Chapter 35: Forerunner

AN's: Did you check out my new story yet? If not, do so. It's really good, or so I think. That one will be updated much more once I finish this story up, but until then, expect an update about once a week, or so. But for now, enjoy this, Chapter 35: Forerunner.

Forerunner Shield World Requiem. Planetary core.

The three Spartans exited the portal into Requiems core and took in their surroundings.

"Okay, I'm gonna say it: what the fuck were those things?" James said.

"Some sort of advanced defense AI's. Related to the Sentinels, I'd guess, but it's hard to say without a closer look." Cortana answered.

"Well, I'm not getting anywhere near those things, except to pump them full of shotgun shells." Emile commented.

"Shut it, and keep an eye out for them. Never know when they'll pop up again." John said as he found a console to insert Cortana into.

"Uh… Am I blind or something? Where the hell is Infinity?" Emile asked.

"Emile, are you sure you're not just an ODST in Spartan armor?" James asked.

"Yeah. I'm sure. Why?"

"Because you bitch way too much to be a real Spartan. Only ODST's bitch as much as you do."

"That's offensive, comparing a Spartan-III to an ODST."

"No, it's accurate." James rebuked.

The Chief just sighed and kept looking around for Infinity.

"This is Requiem's core, all right. But Infinity is definitely not here." Cortana said.

"Then where is the signal coming from?" James asked.

"That satellite in the center is amplifying the ship's broadcasts like a relay."

"Maybe we can use it to respond." Emile said.

"Perhaps. Those beams coming off of it are creating the interference we've been experiencing. We'll have to take them out to contact Infinity."

"We'll split up: I'll take the first pylon. You two take the second." John said.

"Remember the last time we split up? I got crushed by a Warthog." Emile said.

"Come on, ya glorified Helljumper, let's get going. Just don't get crushed this time." James said, heading for a portal on their right.

Emile followed him, and the two were teleported to a small corridor leading out to the 'surface'.

"Creepy." James said.

"Just shut up and keep looking for those robots."

"Fine."

James scanned around again and shrugged his shoulders.

"Noth-SHIT!"

One of the robots pounced on him and threw the II to the ground as it stood over him. It opened its helmet for a brief moment before snapping it shut. It got off of him and helped the Spartan up.

"What the fuck?!" Emile said.

"You…Keeper…Follow." The creature said to James.

"Uh… okay?"

"Cortana? One of those robots from the Terminus just ambushed us and then became friendly in the span of about two seconds.

"They're called Promethean Knights. And they must have seen something in him that we don't."

"So… we've got robot friends now?"

"You do. They hate me." The Chief said.

"They do." Cortana agreed.

"Well, great."

"Just get that pylon down. We'll deal with our new friend later." John said.

The two Spartans followed the Knight to the pylon, and along the way were confronted by more Knights, all of whom either let the humans pass, or were eviscerated by the friendly Knight's hardlight shotgun.

"There. Release the energy."

James walked over to the beam console and pulled on a handle attached to it, and then slammed it back down in, disabling the beam.

"Pylon's down, Chief. How are you doing?"

"Just about… there. Shield's disabled. We'll meet up back at the satellite."

"I shall open a portal for you, Keeper." The Knight said as it did so.

The two Spartans stepped through and left the Knight.

The humans… One of them is a Keeper. Do not attack them. It relayed to the other Knights.

The Spartans met back on the satellite and headed out to contact Infinity. All throughout the satellite, the Prometheans slaughtered the Covenant forces that had come to the core, but left the Spartans alone, even going out of their way to save John when he was tackled by an Elite. They found a pair of pillars near the edge of the platform they were on.

"The pillars! Grab the pillars so that we can contact Infinity!" Cortana told the Chief.

He did, and Emile and James instantly fell in behind him, covering his back.

"Infinity, this is Sierra-117 of the UNSC Forward Unto Dawn. Do you copy?"

The satellite echoed his voice, but distorted it as well.

"Infinity! Do you read?"

The satellite began to rise into the air, and the Covenant and Promethean forces below them stopped fighting.

"Chief… Chief, let go of the contacts." Cortana told him.

He did and grabbed his MA5D off of his back.

"Find us an exit."

"Don't waste time on my account!"

