Chapter 5.- Discoveries.
(October 25th, 2558 [Military Calendar] - [UNKNOWN TIME] - Mission clock of Fireteam Osiris, General Han Solo, Senator Leia Organa, the astromech droid R2-D2, Chewbacca, Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger - Location: Meridian Station, Meridian surface, Hestia system)
After passing through the security gates of Meridian Station, the members of the makeshift team of Spartans, wizards and rebels had a moment to sigh in relief, seeing that all was calm now.
As the team walked up the slope to reach the center of Meridian Station, Locke activated his comlink.
"Governor Sloan, I was hoping we might have a word?" Locke said.
"Come into town and we'll talk." Sloan indicated. "I trust you won't cause any trouble."
"We'll be with you shortly." Locke said as the com channel was cut. "Tanaka, what kind of welcome can we expect this far out?"
"Frontier colony like this? Not much." Tanaka replied. "Best suggestion is to keep weapons down and hands off."
"If there's one thing I know how to do, it's shoot first, so I'm not worried." Han let out as he put his blaster in its holster.
"I don't really like the idea of a hostile reception..." Hermione said as she put her wand in her pocket.
"As if we were really used to a good reception." Ron chuckled.
-"Chewie, you have to put your crossbow away, even if you don't like it, please."- Leia said.
Chewbacca grunted in annoyance and slung his crossbow over his shoulder.
"Where did you guys come from?" Buck asked.
"Han and I believe that we are from another galaxy, or at least from an unknown part of the galaxy where we are, as I had already mentioned." Leia said. "However, we don't know anything about Ron and Hermione's origin."
"Yeah they literally appeared on my ship, completely out of nowhere." Han said.
"They must've stowed away." Tanaka said.
"I doubt that, Artoo would've detected them and alerted us." Leia said.
"Yeah, besides, Chewie was there when it happened. They literally materialized inside the Falcon, which is infinitely more alarming because they did so in the middle of a hyperspace jump."
"It's difficult to explain, as well as illegal." Hermione said. "And the truth is... I'm just as confused or even more so than you guys."
"I'll just tell you that this thing had a lot to do with it." Ron said as he showed them some kind of silver lighter.
"A simple lighter?" Vale asked.
"It is difficult to explain how it works, and in fact, I still don't get how it does it." Ron admitted as he put the object away. "All I know is that it's called deluminator and that it has helped me find my way twice."
"It really sounds like a fairy tale..." Locke said.
"I said the same about the Force, and then I met Luke." Han said. "I'm just saying that there'll always be something strange that'll surprise you and that as implausible as it may sound, it is real."
Suddenly, the little astrodroid next to the group let out a couple of beeps, which caught Han and Leia's attention.
"It seems that we arrived." Ron said.
Meridian Station was completely different from what Ron and Hermione would have thought they would see, as it was a large set of repair stations, medical facilities, and some barracks. But the most impressive thing was seeing what appeared to be a gigantic holographic projector that emitted the image of a man who seemed to be literally broken.
"Is that Governor Sloan?" Hermione and Buck asked.
"... and now I want everyone to know that we had some unexpected help from the UNSC, they're here at Meridian Station with my permission and they've saved the lives of many of our people." Said the hologram. "They'll be leaving as soon as they came. Until they're gone, treat them as you would treat any Liang-Dortmund employee. If anyone gives them guff, will answer to me, understand?"
"I'm not to excited about kissing the behind of the UNSC..." A nearby woman blurted out.
"So all this time we were talking to an artificial intelligence?" Han asked.
"What's wrong with him? He seems to be broken." Vale said.
"Rampancy onset. Late stage, from the looks." Tanaka explained. "Probably sacrificing resolution for logic cycles."
-"I have welcomed you to my home. Do not be so rude as to make my health a point of conversation." Sloan snapped in an annoyed tone.
"Of course, Governor Sloan, we're sorry." Leia said. "We're looking for a couple of friends of ours."
"And we are looking for another Spartan fireteam." Locke explained.
"Why so many Spartans and outsiders here?! Why now?!" Sloan said. "I'm unaware of other UNSC agents in our midst, but you've done right by my people so far. Have your look but make it quick. Governor Sloan out."
"So where do we start looking?" Buck asked.
"It's easy, in a secluded place this far away from the government, you get more information by talking to people." Han said. "Chewie, you and R2 stay here, as for the rest, we better split up."
"Hopefully Hermione, Leia, Han and I can get clues to everyone's whereabouts." Ron said. "Come on, Solo."
"Hey, why do you think you guys will get clues and we won't?" Buck asked with annoyance.
