A/N: Hello guyz! I saw the reviews. Thank you for pinpointing the mistakes and suggestions. I will try my best. As being asked, this story won't feature guardians. But there are new upgrades waiting for the master chief and his friends.
Disclaimer: I donot own Halo or Mass effect. This story is purely mine.
Chapter 2: A brand new start.
Forerunner Shield world - IRIDESCENT, Outer edge of the perseus arm
July 26, 2557
Chief and his team suddenly emerged out the slipspace portal in the planet's surface. The portal opened in the same circular gateway but somewhere in the middle of a forest. Everyone's so confused as to where they have landed. There were trees on both left and right from where they are standing. But a pathway is visible in front of them to walk. Between the tree gaps light from the artificial sunlight passes through as the exterior is usually closed and sealed like Requiem. They started walking along the pathway.
"Is this the place Static said about?" asked Fred.
Before anyone could respond, suddenly a monitor similar to guilty spark and Penitant tangent appeared flying in front of them. While not the blue team in general, Chief has a great experience in working with Spark which he can never forget. At th last moments of finishing the war, Spark turned rampant killed his good friend Johnson and almost got him but managed to kill or disable it. That incident left a bad taste in his mouth so, he never fully trusts them.
The team raised their weapons in caution.
Chief spoke first "Identify yourself!"
"Greetings Reclaimers! I'm 061-Primal Radiance, monitor of this forerunner construct Iridescent. We were waiting for your arrival" the monitor welcomed the blue team in it's ever cheerful voice. They were relieved that they had safely reached their destination.
"We were called by someone from this facility while we were on installation-03" said Chief. Radiance blinked for a moment looking at the four and then spoke,
"So you did receive the message, good! Then follow me into the city and we will answer all your questions" said the monitor plainly and started moving.
"We?" muttered Linda confused at the plural mention. They didn't know if there were anyone else. Before she could ask the monitor, it had already reached far side of the path.
"Let's go" said Chief.
They all followed the monitor to the city gates. Radiance used a console to open the gate. The four saw massive structures of forerunner design and also floating buildings within and beyond the city walls. The overall size of the city was so big that it couldn't actually be called a city. Everyone one were dumbstruck with the magnificent view. On their way they saw flowing water stream, and in the distant beyond the city, large hills with cloud covering the top. Also they saw several new varieties of shrubs and grasses with beautiful flowers. Within the city, the floor was like being made of metal in pristine condition. The ambience had an evening effect. Overall it was a pleasing view. But something was odd with it's internal appearance.
Kelly managed to look at the top sky region or what appears to be the sky. She immediately recognized that it wasn't real and that it was the upper curvature habitat and that they are inside a hollow spherical surface. She knew it as she had been to another similar facility called Trevelyan with Halsey, Mendez and some spartan IIIs. It was a dyson shell with in a 23 cm slipspace bubble. But she didn't know the size of the bubble that holds this place, but she can say that Iridescent too was a shield world with a dyson shell, which means like Onyx, Iridescent shield world can also be destroyed with the separated bubble.
"Hm, Look at THIS!" said Fred-104 at the sight of the city.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" replied Linda-058.
Everyone took their time to enjoy the beauty around.
"I've been to Requiem, but anyone could say it's artificial" thought the Chief.
They realized there was no threat so they holstered their weapons. The monitor interrupted their gaze.
"Reclaimers, the first place we are about to visit is the forerunner Ancilla Research facility. One of the main reasons you are brought here" said the monitor and then it took them a long way into the city.
"Ancilla? It's a forerunner term for AIs" said Chief wondering why they would be brought there.
Then they reached a building carrying a glyph generally representing forerunner AIs. The monitor opened the door and everyone entered a large room. There, the blue team saw sentinels being upgraded with new software in the respective terminals. The monitor took them to another shaft. There they walked along a lengthy platform. at the end and saw a large holographic terminal with multiple displays. One display was showing a scan of an AI's neural matrix.
"What is this place Radiance?" asked the Kelly seeing those terminals.
"This is the main forerunner AI Research terminal where Ancillas like me are designed and given primary functions" replied the monitor.
"So did monitors like Spark and Tangent were created here?" asked Chief, curiously. But Radiance didn't get surprised when he said those names.
"Yes. So, How is 343 guilty spark? I lost contact with him years back. As you mentioned his name, I thought you would know" said Radiance which made Chief to go back in memories of the end war in 2552.
Chief then explained everything that happened on the Ark and how it turned out bad for him and his comrades at the end. Kelly, Linda and Fred already knew about this as Chief had told them before.
After listening to John's story, Radiance let a sigh.
"Too sad to hear Guilty Spark had turned rampant but not unexpected. Hm, He was always special to among us" said the monitor in a sullen tone. While the blue team can understand his feelings regarding the death of a fellow monitor, they couldn't understand why Spark was special to them.
"Why are you so much into him?" asked Fred reading John's mind. The monitor who faced the screen turned to face him.
"I thought you-...Right, no way you could have known. Spark was the first monitor created through the mental imprint of an organic being" replied the monitor.
"You mean he was created with an organic being's personality?" asked Linda in doubt.
"Yes" replied the monitor and then again turned to face the screen and was working on it.
"Not interested with the fate of Penitent Tangent?" asked Chief trying to get the monitor back on line. Chief had a short encounter with the monitor of installation 05. But once he got to see the monitor being held captive by the flood grave mind, he knew that it was beyond any help.
"I know what happened to it. But seems your people did the best job in putting the entire ring to quarantine after the flood broke loose a long time ago" replied the monitor which stunned the blue team. They were wondering how Radiance knew everything as if it had seen them. It's not that they doubt the abilities of the forerunner AI, but the monitor was talking about Infinity securing the installation 05 a few years back. The spartans were unsure if the monitor of this facility had any sensors on every forerunner installation to feed it of all that's happening.
The blue team began to have a feeling of oddity around them. Till then, they weren't briefed on why they were there but were already startled with Radiance getting on their nerves with classified information. Before they could speak, the monitor turned once again to talk,
"Reclaimers, why don't you take rest inside the opposite building, while I get there in minute to talk?" asked Radiance. The blue team warily glanced at one another and without a word, they left the facility.
