Crimson

The doors to the bridge opened up before the Spartan to reveal four Changelings. They were all similar to Psych, being a specific subspecies of Changelings, and were all bowing before the holotable. All of them had their antennae extended around their heads as they were chanting something incomprehensible. Five walked up behind them as the three Changeling Elites followed.

"What are they doing?" he asked.

The four either didn't notice him or refused to acknowledge him. Psych, however, was able to answer.

"They're examining the technology within the room by sharing their minds. It's a unique power that we've developed over the centuries, wherein we can share our collective knowledge."

"Well tell them to not try and activate anything," Five warned.

"I assure you, sir," Sid spoke, "they're harmless. Since they arrived, the only thing they've concerned themselves with has been wondering if anything they've done is within parameters of what I allow."

"Sid, you said your security measures were damaged. How much have they seen?" Five asked.

"They've only glanced over the names of those aboard the ship, medical supplies, food storage, and repair instructions. In fact, thirty seven more of them are working in the Engineering deck right now, working on the thrusters. They're following the instructions and suggestions I've provided, and have increased the efficiency of the repair process by 43%."

"What about the weapon systems or armories?" Five asked, approaching the holotable.

"Negative. They've heard you through the security recordings and have stayed away from all information pertaining to any weapons."

"Good."

Five placed his Shotgun on the table and snapped his fingers. The table lit up and displayed a keyboard of letters as the screen began to change to show a waiting security check. Five entered in his UNSC ID code and was granted access to the ship's files.

"Nice to see something's working well enough," Five noted.

The Spartan began to type through the many pages of check-ins and specifics on the ship before flicking his hand over the surface. A perfect three-dimensional model of the Pale Horse appeared above the table, causing the three elite Changelings to stare in awe.

"What's that?" Sickle asked.

"The ship," Five answered. "Sid, give me details on small-arms storage."

A part of the ship became highlighted before a list of text began to roll by the ship, displaying a large amount of numbers and names.

Armory Supply Manifest

MA5-D Assault Rifle> Units Remaining: 0 Total Ammunition Remaining: 0 rounds

BR85 Heavy Barrel Service Rifle> Units Remaining: 242 Total Ammunition Remaining: 21,600 rounds

M7/Caseless Submachine Gun> Units Remaining: 800 Total Ammunition Remaining: 800,000 rounds

M6H Personal Defense Weapon System> Units Remaining: 240 Total Ammunition Remaining: 40,000 rounds

Asymmetric Recoilless Carbine-920> Units Remaining: 80 Total Ammunition Remaining: 120 rounds

M363 Remote Projectile Detonator> Units Remaining: 0 Total Ammunition Remaining: 0 grenades

M395 Designated Marksman Rifle> Units Remaining: 0 Total Ammunition Remaining: 0 rounds

M41 Surface-to-Surface Rocket Medium Anti-Vehicle/Assault Weapon> Units Remaining: 16 Total Ammunition Remaining: 80 rockets

M45D Tactical Shotgun> Units Remaining: 3 Total Ammunition Remaining: 53 rounds

M739 Light Machine Gun> Units Remaining: 12 Total Ammunition Remaining: 7,200 rounds

Sniper Rifle System 99-Series 5 Anti-Matériel> Units Remaining: 8 Total Ammunition Remaining: 220 rounds

[FILE REDACTED]

M-9 High-Explosive Dual-Purpose Grenade> Total Remaining Units: 37

C-7 Foaming Spray> Total Remaining Units: 77

Vehicle Manifest:

M12 Light Reconnaissance Vehicle: 8 Remaining

M12G1 Light Anti-Armor Vehicle: 2 Remaining

M808 Main Battle Tank: 3 Remaining

G79H-TC/MA Pelican: 4 Remaining

F-41 Exoatmospheric Multirole Strike Fighter: 4 Remaining

[FILE REDACTED]

"Sid, what's with these labeled, 'redacted'?" Five asked, reading over the manifests.

"I am unable to answer your inquiry. An A.I. of a higher clearance or an Officer of the Office of Naval Intelligence must be present to allow these files-"

"Alright," Five interrupted, silencing Sid. "What about those weapons listed as zeroes?"

"A team of Marines that were fleeing the ship had cleared out a section of the armory, and a second group of Marines came in after the invasion of the Infinity to scavenge for ammunition for the security detail. By the time you managed to ward off the invasion, however, they had already cleared out almost the entire Port Armory."

"Well we can do without the Assault Rifles, then. Give me the status on the ship's defenses."

"Of course."

The manifests went down from the display and the image of the Pale Horse was enlarged. Eight large parts of the armored hull, twisted and burnt apart by plasma weapons were highlighted, along with several parts of the lower levels of the ship.

"The hull has been breached majorly in these eight areas, as well several dozen areas in the lower parts of the ship, as well as areas by the thrusters. The ship would need to be relocated to a repair station before being able to break atmosphere. As is, however, the radiation shielding, as well as 71% of the armor plating are intact, although the shield generator is currently in cool-down. The main fusion generator is fully intact, though the damage to the wiring throughout the ship has cut off power to certain sections. We are currently fixing this issue, thanks to the Changelings. In our current state, we are approximately 43 hours from being able to take flight. The vehicles in storage can be prepped at any moment, if you need them."

"Alright," Five stated. "It's not much, but at least we're not helpless. Give me updates on anything the moment they happen. Right now, send some messages out to the Changelings in the vehicle bays, lower decks, or wherever the rest are, and help them relocate to the Barracks. Lock off the armories, though, and don't let any of them stray off."

As Five began to close down a number of programs, the Changeling elites took notice of his words.

"What was that about us, 'straying off'?" Tumbler asked, his tone portraying his annoyance at the term.

"Just making sure no one goes where they shouldn't," Five answered, picking up his Shotgun.

"And just what should we stay out of?" Sickle asked.

"Armories, vehicle bays, and the control centers, to name a few."

Five tapped the shoulder of one of the Sensorlings, snapping them out of their trance as they looked up to him.

"Time to leave," Five said, motioning with his hand. "Just ask Sid to point you somewhere you can continue doing whatever that was outside of the bridge."

The holotable powered down before the three other Sensorlings also stood up. They nodded to each other in perfect synch before walking out of the bridge. Five followed close behind, along with the Changeling elites.

"Where are we going now?" Sickle asked.

"Well, I'm going to the armory. You three can go anywhere else besides the bridge and-"

"Hey, what happened to that purple one?" Tumbler asked.

"She left to go talk some sense into that Sun-bitch and set up a meeting between your leader and Princess Luna."

"You got hard feelings for that alicorn too?" Sickle commented.

"Bitch tried to attack me, and I was about a second away from killing her."

The three Changelings stopped at the news. Five turned back to look at them and saw that they were all looking to him with a different range of emotions.

"You," Tumbler started, "took on Princess Celestia herself... and won?"

"You almost killed her?" Sickle asked.

"You managed to survive an encounter with the Sun Witch?" Psych asked, his eyes turning yellow.

Five nodded to them before he held his index finger and thumb about a millimeter apart.

"This close to putting that bitch in a grave," Five answered. "Why?"

The three Changelings glanced to each other.

"She's almost the entire reason we're close to extinction."