Hey all! Nearing the end of the story now, finally getting to the good parts! Now I don't have much to say this time round, so I'll let you jump right into it. Remember to review the chapter to tell me your thoughts and opinions, and fav/follow if you enjoyed it!
Alright, gonna go now. *runs away*
Chapter 9
John hit the ground with a hard thud, the impact reverberating in his bones. Above him, the sounds of the Flood echoed on the walls, screeches and screams sending a chill up his spine. He looked back up at the shaft he and the others had run for, the alien parasite hot on their tails. Johnson had radioed that he couldn't pick them back up, afraid that the Gravemind would lash out and destroy the Pelican. So they had run back the way they had come. All three of them had fired a continuous stream of deadly firepower, but the Flood just kept coming, ever true to their namesake. They had just made it to the service tunnel before they were overwhelmed.
The Arbiter landed in a head beside him, the sound of his impact echoing on the walls. Samus appeared last, sliding down a wall and landing on her feet. She looked back up the tunnel, her cannon ready, but no Flood had followed them. She moved to help the Arbiter up. John went to get up himself when we heard something. It had sounded like…a whisper.
He rose to his feet, moving to grab his rifle, which lay on the floor a few feet in front of him. He bent to retrieve it, and as he got up, movement caught his attention. He turned sharply, dimly aware that they had landed in some kind of large hallway, barely lit. An illuminated figure stood at the other end of the corridor, her body bright blue, and with what looked like streams of data running along her figure.
His heart skipped a beat.
Cortana looked him right in the eyes, as if she could see past his visor, and beckoned him over with a small wave. John didn't even think, he just started moving toward her. He faintly heard both the Arbiter and Samus call his name, but that didn't matter. He strode across the hallway, making a beeline for Cortana. She smiled at him, before turning and disappearing behind a corner. He quickened his pace, nearly jogging around the corner. He caught a brief flash of her moving behind another bend, and he continued his pursuit. He heard Samus call out again, and noticed his companions were following close by, but again, he didn't focus on it.
He came around the next corner, and once again saw a flash of her, this time standing in front of a control panel in front of a blank, flat wall. As he moved ever closer to her, he saw her touch the holographic controls, but of course she couldn't touch them. As he got within a few feet of her, she vanished, leaving him alone in the dark, save for the dim lighting from the controls and his own armor.
"John!" Samus shouted, the sounds of her quick footsteps reaching him. He didn't reply, his mind reeling. Did he imagine Cortana? If he did, how would she have led him here? He couldn't understand…
He looked down at the controls again, and this time, he placed an armored hand on them, feeling no resistance, and yet knowing they had responded. He heard a faint rumble from somewhere beneath them, and the wall in front of them began to shift near silently. If lowered into the floor, revealing the open sky on the other side. Beneath them was a cloud bed, the sky an afternoon orange. John peered in to the clouds, and thought he saw movement. A shape lay just beneath the cloud line, and had begun to slowly rise. The object was huge, and metallic, shining brightly in the artificial sunlight. As it rose, John began to recognize it. He heard the collective gasps of his companions as they too recognized the object, which had now left the cloud bank and was beginning to rise into the sky above them.
Halo.
The Halo ring was massive, though John noted the ring was incomplete. Entire strips of its inner and outer workings were exposed, and in some areas there just wasn't anything, save an empty hole.
"A replacement, for the one you destroyed." Arbiter noted, his words struggling to hold back reverence. John guessed he must on some level still revere the Forerunners.
Samus moved up beside him, her helmet flashing as it vanished, her bright blue eyes peering up at the massive construct. "The Ark must be a forge…" She said quietly, her hair flowing in the wind. She suddenly chuckled.
"So Spark, when did you know this was here?" She said loudly, and it was only then John counted that there were four friendly contacts on his HUD, not three. He heard the little A.I giggle in delight as it hovered to float in front of them all, over the lip of the floors edge.
"Just now." Spark said merrily. "But, I had my hopes." It floated to hover in front of John, its single blue eye staring him in the visor.
"What will you do now?" It asked him. John already knew. He knew the second he saw the ring, and he knew what it was that Cortana had been trying to tell him.
