Imaginationburstinngout: Hey everyone what's up it's me! For those who are asking "What are you doing here?" well here's my answer; recently I just got a message from an individual asking me to have a collaboration effort with him

Zelta-nine: that's true, this story is inspired by Mcree 114 zero to infinity. Lately, I've noticed that there were very few halo and familiar of zero crossovers, so we decided to write one.

Imaginationburstinngout: I hope that you'll like the story we've made! So without further ado let's go on with the story!

italics: ship names and writers notes.

*we do not own halo or familiar of zero except for a few OC's. Halo belongs to 343 industries and Bungie while familiar of zero belongs to Noboru Yamaguchi

Infinite Zero

Prologue: Calling out to the Stars

Sol system: Earth

Space, the Final Frontier

It is known to Humanity by many names, the void, abyss and many more. But for all its beauty and splendour, it too is a realm of death and destruction. For 25 years, countless sailors and soldiers of the UNSC perished in the cold, dark void. Against a foe more terrifying than any other adversaries they faced. Whole worlds were incinerated by the Covenant. Majestic constructs of steel, once mighty warships of earth and her colonies, were reduced to nothing but lifeless hulks of metal floating through the abyss. But yet, even after having half of their population destroyed, even after having countless worlds reduced to ash, even after having their once mighty navy diminished to nothing more than a handful of assorted ships, humanity still stands. With the war over, planets once lost were being recolonised and brought back into the fold. The once silent shipyards soon began churning out ships of new designs, with a power greater than that of its predecessors, and humanity set out to regain what was once lost. One such ship and her escorts orbits around the ancient homeworld of mankind, the cradle of human civilisation and the heart of the UEG, a ship that is second to none. And that ship was The UNSC Infinity.

The Infinity represented the pinnacle of human engineering, the pride and might of the UNSC, a testament to humanities efforts in rebuilding. At a length of 5.7km long, it was the largest ship in the whole of the UNSC Navy. Bolstering 4 CR-03 Series 8 MAC guns, dozens of deck guns, missiles and point defence turrets and fitted with every single piece of forerunner tech humanity could get it hands-on, it was truly a force to be reckoned with. After the lessons learnt at requiem, the Infinity was always accompanied by a small escort fleet, consisting of 9 autumn class heavy cruisers. As the fleet orbits around the earth, awaiting further orders, the newly appointed captain of the infinity enters the bridge.

"Roland, status report." captain Thomas J. Lasky requested in a neutral tone. Not long ago he was but an executive officer on board the infinity, but now he was the captain of the greatest warship ever constructed by man. "A strange twist of fate," he thought to himself, as he went over the daily reports. Like every other crew member on the bridges, save for a few, he too was wearing the standard Navy BDU.

"All engine systems are fully functional, shields at 100% and all weapon systems are online. New crew members have just finished settling in." Roland responded. All around the bridge the crew were running about, ensuring that all systems were functioning and ensuring that preparations are complete. The lights from the various holograms and screens illuminated the once dim room.

"Also we just received word from battlegroup Infinity, all preparations are complete and they are waiting to jump at your command."

Lasky raised his head from the reports, being silent for a few seconds before responding. "Inform the fleet that we will enter slip-space in 10 minutes."

"With pleasure, sir, can't wait for the next mission. I have a gut feeling that this would turn out well for once." The A.I responded in a rather sarcastic tone. Ignoring Roland, captain Lasky then turns around and activate the intercom in order to address the crew. "Once more unto the breach" he mentally whispered to himself

All personals prepare for slip-space transit. We will be departing at exactly 1720.

Deactivating the mike, he let out an audible sigh. It felt like every time after they had just completed a mission, a new one was shoved in their faces.

Ever since the operation on requiem

Requiem

Just the mere mention of that wretched forerunner world was more than enough to send a shiver down his spine. Back then he was just an executive officer serving under the command of captain Andrew del Rio. Downing a sip of water from his flask, he started to recall the chain of events which occurred after they had crash landed on that God forsaken place. The attacks by the covenant remnant and those accursed Prometheans, the crash, and the master chief and his A.I companion Cortana. Nobody saw that coming. Almost everyone thought that the chief was killed, never to be seen again. But there he was, alive and well. They were soon warned about a being, no a forerunner, an actual living forerunner called the Didact. And his plans for a weapon called the composer, along with his intentions to unleash it upon humanity. Despite his best attempts to persuade captain Del Rio to assist the master chief, his opinions were dismissed and Del Rio decided to bring the infinity back to earth, a decision which cost him his career. Andrew del Rio was stripped of his position and dishonourably discharged. And that was not the only consequences of that foolish man's actions.

