Author's note 1:
My God, I literally thought about how to write this for a whole day and realized how repetitive the Library truly is. Let me make this clear, we're gonna skip practically 90% of the level because I don't have either the patience or the skill to write something like this. I'll incorporate 2 missions into one chapter.
Again, when we get to Halo 2 this problem will be mostly solved because the level design isn't reused that much.
Tristen343: It will be surely addressed.
Enjoy!
Vex teleportation or Guardian transmatting was something very used by the Titan during his adventures. Yet he was intrigued by the new discovered level of technology this universe possessed. It was still behind what his world achieved, but at a good point anyway.
By the time he analyzed his new surroundings, Ghost had calmed down a little from his unpleasant outburst against the 'Monitor', as it called itself.
"We must collect the Index before we can activate this installation." 343 Guilty Spark happily explained to the Reclaimers, awaiting further questions or their agreement to not waste more time and move.
Ghost didn't feel much safe around the object, he flew in front of him. "Activate Halo? If it's a super weapon, isn't it dangerous?"
"For the Flood, of course!" The Monitor answered, flying in circles around the little light who recoiled back in surprise. "We must contain this outbreak as soon as possible. The Index will provide a useful tool to achieve this particular hard objective, while the Reclaimers have the simplest of tasks: retrieve it."
Various shrieks and roars echoed in the distance of the structure.
"Well! More or less simple, the Flood must have breached and are now attempting to stop us."
Jake tilted his head in confusion. "Does this virus have some form of intelligence?"
"It's not a mere virus, Reclaimer! It's more complicated than that and I'll be happy to answer any of your questions once we have secured the Index and have reached the Control Center." Sentinels appeared around them and gathered behind the Monitor. "Please, follow me."
Master Chief reloaded his shotgun and started following 343. "If Halo's defenses are enough to stop the Flood from arriving to Earth, then I'm in." He declared. "What about you?"
The Guardian snorted and shook his head. "You know me at least a little bit now, Chief. You already know the answer."
"Splendid!" Guilty Spark chirped. "The energy field above us contains the Index. We must get up there by passing through three levels."
Ghost cleared his voice with a cough. "I will assist you in unloacking security protocols if needed." He quickly flew towards Jake's right ear. "I'll keep an eye on him." He urgently whispered to the Guardian before following the artifact to wherever destination he was leading them to.
Infectors and combat forms jumped from the ceiling and rushed towards them. Chief mowed down the latters using the shotgun while Jake concentrated his fire on the smaller creatures. They exploded, leaving behind biological traces capable of infecting other organic beings, but their armours effectively protected them. He couldn't imagine the amount of chaos a normal platoon of marines would have to face.
343 and Ghost hovered above them and silently watched the fight… well, at least Ghost was silent. 343 often spurted non-sensical comments or tried to engage with the little light in useless conversations which included questions about his nature and what type of contruct he was.
Ghost thanked his creator when his Guardian requested a weapon. "I need Ace of Spades."
"Why? You need quantity in terms of firepower, what the Flood lack in defenses, they compensate in numbers."
Jake grabbed an infected Elite and slammed it on the ground, he then crashed its head using his foot. "Chief has the quantity in his weapons, we need something to clear large areas. Explosions will be our main tool and while you're at it, prepare Hezen Vengeance."
SUROS Regimen changed to Ace of Spades, memories from Crow's past life washed over him but he quickly dismissed them and hip fired. Two combat forms were approaching with infectors around them, headshotting one of the infected humans activated Firefly and burned the rest of the monstrosities.
A giant door blocked the way.
"The security doors have sealed automatically." Guilty Spark informed them. His voice tinted by… disappointment? As if he didn't expect the building he guarded for years to reject their presence. "I will go access the override to open them."
"I'm coming too." The little light proclaimed.
"Fantastic! We will resolve this inconvenience in no time together. Please, follow me."
The two circled around the sealed passage by accessing the ventilation ducts.
Something shrieked and Jake whirled around. He became confused, where were the Flood? Nothing assaulted them.
Infectors landed on the floor, he glanced to the right to the other ventilation ducts and groaned. "Are you serious?" He killed one beast with a single bullet. "They're coming outta the goddamn walls!" As if the Fallen and the Hive weren't already a nuisance, now even the Flood were smart enough to do this.
Dispatching of the infectors was an easy task when no combat forms were around to protect them. Thankfully the Sentinels helped too and the Flood were scorched.
Ghost and Guilty Spark returned once the parasite was eliminated.
"343 has shared a good portion of the encryption used on the ring. I should be more useful from now on and so will Cortana too."
Guilty Spark hummed, interest radiating from his frame. "Who's this Cortana you've spoken about?"
"Uh, nothing! I'll explain once Chief and Jake have retrieved the Index."
