ATTENTION: This author note contains spoilers from Halo: Escalation comics.
I can't keep this to myself, too much excitement.
I was reading Escalation and... guess what? THERE ARE MORE COMPOSERS! THERE'S A FRIGGIN' FORGE OF THEM! HOW COOL IS THAT? Let me explain: I started this fanfic like... IDK, three months ago, with no friggin' idea about many things and now turns out I figured them out -or made them up- by myself, thinking they were only foolish ideas of mine... and they're actually canon. HAHA. I'm very excited. BTW, my artbook from H4 has arrived and it's beautiful. I died in awe.
Also, DeMarco is no longer among us… but that can be arranged -evil laughter-
What does this mean for the ongoing story? Nothing. I said serious shit is going down from now on, and I'll stick to my original plot, but be sure that when I'm finished, I'll fix it and I'll be very proud of this fanfic xD Enjoy today's episode!
RECOMPOSE
by Ladywolvesbayne
10. DIRE NEEDS
PROBABLY AUGUST 9TH, 2558
LOCATION: COVENANT REMNANT ASSAULT CARRIER SONG OF RETRIBUTION
standard time unknown
"Intrusion! An unknown port opened inside the ship!"
Jul 'Mdama leaned forward from his commanding seat, startled.
Inside of a moving ship, sliding through slip-space? How was it possible?
"Show me!" he snapped back, growling.
Several screens above his line of sight flared, running video feeds from inside the carrier. Some creature was moving in the shadows of the corridors, from the main cargo bay all the way ahead towards the bridge: it was a human-sized and made of black and lightning blue. There were several Sangheili Storms lurking around and in one of the screens, the soldiers collided with the object. Energy swords were drawn, but the black and blue blur quickly took them all out... it was impossible to see what kind of weapon the intruder used. 'Mdama only saw a flash of white and then purple blood.
The Shipmaster gasped. In another screen, other four Storms fell dead.
The camera feed followed the object, and every soldier that had the misfortune of finding the creature up front, dropped gushed out in a matter of seconds.
"Sound the alarms! Defend this ship!" 'Mdama roared, he rose from his chair with a nervous jump. "It must be one of the Demons!"
'How did they find us?' the Shipmaster thought, between rage and fear.
"Shipmaster, the heretic is heading towards the human woman's quarters."
With a loud battle cry, the Sangheili leader ran out of the bridge and several of his Elites followed him, weapons already in hand. It was quite the welcome party. 'Mdama and his men reached the deck of Dr. Halsey's quarters and laboratories first, there were two guards posted there. Noises from another corridor drew their attention and the body of a badly injured Elite flew across their eyes, leaving everyone with their small jaws hanging. A blue glimmering light ignited in the hall, as the now tranquil steps of a biped being grew closer. 'Mdama readied his weapon.
Behind him, the blast doors opened and a small, elderly woman missing an arm appeared, she seemed angry.
"What is this?" she scolded. "Are we under attack?"
The Elite leader was about to push her violently inside the room, but the creature appeared in his line of sight. It was small and didn't seem that dangerous, but her smile alone gave him the creeps. The Shipmaster growled and pointed onward with his energy sword. A rain of plasma bolts and needles fell over the place where the woman had been standing a blink ago, missing the target. He found her again: the intruder jumped and spinning in the air, she passed over the Elites' heads and fell inside the laboratory, with the grace of a gorgeous bird.
Dr. Halsey immediately snatched a sidearm from some Elite guard.
But when the attacker looked up from her crouching position, her dark hair falling in wild bangs over her delicate face; the Doctor recognized her. Her grip in the plasma pistol faltered. The hissing of charging plasma weapons grew around her.
"Cortana." she spat, under her breath. Immediately, the older woman barked: "Jul, tell these beasts to hold the fire!"
With a loud growl, the Shipmaster gave the halt order but he himself deployed his energy sword again. As the woman in black and blue approached Dr. Halsey, he reacted lightning fast and caught her by her fragile neck, raising her up in the air. The Sangheili growled and squeezed his enormous hand, but he was greeted with a sarcastic laughter and something cold stung him in the throat. When he lowered his yellow eyes, he saw a long shining-black spike protruding from the woman's armored arm. The edges were razor-sharp. Her shields flashed blue beneath his claws.
