Chapter 38: Shutdown
Why does Mass Effect 2's 'Suicide Mission' song go great with Halo? I can't seem to place why, but it does! Listen to it as you play Shutdown on H4. It really fits.
"I can give you over forty-thousand reasons why I know that sun isn't real. I know because the emitter's Rayleigh effect is disproportionate to its suggested size. I know it because its stellar cycle is more symmetrical than an actual star. But for all that, I'll never actually know if it looks real. If it feels real." Cortana said as she watched Requiem's 'sun'.
She turned and found the Chief and James loading their weapons.
"Before this is over, promise me you'll figure out which one of us is the machine." She told the Chief.
Commander Lasky entered the room, and James stiffened up, as he expected the Commander to stop them, or worse.
"So, what's your plan?"
"Infinity's tracked the Didact's vessel to a docking structure southeast of here. We'll jump ship as Infinity exits the roof." John said.
"You know, I was sent down here with orders to prevent you from leaving. In case you had already gone, I took the precaution of ordering a Pelican outfitted for full combat pursuit." He said as the dropship rose up behind them and the other Spartans of Noble Team entered the room.
"I hope to God you're wrong about that Forerunner or whatever he is, Chief, but if you're not…"
He nodded to the Pelican.
"And Chief? Good luck. All of you."
Lasky left the room as Noble assembled around the dropship.
"C'mon, Chief. Take a girl for a ride." Cortana said as the Chief grabbed her data chip and slid it into his helmet.
"Alright. Chief, you're flying. James, you and Jorge have the side guns. Emile, you've got the cannon on top. The rest of us are passengers. Load up, Spartans." Carter instructed.
They all loaded up, and Cortana began a pre-systems check.
"Forward autocannon: check. Lateral rail turrets: check. Side-mounted chainguns: check. Topside cannon: check. Main Thrusters: check. Auxiliary Boosters, check. All right. Keying engines… now."
"It may be a while before we find another ride home. You guys know that, right?"
"It'll be okay." The Chief said as he hit the thrusters and accelerated out of the Infinity.
"Contact. Didact. Dead ahead."
"He's got shields!" Emile reported.
"How do we get inside them?" The Chief asked.
"Marking two of the larger facilities on your HUD. They're acting as traffic control for resources moving to and from the satellite. If we disrupt their communications, I can forge an override code and convince it to lower those defenses."
"Go right. I've heard stories about people who went left first. They never end well." Emile said.
They went to the tower on the right. The Chief hovered the dropship just above the landing platform as Carter, Jun and Kat piled out, and then he landed.
"Clear!" Carter reported.
The Spartans entered the structure.
"Slight complication. There are millions of transmissions passing through this structure, not simply the ones controlling the movement through the satellite's shield."
"Can you isolate the satellite communications?" John asked as the led the team into the structure.
"Not quickly, and shutting them all down's not an option, but destroying the system's attenuators should flood the network. Of course, if Infinity wasn't on their way back to Earth, they could overload the attenuators remotely."
"We'll handle it." Carter said.
"That's hardly the point."
The Chief led them into a large room, where they were immediately attacked by three Promethean fliers.
"The attenuators are housed in Faraday enclosures. I bet there's a release somewhere around here."
Carter and Jun took out the fliers as more Prometheans descended upon the team. The Chief found the release and activated it.
"Okay, the structure contains three central attenuators. Sever those connections and we should be good."
"Okay, let's go. Stick together. No heroics." Carter ordered.
The Spartans were immediately assaulted by Prometheans of all classes. James' expert use of a Promethean Suppressor took out two of the dogs while the Chief and Carter double-teamed the lone Knight, and overwhelmed it with SAW fire. The rest of the team dealt with the fliers, which proved to be a huge nuisance, as they tried to bring the Knight back. The Chief shot the attenuator with his shotgun, and the ball of energy inside disappeared.
