Eve of Fate
Chapter 2: Unhappy Reunions
The street level was filled with portable medical units, as well as a large number of corpses. Lower ranked Covenant units helped moved the bodies out of the way or tallied the number of causalities. The recent battle on the street left many human resistance fighters and Covenant soldiers dead.
Overhead, a Phantom slowly drifted to the ground and hovered roughly five meters above it. The craft's miniature gravity lift charged and a single passenger exited. All eyes turned to the newcomer, a gold armoured Elite – a Field Commander.
Although the humans did not see any differentiation between him and other Elites of the same rank, the entire Covenant did. This Field Commander was their savior – a heroic tactician who brought the Covenant their victory. His rank was nothing compared to how much he was renowned.
His name was one to be remembered. His name was Nosla 'Yuteryi.
Looking around, he saw more of the same - dead humans, and the occasional dead Covenant. 'Yuteryi had been on the world long enough to see it all, and he commanded the forces that occupied the planet.
The idea of occupation was strange to him. He came here to destroy the enemy, but here he was, a brilliant Field Commander, policing and watching the humans. The Prophets said it was to be done because Forerunner artifacts have been found on the planet, and that the war needed to be paused for a moment while they claimed them. 'Yuteryi did not mind, and his loyalty prevented him from questioning the Prophets, but it seemed strange to him that it had to be done.
As he walked along and surveyed the remains of the past battle, the underlings cowered in his presence, while those of the same race, the Sangheili, knelt in honour. Ignoring them, 'Yuteryi headed straight for another Elite that was writing the report regarding the number of casualties for both sides.
If 'Yuteryi's renown was at the top of the spectrum, then this one was at the lowest possible. His armour was green, and had noncombatant civilian markings. He was also nearly a foot and a half shorter than 'Yuteryi.
He was an 'Abnormal,' an Elite born with disabilities that made them useless for military service. All of them were docile, weak, and inferior. Most were hunted for sport, but only recently some were assigned the menial jobs of counting corpses or cleaning up after battles. Regardless, the mistreatment by the 'superior' Elites still continued unchecked.
The Abnormal paled when he noticed the larger 'Yuteryi approaching him.
"What have you recovered?" 'Yuteryi demanded.
The Abnormal hesitated for a moment.
"Your Excellency, w-we have counted s-s-sixty-two human casualties, a-a-and…"
His stuttering was beginning to annoy the Field Commander. Plucking the report from the Abnormal's hands, 'Yuteryi read the number himself. His eyes narrowed and his hands crushed the report.
"How is it possible we have suffered nearly twice the number of casualties?" he asked, his voice low to hold back his anger.
'Yuteryi shoved the report back into the Abnormal's hands. The force of it pushed him to the ground and made him whimper.
'Yuteryi then noted a section of writing on the Abnormal's chest plate.
"Is your name Sonan 'Jeryima?" he asked. The Abnormal looked up and nodded happily that somebody would be able to use his name.
'Yuteryi then bared his teeth.
"You filthy Abnormals are not even worthy of a name. I would kill you now, but I need that report. Go, and recount the bodies!"
Kicking him with one of his hoofs, the Abnormal scurried away. 'Yuteryi was hoping that the stupid Abnormal was wrong – never before had the humans been able to best the Covenant in open combat. It was worrying, but he was confident it meant very little.
"Your Excellency."
Turning around, 'Yuteryi saw a Grunt, kneeling before him.
"What is it?"
"We have recovered the mission recorders from the Jiralhanae strike force. It may hold an answer for what may have happened here."
Mission recorders were small video capturing devices that were worn by some of the special operations units. They provided excellent footage regarding the actions of the mission. Whatever the Brutes have seen would help to understand why the Covenant suffered so many losses.
"Show me."
The Grunt obeyed and waddled along with 'Yuteryi following. He came upon a small medical bay hastily assembled in the middle of the human street. Walking inside, he was met with the sight of several dead Brutes. The stench was almost unbearable, but 'Yuteryi was strong enough to withstand it.
