After his long drive through the rough terrain of the jungle, the Master Chief found himself surrounded by metal—a sharp contrast from his earlier environment. But it was not any metal John could name. It was sleek, silver steel, seemingly enchanted by a glowing enigma. If the Spartan peered closely enough, he could spy the glyphs of a script he didn't recognize. He even saw pulses energy—instead of wires of electricity—coursing through the cracks of metal. It was like it was breathing. It was like it was alive.
John was reminded of Halo. It was exact same feeling. Not only did he feel like he was wandering in uncharted territory, but the very terrain was alive. It was like the very land could think and could feel him—no different than he could feel it. But as the soldier moved on, he picked up on a difference between Requiem and Halo.
Halo was alive, but it was filled with danger. John clearly remembered every step he took on the ring-world was tense and on nerve, bracing for the next trap to spring. And Halo happily invited him into those traps—luring him with irresistible secrets and supposed rewards. Requiem was the polar opposite. John felt his nerves grating as it felt like his surroundings were watching him through a narrow glare. Requiem did not want to lure him into anything. It wanted him away. It wanted him gone. And John had a bad feeling sooner or later the planet would respond by fulfilling its wish at any cost.
But the Spartan was certain about one thing: Requiem was without a doubt Forerunner.
The realization only gave him more questions than answers. What was this place? Why did they build it? Was it a homeworld to them? A base? John felt another uneasy feeling as he realized the corridor he was in was an exact replica of one he traveled through on the first Halo ring. Were they the same? Was Requiem another galactic weapon? Or was it something else entirely?
He needed answers. And he had to find them. And John had to answer the most important question of all: why did the Covenant come here?
The Chief finally pulled away from his thoughts as he noticed the Forerunner corridor he was following was coming to an end. Before he could question it, the wall before him suddenly hummed. The metal rose, disappearing from view. It was just a door.
The open entrance revealed a broad room with the ceiling far above John's head. He would have to crane his neck to see it. The soldier judged the room was about the size of a football field, but was obscured by multiple obstacles in the way. They reminded him of monitors: oddly shaped boxes grouped together rising and falling in the floor in a synchronized pattern. This must be some sort of data storage room, then.
"Chief, there's a console right there," Cortana suddenly piped.
John refocused his attention to notice a panel in front of him, complete with an insert slot for Cortana. The Spartan neared the structure, pulling the chip from his head into the machine. Cortana's avatar materialized instantly.
"It's a localized site Cartographer," she observed curiously.
The AI did her new trick again, summoning a personal panel. The Master Chief watched on as a large hologram popped up. It was a blue sphere, which he quickly realized was Requiem itself. However he was surprised to see the hologram divided in what looked like layers. John listened as Cortana went on.
"Hmm… Okay… In service of Forerunner Shield World, designate 'Requiem.'"
'A shield word?" the Chief echoed. What was that? He only shrugged. "At least we know where we are now."
Instead of agreeing, Cortana blinked. "That's curious. If I'm reading this map correctly, we are on one of any layers that make up Requiem."
"You mean the planet's hollow? That can't be right."
Cortana gave him a playful look over her shoulder. "Well, we've been through crazier things, haven't we? It's not that far-fetched."
John shook his head. A multi-layered planet? Well, it was the Forerunners. Cortana was telling the truth about Requiem wasn't as crazy as other things they've seen. The Chief moved to business.
"Can you track Infinity's location?" he asked.
"Let's see…"
Suddenly multiple blinking lights appeared on Requiem's hologram. The Chief was surprised to see them flickering across several of the planet's surfaces. Cortana hummed again.
"The Cartographer keep acting like a transmission is coming from everywhere on the planet at once," she reported. "It doesn't want to triangulate Infinity's signal."
John looked at her thoughtful expression before having an idea. "Try to see where the Covenant is," he suggested.
Cortana gave him a puzzled look. "How come?"
"The Covenant's going to be looking for survivors."
Realization lit up in the AI's eyes. She turned back to her work. "Alright. Let's see what the Covenant is so interested in."
It was then a red flash flickered across the Chief's vision and the hologram vanished.
"Huh," Cortana only hummed curiously.
"What happened?" John demanded. He didn't like surprises and even one as small as that got his already tense nerves on edge.
"I don't know. It locked up."
Before the Master Chief could question her farther, he heard a familiar, high-pitched hum. Multiple of them.
