[IC] Eternal Galaxy: Shards of Starlight - Part I

[S121]

Helios System
Delta Division Flagship | Excalibur
Simulation Terminals

John and Cortana didn't know what was going on, but they were soon going to find out. Neither person had any qualms over eavesdropping and collecting intel on the possible situation. Even John was known to bend the rules every once in a while, and if his hunch was correct, then he would need all the intel he could get, especially if they were going to be attacked. Both the Spartan-II, and the now human AI followed Kiara, ready to find out more about Alpha Division.

[Kristia]

Helios System
Delta Division Flagship | Excalibur
Simulation Terminals

As they were following the soldiers, Mara got close to Kiara "If that division is supposed to be on other sectors, what could be so important that they have to get here?" she asked

[Cucoo5]

Helios System
Delta Division Flagship | Excalibur
Training Area -> Hallways -> Council Chamber

"Well, considering we were in a skirmish with the Noble Guardians earlier and that we only were able to fend them off while we retreated..." Kiara started speaking but then Aion finished her thought as she hesistated.
"They're here to take over since they think we can't handle things here." The group rounded a corner of a hallway, passing a maintenance crew working on repairing a panel of electronics.
"...That's the way it would seem...They'll probably have an evaluation team come aboard Excalibur."
"An evaluation team?"
"Yes, they'll probably look up any new recruits and start questioning-"
"...that would be us then..." Aion's brow furrowed. "I think I know where this would go...Ian-"
"Way ahead of you, Captain. We'll go and prep the fighters." Ian said as he and the others split off from the group heading for Hangar Bay M.
"Thanks. Now, Kiara, where are we headed again?"
"The council chamber. It's the main place where the Commander addresses the entire crew. There's a way to access the camera's in the bridge from there because it's linked to it. We can use that to eavesdrop on what's really going on." Kiara said as they turned another corner and entered an area with stairs and lifts leading to different areas around a large spherical chamber with platforms around it and a central holographic projector. Each platform had an individual screen. "Here." Kiara led the group to one platform and took a seat in front of the main terminal.
There were seats nearby, Aion stood standing and watched over Kiara's shoulder as she worked at the terminal. Joe and Terrisa sat on the wall of the platform as they waited.
"Almost in...There!"
The screen widened and displayed the bridge where Commander Sullivan was standing and speaking to a man in a video conference.

"So what brings you to Helios, Commander Regalis?"
"I'm on a personal errand of the Council, Commander Sullivan."
"I see...So what is this errand, If I may ask?" Sullivan could be seen starting to pace as the man in the screen, Commander Regalis, folded his arms.
"Well, if you really must know, I have been given orders to mobilize an offensive against the NGO."
"I see, well I will then begin to prepare Delta Division for-"
"Delta Division is to stand down in this."
"Pardon?"
"You've been benched...Sullivan. You're group of mercenaries have proven ineffective against the NGO. The council has decided to put your Division on standby."
"Standby? What madness-"
"Council's orders, Sullivan, I would not disobey them if I were you."
"...I have no intention of doing so."
"Of course you don't. But just to be sure, I have been order to send an evaluation group to monitor you. Merely Protocol of course."
"...of course."
"They should arrive within the next couple of minutes. Make sure you're mercenaries don't do anything rash, It wouldn't look too good on your record if something were to happen to my men, now would it?"
"...of course." Commander Sullivan echoed those words and faintly it was obvious he was distracted now as If something was on his mind.
"Right, now if you would excuse me, I also have orders to investigate an incident in Celestora System. We have leads that the NGO has some form of operation started there."
"What...?"
"Farewell, Commander Sullivan."

Kiara blinked a few times as Regalis ended the conference. "This is bad..."
"I'll say. So what, Delta Division has been suspended or something?" Joe sighed. "Great...just great..."

***


Cicero had taken out a holographic projector that displayed the same conference that Aion and the others had watched and showed it to Mima. "As you can see there was an alert that Alpha Division is here. And as you can see, this ship is about to be boarded and possibly searched." He looked around Mima and saw Nero stumbling along. "Ah, there you are Nero. We have work to do..."

[S121]

Helios System
Delta Division Flagship | Excalibur
Council Chamber

Cortana could see that based on both Commander Sullivan and Commander Regalis's faces and voices, there was a sort of animosity between their divisions. Commander Regalis seemed to look down on Delta, while Commander Sullivan seemed to be thinking, not about the conversation, but about something else, something deeper. The question was, what? Cortana could calculate a vast multitude of possible thoughts he could be thinking, but she couldn't read his mind.



