Chapter Five: The Fallen

John-117

Date (Unknown: ANOMALY) / Location (Unknown: ANOMALY) (Last recorded location 'Paradigm System, en route to Actual-5261 Spira.')

"Chief? Chief can you hear me? Damnit; wake up, John!"

I bolted upright, pushing a cluster of debris off of my chest. I coughed violently as I pumped air in and out of my lungs, the organs burning from lack of use. My heart was racing, and I feared it would explode with every beat.

My entire body ached, and my bones felt like they had been dipped in acid. My helmet was missing, revealing a long, jagged cut above my left eye; blood falling down my face and dripping into my eye.

"Chief, are you ok? You're vitals were all over the place; I couldn't tell if you were unconscious or dead." I heard Cortana say, concern in her voice. She stood atop a small construct a few feet away from me, her blue figure wavering in the air.

I stood, taking the time to scan my surroundings.

I was still inside the Dawn, or what was left of it. Pieces of the walls were dented, scarred, and missing; allowing ice cold air to seep into the wreckage. Sparks flew from dangling wires and machines, and the lights on the roof flickered dimly. Debris completely covered the floor, with pieces of the walls and ceilings collapsing with sharp screeches.

A low groan echoed through the ship as it continued to slowly tear apart; as if the Dawn itself was crying in pain.

"What happened? Where are we?" I asked the AI, searching around the room for my helmet.

All I could remember was the bright light of the portal as we drifted towards a dark planet, the light absorbing us as we passed into the unknown.

"We must have crashed on the planet. This is strange; I can't pinpoint exactly where we are, I can't even tell if we're still in the Milky Way!" answered the AI.

I spotted my Helmet across the room, sticking out of a pile of rubble. "We can't stay here."

"Agreed. I'd advise our next course of action, but I know you'll just do your own thing; it's gotten us this far…" Replied Cortana, sighing.

I grinned, walking to the rubble and retrieving my helmet. I let the debris fall off of it before sliding the dark green helm onto my head.

The visor was barely functioning; the screen was cracked in the center and most of the armor's systems had been disabled during the crash. The visor still displayed my shield levels, but all other features were offline.

"Time to move, Spartan." I heard Cortana say, her voice resonating through my helmet.

I stumbled through the wreckage, my armored feet clanking as they hit the debris and metal that cluttered the floor.

I felt my left foot knock against a rectangular object, causing it to slide forward and into my sight. I looked down, spotting the MA5B assault rifle on the floor, completely intact. I quickly picked up the weapon, feeling the familiar weight in my hands as I checked the magazine inside it; half empty. I attached the rifle to the magnet on my back, hearing it snap in place.

The rifle was kind of a good luck charm for me; it had remained at my side since the battle for the Earth. I felt comforted to know that it was in my possession again.

I searched around the floor, finding five magazines full of 7.62 rounds for my rifle. I snatched them up and attached them to my utility belt. I continued onward.

I entered the main hallway of the frigate, which was mostly still intact save for the wall of rubble that stood ahead of me; a dead end. I could see small rays of light emerging from cracks in the wall of debris.

"Looks like that's our ticket out of this ship." remarked Cortana.

I stood in front of the wall, feeling around for a weak point to exploit. I eventually found a thin, metal plating that made up the bottom left section of the rubble wall; perfect.

With a grunt I kicked the thin metal, denting it upon impact and sending it flying a few yards away. A large ray of sunlight rushed into me the moment the metal left the ship, instantly warming me and sending fresh air through my helmet.

I stepped out of the ship, hearing my boots crunch as they collided with the rocks and dirt below. I walked a few meters forward, before stopping at the edge of a cliff as I gazed in awe at the world around me.

Mountains, grasslands, tundra's, and deserts stretched for hundreds of miles in all directions; but instead of disappearing over the horizon, curved upwards for miles, before meeting over a thousand miles above me and creating an impossible circular landscape. I lifted my head to look at the "sky," and was completely shocked to see an ocean and a forest that stretched for miles above me. Not a drop of water from the ocean above fell, leading me to believe that somehow the laws of gravity still applied in this spherical world.

A massive orb of bright light hung in the center of the spherical world, illuminating the entire landscape and functioning as an artificial sun.

