Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The new/updated story can be found here: Frost on the Final Frontier

Chapter Text

0130 Hours October 25, 2552 (Military Calendar)
UNSC Super-Heavy Cruiser Winter of Discontent en route to the Sol system

Captain Nathaniel Jacobs was in the Combat Information Center while the Winter of Discontent's sensors tried to resolve the anomalous data they'd picked up into something useful. After twenty-five years of humanity steadily losing the war for their continued existence as a species, the Covenant had finally found their homeworld. The Winter of Discontent had been ordered to make best speed back to defend her in a last-stand effort. The Cole Protocol no longer applied, normally requiring multiple random-vectored transits through slipspace to prevent any UNSC ships that were being followed by the much faster and technologically superior Covenant ships from accidentally leading the Covenant to human worlds. It was now irrelevant, they had found Earth, the most protected and precious world of humanity. The planet Reach had fallen only three months before, humanity's largest naval shipyard and the most well-defended world, except for Earth itself. And it had only taken the Covenant a month to obliterate the UNSC's defenses and take it. Receiving the order to return to Earth, Captain Jacobs hoped it would hold out longer - at least long enough for the Winter to make it back to participate in what he fully expected to be humanity's last stand. Sure, humans still lived elsewhere in isolated pockets: hidden pirate stations carved out of asteroids and small isolated colonies the Covenant hadn't yet discovered, or bothered with destroying at least. But human civilization as all knew it was on the precipice of disappearing forever.

He continued to monitor the sensor displays in the CIC even as they continued to struggle to resolve the anomaly as the distance closed while they traveled via slipspace, the alternate dimension by which both the UNSC and the Covenant could navigate at effective speeds faster than light. On the displays, geometric shapes contorted and then bent in and out of existence. Slipspace didn't conform to normal physics as they understood it. Anomalies within the strange dimension, even less so.

They had plotted a direct course back to Earth from their previous assignment in what remained of the Outer Colonies, searching for some godforsaken bobble of interest to the Office of Naval Intelligence. What they were looking for, even he hadn't been informed - the mission being so highly classified that the only being aboard the ship with any further information on it was the new shipboard AI, Aurora. And all she'd been able to tell him was that she was to examine all sensor findings as they surveyed the six planets they'd been assigned among the Outer Colonies and look for a particular sensor signature, whose details she could not reveal. All he'd expected to find was glass, however. The Covenant didn't merely conquer human worlds, they killed them entirely, for all time. The Covenant bombarded human worlds with plasma weapons so immensely powerful and with such intensity that a planet's atmosphere burned away, its oceans evaporated, and the surface turned to glass.

While Captain Jacobs hated being in the dark, especially when the orders came from ONI, he knew better than to question them. The orders had been co-signed by Fleet Admiral Hood, the highest-ranking flag officer of the UNSC navy, and serving as its Chief of Naval Operations. That was some comfort to Captain Jacobs at least, but he still couldn't see the sense in deploying such a critical naval asset as the Winter of Discontent, one of the few remaining and fully operational Valiant-class super-heavy cruisers in the fleet, so far away from humanity's homeworld and last remaining military command center. She was a formidable and imposing warship boasting nearly the same firepower and armor as a battlecruiser while retaining nearly the same level of maneuverability and acceleration as a cruiser. She exuded a sense of both utilitarian practicality and overwhelming power, characteristic of UNSC ship designs.

And as with most UNSC warships larger than a destroyer, the Winter featured a monolithic design with a long, streamlined, and angular hull, optimized for functionality and armor integrity. Blocky, yet sleek, the Winter of Discontent, was massive, stretching just over fifteen-hundred meters in length, giving her an intimidating presence even among UNSC capital ships. Covered in thick layers of titanium-A armor plating, she could weather extreme damage from Covenant plasma weaponry and still remain combat-effective even before her recent refit.

Prior to their departure to the Outer Colonies, the Winter of Discontent had been in drydock at Earth's shipyards. There, she'd received the latest experimental electro-plating over her armor, intended to dissipate plasma from the Covenant's most dangerous naval weapon, plasma torpedoes. The plating would, according to UNSC specifications, de-ionize some of the plasma, robbing it of some of its energy, effectively lowering the amount of damage Covenant plasma weapons could inflict. Some UNSC ships had already received the upgrade and reported a nearly fifty percent decrease in damage from Covenant plasma torpedoes. The Covenant beam weapons were still deadly, but the UNSC's wargame simulators were eagerly experimenting with new tactics that such technology was making possible, seeking any possible edge to combat the Covenant. It normally took a ratio of at least three UNSC ships to one Covenant of equivalent class for the UNSC to emerge victorious. But the UNSC was outnumbered, now more than ever. Each UNSC warship would have to hit well above its weight class to have any hope of holding out against the Covenant navy. 

And, less than ten percent of active UNSC warships had received the upgrade. Now that the Covenant fleet had reached Earth, it was unlikely that any further UNSC vessels would receive it.

For the Winter though, she'd been blessed with another breakthrough technological upgrade: shields. The Covenant had held a massive technological gap over the head of humanity for the entire war. But UNSC scientists and engineers had been working tirelessly since the onset to understand and, if possible, recreate Covenant technology. They'd only recently begun to unlock the secrets of Covenant shield technology. Or so it was said. Captain Jacobs was privy to some details of the SPARTAN project, having been assigned to provide transport for the super soldiers, and provide orbital support for their special operations since taking command of the Winter. He knew their armor had personal shields, certainly derived from Covenant technology, but could only speculate that there were likely massive engineering issues in scaling that up to the level of naval warfare.

Though the Winter's shields were only considered a prototype, he couldn't help but wonder at how much more resilient she would be in a fight. The spec documents he'd reviewed, those whose classification his clearance was sufficient to unlock, anyway, suggested an estimated effectiveness based on many variables. The short of it was that he might, at best, hope that they would resist a broadside of Covenant beam weapons, or perhaps even a glancing blow from a plasma torpedo - though the underlying electro-plating would hopefully resist most of what got through. Once depleted though, it would take at least two minutes to recharge - more if the capacitors were being used to charge the Winter's MAC guns. Less if power were diverted, though he had noted that the magnetic coils at the heart of the shield projectors would require a cooldown period regardless, to prevent them from overloading and permanently disabling the shield projectors.

Still, he'd had his command crew as well as the shipboard AI, Aurora, simulate different strategies to optimize their recharge cycle. Aurora had already suggested some power distribution changes that she believed would give them the option of diverting power to the shields while they were being actively depleted, in effect keeping them online for longer. She'd noted that the projectors were more efficient once active compared to being initiated - they needed to 'jumpstart' into an active state, requiring a tremendous upfront energy cost. As long as they didn't divert too much power for too long, which could cause the coils to melt rather than shut down automatically, Aurora estimated the Winter could sustain her shields for almost twice as long under moderate fire. Taking heavier fire would still deplete the capacitors quickly, the projectors were simply unable to take the amount of energy needed to sustain them through such bombardment, but she'd still estimated the shields would hold up for a little longer. 

Even fewer UNSC ships received prototype shielding technology than had received the titanium-A armor electro-plating upgrade, but the Winter had been among them. For which, Captain Jacobs was eternally grateful, though upon receiving his mission to the Outer Colonies along with the final upgrade, replacing shipboard AI from the 'dumb AI' Turing to the newly-created 'smart AI' Aurora, he knew the Winter's selection for these refits was no coincidence. ONI must have considered the mission to be absolutely critical in order to justify such a massive resource investment. They'd even assigned a SPARTAN to the marine compliment, though if the SPARTAN had more specific orders, he wasn't privy to them.

Captain Jacobs had been briefed on the new AI, and was surprised to learn that Aurora's core matrix was activated only days before. With their departure to the Outer Colonies only three days away, it only further underlined the urgency and importance of the mission to ONI. Still, he resented being completely left in the dark concerning the mission's objective and purpose. And it had rubbed him the wrong way that ONI would, with FLEETCOM's blessing, unceremoniously replace the ship's previous AI, Turing, who had been with the Winter for nearly ten years. Considering his own command of the ship began the previous year, he couldn't help but feel Turing deserved to be there more than he did. But, orders were orders, and Turing, ever dutiful, accepted the news with his typical stoic poise. Captain Jacobs felt like the Winter had lost a critical part of her that couldn't just be replaced like a damaged bulkhead.

He had served aboard several ships throughout his career with that type of AI, he knew their capabilities and limitations well. He disliked the misnomer of referring to them as 'dumb AI', they were anything but. Used within their designed areas of expertise, they were invaluable assets. But 'smart AI' supposedly had exponentially greater capabilities and almost no limitations. They could learn and change and could become experts at anything they weren't already. Albeit, at the cost of exponentially greater financial, material, and technical expenses to create. The UNSC could build and deploy at least four destroyers for the cost of a single 'smart AI'. They even required human brain matter from a dying or freshly deceased person as part of their elaborate creation process. And 'smart AI' had limited lifespans. Where 'dumb AI' like Turing could function indefinitely, all 'smart AI' could only remain functional for a service life of seven years before UNSC regulations required 'final dispensation', lest their engrammatic pathways begin to break down and their personalities become unstable, even dangerous.

Still, Captain Jacobs had to admit to being impressed with Aurora even in the short time she'd been aboard the Winter. Where Turing was direct, compliant, and simple to work with, Aurora was capable of, if not prone to conversational flare, self-reliance, and proactive action. She could anticipate, evaluate, and act of her own accord. He'd had a few private conversations already with her about when and where he expected her to restrain herself from doing so without seeking his permission. She hadn't argued or complained, which was good - she was still a military asset and would behave in accordance with UNSC regulations and protocols - but she had made several excellent suggestions regarding areas of ship operations where her proactive approach would not impact command operations or otherwise intersect with the command authority of the officer assigned to that function. That had made Captain Jacobs realize he could consider her more as a kind of general department head than merely a ship-systems enhancement. She could operate independently with the responsibilities under her purview, just as he entrusted any of his offers.

She had said that she would only breach that protocol where the ship's safety and mission were concerned and circumstances would not allow for the time needed to confer with her human counterparts. Captain Jacobs had reservations about agreeing to that, but she had surprised him by reading his facial expression, interpreting it correctly as reluctance, and preemptively told him that it was merely the same kind of trust he placed in his officers - in complete accordance with UNSC naval doctrine concerning the operations and command of ship staff and duties. They did not need to confer with him before taking action with matters relating to their assigned stations, and most certainly not where ship safety was concerned. Navigation would report changes in course to the Captain, but the Officer of the Watch would initiate those changes on their own initiative if they felt it necessary for the safety and security of the ship. It was his job as the ship's commanding officer to oversee and coordinate his officers' efforts, overriding them only if necessary, in his judgment. So, he had agreed with Aurora, and wondered if other ships' captains had undergone similar conversations with 'smart AI' assigned to their vessels. He'd had no chance to ask before the Winter was underway to the Outer Colonies.

Having expected a slipspace transit time of nearly three months, the entire crew had been in cryogenic stasis for the journey once they'd cleared the gravity well of the Sol system. And after arriving, just as Captian Jacobs was beginning to appreciate the true capabilities and usefulness of Aurora, they'd received the message from FLEETCOM:

United Nations Space Command ALPHA PRIORITY TRANSMISSION 07513Z-15

Encryption Code: Red

Public Key: file /bravo-tango-sigma-one/

From: Fleet Admiral Lord Terrance Hood, Commanding Fleet Officer, UNSC Chief of Naval Operations/ (UNSC Service Number: 07960-48392-TH)

To: ALL UNSC warships in ALL SECTORS

Subject: IMMEDIATE RECALL

Classification: Classified (BGX Directive)

/start file/

Covenant presence detected on SOL system's edge coordinates 030 relative.

All UNSC warships are hereby ordered to cease all activities and regroup at rally point GAMMA at best speed.

Cole Protocol is SUSPENDED until further notice.

/end file/

After entering slipspace, Captain Jacobs had ordered all crew back to cryosleep, and gave Aurora explicit authority to modify their route if a faster one became apparent in transit. Whether he would have fully trusted her with such authority under different circumstances, he wasn't sure, but if Earth's defenses could not fare much better than Reach's, they would never make it back in time to participate in Earth's defense. It was all or nothing.

