Harry fired his revolver at another alien as he followed behind the large bipedal mech the Master Chief was riding around in, which Harry had heard was called a Mantis.
After meeting up with the Chief and the troops he was leading, Harry and his team had proceeded to follow him into the Infinity, doing their best to repel the invaders. Harry's abilities were especially useful, as they served as anti-armor, lowering the danger significantly and allowing them to continue forward at a rapid pace with no real casualties.
Now Harry and the Chief were on their way to the AA and MAC guns to protect them as they were restarted and brought online to help drive off the attacking force. Alice, Beast Boy and Lara had separated to help the soldiers repel the forces in other parts of the ship. The marines and SPARTANs were all wierded out by the unknowns with odd abilities, but they knew better than to look gift horses in the mouth.
Harry carefully followed behind the Mantis' long strides, aiming for any enemies not taken care of by the mech's chaingun. Soon enough they'd reached the outside of the ship, the guns powered down in front of them.
"Beginning the startup process now, Chief." Cortana's voice said in his earpiece as a noticeable whining sound began to come from the large guns. "We need to defend them from being taken out till it's complete. Then we'll be able to repel the Covenant working with the Didact." The Mantis spun around and fired a quartet of rockets at an approaching Covenant dropship, which exploded into a thousand pieces that rained down onto the Infinity's deck.
Harry began firing at the few troops that had managed to get off alive, focusing so his energy bullets would penetrate shields and home in on enemies. He quickly cut them down before focusing his gaze on the new element on the scene.
A large sphere hovered menacingly some distance away, the dark metal that made up its form gleaming as an orange light leaked out of the object's many seams. He reached up and tapped his earpiece. "Cortana, what exactly is that big ugly ball?"
As the Mantis turned to fire at another transport Cortana answered. "That's the personal ship of the Didact, who is, from what we can tell at least, some sort of Forerunner criminal that was imprisoned at the planet's core… till we let him out, that is."
Harry held out his hand, fingers spayed, before sending tendrils of dark energy streaking out to impale a group of grunts, followed by using a spell to make the deck more slippery than ice, causing an elite to pratfall humorously before he fired an energy bullet into its reptilian skull. Then he asked his next question. "Soo… What's a Forerunner?"
The line was silent for a time before Cortana spoke in exasperation. "Okay, seriously! Who the hell are you, and where did you come from!?"
"Not the time." The Chief said calmly as he fired his chain gun at a group of Covenant trying to take cover behind the guns themselves.
Cortana growled, the sound briefly distorted. "Fine, but we're having ourselves a long conversation, got it, buster?" She said.
"You got it." Harry said, knowing that it would be best to agree if only for the sake of finding out what kind of mess he'd ended up in this time.
"Good." Cortana sounded satisfied. "Thirty seconds left!" She announced. "The system will need to be initiated manually. Harry, you should be able to see the console for it near the Mantis' feet. Assuming the caveman didn't step on it, that is." She said with a teasing lilt in her voice at the end.
Harry quickly moved over to the panel set on a small pedestal. Even as he reached it the display shifted from a progress bar to a button to bring the guns online. Seeing that there wasn't much to it, he simply pressed the button.
The AA and Mac guns began to shift, moving to aim at the sphere that was the Didact's ship. As soon as they had firing solutions they began firing on the craft, devastating rounds impacting against the dark metal, the MAC gun booming intensely enough that Harry thought his ears might have burst.
The Didact apparently decided that discretion was the better part of valor, as the ship turned before shooting away out of sight, the Covenant ships following behind at a slower pace.
"The Didact's retreated!" Cortana reported.
As the last Covenant ship burst into flames, unable to get away fast enough, the captain of the UNSC Infinity, Del Rio, spoke on the general line. "Del Rio to Infinity, all hands, we are condition yellow. Stand down. Section Chiefs, report in with damage assessments."
Harry leaned against the hull, letting out a breath as he holstered his weapon and relaxed, glad the fight was over. This was probably the largest, most intense battle he'd ever been part of, and now that it was over he felt his hands shaking slightly as the adrenaline left him.
