Depths of Space: The Uncertain Future (IC, Open)

[The Orson Empire]

Elysian Archives

A new message from the station had been sent only to the command ship. It seemed like an automatic message, and yet, the station appeared to be completely offline, as previous scans had detected no activity, or any life forms for that matter. It was also in the Cho'Dosan language, like the previous signals the merchant vessels had received.

"Admiral, we are detecting minimal power coming from this station," one of the officers would say.

"Something is alive on there..." the Admiral would say. While he had been disinterested before, he now found the situation very eerie. The admiral ordered some ships of the flotilla to break formation and conduct patrols around the station to monitor any activity that may happen.

Meanwhile, two Covenant transports landed at one of the hangars on the massive station. Deploying from one of the transports were the team of xenoarchaeologists, a mix of humans and Cho'Dosans who were some of the best minds in the Covenant, while a company of 100 Covenant marines deployed from the other two transports. They were armed to the teeth with a mix of plasma and magneto weapons, having anticipated any situation that may happen in the station.

"We will stick together as a group for now, but as we get further into this station, we will split up and search for artifacts in different directions," Dr. Kai would say to her team. "Captain, I request that you also split your forces up so that your marines may provide security."

"Affirmative," the captain replied.

[The V O I D]

Elysian Archives

A new message from the station had been sent only to the command ship. It seemed like an automatic message, and yet, the station appeared to be completely offline, as previous scans had detected no activity, or any life forms for that matter. It was also in the Cho'Dosan language, like the previous signals the merchant vessels had received.

"Admiral, we are detecting minimal power coming from this station," one of the officers would say.

"Something is alive on there..." the Admiral would say. While he had been disinterested before, he now found the situation very eerie. The admiral ordered some ships of the flotilla to break formation and conduct patrols around the station to monitor any activity that may happen.

Meanwhile, two Covenant transports landed at one of the hangars on the massive station. Deploying from one of the transports were the team of xenoarchaeologists, a mix of humans and Cho'Dosans who were some of the best minds in the Covenant, while a platoon of 100 Covenant marines deployed from the other two transports. They were armed to the teeth with a mix of plasma and magneto weapons, having anticipated any situation that may happen in the station.

"We will stick together as a group for now, but as we get further into this station, we will split up and search for artifacts in different directions," Dr. Kai would say to her team. "Captain, I request that you also split your forces up so that your marines may provide security."

"Affirmative," the captain replied.

The Archival System
The Elysian Archives / The Archives of the Elysian People
Space

As they boarded onto the station, it was very... intensely dark the deeper they went inside. Eerily so. The Archives seemed so empty of life or activity... it was borderline disturbing. The Archives seemed devoid of any other people aside from the expedition team. Occasionally, as they moved around the halls, they'd reach directional signs that were in some strange language - perhaps Elysian. It was oddly similar to certain languages in the galaxy; though, most of it was odd symbols and letters. The Archives seemed to have all of their doors open as the team explored. None were closed, as of yet.

A door marked SPECIALIZED EXPERIMENTATION AREA: LEVEL 9 CONTAINMENT in Elysian was one of the first actual non-hallway rooms they encountered, and it was somewhat deep into the station. The door was closed, the first closed door they had encountered. The Archives seemed to remain inactive still; there were no real signs of biological or artificial life throughout the station, and the minimal amount of power going throughout the Station seemed to be coming from the Station's core. The Archives didn't send any further messages thus far. This was becoming increasingly odd.

[Ubaria]

Aboard the Nights Cradle - 1st Diplomatic Flotilla
Fleet Comander Zhar-Cull Azif Callur
Orbit of Eto Prime - Faul System

“We will support the you in any way we can.”


Azif was relieved inside but remained stoic to both the Faulians, (who couldn't read their body language anyway) and to anybody else happening to be watching him on the bridge. They had an ally in this fight and perhaps as small and unwilling as they were, it was enough to become a deciding factor.

"Many thanks Minister. I shan't forget this gesture. A momentous asking i know, but your help will not go unrewarded i promise." He placed a single clenched fist close to his chest and bowed his head ever so slightly, a modicum of respect normally reserved for people of great honor, not to say the Faulians were un-deserving of such a thing, it felt strange not giving it to one of their own was all.

“There hasn’t been a war on Eto in generations. The Home Defense Fleet is untested, and though the admiral is competent, she and our cruiser are away for the time being. I do not ask you to lead us, but any help you could provide would be much appreciated.”

"They have come for us. We will use this to bait our trap. The Nights Cradle will bare the brunt of their attacking force. Hopefully enough to take the pressure off you and your ships."

Azif then came to note the unknown ships that had been present in the system for some time. Neither Zhong Vey or Faulian, the ships had been received in a similar manner to the Nights Cradle, an indication of yet more fresh alien faces.

"I cannot help but note the arrival of certain unknown elements within our presence. Are these allies of yours?" The Captain questioned. With a third party in the fray, things could turn from bad to worse extremely quickly, they could quickly mistake the incursion as a deliberate act of war and open fire on the Zhong Vey, or even the Faulians.

[The Orson Empire]

Elysian Archives

The group left the hangar and moved further into the planet-sized station. The marines and the archaeologists all wore environmental suits, should the environment in the station be toxic. However, Dr. Kai conducted a scan of the local air and found that it was completely breathable and contained no toxins, allowing everyone in the group to take off their helmets and breath freely. The air was stale, as if it had not circulated in a long time, but their suits only had enough oxygen to last for a few hours.

As they moved through the halls and away from the hangar, it became darker and darker. The station was completely quite, and the group found it odd that a station so large had absolutely no activity on it. Eventually, they came to a junction and split up into smaller groups which headed off in different directions throughout the station.

Dr. Kai led her group down one of the main hallways. She shined her flashlight on directional signs, which were in some foreign language that she couldn't read. After wandering, her group reached a door marked in the same foreign language.

"In here," Kai said quietly. The marines pointed their guns at the door as Kai opened it....

[True Refuge]

Captain Syrinx and Oenone
Faux, Faulian Republic

...

Syrinx responded quickly again, but added a tinge of worry to her voice, a bit of an alarm.

"The Second Chance is not responding to our orders, and we are not receiving any signals from them. It's probable that their communication equipment has malfunctioned. Their mission's horribly underfunded. If it is a malfunction, they don't have the proper materials. In the data log I was sent as part of my brief... upon further revision it states that the Second Chance's FTL drive is depleted and on departure will not be able to reach its home system. We may require transferring the ship's crew here, but as I have no way of contacting them, I cannot organize a rendezvous."

An affinity link opened between one of the crew on the Second Chance, one of the few on board with the gene, and Syrinx topped off the easy lies with an angry order. Tell your fellow crew and Cranel not to respond to any hails. Pretend that your equipment has failed. Enter an error report, whatever, just set it up. She ignored the startled splutters of the crew member.

Something like a sigh came to Syrinx from Oenone. The lies are flowing today, aren't they, Sly-minx?
It's necessary to find out what the problem that's going on here is, and I want to push for diplomacy at some point. If we leave now, we won't be able to return for whatever amount of time it takes to resolve it.
I wish you weren't this serious whenever we're flying...
Syrinx thawed considerably at this comment from the ship, and added warmth behind her words.
Oh, come on, Ony, it's part of my job. I can't do anything else... Do you want to fly for fun when we get back?
Alright...

