Chapter One; What If?
What if things were different? What if he had known what was going to happen? What if he could have one last chance to save her?
John-117 sat in his quarters alone. His armor was on the ground in front of him, and he was sitting on his bed, staring at the disassembled dark green armor. He breathed a heavy sigh as he stood up, heading for the door. Life almost wasn't worth living with out her. He never got used to the quiet. Cortana would speak quite often, as he headed into the battle, most likely from the nervousness that had built up from so many close calls.
He pushed the button next to the door, and it slid into the roof. John walked out into the Infinity's hallways, his destination was the War Games Simulator. It was his best form of entertainment to comment on what the losing teams had done wrong, and then tell them how they should've done it.
Today was the first day of the Infinity Team Slayer Tournament. Twenty-seven teams had gathered to face off to prove that they were the best. John had considered entering, but he wanted all the teams to have a fair chance. The observation room overlooking the simulation field was filled with various Spartans, all cheering for their friends and teams.
Like always, as he entered a room, every last one of the occupants turned and stared at him, many seeing his bare face for the first time. John calmly walked over to the corner, and looked out the window. Several Spartans were fighting on a map called Erosion. The judges of the competiton had been bored out of their minds after the first three rounds of the slaughter fest.
John sighed as he heard the joyful cheering of the Spartan IVs as their team won the match. He was being deployed on a top secret mission, and even he didn't know of the details. He had three hours to prepare. John slowly put on his armor, piece by piece, which comsumed the waiting period. He grabbed his Assualt Rifle out of the corner of the room, and headed to the Pelican bay, where he was to be informed on his mission.
The cheers echoed through out the almost empty halls of the Infinity, and Humanity's Hero almost felt obsolete. The new Spartans were cheaper, weaker, but numerous. They treated him as a killing machine, not a human.
The Pelican bay was deserted, save for a small group of people in suits, and Captain Lasky. "Chief," Lasky adressed him as the Spartan approached. "They won't exactly give me any information on the mission, but, I hate to tell you," Lasky's voice was apologetic. "What they did tell me was that it involves you getting into a cryo pod. Which I can understand your hatred for them."
John inwardly groaned. He swore the day Cortana fell to rampancy, that he would never use those wretched things again. He would wait the slipspace travel out. "I'll do it, sir," he replied loyally. He would do it, even though he said he wouldn't. It had something to do with the chain of command.
"If you'll come with us, 117," one of the guys in a suit said. John followed him into the Infinity's cryo bay, and stopped outside of pod 16. It was the number of the one that he had stayed in aboard the Dawn, and he intended to use this one, as if he felt some sort of connection to it. He lay down, allowing the sleep to overcome him...