Chapter One

Notes: So, this is just an off shot of something that popped into my head. Let me know what you all think about it?

Bilbo was just leaning back against his bed roll when the sound of something breaking over the treetops startled the company of dwarrow and the wizard from their rest. The two dwarves set on watch came running into the campsite, pointing up at the sky as a massive shooting star flew overhead ablaze from the atmosphere as it descended into the east in the same direction that the company was heading toward. "What in middle earth was that?" Bilbo asked as he looked to where the shooting star had disappeared into the horizon.

"I don't know Bilbo." Gandalf stated, also looking in the direction that the star had fallen in. "But it landed in the same area we are headed to, so we will soon find out." He assured the hobbit as he turned to settle back down onto the bedroll that was designed for a human size man.

The dwarrow soon settled back down as well, needing to get to sleep for they had another early morning start to go through. After all they had just gotten out from being eaten by trolls after all, no thanks to the burglar's smart thinking. Thorin stayed awake a few moments more looking in the direction that the star had fallen in. He hoped that it was a good sign from Mahal that it had fallen where it had. He soon drifted off as well, the two dwarves standing guard speaking quietly amongst themselves as they kept watch over the rest of the company.

Few Hours Ago

Commander Verity Amezcua called out for the battleship to activate its main thrusters as to avoid being sucked into the wormhole that had opened up on the starboard side of the ship. The officers listened to their commanding officer activating the thrusters to try to push the ship further away from the wormhole. Several of the Sangheili moved to adjust their stance so as to avoid being knocked over in the sudden shift of the ships gravity. The ship lurched as the wormhole's own gravity force was far greater than that of the ship's own gravitational force even with the thrusters powered up to its fullest. The ship was pulled into the wormhole and launched who knew how far away from their original destination.

The Commander landed on her hands and knees as the ship came out of the wormhole on the other side. Alarms were blaring with warnings all over the ship as the shields had collapsed on the way and several of the ships weapons had been taken offline. "Status report?" The commander ordered as she regained her footing and stood up, dusting the black battle suit she wore and checking her weapons that she had on her. The Sangheili that had taken over for one of the human officers that had been injured during the wormhole jump spoke up. Mandibles clicking as he reported that several of the lower levels had been breached and that they were coming in on a planet that was unknown to them at an altitude and speed to great for the ship to hold together.

"Get on hands on deck to brace for impact. This is going to be one hell of a bumpy ride boys." Commander Amezcua ordered as she grabbed the railing in front of the deck on the bridge. The glass framing the area was cracked and from what Amezcua knew would probably not hold very long, they would need to do extensive repairs in order to get the battleship Santa Maria back up and running again.

The Sangheili on the ship glanced at one another, they had joined the ship as a mix of human and ex-covenant group to further ensure peace between the races. The ship commander was a tough female that had left most of the elites confused by the leadership. As the woman was respected by those that were on board her ship and had little patience for anyone that tried to cause problems.

Soon the ship hit the atmosphere of the planet and the people inside felt the impact and the heat of the ship as it started to break apart in the atmosphere. The window of the bridge cracked even more under the pressure as the zoomed out into the planets lower atmosphere, the window broke and a sucking noise could be heard as it pulled at anything that was loose around the bridge. Including the people inside, the commander ordered the group to remain seated and to hang on, but the metal railing broke under the pressure of the suction and swept the commander out along with her helmet. The lead sangheili that had been her second in command ordered for the location of her descent be marked for later, and continued to give out orders to those around him. Soon the ship slowed its descent as those still on the bridge got control of over the ship's engines and were able to land the Santa Maria in a more gentle manner than it would have landed in. They were near the base of a massive mountain overlooking a lake and what appeared to be a small town that sat upon it.

Rok Vadam rose up from his crouched position at the bridge, his feet braced among the metal with the power suit that he wore. It had made it easier for him to remain inside while the window had broken. He called out for a status report on the men and women on board the ship. Before he opened up a log as well as a location tracker. The chip inside the commander's headgear showed that it was moving rather than being stationary like he had thought it would be. He grunted and motioned for one of the communications officers to come to him. The man who answered the summons looked nervous. "Try to make contact with the Commander." Rok ordered, turning away from him with a dismissal. The man nodded his head and turned to head back to his station.

Rok came to a stop at the last spot that the commander had been standing in, he looked out over the deck at the damage done to the ship. "We will need to start on repairs as soon as possible, keep a watch on the perimeter and make sure that we are safe." Vadam informed another Sangheili as well as one of the human officers both nodded their head in agreement and the human saluted him while the sangheili placed a hand over his chest in a form of respect.

The commander groaned from where she was hanging from a branch in a large tree, she looked down at the forest floor and sighed as she felt the branch shift and creak beneath her weight. She inched closer to the base of the tree and felt the branch crack even more. She looked around herself to see if she could reach for a different branch to help support the weight. She saw her helmet not to far below her and thought she could ease back onto that branch and slowly make her way down the tree. However, just as the thought entered her mind the branch she was on gave way and she hit the branch containing her helmet with enough force to break that one as well. She hit all the branches down the tree before she hit the forest floor and her helmet landed with a thud beside her prone body.

She groaned and brought her mechanical arm up to cover her face with. She laid there for a few moments getting the breath back into her body before she rolled over and looked around here. Her mechanical legs and feet moved to help pick her up off the floor. Moving with the thought of her brain as easily as a normal limb would have done. She rose up into a crouch and surveyed the area around her looking for any forms of enemy that could be hidden in the bushes and trees. Finding none, she reached for her helmet and slid it on, hitting the com unit on the speaker she was able to hear the location of where the ship had touched down as well as a small map of the area that they had passed over thanks to the AI that was aboard the Santa Maria. AI Loki was always gathering data and processing images around them even when the ship was in danger of being torn apart, the little bastard.

She sighed as she calculated the distance between her and the ship, it was a long way from one area to the other and she would be moving slowly from injuries. She looked down at her body several of the branches had punctured through her skin in several areas, blood was starting to seep into the dark clothing of the uniform that she wore. She pulled the small first aid kit from one of the side pouches and settled down for the night, waiting for the sun to rise to begin the long journey east. She pulled off the shirt and set it aside and settled down again pulling the splinters out and stitching as many of the deeper wounds as possible. She dozed off listening to the reports of several of the marines and Sangheili that were discussing the repairs needed for the ship, including the replacement of the bridge windows.