Chapter 36: Infinity

AN's: I'm going to change it up a little and tell this chapter from the perspective of the Infinity as it crashes onto the surface of Requiem, and during the events of the level Infinity. Hope you enjoy!

Sorry for the lag in updates. I've been writing about a billion different fanfics, and I'm really worried about ANB, seeing as it's very new, and I've got a long way to go. I also have a huge writer's block.

UNSC Infinity bridge. Descending towards unknown Forerunner planet.

"Captain! Impact in twenty seconds!" One of the bridge officers told Del Rio.

He activated the ship-wide intercom.

"Brace for impact!"

The ship plowed into the ground with enough force to shake the whole planet.

"Damage assessment!" Del Rio asked his operations officer.

"Shields are down, and all MAC guns are down and recharging. Minor hull breaches on deck 1, but the Huragok are repairing them as we speak."

"Excellent. Bring the ship up to combat alert Alpha. Ready ground teams to repel any hostiles that may attempt to board the ship."

"Yes, sir."

"Get Commander Lasky and Colonel A-259 to the CIC immediately."

"Messages away."

"Lieutenant Martin, you have the bridge."

"Yes, sir."

Del Rio walked to the CIC and found the Spartan Colonel and his XO waiting.

"Gentlemen. You're going on a scouting run to get a look at the terrain for possible deployments. Infinity's shields and primary drive systems are down, so we cannot provide you with any cover, so stay sharp."

"Captain! We've got inbound hostiles! And lots of them! Ground teams are getting overwhelmed!"

"Get to it, Commander. Colonel, get Noble Team to the hangar. You leave in 5. Good luck."

"Yes, sir."

The Commander and the Colonel left the CIC to prepare for their mission.

Infinity Spartan Deck.

"What!? We're leaving?" Kat exclaimed upon hearing the news.

"Yes. Let's move. No time to waste."

The team grabbed their weapons and left for the hangar. They found Commander Lasky waiting with a few other Spartans.

"Colonel. Spartans S-084, S-056, and S-104 reporting as ordered, sir."

"Any others, Commander?" Carter asked Lasky.

"Two more already in the bird. Let's go."

The 8 Spartans embarked the Pelican alongside the XO, and they took off. The two other Spartans were IV's, as evidenced from their Recruit armor sets. One was visibly nervous about leaving.

"Hey, don't sweat it, Rookie. Gunny and them'll kill a few for us."

The one called 'Rookie' stayed silent.

"He usually like this?" Carter asked.

"Yeah. He's always been the silent one. Name's Miles, but call me Dutch."

"I know you. Buck talked about you and your squad."

"Gunny spread the word, huh?"

"It's been a few months, but yes."

"Coming in on the DZ in 5, Spartans. Work for it." The pilot said.

The bay door opened and the team piled out, scanning the area with raised weapons.

"Clear!"

"Clear!"

"Clear!"

"Cl-SHIT!" Dutch yelled as he was blindsided by a large robot.

"Contacts! More of them phasing in!"

"Engage! Engage!" Carter yelled as he punched one in the face and stabbed it with his knife.

The team fanned out, trying to get away from the constructs, but it was no use, as they just warped closer and attacked again. Dutch was having the hardest time, as he couldn't get a good enough shot with his Spartan Laser.

"Hang on! Let me swing her around!"

The Pelican spun around and opened up on the constructs with its 40mm chaingun, obliterating the robots before they could blink. Just after Lasky jumped out, the dropship blew up as a hug satellite flew over them and shot it with a laser.

"Damnit! We gotta find shelter!" Jorge said.

"Let's move!" Carter ordered as he took off.

They all kept up, even Lasky, which was surprising, as he wasn't a Spartan. They found a small structure and entered.

"Kat, try and get comms up with Infinity." Carter told her.

"On it, Colonel."

"The rest of us will keep watch, and make sure that none of those things get the jump on us.

"Commander Lasky, I can get a wide range frequency, but that's about it for now."

"I'll take it."

He walked over and began transmitting.

"This is Lasky to UNSC Infinity. We're up to our necks in bad guys down here. Does anyone read?"

"~~~117~~~~Forward Unto~~~~on station, ready~~~~~."