The entire population of New Phoenix, over 6 million people, all gone when the Didact fired the composer. He could hear and picture it all in his head. People being incinerated or "composed" for a better term, in a matter of seconds. The cries of Pain and for mercy, children screaming for their mothers, and the screeching of the old and young as their flesh burned and disintegrated. Lasky could feel the anger slowly rising up inside of him. All of this could have been prevented if only Del Rio listened to the master chief. He had to use every bit of self-control within him to prevent himself from bursting into a rage. It was only due to the arrival of the master chief that they were able to defeat the Didact and prevent the rest of earth from suffering a similar fate. Calming himself down, he decided to think about the whole incident involving the master chief. The Master Chief was a legend throughout UEG space. Countless stories have been passed on about his feats, but only a few have had the honour of seeing him with their very own eyes. He was seen as a hero to the UNSC, but for the covenant on the other hand…..their views on him were anything but positive. He was said to have turned the tide in many battles, Hundreds of thousands were slain by this being in which the covenant soon came to call, the "Demon", his mere presence on the battlefield strikes fear into the hearts of even the most experienced covenant soldiers. Grunts were even rumoured to run just at the sight of him, but that was only a rumour as they would also run from anything so long as their commanding officer was dead. Lasky chuckled as he thought about that. Despite the common misconception, that underneath that armour was nothing but a killing machine, Master Chief was far from that. Throughout the covenant war and the operations on requiem, He has proven to be a rather sociable character, and would always look out for his fellow teammates. Lasky even had the privilege of working together with him when the Covenant attacked the academy on Circinius IV. But this time, something inside of chief changed when Cortana sacrificed herself for humanity. It was as if a Part of the chief has been ripped apart. After talking to Chief on the observation decks, chief completely disappeared off the radar. So far no one had seen nor heard from him.

And to add insult to the Injury, they had to return to the exact same place where they almost died after Six months. Apparently, the top brass wanted a research outpost there. It was also Lasky's first trial of fire as the captain of infinity. As expected, they encountered resistance from the Jul M'damas covenant, but they were slowly pushing them back Until the Prometheans showed up. With their superior weaponry, they were cutting through most UNSC forces like a knife through hot butter. Only with the interventions of the Spartan IV's were they able to stand a chance. And that op only got worse and worse, to put it mildly. They were extremely lucky that the infinity came back in one piece.

And after all that, they were thrown into the fray once again. According to the information provided by HIGHCOM, The infinity would be tasked with escorting lord hood and the Sangheili arbiter to Ealean IV for peace talks with the Jiralhanae Chieftain Lydus. When Lasky was first briefed about it he had to pinch himself to ensure that he was awake. Brutes and peace don't necessarily go well with each other, from his past experiences, most of the time they were too bloodthirsty or violent, always being the first to charge into battle. This Was a surprise, but a pleasant one nonetheless, maybe there is hope for peace.

"Roland, activate the slip-space drives. we are leaving, now."

"Of course sir," The A.I replied cheerfully before his avatar blinked out.

Lasky then turned to the helmsman." lieutenant James, keep us on course, prepare for slip-space navigation."

"Understood sir" Lieutenant James replied

Remembering something, he immediately turned over to his console and pushed a small button located at the bottom, A blue holographic screen soon materialise, showing the form of the weapons officer, Lieutenant Austen.

"Lieutenant Austen, please ensure that all strident frigates are ready to be launched and I want all marines and ODSTs to be combat ready at all times. Am I understood?"

"With all due respect, is all these additional security measures really needed? I understand having the frigates ready to launch at a moment's notice, but for the Infinity's shipboard crew compliment? there's no way the storm covenant would show up, not on the most heavily defended planet in the whole of UNSC space."

"It is not wise to tempt fate, Lieutenant Austen, lest it gets back at you. You have your orders, carry them out. Lasky out" and with that, he cut off the channel. Leaning back into his seat, he looked over the holo-projection of the Infinity and it's escorting fleet as they moved towards their designated markers. Slumping back, he closed his eyes for a second and let out a sigh.

