The Unexpected Enemy

Silence - not a word was received from the UNSC fleet since they had been sent to defend a major Outer Colony from the impending doom of an invading Covenant fleet. A handful of ships from another UNSC fleet were sent to investigate the loss of contact.

As the small group of human warships approached the planet, the Admiral was stunned - The Covenant fleet was in pieces. Molten purplish hunks of ships adrift in the dark void was all that remain of the Covenant fleet. Yet there was even less remaining of the UNSC fleet he had been sent to find. “Well, that solves that mystery.” The Admiral mumbled as he gazed at the wreckage, in utter shock. It took him nearly a minute to collect himself before he turned to the nearest crewmember with a new set of orders. “Alright, scan for any survivors. Pull whatever allied ship debris you can get. We need to know exactly what happened.”

The crew then got to work, shouting orders around to the lower enlisted. Sprinting into the bridge, unnoticed by the crew, was a young man with a datapad in each hand, somehow working on each one. He quickly saluted the Admiral who glanced to his right, and saw him.

“Yes Jae?” The Admiral addressed the man.

“Sir, our sensors are picking up signs of life. A few survivors made it to the escape pods. However, they had limited oxygen supplies, so I’m not sure how long they will last.” Jae replied curtly.

The Admiral simply nodded his head. He knew the situation was going to be grim.“Find those pods!” He barked to his staff. Several members of the bridge crew contacted the hangar, sending out Pelicans to see what they could bring back. Soon enough, the recovery crew successfully hauled in the first pod, upon opening it, they were greeted by an ODST, Staff Sergeant Jasyn Peire-Prestin.

“Thank the gods you showed up! We were left for dead!” He shouted as he slowly made his way off of the escape pod and onto the hangar bay floor.

The recovery crew looked at him in utter shock, and then confusion.

“What do you mean?” One of the crew replied after a few seconds of confused silence.

The ODST laughed, “I mean, whoever you sent to help us left us to die!” He exclaimed before behind taken by the medical team to the makeshift triage center on board. Almost instantly, whispers and rumors of the ODSTs outburst spread through the crew as they hauled in more escape pods. As far as everyone knew, no one was sent to assist the fleet until now, so something was not right.

The fleet continued to comb through the debris field. Up on the bridge, Jae spotted something unusual. He was seated at a console, datapads stacked on the floor when he glances up for two seconds, and gagged on his coffee, at what he saw.

“Ack! Whoa. What-what is that?”

There, in clear sight, was a massive, wedge shaped ship with muted grey and maroon markings. It was unlike anything Jae had ever seen.

“Admiral Athos? You may want to look up.” Jae called out.

Admiral Athos looked up and out into space “What the hell is that?”

He craned his neck, that was surely an alien vessel, but it was making no moves to attack. It stood still, and not a single attack fighter was in the area around it. Admiral Athos cast a worried glance at Jae, who promptly got to work patching a comm-channel together. Jae’s slim fingers tapped keys, flicked switches and tweaked dials.

“Gimme something to work with…” Jae’s blue eyes narrowed as he listened, but all that reached his ears was static thus far.

The Admiral stood there, watching the unknown vessel nervously, wondering why it was making no moves to attack or flee.

Down in the hangar bay, the crew of the UNSC Spark of Hope tended to the survivors of the battle, attempting to piece together a clear story as to what happened. There was one thing the survivors all agreed on, some outside force showed up, blasted the Covenant fleet to shreds and chased off their reinforcements.

One crewmember asked, “Was there a Spartan on board your ship?”

The admiral of what had once been the UNSC Coruscant, seemed lost in thought for a minute before replying, “Yes, there was. Master Chief Petty Officer Alaska oh-one-three.”

The crewmember took notes as the admiral continued,

“We have no idea if he got into the escape pods in time. Last we knew of him, he was fending off a boarding party single-handedly. I fear the worst.”

As soon as the admiral fell silent, a wave of whispers moved through the hangar, “Is he really dead?”

“Probably...if the ship blew up, there’s no way he could survive.”

The murmurs continued until the last recovery ship landed inside the hangar.

Meanwhile on the bridge, Admiral Athos was pacing, waiting for a line of communication to open between the two ships, but nothing had worked thus far. Jae got up and headed to the holotable, his skinny frame allowed him to slide underneath it. Careful as always, he fidgeted with various wires and other components, until an image sprang to life.

The hologram was static at first, but settled down after a few seconds, revealing an armored figure lounging in a command chair. The figure was not wearing a helmet, instead, they saw his face. With milky eyes that had scars running through them and well-defined facial structure, he radiated authority. Admiral Athos went white when the figure spoke.

“Admiral Athos, I may have a person of interest for you.” The hologram shifted and there was Alaska, down on his knees, hands bound behind his back and his helmet off. The Admiral swore angrily and Jae spooked, his head hitting the underside of the holotable. The figure stepped into view of the camera again.

“My demands are simple...You hand over the squad you are holding captive, and you get this brute back. Understood?”

Admiral Athos looked at Jae. Jae looked back at the Admiral and responded. “I have no idea what he’s talking about...But I can find out.”

Admiral Athos finally got his voice back in his throat, “Who are you?”

The man laughed darkly, “Who am I? I am Alpha, High Commander of the Thirteenth Assault Legion, Breaker of Armies. And you, mere human, have twenty-seven standard hours to return my men if you want this monster back.”

The Admiral narrowed his eyes as he read what Jae showed him on a datapad, “That cannot happen.”

Alpha snarled, revealing wicked fang-like teeth, “Well, that settles it, you will not get him back. And you have made enemies of me and the Galactic Republic .”