Author's note 1:
Silverwingzz: Fist of Havoc and Thundercrash have been used. Not sure what you mean. Even Stasis was used.
Enjoy!
"Vitals are normal. He should be waking up in about fifteen minutes unless his recovery time is similar to that of the Spartans."
"Hey, doc! You're sure our unit will be enough for this containment stuff? I've seen it myself what he's capable of and I'm not ready to be pulverized."
Jake slowly opened his eyes. He blinked a few times and began to customize to the source of light glinting through the glass of his pod. He felt another presence with him and sighed as he realized that it was simply Ghost. The little light had been sending impulses to calm down his Guardian, like he was administering morphine: it was a relaxing sensation.
"The Master Chief is with you. He'll help us in case our guest gets too… comfortable."
"Where are we?" He whispered. The glass of his pod was still obscured by the ice, so he couldn't see where he was. His digits, arms and legs felt numb, he was living again the episode of his first resurrection when he couldn't still control his abilities or body effectively.
"Earth." Ghost beeped, he appeared and nuzzled his chin. He lifted a hand and rubbed the shell of his companion, earning noises akin to the purring of cats. "I only left your side once. And that was to check how this Earth is different than ours. It's beautiful, it's like living inside the pictures of the Golden Age."
"You materialized with the risk of fucking up your cover?" He huffed. "Chief must have produced a report of the entire operation but you shouldn't have just roamed around! What if they discovered you earlier? What then?"
"Relax!" Ghost waved a fin and rotated from left to right. "I have tested the security measures applied by human kind in this universe. Let me tell you: they suck. They're basically monkeys still eating bananas on trees for us. I have been altering the footage of the cameras and not even Cortana discovered it! We're good."
HISS!
Ghost widened his eye and immediately transmatted away in his dimension.
The door to his cryo chamber opened, it raised up until it reached a certain distance before it stopped. Ghost calibrated the systems inside his armour so he could adapt more quickly to the light inside the room. Jake groaned and flexed his mucles, popping them into place.
He wasn't surprised when about twelve marines had their weapons aimed on him, with Master Chief in the front. "What a bright welcoming." He cracked his neck and scanned the place. His cry chamber had been transported from the landing bay to the appropriate location where other chambers would be guided to.
The humans winced slightly and some even widened their eyes when the loud POP! spread towards their ears, their grip on the guns quivering. But not Master Chief's.
Jake glanced at his hands and rolled his eyes when he remembered that he was imprisoned, by his own will. "Judging by the exquisitive awakening, you've wasted no time in filing and firing reports, Chief." The Spartan's helmet slightly moved as he was addressed. "Now, who's the head honcho supposed to be greeting me and telling me I'm under arrest for interrogation?"
"That would be me, son." A voice with a british accent answered.
He shifted his gaze on the man entering the room, his posture spoke authority and he was clearly observing him with a critical eye. He wore a white vest similar to Captain Keyes' although adorned with decorations of both yellow and back colours. His hat displayed an eagle resembling that of the Roman Empire with other yellow decorations around it.
He stopped in front of the Titan and looked surprised when he had to slightly raise his eyes up.
Is he surprised I'm taller than him while not being as tall as Chief?
The man hmph-ed when he saw his trapped hands. Arms still wrapped behind his back, he turned around to face Master Chief. Jake blinked at the Command Neural Interface planted on the guy's back head. He wondered if people in this universe wore this stuff like normal necklaces or tattoos.
"Master Chief." The Spartan perked up and immediately lowered his rifle. "Release the suspect from his bindings."
"Now that's interesting." Ghost chirped and Jake couldn't help but agree with him. What was happening inside the man's head to be this trustworthy towards an unknown soldier who broke God knows how many UNSC laws?
Whispers among the marines probed the man to shush them using his authority.
"Sir, I don't think that's a good idea. You have seen through the combat footage what he's capable of."
"If half the stuff you've showed me wasn't edited by Cortana to fool everyone in the military, then our guest could very well snap the cuffs and kill us all right now. Yet he hasn't done it and for that, he has earned a bit of trust." The man glanced behind his shoulder at the guardian. "Because if we can't trust another human being, what chances do we have against the Covenant?"
Maybe it was his imagination, but he could have sworn the question was directed at him. He couldn't help but answer. "Noone, sir. When humanity has its back on a wall and we unite, there's nothing that can stop us. We'll fight until the end, to the last soldier remaining."
The man smiled and waited for Chief to execute the order. He stared at the Guardian as he clenched and unclenched his fists and cracked his fingers together. He offered a hand. "Fleet Admiral Lord Terrence Hood."
