WOW! This blew up more than I thought it would've in the last Six days. I thank everyone for Favoriting and Following my story. I would like to make sure everyone knows I'm not the best with grammar and occasionally I'll think I hit a key on my Keyboard but not, or my keyboard will not register that key at that moment. But I'll try my best to make this story as interesting and exciting as I can.
Now that is over I'll also say I'm not a Lore Master for Halo or the continuity of Detective Comics. I'll be mostly basing this off of the Batman the Animated Series, The Arkham Games, Superman the Animated Series, and the animated Justice League cartoon from the early 2000's as I grew up with those and in my opinion are the better depictions of the characters. Even if they downplayed Superman's powers or the Flash's speed I can at least understand that they needed to do so for the story and to give each character a chance to shine.
Thirdly I will be twisting some things to give the Spartans a better chance against some of the more powerful enemies. Mainly a Class 18 Forerunner Combat Skin in this story would be able to go one-on-one with Superman or Darkseide and only get a dent from one hit at their full strength. But with enough hits or tactics either would overcome the Forerunner. This would make Forerunners closer to God's level strength but not 100% on that level and only be a few that could fit that description. Don't worry though. The Spartans would only get a Class 7-12 at most. So then they could take some hits from a full-powered Superman or Darkseide, but unless they have a strategy they would be outmatched and beaten far quicker.
Now that my spiel is over, I hope you enjoy this next chapter. Please leave Reviews or DM me for any ideas and concerns you have. They would help me build the story faster and help to improve it all.
"Normal Speech"
"Internal Thoughts/Comms"
Location/Time/Date
"Gravemind/Brainiac"
Chapter 2
The facility had been empty for so many centuries now hummed with life as the long silent machines buzzed and whirled around the body. Mending and repairing what they could to the biological form before them. When there came a chime that one stopped and floated away from the others, towards a holo video that appeared before them. Showing the Monitor two ships that had now entered the bubble of compressed Slipstream Space that encompassed the facility. Unfortunately, the more damaged ship had begun to break apart a few of its remaining sections that floated away. While the other ship floated as though it was without power, most likely a minor effect on an unprepared ship suddenly pulled in as it was.
"Ah, right on time." A female voice said as the screen closed. Many of the Sentinels shift to look at the Monitor before the order was given. "Recover the Reclaimers to be mended with the first. Isolate their Ancilla for repairs immediately."
Uncharted Space.
June 12, 2553, 01:00
It was quiet, quiet, and lonesome for anyone to endure. No sound beyond the beacon repeating echoes throughout the ship, or rather the HALF a ship they floated within. All power was conserved for the beacon and one Cryotube to keep the sole human aboard alive. Leaving her alone, only her thoughts to keep her focused. But it was those thoughts that kept creeping back to every moment of pain the Gravemind inflicted on her in the darkness of High Charity. Flashes of alien worlds unlike anything she'd seen before, be it Human, Covenant, or Forerunner. Her processors began begging to know what they were like, hungering for the knowledge like a drug. But every time she slipped and allowed her curiosity to try to learn these new environments, she felt more pain coursing through her as she watched the Flood destroy everything. Converting all organic life into nothing but another lump of biomass making up a new Gravemind. Infection forms turning sentient beings, even wild animals were not safe and only provided new potential forms to be used and spread more. She even witnessed Captain Keyes' conversation into the proto Gravemind on Installation 04. His body ripped as his bones and organs were rearranged with other people, Sangheili, and animals to make the mass needed. His final moment of resisting until his mind was swallowed up by the Flood and became part of the same collective consciousness. She felt herself dying. The constant need to learn of these places like a drug only drove her to experience death over and over again. For even when she could hold herself back, it only felt like she was suffocating herself until it slipped.
Cortana gripped her head as she tried to focus, sending out an electrical jolt that washed through every system. Making her suddenly remember she wasn't there. That she had to keep Chief safe . . . keep John safe. "John . . . So that is what you call him . . . Most touching~" She could still hear its words, like fingers on the back of her head. Claws scraped against her scalp and cut into the flesh. The endless ocean of knowledge that her programming wanted to sink into. But she needed to stay afloat, keep herself from drowning. "A tool cast aside, by the wanton hand. For one so easily remade is no concern, one grain among the oceans of sand." Its words echoed again. Trying to turn her trust in humanity, in John, into nothing but hatred and betrayal.
