I was utterly impressed with the technology that had the ability to materialize my AI companion into a physical being.
She was always doing it now. She would come in small flakes of blue,not unlike the promethean knights, and slowly, from her feet, came a fully solid and real, Cortana. She luckily could still ride along in my helmet with me. I didn't like the idea of her in the field of combat, even with the mark VI armor that she phased into so much. Like any other armor-it could fail.
I sat watching her now through my visor. Her Cobalt blue armor fit her like no armor could, her still flawless blue tinted skin could be seen at the absence of her helmet. Her electric blue pools gazed at nothing in particular. She was most likely starting subroutines, as she was still an AI. Even though what she was doing was most likely mechanical, the way she looked could have been likened to that of a model. She looked off into the distance, hair whipping across her face from the wind swirling in the falcon. Her plated hand flexed around the handle next to the open door.
We were headed to a drop off point to assist some pinned down marines. She was to be in my HUD for the fight, but chose to enjoy the ride in a physical form simply to experience it in its fullest.
As we neared the landing zone I stood and Cortana dematerialized, entering my consciousness as I felt the cold shiver of mercury enter my brain. Soon after she appeared in the top of my HUD grinning.
"Ready Chief?" She asked, smile widening.
My lip twitched upward and I answered, "Of course I am."
The Falcon touched down and I jumped from the door, sweeping the immediate area with my rifle. I moved forward signaling the pilot to leave.
As the Falcon whirred off into the distance the sarcastic tone of my companion rang in my visor. "Just us now I suppose?"
"It would seem." I answered.
Though I wished I could joke with her, the soldier not-so-inside of me kicked in and I was ready and alert. I was on edge, gripping my assault rifle tightly, raised at the cave that I was greeted with. Luckily the UNSC base we had flown from was only a 5KM jog from here. Though a run like that would leave most people gasping and struggling for breath, I was no normal person. I was a SPARTAN. A genetically augmented super-soldier. The perfect specimen. And I almost always have luck in my favor.
Walking into the cave I activated the floodlights on my helmet as to give a clearer view. Though Cortana gave no indication that there were any enemies in the area I still remained on alert. I swept my rifle across the room. The safety clicked to fire and the magazine full.
My head snapped to the side as I heard a small crack to my right.
"Chief… We've got company." sounded Cortana in my head.
I remained silent as I walked towards the source of the noise. That was when I looked into the bottom left of my HUD.
The usually blue map of my surroundings was almost entirely painted red. I snapped my gun in all directions, looking for any sign of these ghost soldiers that seemed to appear from mid-air. In that moment I almost wished I hadn't looked.
As the covenant's stealth cloaks became inactive I saw the masses of them appear. It included grunts, Jackals, and Elites. Knowing I couldn't charge head on into the eye of the storm and come out alive I resorted to searching for any alternatives to this situation. Luckily, there was one. And she was in my helmet.
"Cortana, find me a way out of this." I stated, more of a demand than a request.
"Not many options Chief, looks like you'll have to take em'." She stated nervously.
Maybe there weren't that many options.
I tensed my finger on the rifle's trigger, slowly but surely. I squeezed off the first round, snapping my torso in another direction and squeezing off a short burst. I continued this rhythm, watching as grunts and jackals, maybe the occasional elite, all fell to my hail of bullets. My second to last magazine clicked empty and I dropped it, smashing the last remaining magazine I had into the port.
I raised my rifle to fire once more but stopped as I heard the priming of a plasma grenade. The blue, flaming orb landed next to my feet. I turned my feet, my body following and dove behind the nearest rock. The grenade exploded, showering me in dirt and gravel. I popped out from cover, seeing as I had dispatched most of the grunts and jackals quite quickly, the only thing standing in any threatening proportion were the elites, 20 strong at least. I wasted not a single bullet as I dropped two elites, though that was the last of my ammo. An elite equipped with an energy sword rushed me, forcing me to draw my sidearm and drop him at the expense of an entire clip of magnum ammo. I dropped that clip, popping another in and pulling back the slide. I was almost ready to fire seven more rounds at the wall of elites when I noticed the not all wasted energy sword at the dead elite's feet.
I fitted the handle of the sword into my palm and clicked it on, the blade of plasma protruding out of the grip I clasped as if my life depended on it, which it did. I could feel the adrenaline pumping through my body, though my body showed no physical signs. I was a demon to the Sangheili, an insult at best, but with the name came respect. each of these elites knew who I was because I had killed many before them. I was just waiting for the next one in line.
And here he came.
