[h1]The [i]Immaculate Aegis[/i][/h1]

[hr]

Shipmaster Falul was on the bridge of his vessel, the [i]Immaculate Aegis[/i]. He was sat in his chair, hovering in front of a view screen showing an image of the outside of their ship. Though, there was little to see beyond the planet they were orbiting. It was a frontier colony called Khael'mothka. Falul had his crew had fought here before, when it had been embroiled in a civil war, like so many other Sangheili colonies in the aftermath of the Battle of the Ark. The fighting was all but over by this point, however, with only the embers of dissent remaining to be stomped out. Their reason for being here was simply as a part of their normal patrol of Sangheili space, searching for pirates or any of the other meager threats that still needed to be snuffed out in their territory. The only event that was even somewhat out of their routine was that they had taken aboard an artisan-armorer for transport to Sanghelios, though that was hardly the sort of excitement that he knew some of his crew longed for. 

There were those among the Shipmaster's crew who resented the fact that their vessel was no longer taking an active role in the destruction of Jul 'Mdama's Covenant. The [i]Immaculate Aegis[/i] had not so much as entered combat in months, but Falul understood his role. As much of a threat as Covenant still was, they could not simply leave their territory undefended. There needed to be ships at the ready to defend any world under the protection of the Swords of Sanghelios. It was a role just as important as any assault ship, and for this task, Falul fully intended for his vessel to live up to its name. 

Having already completed their scan of the system and found nothing out of the ordinary, it was time to make their return to Sanghelios. Falul gave the order and the slipspace jump was quickly calculated. A brilliant blue glow filled the view screen as the slipspace portal opened just ahead of the ship's bow, their engines pushing them through into the portal itself. A slipspace jump between stars was routine, and unremarkable. It was a journey this vessel had made countless times during its service, yet, this time, they were not destined to arrive at their intended destination.

[hr]

Entry into the portal had gone just as smoothly as usual, but as soon as the portal had collapsed in real space behind them, the whole of the ship seemed to shake violently, and they dropped out of slipspace mere seconds after entering. Even the Shipmaster's chair had shaken, though he had managed to right it before he could be thrown from it. 

Most of those on the bridge were of at least major rank, all wearing the crimson armor of the Swords of Sanghelios. Most were Sangheili, though two consoles were operated by Unggoy, and one by a Kig-Yar. All of the Kig-Yar aboard the vessel were mercenaries, which did not sit well with all of the crew in terms of their loyalty, but Falul knew their leader and found them useful enough to continue to continue to employ them since just after the fall of the Covenant. 

"Report!" Falul shouted, to which his officers needed only a few moments to read the errors flashing on their consoles. Although, interpreting the actual meaning behind them was an entirely different matter. 

The Sangheili at the console just to Falul's right swapped rapidly between the screens in front of him, trying to make sense of the readings being presented to him. "We dropped from slipspace, shipmaster. I am not sure why, these readings are...confusing. The spirit is still piecing it together." 

"Then give me the information. [i]What[/i] is unusual?" Falul instructed. The [i]Immaculate Aegis[/i] operated with a far more advanced AI than it ever would have possessed under the restrictions of the Covenant; however, it was still not as complex as the artificial lifeforms regularly used by Humanity, and it did not serve as a replacement for the reasoning and judgment of the crew. 

The officer took just another moment to collect his thoughts and gather the information in front of him. "The computer cannot identify where we are. We were in slipspace for only a moment, but we are no longer above Khael'mothka...or in the same system, either. And there are no readings on our sensors to explain why we dropped from slipspace. The borer shows no errors."

"That would be a rare slipspace anomaly, but not impossible. How far outside the system are we?" Falul asked. 

The officer seemed to be having a difficult time believing the readings in front of him, but nevertheless relayed them to his shipmaster. "We...are not outside the system either. The spirit confirms that we are in a galaxy, but the star positions do not match any possible configuration in our galaxy."

Falul did not have time to express his own doubts before a Sangheili at another console interjected. "Shipmaster, our sensors are detecting multiple vessels in range. All unknown patterns. Five are smaller ships, but one is larger than our carrier, and it appears organic."

The Shipmaster leaned forward in his chair, his concern showing through his sharp gaze. "The parasite?"

There was hesitation from the officer as he double-checked his console. "No, it does not resemble the signature of the parasite. It does not resemble any lifeform we have seen." 

Falul gave a low growl as he turned his chair back around towards the view screen. "Show me." He ordered. After a moment, the screen switched to show the organic vessel, as well as the other, smaller ship in proximity to it. Just as the signatures their sensors were detecting were entirely foreign, it also did not have the appearance of any Flood ship he had seen. This was not an artificial vessel overgrown by a parasite, but rather an entirely organic being. "Have we sustained damage? Are our shields active?" 

"Our shields are active, shipmaster. The spirit is not reporting damage." One of his officers answered. 

"Then target the organic ship, but do not power weapons. If we are fired upon by [i]any[/i] ship, then return fire immediately. Do not wait for my order. Scan for any signals, and broadcast on all communication frequencies." Falul instructed. With a few presses of holographic buttons on the arm of his chair, Falul readied his message to be broadcast. "This is the carrier, [i]Immaculate Aegis[/i]. We have entered this space unintentionally, without hostile intent, but we will destroy any ship that fires upon us. All vessels, identify yourselves." 

It was a demanding message, but as Sangheili diplomacy went, it was a tempered response to an uncertain situation. While they could not identify any of the vessels, that did not mean that none of them were Human in origin. Their Arbiter had given his word of allegiance to Humanity, and Falul was not intent on breaking it.