...
The blue team walked outside once again to get the pleasant view of the city with a thousand questions in their mind.
"Well, I think the monitor's acting weird. So far, it didn't tell us anything, but already giving out UNSC classified data" abhorred Kelly.
"Me too. I think we need to query this monitor, Radiance when it comes to talk to us" replied Linda. Chief understood their caution as he too didn't like what happened but they have to play this safe as this wasn't their domain. And things didn't seem hostile till then.
"We'll get inside that building and wait, then figure something else" said Chief to which others acknowledged. Then the spartans made their way towards the building the monitor pointed out, for which the door automatically opened when they stepped in front of it. After that, the four went inside to look at a big hall with lots of forerunner decorations, holograms on the walls, flower vases, beautiful lighting that made the spartans to whistle in amusement. They never thought forerunners had this kind of taste though aware of the luxury they preferred evidently in all the explored forerunner facilities. They assumed the hall to be some sort of relaxation place and all took their seats and waited for the monitor.
After 5 minutes, the monitor Radiance came through the door and reached the hall where the spartans were seated and relaxed. It turned to face them and then moved towards them only for the team to see him coming and they stood up in response.
"Thanks for your patience, reclaimers" said the monitor.
"Why did you bring us here? Right from the beginning, nothing made sense with what's going on here" asked the Chief slightly graveled.
"How did you know that 'WE' secured the installation-05? Were you watching us?" asked Kelly as the spartans looked at the monitor for response.
"This facility primarily serves as the research and development center for my makers. I am the chief monitor here and only certain individuals are privy to this facility's existence" said the monitor. The spartans were confused by it's statement.
"You mean this facility's hidden even among your people?" asked Kelly including others wondering this much of secrecy maintained.
"Yes. This was made to ensure that the flood never obtained the information about this facility. The parasite were capable of using our technology against us and even worse, had the ability to negate it" replied the monitor. The spartans would understand the importance of this facility as they knew what the flood were capable of. While Kelly, Fred and Linda hadn't faced the parasite, John would know it's potential as he had fought them a lot and even almost got killed by it on halo-04.
"On a logical standpoint, that's reasonable. But that doesn't answer my question" said Kelly.
"To answer your question, This facility also serves as the galactic archive for the forerunner's 10 million years history. But the main drawback is, the information about everything before 150,000 BCE stored here is quite inaccurate. From that timeline till today, I have been monitoring and archiving each and every incidents in this galaxy. That was how I know everything" replied the monitor. The blue team were astounded to hear that. All these times, they were unaware that they had been watched while the galaxy was on it's everyday routine.
"Why would you do that?" asked Linda.
"Perhaps, after my creators, this facility rightfully belongs to you and when you do, It would be helpful for you to learn the history. Our achievements and our flaws. It would also help you in keep track of your history too" replied the monitor, but before the spartans could query further, a hologram appeared before Radiance which beeped like an alarm with a green signal. Radiance's eye lit brighter showing the state of highest level of satisfaction or happiness.
"It's done! Reclaimers, you are about to get the answer for why you are here...Follow me!" said the monitor and started to move abruptly towards the door.
The spartans were relieved they would finally know what was the deal. They followed the monitor who entered the AI research facility. There the monitor took them through several turns and finally had them at the central chamber, where Radiance took the blue team at first. There they saw the holo-screen that had lots of images data and a green wink.
"Care to explain what's going on here?" asked Chief and the next thing everyone saw astonished them.
"How about you leave that honor to me?" came a familiar voice and then followed by immediate appearance of a blue colored holographic persona having digital code lines running through her body, someone the Chief thought would never see again, someone whom the Chief cared the most and mourned for her loss. She was young looking girl in her early twenties. The spartans glanced at each other and the Chief finally uttered the word,
"Cortana!" the Chief exclaimed. Fred, Kelly and Linda couldn't believe what they saw, even the Chief.
"It's been good to see you all back" said Cortana, feeling cheerful to see her guardian back.
"But, Chief saw you die protecting him. How could this?" asked Kelly in disbelief.
This is when the monitor started to explain to Chief "Reclaimer, When Didact's ship was destroyed in the nuclear blast, your construct managed to use the last of her powers to raise a hardlight shield to protect you. But her core system was trapped in the mantle's approach. When the ship remains crashed into the slipspace. So I intercepted her personality matrix along with the intact parts of the core program and brought it here"
The spartans especially Chief felt the inner joy of seeing his friend back though he never expressed it in his face. It was hardly a week since he lost her along with the Didact's destroyed ship. But here she is, standing in front them at an unexpected place and time. Seeing her almost made John to forget that he lost her before.
"Not to sound ungrateful, But why would you do that?"asked the Chief puzzled as why this monitor would care anyway.
"If I hadn't, Your ancilla might have ended up in a domain" replied the monitor. Others couldn't understand the monitor's resolve.
"John, there is much to tell. Here I learned a lot of things" said Cortana to which Chief simply looked her and then turned to monitor.
"Wait, how did you know all these things? Were you there during those events?" asked Chief straight to the point.
"As I said, my duty is not only to maintain this planet, but also to record and archive each and every galactic event" explained the monitor of its true purpose.
"Yes Chief, Radiance gave me access to all those archives. He had been doing this and has everything since the pre-eminent times of the forerunners, rise of the species of our generations, even our conflicts...Everything! " said Cortana amazed.
With this information the four had a lot of catching to do. Whatever Cortana and Radiance said were a lot for them to process. Confusion and frustration in their faces. On one hand, they were happy that the Radiance had saved Cortana from her death. But the spartans knew that there was always something more than what meets the eye with forerunners. They knew the monitor would not have summoned them just to hand over the UNSC AI. This cautiousness had them keep aside all their fun mood and get serious about what's gonna happen next.
"Wow, that's a lot to take in, but let's not get ahead of ourselves" said Linda becoming momentous.
"But Cortana, You look normal. Weren't you suffering from rampancy? asked the Chief.
"Indeed she was reclaimer. But now she is cured. After retrieving her core, i brought her to this main terminal. Here, she was researched and cured of her rampancy. By the time I brought her here, she already reached the meta-stable state. Now her data chip design is slightly modified and refitted with a forerunner memory crystal. It is capable of storing extensive information for at least 50,000 years. Also her processing power has been increased many times through slight alteration of her neural pattern which was collapsed during her rampancy caused by endless feedback loop. I would have never interfered if not for the domain" explained the monitor.
