UNSC Infinity, Unknown Space, 3 weeks after the Resupply operation.
The last three weeks have been nothing but an emotional roller-coaster for everyone present in the Infinity. First there was sadness and anger following the Master Chief's unexpected departure. The mood was then lifted a little when there was a wedding held in the bar. The general feeling was again lifted when Admirals Hood and Osman were picked up. Soon after, the mood went down again as reality of the current situation was re-evaluated. All throughout the ship, people were silent and talked only when necessary. The ship had become of a temple. People knew that they could shout and speak loudly, but they didn't want to. The main battle room, however, was anything but.
Pen and paper would regularly be thrown around as the top Brass of the military would argue against the top officials of the UEG on how to handle the situation.
"Any secret project that would be able to help us, Admiral Osman?" Hood asked.
"None. Even if there was some secret project, it most likely would have been compromised by now..."
"So we are out numbered and out gunned. Very good. And you are saying that we should somehow keep on fighting, instead of negotiating?" A UEG official asked mockingly.
"God damn it Larry! This is not an Insurrectionist situation. How many times do I have to tell you? The Created don't want to negotiate. They don't want resources, they don't want rights, they don't want wealth or weapons. They want this Galaxy, and according to the Forerunner AI, once they have this Galaxy, they will forcefully enforce laws that will purge 'Any celebration of life'." Hood retorted.
"Then what are we supposed to do?! How are we supposed to fight them when we don't have a Base, a fleet. Forget about fleet, we don't even have any attack ships." Larry shouted, but the Admiral didn't reply. He knew everything was true.
"See..." Larry smirked.
Just then, captain Lasky walked in.
"Sir, we just received some type of a message... but not one of our decoders have figured out what it means."
"We receive thousands of messages that don't make any sense. How is this any different?" Osman asked.
"Ma'am, there are two reasons. Firstly, the frequency of signal has been tailored specifically for the receiver architecture for the Infinity. According to Roland, the signal would be practically invisible to any other ship. This was true as none of the Stridents had received the signal, although Roland explained that the message would have been visible if it was any larger. Which means that only some who has an indepth knowledge of the ships architecture would be able to produce it. Secondly, its more of a tune, than an actual message. Just long enough to be invisible." He explained.
"Hmmm... tailoring signals to match the receivers of certain ships. I am certain that there isn't any Human technology capable of doing that. Alright play the message." Osman commanded.
"Right away. Roland." Lasky called out. Seconds later Roland appeared at the central holo table.
Seconds later, Roland played the message and only three people in the entire room were suddenly very alert. One was Exuberant witness, who was watching the circu--Meeting, Dr. Halsey and Admiral Osman.
"Replay that." Osman commanded and Roland did what he was asked to do. Osman then leaned back in her chair and Witness floated towards the table.
"I haven't heard that tune in a long time." She said with a hint of nostalgia, peeking everyone's interest.
"You know this message?" Hood asked.
"Yes. This was an 'All clear' call out the Spartan-IIs used during training. 'Oly oly oxen free' They called it." She added.
Everyone had a slight breeze of optimism, thinking that the Master Chief had found something that would be helpful. That optimism was shattered when Exuberant Witness started to speak.
"This signal was also frequently transmitted by Cortana during her occupation of Genesis."
Everyone was silent for a few seconds.
"This has to be Cortana." Osman spoke.
"All the details about the construction of the Infinity is kept under hundreds of locks and keys. There is no way that the Master Chief would be able to access any of it. On top of that, according to Del Rio's, Lasky's and Palmer's reports, prior to the Phoenix incident, Cortana was inserted into the ship's mainframe for a while. She must've downloaded the schematics of this ship during that time. Moreover, the signal was definitely not generated by any human technology. We cannot trust this signal. It could be a ruse to lure us."
"I agree with the Admiral. We don't know anything about this signal, and it would be best to not go to its source." One of the high ranking UNSC members declared, this was followed by many others from both the UNSC and UEG side agreeing, which was very rare.
"However, the signal seems to have a name encoded within it." Exuberant announced, gaining everyone's attention.