"Here we go again," he thought to himself.

Unknown planet: xxxx

The Tristian academy of magic was one of the most, if not the most prestigious school in the whole of halkegenia. It specialises in the art of magic and is exclusive only to nobles. It didn't matter which nation you hail from, all nobles are welcome to join.

Louise bit on her lip as anxiety filled her being, today was the Springtime Summoning Festival; the day in which she is to prove to all her peers that she is one of them, that she is a mage. Yet why is she feeling this way? Despite her confidence, Louise has a tendency to make things… explosive thus came to the title "Zero". In theory, she's a prodigy, she would have been praised for it was it not for a single problem.

She can't cast a single spell.

It is not because she has very low Willpower if the results of her spells were to say anything it's that she has plenty of it, but that doesn't explain why everything she casts always explodes.

She tried fire spells but all she got were sparks.

Not a single drop of water came out, only black dust of explosions.

Earth wouldn't bend to her will, only leave a smouldering crater.

And not even her mother's main element; wind obeyed her, all she got was concussive blasts.

But despite all of these pulling her back, she shouldered on and pushed onwards, ignoring every single rumour that circulated around the academy, her chin never touched her chest as doing so would bring her family name to shame and for every insult they throw at her, she fought back with a venomous tongue that would have melted steel had it actually been real but due to her undeveloped body her peers rarely acknowledges her bites.

"Why should I be afraid of you? You can't even cast a spell, Zero!"

"Why did you even come to this academy Zero? I think you're better off being married to another noble to save face, to be honest,"

"Zero, just give it up! There's no way you could catch up to us, you can't even cast a single spell!"

Louise shook her head removing all of the negative thoughts that plagued her mind, those were not true and she's going to prove it tod-

"Louise de la Valliere," called out her teacher.

"I hope," she told herself.

When she reached the centre she began to weave the summoning circle on the ground using chalk, first was a circle, not too big but not too small as well, she followed this up by placing intricate symbols that dotted inside the circle here and there, then she drew three circles that formed a triangle inside the circle and finally on the centre of it all she drew a square.

Murmurs surrounded the pinkette judging her summoning circle, she didn't listen to them she took a deep breath and finally chanted the words she'd been practising all night.

"My wonderful familiar that exists somewhere in this universe, answer my call, oh powerful familiar, and be my long lasting servant. My familiar, I summon thee!" she proclaimed while pouring all of her willpower into that summoning spell.

For a split-second, students thought she was actually summoning something with all those powerful words that came out of her mouth, seconds passed and nothing happened and Louise was still standing there in the middle of it all. Muffled giggles started to arise, disturbing the pinkette, giggles turned to snorts and snorts turned to laughter as Louise still stood on the same spot still waiting for something to happen.

Meanwhile Louise was having an amazing vision, for in her mindscape stars dotted the sky, she felt that she was doing something right if she's seeing something like this, her admiring was interrupted when something bright shone behind her, turning around, her jaws dropped at the sight of what looks to be a something made of metal, the size of the thing is so huge that Louise might as well be an ant in comparison to what she was seeing, as the giant thing moved closer to her she reached out with her left hand.

"Are you my familiar?" she wondered.

She was almost in arms reach when all of a sudden a violent tugging motion pulled her out of her mindscape and back into the real world, the result of this was, of course, the usual.

UNSC Infinity

Hanger bay 4

"All right marines, this is your stop. Everybody off!" yelled the pilot as the D79 pelican landed in the hanger. Once the ramp drops, two dozen marines exited it in a calm and orderly manner. These marines were fresh recruits just out of boot camp, and for most of them, it was their first time being posted on a spacecraft. As they marched out in rows of two, a certain marine was taking in the sights, gawking at the many vehicles and equipment with great curiosity.

"Check it out Thomas, are you seeing this?"

"Yeah, it's amazing, can't believe we're actually stationed on this ship."

"Wouldn't get my hopes up if I were you, heard from the guys in the other platoons that this ship is…."

"HEY YOU THREE, GET BACK IN LINE. IF I SEE YOU SIGHTSEEING AGAIN YOU ARE IN FOR A WORLD OF HURT. IS THAT CLEAR?" A burly sergeant yelled at the three marines chattering amongst each other. He was far from having a good day.

