(Prologue - Part 2) [Inner Colonies - Space Station Colistis - Year 2557 - Universal Time: 10:45]

The sound of heavily armored footsteps upon the metallic space station floor could easily be heard as Commander Andromedai swiftly made her way out of the Spartan Operations wing and towards the main elevator that lead to docking bay A through G. A few UNSC members she passed by couldn't help but stop what they were doing and stare at her unique and fully customized armor. One of them excused himself in the middle of a conversation and started to follow Andromedai, quickly entering the elevator by the Commanders side. As soon as the doors shut with a soft hissing sound, the soldier began to speak. "Commander Andromedai, I hope you do not mind but I have a question that needs to be answered. You see, I heard a rumor that ONI is putting your old team back together, team Rogue Seven. Now, what I know about this squad is that you were some of the best out there, asked to carry out special missions. Something is happening isn't it, shit hit the fan somewhere and ONI is bringing you all back huh? So my question is, as you can guess, what the hell is going on out there?"

Andromedai was silent for a moment before speaking, "If I told you I would have to shoot you shortly after, when ONI feels like disclosing the information with everyone, that is when you will find out. Word of advice, mind your head and don't ask too many questions when it comes to Spartans, better off that way for everyone involved." The Soldier sighed in frustration, "Somethings never change do they? fine, I will keep my head down." With her left hand, Andromedai lightly patted the soldier upon his head as if he were a dog, "Good boy." With those final words, Commander Andromedai stepped out of the elevator and made her way to docking bay [A33] where Colonel Icarus was waiting for her and the rest of Rogue Seven.

It would only take a few short moments for Andromedai to find docking bay [A33] and the Icarus's ship that was being prepped for departure. "He chose to get himself a Charon-class light frigate over a battleship?" thought Andromedai to herself as she stared out at the massive ship with the name NOVA painted along its left side. Walking down the hallway that lead to [A33], Andromedai noticed that Colonel Icarus was nowhere to be found, "He must have already boarded." It was about that time that she noticed that no other Spartans had yet arrived, then again she did tend to show up quite a bit early for missions briefings and the such. Pushing forward, she arrived at the airlock that lead into the ship, two heavily armored and armed guards stood on either side of the doorway. As soon as she approached, they opened the door for her and informed her that Icarus was upon the deck of the ship. They would repeat this action with every Spartan that showed up.

"Welcome Commander Andromedai, I am Nesalla, Colonel Icarus's personal AI assistant aboard the ship. The Colonel is currently awaiting you and your team's arrival upon the deck of the ship. Follow the illuminated signs, they will guide you to the deck. If you need any help, please feel free to ask, that is one of the reasons I am here." This was the first thing Andromedai heard when she set foot onto the Nova. The ship's AI was a modeled to be female and looked oddly familiar to another AI she had seen during training. When Nesalla had vanished, Andromedai followed the illuminated signs and arrived at the ship's deck a little while later. Colonel Icarus was in full uniform and greeted Andromedai the moment she set foot onto the deck. "Glad you could make it Andromedai, I just heard that the rest of Rogue Seven will be here shortly, then we can begin our assignment." With a nod of her head, Andromedai acknowledged what Icarus had said.

"All systems are green, we are fully prepped and ready to move out at a moment's notice. I have plotted our course with the star-chart given to us from ONI. Systems are telling me that it will take us ten minutes to reach ONI base Obsidian, I will navigate us through the asteroid field and to our objective, there is no need to worry about any danger." Andromedai gave a quick thumbs up to Nesalla who returned the gesture. All there was to do now was to wait for the rest of Team Rogue seven to make their way to docking bay [A33] and to board the Nova.

