I am back with another update so soon! Now, you probably won't expect another activity from me until chapter three decides to cut. I believe this is the longest chapter I have posted in all of my stories. I haven't really measured the word count...
As always, I do not own Halo. OCs are seen through this chapter.
I would like to thank one of my reviewers, Noble17, for offering some of his/her OCs. I really appreciate the aid! It gets old when my brother is giving me the S-number based on the amount of ammo he has in his clip on Battlefield 4. I am also in need of names-male or female, I don't care-for further use.
Enough of me ranting!
Read and Review!
CHAPTER TWO
0515 Hours, November 25, 2557 (Military Calender) /
Double Helix Star System, Planet Symphony
The AI safely landed their transport onto the landing pad, stating to the Master Chief, "Transport has touched down. USB officials will be waiting outside, sir."
"Thank you." said the SPARTAN. He barely showed hesitation as he reached forward towards the console and retrieved the AI, pulling him out of the transport's systems. His armored hand went back behind his head and inserted the memory-processor matrix into the socket at the base of his neck-he had done this so many times before with Cortana's matrix. The ever familiar cold liquid sensation sent chills down the Master Chief's spine. The AI contemplated whether or not he should strike a conversation with the SPARTAN; current data collected from the man's mind gave the AI the impression John was nervous with him having access to his suit and mind, the reason unknown. He had no knowledge of the Master Chief and his affiliations with Cortana. The AI was programmed to deliver John to planet Symphony and deliver the last handful of SPARTANs a message from their creator before the Cole Protocol would purge him. The AI did not question his orders.
The Master Chief quickly adjusted to the new presence in his mind before he pivoted away from the ship's console and progressed aft. The aft door lowered in a timely manner and slowly, John could see the officials-four of them-standing patiently. Three of the officials were men and the fourth was a woman; they wore uniforms from their respective Armed Forces branches. Once the aft door finally settled on the platform, John stepped down and stopped in front of the officials, raising his arm in to a crisp salute.
The officials returned the salute, just as crisp, and dropped their arms in perfect unison.
"Master Chief," said the Navy Fleet Admiral as he craned his head back a fraction to see John in full height. The man looked to be in his mid-fifties, if not late forties. His black hair was cropped to standard and small patches of gray hair sprouted all around his head. With a brief look into the Admiral's eyes, the Master Chief noted their old and weary gaze. "We have heard a great deal about you."
John only nodded.
"It is our greatest honor to welcome you to planet Symphony. I hope you find your stay quite entertaining." added the Admiral, "Before any further action, I am Fleet Admiral Collin Shahana."
The man to his left-the Marine-took his turn, jutting out his hand for John to accept and shake. The Master Chief did so respectively, giving one firm-careful-handshake, "I am Marine General Jacob Yanskee."
General Yanskee nearly matched the SPARTAN in height and in bulk. For a man his age-assuming he was in his late forties-General Yanskee was quite the built man. From underneath his uniform, John could see muscles aching to be shown and put to great use. The Marine had no hair whatsoever, completely bald, and a gouging scar ran down the left side of his face where a Skirmisher had managed to lash a talon.
Next in line was a tall and slender man with focused, piercing brown eyes like that of a hawk. Blond hair was cut to standard length, uniform very well pressed and kept under perfect maintenance. He did not offer the Master Chief a handshake as General Yanskee had done, but offered the SPARTAN a respective nod before introducing himself, "I am General of the Air Force Chief Seth Detritus."
John returned the nod before stepping down the line and dropped his gaze to see the woman last in line. She had faint Asian features, eye corners elongated with small and fearless eyes beneath them. Her lips were pursed into a fine line as she lifted her head slightly, "I am Army General Hope Nakai."
"Greetings," said the Chief at last, bowing his head at the woman only a fraction. He pivoted slightly towards the other three men, "It is an honor to be amongst you. I was hoping this meeting would be under different circumstances."
The Admiral nodded, "We agree, Master Chief. I understand you have something from Dr. Halsey that you wish to tell our SPARTANs. What is it exactly?"
"A message," the AI in his interface shifted as John spoke, the AI creating a small grunt. "Of high priority. ONI threatens to shut down the SPARTAN program within a matter of days."
The men and woman tensed visibly-the Marine more so than the other as his muscles flexed within his neck.
"What of Dr. Halsey?" asked General Nakai.
John forced out the words, finding them quite painful to say, "As of 17 November, 2557 at 0700 hours, Dr. Halsey was given the injection."
