Unidentifiable Location, ME universe

"So what do we know about them?"

The Illusive Man, staring at the various updates coming in live from their spy on the Normandy sighed deeply, the smoke from his cigarette dispersing in the air. "We were too hasty with the last ones; we reacted too harshly, and it cost us." He said, more to himself than his companion. He didn't mention that "The last ones" were only a three-man strong team in some type of stealth cruiser, yet they had managed to kill 50 of his best men in a furious gunfight and cripple the ships around it when they detonated themselves with what appeared to be nuclear weapons onboard. They did not survive, and Cerberus had gained little information save for what their troops on the ship had observed before being killed.

"You didn't answer my question." Miranda said, her crossed arms the only hint of impatience. She knew that the answers would either come in time or not at all, but for something this important she felt like she had to know.

The Illusive Man was silent for a few moments, the only sounds being him tapping away on the holographic keyboards. "They're some kind of military or paramilitary group calling themselves the UNSC, which we have yet to determine what it actually stands for save for some sort of "United Nations", as the first two letters imply. Their first ship we encountered was a stealth vessel that had amazingly developed the ability to turn completely invisible, even to the human eye. Although they still used projectile-based bullets, they managed to kill some of our best when they appeared next to one of our bases – and then they detonated several nuclear devices, which had the force of several megatons and destroyed or crippled many of our ships – and the base – in the area. But most importantly, they're human, if the reports are to go by anything, and there was no traces of Element Zero onboard their vessel. Before you ask, yes, I have checked, and nobody has managed to create technology that advanced in the entire galaxy. We have not idea where they're from or why they're here, but now we have units and ships over five and a half kilometers long calling themselves the UNSC, and I don't think it's a coincidence."

Miranda processed all this information, secretly surprised, but she filed it all away in her mind while keeping an impassive face. "And what do we plan to do?"

The Illusive Man inhaled and sighed deeply, the smoke puffing out yet again. "What we always do. We watch, we observe, we wait. These people could be the wildcard here, no past and no motives that we know of. They have ships that can cloak and ships that are over five kilometers long that can gut ships larger than dreadnoughts in one shot – what other technological marvels and secrets do they have? With the right words or actions, we could have invaluable allies should we play our cards right. And when we do meet them face to face, I want you to be there." He was certain in his choice – many of his other operatives would likely lack the diplomatic tact and instincts that would be crucial in this meeting, and Miranda was his best bet – it may not have been a lot, but he trusted her enough for this assignment, and he was confident that she would be successful.

"Yes Sir."

So I'm not dead. I promise. It's just that school and homework have been annoying as crazy for the past few months, and I feel like I should let you guys know that I was still working on this.

It's a pity because I was really hoping to work that lone prowler more into the plot, but eventually I couldn't find a way to fit it in, and I figured that this was the best way I could explain it, and how Cerberus would have previous knowledge of the UNSC.

Promise to get back to you guys soon! You guys have been awesome to me and my story! Sorry that this was so short!

And yes, I did change this story to a T-Rated story. Maybe because I figured that I wasn't going to go X rated or anything and seeing that I wasn't much of a swearer, I figured it would be safe to lower it.