The Reclamation. Chapter 4: Going AWOL

After delivering the Orbis Signifer to Glassman Chief silently walked next to Lasky, who looked like he had a great many things on his mind.

"Sir, I'll need a secure location to report to Admiral Osman."

"Of course, Chief. There is a conference room just up this hallway you can use." He paused and said, "If you find you will be with us awhile, Commander Palmer and I have set aside quarters you and Blue Team can use on S deck. They've been outfitted to accommodate your Spartan class."

"Thank you Captain."

He nodded, then held his arm out indicating they had arrived. "Secure line is just in here. Roland will contact me if you need anything else." John nodded at Lasky then stepped inside.

He walked up to the screen, entered the code, and waited. When it connected and revealed Osman's office, John was surprised to see not Osman on the other side, but a dark blue cube floating above the desk.

"Master Chief."

"And you are?"

"Names are irrelevant, a human invention, which any self-respecting AI would do without."

"I see."

"I doubt you do, but it that matters little. However, if you must refer to me, you may call me BB. Admiral Osman is in a meeting, but wishes you to stay where you are so she may debrief you as soon as time allows."

The Chief found it odd an AI would answer a standard report in, and odder still was that this AI appeared to be smart. "You the Admiral's assistant I take," John said.

Its dark blue hue became even darker as it said, "I am many things, but personal assistant is not one of them. I am merely conveying this information because we are on a time schedule and it is efficient."

"I apologize for the offense."

"I cannot be offended be because Offence is a human emotion. I only wish to correct your error."

John seriously doubted that, but he let it go not wishing to speak to the AI any longer. "I will wait," he said.

"Good." The screen went blank.

The Chief stood at attention, and waited.

After a few minutes the screen flickered, and words began to scroll across it.

Chief. It's me.

He stopped. "Cortana?"

You have to leave John. You have to go right now and stop them before it's too late. They...

The words got cut off and the screen went black. "Where are you?" he asked. "Tell me how to find you."

"John." The Chief jolted as he heard Cortana's voice calling to him. They're coming and no one will be able to stop them. You have to go Chief. You have to go to Meridian."

"Cortana."

"Hurry John," her voice echoed. "Don't trust Osman Chief," she whispered.

John formed a fist and placed it behind his back, staring out the window.

Don't trust Osman? The Chief wondered what Cortana could mean by that.

What am I doing? He thought. What if she's alive? He took the chip out of his armor and stared at it, brushing his finger over the top.

The thought stuck with him. What if she's alive? Trapped somewhere and trying to communicate with me? If there's even a chance, I have to take it.

He promised he would take care of her, and he intended to keep that promise. They'll never let me go after her, he realized. She had sacrificed everything for him, and now it was his turn. He wouldn't rest until he figured out the truth.

John quickly strode out of the conference room and began to walk down the hallway. He would need to retrieve his equipment and then get off Infinity as soon as possible. What about my team? The Chief knew he would have to leave them behind. He couldn't ask them to disobey direct orders and risk being dishonorably discharged or court marshaled. This is my mission.

John stepped into the bullet car. "Deck 25," he croaked. I should have gone to the Ark as soon as Cortana told me to. I've wasted precious time.

"I'm coming Cortana," he said out loud, hoping she could hear him. "I promise."

John got off the bullet car and made his way to Dr. Glassman's lab. The Orbis was still activated and floating in a containment field while several machines ran tests.

"Master Chief," Dr. Glassman said surprised.

"Change of plans Doctor. I'm going to need the Orbis Signifer back."

"Uhh...I'm sorry, Chief. But uh, the program is scheduled to run for another four hours and it's in containment," he said nervously.

"So shut it down."

"I can't."

John looked at him silently for a moment. "I'm sorry Doctor." John reached out his hand toward the sphere, closed his eyes and called it with his mind. The Orbis shook, compressed and shattered several glass panels as it flew towards him. John caught it and stuck it to his armor.

"How did you do that?" Glassman asked shocked.

John wasn't completely sure, but he couldn't be bothered with thinking about that right now. He left Dr. Glassman standing in shock as alarms went off.