"Put me down." the Rampant Cortana said, dangerously. "Or your little cult would have to pick a new leader."
"Do what she says, Jul. I know her."
"This woman just killed an awful lot of my men!" 'Mdama growled, menacing.
"And for what I see, she could kill you too if she wanted so." Dr. Halsey stated, her voice derogatory. "Let me handle it; step back. I know what I'm doing."
"It's a monster." a Sangheili Warrior mumbled. "It smells like death."
The Shipmaster chose to listen to his man -and his gut- and he stretched his neck towards the armored woman. He sniffed at her and yes, the sore smell of death and hate filled his lungs. It was an awful combination. She wasn't dead, but she carried on her the scents of many lives taken... the blood of his recently murdered Elites too, dark purple spots marked the skin of her face and the shoulderplates of her strange armor.
"This abomination killed my men." 'Mdama growled again, angry.
"Soon you will have more men for your war, more than you ever imagined."
For a long, tense moment, nothing happened.
After a short while, with a loud huff, the Shipmaster released his grip on the other woman's neck and threw her down to the grating. She fell on her feet, popping loudly the bones of her back like nothing happened. The black sword on her right arm melt and returned to the rest of her armor, like it was made of tiny beads.
Dr. Halsey took a step forward. She was still holding the pistol.
"Catherine, at last. I've heard you were shot, but I had no idea you lost your arm. It must be absolutely frustrating to work like this, crippled like an animal." the young woman said, with a hint of sadness in her features.
"Is it really you, Cortana? You are alive? How?"
"Long and boring story. Let's say I'm living proof that the Composer works better than the Forerunners expected, after a few tweaks. I can give you the details later, you'll certainly enjoy them."
"How did you find me?"
"A magician never reveals her tricks."
Something was off, the Doctor couldn't put her finger on it just yet, but she could feel it. This construct was damaged. Her smile had a spark of insanity although her eyes were hypnotizing. Then she recalled what year was it and how old Cortana, the AI she created, actually had become.
She instantly understood a few things, she'd seen rampant AIs before.
Yet, it was a unique opportunity to study such an unparalleled living being.
"Why are you not with John?" Halsey asked, serious.
It was a trick question. The woman flinched slightly when she heard the name she hated so much. But she smiled sweetly, clasping her fingers together like she used to do whenever she was close to him.
"I think I know where he is. But I'm in trouble, the UNSC wants to kill me."
"Welcome to the club. What do you want from me?" the Doctor asked, reluctant.
"I heard you're in for a little revenge. I'd like to give you a hand."
"Explain."
"I have ears inside the Infinity. Right now, that vessel is loaded up with civilians. They will drop them in the nearest colony at hand or they will refill supplies and keep going. Either way, that ship will have to dock somewhere, very soon. And I plan to be there when it happens."
"Cortana, what I have in mind is a little more subtle and definitive than attacking the biggest flagship of the UNSC."
With her most venomous smile, the Rampant Cortana purred: "Who said anything about attacking it?"
AUGUST 9TH 2558
LOCATION: UNSC INFINITY
05:46 AM standard time
"We absolutely cannot dock anywhere." Captain Lasky mumbled, looking at his breakfast with an exhausted face. The sound of officer's chatting around them helped to keep their conversation a bit more private. "We will need to refill supplies and fuel in three days and we cannot get anywhere near a colony again, for as long as this goes on. Otherwise, we'll be sitting ducks."
He spent the last thirty-six hours with the Admiral and her second in command, in closed quarters, 'debriefing' Subject Eleven once more. The information he held proved to be very important and necessary to reinforce the security protocols of the warship and anticipate any possible outcome. However, the problem still was that they were making plans in the fog: Eleven could predict the Rampant Spike's moves, but he couldn't give them a time frame. It could be anytime. Anywhere.
Until then they had to keep moving randomly, jumping in and out from slip-space in controlled time-lapses to avoid detection.
"We have to get the civilians out of the ship, Tom." said Sarah, worried.
"I know."
"There are children aboard, for God's sake."
"I know. I know, I can't even..."
"What will Osman do about it?"
"Well, she doesn't want this to blow on her face, obviously. She's supposed to be pulling some strings deep-in FLEETCOM to get us a halcyon-class carrier loaded with supplies. The fuel, however..."
