It was a new day for the captain of the UNSC stealth prowler "Bayou". His name was Crawfish, at least that's his codename his real name is classified to anyone who is not a member of the ONI brass. Crawfish is a fairly average human male, weighing 205 lbs, measuring 6'3", and a clean shaven beard. Today he was going to welcome the newest member of his crew.
0o0o0
Lieutenant Jessica Freeman was fresh out of the officers academy, as she walked towards the spaceport where her new assignment was stationed she gazed around her and she was reminded of the devastation that the Covenant did to Earth, rescuers digging though rubble, bulldozers clearing the streets, and bodies being lined up for identification. But she was not going to let the near destruction of her entire species get her down. As she entered the spaceport she was stopped by a marine.
"Sorry ma'am no one is allowed into the hangers right now." Said the marine.
"Oh, really. Then perhaps this will change your mind." She hands the marine a document stating that she is ONI, and that she could mess his day up if she wanted to.
"Sorry ma'am, just head down the hallway and you will find the hangers." Jessica begins the walk towards the hangers.
"So that's The Bayou." She says as she enters the hanger in which The Bayou was docked. With 26 Archer Missile pods, 4 50mm auto cannons, and the capability to launch a Shiva nuclear missile The Bayou is a force to be reckoned with weather by Covenant Loyalists, or Human Insurgents.
"The captain is waiting for you on the bridge ma'am." Said a marine guarding the entrance ramp as Jessica entered the ship.
0o0o0
"Listen, I don't care if you are Colonel Ackerson's replacement, just get me a goddamned pepperoni pizza!" Crawfish shouts into the comms panel before, shutting it off.
"Sir, Lieutenant Jessica Freeman, reporting for duty sir!" Jessica salutes.
"At ease, Lieutenant." Crawfish turns around to face her.
"I take it that you are Captain Crawfish." She said.
"Lieutenant, I ain't no Captain. I'm just a spook."
"A spook, sir?"
"Someone who doesn't exist. Officially anyways."
"Sir, how are you a spook?"
"I got too good at my job, found a few of ONI's dirty little secrets, I ended up blackmailing them and they gave me this ship, a crew, and a few other things."
"What kind of secrets, sir?"
"Mostly, stuff about the SPARTAN-II program." An Elite comes up behind Jessica.
"So you're the new recruit?" Asks the Elite. Jessica is frozen with fear.
"Lieutenant meet Vaht 'Komtaree, our chief navigator." Vaht takes a seat at the nav console.
"Um, hi Vaht."
"The pleasure, is all mine." Vaht clicks his mandibles together.
"Any other surprises, Captain?" Jessica asks.
"Well, our chief engineer is a Huragok, and our weapons specialist is you." Crawfish turns on the engines.
"A what sir?"
"A floater, a jellyfish, an engineer."
"Thank you sir."
"Anytime, now get to your station Lieutenant and get ready for pre flight check list."
"Yes sir." Jessica sits down at the weapons console.
"Samantha, are all systems good to go?" An AI with the form of a teenage girl appears on a holo terminal, next to the captain's chair.
"All systems are ready for take off. May I suggest that you actually tell the tower that you are about to take off, we would not like a repeat of last time." Said Samantha.
"What happened last time?" Asked Jessica.
"Nothing, all you need to know is that all of the orphans survived."
"Barely." Murmurs Vaht.
"Stow it Vaht." Crawfish radios the tower. "Tower this is UNSC vessel Bayou requesting permission for takeoff."
"Bayou, this is tower you are cleared for take off at heading 04563." Responded the tower.
"Alright, you heard 'em Sam." Said Crawfish.
"Yes, sir." The ship slowly ascends, before the main engines kick in, and the ship is rocketed towards space.
"Sam, show the Lieutenant, here to her quarters." Crawfish picks up a data pad.
"Yes sir." Samantha appears on a holo terminal next to Jessica's station.
"Alright, lead the way Sam." Jessica picks up the duffel bag, she brought on bored that no one noticed.
"To reach your quarters, exit the bridge and enter the second door on the right." Sam returns to the holo terminal next to Crawfish.
"Gee, thanks Sam." Jessica exits the bridge, and follows the corridor until she found her room. When she opened the door she was greeted with a floating half jellyfish, half machine creature so she did what anyone else would do in a situation like that, she screamed.
"Don't worry Lieutenant, that's just Blasto he's the chief engineer." Said Crawfish over the loudspeaker.
"You almost gave me a heart attack Blasto." Blasto floats out of Jessica's room and floats towards the engine room. Jessica drops her duffel, next to her bed and begins to unpack when the loudspeaker comes on again.