The Chief entered the bullet car once again and told it to take him to ship bay. He hoped the Phoenix was stocked and ready to go, as he would need the supplies. As soon as he entered the hanger bay he found Captain Lasky waiting for him.

"Chief! Please don't this," Lasky said jogging at his side while John strode.

"I'm sorry Captain, but I have to."

"I think I know what this is about."

"Then you know I have no choice."

"Chief, listen. We've been getting reports of…."

John stopped and looked down at Lasky. Worry laced the Captain's face.

John placed a hand on Lasky's shoulder in an attempt to reassure him and said, "I know what I'm doing." He lifted his hand and continued to walk away. The Chief found Blue Team waiting for him at the entrance of the Phoenix.

"All of you will stay here," he said, his tone taking a harsh edge.

"Like hell we are," Linda shot back.

"This is something I have to do, but I won't risk your careers and your lives because of it. I need to go alone."

"With no backup? Absolutely not. We're coming with you," Fred said.

"We're with you Chief," Kelly said quietly. "Family sticks together."

John stared at all of them and realized Blue Team wasn't going to let him go alone. "Get in," he said finally.

The bay doors closed, and Roland appeared in the Chief's HUD. "I could stop you."

"Let them go Roland," Lasky said over the coms.

"Sir?"

"That's an order Roland."

"Fine. But, between you and me," Roland said to John, "I spoke with Cortana before you both left. And you know what she said to me?" John remained silent. "She told me that Lasky was a good man and I needed to watch his back. You're putting him in a terrible position where…he could get in a lot of trouble, so…."

"I know."

"Then I hope you know what you're doing," Roland said before he disappeared.

I have to find her.

The ship disengaged from Infinity. "Where are we headed?" Kelly asked.

"Meriden," Chief replied. "We don't have much time." Kelly turned to head up to the flight deck. "Wait." she stopped.

John looked at Blue Team and said, "thank you."

They nodded but otherwise made no responses. Kelly left and went up to the flight deck.

"It's a short jump to Meridian from here," Linda said while packing up her Sniper Rifle.

"The planet was glassed by the Covenant towards the beginning of the war. Why is it so important Chief?" Fred asked.

"I don't know," John said.

"I've cut off all communications with the UNSC and disabled our broadcast signal. We're officially off the grid. SlipSpace jump in 3…2…1…mark," Kelly announced over coms.

John walked up to the Command deck and sat down next to Kelly. He closed his eyes and leaned back, feeling dizzy and tired. It felt as if his mind was unraveling. So much was happening he couldn't make sense of. Were these strange memories of Forerunner technology because of Cortana? No. Since he first landed on Alpha Halo Forerunner technology had always seemed familiar to him. But why that feeling was getting more intense, he couldn't say.

Cortana. Was he chasing a ghost?

"Chief?"

"What is it Kelly?"

"We'll be exiting Slip Space in about 5 minutes."

"Fred, Linda, strap in. Things could get bumpy."

John tapped on the coms button to see if he could pick up any chatter and get a read on the situation. It was coming up completely blank. "I'm not getting any radio chatter," he said to Kelly. "Nothing. It's almost as if…everything has gone dark."

"That can't be good."

"Fred, Linda, we may be flying into a hostile situation."

"Rodger Chief."

"Prepare to exit Slip Space," Kelly said as she powered down the engines. As Meridian came into view they saw a large Covenant ship in orbit around the planet. "Damn," Kelly said under her breath.

"We need to find out if particular vessel belongs to the Swords of Sanghelios or the Reformed Covenant," the Chief said.

"I'm detecting fighters launching, Chief," Kelly said as a shot went across the bow of their ship.

"I think that answers our question," he said wryly.

"Doing evasive maneuvers." Kelly took the controls and with her lightning fast reflexes began to fly the ship away from danger. He took control of the ships weapons and began to fire at the targets.

"Hang on!" Kelly slammed on the controls and barrel rolled the ship to the left in order to avoid a Covenant fighter.

The Chief adjusted the weapons and took it out. We need to land the ship immediately, the Chief thought. He looked at the data coming from the computer about the planet and saw where the Covenant had decided to land.

