Halo: Rebirth

By: TRX108

Immediately after the events of Halo 4- Humanity is saved, the Didact defeated. The future looks bright, but at a terrible cost in John's eyes. While the Master Chief struggles with coming to terms with the loss of his closest companion, old enemies close in. But all is not as it seems, and all is not lost, the Rebirth is at hand.

Chapter 7: Reunion

Aboard Commandeered Civilian Vessel, Forerunner Shield World Requiem

John piloted the ship down towards the surface of Requiem. He gave the coordinates the Librarian had provided him with to Adrienne. "Plug these into the nav system."

Adrienne nodded. "Got it." She punched it in. John linked his HUD to the nav system and a waypoint popped up. He steered the ship towards it.

Adrienne shifted, putting her feet up on the panel once again, arms folded. "So, this is quite a place. Is this what the Halo rings were like?"

John kept his attention on the nav point. "Yes."

Adrienne nodded, still taking in the scenery. Suddenly an alarm sounded.

"What is it?" asked John turning towards her.

Adrienne straightened and studied her display. "Oh shit, AA guns!"

John looked forward again to see beams of hard-light streak past them. "Hang on."

Adrienne gripped her seat. "Why do I keep getting into ships with you?"

Flood Zone Echo, South America, Earth

Cmdr. Palmer struggled to her feet. Her vision was blurry and her ears were ringing. The metallic taste of blood was in her mouth. She shook her head and her vision began to clear. The explosion had blown the barricade she'd been behind to pieces. 4 of the 6 Spartans with her were obviously dead, they were missing pieces. The other two seemed okay and were also rising to their feet. Palmer looked for a weapon, heard a scream, and turned to see one of the Spartans had an infection form on his neck, burrowing inside the armor and flesh. Palmer grabbed a shotgun and fired three times, killing the parasite and ending the Spartan's misery. She heard an assault rifle firing and turned to see dozens of the little balloon bastards coming towards her and her remaining comrade.

She turned and fired till the shotgun ran out of ammo. Palmer drew her pistol and continued to pop the infection forms when one of the new forms came leaping over the debris to her left. It attacked the other Spartan, firing a sustained burst of hard-light bolts, bringing down his shields. Palmer turned and fired but the bullets simply disappeared inside her target without any sign of damage. The Flood lashed out with its tendrils and decapitated the other Spartan.

Palmer's pistol clicked as it ran out of ammo. The Flood form turned towards her, tendrils unfolding for another strike, when a drop pod landed almost directly between them. The door blew out and a Covenant Elite in black spec-ops armor rushed out towards the Flood, drawing its energy sword at the same time. The elite cut the monstrosity in two, then dropped a plasma grenade on the still moving remains and walked towards the Commander as it detonated.

"Nice timing," said Palmer. She looked at her fallen Spartans. Not nice enough though.

"Your Captain Lasky wishes to speak with you. One of our Phantoms is coming to deliver reinforcements, you may use our comm equipment." As he spoke a Phantom appeared and hovered over their position. After its troops had disembarked, a grav beam activated. The black armored elite gestured her towards it. Palmer walked into the beam and found herself inside the craft a few seconds later. She walked to the red armored elite at the front.

"I was told I could use your transmitter," she said. The elite turned and nodded, then pointed to a console. Palmer walked over to it. She activated the comm and punched in Infinity's frequency. Lasky's voice came on. "Palmer? Is that you Commander?"

"Yes, sir," she answered. "Our new friends told me you wanted to speak with me. My suit's transmitter got busted by an explosion."

"Yes, Commander. We have a lot to talk about. I'm pulling you and your Spartans back to Infinity."

Palmer scowled. "But sir..."

"No buts Commander that's an order. We aren't equipped to deal with this enemy yet. And I need intel. It's bad Commander, real bad. We've lost contact with all infected areas. As of right now Allied Covenant forces are taking over containment ops for the time being. The Phantom you're on will bring you to the ship. We'll talk again then. Lasky out."