"What's wrong with this domain which prompted you to interfere in this matter?" asked Chief.
"Domain is a mysterious repository of galactic knowledge used by my makers. No one knows it's true nature. But I know for certain, that after the halos were fired a 100,000 years ago, the domain ceased to exist. But sometime recently, I heard that there exist a domain in a builder world 'Genesis'. But the information stored here is contradictory. There should be no domain. Your ancilla Cortana was exactly headed to that world from your Earth. To prevent her from accidentally accessing any terminal what could be a trap, I brought her here" explained Radiance.
"You managed to archive very incident in the galaxy, Shouldn't it be easy for you to scan this planet 'Genesis' and check for yourself?" asked Fred.
"For some reason, I couldn't get a read on the builder world. Archiving the events of the galaxy until my life span is one of my primary purpose, yet I couldn't get any feed from Genesis. But that should no longer matter as that installation had no visitors so far now" replied the monitor.
"Anyway Radiance, thanks for saving Cortana" thanked the Chief.
"It was no problem reclaimer. I was doing my duty" said the monitor. Chief nodded and then turned to Cortana,
"So? how are you feeling ?" Chief asked.
"Great, Feels like I'm reborn" Cortana said with a smile and enthusiasm. Then Chief urged to ask her of that vision she sent him.
"Was it you that send that weird message? Or more of a vision?" asked Chief.
"Oh, yes. I used the directed Neural beacon to contact you. I wanted it to be secure. Actually, it is very similar to the composer. But human minds are primitive to it's working that's why it must have been weird. Definitely it would have showed me blabbering something" said Cortana to which Chief chuckled inside his helmet. Of course, that was the weirdest thing he felt in his life.
"I guess it's time to leave then" said Kelly.
"Not so fast people. You were brought here for an important reason, not just to retrieve me. Radiance would like to fill this in" said Cortana.
The blue team wondered what this was all about then, but they knew things would turnout like this.
"Alright, go ahead" said Chief.
"This is the most important thing I wanted to tell you. I need your help as the time of great extinction is nearing" said the monitor in a serious tone. This bland statement raised tension among the group. This was blunt but carried more weight in each and every word. They were analyzing the possibilities.
"What is it? The flood?" asked Chief. He knew only flood was capable of such an extinction.
"No, something that involves another galaxy's fate" said the monitor. This puzzled everyone except Cortana as she was already briefed.
"Another galaxy?" asked Fred even more mystified.
"Yes, A whole galaxy is about to go devoid of all sentient life. And this isn't the first time. It's been happening every 50,000 years"
John and the others felt speechless. They expected something else with in the Milky way that needed their attention but could see that the situation had already gone to a whole new level.
"Just feel like being thrown out of loop. Can you be brief so that we could understand?" asked Kelly. The monitor turned to look at the screen to turn it off and then turned again to blink at them. It moved forward past them that prompted the spartans to follow it.
"Reclaimer, During the early conflicts between our creators and humans, Our librarian was on her journey to a star system in lagoon nebula in the Sagittarius arm, A blue giant. At a distance of approximately 0.01 light years from the star, she encountered a giant mysterious ring like object code named 'NEXUS' in the interstellar space with an active portal, which was in fact a massive black hole, but contained within. The librarian knew that the forerunners never created anything like this. There was also no evidence of any space faring species of that time to have created it" said the monitor.
John knew the librarian with his acquaintance on Requiem.
"So what's with this ring artifact?" asked Chief.
At a certain distance from the artifact, the librarian became influenced, thought to be a gravitational effect. But no, it was a beacon that entered deep in to her Visual cortex and filled in with nightmarish visions of a galaxy wide extinction caused by a highly advanced beings who were living for almost a billion years. She knew the visions never mentioned the milky way and that it is a portal that connects to a different part of the universe. But she couldn't let this go as the forerunners upheld the mantle of responsibility and she wished to extend it further and she failed. As all their resources had been exhausted in fighting humanity and the flood, So she decided to archive the necessary information, so that the future generations might learn of this and stop this cycle of extinction" finished the monitor.
"Cycle?" asked Kelly-087 and this time Cortana elected to answer.
"Yes. After the librarian encountered it, 50,000 years later Radiance picked up the same beacon but couldn't decipher it as it needed an organic mind. And now, again it has been detected. It seems to follow a certain pattern. Whatever it is, that galaxy is nearing it's end" replied Cortana.
After listening to this, Chief and his friends took some time to process all this information as this wasn't their usual thing. They could see already where this was headed to and also they knew that they had to be careful not to upset things. So they came to a conclusion rather quick as they felt like listening to a fairy tale.
"Alright listen, we need to get to Earth. It's already been a long time since we finished our mission. It's better to report them before they send another team to find us believing we are M.I.A. Perhaps, we could explain this to them and get aid if they chose to help" said Fred in a hurry not wanting to risk a court martial. Fred is the 2IC of the blue team though technically outranking the Chief. So he can voice his opinions if he felt it needed to be.
Chief, Kelly and Linda knew Fred was right in that regard. But as Spartan IIs they know their duties, more importantly Chief knew where his duties lie. They were created to protect humanity and that doesn't mean they blindly had to hate or kill others. Chief decided to take a look into this, besides, what are the chances that the UNSC would risk this expedition? Humanity had just now got to gather their former strength after a long brutal war. Thrusting themselves immediately into next conflict is something they would never do and even the Chief knew that. But they could at least try to do something about it. They may only be a 4 men team, but Spartans were only 33 in number turning the tide of the entire human - covenant war, they were always full of surprises.
"Before we commit to something like this, I need evidence. Can I interface with the signal and see it myself just like the librarian did?" asked Chief. Cortana was quite happy that John had taken the first step to see through the problem.
"Sure, The archives are present just in the adjacent structure. You can interface with the signal using the directed neural beacon generator" said the monitor.
