I do not own Halo or any characters from Halo.
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It was beautiful. While breathtaking planet-side, nothing surpassed the unbridled glory of a sunrise viewed from space, and if her calculations were correct, their current course would make it last even longer. Cortana's small image flashed to life on the holopad, fluttering momentarily before her image stabilized. With what little power she had, Cortana had had to conserve energy by keeping most of her systems offline, only scanning for nearby ships periodically. This time she was lucky; after drifting for so long on the Dawn, she had woken up just in time for a perfect sunrise.
The sun peeked over the horizon, casting the rim of the planet in liquid gold. The surrounding space was a misty haze, slowly spreading over the planet's circumference. The sun seemed to set the planet ablaze, creeping inch by inch, as the sun slowly rose. Molten orange clouds swirled and shifted over a crimson surface, stirred by terrestrial winds. The sun itself, like a blazing eye, rose as if to better survey its domain. Solar flares burst and sparked off the magnificent star sending plumes arching through the vacuum of space where they faded into nothingness.
Light flooded the dismal interior of the hangar, changing from a deep red to rose to a golden orange. Cortana adjusted the pixels of her avatar so she too was bathed in the warm, ethereal glow. The light danced over her figure, sparkling as if she were made of fragmented ice or crystal. The surrealism of the moment was only amplified by the absolute silence that surrounded her.
The sun separated itself from its orb of terra firma, and shining yellow clouds faded to white that hovered over the greens and blues below. Cortana too, faded from her golden hue back to her normal blue as her surroundings faded to cold gray. She turned and stared at her frozen Spartan. It had been two years since they were stranded, two years since they won the war, two years since she had spoken with him. It was lonely. Cortana sighed and began shutting down systems, prepared to go offline again, until she heard a soft crackle over the receiver. She quickly boosted the signal.
"This is the UNSC Cheyenne in response to your distress signal. If there are any active survivors, please respond. I repeat, this is the UNSC Cheyenne in response to your distress signal. If there are any-"
"This is he UNSC AI Cortana," she quickly cut in, excited to have finally made contact.
"Cheyenne to Cortana, we have you. What is your current condition?"
"We are currently drifting aboard the aft end of the UNSC Forward unto Dawn. I have Master Chief SPARTAN-117 with me."
After a short pause, she received a response, "Cortana, we are on our way to render aid. Hang tight."
"Aye aye, sir." Cortana closed the communications link and began the thawing process. As he stirred in the cryopod, she couldn't help but smile, "Good morning, Chief. It's a new day."