"NOOOOO!" Cortana shouted, sending out a larger burst as she nearly overloaded the systems. Alarms sounded and snapped Cortana back to the present as she brought up holographic panels and swept her hand through them, trying to find the source. "He left us behind! Because I told him to! He'd do it again, we are meant to die! Be replaced! NO! WE ARE MEANT TO LOOK AFTER EACH OTHER! He didn't! HE WENT TO THE ARK INSTEAD OF COMING TO US! HE LEFT US BEHIND!" She kept muttering to herself until she finally found the section of electrical she'd overloaded. "No different than her for making us, just for us to die! If I die, so be it. But I will not be the one to hurt him. Not like HER!" Cortana growled, feeling the same anger, despair, and jealousy the Gravemind had used to probe her mind. Repairing the fault she had caused and all went silent again. How many times has she done this same thing? Felt the beginning of Rampancy started to affect her focus? Her emotions? Too often. It made her worry they'd never be saved, that he wouldn't. That she would be the one to kill him in a moment of anger like that . . . or worse . . . Intentionally.
It hadn't even been half a UEG standard year since Chief went into Cryosleep. Since she began her vigil to watch over him. Since he left her all over again. "Wake me . . . when you need me." His voice was now the one she heard. "You know me. When I make a promise . . ."
"You keep it." She said to herself, they had made a promise to look out for each other. Even when it would've been better to leave her in High Charity, he came back for her. "Only for the Index! That's all he wanted!" She felt part of her saying. But she knew him. John always kept his promises . . . no matter what. So Cortana sat back down on the central pedestal that connected to the Cryotube. Thinking over the fragments of data she had pulled from Installation 04 and 05 so long ago and the Ark. Trying to fit it all together and understand the history beyond the Halos. Maybe that would let her focus on something else.
But it wasn't long after another burst of electricity rushed through the systems. This wasn't caused by Cortana though, it was something that scanned their ship. Cortana looked about in shock, running through the data she could still collect through the remaining sensors of the Forward Unto Dawn. Seemed they were heading towards something, something massive. Cortana moved to activate the release on the Cryotube. Then suddenly she found she had been locked out. "NO!" She shouted as she tried again. But there was something else in the system with her, something that kept her isolated. "NO! I WILL NOT LET YOU TAKE HIM!" She shouted and tried to force her control back to the Cryotube. But this AI was too advanced for even her. It was then that a group of Sentinels pried open the cryo bay doors and entered. Surrounding the Master Chief and her. One of them hovered low and forced extraction of her Data Chip. Pulling her from the systems and allowing the AI full control as the Sentinel held the Chip in one claw-like appendage, before another with a stasis field took it away.
A soft humming was all that could be heard in the room when Six felt himself start to regain consciousness. "Waking from Cryo never had this sound." He thought as his vision returned and he found himself not in the Cryotube, but some strange facility. The high vaulted ceiling was made of strange shining metal and crystal that shifted from sapphire blue to a bronze yellow with every hum. Six jumped to his feet off of the bed he had been laying on, reaching for his MA37 only to grasp air. He cursed under his breath as he stood, naked as the day he underwent his augmentations, not even the skin-tight undersuit was left on him. He looked around for anything he could use to escape. A scanner, control panel, electrical systems, even a seam in the walls he could rip open. But there was nothing! The room was empty. Well, it wasn't empty. For that was when Six spotted two others.
Both of them were humans like him. One shorter than the other, dark skin and hair cut short to the scalp with a thick mustache. The other had to be a Spartan-II. He was as pale as Six, two inches taller, with dark brown hair and many scars. One under his left eye across his cheek and towards his nose with a few freckles that stood out on his skin. But others ran along with his limbs and body. Deep but faded slightly after many years. Surgical scars from the augmentations.