"Seriously? Your beloved UNSC is not welcomed here, they'll hardly speak to you." Han said. "Move on, redhead."
"This time I have to agree with Han, you guys better stay here." Hermione said.
-"Chewie, whatever you do, don't hurt or scare anyone, ok?"- Leia said.
Chewbacca grunted in annoyance at Leia's request, feeling offended.
-"Sorry, Chewie, but I think you make these miners uncomfortable."- The senator apologized. -"I promise that as soon as we're done here, I'll make it up to you."-
Chewbacca snorted and adjusted the crossbow in disdain for Leia's requests but agreeing to them, then Han, Leia, Ron, and Hermione walked away in pairs to different locations.
Han and Ron walked into what appeared to be a medical station, where they could see some medics checking on various wounded, a sight with which they were both well acquainted and which made them sigh.
"This brings back bad memories." Ron snapped.
"Same I say, let's get this over with." Han said.
Han and Ron walked through the area, receiving hateful looks from the Liang-Dortmund workers, but the newcomers were too focused on getting information about the whereabouts of their friends or at least Locke's targets.
"Was anyone with you at the outpost?" A doctor asked a wounded man.
"Just me. I heard we got hit here and hopped a Mongoose back." Said the wounded man. "Right as I left a couple of ships flew past in the other direction, real low."
Ron nudged Han to get his attention, then Han nodded and they both stood next to the wounded man.
"You saw a ship?" Han asked. "What was it like? Were there any distinctive markings on it?"
"Pound glass, UNSC. Not my problem if your buddies didn't tell you where they parked. You oughta synchronize your drop zones better next time." The wounded man claimed.
"Look, fellow, normally I don't care about the tone in which anyone talks to me, but this day has been complete shit and I really am fed up with everything I have lived today, so calm down and talk nice to us or you'll suffer my frustration." Ron threatened.
"Weasley, shut up..." Han sighed. "Hey, I understand that you don't like the UNSC, I don't know them very much but the Spartans we're working with are quite stubborn and they keep hiding secrets, so me and my friends, including the homicidal redhead on my left, don't like them either. And no, before you ask, we're not part of this UNSC, I don't even think we are from this galaxy."
"Good excuse, but get lost."
Ron put a hand on his wand, but Han stopped him, then smirked at the miner and said:
"Thank you, you're just as kind as the Hutts... And in case you don't know them, they're a species of repulsive, fat, gangster worms."
With that said, the ex-smuggler and the wizard walked away from the scene, while Han activated his communicator.
"Did you hear that? A UNSC ship landed on the planet." Han said.
"That miner said ships, Solo. As in plural." Hermione snapped. "Wait, Leia heard something else that may be interesting..."
At that moment, Leia and Hermione walked up closer to a dark-skinned worker who was talking to a black-haired doctor.
"What happened over at the comms tower, Ed?" Asked the woman in the lab coat.
"A station signal was coming through, distress call, but then the tower caught on fire, and..."
"Ok, Ed, just relax. Your painkillers should kick in soon..."
"We heard yelling about things coming out the caves, then screams, then... nothing."
"We might be able to help." Leia blurted out suddenly. "Where was that transmission sent from?"
The Liang-Dortmund worker, neither short nor lazy, looked at Leia and Hermione in a bad way and then said:
"UNSC swooping down to take our claim... I'll tell you what, our folks at Apogee are plenty strong. Don't think you vultures can pick bones so fast." Said the doctor in an aggressive tone.
"Thanks for your help." Hermione replied sarcastically.
The senator and the witch left the medical area and smiled slightly, because despite not having obtained direct information, what they, Han and Ron had obtained was more than enough.
"Wait, what'd he say? Apogee?" Buck asked. "I think that's our location."
"All right, connecting the dots, these things attacked Apogee and a couple of strange ships were seen nearby." Ron snapped.
"Find a network terminal. I want to know more about Apogee Station." Locke said.
"Artoo, you know what to do." Leia said.
A series of beeps was emitted by the astro droid, then Artoo activated a small antenna and scanned the area, but despite finding a terminal, the droid emitted a few disappointed beeps.
2Don't worry, Artoo, I think I was forgetting that the most likely is that these people don't even know astromechs." Leia said.
"Do you understand what the walking trash can says...? Ouch! Hey! This thing shocked me!" Buck snapped.
"Welcome to the club, Buck." Ron blurted out ironically.
"It's binary language, it's not that difficult to learn." Leia said. "He said there's a terminal not far from where we are, Artoo will transmit its position to your armor, Agent Locke."
