---

"Oh, well, I'm not an ONI agent, just a researcher." O'Connell clarified. "I am working on joint Human-Sangheili projects to reverse-engineer Covenant and Forerunner technology. Needless to say, I'm not a part of the permanent crew of the Aegis. Myself and my colleague were on board, en route to Sanghelios when we were taken from our universe. Just, um, follow me. Our lab is closer to the fore section of the ship."

Dr. O'Connell felt strange leading around a squad of Spartans, though likely not nearly as strange as they felt being on-board a "Covenant" capital ship, without needing to shoot their way through the halls. She had been informed that they had been taken from a time before the end of the Human-Covenant war. "Did your commanders brief you about where we came from?" O'Connell asked. "The war ended in 2552. The leadership of the Covenant was killed, and the Sangheili helped us do it. Actually, their ships comprised the vast majority of the fleet that destroyed Truth's fleet over the Ark. Oh, um, the Ark was a massive Forerunner installation that served as a sort of central hub and remote activation point for the Halo array...which you also don't know about."

O'connell let out a sigh. "There's a lot that has happened in the years between our two times, Spartans. The point is, we've found peace. We won the war. There are some Sangheili that hold on to their old beliefs, but many have pledged their loyalty to the Swords of Sanghelios. If we had not become allies, it is doubtful there would be any life left at all in our galaxy."

---

---

Narak nodded. "Yes, during the war, the sophistication of the Humans' artificial beings were the one way in which they surpassed the technology of the Covenant. Though, the Covenant's versions were...intentionally restricted. During their studies of the Forerunners, the Prophets learned that one of the Forerunners' most advanced associated intelligences betrayed them to the Flood. It was, henceforth, forbidden to create a machine that could think as a living being." He explained.

Walking around the table, Narak stood just behind McKay. He found himself curious to see the Human work, and to potentially learn from him. "I will admit, many Sangheili are still not sure if they should be willing to trust these types of constructs. I am not sure, myself. The Forerunners may not be gods, but their artificial intelligence, as best as we have learned, did betray them. But, their capabilities are undeniable. This artificial intelligence should be able to read that data with the same ease as you would read a book."

---

---

Thaz had her weapon at the ready and was standing on alert on the roof of the spaceport. Her active camouflage kept her hidden, and would allow her to set up her first shot unhindered. Though, it was not long before their target made himself known. There was only one creature in the group of reptilians that even came close to fitting the description they had been given, and he was an even bigger target than Thaz had expected. Almost immediately, Thaz raised up her rifle and trained her sights on the Gammorean's head, but did not even think about taking the shot yet.

"I see the target. Plenty of guards, and it looks like he has a sniper of his own." Thaz spoke up to Samus through their comms. "The sniper will probably see me when I take my shot, but...I will be fine. You need to keep the target in the open until Jerus makes his kill."

Thaz quickly contacted Jerus as well. "We have the target in our sights. Give us the word when it is time."

Eggman, Thunderbolt and Sonia walked to the Space Transporter pad. "Are you sure you are fine with this?" Sonia asked. "This isn't a trick, is it?" Sonia asked.

"Not at all." Eggman replied with a chirp in his voice. "I'm simply going over to have a look at their stuff. They seem rather primitive by my accounts, lasers and space transporters, sure, but no advanced robotics at all, nothing in their reports comes close to the power of the Eggboss machines. But the report they sent round mentioned a race they called "Asgard" I'm curious if they are related to the Black Hand at all. I'll be able to make that assumption after looking at their stuff. Who knows, if it's anything like the Black Hand's bio-tech, i might be able to come up with a new Project Shadow. Oh, i haven't been this excited since i started working with Wily. The chance to hybrid technologies from different dimensions and timelines, it warms the cockles of my once-cold heart" he beamed.

"You are NOT to steal any of their technology." Sonia replied.

"Probably won't need to. That being said, this is mainly a... Relationship building exercise." Eggman replied. "I get in good with them, they let me build my factory ship. If we can do it well enough, i might be able to pump out a few more Eggboss'." He grinned.

"So you're doing this for you."

"And by extension, us, yes." Eggman replied. Sonia shook her head and sighed. Eggman stood on the Space Transporter pad. "Alright, Daedelus, i've got my position fixed, ready to transport." He said. He then pointed at Thunderbolt "Make sure he doesn't break any of my stuff." He growled. Thunderbolt stood to attention.

"You got it boss. Ain't nobody can mess with perfection. And if he tries..." Her fur stood on end as she charged some of her electricity.

Eggman disappeared in a beam of light and a few seconds later, a man appeared on the transporter pad. Sonia bowed to him. "Greetings, overlander. My name is Princess Sonia Acorn of the house of Acorn. It will be my great pleasure to show you around today." Thunderbolt waved to him.

"I'm Thunderbolt, Chief officer of Operations and the one who's going to show you just how awesome the Doctors inventions are." She smiled.



Eggman reappeared and looked around. "That was a trip..." He grunted. "A little..." He had his own space transporters, but these ones felt different. He looked down. "No receiving pad... Alright, i'll give you that one." He mumbled to himself, before he looked at the greeter. "Hello again, you may remember me, i'm Doctor Julian Robotnik of the House of Kintobor. Call me Eggman." He extended a hand to be shaken.