John swore he heard the female utter "barbarians," but he could not be certain.
"In that case, please, Master Chief, follow us into the grand hall where we can rally our SPARTANs and hear this message." said General Yanskee as he broke from the orderly line and began to march towards the facility. The Master Chief could hear the Marine official bark an order into his receiver, "Notify all SPARTANs to gather in the grand hall, mark it as an urgent call. I want every single Marine, Airman, Seaman, and Army personnel present ASAP!"
John blinked in surprise as he heard the AI speak, "The Marine General is in charge of 'spreading the good word' and keeping the soldiers, SPARTANs, and the rest of the personnel well informed. He is also the head of security at this facility."
"What about the rest of them?" asked John as he turned off his external speakers.
"The General of the Air Force Chief controls what flies-quite typical of the branch he serves-and he monitors activity in the space surrounding the Double Helix Star System. The Fleet Admiral can be named as the co-worker with General Detritus and the Fleet Admiral also oversees the stars and recently, he finished hounding the stray Covenant forces within this star system. And lastly, the Army General manages all the training that goes on within the facility. She had a selected group of others under her command that assist in the creating of simulators for soldier, ODST, and SPARTAN alike. She has improved the effectiveness out in the field with seemingly real simulators." the AI further informed as he tapped into the readable files of the four officials.
"Have these SPARTANs fought the battles that I have seen?" the Master Chief asked.
The AI took a moment to reply, "Several of these SPARTANs have fought on Reach, many of which honorably died. The majority of them leak into missions and go undetected, thus, the possibility of these SPARTANs fighting missions alongside you or other SPARTANs is likely."
John went into his memories and tried to find a SPARTAN would could have been a possible leak. He removed the SPARTANs he had grown and trained with, but even then, he couldn't find one.
The AI spoke again, "Are you familiar with Noble Six, sir?"
The title was strikingly familiar, but the Master Chief did not think he was affiliated with the Noble face to face, "I have heard of him."
The disembodied voice continued, "He originated from this facility, served in the Naval unit. Quite the lone soldier as his profile reads."
John would not doubt it. He, too, was a lone soldier; he no longer had Cortana.
The grand hall was quite the spectacle.
From what John could recall, the hall had a very antique appearance. Colossal pillars reinforced with titanium A towered three stories, the ceiling arched and the center piece was a dome made of lab-produced diamond and glass settled evenly between the ribs. Light refracted from the diamond as easily as a real one would and created a specter of colors all around the hall. There were two balconies above with railings made out of polished stone and designs swirled to and fro. Much to the Chief's surprise, a large red carpet rug claimed the majority of the stone floor.
Bodies poured in from all directions, quickly filling up space as the intercom spoke loudly, "All personnel, on and off duty, please report to the grand hall; priority: urgent. I repeat, all personnel, on and off duty, please report to the grand hall; priority: urgent."
An opening was created by the mass of men, women, and SPARTANs to allow the four officials and the Master Chief to head towards the front of the grand hall. The once quiet hall was soon filled with indistinct chatter and a wave of silence passed when the microphone was tapped by General Yanskee, "Ladies and gentlemen, I hope everyone is doing fairly well at this time. Let us not forget of our comrades who gave their lives to eradicate the Covenant in this system and the outer system. Their sacrifice came with a great victory and as far as I know, not a single alien breathes within a million light years of planet Symphony." he allowed a paused for the soldiers and SPARTANs to call their sounds of triumph. Their HOO-AHs shook the walls and pillars, and John felt goosebumps perk on his skin. General Yanskee continued, "But another threat has arisen from the shadows and the Master Chief Petty Officer will further inform us of this threat."
The silence remained deep as the attention went to the green-plated SPARTAN and John stepped towards the podium General Yanskee was standing previously before. Beneath the microphone was a socket and the Master Chief reached back to grabbed the matrix of the AI. The cold liquid sensation ran through his mind as the AI was removed; upon insertion, however, the lights dimmed and a projector screen covered the wall behind the officials and John.
