Hello, I know there was a delay updating this chapter. My old computer finally busted, the darn thing had been around for ten years. The only reason I'm still using it is that I could still use the MS and get a good Wi-Fi connection, even though the speakers and some of its ports no longer working. I got my new replacement from Amazon yesterday, so there's need of polishing and editing before I update this chapter.

Thank you for your patience, ENJOY! (^v^)

"Talking"

"Cortana and John's private chat" or "Radio communication"

#####Title/Next Scene#####

John = John-117/Spartan (GoT Char thought it was a name)/The Spartan/Master Chief/ Chief

Northman = Northerner

Eddard Stark = Ned Stark

Great War= Human-Covenant War

Milord: Addressed by smallfolks/commoners/peasants

My lord: Addressed by knights, attendants, and nobles


#####Fire#####

"Looks beautiful," Cortana said.

"You sure it's a good idea to use Titanium-A armor for parts?" Chief asked.

"It's just a scrap metal, we've got tons of those lying around in the ship."

"It's military grade."

"Scrap is the key word, Chief," she explained. "The military wouldn't mind giving this stuff away."

"…."

"Can you at least tell me about the sword?"

He sighed, "…it's just as you said."

The last gift for the Starks finally finished. The M3DMP opened its hatch, and two robotic arms came out, presenting Chief a longsword in a manner of an artisan offered his finest craft to a lord. As he examined the blade, the hilt was Titanium-A with platinum-plated guard engraved with beautiful Celtic-designed wolves with diamond eyes, and the realistic wolf's head-shaped pommel was also platinum-plated. The blade itself was purple, not coated but the metal's actual color. It was called Nanolaminate.

While Titanium-A was the standard armor plating of the UNSC ships, Nanolaminate was to the Covenant, and later used by the Separatists. Durable, light, incapable to rust, and exotic, literality out of this world, perfect to make a blade out of it, Cortana personally designed and crafted the sword down to its nanolevel. It took her and the M3DMP few days to reshape and sharpen the steel that would rival Valyrian swords.

The Nanolaminate came from the only Separatist vehicle on board, the Phantom. Unfortunately, it got decapitated during the collapse of the slipstream portal when they escaped the destruction of the Ark. With its cockpit was on the other half of the ship with the Arbiter, the Phantom was now useless to them other than scrap. They managed to scoop much of platinum, diamond, and gold from its sophisticated equipment. Luckily for them, it yielded much greater precious resources than other UNSC's hardware. Chief was sure that the Arbiter wouldn't mind using them.

He went to the table nearby where the finished scabbard rested. Made from Titanium-A its locket and chafe was platinum-plated, much of its surface was laser-engraved, depicting landscapes of the North like Winterfell, the Northern mountains, the Wolfswood with a pack of direwolves.

One last inspection on the Nanolaminate longsword, the blade was truly, and literally, cutting edge to its perfection using Twenty-Six Century technology at their disposal.

Cortana did her job well, he thought. He proceeded to sheathe the sword before leaving the room. It was time for them to head back to Winterfell. They had a discussion with Melon's parents about their daughter's surgery with Luwin translating their Twenty-Six-Century jargons. They concluded that they used flash cloning to save time, plus they only had one automated surgery table in the medical bay. They scheduled Melon's surgery next month, so she had to be both mentally and physically prepared during that time of waiting, which was why Chief donated a portion of their nutritional foodstuffs to the family.

"Is everyone ready?" the Spartan asked while walking through the corridor.

"They're all in the hangar bay, Chief."

"You sure Joyeuse won't do anything impermissible while we're gone."

"I put a lot of restrictions and some tough love on her, so don't worry."

"Good, I want to make sure your pet won't do something crazy again."

"Hey, don't talk about my kid like that!"

"…What?"

"Oh… sorry, I think I'm kinda getting into this whole mothering thing. I caught myself materializing minivans the other day."

"…Mothering?" the Spartan uttered that word with absolute perplexion. Not sure that was a joke, he decided to forget that part of the conversation, though he would surely terminate Joyeuse himself if she ever pulled another unauthorized experiment.

As John-117 arrived in the hangar bay, he found two Stark soldiers sharing a canteen, likely an alcohol due to their red faces. He had to tolerate this kind of misdemeanor since they were not part of USNC.

Their names were Wyl and Tomard. He guessed surnames reserved only for the elite in this world. The two were among Lord Stark's party who found him a month ago, so they had experiences the contents inside the ship.

"Ser…." Tomard saw him walking toward them. Both straightened themselves, putting away their canteen.

At first glance, both of them couldn't pass the UNSC military recruitment standards. Wyl was a teenager who almost puked inside the Pelican while Tomard or Fat Tom, his peers called him, was surely his owned worst enemy was stairs. However, what compensated these natives was their natural strength and endurance. Despite their primitive society, from the moment a child could walk, they were required to work on the field, and without heavy machinery to aid them. The physical labor plus the harsh and cold environment had shaped them into hardened people, making them excellent soldiers.

Chief stopped in his tracks to give them a nod. "At ease, soldiers," he said with a commanding voice. Then he resumed walking.

"What's at ease means?" John-117 could hear the teenage soldier whispered to his senior.

"It means, you can relax now," Chief said coolly without turning his head toward them. Then again, it was their unfamiliarity with modern technology and phrases hampering them to join the UNSC.

