Only remnants of you is that awful, bitter taste

Lock and loaded, sniper rifle in hand, the Spartan crouched to cover. John's mind continued to unravel over what had happened nearly an hour ago. Weapon had glitched, a scan run through her. John's paranoia of another Cortana event coming to his mind... he couldn't risk that. This Ring seemed more and more dangerous for the AI.

His eyes trained on his target as he slid to the side some more, resting the barrel of the rifle on the edge of a rock. He noted several stranded men and women restrained in the electric force fields. He hadn't wanted to take two teams with them, but they had heavily insisted on coming. Tired of sitting back and letting the Banished take them by surprise, they were looking for a hole to punch through to make them regret ever messing with the UNSC.

"Cayman Squad on stand by." A Sargent said quietly into the COM channel, the rustling of underbrush could be heard.

"That's a big 10-4 Cayman, Starlight, what is your status?" The Commander said, sitting back in the Warthog with another group of marines.

"We are Oscar Mike." Starlight said.

"Good to hear boys, let me know when you are on standby. Stay frosty."

"Roger that." The COMs fell silent.

Rocks fell behind the large man as he listened to the radio chatter, he didn't need to look behind him, he could hear the small disgruntled noise coming from the Elite, his translators picking up what sounded like a swear. John's lips tugged to the side a bit.

"Are we ready?"

"Not yet, Starlight is still on the move." John spoke softly as he kept his eye down the scope, hearing the Elite crouch next to him. The beacon had been completely reinforced since the Chief's last time out, they were guarding it with everything they had and refused to give up on allowing the Spartan inside. But with the forces they now had at hand, John was sure he could break through.

"They seem to be quite fond of this one." The elite commented, looking through his own scope.

"They're not exactly enjoying their plans going to waste because of us."

"I can tell." Thel replied softly as they sat and waited quietly. They waited for a few more minutes before they heard Starlight again on the radio.

"This is Starlight, we are on standby." They finally answered.

"Alright boys, line up your shots to your nearest monkey, last green light is a go." The Commander said as slowly one by one, several men lit their green lights, John waited to be the last before he lit his up, giving the go ahead for all the men. The crisp, cool air calmed before the cracks of sniper rifles reigned down from the sky. Several Brutes lost their skulls, others their helmets. John did not stop shooting until he finished his clip, reloading another.

"Starlight on the move, we've been spotted, marking Brute Chieftain now." The marine said before the COM's fizzled out yet again. John dropped the sniper rifle as he looked to the Sangheili.

"First one down the hill gets the Gravity hammer." Weapon piped up over the COM between them. John smirked before he took off like a bat out of hell. The Sangheili not far behind him. They slipped over the rocks with grace and agility, the Arbiter grabbing into a branch and flinging himself several feet in front of the Chief. John's eyes ignited in excitement, he loved a challenge. And with things settled between them, their flow of battle seemed all the better for it. They matched each other's strides as a hail of plasma came down just behind where they had run

"Master Chief, Arbiter, be advised, counting two Wraiths at the bottom of the hill."

"We seem them, do what you can to keep them off of us." John said as he slid across the terrain behind another rock, checking the area behind his scope. Thel was twenty feet from him, watching his movements as he slowed as well, hearing the hot sizzling plasma arc through the air and into the treetops just behind them.

"Don't worry Chief, Starlight is coming in hot." The Sergeant in charge of the squad came flying down the hill in a mongoose. The brave marines driving straight towards the Chieftain, the passenger charging up a heavy weapon. The red eye of the gun became brighter and brighter as they drew closer. The Brute snarling as he raced towards him with his hammer. But the alien was a second too late. The Spartan laser fully charged and took a direct hit to the chest. It made the alien flip heel over head and lay dead on the ground. The marines cheered as they flew right by, right in between the two wraiths that had nearly crashed into them.

"Oh, looks like they got there first." Weapon chimed in, the Chief just huffing a bit,they hadn't been first.

"We're circling back, keep the area clear!" The pair said, hearing the mongoose in the distance as they moved from their cover. Thel kept to the man's side, firing his weapons into a crowd of Jackals and Grunts to keep them off the Chief. John launched himself in the air with his powerful legs and kept from the fire of the wraith as he pulled himself straight to it with the grappling hook, locking his arm midair. The retractable line hurled him down to the ground like a comet as he smashed right into the gunner's seat, cracking the metal. John unlocked his armor as he heard the sound of an explosion next to him, the marines had came back for a second time with the Spartan laser, attacking the second wraith. The Spartan slammed a grenade right into the cockpit before he jumped off, grabbing Thel's arm as he tugged him back before the first one exploded.

"Master Chief, get inside and take that beacon down, we'll take care of the rest." The Commander said, pulling up with an empty Razorback.John nodded as he took to the hill with Thel on his heels.

"This should be the last one for us to gather data on." The AI spoke as John held his hand over the console to unlock the door.