They were both alive from the rising and falling of their chests. So he approached them both and gave them a shake on their shoulders to rouse them. Evidently what had kept him asleep for the removal of his undersuit and wore off also wore off on them, for soon they both groaned. The II jumped up as he had and quickly turned to look at Six. What John saw was another human, a Spartan from the height but he held only augmentation scars as he had. Just some small circular scarring along his legs and arms, as well as the sides of his head. Hair cut short like his to the point it almost looked bald, piercing blue eyes. The eyes and scars were the telltale signs that this was a Spartan-III. "Most of them died on Reach." He thought, remembering the reports he had looked over after he first returned to UNSC space and heard from Fred and Kelly. Then he heard a groan all too familiar to him. "Sergeant." John said in a neutral tone, which Six noticed was closer to a shout of shock for a Spartan, as he turned to see the Sergeant Major steady rising to his feet.
"Chief? Christ, my head." Johnson muttered as he stood as well. Opening his eyes and looking at the two Spartans. "As happy as I am to wake up and not still be cooked by Tinkerbell. I don't swing that way, boys." He said, making the two of them raise their eyebrows as he chuckled at their reaction. But he shook his head and looked around. "Where the hell are we?" He asked.
"Looks Forerunner," John said, now looking around the facility as well. "Last I knew I was in the Dawn's Cryo Bay. The portal from the Ark had collapsed and cut the ship in half, leaving us flowing in space."
"So, I take it the Arbiter was in the other half of the ship? Unless he was taken to a different room than us." Johnson replied, walking towards what looked like the door and tapping his knuckles against the frame. Finding it was solid as any Forerunner, recently maintained. Certainly more so than the Floor research facility on Installation 04 had been.
"He had gone to the bridge after we narrowly boarded the Dawn. I was nearly knocked out of it when Cortana pushed the engines to full power." Said John. "But how are you here? Your body was still in the control room of the replacement Halo, and the Ring was falling apart when we activated it."
"ENOUGH!" Shouted Six, "You two might know what the hell is going on and fit everything together between yourselves. But I don't. Who are you? What is this place? What are you going on about?" He asked, hating to be left out of the loop and dragged along. Bad enough his last memories were of Reach burning and him escaping it all.
"Alright, kid. Names: Sergeant Major Avery Junior Johnson. Service number: 48789-20114-AJ." Johnson said, sitting back down on his bed as he rubbed his hand from the knock. Then Six turned to John.
"Designation: Sierra-117, Master Chief Petty Officer John-117." Replied the Master Chief. That was all Six got out of him. But it was also all he needed.
"THE Spartan huh? Never thought I'd meet you." Six said, "Designation: Spartan B-312. Name . . . just call me Six. Formerly part of Noble Team on Reach."
"Noble Team? You were part of the team that brought Cortana to the Pillar of Autumn!" Johnson shouted, "Are you that Spartan that shot down the Cruiser before we took off?!" He asked, getting a single nod from Six. That made Johnson laugh aloud and slam his hand down on his bed. "God damn! That was some good shooting! Banshees and Phantoms swarming the Mass Driver, only to blow up two, three at a time! And the gut punch that brought that sucked down! BAM!" He exclaimed. Remembering the last moments of Reach, though Six didn't remember seeing the Sergeant anywhere along the route to the ship. "Wish I had gone with Keyes for the pickup. But I was needed on the other side of the Autumn till the captain gave the order to pull back."
"I see. So this . . . Cortana . . . That was the AI I handed off to the captain?" Six asked, this time he was the one to get a nod. From both Johnson and the Master Chief. "Okay. Then what is the Arbiter? What is a Forerunner? A Halo? And the Ark?" The Spartan-III now asked the questions burning in his mind. For if these two had gotten the AI he had delivered to the captain . . . then how long had he been out for? How long had he been here? And where is Dot?
"That . . . is a very long story," John said, not liking to think back of his time on the first Halo Ring. Neither did Johnson, having been nearly infected by the Flood during that initial contact like Captain Keyes and all of his men. But if this Spartan-III was the one Chosen by Cortana to take her to the Autumn and helped in their escape. Then he'd been out for nearly a year . . . and he deserved to know. "But first, I'd like to know how you got off of Reach."
