any speech that is bordered by [ and ] indicates a line which is spoken in a language with no known way of spelling (like Sangheili/ the Elite language)

“…Uh…” I said, Lasky chuckled and patted me on the back.

“Vuur Koning here has heard a lot of things about you” he said.

“Are you a Spartan?” Master Chief asked.

“No” I said “I’m a Toa, or rather, Neue-Toa”

“And what exactly is a ‘Neue-Toa’” Crimson asked, making quotation marks.

“The Neue-Toa are a group of biomechanical super-warriors hailing from the planet Terra” I explained “there are currently 15 of us divided into three teams. Two teams of six and one team of three, and each of us can control an element of nature, for instance I can control fire” I got out my sword and engulfed it in flames to demonstrate.

“You’re still using blades?” Crimson asked.

“They act as conduits for our power” I said, putting my sword away “but we aren’t limited to melee weapons, one of my teammates has dual-Miniguns bolted to his shoulders, although on the whole Terra isn’t as advanced in projectile based weaponry, energy weapons are a totally different matter altogether” I got out my Flintlock style arcane pistol.

“Great” Crimson muttered “were looking after people straight out of the dark ages”

“I heard that” I said “and for your information, I’m actually from early 21st century Earth”

“If you’re from over 550 years ago then how comes your taking all of this” Lasky gestured to the hangar “in your stride”

“If I gave you the honest answer you would probably suffer an existential crisis for the rest of your life” I said “let’s just say we’re from separate universes and leave it at that. Plus, if I must be honest, it’s not all that different from a 21st century military location, give all of the crew period uniforms and you may as well be on a submarine or an aircraft carrier. That and the fact that I was pulled through a portal and dumped on an alien world roughly 4 years ago, I’ve learnt to take the unexpected in my stride”

“Bloody hell” Crimson said.

“Anyway” Lasky said “Crimson, before you leave, your new armour is ready”

“Finally” he said.

Crimson stepped out of the armoury, he now wore red and yellow Spartan IV War Master Armour with a silvery-white visor.

“What do you think?” he asked me.

“Sméagol likes” I said.

“I thought that seeing as I’m being reassigned to your ship, I might as well start with a new set of armour” he said.

“I could have had a set made out of Protosteel for you” I said “not even a disintegration cannon would get through a set made of that stuff”

“I’ll believe it when I see it” he said, walking towards me “I’ve seen a lot of good men reduced to less than ash with one of those guns, shall we?” he gestured towards the door, where Master Chief was waiting.

“Very well” I said, I then went to lead them out of the armoury but stopped when I noticed multiple gun racks with forerunner weapons, I walked over and picked up a Suppresser “I wonder”

“What is it?” Crimson asked.

“The Rahkshi and Pitches Nightmares are made of shadow, correct?” I asked, referring to what I’d explained on the way over, they both nodded “and these fire hardlight, yes?” both Spartans nodded again.

“What are you…oh” realisation dawned on Crimson and he lifted up his suppresser, I could practically heard the smirk in his voice “and the other Spartans poked fun at me for going with Forerunner tech” I took all of the Forerunner weapons and stuck them in my hammer space.

“What are you doing?” Chief asked.

“I’m borrowing them long term” I said as I put a disintegration cannon into the hammer space, once I had all of the forerunner tech I left the armoury, grabbing a railgun and about 30 ammo-clips on the way out “This one’s for my brother, he’s always had a thing for railguns” Crimson snorted.

“I guessing he was the one that asked for the one on the front of your ship to be fitted” Crimson said.

“Well, someone certainly knows their gun types” I said “and yes, he even designed it. 30 feet of slug launching terror”

We soon reached the hangar, where my team of Toa were waiting along with Charahk and the Arbiter.

“Chief, Crimson, this is my team” I said “Minion, Scar, Boris, Autumn and Vinyl”

“Bloody hell” Minion said “two Spartans!?”

“I don’t see how two human soldiers can make much of a difference” Scar said.

“We aren’t just soldiers” Crimson said, walking forward “you obviously don’t know who you are fucking dealing with, we’re Spartans, kind of a big deal. The grass grows, the sun shines, and bitch, I kill covvies” Scar got in Crimson’s face and growled.

“You better watch your mouth, boy” Scar said “I was taking down Manticores before you were even born, I could take you down no problem” I walked over and pushed them away from each other.

“Both of you, stand down!” I ordered “I will not have in-fighting. Crimson, Spartan or not, you keep your mouth shut unless I ask for your input. And Scar, keep that temper under control. Am I clear?”

“I may be working with you” Crimson said “but I don’t take orders from you” I responded by teleporting behind him, getting out my hunting knife and grabbing him in a headlock with the knife to his throat.

“I am a High-lord General 1st class” I hissed “I outrank Master Chief himself, if I tell you to do something, you fucking do it!”