The Dawn had crash landed atop a giant canyon; rocky cliffs and mountains casting shadows around the ship. A large waterfall fell from a mountain a kilometer above me, the water dropping to my right and disappearing in a fog of mist hundreds of feet below.

"Whoa…an artificial, spherical, inhabitable, atmospheric world…this is amazing." Mumbled Cortana as she used my visor to gaze at our surroundings.

"How is this possible?" I asked her, still staring at the stretches of land above me.

"I don't know. It's possible that the Forerunner's built this place; it's design and advanced technological levels are quite similar to that of the Installations and the Ark." She replied.

"A Shield World?" I asked her. We had found out that the Forerunners had built massive bomb shelters around the galaxy; places for them to retreat to when the Halo Array were activated.

"Maybe. The planet we were drifting towards, 'Spira,' appeared to be constructed of the same forerunner technology as the Halos, which would support your 'Shield World' theory. Also, the portal we were sucked into may have been a sort of doorway; leading into the center of Spira, and coincidentally, the inner safety of the Shield World." Replied Cortana. "If you're right, and this IS a Shield World, then maybe there are others here; maybe some of the Forerunners were able to make it here before the Halo Arrays were activated."

"There's only one way to find out."

I followed the edge of the canyon downward, instinctively scanning for any signs of danger. The dirt path was ragged and steep, leading down into a crevice between two mountains. I stopped and looked over the cliff again, spotting a large, gray object lying on the ground a few kilometers below. It took me a few seconds to realize that I was staring at the ruins of a destroyed UNSC Frigate, debris and rubble scattered for yards away from the ship. The front of the ship was buried into a crater in the ground; evidence that the ship had crash landed just like the Dawn. I turned my head and continued down the path.

There was no way anyone could have survived that crash.

I continued to follow the path for an hour in silence, watching as the dirt trail was bathed in shadows. I looked up, seeing a giant mountain loom over me, blanketing everything below it in shadow.

"I wonder how long it took the Forerunners to build something like this." I heard Cortana say in the back of my mind.

I retrieved my MA5B from my back and began to check the weapon for jams or malfunctions; a task I forgot to do when I had first found the weapon. I took apart the frame and checked the mechanisms inside the firearm, fixing any errors of jams that would have stopped the weapon from functioning properly.

"Any idea where we're headed?" Cortana asked, curiosity in her voice. I almost didn't hear what she said; I was focused on repairing my rifle.

"Anywhere." I finally answered.

"Chief, look." Cortana advised, a hint of worry in her voice.

I looked up from my rifle, spotting a large, metallic tunnel built into the side of the mountain.

The tunnel was constructed of the familiar Forerunner material that I had seen countless times before, and shaped in a large, rectangular hall. Darkness prevented me from seeing more than a few feet inside the tunnel, which instantly caused me to become cautious.

"You're not planning on going in there, are you?" asked the AI frantically as she noticed me quickly reassembling my rifle.

"That may be our ticket out of here; or towards the Forerunners." I replied as I reattached the frame of the rifle and clicked off the safety. Better safe than sorry. "We don't have any other choice."

I entered the tunnel, activating the lights on my armor to help illuminate the darkness.

The floor and walls of the tunnel were made of sleek, light gray metal. The howl of the wind outside echoed through the tunnel, creating an ominous atmosphere and sending chills through my spine. The tunnel was slowly sloping downward, into the dark depths beyond. I cursed as my footsteps echoed through the tunnel.

"I don't like the looks of this place…" mumbled Cortana as I continued to walk down the tunnel.

I looked back, hoping to see the ray of light that shone through the entrance to the tunnel; but all I could see was darkness.

"The temperature's dropping, we must be heading underground." Spoke the AI.

Suddenly the sound of footsteps filled the tunnel, as if something was sprinting towards me. I quickly raised my rifle and switched on the light attached to the bottom, illuminating the area a few yards ahead of me. The footsteps came to a sudden halt.

There was nothing there.

After waiting for what seemed like forever for the figure to reveal itself I continued onward, my finger against the trigger.

"I don't think we're alone in here."

