Background info and Prologue

A Reclaimer? Here? At last! We have much to do! This installation must be activated if we are to control this outbreak!

I know that what you were expecting was probably the first chapter, but I need to clarify some things to address possible reviews. After that, I'll give you guys a prologue and then this part is done. So bear with me, this is boring for me too.

Special Thanks to DemonFireX for starting to plant this idea in my head. I can't wait for Crysis Effect 2 get back on a roll. 7hanks also to Bungie and Bioware for making such kickass games (Bungie, please. Take back Halo. They need you. We need you to make the games badass again.)

Characters: I will list all of those who are named that make appearances in the book, even if they are only mentioned, only appear in flashbacks, only have voice parts, or are only referenced in messages between characters. Boring, I know, but necessary to discourage those pesky "Oh, bring in so-and-so" or "So-and-so should make an appearance" reviews. Just… Tell me if I miss any major characters as I go. I'm not perfect. You do know that, right? RIGHT?! Please tell me you know that. (I'm just listing these off of the top of my head, so don't mind the disorganization.) [Subject to changes whenever I damn well please]

Halo: Carter A-259, Emile A-239, Jun A-266, Dr. Catherine Halsey, SPARTAN B-312 Noble Six (F), Cortana, Auntie Dot, Jorge S-052, Katherine B-320, Master Chief John S-117 (Mentioned only). (UNFINISHED. Don't want to give anything away.

Timeline: This will start just before the Halo: Reach level The Pillar of Autumn, after that, we fall into the ME2 and beyond timeline.

Aesthetics of Six and Shepard: Six's armor is as follows: Helmet: MJOLNIR MK. 5 (CNM), Left Shoulder: UA/Multi-Threat, Right Shoulder: Recon, Chest: HP/PARAFOIL, Visor Color: Blue, Knee Guards: FJ/PARA, Wrist: Tactical/TACPAD, Utility: Tactical/ Trauma Kit, Colors: Maroon (P), Forest (S). Shepard' armor and appearance will be detailed in the book, but for the most part, he'll use his default N7 armor. Or Cerberus Assault Armor (I love that armor!)

Six's gear: Six will keep her armor, and her weapons will be adapted to use thermal clips.

Six as a Spectre: Possibly, but not for a while.

Adaptions of Tech from Halo Universe to ME: On a small scale. Six may give the Normandy a single piece of Halo tech.

Shepard's background: Shepard is a Soldier class in ME2, then a Vanguard in ME3, with the Spacer background and the War Hero psych option. On Virmire in ME1, Lt. Kaidan Alenko was left behind.

New Halo characters: Possibly… Not saying nothin'!

And last but not least… (I put this off because I hate this kind of stuff. In books, not in real life.)

ROMANCE: (yay. That was sarcasm, if you can't tell) I have thought of this, and I can tell you… That I want you guys to give me input on what pairings you would like to see. But past experience tells me that I'll just have to decide for myself. So I already have. But I'd still like some input.)

Phew… Now that that's over, let's get to that prologue! (Go get yourself a cookie, you earned it. But only take one. I'll know if you took more.)

Extra Extra Special thanks also given to Winter's Sentinel and Eclipse-Luna for Beta-reading and putting up with all my errors and shit. I really appreciate it.

UPDATE: It seems that the previous prologue kind of sucked, so I rewrote it, hope you guys like it better this time, 'cause I'm not rewriting it again.

"For time and the world do not stand still. Change is the law of life, and those who look only to the past, or the present, are certain to miss the future." 35th United States President John Fitzgerald Kennedy.

Planet Reach. August 30, 2552. ONI Sword Base. Dr. Halsey's Lab.

The remains of the legendary NOBLE Team sprinted down the corridor to Dr. Halsey's lab where she was waiting to give them a package to get off of Reach. The door at the end of the corridor opened up into a massive cavern with a central blue "orb" with contrails flowing into it.

"What is this stuff?" Emile, NOBLE Four, asked.

"Knowledge. A birthright from an ancient civilization." Dr. Halsey answered.

She turned and faced the four Spartans.

"This AI is its custodian, and she has chosen you as her courier."

"Chosen? By an AI?" Emile asked their CO, Carter.

"By this AI, yes. Her measure of you carries as much weight as my own, perhaps more." Halsey answered.

Halsey stepped to the side, revealing the AI she was referring to. She stepped over to a nearby console and began punching in commands.

"You are to take her to the UNSC shipbreaking yards in Aszod. There, you'll find a Halcyon class cruiser waiting to get her off-planet."

"I understand." Carter said.

"Do you? Mankind is outmatched. When Reach falls, and it will fall, our annihilation is all but certain. Unless we can glean from this artifact a defense against the Covenant. A game-changer. On the level of the conical bullet in the nineteenth century or faster than light travel in the twenty-third."

