"Humanity stands as the greatest threat in the galaxy. Refusing to eradicate them is a fool's gambit. We squander eons in the darkness, while they seize our triumphs for their own. The Mantle of Responsibility for all things belongs to Forerunners alone. Think of my acts as you will. But do not doubt the reality: the Reclamation... has already begun. And we are hopeless to stop it."

- The Ur-Didact. Date unknown.

Aboard UNSC Legend After

18 light years outside UNSC space

July 28th, 2557 Military Calendar, 08:36

It was interesting to think how insignificant this threat was compared to the unimaginable scale in the universe.

The Elites found it first. A great fear that remained classified to the people of Earth. A fear of an ancient race that almost brought complete destruction to every being in the Milky Way galaxy along with the defeat of the UNSC. Of course, it was only a matter of time before another Ring was discovered.

An Elite recon corvette made the discovery. It was scouting what they believed was some sort of beacon. Identity and signature were unknown, and similar in composition to the same beacon that led the pride of the Navy, UNSC Infinity to another Halo Ring. It immediately deactivated once the corvette reached the Ring.

Still, there was something else out there.

A day after the initial discovery, a massive gravitational depression within the space-time curvature was detected, only about ten thousand kilometers out from the Ring. It surrounded an unnatural object, containing a large one-way directed energy output. The object was small and very dense. At first the Elites thought it was the center of a black hole. However, when they approached...

They discovered something else, something oddly frightening for such a relatively tiny object in the presence of one of the Rings.

It was pure white, standing perfectly still even with the distant gravitational influences of the Halo and local star.

The artifact was codenamed God's Key. Encased in ice, it had two prongs extended out from an ellipse-shaped base, stretching towards a distant point in space. An oval at the bulbous end encompassed two rings that overlapped each other. Antennas strut out from near the connected side of the oval. Trenches were carved in the sides of the Key, with nothing but blackness within them.

Hours later, the Elites contacted the UNSC. When they did, the geeks were falling over themselves with same idiotic cycle of excitement that had gotten so many killed in previous hostile environments.

And supporting the eggheads was the Shadow of the Navy, the Office of Naval Intelligence.

Even with the ventures of ONI into Forerunner technology, precautionary measures were placed to prevent any...predictable reactions. Countermeasures, guard units, fail safes, and more. If the head of security even felt that something was wrong, orders were to eliminate the artifact with extreme prejudice.

If it was even possible.

It made sense. The UNSC didn't want a repeat conflict or any other form of disastrous event to occur if it could be avoided. For example there was the discovery of Installation 04 and the immediate need for its destruction along with the UNSC Pillar of Autumn. Later, the discovery of Installation 05, leading to a battle that almost completely destroyed Humanity along with all other life in the galaxy. Next, the Battle of Installation 00, where Sierra-117 sacrificed himself in order to stop the Covenant to save Humanity.

And then only weeks ago there was the annihilation of the Installation 03 research station. ONI sanitized the events well, but from what was left open it was fairly clear that there were no survivors.

And finally, there was the recent battle over Earth against an ancient Forerunner being that everyone was still talking about. The details were still blurry, partial, and contradictory.

ONI had been able to hide all this from the public well enough, and at times hide it from even the Officer Corps. Everything relating to the Forerunners had been classified by the order of the UNSC High Command. Only the upper echelons of the Navy knew the full story. The rest of the officers had to go off parcels of rumors and misinformation, piecing together to discover a small bit of the truth.

Still, the scientists were somehow able to ignore the track record. They argued that nothing could be really studied until they got near the artifact. Only so much information could be retrieved from a far distance. Seeing as the object was a complete unknown, permission was given after ONI backed the claims, persuading the UNSC to give them the pseudo-green light...

...At least that's what ONI toldCaptain Mark Florence, that the UNSC NAvy had given the green light. He looked towards the station surrounded by the black void and thousands of distant stars. He sighed and turned to the young and green faces of the crew. The ship was newly built, one of the thousands the UNSC pumped out year after year. The same could apply to the crew. Most of them were somewhere between sixteen and twenty. Still awkward, still young, still pretty swabbie as they bumped into each other every once and awhile. Every time they spoke the lack of confidence melted into every word. Even with the boost of military training, only so much could be done to prepare them. The only thing that would toughen them now would be experience.

Mark couldn't really say much. Most of his experience came in the final days of the war, when Humanity could only see darkness. Age, experience, and in extreme cases, ability, were no longer a factor. Just like the United States during the Second World War, the UN held emergency promotions and placements to replace gaps left opened by KIA personnel. Seemed like the UNSC forgot to demote him afterwards.

He looked old, hopefully. Dark circles had quickly developed during the first days during service in the Great War along with a natural rough complexion etched in the brown skin of a Neapolitan and Spaniard inheritance.