"Okay, then!" 343 led them further in the facility. He hmmph-ed. "Puzzling, one of you Reclaimers brought such ineffective weapons to combat the Flood, despite the containment protocols. At least the other Reclaimer's weapons are more advanced and suitable for the task."
"Unfortunately those are prototypes and cannot be mass produced yet." Ghost quickly came up with a logical explanation.
A large amount of Flood accompagnied by carrier forms appeared. Their heads were big and seemed to be carrying something within them.
"Watch out for the carrier forms, Reclaimers! Those contain infectors which will exit their hosts if the host itself is killed. What a surprise when they exploded the first time!"
Explode?
He shook his head and joined Chief. When one of the two carrier forms received enough damage, it fell on the ground and literally exploded, splatting infectors around.
"This isn't good. Stay back, Chief!"
CLANG!
Jake summoned Hammer of Sol and double jumped in the air. While he hovered above, he threw hammer after hammer and eradicated every single Flood present in the hallway. He landed on the floor and cleaned his hands against each other.
"Interesting." 343 Guilty Spark circled the Guardian and ran a scan on him. "I detected an unknown energy source but I thought my scanners were showing false data. Mind I ask how your armour and body is capable of sustaining a temperature of 9941 Fahrenehit? Which is also the equivalent of that of the sun."
"It's classified." He offered. "I'm afraid my superiors wouldn't like me to share the details regarding my abilities." He shared a look with Chief who nodded behind the Monitor.
"Hmmpf. How unfortunate." 343 continued his explanation of the Flood while Ghost and the others followed him. "You can see how the body has been transformed by the genetic restructuring of the Flood infection. The small creatures carry spores that cause a host to mutate. The mutated host then produces spores that can pass the Flood to others. It is insidious and elegant. As long as any hosts remain, the Flood is virulent."
Would Halo's defenses be enough to stop the Flood from multiplying?
He rolled Ace of Spades once the magazine was empty, he reloaded and snapped it shut. Guess we'll have to see.
The last combat form dropped on the ground, clearing the way to the Index. Between fending off the Flood to wait for Ghost and 343 to open various doors, and the endless design of the same hallways, Jake had enough and was glad to complete his mission.
The platform they stood on started to lower down towards the main level where the Monitor teleported them.
"The energy barrier surrounding the Index will deactivate when we reach the ground floor." Guilty Spark explained.
The energy field did deactivate and it exposed the object in question.
"You may now retrieve the Index."
John looked at his companion who shrugged. "Honor's yours Chief."
Whatever he expected the Index to truly be, was shattered the moment Chief grabbed it. It… looked like a 'T'-like piece of iron with a green line, nothing more.
343 used his abilities to snap the Index out of the Spartan's grasp.
"Hey!" Ghost cried.
"I'm sorry Reclaimers, but protocol requires that I take possession of the Index for transportation. Both of your organic forms render you vulnerable to infection. The Index must not fall into the hands of the Flood before we reach the Control Room and activate the installation."
Guilty Spark teleported all of them out of the Library.
"The Flood is spreading, we must hurry!"
During the teleportation, Ghost and 343 had engaged in a conversation regarding the Flood and their characteristics.
"…which means that any organism with sufficient mass and cognitive ability is a potential vector."
Jake glanced at the terminal but Cortana did not greet them in return. He leaned in to whisper at John. "Chief? Where's Cortana?"
Master Chief scanned the room around them and the terminal itself.
"Is something wrong?" The Monitor asked.
"No… nothing." He carefully answered after a moment.
"Splendid!" Guilty Spark beamed. "Shall we?"
At least the Flood and the Covenant are not in the room. Cortana must have sealed the Control Center from the outside. Clever girl… wherever she is.
The Titan's trail of thoughts was interrupted by 343. "Unfortunately, my usefulness to this particular endeavor has come to an end. Protocol does not allow units with my classification to perform a task as important as the reunification of the Index with the Core." The Monitor offered the object. "That final step is reserved for you, Reclaimers."
John snatched the Index out of the Monitor's "grip" and inserted it in the terminal.
Various trail of datas flickered around them… before turning off and disappearing.
"No fireworks?" Jake deadpanned.
"Odd. That wasn't supposed to happen…"
The Monitor looked around and-
"OH! Really?"
A flash of light blinding them for a moment, the Monitor on the ground, Ghost clicking by being surprised. It all happened in the split of a second and at once.
"Cortana!" John blinked a few times behind his helmet and frowned at the action.
The AI wasn't having any of it. "I've spent the last 12 hours cooped up in here watching you both toady about, helping that thing get set to slit our throats!"
Jake squinted his eyes at the Monitor. "Cortana, what are you talking about?"
"Hold on." Chief raised a palm. "He's a friend."
"Oh!" She placed a hand on her chest. "I didn't realize. He's your pal, isn't he? Your chum?"
