Baptized by truth, we will reap what we sow.


John huffed as he reloaded his weapon, kicking dead bodies over as he listened to the chatter over the radio from the marines now safe besides the few that had not made it. John grabbed a storm rifle, looking back at the Arbiter. The Banished were putting up quite a fight but it truly was becoming an irritation for the super soldier. But he wasted no time as he turned back towards the entrance of the large building.

"No hostiles detected, were clear." Weapon said as John made his way to the console to allow them inside. The doors opened with a hiss, the AI excited for their advancement, "It worked! Obviously.I never doubted it for a second. This place calls itself the Nexus."

"The Harbinger?" John asked as he continued inside of the structure.

"She's here." The AI reminded him.

"Good, let's go say hello." He said with a small grin on his face. He was reveling in it, he was going to end this once and for all. They continued down the long hallways, reminding him of the time when the flood had taken over Earth, it felt like a million years ago now. The Arbiter followed close, checking thief corners as they moved down into an open room with two large Ramos leading in either side. They could hear the feet walking around inside, the Arbiter activated his camouflage and slipped into the room without hesitation, that was one thing that John had always appreciated about the alien, he never backed down from anything. John waited before the alien started to take down one by one, the Banished beginning to flee in confusion before John joined in, taking cover as he fired.

"More Banished, I wonder why they're here?"

"To protect the Harbinger." Thel said as he sliced through another Grunt.

"Will it work?"

"What do you think?" John answered.

"If I told you what I think— oh wait, I get it, sarcasm! You're funny too!" Weapon said in a chipper voice, just laughing to herself, the Elite grilling some at that. The Spartan did have a sense of humor, this was true,but it was usually dark. The Spartan and the Arbiter reconnected on the other side of the ring.

"This one is rather talkative." Thel mentioned as he nodded to his helmet.

"They usually are." John replied as he opened the next door, heading through.

"I'm right here." She huffed at them, the men just looking at one another before proceeding. They moved slowly, the many nooks and crannies of the Forerunner structures were always willing to hide Banished in the places you least expected it. And John didn't feel like being blind sided when he least expected it.

They headed into the next room, a bright blue light glowing past a wall, igniting the room. "Oh look at that, that hologram looks like the Spire that's above us, we must be going in the right direction." The AI said as they moved through the corridor. John lifting his rifle as he fired at the jackals across the room, grunts and Brutes running out as they fought against them, trying to prevent their access to further inside the room. The multi-level area becoming a playground for the Chief and the Arbiter as they worked together to surpass the area. John took the high ground as he fired down into the crowd, uncaring as he dropped bodies, Thel cutting through the Brutes and the forces they held, hi didn't get behind jackals and grunts to avoid their fire.

"There is an exit here." Thel said as he walked past their bodies, turning up a narrow path that led them upwards into another large room with a door that overtook the wall. The door parted, allowing them access to the lower levels. The basic mechanics of this building didn't make sense one bit to the Spartan, but he went where ever the doors took him.

Darkness had stretched its color. Deep blue across the pane. No cloud to make night duller, no moon with its tarnished stain

John tilted his head at the words, looking to the Arbiter in confusion, he had heard it too. The Elite flexed his mandibles some as they moved down the large access tunnel.

"Is this Cortana?"

"You can hear it too then." John huffed as he kept his storm rifle up. "Her data is everywhere in here." John explained, as if it had made sense, and it didn't. Maybe it was because of her final resting place.. being a part of the Forerunners integrated her into their systems. But before they could continue their conversation, several Jackals began firing at them, the Skirmishers bouncing off the floor, trying to flank. John had no time to waste as he tossed a grenade in either direction, the Kig-yar snapping as they avoided the blasts, Thel shooting down the middle where they collected, falling from their tactics. The door in the middle of the room opened, a small Fireteam coming through with a Elite leading them shouted in anger as they began to fire, but the Spartan made quick work with the aid of the Arbiter by his side.

They moved through, two golden Elites standing at the end of another doorway, John used his Grappling hook to pull himself to the ceiling as he fired below him, the Elite firing from below as they dropped them too, either party fighting for their lives as they headed lower and lower.

Now in this hour of waking under the brows of stone- a new pale day is breaking and the deep night is gone.

It opened up into yet another open room, support beams acting as cover for the Banished as they shouted and hurled insults their way. The team split, cutting through quickly to the other side without fail. They continued to press before they headed into a room, the door locking behind them, John turning quickly at the snap.

