Anomaly #679- pt. 2
Posted By: RogueFox<roguefox68@gmail.com>
Date: 17 May 2006, 5:04 am
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Date estimated late 2552
USS Enterprise-D, NCC-1701-D
High Earth Orbit
Sol System
The Master Chief felt as if he had been ripped apart then recoalesced. The tinge of blue that had blurred his vision began to disappear. He saw a room with green walls, a large console protruding from the floor and a panel behind a man in a yellow and black uniform. The blue tinge vanished, and the tingling stopped. The Chief cautiously looked around and slowly stepped off the platform, rifle partially raised.
"Take it easy." said the transporter operator.
"Where am I? Who are you?" the Chief inquired.
"I'm Chief Miles O'Brien, and you're aboard the USS Enterprise. Who might you be?"
"Master Chief Petty Officer SPARTAN 117, United Nations Space Command."
John knew the designator "USS" was never used for UNSC vessels. Only American warships of the ancient past carried that designation. The Chief studied the room intently. The technology seemed vastly superior to that of the UNSC's space-faring vessels.
"How did I get here?" John asked as he looked over the exposed EPS conduits that were undergoing maintainence.
"Well, you're in the Enterprise's transporter room. The transporter, in a nutshell, is a device that breaks an object down, molecule by molecule, teleports it elsewhere, and reassembles it in the same manner it was broken down."
The Spartan turned to face O'Brien. As he did so, Jean-Luc Picard entered the transporter room.
"I am Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the USS Enterprise. I welcome you aboard as our guest. If I may ask who you are?"
The Master Chief looked at Picard's uniform of red and black and the four pips on his collar. He was unsure if this Picard could be trusted.
"Master Chief Petty Officer Spartan 117."
"Ah, welcome aboard Master Chief." Picard said. "We will show you to your quarters later, first there is much to discuss." Picard tapped the combadge on his chest. "Senior officers to the conference room." Picard turned about and began to speak, but realized he was staring into the Master Chief's chest. He cleared his throat and looked up to face the armored giant. "If you will accompany me, Master Chief. I'm sure you have alot of questions you want answered."
Picard turned to leave. The Master Chief was unsure of this Picard and this ship, but seemed to have no choice in the matter for now. They were human, after all, and seemed friendly. The least he could do was cooperate for getting him out of that hellhole in Africa. But that didn't mean he would get careless. He gripped his assault rifle and followed the Captain into the corridor.
Picard began, "You see, Master Chief, we are not from your time or your universe at all. We were conducting a scientific study of a nebula whenever an anomaly opened near our ship and pulled it in. We emerged here surrounded by thirty spacecraft of an unknown configuration. They launched an immediate attack on us. We managed to destroy or cripple them all, but not without damage to our own vessel. Perhaps you can enlighten us on..."
"You destroyed THIRTY Covenant ships by yourselves?!" the Chief asked incrediously.
"Yes, we did." Picard said.
John didn't know what to make of it. Here he was, transported aboard a vessel with both humans and aliens he didn't recognize at all with technology that seemed to surpass anything he had seen. Now, this Picard was telling him that his vessel had destroyed thirty Covenant warships.
Picard and the Master Chief continued down the corridor from the transporter room to the turbolift. Enterprise crew members nodded to their Captain respectfully, but gawked at the imposing Spartan walking next to him. Occasionally John had to duck low bulkheads.
"What is this ship?" John finally asked.
"This is the USS Enterprise, a Galaxy-class ship built for exploration, diplomatic, and if necessary, tactical implications." Picard responded. "She is the flagship of the Federation Starfleet, something we are quite proud of. She is 642.51 meters in length, 463.73 meters in width. We have a hull of duranium microfoam and tritanium plating and 42 decks."
"Federation?" John asked.
"The history lesson will come later, Master Chief." Picard answered.
The duo reached the turbolift, which they proceeded to enter. "Bridge deck." Picard commanded. The computer beeped, and the lift kicked into motion.
African Savannah
Covenant Command Cruiser
Holding Position over Forerunner Facility
Earth
Sol System
The minor Prophet looked over to his Brute assistant.
"You. Get me in contact with the fleet in orbit."
The Brute bowed his head and turned to a console. He stared curiously when his ping received no response. The Brute then looked out the window in time to see the fireball streak past the cruiser. Klaxons sounded as the remains of the Covenant fleet that weren't obliterated by the Enterprise began to burn through Earth's atmosphere.
"Explain why thirty of my ships are burning up in this planet's atmosphere?!" the Prophet demanded.
The Brute scanned for anything. Since the Great Schizm in which the Elites, Grunts, and Hunters had broken the Covenant, there had been incidents all over the galaxy with rogue Elite fleets attacking fleets still loyal to the Prophets. Perhaps one of these were responsible...
The Brute stared at his display. His scans returned a lone ship in orbit of an unknown configuration, but with human lifesigns. He informed the Prophet of his findings.
Ten minutes later, 50 Covenant ships began exit burns to get into orbit and engage the ship responsible for the destruction of their comrades.
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