Location: In-route to Space Station Colistis.
Date: Year 2557
Universal Time: 10:53

The Pelican ride seemed to be quiet for the most part except the quiet chatter between the two pilots and the low hum of the engines. In the very back, on the left-most side sat Koda completely outfitted in his armor, he was in the process of going over the message that he had received from ONI, glancing over briefly he looked at his cybernetic arm which was fitted to look similar to his armor in both color and design, and had ports where his the armor pieces could be attached and unattached if need be. Standing from his seat he made his way up to the cockpit of the ship and looked out towards the space station that was getting ever so closer, the dim hull lights reflecting off his skulled visor made him look quite eerie as he tapped the co-pilot on the shoulder then pointed towards the station. "Yes sir that's it, we'll be landing soon and we'll get you as close as we can to your destination" the co-pilot said and was given a thumbs up by Koda in response as the Spartan turned on his heels and headed back to his seat.

"UNSC Space Station Colistis this is Foxtrot 728 requesting permission to land in Pelican bay A33" he heard the pilot call out as he sat down. "Copy Foxtrot 728, Permission granted, Colistis out". Soon after the Pelican began to slow it's speed and start its approach into the Pelican bay, as it did Koda looked from his seat and out thought the cockpit window as the heavy blast-doors opened slowly, the lights from inside the station shined brightly though the window and illuminated the back of the interior of the pelican slightly. Is was not long before the Pelican was in the station and Koda heard the blast-doors closing once more before the ramp of the pelican opened, standing Koda reached up and grabbed a hold of the handle rack above him as he ship began to land, reaching down he grabbed the holopad from the seat beside him and stepped off the ship as it set down.

Location: Space Station Colistis.
Date: Year 2557
Universal Time: 11:18

Walking away from the pelican Koda immediately noticed Charon-class light frigate with the name 'Nova' along the side 'That must be it...' he thought as he walked down the pathway towards the lift that would lead up to the main docking platform. Once on the lift he pressed the button and it stated to rise, his mind wandered slightly as to what the rest of squad had been up to and if that had gotten into as much trouble as he had. The lift shook as it reached the top snapping Koda back into reality and soon he was back on his way towards the Nova,stepping into the airlock Koda was greeted by two heavily geared guards who informed him of where to go after opening the doors for him.

Upon setting foot onto the ship the large Spartan was greeted by the ships AI unit "Welcome Major Omicron, I'm Nesalla, Colonel Icarus's personal AI assistant aboard the ship. Colonel Icarus and Striker Commander Andromedai are currently awaiting your arrival upon the deck of the ship. Please make your way there, and if you need any assistance please don't be shy to ask." Koda nodded in response and immediately headed for the main deck, following the illuminated signs made it easy for Koda to get to the main deck, it was a lot easier to navigate the the science station he was assigned to previously. Walking onto the main deck he saw Colonel Icarus and his Striker Commander Andromedai, stopping a few feet away from them he stood at attention and saluted using his cybernetic arm "Pouncer, reporting for duty"

Space Station Colistis
Year 2557
1053

A lone Pelican dropship came into view. Gerard starred at it intently, watching the ship slowly making a landing approach. In the background, an electronic voice was emitting from his PDA. "SPARTAN 396, Master Gunnery Sargent Gerard Wulff, you are hereby being reassigned to Rogue Seven. Report to Space Station Colistis and wait further instructions." The words echoed in the emptiness of the lone Spartan's room. "Replay message." His voice was gruff and low. "SPARTAN 396, Master Gunnery Sargent Gerard..." The voice trailed off, repeating the same message. Wulff couldn't believe that his old team was being brought back together. Rogue Seven was one of the top SPARTAN teams, excelling at every mission they were given. After the break up, Gerard was reassigned to train new Class 4 SPARTANS and several highly classified solo operations.

