Me: Hello again readers…I'm running out of ideas for these bits.
Trin: Well…how about what's happening in this chapter.
Me: Mars mission. The Commander and Cortana will be part of the ground team. It'll also have a short switch from following Shepard, to following John, and then back. It won't have any switches after that. Oh, and OCs will be returning in this one and the Spec Ops missions side story I'll eventually make.
Random Covenant Storm Soldier: On-…+Spike of black metal pierces skull+
Helix: +Armor reforms over arm+
Me: On with the story.
"Talking."
"Thinking."
"[Electronic communication.]"
{AI intercommunication}
Mission to Mars
[Nova Galaxy, Sol System, Mars Archives:]-Jane, (John)
Jane looked around the Kodiak to see SPARTAN 117, Angel, and Ashley. After the SR2 got back to the SR3, they had been deployed to Mars. John stayed on the Dreadnaught while Jane took the SPARTAN II Commander, her little sister, and Ashley. Jane looked back to the cockpit of the shuttle to see a UNSC pilot in the co-pilot's seat, and Lieutenant Steve Cortez in the pilot's seat.
"Captain, we'll be landing soon," Cortez said to her.
"Understood, make sure we're dark the entire time," Jane replied as she put her helmet on.
She walked back to the cargo hold to see Angel wearing the newer N7 Demolisher variant armor. Jane looked back at her own standard N7 armor, feeling slightly inadequate. Granted, her armor was personalized to have multiple blue stripes with the main part being white, something she was happy about, but the Demolisher variant, standard for all N7 Soldier class troopers, had better armor and shields than hers did. She looked over at Ashley to see her in the standard Alliance Marine combat armor. Jane sighed before looking at the hulking, green, soldier. Jane didn't know that the SPARTAN was an actual person, and Angel didn't feel like sharing that information.
"117, ready any weaponry you have," Jane said to the 'mech.'
"Understood Captain," he replied before double checking his MA5D.
"Ash, Angel, you two ready?"
"Ready and waiting sis," Angel replied.
"Ready for combat Cap," Ash replied.
The Kodiak landed and the ground team ran out of the shuttle. Jane looked around for a second before noticing a storm heading their way. She turned back to the Kodiak and motioned for them to take off again.
"[We'll stay in the area ma'am,]" the UNSC pilot said as Cortez made the shuttle take off.
Jane nodded as she ran over towards the team. She saw Angel staring at the storm in the distance. Ashley nodded her head towards 117 as Jane looked towards the SPARTAN II. The S-II seemed to be looking at the further part of the station.
"That's a big storm," Angel said as they started moving again.
"Oh come one LT, it's not that bad," Ashley said.
"She's right, I've seen worse storms," the SPARTAN said.
"Well I still doubt we want to be outside when it gets here," Angel replied to them.
"Agreed, so let's get moving," Jane said as she dropped down a small cliff.
She looked to her left and saw a dead Alliance Marine. The SPARTAN dropped down and saw what she was looking at. He walked over to her silently before someone spoke up.
"[Corporal Andrew James. Died of a gunshot to the head,]" a woman Jane didn't recognize said.
"Who the hell was that?" Ash asked.
"Cortana, she's an AI," the SPARTAN said.
"I thought you were the AI?"
"[…Wow…remind me to send Johnson 50 creds from Del Rio's account,]" Cortana said to John.
"Commander John Andrews, SPARTAN 117," John said to them.
"So you're an actual person?" Jane said.
"Wait, your sister didn't tell you?"
"No she didn't," Jane said as she looked at Angel.
The youngest of the Shepard family smiled innocently beneath her helmet as she walked towards the Archive's entrance. She got to the turn and ducked behind a small wall. Jane and Ash looked at each other before the rest of them sprinted over. Jane looked down the path to see an Alliance Marine on his knees, hands behind his head, and several Cerberus troopers, one of which was about to execute the Marine.
(John ran forward and slammed into the Trooper. The Cerberus soldier went flying into the side of a boulder, helmet breaking from the impact, as the others tried to raise their weapons. As they did, John hit one with the butt of his rifle before grabbing the now dead soldier and throwing him into another Trooper. Angel, Jane, and Ash fired their rifles at the remaining soldiers. Only Jane missed the head shot, allowing the last of the Cerberus soldiers to fire back and warn the others.
"Shit," she said as she blinked into the trooper, setting off an explosion as she did.
The Trooper's corpse went flying as the group moved forward.
"The hell is Cerberus doing here?" Ash asked.
"You want to have a chat with the heavily armed death squad, be my guest," Angel said as Jane shook her head.
