Author's Note

Let's keep this rolling.


Uploaded

10/17/2022


LEGEND BELOW

"Chief, that's not a good idea..." = Normal speech.

''You're you, don't let it control you...'' = Normal thoughts.


Chapter 4

Planetfall

Rated-M

M rating for blood, eventual mentioning of gore and other body parts, language, and certain anatomy that hasn't yet come into play...


Past

"What is a Metroid? The name? What does it mean?" The Spartan asked gruffly, staring at the woman from across the room. She looked up, staring blankly back at him. She hadn't expected him to speak up so suddenly, and about what he'd asked as well.

She didn't say anything for a moment, gathering her words before she spoke.

"It means ultimate warrior in the language of those that made them..." She spoke slowly. She had debated keeping such information to herself, but it wasn't like the Metroids were some well-kept secret in her dimension anyway. She saw no harm in humoring him.

"Ultimate Warrior? Weapons of war?" He asked, although, his tone was not accusatory.

"Mhmm..." She hummed. "They were originally created for a purpose, to cull an outbreak of a parasite capable of bringing the entire universe to its knees..."

"And the reason they were used after that?" He asked. He could gain by the fact that she seemed tense about it that the original purpose must have been upended at some point.

"They were eventually taken by Space Pirates to be used as weapons." She said seriously. "The usage of them had become too much of a risk, and the Federation decided that they must be exterminated."

"Genocide? Were they not worried about the outbreak of the parasite?" Cortana spoke up questioningly. "Why would they remove the parasite's main predators?"

"They had no idea of the Metroids original purpose at the time… Technically speaking, I am the last of my kind." She explained, her eyes drifting away. She omitted the fact that she was, at one point, merely human…

But that was a long time ago…

"And these Space Pirates?" The Spartan asked. Her eyes narrowed behind her helmet, gaze pulling back up from where it had been before.

"Hiding in the shadows, waiting for the time where they can again try to rise to power…" She muttered.

The Spartan took a moment to think over her words, and he couldn't help but recall something she'd said before. "Battles were fought over the species?"

"Mmhmm…" She sighed.

"Are you afraid that you'll inevitably be caught up in the middle of that?" He asked. He seemed to have struck a point with her, because she didn't immediately respond to his words. She glanced down her hand, claws of her suit splayed open. Even now, she felt her fingers twitch underneath the green colored suit, eager to get her hands on something. A great unease filled her bosom, a weight settling on her heart.

Should she manage to make her way back to her dimension, she had no doubt that it wouldn't take long before she had both the Federation and the Space Pirates all fighting for her ass. It was different before her transformation on ZDR…

She wasn't capable of reproducing Metroids back then…

But now…?

She had to resist the urge to place her hand on her stomach…

No one had to know for the time being, even him…


Present

A bright blue sky met her blurred gaze, powerful winds flashing by at breakneck speeds. Her ears were buffeted by the sound of winds thrashing her head, catching on the natural curves of her armor.

Her vision felt off, a dull and heavy pain filling the forefront of her head. Far above her was a sun, the bright burning ball of gas illuminating the massive sky that seemed to surround her.

She blinked slowly, mind struggling to reboot so to speak, as she took in her surroundings. Fire and shrapnel filled the skies, the remains of what must have been the Forward Unto Dawn hurdling towards her.

That was when she realized the sensation of wind on her back was due to the fact that she was falling…

From atmosphere…

She had to hold back a scream of surprise as her eyes shot wide, spinning around via thruster to realize that she's passed out at some point, only to wake up far above the clouds of the planet they'd been orbiting. And she was rapidly approaching the surface.

Of all the things her suit could accomplish, the one thing she'd never put to the test was whether or not it would allow her to survive a fall from space.

With the thrusters on her back, she changed her trajectory, going feet first. She diverted all power to her shields as well as over-thrusters, pushing three times what they were usually meant to push. Her descent was rapidly slowed, long enough to give her a second to look around.

She couldn't find the words to describe the airspace that surrounded her. Although free falling, she could see for miles in all directions as she approached the planet's surface.

Giant obelisks hovered thousands of feet off the surface of the planet, filling a skybox that was seemingly made entirely artificial.

Fortunately for her, she was rapidly approaching one of these obelisks. She shifted her course, nearing the massive wall of one such obelisk. She threw her hands out, cannon and claws clashing against the wall. Using her feet to gain resistance she slowed her fall until with use of her Spider Magnet allowed her to hold onto the side of the building.

She sighed, releasing the breath she wasn't aware she was holding. She pressed her head against the cold silver metal of the obelisk wall, taking a moment to calm her racing heart.

If there was one way in particular that she'd never want to wake up like again, it would be this…

With both hands pressed against the wall keeping her locked to the alien tower hovering miles in the air, she turned around.

