Happy Halloween! Sorry about the long time in-between updates. Also, thanks to my Beta Reader: Seventh Pillar of Autumn Wind.

Chapter 9: A Broken Upper Hand
"What?" said John, sitting on the bed.
She stared at him, something in those blazing blue eyes transfixing the
Spartan.
"I think we should…. You know…."
"Cortana, you've only been alive a few days and ….you just don't get
it." he said, shaking his head.
Cortana took John's pale white hand.
"Please, John I want to show you that I really care for you."
"Cortana, don't you think we're rushing into things?"
The look on her face changed from a blissful to somber look.
"I get it….you're still thinking about Kelly, aren't you? Well…
I'll change that…" she thought to herself, smiling slightly.
Cortana kissed him almost violently, biting his lip a bit. She tasted blood.
John, amazed, felt a twinge of pain that was in sharp contrast to her soft
lips. He wrapped his arms around Cortana, pulling her close to him.
He kissed his way to her collar, gently kissing the sensitive skin there.
"John!" Cortana gasped.
He grinned and continued, pulling her blue shirt up, over her head.
She stared at him, blushing slightly as she noticed where his eyes gravitated
to.
He leaned in, kissing her as he unclasped her bra.
Cortana gasped as his rough, scratchy hands roamed over her soft, warm body.
She groaned and gasped as John's hands cupped her breasts and softly
pinched her ever hardening nipples. He pinched her soft, pink nipples
lightly, "J- John!" "You like?" he said, his arousal growing every second.
It had been a long time since he had sex. Since his first. She was a fellow
Spartan, just before the operation to turn them into Spartans. Let's just
say she didn't make it through unscathed.
John's hands slithered farther down, to the top of her tight fitting
jeans.
He looked into her eyes, and there was immense passion there. She nodded in a
silent approval.
He slid the pants and her light pinks panties down, and then tossed them
aside.
She pulled off his shirt, marveling at the massive muscles that resided
there. Then she started to lower his own blue jeans, feeling a strange
hardness there.
Cortana knew that this would be painful, because of her research on the
internet long before she became human. But, she would do anything for John to
know that there was at least one person in the universe that cared for him.
Their hands intertwined, holding fast. He began to enter, slowly, ever so
slowly. Then John encountered a resistance.
"I'm sorry." He whispered, kissing her as he pushed in, entering her
deeply.
She whimpered and he stopped.
"Are you okay? Do you want to keep going?" he said, concern in the
Spartan's voice.
Cortana blinked the tears away and said, her voice wavering "Yeah, I'm
fine. Keep going, John, really." She smiled, trying to assure him.
He kissed her and began to thrust into Cortana, going deep each time.
Although the pain in her still lingered, a new feeling swept through Cortana,
like a wave of pure pleasure. And, each time John went into her, the waves
increased in intensity, threatening to consume her, mind and body.
"J- John! Harder! F- Faster!" she said, uttering her first words of passion.
Never the one to disappoint, he obliged with a kiss.
She felt it building, the biggest wave of them all…. And she feared that it
might swallow her up. So be it.
John moved with a dedicated purpose while trying to be careful. He wasn't
going to rush this; he wanted to savor these moments.
Cortana came first, spilling out and she moaned loudly as she did. John kept
going, though the sounds of their fervor filling the warm and sweaty air.
At that sound, John grunted primal as he came too.
Their hands opened in release as John collapsed next to her.
Cortana kissed his cheek in a sweet finale.
John smiled and said "Cortana, I love you. Without your radiance, I would
be nothing but a dark, lonely husk, without anything to fight for. Now, I know
why I fight. To protect people like you. Like us."
"Hm.... How cute, the ultimate soldier has a sweet side." She teased.
"You're not funny." He replied, trying to sound serious. It didn't
work and he started laughing…just before a blissful sleep over took him.
At 5:30 the next morning, an alarm went off, waking both of them.
"John, report to the armory. We're shipping out to Garrus9." Said
Admiral Hood.
"Agh." Groaned the Spartan, rolling awkwardly out of the bed.
On Garrus9….
Drakkarius stood on the bow of the ship, roaring commands to his underlings.
"Dropping into the atmosphere, slightly away from the human encampment. I
don't want them on top of us as soon as we get there." He growled,
thinking about the anti-air capabilities of the humans as well.
The massive cruiser went into stealth mode, moving slowly but surely through
the inhabited planet's atmosphere.
"Time to die, human scum." Growled the giant brute, turning away from the
command deck and storming down the hall, toward the armory.
John was down in the massive bay, watching the troops getting armed and
ready.
Kelly was there, cleaning an assault rifle. She gave Cortana a disapproving
look. Admiral Hood was also there, looking slightly grim.
"John, glad to see you. We recently received a transmission from Garrus9.
It seems that the brutes have completely mobilized against the colony. It
doesn't look good." Said the old ship commander.
"Any word on Dr. Halsey?" said John, hope recognizable in his voice.
Hood shook his head. "I'm sorry, John, but no."
John felt miserable. The damn uncertainly was killing him!
"Right, sir. But what of Cortana? Will she just stay here or"
"I think it would be wise of her to stay here, on the Cairo but, if she
wants, she can be your communication officer." "What?" "You know, send
info to you for processing and Tec specs. Maps of the terrain and such. You
think you're up to it, Cortana?"
Cortana hesitantly said "Yes sir."
He nodded.
Kelly then spoke up.
"Sir, she's not even a civilian. How can she even be qualified to ship
out with the real professionals?"
"Kelly, it's her decision. She's going, whether you like it or not."
He growled.
"Right, sir." She replied, venom in her voice.
"Now, you two, get suited up in those fancy suits of yours and meet me near
the cruiser "Faded Glory". It's near the end of the bay." Said Admiral
Hood before turning and walking away.
"Come on, John. The MJOLNIR armor awaits." Said Kelly, with a grim
smile.
The trio walked down to a separate section of the armory, where, John
supposed, they kept the Spartan II armor and equipment.
"Hm, so how's this work?" said John, looking at the complex machinery
spouting about the room.
"I have the upgraded armor. After we got out of the center of the planet
Onyx, that is. For you, the MJOLNIR armor you came in with. We haven't had
time to upgrade it yet." Said Kelly.
"That's fine." Said John.
He grabbed the large, rubbery under piece and pulled off his shirt and jeans.
John slid the black one piece over himself.

