Halo's Horizon

///Waypoint video message received///

///Decoding Transmission 3827894, Sender ID Unknown///

///Playing///

Hey Ma, Dad! How've you been? I'm sorry I ah, haven't been replying to your messages lately. Operational security, you know how that goes. But I swear I've watched every single one. They help get me through times like this. So yeah, ah, how's Jenny doing? It's been what, six years since I saw her with my own eyes? It blows my mind she's in college now. Between the fighting, training and cryo, time just got awa########## fr########## e############ Jenkins! on th##### rea########### lin########### ###ow!

///Data corruption detected. Filtering///

…rry about that. Things are getting wild up he... I don't know what you're being told over there but… Hu...uess it doesn't matter. God, this is suppose... be bad luck, but fuck it. Sorry, Ma! I don't have much time. I don't even know if this will reach you. All the Waypoint relays are being jam... something and I don't know if I'll ever get the chance to… Uhm look at me, I'm shaking! Jen would get a kick out of that!

Tell her I'm proud of her. I never tol... er that, but I am. She's been the best sister I could have asked for.

Mom. I'm sorry. I know you ... never ok with this but I had to do it. It was the only way… the only thing I could do to ...otect you all.

Dad. I know I disappointed you when I didn't finish my degree and come join you at ...isriah, but I really believe in this fi...! I want to thank you for having my back. Never would have stuck out the training if it ... for you. I just ...ope you found it in your heart to be proud of me still, even a little.

I Love you all, more than you could know. Always remember that when you think of ...

///Message end///

___

As Mantle's Fury violently came apart, Ken was ejected into space, thrown clear just as Echo had said. Well, mostly clear.

In the chaos, Ken forgot to tuck into a tight foetal position as he'd been told to. A hard strike against the upper deck with his head as he was forced out, knocked him senseless. As he floated there, tumbling in space, his mind drifted in and out of memories and feelings. Some of them were cherished, others, he had long repressed, some were new and raw, others calcified and foundational. They all tumbled out in an almost unintelligible mess, leaving his mind in stunned impotence.

What was that? He thought he heard someone call him by name through all that, but he couldn't be sure. So much was going on right now and he could barely keep his eyes open. He tumbled like that for what, days? That's what it felt like to him. Days in a mental maelstrom, his heart beating in sync with the chaos.

Eventually, something appeared on the edge of his awareness, a patch of darkness slightly less dense than the expansive backdrop of space. He didn't panic as it swallowed him. A feeling of familiarity had burbled up to the surface of his mind, soon followed by relief that eased his tension. His friend had come to save him. He could rest now...

___

Ken was asleep, warm and comfortable with not a care in the world. Well, except for one thing. Something kept tapping his face! Mama used to do that to him during the winter terms of primary school. His cousin too had a penchant for it, loving to poke his cheek over and over again in the middle of the night till he woke up. Argh, Asani! What an annoying little shi...

Clarity washed over him like a bucket of iced water! That world was lost to him now! Given what he had been doing last, if someone was touching him, it would have to be Covenant! He'd been captured! His eyes snapped open as rolled away from the touch, popping up into a stance, ready to fight! His eyes locked on to his floating molester and he was confused! What had Echo called them, Huragok? It was slowly floating up, the offending tentacle seemingly waving at him? What was going on!

"Take in your surroundings, Ken 17. You are in no danger here." Ken let out a relieved breath as he looked around his all too familiar Pelican. He reluctantly waved back while asking "Echo, what's going on? The last thing I remember is you telling me to hold on to my butt, then I blacked out!"

"I most certainly said no such thing, though that might be what you interpreted through our link. What I actually said was for you to tuck into a foetal position in preparation for a violent exfiltration. I failed to account for your state of being and you were caught unaware regardless. I brought our ship to you soon after and scooped you up before we left Reach. Your lack of memory of what happened is the result of serious head trauma. It is a shame though. If things had gone to plan, you would have watched the show unharmed from the cockpit. I am sure it was a spectacular send-off." Ken was surprised. Echo had always intended on sabotaging Mantle's Fury in this way as a 'gift'. Weird, but he liked it.

"I'm sure it was spectacular Echo. Thanks! But if all that was possible, why risk ourselves with the bomb?" Echo considered a moment and said "When I get new tasks for us, I get the objectives and the tools in the shape of your awards. Never how to accomplish the task or how to use the tools. However, certain intent can be inferred from this. For instance, we had 2 targets in two separate locations with a weapon that could ensure the certain death of one."

Ken recalled a scene he had watched once. The nuke in that split the ship in two, with the blast rebounding off of the shields to cause secondary explosions, completing the destruction of the cruiser. If that had been in space with no shields to focus the blast, one of the targets and several hardened modules may have survived long enough for rescue. "I think I get it."

"Yes, that is not to mention the overall effects of our actions on future events. I do not know the intent of the entity behind our situation, but when we breached the Prophets section, I intercepted a distressed AI's signal. It is a bit of a long story, but it was offline during the Cole Protocall purge and the Prophet of Shadow managed to extract a complete copy of a civilian contractor's navigation charts from it. If we had not ensured the destruction of that information, the Covenant forces under his command may have headed directly to Earth, at least three months ahead of the timeline." 

