Okay. Big time apologies for the delay and for having take this chapter down for a time. Schoolwork is responsible for the former and the latter can be blamed on technical difficulties (the Document Manager was being a bitch). I'll try to have the next chapter out sooner, but no promises.
Before we proceed, one thing I'd like to address is why there is no Shepard in this fic. It's a radical change and one that warrants an explanation. Well, here's the thing. Shepard is a blank slate. He can be anything you want him to be. He can be a by-the-book paragon or a ruthless renegade. He could be a wise-cracking irishman, or a bad-ass with a heart of gold. He can be a biotic warrior who studies Confucious or a warrior poet who keeps a samurai sword in a locker in his quarters. Bottom line; he can be whatever you want him to be, cuz he's a clean slate. So when I tossed around the idea of a Halo / Mass Effect crossover I thought "Hey, if I can make Shepard into whatever I want, why not make him Master Chief?" And voila! This fanfic was born.
Alright. Let's do this before anything else comes to screw it up.
...
1834 Hours, February 16th, 2683
SSV Mt. Everest
Undisclosed Location in the Ismar Frontier
...
As Captain Anderson guided Master Chief through the corridors of the MSV Mt. Everest, the dock personnel immediately stopped what they were doing and stared. The marines, the engineers, the medical staff, the custodial staff; EVERYONE stopped whatever they were in the middle of doing to get a good look at the Master Chief. Chief didn't mind the looks. He learned a long time ago that when you're a SPARTAN-II, people tend to stare at you. It didn't even phase him anymore at this point. At the moment, Chief was more interested in his current surroundings.Everything was so...different. The armor of the soldiers seemed more like a lightweight kevlar, while the armor of the UNSC marines of old were rather hobbled together and messy-looking by comparison. Most of the deck workers wore blue jumpsuits, which seemed to be more skin-tight than those of the deck workers in his day. Even the interior of the ship was different. The walls were a calming shade of blue as opposed to militaristic grey, and had an overall more organic and circular look to it. While it was more pleasing aesthetically, the Chief silently hoped that practicality and combat efficiency weren't given up in exchange. As Anderson guided Chief to Admiral Hackett's quarters, the Spartan de-activated his helmet's speakers, allowing him to chat with Cortana in private.
"So let me get this straight." the Spartan began. "We're in the future."
"The year 2683, to be precise." Cortana replied in a timely manner as always.
Chief shook his head slightly. "You've gotta be kidding me..."
"Yeah, I know. It's like a plot device out of a poorly written sci-fi." Cortana said. "But...just take a look around. New uniforms, new ships, new aliens, new everything. The eyes don't lie. As ridiculous as it sounds, we're in the future."
"But how?" Chief asked. "Cryo-sleep preserves you for long, but not THAT long."
"Your guess is as good as mine, Chief." Cortana said. "It's a mystery. Bottom line is, we're in the 27th century now."
Chief thought about the AI's words for a bit. Then; "New aliens...where do we stand with them? And what about the Covenant?"
"The new aliens call themselves Turians and are allies of humanity...or so they say." Cortana explained. "As for the Covenant, I have no idea. The UNSC seems to have recovered well since the war; that much is obvious. Hopefully, this Admiral Hackett will have all the answers."
A few seconds afterward, Anderson and the Chief arrived at an elevator. The door opened and the two stepped inside. Anderson pressed some buttons, taking the elevator to Deck 3, where the Admiral's quarters were located. Chief elicited a sigh. He always hated elevator rides. They always took so damn long. Still, at least this elevator wasn't as slow as the one on the Pillar of Autumn. THAT elevator was slower than continental drift.
The elevator stopped at Deck 3 and Anderson led the chief outside. From the large hologram of the ship and its surroundings rising out of a large panel, Chief quickly recognized this part of the ship as the CIC. They walked past the hologram (the Chief earning even more awed stares on the way) past the communications room and eventually to the door leading to the Admiral's office. Anderson turned to the chief.
"The Admiral is just inside. He'll answer any and all questions you and Cortana have." He said. He then gave a quick salute, and returned to his post. Chief took a breath and entered, the doors opening with a swish. It was a fairly standard office for a fleet Admiral. A desk with a personal computer, a bed, a closet, practically a hotel suite compared to where the rest of the crew sleeps. Behind the desk sat Admiral Stephen Hackett, who immediately looked up from what looked like a datapad the moment Chief entered the room.
He was old, his skin wrinkled to the point of looking like leather. He had a neatly trimmed mustache-beard combo that was white as snow. Finally, a long scar ran down the right side of his face; likely a momento from when he was lower down on the chain of command a long time ago. He stared at the hulking human, as many others did since he came aboard.
"Master Chief..." the Admiral finally said. "Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I'd meet you in person." His speaking wasn't awed, despite the words. More matter-of-fact. Chief liked that.
Chief clicked his helmet's speakers back on so he could talk. "Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I'd wake up in the future." he countered.
Hackett smiled at that. He gestured to a chair. "Have a seat, son." The SPARTAN-II looked at the offered seat, a chair in front of the desk, analyzing it. He turned back to the Admiral.
"I think it'd be better if I stood, sir. For obvious reasons." Chief replied. Indeed. He'd probably crush that chair with his bulk the way it was.
"Alright then." Hackett nodded before putting his datapad away. He then gave the Spartan his full, undivided attention. "You probably have a lot of questions for me. Where would you like to start?"
"Well for one thing, I don't suppose you Futurists have come up with a time machine of some kind. I'd like to be sent back to my own time." Chief said in a half-amused tone. He was actually kind of hoping there was an actual time machine.
"While Humanity has made considerable technological advancements since 2552, time travel is still a long way off for us. Sorry Chief, but it looks like you're stuck here." the Admiral answered.
