’s a friend of mine… Well, acquaintance more like; but she helps out when she can.” She tapped her chin in thought. “So I told you there’s the Vanguard, right?” 

“You did.” Cortana confirmed, “Cayde-6, you’re direct superior and Commander of the Hunters. Zavala, Commander of the Titans and the overall leader of the Vanguard. And Ikora Rey, Commander of the Warlocks.”

Whisper smirked, “Well, there’s also the ‘Shadowguard’.”

Ghost sighed, “That’s not what they’re called Whisper.” He reminded her. “In fact they hate being called that.”

“Eh, I’m gonna keep calling them that until they make me stop.” She replied, even as Cortana watched their back and forth with a raised brow.

“So, ‘Shadowguard’, extremely unoriginal name besides; who are they?” The AI asked.

Whisper gestured for Ghost to project a picture. “The Shadowguard are pretty much the inverse of the Vanguard. They work in the shadows and are unknown, while the Vanguard work in the open and are looked up to by the people of the Last City. They get their hands dirty and use the darkness just as much as they use the light to fight the hidden enemies of humanity.”

“They sound like ONI.” Cortana remarked.

“If ONI was three people who dislike each other, then yeah; I guess that would be accurate.” Whisper snorted. “There’s Eris Morn, a former Awoken Hunter; but now she’s a Hive Warlock for lack of a better term. She’s been undercover within the Hive for decades, and even has some Hive traits in her, like three eyes.”

Ghost spun his plates and shuddered. “I know she’s a good person but… She always gave me the creeps.”

“You and me both, little light.” Whisper shuddered as well, but smirked as Ghost sputtered at his nickname; then she continued. “There’s the Drifter, who… well no one really knows what his end goal is; just that he’s been using the Vex for some reason. He’s like me, but with none of the charm.”

“Hm… yes he would be an unpleasant person then.” Cortana agreed, “Given how unpleasant I find you.” She joked.

Whisper rolled her eyes, “Sister, if you want to roast me; you’re gonna have to do a lot better than that.” She remarked, taking a swig of the soda she had been given. “The last person is the only one I can really tolerate. We… Don’t really know her name, she’s just called The Exo Stranger.”

“She’s the leader of this Shadowguard then?”

“Aye, she is.” Whisper confirmed. “Ikora, Zavala, and Cayde know about them; and I know because of my rank as Field Commander, and because I’ve met the Stranger multiple times in the past. But otherwise, they don’t exist.” She grimaced, “I’ve worked with the Stranger on a few missions. She makes your big wind up toy look chatty by comparison.”

Cortana actually blinked at that, “Someone quieter than the Chief? Now that I’d like to see.”

Whisper shrugged and stood, “Who knows. Knowing Cayde, he’s probably raising hell to try and find me; and probably trying to bully the rest of the Vanguard into helping him.”

She stretched and groaned, her metal joints whirring and popping, “Right then, I’d like to take a look at some of y’alls guns to see what I’m working with here.” She stated.

“Of course.” Cortana smiled and disappeared, and a blue ping appeared on the Guardians HUD. “Just follow the waypoints; I’m sure the Rangemaster would like to see what you’re capable of.”

“Oh he is in for a surprise.” Whisper promised.

“What do you mean, the Vex portal is gone.” Cayde-6, Hunter Vanguard Commander, asked slowly; and one could see his mouth light turn from its normal yellow to a deep red.

The poor fireteam of Guardians trembled as Cayde’s light began to pour into the room; creating an oppressive atmosphere, to the point that the old Exo actually seemed to have his own gravitational field of sorts.

 “I-I-I’m sorry sir, but…” The team leader swallowed, gathering her courage for just long enough to muster a reply to the Vanguard. “When we got there, there were a bunch of dead Vex; and the portal was gone.”

Cayde glared them down, the shadows that hid his face under his hood only serving to make him more menacing. “Report to Lord Shaxx. Get some training in.” He ordered.

“Yes sir!” The three Guardians replied, and practically sprinted out of the room. It was always said that the nicest ones snapped the worst; and seeing Cayde, the normally happy go-lucky joker of the Tower, looking like he was going to shoot them just for bringing him some bad news… Well let’s just say that the pall of dread that had settled on the Tower was not going away any time soon.

Cayde growled lowly and stormed out of his office towards the conference room.

Once he reached it, he practically kicked down the door to see Ikora and Zavala talking with three pretty familiar faces. He mentally discounted Drifter and Morn, and instead went straight for that buxom Exo bitch that almost certainly knew what had happened to the Kid.

The Stranger turned, her white face and blue eyes boring into Cayde; and that expression remained unchanged as Cayde grabbed the Stranger by her throat and slammed her into the wall.

“Cayde!”

“The hell ya doin’!?”

 “Release her!”

“Stop this madness!”

Cayde processed the shouts of Ikora, Zavala, Drifter, and Eris in the back of his mind; but he paid them no heed, still glaring at the Stranger while she stared back unblinking. “You know where she is.” It wasn’t a question, and both of them knew it.

Click.

Cayde glanced behind him, and saw the Drifter pointing his hand cannon at Cayde's head, an uncharacteristically serious expression on his face; while Eris had that glowing green hive ball of hers spinning at mach speed, and angry snarl twisting her features.

Ikora and Zavala were also pointing their sub-machine gun and rifle at him; both of them looking concerned but determined.

He looked back at the Stranger, and she tilted her head. “I do know where she is.”

“So why haven’t you told us?” He demanded, while Sundance emerged from her hiding place and looked between the two Exo’s.

“Cayde, hun’, you need to calm down.” His ghost warned, almost pleading with him. “Babe, the Kid wouldn’ have wanted ya’ to do this.” She tapped the side of Cayde's head, only to retreat when the Stranger gently brushed her aside.

“It’s alright Sundance.” The Stranger said, still sounding calm and relaxed. “And I hadn’t told you up to this time, because you would go and get yourself killed; or fall to darkness trying to save her.”

“Cayde, this isn’t you.” Ikora said, the Warlock Vanguard’s eyes glowed purple as she took a step forward. “Let Elsie down, and we’ll talk more.”

Cayde blinked, and he couldn’t stop the mocking laugh from bubbling out of his throat. “Elsie?!” He barked, and the Stranger’s expression finally changed to one of annoyance; and she glared at Ikora for a moment, before turning her attention back to Cayde. “ That’s your name? Elsie?! For a woman like yourself, I expected something with more… meaning behind it. No wonder you go by ‘The Stranger’; way cooler sounding… by a six year olds standards anyways.”

Cayde slowly let her go, and Elsie massaged her throat before shifting a glare at Ikora. “Really? You couldn’t have just shot him or knocked him out?” Her thick British accent growing stronger in exasperation.

The Drifter just snorted and holstered his hand cannon, “Please sister, shooting him would have just pissed him off.” The old guardian remarked, crossing his arms while his Ghost appeared. “Besides, you’ve been keepin’ us in the dark too; I kinda want answers as well, if I’m honest.”

Cayde blinked in surprise, even as that damned fish/bird-like creature that acted like a ghost but wasn’t a ghost appeared on Elsie's shoulder. “Wait, you’ve been keeping even your own team in the dark?” He asked.

“She has.” Eris confirmed, looking slightly annoyed as her own ghost appeared. “We have been requesting she share what she knows, but she still refuses to reveal her secrets to us.”

“Wow… Three eyes and I agreeing on something; the world truly is ending.” Drifter scowled as he crossed his arms.

Zavala’s own ghost, Targe, appeared and chirped loudly; “I think it would be best if we got the information now.” The ghost was much like his Guardian; terse, to the point, and factual.

Ophiuchus, Ikora’s ghost, appeared over her head and he buzzed loudly. “Please tell us. All of us ghosts have felt the same thing.” He practically begged.

Cayde looked at Sundance, while the others all looked at their own ghosts in surprise. Whisper and Ghost were something of an anomaly, given how much Ghost liked to talk and was more active than others; so to see everyones companions all appear in one place was a rarity. Having all of them want the same thing? Unheard of.

“Sundance?” Cayde asked, still calming down a little, but also growing worried.

“Sugah, there’s something off in the air.” She confirmed, “It’s like…” She paused and glanced at the other ghosts. “It’s like there’s tendrils of darkness permeating the air around us.” She turned to look back at Cayde, “And Cayde… one of those tendrils grabbed hold of you and didn’t let go.”

Cayde blinked, and very slowly sat down. 

If he had a heart, it would have stopped. “I… so this is why I’ve been a pissy asshole for the past few days.” He said, “I was turning into another Zavala… Oh Traveler, just shoot me now.”

Ikora breathed outwards and walked over and began channeling her light over Cayde, while Elsie's not-ghost chirped and squeaked loudly in some uncompehensable language. 

“Are you sure?” The Exo Stranger asked, holding her palm out and letting the thing rest there.

It chirped again.

Elsie sighed, “If you’re certain.” She said before looking at Cayde. “That tendril of darkness is still in you Cayde, I can sense it. And it’s coming from the same place that Whisper got sent to.”

“And where would that be?” Eris asked, tilted her head as her three eyes flashed for a moment; then she froze, “Surely you cannot mean-”

“Have you ever heard of a place called Xen?”

“Okay, why the fuck are all your guns bullpups?” Whisper ranted, even as the bemused range master and Marines watched; Ghost just floating there awkwardly. Unbeknownst to both, the Master Chief stood in the shadows; watching the Iron Lady as she complained about the MA5B Assault Rifle and the M392 DMR.

“I think she doesn’t like bullpups.” Cortana remarked inside his helmet, and the Chief frowned heavily even as he listened to the Exo continue to rave about UNSC firearms.

“First of all, your damned assault rifle. It’s really bulky and heavy, even for someone like me. There’s no sort of picatinny rail system to mount additional optics; and you don’t even have iron sights on the damned things. Why are there no iron sights?” She demanded.

“Um…” The Armorer shifted uncomfortably. “The rifles are synced to a user's Heads Up Display and it tells them where to aim, Commander.” He explained.

John held back a derisive snort, as the HUD’s of all servicemen displayed the Guardians name. “Field Commander Whisper-11.” Which John didn’t contest, though he still felt uneasy at best regarding the Exo; mainly due to her personality, her current rant being a good demonstration.

“Synced up with your HUD.” Whisper deadpanned, “Yeah, that’s a great idea; until said HUD gets damaged or you’re hit with an EMP of some kind.” She grumbled, her eyes flashing in the shadows of her hood. “Even the most robust of electronics get damaged in the field; and that’s not even accounting for battery consumption. Plus, this ammo counter and compass.”

She grabbed the MA5B off the table, and after checking to make sure it was unloaded (which did give her a point in John's favor; but not much of one), she pointed to it. “The compass, I can understand; since on differing worlds, a magnetic compass would be useless. But an ammo counter?! If your gun is synced up with your HUD already, why not just use that to tell how much ammo you have left?” She set the weapon back down with a scowl.

“Or hey, better yet, go the old fashioned way and just not have an ammo counter at all? This light right here would do nothing but give away your position; especially at night when you’re sneaking about.” She shook her head in disbelief, then grabbed a magazine and held it out.

“And what the hell is this? 7.62x51mm Rounds? I assume they are at least Full Metal Jacket and Armor Piercing; because otherwise these ain’t gonna do shit against tougher opponents. They still won’t do much against big boys.” She exclaimed.

John slowly closed his eyes, then opened them again, and took a calming breath.

On a factual level, he actually agreed with her. He’d long made his displeasure known with the UNSC Armaments Board regarding the quality of the standard issue UNSC weaponry; mainly how it was lacking in many respects. And as Cortana had informed him at one point shortly after they’d been paired together; the UEG and UNSC couldn’t even use the excuse of the weapons being cheap and easy to make, because they weren’t.

As Whisper had pointed out, the electronics used in UNSC small arms made them more expensive and it took more time to make them due to it.

He remembered Johnson complaining how he’d requested that they at least made the guns with iron sights; that way they had something to fall back on if they were caught unprepared or if the electronics failed.

No dice.

But as much as he may have agreed with her, he still did not appreciate the way she went about voicing those complaints. She was an officer. A guest perhaps, but an officer nonetheless. She should have simply run her complaints up official channels and kept her concerns to private conversations.

Complaining openly like this would undermine morale.

At least… John thought it would, but he was confused when many of the Marines and ODST’s started nodding and smiling; while the Range Master and Armory Sergeant both grinned and exchanged looks. “Ma’am, you are preaching to the Choir here; what you’ve said is everything the common ground trooper has been whining about for the past twenty-seven years. Actually, the complaints you listed are a small fraction of what we’ve been bitching and moaning about; because you haven’t had to use the damned thing.”

Whisper actually looked surprised, and it must have been mirrored on John's face; as Cortana said, “What? You yourself and your fellow Spartans have had many of the same complaints when it came to standard issue small arms.” She pointed out, and John could hear the smile on the AI’s face.

“Perhaps.” The Master Chief conceded, even as Whisper and the other Marines and ODST’s conversed about the upsides and downsides of designing a new rifle entirely in a new caliber that had more stopping power. “But she still should have kept these thoughts to herself, or brought them up in private. Not in public like that. It undermines soldiers' trust in their equipment.” 

There was a pause, then Cortana asked, “You… can’t seriously believe that, right? Granted, maybe she should have kept her concerns private; but she’s not an officer of the UNSC. She’s an Officer of a foriegn army/species; and her concerns are valid. Plus, you’ve seen what she’s done here; right?”

John frowned, “What?” He asked, not really seeing what his AI partner was getting at.

Cortana sighed explosively, sounding exasperated with him. “Damned caveman-Look. You didn’t see her in the mess hall, I did. The Marines, Soldiers, ODST’s, and Sailors were avoiding her like she had the plague. Now look at her.” 

The Master Chief looked at the crowd laughing and joking with the robot, even as she had her own AI partner project a board of some kind; and then she began drawing what looked to be designs for a rifle. “They’re… mingling with her.” John realized.

“Exactly.” Cortana confirmed, “She’s shown that she’s one of them. A person who’s slogged through the trenches; a person who sees many of the same problems they’ve seen, and a person who’s willing to speak up for them even though she’s an alien… technically… You get my point though.”

“I do.” John sighed, “But I still disagree.”

“Of course you do.” Cortana muttered.

A loud whistle sounded over the intercom, “Master Chief Petty Officer Spartan-117, Staff Sergeant Avery Johnson, and Field Commander Whisper-11; please report to the conference room for briefing.” 

The Chief silently slipped out of the firing range, even as Whisper began extraditing herself from the cluster of Marines and ODST’s. “What’s this about?” He asked Cortana, hoping the AI could prepare him for what was ahead.

Cortana’s answer relaxed him instantly, as he slipped into what he was most familiar with.

War.

“The covenant has begun landing on the islands searching for us. It’s time we hit them back.”

Jon slowly opened his eyes, blinking in confusion as his sleep-addled brain tried to remember where he was, wondering why he was leaning against something very furry; and flinched as he realized what he was leaning against.

“Ancestors.” He hissed and slowly stood backed away from the giant furred varren; even as it lay on its side, its legs splayed out, and huffing and yipping in its sleep. 

 He hadn’t meant to fall asleep, but he’d been so wiped out from that long hike from where he’d been dumped to Yehochanans cave; that after she’d given him that impromptu bath, he’d sat down in a comfy corner, eaten one of his emergency nutrient paste tubes, and passed out. 

Apparently, the furred Varren had decided to curl up around Jon; either to keep him there or to threaten him, Jon couldn’t be sure. As it stood, he spotted Yehochanan curled up in the mass of furs on the opposite side of the cave; the alien woman sleeping peacefully with a tiny smile on her face.

Jon felt a rush of heat to his face as he realized that she had removed her furred pelt, her bone chest plate, and her loincloth before going to bed.

Shaking his head, he decided to walk around the cave to scope out how the native was living; and whether or not she was thriving or just living on the edge. Just from the amount of smoked meat she had on a rack, it was definitely the former; and the spare bone chest plates and some spare loincloths told Jon that while she wasn’t living a life of luxury, she wasn’t just getting by.

A loud yawn drew his attention, and Jon glanced backwards; cursed internally, and immediately turned around again as Yehochanan stood and stretched. 

He heard her walk over to her pet and mutter a few words, even as he made a show of pretending to poke the smoldering embers of a fire with a stick; and he winced as he heard her make a strangled squeak, followed by a rustling noise.

Jon huffed and poked the embers again, smiling slightly as he heard her footsteps draw near.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out his sisters locket for comfort, opening it and smiling at the picture of himself and his twin sister Jun; the two in a clean room absent their helmets and grinning at the camera. He glanced up as Yehochanan circled round the smoldering embers and tossed a few sticks of wood into the pit; and he shut the locket and put it back, giving the alien woman his full attention.

At least she doesn’t seem to be afraid or angry at me any more. He mused, even as she sat down across from him, wearing her loincloth and bone chest-plate, but not the furred pelt. Jon glanced to his left at the sound of padding feet; and he fought down the urge to recoil as the giant furred varren walked up next to him, and prodded one of Jon’s hands with its nose.

“Hā! Nō-nō-nō!” Yehochanan barked furiously, walking over and grabbing the beast by its fur and dragging it over to her side. “Yə wəl rəˈsēv fo͞od (h)wen it īˈes yôr tərn.” 

The native wagged her finger at the beast, and Jon held back a little bit of laughter as the beast's big triangular ears folded back and it bowed its head; looking more like a child being chastised as opposed to some fearsome tamed hunter.

Yehochanan tapped the furred varren on its snout, then walked over to the rack of smoked meat; and tore off a piece of rib, then walked over to Jon and held it out.

All amusement died out within him as he hesitantly took the food and stared at it; then looked at the native, who seemed to be giving him an expectant look. “Ét, its stil freSH (ə)n sāf.” She said, pointing to the piece of meat; while Jon internally debated what to do.

If it was dextro, then he would only be in danger of foreign contaminants; which given how the rack of smoked meat was just hanging in the open, it was very likely. If it was levo based, then the best case scenario was that he would have the above problems in addition to getting some bowel problems and not getting the same number of nutrients. 

Never mind the fact that it would necessitate him removing his visor.

He would get sick from any pathogens or pollen in the air, adding to the fact that he would be showing his face to this native stranger. Though given how much of her I’ve seen, I suppose it would be returning the favor. He mused, before banishing that line of thought.

He cleared his throat and set the rib of meat on his lap. “Thank you, but… I can’t eat this.” He said patiently.

Yehochanan just tilted her head, looking confused, “Its nät ˈrätn.” She said, pointing to the rib.

“I’ll get sick.” He said, raising his hands to placate her. “I can’t take this helmet off, or I'll get sick and die.” He added, pointing to his helmet and mimed coughing.

The alien just blinked, still looking confused, then her eyes and face brightened. “Ō! Yo͞o nēd help rəˈmo͞ov-iNG yo͝or ˈhelmət sō yo͞o kan ēt!” She exclaimed, even though Jon didn’t understand a word of it. “Hir! Let mē help yo͞o.”

She walked over with a large smile, and immediately set her hands on his visor and started trying to remove it. Jon was so stunned at this brazen action, that she managed to start pulling it off before he acted. “Wait!” He shouted, “No-no-no! Don’t! I’ll die!”

“Yôr sāf hir.” She replied, misunderstanding his panic. “ˈnəTHiNG wəl əˈtak yo͞o hir.”

She removed his visor, and Jon immediately held his breath and reached frantically for it; only to stop when Yehochanan dropped it and grabbed the bottom of his helmet and lifted it up, unsealing it at the neck and pulling it over his head, causing him to expel the air that he’d been holding in by accident.

Jon took a short breath and held it again, expecting pain and allergic reactions to start affecting him immediately; but instead, he felt… normal, as if he was in a clean room.

Slowly, he took a few experimental breaths; and instead of his nose running with mucus and his throat swelling shut, he just continued breathing like normal. “What is…” He touched his face in utter confusion; then ran a hand through his close cropped midnight-blue hair. “How am I not dying?” He asked himself.

“Hir! Ēt.” Yehochanan said suddenly, practically shoving the smoked rib into his face with a warm smile; which quickly turned confused at the stunned expression on Jons face. “Är yo͞o ôlˈrīt?” She asked.

Jon didn’t understand the words, but he got the intention behind them. “I-I’m fine.” He managed to choke out, still stunned. He looked down at the rib and took it, and slowly munched on it, figuring that he may as well push his luck while it was still holding out.

He winced slightly as his jaw started to hurt from chewing the very hard meat, but tolerated it enough to swallow it. It was very salty and had a smokey taste; which was rather obvious as to why, but it was… okay, he supposed.

Remembering his manners and banishing his amazement for just long enough, he bowed his head and said, “Thank you.”

Yehochanan beamed, “Yo͝or ˈwelkəm.” She replied, before leaning forwards and frowning slightly. “Yo͞o lo͝ok ˈôlˌmōst ˈ(h)yo͞omən.” She remarked, before reaching forward and poking Jon’s cheek; and he blushed furiously at the sudden contact. The very idea that some alien native touched his bare skin… she may as well have been riding him raw right then and there. Even still, he felt a rush of blood downstairs; and it took all he had to not groan in pleasure at the sensation of his bare skin being touched by another.

And I’m being filmed and watched by the crew! He realized with horror as he glanced over at his helmet still sitting on the cave floor.

Yehochanan giggled then, “Yo͞or ˈpridē ˈhan(t)səm.” She said, then her pale pink face turned red; and Jon quickly grabbed her hand and gently guided it away from his face, very aware of just how blue his face must have looked.

“If you don’t mind, please don’t touch my face.” He said awkwardly, coughing slightly.

He still wasn’t sick, and his face wasn’t puffing up from her touching him; and he had felt the sweat, and the dirt, and the grease from the meat, and the saliva from that furred varren on her fingers. 

How is this possible? He wondered.

He hoped Mordin was watching, maybe he could figure out some answers.

Tali’Zorah slowly sipped her nutrient paste and closed her eyes, sighing loudly as she leaned against the wall of the food chamber; still feeling the pounding effects of the Palavanian Brandy from last night.

“Not feeling too well?”

Tali bit down a growl as her hair-quills puffed up against her helmet; while Kas decloaked across from her, the Thief looking quite smug as her eyes flashed through the opaqueness of her visor. “No, I’m not.” Tali replied, closing her eyes and setting her head against the table. “I feel like shit; and I’ve been worried about Shepard. The shuttle is still being repaired, and after watching his trek to that natives cave, I know we can’t get to him because either he’s on another island entirely; or the wildlife will do us in if we try to walk it.”

Kas snickered, “Worried about your ‘big bro’?” She asked.

Tali just picked her head up slightly, “Of course I am, he’s the only family I have besides my Aunty ‘Raan.”

Kas pointedly did not mention Tali’s father, for which she was grateful. Words had been said that could not be unsaid between them, and it would be a long time before either of them would ever acknowledge the other. “Well, how about some good news for you?”

“What?” Tali grumbled.

“Well for one thing, he took off his helmet.”

Tali’s head shot up like a missile. “What!” She screamed, leaping across the table and grabbing Kas by her Raelk and started shaking her back and forth. “Is he okay!? Is he hurt?! Tell me! NOW!”

Kas hiccuped and lolled her head, “Ugh… everything’s spinning…” She mumbled, then hiccuped again. “H-h-he’s fine.” She managed to stammer out and she held her head to steady it. “That alien girl even touched his face.”

Tali blinked slowly, even as her hair-quills began puffing up again, “Do you know where my shotgun is?” She asked, her voice very cool and even now.

“Now-now.” Kas chided, grabbing Tali’s hand and dragging the engineer out of the mess hall and towards the comms room, “The poor girl probably doesn’t understand the meaning skin to skin contact has to our people. Hells, she didn’t even seem to understand that Jon taking off his helmet could potentially kill him; given how she practically tore it off to ‘help’ him eat the food she gave him.”

Tali felt her eye twitch, “Where is my shotgun?” She repeated, even as Kas dragged her into the comms room; where Garrus, was sitting and nursing some water. 

The Turian buzzed in amusement, “C’mon Tal’s, you gotta admit that it's kinda cute. The native clearly has the hots for him.” He remarked, and Tali got a view of what was going on.

Jak has more covered up than she does. Tali thought, as the helmet cam observed Jon quietly eating some meat; while the native woman sat across from him also eating. The massive furred varran (which Tali grudgingly admitted was pretty adorable to look at in spite of its massive size) was looking between Jon and the native alien; giving them a pleading look from time to time, which Jon frequently answered by tossing a piece of meat at it.

Tali swallowed as she got a look at Jon’s face, and she winced slightly.

She would admit to having had a bit of a crush on him when they had first met; but as the years had gone by, she’d looked up to him more as a brother than anything else. But that didn’t mean she wasn’t flustered by looking at his bare face, though Kas didn’t seem to have any reservations.

“Ohhhh, he’s got midnight-blue hair and gray-blue skin; that means his family is probably from the mountain regions of Rannoch.” The thief noted, staring unashamedly at the feed. “Quite good looking too.”

“Kas.” Garrus buzzed, sounding hurt, “I thought you only looked at guys with scars.”

Kas just turned and shrugged, “Doesn’t mean I can’t admire others, but don’t worry.” She walked up to Garrus, swaying her hips as she did so, “I’ve only got eyes for one man.” She said, stroking Garrus’ fringe.

Tali gagged loudly, “Ancestors kill me now. I’m half tempted to take my hair-quills and gouge my eyes out.” She remarked, burying her head in her hands. “First my brat-k’lanowy shows his face to some primitive alien in front of his own crew, and then lets her touch him; then my two best friends flirt openly with each other in front of me.”

“Impossible.”

The three jumped as Mordin practically charged into the room, followed by Miri; the normally ice cold Asari looking utterly stunned as she stared at the projectors.

“How…” Miri breathed out, but she was drowned out by Mordin.

“Helmetremovedandstillnoreaction!? Impossible. Butthisplaceisprovingtheimpossiblepossible. Perhapsnaturalsteralizationintheair?” Mordin rambled.

“I think we broke him.” Kas remarked, as Doctor Chakwas walked in.

The old Quarian stared at the screen for a second, then immediately opened her omnitool and started jotting down notes. “He’s getting a checkup the moment he gets back to the ship.” Chakwas stated flatly, her eyes flashing. “And that woman gets one too, mainly so I can figure out what she’s made up of. If she’s going to be staying with us, I’ll need to figure out a healthy diet.”

Tali winced at the reminder of Council First Contact Procedure when it came to meeting a primitive race that clearly hadn’t even made it past the hunter-gatherer stage of its evolution.

Wipe all traces of the Councils presence, including taking any of the aliens that had seen or met them. It wasn’t a nice procedure, but it was one that Tali understood. Short of extinction, the aliens should be allowed to progress on their own path of evolution and development; and uplifting them would go poorly, as the Krogan had proved.

It didn’t mean the idea sat well with Tali.

I wonder if she has friends or family. She mused, glancing back at the screen as the woman began petting her tamed beast; and Tali cringed while the woman laughed as the furred varren licked her in the face. 