"Doesn't matter, we're here for the Archives. If Cerberus gets in the way, kill them, if not, this goes quicker," Jane said.
"Agreed, trying to kill all enemy soldiers may cost us our true objective," John said as he ran forward and grabbed another Cerberus soldier by the throat.
"[Ten points if you can nail the sniper by throwing that guy,]" Cortana said as she marked the more dangerous target on John's HUD.
John didn't throw the soldier himself, but he did throw the grenade the Trooper had. The explosive device sailed through the air, detonating where the Nemesis had been barely a second ago. John put up his MA5D and pulled out his BR85. He lifted the weapon to his shoulder and activated his visor's zoom.
The feature connected to the electronic scope and showed John what was able to be seen through it. He waited for the sniper to pop back out of cover before pulling the trigger. Once the sniper did, he fired the three round burst towards her. The armor piercing round soared through the air, impacting the Nemesis in the stomach, chest, and head.
"[Target is down, I say we get moving now Chief,]" Cortana said afterward.
"Captain, area is currently clear of hostiles," John shouted at the rest of the group.
They ran up to meet him at the entrance as Jane went to the console. She pressed a few buttons and the ramp closed off the outside from them. As soon as it sealed, John's HUD started to fill with static.
"[Give me a…what the…damn, someone's clogging up the helmet, it's useless now John, you're gonna have to ditch it. Don't worry the newer armor doesn't need the helmet for the shields to stay active,]" Cortana said to him as the others began to remove their helmets.
"What about just clearing up the view?" John asked. "And is it still EVA ready?"
"[Done and it is, I still think it might be better to just take off the helmet for now, I'll figure out what's going on when we get back to the SR2.]"
"What about you?"
"[I'm in the entire armor and your transponder, I'll be fine.]"
John nodded as the extra components of his helmet's HUD disappeared. All it had now was the outlining of the small design on the outer pert of the visor. John removed the helmet as he looked back at the Alliance soldiers. Ashley still looked at him shocked, but the others just nodded their heads.)
"You won't be out of commission without all the UNSC upgrades your helmet had are you?" Jane asked.
"No ma'am. SPARTAN IIs and IIIs were trained to never only rely on their electronic equipment," John said as he connected his helmet to the small holder on his armor.
"Good," Jane replied as the small platform they were on rose.
They waited as it continued to rise before stopping at what looked like a garage area. The group took a few steps forward before hearing something crawling through the ducts. Jane stopped to figure out what it was when gunshots sounded from them. She pulled her rifle back out and ran towards one of the trucks to use for cover, the others doing the same.
Jane looked over at the vents when a cover fell off. An Asari in a white and blue scientist's suit dropped out quickly followed by two Cerberus soldiers. Jane looked at the Asari and recognized her as Liara. John raised his rifle at the Cerberus soldiers as Liara created a singularity, trapping the Troopers. One of them flailed his arms, trying to right himself as the other tried to turn and shoot her. Liara smiled as she raised her pistol and fired twice, hitting both troopers in the chest. They fell and one of them stopped moving, the other tried to sit up and raise his rifle. Liara walked over to them and finished them off with quick shots to the head of each trooper. Jane looked back to notice John moving forward, rifle now pointed at Liara.
"Stand down Commander, she's with us," Jane said as she placed a hand at the end of his rifle.
"Understood ma'am," John replied as he lowered the weapon, still leaving it in his hands.
"Well at least he won't have to reach behind himself for it," Jane thought to herself as Liara noticed them.
"Jane," she said as she walked over.
Jane saw John, Ash, and Angel walk over to the window as Liara started talking to her.
"I missed you," the scientist said as Jane grabbed her hands.
"Same here, but I think we should catch up when we aren't trying to grab things before Reapers arrive."
"You're right, now isn't a very good time."
"Any idea what Cerberus might be after, anything specific in the Archives?"
"Something that we discovered recently, blueprints for what we believe may be a Prothean weapon."
"A weapon? To use against the Reapers?"
"I believe so, yes."
"When need-…"
"[Got it…sorry, I just got coms for John's helmet back on. Shield monitor and scope sight to, but I still can't get the other extras online, something's keeping a closer eye on those,]" Cortana said over the coms.
"I'll take what I can get," John replied as he reattached his helmet.
"Who was that?" Liara asked.
"Cortana, she's the Commander's personal AI."
"Yes, the SPARTAN II commando that nearly single handedly defeated the Covenant. I thought his AI companion was destroyed?"
"[The old me was, I'm the new model. Made from what remained of the old Cortana, don't try to get after me John, that isn't classified info,]" the AI said as her hologram appeared on a computer monitor.
