Carter looked over his team with sorrow. He had used the lifts to move his team back to an open part of the library so they could get extracted if it ever showed up. But to them they had lost…or so it seemed. Commander Keyes and Johnson…kidnapped. The covenant had the key to activate halo. The chief and six were nowhere to be found, john was considered KIA according to the latest roster updates after the covenant glassed part of the ring.
That didn't make sense. This ring was a holy place to them….why glass part of it just because john killed a prophet there. Drop a few dozen soldiers to kill john? Sure. Send fighters, banshees, and a dozen hunters, whatever sure…but to glass it….it didn't make sense. Now what few soldiers were still on coms he was hearing talk of the covenant fighting each other. Things just weren't adding up.
That was when Jorge walked up and sat in front of him. "I know that look…something doesn't sit right with you…what's up?" asked Jorge as he noticed ever since Kat got pregnant he hadn't seen this look on the commanders face, let alone in his body language. His mind was back on the war….and it seemed a bit grim.
"You`ve been listening to coms right? The covenant fighting each other? Glassing part of this "holy relic" just to kill john over a dead prophet? Something's not right…I think the covenant is falling apart." said carter as Jun who had recently awoken and Emile walked over.
Jun nodded. "Yeah….and this whole flood thing…that arbiter worked with me…just because he lost all his other soldiers. Plus now with all this other stuff. I think something has been festering within the covenant and as much as I hate to admit it the elites are smart enough to ask questions…and I think they didn't like the answers they got. It all happened after john killed regret. He must have been a glue of sorts keeping the covenant in balance." Said Jun as he held a bag of snow to his head.
Emile was about to speak his own theory when they heard the roar of a pelican coming towards them. They all looked up and a couple swore as they noticed some flood matter on the engines and the front wheel. They all scattered and got ready to intercept whatever was inside.
Kat was locked up in her armor and for the first…no probably second time in her career as a Spartan she was praying, to god, kami…whoever would listen and let her live. This war was near its end and god damn it she was going to see it finished after everything on reach, after finally getting the man she loved…she was not going to die just because her pelican got fucked up.
Finally it crashed and she felt it crumple up around her as she got tossed around while it slid. When it came to a stop she unlocked her armor and groaned, checking herself for any injuries. Once she was satisfied she or her baby were in no immediate danger due to a potential bleed out situation or her limbs weren't broken she made her way to the back door. Finding the door jammed she blew the emergency charges on the door and stepped out of the pelican…to find herself on the end of carters dry and Jun's sniper rifle. Her hands were up in the air when Emile's shotgun was pressed to her back.
Carter couldn't believe his eyes when he saw Kat step out of the pelican. But the flood matter brought up concerns a she seemed to wobble a bit. With a hand sign he had everyone aiming at her. "Remove your helmet, now! There's flood matter on your pelican, explain it and why you aren't infected." he stated.
Kat couldn't believe her what she was hearing. Explain why she wasn't infected. With a growl which got them to jump she nearly tore her helmet off and she began poking his chest.
"Before we got here we got married, you admitted you love me, we even agreed to have this baby despite our plans not to have children…and because a little flood goo gets on my pelican because the dawn got fucked up by flood controlled pelicans…I HAVE TO BE INFECTED…YOUR SERIOUS? I HAVE to be infected. No, oh my god Kat, honey, whatever are you ok? Is the baby ok? Are you hurt, you just crashed a pelican! No because there's flood matter on it you automatically assume I'm infected when I just ran my ass off there and the only reason I had to crash was because one of the exploding ones blew up a crate of grenades and fucked up my engine. You inconsiderate prick! Seriously! I`m your wife god damn it1" yelled Kat as she turned and walked away, her cybernetic hand coming up and rubbing her forehead. "No…no I'm not infected. I escaped in time to avoid that. And yes I'm ok…no need to check me over, fret over your wife's health…"she growled as she found a rock and sat down. Her suit had gotten tighter while she was locked up. The radiation shit was getting worse. She'd have a desk job when they got back just so her baby wouldn't grow a third leg or something. She was really hating the covenant now.