Syrinx refocused on the Nomu's transmission. "My orders are to retrieve the Second Chance's crew, however long it takes for them to get their equipment into a rudimentary state."

---

Ky Cranel & The Crew of the Second Chance

"Sir! Sir!" The calls of the affinity-inclined crew member rang out from the crew's quarters, small as they were. Ky quickly walked into the room of his and gave the fearful soldier a once-over.

"What the hell is wrong, man?"

"Captain Syrinx contacted me over affinity... she wants us to basically play dead!"

"What?" Ky exclaimed, before rubbing his forehead in muffled frustration. "Fine. Might as well play along. Matt, shut off everything related to communications."

[The NAR]

After grabbing the chip now filled with the station's databank and the advanced Kelraaza AI, Daniel and the other Marines grabbed their dead... or the pieces of them, rather, and began to make their way back to the shuttle bay. As they ran, the shock from his wounds began to wear off, and Daniel was faced with an immense pain beyond most things he'd ever experienced. He felt as though his arm was still there but when he looked down, there was nothing. A stinging pained churned from within his body, and his exterior ached and bled. Still, they drove on - rushing through the system of corridors and steadily approaching the shuttle bay. As they ran, Daniel got over the Task Force comms and began to relay and order. "All units, this is Maxson" he groaned in a weak, pained, raspy voice. "Fall back to the Pennsylvania - we're getting out of here".

As they turned the corner, they found themselves face-to-face with five Atlas Marines. They raised their weapons for only a moment, directly at the Tagali soldiers, and seemed to ignore the two Alliance Marines. Though, Daniel stepped in front of them - in front of Jagan and his men. Daniel was covered in blood, sweat, and grime, brutally beaten and missing an arm, but stood tall. "The station's going to blow any minute. Get out of here while you still can". The Atlas Marines exchanged glances, then lowered their rifles, then running past the Task Force and disappearing down the hallway. Soon enough, the Task Force reached the shuttle bay, and they would all participate and loading the Alliance dead into one of the shuttles. Only two Marines - Daniel and the survivor of the Command center who's name turned out to be Gomez - boarded alive, and the pilot seemed visibly shaken by such. The shuttle departed from the station, roaring through space towards the Pennsylvania...

[Naretion]

A fleet of ships from Naretion had arrived to the Antivarian homeworld. It was a Chemako fleet. Chemakos were intelligent apes that were new to the space flight scene. Their ships were all rather small, but fast and maneuverable. There were quite a few of them as many smaller ships were needed to transport all the workers. The Art Mek envoy fleet was still in orbit and linked up with the Chemako fleet to discuss the construction of the embassy.

Chemakos were a very traditional species with a warrior culture. If you were not a child or an elderly then you were taught how to fight and work. Elders were trained in politics and trusted to lead the Chemakos in all situations. Chemakos were very often used for construction crews and guerrilla warfare since those roles complimented their strengths. They are however not VERY intelligent. They achieved a very basic level of intelligent comparable to older breeds of humans that died out and were launched into space by the humans of The League when they were discovered. Because of this they hold an unsure spot on the council and they are not allowed to act on behalf of Naretion without another member species watching over them. Because of this, three gigantic Nev Wark dreadnoughts had escorted the Chemakos here.

The Nev Wark ships were intimidatingly huge and covered in guns and armor. The Nev Warks are a species of mainly clones, and every single one in the fleet that arrived was a clone. They were large green monstrous looking creatures and made up a majority of The League's firepower. The reason they were chosen to escort the Chemakos here was because their space was on the edge of League space and were the closest to the Antivarian sector. They are far from good diplomats, but as an escort service they can prove to be very efficient.

The fleet waited in orbit for the signal for construction to begin.

[Spindle]

CIC
HES Watchful
Bernard's Star Inner Orbit

Amon let some of the tension slip out of his body as the Colma began to pull out, pulling his ships out of the way to let them leave unhindered. Right now, his priority was keeping the orbitals clean, not taking out their fleet and he wasn't willing to leave the fallback of the orbital defence network. Not until he could be confident in victory. Still, as the Colma extracted themselves from the ISC formation, Amon was pleased with the result, if not happy.

A shower of particle beams doused the Orions for a moment, highlighting them with their stark emerald light. Amon's eyes widened in his pod, body jolting involuntarily. When the light ceased, the main barrels were compromised in dozens of locations: the ships now effectively useless. An ugly anger welled up inside of Amon's breast before he quashed it. The orbital dockyards might be able to patch them in time of the next engagement.

Multiple pursuit queries reached the Watchful, requesting positions. Amon turned all of them down. A pursuit at this point could be disastrous...especially if the Colma had more of their ships ready to suicide. He couldn't risk their position in the system to run them down. Not when there was too much to protect here. As the distance increased, more and more of the cyberwarfare functions ceased until there was nothing linking the Watchful to the Colma ships in cyberspace. And with that, the battle seemed finished. Amon wondered who had actually won.

[The Armed Republic of Dutch Coolness]

Fusethorn, Colony World of Ronasor
Music

---

Taking into account the scenery below, it was rather interesting to First Lieutenant Alistair Timurovich how he could still enjoy Ronasor's mild temperatures. The doors on the side of the Raven-pattern dropship open, his legs dangled in the air as the ship carried its payload over the ruins of what had once been the mining town of Fusethorn, now naught but ruins. Checking the magazine of his R101, he gave a quiet nod to himself. Pity what had happened, really. He had seen how the town looked before it had first been bombed as the first plan of attack was being set up. It had always been rather dull, perhaps, but the boring metal buildings combined with the ever vibrant weather had something of a charm, he thought. Well, such was the fate of those that turned against their rightful rulers. Fusethorn had been a stronghold for terrorists that rose against the Emperor's rule, and it had paid the price for it.

Shame that a sizable portion of the lot had managed to escape into the forests, meaning that the Imperial Defense Force's job was not yet done here. The ship descending closer to the surface, Timurovich stood up from his position, climbing back into the dropship and throwing the door shut. As he made his way to the ramp at the back, he didn't even deign give a glance to the Fyranth leaning back in her chair, hastily typing on her data-pad. He never liked those Intelligence Agency folks anyway - one could never truly trust them, he had found. The soldier pulled a lever nearby, and the ramp slowly came down as the ship touched the ground. As the rest of the soldiers stood up and got ready to move out of the dropship, the First Lieutenant heard the voice of a woman from behind him. "You've got four hours." Alistair turned around, and saw the Intelligence Officer look at him or a short second, before turning her attention back to the datapad. "What?" This time, she did not look back. "Said you got three hours." That did not answer much. "Until what?" The Fyranth nonchalantly took a sip from a bottle she held next to her. "Until the terrorists try to make a run for it, of course. It's all over their networks, they're having some ships land in the middle of nowhere. Can't locate where, though I'll guess I will be able to locate them when they're actually there."