"SIR YES SIR!" the three exclaimed before rushing back to rejoin their ranks, amongst them was none other than 20-year-old private Hiraga Saito.

Saito was born on Reach in 2538. He lived with both his parents and his little sister in a small apartment. He had everything a child could ask for, a loving family and a roof under his head. All that soon changed when the covenant attack Reach in 2552. He watched as a Brute ripped out his father's spine and strangled his mother with it, before crushing his sister with its foot. Before the brute could get to Saito, it was killed by a squad of marines which showed up In the Nick of time, he was then taken to an evacuation site along with his aunt and uncle and managed to board the last evacuation ship. Due to the cole protocol, The ship took a few randomised jumps before jumping back to earth. He managed to survive and stayed with a relative until the Age of 18 when he signed up with the marines to make sure that no one else would go through the same events he had experienced. Even though he had mostly gotten over the death of his family, he still had some flashbacks about it, but they are quite rare. He might not be as strong nor as smart as some of the recruits in his platoon, but he is a team player and would always stand up for his teammates whenever they are in trouble, not to mention that he has a knack for attracting the ladies. All in all, he is a very sociable person and is well-liked by his squad, as long as you don't bring up the topic about his parents.

Along with him were his best friends Marcus and Cheng, whom he had met during boot camp. By chance, all three of the marines were formerly from reach and were the lucky ones that managed to escape, unlike the other few million unlucky souls who died in a fiery hell when the covenant glassed Reach. However, unlike Saito, Marcus and Cheng managed to escape with their whole families intact. To Saito, these two were the closest thing he had to a family; they were simply brothers to him.

The corridor was a hive an activity. Marines were conducting patrols across the ship, technicians were running about the place ensuring that every piece of equipment is in working condition and cleaning robots performing their duties. As the three of them marched along with their squad to the briefing room, they could not help but be amazed at the size of this gargantuan ship. Back then they were told that the biggest UNSC ship was the Punic-class supercarriers at 4km, however, now that title belonged to the infinity instead

"I wonder how did they even manage to conceal a ship this size and only unveil it a few months ago," Saito asked, hungry for more information about the Infinity

"Eh, most likely ONI was involved. The spooks have a lot of secrets hidden up their sleeves."

"I won't be so happy if I were you, apparently the Master Chief was aboard this ship before disappearing," Cheng said pessimistically

"Really, then that makes it even better, to be on the same ship the Master Chief is no less an honour!"

It was well known throughout the squad that Marcus is a big fan of the Master Chief, every time during meals he would go off ranting nonstop about the Master Chief's exploits and feats.

It was clear that Cheng did not share the same enthusiasm as Marcus. Taking a step back, he cautiously looked around before whispering to the two of them.

"Have you heard about the curse of the Master Chief? It was said that any ship that he was on has been destroyed in battle. Think about it, the forward unto dawn, in amber clad, and the pillar of autumn were all destroyed by the covenant. And guess who they were carrying."

"Come one, you can't just believe everything you hear on the…."

Having heard enough, Saito turned and glared at the two bickering squad mates.

"Cut it out with the superstitious crap, In case you have forgotten, we have a briefing to attend. Now let's…"

Before Saito could finish his sentence, the ship started shaking vigorously, causing a few crewmembers to fall. A blue wave of energy swept through the hallway, causing The lights in the corridor to die out for a few seconds, before being replaced by the red emergency lights.

GENERAL QUARTERS, GENERAL QUARTERS. ALL HANDS MAN YOUR BATTLE STATIONS.

As the various crewmembers rushed to their positions on board the ship, Cheng turned around, looking straight at both Saito and Marcus, his cold glare piercing through the thick air around them. The words they dreaded so much to hear was soon spoken.

"Told you so,"

Sol System 2558

Infinity's bridge:

"Prepare to jump on my mark," Lasky said as he stared at his watch. Seconds turned to minutes as the crew waited to jump into slip-space. Meanwhile, in the engine room of the infinity, the ancient forerunner slip-space drive began to power up, preparing to cut a hole between normal space and slipspace. Unlike human slip-space drives which use brute forces to "punch" a hole between the two realities. The forerunner slip-space drive is a more elegant device, taking a small rupture and enlarging it with surgical precision.