Meanwhile, John watched the screen while standing behind Cortana, listening intently. Just like Cortana, John concluded that both Divisions seemed to have animosity between them. It reminded John about his timeline, where the ODSTs and Spartan-IIs always seemed to have that same animosity towards each other. Of course, it was a one-sided hate relationship, where the ODSTs thought Spartans were freaks and science experiments, but it was still very similar to the situation at hand. The words Commander Regalis used and the way he used them revealed that he personally held disdain towards Delta Division. He was a biased leader, a hubristic one, what John perceived to be a weak leader. John personally disliked leaders that took those same traits. Just like Captain Del Rio on Requiem, Commander Regalis simply dismissed Delta Division's strengths. Of course, Commander Regalis was more tactful about it than Del Rio, but John could still see that bias as clear as day. It seemed that Commander Regalis took a sort of pleasure in temporarily shutting down Delta Division, and that he was gloating, based on how he revealed a mission Alpha Division was about to embark on and cut off the conversation at the end, before even giving Commander Sullivan with a response.

John remained silent, simply looking at the lone Commander Sullivan through the computer screen. Cortana on the other hand had questions to ask, important ones.

"What's going to happen when they inspect Delta Division? What will they do if they find out about us?", Cortana asked Kiara and Aion.

[Koishi]

Helios System
Delta Division Flagship | Excalibur

---

"Alpha Division? Who in the blazing hells are they supposed to be and why are they searching us?" Mima asked, leaning on her staff.

[Kristia]

Helios System
Delta Division Flagship | Excalibur
Council Chamber

Mara put her hand on her forehead to focus on her thinking "Usually the high ranked beings make choices only by seeing numbers, don´t expect them to understand what happens on the front line"

The white haired woman was having a migraine just by thinking about it "Your commander has something on his mind, and the team coming might be of nuisance"

[Cucoo5]

Helios System
Delta Division Flagship | Excalibur
Council Chamber

"That's just it." Aion said. "That team that's coming is going to lock down Delta Division really tight. If we want to do what we need to do..."
"Need to do?" Joe asked. "Arrow, what's on yer mind?"
"Revere. Ever since that last encounter and ever since Navarre gave me Mercurius..." he unlatched the scabbard and blade from his belt and held the sheathed sword out, inspecting it. "I have a feeling we need to look for some information. Information on the legends."
"So we need to dig up information because...?" Joe trailed off waiting for Aion to finish the thought.
"Because everything that's happening...is most likely...although inexplicably... linked to those legends. We need to figure out why. Why do they keep turning up? Why is it that I survived the Mirror Sea, why that woman said she came from the Passages of Fate, why I now possess this sword." He grasped the blade proper by it's bound hilt and held it up. "Things are lining up too nicely with the legends, wouldn't you agree?"
"...yeah, I'm with ya matey, but I don't think Alpha Division is going to be kind enough to let us go snooping once they take over."
Aion paused and then said quietly, "Then we need to get out now while we still can. We need to slip out under the radar."
"We just need to head back to Duon. We get the rest of the Hunters and leave before that team arrives and we can lay low back at the Hunters' Guild."

"And how do you suppose you're going to slip past the Alpha Division Fleet?"

Aion, Joe, and Kiara jumped when they heard the all too familiar voice of the lieutenant.
"Lieutenant Navarre!" they yelped in unison almost.
"Don't be too surprised, we noticed someone was tapping into the camera grid from here." He said evenly. "Now, as for my prior statement, It would be foolhardy to attempt to sneak past Alpha Division by yourselves."
"...yeah...that..."
"Besides, Commander Sullivan has some special orders for you lot for your...misconduct just now. You have all been reassigned to an Athena Class Battle Cruiser."
"...Athena? Well...crud..." Joe sighed.
"Specifically, the one which I have been recently appointed to command and will not be under surveillance by Alpha Division. It will be making a brief mission to deliver supplies to Beta Division in Celestora System. These were Commander Sullivan's orders."
Aion's eyes widened as he realized what Navarre was saying. "During the conference...is that when-?"
Navarre smiled and interrupted Aion's train of thought. "I suggest you prepare your squadron, Captain Aion." He then turned and began to leave, all the while he gave the group one last warning. "The evaluation team will be here within thirty minutes."