Jake grasped it and shook it. "Guardian Jake from the Last City of Earth, class Titan. It's an honour to meet you, sir. Although I would have preferred our meeting to happen under better circumstances."
"Indeed. I'm afraid we must proceed with the protocol." Hood asked for a datapad containing the report of their missions and scrolled down the data. "Do you confirm everything you said when you escaped this 'Halo' on the Longsword?"
"Yes, sir."
"Very well then." He gave the datapad back to one of the marines and cleared his throat. "For breaking UNSC laws regarding the safety of crucial military informations and for faking military informations, you are under arrest and shall be escorted throughout this station for questioning."
Hood looked to his left. "Private Paul Jackson and Sergeant Andrew Harrison, please step forward."
Jake smiled behind his helmet when the two familiar soldiers made their way towards them. He did not express his happiness for their safety by talking however, he had to maintain his usually stoic posture and silent approach.
The two marines saluted and so did Hood. "You two have been fighting and risking your lives on Halo to safeguard Earth and human kind. With your experience taken into account, I'm ordering you to escort Jake to his destination and guard him until further order. Is that clear?"
"Yes, sir!" They chorused together.
Jackson positioned himself on Jake's right, while Harrison was on his left. He followed the two marines out of the room.
"Master Chief." Hood addressed the Spartan once the Guardian was out of reach. "I'll let you handle the interrogation. If there has been anyone so close to Jake, that is you. Find out who he truly is, where he comes from and the origins of his unnatural abilities. If only we could replicate them against the Covenant." He muttered the last part under his breath. "We must act before ONI or any other agency takes too much interest in this case. No doubt leaked informations regarding his presence here will alert them. Can I count on you?"
"Yes, sir."
"Excellent. You are dismissed."
Chief marched out of the room with a new objective. Yet this objective was in part useful to satisfy his own curiosity and he would have probably asked questions sooner.
He wouldn't admit it in public though.
Jake was guided towards an elevator, he privately conversed with Ghost while Harrison pressed the buttons on the pad attached to the wall so they would begin their journey.
"Look, I get it that we must tell the truth since they discovered our web of lies. But won't they take us for fools or crazy and lock us in an asylum?"
"Perhaps. But you know they don't have paracausal weapons or bullets to kill you, right? We could just keep coming back until we'd find a way off the planet."
"Ah! The Titan code of honour thing."
"'You are the shield behind which the City stands tall.' I'm a protector, not a murderer of humans… or innocent eliksni."
Their conversation was interrupted once the elevator started ascending… and when his gaze landed on the planet behind the glass.
Earth…
It did not look as much lifeless as his own from an outside look. He could see the electricity from the small visible part which wasn't directed to the sun. The station was positioned near the Egyptian city of Cairo, he could guess that. Other facilities like the big one they were in guarded it. He slowly raised the palm of his hand and planted it on the glass.
"What?" Jake blinked and turned around to face Harrison who narrowed his eyes. "You look like you've never seen Earth before. Were you born off planet?"
"No. It's just…" He paused and Harrison leaned further in to listen, rifle still at ready. "…my Earth isn't like yours."
Paul and Andrew exchanged a look before the former shrugged. Not their business to ask specific details, someone else would do it. They just needed to follow orders.
"Uh, alright big guy. Welcome to Cairo Station, one of many Orbital Defense Platforms the UNSC possesses."
He received various glances of curiosity and suspicion during their walk, Jake simply ignored them and realized that they must have been wondering why a Spartan with a strange armour design was escorted by two marines clearly ready to fire if necessary. He started to think this would be pretty boring, a useless interrogation to waste time when the Covenant were ready to attack Earth.
Still, he was in the wolf's lair now and he needed to play by the established rules. No sudden heroic acts or shit like that. He asked Ghost for more informations on Cairo Station and the little light graciously hacked in the UNSC network to pull out everything he showed the Titan through the HUD of his helmet.
The walk thankfully finished just as his patience thinned. Harrison opened a door and gestured for him to get in while they both stationed on the outside. A simple table with two chairs, one of those long and clearly fake mirrors where people watched the exchange of informations and a camera placed on the upper side of the door which wouldn't film what was underneath it.
The Guardian got himself comfortable on the farthest seat and idly chatted with Ghost about security protocols.
The door swung open and Jake was greeted by Master Chief himself. He did not carry a weapon with him, maybe a sign of trust or maybe because he knew weapons were not very effective against the Guardian, either way he nodded at his presence. "I figured they would send you. Shall we begin, John-117?"