As it would turn out, the Winter would only be a week into their hurried return journey through slipsace when the ship's sensors detected the slipspace anomaly. Aurora had used her own considerable processing capabilities to augment the Winter of Discontent's sensor suites, but her engrammatic matrix couldn't make heads or tails of it, either. Though by the navigation computer's estimate they would not encounter the anomaly for three hours, the ship's automated systems would have awoken the command crew automatically as soon as the anomaly was detected and could not be matched to a cataloged anomaly type known to be safe for travel. However, Aurora intervened and initiated the emergency thaw process for the command crew herself. She was faster than the ship's computer, and combining her processing power with the ship's made them both all the more efficient. While installed in the ship's systems directly, she could run the ship's systems faster than it could by itself. She could bypass programmatic delays and routines because, unlike the ship's systems, she could think, she wasn't limited to following preset process instructions. And despite her short time since being assigned to the Winter of Discontent and working with its crew, she was confident that the captain was the kind of man who would appreciate every second saved by her proactive approach, even if it only amounted to approximately three seconds in this case.

“What is it?” Captain Jacobs had asked as he reached the CIC, still buttoning his uniform jacket. 

“An anomalous sensor reading of an unknown origin,” the holo-emitters on the CIC's tactical display came to life, and the translucent light purple and white figure of Aurora appeared. Slightly shimmering with faint digital waves of green and red rolling across her body,  her digital form reinforced her name.

Captain Jacobs had seen all manner of forms and appearances AI could take, some quite abstract, but had never personally encountered a 'smart AI'. He'd wondered if the form AI constructs took were consciously chosen or were a reflection of their own self-perception, in the way a person might visualize themself in their mind without a mirror. Aurora appeared as a young adult woman wearing a military-style hard-vacuum suit’s underlayer in casual-dress, the sleeves rolled up to her elbows and the neck fasteners left loose. Her visible ‘skin’ glowed in cool red code, and her ‘hair’ was below shoulder length in a style that seemed to balance elegance with practicality. Styled in a sleek, shoulder-length bob with a slight wave, it created a polished yet approachable look.

She gave him the impression of someone who had been raised with a 'refined' upbringing yet sought adventure beyond. Her bob was neatly parted to one side, framing her face to highlight her sharp features. It certainly wouldn't have conformed to the UNSC's grooming regulations were she subject to them, but Captain Jacobs couldn't help but wonder if there was any meaning behind Aurora’s appearance being almost, but not quite, in the style of a military figure. In truth, her appearance and demeanor reminded him of his old friend, Captain Alexandra Lorne.

He allowed himself to wonder, briefly, if she had made it out of Reach. Many ships were still unaccounted for, and some were still making their way back to Earth, having repaired underway after escaping. He'd checked UNSC records before the Winter departed, but her ship, the Ironbound Aegis, was still listed as Missing in Action.

“What kind of reading?” Captain Jacobs asked, bringing his attention back to the matter at hand, his crew at their stations in the CIC.

A holographic display of a slipspace geometry distortion appeared over the tactical display, as Aurora stood beside it. The jumble of geometric patterns continued to contort and fold in on themselves.

“Nothing like it has ever been reported,” Aurora responded calmly. “It appeared already inside long-range sensor range. I believe that is where the anomaly formed, there is no way we could have gotten this close without detecting it sooner. It may be a transient phenomenon.”

Captain Jacobs rubbed his short beard as he tried to make sense of the geometric jumble. “And I presume there was no way to navigate around it while remaining in slipspace, or you wouldn't have bothered to wake us." Aurora's nod confirmed the thought. "Can we initiate an emergency slipspace transition back to realspace? We'll have to find a new vector and entry point from realspace.”

Aurora frowned, “I’m afraid we can’t. As you know, slipspace is non-euclidean, non-newtonian, and non-einsteinian. And this anomaly doesn’t appear to be a physical phenomenon. If it were an asteroid or planetoid trapped in slipspace, we could exit slipspace as long as we were outside its gravimetric influence. However, this anomaly appears to be affecting slipspace itself. Exiting slipspace requires that we alter the quantum envelope around the ship before allowing it to dissapate upon re-entry to normal space, but this anomaly's curious geometry would intersect our position instantly, and we would be without the protection of the quantum field envelope. It would be like a person on EVA near enough to a ship transitioning to slipspace that they were also pulled in. Instant destruction would be a certainty without the enevelope. While I can’t say for certain exactly what effects this anomaly would have on the ship, I am confident that the normal effects of slipspace would destroy the Winter of Discontent.”

Captain Jacobs frowned, “So, we risk the anomaly with the benefit of the quantum field envelope and hope it doesn’t destroy us.”

"Better than definitely being destroyed," Aurora offered with a sly grin. 

"Very well," Captain Jacobs said, holding his hands behind his back as he monitored the anomaly on the monitors. "Wake the necessary crew, keep the rest in cryosleep." 

"Aye, Captain," Aurora responded with the tone of a seasoned naval professional.

As more of the crew awakened and took to their stations, Captain Jacobs did not leave the CIC. When less than fifteen minutes were left before they'd hit the anomaly, Aurora announced, “Sensors are picking something up through the anomaly. Covenant vessels."

“Could it be a sensor echo? An error? How are we seeing anything through the anomaly?” Captain Jacobs asked.

“I don't think so,” she answered. “The anomaly appears to be acting as a window into realspace. From what I can make out, I count one Covenant carrier, two cruisers, and at least four corvettes."

Captain Jacobs considered his options, few as they were. "If this anomaly is a hole between slipspace and realspace, we could end up in knife-fighting distance of the Covenant," Captain Jacobs scowled. “Prep the ship for EMCON prior to the anomaly - maybe we can buy a few seconds before the Covenant look out a window and notice us. Sound General Quarters, alert status-one. Charge the MAC guns and ready all Archer pods."

Aurora nodded again, "Aye, Captain, sounding General quarters, alert status-one. Preparing the Winter for Emissions Control operation." Aurora altered the tactical display to show the Covenant ships. The vessels maneuvered bizarrely. A cruiser would move diagonally toward the carrier, then move as if going in reverse, before tumbling end over end away from the carrier. The corvettes seemed to dance in random patterns, similarly swinging around in no particular direction with no particular pattern.

“Aurora, can we detect if the Covenant vessels are operational?” Captain Jacobs asked, wondering if he was seeing an illusion caused by the anomaly, or if they were incredibly lucky and the Covenant ships were damaged and inoperable.

Aurora concentrated on the vessels, furrowing her brow as she analyzed the mess of confused data the sensors were receiving - only passively now that she had initiated EMCON operations. “Sensors indicate they appear to be operating normally, they're detecting normal power emissions from the Covenant ships. I can't explain the illusory effect. I've resolved the geometric distortion through the anomaly, we should be seeing things normally.”

Captain Jacobs crossed his arms as his hopes of escaping the waiting Covenant fleet unscathed evaporated. He was about to order the heavy MAC guns be overcharged, hoping a one-two blow against the Covenant carrier would take it out of commission, removing the biggest threat on the board and giving them a better chance of escape. However, with four minutes left to the anomaly, the Winter of Discontent exited slipspace without warning. Captain Jacobs was thrown against the railing beside the tactical display, and CIC crew who hadn’t been seated were thrown off their feet. 

Aurora glowed brightly as she announced, “Unexpected slipspace transition! We’ve returned to normal space.” 

Captain Jacobs struggled to right himself, his impact with the railing had knocked the wind out of him. Drawing in a ragged breath at last, he wheezed, “Covenant ship posture?”

Aurora had her back to him, she was looking confusedly off at the display. “Covenant ships… not present at this location.”

“What do you mean?” Captain Jacobs asked, now finding his footing, and breath, again.

Aurora crossed her arms in frustration, “They’re gone,” she said with no small hint of frustration and confusion.

“I don’t understand,” Captain Jacobs said.

“Neither do I,” Aurora said, sighing. She uncrossed her arms, putting a hand on her hip as she turned to face the Captain. “The anomaly did act as a window back into realspace, but we may have actually transitioned out of slipspace in a completely different location from what we were seeing." She held a palm upward, and data whizzed past as she analyzed something. "Or, perhaps we exited slipspace in the same location, but at a different time. If that's the case, then what we saw was a Covenant presence at this location at some point in time prior to our arrival. We know that photons can enter and exit slipspace as with most other forms of energy. If the light was being bounced around the anomaly's geometry, like light through a prism, it could have effectively caused light to reach us on a delay. Our sensors wouldn't know the difference.”

Captain Jacobs glanced around the CIC, some were being helped off the floor, and a few got up more slowly, but there didn’t seem to be any major injuries. “Prisms refract light, shouldn't we have seen a separation of wavelengths?"

Aurora nodded, still trying to analyze the data, sending ripples through the miniature auroras wriggling across her body. "Indeed. Unless the prism was symmetrical so that the wavelengths coalesced back into the same relative phase as they entered. Our sensors could not determine the full geometry of the anomaly, in fact it seemed to be in constant flux, so such a state of perfect diffraction-reflection-refraction would seem highly improbable. Bordering on... impossible, I would have said had we not apparently witnessed it. Fascinating..." she trailed off.

"Suffice it to say we’re not in immediate danger," Captain Jacobs said, examining the tactical display and seeing for himself that nothing appeared on the scopes. "Do you have a fix on our location? Release from EMCON, use the active sensors if needed.”

After a few moments, Aurora looked at the Captain and shrugged. “Not a clue, Captain. I can’t get a fix on any UNSC nav beacons. The star positions don’t match any configuration I can resolve our position to. I’ll have to run more detailed scans and perform some spectroscopy on the local clusters to see if I can narrow down our location with that... but that kind of sensor activity output could give us away if the Covenant are lurking.”

“Do it,” Captain Jacobs ordered. "Cool the MAC guns to stable levels, but keep them hot. I want to be ready if we do get jumped. Set alert status-four."

“Aye, Captain,” Aurora answered.

***

Klaxons blared as the super-heavy cruiser UNSC Winter of Discontent exited slipspace abruptly and without PA warning. Gunnery Sergeant Cara Whitworth was thrown against the bulkhead of the cryo bay having barely gotten both feet out of her cryo tube. Cursing as she shook her head to dispel the disorientation of cryosleep from her head, and the pain in her shoulder that had hit the bulkhead, she forced herself to blink rapidly and clear the light sensitivity from her eyes caused by the emergency thaw. Feeling her way to her locker directly across the bay relying on muscle memory and emergency cryo-thaw training.

“General Quarters, General Quarters. All hands to Battle Stations. Alert-status one” came the announcement over the shipwide PA. Cara recognized the new voice of the ship's shiny new AI. She threw open the door to her equipment locker and quickly began putting on clothes and gear. The near-freezing temperature in the cryo bay barely registered despite her nudity with the cryo chemicals still wearing off. She could barely make out the blurry figures of other marines to either side of her in a similar state of disoriented hurry as they also dressed, and she gagged once more and coughed up more of the putrid cryo-chemicals still in her lungs. Doing her best to take deep deliberate breaths to clear her lungs of the nauseating cryo-chems, she fully donned her utility uniform and harness, forgoing the hard-vacuum protective layers due to the alert status calling all hands to their alert stations without unnecessary delay. She hefted her bulky MA5B bullpup assault rifle from her weapons locker and checked it quickly, confirming the integrated electronics were running and would sync to the heads-up display projected onto the eyepiece of her helmet. Loading a fresh magazine of M118 7.62x51mm FMJ-AP, the UNSC's standard rifle round, capable of shredding even a Covenant Elite's personal shield with sustained fire, she finally felt a little less vulnerable. Quickly stuffing a full combat load of magazines into her chest rig. She headed directly out of the cryo bay, her eyes cleared just enough to avoid crashing into another bulkhead on her way out.

Chapter Text

Stardate 448176.4 (revised calendar) /
USS Enterprise-D en route to the Demilitarized Zone

Captain Picard exited his ready-room and took his seat in the Captain’s chair on the bridge. Commander Riker looked expectantly to the Captain from his own seat beside him. Commander Troi sat opposite Riker on the other side of the Captain, patiently awaiting the situation update. 

Captain Picard tapped his chin thoughtfully, before saying, “Starfleet received agreement from the Cardassians - we will rendezvous with their vessel inside the Demilitarized Zone and proceed jointly. It seems the Cardassians have not been able to locate or identify the attackers, either.”

Commander Riker nodded in acknowledgement. “A Cardassian border patrol destroyed, and a Federation colony attacked - let’s hope this was at least an isolated incident.”

Lieutenant Worf scowled from the tactical station. “Only a fool would risk making enemies of the Cardassians and the Federation at the same time.”

Troi shifted in her seat, offering, “Perhaps it was a tragic misunderstanding? The Cardassians said that when they tried to communicate with the unknown vessels, they were attacked. Perhaps this was seen as a hostile action in a way we don’t yet understand.”

Captain Picard nodded, feeling they had all made valid points. “Regardless of their intentions, Starfleet Command feels we cannot allow them to continue to attack our colonies. We must first survey the damage to the colony, then locate these mysterious vessels, and if possible, establish contact.”

