"First of all, let me be clear when I say all of the tests I was able to run on this artifact before I was forced to abandon my research were preliminary and largely inconclusive," Halsey's voice sounded over the comm, as imperious as ever despite her recent ordeal. Evidently, according to Lasky, she'd begun developing schematics for a prosthetic limb while yet confined to med bay. Her focus had, predictably, shifted owing to the emerging threat the Created represented. "However, in the very limited time I've had to examine it since its retrieval, I've concluded the device should serve our purposes, even if I suspect its intended function was far more complex."
Briar couldn't help not being filled with confidence by the less-than-reassuring statement. Then again, there were no other options on the table.
"How does it work?" John questioned.
"In very basic terms, it draws the combined digital presence of a subject from whatever vessel it is occupying. In our scenario, it will remove all traces of Cortana's coding, her expanded matrix, her every synaptic connection. But - and I cannot stress this enough - its probability of success is contingent upon her containment within a singular piece of equipment. The Recomposer cannot scour an entire network of her presence, so as long as she maintains some portion of herself in the Guardians or elsewhere, it will not terminate her completely. Think of her as a Hydra. Using this device against her while she occupies multiple vessels is akin to cutting off only one head and having two more manifest."
"Understood."
"She has demonstrated a propensity to wish to differentiate between you and the rest of humankind, John. You can use that to your advantage," Halsey advised.
Briar had no doubt Halsey had envisioned many ways in which he might do just that, and while it made perfect sense from a logical and strategic standpoint, she still hated it. The thought of John being forced to utilize duplicitous means to destroy his former AI was gut wrenching, even if he appeared to have come to terms with the fact this was no longer the Cortana he'd been paired with.
"Receiving rendezvous coordinates for Blue team," Aurora spoke up, breaking the silence.
"I have every confidence in you." Halsey paused. "But bring back my device in one piece. There are still far more of its secrets I intend to unlock." With that, she ended the transmission.
"ETA to rendezvous."
"Approximately four hours," the AI supplied while opening a slipspace rupture.
"Nice," Briar muttered as she stood up from the pilot's seat. "Just enough time to imagine all the things that could go wrong."
John's helmet turned towards her. "I'm open to suggestions."
"No, you're not." She headed back to the cargo hold to take stock of what weapons they'd confiscated before departing Genesis. "Besides, we're both wearing way too much for what I had in mind."
Stepping down from the expedition craft, Briar swept her head around to take in the carnage. They'd broken atmosphere with stealth measures enabled since none of the satellites orbiting Earth were likely capable of detecting cloaked Forerunner vessels, as evidenced by the key ship which had remained hidden in the galaxy under Abiding Legacy's control for so many centuries. Setting down on Sydney's outskirts would hopefully provide them with a quick means of escape if necessary, though she was under no illusions failure was an option.
John stood a few paces to her left, scavenged MA5D in his grip as he too took in what had once been the planet's capital.
Fatalities were reported to have been catastrophic, with some question yet as to which officials had survived. President Charet and the Fleet Admiral, at the very least, had been ferried to safety. What they did know was that Cortana had taken the Hive, which had sustained minimal damage owing to its subterranean structure. A flurry of frantic comms had reached Infinity in the minutes leading up to her successful infiltration of the UNSC's base of operations, but nothing since. Hostages were estimated in the hundreds.
And all they had to do was sneak into the most heavily fortified and surveilled facility humankind had ever manufactured, somehow isolate the maniacal rampant AI in current control of it to a single device, and use the questionable Forerunner artifact they'd been supplied with to eliminate her and prevent the subjugation of their entire species.
Life had been simpler before she'd met John. And possibly slightly less fraught.
Movement caught her eye, her own purloined assault rifle lifting automatically to sight down the three incoming individuals. She lowered it once more as the Spartan-IIs approached and John went forward to meet them.
"Chief," Kelly greeted with more warmth than their generation was typically known for.
Fred reached a hand out to clasp arms with his brother-in-arms. "It's good to see you."
At their backs, Linda carried a custom sniper rifle in comfortable silence, her helmet swivelling with predatory alertness to keep a constant watch on their surroundings.
"You have the package?" John questioned as he released Fred, focus - as always - on the mission.
Kelly reached around to detach the device from the mag plate on her back and presented it to him. "It's activated like this, I'm told." She demonstrated for everyone, since it would behoove them all to be aware of how to operate the thing, then passed it off to John, who stowed it on his armor.
"You must be 312," Fred inferred with careful neutrality, which told Briar Blue team likely hadn't decided what to think of her yet.
Before she could answer, however, John did. "Briar, these are Fred, Kelly, and Linda."
She got the impression he attached no significance to the fact he'd supplied them with her name and gave a stilted nod in response. This was going to be interesting if they didn't trust her.
