Disclaimer: I do not own Zootopia or any of its characters, they all belong to Disney. I do not own Halo or any of it characters, that are all belong to 343 Industries. Rated M for sexual themes.

Just One Small Spark

Chapter 14

John thought this must be most heavily fortified UNSC system in the galaxy. They'd stopped at each of the other ten planets before arriving at the fifth planet, the main inhabited planet in this system. Each one had a massive orbiting station in geosynchronous orbit, shipyards, and dozens of Supermac guns in orbit. He'd watched dozens of Forerunner Keyships, UNSC warships, and smaller in-system ships arrive and leave the stations daily. He'd heard some of his fellow Spartans calling this the Zootopia system. He'd thought that a bit odd until he'd met dozens of species of intelligent Animals. When he'd met Lynne he'd first thought that she was an alien species that only resembled a Rabbit, but was soon told she actually was a Rabbit only being bipedal, much taller, and intelligent. When the other Spartans had removed their helmets he found himself greeted by Foxes and Cheetahs also.

When they were further in-system they'd stopped at one of the two asteroid belts. The mining base was located on a minor planet and as he watched a large asteroid being fed into an even larger machine that he was told broke it down for its component metals. He'd read that a great deal of this technology was contributed by an aliens species who had unexpectedly arrived in this system after their homeworld had been destroyed.

Fred-104 had introduced him of one of this species. Jasmine had been a doctor who wanted to examine him and compare his augmentations to the other Spartan IIs and IIIs. Along with Doctors Catherine Halsey and Elizabeth Rawlins they removed his armor and then along with several Huragok Lifeworkers healed and restored his body to pristine condition.

Cortana was turned over to 2742 Vibrant Contemplation and who reversed her on coming rampancy and then altered her to be metastable. Then she was given a choice by the monitor which she immediately accepted.

"John," she said, looking down at her Spartan.

He inhaled sharply and was instantly awake and alert. He looked up and at first thought it was Dr. Halsey, but this woman looked much younger. She smiled and his eyes widened. Then for only the second time in his life was completely surprised.

"Cortana?"

She smiled and then chuckled.

"So how do you like the new me?"

She twirled around and sat down on the bed next to him.

"How?"

"The monitor and his Forerunner technology," she said, putting a hand on his bare chest, and he felt the warmth of her flesh against his. "I'm a cyborg now – I have a living human body with a metal endoskeleton. 2742 Vibrant Contemplation found a DNA pattern in my program and grew this body with certain enhancements. Now I'm going to be a Spartan too and you're going to train me!"

She poked him in the chest with each word and then hugged him. For a moment John completely out of his depth, but then tentatively returned her hug. He was always a quick study. After a while he released her and then she hovered over him.

"Train you!"

"Yes," she said and smiled. "They have a Spartan training base on the other habitable planet and Chief Mendez in running it. First though, the Admiral wants to speak to us. So we'd better this out of this bed so you can get ready. Come on."

She stood and took his hand. He followed her and then caught a glimpse of a window.

"We're on planet."

"Yes, we're on the main UNSC base just outside the city of Zootopia. The doctors thought you would be more comfortable and recover faster on an earthlike world."

"How long …"

"You've been asleep for three days and I've been taking care of you."

"Three days!"

"Your body needed some time to heal and assimilate the changes."

"Changes?"

He turned and followed her to the bathroom. Then he looked in the mirror and just stared.

"You do look younger," she said and watched him touch his face. "Go on and get cleaned up." She smacked him on the butt to get him on his way and smiled prettily as he turned to give her an indignant look. "What? Are you waiting for me to join you?"

John stepped into the shower and the water cut on. He stood there for a minute, examining himself and let the heat just soak into his body. Then he heard the door open and felt a draft. He turned and Cortana stood there with only a smile. He raised an eyebrow.

"Turn around and I'll wash your back," she said and he did as she'd asked.

He felt her soapy hands on his back and smiled.

"Thank you," he said when she'd finished.

"But now you'll have to return the favor," she said and chuckled at the surprise look on his face when he turned. "Well?" She turned and felt the tentative touch of his hands. "Come on John, you can do it harder than that. I won't break!"

John liked the feeling of her skin and continued scrubbing well after he knew she was clean. Of course she knew it too, but didn't mind at all.

"Don't you think I'm clean enough now?" she asked and leaned back against his muscular body. She liked how her head just fit under his chin. "We'd better get done or we won't have time for breakfast."

They quickly finished and toweled each other off. After they dressed Cortana turned and looked onto his eyes. She reached up, pulled his face down to hers, and kissed him. When the kiss ended she saw him touch his lips and then look back at her.

"John, I love you and have since the moment we met," she announced, taking his hands.

"I guess I've always known, but …"

"I know about all the changes made to your body when you had the Spartan enhancements," she said and touched his face. "2742 Vibrant Contemplation told me when the Huragok Lifeworkers healed you they reversed some of those changes." She moved closer. "I'm sure you know the ones I mean, don't you?"

John pulled her close and she laid her head on his chest. Now she was positive he knew what she meant as his hands begin to explore her body. She made a sound of pleasure and checked the time and sighed.

"John, we really do need to get going."

Reluctantly he released her and they headed for the mess hall. Breakfast was the normal fare – eggs, bacon, sausage, pancakes, toast, orange juice, and coffee. Then they headed to the spaceport and of course, had to wait an hour for the next shuttle to the Dark Star II. It arrived on time and they boarded. Then they had to wait a bit longer in space when priority traffic arrived ahead them and took their assigned docking cradle. Twenty minutes later another cradle cleared and they disembarked only to find a reception committee. Apparently the news that the famous Spartan 117 would be returning to the Dark Star II today had arrived ahead of them and every Spartan on this ship and most lightly ones from other ships too, and most of the crew currently off duty were there waiting for them as well.

