Updated (3/12): Author Notes: No major edits for this section.

Original author notes: Somehow I inadvertently missed posting half of chapter 7, so you should probably go and reread that or you'll miss a bit of background for this chapter. This chapter has a bit more violence than the others, just so you know.

And a big thanks to all of you who are following along. :D


The rest of the journey through the tunnel was uneventful. Though it seemed strange to Cortana that there hadn't been a search party for the fallen Covenant, she wasn't going to argue with the results. Maybe Catherine was right; maybe John did have a certain amount of luck about him.

When they emerged from the underground sewer, Cortana squinted in the fading sunlight. The two of them hid behind another building that was reduced to rubble as they surveyed the buildings in front of them. She uploaded the building schematics to the Chief's HUD and activated a location marker on the sixth floor of the enormous building.

"This is Keyes's last known location. If we're as lucky as I think you are, then the rest of his crew is with him. If not," she said, activating another marker on the display, "I'll be here. By the time you reach the signal's position, I should be in the system and I'll be able to locate the others."

"Understood."

On the way to the city's center, they had quickly agreed the best way to succeed in their mission was to separate and each complete their own the objectives: John would proceed to the last known coordinates of Keyes while Cortana would attempt to infiltrate the temporary command center the Covenant had set up so she could release the Autumn.

But, first they had to get into the eight-story building.

Cortana craned her neck and shielded her eyes from the building's reflective windows' harsh glare. "I hope you've stayed in shape, Chief. Climbing seven flights of stairs is going to be difficult, even for a Spartan," she said dryly.

He didn't respond to her comment, as expected.

She activated another location marker on his HUD. "There's the Autumn." She frowned. It was guarded more heavily than she anticipated. That would slow them down a bit.

John looked in the Autumn's direction. "Will you be able to repair it?" he asked, seemingly unfazed by the number of Elite soldiers standing watch.

"You mean will we be able to complete our mission?" she asked, amused. She got a distant look for a second. "Yes, based on the information I'm getting from the onboard computer, we should be ok. The shipboard AI and navigation systems were completely destroyed...I guess it's a good thing I can fill in that void. But, despite the beating it took during the crash landing, the engines are operational."

"We'll rendezvous there," John said.

"Will do, Chief," she agreed. "We need to get into the back of the building. I'm only detecting three life signs back there. It seems as though they are more concerned with the ship than they are the building."

Together, they ducked behind abandoned cars and stealthily made their way to the back of the building without being detected. She knelt down and pulled out the Covenant communication device. "Now it's time to put this to good use."

She quickly hacked into the Covenant communication grid and sent several false signals to the Grunts that were guarding the back of the building. Seconds later, the three soldiers walked away from their post.

"We won't have much time before they realize something is wrong," Cortana said as they sprinted across the open parking lot. When they entered the building, they went through the maintenance access door.

A pile of corpses greeted them as they walked through the hallway.

Cortana swore under her breath.

They were mostly UNSC soldiers, including Thomas Cole. The Chief wordlessly collected their dog tags while Cortana changed their statuses from MIA to KIA in the UNSC database.

She said nothing to the Chief as they continued making their way to the fire stairwell. Cortana did her best to ignore the blood-spattered walls and pushed forward. Seeing the Covenant's handiwork firsthand was significantly different than accessing data files from the safety in Reach.

Death was in the air.

Danger surrounded them.

The climbed the first three flights of stairs together. "The command center is on this level. I'll hack into the security grid and get you access into the east wing." She frowned briefly. "I'm not going to be able to get an accurate head count on the Covenant until I'm in the mainframe. But, based on what we've soon, I'd say this building is swarming with Covenant."

"Understood."

"Good luck," she said as he started climbing the stairs again.

Now that the Chief had left, Cortana cautiously opened the door. The lights had been cut off; only the faint emergency lights were glowing. Her enhanced vision allowed Cortana to make out the shapes of two Jackals. They had their backs to her, watching for any movement in the intersection they were standing in.

She slipped her combat knife out of its sheath. Her timing would have to be perfect, her speed like a Spartan, to take down the mid-level soldiers. She slowly slid from behind the door and slithered in the shadows.

Nearly three minutes passed before one of the Jackals started to move away from the other, approaching her position. Cortana knew he didn't see her; his steps were still slow and deliberate. She glanced at the other Jackal that was still turned away from her before turning back to her target.

She held the knife in position, ready to attack. When the Jackal unknowingly walked by her, she struck and stabbed the unsuspecting soldier. Before his body had fallen to the floor, she advanced on the other Covenant soldier.

Her work was quick and effective. Less than five seconds later, the unfortunately Jackal slumped to the floor. Cortana ignored the gore and carnage and put her knife away. She made her way to the T-junction at the end of the hall. The sound of voices caused her to freeze.

She carefully peered around the corner and saw three Covenant soldiers: two Grunts and an Elite. She considered her options. While the Elite was undoubtedly more skilled than the Grunts, Cortana knew the kamikaze tendencies of the bumbling soldiers were more of an immediate threat.

She pulled out her pistol. With deliberate aim, she shot the two Grunts in quick succession.

The Elite roared as he watched the Grunts fall.

Cortana double-backed to her previous position. It would be nearly impossible for her to see the Elite due to his cloaking armor. Cortana would have to rely on her other senses to take down the Elite.

"Come out, vermin," he demanded.

As if it was a possibility that she would listen to his demand.

"You will not leave this building alive," he promised.

She could feel the vibrations of his heavy footsteps. Quickly, she calculated where she needed to aim her pistol. Without hesitation, she whipped around and fired.

Bang.

The cloaking device was nonfunctional.

Bang.

The Elite's shielding failed.

Bang.

The Elite fell to the ground, never knowing where his attacker had come from.

She collected his plasma rifle and looked around for any other Covenant that heard the attack. When she was confident that no one else was coming, she accessed how the Chief was progressing: he was approaching the floor of the captain's last known location.

She proceeded down the narrow hallway, collecting the plasma grenades from the dead Grunts. Finally, she approached the security door to the building's control panel that the Covenant were using as their command center. She quickly hacked into the system and overrode the codes.

The locks released. Cortana reached for the handle and pushed the door open.

The lights were on in the room, allowing her to see the five-person security team who had been executed at the hands of the Covenant. She pushed aside her feelings of revulsion and focused on the task at hand.

"All right, Chief," she said, ignoring the blood spatter on her own clothing, "I'm in."