"ARTEMIS ought to be able to tap into their database. Thank you, Senator Organa." Locke said.
Locke ran towards the terminal that Artoo had found and activated ARTEMIS, obtaining various data but being quickly interrupted by Governor Sloan.
"Did I give you permission to poke about?" Sloan asked.
"Your people saw a couple of unidentified ships near Apogee Station." Locke replied.
"Outsiders at Apogee? Why are you all over the planet?"
"That we would like to know." Hermione said. "If you allow us, we would like to find out more about that matter."
"There's a cargo Pelican on the Meridian Station landing pad. It'll get you out to Apogee the quickest."
"We appreciate it, Governor Sloan." Leia said politely.
"You sure do."
Wasting no more time, the strange team assembled and rushed to the Pelican at the Meridian Station landing pad to board almost immediately.
(October 25, 2558 [Military Calendar] - [UNKNOWN TIME] - Mission clock of Fireteam Osiris, General Han Solo, Senator Leia Organa, the astromech droid R2-D2, Chewbacca, Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger - Location: Apogee Station, Meridian surface, Hestia system)
After a not so short flight, two Pelicans from the Liang-Dortmund mining company arrived at the port of Apogee Station, where they opened the doors and let out a group of armed miners and the improvised group of Rebels, wizards and Spartans.
"Looks like w have an escort." Buck snapped.
"Be surprised if they weren't." Tanaka said. "Sloan can't be happy about UNSC marching around here."
"The lady is correct." Sloan blurted out. "My team's there to keep an eye on things while you look around. Nothing personal, Spartans."
"There is no reason to apologize, Governor." Leia said while she grunted in annoyance internally. "We'll just find our friends and leave."
The group grabbed their weapons again and entered the Apogee Station facility, finding an eerie silence.
A few moments later, the group headed towards a mining area, in which one of the Liang-Dortmund escorts let out a gasp at the sight of a Crawler attacking a badly injured miner.
"What the hell?!" Said the escort.
"Prometheans!" Vale said. "Clear them out! Sloan's people can fight but they shouldn't have to!"
Artoo again took cover as the team dispersed through the area, destroying as many of the Promethean Forces as they could.
"I hate these things!" Ron said as he shot various spells.
"We all do, Weasley!" Han roared as he reloaded his blaster.
After a few moments of less intense fighting than they had before reaching Meridian Station, the makeshift team headed for a staircase that led to another part of the Apogee Station complex.
"All clear." Vale said.
"Let's move o. See if we can find any signs of Blue Team and Han, Chewie, Leia, Hermione, and Ron's lost friends." Buck said.
"Great, you learned my name long before Solo did." Hermione laughed.
"Leave me alone, girl..." The former smuggler growled.
After this, the team entered through the door and headed to another set of stairs, where they saw a couple of miners shooting at a couple of Crawlers without much success.
"We don't need the UNSC to fight for us!" Said a worker from Liang-Dortmund.
With a couple of accurate shots from his blaster, Han destroyed both Crawlers with ease and gave the worker who had spoken a sarcasm look.
"I doubt it..." Han said sarcastically.
"Me too, but we can't stay to argue with these miners, we must find Luke, Harry and this Blue Team." Hermione said as she pushed Han away.
The improvised team climbed up the stairs, spotting at the distance no less than three gigantic machines, which fired some sort of laser against the surface in order to remove the part that had been glassed by the Covenant. After this, when they reached the upper deck, everyone had to take cover, as a couple of Knights, several Soldiers, Crawlers and Watchers were guarding a Prowler and a ship that looked as if it were made from the remains of other vehicles.
"Clear the Prometheans, I want to a look at those ships!" Locke snapped.
Artoo again took cover as the team spread out, however, to the astromech droid's surprise and misfortune, a Crawler jumped over the small retaining wall behind which he had taken cover, and roared at him, causing the astromech to flee towards the battlefield with the Crawler following him, while emitting a beep of alarm and panic.
After a few seconds of pursuit, Artoo crashed head-on into the smaller craft and shook his head a bit to readjust his systems after the impact. However, Artoo was soon cornered by the Crawler, which emitted some kind of snarling and readied its Boltshot to destroy the astromech but before it could fire, Artoo had a burst of courage and creativity, so he activated his extinguisher, practically firing it on the Crawler's snout. The Crawler shook its head, trying to remove the chemical powders from the astro droid's extinguisher, but soon it didn't know any more about itself because R2 used his taser at full power right against the core of the Crawler, managing to destroy it and causing the astromech to start beeping in victory, at the same time that Agent Locke and Senator Organa finished off the last Promethean Knight.