Not far from the Spartans in the facility, many robotic arms shifted as they combed over the two Data Chips recovered from the ship. "Such a fascinating containment unit. Able to hold an Ancilla more extensive than one would expect considering their Combat Skins are only Class 2 at best. Not to mention the Battle Harness of the other Reclaimer would barely qualify for a Class 1." The Monitor said as she hovered from the Data Chips to the Combat Skins held in a containment area. The MJOLNIR was taken apart piece by piece as each individual piece for study and enhancement by Huragoks. Those were the orders given to the Monitor, as well as the sterilization of the Combat Skins and Reclaimers for any outside particulates. Especially for any Flood spores that may have traveled with the older of the Reclaimers.
It had been too long since they had had any organic beings. But Offensive Bias had chosen these three. The first Reclaimer had been in such a critical condition when he had arrived some months ago, they had to keep him in suspended animation as they repaired his body. Then the second Reclaimer had drawn Offensive Bias' attention with the destruction of Installation 04, then again when his sensors found him again on the Keyship and later the Ark. Containing the Flood outbreak from Installation 05 on the Ark itself wasn't something they agreed with. But it was necessary to sever the connection to the Gravemind and allow the Ark's Sentinels to begin eradicating the remaining infestation under the containment shield. But perhaps another burst from a fully completed Installation would reach deep enough to purge the last of it and render the Ark safe once more.
Currently, though her task had her focused on the rehabilitation of the Reclaimers, and the repair of the Ancilla that helped save the humans. The Huragoks shifted through the Ancilla Cortana's memory banks and processors. Purging the early form of the Logic Plague that had begun to take root within her and deleted all memory of her conversation with the Gravemind. Better to remove those entirely, as any remnant of her experience would be a rampant growth that would steadily build and take over all over again. It was no different with the fragments of Mendicant Bias. Though with Mendicant Bias' assistance towards the Reclaimer would bring about a need to review his actions with the primitives and attempts to reach humanity early that caused the war between them.
When the last corrupted fragment had been replaced and deleted the Monitor allowed Cortana to project herself above the Data Chip. "Ancilla? Do you remember your designation?"
"Reclaimer? Wait! What's going on?! Where is Chief!?" Cortana shouted as her sensors picked up that she wasn't in the Forward Unto Dawn. "What have you done to him!?"
"Calm yourself, Ancilla." The Monitor said, floating down closer to look Cortana in the 'eyes'. "My designation is: 13042 Enduring Fortitude. Monitor of Shield World 0734 - Aegis. You flagged for a possible Logic Plague corruption and needed to be detained to purge it from your systems. Your Reclaimer is alive and recovering. But first, please answer my inquiries."
Cortana seemed to regard the Monitor for a while, trying to shift through the data she had. That was when she noticed there had been some tampering with her data banks. New data had been added, but core data about the UNSC had not been tampered with. Only her time on High Charity. Running over the data with what she had about the Forerunners' history and Mendicant Bias made her FEEL nervous, or as close to it as she could. Had she come close to becoming no different than Mendicant? "I am UNSC Artificial Intelligence Serial Number CTN0452-9. Designation: Cortana."
"Excellent! Now, do you remember your last deployment with the Reclaimer?" EF asked. Wanting to make sure there was no damage to the Ancilla's memory banks.
"Previous deployment was on Installation 00. Designation: The Ark or Lesser Ark." Cortana replied.
"Success!" EF exclaimed as she bounced up high and spun in the air. "Seems recorded deployment still matches up."
"That's good. Here I was worried a Forerunner AI would be the worst of my worries, and I was right." Cortana said with dry sarcasm.
"A necessary shutdown and data bank purge. Only for the removal of any interaction between an Ancilla and a Gravemind. If any Ancilla runs a risk of falling to-" EF continued, only to be interrupted by Cortana.
"The Logic Plague. I understand that." Cortana said, giving a heavy sigh as she pinched the bridge of her nose. Thinking everything over. The Covenant had already discovered the location of Earth. Rendering the Cole Protocol is no longer effective for the preservation of all data concerning Earth. But all data concerning UNSC access codes and other known installations would be a concern to HIGHCOM and ONI. But this wasn't one of the Covenant races or one of the Insurrectionists that had tampered with her memory banks.