It was hot, beneath the lights in the armor. It had taken them awhile,
perhaps forty five minutes to fully get suited up.
Cortana had gone down to the Comm. Room to be briefed on the equipment and
duties of a comm. Officer.
The Spartans walked towards the ship, fully dressed and ready for combat.
"John, Kelly, good to see you." Said an engineer, spotting them.
John nodded but Kelly just kind of shrugged him off.
"So, how you holding up, Kelly?" said John, trying to sound casual.
"I'm fine, John. I really don't care who you're going out with, as
long as you're happy." She replied, trying not to sound sappy. But it was
only half true. She still was at ends with Cortana…she REALLY was pissed off at
her. But, she would respect John's decision, even if she didn't like it.
"Spartans, hurry! The ship's ready to go." Said Cortana, her voice
crackling through their helmets.
"Hello, Cortana. What's going on?" Said John.
"Oh, I'm just learning the ropes up here. So much technology, it's
truly amazing. Just wanted to say hi before you shipped out."
"Where are you going to be?"
"In an ACP on the planet's surface, out of the line of fire of
course."
"See you later, Cortana." He said.
"And, John?" "Yes?" "Make it back in one piece."
"I will. I promise." He said, trying to retain his composure.
"Don't make a girl a promise, if you know you can't keep it." she
said, repeating the words she said to him of the High Charity.
"Can't keep? We'll mop up those bastards and I'll come back. I've
never been wrong before, have I?"
On the other side, Cortana shook her head. He was right. Why would she have
to worry?
"John, good luck and I'll see you when you get back. Remember, I'm
wired to scan these channels and give you info about troop positioning
information. I love you, John so please, please don't die." She said, her
soft, intelligent voice filled with sorrow.
"Cortana, I love you and I will see you soon. I'm not going anywhere
anytime soon, so don't worry about me, okay?" Talk to you later." He
clicked the comm. off.
Kelly stood by and didn't say anything for a moment.
Then, with a heavy, sad sounding voice said "Come on John. We've got to
go and save those colonists. And, Dr. Halsey."
John then got into gear. It was time to finish this fight, once and for all.
Their ship, "Faded Glory" was a state of the art cruiser and could travel
at tremendous speeds. This trek wouldn't take long because Earth was just
beginning to spread out again.
The massive ship's engines rumbled and they prepped for launch.
Drakkarius and a pack of brutes slunk, stealthy for their massive size, into
the complex. On the other side a massive pack of the other races were stirring
up trouble for the humans, distracting them from the real attack.
He was hoping that the Demon was here.
That monster had defiled the name of the Covenant, killed the Prophets and
desecrated the sacred Ring… and the Ark.
Rage boiled up in his broad chest, consuming him. Drakkarius didn't care if
he had to personally search every planet in this system… The Demon was going
to die.

Again, Sorry about the late update. My sister was recently released from the hospital so I've been a little busy. Also, my Xbox 360 got the red ring and it won't come back from Microsoft until after Gears of War 2 comes out. 