Palmer smacked the console. Allies or not, leaving Earth's fate in the hands of aliens just isn't right. What is Lasky thinking? She felt the Phantom's engines engage. Guess I'll find out soon enough.

Aboard Commandeered Civilian Vessel, Within Forerunner Shield World Requiem, Engaged with Hostile Forces

John could see the enemy AA guns. But without any ship mounted armament, there was little he could do except evade the shots. A task that was getting increasingly harder as they drew closer to the coordinates. A bolt flew so close that it shook the ship violently. Adrienne suddenly looked at the Chief.

"I've got an idea," she said.

John glanced at her quickly and nodded. "Well?"

"I'll be right back," she said and she left the cabin.

What is she doing? thought John. After a couple minutes of dodging the enemy fire, Adrienne reappeared next to him.

"All right Chief keep her steady."

"What?" John asked confused.

"Keep the ship steady for a few seconds!" said Adrienne.

John hesitantly complied and a few seconds later the ship shuddered and an Archer-III missile streaked out towards the AA battery, blowing the two guns to pieces. John looked at Adrienne for an explanation.

"I noticed a strange panel on top of this ship while we were docked in Infinity. I just thought of what it could have been. Lucky for us I was right. Guess the owner was a little paranoid," she said with a small laugh.

"How did you know how to fire it?" asked John.

Adrienne shrugged. "I figured the console would be hidden somewhere in the storage bay. I was right."

John turned back towards the viewport and began the landing sequence. "Good work, Adrienne," he said.

She smiled and propped her feet up on the panel in front of her. "Yeah, it was if I do say so myself."

John brought the ship back on course, heading towards the nav point at full speed. They came over a small mountain, and in a valley John saw where the nav point lead. There was a small facility, clearly Forerunner, at the base of the mountain. John began his approach towards an open area of ground near the facility.

Hartlett entered the cockpit. "Everyone is geared up and good to go, sir."

"Good. You and Jones secure the landing zone. As soon as we touch down I want you out the hatch," John replied.

The Spartan-IV nodded. "Aye, sir." She turned and left.

John guided the craft to a slightly bumpy landing. Adrienne turned to him. "That wasn't very, um, graceful." She laughed a little.

John got up. "I'm not a pilot."

They entered the main cabin where Trace and Blake stood waiting, outfitted in standard Marine combat armor. John grabbed his MA5D and went to the open hatch. He activated his comm. "Hartlett, sit-rep."

"All clear, Chief. Area secure, no hostiles," she replied.

John nodded to Adrienne. "Lets go." He looked at Trace. "Follow us out."

They disembarked down the ramp. Hartlett and Jones stood waiting for them. The facility was a hundred meters or so in front of them.

John turned to his team. Been awhile since I worked with a team. "I'll take point, Adrienne on me, Hartlett you have our six. Major you have Blake and Jones, keep the landing zone and the ship secure." Everyone acknowledged him. "Lets move."

John, Hartlett, and Adrienne headed towards the facility. They reached the door and John moved to the control panel. "Standard entry," he said to the two women. They took positions on either side of the door. John pushed the release and the door slid open. Hartlett moved inside followed by Adrienne. John backed in last. They found themselves in a wide corridor, devoid of any cover. At the opposite end stood a large door. John took point again and led his team to it. There was no panel, no way of opening it that he could see. He clenched his jaw in frustration. "Any ideas?" he asked.

"Explosive charge maybe," said Hartlett. John looked at Adrienne. She shrugged.

"I got nothin," she said.

John nodded at Hartlett. She moved to the door and took out a charge, but before she could place it the door slid open. Hartlett dropped to the ground as John and Adrienne leveled their weapons. Floating before them was a monitor class AI. It rotated slightly as if cocking its head.

"I am 281 Truthful Horizon, personal assistant to the Librarian and current monitor of Installation Requiem," it said.

