A/N: Currently working on editing the first, probably, three or four chapters right now so I can update the version and I can get to posting on AO3. Also, I've been super sick lately and I've been missing two weeks' worth of school so I've been trying to catch up on school work.
Prometheus-G747: Essentially, yes, when a Guardian dies and is revived then their armour, weapons, ammo, all of that is recovered as well, you're correct. The only reason that Ghost is saying he'll convert armour into plasteel plating and whatnot is so they can upgrade the armour, make it better. Callixtus has "raid gear" from the Vault and considering that he had just finished the so-called "raid", it wouldn't make sense if it was fully upgraded already, therefore, they'll be using what little supplies they have left to upgrade it in order to make it better. Of course, simply killing oneself when the armour is damaged is the way to go but it seems a little bit "deus ex machina", to which I sincerely want to veer away from as it's a cheap trick, plus, who wants to go into battle with damaged armour when you have a chance to make repairs? I'll be using the Guardian Suicide method only once as far as I'm concerned and it's not because he needs armour repairs.
Also, Ghost is able to synthesize ammo from the enemy, yes, but - the way I see it - Ghost is only able to do this because it's studied and been educated on the schematics of the weapons. The ammunition also appears to be very similar to each other so synthesizing it shouldn't be all that difficult. In the current area they're in, however, their enemies and comrades use plasma and chemical based weapons. It's so far backwards that the Ghost doesn't know how to synthesize it just yet. Yes, in the future, plasma and hardlight are an essential part of their weaponry at one point in the Golden Age - which is also why Ghost was excited when it realized the sentinels used hardlight despite being outdated - but it's all upgraded and more advanced to which I'll divulge in the story later. To the Ghost and Callixtus, these weapons are outdated and obsolete in comparison to what their arsenal consists of in terms of ammo.
Plasma and hardlight are something a little different entirely in the case that some of them can actually be used to decrypt certain engrams, not entirely to the point they're useful, but it'd give the Cryptarchs a start on repairing and relearning what was lost from the Golden Age and the Collapse. In terms of synthesizing, the Ghost needs some time to learn some new tricks so Callixtus doesn't run out of ammunition.
In answer to a question I've gotten frequently, yes, I don't mind if you draw/write/whatever anything related to this (fan-stuff of fanfic? Interesting). I do ask that you tag me, I've made a blog related to this series on Tumblr called guardiancallixtus, feel free to follow that as I will be posting notifications of my updates for those of you who can't follow this story, answering questions, posting snippets and original drafts, etc. If you wish to PM me a question, do so on my blog as I will answer there.
EDIT (4/21/15): I never knew what the Gravemind said at the 'end her torment' part so thank you so much for giving me a better and correct translation, ha. I am an awful person, I am literal trash - thank you for reading my complicated story.
Bizzare. Unethical. Unusual. Otherworldly.
These were the words that ran through John's head whenever he thought about the Guardian.
Unnatural. Powerful. Unstoppable.
There were three more words.
The Spartan was sure of it; he had watched the Guardian die. Watched as the man took his final breath, even adapt rigor mortis, but the Ghost calmly hovered over his body, refusing to budge. The AI hadn't said anything and just simply told them to wait.
"Patience," was all he said.
Not three minutes later and the Guardian lunged up, light surrounding his body, encasing him, weaving in and out of every crevice of his armor, and he landed on his feet, rolling his shoulders as if nothing had happened. For once, the Master Chief had been stunned into silence. The Guardian had been resurrected from actual death with no source in sight.
It dawned on John that this man was capable of avoiding death entirely, merely a foreign concept to him.
But when the Guardian returned to the living, he brought something with him; they were vaguely humanoid but John couldn't distinguish any features from them, having only appeared as a faint outline of a human. Their voice sounded synthesized and the Ghost had referred to them as 'Ephesians-44', perhaps an AI of some kind then? They had claimed to have come from the Guardian's imagination and disappeared shortly afterwards, apparently being attacked by something called 'Gorgons'.
Then the Guardian teleported on to a Scarab. Quite literally. John watched from his position in the Scorpion as the Guardian turned into small white particles and dispersed then he watched as the man jumped off the back of the exploding Scarab.
The Ghost had been angry, yelling about vexes and confluxes, asking the Spartan to watch the Guardian. Whatever he had done was killing him. Permanently killing him.
Mystery. Nonlinear. Cryptic. Chaotic. Wild.
