"...You did it."
John-117 slowly drifted through the remains of the Forward Unto Dawn. He could see rows of cryopods lined against the wall. His home, until duty called once more.
"Truth, and the Covenant, the Flood...," the voice continued softly.
He reached for the back of his helmet, removing a small datachip from its nest. He plugged it into a small stand, and an image of a holographic woman appeared in front of him.
"It's finished," she whispered to him.
John flicked off the light that his helmet had been emitting. He wouldn't need it for a while.
"It's finished," he repeated, slowly beginning to slip into the cryopod.
"I'll drop a beacon," the woman said. "But it'll be a while before anyone finds us. Years, even."
That didn't matter. He had fulfilled his role; played his part; fought the good fight. Through all the violence and bloodshed, John-117, the Master Chief, had fought for humanity. He had fought against the onslaught of the Covenant and stood side-by-side with his brothers and sisters in arms in defiance of the aliens' genocidal campaign.
"I'll miss you," the woman said quietly.
And a part of him would miss her. However, he knew his duty, and for the time being, his duty had come to an end.
"Wake me, when you need me," he told her as he finished lowering himself into his icy bed. The last thing he saw as the cryopod's lid shut down on him was the woman's smiling face and her confirming nod.
Yes...his duty was over, for now, but he would be reawakened. He just knew it. When a new threat arose, he would rise with it. Whether that threat come in the form of the Covenant, rebels, or something else entirely, he would be ready.
He always would.
~X~
"Tell me about the children, Doctor Halsey."
"You already know everything."
"You kidnapped them."
"Children's minds are more easily accepting of indoctrination; their bodies more adaptable to augmentation. The result was the ultimate soldier. And because of our success, when the Covenant invaded, we were ready."
"Doctor Halsey, you're bending history for your own favor and you know it. You developed the Spartans to crush human rebellion, not to fight the Covenant."
"When one human world after another fell, when my Spartans were all that stood between humanity and extinction, nobody was concerned about why they were originally built."
"So you feel, in the end, your choices were justified?"
"My work saved the human race."
"Do you think the Spartans' lack of basic humanity helped?"
"What are you after? The others before you were Naval Intelligence, but you...you're something else."
"Records show Spartans routinely exhibited mildly sociopathic tendencies: difficulty with socialization."
"The records show efficient behavior operating in hazardous situations. I supplied the tools to maintain that efficiency."
"Do you believe the Master Chief succeeded because he was, at his core, broken?
"What does John have to do with this? ...You want to replace him."
"The Master Chief is dead."
"His file reads Missing in Action."
"Catherine? Spartans never die?"
"Your mistake is seeing Spartans as military hardware. My Spartans are humanity's next step. Our destiny as a species. Do not underestimate them. But most of all, do not underestimate him."
~X~
Somewhere in space, unknown date and time...
"-ohn? John!"
John knew he was awake before he fully opened his eyes. Where a normal man would have needed a minute to collect himself, John was ready to move almost before his body was ready to comply. Instincts momentarily took over, and he abruptly pressed his hands against the glass lid of his cryopod. It took him only another split second to recognize the voice that had awoken him.
"Wake up, Chief," the feminine voice continued. "I need you..."
"Cortana?" he grunted. "What's going on?"
"Take it easy," the AI said gently. "You've been out for a while."
"Where are we?" asked the Spartan, his trained eyes already beginning to scout his surroundings. There was a small stand directly in front of his cryopod. It emitted a blue light, within which stood a young holographic woman with short dark hair; his AI and trusted ally, Cortana.
"I- we're still on the Forward Unto Dawn...I think..."
"You 'think'?" he asked. "Why did you wake me?"
"Hang on, let me get your systems back online. Do me a favor and look up. You'll find the manual release to your pod."
The Master Chief glanced up. Sure enough, a lever greeted him. He reached up and pulled it down, prompting the lid to his cryopod to slide open. There was a loud hiss as cooled gas exited the pod, followed by the dull thump of John's boots as he stepped out.