Also in the medical bay were several minor Elites, who were going over the footage from the mission recorders. As soon as they caught sight of 'Yuteryi's gold armour, they dropped what they were doing and knelt in honour.
"Stand up warriors – what have you recovered?"
Resuming their work, an Elite keyed a holographic display and an image was then created. 'Yuteryi then froze when he saw what the mission recorder contained.
It looked like a human, but this human was possibly unlike anything he had ever seen. It was covered head to toe in a type of armoured suit, with a reflecting gold visor hiding his face. The human fired his weapon and quickly took down one of the Brutes. He rolled and dodged beneath all the Brute's attempts to fire at him. When a shot did hit him, all it did was create a yellow spark covering the human's armour – it some type of shielding that surrounded the human.
Suddenly, 'Yuteryi recognized the armour. He froze, and he realized what it meant.
"Thank you. I shall relay this to the Prophets. Give our fallen brothers a proper burial" he said before leaving.
The human was a 'Spartan,' the human super warriors that had wreaked havoc on the Covenant for so long. That human was one of them. It was why the Covenant had lost so many on this day. As 'Yuteryi walked along, the Abnormal approached him again.
"E-excuse me, your Excellency? I have finished counting the bodies, and they still remain as the original numbe-"
Before he could finish his sentence, the Gold Elite struck him across the face with so much force it knocked the Abnormal into unconsciousness. 'Yuteryi had no use for his report now. He needed to redouble the Covenant's efforts to hunt down this human.
At the same time, he needed to send a request to be stationed in the city, so he would be closer to where his forces would be. He would be better suited on the ground rather than waiting and commanding blindly from a ship in orbit, as well as ask for more soldiers.
The Master Chief crouched behind a large garbage container in an alleyway and waited until the noise died down. It didn't take long for the Covenant to go crazy scouring the streets for him. They had regular patrols roaming about now, and they outnumbered and outgunned him by a hell of a lot more.
He had only a few magazines left, and his plasma pistol was already used up. It would probably be better if he'd avoid contact for the moment. He needed a safe place to rearm and perhaps regroup. The street closest to a tunnel entrance that Elias mentioned about was already locked down, so he needed to find another.
Leaning out to check the rest of the alleyway, the Spartan decided to move. Getting up, he continued to move through the alley.
Suddenly, he heard a cry. It was close, and it sounded like it belonged to a woman. There were also the sounds of Elites as well. The Master Chief homed in on the noise, and as he got closer, it got louder.
Pressing his back to a corner, he peered out and saw exactly was he heard – a small group of Blue Elites, three, harassing a young woman. The apparent leader of the Elites screamed and yelled at her while pinning her against the ground, while the other two pointed their plasma rifles at her. Did they think she was part of the resistance? Was that why they were so eager to explode at her?
Popping out, the Master Chief fired a set of bursts into the head of an Elite, dropping the alien warrior instantly. The Master Chief continued on another on another Elite before he expended his magazine, only wearing down it's shield slightly. Hiding back behind the corner, the Spartan reloaded and waited for the other two Elite's response.
Sure enough, they ignored the girl and turned their attention to him. The two blindly rushed in, right where the Spartan was anticipating them to be. He struck with the butt of his rifle, catching the first Elite in the head and sending him back a few meters. The Master Chief then opened fire on the next Elite, dropping the alien warrior in a quick series of bursts. The other Elite only then recovered and got back to its feet. Picking up the plasma rifle of the fallen Elite, the Master Chief finished off the remaining the warrior.
He looked over and saw the same girl still there. She slowly tried to get up off the ground. The Master Chief walked towards her.
"Ma'am, are you alright-"
The Master Chief then froze as she turned to face him, revealing her slender and perfect face. Her short dark hair evenly framed her face and extended down to her shoulders. Her eyes were a beautiful, yet cold and icy blue. She looked almost like a younger Dr. Halsey, but she looked even closer to someone else he knew.