Chief sat across him, he tilted his helmet towards the window for a moment before turning towards him again.
"Cortana has been separated from his armour's systems but can still use comms to communicate. Lord Hood is currently on the other side of the window with a few other officials."
"Let's start with something simple." Chief's voice interrupted his trail of thoughts. "Who are you? Name and Surname. Date of birth and other useful informations." His tone indicated authority and that lies would not be welcomed with opened arms. It didn't scare the Guardian, almost made him laugh, but he already decided he would be honestly answering any of their questions.
But some sarcasm was required. Maybe Cayde rubbed off on him too much.
"My name's Jake."
Chief waited a few seconds before continuing. "Surname?"
"I don't have one."
BOOM!
He couldn't see it but he imagined how the revelation must have confused the Spartan.
"Care to elaborate? On Halo you mentioned a 'Torrance', I imagined it would have been a lie so what's your real last name?"
"I told you, I don't have a last name. Us Guardians pick up any name we like but few get interested in a last name." He tapped his fingers on the table, a small rhythm. "I think the important question you should be asking, Chief, is: 'Where are you from?' or even; 'When are you from?'"
John listened closely and allowed the Titan to continue his rambling.
"Look, you might consider us crazy. But you want the truth, don't you? No more lies or deceptions." A pregnant pause followed his statement. John though learned to be patient and he could wait even hours if he had to. "Here's the truth: We are not from this universe."
The eyes of the spectators behind the glass widened, even Lord Hood's normal composure shifted a bit. John almost wanted to deny this claim and probe for something else, yet he could tell Jake was sincere in his answer.
"That might explain your capabilities. If you are not from this universe as you claim, why and how did you get here?"
Jake opened his palm and allowed Ghost to manifest.
"I can tell my Guardian is not inclined to continue a conversation of this length so I'll continue it from here." The little light flew up and projected a hologram on the table resembling a Tower and what appeared to be a city. "Not everything we narrated was a lie, Master Chief. This, is the Last safe City of Earth. The last batch of humanity united where people can live their lives and parents do not sleep with their rifles in hands while guarding their children." Chief could tell the Ghost was proud of what he was saying. "There are a few centuries of difference between our universes, the technological level here is laughable."
"What?" He blinked in confusion.
Jake crossed his arms. "What Ghost here is trying to say, it's that both humanity and the Covenant's level of technology is very underdeveloped in comparison to ours. No offence but you're basically monkeys attempting to start a fire with rocks." Ghost made sure to send the clip of multiple gasps coming from behind the window. The Titan smirked at the Hunter-like joke he made. "Ghost could hack in any of your security without you or even Cortana knowing, how do you think we hacked so easily in that door back on the Truth and Reconciliation?"
John digested the information. "How did you end up being trapped in a single city?"
Ghost took the lead. "I read about the first contact with the Covenant on Harvest. The giant sphere we showed you is not a simple artifact granting powers, it's a paracausal being which visited our solar system back before we even began to explore the stars by ourselves. It landed on Mars and guess what? It started raining, the machine created an atmosphere mirroring that of Earth's own one. First contact with alien life form wasn't through violence, but through creation itself." He projected the Traveler's form on the table. "We call it… the Traveler."
Chief stared at the Traveler. "And this 'Traveler' helped humanity?"
"Its love for us was strong, and our love for it stronger." The little light sighed and projected another image. It was the Pyramid shape. "But the Traveler had an ancient enemy: the Darkness. Its pyramid fleet barged in our solar system and caused what we recognize as 'The Collapse'. Humanity was in ruin…" Ghost lifted his eye and its blue colour brightened. "…but in a final act of love, it sacrificed itself to save us. However, it needed to heal and went into stasis. To protect humanity, or rather what was left of it, it created Ghosts. Us Ghosts are always searching for our Guardian, warriors capable of wielding the Light and before you ask, that includes their resurrection ability. Jake here, is one of the three classes of Guardians: Titan, Hunter and Warlock."
Three images replaced the Traveler, each displaying a class. "Titans are basically the equivalent of Spartans. Powerful, resilient and unstoppable. They often butt heads with each other and bask in the battle, but if you ever cross a path with them? You won't get out alive."
"You speak of this Traveler and Darkness as aliens. Yet if the fleet abandoned your system and the Traveler remained, why didn't you leave the City and started to repopulate and rebuild?"