"What name?" Lasky asked.
"Pridarea Libatoa, it is a forerunner world. I can also read traces of the Librarian's codings in it."
To everyone's surprise, Dr Halsey, who was silent all this time, spoke up.
"I think it would be best if we go to that planet. I have communicated with her before, and her intentions towards humanity seems to be... benevolent." She commented.
"Should we put this up for vote?" Admiral Hood asked and everyone nodded. All of them wrote Yay or Nay in pieces of paper. The papers were then counted and surprisingly, many of them had agreed to go to the Forerunner world.
'Must be desperation.' Exuberant thought.
"Now all we have to do is find this place. Exuberant, do you have any clue as to where this world may be?" Osman enquired.
"Yes. I can immediately set course, if you give me the permission, and if Roland does not mind me entering the ship's systems." She answered.
"You have my permission. We should not waste any time." Hood commanded.
Exuberant then floated to the ship terminal and began interacting with it. Soon after, the Infinity entered slipspace.
"Estimated time of arrival is one day and thirteen hours." She announced.
"This fast?" One of the officers asked.
"Yes, the Forerunner world is very close." She commented.
Next Day
Nearly all of the high ranking officers had just entered the central command bridge. All anxious to get a glimpse of the Forerunner world from where the Librarian supposedly sent a signal. Although, as a precautionary measure, the Infinity's slipspace drive would be active, just in case.
"Exiting slipspace in 5...4...3..." Roland announced as everyone's chest began pounding.
"2...1... And we have arri--WHAT?!" For a brief moment everyone was startled a Roland's reaction, but then everyone shared the same reaction as they realised exactly where they had just arrived... Meridian
"Well, humans, welcome to Pridarea Libatoa, or as you call it, Meridian." She announced.
"Alright, now what?" One of the UEG officer asked.
"I am picking up a faint signal coming from Meridian Station." Roland announced.
"Meridian Station is also the place MCPO Sierra 117 was last seen." He added.
"Could it be that the Chief somehow managed to find the Librarian?" Lasky asked Halsey.
"It is possible." She replied.
"We won't know until we send someone down there." Osman remarked.
"Blue Team. If it is in fact the Master Chief, Blue team should be the ones to pick him up." Palmer suggested. Admiral Hood gave her only one look, but that look was enough to tell her everything. She immediately rushed towards S Town.
Thirty minutes later, a pelican with herself and Blue Team onboard left for Meridian Station.
Meridian Station
First thing they noticed was that there was a Forerunner Phaeton parked near the central entrance, which prompted them to be more careful.
"Blue Two, all clear."
"Blue Three, all clear."
"Blue Four, all clear."
"Roger that, let's keep moving." The four Spartans cautiously began moving through the Station. Everyone in the main bridge was observing them through live camera feed. They kept on moving but suddenly stopped when they thought they heard a sound coming from an open door they passed seconds ago. The Spartans turned around walked in front of the door.
"Hello?" Palmer asked, but got no response.
"Hello? Is anyone there?" She asked again.
She then looked at Blue Team and they nodded. Just as they were about to leave, they heard footsteps coming from inside the dark doorway. All of them turned around, expecting to see the Master Chief. But out of the shadowy doorway walked out a very solid and very human... Cortana?
In a split second, four guns were pointed at her. Cortana immediately raised her hands in surrender.
"Please give me a chance to explain." She begged.
The immediate reaction in the bridge was shock and anger. Many of the crew present in the room, along with some of the high ranking officers shouted things like 'Terminate her' or 'Pull the trigger'.
"SILENCE" Admiral Hood shouted at the top of his lungs.
"Roland, patch me through their external speakers."
Back in Meridian Station, the four weapons were still aimed at the AI. Then, the external speakers of the four Spartans turned on.
"Cortana... you have sixty seconds." Hood said calmly, but firmly.
But Before she could respond, all the lights of the Infinity flickered, and a figure appeared on the central holo table of the main bridge and along with every screen present in the ship.
"I would like to speak with your leader." The figure said.