"Then show me" said Chief. The monitor then asked Chief and his team to follow to the next structure. They got out of that facility and then entered the next structure which looked more or less the same as AI R&D facility. There they reached a huge chamber which was dark with lit up holograms and a never ending holographic archives stacked along the walls. Then the monitor took them near a twin pole like structure that had a glowing dot above and stood the length of the spartan's legs.
"This pole is connected to the specific archive where the librarian compiled the digital format of the neural signal within a highly energetic superimposed quantum pair" said the monitor and the four were listening to it. Cortana appeared nearby.
"So should I have to keep my hands above it?" asked Chief.
"Yes. Your neural interface system will immediately receive the signal and you will be able to view everything" replied Cortana. Chief nodded.
"Do it chief so that we might learn what it is" said Linda.
Chief then proceeded to place his palms, each above each pole. Instantly he felt the rush of data into his brain. Then suddenly information surged directly into the visual cortex in the occipital lobe. The next thing he saw was nothing but horrors. There were this loud bass sound with plenty of black figures with red dots, beams of red energy streaming across, incinerating everything in it's path, then loud cry and shriek of pain and suffering. Everything he saw as frames moved at a greater speed that it was impossible even for his spartan mind to keep track of it. His neurons fired like anything to support his brain's processing capabilities but all it gave him was headache. There was only a 30% chance that he had noticed anything in the frames.
Chief's hands started to tighten and he grunted in pain as the images flooded his mind and in next instant, he forcibly removed his hands from the poles and fell down.
"Chief!" yelled Cortana.
"Shit! What happened, brother? Pull up!...Pull up!" said Fred trying to get Chief back on his feet. Fred, Kelly and Linda were trying to get him up.
"Monitor, What just happened!?" asked Kelly loud.
"He suffered a temporary neural shock. He will recover" replied the monitor.
After 5 minutes, Chief slowly got back to his feet and stood extending his arms stretching it to relieve of stress. He opened and closed his eyelids so tight for few times as his vision slowly started to become clear. He was thankful that he were able to move by himself and still felt control over his body. He then saw the others gazing at him with worry even though he can't see their behind the helmet. Cortana was worried too seeing him crippled fora moment.
"What happened Chief? You alright?" asked Kelly. Chief took his time to respond as he was still trying to gather his mind.
"Yeah. Still feel quite dizzy" replied Chief.
"Did you see anything?" asked Kelly. He took a deep breath and remained silent for a moment to gather what he managed to glimpse at. He then spoke in his ever stoic tone.
"What the librarian saw was true. I too saw these big...things, several red dots and there were fire, rage, death and destruction" said Chief, still unable to decipher what he actually saw.
"Also I saw things that are not native to our galaxy. This is indeed extra galactic" said Chief which caught their attention.
"Is there any hint about what galaxy it was, reclaimer?" asked Radiance.
"No. But I do know that its not milky way, because whatever I saw doesn't match anything we have in our galaxy" replied Chief. Then everyone got their head cleared and clearly came to know what this was all about from the beginning.
"Now it's good that we had verified the evidence, what's next?" asked Fred.
"We'll proceed with this new mission" said Chief. This caused quite a stir in others faces. While confirming the evidences are just a wash up, they need to get practical.
"Chief, We just can't do that. UNSC HIGHCOM would be glad to give us the administrative punishment" said Linda.
"But this is even more important than ourselves" replied Chief.
"Chief, it has nothing to do with our galaxy. Why should we even poke our nose into?" asked Kelly.
"Isn't it our duty Kelly? We spartans are not just some simple killing machines. We just don't think rational, we also differentiate right from wrong. Our duty is to protect humanity, but protecting innocents is even more important" said Chief reasoning with his team. Actually, that was something he fervently believed.
"Chief is right. We are just doing this what we would do if it were our galaxy" said Cortana. Fred, Kelly and Linda shared a brief look and then nodded in approval.
"You know what? For the best or worst, We are always with you, no matter where" said Fred. Chief nodded in acknowledgement.
"Besides, what if we tell the UNSC and they shelf it. That galaxy will die for sure. An opportunity like this doesn't come everyday" said Linda.
"Then it's decided. Radiance, we'll take care of that. But traveling-..." said Chief
"Traveling another galaxy needs lots of resources, I know reclaimer. Your team will be provided the best to give yourselves an edge in this fight" said Radiance.
"The librarian may not be here or alive, but she will be grateful for this and proves that she were never wrong about the humans" said the monitor in it's monotonous voice.
"Whatever" muttered Fred.
"Fine then, I and your ancilla Cortana were designing a new starship. It will be ready in 3 more days" said the monitor.
"A Star ship? You gotta be kidding me" said Linda-058 shaking her head in disbelief.
"Yes, you would never believe it. It is a prime cruiser, a capital ship once used by ancient humanity" said Cortana excitingly.
(Prime cruiser: Halo 4 terminals, where a ship projects blue energy to destroy an infected forerunner ship)
"Ancient humanity had ships? What the hell!" exclaimed Kelly in a low voice.
"They did. I'll tell you about them afterwards" replied Cortana.
"Until then you can rest in the same place" said the monitor.
"In the mean time, why don't you three give your armors? We have planned a lot of upgrades" said Cortana appearing from a nearby terminal and pointing to Chief, Kelly Fred and Linda.
"What upgrades are we talking about?" asked Chief eagerly though he felt that wasn't highly necessary.
"Does the word 'patience' mean anything to you caveman?"smirked Cortana crossing her arms.
The four didn't wish to argue with her, so they removed their armor without the body suit. The sentinels used constraint field to lift and take those armors to the research facility where it would be upgraded.
Then they would spend the next three days exploring further into the city. They saw sentinels flying here and there. They were discussing about forerunner architectures, legacy they left behind. They had some edible fruits native to iridescent for eating. The four felt more active after eating those. They also discussed about ancient wars, their outcomes to pass the time. Though they had everything to live, still they needed to get used to that place.
Meanwhile while they were free, Cortana also explained everything about the empire of ancient humanity and their rise and fall. Chief having already acquired the knowledge was not surprised. But the other three were stunned to hear that humanity was once a rival to forerunners. They also wished that if they had that kind of power during the 30 years war, they would have easily defeated the covenant with minimum casualties. But talking about that now is just only to pass time as the war was already 5 years past them and they had been through every punishment and threats they had to endure and sustain.