She looked over at Miri, then she stood and walked over. “I’m going to check on EDI.” She declared, “It still hasn’t reactivated on its own, so I’m going to give it some help.”

If only father could hear those words; me reactivating a Geth of my own free will… he’d have a heart attack. She thought to herself.

“I’ll help you.” Kas said, jumping up from where she’d been leaning against Garrus. “I could use something to do while Shepard flirts with the alien.”

Tali shuddered, “Fine; but no more jokes or mentioning that. Because if you do, then I’ll have to kill you.”

“Fair enough.”

Gordon was glad that his helmet came with infrared sensors.

He slowly wormed his way past the lasers, making sure none of his limbs or any bits of armor or weapons tripped the lasers and activated the turrets. 

“Careful…” Gordon flinched and looked up at two Scientists standing in a doorway; both nervously watching him as he worked to make his way past the turrets. “Don’t cross the beams.” The Scientist warned.

Gordon gave him a flat stare through his helmet. You don’t think? He thought sarcastically, before continuing working his way across.

Once he was finally past the lasers, he breathed a deep sigh of relief; and slumped against the wall for a moment, before he drew his Glock and checked the ammunition. He glanced at the two scientists and tilted his head, then signed, “You two coming?”

Neither seemed to understand ASL, but they did seem to understand his meaning.

The one on the left shook his head. “I’m staying here. Help is coming, no sense in risking myself more when help is close.”

The one on the right nodded in agreement, “I’m not willing to try my luck any more. May as well wait.” He remarked.

Gordon sighed, but shrugged, “Suit yourself.” He signed before continuing onwards. He stopped on seeing a blue infrared laser, and followed it to a large tripmine attached to the wall and hidden amongst some junk. He grimaced as he remembered the one scientist that had tripped one of those lasers, and knew that even with his suit; it would still hurt.

Right, not touching that. He thought to himself and quickly stepped over it.

The VOX system blared loudly, and the female voice started talking; but it sounded wrong, almost distorted. “Attention. This AnnoUnCMEnt SYs-TEM. NOW. UNDER. MILITARY. COMMAND.”

The soothing, feminine VOX voice was replaced with a harsh, punctual, deep base male voice; and Gordon winced at how harsh it was. That isn’t ominous at all. He thought to himself, even as he continued onwards.

He just hoped the military would be friendly and helpful as everyone was saying they would be.

Marine Corporal Adrian Shepherd opened his eyes as he woke from a nap.

The sound of the V-22 Osprey’s twin rotors spinning was nothing more than ambient noise to the experienced Marine, and he shifted himself slightly to get more comfortable. He glanced around to see Staff Sergeant Sharpe standing at the front by the cockpit with his normal scowl, the man having removed his beret and was strapping on a helmet.

Directly across from Adrian was his friend, PFC Raymond Tower; the giant African American Marine was in the middle of loading his M249 SAW. Next to Tower was PFC Bob Jackson, the Engineer checking his cutting torch and had his normal shit eating grin on his face; his cigarette still filling the air with the disgusting smell of tobacco.

Next to Adrian was their corpsman, Petty Officer Second Class Leroy Jenkins; the grim faced navy man was absently double checking his med bag to make sure everything was in place, his glasses fogging slightly in the desert heat.

Lance Corporal Calico was next to Jenkins, and PFC Sanders was next to Jackson; the two men being their usual stoic selves.

The radio crackled, and Adrian could hear the pilots of the other Osprey’s talking with each other; which he mostly tuned out, though he kept an ear out for anything important. 

“Man, where the hell are we anyway?” Tower grumbled as he checked his spare belt of ammunition for his SAW. 

“Well, the pilot thought we were headin' to your mother's house, heh. So far this all looks familiar.” Jackson replied, grinning.

Adrian shook his head, “Really Jackson, bringing out the ‘your mom’ jokes already?” He asked in mock indignation.

Tower snorted, “Yeah, that’s real cute Jackson; what are ya’, fourteen?”

Jackson just grinned, “You guys don’t know, maybe I'm just a fourteen year old stuck in an adults body.” He remarked, then stopped and frowned, “And I just realized how bad that sounds out of context.”

Jenkins shook his head, “Never say that again.” The Corpsman ordered, and the others chuckled except Sharpe, who just kept scowling.

Tower huffed, “Hey, you guys smell that?” He asked.

“Smell what?” Jackson leaned over and grabbed another cigarette from one of his PCV’s pockets.

“Smells like... smells like another babysittin' job to me, man.” Tower chuckled.

“Ha! No shit man.” Jackson agreed.

“Babysittin' job my ass. This has ‘training mission’ written all over it. Why else would they have kept our orders from us for so long, huh?” Jenkins grumbled.

Adrian nodded, “Why the hell haven’t we been given our orders? How the hell are we going to fight and plan effectively if we don’t even know where we’re going?” He wondered.

“Do you have a problem with that Corporal!” Sharpe suddenly snapped, and the tension in the cabin shot up like a rocket. “I will give you your orders when we have reached the landing zone!” The Sergeant snarled furiously, an almost manic look in his eyes.

Adrian straightened in his seat and glared right back at his TL, jutted out his chin, and snapped out, “Understood Staff Sergeant.” 

Sharpe just snarled in reply and turned back to the Cockpit and leaned over the pilots; both of whom looked distinctly uncomfortable. Adrian released a breath that he hadn’t known he’d been holding; and he saw the others looking between the Staff Sergeant and Adrian himself. 

“You all good Corporal?” Tower asked.

“Yeah, I’m good…” He trailed off.

All of the officers and senior NCO’s had been acting very strangely for the past few hours; all of them having an almost manic air to them as whatever Operation this was had gone into effect.

Tower, in an effort to defuse the tension, remarked, “Man, if this is another 'search and rescue' operation, I'm gonna be pissed.”

Jackson snorted, “Yeah, I'm gonna be pissed too when I gotta search and rescue your sorry ass.”

Jenkins just shook his head and leaned over towards Adrian, “Keep an eye on Sharpe, something’s off about him.” The man said, though with all the noise from the chopper, he may as well have been whispering it.

Adrian didn’t react externally beyond a short nod, and he laughed when Tower leaned over conspiratorially and said, “Hey, Shephard! I think Jackson here's got the hots for you.”

“Screw you Tower.” Jackson laughed, slugging the larger man in the shoulder, and the cabin burst into chuckles again.

“Alright Marines! Listen up!” 

Everyone in the cabin turned to look at the Staff Sergeant, though Adrian looked past the man towards the nearest Osprey; Goose-3 being dead ahead of them and running at full tilt. Suddenly, what looked like a giant yellow Manta Ray flew past the Osprey; Adrian blinked rapidly.

Whoa! Did I see that right? He wondered.

“Our orders are to-”

BZZZZZZZTTTT!BOOOOOM!

Another flying Manta thing had flown over Goose-3 and fired a laser beam from its underside, like something out of Star Wars; and the Osprey had exploded into a thousand pieces.

Everyone started cursing and scrambling to try and get a look as to what was happening.

“The fuck was that?!”

“Was that an RPG?!”

“Who the fuck did we lose?!”

“Are we fightin’ reb’s or fuckin’ cartels?!”

Adrian opened and closed his mouth, while the Sergeant screamed for the men to shut up and listen; when the Osprey started to shake. 

BOOM!

The Osprey lurched heavily, and Sergeant Sharpe was thrown off his feet and smashed his head into the ceiling; cracking his helmet and knocking the man out.

“We’re hit! We’re hit! God Dammit!” The co-pilot screamed into the intercom.

“I have control! I have control! Strap in, we’re going down hard!” The Pilot snapped.

The Marines in the troop bay clutched at their seats as the V-22 went down fast, and Adrian closed his eyes and said a quick Hail Mary before the Osprey smashed into the ground. Adrian’s seat belt clash actually snapped, and the Corporal went flying upwards and smashed into the ceiling of the aircraft.

And then everything went black.

Thel slowly strode down from the bridge towards the Hanger Bay, a harsh frown adorning his features as he entered it.

He’d delayed it for as long as he could, but the Prophet of Stewardship had been screaming and ranting that Thel needed to secure a foothold on the ‘islands of the gods’ before the infidels desecrated it with their filthy footsteps. Nevermind the fact that he had very limited manpower on the Ascendant Justice , and he would need to draw it from the Destroyers and that damned Jackal Privateering corvette.

He sighed and composed himself as he approached Pilot ‘Roosamee’s Banshee, the female overseeing some Unggoy repairing some of the electronics inside.

“Pilot.” He said.

“Fleetmaster.” Voia immediately snapped to attention and pressed her fist to her chest in salute. “What do you require of me?” She asked.

Thel looked her up and down, and sighed, “I have a request of you, Pilot 'Roosamee.”

She blinked, and tilted her head. “I shall carry out your request to the best of my ability, but might I know what it is you desire, sir?” She asked, fumbling slightly over her attempt to stay formal.

Thel fought down a smile.

Voia had been lowborn, her father having taken her with him to Vadum Keep to sell some Colo in the hopes of earning enough money to feed themselves for the next month. Thel still remembered the tiny child, sickly from lack of food; and her father, an arrogant and swaggering male who had far too much pride for a lowborn.

While Thel had been contemplating whether or not to strip the man of his clothes and toss him into the streets for the arrogance he had been displaying, Voia had apparently snuck off and gotten into a Phantom; taken it off by accident, and landed it without causing a fuss.

Kaidon and Fleetmaster Thel ‘Vadumee was many things, and practical was one of them.

He had taken her as a pilots apprentice, and never looked back; and above all else, he always made sure to cultivate her ability to think critically, and to make sure she could use her brain when the occasion demanded it.

Thel walked over to her Banshee and ran a hand over it as he mentally composed what he planned to say. “The Noble Prophet of Stewardship has ordered me to secure a landing zone.” He started slowly, watching her out of the corner of his eye. “I want you to lead a squadron of Banshee’s to escort the Phantoms.”

Voia tipped her head. “It shall be done Fleetmaster.”

“I’m not finished yet.” Thel warned, and she cringed and bowed lower. “Afterwards, I want you to set up a watch post about a kilometer away from the camp; and watch over it for a few hours. Make sure you record everything with a helmet camera as well.”

Voia blinked, “Kaidon?” She asked, momentarily forgetting that they were on a ship and not on Sanghelios, as she tended to do whenever she was confused by his orders.

Thel gave her a sideways look. “The Prophet of Stewardship is unaware of the dangers on the ground in this strange place, in spite of Theso 'Kazamee’s Rangers and his reports otherwise. I think he requires proof of the danger, don’t you?” He asked.

Voia grinned as she understood his meaning, and bowed her head. “It shall be done, Kaidon.”

Despite the fact that they couldn’t understand each other's words, Yehochanan was finding that she enjoyed Jon’s company. 

His panic at his helmet’s removal notwithstanding, he was very relaxed; and seemed quite interested in learning her peoples words. She could sense a calm coming from him, but she could also sense a deep underlying sadness as well. She had seen him take out that little chunk of metal, how he’d somehow opened it by doing nothing.

She had been tempted to snatch it out of his hands and look it over to see how he’d managed that; but when she’d sensed the melancholy coming from him, she backed off and instead focused on eating.

She would admit that he was handsome and pleasing to the eyes, his midnight-blue hair, glowing silver eyes, his gray-light blue skin… 

Yehochanan forced herself to look away and instead focused on petting Urbarra, the Xenian Wolf snuffling and looking between her and Jon; and she felt her face turn a little red at the sense of amusement from her friend. “Don’t you get any funny ideas.” She snapped, and tapped him on his snout.

Urbarra just huffed and laid his head down again.

Jon watched the interaction, and she felt a hint of amusement leak out of him; before he took out that little metal thing again, and the melancholia returned for a moment. Yehochanan knew better than to ask, she had felt this kind of pain before; when one lost family or friends to the wilds or to the Tribe of Desires. 

She stood and walked over to her bead and grabbed her wolf’s pelt, and hung it back over her shoulders; pulling the wolfs head up over her hair.

She thought for a moment, then grabbed one of her spare pelts; this one being black as opposed to reddish-brown, and she handed it to Jon, who jerked slightly and looked up in surprise. 

“Here.” She said, “It can get a little chilly for aliens… or so David and Kaiden have told me. I’ve never met aliens from outside of Xen, but you seem pretty nice.” She was starting to ramble, so she shut her mouth and swallowed down her embarrassment as Jon grabbed the pelt and smiled at her.

“D’zięki.” He said, and she knew what it meant. Thank you.

“You’re welcome.” She replied, then she tensed as she felt a wave of malice, anger, fear, and worry wash over her.

Yehochanan held her head and groaned, stumbling slightly and sitting down as a headache pounded behind her eyes for a moment; and she quickly cut off her ability to feel emotions just so that she wasn’t overwhelmed. “Yehochanan?” Jon asked, reached forward with a hesitant expression on his face; but stopped short of grabbing her. “C’zy w’szystko w porz’ądku?”

Yehochanan shook her head and scowled, standing and walking over and grabbing her Spear. “Urbarra, you stay here and guard my home.” She ordered.

The Xenian Wolf growled and moved to a sitting position, glaring out of the entrance to her cave.

She quickly made sure her spearpoint was still sharp, when she heard Jon clear his throat. He’d put his helmet back on, and he had that strange see through yet opaque mask that he wore over his face. He had a determined look in his eye, and he asked, “K’łopot?”

She got the gist if not the actual meaning. 

She growled, “Someone has intruded on my hunting grounds, and I need to either drive them out or deal with them.” She informed him and turned to storm out of the cave. “You are under sanctuary in my cave, so you may do as you like. Urbarra will guard you if you stay.”

She started walking when she heard a hiss reach her ears, and she turned to see Jon striding with a confident gait of a warrior; matching her pace and gesturing for her to lead the way.

Yehochanan just grinned.

It’s time to go hunting.

Chapter Text

Whisper leaned back in her seat, even as Captain Keyes, Major Silva, and Lieutenant Haverson took seats opposite of her.

“So, I assume all y’all finally have something for me to do?” She asked, raising a brow plate as she started spinning a knife in between her fingers; Ghost appearing on her shoulder as he began scanning something on the table. “That’s great because I was gettin’ a little bored.”

“Hm. Well we can’t have that,” Keyes replied, sounding almost amused as he regarded her with those eyes that reminded her so much of Zavala.

Major Silva on the other hand just scowled, “I must protest again, Captain. My boys can handle anything the freak and this robot can.”

Whisper narrowed her eyes, while Keyes’ eyes turned to ice. “And I will again remind you, Major, that you are not to refer to the Chief by that term again.” He paused, “Where is the Chief?”

“Here sir.” The machine replied, walking into the room.

Whisper glanced at the Spartan. “Y’all weren't busy with more private matters?” She asked, grinning slightly at her insinuation; even if her eyes were still cold from Silva’s words. She may not have liked Mr. ‘Hard on for all things Military’ all that much from her few interactions with him; but she drew the line at talking smack behind his back. 

If you were gonna insult someone, do it to their face. She thought to herself.

The Chief glanced at her, then back at the Captain. “Apologies for making you wait Sir, 058 has finally entered surgery.”

The Captain straightened, while Haverson gave the Spartan a look of sympathy. “Will she make it?” The ONI lieutenant asked.

The Chief paused, even as Cortana appeared on the holographic projector in the center of the table. “They’ve restarted her heart and her brain function is still normal… But they still aren’t sure if she’ll make it.”

Whisper could see the sneer working across Silva’s face, so she decided to interject before things could get ugly. “This 058, she anything like you?” She asked, still sounding casual and flippant.

The Chief tensed slightly, and Cortana and Ghost both gave her disapproving looks. “She’s the strongest Spartan; the true lone wolf.” The Chief finally replied.

Whisper smiled, though the motion was hidden in the shadows of her hood. “Even if she’s half as strong as you, then she'll be fine. She’ll probably be up and about and askin’ to go with ya.” She assured the man. She may not have known who this 058 was, but she could tell the big guy cared about her; and Whisper may have been a jesting ass, but she wasn’t heartless.

Keyes seemed to study her for a moment, while the Chief didn’t seem sure of what to say; then he said, “Thanks.”

Whisper just tipped her head, then asked, “So what do you need from us Captain?”

Keyes actually smiled for a moment, then turned serious. “The Covenant are still looking for us, and more importantly they have begun setting up firebases on these various islands that make up this strange place.” He explained.

Haverson nodded, “There are two, Silva’s ODST’s will be dealing with one; and we’ll be sending you, the Chief, and a small squad of Marines to deal with the second.”

Silva scowled and crossed his arms. “My boys can deal with both of those bases.”

“They probably could.” Keyes’ conceded, “But you’d be stretched thin, and I’d prefer that we minimize the risks. We have no reinforcements here. Any man we lose, we won’t get back.”

“...'cept for me, cause any time I die; I’ll just come back to life.” Whisper muttered, though the whole room heard her; and she stood before anyone could retort. “So who’re we takin’?” She asked, sheathing the knife she had been twirling as she did so.

“Staff Sergeant Johnson’s squad.” Haverson informed them.

The Chief just nodded, while Whisper grinned. “Sweet! I like that guy.”

“And what about me?” Cortana asked. “I’m not really doing much on the ship, and Wellesley has finished booting up… Annoying as he is, he’s doing a good job with keeping the ship running.”

“I must protest that I have been nothing but a gentleman.” The other AI protested, as he projected himself onto the table next to Cortana. 

Whisper blinked as she took in his appearance; and she couldn’t help but wonder who the hell chose AI appearances and personalities. One looks like a purple-blue stripper, and the other looks like the Duke himself. Whisper thought, before clearing her throat; drawing the room's attention back to her. “I wouldn’t mind it if Cortana comes along. She knows the Covenant systems better than Ghost would.”

“I’ll have you know that I’m the fastest hacker this side of the mississippi.” Ghost protested, then he paused and his plates spun. “Oh Traveler, did I actually just say that? I’m becoming like you.” He said in horror. 

Whisper grumbled under her breath, “Don’t act like that’s a bad thing.”

Cortana just looked amused, “I think it would be best if I come along then. I already enhance the Chief's combat capabilities when in MJOLNIR; and it wouldn’t hurt to have the extra help.

Whisper shrugged, “Your call, I’m off to the hanger to get the Sarge.” 

And then she left, whistling a merry tune as she walked off to battle.

Miri stood behind Tali and Kas as the two Quarians struggled to bring EDI back online.

“Progress?” The Asari Matron demanded coolly, watching as the Geth unit sparked and flashed for a few moments before growing dim again. “I would have thought it would be easy to bring a Geth back online.”

“That’s the problem.” Tali snapped, typing into her omnitool while Kas connected a few wires into EDI’s chassis’. “It’s like something is fighting me. Preventing me from reactivating EDI, and stopping it from reactivating itself.”

Miri rubbed her temples, her biotics flared for a brief moment in tune with her exasperation. “Nothing here makes sense. It’s like this place goes out of its way to violate every known rule of the universe.” She growled. “Shepard is able to take off his visor with no problems at all, even with that native touching him. Floating islands in the middle of space and a nebula, filled with life as if they were in the middle of an ocean-”

“And massive wormhole at top of Tower in the center of archipelago.” Mordin interjected, walking into the room. “Have theory.” He declared, sounding almost proud.

“Let’s hear it then.” Kas stated, hooking in another wire; then paused in contemplation. “Hm… I wonder if I can take my mask off and still be fine.”

“Probably.” Mordin said absently.

Kas gaped at the Salarian, then slowly turned to Tali. “Do you think it would be safe to show Garrus?” She asked.

“Uh…” Tali started, but had no chance to say more when Kas dashed out of the room; practically shoving Mordin and Miri out of the way.

“I’m comin' spike!”

The three shared a look, then put the thought of Kas and Garrus 'enjoying each other's company' somewhere on the ship out of their mind; and instead focused on Mordin. "What was the theory professor?" Tali asked, turning her attention back to EDI.

What the hell. What Bosh'tet hacks into a Geth? How could they hack into a Geth? She thought, suppressing a growl of exasperation and unease.

"Not in our universe anymore." Mordin stated simply. 

Tali snorted, while Miri arched a perfectly painted brow. "You don't say?" The buxom Asari remarked, sharing a look with Tali.

Mordin rapidly shook his head. "You misunderstand. Not in any universe."

Tali blinked slowly, "You're… going to have to explain that prof." She finally managed to say, feeling a large swell of unease overtake her. 

Mordin held up a hand and began listing his thoughts, “Breathable atmosphere on islands. Quarians able to remove masks and eat food with no reactions. Low gravity in some areas. High Gravity in others. Normal Gravity in most. Time dilations in effect, several minutes pass for us; an hour passes for Shepard in one area. Then several minutes pass for us, and several seconds pass for Shepard in others.” 

He began talking more rapidly now. “Differing plant and animal life all in one place; life having no business evolving in the same area. Differing geological foundations, thousands of Stars so close together, should be merging or destroying each other. Physics and Time have no bearing here.”

He took another breath and faced Tali and Miri. “Not in different universe, outside of universes entirely.”

Tali swallowed heavily and looked away.

That was a very bitter thought to process, the idea that they were not only in a different universe; but outside of the multiverse entirely, and instead stuck outside of it. Perhaps being stuck in another dimension entirely.

Miri also seemed to be at a loss for words, a first for the Asari.

EDI suddenly sparked, emerald green and crimson red sparks arcing off the Geth units body; and Tali hopped back, trying to avoid getting zapped by the unnatural electrical arcs coming from the Geth. Suddenly, its eye flashed between its normal blue; and a deep crimson red, and bright orange.

“W- W - W - W aRNi NG ! D a T a AR Chi vE’s Br EA ch ED!” The Geth blared, its voice modulated heavily from its normally feminine, if monotonic, voice.

It sputtered and blared for several seconds more, then a deep, almost demonic and masculine voice came from the Geths speakers. “Thank you for your information. Your home shall be spared great pain.”

Tali had drawn her pistol and boot knife, while Mordin and Miri both had their omnitools pointed at the Geth. As much as she wanted to blame the AI, Tali knew that something else was controlling the Geth platform. “Who are you!” She barked furiously.

The Geth, or rather, whatever it was that was controlling it simply tilted its head. “Not Man.”

“Don’t speak in riddles!” Miri spat. “Tell us the truth.”

“The Truth…” The thing laughed. “You can never know…” 

EDI’s body spasmed and sparked green, red, and orange sparks for several seconds; then slumped again. Then the Geth blinked its eye, the red and orange fading away to a soft blue; and it slowly picked its head up and looked around.

“Creator Tali’Zorah.” It said, fluttering its head flaps. “We have been deactivated for 42 standard Citadel hours, 33 minutes, and 21 seconds. What has occurred in that time frame; and may this unit request to know Warship Chitikka ’s current location?” It asked.

Tali exchanged a look of incredulity with Miri and Mordin, before turning her gaze back to the Geth; which seemed to be completely oblivious to everything that had just happened. 

“I think we’re in trouble…” Was all Tali could think to say.

Samara was the picture of serenity, while Thane was the picture of stoic professionalism.

The two of them sat next to each other in companionable silence as the other ground team members and the command staff talked amongst themselves. Neither one of them were much for words, and preferred to let others do the talking; and they both found that listening was far more interesting and enlightening.

“It doesn’t make any sense…” Dr. Kiri Chakwas was saying, still staring at her omnitool blankly; her eye glow dim through her gray visor.

Zaid buzzed almost derisively, his fringe flexing as he gave the old quarian a sideways look. “Look luv, there ain’t much to make sense of . The native girl took off his mask, then touched his face; and he had no adverse reaction to it. She may as well have been riding him raw right then and there, and I doubt much would have changed.” The old turian merc stated bluntly, even as he absently took apart his beloved assault rifle.

Kiri turned and glared at him, and Samara could practically hear the woman's hair-quills puffing up against her helmet.

“That’s why it makes no sense! Everyone knows that it’s dangerous for Quarians to be exposed to unknown air in that short amount of time. If he’d adapted to it over the course of a week or a month, then I wouldn’t question it as much.” She growled, “Same with her touching and breathing on him.”

Jakob sighed from his own seat and rubbed his upper set of eyes. “I suppose that I’ve lost the ‘relationship pool’ then, huh?” the batarian merc grumbled good naturedly, only to freeze when Chakwas turned her irritated glare on him.

“ Damn your betting pool, I’m worried about him. To say nothing about that natives strange abilities.” She exclaimed, rising in her seat, only to stop when Zaid set a hand on her shoulder and set her back down.

Samara glanced at Thane, and using Asari Sign Language, she said; “ -curious- , K-I-R-I worried about Shepard. -questioning- , Why?”

Thane seemed to think about his answer, as Garrus tried to calm the good doctor down to no avail; even as Zaid warned the younger man of the futility of it. Joker simply sat there and cackled to himself, while Grunt just ate more food and played with his toys. Jak leaned against Joker and smirked behind her visor; her eyes flicking back and forth between the three as if it were a Biotic-ball match.

Finally, Thane signed back, “ -contemplative- , Shepard’s mother died birthing him and sister. Chakwas midwife. Raised two as own. -solemn- , Sister kidnapped by Balak in slave raid when both only 15. -saddened- , Chakwas and Shepard still not over loss. Both hunted Balak for years. Both sought me out number of times before this mission. -resolute- , Chakwas slightly protective of Shepard.”

Samara processed this information, even as Jak remarked loudly, “Oh c’mon doc. Clearly this is the Ancestors trying to tell us something.” She gestured to her body, and Samara managed to avoid wrinkling her nose in distaste at just how much it revealed. Asari may not have had a nudity taboo, but there were standards and niceties that had to be enforced.

“If the Ancestors didn’t want us to cavort with these natives, they clearly wouldn’t have made it so that she could touch him with no harm.” She said, wiggling her eyebrows.

Zaid and Garrus both grabbed Chakwas and held her down to stop her from launching herself at the Quarian convict. “Be quiet, you exiled Kur’wa. ” The doctor hissed.

“I thought you wanted grandkids, old lady.” Jak sneered, her eyes flashing, though there was a soft buzz filling the air now as she prepped her biotics for a fight. “Maybe that little native tuho can give them to you.”

Samara began prepping her own biotics to stop the fight before it could even begin; when the eating hall entrance hatch was thrown open, and Kas came dashing inside. “Spike!” The woman growled in a husky sounding voice, her eyes searching the room before spotting Garrus. 

She dashed over and grabbed the Turian Deputy Spectre by his armor and dragged him backwards. “Front Airlock. Now.” She declared, even as a very confused Garrus went limp and let himself be dragged out.

The tension fled the compartment, as everyone looked at each other in confusion.

“What in the spirits was that about?” Joker asked, utterly baffled.

Kiri slowly slumped in her seat and rubbed her visor, before exchanging a look with Zaid; and the two old hands suddenly burst into laughter, only increasing the confusion from everyone else. 

“I do not see the reason for this amusement.” Thane pointed out, blinking rapidly; though Samara felt her lips twitch upwards as she finally placed the familiar tone of voice and body movements to something that she had thought long buried in her past.