"Light it." He replied quietly. Spark nearly cheered, moving slightly higher as if jumping for joy.
"Then we are agreed!" It exclaimed. It quickly began to fly away toward the distant Halo, listing off things for itself to do. John watched it fade into the distance, before noticing Samus looking at him again. John wasn't certain, but she looked concerned.
"John. When you ran off just now" she began, "what did you see?"
He didn't want to answer. How could he? Saying that Cortana of all people had led him here, how he'd been hearing her nonstop in his head since arriving on earth. She would think he had fallen into insanity, or at the very least was suffering some kind of post-traumatic stress. Still, she'd stuck with him throughout the last few weeks. And something else, he couldn't pin it down, but something else told him he should tell her. In a way, Samus reminded him of Cortana herself…
"I saw…I saw Cortana. She led me to the controls." John admitted in a near whisper. He heard the Arbiter make a noise behind him, but his eyes were on Samus, waiting for her reaction. She looked at him, her face unreadable.
"Is this the first time you've seen or heard her?" She asked him firmly.
The question surprised him, but at the same time he felt relief. She hadn't just dismissed it, or called him insane. He decided then to admit everything.
"No. The first time was back on earth. It had sounded so much like her…I'd forgotten that I'd lost her, back on High Charity." He said, struggling to keep his voice emotionless. He could usually keep his emotions in check, but recently he'd begun to struggle with them. He didn't know if he was getting weaker, or his emotions were stronger than usual, but he'd been noticing it since earth.
Samus sighed, her neutrality replaced with a look of sadness. "I know."
"You knew?" He asked her, surprised.
She nodded. "You're a bank wall John, but even a wall starts to crack eventually. I noticed how you would react when you heard her. I'd suspected something was amiss." She said softly, her eyes scanning over his visor.
He suddenly felt guilt, and quickly realized that he'd been feeling it all along, he just hadn't understood what it was. He slumped, struggling to maintain himself.
"I just left her alone…" He whispered. An armored hand came to rest on his shoulder, and a sad looking Samus looked up at him.
"No. She made the choice, and she saved a lot of people, you included." She said softly, being unusually gentle. "Besides, she's strong. I'm sure she's still fighting, waiting for you to come and rescue her."
Rescue her. John had wanted to do that the moment he had left High Charity, but that hope had slowly died the more he had been apart from her. But now, John realized, as he spotted the distant crash site of the now Flood infested High Charity, that hope was suddenly a possible reality.
"I know how we can activate the ring." John suddenly announced, pieces of a plan falling quickly together. "It will be risky, near impossible. But I need to try. If I can retrieve Cortana from High Charity, than she can activate the ring." He quickly explained to the two of them, sad moment temporarily forgotten.
"How can she Spartan?" Arbiter asked, his mandibles clicking together as he thought.
John pointed to High Charity's crash site. "She has the activation index from the original Halo. She could use it again to switch this one on."
Samus frowned, before a look of determination flashed from her eyes. "You won't be going alone. I'll come with you."
"I can't ask you of that, this will be highly dangerous." John said, but Samus looked resolute.
She stood taller, and she looked over her shoulder at the crash site. "Someone's got to keep you alive. Besides…" She trailed off, a flash of sadness flickering in her eyes but for a moment. "I know what it is to lose someone close to you."
John frowned, thankful his face was hidden, but he didn't question. Samus had been nothing but nice, and he didn't want to stir up whatever she was thinking about. "Are you sure you want to come?"
She smiled, that fierce look in her eyes, the same one he'd seen time and time again when she was in combat. "I wouldn't miss this for the world."
"I too will join you Spartan. In light of all we have been through together, I consider you both more than brothers in arms, but family. I will not abandon you in your hour of need." Arbiter declared. "I will get us a Phantom, and we will walk into damnations gate. When we walk out, even the parasite will know why to fear us."
The tall alien moved slightly away, talking into his radio to signal for a pickup. John didn't know what to make of both of his friends acceptance for this task. Beside him, Samus chuckled, eyeing the Arbiter.
"Couldn't have said it better myself." She said with a smirk.