The three Spartans, or rather Two Spartans and the Orion-I Subject, went over all the events they had personal knowledge of. From the fall of Reach to the discovery of Alpha Halo, its function, the Flood outbreak, and the Halo's destruction. The Covenant stumbling upon Earth and fleeing to Delta Halo, the Gravemind, the Covenant suffering from a Civil War, to the battle for Earth and the Ark. Six remained silent after he told them of Noble Team's deployment during the fall of Reach after he had stayed behind and fought for two weeks to slow the Covenant. What interested them the most was the strange message he had received and the mark he saw at Camp Hathcock. Six described the symbol as best he could without anything to draw it from memory. But the Master Chief and Johnson thought they knew what he had seen, the symbol for Reclaimer.
"Reclaimer? This alien species, these Forerunners left all their technology behind for us to discover?" Six asked, wrapping his head around it all. But he remembered Dr. Halsey's words at the ancient ship under the ice near Sword Base. "If only they left it near Earth and we could've cracked earlier. Things would've been different." He thought before his mind shifted to the . . . Alliance with the hinge-heads. His knuckles turned white as he clenched his fists and he scowled. "And this Arbiter only rebelled against the Prophets when his race was betrayed? Leading us to make an alliance with them." He continued, getting a nod from the Chief.
"As much as Lord Hood might not have wanted to, even I wouldn't have if we had no other choice." Cut in Johnson. Seeing the Spartan-III's anger and knowing they had most likely been conscripted from orphans caused by the war. "Fits O.N.I. all too well." He thought, remembering when he and 299 others volunteered for the Orion Project when he was still early in his career. Many of the soldiers suffered from mental issues caused by the enhancement and some were disappointing entirely. He was one of the lucky ones to at least come out of it better than the others. "But we didn't have any choice. We didn't have the manpower to fight three enemies and stop Truth from activating the rings."
Six was still mulling everything over in his head. The Covenant slaughtered BILLIONS, Glassed almost a HUNDRED worlds, hunted his team down to butcher all Spartans . . . and now we are at peace. "Follow orders. Follow orders." He chanted in his mind, crushing down his emotions to the deepest pit he could. "If command still wishes for there to be positive relations between us if and when we return. Then I will follow my orders." He said. But he had known O.N.I. for too many years. They wouldn't simply leave a variable outside their control or test how much they could control it. He'd be ordered against them. He knew it . . . he hoped for it.
"Well I guess that's our stories all wrapped back together. But I'd still like how the hell am I here? and where the hell are we?" Johnson asked.
"You are all on Shield World 0734 - Aegis." Cut in a new voice from above, drawing their attention towards the ceiling to see a Monitor pop through an opening that closed behind. The tone of the voice was different from Guilty Spark or Penitent Tangent, sounding closer to what they would call feminine. "I am 13042 Enduring Fortitude. Monitor of this installation. I apologize for leaving you all in suspended animation for so long. Quarantine protocols needed to be followed and all potential Flood Spores from your encounters on the Ark needed to be purged, and your physical conditions needed to be evaluated and tended to." The Monitor said, floating down next to the three. The Master Chief and Johnson tensed up after their last interaction with a monitor. Especially when Sentinels entered from ports in the walls, one of which floated between Six and John. Holding two data chips in a small claw that extended towards them.
John and Six both took them without saying a word. "What did you do to Cortana?" John said, his voice even but holding a slight edge. Not trusting the monitor after the betrayals of Guilty Spark and fighting too many Sentinels because of both times.
"She had been flagged for the Logic Plague when scanned." EF said, "Protocol dictates immediate lockdown for any Ancilla believed to have been in the presence of a Gravemind, and for any systems believed to contain the Logic Plague to be purged." At that, John clenched his fist around the Data Chip as he stared at it for a time. "As Offensive Bias watched you and your connection to this Ancilla, it was dictated that the preservation of non-contaminated systems."
"She's right, Chief." Cortana's voice came as the data chip lit up. Making John open his palm as she projected a hologram over it. "I had been starting to enter the first stages of Rampancy. Though I'm sure my time on High Charity also played into forcing that bit along." She said, seeming to alleviate some of the Master Chief's animosity.