More words began flitting through his mind as he looked over at the soldier standing next to him in the Pelican; the Ghost had appeared over his usual spot over the Guardian's left shoulder and seemed to be conversing with him quietly.
Then there was that electrical explosion he was able to conjure up. It felt more than that though; it felt raw and more powerful than should be allowed as if the Guardian drew it from some kind of inner source, somewhere else. Backup energy perhaps? There had to be a logical reason around this man, at least one.
Guilty Spark practically confirming that the Guardian was Forerunner added on to the pile of 'what the fuck' that is the Guardian.
Unique. Practical. Talented. Tactical.
The Pelican shuddered and John snapped his head forward in time to see one of the other dropships fall from the atmosphere and land in the body of water below. Behind him, he heard Stacker giving out various orders the Marines behind them.
Looking out at the chaos below the Pelican, John grabbed the M6 Galilean Nonlinear Rifle, appropriately dubbed the "Spartan Laser", and a Battle Rifle before jumping out of the Pelican before it hit the ground, throwing a frag grenade into the fray to set off several plasma batteries.
"Could we possibly make any more noise?!" The Ghost yelled from over the Guardian's shoulder and was greeted with the Guardian's lightning bolt grenade crackling and snapping at nearby enemies. "Well, I guess so!" The AI ducked behind the Guardian as they advanced forward through the outcropping of rocks and disappeared in a flash of blue.
John took out the Spartan Laser and aimed it towards the anti-air Wraith shooting at the sky; he waited patiently for it to turn before the bright red beam tore across the battlefield, through the tank, and into the turret sitting behind it. In the distance, it sounded like it also hit one of the Banshees.
The Spartan joined up with the Guardian, who had taken the time to pull a turret out of its stand and throw it at a set of fleeing Grunts, and the pair advanced up the hill with the Marines and dived behind some boulders just in time to dodge the fuel rods shot at them. Two Brute Majors rounded on them, wielding Maulers although the superheated projectiles did little to penetrate their shields and the two soldiers retaliated quickly, beating down the pair of Brutes with practised ease and sheer brutality.
Simultaneously, they lunged at the Chieftain, the Guardian delivering a strong punch to its gut as he used his momentum to tackle the giant alien. John followed, holding down the Brute by clambering onto its chest and tore off its helmet; it thrashed and roared, snapping at the Spartan, clawing at him but the Guardian grabbed the arms, snarling while the pair shot at the squirming beast. Several rounds from the battle rifle tore through the brain and it went limp immediately, receiving an irritated bellyful of fiery bullets from the Guardian, the man growling as he stalked away.
Distantly, a Marine reported in the destruction of the anti-air Wraith, Miranda responding as her Pelican began to dip low in the distance arriving on the beach with a flourish, a Gauss Warthog, and reinforcements in tow.
"Shipmaster, begin the diverse bombardment," Miranda ordered as she dropped the supplies.
"I will beat the Prophet's shield like a drum," Rtas answered in kind. "By the time the barrier falls, he will beg for mercy."
"Spark says Truth can activate the rings at any time," Miranda explained, her Pelican lifting off. "If he does, Earth...every being in the galaxy...Halo will kill them all. Get to the first tower, shut it down."
Inspiring. John thought, climbing into the driver seat of the Warthog after giving the passenger ODST the dead Chieftain's Fuel Rod Cannon and one of the Mongoose passengers his Spartan Laser; he then waited for the Guardian to climb on to the turret before starting the drive towards the cliffside with several Mongooses following the vehicle. They dodged around a speeding Ghost which was shot down by the Gauss cannon - the cannon itself eliciting a surprised yelp from the Guardian - and drove around a plateau full of Grunts that gave chase for several moments before succumbing to the hail of bullets raining down upon them.
Driving up the hill, Johnson reported in along with the Arbiter, their own squads having made it to the base of the towers they were assigned to.
As they broke through the crevice they were traveling through, John guided the vehicle across a waterfall that overlooked the entrance below which also had a Wraith guarding it.
A pair of Prowlers rolled out from underneath the entrance to support the Wraith, the vehicles making their way up the plateau to greet the human vehicles.
The Gauss Cannon fired on the Wraith, killing the Brute controlling the turret instantaneously, and taking off the hatch to the pilot's seat of the Wraith itself. In an attempt to save itself from an inevitable doom, the Wraith fired a plasma mortar towards the Warthog only to hit one of the Mongooses, killing the two ODSTs instantly; the other two Mongooses and the ODST in the Warthog retaliated with howls of promises of utter hell, successfully avenging their two comrades by assaulting anything not in a Human vehicle that moved.
