0945 hours, July 25th, 2552 (Military Calendar) \
Aboard UNSC vessel Aurora Star \ Sol System, near planet Earth

Nothing is normal on the Aurora Star. The normally quiet Cryo Bay is bustling with twice the crew that it was designed to handle as teams work to pack away supplies: munitions, rations, specialty equipment, tools... just about anything that HIGHCOM has deemed necessary. Granted, the situation wasn't exactly orthodox, either; Reach was falling. It was full-on mobilization mode, with HIGHCOM redirecting any available Spartans to assist in the planet's defense; if humanity loses Reach, then there is nothing standing between the Covenant and Earth. Failure is not an option.

Jane S-343 checks over her two teammates. Neither of them are showing any signs of stress in their vitals, but in the interest of redundancy she opts to confirm that visually. Seth S-382 is twirling a knife in his armored gauntlet with deft precision, just as he always does before a mission. Satisfied, she turns to check on Alice S-219, who is inspecting each team member's weapons for flaws that might compromise the mission's success. It's an odd habit, but Alice doing this has saved Jane's life repeatedly over the years, so she welcomes it.

Satisfied, she retreats to her cryo pod to await her technician to arrive and put her down for the mandatory nap while travelling in slipspace. "Alright, Green. You know the drill; nap time!" 2 green lights wink an acknowledgement on her HUD in response, indicating in the affirmative.

Suddenly, a trio of odd events transpire. Off to her right, Seth drops the knife. On her HUD, she's alerted to a radiation spike- originating from the direction of the reactor compartment. Finally, under her feet, the ship lurches in what can only be described as an unscheduled jump, sending her flying across the room and into a wall headfirst and immediately being met by nothingness...

Eighteenth cycle, eight units (Covenant Battle Calendar)
Aboard Cruiser, Truth Behind All Lies; in high orbit above
planet Equus (local designation) - System: Equus (local designation)

Ship Master Zovu 'Nadomee paces his bridge, causing the Mgalekgolo1 pair nearby to shift anxiously. He had arrived almost 3 units ago, and the indigenous lifeforms on the mysterious planet below had still not acknowledged his ship's presence. Normally, he would send a scouting party to the ground, and let a specialized team of his fellow Sangheili2 retrieve the holy artifacts that were said to be here by any means necessary. These are not normal times, though.

Truth has taken a special interest in the population of this planet for the fact that their home world resides in neutral space, greatly reducing the chances that they have come into contact with the heretics. Therefore, Zovu's mission has a second, lesser known objective: convince the population to join the hegemony. Since the beginning of the Ninth Age of Reclamation, the Covenant has sustained heavy losses, and the hierarchs know that they can use every able body they can get if they are to finally begin the Great Journey. All of this taken into account, Zovu is forced into a strategy that does not come easily to the Sangheili: diplomacy. Thus, the mighty warrior was reduced to playing a waiting game. And he hated it.

"What are we waiting for, Ship Master? Is this not the point in time where you would normally send our retrieval team in?" Zovu's good friend, Major Kura 'Haramee finally asks from his post at the Operations station, clearly uncomfortable with seeing his friend troubled by whatever secrets he's pondering. "Or is there a tactical advantage to be gained by our current inactivity?" Zovu regards his friend carefully; if it were anyone else to address him in such a way, they would likely find themselves in the brig faster than they could consider their actions. Kura, however, he respects and trusts to have the ship's best interests in mind. Kura has never led Zovu wrong before, and there was certainly no reason for him to do so now.

"Nothing, Kura. We've waited long enough; ready a diplomacy crew for descent. Fifty Unggoy3, twenty-three Kig-Yar4, and the two of us should do the trick." He chuckles at Kura's puzzled expression, something one rarely witnesses a proud Sangheili express. "Yes, I said diplomacy crew. The hierarchs have given us a different objective this time."

Looking to the monitors, Zovu steels himself for the task ahead. Compared to where the rest of the Fleet of Valiant Prudence was headed, this should be a milk run.

Early morning, several days after the Summer Sun Celebration
Equus System \ Planet: Equus \ Canterlot Castle

Mornings in Canterlot are a very predictable affair, especially for Celestia. Every day, it's the same dull routine- wake up, raise the sun (even as Luna lowers the moon), then try and relax for what little time she would have before Day Court begins, and she'll be forced to resolve increasingly trivial quarrels among squabbling nobles. With a sigh, the alabaster alicorn coaxes the sun into position, subtly adjusting the star's exact location in the sky. Satisfied with her handiwork, Celestia pauses to soak in the calm of the morning.

After a few minutes, she returns to her chambers to finish her morning routine. Just as she's closing the door, she catches a glimpse of lavender out of the corner of her eye, in the general direction of Ponyville. Thinking nothing of it as Twilight had made a habit of flying the same route every morning as of late, she closes the door and carries on normally.

Several minutes later, though, there's a knock at her door. Frowning, Celestia opens the door to a pair of her guards, who appear to be panicked.

