Uploaded this chapter again, but now it's corrected :D

Thanks to Spazzyninjafish for beta reading!

01. And so it begin

The mission seemed easy at first. At least, for a Spartan. Infiltrate the Covenant Ship and save data about their home world. However, everything has a hitch.

He stood before closed doors- the doors to the bridge. The Master Chief had killed every enemy in his way. He was about to complete the mission successfully. Cortana, a smart AI of the UNSC, tried to hack through various firewalls and data protections to free the way for him.

"Give me two more minutes, Chief!" Though he couldn't see her, the Master Chief knew that she had to look strained. He heard it in her voice.

They had reached the bridge very fast. A little too fast. He had only encountered a few foes, who were all low ranks. Not a real challenge for him. And at this point, he was a little taken aback. Why would a battleship contain only so little and badly qualified soldiers? Actually, he should be glad, but the voice in his back of the head reminded him over and over again to be careful. His radar was useless. The bridge was guarded too well.

"Cortana? Can you see any activities in the room?"

"No, Chief. I'm sorry. It seems as we have to trust in your luck. Hopefully this is enough." She worried about him, and he knew this. They knew each other too long and too well to be able to hide anything from each other.

"Do we have a plan?"

"Well Chief, we go through the door. You kill everything in your way. Preferably without getting injured. We take the data from the ship's system and disappear as fast as we had appeared."

"What if it does not run so smoothly?"

"I don't want to think about this, but it probably won't. If you get seriously injured, you send me and the data to Silent Night."

He nodded, stoic. She already knew this behavior. He was ready.

"Open the doors in three... two... one... good luck!"

The doors flashed white and then slowly hissed open. The Chief lobbed two frag grenades into the middle of the bridge. After a few seconds, two muffled explosions resounded into the hall. He shouldered his gun and checked the magazine. He hesitantly stepped inside and looked around in the now empty room. Not a noise escaped from any of the bodies. After he had made sure that it was secure, he entered the bridge. One step after the other, he made his way to the middle of the room.

"Cortana?"

"Yes?"

"Where are the soldiers?" She did not answer him; he knew she was busy with scanning the ship. Some seconds later there came the sobering answer.

"I do not know." She said, briefly and clearly. This fact bothered her and he knew this. As a smart AI, it was her job to know everything. After he finished his thoughts, he pushed further into the room.

Indeed, he now stepped with a strict care. The only things that reveal the presence of the Covenant were some of their symbols and three tattered Unggoy corpses. They had probably been killed by the blast from his grenades. There was not much left from them, but the color of the blood indicated at least their race.

The Spartan crossed the puddles from blood and entered the floating level in the middle of the bridge. After a short examination he found what he was searching for. A port for the AI chip.

"Hurry, plug me in, Chief!"

His armored hand reached to the back of the helmet and removed the memory chip. After a short moment, the cold presence in his mind withdrew. He held the chip for one moment in his hand. How easily it could be destroyed. Close the hand and the data crystal would become dust. So breakable, yet so strong. She had always supported with all she had, and always backed him up. She was his companion, his family. However, he could not afford these feelings, at least not at this moment. He would have to think later about it. If there was a later.

He pushed the crystal in the port. After a few seconds, Cortana appeared as a hologram. Her arms crossed and an eyebrow pulled up.

"Why did you take so long? Have you destroyed the whole Covenant? Or discovered the philosophies of the sense of the life? No, you have found your true love!"

He did not think about what she had said. After a few moments, he realized what had just happened. His subconsciousness had played a trick on him. He said nothing, to avoid any embarrassment.

She looked at him surprised. For the most, his behavior wasn't an answer, but for her...

She hasn't expected this. Now she frowned, however, her face relaxed again. She could not see his expression, but she knew to him this "answer" was more than embarrassing.

"We will talk about this. Now, let's finish the mission."

The doors behind the soldier shut quietly and flashed red.

"I have locked the doors. This should offer us a little privacy."

While Cortana copied the data from the ship core, he checked his equipment. This was one of his habits during a battle- in moments of silence he checks his weapons. The process was familiar to him in such a way that he could have carried it out in the darkness. It calmed him. At least, for some time.

The bridge was absolutely silent. Only the quiet humming of the ship in the background was heard. The silence stretched on for a few minutes, then the moment of peace faded away.

"Finis-" Cortana was interrupted by the sound of exploding plasma grenades not far from their current position.

"What was that?!"