The ship's engines hummed ever so slightly, bringing him from his thoughts. It was easy to get used to that sound when the mind learned to silence it out after three months of tour, guarding UNSC borders in case the Elites decide to say "fuck it" and attack them. The blue and green lights of the holo-table and other control panels flickered and illuminated the bridge as sailors quietly moved from one station to another. There was a peaceful calmness that's always present in the quiet depths of space.

UNSC Shadow Man passed overhead. The ship windows darkened in reaction to the bright blue lights of their engines. There were three ships in this hastily thrown-together 'battle group.' UNSC Legend After, Captain Florence's own ship, was the only fully armed conventional warship nearby. They were pulled off prematurely from what would've been a nine-month patrol. The other ship was a UNSC research vessel, Shadow Man. Merely a modified civilian freighter, it would be useless in a fight. The third ship was a UNSC Black Cat Prowler, Bar Fight.

The research vessel was probably pulled off from the constant scans and analysis on the new planets within Elite territory. The Prowler was obviously pulled from the constant spying and sabotage ONI played on the Elites.

The more the merrier. This group was a strange collection of ships. They were not prepared to deal with a full Forerunner threat.

ONI didn't care.

The beloved and always truthful Office of Naval Intelligence, primarily her holiest highness Admiral Serin Osman herself, called upon the services of Captain Florence's patrol ship. Her text orders were vague and enigmatic. And they weren't exactly in a position to say no. Some ONI computer plotted their course so Mark or the ship's AI couldn't tell where they were without an astrological survey and analysis. That would take a few hours at a minimum.

ONI could've waited to reinforce the security team, but from what Mark could tell they were rushing so their supposed Elite allies wouldn't be able to gain anything. Any new type of technology or intel that could be used against Humanity was secured as fast as possible, stretching resources thin in some parts of Human territory. That being said, it was three UNSC ships against the former Covenant Fleet of Retribution, led by the Shadow of Intent. So far the Sangheili held off twenty-thousand klicks near the ring, but who knew how long that would last.

Captain Florence immediately informed FLEETCOM when he received orders from ONI. In turn they informed HIGHCOM, including Lord Hood himself. That was about twenty minutes ago, however, and they hadn't responded since.

"Captain, ships are dangerously near the deck. Shadow Man is trying to get to the port side of God's Key, converse about ten klicks out, front pointing north in our frame of direction," reported Lieutenant Morganson. She was sitting back comfortably at her station, her fingers gliding through the holograms.

"Tell Shadow Man to stand by. I want the Legend After to move into a higher elevation on our orientation to provide better support if necessary. Inform Lord Hood of all movement," Captain Florence ordered.

"So we're moving without Lord Hood's conformation first?" Morganson asked, a doubtful look on her face as she relayed the orders.

"This is ONI's op," Florence replied, a bit annoyed at the lack of contact with the Fleet Admiral. "Shadow Man and Bar Fight reports directly to them. If we don't comply, Osman will be pissed."

He just hoped they didn't do anything stupid.

Great. Right now all he had were guys who had no idea how to handle this kind of situation. Hell, he barely knew how to handle this situation.

He asked himself if Morganson was right, whether letting go ahead was endangering the ship and her crew. ONI's priority didn't matter. The Navy's did. They should only be allowed to move once HIGHCOM gave the go ahead. As the ship prepared to move forth however, those voices of doubt and reason faded out into absolute silence.

"Aye, aye, Skipper," Morganson answered after a moment. Her voice was extremely skeptical.

"Contradiction, move the ship to coordinates zero by zero by five by three by seven-three, port side," the captain ordered. He turned to the ship A.I., who stood on the holo-table going through screen after screen of information.

"Captain, I'm legally liable to inform you by law that we shouldn't move until Lord Hood is informed. It's only a couple light years away, through slipspace it'll only take a few dozen minutes..." Contradiction said with his usual tone of condescension and, when one looked for it, hostility.

Contradiction. God knows why he called himself that. His avatar was the appearance of a young guy in his early twenties. His blue, holographic curly hair was matted under a purple hat of some team from a long forgotten sport. He wore a plain white T-shirt that covered his lanky body and jeans that covered up his dead brand of Nike shoes. His face looked innocent. Innocent enough at least.

The AI crossed his arms, smirking at the Captain.

"Understood, Contradiction, but they report to ONI. Either way, they're not gonna pass the hard deck so it should be alright," he's sure Contradiction could sense the doubt in his voice.

"Skipper, you know a hard deck is just a foundation of what is suggested? It isn't a smart idea to scratch up against the border, especially with Forerunner tech."