"And where do we proceed from here?" Thel asked curiously as the doors parted, allowing them inside of the quiet structure.

"We can use this data to go to the Nexus and shut down whatever the Banished are planning. " weapon replied as they slinked down the halls. They split up, checking each side as they came to a point at the center of the room. It had always been empty, more or less, besides the few dead Brutes that lay on the floor, their blood staining the wall. John had always been curious about what had killed them. It seemed to be the same thing for everyone of them. As they entered the room, John released Weapon into the system like they had so many times before. She nervously stepped out, looking back up at them with a curled smile.

"Last one." She said as she reached her hand out to a blue light, only to pull her hand back, looking around at the air. "No, no, no… this is a trap. She's trying to find out what I am…" she said as she looked back at the pair with large eyes. "She's trying to use me to break the deadlocks, start up the spires…." she huffed, turning her back to the men. John and thel looked between themselves, this was simply not good. "My routines, plus the monitors." John circled around the console, thinking to himself as quickly as he could. "Not good."

"Then we stop. Stalemate." John answered her as he walked the floor, Thel was not accepting of that. They had come so far.

"We cannot simply halt this." The Elite spoke, angry at their predicament.

"For now. She's close, eventually she'll find a way."

"Then we have no choice." John said as he circled behind her, the curious AI tilted her head as the strong soldier nodded to her. "I've got you." He reassured her. The AI tucked her hair behind her ear and smiled, turning around as she began to pull at the air with his confidence behind her. Thel was about to open his mouth when the Chief held up his hand not to interrupt. Behind his HUD he had pulled up the deletion protocol, standing at her back, she would have no idea.

"Red flag." John spoke to himself, making the Elite tilt his head curiously again, John had a back up plan this time. The AI turned back to the Chief, her eyes a bit wide with amazement.

"N-nothing happened... Sorry. Maybe I'm going crazy.? Or just paranoid." She chuckled as she put her hands behind her back. "Did you… say something back there?" Weapon asked as she tucked her hands behind her back.

"It was nothing." John replied. A sweet smile graced her lips as she rocked back and forth on her toes.

"Okay! Well we got what we needed." She said, hopping back into his palm and disappearing. "We should be able to bypass the security now at the Spire, when you're ready to go." John just made a non-verbal acknowledgement as they turned and headed off towards the exit.

Thel was full of questions. But he already knew the answers.

-*-*-*-

John welcomed the newer additions of their team, the starved marines heading straight for rations as he scrolled the audio log he had found, trying to learn whatever had been left behind from the Banished. Thel had been standing nearby, running his long fingers over a box as he turned to the Chief. "May we speak for a moment?" John looked up, his eyes scanning the Elite as he set the audio log to the side.

"Privacy lockdown." John said, the AI being set to standby, so that she could not hear their conversation. "Go ahead."

"You have set up a security protocol for the construct." Thel stated.

"I have." He replied. "Why?" Thel's mandibles flexed in thought as he walked over.

"I am curious, for what reason?" John stared at him, not sure what he meant when he asked.

"Security of the UNSC takes priori—."

"You do not trust this construct because of Cortana's actions?" Thel said, though it was more of a fact, not exactly a question to the Chief.

"Why would I? You were there for it. Don't act like I'm wrong for it." John said as he leaned against his knees. What was he pushing at?

"I do understand. For one mistake to crumble your trust, she must have hurt you deeply with her betrayal. I wish to bear the ill feelings you have." John shook his head as he tugged at his visor cover with fidgety hands. "Do you wish to speak of it? It still wounds your heart, Chief ."

"Cortana's gone." He said flatly. "There's nothing to talk about."

"Yet, her death still wounds you deeply." Thel said as he walked over, tracing the design of his helmet on the top of his head. "This influences your actions."

"It's not about that." Well it was, but not entirely. "I am the sole reason for what happened. For everything. And if I make that mistake again what is going to be left? Nothing." Thel sighed as he crouched in front of him, pressing his head to John's, so that he might feel the comfort he was providing.

"You are forgiven." Thel spoke gently.

"It's not that simple.."

"We must allow ourselves leniency for our shortcomings. " Thel said softly, closing his eyes, he laid his hand to his chest were the Mark of Shame was branded behind the armor.. "I know this well. If we continue to dwell on our past mistakes, we cannot see the future." He said in a gentle tone. "It was a great loss but our people will rebuild, as so many times before." The Elite said as he felt John press into the headbutt. What a troubled man he was. John sighed as he just let themselves resonate in the moment. It wasn't that John had never been comforted by his brothers or sisters before. It was a different type of comfort they offered; it was always "next time" when something had failed. This guilt wouldn't be shouldered alone and John was more than happy to accept the help.

Hey everyone! Thanks for the support!

I'm kinda debating on if they should have another moment but I'm kinda enjoying the feel goodness of this? Idk. Trying not to make it trashy.

Any opinions?

PM me or leave a review3