He looked up as a shadow covered him to find the Master Chief's large form standing over him. He couldn't see the man's face behind his visor, but he appeared to be studying him. Finally he spoke. "First time in combat?"
Harry shook his head. "No, but first large scale engagement. I'm used to fights of small groups against similar numbers."
The Chief nodded, remembering how Harry had conducted himself on the Dawn. "You had training before?"
Once again, Harry shook his head. "Very little. I mostly learned from being dumped from one life threatening situation to another." He said. He unholstered his revolver and held it up. "I taught myself how to use this after inheriting it from a dear friend who died due to my mistakes." He said softly.
Chief studied him a bit longer before nodding. "You did well." Then he moved beack to the Mantis in order to put it back in the hanger.
"You impressed him." Cortana's voice once again came in his earpiece, and Harry had the feeling that she was speaking to him on a private channel. "He doesn't tend to praise people like that."
Harry shrugged, slightly uncomfortable, before following the mech back into the Infinity.
Harry later found the others having a quick meal of military rations in an unused office and quickly grabbed some for himself. His team would be joining the captain and some others in a few minutes for a meeting, where they'd probably be asked just who the hell they were. Best to face that with a full stomach.
Beast Boy was having a salad that looked surprisingly good for military food. "Hey dude, how'd the defense of the guns go?"
Harry sat down and popped the warming tab on his package of beef stew. "It went fine. Apparently the bad guys are being led by some criminal from something called the 'Forerunners'. Didn't get much out of the Chief or Cortana, but what little I got seems to indicate he's got a hate on for humanity." He took the op off his food and smiled at the appetizing looking stew.
Lara shook her head as she set down her steak and potatoes. "We really need more information. We don't know who these people are, who we just fought, or even if we're on the right side. For all we know we could have just helped a bunch of war criminals and genocidal maniacs." Alice nodded in agreement as she ate some spaghetti.
"We'll see what we can find out when we join the meeting with the captain in a few minutes." Harry said before pausing as a tremor ran through the ship, which tilted slightly and began to rise. "Guess they managed to get the ship airborne again."
"Good." Beast Boy said seriously. "I didn't feel like being a sitting duck if those aliens decided to come at us in greater numbers." He then proceeded to chomp on a carrot covered in ranch dressing.
"Harry." Alice said as she set her pasta down. "Can you tell how much longer it will be till we can jump back to Lara's world?"
Harry set his own food down and reached into his bag to pull out the lance, studying the head seriously, noting that the edges were now definitely more their original color than the white they had been. "Looks like it's about a third of the way back to normal. Hopefully that means it won't be long."
Lara sighed with relief before they heard a knock on the door. A woman with brown hair tied back and wearing armor similar to the Chief's except white. She looked the group over before focusing on Lara, as she was the oldest of them. "The meeting is about to begin. You're expected."
Lara nodded. "Thank you…"
"Commander Sarah Palmer, officer in charge of the SPARTAN-IV commandos." Palmer said succinctly before turning and making her way out.
"Well, she's a barrel of laughs…" Beast Boy groused as he threw away his empty food container.
"She's probably just very dutiful." Alice chided before doing the same and following the others out of the room.
When they reached the bridge of the Infinity the group worked on keeping their staring to a minimum. Alice was having the most trouble with this, considering the level of technology she was used to, the few months in Lara's world notwithstanding.
"What I want to know, people, is where the hell did those things come from!?" And older man was saying to the Chief and a younger officer as they approached, sounding aggravated. On the holotable they were standing around the figure of a blue woman with lines of code covering her virtually nude body in place of clothing was projected, along with the figure of one of the Prometheans.
The group was surprised when the woman spoke in Cortana's voice. "It's possible that they're native to Requiem… or whatever counts as native for a Forerunner AI." She said.
"She's an AI." Beast Boy whispered to Harry as they grew closer.
"How can you tell?" Harry whispered back.