Moving forward, Luwin and the family were at the back of the Pelican with the Warthog already attached under its tail, and the cargoes were inside the main compartment.

"Master Spartan," Luwin was first to greet him, the family followed. The maester noticed the Nanolaminate longsword in the Spartan's hand. "Is that another gift for the Starks?"

Chief nodded. "The last one."

"May I…?" The maester gestured he wished to look at the sword. The Spartan handed it to him. The natives curiously huddled around the maester as he unsheathed the blade. All of their eyes glittered in awe at the gleaming purple metal. "Incredible, quite remarkable craftsmanship," he awed.

"It's Cortana's work."

Luwin chuckled, "No doubt it is." He smiled at Chief's helmet, knowing Cortana was listening. "This isn't coated?" He was surprised when he looked closely at the blade's color.

"It's an alloy," Chief explained. "The color was done by unique heat tempering."

"I see, no doubt this is work of your people."

Chief didn't respond, not wanting to give any information about the Covenant just yet — for their sake.

"Lord Stark will love it," Tomard said, and Wyl nodded to agree with him. "That I assure."

John nodded to that. It was time for them to leave. Moments later, they arrived at Winterfell, touchdown on the same spot where Chief first landed the Pelican outside winter town. Everyone got out from the bay door once the engine stopped, and they got into Warthog after loading their cargoes.

Chief drove inside the town to drop the family and their supplies before reminding them to have Melon ready for her surgery next month. The maester would come by to their lodging to monitor the girl's health. Her parents complied, they said their thanks and goodbyes, Chief responded with a nod, and he drove forward.

It had been over a month, and people began to lax towards the Spartan. Children and some folks waved at him, hello, when the Warthog passed them. Cortana urged him to wave back, and he did, followed by Luwin and the two guards.

As they arrived in the courtyard, all the Stark family and some of their servants including Lord Stark's illegitimate son and ward gathered to greet them. The Pelican's roaring engine and its presence in the sky must've notified them of their arrival.

Chief and Luwin got out from the Warthog. Lord Stark went forward to greet them.

"Lord Stark, sir." The Spartan saluted, giving most of everyone in the courtyard perplexed by his standard military gesture.

"Um, yes, Master Chief," the Lord of Winterfell responded with his first ever salute to the Spartan. "I trust everything went well with the greyscale girl."

"Affirmative, Maester Luwin will brief you on that."

"We have much to talk about, my lord." Luwin stepped forward giving out an aura of excitement. "So many discoveries and so many revelations —"

"Truly…?" Ned interrupted. Again, he had little patience for rambling. "Since everything's fine, you'll have to brief me on another time." He turned to Chief. "Now that you are here, my family has decided that… what are those?" Before he could reveal his intention, Tomard and Wyl got out from the back of the Warthog, each carrying a large chest.

"They're gifts, formal gifts," the Spartan answered, quoting Cortana had said to him a few days ago, but by the look of Lord Stark's face, he was undetermined whether he accepted them. "Cortana and I are technically envoys, after all. Consider them as tokens of friendship between our people."

Ned paused for a moment. The look on his face was still unsettling. He turned to his wife for answers, and she responded with a nod of approval. He turned back to the Spartan and said, "Very well."

The two soldiers approached the Starks, presenting them the gifts. Wyl opened the first chest, revealing baseball sets for two opposing teams, including a manual and equipment for an umpire.

Next, Tomard opened the second chest, revealing three Nineteen Century Swiss-styled clocks, three Victorian-era Karakuri puppets, and a microscope. There were two boxes in the middle. Wyl opened the first, revealing toys commonly played by UEG children: yo-yos, tops, a Rubix cube, fidget spinner, and a lot. The other one was full of legos. Much of its materials made of Titanium-A, synthetic leather, plastics, and precious metals they scavenged, and the woods came from the forest outside within their ship's vicinity.

The Starks stared with wonder as Chief explained each of the item and their functions. Arya and Bran grinned with delight, eager to play the new sport introduced to the North while Sansa and Rickon smiled at the puppets and legos respectively.

Lastly, Chief pulled out the Nanolaminate longsword hidden inside the second chest and handed it to Lord Stark. All eyes stared at the scabbard in awe, particularly at the realistic laser-carvings that depicted the North. When Lord Stark unsheathed the sword, his eyes sparkled at the purple blade.

"This isn't coated?"

"It's an alloy, my lord," the maester explained, "Chief said this was Cortana's work. I'm not sure how she did it, but she certainly forged it in the fires of Dawn."

"I reckon this could match Valyrian steel."

"It ain't Valyrian steel," Chief replied, "but Cortana said it sure seven hells cut like one." The A.I. chuckled. She picked up some native's slangs from the maester.

"Really? Perhaps if it's alright we test this blade."

"It's your sword," Chief stated.

They all went to the practice yard. To test the Nanolaminate longsword, Ned ordered his servants to fetch a pig carcass. Once they arrived with the pig, the flesh had already frozen by the North's climate. It would be hard for a regular sword to cut it through, but Cortana had confidence on her blade would prevail.

As the servant placed the frozen pig on top of two barrels, Ned unsheathed the longsword and gave the scabbard to Robb. All eyes fixed towards the Lord of Winterfell as he stepped forward with the purple blade raise in the air.

