Stay a little while because the promise not kept is the road to exile
The second they got to the top, Thel kept to John's side, several Sentinels came down from the circular cieling, keeping to the upper levels and out of there way.. The Spartan shot the robots out of the sky, grappling to the top as he ignored the Harbingers words that replayed in his mind. He didn't care to listen to her, because he knew he was already too late to stop the Reformation, but he certainly was going to end it. He slid the AI into the next console, Thel watching his back.
Weapon played in her data verse, just moving her hands quietly. "The Spires are all now active… Oh." She said as he turned to her side, her lip curling.
"What is it?" John asked curiously, but the AI turned back to him in a bit of disgust.
"I wasn't talking to you." John pulled his head back, a bit stunned she would talk to him li thst, but in their recent events, he couldn't blame her. "The Reformation is focused on a specific area called… the Silent Auditorium. Interestingly.. all the records of its purpose is missing. Well." She sighed as she turned around, putting her hands behind her back and pointed up. "The only way up is through there." She said, pointing to the grav lift. "Let's get this over with." She said. The Spartan went to reach, hesitating for a moment, debating about leaving her there before he let her relink to his suit.
They began their descent, Thel just keeping quiet as Echo-216 took hold of the radio. "So is anyone going to talk about what happened back there?" He asked.
"Ask him." The AI said in a snarky tone.
"Chief?" Silence. "I guess not. Well from what I saw something bad happened. She… you.. were stuck. In pain. Trapped."
"And he was going to delete me." Weapon put in, huffing at the thought.
"What? Chief? Really?" Fernando huffed.
"He doesn't talk much, he is more of a man of action. Especially when it comes to killing things, right Chief?"
"We will talk about this later." John replied as he found himself into another firefight with more Sentinels. He didn't want to talk about it now. He fired at the robots that flew around, Thel just keeping his head down as they activated another grav lift to go up.
A dull orange glow came from a clear panel, opening up to where the repairs were being made on the Ring, creating the raw material. John was in awe, never thinking that the ring would be capable of such a thing. "The spires are active, and before you say anything, yes I know they need to be shut down. But just look at it." She said in a dreamy tone. "It's accelerating the reformation, creating raw materials and sending them out."
"To where?" Thel asked curiously as they heard a trill from a skimmer to their right side as they moved.
"Obviously to repair the ring, or something specific."
"Something dangerous." John added in.
"Possibly, but everything has the potential to be dangerous, right Chief?" She said in a sassy tone, making the Arbiter laugh some. She had quite the personality, that was for sure. As they turned into the long room, several Brutes came upon them, shouting that they were breaching the Spire. But they didn't let that phase them. John dropped to his knees to take the recoil from his gun, taking a Brute off his feet as Thel spun hard into a Skirmisher with his sword, cutting it in half. Several grunts dispersed at the sight of their leader being taken down.
"The demon will kill us all!" A Grunt cried out as he dropped his weapon, Thel aiming down the sights of his plasma pistol as he shot at the small creature. John firing after them as well as they continued down the hall they ended up in the room with the orange glow, several pieces of material going through the beam and kept moving forward.
"It seems they are sending the material out like this." Thel said curiously as he watched the metal disappear and break down.
"We have to stop this..." John said as they continued to rush the winding hall.
"I couldn't agree more, Chief." Thel said,.
Elites and jackals in their way fell as they continued, hitting another junction of orange plasma walls where the material moved through. The large support beams scattered across the floor, holding the cieling up as they looked for a way around the area. A small opening in the sides of the room, allowing them to pass through. Thel kept himself behind cover, not having much ammo left to take the large groups down, but John didn't seem to mind, he enjoyed the odds and used it to his advantage. The Spartan slinging himself into the air and dropping down hard on the body of a Elite major.