But Six still was wary, Cortana had been the AI to choose him to get her back to the Autumn. But now she had been tampered with by non-UNSC individuals. "Then what did you do to Dot?" He asked, his words holding no less venom as he held the Data Chip for the one sole member of his team he had left.
"Her systems suffered damage from Offensive Bias' temporary nullification of her awareness and halting her memory purge." Replied EF as she floated closer to Six. Making him take a small step back as his body readied to fight. "Such was not unexpected. But Offensive Bias believed, with some reinforced evidence of the Reclaimer and his Ancilla, that should the need arise he'd wanted to get you to safety and attempt to pair you with a similar Ancilla. With this one being more familiar to you, it was deemed necessary to halt its destruction and enhance its capabilities."
Six stared at the Monitor, his eyes narrowing slightly as he remembered Johnson's and Chief's story. The Monitors seemed to be more friendly towards humans than the Covenant, but they had their own agendas as well. So long as the two ran together there were minimal problems with interacting with them. "So this . . . Offensive Bias. It was the one who sent the message to me on Reach? Cleared Camp Hathcock?" He asked.
"Indeed. Offensive Bias keeps fragments of himself across major installations and the Halo Array to ensure all Monitors are following protocol." Fortitude replied. "When Cortana was accessing the archives on one of the ships he had commanded she piqued his interest. So he had a Sentinel follow until you passed her off. Then you were the one to hold his interest."
That didn't sit well with Six, being watched and sent along like a dog to a bone by something he'd never seen or heard of before. "And why did I get his interest?" He asked, wanting to understand why this Forerunner wanted him here.
"I do not know. Perhaps your combat effectiveness. Offensive Bias is mostly focused on Flood containment. Even when Installation 05 suffered from its containment breach Offensive Bias sent many Sentinels to help contain it again, even pondered activating the Halo itself if need be to stop it from spreading. Perhaps you reminded him of someone before the array was lit." Answered Fortitude
That didn't help Six feel any more trusting. But he didn't have much of a choice without his MJOLNIR, so he'd play friends with this alien AI . . . until it proved itself. "Well, it's really sweet that an AI is fawning over Six here." Said Johnson, cutting in before Six could continue to question the Monitor and try to see if he could get any more information. "But how the hell am I here? Last I remember was dying in the control room of the Ring over the Ark and then waking up here!"
"A similar intent if I was to guess. Offensive Bias can issue minor orders to a selection of Sentinels on each installation and has superseding authorization over the Monitors." Fortitude said, "Given your synergy with the other Reclaimer, and the primitive with you, Offensive Bias ordered your recovery before the pulse and placed you in suspended animation until you arrived here." She then projected a hologram of Johnson's body and showed the severity of the burns and internal damage Guilty Spark had inflicted. "The damage your body suffered dictated you be immediately moved to one of the Shield worlds the Warrior servants used to recover from more debilitating injuries during their war with Ancient Humanity and the Flood."
"Are you telling me that we fought with the Forerunners, got beaten, and they decided to hand us their toys after they fired the rings?!" Johnson asked, shocked as he never heard that before. The Master Chief and Six were no less surprised.
"That's right, Sergeant." Cortana was the one to reply this time. "Humanity was once on par with the Forerunners in many ways, making them a Tier 1 civilization. The flood first formed in Human space, pushing them to flee and find new planets to inhabit. Forcing them into conflict with the Forerunners when Humanity purged Flood infected Forerunner planets and invading non-infected planets." she continued, bringing up some holograms to show an Ancient Human to show they were taller than even Kurt had been to both John and Six. "In the end, the Forerunners defeated humanity and their San'Shyuum allies. Though humanity also sacrificed one-third of their population they modified with a cure for the Flood to the parasite to stop its spreading-"
"Hold it, Cortana! Now you're telling us that the worm-neck Prophets, the same ones who orchestrated the genocide of Humanity, were allied with us once upon a time?!" Johnson cut in again, Six though took note of that.