Right. Mark wondered how this pesky fourth generation AI made it past the orders testing. How ONI hadn't scrapped him for defiance was beyond him. Three months with this AI and Mark was constantly seconds away from taking a MA5D and shooting up his central processors. He was annoying, belligerent, and burdensome. The close confines of a vessel in space for months on end made it worse. To think that after this, they still had six more months to go...

"Captain," the A.I said, almost pleading. He crossed his arms and leaned on one leg.

Then again, he was right. "Fine. Move to coordinates zero by five by five over four, face pointing north in our frame of direction, away from the hard deck. Get the scanner on that thing, tell me what you know. That's an order." Captain Florence said.

"It's a bit better, sure, but maybe we can negotiate something a bit less, uh, close?"

"Do it, Contradiction."

"No fun? Right. Anyways, moving to coordinates, stand by."

The Captain's biases were screwing with his judgement. Contradiction was right. Mark was taking a big risk to ensure that Her Highness was kept calm. They were in Naval Intelligence territory. For all he knew, ONI had cutoff their communications to ensure classified intel wasn't leaked... or they were cut off for more terrifying reasons. He had to be careful, do the bare minimum until the admiralty, or HIGHCOM itself responded. Soon hopefully.

The deck of the Legend After vibrated and rumbled as the engines released more energy into the boundless expanse of space, skipping by the other two UNSC ships. The other ships' engines displayed a dark blue light, energized and ready to increase output even more at the command of their crew. Small lights displayed the names of the ships on their hull for identification. The few point-defense cannons they had were cold and set to resting position.

Mark felt the pressure increase as the Key drew near. It became more of an effort for his lungs to expand. To combat this common reaction to stressful situations, the UNSC had taught him breathing techniques. Small, short breaths, otherwise his lungs might not have the strength to expand again.

"This is Captain Florence to Shadow Man, we're moving five klicks out away from the hard deck. Move into a defensive position behind us. You don't have authorization to move in. I say again, you do not have authorization," the Captain announced over the comm as his ship moved forward.

"Copy that, Captain. We'll follow your lead," the commander of the research vessel responded, slightly defeated.

"Weapons hot! Shields on with backups on standby. Order the Bar Fight and the Shadow Man to do the same." Captain Florence ordered.

Bar Fight had few armaments but heavy-duty shields while the Shadow Man only had weak static shields in order to block any space debris. There were small disruptions within the black outlines of space as the shields began to surround the ship.

The Legend After neared its destination. The main engines deactivated to allow the ship's momentum to carry them. Soon enough, the Reaction Control System engines would activate. Yellow flares would ignite at the front of the ship, killing off whatever speed they had left.

The rumble of the deck continued as the ships were bathed in the light of the local star that the Halo orbited.

Within a second, though, the rumbling stopped. Calmness reigned over as the ship silently drifted forwards to the Key. The ship entered its intended position and began to slow its momentum as the RCS engines fired. When the Legend After had set itself into position, one of the sailor's scanners blinked red.

"Warrant Officer, what's wrong?" Mark said.

"Uhh…standby. The God's Key gravitational depression is slightly increasing in size. Oh, shit."

"What's going on?"

"I'm reading heavy gravitational flux coming directly from the object. .. Fucking Christ, the readings are saying the black hole is increasing, sir!" the watchmen reported, his voice strained. "Jesus Christ, this thing is a black hole!"

The emergency lights of the bridge ignited, amassing the dark room in red lights. A emergency klaxon sounded off. Crew members immediately awakened from their calmness, rushing to action stations and sprinting past each other, preparing for what they'd trained for.

A black hole...? From where? He watched as his crew readied the ship. Fast and automatic, installed on day one. They prepped their stations, all waiting for Captain Florence's orders.

Mark felt the pull of gravity towards the front of the bridge, as if someone was tugging at the Captain's uniform. The RCS engines failed and the ship began to accelerate, not from their main engines, but from the gravitational influence of the God's Key. The ship's bow jolted downwards, pushing the engines upwards. The bridge view showed only a small part of the artifact as the vessel was disoriented. Flares across the hull activated as the RCS engines fired, trying to maintain their original orientation.

"Captain, the artifact is starting to drag us in along with the Shadow Man and the Bar Fight. I'm reading a small electric pulse from inside the energy pool of the Key, but that's all I can tell. Orders, sir?" Contradiction requested, maintaining the same expression throughout the alarming statement. His apathy was his attempt to remain calm and separate from the more human emotions the Fourth Generations possessed.

Mark didn't answer, only looked upon the situation in a lethargic fashion. He didn't know what to do.

Different sailors began to yell out details of the situation. Their voices became a murk of screams and yells to the captain. Only a few were audible while the rest were seemingly replaced by whispers. Every whisper was someone else, someone that was part of his crew…

"Captain, Bar Fight is loading fifty millimeters. They are going to engage. The Shadow Man's captain is requesting orders, sir!"