"John?"
Her voice echoed in his head, and instantly, the Spartan recognized every part of her.
"Cortana? Is it you?"
For a moment, the Master Chief could do nothing but stare into her eyes. It was as unsettling as when he had first met Cortana, and was unsure of how to see her as either civilian or military equipment.
Was it really her? Was she human now?
A sudden series of noises disrupted the Master Chief and threw him back into the situation. He lifted Cortana up as though she weighed nothing, and stood her on her two feet. Her slender hands brushed the dirt and dust off her pants and coat. Even as she was covered in it, she still looked stunning.
"We have to get out of Chief. I have a place we can head to for safety. Follow me, hurry!" she said, her voice suddenly authoritative and tense.
The Master Chief was hesitant at first, but he decided to follow; Cortana gave good advice in the past and she could do it again. As they moved, he occasionally looked back to make sure they weren't being followed. After running for nearly a full half hour, they took a short break while hiding behind cover.
"What's going on?" he asked, hoping to get an answer.
"A lot has happened, Chief," Cortana replied, clutching her chest while coughing. "A lot has changed in the last thirty-five years."
"It's really been that long?" he solemnly said. What the soldiers said to him was true then.
"I'll explain it when we get back to my apartment. It isn't far from here, and by the time we get there, we'll be able to slip in without anybody noticing."
As she broke out and continued to run, the Master Chief could not help but look across her slender figure. He couldn't imagine Cortana actually running, since he was only to seeing her as a hologram. Again, the fact that she was now human crept back into his mind.
Most of him wasn't able to believe any of this.
They started to run from the alleyways and then to the main lobby of Cortana's apartment building. Inside, it was just as Cortana planned. Not a soul stirred inside. The lobby was just as run down as most of the other buildings in the area; cracking tile floor, giant gaping holes in the wall, and often potholes all over the floors. The lights that hung and shined lazily from the ceiling looked as if they were about to fall down. In this world, everything had dust, holes, and rust. Somehow, the Master Chief felt uneasy here; the overall shabbiness of the building often made it seem like an urban battleground. Keeping his weapon close, he stayed alert, watching if any Covenant would suddenly pop out of nowhere.
Reaching for the stairs, the two began their long trek up several stories. The Master Chief was cautious as he walked up, carefully checking his footwork. Cortana looked back and giggled as she watched him tread carefully along.
"What's so funny?" the Spartan asked.
"It reminds me of that time we had to get past the minefield during that test," she said, smiling. "You look the exact same as when you were running through it."
"I was being careful – you were only ninety-three percent accurate."
"We made it out of that one just fine didn't we?"
"Can the floor support my weight?" the Master Chief asked, getting away from her playful tête-à-tête.
"Don't worry, it'll hold" she replied.
As they continued walking, the Master Chief felt queasy inside. Part of him wanted to talk to her more. Cortana was more 'animated' now, as well as her responses. She wasn't just a disembodied voice that spoke inside his helmet with tactical information and the occasional cheeky comment, but an actual person now, with apparent and actual feelings and character.
As they continued up the stairs and walked down a hallway, Cortana then stopped. The Master Chief was about to ask her when he realized what it was.
"Somebody's coming," she whispered. "There! Get in the closet."
There was a closet just next to them, and the Master Chief quickly got inside. It was small, but enough to hide a fully suited Spartan.
It was dark inside, but the Spartan's enhanced vision could see clearly the details of the splintering door and the small dusty world now around him. Outside, he heard speaking. Listening closely to the conversation outside, he picked up what Cortana was saying.
"I said no, Jericho."
"What fun is that, Cathy? You'd enjoy it there. You'd be there with me and a few of my friends – we're the best place in town" a male voice with a sly Australian sounding accent replied. Listening to it only briefly, the Master Chief did not like, or trust the person.