Dr. Halsey filled the majority of the screen, her old eyes peered into the camera. As she spoke, her voice was full of anxiety and harsh urgency, "My SPARTANs, fellow colleagues, and soldiers, I must be brief. Today, sixteen November year twenty-five fifty-seven at noon, ONI officials declared the SPARTAN Program will be discontinued effective one December year twenty-five fifty-seven. I have sent Master Chief Petty Officer Sierra one-one-seven to deliver this message: Leave planet Symphony and the facility the Union of the SPARTAN Brotherhood resides in. As far as I know, the departure date for the spooks is a standard week from today, thus meaning, ONI will arrive on precisely the first of December. I implore of all of you, do not engage in any affairs with the spooks. Do not attack, do not negotiate. ONI intends to decommission all active duty SPARTANs and integrate them into civilian life now that the Covenant is eradicated. My facility has been compromised and everything has been terminated and destroyed. To those in charge, activate Fall Out plan zeta-one through five. This message will be purged with the AI due to Cole Protocol. A last message to my SPARTANs: Remember me."
Dr. Halsey's image vanished and the screen went dark as the lights came back on. The disembodied voice of the AI came through the speakers, "Cole Protocol initiated. Purging all data."
The grand hall began to echo the many voices that spoke in protest, many of which-if not all-were not pleased with the discontinuation of the SPARTAN program. The officials behind the Master Chief were speaking quietly amongst one another and the green titan could hear them discussing something about activating Dr. Halsey's Fall Out plan. Then, General Detritus pivoted away from the small gathering of officials and said to the Master Chief, "Come with me, Chief. As per Dr. Halsey's orders, Fall Out plan zeta-five applies to you."
John obediently followed the Air Force General as he was led away from the grand hall and General Yanskee's booming voice immediately silencing the voices currently growling.
General Detritus lead the SPARTAN towards the end of the hall and called for an elevator, pressing the button on the wall.
"I understand, Master Chief, that all of this is sudden news for you." stated the General.
John nodded, "You are correct, General."
The thin man continued, "You have many questions that may or may not be left unanswered after today. One of which being why you and your squadron of SPARTANs were not informed of the presence of these SPARTANs." he paused, stepping into the elevator as the doors opened. The armored man strode in after the General. "Unfortunately, that question could only be answered by Dr. Halsey herself. I, too, questioned why she did not combine the separated Naval SPARTANs with the USB."
John released a faint huff.
"Right now, Master Chief, all we have to do is follow Dr. Halsey's Fall Out plan zeta-one through five."
"If I may, General," the SPARTAN waited for the official to grant him permission to continue. He received the go-head and John finished his question, "What is Dr. Halsey's Fall Out plan zeta-one through five?"
The elevator stopped and the doors swished open. The men stepped out and the General replied as they continued down the hall, "Zeta-one: Download and secure all gathered data, and purge the remaining files from the system's hard drive. If necessary, purge all data. Zeta-two: Bring all transports online and prepare for building evacuation; board every man and woman, and secure all available weaponry on board. Zeta-three: Destroy evidence of every MJOLNIR modification created and equip all SPARTANs with their Fall Out suits. Save extra suits for further modification or replacement. Zeta-four: detonate and eradicate all traces of the USB facility. Zeta-five... you will soon see, Master Chief. Dr. Halsey had something special for you should this day under this circumstance come to arrive."
The Master Chief was slightly bothered by the fact that the General did not tell him up front what Zeta-five was and how in what way it pertained to him. Yet, as the obedient man he was, he did not press the General further; the General led the SPARTAN to the end of the hall, passing several security checks and arriving at a door read: HIGH CLASS AUTHORIZATION ONLY.
General Detritus had his retina scanned, along with his fingerprints on both hands, and a voice verification. Once the permission was granted, a disembodied female voice spoke, "Zeta-five initiated."
"Please, Master Chief, enter." said the General, side-stepping to allow the SPARTAN enter first.
Quite surprised that a high ranking officer-and official-was giving him first entry, he hesitated, but entered otherwise. Cautious steps slowly brought the Chief further into the dimmed room, but before his eyes could adjust, the lighting became brighter and the scene was revealed to him.
In a solid glass container was a Mark Fall Out suit, black armor glistening under the xenon lights; it had a similar variations with the Mark VI MJOLNIR armor, such as the helmet and the overall body work. The container itself was underneath the standard machine that aided in the removal and applying of the heavy suits. Next to the container was a table that contained a wide arrangements of human and alien weaponry with a locker full of their respective ammunitions.