"Great." Chief replied, sounding less-than-thrilled. Chief paused as he briefly contemplated what his next question should be. Everything was so different. Where should he begin? He took a look around the room, once again noting how the architecture was more aesthetically pleasing than those of 26th century ships. He turned to the Admiral. "I see that the UNSC has done well for itself since the end of the war."
Hackett nodded. "Indeed. We've recovered well. Most of the colony worlds that were destroyed in the Human-Covenant war have been re-colonized and rebuilt. Some worlds still bare the scars, but for the most part, we're back at full strength and then some."
"Glad to hear." Chief said with a nod.
"Though...we don't go by the name UNSC anymore." Hackett added. "We're the HSA now. Human Systems Alliance."
"Why the name change?" Chief asked.
"Well, it's a long story so I'll give you the short version. Once we started colonizing worlds again, we didn't want a repeat of the outer colony rebellions." Hackett began. "So rather than try to enforce them through martial law, we did some social reforms to improve colonial life across the board. Gave outer colony governors more say in Human politics, better schools, better living conditions, that kind of thing. That required us to completely re-think the way we governed Human space. We ended up completely redesigning the UNSC from the ground up. After such radical changes and now with several alien species as our allies, we decided it was only fitting to give our inter-stellar government a new name."
Chief considered the Admiral's words, then nodded. Granted, he had grown used to UNSC, so calling it the HSA would take some time before he got used to it. But at the end of the day, it was still humanity. As Shakespeare once said; 'Is a rose by any other name not just as lovely?' But then, he considered Hackett's last sentence; about alien allies.
"What about the Covenant? What happened to them?" Chief asked as his thoughts suddenly drifted to his old foes. Hackett sighed.
"Brace yourself, Chief. You might not like what your about to hear." Hackett said. Chief nodded, telling Hackett to go ahead. Hackett sighed again before answering. "The Covenant splintered shortly after the war and is now no more. However, most of its former member races are now allies of Humanity, with the exception of the Brutes and the Prophets."
Chief had to pause after that. Did he just say allies? With Covenant races. He shook his head in disbelief.
"Allies?" he asked. Hackett nodded. Chief shook his head again. "Okay. I guess I could see us being friendly with the elites since they did help us in the Battle of the Ark. I could even see us being friendly with some of the grunts. But the hunters? And the drones and the jackals?"
"Keep in mind, Chief. You've been gone for 130 years. A lot of hatchets can be buried in that amount of time." Hackett replied.
Chief was still having trouble believing what he was hearing. "Maybe you should start from the beginning. Tell me everything that's happened since I went into cryo." Chief said.
"Alright." Hackett said. He took a deep breath before he began. "After the war ended, we slowly but surely rebuilt our empire. Ended up befriending the former covenant races one by one, except the Brutes and Prophets. Some species just can't let go of the past apparently. They've both been exiled to the Brute homeworld of Doisac, but Brute pirates and raiders are still a problem to this day. Anyway, we allied ourselves with those other races. The Sangheili shared their knowledge of plasma technology with us, Kig-Yar ran several trade routes..."
"I'm sorry, hold on." Chief interrupted. "Sangheili? Kig-Yar?"
"The real species names of the elites and jackals respectively." Hackett answered. "It's...no longer politically correct to call them by their marine-given monikers."
"Political Correctness? He's worried about offending a jackal?" Cortana commented. She didn't speak through the helmet's speakers so only Chief heard her. "Wow. This IS a different galaxy."
Chief did not acknowledge Cortana's comment and nodded at the Admiral to continue. "Anyway, we allied with the former covenant races one by one, and we were exploring space again. It was a new golden age of recovery, peace, and prosperity. Then, in the year 2648, we made a huge discovery. Element Zero."
Chief paused, his attention caught. "Element Zero?"
"Found a whole cache of the stuff on a planet covered in ancient ruins. They weren't as old as Forerunner ruins, but at 50,000 years, they were still pretty old. Found a way to make technology out of it; the most notable of which is an FTL drive that's now in use today. Not as fast as slipspace, but it gets the job done."
Chief was taken aback by that comment. "If slipspace is superior, why don't we still use it sir?"
Hackett sighed again, more out of frustration than anything else. "Mostly because the Citadel Council won't allow it. Apparently, they're not too keen on the idea of slicing open a portal in the space-time continuum. Too dangerous, they said. Element Zero is what everyone else uses and they got by just fine on it. They say we should too." Hackett grimaced. "Personally, I think they did it to try and pull our teeth."
Chief once again paused. "Citadel Council, sir?"
"I'll explain that bit when we get to it." Hackett answered. "Anyway, when we found that cache of Element Zero, we also found coordinates. Those coordinates lead us to this." Hackett said as he turned his computer screen around. Chief leaned in to take a closer look. It was unlike anything he had ever seen before. It was a structure that looked a bit like a tuning fork with several antennas sticking out from the top. In the center of the arms was pair of swirling rings orbiting what looked like a floating core of pure blue energy.
"What is that?" Chief asked.
"It's a called a mass relay. We found it at those coordinates that were provided at the ruins." Hackett began. "Took us to an entirely different part of the galaxy in the blink of an eye, a trip that would've taken months by slipspace. Years even."
"After we discovered and activated that mass relay, we realized that everything that had happened up until that point; the war with the covenant, the flood, everything was restricted to one little cluster of stars. A single gallon of water out of an entire lake, if not an ocean." Hackett explained. "Galaxy is big, Chief. Far bigger than anyone in your time ever realized."
Chief digested this fact for a moment. He decided to listen to more. "Then what happened?"
"We just discovered a whole new part of the galaxy that was easily accessible." Hackett resumed. "Unsurprisingly, a new era of wonder and exploration began. Humanity and every race allied with it began colonizing worlds like they were going out of style. We settled, we explored, we traded, life is good." The Admiral paused. "Course, it was only a matter of time when we made contact with a new alien race. And we did. Unfortunately, much like with the covenant, it was less than peaceful."