High Charity had seen better days. That's what John thought as they flew over its vast, ruined surface. The space station was large enough to be classed as a small moon, and as they sped over its bulbous form, John swore he could see shapes moving around within the cracks and holes of the outer layer. Writhing, malformed shapes.
The Phantom descended, coming to a stop just above an opening in the hull. Samus turned to John, giving him a smirk under her visor, before it lit up and she jumped out, her figure vanishing into the gloom below. The Phantom lowered itself further, and John himself jumped out, followed closely by the Arbiter. The fall was brief, and he came to a stop on something soft, and squishy. He realized grimly that he'd landed on Flood material, the fleshy substance collapsing under his weight and covering him in ooze and grime. He got up, the Arbiter landing a moment later and also swiftly rising, seemingly unbothered by the gore he too got covered in.
They had landed in what would have once been a hanger. But now, the ornate walls and large space had been converted, the entire room looking like something out of a horror movie. The walls pulsed, as the living tissue continued to spread throughout the station. Samus stood a few feet ahead of them, looking around the spacious room. She swiftly pivoted, aiming her cannon down a hallway and firing, the sounds of something shrieking the result. She lowered her weapon, glancing back at the two of them.
"Come on, we'd better start moving." She said grimly, her usual bravado and confidence missing from her voice.
John drew his rifle and moved ahead of her, taking point of the three man group. He moved toward the corridor Samus had just fired at, noticing the black scorch mark and blackened flesh of whatever she had killed. They moved as quietly as possible, every noise and slight movement making John's heart race. He noticed that Samus seemed the most affected, reminded of how much the Flood must scare her, and how she'd been so determined to accompany him.
The endless hallways blurred together as they crept throughout the eerie station. John lost track of time, their searching beginning to feel like hours. They eventually emerged into another hanger like area, one wall gone save for Flood materials. On the outside was a ledge, and John spotted a Pelican, probably some poor soldiers who had been unable to escape High Charity back at Delta Halo. It was in remarkable condition for what it must have gone through, and to Johns eye at least, looked fully functional. He made a note of that, a potential escape route.
They came to a stop in front of this opening in the wall, looking down at the rest of the space. There were corridors and walkways, both metal and flesh, all over the place. John realized that it could take forever to find their way around, much less find Cortana. Samus apparently had the same notion.
"This isn't working." She stated, a growl of frustration escaping her. Arbiter nodded in agreement, his cat like eyes flicking across the room.
"She is correct. We are in an endless labyrinth, with no knowledge of where our prize lies." He said, his grip on his Carbine taunt.
Both of them were correct, but how could they narrow the search? John racked his brain for an idea, but nothing sprung up. He usually relied on Cortana for this sort of thing.
And then it hit him. They did have someone with them who could help. Someone quiet, but no less helpful as Cortana.
"Samus, can I talk to Adam?" John asked her. She seemed to cock her head, but slowly nodded. She brought her hand up, and the A.I sprung to life within her palm, appearing as a high ranking officer in blue.
"Master Chief, how can I help?" Adam inquired, his tone instantly reminding John of Lord Hood. Some things must be imbedded in humanity, he noted to himself.
"Can you access High Charity's data banks? Perhaps scan the ship to pinpoint Cortana's location?"
A frown appeared on the A.I's face as he thought it over. "I could, but there is an issue. A scan that large will be impossible to hide. The second I access the Stations systems, the Flood will not only know, but know exactly where it's coming from."
John thought it over. If they did this, there was a possibility that they could be overrun. But if they didn't, they would be found eventually anyway. And this way, they would know exactly where she was. John made his decision.
"Do it" He told Adam.
The A.I nodded and vanished. Samus cocked her head, probably listening to Adam inside her helmet. She seemed to sigh, before turning her head back to John. "He isn't sure just how long this will take, but he is certain that the Flood will be on us within thirty seconds maximum. We don't have a lot of time…"
"I'm beginning access. Everyone be ready." Adam's voice told them through the radio. And for a moment, everything was silent.
And then John heard a screech. Faint, in the distance. And then he heard another, slightly closer. The chorus of screams and wails continued, moving ever closer to their position. He readied his rifle, Samus doing something similar beside him, her cannon flashing to a different beam. The Arbiter growled, eyes darting every which way.