"That is not good."

"Rarely is." The Spartan said as he crouched and moved around the room, seeing a bright, green glow. "Hunters." He informed Thel, which was not good, the bests in small quarters were nearly lethal.

"Separate them." Thel replied quickly as he heard the grumble from in front of them, they could hear them they just couldn't see them.

"Sounds good to me." John replied as he moved around the room, waiting for the other to get into position before he leapt from the cover of the boxes, just making contact with one of the Hunters, Thel making contact with the other. The Spartan backed up, firing at the weak places in its armor as he whipped a grenade against its body before diving out of the way of a fuel rod that crashed into the ground. John rolled out of the way as he moved towards the back of the room, listening to Thel fight on the other side. John huffed as he got up, running and sliding through its legs and sticking a grenade onto the Hunter before coming up around the pillar towards Thel to help him get the Hunter off his heels. Once it was distracted, the Arbiter turned and doubled back to attack the large beast, slashing at its hard armor as he found the breach in between its shell and pried it apart, plunging his sword deep, the creature falling. The Spartan huffed some as he turned back to the Arbiter for confirmation that he was alright. He released the AI into the system to open whatever it was that it was going to open, he didn't see a door. The pillar released in front of them, sliding up and revealing a hole in the ground. The Arbiter looked down into the plunging darkness below his feet, unsure of what they were suppose to do here.

"Oh.. where do you wish to proceed? I see no other exit..." The AI huffed at him, transferring back to his suit. John looked down into the hole, shining his light down it. There was no other option it seemed like.

"We go down."

"Is that the best course of action?" He asked curiously as he tilted his head some, mandibles clacking in uneasiness.

"We don't have any other options."

"We do not know where it goes." Thel reminded him.

"It hasn't stopped you before." John said in a near playful tone.

"Chief!" Thel snapped as the Spartan took the leap, plunging straight down as he bounced off the walls, sliding like a rock across the hard metal, the faint sounds of the AI cheering in excitement. John hit the ground like a warhead, denting the ground from the velocity he reached, getting up quick and clearing the room. He pointed his flashlight up, the light disappearing into the void above him, it was a long fall.

"Clear."

" That was fun, can we do that again?"

"No, where are we going?" John asked, hearing the loud banging from above from the Arbiter sliding down after him. He could hear several untranslatable word leave the Sangheili's mouth as he hit the ground, groaning as he shook his head as he got up with aide from the Chief.

"Do not ask me to ever do that again." Thel hissed at him, shaking his shoulders wth a growl.

"It's not the first hole you've leap into." John claimed, looking up at the Arbiter at his choice of words.

"Nor will it be the last, when it comes to you." He purred out, knocking his shoulder s he walked towards the only other exit, leaving the Spartan in his embarrassment.

"I'm sorry am I missing something?" She said as she pursed her lips, The Spartan muttering to leave the conversation where it was. As the doors opened, the impossibly large area opened up before them. "There's a deep canyon… I don't think you'll be able to jump across." She said as John walked to the edge of it, looking down into the deep darkness below them, the lights seemed to disappear into the fog below, enhancing the depth of the canyon.John looked around, seeing something familiar in the distance. "What about that gondola?" He asked curiously. "Can you access it?" He asked curiously.

"I can." She said with a smile on her face. "Get me over there and I'll see what I can do." She said in her usual chipper voice. The Spartan took off at a jog, not liking being out in the open as several Sentinels started to float around, not doing much of anything besides watching.

"Are they going to attack us?" Thel asked, looking around, keeping a trained eye on them.

"They seem to just be watching for now…" weapon said as she entered the Gondola, just rewriting the data to access it before it started to move. "I wouldn't anger them, one less thing to have on our tails."

"Agreed, just don't turn your back on them." John said as he looked around, noting the ten of the sentinels that decided to follow the gondola, just enough to be outside of the range of their guns. But by the time they reached half way, the Sentinels began firing, shooting at them, the Arbiter and the Chief began firing back just to make it through. They continued their hellish ride before Weapon spoke up again.

"The Nexus is that way, we have to keep moving." She said.

The Spartan hissed as he fired at the sentinels, tossing a grenade over his shoulder as they hit the ground running towards the door. They needed to get out of here they were running out of ammo. John turned to stop, using suppressing fire to let the Arbiter pass through the door first, he used his grappling hook once he was safely through, swinging through the entrance.