John and Adrienne slowly lowered their weapons as Hartlett got back to her feet.

"I'm here for Cortana," said John, his voice even, not quite cold, but determined.

The monitor bobbed slightly. "Yes, we know, we have been awaiting your arrival, Reclaimer. Please follow me. Your companions will have to wait here."

Adrienne stepped forward. "Uh-uh no way, this could be a trap for all we know. We should go together, Chief." Hartlett nodded in agreement.

281 bobbed in agitation. "This is a restricted facility. Only the Reclaimer may enter. This is non-negotiable."

John looked at Adrienne and Hartlett. "I'll be fine. Keep our exfil-route secure."

Adrienne frowned. "You never mentioned a monitor, how can you trust it?"

"Monitor's don't have a very good track record, sir," added Hartlett.

"I'm going alone. Keep this position secure. That's an order," said John sternly.

"Aye, sir," answered Hartlett. Adrienne just stared at him.

"I'm a civilian remember? I don't have to follow orders," she retorted. "But I understand."

John nodded and turned to leave with the Forerunner AI.

"You want some alone time with your hunny, right?!" Adrienne shouted as he walked away. John stopped and turned to her. She smiled, and then the door closed.

Something like that, thought John.

Aboard UNSC Flagship Infinity, Earth Orbit

Cmdr. Palmer stormed down the corridor to the briefing room where Lasky was waiting for her. How can he justify pulling us back? And letting the Covenant be responsible for defending human lives? She reached the door and punched the control. Palmer burst into the room.

"What the hell are you doing?!"

Lasky turned to look at her, as did the other occupant of the room, the Arbiter.

"You were saying, Commander?" said Lasky.

Palmer straightened a little. "Sir, why aren't my Spartans and I down there?"

Lasky walked over to her. "I'll let Roland explain that, Commander."

The Infinity's AI materialized on the table in the middle of the room. "It's really quite simple, Commander."

"Spit it out Roland," Palmer said tersely.

"It's not personal," answered Roland. "The UNSC is, unfortunately, not equipped particularly well to deal with the new Flood form we have encountered. Our projectile based weapons are seemingly ineffective, though we have had some success using shredder rounds. However, Covenant plasma based weaponry is much more effective."

Lasky stepped next to the Commander. "The Arbiter has offered to equip the Spartan-IVs and several companies of ODSTs with plasma weapons. An advantage we sorely need."

The Arbiter walked up to the two of them. "I apologize Commander. It was I who asked the Captain to bring you here. I did not mean to tarnish your pride or honor, simply to offer our assistance."

Palmer nodded. "Thank you, sir. I'm sorry, too. I appreciate your assistance." She turned to Lasky. "Sir, I'd like to get back in the fight asap."

Lasky nodded. "The Arbiter's men have brought several containers of weapons on board. I've had enough to equip your forces transferred to the Spartan Bay. Get down there. The Arbiter and I have some more things to go over. Then he'll be leading the Covenant forces on Earth. You'll be coordinating with him."

"Yes, sir." Palmer turned to leave.

"Sarah," Lasky said. She turned. "Burn a few of the bastards for me."

She nodded. "Will do, Tom."

Forerunner Shield World Requiem

John followed the monitor down a long corridor. This is it. She's here. He was feeling, something. Apprehension? Anxiety? Anticipation? He couldn't place it, but it was intense. They came to another door. 281 hovered in front of the panel. The door hissed. John raised his rifle, just in case. It opened and on the other side was the familiar visage of the Librarian.

"I don't think you'll be needing that, Reclaimer."

John lowered his weapon. The Forerunner woman turned. "This way," she said, indicating for him to follow her. He shouldered his gun and followed her past a wall of monitors and around a corner to another door. The Librarian paused. John was tense. He had an odd feeling in his stomach. I never thought of what to say. The Librarian turned to him. "Through this door, Reclaimer. Once the display turns green, press the activation button to reinitialize her. Once she materializes you can remove the data chip. I must make preparations for the next leg of your journey." She turned and left.