"What's the situation?" he asked, reaching for the MA5D Assault Rifle that had been stored in his pod with him. A quick glance and an experimental flick of the safety switch seemed to hint that the rifle was still in working order. Lucky him. His apparent ammo count, however, was lower than he'd like.
"John..." Cortana began, a concerned look on her face. The expression told him more than words ever could.
"What's wrong?" John asked cautiously.
"I went offline," Cortana explained. "I don't know how long we've been here, and my last recorded dates are all fuzzy. I think someone or something may have tampered with me and began erasing data logs. I have no clue how that happened and no clue how long has passed."
John pressed his lips together. That was bad news. Oversleeping during cryo-stasis could be devastating. "When and how did you reactive then?" he asked.
"I'm not sure. Something must have brought me online, and I woke you up not long after. Given the state of the ship, I believe someone has boarded us and somehow reactivated me."
"The state of the ship?" John questioned.
"Almost everything on this ship is offline," the AI began. "No power, no lights, nothing. Until I woke up, practically everything has been out, with the exception of a few cryopds that managed to stay just barely cold enough to keep someone in cryo-stasis"
John frowned as he began double checking his available equipment. He quickly noted that, besides his rifle and a single M6H pistol, he only had one grenade. "Which means an external source brought you, and only you, online...But why aren't I floating then? Where's the gravity coming from, if the ship's generators are down?"
"I'm not entirely sure, but what remains of the ship may have found its way onto an object large enough to create the gravity. We may be drifting around on little more than a massive rock right now. Or we may have crashed onto a neighboring planet."
"Shouldn't the ship have torn itself apart upon entering the influence of a planet's gravity?" the Chief asked. The broken craft wasn't exactly fit for space travel, last he checked.
"Again, I'm not sure," Cortana said as she glanced around. "Nothing about this makes any sense..."
John shared the sentiments. "What about communications? If we're on a planet, maybe there is a UNSC station nearby?"
"No such luck. The ship has no power for me to use, and I haven't made any headway with your personal comms. Unless there is serious interference, I don't think we're on a UNSC-controlled planet. Otherwise, I would have made radio contact by now. But, if we can restore power to the ship, I may be able to utilize its radio for long range communication."
"Then let's get to work," John said without hesitation as he reached for the stand upon which Cortana stood. "Reestablishing contact with the UNSC is priority number one. We can figure out our next move from there."
"Right," Cortana said as her form disappeared from view. An image of her face momentarily appeared on John's HUD as he plugged her into his suit. With the blue light having faded, John flicked on the lights on his helmet.
"Where to?" John asked as he began a steady run forward.
"Two floors above us."
"Roger," the Spartan replied as he pressed his back against a wall and glanced around the corner, rifle held at the ready. The road was clear. John pressed on. Occasional glaces at the motion sensor on his HUD kept telling him that he was alone, but that didn't deter him from behaving as if he was in hostile territory. Machines could fail, and enemies could lurk in every shadow.
The Chief stopped when he felt a faint tremor throughout the ship. He glanced up and around, only to pause again when another, louder tremor followed up. "Explosions?" he asked.
"Possibly," Cortana mumbled. "Who or whatever managed to reactivate me may have done so remotely. They might be above us now. Keep your eyes peeled Chief, I don't like this..."
"Neither do I," he said as he approached an elevator. Prying the doors open, he glanced inside, pleased to find that the elevator itself wasn't at the door. He glanced up to find that it was suspended high above him. He could see the doors to the first floor above him, but the doors to the second were blocked by the unmoving elevator. At the very least, he could make it to the floor above him without having to try and move the thing.
Grabbing onto the grooves in the wall, the Master Chief began a brisk climb. In less than a minute, he was at the doors. As he began prying them open, he felt another tremor. Closer, this time. When the doors finally slid apart, however, he heard Cortana whistle quietly.
"Wow," she whispered. "I hadn't realized that this ship had deteriorated so badly...how long have we been away?"