Commander Riker added, skeptically, “I doubt the Cardassians are going to let the destruction of their patrol go unanswered. Contact may not be possible if the Cardassians shoot on sight.”

Captain Picard furrowed his brow, “Let us hope, then, that we can convince our Cardassian friends at the rendezvous that there may be more to gain from peaceful contact than immediate retribution.”

Lieutenant Commander Data turned his head from the Operations Station, “Previous experience with Cardassian military thinking would suggest that will likely be a most difficult task.”

Captain Picard nodded again, “Still, I think there may be curiosity behind the Cardassians’ thinking. They’ve agreed to investigate this jointly. They could have simply sent a fleet after them, instead…”

The Enterprise continued its journey to the Demilitarized Zone, the crew continuing to speculate about the mysterious attackers. An hour or so passed, when Lieutenant Commander Data announced, “Long range sensors have detected the colony in the Demilitarized Zone, Marisha III… it appears the biosphere of the planet has somehow been compromised.”

Captain Picard and Commander Riker exchanged glances, before Captain Picard asked, “Compromised? In what way?”

Lieutenant Commander Data responded, “The planet’s two main oceans are… gone. Sensors indicate they have evaporated away. The surface of the planetary crust has largely been fused into a glass-like surface, apparently due to extreme heat. And the atmosphere has been reduced to less than ten percent of its normal mass, with a high proportion of ozone and low levels of carbon dioxide and methane.”

Commander Riker glanced at the Captain in disbelief, before asking Data, “What could have caused this?”

Commander Data considered the question, before offering, “A sustained barrage of phaser fire from a starship could cause these effects, though it would take a fleet of ships to accomplish this level of destruction, and the sustained energy output required to fuse the surface of the planet exceeds known capabilities. Destruction of the planetary crust and destruction of a M-class planet’s biosphere is possible, but the resulting atmospheric conditions would not match. Alternatively, a massive quantity of plasma enveloping the planet would explain the atmospheric levels as well as the surface destruction.”

Commander Riker looked back to Captain Picard, asking, “Attacked by mysterious ships and hit by an unprecedented plasma storm? I don’t buy it.”

Captain Picard shook his head, “Nor do I. Mister Data, is our Cardassian counterpart in sensor range yet?”

Lieutenant Commander Data checked his sensor readings, before responding, “I am picking up debris in orbit around the colony. It matches the type configuration of the Cardassian vessel we were to rendezvous with. Galor-class.”

Captain Picard leaned back into his chair. “It seems the Cardassian were eager to arrive here before us.”

Commander Riker nodded, “And discovered more than they bargained for.”

Captain Picard ordered, “Increase to maximum warp.”

***

The Enterprise entered the Marisha system a short time later, taking up orbit around Marisha III to survey the destruction. Captain Picard ordered a sensor sweep for any signs of life, and asked Counselor Troi if she could sense anything. 

“There are no lifeforms on the planet that I can sense,” she informed the Captain. Her tone indicated she’d prepared herself for the possibility, but had kept hope that there might be some surviving people on the planet. 

Lieutenant Commander Data added his own report, “Sensors confirm long-range readings - there is no one living on the planet. In fact, I cannot detect any trace of humanoid biomatter on the planet. Given the extent of the destruction, it is possible that all biological traces have been completely destroyed.”

Captain Picard rose from his seat, taking in the view of the planet from the main viewscreen. Even from orbit, the level of destruction was obvious. “Mister Data, scan the Cardassian ship’s debris field. Can you determine how they were destroyed?”

Data took a moment to scan the debris, before reporting, “The bulk of the ship’s mass appears to have been disintegrated. The debris contains ionized poly-alloy remnants, indicating exposure to concentrated plasma energy.”

Commander Riker rose from his own seat, walking to the side of the Captain. “Whatever kind of plasma weapons did this, they’re nothing like those from the twenty-second century. This took a level of sustained and contained power that’s only been theorized. Could this be some experimental new weapons someone’s developed?”

Captain Picard’s eyes met Riker’s. “A disturbing possibility, given that if it is indeed the case, they’ve apparently decided to debut them with several acts of war.”

Commander Riker nodded solemnly, acknowledging the grave possibility of being at war and not even knowing with whom.

Lieutenant Worf leaned over his tactical console, “If someone has developed a new type of plasma weapon, it could change the balance of power in the quadrant. Perhaps they have decided to test its combat capability in an isolated attack in order to gauge its effectiveness.”

Captain Picard thought for a moment, “Perhaps, but why should they wish to risk war with two powers at once?”

Commander Riker picked up on his line of thought, “If it were a test, and they were unsure of their capabilities, it would be prudent to only attack one faction.”

Captain Picard nodded, “Either they were confident of their capabilities already, or it wasn’t a test …”

Captain Picard was interrupted before he could finish the thought when Lieutenant Commander Data abruptly announced, “Captain, I’m detecting a gravimetric distortion, an anomaly in space-time, nearly thirteen million kilometers away.”

On the viewscreen, a large ship more than twice the length of the Enterprise appeared from a silvery void that had suddenly appeared. 

“Shield’s up, red alert!” Commander Riker barked. Lieutenant Worf responded instantly, raising the ship’s shields and readying the ship’s phaser banks.

Captain Picard studied the vessel on the viewscreen. “That doesn’t appear to be a Starfleet design. Mister Data, can you match the hull configuration of the vessel to anything in the ship’s computer? Does it match the description of the vessels that attacked the Cardassians and the colony?”

Data searched the ship’s computer, reporting, “This vessel does not match the description of the vessels which attacked the Cardassians and the colony. However, it does not match any known ship type used by any known entity, either.”

Worf suggested, “That does not mean it is not affiliated with them. We should be prepared should they attack as well.”

Captain Picard regarded the vessel. It was almost rectangular, quite utilitarian he thought. It wasn’t an elegant vessel, in his mind, but one rather brutish and sturdy.  “Mister Data, are there any identifying markings on the vessel?”

Data began typing on his console, “There appears to be markings along the side of the vessel…” He paused, before continuing, sounding confused by what he was seeing, “it appears to be in English, Captain.” 

The viewscreen resolved on the side of the vessel, and the markings began to solidify. Commander Riker narrowed his eyes on it, as he read aloud, “Winter of Discontent.”

Counselor Troi suddenly sat up straight in her chair. She announced, “Captain! I’m sensing something on that ship. They’re human!”

Captain Picard shot the Counselor a look in disbelief, before returning his gaze back to the viewscreen. “Open hailing frequencies,” he ordered.

Chapter Text

0140 Hours October 25, 2552 (Military Calendar) /

UNSC Super-Heavy Cruiser Winter of Discontent in unknown space

Captain Jacobs asked Aurora, “We still don’t have a fix on our location?”

Aurora shrugged, “The local star doesn’t match any cataloged star in our charts, and as you know, more than ninety nine percent of stars in our galaxy remain uncatalogued. As far as a more generalized location goes, I believe we are still within the Orion Arm of the Milky Way, at least forty thousand lightyears from the galactic center. More than that, I can’t say. The Winter of Discontent’s astrometric sensors weren’t meant for surveying, after all.”

Captain Jacobs leaned over the horizontal tactical display on the bridge. His bridge officers had handled the situation well, he thought. Most of them had been in at least two or more battles with the Covenant, they were far from green. Still, this was completely new territory, literally, for all of them. He was, however, still without his executive officer, Lieutenant Commander Ashley Gibbons. She’d suffered a non-combat injury when a Pelican maneuvering into a landing bay had struck a load stack of supplies in the hangar. The metal-fatigued locking clamp had given way, and Gibbons had been struck by the loose contents of one of the crates. Fortunately, her injuries weren’t life-threatening, but Captain Jacobs had been furious that such shoddy maintenance had allowed a substandard piece of safety equipment to be used on his ship. Worse still, her injuries were severe enough to render her unfit for duty, per the chief medical officer, Doctor Chakas. 

As a result, she wasn’t immediately revived from cryo-sleep by Aurora, or under the status alter-one protocol. Captain Jacobs had called down to the cryo-bay and overrode the normal protocol. He’d wanted Gibbons conscious, even if she couldn’t be on the bridge unassisted - though he didn’t envy the cryo-tech who had to explain to her why she hadn’t been revived from the start despite knowing the protocols herself just fine. He liked that fire in her though, he needed someone ready to challenge accepted practices. It forced him to consider possibilities outside the norm. He knew he needed every advantage possible when fighting the Covenant. Their current situation would undoubtedly benefit from her style of thinking, too.

Aurora shifted her attention from the tactical display, “Captain, sensors just picked up something strange. A burst of radiation emissions, wide-band- no, simultaneous but distinct signals… I think someone, or something is trying to communicate with us?”

Captain Jacobs’ eyebrow shot up, “UNSC?”

Aurora shook her head, the code on her skin churned data in a rainbow of color as she configured the data in a way that would make sense. “No, it follows no known UNSC communication protocols- or any known human protocols. However, looking at the data patterns,” she held out a hand, from which a stream of waveforms flowed and separated as she broke them down into constituent segments, “it appears that this is intended to be easily heard, and understood.”

Captain Jacobs asked, “What does it say?”

Aurora cocked her head, “It’s an audio transmission, mostly.” She snapped her fingers, and the waveforms became a coherent audio signal, which played through the bridge speakers.

A male voice, deep and authoritative filled the bridge. “-eration of Planets. We are on a mission of peaceful exploration. If you can understand me, please respond.” Aurora said, “Let me play it back from the transmission start.”

There was a momentary pause, then the voice began again, “This is Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the USS Enterprise, of the United Federation of Planets. We are on a mission of peaceful exploration. If you can understand me, please respond.”

The bridge crew tilted their heads at the transmission, exchanging confused and nervous glances. Captain Jacobs couldn’t help but share in their confusion. He asked Aurora, “Did we stumble over an old survey transmission?”

Aurora had an immediate answer, though. “No sir, they aren’t following any communication protocols, even ancient ones from before the UNSC took over for the Colonial Administration Authority. Besides, this is definitely directed specifically at us. Take a look at this,” she said, as she held up her hand again, and from her palm the waveforms returned, which she broke down into small variations in the patterns. “Metadata,” she explained. She twisted her fingers, and suddenly little bumps in the waveforms, inaudible on the playback, were translated into a kind of message protocol header Captain Jacobs had never seen. Except for one part of it, anyway. The message header explicitly described the transmission as being directed to the ‘unknown vessel marked as Winter of Discontent’’ . Captain Jacob’s thoughts were interrupted when a new presence burst onto the bridge.

“What in the hell is going on around here, Captain.” It was phrased somewhere between an accusation and a genuine question. Lieutenant Commander Gibbons hobbled onto the bridge, her right leg in a splint up to her knee. She was walking on a single crutch, undoubtedly her way of assuaging the doctor’s protests as she ignored him. Her black hair stuck messily to the back of her neck, stuck from a combination of the cold from the cryotube and sweat from the exertion of getting to the bridge. She was wearing a mechanic’s coveralls, the torso tied around her waist. Probably the only thing on-hand that she could get dressed into in a hurry. Her uniform jacket was undone, but at least she was wearing it at all; she hadn’t bothered to put her boots on. They were laced together and hanging from her shoulder and she was barefoot on the bridge. Captain Jacobs knew he was well within his rights to chastise her for her appearance. In fact, there were plenty of commanding officers in the UNSC who would have chastised him for not doing so. But he knew her thinking and approved: Lieutenant Commander Ashley Gibbons knew it was more important to be present than formal when needed. Still, he did his best not to reveal more than tacit approval, nor his amusement, maintaining a stern and unapproving face. “I presume Medical cleared you back to duty,” he said, turning back to the tactical display. 

Lieutenant Commander Gibbons read his meaning at once, and did her best to come to attention with the splinted leg and crutch. “Sir, yes sir,” she said.

“Very good, Lieutenant Commander,” was all he said. Gibbons made her way to the tactical display, sighing in relief to be able to lean on something other than the crutch, as she put her weight against the tactical display. 

Captain Jacobs glanced at Aurora, who was making no similar effort as he was to hide his amusement at Lieutenant Commander Gibbons’ appearance. “I presume you briefed the Lieutenant Commander on her way to the ridge?” he inquired.

Aurora smiled in a teasingly patronizing way, “Of course, Captain.”

“Then what do you make of it?” he asked his executive officer.

Ashley Gibbons was a sharp mind, Jacobs knew. Had she not joined the navy, he felt she would have made a talented scientist. Gibbons took a moment to shoot a glare across at Aurora, who glibly smiled in return, before she said, “We know the Covies can speak and understand English - some of them anyway. But we don’t exactly have a problem telling them apart from human speakers. This doesn’t sound like any Covie I’ve ever heard… and besides, why would they bother trying to communicate with us? Why not simply attack? If it’s human though, who are they and what are they doing here? Aurora told me there are no known UNSC commanding officers by the name of Picard. Perhaps we should respond, and see what happens.”