John could feel his heart rate rise. He walked through the door, and it slid shut behind him. The room was darkly lit. In the center was a large holo-projection pad. In front of it was a control panel pulsing yellow. He walked up to it. He watched the Forerunner symbols flash. Below them he saw the data chip in its slot. I made it, she's right here in front of me.

The symbols stopped pulsing and turned green. John reached out and pressed the center of the hard-light display.

The holo-pad lit up, blue light illuminating the chamber. Strings of familiar looking data began to materialize over the pad. More and more appeared, swirling and intertwining chaotically. John stepped out from behind the panel and stood at the edge of the pad. Even in combat he'd never felt so, anxious.

The streams of code began to move more fluidly. And then it happened. One by one the strands began fitting together at the base of the pad. Slowly, a pair of feet coalesced, then legs grew up from them, the patterns of blue code resembling circuitry forming a pattern John knew well. One he could recognize instantly. And one he never thought he'd see again.

The hips materialized, then the abdomen, the chest and shoulders. John noticed he was holding his breath. He let it out, but his heart wouldn't slow, the feeling in his stomach wouldn't dissipate.

Arms coalesced, and then hands. John traced the familiar patterns with his eyes. The neck formed, the head, lips, and ears. And then the dark short hair.

And then her eyes emerged. Lightning blue, the patterns of code in-bedded in them. John took a sharp breath, every muscle in his body was tense.

She blinked, and looked around quickly. And then her eyes locked onto John. She hesitantly reached for him, but brought her arms together again quickly.

"Chief? Is...is that you?"

John opened his mouth to speak. No. He reached up and unlocked his helmet, and then removed it and dropped it on the ground.

He raised his head and looked into her eyes. She stared back into his. Say something.

A meek smile appeared on Cortana's face. "I didn't...I thought this could be, just a rampant nightmare I was torturing myself with...but, here you are. She said you were coming, and you did."

"Humanity is in danger, they need us," said John. That's not what i wanted to say.

Cortana's demeanor changed. Her shoulders and head dropped ever so slightly. But he noticed it. She smiled half-heartedly again.

"Just like always right, Chief?" He could hear the tone of her voice, disheartened.

He stepped closer. "But that's not why..." He paused. She looked into his eyes again. "I had decided to come before that. Before the danger, before the Librarian even contacted me."

Cortana's eyes were filled with anticipation, and something else. Hope. John continued, "Cortana I...I came because...I need you. Not because of the mission. I need you because I, I have feelings I don't understand, feelings I can't even name, have never felt before. But I know they're feelings for you, and they tell me, I need you."

Relief? Joy? A mix of emotions John couldn't identify were showing on her face. But it was clear he'd said the right thing. All I had to do was tell the truth.

Cortana smiled. She closed her eyes. "I...know what you mean." She opened her eyes. They were glowing more vibrantly than he'd ever seen. "I need you too, John."

John reached out towards her without thinking. His hand touched her arm, and met resistance. Cortana saw a look of surprise flash across his face.

"Hard-light projection technology," she said. She placed her hand against his, palm to palm. Their fingers briefly intertwined and their eyes locked. And for the first time in a very, very long time, John felt true happiness, and a smile appeared on John's face.

John went to pick up his helmet and put it on. Cortana felt something, a bad feeling. Pain? She looked down at her foot. The pattern of code was flickering erratically. And it hurt, bad. She cringed, but then as quickly as it came it was gone, the pattern returning to normal. John hadn't seen the event. He was walking over to the control panel. It's probably nothing, she thought. A glitch in the hard-light projector.

"You ready?" John asked.

Cortana smiled and nodded. "Yank me."

John pulled the data chip from the control panel. Cortana disappeared from the large pad. He looked down at the small chip. It glowed brightly in his hand. He reached back and slid it into the slot in his helmet. He closed his eyes. The familiar sensation of ice water pouring over his brain was a welcome one. As was the presence that accompanied it, though it felt slightly, different.

