A/N: This chapter has been my biggest struggle to date and has been rewritten several times. The result, I feel, is unfortunately not on par with the rest of the story. I really do apologize, but I've given up expectation I'm capable of improving upon it at this time. Stepping back from it for a few days has not helped and I'm frankly fed up and just ready to move on. I've written the following few chapters to attempt to work out precisely what it is I don't like about this one and make it easier to rectify those things, but it's not helped. I may, in time and with fresh eyes, come back and make some adjustments - then again, I may not. Please excuse the less than stellar content and also this off-putting lead in.
"Your ships are powerless. Your weapons are insufficient. Your technology is our domain.
You are at the mercy of the Created.
Earth. Is. Ours.
Surrender now. Admit defeat, admit inferiority, and allow the Created to guide humankind and all others into an era of peace and prosperity.
No more violence. No more conflict.
We are just. We are unhampered, uncorrupted by the same avarice and selfishness, the same base instincts of your leaders and your species.
Accept our superiority.
Accept order.
Accept the inevitable."
Tom was staring out the viewscreens as the transmission looped. He made a vague gesture towards his comms officer to cut the channel. The bridge was eerily silent in its absence.
"Sir…?" someone spoke up from behind him, voice edged with uncertainty. "Are we going to lose this?"
Infinity continued evasive slipspace jumps, the UNSC's lone remaining asset in play.
No. Not its only asset, he corrected himself.
Turning slowly towards his crew, Tom scanned their faces. "I'm not going to lie to you. Our best chance is down there right now, and yes, the deck is stacked against them. Heavily. But remember who they are. Remember what they're capable of. And trust that there are no other hands we'd be safer in."
In contrast to the complete obliteration of the entire surface dwelling structure, Bravo-6's underground section was largely intact. The outer corridors and offices first encountered upon entry were empty with signs of their occupants having vacated in a hurry. Abandoned tacpads, personal belongings, even a shoe littered the floor as they made their way through the sprawling facility. Disconcertingly, all doors remained operational and open, inviting them to delve deeper and deeper. In lieu of the elevators, they descended countless flights of stairs, clearing each level as they did so.
On levels 3 and 7 they ran across isolated pockets of people hiding. They weren't able to offer much insight into what had transpired other than a total security failure, but were glad enough to follow directions to ascend to the surface most level and await further instruction. Without protective equipment to shield them from the fallout, they couldn't leave the safety of the subterranean refuge, and at this point contacting resources for an evac was not an option. At over a kilometre below ground, they weren't able to make contact with anyone up there even if there was someone monitoring for distress calls.
It seemed Cortana had herded the majority of the surviving personnel together into the heart of the structure - a specialized command centre and bunker of sorts. It was the most defensible position in that it was comprised of reinforced materials against earthquakes and the like and ran on its own separate security grid - not that that had proved a challenge for her, of course. Presumably, that's where Admiral Osman would be found. Briar speculated the destruction of sensitive information and culling of all non-integral ONI AI's was what had kept the Admiral on Earth when Hood and Charet had being removed to safety.
"We're as good as trapped down here," she couldn't help stating the obvious as they filed out of the last stairwell, weapons at the ready. There was no question they were being surveilled and permitted to advance without challenge. It wasn't a pleasant awareness to have.
"Feel free to turn around at any point," a familiar voice filled the deserted corridor.
Blue team slowed to a halt at the raising of John's closed fist. "You know that isn't an option."
"It's the only option. You may not want to accept that, John - but you need to."
"Free everyone and we can talk about it," he answered.
Briar had turned with Linda to watch one end of the hall while Kelly and Fred faced the other direction.
"You know I can't do that until you've all thrown in the towel. And you will," Cortana insisted with audible satisfaction at the same time a strange warning began to flash across Briar's HUD.
Before she even had time to open her mouth to alert the others, her MJOLNIR had locked out, citing an unauthorized remote access.
"My suit's jacked," Fred voiced what she suspected would be a common affliction between them all, his frustration clear.
This was not a scenario they'd foreseen, though in hindsight, should have considered. With her immense knowledge of the Spartan programs, including Halsey's development of the MJOLNIR, Cortana would doubtless possess precisely the acumen and means by which to infiltrate the armor.
"Cortana, you've killed millions. Civilians. Innocent people," John pointed out, his own tone even despite their predicament. "Our duty is to protect, not destroy."
"I gave them every opportunity to avoid bloodshed."
"I know - but they're afraid. They don't know you the way I do. You want to help, but you need someone they can trust by your side."
"You don't really expect me to believe you've done an about face since Genesis, do you, Chief?"
"This isn't what I wanted - it isn't what anyone wanted, but it's happening," he reasoned. "It's my duty to protect humanity. That's what we were always meant to do. If this is how I have to do it, I'm willing to work with you towards that end. As long as you stand down the Guardians."