"Adam…What's the status?" Samus said, stress leaking into her voice. The A.I didn't reply. John began to feel sweat on his brow. The noises were closer now, the sounds of faint marching footsteps were now noticeable, echoing from the tunnels ahead.
"Adam…!" Samus said, her voice both fierce and scared. John felt like joining in on calling Adam but he kept his focus, trying to guess which tunnel they might come out of first, based on the sounds. But the sounds were everywhere now, and he couldn't pinpoint any of their origin. The sounds were very loud now, near defining.
"Got it! Uploading co-ordinates to your-"Adam started to say. And then the walls exploded.
Flood poured into the room from every conceivable direction, all of them running right for the trio. John opened fire immediately, his rifle rounds punching through squishy flesh and bursting fragile infection forms. The Arbiter did similar, the rounds from his Carbine leaving bright green marks on those it hit. It too had similar punching power, and together they created a crossfire that shredded the many, smaller enemies. Samus meanwhile had decided to handle the larger, more menacing opponents. Large, cumbersome Flood forms melted under the fire from her Plasma Beam, and Froze from her Ice Beam. Together, the three killed dozens within the first few seconds of combat. But more and more poured in, and soon the Flood gained ground, creeping ever closer to them. They slowly retreated, moving through the opening they stood in and out onto the ledge with the Pelican. The tempo of the battle began to shift, and the Flood started gaining ground faster. They would soon be overwhelmed, and not even Samus's armor would be able to save them. John looked back to the Pelican, a reluctant idea forming in his mind
"Keep them off me." He shouted, fighting to be overheard amongst the screams and weapon fire. Samus nodded, though didn't turn to him, too busy firing into a massive Flood forms face. John turned swiftly, darting inside the Pelican and moving right for the cockpit. He tried the ignition, silently praying that it would start. His heart jolted when he felt the large transport shudder to life, the sounds of the engines roaring loudly. He pressed a few keys, preparing the Pelican for takeoff.
"In, now!" He shouted. Arbiter ran for the back hatch, turning back to continue shooting. Samus however, was stuck. The Flood had finally pushed up to their position and she was surrounded. She struggled with another large shape as it tried to smother her, others rushing in, sensing a kill. John got out of the pilot seat, prepared to run in and help her.
"No!" She shouted, her figure appearing momentarily. "Go!"
John hesitated, torn between doing the smart thing, and doing the right thing. A Flood jumped onboard, promptly killed by the Arbiter, but none the less pointing out to John that they needed to leave.
"Go dammit!" Samus screamed. He couldn't see her anymore. He made a snap decision, and returned to the pilot chair. He pushed the throttle forward, edging the Pelican away from the edge. He looked behind him, and wished he hadn't. The Flood now completely covered the platform, and any signs of Samus were gone. He felt a pit in his gut, similar to when he'd left Cortana back at Delta Halo. The Arbiter sighed, looking away from the pile of death. John felt he should do the same, but he couldn't look away.
A large explosion suddenly sent Flood flying off the platform, some tumbling off the edge, others splattering into the wall behind them. A banged up Samus came sprinting out of the explosion, more Flood already chasing after her. She ran right for the ledge, and jumped, her armor carrying her much further than any normal human. Even then, she came up short, beginning to fall. Her grapple beam shot out at the last moment, latching itself onto the edge of the back hatch of the Pelican. John immediately pushed the thrusters, moving the Pelican further up, away from the Flood. Beneath them, he could hear the monsters cries as they lost their pray.
He got up from the cockpit and moved to help her up, grabbing ahold of her hand and pulling her up onto the back hatch. She thanked him, sitting on the edge, panting. She de-activated her visor, her eyes wide with barely contained panic. They both looked down at the ever shrinking forms of the horrors below them, and John suppressed a shudder.
"I'm sorry…" He started, aware of how that must have felt for her, and for not being able to help her. She shrugged him off, still breathing heavily.
"Don't be. It's ok." She said, her voice breathy. She slowly got up, her breathing returning to normal. "So, what do we do now?"
John sighed. "Honestly? I don't know. There's just too many to fight, going back in would be suicide…"
Samus frowned at him. "We can't just leave Cortana down there…"
"I didn't say that." John said, cutting her off. No, he would rather go back in alone than leave Cortana to her fate. Not when they were so close. "Did Adam get her location?"