The Titan got between the Spartan and her. "Cortana! Just calm down and explain to us what the hell was your hostility for."
"Calm down? You're telling me to calm down? Do you have any idea what that bastard almost made you do?!"
"She's out of control." Ghost muttered.
"Yes, we do. Activate Halo's defenses and destroy the Flood." Chief butted in. "Which is why we brought the Index to the Control Center."
"You mean this?" She waved the holographic object in her hand.
Ghost widened his eye. "D-did you seriously transform the Index in data and bonded it to your systems?"
Cortana smugly smirked. "Yes, I did."
"A construct? In the Core?" 343 had snapped away from the stun and floated up again. "That is absolutely unacceptable!"
She put her hands on her hips. "Sod off!"
Jake and Ghost shared a glance. They felt like a third party intruding.
"What impertinence!" Was that frustration in the Monitor's voice? Or was it something completely different? "I shall purge you at once."
"You sure that's a good idea?" She effectively and completely bonded the Index to her data.
That means destroying Cortana would destroy the only available Index on Halo. Why is she doing this? What the hell is going on?
"Enough!" Jake had never seen Chief losing his patience until then. It reminded him of when he scolded his fireteam when his two Hunter comrades would make fun of the Warlocks for their interest in ancient books. "The Flood is spreading. If we activate Halo's defenses we can wipe them out."
Cortana simulated a snort. "You have no idea how this ring works do you? Why the Forerunners built it?" She shifted her gaze on Ghost. "Sending data packages."
After a few seconds, the little light recoiled back in disgust. "Oh, no. No, no, no. How could we have been so blind and careless!"
"What?" The Guardian demanded. "What is it?"
Cortana began again. "Halo doesn't kill Flood, it kills their food!" The revelation made the two warriors freeze in schock. "Human, Covenant-whatever! We're all equally edible. The only way to stop the Flood is to starve them to death. And that's exactly what Halo is designed to do: wipe the galaxy clean of all sentient life. You don't believe me? Ask Ghost or even him!"
Fooled, we have been fooled like idiots.
He clenched his fists in anger, his vision turned to red. His gaze landed on the Monitor and all he wanted to do now was rip him inch by inch until nothing remained. Jake walked two steps before Chief placed a glove on his chestplate.
"Is it true?" He calmly asked, internally though demanding a direct and honest answer.
"More or less. Technically this installation's pulse has a maximum effective radius of 25,000 light-years. But once the others follow suit, this galaxy will be quite devoid of life-or at least any life with sufficient bio-mass to sustain the Flood." 343 slightly leaned to the side, as if tilting his head like a human. "But you already knew that. I mean, how couldn't you?"
"Uh uh, left out that little detail, did he?"
"We have followed outbreak containment procedures to the letter… You were with me each step of the way as we managed this crisis. Why would you hesitate to do what you have already done?"
Jake huffed from his nose. "You son of a bitch."
"I'm picking up movement!"
Sentinels raised from the pit below them, standing behind the Monitor. "We must activate the ring."
Chief snatched the chip out of the terminal and inserted it inside his helmet.
"You are clearly unwilling to help." Guilty Spark shifted his gaze on the Titan and his Ghost. "Other Reclaimer, surely you understand the danger of the Flood and the need to prevent their complete release from the installation. Your construct must also understand the logic behind my words."
His answer was raising Ace of Spades on the Monitor while Ghost narrowed his eye. "I learned a long time ago that logic doesn't define everything." He disappeared in his own dimension and used the speaker of his Guardian's armour to speak. "Massive genocide of entire species isn't justified and it never will be. We will stop you."
"So be it. Save his head, dispose of the rest. As for the other Reclaimer, keep his entire body intact. I want to study him and incorporate his abilities if possible, they will be useful to slow down the Flood." He teleported out of the room and the Sentinels started firing their beams.
They rolled out of the way on the opposite sides of the platforms, using glasses as cover.
Ace's bullets proved to be useful against the robots. One single bullet was capable of shattering the shield and he finished the two Sentinels with four bullets in total, Chief meanwhile used his magnum to do the same and quickly dispatched of the Monitor's friends, although a bit slower than the Guardian.
"We can't let the Monitor activate Halo. We have to stop him. We have to destroy Halo."
"I have conducted various analysis of the ring's surface and materials used to construct it." The little light said. "A powerful enough explosion will completely detach a piece of Halo. Judging by the amount of force unleashed, it would crash against another portion of the installation, rendering it completely useless."
"A starship's fusion reactor going critical would do the job then." She hummed. "Me and Ghost will access the Covenant's battlenet and try to locate the Pillar of Autumn's crash site. If the engines are, still, relatively active, we can use them to destroy Halo."