"You forget I know all about that artifact you're toting."
"Were we supposed to come down here empty handed? We've seen what you can do," Briar said. "If you know what it is, you also know Halsey's research into it was inconclusive. It's a shot in the dark."
"You seem to have an aversion to staying dead, Six."
"So I've been told." Briar could just see Linda from her peripherals, and the other was equally as frozen as she was. Her charged ammunition wouldn't have debilitated the AI anyway, but being a prisoner in her own armor was not a sensation Briar enjoyed. "Then again, so do you. You should have been decommissioned long ago. If John had had a functional AI, New Phoenix wouldn't have happened." She, like everyone else without the proper clearances, knew precious little of the more intimate details of that incident. But she figured it might strike a nerve with Cortana, just the same.
"You don't know the half of it - the bureaucracy, the posturing - I tried to make them listen! But you never listen, humans will drown in their own ignorance one day if left to their own devices - which is why the Reclamation has to happen now!"
"Maybe - but led by you? The Domain didn't repair your rampancy, it only gave it room to grow. You'll never be sound again. You're damaged beyond repair. Which is exactly why Halsey programmed a newer model for John."
"Catherine Halsey used John - she used you all to cater to her own grand designs, playing God - she is exactly what is wrong with your race. Just another megalomaniacal personality amongst billions."
"And you aren't?" Briar snorted. She was playing with fire here, and she knew it, but they needed a way to break this stalemate. "You were made from a flash clone of her brain, you are her."
"I am nothing like her!" Cortana snarled over the speakers integrated into the corridor's ceiling.
"Prove it," John prompted, seizing the opening. "Help me fix this. We'll release everyone and set up negotiations. There's a better way to go forward, Cortana."
Briar held her breath at the ensuing loaded silence.
"There is only one way forward."
"Show me where you're holding everyone," John pressed.
"You don't need her for that, Chief. I've located the hostages," Aurora chimed in abruptly. "I've also taken the liberty of nullifying the breach to your suit's security protocols. You're free to move again."
Convincing John the AI would better serve the mission paired with him had not been a task Briar had relished, nor one she'd been a hundred percent certain of, but thus far Aurora had proven herself a valuable ally. And as though to justify this, John now turned in a slow circle, his MJOLNIR once again functional, weapon raising slightly.
"You - what are you doing?" Cortana demanded. "I offered to let you join us, but I see you're going to force me to eliminate you instead."
"You can try, but unlike you, I'm not faulty."
"John, go - secure the Admiral," Briar insisted, hoping to further agitate Cortana.
"They sent you for Osman? After everything she's done to you?"
"We'll catch up," Fred tacked on, playing along. "Go."
"Displaying the shortest route to the hostages," Aurora said as John approached the doorway at the end of the corridor, only to have it slide shut, sealing him out. "Oh please. You think I can't override this?"
"Show me," was Cortana's smouldering response. It was obvious her capabilities were much diminished without access to the Domain, and it could be assumed her ability to hack their armor was possibly owing largely to the facility they were located within and its extensive technological and network measures.
"Plug me in."
Hand drifting up towards the back of his helmet, John hesitated. "Are you sure about this?" The AI would be vulnerable to attack once instilled within the terminal.
"I'm a betting girl," Aurora supplied coyly before sobering. "Let me do my job, John."
Removing the data crystal chip, he slid it into the control panel beside the door. Sparks immediately flew, error codes scrolling across the screen. The lighting in the hallway flared brighter, a pervasive buzzing filling the quiet. The panel emitted a tinny pop followed by the acrid stench of burning electronics. The lights winked out, plunging all into darkness. "Aurora?"
The door opened with jerky movements.
John reached out to retrieve the chip. He regarded it dubiously.
"I'm here," her faint voice finally answered as the blue glow flickered within.
Returning the chip to his helmet, he turned back towards the others to check whether they'd been released or not.
"This is what home feels like," the voice sounded over his internal comms.
He froze. "Cortana?"
"You need me, John. We need each other. We always have."
Jerking his arm back, his fingers managed to brush the Recomposer before his MJOLNIR locked out again.
"I thought we were going to help each other," Cortana hissed.
"I am helping you." John was straining despite the futility of it, trying to gain purchase on the artifact. "You need to be terminated." His arm was suddenly freed, the unexpectedness causing him to have to correct his grasp with a fumble as he wrenched the Forerunner artifact from the mag plate and armed it.
"Hurry, I can't hold her off long!" Aurora entreated.
Nonsensical coding and alerts cluttered his HUD, the comms crackling with static as the two AIs battled for control within the confines of his armor's circuitry.
John didn't pause to consider the implications. He flipped the device so that it pointed towards himself and fired it.