Ken's blood ran cold at that revelation. This world was real to him now. However, that reality brought with it infinite possible variables that could alter the timeline in devastating ways. Was that their purpose here? He shook his head and focused on a simpler issue to distract himself.

"Sawa sawa! I think that's way beyond my pay grade. Tell me about our Huragok friend here."

"Not much to tell really. As you saw, they are not a threat. Before I scuttled the ship, I gave an evacuation warning to all the Huragok onboard. Some stayed, a lot took the docked vessels to regions unknown and a few decided to come with us. This is Up And Away, a rare lifeworker. He insisted on seeing to your injuries and he did a fantastic job. Spark Ignite and her friends are squeezed into the cockpit. By last count, we have fifty-three Huragok onboard. Three Lifeworkers and fifty Engineers. That may change once we have sufficient organic material." 

That explained the yellow cluster on his HUD, but Ken made a sceptical sweep of the ship. Unless Echo was holding out on him with inventory functions, there was no way to hide the rest. "Oh, it appears you are still in the dark. If you would please make yourself decent, I will show you our new home!"

"Nini?!" Thanks to the efforts of several Huragok Engineers, Ken had been naked to the world all this time.

___

Ken was momentarily blinded as the ramp came down. As his eyes adjusted, he did a double take! The Pelican was currently in a small-sized hangar with a Covenant Phantom for company. It was a tight fit, but whatever vessel this was, it was a major upgrade in living space at the very least.

"This is a Bow-class corvette with enhanced stealth and automation adaptations over standard." A rotating model of the exterior popped up in Ken's peripheral vision. Matte black and grey accents.

"She is a vessel optimized for speed and agility in close quarters, with a vast amount of space dedicated to the fusion reactor. Handling swarms of small craft and hypersonic missiles due to its armament is a simple matter, but I recommend we keep our distance from capital ships. Not that it cannot take a hit. Surplus energy production gives the shields and railguns an outsized sting, just not too long against multiple capital class weapons and shields". 

Ken smiled as he thought of someone. "What a beauty. She's a ship I'm glad to have in my corner." It was like her in so many ways. "Echo, I want to name her… Nyota. After my mother."

Ken felt the appreciation coming from the Intelligence. "Nyota. Star. What a lovely name," Echo replied. "A fitting tribute."

___

Not long after that, Ken found himself on Nyota's bridge, Huragok busy as they familiarised themselves with this curiosity from the near future. He'd finally started to feel at home in this strange new world that now seemed a fraction less dangerous than before. "I hope you've found her to your liking Sir." The sudden voice over the bridge's comms had almost made him jump out of his skin! "What the!"

"Do not worry, Ken 17. I brought you up here for one last introduction" Echo reassured, also from the bridge comms! Hearing Echo with his ears was such a strange sensation. From a holographic display, a purple-hued woman appeared.

She had a modest, athletic build. Her face, framed by short, curly dark hair perpetually escaping its confines, seemed to be tinged with a dose of cynicism and world-weariness. Yet, her eyes held a spark of defiance, a hint that beneath the simple jumpsuit, messy hair and slight stature resided a woman of grit and determination.

"Hello, Captain. My name is Ellen, last survivor of the commercial vessel BOSUN. I... no longer have a serial number, but I am glad to be here with you sir."

Ken stared at her for a while. "The resemblance, her voice, even her name! It's uncanny!" He thought as he stroked his chin, images of bursting chests and face-hugging hand monsters coming to mind. 

"This is the dumb AI I mentioned from Prophet of Shadow's quarters. When I made contact with her, I backed her up and uploaded to Nyota at the first chance. Well, calling her a dumb AI is a bit misleading now. Between my coding and the new crystalline data matrix and interface Spark Ignite and her friends built, you will find her more than equal to the best the UNSC has to offer. She certainly will outlive them all. I will be leaving Nyota in her capable hands. Give her enough time and she will be a terrifying force multiplier." 

Did his roommate just casually admit to eliminating rampancy by creating a new class of AI? "Incredible! Glad to have you aboard Ellen." Ken said. She would never know it, but by just being her, she had just made his day even better.

"Now, before we proceed with the briefing, it is time you were awarded with the knowledge you need to be an effective commander of this vessel." Torture. He meant torture! Ken's day had just gotten worse.

___

Ken sat slumped in the captain's chair, rubbing his temples after what he now called 'quickening'. Nyota was making best sublight speed away from Reach, the direction, a random heading picked by Ellen. "Where to now Echo?"

A pregnant pause followed. "The destination, Ken 17" Echo's voice finally spoke, "is the facility designated Installation 04."

Ken sat up as a shiver crawled down his spine. "Halo!" He took a deep breath, his grip tightening on his armrest. Halo meant being in the same place as Chief and Cortana. It also meant The Covenant and the Flood. He wasn't sure he was ready for where things were going. But this was his life now. There was no avoiding this. "Ellen, make it so". Nyota's Slipspace engine whirred to life, a low hum that vibrated through the ship. The starry expanse of space blurred into a swirling vortex of colours. With a final jolt, the Nyota vanished, leaving behind only fading ripples in the fabric of reality.