The stars shone brightly in the dark skies of Sanghelios. The night was quiet, except for the chatter of the Arbiter's men. Most of the war camp was in good spirits; they had just won a war after all. But, the other half of the camp, the UNSC, were all subdued. They were potentially facing the biggest threat they ever had, and to make it worse, the one behind it all was a former ally.
For the Master Chief, it was one of the hardest things he had ever faced. Cortana was a person he had been at his side for eight years. They had been a team- a very efficient team. Their bond had went beyond friendship. It had been more. And now, it was all gone.
He had stuck to himself since Blue Team and Fireteam Osiris landed on Sanghelios. No one approached him, keeping a wary distance away from him. He could tell his team was worried, but he would talk to them later. Right now, he just wanted to be alone.
He sat on a rocky outcropping on the edge of the camp, his rifle dismantled around him as he was cleaning the parts. His hands slightly shook as he cleaned the barrel of the gun- most likely from fatigue and stress. He had been pushing himself harder than ever before the past couple of months. If he took a break, there was too much time to think, and his thoughts could consume him. That was the last thing he needed to happen at the moment.
Hearing heavy footsteps behind him, he turned his head to see Kelly standing there, her signature shotgun, Oathsworn, on her back. "We're going to be stuck here a while. The Infinity is having to make multiple jumps to avoid Cortana and her Guardians." She said quietly.
Feeling a hand hesitantly rest on his shoulder plate, he saw Kelly had crouched down by him. "We're here for you John. You know that. All of the UNSC is." John could hear the deeper meaning behind her words, and he appreciated it, but he didn't want it right now.
"Cortana made her choice. I don't need any condolences. She's our priority target now." He gruffly replied as he reassembled his gun before standing, placing it in it's holster on his back. He was lying to himself, and he knew Kelly could tell. But he couldn't bring himself to care. "Have we made any progress in finding her?" He asked, heading to the center of the camp.
"No, our systems are a mess because of her. We're doing everything we can, but it will be a while." Kelly informed him, keeping up pace with him "Halsey is doing her best."
John nodded, and looked around the camp as they walked. He saw Olympia Vale standing with a group of Sangheili celebrating their victory, and John could tell by her gestures and the bright look in her eyes she was enjoying the conversation. He saw Linda sitting on the far edge of the camp, her body completely still and her head lowered. She was meditating, an ancient practice she had believed in since they were children. In a way, it emphasized her "lone wolf" status amongst the team.
At the center of the camp, the Arbiter was standing around a table talking with Jameson Locke. It was ironic in a way that they were working together. Both the Arbiter and Locke had been some of John's biggest enemies before everything else had happened. After fighting the Flood together, John and the Arbiter had a mutual respect for each other, maybe even a friendship to some.
Agent Locke had been working against Blue Team to capture them and bring them home for going AWOL. Locke had said that Cortana was Fireteam Osiris' priority, which caused something to snap in John and they briefly fought, with John coming out the victor. After that, Osiris had been hot on Blue Teams trail, only to end up freeing them from Cortana's Cryptum. It had only been a few hours since then, but in the few words that Locke spoke to him, John could hear the respect in his voice.
Stepping up to the table, John placed his palms on it and leaned forward, "What's our status?" He asked them.
"More and more of our AI's and technology keeps getting overrun and shut down. Citizens across the galaxy are in disarray, gathering outside of ONI headquarters and demanding to know what's happening." Locke explained, study a hologram that was projected off the table.
The hologram was a live feed from ONI headquarters in Boston, down on Earth. There was indeed a crowd of people outside of it, holding signs and chanting together, demanding to know what was happening. There was a group of unarmed Marines outside in front of them, attempting to push them away from the base. But it was barely working.
The hologram switched over, to show a graphic of Sanghelios. Portions of the planet were flashing red, and a quiet beeping was coming from it. "My people's technology is slowly starting to shut down. All of our techs are on it, but it is uncertain if we can counter the attacks." The Arbiter spoke gravely, his mandibles clicking. "We come out of one war, only to be pushed right into another."
"What about the Infinity? Do we know anything else on their status?" Kelly asked, stepping up to stand by John.
"Negative Spartan. The comms are down for the most part. All we can do is wait and see." A voice behind them spoke, and Sarah Palmer limped up to them. She had various wounds visible on her from the Pelican crash, and walked with a slight limp. But there was a hardness in her eyes that showed she was battle ready.
Palmer looked at John, having to tilt her neck to look at his faceplate. "Master John, I suggest you and your team get some rest while you can. We don't know the next moment we'll have to relax will be." From her voice, John could tell she was taking charge over him at the moment.
John was about to reply and tell her that he was fine, when the holotable flickered and shut down. "What the hell?" Palmer asked, reaching for her Magnum.
"Contact!" Edward Buck yelled from his position at the edge of the camp, and John grabbed his assault rifle off his back.
"Kelly, Dr. Halsey to safety. Fred, with me. Linda, watch the outer edges of the camp and pick any off that you can." John ordered over Blue Team comms.