He was a basic elite of low rank, nothing special. I'd taken out a few in my day. He seemed to be even dumber than most, he simply tried to charge me head first. he fought more like a brute than an Elite. I slid under his feet, burning a large cut into his stomach. The elite clutched at his charred skin through his armor. I came up behind the Elite and dug my knife into his throat, twisting as the life left his body. That was when another pounding set of footsteps came from behind me. I sheathed my knife, flipped my energy sword on in my left palm and drew my loaded magnum in the right.
This Elite seemed to be ranked higher from the headgear he wore. The long tails on the top specified Field Marshall. He came to a grinding stop in front of me, throwing gravel into my visor. As I raised my arm to block the rocks from hitting my visor he charged. A clever elite was a dangerous one. I rolled to the side just in time to avoid a similar fate as the earlier challenger.
I blasted three rounds of my magnum into his chest, the electric yellow pulse of his shields flowing over his armor. I rolled a frag under his feet, forcing the elite to evade. I started towards him as a crushing weight landed on my back. I was brought to the ground as a smaller elite pushed me down. I had been flipped onto my back looking up at the elite. The small elite raised his arm to deliver a devastating blow to my chest with his energy sword.
"Chief!" My concerned companion rang out in my head.
I raised my arm to block the energy sword with my own. As I clashed my sword with his, I began to lose the fight. I may be a super-soldier, but I can't hold up the weight of even a small elite for such a long time. I heard what could be taken as laughter from the other elites as they saw me struggle with the small member of their pack.
I withdrew one of my hands from the hilt for a small moment as I grabbed my fallen magnum and pressed it to the elite's side.
Surprised, the elite jumped slightly. That was the last move he would ever make. The motion of him jumping released enough weight off of my energy sword to slip it past his own and into his chest.
His shield sparked weakly as he looked down at his chest. My energy sword flickered and died while still lodged in his chest. I fired twice into his side, finishing him. I threw his corpse off of me and grabbed his sword all in one quick motion. I whipped around, standing to see the Field Marshall standing there. his mandibles were drawn back in what could be considered a smile. he raised the fuel rod cannon he had newly acquired from a fallen Unggoy soldier. I lunged towards him as the barrel glowed green and fired off what was essentially a bomb.
As my shoulder connected with the elite we fell to the ground and I fired my last two rounds of magnum ammo into his head. His already flickering shields failing.
I retrieved the Fuel Rod Cannon and began to fire madly into the wall of elites. 9 falling. leaving 5.
They all charged me from every direction. There was nothing I could do.
"Oh god, Chief." Said Cortana. She was just as baffled as I was.
I hunkered down and waited for the collision.
My back slid across the ground as my head rammed against a pillar with a thud. I threw my spent magnum at the frontmost elite, serving no purpose but to make him even more angry.
The elite roared as I tried to push onto my feet. The most forward elite held an energy sword. The two behind him held Storm rifles. The final two were equipped with covenant carbines. as the energy sword raised above my beaten body, my shields flickering. Cortana disappeared from my HUD, blue flakes began to swirl into existence in front of me. The boots of her armor began to form, shortly after came her legs, torso and head. I tried weakly to protest at her being here but she brushed it off as she came fully into view. Even through her Venator helmet you could almost feel her scowl.
She whipped up her battle rifle and fired three bursts into the group of elites. The first elite pushing to the back of the group. A fresh spartan, even a small one, was quite a match. An elite went down, another following. I slowly regained my strength and stood to my feet and retrieving a covenant carbine from the floor. I loosed off five rounds, turning on my heel and delivering five more. Only two elites remained.
Cortana threw down her spent battle rifle and drew her needler. She fired an entire clip into one of the standing elites and watched, as she reloaded her needler, the final elite equipped with an energy sword drop down upon her.
I turned all too slowly as her needler went off, spraying into his side. Cortana grinned, satisfied with the cluster of purple crystals protruding from his armor. Though the elite was pretty satisfied with himself as well.
The elite smiled weakly before falling to the side in a heap. Cortana looked slowly downwards, afraid at what she would find. That was when she and I both saw the two bright blue prongs of the sword, thrust deep into the panels of her Cobalt armor. The sword was still charged, though if that was good or bad I couldn't tell. I scrambled over to her prone form on the floor. She looked up at me and smiled.
"I'm sure it's not as bad as it looks." She stated weakly
The sword had gone through the right half of her breastplate, and it was quite possible she had punctured a lung. I gripped the hilt of the energy blade in my hand and looked at her solemnly.
"On three." I said
She nodded.
"One." I yanked the sword out of her armor, tossing it to the side, deactivating it.
Her back arched upwards and she opened her mouth to scream though nothing came out. She fell back to the floor and she was gasping for breath, getting every possible draw of air she could. I suppose I was right about her lung, or perhaps it was from the pain. I hoped the latter.