Timurovich stood there, thinking what to do next - if what the woman was saying was true, they'd have to be damn fast. Again, she looked at him, still leaning backwards in her seat. "What are you standing there for? You want to get them, you better hurry! I've already informed the captain, so off you go." The First Lieutenant did just that, the ramp behind him closing again before the ship flew off into the distance again. Boy, if he didn't hate them already he would sure hate Intelligence by now. Looking at the ruins of Fusethorn, and the sprawling forests in the distance, Alistair gave a sigh. How the hell was he supposed to manage to do this?

[The V O I D]

Elysian Archives

The group left the hangar and moved further into the planet-sized station. The marines and the archaeologists all wore environmental suits, should the environment in the station be toxic. However, Dr. Kai conducted a scan of the local air and found that it was completely breathable and contained no toxins, allowing everyone in the group to take off their helmets and breath freely. The air was stale, as if it had not circulated in a long time, but their suits only had enough oxygen to last for a few hours.

As they moved through the halls and away from the hangar, it became darker and darker. The station was completely quite, and the group found it odd that a station so large had absolutely no activity on it. Eventually, they came to a junction and split up into smaller groups which headed off in different directions throughout the station.

Dr. Kai led her group down one of the main hallways. She shined her flashlight on directional signs, which were in some foreign language that she couldn't read. After wandering, her group reached a door marked in the same foreign language.

"In here," Kai said quietly. The marines pointed their guns at the door as Kai opened it....

The Archival System
The Elysian Archives / The Archives of the Elysian People
Space

As the expedition team forced the door open, that seemed to trigger something. The entire Station began to 'wake up.' The power generator seemed to increase to maximum power at the core of the Station, and the power readings were near that of the power produced by a star. The Station began lighting up everywhere, the door opening by itself the rest of the way automatically. The Archives seemed very much alive now. With the Station fully 'alive', though, the signal was now stronger than ever; it began sending out the message inviting people into the Archives on all frequencies rather than randomized ones, and in almost every known and seemingly unknown language of the galaxy. It seemed to use even long-extinct languages or dialects.

Within the room they entered, as the lights finished turning on, there were various rooms within the room. As well as observation windows. There were also what looked like weapons and other technologies in the back, as well as computers and terminals. The Archives glowed brightly inside, being an eerie blue color in most areas; this glowing blue was outside as well. The Archives seemed to also glow red in other areas. The Station, now fully active, began moving and shifting slightly; the Spire underneath it, which made up the other half of the 'planet', began to shift and turn, adjusting itself. The Station then stilled. No messages seemed sent out; the Station simply came alive. There was still no signs of biological life on board.

[The Greater Gambia]

-deleted

[The Greater Gambia]

The Fist of Authority - 10^th Theta Sector Forward Operations Base
Malaekor System

Alia simply nodded after Konekov said that. She then cut off the communications, setting up a live comms feed with her master, Lord Arkoavu. While she waited, she continued to think of something. Perhaps these people could get her free, as well. She squashed that thought immediately. No. She could do more in her current position, she decided. After a long moment, Lord Arkoavu answered the call; his face extremely cybernetic. The infamous Lord of Seukana was not to be trifled with, she knew. She spoke to Arkoavu.

"My Lord, a large fleet is here claiming to be of the 'Tagali Federation.' Some of their citizens were taken as merchandise by the 201^st Slaver Fleet, and they want their people back. I told them I would call you for a Crosin Diplomatic Unit.", she said. Lord Arkoavu looked thoughtful for a moment, his crimson eyes analyzing her silently. He simply nodded, the comms channel closing. She knew what this meant. A Crosin Diplomatic Unit was on their way. After a moment, she reopened the comms with Konekov.

"Lord Arkoavu is sending a Crosin Diplomatic Unit; they shall be here within the hour. If you would like, you can dock some of your ships with the Fist of Authority. Or you can send whoever shall be negotiating with the CDU in question.", she informed the Admiral. The Mistress seemed now somewhat disinterested in all of this. It was odd how she could switch between playful and disinterested at a moment's notice.

"A Representative will be dispatched along with an armed escort. Any harm that comes to them will be returned in kind to your outpost." A dropship flew out from the lead Capital Ship, soon landing in the hangar of the "Fist of Authority". The first one to exit off of the craft was a rare sight outside of Federation space. A Shanji, the plant-based lifeforms of the Federation. Most Shanji stay within the interior of the Federation, living peaceful lives as farmers. They usually care little of international affairs and the local squabbles, except for their own rivalry with the Apri. Accompanying the Representative was a team of five Marines, two of them being capable psionics. The team waited patiently for the Tsveri Representative to greet them.

[The Orson Empire]

Elysian Archives

The group left the hangar and moved further into the planet-sized station. The marines and the archaeologists all wore environmental suits, should the environment in the station be toxic. However, Dr. Kai conducted a scan of the local air and found that it was completely breathable and contained no toxins, allowing everyone in the group to take off their helmets and breath freely. The air was stale, as if it had not circulated in a long time, but their suits only had enough oxygen to last for a few hours.

As they moved through the halls and away from the hangar, it became darker and darker. The station was completely quite, and the group found it odd that a station so large had absolutely no activity on it. Eventually, they came to a junction and split up into smaller groups which headed off in different directions throughout the station.

Dr. Kai led her group down one of the main hallways. She shined her flashlight on directional signs, which were in some foreign language that she couldn't read. After wandering, her group reached a door marked in the same foreign language.

"In here," Kai said quietly. The marines pointed their guns at the door as Kai opened it....

The Archival System
The Elysian Archives / The Archives of the Elysian People
Space

As the expedition team forced the door open, that seemed to trigger something. The entire Station began to 'wake up.' The power generator seemed to increase to maximum power at the core of the Station, and the power readings were near that of the power produced by a star. The Station began lighting up everywhere, the door opening by itself the rest of the way automatically. The Archives seemed very much alive now. With the Station fully 'alive', though, the signal was now stronger than ever; it began sending out the message inviting people into the Archives on all frequencies rather than randomized ones, and in almost every known and seemingly unknown language of the galaxy. It seemed to use even long-extinct languages or dialects.

Within the room they entered, as the lights finished turning on, there were various rooms within the room. As well as observation windows. There were also what looked like weapons and other technologies in the back, as well as computers and terminals. The Archives glowed brightly inside, being an eerie blue color in most areas; this glowing blue was outside as well. The Archives seemed to also glow red in other areas. The Station, now fully active, began moving and shifting slightly; the Spire underneath it, which made up the other half of the 'planet', began to shift and turn, adjusting itself. The Station then stilled. No messages seemed sent out; the Station simply came alive. There was still no signs of biological life on board.

After Dr. Kai opened the door, the team looked around as the entire station began to come online. The lights on the station turned on, meaning that the teams could now see where they were going without having to use their flashlights. The marines pointed their weapons around, as if expecting something to come from nowhere, while chatter on the comms increased as the other teams were wondering what was going on.

In space, the admiral's cruiser detected a massive surge in the power level aboard the station, with the power readings near that of a main-sequence star. An eerie blue glow surrounded the station. The Archives were now broadcasting messages on all frequencies and in multiple languages, and the station itself began to shift.

"Dr. Kai, are you and your teams alright?" the admiral inquired over his comms. "The station is now completely online, but we are still not detecting any signs of biological life aboard."