I followed the tunnel for a mile, reaching a dead end that halted my progress. The temperature had dropped to below zero, causing my breath to leave my helmet as vaporous fog.

I spotted a rectangular door on the left wall, which slid open as I approached, revealing a transparent, hexagonal pad that replaced the floor. A pillar-like structure stood in the center of the pad, with glowing, alien symbols etched into it.

I stepped onto the pad and stood in front of the pillar, observing the strange, blue symbols.

A sudden shriek coming from the tunnel caused me to instantly turn towards the door, rifle at the ready.

"Chief; touch the pad, it activates the lift!" commanded Cortana.

I immediately obeyed and touched the pillar, causing it to glow a light blue. The door slid closed as the pad began to descend, down into the depths of the unknown.

The lift slowed to a halt, hissing as it touched down with the metallic floor below. A door identical to the one I had used to enter the lift was built into the wall in front of me, sliding open when the lift stopped; a vacuum of darkness beyond the doorway.

I took a deep breath and stepped through the door, the flashlight attached my rifle swaying around the room.

I was in a large empty chamber, with large pillars standing in perfect symmetry around the room. Alien symbols were carved into the walls, each one pulsing a dim, blue light.

I slowly walked through the room, listening for any signs of movement nearby.

I reached the end of the room and another rectangular door, which opened to reveal a large slope leading farther down into the construct. The slope and a door on the far side of the chasm were the only things in the room, with the ceiling shrouded in blackness and the seemingly bottomless pit below.

"Don't fall." Cortana warned as I stepped onto the slope, trying my hardest to keep my balance. One slip and it was all over.

I continued to walk along the slope, my footsteps echoeing through the room. I came to a halt halfway across the slope, lowering my head as a sound caught my attention.

I could hear the sound of heavy, sporadic breathing behind me.

I turned too late, grunting as a gray figure tackled me with unbelievable force and sent me flying through the air. My rifle was launched from my hand, the light on the barrel swirling around frantically.

I fell, losing sight of the slope above as I was engulfed in the darkest of shadows. I was powerless to stop my descent; my armor carrying me downward like an anchor.

Suddenly my body slammed against a hard surface with a loud thud, and a flash of bright light filled my vision as I instantly lost consciousness.

"Chief!" I heard Cortana shout, dread in her voice.

I swallowed in a large breath of air and opened my eyes, my heart racing as my mind started to panic. My bones felt like they were on fire, and I could feel several bruises scattered across my body. My lungs ached with each breath, and I could taste dry blood in the back of my throat.

"I'm ok." I reassured the AI as I struggled to stand. My legs gave out several times before I was able to stand, an intense feeling of dizziness overwhelming my mind.

Miraculously, I found my rifle a few feet away from me; completely intact. I picked it up, using the flashlight to figure out where the hell I was.

I had fallen onto a small platform sticking out of a wall, with another rectangular door built into it. I shined the flashlight upward, spotting the slope I had fallen off of half a kilometer above me.

"That was some fall; a normal human wouldn't have been able to survive that." Commented Cortana, as if deep down she was wondering how I had survived the drop.

"I'm not human." I replied, before lowering my head and limping towards the door. The AI grew silent.

I clenched my teeth as I limped, quakes of pain bolting up through my legs with each step.

The door slid open to reveal yet another lift inside. I stepped onto the pad and touched the pillar in the center, causing the pad to drop slowly.

As the lift descended, soft light began to break through darkness, illuminating the lift in a dim glow. I shut off the flashlight on the MA5B, no longer requiring it to see.

The lift hissed to a stop, in front of a door built into the wall ahead of me. The door slid open.

I limped through the door and into a long hallway; glowing, blue orbs decorating the walls and brightening the room slightly.

I walked through the narrow hallway, my armor basking in the pale, blue light.

I stopped and crouched, hearing the faint sound of sporadic breathing from farther down the hallway. I could scarcely see movement ahead, immediately turning off the lights on my armor; trying to remain undetected.

I slowly continued forward, keeping close to the wall as I came closer to the figures ahead; their backs facing me as they sat in a huddle.

I activated the flashlight on my rifle and cautiously began to raise it, the light slowly passing over the floor and onto the figures.