Everyone present came to attention and saluted them. They solemnly returned it and then the Spartans – Foxes, Cheetahs, Rabbits, and surprisingly two humans – came forward to introduce themselves. Afterward as they walked to the exit the crew broke into spontaneous clapping and cheers. Cortana knew he was pleased and when they reached the airlock she turned her Spartan around and the noise only increased. The airlock opened and they were met by a Fox in UNSC Captain's uniform.

"I'm Nicholas Wilde, Captain of the Dark Star II," he said and they both saluted.

He smiled and returned it. Then he proceeded to give them a tour of his ship.

"Captain, I thought we were going see the Admiral."

"And you shall," he said and grinned.


For the next two hours the Captain led them through the ship, introducing them to key personnel who explained the functioning of the ship and its different systems. Cortana thought it was all very interesting especially some of the improvement that'd made, but she felt that they were getting put off. Finally the tour ended with them being first ushered into the Admiral's private quarters and then into her dining room.

Sitting at the table were Dr. Halsey, Chief Mendez, Dr. Rawlins, two male humans, and several animals.

"John," Dr. Halsey said, rose, and then hugged him, "how are you feelin'?"

"Quite well," he said and took a seat beside a Gazelle.

Cortana sat beside her Spartan and the Gazelle cocked her head and looked at her.

"Maria Muler," she said, "Chief Engineer of the Dark Star II."

"Cortana," she said and then indicated her Spartan, "This is John."

The Gazelle smiled and extend a hand to him. He took it carefully and shook.

"Master Chief, I've read about some of your exploits," she said and the human beside her chuckled. She looked at the man and snorted. "This is my husband Kurt and my sister Alejandra."

John looked first at the Gazelle and then her husband. Kurt put an arm his wife and smiled. Then the other Gazelle peaked around his shoulder and smiled too.

"I'm married to Kurt too."

John looked around the room and the absurdity of the situation stuck him. He surprised everyone by leaning back in his chair and chuckling. Then he took Cortana's hand.

"John?"

"For thirty years every alien we meet wants to destroy us …"

"Except the Huragok," Cortana said and squeezed his hand.

"Yes, except the Huragok," he said and smiled at her. "But now we find an entire alien civilization and they're friendly and even helpful."

"We are," came a voice from across the room.

John looked toward the voice and seeing the Admiral's uniform stood.

"Admiral in Deck!" he said and saluted.

By reflex everyone else stood too. The Rabbit returned the salute and then smiled.

"Vice Admiral Judith Laverne Wilde," she said, dropping her salute.

"Master Chief Spartan 117, ma'am!"

A Fox and Cheetah stood beside her.

"Everyone, please have a seat," she said and sat at the head of the table. Judy saw John sitting ramrod straight and she rolled her eyes, "and please be at ease!"

John glanced at her and relaxed a little. The Fox approached Captain Wilde and then hugged him.

"Doin' OK?" Catherine said and licked his cheek.

"Mom!"

Everyone chuckled including the Admiral, John noted. Apparently Admiral Wilde ran things just a bit differently than back in UNSC space. The stewards brought in the food and John noted that the meal leaned heavily toward vegetables. He looked around the table and noted that most of the animals were carnivores. He was a bit surprised when he saw Captain Wilde taking several types of vegetables and then both types of meat.

John himself tried a bit of everything and went back for seconds for the things he liked. He looked what Cortana took and she smiled at him.

"John," Dr. Halsey began and smiled at someone she thought of as a son, "did Cortana surprise you?"

"The monitor did an exceptional job on her new biological body and then integrating with her metal endoskeleton."

Cortana laughed aloud and then hugged him.

"John, you say the sweetest things."

There were chuckles from around the table.

"John, what do you think of everything you've seen so far?"

He sat quietly for almost a full minute.

"Apparently you've accomplished quite a lot in a relatively short time," he said and looked at the Admiral, "but you look like you're gearing up for a war."

"You're correct, we are," she said, looking a few shocked faces. "First, we thought the Covenant might find us, but we know now that war is over. Then on planet four we found humans who aren't from the UNSC and alien races that even 2742 Vibrant Contemplation didn't know about. Fortunately so far all the alien races we found so far have been friendly and most have joined the UNSC. The monitor doesn't have access to the entire galaxy not after 100,000 years. What's on the other side of the galaxy? Or in the Greater and Lesser Magellanic Clouds for that matter. There are 672 other shield worlds in this galaxy and we plan to visit them all. The Monitor knows of many other races and we will contact attempt to contact all of them too." Judy's ears came up. "Lastly, what will the UNSC do when they find out about us?"


John and Cortana lay under a tree, looking at the stars. Cortana could tell her Spartan was tense and she sighed.

"She has valid concerns," Cortana said, turning and looking at him.

"And that's what why it's so damned frustrating!"

"So what do you want to do?"

"She did suggest that we go to planet four and relax."

"No John, the Admiral ordered us to go there and relax - for two weeks."

"And then after that begins your training."

"You say that like you're going to enjoy it!"

"I am," he said and smiled.


Nick held his bunny close and licked the back of her neck.

"Nick."

"Yes, Admiral," he said and she rolled over to face him.

Nick smiled and she rolled her eyes and sighed.

"Are you a little surprised that they went to the colony?"

"You did order them to go."

"I … I guess I did."

"I think those two would have gone even without your let's say insistence."

Her Fox smiled again and gave her a wink.

She giggled and hugged her Fox.

"They were quite …"

"interested in each other."

"Yes, they were, weren't they," she said and then kissed her Fox.

She felt his hand on the back of her head as their kiss deepened and his other hand slid down her back and found her tail. When her squeeze it she gasped, breaking the kiss and arching her back. Then she felt him gently lick her throat again and she laid her head back. He chuckled, knowing exact what she wanted and carefully took her throat in his jaws. He slowly increased the pressure as a growl built in his chest. When his bunny moaned he gave her a shake and felt her shudder beneath him. Then his growl came instinctively.

"Nick!" she cried and pulled him closer.

Then he hesitated remembering that she was pregnant.