"We're fine, admiral," Kai replied. "Whatever I did....it must have triggered the station to activate."

As the team entered the room, the saw that there were even more rooms and observation windows inside. They then noticed what like weapons in the back of the room.

"Our first discovery..." one of the archaeologists would say as they walked over to the back.

[Ithalian Empire]

A fleet of ships from Naretion had arrived to the Antivarian homeworld. It was a Chemako fleet. Chemakos were intelligent apes that were new to the space flight scene. Their ships were all rather small, but fast and maneuverable. There were quite a few of them as many smaller ships were needed to transport all the workers. The Art Mek envoy fleet was still in orbit and linked up with the Chemako fleet to discuss the construction of the embassy.

Chemakos were a very traditional species with a warrior culture. If you were not a child or an elderly then you were taught how to fight and work. Elders were trained in politics and trusted to lead the Chemakos in all situations. Chemakos were very often used for construction crews and guerrilla warfare since those roles complimented their strengths. They are however not VERY intelligent. They achieved a very basic level of intelligent comparable to older breeds of humans that died out and were launched into space by the humans of The League when they were discovered. Because of this they hold an unsure spot on the council and they are not allowed to act on behalf of Naretion without another member species watching over them. Because of this, three gigantic Nev Wark dreadnoughts had escorted the Chemakos here.

The Nev Wark ships were intimidatingly huge and covered in guns and armor. The Nev Warks are a species of mainly clones, and every single one in the fleet that arrived was a clone. They were large green monstrous looking creatures and made up a majority of The League's firepower. The reason they were chosen to escort the Chemakos here was because their space was on the edge of League space and were the closest to the Antivarian sector. They are far from good diplomats, but as an escort service they can prove to be very efficient.

The fleet waited in orbit for the signal for construction to begin.

The space around the homeworld had always been a chaotic place with hundreds of stations and thousands of ships, both military and civilian, bustling about. But it was different today. With the arrival of the Chemakos and the three Nev Wark dreadnoughts in the system most traffic was diverted to one of Antivars two moons. The space around the world was nearly empty.

Greeting the Naretion fleet was the First Strike Fleet, this was one of the elite fleets of the UUC. Composed of ten Angar Class Dystorers three Aderveras Class Battlecruser two Antivar Class Battleships and a single Tarngan Class Carrier

This fleet was there more for show than for the protection of the visiting fleet. As soon as the Naretion fleet was in orbit around the planet a message was sent.

Welcome to Antivar. The Dreadnoughts are to remain go to an orbit of 2,000 kilometers and hold, the transports are to go to an orbit of 400 kilometers. Shuttles will arrive shortly to begin unloading Chemakos and there supplies. After unloading all ships are free to settle into an orbit of 500 kilometers. If it is wished for more shuttles to ferry down personnel from the Dreadnoughts than that can be arranged.

[The V O I D]

The Archival System
The Elysian Archives / The Archives of the Elysian People
Space

As the expedition team forced the door open, that seemed to trigger something. The entire Station began to 'wake up.' The power generator seemed to increase to maximum power at the core of the Station, and the power readings were near that of the power produced by a star. The Station began lighting up everywhere, the door opening by itself the rest of the way automatically. The Archives seemed very much alive now. With the Station fully 'alive', though, the signal was now stronger than ever; it began sending out the message inviting people into the Archives on all frequencies rather than randomized ones, and in almost every known and seemingly unknown language of the galaxy. It seemed to use even long-extinct languages or dialects.

Within the room they entered, as the lights finished turning on, there were various rooms within the room. As well as observation windows. There were also what looked like weapons and other technologies in the back, as well as computers and terminals. The Archives glowed brightly inside, being an eerie blue color in most areas; this glowing blue was outside as well. The Archives seemed to also glow red in other areas. The Station, now fully active, began moving and shifting slightly; the Spire underneath it, which made up the other half of the 'planet', began to shift and turn, adjusting itself. The Station then stilled. No messages seemed sent out; the Station simply came alive. There was still no signs of biological life on board.

After Dr. Kai opened the door, the team looked around as the entire station began to come online. The lights on the station turned on, meaning that the teams could now see where they were going without having to use their flashlights. The marines pointed their weapons around, as if expecting something to come from nowhere, while chatter on the comms increased as the other teams were wondering what was going on.

In space, the admiral's cruiser detected a massive surge in the power level aboard the station, with the power readings near that of a main-sequence star. An eerie blue glow surrounded the station. The Archives were now broadcasting messages on all frequencies and in multiple languages, and the station itself began to shift.

"Dr. Kai, are you and your teams alright?" the admiral inquired over his comms. "The station is now completely online, but we are still not detecting any signs of biological life aboard."

"We're fine, admiral," Kai replied. "Whatever I did....it must have triggered the station to activate."

As the team entered the room, the saw that there were even more rooms and observation windows inside. They then noticed what like weapons in the back of the room.

"Our first discovery..." one of the archaeologists would say as they walked over to the back.

The Archival System
The Elysian Archives / The Archives of the Elysian People
Space

As they journeyed towards the back of the main room, they'd pass by the windows of the various observation rooms. What looked like machines were inside, as well as odd tubes. Some of the tubes looked more like containment or healing vats; something you'd preserve a body in, or contain something in. As they reached the back of the room, they'd realize the weapons rack had a locking mechanism attached; the weapons were held in place to their rack. What looked like a biometric scanner was nearby the rack, presumably to unlock a weapon and free it from containment.

The computer access terminal began to shift in various texts on screen, until it reached traditional Cho'Dosan. The terminal began adjusting itself until it was about the height of Dr. Kai, almost... symbiotically. The Terminal seemed to only say the words Elysian Command Terminal 59202102940, in Cho'Dosan. The Station seemed to be almost... actively accommodating? But, why? The terminal, after a moment, changed to a new screen. The new screen had text on it in various symbols/letters, which began to adjust to Cho'Dosan.

Welcome to Elysian Command Terminal 59202102940, also known as Command Terminal J-Z-T.

Please select a command:

-- [VIEW REFERENCE DATA: SPECIALIZED EXPERIMENTATION AREA: LEVEL 9 CONTAINMENT]
-- [AN INTRODUCTION TO SPECIALIZED EXPERIMENTATION AREA: LEVEL 9 CONTAINMENT FACILITY]
-- [ADMINISTRATION]
-- [MAP]
-- [RESURRECT SUBJECTS 1-10]
-- [EXIT TERMINAL]

The strangest thing about this all would probably be the fact that "Subjects 1-10" were probably filling all ten of the observation cells, probably contained in those vats. Resurrection technology? As in, bringing the dead back to the land of the living? Even the long dead? Well, one thing was for sure, the Elysians dabbled in some... pretty odd sciences. A map might be useful, as well... odd. For some reason, it felt as though they were being watched... the Station seemed otherwise fine, empty. How intriguing.

The Fist of Authority - 10^th Theta Sector Forward Operations Base
Malaekor System

Alia simply nodded after Konekov said that. She then cut off the communications, setting up a live comms feed with her master, Lord Arkoavu. While she waited, she continued to think of something. Perhaps these people could get her free, as well. She squashed that thought immediately. No. She could do more in her current position, she decided. After a long moment, Lord Arkoavu answered the call; his face extremely cybernetic. The infamous Lord of Seukana was not to be trifled with, she knew. She spoke to Arkoavu.

