Chapter 39: Composer

Near Halo installation 03 and Ivanoff Research Station.

A slipspace portal opened in the meteor belt, and the Didact's fleet came out, along with some unwelcome guests.

"Everyone alright?" John asked.

"We're fine, Chief. Cortana, where are we?" Carter asked.

"Ivanoff Research Station. Installation 03."

"A Halo ring?" Emile asked.

"It's where Infinity found the coordinates for Requiem."

"Then why are they bypassing it?" James asked.

"Because the Composer's not on the ring."

They all saw the station, and knew that the Composer was there.

"Well, what are we waiting for? That station's not going to save itself."

All three teams secured their Liches, and brought them around towards the station.

"This is UNSC Noble Team to base. Do you read?" The Chief hailed.

"Yes! I read you! This is Sandy Tillson of Ivanoff Research Station! We're under attack!"

"They're after a Forerunner artifact you took from the Halo ring." James explained.

"How do you know about that?"

"Doctor, I need you to protect that artifact until we arrive. Send whatever-" The Chief began.

"Do you know what that condescending bitch said to me after our first game of chess?" Cortana demanded.

"Cortana…" James began.

"Even I don't call him by name anymore."

Everyone saw that the Chief's Lich was off course.

"Correct your approach." He instructed.

"Yes, well he also said he works better alone. I can see why you chose him, Catherine."

"Cortana!"

"I'm your greatest achievement and you detest me!"

"Pull up! NOW!" The Chief shouted.

Too late. The Lich crashed into the station as the other two docked and the Spartans went out to find the Chief. They found him hauling himself to his feet amidst burning wreckage.

"You okay?" Carter asked him.

"Fine, Commander."

"Dr. Tillson, are you there?" The Chief hailed.

"Oh, thank God. When your signal cut off I di-"

"Doctor, listen to me, you have to issue the order to evacuate the station."

"We've been trying! The Covenant… they've already taken over the landing bays."

"Send us your coordinates. We'll see what we can do about clearing an evac route on our way to you." Carter told her.

They scavenged whatever weapons they could, and the team was out. A marine was fighting a Jackal, and died with his Sticky Detonator in hand. Emile relieved him of it, and the Chief took point, scanning with his MA5D for targets. The saddest part was that there were more dead humans than aliens. As they entered the docking bay, a marine was tackled by an unarmed Jackal and clawed and chewed to death.

"They're killing everybody!" A scientist shouted as he and a companion ran.

The air was filled with MA5D fire, as that was the primary weapon that the team had found. They made their way closer to the bays, killing any aliens that got in their way.

"What can we do to keep the Covenant out?" Jorge asked.

"The Harbormaster controls can erect a barricade over the bay, but we'll have to locate them." Cortana answered.

"Found 'em!" Emile said as he pointed to a console near the bay doors.

They were impeded by a pair of Elites, which were taken care of by Carter and his scavenged DMR. The Chief ran to the console and raised the barricades.

"Doctor Tillson, Bay Seven is secured and we're moving towards your position now." Cortana reported.

"Really? Oh, that's incredible! Thank you!"

The door to the next area opened up, and the Chief immediately grabbed the charging Elite and shoved a frag grenade in its mouth. He threw it to the ground, and it blew up, killing the Jackals beside it, too. The security personnel inside turned and saw the Chief.

"Spartan? How many of you are there?" One asked as they poured lead into the Covenant on the other side of the room.

"Seven." Carter answered as the rest of the team came in guns blazing.

"Holy shit! That's Noble Team!" Another shouted.

"We got this, boys! Keep firing!"

The Chief led the group through the room, clearing out the light Covenant defense. As they ascended a staircase, that scanning beam swept through the room.

"Didact doesn't know where the Composer is! Just that it's on the station." Cortana told them.

"Then we need to find it first. Move up!" Carter ordered.

Up the stairs they went, slaughtering Grunt after Grunt as they went. More Grunts at the top, supported by a pair of Jackals and Elites in gold armor. The Grunts were toast in seconds, and the Jackals each took a knife to the face courtesy of Emile, while the Elites gave the Chief and Carter some trouble, running whenever their shields went down. Jorge withered them down with a stolen machine gun, and the team went through, their security allies staying behind to secure the area. Another scanning beam swept the station as a scientist freaked out in front of the Spartans.

"Help us! A pair of Hunters forced their way in! Take these! They're calibrated for heavy armor. Please! Help them!"

"We'll get them out of there. I promise." Carter said as each of the team, minus James, attached a thruster pack plug to their armor.

"Hunters, huh? This should be good." Emile said, loading his shotgun and cocking it dramatically.

"Emile, you and the Chief are in first. James, Jorge, you go next, draw their fire. I have a plan. Hand me a Stick Detonator." Carter instructed.