The three Spartans vaulted over a low wall on their left and hid below it as the satellite pulsed, releasing a sonic wave. They heard a slow whirring, indicating that something was coming out of the satellite. John peered over and saw a humanoid figure kneeling on a small platform. It stood up and armor assembled around it. John snapped back down and stayed there.

"So fades the great harvest of my betrayal."

It waved its hand around to the Knights in the room, and they all turned from their normal blue tint to an orange tint.

"Didact!" One of the Elites said, bowing to the figure.

"Even these beasts recognized what you were oblivious to, humans. Your nobility has blinded you as ever." The 'Didact' continued.

The three Spartans came out from their hiding spot and leveled their weapons at the Didact. He reached out and grabbed them with telekinetic powers, but only Emile and John were lifted.

"Hm… You are not affected. Only those with Forerunner blood are immune to telekinetics. Perhaps my guardians were right to bring you here." He said, speaking to James.

James stood rooted in place, DMR still aimed at the figure.

"But if you have not mastered even these primitive creatures, half-brother, then you have not yet attained the Mantle."

The Didact threw his hand forward, and Emile and John were thrown back towards James. He jumped up onto the platform in front of him and walked closer to the Didact.

"You may have Forerunner blood, human. But you are a mere hybrid, bred out of necessity in order to repopulate the galaxy. You have abilities that remain untapped and shall remain that way until you accept your lineage. You are an embarrassment to your ancestors. This tomb is now yours." The Didact continued.

The Didact disappeared into the satellite and James went to help John and Emile.

"Slipspace rupture! MOVE!" Cortana yelled.

The three Spartans took off for cover as the Didact's ship jumped to slipspace.

John couldn't feel any part if his body for a few seconds after he came to, and then the pain set in. It reminded him of a lesson that his trainer, Chief Petty Officer Mendez, had taught the Spartan-II's: Pain is good. It tells you you're alive.

"Get up! The core is falling apart!" Cortana yelled at him.

The Chief slowly hauled himself to his feet and found James already up and helping Emile.

"Chief! You alright?" James asked.

"Yeah. Peachy." He groaned.

"Come on! Let's go!" Cortana said.

"There! Ghosts." Emile said, pointing to the 4 Covenant scouting vehicles.

The Spartans activated three of them and sped off away from the core.

"Hang on, I'm going to divert power from your shields to overclock the Ghost's boost function." Cortana told them.

Their shields went down, and when they boosted, the Ghost easily pulled double the normal boost speed. It made escaping the core that much easier.

"There! A portal to the surface!"

The three gunned it into the portal, and came out near a sheer cliff.

"Whoa, cowboys!"

"Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck!" James shouted as he tried to stop the speeding Ghost.

He jumped off, as did the other two, and slid to the very edge of the cliff. Emile was not so lucky. He fell over, but the Chief caught him before he could fall very far down. James lent him a hand, and the two pulled the III up and over.

"Shit. I just saw my life flash before my eyes. There were a lot of dead aliens. And a few humans." He said between gasps of breath.

"Guys! There!" Cortana said, marking a cloud in the sky.

Said cloud sparked for a few seconds, and then the bow of a distinctly UNSC ship plowed through.

"Incoming transmission."

"Mayday, mayday! This is the captain of the UNSC Infinity. Unknown entity is seizing control of our ship; we're without power, and on a collision course with an unknown Forerunner planet."

Cortana had said that the ship was huge, but that was a major understatement.

"Holy FUCK! That thing is HUGE!" James said.

"I did say it was massive." Cortana told him.

"You didn't say it was that big! That thing could probably hold the Dawn and still have room for the Pillar of Autumn!"

"Actually, it could. Not the Autumn, But certainly the Dawn."

"Track its descent." John told Cortana.

"On it. Projected impact point is 77.8 kilometers from here." She said as the Infinity roared overhead.

"Oh… shit. Behind us!" James shouted as a wave of pressure washed over the Spartans.

They turned around and shouldered their weapons, but lowered them when they saw what was behind them: the Didact's satellite, and it was pretty big. Nowhere near as big as Infinity, but about the size of the Dawn. It scanned the landscape with that distinctly Forerunner scanner, and then took off for the Infinity.

"We know where he's headed."

The Spartans started walking.

"Same place we are." John said as he checked his MA5D.

"This walk will just take a minute." James said, voicing Emile's concern.

"Then this is gonna be a long fucking minute." Emile shot back.