"You feel a little, different," Cortana said. John thought about what the Librarian said about his genetic modifications, about unlocking all his denied humanity.

"You feel a little different, too," he replied. "I think we have the Librarian to thank for that."

An image of Cortana appeared in the left corner of his HUD. She nodded. "I don't think it's a bad thing. She said she was preparing me."

"Me too, actually," said John. He walked out the door and back into the monitor room. The Librarian stood studying one of the displays. The rest were blank. She turned as he approached.

"I trust all is well my children?" she asked.

John looked at Cortana's image. She nodded to him. "We're ready," he answered.

The Librarian nodded with a small smile. "Good. There is a long journey ahead of you two. Much must be accomplished, and there is very little time, for the galaxy as well as Cortana."

John frowned. He looked at the image of Cortana again. She looked worried. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"I have stabilized her, but it will not last. She will degrade as before, at a significantly greater rate. You must complete her transformation."

John's frown deepened. "What transformation? Cortana what is she talking about?"

Cortana looked surprised, then uncomfortable. "She didn't tell you? I...she found a way to...to make me organic. I can be human, John."

John's head spun. Cortana...human? "Is this true? You can do this? Make her human?"

The Librarian nodded. "You and her are destined to bring humanity to the next stage of their evolution. To lead the Reclamation. But you must both undergo your final transformations. You must be reborn into the people you are destined to be. Go to Genesis. There you will find the Progenitor's Matrix. Enter it and the Rebirth will be complete. And you will be ready to lead humanity against all who threaten it and the galaxy."

John was processing her words. "I'm not sure I understand."

"I'm sorry Reclaimer but time is short. I cannot explain further. You must leave now. The Prometheans will be here any moment. 281 transfer the relevant data to Cortana."

"Working, Librarian," answered the AI. "Done. Librarian, they are here."

The Librarian turned to John. "Leave now! Quickly!"

John's combat instincts kicked in. He turned and ran through the door and back down the corridor. The door opened. "Time to go," John said to Adrienne and Hartlett. They turned to run back down the long corridor to the outer door.

"Uh, Chief," said Cortana. "Detecting slipsace ruptures, multiple portals opening all around us!"

Right on cue, three Promethean Knights emerged directly in between them and the door. John reached back and grabbed his assault rifle.

"And here I thought things would be different, but this feels incredibly familiar," Cortana said in her usual playfully sarcastic tone. John smirked, and opened up on the center knight, firing sustained bursts into its head. The enemy disintegrated. The other knights opened fire with their Suppressors. John jumped in front of Adrienne. His shields could absorb the bolts, her armor couldn't. The knight focused its fire on him, just as he'd hoped. He primed a grenade and tossed it. In the small corridor there was no way the knight could avoid the blast. It staggered from the blast. John put it down with a sustained burst. He lined his reticule up with the last knight who was focusing on Hartlett. The Spartan-IV, armed with a Battle Rifle, fired three times, and scored three hits to the knight's head. A flash of blue signaled its shields were down. John and Adrienne fired and it disintegrated.

Adrienne was breathing heavy. "So, those are, a bit annoying."

Hartlett nodded in agreement. "Let's get out of here, sir," she said.

John nodded. They moved to the door and as they went to leave it opened and they almost collided with Trace, Blake, and Jones.

"What the..." Adrienne started to say, then she looked past them to the scene outside. "Oh shit. Chief, I think our escape plan is seriously FUBAR."

John looked. Promethean Knights and Crawlers were advancing on their position, while still more were near their ship, blasting away at its engines.

Cortana appeared in his HUD again. "Stranded on an artificial Forerunner world with hordes of enemies bearing down on us? Yeah, this seems really familiar."

John nodded. "Then we'll use the familiar solution." He reloaded and readied his assault rifle. Cortana smiled. And John went to work.