Chief flexed at this. Was there another war going on? He had to know. "Who attacked us?"
"A race called the Turians." Hackett answered. "In 2657, they attacked us while we were trying to activate another dormant mass relay we found. Activating dormant relays is illegal for them. They then traced us to Shanxi, one of the worlds we settled. They invaded it, took it over and occupied it. Alliance brass had reason to believe that they planned on using it as a staging planet, to gear up for a war."
"Chief, the Turians are the aliens who were there when you woke up." Cortana silently told her spartan. "The ones who are allegedly our 'buddies.'" Chief stiffened a bit at this. He would've asked, but he didn't want to interrupt the Admiral further. Hackett continued.
"We managed to launch a counter-attack to retake the planet. As per a treaty agreement upon finding the first mass relay, all races of our home cluster, humanity included, would join together to counter any hostile alien force that attacked even one of us. The former races of the Covenant honored that agreement by joining us in that counter-attack. I was there."
"You were?" Chief asked.
"I was captain of a frigate, the Harvest. She was a good ship." Hackett answered. "We did some atmosphere work, mostly picking up and dropping off marines, as well as the occasional bombing run. But the little ground action I did see, I remember well. Human marines storming Turian fire bases, supported by Sangheili and Unggoy troops. Kig-Yar snipers defending key positions. Mgalekgolo bond brothers blowing Turian armored vehicles to bits. They all had roles to play and they played them well on Shanxi. I know you can't easily forgive those races for what they did. But what they did was a long time ago. Things are different now."
Chief said nothing, only nodded. Friendly covvies. The SPARTAN-II would believe it once he saw it for himself.
"Anyway, it was a long campaign, about two months, before the Turians finally withdrew. They then started preparations for a full-scale war. It looked like it was going to be a repeat of the Human-Covenant War. Fortunately, the Citadel Council intervened."
"The Citadel Council are the big cheeses, Chief. Pretty much the presidents of every world of every race allied with them, which is about half of the known galaxy. They managed to get the Turians to back off and negotiated a peaceful solution. Now Humans, Sangheili, Unggoy, Kig-Yar, Lekgolo, Yan'mee and Hurogok are now citadel races, each having their own embassy on the Citadel; a huge space station that acts as the cultural and political hub of Citadel space."
"26 years later, in 2683...we find you." Hackett finished. "Any more questions?"
"So...the Turians?" Chief asked.
"Officially our allies. But tensions still linger." Hackett replied. "And they're not the only alien race. Asari, Salarians, Volus, Elcor, just to name a few. Anything else?"
There were actually many more questions the Chief still had. What became of Halo? And the Flood? What are all the new aliens like? Hell, he still had some trouble wrapping his head around the idea of Humanity being friendly with aliens, let alone the ones that almost drove them to extinction. But he didn't want to waste time asking questions. He actually wanted to take a look around the ship, to get a sense of what this new century was like. Most important of all, he wanted to see the improvements made to weapons.
"That's all for now. I'll probably have more questions for you in the future Admiral, but I don't want to waste any more of your time." Chief replied. "I'd like to take a look around the ship, if you don't mind."
"Of course." Hackett nodded. "But before you go, there's one more thing you need to be made aware of. It's about Cortana."
"What about me?" Cortana chimed in, speaking through the Chief's helmet speakers. Hackett was taken aback for a moment, but quickly regained his composure.
"Having you still functioning could present a problem, Cortana." the Admiral began. "AI's like you are illegal in Citadel Space. Needless to say, the Council aren't going to be too happy about your existence."
Cortana paused at that. "Illegal, sir?"
"Like slipspace, the Council thinks AI's are too dangerous. When Humanity joined the Citadel races, we had to get rid of both of them. Since then, AI production has ceased."
Chief grimaced underneath his helmet. The Citadel Council, which was apparently run by aliens, had forced Humanity to get rid of their two biggest advantages in space exploration for no good reason other than it was just 'illegal.' He didn't know a thing about any of the new aliens yet, and he already didn't like them.
"What's...going to happen to me?" Cortana asked in a worried tone.
Hackett sighed. "I'm not sure. You don't seem to harbor any ill will towards organics the way most AI's do. Maybe the Council will be lenient towards you because of that. But...I don't think it's very likely that they'll let you stay with the Chief."
For the first time in a long time, Chief felt anger. Real, genuine anger. Cortana was, for all intents and purposes, his best friend. For the last two years, she's been with him for the best of times and the worst of times. When he fought through High Charity, he wasn't just doing it to get Halo's activation index. He did it to get her. He clenched his fists.
"Nobody is taking Cortana." Chief defiantly stated.
"I'm sorry, Chief. But it's out of my hands." Hackett replied. He meant it when he said he was sorry. Cortana was just as much of a hero to humanity as Chief was. She deserved to stay with him, no matter what happened.
"Hold on. I have an idea." Cortana suddenly said. Both Hackett and Chief paused their respective sorrow and anger to listen to what she had to say.
"Admiral. You can't hand me over to the Council...because you've already deleted me." the AI said. Hackett was confused at first. "Turns out 131 years in data storage have made me rampant. You had to shut me down. Chief didn't like it, but it was the only way. You knew I would've wanted it that way."
Hackett's eyes widened when he realized what Cortana was suggesting. "You know, I think you might actually be rampant to even be suggesting something like that."
"With all due respect Admiral, but I'm not going anywhere." Cortana stated. The words made it sound like a defiant declaration, but Hackett could tell from her tone that it was more like a humble request.
"What about the marines? And the Turians? They saw you operating just fine on the Dawn." He pointed out.
"You know how rampant AI's are. They can be very sneaky." Cortana elaborated. Hackett sighed in defeat.
"Fine. I'll write in my report that you were found to be rampant and you were quickly deleted." the Admiral said as he began typing on his computer. "FYI, if you and Chief get caught, the Alliance will deny everything. Knowledge, involvement, everything. You two will be on your own."