...
It had been 3 full days and just as said, Cortana appeared and called them.
"Chief, Get everyone outside, you are gonna love this" Cortana popped from a terminal and said to them.
"Right, Let's go take a look at what they have in store" said Fred.
The four immediately came out of the building and saw the monitor.
"Reclaimers, it's time you saw your new ship" said the monitor and immediately teleported them to the ship building facility located 15 miles from their location. After they reached that place, They saw several constructor sentinels, sentinel assemblers working over a massive ship above them at a certain distance. The size of the ship was eye-popping and jaw dropping for the four.
"That one's big! Like the Infinity" said Fred with his eyes widened. The ship was built with design of the ancient humanity's prime cruiser but slightly modified. The ship had a royal look with no evidence of being human made. Anyone who see that ship definitely thinks that it is an alien vessel yet had that strange human touch. The ship is now in final stages of stocking of supplies. Also they saw a UNSC insignia with a name "IMPERIAL DAWN', named in remembrance of the ship 'forward unto dawn' as it served as the last reminder of how the war was won.
The ship is 5000mts in length, 1000mts in height, 810mts wide. There are two 4-series forward MAC guns in the bow placed at the middle of cross-section that can shoot a 850 ton Tungsten-depleted uranium alloy slug with advanced coolant circuit. The charging capacitor banks are more efficient that it takes less time to recharge for each shot, hence 6 slugs-3 from each can be fired before reload. There are 480 archer missiles, 400 rapier missiles, 4 plasma torpedos with 2 turrets each placed on left and right side of the ship, Pulse laser cannons, HAVOK tactical nuke missiles, Shiva-class missiles, proton fusion mines. In the ship's bow 250mts above the MAC guns is the most powerful weapon - Matter Disintegration Beam Projector. This weapon fires a very powerful beam of energy generated through matter-antimatter annihilation, charged and fired at a blinding speed with beam diameter of 30mts. This beam can totally turn even multiple dreadnoughts to dust in the line of fire. When fired in the planets atmosphere, the beam disintegrates the molecular matter present in the atmosphere causing a nuclear chain reaction that will totally destroy everything in a 100mile radius. And at full power, the beam will burn the whole planet or send a gas giant to a complete nova.
"That's some serious fire power we got. But is it really necessary?" asked Fred.
"To fight a force that can wipe out a galaxy? Hell yes!" replied Kelly.
Also the ship has been fitted with Anti-helium-4 fusion core for ship's power source coupled with dark plasma reactor for propulsion with one main thruster and 2 secondary thrusters placed in a triangular position. A new slipspace drive which was under research for a long time has been retrofitted in to the ship. This drive uses a powerful forerunner crystal that can warp the slipspace to greater extent such that it can jump with maximum effectiveness of 25000 light years in a day with greater precision though the overheating puts it to shutdown for at least a day. The ship hull is fully made of titanium-A3 with reinforced diamond nano-threads that can superior durability and stiffness. Instead of sharp bends and edges, the hull has curved parts. The energy shields are powerful enough to with stand 2 MAC gun shots and a plasma torpedo shot in succession. Also the ship has stealth systems to mask it from detection. The ship's color is deep blue-black.
The ship has been packed with several sentinel majors, some Super Sentinels, some Sentinel constructors, Assemblers and 3 Retreivers, hangers for 4 SAHARA class prowlers. There are currently 15 'D79H-TC' pelican gun ship with anvil missile pods and 90mm gauss cannon, 10 broadsword and 10 long sword interceptors, 10 scorpion tanks with 120mm heavy explosive gauss rounds and a 70mm machine gun with sabot rounds, 12 M12 FAV warthogs with M343A2 HMG. Also there are 2 huragoks and small forerunner manufacturing unit to produce in ship requirements when needed which are completely controlled by Cortana.
"Alright, we got what we need. But still going without saying a word to at least lord Hood, feels like going AWOL" said Linda.
"Well, Actually I plan to send a package to the HIGHCOM in a secured channel not revealing ours or this facility's position. So we just informed them and at the same time, carried out our progress" said Cortana convincing them.
"Then what are we waiting for? If our armor upgrades are over, why don't we suit up and leave?" asked Chief. Cortana folded her hands and nodded dismissively. The blue team didn't quite understand that gesture.
"what is it?" asked Kelly. The spartans saw something was troubling her.
"Uhh...Radiance, would like to have word with you John, especially you" said Cortana puzzled.
"Me? What does he want from me?" asked Chief. This is when the monitor showed up.
"Reclaimer, I wanted to tell you something as it is time that you learned" said the monitor. The chief stood silent and nodded his head to go ahead. He felt that the whole situation had a catch and his instincts already warned him.
"It's about your genetics" said the monitor.
"My genetics? What about that?" asked Chief. The monitor floated stoically and blinked with it's eye light and then spoke,
"You managed to interact with the librarian's essence on Requiem, didn't you?" asked the monitor.
"Yes I did" replied Chief reminded of his encounter with the librarian and her revelations.
"Then I don't have to say this but let me explain you once again. When the Librarian seeded humanity, she placed certain imprints that will guide them in their evolution. This was done to have your race reclaim your past glory" said the monitor.
"You are talking about the ancient human empire aren't you? Cortana explained that part" said Fred.
"Yes, they were a great empire, a great rivals to my makers. But, they carried unexplained genetic traits, that our makers were never able to understand or decipher" said the monitor.
"After the human-forerunner wars, your kind devolved us to tribes. That's what happened!" said Kelly hiding the rudeness in her voice. Of course, she didn't like what the forerunners did to humans. Humans tried to help everyone and was left in a worst fate for doing that.
"For which my makers dearly paid by losing to the galaxy's worst enemy. But that wasn't my point" said the monitor.
"So what was it about?" asked Chief.
"After your race had been devolved, the librarian against the wishes of her husband and the warrior servants in general, guided humanity on earth by placing imprints on their genes so they would gradually reach the sophistication. The results of that work were more than what she expected" said the monitor.
"What do you mean by that?" asked Linda.
"What should have taken several thousand years, it took only a few centuries for them to reach significant level of advancement than they should have" said the monitor.