The Spartan reloaded his weapon as he kept a steady pace, fighting his way through the waves upon waves of Banished, Thel taking the other side of the room. They cut through the Banished, the Spartan shoving his gunning the mouth of a Skirmisher, pulling the trigger, tossing a grenade into a group of grunts. They took several moments here and there to let their shields recharge, hearing the loud calls of Beserkers. John rolled his eyes as he sank below cover, hearing the beasts hoot and holler for their whereabouts. He looked over, grabbing a shotgun that laid in the floor as he reloaded it with what was left.
He could hear Thel shout across the room, and the slashing of an energy sword before he popped out, shooting the rampaging beasts in the back. They dropped quickly, Thel standing there panting as a violet liquid dripped from his mandible, one not shutting as well as it should.
"You alright?" John asked as he looked over the Sangheili.
"I am fine, nothing that cannot be fixed." He said in a pained voice, clearly his mandibles broken from the strong Brute that had swung at him. John gave a curt nod as they headed to what looked like a portal. The, gave an uneasy look as he took a deep breath, letting John go first into it. The Spartan stumbled from the teleportation, ending up in a very large room full of ammo and guns. "Well this is a pleasant surprise." Thel said as he looked around.
"Are you too done yet?" Echo-216 said
"Totally." The weapon said.
"I meant the Spire.."
"So did I, mostly.. we're almost at the top." she answered, Thel looking to the Chief, shaking his head, clearly he had made a big mistake trying to delete the AI.
"Good, because something is being built.. well... rebuilt."
"What is it?" John asked as he grabbed a heatwave weapon, finding a large amount of ammo for it.
"Something… big." Echo-216 replied before cutting out. John just shook his head and rolled his shoulders as they went to the door at the end of the corridor. The doors touched the ceiling, opening up just enough for them to come through. It was a large open room with several pillars at various heights, the platform made out of hexagon material that stood by itself, a large gap for them to jump over. The Spartan leapt first, landing hard with a roll, Thel following after him.
"There, a console is over there." The Elite spoke as they made their way to it. But before they could even get close, the pillars started to rise, well above what the grappling hook could reach, protecting the console from all threats, the Chief and the Arbiter included. In front of it, a hexagon opened up, an Oracle coming from the depths but with machinery that the Sangheili had never seen before.
"Be warned, this configuration is superior to my last." Adjutant Resolution chimed in a blood lusted tone. The lights seemed to dim from the far side due to the pillars. John just pushed Thel behind cover, ducking himself behind so that he was out of sight.
"Not this guy again." John huffed.
"Again? What do you mean again?" The Arbiter hissed.
"At the last Spire, just keep moving, he's fast. Fire at the mechanical arms and we'll be alright." John said, just using his grappling hook to get above the oracle. But the large stanchions seemed to descend the second he stepped foot on top. This was not good. He couldn't stay high above him…
Thel came from cover as he moved between the pillars, firing at the large Oracle in its death machine. The robot turned, firing several rockets at the Sangheili, making the Arbiter scurry for cover much faster than he anticipated.
John ran around the backside of the tall pillars, drawing power to the Heatwave as he fired into the back of the Oracle, making the Adjutant Resolution turn.
"This will be the last time you do that!" It scowled loudly, chasing after him. John rolled out of the way as several sentinels came down from the ceiling. The Oracle came flying after the Chief much faster than he expected, a destructive ray shooting from its eye as it sliced into the metal, making it bubble where the Chief had been just a second before. "Please allow for my Sentinels to incinerate you!" He spoke cheerfully.
"Oh look he brought friends, you hear that? He has friends!" Weapon called out.
"Can you let me concentrate!" John snapped back, hearing another explosion and metal clatter to the floor, Thel firing at the Sentinels to get rid of them. John recharged his weapon, seeing the shadow get closer on the floor as he rolled from his cover, firing at one of the arms, watching it explode.
