Rniork, Briyanku and the Chief walked in single profile back out onto the corridor. Stopping for a second, the two Elites muttered something the Chief couldn't pick up, but the two started walking again almost as soon as he caught up with them. They started off on another long trek through the labyrinth of purple-schemed corridors and rooms that made up the interior of the "Proven Consequence". Everywhere they walked though, the amount of respect paid to them by the rest of the crew was almost religious in its devotion. Whenever they entered a new corridor, every single Grunt, Elite, and whatever other sort of Rvarn'ii in there immediately halted whatever they were doing and stood to attention, only relaxing slightly as the Captain passed and only fully returning to their duties once they left through the next set of doors.
They were making their way towards the bow of the cruiser, heading down another set of staircases before passing into a huge hall, nearly half a mile long between its farthest walls, lined with a strange pattern of elliptical white spirals dotted evenly over bright blue walls. The room's pale cyan lighting seemed to be coming from the walls themselves, but there was nothing the Chief could see occupying the floor of the chamber, aside from a small holographic display by the door they came in through. High above them on the ceiling, however, were lines and lines of small, circular, silver coloured devices about a meter or so in diameter. There were hundreds of these devices arranged neatly in horizontal rows and columns that covered the entire ceiling from one side of the chamber to the other.
When the trio arrived at the centre of the room, the Captain stopped and turned to look at the Master Chief running up behind him. The Rvarn'ii pulled a small hand-held computer-like object out of one of his armour's many pouches and pressed the single black button located on it. Out of the top of the device a small holographic screen about six inches across materialised, and holding the base unit, Rniork began pressing various panels on the display. The gold Elite looked over at the Chief, who was gazing from one end of the room to the other. A small grunt from the Captain got the human's attention.
"Master Chief, this room is a holographic simulator, one of most important training resources we have onboard. Before we dine together, I feel there is one or two things I should show you first." He pressed another button and then turned off the device. Suddenly a strange whirling sound filled the air around them, and the Chief looked up at the walls as the white spirals began to change colour, firstly to bright red, and then to a warm, glowing orange that seemed to expand slowly across the wall. The whirring sound became louder and the Chief stretched back his neck so he could look right up to the ceiling, and he soon identified where the sound was coming from.
Each of the silver disks had begun to spin rapidly, and the dull insignia that the Spartan hadn't noticed before began to glow as an intensely bright white light. Slowly but surely each of the disks lowered gently down from the ceiling, each disk descending at a different speed and stopping at a different height from the one next to it. Then from the disks that had stopped being lowered came a three dimensional, blue lined computer mesh of a very blocky and unrefined terrain. As each disk stopped, the blue mesh spread, it contours and valleys matching the similar disposition of the disks a few metres above them. The chief kept turning his head, looking one-way and then another as this virtual landscape began to form around him and the two Elites.
As soon as all the disks had descended and the blue mesh completed, a second wave of colour appeared. Each of the surface polygons began to fill with colour, starting on the various peaks of the surrounding terrain. Dull greyish colours with rocky textures at first, then various patchy greens in the lower valleys as the colour seeped into them. Little islands of these detailed polygons began to merge as the Chief looked on. Soon the whole area was filled, giving the room the impression of the environment of one of those early 21st Century Earth computer game, like those primitive but playable first player shooting ones that the Chief had enjoyed playing as a young kid. Once this colourful transformation was completed, that the terrain itself began to change once more. Each polygon became more detailed, little holes and bumps appeared, thousands and thousands of accurately rendered grass stems rose out of the green patches, the fragile leaves blowing in a virtual wind. Soon the landscape had become real. The level of detail was superb; it was almost like a moving photograph. Each little segment that had once been a flat panel was now moulded inconspicuously with its adjacent neighbours, its form altered to accurately imitate a real landscape. It looked strangely like a speeded up nature film to the Chief as he watched the final, minute alterations take place that finally created a seamless, incredibly real terrain that towered and fell before him.