Zaid shook his head, his mandibles buzzing in amusement. “I’d say all of you have now lost the Kas-Garrus pool.” He remarked, and jerked his head. “I’ve had enough women throw themselves at me in my younger days… and more recently to know when they want you.” He explained, “And right now, our little thief wants our ex-cop.”

Kiri continued chuckling as she held her vox-mitter, “I think that Kas wants to see if what happened with Shepard and that native can be replicated here on the ship.” She shook her head. “I don’t blame her for wanting to try… though Joker, I recommend that you start blaring music from the ship's loudspeakers.”

“Why…” Joker asked, then understanding dawned on his face. “Oh… I wouldn’t have taken her for a screamer.” He mumbled, sounding embarrassed.

“More like covering our bases, boy.” Zaid remarked.

Jak blinked rapidly, then grinned, “Well…” She purred. “Perhaps I should join them.” She stood and walked past Chakwas. 

The old quarian, in one fluid movement, turned in her seat and removed a hypospray from one of her suit pockets; then reached up and jabbed it into Jak’s neck seal. The biotic swore and turned, only to blink rapidly and sway on her feet. “Whaaaaa… did you dooooo…” She slurred, blinking rapidly.

“I’m not letting you interrupt Garrus and Kas during their probable felz'tiyl ; you’ll thank me later when they don’t try and kill you.” She stated simply, then adding, “And I gave you a drug that removes your motor functions and stimulates dopamine and other such chemicals to make you feel extremely happy.”

Jak just blinked, then grinned a wide happy smile. “Wooooooowwwwww… This feels goooooood….” She mumbled, then dropped to the ground. “Wheeeeeee….”

Samara raised a brow and shook her head, while Thane looked vaguely amused; Joker looked terrified all of a sudden, Grunt was leaning away from Chakwas with fear in his eyes (or more accurately, the needle in her hand), and Jakob looked ready to burst out laughing.

Zaid on the other hand was looking at Chakwas with something akin to newfound respect. “Damn Kiri. Even when we were hunting slavers in the Terminus, you never pulled that sort of thing.”

Samara looked at Thane, and the drell shrugged with a chagrined expression. “ -sheepish-, Chakwas also former Marine. Worked with Massani on various missions when both young.” 

Samara gave him an unamused look, then turned her attention back to Chakwas as she sighed, “Times change. I’m not young like I once was.” She grumbled. “I can’t fight a biotic on equal footing now.”

“Bah, you’re only eighty; you still got a hundred years left in ya.” Zaid scoffed.

Chakwas shrugged and leaned down and picked up Jak off the ground, “Perhaps. Now would you mind helping me carry this kur’wa to the medbay where I can finally give her a proper suit; not this spyc’hacz looking fre'eg. ”

“Awwww…” Joker whined, “No more skin show?” He asked.

Zaid snorted, “Son, you want a show, just ask her and you’ll receive a lot more.” Then he paused and reached over, and grabbed Jaks other arm with a grumpy expression. “Also, you couldn’t have done this earlier? I like a show as much as the next man, but I prefer women closer to my age.”

Chakwas shrugged, while Jak lolled her head. “Never could get close enough to her, nor did I ever have an excuse to knock her out before.” She explained. 

They both dragged the drooling Jak out towards the medbay, the quarian going, “Wheeeeeeee!” The whole time.

Then Chakwas said, “And you prefer women your age? Well let’s see how well that works, Zay.” Her tone made it clear what she intended; and Zaid's answering grin made it clear just how fine with it he was.

Jakob gagged loudly while Joker whimpered, “Bah! Pillars! It’s like I just watched my own grandparents kissing.” the Batarian hissed. “I want to gouge my own eyes out and stuff my ears with plugs.”

“I’m gonna go start playing that music.” Joker exclaimed, standing up. “They’ll change Jak out of her suit first, so that means I got time… right?”

Normally, Samara wouldn’t deign to engage in juvenile displays… but… perhaps just this once she could allow herself a little bit of fun. “Normally, yes. But given how there’s no worries of contamination or allergic reactions to impure air; and with how skilled Chakwas can be when it comes to removing a suit… I’d say you may have three minutes at the absolute most.” She stated simply.

Joker and Jakob both made strangled noises and dashed out of the room, while Grunt just ‘harrumphed’ and tossed his bowl of food aside and walked back towards the hanger bay.

Samara shook her head and looked over at Thane, who looked similarly amused. “Well… I suppose someone should go and keep an eye on the Captain while everyone is busy.” She stated.

Thane dipped his head, “Agreed. After you Justicar.”

They walked off to the comms room, the two silent as they reached the elevator, and only once it opened did they speak again. “This is a dangerous place. I do not think that even Tuchanka can boast of being as dangerous.” Samara warned.

Thane inclined his head, “I agree.” He said smoothly, “I think it’s good that the Captain called off the attempt to find him with a ground party. I don’t think that would have gone very well.” 

“It likely would have resulted in deaths, many if I am to be honest.” The Drell assassin stated bluntly. “Were it not for the native, the Captain himself likely would have met a grim end several times over.” 

Samara did not disagree with that statement, having felt all levity in the comms room die out in an instant when that ‘barnacle’ creature had snagged Shepard and started choking him, trying to drag him upwards to eat him.

It was the closest Shepard had come to being killed in a long time, and it was a grim reminder to everyone on the ship that as good as they were; they were all still mortal… very mortal.

“What do you think of this place? And the native that has helped him.” Thane asked, interrupting her thoughts.

“I am not sure.” She replied honestly, “But I think there are parallels aplenty between the two. Both are beautiful, new to our eyes… and extremely dangerous.” 

Thane blinked, “I don’t disagree; that tamed beast of hers, its-” he paused as he seemed to search for the word Kas had used. “-‘adorable’ appearance aside, I have little doubts it could kill us all if it so desired.” His eyes turned hard. “Remember when Shepard shot it?”

Samara inclined her head. “I do…” 

Contrary to what Shepard had thought, he had not nicked the beast; he had hit it straight in the shoulder. But its skin and fur had mostly absorbed the shot, preventing it from damaging its muscles and bones too much; and the Justicar and Assassin had little doubts that such a wound wouldn’t have slowed it down.

The two reached the comms room, where the technician (the man running the gambling pool while Kas and Garrus were ‘indisposed’) glanced over at them; then looked back at the screen, where the native woman was trekking through the bioluminescent trees and fungi. 

Shepard was following close behind and keeping an eye out for threats that the woman didn’t immediately spear or zap with her lightning.

“What are they doing?” Thane asked. 

The Quarian shrugged, “They seem to be hunting for something.”

Samara grimaced, “With how dangerous this place is… let us hope they do not become the hunted.” 

The Chief stood on the blood tray of the Pelican, trying his best to keep his thoughts on the mission. 

“Don’t worry Chief, 058 will be fine once the doctors finish cloning her new lungs and a new liver.” Cortana said in his helmet.

“I’m not worried about her.” John denied, and it was partially true. Linda was a true lone wolf and was a tough woman; if anyone would survive resuscitation surgery, it would be her. “I’m worried about our… friend.” He bit down on the word and shifted his gaze a millimeter to the left to look at Whisper-11.

The… Guardian? Iron-Lady? Woman? Robot? He still wasn’t really sure what to call her, especially since she acted so much like a civilian; but given how he was used to using ranks, he decided to stick with the Exo’s title.

The Iron Lady was happily chattering with Staff Sergeant Johnson; the old Marine seemingly very interested with what the Exo was saying. 

“-well, Ghost and I track down Cayde into a Vex Portal Network. Now keep in mind, we’ve been running in circles for hours at this point; so I’m absolutely done with everything, and just want to get my boss out of there so we can leave.” The Iron Lady was saying, grinning under the hood of her cape.

“Let me guess, he gets teleported away.” Johnson remarked, smoking a cigar with his normal easygoing grin.

“Hit the nail on the head.” Whisper confirmed. “I get there, and Cayde’s just spinning around and floating there; complaining about how he’s going to be sick and throw up. Nevermind the fact that he’s an Exo like me and it’s physically impossible to do that.” 

She suddenly put on a comically deep voice with a thick cowboy drawl. “ ‘Quick! Hurry! C’mon I don’t know how long this portal is gonna stick.’ ” Then she chuckled, “Of course, Ghost being the chatterbox he is, tries to ask Cayde what the hell’s he doing; and I swear it’s one of the only times I’ve ever seen Cayde get mad or frustrated.”

She put back on the cowboy drawl, “ ‘It may look like I don’t know what I’m doing, but I do-Ok, maybe not-doesn’t matter. Killing the power source at the origin point should break the loop and get me free. Have you got that? Say you’ve got it! Say something!’ ” She put on a faux begging expression and clasped her hands.

“What did you say?” Jenkins asked from where he was seated, sounding curious. 

Whisper smirked, “I just did this.” She held up her hand and gave a thumbs up.

Johnson chuckled, “I bet he liked that.”

Suddenly Ghost appeared on Whisper's shoulder and played an audio soundbite. The Chief had briefly met a man on Reach by the name of Gunnery Sergeant Edward Buck, an ODST that Johnson had served with and spoke very highly of. 

And for a moment the Chief thought he was hearing Sergeant Buck instead of the Iron Lady’s mentor. 

“Oh my cotton socks! Did you not hear what I just said!” The recorded voice of Cayde-6 screamed out, sounding furious, annoyed, and despairing all at the same time.

The Marines all chuckled, while Whisper cocked her hip and rested a hand on the weapon holstered on her right hip.

John tensed slightly, but kept calm regardless. He had seen what her hand cannon could do, and he really wasn’t up for a bullet resistance test over how well Mjolnir would resist weapons from the Exo’s universe.

However much she may act like a civilian, Whisper-11 was a deadly foe; and one that John would tread carefully around.

“Coming up on the insertion point, 30 seconds.” The pilot shouted over the intercom.

Johnson barked out, “Go to red!”

“HOOAH!” The Marines barked out in reply, hopping to their feet and facing the launch ramp.

The Chief stepped forward, and he noted Whisper step up next to him. “So, how many bad guys do y’all think will be there?” She asked, her glowing blue eyes acting like beacons in the shadows that covered her face thanks to her hood.

“Unknown.” John replied curtly, not interested in trading banter.

Whisper rolled her eyes, “C’mon big guy, surely you’ve got an estimate.”

The Chief just glanced at her, and the Iron Lady shrugged in response; and drew her hand cannon, giving it a quick spin as if she were a North American Cowboy from those old spaghetti westerns the Marines liked to watch. “Betcha I’ll get a bigger kill count.” She remarked.

The Chief, contrary to popular opinion, was well aware of contests like this between soldiers; and he would have been lying if he and Kelly had not done the same. But he would be caught dead before he engaged in a frivolous competition with a robot from another universe. Worse yet, a robot that looked and acted like a civilian.

Cortana, however, did not seem to have the same reservations. “Oh… You’re on, sister.” The AI remarked. “I assume bragging rights?”

“Eh…” Whisper tilted her head. “Tell you what, I’ve got two spare hand cannons-” She holstered her pistol and then two weapons materialized in her hands. 

One looked like a blocky revolver, and the other looked like a 1851 Colt. “This baby on the left is called Ancient Gospel.” She wiggled the blocky revolver. “The other is called Dire Promise.” She wiggled the Colt. “Both are pretty good weapons, and leagues better than your own I dare say.” Both weapons vanished, and she drew her pistol Sunshot again. “So, you get more kills than I do; then you can pick one of them and take it; and if y’all lose, I get that pistol of yours.”

John opened his mouth to refuse, when Cortana interrupted him. “Deal.”

“What?” John growled, making sure his speakers were muted.

“Chief, are you really going to tell ONI that you refused an offer to get a vastly superior weapon point blank simply because you didn’t want to engage in a little healthy competition?” Cortana asked him, cutting off his argument at the knees.

The Chief opened and closed his mouth for a moment, then sighed and set his shoulders as the ramp opened.

“Don’t feel bad when you lose.” The Iron Lady taunted, then she jumped out of the ship.

…Hell No… John decided internally, and jumped after her.

Let it be said, that however little emotion the Master Chief displayed or felt; not even he was above a competition. Because out of everything that he had retained from his childhood, the one trait that John still had in spades was that he did not like to lose; and he would be damned if he let a robot that acted more like a civilian than a soldier beat him.

Johnson just chuckled as the Marines piled out of the ship, struggling to keep up.

He remembered the Chief back when the Spartans were still new and untested; and he was glad to see that the Chief hadn’t lost that small bit of humanity from all the decades past. 

Of course, that didn’t mean he wasn’t going to not bitch and moan internally as he and the men struggled to keep up with the Supersoldier and the Interdimensional Warrior. But he took the good with the bad, and right now; there was a lot of good going on.

He just hoped it would last.

Yehochanan didn’t really know what to feel about Jon’Shepard, mainly because of how he seemed to blunder his way through the forest after her; uncaring of the dangers that may lay in wait.

Perhaps she was being a little unfair, but he had shot Urbarra; and he had attracted several houndeyes to their position, only to be scared off once she had thrown a rock into their center eye.

Granted, Jon had made an effort to make amends; and he was definitely a fast learner, he never made the same error twice. He had since kept a close eye out for Barnacle tongues, and he was keeping a very close eye out for headcrabs.

And Jane was grateful for that, and as unhappy as she may have been with the Alien; he was still under sanctuary, and she was admittedly still curious about him.

Which was why she had allowed him to come with her as she hunted the intruders in her hunting grounds. And as much as she didn’t want to admit it, she also wanted the help. His strange thunderstick deafened her, but she could not deny that it killed things really well; and far faster than a spear and a vortal lightning strike would.

She chewed on her lip in thought; if it was Nihilinthian forces, then she would be in serious trouble.

No one fought the Nihilanths forces on their own, especially the womenfolk. Jane had no desire to be turned into breeding stock for the Tribe of Desires; and she felt a spike of hatred for the tribe that had sided with humanity's most hated enemy.

Jon meanwhile walked abreast of her, and he glanced at her every few minutes before looking away; shifting his thunderstick in his arms, and she noted that no matter what position he was in relative to her, he always kept it pointed away from her.

Good, that means he trusts me enough to not attack me. She thought with a small measure of relief.

Strange as it may have sounded, she didn’t want to fight the alien.

Perhaps it was because he was the first person she had met in the years since she had left Kaiden and Ashley that she found genuinely interesting; or maybe it was because she felt a form of base instincts and urges.

Jane shook her head to banish those thoughts from her mind quickly; and tried to forget that he had seen her bathing. You don’t know him, you can’t even understand him. He’s not worthy of courtship. She told herself firmly.

She was spared from further internal embarrassment when Jon stopped and tilted his head.

Jane glanced at him and he held up a finger, and said; “ Obstr’zał .”

What that meant, she had no idea, but then she heard it. A very distinctive crackling sound, and it sounded a little bit like Jons thunderstick; but not as loud and as sharp, and more importantly it was in her hunting grounds.

Jon then pointed and said, “ W’róg.” Then he paused, and said in a very broken accent, “En-emy?”

Jane blinked, then reached out with her vortal powers and almost choked on the hatred and fear being outputted by the creatures that were nearby and making all the noise. She stumbled slightly and steadied herself with her spear, then she turned and nodded to him. “Enemy.” She confirmed.

She took off in a light jog, her feet making no sound as she bounded from tree root to tree root to make sure she kept the disturbances of the foliage to a minimum.

She quickly reached the top of the ridge and hunched low to the ground; her wolfs pelt helping her blend in and hide her shocking red hair and her pale skin. Were she alone, she would have gone naked and rolled in mud and rubbed herself with certain plants to hide her skin and scent; but she didn’t want to do that in front of Jon.

She stifled a gasp on seeing the carnage below.

The trees and plant life were burnt and trampled, but that was the least of her worries.

The aliens, for that was what they were, were wandering through a pond of water; each of them shooting balls of flames from their arms at zombified versions of themselves, even as Houndeyes and Bullsquids hounded them, spitting acid that burned them and emitting sonic blasts that sent the aliens flying if they were too close.

There were about two dozen of them, and they resembled more muscular, taller, armored Vortigaunts; though they seemed to only have two arms each.

As it stood, Jane found herself confused at how they were shooting fire. She sensed no connection to the Vortessence beyond the small tether all living things had to it. Then she caught sight of something that reminded her of Jon’s thunderstick; and it made a certain bit of sense.

Whatever vortal magic these aliens used; it seemed that they, like Jon, had to channel it through some kind of metal rod.

Jane tensed and nearly sent off a defensive shockwave on instinct when she felt a hand touch her shoulder, when she realized that it was Jon; the alien having crawled up next to her, his faceless mask and glowing eyes staring down into the pond inquisitively. But his gaze also had a hardness to it that took her off guard a little bit; and suddenly she was looking at Kaiden organizing a hunt.

Her respect for the alien went up a bit, both because he’d managed to sneak up on her (granted, while she was distracted; but that was no excuse); and because he seemed to be studying the situation with the eyes of an experienced warrior.

And as much practice and experience Jane may have had with fighting and hunting animals; she had no experience fighting other thinking people.

Jon propped up his thunderstick, but he hesitated for a moment; and then it occurred to Jane why he was doing so. He couldn’t sense the malevolence and hatred these aliens were exuding. So she set a hand on his shoulder, and then drew his mind outwards slightly so that he could sense the same things she did.

Jon went slack for a moment, then tensed. 

He looked at her, and nodded, “Enemy.” He said, his accent sounding far less atrocious now.

“Enemy.” She confirmed, before standing up into a crouch; drew her arm back, and threw her spear full force into the closest enemy's throat. Jane jumped down after it, and the sounds of Jons thunderstick was song to Jane's ears.

Perhaps he is worth my time after all.

The Master Chief fired his MA5B into the nearest Jackal, and the Covenant Sniper fell out of the tree and to the mossy ground.

“That’s twenty.” Cortana called out.

“Damn, I must be slowing down.” Whisper replied absently as she fired her hand cannon into a Grunt. “I’m only at eighteen now with that little guy included.”

Johnson grumbled under his breath, “I know I shouldn’t complain, but you all are taking all the kills. I’ve only got ten myself, and my boys only have five between them in total.” He complained.

Whisper just grinned under her hood. “Keep up then old man.” She joked, then suddenly drew a two-handed broadsword from her back and dashed forwards through some bushes; and there was a very odd sound that emerged from the other side.

The Chief followed quickly, while Johnson jokingly held up his battle rifle and pointed it towards where Whisper had dashed off to. “No one would know… No one…” He grumbled, before jogging off after the two, the Marines gasping for air as they tried to keep up. “Last I saw her, a hinge head was sitting on her corpse. She’ll be missed, the mouthy bitch. I miss her already.”

Meanwhile, the Chief had caught up with Whisper; and actually had to stop and watch for one second as he saw the Iron Lady parry an Energy Sword with her own broadsword with relative ease. The Exo had a grin on her face as the Elite roared in fury and confusion; and John felt his own confusion match his enemy.

How did that not cut through… Focus. He ordered himself, pointing his MA5 and firing at the Elites head with a precision burst.

Whisper had apparently already hit the Elites shield, as nothing stopped the bullets as they punched through the Elites helmet and splattered his brains over the Iron Lady’s face.

“Aw man.” She whined, wiping the purplish-blue blood off her face, pouting at the Chief. “I was having a good sword fight for once, and you cut it short. And more than that, you got another kill up on me.” The Iron Lady complained.

John felt his irritation spike, and he said with a slight growl, “This is not a game. Stop messing around.” He ordered.

He turned to march towards the next cluster of Covenant troops that had been sighted, when Whisper-11 did something that surprised him. She stepped in front of him, and the joking demeanor that normally made up the Exo was gone.

Now she looked at him with a serious expression on her face. “Look. I’m gonna make it simple, alright?” She took a step forward, and the Chief held his ground; though his finger moved towards the trigger guard. “I’m trying to be nice and make friends; and you? You’re just being a grumpy dick. Even Commander Zavala and Lord Saladin can at least give a joke or crack a smile. Hell, your little AI lady can take a joke.”

John narrowed his eyes, “We need to focus on-”

“-the mission; yeah, I got that.” She interrupted, narrowing her own eyes in kind. “And that’s what I’m doing. We each work best in our own way. You? You go around being the boring and forgettable strong silent type. Me? I’m the joker that quips at every death and event like I’m a sociopathic clown.” 

She stepped up to him and tilted her head. “You do what you do best, and I do what I do best. You stay in your lane, I’ll stay in mine. Keep being a grumpy terse talker, and I’ll keep being the clown. Capiche?” She asked.

John took a breath, and released it. “Understood.” 

He didn’t, more like he still vehemently disagreed with her; but he knew the battlefield was the last place he should have an argument. He would deal with her back on the Autumn and in private.

“Good.” She grinned and patted the side of his helmet like she was patting his cheek; and John tensed again at the unwanted contact, even as Whisper spun on her heel and drew her hand cannon. 

She pointed the hand cannon and shot a stubby four legged creature that had been stalking through the thick underbrush without even looking; putting an extra sway in her hips as she walked away seemingly to just annoy him.

John tightened the grip on his rifle to the point that he was worried that he might snap it, and loosened the grip before following her; already regretting allowing her to come with them. She was just proving to be a liability to him with her civilian mindset and attitude; and he was sure that it was going to get them killed.

He would just have to do what Spartans did best: Adapt.

Cortana released the digital breath that she didn’t know she’d been holding.

That was intense. She thought.

She had known from their talks aboard the Autumn, and just from the Chiefs body language, that her Spartan didn’t much like the robot warrioress from another universe; and judging from the way Whisper had dropped her friendly and joking demeanor, the feeling was entirely mutual. 

Not that either of them were wrong per say.

John was right in that her clownish behavior didn’t really have a place on the battlefield. But then given how she’s immortal, and can be brought back from the dead; I guess that she is justified in thinking that it’s acceptable, in that any problems it can cause will be fixed immediately. Cortana conceded.

But Whisper was right in that John had been very not friendly with her.

At first, Cortana had been worried that it might have been some form of Xenophobic or Synthaphobic reaction; but once he’d revealed his ‘concerns’ about the Iron Lady’s character to Cortana in private, she realized that it was clash of personalities at play.

John was too professional to let it get the better of him, most of the time; but Cortana could tell from the way his muscles tensed, and his brain activity increased everytime Whisper cracked a joke that the Spartan didn’t like the Guardian. 

They slowly approached the next cluster of Covenant enemies, and Cortana cataloged her internal musing to be dealt with later; and instead focused on what was in front of them.

Cortana’s runtimes stopped for a second, then restarted as she examined what was in front of her. “Huh…” She started, unable to find any words.

“So that’s what those little crab creatures do when they latch onto your head.” Ghost said, completing Cortana’s sentence for her.

A cluster of nearly twenty Elites were surrounded by at least three dozen Jackals that had been horrifically mutated by the crab creatures. Their heads were just bulbous masses, their talons had been extended into claws; and they shambled towards the hunkered down Elites.

They were tough as well, since the plasma fire literally burned away entire limbs from the mutated Jackals; and yet beyond loud groaning and moaning sounds, they made no signs of stopping their assault.

Johnson sidled up next to the Chief on the left, while Whisper held position to the right; the group observing the ongoing battle, even as the Marines all kept silent.

“What’s the plan Chief?” Johnson murmured, adjusting his BR-55.

“We wait.” The Spartan decided, “Let these… mutations pick off the Elites and soften them up. Observe how these things fight so we know how to battle them later.”

“Good idea.” Ghost remarked over the comms, the little AI emerging from his Guardians hood and floating next to her head. “This should be interesting to see. Though I would recommend we set a perimeter so we don’t get ambushed.”

“Agreed.” Cortana concurred, relieved that Ghost had decided to shut Whisper up by interrupting her before she could speak. The last thing any of them needed was for the Iron Lady to mouth off again with a poor tasting joke.

Johnson nodded, “Marines, standard defensive formation.” He hissed, “Don’t make any noise, don’t let ‘em see you. Keep an eye out for both wildlife and Covvies.”

The Marines silently went to work, and Cortana went back to watching the battle with the Chief.

She was about to ask what he thought, when something happened that would have made her blink had she still had a body. At the top of a ridge overlooking the small pond where the Elites were making their stand; a person leaped from the top, glowing green and holding a spear.

Wait. What? Cortana thought.

The woman was young, perhaps in her twenties; but it was hard to tell due to her shorter stature and youthful face. She had painfully pale pink skin, and bright red hair that trailed down to her waist. She was dressed in something that was straight out of a pre-history museum. 

A simple loincloth to guard her groin, barefoot, a piece of bone armor to cover her breasts from the front; a wolf's pelt worn like a cape, and a spear that was made of… an unknown material that Cortana could not identify.

I’m… Sorry, what?

Fortunately, she was not the only one stunned; and she was not the only one utterly flabbergasted when the primitive woman launched a bolt of green lightning from her left hand.

“Okay… what…?” Ghost said, sounding utterly befuddled.

“I’m… not the only one that sees this, right?” Whisper asked, the Iron Lady absent any witty remarks for once. “That… was an insanely heavy concentration of light energy right there. And why is there a human that looks like she just came out of caveman times or had just read lord of the flies and decided to commit.”

Johnson rubbed his chin, then shot his gaze back up to the ridge. “She has help, sniper support from up there.”

“Hold position.” The Chief ordered.

The three of them, five if you counted Ghost and Cortana in the mix, watched as the woman bobbed and weaved through the Elites as if it were a deadly kind of dance. Her spear jabbed through kinks in the armor, and the bolts of green lightning she unleashed would punch through armor and flesh as if it wasn't even there.

Cortana ran some preliminary scans, even as tracer rounds zipped out of the underbrush that covered the nearby ridge; and she found herself only growing more confused.

Within a few minutes, the woman had tore through a small platoon of Elites; and she had demonstrated a form of telekinesis as well, given how she lifted the last two up into the air and snapped their necks without even touching them.

Meanwhile, the sniper support kept firing at the mutated Jackals; dropping them one after another until most had been eliminated. Those the sniper missed, the lightning woman took care of with a ruthless efficiency that would impress even a Spartan.

"Holy Mary Mother of Jesus." Johnson whispered.

Ghost chirped quietly, "She was wielding the light, yet I see no Ghost with her." He murmured, sounding mystified.

Then things got even stranger when the woman looked up at the ridge line and shouted some words that sounded like complete gibberish to Cortana; though she was able to pick up a few words here and there. But the words were… "This… makes no sense. I was able to pick up a few words, but they sounded like Ancient Sumerian and Ancient Hebrew mashed into one." Cortana exclaimed.

"It's like the bastard child of the two languages." Ghost agreed.

"Work on translating it. We need to find out who… or what she is." The Chief ordered.

"Already on it." Both AI said at the same time.

Whisper spoke up then, and she pointed towards the ridgeline. "I think you'll be pulling double duty Little Light." She said, sounding serious in spite of her words. "I think it's safe to say that we weren't the only ones dragged here."

