The Exiles:A New Power

The Sword of Roland, the Blade of Mercy

Day 07

Aboard UNSC Sekhmet

"All crew, we are at yellow alert. Prepare for Slipspace exit and stand-by. Weapons, Stealth systems control and maintenance are to be on stand-by. Repeat, we are at yellow alert, prepare for Slipspace exit window and stand-by," Durandal's voice echoed over the PA as the vessel's crew initiated the procedures to safely exit Slipspace. On the bridge, the Spartans, the AI, captain and even the Quarian Representative were present.

"Exit in ten, nine, eight," Durandal started counting down, then displayed the countdown on a screen as she told them, "I'm already getting pings. Networked. We're set to enter the edge of the system, but our sensors and com are already sort of out. Can't ping back to command..." She paused as her avatar glowed with calculations. She spoke, "Three, two... One... Exit," just as the ship transferred back to realspace.

Silence settled on the bridge, only interrupted by the light wail of the yellow alert alarms. Their sensors also blared to life, detecting vast amounts of ships patrolling the area, ranging from dozen-meter-long fighters to kilometer-long dreadnoughts, all of which looked like metal shrimp. The vessels didn't seem to track them, however, rather busy on their standard patrol patterns.

Durandal reported, "Geth BattleNet encryption... Broken," having left a moment of pause for suspense's sake. Let nobody say that AIs weren't built with some degree of Human vanity in mind, for that pause alone was just dramatic effect. She continued, "Transmissions are in a somewhat familiar variation of Binary. Intercepted communiques are just patrol patterns and minute reports of various changes... They haven't detected our entry."

"Look at the size of that megastructure..." Murmured the captain of the Sekhmet. Distant as they were, they could still see the Dyson Bubble, partially ruined by the war from almost 200 years ago. And there, near the sun, Tikkun, was Rannoch itself. A rocky, arid world due to its proximity to the solar body around which it and its three other galactic room-mates were formed, the world blared with heat signatures ranging in the hundreds.

Durandal told them, "Detecting multiple space stations orbiting Rannoch. Orbital control systems for the Geth, rather obviously..." in a murmur. She brought up Heat Sig maps that she then overlaid with fleet patrol patterns as taken from the transmissions. She told them, "This is the best corridor we have for entry. I'd normally suggest pinging them, but it's better not to risk them shooting at us before we've got contact with their CPU."

"We'll take you aboard one of the stations on a Pelican," Jackie offered, leaning forward and watching as they began down the very path that Durandal had highlighted toward the closest Geth station. The AI smiled at that and nodded in thanks as they gently flew forward. An ETA with stealth on and barely any adjustment to their course would get them there undetected in four hours, something which Durandal made sure to let the Lieutenant and her Spartans know.

The Captain looked to the ambassador of the Quarians, who seemed to tense up as they flew in. Above them, a Dreadnought-sized enemy ship flew, its engine wash causing a slight shake in the ship's hull. The Captain breathed in, then out and asked, "Durandal, give me a possible docking spot or... Something where we can drop you and the Spartans off..."

"Honestly, Captain?" The AI raised a brow, "Our best bet would be a Space Walk..."

Jackie tensed at that, murmuring, "Joy..." as she had overheard it through the com. The Captain had to take a moment to process that, then sighed deeply and gave a nod. Durandal had probably considered both a docking option and the use of a Pelican to insert them into one of the multitude of command node stations. Both would probably be spotted the moment of the operation's start.