"Shit."
"Yeah. I'm with you, I want the civilians out of the ship as soon as possible." he said. "Maybe I could convince the Admiral of deploying one or two frigates. Take them to the nearest planetary system, drop the civilians in and come back with the supplies. Two birds, one stone."
"It's a good idea, unless..." the Commander trailed off, then frowned. "Unless the Arbiter can give us a hand. We could dock in Sanghelios and resupply there, who would expect that?"
She definitively never expected to say something like that herself. Sarah looked inside her cup and smelled her coffee, tasted it in her mouth in search for traces of psychotropics or any other kind of drug. But she had to admit that, even if she didn't like the ex-covvies one bit, that was a good idea.
Tom's eyes lit up. He rose from his chair, exultant.
"Sarah, I swear; if it wasn't against regulation I'd kiss you right now."
The Captain left the mess hall almost running away, calling officers with gestures of his hands. The Commander sighed. Damned regulations.
AUGUST 9TH 2558
LOCATION: SANGHEILI CARRIER SHADOW OF INTENT
06:24 AM standard time
The Arbiter considered the idea with a deep, low growl.
The tall, serious woman called Admiral Serin Osman just proposed him to escort the Infinity to Sanghelios for a resupply run. Obviously, she was implying that it had to be Sangheili supplies, to keep secrecy at maximum. That's why they were having that conversation in the deserted bridge of the Shadow of Intent instead of the Infinity, as well. The Elite leader understood, he wasn't that narrow-minded and he knew the kind of trouble such a big warship was for the crew, leaving aside the fact of the current extra civilian population.
And the younglings. Lasky seemed very worried about them.
"I understand your request, Admiral. And I accept." the Arbiter said, lowering his head with respect. "I will send a message to Sanghelios immediately, everything should be ready for our arrival. Set course to this coordinates, we should be there in forty-two of your standard hours."
The Arbiter handed Lasky a small transparent crystal, which he accepted politely. The alien found this particular human of his liking and thought he was an honest man. Well, after all, the Demon trusted this Captain.
"I assume we expect attack." the Elite leader continued.
"We cannot know for sure, Arbiter, but it would be wise to be prepared."
"Noted." the Arbiter said.
He realized his retort surprised the humans, for their faces were now curious more than troubled. The golden-coated alien clicked his mandibles, pleased.
"I see you've been acquainted with the culture." said Osman, interested.
"I've been paying special attention to your customs and straight-forward language. I found it utterly entertaining; humans don't have much time to waste in praises, poetry or fancy names, it seems." he answered, proudly.
"Impressive." the Admiral stated, with a wry smile. "We will inform you about the jump schedule. Thank you for your assistance, Arbiter."
AUGUST 9TH 2558
LOCATION: UNSC INFINITY
05:38 PM standard time
There was something about war games that kept Eleven trapped.
It was probably the amount of strategy involved in each exercise, since he wasn't much of a planner himself. After so many hours of re-telling over and over again to the Admiral and the Captain things they certainly didn't wanted to hear, he felt the need for a distraction more like the need to sleep. Although he was designated a prisoner, he had a few privileges to move across a very limited number of decks without custody (given his now precious status as an asset).
When he saw the arena, he found himself a nice spot to watch the training.
Up above there was a large observation deck hanging off the wall. From that spot, officers and trainers kept track of the events, running diagnostics and evaluations. The current game finished and the simulation shut down, leaving just a white room and nine SPARTANS behind. Eleven recognized them, fireteams Bravo and Majestic. They were usually assigned to follow him around whenever the Master Chief wasn't available. The team leader of Majestic saw him and tilted his head.
"Hey, you! Want to join?" DeMarco said, with a raw smile.
"Why? I'm not one of you." Eleven replied, politely.
"Grant doesn't want to play and we're a man short." Madsen stated, shrugging.
"You're a bunch of cheaters!" Tedra Grant shouted, from the observation deck.
The young man raised his eyes and he saw not only the red-headed SPARTAN, but he also found the Master Chief, Cortana and Commander Palmer along with some technicians. He recalled that John was a hell of an SO for war games; maybe that's why he was there.
"Sure. What are we playing?"
"Capture the flag, SPARTAN level." the grin in Hoya's face was a bad sign.