"Second attenuator… up ahead." Cortana told them as a Knight warped in to their position.
The team blasted it with their weapons, but it warped away before they could kill it. It warped back, and this time, Jorge tackled it, Emile rammed his kukri into its head, and it disintegrated.
"Nice work." Jun said from an elevated position as he scoped the area with his sniper rifle.
The team was assaulted by more Prometheans, and they were all taken care of, but more than a few shields had to regenerate more than a few times during the assault. Carter tossed a frag grenade into the attenuator, and it blew up.
"Great, the increased signal traffic is entirely blocking out the satellite communications. Only one more target left." Cortana told them.
By now, most of the team was using Forerunner weapons, and they all agreed that they were very effective.
"We should use these more often." James commented.
"Don't count on it. ONI will want to dissect these things." Carter told him.
"Fuck ONI. I love this thing." James said as he shouldered his Lightrifle.
The team pressed on, and was met by…
You guessed it.
More Knights.
"Goddamn things. Just die, will you?" James said as he blasted a Knight that got a little close with his Promethean shotgun.
The Chief was engaged in close-combat with another Knight, and he had his knife out and was trying to find a weak spot to stab. As he dodged a swipe from the Knight's hardlight sword, he grabbed its arm, snapped it off, and sliced the Knight's head off with its own sword. He threw the sword over the side of the platform, and led the team onward.
They found the last attenuator, and James threw a Forerunner grenade into the core, leaving it to blow as the Spartans left.
"That's it. Transmission buffers are overflowing. Get us to the second tower." Cortana said.
The others scatter like embers over sand. And yet the Librarian's champions are unmoved.
James and the Chief heard the Didact talking, but it echoed, sounding as if it was coming from their minds.
"Uh… Cortana? Where is this coming from?" James asked.
"Where's what coming from?" She asked.
"What are you hearing?" Carter asked.
"Didact." The Chief answered.
"Nothing." Jorge said.
"Me either." Emile said.
"Nothing on comms." Kat reported.
The Mantle of Responsibility for the galaxy shelters all, humans. But only the Forerunners are its masters. The Didact said.
"He's there. Keep looking." The Chief said.
"Come on, regroup and move out. We need to get to the other tower." Carter said, taking point.
The fight out was easier than the fight in. the only real problem was the Knight at the end, just inside the tower, wielding an Incineration Cannon. James threw his knife at it, and it stabbed the Knight in the leg, bringing it down long enough for the team to hose it down with hardlight.
"Dibs on the rocket launcher." James said as he scooped up the weapon and it formed in his hands.
As they left the tower, Cortana told them that the Covenant's air traffic was increasing.
"If we don't disable the other tower quickly, reaching the Didact could become exponentially more difficult."
"Same positions. Load up." Carter said as they approached the Pelican.
When the team was loaded, the Chief took off, making a beeline for the other tower. They could already see the Phantoms massing near the second tower.
"Get those guns ready, Spartans! This is gonna be a hell of a fight." James yelled as the Pelican approached.
The Chief had already prepared the undermounted Spartan Laser, and planted the reticle right on one of the Phantoms. He fired twice, and it went up in flames as James and Jorge blazed another with the MGs, and Emile hit a third with the cannon.
"Clear! Let's go." Emile said.
The Pelican set down, and the team was out and in the tower in a matter of seconds.
"This node's different from the previous tower. The source of the tower communications is a carrier wave generator located somewhere inside."
"Oh, boy." James said.
The team entered a huge room with a gondola on their side of the huge gap, and the carrier wave generator on the other side.
"It looks like the carrier wave generator is located at the far end of this chamber. Find us a way across."
"Gondola. Kat?" Carter said.
"On it."
Soon enough, the gondola started moving towards the generator.
"To take a page out of our old playbook, I'm going to tune your shields to emit an EMP at the same frequency as the communication network. All you'll need to do to trigger it is to make physical contact with the carrier wave generator."