The Master Chief pivoted back around towards the Air Force General as the other spoke, "The Fall Out suit has highly advanced systems, originally it was to be named Mark VII, but Dr. Halsey decided to make this suit the back-up suit. Tested time and time again, the Fall Out suit has a high capacity subspace where you can store up to five small firearms and three heavy firearms. The rings around the the wrists are smaller compartments for grenades and ammunitions, and when you've run out of ammunition on your weaponry, they will be immediately supplied to your reloading hand. Dropping weapons, however, involves a swift command to the main processor and you can choose to drop the weapon of your choice. You can carry a weapon on your back, like standard suits and a grenade holder is still in place. This suit can be wearable in space, submerged in water, and in any sort of toxicity. The shields are at a times four recharge rate and have an overshield. There is a reinforced standard jetpack and sprint capability. Additional abilities can be added on, but the limit is four armor capabilities."
Master Chief looked back at the pristine armor and the wide array of weapons, appalled. Yet, he had to ask, "Is there a downside to the suit?"
General Detritus replied, "It can be operable by a SPARTAN alone, but for optimal performance, an AI must be boarded to assist in controlling the main processor. Without a smart AI, the percentage for performance sits at a 79 percent."
Master Chief swung back around, brows furrowed together as his eyes narrowed underneath the helmet. He growled, "I do not want it, General."
"Dr. Halsey would have insisted."
"Just because she would have insisted does not give me adequate reason to utilize the suit, General. I cannot operate another suit with someone in my head." huffed the Master Chief. He turned away from the General and glared daggers into the Fall Out suit. Before the mention of an AI, he had considered trading in his suit for the one in front of him, but now it was out of the question. He would not have an AI in his head ever again. The pain was too great with Cortana.
The Air Force General walked around the SPARTAN towards the computer database on one wall of the room. Master Chief's eyes followed the slender man, watching his thin fingers type along on the holographic keyboard once the monitor came to life. General Detritus spoke calmly, as if he had expected the reaction from the Master Chief, "Cortana was important to you, was she not?"
When the SPARTAN did not reply, the General repeated, "Was she not, SPARTAN?"
John held in the growl as he answered, "She was, General."
There was a brief silence between the two men, the only noise being the holographic keyboard. General Detritus turned away from the computer, pivoting on heel and raising his head to see the SPARTAN, "Listen to me, Master Chief. I do not know if you comprehend you are only human. Being human, you become attached to things, people, or animals; it is natural to retreat to that object to look for some sense of comfort. A child goes to his mother, a wolf retreats to it's den, a bee returns to their hive. You allowed yourself to become attached by Cortana and she was there for you every moment of the way since she chose you. Like every living creature, you must make the decision of letting Cortana go. You are only human, Master Chief, not some machine bred to fight and kill."
The SPARTAN shuddered. Cortana had mentioned something along those words, that there was a difference between a man and a machine.
"At a point in everyone's lives, we learn to let go and move on." said the General.
"General, how can I let go of Cortana? She was someone I could rely on with every step I took, watched my six, protected me." said John, "I cannot just forget everything."
General Detritus shook his head, "I never said to forget about Cortana; I said to let her go. Cortana, to many others, was a valuable asset and a very intelligent AI derived from Dr. Halsey's own mind, but as I see from your perspective, she was more than just an AI. Cortana was your only true companion. Human things, as I think, must be taught to SPARTANs for this sole reason: You believe you are no longer human, thus, the human emotion does not apply to you. This creates an ignorant mind and could very well cost you many things. This suit, for example, has highly advanced systems of which you cannot control all at once even with all proper training. Every other SPARTAN in this facility is equipped with their own compatible, intelligent AI; all of which, are currently manufactured as of this moment due to Zeta-three. Your ignorance may cost you your life, Master Chief, thus, I highly advise you to accept the suit and the AI that will be manufactured to be compatible with your technique."
The Master Chief looked at the suit with a long, hard stare.
"Yes, General."
The official showed the SPARTAN a smile, turning to the computer once again. With the matter aside, he proceeded, "As you are aware, Cortana came from Dr. Halsey's own living tissue: her brain. When the gracious doctor, accompanied by a Noble, visited us before the spooks took her for investigation, she specifically created an AI just for you made out of her own brain once again. Before you begin to protest, Master Chief, the doctor did not create another Cortana. She made an AI similar to the one you had. A sister of her, if you wish to put her that way. She has been in 'sleep mode' for about several months and Dr. Halsey named her Maria. The systems are booting her up for docking and I suggest you step onto that panel to strip your Mark VI."
Reluctantly, the Master Chief did so and patiently remained still as the machines came online.