"Sir! Gravitational depression is increasing in size, and the event horizon is closing in. Engines are losing control. Orders!"

The ship began to spin, drifted closer to the artifact. Mark could feel his body being pulled in different directions. The ship tried to readjust as the anomaly forced them closer and closer.

"The event horizon is nearing. We are two kilometers away and closing. Orders!?"

The ice broke off to present the unmarred surface of the Key. Inside the object, the rings began to twist around each other, activating a small ball of dark blue and black pulsing energy. Blue lights ignited within the previously dark indentations and trenches, lighting up the object. The rings quickly sped up to a blistering number of revolutions, looking like they had gone out of control.

"Captain, rings are increasing to eighty-five hundred plus revolutions per minute."

Orders…destroy artifact….

"Sir, I'm reading another disruption near the first anomaly. Two distortions, sir, I repeat, twin gravitational distortions. They are morphing together, standby…"

"I'm giving it all she's got, Captain! We are one klick from the event horizon!"

Destroy….

"Alright, both anomalies are forming together at their combined gravitational influence. They're forming a binary orbit."

"Half-a-click out."

…Priority?

Mark didn't respond. Shadows filled the corners of his sight. The horror of the sailors rose as training disappeared every second that their Captain didn't respond.

"MAC on standby, sir! All weapons are hot and ready at your command."

Of your destiny.

"Captain! The shipmaster and the rest of the shark heads are going to engage without us! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOUR ORDERS, SIR!?" Contradiction yelled. His voice was filled with actual panic this time.

Whatever the hell took hold of Mark finally faded. He broke free. He realized what was going on

He rose to be an officer of the United Nations Space Command, dutiful like every soldier. Defend Humanity from any threat.

"We are a quarter of a klick away from the event horizon!" Morganson reported, panicked

Captain Florence was about to order the ship to execute a momentary symmetrical alignment so the nose would point directly towards the God's Key long enough to fire the MAC. However, the blackness of space disappeared, replaced with what looked like a tunnel of bright blue colors. The ship spiraled out of control within this stream, creating turbulence that rocked the bridge worse than any engine transmission or hull breach could. The force knocked Florence to his knees and threw him and other crew members in a variety of directions. The Captain quickly grabbed onto the rail of the holo-display, using his strength to pull him towards the small table.

It quickly ended and they once more looked on a veil of stars as they entered back into the void of space. The ship was out of its previous alignment. The bow pointed in a random direction. Stars flew by the observation window as the vessel moved from its exit position, rolling out of control. Within moments, the RCS engines activated and the ship re-oriented itself. The view displayed the two other UNSC ships as they did the same.

Something else drew their attention though, past the ships. It was surrounded by bursts of red and blue explosions.

Captain Florence stood straight, leaned against the holo-display, and tried not to vomit. He felt a small kick within his stomach. Contradiction, the bastard, remained the same. He purposely only showed slight sympathy by misplacing a curl of hair on his avatar.

The crew members also got up, pulled themselves back into their station's seats and tried to assess the situation. Many held down their stomachs with groans and gagging, but some had obviously failed. There were splashing sounds against the bridge deck.

Mark took a few deep breaths. His head rested against the railing as he tried to calm down.

He had panicked.

Even in the worst of the War, in the last days of Reach, he had never frozen like that. Like a fucking deer in headlights. What would've happened if he ordered the destruction of the God's Key sooner? Would the key spread out of control and condemn the vanguard group to spaghettification? The reviews, hindsight, and constant regrets of what would've happened if he had remained in the bounds of the UNSC Navy raced in his mind. He needlessly risked the entire crews of three starships, all due to an incompetent officer.

From incompetence bore uncertainty. Where were they?

The aurora of natural star light curtained the grey metals of the ships as the bridge got a full display of the system's yellow star. The window darkened to counteract the glare, creating a clear view of space and the distant star...and...

"Get me a status report," the Captain quietly said, whether in shock, fear, distraught, or possibly all three was unknown. Reality stopped processing in his mind.

"We are at unidentified coordinates, unable to accurately calculate a location until I have a definite point of origin. Not with this ONI blind jump bullshit," Contradiction replied. "I'm reading hundreds of gravitational anomalies similar to the God's Key. They're each showing a massive electrical pulse, but alternating current instead of direct or the regular nuclear fusion we've got. Massive beta radiation signals from each gravitational depression. I'm not getting an exact number on the distortions. They're showing weird signals when near each other. I'm identifying the God's Key about fifteen klicks behind us, producing the same binary anomaly," he reported, as if there was nothing wrong.