Driving down into the entrance of the tower, John successfully ran over the regiment that sat in waiting, successfully derailing a turret that was also sitting with them. After ensuring that the perimeter was secured, he positioned the Warthog carefully so the ODSTs could easily gun down any approaching reinforcements from outside before jumping out of the vehicle and entering the structure with the Guardian trailing behind, leaving the Gauss Cannon to be handled by someone else.
Several Jackals chittered amongst themselves until Grunts began shrieking and fleeing at the sight of the two behemoths that approached them with a deadly gait and even deadlier weapons and intentions. The shielded Jackals valiantly stood against them, backed up by two Carbine snipers although they were easily dispatched by quick melee strikes that either crushed their windpipes or their skulls. No use in wasting ammunition on such weak creatures, he supposed while they finished off the cowering Grunts.
They approached a lift, John picking up a Brute Shot along the way to replace the lost Spartan Laser, and they ascended the tower relatively quickly. As soon as it reached the top, John began assessing the enemies, throwing two spike grenades he had picked off a dead Brute Captain; when they detonated, however, the Brute Chieftain - who conveniently wielded a Gravity Hammer - threw down a regen device, quickly sealing the wounds that the spike grenades gave to the Chieftain and the remaining Brute Major.
The Guardian broke off to engage with the Major, bypassing the Chieftain entirely although it seemed the Chieftain had set its beady gaze on to the Spartan anyways. John rolled back just as the Chieftain swung down, leaving the metallic floor below them dented. Several grenades from the Brute Shot cracked the crazed Brute's armour before it donned the invincibility power-up, lasting long enough to nearly shatter the floor as the Spartan dodged around it once more. Once the power-up began wavering, the device sputtering, John darted behind it once more, firing the rest of the grenades from the Brute Shot to fully crack down the armour before throwing the weapon, the blade of it slicing cleanly into the Chieftain's neck.
The weapon clattered to the floor along with the head which rolled lamely across as the body fell to the ground with a dull thud, blood pooling around it quickly.
John calmly retrieved the weapon, reloading it with a new belt of grenades, and strode towards the tower controls, passing the Guardian who was taking his time in wiping his gauntlets and shoulders off on the fur of one of the Brute's corpses before joining the Spartan as he turned off the tower.
"Good work, Chief," Miranda complimented, "that's one. The Arbiter should be just about-that's two! It's all up to Johnson's team now." The two looked over at the still active tower, John frowning at the lack of activity that seemed to go on. "Go back outside and wait for transport." After waiting for several moments to see whether or not it'd shut down, the pair eventually went back down the ship and exited the tower as Miranda attempted to hail the Sergeant Major.
"We need reinforcements, ma'am, we're pinned down," Johnson eventually reported, his comms. more than slightly, unnervingly staticky.
"I'm on my way!"
"Negative. Fire's too heavy. Everyone, fallback!"
"Sergeant Major!" A tense pause. "Johnson, can you hear me?" Another pause. "Chief, you and the Guardian need to link up with the Arbiter and proceed directly to the third tower. Make your way back to the beach."
Driving back through the crevice of the cliff once more, the small squad came across several Hornets that landed on the shores of the beach. Hocus explained that the only way to currently get to the third tower was via Hornet as it was more efficient to simultaneously take care of aerial issues so that the reinforcements didn't have any trouble getting to the LZ.
When offered one of the aerial vehicles, the Ghost appeared, saying, "I've got something worked up for the Guardian, a schematic I managed to scrounge out with the help of Ephesians. Let's go, transmat just got on online." And the Guardian disappeared in a flash of blue-and-white.
"Why do we get stuck with the weird ones?" one of the Marines muttered as John got into the Hornet, the vehicle lifting off as soon as the two passengers got on board.
Although the Hornets weren't as swift or maneuverable as the Banshees they were pitted against, the Human aerial vehicles made it up for their guided missiles, something that Fuel Rod Cannons attached to the Banshees couldn't necessarily do too easily. When the Banshee thought it had shaken off a pair of the missiles, the projectiles circled back and kicked it in the ass. Glorious.