"All clear." Locke said on the comm.
"Blue Team just left their Prowler parked in the middle of everything?" Vale asked.
"Must've landed here for a reason. Ship's log might tell us something." Tanaka said.
"What about this piece of junk?" Han said as he hit one of the walls of the unknown ship. "It looks like a relic from the days of the formation of the Old Republic."
"It seems as if someone had put it together in a hurry with the technology of our time, Ron..." Hermione snapped.
"What do you mean 'our time'?" Tanaka asked.
"Well, as far as I know, Muggles had barely reached the moon, let alone established colonies on other planets or built spaceships like this... you called it Prowler, right?" Ron said. "So either we're in an alternate universe, or we came from the past."
"This day is getting weirder..." Buck snapped.
"Well, we have to investigate what happened here." Vale said.
Locke quickly boarded the Prowler and headed for a console, which he hacked with ARTEMIS, while Han and Leia tried to open the other ship's door.
"Doesn't budge." Han said after seeing that the door didn't open. ."Chewie, would you mind?"
Chewbacca shrugged and grunted affirmatively, but before he could step forward, Hermione pointed her wand at the door and said:
"Alohomora."
Almost immediately, the door unlocked and opened up with ease, greatly surprising Han and Leia.
"How'd do you do that?" Leia asked.
"Magic." Hermione said nonchalantly.
"Are you sure you're not a Jedi?"
"A what?"
"Forget it, I guess my brother, his friends and I are that's left of the Jedi."
"Well, let's go in and see if we find something." Ron said as he entered the small ship. "Wicked! Someone left snacks!"
"Seriously, Ronald, you are the only person who can get happy about finding snacks when we're in the middle of what seems to be a war..."
With that said, Hermione fixed her gaze on the ship's control console, where she could see a laptop mounted on top of it.
Without thinking twice, the witch sat in front of the laptop and typed in some commands, finding that the computer was locked by a password. With a wave of her wand, she cast a spell and was able to see a ghostly vision of someone typing in the password of the device.
Hermione entered the password into the computer and accessed it, finding a document on the desk, which she opened and read quickly, surprised to find it in a sleek English.
"This is very interesting..." Hermione said. "It seems that whoever made this ship, is looking for someone named Penelope and mentions a woman named Cortana..."
"Cortana?" Ron asked.
"Wait, the blue chick who attacked Coruscant called herself Cortana." Han said.
"And it's also the name of the Master Chief's AI and the reason why we must stop Blue Team." Buck said.
"The log says that Blue Team did not land their ship here." Locke said. "Also, there is some kind of map of a complex inside this mountain, there is something that doesn't fit, but I still don't know what it is."
"I've got an idea about it, but we need to keep going." Ron said before activating his comm. "Um, Governor Sloan?"
"Who's speaking?" Sloan asked.
"I'm Ron Weasley, one of the guys accompanying the Spartans, a few minutes ago I managed to see some doors that lead to the mine here at Apogee Station, I was wondering to know if you could open them."
"You think this soldier you're chasing is down there?" Sloan chuckled. "Not likely."
"I kindly request that you let us to in, Governor, we just wanna check."
"Opening the door for you now. *Static* You watch yourselves down there."
A couple of minutes passed and the door to the mine opened just as the team and what was left of the miner escort gathered in front of it.
Upon entering the mine, the team entered some kind of warehouse where some Gungooses and forklifts with the Liang-Dortmung colors and logo were stored, as well as mining equipment and several boxes with ammunition and weapons, so the Spartans and Leia, who were low on ammo, walked over to the boxes and took the ammo they needed.
After reloading their guns, everyone heard some hustle and bustle just outside the hold, causing everyone to raise their weapons and Artoo to hide behind a Gungoose.
The team and escort walked out of the hold with their weapons raised, only to have to duck when a pair of bright orange beams nearly hit Hermione and Buck, followed by the terrified yell of a miner, who was trying to take cover behind a makeshift barricade.
"Stand back! Snipers perched a...!"
The miner couldn't finish his warning before an orange beam pierced his skull and caused his body to gradually disintegrate as his rifle fell to the ground with a thud, which terrified Hermione.
Showing off his ability to sneak around, Han slid across the ground and grabbed the sniper rifle the miner had left behind when he died and, using the barricade as protection, used the rifle scope and saw several Promethean Soldiers in a set of scaffolding, but the worrying thing was that a beam of orange light was pointing at him.
Without further thought, the ex-smuggler pulled the trigger four times when each shot was clear and destroyed four of the six Prometheans.