[Kristia]

Helios System
Delta Division Flagship | Excalibur
Council Chamber

Mara heard about the legends and everything they spoke and had a thought about her recent strange events

"If this helps you about legends appearing, in my recent planet searching, I found two strange people, the first one was this man called Eleos who was searching the city like he knew something was about to happen. she spoke what happened on the edge of the city ruins event

Closing her eyes the golden eyed continued "The second one was a girl not even on her puberty, she just appeared on the forest and when I took her to a freightsip, strange ocurrences appeared and she managed to vanish from a place and appeared on another one in the matter of seconds. Her name is anankerisa" she said and hoped that the little one was safe and ok

[SUSTIC]

Helios System
Zephyr-Old Continents-Ancient Nasod Palace-Chamber Hallway

Hajime and Eve broke out of there trance and turned to Cicero. Both simultaneously muttered a quick and blunt "What?" As they turn back to each other.

Eve gave a sharp glare at Hajime, as though she was scanning him thoroughly. This glare she gave Hajime unnerved him a bit, but he shook it off as he turned back to Cicero. "O-Okay then... just... lead the way I guess..." Hajime said as he began to wait for Cicero to begin walking, while Eve still glared at Hajime...

[Cucoo5]

Helios System
Delta Division Flagship | Excalibur
Council Chamber

"Ana-what?" Aion looked at Mara strangely for a moment. "No...never heard her name mentioned in the legends. Nor a man named Eleos." He then paused. "Wait...what planet did you say you found this man? What System?"

---

Helios System
Zephyr-Old Continents-Ancient Nasod Palace-Chamber Hallway


"We're not far. Just beyond this archway is the shrine." Cicero then walked on ahead and as they continued through the passage, the architecture was different. Smooth arcs were ever present throughout the hollow spaces in the wall. Crystals suspended in gyroscopes set in the wall were ever present. "He we go..." They soon found themselves standing in front of an elaborate door. "This is where I need you two... I can't open this door myself."

---

Helios System
Delta Division Flagship | Excalibur

"Alpha Division. Our "sister division" as they're referenced." Nero Spoke up. "They're the professional army of the Strike Fighters. We, the Delta Division, on the other hand are composed of mercenaries. There's no love loss between mercenaries and soldiers, I can tell you that."
"Yes. And now we need to pack up and get out before Alpha Division locks us down for good. They're about to turn Delta into a puppet army..." Cicero explained.

[Kristia]

Helios System
Delta Division Flagship | Excalibur
Council Chamber

I found them in planet Senarious in Egale system, that place was a barren wasteland" Mara spoke remembering the remnants of the city

[Cucoo5]

Helios System
Delta Division Flagship | Excalibur
Council Chamber

"The Capital Planet of the Egale Republic..." Joe responded.
"...Egale...It's a neighboring system of Celestora and Venion." Aion sat there and meditated on this for a moment before speaking again. [COLOR="#DAA520"]"The legends go in a clockwise order around the galaxy. Helios, Celestora, Egale, Venion, Sol Incineron, and then back to Helios. That's how the legends go."

[S121]

Helios System
Delta Division Flagship | Excalibur
Council Chamber

John listened to Joe as he listed the systems off and noticed that his list differed from his. John spoke out, hoping to clear up this discrepancy.

"I was told by Lady Avonna that it was an unspecified planet in Helios, Alcyon of Celestora, Senarious of the Egale, Inopia of Sol Incineron, Nox of Venion, Conlustrare of Helios, and Nexus of the Nexion System.", John said to Aion.

After speaking, John pulled out a small blue orb and pressed a button on it. The blue orb then created a large hologram with a small line with dots touching each planet John listed off.

"Lady Avonna told me that if I seek the truth, I should follow the path the Ancients left.", John said to Joe.

[Cucoo5]

Helios System
Delta Division Flagship | Excalibur
Council Chamber

"Strange..." Aion had a far off look as he thought. "Why would Lady Avonna tell you that order?"
"Wait...did you say Lady Avonna told you that?" Kiara asked, almost perplexed by the notion.
Before anyone could respond, Aion got up and stood in the passage way out of the council chamber. "Regardless, It seems there is more to talk about. First, though, we need to get moving. Timing is everything here. We need to get to Navarre's ship as soon as the opportunity presents itself...which will be as soon as the Alpha Division team docks."

[S121]

Helios System
Delta Division Flagship | Excalibur
Council Chamber

John nodded at Aion and followed suit. If they didn't leave soon, then there was little chance they would ever get off this ship. As John followed the group, he continued to talk to Kiara.

"Yes. Why?", John asked Kiara as they followed Aion.


Meanwhile, Cortana was following behind John, thinking about the differences between Aion and Lady Avonna's directions. Why were they different? Was one of them wrong? This may have been unlikely, but was Lady Avonna misleading them? Many possibilities passed through Cortana's mind, but she wouldn't voice them until she was certain of a particular scenario.