Captain Jacobs nodded, “Agreed. Aurora, open hailing frequencies, directional transmission back toward the source of what we received.”

Aurora stood straighter, as if at attention. “Done. I don’t have a fix on the origin of the transmission, I’ll have to leave it a little broad to make sure whoever’s out there hears us. Whenever you’re ready, Captain.”

Captain Jacobs took a breath, before saying, “This is Captain Nathan Jacobs, of the UNSC Winter of Discontent. Your transmission has been received and acknowledged. Your communication protocols are not in compliance with Cole Protocol regulations. Please identify your registry number and port of origin using compliant protocol.”

***

Gunnery Sergeant Cara Whitworth had rejoined her squad on H-deck. They’d barely had time to exchange their theories about what was happening when the voice of the Captain came over the speakers. “Unknown ship approaching. All hands to action stations. Marines, prepare for potential boarders.”

Chapter Text

0145 Hours October 25, 2552 (Military Calendar) /
UNSC Super-Heavy Cruiser Winter of Discontent in unknown space

Captain Jacobs stood with his arms crossed on the bridge. The vessel calling itself USS Enterprise was approaching, rapidly. In fact it was approaching at nearly one quarter the speed of light, faster than a MAC round fired from the Winter of Discontent ’s MAC guns. 

“Two minutes to intercept!” Lieutenant Vaerd announced. She was a wiry, lanky woman, but Captain Jacobs knew better than to judge her based on physical appearances. Her service record included participating in several naval engagements with the Covenant including a defense against a boarding action in which she had defended the bridge of her previous ship from an attempt by the Covenant to take it and access the ship’s computers. She’d taken out two Elites and a dozen Grunts, after she’d been struck in the hip by a plasma pistol round. 

Most of the bridge crew hadn’t survived, including the ship’s Captain. When the ship eventually made it back to Reach, she was still recovering in a hospital bed by the time the ship’s new commanding officer had taken command and the ship left port. Jacobs had found her record while searching for a new Tactical Officer. His previous Tactical Officer had been poached for a special assignment aboard a refitted Halcyon-class cruiser at Reach. When he’d visited her hospital room, she’d asked him for a berth on his ship the moment he introduced himself as the Captain of the Winter of Discontent . She’d lost her parents and a sister when the Covenant glassed Sigmaris IV, and a brother aboard the UNSC Iridescent . She was hungry for revenge, and that had suited Captain Jacobs just fine.

Aurora appeared over the tactical display again. “The power output of that ship must be similar to ours - in a much smaller hull and without anything resembling a MAC gun, it must be quite light and maneuverable. I can’t guarantee a hit with the MAC guns unless we’re within thirty thousand kilometers.”

Lieutenant Commander Ashley Gibbons took the initiative. “Get at least one of the MAC guns charged ASAP. Arm all Archer pods, bring all point defense batteries online, and load a Shiva into a tube.”

“Aye, ma’am,” Lieutenant Vaerd responded. 

Captain Jacobs continued examining the approaching ship displayed at the tactical console. “Aurora, re-open a channel to that ship.”

“Sir?” Aurora asked, curious what the Captain had in mind.

“Do it,” he ordered. 

“Open,” Aurora responded. 

Lieutenant Commander Gibbons looked inquisitively at Captain Jacobs, who continued eyeing the approaching ship on the display.

“This is Captain Jacobs of the UNSC Winter of Discontent . Cease your approach, or we will interpret your actions as hostile. You will be fired upon.”

Aurora cocked an eyebrow at him, crossing her arms as she watched, bemused. Lieutenant Commander Gibbons said, “Captain, do we have any reason to give them the benefit of the doubt?”

Captain Jacobs stroked his beard. “Their ship accelerated at a rate, to a sublight speed, well beyond anything we’ve ever seen. Even the Covenant ships can’t do that. They opened a line of communication first, well before we had any idea they were even there, when they could have attacked. We’re dealing with something completely foreign to us. Maybe even foreign to the Covenant. Perhaps even an alien race outside of the Covenant - a more friendly race… something that could alter the war… with the Covenant already at Earth, things are more desperate than ever. If we don’t take this chance… I doubt we’ll ever get another like it.”

Lieutenant Commander Gibbons sighed, a sign Captain Jacobs would recognize as her reluctantly agreeing with him. The Covenant were at Earth - it was only a matter of time until their homeworld fell. These were desperate times, and this was a desperate measure. Gibbons knew it, the entire bridge crew knew it, as Captain Jacobs most definitely knew it.

Aurora announced suddenly, “Captain, the other ship is coming to a stop!” She made no attempt to conceal her astonishment. “Incoming audio transmission,” she added.

“This is Captain Picard of the USS Enterprise. It was not our intention to provoke offense. It was our intention to greet you in closer proximity. You mentioned certain protocols we are unfamiliar with, but we gather from context that they are security measures. It was our intention to utilize a narrower-field, low-power transmission, if that is acceptable to you.”

Captain Jacobs glanced to Aurora to confirm that the channel was still open for him to reply in kind. She nodded, giving him a thumbs up. Captain Jacobs considered his words before speaking again. “I… appreciate your consideration. We would prefer to continue this conversation at this distance, for now. We thought you to be members of the Covenant… but that appears increasingly unlikely. The technology of your ship does not appear to be related to our own, indicating you are not human - that is our species name, as you may be aware, given that you speak our language well enough. Forgive me, but I must ask… are you aware of the Covenant’s actions against us?”

There was silence for a few moments, before a response came. “I’m afraid we are not aware of the Covenant you spoke of, but I can say that many of this crew of this ship are indeed human.”

Silent shock spread through the bridge of the Winter of Discontent . Captain Jacobs and Lieutenant Commander Gibbons locked eyes, and Aurora’s code on her skin began churning into a psychedelic display one might see inside a nightclub on Reach.

The voice from the other ship continued, “We are transmitting visually, if you would care to as well.”

Captain Jacobs looked to Aurora, who shrugged and said, “I can utilize the ship’s sensors to form a digital representation which we can transmit.”

Captain Jacobs nodded to her, before adding, “Display their visual transmission, overlay on the bridge navigation HUD.”

An image resolved at the front of the bridge, directly in front of the NAV stations. The ship’s forward viewport went opaque as Aurora overrode the normal display to project the visual transmission. A man appeared standing before them. He was bald, wore a uniform with a red torso, black shoulders and pants, and a badge on the left breast that looked like an elongated letter ‘A’ to Captain Jacobs. Behind the man were two people, a bearded man also wearing a red uniform, and a woman with long, dark hair to the right, wearing a turquoise uniform. To the front of the man were two people seated at consoles, one wearing the same style red uniform, the other to the right, wearing a kind of mustard yellow. Though the man on the right appeared rather pale to Captain Jacobs, the others all appeared quite human. He looked to Gibbons, who was returning a look of equal amazement to him.

The man on the screen seemed to have the same look himself, as he glanced behind him to the two people sitting behind him.

Chapter Text

0150 Hours October 25, 2552 (Military Calendar) /
UNSC Super-Heavy Cruiser Winter of Discontent in unknown space

On H-deck, Gunnery Sergeant Cara Whitworth was overseeing the placement of the tripod-mounted AIE-486H Heavy Machine Guns in the right ventral Pelican hangar. Her squad was far from green on the ground, but they hadn’t participated in the onboard defense of a ship. She checked her MA5B rifle again. While most marines preferred the C-variant of the MA5-series rifle, she preferred the intensity of the B-variant. Twice the ammo in the magazine, it was a terror in close quarters. While the MA5C certainly outperformed the MA5B at medium to longer ranger, in Cara’s experience the bulk of Covenant infantry rarely preferred to stay at range. Indeed, if they were boarded, the corridors of a UNSC ship were hardly wide open and ranging. Being able to throw a copious amount of lead out and desperately quickly would be an advantage if it came to that. 

As it stood, there had been no further updates from the bridge. She hadn’t felt the deck shift as if the Winter of Discontent was taking evasive maneuvers. In fact, she hadn’t noticed any change at all in the acceleration of the ship. Nor had she felt the vibration of the ship’s weapons systems rattling the deck with weapons fire. That was either very good, or very, very bad. Gunnery Sergeant Cara Whitworth had only been reassigned to the Winter of Discontent when Reach fell. Like many ground units, they’d evacuated in a hurry when it was clear Reach could not be held. They’d dusted off from Reach mainly in Pelicans, and had docked in whatever UNSC ship had stuck around long enough to take them in. While the fleet itself was in chaos in the immediate aftermath of Reach, UNSC FLEETCOM had contingency plans in place should the UNSC stronghold fall. Even as Reach was still burning, Cara had received orders formalizing her assignment to the Winter of Discontent. She’d laughed at the time, finding irony in the maintenance of the formal command structure while the only place she’d thought might actually stand up to the Covenant, besides Earth, was razed and turned to glass.

Cara ordered six marines to man the HMGs, while the rest of the squad milled about behind cover, and waited for the inevitable high-pitched squeal of Covenant plasma weapons to fill the hangar. She made sure everyone had plenty of grenades. If the Covenant made it aboard the ship, collateral damage to the hangar would be the least of their worries.

***

Aboard the USS Enterprise, Captain Picard consulted with his bridge officers. The audio feed was muted so they could speak openly. 

“Thoughts?” he inquired, eager to get his officers’ assessments of the situation.

Counselor Troi was the first to offer her insight. “I sense no deceit from them, Captain. In fact, they are just as confused as we are.”

Commander Riker was next. “Fair to say, I think we spooked them when we came about to greet them.”

Captain Picard nodded at this. “Agreed. We- I made the assumption based on the name of the ship painted across the hull that we were dealing with humans in an experimental ship-type of some sort. It seems that assumption was faulty.”

Lieutenant Worf voiced his concerns, “Captain, we still don’t know the capabilities of this ship. Sensors indicate power generating capability similar to our own, but our sensors cannot completely penetrate their hull. It is comprised of a titanium alloy unknown to us.”

Lieutenant Commander Data turned from the Ops station. “Captain, I believe the large openings in the front of the ship may be magnetic accelerators. I was able to detect a power surge in what appears to be a line of extremely powerful superconducting magnets. Based on the level of power our sensors could pick up, they may be a threat to the Enterprise .”

Counselor Troi was ready to interject, “I don’t believe their intentions are hostile. They will defend themselves if they feel we are a threat, but I think they are… surprised by our presence. As if they were expecting someone else.”

Commander Riker turned to Counselor Troi, asking, ”Like who? The Cardassians?”

Counselor Troi could only indicate she wasn’t sure.

Captain Picard looked to Troi, then to Riker. “Well, it seems there is at least one way to find out…” he motioned to Worf to unmute the audio, before he turned back to the viewscreen. The Captain of the other ship seemed to be conferring with his own bridge officers. Captain Picard wondered at the structure of the bridge of the other ship. He noted curiously how the bridge of the ship appeared to be nestled on the underside of their hull, compared to the topside location of Federation ships.

“Captain Jacobs,” Captain Picard began, “I wonder if you are aware of the destruction of the colony on Marisha III, which we are here to investigate.”

There was silence for a few moments as Captain Jacobs looked to one of his fellow bridge officers, a woman with a leg in a splint, who shrugged to him. Captain Jacobs looked into the viewscreen, “That colony is unknown to us… forgive me, Captain, but you mentioned before that you are human… but your ship does not have a functioning UNSC transponder… have you been operating outside of the UEG? ”

Captain Picard glanced to Troi, who nodded to indicate that the Captain was telling the truth about not knowing of the colony, at least. He turned back to the viewscreen. “Eh, UEG?”

Captain Jacobs, looking puzzled, explained, “...the United Earth Government.”

Captain Picard, in turn, took a moment of bewildered confusion as he also glanced back at his crew, who seemed equally confused. “Earth, you say?”

Captain Jacobs seemed a little more cautious suddenly. “Yes… Earth. You have heard of it, right?”

Captain Picard, taking a moment to compose how to respond to such a question, finally said, “As a matter of fact, we have. It is, after all, the capital of the United Federation of Planets, of whom we represent.”

Captain Jacobs exchanged more confused looks to the others on his bridge. “Captain… I’m not quite sure what to say… are you saying your ancestors perhaps struck out into the galaxy and renamed your colony to Earth?” 