To his misfortune, the other two saw him and were aiming at him as he tried to reload the weapon in his hands, but just before the orange beams erased him from existence, a crack was heard, accompanied by a roar, then Han saw several laser shots pass over him and hit one of the remaining Promethean Soldiers, destroying him, while Ron Apparated behind the other to destroy him with a spell.
Almost immediately, a Crawler lunged at Ron and slashed his cheek, but before he could do any more damage, Leia masterfully shot the Crawler down and destroyed him, as the rest of the team made their way up the slope towards another door, while more Soldiers and a Knight made an appearance.
The team opened fire and destroyed the Prometheans in the area with relative ease, since it was a relatively small area and there weren't so many enemies, it didn't take long to finish off the enemy.
"This area's secured." Locke said. "Governor Sloan, there's a door blocking our way at this location."
"Opening now, Spartan." Sloan said.
"Don't see any signs of Blue Team being engaged in combat through here." Buck snapped.
"Think they found another entrance?" Vale asked.
"Doesn't even seem like there was a fight before we came, so I'd bet they didn't even have to." Han said after taking a look around as the door opened.
"That doesn't make any sense..." Vale snapped.
"Seeing everything we've gone through today, it has already been shown that not everything has to make sense." Ron said.
"I don't know about you but I have a bad feeling about this..." Hermione snapped.
"For once, I wish I didn't have to hear that phrase." Leia blurted out.
The team kept descending towards another security door, which was slowly opening, revealing another part of the mining facility which was full of enemies, but the odd thing wasn't that there were some magma cascades falling down the side of the mine, but at the back of it, there was some kind of metal construction, which projected a strange symbol.
But having no time to ponder on it, the team split up again and began fighting.
Ron began firing spells left and right, then after destroying several Crawlers, he noticed out of the corner of his eye that there were another series of automated turrets in the compound.
"Hey, Locke!" Ron said over the communicator. "Where can I activate those turrets?!"
"Enter that structure! - Locke explained while reloading his battle rifle.
Ron nodded and Apparated again, on one of the stairs that led to the structure Locke had pointed out. Then, the redhead ran up the stairs, avoiding the shots of a pair of Promethean Soldiers who got in his way and which he destroyed with a pair of explosive spells, after which he reached his objective, finding the control panel, and since he didn't remember how Locke had told Hermione to activate the turrets, the redhead randomly pressed buttons and after a couple of tries, he got his job done, leveling things up a bit for the rest of the team.
However, when he smiled to celebrate his success, a beam of orange light hit his arm, causing a severe sting and a somewhat deep but clean and seared wound, which made him instinctively drop his wand and covering the wound with his free hand, as he hissed and turned to face his attacker, who was another Promethean Soldier with a Binary Rifle in its hands, which was slowly aiming at his heart.
Seeing that his wand was out of reach and that his right arm was too incapacitated, Ron remembered the blaster Han had given him, so as the Promethean Binary Rifle was charging its shot, Ron quickly lowered his hand into his pocket. He grabbed the gun, aimed straight ahead and threw himself to the ground, narrowly dodging the Binary Rifle's shot and responding with seven laser shots, of which only three hit the attacker.
However, his true objective had been fulfilled, which was to damage the Soldier, dodge its shot and, mainly, to be able to pick up his wand, which he grabbed with his left hand after releasing the blaster and aimed at the Promethean.
"Avada Kedavra!" Ron yelled.
A beam of green light shot from the tip of Ron's wand and narrowly missed its target, but it managed to hit the Soldier and slowly disintegrate it, causing its weapon to fall to the ground with a thud.
"I really hate these things and if I find Harry, I'm gonna kill him for getting us into these kinds of situations since we were kids..." Ron muttered in annoyance as he managed to stand up and put the blaster back in his pocket.
Meanwhile, Chewie and Hermione had managed to destroy the Crawlers in the area, aided by the rest of the team and the automated turrets, managing to advance almost to the bottom of the mine in which they were, but when they thought that everything was clear, several Soldiers and a Knight appeared and attacked the group, but they were quickly destroyed.
"All clear." Locke said. "We've got to keep moving forward."
"Wait, where's the redhead?" Han asked.
"I stayed behind." Ron answered over the comm. "I'm sorry, but I'm on my way there with Artoo."
"What happened? Why didn't you show up?" Asked the matted-haired girl.
"Because one of those things shot me in the arm and it hurts like hell... Besides, I didn't want the Apparition pull to make the wound worse."
After a couple of minutes, Ron arrived with the rest of the team, while the little astro droid followed him.