Everyone followed her gaze, and Cortana's runtime stopped for a full second again just to process what she was seeing.

It was an Alien, but more than that, it was one that was apparently friendly with the lightning wielding woman. He wore a skintight bodysuit that seemed to show off his muscles, and he wore some kind of belt-robes over certain areas of the suit; and a fancy hood with patterns on it. His legs bowed backwards like an Elites, and he only had three fingers on his hands; but he looked pretty human otherwise.

He wore a black visor that was semi-transparent, as even from this distance Cortana could make out a pair of glowing silver eyes; the tip of a nose, and a little bit of a forehead. He also held a rifle of some kind, and he was sweeping the area with the skill and experience of a trained soldier.

"Okay, we definitely weren't the only ones that got dumped here." Whisper grumbled. 

"Good news, I think I've got her language down." Ghost cut in, surprising Cortana.

"Wait, really?!" She demanded, somewhat surprised and a little annoyed that he had managed to beat her.

"Yup." Ghost confirmed, sounding more than a little smug. "It's not perfect, and I'll need to be the translator for both her and you; but I can do it."

"And Mr. Muscles?" Whisper asked, gesturing at the alien as he and the woman… didn't converse so much as exchange gestures while saying words. 

"I'm… still working on it." Ghost admitted. "Million Glimmer question is, how do we approach them?"

"Like this." Whisper stated, and strode forward out of the foliage before the Chief or Johnson could stop her.

Johnson cursed under his breath, then said, "Go after her Chief. I'll wait here since seeing another human could spook them; and you look enough like a robot that they won't be… well they'll still be surprised but not as badly."

Cortana thought John was going to refuse for a moment, but to her delight, her Spartan grunted, "Acknowledged." And strode forward after Whisper.

Let it be said that Whisper was at her best whenever she was improvising.

And right now, she was improvising hard; and she was seriously restraining the urge to put her hand on Sunshot and have it ready to quick draw in case the two decided to kill her. She may have been immortal, but getting shot hurt ; and she was reasonably sure that seeing her die and then come back to life would probably traumatize the poor girl.

So instead she walked forwards, her hands up; her cape flapping, her hood up and drowning her face in shadows.

She tensed when the girl who could wield the light screamed and jumped backwards, cocking back her spear to throw while building up light in her left hand. The alien with her jumped and immediately pointed his rifle right at Whispers face.

She squashed the urge to draw Sunshot hard , and instead held her hands up in what she hoped was the universal sign of surrender. "Hol' up now." She said, "Surrender, I surrender. Okay? I'm being French right now, I surrender."

Both the alien and the light wielding woman tended slightly, then the alien whipped his rifle to the left; and Whisper glanced to the left and couldn't keep the scowl off her face. "Seriously?" She demanded, "Put your damned weapon away before you get us shot." 

Master of all things Military turned his impassive visor towards her, still holding his rifle. 

The light wielding woman gave a strangled noise and backed up, looking like she was going to take off running.

Whisper snapped angrily, "Put your weapon away idiot! You're going to scare her away."

The Chief slowly, reluctantly, put his weapon onto the mag clamps on his back; and lowered his arms, but he did not raise his hands. Whisper groaned and shook her head, "Close enough." She grumped, before returning her attention back to the Light wielding woman and the muscular alien.

She made a gesture towards his rifle, still pointed at her face. "Okay, your turn."

The alien stared at her with narrowed eyes that glowed like an awokens, then he reluctantly lowered his weapon; but he didn't put it away, instead keeping it at the ready position. "Good enough for me." Whisper decided. "Okay, little light, you're up." 

She smirked as Ghost grumbled about being called that, before he floated out of her hood and in front of the light wielding woman.

The woman stared at Ghost with wide eyes, looking like a child staring at a shiny thing; and Ghost chirped. "Okay, Cortana, you translate what she says; and display on your HUDs what I'm saying." Then he switched languages, and started talking.

"Hello there. I am Ghost. What's your name?"

The woman's eyes bugged out of her head, while the alien stared at Ghost with fascination. She gibbered out something, and Cortana quickly began translating.

"Are you Elohim?" She asked, staring at Ghost with a mixture of terror and wonder.

Ghost bobbed back and forth, his version of a shake of the head. "No, I am not a spirit. I am a being of Light. May I ask your name?"

The woman seemed to debate it for a long moment, then whispered back, "Yehochanan."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Yehochanan." Ghost said cheerily, "May I ask what you are doing here?"

She narrowed her eyes and jutted out her chin. "They were in my hunting grounds, and I could sense the malevolence and hatred in them. And the headcrabs had gotten to a decent number of them. I would be a fool to not deal with them when they were close to my home."

Whisper actually winced at that, as she remembered the number of wild animals she had killed on the way here in an failed attempt to inflate her killcount. Whoops… She thought.

Ghost sensed her distress, but ignored it and pressed on. "What about your friend?" He asked.

She blinked, and Whisper knew she was not imagining it when she saw the woman's cheeks turn a little red. "I was bathing when The Nihilanth tore open a number of portals. This one was deposited into the area I was bathing. I've been looking after him since he is unused to the dangers of Xen."

"Xen… Well now we have a name for this place." Cortana remarked once she had finished translating. "I bet that he's in a similar situation to us. He got teleported here against his will."

"But that doesn't explain how she got here." The Chief noted. 

"Agreed." Whisper said grudgingly, then said, "Ghost, translate this: How long have you been here, and how did you get here?"

Ghost relayed the question, which only seemed to confuse the woman. "I have lived here my whole life."

None of them seemed to have any response to that, and the awkward silence was filled when the Alien stepped forward and said a number of words; crossing his arms and looking irritated.

Unlike the woman, after a few seconds of speaking, the aliens' words were translated directly as opposed to being relayed.

"-reat that you all get to understand her nearly instantly, yet I've been stuck with her for a day and a half and I'm still stuck with guesswork." The alien grumbled.

Whisper looked over at him and tilted her head. "Thanks for that little rant, you gave Ghost enough words to set up a translation program." She remarked, and the alien tensed.

"You understand me?" He asked.

"Yup." Whisper replied, popping her 'lips' as she did so. "How's it going? My name's Whisper-11; the big hunk of junk next to me is called Master Chief."

Ghost dutifully translated for Yehochanan, who looked between the group with wide eyes.

The alien tilted his head and straightened his shoulders. "I'm Captain Jon'Shepard vas Chitikka nar Rayya of the Quarian Migrant Fleet, Citadel Council Spectre."

Whisper blinked slowly, "Impressive list of titles, you have the ladies list them off to ya?" She asked sarcastically. 

Maybe it was a little hypocritical of her, given her own long list of titles, but already she was getting a Chief 2.0 vibe from this guy; and she wasn't liking it.

He surprised her then when he just shrugged, "Not really. They're just titles people give me when they feel like they're rewarding me with something, when in reality they're just giving me more work to do."

Whisper blinked again, then smiled and walked up and clapped the alien on the shoulder. "I think I'm gonna like you."

Cortana spoke up then in their ears, "Johnson, take the Marines back to the Autumn ; but make sure it's away from here. We're in a first contact scenario right now."

"Understood ma'am."

And with that, silence befell the small group; with one question in the back of their minds. 

Now what?

Chapter Text

Apparently, Yehochanan decided that she wanted them to go with her somewhere; which the Chief didn't like, worried that she might be leading them into an ambush.

Cortana wanted to roll her eyes at his concern. "Don't worry, I'm pretty sure that you can deal with any attacks she throws our way." She assured him.

"She's dangerous." John retorted.

"She doesn't seem to have any bad intentions." Cortana countered, pointedly not addressing the Chiefs point that she was indeed dangerous. It was clear the poor girl didn’t understand anything of what was happening around her. She clearly believed the Chief was a kind of metallic construct just like Whisper and Ghost; though she did seem to understand that Captain Shepard was an alien.

Hm… ‘Elohim’, an ancient Hebrew word that was a catch-all term used to describe any being that inhabited the supernatural realm. Cortana thought, speculating to herself. Perhaps her parents were deposited here at some point from ancient Sumeria, and she was born here and grew up here… doesn’t explain the caveman clothing though.

The native led the way, glancing at the Chief and Whisper every so often; sidling up to Shepard for some form of security as she walked.

“The automaton…” Yehochanan whispered to Ghost, the AI floating next to her acting as a dutiful translator. “Why do I sense two minds within it?” She asked.

Cortana felt her runtimes stop for half a tick, then quickly made to rationalize it. She clearly has some kind of ability to wield electricity, she probably feels the electrical pathways my AI chip is emitting when interfacing with the Chiefs brain. She decided, before saying, “Well… guess the cat’s outta the bag now Chief.”

“Cortana-” The Spartan tried to protest, and she interrupted him by simply projecting herself on the Chiefs shoulder.

She gave the young woman a wide smile even as Yehochanan stared wide eyed at Cortana, and the AI gave a little wave to the native. “Hello there. My name’s Cortana.”

Yehochanan continued to stare, even as she tilted her head. “I’ve never heard the name Cortana used amongst named Elohim.” She murmured.

Cortana gave an awkward cough, while Shepard stared at the AI’s avatar for a long moment, his eyes narrowing before he crossed his arms. “You’re an AI.” He stated.

“I am.” Cortana confirmed, a little confused regarding the aliens sudden tenseness. 

Shepard just took a very deep breath and released it. "AI have… Very bad connotations in my society." He explained bluntly, eying Cortana's avatar with distrust.

Ah… that would explain it. Cortana grimaced internally, but maintained her cheerful face on her avatar and tilted her head. “I would be interested to learn about it.” She replied.

“Hm…” The alien grunted, “We can talk about it on my ship.” 

“Where is your ship?” Whisper asked suddenly, hopping from one tree root to another, “Is it as big as the big guys? If so, I’ll have to assume y’all are compen-ACK!UGH!”

Whisper choked as a tongue-like appendage wrapped around her throat and started dragging her up into the air. Everyone took a step back, and Cortana could feel it as the Chief went into ‘Spartan Time’; and immediately traced the appendage upwards and spotted the base of the tongue. It was a sort of organic venus fly-trap; and it was gnashing its teeth in anticipation of a meal.

John didn’t hesitate.

He may not have liked the Iron Lady, but he wouldn’t let her die in any way. She was an ally, her civilian-like mannerisms and sloppiness notwithstanding. 

Faster than any organic could process, but Cortana followed just fine, the Chief whipped his Assault Rifle off his armor and fired a burst into the creature that had Whisper entangled; and at the exact same moment, with the same amount of speed, Whisper whipped her broadsword off her back and slashed clean through the tongue choking her.

The animal immediately went limp, while Whisper dropped to the ground; holding her throat as she threw off the piece of tongue that had stayed wrapped around her neck, when the animal vomited up blood, bones, and other such nasty things.

“Ah fuck!” Whisper whined, “Now I’m covered in blood.”

“Are you green?” The Chief asked, walking up and looking her up and down.

“No, I’m red because of all the blood and gore.” Whisper retorted and pushed herself to her feet. “Ah… damn that hurt, But I’ll be good to go.” Then she turned contemplative. “Hm… I wonder if I could make my head invisible, then I could wander around and look like some kind of headless demon. It’d be a good disguise.”

The Chief sighed while Shepard looked at her like she was insane, Yehochanan just wrinkled her nose in disgust as Ghost had not bothered translating her words.

“The bright side is that the smell will mask you from any animals wandering past.” The native said.

Whisper grinned, even as Ghost actually translated for her. “Aw, thanks for the advice kiddo. C’mere, let me give ya a hug.” She spread her arms wide and took a step forwards, and Yehochanan gave a loud squeak and there was a flash of green light.

KerZAP!

The native vanished from where she had been standing, and appeared high up in a tree branch; glaring down at Whisper, ignoring their stunned expressions. “ You will not touch me! I’ve had too many people pull that trick on me. I’m sick of washing my plate and loincloth!” She shouted down, scowling at them. 

Ghost and Cortana both froze, the two of them struggling to understand what had just happened; while Whisper pouted unhappily, mistakenly thinking the Native had tapped into some kind of transmat network. The Chief looked back and forth between where Yehochanan had been standing and where she was now; the confusion evident in his body language. 

Shepard just looked bored and he looked upwards and shouted back, “Don’t worry Yehochanan, I won’t let her touch you… And I just realized how bad that sounds out of context.” He muttered.

Whisper shuddered, “Yeah… Kinda just realized that myself… Uh, can you deal with the blood, Little Light?”

Ghost broke out of his stunned silence and sputtered angrily, “Little Light?!” He spat, “I told you to stop calling me that!” He snapped, then reluctantly ran a beam over Whisper's body. There was a flash of light, and the blood and the smell was gone; and the Iron Lady looked pristine and clean again. 

“Thanks, Ghost.” She sighed, rubbing her eyes.

Shepard gave her a look of sympathy behind his visor. “I did the same thing when I first got here; fortunately, Yehochanan was nearby to help me get out of it. She speared it while I shot it, and it dropped me into some swamp water.” He recalled.

“I was half tempted to let it eat me, if only so I could give it some bad indigestion.” Whisper remarked, checking her hand cannon absently, then looked up at the tree. “You can come down now, I ain’t gonna hug you; and I’m all clean.”

Yehochanan just gave the Guardian a suspicious glare, then there was a flash of green.

KerZAP!

The native reappeared behind Shepard, practically using him as a living shield as she looked Whisper up and down to make sure there wasn’t any blood still on her. “You… no longer smell as bad. I still want to dunk you with water to make sure.” She decided, “Come, let us head for my home. I shall give you sanct-”

She stopped, then tensed and turned to look at the foliage.

Cortana checked the Chiefs sensors, and watched as the biggest wolf she had ever seen emerged from the underbrush. It had black, brown, and gray fur; startling blue eyes that had an intelligence behind them that a barely sapient animal shouldn’t have.

The Chief took a step back and his arms twitched upwards ever so slightly, but otherwise restrained himself.

Shepard jumped slightly, but seemed to be calm otherwise; even relaxed when he realized what it was.

Whisper on the other hand, which Cortana noted with no small amount of amusement, was nowhere near as restrained; and swore loudly and moved so fast that she would have been a gray and black blur to the normal human eye as she took cover behind the Chief, having drawn Sunshot from its cowboy holster and was aiming around the Chief.

“The fuck is that?! That is the biggest Wolf I have ever seen in my life. Not even Lord Saladin’s wolves ever got that big.” She exclaimed.

Ghost hovered out of Whispers hood and scanned the giant wolf; which seemed to regard the AI with interested eyes. “Huh… It has the light as well, like pretty much anything that lives here.” Then he chuckled and translated Whispers words to an amused looking Yehochanan, who giggled.

“This is Urbarra, he’s still in the puppy stage, but he’ll be big and strong soon enough.”

The horrified silence from the other five was deafening as Ghost recoiled away from the massive wolf, Shepard went slightly slack, Whisper’s gun arm trembled ever so slightly, the Chief actually tensed; and Cortana felt her runtimes stop for a full moment in contemplation, then she quickly scanned the massive wolf.

She breathed a sigh of relief when she realized that the muscle and bone structures of the massive beast were in fact fully formed; and she heard Ghost chirp and open a private link to her.

“Should we tell them that she’s joking?” He asked.

Cortana thought about it for half a system tic, then replied, “Nah, it’s more entertaining to let them think it gets bigger… plus it’ll teach them caution.” She decided.

Shepard made a strangled sound in the back of his throat. “I’m… really sorry about accidentally shooting him on reflex, by the way. Have I mentioned that?” He said nervously, Ghost dutifully translating for him.

Yehochanan giggled again and waved a hand, “It’s fine.” She replied dismissively, then frowned heavily and set her hands under the Wolf's chin. “Urbarra, I thought I told you to guard my home. Why are you here?” She asked.

The beast huffed loudly, peering up at her with all too intelligent eyes. 

Her eyes widened in response, “Truly?” She demanded, as if it was actually talking with her.

The giant wolf huffed and yipped again, then it tensed and spun around with a loud bark and growl. Yehochanan’s eyes widened, then she settled into a combat stance; cocking her spear back with one arm, and charging an orb of dark energy in the other.

“Prepare for a fight.” She growled, “Tribe of Desire hunters are approaching.” 

Cortana might not have known who this ‘Tribe of Desire’ was, but she knew that Yehochanan probably had good reason to expect a fight. “Options?” The Chief asked, settling into a proper shooting stance and raising his MA5B.

Whisper had finally emerged from behind the Chief and was pointing Sunshot into the treeline where the wolf had come from. “Do not fire unless fired upon.” She said, her voice turning serious now. “I’d rather avoid getting caught in local petty squabbles and accidentally pick the wrong side.”

Shepard drew his own assault rifle, and Cortana went to examine it before she focused on making sure the Chief was operating at maximum efficiency. 

The leaves rustled, and three men emerged.

They were dressed like literal cavemen with loincloths and animal pelts over their shoulders and heads; but one key difference was that they wore metal armor plates over their chests, stomachs, backs, legs, and even had crudely shaped metal helmets. 

Cortana did a quick scan, expecting to find a kind of primitive bronze or iron; but instead was caught off guard when her scans came back with an unknown material.

She immediately hacked into Shepards comms channel (noting with some small amount of amusement that he had an open video and audio feed to his ship), while opening a line to Whispers own channel with Ghosts permission, and said, “That armor they’re wearing, it doesn’t match any material or metal I’ve ever seen or have recorded in my data archives.”

Shepard actually flinched in surprise, but he seemed to recover quickly, and he muted his vox-mitter, “Aim for kinks then if they attack.”

“Understood.” The Chief growled.

Whisper remained uncharacteristically silent, narrowing her eyes as she watched the three men almost casually form a triangle in front of them.

“I see the boss brought in some stragglers.” One remarked, assuming that the others couldn’t understand them.

“Well girly.” The leader remarked, smirking. “You’ve got two options. One, you hand over the strays you picked up and we let you go on your way. Or… Well we take them and you back to the tower.”

“And you aren’t gonna like option two.” The third remarked, leaning against a spear as he removed his helmet and ran a hand through some greasy and choppy hair.

Cortana took in an imaginary breath and released it as Yehochanan growled softly. “As if you won’t take me and make me a brood-mare regardless of what I do.” She hissed, her voice wavering ever so slightly; her hands shaking almost imperceptibly, but she held firm. “I can sense your comrades forming a ring to cut off any escape, don’t pretend I’m a fool.” 

The Chief immediately swung his rifle to the right, Shepard took up the left, while Whisper took up their six; each forming a vector of fire while Yehochanan and her wolf kept an eye on the leader and his subordinates in the front.

“How did you not see them?” The Chief demanded, and Cortana winced.

“They’re cave-people.” She retorted, “No technology on them for me to detect.”

“And I was a little distracted.” Ghost admitted.

Whisper snorted, “Remind me to shock you when I get a chance, Little Light.”

Shepard growled lowly, “I don’t know about you guys, but I’m not going to go with a bunch of men who can so callously threaten to rape a woman in front of us.” He shrugged his shoulders, “I’m calling in an evac from my ship. Are we in agreement?”

“Agreed.” Whisper and Chief said at the same time, then exchanged a look of surprise, then returned their attention back outwards.

The leader watched the exchange with interest, “Hm… So they do understand us… Interesting. No matter. Take them alive except the pet. Kill that one, I want its pelt.” He ordered.

Cortana tried to keep track of everything that followed, but it was difficult to make out even for an AI like herself. 

Whisper swept her cloak aside like a certain North American Folk Hero and fired her Hand Cannon, fanning the hammer; and headshotting three of the tribal thugs in less than a second against all odds. 

KerZAP! ZAP-ZAP-ZAP-ZAP-ZAP!

Just as quickly as she killed them, more began to teleport in; the Chief began rapid firing bursts from his assault rifle, and Shepard began blasting them with his own weapon. Yehochanan in contrast had begun using some form of telekinetic powers; yanking rocks and sharp sticks off the ground and sending them like ballista bolts into her attacks.

Her wolf tackled men to the ground and ripped their throats out, some zapping it with emerald colored lightning; other jabbing it with spears using telekinesis, but beyond some minor cuts, scratches, and burns they didn’t seem to do much damage to the massive beast.

Cortana felt a hint of confusion work its way through her programming.

Yehochanan has used telekinesis, teleportation, empathy, probably telepathy of some kind if she was communicating with that wolf, and lightning. Why are the others only using one kind of attack? She wondered, even as the Chief back handed one tribal that tried to stab him from behind; snapping the mans neck instantly.

She quickly returned her attention back to the motion tracker and sensors even as she tried to follow everything that was happening.

Shepard ducked under a wild strike of a spear, only to take another one to his face. His head snapped back and his visor cracked, but he used the blow to his advantage by jamming his pistol into the mans stomach and blasting a hole in it; then one tapped three more opponents before switching back to his assault rifle, and one tapped three more.

Yehochanan used a mixture of lightning and telekinesis to blast away at any enemies that came close to her; and her spear was more like a scythe as it tore through flesh and bone as if it were paper. The wolf, Urbarra, covered his mistress' flank; using his teeth, claws, and sheer weight to deal with any that got too close for his liking. 

Whisper’s gun arm shot up into the air, and there was a flash of orange-gold light as her arm and gun were ensnared in fire. She fanned the hammer of her gun again, blasting nine opponents away with only six shots; the bullets literally vaporizing the men as they tore through them. Then she drew her two handed broadsword, settling into a mordhau fighting stance; then began to cleave through her enemies like a butcher.

The Chief was living up to his nickname, and was more like a machine than a man, one tapping enemies left right and center; tossing the occasional grenade to shake things up. Unlike the others more flashy and chaotic displays, the Chief was clean, efficient, methodical, and ruthless.

Eventually, the teleportations stopped, and they soon ran out of enemies to fight; and to Cortana’s surprise, the leader from earlier was still alive.

He was on his knees in front of Yehochanan in utter shock, “Impossible… five and forty men, and you kill them all…” He hissed, and looked up at the native woman with an expression of amazement. “You… your power is nothing like I’ve ever felt. How have the Shadows not killed you yet?”

Yehochanan tensed, then snarled at the man. “What they don’t know, can’t hurt them.” She replied coldly.

The leader just chuckled loudly, “ So it would seem… But all that power can’t protect you from this!” He lashed his hands forwards, and bright green fire emerged from his hands.

Yehochanan yelped and teleported away, while Urbarra yowled and jumped clean over the flames and into a nearby puddle of water; but the others weren’t so lucky. 

The Chief jumped backwards out of the stream of flames, but his shields immediately dropped to zero while his internal temperature warnings blared.

Shepards upper robe-belt like garments caught fire as he dropped to the ground, and he immediately tore them off and threw them away, revealing that the parts of his suit covered up by the robe-belts were transparent. 

Whisper shrieked and ran back and forth like a chicken with its head cut off, yelling, “ I’m on fire!I’m on fire!I’m on fire!I’m on fire!I’m on fire! ” As her cloak and hood burned away.

KerZAP!

Suddenly, Yehochanan teleported behind the leader; her arms glowing a bright green, her face alight with fury as she crossed her arms. The emerald green flames were cut off as a massive vortex appeared in front of the thug leader's hands. The man gasped in surprise and horror as Yehochanan kicked him in the back, and sent him into the vortex; and she promptly closed it, cutting off the man's screams.

She slumped to the ground, gasping for air and looking awfully pale; and slowly everyone began to calm down.

Shepard stamped down on his burning robe-belts, but it was no use; they were charred to a crisp, though he fortunately still had the ones below his waist, since Cortana had no desire to have a lesson on alien anatomy at the moment.

Whisper, or rather Ghost, had finally managed to put out the flames (read, her cloak and hood had completely burned away, so Ghost had simply made an exact copy and put it back in place); and now was sweeping the area to see if there were any more enemies still around, even as an irate Ghost berated her to stop panicking now that there was no danger.

The Chief’s shield emitter sparked, and the Spartan sighed loudly as he realized his Shield generator had shorted out due to the heat; before turning his attention back outwards.

Urbarra padded up to his mistress and snuffled loudly, licking her face.

Yehochanan giggled loudly, “I’m alright… just spent…” She wheezed out.

A loud humming noise filled the air, and Shepard turned back to the group. “Alright people, that’s our ride outta here.” He declared, even as the shuttle descended through an opening in the trees.

Yehochanan stared open mouthed in amazement, while her massive wolf stared at the shuttle in trepidation; and Shepard walked up and held out a hand, Ghost popping over to translate for him. “You showed me your home, it’s time I showed you mine.”

When one was of less than noble standing, you learned when to fight, when to hide, and when to run. 

And watching the beast, the monster, the alien, the automaton, and the demon wearing a human's body fight the other humans while using magic powers that could only have been stolen from the gods themselves? Voia just sat in her tree and watched, making sure her recording equipment was capturing everything.

She was acutely aware of just how vulnerable she was in that moment.

She was a female, which meant she didn’t have the strength of a normal male, though she was more agile. She had also forgone her armor, or more accurately she had stripped it off and left it back on her fighter. She only had her sword, a loincloth, her recording equipment; and a netting meant to help her blend in with the foliage and the trees that she and the recording equipment could see through.

Normally, it was considered extremely dishonorable to remove one's armor, but Voia didn’t care. 

She was a lowborn peasant that had the good luck of catching a Kaidon’s attention. She hadn’t even had a clan name, she had chosen hers. A Roosa on Sanghelios was rather disliked for being a ‘dishonorable predator’; stealing kills, sneaking and striking from shadows, stealing food from Sangheili… It was just like her in every way.

She shifted slightly, and continued to watch as the automaton was suddenly wreathed in flames; and fired a pistol, vaporizing a number of the other humans. The monster almost casually batted the magic wielding humans away and shot them with its primitive rifle. The alien was agile and quick, using its pistol and rifle in tandem and getting into armor kinks with the practiced skill of a warrior. 

And the demon… Voia frequently felt fear, and knew when to quash it. She would admit to having a bit of trouble at quashing it this time. Its tamed beast tore limbs off and ripped apart others with the strength and brutality of a Jiralhanae, and she had little doubts that it would do the same to her if it found her.

She was suddenly very glad that she’d rolled in mud and filth to disguise her scent. She would smell bad and probably be ridiculed when she returned to the ship, but that was secondary to survival. She was suddenly thankful, as going naked and rolling in mud and filth was one of the few things her good for nothing father had taught her that was actually useful.

It took only minutes, but soon all the attackers lay dead; and the group of four soon only faced one.

Voia blinked in surprise as the lone remaining primitive blasted bright green plasma from its hands; and actually took the group off guard, even catching the automaton on fire, and destroying the monster's shields. 

The demon wearing human flesh on the other hand, simply teleported behind the plasma caster; opened a kind of vortex, and kicked him into it.

She continued to watch as the group picked themselves up, a shuttle soon arriving in a nearby clearing; and they left the area, boarding the shuttle and leaving, even taking the demons pet with them. 

Voia watched for ten minutes more just to make sure no one was still around, then she dropped out of the tree and stalked over to the practical mountain of dead humans… or rather, dead demons wearing human bodies. 