Beast Boy shrugged. "Experience."
Harry quirked an eyebrow, but shrugged it off for now. It would explain some things.
The older officer, who could only be Captain Del Rio, shook his head as he paced. "We've never seen this kind of offensive reaction at any of the other installations." He gave the approaching group a wary, suspicious look as they gathered around the holotable before turning to continue the current conversation, obviously deciding to focus on that first.
"Other installations?" The Chief asked.
"Mr. Lasky…" Del Rio said, obviously addressing the more junior officer.
Harry watched as the image being projected changed from a Promethean to some sort of ring as Lasky spoke. "The Infinity's mission has been to locate the remaining Halo rings, and establish permanent bases to study them for decommission." Harry glanced at the others to find that they appeared just as confused as he was. Lasky continued. "We've got locations running on installations five and three, but…" He paused. "Lately they've run into some setbacks…"
Del Rio took over, sounding mildly irritated. "A science team got zapped excavating a Forerunner artifact." A new image of a wheel with symbols surrounding it appeared, and Harry noted it looked an awful lot like a magical array. "This sensor data is all that was left."
"Interesting…" Cortana said, studying the image. "These symbols are a derivation of the Forerunner glyph system."
"And our geeks managed to pull some coordinates." Del Rio said, sounding slightly contemptuous of said geeks. Harry frowned, not liking the man's attitude so far. "I'll give you three guesses where it led." The captain said, looking at the Chief.
Chief looked back at him as Palmer approached with a tablet in her hands, handing it over to Del Rio. "Sir, Gypsy Company is prepped and waiting on your orders." She said before stepping back and taking a parade rest stance.
"Thank you, Palmer." Del Rio said as he studied the tablet. Then he moved towards Lasky. "Mr. Lasky, you take point, I want boots on the ground in sixty."
The Chief shifted at this. "Captain."
Del Rios paused, looking at him narrowly. "This is a first contact scenario, Master Chief." He said, somewhat condescendingly. "Priority is to free the Infinity from Requiem's gravity well and file a threat assessment back at FLEETCOM."
"You mean we're leaving." Cortana said incredulously.
"Sir, Infinity drove the Didact back. He's vulnerable." The Chief insisted.
Del Rio leaned forward onto the table, staring the Chief down. "He isn't the only one…"
Harry finally decided it was time to peak up, though he could already picture the effect his words would have. "I agree with the Chief. In situations like these it's best to press your advantage. Otherwise, the Didact will leave Requiem and potentially attack one of your installations."
Del Rio's gaze snapped to Harry, his eyes narrowed. "I don't take orders from children. We don't even know who you are. Where did you come from?"
Harry sighed, knowing this was coming. "My name is Harry Potter. My companions are Lara Croft, Garfield Logan, and Alice Liddel. As for where we come from…" He hesitated before shrugging. "You probably won't believe this, but we're from another reality entirely."
The military officers arrayed around the table stared at him. "…What." Del Rio said flatly before his face hardened. "I don't think this is the time for jokes, son. Tell us who you really are, or I'll have you placed in the brig."
"I'm not joking, Captain." Harry said calmly before waving his hand and making large, comfy armchairs appear by each member of his group. They each took a seat to demonstrate that the chairs were in fact real and not some sort of illusion. "We're not something you'll have dealt with before. We came here by accident trying to get away from some men who were trying to claim an artifact that let us cross realities and ended up on the Forward Unto Dawn. Cortana and the Chief saw us arrive." He looked at said people, waiting for them to confirm what he'd just said.
Cortana eyed them before nodding slowly. "I don't know about reality jumping, but they did appear out of what appeared to be a portal made of darkness… They also dress in antiquated clothing and use weapons that should only be found in museums. The readings I got from the suit's sensors also showed unusually energy emissions I'm not familiar with." She turned her gaze the Harry, or more specifically the chair he was sitting on. "How did you do that? Some sort of hard light technology, like what the Forerunners use?"