As the slip-space portal materialises and expands, Lasky was staring at the holograms representing the fleet. Looking at out through the viewport, he then proceeds to look at his watch

"Prepare to enter slip-space on my mar…"

"Sir, something is happening to the portal!" the frantic voice belonging to Lieutenant James cut off Captain Lasky before he could finish his sentence.

Turning about, he looked to see the slip-space portal growing with every passing second. Before he could start issuing orders, he was thrown back by a wave of blue energy as it spreads throughout the bridge, Cutting off power for a few seconds and throwing the bridge into darkness. The red emergency lights soon kicked in, illuminating the bridge. Warning alarms were going off and all monitors were displaying large yellow warning signs. Crew members were rushing about trying to rectify the immediate problems.

"Roland! What's going on?" Lasky grunted as he pulled himself up.

"Sir, something went wrong with the slip-space procedures, the portal has somehow become a gravitational abnormally and is pulling us towards it. In fact, this is the first time I've seen something like this happen. The Engineers have shut down the Drive but that abnormally is still pulling us towards it." Roland replied with a mix of both fear and excitement.

Silently cursing to himself, Lasky turned over to where Lieutenant James was sitting. The helmsman had his hands full for the moment, trying to give orders to the engine room, sweat running down his forehead.

"Lieutenant James, Full power to reverse thrusters now!"

"Sir the reverse thrusters ARE at full power, it's not enough! Main reactors are at 35%"

"All weapons systems are down; I repeat weapon systems are down!"

"Sir, we are receiving reports from the captains Williams of the Endurance and Captain Richards Freedoms call! They are reporting the same technical issues we are facing and are being dragged into the Anomaly as we speak."

The colour drained from Lasky's face. If the cruiser carrying Lord Hood was dragged into the abnormally, then the UNSC would be thrown into chaos. Lord Hood was one of the most influential members of the UNSC to date. The consequences of losing him would be far from good. The Infinity no matter how large or powerful, is still is a ship which could be replaced. But a man could not.

"Lieutenant Ryder, Inform all UNSC ships to maintain a safe distance of at least 10 km away from the anomaly. We can not afford to lose fleet Admiral hood!"

"Already did it, sir, apart from the endurance and freedoms call, the rest of the ships in the fleet are outside the zone."

Before Captain Lasky could let out a sigh of relief, the ship lurched forward, increasing in speed as the infinity is pulled towards the portal. Unable to resist the pull of the swirling blue vortex, the endurance and Freedoms call followed right behind the Infinity.

"This is it, Sir, we're going in!"

"Shit!" Lasky thought to himself before turning towards the intercom and made a ship-wide announcement.

ALL PERSONALS ONBOARD THE SHIP, HOLD ON TO SOMETHING. THIS IS GOING TO GET ROUGH!

With that, the crewmembers on the ship held on to whatever they could find as the Infinity and two of her escorts were dragged into the swirling vortex. As the last bit of the Infinity entered through, the portal collapsed on itself, releasing a wave of blue energy throughout its surroundings. Temporarily disabling the remainder of the Infinities escort fleet and several of the Orbital MACs.

Unknown planet xxxx

Louise shook and coughed as the dust settled after her recent failure of another cries from students surrounded her, but she didn't care because she had successfully summoned her familiar. She could almost see it, the shocked look of her peers' faces, they would have to acknowledge her now and she would rub it on their faces proof that she wasn't a Zero.

When there was no more dust she could see the students on the ground, some of them were standing up, one, in particular, was a tan girl with a very matured body, her skirt was too short to be approved by the school dress code, her button-up shirt had its first three buttons removed to in favour to show off her generous bust and if that wasn't showing enough skin well the rolled up sleeves were there to help a bit. Her crimson hair fell to her back which was had some tufts of it flared outside just like her affinity in fire, the girl was her tormentor, Kirche von Anhalt Zerbst.

"So? Where is this amazing familiar of yours Louise?" she asked.

Louise simply raised her chin up high, "Don't you see it?"

"Unless your familiar is an ant, then no… I don't see anything," Kirche said with a straight tone.

"What?"

Louise opened her eyes, true to the red head's words, there's no being in front of her, just grass and the students that were a few feet away from her, then she turned around hoping that it was behind her but it yielded the same result.

Louise exterior being was that of calm but inside she was panicking, how can this be? She was sure that whatever she saw in her vision was her familiar! Did it not appear because she was interrupted by someone when she was about to touch it. She kept spinning around but she didn't move an inch.