"Attention all crew, we are about to enter slipspace, please report to your stations."
"I don't even have time to fully unpack." Jessica sighs as she exits her room, and makes her way back to the bridge.
"Vaht, are the coordinates set?" Asks Crawfish as Jessica enters the bridge.
"Yes sir." Replies Vaht.
"Good. Lieutenant take your seat and we can make the jump." Says Crawfish.
"Yes sir." Jessica goes over to the weapons station and takes her seat.
"Punch it Sam." Says Crawfish.
"With pleasure sir." Says the AI as the Bayou enters slip space.
0o0o0
"Come on Spike, we're going to miss the meteor shower." Said Twilight Sparkle checking off the last item on her checklist.
"I'm coming as fast as I can." Said Spike as he climbed down the stairs carrying ink pots, rolls of paper, and a telescope.
"You know Spike, Rarity will be there." Said Twilight.
"Rarity's going to be there?!" Spike rushes over to Twilight's side.
"Yep, now let's go over and meet the girls." Twilight leads Spike out of the library, and towards an open field where her friends are waiting.
"Jeez, Twilight you almost missed the meteor shower." Said Rainbow Dash as Twilight and Spike neared the group.
"Well, I would have been here sooner, but Spike forgot where he put the ink wells." Said Twilight.
"Look look look! It's starting!" Said Pinkie hoping up and down as Spike set up the telescope.
"My, word have you ever seen such a marvelous sight." Said Rarity as the meteor shower began.
0o0o0
"Um, Vaht are you sure those coordinates are correct?" Asked Crawfish as looked at the planet that was supposed to be the grey wasteland of a planet that was Reach.
"Why do you question my coordinates?" Asks Vaht.
"Because unless we went back in time, I am looking at a planet that is not Reach." Said Crawfish.
"Well how can you tell it's not Reach?"
"Because it's not a grey wasteland!" Shouted Crawfish, Vaht looks up from his console.
"Ah, I see your point."
"Sam whats our location?" Asks Crawfish.
"I don't know, it appears that there was an anomaly during the jump to slip space." Replies Sam as she gazes at the planet from the holo terminal, just as warning lights flash, and sirens sound.
"Sam, what the hell is going on?!" Yells Crawfish.
"It appears we that we are caught in a gravity well of some sort, we are being pulled towards the planet." Replies Sam.
"Looks like ONI won't be getting their MJOLNIR back for awhile." Says Crawfish as an image of Blasto the head engineer appears on his data pad.
"Oh no, if Blasto starts a video chat with Crawfish, you know it's bad." Moans Vaht.
"What do you mean, the engines are disabled? You tuned them up right before we launched." Said Crawfish.
"Vaht, are we in trouble?" Said Jessica.
"More then likely, yes." He replied.
"Alright guys, we are entering the atmosphere now, prepare for a crash landing!" Shouted Crawfish.
0o0o0
"Look at that one, no look at that one!" Pinkie bounced around pointing at all of the meteors.
"Um, Twilight can I ask you a question?" Asked Applejack.
"Well technically you just did but, sure go ahead." Replied Twilight.
"Are these meteors supposed to look like they are about to come crashing down on us?" Asked Apple jack.
"Why would you ask a question like that? Of course their not supposed too." Replied Twilight.
"Well, one of them is heading right towards us!" Shouted Apple jack as a meteor flies right over their heads, and crashes a half mile away from them.
"Whoa, Nelly! That was a big doozy, I wonder why my Pinkie sense didn't go off?" Said Pinkie.
"We don't have time to wonder about that Pinkie, we have to investigate." Said Twilight as she began to walk over to the crater with the rest of her friends.
"What is that thing?" Rainbow Dash, said as the group arrives at the crater, with a black ship in the center of it.
"It's a space ship! I wonder if the aliens inside like cupcakes?" Shouts Pinkie.
0o0o0
"Is everyone alright?' Shouts Crawfish.
"Nothing major." Replies Jessica.
"Just some scrapes and bruises." Replies Vaht, as Blasto enters the bridge.
"Glad to see that your okay, Blasto." Said Crawfish as he turned his attention to the holo terminal. "Sam whats the status of the ship?"
"Engines are offline, and there are multiple hull breaches, but all other systems are online at the moment." Said Sam.
"Crawfish, I have movement on the sensors!" Said Jessica.
"Let me see." Sam appears at the holo terminal next to Jessica, and takes a look at the screen. "Sir, we have ponies."