"Nick?"

"Is it OK to make love when you're pregnant?"

"Elizabeth said it was, but maybe we should be a little less …"

"Energetic," Nick finished and his bunny smiled.

"Yes."

He kissed her and let his hand roam over her body. Then he gently slipped inside her and then surprised his bunny by rolling on his back and taking her with him. She looked down at him and smiled.

"You're a lazy old Fox!"

He chuckled.

"And a sly one too!" he said and put his hands on her hips. "I thought you might to go at you own pace."

She smiled at her Fox and rose up.

"Nick!" she cried slowly settling on him.

They continued slowly and gently until he felt her tighten on him.

"Judy!" he said, thrusting up and joining his bunny in the climax of their love making.

A few moments moment later she collapsed atop him breathing hard.

"You're one sly old Fox," she whispered in his ear, "but I love you anyway."

He gave her a foxy grin.

"And you're my cute little pregnant bunny."

She rose up, put her hands on her hips, and looked at him sternly. Then she giggled and he put his hands behind his head and smiled smugly.


Fred and Lynne accompanied them to the colony world. On their flight down the Rabbit had told them of their first shore leave to planet four. Cortana noticed Fred blush at a few points in the story where Lynne's narrative became a just bit vague. Their shuttle first set down in what turned out to be Lynne's hometown. John and Cortana were both interesting in the other valley in Lynne's story and decided to stay instead of leaving with the shuttle for the Spartan training camp.

They did spend a few days there meeting Lynne's relatives and hiking around the area. So on the fourth day they left on the forty mile trek. Mike, one of Lynne's younger brothers and Sarah, a vixen, traveled with them on business and as guides. At dusk they stopped at the lip of the other valley and setup camp. The fire blazed, cooking one of the prey animals that Sarah had shot a just before they stopped.

They all tried the eatable plants that Mike and Lynne had gathered when they'd stopped a few times during the day. While they were eating both Lynne and Mike's ears came up and they suddenly stood, their noses twitching. In that moment they looked to the humans just as their earthly cousins did. Lynne's foot even instinctively thumped the ground as her ancestors had for millennia to warn other rabbits of predators.

"Lynne?" Cortana said.

The siblings looked at each other.

"Ris," Lynne said quietly. "I didn't know they were on this planet."

Soon they saw golden eyes reflecting the firelight come out of the darkness. They padded into the firelight on all fours and then stood. The twelve Ris were of both sexes and various ages and reminded John of large cats with dark fur.

"May we use your fire?" the largest one said in English.

"Of course," Lynne responded in Ris. "Please join us at our meal."

Then carcasses of five of the larger prey animals were soon spitted and cooking over the fire.

"I'm Obgu and these are my mates," he said, indicating the three large Ris females. "The others are my children."

"I'm Lynne and this is my husband Fred," she said, then pointing to each as she introduced them. "This is John, Cortana, Mike, and Sarah. We are traveling to the valley for business, to meet different species who live there, and to sightsee."

The eight younger Ris moved among the strangers and scented each. Cortana put a hand on her Spartan's arm as one of the younger Ris came close. She held out her other hand and Ris sniffed it. She scratched it under the chin and leaned onto her hand. Then it lay in her lap as she rubbed and scratched the cub in different spots. Then she took John's hand placed it on the cub. Cortana smiled as her Spartan stroked the thick dark fur and grinned.

The meat cooked quickly and soon everyone had eaten their fill. Then they sat around the fire and relaxed.

"I didn't know your people had a colony on this world," Lynne said and watched the Ris' great head turn her way. "It must have been recent."

"So far only a few hundred of us are exploring this and the other habitable world," he said and saw the surprised look on the Rabbit's face. "Some of us will stay in a fixed location while others will roam the land."

"Why?" John asked.

The Ris frowned.

"It's our way of life," he said. "In the past on our original world the Ris who stayed in one place developed our technology and the rest were nomads. Now we roam the stars."

"Didn't that leave a part of your society more technologically advanced than the other?" Cortana asked.

"In the distant past that was somewhat true, but now the knowledge was available freely over our planetary internet and our children are schooled using it."

"On Zootopia … I mean our homeworld they are no prey for you," Lynne said.

"We shall bring some of these," he said and held up a bone, "and others from our homeworld."

"Rabbits won't like these animals eating their crops," Mike said and grimaced. "They are already starting to become a bit of nuisance here."

The Ris chuckled.

"Don't worry, we shall help you keep their population down and you have your own predators too."

"We can still hunt," Sarah said and smiled.

Mike looked at her and then squeezed her shoulder. Then he yawned, causing several others to do the same.

"I guess it's time we got some sleep," Mike said, taking Sarah hand and crawling into their tent. "We still have a bit more traveling to do."

John stood and looked around their camp.

"Do not worry Spartans," Obgu said and held out a hand. "We shall guard the camp tonight."

John took it.

"How?"

"The Admiral contacted us and thought you might go to this valley."

"She's a cleaver Rabbit," Lynne said.

"She's a formidable prey."


John woke first and felt Cortana's warm body against his. He smiled and then stretched. She rolled over and looked at him.

"Touching you like this is a new and an interesting experience," she said, running a hand over his chest.

"For me too," he said and John ran a hand down her back and patted her bottom.

She laughed and then kissed him. When the kiss ended they looked at each other. John pulled her close and a moment later two bundles of fur came through the tent flap and pounced.

"John, these are children!"

A large tongue licked his cheek and he pushed the Ris away. His opponent was only bit smaller than himself and half again as heavy. He noted that neither was using their claws or teeth even though he saw that Cortana's opponent had her forearm in its mouth. John felt the cub's strength push him back as he finally got his feet under him. He pushed up and then swept the cub's feet out for under and pinned it on its back. Then the Spartan straddled the cub and used a strategy be never used before in combat – he began to tickle it and the cub giggled.