The Pelican disappeared from view as it landed within Docking Bay AA3. A voice, different from the one that emitted from the PDA, broke the silence. "Master Gunnery Sargent Wulff, Greetings. I am Nesalla, Colonel Icarus's personal AI assistant aboard the ship. Colonel Icarus, Strike Commander Andromedai Morgenstern, and Major Koda Omnicron are waiting you abroad the deck on Colonel Icarus' ship. If you could follow the illuminated signs, they will direct you to them. If you have any questions or require any assistance, please ask." Wulff turned to face the AI. "When did Strike Commander Morgenstern and Major Omnicron arrive?" his voice retaining its tone. "Strike Commander Andromedai Morgenstern arrived quite some time before you. Major Koda Omnicron has only just arrived." The AI replied quickly. "Do you have any further questions?" Nesalla added in. Gerard waved the AI off, leaving him alone in his room again.

The Spartan donned his helmet and retrieved his PDA before exiting his room. As he followed the signs, he pasted many of those on the station. They all looked at him in awe, as he towered over them, his footsteps were heavy from his armor. A line of marines doing calisthenics in one of the bays all stopped. "Is that a Spartan? I didn't know they were on board!" The marines ran over to watch Gerard, but were quickly scolded by their CO. "Quit oogling like a couple of school girls! I want seventy-five more push ups and then a run around the station in full suit!" the CO barked at his marines. The marines all moaned in unison, dreading the upcoming run.

As Gerard entered docking bay AA3, he noticed the Charon-class light frigate, the word 'NOVA' boldly painted on the side. The AI reappeared on a pedestal near Gerard. "Please, continue forth, Master Gunnery Sarge-" The Spartan raised his hand to silence the AI. "Call me Wulff." he said coldly. "Of course, Master Gunner- Wulff." She smiled. The Spartan noticed the pelican he saw earlier. Nesalla chimed in "Major Koda Omnicron is already on deck, Wulff." The man nodded and continued forth towards the ship.

Arriving at the airlock, two guards opened it. One of them told him where to go and whom was there. The door hissed closed behind him and he made his way to the main deck. As he made his way in, he could see Colonel Icarus, the Strike Commander, and Koda. He made his way next to Koda. Immediately stopping next to Koda, he stood at attention and snapped into a salute. "Spartan 396, Master Gunnery Sargent Gerard Wulff, reporting in." Without moving his head, Gerard peered over at Koda. He was relieved to see him. Koda Omnicron was a man of little words and a lot of action, which Gerard respected and what made him like Koda the most compared to his other teammates.

---

---

Riley sat in the back of the pelican as it flew through space towards Station Colistis, her steel colored helmet laid on the seat next to her the visor was a dark red mainly for the intimidation factor with small areas of red with the same detail on the rest of her RAIDER armor. "Lieutenant Parish, ETA to Colistis five minutes." Riley looked towards the pilot and gave him a quick smile and nod as she stood up and made her way towards the end of the pelican. Since the team was disbanded Riley had been assigned to covert missions in former control Covenant space gathering intel for ONI. About five minutes later the Pelican entered one of the many hangar bays on the station, she put on her helmet briefly getting a layout of the station finding the quickest route to the hangar that she was ordered to meet at.

Once the bay to the pelican opened up Riley stepped off of the ramp and into the brightly lit hangar, she looked at several of the soldiers remembering her former days as a UNSC grunt. She tied her long brown hair into a pony tail as she started making her way through the hallways until she was at Docking Bay AA3, she saw a couple of civilians that worked on the station they had the in awe look at her. The Spartan gave a smile towards the people as she made her way towards the docking bay, once she was inside Riley noticed the Charon Light-Frigate that was docked there.

"Good day Lieutenant Parish, I am Nesalla, Colonel Icarus's personal AI assistant aboard the ship, Wulf, Koda and Andromedai are all ready in just follow the illuminated lights." The AI said before disappearing Riley already knew where to actually go as she grew up sometimes traveling with her parents. She made her way towards the deck of the ship, the Spartan smiled brightly at the three former squad mates of Rogue Seven. She moved over and gave Koda and Wulf quick friendly hugs and then saluted Andromedai. "It's good to see all of you again."