After taking out an anti-air Wraith that had been bothering the Pelicans for a while, the Spartan made his way over to the tower, circling around a cliff as he targeted several Banshees surrounding a Covenant Phantom, taking them out before downing the Phantom itself.
"Objective in sight, Commander," Stacker reported. "No sign of Johnson or his team."
"Understood," Keyes replied smoothly. "Chief, clear an LZ. Then get me inside the tower."
Several more Covenant Phantoms and Banshees appeared, heading straight towards the Pelicans and Hornets that attempted to approach the tower. Between them and the anti-air Wraiths, John figured it'd be a pretty difficult fight if he didn't maneuver the Hornet correctly. Just as the thought crossed his mind, three of the Phantoms approaching them seemed to have spontaneously combusted into purple energy, reminiscent of something he'd seen before.
"This ship is a beauty!" The Ghost crowed suddenly through the open comms. as a small fighter ship appeared from orbit, a steel-blue in colour with a horizontal yellow stripe going across its small rectangular engines and hull. "We got you covered, Spartan! Take care of those anti-airs!"
The ship circled around in a large loop, barreling clean through a Banshee while shooting at another, the ship seemingly shrugging off the plasma as if it were nothing, suffering only a small scorch mark. The Banshees and Phantoms were successfully destroyed by the nimble ship and supporting Hornets as were the Wraiths taken down with ease by the remaining vehicles that were already on approach on the balconies of the third tower's entrance.
Separatist Phantoms began appearing on approach along with the Pelicans, both types of dropships dropping off human and alien reinforcements alike as the Spartan's Hornet landed. They watched as the Guardian's ship hovered above them and the Guardian himself appeared once more in a flash of blue and white, the Ghost hovering over his shoulder and chatting animatedly.
"-warpdrive doesn't exactly work just yet but Ephesians and I are close to finding a way to fix it with what supplies we can find lying around-" The Guardian began lightly batting at the Ghost who continued talking at an exhausting pace, ignoring the Guardian's light, warning swats. "-if you keep this up, I think we could use the Conflux to-" The Guardian grabbed the Ghost with one hand, brought him up to his faceplate and put a finger over where his mouth would be with a soft 'shh' escaping him; at first, the Ghost stared at him as if trying to comprehend what the Guardian was attempting to say before his eye lit up.
"Sorry, sorry! I'll go put the ship in orbit now!" The Ghost apologised before disappearing back to wherever he goes.
"Go ahead and put it in the Dawn's hangar, we don't need any surprises taking anything out right now," Miranda offered as the platoon made their way inside the tower, tearing down a squad of Brute Captains along the way.
Entering the area below the lift, John frowned at the silence before glaring up at the ceiling when he heard the telltale buzzing of drones meeting his ears. His glare hardened when he heard the familiar battlecry of a pair of Hunters sound at the same time. It seemed like the Elites weren't all to pleased with it either and the entire area turned into a maelstrom. Bits and pieces of flesh and armour and...yeah, he didn't know what was on that particular Elite but it wasn't human, that was for sure, gore littered the area in a messy repaint and as they traversed the small area, they left a storm, a trail in their wake. Wings, fur, armour, anything and everything that got in their way of the lift ended up smashed on the ground.
The Elites waited, watched, as John and the Guardian ascended in the lift, entering a similar room although this time, it was filled with Stalkers and a Brute Chieftain possessing a plasma turret.
The Guardian darted forward, dodging the plasma fire and hiding behind one of the walls, delivering a powerful backhand to one of the Stalkers that attempted to approach him before shooting it in the chest with his flame-prone shotgun. He lifted it upside-down over his head when he heard another approaching, delivering another shot that pierced the Stalker's helmet and it went down with a loud cry.
John lunged into the fight, firing the last belt of Brute Shot grenades at the Chieftain to get rid of its armour as best he could before taking out his battle rifle, swinging the butt of the weapon into the skull of an approaching Stalker. Several bursts of bullets escaped the barrel, connecting with the weak Stalker armour that last Brute had, popping off the helmet and delivering a perfect headshot.
The Spartan turned to confront the Brute Chieftain, not surprised when the Guardian leapt at the turret, grabbing on to the entire weapon and using his body's momentum to swing around the Chieftain and shove it down as he pushed on it's back with his feet. John rolled underneath it, holding up the blade of the Brute Shot so it easily fell on top of the sharp blade, piercing the armour and causing it to howl and squirm. Leaving the Brute Shot blade in place, the Spartan pried off the Chieftain's helmet, avoiding the gnashing death, and proceeded to beat it to death with it's own helmet, the contours of the helmet coated with blood and leaving the Brute's face unrecognisable.
