Chapter 24: The Ark-Part 2
AN's: Part 2 of The Ark! This chapter will focus on NOBLE Recon's journey to find the Cartographer, and the end of the level, "The Ark". Now to those notes about the post Halo 3 chapters: I will not go straight to Halo 4; instead, I will take a few chapters to chronicle the SPARTAN-IV's missions aboard the UNSC Infinity prior to, during, and after finding Installation 03 and the Composer and the coordinates for Requiem, and also a chapter or two for a brief look back at what has happened in the book, and during the Chief's untold adventures on Installation 4 (Halo:CE), mostly from Cortana's perspective, but maybe from the Chief's. Spartan Ops will not be included, as it has absolutely nothing to do with any of the major characters in the book, or so I have read online, but I may hint at it in the final chapters of the book. I will also not include Halo for Xbox One, as it will probably not be out when I finish and I will not be purchasing it or an Xbox One until 2015, when the new Star Wars: Battlefront and the real Halo 5 come out (It seems useless to postpone the book for a whole year!) Also, I will go a bit more in depth with my origins of the characters that are on the aft section of the Dawn, but that will be in the actual H4 timeline. Tell me what books from my profile you want to see after (or even while) I finish this one, though I'll probably start Last of the Spartans before too long. Or War of the Worlds. Can you guys believe it? Six months ago to the day, this was just an idea that I started writing in the back of my dad's Chevy Avalanche, and now it's a pretty successful book.
Pelican Dropship Bravo-029 en route to surface of Ark. 10 minutes after NOBLE Strike's descent
Carter, Kat, and Jun stood up as the bay door dropped open and the Pelican landed at the LZ. "We couldn't get any closer?" "We don't even know if this is what we're looking for, so no." The three stepped off and the Pelican returned to the Dawn. "Jun, take the high ground. You spot anything, let us know." "On it, sir." Jun climbed a nearby cliff face and shouldered his SR99C-S2-AM Sniper Rifle. "All clear, Commander." "Roger, Three."
Carter and Kat stuck to cover, unwilling to take the risk of a straight path. "Do you think they can find an LZ for the frigate?" "I trust them to do their job. They're Spartans, Kat, they'll get it done." "Hold up. Covie patrol dead ahead." Carter peered up over the rock he had taken cover behind. "I see 'em." "Permission to engage, sir?" "Negative. Wait for them to pass." "Wait… They're turning around… One of the Brutes is shouting at the other. Let me amplify it." "~swear I heard something." "Probably the wind." "No, it was different, like a human dropship." "There are no humans here. They landed tens of miles away. Let's get back." "Did you get that, Commander?" "I heard Jun. Let's follow them. Maybe they'll take us to the Cartographer." "Or straight into a Covenant Base." "We'll pull back if that happens. Let's go." Jun set off across the cliff to recon where the patrol went, while Carter and Kat followed from a distance. "Commander, there's a checkpoint up ahead. Definitely a base." "Copy, Jun. Fall back. We'll flank around it." "Roger."
The three turned due west, and avoided the checkpoint. The west side was unguarded, so Carter and Kat slipped through there. "Now's the time to use those Active Camo generators the Elites gave us." "Definitely." Carter keyed the icon in the lower left-hand corner of his HUD, and faded from view. He looked to his left, and saw Kat disappear as well. The system was not perfect, however: the modules were outdated, and while they lasted forever, rapid or sudden movement overtaxed the system, making the pair visible again, and forcing them to crouch-walk to avoid this problem. Comms also didn't work while the module was in use, but Carter suspected that that was a modification specific to the pair that he and Kat had received. Carter could still tell where Kat was, due to the waypoint on his HUD. He slowly approached a lone Brute and drew his knife. He quickly checked that there was no one else around that would see the kill, and promptly slit its throat. It died noiselessly, and Carter dragged the body behind a nearby rock. When they find it, we'll be long gone. He saw a shimmer in the air next to him, but there was no waypoint attached to it. DAMN! BRUTE! He quickly stabbed where he thought its neck was, but instead stabbed its eye. The Brute Stalker let out a deafening howl, which was quickly silenced by Kat stabbing its throat and covering its mouth.
Carter decloaked. "Jun, we've been compromised." "I heard. I also have eyes on a structure that matches Cortana's description of the map room on the first Halo." "Good." We're coming to you, Jun." "Affirmative, sir." Kat decloaked, and the pair sprinted to the cliff where Jun was waiting. "Nice of you to show up, Commander. Take a look." Jun handed his Sniper Rifle to Carter, who aimed the scope where Jun was pointing. "That is it. Let's get down there." "Copy that." Jun led the way down the cliff to the entrance to the Cartographer. "Kat, try and get the door open." "On it." Kat approached the door, looking for any kind of device that would open the door. "There's no mechanism to open it, and it looks pretty thick. The only way we're getting in now is about… 2 kilos of high explosives." "And we don't have that, nor do we have the time to set it up. NOBLE Strike, this is NOBLE Recon." "NOBLE Strike. Go ahead Carter." "We've found a structure that matches Cortana's description of the Cartographer from the first Halo, but the door is locked." "That is not a problem, Reclaimer. I would be pleased to open it for you." "That's great. Get here soon, Chief. Recon out." "So what now, Commander?" "Now we wait for them." "That really the best option, Commander?" "It's the only option, Jun."
NOBLE Recon hid for a full ten minutes before hearing the roar of engines and the shouts of UNSC troopers. "All armor, form up on the lower doorway. Chief, head up there and have your robot friend pick the lock." "I beg your pardon? I am 343 Guilty Spark, Monitor of Installation 04, and a highly advanced~" "Yeah, well you're also out ticket to the Cartographer." A loud BANG! resounded on Carter's left side and a tank round hit about 30 meters from him. "WATCH YOUR FIRE! FRIENDLIES HERE!" "Sorry Carter." "Remind me again which genius let James drive the tank?" "You did, Emile." "Oh…" "All Tangos neutralized. Let's get that door open."