"How can this be? I-I I'm sure I saw it, I was about to touch it!" Louise muttered to herself.

"Ms Valliere, please step out of the summoning circle,"

Louise's body froze, her eyes were slowly watering but she held the dam. She turned around to see his final bastion of support Mr Colbert, he wore the standard teacher's grey robes and his staff had a red crystal that was wrapped with wood taken from a tree. The look on his face brought chills down Louise's spine, it was the look of pity. She knew what was going to happen next. Yet she wanted to hope that her teacher is lenient.

"I-I would like to try again, Mr Colbert," she said, her voice faltering

"I'm afraid I cannot let you do that Ms Valliere, now please step out of the summoning circle," He said sternly.

The dam that Louise was doing her best to hold broke, tears streamed from her face as she looked at her teacher with desperation in her eyes, "Please, Mr Colbert! Allow me to try again. Please!"

"Enough!" her teacher yelled at her silencing her.

Jean Colbert took a deep breath to calm his nerves as he tried his best to explain to his broken student why she couldn't try again, "The Spring Time Summoning Festival is a sacred festival that has started since the academy started, this was the tradition it had back then and we still hold it now. To break tradition now is considered an insult. Now please Ms Valliere, step out of the summoning circle,"

Louise knew that arguing with the teacher at this point is fruitless, the 'Rule of Steel' that her mother drilled into her head finally broke. Her chin touched her chest as she slowly walked out of the circle tears dropping on the grass, not a single one spoke. No one even murmured. In a way Louise wanted them to actually call her "Zero" at least it was like some sweet lie telling her that she's still studying in the academy and the teases that she endured was a testament to her that no matter what she was still accepted in the school. When she was finally out of the circle a hand grabbed her shoulder, she looked up to see the sad look of her teacher.

"Please pack your things. we will inform your family… you tried your best," Jean said trying to salvage the broken girl.

'But your best wasn't good enough' was what Louise thought. She ran away from her peers and headed straight to her room, she had taken enough insults already.

She just wants to go to her room and rest.

UNSC Infinity

Armoury 5

The Armouries of the Infinity would be mostly empty on a regular day, save for the quartermasters tending to the facility and a few sentries stationed to prevent any thefts. However, this time it was different. The facility was packed as marines rushed in to collect their gear and COs were shouting out orders.

As Saito clutched the BR55 in his hands, he could not help but feel a sense of apprehension and excitement. This was probably going to be his first combat experience in the marines, and he sure as hell was not going to die on his first battle. Falling in with the rest of the platoon, he made it just in time as the Lieutenant began to give out instructions.

"All right men, the platoon would be divided into groups of 3. Each group would be responsible for sweeping their assigned sector for hostiles. If you see anything suspicious, report it immediately. IS THAT CLEAR MARINES?"

"SIR YES SIR!" the platoon chorused determination evident in their voices.

"Private Hiraga, Private Marcus and Private Cheng, sweep sectors 34- 55 on deck 3 for any hostiles, standard ROE applies. Now get a move on!"

"Aye sir!" the trio responded as they hastily exited the armoury and made their way to their assigned locations. Across the corridor, Bright red lights illuminated the hallway and klaxons were blaring as crew members rushed around the ship to their positions. As they were running towards the elevator leading to deck 3, they overheard the various conversations going on around them.

"What do you mean the reactor is at 35%? The engines are fried? Then start repairing it immediately! We cannot afford to be drifting in space." A flustered engineer yelled over the horn to the crew members stationed at the engine room

"Second lieutenant get your pilots to their fighters immediately, they might be needed when we exit slip-space, there's no telling what's on the other side" A group of pilots accompanied by a naval officer were making their way to hanger bay 11, each carrying their flight helmets in one hand

"Man this reminds me of one of the movies I watched when I was a kid, next thing you know some kind of parasite would run around infecting the crew," Marcus mentions as the group tried to navigate their way through the already crowded and hectic hallway.

"See I told you, this ship was cursed, now we are in slip-space to god knows where and…."