Captain Picard estimated that Captain Jacobs was desperately trying to comprehend the situation just as much as he was - but he noted that while his own questions were exploratory, the Captain of the Winter of Discontent seemed much more guarded, and cautious about the situation, as if at any moment disaster might strike. He considered his words to form a measured response. “The Earth I am speaking of, is the homeworld of the human race as we know it.”

Captain Jacobs turned and looked down at something Captain Picard couldn’t make out, except for the purplish glow it projected up into his face. Jacobs looked back to Picard on the viewscreen, “Captain Picard… what year is it, presently?”

Captain Picard raised an eyebrow, responding with the hope that some of the present confusion was about to be lifted. “It is by our record, stardate 448177.4. The year 2370 per the Gregorian calendar.” His hope was quickly dashed.

Captain Jacobs looked even more confused than he was before, as were the other visible members of the bridge crew. “Captain, I don’t know how to explain this, but that… is impossible. By that reckoning, that would put us almost two hundred years in the past.” Now Captain Picard was truly baffled. He made a quick hand gesture and Word muted the audio. 

He turned to face Counselor Troi, who could only tell the Captain, “I don’t know how to explain it, but I do know he is not lying.”

Captain Picard turned to Commander Riker, who offered, “Some temporal anomaly? A parallel reality? It wouldn’t be the first time we’ve encountered either…”

Captain Picard gestured to Worf, who reopened the audio. He turned to the viewscreen again. “Captain, is it possible you recently encountered an anomaly in space-time?” Captain Picard saw his counterpart in the viewscreen start to accept something troubling. 

Captain Jacobs responded, “We encountered a slipspace anomaly a short time ago. One never before encountered. And I take it you are implying that this anomaly has… shifted us somewhere… else ?”

Captain Picard nodded, “We have encountered some phenomena that have caused… similar effects before.”

Captain Jacobs thought for a moment, “And the Covenant? We believe we saw them through the anomaly here - we expected them to be near this location when we exited slipspace.”

Now it was Captain Picard who was piecing something troubling together. “You mentioned this Covenant before… our colony on Marisha III was destroyed, the planetary surface wiped of all life, its biosphere destroyed. The very surface appears to have been struck by a massive quantity of plasma. Could this Covenant be responsible?”

Captain Jacobs sighed sadly, before standing up straight. “Yes Captain… that is exactly what the Covenant have been doing to our colonies for the past twenty-seven years.”

Captain Picard looked back at Commander Riker and Lieutenant Worf, who both seemed to appreciate the implications. He turned back to the viewscreen.

“Captain Jacobs, I think you and I ought to meet in-person to discuss the situation.”

Chapter Text

0213 Hours October 25, 2552 (Military Calendar) /
UNSC Super-Heavy Cruiser Winter of Discontent in the Marisha Star System.

Petty Officer Allison-256 sat on the side of the hospital bed in the Winter of Discontent’s Medbay testing her left arm. The UNSC Spartan supersoldier still felt intense, sharp pain where the bones had been broken. Of the many physical and surgical augmentations performed on the young Spartans, including her, carbon ossification of the bones was supposed to have made breaks nigh impossible. However, that hadn’t meant much to the Hunter she’d had a close encounter with just two weeks before. In spite of their hulking size and mass, they were unbelievably fast.

Allison had been with Fox Team on Omaris IV when the Hunter pair had burst through the side of a building to ambush them. She’d distracted the first of the pair, getting its attention when she stuck a Covenant plasma grenade to its head. That had only pissed it off. It charged her, swinging at her with its massive battleplate shield. Even for a Spartan, it was difficult to dodge a Hunter. She’d managed to barely roll out of the way, laying into it at point blank with her MA5B rifle. The Hunter responded by leveling its Fuel Rod Gun at her, and firing. At point blank range, her only move was to duck under the green blobs of exploding plasma. It seemed the Hunter was ready though, and had rounded into a backswing with its massive shield horizontal, catching her against the side and pinning her arm against her torso. The impact threw her through a nearby concrete wall.

The other three members of Fox Team had been able to bring down the other Hunter under combined withering fire, and the hulking foe had collapsed, they’d turned their full attention to the remaining Hunter who had incapcitated Allison. With only a single Hunter left, the power of three Spartans brought it down quickly. Allison lay partially buried in the rubble of the collapsed wall, barely conscious. They had medevaced Allison aboard a Pelican to return to the Winter of Discontent , which had been functioning as the fleet command ship in orbit, and was being used by Admiral Jacklyn Porter to coordinate the fleet and ground campaign that had sent them planetside. Most of Allison’s injuries were relatively minor. Liver and kidney contusions, concussion, ruptured spleen, and of course, the broken arm. Dr. Chakas had needed to get special clearance to decrypt classified medical information on the wounded Spartan in order to treat her altered physiology. 

While the doctor would have ideally preferred to have put her arm in a cast and let the bones heal on their own, Admiral Porter had personally approved Allison-256’s request to use an expedited treatment. He’d had to requisition a diamond-tip drill in order to place the screws which fastened two plates onto each of the two broken bones. It wouldn’t give her full use of the arm immediately, but it was faster than a cast. 

When the rest of the crew entered cryosleep for the slipspace jump to Earth, Allison remained conscious with the skeleton crew in order to give her bones time to heal, even if just for a week or two, before getting to Earth and making humanity’s last stand. She’d had even less than that time to recover before the ship went to Alert Status-One. Allison had left the Medbay without being discharged, though not technically a member of the Winter of Discontent ’s crew Dr. Chakas had tried to protest to her anyway. In the ten minutes or so from that point to the Captain ordering the ship down to Alert Status-Three, she had reached the ship section that Fox Team had been billeted to, and was nearly finished donning her MJOLNIR armor in spite of the intense pain and limited use of her arm. 

Allison regretted now that the rest of Fox Team hadn’t returned to the Winter of Discontent . When the emergency broadcast came, recalling all UNSC ships to Earth, they’d had to abandon their mission on the planet's surface, and were retrieved by a Pelican. Admiral Porter had ordered Captain Jacobs to proceed immediately - as the heaviest, best armed ship in the fleet, she didn’t want to spare even an hour with it sitting parked in orbit. A frigate, the UNSC Intrepid Adventure had loitered in orbit while the Pelican carrying the other three members of Fox Team rendezvoused with them. Admiral Porter herself had been aboard the UNSC Destroyer Windy Day at the time, in orbit further out in the system near the system’s edge where a UNSC listening outpost was stationed. She didn’t want to waste any time transferring ships, and stayed aboard the Windy Day during the jump to Earth.

Allison-256 waited patiently on the medical bed, without her armor once again, as Doctor Chakas came around to her. 

“You need to give your arm time to heal. The plates will hold it in place, but the more you move it, the slower it will happen,” he said, mild irritation present in his voice. Marines often ignored his recommendations when it was optional. ODSTs, the special forces of the UNSC Marines, were even worse. He figured a Spartan had even less inclination. Hell, for all he knew, Spartans could regenerate lost limbs and heal broken bones in a quarter of the time as the rest of humanity.

“Tell that to the Covenant,” Allison said. She knew the doctor meant well, and his advice was sound. The necessities of war were rarely so accommodating, she knew from experience.

Doctor Chakas grumbled about ground pounders always knowing what was best and he was just the doctor after all . “If you can limit its use to holding a rifle, that’ll help at least.”

“Understood,” she told him. He seemed to take her acknowledgement of his advice with a grain of optimism at least. Doctor Chakas had been planning on retiring early from the UNSC and taking up a private practice on Reach when the Covenant were first encountered. He’d felt an obligation to stay until the threat was resolved. That was 27 years ago, and he was pushing 60 now. He’d once wondered if he’d live to see the end of the war with the Covenant in his lifetime, one way or the other. Now that the Covenant were invading Earth, he’d changed his mind; he’d happily go to his grave not knowing the outcome if it meant there was at least a fighting chance for humanity.

He examined her arm at the break, noting, “I don’t know what you did to it, but it’s swollen. Your armor may be too tight, it’s putting stress on the fracture.” He was just guessing at the armor’s role, in truth. The medical files were mostly blank ink, ONI had redacted most of it, despite getting clearance. Everything relating to how the Spartan’s armor interacted with her physiology was completely redacted.

Allison knew from her own training that the MJOLNIR armor’s speed and muscle-enhancing actuator were likely the cause. They took even the slightest movement, and amplified it exponentially. It was only due to the augmented bone and muscle tissue combined with their augmented reflexes that Spartans could safely operate the armor in the first place. She’d have to lower the sensitivity of the armor’s left arm should she need to use it again. In the meantime, she could disable the armor’s actuators entirely. The left arm would be dead weight - her own strength would be needed to move the arm without assistance, which could aggravate the injury, but it was still better than the armor at the lowest setting. She decided to investigate presetting at rest positions she could lock the arm armor into when she didn’t need the use of the arm. Like the rest of her fellow Spartans, once they had been issued the MJOLNIR armor, it became a second skin to them. They rarely took it off unless they had to, even outside of combat situations.

Doctor Chakas then completed a brief checkup on the rest of the Spartan’s injuries. None seemed aggravated by her earlier movement at least.

Captain Jacobs entered the Medbay, finding the Spartan and the doctor. “Is she cleared for duty?”

Allison immediately stood up at attention and saluted. She was out of uniform, wearing the light gray cloth of a medical gown, and technically not required to do so as she was considered ‘admitted inpatient’ and exempt from such formalities while being cared for in the Medbay.

Doctor Chakas scoffed, “I wouldn’t recommend it, but it’s not like I’ve got any say in the matter…” he shook his head as he regarded the medical records, full of redactions courtesy of ONI.

Captain Jacobs returned the salute, before asking the Spartan, “I need an honest answer. Are you fit for duty?”

Allison answered without hesitation, “Sir, yes sir.”

“Then get your armor, and meet me in hangar bay 2-3 in thirty minutes.”

Chapter Text

0248 Hours October 25, 2552 (Military Calendar) /
UNSC Super-Heavy Cruiser Winter of Discontent in the Marisha Star System.

Gunnery Sergeant Cara Whitworth chafed against the harness as the Pelican’s engines roared to life and the dropship began to lift from the hangar bay. Her team had been prepared to defend against a Covenant boarding action when the XO, Lieutenant Commander Ashley Gibbons, had given the order to standby for new orders. Captain Jacobs had entered the hangar bay, and told her that her team was to accompany him on a diplomatic mission. Naturally, none of them had a clue what he could have possibly been talking about, but he quickly briefed them on the situation. A mysterious ship that was not Covenant, humans aboard, but not humans from Earth. Or not from their Earth, somehow. Parallel existence, slipspace anomalies, the whole thing was FUBAR. And then the Captain explained he intended to meet with the Captain of the other vessel, on their ship. She had barely started to object when the Captain shot her down. The decision was made. It was her job to help see him through safely.

The Captain had still been briefing them when the Spartan woman had arrived in the hangar, and Captain Jacobs said she’d be coming along as well. That much was more than fine by Cara. If shit hit the fan, having a Spartan nearby was the best possible chance of making it out alive. The Captain had explained he’d told the other ship that he would be accompanied by  a small contingent of security. While the marines assigned to watch over the Pelican while it sat in their hangar bay would be armed, the Captain and his two personal escorts would not. Gunnery Sergeant Whitworth would be one, the Spartan would be the other. While the fleet had been conducting operations in the Omaris system, she hadn’t personally worked with the Spartan team, but she’d heard the stories from those who had. Every single marine who’d been with the Spartans in combat had said the same thing: the stories about the Spartans that the UNSC had been publishing since the Spartans were first publicly revealed were true. If anything, they were understated. Cara would have dismissed it all as gossip if not for the sheer number of marines who emphatically defended their descriptions. Now she was grateful to believe the stories, because if she was to accompany the Captain on some half-baked diplomatic adventure into an alien vessel that for all she knew could turn out to be an ambush, she was more than glad to have the Spartan there, too, to bail them out of trouble. Cara wasn’t a novice in the arena of hand to hand combat, but a Spartan was a walking tank, as far as the stories went.

Petty Officer Allison-256 sat across from her, in the Pelican. She sat in still silence, statuesque, Cara thought. She couldn’t see into the Spartan’s golden visor, and if the Spartan shared any of the concern about this mission that she did, Cara couldn’t detect any of it. Somehow, that made her feel better. Captain Jacobs sat up front with the pilots. He’d wanted to see the other ship up close as they approached. Eight marines occupied some of the other seats in the Pelican - some checked their weapons while others seemed content to bear the ride in silence.

The Pelican cleared the Winter of Discontent and they all felt the acceleration of the dropship as it sped away from the safety of the super-heavy cruiser and toward the smaller ship, barely visible at this distance.