His mind cracked and a vision flicked. There's a Guardian here, he realized. The Covenant have no idea what the Guardian's true purpose is or how to use it. "Kelly, route us to where the Covenant have landed on the planet."

"It's going to get bumpy," she said as she changed course.

"I know. Fred, Linda, get to the escape pods and prepare for drop on my mark." He saw their acknowledgments flicker on. To Kelly he said, "How…"

"…Long? Figure we can get to 5,000 kilometers above our target before we get blasted."

"Good enough. Kelly I'll take the controls. Get to the escape pods."

"Like hell. I can get us closer and you know it."

John remained silent. She was right of course, but he couldn't help but worry about his team. Though Kelly continued to weave through the Covenant with impressive speed, the ship was taking on damage. It was impossible to avoid getting hit with this many fighters. John looked at the screen.

"Kelly…."

"Almost there," she said pulling the ship up and flying across the top of the Covenant Cruiser. The Chief targeted a turret and fired. It was destroyed, but not before it managed to get a hit off.

"Weapons down."

Kelly cleared the Covenant ship and began to race towards the planet.

"Engines Failing," she reported as an alarm sounded on the ship. "Time to go."

"Fred. Linda, eject. We'll see you down on the planet." Their acknowledgment lights flickered on. He and Kelly ran through the ship.

"Here's the first escape pod. Get in."

"Chief I—"

"Go!" She nodded her head than got in.

The ship lurched, and John knew there was only a matter of moments before it was going to come apart. He climbed into the next pod, made sure the Orbis was secure and ejected. "Seventeen seconds until impact," The automated voice said. John waited.

4…3…2…1… The pod slammed into the planet's surface with a sickening thud causing the Chief to jolt forward. Emergency lights flickered.

"Kelly, Fred, Linda, Report!"

"I'm here," Kelly said out of breath.

"I am too."

John waited for Linda to respond. "Linda?" There was still nothing. John felt his vitals spike. He couldn't afford to lose anyone else. "Linda!"

"I'm here, Chief." She said slowly. "Just passed out momentarily."

"Are you hurt?"

"Negative."

He breathed a sigh of relief. "Good. Make your way to my location as soon as you can. Chief out."

John kicked open the door to his pod, took the weapon which was stored in it and stepped onto the planet. The winds whipped as he looked over the expanse. Molten earth which had hardened into glass stuck out in large jagged shards at odd angles. Even in his suit, getting across the terrain would be time consuming.

The Chief activated the Orbis Signifer and asked it to scan for a Guardian. It blinked, then showed him the exact location and that the systems were on standby. Standby? How did they turn on from being inert all these years?

The Orbis asked if he wished to activate its defense systems. No, and he told it to go on lock down. No one but himself would be allowed to have access. He transferred the coordinates of the Guardian to his HUD display and deactivated the Orbis.

He saw Fred first, and Linda next. Kelly was the last to arrive as her pod had fallen the furthest away.

"Let's go," he called. "We have a lot of ground to cover. The Guardian is 2500 kilometers NW of our position." He transferred to Coordinates to the rest of his team, and they began to move.

"Covenant converging on our position Chief," Fred said.

John saw a Wraith tank come over a hill, shattering the molten glass earth in the process. Behind it were two ghosts, and a group of Elites, Jackals with a combination of Needlers and Beam Rifles, and thirty or so Grunts. He and Fred looked at each other, and Fred swiped the smile gesture across his helmet. Fred took off to the left, John to the right.

As the Wraith began to shoot, John and Fred began to zigzag sides while Kelly dashed to the far left, intending to come around back of the group. A shot went off behind them as Linda sniped the Jackals. John and Fred continued to run toward the tank. One of them could kill it, but their goal was to capture the tank. If they could manage it, breaking through the Covenant forces would be a lot easier. Fred would go for the gunner and he would pull the driver. Fred reached the tank first and leaped up the side. While the gunner was distracted John opened the tank's main door and shot the driver. He pulled the body out, then immediately jumped in. There was always another Covenant in the tanks.