Emile gave the Commander his, and then followed the Chief in. They got the first Hunter's attention while James and Jorge got the second. As they flew around the room with their thruster packs, Carter and Jun came in with Sticky Detonators, firing and reloading as fast as they could. The Hunters died in a burst of fire as three sticky charges exploded on both.

"Spartans, are you okay? It sounds like the end of the world out there!" Dr. Tillson asked.

"Cortana? Door controls." The Chief instructed.

She merely spouted nonsense, another burst of rampancy.

"Tillson's inside the door over there." She finally responded.

Kat opened the door, and the team went in, finding Dr. Tillson on the other side.

"I desperately hope you know why all this is happening. Because, to be honest, my objectivity isn't doing me a whole lot of good right now. Hold on, I'll start us down."

She activated the elevator, and the team waited impatiently while it descended, slowly.

"The artifact you recovered was a Forerunner weapon. The Commander of that ship wants it back." The Chief explained.

Tillson was dumbfounded, according to her expression and voice.

"Wants it back? You don't think you can remove… It can't leave this station. You know that right?"

"Tell that to the Didact." James said.

"We don't have any choice, Doctor." The Chief added.

"It's not a matter of choice. It took three months, a-a-and the biggest starship the UNSC could throw at it just to relocate it here. Unless you Spartans are a lot stronger than you look, it's not going anywhere."

"Except Hell." Emile commented quietly.

"Can you give Cortana access to the station's supply manifest?" Carter asked.

"What for?" Tillson asked as she did so.

"If we can't move the Composer, we need to make sure the Didact can't either."

"Oh, wait… we have years of work invested here…"

"Inventory lists seven excavation-grade HAVOK mines. Just one of those would turn this base into a piñata." Cortana told them.

"I'm sorry, Doctor. Keep routing your people to the evac centers. Once we take care of the Composer, you won't have much time." James told her.

Tillson just fumbled around for words, looking utterly defeated before simply nodding.

"I'll… make sure the nukes are primed so you can detonate them remotely." She said.

"Thank you. Let's move, Noble." Carter said.

"Maybe next time you rescue us… you can give us more time to pack?" Tillson asked, not very much joking.

"Next time." The Chief said as they walked out.

They found the Composer in a huge area, with security guards all around it, mostly UNSC marines, but once or twice they saw an ODST. As they started walking, the room shook violently.

"Doctor, what was that?" The Chief asked.

"The Covenant… the Covenant shot down the first evac shuttle."

"The stations should be equipped with outer turrets. If we can reactivate them, I can program the station's defenses to provide cover for the evacuation." Cortana told her.

"Okay… okay. I'll send you the coordinates."

"Emile, Kat. Go get the turrets, Jorge and Jun, you and I will secure transport out of here. James, you stay here with the Chief. Keep the Composer safe, alright?" Carter instructed.

"Got it."

As the Spartans went their ways, the Chief and James stayed where they were, surveying the defenses and preparing for the Didact's inevitable assault.

"So if that thing fires, the rest of the team is screwed. You know that, right?" James asked.

"I know. That's why I told Carter to split us up."

"Oh. This seems like the old days. Spartans against everything the Covenant could throw at us. Defending against impossible odds."

"Yeah."

You impress me, Humans. Your singular valor will be preserved and studied, once your Composition has been completed. The Didact told them in their heads.

A few minutes later, another scanning beam swept through the station.

"Maybe the Great and Powerful Didact shouldn't misplace his things!" Cortana said snidely.

"Cortana, we're at the defense console." Emile reported.

"Good. Have Kat set up a remote link."

"Give me a minute." Noble Two said.

"Dr. Tillson, are you there?" John hailed.

"Yes, I'm here. Any luck?"

"Cortana's bringing the defense grid online now."

As the guns roared to life, Cortana reported success.

"I hear them. I'll broadcast the final evac orders."

"The nuke?" Carter asked.

"We're rigging it now. Meet us back upstairs. We'll help you get it to the artifact."

"Chief, if we actually pull this off and get back to Halsey, don't tell her how bad I got. Please?" Cortana asked.

"I won't say a thing."

"Me either." James added.

Covenant started flooding in a few minutes later.

"They found it."

"Hang in there, Chief. We're almost there. ETA one mike." Emile reported.

"Stop them, Chief! You can't let them tell him it's here!" Cortana told them.

An Elite suddenly exploded as a red laser pierced its face.

"Backup's here!" Emile shouted as he fired again with his Spartan Laser.

"We've got a Pelican rigged and ready to go. Just say the word, and we'll be there."

"Dr. Tillson, the Composer's location is compromised! You've got to get the nuke down here!" James told her.

"It's- It's not ready yet!"

"Ready or not, we need it now!" Emile said.

More Covenant started pouring in, soon supported by Ghosts, Banshees and Wraith tanks. The Team managed to find some Mantis' and made short work of the enemies.