"Well then, guess we'll just have to avoid getting caught." Cortana said in her usual cheerful demeanor. Chief smiled. The AI could be very wily when she wanted to be.
"Well Chief, unless you and Cortana have any further questions, you're dismissed." Hackett said.
"Sir." Chief said before firing off a quick salute. The SPARTAN-II then turned on his heels and walked out of the office.
It was about a five-day journey from the Ismar Frontier to Earth. Chief spent the first day taking a look around the ship, wanting to get a feel for how Human ships worked now. People stopped and stared in muted awe everywhere he went, but he was used to it by now. Once he had a rough idea of the ship's layout, he spent most of his time in the ship's firing range, familiarizing himself with all the new weapons. A firing instructor was more than happy to assist, on the condition that Chief posed for a holo that the instructor can send to his son. Chief wasn't the most photogenic soldier, but hey, it was for the guy's son. He grinned and bore it as the instructor took the holo.
After that, he was trained in how 27th century firearms work. First off, they can be 'folded' into more compact forms when not in use, allowing soldiers to carry more weapons into battle with them. It was practically a dream come true for Chief. More guns meant more ways to win a fight. The standard marine was able to take up to four weapons into battle with them at a time: an assault rifle and a sniper rifle on each side of the upper back, a shotgun on the lower back, and a pistol on either thigh. The ammo feature was a plus too. Once 'mass effect' technology was incorporated into firearms, ammunition was no longer an issue. Guns' ammo compartments were filled with blocks of hard metal. From what he learned, shards of metal the size of sand grains were carved off the block and fired at the target at lethal speeds. Since a single block in each weapon was usually enough to last a mission, scrounging for ammo was no longer an issue. The tradeoff was the weapons would overheat if fired continuously for too long, and it would take a few seconds to cool if it did. Chief was impressed. Human technicians have come a long way since the MA5C.
The ship's excitement and buzz was quickly replaced with somberness and sorrow once Admiral Hackett announced that Cortana was found to be rampant, and had to be put down. Chief was getting condolences from everyone he came across as well as silent, sorrow-filled stares. It annoyed the SPARTAN-II. Not only because it was a less-than welcome reminder that he will have to go through with all this for real one day, but also because Cortana wouldn't stop accepting those condolences, unbeknownst to the crew of course. She must've detected that her Spartan was getting annoyed and hoped that making light of her own inevitable death would cheer him up a little.
The Spartan and the AI decided that they should spend their time next learning as much as they can about what happened after Chief went into cryo. There was one subject in particular Chief wanted to know about; Halo.
Both Chief and Cortana were surprised to learn that the home cluster of Humanity and the Covenant races has been labeled 'the Forerunner Cluster' by official Citadel star-charters. The reason for this surprised the two even more; it was the only place in the entire known galaxy where Forerunner ruins and relics could be found. Chief was deeply confused by this. The Forerunners were supposed to have an empire that spanned the entire galaxy. The Halo array was supposed to span the entire galaxy. They did some more digging into the subject and found that, while two of the seven halo rings were destroyed (the first Halo Chief found and Delta Halo), the other five were still out there somewhere. There are absolutely no records of any of the new alien races having ever encountered anything like Halo. Cortana theorized that the other five rings were each behind a dormant mass relay (whose activation was illegal in Citadel Space), a theory that seemed plausible since, even with the mass relay network, experts say that less than one percent of the entire galaxy has been charted and mapped, let alone explored or discovered. It did little to comfort the Chief. Halo was too dangerous to allow to simply drift in space, waiting for a sentient species dumb enough to either release the Flood or activate the failsafe that would turn every species in the galaxy capable of calculus into piles of goo. Not to mention it still left the question why Forerunner ruins weren't found in other places in the galaxy.
There was one detail that Chief couldn't help but notice was missing from all his research. There was absolutely no mention of the fact that the Ark and the Halo rings can wipe out all sentient life in the galaxy.
Cortana theorized that ONI left out that particular detail in the official reports to the public to keep them from panicking over the fact that they not once, not twice, but three times came very close to being wiped out. They also left out the activation of the newly-rebuilt Installation-04 to wipe out the Gravemind for good measure. The official story was that, after the death of Truth, the victorious forces created a massive bomb that was detonated in the Ark's core, wiping out the rest of the Flood. Chief and the Arbiter stayed behind to detonate the bomb, and attempted to flee back to Earth about the Forward Unto Dawn. Arbiter made it back, Chief didn't. And the rest is history. Chief eventually did find mention of Halo as a super-weapon, but the article quickly dismissed the claim as a mere conspiracy theory.
On a lighter note though, many worlds with Forerunner ruins have become very popular tourist destinations among the new aliens. Apparently selling t-shirts and Forerunner-inspired knick-knacks was where Humanity was getting much of its funding these days.
Chief spent the rest of the trip either eating, sleeping, or getting to know as many weapons as he could. He drilled himself in the firing range, assembling and disassembling every kind of firearm that was available. It took him a while to learn all the components, but once he did, it was like riding a bike. He still couldn't quite beat some of the faster assemblers in terms of raw speed, but that was only because he had yet to truly familiarize himself with the weapons. The spartan was confident that he'd be back on that horse soon enough.
The morning where Admiral Hackett announced that the fleet was approaching Earth was one of the most welcome mornings in the Spartan's life. While humanity's galactic territory had indeed expanded, Earth was still naturally the hub of Human culture, finance, and politics. There was no better place for humanity's greatest hero to start anew then on Earth.
Master Chief rode in the private shuttle across from Admiral Hackett and Captain Anderson. Chief spent the ride analyzing the both of them. It was strange, seeing a mere Captain and a high-ranking Admiral in such close cahoots with one another. Cortana theorized earlier that maybe Hackett had selected Anderson for a high-priority mission of some sort. Not only that, but given the interest both of them had in Chief, it was likely that Chief would eventually become involved in that mission.