"Never thought you'd be the one to get jammed up in a tight space, John," Kelly broke the descending awkwardness, her helmet turning pointedly towards Fred.
Shoulders rising, Fred seemed disinclined to be offended by the insinuation. "Sorry to disappoint." Despite the reflective visor, Briar sensed the grin in his rich baritone. She glanced to John, intrigued by the dynamics of the team. These people knew him better than perhaps anyone else. They'd been with him since the start. By being separated from the rest of Beta company and funnelled into black-ops, she'd been relegated to a life of isolation. Conflicting emotions surrounding Noble attempted to resurface, and she shoved them away. This was not that.
"I've identified the weakest points of entry - and I stress that as a relative term," Aurora piped up, recentring everyone's attention. "Sharing coordinates now."
"How do you want to do this?" Linda spoke for the first time. "It's only a matter of time before she knows we're here."
John nodded. "Latest intel from Lasky is Admiral Osman is trapped inside."
Fred and Kelly seemed to share a look at this statement. "You want us to evac her?" the former ventured.
"I want it to look like that's our objective," John supplied.
"Understood," Blue team echoed.
Kelly turned in the direction the coordinates indicated they'd be heading. "Are we going in together?"
"For now," John replied as he started forward.
Kelly and Fred fell in without further comment, and Linda waited for Briar to do the same, evidently intent on keeping an eye on their sixes - as well as on her, she suspected.
Sydney was nothing more than a massive crater enveloped by a mangled jungle of melted and warped structures and other debris, radioactive fallout registering at concerning levels on their MJOLNIR's sensors. They skirted the wasteland as much as possible, the silence which permeated all also instilling a morbid sense of determination into their every action.
They were traversing a mass grave site. No one spoke. There were no words.
The aftermath of Reach had been one thing - a hellish landscape which haunted Briar's dreams to this day, but it'd been an outcome they'd been fighting against for years. Years. The population of Sydney had had little to no warning, and this was Earth - the human homeworld. The expectation of destruction of this magnitude certainly was at its lowest here.
As they closed in on the entry point Aurora had singled out - what had before been a commercial sector of the city largely comprised of warehouses and machining plants - they broke into two units; Linda and Fred being one and Kelly, John, and Briar the second. Whether Blue team mistrusted her or not, they didn't protest John's call. They split to approach from opposing angles since the AI indicated automated sentry turrets defended the nondescript emergency access point, located inside a fortified unit within an armed and secured building. There was some possibility the same detonation of the frigate's fusion drive which had devastated the city and demolished all traces of said building and its security might have also knocked out the weapons, but precautions seemed in order.
Advancing to an unidentifiable melted outcropping which may or may not provide protection, John motioned for them to lay down cover fire for Linda and Fred.
The instant Briar's helmet appeared as she brought her rifle up, one of the high-powered advanced Gatling guns broke through the crusted earth covering its recessed housing and rotated with precision to target their would-be shelter. Briar managed only to squeeze off two rounds before it opened up on them, its ammunition pelting away at their precarious cover. Having already been superheated to a fragile state, the weakened material disintegrated under the onslaught, chips flying free with enough force to make them as nasty as shrapnel.
Fortunately, they only had to sit tight for a few moments before the barrage halted as suddenly as it had begun.
"All clear," Fred's voice sounded over their comms. "Seems the second one was damaged."
John and Kelly straightened immediately to rejoin the others.
Casting a speculative glance towards the now silent weapon, Briar followed. A small trail of smoke wafted from the automated gun, but she couldn't otherwise discern any reason for its deactivation.
Linda was returning with Fred, her rifle trained on the twin lump which invariably represented the second turret Fred had already declared inoperative. She seemed more skeptical of this.
"Charged rounds?" Briar questioned, curiosity getting the better of her. She'd used such ammo on a few ops to thwart various security machinery.
Linda gave a jerk of her head which might have confirmed or denied the assumption, her focus never leaving her target.
"Present from Halsey," Fred clarified when it became apparent his teammate didn't intend to. "Prototype and all that."
Kelly was looking around. "So where's this door?"
"You're practically standing on it," Aurora supplied, prompting her to squat down and use her fist to break through the thick but brittle layer of sediment coating the floor. She swept it back from a small area to indeed reveal a door seam. Wriggling her fingers into it, she attempted to pry it apart, clearly straining as a gap opened.
Briar dropped down to help, jamming a heel against one edge and griping the other with her hands. Together, they forced the durable metal alloy slabs all the way back to reveal a lit stairwell sloping downwards.
"Well, you can bet she knows we're here now," she decided upon spotting the flashing panel inside which denoted a breach.
John entered first, everyone else falling into line.
The only question was how far Cortana would allow them to get before confronting them.