"Damn! I love this thing!" James said.

"You say that about anything that can kill a Wraith tank." Emile retorted.

"Well, anything that can kill a Wraith tank is pretty cool in my book."

More and more Covenant came in, but the Didact and his Promethean warriors were absent from the fighting.

"Chief! What's your status?" Jorge hailed.

"Under heavy attack, but we can handle it, just hold back, we'll signal when we're ready for evac."

"Dr. Tillson, where's the warhead? Dr. Tillson?"

"Head back to the elevator platform, I'll keep trying to raise her."

"Emile, Kat. Signal for evac. We'll get the warhead ready."

"We're on our way." Carter replied.

The Pelican was in and the rest of Noble entered as James and John went for the elevator.

"The HAVOK mines will be in one of the cargo bays. Start us up."

The elevator started up as the atrium outside started to come apart.

"IMMENSE CASIMIR WAVE BUILDING JUST OUTSIDE THE ATRIUM!" Cortana shouted.

"MOVE!" James shouted as a piece of metal slammed into the glass viewport of the elevator, stopping them dead.

Suddenly, the entire atrium lit up with a bright orange, and the Spartans saw the Didact's ship outside.

Then the Composer started to shake and move.

"What's he doing?" John asked.

"Ho. Ly. Shit.

The Composer was lifted out of the station and pulled towards the Didact's ship.

"Cortana, see if you can raise Dr. Tillson. Get me a status on the rest of the station." The Chief instructed.

"…I can't believe he did that."

"Cortana, we need that info!" James told her.

"Look. Don't think about the Didact. Don't think about the Composer. Only focus on finding me Tillson." John added.

"Tillson. Sandra K. Female. Fifty one years of age. Doctor of Archaeology, Pegasi Institute. Got her! Biosignature stable on 350-Level. B-Deck."

"Thank you, Cortana." The Chief said.

"Commander, get out of here! The Didact has the Composer! He could use it at any time. Go! Get away from this station, NOW!" James shouted.

"That's insane! We're coming to get you."

"Negative, Commander. We need to get that warhead. You need to get out of here. We'll be fine. I promise." The Chief said.

The elevator was already going up, and soon reached Tillson's location.

"They've compromised the station's hull." Tillson said to other scientists as they approached.

"The Didact's taken the Composer! Get these people to the evac centers!" The Chief instructed as he put Cortana into the system.

"Taken?! Taken how?" Tillson asked.

"Tap the flight deck. Find us something that can carry a payload." James said, ignoring Tillson for now.

"Wait… something's happening…" Tillson said.

"Shit. CARTER! HAUL ASS! MOVE! GET OUT OF HERE! NOW!" James shouted.

The Composer was warming up. The Didact was going to fire it.

"Cortana, can you access the station's defense systems?" John asked.

"They're not responding." She answered.

As Cortana kept trying, the Composer kept spinning up, getting closer to fire-ready status.

"Cortana." James said.

"It's…"

The Composer fired, and the sight was not a pretty one. The scientists were literally disintegrated right where they stood, ripped apart layer by layer. The Chief and James were only knocked out, their armor failing as they fell.

Silence dominated the station. Suddenly, boots clattered on the deck as the rest of Noble Team rushed in, looking for their comrades.

"Chief! James!" Carter shouted.

They both were out cold where they had fallen. Then the Chief woke up, and James not two seconds later. They both came up to a knee slowly, to the amazement of Cortana.

"Are you okay?" She asked them.

"I monitored the data pulse. I could hear them… what was left of them…"

"We need to move." The Chief simply said.

"Damnit, James! Do you read!?" Emile hailed.

"Emile? We read you. We're on 350-Level. B-Deck.

"These people are gone." Cortana continued.

"And more will follow if the Didact reaches Earth." The Chief said.

The rest of Noble came in a few minutes later.

"What the hell happened there?" Carter asked.

"The Composer. The Didact fired it." James explained.

"Then how are you…?"

"Long story." The Chief said.

"They'll pair you with another AI. Maybe even another Cortana model if Halsey lets them." Cortana said.

"That's not going to happen." The entire team said at the same time.

"It won't be me. You know that, right?"

The team was silent, thinking of losing a companion like Cortana. She had been with them through thick and thin, and she was like another Noble to them.

"Spinning up Broadswords in Hangar C. Whatever the Librarian did to you two obviously worked-"

"Cortana." The Chief began.

"It's not over. Not yet." He continued.

"Not yet." Cortana echoed.

The six Broadsword fighters, with the Chief's loaded with the nuke, left the station, burning stars to find the Didact's fleet.

"Status report." The Chief asked.

"Noble One, good to go."

"Noble Two, all systems green."

"Noble Three, stable."

"Noble Four and Five. All good here."

"Noble Six. All good here. Let's go kill us a Forerunner."