"Your highness," the elder of the pair begins as they bow. "Your presence is needed in the throne room. You have guests... and we can't understand them." Celestia narrows her eyes, not so much towards the pair of armor-clad unicorns so much as the news that they bear.

"What do you mean by 'guests,' Corporal? And has my sister also been alerted?" The guards share an uneasy look.

"Yes, Princess Luna has been alerted." Celestia relaxes ever so slightly, releasing the breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. "As for your other inquiry, perhaps it would be better if we showed you..."

1437 hours, July 25th, 2552 (Military Calendar) \
Aboard UNSC vessel Aurora Star \ Uncharted space, near Equus System

All that Jane can perceive is pain- pain in her head, pain her neck and back, pain in her limbs... pain is good. Pain lets Jane know she's still alive. Her vision clears and she checks TEAMBIO; Seth and Alice are still alive. According to the machine, at least. She opens TEAMCOM for confirmation.

"Green Team, status check." Slowly, two amber lights illuminate on her HUD, indicating that their owners are checking for signs of injury. Seth's winks green first, followed shortly by Alice's. "Excellent. Once you're on your feet, form up. We need to figure out what the..." Jane trails off as she activates night vision, taking in the utter ruin that once was the Aurora Star's cryo bay. Pods are ripped clean from their mountings, having found a home on top of several unlucky marines and crew members, killing them instantly. The various crates of supplies are now scattered around the now-open area, their contents tossed haphazardly in the ensuing chaos of whatever had happened earlier that day.

"New plan, Green. Lock and load; we're headed to the bridge."

Dead. The entire crew was dead, either killed by the flying debris (if they were lucky) or by radiation when the Star's slipspace drive had become improperly mounted that morning. Of the more than 500 lives on board the Stalwart-class5 Frigate, only the Spartans and the ship-borne AI, Eden remained, and that made Jane livid. If the UNSC hasn't begun moving to retire the often-faulty Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engine as of yet, then accidents the likes of this one will be the reason that they do.

As for the overall health of the Aurora Star, she's crippled. Unable to transition to slipspace, and barely able to limp along on her main engines, it's apparent to Jane that the Star is essentially a sitting duck.

"So... any thoughts?" she asks her teammates, who appear to be as pissed as she is. Pissed at the unnecessary death in this already too-bloody war, and especially pissed at the fact that they are now stuck, unable to do anything. Without stopping twirling the knife that is his go-to pastime whenever there's a lull in the action, Seth pipes up.

"I say we move out of the open. I mean, we've been drifting in relatively empty space for a while now, that planet getting bigger on the main screen the whole while..." He pauses, stalling the knife on one armored gauntlet as he stares in the general direction of said screen. His posture suggests that he's curious about something. "Say, Eden, where the hell even are we?" Almost as if on cue, a holographic projector spins up in the center of the bridge, creating an image of tidy man in a perfectly tailored suit, with a stars and stripes flag lapel pin on the jacket.

"If my charts are accurate, we don't appear to be in any known sector of space." Eden pauses, flaring in color from cyan to a strange shade of violet. "However, based on preliminary scans, the planet that you refer to appears to be similar to Earth, even to the same degree as Reach." This gets Alice's attention.

"Wait... you said similar to Reach?" Alice tightens her grip on her holstered M6-G sidearm. "But this system appears to be geocentric; surely those conditions can't coexist?" Eden scowls, turning a shade of green that's darker than even the three sets of MJOLNIR armor surrounding him.

"Upon further analysis, it seems that Alice makes a valid observation. Not only is this system geocentric, but the astronomical scale is off by a ridiculous margin." Seth voices the entire team's thoughts:

"And your point is?"

"My point is either my readings are incorrect, or this planet that shouldn't be habitable is anyway. Regardless, it warrants a closer look, if you'd allow it." Eden seems to be glaring at Jane as he finishes his statement.

"You mean we can move?" Jane asks, pleasantly surprised at the AI's nod. "Finally! Full available speed, current heading!"

"Aye, answering quarter slow at one zero five by three five," Eden beckons to Jane. "You're not taking me with you, are you?" Jane pats the projector, then brings two fingers across her faceplate- the Spartan equivalent of a smile.

"No, we're not. I'd prefer to have at least one party I can trust overhead, just in case we need orbital support. You know how to handle yourself, right?" Eden shifts back to his customary shade of blue, before waving his holographic hand to dismiss the Spartan.

"Of course, of course. Just be careful; for all we know, this could be Covenant controlled space... pack one of the few remaining M-808s, will ya? Something about this incident just isn't adding up." Jane gives him a thumbs up- can do. Within minutes, the Spartans have packed one of the only surviving Pelican dropships, hooked up the last remaining Scorpion tank, and packed all the ammunition they can carry.

A green status light reserved for Eden winks on, alerting Jane that the Aurora Star has settled into geosynchronous orbit above the mysterious planet. The shuttle bay doors open, and Green Team's journey is underway...

Author's Note

1: The Elites' name for the Hunters' race
2: The Elites' name for their own race
3: The Elites' name for the Grunts' race
4: The Elites' name for the Jackals' race

5: Stalwart-class Light Frigate