Been looking for some good Halo fics after the end of Halo 4 and finally decided to write. This basically pics up where the legendary ending leaves us. I have only played the games and read the wiki diligently so if I make an obvious cannon mistake, please let me know. This is the prologue, expect full length chapters soon, I apologize for the brevity of this one.

Disclaimer: I Don't own it.

" Don't make a girl a promise you can't keep." Every loss hurt him from his comrades fellow spartans, to foot soldiers, even civilians, he felt them all. During a training exercise he defined himself as someone who didn't believe in collateral damage. At eight years old the budding spartans were dropped in a remote area with the simple objective of making it out alive, they were to abandon the last to arrive. With those orders he asserted himself as the leader, built a team out of his peers and insured that he was the last to board. Later, when he felt the shock of loosing his closest friends in the program he thought he'd seen the worst of it. But then he lost Cortana, so suddenly and so completely. A nuclear blast is not something to be contested, what's gone is gone.

He squeezed his eyes shut and plunged his head under the cascade of shower water trying to drown out his thoughts, hoping the muffled sound of the water beating against his body and clattering to the the tile floor might fill the silence in his head. He'd been in his suit so long that he forgot what true silence was like, what it was to just be alone with yourself. He was hating it already.

He agreed that he was due to get out of the suit, let his skin breath, let his body function normally for a time. The effects of prolonged time in armor could be massively damaging, his digestive system could fail, he might forget how to eat, sleep, live without the constant monitoring the armor provided. He managed the first step just fine, the nod he received from fellow spartans felt good but after he was down to the nanocomposite bodysuit he started feeling vulnerable.

He felt more eyes on him than before, which he'd expected, people were curious to know what he looked like. His preference to keep his helmet on made this act more of an unveiling than anything else, even the other spartans were staring. To be honest he'd been curious too, a lot had happened since he'd last studied his own face. When he got there he suddenly felt sick, for some reason he expected familiar shades of green and orange but seeing instead a man with crows feet around his eyes and dark hair graying around the edges. He wanted to chock up his reaction to shock, plenty of people would be surprised to see such a drastic change instead of the normal gradual progression. But that wasn't it, it was that he'd honestly expected to see the reflection of his helmet looking back at him.

" We're all just people." Lasky had said, but could he handle that truth? He skipped the performance check and moved on to be peeled out of the bodysuit, leaving him naked and covered in the connective gel that aided in melding his body and the suit together. The shower was having little effect on the gel which clung incessantly to his pale freckled skin. He had to use another noxious gel, some sort of aggressive solvent to removed it. But for now, alone for the first time in ages he'd listen to the fall of the water and the sound of his breathing before moving on to the next objective.

The sound of footsteps making their way through the locker room towards him pulled him back out of his rest and back to reality. His shoulders stiffened as he leaned back out of the water to listen. Human, light steps, female and small approached him. With this observation he relaxed and began to apply the solvent to the gel, decidedly wanting to seem functional despite the way he felt.

" Hello Spartan, I'm here to record a report on your physical state. Please confirm you are Master Chief Petty Officer Sierra-117. " An oddly familiar voice said behind him. He didn't bother to turn or to cover himself, throughout his life he was constantly being examine and he lacked any concern for modesty.

" Affirmative." He said as he sloughed off layers of gel.

" Any obvious concerns or discomforts to report?" She asked, her voice racking at him. Her formal tone made it hard to make out, but it sounded too much like the voice he desperately wanted to hear. He was projecting it surely, that seems healthy...

" No." He answered.

" Good to hear soldier, as soon as you're done here we will move on to some tests. Take your time, I'm assigned to you for the duration of your evaluation." She said and he began to imagine her standing there, he tried to see what he expected, a woman with her hair pulled back and a white coat over her uniform but it kept turning into translucent skin and electric blue eyes.

Unable to bear it any longer he forced himself to turn around, hoping the real person would force the delusions out of his head.

" May I call you John?" She was asking as he starred at her, jaw clenched brows knitted. Her hair was midnight cut at her jaw line and her eyes a faded blue. His heart began to race as he tried to understand what he was seeing. She raised an eyebrow at his sudden expression and he knew he must be hallucinating because before him in the flesh and blood stood a living breathing Cortana.

There you have it, a little hook to keep you going hopefully.

I have always been curious about how the suit functions and effects the wearer so these are my interpretations after reading the wiki, hope you enjoyed.

More Chapters soon, Review!

**Edit: So I'm a little bummed about the reception this fic got, I don't want to write something people don't like so it's going on hiatus until I can write something more acceptable to fellow fans. **