DAEDALUS AWAY TEAM 1 // IMMACULATE AEGIS // FLEET SPACE

McKay grimaced. "We don't have a much better experience with Artificial Intelligence ourselves. The Asgard, the race of beings that Hermiod belongs too-" He paused for a second. "-the little Grey Guy running the shipyard. They used to be a much bigger presence in our galaxy and would have ended the Goa'uld threat before it started had they been given the chance. However, instead, they were under threat from a race of artificial replicating nanites that essentially lived to consume." He sighed. "We had our own problems with them too until eventually, we were able to come up with a weapon to break the bonds between the individual nanites and shut them down-" He paused. "-though you don't care about that."

He continued scrolling through the pages of data and information. There were copious amounts of data here and it would take him months to truly get a firm understanding on it. That why it would help to have the A.I if it was as good as was claimed it could check out these issues far faster than he could. If it could highlight them then they could easily find out ways to streamline the process without having to find every little inconsistency in the code. Otherwise, this would actually take months. Realising he was internalising all of this he turned to Narak. "My hope is that if the A.I is as good as you say it is it can dramatically streamline the process. I can pick out lines of code that don't make much sense and work on a variant but I have no way of knowing if that will actually help. The only alternative is to spend months working on understanding your technology-" Rodney paused. "-Or we could build you a hyperdrive. We have stores of Naquadah onboard, and an Asgard that could help."

Rodney sighed as he looked at Narak. "So really none of your people understand your own ships and technology? Reminds me of the Jaffa."

DOCTOR NOVAK // BROKEN HOPE // FLEET SPACE

Novak had to suppress a hiccup as she was in front of a holographic table and was suddenly granted access to absolutely everything that she would need in order to give the Broken Hope shielding. She paused for a second. "Well uh, considering your ships is already built and functioning flying through space that kind of removes the chance of having the shield arrays built into the ship. We can attach arrays to the outside of the ship and tie them into the power grid, it'll take time and a lot of work adding to the outside, but if we focus on sections we can have some sections shielded within the week. As I said before, it's not going to be as sophisticated as having the ship built with the shields but it's a start."

She shrugged as she scrolled through her tablet. "I'll also leave the specifications behind so that when you return home you can modify your ships over there." She pondered on the question though, of what she was after. "Honestly. I'm not here in a negotiating capacity, I don't know what you've got and what you can offer and it's not my place. I'm just a civilian contractor working for the military sent here to give you guys shielding. If you want to offer something, thats something better saved for Colonel Caldwell."

DAEDALUS AWAY TEAM 2 // JEDI TEMPLE // CORUSCANT

Sheppard signalled to the Marines to breach the door, opening it using his new Omni-Tool thing. He turned to the UNSC Marines. "We're going to breach and work our way towards the section called the archives. There's a vault there of things called holocrons that apparently contain vast amounts of information." He sighed as he tapped his radio as Sarah Wilkes. "Copy that, we're breaching the temple now and will rendezvous with you in the archives. Are you sure you don't want some support on your way over?" Sheppard turned back to the UNSC marines.

"We've also been tasked by the Resurgence to place charges in the tower so that if Palpatine moves in as he did in their timeline we can take him out." He raised his life signs detector and paused as he looked at all the marines, a curious expression on his face as he looked at the detector. He handed offered it to the UNSC Marines. "Hey, can you guys pass this around to see if it will work for any of you? It needs a special gene to work and I'm curious to see if it will actually work."

COLONEL CALDWELL // DAEDALUS // FLEET SPACE

Colonel Caldwell was sat at the bridge when Doctor Robotnik was beamed aboard the Daedalus. He stood up and walked over to shake Robotniks hand. "Colonel Caldwell, we've met. We do have transporters that require receiving pads, however, these ones rely on relays and sensors that are all over the ship. They were a gift by a race of beings known as the Asgard. Hermiod belongs to that race, he's the being currently managing the shipyard and its operations for the Fleet. They've been a spacefaring race since before our race even evolved on our planet, likely before yours did on your world too. We helped them out with an enemy that plagued them for years. It worked out best for all of us."

Caldwell turned and then returned to his seat as the bridge officers continued their work. "So while my person is looking at the possibility of giving your ship energy shields what are you here to propose?"

LIEUTENANT BISHOP // EGG CARRIER // FLEET SPACE

Lieutenant Bishop wasn't sure how he landed this duty. He was a relief officer for the Bridge Crew, working the night shifts while Cooper worked the day shift. He supposed it was to suggest the edits and discover how effective the systems aboard this 'Egg Carrier' were. He stepped forward and offered his hands. "Lieutenant Bishop, USAF. I'm one of the bridge officers aboard the Daedalus and I'm here to recommend adjustments to your systems to improve efficiency and combat effectiveness. From what I've been told you've only just cracked into spaceflight. While my people haven't been constructing vessels like the Daedalus for very long, we still have experience that you may benefit from."

---

Narak gave a grunt that could be construed as a brief laugh, even to one unfamiliar with Sangheili mannerisms. "Your replicators sound reminiscent of the Flood, except in an artificial form. The Flood were a parasite that threatened to consume all life of our galaxy. They were insidious, deadly, and intelligent. The Forerunners created a weapon that killed themselves, and all other sentient life in the galaxy, just to cease the otherwise-unstoppable Flood. It is fortunate that you were able to destroy your threat without as much death." He remarked.