She was right. The room looked to be in complete disarray, much more so than the cryo-room. Faded paint lined the walls and chunks of metal lay strung about. Any form of order and neatness had been completely abandoned. "If we really are adrift, watch for areas with unsafe pressure. We might run into flying objects."
"Noted," said the Chief, sparing a glance at his motion sensor yet again. Still no contact.
"Given how much the ship has deteriorated, I'm not sure if the radios will still be functional, even if we do restore power," Cortana continued. "It's worth a try, but...John, we might be stranded out here without UNSC support."
"If the radio fails, we can try finding the source of the tremors," said John. "If it's the Covenant- or anyone, for that matter -trying to blast their way in, they might have working equipment with them."
"Assuming those tremors are, in fact, originating from intelligent life," Cortana added.
"We don't have too many options here."
It wasn't long before John made it to the next floor and reached a generator room. Even here, the only source of light was that of his helmet. "What exactly am I looking for?"
"I won't lie, I had hoped for more than this," Cortana explained. "There's not much to fix here. Take a look to your left. There should be a panel, if I remember correctly. I can try to restart the generator from there." John complied. Sure enough, he noticed a large panel and headed over to it. "I'll need you to physically hook me up," Cortana continued. "I can't access it through the network like I used to. There's no power for that. Pull me out when the power's back on, or when you see my chip flashing."
"Affirmative," said John as he temporarily removed Cortana from his helmet and plugged her into a slot in the panel. A minute passed. Then two. John felt three more tremors during this time. After the fourth minute, John noticed Cortana's chip flashing, but there was still no power.
"No luck?" he asked while pulling her out and plugging her into his helmet.
"Nothing," Cortana breathed. "The ship's power is completely gone. Either someone or something siphoned it or..."
"Or we've been here so long that the power has completely drained," John finished grimly. "Understood. We'll have to see if those tremors lead us to anyone."
"Head to the upper levels of the ship," Cortana said quietly, still contemplating the implications of the lack of power. "The tremors seems to come more from above than from below." John had to agree. The noise from every tremor definitely came from above.
The Spartan began a steady process of marching and climbing. Minutes spent searching for a way to the next level above him were interrupted by short bursts of climbing to said level. All the while, the tremors above were growing louder and more intense. Who or whatever was up there wasn't too away far now.
"Any luck with the comms?" the Chief asked quietly during a climb.
"No," Cortana replied. "I've tried several times on several known frequencies. I don't hear anything. No static, no voices, nothing. It's as if the channels no longer exist. I've been trying to find other channels- anything at this point- but so far, nothing."
No enemy channels might not have been a bad thing, but the complete lack of channels in general left John with a foul feeling. He didn't like this. Some part of him, some sense honed through years of deployment and violent confrontation, told him that this was wrong.
So very wrong.
Eventually, the AI and the Spartan were brought out of their respective tasks of searching for communications and reaching the upper levels by a red blip on John's motion sensor. The Chief instantly froze, his rifle held at the ready, his finger hovering over the trigger. Cortana saw it to, and made absolutely certain to stay quiet and give the Master Chief a moment to concentrate.
The blip indicated that there was at least one presence in front of him. However, when he saw no one ahead, he listened in. The theory he had begun to form was quickly proven true when he heard faint footsteps through the ceiling above him.
Someone was on the next floor.
"Potential contact," John whispered. "Likely above us..."
"There should be a stairway just up ahead," Cortana whispered back. "It'll lead you to the next level...be careful, John."
"Roger," he replied as he moved forward and dimmed the lights on his helmet as much as he could. He found the stairway in no time, and quickly began a brisk, quiet climb. As he saw the last step before the next level, he slowed down, crouched, and peeked over the edge.
The hallways up ahead was just as messy as the previous ones. However, new lights had been hung on the ceiling, and they illuminated the area. Where the lights ended, there stood a green-clad figure. Its body proportions confused John. A pair of relatively thin arms and legs, as well as a slim torso, were accompanied by massive bulk in the back and shoulder areas. The thing was facing away from him, but John could still make out the side of its helmet, as well as the barrel of a strange weapon that it held. Why it didn't watch the unlit areas was anyone's guess, but John knew that he had lucked out with how this hostile was positioned.