The acknowledgement lights flashed green, and Fred ran up to stand by John and they headed to the edge of the camp, which was overlooking a valley below. There was a large group of Prometheans down below. "Cortana's soldiers." Fred spoke by John, aiming down the sight on his battle rifle and starting to shoot.
With his senses starting to kick into hyperdrive, John jumped down into the valley, his armor taking the impact of the landing. A Crawler, startled by the landing, screeched at him and started to shoot. John took aim and fired a three round burst at it, efficiently killing it.
Feeling a hit on his back, John whirled around to see a Soldier with a Scattershot not too far behind him. John shot at it, and his shields took another hit from the Scattershot and blared in a warning. Ducking behind a nearby boulder, John crouched and shot at it, giving his shields a chance to reload.
Reloading, John heard a loud shot ring out, and when he looked for the Soldier, it was gone. Looking up, he saw Linda on the ledge above, her armor blending in against the rock. To anyone but a Spartan, she would practically be invisible.
John gave her a curt nod before turning and shooting down several Crawlers and a Soldier. He started to reload, only to have a Knight appear in front of him ram him back into the boulder, so hard the stone cracked. His shield bar rapidly drained, and John grit his teeth and pushed back against the Knight.
The Knight's faceplate opened and he screamed at John, raising his sword to strike. Moving his head to the side, John narrowly missed the blow. A shot rang out, and the Knight's helmet was knocked off.
Kicking out, John shoved the Knight back as it was distracted. He raised his gun to shoot, only for a knife to be stabbed through the Knight's head. As the body fell, John saw Vale jump back off the Knight's body, sheathing her knife. "Are you alright sir?" She asked, taking her submachine gun off her back.
John nodded curtly, "Fine. Don't focus on me, focus on the enemy." He finished reloading before turning back towards the enemies. Their number was rapidly going down, with the combined forces of the Spartans and the Elites.
He saw Arbiter down in the thickest of the fray, wielding his Energy Sword and slicing through a group of Crawlers. He shot a couple down, stepping forward and elbowing a Soldier out of the way, and Vale stabbed it and killed it from the side.
They fought their way through to the Arbiter, and Arbiter gave John a curt nod before going back to the battle. From there on they fought side-by-side, much like they had back when they were fighting the Flood, which was more than five years ago.
To John, everything was so much simpler back then.
Eventually, the last of the Prometheans fell under the Arbiter's sword. John reloaded one last time and put his gun on his back as Linda walked up behind him, Nornfang in her hands. "The area's clear sir." She told him.
John nodded before speaking over the comms to Kelly and Fred, "Any injuries?" He asked them.
"No sir. We're good." Fred replied back. "Dr. Halsey is safe too. She's up here with us." At the news, John relaxed slightly. She was an asset at the moment. If anyone would know how to defeat Cortana, it would be her.
A group of Elites approached Arbiter, and he growled some orders to them in Sangheili. The Elites nodded and spread out, Arbiter turned to John. "We've lost contact with our other war camps." He said gruffly, his mandibles clicking in irritation.
"What do you propose we do?" Locke asked as he walked up to approach John and the Arbiter, his battle rifle in his hands.
Arbiter didn't answer, instead looking to John, his mandibles clicking in thought. "You know Cortana better than any of us Demon. What is she trying to do?"
Cortana wasn't stupid. Far from it. She had infinite knowledge at her fingertips, along with an army. John knew that she had a strategy planned, and she would stop at nothing to succeed.
"She's trying to isolate everyone in the galaxy, pick us off one by one if we don't comply with the laws she's trying to enforce." John explained, "She's shutting down our technology to weaken us. She knows that we're practically defenseless without it."
Hearing footsteps, John turned and saw Dr. Halsey, the woman who had practically raised the Spartan-II's, approaching them. She had a data pad in her hand, and her face was grim. "Cortana has almost complete control over the technology on this planet. I've encrypted the base as best as I can, but it will only buy us some time." Halsey explained. "She will be able to hack and shut it down."
"She already knows we're here. It won't be long before she sends a Guardian." Locke jerked his battle rifle up to the sky before turning to Dr. Halsey. "Ma'am, is there any way you can shut Cortana down? She was created by you, from your brain."
At the mention of shutting down Cortana, John's breath hitched in his throat. He knew that she was the enemy, but it still hurt hearing that she might have to be shut down. It hadn't been easy on him, her 'death' on Requiem. It had hurt more than any bullet wound. And then when he found out she was alive, he got his hopes up only for them to be crushed at the realization she was the enemy.
The logical part of him told himself to just get over it, and that she had to be killed. But his heart was saying otherwise. "No, I unfortunately cannot. When her Rampancy 'killed' her, the killswitch would've been gone just like her. But since she was sucked into the Domain directly after, she was saved. But, she is directly tied with the Domain. There's nothing in my power that I can do to kill her." Halsey explained grimly.
"That's exactly right. You can't kill me." A cool voice floated through the air, and John and Locke whirled around, guns up, to see a Guardian appear out of Slipspace.