She slowly removed the netting, and tossed it to the ground, still sweeping the area with her recording equipment; when she heard movement to her left.

Very aware that all she had was a loincloth and nothing else to protect her, Voia threw herself to the side and rolled as a bolt of green lightning slashed through the air where she had just been; and she ignited her energy sword, glaring at the lone survivor of the massacre.

The demon glared at her and barked out something, and she blinked in confusion.

She had never bothered to learn the human language, but her comms device in her ear canal should have translated it for her. Shrugging it off as the primitive speaking in a different language, she charged forwards; her energy sword hissing in the air as it slashed towards the human, only dimly registering that he was already wounded.

The human shrieked and yanked a spear out of the ground and jabbed it at her. 

Voia twisted out of the way, and winced when she felt it cut her on the side; but she ignored the stinging pain as she drove her blade through the demon's gut. It sputtered and coughed, glaring up at her with hateful eyes as its legs gave out and it fell to the ground.

It scrabbled and grabbed at her bare chest, smearing blood on it; then it managed to catch itself on her belt and loincloth for a moment, then tore them off and fell to the ground.

It weakly charged up a bolt of lightning and tried to throw it at her, which she deftly avoided with ease by simply stepping to the side; watching it choke on its own blood before it finally breathed its last.

Voia took a breath and released it, then winced.

It had been a very long time since anyone or anything had managed to wound her, even if it was just a scratch more than anything else. Seeing no use for it anymore, she grabbed her torn loincloth out of the now dead demon's hands and wrapped it around the cut. Sangheili blood is sacred. Bah! If it’s so sacred, I’d rather keep it in me rather than out. She thought with a derisive snort.

She had used the bandages she had packed to make said loincloth just to have something to cover her womanhood; so at least they were getting some good use, though she would have to be careful to avoid looking downwards until she got back to her ship and armor.

She deactivated her energy sword and swept the area one last time, then ran back to her ship; taking care to avoid and keep an eye out for those tongue creatures that had caught and choked the automaton.

It took only a few minutes, as she had parked her fighter only a few klicks away from the forward operating base that now lay in ruins; filled with dead Sangheili and those horrifically mutated Kig-Yar.

Hmph, I bet the Pirate Queen won’t be too pleased about that. She thought, spreading her mandibles in a grim smile as she finally reached her ship.

She quickly began putting her armor back on, taking care to avoid accidentally showing her womanhood. She may have been desensitized to doing more dishonorable things when it came to survival, but that didn’t mean she had no honor at all.

I hope that idiot Minister is smart enough to realize when he is in a situation out of his control. She mused as she started up the engine and put her helmet back on, taking comfort with feeling the skintight undersuit and the armor plates protecting her body again. 

Ah… Tis but a jest to myself. He’ll shriek and demand another crusade; and I’ll be facing those demons again. She thought, taking off from the ground and speeding back to the Ascendant Justice as fast as she dared to push her fighter.

Joy…

Miri was many things, and being a bit of a perfectionist was one of them.

She had many faults that she would admit to having, and while being a perfectionist could be a good thing (and in some cases had saved both hers and others lives); it could also be a bad thing, as she was internally freaking out over every single spot on the ship that wasn’t spotless.

“What in the goddess’ name is this!” She demanded, holding up a cloth with dust on it; the poor Quarian in front of her trembling all over as Miri reamed her out for a less than perfect job. “It’s a first contact scenario! I expected you all to do better!”

A loud sigh drew her attention and ire as Jakob stepped forwards and spread his hands. “All of you are doing fine. Go make sure your suits are clean, and get ready to greet our guests.” He ordered firmly, and the assembled Quarians, Asari, and Turians all slumped in relief and scrambled to get out of the compartment; even as Miri fumed at Jakob interrupting and undermining her.

“What the hell!” She shrieked, her biotics flaring in anger. “This kind of shit is unacceptable! We’re making first contact with new species from other universes! The ship needs to look good; and we need to make a good first impression!” She roared.

Jakob flared his own biotics to keep himself steady, but otherwise he looked bored as he weathered the tirade; having had a lot of experience in dealing with them.

“Miri.” He said calmly and with no urgency to his voice whatsoever. “You do realize that this is a Privateer; right? Some filth and dirt is to be expected. Granted, it’s good that all the crew's messes have been cleaned up, and we’re not so slovenly looking anymore; but they clearly don’t expect perfection.” 

Miri growled loudly, “It’s still first contact!” She hissed.

Jakob stared at her for a moment longer, then he started to chuckle. “This is about the AI those Robots are carrying in their head, isn’t it?” He asked.

“ ‘Elohim’. ” Miri replied in a mocking tone as an answer. “EDI is up and about, thankfully, but I don’t think the Geth will be able to stop that one AI; let alone two of them.” She stated, “And those robots? How the hell can we stop them if they decide to attack?!” She demanded.

Jakob just smirked and formed a biotic sphere in his hand, “Simple, we’ll show-” The biotic sphere flickered and died; and Jakob frowned and shook his hand. “The hell?” He said, and tried to form a sphere again.

Miri crossed her arms, “And that’s another problem. My biotics have been freaking out ever since we came here. Sometimes it works fine, other times it doesn’t work at all… but most of the time, it’s been like what you’ve just experienced. It works, but only partially.” She explained, rubbing her eyes.

Jakob grimaced and shook his head. “I’ll go and get armored up then.” He decided.

Miri sighed, “Find Kas and Garrus first, make sure they’re all ready. I’ll go deal with Jak.” She decided.

Jakob shook his head and blinked his upper two eyes. “Ah… great…” He grumbled, not enjoying the prospect of seeing the two while they were being intimate. Then he blinked his lower set of eyes. “Wait… You’re going to check up on Jak?” He demanded, “You’ll end up ripping a hole in the ship by the time you two are done talking.”

Miri waved a hand absently, already walking towards the medbay. “I’ll be fine.” She declared, ignoring Jakob’s sigh from behind; and she jutted her chin out in defiance as she walked. 

She passed by Tali and Zaid both working on their respective weapons; and she passed by Grunt as he stomped past to don his armor after eating a big meal. Ru’Gardner was of course cursing and swearing at the mess the giant Krogan had left behind. Mordin was still in his lab, Joker was still at his station; and as Miri entered the Medbay, she could see that Chakwas had cleaned up the place.

The only problem left to deal with was Jak, and as Miri rounded the corner; she blinked slightly in surprise.

“Fuck off you old tuho !” Jak shrieked, throwing the new suit at Chakwas; standing in the middle of the medbay naked as the day she was born. “You destroyed my old suit!? The fuck you do that for!?”

Miri took a second to admire the Quarians body; her gray-light blue skin, which was marred with a few scars but was otherwise flawless. Large breasts for a quarian, and wide hips. Her black hair-quills trailed down to her waist, and were stiff from anger; Jak having ripped a few out and was now holding one in each of her hands like they were daggers.

Chakwas on the other hand had caught the suit Jak had thrown at her, and was glaring at Jak with an unimpressed expression behind her gray visor. “Because I and everyone else was tired of you dressing like a kur’wa ; and I decided to do something about it.”

Jak sneered and her biotics flared. “Well fuck you tuho ! I’ll walk around naked if I want, and you can’t stop me!” She hissed.

Miri sighed and closed her eyes, drawing the two's attention to her. “You will do no such thing Jak.” She stated simply, opening her eyes again and she glared the young woman down. “Shepard is coming back to the ship with guests.” She crossed her arms and raised a perfectly painted brow. “He wants to make a good impression, now get dressed. You wouldn’t want to disappoint him, would you?”

Externally, she remained stoic and uncompromising; but internally she was grinning wickedly. It was rather obvious to her that Jak had a bit of a crush on Shepard; and it was one of the few ways the rest of the crew could control her when the Captain wasn’t around, by reminding the exile that Shepard would be disappointed in her if she didn’t behave.

Jak stopped at that particular bit of information; and her eye glow dimmed while her face turned a little blue. Then she sighed and held out a hand with a petulant scowl. “Fine…” She growled.

Chakwas tossed the suit back to Jak, and the two women watched as she dressed; not trusting her completely as she pulled the suit on. 

Once all the clasps and seals were done, she pulled on a helmet; which had a deep blue color to it, as was the visor. Then she looked down at the transparent areas of the suit, then looked back up at Chakwas and Miri. “You have something I can cover my tits and cunt with? Or am I gonna be flashing everyone instead? If it’s the latter, then I may as well go naked; given how we don’t seem to need suits here.” 

Chakwas sighed irritably and walked over to the closet and withdrew a Raelk and Sehni , “These are both Shepards, he had some spares kept in here in case they were needed and he couldn't get to his quarters.” She explained, tossing them both to Jak. “I hope you know how to put them on, because I’m not helping you.”

Jak paused, and Miri blinked as the exile suddenly sounded a little meek. “Um… No?” She replied, and on seeing Chakwas’ and Miri’s looks of incredulity Jak got defensive. “That suit you destroyed was all I ever owned. The slavers never let me have anything else, and no one ever bothered to teach me after I was freed.” She snapped.

Miri sighed and walked up, holding out a hand. “Here, I’ll help.”

Jak blinked, and Miri felt a small amount of amusement at having taken the exile off guard. “I did have a number of Quarian lovers, both men and women, in the past. Why do you think I’m a member of the QueensGuard?” She asked, “I even had a daughter… though it’s been centuries since I’ve seen her…” 

Miri sighed and shook her head, focusing her attention back on Jak; who shivered slightly, then shoved the Raelk and Sehni into the Asari’s hands. 

“Fine!” Jak hissed, “But if you try and cop a feel, I’m popping your head like a fruit.”

Miri rolled her eyes. “Please, I have more dignity than that.” She stated, even as she began securing the clasps and tying off certain ends of the cloth; the hundreds of years since she had last done so not hindering her at all as muscle memory took over. “You really should learn how to do this on your own. You don’t have your old suit, which means you need to do this now; given how you’ll need to change your Raelk or Sehni whenever it gets dirty.”

Jak clearly blushed under her visor, “I was hoping to ask Shepard to teach me how.” She mumbled.

Miri exchanged a smirk with Chakwas, the doctor clearly unimpressed. “I don’t think Jon has that kind of time.” Chakwas stated, her voice sounding like ice.

Miri did feel a little bad when she saw how Jak seemed to deflate slightly, and she sighed. “I’ll see if I can arrange for him to give you a small lesson once we have some free time.” The asari decided, wondering just how much she would regret helping the exile.

Jak immediately perked up as Miri tied the final knot, and she smiled widely, “Thanks cheerleader. I’ll make it up to you… Someday.” She promised.

Miri just shook her head and moved towards the exit. “I’ll hold you to that. Now c’mon, the Captain and his guests will be here in a few minutes. I want to make a good impression on these aliens.”

Jak chuckled, “Sure thing cheerleader, I’ll be on my best behavior.”

Miri fought down a snort and just kept walking. She better, or I’m throwing her out the airlock myself.

Garrus sat on the floor of the forward airlock in total bliss, his mandibles chattering as he sighed; Kas lay her head on his shoulders, a content smile on her face.

He’d never seen her face before, much less her whole body; but she’d apparently been feeling brave after learning about what happened with Shepard and that native woman. She would have been considered exotic by quarian standards, with reddish-gray skin and brown hair-quills with streaks of red in them.

The past few hours had been good fun for the both of them; but unfortunately, duty was calling for them both.

Or more accurately, Jakob was pounding on the airlock window (which Garrus had blocked with Kas’ Sehni ) to wake them up; shouting that Shepard was going to be back soon, and they needed to get ready for a First Contact scenario.

“Kas…” He murmured, running a hand through her hair-quills; marveling at how soft they were when they weren’t stiff. “Time to get back to work.”

She moaned and shifted, “Don’t want to…” She grumbled.

Garrus buzzed in amusement, but slowly picked her up and pushed himself to his feet; and then deposited her on a seat, before slowly putting his armor back on with an almost lazy air to him. Kas in contrast just yawned loudly and stretched, running a hand through her hair-quills and grinning at him. 

“We need to do this more often.” She stated simply. 

Garrus snorted, “You mean get sent to some place where the laws of time and space mean nothing; which in turn makes it so that you can’t get sick whenever we have sex?” He asked with no bite to his words.

Kas pouted, and Garrus memorized that expression; and he couldn’t help but grin at how cute it made her look. “Spike? You can really take the fun outta anything, you know that?” She grumbled good naturedly before she shimmied into her suit, quickly securing her raelk into place over the transparent and intimate areas of the suit.

Garrus just chuckled, even as Kas secured her visor back in place; and she made a sound of disgust. “What’s wrong?” He asked, cocking a mandible in curiosity.

“The air in my mask.” Kas grumbled, “It’s too… clean. It tastes bad.” 

Garrus blinked in response, and he had to bite down on his tongue to keep from commenting that perhaps she would like the taste of something else. We’ll have time for that later. He reassured himself, even as he walked over and helped Kas fix her Sehni into place over her helmet. “Maybe add some air freshener.” He remarked, “Or hey, better yet, just shut the filters off and let in all the smells unfiltered.”

Kas just gave him a look, “If I could, I would. But unfortunately, my suits makers really didn’t have the foresight to just install the ability to shut off my suits' air filters in case I suddenly became immune to all sicknesses.” She remarked sarcastically, even as she walked up to the door and opened it.

Bonk!

Kas stumbled backwards as Jakob accidentally smacked his fist into her helmet.

The batarian yelped and shook his hand, then held it; hissing loudly and in pain as he backed away from the entrance. Garrus took a step forward and held Kas as the Quarian turned away to hide her face; took off her mask, and rubbed her nose, looking more annoyed than hurt.

“You alright?” He asked.

“I’m fine.” She replied, putting her mask back on and turning around to face Jakob once again. “So what’s up four eyes?” She asked.

Jakob stopped cradling his hand, and instead wrinkled his nose slightly. “Smells like sex in here.” He grumbled, before shaking his head and blinking his lower set of eyes. “C’mon. Shepard’s almost here with the aliens.”

Kas blinked rapidly. “Aliens?” She asked.

Garrus huffed, “Did Shepard pick up more strays?” He asked, crossing his arms and pointedly not choosing to acknowledge Jakobs first comment.

“Not exactly.” Jakob replied. “A lot has happened in the past twelve hours while you two were busy sak’hifeeng each others brains out.” He noted. “Shepard ran into two robots that also carry AI’s. Both of them are from different universes by the way.”

Kas and Garrus slowly turned to face each other, then turned to look back at Jakob. “I think you should probably grab your armor then, Jakob.” Garrus finally said.

“What about-”

“I’m wearing my armor.” Garrus interrupted, gesturing to his armor and Kas’ suit. “And we still have our pistols with us.”

“Spike sleeps with his, I found that out the hard way.” Kas commented, holding up Garrus’ pistol from where she had swiped it off his holster. Garrus, without even looking, simply snatched his pistol back and set it back into the holster.

Jakob just sighed explosively. “Fine. Just get down to the Hanger deck with the rest of the ground team.” He ordered, before turning and dashing off to the armory to grab his own gear.

The two lovers shared a look, then chuckled loudly before walking towards the hanger bay. 

As they walked, Garrus glanced at Kas and quirked a mandible, “You know, another thought occurred to me; why not just take off your mask?” He pondered.

Kas actually blushed, “Spike, I may be more carefree than other Quarians; but I’m not Jak, I do have standards.” She retorted.

Garrus blinked, “How so?” He asked, confused.

Kas gave an exasperated sigh. “Well for one, even the act of sharing air among a Quarian couple is considered intimate. To show each other their faces is even more so. Why do you think we all call Jak a Kur’wa ? She’s baring her whole body for the world to see without a care in the world.” Kas snorted. “Like I said, I have standards.”

Garrus just buzzed thoughtfully as they entered the hanger bay where the rest of the ground team and important crew members were waiting. “Huh… Always wondered why you called her a ‘whore’.” He mused, then shut his mandibles as the two took up positions beside Tali.

The chief engineer glanced at them, and Garrus could see the mischievous smirk on his friend's face; even with that visor in the way. 

Fortunately, she didn’t have time to make any comments or jokes as the shuttle swooped into the hanger; the pilot, Staeteus C’tez, using her normal skill and prowess to make the landing look clean, efficient, while also putting a little bit of a flair to the landing that would make Joker jealous.

“Showoff…” 

Speak of the titan, and he shall appear. Garrus thought in amusement as Joker chattered his mandibles in irritation; crossing his arms as the landing clamps engaged.

He soon turned his attention back to the shuttle as the hatch opened, revealing four figures standing inside. The native was what drew his attention first, the woman looking about in wide eyed wonder at everything; then staring at the Turians, Asari, Quarians, Batarians, and the handful of Salarians with utter shock.

He could admit on a clinical level where the appeal came from.

Scanty clothing that only Jak in her suit could rival in terms of how much it showed and how little it covered; mammalian features common in quarians like breasts, long flowing hair that was the color of blood.

Fortunately, he only had eyes for one woman in his life, but he could still admire the view.

The absolutely massive furred Varren, or ‘wolf’ as they learned it was called, seemed relaxed as it padded out of the shuttle; towering over its mistress while it lolled out its tongue and looked around the bay.

Garrus could feel Kas vibrating at the prospect of petting the thing, and he set a talon on her shoulder to steady her; and he turned his attention to his Captain and friend.

Shepard looked worse for wear in more ways than one; which told Garrus that a lot had happened since the last time he’d checked on his friend, and when Kas had dragged him into the airlock. His visor was cracked, his Sehni was gone leaving his helmet completely exposed; while his Raelk , or the upper half that covered up his muscles and chest, was ripped and torn away.

Even from this distance, Garrus could smell the blood, gore, and muck. 

The alien may have washed Jon off when they had arrived at her little cave, but soap clearly hadn’t been discovered yet.

In spite of the smell, Garrus swore he could hear all the quarian women (conveniently, the ones that didn’t have to smell Shepard) moan in pleasure on seeing their beloved Captain without his upper Raelk .

The two robots on the other talon…

Well they certainly didn’t look like robots, they looked more like asari wearing armor. The more obviously feminine of the two wore odd pants with a low hanging gun belt on it, some kind of modernized scale armor, and a long cloak and hood that hid their face in shadows. 

But he could see the pair of glowing blue eyes and the yellow light where her mouth would be; and Garrus could see that it was indeed some kind of artificial being hidden under the hood. The big one on the other hand… looked like a male Quarian the size of a Krogan with Asari arms and legs.

The three guests looked at the various assembled crew, and Miri decided to take the initiative and stepped forwards. “On behalf of the Citadel Council, I welcome you to the Quarian Warship Chitikka. I am the Executive Officer, Miri L’awson.” She announced.

The native seemed to recoil slightly away from Miri, and she held her head and winced; before babbling out something.

Miri took a step forwards in concern, and the native took a step backward; fear plainly visible on her face. Jon cleared his throat then and said, “Easy there Miri, she says that…” His eyes dimmed, “Your presence is a weight that presses on her mind.”

The woman tugged on his tattered Raelk and said something else.

“Oh…” Shepard looked at the various assembled crew, “The Asari in general are giving her a headache.” He explained, then he narrowed his eyes, “What are you all standing about for, get back to your stations!” He barked, clapping his hands.

The native and half the assembled crew members all jumped, then reluctantly filed out; leaving only Joker, Chakwas, and the ground team left in the hanger to stay with the new arrivals. 

There was a flash of light, and suddenly there was a spiky white orb floating on the robot womans shoulder. “Well… that was an interesting group of people.” It remarked, and Garrus blinked as it spoke perfect Palavanese. 

“Interesting?” The robot woman remarked, “I’d say they were more a gaggle of misfits that wouldn’t be out of place in the tower.” Then she paused to think, then added, “Actually no… This group is better because they follow orders and seem to have brains in their skulls.”

Miri seemed to bristle slightly, when the giant spoke up with a deep gravelly voice. “Captain. I assume you have a war room where we can discuss certain matters in private?” He asked.

Garrus exchanged a look with Kas and mumbled, “Military.”

Much as he hated to admit it, already he was getting an early Shepard vibe with the man. Jon may be a friend and a brother, but Garrus still remembered meeting the young Marine all those years ago. A terse, no nonsense, strict, and cold man that only cared about military matters.

Hopefully they could de-brainwash this one too and bring him more in line with the privateer’s thought process.

Shepard, for his part, simply shrugged. “We do, Miri, would you care to lead the way?”

Miri bristled again, “Shepard, I must remind you that this is a potential securi-”

“And I’ll deal with any issues that arise.” Shepard retorted, crossing his arms and tilting his head. “We’ll be fine Miri.” He promised, “They don’t mean us any harm, they even saved my life a number of times.” Then he paused and added, “And we could use some friends against other threats as well as the wildlife.”

Miri paused in thought while Garrus grimaced. He felt Kas and Tali tense on either side of him, while Chakwas shook her head; Zaid scowled, and Samara turned her mouth down ever so slightly. Jak (who was in a regular quarian suit now, Garrus was just now realizing) bristled and growled, while Grunt gave the tiniest of smiles; just the reminder of their temporarily postponed fight against the Reapers being enough to put him in a good mood. Only Thane and Mordin seemed unaffected by the reminder of their old enemy; in fact, Mordin only had eyes for their guests.

In a blur of gray and red, Mordin zipped up to the robot woman first. “Incredible! Clearlyartificaillifeformwithexpressiverangeofemotionsandrealisticanatomycomparabletonative!” He rambled, then turned his scans on the native woman; who practically cowered behind Shepard as Mordin continued onwards. “Nativehassimilaritiestoasariandquarianwomenboth. Mammaryglandsandreproductiveorgans. Fascinatingconcentrationofdarkenergy!”

The robot woman looked over at the big one and shrugged, “Uh… I think we broke the creepy frog scientist.” She remarked. 

The big guy remained silent.

Shepard gently took Mordins hand and pointed it away. “Mordin, it’s rude to scan people without their permission.” He stated firmly.

Solus blinked rapidly. “Of course.” He said, taking a breath and calming down. “Will contain excitement till proper exam can be done.”

The robot lady raised a metal plate over her eye. “You know, most men would take a lady out for a few drinks before they got to see what they were packing.” She remarked, and Garrus was already finding himself liking this lady.

The spiky orb just chirped loudly, “Not like you have anything to show under your armor. You’re a robot.” 

“Oh switch off Ghost, a woman can dream.” She retorted.

Shepard sighed and rubbed his visor. “If you all would be so kind, let’s move this discussion to the War Room. Shall we?”

The robot woman just smiled, “Lead on then Mr. Muscles.”

It was very hard to keep a Spartan under, even for something as serious as resuscitative surgery.

And it was for that reason that Senior Chief Petty Officer Linda-058 opened her eyes and woke up. There was no other way of putting it, she was asleep one second; and the next she was wide awake and scanning the room for any potential threats.

“Ah fer fecks sake.”

Linda blinked rapidly as the doctor came to her bed, and her eyes flicked down to the tag and rank on his collar.

Only he wasn’t wearing a uniform; he was wearing tan and black armor with a doctor's white jacket over it. She saw the rank of Chief Master Sergeant on his chest, along with the silver wings and cross that denoted him being a UNSC Air Force Pararescueman. There had been only one Pararescue assigned to the ship that was rated for field surgery, and was cleared to treat Spartans.

“Master Sergeant Patterson.” Linda inclined her head to the man, trying to salute as well.

“Don’t try te salute, you’ll knock yer bandages loose; and I only jus’ got done putin’ yer new intestines back in place.” The man replied, his thick irish accent making his voice hard to follow somewhat. 

He had a thick mustache, salt and pepper hair, and a pair of round and rimless reading glasses.

Linda had made it a point to read up on all of the troopers that would be assisting the Spartans for Red Flag. Major Silva was one, and Patterson was another; having a CSV nearly as long as Chief Mendez. He had probably been in the service just as long, maybe as long as Staff Sergeant Johnson.

Linda felt a pang in her heart as she wondered what had happened to the Chief and the Sergeant; the former she hadn’t seen since the Spartans had gotten their augmentations, and the latter she hadn’t seen since Operation: Silent Storm all those years ago at the start of the war.

She didn’t remember much of what happened over Reach, it was simply a blur to her.

“What has happened?” She asked, wincing at how raspy her voice was.

Patterson gave her a look, then pulled up a stool and sat down next to her. “First things first, how’re you feelin’ Spartan?” He asked, pulling up a clipboard and pencil, scribbling notes into the documents.

“Green Master Sergeant.” She replied, already impatient to get out of bed and back into her armor.

He gave her a disbelieving glare that all doctors managed to have no matter what age; the kind of glare that Halsey always gave her or the other Spartans when they had injured themselves and were trying to hide it. The glare that made her want to quail and hide like a little girl, though being the way she was she only felt mild discomfort at the look.

"Right…" Patterson drawled, then he reached over and typed a few inputs into the bed, and a scanner quickly ran over Linda's body. "Hm… your new liver and intestines are taking pretty well, healing faster than I would have thought." He muttered, "Same for the abdominal and back muscles, your spine is still fine, surprisingly enough." He muttered.

Linda blinked slowly, "Am I green to get my armor back then?" She asked.

He read the reports in silence rather than answer her question for several moments longer, then said, "Nope. You also have a moderate concussion as well. I'm not letting you into that suit for another few days at the very least until I'm sure your brain can handle it." He stated bluntly.

Linda narrowed her eyes, "Master Sergeant, I will point out that-"

"You need to heal, and your first instinct after coming back from the dead is to hop into that damned armor and probably reopen the wounds that killed you?" He asked, raising a brow and wiping his reading glasses absently. “Yeah… no. You are not cleared for duty until your injuries are fully healed.”

Linda ground her teeth slightly, but accepted the orders from her superior grudgingly. "How long?" She asked.

"Hm… I say a week at a minimum." He stated bluntly.

"Covenant might not give us the option Master Sergeant." The voice of Captain Keyes drew the two's attention, and Patterson snapped a quick salute while Linda struggled to raise her hand to give a salute of her own. "At ease, both of you." He ordered.

Patterson dropped his salute and practically slapped Linda's hand back down to her side, like a parent slapping a hungry child's hand away from dinner before it was ready. 

"Sir." Linda coughed, "I request to know the status of the Chief and the rest of the Spartans."

Patterson and Keyes exchanged sad looks, and the Captain took up the stool Patterson had left by Linda's bedside. "I'm sorry, Senior Chief, but all the Spartans that went ground side on Reach are officially MIA."

Linda felt her heart sink.

Her home, all of her brothers and sisters… gone. She swallowed the taste of bile and asked, "The Chief?"

Keyes frowned in contemplation. "You have… missed a lot, Senior Chief. We've come to a strange place thanks to a Slipspace anomaly. The Chief left the ship with a ground team an hour and a half ago; but the ground team is coming back to the ship and reporting that they've been gone for nearly six hours." He explained, "The Chief has made first contact with a new alien, and… a strange human woman." He sighed, "I'll be honest Senior Chief, it's been a confusing mess the past few days. You'll need to spend most of your time in bedrest catching up."

