Chapter Three: Discovery

Requiem, January 5, 2559, 12:03am

Hunters led the way through the thick jungle, cutting through the dense shrubbery with their heavy iron shields. Eray and his Jackals followed behind. Jackals were the prime species in the Covenant Remnants, as Grunts were to cowardly, and Hunters didn't really seem to care.

Eray gripped his SMG's tighter as the rain poured down. He had obtained several crates of used weaponary from the UNSC through peace talks, and trading. They traded off Storm Rifles and other unneeded weapons in return for human weapons.

The lead Hunter growled, and let Eray pass. They had made it to the tower. It was slightly shorter than the first, overgrown with vines and other vegetation. "Send the Unggoy in first," Eray ordered, and four Grunts armed with Needlers, and one with a Fuel Rod Cannon, slowly walked into the enterance, careful with each step.

After a few minutes, they signaled for the rest of the search party to enter. Eray held an SMG in both hands, while some Jackals behind him aimed human BR55s around the room. The inside was also over grown with plants, but there was a wierd stench to the room.

Eray spotted a terminal in the room, with the Forerunner glyphs for Humanity on it. They would need a human to acess the tower's function. But as far as he could tell, the structure had the same layout of the first cloning tower. He turned to the Kig-Yar with the UNSC radio backpack. "Contact headquarters, and tell them to tell the Spartan what we've found."

Seattle, Woodworth Hotel, Penthouse floor, January 5, 2559, 12:12am

Ginger sighed as he plopped down on the bed. It was the same room he, John, and Lachlan had been in when they were going after Butch and the corruptors of the Infinity. The Covenant had invaded with the fake ships shortly after. The Covenant managed to recover the Didact, who turned the Promethean forces that were fighting alongside the humans against the humans, before John had sacrificed himself to save him and Lachlan, killing the Didact in the process.

He smiled at the memory of John dumping weapons all over the bed. The radio was playing some old song from the Twenty-First Century.

Was it something I said or something I did

Did my words not come out right?

I tried not to hurt you,

Though I tried, I guess that's why they say

Every rose has it thorns,

Just like every night has its dawn.

Just like every cowboy sings a sad sad song,

Every rose has its thorns.

Ginger reached over and turned the radio off. He rolled off the bed, and out onto the balcony that they had jumped off of with their jet packs. Seattle had been hit the worst by the Covenant. The Seattle Space Needle was still in ruins, even though a reconstruction was planned. ONI wanted to search for any remaining trace of John or the Didact.

His phone vibrated in his pocket. Ginger rolled his eyes when he saw it was Destinee. "What now?"

"Well, someone's grouchy. Eray and his team scoped out the tower, and they found a terminal with the symbol for humanity. They want you there right away."

Ginger felt his heart race. His goal was possibly within reach. "Okay. Tell Lachlan to get the samples, just Chief's and Palmer's, and we'll meet at the portal."

"I'll tell him," Destinee responded. "What about weapons and armor?"

Ginger smiled as he stared at his suitcase and the UNSC trunk that he had in his room. "I learned a thing or two." He ended the call, and dumped the contents of the suitcase onto the floor, revealing an collaspable MA5B and a Magnum, each with several spare clips. He stuffed the Magnum in his jacket pocket along with the spare clips, and put the MA5B back in the suit case, as he had no way of carrying it without seeming suspicious.

There was no time to put his armor on, and he ran out of the door, headed for the nearest taxi that he could find. Thirty minutes later, he was running into the building.

Lachlan had taken the fastest Pelican down to Earth, and was waiting for Ginger in right next to the portal, holding two tubes of blood. "Are you sure you know what you're about to do?" he asked, handing Ginger the test tubes.

"Yeah, come on!" Ginger sprinted through the energy circle, arriving at the Covenant Remnant's HQ. Two Jackals were waiting for them. "Phantom is this way." They took off running, bypassing several startled Unggoy, and the occasional human who was assigned here. The UNSC was currently trying to integrate Jackals, Hunters, and Grunts into their ranks.

The Phantom was hovering in the hanger, with several discarded Banshees to be sent for human use. Ginger jumped into the open hatch, keeping a tight grip on the tubes. Lachlan was still clad in armor, and went through the grav lift.

The ship flew off, and the Spartans watched though the open hatch doors as the rugged mountain terrain zipped by. They passed over the remains of the first tower that Ginger had destroyed, now with research teams, human and other wise, scanning every bit of the wreckage.

Soon they were over the ocean fly easily at three hundred miles an hour. Not bad for a Jackal pilot. They passed over three plateau like islands, and over mountains to the south of them. "Arriving at destination. Thank you for flying with Kig-Yar airlines. Please fly with us again soon," the pilot remarked as he eased over an open platform, cleared out by Hunters.

Ginger jumped out first, and then realized that he wasn't wearing his armor. "Shit!" He hit the ground hard before falling sideways. He gritted his teeth, keeping his tight grip on the tubes. As far as he was concerned, they were fine.

He saw Eray, flanked by two Jackals. "Where is it?"

"This way," Eray broke off into a run, with Ginger trying to keep up with him. They reached the facility, with Lachlan close behind. "Here," Eray pointed at the terminal.

Ginger ran over to it, and put his hand on the glyph. It changed from blue to orange, and a tray opened. Assuming that it was where you put the DNA, Ginger opened on of the tubes, and put a drop of blood on it. It automatically closed.

"I hope you know what you are doing. You might have just gotten us killed," Lachlan said, slightly nervous.

A bright orange light flooded the room, temporarily blinding everyone in it. "This has to work," Ginger said, squinting through the light. He was barely able to see the door in the side of the wall open.

The light died down, and Ginger saw the figure in the small room. He gasped at the sight. "It's Palmer! It worked!" Ginger threw up a triumphant fist, and prepared the next tube.

Lachlan walked over and helped Palmer to her feet. That's when everyone noticed a flaw in the device. She was butt naked.

"Um...okay," Ginger tried not to look.

Lachlan opened the pouch of medical supplies and checked her over. "Can you speak? Say something." He didn't seemed to care that she was in her birthday suit.

"I...I...what happened? Who are you? Where am I?" Palmer seemed confused, but there was something out of place.

"Do you remember getting killed?" Lachlan asked. Not something you would ask.

"I'm not dead. I'm right here." Palmer looked around the room, taking in the occupants. "Aliens! Are they friendly?"

"Oh shit, she doesn't remember!" Ginger shouted, smacking his face.

"Remember what? And why am I naked? Were you trying to take advantage of me? What's up with the robot?" She asked, pointing at the fully armored Lachlan.

"Well, this sucks." Ginger groaned.

Palmer walked over to him, trying to cover herself up. "I don't know what's going on here, and I want to know." She stared him in the face, looking up at him. Then it hit Ginger.

"She lost the augmentations," Ginger said, guesturing to the hieght difference.

"Oh shit," Lachlan agreed. Eray and the Jackals stood in the background, trying to comprehend everything.

"Here," Ginger took off his leather jacket, and gave it to Palmer to cover herself up in. He walked over to Lachlan, and was almost there when he felt a gun pointed at the back of his head. "Fuck, I left that in my pocket."

"Tell me everything that's going on, or I'll kill you," Palmer ordered, dead serious toned.