John raised his SAW before the Sentinels popped up from the lower level of the room. Like usual, their movements were synchronized and they hovered together in a pack of half-a-dozen. While the Spartan bristled and snarled at the guardian AIs, Cortana just stared with her arms crossed.
"I wondered when they would show up," she sighed.
The Chief braced his finger on the trigger as the Sentinels suddenly moved. But to his astonishment, they hovered away from him, like he didn't exist. The soldier lowered his weapon and stared them. That was a first.
"Come on, what are you waiting for?" Cortana snapped him out of it. "Infinity's not going to find itself."
"I just hope your shortcut works out."
"My plans always work."
The AI raised her chin defiantly as the Chief pulled out her chip. He followed the ramp to the lower levels, weaving between the crawling monitors. The Sentinels hovered above him like vigilante guards, darting to one space to another, but took no notice of him. Maybe the former animosity he sensed was just part of his paranoia.
A broad structure filled up the center of the room, nearly dividing it in half. John glanced at it to see a ramp leading to a room underneath it. He tilted his head. Well, it wouldn't hurt. His curiosity getting the better of him, the Spartan entered to investigate, only to find with disappointment that the room was barren. Or so he thought.
"Wait, what is that?" Cortana suddenly piped.
Something caught John's eye and he glanced over. It was a circular plate hanging from the wall. It was made of a pale silver metal—almost white. It was a sharp contrast to the dark gray around it. The diameter was half the Spartan's height—which was still a pretty good size. He narrowed his eyes at the glyphs etched into the bizarre plate.
"What does it say?" he asked.
"Guardianship for all living things lies with those whose evolution is most complete," Cortana read. "The Mantle of Responsibility shelters all… Very interesting…"
"Maybe, but it won't help us find Infinity."
John was about to step away, but something stopped him. It felt like something was pulling every cell in his body, holding him in place. And it was pulling him towards the Forerunner sculpture. The Chief looked at it closely. The energy within the walls pulsed around the plate, like blood coming to and from the heart. John didn't even realize he was moving towards it, in a trance. Cortana made no sound to stop him. Or if she did, he did not hear her.
The Master Chief placed a tentative hand on the center of the plate. The reaction was immediate.
It felt like an electrical current shocked his arm, coursing through his veins to the rest of his body. John didn't even hear his own yell as he leaped away. Blinding white flashed over his vision and his Spartan instincts screamed when suddenly his surroundings became distorted. He lost track where the ceiling and the floor stopped. No doubt he would've punched something, but his body wouldn't obey. He couldn't feel his body. He could only see the blinding colors flickering across his eyes.
Suddenly the panicked frenzy calmed. John stopped flailing and his thoughts slowed dramatically. He felt weightless. He felt calm. He felt at peace.
Suddenly the Chief heard a voice in his head, but it wasn't Cortana's. It was distant and echoing, but was soothing and had a melodic tone.
"So you have come," the presence hummed. "I have waited so long."
The vision disappeared.
The vibrant colors went away, replaced by the cold shade of John's surroundings. The ease on his mind was replaced by alert Spartan instincts. The Master Chief groaned as he blinked rapidly to improve his blurred vision.
"Chief? What happened?" Cortana cried, obviously panicked by his sudden fit.
"You didn't hear that?"
"Hear what?"
John opened his mouth to reply, but a noise stopped him. Cortana's frantic yelp was immediate.
"Covenant!"
Sure enough, a lone Grunt wandered into their little room. It had just noticed the Spartan when its head exploded by the SAW's high-velocity bullets.
Fitting namesake, John thought inwardly.
However, several startled growls and yelps told his position was given away, so the Chief charged into the open.
He immediately rammed into two Jackals, the reptile-birds giving screams of surprise. The supersoldier cut one off by snatching its neck. He broke it in a single squeeze. The other Jackal had more time to prepare, ducking behind its shield and holding out its pistol. John merely aimed at its feet and fired. The alien screamed, losing its balance and exposing its body. It only took a few bullets to the chest to kill it.
Without warning the Chief's shields flared, his HUD reporting that the danger was from his right. Immediately he rolled away, landing in a crouch facing the incoming group of Grunts. His onslaught was able to take one down, but in a matter of seconds the SAW went dry. John pulled the trigger a couple more times to confirm it was out of ammunition. He threw it to the floor and replaced it with his Storm rifle. The midgets screamed as the plasma finished them off properly.