"Indeed I did." Adam said through his radio. "She's within a small room close to the main engines of High Charity. I uploaded the exact co-ordinates to Samus."
John frowned. If their task had been impossible before…
"I'll go." Samus suddenly said, staring at John hard.
He immediately shook his head. "No. That's suicide."
"Not if you and the Arbiter create a distraction." She said. "Keep the attention on you. I can move through grates and smaller passages quickly. I can retrieve her before the Flood even know I'm there."
"It's too dangerous. You could..." John began, unable to finish his reply.
Samus folded her arms. "What? Die? Do you have a better idea?" She said, glaring at him now.
He didn't. Try as he might, he couldn't think of a plan where they would all come out alive, Cortana included. He glared back, Samus unable to see his face, before finally sighing. She relaxed slightly. "John, trust me. Please."
Those words caught his attention. They were almost the same words he'd used on her awhile back. The irony was not lost on him, but they did ring truth. He might not have at the start of their journey, but he did trust her. "I do."
She nodded, glancing down behind her with a grimace. "Alright then, here we go…"
She turned back to look down below, and took a shaky breath. John grabbed her shoulder, causing her to look back at him expectantly.
"…Be careful." He grunted, his emotional limit reached. She chuckled, though he could see she was afraid underneath.
"Don't worry, someone's got to keep showing you up." She said, before winking. Her visor activated again, flashing bright green, and without another word, she jumped of the hatch, back down toward the Station. John saw her land on its outer hull, before disappearing through a crack.
"What now Spartan?" Arbiter asked, coming to stand beside him.
"Now, we make a lot of noise." John said.
"You could have handled that better." Adam remarked, his tone condescending.
Samus scoffed, though her situation was not humorous at all. She'd quickly come to a service tunnel, just large enough for her to fit in via Morph Ball, and she had been rolling through it for what felt like forever. Truthfully her grand exit had only occurred mere minutes ago, but to her it felt like hours.
"I handled it fine." She said, shuddering as she rolled through yet more Flood goo. The tunnel was full of it, and she was glad she was armored.
Adam tutted. "You handled it like a scared child, eager to prove something."
That got to her, the familiar feelings of anger threatening to swell up inside her. "Are you saying I shouldn't try and retrieve Cortana?"
Adam didn't reply. "That's what I thought." Samus said, proud she'd won the argument. "How far does this tunnel go?"
"It should take us pretty close to the engine room itself. If we're lucky, we should be able to reach her without encountering any Flood." He informed Samus, his tone shifting back to its usual business state.
She made a sound of annoyance. "Yeah, because we're so lucky…" She groaned. A particularly sticky Flood mess stuck to her, some of which didn't come off. "I'm going to have to give the suit a good polish after all of this is over…"
The sounds of chittering caused her to stop moving, remaining still in the tunnel. She caught movement on her motion tracker. Flood. A lot of them, all beneath her. They had no clue she was even there, but that could change if they heard her. She continued rolling, slowly, afraid to set any of the monsters below off. She crept at a snail's pace, the sounds of the Flood below sending chills up her spine. She didn't know what was worse, their wails and cries when they were fighting, or when they were docile. She cleared the room, the dots on the tracker fading behind her, and she continued on her way.
"What do you think of John?" Adam suddenly asked, causing her to jump. She groaned, noting once again that he had terrible timing.
She sighed. "What do you mean? I think he's a terrific soldier, and a very capable fighter. You know, next to me anyway."
She swore she could feel Adam's disapproval, even though he wasn't visible. "That's not what I meant. What do you think of him? Would you consider him a friend?"
This brought her up short, momentarily forgetting where she was and what she was doing. "Well, I mean…I don't know. It's been awhile since I've had a friend. Besides you." She noted, truly thinking on it now.
Adam chuckled. "Well, he seems like a good man. I think it would be good for you to make some friends."