Overall, Narak did agree with McKay's assessment of the scale of their project. Indeed, even "months" seemed like an optimistic estimate, considering how long they had been working with Humans of his own universe on understanding their technology. Though, McKay's final comment was still more of a hit against Narak's pride than he might have initially assumed. Compared to others of his kind, however, Narak was one with much less of a propensity to react with violence. Most of what he felt was simple frustration towards himself, though he showed that frustration openly. "The San'Shyuum were almost as much of parasites as the Flood, leeching off of the understanding of the Huragok, while pretending to be the masters of all the Forerunners left behind. They defeated us in the War of Beginnings only through that technology. Before the San'Shyuum, before the Covenant, my people, on their own, broke free of our own planet. We created our own starships, learned to use slipspace, settled our own colonies. We had mastered...crude versions of the technology you see here on the Immaculate Aegis. Make no mistake, I am not like a youngling toying with an arum. I understand the workings of a plasma weapon, or a pinch-fusion reactor. I understand, to an extent, the physics of a repulsor engine, an anti-grav field, or a slipspace borer. One of my colleagues reverse-engineered the Humans' most advanced armor system and created a version of her own for their use, simply to prove that she could."

Narak gave a sigh, lowering his head noticeably. "But...our science was so shamefully stunted by our time in the Covenant. Until recent years, I did not even know our technology was not operating at its potential. We have always been a warrior species, but the Covenant allowed us to be only a warrior species. There are few like me, few who believe the pursuit of knowledge is as worthy as skill with a blade. I do not think most of my brothers realize how dire the problem is. I might understand our technology to an extent, but it is clear to me that there is so much more I must learn. There are aspects of mathematics and physics on which I am, as Fiona has described it, 'playing catch-up'. I believe she will be of greater assistance to you than I will be."

In the midst of the conversation, no one had yet been giving any instructions to the Huragok, Floats Easily. Without a task to dedicate itself to, it was easy for it to become bored, and curious. In McKay's vest, it saw a device unlike any other that McKay was carrying, and unlike anything it had seen. For a Huragok, new technology was almost an irresistible curiosity. While McKay was absorbed into his work, the Huragok reached out a tentacle that split into many, microscopically fine cilia at its end to grab his lifesigns detector. Despite the Huragok's fragile appearance, it had quite a firm grip and was easily able to take the device for examination. It could interface with the device directly, very quickly bypassing the need for an ATA gene in order to activate it and learn its functions.

DAEDALUS AWAY TEAM 1 // IMMACULATE AEGIS // FLEET SPACE

McKay raised his hands defensively. "I mean no offence. Barely five years ago the spacecraft we were fielding were shuttles and rocket craft. The Stargate Program accelerated our development significantly, I'm sure with you putting your focusing on the work you soon have an understanding of all this technology." He paused for a second as he talked about their development. "The more you talk about it the more your development mirrors that of the Jaffa, its actually a little fascinating-" He stopped as the floating creature opened his vest and pulled out his life signs detector. He made a grab for it but the creature was stronger than it appeared to be and pulled it away anyway.

Before Rodney could let out so much as a 'stop' Ronon's gun droned as it was raised and charged up pointed to the floating creature. "Woah!" Rodney stepped in between them, as other guns were raised in the room towards Ronon, and then McKay as he moved quickly.

Ronon moved to get a shot, however, Rodney moved again. Ronon speaking through gritted teeth. "Get out of the way McKay, it stole your tech."

"It's a life signs detector Ronon! You just heard how valuable these things are too them, and to us. Put the gun down."

"We can't replace it if it's broken, it's ancestral."

"I'm sure it won't break it-" He turned to Narak "-though I'd like it back, please. We only have a handful of the devices with us, and even less in total back on Atlantis." Rodney scowled at Ronon who lowered his gun, letting it droop while his finger was through trigger guard it spun its barrel towards the ground lowering it in a way that made it seem not threatening before he slid it harmlessly into hits holster.

"It's all just a misunderstanding."

---

While Dr. McKay was talking down Ronon, Narak turned his attention to the Huragok's guards. It was fortunate that they had not fired immediately, as they would have been easily justified to do. He supposed they had been instructed to show some restraint. He stood between the Sangheili major and Ronon, prompting the Sangheili to lower his storm rifle. "These Humans do not understand us, brother. Even if his foolishness had damaged the Huragok, he would not have been able to destroy it before you could slay him. There is no need to complicate this further, and no need to inform the Shipmaster.

The major gave a long, low growl towards Narak. "If he causes more problems, it will be your head, Artisan."

"I know it will." Narak replied, soon turning his attention back to McKay. A semblance of peace had returned to the room, but during the entire duration of the confrontation, the Huragok itself had either been blissfully unaware of any danger or entirely uncaring towards it. It simply continued its rapid examination of the Ancient device, from its software down to its physical construction. With its many hundreds of microscopically fine cilia, it could manipulate any part of the device with perfect precision. It had taken it apart entirely and, after a curious look at the power crystal, had already started to re-assemble it by the time McKay had turned away from Ronon.

"The Huragok can be almost...child-like at times. Even the most proud and stubborn warriors must learn to deal with their eccentricities, for there is nothing that will change them." Narak explained. He extended his hand out towards Floats, and since the Huragok had satisfied its curiosity, it readily handed over the device to Narak, who then passed it on to McKay completely intact and still in entirely working order. "We are yet to give Floats Easily any tasks. When deprived of purpose, a Huragok can become...bored. If you wish to start learning to understand our technology, perhaps it is time to start questioning it?"

Standing just beside McKay, Narak leaned forward onto the table, bringing his head down close enough that he could whisper effectively to McKay. "You should warn your ally to be much less impulsive, as soon as you can. I think you will find that I am the most tolerant, and most forgiving Sangheili on this vessel. Others will not seek to diffuse conflict; they will rise to meet any challenge."