It was then a sharp sound assaulted the Spartan's hearing and he saw a purple beam strike by his foot. He immediately traced its source and turned, now holding his carbine. The Jackal sniper gave a growl of surprise before he fired, sending it to the floor with a headshot. If he wasn't in the heat of battle, John would've rolled his eyes. Not even the snipers had good aim.
The Spartan finally rose to face a trio of Elites. They were all lower-ranked with that barely-fitting armor, but they were all angry and armed. Two of them opened fired on him with their Storm rifles. Completely out in the open, the Master Chief was forced to take the assault. When his HUD flashed red, he dived back to the shelter of the sublevel room, using the threshold as a barrier. He thrust out his Storm rifle to return fire, but by now the Elites had found their own cover behind the monitors.
"Where did they even come from?" Cortana cried over the noise of plasma fire.
"How about you ask them," the Chief retorted.
He fired another volley at an Elite that accidently leaned too much from its cover. The monster barked when its shield flared. It ducked back behind the monitor, only for the structure to sink back into the floor. The alien gave a noise of dismay, but it was lost as John opened fired. Once the shields were depleted, the Spartan quickly switched to his carbine and shot the Elite in the eye, killing it instantly.
One down, two to go, the supersoldier noted.
Seeing the death of their comrade, the other two Elites were more wary of their shelters. The Chief had the perfect idea how to flush them out. He chucked a primed plasma grenade in a professional throw over one of the monitors where an Elite was hiding. As he expected, there was a startled roar and the Covenant soldier blindly leaped out into the open. He was greeted with an onslaught of blue fire.
The Elite's shields were just about gone when suddenly John's Storm rifle hummed and shut off. The volley stopped. Startled, the Chief smacked at the weapon to give it some "encouragement" while the Elite perked its head up curiously. The Spartan's HUD rung again, forcing him back into his cubby hole. He glanced at his newfound weapon in disappointment before dropping to the floor. That didn't last long.
Now he was left with his carbine and grenades. As long he gave a few good hits, he should be good. The Chief glanced up to see an Elite had ducked behind a monitor in front of him, no doubt to get a better angle on his position. Believing he was preoccupied, the alien even leaped out to fire at him, only to receive a shot to the mouth. John lowered his weapon as the choking sound was abruptly cut off.
One more.
Unfortunately, the last one usually meant it was the smartest. His previous tactics were unlikely to work. The Master Chief looked around, trying to think of an idea. Suddenly his eyes fell on a lone needler on the floor several meters away. In the open. Something in John's head that he thought was called logic told him it was not worth it, however his Spartan instincts won. Plus the set of instincts that he believed Cortana called "craziness."
The Spartan made a desperate leap forward, hand outstretched for the Covenant weapon. Like he expected, a hail of plasma greeted him, but his shields kept him safe. However just as John snatched the needler, a sharp ring filled his hearing. He lunged away just as the plasma grenade went off, the force of the shockwave pushing him forward.
Thankfully he landed behind a monitor, using the shelter to recollect himself. It only needed a second as he rounded the structure to see the Elite had exposed itself from its stunt. It tried to duck back behind its cover, but the Chief was already firing his new weapon.
Immediately almost a dozen pink shards of crystals flew through the air, racing towards the Elite at a fearsome speed. The alien didn't even have time to react as they attached themselves to its armor. The Chief watched as the crystals detonated, causing a chain reaction of explosions. What he wasn't expecting was how powerful the explosion was. It was like someone had thrown several plasma grenades at the Elite. The beast let out a dying roar as it was consumed by the pink mist.
Threat neutralized.
His radar silent, the Chief cautiously crawled out of his hiding place. So it seemed the rifle wasn't the only weapon upgraded. The Covenant may have not had any proper training, but their numbers and arsenal made up for it. He crossed over to the dead Elite, nudging the corpse with his foot. The body was covered in burns and several good chunks were missing. John would've pitied to the poor bastard if it was another creature.
He looked around at the other corpses strewn across the room. Might as well as see what he could salvage. One firefight and he was already down over half his artillery. However as he walked over to the other—more complete—Elite, the Spartan felt his nerves grating once again. He found himself bristling as his hairs stood on end.
"Hey, Chief," Cortana spoke up. "Do you ever get the feeling like you're being watched?"
"Yes," John replied.