Ned gave a powerful downward swing, and the sword cut through the frozen meat and bone down, stopping its slash when a quarter of its blade buried under the earth. The pig cleanly severed in half. Everyone in the yard widened their eyes and dropped their jaws in shock before they started applauding.

"Damn, like cutting the wind," Ned impressed. "House Stark will cherish it until the end of times." He told Chief, which the Spartan nodded in response.

"We should give the sword a name, father," Arya suggested, and everyone agreed with her.

"It was made by a fairy, after all," Bran said.

"Aw, that's sweet." Cortana awed inside Chief's helmet.

Ned paused to think for a moment before muttering, "Fire," he remembered what the maester said earlier, "forged from the fires of Dawn, its name is Fire."

The Starks approved the name as they smiled at their new heirloom. Their servant brought cloth, oil, and water to Lord Stark for him to clean Fire.

Once he finished, he went to Robb and offered the longsword to him. "Here."

"What?" Robb surprised, so was most of everyone. Chief and Cortana, however, were intrigued.

"Take it," his father insisted. "It's yours."

"Father, I'm not worthy."

"You are my heir," he explained. "I already have Ice, but once you become Lord of Winterfell, Ice will be passed down to you, and you will hand Fire to your successor, this will be our new tradition."

Everyone encouraged him to take the sword. Hesitant at first, Robb slowly grasped the sword, and eventually, he started smiling.

"Thank you," he said as he hung the scabbard on his belt.

Chief noticed Lord Stark's illegitimate son, Jon, staring dejectedly at Robb showing off Fire in front of Theon and some soldiers gathered around him. Before he could join them, he realized Lady Stark was glaring at him with spite. He walked away, embarrassed. The Spartan understood Jon's predicament with the Stark family. He felt sorry for the boy, but he couldn't do anything to help him without angering Lady Stark.

"Now, Chief," Ned turned back his attention towards the Spartan. "I have something to tell you…."

An hour later, Chief and Cortana were back inside their lodging after talking with Lord Stark. They stood in front of the holo-tank, reading the holographic screenshots of the North's historical records, dating back from the time of the House Stark's founding.

From their castle, Winterfell, as their capital seat, House Stark ruled the North for eight thousand years, making them one of the oldest noble families in Westeros. The Northerners remembered them as honorable and benevolent rulers even during the times they were once kings. Chief and Cortana were relieved to hear that, meaning their cooperation with the plan for the North would run smoothly.

"Are you ready for tomorrow night, Chief?"

He sighed, "Do I have a choice?" His tone sounded reluctant. The Starks would be holding a formal dinner for him and the A.I. as a token of gratitude for their contributions to the North and establishing friendship between their people. The later was a little bit surprise to them since they coincided Cortana's idea about the gifts.

"Would you tell the Starks that you are refusing?" He didn't respond. "Good, since this is formal dinner, you can't walk in there with your armor. It'll be embarrassing if you start breaking their chairs. They look antique, you know. "Chief chuckled. After all, the Spartan weighed almost a ton when wearing the Mjolnir Armor.

"Cortana I —"

"I know you Spartans are naked without the armor, but you can still wear your bodysuit. They're titanium composite, so you'll be safe from stab wounds — if they try. John-117 smiled to that last statement. "We need to get back to the ship so I can tailor you something — appropriate. Maybe I could make your medals "

"Fine," he said. "But is it alright for us to meddle their way of life?"

"Winter is Coming," the A.I. muttered the House Stark's motto with grim, "whether we like it or not, it's coming, Chief."

The North was by far the largest of the Seven Kingdoms and could fit the other six inside. However, because of its geographical location, the North was a cold and damped region. Once winter arrived, it would be brutal and harsh. Due to the planet's fluctuating seasonal cycle, winter could last years up to decades, and many people died from cold or starvation if they were not carefully rationing their supplies. Evident on the historical records they read, the death toll in every winter numbered thousands up to a million, in rare cases. Because of this, the North's population remained sparse, its natural resources unexploited, and their technology still stagnant; this was something that alarmed both Chief and Cortana.

"We need to uplift them if they're going to survive the Ice Age."

"Would that include gunpowder in our plan?"

"Hell, no! Do you want Westeros to end up like Nineteenth-Century Japan?"

Surprised and perplexed, he asked, "Would you care to enlighten me on that statement, Cortana?"

"Oh, I well, caveman." She sounded smirk. "I could also recommend you a novel that I want you to read."

He grunted, "Sure."

"Have you heard of A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court?"


#####Jon's POV#####

The Northern sun already set, Jon heard the horns blew three times, signifying the coming of Chief's Pelican in the sky. Yesterday, Chief went back to his ship once again under his lord father's permission, something about his preparation for tonight's dinner at the Great Hall.

Jon was in his finest blackened, boiled leathers with no jewels in his name compared to Theon standing beside him who was jeweled and silked enough to make girls lifted their skirts for him. Prick he was, especially with that smug of his. Jon wouldn't care for gold and silks. He could buy some if he wanted to, but not to impress girls for personal reasons.

"Right on time." Theon smirked. "I thought he wouldn't make it."