"And what if we can't?"

"An apt question, if there were somewhere else to place our hope. There is not."

The doctor punched in one last command and the AI's avatar disappeared from the pedestal. Halsey removed a large canister containing a glowing data chip. She walked over and extended it to Noble Six.

"Take it, Lieutenant, she has made her choice."

Six looked over at Carter, unsure if she should take it, and Carter gave a slight nod. The Lieutenant placed her hands around both ends of the canister.

"Do you have it?"

"Yes."

"Say the words, please."

"I have it."

Halsey let go and Six stored the canister on her lower back. The five then left for a pair of Pelican dropships waiting outside.

"Doctor Halsey, Noble Three will escort you to CASTLE Base." Carter informed her.

"I require no escort, Commander." Halsey argued.

"Jun, make sure nothing falls into enemy hands."

"I'll do what's necessary, sir. Good luck." Jun said.

"You too, rifleman."

Jun and Halsey climbed into one Pelican while Six, Emile, and Carter got into another. Carter sat down at the controls and started the dropship.

"I need a heading, Dot."

"At three kilometers north, turn right, heading 050." The AI said.

"Which leads to…?"

"The shipbreaking yards in Aszod, the only off-planet extraction point left on this continent. Covenant air units have decimated many small convoys in the area. UNSC cruiser Pillar of Autumn is awaiting your arrival. Many Covenant vessels are making haste to the site as well."

"Wouldn't be a Noble mission if it were easy." Carter commented.

The Pelicans took off and began the journey to their assigned destinations.

"Damn! I can't shake these bastards!" Carter yelled.

"I got this!" Emile said.

Emile grabbed a nearby grenade launcher and fired on the pursuing Banshee aircraft. The blast got one, but the other evaded and launched a fuel rod projectile. The explosive hit the fuel reserves, but oddly didn't detonate them. Instead, the atoms mixed with those of the fuel that was in the lines and tank, creating a new element on the fly. When this was ignited, it became very unstable.

"Warning! New substance detected in fuel lines. Analysis shows that the fuel will hyper accelerate dropship. Seal bay door and change bearing to leave atmosphere." Dot informed them.

The substance created a field around the dropship as it pulled up, launching the Pelican at speeds that were faster than light. The only things that saved the three Spartans were the sealing of the troop bay door, and their own armor. (If you doubt me, read Halo: First Strike.)

SSV Normandy SR1. In orbit around Alchera. Terminus Systems.

"Uh… Commander? We've got something on scanners. An eezo field, sir. Like someone used a mass relay, but the coordinates are way off from any trajectory that they would use." The pilot, Joker, said.

"Could it have been a ship drive malfunction?"

"Unlikely. The anomaly is too small to have an FTL capable drive core. Might be a shuttle, though."

"Move closer and scan again, Joker."

"Aye aye, Commander."

The Normandy began to move closer, and Commander John Shepard looked out of the nearby viewport at the anomaly.

"It's not a shuttle, but it looks like a ship of some kind. Doesn't match anything in the database." Joker said.

"Could it be a new design?"

"I would know if it was. This thing is unknown."

"Any lifesigns?"

"Can't tell at this distance."

The Normandy moved within five kilos of the ship.

"I've got something! Three vitals. No recognizable IFF tags though." Joker reported.

"So they're not Alliance?"

"Or any other species that is friendly towards the Citadel races, Commander."

"So pirates then?"

"Unlikely. They wouldn't be using such a small ship for a raiding party. My guess? This ship is not from any known world in the galaxy and used by an unknown species. Wait… we've got another ship on the far side of the planet. This one's a cruiser. At this distance, it looks like a Geth ship."

"Power up the Normandy's stealth drive."

"Stealth drive is running, Commander."

The Geth cruiser turned and headed full steam towards the two smaller ships.

"Commander, Geth ship is on an intercept course." One of the other officers reported.

"They can't have detected the smaller ship at that distance, and our stealth drive is engaged. How did they find us?"

"That's not a Geth ship." Joker said grimly.

The cruiser's fore section glowed with an orange light, and seconds later, discharged in a highly concentrated beam that shore the small ship's port (Left) side off. The rest exploded seconds later as the fuel ignited.

"DAMN! Joker, scan the region where the ship is, did any of them escape?"

"All three did, sir. Only one has stable vital signs though."

"What about the other two?"

"They're thrashing around; most likely their suits got punctured. They'll be dead before we can get them."

"Swing around so that the survivor can land in the Normandy's shuttle bay, and then get us the hell out of here!"

"On it, Commander."