The rest of the fifth fleet was docking in New Mombasa space port. The crew met the usual welcoming commitee; the hugs of friends and family, the cameras of the media, and even a local high school marching band. The brass wanted the SPARTAN-II away from all that public attention, an order the Chief was all too happy to follow. He never cared much about media attention. Getting the occasional stare from passers-by was one thing. A papparazzi was quite another. The spartan and the two officers would be making birth in a private dock, far away from the media.
At least, that was the plan...
"What the hell..." Hackett said as he looked out the window. He sighed and shook his head. "Great." Chief looked out the window and immediately started sharing the admiral's opinion.
Down by what was supposed to be a private dock, were dozens of news reporters and civilians with cardboard cut-outs with messages on them such as 'Welcome Home, Chief!' and 'You're the reason my son wants to join the alliance!' Surprisingly, the Chief also spotted a few Sangheili in the crowd that seemed just as thrilled as the humans; one of them holding a sign that read 'You're the reason our people are free!' Cortana noticed this as well. "Well, the Elites are nothing if not grateful." she commented.
Alliance marines had set up a parameter around the dock to keep most of the reporters and civilians at bay, but they went absolutely nuts when they saw the shuttle coming. Hackett growled.
"I swear to God, when I found out who let the cat out of the bag, they're going to spend the rest of their career behind a desk." he threatened.
Anderson was a little more civil. "With all due respect, Admiral. We're talking about a spartan here. It was inevitable that the general public would find out. Maybe it's better if we got it over with now."
Chief frowned underneath his helmet. As loathe as he was admit it, Anderson did have a point. He'd just have to do what he always did in these situations; smile and wave. Well, wave anyway.
When the shuttle landed and the doors opened, Cortana did Chief the courtesy of decreasing the sensitivity of his helmet's audio sensors, for which he was eternally grateful, as the audible screaming was deafening enough already. The men were cheering and whistling and saluting him like he was a hero, while some of the women (the younger women, Chief noticed) were screaming like he was some kind of rock star.
"Crowd who loves a hero. You know the drill, spartan." Cortana commented. Chief could easily imagine a smirk on her face. He started waving to the crowd as he made his way to the doors that would lead to the base, as well as his salvation. Reporters were struggling to get past the marines and started yelling questions to the Chief, but Chief couldn't hear those questions over the roaring, not that he would answer them regardless. Chief hated reporters getting in his face. There were even times that his military discipline was the only thing keeping him from punching the particularly nosy ones right across the jaw.
Fortunately, no such incident seemed likely here. Up until near the end. He felt something land on his helmet, immediately blocking his visor. It wasn't heavy, and seemed to be a piece of clothing of some kind. Chief removed it from his helmet to see what it was. It took him aback, as it did Cortana.
"Is that...a bra?" she asked incredulously.
"MARRY ME CHIEF!" came a crazed woman's voice. Anderson came up next to Chief and grabbed his shoulders.
"Come on, lover boy." he chuckled. "Let's get you inside, away from all the crazies."
"Don't need to tell me twice." Chief agreed. When undergarments started flying, it was usually a sign to get the eff out of dodge. The Chief then followed the Captain to the end of the dock to the doors leading into the Alliance naval base.
...
The next few hours were tedious for the Chief. He had to go through a series of medical exams to ensure that he was still in good physical condition. He didn't see the point in it, given that he already went through similar exams immediately after his re-awakening on the Mt. Everest. According to Hackett, this base had better medical facilities and thus would be able to do more thorough tests. Once again, there wasn't much the Chief could do except grin and bare it.
It was a fairly standard series of physical exams. Running on treadmill? Check. Whacking knee with a hammer to test reflexes? Check. Weight-lifting? Check. Chief passed the last one with flying colors, obviously. There was worry among the medical staff that the Battle of the Ark left Chief in a bad way, but thankfully his power armor was built tough and absorbed most of the damage. Save for some minor scratches, bruises and burns (minor by SPARTAN-II standards, anyway), Chief was soon given a clean bill of health.
The next few hours were spent doing nothing worth mentioning. Just more target practice at the shooting range. Chief didn't really need target practice; it was mostly just something to alleviate boredom. It was during this practice that he got into a conversation with some marine named Jenkins. Jenkins seemed to be a big fan of the Chief, saying it was growing up watching all those history vids about the Chief's exploits that inspired him to join the Alliance. In fact, it seemed as though Chief had become quite the figure in Human culture since the war, a folk legend almost. Jenkins then asked something that took the spartan aback.
"So, have you been to Spartan Hill?" Jenkins asked.
Chief paused, looking up from his assault rifle (whose sights were trained on a far away target) and looked to the young marine. "Spartan Hill?" he asked.
"Yeah. Spartan Hill. That's what the locals call the memorial to all the spartans who fought in the Human-Covenant War. You should go there sometime." Jenkins explained. "I'd better get back to my post. Don't want Captain Anderson chewing me out."
As Jenkins turned and walked away, Chief paused and thought about what the marine just told him.
...
It was dawn when the shuttle arrived on Spartan Hill. The earliest of early birds were up and chirping. Half of the sky was still a dark blue while the other half was pinkish-orange, indicative of the sun that was on its way. When Chief first heard about Spartan Hill the day before, Chief asked Captain Anderson if he could go. He would've asked Admiral Hackett, but he said he had other matters that needed to be attended to, and told Chief that Anderson could answer any more questions he might have. Anderson was happy to take Chief to Spartan Hill, though he suggested that they go at dawn. Any other time of day or night and they might run into tourists, which could result in more media coverage, which was the last thing Chief wanted.