Lord Stark had ordered both of them to wait for Master Chief in the courtyard so they could escort him to the Great Hall. Jon had known Chief for more than a month; he was not the type to be late. The air omitted around the tall warrior was professionalism. He never talked much, he never bragged. He came and went, always on time whenever his father or Maester Luwin summoned him, and when he came, he stood tall and not moving an inch other than a nod, only to speak whenever asked, his voice was stoic, clear, and steeled. Rarely, he jested.

People began to think of him he was like the Quiet Wolf, his lord father's epithet. Funny, there were almost similarities with the Lord of Winterfell, but Ser Rodrick Cassel thought otherwise.

"The man's quieter than the Quiet Wolf," the old master-in-arms had said to him before roaring his loud cackle. Remembering that, Jon hid his chuckle away from Theon.

"Three blows for one horn," Theon said. "A bit much, don't you think?"

"It's a tradition revived by Lord Stark," Jon replied. "It was an old practice dating back from the times of King Torrhen Stark bent his knees to the Targaryens. As first Lord of the North, he ordered the garrison to watch the skies for dragons and welcomed them. Three sounding horns for three dragons used by Aegon the Conqueror."

"But the dragons are dead for hundreds of years," Theon exclaimed.

"Aye, now we welcome Chief's flying vessels, and eventually his people from the stars if ever they would come."

"Do you think I have a shot for star-dwelling girls from Chief's realm?" The Greyjoy grinned.

Jon rolled his eyes and ignored him. "He's here." They heard the Warthog's distinctive sound of its roaring engine and its beam of bright lights piercing through the young night.

The war wagon stopped few paces from the two lads. As the Master Chief hopped out with his feet planted firmly on the ground once the engine and lights went silent, their mouths opened to their surprise. For the first time, they saw Chief no longer wearing his armor.

He wore dark clothes and shoes, white gloves, and an odd black and white cap. Much of his dark high-collared coat filled with military decorations, most peculiar were the medals, a lot of them, with a silver badge of an eagle with a star on top holding a thunderbolt and three arrows. His left sleeve decorated with gold embroidered diagonal stripes on the forearm, and a shoulder patch consisted of a perched eagle with two stars atop three inverted gold chevrons, two anchors, and a rocker.

However, it wasn't the otherworldly clothes he wore they startled, but it was his face. He was incredibly pale, with blue eyes, firm mouth, strong jaws, and short dark brown hair, and he was much younger than his lord father was, perhaps younger than the age of thirty.

Chief was standing in front of the two lads, and the Greyjoy spoke, "U-um, Lord Stark ordered us to escort you to the Great Hall." His voice almost stammered, still bewildered staring at Chief's face.

The tall warrior said nothing but responded with an approving nod. As they arrived at the hall, the Cassels were the first to greet him by the doors made of oak and iron. Just like the two lads, they were stunned to see Chief's face for the first time.

The tall warrior stopped to give them his military salute before they stepped inside.

"Is it me, or is the Chief looks shorter?" Jon asked his uncle.

"It's the armor, nephew," the old master-at-arms said. "Men look bigger when they don the steel."

Chief glanced around as they stood in the Great Hall. He noticed the gray stone walls draped with two banners: the Stark's direwolf and the UNSC's eagle. The seamstresses took great effort making exact copies of the sigil of tall warrior's realm. Judging by his looks, he seemed pleased.

Ser Rodrik raised his voice to inform everyone that Chief had arrived. What welcomed him was gasping silence from the Starks, the castle retainers, and all the servants and entertainers. They too were surprised to see Chief's face for the first time. Jon had thought earlier that girls would lift their skirts for Theon. Chief, on the other hand, despite his paleness, he had the looks that would make girls flung themselves naked to him, and Jon could see all the maidens in hall blushed, especially Sansa. He couldn't blame them and everyone.

Nobody expected Chief came without his armor. He had been wearing the cumbersome thing ever since they found him in the Wolfswood, not a single time he took off his armor except for his helm a few times during meals, but the shadows obstructed them to see his actual face. Everyone including the Starks was afraid to offend the foreigner.

Chief stepped forward, facing his lord father. "Lord Stark, Ser," he greeted with his salute, and then towards Lady Stark. "Ma'am." That broke everyone's silence.

"Ser?" few voiced to their bafflement.

Ser Rodrik Cassel tapped Theon on his back, gesturing him to escort Chief to the raised platform where all the Starks seated. There was an empty chair beside Lord Stark on his left, reserved for him. Once the Master Chief sat, Lady Catelyn immediately asked why he called Lord Stark, Ser, since he was a lord and not a knight. She also asked what a Ma'am was.

He responded, "Is the Ser in this world spelled with an E, Lady Stark?" The Lady of Winterfell nodded to reply. "I apologize for the confusion, the Ser, from where I come from, spelled with an I, which addresses a superior officer up to those who held the highest office in power. Ma'am is a female equivalent, also short for Madam. So it's a soldier's courtesy to address you, Ma'am and Sir, respectively."

Lady Catelyn replied to Chief with a fake smile, looking swallowed and embarrassed at the same. Jon was a little bit gratified but kept his face blanked for fearing her wrath if she ever caught him with a single curve on his lips.