Linda remained silent for a few minutes, staring at the captain with an unreadable expression, then said, "Tell me everything, sir."

"As you wish, Spartan."

Iron Lord Saladin had seen it all, so to surprise him was something that Cayde took great pleasure in doing.

The darker part of him, the part that was ensnared by that tendril of darkness, wanted to twist the knife even further; but he squashed down the dark impulse hard, and contented himself with a grin at the Iron Lords' stunned expression.

“You’re leaving me in charge of the city while you three go gallivanting off to find Clovis Brey’s old Europa facilities?” Saladin finally asked; his ghost, Dawn, simply chirped loudly in disbelief that her guardian had been chosen for a job he clearly didn’t want.

“Well…” Cayde said slowly, “It’s you, Osiris, and Lady Efrideet that we’re leaving in charge.” He corrected, then added, “It’s not the three of us, it’s the six of us.”

“Six…” Iron Lady Efrideet commented, running a hand through her dirty blonde hair. “Did the three of you clone yourselves while I wasn’t looking?” She asked sarcastically.

Cayde heard Zavala sigh loudly, “Not… exactly.” The awoken titan replied.

“We’re bringing The Drifter, Eris, and The Stranger with us as well.” Ikora finished, and the three Vanguard members all braced mentally for the protests from their older counterparts. 

And the old hands did not disappoint. 

“What!?” Osiris exploded furiously, while Sagira spun her plates. “The hell are you three thinking?” He demanded, “The three of you going in one place is bad enough, but you’re taking a Hiive Warlock, a Time Traveling Hunter, and a Titan that doesn’t even like using the light with you? Have you lost your minds?”

Cayde could feel his temper rising, while Zavala frowned heavily; Ikora took a step forward to calm her old mentor down. “Osiris, I assure you that everything will be fine. We’ve planned everything out.”

“I assume you’re talking about that darkness thread that’s got Cayde snared.” Efrideet pointed out; “And the one in you.”

Ikora froze, while Cayde felt all his runtimes stop at that moment as he fully processed the Iron Lady’s words; and he turned to face the old Hunter. “Efrideet…” He started. “First, how the hell do ya know about that darkness thread in my light? And second… what do you mean Ikora’s been snared?” He demanded, his mouth light turning red in tune with his anger.

Ophiuchus, or Ophi as Ikora liked to call him, appeared on Ikora’s shoulder; spinning his plates as he ran a quick scan. “Oh dear…” He muttered, “‘Kora… I can sense a strand of darkness infesting your soul, just like Cayde.”

Everyone remained silent as that little admission slowly sunk in, and then Saladin leaned back in his seat and released a deep breath; petting one of his wolves on the head. “I think it would be best then, if you all leave and find this portal you speak of. I don’t know what’s wrong with you three; but you seem to know the solution to it.” He said bluntly.

Zavala gave his old mentor a grateful look, “Thank you Lord Saladin, we shall return as soon as we can.” He said.

Saladin waved a hand and turned in his seat. “Just be back quickly, I can only tolerate Efrideet's jests and Osiris’ ego for so long before I punt them off the tower.”

“We’ll be back as soon as we can.”

Chapter Text

Voia landed her fighter with the normal skill and flair that was expected of her, and she was greeted by a familiar friend as she exited the craft. 

Theso 'Kazamee was standing behind the maintenance Unggoy with a bored expression on his face, though the boredom was deceptive; she knew him well enough to see that he was worried about her as well. She spread her mandibles in a wide smile and walked over to him, even as the Unggoy passed her by to start checking her fighter for any potential degradation or repairs it might need.

Theso actually recoiled slightly when she got close to him, and Voia felt some measure of amusement; knowing that she likely still smelled like mud, excrement, and other such nasty things. Her face wasn’t covered up by her bodysuit nor her armor, so the mud staining it was plainly visible to see.

Voia spread her arms and tilted her head. “I have returned.” She said in a jesting tone, as if she were a conquering Arbiter returning from battle. 

“Yes, and you smell as if you rolled in the Colo pens back at ‘Vadam Keep.” Theso replied evenly, looking her up and down. “You stripped off your armor again, didn’t you?” He asked, no judgment in his tone.

Voia shrugged, “It worked again, so I’ll keep doing so until it no longer works.” She replied easily, though she did absently pat each of her weapons to make sure she hadn’t accidently left any of them behind; as she had done so a few times in the past. 

She had her Type-50 Particle Beam Rifle strapped to her back, her plasma pistol attached to her left thigh, her energy sword attached to her right thigh; and she had her dagger attached to the small of her back. Not many elites carried a physical blade, but she still had hers to remind her of her days as a gutter peasant.

She felt the hilt and smirked at the thought of burying it in someone's throat, the curved, wicked blade being one of the last things they felt.

“I trust your recon was a success?” Theso asked as they started to walk out of the hangar and towards the Fleetmasters quarters.

It was an old ritual, but one they always followed through on. She would fly off on a recon mission with her fighter; Theso would escort her to the Fleetmasters quarters once she returned, and he would listen to her debrief to the Fleetmaster so he would get an idea of what was waiting for his team on the ground; and then the Fleetmaster would send him on his way to secure a Landing Zone while Voia would go and clean herself and rest.

But as they neared the Fleetmasters Quarters, they both realized that today would require a slight deviation from their normal ritual.

Two Sangheili Honor Guardsman stood in front of the doorway leading to the Fleetmasters quarters, and Voia tilted her head in curiosity. Strange to see these two out of the hole where the Minister normally resides. She mused, then shook her head and approached.

“Ah… Seems the two grubs have finally emerged from their hole. To what do I owe the pleasure?” She asked, and the two Honor Guard tightened their grips on their Energy Pike. She heard Theso begin typing something into his commpad, but she paid it no mind as she kept her eyes on the Honor Guards.

The one on the left sneered, “The Holy Minister of Stewardship has business with the Fleetmaster.” He explained coolly. “Alone. None may interrupt them.”

Voia just spread her mandibles, “Well I’m sorry to say, but I have critical information the Fleetmaster must see. Please inform him that Pilot Wingmistress Voia ‘Roosamee is here to speak with him.” She said easily.

“You’re no Pilot, nor a Master of any kind.” The one on the right spat.

The one on the left nodded, “You’re just a lowborn peasant who used her cunt to get as far as you have; and you’ve used your lack of honor to carry you further, cowardly curr.”

Voia shrugged, “I will protest the first insult, as I have not used my womanhood in any way.” Then she smiled and shrugged again, spreading her hands and tilting her head. “But as for the second insult… That is exactly what I've done, and what I am. Because I use my brain to survive. And I’ll still be here long after you two have died a glorious death.” She remarked, glancing over at Theso, who rolled his eyes.

“You’d rather live without honor than die with it… How have you not been executed yet?” The Guard on the right wondered.

“Because my willingness to not fight with honor has made me far more useful than either of you.” Voia remarked, then took a step towards the door. “Now then, I must-”

“Place your hand on that keypad, and you’ll lose it.” The left side guard growled, tensing slightly as did his comrade.

Voia still kept smiling even as she set her right hand on her dagger hilt while drawing it part way out, and took a step forwards while pointing a finger in the guards face; already mentally calculating how fast she could slit both of their throats before they got their Pikes into a proper fighting position, knowing full well that while she had speed and agility, they had strength, and more importantly were well rested.

Hiss .

The doors opened, and the Minister of Stewardship floated out of the room on his grav-chair, not even sparing Voia or Theso a glance as he floated away; a distracted but still haughty expression affixed to his face. Voia let the two Honor Guard pass, acutely aware of the Fleetmasters eyes on her as she turned around; not showing her back to the males as they walked away.

Only once they were long out of range for both her dagger and their Energy Pikes, did she sheathe it.

Taking her hand off her dagger, she spun around and planted a salute on her chest while bowing her head. “Fleetmaster.” She said, genuine respect in her voice now.

Her Kaidon took a deep breath and released it, “Come.” He ordered, stepping aside and letting Voia and Theso into his quarters.

“We have much to discuss.”

Kas observed the big guy first, as the massive machine looked about the conference room for any unseen threats; as well as potential areas for cover and escape.

She felt a chill run down her spine, and she felt her hair-quills puff up against the confines of her helmet on instinct. Her mental danger signals were screaming at her to avoid the massive alien; and her instincts had rarely failed her. She may have liked to pickpocket and steal from others, but she got the distinct feeling that she wouldn’t be getting away with that with this alien.

The next was the robot woman.

Kas felt an instinctive distrust and dislike well up in her gut, even as the robot woman did the same thing as the big guy; but unlike the big guy, she seemed to do so with an almost casual air to her.

Her hood covered her face in shadows, but it didn’t hide the glowing blue eyes and the yellow light where her mouth would be. Kas spotted the angular looking long barreled weapon on the robot's hip, and she quickly made it her mission to swipe the gun at a later point down the line.

Then the native walked in, looking about the room with an almost childlike wonder.

Then the giant Wolf padded into the room, staying close to its mistress; and Kas fought down the urge to squeal at how cute it was. What was also cute was how the native seemed to stick close to Shepard, likely on account of the fact that he was one of the only ones that she was even remotely familiar with; which was a given, since they’d spent a day or two together and she’d seen and even touched his face.

I bet Jak is less than pleased with that. Kas thought, smirking behind her visor as she glanced over at the exiled Kur’wa ; still more than a little surprised at seeing the woman wearing a normal envirosuit, along with a normal Raelk and Sehni .

The other woman was remarkably calm, though Jak could sense that the biotic was glaring spears at the native behind her visor.

The robot woman walked over to a chair, pulled it out, and sat down with a huff; giving an exaggerated yawn and kicking her feet up onto the table. “Ah… feels good to rest my feet.” She remarked, the translation software doing its work.

“Before we begin-” Shepard started, looking over at Miri, “Have you done as I asked?”

“Mordin had it ready within a few minutes of you boarding the shuttle and forwarding the request.” The Asari replied easily, while the Professor stepped forward and handed Shepard something that would be nearly impossible to see; given how small and thin they were.

“Ghost, please translate.” Shepard ordered.

Kas again fought down a squeal of happiness at the spikey orb that floated out of the robot womans hood; the AI chirping loudly. “Of course, ready when you are.”

The Native looked between the AI and Shepard as the Captain stepped forward, the man talking with a calm air to him; as if trying to calm or feed a wild animal. “Yehochanan, what I have in my hands will let you understand us; just as we can understand you. Would you like me to place them into your ears?” He asked softly.

Yehochanan looked like a varran caught in headlights, but she gave a jerked nod, “I-I-I would like to know how it feels to use the magic you possess.” She whispered.

Kas could feel Miri rolling her eyes at the word ‘magic’, and a number of other ground team members snickered quietly to themselves; and Kas felt a measure of sympathy well up for the native. It wasn’t her fault that she wasn’t educated, from her perspective, everything that she had seen was a feat of magic.

Shepard walked up and gently, almost tenderly, placed one earpiece into the natives ear; then the other. “Alright, can you understand me?” He asked gently.

The young womans eyes widened, “I understood you…” She said.

The sweet moment was interrupted by a woman's drawling voice. “Well ain’t that great, let’s get all this boring talk done so I can go take a nap and get some rest.” The robot lady remarked, drawing glares from the more mature people at the table; and stares of disbelief or admiration from the less mature ones.

The native glared at the robot woman, “And what might you be, automaton?” Yehochanan growled, “I can sense the vortessence within you, coiled around you and that Elohim that follows you.”

The robot grinned, “Well…” She stood from where she was sitting and gave a mock bow. “My name is Iron Lady Whisper-11, Field Commander of the Hunter Vanguard. I am also known as The Young Wolf, Godslayer, The Slayer of Oryx, Cursebreaker, Hivesbane, Kingslayer, Shadow of Earth, Rivensbane, and Hero of the Red War.”

A very pregnant pause filled the room, and Kas only managed to say, “Huh… That is a lot of slaying that you’ve done.”

The robot, Whisper, sat back down and kicked her feet back up. “Eh…” She made a so-so gesture, “Not a lot of killing when you look at other guardians, but I’ve certainly racked up a lot through the course of my short career.”

“And how long would that be?” Shepard asked, taking his seat at the head of the table. 

“Since I was resurrected, which was… Ghost, how long ago was that?” Whisper asked.

“Six years, three months, and four days.” Ghost replied. "And I have regretted every second of it."

“Right, so I’m only six years old. I got a lot of killing to do between now and my final death.” Whisper stated, putting her hands behind her hooded head.

The big guy tilted his head slightly, and a glowing blue woman that looked like the same species as the native appeared on his shoulder. “Wait… You’re only six years old?” She asked, baffled just like everyone else.

“Yup. Guardians don’t count their previous lives nor how long they’ve been dead.” Whisper explained, leaning back in the chair. “My mentor, boss, immediate superior-yada yada, Cayde-6 the Hunter Commander and Vanguard? He’s about 800 years old. Marshal Commander Zavala, Titan Vanguard and leader of the Military wing of the Last City, he’s easily over 1000 years old. Chief Scribe Ikora Rey, Warlock Vanguard and Spymaster, she’s around 900 years old.”

She shrugged on seeing the stunned expressions on everyone's faces, “It’s a matter of perspective really.”

“... Your age explains so much regarding how you act…” The blue woman muttered to herself, then raised a hand and waved, “Since we’re doing introductions… Hi! I am CTN 0452-9, you can call me Cortana. I am a Smart AI for the United Earth Government, United Nations Security Council, NAVSPEC Warfare.”

Kas’ hand twitched for her pistol, while everyone in the room tensed; the Quarians like Jak, Chakwas, and Tali having the worst reactions of all.

Shepard just winced, “Ah… yes… I did mention that my people have a bad history with AI, yes?” He asked.

The AI lady paused, then winced as well, “Yes, I remember now.” She perked up again, “But fear not, I have no intention of causing any of you harm… provided you cause no harm to me or my Spartan.”

Jak snorted loudly, “Really? And what’s the big guys name?” She asked, flickering with Biotics.

The AI turned to face the giant and put her hands on her hips, “Chief?”

The Giant hesitated for a moment, and Whisper snorted, “Aw c’mon now Chief, don’t be shy.”

The Giant tensed ever so slightly, and he said in a very deep and gravelly voice, “Master Chief Petty Officer Spartan-117.”

Kas felt another chill go down her spine at how cold and unemotional the giant's voice was; and she wondered if he really was a robot like Whisper. Her hair-quills tensed and pressed against her helmet, and trying to calm herself down she turned and stared at the Wolf ; and she vibrated with excitement at the prospect of petting the thing. 

It was so cute!

She glanced around the table as the native introduced herself, then she slipped out of her chair and into the crowd surrounding the table; cloaking herself and started sneaking towards the animal. Slowly, everyone settled around the table as Shepard took the lead, Kas moving a few inches every few minutes to avoid detection.

"So…" The Captain started, clearly unsure of where to go. "I think it is rather obvious that none of us, except for Yehochanan, belong here in… Xen." He paused again, tasting the word and clearly still struggling in how to carry on the conversation. "I hear that you have a ship of your own."

"That's classified." The Chief replied.

The looks of disbelief sent his way would have cowed a normal person, but the giant simply stared back impassively. 

The AI cleared her throat. "Our ship is known as the Pillar of Autumn, a retrofitted Heavy Cruiser. Crew complement of 1,200 soldiers, sailors, marines, and ODST's."

Kas did a double take where she had been sneaking, while the other Quarians all made noises of disbelief; and the natives eyes went wide.

"That… is a very large tribe." Yehochanan whispered.

The Captain blinked rapidly, his silver eyes flashing in disbelief. "That is not a heavy cruiser, that is a super dreadnought."

"What kinda ship is the Chitikka ?" Whisper asked, tapping one of the spiked metal wheels on her boot heel. "Seems kinda small if you ask me."

"We didn't." Shepard replied, "She's a stealth cruiser."

A very pregnant pause filled the room then, and silence befell the room again as everyone debated as to what to say next. "So… how did we come here?" Shepard finally asked, clasping his hands and resting his chin on them.

"The Nihilanth." 

Everyone turned to Yehochanan, who cringed under all the attention; while Kas smirked slightly as she drew closer to the wolf, the beast sniffling and nudging his mistresses hand.

The native cleared her throat, "I… I thought it clear to everyone. The Nihilanth brought you here."

"And who is the Nihilanth?" The Chief asked, no, demanded from the native; his harsh tone and demeanor only making the poor woman clam up even more.

"Chief, be nice." The AI chastised, sounding like a mother scolding her bumbling son. Then she turned to Yehochanan and her tone softened considerably. "Can you please tell us who he is? We know nothing of this place."

The native swallowed heavily. "He… he is not of Xen. We do not know where he is from, only that he was fleeing a great evil in the process." She took a breath, "He took up residence in the Tower of the Damned, and he has been there for… a very long time; centuries before I was born at least."

She shuddered and began pulling her mane of flame red hair absently. "We let him be at first, he was not the first to visit Xen. Many peoples and tribes had come before. And he resided in the Tower, a place where demons and spirits of death reside; we saw no harm, if he wanted to die there it was his choice."

"I sense a 'but'..." Whisper muttered.

Yehochanan nodded, "But… he seemed to thrive in that horrible place. He began to… twist things. He had his own race of slaves known as the Vortigaunts. He twisted and performed horrid magic on them." 

Performed some kind of biological augmentations then. Kas mused as she drew closer to the Wolf.

"He began to draw exiles and outcasts and undesirables to him. They formed what is known as the Tribe of Desires; for they are enslaved to their desires and nothing more. Food, women, men, whatever they want the Nihilanth lets them have." 

Kas frowned while everyone else shifted uncomfortably. 

"Essentially…" Tali started, "Thieves, Rapists, Murderers, and all the rest. That's what makes up his army." She said.

Yehochanan just nodded. "Aye… but he has long been dissatisfied with simply ruling Xen. He has always wished to expand himself to other universes. That is probably why he has brought your respective peoples here, to test what he would face and decide which would be easiest to invade."

Kas shuddered at the thought. 

They already had the Reapers to deal with, the thought of dealing with another ancient enemy that could potentially kill them all… that wasn't a very pleasant thought to say the least. 

"Huh…" Shepard remarked, "Guess we got our work cut out for us." He said.

Leave it to Shepard to undersell the problem. Kas thought with a quiet snort, then the conversation began to turn, with Shepard describing what it was like in their home universe; and the stripper looking AI lady started describing hers, but Kas didn't really care about all that.

Instead, she could only focus on the wolf.

It was in range of her hand, and all of a sudden she had the impulse to feel it with her own hand. 

“So what species are you?” The AI asked.

Shepard tilted his head, “Well, I and the majority of my crew are Quarian; Garrus, Zaid, and Joker are Turian. Miri and Samara are Asari, Jakob is Batarian; Grunt is a Krogan, and Thane is a Drell. EDI is Geth, and Mordin is a Salarian.” He explained. “The Chitikka is a… Privateer under the employment of the Queensguard. I’m her Captain, obviously, given this ship to rule over by the Queen of Rannoch. Our mission…” Here, he paused, and Kas could almost see him grimacing as he mentally debated giving the truth or not; given how poorly it had gone for both him and everyone else when he'd talked about the Reapers.

He took a breath, "Our mission is to stop an ancient race of AI known as the Reapers from wiping out all space faring sentient life in our galaxy."

To the crews evident relief, none of their guests scoffed at that particular bit of information.

Yehochanan merely looked intrigued, while the Chief remained unreadable. Whisper, Ghost, and Cortana all looked very interested; however. "How long has this machine race been around?" Ghost asked, zipping up in front of Shepard's face.

"Er…" The captain flinched backwards, and Miri answered for him.

"Millions of years, but we don't know for sure truthfully." The buxom asari scratched her nose, looking irritated at having been forced to admit she didn't know something. "All we know is that every 50,000 years, they harvest all spacefaring sentient races; then leave the galaxy for another 50,000 years. We don't know why… We just know that they do it."

Shepard rubbed his visor, "What about you? What kind of evil, galaxy ending terror are you facing?" He asked, sounding sarcastic but also resigned, as he waved his hand at Whisper and the Chief.

That… had been the wrong thing to say, apparently, as both the robot woman and the giant soldier tensed and glared at Shepard.

"Not galaxy ending perhaps." Cortana remarked, her voice still level and calm, but with a hint of irritation nonetheless. "But a multi species religious hegemony known as 'The Covenant' has been waging a genocide against humanity for the past 27 years. Hundreds of colonies destroyed, wiped away by plasma bombardments from space; and billions upon billions of people dead. We're losing, and losing badly. We just came here fleeing from the destruction of the second most important world next to Earth, losing hundreds of ships and millions of people." She gave Shepard a very Varren like smile then, "Like I said, not galaxy ending… but it may as well be for us."

Whisper gave a mirthless laugh, "My people only have… oh, I'd say about 10 million at the absolute most left still alive. Most reside in the Last City, and we're always one attack away from extinction. So we're not in the best of places at the moment either." She remarked, spinning the spiked metal wheel on the back of her boot again while fingering her pistol.

The tension in the room was so thick that one could cut it with an omni blade; and it was stifling for everyone there. Kas half expected guns to be drawn and arguments to start, which was the last thing any of them needed. 

She needed to do something to break the tension, so she looked at the Wolf lounging on the deck in front of her.

Kas decloaked, ignoring the yelps of surprise from the crew and from the native, and she pressed a button on her left shoulder. Her suit hissed as her arm sleeve unsealed itself from the main body; and she quickly tugged it off, revealing her gray-red skin as she petted the Wolf, which was now looking at her with curiosity filled eyes.

“Awwwww…” She squealed, “You’re so cute! And you’re so fluffy.” She started scratching behind its ears; and the furred beast let out a pleased whine, it’s massive tail started wagging and thumping into the deck with a loud whump!

It rolled onto its back and started kicking its hind leg into the air, and she started scratching its belly; knowing how with Varren, that was one of the few places one could scratch it.

“He likes you.” Yehochanan said next to her, sounding surprised.

Kas froze and blushed heavily as she realized the whole room was staring at her.

Jakob, Joker, Garrus (the traitor), Grunt, and Jak were all snickering at her; Chakwas, Samara, and Thane were just staring at her like disappointed parents. 

Tali and Miri both looked as if they wanted to strangle her, Mordin looked annoyed that his notetaking was interrupted; and Zaid just looked as if she had woken him up from a nap.

The Chief just tilted his head, almost looking confused at where she had come from and what she was doing; the robot lady, Whisper, was laughing a full scale belly laugh, holding her chest while her glowing blue eyes flashed. 

The spiky orb, Ghost, just tisked as he bobbed back and forth like he was shaking his head; while Cortana looked both amused and annoyed at being interrupted, a projection of one of the Aliens that Shepard had fought on the surface of Xen. 

Shepard just rubbed his visor and sighed loudly, “Kas… you couldn’t wait five extra minutes before you freaked out over how cute the wolf was?” He asked.

“Um… No?”

“...We’ll continue this briefing at a later time then…”

“My door is open.”

Miri snorted at the message sent to her, and rolled her eyes. Shepard was her friend, and she could admit on a purely base level she had a level of attraction to him; and she knew that he had some base level attraction to her as well. But the two of them agreed from the beginning to always keep a professional relationship; and as time had gone on, a mutual friendship.

Standing from her navigators chair, she said, “I’ll be meeting with the Captain. You have the Conn, Joker.”

“Got it.” Joker replied absently, “I’ll just… play some Fornex in my ears or something so I don’t have to hear you two.”

She shook her head and didn’t bother giving the turian pilot her normal response to that insinuation. Shepard’s cabin was closest to the cockpit, and as such it was easy for Joker (especially with his better hearing that came with being a Turian) to hear most of everything that went on inside; unless Shepard was playing loud music from his cabin of course.

She went to her own quarters directly across from Shepads and went inside; removing her outer armor and leaving her workout pants and top on, before walking over to her closet and grabbing the carrying case for her instrument.

With that done, she walked barefoot over to Shepard's cabin, sighing as she felt herself unwind from the stresses of the meeting and from herding the crew of varran posing as Privateers.

Shepard had already set up a chair and was absently tuning his Skrzy’pce , lightly running the bow across the strings as he tipped his head and listened to the sounds; making sure that it was set at its proper tension. He had removed his upper Raelk and Sehni , and like her seemed to be mostly destressing as he twitched his toes.

“Ah, there you are.” He remarked, playing on the strings more naturally now that he was sure it was properly tuned.

Miri huffed and opened the carrying case and removed her Tjeel’o , sitting in her own chair with a loud sigh and began plucking the strings. “Stressful day.” She remarked, slowly tightening and loosening the strings, “Kas’ little outburst at that giant… Wulf did not help our credibility.”

Jon chuckled as he cracked his neck, leaning back in his own chair, looking like he wanted to remove his mask to rub his eyes. “You have to admit, it was kinda cute to watch.” He retorted.

Miri allowed a tiny smile to slip onto her face. “True enough I suppose.” She admitted. "And it did help break the tension after your ill thought out comment."

It had taken a few months, but they both felt comfortable enough with each other as friends to let their masks slip in front of the other. They were a team regardless, and they needed to trust each other.

Jon snorted, “Didn’t expect her to rip her suit arm off though. Least she muted her vox-mitter so she wasn’t moaning at the sensations.”

Miri held back a giggle and leaned back in her seat. “She may as well have stripped naked, given how much skin she was showing.” She bluntly stated.

Jon huffed, “Yeah…” He played a few strings and tilted his head, “You know certain crew still think we’re fucking each other, and we just play this music to cover up the sounds.”

Miri laughed and shook her head as she finished adjusting the strings. “I found out about that damned betting pool Kas and Garrus had going, regarding who they thought you would end up with; or if you would form a harem like the Quarian War-Kings of old.” She admitted, “Didn’t tell you because I thought it was a little funny.”

Jon shook his head, looking slightly exasperated. “Wow, Miri L’awson, actually has a sense of humor. The crew would die from a collective stroke on hearing that.” He remarked, then sighed, “Okay… It was a little funny, I will admit, until Liara’s name came up.”

Miri blinked slowly, and wisely chose not to respond to that comment as she slowly ran her bow across the strings.

After a few minutes, Jon nodded and asked, “Ready?”

“Ready… Lux B’thov 4th symphony?” She asked.

“Sounds good.” 

Yehochanan stared at the Elohim -Cortana as the aglow woman showed her ‘pictures’, some kind of memory vision frozen in time that could be shown at will.

So many things, so many changes, so much magic… She felt as if her head was spinning at times trying to keep up with all the amazing things that she had seen. She continued sitting in the chair, the comfort of which was incredible, even as Cortana and the other Elohim that called himself Ghost continued to talk to her.

The Automaton, or rather ‘Chief’ as he was called, just stood back and watched her closely from behind his queer helmet that she could not see through; yet he was able to see just fine with. 

The other automaton, Whisper, was absently taking aparted the odd hooked weapon that she seemed to use to fire her own form of magic.

"Incredible…" Yehochanan murmured.