But the computer wasn't finished yet, not by a long shot. The dull whirring changed pitch and volume into a louder, higher note. The lilac, spiral-covered walls that could still be seen suddenly disappeared into a jet-black surround, before turning almost instantly again into a plain, pinkish blue colour that looked like the sky in the evening. The ceiling also underwent a similar transformation. Soon there was a primitive looking sky that covered every trace of the outside of the virtually created environment. The perspective of the scenario itself was altered, objects and the sky decoration itself became more distant, until it became impossible to accurately judge distances in this room. The sky seemed to stretch into the heavens itself many hundreds of miles above, and in any direction it seemed the rocky terrain stretched for many kilometres. It looked like an almost lifeless Earth, a land almost completely devoid of anything but the little patches of grass and the ground itself that the three warriors were standing on.
The Chief opened his eyes wide in amazement as he arched his head over the now never-ending landscape. He had the sudden urge to remove his armour and experience and test the full range of feelings that this artificially created but all too real world could provide. He sighed lightly as he gazed along the contours of the land, watching as rivers, great grass filled plains and giant mountain ranges began to form in the distance, stretching from horizon to horizon. For a moment, the human forgot he was on an Rvarn'ii ship at all. He kneeled down in the patch of dark, yellowy grass, and removed one of his armoured gloves. He put the metal covering on the ground, and then ran his long, muscular fingers through the delicate blades and relaxing at the almost forgotten sensations he felt run up his arm. The hairs on the back of his palm began to stand on end as they felt a cool and gentle breeze running across the little rises and dips. He stood back up and removed his helmet, the sealed clips snapping open as he guided his fingers along the bottom edge and pulled the helmet off and tucked it under his right arm. He smiled slightly as the cool air blew through his short hair, his eyes closing as he breathed in, pushing his chest out as far as the suit would allow him.
A moment later he opened his eyelids again, watching the light wispy clouds now forming overhead. More spectacular objects appeared in the sky, a bright blazing star, like a distant Sol would be in Earth's sky, and then a faint moon appearing up over the horizon in the same view. The Chief leant down and picked up his glove, slung it into his empty helmet, and then detached the other glove and put it with its companion. He turned and looked at the two Elites, whom were both staring at him as if trying to figure something out. They turned to face each other momentarily, before Rniork looked down at the human again.
"Impressed?" He asked plainly.
"Very", muttered the Chief in response. "Where is this place?"
"You will know soon enough, look behind you." The Chief turned again, and his eyes fell on a swarming mass appearing in the sky. A dull red and orange sphere was slowly expanding, it soon grew larger than the faint moon on the opposite horizon, and it kept on growing continuously as the human gazed at it. Soon its lower surface disappeared under the horizon, and it began to take on a familiar form. And then out of the corner of his eye something else appeared, something terrifyingly familiar. The horizon had begun to rise far beyond the nearby mountains, a blue and green strip of land many miles across slowing began to curve upwards. Clouds and waves were visible rippling over the surface as the strip rose higher into the sky. With a flash of recognition the Chief turned around exactly, and before his eyes the opposite horizon was itself becoming dominated by the rising strip of landscape. The human, the correct idea forming in his mind, watched the strip become thinner and thinner as it rose far up into the sky. It soon reached so far above that both strips could be seen heading towards each other thousands of miles above. They joined noiselessly, the only sound being the rustling and whistling of the wind flowing across the landscape. The ring was complete…
"Halo…" The Chief whispered to himself, his eyes following the land from one horizon up along the interior of the ring to the other horizon where it dipped behind some low rolling hills in the distance. His breath faltered for a second, the two Rvarn'ii long forgotten as a flood of memories came storming back. He took a few steps forward, his eyes wandering again on this incredible landscape. It seemed remotely peaceful, as though it was how Halo should have been, not a home to a super weapon or to a race of parasitic aliens, or the battleground between two hell-bent foes. This was how it was supposed to be, a beautiful, almost mythological artefact of a powerful but long dead race, a token of their history, an example of their power. Something to gaze in awe at, to explore, not something to fear and loathe.