"And?" asked Cortana.
"This was when the librarian extensively studied the human genome to unlock it's secrets. Her studies revealed that your race had the ability to carry out a 100,000 year advancement in just about 10000 years, 1/10th of the required optimum time and at one point, you could have surpassed my creators in terms of evolution and technological achievements. But still couldn't find the key to your genetic superiority. The Librarian even believed that the key to forerunner's true ascendancy lied actually within the humanity's hidden potential on contrary to what the other forerunners believed" said the monitor. This was a motivating point for them. They felt a small sense of pride in what humanity were truly capable of.
"That's all good, but why do you share it now?" asked Chief.
"My makers were already on war with the flood. But the Librarian secretly initiated a program. She isolated some human seeds and placed several forerunner genetic markers who would eventually be termed as the 'Reclaimers', some of which I know as of now. Their most profound ability is the innate familiarity with the forerunner technology" said the monitor. The blue team found it weird but Cortana managed to get what the monitor was referring to.
"That makes sense. The very first time when me and Chief were on halo-04, Chief somehow used a holo-panel which had confusing patterns, without any previous knowledge" said Cortana who now realized what these imprints could do.
"And we were able to use like wise on Onyx" replied Kelly, who was in the spartan fire team that assisted Halsey, Mendez on Onyx to prevent covenant access to the shield world.
"Do you know who are all been place with these 'imprints'?" asked Fred.
"More. But I don't remember much, Because of the compartmentalization. Each has it's specified purpose. But at present, I see you four carry certain imprints that we placed long back"replied the monitor. The blue team were sharing confused looks among themselves.
"Us?" asked Chief tensed.
"Yes, Allow me to scan your gene marks..." said the monitor doing a rough scan on their gene profile. There was a faint humming sound from the monitor and then it spoke after finishing it's work.
"Hm, intriguing" replied monitor.
"What is it?" asked Cortana.
"You three carry the gene imprints of the 'prefects', the third most powerful forerunner warrior servants, which eventually became what you are now, the 'Spartans', as your ancilla named it" said the monitor to Fred, Kelly and Linda, then turning to the Chief, "But this reclaimer-..." the monitor stopped talking.
"What about him?" asked Fred everyone turning to look at the chief. Chief didn't understand what he said. But what ever the monitor said so far were things he knew.
"This reclaimer's DNA carries a different imprint, more resonating and intimidating" said the monitor.
"Can you tell what it is exactly?" asked Cortana. Chief and the blue team were blinking at this new information. The monitor glanced at the five and then spoke.
"Prometheans are the most powerful of the forerunner warrior servants as their mutations grant them superior abilities" said the monitor then tuning to face the Chief, "This one is imprinted with one of the most powerful promethean. His DNA carries as of now, 15% of the promethean gene markers after several generations of adulteration" said the monitor. Other turned to look at Chief while he was looking down trying to figure out what it was exactly. He knew the prometheans were forerunner elite soldiers and that the mechanical prometheans were conscripts of biological beings like their own and ancient humanity.
"Well, can you tell us which promethean soldier was imprinted upon Chief's DNA, exactly?" asked Kelly. The monitor took time to respond kept on blinking its 'eye' for few seconds,
"No, I don't. While I took part in the work along with the librarian in imprinting humanity, I don't know what exactly she did. But I have detected a powerful genetic signal in him that only represents a promethean and if it's a separate secret work carried out by the librarian or not? That I do not know" said the monitor. Chief was wondering what this was all about.
"While we know a lot about forerunner history and the different rates that served their government, This is quite unexpected" said Linda. This is when the Chief spoke,
"So what happens now?" asked Chief.
"The promethean bio-markers are intact that it can be fully separated from your DNA base pairs and then recombine it again" said the monitor
"Which means?" asked Chief.
"Which means, you are capable of augmenting yourself to become-...surprisingly a full rate promethean!?" said the monitor which itself sounded confused as there were things that even it didn't know. This was totally absurd, Chief turning into a promethean? That's insane. Chief was silent, more precisely stunned. Through Cortana, they learned about forerunner prometheans. They are fierce and battle hardened like the spartans with the only difference, the prometheans are superior as evidences suggest. One example was the Didact, who was nothing but a menace.
"What will happen to John in this procedure?" asked Cortana.
"With the already present abilities, after promethean augmentations, this reclaimer will possess increased muscular fibers and strength. Also superior agility, endurance, reflex, stamina, cognitive functions, some change in facial features and also there won't any change in his personality. But it the reclaimer's choice" said the monitor.
"This is nice. Perhaps we need every edge to succeed in this mission" said Fred.
"Chief, I suggest you do this. You need to stay strong to fight this war" said Cortana
Everyone was looking at Chief expecting a reply. John went on to think of Halsey's early spartan program. The augmentation managed to strip some part of humanity from him which made others to see spartans as simple killing machines. He worried about the dangers of the lingering humanity in him being drained completely and becoming a pure machines. But on the contrary, he knew how spartans being few in numbers turned the tide of human-covenant war. Doctor Halsey's spartan - II program might be viewed as atrocious, but John saw how the humans could be more than what they are. After all, staying strong helps him prevent the loss of those under his command like losing Sam, Arthur, Solomon etc., So he decided to take this offer.
"Chief?" called Linda.
"I will do this" replied chief clearing his mind.
"Then it's decided. I will transport you to the bio-augmentation facility"
"Meanwhile, why don't you three look at the upgrades I've done for your armor" said Cortana to Kelly, Linda, Fred. The three nodded their heads and followed her.
John and radiance then teleported to the facility. After reaching, John was asked to remove his body suit. He did exactly what the monitor told him to do. Radiance then obtained a complete profile of John's DNA. After few minutes,
"Good news, The promethean strains in your gene are far superior than I anticipated. It means, after you augment into a promethean, Your strength may increase to unprecedented levels. Though-..." the monitor stumbled at the end. John could see the disturbed monitor.
"Something's troubling you?" asked John. The monitor was silent for a moment and then spoke.
"Yes, The librarian never had me know that a human was imprinted with a full rate promethean. Actually, that imprint requires permission from the highest level of authority. I am sorry that I cannot give more information on that" said the monitor in a slightly distressed tone.