In the middle of the bridge, there was a large table that had a holographic projector built into it. From here, both Strike Commander Andromedai and Colonel Icarus were reviewing the information about the mission they were about to embark on. Important informing was slowly being Suddenly fed from ONI, directly to their ship. Most of the information was already common knowledge but parts of it were quite intriguing. This information included knowledge about the forerunners but also mention about team Osiris and Blue Team. Suddenly, the fully formed digital figure of Nesalla appeared upon the table with her arms crossed over her chest. Once she had everyone's attention, she spoke.

“My apologies if I am interrupting but I just received word that we have discovered the crash location of the Argent Dawn upon Erathell. Recent scans show that there have been no lifeforms or activity upon the Argent Dawn in the last twenty four hours. If Solares was on the ship, she isn’t there anymore. After hearing the message for myself, I am willing to guess that she engaged some hostile force while taking shelter upon the ship and was then forced the flee using her active camouflage. Due to the severity of her injuries, it is unlikely she made it that far. I do not like to consider this a possibility but she may have been captured by the Covenant or by any active Prometheans upon Erathell. Regardless of what has transpired with her, we need to make our way to Erathell as quickly as possible.” Both Andromedai and Icarus agreed on that, but they couldn’t leave until all of Rogue Seven was onboard and ready to depart.

Andromedai sighed then spoke her mind, “I went through complete Spartan training with Solares, she is more of an older sister to me than a friend. I have complete faith that she can hold her ground and remain out of the enemies hands until we arrive.” These words were spoken only a few seconds before the first of Rogue Seven appeared upon the bridge. Now, three of her squad mates stood in front of her as an odd feeling ran through her body. “Pounce, Wulff, Riley, at ease...” Andromedai looked each of her old squad mates over with a nod of great approval. “ONI never should have broken up Rogue Seven, we could have made a huge difference back in the day, but enough living in the past." Turning to face the table in the middle of the bridge, Andromedai quickly gave orders for Nesalla to all the information about the mission with them.

The briefing went on for a while as every last detail was explained and laid out before Rogue Seven. “That is all we have to go by, we know Solares is somewhere down upon the surface of the planet, either hiding from all sources or captured from the enemy. As impressive as Solares’s records and skills look, being severely wounded and alone upon a planet with potentially two hostiles is going to push her to her limits. If my records are correct, which they always are, we are missing a few more members of Rogue Seven. Once they arrive, we will depart immediately for the ONI station and the Orion. If there are any questions, I will do my best to answer them before we depart."

Carly's trip was quiet and lonesome. The only noise coming from the beeping of her data pad, and the occasional rumble of the engines. There was a swish from the cockpit door, as the co-pilot walked in and saluted to her, without looking up Carly spoke; "Drop the formalities Marine It's been too long a trip, how far out are we?" The marine looked quite awkward as he dropped his stance to a more casual position."We're just coming in on the station, now, you’ve been directed to Dock AA3", the marine promptly walked out and left Carly to her mission reports. As the pelican touched down, she grabbed her satchel and jumped out the back. Leaving a few credits on her seat. She put on her helmet and made her way to the Docking bay. She knew she would already be late she had one heck of a journey.

She made her way to the location given to her by the pilot, not after stopping to pick something up at the nearest mess hall She knew it was going to be a long journey, after all, it had to be important to ONI to bring back Rogue seven. After picking up a sandwich and throwing it in her satchel she ran to docking bay provided to her. Just as she was about to enter the ship she was interrupted by an AI, "Hello Sargeant Renton, I am Colonel Icarus's personal AI assistant, you may refer to me as Nesalla Your squadmates are already on board the bridge.” The AI spoke calmly with a sense of authority about it. “Thank you, How late am I?” The reply came swiftly; “You are currently ten minutes late, Strike Commander Andromedai is just finishing up, I suggest you hurry Sargeant” Carly dismissed the Ai and made her way quickly to the Bridge just as Nesalla had ended. “Sergeant Renton reporting in.” She turned to Andromedai. “Apologies for the delay ma’am, Had a bit of a trip,” She inspected those that had arrived, It had been sometime Since they had been together, She just hoped that the bonds they had formed had still stayed intact. Carly checked her Datapad and just as expected Nesalla had, luckily for Carly, already sent the details to her.