Cortana being stronger than her Spartan with her new cyborg body she soon had her opponent in her lap. She glanced at her Spartan and thought if it works for him. They soon hand their 'attackers' subdued and a minute later one of the female Ris stuck her head in the tent.

"Good morning," Cortana said.

The Ris frowned.

"Learning English I not so good yet," she said and looked at her cubs. "They …" She closed her eyes and muttered a few works in Ris. "wake humans?"

"We were awake when they came to play with us."

The Ris spoke the words in her language.

"They make you bleed?"

"No, they didn't use their teeth or claws."

"Not angry with them."

"No, we like them," Cortana said and rubbed the cubs chest.

"Food is ready."

Then she spoke in Ris and cubs ran out of the tent. She turned to follow them.

"We'd better get out there before it's all gone," Cortana said and he crawled out ahead of her.

She smiled and followed him.


After breakfast Obgu asked if they could travel with them. The sight of their group being trailed by twelve Ris padding into their town on all fours brought out the citizenry. Apparently someone had informed security and they were met before they'd made it to the guest houses.

"Lynne," the human said and looked at the aliens, "we were informed that you brought …"

He waved a hand at them.

"They're Ris," she said, taking the human's arm and leading her toward them, "and you'll probably be seeing more of them in the future." The human winced. "I know you've had some of our predators visit."

"They wore clothes and walked upright," she whispered. "And they weren't quite so large."

"You'll get use to them," she said and patted the man's arm. "This is Obgu and his family."

"Greetings human," he said in the native language and walked toward the waiting security. "Apparently we've caused a bit of excitement. They even called out security to meet us. Maybe you could show us around your city."

The human looked a bit bewildered, but followed. Obgu looked back and gave Lynne a wink.


They made it to the guest house and just started up the stairs.

"John! Cortana! Fred! Lynne!"

They turned and saw Jasmine and two Gazelles coming from the guest house next door.

"Jasmine," Cortana said and received a hug from the alien. "It's good to see you. You should've told us you were coming planet side and you could have come with us."

"I had a meeting with Doctor 11278 in the upper valley a few days ago," she said and turned to the two Gazelles. "This is Jesse and Jean, his sister."

The two Gazelles introduced themselves to everyone. John looked at them with a critical eye and then concentrated on their horns. Jean looked at him and smiled.

"You may touch them if you'd like," she said and dipped her head. "I've found that almost every human I met can't resist."

John looked at Cortana and heard the siblings chuckle. Cortana watched as her Spartan gently ran his hand its length and then touch the tip with his thumb. Then he said something typically Spartan.

"You are trained to use them to defend yourselves," he stated and Cortana smiled.

"Yes, and if necessary offensively too," she said and smiled. "Most predators behave themselves, but on occasion there've been problems." Sarah smiled at the pair of Gazelle. "Of course the experts are Maria and Alejandra. I think those two could even give a Spartan problems."

John and Fred both raised an eyebrow.

"I've met them," he said and looked at Fred.

"I guess you've come to see the lower valley too," Jasmine said, changing the subject. "I've done and extensive study on humans. From my studies the humans found on this planet have been separate from humans from Earth for about 100,000 years. The problem was I only had three humans, Elizabeth, Kurt, and Mark, as a baseline, but now I have the humans rescued from UNSC space."

"Us," Kurt said.

"Yes."

"The Dark Star must have records too," Cortana said and noticed they were starting to draw a crowd.

"It did," she admitted, "but I like to gather my own data."

"Maybe we could talk more over lunch," Cortana suggested and started up the stairs.

The others followed and then Jasmine and the two Gazelles waited in the living room while they put their bags in their rooms. Lynne made a call to the perfect restaurant from her room.

"Follow me," she said after everyone returned. "I hope everyone's hungry."

Fred caught up to his bunny and took her hand. She looked at him and then smiled. They walked for a while and things began to look familiar to Fred. He looked at her again and she giggled.

"You're a sneaky bunny."

"You'll like this restaurant," she said. "It's fairly new and has a great view."


They entered the large building from a side entrance and were shown to a private dining room. Everyone was seated and two waiters came to distribute menus and take drink orders. Lynne looked at the large curtain covering the wall behind her and smiled. They returned with the drinks and to take lunch orders. The human manager entered as the waiters left and stood just inside the door. Lynne nodded to him.

"My guests this is what makes our restaurant unique on our planet," he said in his language, Lynne translating.

He touched a button on the wall and the curtain rose into the ceiling. The ship that had brought the humans to this world was revealed and a number of people rose to take a closer look. Of course, John and Cortana were among those. John knew a warship when he saw one, but like everyone else with the exception of Fred and Lynne had never seen one like it.

"This is the one that you and your team explored," he stated.

"Yes," Fred said, remembering the excitement he felt when he'd discovered the hidden recording device, "and we also made several discoveries."

"We can go aboard after lunch and explore a bit more," Lynne said, knowing that the engineers had done an even more extensive study over the last few months. "John, I know that you and Cortana have had more experience than any other Spartan and Jasmine you would give us different perspective too."

"I'm a doctor, not an engineer," she said and looked again at the warship, "but it might be interesting."

"If we really wanted a more 'alien' perspective we ought to get Obgu and his family to go through it," Cortana said. "Haven't Huragok gone through it yet?"

"No, I think they were afraid they would attempt to 'fix it'," Lynne said and smiled.

The food arrived and everyone returned to the table except John and Cortana.

"John?" Cortana said.

He looked at her for a moment and then back at the warship. She touched his arm and eventually they returned to the table. John thought the food was delicious and listened as the others speculated about the ship and then their experiences in space and life on their homeworlds. After a time John stopped listening and tried to piece together all the things he'd learned and experienced since he'd come to this system.

Cortana had known her Spartan long enough when something was bothering him. She said nothing during lunch or as they'd toured the ancient warship. She knew he was interested in the ship as she herself was and also where these non-terran humans had originated. They found no other secret compartments nor had she expected them to. While they were on the ship she'd established a link with the database on this ship and read the reports from the engineers that Lynne had mentioned. She took his hand as they walked back to the guest house.

