Updated (3/12): Author Notes: No major edits. :D
"I can't believe they hijacked a Phantom." She looked at John as he walked into the armory. "I've run the scans and it seems to still be in working order." She was impressed.
John, however, seemed unsurprised. He gave a half-shrug. "Noble Team is one of the best teams in the UNSC," he pointed out.
"Well, it will make getting to the drop ship that much easier," Cortana said quietly. "I've already hacked into the Carrier's mainframe. Getting on the drop ship shouldn't be a problem. Getting off of it..." Her voice trailed off.
"We'll be fine." He slid on his helmet and Cortana saw the quick gold flash of his shield being activated.
She wished he had his optimism. Even with the relatively good intel they had on the ship's schematics, being stuck on a Covenant Cruiser nearly a mile above the ground was a dangerous situation.
She frowned. Why was she so worried? Certainly the mission to save the Autumn had been more dangerous with them having no backup. She let out a frustrated sigh. Halsey. The doctor's concern had unnerved Cortana, but now was not the time to lose focus. Not when the mission was this dangerous.
He reached in the weapons locker and pulled out a pistol for her as she put on her much maligned flak jacket. She grabbed the butt of the firearm and slid it into her shoulder holster.
"Damn right, we'll be fine." Johnson walked up to the two of them with a smoldering cigar between his lips. "I don't know how things are over in the ONI, but Alpha Team doesn't do anything less than the best."
Cortana raised an eyebrow. "Then we'll fit right in."
Johnson's grin widened. "After what the two of you did with the Autumn, I'd say that's true." He grabbed an assault rifle and nodded towards the exit. "The captain's waitin' in the cargo bay for us."
The three of them made the short trip to the small bay. Cortana saw the six-member Noble Team huddled together in the far corner of the room while Captain Keyes was standing by the Phantom, pipe in hand.
Cortana knew that the captain normally took a more active role in participating in the missions, but because of the two pronged attack, he was forced to stay behind in the Autumn and make sure things flowed smoothly. Cortana watched him as he took in the three of them.
"I trust that all of the Covenant protocol has been uploaded to your matrix," he said to her without preamble.
Cortana nodded. "We'll be able to board the ship without a problem, sir."
"Noble Team is going to need some time to get to the control room, so discretion needs to be used. Carter will contact the Autumn when his team has secured the area. If you run into any trouble..." His voice trailed off.
They were on their own.
Johnson huffed. "Then the Covenant are going to regret it."
Cortana allowed herself a brief smile. Johnson certainly added some sprightliness to the conversation.
Keyes nodded. "Good luck, Alpha Team."
She led the two men to the Covenant vessel and sat in the pilot's chair. When Johnson and the Chief were situated, she disembarked from the Autumn. She piloted the craft several miles away from the ship's position before tapping the controls, sending out a transmission signal to the Cruiser.
As they approached the Assault Carrier, they were granted docking clearance.
"The secondary hub should be here," Cortana said, pointing at the holographic layout of the ship. "I'll access the database from there."
John nodded. "Johnson and I will secure the quadrant."
Seconds later, the system's controls were overridden by the Cruiser. "Now we just sit back and wait."
She looked out the Phantom's windows and saw nearly three dozen Ghosts, Banshees and Phantoms going back and forth from the large vessel. She hoped with the high amount of traffic, their Phantom wouldn't cause any sense of alarm. According to her calculations, Noble Team was going to need the better part of an hour to secure the base below them.
The ship glided into a docking bay. "Purple, huh?" Johnson said, looking at the walls around them. "Somehow I didn't picture the place looking so damn cheery."
Cortana saw three Grunts, who were busy talking to each other. She scanned the room for any other hostiles, but the bumbling soldiers were the only security in the room.
"It's almost too easy," Johnson said as the Phantom settled on the ground. "You'd think they weren't expecting company."
Cortana released the rear hatch. The three of them slipped out of the ship and crept to the darkened corner of the room. The Grunts didn't look in their direction.
"I've got this." John pulled out his pistol, his eyes never leaving the targets in the room.
Three Grunts against a single-minded Spartan? They didn't stand a chance.
Johnson nodded towards the cargo containers. Cortana followed the sergeant as they watched John silently make his way to the first unsuspecting Grunt.
His method was quick and effective. In less than a minute, there were no Grunts left alive in the room. He gestured for them to move forward to the large doors.
Together, they made their way through the assault carrier. They avoided the patrols easily; the Covenant were not expecting the UNSC's finest to board their ship. The ride down the gravlift was unmemorable.
"Think they are all sleeping?" Johnson asked, snickering.
At the intersection, John carefully looked around the corridor before pulling back and held up two fingers. She watched as he aimed his pistol and fired twice. The three of them made their way to the single door at the end of the hall. Johnson pulled out his snake cam as Cortana hacked into the console.
"It's clear."
Within a second, she hacked the security code and the locks to the doors released. John opened the door and allowed Cortana to walk in. She gasped slightly.
This was what they had been looking for.
Several dozen large computers towers, three meters high, were in the center of the room. Lights flashed, fans hummed. Cortana could almost feel the power course through her.
"Bingo." She was unable to keep the excitement out of her voice.
Johnson let out a long whistle.
"I'll take it from here," Cortana said as she approached the database. "You two should be able to reach the armory and find some goodies to take back to ONI there."
"Are you sure you'll be alright?"
Cortana looked at John, surprised by his question. Why if she didn't know any better, she would have thought he was openly concerned for her.
"Well, I have gotten used to having a Spartan bodyguard, but I think I can manage." She offered him a smile. "Infiltrating the security grid will be my first priority. If I sense any trouble, I'll transfer out of the system."
He seemed to hesitate briefly, but before she could say anything he nodded. She watched the two of them leave the room before transferring herself into the ship's systems.
Suddenly, the world exploded in ones and zeroes around her. Though she preferred the flexibility to move around in her human body, Cortana felt at home in the data stream of information.
Schematics of various bases, planned attacks, and the hierarchy structure of the Covenant...all of it and more were at Cortana's fingertips. Greedily, she amassed all the data she could find.
Within seconds, she had full access to the ship's security grid. She spun off a subroutine to monitor John and Johnson's progress. She was tempted to open a channel to John, but decided against it. She didn't need to advertise the fact she was in the database.
Terabytes of information came rushing into her matrices. She noticed that most of the information was new and unknown. The information she was processing would allow give the UNSC a desperately needed advantage over the Covenant.
Cortana nearly lost track of time as she categorized each data cluster that she uploaded. As she continued making her way through the information, a disturbing piece of data streamed by her. Quickly, she accessed it.
She froze as the irrefutable data plainly presented itself. It was impossible, she thought. But, as she hacked and accessed the security camera from the hangars, one sinking truth stuck out.
They had been discovered.
She opened a comm channel to John. "We need to get out of here. Now."