Shepard went down to the shuttle bay as the door opened and the person crashed inside. He hung back a bit, nervous as to the person's intentions. The other crew members in the hangar all tensed up as well. A few had even unslung their weapons, but the person was unaware. They just stayed on the floor, still and silent. They finally got up and observed the bay, and upon seeing weapons unslung, reached over their back and drew out what looked like an assault rifle.

"Not a good idea." A clearly human female voice said.

She grabbed the back of her weapon, yanked out a clip of ammo, and slammed a fresh one in. She aimed the rifle at Shepard's head, intending to take it off if anyone tried anything.

"If you're the ranking officer here, I suggest you tell them to chill before someone losses a head."

Shepard signaled to the crew members to lower their weapons. The woman lowered hers as well.

"Where the hell am I? Where are my teammates?"

"We're in the Terminus Systems, and your teammates didn't make it. They died from the exposure and ruptures to their suits."

Shepard thought he heard her swear under her breath, but wasn't sure.

"Who are you?"

"I'm Commander Shepard, Alliance Navy."

"Alliance? That's new. So are the Terminus Systems." She said, muttering something else under her breath.

"What?"

"Not your concern. So now the big question: are we going to get along, or am I going to have to kill you?"

"I should ask you the same thing."

She was silent for a second, then walked over to Shepard. The crew members unslung their weapons out of pure habit, but the woman was unfazed. She merely ignored them and stuck out her hand to the Commander.

"Friendly."

Shepard shook her hand, and was then thrown off his feet as the ship shook.

"We've been hit! Kinetic barriers down! Multiple hull breaches! All hands abandon ship!" Joker yelled over the intercom.

"Come on! Get to the escape pods! Go!" Shepard yelled at the crew.

Six was still suspicious of the Commander, but decided to put that off until after they were off the doomed ship.

"Where are the escape pods?"

Deck 2, follow me!" He ran off for an elevator up to the upper decks.

Six followed close behind and clambered in alongside him. The elevator was too slow, so Six tore a hole in the ceiling and jumped out, leaving an astonished Shepard behind. An armored hand came back through the hole. Shepard took it and was effortlessly hauled out of the elevator. The woman jumped up to the next deck and hauled him up behind her. The two took off for the CIC as the pilot activated a distress beacon.

"Mayday! This is SSV Normandy! Under heavy attack from an unknown enemy! Sustained major damage! Any Alliance ships please respond!"

The pair ventured into the CIC, where they found a few dead bodies and a few live one running for the escape pods. Shepard kept going, as the pilot had not left yet.

"Joker! You need to leave!" He said as he entered the sealed cockpit.

"No! I can still save her!" The pilot said, referring to the ship.

"The Normandy is lost, Joker. Going down with it won't change that." Shepard said, placing his hand on the pilot's shoulder.

"Alright. Help me up." He said, sighing in defeat.

Shepard and Six helped the pilot up and carried him to the last escape pod. As Shepard and Six were about to get in, another beam gutted the ship, sending them flying. In a split-second decision, Shepard hit the button and released the escape pod, leaving just them without a way out of the vacuum.

The silence was… almost serene. Were it not for the abundance of wreckage around the Spartan Lieutenant, she could have stared at the depths of space for hours. Another beam sliced into the wreckage around the pair, shooting them into a trajectory that would make them crash-land on the nearby planet. Six began to look around, searching for the Commander. She may not have known him, but she wasn't losing anyone else today of she could prevent it. She finally found him about 100 meters ahead of her and about 200 meters to her left. He was flailing around wildly, and the white plumes around him told her that his suit was compromised. She shut her eyes, and waited for the inevitable crash landing. About 5 minutes later, she entered the atmosphere, and her armor began to glow with the heat. Her shields were able to hold, but immediately collapsed when she hit the ground. She felt more than a few ribs shatter, as she landed on her stomach, and the pain told her that her right arm and her left leg were both broken, if only moderately, but the armor's systems told her that her femoral artery had been sliced open, and she had moderate internal bleeding.

I'll be dead in 5 minutes. Wait! The Package! She thought, reaching around to her back with her left arm.

She found the canister still intact on her back, although it had a few cracks in it. She relaxed, knowing that if she found the UNSC soon, she could complete her mission. Now the feeling of pain overtook her, and she fell unconscious from the blood loss. As her hand relaxed, a pair of dog tags fell from it. They were those of her closest friend on Noble Team: Jorge-052.

Better? I hope so. I took in a lot of the feedback and revamped this, and edited future chapters accordingly.

Stuff I changed: almost the entire part aboard the Normandy. People told me it sucked.

Stuff I didn't change: The entire scene on Reach, and the beginning of the part on the Normandy. Why? I have my reasons, and they will be explained later.

But for now, enjoy my new book!