Lord Stark introduced Chief to his households sitting at the table near the platform. Chief already knew Luwin and the Cassels. Beside them were the castle's steward, Vayon Poole and his daughter, Jeyne. Next were Septa Mordane, tutor to the Stark children, and Septon Chayle who maintained the sept and the library tower. The two had crossed paths the tall warrior few times but never had the luxury to speak with him. Lastly were Hullen the master of the horse, Mikken the smithy, Barth the brewer, Gage the cook, Farlen the kennelmaster, and their families.

Theon and Jon sat with the households. Soon, the feast started as serving girls poured from the kitchen, bringing food such as lamprey pies, fire plums, honeyed chickens, and smoked bacon, and roast boar for the main course.

The jugglers, acrobats, and bards gave their performance, everyone roared with excitement, thundering with their applause. Beneath all this merry gathering and honoring Chief were a mere political ploy, a standard Southron scheme to lavish the guest with exotic food, wine, entertainment, and beautiful serving girls. Once intoxicated, the hosts worked on whatever deal to their favor.

It was rare for his lord father to bend his honor. Jon thought Lady Stark must've behind this, though his father had told him about this plan a few days ago. Nothing dishonorable and offensive would come to Master Chief. He was the key to establishing good relations with the UNSC, after all. By showering Chief with their Northern hospitality, the tall warrior would bring positive feedback about the Northerners to his people from the stars.

Despite the air of joy and laughter and sounds of clapping filled the Great Hall, Chief's stone face never changed, even he applauded at the amazing tricks and flips showed by the entertainers. Father and Lady Stark looked nervous. Getting the tall warrior's good side was a must, so they called for Tomard and Pete. The two Stark guards were jesters for the night.

More laughter filled the hall as the two made jokes and comedies, some of the spectators dripped wine from their noses. Unfortunately, the only person who didn't laugh was the tall warrior himself. His expression was rock solid; all he did was nodding and clapping. The Lord and Lady Stark grew even more nervous. Though Chief seemed to enjoy the food and wine, his mouth swirled every time he sipped the Arbor Gold from his goblet.

"How was the boar, Master Chief?" his lord father said. "Our huntsmen brought it this morning."

Chief nodded. "It's tender and juicy, my compliments to the cook." Lord and Lady Stark were pleased to hear that. Gage's wide grin almost stretched out of his cheeks.

"The Arbor gold is one of the best wines in Westeros," Lady Stark explained. "They say the wines in Arbor are nectars of the gods." Sept Chayle nodded that before chugging his wine.

Chief stared at the liquid gold in his goblet, giving it a twirl. "This is the first time I'm drinking wine. It's fruity and tangy on the palate." The Lord and Lady of Winterfell were very pleased that they found the tall warrior's interest.

"Why do you look so pale?" Arya asked. All eyes and ears turned toward the platform. The Lord and Lady of Winterfell were intense with cold sweat, wary that their younger daughter hadn't offended the Master Chief.

The tall warrior turned to the curious girl. "I've been fighting for almost the entirety of the war," he replied. "The time that I took my armor off was when I was in safe facilities for repairs and medical checkups, so I don't get much sunlight very often."

Those who were listening opened their mouths in awe. They got their answer on why Chief was pale as summer snow.

"What are those?" Bran gestured at the tall warrior's military decorations.

"Medals and ribbons I've won during my military service," Chief pointed at the five-pointed bronze star with blue cloth. "This is the Medal of Honor, the highest award of any UNSC soldiers who risked their lives above and beyond during the call of duty." Everyone was astonished, and their respect for the tall warrior grew.

"And that purple heart? Bran pointed.

"An award to those who died or wounded during serving, this is my first medal."

"Your people give soldiers that kind of award." Bran impressed. "You must've won all of them."

"All but one."

"Really?" Arya asked, "What is it?"

"The medal for Prisoner-of-War."

"Wow, you must be great at avoiding getting captured," Arya awed.

"We had to," Chief said. "Our enemies don't take prisoners."

Everyone was stunned. Even wars in Westeros that Jon read, the victors only take prisoners if the enemies were nobles or skilled hands. The rest would be slaughtered, depending on the commanders.

"You must have a lot of war stories." Bran smiled, eager to hear more of his tales. "Lady Cortana never told us about your war."

"…It's because it's not very glorious."

"How so?" Arya asked.

"Because I've been fighting to keep humanity from extinction," Chief answered casually before sipping his last drop of wine.

The music stopped, and the Great Hall became quiet and cold as the Northern winter. The chilling fear bit everyone's skins and down to their spines to shiver. The last time Jon had this feeling was he first read the tales of the Long Night, and that was a horror bedtime story.

"Children, there will be no more discussion of Chief's war," their lord father said sternly. "His war had ended recently, so let him dine in peace." Arya and Bran slumped their shoulders abashedly. Their father signaled the serving girl to refill Chief's goblet.

"Where's the blue fairy?" Rickon asked, referring the Lady Cortana. Again, everyone became silent.

"Lady Cortana doesn't eat, little one," the maester replied.

The tall warrior gave a thanking nod to the serving girl who poured his wine, and she went away with steaming pink cheeks.

"It's a shame," Lady Stark said. "We were hoping she could join us. Half of everyone here had met your companion, and the other half had heard of her."

"Perhaps, I would have the servants fetch the holo-tank from the maester's tower." Lord Stark offered.