"Hm… The Defilers seem to have triggered the security system." "Great. Let's go find the controls." "Unnecessary, Reclaimer. One moment, please." 343 shot a beam at the door, and seconds later, it opened. "This way, Reclaimers." The Spartans followed Spark into the structure. "This panel will activate a bridge below." "Hey, what's this?" James was examining a yellow orb behind the bridge controls. "Leave it, James. It's probably not that important." "If you say so."
343 Guilty Spark led the Spartans through a winding series of passages that led out to a large canyon. "Wait… Wasn't that supposed to be the map room?" "Don't be ridiculous, Reclaimer; The Cartographer is this way." A Scarab thundered over them and headed to where the Monitor was indicating and over a large wall. "That's just perfect." "At least it didn't see us." "It will." "Yeah, well we have an anti-Scarab weapon." Jorge was pointing to the lower doorway which the vehicles had gone through. Two Scorpion tanks and two Gauss Warthogs drove out and immediately engaged nearby Brute Choppers and Ghosts.
Another Gauss 'Hog pulled up beside the team and a marine jumped out of the driver's seat. "I'll catch a ride with the tanks." "James, Emile, and Jun: take the 'Hog. The rest of us will grab a tank and catch up." Carter, Kat, John and Jorge sprinted off to the nearest tank. John drove while Carter manned the turret and Kat and Jorge rode on the jumpseats on the tread covers. John peeled out as fast as the tank would go, firing at the inbound Ghosts and Choppers as he went. As he destroyed the first of the Wraith tanks between the Spartans and the Cartographer, and very familiar whine was heard, and a green laser streaked down from the wall. "Scarab's back! Looks like it means business this time." "All armor, form up! I want everyone supportin' the Spartans; they're gonna take it down!" "Chief, get around behind it! We'll distract it for you!" "Will do, James." The Gauss 'Hog streaked by and opened fire on the legs of the Scarab. The Chief steered the tank around behind the Scarab. "James, we're in position." "Hit the power core, now!" John hit the button, and the 90mm HV Tungsten shell streaked into the gut of the Scarab. The round hit the power core and destabilized it, causing a wild-cat explosion a mere ten seconds later. "DAMN FINE SHOOTING!" "Good work, Spartans. I saw that explosion from orbit." "Shipmaster, area is clear. Chief, get to the top of that spire and link up with the Arbiter and the Elites."
The Master Chief drove the tank near the spire and obliterated the Brutes, Jackals and Grunts guarding the spire. "Let's go." The Spartans jumped out of their vehicles as a green Phantom dropship landed near the entrance. "Nice of you to show up after all the hostiles are dead." "There are certain to be more inside, Spartan." The Arbiter and Carter took point and led the joint Spartan-Elite force into the structure. The door to the lower level was locked. "Jorge." "On it." Jorge put his AR and BR on his back and took a few steps back from the door. He charged and slammed his 3/4-ton body into the door, which fell with ease. "Clear!" The Spartans moved in first, followed by the Arbiter and the Elites.
The team made their way down to the lowest level, killing many Brutes, Grunts, and Jackals along the way. "In here, Reclaimers, is the Cartographer." The door opened to a crescent-moon shaped platform overlooking a vast sea in the middle of a desert. The Chief followed the Monitor to a console, which he activated. A very familiar spiral of gas appeared as a hologram. "That's our galaxy. We're beyond the rim." "Three radii from galactic center, to be precise. Oh…" "What?" "The Defiler has activated the security measures, and erected an impassable shield. A failsafe, in case the Flood ever found the Ark." "Shit! Banshees!" The Spartans and the Arbiter hid behind the small columns encircling the platform, but the Monitor stayed where he was. "Spark! Get down!" The Monitor joined the Chief where he was hiding as a purple Phantom dropship flew in and hovered just above the platform. "Chief, Johnson has a Pelican waiting. He'll pick you up one level down. Hurry!"
The Spartans and the Arbiter ran to the door out of the map room and to the stairway down. "Keep an eye out for more Brutes." "Yeah. Some have Active Camo Generators, too." "Damn." The Chief stopped dead and signaled for everyone else to do so as well. "Chief, I'll go on ahead. I have a Camo Generator too. "Good idea, Commander." John marked Carter in his HUD as the latter disappeared into thin air. The marker floated down to the lower level and stopped behind a Brute. Carter faded back into view as he plunged his combat knife into its neck. Jun snapped off a quick shot that pierced another Brute's head, which alerted the Grunts and the last Brute to the Spartans and the Arbiter. Ten seconds later, the last Grunt died and the team ran to a platform identical to the map room where a Pelican dropship was waiting. "Come on, get in!" As they ran to the dropship, a shitload of Forerunner Sentinels poured out from below them. "Johnson, watch out!" "I see them." "Wait! Don't fire! These units have a different task." "And that would be?" "I don't know. But they are not programmed to harm you, Reclaimers."
"Spartans, we need to take down the barrier surrounding Truth and fast. Spark has identified three towers that can disable the barrier. I need you to split into two teams again, one to go with Johnson to take out tower #3, the rest will hit tower #1. The Arbiter and the Elites will disable Tower #2." "Roger that, ma'am. Emile: you, James and Kat are with Johnson. Jorge, Jun, and the Chief are with me." "This is Pelican Echo 041, which Spartans are with Johnson and which are going with me?" "Echo 041, you'll be picking up the remaining Spartans. Emile, James, and Kat: get going; we'll catch up later." The teams boarded their respective Pelicans, and left for the barriers.