"Show me your wound, I'll heal you." Hermione said as soon as Ron was close enough as she shoved her whole arm into her purse.
"Seriously, where the hell did you guys come from?" Tanaka asked when she saw Hermione's actions.
Hermione ignored Tanaka and took out the essence of dittany again, then grabbed Ron by the arm carefully and put a couple of drops on his wound, causing it to heal completely.
"Ready, you should be able to Apparate without problems, although if this continues like this, I'll run out of dittany." Hermione said as she put the bottle back.
"It'll be better to stay in a group and cover each other's backs." Leia said. "Let's move on."
Locke nodded and the group kept walking through the structure built by the cave, arriving at what was undoubtedly a Forerunner structure in the background.
"What is that?" Leia asked.
"Looks like a Forerunner structure." Tanaka said.
"You know, we've seen Promethean attacks since Requiem." Vale said. "There's no record of them being this intense."
"Something riled 'em up. That's for sure."
"The question here would be: What did it?" Leia blurted out.
"Something tells me it can't be nice." Ron said.
After several meters of walking, the members of the makeshift group reached a new part of the mine, which was a rather long drop, which led to what appeared to be the entrance to a Forerunner construction within the surface of Meridian, and in the area, they could see several small machines floating around the area. These machines left the area as soon as the makeshift team arrived.
"Let's keep going." Buck said before the Spartans jumped over the railing.
At first, Ron, Leia, and Han were reluctant to follow the others, until Artoo used his thrusters to jump over the railing and subsequently cushion his fall, followed by Chewie, who mimicked the Spartans.
"How are we supposed to get down there?" Han asked.
"Like this." Hermione said.
With that said, Hermione took some steps back and jumped over the railing with her wand in hand, then pointed it at herself and three feet before hitting the ground, she said:
"Aresto Momentum!"
To everyone's surprise, the matted-haired witch stopped short in midair, managing to fall gracefully to the ground a few seconds later.
After seeing his girlfriend, Ron followed suit and motioned for Han and Leia to follow. Reluctantly, Han and Leia jumped over the railing and were caught by Ron and Hermione's spells, after which the team got back on their way.
"Something here." Locke said. "Similar design to a Monitor."
"Non-communicative. And they don't seem interested in us." Vale said.
"Move forward. But keep an eye on them."
"Trust me, that'd be the last thing I'd do in this situation." Han said.
Upon reaching the end of the corridor inside the cavern, the improvised team found themselves on some kind of Forerunner platform, which seemed to act as an elevator, because as soon as the flying machines disappeared and the Spartans, wizards and rebels were on it, it began to descend, giving them a commanding view of several magma waterfalls.
"Look at all of this." Vale said as he observed every detail around him.
"Record everything. We can take a good look at it later." Locke said.
Suddenly, everyone's communicators received static, which cut off Governor Sloan's voice.
"Spartans! I'm... losing your sig...!" Sloan's voice said over the comms before contact was lost.
"Governor?" Locke and Hermione asked through the comm.
"Privacy at last." Ron, Buck and Han sighed.
"This place is huge." Vale said. "Why didn't Sloan report a find of this size?"
"Maybe..." Hermione snapped. "I'm not sure, but I remember Ron, Han and Buck said a while ago that this Blue Team didn't fight anyone, and after seeing all this, I could bet my NEWT that they didn't have to flatter Sloan either."
"You think Sloan let them pass just like that?" Leia asked.
"A possibility, but not a certainty, as the lady already said." Locke said. "If Sloan's hiding something, we can all draw it out of him after we investigate this structure."
"I just hope we can find clues to the whereabouts of our friends, we don't have the slightest trace of them yet." Han sighed.
"Easy, Solo, we'll help you find your friends." Buck said.
At that moment, Chewbacca grunted, accompanied by a series of beeps from Artoo.
-"I agree, Chewie, maybe they're not as bad as we thought."- Han said in Basic.
"What are you guys saying?" Tanaka asked.
"Chewie says he likes you four and he probably won't rip your arms off." Han said.
The platform finally came to a stop and left the team in front of a door, which was flashing several orange lights.
After releasing a collective sigh, the team walked with their weapons at the ready to the door, which opened without much problem and without more Promethean Forces making themselves present.
Behind the door, the surprises didn't stop coming, as now they were in some sort of gigantic chamber in which they could see what appeared to be capsules of some kind.
Still with their weapons raised, the improvised team walked to the back of the chamber, managing to see a door.
"They call the Guardians to serve them..." Said a dark voice.
"What the hell was that?" Ron asked.