"Stop now! That's far enough!" The oracle shouted as it recoiled from the explosion. John smirked as it shut down, getting up and tossing a grenade in the middle of its mechanical arms before he ran around the side. John released his heatwave again into a Sentinel that was creeping behind Thel, sliding into cover next to him. His chest heaved a sigh of relief as he looked up at the Sangheili.
"Your acquaintances are always so troublesome."
"You were an acquaintance once." John said as he reloaded the heatwave, making the Elite chuckle.
"True…. how do we defeat him?"
"One of us needs to keep him distracted while the other goes around the back to hit the arms, we'll keep swapping in and out." John suggested.
"Better than what I had in mind." The Arbiter said, seeing the shadow of the oracle coming at them again.
"You will not stop the Reformation!" He shouted in his metallic voice, John rolled out from cover and started running, raising the plasma pistol he had picked up to draw its attention. Thel ran up behind it, emptying his clip at the next arm, watching it explode. The Sangheili followed around the side of the large pillars, passing by John. He recharged the Heatwave and fired into the oncoming machine, nearly being missed by the laser beam as he slid underneath and kept running.
They had a good tactic, hearing the Adjutant Resolution shout as he came flying after them. The laser barely reached John as he swung around the side of the pillar, just resting there for a second to calm his beating heart. Thel, off in the distance making another by again, Thel fired non-stop into the next armature, the joint starting to crackle and erupting into another explosion. But as it did, the Oracle whipped around, hitting Thel straight in the gut and made him skip across the ground like a rock.
The Spartan pushed from the wall once he was ready, running around the side of the large pillars. Just as John came around the corner, he saw Thel fall to the ground, the Oracle following as it tried to heal itself. John's brow furrowed as he used his grappling hook in the side of the pillar, swinging himself with precision and planted his feet together, acting like a large spear as he collided with the machine. The robot spasms as it tried to escape from being pinned to the wall, John riding it like a bull as he drew his gun and shot the last remaining armature. The Spartan bounced back as Adjutant Resolution screamed, "No! no! noooooo! You cannot do this!" It cried before its body overheated and exploded into a million pieces in a red ball of flame.
John stumbled from the explosion as he raced over to the Elite, groaning as he flipped him over to his back. The Elites golden eyes fluttered as he looked up at the Spartan.
"I have not been hit like that in years." He groaned as he sat up with a wince. John just ran a hand over his shoulder and helped the Sangheili to his feet.
"Welcome to the club." He said as he looked around, brushing his hands together as the pillars around the room began to lower. The light from the other side poured into the room, illuminating the area.
"Well that's him dealt with… again." Weapon said as she highlighted the console across the room. "There should be an elevator that takes us to the top." The Spartan and his companion just moved to the platform, hitting the button aggressively as he checked his weapon for ammo, he had a couple of rounds left. Thel leaned against the Spartan, his body aching as he shook his neck. John just stood silently on the platform before it began to move.
"I do not know how you continue to find yourself in battle like this."
"It's a speciality of mine." John replied as he looked up, Thel just giving him a fond look.
"I can tell."
As the elevator ascended, they reached the top side of the Spire, daylight pouring in from the structure, two Brute snipers at the end of the walkway and a small group of Grunts in front.
"Looks like we made it… and were not the only ones." John's shoulders sunk. He was getting really tired of this. John and Thel took off together again, just rushing the snipers as they fired their weapons, John arching his arm as he tossed a grenade into the pair, sticking one and blowing him straight back into a wall, ending its life. Thel pulled his sword out, using his long body in his advantage to slice at the grunts that fell to his advances.
The Spartan chased after the last Brute, that turned around to shoot, way too close over the edge as the green giant flew through the air, drop kicking it in the chest and sending it over the edge with a wild shout. John stared at the ceiling of the forerunner structure as he heard the hum of two phantoms.
"Uhh … Chief.." the AI said.
"I hear them." He said as he jumped to his feet, seeing a Spartan Laser. He grabbed for it, throwing the large weapon on his shoulder, Thel already having the same idea with a rocket launcher.