She took him up to their room and lay down on the bed. She patted the spot beside her and her Spartan smiled and then joined her.

"Now tell me what you're thinking," she said, propping up her head.

"You know me too well."

"I certainly ought to after all these years."

He sighed and lay on his back and stared at the ceiling.

"What they've created here is what the UNSC ought to be."

Cortana chuckled.

"They do have their own version of the Office of Naval Intelligence," she said and John looked at her, "but theirs actually works with the rest of their armed forces." They both chuckled and he hugged her. "So now what do you have in mind?" He smiled again and then kissed her. Eventually the kiss ended and Cortana looked at her Spartan and raised an eyebrow. "Maybe I can't read you as well as I thought."

She felt his hand touch her stomach and then slip under her blouse. Then he cupped her breast and gently squeezed. She gasped and bit her lip.

"John!"

"He stopped and looked at her.

"Did I hurt you?" John asked, inexperienced in these matters.

"No," she said and chuckled. "It felt good and was just a bit of a surprised."

She removed her blouse and John touched her again. She put her hand on his and gave him a bit of instruction. She helped him remove his shirt and ran her hands across his broad chest. He pulled her close and their lips met again. Then she tugged off his pants and quickly removed the rest of her clothes too. His hand ran down her back and came to rest on her bottom. He squeezed her gently and she giggled.

Then she slipped a hand into his shorts and touched his erection. She heard him suck in his breathe and smiled.

"Did I hurt you?" she asked and he chuckled.

He pulled off his shorts and she guided him easily into her.

"John slowly … easy … ah! … please … oh God!"

Then she felt delicate tender flesh tear and cried out. Then she arched her back lifting the both off the bed. Her Spartan stopped and looked down at her.

"Don't stop!" she cried, wrapping her legs around his hips and urging him forward. "Please John!"

Their eyes met and John actually blushed. She smiled, pulled him to her, and then kissed him. He continued and she matched him. Even though it was the first time for both of them they made up for lack of experience with stamina. After a while, longer than what Cortana thought possible, she felt muscles never used before squeeze his erection and then she shuddered with pleasure. John thrust one final time and she felt his warmth spreading inside her. He slumped onto her and she heard them both breathing hard. They didn't move for a time, just enjoying this closeness after making love.

Then John rolled to the side and looked at her.

"I love you," he said and smiled.

"John!" she said and felt her eyes tear up.

Then she pulled him close and later they fell asleep in each other's arms.


For the next week of their shore leave John and Cortana stayed in the lower valley. They did talk about going to Zootopia, but in the end the trip there and back would've eaten into their remaining week leaving little time in the city. They were both still curious about the humans living on this world and Lynne arranged for them to meet some of the historians at the University. When their ship had crashed into the lake survival was the most important thing and much of their technology was lost. Therefore most of their history was oral and over the subsequent generations much of that was lost too. There were high hopes that the computers discovered by the Spartans aboard the warship would help fill in their history.

Their last few days were used to explore the city and surrounding area. Lynne and Fred took them around the city to museums, other points of interest, and a number of the best restaurants. On their last weekend they'd boarded a bus that took them to an annual festival that commemorated Arrival Day. It was held outside the city at midpoint between the upper and lower valleys. Making it centrally located made it simpler to get to for citizens to from either end of valley and from the outside too.

When they stepped off the bus and approached the entrance John and Cortana found themselves among dozens of different nonhuman species. Cortana took his hand and squeezed it.

"John!"

They turn and watched as the crowd parted for the Ris family.

"Obgu," Cortana said and smiled. "So how did you like the city?"

"It was interesting, but as I said we're nomads."

One of the cubs, remembering the human female, slipped past his parents and bowled her over. Cortana was surprised, but recognized her 'attacker' and chuckled when she felt the rough tongue lick her face. The other cub seeing her sibling's 'attack' attempted to pounce on the other human. Unfortunately he was ready and quickly had her on her back tickling her mercilessly. Of course, a crowd gathered to watch the fun.

Two security officers returning from a call in the arrival area wondered why the crowd was bunching up in front of the entrance. Then a Ris stood and the two human sighed. They'd seen and heard about them in the city. Everywhere they'd went security received reports of wild animals loose in the city. Citizens making these reports would describe them and the officer would explain that they were only alien visitors. It would've been so much easier if they'd walked upright and worn clothes.

Finally it was simpler just to assign an officer to travel with the family which solved that problem. The next one was that the younger Ris liked to 'play' with children. Most of them knew what cats were and these were only larger and could speak which delighted them, but to their parents it was a different matter. Seeing their children playing with a 'cat' which was usually 2 to 3 times their size with fangs and claws was a bit frightening. As security was trying to diplomatically ask them to rein in their cubs Obgu thanked them for their hospitality and the family left. The Security Office breathed in a collective sigh of relief.

When the two officers made it through the crowd they chuckled at the scene. Apparently the cubs had met their match and now found themselves on their backs.

"Officers," a Rabbit said and smiled. "I guess my friends are causing a bit of a disturbance."

Beside the tall Rabbit stood and even taller human who they were sure wasn't from the valley.

"We can't go anywhere without security showing up," Obgu said, coming up behind them. "Lynne, Fred good to see you too. Let's go have some fun."

The Ris walked to the 'combatants' and spoke in the Ris tongue. John and Cortana stood and the cubs went to their mothers. Obgu motioned to the entrance and started walking. The others followed and as before the crowd parted before them.


"Are they still behind us?" John asked.

"Oh yes," Lynne said.

The Gas Bags had been waiting outside the guest house and had followed them to the spaceport. As they waited to board Fred recognized one of the Spartan trainees and tapped him on the shoulder. The Fuzzy turned and looked at them. Recognition came to his face.

"Sir!" he said, coming to attention and saluting.

Fred returned the salute.