“Your home incredible!” The frog alien, Mordin, exclaimed as he vibrated with excitement. “Why differing biospheres on different islands?!”

Yehochanan blinked, “Erm, because each comes from their own world. Xen is the center of the stars and planets; all places have their representation here.” She said.

“Fascinating.” Mordin rambled. “How many your people here?”

Yehochanan shrugged, “I do not know.”

“Mating rituals?” 

Yehochanan scowled and crossed her arms over her breasts, feeling her face turn a little red from both anger and embarrassment; “That is not something I will share with an outsider unless I am interested in said outsider.” She snapped angrily, even as she felt a pang in her heart as she remembered the last time she had gone through with it, her hand drifting down to her stomach before she stopped herself.

Don’t think about it. She reminded herself, knowing that remembering that event would only make her sad.

The giant spoke then, startling her, “When we fought those Desire Tribesmen, their leader mentioned something.” He turned that queer helmet towards her and stared into her soul. “That you were more powerful than you should be, that… ‘Shadows’ would have dealt with you by now.” 

Yehochanan’s throat tightened up and she leaned back in the chair, unable to stop a strangled sound from escaping her lips as she suddenly had flashes of Shadow Hunters descending on her cave to kill her.

“You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to, sweetie.” Elohim-Cortana said gently in a motherly voice, giving Yehochanan a tiny smile.

She blinked rapidly, then took a deep breath and released it, They have given me sanctuary; they have told me of their peoples, I shall tell them mine. She decided.

“I… One of the Tribes that inhabit Xen… it’s known as the Tribe of Shadows.” She practically spat the name with how much vitriol she put into the word. “They are honorless bastards, is what they are. They slit your throat in your bed, women take mens seed before killing him and raising the child they bare to be like them; but above all, they hunt those they deem to be too powerful, and to be a threat to the other Tribes.”

“And how do they determine who is too powerful?” The automaton woman asked, tilting her head while her hood rustled. “I mean… Yeah, you cleaned house and tore ass out there, but surely there are others more powerful.” She pointed out.

Yehochanan squirmed slightly, “Well… Normally, one can only achieve mastery in the Vortessence in two aspects by the time they reach my age.”

“And what might those be?” Elohim-Ghost asked, floating in front of her and chirping, spinning the white spikes that surrounded his orb-like body. “The way you wield the light is nothing like I’ve ever seen.”

Yehochanan licked her lips, “First is Emerald Lightning, which pretty much all master at some point from a young age; and it’s almost always one of the two ways people achieve mastery.” She explained, “Then, there is Emerald Fire; the Desire Hunting Party leader used it on us, if you recall.” 

The giant looked away, while the automaton grimaced and held her cloak, “Yeah… that wasn’t pleasant, being on fire and all that.” She grumbled. 

“I did tell you to stop, drop, and roll; but you were too busy squawking like a chicken to listen.” Elohim-Ghost retorted, sounding both amused and annoyed at the same time. “You’re lucky I can simply reconstruct whatever armor and clothing you lose.”

Whisper just waved a hand, “Eh, semantics.” She looked back at Yehochanan and smirked, “What else?”

Yehochanan blinked, then shrugged and held out a hand; pulling a flat piece of metal with divots in it towards her. “Emerald Flight.” She took a breath, and let her emotions flow outwards, and the others immediately stiffened as she felt her unease and curiosity touch their souls, “Heart Whisper.” Then she brushed against their minds and winced.

This particular trick she was very unskilled with, and rarely used it; only ever really using it to communicate with Urbarra (who was curled up and sleeping not far from her) or to shield her mind. “Mind Whisper.” She said with her mind, then immediately stopped touching their minds and coughed, blood dripping down her nose as she held her temple. “Please… Don’t ask me to do that again, I really hate doing that.” She added.

“We won’t.” The giant promised, sounding subdued somewhat; which surprised her, but she pushed it aside.

She took a breath and let herself recover, “Blinking.”

KerZAP!

She disappeared from where she had been sitting in a flash of emerald green light, and reappeared on the opposite side of the artificial cave. 

KerZAP!  

In another flash of light, she reappeared in her seat with a small smile; letting the stunned and awed expressions feed her ego just a little bit, then she ran a hand through her hair. “That is one of the trickier ones to manage; especially if you want to bring your clothing, weapons, and whatever you are carrying with you.” She explained.

“Incredible.” Elohim-Cortana whispered, “Is there anything else?”

Yehochanan bit her lip and looked away, “Healing Hands, which I can’t really demonstrate at the moment; but I place my hands on an open wound, and accelerate the healing. It’s… a dangerous method, as I’m not forcing the wound closed so much as accelerating the healing process; and expending the energy that would be required for it.” She took a breath and released it, “And lastly is Vanquishing Blink… I used it on the Desire Hunting Party Leader when he used Emerald Fire on us.”

Silence stretched on for a moment, then the Chief asked, “And it’s not normal for one to be able to use all of these abilities at your age?”

Yehochanan tensed, “No…” She admitted, narrowing her eyes and preparing for a fight should he decide that she was a threat; which the giant seemed to sense as he settled into a more combative stance.

The standoff was stopped before it could even begin when Whisper stood and walked over next to Yehochanan and rubbed her hair as if she were a child; and she made an indignant sound and tried to straighten her hair out.

“Tricky to bring things besides your own body with ya, huh?” The automaton asked, grinning, “How many times have you teleported around and showed up naked in front of a good lookin’ guy?”

Yehochanan blushed and crossed her arms. “That is none of your concern.” She replied.

Whisper snorted, “Girly, you’ve all but confirmed that you’ve done it now. Although given how much side-boob that thing shows; and how little you cover up, I’d say it’s not much of a change.” She remarked.

Yehochanan bristled angrily, “My teats and womanhood are hidden from view! That’s good enough!” She snapped.

Whisper shook her head and chuckled again, “Sure it is, so why are you blushin’?” she asked, raising an eyeplate. Then she reached forwards with her finger and poked Yehochanan in the side of her breast, while she reached down and tugged on her loincloth; nearly dragging it low enough to reveal her womanhood. “Look at how much I can see and how easily I can yank it off.”

Yehochanan sputtered angrily while smacking the automaton’s hands away, “My loincloth takes months to make, because it must be cut from the hide of animals; it can take a spearpoint and not be penetrated. And my plate is made from the bone of a Xenian Tentacle, one of the most dangerous creatures that inhabit these islands; only spear points made from the same material can punch through it.”

Whisper just snorted, “Girly, you need something more protective than that; the moment you get into a fight, you’re dead.”

Before Yehochanan could formulate a response, an odd squealing noise filled the room. She blinked rapidly in confusion, while the others in the room all turned their attention towards the source of the noise; which was down the artificial tunnel.

“Ah damn that racket.” 

The man that was incharge of butchering food, Ru’Gardner, who had been huddled behind some kind of half wall and keeping to himself; suddenly grumbled and groaned as he stumbled out. 

“Huh…” Elohim-Cortana mumbled and tilted her head, “That sounds almost exactly like a Violin and a Cello playing.”

“Aye, Capn’ and the Firs’ Officer like to play those damned squealing things. Passes the time.” Ru grumbled as he grabbed one of the metal plates and plopped some… unappetizing looking slop onto it. “Some of tha’ crew think they play that music to cover up the fac’ they’re fuckin’; but bullshi’ I say. I go in there all the time to give ‘em food, and they’re always dressed and sittin’ playin’ that shit.” 

Yehochanan blinked and began to sway slightly at the sound of this ‘music’.

“Huh…” Whisper remarked, kicking her feet up onto the table and leaning back into her chair. “They’re pretty good… really good, I'll admit that much. I can play the Organ as a matter of fact; what about you guys?”

Mordin shrugged, “Was part of quartet as hobby, not had chance to get back into it.” He remarked.

Whisper raised an eye plate, “Huh, that I’d like to hear; what about you big guy?”

The Chief just glared at the automaton, then turned on his heel and walked away; taking Elohim-Cortana with him. 

“Hmph. Rude much?” She asked.

“I don’ think he likes ya all tha’ much.” Ru’Gardner agreed.

Yehochanan didn’t bother listening to them talk, she just sat there and swayed in her seat as the music continued for the rest of the night.

Jon took a breath and released it as he removed his bow from the strings, cracking his neck as he did so. “A Good performance as usual.” He remarked.

“We could theoretically play at the Thessian Opera House if we wanted to.” Miri agreed, plucking a few strings, then she sighed and leaned back in her seat. “Jon… We do need to talk, I hate to do it when we’re on break like this, but there’s some stuff we can’t ignore for the moment.” 

Shepard sighed in kind, “Alright… What’s first on the list?” He asked, leaning back in his chair as well and fixing her with a focused stare, telling her that she had his undivided attention. 

“The Nihilanth.” She stated simply, “I told you about how EDI got hacked, yes?” Upon his answering nod, she said, “I think the Nihilanth was the one that hacked EDI.”

“Which means he knows everything there is to know about our universe.” Jon finished, then groaned and rubbed his visor. “Fuck…”

“That’s not… an entirely bad thing.” Miri objected, “He said that our universe would be spared; which means he must have decided that it’s not worth it to try and invade.” 

Jon seemed to think about it for a moment, then asked, “Should we mention this to our guests?”

Miri vehemently shook her head, “No. It would only cast suspicion on us. Why is our universe being spared from invasion while theirs are being probed and tested? No, it’s better we don’t bring it up to them.” She advised.

Jon inclined his head, “Agreed, though we tell the truth if pressed.”

“Of course.” Miri replied, “Next is the native. Mordin has a name for her race to differentiate her from the Chief. Xenian.”

“I can’t imagine how long it took for him to come up with that.” Jon snorted.

“At least it’s a name we can use.” Miri huffed, then she couldn’t help but smirk, “You know, when Chakwas destroyed Jak’s old suit, we had to give her a new Raelk and Sehni to cover her up. She was never taught how to tie or secure one properly. I think you’d be a good teacher for her.”

Shepard blinked rapidly, and she could see the blush on his face through the opaqueness of his visor while his eyes dimmed rapidly. “Um… maybe Chakwas or Mordin would be better to teach her.” He replied, his voice wavering slightly, “I don’t really have the time for that.” He added as a deflection.

Miri just smirked, “Of course Jon.” She replied, seeing right through it, “Now then… how about the Rannochian Farewell?”

He cleared his throat, recovering from his surprise and nodding, “Okay… that’s a good one. Ready?”

“Ready.”

“Chief, what the hell was that?!”

John closed his eyes and sighed, wincing slightly as Cortana’s AI chip heated up to the point that it actually felt like it was burning his mind. Her fury at him was like a raging inferno, so he decided to answer, “What do you mean?” He asked, tired.

“Chief! You indirectly threatened a woman who has space magic and is our only guide to this whole Xen place; after she had opened herself up and revealed that her abilities could get her executed by her own people. You’re lucky that Whisper was smart enough to defuse the tension with her class clown act!”  The AI snarled furiously, sounding very much like an angry parent or enraged spouse at the moment.

He would admit to having… miscalculated in his interactions with the native Xenian, but he always had trouble interacting with other non-spartans. 

To him, non-spartans always fell into four groups. Civilians, which he protected. Comrades, which he assisted. Officers, who he obeyed. And Enemies, who he eliminated as quickly and efficiently as possible. 

But the Xenian, Yehochanan; and Whisper-11 both defied those categories in multiple ways, which he didn’t know how to deal with.

“I… misstepped.” He admitted.

“You don’t think?! And what about Whisper’s question, and you just turning around and leaving without answering it?! Do you know how much of an asshole you looked like there?!” Her crude language notwithstanding, she did have a point.

“I…” He hesitated, not really sure if he should talk about it.

The only person he would have dared share his thoughts with was Kelly, but she wasn’t there; the MIA marker on her name on the roster still flashing in his eyes.

“It… brought up a memory. From before.” He admitted.

It had been more of a flash of impressions really.

John, much smaller than he was now, sitting on a wooden stool in front of some piano keys; a woman of vaguely persian ancestry sitting on his right with a large smile on her face; a man of caucasian descent with a large cowboy hat and thick beard sitting on his left with a small but warm smile of his own as John tapped the piano keys in front of him.

He had never given more than a minute's thought to his life before the UNSC, and Whisper’s question had inadvertently brought it up.

He tried his best to dismiss it, but he couldn’t help but feel… a little lonely; thinking about his brothers and sisters, and recalling the family he’d long since forgotten. 

Cortana’s anger began to cool slightly, and the AI chip was no longer boiling in his head; and when she spoke, her voice was a lot softer. “Ah…” She murmured, and after a long pause she asked, “Do you… Want to talk about it?”

“No.” He replied, shoving his feelings away.

The two remained silent for a bit as the Chief walked down the halls, and finally he said, “I’ll admit, I misstepped in dealing with the native.” He repeated. “But… I had trouble fitting her into a category in how I treat other non-Spartans.”

“Category?” Cortana asked, sounding a little surprised, “...what categories do you have?”

“Civilian, Comrade, Officer, and Enemy.” He replied mechanically.

There was a long pause, and then Cortana sighed deeply, “Chief… you can’t just put people into boxes like that. Yehochanan is a literal cavewoman, she could just as easily fit into all four of your little categories. She has no idea what you are, she genuinely thinks that I’m an Elohim ; a spirit, angel, or ghost. She can fight, but she has no sense of coordinated team fighting or anything like that.” She explained.

“Then there’s Whisper, she could fit into three of your categories as well.”

John frowned heavily, “How would she fit in the ene-”

“Civilian, Comrade, and Officer; John.” Cortana interrupted, sounding like a teacher now. “A comrade because she’s an able fighter and soldier, however much she may clown about. An Officer, because like it or not, she’s a Field Commander; which makes her equivalent to a Lieutenant Commander or just a regular Commander.”

He sighed, “Fair.” He admitted grudgingly, though he wouldn’t like taking orders from her, he would obey those orders so long as they were lawful and were within her authority.

“And civilian because… Well, I’ve talked a lot with Ghost; AI can talk a lot faster than organics can.” She paused, “You know why she acts like a class clown? Because it’s how she copes. She’s an immortal robot; with the mind of someone not meant to live forever. She’s lost hundreds of friends, all while she’s constantly brought back to life; Ghost told me, ‘Either she acts like a clown and laughs along with everyone else; or she breaks down and never gets back up again’.” 

“She sounds like a liability.” John pointed out.

If she needed to indulge in such juvenile activities to remain sane, why was she-

“She’s human, John; just like you. You do the opposite of her. You take your emotions, crush them, and force them away.” She pointed out. “You two are alike in a lot of ways, more than either of you care to admit.”

He bristled at the comparison, then took a deep breath and shoved away his emotions as he entered the hanger bay; spotting a metal bird like alien (turian), a semi-human like female alien in a skintight suit (quarian), and a four eyed alien (batarian).

“Chief, go talk to them.” Cortana ordered.

The Spartan blinked, “Pardon?”

“Go up and talk to them.” Cortana repeated, much slower now, like she was talking to a child. “You want to stop miscatagorizing people? Talk with them and learn about them.” She took a moment to think, “Think of it like intel gathering.”

John thought about it for a moment, then sighed and nodded; walking over to the group, all three of whom stiffened as he approached.

“Hello.” The Turian said cautiously, “You’re the Chief, right?”

“Correct.” John replied, then felt compelled to add, “What is your name?”

The turian spread his mandibles, “My name’s Garrus Vakarian, the beautiful woman on my left here is Kas’Goto.” He waved a hand to the quarian woman, who giggled and then promptly pickpocketed the turians pistol, which he promptly pickpocketed back. “And the ugly gent is Jakob T’lor; our weapons master.”

“Pleased to meet your acquaintance.” Jakob bowed his head deeply, his voice sounding both aristocratic and refined. 

Garrus sat down on a crate that he’d been leaning against and chattered his mandibles. “So, what can we do for you Chief?”

John hesitated for a moment, then remembered Cortana’s words. Think of it like intel gathering. 

“I’d like to know more about these Reapers you’ve talked about.”

Voia leaned back in her seat as her eyes flicked between the occupants of the room, both physical and holographic.

First, she looked at her Kaidon as he sat at the head of the table, his expression unreadable as his eyes did the same as her own; taking a mental tally of each of the occupants of the room, while also keeping an eye out for any potential threats.

Then she looked at Theso and spread her mandibles wide as he rolled his eyes at her.

The Minister of Stewardship sat in his chair with a petulant scowl on his ugly little face. He reminded Voia of a spoiled child being denied a sweet, and was about to kick up a fuss over the matter to try and get their way. He kept shooting her Kaidon what he thought were hidden glares, but it was almost pathetic how he thought he was being subtle.

The two grubs posing as honor guards both glared at her with a mixture of hate, disdain, and lust in their eyes; which she only fanned by giving them a teasing smile, then stroked her knife hilt in view of them.

Then there was the head Engineer, a Huragok by the name of Intricate Adjustments. He was an odd one amongst Huragok, notably for being chatty and willing to interact with others; even make friends (or as close to friends as one could get with a huragok). But his ability to socialize was what had made the Fleetmaster choose him as their go-between for the Huragok.

Attending by hologram where the other ship commanders of what was left of the Fleet of Particular Justice (or at least, what had made it to this strange place).

There was the young shipmaster of the Corvette Fleeting Piousness , Ykan 'Kadamee; his recent appointment just before the Battle over the human Fortress World, along with their recent situation in this strange place… well he was looking overwhelmed to say the least. 

There was the Zealot Commander of the Destroyer Journey of Rightousness , Feza 'Lodomee; standing there with his arms crossed with an almost arrogant sneer on his face as his eyes swept across the table, though he seemed to bow whenever his gaze slid over the Fleetmaster or the Minister.

And finally there was the Kig Yar Shipmistress of the Destroyer Enduring Faith , who Voia liked to mockingly call the Pirate Queen; Nox Cid. The Kig Yar absently ran a hand through her feathers as she kept an eye on every single person; an easygoing smirk on her face, or at least the Kig Yar equivalent of a smirk on her face. 

It was hard to tell thanks to the beak.

“I trust all of you have reviewed the recordings I forwarded to you? The ones containing these… special humans.” The Fleetmaster began, steepling his fingers as he sat in his chair.

“I have.” ‘Lodomee snorted, “It should be of no problem to deal with these… heretics I suppose. They are no different than the other infidels we have dealt with, beyond some gifts from the gods that they have stolen.”

“I would beg to differ.” Nox retorted, using a small knife to clean her talons as she reclined lazily in her own chair. “That one female… her abilities would make for a very difficult fight were she to fight as a Kig Yar does. Which given how she fought against her own tribes people, I would think that is a given.”

“We must capture one, see what weaknesses they have; find how they stole their powers from the gods.” The Minister demanded, smashing a fist against his floating throne. Were he a Sangheili, the gesture would have been intimidating and strong; but as it stood, it came off more like a child trying to be taken seriously.

The Fleetmaster hummed loudly, and Voia had to bite down on her mandibles to keep from calling the Minister an idiot in more formal terms. 

Did he not watch the footage? She wondered, Just one of those monsters nearly killed me, even after being grievously wounded and left for dead. What would one, fully alert and ready for battle do? 

Fortunately, her Kaidon was of a similar mindset. “We do not have the forces to spare for such a pursuit.” He rumbled, “Not with 80% of our fleet missing.” 

The Minister bristled slightly, but seemed to bite his tongue; at least long enough for Feza to step in. “Fleetmaster, would it not be worth at least an attempt?” He asked, “We must try, if only so that we may know what we face.”

Voia ground her mandibles while the Minister seemed to puff up slightly at the subtle show of support. Feza was loyal to the Fleetmaster, but he was still a Zealot; which meant that he would show support for any Minister no matter what, even if it was only a token amount of support. 

Nox hissed, “I’m not letting any of my boys or girls near one of those things, or even look at them; not unless they were looking at them through a sniper scope of course.” She growled, “It’s a fools errand to try.”

Ykan spoke up then, for the first time since the meeting started, his voice slow and measured; if somewhat awkward, given his low ranking in the Fleet. Had the full fleet been there, he wouldn’t even have been considered to show in this meeting, so he was probably a little intimidated by all the people in front of him.

“If… I may.” He started, and upon receiving a small nod from the Fleetmaster, he continued. “We have the Huragok. They have, at least some of them, experience in dealing with what the gods have left behind. Perhaps they can come up with something, at least temporarily, to keep our troops safe from these special humans.”

The Minister seemed to be split, on one hand he seemed to find the idea of making something to counteract the gods powers to be sacrilegious; while on the other, he probably wanted to take the support and run with it.

The Fleetmaster considered it for a moment, and gave a slow nod, “A good thought… Intricate Adjustments.”

The Huragok looked up from some small object that he’d been fiddling with in his tentacles; and tilted his bright blue head. “It technically should be possible.” The Huragok mused, his voicebox translating his whistling chirps and tentacle sign language. “But anything I build would be spotty at best; probably only able to protect one from a few lightning strikes.” Here, the Huragok fixed the Fleetmaster a look; narrowing four of his six eyes. “I must emphasize, however, that the damage to the Plasma coils will be taking most of my time; and the time of my fellow Huragok. It’s dangerous work, and one wrong move could severely damage the ship and kill much of my kin.”

Shipmistress Nox huffed and crossed her arms, “That’s great, we still have yet to get our Plasma coils back up to full efficiency. It would be nice to have some assistance.”

“You will make do with what you have.” The Minister snapped at Nox, before turning to Intricate Adjustments. “And you , focus your efforts on finding a way to contain one of these infidels. It is far more important to our great journey.”

Both the Engineer and the Kig Yar seemed to bristle slightly (which spoke volumes to Adjustments unusual personality amongst Huragok); when the Fleetmaster stood.

“Adjustments, send a few of your Engineers to the Enduring Faith and assist them in repairs. As for the Ascendant Justice , focus the majority of your Huragok on repairing our own ship.” He paused and seemed to almost sigh. “Pick three of your best Huragok along with yourself and see if it is possible to make some kind of protective armor or shielding for us from these special humans attacks.” He ordered.

Voia blinked, “Fleetmaster?” She asked, joined by everyone else in the room.

Her Kaidon just spread his mandibles, “The Minister of Stewardship wants one of these special humans to examine? Then I shall make one attempt to capture one, and no more. Adjustments, you have one day cycle to do what I have asked. Am I understood?”

“Understood Fleetmaster.”

“For God's sake!”

Gordon couldn’t help but agree with the Guard, a man by the name of Sergeant Hill, as the two of them took cover behind the trams control panel; watching as the Marines struggled to fight off the zombified versions of themselves, along with the scientists, maintenance workers, engineers, and other security guards.

The gunfire and screams of the wounded and dying were almost overwhelming, though Hill remained calm as he racked a shell into his SPAS; the tram finally reaching the top of the elevator.

They came face to face with two more Marines, the men turning from where they had been posted up; having been firing downwards on the zombies and getting target fixation, not seeing the scientist and guard as they popped in from behind.

BLAM!BLAM!

One Marine’s head disappeared as the slug tore through his skull, while the other took the slug to his PCV; the vest flashing blue sparks as the reactive armor caught or deflected the pellets, but the force of the hit sent the man stumbling backwards over the railing around the rocket silo.

“Wha-! AH! AHHHHHHHhhhhhhhhh!” Clang!

Gordon couldn’t help but cringe at the sound of the Marine falling to his death. Like the HEV suit, the PCV could protect and enhance the user a lot; but there were some things that would kill the user whether they were using the armor or not.

Hill scowled as he slowly advanced to the main control panel that controlled the Rocket Launch Control Train, Gordon attaching his shotgun to his back and taking out his MP5 instead. 

“Okay, it just got quiet real fast.” Hill grumbled, looking about with narrowed but experienced eyes. Gordon hadn’t asked (nor could he, truthfully, since he doubted the Sergeant understood ASL), but he was pretty sure the Security Guard had been military at some point. He glanced at Gordon and said, “Go and get the Launch Control Train active doc, I’ll keep watch up here.”

Gordon nodded and started toward the service ladder, when Hill added, “And watch your step down there, got it?” 

Gordon gave him a mock salute, then started climbing downwards.

He made it halfway down when he spotted three Marines pop up out of cover and start firing at him. Shit! He thought, and let go of the rungs as the Marines opened fire.

BLAM!BLAM!BLAM!

One Marine fell back into cover, while another stumbled and screamed as he held the mangled remnants of his hand; and Gordon took the small window Hill had given him, and brought his MP5 to bear and pulled the trigger, firing several short bursts into the wounded Marine’s head.

The man dropped dead, while his two buddies popped out of cover again.

One fired at Hill to suppress him, while the other fired at Gordon to try and force him back into cover. Freeman let his HEV suit tank the hits as he put several bursts into the Marine’s PCV. The first few bursts prompted a fireworks display of blue sparks as the armor caught or deflected the bullets; but the last burst caught the man in his exposed neck, and he dropped to the ground, choking on his own blood as he died.

The last man started to peel back, only for Hill to pop up out of cover and fire the .357 that he’d been keeping on his shoulder holster; firing the round into the Marines eye through his mask.

Gordon breathed a sigh of relief and checked his suit charge, seeing it had dropped from 89% to 67%; having taken a few hits from the exchange. Satisfied, he gave a nod to Hill and crossed the platform over to the lock controls. He pressed a button, and the platform lowered; unlocking the first level of the Rocket Elevator.

The ladder to the next level lowered, and Gordon quickly began climbing downwards again.

“Oh shit!” Hill snapped.

“Heads up! We got a hostile!”

Gordon’s head snapped upwards as a wave of gunfire erupted from the topmost level. He counted four MP5’s, and he could hear Hill firing his SPAS-12; and his .357 Colt Python as well.

He had no visual on what was happening, which meant he couldn’t help his comrade in that moment; meaning he had to move quickly if he wanted to get back to him. Scrambling down the ladder, he reached the second level; which had a number of zombies lazing about, which he ignored and sprinted over to the platform lock controls.

“I’m still here you dipshits!” Hill bellowed.

Thwack! “Ah! Ah! AhhhhhHHHHHHHHH” CLANG!

Gordon winced at the crunch of the Marines bones breaking and his neck snapping as he hit the ground right in front of him; but Freeman pushed away his discomfort and hit the override, lowering the platform.

“Get that son of a bitch!” One marine roared, before it was followed by a scream of pain, then a gurgle.

“No! NO!” Hill shouted, and Gordon caught a flash of movement; seeing Hill throw his now spent shotgun at one of the two remaining Marines pushing him, before quick drawing his standard issue Glock 17.

Gordon scrambled down the last ladder, as the MP5 shots tapered off, the air being filled with the distinctive cracking from Glocks; the Marines apparently having run out of ammo like Hill had.

After a few minutes, the gunshots went quiet, and the air became deadened and still; which filled Freeman with dread as he reached the last release button and activated it. The last platform fell away, and the elevator to the top level unlocked; inside of which, there was a dead engineer and a dead maintenance worker. 

Swallowing down the bile building up in his throat, Gordon unslung his MP5 and pressed the stock into his shoulder as the cramped and rickety old thing took him upwards.