***

Captain Picard stood in the rear shuttle hangar of the Enterprise with several of his bridge officers. He’d briefly considered having them all change into full dress uniforms, but decided against it. While this was a diplomatic overture, there was equally the matter of the destruction of the colony on Marisha III and the threat posed by this Covenant to discuss with them. Among the bridge officers he’d asked to accompany him, Lieutenant Worf had objected to allowing the visitors to bring an armed security contingent aboard the Enterprise . Captain Picard knew Worf had a reasonable point, but he felt that making the visitors from another reality comfortable with a show of good faith might yield a better relationship whose benefit to resolving this Covenant threat would outweigh the risks. Besides, Captain Picard had faith in the competence of Ship’s Security should the intentions of the visitors be less than peaceful. Besides Worf, Captain Picard had Lieutenant Commander Data and Counselor Troi accompany him.

Commander Riker had the bridge, and he called Captain Picard just then to inform him that the visitor’s shuttle would be docking shortly. Captain Picard had informed them of their matter-energy transportation capability, and had offered to bring them over that way, but the Captain of the other vessel had politely declined. Captain Picard could tell from that brief interaction that the other officer on the bridge would have vehemently objected anyway, and he had no reason to force the issue. He was, after all, trying to make them feel comfortable, and welcome. This was a first contact situation after all, in a way, he thought.

The shuttle bay door slid open, and Captain Picard could see the glow of the approaching shuttle’s engines as it closed distance. Data had transmitted their preferred docking procedure to the other vessel, so they were aware they would have to pass through the forcefield to the hangar bay, but that they would not experience any adverse effects from doing so.

Data spoke up as the bay doors completely opened, “Their shuttle appears to utilize a smaller version of their main vessel’s engines. Radiation readings indicated a hybrid fusion drive.”

Captain Picard nodded, “Indeed. Our shuttles use a smaller version of the Enterprise ’s warp drive, but it is essentially the same technology. Their technological development must have focused on continued development of fusion technology. One wonders if humanity had managed to avoid the third world war if we might have taken a similar development path.”

Data considered this, positing, “Some of the external driving forces that can be said to have driven the development of the first warp drive could indeed be linked to the destruction caused by the war. Nuclear-based drive systems would have caused alarm to nearby nations given the nature of the war, and the lack of certain industrial and logistics processes destroyed in the war may have provided an excellent impetus to develop new ones entirely separated from pre-war technologies.”

Captain Picard nodded in agreement, “This may present us with a unique opportunity, Mister Data. To see what might be an actual example of the road-not-taken for humanity. How many philosophers and historians have spent their lives wondering at what has been perhaps until now a purely theoretical discussion.”

Lieutenant Worf stood, wary, just behind the Captain. “Even if they are from a parallel reality where the human race avoided the third world war, that does not mean their intentions are honorable.”

Counselor Troi, standing close to the Captain’s side, offered her opinion. “I still don’t sense that their intentions are hostile to us. They are wary, cautious, perhaps even paranoid.Their Captain mentioned they had been at war with this Covenant for twenty seven years. There are likely psychological scars that come from such a long-run and destructive war.”

The shuttle had slowed down once within a kilometer of the shuttle bay. It was now about to pass through the forcefield of the shuttle bay. Captain Picard could see the silhouette of pilots inside the cockpit of the stub-winged craft. “Such scars may also make them less… rational. Please keep me informed, Counselor, if you sense any change in their intentions.”

“Of course, Captain,” she responded as her voice was washed out by the engines of the craft.

It moved methodically forward until it completely entered the bay, before rotating around until the rear of the craft was facing into the bay. It lowered landing gear as it descended slowly from a hover until it eased and settled onto the wheels. The shuttle bay was awash in blowing air as the engines of the craft vectored and rotated, until they finally shut down. The noise and wind subsided, and Captain Picard could un-squint his eyes. 

There were two Enterprise security team members standing at the lower-level exit to the bay. Captain Picard had insisted that they not make an overt show of security presence - that the visitors were aware of their security was what mattered. Still, Lieutenant Worf had posted additional security personnel in the room across from the hangar, out of sight, just in case. A ramp at the back of the vessel began to lower, and an upper portion of the rear rose so that they could see into the rear of the craft. Standing on the lowering ramp already was a hulking individual clad in green armor. Worf tried to size up the armored person, but he could glean nothing from their posture or demeanor, yet. The armored person, soldier, Captain Picard assumed, stepped off the ramp. He wasn’t entirely sure, but he thought he may have seen them move their head slightly, perhaps examining the area. The armored individual stepped to the side, and a woman stepped out beside them. The woman wore much lighter, less comprehensive armor that covered her chest, shoulders, and shins. She wore no helmet, unlike the other soldiers in the craft that moved quickly, but deliberately out the back. Where the armored person and the woman carried no weapons, the Captain’s escorts, Captain Picard gathered, the remainder of the soldiers, eight of them, did. Conspicuously. They hefted large - oversized, Captain Picard thought - rifles. To their credit, he thought, they never raised the barrel of their weapons from the ground. They seemed quite well-disciplined, and additionally seemed to be making a conscious effort not to alarm him or his crew. The eight men spread out around their craft, taking up sentry positions, it seemed.

At last, the man with whom Captain Picard had hoped to speak emerged from the back of the craft. Captain Jacobs stepped off the ramp, and Captain Picard smiled warmly. “Greetings, Captain Jacobs. As you know, I am Captain Picard of the Enterprise. These are some of my officers, Lieutenant Commander Data,” who nodded to Captain Jacobs, “Counselor Troi,” who smiled and nodded, “and Lieutenant Worf.” Worf nodded. Captain Picard noted that they seemed to take special note of Worf, eyeing him cautiously - suspiciously even. Still, Captain Jacobs stepped forward without hesitation. “These are my escorts, Gunnery Sergeant Cara Whitworth,” he indicated the Gunnery Sergeant, “And Petty Officer Allison-256,” he indicated the armored person. Captain Picard reckoned the Petty Officer was around seven feet tall. He figured the armor must add some height, but he couldn’t imagine she was a small, or even above-average height woman without it. Captain Jacobs walked until within arm’s reach of Captain Picard, and outstretched a hand, “A pleasure to meet you, Captain.” 

Captain Picard accepted the handshake, noting the shared cultural greeting between their two versions of humanity, “The pleasure is mine, Captain.”

Chapter Text

0324 Hours October 25, 2552 (Military Calendar) /
USS Enterprise , Marisha Star System

Captain Picard had led them through the decks of the Enterprise on their way to the bridge. Captain Jacobs had noted the sleek, comfortable interior of the ship appeared more like a luxury-liner than a true ship of the line. Then again, its Captain had described it as an exploration vessel, so perhaps it required less military function than he was accustomed to seeing. As they passed crewmembers of the foreign vessel, he couldn’t help but notice their rather casual demeanor. No salutes, and a number of people that weren’t wearing any noticeable uniform at all. Most of all, Captain Jacobs noted the number of non-human crewmen on the ship. They smiled and nodded politely as they’d passed, but twenty-seven years of war against the only alien race his people had ever experienced had made him wary.

As Captain Picard led them down a long hallway, he explained, “The United Federation of Planets comprises hundreds of worlds and many species inhabit those worlds. Its members exchange knowledge and resources in order to facilitate a peaceful coexistence, scientific development and discovery, exploration, and a mutual defense.”

Captain Jacobs listened along, but his own experience had tempered a certain skepticism of politics and promises. “Sounds nice,” he offered as a half-hearted gesture.

Captain Picard could tell the other Captain was skeptical, though he did not blame him. He had come from a very different place, existing under very different circumstances - that much was clear already. He wondered if those differences might hinder establishing trust between them. Behind Captain Jacobs walked his two escorts. The smaller woman, Gunnery Sergeant Whitworth, was watching every person who passed like a hawk. She seemed on edge, clearly uncomfortable with being in such unfamiliar surroundings. He couldn’t blame her, either. If the other, the much taller, armored woman, Allison-256, was uncomfortable with the situation, Captain Picard couldn’t tell. She glanced around as they walked, he noticed, but she did not seem to linger on anyone or anything.

Lieutenant Commander Data walked alongside Allison, and asked, “If I may ask, what is the meaning of the numerical designation attached to your name? It is not a common component in human naming conventions, in any culture in our history. Does it hold some significance in yours?”

Allison continued walking, and without actually looking at Data, maintaining her careful scan of the area, simply responded, “That’s classified.”

Data took the response in stride, imitating the facial expression of someone who had accepted a response that would be considered odd and confusing to most.

Lieutenant Worf, who took up the rear of the group, spoke up. “Your armor appears quite sturdy. You must find it quite helpful in combat.”

“Yes,” was all Allison replied. Worf raised an eyebrow, but did not press further.

Counselor Troi asked Gunnery Sergeant Cara Whitworth, “I know my saying it may not help, but there’s no reason to be anxious.”

Cara dismissed Troi with, “Who’s anxious?” in a low, grumbling voice. Counselor Troi shired slightly, not wanting to risk inadvertently insulting the woman.

They came to a door at the end of the long hallway - a hallway Captain Jacobs noted that was without visible bulkheads to seal it off at the intersections in the event of a hull breach. Captain Picard announced, “This is a turbolift, it will take us to the bridge.” 

The door slid open, and Captain Picard beckoned them inside. Cara stepped in front of Captain Jacobs, entering the lift just before him. He entered next, with Allison following immediately behind. Worf noted the protective procedure, approving of their professional diligence. Picard, Troi, Data, and Worf entered as well, and the lift began moving. Captain Picard and his bridge officers stood in polite silence, Picard clasping his hands behind his back at the mid awkwardness. 

Captain Jacobs decided to break the silence with a polite gesture. “The Enterprise is a lovely ship.”

Captain Picard smiled a courteous acceptance of the compliment. “Thank you. The Enterprise is a fine ship indeed, with the finest crew in Starfleet. I’m very proud of both.”

Captain Jacobs nodded and smiled, acknowledging in Captain Picard a kindred spirit who seemed to put as much weight on the quality of his crew as the ship itself. Jacobs knew too much faith in one’s ship alone was a recipe for disaster.

The turbolift stopped, and the doors slid open. Captain Picard exited first, inviting Captain Jacobs and his two escorts to follow. “Welcome to the bridge of the Enterprise .”

Commander Riker stood from the Captain’s chair to acknowledge the Captain’s presence along with his guests. Captain Picard held out a hand in the direction of Riker, introducing him. “My first officer, Commander William Riker.” 

Riker nodded to them, and Captain Jacobs nodded in return. Neither Carra nor Allison seemed to pay him any notice. Riker couldn’t help but notice the immense height of the armored soldier, who had needed to actually duck in order to clear the top of the turbolift’s door frame. 

Captain Picard added, “Would gather the rest of the senior staff and join us in the conference room?”

“Of course, Captain,” Commander Riker said.

Captain Picard ushered the visitors into the conference room. Once again Cara stepped in front of the Captain to enter the room first, with Allison entering directly behind him. Inside the room, Captain Picard offered them to take any seats they wanted. Both Cara and Allison remained standing, taking a post standing behind Captain Jacobs just off to either side of him.

“The rest of my senior staff will be joining us shortly. Can I offer you any refreshments? Tea, perhaps?”

Allison and Cara remained silent, Captain Jacobs decided it might be beneficial to be cordial, and accepted. He knew both Cara and Allison would have liked to object, but he decided the risk was minimal. Besides, if anything were to happen to him, he had little doubt that Spartan Allison-256 could handle the situation entirely on her own. Having Gunnery Sergeant Whitworth there was an extra layer of assurance as far as he was concerned. Besides, they had been given specific orders on what to do if this meeting turned out to be a trap after all. As had Lieutenant Commander Gibbons aboard the Winter of Discontent .

“Tea sounds good, thank you, Captain,” Jacobs said to Picard. 

While Data, Troi, and Worf took seats opposite to Captain Jacobs, Picard walked over to the nearest of the two replicator stations.

“Two Earl Grey teas, hot.”

Two cups of tea materialized. Captain Jacobs glanced back at Cara and Allison in wonderment. “That’s quite a device,” he mused.

Captain Picard smiled warmly as he passed one of the saucers with a cup of team to the Captain. “Indeed. It is quite easy for us to take replicators for granted here on the Enterprise . They are found on nearly every starship and starbase in Starfleet.”

“Replicators, huh,” Jacobs marveled at the concept. “From the name I gather their purpose… how do they work?”

Lieutenant Commander Data spoke up before the Captain could answer, “The replicator utilizes matter-energy conversion technology to produce virtually any molecular structure once it has been programmed into the system.” 