She rolled her eyes. "Right. I'll get right on that after saving the entire galaxy." She grumbled, causing another quiet laugh from Adam. Her tracker went off again, once again causing her to come to a near stop. She began to move across when the pipe she was in made a loud groan, the metal protesting her weight. The chitters and squeaks went dead underneath her. Samus felt sweat on her brow, her heart pounding. She remained like this for a solid minute, before the noises began under her again, and she took a relieved breath. She continued to roll forward slowly.
The metal under her gave out, and she fell out of the tunnel.
She landed on the ground below, instantly changing out of her Morph Ball, cannon ready. But no Flood were lying in wait, the corridor she had erupted into eerily empty. Her tracker didn't display any signs of movement. She sighed, relaxing slightly.
"Well, I guess that options out of the question." She said quietly, looking up at the hole in the ceiling. She was pretty flexible, but she doubted she could get back up there and inside.
Adam coughed, a pointless thing for him to do but it did get her attention. "We aren't too far actually, the main engine is just a couple of rooms away." He informed her, her mini map flashing as he showed her the information on her visor.
She nodded, looking up and down the corridor before beginning to move toward the engine room. She moved into the next room, but again found it oddly empty. She started to feel like her luck might be something else, and she felt a chill run up her spine. She moved into another walkway, this one leading into the engine room according to her display. She moved up to the opening into the massive room, peeking through what would once have been a doorway of some kind, and felt her stomach do a flip.
Inside, Flood were crammed in tightly. They covered the floor, up the walls, and crawled all over the ceiling. The entire room looked to be just a giant living mass, Samus could hardly believe her eyes. She wished she could not believe it, and that she could be anywhere but where she stood right now. More practically, she also noted that there was no way she was going to be able to sneak through all of them unnoticed. Eyes and who knew what else looked everywhere.
"Adam, why do you think they all-"
A voice interrupted her, a loud, and yet soft voice. One that promised pain, and also peace. It spoke as if make of many different voice speaking as one, and it made her hair stand on end. Worst of all, she recognized it instantly.
"I know you have come for, her." The Gravemind uttered, its soft voice sounding somehow loud at the same time. "But we exist together now. Two corpses, in one grave."
Samus's mind was reeling. "It…It knew? But how? How could it know I was here?" She said, desperate to understand. Adam remained silent, just as unsure.
"I know you hide from me, child of my enemies. But I will find you. And we will also exist together." It taunted her, its voice sounding peaceful, but saying anything but.
Samus struggled to keep her breathing in check. The last thing she needed was to have a panic attack. "It can't. I have the block, it can't assimilate me" She said quietly, more for her own benefit than anything.
The Gravemind continued, and replied, as if it could read her thoughts. "I know you still carry the block, gifted by your Chozo forbearers." It began, its tone oozing acid, clearly disliking the mere mention of the word Chozo. "But I will find a way through it, for I have all of time to try. You will rejoin those that you cared for. Those you left behind…"
It felt like she'd just been smacked in the face. Left behind? She growled, struggling to keep herself composed and calm. "I didn't leave anyone behind…" She thought, feeling anger swell up inside her.
A distant explosion caught her attention. And another, and another. The Flood within the engine room began screeching, the noise so loud Samus wished she could cup her ears.
She somehow managed to hear the Gravemind over the noise. "He comes. He comes for her, like a hero of old. But he will never reach her." It said, sounding like it was sneering. "We will continue our game later, star child."
The Flood suddenly began leaving the room, a mass exodus. They ran through doorways, crawled through cracks, moved through any opening they could fit through. Samus realized quickly that they were coming right for her. She didn't think. She quickly shifted to Morph Ball and rolled herself into a corner beside the doorway. Mere moments later, the floor rattled with the amount of bodies that came running through. Her heart was thundering in her chest, but Samus remained still, even when every bone in her body wanted her to run.
As quickly as they had come, they vanished, the sounds of their screams moving toward the source of the explosions. Samus shifted out of Morph Ball, peering down the corridor in the direction they'd run in. She hoped John knew what he was doing.
She cautiously moved into the engine room, able to appreciate just how vast it really was. The roof spanned far above her, barely visible from the floor. Smack bang in the center, was the core of High Charity, a massive purple pillar surrounded by holographic controls. When she was certain that no Flood were lying in wait, she quickly moved across the room, heading for the final corridor before Cortana's room. She moved swiftly, not wanting to linger, and when she reached the final corridor she sighed in relief. She moved to the door that now stood before her, and pushed the button to open it. The door moved silently, gliding into the floor, and exposing the room ahead.