It then occurred to the Spartan that this person recognized Cortana was an actual person. He identified her by an actual name, and saw her as such. What if he was to know who Cortana really was? How she wasn't just another girl walking down a hallway, but once a highly advanced AI that was as much a potent tool or weapon against the Covenant?
"Listen, I have things to do, so could you please stop trying to get me to join you and your 'caste' of buddies?"
The man sighed, finally giving up.
"Fine, it's your loss, but I'll do it for you luv. Take care."
The Master Chief waited until the area was clear before he left the closet.
"Boyfriend?" he asked, interested to know who it, or how the person knew Cortana.
"Not even close," Cortana replied, his face in disgust. "His name is Jericho, some guy who runs some bar in the city. I'm not even sure why he's doing that, especially when there's really nobody on the streets except the Covenant. He's been hitting on me for the past month or so."
"Well, it isn't farther now" Cortana said, changing the topic. She led the Master Chief down the hall before they stopped at a door.
Taking out her keys, Cortana opened the door the two stepped in. Inside the small space, the Master Chief felt slightly more relaxed. Even as it was mostly run down, it was comfortable and cozy. The central living room had four doors, two to both sides, and a large window in the center that looked out into the rest of the city.
As he looked around, he caught sight of another inhabitant inside the room. He was a tall teenager with medium length brown hair. When he heard them enter, he immediately greeted Cortana.
"Cathy! Thank God you're-"
He stopped mid sentence when he saw the Spartan. At that moment, his eyes gazed at the Master Chief in confusion, but slowly anger.
"Cathy?"
Another individual exited from one of the doors. He was older than the other inhabitant, with his chestnut coloured hair already graying over, but slightly shorter. Somehow, he reminded the Master Chief of somebody as well. Carefully recalling his memories, the Master Chief was able to remember who – a Sergeant, like Johnson, who served alongside him on Halo. He remembered his name – Stacker.
"My God," he said, shocked. "A Spartan?"
"Guys, this is the Master Chief" Cortana explained, her voice slightly wavering. She appeared unsure of how to introduce him.
"The same Chief who ran away?" the teenager replied, his voice filled with harsh sarcasm. "Back after how many years, and for what?"
"Connor, please be nice to him. He saved my life out there" Cortana said timidly.
The teenager, 'Connor,' scoffed.
"He saved your life, but how many have died because of him?"
Before anybody was able to respond, Connor went into his room and slammed the splintering door behind him, like he was venting his anger.
"It might be better if I was to leave" the Master Chief said, preparing to open the door behind him and exit. He stopped when Cortana placed her hand on his shoulder.
"No, the Covenant will be looking for you. It's probably best if you stay here for a while."
"Listen to her Chief," the older man said. "Besides, if you've actually been MIA for more than thirty years, you'll need to know some stuff, and you'll need to tell us some as well."
The Master Chief agreed with the two of them. Setting his Battle Rifle down in the corner, he walked farther into the living room.
"Name's Stacker" the older man introduced.
"The name sounds familiar," the Master Chief remarked, remembering his analysis. "Are you related to a Sergeant Stacker?"
He nodded.
"He was my younger brother," Stacker replied sadly. "He was on the Pillar of Autumn, and had been to that thing, Halo, and died there."
"I'm sorry for loss" the Master Chief responded in condolence.
"Doesn't matter now," Stacker said, moving on. "Where should we begin?"
Cortana and Stacker then explained all the events that occurred shortly before the war ended, and shortly after – his disappearance, what Ackerson tried to do, the Covenant assault, and finally, Cortana being made human.
"She was going more and more insane by the day," Stacker said. "If my knowledge of smart AI's is right, they only have seven years to operate before they start thinking too much and the die. That was happening to Cortana, and after knowing her for more than a year, I didn't want her to go.