"…You sure?" Chief asked to himself, or perhaps he was communicating with Lady Cortana with some strange device. "Alright." He told Lord Stark that she would like to join them.

Moments later, the servants brought the holo-tank and placed it in the middle of the platform. Chief rose on its feet and went to the otherworldly pedestal. To everyone's shock, a crystal popped out behind the tall warrior's head, and they noticed a piece of metal sticking on his skin. Those who knew Lady Cortana thought she was living inside the helm.

As Chief inserted the crystal inside the holo-tank, Lady Cortana emerged on top. Those who had finally seen her for the first time burst to their amazement. Jon noticed the shades of dark blue and bright blue symbols no longer streaming all over her body. Instead, she was wearing a black sleeveless, knee-length dress with bare back and black high-heeled shoes.

"Greetings and salutations, everyone," she greeted with a quick curtsy bow. Those who knew her were incredibly surprised by her new appearance, even the Master Chief.

"What?" She cocked her brow at the stunned tall warrior. "This is a formal occasion, so I have to wear a dress — duh."

Eventually, the merry feast continued, but all attentions focused on the maiden of light while Chief was left to eat in peace. He seemed a bit satisfied now that no was bothering him.

Lady Stark and Sansa expressed interest towards Lady Cortana's dress, slightly revealing yet beautifully aesthetic. The blue maiden offered them its design. Honored, they could, but disappointed since her dress weren't appropriate in the cold North.

Sept Chayle and Septa Mordane asked her about their faiths in their realm. Lady Cortana responded that there were hundreds of religions practiced throughout their realm, and they were free to change whatever faith for them to choose. The Seven Gods worshippers were surprised, but Maester Luwin reminded them that most Free Cities had that similar religious freedom.

Soon, Lord Stark rose from his chair to offer a toast to Chief and Lady Cortana for their gifts, their contributions, and the natural resources they revealed: titan's skin, alumi-num, tin, iron, vana-dum, chrome, copper, nickel, lead, antimony, mercury, and molyb-denum. Robb explained to the guests that they changed the titan-um's name to appeal the Northerners' tongues. Both of them seemed intrigued to hear that.

"Thank you, Chief and I are very much honored," Lady Cortana said on their behalf. "Well, you have to credit the titan's skin in your land or else we might end up in another part of this world, and we wouldn't have met with you lovely people."

"The honor is mine, my lady..." Lord Stark was suddenly surprised. "Wait — are there other titan's skin deposits aside from the North?"

"Only two, yours is the biggest one," the blue maiden replied. "Didn't Maester Luwin tell you about that?"

Everyone immediately turned their attentions towards the maester.

"L-Lord Stark told me yesterday that I'll brief him with our discoveries on another time. I'm not sure I could discuss this here, in a welcoming feast for our guests."

"I see," their lord swallowed. "All is forgiven. But we're still curious about this other mine."

Lady Cortana and Chief shared glances with the maester before the blue maiden spoke, "Well, you're going to have a bit surprise." She disappeared, replacing herself with the map of the known world. Two blinking dots appeared, one was in the North, and the other was —

"VALYRIA!"

Many gasped, recognizing the land of the ancient and powerful people that once ruled the vastness of Essos, the Valyrian Freehold.

"The dragons had titan's skin mines?" Lady Stark gasped.

"My lady, and everyone in the Great Hall," Luwin rose to his feet and raised his voice. "You have heard the legends of the dragons and their Valyrian steel, a metal that is stronger and lighter than any castle-forged steel, and can never rust."

In a moment they processed those words in the heads, Robb was first to realize as he exclaimed, "Valyrian steel is titanium, titan's skin. The Valyrians discovered them first."

"Yes, and with the dragon's fire to melt them," the maester finished.

"Impossible!" Ser Rodrik said incredulously. "Mikken made a blade out of it, and the damn thing couldn't cut anything."

"That's because it's an alloy, a titanium alloy," the maester explained. "I discovered its compositions when our guests permitted me to use their technology. There are traces other metals that we mostly unfamiliar, but I find some traces of iron, nickel, and charcoal."

"Does this mean we can forge our very own Valyrian steel?" Lord Stark asked.

"Not exactly, Lord Stark," Lady Cortana explained further as she returned to her human form. A few days, the maester was able to crack the secret of his Valyrian steel link. She and Chief were surprised that they found carbon tubing and nanowires akin to Damascus steel, their owned version of Valyrian steel in their realm, but much more superior and uniformed, capable of rivaling their owned advance steel

Much of the blue maiden's words couldn't make sense to the Northerners, but she told that the making of Valyrian steel could only be achieved through kneading and manipulating with bare hands while the steel was molten hot, something that the guests didn't have the technology at their disposal to replicate it.

"Plus there's a crucial ingredient that binds the alloy together," she continued. "It's an unknown element, very alien to ours. Our people would be very, very interested in studying it."

"So are you planning to go to Valyria to learn this new element?" Lady Stark asked.

The blue maiden shook her head. "We have a more important mission here. Valyria can wait for us anytime."

"Important mission?" Lady Stark muttered.

"Maester Luwin told us about your winter problem here in the North," she explained. "The next one he said would be one of the longest the Westeros would experience."

"Aye, the harshest as well," Lord Stark began. "I fear that no matter how much food we stored, thousands would perish once the next winter strikes, perhaps more."