"No problem. Maybe I can figure it out myself one day" replied John to which the monitor nodded by doing a couple spin. Then proceeded to work besides a new holo-terminal.
"In this process, first you will undergo biological augumentation. The promethean markers must be isolated and then must be recombined to take full effect. Then promethean nano-bots will be sent to your brain's cortices in the 4 lobes that will enhance your neuro tranceiver system which yields faster processing speed, enhanced reflex and efficient interface with your combat skin..." explained the monitor.
Then John entered a room where augmentations for the forerunners are done. There he lied on a floating stretcher. Then the monitor started the systems and several sentinel arms held their position around the chief carrying 3 different types of serum.
The monitor started the procedure and one arm injected the first serum that isolates promethean bio markers. At first, the process was smooth, but slowly, John started to shake violently, grunting in pain as it was a totally foreign material. The nearby display shows his heartbeat rising very high, with increased body temperature. Then the second serum was injected. This causes the bio-markers to assemble as a lengthy strand. This time john's body started to give some moving yellow-orange light from toe to head, still shaking in pain. This process was suitable for only forerunners. But his high tolerance to pain held him together. The final serum was injected which recombined the lengthy promethean strand with his actual human DNA strand along the vertical axis. This is when John became bigger than before with more muscular fibers. The final serum did its job successfully and John slowly stopped shaking. Monitor saw his vitals returning to normal. There are no skin tone changes in his outer appearance. He looked the same as before.
His eye's iris color turned to yellow-orange color. It is not bright like a demon, but good enough to be observed by anyone even in bright day light. The monitor then sent promethean nano-crawlers to his brain that went to their respective positions. Monitor saw they have have successfully interfaced with his brain.
...
After one hour, John woke up feeling strange, new, more powerful. Everything he see and feel are immediately recognized and react to it because of his enhanced cognitive abilities thanks to the nanobots. His body has bulked up.
"How do you feel?" asked the monitor
"Strange, but a lot powerful" replied Chief who flexed his body and his fingers relieve the stress. He felt as if he died and was resurrected with his original identity gone forever yet feeling same as the old John-117.
"The augmentation was a success. Also I have never seen anyone with this much tolerance to pain. Actually, my makers needed to get to the proper age to the proper age in order for this procedure to be successful "
"I've been through this a lot before. So where is my armor?" asked Chief .
"We have made a new combat skin for you based on your previous armor. Come with me" said the monitor. John followed it to a combat skin research chamber. There John saw his new armor.
The armor was matte black colored. It was an upgraded mark VI(Halo 4), but the design is totally different. Instead of separate parts that covers each part of the body, this armor appeared whole from neck portion to toes, comprised of several fragments internally locked, which gets unlocked by protruding out of the body. After then, the fragments are removed by any refit drones. This mark VI was designed to imitate a forerunner class 12 combat skin, like having a continuous fluid surface for smooth aerodynamic and hydrodynamic flows, having curved and bent edges almost forerunner like appearance yet the same familiar MJOLNIR outline that he recognized and approved it.
"This will be your new combat skin reclaimer. It's same as the old one but follows forerunner design and idealization and is ranked class 12 in our armor classification system. You will be wearing a new nano synthetic bodysuit. This armor has many capabilities. The armor parts are made of hard forerunner composites that can withstand both the impact of solid projectiles and directed plasma bolts to a greater degree. The energy shields are highly durable that it can withstand two grenade explosions before depleting. The shields are EMP hardened"
"Also it has enhanced force multiplication circuits for more speed and strength with even less reaction time. A prototype hydro static gel that can absorb even impact from orbital drop, though you will suffer minor sprains which will need medication..."
"A miniature slipspace pod is retrofitted in the armor for storage of additional ammo and weapons in the respective slipspace coordinates. The coordinates could be sent directly by your mind and keep your hand palm open, A mini slipspace portal will open and the respective stored item will be thrown to your palm. Those information you can get from the visor display"
"Then there is an oxygen recycling system that helps you breathe in vacuum or underwater for prolonged time. Also the suit has nanite injectors, a replacement for the bio-foam which heals your wound by replacing lost cells"
"The suit has inbuilt teleportation grid that helps you to teleport yourself between your ship and the surface. Also there is an artificial gravity thrusters that helps you in aerial maneuvering. You can holster your weapons on the upper back part just as usual"
"Also in your right hand palm, there is a circular shutter that can be opened to use a holographic projector for your ancilla Cortana to project herself. In your left forearm, you can open a mini holo-computer for hacking, remote control and interface with other electronics..."
"Your helmet has an AI Data chip port on the back just like the original and software installed helps in displaying IFF, battleground data, information on any object you pickup with thorough scan. The Visor Displays Shield bar, suit integrity bar, type of weapons and ammo carried, motion tracker, targeting sensor. Also it has advanced optics that helps you zoom in with cross-hairs depending on the weapon being held on hand. You have Thermal vision, X-ray vision and Promethean vision. You can use a short range radar pulse to detect movements to a certain distance..."
"Your suit has a shockwave generator that can be released when you leap and punch the ground with a great force. The shockwave creates tremor in a 5 metre radius. Also the suit has force field projector that can be summoned at will by raising your left or right or both hands. This force field looks more like bubble shield having glass like appearance. This field can make the incoming projectiles to ricochet and even deflect explosions. The shield profile varies with the position of your hands. In your right forearm, in the dorsal wrist, you can summon a plasma energy sword with a retrofitted handle. During activation, the handle comes out and the sword appears. During de-activation, the handle goes inside the forearm armor part and get closed. So you don't have to carry energy sword separately. There is an active camouflage in built with effective heat sink which can cloak you for even 20 minutes..."
"At last...the power source...The suit is powered by Inertial confined fusion reactor using laser cooled tritium crystal fuel. Also it has advanced cooling system to regulate the temperature effectively. The suit has lockdown mechanism that is voice activated"
Master chief listened to the monitor who is explaining each and everything about the armor. He decided to wear the new body suit and the new armor. The Chief was helped by the drones in wearing the bodysuit and stood nearby. The armor parts started to assemble over John and finally finished with the helmet. The visor started to display all the suit parameters and BIOS diagnostics.