The creatures were humanoid; with long, bony arms and legs and a skinny frame. Their skin was gray and rotting, chunks of flesh missing and showing the coal black muscle and blood below. They were bald, and veins pressed against their skin throughout their bodies. Their rose and fell rapidly as they breathed and snarled at each other.

"What the hell…" I heard Cortana mumbled.

The five creatures immediately turned their heads towards me, their white eyes sending chills through my body. They shrieked in unison, their jaws wide and revealing hundreds of dagger-like teeth.

I backed away as they sprinted towards me, determined to rip me to pieces.

I opened fire, the room flashing as the rifle's barrel sparked brightly.

The creature closest to me was hit in the waist; the bullets tearing a chunk of flesh off of its body and leaving a hole in its place. The creature snarled and stumbled backwards before running towards me again, completely oblivious and unaffected by the wound.

I cursed and switched targets, sending a burst into the chest of another of the abominations. Three holes the size of quarters appeared in its chest, but the monster shrugged off the wound and kept coming towards me.

Panicking I fired again, sending a bullet clean through the monster's forehead. Its head shot backwards as bits of flesh and brain matter were launched into the air. The monster fell to the floor, lifeless.

The creature I had shot in the waist reached me in seconds, lunging towards me with its jaw wide. I quickly sidestepped, grabbing its head and slamming it into the wall to my left. The creatures head was crushed between the wall and my armored hand, caving in its brain and killing it instantly.

I quickly used my right hand to aim and fire the MA5B, knocking another monster off its feet as a burst of 7.62 rounds dug themselves into its brain.

Another creature swiped at my chest, scratching the armor with its claw. I punched the creature with my left fist, sending it flailing to the floor a few feet away.

I bashed the last abomination in the face with the butt of my rifle, shattering its skull on impact. It fell, its jaws still wide and eyes open.

The creature I had punched starting to stand, before dropping back to the floor; two holes appearing in its head.

I reloaded the rifle and checked the bodies, confirming that they were all dead.

"What are they?" I asked Cortana, hoping the AI would have an explanation.

"I don't know; we've never seen anything like this before. Their bodies are decayed and rotting, and its body parts seem misshapen and morphed beyond its normal appearance." The AI replied.

"Similar to the Flood." I murmured.

"Not exactly; check the chests. There aren't any intrusions or holes where the Flood infection form would have buried itself in order to take control of the body." corrected the AI. "Whatever they are, they're not Flood; and they're definitely not Covenant. I think we've found a new alien species, chief."

I glanced down at one of the creatures, wondering how many more of the beasts lurked in the shadows.

I came to a door at the end of the hallway, which led to another closed door.

The door slid open and I entered the room, quickly scanning the area as my rifle swayed from left to right.

The room was rather small, with rows of what looked like metal, alien pods cluttering the floor. Pods were built into the walls as well, with a terminal standing at the far side of the room; the black and yellow orb inside casting the room in a yellow glow.

A Lurker dropped from the ceiling and charged at me, its mouth ajar. I quickly fired, killing the creature with a burst to the face.

Another Lurker walked into the room, spotting me instantly and sprinting forward. I aimed carefully, putting a single bullet into the monster's skull.

I reloaded, letting the empty magazine fall to the floor.

When there were no more hostiles present in the room I lowered my weapon, examining the alien pods along the walls and floor. The pods were human-sized, with small blue wires connecting the pods to the terminal at the end of the room.

"What are these things?" I asked Cortana as I passed through the room.

"I can't say for sure," she replied. "Hook my data chip into that terminal."

I obeyed and walked to the terminal. I removed Cortana's data chip, feeling a rush of cold grogginess as the AI left my armor. I inserted the chip into a slot on the terminal, causing it to glow a deep blue.

"Strange; the data is written in the Forerunner language, but for some reason I can translate it…assessing the data files now." Spoke the AI.

I watched the doors while I waited, just in case some more Lurkers decided to walk in and attack.

"You were right Chief. This place is a Shield World; created a thousand years ago by the Forerunners in order to save a few members of their race before the Halo Arrays slaughtered everyone. A Forerunner known as 'The Overseer' was given full control over Spira, and helped save thousands of his species from the Halo's by bringing them back here." Reported Cortana.