Even Jon heard babies smothered to death to spare them from the hells of Northern winter. He shuddered when he thought about that.

"Perhaps, we can offer you our assistance."

"No, you've done enough for our people," his lord father exclaimed. "Have your peace and leisure as much as you like. With the treasures of the North you've shown to us, we may able to import food from Reach to the Free Cities."

"I'm afraid that's not enough," Lady Cortana disagreed. "Whether you like it or not, Chief here is obligated to help."

"By accordance of the UNSC law, Article-343: All military must respond to any global-scale disasters inflicted on human-controlled worlds," Chief had finally spoken, all eyes darted at him. "Your next winter is under the category of global-scale disaster. Therefore, it is our duty to provide relief operation to the local populace."

"But why? We are not part of your realm." Lady Stark hissed. "We've only known each other for over a month."

"Because you and I are part of human race," Chief said with a solemn voice. "As a soldier of the UNSC, it is my duty is to protect and preserve humanity."

The chills returned in the hall, raising everyone's hair. It was not out of fear this time. It was astonishment towards the tall warrior and his unhindered duty to humankind. Not even the Northerner's honor nor the Southron's chivalry could match the code of his realm.

"Very well," Lord Stark conceded. "What are your plans?"

The blue maiden replied, "I've been running thousands simulations and scenarios, so the best course of action is to help you elevated both of your infrastructure and technology."

"My lady," the maester immediately rose from his chair once again. "Are you saying that you are going to share us the secrets of your technology?"

"Like flying ships and horseless carriages?" Arya voiced her excitement.

Lady Cortana replied, "I'm afraid you won't be learning flying until the end of your winter. You do have all the resources here in the North that help you harness the natural energy to fuel machines like ours. Unfortunately, the three things you lacked are rubber, heavy industry, and time."

"Rubber?" Lord Stark uttered that new word.

"The natural energy I was referring is electricity, Lord Stark," she explained. "A controlled lightning is the lifeblood of our technology. Rubber is a material that protects you from shock. We can show you how to build light bulbs and machines that produce lightning, but without heavy industry for mass production, there's little time for us to give everyone in your realm electricity before winter hits."

"Would everything you say be possible, my lady?" Lady Stark said with doubts. "Your technology is a thousand years ahead of ours. I'm not such sure we can handle such knowledge."

"Yes you can," Lady Cortana countered. "We have a similar situation in our world." She materialized herself again to reveal a land very strange to the Westerosi. Japan, she called it.

She said that Japan and Westeros were different in cultures, but they had similarities in technology and government. As she explained further, during the Seventeenth Century of their timeline, Japan had been isolated itself from rest of the world for over two hundred years. By the time foreigners came to their lands, their technology had already advanced, evident from the pictures of black ships with pillars of smoke rising from its chimney and paddled wheels on its side. Another showpiece of technology the Northmen marveled. Lady Cortana said by the time Japan opened its borders, within fifty years, the realm had gained the power of electricity, and heavy industry that produced steeled ships and wondrous devices, and Japan had become one of the powerful nations of its time.

Japan was one of the examples of historical nations in their world that miraculously uplifted. If they could do it, so would Westeros.

"I understand," Lady Stark conceived. "What else do you offer us?"

Lady Cortana smiled. "Heating system, four-field crop rotation, liquid stones, potatoes, a lot..."

"Potatoes?"

"We have plenty of potatoes here in the North," Lord Stark stated.

"But not in an industrial scale," the blue maiden replied. "I'm not sure all of you know this, but potatoes can grow in poorest soil even in the coldest condition, as long as you watch out for blights. And I could show how to make a drink out of potatoes if you want."

Everyone widened their eyes and dropped their mouths. For thousands of years, no one had ever figured the potatoes' vast potential to the North. People thought it was just another foodstuff.

"Tell me about this heating system," Lady Stark requested.

Lady Cortana materialized herself into a fireplace. She stated that their sources of warmth were fireplaces, but she revealed that the Northerners had only used half of the heat while the other half escaped out of the chimney. Then she materialized herself into a house with the fireplace located underground with the chimney was on the other side of the house. She said that the heating system had been around since their ancient times. The heat circulated under the floor, generating ninety percent of the warmth inside the house.

Enlightened, everyone including Lord and Lady Stark was onboard to the blue maiden's plan.

"We also plan to teach you how to make medicine that cures greyscale," she revealed.

"You have the cure for greyscale?" Lord Stark gasped, so was everyone.

"Not just a cure for greyscale, my lord," the maester explained, "It's what our guest called, a wonder drug, it can cure many lethal illnesses."

"And you sure we can make this wonder drug locally?" Lord Stark inquired.

"Of course," she said with confidence. "Believe me or not, that wonder drug was under your kitchen the whole time, in the form of a mold." Everyone was shocked once again. All the revelations had everyone in the hall almost out of breath.

"Does this wonder drug have a name?" Lord Stark asked curiously.

The blue maiden answered, "Penicillin."


Author's Notes

Next Chapter, "The Web of Lies"

I've looked and researched the Covenant's armor, and I believe the metals are not painted but its actual color like the UNSC ships. The Titanium-A is greenish-gray. The unique heat tempering I mentioned is a reference to a real-life modern metallurgy where you can turn the color of the steel into gold. I recommend readers to watch AWE me in Youtube. They forged actual replica of fictional weapons, and Finn's golden sword is where I get that idea.