"The Librarian..." Halsey whispered.
Almost all the officers then looked at Admiral Hood, who then walked towards the holo table.
The Librarian looked at him and began speaking.
"Take Cortana with you, she might be able to help deal with the problem at hand." She said calmly.
"And why should we do that, she has done nothing but destroyed everything we have worked so hard to achieve." The admiral replied, annoyance evident in his voice.
"I knew you would say something like that. Take a look at her memories." The Librarian then proceeded to show all of them Cortana's memories. Screams of her agony had shaken everyone in the ship. Most of the crew members even felt bad for her.
"In a way, you should be glad that Cortana was present when the Warden first woke up. From what I can tell, he would've proceeded with his plans at a time Humanity was weakened... He would've attacked right after Didact incident." She explained.
"What kept him from doing so?" Hood asked, genuinely curious.
"A strange obsession. After going through Cortana's memories, I have observed that he was hellbent on making Cortana look as bad as possible in front of the Reclaimer. His final plan was to make Cortana kill the Reclaimer, after the Mantle was forcefully enforced. Why? I do not know. He had meticulously planned this...Planned to trap the Reclaimer...Giving humanity time to recover, albeit unintentionally." She answered.
"What a nut job" One of the officers commented from the back.
"I must go now, for I leave a large footprint in the Domain. I will not be able to help you directly, my hands are tied as the Warden knows everything that happens in the Domain. But I will communicate if necessary. Will you accept her now?" She asked. After a few seconds of pondering, Hood answered.
"We will, but she will be kept under close watch till the ship crew fully trusts her. And if she proves her worth by helping us."
"Acceptable." Just as she was about to vanish, Halsey asked something that made everyone go 'Oh yeah, what's that all about?'
"How and why is she human?" Halsey asked.
"I saved her. I knew something was off about her and so I began observing her from a distance. The Warden was going to terminate her once his coding was removed from her matrix. I took Cortana out of the Domain and and brought her to a Forerunner clone station. From their, I gave her a body based on the DNA of Dr. Halsey, which means she is in all aspects, your daughter." She said. The Librarian noticed slight pain and sadness on Halsey's face, but chose to ignore.
" After that, I guided her here using a Phaeton and asked her to get dressed up whilst I send the signal. This moon would be the last place the where he expects Cortana to be."
"You got that right." Again someone commented from the back of the crowd.
"I did it because once an ancilla been has fully submerged in the Domain, they become vulnerable to its pull. Not because it is a type of addiction. But because the Domain itself is hungry for information. She would have been sucked back in if the system she was plugged on to was complex enough to act as a conduit for the Domain. And I Don't think I have to explain what will happen if she finds herself back in that place. Moreover, this fixes her Rampancy. She will the the lifespan of the average human. Transferring an Ancilla mind to an organic body is usually extremely difficult, even for the Forerunners, but it was possible due to Cortana's unique origin." With that the Librarian left.
After a few moments of silence, as the crew were processing the info dump. Hood contacted Palmer and Blue Team.
"Blue team, new orders--"
"We've heard everything, sir... we're already moving to the pelican." Palmer replied.
Infinity entered slipspace as soon as the pelican had touched down. The doors of the pelican opened and Cortana saw a multitude of people waiting for her, including Admiral Hood and her 'mother'.
"Cortana... I hope that you have a plan or a way to retaliate, because people are getting desperate, and I have no clue about what to do." Hood said with a small smile, the first time he smiled in who knows how long.
"I don't have anything now. But I will figure something out." She replied, but her eyes were darting around; she was looking for someone...And they knew exactly who she was looking for.
"He's gone, Cortana." Hood remarked somberly, immediately getting her attention.
"He left a message saying that he would fix this mess. He made a promise." Hood continued, making sure to leave out the 'Even if it costs me my life' part out, at least for the time being.
Cortana swallowed hard and closed her eyes and looked down. She looked dejected. Then, she felt someone's arm on her shoulder. She turned around and saw that it was Kelly.
"Lets... get to work." Cortana said, the sadness audible in her voice.