"Kat, can you clear it up?" Carter asked.

"No."

"Wait… sounded like he said 'Forward Unto Dawn'." Jun said.

"You're… Oh my God." Carter said.

Carter ran to the radio and picked up the transceiver.

"Chief! Chief, if you can hear me, this is Noble One. Do you read?"

Silence.

"Lost the signal." Kat reported.

"Damnit!"

He stood up, retrieved his DMR, and walked towards the door.

"Where are you going?" Lasky asked him.

He stepped out of the door and turned back.

"To find the rest of my team."

The doors closed behind him, and the III was on his own. He walked down the path back to the forest floor and encountered a pair of the robot big robots accompanied by 3 dog-like robots. He pulled up his DMR and shot the nearest dog in the face. It blew up in a shower of orange sparks and one of the big robots teleported away, only to reappear right in front of the Spartan. Carter leaped back as a new wave of adrenaline flooded his system.

(Spartan Time)

The robot's right arm bent back as it prepared to swing its sword at him, but Carter pulled out his combat knife and cut the arm off at its elbow. He flipped the blade around and cut its head off, and whirled around, slicing into one of the dogs that had leapt at him. As it recoiled, the Spartan buried the knife handle deep into the robot dog, killing it. He pulled the knife out, twirling the blade around once again and throwing it into the last dog.

As the adrenaline rush subsided, he walked over to the dying robot dog, planted his boot on its face, and yanked his knife out of its eye, smashing its head in the process. He grabbed his DMR from his left hand and fired one-handed at the last big robot, which recoiled but held firm, as it had shields. A curved knife emerged from its neck, puncturing its shields, and it fell over dead, with a not-so dead Spartan III standing over it.

"Commander." Emile said, saluting.

"Good to see you in one piece, Emile, but it's 'Colonel' now."

"That's quite the jump. Chief, I found the source of the noise. Get over here, like, last week."

"On our way."

"Anything big happen since we've been gone?" Emile asked.

"There's a new generation of Spartans, IV's. The surviving I's, II's, and III's trained them. That ship you saw has been our home for the past 4 years."

"Nice suit, sir. That 5th Avenue? You been shopping without us?" James asked as he and the Chief emerged from the brush behind Emile.

"Where's the rest of the team?" The Chief asked.

"Back that way, when we got your signal, I came alone to find you."

"You know, for a Spartan team leader, you sure do some dumb shit sometimes. Going up against Prometheans, alone? You're nuts. Sir." James said.

"Prometheans? The robots?"

"Advanced Forerunner defense AI's, to be precise. The big ones are Promethean Knights." Cortana chimed in.

"Thanks for the tip. It's fitting of them."

"Let's go find Lasky." John said.

Carter took point and led them back to the structure. Outside were a few weapons and an IFF tag.

"They locked the door. Grab any ammo you need. Commander, it's Carter. I have the package. It's safe."

The door opened, revealing 6 other Spartans on the other side of the door. They all had their weapons raised, but lowered them when they saw Emile, James, and John. Lasky walked out and extended his hand to John.

"I'm afraid I have to give you an IOU on that welcome home party. Tom Lasky. First officer of the Infinity. Never thought I'd see you again."

John shook his hand as Emile and James saluted out of habit.

"At ease, Noble. It's good to see you two again as well."

"We've met, sir?" James asked.

"On Reach."

"Ah, yes."

They all heard some static from the radio and a voice come over. They all ran over.

"Commander! Radio's hot!" Kat yelled to Lasky.

"Respond to Comm… on what frequency? What frequency, damnit!?"

"Infinity, this is Commander Lasky. Pelican recon teams are down. Repeat. All birds are down. We've got numerous causalities and require immediate assistance. Over."

"Finally. Did you get the coordinates to that gravity well?"

"Yes, sir. But we need a way out of here."

"Make it happen."

"Commander, we'll never get the wounded out on foot." Jorge said.

"I hope it's not too soon to ask a favor, Chief. I don't suppose you're any good at clearing LZ's?" Lasky asked.

"On occasion. We'll send out an all-clear once the area's clear." John responded, walking towards the other entrance with James and Emile in tow. The rest of Noble Team joined them, and they all left.