The Elite shutting the door down as John passed through. John turned around. Lights and holograms lighting up the room with a soft iridescent blue hue. The Spartan opened his hand slowly to allow the AI to come forth. She sighed softly, looking around with wide eyes.

"Look at this place, all the spires… interconnected. Waiting to become something more. So much potential." She spoke as the Spartan moved forward, the Sangheili looking down at the AI as he turned his head to the side at her wonder. "It's exquisite." She said as she turned to look at the man.

"It's dangerous." John spoke.

"O-of course. I wasn't suggesting we change the plan, but you can see it, right?"

"All I see is a problem." John said as he looked around, looking to the Sangheili for help, but he did not reply.

"I don't believe that. A part of you can recognize the grandeur of this achievement? You're not a machine- you can't be that closed off…" she spoke, looking around, the sadness etched in her face. The Arbiter stifled a small huff, she had no idea, did she? Weapon looked down at her feet, putting her hands clasped behind her back before she looked up at him, "What will it take for you to trust me?" She asked softly, tilting her head.

"I… spire first." He said as he began to walk over to the console, not wanting to answer her question.

"If you say so." She said as she disappeared once again. The Arbiter reached out to touch the Spartans arm gently, but he only shrugged the hand off. He didn't need to be pushed at by two fronts and it was already becoming too much for him to deal with lately. The Arbiter just shook his head as he followed along to the lift console, which was completely dead. "Mmm it seems it's been disabled, presumably to slow us down. We'll have to find some power nodes to get it back online," she spoke to them both.

"We should split up, we will be able to find the nodes much faster that way." Thel spoke, looking at the three doors around them.

"Good idea, let's get going." John said as they parted their ways to go look for their power nodes. It was no easy feat looking for them, sentinels guarding every nook and cranny of the Spire. Whispers filled the halls of forgotten memories, Cortana's voice, Halsey's… Keyes. He did not wish to listen to the failures that he had shown in his lifetime. Painful and hard to relive…. Weapon asked her questions, prying into the psyche about the whispers they heard. He had faulted back into it being his programming that he continued to fight. But in recent year, it had taken a toll. John had found his halfway across the platform, bringing it back quickly as the Arbiter did the same, the pair of soldiers headed for the third door, just running up the third ramp into the room.

It was empty this time. John and Thel watched one another's backs, heading into the long hallway with the power node station at the very end of it. John picked it up, looking around.

"Where are they?" Thel asked curiously as he tilted his head some, eyes scanning the room as they began to head back.

"Strange." John said as they jogged back, finding several sentinels coming from the ceiling as they dropped down and started firing, giving them false hope on their cleared room. John threw the power node towards the doorway as he watched Thel fire at the little robots flying across the room. John unloaded his weapon yet again, watching the electric static burst in the air as it buzzed and crashed into another one. Clearing the room, they jogged back to the console, a John picking up the power node.They placed the third power node into the slot,just waiting quietly as Weapon stepped out of his hand onto the console. Data sparkled and came to life, John chest aching at the sight of Cortana.

It worked. You did it… just like you always do. I'm not coming with you this time.

Her hand touched his chest, looking up into his face plate.

We were supposed to take care of each other, and we did.

Her voice was soft and gentle as always, the hologram disappearing.

"She saved me.. but I couldn't save her." He said, watching the particles disappear into thin air, He could feel Weapon looking up at him.

"You blame yourself." She spoke.

"Yes." John replied, feeling Thel shift closer.

"You could not stop what had happened, Chief. She was too far gone." He spoke gently, but the Spartan did not move.

But the AI took the man's silence as she turned. "Are you sure about this? She'll know I'm here, this could go spectacularly wrong." She said as she looked up at him, concern on her face.

"I'll take care of you." John replied, though his words seemed hollow to Thel, concerned over what he had said.

"Okay then." She smiled sweetly, turning back to do what she was programmed to. She opened her arms, spreading the data in front of her like a grand symphony. "Oh.. it's okay. False alarm. She's not—" but before anyone could speak a sigh of relief, Wepons programming went yellow and she had disappeared.

"Where did she go?!" Thel huffed in exasperation.