"Ship is fully operational, shields are at full strength, all weapons on standby, and ammunition is at ninety-two percent," he continued, "all crew accounted for. UNSC Shadow Man and the Bar Fight are green and combat ready. From weak distant gravitational influences it's hard for me to tell the difference between density index and relative distance for unknown contacts. I can use color wavelength, scan parameters, and actual long-distance scopes to calculate celestial object position and possibly density, but it'll take some time. For the moment we're completely blind, but the visuals don't lie."

The AI turned towards the object the rest of the quiet and dumbfounded crew was already staring at. What lay in the distance absorbed the rays of the local star, with a surface of skinny continents surrounded by seas of blue. It twisted to bathe each side in the light. Massive orange fires that were visible from space could be seen on the dark side of the sphere.

Surrounding the planet were the blue and red explosions that began to paint the bridge in various colors. It was unknown where they were ignited from, each appearing as a ball, bursting, and then disappearing.

Fear and regret. This idiotic mistake had lead them to find...whatever this was. It just had to be them.

Had to be Mark.

The question this time was what had they just walked into?

Nobody moved, still taking in the planet. Contradiction tapped a screen next to his avatar. "Alright, Captain. I'm sending out controlled radar bursts. Each individual anomaly that isn't a planet centers on a single space-faring, unnatural object. Each one is moving with controlled trajectories, unnaturally moving against gravitational influences. They're most likely UFOs. Source of gravitational depression reads the same as the God's Key, yet it isn't sucking the UFOs inside out or doing anything that a strong gravitational distortion usually does, just like the God's Key. There seems to be low-level visible laser based weapons, but no high-wave for some reason, which would be more efficient. I might be analyzing this wrong. No, wait, this-"

"Contradiction, what the hell happened?" the Captain said in a hollow voice. Contradiction stopped for a moment.

The AI sighed, opening up another monitor screen and bringing up an image of the God's Key. There were small alterations to the design. The end of the ellipse where it connected held a small hollow opening, thinning the connecting structures to the point where the only thing that could hold it together was the zero-g force of space.

"For once," the AI began, "I have no idea. The God's Key created a binary gravitational disturbance, similar to binary black holes, one of the most powerful gravitational influences in astrophysics. From my point of view, excluding all the laws of physics, the anomalies caused us to slingshot at a velocity that should've created massive gravitation and turned us flatter than a fucking pancake. We immediately halted from that velocity, and all momentum was erased without any consequences from kinetic energy."

"And the God's Key traveled with us?" Mark asked. "Why isn't this black hole sucking us in again?"

"At this point, sir, I'm not sure I would call this a black hole, since this thing isn't showing any of the usual gravitational properties of a black hole. Whatever kind of properties there are are unidentifiable at the moment. I'll continue to analyze, and possibly find a point of origin to calculate our galactic position. As for the God's Key, I'm not sure this is the same one. There was nothing indicating any ability for space movement, but its possible that the anomaly slung it with us. Either way, I'm glad you turned on the shields beforehand, otherwise we would've collided with some random particle and been ripped to shreds."

Contradiction ignored any objections from the captain and continued, "I'm seeing two distinct ship designs in conflict. One side bears similar characteristics to UNSC ships, with slight alterations such as a shorter length and height, but sharing the bulky and angular design Humanity favors. Sizes vary to single-manned fighters, hundred-sixty meters, five-hundred meters, and one kilometer. Hulls are painted red and white with a shared symbol. Can't identify from the blue scope. As for the other designs, ship hulls are red and black coloring and look like... Standby, verifying on the blue scope."

Mark looked to the holo-table panels. Contradiction was analyzing readings of the planet's atmosphere and results were processing. The surface itself seemed to be carbon based, but the areas where the orange light was most concentrated produced large readings of unnatural gamma radiation. When Mark looked back to the scorched world, he realized what this was similar to.

Glassing.

A glassing out here? Another Covenant-like tactic used to decimate the surface of a planet and the population. His mind moved on, trying to grasp anything. The reality hit the Captain in the chest again like a bullet.

Maybe it was just his imagination, but his vision went slightly blurry for a few brief moments. From the looks of the other sailors, they also had the same physical effect. To be placed in this situation was unimaginable. It was bad enough for anyone else in the UNSC to encounter this situation, but it was them? Out of all thirty-one fleets of the UNSC Navy and the thousands of space-worthy ships?

"Contradiction, check all local system formations, planet mass-density ratios, and ship foundations with all UNSC databases." Mark said.

"Checking. Nothing, sir."

"I need you to be one-hundred percent sure."

"Checking again. Nothing. Double-checking. Still nothing. Sir, there's no matches within the database."

The beauty of the planet paraded itself like a beacon among the chaos, baited them to land upon its surface.

"Distance to the nearest ship?" the Captain requested.