"The Dawn…" The words escaped her black lips, eyes wide as she watched the remnants of the Forward Unto Dawn come hurling down towards the planet, some of it burning up upon reentry.

More than that, the fleet of Covenant Cruisers had also entered the planet, speeding off in a direction separate from her. What their destination was, or what they were here for in the first place, she had no idea. This wasn't her dimension, this wasn't her war, and she had no reason or intention in getting herself mixed up in whatever the hell this UNSC and Covenant war had in store.

Unless they decided to drag her right into the middle of it….

Unfortunately, her crashing into the Master Chief's ship might as well have been destiny telling her that she was expected to get involved…

That being said, if there was truly no way home, she was going to have to stay here. And if she was going to stay here, she wasn't going to be able to do so if some annoying alien collective wished all of humanity dead…

She just couldn't catch a break…

She checked her local coms, hoping to pick something up from either the Chief or Adam, but after a moment she realized that the line was dead.

Still…

"Master Chief, do you copy?" She called out. Her gaze scanned the massive horizon, vampire-like red eyes slowly drifting across the alien land, looking for a sign.

She had only just come down not a few moments ago, and if the Spartan had too been dragged into the atmosphere, then he would've been flying through the sky right about now.

But, nothing met her gaze. More remains of the Dawn continued to fall from the sky, all getting drawn in by the gravity of the planet. She knew before she was violently ripped away from him that he'd reached the life pod. If he had managed to escape, then he'd probably be landing somewhere near the other remnants of the Dawn's crash site. And, unfortunately for her, that was miles from here.

From the way she'd been pulled into the planet, it threw her far from the rest of the ship, her body sent careening towards an ocean of metal that housed hundreds of these obscenely large floating obelisks.

"Spartan! Are you out there…?" She called again, eyes carefully watching the space debris as it careened towards the surface. If the man hadn't managed to stay in the life pod, she'd see him as he entered the atmosphere as well.

But her sensors failed to pick up anything, not even his UNSC transponder. Had she tapped into his data files and recorded his IFF tag to her records? Absolutely.

Would he ever learn that she scanned him for data? Probably not. If his A.I. that he housed hadn't spoken up about her doing so, she either didn't know, or didn't think it wise to bring it up to him.

But she wasn't sure if that time would ever come now…

She sighed, shoulders sagging as she watched the last of the Dawn hit the ground, no signs of the Spartan.

The the struck her then that if the Spartan had indeed met his end at the surprise attack, that meant that Adam too would be gone…

The very thought made her heart constrict tightly within her chest, a deep and unsettling panic making its way into her mind. Her mouth felt dry, an itch forming in her throat.

''No…'' She thought. She can't think like that. She mustn't….

She had to continue on with the context that they were still alive and looking for her. That was the only thing going to keep her going.

Adam was the only one who would know how to help her with the babies growing inside her. The thought of having to handle all that on her own without him was chilling…

She shook her head, pushing the thought to the back of her mind. She could worry about that later. Right now, she needed to get to the ground, find a ship, and get off this planet.

Although…

That was easier said than done…


"…-ief…."

"Ch-…!"

"Chief! Wake up! Please!"

With a start, the Spartan awoke suddenly. What met his painful gaze was the dull color of UNSC metal pressed up against his visor.

That's when he noticed the heavy weight atop him. With a grunt, he reached forward, shoving the heavy metal shrapnel up and off to the side. When he sat up, all that met him was fog, the scent of fire and smoke blotting out the sun, and a general sense of death.

The green giant struggled to his feet, shaking off the dull pain that washed over his body. Before he even realized it, he'd already picked up his assault rifle, checking his surroundings.

"Chief… Thank god…" Cortana's voice chimed in from within his head. She sounded worried.

"What happened? Where are we?" The man asked, eyes scanning his surroundings for any immediate threat.

"Hold on, I'm checking coordinate impact data-ta-da-d-d-d-d-" The blue bodied A.I. started, but, something was wrong.

"We have asked you to give up your family, your freedom, your future."

At the aged recording of a different women with a different voice, the Spartan recoiled with a start, reaching back to pull Cortana's data chip from the back of his helmet. He held it out, the A.I. appearing in his hand.

"Cortana? What was that?" He asked gruffly. The woman fidgeted in his hand, nervously wringing her hands together.

"I-It was nothing, it's the c-crash, that's all." She said, her own voice sounding unconvincing.

"Something was off even before we left the Dawn." He responded pointedly.

"C-Chief, really, I-I-I-I'm fin-fine." The blue woman could not hold back the glitch that wracked her body, her form twitching for a moment, voice taking on a static-like tone.