Jane looked over to see a blue woman in an open track blue jacket over a light blue shirt, dark blue pants, and dark blue combat boots. Her face was the exact same as the original Cortana, and the lines of code the original had were there as small designs on the new version's outfit, going along the outer center of her jacket's sleeves, and the outer center of her pant legs. Jane looked at Liara to see her girlfriend's 'I want that' smile.
"No," Jane said.
"But-…," Liara tried to argue.
"I'd rather not have my girlfriend killed, so no."
"We're burning time here sis," Angel called over from a walkway above them.
"How did you get up there?"
"We had Goliath throw us up here," Ashley said from next to Angel.
"[Goliath is a new one,]" Cortana commented from her position.
Jane walked up to the small elevator and activated it. The lift rose with her and Liara on it as John jumped and vaulted over the edge of the walkway. They went towards the door, Jane having them take up positions near it, as John opened it, grenade in one hand, rifle in the other. John heard several Cerberus troopers inside the room talking. He looked at Jane and she nodded to Angel. The youngest of the Shepards smiled before becoming invisible. John pulled out a knife and activated his armor's Active Camouflage, also becoming invisible. Jane, Liara, and Ashley ran towards the small pipes in the room and took cover.
Jane waited at her spot until a Cerberus soldier stopped by it. She activated her Omni-Blade as she reached up and grabbed the trooper, quickly dragging him back behind the pipes and stabbing him in the face. At the same time, John slit the throat of another with his knife, and Angel snapped the third one's neck. Liara stopped the final one from raising the alarm by locking him in a stasis field. Ashley walked up and stabbed him with her own Omni-Blade.
"Area clear, Captain," John said as he sheathed his knife.
"Let's move out," Jane said as they walked into the next hall.
Inside were more Cerberus troopers, though this time they noticed them soon enough to raise the alarm. Several spun around as another ran off into a different room. Jane raised her Avenger and fired a few short bursts at the Cerberus Commandos. John threw his grenade at the remaining soldiers. The explosion killed all but one of them. The last being sent flying towards them by the blast. The trooper tried to get up, only to find a Hornet pointed at his face. Jane smiled as she noticed the trooper look towards his holster to see nothing there.
"Yeah, it's your gun," Jane said as she pulled the trigger.
She looked back and handed the weapon to Liara before pulling her own gun back out. John and Angel, now visible again, ran towards the next door and opened it, only to quickly duck behind cover as bullets started flying towards them. Jane Ran over to Angel and looked down the hallway to see the Cerberus Troopers were behind cover, or using personal riot shields. As Jane went back into cover, Angel pulled out one of her sticky grenades and tossed it to John. The SPARTAN II armed it and popped out of cover. He held it back for two seconds before throwing it at the Cerberus commandos. He ducked back behind cover as his shields broke. Jane looked to see the grenade stick to the helmet of the Cerberus Centurion directing the other troops, the one that was in the center.
"Nice toss," Jane said as the grenade went off, killing all of the Cerberus soldiers near the Centurion.
Another ten minutes of this, and they were walking into the main Archive complex. Jane watched the security feeds with Liara as the other three members of their squad looked around. Jane turned her attention back to the monitors as it showed a scientist shoot two guards in the back and open the airlock they had just come through. Jane balled her fists as Liara backed up.
"I should've known," the Asari said. "Dr. Eva was new to the team, I should've been more careful about letting her join, but I was so caught up in the Archives-…"
"You couldn't have known Liara."
"I know that, I just should have paid more attention to the team than to a weapon we don't even know works…or that even is a weapon."
"Finding a way to beat the Reapers is all we should be focused on," Jane said as John waved over the other two. "We should get going with the others."
"Right," Liara said as Jane hugged her.
Liara smiled before pulling out the Hornet Jane had taken from the Cerberus soldier. Jane smiled as she pulled out the Maverick she had taken from a Centurion. They ran over to the others as the door opened, revealing an auto turret that started firing on them.
"Take cover!" Ashley said.
"No shit!]" Cortana and Angel both said in reply.
"Cortana, hack that turret," Jane said as she stuck to cover.
"[On it,]" the AI replied as the turret stopped firing. "[We're good let's go.]"
"Cortana, can we use the turret for fire support?" John asked as the team moved up.
"[Not unless they're under the turret or where we are now.]"
"Damn," Angel said as she raised her Black Widow sniper.