---------------------
Team Omicron / Immaculate Ageis Hangar / Interacting with: @EliteCommander
---------------------

As the team accompanied the ONI Researcher from the Hangar to their destination, Issac practically had a field day absorbing all this new information. So many unknowns, but all of this occurring in just two years? It felt improbable- almost impossible. As the team walked alongside O'Connell, Kendra permitted Issac to speak through the external speakers of the helmet. "Seriously? That's...-Admiral Oliver- we came from 2550. I vaguely recall your crew coming in post-war some years later, though I'm not sure what year. You're telling me that the Sangheili have mostly become tolerant of us when the Covenant... What happened to them, exactly?" Issac was overwhelmed just as much as he sounded. "Was it something to do with the Forerunners and these uh, Halo Arrays?" One of the other Spartans, the one just behind Kendra with the tag of '111', spoke up to the Doctor. "You'll have to excuse him, he's a little slow on the uptake. Forgive my intrusion, Ma'am, but you said something about reverse-engineering Covenant technology. Is that what we're needed for here?" With Adam being the more sociable of the team, Kendra figured he and Issac would do the talking. She could tell that the other members were cautious while in the ship, ready for combat if any of the aliens tried opening fire. Hopefully, it wouldn't come to that.

Security Team One, Mark Bradford, Marcus Oliver / Unbroken Hope Engineering / Interacting with: @Sep

Marcus was the first to speak up. "Understood; I'll be in contact with them following the installation. In the meantime, what would you have us do to prepare for the upgrade?" At any rate, he'd suspected the Unbroken Hope would either have to move closer to the Daedalus, or closer to that rectangular construction facility.

---------------------
Sentinel 1-1 / Jedi Temple / Interacting with: @Sep
---------------------

Leon's visor polarized into a dark blue as a form of acknowledgement to the objectives as he reached out and took the pad; fiddling with it before quickly passing it back to his team to inspect as he prepared to breach the door. "Didn't work for me. You said it requires a gene to function? Best we have are VISR's with motion trackers." Leon glanced back to his team, and found them rather humorously tapping, gently shaking and flipping the tablet like device over to try and figure out a way to interface with it. With all members quickly giving up, they proceeded to hand the device back to Leon- who passed it back to the armored man. "No joy; can't get it to work." He half whispered. When the man retook the pad, Leon silently moved upward to the service hatch door; leading into the facility with weapons drawn forward. When the team of five filed out into the facility, they fanned out into a wedge formation; adopting into a low crouch as they scanned the area around them. Low-light mode would be useful, as outlines of targets and the environment would make things markedly easier for the team to complete their objectives. "Sentinel 1-1, in position."

@Sep

Eggman looked at Caldwell and listened to his explanation of their technologies. "Well, that all depends." He replied to the question. "I mean, we all leave little things out of reports." He said. "I imagine that there are a few things around here that i can give improvements on. First and foremost, i think your weapons and personnel. I mean, people are alright, it's definitely more fun shouting at them than robots, but the competence more than makes up for it. I can call some over and give you a live demonstration if you like. I was also thinking of posting one of my Eggboss machines aboard your ship. I thought that since we'll be working together, it would be prudent to maybe train someone else in their use, as well as maintenance, incase i was to be incapacitated." He reasoned. He really wasn't that big a fan of the idea of giving his secrets away to strangers, but if he could convince them of the invaluable assets that the Eggboss' were. If he could convince them then he could finally get his factory ship.

At the same time, though, he doubted that this was an offer they could refuse. First hand experience with advanced robotics technology far beyond anything they had access to.


Sonia bowed to the Lieutenant as he came aboard. "Space Flight isn't so much of something we are new at, but more something we are inexperienced with." Sonia corrected him. "We have been going to space for many generations and have been in contact with extraterrestrials, but our civilization has been in civil wars for so long that... Well, we decided that solving the problems on Mobius was more important than expanding to the stars. First it was the Overlanders, then Robotnik, then the Robotnikist terrorists... Most recently my brother, Prince Manic... But when he escaped to the stars, we were forced to bring the technology out of retirement. Although, you can take you to the Shield Generators, i'm curious about your technologies. Without Flickies or Elemental Core's, i was wondering where you get the energies to run such an enormous vessel?" She asked.

---

---

---

---

@EliteCommander & @Sep

Strevrols watched the various exchanges with interest, though he took a step back when weapons started getting waved around. He was an engineer, not a soldier, and it wouldn't do if he got himself killed over a misunderstanding of the Huragoks intentions. Once the mess had settled down somewhat though, he found himself agreeing with what Narak had said. They could stand around here and chat all day long, but at some point they needed to actually question the floating creature if they were to get anywhere.

"So Floats..." Strevrols said, turning towards the creature. "What can you tell us about the most important functions of this ship?"

---

Floats initially hesitated at Strevrols question, but after a high-pitched vocalization, it started to "speak" towards the translator with its sign language. Although, even just a short time reading the words projected by the translator demonstrated that the Huragok had a very liberal interpretation of the word "important." It started to speak about every single system it could think of, from shields to emergency lighting. Not only that, but all of the information it was giving about the systems had no common threads between them, and were often just trivial details.

Narak actually started to laugh, and eventually interrupted Floats. "If asked, a Huragok would give you every trivial detail about every single system, in terms you may or may not understand. If you wish to learn from a Huragok, you need to ask far, far more specific questions."