It stood nearly as tall as him, though from what he could see, its bulk exceeded his. Whether or not this thing was physically stronger than him remained to be seen. However, he had a feeling that he was faster, given the strange creature's shape and non-aerodynamic armor, but that still left the question:
What is that?
The lights and its position indicated that someone had begun handing lights in order to explore the ship. This thing was likely guarding the area until more light could be brought in.
John shut off his helmet lights and tentatively crept forward. His plan was to subdue the hostile and gather intel. If possible, he was open to avoid killing it, but otherwise, this thing was as good as dead if it didn't comply.
The Chief's footsteps made no noise as he moved in the for the strike, and as he did so, he could hear the hostile's heavy breathing. It looked turned lazily from side to side, surveying the broken and otherwise abandoned room it had chosen to patrol. Little did it know of the super soldier behind it.
When John was finally close enough, he leapt into action. In a split second, he had grabbed the enemy unit and forced it to turn around. What met him was a spherical helmet with two golden lights in place of eyes. A face plate covered the hostile's features entirely, but it wasn't enough to protect the strange soldier from John's first strike. He brought his fist down on top of the helmet, not enough to kill the enemy, but more than enough to disorient it. The hostile let out a confused grunt, dropping the firearm it has been holding and momentarily slumped in John's arms. Immediately, the Chief forced his adversary to the ground pressed the barrel of his gun to the creature's forehead while using his knees to pin down its arms.
"Make a sound and you're dead," he told it. He wasn't sure if the being understood him, but he knew it likely understood the meaning of the gun pressed against its head. Several seconds of silence passed as the alien stared up at him. If it weren't for the thing's heaving breath- indicating that it was surprised- John would have thought that he had knocked it out. He was about to try something else, but...
But then everything went wrong.
"TENNO!"
In a voice that sounded like a strange mix of a Grunt's high-pitched cries and a Brute's guttural snarls, the thing roared out an unfamiliar word. John immediately bashed its head again, hard enough to knock it out, in hopes that his refraining from shooting would conceal his stealth just a bit longer. However, the damage was already done.
From somewhere up ahead, John heard the shouts and screams of more troops. They were the same strange union of high-pitched screams and low, distorted growls. As multiple red blips appeared on John's motion sensor, he brought his rifle to bear, pointing the barrel towards the source of the noise. The voices continued, now drawing nearer, and the Chief could hear the sound of dozens of pairs of feet running through the halls of the Forward Unto Dawn.
He didn't understand anything the voices screamed, but one thing he knew for sure:
They were coming for him.
~X~
"Tenno, the messages we've intercepted indicate that the Grineer have found something deep within the caverns of Mars. They have set up a mining operation to try and dig it out."
"What exactly did they find?"
"The messages don't make mention of it. I only know that they believe it to be an ancient artifact."
"Aha...and knowing the Grineer, it's probably better for everyone if they don't have this artifact."
"I need you to go down there and sabotage the mining operation. Then, head into the caves below to secure what it is the Grinner think they have found. Good luck, Tenno."
A/N: I was under a relentless siege of plot bunnies and this little fic is the result of my defeat at their hands. The pacing is quick and the action comes fast, but this is essentially a reworked opening of Halo 3's ending and 4's first few minutes, with the first lines of dialogue taken directly from the games, but with the obvious twists. Really, I always felt that the entire awakening from cryo-stasis theme started up quickly. Nevertheless, I hope you have all enjoyed this prologue of sorts, and depending on whether anyone's interested, more chapters may very well arise. Otherwise, it's just a novice's first story and an attempt at beginning to grow on this site.
As a disclaimer, I do not own either franchise associated with this story. Warframe and Halo each belong to their respective owners. This story is made entirely for entertainment.