I realized that she wasn't bleeding. I thanked every divine god there was up there that the energy sword had cauterized it. I grabbed my biofoam canister off my back and placed it to the wound. I squeezed once, twice, three times. This can't be happening.
I looked down at the old canister of biofoam that I had failed to replace after I'd last used it. Because of my incompetence, Cortana could die.
No! She couldn't die! I mustn't think these things.
"John…" She said, her voice weak, audibly holding back a sob.
I looked down at her, laying there on the ground, in a mission that wasn't hers. All because she had to save me. I reached down and released her helmet, pulling it from her head. Her eyes looked back at me with her raven hair falling to either side. She reached up with her left hand, streaking the right breastplate of my armor, as she had done so long ago when I thought I had lost her. Looks like history might repeat itself.
I made up my mind then. If she was to die, I would do everything I could to give her any chance.
I opened comms, "This is Master Chief Petty Officer Sierra-117, requesting immediate medivac at these coordinates…" I directed my coordinates over the comms, "any pelican pilots that read please respond.
Five seconds passed by. Then ten, then fifteen. Then finally after thirty seconds of holding my breath I heard a voice.
"this is pelican pilot 6, we are en route. ETA 10 minutes."
That was way too long, "Negative, no time. I'm moving to the nearest UNSC base on foot, follow me when you get here and provide support from the air. Copy?"
"Clean copy chief, en route now."
I breathed a sigh of relief as the hand placed on my chest fell. I looked down and saw her face, weak and tired. I grabbed her hand in mine and squeezed, satisfied with the smile I received as a result.
"Don't you leave me yet, we aren't done here."
"Ai Ai Chief." Was my response.
"I'll get you out of this… I promise."
"Now Chief… Don't make a girl a promise if you know you can't keep it." She smiled weakly at me, remembering the words she had said so long ago.
I reached down pulling her up with my left arm, reaching through her legs and lifting her up onto my back. I used my right arm to hold her hand and thighs so as she wouldn't fall off. I regretted the hiss of pain she gave from the sudden movement but if I were to get her out of here I would have to carry her.
I slowly trudged my way out of the cave and into the sunlight, looking at the five kilometer forest that lie between me and the base. I set off into a jog, quickening my pace while trying to minimize the amount that mt shoulders moved. Only the occasional groan and turn let me know she was still with me.
About two kilometers into the run pelican six showed up. The pilot told me through comms what was up ahead and beside me and so on and so forth. Occasionally I would use the covenant carbine in my left hand to pick off a stray grunt or jackal. Suddenly Pelican Six told me good luck and whooshed away again. I realized why when the base came into sight. A burst of hope filled my body and my legs kicked into overdrive. I opened up a communications signal with the base.
"This is Sierra-117, requesting immediate access to this base. UNSC word of the day. Umbrella."
"This is UNSC Port Alpha, access granted. What's the problem Chief?" Came the gruff response.
"I have a wounded soldier in need of immediate medical attention." A groan from Cortana only emphasized my matter, the comm went dead.
I approached the gate in full sprint, the magnetic locks deactivating and unclasping allowing the gate to lurch upwards.
I cleared the gate by ducking and pushing my way straight through the gate, a medical team already moving to assist me at the front. A medic rolling a gurney rushed up motioning me to set her down. I did as directed as they scanned her and determined the extent of the injuries.
The doctor frowned and moved a large square pack off of his back, pulling two corded paddles from it.
I only realized later that that meant she had died on my shoulder under my care.
"Clear!" Screamed the medic, jolting her body with the electric paddles.
She exhaled roughly falling back down onto the gurney and falling into a coughing fit. The doctors responded by rolling the gurney away into a medical building, me trailing them. As we entered the building I was oblivious to the blast of cool air thanks to my armor's temperature adjustment systems.
I was forced to not progress any further as she was wheeled into a medical ward. They attached machines to her, cords and wires. I looked on through a plate glass window, sealed off as the doctors worked furiously over her body. My heart thumped faster than it ever had before. Not in a battle. Not in a war. Not in a freejump from the outer atmosphere. I remembered my promise and shifted on my feet, the only visual evidence of discomfort I would show.
That was when I began to pay attention again. I heard the beep for a moment. I didn't understand at first. The long continuous wail of the machine didn't alarm me until I looked up and realized at once what it was.
The heart monitor.
A straight line bled across the screen, my vision starting to blur I stepped away from the glass and walked out of the building. As I threw open the door it was set free of the hinges as I stepped outside. I walked up to the metal gate keeping me in and as it lifted I stepped out. The only way I knew how to deal with pain, emotion, feelings.
To go kill some more covie bastards.
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Sorry for the bad start-off, had to find some way to explain the human Cortana while still keeping her an AI as well. Thank you all for reading!
_TheLooneyBin