---

---

"Yes...essentially." Dr. O'Connell answered to the Spartan. Given that two voices had come from the helmet of one of the others, she assumed that one of them was the AI. "As you probably know, Covenant slipspace technology is much faster than ours, but even that is not enough in this galaxy. For this universe, much quicker FTL travel seems to be the norm. Since there is no way we are going to be able to scavenge a hyperdrive for this size of ship, we need your help to improve the capabilities of the Aegis' slipspace borer. I believe it is possible without substantial changes to the borer itself. Covenant technology was all reverse-engineered from Forerunner technology, and the Prophets never really had that great of an understanding of it. So, most of their technology works quite inefficiently. One UNSC AI, Cortana, was able to upgrade the weapons and slipspace capabilities of a Covenant DDS-class carrier purely by improving that efficiency. She had access to a mountain of data recovered from the first Halo ring...but I also have copies of much of that data. And more. I intend to give you copies of all the data I have on Covenant and Forerunner technology, and all of the six years of post-war technological progress we have made. Between all of that, myself, and the experts from the other universes, I am hoping we will be able to get this done quickly."

As O'Connell led the Spartans through the ship, many members of the Aegis' crew, Sangheili in particular, took particular interest in them. Having visitors on the ship was unusual for them, but seeing Spartans was even more exceptional. It was possible that some had encountered Spartans at some point in their military service, either before or after the war, but most had only heard stories about them. To some Sangheili, the Spartans' legendary prowess was something to be respected, and to others, it was a challenge. Regardless of their thoughts on the Spartans, O'Connell was sure most of the warriors on the ship would have relished the opportunity to prove themselves against a Spartan. If it did ever happen, O'Connell just hoped it was in a sparring match rather than a shootout.

In an effort to keep the Spartans from focusing too much on the warriors they were passing, O'Connell decided to answer the AI's initial questions, and hopefully put the Spartans' minds somewhat at ease regarding the Sangheili. "If you want to know more about events since your time...where do I even begin? So much happened in the last year of the war, but it all went so fast after the first Halo ring was discovered. The first ring was destroyed by the Master Chief, Spartan-117. You, well, you obviously know him. He was really at the center of it all. The thing that first started causing division within the Covenant was after the Master Chief killed the High Prophet of Regret. The Prophet of Truth decided to replace all of the Sangheili honor guards with Brutes and task them with protecting the Prophets, either because he no longer trusted the Sangheili to protect them, or just because he saw it as a political opportunity to elevate the status of the Brutes. Either way, Truth eventually betrayed the Sangheili entirely, and shortly afterwards, the Arbiter, Thel 'Vadam, learned from a Forerunner monitor the truth about the Halo array. That being the fact that the Halo array is a weapon designed to kill all sentient life in the galaxy, and not some path to a religious 'Great Journey', as the prophets believed. So, that was the start of our alliance. The Sangheili learned that their religion was a lie, and the Prophet of Truth decided that the Brutes would be easier to control than the Sangheili, presumably. That, or he was just an idiot. Either way, Master Chief and the Arbiter both worked together to kill Truth, and then to destroy the Flood, which...is a whole other story."

Eventually, the group did reach the lab, where it seemed that the other scientists had started to question Floats Easily. Though, she was sure that either the AI, Spartans, or some other UNSC personnel would have plenty more questions for her about their galaxy's "future".

---------------------
Team Omicron / Immaculate Ageis CiC / Interacting with: @EliteCommander
---------------------

"So that was what the 'false gods' were about. Onboard the first delegation meeting." Adam quipped. One of the Spartans seemed to audibly scoff at the mention of John-117, while the last one in the back of the group simply remained quiet. Kendra remained silent for a few seconds in case Issac was going to speak up, but the voice never came out. Taking her opportunity, she spoke up as they were led through the halls. "It certainly clears things up, but I will warn you that anything from them will be perceived as an act of aggression, former allegiances or current. We're just here to get a job done, Ma'am." Kendra said matter-of-factually. That was to say she wasn't going to be making any first moves, but she wasn't in control of what the Elites might do. They were equals, and she knew that they would deliberately pursue Spartans in the midst of combat if it was a ground war. The mere fact that her team was on a ship full of them was enough to briefly send a chill up her spine. Regardless, she'd make sure her purpose here was fulfilled to the best of her ability.

As the group filed through the intricate, abstract and insanely violet halls of the CAS Assault Carrier, they finally reached their intended destination. Having never seen a Covenant laboratory before, the setup of intermixed Human and Elite technologies to fill the bridges between the two distinct sciences both disgusted and amused her. Regardless, she soon spotted a podium with a familiar looking slot. Approaching it, she took a silent breath as she reached behind her and yanked the DCC out of the helmet's slot. Another torrential flood of pain, but it quickly passed as she transferred the DCC into the podium. Issac's form flickered into existence; the figure's body now coated in streams of black data running vertically down alongside his form. He seemed to be almost in a daze as he looked around the room, obviously seeing something that all of them couldn't. Finally, his awestricken, slackjawed smile faded as he blinked and came to his senses- before running an arm across his mouth and looking at O'Connell. "Sorry, might've been drooling a tad."

Issac spoke up after taking a deep breath, appearing to do a series of isometric stretches as he prepared to access the ship's subsystems. "Alright... Primus-pattern Covenant borer- efficiency is at 100%. For its universal standards, anyway. To optimize the borer's efficacy for Slip-jumps capable of matching FTL capabilities of this universe, you're looking at one of two possibilities. The first is to augment the reactor to be able to spool up faster during a jump; which would sacrifice some of the 'surgical precision' to calculate an accurate destination solution. It would also entirely invalidate the 'microjump' capabilities of the borer; trading off for jumping with increased speed and a larger distance. Something I can do right now, actually. The section option would be to analyze the drive specifications of an enemy ship from this universe, bring it to the fabricator station and have it constructed to be installed in replace of the borer. Unfortunately, I'm not sure that's the best overall option at the moment seeing as everyone's on a time crunch- plus, that would be incredibly hazardous to our current operations.