A beam shot past Carter's helmet, and he turned to see Jackal Snipers on the platforms nearby.
"Snipers! Jun?"
"I got them."
Three shots rang out, and three Jackals went down.
"The Didact's given them access to the system overrides. You're going to have to wrestle for it." Cortana told them.
"Move! Push forward." Carter ordered.
"It's up there." Cortana told them.
"Where?" The Chief asked.
When she didn't answer, The Chief tapped the back of his helmet.
"Right. Waypoint."
A marker appeared in the team's HUDs, and they started up.
"James, use your jetpack. Get up to the controls."
"Got it, sir."
He hit the thrusters, and was gone.
"This thing is amazing!" He shouted as he landed on an Elite and slammed his knife into it.
He ran to the gondola controls and restarted it.
"Go! It's leaving!" He shouted.
As the rest of Noble backtracked to the gondola, James and the Chief ran around the other side, killing two Knights, including a Commander, that blocked them. More Prometheans warped onto the gondola, and Noble opened up on them, killing all the dogs. The Knight was another story, as it had an Incineration Cannon, which it fired like a maniac. Jun finally got it with a shot from his SR-99.
"Nice shot, Snipes." James called from the top of the gondola.
"Start us back up." Cortana told them.
Kat hit the button, and Knights appeared, one right in front of James.
"Holy-!"
He smashed his fist and knife into the Knight, and it was dead.
"They're trying to override the gondola controls again." Cortana said as it stopped.
Your actions tread between honor and foolishness. The Didact said.
"Cortana, are you hearing him?" John asked.
"No. Didact?"
"I hear him." James said.
"Just keep moving. We need to get to that generator." Carter told them.
"Wait, I have an idea. Chief, I need Cortana." James said.
"Why?"
"I'm going to jet over and disrupt the carrier wave generator. I can make it, with the adjustments that Cortana can make to the pack." He explained.
"Do it. We'll get the gondola restarted." Carter said.
The Chief gave James Cortana's data chip, and he jetted over to the generator.
"Okay… shield's tuned. Go for it. Just walk into the beam, and we're golden."
He walked in and nothing happened.
"Give it a second…"
"We got the gondola restarted." Carter reported.
Suddenly, the orange field went down, and so did James' shields.
"Carrier wave generator is down." He said.
The gondola linked to the platform, and James ran for it, while being attacked by fliers.
"Watch out!" Cortana shouted.
"Chief! Catch!" James said as he threw the data chip and unslung his Suppressor.
John snagged it out of the air and put it back in his helmet, and then joined the rest of the Spartans in killing the fliers. All six of them.
"Maybe the ride back won't be so deadly." James commented as the gondola started up again.
"We're clear. All transmissions between the towers and the satellite have ceased."
You are fools. Even now, your kind tinkers with the Composer in the shadow of the third ring. Children and fire, who disregard the welfare of the galaxy. The Didact said.
When the gondola reached the entrance, the team was off in a heartbeat. They returned to their Pelican, and left for the satellite.
Do you truly believe these theatrics can prevent my departure? Embrace your sad fate and retain your nobility. I am already beyond you.
"He knows what we're trying to do. If we get too close to that ship, we're dead." Cortana said.
"I… I have an idea. Head for that waypoint."
A marker appeared on the Chief's HUD, and he took the Pelican in fast to it. It led them to another tower that opened up as they approached.
"Those defense spires we keep running into are being controlled from this tower. Get me to the control room, and we might be able to reposition them to block the Didact's ship from leaving."
"Nice. Seal him in." Carter commented.
They set down and entered the tower, climbing a gravity lift to the top.
You will relent, Humans, or you will perish. All in life is choice. And your day to choose has come.
As they exited, the walkways began to shift around them.
"He's altering the tower!" Cortana said in a distorted voice.
A gap opened up in front of the team as they sidetracked to get around, and they jumped it seamlessly. They encountered Covenant forces, and wiped them off the face of Requiem.