"My Lord, a large fleet is here claiming to be of the 'Tagali Federation.' Some of their citizens were taken as merchandise by the 201^st Slaver Fleet, and they want their people back. I told them I would call you for a Crosin Diplomatic Unit.", she said. Lord Arkoavu looked thoughtful for a moment, his crimson eyes analyzing her silently. He simply nodded, the comms channel closing. She knew what this meant. A Crosin Diplomatic Unit was on their way. After a moment, she reopened the comms with Konekov.

"Lord Arkoavu is sending a Crosin Diplomatic Unit; they shall be here within the hour. If you would like, you can dock some of your ships with the Fist of Authority. Or you can send whoever shall be negotiating with the CDU in question.", she informed the Admiral. The Mistress seemed now somewhat disinterested in all of this. It was odd how she could switch between playful and disinterested at a moment's notice.

"A Representative will be dispatched along with an armed escort. Any harm that comes to them will be returned in kind to your outpost." A dropship flew out from the lead Capital Ship, soon landing in the hangar of the "Fist of Authority". The first one to exit off of the craft was a rare sight outside of Federation space. A Shanji, the plant-based lifeforms of the Federation. Most Shanji stay within the interior of the Federation, living peaceful lives as farmers. They usually care little of international affairs and the local squabbles, except for their own rivalry with the Apri. Accompanying the Representative was a team of five Marines, two of them being capable psionics. The team waited patiently for the Tsveri Representative to greet them.

The Fist of Authority - 10^th Theta Sector Forward Operations Base
Malaekor System

A single squadron of apparently armed Faang were there to greet them. However, their weapons were at rest and seemed as though they had no ill intentions. One of the Faang stepped forward, kneeling slightly, bowing his head. The Faang let out a slight hiss of some kind, but it sounded like he was trying to be respectful oddly enough. The Faang stood after a moment, speaking.

"I am Dagha Ramil of Clan Dagha, ssssservant of the Tssssveri Empire, loyal to the command of Misssstressss Alia Faelisssss. The Missssstressssss hassss ordered that I take you to one of the debriefing roomssss to wait for the diplomat. Ssssshe also requesssstsssss that your guardssss refrain from ussssing their weaponsssss on board the ssstation if at all posssssible, and if they mussssst keep them.", Ramil said. Apparently, the Faang used their last name first, and their first name last. Or perhaps something along those lines. The Faang's hissing at every 's' was kind of annoying, though.

[The Greater Gambia]

After grabbing the chip now filled with the station's databank and the advanced Kelraaza AI, Daniel and the other Marines grabbed their dead... or the pieces of them, rather, and began to make their way back to the shuttle bay. As they ran, the shock from his wounds began to wear off, and Daniel was faced with an immense pain beyond most things he'd ever experienced. He felt as though his arm was still there but when he looked down, there was nothing. A stinging pained churned from within his body, and his exterior ached and bled. Still, they drove on - rushing through the system of corridors and steadily approaching the shuttle bay. As they ran, Daniel got over the Task Force comms and began to relay and order. "All units, this is Maxson" he groaned in a weak, pained, raspy voice. "Fall back to the Pennsylvania - we're getting out of here".

As they turned the corner, they found themselves face-to-face with five Atlas Marines. They raised their weapons for only a moment, directly at the Tagali soldiers, and seemed to ignore the two Alliance Marines. Though, Daniel stepped in front of them - in front of Jagan and his men. Daniel was covered in blood, sweat, and grime, brutally beaten and missing an arm, but stood tall. "The station's going to blow any minute. Get out of here while you still can". The Atlas Marines exchanged glances, then lowered their rifles, then running past the Task Force and disappearing down the hallway. Soon enough, the Task Force reached the shuttle bay, and they would all participate and loading the Alliance dead into one of the shuttles. Only two Marines - Daniel and the survivor of the Command center who's name turned out to be Gomez - boarded alive, and the pilot seemed visibly shaken by such. The shuttle departed from the station, roaring through space towards the Pennsylvania...

"Commander, the boarding teams are returning to the Pennsylvania. Heavy Alliance casualties, Captain Daniel Maxson is critically injured." Shiva said. Yaliza exhaled.

"Prep the medical bay for when they arrive. What is the situation with the facility?" Shiva brought up a hologram of the facility, red lines coursing through it leading to a central area of the facility.

"Scans indicate safety measures have been disabled from the Facilities Fusion core. Detonation is imminent, I advise immediately evacuation to minimum safe distance." Yaliza called out for the Helmsman.

"You heard her. Get us out of here."

"No can do, ma'am. The Covenant Cruiser still has us in its tractor beam."

"Shiva, are you able to use electronic countermeasures."

"I'm sorry, Madame, but the sudden severing from the Facility has temporarily disabled some of my features." Yaliza racked her head for ideas, yet none were to be found. It seemed as the Task force would be short lived, until the Leviathan continued through the Covenant fleet.

Covenant fleet

The Leviathan pushed its way through the Covenant fleet, crashing through ship after ship while sustaining very little damage itself. The large construct soon came in contact with the Covenant Cruiser. The Leviathan grabbed the smaller vessel, brushing off the incoming fire. A red glow came from the orb like structure on the Leviathan. The glow continued to grow larger until the Leviathan unleashed a devastating beam of plasma energy, cutting the ship in half.

Back on the Pennsylvania, the crew was shocked to see the large war machine destroy the vessel with very little effort. Suddenly, an unfamiliar voice came through the comms.

"I have taken direct control of the Leviathan. Hopefully this repays for the transgressions of myself and my former master. Send Captain Daniels my regards." It was the Kelraaza Construct, sacrificing itself to keep the facility from falling into the hands of the enemy and creating an opening for the Pennsylvania to escape. Yaliza smile.

"Thank you, Adjutant. We all owe you are lives." Yaliza then recalled the Battlesuits out in combat.

"All Battlesuit units. The facility is about to blow. Fall back to the Pennsylvania, we're leaving."

Dogfight of Marie and Utri

Marie's strike suit flew maneuvers to avoid Utri's plasma torpedoes, flying loops until she ended up behind Utri's interceptor. She quickly transformed her Strike Suit into mech mode, launching over a dozen missiles only for the Covenant pilot to evade all of them. It was obvious that Marie wasn't dealing with any regular pilot, but a flying ace. Suddenly, Yaliza's order to withdraw came in. Marie smirked, moving her controls as to where her Strike suit would do a quick bow.

"Well, Mon ami, it seems this dance has come to an end." Marie's Strike Suit quickly reformed into it's flight mode, joining the other Strike Suits and Ostian Battle Suits in retreat.

[The Moscow Metro Red Line]

Zobus Nebula - Dronis Sector - Covenant Space

"This is Witch Doctor 01 to Horseman 01, affirmative. We'll leave the interceptors to you. But if we get plasma in the ass, you're paying for the bill, over." Messer added joking at the end of the statement. His team of battlesuits continued harassing the transports as the Four horsemen continued their counter-attack on the incoming transports. As the boarding pods were nearing the station, five bright lights shimmered from the station and came closer to the boarding pods. Three of them soared past the stream, one of them exploded next to a pod and another hit a pod directly. The sergeant looked at the results of the first missile barrage. "Those pods are coming too fast!" It will take twenty to thirty seconds for the pods to reach the station, the Sergeant though to himself. "Wait for my command! Launchers at the ready!" The distinct shapes came close and closer.