Captain Picard took his seat at the head of the table on the end nearest to the viewscreen in the room. Captain Jacobs nodded along, trying to take the engineering marvel in stride. “Matter-energy conversion. You are creating matter from energy via fusion.”

Data answered again, “That is essentially correct.”

“I see,” Jacobs said.

A moment later the door from the bridge opened, and Commander Riker walked in, along with Dr. Beverly Crusher. Captain Picard said, “Captain Jacobs, you remember my first officer, Commander Will Riker. And this is Doctor Beverly Crusher, Chief Medical Officer aboard the Enterprise .”

Commander Riker nodded in greeting to them. Doctor Crusher smiled and said, “How do you do!”

Captain Picard continued, “And this is Gunnery Sergeant Cara Whitworth,” he indicated her standing to Captain Jacob’s right and behind, “and Petty Officer Allison-256,” indicating the tall armored soldier standing to Jacobs’ left and behind. Both Cara and Allison turned their heads to nod curtly to the Doctor and Will. Will took his seat next to the captain on his left, with Beverly taking the next seat beside him. Captain Jacobs took a sip from the tea, nodding to Picard appreciatively. He hadn’t had decent tea in some time. 

Captain Picard took a deep breath before saying, “Well then, shall we get started?” He took the lack of any verbal objection as agreement. He continued, “The anomaly which seems to have brought Captain Jacobs’ ship to our reality - that is the current assumption regarding what has transpired until we have a better one - appears to have also brought a number of other vessels belonging to a race currently at war with humanity in the other reality known as the Covenant .”

Captain Jacobs interjected politely, “Actually Captain, the Covenant are not a single race, but an alliance of alien races. There is a hierarchy among these races, which we can discuss at a later time. It is sufficient that you know, however, that leadership of the Covenant seems to fall on a specific race we refer to as Elites .”

Doctor Crusher began a question, first saying, “I believe Will, you mentioned that this war has been going on for twenty seven years. Is that right?” she asked Captain Jacobs.

Captain Jacobs nodded, “That’s right, doctor.”

Beverly looked grave at the thought of such a prolonged war. She asked, “How did it start?”

Captain Jacobs took a deep breath. He’d read the fleet reports at the time, and everyone knew the stories that came out of the Harvest campaign. It was a strange feeling to encounter someone who didn’t know it. He’d had to remind himself these were, for all intents and purposes, a different human race from the one he knew. 

”In 2525, by our calendar, several of our unmanned freighters in the Epsilon Indi system were boarded and ransacked by what we believed at the time to be Insurrectionist pirates. We set a trap, using a freighter as bait, with a team onboard intending to capture or neutralize the pirates. When the ship was boarded as expected, it became quickly apparent that these weren’t humans they were dealing with… they tried to stop the boarders, but a firefight ensued. The battle spread to a naval engagement between their ships and ours, and ultimately our ships suffered heavy damage. After, we tried to make peace with the aliens through pictograms, and a meeting on the planet Harvest was arranged. We attempted to establish trade, but the Covenant representatives made it clear they were only interested in relics of some kind on the planet. Things broke down when one of them attacked and killed a member of the Colonial Militia present. Another firefight broke out, and they retreated to their ship. For five years we fought over Harvest. In that time, we were able to evacuate much of the civilian population from the planet, but ultimately the Covenant took the planet… and then they glassed it.”

Riker leaned forward to ask, “Glassed?“

Captain Jacobs nodded grimly. “They bombarded the surface of the planet with their plasma weapons, turning it to glass.”

Beverly was in disbelief. “Why? They had won, right? What purpose did that serve?”

Captain Jacobs leaned back solemnly in his chair. Cara stiffened in her posture. Allison looked in Beverly’s direction, in silence.

Jacobs told her, “We’d intercepted fragments of communications from the Covenant, and eventually were able to translate their language. The message we translated said:

“Your destruction is the will of the Gods… and we are their instrument. ”

Captain Picard clasped his hands and leaned forward. “A holy war.”

Captain Jacobs nodded. “We call them the Covenant because that’s literally what they refer to themselves as. For twenty seven years we’ve been on the defensive. Their technology is far beyond our own, in general. Especially their naval technology. And every time they take a planet from us, they glass it. There aren’t many planets left for us. Just recently, our largest stronghold, second only to Earth itself, was taken by the Covenant. And now, within the last two weeks or so, they’ve arrived at Earth. That’s where we were headed when we encountered the anomaly.”

Lieutenant Worf asked, “Do you have details on their ships’ offensive and defensive systems? If they continue to attack Federation planets, we will need to defend ourselves.”

Captain Jacobs considered the request from the alien man. “We can share what we know, but I would like to ask for something in return.” He looked at Captain Picard. “You seem to have a better understanding of the anomaly which brought us here. We need to find our way back to it, to get to our own reality, and get to Earth to defend her as soon as possible.”

Captain Picard nodded, understanding the position Captain Jacobs was in. “We will help in any way we can.” He turned to Data, “Mister Data, do you think you can locate the anomaly they came through?”

Data thought for a moment before answering. “The anomaly was detected by our subspace sensors, but the specific nature of the anomaly was undetermined. If we can extrapolate their exit-trajectory and mass-to-gravimetric-effect we should be able to reverse-engineer the path from the anomaly in order to determine its direction.”

Captain Picard nodded, “How long until you have a location?”

Data thought again. “If Captain Jacobs is willing to share some basic specifications about his ship - total mass and energy output at the time they passed through the anomaly, then I believe I can do so within the hour.”

Captain Jacobs nodded, “I believe we can provide that information.”

A voice, unfamiliar to Captain Picard and not belonging to anyone in the room, spoke out. “I appreciate your optimism, but I don’t think it’s that simple…”

Captain Picard thought it sounded like it came from Allison, the armored soldier. Captain Jacobs interjected, “I’m sorry Captain, I neglected to introduce someone. I mentioned I was bringing two escorts, but there was in fact a third member of my crew I’d brought along…” 

An expression crossed Captain Picard’s face, showing something between mild concern and diplomatic cordiality. “Of course you were welcome to bring along another member of your crew if you had felt it useful, but I would request that I be informed.”

Lieutenant Worf bristled at the breach, shooting a look of suspicion and concern to Captain Picard before eyeing the visiting Captain sternly.

Captain Jacobs nodded, pretending not to notice the security officer’s expression. “Of course, Captain. Please accept my apology.” 

He didn't blame the Captain, or his security officer. He would have felt the same way in his position, and probably a little less forgiving about it to boot. He’d have to remember to have a talk with Aurora about speaking out of turn… especially when she was supposed to be a silent and clandestine observer…

Captain Picard smiled politely, “And who may I ask is this other crew member?”

Captain Jacobs turned to Allison and nodded to her.

Allison stepped forward, and removed a cylindrical device from a storage container on her hip armor. She placed it on the table in front of Captain Jacobs. She then took a hand to the back of her head, where her helmet ended at her neck, and removed a small disk from it. She inserted the disk into the cylinder, and the top of the cylinder glowed to life. A purple and white holographic projection of a woman appeared atop the cylinder. Her appearance included an outfit that reminded Captain Picard of an underwater diver’s wetsuit. 

Captain Jacobs announced, “Allow me to introduce Aurora.”

Aurora didn’t look at anyone else except Data. She crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes. “You’re an artificial being, aren’t you?”

Data looked surprised at her sudden appearance, and correct deduction. “I am an android.”

Aurora took a playful tone. “I thought so. Imitation human-mannerisms and decent approximations of irregular involuntary muscle movements - not quite random enough to be sequentially indeterminate, though.”

Data looked surprised again. “The algorithms that determine my approximations of human bodily functions follow a random-generation-expanding-series-function that should not be determinable from observation. The set of calculations necessary to make such a determination would require a calculation processing speed beyond what even the Enterprise’s main computer is capable of.”

Aurora smiled, quite pleased with herself. “Then I suggest you believe me when I say your assumptions about the anomaly are wrong.”

Chapter Text

0341 Hours October 25, 2552 (Military Calendar) /
USS Enterprise , Marisha Star System

The senior staff of the Enterprise looked on the holographic projection with curiosity. Captain Jacobs felt a further explanation was in order. 

“Aurora is an artificial intelligence. AI are assigned to UNSC ship whenever possible, and we are fortunate to have her. Treat her as you would any member of our crew.”

Aurora continued looking over Data, but glanced sideways to say, “Thank you, Captain.”

Data’s expression was a myriad of questions and fascination with the construct. “Can we surmise that the chip which was inserted into this device was a storage device of some kind.”

Aurora looked patronizingly at Data, as though a parent were answering silly questions from a child. “My AI matrix, yes.” 

Before she could bring back the subject at hand, Data asked another question, “Does your matrix provide a medium for a neural network? My brain is positronic, it consists of an artificial neural network designed to imitate the humanoid brain.”

Aurora continued to humor the android, “My AI matrix isn’t a physical object, it is a program. The chip you saw is a form of data crystal chip containing the appropriate nano-assemblage hardware… Now, concerning the-” she started to redirect the conversation, but was again interrupted by the android.

“How is your neural network mapped such that it can be contained on such a small physical medium? The physical storage capability of the crystalline chip did not appear large enough to-”

Aurora started to pinch the bridge of her nose when Captain Picard mercifully interjected. “ Perhaps this discussion could be continued at a later time, it seems we have more pressing matters to attend to.”

Data turned to Captain Picard, “Of course, sir. My apologies.”

Captain Jacobs felt a thin smile creep across his expression as he said, “I’m sure Aurora would be more than happy to discuss the matter with you later.”

The colors across Aurora’s exposed skin on her arms turned to a dark green as she glared back at the Captain. “Of course… Captain, ” she said, the frustration in her voice creeping through for all to recognize, save for Data who seemed quite pleased at the offer. 

“I look forward to a more in-depth discussion,” Data said.

Will Riker glanced sideways to Captain Picard and to Counselor Troi, exchanging a smirk, before getting serious again and directing a question to Aurora. “You said our assumptions about the anomaly are wrong. What did you mean by that?”

Aurora’s coded arms cooled to a dull blue as she turned to face the Commander. “The observations I made while we were in slipspace indicated that the anomaly is not physical, in nature. Every euclidean movement within our quantum envelope was mirrored by the anomaly, while every change in the slipspace geometry, a misnomer if ever there was one, was also mirrored.”

Dr. Crusher asked, “I’m sorry, slipspace?”

Aurora turned to the doctor. “Slipstream space, more commonly known simply as slipspace, or subspace. The dimensional subdomain of alternate spacetime through which we are able to travel at faster-than-light speeds, effectively.”

Captain Picard asked, “Your ship is able to actually enter subspace?”

Data added, “Based on our understanding of warp physics, that should not be possible. Our warp drive generates a subspace bubble around our ship, distorting the local spacetime continuum and allowing us to move at faster-than-light velocities.”

Aurora glanced back at Captain Jacobs, who looked curiously down at her, seeming confused as well given that the conventional wisdom pertaining to slipspace physics was that altering subspace itself should not have been possible. Aurora said, “It seems we have parallel understandings of subspace physics that have led each of us to a different form of FTL travel. Tell me, did your ship take any sensor readings of the anomaly?”

Data said, “We were able to detect a gravimetric distortion - the anomaly occurred in space-time.”

Aurora looked back at Captain Jacobs, despondent. “I was even more right than I knew…” she turned back to Data and the other officers of the Enterprise . “The anomaly, as we detected and encountered it, did not exist within space-time itself, but rather wholly in subspace except for the window - a tear - into normal space. Yet, from your end, you detected it in a sort of dimensionally-opposite configuration…”

Data spoke again, “Does that not imply that it is possible for us to track the anomaly and determine its origin as I had suggested earlier, in order for you to find it again?”

Aurora was quick to answer. “Not exactly. The anomaly isn’t trackable - that you detected it at all would have been a product of our transition from slipspace to normal space, and the dropping of our quantum envelope. Given slipspace’s non-euclidean relationship to realspace, we cannot simply go back to the same spot in realspace and find it again. It is, in effect, a door that once you pass through it, in order to go back through it you have to go to a different location where it will be.”

Data thought, then added, “If we can pinpoint the exact exit location of your ship, using the parameters specified earlier, then perhaps we can pinpoint the new location based on the distortion pattern - assuming it is a static pattern. Would that not work?”

Aurora bit her lip, not wanting to concede the possibility that she might have been, at least partially, wrong. “It might ,” she conceded. “I think we can surmise that it is, for the most part, a static distortion pattern. It’s no coincidence we exited the anomaly in the same system as a Covenant attack - they almost certainly came out of it here as well.”

Data nodded in agreement, before turning to face Captain Picard. “Captain, I suggest we launch a class-4 probe at the calculated location. If the anomaly is present, we can program the probe to enter the anomaly and determine if it can be entered safely from this direction.”