"I'm seeing a control facility at the top of this tower! We need to be there yesterday!" Cortana told them.
"On it- Hunters!" Jorge shouted as the pair of big tanks came down.
John stood his ground as he launched two Railgun shots at one, and then threw a pair of plasma grenades at it, which brought it down. The second launched a fuel rod at him, which he blocked with his Hardlight Shield. He circled it once, since both of his weapons were out of ammo, and then Jun, Emile, and Carter brought it down with grenades.
"Nice work. Up the grav lift, now!" Carter ordered.
The Chief was the first up, and snagged a Covenant Carbine from a nearby crate, blasting an Elite that challenged the team with seamless accuracy. He dropped the SAW that he had been carrying and took the Elite's Storm Rifle, using that as his primary weapon.
"Hey, Banshee! I'll cover you guys from the air!" James said as he claimed the idle Banshee.
Carter and Jun soon joined him as they found Banshees of their own, and the trio rained fuel rods down on the Shade turrets and Elites and fucking Grunts that got in the rest of the team's way. When all was quiet, the floor was littered with bodies, lots of Grunts, and pieces of Shade turrets, the Banshee trio disembarked and pushed their craft over the edge, and followed the rest deeper into the tower.
The door opened to a small room with a great view of the Didact's satellite. A terminal nearby gave Cortana access to the network.
"Tapping into the spire's central net."
The spires outside began to move to close the Didact in.
"They're mine. Now to imprison them?"
The spires began to move erratically.
"What are you doing?" John demanded.
"Like he imprisoned his Prometheans!? Like Dr. Halsey imprisoned me?"
The spires fell out of view.
"Chief?" Cortana asked in her normal voice.
"His ship's online! They're leaving!" Carter said.
"I'm sorry. I don't know what-"
She cut herself off, and the Chief grabbed her data chip and slid it back in his helmet.
"Track those Liches. We can go across them to get to the Didact's ship." John told the AI.
"Wait, wait, wait. Across them?" Kat asked.
"Yes."
"Um… there… there are several Liches moving in formation towards the Didact's ship. We're only going to have one shot at this." Cortana told them.
"And it has to be perfect." Carter said as the room opened up more and allowed them out to get at the Covenant ships.
"Okay… GO!" Cortana shouted as the Spartans took off and jumped.
They spilt into three groups. The Chief took the middle Lich, James, Emile, and Kat jumped for the one on the right, and Jorge, Jun, and Carter hit the left-side ship. They all landed seamlessly, and dug their knives into the hulls to stop them from sliding off the ships. They hauled themselves up onto the hulls, and stabilized themselves.
"Everyone okay?" Carter asked.
"Fine, Commander." The Chief said.
"We're good." Emile reported.
"Everyone's here, sir." Jun said.
"Cortana, what's happening?" The Chief asked as he the Didact's ship coming back down.
"I don't know. Hang on!"
The satellite flew past, and the pressure threatened to rip the Spartans off the hulls.
"Hold! Hold!" Carter shouted.
"Whoa… That's a big fucking ship." Emile said as they saw what the Didact's satellite was headed towards: a Forerunner cruiser, flanked by Liches.
Requiem opened for the Didact, and they left for the far reaches of space with the Spartans not far behind. A portal began to open in front of the fleet. A slipspace portal.
"They're going to jump to slipspace. Get below deck!" Cortana told them.
"No time. Brace yourselves against the hulls, and start praying." Carter instructed.
All of them did the first part, and the ships passed through the portal and went to slipspace.
DONE! Finally! It is my hope to get this done before August 9th, since that is my birthday. And what better present than my first complete story? Well, that's the goal, anyway. Start flaming if I approach the deadline, and it's not done. Like on the seventh or so, okay? That is my challenge to all of you. Keep me on track! I have loads of other stories I'd like to start, and I need this one done ASAP.
Thanks!