Merrison Station Conference Area, Earth Orbit

Closed Meeting Room

It was currently 0530 hours, Earth standard time, and Captain Lasky, despite the early wake-up-call given to him by Roland, felt more awake than ever. After a full night of work, Roland had successfully parsed and translated the Forerunner signal, and had sent the results of his work to ONI and Fleetcom.

Which led to an emergency session of Fleetcom being called by Osman and Lasky to discuss the contents of the signal’s embedded message. Roland had likened the message to taking the entire history of a planet, physically compressing said data down into a shoebox, and then launching that shoebox across Slipspace to the Milky Way and the UNSC.

The signal contained environmental data, recorded weather patterns, readouts on a great multitude of plants and animals, geological information…the list went on and on. And to top it all off, embedded slipspace coordinate markers.

Quite simply, the UNSC had just received a complete historical and physical record of an unknown planet, inhabited by multiple sapient species if the full extent of the data was to be trusted, and the exact method on how to reach that planet.

The news was jaw-dropping, and even Osman wasn’t sure how to immediately proceed.

“And we’re sure this data is intact and complete?” Asked Captain James Cutter of the UNSC Spirit of Fire.

“It is, sir.” Said Isabel, the Spirit of Fire’s shipboard AI. “Xavier has also confirmed this as well.”

The AI in reference voiced his confirmation. Xavier was the newest AI in UNSC service, and was currently tasked to the newly-completed supercarrier UNSC Eternity, under Captain Mark Altan. Altan, a slim man with black hair and a thin beard, was a rising star in the UNSC Navy, and had only recently been commissioned, due to the UNSC Navy losing a good amount of veteran officers with their ships during the Created Uprising.

“Now the question is…how do we proceed?” Altan said. “We don’t exactly have a surplus of ships at the moment, and ongoing recovery efforts across UNSC space have lowered that number further.”

“Not to mention that the Swords of Sanghelios have said they can’t send additional backup to their current posts at the moment, due to their own search efforts for the Banished and Atriox.” Cutter continued.

“Which is exactly why we can’t think in traditional terms about this.” Lasky said. “We can’t send a massive task force, as Captain Altan said, we simply don’t have the numbers. Which is why I recommend we send only three UNSC ships at most.”

“Which would those be?” Lord Terrence Hood asked.

“The Infinity, Eternity, and Spirit of Fire.” Lasky replied. “Our foremost capital ships should have the combined capabilities to discourage any hostile action. It’s not the number of ships, rather the size and capabilities of the ships that matters in this case.”

After a few minutes of discussion, the attendees agreed with Lasky’s decision. Osman also noted that the Swords of Sanghelios should be made aware of the situation, and Cutter said he would notify the Arbiter and Shipmaster Rtas Vadum’ of this development..

Now, as Altan, Cutter, and Lasky exited the meeting room and headed for the monorail cart that would take them to hangar, then their respective ships, Lasky gave a mixed sigh of excitement, anxiety, and trepidation.

"Roland?" he asked into his comms-capable wristpad, once he was back on the Pelican that would return him to the UNSC Infinity.

"Yes, Admiral?" the AI replied.

"We are waiting on the Swords of Sanghelios to respond, but for the most part, we are clear to investigate." Lasky said. "I want all personnel back on Infinity in six to eight hours, with all Spartans included."

"Understood, Captain." Roland nodded. "I also took the liberty of preparing Infinity myself. Weapons, shields, engines, and all other necessary systems are at full capacity, and I've just sent out the recall orders to all personnel."

"Good work." Lasky smiled. "That'll be all for now."

=====

Twilight Sparkle slid herself out of bed as the sun rose, and after stretching out her wings (a habit she only recently picked up from Rainbow Dash), she walked swiftly towards the laboratory that contained the Artifact. Sliding the door open, she immediately perked up at hearing a faint humming-noise coming from the object in question.

As she came closer, the glyphs on the Artifact began to glow, and Twilight reached out her hoof to touch it with an air of expectancy…

"HEY, GOOD MORNING!" said a rather peppy voice, coming from straight behind.

"Gah!" Twilight yelped as she launched into the air and spun around, feeling relief and frustration rise at seeing it was none other than Pinkie Pie who had startled her.

"Pinkie! What do you think you're doing?" Twilight said with annoyance clear in her voice. "I was in the middle of something important!"

"Well...I just so happened to get a Doozy beyond all doozies this morning, and my Pinkie Sense is going crazy! Crazier even than it normally is!" Pinkie chirped in reply. "Besides, I think it has to do with that weird orb-thingy!"

Twilight huffed, realizing the cat was out of the bag.

"It's an artifact Princess Luna gave to me to study." she admitted. "I've been trying to get it to activate or work, or do something, anything, for a couple of days now. So far, no luck."

"Huh." Pinkie hummed. "Well...don't let me stop you! Keep on at it!"

Twilight thanked her friend, and was about to resume her work before she realized something.

"Pinkie, this is kind of a secret project." Twilight deadpanned, well aware now that Pinkie was looking over her shoulder. "I need you to see yourself out and please, don't tell anypony about this until I can make some sense of this whole arrangement."

"Oh, I promise!" She then gave a small salute of acknowledgement. "See you around!"

There was a puff of air, and Pinkie was gone in a flash. Twilight groaned, knowing how often her friend and the Element of Laughter got on her nerves with her unpredictable antics.

As she went to pick up an ocular scanning instrument, she heard her stomach rumble. She set the instrument down, and walked out, making sure to lock the door behind her as getting some breakfast was now her top priority.

====

"Hey, Twilight." Spike called from the stove, where we was currently making pancakes. "Are you hungry?"

"Very much so." she replied. "I've just been busy with Princess Luna's assignment."

"Yeah...I know." Spike said. "With those Night Court simu-lookalike-things?"

"It's a "simulation", Spike." she replied. "And how did you know that I was doing those? You're usually sound asleep by the time I start."

"And you wake me up more often than not each time." Spike huffed as he served her a plate of pancakes. "Have I ever told you that you talk in your sleep? Like, noticeably loud?"

Twilight raised her eyebrows in surprise, and sighed in embarrassment, remembering how Princess Luna had told her that the magic wasn't completely stable, and there could be a few small side-effects.

"Apparently I have something else to talk about with her." Twilight sighed as she began to eat. After finishing her meal, she turned to her assistant.. "Anyway, what's on the agenda?"

"Let me see…" Spike said, looking at a nearby scroll that was laid out next to him. "Huh, there's nothing scheduled for today, for the first time in a while."

"Good!" Twilight smiled. "Let's head outside for a bit. I could use some air."

Spike hopped onto her back, and as they left the castle, Twilight decided to push all thoughts of the artifact in her workroom to the back of her head as she proceeded into town.

But her thoughts still strayed back to the artifact, and she gave a huff of concentration.

"I still wonder what it could be hiding even now..." she thought absentmindedly. "But whatever happens, I can handle it…right?"

Author's Note

Update!

Yeah, I admit I haven't been the best at keeping to my writing at the moment. But that will change. Expect more updates for this and my other stories in the future.

Next chapter - The UNSC detachment joins with the Arbiter and begins the slipspace jump to Equis.