The Spartan held her out, staring down at her like a disappointed parent. "Cortana." He said seriously, tone leaving no room for play.

She struggled with something for a moment, before raising her eyes up to meet him. "I… I was put into service eight years ago…"

"Eight years?" He almost sounded unbelieving, taking a moment to process just how long they'd worked together.

"A.I.'s deteriorate after seven, Chief…"

Her soft spoken and weak words stabbed him in the chest, stunning him. His blood pressure increased, and dare he say it, a panic entered his heart at her words. Within a moment of thought, he quickly spoke.

"Halsey." He said pointedly.

"C-Chief…" Cortana tried.

"If we can just get you back to Halsey-"

"Chief please!" She jumped, voice torn. The Spartan stopped, gazing down at her. "I won't… I won't recover from rampancy, Chief…" She whispered.

The Spartan looked down at her, silent as he ever was. She couldn't bring herself to look up at him, afraid that she might imagine what expression was currently occupying his face right now.

He didn't say anything for a moment, dwelling deeply on something. He stood up a little straighter, readjusting his grip on her data chip.

"We get back to earth, and we find Halsey. She made you, she will fix you." He stated, leaving no room for argument. She felt touched by his words, yet couldn't shake the feeling that the reality his envisioned would not come to pass.

She didn't want false hope, not now, not after everything they'd been through. After she'd started suffering the effects, she knew in the deepest parts of herself that her time was coming. She hadn't held faith that they would be rescued in time for even the potential of helping her…

And…

She'd never say this, but she felt betrayed by her own mind when placed with the thought that he would, upon learning of her rampancy, order her to delete herself.

It was UNSC regulation to dispose of all Smart A.I. after the runtime of seven years. For their safety, and for those around them.

But, it stabbed at her imaginary heart when his first thought was of saving her, not deleting her.

"Don't… make a girl a promise, if you know you can't keep it…" She whispered, in that moment feeling so fragile that she feared she'd break. She wasn't sure if he even heard her, but a part of her knew he had, if his grip tightening around her was any indication.

The moment was, however, brought to an end when the tell tale sound of Covenant Phantom's flying by was heard. His gaze turned upwards, spotting multiple flying over, scanning the environment.

"We should move…" She said, trying to put behind her the hope he'd given her.

The Spartan breathed deeply, steeling his nerves as he replaced her chip back into his helmet. He checked his rifle, making sure it was still functional, and that it was still loaded.

After doing so he was struck with a thought. "Cortana? What happened to Adam?" He asked. Samus had entrusted her personal A.I. to him, extending that hand of trust when none was apparent. If he met her again and he was not capable of returning her assistant to her, that trust would be shattered.

He knew this.

"Checking local sensors…" She muttered from within his head. Multiple sensor data feeds appeared on his heads up display, all relating to differing scanning systems.

"Found him." Cortana sighed. "In the life pod, fifteen meters to your west."

He hadn't thought about it until now, but he'd been torn from the life pod at some point during the crash. Thankfully, the pod was still intact, and Adam was still lodged within it.

It only took the Spartan a hot minute to traverse the blackened grounds, the fog proving to be more of a nuisance than an issue, especially to him. The land around him had become the new permanent resting place of the latter half of the Forward Unto Dawn, wreckage of all sorts lining the land.

Yet, within that wreckage was his life pod, and inside lay a small storage container, blinking a bright blue.

"Spartan. Good, you survived." Adam spoke up, his voice as robotic and dull as the super soldier remembered it. "What has happened? Where is Samus?"

Instead of waiting around to speak, the Chief quickly gathered Adam up, attaching his case to a magnetic point on the back of his armor.

"I don't know. We can find out later. Right now we need to get out of this scrap yard." He explained, having already begun moving at fast speeds. He seemed to glide over the terrain, moving an easy twenty miles an hour, still able to keep his rifle raised and at the ready while doing so.

"I've already tired reaching her, but s-she is either out of range, or…" Cortana spoke, trying to bring the other A.I. up to speed.

"You believe her dead." Adam stated, did not ask. "Your concerns are not needed, nor well founded. Samus can handle herself. However, I ask that you reunite us as soon as possible."

Following the A.I.'s words, a second gathering of Covenant Phantoms flew overhead, heading the same direction as the first.

"That might be a little easier s-said than done." Cortana quipped. Whether Adam noticed the hitch in her voice or not, she didn't know, but he didn't bring it up.

Nevertheless, the Spartan kept moving, quickly making his way out of the crash site while gathering as many weapons and supplies as he could scavenge. Eventually he arrived at a cliff side, far below being an ocean of metal and strange colored materials. However, beyond that was a sky filled with mile high constructs, hovering thousands of feet in the air. Beyond just the one was many more, stretching out for miles.