"A topographical scan of the area shows a break in the foliage north of here. Should be large enough to bring in a dropship." Cortana told them.

"Hey, James? What's with the exhaust vents on your back?" Jun asked him.

"Huh?" He asked, craning his neck to see them.

"Oh, sorry. I integrated that thruster pack you took from an Elite Ranger into your armor." Cortana told him.

"Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"I forgot."

"Bull."

"No really. It slipped my mind."

"Uh-huh."

The team entered a small clearing where three Knights and their flying buddies, plus a few robot dogs, were scouting for humans. Carter immediately snapped up his DMR and blasted the dogs, while the Dawn crew attacked the Knights, and the rest of the team killed the flying bastards. The whole fight was done in about a minute.

"Chief, it's Lasky. We've got reports of friendlies pinned down near your location. Can you assist?"

"Commander, this is Cortana. We're on our way."

"Staggered formation, Noble. James, Jorge, move up first. Kat, Emile, you're next. Jun, you and the Chief are with me, on our six. Go." Carter instructed.

James and Jorge left the group and moved into the thicket. Upon seeing no targets, they signaled that it was clear, so Emile and Kat moved up behind them. That's when the Knights came. 2 of them ambushed the group of 4, so the rest of the team sprang into action and killed them with lethal efficiency.

"Let's try all going together, okay?" James asked.

"Yeah, let's try that." Carter said, taking point.

He led them along a small path that led to another clearing, a bit bigger than the last, with 4 marines being attacked by three Knights. The Chief instantly broke formation and beat down one, leaving the marines speechless.

"I thought he was dead."

"Holy mother of…"

"Who's that?"

"What. The. What?"

"Snap out of it, marines! We could use your help." Carter told them.

"Ye-Yes, sir!" One of them stuttered, readying his MA5D and firing at another Knight.

The others joined him, adding their own lead to his, and bringing down the Knight as Noble took down the other two.

"Clear. Nice work, marines. Come with us. We're going to clear an LZ for Commander Lasky." Carter told the marines.

"Right behind you, sir."

The group fought their way to a locked door, with an AI pedestal nearby.

"Put me in the console." Cortana told John.

He approached the console and slid the chip in.

"The marines got trapped trying to get through this door. Hold them off long enough for me to open the doors!" Cortana told them.

After a few minutes of intense fighting, the door had still not opened.

"Cortana?" John asked.

"You do your job, and I'll do mine, okay?!" She yelled in a distorted voice.

They kept fighting, burning through more and more ammo, until Cortana got the door open.

"Got it! Pull me, Chief."

He walked up and pulled the chip out and replaced in in his helmet.

"I'm sorry for yelling at you back there. That door's security was harder than I expected."

"It's alright." John told her.

"No, it's not. How is this alright?"

The Chief didn't answer, instead just walking towards the end of the tunnel. At the end, a Knight approached a pair of Elites.

"Knight! Wait, what's he doing?" Cortana informed them.

The Spartans all fired at once, taking out the Knight and his Elite cohorts.

"I'm shocked that the Didact has unified these Covenant so quickly."

"Well, they do kind of worship him, so…" James began.

"Not now." John told him as he took out a trio of Grunts with his Battle Rifle.

"Knights!" Cortana told them as three Prometheans warped to the battlefield.

One was immediately destroyed by a hypersonic projectile.

"How do you like that, you robot fuck!?" A marine shouted.

The other marines advanced, with the Spartans leading them and gunning down anything that opposed them. Two of the remaining marines perished, but the other two fought like hell to avenge them.

"Commander, LZ secured." Cortana told Lasky.

"Roger, Cortana. I'll get you the coordinates for the~" The XO began.

"Mayday, mayday! Code Red! Hostiles attempting to gain access to the Infinity bridge!" Someone interrupted.

"They're outside the hatch!"

"Door's breached! Door's breached!"

"All ground units are ordered to return to Infinity immediately!"

"Chief, I'm redirecting the Spartan-IVs to rally point Alpha Sierra Foxtrot. Until we catch up, you have tactical command of the forward assault force! Rendezvous with those men and take back that ship!" Lasky told him.

A Pelican touched down behind them, and the Spartans got in.