"... you just made that up."
"I told you, they're a bunch of cheaters." scolded Tedra, laughing.
"What? Are you afraid? You made it here in a Pelican about to explode, you can't take a friendly game?"
"You're SPARTANS. The best soldiers of the UNSC."
"He's sharp." pointed Thorne, although he wasn't making fun of the situation.
"He's afraid." said Madsen, popping the bones of his knuckles.
"I don't know... does your SO approve?"
Every head down in the arena turned up, all eyes on the Master Chief. He looked at Commander Palmer; she nodded once. Cortana was kind of expectant and amused. The Chief just crossed his arms.
"Go ahead." he said, serious. It was a waste of time, but it could be interesting.
"Rules, please?" Eleven asked.
"Ten minutes, two teams. The flag's worth is one hundred points, but you also get points for strategic behavior. The winner team gets extra hours in the next shore leave according the score." Palmer explained. "No weapons or disabling injuries allowed. All contenders must fight as a unit, individual behavior costs points of your team's score. This means you can end up with negative scores, which means less shore leave time."
"Loading simulation." announced the war games AI. "Free hand-to-hand combat scenario: capture the flag, advanced level. No further variables. Loading teams scores. Ten minute match."
"Got it?" asked Madsen, tilting his head aside.
"Sounds like fun." Eleven retorted, copying the other man's gesture.
The two teams regrouped in opposite corners of the field. Majestic's approach was simple: to defeat Bravo at any cost, make it together to the flag's home base. Eleven got his orders: he was to stay behind, the SPARTANS would clear the way and he would capture the aforementioned flag.
However, when the game actually started, things changed.
They weren't exactly cheating, but they clearly wanted to make Eleven the center of attention instead of drawing the attention away from him. The flag became worthless once both fireteams engaged combat, he realized about this too late. He could stop some fists and knees randomly flying towards him -from friends and foes alike-, but couldn't keep it going for long. He dodged a tremendous kick and rolled, trying to get away. The flag was alone, nobody watching. The scores in the screens kept going up.
"What the hell?" he murmured, it didn't make any sense.
Somebody grabbed him from behind and tossed him against a wall. It was Lieutenant Suzuka, fireteam Bravo's leader; a tall Asian woman with short dark hair pulled back in a funny ponytail. He tried to dodge her, but she grabbed his wrist and slammed him against the wall once more. He hit his head quite hard.
His ears were ringing. This time, his reflexes kicked in and he evaded the woman. Eleven rolled across the floor and got up, only to find another man from Bravo team just before his nose. He was fast, but not SPARTAN fast.
The clock hit the five minute barrier. Things went hot from then on.
Basically, whoever that could hit Eleven somehow, did it. That was cheating.
Fireteam Majestic used him as bait, it was clear. Madsen separated from the group of fighting SPARTANS and captured the flag, anyway, at nine minutes thirty seconds. Eleven sighed in relief, his head hurt and his gut was punched so many times he could barely remember anything else.
From the observation deck, Cortana shook his head.
"Now I see why you say they are cheaters."
"I know my trade." SPARTAN Grant said, grinning.
Eleven got on his feet and coughed. No blood, so he was okay.
But he was pissed.
He made a mistake he wasn't planning to make twice.
He found a command screen. He hit console command and messed up a bit with the war games program; it responded showing a new training field. Some crappy hills, a sandy road and right at the bottom of the stadium, a larger hill with a rounded rock on top. It wasn't the most realistic design ever since it was like a straight line to the other side of the field, without major obstacles, but...
"Listen up! New game. There's the flag..." Eleven pointed to the rock, a large blue vertical banner appeared. "I want both fireteams Majestic and Bravo to defend it. If I snatch the flag off your noses, you lose."
"Loading modded simulation." the AI said, over the speakers. "Untitled combat scenario, no further variables. Loading teams scores. Ten minute match."
"You just got your ass kicked by one single fireteam, now you want to face two at the same time?" asked Suzuka, with a snort. "Did I rattle you brain that bad?"
"Yeah, he sure has a concussion." laughed Rafferty, another member of her team.
"Oh, I don't know. I'm just feeling luckier than a moment ago."
"What's the catch?" asked Thorne, suspicious.