Harry shook his head before slowly turning it into a shrug. "I don't actually know the scientific particulars of it. I just apply my will, along with a bit of imagination, and make things happen."
Del Rio was still scowling lightly. "Still don't see anything that couldn't be an elaborate trick."
Beast Boy abruptly jumped out of his seat and onto the table, shifting into a green wolf with the motion. His eyes gazing into a stunned Del Rio's as Palmer quickly drew her sidearm and aimed it at Beast Boy, looking ready to fire but maintaining discipline.
"I still can't get over him doing that…" Cortana muttered. "Where does the mass go?"
Del Rio swallowed heavily while watching the amused looking wolf as Lara proceeded to try to mediate things. "The object we used to jump realities was damaged and will take time to allow us to go back. Captain, we are offering our services in assisting you with dealing with the current crisis in return for information on where we are, along with food and a place to sleep. Harry alone would be invaluable to any operations you have planned, and the rest of us are no slouches. I specialize in guerilla fighting and wilderness survival, Garfield's ability to shapeshift has many uses, and Alice has studied some medicine and will be able to assist as a battlefield medic, if only for our squad."
Alice glanced at Lara, seeing as her medical training was a stunted run in psychology, though she had learned first aid. Still, she said nothing. If a small lie would ease things going forward she'd go along with it.
Beast Boy finally got off the table and away from Del Rio, taking a seat back on his armchair without shifting back, insolently scratching his ear with a hind leg.
Del Rio's eyes narrowed, but before he could say anything the Chief spoke. "Sir, I've fought by their side, and I can say that they would be helpful as support in the field. Harry's abilities make him ideal for dealing with armor, Garfield is unpredictable, and the ladies are no slouches either."
The captain glared at the Chief before huffing. "Fine, but they're under your command, Master Chief. You'll be responsible for them. Command can decide what to do with them once we get out of here."
Chief straightened slightly. "Yes sir."
As the captain left, Cortana turned towards Harry's group with a mischievous look on her holographic face as they stood up, the chairs disappearing and Beast Boy shifting back. "Well then, we have some time before our next op. How about that little lesson on what you need to know while here?" Her grin widened. "Of course, I expect some information on where you're from in return…"
Harry smirked. "You wouldn't believe us if we told you…"
Cortana chuckled. "Oh, this will be fun…"
Ugh, this is becoming a pattern I don't like. Late AGAIN. And the chapter isn't even that long to justify it.
This delay was a combination of issues at work, a small health scare, and my family surprising me with a trip to the beach for a few days, which meant no chance to write anyway. Not that I'm going to complain about a trip to the beach.
In any case, this was a transition chapter. I realize it's a bit boring, but it's necessary. Don't worry though. Next chapter will be big, as it's when we reach the entire point of stopping in the Halo-verse in the first place. I'm sure it'll throw some of you for a loop. Mwahahaha.
I want to let you all know that one of the universes that was on my list to be visited has been removed because, much like Babylon 5, I had no real plan for it. It was one of the universes they were going to go to just for the lulz, and my entire impetus to add it was a single scene.
Sailor Moon slamming a Moon Healing Escalation in Harry's face because she thinks he's the newest evil overlord on the block.
The image makes me chuckle. Unfortunately I couldn't think of much else I could do with the idea that wouldn't be better served as an omake or sidestory, much like my plan for Pokemon. As such, it has been removed from the planned list.
We won't be hurting for content, though. That still leaves a total of 18 worlds the team will be hitting. This includes the ones we've already been to. So this story will be going for a nice long while, especially as certain worlds will be loooong. Mwahahaha… again.
Next to be updated will be either Ballad of Heroes and Villains or Through the Filth and the Flames. Haven't decided which one, though.
If you guys want a choice in what I update each month, I have a Pat A Ron now. Become a patron, and each dollar you donate gives you a vote on what you want to see from me next from a list. The page is Pat A Ron dotcom /athanmortis. Looking forward to seeing what you all choose.
That's all for now. Till next time, please review.