"So there may be Forerunners still alive here?" I asked, beyond curious.

"I don't know…The Overseers logs state that the portal was closed before the Halos were activated, safely sealing them inside….but…oh no." continued Cortana.

"What? What happened?" I asked.

"The Flood had followed them into the Shield World." She answered. "The logs continue; saying that the Overseer had to evacuate all survivors into these underground facilities, in an attempt to isolate themselves from the Flood. Only sixty of the remaining Forerunners made it here."

"Then what?"

"They decided to use the stasis pods in order to wait until the Flood were weakened by starvation, or reinforcements arrived to rescue them." Replied the AI.

I glanced around the room, staring at the pods around me. Were there living, breathing Forerunners inside them; continuing to dream like they had for thousands of years?

"I know what you're thinking, Chief; and the answer is no." said Cortana, her voice grim.

"What?" I asked, turning back towards the terminal.

"The construct was given a Forerunner AI to look after it; a monitor called '119 Stygian Solace.' Solace was tasked with keeping the facilities running, but apparently he sucked at his job. Five hundred years ago Solace went missing from the constructs records, causing the facility to slowly lose its main power and shutdown. Within a year, all secondary functions were deactivated, leaving only the ones necessary to keep the Shield World inhabitable, active. I guess the power keeping the stasis pods working was categorized by the mainframe as a secondary function." Reported Cortana. "They're dead."

A stasis pod at the back of the room exploded, sending shards of metal flying through the room. I cursed and hit the deck, narrowly avoiding a piece of shrapnel heading for my head.

I looked up, spotting a Lurker as it rose from the broken pod, screaming as it stretched its limbs. Its head turned towards me, and in seconds the creature had leaped across the room.

I tried to stand but was too late. The Lurker tackled me, sending us both sprawling backwards and across the floor.

I grabbed the monster with my left hand, sending my right fist into its face three times. The Lurker spat and sputtered as I hit it, its teeth shattering and falling out of its mouth.

I threw the alien across the room, its back slamming against another pod. I stood and shouldered my rifle, aiming it at the head of the monster flailing on the floor.

I pulled the trigger, and the Lurker moved no more.

I turned back to the terminal and removed Cortana's data chip, plugging it back into my helmet.

I walked over to the dead alien on the ground, nudging its body with the barrel of my rifle.

"We didn't discover a new alien race, Cortana; we found an old one." I said to the AI.

I gazed at the lifeless beast, realizing that I was staring at the misshapen body of a long, dead Forerunner.

The door at the end of the stasis room led into another hallway, which was empty.

A door stood at the end of the hall, leading into a large chasm.

The chasm was massive, with rows of giant pillars rising into the air and out of sight. A large staircase was carved into the walls, leading up to other levels in the room. The ceiling was lost from view, and the walls seemed to stretch upwards for miles.

"This place is massive; I wonder what kind of artifacts the Forerunners left behind here." wondered Cortana.

"The sooner we leave this place, the better." I replied as I began to travel through the room.

A sharp shriek erupted from the pillar to my left, causing me to instantly raise my head and my rifle, the flashlight illuminating the metal pillar.

A 'Lurker' was hanging onto the side of the pillar a few yards above me, its face glaring at me. Its eyes were wide with bloodlust ad saliva dripped from its jaws.

The Lurker dropped from the pillar and landed in front of me, its mouth wide as it snarled. I touched the Lurker's forehead with my MA5B, firing and spraying blood, brains, and flesh across the floor. The Lurker died, its body slumping to the floor.

"Watch out!" warned the AI.

I looked up to see dozens more Lurkers drop to the floor around me, all snarling and hissing. I backed away, back through the doorway.

The Lurkers all ran after me, the doorway acting as a bottleneck and forcing them to approach one at one a time.

I crouched and fired through the door, hitting anything that moved through it. The bodies of Lurkers began to pile up in front of the doorway, some of them alive and flailing while corpses slumped on top of them.

One Lurker was able to jump over the bodies and through the door, reaching me in seconds.

I quickly readjusted my aim and pulled the trigger, tearing the Lurkers head from its body.