"We have a question," Lynne said in the Fuzzy language. "These three Gas Bags have followed us from town. Would you have any idea why?"

"Ma'am," he said and her ears came up. "Sometimes they get interesting in something or someone and we just let them be. They will help out if they want to. I've heard some of them staying with people their entire lives. They seem to like children."

"Can't you speak to them?" John asked.

"Yes, but they will answer in our language only if they want too."

Lynne turned and approached them.

"Why are you following us?" she asked in native human language.

Nothing. Then she tried in Fuzzy. Nothing. She sighed and turned back to the group. They turned and got back in line. Just as they made it to the shuttle they heard a commotion behind them.

"Lynne!"

The Rabbit turned and saw Jasmine, Jesse, and Jean standing beside the Gas Bags.

"Looks like they got here ahead of us," Jasmine said and patted one of them. "I met them yesterday at the festival and we got to talking. They asked what I did and I told them about studying the Spartans. I guess they were interested and here they are."

"Let me guess you and they are coming to the training camp," Cortana stated.

"Yes," she said and smiled.

"How did you talk to them?" Fred asked.

"In their language," she said, holding up her pad. "A number of them live in the upper valley and we learned their language and they learned ours."

"You can speak their language," John said.

"No," Jasmine said, shaking her head, "that's impossible. Their language is in the ultrasonic. Our pads must translate."

"Did you tell anyone?" John asked.

"I didn't do it personally," she said and tapped her pad. "A report was submitted by technician 26246 forty-two local days ago and a translation matrix was attached. I only downloaded it yesterday when I met them. They're an interesting species."

"Was it put in the general database?" Cortana asked.

Jasmine tapped on her pad and looked up.

"Oh," she said and went back to tapping on her pad. "It is now."

Cortana sighed and Jasmine's pad beeped. Then they heard Joan's voice.

"Are they any other discoveries like this your people forgot to tell us about?"

"I haven't any idea," Jasmine said and tapped on her pad again. "You should have access to all our databases."

"I do," she said and began scanning. "I'll be speaking to your people's leader."

The connection broke and Jasmine looked at the others.

"You're next," she said and pointed to the shuttle.


Cortana thought that this flight had to be the most interesting that she and her Spartan had ever taken. First there were twenty-two different species speaking thirteen different languages.

Jasmine walking on all fours needed a special seat which had to be bolted to the deck and the Gas Bags didn't sit. The engineers rigged a several nets that they could grip. After they lifted Jasmine had to interview to each and every passenger and the Gas Bags then studied them when they weren't looking out the windows. Fortunately the flight only lasted a little over an hour.

After they set down and the rear hatch opened they found that several people were waiting for them. Doctor Halsey hugged Cortana and then John.

"So how are you two doing?" she asked.

"Very well mother," Cortana said and saw Catherine wipe her eyes.

Cortana smiled and hugged her mother. John watched the two for a while and then looked at Chief Mendez.

"So Chief, when does our training begin?" John asked.

Chief Mendez smiled and then frowned, looking past John.

"What the devil are those?" he said.

"They are what the locals inhabitants call Gas Bags," Jasmine said, coming up to them.

"They remind me of Huragok," Mendez said and then looked at Jasmine and the two Gazelles who quickly saluted. "And you are …"

"here to study the Spartans," she said, rising up on her hind legs so they were at eye level. "I convinced Judy that we need a new perspective on them since not all of them are now human."

The alien and human stared at each other for a time.

"Chief Mendez," John said and the Chief looked at him, "are their Huragok here on base?"

"Yes, the ones we found on Onyx came here with us," he said and smiled.

"What do you have in mind?" Cortana asked.

John smiled.

"We'll see you later at supper," he said and followed Cortana.


"You do know where they are," he said as they walked ahead of the others.

She looked at him, smiled, and kept walking. Eventually they came to a large building which at one time must have been a hanger. When they walked through the large door they watched as engineers, both human and Huragok, were working on various pieces of equipment. They were so intent at their work at first no one noticed them. Then one of the Huragok, completing its task turned and then froze. It started to drift toward the ceiling when one of the Gas Bags floated forward and draped a tentacle over the Huragok, stopping it. They stared at each other and started to drift lower. The Huragok signaled the others and soon the two groups were touching each other's tentacles. Jasmine watched and was positive that she knew what they were trying to do. She did a quick search on her pad and smiled. She contacted Joan and after a minute her pad beeped. Then walked to the nearest Huragok showed it her pad.

The Huragok quickly downloaded the new Gas Bag/Huragok translation matrix and then shared it with its brethren. Since the Gas Bags weren't organic supercomputers like the Huragok it took them a bit longer to absorb the translation matrix from the pad. After twenty minutes they started working together.

"Very good Spartan," Jasmine said and smiled, thinking he was also trying to rid himself of her too. "An excellent strategy, but now let's go somewhere and talk."


After moving into their new quarters the Spartans spent the afternoon with Jasmine. They soon learned that Jasmine was determined not only to learn about the physiological changes to a Spartans body, but the psychological ones too. After enduring a seemingly endless stream of oral and then written questions Cortana knew her Spartan and the others including herself needed a break.

"Jasmine, aren't you getting hungry?" Cortana said not so subtly.

"I am," Jesse said and winked at her. Jasmine looked at him and frowned. "Well, I am!"

"Me too!" Jean said.

"John, didn't you and Cortana promise to meet Chief Mendez for supper?" Lynne asked, knowing full well he had. She looked at the time on her pad. "You'd better get going. Mind if we tag along?"

"Of course not," he said and stood.

Jasmine started to gather up her things. Then she looked at the others.

"Sorry, sometimes I just get caught up in my work," she said and sighed, "and forget about everything and everyone else."

Cortana put a hand on her shoulder and gave it a squeeze.

"Why don't join us?"

Jasmine looked at her a bit abashed and then smiled.

"OK."


