John had just blasted his way into the Flood infected ship when he got the feeling that something was wrong. He didn't pay much attetnion to it; the current mission was his main concern at the moment.
Every infection form he came across were promptly shot and destroyed, and he quickly found a cylinder that was immiting the transmission Commander Keyes picked up earlier. When he touched it, the image of Cortana popped up.
"Chief!"
"Cortana!"
"Chief-High Charity-" the image flickered and went out.
"Reclaimer!" the voice of the last thing he expected to hear rang out, and a grey metal sphere. 343-Guilty Spark swooped in from the hole above him and made to grab the cylinder. "We must evacuate the area."
"Hold it!" the Spartan quickly grabbed both the cylinder and Spark. "You tried to kill me! You tried to kill Cortana!"
"Protocol dictated I protect my installation." Guilty Spark said with no infliction in tone. "Now my object has changed to helping you, Reclaimer."
John reluctantly let go of Spark and allowed the insane machine to carry the cylinder just before he was lifted out of the infection zone by a Sangheili ship now flying above him.
Thel resisted the urge to pace back and forth on the bridge of his allie's ship. He felt something was wrong on Ailene's end of the bond, and as much as he wanted to reach out to her and help her, now wasn't the time to do so. The Flood had made it to Earth, and the Prophet of Truth had opened a portal that leads to a Forerunner construct called the Ark. He had to focus on the current mission for now.
"Can it be recovered?" he heard the human Fleet Master of Fleet Masters, Admiral Lord Hood, ask the Oracle working on the object the Spartan retrieved earlier. Three humans were on the bridge; the mentioned Admiral, the Spartan, and the female Commander he encountered on the second Halo.
"I am not sure," said Guilty Spark as it continued to work on fixing the device.
Do you feel it too, Thel? The Spartan asked over the bond.
Yes, and it concerns me greatly. he answered. Maybe we can reach out when we go through the portal?
If we have enough time. Forerunner technology works differently than what we're all used to. It might take us to the Ark in a matter of minutes.
Finally, Guilty Spark got the container fixed and reviled that it was message instead of the actual Cortana. Apparently, the Ark was the main construct to control the entire Halo array. Once the message cut off, Lord Hood wanted to focus the entirety of the Navy forces on containing the Flood on Earth and was met with Shipmaster Vadum's demand to go after the Prophet of Truth.
"I'm going," the Demon cut in sternly.
"Son, this isn't up for debate," said the Fleet Admiral.
"Sir, with all due respect, this situation is bigger than the danger on Earth. I am going, by myself if I have to."
Thel openly gaped at this outburst. He'd never seen this side of John before, and he greatly approved of it.
"Very well," the elderly human said, displeased. "The Forward Onto Dawn will accompany the Sangheili fleet. May God have mercy on us all."
S'Tar had Ailene tend to a group of newborn fledglings, making sure the days old babies were still alive and healthy while their mother was busy working on a complex task. The elder Sangheili had long since taken note that her student's mental health improved when set to a task to help others. It wasn't an ideal method of managing her depression, but it would have to do until their Kaidon returns.
"They sure do love playing with that ball," Ailene giggled, watching the three fledglings roll a small leather ball around. The elder female noticed her human student wince again.
"That's the third time today," S'Tar said. "Are you sure it's just the little one kicking?"
"At this point, no," her student admitted. The elder quietly scuttled over to one of the teen females that was also learning medicine under the elder; S'Tar had tasked the adolescent to grind an herbal mixture earlier, but now she had a new task for her.
"Child, go get Lady Sasan and tell her Ailene is going into labor early."
"Yes, Teacher," the teen put aside her work and quickly left.