And, there's another RvB reference in this chapter.

Also, Japan was one of the examples of a feudal/primitive society transformed into a powerful nation. Chief and Cortana had to leave out the wars and violent parts or else it would a PR disaster.

Chief's uniform reminiscent of the animated movie, "Fall of the Reach," since its the only uniform I knew that Chief wore aside the armor. So please tell me if this is okay or it should be the white one.

There are so many technology and plans I want to reveal in this chapter, but it's already longer than usual, so I have to place them on the next chapter.

As we all know, Valyrian steel is lighter and stronger than regular, and it can never rust or lose its sharpness. The first thing that popped in my mind when I first read it "Maybe this must be titanium, perhaps titanium alloy. Dragons can easily melt steel, so it make sense they can melt titanium." Nevertheless, Valyrian steel still retains its magical elements against the White Walkers. In real-life, we do have Damascus steel, but there's also some Chinese swords during the Qin dynasty use chromium (chrome in Westeros) that helped retained its sharpness and didn't rust.

Lastly, penicillin is only thing I could come up that would cure greyscale in this story. Although, Halo is in the 26th Century. That means penicillin in that timeline are far more advance than ours.


mad thought, kossboss, Akira Stridder, the brown cow, senpen banka, Opaque-Cavalier, LanzCorporalAssWipe, BrutusPrimus, Seraphius, lilnudger82, Akira Stridder, Timetravelviajutsu, AyeJimmy123, lilnudger82, Goldspark1, ArchAngel319, darkromdemon, and guests: Thank you for your wonderful feedback and some of your criticism. I look forward continuing this story.

chase manaena: I will introduce the modern music and football on another time.

shadeblade10: I use both Grammarly and SpellChecker before I started this story. Even I have beta writers, I still get grammar mistakes.

EffervescentNova: Chief and Cortana have no idea dragons will be reviving, so there won't be any anti-dragon weapons until the late canon. The Starks very much love the gifts.

OBSERVER01: Chief needed to be mellow so he could have interest in women. I'll be researching on the maesters' involvement on the dragons' extinction later.

Y-T3cH: There are places other than Westeros that Chief and Cortana wanted to explore (and coz mayhem), once we get to the canon, both of them will be busy in the WoTF.

nphillips0115: Thanks for the feedback and info. It'll be an interesting meeting for both of them as well.

Blaze1992: It'll be a tough diplomacy since the freefolks are more primitive, but I'm sure Chief and Cortana will find a way to help them. Dany seems has a luck to keep herself alive and gain power (militarily and politically) during the series. Nevertheless, she probably get visitors from Westeros (other than Barristan and Jorah).

Reikson: Thank you for that info. Greyscale has also some similarities with Leprosy, that's how I got that whole Mycobacterium idea. I'm no pathologist, but I think greyscale was probably a mold created after the dragons turned the bloody river of Rhoyne into soup, but that's my opinion.

SPARTAN-626: Having a group of elites around might be a PR nightmare for Cortana. In Westerosi's perspective, they look like demons. But I'll keep that in mind for future of this story.

Eriesse: Valyrian steel still retains its magical element and cannot be replicate with 26th century tech.

mellra: At this point, I have to withhold Varys' views towards Chief and Cortana because it's too interesting for me to reveal it, but he'll surely appear on the next arc. Dany's importance to the story would be at the start of the canon.

edboy4926: As you read Cortana's first plan, their focus are within Stark's territories they directly controlled. Chief has no idea about the other lords' activities within their own territories. It sad for me to say this, Domeric is still going to die.

Jebest4781: Chief will be planning to visit Rhoyne or other places in Essos in the future. For now, they have to focus helping the North for the coming winter.

Time Reflects: *Breaks mug on floor* Thor reference.

Apollonir: I know this is silly for me to ask, are you referencing Pres. Trump's slogan? Don't worry, I'm politically neutral.

artark: I had to move Cortana's interaction with the Stark children will be on the next arc.

Dont Treat on ME 2982: Possibly but not Domeric, he will still die.

MrHam31: I'm going to save this question on the next chapter, I think I have the answer to that from a manga I read, but I forgot the title.

ArtimuosJackson: The meeting between Melisandre, Stannis, and Chief is too interesting for me to reveal, so we have to wait for the start of the series and see. Also, about John-117 and Jon and the E-sword, I won't reveal that too.

Naruto9tail:

1. Chief would love to slaughter an entire horde of bloodthirsty horse archers, but he's too smart not to do that. He's just one man (despite being a one-man army) against millions of Dothraki with the limited ordinance. Without an entire UNSC army or just one ship to back him, he cannot break the horselords' spirits.

2. I already mentioned in this chapter that Chief would need help the Order of Maester to spread knowledge and medicine. As for Shireen, she was already cured of a greyscale. What's left was her scar, so she'll get a surgery when Chief visited Dragonstone in the future.

3. That answer is mentioned in this chapter.

4. There's a millennium of bad blood between the free folks and the Northerners, so there's going to be a lot of diplomacy and politicking in order to help them move over the wall. Also, UNSC won't arrive until later in the series.