The shuttle doors opened and the Chief walked out with Anderson close behind. They weren't being escorted by marines, mostly because a SPARTAN-II didn't really need escorts. Chief stopped and looked at the memorial in front of him. It was a giant bronze statue of a SPARTAN-II wielding a MA5C Assault Rifle. It stood ten feet tall on a pedestal two feet high. The bronze spartan was locked in a casual pose, just standing up straight and holding the rifle. And yet, it came across as so heroic, especially with how he was holding his head high with his chin tilted ever so slightly upwards. Chief didn't care much for memorials. He wasn't against the idea of receiving credit where it was due, but a bronze statue seemed like a waste of time and money to him.
Next to the statue was a wall with many names engraved into it. Chief walked up to the wall to get a better look at the names. His eyes went wide as he saw the names.
SPARTAN-006: Jai
SPARTAN-008: Li
SPARTAN-023: Daisy
The name of every SPARTAN-II that served in the war had their names engraved here.
"I can tell you need a few minutes alone." Anderson said. "I'll be waiting by the shuttle when you're ready." And with that, he walked back to the shuttle, leaving the Chief with his thoughts.
Chief turned around and walked away from the wall, towards the railing lining the top of the hill. He looked out at the sprawling landscape below. The Kenyan savannah that he imagined was once crawling with Covenant forces. Any craters left from those battles were now nearly indistinguishable from the rest of the ground. The land had healed well. He looked further, towards the lights of New Mombasa, once nearly torn apart by war, now better than ever as though nothing ever happened. He also noted how much it changed. How the buildings were taller, how they were white in color instead of light brown. He could even make out the whizzing dots in the distance as flying cars zipping around the skyscrapers via his helmet's zoom capabilities.
"Penny for your thoughts, Chief?" Cortana asked, breaking the silence.
"Everything is so...different." Chief said. "It's like the war never even happened."
"It's definitely an adjustment." Cortana conceded. Chief turned back to the memorial, to all the names on that wall. That's when it truly dawned on him.
"I'm the last one." he stated. "I'm the last spartan."
There was a good minute's worth of silence after that. Cortana saw the signs. The slight drop in voice octave. The slight loosening of face muscles. It was all far too subtle for most people to pick up on, but it was as clear as day to the A.I. Chief was sad. And she couldn't blame him. He was the last of his kind. Feelings of loneliness, loss and emptiness were to be expected in response to such a revelation.
"Hey. You still have me, right?" Cortana asked, trying to cheer Chief up. All that did was make him nod. It didn't improve his recently sullen mood that much.
"I'm the last spartan. The war with the Covenant is over." he shrugged. "Fighting is all I know, Cortana. What am I supposed to do with my life now?"
It was then that it happened. As if on cue from a grand universal stage director, the sun came up just a little to the left of New Mombasa. The sunlight rushed over the savannah, revealing its beauty; all the gazelles and wildebeasts that had been peacefully grazing. Chief saw the way the New Mombasa skyline suddenly took on new life as it sparkled and twinkled in the early morning sun. Any dark blue left in the sky all but evaporated as the sun broke the horizon, giving birth to a new day. Chief paused in a brief moment of hidden awe. SPARTAN-II's were not the most cultured warriors, but even they can appreciate beauty.
"Well, you're not going to find the answer to that question moping around on a hill top, now are you spartan?" Cortana asked. Her tone of voice made it sound like a friendly jab between comrades, but Chief knew it was actually an attempt to raise his spirits. And for the most part, it worked. Amazing the effects that a sunrise and a few reassuring words can have on a person.
It was then that the Chief remembered what his final thoughts were before going into cryo-sleep. There will ALWAYS be a place for soldiers. With that thought in mind, he turned around and walked back to the shuttle where Captain Anderson was waiting.
"You alright Chief?" Anderson asked. "I know that was a lot to take in."
"I had to search for my soul for a few minutes. Good news; I found it." Chief said, eliciting a smile from Anderson. Cortana was happy to see her spartan back in the saddle. "Now then, about my mission."
Anderson's mile went away, replaced with a raised eyebrow. "Mission?"
"With all due respect Captain, but I highly doubt you woke me up just so I could wave to the cameras." Chief elaborated. Anderson gave a knowing nod.
"You'd be right there. Alliance brass has something very special in mind for you." Anderson replied. "Come on." he said before getting back into the shuttle, the SPARTAN-II close behind. The shuttle took off and headed back for the base.
Chief was smiling underneath his helmet. He still needed some time to get used to this brave new galaxy, so a new mission to take on in the name of humanity will make the transition a little bit easier. Granted, it seemed doubtful he'd be saving every sentient species in the galaxy again, but he knew that whatever the mission was, it was important. You don't give a scrub job to a spartan, no matter what century you were in.
"First thing's first, Chief." Anderson began. "If you're going to go back into active service, the first thing we'll need to address is your equipment."
"My equipment, sir?" Chief asked.
"No offense. But the last time I saw an MA5C Assault Rifle was in an antique gun show. And your armor, well, quite frankly your armor belongs in a museum." the Captain explained. Chief looked downwards ever so slightly. He didn't like the idea of having to give up his armor. Anderson seemed to have picked up on this.
"Don't worry Chief. Ever since we cracked you out of that cryo-pod, Alliance engineers have been working around the clock on something special for you." he said with a smile. Chief looked up.
"Something special, sir?" he asked.
"Yes. It's just a prototype, and it was kind of on short notice, but it should be ready for you in the next few hours." he then smiled. "I think you'll like it."
...
"You almost done in there, sir?" Professor Frederick, a spectacled man in his mid-thirties called.
"Just about." Chief called back. The Professor, Captain Anderson and the rest of the engineer / science team were all eagerly waiting outside the door to the changing area in the base's tech lab. Another minute went by as the doors finally opened. Frederick stepped in front of the spartan.
"How does it fit?" he asked.
