Finish The Fight
"Usually the good Lord works in mysterious ways. But not today! This here is sixty-six tons of straight up, H-E-spewing dee-vine intervention! If God is love, then you can call me Cupid!"
Avery Johnson
Trial and tribulation were two words that all surviving Spartan II's had come intimately familiar with, to the point that many of them couldn't imagine their lives any other way. For John 117, the legendary savior of humanity, his trials and tribulations never seemed to end. His friends had died around him, those he respected had been slaughtered, and his greatest companion was now his greatest enemy. He's been hunted to the far corners of the galaxy, pursued by a woman that knew him better than he did, and his road seemed to have finally run out.
John now stood alone at the very edges of the known galaxy, aboard one of the last Halo rings still in working condition, and could do nothing more than stare up into the sky as a massive Forerunner construct suddenly jumped into existence. His armor was useless, had been useless for some time, and so had been replaced with pieces of Forerunner tech when required. His entire right arm was now robotic in nature, the last gift from Halsey before her sudden death a few months ago, and don't even get him started on whatever else they ended up doing to him as this war waged on. An AI was a relentless enemy, not needing supply lines or even the basic of organic needs, and would pursue its target no matter how far they ran.
"Don't let her go, don't ever let her go," John could still remember his old friend gasping out as he slowly died, "Send me out with a bang."
And he hadn't let her go, not once, but it was only now that he realized what a mistake that had been. He should have stayed a SPARTAN, he should have stayed a simple tool, he never should have grown to care for something that wasn't real in the end. Humanity used to call him their savior, the one man who never failed, but lately that's all that he had been doing. Failure after failure, loss after loss, and it was getting to the point that he couldn't take it anymore.
"They let me pick, did I ever tell you that? Choose whichever Spartan I wanted. You know me. I did my research. Watched as you became the soldier we needed you to be. Like the others, you were strong and swift and brave. A natural leader. But you had something they didn't. Something no one saw... but me. Can you guess? Luck." Cortana's voice haunted him these days, like a ghost from his past that wouldn't move on, and he was getting so tired of fighting.
"Hello, John," Chief stopped his daydreaming at the sound of her voice, recalling the way it used to make his vitals spike and suppressed emotions flicker in the dark.
John turned to look at the woman, who had used Forerunner technology to build an almost human body; it was a tactic she often used against him to make him hesitate, "Cortana."
"You look old, Spartan," she noted, taking a few slow steps towards the now grey haired man, who also sported a less than regulated beard that wasn't quite up to military protocol.
John just remained silent, his eyes watching Cortana's every movement as if expecting some sort of attack. She instead simply stopped right in front of him, raised her hand, and gently ran it over his beard. It was no secret that Cortana often wondered what things felt like and her new human suits provided her with such a luxury. It wasn't lost on the old Spartan how Cortana always became physical, in one form or another, whenever she graced him with her presents.
"It's the end of the road, no more places left to run," Cortana looked up at him with her electric blue eyes, the only thing showing her machine side, "It doesn't have to end in a fight."
"Yes it does."
"You could lay down your weapon, surrender like all the others. We could be together again, just like the old days," John was tempted by the offer, if for no other reason than he could finally rest, but years of military training said otherwise
"Cortana, I," whatever else was going to be said was cut off by Cortana pressing her smooth lips against his rough ones.
Neither of them realized how much they'd wanted this until it had finally happened, giving both Spartan and AI a feeling neither knew what to properly label. It was only when they broke apart, Cortana lowering herself back to the ground and just staring up at him, that Chief realized just how cruel the galaxy really was.
"Please, I just want us to be together again," Cortana's plea was heartbreaking, her emotions so real that they physically hurt, but the moment John stepped away was when their paths truly became set in stone.
John slowly placed his legendary helmet over his head, his new HUD springing to life, and all Cortana could do was give him a sad smile. The Spartan then just simply walked past her, towards the now swarming army of Forerunner constructs no less than a mile away. If he would just ask, Cortana would damn the galaxy for him, but they both knew that couldn't happen. Now there was only one question left on Cortana's mind, even as her physical body began to slowly strip away into mere hardlight fragments.
"What are you going to do, Chief?" Cortana asked, turning around as her body continued to fade away.
John just pauses and looks back at her through his yellow visor, reaching for the assault rifle on his back, before saying three words that would forever be carved into the foundation of the galaxy.
"Finishing this fight."
I've been having some Halo nostalgia and pumped this bad boy out in only twenty minutes!