Feeling the snow posing on his armour was certainly welcomed after fighting through a swamp and a closed Library for 12 hours. They found no Covenant outside the structure itself, but various roars in the distance clearly advised the two warriors of the aliens' presence at the base of the pyramid. It gave them enough time to formulate a strategy.
"The machinery in these canyons are Halo's primary firing mechanisms. They consist of three pase-pulse generators that amplify Halo's signal and allow it to fire deep into space. The power levels are enormous… I can't even begin to calculate the pulse's range. So, if we damage or destroy these generators, the Monitor will need to repair them before Halo can be used. That should buy us some time." Their HUDs were updated. "I have marked the location of the three generators, we should start with the nearest one."
Jake placed a hand on John's shoulder before he could go. "Me and Ghost will start heading for the second generator so we can cover more ground and be faster. 343 could use Halo in any moment and we don't even know if he can without the Index. We'll see you when the generators have given up the ghost."
"I heard you! That pun is not funny at all."
Chief nodded his head. "I'll draw the Wraith's fire away from you. It'll give you the opportunity to steal the Banshee on the left side of the canyon and get up on the bridge."
The Titan slowly sneaked and descended down while Chief kept his promise. Ghost sent him a tutorial on how to use Banshees, though it didn't help much it gave him an idea on how to operate the machine. He managed to land on the bridge before the Covenant noticed one of their Banshees not attacking the one Chief himself stole.
The Flood had reached the area too and engaged with the Covenant, Jake tried to let them destroy each other and pass through the various rooms and bridge to reach the elevator which would lead him to the other canyon. Although here and there he had to participate and open fire.
"Those ghosts aren't as fast as one of our sparrows. Can I call one?"
"We aren't linked to the network as we were on each planet of our universe, Jake. I'll see if I can do something but I can't promise you a replacement if yours is destroyed."
His beloved materialized in front of him, he ran his fingers on the vehicle before mounting. He sprinted away for the generator's location and soon reached the tall tower he and Chief previously cleaned, now re-filled with Covenant troops.
The Titan crouched down and hid behind a rock, he then grabbed a minor Elite from behind and snapped his neck. Using his body as a shield against a grunt operating a turret, he hipfired Ace and killed the alien.
He mounted on another Banshee and flew for the door leading to the generator room, while avoiding air defenses concentrated on the roof of the tower.
Inside, Flood were destroying Sentinels. Chief must have disabled the first generator, that's why Sparky sent his bodyguards.
CLANG!
This time, he used Burning Maul as a super. He rotated around and swung his giant hammer, incinerating Flood and Sentinels alike. To end his job, he slammed one last time on the ground and sent a wave of flames against infectors.
The room was eventually safe and he stared at the beam of the generator, scratching his head. "So… do I shoot it? Punch it? Use Light on it?"
"You could, but I think an EMP generated by your suit's shields would be more simple and direct."
He shrugged and stepped closer.
ZIUM!
Jake waited for his shields to recharge and waited confirmation.
"Yep! Generator's disabled. Master Chief will soon reach us and we can regroup to disable the third."
He exited and walked up to the Banshee.
"Watch out!"
The Guardian snapped his head to the incoming Banshee and it-
BOOM!
It exploded in many pieces, shattering on the upper side of the canyon behind him. He shielded his helmet from the small debris falling and frowned at the other Banshee which saved him and wasn't attacking him.
"The cavalry has arrived!" Cortana chuckled over the comms.
It was Master Chief.
"Thanks for the help, Chief. You're ready to disable the last generator?"
"Yes. We'll use the tunnel we already passed through to get to the Control Room, Cortana says it'll lead us to the next canyon."
He entered the Banshee and sped up in the air.
ZIUM!
Chief had the courtesy of disabling the generator with his shields while Jake covered him.
"Let's find a ride and get to the Captain."
Jake nodded and started following him.
"No, that'll take too long."
The Spartan and Guardian stopped, the former shook his head. "What, you have a better idea?"
"There's a teleportation grid that runs throughout Halo. That's how the Monitor moves about so quickly. I learned how to tap into the grid when I was in the control center and shared the process with Ghost. Unfortunately, each jump requires a rather consequential expenditure of energy…"
The warriors glanced at each other with hidden frowns. "Something tells me we're not going to like this."
"…but we're pretty sure we can pull each of your individual jumps from your suit without permanently damaging your shields. Needlessly to say, we should only try this once." Ghost finished for her.
Chief looked at the Titan one last time as if asking for his opinion on the matter. He shrugged.
"Do it."
They were both teleported out.
Author's note 2:
Christ, I can't wait to finish off Combat Evolved so I can finally start writing more and not skip entire pieces of missions.
Why the fuck did Bungie create a game with so many re-used assets? This is worse than Vanilla Destiny 1!
Until next time!
Gino out!