"This is Pelican 5-9-5. We have Noble Team onboard and are outbound for rally point Alpha Sierra Foxtrot." The pilot reported.

When they arrived, the Spartans piled out, with the Chief instantly going for the Scorpion Tank nearby.

"Weapons free, Chief! Let 'em have it!" Cortana told him.

The rest of the Spartans seated themselves on the jumpseats and the turret, and the tank rolled out for the ship.

"117, Lasky. We're touching down just north of your position. Proceed to starboard hangar 2-19, and we'll link up with you there."

There were quite a few hostiles between them and the hangar, but nothing the tank couldn't handle. The Grunts squished quite nicely, and the Elites made a magnificent crunching sound, as did the Ghosts. When they reached the hangar, they found the doors sealed.

"Commander, the hangar bay doors are sealed tight." Cortana told Lasky.

"Roger, Cortana. We'll find a way inside and free up one of the mooring platforms. XO out."

The door opened, and John navigated the tank into the lift. There were Covenant everywhere in the hangar bay, including a Hunter pair.

"I got them!" Jorge yelled as he jumped off and blazed the pair with his HMG. They went down when James added the Scorpion's MG to Jorge's. The rest of the Covenant went down easy.

"Master Chief. This is Captain Del Rio. Lasky just pinged me. You picked a hell of a time to rejoin us." The Captain told him.

"Sir, what's our status?" James asked.

"That satellite took down the ship's defenses and is extracting data from the mainframe as we speak."

"Can we break the connection?" John asked.

"Main point of contact is on the upper hull. Fastest route is through the maintenance causeway. There's a Mantis docked inside the door. Take it. You'll need the extra firepower."

The Chief activated the controls to bring the Mantis up, and got in. The team fought their way to the upper hull, where they found three Covenant jammers which John easily destroyed with the Mantis. Carter found another Mantis and hopped in, helping the Master Chief to clear the Covenant ground troops off of the hull.

"MAC guns are online, but EM readings are blocking the uplink. You'll have to link it manually." Del Rio told him.

Jun hit the button, and the MAC's came to life.

"All forward guns, get that satellite the hell away from my ship. Fire at will!"

The 3 MAC guns roared and fired their 600 ton slugs at the Didact's ship. It turned and retreated.

"All hands, we are Condition Yellow. Stand down. Section heads: begin damage assessment." Del Rio ordered.

Noble Team returned to the bridge and were joined by Lasky and Spartan-IV Commander Sarah Palmer.

"What I want to know is: What the hell are they and why are they here?" Del Rio asked, indicating to a holographic image of a Promethean Knight.

"They seem to be native to Requiem, or at least what counts as native for a Forerunner AI." Cortana told him

"This doesn't make sense; we've never encountered this kind of resistance at any of the other installations."

"Other installations?" John asked.

"Colonel." Del Rio said in an agitated voice.

"Infinity's mission has been to find and establish research bases at the rest of the Halo rings. We've got bases on Installations 3 and 5, but then we had some complications." Carter told him.

"A science team got zapped excavating an artifact on Installation 03. This sensor data is all that's left." Del Rio said as a series of images appeared on the holo-table.

"These are a derivation of the Forerunner glyph system." Cortana told them.

"And our scientists managed to pull a set of coordinates from them. I'll give you 3 guesses where they led us."

"Captain, Gypsy Company is prepped and ready to roll on your orders." Commander Palmer interrupted, handing Del Rio a datapad.

"Thank you, Palmer. Lasky, get a team ready, I want boots on the ground in 60."

"Sir? We're not going after the Didact?" James asked.

"This is a First Contact scenario. Our first priority is to file a report to FLEETCOM."

"You mean we're leaving?" Cortana asked.

"Sir, the Didact's vulnerable." John said.

Del Rio took a step towards the Master Chief.

"He isn't the only one. You know, I think you of all people would understand the value of living to fight another day."

Del Rio left, as did Lasky and Noble Team. John cast a look at Cortana, and then grabbed her data chip and followed.

FINALLY! IT'S DONE! ANOTHER CHAPTER! WOOHOO!

Till next time! (Which hopefully won't be so long.)

MASTER CHIEF! VS! LEONIDAS!

BEGIN!