"I hooked up with a few of my buddies who were now part of a resistance group, and we stole a some prototype Covenant cloning tech, and we made her a body and put her into a human brain. As far as I know, rampancy pushes an AI closer to that of a human mind, too much for their coding. All we did was put her inside a human brain, and that's as high as it will go. Other than that, her physical body doesn't age quite so much – a little modification we threw in for good measure."
The Master Chief shot a look at Cortana, and eyed all her features. He could only barely remember the old AI Cortana now. Any attempt at thinking about her only lead to him thinking about the human her.
"Chief, what's your most recent memory of the war?" Cortana asked.
The Spartan immediately recalled the mission.
"We were in the Eastern United States, and my Spartans and I were supposed to assist in the evacuation of several resistance groups and leaders from a location under siege by the Covenant. I remember one of my Spartans telling me to get down, and after that, there was something that resembled a plasma grenade. When I woke up, I was in a building with Grunts patrolling outside. They didn't even notice I was there."
"So, it pretty much means you didn't run away," Stacker replied. "Its good news, since it means Ackerson was all crap."
"What's next?" the Master Chief asked. He was eager to get back to fighting soon.
"Take it easy Chief," Cortana said. "You'd best stay here for a bit; at least until the Covenant lighten up a bit out there."
Suddenly, there was a horrible retching sound from behind one of the doors. Cortana and Stacker turned in its direction, and the Master Chief reached for his rifle. The door then opened, and a ragged man walked out.
His battered and torn clothes were covered in grime and other bits. His sandy hair was ragged and long, and his face was covered by a full beard, which was currently covered in what appeared to be vomit. He staggered and stumbled about, apparently intoxicated, and then promptly fell flat on his face.
"Oh, we haven't introduced you to our other roomie yet," Cortana said. "Chief, meet Rhineland."
The Spartan relaxed, and set his rifle down. Stacker walked over to the man Cortana called 'Rhineland' and checked him.
"Chief, could you lend me a hand?"
The Master Chief walked over and helped Stacker carry Rhineland back into his room. Cortana watched on only for a moment.
"Okay, you boys can handle this. I'll leave you be" she said before leaving for her room, possibly to change out of her dirtied clothes.
The Master Chief and Stacker brought the drunk back into his room and moved him into a corner of the room.
"He's a mess, as usual. Drinks all day and vomits every few hours" Stacker said.
Rhineland's room was practically empty, except for the presence of what appeared to be a near mountain of beer bottles, and a UNSC supply crate. Walking over to the crate, the Master Chief dusted it off, and saw a familiar insignia.
"He's an ODST?"
"Was," Stacker explained. "I don't know how he ended up as a drunk, but it was due to the war I think. I heard the last few days or so he lost his nerve, which explains his nice little addiction. I let him stay here just after the war, and he's been here ever since."
The Master Chief sighed as he looked from the supply crate to the intoxicated former ODST in the corner of the room. He was a victim of war fatigue, destroyed perhaps by the very conflict he had chosen to fight in.
"Dammit, wake up Rhineland!" Stacker said, hitting him on the side of his face.
Rhineland grumbled and slowly woke up. His movements were slow and sluggish. He lazily looked around, and stopped when he saw the Master Chief.
"Hm, a Spartan?"
He then went on and slurred some incoherent mumbles before falling unconscious and slumping to the side. Stacker gave up trying to wake Rhineland up.
"Does he have any spare clips?" the Master Chief asked, remembering his meager amounts of ammunition.
Stacker shrugged, but the pointed towards Rhineland's supply crate.
"Check in there. I don't think he'll mind."
Reaching to the locks on the crate's lid, the Spartan snapped them off and opened it, a lout screech emitted from the rusty hinges. Looking inside, the Master Chief saw a neatly folded uniform, combat armour, and a heavily modified sniper rifle, as well as a decent supply of ammunition for it. Picking up the rifle, the Spartan examined the work done to the weapon.