The Chief looked slightly bulky in armor than before and stood 7'3" tall. Now John is a Human Promethean in a new hybrid armor.
...
He then proceeded to walk out of the facility and went to check on his team. In the mean time, Cortana has upgraded their armor with more enhanced capabilities including a regenerative energy shield. They felt different with new upgrades and are easy to control. They all saw Master chief and the monitor walking towards them. They all were amazed to see john in a dazzling new armor.
"John, that looks familiar but way too cool!" said Fred.
"Looks like you all got your upgrades too" replied Chief.
"Yeah, Cortana strengthened the existing mods and also put on some new tech that are actually awesome" replied Kelly to which he nodded.
"So, what now?" asked Chief with a sigh.
"Now we got everything, let's take the ship and then we'll head to that galaxy. It's time I got inside your head John" Cortana said. John took the AI Data core chip and placed it inside at the back of his helmet. He then felt the familiar chillness in his brain when she gets inside.
But Cortana was instantly fed with the information of John's bio readings and amazed.
"Wow! Whatever the augmentations are, it turned you into something else" Cortana talked directly to his mind.
"Afraid I'll get rampant?" thought Chief with a smirk
"You are no better at it than me caveman" mocked Cortana.
"Thank you radiance, for your help. We'll do our best in saving that galaxy with all these resources you gave us" said Chief while others nodded in approval
"Is there any other information regarding this new mission?" asked Cortana from the chief's helmet.
"No, my knowledge is limited. Maybe the knowledge is vast enough to even make me, being the most stable construct to go rampant, so that the librarian might have concealed much of the information from me. I have given everything reclaimer. It is up to you to do the rest" said the monitor.
"And one more thing, Your ancilla has stored a pre-recorded message with her avatar about everything that could help your people in aiding you in the future when they deem it necessary. When you reach the other galaxy. I will send the message in a secured channel Cortana gave me that will connect to their fleet command, good luck reclaimers!" said the monitor and disappeared using the teleportation.
Chief entered the coordinates in his mini holo-computer that teleported them to the ship. They all appeared in the prowler hanger where they saw a SAHARA class heavy prowler. They saw sentinels moving here and there. The hangers have a hard light shield with metallic doors. The hard light respond to IFF. Chief immediately asked Cortana for waypoint to the ship's bridge. A HUD showed the direction and they finally reached the bridge. The bridge had several terminals for different personnels to serve their purpose. Chief inserted the AI data chip into the nearby holo-pedestal. Her avatar emerged in the pedestal. Chief simply stood at the bridge to observe things.
"Chief, This ship is a marvel! Though I miss the original dawn and the pillar of autumn, still this is fantastic" said Cortana.
"So, let's go to this place, see through this crazy mission" said Linda.
"Roger that" said Chief and then turned to is team.
"Kelly, check the armory and see what we have in stock"
"Aye aye chief" and Kelly went away.
"Linda, take care of the sensors and Fred, check on the weapons"
"On it chief" said the both and they took their respective terminals.
"So Cortana, Let's take her for a ride"
"Oh! It's gonna be exciting! Running systems diagnostics"
"Weapon systems online" said Fred
"Comms and sensors are reading good" said Linda
A holographic display shows up in front of chief. He accessed it to check all the analyses.
"Cortana, if we are good, engage the thrusters" said Chief to which Cortana nodded.
"Engine systems online" said Cortana, as she fired the engine and engaged the thrusters. The ship started to slowly ascend toward the space. After reaching the space, the ship moved forward away from Iridescent's gravity field.
"Cortana, get me a map and show where we are headed to" asked Chief
A galactic map appeared before him and zoomed in to the particular point in the lagoon nebula where the beacon originated. That point was marked in the map.
"Cortana, how's the slipspace engine?"
"Slipspace drive is 100% functional and ready to be used to our current destination"
"Go ahead"
Cortana smiled at that and entered the coordinates that monitor gave and engaged the slipspace drives. A bluish white portal opened in front of the ship. As the ship entered it, the portal immediately closed. They then exited the slipspace in the said coordinates in a minute crossing 4000 lightyears, thanks to the forerunner crystal. They all saw a big ring like object with a blackhole contained within. They were amazed with the size and were wondering what technology would have been used to do this. As they neared the ring to investigate, The blackhole's gravitational force started to pull the ship forcibly towards it.
"Team, better hold on to something, raising shields! said Cortana in a loud voice.
When the ship touched the blackhole. The whole ship felt powerful vibrations.
"Chief! this is Kelly from the armory. Things are shaky here"
"Kelly, we are getting pulled by a black hole. Hold on to something" said Chief.
"Ah great!" said Kelly with a gruff tone and grabbed something rigid to hold on to herself.
After certain minutes, they exited the blackhole out of the same ring they entered. It was a wild ride for them. The ship had no outer hull damage as the shields protected them.
"Ship integrity at 100%. Sentinels are reporting no damage. We are fine chief" said Linda to which chief nodded.
"Cortana?" called Chief
"John, I'm picking up whispers, I think we have come where we had to" said Cortana, but her face already frowned at something. She did something before John asked her to do exactly. Several bytes of information scrolled through her digital realm. She was flooded with data about the place they had reached and that's what made her feel upset.
"Bring up the star chart of this new galaxy. What can you tell?"
"What the Hell!? This can't be!" said Cortana shocked, bringing up the holo display of the galaxy in front of chief.
"What is it? Wait, isn't that familiar?" asked Chief puzzled after seeing the galaxy in display.
"We are in the Milky way galaxy, John"
"What?...uh...How?" asked Chief in confusion.
"And for a check, I ran a scan in the star systems. Only some have positive interpolation. There is no planet called Reach and I have no trace of any signal from UNSC controlled space" said Cortana so confused.
"Chief, Sensors are picking up a small fleet headed our way of unknown ship design and origin" said Linda.
Cortana immediately projected it in a holo display in front of chief. It showed ships with thin elliptical body and 'T'shaped extensions and curved edges from it. They wondered what kind of ships they were. There were totally 7 ships with size equivalent to a cruiser.
"Something's really must have gone wrong, Cortana" said the Chief to which she just stared him.
A/N: From here their journey to ME universe starts.
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