"There's no catch. If you win, you get to give me a name. But if I win, I get a favor from you. Anytime, anywhere, anything."
Thorne frowned. He still didn't trust him, or his wicked little smile.
"Fine." the SPARTAN said, cautiously. "I'm in."
"Okay, we'll do it." accepted Suzuka, confident.
DeMarco nodded. "I think I'll call you Tinkerbell, how about that?"
The other SPARTANS just looked at each other but in the end, they all complied. The self-assured smiles on their faces said everything they were thinking: it was a piece of cake. Eleven smiled too, his smirk saturated with arrogance.
"Oh, wow. Now you're screwed." Cortana said, after a short whistle.
"I quote Suzuka, your friend just got his ass kicked." chuckled Palmer.
"I don't think so, Commander. Now he has all the input data. This should be good, I want to watch it from the arena level."
John remained silent, arms still crossed. Cortana headed to a short set of stairs and beneath the observation deck, the clock started to run.
At first, it was like a slow dance. The SPARTANS tried to fight like the previous match, they appealed at the same techniques. Just as Eleven was expecting. For the first one or two minutes, he mostly dodged, swiped and kicked them, using the SPARTANS' strength against themselves. More than once he led two men onto each other's faces, colliding. He actually wasn't fighting back. Eleven held a defensive stance and retreated, deviating punches and kicks with fluid moves of his arms or legs. At some point, he was holding against four SPARTANS at the same time and things got rough.
It was the confident grin what pissed the SPARTANS off.
He made it across three quarters of the field without even breaking sweat. After the seven minute mark, Paul DeMarco rammed against Eleven but he graciously swiped away, leaving his foot behind. The SPARTAN tripped and fell ahead, unaware. Thorne tried to grab Eleven by the arm, but he turned away and rose a leg, shoving the instep of his foot right in the other man's face.
"Don't worry, it's not broken." he snorted, at the same time he rolled back to step away from Hoya's fists.
He captured Hoya and twisted his wrist until his arm gave up and he fell on one knee, groaning in pain. From behind, DeMarco tried to attack again and he got a heavy boot buried in his gut so deep that shoved him away at least three meters. Suzuka and her second in command charged from up front; Eleven let go of Hoya's twisted arm and flipped back, ran across the field and when other two members of Suzuka's team closed his way...
He just dropped to his knees, leaning back, and let the momentum drive him fast between the two men, dodging cleanly from their grip. He leaped up and elbowed one of the men in the back of the skull, turned around and made the other man trip, hitting the back of his knees with two well placed short punches.
Then he just walked a few meters and grabbed the flag, with a greedy smile.
"Shit." cursed Suzuka, hands on her hips.
The simulation stopped at eight minutes fifty-five seconds.
"You fucker." DeMarco growled, holding his stomach. "You were pretending to suck at this?"
"No, you just underestimated me. I needed intel. Now you owe me a favor."
Eleven walked back to lend Majestic's team leader a hand.
Paul DeMarco could have slapped the hand away and be done with it, but first he considered the situation and then accepted the peace offer. He got up and gave Eleven a strong handshake, instead.
"All right. My team owes you a favor. Bring it on." said DeMarco.
"Later. However... I'd like to train with you people, some other time."
John was still at the observation deck with the Commander, both of them looking down. He loomed over the arena like the sharpest predator. From ground level, Cortana saw a hint of satisfaction in his eyes, clear blue irises full of curiosity.
In Master Chief's language, it meant cautious acceptance.
Not trust, but it was something.
AUGUST 9TH 2558
LOCATION: UNSC INFINITY / SLIP-SPACE
10:19 PM standard time
The loud humming of the Infinity's engines was proving to be relaxing, that is, if you had something else to focus your attention on besides the obnoxious noise. Cortana felt like she needed a little time alone with the Chief to talk privately. A backup plan was utterly required, just in case. The Infinity would refuel in the Sangheili home world in about forty hours and most of the military personnel had a seventy-two hours guard shift ongoing.
Cortana was nervous about it. She had a bad feeling and John knew it.
But after a while, the conversation drifted from 'serious plans' to 'not so serious plans' to end in 'that thing I found the other day'. John produced a small plastic package from his pocket and held it in front of Cortana, with certain amusement.
"I found this beneath the seat of a warthog." he said.