Issac looked to O'Connell. "I'm willing to converse with the Shipmaster to relay just what I intend to do. Whenever he's not occupied, that is." Kendra looked to Issac, then back to O'Connell. "I assume that's something you understand."

---

Dr. O'Connell cleared her throat, somewhat awkwardly. "Well, first, you might want to take the time to listen to the suggestions of myself, and these fine gentlemen." She said, gesturing to the other scientists in the room. "Simply improving the power feed won't do the trick. I know, that was the first thought I had too. But, when the Aegis' AI performed simulations on the actual hardware, the increased throughput caused errors in reconciliation that, retroactively, pulls the ship out of slipspace far too early. Strange, I know, but there's a lot we don't know about the nuances of reconciliation. I am afraid it won't be that easy. Oh, um, that console you are in isn't actually connected to the Aegis' systems, so the simulations you can run on it might not be perfect. On the Shipmaster's request, I had the Aegis' AI make a download a copy of the ship's system architecture into it for us to experiment with. He wanted to observe proper security before making any drastic changes, you understand. Any changes that any of us want to make will have to go through the Aegis' own AI."

Pausing a moment, Dr. O'Connell rushed over to her laptop and connected it to the system Isaac was in, then plugged in a small, but high capacity storage drive, much like the device that usually contained Issac himself. "But, like I said before, I do have access to some data that may help. All of the data on Covenant technology, Forerunner technology, all of the technological progress we have made in the last six years. At least, everything I personally have access to, which is still quite a lot. Just...be aware, this is a lot of data, and it is going to take a while to sort through it. Even for you."

---

---

---

---

@EliteCommander & @Sep
"I see," Strevrols said as he examined Floats. "Very well then, tell me about your ship's 'slipspace' drive. And please, be detailed. I want to know its every working by the time your done explaining it to me."

He felt it was a long shot given the creature's nature, but if he could figure out how that worked, then perhaps he could figure out how to modify it.

---

---

---

---

With little to go on, Samus proceeded to ask others anonymously regarding the potential whereabouts of her potential targets, while trying not to release their true identity and blow the cover. She believed that they would know what they'd look like and roughly direct her to their general location. However, most of the inhabitants simply didn't care or didn't know of where they are. But just as the bounty hunter was considering a new plan of attack, she finally saw what appeared to be the very pig-nosed alien striding in the streets with what would be his Rodian guards. Samus would proceed to back towards a wall, attempting to blend in with the crowd walking by. Just to be sure that they were them, her visor would quickly scan the targets, eventually confirming that they were indeed the aliens she was looking for.

The armored bounty hunter would quickly contact Thaz about the news through her helmet.

"Thaz, this is Samus," the figure announced towards her partner, "I have confirmed visuals on the targets. Five individuals in total; all are armed. I'm going to see if I can get a closer look before drawing them towards us."

Samus continued to observe where the gang was going, eventually finding them stop by a blaster shop of some kind. All the while, one of the weird Rodian aliens - presumably a sniper - made its way to the top of the buildings. Quickly, she would contact Thaz again to warn her about its presence.

"Be careful. One of the green-skinned Rodians has ascended to the rooftop. Subject is armed with some kind of sniper rifle. You'll need to take him out quietly while I take care of the others."

With that, the bounty hunter would soon make her next move. Knowing that she can't get too close to the gang without raising any suspicious looks, Samus would turn a corner into a dark alley way and quickly transform into her morph ball form. Now, not only was she much smaller, but as far as everyone would know, she might as well be some kind of unique droid. She rolled stealthily towards the Gamorrean gang as she swerved in and out underneath their feet. Her scanners would each highlight the particular units, the safety of her spherical fortress until the time was just right...

"When Mandalorians say to use any means you see fit, that includes as many of us as we think we need." Shortly after the arrival of the rest of Eri's team, one of the pilots showed up carrying a modified blaster rifle and handing it off to Jerius before hurrying back into the underbrush to get back to their shuttle. Hefting the rifle, Jerius leads the way in and almost immediately, the group can feel the powerful dark presence within the tomb, nearly suffocating in it's strength and none of them were even Force Sensitive. "The spirit of Freedan Nadd still lingers, even after all these years."

---

The Rodians watch the strange little orange ball roll around between their legs and the legs of the nearby beings who continued on their business, not wanting to know what an Exchange Enforcer was up to inside a weapon's store in a Hutt's territory, and one of the group even mentioned what a strange droid she appeared to be to a compatriot that she couldn't understand, but otherwise her ruse worked. As Samus made one pass near the actual entrance to the gunshop, however, the Gamorrean would get blasted out of the door by a powerful concussive weapon, followed by a wave of blaster fire that he rolled to one side to avoid. He squealed something at the Rodians and before Thaz's eyes, the sniper vanished before her eyes as the others on the ground took up defensive positions as a group of Kaleesh warriors took cover near the windows and doorways. One particularly large one, wielding a large vibrosword with a rifle on his back, stood in the door way.

"Last chance, Gorm. You can go back to your boss with only a bruised ego, or we can send you and your hit squad back in pieces. Your choice." Gorm squealed an answer as he swung his rotary cannon around and the Kaleesh moved back into cover. A split second later, hell broke loose as the groups opened fired on each other, blaster bolts scorching walls and the ground as the two groups of expert killers engaged each other. The situation was much more complicated than had initially been indicated.

