Chapter 3

Forerunner keyship

Unknown Star system, 2563, September, 19th

Inside the Forerunner hanger bay.

"Eyes peel people. Check your corners." Said Lieutenant Sanders as he led his squad towards one of the Forerunner single ship in the bay. As they came within meters of the vessel, its hatch hissed open and a ramp lowered to the ground.

"Doctor Anders, move up, see if u can find the location of this ship's bridge" Said the Lt as he sweep his rifle across the interior of the single ship.

"On my way Lieutenant" reply Anders as she moved towards the ship. Her ODST escorts flowing behind quickly.

"Sarah, try and hail the Spirit of Fire, I need to speak to the Captain" Ordered the Lt as he relax his grip on his MA5B assault rifle.

"Aye Aye sir, you want me to set her down?" said Sarah as she nudges her Pelican away from the Marines under it. The Lt shrugged and Sarah took the sign as a yes. Swinging her Pelican around as she settled it down on a raised platform. Flicking the switch, the Pelican's engine died down as its landing gear made contact with the platform.

"This is Charlie 2-6, to Spirit of Fire do you copy over?" asked Sarah into her mike. Static answered her. "I repeat, this is Charlie 2-6 to Spirit of Fire do you copy over" Said Sarah again, more urgently now. Shaking her head in frustration, she opened a personal channel to Sanders"Sir, the Spirit isn't answering. Might be the metal this ship is made off interfering with the signal."

"Copy that chief…. Try hailing the other Pelicans if we're lucky they will be able to pick it up" said Sanders as he motion First Platoon's leader forward.

"Alright, sir." Said Sarah as she flicked another switch cutting off the personal channel. "This is Charlie 2-6, to Any UNSC personnel, anyone receiving?" she released the button and waited for a reply… no response. "I repeat this is Charlie2-6, to any UNSC personnel, anyone receiving?" Static answer her…. Suddenly

"Charlie 2-6 this is Bravo lead I read you, Soaring hammer." came the voice of Bravo flight's wing leader.

"Thank god, we can't contact the Spirit of Fire. Can you act as a relay point?" Ask Sarah with a tinge of relieve in her voice.

"That's an Affirmative Charlie 2-6, relaying now"

"This is Spirit of Fire, what the status of the boarding party?" Came captain Cutter's voice.

"Green sir" replied Sanders "The space in this Forerunner hanger bay is huge sir, god know how many places we have to search before finding the bridge"

"Alright, I'm sending in more troops, hopefully we can get this Forerunner ship underway, Cutter out." Reply Captain Cutter. The channel closed as the signal was terminated. Sanders walk up and tapped the doctor's shoulder "Any luck doc?"

Anders turned slightly to look at Sanders before replying, "Yes it's here" with a jab of her finger, and the schematics of the Forerunner keyship appeared in front of her. A section of the vessel was highlighted in red while a blinking green dot appeared in the middle of the ship.

"Okay shouldn't be too far away…" Said the Lt before he uttered a curse. On the schematics, the holograms shifted and show their current location. They were on the far side of the ship with the red section between them and the bridge. "Any idea what's waiting for us in those highlighted areas doc?"

"Maybe hang on" muttered Anders as she swipe her hand across the holographic controls, after a few seconds of manipulating, the hologram zoomed in on the highlighted area and a video screen pop up. A blazing red 'eye' glared at them from the video screen.

"Reclaimers! The child of my makers! This cannot BE…. NO I WILL NOT BOW DOWN TO THOSE WHO HAVE ABANDON ME!" Suddenly the red 'eye' grew brighter and the view screen suddenly terminated.

"Okay what the hell was that?" Asked Sanders as he rubbed his eyes from the brightness.

"If I have to speculate from the data I have gathered from this fighter's database, that was the Forerunner AI in charge of this ship" with another flick of her hand, the data on the hologram changed. "It's been approximately 100525 years since the AI's activation." stated Anders.

"No wonder the light bulb is pissed" muttered Sanders as he motioned his platoon leaders forward. "Alright men listen up, we're going to do this the old fashion way, divide and conquer." " First and Second Platoon"

" Sir!" yell two Major Sergeants

" On me, we got a light bulb to switch off." Said Lieutenant Sanders as his men grin at the joke. " Third Platoon, Hold the fort, no need to lose our only way in and out."

" You can count on us sir" said the lieutenant JG Liz as she chambered a round into her MA5B.

"Lieutenant, wait" said Anders as she turned to face Sanders "You and your men don't have the firepower to take that AI down, Not to mention there will be Sentinels aboard this Forerunner ship. I suggest you wait till reinforcement arrive from Spirit of fire"

The Lt stare at the doctor and arched an eyebrow. "And you know this how?"

"This is the data I managed to get about it from the database before the AI locked me out" said the doctor as she manipulated the hologram. A 3d hologram of the machine shiver into view. "This is the AI, they are refer to as a Monitor in the database. While they may look deceptively small, they are armed with a high intensity beam weapon and their core matrix is securely protected by a very thick layer of Forerunner metal that is near impenetrable by almost all our weapons"

"So I guess smashing the light bulb with my rifle butt won't work. Any suggestions, doc?" Asked Sanders, his humor hiding his unease well.

"Yes, tell the Captain to ship over the M6 Grindell Nonliner Rifle, the power of that weapon should be able to penetrate the Monitor's tough casing with several hits" Replied Anders as she tapped calculations into her personal datapad.

Again an arched eyebrow from the lieutenant "Overkill much? But if you say so..." reply the Lt as he jogs back towards Sarah's Pelican.