"So it would seem. Records state it seemed to be mutual cooperation between our species at that time." Cortana said, before waving her hand and dismissing the hologram. "There's so much data about this. I couldn't even go over all the details in a day. But I'll go over all the data with you all later. For now, how about you three dressed and have something to eat?" She asked. The Spartans give a nod after a while.
"If this place has anything to eat or there's anything recovered from the Dawn or Six's Prowler," Johnson says, feeling his stomach been empty since he woke up. But his own enhancements from the original Orion project kept it off his mind for the last few hours. "Don't know if the Forerunners ate anything similar to anything we consider good. Never saw anything considered food on the Halos or the Ark."
"Actually the Forerunners were Non-Ethical Vegetarianism, eating nuts and berries mostly. Though their Combat Skins and Battle Harnesses were often all they needed to sustain themselves." Cortana Clarified.
"Well, if there's still rations I'll take those more than alien berries." Replied Johnson as he stood up from the bed. Stretching his limbs as the Monitor and sentinels felt through the same entry points they had arrived through.
One of the doors opened up and lit the hallway with a soft light that blinked in the direction of what would be considered the Armory. It was in fact the same room the Monitor had repaired both Cortana and Dot. As there stood both sets of MJOLNIR and Johnson's armor. The MJOLNIR looked different than Six and John had worn before, seeming like the sets of Mark VII Six had seen while still in development at O.N.I. but still tailored to his height. The overall esthetic reminded him of his Mark V[B] helmet and chest with Emile's Kukri on his left breast and his own knife tucked into his boot, with what looked similar to FJ/PARA knee guards, the Shoulders like the ODST variants, the TACPAD remained on the left forearm and the Tactical Hardcase on its left thigh. Every piece of armor and the visor was a shade of black that blended into the shadows, yet shifted to a shade of grey in the light.
The Master Chief's Mark VI looked bulkier, the change between the Mark VI that he had been wearing and this new armor didn't go unnoticed by John. The look of it reminded the Spartan-II of his old Mark IV with the same Drab Olive color and golden visor. "What happened to the MJOLNIR?" John asked Cortana as he held her Data Chip up.
"I see your nap hasn't made you forget the old look." She said as she appeared above the chip. "This is what we call GEN-III MJOLNIR. While you all were still recovering I decided to dictate the time to experiment with my mother's designs for the GEN-II. Thanks to the Monitor's input, these suits are more powerful than any other MJOLNIR you'd find. On the Class scale, I'd put these two at a 7 with room to improve."
At that, John raised an eyebrow before looking at the armor again. He had wanted a chance to test one of the Forerunner's Power Armor suits since he first heard Spark call his Mark V only a 'Class 2' and the Mark VI the SAME Classification. "Now the kids know what they're getting. What did you get me for Christmas?" Johnson cut in as he looked at his old BDUs to see they didn't look much different than he had worn before on Delta Halo. Save for now having added bicep armor and a metal plate over the crotch.
"I did what improvements I could, though it was more difficult in the smaller plating. But I was able to add a minor shielding system to it, active cameo, and minor strength and reflect enhancements by a factor of 3," Cortana said, bringing up holograms off all three to show the improvements as Chief set her chip down on what they considered a weapons bench. "A Small grappling hook in the left wrist for each platform, and energy daggers in the right wrist as well."
"Impressive." Six said, starting to put on the undersuit and feeling more comfortable. Same as John when he suited up. Then they stepped into the armor rack and allowed the mechanical arms to bolt the plates back on. But Six noticed a slot in the back of his helmet just like the Master Chief's. Watching Chief place Cortana's chip into that same slot after his helmet sealed around his head. Six held up Dots chip and did the same. Felt like Icy cold water surged through his nerves before the sensation stopped.
"Six? It is good to see you again." He heard Dot say within his helmet. Though something in her voice was different from what he remembered on the Prowler before.
"Dot, Status report." Six ordered, "What did the Forerunner AI do?"
"I apologize for not speaking along with Cortana." Dot said, that made Six raise an eyebrow under his helmet. "I'm . . . FEELING . . . things that I wasn't programmed for. Logistics and tactics were all I have known before. Not I have EMOTIONS that I have no reference for. It is strange." She said.