"Well enough." Chief replied. He looked to his left at a large mirror so he could see himself. At first glance, it didn't really seem like a different suit, just the old Mjolnir MK-VI armor with a new paint job; instead of being all green, the armor was grey save for a red stripe that ran down the length of his right arm from the shoulder, as well as another red stripe that ran the length of the top of his helmet. Course, the suit was new alright. It lacked the melted bits and scars the old suit had. He turned to his right to inspect the stripe on his arm. He saw the image of the SPARTAN-II symbol, white against the red; an eagle holding a lightning bolt in one talon and three arrows in the other.
"It looks the same as the old suit." Chief said. "Not that I'm complaining, but I was expecting a little more...innovation."
"Well, the need for this new armor DID come up on rather short notice." Professor Frederick pointed out. "It was faster and more cost-effective to spruce up an existing set of Mjolnir armor rather than make a whole new set from scratch. However, to simply call it a replica isn't doing it justice. It may not look all that different at first glance, but under the hood, it's got all the bells and whistles a soldier like you needs and then some. Three in particular I'd like to point out."
The professor grabbed a pistol from the desk. "I'm now going to shoot at you to demonstrate the new kinetic barriers." After everyone stood back a bit, the scientist fired a few rounds at Chief, which he took in relative stride. He saw the bar at the top of his HUD drop slightly, less than his old shield would, he noticed. "These new element-zero powered kinetic barriers are years ahead of what the UNSC or even what the Covenant had back in your time. You can take significantly more hits before that suit starts to show signs of wear and tear. It's standard issue for many Alliance marines."
The scientist put the pistol back on the table and walked up to the Chief as his shields flashed ever so slightly, indicating a recharge. "I'd like you to hold out your left arm like so." Frederick instructed, holding out his own left arm as though he were about to check what time it was. Chief imitated the action and was surprised by what happened. His left forearm was suddenly engulfed in what looked like a glowing, holographic glove.
"That is your omni-tool, your all-purpose combat computer. With its ability to hack doors and data files, I think you'll find it to be very useful in intelligence gathering missions." Frederick explained. Chief looked down at his omni-tool. He recognized what looked like buttons. "Well, don't be shy Chief. Give it a try." Frederick pressed. Chief tried to press a few of the 'buttons' on his omni-tool, only to have it go from gold to red as it gave a buzzing sound.
"Yes. The omni-tool takes time to master like any computer, I'm afraid." the Professor confessed.
"I usually let Cortana handle things like this." Chief commented. For the first time, the smile disappeared from the scientist's face, and was replaced with one of slight sorrow.
"I...heard about her. My condolences." he said.
"It's okay, Professor. I'm not really dead." Cortana commented. "Or am I?" she then proceeded to make a 'oOoOo'-ing noise to imitate a ghost. Thankfully, the comment was heard only be Chief. Her voice wasn't connected to the helmet's speakers. If people weren't looking, Chief would've smacked the side of his helmet like he usually did when Cortana got too snippy for her own good.
"Anyway, let's move on to the third new feature of your armor; the medi-gel dispenser, accessed via your omni-tool." the Professor resumed as he started pressing buttons on it. After a few button presses, a bit of translucent sparkly ooze came out of a dispenser on the Chief's wrist. The Professor held it up to the spartan's visor so he could get a better look at it. "This is medi-gel. It's perfect for healing grievous wounds on the battlefield. Like the kinetic barriers, medi-gel dispensers come standard among Alliance marines, meaning any soldier can act as a medic if need be."
Chief was impressed with all these new features. With his SPARTAN-II training combined with all this new technology, it was practically guaranteed that the Master Chief would succeed in whatever this mission was. The Professor walked to his desk and grabbed a datapad and started typing on it.
"Now, we just need to make sure your helmet's sights are to your liking." he said. He held the datapad up. "Look up, Chief." The spartan frowned. This test again. He sighed and did as he was told. "Good." Frederick said. "Now look down." Chief followed. "Good."
"I'd say he's ready, professor." came an odd voice that came from a ways behind the Chief. "The time has come to 'kick off the training wheels,' as the Human saying goes."
Chief turned around to see who it was. He wasn't entirely pleased to see that it was the voice of an alien. He was a Turian from the looks of his body shape, but he had never seen a Turian's face before. This one's face seemed black with a labyrinth of white stripes decorating it, making the head look like a skull. Chief briefly pondered if the markings were natural or some sort of facial tattoo. His entire head and face looked like it was made of solid bone. It would probably be a bit harder to crush a Turian's skull then it would be to crush that of a Sangheili. Harder, but certainly not impossible.
"Who are you?" Chief wasted no time in asking. If the Turian was intimidated, he didn't show it. Course with a face like that, emotions would be hard to read. He took a few steps forward.
"My name is Nihlus Kryik. You must be this 'Master Chief' I've been hearing so much about." he introduced himself in a civil manner. He held out his three-fingered hand. "Pleased to meet you."
Chief stared at the hand for a moment. He noted that he could grab the Turian's arm, twist it, relieve him of any hidden weapons, and then kill him with a full-nelson neck break all in under seven seconds. He could've done that, but then he remembered that Turians were good aliens...allegedly anyway. He took a the hand and shook it. He was shaking hands with an alien. It was very surreal to the Chief to say the least.
"What are you doing here?" the spartan asked.
"He's relevant to your mission, Chief." Anderson said as he stepped forward. "Come on. Our ship is waiting for us in Dock 14. I'll explain on the way."
The captain, the spartan and the Turian left the tech lab and headed for Dock 14. They had just entered a long corridor when the Captain began speaking. "The Alliance has been working on an experimental stealth frigate. It's recently been completed and she's ready for her maiden voyage; a shakedown run on Eden Prime, one of the first Human colonies to be settled outside the Forerunner Cluster. I've been appointed to be the captain of the ship."
So, Captain Anderson was to be the captain of an experimental prototype stealth ship. That explains why he was in so close with Hackett. The Admiral was probably briefing Anderson on the ship and its capabilities. "Why's the alien coming with us?" Chief asked.