"Sergeant! They're getting closer!" One of the soldiers carrying the launcher yelled.

"Wait for my command!" The sergeant reiterated. The pods were a mere five seconds from making impact. "Activate boosters now! Get off the station!" The whole squad boosted upwards as the pods made contact with the station. "Fire!" Five missiles fired at the newly crashed boarding pods, each made its mark on the craft. One of the craft split open, and numerous debris and bodies began floating out the exposed hole. A few of the bodies were moving, so the five other soldiers who carried the extra ammunition fired at them with their rifles.

---

Hanger - USS Pennsylvania

"Affirmative." Minna spoke over the intercom and began concentrating. The frame of the Su-01 began glow with an eerie ethereal blue color. Even though all the lights in the hanger were on, it was very apparent that the whole frame was glowing which shocked everyone. Minna could feel her conscious slipping from her body, and started to feel the thousands if not hundred of thousands of minds around her. She began focused and reached around for the particular minds. This took longer than expected but soon enough she heard a chime from her distant body. Something along the lines like, contact had been re-established with the Commander. No matter, she still reached out until she could feel the Commander's conscious. He was injured, but she could alleviate the pain at the moment. She then began speaking to the Commander in his mind. "If your wondering why your body feel much better, it's because I've temporarily blocked your pain receptors. No need to thank me at the moment." She then reached out towards Yaliza's conscious. "I've eased the Commander's pain temporarily. But he'll need some sort of medical attention."

---

Zobus Nebula - Dronis Sector - Covenant Space

"This is Witch Doctor 01 to Keep 02, affirmative. We're pulling out immediately, out." The Ostian battlesuits accelerated towards the USS Pennsylvania. Just then a rather small circle began heading towards the USS Pennsylvania as well. It was the other squad, who were increasing their acceleration by clasping hands and forming a circle. "This is Kilo 15 to Keep 02, we are withdrawing we should be able to make it to the USS Pennsylvania at this speed, out."

Captain Kerper was still in the hanger watching the whole battle take place from the open door. He looked around at the hanger crew who were still in awe at the glowing frame. "Get to work people, we've got casualties and pilots coming in!" At the Captain's order the hanger sprang once more into life as everyone began to prepare for the arrival of the shuttle and the suits.

[The NAR]

Hangar - USS Pennsylvania

The two shuttles set down in the hangar of the Pennsylvania just as it took off into FTL and abandoned the Zobus System. The Derelict station would explode in a titanic ball of fire - destroying anything even remotely close to it. The Task Force, despite the losses, had been successful in it's mission... at least part of it. The Dreadnought was nowhere to be found, but they'd acquired vast Kelraaza libraries containing everything from history, to technology, to culture. Daniel wouldn't have considered it worth the loss of life on the Alliance's behalf, but what's done is done. As he stumbled weakly out of his shuttle, the pain across his body was temporary elevated, but only seconds later his head would erupt in sharp pain, and the pain would return with a passion. Something was wrong. He fell onto his knees, struggling back onto his feet, and began to weakly proceed to the medbay.

[Naretion]

The space around the homeworld had always been a chaotic place with hundreds of stations and thousands of ships, both military and civilian, bustling about. But it was different today. With the arrival of the Chemakos and the three Nev Wark dreadnoughts in the system most traffic was diverted to one of Antivars two moons. The space around the world was nearly empty.

Greeting the Naretion fleet was the First Strike Fleet, this was one of the elite fleets of the UUC. Composed of ten Angar Class Dystorers three Aderveras Class Battlecruser two Antivar Class Battleships and a single Tarngan Class Carrier

This fleet was there more for show than for the protection of the visiting fleet. As soon as the Naretion fleet was in orbit around the planet a message was sent.

Welcome to Antivar. The Dreadnoughts are to remain go to an orbit of 2,000 kilometers and hold, the transports are to go to an orbit of 400 kilometers. Shuttles will arrive shortly to begin unloading Chemakos and there supplies. After unloading all ships are free to settle into an orbit of 500 kilometers. If it is wished for more shuttles to ferry down personnel from the Dreadnoughts than that can be arranged.

"That will not be needed." A voice message containing the emotionless voice of the Nev Warks replied. "If we are needed on the ground, we shall make it known." They were blunt, to the point, and undiplomatic. The Nev Warks also did not trust anyone else with their transport. They had a unique way of getting down to the surface that was very similar to how humans sent in their fast-acting infantry squads. Their orders were simply to overwatch the Chemakos and make sure they got their mission done without any incident.

The Chemako corvettes all moved into the assigned orbit and awaited the shuttle transport. For transport were the workers, their supplies and machinery, as well as the guards and overseers of the project. The Chemakos weren't very good with convential weapons so their guards had a bit of an odd setup. They were completely covered in a suit that was provided by the humans that increased their physical abilities while building weapons into the suit itself. They were very noticeable among the rest as they were these metal apes among regular apes.

[The Orson Empire]

Zobus Nebula, Dronis Sector, Covenant Space

The Leviathan continued to tear through the Covenant squadron. It had destroyed eight Covenant warships, and the ships had not even been able to scratch the paint of the Leviathan with their weaponry. Eventually, the Leviathan came into contact with the commodore's cruiser. The Leviathan grabbed the cruiser, brushing off all attempts of nearby Covenant ships to stop it. It then unleashed a beam of plasma onto the cruiser, cutting it in half.

The crew of the rest of the ships watched in horror as this happened, as they were powerless to stop the Leviathan. The Covenant warships began retreating away from the station, trying to escape the Leviathan as quickly as possible.

"That thing just destroyed the command ship!" one of the squadron leaders would say over the comms. Utri was still locked in his dogfight with the battlesuit. The battlesuit made several maneuvers until it ended up behind Utri's interceptor. It fired several missiles at Utri, but he managed to evade all of them. Then, Utri watched as all of the battlesuits began to withdraw to their motherships.

"By the Covenant!" Utri exclaimed as he saw the wreckage of the Covenant cruiser. "Did anyone make if off of that ship alive?"

"We are capturing several escape pods," a commander of a Covenant destroyer would reply over the comms. "We have tried to contact the commodore, but we have had no response. We aren't even getting a signal from his datapad. I fear he may not have survived."

"What about those boarding pods?" a squadron leader interjected. "That station is about to blow!"

"We have no choice but to retreat," Utri replied. Utri then watched as the station exploded in a titanic ball of fire. Utri increased the power of his engines as much as he could and flew away from the station at an incredible speed.

Elysian Archives

As they moved further and further into the room, the team passed by various observation rooms. They looked in, seeing various machines and tubes, which looked as if they were containing something. One of the archaeologists activated his camera and began to film what they were witnessing. He went with some of the others to the back of the room, where the weapons rack was located. They realized that the rack had a biometric scanner, which could unlock it. They attempted to trigger the biometic scanner so they could see the contents of the rack.