"Hello John", sounded a pleasant, but thoughtful female voice behind him.
The Chief turned on the spot, and found he was looking directly into the eyes of Cortana.
Or at least, he thought it was Cortana. The person standing before him had her voice and figure, but she was more, well, human. Her body was no longer a skin of various panels, but an actual human body, complete with pale skin and short, black hair. She wore a figure-hugging blue cat suit, made of a stretchy but soft looking material, and she seemed as pleased with her own appearance as she was with seeing the Chief. She ran her hands across her arms, her fingers gliding across the material as she sighed happily. She looked down for a second before looking back up at the Chief again, allowing her eyes to settle into his.
"Did you miss me?" She asked politely, giggling slightly as his wide-eyed reaction.
"A bit," he muttered, starting to smile himself. "Although you had me worried for a while." He added as an almost afterthought.
"Hmmm," she bite her lip, "consider it payback, John, for the Longsword." She put on a serious expression, the smile disappearing within an instant.
"Okay, we're even." Replied the Chief curtly. The smile returned to Cortana's face. She looked over her shoulder at the nearby Elites. "You better not keep them waiting." With those words she vanished in an instant, leaving the Chief to walk back to the Rvarn'ii officers.
"I see you met your friend." Said Rniork, who looked over the ring world's landscape himself as he address the human. "Very polite individual, an extremely advanced A.I even by our standards. She seems to be very relaxed here; Moruk appears to get along with her very well."
"Moruk?" Enquired the Chief.
"Our own resident A.I, slightly more advanced than Cortana, but a lot less…lively, I think would be the correct term. It has been a mutually benefiting exchange for the both of them." Rniork sounded slightly distracted when he finished his sentence. "Anyway, back to business, as you humans say. You'll recognise this place as the 'Halo' ring world, the Forerunner facility, the weapon that you bought about the destruction of, if I am not mistaken. Your almost single-handed destruction of this incredibly powerful installation along with the annihilation of an entire Covenant battle force makes you a very prominent figure in all three of our cultures."
"Well, thanks, but…"
"We are not here just to rescue you though, although our timely entry onto the scene is surely appreciated by your good self. We have been searching for you, well, every possible Spartan II we can find, since we first learnt of the project's inception, although we know that you were the only survivor from your group after the fall of Reach. We have been tracking you at long distance since the Pillar of Autumn escaped the Covenant at Reach, and we have monitored the various communications from all the factions since the arrival of the Autumn within Halo's surrounding space until we could establish and confirm the presence of a Spartan II on Halo itself. We were despatched to rescue you and any other survivors, but unfortunately the Covenant's meddling with technology they don't understand, simply to comply with their religious fervour, meant the release of the 'Flood' spores present within Halo. We feared it would be too late but your resourcefulness is impressive to say the least." Rniork took a pause before continuing.
"Humans' adaptability and resourcefulness may yet see them through, but your race, Master Chief, is losing a war it can't afford to. You have your backs against the wall, and I guess you do not even know why?"
"Pardon?" Replied the Chief, suddenly feeling quite shocked at the statement.
"Do you understand why the Covenant are hunting you down?" Rniork asked, unassumingly.
"Because they believe we are an affront to their gods or something?" Replied the Chief, suddenly realising how vague his answer was.
"Not quite, in fact, not really that close at all, although there is a religious underpinning to it all. Come with me, and I'll try and explain it to you." He turned, nodded to Briyanku, and pressed another button on his little computer screen. The entire scene vaporised in a couple of seconds, leaving just a few spiralling pixels under each ceiling disk, which were once again visible. They had reverted back to their original state and were now ascending back into the ceiling, and the Chief found himself standing right back in the middle of the room he had walked into a few moments before.