"Nearest group, four vessels surrounding the first described ship designs about fifteen-thousand kilometers from our position. I'm picking up a series of gravitational anomalies heading towards our battle group in the form of…wavelengths? It's going to take me a while to recode and make them compatible with our communications. UFOs' engines are off and are running on momentum. Judging from the hulls, all ships seemed to have taken heavy damage."

Despite what the captain felt, nothing edged into his words except the confidence and emotional void of the voice of every good commander possessed.

"Scan and process all information you can. Send immediate threat assessment to Fleet Command through a slipspace transmission burst targeted to any nearby UNSC relay, priority X-X-X dash X-D directive. UFOs assumed to be hostile and extremely dangerous. Prep all weapons and have generators online with backups standing by. Triple fusion reactors on full energy output operations. Morganson, calculate local star formations with all known databases. Contradiction, transfer processors to help her identify approximate location. Once completed, prep all ships for immediate slipspace jump. In the meantime, we're going to defend this position."

The crew was silent. From hearing the words of their commander it was final, undeniable. No amount of training could have prepared them for this, to see the horrors of their parents, of their family members, of what they themselves witnessed.. Because of this, because of an understandable fear, first contact procedures were for immediate analysis of all alien capabilities and technologies and file it immediately to FLEETCOM, then evacuate all UNSC personnel from the area to more suitable defensive locations. From immediate failures, Mark was fulfilling orders.

"Cap, are you sure this is first contact? We…it…" Morganson trailed off.

"I'm sure, Ensign," Mark replied, no sign of impatience in his voice. "Forerunner artifacts have led us here. We have no idea of their technological capabilities, so we have to consider them all a high priority threat-"

"Captain! Identifying additional contacts, near the first group. Two vessels surrounding two second design UFOs. Both are two klicks in length," Contradiction reported.

"Jesus Christ…" One of the other sailors said.

Mark ordered for the scopes to show it. Half of the viewing screen changed to the situation fifteen-thousand klicks out. The first group of ships were near to what Contradiction described. Instead of the emphasis on thin and tall, these ships were only about fifty to one-hundred meters in height and held a wider hull than UNSC counterparts. Two wings expanded downwards at a thirty-degree angle from each ship, painted with red stripes running down the edge of the hulls. Something came in from the direction of the planet, a black and red object only outlined and separated from space by a greyish tint that absorbed the rays of the sun.

"Contradiction, I'm about to look at the other ship design. What can you tell me about it?" Mark said.

"Uh, foundational structures are crafted almost like a spine, with multiple bending metal vertebras forming a central structure connecting what looks like six movable tentacle-like metals. Christ, the thing looks like a literal giant squid. Standby, ship groups are interacting."

The new group appeared into view, and Contradiction's description was correct. The main structure near the upper region of the ship was like a crescent crown shaped with a thin elongated body splitting apart into six tentacles, each moving like it had a mind of its own. Metal pieces, elegant and cut into harsh geometrical shapes, made up the lower region and outer curvatures of the crescent, creating the sense of a completely flexible body. It was larger than an Autumn-class cruiser yet thinner. It probably provided a cramped and dangerous fit for the crew.

Judging from the design these things weren't meant to withstand long-range combat maneuvers, especially with its plethora of bendable points. The tentacles reached back, acting like retractable wings as if drag were a factor in space. Overall, it was designed like a knife, meant to move in close and slash the enemy apart. Any naval captain flying long enough could easily see that.

The other ships stopped mid-transit without any visual evidence of RCS engines. The vessels turned toward the squids. Blue flares ignited off the hulls launching at the Squids. Those blue lights never touched the physical base of the ship, bouncing off whatever type of shield they possess. The Squids returned fire, shooting a beam of pure red and black light from the midst of the tentacles under the bottom base of the main structure. Overpowering what little shields the ships had, the beam sliced through their hulls, quickly cutting them in pieces while fires fueled by escaping air burst from the breaches.

In only a few minutes it was over. The first group was torn apart so quick they weren't even able to provide a tactical counter strike against such overpowering weapons. The squids still moved forwards, closing like a fast strike group. They turned towards the UNSC group, twisting at an impossible angle without visible RCS systems. Momentum alone should've given the ship's crew a kick in the chest at the least.

"Cap, they're turning towards us... Squid reinforcements are coming in. Three ships at one-hundred-sixty meters in length. They're increasing speed for what looks like an attack run," Contradiction informed him, moving the screen to show the closing ships.

The squids showed their fronts, feared by all those who oppose them. Smaller squids tagged on both sides of the larger ships, protected the flank.

"Get that priority slipspace burst out now! Contradiction, can you calculate a slipspace trajectory?!"

"Negative, I have no idea where we are! Well, I mean I do, but I don't. I just got the point of origin figured out from the grav influence from the Ring and based off some asteroid we passed by during our patrol route before Osman peeled us off. We are far out from Orion's Arm, sir!"