"These aren't the only aliens we have been fighting." 4 more projection materialized. "We have been dealing with the Fallen, the Hive, the Vex and the Cabal too." Each hologram was zoomed in when Ghost talked about a particular race. "The Fallen, also known as Eliksni, are a race that have been visited by the Traveler before but a Collapse similar to ours happened, the Traveler did not remain and the remnants either scattered or united in Houses to chase the 'Great Machine'. They went to war with us ever since, but a Kell, a word for leader, named Mithrax chose an alliance instead of war with us. Some Fallen now live in the Last City with us. Judging by the researches I made, they're close to Elites for mannerism. Both value honour and respect and follow a strict social structure."
Now the Hive projection got bigger. "The Hive, a race once called Krill. The Krill's lifespawn was miserable and they were confined on Fundament, a gas giant which placed them on the bottom of the food chain. The three sisters of the Osmium King, the Krill leader, travelled in search of a way to escape this cycle. They came in contact with what we call 'Worm Gods', Harbingers of the Darkness. Jake here killed one of the sisters, which changed her gender and became king, and his son. They were Gods and able to utilize the Darkness to counter our Light."
"Gods?" Chief asked.
"I have been killing Gods and other powerful entities for about 7 years since I was resurrected in Old Russia, Chief." Jake explained for Ghost. "I am a Godslayer."
"And also the most powerful Guardian who ever lived."
Both did not comment on the phrase Ghost spoke. The little light cleared his non-existent throat and continued. "Cabal, a militaristic empire with the sole objective of demonstrating their value by conquering everything their eyes land upon." Another pause. "And then the Vex. A race of machine entities who wish to convert our universe in one giant machinery connected to their network. It's possible and they've been doing this to Mercury and, almost completely, to Nessus." Ghost deactivated his projections. "But to answer your question, it's because each of these races have raised a foothold on our planets and specifically on Earth. We send daily Guardian patrols but we're not ready to step outside our walls or even think about expanding the City. It's too dangerous and the fleet returned."
"These pyramids returned? If you now have the Light on your side, shouldn't you be able to fight back?"
The Guardian butted in. "Even some things are out of my league Chief. The Light itself isn't capable of defeating the Darkness, I had to learn to use the Darkness against its bearer."
John squinted his hidden eyes and leaned closer on the table. "Using the Darkness? Isn't it dangerous?"
"We thought that too." Jake clenched his fists and opened it to summon stasis particles. "But it's controllable in the right hands. I've learned that the line between Light and Dark is so very thin, and now I know which side I'm on."
Chief glanced to the window for a moment. "Last two questions: How did you get here and why?"
"It wasn't our choice, Master Chief. We were investigating an anomaly on behalf of one of our commanders but it appeared to instead be a portal. We couldn't escape its pull and it spat us right near Halo."
Chief seemed to be listening to something, he nodded and raised from his seat. "Thank you for your collaboration. You'll be staying in this room until further development."
He turned around and opened the door, Jackson and Harrison entered while he left and positioned themselves on either side of the exit.
"Well!" Ghost chirped and disappeared. "At least they believe us."
I wonder if that's enough.
Master Chief entered the nearby room and nodded to Lord Hood. "Sir."
"You did a fine job, Master Chief." Hood rubbed his chin as he observed the Titan. "I always wondered if there was anything worse than the Covenant. But knowing that a branch of humanity is trapped in a single city with daily risks from aliens wielding magical abilities was something I never thought possible." He smirked. "We're lucky we're not dealing with that or Earth would have fallen a long time ago, especially with no 'Traveler' to help us."
Hood adjugested his hat and cleared his throat. "We'll keep Jake under our custody. ONI or anybody else will have to walk over us if they wish to get him." He approached the exit but stopped. "Oh, and Master Chief? I've heard they've been looking for you in the armoury. Might wanna take a look at that."
"Yes, sir."
The door closed behind him as he was accompagnied by the rest of the spectators, Chief was about to go the same way but stopped and looked back to the Guardian. He was mumbling something under his breath while he tapped his fingers on the table. He focused his hearing on the words.
"But if there's nothing… on the other side…"
Author's note 2:
So! The dude producing the cover has temporarily problems with his office since he commissioned some changes with the painting and what not. He promised me that when the office transforms in a semi working environment, he'll work non-stop.
For now he made a few changes but still nothing major to consider.
In the meantime, I decided to upload this prologue to Halo 2.
I'll probably pause for a week or two and just focus on other stuff like relaxing with games and studying 'cause I'll be attempting the test to enter Medicine next year. And I have the exam for the fith year of highschool too…
Until next time!
Gino out!