The rifle was once a standard SRS99CS2 AM sniper rifle. The original boxlike stock was removed in favour of a smaller telescopic design, and was fitted with a small cheek rest that was mounted so it rested slightly overtop the stock itself, so it would not interfere with when it was rearranged. The optics was a departure from the usual smart-linked scope; a traditional glass set of optics, only capable of 20x magnification at most. The Spartan then noticed a quick release switch on the mounting bracket of the scope, suggesting it was capable of being removed and refitted with another in short notice.
Everything ahead of the standard handgrip was the most customized. The barrel was shortened, and the muzzle brake was reduced as well, but the barrel was a custom design with a quicker spin, possibly allowing the sniper to get better distance out of the shorter barrel. Running beneath the barrel and into the handgrip was a long gyroscopic compensator. Overtop of the weapon, the folding bipod was removed. Judging from the setup, the weapon was designed to be small and compact, essential for providing sniper fire on the go.
Examining the magazine, the Master Chief noted it was slightly larger than the standard size, carrying six .450 caliber rounds. They were smaller than the 14.5mm anti-material rounds, but were still just as effective, given the sniper would be able to shoot well enough.
Curiously, the Master Chief noted there was already a magazine loaded. Taking a closer look at the heavily customized sniper rifle, he was surprised to find that a bullet was jammed in between the ejection port and the barrel. The bullet would prevent the weapon from working, not unless removed. The process for removing it would be easy, but the Master Chief wondered why the weapon was left jammed this entire time.
There was then a groan from Rhineland as he woke up. The former ODST stood up, and looked straight at the Master Chief. He swayed around, a symbol that he was possibly still intoxicated, but he compensated and balanced the best he could. His look was not threatening, at least not threatening enough for the Master Chief.
"You were an ODST once, right? Also a sniper?" the Master Chief said, turning to face the old soldier.
"Yeah, I'm a Helljumper. Feet first into Hell! Heh, back in the day…"
"Can you still fight? I'll need whatever help I can get against the Covenant."
Rhineland scoffed at the Master Chief.
"Fight the Covenant? No, no, no…"
Rhineland looked away, rubbing the side of his head. He was muttering something beneath his breath, something that the Master Chief was not able to decipher in between his slurring.
The Master Chief held the rifle forward, offering it out to Rhineland.
"You did a good job modifying it," the Master Chief remarked. "You'd be a great deal of help for the resistance. All you'd need to do for now is fix the jam on your gun."
Rhineland stopped when he heard the word 'jam.' Looking down at the weapon, Rhineland's eyes began to water.
"Too old, too late," he muttered, looking away from it. "Too many people die…too many…all of them…dead…"
He then slumped down against the wall and reached for a bottle of beer lying next to him. Rhineland drowned the entire bottle down in what appeared to have been a quarter of a second, and then fell into unconsciousness.
"Great, he won't be up for hours now," Stacker said. "Let's just leave him."
The Master Chief agreed. Before he followed Stacker out the door, he rested the sniper rifle in a corner of Rhineland's room. The Spartan considered fixing the jam, but he decided not to. He would best leave the soldier to care for his own weapon. After setting the weapon down, the Master Chief followed Stacker out into the living room.
"Are you serious about joining in with the resistance?" Stacker asked as he closed Rhineland's door.
"What else can I do?"
Stacker hesitated for a second. After that, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper and handed it to the Spartan.
"It's a map of most of the major tunnels that the resistance operates out of," Stacker explained. "It has all the entrances and exits as well. There's one not far from here. If you get there, look for Hawkins – he's one of my old buddies."
The Master Chief looked at Stacker curiously.
"I was part of the resistance before," Stacker said. "All I do now is find information and pass it along to them, and as such, I know their locations."
With that, Stacker left and journeyed to his room, leaving the Master Chief alone in the living room. He examined the map carefully, and tried to apply its details to the streets outside, hoping to get a general idea where the entrance was.