“Yes, sir” he said begrudgingly, I released him from the headlock and shoved him toward Master Chief.

“I won’t have anyone else undermining my authority” I said.

*POV 3rd Person*

The Terran kids were in the hangar of the Infinity.

“This place is amazing!” Ruby exclaimed as they walked past a Pelican drop ship. She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw a Mantis and a massive grin spread across her face.

“Ruby” Garnet said “no, you can’t have…whatever that thing is”

“Hrunting Mark IX Armour Defence System” Sweetie Bell said, the other Terrans looked at her and gave her odd looks “what? I read into the Halo expanded universe a lot, you probably know it as a Mantis”

“Which game is it from?” Garnet asked “I’ve only played up to Halo Reach”

“Halo 4” Sweetie Bell said, Scootaloo facehooved.

“I’m surrounded by nerds” she muttered, at that moment Ruby saw the Neue-Toa, she grinned before flying over and enveloping Vuur Koning in a hug.

*POV 1st Person*

“Hey, Ruby” I said, a little surprised by the hug.

“Daddy” she said, I could tell what was coming next by the fact that she said ‘Daddy’ rather than Dad or Father “You know how you’re the coolest dad in the Universe who would do anything for me?” Crimson burst out laughing and I sighed.

“What do you want this time?” I asked.

“Can I have a Mantis?” she asked, Crimson promptly stopped laughing and looked at her in what seemed to be shock “Pretty please?” I sighed.

“I’ll talk to Captain Lasky” I said.

“Yes!” she exclaimed, doing a fist pump.

“But I won’t guarantee” I said “if he says no then don’t complain”

“Thank you!” she said, before flying off.

“Well…damn” Crimson said “what was that about ‘daddy’?”

“Stow it!” I snapped, before taking a deep breath “she’s adopted, along with her brother” he went to say something but stopped.

“You let her have her way far too often” Autumn said.

“After the life they used to have” I said “I think it can be forgiven if I spoil them a little”

“If I may be so bold” The Arbiter said “what kind of life did they have?”

“We busted a slavers camp” I explained “they were in a cage along with their dying mother, her dying wish was for myself and Autumn to look after them” the Arbiter tittered and shook his head.

“Even to this day” he said “the cruelty of some people astounds me, at least the covenant are swift in slaying their foes” Charahk nodded.

“We Rahkshi have a saying” he said “faatura i ou hoariri, patua ratou kakama tonu”

“Gesundheit” Crimson said, Charahk frowned.

“It means respect your foes, slay them swiftly” the Rahkshi said.

*POV 3rd person*

A Storm Sangheili walked onto the bridge, where another Sangheili in sparse blue armour with a hologram on the helmet was stood next to an older human female.

“[Fleet master ‘Mdama]” the Sangheili said in his native language “[The] Jörmungandr [has made active contact with the] Infinity” Jul ‘Mdama; The Didact’s hand, chuckled.

“[Excellent]” ‘Mdama said “[we can finally strike at the Humans]”

“You know” Halsey said “some might say that you would be feeding your own pride, going after a ship that large” ‘Mdama growled.

“[Watch your tongue, woman]” he said “[or you may find it missing]”

“I was merely voicing my opinion” Halsey said “Unknown or not, that vessel could stand up to your own”

“[I am no fool]” ‘Mdama said, walking over to a hologram of the Jörmungandr to scale with his own CAS-class assault carrier; the Song of Retribution. The Assault carrier was longer by about 2’000 meters, but the Jörmungandr made up for it with more armaments. ‘Mdama turned to a Sangheili shipmaster “[wait for the human ships to separate, then take two armoured cruisers and attack the] Jörmungandr”

Teridax withdrew his gaze from the Covenant ship.

“Interesting” he said.

“What is?” Galvetron asked.

“A third party has entered the picture” Teridax said.

“Who are they?” Vezon asked excitedly, Teridax had found him skulking around on some desert planet, he may be insane beyond reasoning, but he knew more about the different universes than any other being as a result of being fused with a mask of dimensional gates “The Daleks? The Cybermen? It's Hades isn't it…no wait, don’t tell me, it’s Cobra”

“The Covenant” Teridax said.

“Ah” Vezon said “That could be a problem”

“Why?” Teridax asked.

“Too genocidal” Vezon said “and they don’t play second fiddle to anyone. Speaking of fiddles, I’ve been learning to play the fiddle” he then pulled a fiddle and bow out of his hammer space and started tuning it. Trixie sighed before casting a sound proofing bubble around Vezon

“What should we do?” Drago asked.

“Let the Covenant be for now” Teridax said “if they prove to be too much of a threat to our plan, then we will eliminate them”

“We could work with the crew of the Jörmungandr to…” Pitch went to say.

“Finish that sentence and I’ll destroy you” Teridax said. Next Chapter: Chapter 10 Estimated time remaining: 5 Hours, 22 Minutes