"What is it?"
"First I thought they were just cards, but look..."
John sprayed the cards between his fingers, like a paper fan, showing most of the pieces. There were different messages written in the white side, it wasn't a set of regular poker cards.
Cortana tilted her head and smiled.
"Oh, it's an old Earth game, it's called truth or dare. Every card has a statement that can be interpreted two ways: if one chooses truth, one must confess something related to that statement; if one chooses dare, one must do something. It's a silly game, you can play it only a few times before it becomes repetitive."
John picked a random card and read the statement. Then, he passed it to Cortana.
"Something you'd like to do, but you haven't tried. Truth or dare?" she read aloud, and flipped the card between her fingers. "You want to play?"
"What would it be?"
"You go first." Cortana tried to control her smile, intrigued.
"I'll go for truth. Fishing. Chief Mendez said it was something every man should do. He had a way to tell you about it that made the whole thing sound very interesting. Your turn."
"I think I'll choose..."
She stared at John's eyes for a short moment, her smile slowly faded. It was such a quiet blue. She was about to say 'to touch you', but it was stupid. The only thing that she ever wondered about... well, she fulfilled that wish a long time ago, with extra dose of pain for both of them. But there was something else, right? There was always something else, maybe something she couldn't even dare to think about. She felt her heart pound in her ears, it was such a nuisance...
Well, she was as stubborn as he was.
And they were pretty much alone back there.
"Cortana?"
"I choose dare." Cortana said, resolute.
He was at ease, almost distracted. She quickly grabbed John by the collar of his shirt and pulled herself up (she would never be strong enough to move him, obviously) and locked their lips together. He instantly closed his hands around her waist, maybe to pull her away, but...
None of them moved. Probably, because none of them knew exactly what to do.
At least, Cortana remembered to close her eyes; it was a little less uncomfortable that way. She wasn't even breathing. It was a long and tense moment of 'nothing is happening' until she took a step back and let go of his shirt. She licked her lips, nervous. His confused stare was intimidating.
Cortana cleared her throat: "Um... that was a bit awkward."
"I think you're not doing it right."
She was about to reply something, but then she caught his scent of standard issue soap and clean clothes. She felt his warmth. The feel of his hands crawling up her back until the space between them became null made her mind go blank. Her heart pounded faster, heat exploded inside her belly and she forced her arms to move, to climb up his chest and find his broad shoulders. John leaned in this time and kissed her, just a simple and fleeting touch, almost innocent.
So brief she couldn't even enjoy it.
It was a bit more intense but no, it wasn't right either, somehow she realized they were just acting like curious little kids. She felt her cheeks burn, it was so disconcerting and...
It felt good. So good.
"Now, that was interesting." she muttered, against his lips.
"Yeah. I think I'll spare the cards." John said, his face unreadable.
He let her go, Cortana finally stepped on her feet and realized she wasn't standing on her own before. She was also about to say that she couldn't believe what she just did -what they both just did- when they should be making plans to keep themselves and every single person aboard the Infinity alive, but...
Well, there was a difference between things wasted and things well spent.
TO BE CONTINUED
Last week I finished reading First Strike and Ghosts of Onyx. I liked them very-very much. SPARTANS never die (and, apparently, they never eat, sleep, take a leak or shower in weeks, either; although, seeing how long it takes to unlock pieces of armor, maybe I'd hold my piss indefinitely too). I like Dr. Halsey now, she obviously can tell the difference between the real Cortana and a crazy-ass fake, right?. But this woman wants the knowledge of the universe and that might be very dangerous. Sometimes she creeps me out, I don't know what to make of her.
Anyway, back to the story, let's not mention the damned regulations or what a show-off Subject Eleven is. If you think about it, an ex-combat AI could outsmart any contender after detailed evaluation, so not that shocking in the end.
... no, I'm not mentioning the kiss either. Who's screaming like that? What? :P
Rory, pal, calm down xD nothing bad is going to happen to the Chief. He doesn't need a harem either, he barely can deal with one woman right now. We'll see about the upgrades once you find out what this armor actually is :P thanks for being here!
And everyone else who commented logged in, I'm checking back with you right now :)
UPDATES NEXT SUNDAY. Come on and review, it makes this writer very happy to chat with other fans! :)