"Alright, the elevator should be right after this turn," Saito said as he glanced at the hologram of the Ship's layout. A million thoughts were going through his head. From what little information he had gathered the Infinity has been dragged into a portal along with a few other ships. Could this be some sort of storm covenant trap? Or did the slip-space drive malfunctioned? He highly doubts it was the latter though. But if this is a storm covenant trap they were in deep trouble. Not only was the infinity's engines fried, apparently their weapon systems were down. Saito was not sure if the Infinity's armour alone could withstand energy projectors but he certainly did not want to find out. As he stepped into the lift, he noticed the looks on his friends' faces which were all too familiar to him, anxiety and excitement. This was probably going to be their first battle after all. Sweat was already starting to drip down from Marcus's forehead while Cheng was just staring blankly into space.

"Alright guys, I know this might be our first time in combat and you guys are likely scared shitless. But keep your cool and we would be fine, ok?"

Reassured, the two marines nodded, their eyes filled with determination. As the elevator finally arrives at deck 3, the doors opened and the trio stepped out, weapons ready to shred any storm covenant dumb enough to stand in their way.

Just about then the intercom system came to life with another announcement.

ALL HANDS WE ARE EXITING SLIPSPACE

Looking at each other, the trio was shocked. It has been less than 15 minutes and they were already at their destination? Even with the forerunner slip-space drive, the Infinity could not have travelled that fast.

Unknown system xxxx

UNSC infinity: bridge

As the Infinity emerged from slip-space, Captain Lasky could not help but look in awe at the blue and green planet below him. He was thankful that the infinity did not jump right into a moon but at the same time he could not help but wonder where they were. Unfortunately, he did not have time to ponder about it as there were other urgent matters to attend to. Such as the fact that infinity was on a collision course with the planet's surface!

"Roland, do you have any idea where the hell are we?"

"Unknown sir, the planet does not match any UNSC colonies from the records I have. Our navigation systems can't pinpoint our exact location either. we're not on the map anymore, that's for certain."

"What can you tell me about the planet?" Lasky was slowly getting impatient.

"The planet is the same size as earth and scans have shown that the planet's atmosphere is similar if not identical to that of the earth. Additionally, there are two moons orbiting around the planet, one is red while the other is blue."

As a holographic map of the surface was brought up, an idea immediately strikes Lasky.

"Roland! I want all power to the reverse thrusters; that should soften our descent. Lieutenant James, there's a plain right ahead at about 10000km, see if you can land the infinity there." Lasky ordered in a commanding voice as he pointed towards a field on the hologram.

"Yes, sir!"

"Sir, we are receiving transmissions from the Endurance and the freedom's call. They are reporting that all power has returned to their systems. They would be able to slow themselves down and also would be escorting us down to the surface." Lieutenant Ryder spoke as he fumbled with the communications monitor.

"Lieutenant Austen, Launch all strident frigates immediately. That should get rid of some of the weight."

"Understood sir, launching strident frigates," Austen replied as she issued commands. In the underbelly of the infinity, hanger doors were opened and magnetic locks were disengaged as the frigates were deployed. Fanning out from the underbelly, they took positions between the Infinity and the two autumn class cruisers, prepared to defend the Infinity from any threats. Due to the loss of weight, the Infinity manages to level out as it enters the atmosphere.

As Lasky watched as the Infinity slowly made it descent, he could not help but feel a sense of Deja vu. However, unlike requiem, this was a controlled crash which even though might damage the infinity it would not be too severe as compared to Requiem. To his shock, there were a few medieval like settlements on the surface.

"Sir, I'm detecting life signs and various settlements around the vicinity, several of which are in the Infinity's collision path!" Roland said in alarm as he processed the information.

"There's nothing we could do, right now we should be more concerned with trying to avoid reducing the Infinity to a pile of burning scrap!" Lasky replied. While it is regrettable that a few of the natives would perish, they have to look after themselves right now.

"Sir, I see the LZ, 5000 km and closing. I recommend that you hold on to whatever you can, this is going to get rough!" Exclaimed Lieutenant James as he pressed on multiple buttons which resulted in giving all the remaining power to the reverse thrusters.

"ALL HANDS, BRACE FOR IMPACT." Was the last thing Lasky said through the intercom before the Infinity made contact with the ground.

Unknown planet xxxx

Panic

That was the first thing that was felt by the sleeping kingdom of Tristain; one moment everyone was sleeping then a massive tremor, which came out of nowhere, woke the kingdom up. Fortunately for the kingdom, it was relatively unharmed. The only damages that it received were minor. Broken furniture here and a crumbled building there. All in all, it was nothing serious.