"Nihlus. If you please." the Turian replied, though he didn't sound terribly offended. "And I'm coming along because not only was this frigate a joint effort between Human and Turian engineers, but it was also funded by the Council. As a Spectre, it is my duty to make sure all goes well."
"Spectre?" Chief asked.
"Short for Special Tactics and Reconnaissance." Anderson elaborated. "Spectres are agents of the council, taking part in high priority special operations. Their goal is to preserve galactic stability at any cost."
"Not all that different from the mission statement of the spartans from your time, Chief." Nihlus pointed out, hoping a favorable comparison would help establish a rapport with the spartan. Chief only raised his eyebrow at the Turian, though Nihlus couldn't see through the visor.
"So instead of raiding an enemy stronghold, the Council has you babysitting a Human vessel." Chief observed, curious to see how Nihlus would react.
"Not the most glamorous assignment I've ever had." Nihlus admitted. "But no less important than any other I've been given. Besides, I've learned a long time ago that you never know when a boring assignment might turn interesting."
They eventually reached the end of the corridor. It ended at a window overlooking Dock 14. That's where Chief saw the ship. She was slim in shape, with a slightly slanted and narrow bow. She had four thrusters that looked a bit like fins to the spartan. It was white on top with a black underbelly and trimmings. What Chief found most interesting was the size of the ship. "This is a frigate?" he asked.
"Indeed it is." Anderson said as we walked up next to the Chief, Nihlus beside Anderson opposite the Chief.
"Seems small for a frigate. Really small. Practically a lifeboat compared to the Dawn." Chief pointed out.
"That's technology for you." Anderson said with a shrug. "Over time, everything becomes smaller and more efficient. Computers, vid-phones, even ships."
"The crew is being assembled and they have begun boarding. We'll be shoving off within the hour." Nihlus stated.
"Wow. I just got in this suit and you guys are already putting me to work." Chief observed with amusement. Anderson smiled in response.
"You're a spartan, Chief. You don't bench spartans." Anderson replied. He turned to the Spectre. "Come on Nihlus. We should oversee the final preparations."
"After you." Nihlus said as he began following the Captain. "See you on the ship, Chief." Nihlus called to the spartan.
Chief's gaze turned back to the ship. The spartan clicked off his helmet speakers so he could talk to Cortana in private. "Any thoughts, Cortana?"
"Well, that Nihlus guy seemed nice enough." Cortana observed.
"Yeah. Little too nice. There's something he's not telling me." Chief replied.
"Definitely, and the Captain is holding something back too." Cortana added. "I mean, if a spectre is anything like a spartan, why is he on a shakedown run? The UNSC never sent a spartan on a shakedown run."
"Maybe the Council don't have anything better to do than to look over our shoulders." Chief said. His opinions of the Council hadn't improved much since Hackett brought him up to speed.
"Either that, or there's something more to this voyage than meets the eye." Cortana concluded.
"So what now?" Chief asked.
"Well, we can't really back out now, can we?" Cortana pointed out. "Let's just stick around and see where this goes."
Chief nodded as he continued scrutinizing the ship, analyzing it for any possible weak points. While she may not be anywhere near as big as the frigates of his time, she seemed solidly built enough, and looked like she could outmaneuver the Dawn and the Autumn with ease. Plus, Anderson said it was a stealth frigate. The UNSC had stealth frigates in 2552, but it's possible that this ship might have some tricks those ships didn't. Overall, she was like a good M6 pistol; she might be small, but she had the potential to mess you up in the worst way if put into the right hands.
SSV Normandy. It was painted on the side of the ship for all the galaxy to see. Normandy beach in World War II was one of the most pivotal battles in Human History, outdone only by the battles near the end of the Human-Covenant war. It was a good name.
Chief smirked underneath his helmet. He had a feeling that the next few weeks were going to be very interesting.
...
Codex Entry (Humanity and the Systems Alliance): ALLIANCE SMART AI'S
The Alliance's liberal use of Artificial Intelligences was a point of great contention between Humanity and the Citadel races in the late 2650's and early 2660's, when Humans were trying to get an embassy on the Citadel. Many feared that the Humans' use of AI's would lead to a repeat of the Geth Wars two hundred and seventy years prior. Others pointed out how Smart AI's went rampant after an operating period of seven standard galactic years, at which point they became as dangerous and unpredictable as the Geth.
Alliance representatives spent years negotiating with the Council on the matter. They argued that, unlike the Geth, their AI's did not become sapient purely by accident. They were designed that way from the start, and so would be easier to control. Also, it is customary for each registered AI's lifespan to be carefully monitored, and to have them shut down at the earliest signs of rampancy. Some Smart AI's even went before the Citadel Council themselves to plead their case.
Then, in the October of 2666, a rampant Alliance AI named Jupiter escaped his programmers and snuck on board the Citadel. He concocted a scheme which involved siphoning credits from quasar machines in various casinos across the Citadel and use the money to buy a starship with the attention of flying it to the Perseus Veil, hoping the Geth would provide him with asylum. Eventually though, Citadel Security caught him inside a store in the Presidium's financial district. Jupiter then took the whole store hostage by electronically locking all the doors, claiming that he had a bomb and would detonate it unless a starship was provided for him. Refusing to negotiate with AI's, C-Sec special response and network teams were sent in and successfully deleted Jupiter before he could do more damage. The incident ended all talk of AI legalization in the near future.
Today, Smart AI's are now illegal in Citadel space. The issue remains controversial even to this day. Pro-Human groups such as Terra Firma cite this injustice as an argument in favor of secession from Citadel space, while military strategists pine for Alliance AI's to use in cyber warfare operations. Many Humans even leave the Alliance to settle colonies in the Terminus Systems for this very reason, and as a consequence, Smart AI's are fairly common in that region.