Mark didn't really process what he said, only that they weren't able to get to slipspace. "Get a tactical solar map of the system and recode those wavelengths; I don't care how, just do it, ASAP! Unknown planet is now down for orientation and movement guidance. Target MAC cannon at nearest closing squid. Get me a horn on all free wavelengths, including slipspace, send out an immediate handshake."

The red lights of the emergency alarm rang again. For a brief moment, the sailors still didn't move. Whether it was from fear, doubt in their leader's abilities, or a combination of both would never be known. Whatever stopped them was quickly broken, and once again the crew members readied at action stations. Weapons officer turned on master arms for all weapon systems, and prepped for possible maneuver trajectories in order to avoid precision lasers.

The communications opened up and Mark spoke, "UNSC priority transmission. This is Captain Mark Florence of the United Nations Space Command Legend After to unidentified vessels, remain at a five-thousand klick deck or we will use deadly force-"

"INCOMING! BRACE! BRACE!" Someone yelled.

A pure black and red beam smashed against the hull of the Legend After. Photons - or at the least what could possibly be photons - easily passed through the gaps between the controlled atoms contained in the shield. The hull was scarred. The bridge vibrated slightly at the hit. The viewing glass transformed into a painting of outer bright red encircling black colors. Soon, it ceased, bringing back the planet and the explosions, space, and the other UNSC ships.

"Sir, shield is at sixty-four percent, all other systems are online. Hull a bit scathed. Whatever that was, it definitely wasn't low-level light waves," Contradiction reported.

Christ Jesus, I beg of you to save us from another Great War.

Mark might've felt more confident in a Halcyon-class cruiser. While not exactly technologically advanced or maneuverable, it certainly was able to take a beating.

As he thought about ships, it would've taken hours, depending on where the hell they were, perhaps even years, for the slipspace transmission to make it back to UNSC space. He looked back to the other two ships. They weren't meant to take on a fight like this.

There was only one way.

"Contradiction, tell Bar Fight to go dark. Order them to get back to the God's Key and see if it can get back to UNSC space. We have to, or else Humanity will be endangered. Afterwards get the Shadow Man to do the same. Fire the MAC at the squid ship that just hit us! Three repeating rounds."

Bar Fight and the Shadow Man reoriented themselves towards the God's Key. To the Right completely disappeared as the Shadow Man ignited engines and began its trajectory.

Contradiction nodded, made pinpoint calculations based on the squid's trajectory that would've taken an average human minutes to hours, even with an advanced computer. The Legend After shot one beam of pure yellow light surrounding a six-hundred ton slug at a perfect angle. The MAC round hit the squid dead center where the body spread into six legs. The slug had little effect as it bounced off the thing's shields. The second slug had more success. It punctured the shields of the squid and ripped off three of its bottom tentacles.

But it wasn't dead.

Another beam of yellow light. Hit. Directly at the center point of the squid ship. The bastard's hull exploded in countless areas, turning it into smoldering metal.

The wreckage still traveled with the other squids as they increased speed and velocity. There was a bright blue flash behind the Legend After, directly from the God's Key.

"Sir, Bar Fight is out of scanning range. I think they're through."

Thank Christ.

The Captain quickly moved on. It looked like the squid's trajectory was closer with the Shadow Man's. It was trying to kill the weaker target. Luckily, any small correction in course would kill the entire crew aboard the squid or completely crush them altogether. The Legend After could bounce eastwards using its starboard RCS engines. Then the UNSC ship could reorient itself perpendicular with a MAC trajectory, intercepting the squid. First hit, and the Legend After's front would easily follow it afterwards for the kill.

Mark saw something on the scopes. The squid did move. Despite every physical barrier, the squid readjusted itself, firing a beam of light past the Legend After

It hit the Shadow Man. The ship, barely able to withstand small arms fire, collapsed immediately. It tore in half, foundations ripped apart. Fire erupted throughout the entire hull, fueled by escaping air.

Mark wasn't even able to figure out if there were any survivors. A moment later the beam turned on them.

More rumbling metals. A screeching sound traveled throughout the bridge.

"Shields down, hull integrity breached! Shit. Reactors are cut off from main engines. We are dead in the water, Captain!" Contradiction reported.

Five minutes? Maybe? That's how long the battle lasted. This entire encounter. He felt the entire ship move forward from its uncontrolled momentum.

Mark looked to the planet, realized there was only one was out of this mess. "Contradiction, fulfill perpendicular alignment to the squid's trajectory, front facing west. We're going to use starboard RCS engines to push the ship towards the planet's gravitational influence and get a closer orbit to readjust later and hook up with the God's Key. Fire everything we have at that bastard!"