"Let's go find out, we're sitting ducks here." Buck said.
"Agreed. Move!" Locke said before running off.
The Spartans promptly followed their leader, jumping the multiple obstacles in their path, while Hermione and Ron used the Apparition to transport Chewie, Leia, and Han to the back of the chamber, and while Artoo used his thrusters to fly rapidly after the rest of the team.
However, when they were a few feet from reaching the door, it slammed shut and blocked their path, causing the team to stop in their tracks and raise their weapons again.
"Your presence in the Guardian's shelter is undesired." Said the same dark voice.
At that moment, Artoo emitted a series of frantic beeps and as he looked up in terror, causing the others to aim their weapons in the direction the astromech was looking, noticing how one of the capsules opened and materialized what appeared to be a pretty big robot. Said robot fell to the ground, looking unarmed but quickly assembling itself as it rose to its feet, causing everyone to swallow hard seeing the enormous height of the machine in front of them.
"Are you the Guardian?" Locke asked.
"I am the Warden Eternal, I stand in service to Cortana and Penelope."
"Cortana and Penelope?" Vale asked.
"The others are approved for passage. Regretfully..." The Warden said as he materialized some sort of sword. "... you are not."
"That sounds like a threat." Tanaka said.
"Vacate this shelter now!"
With that said, the Warden Eternal hit the ground and created some kind of shock wave, which sent the entire team backwards, where they crashed hard on the floor, being somewhat stunned, especially the wizards, the former smuggler and the senator.
"Yep... t'was definitely a threat..." Han groaned.
The various members of the makeshift team weakly rose to their feet and pointed their weapons at the Warden Eternal, as it glared at the intruders and levitated, emitting a large amount of light, which caused several Crawlers to materialize.
"What is this guy? Where'd he come from?" Buck said.
"Something new." Locke said. "Defend yourselves!"
"You are not necessary for their plans." Said the Warden Eternal before raising his sword and lunging at Locke. "Leave now and be spared!"
"Stupefy!" Hermione and Ron yelled in unison.
Two red lights were shot from Ron and Hermione's wands, which accurately hit the Warden and caused him to scream in pain as he fell to one knee and seemed to take a moment to recover.
"Your resistance is useless..." The Warden said as he stood up.
"Not so tough when you were shot down..." Buck said as he reloaded his gun to keep shooting.
"Show me what you are capable of!" Roared the Warden.
The Warden readied his weapon and used it to attack Buck, hitting him hard, knocking him down and leaving his armor unshielded.
"Tanaka, help Buck!" Locke yelled. "The rest, don't stop attacking the Warden!"
Tanaka lowered her gun for a moment and ran towards Buck as Chewie roared and lunged at the Warden, only to be grabbed by the head and slammed into the ground in such a brutal way that it immediately knocked the Wookiee unconscious.
"Chewie!" Han yelled.
"Your pet is unconscious but alive, leave or you shall perish!" Roared the Warden.
Han gritted his teeth and fired insistently at the Warden, emptying his last cartridge of tibanna gas on the Forerunner droid, but failing to do enough damage.
Annoyed by the attitude of the humans, the Warden summoned more Crawlers again, causing the team to find themselves between a rock and a hard place, with low ammo and several enemies, but they weren't willing to surrender.
"Ron, give Han your blaster and help me take the Warden down again!" Hermione said.
Ron pulled the blaster out of his pocket and tossed it to Han, but before the ex-smuggler could even touch the gun, a Crawler caught it between its mechanical jaws and destroyed it, as the Warden walked up dangerously close to Han, with its sword ready to finish him off.
After destroying the Crawler that had destroyed the blaster, Ron noticed from the corner of his eye some kind of shelf with what seemed to be weapons of the same type that the Promethean Forces used, so he quickly pointed his wand at the first one he saw and said:
"Accio!"
Some sort of assault rifle flew into Ron's hands, who quickly tried to figure out how to use it against the Warden, as it lunged at Han with its sword.
At that moment, Han thought he was done for, so he simply closed his eyes and heard the roar of the Warden Eternal. But fortunately, Hermione had pointed her wand at him and screamed:
"PROTEGO HORRIBILIS!"
The Warden's sword lunged at Han, but it disintegrated upon contact with the barrier Hermione had conjured, causing the Warden to get angry and turn its attention to the matted-haired witch.
Seeing this, Ron managed to pull the trigger of the Suppressor in his hands, hitting the Warden square in the back since the ammo from the weapon followed its target, causing the Warden to roar in pain.
Locke noticed this and after confirming that Buck and the rest of Team Osiris were fine, the Spartan said:
"Concentrate your fire on the Warden's back, Osiris!"