The rest of the Lurkers were smart enough to realize that running through the door was suicide, so they turned around and ran back into the room, using the pillars and shadows to hide.

I took the opportunity to reload, before moving towards the door. I quickly moved the corpses out of the way, using my boot to stomp the heads of the Lurkers that were still moving. They died instantly, their heads flattened onto the floor.

I slowly walked through the room, spotting a Lurker as it struggled to climb up a pillar nearby. I put a bullet in its brain, its body dropping and crunching as it hit the floor.

I continued through the room, my rifle swaying as I prepared for an inevitable ambush.

I spotted a Lurker stalk towards me, barely visible as it crept out of the shadows. I opened fire, catching the beast in the leg. The Lurker dropped to its knee, screeching as it struggled to reach me. A final burst caused a spray of gore to paint the wall behind it.

"Chief, behind you!" shouted Cortana.

I quickly turned around launching, my fist into the gut of a Lurker that had been attempting to sneak up on me. My fist cut clean through the alien's waist, reemerging from its back. I withdrew my arm from its body and kicked the Lurker away, firing a burst of ammo into its head as it fell.

More lurkers began to sprint at me from out of the shadows, with others jumping from the pillars above. I broke out into a run, trying to reach the door on the other side of the room before the monsters reached me.

I turned my torso slightly and fired pot shots at the creatures behind me, wounding some and causing them to slow.

I let the empty ammo magazine fall from the rifle as I reloaded, taking one of the last two ammo mags I had from my waist and slipping it into the rifle's frame.

I reached the door and turned around, facing the dozen Lurkers that continued to run towards me; eyes wide and mouths twisted in wicked snarls.

I pulled the trigger and didn't let go; a constant barrage of bullets escaping the MA5B and riddling the bodies of the aliens with holes.

The rifle clicked as the last bullet left the magazine. I immediately reloaded again, forcing the last magazine of ammo I had into the rifle.

I finished off any Lurker left alive with quick bursts to the head; their bodies falling limp, never to move again.

When nothing else in the room moved I lowered my weapon, turning around and heading through the door.

I came into another empty hallway, with a lift located on the far wall.

I stepped onto the hexagonal platform and activated the pillar in the center, feeling a sudden rush of exhaustion as the platform began to rise. I held my rifle loosely in my hand, lowering my head as the elevator rose silently and fatigue began to take its toll. Even Cortana was silent; still in shock about what we had seen.

The pad continued to rise; I counted five minutes before it slowed to a stop. A metal, rectangular door stood in front of me, unwilling to open and reveal the unknown horrors that lay beyond.

I raised my rifle, heading towards the door slowly. It slid open with a hiss, blinding me with bright light. I used my hand to cover my visor, completely surprised as I stepped through the door and into the world beyond.

A large forest stretched to the east and connected with a long, winding river. To the west was a large tundra, with snow covered mountains looming in the distance. The large, artificial sun still floated in the center of the spherical landscape, with mountains, plains, and rivers replacing the sky above.

Behind me stood the door leading back into the underground tunnels, built into the side of the canyons. Smoke rose from inside a cluster of mountains a few miles away, marking the location of the Dawn's crash site.

"Looks like we're at ground level, now." Said Cortana.

An ear-splitting roar echoed through the mountains, sending chills racing through my spine. I turned towards mountains, my rifle in hand as I tried to spot the threat.

A large, gray creature fell from the mountain tops and landed directly in front of me, sending quakes through the ground and causing me to struggle to stay afoot. A shower of debris was launched into the air, and a fierce gust of wind blew through the grass and trees as the creature collided with the ground.

The behemoth was easily the size of a Pelican, with rotting skin and two large, thick wings swaying back and forth through the air. It had two hind legs, and a spiked tail that dragged along the ground like a mace. Bone spikes erupted on its snout and continued on down its spine. Sharp claws jutted from its feet, and hundreds of sword-like fangs adorned its jaws. Four glowing, white eyes stared back at me, pure demonic bloodlust resonating from them.

The beast continued to glare at me, its teeth showing as it growled. Saliva fell from its mouth, creating small puddles on the ground.

The beast opened its jaws and roared, sending a blast of acid towards me.

*H:V*