On the other side of the room, Dr. Kai watched as a nearby computer terminal adjusted itself until it was near her height, as if it was accommodating for her. The text on the screen of the terminal also adjusted until it was in the Covenant language. Dr. Kai and some others read over the terminal, while the man with the camera arrived behind them.

She decided to select the second option, hoping to understand exactly what this facility was.

[The V O I D]

The Archival System
The Elysian Archives / The Archives of the Elysian People
Space

After Kai selected the option, Command Terminal JZT began processing. It then changed to another screen which was made up of Elysian text. The text slowly began to scroll into Cho'Dosan. As for the biometric scanner, it was triggered, but made an 'ERROR' sound. They'd have to reprogram it somehow, at some point. If they could even figure out how this Station functioned or where its primary command room was. Finally, after a long moment, the terminal finished scrolling the text into Cho'Dosan. The text read very simply.

SPECIALIZED EXPERIMENTATION AREA: LEVEL 9 CONTAINMENT FACILITY

Welcome, New Doctors, to the Elysian Archival Station's Specialized Experimentation Area, Level 9 Containment Facility. There are other Specialized Experimentation Areas on board the Station, but you are currently in this facility. In this facility, there are stored ten subjects of the Resurrection Project. The Resurrection Project requires Level 9 Containment because of those who were selected to be Subjects. Another reason is the high risk of infection from the Lazarus Virus. They are highly dangerous, and must not be allowed to escape. They also have shown a high capability for extreme destruction.

-- ADMINISTRATOR NA'ASIK VERAON

-- [SUBJECT FILES]
-- [MAP]
-- [RESURRECT SUBJECTS 1-10]
-- [RETURN TO MAIN TERMINAL MENU
-- [EXIT TERMINAL]

So, they now knew the name of the person, or at least one of the persons, who ran the Station. Administrator Na'asik Veraon. Whoever that was. The Lazarus Virus... that didn't sound good. If that's what they used to experiment on the Subjects and revive them, who knows what to expect. What could it possibly be, anyways? The Archives were getting more and more mysterious by the minute. The Terminal continued to wait for further input...

[The Greater Gambia]

Three Days later
Todval System, Jakala Orbit
Tava Military Orbital Medical station




"Any change in his condition?" Yamin asked Yaliza, only for the Tagali woman to nod her head.

"No, the Doctors have been able to keep him in stable condition, and his body is taking well to the augmentations. If it were just that, he'd make a full recovery, yet all of the brain activity is unheard of. If he were of a psionic capable species, this would be normal, but his brain activity is similar to that of a Theta level psionic. Even if he had Psy-amps surgically installed, they wouldn't be that high." Yamin thought for a second.

"Perhaps the results of an experiment from his Atlas days?"

"Not likely, even if Atlas had somehow been able to give him psionic capabilities, someone would have been able to sense it by now and report it, that much power is hard to disguise, even for high level Taani, I doubt a human could do it. Even now, I can sense it from here. You can too, right." Yamin nodded.

"Yes, we'll have to keep an eye on the situation." Suddenly, one of the doctors approached the two FIS personnel.

"Forgive my interruption, Lord of Intelligence, but patient Daniels is coming too." The doctor lead the two down the hall into Daniel's room. Daniel's severed arm had been replaced by a cybernetic one. The arm would function exactly the same as the one he was born with and even more. Artificial nerves connected it to the rest of his body, even giving him a sense of feeling. The only real differences were improvements and the arms jet black color. The Doctor introduced himself.

"Ah, you're awake Captain. I am Doctor Tonus Vacatta of the Tagali Federation Medical Corp. I must say, your body is remarkable, even with heavy damage to your lungs and the loss of your arm, you never stopped clinging to life. Your immune system even took well to the augmentations. Many humans have to wait weeks to fully recover from such a procedure, yet yours almost even welcomed it. Still, I have suggested to both Federation and Alliance Command that you stay out of combat for a few days at least, just so that we can monitor you in case." The Doctor was neither Tagali or Human, but a Valonian, a member of an aquatic race that were the backbone of the Federation's medical and scientific communities, although in the later they have been rivaled by humans and Devenok. He wore a white Tagali medical uniform. Two small gel-like packs covered his gils, keeping them dry and allowing him and his species to interact with the galaxy at large. Behind him were Yaliza and Yamin, waiting for Daniel to say something.

[The NAR]

---

Todval System // Jakala Orbit
Tava Military Orbital Medical Station

---

The past few days, or weeks, or however long it'd been were... spotty. The last solid thing Daniel could remember was collapsing as he entered the medical bay of the USS Pennsylvania. He remembered bits and pieces of what happened after - some doctors, bright hospital lights, some discussion about his condition and some talk of Psionics. Other than that, it was all mostly a blur. He'd been dreaming about Millie and Samantha... his wife and daughter, whom he'd left back on Earth. He hadn't even called to check up in more than three weeks... some father. He felt guilty for leaving, for he had just returned home, but it was his duty to go fight the Covenant and defend his people. Who would he be if he sat back and watched Human worlds burn? While his people are slaughtered at the hands of the Blue Menace.

As Yamin, Yaliza, and the Doctor entered the room, an odd buzzing sound, like a hum, started up faintly. Daniel looked around weakly, and eventually determined that it was coming from the two soldiers... though not exactly. It was hard to describe, but the hum seemed to be within his own head, drawing Daniel towards those two particular individuals. His attention was drawn away by the doctor, who proceeded to explain Daniel's current medical situation. At the end, he gave a slight nod and sat up, wincing as he did, and gazing at his cybernetic arm. He moved his fingers, seeming to be slightly in disbelief, but then turned his attention to the doctor.

"I feel fine, Doc" he urged, "Just get me back out on the field, I can't stand sitting in this hospital any longer"

[The Orson Empire]

Elysian Archives

The archaeologists had failed to trigger the biometric scanner and open up the weapons rack. They would have to somehow discover a way to reprogram it, and the archaeologists wondered if there was some sort of control room nearby where they could access it. They move further into the room and began looking around, while the marines followed them.

Back at the terminal, Kai and the others looked over the screen, and discovered that where they were at was some sort of containment facility for some dangerous creatures, and they knew at least one of the people that ran the station.

"Perhaps we should see exactly what these 'Subjects' are, so we know what we are getting into," one of the archaeologists commented.

"I agree," Dr. Kai replied. She would select the "Subject Files" option.

Covenant-Alliance War

Day 31 of the Invasion

Sol System

Seven days of nearly constant bombardment of the Sol System had disabled a significant portion of initial defenses of the system. The Covenant had transported more jump drives, many of them recycled from decommissioned ships, strapped them onto to asteroids and sent them into warp towards Sol; old freighters had also been used in the bombardment. The jamming stations had either been destroyed or disabled, allowing the Covenant to travel freely through the system, while numerous minefields had been cleared and paths created that would allow the Covenant ships to move through safely.

With the Oort Cloud now under Covenant control, numerous military bases were under construction throughout the cloud where ships could refuel and resupply, and where troops could be sent to recover as soldiers were continuously rotated in and out of the front lines. A large jump gate had been assembled, and numerous freighters and Covenant warships streamed through the gate. The invasion force for the Sol System now numbered some 290,000 ships, with more and more ships arriving every day.