The large flying ships fired at them, John just charging the laser before he popped out from cover. Thel was relentless as he fired off several rockets at the other one, it's engines exploding and crashing into the other, taking it down with it. Thel just let the rocket launcher drop from its side, sighing heavily as he looked at the Spartan with exhaustion. John walked over to the small pedestal as he let Weapon into the system, walking past it to look out over the horizon.
"You sure if it's okay if I do this?"
"If it's safe." He said.
"Or what? You'll just delete me right? Good luck with that." She said in an almost hurt tone. There was silence for a long minute before she spoke again. "Yes it worked. No, there's not a problem. Three. Two. One." Weapon snapped her fingers as she shut down the spire. "And we're done."
"It's never done." John replied as she turned around to retrieve her.
"Explain this to me. I waited six months. I've done everything you asked! I was supposed to be deleted." She said as she held out her arms, spinning around in an exuberant manner. "You're the reason I'm still here.You! All is this? None of it could've been done without me! None of it!" She snapped, turning to the Spartan as she stared him down. "I trusted you! Why can't you do the same?" She pleaded. John turned abruptly, feeling Thel's hand stop him as he leaned in the AI's face.
"You don't understand." He hissed.
"Try me!" She snapped back, her coding across her body flickering in anger.
"Cortana.."
"Is gone! Dead.. all that's left is dust and echoes and sooner or later they'll be gone too." She explained, John looked away, the reality still hurt. He pulled away, just walking away from her, and out of Thel's grasp.
"Will they?" The sound of a pelican's engines roared in the distance, Echo-216 coming over the radio.
"Are you three alive? All the spires are shutting down! You did that right? Did we win or what?"
"They're ready for pickup!" She turned away. "You can leave me here." She said over her shoulder.
"I can't do that." John said as he approached the console again, leaning over it.
"I'm not giving you a choice." She said with a quick tilt of her head. "Try not to get him killed too." She muttered as she motioned to the Pelican floating there.
"Spartan!" Thel shouted as he stepped to the edge of the platform, the AI and the Spartan turning towards the Pelican. The pilot shouting as a red bladed Elite stabbed the pilots console to make the ship go down, Fernando fighting for his life.
The Spartan didn't hesitate as he ran and jumped onto it, grabbing into the side of the cockpit window and began punching at the window. His eyes met the Elite's that turned the control stick to shake him from the shuttle, tossing the Chief back onto the platform.
"Chief!" Weapon shouted, looking down at him in the ground as he quickly got back up, the Pelican flying away rapidly.
"A Spartan killer! He doesn't stand a chance!"
"Track it!" John snapped, the AI grabbing at the air in a frenzy.
"Already doing it!"
"Open a gate, find somewhere close." John said, looking at Thel, he could feel the anger radiating off the man. Thel just readied his gun.
"It's not that simple.."
"Why?" John's voice was dark and heavy with anger.
"Okay.. its kinda simple but risky." She explained.
"We save him or die trying." He huffed as he readied his weapon.
"There's a pretty high chance that could happen. It's hard to lock down the coridinants." Her voice dripping with worry. John turned on his feet, looking back at her as he stared straight ahead before turning his head back. "Do it." He said confidently, Thel joined him at his side. Weapon grunted as her light became brighter, her hands glowing brightly as the gate opened. "Portals open!" She panted, John just held his hand over the console and took the AI. The pair raced for the blue light, disappearing into thin air as it closed behind them.
thanks for all the reviews and watches you guys! It means so much to me! I'm heading back fri my work trip soon so I'll be able to focus more in the story! Still trying to figure out what's going to happen after all of this because I do not want this to end because I have much more that I want to happen. I'll just have to figure it out.
UPDATE:
Listen, I know I make a lot of spelling mistakes. I do the best I can with proofreading, I get that I miss a lot of stuff. I dont have anyone to proofread so if anyone would like to help me out, PM me. I'd appreciate it, thanks.