All three Spartans stepped back at that point. As she chewed out carter Jun just crept away to go check on Jorge and exile actually hid behind a rock. When she finished carter was a bit astonished. All protocol and chain of command thrown out the window…she just chewed him out for a legitimate question. He sighed and walked over to her and crouched down in front of her. He put his hands on her stomach, where the under body suit had clearly expanded with her growing belly. It was the first time he had truly acknowledged the child's existence in that way. "listen…I'm just…with everything going on I got carried away with protocol and first thing I thought of when I saw that stuff on the pelican was, oh my god I just lost my wife before we even got a proper honeymoon." he said as her hands joined his.
Kat sighed and chuckled at the poor joke he made. "I know…I'm sorry. I`m just worried we won't make it home. Or god forbid the ring will activate and we will all die without ever knowing how things could have turned out. The covenant stole our chances at a normal life even as children. Now I'm carrying ours and I'm wondering what kind of life it's going to have. You're worrying about the wars outcome…and I'm worrying about the consequences." she said before another sigh escaped her lips and everything went quiet.
The silence was a bit disturbing given all the flood bodies around them…but it was also comforting in a way. Aside from their R&R before this they hadn't had a chance to rest and relax and just take stock of things. That was when they figured it was all over as a phantom soared into the opening and came close to the ground.
Everyone was quickly up and ready for a fight, with carter in front of Kat when the back door opened. What surprised them was the floating orb which floated out followed by Commander Keyes, Johnson, and the arbiter.
Jun lowered his rifle and took a step forward. The arbiter greeted him with his hand out. "I apologize for what I did. I was on a mission as it turns out to kill us all…a holy quest which was all a lie. I hope you can forgive me." Stated thel as Jun took his hand after a moment and shook it. One normally wouldn't expect this but he assumed he was the reason the commander and Johnson were alive so he figured that was good enough for him.
The orb flew alongside Keyes and Johnson as they walked over to carter and Kat. Keyes extended her hand to carter. "Good to see you commander. Everything seems to have been thrown into chaos. We can brief you on the way to the ship." She said before Kat stepped forward.
"Ma'am with all respect the in amber clad is compromised…"she said before Miranda held up her hand.
"I'm aware Spartan. The elites have been betrayed by the prophet, truth. They have offered to assist us in getting home. The arbiter specifically has procured a frigate which will give us a lift home before returning here to assist the containment of the flood. We realized you had been left behind and I managed to get a lock on your suits transponders. We came to recover what was left or pick you all up to get you home. We will need every Spartan by the time this is done. And I mean every Spartan. "She said with a small smile before motioning towards Kats stomach.
The motion of the commander brought a smile to Kats lips before she saluted. "Sierra 320, ready and awaiting orders!" she said before the rest of noble team followed suit.
This brought a chuckle from Johnson as he put a hand on carters shoulder. "Looks like you`ve got a fine team here…let's get you all patched up and ready to finish this thing." He said before they all began heading for the phantom.
Knowing she wouldn't be entering the field again Kat decided not to bother recovering her helmet. She had no need for it…not for much longer anyways.
They were all ready for this to be over…and with the elites seemingly friends with humanity now…they felt they may just have a chance.
John gripped a grove in the ship as it shook. He assumed they had come out of slip space finally. As he began to devise how he would get out of the ship he heard admiral hood calling to shoot down the ship. "defense platform Cairo this is sierra 117. I`m onboard the ship."
Hood looked around and turned to the communication officer. "Isolate that signal. Master Chief you mind telling me why you're on that ship?" he asked as he was confused as to why the chief was onboard the new vessel.
"Finishing this fight sir." He stated as he closed his eyes and gripped the groove tighter. He was still upset that he had to leave Cortana behind. But he knew soldiers had to make sacrifices and focused on the mission ahead of him.