The room itself was tiny, containing very few things of interest. The main thing that caught her eye, was the pedestal in the middle of the room. It stood a few feet from the ground, covered in a little dome shield on its top. And under the dome, was an illuminated figure, feminine in appearance.
Samus slowly moved toward the pedestal, twitchy. She didn't want any surprises. "John? Can you hear me? I've found her" She said to the radio, but static was her only reply. She could still hear the sounds of gunfire in the distance, so she assumed he was still alive. She looked down at the dome shield.
"Right, let's just remove this pesky thing…" she muttered, raising her cannon.
John had forgotten how many bullets he'd chewed through, but that didn't matter, he still had plenty more. Ahead of him the endless hordes of Flood continued to try and reach him, to no avail.
"They swarm us, do not waver Spartan." Arbiter yelled, flamethrower in hand as he torched a Flood that had gotten too close.
After Samus had jumped ship, the two of them had discussed exactly how they could create a distraction big enough to draw the Floods attention. They'd come to the conclusion that acting as bait would work, but how then to stay alive? They didn't want to end up like last time. That was when John had found the turrets.
Parking the Pelican back on the same ledge they had found it, John had set up a choke hold at the opening to their ledge. The turret he used mowed down entire waves of Flood in a flash, with plenty of bullets to spare. The Arbiter, meanwhile, wielded a flamethrower turret, which he carried with ease. Whenever a Flood got through the turret fire, or was particularly sneaky, he turned it into ash.
John thought he heard his radio flare up, but all he heard was static, so he continued to focus his attention on firing.
"Come on Samus…" He muttered under his breath, once again silently praying.
Samus got down on her knee to look at Cortana. The barrier was easy to remove, and yet she'd stayed laying down, unmoving. Samus felt a pit in her gut but she ignored it.
"Cortana? Hello?" She tried, wondering if the A.I could even hear her.
Cortana didn't respond right away, making Samus fear the worst. "Another trick, not real…" She heard Cortana sigh, her avatar finally moving. She looked up, staring through Samus as if she wasn't there.
"What? No, it's me. It's Samus. I'm here with John." Samus tried, confused. What had the Gravemind done to her?
That seemed to get her attention, and Cortana sifted her gaze slightly, her eyes now focusing on Samus. "John? He's…He came for me?" She whispered, sounding close to tears.
"Of course he did. When that guy makes a promise…" Samus said, happy that Cortana was still whole, mostly.
The A.I smiled, and her dimly lit body began to glow brighter. "He keeps it." She said, beginning to stand up. "I do know how to pick them." She said, a hint of her old self returning.
Samus chucked, de-activating her helmet. "Lucky you." She said with a smile, which caused Cortana to smile back. "Are you ok?"
The A.I's smile dropped slightly. "No, I'm not ok, but seeing you has made my world a whole lot better." She said earnestly. She looked around, probably noting her surroundings for the first time. "Got an escape plan?"
Samus shrugged. "Run like hell and hope I don't die?" She said, smirking. Cortana rolled her eyes, before she chuckled.
"Alright, well how are you getting me out of here?" She asked, a reasonable question.
"Well, the same way you would with John. You're going to have to ride around inside my head…" Samus replied, feeling a little uncomfortable. Truth be told, she had the insert slot on the back of her head, but she'd never had an actual A.I inside her, not even Adam. Cortana looked equally uncomfortable.
"Oh…" She said. "Well, hope Adam made room then." She chuckled. Adam grumbled out loud, causing the two to chuckle. Samus then went to retrieve Cortana, removing a chip to store her in. Cortana's avatar vanished, and the chip lit up, indicating she was inside. With a deep breath, Samus moved her hair aside and placed the chip in the slot on her head.
"Huh. This isn't so-"She started before suddenly gasping, a brief flash of searing pain flaring up in her head. The feeling soon passed, replaced with a cooler, soothing effect. Cortana chuckled, her voice not coming from a speaker but from inside Samus's head
"Sorry, should have warned you." She commented, before going silent. "So…this is what it feels like to be a woman? Have to say, just feels more right." She said after a moment's pause, appreciation in her tone.