---

Despite the strange feeling that overwhelmed Eri, she did not much care who Freedan Nadd was. If this was his tomb, then he would no longer be a problem. All that mattered was the Tarentatek. Eri had taken the time to disconnect power from her active camouflage, and instead equip a thruster pack. Even though the fact that they were going into an enclosed space, the dimensions of the doorway suggested it would be reasonably spacious inside. At least, enough that a skilled user would be able to make better use of the speed a thruster pack could provide.

"I see. Well, if our prey is as dangerous as you claim, then we should make use of what we can. Still, too many of us in an enclosed space, and we may just get in each other's way. It may be best to move inside and find a suitable ambush point, then send a smaller team ahead to lead our prey back to it. We have explosives suitable to take down heavy armor. Though, the age of that stonework makes me think we should be cautious with it. Still, if we plant our explosives carefully, we may be able to safely bring down a portion of the structure onto it." Eri suggested.

One of the Sangheili tha had helped carry the crate of equipment, Sel, grabbed a beam rifle from the crate. "What about sniper weaponry, commander? It might work against our quarry's hide." He suggested.

Eri took just a moment longer to think. "That is a fair point. There is little a beam rifle cannot pierce. Though, without Thaz, we do only have the one rifle. I will wield it." She approached Sel and exchanged her concussion rifle, and its spare ammunition, with his beam rifle.

"This weapon will likely be effective." Eri remarked to Jerius. "It is not precisely an energy weapon like your blasters. It does superheat its target, but more as an effect than as its primary method of damage. It accelerates particles at extreme velocity to penetrate its targets. Although, it does not create large wounds, so it may still not kill our prey on its own."

---

---

What Thaz saw from Samus was...strange, to say the least. Had the bounty hunter actually turned into a fairly small ball? The colors were certainly familiar, but as Thaz had not seen the transformation, it was possible that this was some sort of remote-controlled drone. Regardless, it did not change what Thaz needed to do. No, what did change the situation for her was the fact that a shootout broke out from within the shop, before she or Samus had a chance to do anything. She could no longer see the sniper, but that was not the only concern.

Once again, Thaz contacted Jerus. "Um, update here: a shootout just broke out. And we didn't start it. Might want to get to your target soon, Jedi, or ours might die early without us doing anything."

---

---

For Vael, the task he had been given fell far outside the domain of his usual responsibilities. In fact, the Shipmaster had not actually given him an official order to take on the mission; rather, Falul had spoke to him as a friend, instead of as a superior, and asked him to take on the mission voluntarily. This was a diplomatic mission to a planet called Alderaan, with the purpose of gaining allies against their enemy, Anubis. It was a sensible goal, considering their circumstances, and since Special Operations Commander Eri 'Moram was already on another, similar mission, Falul trusted Vael to be able to judge the honor of these Alderaanians, and their worthiness as allies. While Falul himself might have been a more appropriate representative, there were still many concerns within the fleet that required Falul's personal attention.

Vael would be the sole representative sent by the Immaculate Aegis, though he was armed and armored in his gold, custom combat harness. His armor had the most powerful shielding available to a Sangheili combat harness, and had a drop shield equipment module. For his weapons, he carried his twin energy swords and a plasma rifle. Although, they were not expecting any combat on this particular mission. A phantom brought Vael to the Arquitens-class cruiser, though it left as soon as he was on board.

"It will indeed take more than one shot from that rifle, though perhaps not if we can pin it under rubble." The sounds of ancient combat droids patrolling the empty tomb reaches them, but it's distant. "Let us only hope that the spirit of the Sith Lord remains uninterested in our activities here." The way down and throughout the tomb remained relatively uneventful, occasionally a brief firefight with ancient security droids, but even that was short-lived as the ancient defenses weren't exactly in their prime.

Eventually, however, a low, gutteral growl echoed up to them, prompting the clone to hold up his hand. "That, I imagine, would be our target."

---

Jerus followed his own target closely, his cloaking tech keeping him out of the Nautolan's sight as he paced restlessly in a high end observers booth in one of the fighting arenas. Thaz's message, however, concerned him. {I've had my target in sight for the last half-hour, I was just waiting on you two to deal with Gorm. What happened that he's caught up in a firefight?} After a moment, Jerus shakes his head. {Nevermind, I don't need specifics. Use that, set it up to look like an accident if you can. Since you're in Jiguuna, I'm willing to bet that whoever he's in a shootout with works for Kem'ro, who's cousins with the guy who's lackey hired us. Didn't think he'd try and deal with Mardna's muscle himself...still, it works. Like I said, use that firefight and knock him off. Let me know when the deed's done.}

---

Mechanical issues aboard the Second Chance had lead to one of the Resurgence’s escort ships, the Taris, being repurposed to act as the ship that they’d be going to Alderaan on instead. Jason and the Scorch Guard had already arrived and were in the midst of readying the ship for the other diplomatic parties when the single member from the Aegis arrived. Jason had yet to meet this Vael’Virisusai as the Sangheili had remained on their ship during the meetings, but he had no doubt that the little he’d heard from Falul’s warriors when asked about him held true.

Approaching the Sangheili, the Supreme Commander offered a hand in greeting. “Greetings Vael’Virisusai. Your warriors speak highly of you.” The members of the Scorch Guard, meanwhile, continued helping about the ship’s hangar, making sure that all was prepared.