For the next few hours, the Spartan looked out the window at the streets, and back at the map. Surprisingly, he wasn't hungry, so he was quiet for the entire span of time when the others ate. Connor and Cortana made the food, Stacker ate it with them, and the leftovers went to Rhineland. The Master Chief thought the idea of Cortana cooking was somewhat humorous, and he kindly chose not to eat.
Shortly after they ate, the sun began to set outside. The Master Chief continued to observe the streets outside. He had not yet memorized the layout of the map, as well as the street. Going over his plan, the Master Chief was ready to go.
"Enjoying the view?"
Turning around slightly, the Master Chief saw Connor. The teenager had his arms folded over his chest while he glared at the Spartan.
"Anything wrong?" the Master Chief asked.
"Why are you back, Chief?" Connor asked. "Too many people have died because of the fighting, Chief. Getting back into it will only make things worse."
"There is still a threat, and it needs to be removed," the Master Chief replied. "The Covenant would want nothing more than to kill every single one of us, and as long as they're here, there is still a threat that needs to be met."
Connor scoffed and unfolded his arms.
"Is that the typical Spartan mindset - kill everything? Make war with everything? Doesn't the idea of human loss mean anything to you?"
"Humanity has lost a lot, and with the Covenant on Earth, we will continue to lose until there isn't anything left."
Connor shook his head, his anger slowly building.
"And this is coming from the heroic Spartan who ran away, and in turn resulted in humanity losing the war."
The Master Chief then turned around fully and looked straight into Connor's eyes.
"What's your problem Connor? Why do you hate everything – the Spartans, the war, the resistance?" the Spartan asked, his voice iron firm.
"You remember your last mission you were on when you disappeared? The one where you had to save the resistance leaders?" Connor began. "My dad was there. As soon as you disappeared, your mission was called off, and my dad died with everybody else there - all because of you."
"How's that possible? That happened thirty-five years ago, and you're not even twenty?"
Connor then clenched his fist, and his eyes narrowed in anger.
"It was possible due to a lot of things you wouldn't know out," Connor replied, his face flushed with humiliated and embarrassed, while moisture formed around his eyes. "You don't know that type of pain, because the only thing you Spartans can do is kill, which was exactly what you tried to do, but that only led to my dad getting killed, all because Earth's heroic savior ran away from his mission."
Both men were silent. Connor wipes his eyes, having told of what happened to him. The Master Chief was quiet as well, as he pondered Connor's words.
"What would you want me to do, then?" the Master Chief asked.
"Stop trying to be a hero," Connor replied, walking away. "If you don't, more people will die trying to follow you, or die because of you."
The Master Chief was again left alone. Was Connor right? Was he solely to blame for all the events of the past thirty-five years? If he was to step back into the fight, would things only get worse?
No, it couldn't be. The Master Chief never ran from his battles. He would never leave one until he had won. The Covenant have now entrenched themselves in the planet, and if not removed, they would continue to kill off the remnants of humanity. Now, in order to remove them, it would require necessary force, and with force comes a certain cost in life.
The Master Chief pondered the situation and its consequences as he sat down, his back parallel to a wall. The window in the living room was out to his left. Hours passed, as the sun had set, and the moon had risen in its place. The Master Chief felt seconds pass by as he sat alone and, for the first time in so many months, got the chance to do nothing but think.
He then heard light footsteps approach him. The Master Chief did not have to even look to know who it was, but he did anyways, knowing it was Cortana.
Cortana was wearing a baggy sweater and a pair of underwear. Without a pair of pants, the Master Chief was able to make out the shape of her long, smooth legs. Cortana's delicate features were illuminated by the moonlight shining in from the window. She moved closer and sat down beside the Spartan.
Somehow, the Master Chief felt strange when around her now. In the past, he acknowledged her more as a little voice in his head, accompanied with a spike of cold mercury. Now that she had a physical body, he felt her presence, but without the coldness, the feeling was different.