Jane looked at where she was aiming to see multiple Cerberus soldiers waiting inside the control area. Jane pulled out her Maverick and ran towards the door to the control area. John went to the door just as the lock turned red and disappeared. The SPARTAN pulled his fist back and sent it forward. A loud clang was heard as the metal of his glove impacted the metal door. John punched again, this time leaving a dent. John continued to punch until the door was barely connected. He pulled his fist back once more and sent it forward as fast as he could. The door went flying into the room, managing to hit one Cerberus trooper as the others took cover. They popped back out as the others started shooting.
Jane ran and slid into cover at one of the tables in the room. She switched out her Maverick for her Katana shotgun and began firing at the Cerberus soldiers. Jane fired three shots in to the Centurion to take him down before ducking and reloading. She popped back up to see a Cerberus Trooper right in front of her. Jane smiled as she pulled the trigger with the barrel directly in front of the soldier's head. It disappeared in an explosion of blood as Jane jumped over the table and activated her barrier.
The added defense allowed Jane to go close quarters against the Cerberus troopers. She grabbed one and stabbed him with her Omni-Blade as she fired her Katana at another. She spun around and shoved the barrel of her gun into the gut of another Cerberus Trooper. Jane turned to see Angel get surrounded by the last of the Cerberus troopers there. They closed in on her, weapons raised.
"ANGEL!" Jane shouted as the Cerberus soldiers suddenly dropped.
Jane looked at Angel in confusion before noticing the sword in her hands. Angel flipped her Black Widow to where the stock was facing the ceiling and slid the blade into it. Jane heard a small click from the weapon as the blade's handle also disappeared. That's when she realized something. Angel was an Infiltrator class soldier, yet she was wearing the Soldier class armor, all N7 Infiltrators were trained in sword combat to counter Cerberus Phantoms, yet Jane never saw Angel carrying a blade.
"You keep your blade in your gun," Jane said as she walked up to her sister.
The younger Shepard smiled as she nodded her head.
"I like the Demolisher armor better because it has better protection. I upgraded it to where I can easily move as fast as other Infiltrators in combat," Angel said as she put her sniper on her back.
Jane noticed that when the weapon folded, the blade apparently did as well. She sighed before walking over to the consoles to see Liara already working on it. She looked around for Ashley and noticed the Commander waving her over. She walked to where he was to see Ash messing with a Cerberus Trooper's helmet, trying to get it off.
"[Remember, you give it to John, and I'll work my magic on it,]" Cortana said as she appeared on a nearby computer.
"What's going on?" Jane asked.
"We're trying to get to this guy's communicator so we can call over a ride," Ashley explained.
"Alright, need any help?"
"No I think I-…," she stopped as the helmet opened to reveal a person that looked like he was halfway between Human and Husk. "Oh God."
Ash backed up as Jane involuntarily reached for her pistol.
"They…they didn't do that to you and John did they?"
"No…I don't think so…most likely no, Miranda said something about the Illusive Man wanting to keep use the same as we were before our deaths."
"So nothing will happen…right?" Angel asked as she walked up. "I don't think mom and I could handle losing you two again."
"I swear nothing will happen sis," Jane said as she grabbed the Cerberus Soldier's com.
She handed it to the Commander so Cortana could mess with it. The blue lights on the device shut off and turned back on, this time being red lights.
"Hello? This is Delta, anyone read?" Jane asked.
"[Delta? Where the hell have you been?]" someone asked her from the other side of the coms. "[Never mind, what's the situation?"
"Hostiles have been eliminated, awaiting transport."
"[Understood, we're sending a tram over now.]"
As the Cerberus Trooper finished saying this, the lights around them shut off. Jane looked over at the console with Cortana's hologram. The AI smiled innocently as Jane returned to the com.
"One of the squad just busted the lights. It's nearly pitch black here now."
"[Thanks for the heads up. You sure it was your squad?]"
"Yeah, he's getting yelled at now."
"[Alright, tram's on its way.]"
Liara got to them as Jane stated pointing to different spots inside the tram area. John ran over to a row of large cargo crates near the door, Angel stayed back with Ashley, and Liara and Jane went to a row of small cargo boxes to wait. The signal for the tram beeped and everyone aimed their weapons at the beams of light coming from the tram.
"Delta, you out there?" one of the Cerberus Troopers asked.
"Yep," Jane said as she fired at the Cerberus Commandos.
The troopers panicked from the crossfire ambush, and began firing randomly. Jane watched as John popped out of quickly took down the Cerberus soldiers, leaving only the ones with riot shields. Jane smiled as Angel put a single round through each of the Cerberus Troopers' shields and into their hearts. At least Jane thought that was where Angel hit them, she just saw them drop after being hit.