Contradiction didn't even respond. Immediately, down became south, east became down and south became west. More pressure was added, smaller breath intake. The ship moved sideways towards the planet.

The squid flew by, triggered off the MAC gun trap. The first round ripped off the top of the squid, the crescent completely engulfed in yellow light. The squid still flew forward with the front of the Legend After following it. Another MAC followed, supported by Archer Pods and fifty millimeter cannon rounds. The squid was utterly destroyed. Mark swore he saw the enemy completely turn around to face their onslaught.

"Cap, gravitational pull caught us. I can't maneuver to get us out. I can only reorient us with the RCS." Contradiction said. He brought up another screen. It shone red, displaying an emergency signal. "Uh… negative. Negative. RCS can't be turned off, there's an error with electrical. I can't fix it from here without a proper repair crew, and we don't have time. Our orbit's decaying right into the ground."

They were going down.

Mark didn't need to think, "Contradiction, open up another line, all frequencies."

Contradiction followed. The horn was open. Mark spoke, "Mayday, mayday, mayday! This is Captain Mark Florence of the UNSC Legend After, transmitting on all UNSC frequencies! We are going down an attack made by an unknown alien force designated as Squids as we made our way through a Forerunner artifact designated as 'God's Key'. Our ship is going down on an unidentified garden world, coordinates, uh…nine by zero by seven by six by one-three. I'm activating protocol Winter Contingency. Cole Protocol will be fully enforced, I repeat, Cole Protocol will be fully enforced."

Mark gripped the railings to the holo-table. "Contradiction, load all escape pods for immediate launch. We need to get everyone out of here!"

"What about you, sir? Or me, the important one?" Contradiction said.

Florence yelled, "You and I will be the last ones out. Once everybody including us has bugged out, initiate Cole Protocol by scuttling the ship."

"Oh, how original," Contradiction frowned, then activated the ship's comms and announced, "This is UNSC AI Contradiction, now hear this! To all UNSC personnel, we are evacuating the Legend After. Abandon ship! Abandon ship! Get to any nearby escape pods. Once all escape pods are full, launch immediately! Abandon ship! Abandon ship!"

Mark took a deep breath as he leaned on the holo-table, watching the ship head towards the world in silence. Minutes passed by as the bridge window began to light up with heat and flame. Smaller breaths, heavier pressure. It became hard to stand, forcing him to sit down on the metal floor.

"Captain, all pods are launched. Bridge crew and a couple other Spartans are aboard," reported Morganson

"Roger that, Ensign. Lauch-"

The ship bounced and fire spread throughout the outer hull as they entered the planet's atmosphere. Continents were partially covered by clouds and black smoke.

"You forgot to inform the Captain that we're in the planet's atmosphere!" Contradiction said.

The ship's systems tried to combat the fall into a gripped the railing harder to prevent himself from falling face forward into the window.

"Looks like we're going down with the ship. Contradiction, plot a landing course," the Captain ordered.

"Sir, yes sir, beginning the descent."

Mark said nothing and only hung onto the railing. The ship repositioned, front facing directly towards the planet at a forty-five degree angle parallel to the surface, flying lower and passing through low level clouds. They flew by miles upon miles of rolling hills with calm winds and green grass.

The scene quickly changed as they flew over a small river connecting to a lake. There was a city at the edge of the water.

He could see below that the city was almost in complete ruins, with every building either destroyed, on the verge of collapse, or ripped to shreds. It looked like an attacked UN city in the middle of bombardment by the Covenant. He could see the exchange of what looked like blue and red streaks of lights on the streets below.

Skirmishes upon the surface it seemed. Mark saw the movement of small transport-like ships as they flew through the buildings.

"We are seventy-five kilometers from the planetary surface. ETA: Damn fast. Hang on and pray to whatever god/gods you believe in!" Contradiction yelled

Mark coughed up a round of blood, responded by calmly taking those short breaths. He couldn't hear anything.

Orders: Establish full First Contact Procedure and try to file a full threat assessment to High Command and FLEETCOM. Maintain full enforcement of Cole Protocol at any and all costs.

Destroy: Any hostile threats. Establish guerrilla combat operations with a FOC.

Priority: Hold out until UNSC evacuation. If they aren't coming, then find a way the hell off this planet.

The green rolling hills neared. The ship flew over what looked like dozens of trenches and foxholes scarring the surface. It nearly missed a small tower near an area of metal structures.

"Incoming!" someone yelled.

"BRACE! BRACE! BRACE!" The captain replied.

Something struck the ship, giving one last twist of its pitch before it came crashing into a rolling hill.

The ship hit the dirt, jolted upwards. Something that hit Mark in the chest. He only saw black.

Harbinger of your destiny…