It was as if part of him softened when the human Cortana was near.
"Hey Chief, can't sleep?" she asked.
"I don't sleep well" he replied.
There was a moment of awkward silence between the two.
"I heard your argument with Connor a little while ago," Cortana said, breaking the silence. "Don't worry about him – he's very temperamental about the subject."
"If it never happened, would everything be different?" the Master Chief asked. "Would humanity even be in this mess?"
"I'm not sure," Cortana replied, solemnly. "I try not to think about it."
Again, there was more silence between the two.
"What are you going to do now?" Cortana asked him.
"I don't really have a choice" the Master Chief replied, his voice strong. Getting up, the Master Chief picked up his Battle Rifle and slammed in a fresh magazine. The ammo counter read thirty-six – a full magazine.
"I don't know if I was the reason why humanity lost, but if I was, I will be the one to push them off Earth."
"So, you're leaving?" Cortana asked, standing up. There was a hint of disappointment in her voice, as though she did not want him to leave.
"I have to."
The Master Chief gave the weapon's bolt a smart tug and chambered a round. Walking to the door, the Spartan opened it and checked the corners.
"John."
The Master Chief stopped and turned around.
"We lost you thirty-five years ago," she said, her voice quiet and saddened. She paused for a moment. "Come back to me, okay? Come back to me in one piece."
Suddenly, Cortana did the most unexpected thing. She walked up to the Spartan and wrapped her arms around him. Despite the Spartan's huge size and bulky armor, her small arms were still able to wrap around. Her head lazily rested against his chest plate.
"Yes ma'am" the Master Chief quietly replied.
"Call me Cortana, Chief" Cortana corrected.
Walking out the door, he made his way down to the lobby and out the door. As he did, the Master Chief felt strange inside. The feeling he had when around the human Cortana appeared to have been enhanced when she had hugged him. The feeling was warm – not warm as in a temperature rise, but warm in some other method the Spartan was unable to identify.
Whatever it was, the Master Chief ignored it as best he could and continued with his trek towards the tunnel entrance. Looking up into the night sky, the Master Chief could notice into the distance the silhouette of a Covenant ship, hovering just over the city's arcology. Judging from the shape and size of it, it was an assault carrier, a flagship for a Prophet.
The Covenant had won thirty-five years ago, and had since maintained a firm control over the human remnants.
It was now time to loosen it.
End Note: Because of changes I made in the prologue (getting rid of Jim, in particular), I had to change how the Chief meets Cortana again. Doing so, I did a bit to change how they initally react to each other, particuarly from the Chief's point of view. As an interesting note, his feelings when he's around Cortana were inspired by my own feelings when around the girl I had a soft spot for. It's an interesting case of putting a bit of yourself into a character.
Oh, and forgive me for making Cortana walk around in her underwear. I can honestly say, I have no idea where it came from. Then again, I always have figured that her legs would be quite shapely...Anyways, moving along...
I also found a better way to introduce Rhineland, and I followed up upon it and a bit later as well. He was interesting to characterize, and I liked how he turned out in this chapter. I also changed a bit of 'Yuteryi and 'Jeryima - in particular, 'Jeryima's armour from blue to green. I made this change because I just realized that in the Covenant, they actually don't have Elites in green armour. So, I figured maybe using it as 'civilian colours' for 'Jeryima. And while I'm still talking about him, his character will be developed the same way he was in the old chapters, but much later. I found a bit more potential to characterize him at a later point. Introducing his character next to 'Yuteryi also helped to set up the differences between each other, 'Jeryima being like a nerd/geek, much like myself, and 'Yuteryi being the hardass, respected military type.
About 'Yuteryi - I can honestly say he's my favourite character to write about and develop. I have great plans for him much later into the story, and in the very end, I've been able to turn him into a killing machine.
That, I enjoy doing.