Daniel woke up with a start, Teal'c prodding him in the side. Jackson leapt up with great speed, looking around for the Chief. Teal'c knew who he was looking for and tapped his shoulder.

"Master Chief has gone down to Halo's surface with the ZPM. Perhaps he is thinking that he can use the Ancient defenses?"

"I don't know… There may be enough power in that Zero Point Module to activate drone cannon or two… but he was pretty wiped out… We need to find him…"

"Where is the other…?"

Daniel stared at Teal'c, puzzled. He remembered Cortana. Jackson looked around for an access panel. Teal'c stepped aside as Daniel released Cortana from the hard-drive. Her hologram appeared in the air. She looked around.

"Does anyone know how to find John? He was near…" She couldn't bring herself to say he was dying. She futilely hoped that those ONI propaganda slogans were right, that SPARTANS never die. Daniel stared at the empty space in the room for a second, and then lit up.

"Ship sensors can pick up a ZPM! We just have to scan Halo!" He said. Teal'c nodded and moved to another station. Cortana looked out the window. The Ori ships were in line, staying their ground. The Covenant cruiser had been horribly damaged, but still limped next to an equally battered Fire Stallion. She winced as pieces of the Covenant cruiser shattered off. A screen appeared on the window, the Arbiter on the screen, tapping controls with great speed. Johnson was running around in the background, adjusting dials. The Arbiter growled.

"My sensors have picked up the Master Chief's signal on Halo. He is on an ice plateau on the 156 degree face. My sensors also are picking up a serious power increase in surrounding areas."

"What does this mean?" Teal'c asked.

"It means one of three things. The Master Chief could have activated the Ancient weaponry, Halo has been activated, or the Gate is picking up an incoming wormhole. I know that once the ships detected the disturbance, the Ori stopped their attack…"

"Keep your position and we'll have to monitor the situation from afar."

"We can't leave John!" Cortana spat. Daniel eyed her hologram with pity and grabbed a control crystal. The ship arched towards Halo and rocketed to the construct. The Arbiter snarled in shock at Daniel's sudden movement. The Covenant ship followed close behind. The Fire Stallion hovered in place for a while before turning to follow as well.

"You guys aren't leaving me here alone!"

The ships approached Halo, when the sensor net flared red. Four bright lights appeared on the surface. Before anyone could do anything, the beams of drones exploded out and around the ships. Daniel watched as the drones tore through the ships with the utmost ease. He smiled, but then remembered the Chief. Something sparked his memory. The last time this happened, Jack had been…

Daniel looked at Teal'c and they both stared at each other, wide eyed. Jack's voice came over the radio.

"Yes! Those dumb-shits are dead!"

"Uh… Jack… Do you remember what happened to you when you used the Ancient platform… when you were near death…?"

"Wha…? Yeah… I was…" The line was silent for a second. "Oh son of a bitch…"

"My words exactly…"

The humans and Cortana's hologram stood in the icy cavern. The drone chair and the dead ZPM stood off to the side. The Chief was frozen in the Ancient cryo-pod, his eyes closed, arms crossed. He looked asleep. Cortana ran a hand down the glass. Jack stood by the drone chair.

"This stupid over rated piece of shit!"

"Jack…"

"I'm serious! Can't the ancients leave ya a key to their weapons that won't kill you?"

"Jack…"

"Damn it, Daniel!"

"Jack!" The commander shut up.

"What are our options…?" The Arbiter asked. Daniel looked around.

"If we take him out, he'll die…"

"Can't the Asguard fix this…?" Cortana asked, desperate. Daniel thought for a second.

"All the Asguard ships are warrior class… I doubt that they have a revival pod…" Johnson growled. "That hard-ass deserves a second chance…" He motioned at the Chief.

"I think that we can fix this… but it'll take time… We need to go…"

"We can't just leave him here!" Cortana yelled. Jack shook his head.

"I remember one thing from something a much ascended Daniel Jackson said… 'No one can choose your path for you… but if you choose that right path, the journey will be incredible…' He chose his path… We'll be back…"

Heads hung the humans and the hologram left. Jack stopped at the stairway and looked back to the cryo-pod.

"See you around, Master Chief…"