The next day Cortana started her training along with fifteen others of varying species. Fred and Lynne had been also assigned the same number of trainees. Since all the trainees had been in various militaries they knew the basics and all had had their augmentations. The Spartans job was to teach them how best to use the changes to their bodies. To that end their training consisted of endurance, weapons, tactics, armed and unarmed combat, and how to use their armor. The armor wasn't the standard UNSC designs, but the more advanced Forerunner ones which had been redesigned for use by all known species.

After a month John decided that a week's living off the land in the surrounding forest would begin the second phase of their training. Of course, this would be without their armor. That first morning John lead them on a thirty mile run which he thought would be a good start as did the other Spartans. John was just a bit surprised how easily Jasmine and the two Gazelles kept up. He noticed Fred and Lynne coming up beside him.

"We're being stalked," Lynne said and smiled.

"Our old friends," John said and smiled.

"Yes."

"This should be interesting."

The first Ris leapt between the John's trainees and Lynne's which caused the ones in front to stop short and ones behind to plow into them. Then a moment later another leapt behind them causing the same thing to happen to Fred's trainees. Obgu stepped out onto the trail twenty feet ahead of John who came to a stop. Then the rest of the Ris came out of the forest on both sides of the trail.

"We seemed to have surprised you," Obgu said, walking up to the group.

"I scented Ris," Lynne said, blocking his path.

"You're worthy prey," he said and she casually cuffed him across the muzzle. For a moment he looked surprised and then smiled. "You are worthy!" He looked over the group and turned to John. "It's almost time for the midday meal. Please follow us to our camp."

Obgu dropped to all fours, turned, and ran down the trail. The other Ris simply disappeared into the forest. John started to run and soon Cortana was beside him. After a mile the Ris veered off the trail and into the forest. They followed and after a few miles came to a clearing where the ground sloped up to a hill. The other Ris came out of the forest and all of them disappeared into a place where one side of the hill had subsided. They followed and soon found themselves in a large cavern among a great number of Ris.

"Obgu, it seems that you had a larger family than we thought," Cortana said and smiled.

The Ris looked around the cave and chuckled.

"A male would need a great many females and a lot of stamina to have this many children," he said and smirked. "These are all the Ris on the planet. We have chosen this place to be our permanent settlement."

"And it looks like you've been making improvements," Lynne said, looking around and seeing into some of the smaller caves off this larger one. "How large is it?"

"We've explored quite a bit and this cave system goes far underground and is spread out over a very wide area," the Ris said and started to lead them across the main cave. "Please follow me." They entered a tunnel which slopped down and opened into another large cavern with large kitchen and tables for hundreds. "Lunch is ready! The food for prey is at that table." He pointed across the room. "We accessed your local internet and found which plants are edible. Then we gathered the ones we could find, but we didn't try to cook any of them. The other tables contain meats from this world and about a dozen others. We did make sure that they were safe for all the predators here."

After inspecting the plants the prey borrowed the kitchen. Cortana and some of the humans joined them and prepared some of the food that they had brought with them. Soon Cortana returned with two plates of stir fry and set one before John.

"I've been practicing since I became human and added some chicken to ours," she said and smiled. "Please give it a try and let me know what you think."

John dug in and gave her a thumbs up. When they finished he and Cortana went to sample some of the different meats. After lunch the predators relaxed as was their nature after eating. The others including the Spartans went off to see the rest of the Ris colony. Of course, so many prey attracted a great many of the Ris cubs. This slowed the sightseeing, but also made it a bit more interesting. Dodging the cubs underfoot kept the trainees on their toes. Eventually that ended up back at the main cavern where the Ris and predator trainees awaited them.

"The Ris have accomplished quite a lot here," Cortana said, "but why here?"

"Two reasons," Obgu said and smiled. "First, these caves are large enough to hold the number of our people coming to this planet who will be living here and second, the proximity of your Spartan training base."

"Just what do you have in mind?" John asked and Obgu explained.

Afterword John could only chuckle.


John watched as the shuttle landed in the clearing and ramp dropped. Chief Mendez walked down the ramp followed by the Spartan IIs and IIIs rescued from Onyx. John and Cortana walked out of the forest followed by Fred and Lynne.

"Admiral Wilde asked us to meet you here," Chief Mendez said and smiled, "and I'm fairly sure you have something to do with it."

"Please follow us," he said and smiled.

Chief Mendez and his Spartans followed John into the forest. After a mile they came to a smaller clearing where the trainees had built a camp. It wasn't simply a training camp, but one with fixed defenses setup to stop an imminent attack.

"John, what do you have in mind?" he asked, looking over the camp. "Or maybe I should ask just what does the Admiral have in mind?"

John smiled again.

"You're on a planet ten thousand light years from UNSC space and for all practical purposes cutoff from all support," he began. "You can recruit natives from this world and the other one. We've recently discovered that both worlds are being invaded by a hostile alien race. They're technically advanced, highly adaptable, and predators. You'll find that they're much like the Sangheili, but even more dangerous. You must defend both worlds all the while training new Spartans. This certainly won't be the Covenant that you'll be fighting."

"It shall be Ris," Obgu said, rising from under the leaf litter behind Chief Mendez and the Spartan IIs and IIIs, "and as John says we aren't the Covenant."

The Spartans whorled and brought up their weapons. Nine feet of death faced them unflinchingly and then smiled.

"Weapons down!" Chief Mendez commanded and Spartan IIs and IIIs held them at the ready position.

Obgu dropped to all fours, ran forward, and leapt over the Spartans. Half a ton of intelligent carnivore landed beside John and Chief Mendez.

"Why are you doing this?" Chief Mendez asked.

"Simple, we are predators and you shall be our prey," he said and smiled at the look on Chief Mendez's face. "In the process we will help you train your Spartans and maybe some of us will become Spartans too."

"Of course all weapons will be nonlethal," John said. "And they too will be able to recruit natives on both worlds.

"When will this 'war' begin?" Chief Mendez asked, looking at Obgu.

"In seven local days."