Captain Picard considered the proposal, looking to Captain Jacobs. “We can have a probe launched as soon as mister Data has the predicted coordinates of the anomaly.”

Captain Jacobs looked to Aurora, who nodded to him, before turning to Captain Picard. “We would appreciate that.“ He added, “Would you be willing to share the raw data from the probe?” 

Captain Picard answered, “Of course. You are welcome to remain on the Enterprise for the duration if you would like. We can arrange quarters for you, in the meantime.”

Captain Jacobs said, “Thank you, but once we have briefed you on the Covenant ships’ capabilities, I must return to the Winter of Discontent .”

Picard responded, “I understand. Mister Data, would you begin the calculations immediately?”

Data nodded and got up, walking out of the room onto the bridge.

Captain Jacobs asked Aurora, “Would you be so kind as to brief our hosts on Covenant ships and fleet tactics?”

Aurora, relieved at the sight of Data leaving the room, held her hands behind her back as she spoke. “Right. Covenant ships of all known classes typically employ energy projector weapons utilizing confined beams of plasma…”

***

Ensign Josiah gripped his phaser rifle tightly as he huddled behind the wrecked hull of the shuttle craft. The craft was shot down by two teardrop-shaped fighters that had strafed them without warning, and they crashed on the surface of Kelsing II - where their away team was recalled when the Excelsior-class USS Graham in orbit above came under attack from an unknown enemy ship. Lieutenant Butler was dead, killed in the crash along with Ensign Daniels. Only he and Crewman Mores had survived the crash, but Mores had been killed when he’d stepped out of the wrecked shuttlecraft and was riddled with crystalline projectiles. Josiah had seen the look of shock on Mores’ face as he was impaled. Then he’d exploded, and Josiah had vomited from the horror of his viscera showering him and painting the side of the shuttle’s hull.

There was noise outside - a chatter of alien voices the universal translator hadn’t heard enough of to translate. He could hear them coming closer, and the sound of derisive high-pitched conversation mixed with an almost-chirping-cadence speech only wracked his nerves more. 

He tried to remember his training, and checked the settings on the phaser rifle. He turned the power setting to maximum. He wasn’t taking any chances. Taking a deep breath, he had to remind himself to exhale as his training had dictated. He leaned out from the side of the shuttle, aimed his phaser rifle at the nearest alien and fired. The beam from his phaser struck out and impacted a round blue energy shield. He could barely make out the figure of a bird-like creature crouched behind it. The phaser rifle shot sent ripples across the energy shield and it turned red as he held the trigger down, laying into it. Another creature stepped out from behind the bird-alien, a stout creature that stood about as tall as he did but undoubtedly weighed a good deal more - it was at least twice as wide as he was and wore metallic orange armor and a respirator mask. It aimed a claw-like device at him. It glowed green, and then with a hissing noise a blob of green energy raced toward him. Josiah let off the trigger and dove back behind the shuttlecraft as he felt the heat of the energy projectile strike the hull and singe it. He realized he was holding his breath again, and exhaled. His heart was pounding so hard he could feel it in his ears. He readied himself to lean out again. 

A shadow fell over him, and he whipped his head around. He screamed in a futile attempt to get his body around and level the rifle faster. The large creature stood over him, near twice the size of a normal man. It looked down at him, four mandibles hinging open from its head. Josiah swore it was laughing as it thrust a twin-pronged glowing sword through his chest, and then everything went dark.

Chapter Text

0411 Hours October 25, 2552 (Military Calendar) /
UNSC Super-Heavy Cruiser Winter of Discontent , Marisha Star System

Captain Jacobs had just finished briefing Lieutenant Commander Ashley Gibbons on the bridge of their plans to wait for the Enterprise’ s probe to help locate the anomaly when he’d made the announcement to the entire ship informing them of the situation. He glanced casually around the bridge, keen on measuring the reactions of his officers. Ever professional, none visibly balked. He knew they were feeling the same whirlwind of emotions and feelings about it as he had earlier. When they’d boarded the Pelican in the shuttle bay of the Enterprise, he could see the relief in the faces of the marine security escort. Especially Gunnery Sergeant Whitworth. He knew he’d asked a lot of the young Gunny, and she’d followed him without question into the heart of an alien vessel, without a weapon. He knew the presence of Spartan Allison-256 had helped a little, but it was no easy thing to ask of anyone, regardless.

Spartan Allison-256, for her part, had acted no less than he had come to expect from Spartans. Having had the privilege of witnessing their effectiveness while Admiral Porter had been aboard overseeing the operation in the Omaris system, he’d realized that, for once, the news services throughout the UNSC hadn’t been exaggerating. If the Spartan had any reservations about going with him to the Enterprise, he’d never know it.

Aurora, meanwhile, had been less enthusiastic. Their LCD had provided Aurora with a raw datalink to their probe, and as it turned out, was almost as capable as she was at multitasking. She’d complained out loud through the vox system in Allison-256’s armor - having been reinserted into the Spartan’s helmet for safe-keeping in-transit - that the ineffably curious android had posed no less than three thousand separate inquiries regarding her AI matrix. He knew she wouldn’t include in her complaints how many of those inquiries she was able to simply dismiss by virtue of being classified or proprietary information.

Allison-256 had accompanied him back to the bridge, in order to relocate Aurora back into the ship’s AI data core. He’d asked the Spartan to remain once they had arrived. He’d wanted her input as well as Ashley’s on the matter of the Covenant on this side of the anomaly, but first he had to address the issue of Aurora’s impropriety in revealing herself aboard the Enterprise. 

“Aurora,” he said, taking a stern tone. She appeared above the holoprojector tube near him at the tactical display.

“I know what you’re going to say,” she began. The Captain had learned to tolerate some of her personality quirks, but she knew that disobeying a clear and direct order was something he couldn’t let pass. Still, she continued, “I know it wasn’t my place to make the decision, but I think it did far more good than harm. We needed to know about their ship’s capabilities, and we learned that, and more. In revealing myself, we learned the limits of their artificial intelligence technology, their knowledge of the anomaly, and some of their procedures and protocols.”

Captain Jacobs clasped his hands together behind his back. She was right, he knew. And he knew that she was well aware that he knew it as well. An officer in the same situation would have simply said nothing, and accepted the verbal reprimand knowing nothing more severe was coming. But Aurora was quite literally built different, he knew. It was strange to him that an AI would willingly and openly display such pride and ego. She was a ‘smart’ AI, her matrix a scanned replica of the neural pathways of a human brain. Captain Jacobs wondered at what her ‘donor’ must have been like.

“Yes Aurora, it turned out well for us. And if you had waited a few more minutes, I would have gone forward with that plan and introduced you - more delicately.”

“I’m certain that you would have as well,” she returned, “but may I point out that in doing so the way that I did put you in a place to be the recipient of empathy from their Captain? Everything we’ve learned about him, from interacting with him has told us that he is a diplomatic and empathetic man. He will always try to place himself in someone else’s position before judging them.”

Captain Jacobs was fairly certain that Aurora was, in fact, quite capable of restraining her ego and pride. She simply chose not to. He couldn’t help but respect that. She reminded him of his daughter. 

“Don’t do it again,” he warned, the tiniest amount of admiration spoiled the stern tone he was hoping to maintain.

“Yes, Captain,” she said, smirking slightly. 

Lieutenant Commander Gibbons shook her head, bemused. Captain Jacobs stiffened his posture, trying to force away thoughts of his family and Earth. His ship would be there soon enough. He would be there.

“Alright, then. That leaves the matter of the Covenant on this side of the anomaly,” he said.

Lieutenant Commander Ashley Gibbons crossed her arms, leaning against the tactical display, keeping the weight off her splinted leg. “With all due respect, sir, but are they even our problem? We go back, and if they follow, that’s just a few more ships added to whatever ungodly number they’ve already sent to Earth. If we stayed, we’d risk not getting back ourselves, and helping no one.”

Aurora brought up a display of the planet Marisha III. “Well, not no one. ”

Ashley countered, “Are they our problem?”

Captain Jacobs sighed. He’d wrestled with it himself. “These people, these humans… are not people of the UEG. They’re people all the same… but , if we accept the possibility that there are an infinite number of these realities…”

Aurora finished his thought, “We can’t defend everyone, everywhere.”

Ashley nodded. Captain Jacobs knew that despite her argument that she didn’t want to abandon anyone to the Covenant, their responsibility or not. She had done her job, though, and argued in favor of the interests of the ship and the UNSC. He stroked his chin, before turned to face the Spartan. 

“What do you think?”

Allison-256 had stood in silence two paces behind him. She seemed to think a moment before answering. “Sir, our orders are to defend humanity. How we do so is up to you, as our commanding officer.”

Captain Jacobs chuckled. He’d wished he could do more, but time was short on Earth, his Earth. These people would have to make due on their own. They didn’t seem completely helpless at least. And they didn’t have the entire Covenant coming after them, just a fleet.

“Make preparations for slipspace transition once we have the coordinates for the anomaly.”

“Aye, sir!” came the responses from around the bridge as the crew got to work. 

Captain Jacobs leaned over the tactical display, looking down at the image of Marisha III, glassed like so many planets in UEG space. A few minutes passed when Aurora announced,
“Captain, the Enterprise is hailing us. They have the coordinates.”

“Open channel,” he said. The viewscreen in front of him transitioned to display Captain Picard standing on his own bridge. 

Captain Picard announced, “Captain Jacobs, we have the predicted coordinate of the anomaly. We are launching the probe now.”

“Acknowledged,” Captain Jacobs said.

Aurora changed the view on the other viewscreen to display the progress of the probe. Captain Jacobs marveled at the speed of it. This Federation’s sublight technology seemed to be almost as fast as the Covenant ships. Maybe faster. If Earth weren’t already under attack, he’d have done his level best to make a trade for some of their technology. It might have given the UNSC the edge they needed against the Covenant. 

“Ten seconds to destination,” Aurora announced. Both Captains watched the progress of the probe on their respective viewscreens. Captain Jacobs watched the timer display on the viewscreen as it approached the arrival time, as did most of his bridge crew. The display on the viewscreen showed the highlighted destination and the probe’s projected trajectory to it. The probe slid across the display until it met the destination, its engines lit up, and it went to warp. The display widened to show the probe’s progress at the increased velocity. He waited a second. Then, two. The probe continued on, undeterred, past the coordinates on the display.

He looked at Aurora for confirmation, who sighed. “I’m sorry Captain, if we could enter the anomaly from that location, we would know it by now. The probe appears to be moving through subspace in this reality.”

Captain Jacobs kept himself composed, trying not to look disappointed. “It seems we’ll be stuck here a little while longer, Captain,” he told Picard.

Captain Picard nodded, “I’m sorry Captain. We will do our best to help you return, but the Enterprise has received new orders, first. The Covenant, it seems, have attacked another colony of ours, Kelsing II. They have landed soldiers on the planet’s surface, rather than bombard it from orbit. From your briefing, we are operating under the belief that they are searching for relics of some kind. We don’t know if these relics even exist in our reality, but it seems this search has brought a reprieve for the bulk of the planet, for now.”

Captain Jacobs nodded. He knew his ship would likely need their help if they wanted any chance at finding the anomaly again. And there was the other matter… the moral matter . With no way back to their own reality apparent, he thought back to Spartan Allison-256’s words. 

Our orders are to defend humanity.

He glanced at Lieutenant Commander Ashley Gibbons, and the rest of the bridge crew around him. Ashley sighed, then nodded to him. Aurora waited patiently, standing straight and clasping her hands behind her back, mirroring the Captain. Allison-256 stood at ease behind him. Captain Jacobs met the eyes of each of his bridge officers. Lieutenant Vaerd stood out to him, her eyes like a hawk’s searching for prey. 

Captain Jacobs spoke a command, “Captain Jacobs to all hands.” The ship’s vox system activated, carrying his voice to all members of the crew. “The UNSC has asked a lot of us all. I’ve asked even more. And fate , it seems, wants its own due. We don’t have a way back home, yet. We don’t even know for sure if one exists. I can’t say for sure what that will mean for us, yet. We are treading in a sea of unknown. But, one thing we do know is our duty. So long as this ship sails, the UNSC lives here, with us. And so, too, does our duty to it, and by extension, to humanity. The Covenant have taken to conquering and destroying the humanity of this reality, too. We’re going to show them that no matter where they are, we will not let them get away with it unchallenged.” He then addressed Captain Picard, who was still on the viewscreen, listening. “This is the UNSC Winter of Discontent to the USS Enterprise. We’re coming with you.”

Chapter Text

Continued in Glorious Intent.