Samus chucked. "Don't get used to it, you're going right back to John when we get back." She commented, still uneasy with the voice in her head. She suddenly understood more what it must have been like for John, when Cortana hadn't been there to hear. Poor guy.
"Well, let's go." Samus said, turning and sprinting for the doorway. She ran through the corridor and out into the engine room, moving across its vast space.
"Wow, you've been through a lot haven't you?" Cortana commented randomly. Samus came to a stop, stunned.
"Are you…Are you going through my mind?" She asked, slightly ticked off.
The A.I chuckled. "And you suits databanks. Sorry, couldn't resist, there's a lot of interesting information here-"she began, before feeling Samus's level of annoyance. "Uhh, sorry…"
Samus sighed. "Its fine, just ask next time. Don't like people snooping around me, especially in my own head." She said with a chuckled, beginning to run again. She glanced at the core as she ran, and once again came to a stop. "Hmm…hold up a sec."
"What are you doing?" Cortana asked, as if she couldn't just read Samus's thoughts.
Samus grinned, aiming her cannon at the core. "Kicking the Gravemind in the nuts."
She fired, several missiles impacting the core and causing gold and blue explosions. A warning siren began to beep repeatedly, and a distorted voice began saying 'evacuate' in the Covenants native tongue. She had a sense of Déjà vu.
"How many times have you had to escape an exploding planet/space station? I could count, but I don't want to be rude." Cortana commented, which make Samus roll her eyes.
"Can you estimate how much time I have before we all go boom?" She asked Cortana. A countdown flashed on her screen, with far less time than she would like.
Cortana coughed. "I suggest you start running."
"What is it with A.I's and coughing?" Samus asked loudly as she began to sprint. He thrusters kicked in quickly, and she picked up speed. A loud roar boomed throughout the station, seeming to pierce Samus's body, but she kept running.
"The Star child has doomed us!" The Gravemind roared, sounding like it had actually been kicked in the nuts. "I will destroy you Samus Aran! I will torture you for eternity, flay you for all of time."
She shuddered, truly believing in the creature's words, but she kept running. She reached where she'd fallen out of the ceiling pipe, and continued. She tried the radio again. "John? Come on you green di-"
"Samus? Come in over." John replied, and Samus could not be happier to hear his voice. She couldn't pinpoint why exactly, but she was glad he wasn't dead.
"John?" Cortana said, her voice a mix of joy and shock, as if she still didn't believe he had come.
"Cortana? Are you ok?" He said immediately
"Fine, though were coming in hot." Cortana informed him.
"So fire up the engine, we need to leave, now." Samus added, flying past a group of Flood, who instantly began to pursue her. She kept running, taking an endless amount of bends and turns, before she finally saw two blips on her tracker. Friendly blips.
She burst into the large hanger they had originally exited from, and spotted both John and the Arbiter in the entrance near the pelican, fighting of a mass of Flood. Samus sped through them, her armor getting covered in splatters. John saw her, and immediately turned to activate the Pelican, and get it in the air. The Arbiter kept his rear protected, spewing fire at the Flood who got too close. Samus reached them in moments, skidding to a stop just short of the back hatch. She quickly stepped on, nodding to John. John began to takeoff, the Pelican roaring to life.
Their ascension was suddenly halted. Samus peeked out and saw a tendril clinging to one of the ships rear thrusters. She fired a missile at it, causing it to recoil and let go. They sped away at a fast velocity, the explosions that rocked High Charity growing smaller as they moved further away. Samus took a breath she didn't know she was holding, and sighed in relief. She saw John get up and move in front of her. She didn't need to ask.
She de-activated her helmet, and removed the chip in her head. Her head was silent once again, just the way she liked it. She wordlessly handed him the chip, and took another big breath, drained both physically and mentally. She watched as John placed the chip inside his own head, and smiled faintly, glad she had reunited the two.
"Well, what happens next?" Cortana asked, appearing in the cockpit. John turned to her, before looking back at Samus and the Arbiter.
Samus swore she could hear his smile. "Alright, here's the plan."