Halo: Savior of the Battlefield

Chapter One: Arrival

"It's about time," Dr. Halsey said as she locked eyes with the man whom she basically considered to be her son. She briskly walked over to him and smiled. "When I had heard on the Infinity that you were alive, I never stopped searching for you."

"Something has happened to Cortana."

Master Chief stated, ignoring her comment.

"Yes, I'm aware." Halsey replied. "She is long past her expiration date, John. Her rampancy is-"

"It has nothing to do with that." Chief interrupted aggressively. "I thought I lost her on the Didact's ship. When I found her again, she wasn't experiencing rampancy. She wasn't even the same AI I once knew."

Spartan Locke decided he felt like saying something. "She may have been influenced by the Forerunner technology within the Cryptum. I don't think she's controlling the Prometheans or the Guardian; I think they're controlling her."

The Arbiter stepped forward and shook his head. "Your speculation is wasting time. We must act only on what we know, and all we know is that she is out there and we must stop her." He directed his gaze towards the Master Chief and nodded. "Spartan, I am relieved to see you alive. I wish it were under better circumstances."

"Cortana is not that far gone." John insisted. "We can still bring her back."

The Arbiter looked up to the sky and sighed. "Were it so easy."

Linda rushed out to the opening of the Pelican and yelled, "John! We have confirmation of Cortana and the Guardian's location!"

Spartan Locke, still feeling like he's worthy of speaking, responded, "Let's go!"

The Arbiter waved him off. "No. Agent Locke, you and your team will stay here with my Elites to protect Dr. Halsey. I will go. I believe your Master Chief would not welcome your company as much as mine."

Locke hesitated, but realizing the Arbiter was infinitely stronger and more intelligent than him, he agreed to his terms. Shortly thereafter, Blue Team and the Arbiter departed Sanghelios in their Pelican. Linda and Fred cooperated to triangulate Cortana's exact position; in low orbit above Earth. It would normally be impossible to make it from Sanghelios to Earth in a timely manner, however the Arbiter equipped this Pelican with leftover Covenant technology which considerably increased its speed and efficiency. It would only require a few hours to arrive.

Kelly was piloting the ship with Linda, Fred, Chief and the Arbiter in the rear compartment.

"Spartan," the gold-plated elite began, "what do you intend to do when find Cortana?"

"Reason with her." The sage-green Spartan-II replied. "No one is going to harm her."

"John," Fred interjected, "I love you like a brother, but you said it yourself, she's not the same AI anymore. Reason and logic don't compute with her circuit systems like they used to. We know how important she is to you, but she is still a machine at her co-"

Master Chief turned to Fred aggressively and growled, "She is more than a machine. We're the machines, not her!"

Linda stood herself up and shook her head slowly. "John, this isn't like you." She gently placed her hand on his shoulder. "Listen, we're all still family, and we're with you all the way, but we need to know that you're still with us."

Master Chief paused, realizing his outburst that they all just witnessed. Before he could say anything, Kelly shouted, "We're here! And you're not going to like what you see!"

The Guardian spread itself wide as a slipspace portal appeared adjacent to itself.

"Where is it going?!" Fred inquired. "It's already at Earth!"

"Not where." Kelly replied. "When. I'm receiving scattered temporal readings from the rupture. It's time-travelling."

"We have to follow them in." Chief ordered.

"Woah woah woah," Fred worried. "Follow them in? That's insane."

"No," the Arbiter stopped him. "He is right. If we allow her to travel through time, who knows what she will do."

Kelly fully engaged the engines and pushed the throttle, following the Guardian through the slipspace portal close behind.

"You're in perfect health, Jack!" The Swiss female doctor confirmed.

"All those drugs pumped into me must be worth something after all," Morrison replied. "Thanks, Angela."

They briefly shook hands and embraced. Before Commander Morrison left the room, he turned to Dr. Ziegler and asked, "Are we still on for dinner tonight?"

Mercy chuckled and nodded in response. "Absolutely! See you at 7!" They waved at each other as the man finally left the room. Dr. Ziegler sighed and stretched her arms before rearranged her clipboards and papers. "What a busy day..." She muttered to herself. "I should probably go check on Winston. I can't imagine he's been exercising enough."

She finished arranging her supplies, exited her office, and locked the door behind her. Angela meandered her way over to Winston's laboratory just down the hallway. She knocked before letting herself in. "Winston?" She asked as she entered. "I'm just checking in on you."

The gorilla was seated at his desk scrolling through his computers. "Oh, Dr. Ziegler!" He exclaimed. "Come on in! Just the woman I wanted to see!"

She walked over to him, noticing his round physique. "You haven't been following your exercise routine." Her eyes locked onto the numerous empty jars of peanut butter on his desk. "Nor your dietary plan."

"Nevermind that," Winston dismissed, "I installed a new medical program into Athena! I thought you might like to have an assistant help you diagnose patients!"

"Well, that's nice, Winston, but I don't really nee-"

Her sentence was interrupted by the screams of civilians outside the building. The duo rushed over to the windows to notice a massive blue and gray machine floating in the atmosphere. "What..." Angela could barely muster a single word. She was in complete shock from witnessing such a monstrosity. An orange beam of light flashed the building and the duo shielded themselves with their arms, but the beam wouldn't have harmed them anyways. Winston turned around and noticed his previously blue computer screen turned orange. "Athena...?" He asked.

"Hello, Winston." Athena replied. "I have deleted all of your appointments today. The Mantle of Responsibility takes precedent over you."