The atmosphere burns around him and the sound of friction screams in his ears. The piece of the Dreadnought ship that is his only protection from the sure death of reentry, burns and flames beneath his body. For the first time in his life, Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy SPARTAN "John" 117 is scared.
Not scared for himself, no. Death is something he's stared in the eyes a thousand times and he figures he's living on borrowed time already. His death will not mean the end for him, but the end of humanity. If the last Spartan, the last pillar, falls, the world of humanity will crash and burn with it.
So John braces himself against the chunk of alien metal and prays reentry will be over soon. He's living for an entire species, and then some, Cortana is lost on High Charity and he promised he'd bring her back.
And he never breaks a promise. Ever.
The resistance on the Dreadnought lessens and disappears, and he's accelerating, faster and faster, his vision blurring even through his visor. His reflexes falter for the first time in his life and he crashes into the jungle, shrouded in shadow.
The last thing he thinks before he hits and the world goes dark is that he won't get to keep his promise to Cortana, and that she'll never escape the wrath of the Gravemind.
Everything is black, and when he wakes up he sees Reach. His destroyed home, back in all its glory, the gem of Earth's colonies. He hears laughing and shouts, and he sees all his Spartan brothers and sisters, playing a complex game courtesy of CPO Mendez, who watches from afar. Doctor Halsey and his childhood AI teacher Deja are there as well, watching the children intently, while the doctor takes notes on her clipboard.
The Doctor turns her head and smiles, and John returns the gesture by running two fingers over his visor, the age old gesture of the Spartan smile. Mendez turns and gives a gruff nod, and the Doctor does the same, John turns to face whatever is behind him, and give it a piece of his mind for ruining whatever peace comes with his death.
The glowing purply-blue female in front of him reaches out a hand and he takes it, she smiles at him. "John," Cortana says,"It's time to come back."
John shakes his head and tries to pull away, to join his Spartan brothers and sisters, his military mother, father, and nanny. But the Cortana of his dreams is much stronger than the real one. "John," she says, "They need you. Humanity needs you."
She struggles to force out the last statement and he knows that she doesn't want to say it. "You promised me."
And John knows he did and that he has to come back, because he never breaks a promise. Ever.
So he takes her hand and she pulls him back, back to Earth, back to the war, back to his aching body that was designed not to feel pain.
"We're not leaving him here," Sergeant Avery Johnson says, standing over the body of the fallen hero.
John's eyes open and his limbs move, he grabs the Sergeant's arm and pulls himself up. "Yeah, you're not," he says and he stands on his feet, ready for the next mission to begin.
Because in some way or another, Cortana will be at the end and John never breaks a promise. Ever.