"This place… it's Forerunner." Cortana breathed, stunned. "I had my suspicions, but this confirmed it."

The Spartan gazed up at the massive obelisk for a moment, searching the skies it occupied, hoping to find a sign of the Bounty Hunter.

But nothing.

He made not a sound, but he was disappointed to have not yet run into her. The longer they were separated, the more he was starting to believe that she may not have made it through the fall.

"Chief… There's a Warthog over there, and still in one piece." He didn't need to be told twice. To the left of the cliff he'd found himself on was more wreckage from the Dawn. Somehow, a small cashe of weapons and a vehicle had managed to make it to the surface. He didn't question his luck, grabbing what he could before loading up in the Warthog.

He didn't say anything, quietly making his way out of the canyon. The whir of the engine echoed across the valley walls, the only source of sound to break up the monotony.

That was, until he was hit with a scuffed and broken message received through his coms. "Cortana?"

"It's not me Chief." She said softly. "I'm picking up a message on the high-band, not sure who or what from."

"Keep tracking it, could be important." He said. His voice faded as the sound of the engine took over, offering as a distraction from the wave of silence this land they found themselves in offered.

Cortana continued to try and get a response from the strange message, but to little avail. Eventually, after rolling through a mile long scrap field, they found themselves a brief reprieve from the smog filled crash site in the form of an open valley.

And, fortunately, that valley wasn't vacant.

"Chief, Phantoms are landing opposite the valley." Cortana chimed in. Indeed, her words spoke true. Across the way a phantom drop ship was seen dropping soldiers into the field.

"We're not going to be able to get one from here. I don't suppose you have a plan for capturing one…?" The Spartan asked.

"You could always walk up and ask nicely?" Cortana offered, holding back a small giggle of amusement.

The man scoffed. "Asking's not my strong suit…"

"You could exterminate their resistance and procure their vessel for yourself?" Adam offered.

"See, that sounds reasonable." Chief muttered.

Cortana scoffed. "Oh sure, take his advice over mine…" She muttered with mock irritation…


A soft blue light illuminated the sprawling command deck of a UNSC vessel, crew occupying every station available. A loud but steady thrum echoed throughout the deck, the voices of all personnel meshing and melding together to create one solid buzz.

Standing atop the center of command was a man, decorated as a Captain would be and should be, deserving of the respect given his position. Garbed in gray and black, with the UNSC insignia embroidered proudly on his armored vest, was a hardened old man, crowned with gray hair and blue eyes that still held the spark of a man still in his youth.

His eyes narrowed, studying the influx of information displayed before him, silently sorting through the bulk of it, focusing only on what was important.

Words and images assaulted his eyes, information and reports of all kinds appearing before his sharpened gaze. His blue eyes narrowed, before rolling closed as he breathed out a sigh.

"Keep on course for the coordinates. I want to get there before command has the time to rethink their decision." He called out, turning away from the command console.

"Yes Captain!" His head commander saluted.

The man turned from his post, hands clasped behind his back as he noticed the Commander underneath him approaching.

Approaching him was a woman, easily over six foot nine, and adorned in a special newer model of Mjolnir. Proudly adorned in the generation two Scout series, was a tall and strong looking brunette. "Captain Del Rio, I've got something for you." She spoke, holding up a pda.

"Commander Palmer, what a surprise. I thought you'd be too busy with the rookies downstairs to see me." The Captain, Andrew Del Rio, said with a hint of amusement. The commander scoffed, a irritated scowl marring her face, although not directed at him.

"There's only so much they can learn from our simulations. Many of them still have a lot to learn before I feel like throwing them to the wolves…" She sighed. "But, that aside, I've picked up something." She said seriously, handing him the pda. He frowned when he noticed her serious expression.

He took the device, taking a moment to read it over. His eyes widened, turning back to the Spartan. "Are you sure?"

"Positive, Captain." She said. "There is a UNSC distress signal coming from the coordinates we're heading towards."

"Someone beat us to it? No…" He muttered, stepping back for a moment. "Could the Covenant already be there?"

"That's not impossible. They do seem to gather to Forerunner installations like flies." She commented. "Slimy bastards…"

The man thought for a moment. What she said was true, but that wouldn't explain why a tag of their own was pinging from the site.

And if one of theirs was truly out there, then what the hell was someone doing on the far side of the galaxy?

"Did you happen to make out any I.D.?" Andrew asked, pinching the bridge of his nose. He asked, but he had an idea of what her answer would be before she even drew her breath to answer.

"No sir." Palmer said.

He sighed, returning to his post. "I see. We are already on the way, if there truly is someone out there, they're probably going to need our help."


Chapter

4

End