Commander Miranda Keyes stared out at the vast emptiness of space, absent mindedly tugging at her sleeve. She was nervous. If the Master Chief did indeed find what they were looking for, it would mean one step closer to ending the war with the bloodthirsty Covenant.
Keyes was aboard the Behemoth-class ship, the Sydney, a massive battle cruiser that could transport soldiers, weapons and vehicles anywhere across the galaxy. In keeping with the nature of the name 'battle', the Sydney was fitted with brutal Super MAC guns, capable of pulverising Covenant ships into dust. The armour surrounding the Sydney was so thick it could practically withstand the force of an atomic bomb.
In every aspect, Miranda Keyes was safe. Yet, she still felt vulnerable.
A voice jolted her from her thoughts.
"John-117 reporting as ordered, Commander."
Keyes turned around to find John 117 -Master Chief- standing stiffly in front of her, arm snapped in a smart salute.
"At ease, Master Chief."
The Chief lowered his hand but continued to stand to attention. This reminded Keyes of what he was: a soldier made for nothing but combat, created entirely for war. Military flowed in his veins.
"Report," Keyes said. Her body was taut as she waited for the answer.
"Negative, Ma'am," replied the Chief. "We found nothing."
Keyes's body relaxed, and she suppressed a sigh of relief. In truth, she was glad they had not found what they had been looking for, as it would have sparked a very violent reaction from the Covenant.
"Were you sure?", she asked the Chief.
A different voice answered.
"Yes."
Cortana materialized on the desk that Keyes was standing behind. As always, the A.I.'s slender, blue body was covered in shifting symbols of computer code, as was her short-cut hair. She was very small, and walked around the desk as though it was the size of a gym hall. She also had a transparent, ghostlike appearance. Nevertheless, Cortana was strikingly humanlike; Keyes often forgot she was talking to a computer code.
"Poor Covenant resistance indicated the area in question was not seen to be sufficiently important enough to be significantly barricaded, leading to a weaker, and may I say less efficient guarding force."
Cortana spoke so fast Keyes had trouble deciphering what she was saying.
"What?"
"The thing they were guarding was a piece of crap," said Chief.
Keyes hid a smile. "Ah." Cortana and Chief were very different, yet unmistakeably similar. They were a good pairing.
"Have you found any other possible location?", the A.I. asked.
"As a matter of fact, yes," Keyes replied. She turned to a keyboard on her desk and tapped briskly. Behind her, an recording flashed up on a wall mounted monitor screen. The display showed the side of a planet, which was a mixture of vibrant blues and greens.
"We managed to get a satellite recording of this," said Keyes.
"That's not Earth," said the Chief.
"Right," agreed Keyes. "This planet is-"
"PlanetMass UNK-007," chipped in Cortana. She had searched for, retrieved and read the files within seconds.
Keyes smiled. "Yes. Officially, it has no name. Most of it is too barren to be called anything but a desert. But anyway, we caught a glimpse of this…"
A Covenant drop ship had appeared on the side of the screen, its bright blue colour standing out against the starry backdrop. They watched as its turtle-like shape dropped further and further into the planets atmosphere.
Keyes switched the recording off.
"As you can see, they're up to something," she said.
"A backwater planet that nobody gives a look for their base of operations," mused Cortana. "Clever."
"But not entirely unexpected." Keyes looked at the motionless Chief. "I'm sending you down with a task force of Marines. Same objective as before. Find what we're looking for."
Chief acknowledged this by a swift salute and a "Yes Commander."
Keyes grimly nodded. "Good luck. May you find what we're searching for."