Since the Covenant was now able to travel freely within the system, the Covenant High Admirals felt that now was the proper time to begin the invasion, and as they gave the order, thousands upon thousands of ships left the Oort Cloud and flooded into the Sol System. Half of the fleet was to target the dwarf planets in the Kuiper Belt as well as the four outer gas giants (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune), while the other half of the fleet headed towards the ultimate target...

Earth

Beyond Luna, Earth's moon, blue auras would erupt throughout the vastness of space as a force of 145,000 ships began to exit warp in high Earth orbit. The ships exited warp one after another, still in their formations. It was the day that all Covenant personnel had been waiting for, as the Covenant would sack the jewel in the crown of the Alliance. Some of the finest admirals and generals in the Covenant had been placed into this armada, as they would have to lead the Covenant forces to victory on the most important target of the war. The armada included everything from the smallest frigate to the largest of dreadnoughts. The armada also included a staggering 300 Covenant dreadnoughts, the largest concentration of dreadnoughts in a single battle so far in the war. With each dreadnought equivalent in firepower to hundreds of light ships, they would provide the Covenant a significant advantage in this fight.

Haven, New Haven, Moresti System

While the Battle of Sol was just beginning, the battle in the Moresti System had dragged on for the past week. The Covenant had finally disabled the jamming stations in the system with a bombardment of asteroids, only to be met with stiff resistance at New Haven. The Alliances forces in orbit and on the surface of Moresti had held out remarkably well against Jakorr's onslaught. His usual strategies he used to defeat the Alliance before were not as successful this time around, and it was the longest battle Jakorr and his armada had fought so far. The battle in space was long and bloody, and Jakorr had to continuously contact High Command for more reinforcements.

While the battle in orbit continued in a stalemate, the ground battle on New Haven was heating up. Carriers, guarded by flotillas of light ships, had entered the atmosphere of the planet and deployed hundreds of thousands of Covenant soldiers, as well as armor and artillery, while fighters, bombers, and interceptors provided air support and tried to destroy any ground defenses. It was a bloody and violent struggle, as thousands of Covenant soldiers lost their lives while trying to advance and gain more ground.

The battle was the bloodiest at the city of Haven, the capital of New Haven, where 300,000 Covenant soldiers had the city encircled. The city was being shelled by rounds from the Covenant field guns and bombed from the air by starfighters and bombers, but the Alliance defenses in the city had continued to hold out, repulsing any attempt by Covenant ground forces to enter the city. The Covenant forces had dug crude trenches to hide in and set up numerous machine gun nests, where heavy plasma and magneto autocannons would open fire on the opposing Alliance positions, shredding Alliance soldiers, while Covenant snipers would snipe Alliance soldiers with their long-range laser cannons. The Covenant soldiers were exhausted from days of fighting the enemy, and the sheer chaos of the battle caused some soldiers to experience shell shock.

"Keep up the fire, soldiers! Do not let the fog of war consume you!" an officer would yell to his exhausted troops, encouraging them to keep fighting. His voice was barely audible over the firing of the autocannons, the numerous explosions and gunfire around them, and the screaming of the engines of starfighters above.

[The V O I D]

The Archival System
The Elysian Archives / The Archives of the Elysian People
Space

The terminal began to process that, and began to open several files. The files were all in Elysian, which would probably take a moment to complete translation into Cho'Dosan. As the others explored the room, they'd eventually find another terminal; the terminal activated as they neared it. Emergency Weapons Release Terminal. Convenient. The moment was over, and the Subject Files were open in Cho'Dosan. The files were very... disturbing, to say the least.

RESURRECTION PROJECT SUBJECT FILES:

Subject 01:
Real Name: Norlos Veis
Age, Life-Span Stage, Sex: 303 Standard Years, Adult, Male.
Lazarus Virus Infection Status: Stage Four; deemed a partial failure.
Current Subject Status: Deceased; able to be resurrected.
Danger Level: Prime: in case of escape, execute with extreme prejudice.

Subject 02:
Real Name: [REDACTED]
Age, Life-Span Stage, Sex: 692 Standard Years, Late Adult, Female.
Lazarus Virus Infection Status: Stage Five; Success.
Current Subject Status: Technically deceased; can be resurrected at a moment's notice.
Danger Level: Zulu: in case of escape, initiate evacuation procedures of Floor 402 [this entire Floor].

Subject 03 & 04:
Real Names: [REDACTED], and Liskia Vorkish
Age, Life-Span Stage, Sex: 85 Standard Years, Child/Young Adult, Male; and 1,000, Mature Adult, Female.
Lazarus Virus Infection Status: Stage Four; both failures, additional note to say subjects are somehow psionically-fused.
Current Subject Status: Both deceased; can be resurrected, unadvised.
Danger Level: Green: under normal circumstances, their threat is negligible. Together, however, they have Prime-threat potential and should be executed.

Subject 05:
Real Name: Krishel Vuraos
Age, Life-Span Stage, Sex: 1,600 Standard Years, Elder Stage, Male.
Lazarus Virus Infection Status: Stage Three; failure, able to be partly resurrected.
Current Subject Status: Perpetual state of being dead and alive, without giving off biological signatures. Additional notes would be this is the only subject that has had this effect.
Danger Level: Negligible: Under most circumstances, unless you are totally unarmed and alone with this Subject, they are not a threat.

Subject 06:
Real Name: Unknown.
Age, Life-Span Stage, Sex: 2,500 Standard Years, Grand Elder Stage, Female.
Lazarus Virus Infection Status: Stage Five; success, able to be resurrected.
Current Subject Status: Deceased; resurrection possible.
Danger Level: Prime-Zulu: Subject seems to be only a threat to those who irritate her. It should be of note that she only becomes a Zulu threat if she actively tries to escape her cell. Execution unadvised; oldest surviving subject.

Subjects 07, 08, 09:
Status: All failures. Deceased, able to be partly resurrected or not able to be resurrected at all.
Age, Life-Span Stage, Sex: One male, near-death at 3,000 Standard Years of age; two females, twins, both child stages, aged 15.

Subject 10:
Real Name: [REDACTED/PURGED]
Age, Life-Span Stage, Sex: 1,000, Mature Adult, Male.
Lazarus Virus Infection Status: Stage Six; Project goal achieved, true success.
Current Subject Status: Neither alive, nor dead; shows signs of neither; no longer shows up on bioscans.
Danger Level: Zulu-Omega: Extreme threat. Not to be resurrected unless a way to control the Subject is found.

-- [MAP]
-- [LAZARUS VIRUS DATA/STAGE INFORMATION]
-- [LOCKED: RESURRECTION PROJECT DETAILED DATA]
-- [RETURN TO MAIN TERMINAL ACCESS
-- [EXIT TERMINAL]

The descriptions were... extremely disturbing. Based on this information, they took random subjects of any age, or sex; they didn't seem very discriminatory. They were all used for... optimal goals involving resurrection capability. They also seemed to be trying to make it so a subject wouldn't appear on any form of bioscan, whether truly alive or dead. And based on this information, releasing the subjects might be a bad idea. At least, all at once...