As the last Cerberus soldier fell, the team got up and went to the tram. John stood near the front as everyone put their helmets back on and waited as Jane got the tram moving again. The doors opened and the tram got moving.
"What do you think we'll find over there?" Ashley asked.
"Stupid question Ash." Angel replied.
"Brace!" John shouted as a bomb and shook their tram.
Jane stumbled forward as the tram stopped shaking. She got back up to see another tram heading towards them. She looked over at Angel and nodded her head. Her sister nodded back before pulling out her sniper and firing at the troopers on the other tram. Jane saw three out of four drop as the fourth ducked into cover. Before Angel could retarget him, the trams stopped, side by side. Jane ran and jumped to the other tram as Liara and Ashley did the same. Angel and John quickly followed them, John causing the other tram to shake as he landed. Jane looked back to see Angel pull her blade out again and cut off the last Cerberus Trooper's head. She then looked back at the other tram just in time to see it fall. Jane looked around for the console just as the tram started moving towards the Archives. She looked over to see Liara standing near the console. She nodded to her before turning her attention back to the front of the tram, and the door at the end of the tracks. Jane double checked the ammo on her rifles before reloading and waiting. The doors opened as the tram settled in. Once they closed, the inner doors opened and Cerberus soldiers started firing at them. Jane ducked into cover as Angel rolled out, sword still in her hands. She switched to using it one handed as she pulled her Shuriken out of its holster at her hip.
Jane popped back out of cover and fired her rifle at the Cerberus reinforcements coming into the room. Jane stopped as Angel killed the last Cerberus guardian by stabbing his head through the small hole in the shield. Jane watched as Angel pushed the soldier's corpse over, her blade sliding out as it fell. Jane walked up as Angel spun her blade and sheathed it. Jane looked around and spotted a weapons locker. She went over and looked inside to see a Vindicator inside it. She pulled it out and tossed it to Ashley. Jane turned to face the next door and opened it.
"Wow," Angel said as she walked in after Jane.
Jane removed her helmet after the area pressurized. She looked towards the main console and nodded her head at it. Jane looked around and moved towards the console as Cortana suddenly spoke up.
"[Hey, that hacker is in hear…and she's an AI…John, over in that other console area,]" the AI said.
Jane turned to watch John sneak over to the area Cortana had designated. Three seconds later, a woman was thrown from there, landing hard in front of Jane. John ran over and grabbed her head before she could move. Jane looked into the scientist's eyes as John held her up. Suddenly, the unknown person's eyes widened and dulled before closing. Ten seconds later, they reopened to reveal light blue eyes instead of their previous brown.
"Ok, we're good," the woman said in Cortana's voice.
"Cortana, is that you?" John asked.
"[A part of me, yes. The 'real' me is still inside the chip, which is still in your head,]" Cortana said over the coms.
"Wait, you're in two places at once?" Angel asked as she walked up.
"It's a very simple thing to do for UNSC military grade Smart AIs.]" Cortana said from both the body and the coms. "[I could actually be in more places than just two if I wanted."
"Wow…just…wow," Angel said as she contemplated the uses of that.
"I think we should get back to the Normandy. Our dearly departed AI friend here managed to downlo-…" Cortana, in the body, was interrupted by a hologram activating.
"[Shepard,]" the man said.
"Illusive Man," Jane growled. "What do you want?"
The man turned his head to look at who he thought was Dr. Eva.
"[What my informant has, release her and I might let you leave here in one piece.]"
"I think I'm rather comfy where I'm at now," Cortana replied.
"[Interesting, you must have a very talented hacker in your group to have rewritten my AI,]" TIM said.
"Or we had an AI of our own," Jane replied as they started leaving. "We have what we came for. Just so you know, we will kill you."
"Captain, I think it would be best if we kept the Archives out of Cerberus' hands," John said.
Jane looked back at the Archive before sighing and nodding to the green giant. John pulled out a canister of C12 and attached it to the glass surrounding the Prothean Beacon. He went back to the group before detonating the explosive. Cortana smiled before looking over her body and frowning.
"Remind me to ask Lotus how she altered her body," she said as John turned to face her and Jane raised an eyebrow.
"Let's just get back to the SR2 and SR3," Jane said as they left the facility.
Me: Yep, John just blew up a Beacon. Also, the ability to alter how the body looks came from Lemanruss669.
Trin: Yeah, Trey's idea was just to give Cortana an ONI built version.
Me: Well, at least she'll be able to wear even SPARTAN armor if she wants. That's all for now, VR Commando ATA out.