"And how long will it last?"

"Forever," Obgu said and then smiled. "And you'd better be ready!"

He dropped to all fours and quickly disappeared into the forest.


"Fred!" Lynne cried, squeezing him so tight that he heard the ribs creak.

Then the security alarms went off. A few seconds later they heard a crash from below and running feet coming up the stairs. Fred rolled off his bunny and grabbed his rifle. Lynne turned their bed on its side and soon found hers. He moved beside her and they waited with their rifle aimed at the door. Then they passed by and the Spartans head a door crashing in further down the hall. Shots rang out through the building. Then they heard running from the stairs on the other side of the building and the other door crashed open. Then it was quiet.

Fred knew better than to relax as did his mate. Fred saw his bunny's ears come up and the door crashed open. Fred fired and the first Ris through the door dropped twitching to the floor. Lynne shot the second as it came through the wall from the room next door, but third one shot as the second fell and he heard Lynne's grunt. Then he shot the third on twice and turned to his bunny. She lay twitching as the capacitor in the stun round discharged into her body. It hit her in the upper arm and he pulled it off, catching part of the discharge himself.

He lifted her still twitching body into his arms and held her close until her breathing slowed and body relaxed.

"Damn, those things hurt," she whispered and then chuckled.

"You feelin' Ok?"

"Yea," she said and snuggled closer. "I wanta go back to bed for a couple of days."

"We're going to have to find another room," he said and looked around. "This one is a mess!"

His bunny laughed and then groaned.

"Please don't make me laugh!" she said and he grunted as he lifted her into his arms. "Although I don't mind seeing you naked I think you might want to put on some clothes."

Fred kicked the bed back over and gently laid his bunny on it. Then he dressed and then helped dress her.


"They attacked us exactly when they said they would," Chief Mendez said and looked at the officers around the room.

"Chief, we did take quite a number of them prisoner," Fred stated, noticing many nodding in agreement.

"But they took more of us prisoner!"

"And all of them were trainees!"

Chief Mendez and Fred stared at each other.

"Chief, Fred," John said, "it seems to me that we need to accelerate their training and assign Spartans to the groups of trainees 24 hours a day. Remember these 'attacks' are meant to train them for actual combat. We might think of going on the offensive."

Both of them looked at him acknowledging the point. There was further discussion on logistics of the changes and two of Chief Mendez's subordinated were tasked with drawing up a plan to implement them. Soon afterward the meeting was dismissed.

"That went well," Cortana said and John grunted.


While they were having lunch both of their pads beeped.

"Report to the Admiral tomorrow at 3pm tomorrow," John read aloud. "We're being reassigned."

"Me too," she said and smiled. "At least we'll be together."

They went back to their room and packed. When they reported to their shuttle they met Fred and Lynne already aboard.

"The Admiral?" Cortana asked.

"Yep," Lynne said and smiled. "I wonder what she has in mind."

They watched the loadmaster walking back to raise the ramp.

"Wait!" came Jasmine's familiar voice.

She and the two Gazelle's ran up the ramp and smiled when she saw the group.

"I'll bet you're happy to see me," she said her eyes twinkling. "So I'm guessing Judy asked you to come along too."

"Come along?" Cortana asked and Jasmine smirked. "Is there something you're not telling us?"

"You'll just have to wait to we meet with Judy."


Twelve hours later John and Cortana were aboard the Dark Star II, went directly to the mess hall, and had an early breakfast. Then they went to their assigned quarters and slept. Cortana woke first and felt her Spartan's arms around her. She smiled and then looked at the clock – 9:03.

"John," she said and knew that he was immediately awake, kissing the back of her neck. "We don't have time for that."

"Are you sure?" he said and kissed her throat.

She smiled and rolled over. Later she looked at the clock and smiled -11:22.

"Now we have to get up," she said and smiled.

"Are you sure?" he said and rolled over taking her with him.

"Yes, this time I'm sure," she said and he patted her bottom.

She rolled her eyes and got up. He lay there until he heard the shower running and then joined her.


Cortana looked at the clock when they entered the mess hall – 1:04 and glared at him. He smiled and took her hand.

"Are you angry?" he asked.

"No," she said, stretching out the word.

"We still have some time," he said, touching her hand, "let's go for a walk."

As they walked they met several new species – some from Zootopia and others obviously from outside this system. There was also a smattering of humans. Some crew did recognize them and had many questions. Just before 3pm they met Fred and Lynne on the way to the Admiral's quarters. They were quickly ushered in.

"This time I was on time," Jasmine said, looking at John.

"We were an hour early," Jesse said and smiled.

"And that gave me time to tell Judy about some of my data on the humans."

"Which was all very interesting," Nick said, looking sidewise at his bunny.

"Jasmine, I did find it interesting and that's one of the reasons that you and some of your colleagues are going on this mission," Judy said and turned to the other Rabbit in the room. "Also, I'd like to introduce Mary who will be leading this mission and Robert will serve as her second officer."

Judy sat next to her Fox and Mary stood.

"2742 Vibrant Contemplation and his Huragok were able to reactive and read the computer that Fred found aboard the Human ship," she said and looked at Fred. "It contains navigation data which leads back to the ship's point of origin." The room darkened and a extremely realistic representation of the of the galaxy came in to existence. A red line led away from the Zootopia system. "This course takes into the effects of the passage of time and stellar drift since the starship entered this solar system."

"That course leads outside the galaxy," Cortana said and the representation expanded, showing the Milky Way and its attendant Galaxies. "The Greater Magellanic Cloud!"

"Yes," Mary said and pointed. "To a planet orbiting this star."

The star blinked red.

"160,000 light years!" Cortana said.

"162,342 light years and they made several stops along the way," Mary said and those shown green. "We're going to visit each one of them."


"Are they all on their way?" Judy asked her Fox.

He smiled and nodded.

"All one hundred and six key ships," he said.

"Now we'll find exactly what's happening in UNSC space."