Fireteam Osiris, Leia, and Ron fired into the Warden's back, breaking part of its armor, revealing what appeared to be a black ball, as the Warden let out another scream of pain. The Forerunner construct grunted but held firm to its ideal, so it immediately grabbed Hermione by the torso and threw her at its attackers, breaking one of her ribs and her arm when she slammed into Locke.
As the makeshift team recovered from the Warden's sudden movement, the Warden materialized a new sword and lunged at them, but before he could finish them off, they all heard a series of beeps, followed by the sound of metal being hit and a new scream from the Warden, this time much louder than the previous ones.
At this, the team looked at the Warden being swallowed by what appeared to be a miniature black hole, while several meters away, Artoo lay on the ground motionless and with a huge dent on the top.
"Artoo!" Leia said.
"Ron, go with Han to check on Chewie, I'll..." Hermione said before wincing in pain. "... I'll heal myself and fix Artoo..."
"Are you sure you can? I don't want the same thing that dimwit Lockhart did to Harry after that Quidditch match, to happen to you." Ron said worriedly.
"That hurts, Ronald, but I appreciate your concern."
Reluctantly, Ron lowered the Suppressor in his hands and went to check on Chewie along with Han.
On the other hand, Han sighed in relief as he noted that just as the Warden had said, Chewbacca was fine, but completely unconscious.
"Give me some room, Han." Ron said as he pointed his wand at the unconscious Wookiee.
"Don't you dare hurt him!" Han threatened with his empty blaster.
"Easy, I'll just wake him up."
Han looked at Ron doubtfully but instinctively and slowly lowered the gun, while the redhead cleared his throat.
"Rennervate!" Ron said.
A flash of red light shot from the tip of Ron's wand and hit Chewie, losing itself in the alien's fur, who almost immediately roared and sat up with a jolt, quickly feeling confused.
The Wookiee grunted at Han a couple of times, to which the Corellian could only shrug.
-"I honestly have no idea what happened, Chewie, I only know that the Warden knocked you out and the redhead woke you up with that stick of his."- Han blurted out.
Chewbacca looked at Ron and gave him a kind of smile, grunting.
-"No problem, big guy. We're all in the same boat and we must take care of each other, don't we?"- Ron said.
At those words, the Wookiee growled in a friendly way and hugged the redhead tightly, suffocating him a bit.
"Ok... Chewie, you're splitting my back..." Ron groaned.
Meanwhile, Locke was checking on Hermione and trying to think of a way to help, but she simply grabbed her wand and pointed it at her injured arm to say:
"Oseum Immendo!"
A loud crack was heard, accompanied by a cry of pain from Hermione, who gasped a little and moved her arm, smiling when she noticed that she was fine again.
"What the hell...?" Locke said.
"It's a healing spell, it hurts but it fixes broken bones." Hermione explained between gasps. "Oseum Immendo!"
At that moment, the matted-haired witch let out another cry as her spell repaired her broken rib, at the same time she heard a roar from Chewbacca.
Once she had recovered from the pain caused by her healing spells, Hermione stood up and walked over to Leia, who was staring sadly at the battered astromech, who was beeping faintly.
"Can you fix it?" Leia asked.
"Sure, just give me a little room." Hermione said as she pointed her wand at Artoo. "Reparo!"
A speck of light shot from the tip of Hermione's wand, causing the dent in Artoo's top to repair and the droid to end up like new.
As a confused Artoo got up, the rest of the team approached Hermione, Leia, and Locke.
"This was definitely new." Buck snapped.
"The Warden Eternal... He said he served Cortana and Penelope." Vale said.
"Well, not anymore, apparently..." Han snapped.
Suddenly, the cave rumbled, causing the makeshift team to go on alert again.
"Yeah, and this is all getting worse." Hermione snapped.
"The Warden protected whatever is beyond those doors." Locke blurted out.
"He called it the Guardian." Leia said.
"This Penelope and Cortana are somehow connected to all this, and that makes them the Master Chief's most likely targets."
"It means if we find one, we find those responsible for Luke and Harry's disappearances, and everything that's happening in Meridian." Han added. "But it sure'll be dangerous."
"As long as we stay together, we can take on whatever they throw at us." Ron said. "Now we should go, we've to continue, I feel that soon we'll know what's happening here."
Everyone else nodded and raised their weapons again as Hermione handed Han the blaster Chewie had given her before descending to the surface of Meridian. Han took the gun and twirled it on his finger before following the others, who were heading towards the chamber exit.