Chapter 1: The Lord of
The Ring
Date: October 28, 2558
John-117 woke up from his long sleep to see a bright blue marble. Earth, he thought, I'm finally back. It's been a long time since I was last here. The chief had drifted through space for nearly a year after escaping Requiem, the Forerunner planet. To escape, he had to leave Cortana, one of his only remaining friends, who was going rampant on an alien world. He then commandeered a Forerunner ship and put Earth's coordinates into the NAV computer. Now, after a well-deserved sleep, he was finally home.
Aboard Orbital Defense Station Moscow, a radar operator noticed a small contact heading toward the orbital defense grid. He notified Birkutgrad Station and began to track the new contact. He opened a hailing frequency and spoke into his headset. "This is Orbital Defense Station Birkutgrad. Identify yourself or you will be fired upon." What the operator got for a response shocked him to his very core.
"This is Sierra 117. Does anyone hear me?"
The technician stood up for a second and gathered his wits, then answered with a trembling voice: "M-m-master Chief? Y-you're dead! You have to be!"
The Chief replied, saying an ONI directive that everyone knew: "Spartans never die, sailor. They're just missing in action.
One hour later, John was onboard the UNSC Aegis Fate speaking to Lord Hood. After about 5 minutes of silence, Lord Hood spoke up,
"Chief… it's nice to see you're not dead. But how? You were killed when the Ark portal collapsed, the entire fleet saw it."
John replied, "Only the Arbiter and the bow of the Dawn went through the portal. I was left behind, and after a few years I landed on a Forerunner planet. That's where I found the ship I flew."
He paused for a moment, and then said remorsefully, "It's also where I left Cortana."
The admiral stared into the Chief's eyes with his battleship grey ones. "Why, Chief? Why did you leave one of the most valuable AIs humanity has ever made on a planet beyond the edge of the galaxy?"
The armored Spartan met Hood's gaze and replied, "I had no choice. She was rampant and I did what I had to do. Besides, we have all her data here."
The older man looked toward the soldier and looked at him with a steely gaze and told him, "Everyone needs to do what they must do. I understand completely, soldier. Now, get some rest. You could use it."