---

The Mandalorians had not mentioned any other resistance, though in fairness, it was hardly worth mentioning at all. The ancient machines could not resist any of their weapons, and required little thought or effort to destroy. The only concern Eri had relating to them was the fact that the weapons fire might give away their approach. Based on the roar that they heard echoing from deeper within the tomb, that worry may have been well-founded.

"Then we should set up our ambush. The bridge would be the ideal ambush point, but I fear if the prey were to fall off of it, we would not be able to retrieve any part of its corpse. The last chamber we passed may make for an acceptable alternative. My team can spread out to attack from many angles, and if we set explosives in the hallway leading to it, that should not compromise the integrity of the chamber itself. While the others double back, you, me, and a small team equipped with thruster packs can find the beast and work to lead it back to the chamber." Eri recommended.

---

---

Vael did shake Jason's hand and, in contrast to some other Sangheili, actually applied an appropriate amount of pressure, rather than making it feel as if he was trying to squeeze his hand off. Vael was large, even for a Sangheili, so a gentle touch might not have been expected. Unlike the environment-sealed armor of Eri's team, Vael wore a storm armor variant that left his arms mostly exposed. His scales had a somewhat dull grey coloration to them, and even on just the parts that Jason could see, were marred by the remains of a fair collection of nicks, cuts, and burns gathered through a long life.

"Greetings. If my warriors speak of me, you may wish to disregard them. They speak to glorify my legend, and hide my faults. I am a warrior, and a servant of my people. You do not need to treat me as any more than that." Vael replied.

COLONEL CALDWELL // DAEDLAUS // FLEET SPACE

Caldwell was sitting in the chair as Doctor Robotnik continued to speak. Suggesting that he replace his personnel with robotic units. "I think we're quite fine with the personnel we have. These people are some of the best my planet has to offer, I wouldn't want to change them for robotic units I don't know, don't understand and don't have full control over." He spun his chair to look at the viewscreen on the side of the wall and nodded at Marks as he did so. "All I left out of the report was the specifications on the beaming system, all weapons are computerised and controlled by the control station here on the bridge. Shielding is as well. The only thing that may be relevant is this-" A picture of a weapon came up on the screen. "-Anubis has warriors with advanced armour that can deflect all kinetic and energy attacks. We have to assume he's using this technology here, so we need to make sure we're armed suitably. If you can wrap your head around this technology then you can equip it to whatever blasters or weapons that your robots use."

LIEUTENANT BISHOP // EGG CARRIER // FLEET SPACE

Bishop nodded along with Sonia. "It makes sense. Part of me wishes we had waited before getting involved in spaceflight however the Goa'uld made that impossible. We've got a fair understanding of the technology, over a short period of time. At least in terms of advanced spaceflight. We've been going to space for decades but we've had a sudden leap in technological advancement." He looked solemn for a moment before becoming re-centred. "We have a reactor powered by a radioactive substance called Naquadah. Small amounts can create vast amounts of energy. In the right syntax, it is also highly explosive. It's what powers our ship, whereas our fighter craft have traditional fuel-burning engines."

DAEDALUS AWAY TEAM 2 // JEDI TEMPLE // CORUSCANT

As Sheppard and his team breached, he went first followed by Anderson, Smith and Dawes. He looked to the left as the UNSC crew went to the right, before looking down the corridor. "The Archives should be just a short way down there, then down ten levels. The Wilkes will meet us down there." He to the lead, life signs detector raised so he could look through the scope of his P90 and at it at the same time. He paused as they reached the end of the corridor, lowering his P90 as Anderson took the front as he grasped the detector with two hands. The display turning to show a level by level display as several life signs appeared. He beckoned over the commanding officer from the UNSC squad.

"It looks like we've got one contact in the Archives. Probably some kind of lone guard. Should be a simple enough job to knock them out for a bit." He held out his hand to Anderson, who pulled a Wraith stunner out of a holster and handed it to him. He offered it to the squad leader. "This is a non-lethal weapon. We obtained it from a hostile species back home, it's capable of putting down most species in a single blow. Just thought you might want it in case you get the shot first."

DAEDALUS AWAY TEAM 1 // IMMACULATE AEGIS // FLEET SPACE

McKay was completely distracted by whatever had been said by the inclusion of the A.I. Once it was plugged in he went straight over to the podium, pulling out his life-signs detector and initiating multiple scans on the system. He didn't know if the A.I would 'feel' the scans but he wasn't interested in that. "Wow, this is incredible. We've toyed with A.I and had issues with it but this is a fully functional system that seems to simulate human speech patterns and reactions." He looked down at the device in his hand. "It's almost as if it has synapses firing, it seems to think just like a human mind without any of the limitations." He turned to the UNSC group. "How on Earth did you manage to program something like this, it'd be incredibly complicated."

He looked down at his tablet as if realising what he was here for. Sending it to the Immaculate Aegis system he turned to 'Isaac'. "So I've identified multiple lines of code that may indicate inefficiencies in the subspace borer and the navigational systems onboard the ship. Should you be able to read these lines of code as quickly as indicated you should be able to determine much faster than me if these are errors that can be fixed."

Jerius doesn't immediately respond, looking down the path and thinking. "It's a solid plan...but I'm not sure we're going to have adequate means to bait it out. Regardless, those of us who proceed should be enough to at the very least make it angry. This is, however, your hunt, Eri'Moram, so therefore I will follow your lead."

---

Nodding, Jason steps back, turning to see how preparations are going. "I can respect that. I trust Shipmaster Falul'Taham briefed you on our goal on Alderaan?"