He knew that there had been four Marines that had ambushed Hill, and he was greeted by the dead body of one; blood pouring out of his eye socket and neck. He knew one had been knocked off and fallen to his death, so that meant two dead. He turned the corner and was greeted by the third Marine, a Glock in one hand and a tourniquet in another as he frantically tried to stop the blood pouring out of his leg; his PCV clearly dead, as the nanites weren’t even making an effort to stop and clot the blood.

The man spotted Gordon and immediately raised his pistol.

Freeman didn’t let him, as he snapped his MP5 into the shooting position and fired a burst into the mans head. He slumped to the ground dead, dropping the tourniquet and Glock to the ground.

Gordon breathed outwards and started towards where he’d last seen Hill, passing by the guards spent SPAS where it lay; recalling how he’d thrown it at one Marine. He slowly approached the Launch Control Train Console, and was greeted by the fourth Marine dead on the ground; blood pouring out of his jaw and his neck.

Hill lay at the base of the control console, blood pouring out of his abdomen from a hole in his vest; blood leaking out of his nose and into his mustache, the black eye and his nose being bent the wrong way indicated that he’d gone medieval with the last Marine.

His Glock was still clutched in his hand, though it was empty; and covered in blood, as was his hand. Gordon could guess what the man had done to finish off the last Marine, even as the Theoretical Physicist knelt in front of the clearly dying Security Guard. 

The man locked eyes with Gordon, and he smirked.

“You should-” He coughed harshly, blood and spittle coming out of his mouth. “You should see the other guy.” He remarked, then he choked and gave a shout of pain; then slumped against the control panel as the death rattle escaped from his lips, the light in his eyes draining away for the final time.

Gordon bowed his head and looked away, then forced himself to stand and pressed the button.

A buzzwarn sounded, and the VOX system blared, “ATTENTION! LAUNCH. CONTROL. TRAIN. ACTIVATED. CLEAR. AREA. IMMEDIATELY.”

Gordon watched as the rocket rose up into the sky, then he heard one of the military radios crackle to life. He turned and walked over to it, listening closely as the commander growled out, “Rocket Team Red, Rocket Team Red. Target Freeman has been spotted in your area. Do not let him get onto that launch pad. Over.”

Gordon resisted the urge to put a burst into the radio, and instead climbed onto the tram and powered it back up.

He looked back one last time at Hill’s body, a content smile on the dead guards face; and Gordon shook his head and turned back towards the tram, activating the tram and continuing on his way, determined not to look back at a man who’d sacrificed everything just to buy Gordon just a little more time.

You’ll pay for this you bastards. I’ll make sure of it.

Chapter Text

Liara T’Soni knew that things were long over between her and Jon’Shepard; and she knew that words had been said between them that could not be unsaid.

But as she stepped out of her small corvette and breathed in the arid air of Rannoch; she couldn’t help but imagine living here for the next century and a half with Jon, raising a little asari or two along the way. Shaking her head, she was greeted by two Quarian Royal Army Soldiers; and she made sure to differentiate them mentally from Migrant Fleet Marines.

For one, they actually had a semblance of uniformity between them; and the two Geth platforms standing behind them also helped her make that mental jump.

“Liara T’Soni?” One of the Soldiers asked, sounding calm and professional; but with a slight hint of mistrust in his tone of voice.

Liara bowed and inclined her head, “I am her, yes.” She replied.

The Soldier nodded, “The Queen wishes to speak with you. I must ask you to disarm before you approach her.” The man informed her.

Liara grimaced, but nodded and removed her pistol from her thigh and her rifle from her back; handing them both off to the man, who accepted them graciously, then held his hand back out again. After a moment of silence, Liara sighed explosively and reached into her lab coat (which she liked to wear over her armor) and pulled out a small knife and handed it to the Soldier.

The man nodded, and Liara moved to start walking when he held up his hand again.

“Remove your armor, please.” 

Liara grit her teeth, “Is that really necessary?” She demanded.

“Yes.” The soldier replied, “I know you Asari, your armor enhances your biotic abilities; and I’d rather not take any chances. The Queen's safety is my job, after all.” Then he paused and added, “If you have nothing underneath, you can keep your lab coat.”

A gentleman. She thought sarcastically.

She took off her lab coat and folded it, setting it on the ground next to her; before reaching up and hitting a button, which unsealed her armor and undersuit from her body with a loud hiss. Both soldiers turned around, though the two Geth remained facing her; which didn’t bother her as much since she knew that they wouldn’t ogle her.

She removed the upper portions of her armor first, then her arms and legs, then the undersuit.

She shivered in discomfort, even though the onset of heat brought no chill in the air; and she bent down and grabbed her lab coat. She pulled it on and buttoned it up, though it didn’t cover much since it only trailed down to her upper thighs; and with its thin white material, it was partially see-through.

I should have expected this. She grumbled to herself, Dumbass. Should have brought clothes to wear underneath. 

“Alright, let’s get this over with.” She said simply, holding herself up with as much dignity as she could muster; trying to shove away the fantasy’s that she had had when she had still been together with Jon.

The Soldiers turned and nodded to her, keeping their eyes on her face; beyond cursory glances downward to make sure she wasn’t charging her biotics or attempting to hide any weapons of course. They marched through the palace, the two Geth behind her and the soldiers in front of her. 

Every few minutes, a breeze would come through, and Liara would have to hold the hem of her lab coat to prevent it from billowing upwards. This, combined with how much it was hugging her body (to the point that one could make out her womanly bits), set her in a foul mood.

“Will this be a public meeting?” She asked, grinding her teeth and glancing every which way for both potential threats and spies.

“No.” The soldier replied. “Just the Queen, and the head of the QueensWatch.” 

Well that’s comforting. 

They walked for a few more minutes, before they finally reached a gilded doorway; which four more soldiers and four more Geth stood guard over. The Soldiers quickly gave her a cursory inspection, not at all distracted by her barely covered up body (to her surprise); and they nodded and opened the door.

The door itself led out to a large stone balcony, which had a picture perfect view of the valley below; and was packed with comfortable furniture that would make a Matriarch jealous.

Liara walked onto the balcony, and the Soldiers and Geth closed the doors behind her; though she had no doubts that they were prepared to charge in and kill her should she do something they didn’t like or found to be a threat. 

Standing on the balcony were four more Geth combat platforms; and lounging on the furniture were two Quarians. Unlike the soldiers, they weren’t dressed in environment suits and armor; they wore more traditional Quarian Raelk ’s and Sehni ’s.

The man wore a simple Raelk, which was a series of robes that covered his groin, his chest, had long flowing pants, and a cape around his shoulders; while his Sehni covered his face from the nose down.

Jon’Harper vas Rannoch, the head of the QueensWatch. She thought, knowing him instantly, as he had been the man that had recruited her to recover Shepard's body.

She turned her attention to the woman, and she blinked, suddenly understanding why the guards hadn’t batted an eye at how little her lab coat had covered up. She wore a Sehni as well, though it only covered her mouth up; and it wound over the top of her head to keep her deep violet hair-quills tied back. Her Raelk covered her groin, her breasts, and she wore a half cape over her shoulder; showing a lot of her gray-purple skin.

Even by Asari standards (and they had no nudity taboo, though they did have standards on when it was appropriate) it was downright scandalous; though once Liara saw the flowing pants, shirt, and sandals laying neatly folded on a nearby chair, she understood.

Clever… She admitted, realizing that the queen had stripped down to her undergarments to make Liara more comfortable; and she did feel a small manner of gratitude to the other woman.

The Queen smiled (which was hard to see, given how everything below the nose was hidden), and stood; her bare feet padding against the carpeted stone floor. “Liara T’Soni.” She purred, standing and adjusting her Raelk more securely.

Liara would admit that she had trouble keeping her eyes only on the Queens face.

She was nearly 100 years old, yet looked closer to Jon's age; her upper Raelk only covering her nipples, while her lower Raelk only covered the entrance to her womanhood. She looked more like a Quarian supermodel rather than a royal; though the lean but toned muscles on her abdominal region and arms told Liara that she was not a woman to be taken lightly.

The T'Soni Matron swallowed heavily, adjusting her lab coat again as another breeze came through. "Queen Lun'Zorah." She replied, bowing her head the way Jon had taught her.

The woman smiled and gestured to a chair, "Please. Sit." She said, taking her seat back on her couch; while Liara struggled to sit in such a way so that she wasn't flashing her womanhood. "I do apologize for my guards, they tend to get a little paranoid about visitors; especially Asari." She explained.

"What, do they not have other species go practically naked when they visit?" Liara asked sarcastically.

She didn't care about propriety or ceremony. She gave no respect to any Matriarchs except her mother, so she would be damned before she guarded her words in front of this queen.

Fortunately, the queen just chuckled. "No, they don't. But then, for most other species their body isn't a weapon." She replied, then gestured to her own nearly naked body, "But I felt it appropriate to match you, since it is only fair that you see as much of me as I do of you."

“Of course.” Liara agreed, crossing her legs and adjusting her lab coat again.

The Queen smiled again, her eyes flashing silver, “I suppose you are wondering as to why I have called you here?” She asked.

“I have been wondering that, yes; given how secretive your enclave is.” Liara admitted.

None of the old crew had even known the enclave had existed until the QueensWatch had contacted them, asking them to retrieve Shepards body. Tali in particular had been stunned when she’d been addressed as ‘Princess’, and had even demanded answers from her father. Liara had been there when Rael’Zorah had confessed to the truth about the Enclave; and it had been an ugly confrontation to say the least. 

They restricted contact with the outside world to an absolute minimum, to the point that Liara didn’t even know how many Quarians actually lived on Rannoch. Jon claimed about 3 million people lived on the planet; but Liara had a sneaking suspicion that the number was much higher.

The Queen’s smile grew sad, “I wish it were under better circumstances. You see… the Chitikka has disappeared while investigating a wormhole.” 

Liara’s heart stopped, and she felt as if time itself had ground to a halt.

She felt her breath grow short, and she gripped her armrests, No… Not again! She thought desperately.

“But, we know the Chitikka is still operational, as we’ve been getting constant sensory pings from the wormhole that matches her FOF tags. We can’t contact her, but we assume that she and her crew are still operational.” The Queen continued, and Liara felt her heart restart and she slowly relaxed again.

I’ll take trapped over dead. She thought, and breathed outwards. “I assume you want me to do something about it?” She asked.

“In a manner of speaking.” QueensWatch Director Jon’Harper interjected, leaning back on his own couch and smoking some Quarian T’ytoń ; “We have assembled a team roster for you, though with one exception you’ll need to go to them yourself.” He cracked his neck and ran a hand through his red-brown hair. “We want you to track the Chitikka and find a way to get her back, yes, but we also want you to investigate these wormhole that have been popping up across the galaxy. And we also still need to deal with the collectors.”

Liara grit her teeth, “No pressure then.” She grumbled.

The Queen nodded sagely, “I would not ask if I did not think you capable.”

“I’ll send all that you’ll need to your ship, Matron T’Soni.” Harper concurred, his eyes flashing Sapphire.

“I’m no Matron.” Liara corrected, then frowned, “Who is it that will be accompanying me?” She asked.

Harper smiled, “You’re a Matron because you are the head of your family, and because… well I’ll be honest, you act more like a calculating Matron as opposed to a giggling and impulsive Maiden willing to sleep with any male or female that invites them into their bed.” He remarked.

The Queen flashed him a disapproving glare at his phrasing, but turned her attention back to Liara, “You’ll have a more proper list on your ship, but-” She paused when the sound of shouting drifted through the doorway, and she sighed and held her head in her hands. “But it seems as if the one companion here planetside that we have chosen for you has decided to make his appearance.”

She stood and grabbed her robes; and quickly put them on, adjusting her half-cape so that it was overtop of the robes, then she barked out, “Let him in!”

The doors opened, and a Quarian man sauntered out onto the balcony.

Liara blinked rapidly, and she swallowed heavily as she struggled to keep a flush off her face and prove that she wasn’t a simpering Maiden. 

He appeared to be Jon’s age, though he had gray-purple skin and black hair; and he was covered in muscles, not freakishly large, but ones that showed that he had used them frequently. He wore only a lower Raelk which covered his groin and nothing else, and a Sehni that covered his neck and the lower half of his face.

He had a eezo spear, and he was covered in sweat; and Liara couldn’t help herself as she traced her eyes over his muscles.

The man glanced over at her, and immediately his green-yellow eyes flashed a golden color as he looked downwards. “Huh… I don’t judge if you wish to bed a kur’wa , mother; though I would prefer if you waited until she was dressed before calling me over from training.” He grumbled.

Liara felt rage overtake her for a moment, then embarrassment as she realized that she had accidentally uncrossed her legs out of nervousness; giving him a full view of her womanhood. She growled as she stood from her chair, and in a bout of reckless anger and bravery she ripped off her lab coat and tossed it aside.

“You like what you see?” She sneered, stalking up to him and flaring her biotics. “Well let me tell you something, I’m no whore. I’m here on official business; and your mother’s guards deemed it fit to strip me to ensure that I am no threat.” 

She smiled coolly as the Quarian took a step back. “But… an Asari’s body is a weapon. So, if you’d like to apologize before I rip your Raelk off and crush your gentlemans parts with a biotic squeeze; that would be much appreciated.”

The quarian opened and closed his mouth, while the queen sighed and rubbed her eyes. “For Ancestors sake… Doran, this is your new boss. Hopefully you’ll learn how to mind your tongue and keep your hands to yourself; because I have no interest in cloning you a new penis should she justifiably rip your current one off.” She grumbled.

Externally, Liara kept herself composed, though internally she was screaming at how stupid she was acting. She’d stripped naked in front of a man, she had threatened a prince, and she had lost her temper. 

Jon changed me. She thought sadly, In the past, I would have thought twice about threatening others with maiming and death; nor would I have actually made the threat in the first place.

She biotically yanked her lab coat back to her hands and put it back on, not breaking eye contact with the Prince as he swallowed heavily.

“I… apologize.” He said, bowing his head. “I do hope you can forgive my misstep, and that we can continue our work together.” 

Liara sighed and rubbed her eyes. “I accept your apology, Prince Doran.” She replied, “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ll be on my ship. Please be quick in meeting me there, we have a lot to do and little time to do it.”

Soha ‘Rolamee gripped the armrests of his command chair, even as his ship hurtled through slipspace; heading on the same course that human ship and the Ascendant Justice had gone. 

They still weren’t picking up their flagship nor their commander, so command of the fleet had fallen to him and his own ship; the Cruiser Truth and Reconciliation. He would be the first to admit, he didn’t like being forced into a position like this. He genuinely hoped that his Fleetmaster was on the other side, having dealt with the human warship already thanks to the oddness and inconsistency of Slipspace.

But he was also a realist, and had already taken measures to ensure that his master's fleet would still continue to function in his absence.

“Fleetmaster.”

He squashed the urge to wince with extreme prejudice, and instead turned to his subordinate; the Minor bowing his head. 

“Yes?” Soha asked, wondering what the younger sangheili would be bothering him with.

The Minor spread his mandibles, “We are approaching the estimated destination of where the human ship should exit slipspace.” He hesitated, “Should… we prepare our weaponry to fire?” He asked.

Soha thought about it for a moment.

Humans are still able to detect us when we exit slipspace, and they would detect our weapons charged up. Perhaps… He flexed his mandibles in thought, as he tried to think of what the Fleetmaster would do in his situation. We should be able to detect them almost instantly; assuming they exit slipspace in the open. I would prefer to deal with them quickly and efficiently, assuming the Fleetmaster is not already there and has yet to deal with them.

“Charge weapons.” He ordered firmly.

“At once, Fleetmaster.” The Minor replied, then turned to the various technicians, Sangheili, and unggoy at their consoles. “Prepare the weapons to fire, and raise shields. Prepare for combat.” He barked.

The technicians all began to shout back various status reports, but Soha paid it no mind as the Minor walked back over to him. “I shall relay your order to the rest of the Fleet… Though, might I inquire as to the Jiralhanae?”

Soha grimaced at the thought of those dishonorable apes. 

I hold the utmost respect for him, but I cannot help but wonder if madness gripped the Fleetmaster when he allowed those beasts to be a part of this Fleet. He wondered for a moment, then shook himself, “Contact Shipmaster Maximus, have him restrain his ship and the other Jiralhanae into formation behind our ships.” He ordered, “I do not want him charging ahead into a human trap.”

“It shall be done Fleetmaster.”

And so Soha sat the remainder of the journey through slipspace in silence, only giving the occasional nod and shake of his head to any questions thrown at him by his assistant. 

Already, he could hear Maximus bellowing over the comm channel, demanding to be given the same honor as the Sangheili ships; and he was mentally bracing himself for a long and tiresome argument that would go nowhere and he’d have to resort to threats.

He was so lost in his thoughts that when they exited slipspace, he almost didn’t notice it. 

It was the gasps from his crew that brought his attention and focus back outwards, and when he looked through the viewing screen; his mandibles dropped open, and he was suddenly very glad he was seated, because he was quite sure that he would have collapsed into his chair in utter shock had he been standing. 

It cannot be… He thought, before rallying himself and shooting to his feet. “Scan the structure, make sure that it is truly what we see.”

The men carried out his order, but his assistant murmured, “We are truly blessed by the gods, we have found it.” 

Soha gave the Minor a look, “Perhaps so… but now we must prove worthy of it.” He warned, before turning his gaze back outwards.

“Prove that we are worthy of Halo.”

“So… Who is this guy? Freeman?”

Gordon froze in place, his hand still close to the doorknob as the muffled voice of one of the Marines traveled through the simple wooden barrier to the outside. He felt a spike of fury well up inside him and he clenched his hand and grit his teeth. They’ve been trying to kill me ever since they arrived, and they don’t even know who I am? What the hell? He thought.

He stayed his hand though as he slowly reached down and gently twisted the knob, opening the door a crack.

“They say he was at ground zero.” A second Marine replied, his voice muffled by his gasmask.

“Science team?” The first one questioned, disbelief and incredulity leaking into his muffled voice as he absently brushed some dirt off of his PCV.

“Yup.” 

Gordon slowly edged the door open and peeked outside, the night sky lit up with a half moon and stars; the vast new mexico desert stretching outwards on the borders of the launchpad. He spotted the rocket and gripped his MP5 as he struggled to think of how to get to the launch room.

He turned his attention back to the ground, glancing over the two Marines in front of him, then out to the launch pad; where around a dozen Marines were milling about. 

How am I gonna sneak my way around this? He thought.

As angry as he was about Sergeant Hill’s death, and as angry as he was about all the innocent Civilians that the Marines had killed; he still wanted to avoid a fight if he could help it. 

“Huh… Shit…” The first Marine mumbled, then turned to his battle buddy. “So, what, you think this guy’s responsible? Sabotage, maybe?” 

Gordon froze, even as the other Marine hummed loudly.

“Yeah… Maybe…” He mused, contemplating the theory. “Would explain why they’ve had us chasing after him.” Then he straightened his shoulders, and his voice turned hard as ice. “All I know for sure? This guy’s been killing Marines.”

Gordon didn’t even let the two men continue as he snapped his MP5 up to his shoulder, his heart pounding in his ears as his vision turned slightly red; enraged beyond belief at the hypocrisy the two men in front of him were demonstrating. 

He held his finger down on the trigger and blasted the men away, then sprinted towards the rocket; his blood pumping in his ears.

An alarm sounded, and the gate around the launch pad immediately closed; but Gordon didn’t care. He rushed over towards a cluster of pipes that ran parallel to the fence and gate, ignoring the gunfire as 9mm bullets pinged off his suit; causing bright sparks of electric blue to spark off the reactive armor.

He climbed over the pipes and found himself jumping over the fence and landing in the midst of a pair of Marines; both of them manning a .50 cal gun emplacement. 

Both men stared at him with wide eyes, and they were cut down without a moment's hesitation from him. More Marines started to pour out of the main entrance to the launch control center, and Gordon immediately swung the .50 cal around and pressed the button with his thumbs.

The thumping boom of the .50 caliber Browning M2 filled the launch pad, the concussive blasts rattling Gordons ears, even with the HEV’s helmet protecting him from the majority of the sound and concussive force. The HEV suit was tough; and while it was a lesser and cheaper version of his armor, the PCV was a force to be reckoned with.

It was a testament to the PCV’s toughness that the Reactive Armor still managed to catch or reflect two or three .50 cal rounds from the gun whenever Gordon hit the chest of one of the Marines; but they always exploded or were torn to pieces from the massive rounds impacting their bodies once their PCV’s charge ran out.

He kept his thumb on the button for several minutes, but finally the gun ran out of ammunition.

The click startled Gordon, and he flinched and instinctively ducked, waiting for more gunfire from the Marines. Nothing came though, and he slowly poked his head upwards out from behind the sandbags and the gun emplacement; finding the area littered with bodies, most resembling ground beef rather than people.

Gordon swallowed and climbed over the sandbags, mostly desensitized to the horror by this point in his journey; but still feeling a measure of disgust, both at himself and at the MArines for forcing him to fight them like this.

If only we could work together, this mess would probably be over by now. He thought angrily, gripping his MP5 as he walked over towards the main entrance; inputting the code that Sergeant Hill had given him, and walking inside.

He walked through the halls for a few minutes before he found the entrance to the launch control room, and he went to put in the code.

“I didn’t sign on for this shit!” 

Gordon froze at the sound of the voice for a number of reasons.

First, he was stunned that some Marines were still alive and had stayed inside to wait for him. The next, was because from the sounds of things, the Marines morale was at an all time low. And the final reason was because it was a woman's voice that was being spoken.

He frowned and pressed his ear to the door, his helmet’s audio receptors picking it up for him.

“Roe, you gotta calm down.” Another Marine said, this one a man, his voice having a pleading tone to it.

“Calm down? Calm down!” The woman shrieked, “We’re dealing with a fucking alien invasion, and the boss men have us going about and shootin’ civvies. Not only that, but civvies that can probably help us stop it!”

“Roe, you know what the commanders said. These guys started it.” A third Marine interjected, though he sounded unsure of himself.

“So?! We prosecute them and execute them afterwards, not now! We could force ‘em at gunpoint to shut these things down. This is illegal, and idiotic!” The woman roared.

There was a long pause, then a sigh, “She does have a point…” The second Marine grumbled.

“Well what do you propose we do then?” The Third Marine demanded. “We’re in the middle of a desert, with no place to go. Not to mention that we’d be shot for dereliction if we don’t shoot civvies anymore; or shot for desertion if we try to leave.”

Gordon sighed and prepared himself for a fight, then inputted the key and opened the door.

After a moment's thought, during which time he could hear the Marines scramble into position, he held his hands and MP5 out around the doorway. I don’t want a fight… Please don’t make me kill you. He thought, slowly stepping outwards and into the open.

It was three Marines and one corpsman (he didn’t know which of the four hadn’t spoken), and all four of them knelt behind the control panels pointing their weapons at him; but none of them fired. 

He blinked rapidly in surprise.

All four weren’t wearing helmets or masks, in fact, they looked to have been relaxing or resting before he’d shown up; which allowed him a good look at their faces. 

Oh Jesus… They’re practically kids. He thought, horrified.

The woman and two male Marines were all only 18 or 19 years of age at the oldest, and all three looked terrified; the woman having a bloody bandage over one eye. The Medic, or Corpsman, was the oldest of them, looking to be around Gordons age, with harsh steely eyes and blood soaked gloves and sleeves.

For a long moment, the four Marines glared at Gordon, and he glared right back at them; then he signed, “I suppose it would be too much to ask for one of you to understand ASL.” 

All four blinked in confusion, and he sighed loudly; then walked over to one of the computers, opened up Microsoft Word, set the text to the biggest setting it had; then he typed, “I don’t want to fight.”  

The Marines all stared at him for a moment, and the woman (girl really) said in a shaky voice, “H-h-how do we know that. You slaughtered our brothers out there.”

Gordon clenched a fist, then typed, “You attacked me and my colleagues first.” He took a breath, then added, “I overheard what you all said. We didn’t start this, not intentionally. Let me launch this Rocket, it should start fixing things.”

The Corpsman scoffed, “And why should we trust you?” He asked.

Gordon shrugged, “What do you have to lose? I launch it, you all can grab one of the security sedans and take off towards Mexico or Texas; they should have the fuel for it if you load up enough cans.”

Then he cracked his neck, “Or, we can fight here and now; and you die. My suit is better than your PCV’s in every way, and if I were to hazard a guess; you’re all low on charge, given how none of your cuts and scrapes have healed.” He noted.

The four of them exchanged looks, then slowly, one by one, they lowered their weapons; and Gordon breathed a sigh of relief and clamped his own MP5 to his back.

The woman swallowed again. “Launch this damned rocket, then leave. You come back, we’ll shoot you. Got it?”

“Understood… And thank you.”

Cayde whistled a merry tune to himself as he piloted his ship, ignoring the glares of irritation the Exo Stranger kept throwing at him from her passenger seat. He enjoyed singing whenever he was flying, it felt right to him; plus it kept things from getting too quiet. He didn’t want to think about his wife, his son, his…

He shook his head and started singing the first song that came to his mind, stomping his feet and nodding his head to the tune playing in his head.

“Listen to the jingle, and the rumble, and the roar,

“As she glides along the woodlands,

“Through the hills and by the shore,

“Hear the mighty rush of the engine,

“Hear the lonesome hobo’s call,

“Traveling through the jungle,

“On the Wabash Cannonball!”

He could see out of the corner of his eye, Elsie was staring at him as if he’d gone insane; and he could tell that she was seriously regretting riding shotgun in his ship; as opposed to borrowing one from Amanda or buying one of her own.

Well too bad bitch! My ship is the only one with a co-pilot's chair. He thought, grinning at the other Exo as they continued to fly.

A loud beep drew his attention, and Elsie immediately reached across his chest and practically slammed her hand down on the button to answer the hail. “Yes?!” She snapped, her eyes flashing red for a moment.

There was a long pause, and then Ikora’s voice drifted out of the speaker; and Cayde could hear the amusement dripping out of the Warlock Vanguard's voice. “I see you’re not enjoying the ride, Elsie.”

“I want off this insane person's ride.” Elsie replied, “I’ll ride on the outside while duck taped to it so I don’t have to listen to him singing or whistling.”

“Well… Sorry to say, but we’ve got a transmission from the Awoken Queen; Mara Sov.” Ikora stated, her voice turning serious. “Can we afford the distraction?” 

The Exo Stranger leaned back in her seat, while Cayde took the opportunity to interject his own thoughts. “I think we can afford a small delay; I haven’t felt any murderous urges or anything like that. I think a distraction would help.” 

Elsie narrowed her eyes at him, then turned her attention back to the comms channel, “It would depend on what she’s asking our presence for.”

“...She wants out help in dealing with Savathun, and removing the Witch Queen’s Worm Familiar.” 

Cayde stopped tapping his foot and slowly turned to look at the Stranger; Elsie doing the same with him. “I say let’s neuter that insect bitch.” Cayde said.

“Agreed.”