Unfortunately the same cannot be said for Tristain Magical Academy. For while in the kingdom its people only experienced what they believed was a square class earth mage spell gone wrong. The residents of the Academy believed that it was doomsday. Inside the building tables were toppled, paintings were knocked off their walls, delicate china was shattered. Bookshelves were tumbled like a line of dominos and the entire school was in utter chaos. Servants and maids approached nobles who were knocked over by the initial quake and helped them stand up, the ones that managed to stand up after the quake stepped outside of their rooms, dormitories and offices, curious as to what in Brimir is happening. The servants were already rushing inside multiple structures carrying brooms and other cleaning supplies. Teachers were also outside trying their best to quell the storm of panicked nobles.

One of these teachers was Jean Colbert, formerly known as the Flame Snake and captain of a mage company although he dropped that title long ago and decided to use his magic for other purposes like teaching his students.

"Everyone stay calm and go to your assigned years so that we may do a head count!" He shouted.

While the noise was still present the younger nobles listened. The ones wearing a brown cape gathered to the left, which consisted of first years. The students wearing black capes gathered in the centre which were the second years and finally the ones purple capes gathered to the right were the third years. The teachers responsible for each year began counting. Jean was responsible for the second years.

"…Ms. Folia, Mr Gramont, Ms Zerbst… where's Ms Valliere?!" he asked the class.

The class started to look around them hoping to find the failed mage but alas she was not found. Worry decided to show its ugly face in Colbert's features as they tried to look for the pinkette. The search stopped when flapping noises were heard which made Jean look up; it was Tabitha and she was riding on her newly summoned Rhyme Dragon.

"Ms Tabitha! I almost forgot about you, could you please help us find Ms Valliere it appears she isn't with her class," Colbert said.

"Tabitha, where have you been?" Kirche asked as she approached the blue haired girl.

"Investigate," was all she said.

"Investigate what Ms Tabitha?"

"Crash site, earthquake, not far from here,"

Colbert was a smart man so it didn't take him long to put two and two together, "Where is the direction of the crash?"

Tabitha looked in the direction of south-west and pointed her staff in that direction giving the fire mage a general direction.

"Thank you, we will investigate it as soon as we have all of the students here," Colbert said.

"Valliere,"

"What?"

"Valliere, crash site, investigate,"

Colbert's blood ran cold, the worry that was on his face heightened tenfold and sweat started to drip from his face as relaxation soon hit home.

"Ms Chevreuse, please watch over the children!"

The old earth mage looked at him and gave an understanding nod. Colbert left the courtyard and went straight to the stables; once he reached his desired location he noticed that the doors of one of the structures that housed a horse were wide open, Colbert clicked his tongue and went for another horse, once strapped in he smacked both of his legs beside the horse prompting it to go.

The Flame Snake left the premises of the academy in search of a Valliere.

"Please let me be wrong. By the founder please let me be wrong. " he thought as he pushed the horse as far as it could go towards the pillar of smoke rising in the horizon.

-LINE BREAK-

Louise was elated. She knew that she wasn't going crazy. Before the entire ordeal, she had managed to catch a glimpse of the colossal creature that she saw in her vision in the sky quickly descending not far from the academy. Without hesitation Louise left the dorm and sprinted to the stables to get a horse, once she had one she made a mad dash towards the crash site not noticing Tabitha, when she finally left the school's premises she finally felt the tremor that her familiar caused but it didn't hinder her, right now she was too focused to reaching her will be familiar.

After that, the school won't have to expel her and she will finally get the acknowledgement she rightfully deserved.

"I did it! I actually did it! Mother, father. I have done you proud! " she thought excitedly as she rode her horse towards her familiar.

Unfortunately, Fate had other plans for her. On that fateful day, Halkegenia was changed forever.

Imaginationsburstingout: And that's for the prologue of the story. I have to say I am really glad that this turned out well!

Zelta-nine: Oh dear, looks like lousie has run off to find the infinity, not to worry. Anyway, that's all for this chapter folks. Feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Imatignationsburtsingout: I hope you all enjoyed this prologue and expect a new chapter soon

Peace~

Zelta-nine: Next chapter is going to be interesting. stay frosty folks. Zelta nine out.