Carly took off her helmet and examined the details, Trying to find as many possible scenarios as possible. "I have no questions, But if possible I would like Nessalla to Send me the latest basic medical forms for the strike team, recent injuries, and all that jazz, The standard procedure," As much as Carly wanted to sit down and catch up she knew she had a job to do first.

"It's good to see all of you again."

Gerard smiled underneath his helmet and gave Riley's shoulder a quick pat in response to the hug. "It's good to see you as well, Riley." the Spartan said in a soft gentle voice. His stance relaxed. The fact that his 'brothers' and 'sisters' were all coming together again put him at ease. He never felt so isolated and exposed when he was without them. But, those were darker times and he had so much to look forward to with Rogue Seven coming back together.

If there are any questions, I will do my best to answer them before we depart."

"Striker Commander, this seems to be a cloak and dagger Op. Why do we require the Orion? From what I have heard, and not much, it seems to be a heavy class ship. Don't you think it'll turn a few heads?" He encircled the holo-table, his eyes darting between his teammates. His foot steps were heavy and echoed slightly. He stopped shortly before Andromedai. The Spartan stood silently, unable to find his words. He wanted to ask what if Solares was dead, but instead he continued encircling the table. He knew losing a Spartan would be a big impact of morale all across the UNSC. ONI's Directive 930 was revoked some time ago, revealing the status of all Spartans. These super-soldiers remained super, but the title of immortality faded. In his head he thought, Spartans never die.

Carly entered, a sight for sore and weary eyes. "I have no questions, But if possible I would like Nessalla to Send me the latest basic medical forms for the strike team, recent injuries, and all that jazz, The standard procedure,"

"Well, Carly, I did pull a muscle on my way here, so if you'd like to take a look at that, be my guest." Wulff jested. He made his way over to her. His voice was but a whisper, "You were missed." His voice seemed shaky and sorrowful, but peaked right back up to it's gruff and low tone. "But, about that muscle, it is killing me. I am not going to do this mission with a pulled hamstring." He stated with a coy grin.

Koda glanced back at Riley when he was hugged and in return he gave her a nod, when given the order to relax he turned and hugged Riley back before moving up to the holo-table with Gerard, but upon hearing Carly enter he looked back at her and motioned to his wrist and tapped it as if to say she was late. Moving back to the holo-pad he examined it closely and folded his arms. "Striker Commander, this seems to be a cloak and dagger Op. Why do we require the Orion? From what I have heard, and not much, it seems to be a heavy class ship. Don't you think it'll turn a few heads?" Koda had to agree with Wulff on this one, it seemed a bit excessive unless they where planning something more.

"I have several questions as well. What kind of terrain are we looking at, should we split the group in two for better coverage of the area, and what are we to do if Solares is captured, do you want us to move to eliminate if rescue is out of the question, I apologize of I sound rather cold on this Boss but I'm trying to take in possible scenarios that could take place. Koda said looking at Andromedai.

Normally Koda would never voice something like that but it was something he needed to take into consideration, It was a question like this that could easily hurt reputation. But it also show he was willing to do something that others where not in-order to get the job done. "I have no questions, But if possible I would like Nessalla to Send me the latest basic medical forms for the strike team, recent injuries, and all that jazz, The standard procedure," Looking at his own datapad he pulled up everything that Carly would need to know about him when they where disbanded before whistling to get her attention then tossing the datapad to her "I'll need that back when your done with it" he said then turned and walked away from the holo-table and began to pace slightly as he thought.

"Coveys are gonna pay for this" he mumbled to himself.