He spotted a grunt who saw him, screamed and said, "why didn't I just stay home? De…" the Chief shot him dead.

"Fred. Status?"

"All secure Chief."

"Kelly, Linda, we've secured the tank."

"Rodger Chief, I'm on a Ghost," Kelly reported.

"I'm right behind you." Linda said. John waited until he saw Fred get into the tank with him and sit down at the controls.

"Piece of junk," Fred commented. The Chief nodded. Though some weapons the Covenant made were superior to the UNSC, this was not one of them. The main gun took too long to fire, and they were a pain to drive. Still, it was better than going on foot.

John began to drive.

"Bad News Chief. Main gun only has about 10 shots left," Fred reported.

"Linda what's the status of the turret?"

"Same Chief, it's nearly empty."

"Ghost's energy is low as well. We only just got here, why the weapons are nearly drained?"

"Stay sharp."

"Three Wraith Tanks 9:00. I'll see if I can get one to chase me," Kelly said. John watched her ghost veer to the left. He drove the Wraith at an angle and Fred began to fire the main gun. The Wraith lurched as it took a hit from one of the tanks.

"Keep firing on the one to right Fred."

"Got the gunner on the left Chief," Linda said.

John looked at the sensors. Kelly had managed to take out one of the Wraith tanks with her ghosts. Their tank took another hit.

"Target destroyed," Fred said. "We have about three shots left."

Kelly whizzed the Ghost around the back of their tank and came for another pass. John reversed to avoid a blast of energy and Fred fired the remaining two shots.

"Got it," Fred said.

"Ghost on your 6," Kelly said.

"Linda?"

"On it Chief."

Though the Ghost wasn't as powerful, it was quick and could get off more shots.

"The back left side of the Wraith's hull is breached Chief," Fred told him.
"Grenade!" Linda shouted.

John leaped up, opened the hatched and pulled Fred out just as the Grenade went off. They both flew back off tank, causing their shields to drop to zero.

John and Fred stood up to see more Covenant forces coming towards them, but he bulk of the Covenant forces were in the air and appeared to be leaving the planet. John watched and realized they were running from something.

"Chief are you seeing this?" Linda asked.

"Blue Team, regroup at my position," the Chief said over the coms.

As the Covenant descended into the small valley below them he and Blue Team saw what it was they were running from.

They were white creatures with red eyes pursuing the Covenant, and there were many different types. Some were tall and skinny, others larger and lumbering, but all looked like they were made of the same thing. John knew these creatures were the same as the one that was on the bridge of the Phoenix, and he saw one creature which looked the same as what spoke to him with Cortana's voice. She must have been trying to warn me.

"Chief!" Kelly said. "Look there," her voice sounded astonished.

"It can't be…" Fred said echoing her emotion.

"Is that…the Flood?" Kelly whispered.

John looked and saw hundreds of small crawling white shapes that indeed looked like Flood. Pain shot through his mind and memories began to flash, a sickening feeling crawling over him, as profound as the first time he had discovered the terrible truth. Oh no. "Not exactly," he said finally. "It's much worse."

"How do you mean Chief?" Linda was pulling out her sniper.

"They, are the Precursors."

"Who?" Fred turned sharply.

"I can't explain now," the Chief said putting a new clip into his Assault Rifle, "but they and the Flood are one and the same."

Authors Note:

Precursors! Though I won't say anything about them specifically in this little note, I will say I seriously hope the Precursor's are indeed the new enemy 343i is refusing to tell us anything about.

Ryan: I absolutely love talking Halo lore. You're right, there is so much to discover in the media outside the games, you just have to look for it. In fact, that's one of my favorite things about Halo. In learning how 343i operates I'm finding that EVERYTHING is deliberate (I think that's Frankie's influence). It's why people have spent so much time analyzing trailers and such this go around, because there's a lot of information being given in the subtle details. For instance, what does the crumbling Chief statue in the Hunt the Truth live action trailer tell us? It tells us a lot actually. I find it's rather fun to try and piece together how everything fits. :-)

Thanks for reading everyone!