"Why do you always fight the inevitable? Order approaches. The reformation is but a new beginning!" The Harbinger spoke loudly across the room, her voice coming from all directions. Weapons cries for help echoed along with it, her hologram body struggling, trying to fight whatever had trapped her. "The Auditorium will spill its secrets! The Endless will walk this world once more!" The Harbinger claimed John and the Arbiter watched in horror as the AI struggled.

"Please Chief! I can't fight it—" she was stranded on the console, something holding her back. John shook his head as he activated his HUD, standing there as the protocol ran across his screen.

"RED FLAG." the chief spoke, drawing Thel's attention.

PASSCODE ACCEPTED.

"Are you sure?" The, asked.

"Zero. Three. Four."

PASSCODE ACCEPTED.

"Wha— what are you doing?!" She cried out.

"Samuel." John spoke finally, closing his eyes as he acknowledged the last passcode.

THREE.

"John are you sure?" Thel's words shook him to his core as he opened his eyes, seeing the AI that looked so like his friend struggle.

TWO.

ONE.

"You said… you said… I thought we were a team." She whimpered as she still struggled for her life.

PROTOCOL INITIALIZED.

Suddenly the yellow hue turned blue, her head turned to him and her voice monotone. "I thought we were a team." She said, suddenly disappearing. Gone forever. John stood quietly as he looked to Thel, the Sangheili nodding acceptance. He knew this was the only way. But a blue light shined behind them, lighting up the room.

"Take care of it!? You said you'd take care of me!" She shouted at him, her eyes angry, "You were going to delete me!"

"And you stopped me. You put us all at risk!" John snapped back, waving his hand in front of him, leaning over the console, staring back at her.

"It was in the best interest of everyone." Thel said, stepping in.

"No! I saved us! No thanks to you… or you." She hissed at the pair, narrowing her eyes at the both. She folded her arms over her chest.

"The Reformation?" He asked curiously, walking around the console.

"Yeah, yeah. It's begun. So what? Look what I have." She said as she opened her hand up, showing a strange program. "Infiltration program, remember?" She hissed, tilting her head to the side in a sassy manner.

"You broke protocol." John reminded her.

"What is wrong with you? I was trying to help you. I was trying to help us! It was worth the risk!" The hurt tone in her voice was evident. "It doesn't matter." She said as John went to reach out to retrieve her, but he stopped as she snapped her finger over her shoulder. "There's your grav lift. Let's get this over with." She hissed, disappearing into his glove again. John sighed heavily, looking back to the Arbiter.

"Trust is something you do not deal out easily." Thel commented, "but she has earned it." He said quietly, heading for the grav lift at the center of the room. John just checked his weapon over, walking behind him as they rocketed skywards. Maybe the Arbiter was right…perhaps trust would get them further than they were…. but he could not allow another event that would lead to another Cortana to take place.

Not again.

John and Thel came to the top of the grav lift. The men standing there as they looked around, strange blocks climbing upwards with a burnt orange laser shooting to the sky, John walked closer to the beam, reaching out to touch it s it burnt his hand, making him hiss and recoil his hand.

"Best not stick your hand in there, it's dangerous." Weapon quipped angrily.

"Where do we go?" He asked curiously as he looked around.

"Up. Better start climbing." She replied shortly. Thel looked to John, tilting his head some at the other.

"Maybe it would be best if you apologize." Thel said as he reached up and climbed up to the platform above.

"I don't want his apology." She said with a huff. The Spartan headed for the first block, climbing up after him. The blocks began to move, John holding on tightly as he nearly lost his footing, the Arbiter reaching out and grabbing him by his waist to stop his fall as he tugged him close to his body. "Oh looks like you at least have one friend, or are you planning on killing him too?" She quipped. The Arbiter laughing as he went to the next block.

"He has already tried."

"Oh then it's just a common theme for you Chief?"

"Can we please knock off the chatter and focus on getting out of here?" John John sighed as he climbed to the next block, just shaking his head. Gods he didn't need this right now.

"Oh yeah sure thing, hopefully you don't decide whose next once we get to the top." Weapon said in a light manner as they continued climbing upwards. John would have to live with his mistake like so many times before, because clearly, Weapon was not gong to let this go, rightfully so.


Heyooo sorry for the late upload. I was having a hard time with this chapter. I dint want this to end so I'm trying to figure out what to do once I'm all set with the campaign? I dint know might go into a deep world of AU after. The UNSC rebuilding long side with the Sangheili? Who know.