Riley smiled back at her squadmates as she took a step back and leaned up against the wall as she listened in on the briefing as she turned her head and saw Carly coming in another female squadmate that she enjoyed hanging out during their off time between ops. "It's great to see you again Carly." Riley said with a smile as she looked back towards Andromedai she looked over towards Wulf asking about the Orion and knew the answer as she had spent her time since the team disbanded in the outer colonies as well as Covenant Space. "Erathel is on the edge of UNSC space, so the threats out there are Kig-Yar pirates, Insurrectionists as well as the Covenant Remnant. And obviously any of those groups would attack easy picking targets on the spot, this also shows that the UNSC still has its strength despite the end of the war." Riley said.

She turned to look up at Andromedai for a moment and ran a hand through her hair. "That's about the gist I know of current politics within the outer colonies." She turned to look over at Carly once more and smiled at her. "Well you could always just pull us all aside one by one and do the usual medical questions to, also catch up on all the good old times as well."

“Correction, the Orion is an Autumn Class Heavy Cruiser that is roughly based off the Pillar of Autumn’s design. It has been upgraded with technology and equipment to make it much more powerful, effective and deadly than most other ships in the UNSC Navy. Any information beyond that has not been shared with me or the Colonel at this time. Why ONI decided to officially bring the Orion into active duty for this specific mission is beyond all of us and our paygrade. In my personal opinion, if the Office of Naval Intelligence wishes to bring out one of its new and expensive toys from hiding, and then hand it over to us, I see no problem with it. Think of it this way, ONI trusts us enough to hand over a brand-new ship that is up to par with the Infinity to us. You are correct though, it will turn heads and gather a lot of attention once reports of the Orion come flooding in. It will undoubtedly be a massive morale booster as well. Enough about the ship though, all of the information and orders I have shared with you have come from the top with ONI, there is no additional information. I am sure all will be explained once we have arrived upon the ONI space station though, so for now let us depart.” Andromedai motioned towards Colonel Icarus who was already barking orders to the ships AI. “Take us out Nesalla, nice and slow, you know where the ONI space station is so get us there as swiftly and safely as possible.” The ships engines silently came to life somewhere far below where Team Rogue Seven, beginning its short journey.

Suddenly, an image of Erathell quickly appeared upon the large holographic table in the middle of the room. “I believe I can answer that question for you, Koda. If everyone would make their way to the holographic image of Erathell, I can share more information about the planet.” Said Nesalla as her fully formed, full sized, three dimensional figure appeared next to the table. This had caught not only Andromedais attention but also Colonel Icarus’s as well. Apparently, the AI known as Nesalla could create a holographic life size version of herself and roam around the ship she was installed into as if another organism. “Has she done this before?” asked Andromedai, her arms crossed her over chest, a look of both worry and curiosity spread across her face. “I have never seen her do that before, come to think of it, I have never seen any AI or VI do that before.” Colonel Icarus paused then shrugged, “I see no harm in it.”

While both Andromedai and Icarus were talking, Nesalla was describing the Forerunner planet of Erathell to the rest of Team Rogue Seven. “This is the current information we have about the Forerunner planet of Erathell. The world is almost an exact replica of our own, only a few differences make it stand out. These would be the placement of the continents upon its surface, the day and night cycle is two hours longer, and the planet is around five times the size of our own. Climates are the same as on earth, you will finds deserts, forests, jungles, swamps, bogs, mountains, valleys, prairies, oceans, beaches, and so on. The Argent Dawn crashed in an incredibly lush forest, at the bottom of a long mountain range. That is where we will being our search for Spartan Solares. The holographic image you see here is interactive, feel free to zoom in on areas of the planet you are curious about, or even the crash zone of the Argent Dawn, just keep in mind that the data used for this hologram is not complete.” Nesalla had been pacing around the Spartans as she looked at the holographic image of the world. When she was done speaking, she vanished into thin air, only to reappear upon the holographic table once more.