The Master Chief whirled around just as a large shadow fell over him and a deafening roar racked his hearing. He was met with a solid wall and a flash of electricity across his vision. In reflex, John held up his carbine in defense, only for the weapon to be cut in half by the energy sword. The tip of blade nicked his chest, adding another scar to his already damaged armor. John stumbled away from the raging Elite, pulling out his needler.
The Elite was bigger than the other ones, complete with thicker armor. This set was even able to cover majority of the alien's body. However the helmet looked more decorative than practical. A Zealot.
The Covenant commander snarled in frustration upon realizing its prey had escaped its ambush. With a snort, the Zealot vanished, reactivating its camouflage. John curled his lip slightly and began to move away, looking in multiple directions with sharp eyes. Even the Covenant's best camouflage wasn't perfect. It was made to protect the soldier from a first glance, but they could be picked out once someone noticed the distortion in the air. There!
The Chief saw the air shift and he fired. The Zealot roared in anger upon being found, charging forward with its camouflage still half-activated, making it look transparent. John lunged away, the energy sword missing him by a hair. He still didn't pull the trigger. Last thing he needed was the Elite to charge when he fired and for both of them to go up in the chain reaction.
The Zealot swiped again, but the Spartan swatted the attack away with his needler. He planted a solid kick to the alien's stomach, sending it away. The monster snarled viciously and the human realized with dread that this thing was much bigger than him. Not to mention really pissed off. Suddenly John had an idea. As quickly he could, he primed and tossed a frag grenade.
"Catch."
The Zealot actually did, snatching the death trap with both hands. It stared at it in surprise before its reptilian eyes practically popped out of its skull in horror. The Master Chief was already jumping away. He had just landed on the floor when the explosion went off behind him, the Elite's letting out a roar of agony. Not hesitating, the Spartan rolled over and held his weapon between his legs, pulling the trigger. The Zealot disappeared in a pink mist.
There was a heavy thud as the alien slammed onto the floor. Then silence.
John waited for several moments before finally crawling to his feet, groaning. He glanced at the needler. Empty. He didn't even give it a second glance as he tossed it to the ground. He went over to what was left of the Zealot's body, resuming his salvaging mission.
"That Elite dropped his camo module, let's have a look," Cortana suggested.
The Chief glanced down to a device lying on the floor next to the dead Zealot. It was obviously once a piece of armor that was only blown off in the explosion. Miraculously it still looked intact. Upon observation, John noticed it could fill in a gap of his armor perfectly. He didn't hesitate to clip to the small of his back. He let Cortana do the work.
"I'll run a patch with your suit's firmware," she explained. "Who knows? It might come in handy."
She was interrupted when suddenly a frenzy of static buzzed in John's helmet. John winced at the horrid noise and even went to adjust his com-system, but suddenly a voice sounded.
"Pull back! Pull back!" a human's voice screamed. John didn't recognize it, but he could hear the frantic fear in the man's tone nonetheless. "Infinity's being overrun!"
"The ship's as big as a city!" another soldier retorted. "How is it being overrun?"
A serious of screams and multiple voices followed, only to be lost in static.
"Infinity? Infinity?" Cortana called, already desperately trying to regain the signal. "Can you read?"
"Can you trace the transmission?" Chief demanded hastily.
"No, the signal's too thin. I can't pinpoint it. But we need to get a move on."
"We have to find out where we're going first."
"Blast it!"
Without warning a noise filled the air. Automatically John snapped his new Storm rifle into a firing position towards the source. It came from the other side of the room, where he saw two bars rise from the ground. A loud, high-pitched sound rung throughout room as suddenly specs of light began spiraling between the poles. John blinked in surprise. That's all it took.
Within that time, what looked like a model of a hurricane appeared in the space. But it was no hurricane. It was a vortex, spinning violently with a continuing roar. Blue matter made up the vortex, pulling together at a fixed point so much there was only a black space. The Master Chief couldn't believe what he saw.
A portal? Slipspace? In atmosphere?
"How did—?" Cortana gasped, in as much astonishment as him. Then she made up her mind. "Quick! Into the portal!"
Naturally John hesitated—split. He never disobeyed an order, but charging at something he didn't what it was did not sound comforting. Cortana barked again.
"Chief, go!"
The Master Chief leaped into the vortex.
Anyone else always running out of ammo in Halo 4? No? Just me? I just suck? Okay, then.