Deactivating the last tower, the pair watched as the final barrier fell and the Separatist flagship hovered over the Ark's centre menacingly.
"Now, Prophet," Rtas began lowly, "your end has come." As the Elite said this, a slipstream vortex opened, allowing the familiar silhouette of High Charity to slip through, no longer the gleaming glory it first was when John stepped on to it. Debris followed the crashing space city, some of it striking the flagship, tearing straight through the mighty ship.
One particular piece crashed into the tower, soaring over the pair's heads and landing in the back of the room. What crawled out was definitely not Flood. There was a multitude of them and they were spiny, sunken, and a deathly looking grey. It had no eyes and was lipless, allowing shrieks more deafening than the Flood's own cries to ring throughout the area, the clawed fingers glowed with dark blue energy, and it was wholly intent on killing and eating.
John stood ready and looked over at the Guardian, surprised to see that the soldier seemed to have faltered, his confidence and cool disappearing, hands trembling momentarily before he regained his composure and pulled up the mask of cool confidence, this time, he was armed with a silver revolver reminiscent of a hawk, the fiery shotgun magnetised to his back, just in case.
"What is that?" The Spartan eventually asked, his voice rumbling quietly. The Guardian shook his head furiously as he expertly shot down the shrieking creatures with striking precision, their bodies turning into dust.
"The Hive. They have invaded this world," the Ghost replied through the Guardian's suit eerily, seeming to have chosen to remain within the armour. "They and the Plague are one. Oryx will rise and destroy all that is Light."
It was cryptic and only succeeded in raising more questions rather than answer anything whatsoever. Oryx? The Hive? The Plague was probably the Flood.
Another shriek pierced the area Flood combat forms appeared with a levitating creature trailing behind them. It wore robes of varying shades of pale crimson and tan with an orange shield surrounding it; it shrieked angrily, the sound similar to those the grey ones except at a lower pitch.
As John focused on the Flood forms that were attacking, he almost failed to notice the way the new hostile raised its arms before it rapidly threw blue-and-white orbs of searing energy towards him. He rolled out of the way and turned just in time to see that the energy could, in fact, melt the surface which was metal. Which meant that it probably wasn't a good idea to get shot at by the creature. It swung its arm in a large arch and a dark green dome appeared, trapping him.
John felt like someone threw him underwater while simultaneously choking him out; he couldn't breathe and his movements were sluggish, his armour weighed more than it should. His lungs and eyes and mouth and limbs burned and stung, bile rising in his throat. Darkness crept around his vision as he tried to crawl out of the dome. Distantly, he heard another shriek and the creature went down, turning into embers and ash, then someone threw him out of the poisonous dome and as soon as he left it, it felt like an enormous weight had been lifted off him, he could see and breathe properly again.
He watched as the Guardian stumbled out of the fading dome, shaking his head to clear it before going over to the Spartan, tilting his head in a questioning manner.
"The first time's always the worst," the Ghost supplied helpfully. "Wizards usually miss their target though so I doubt you'll have any problems in the future. It's the Thralls and Knights you'll have to watch out for."
John grimaced, so there was a new enemy on the fronts, in league with the Flood, and it looked like they were ten times worse.
"What are they?" The two headed towards the lift, wiping out any remaining Flood spores that scrambled around, trying to find a host.
"Undead. Like creatures summoned from the ocean after a millennium of slumber. I didn't expect to see them here. Something's warping around us, woke them up. Looks like they've got some kind of alliance with the Plague."
"Oryx?" He tested the word out, disliking the way the word felt so foreign on his tongue.
Descending from the lift, they watched as the Elites and Arbiter destroyed any combat forms and Thralls that attempted to enter the area, occasionally giving out battlecrys in response to the undead shrieking.
Over the comm. links, multiple platoons reported in seeing the strange creatures assisting the Flood, the Thralls' shrieking filling the air and interrupting them as they joined in on the assault, quite literally tearing a part any living thing that dared to stand in their way.
"Oryx hasn't been around for centuries. If it's him, he might've just sent one of his followers instead." The Guardian grunted as he jumped down from the lift, his own rendition of a battle rifle out and aiming around the quiet area cautiously. "Well, he's not a fixed point so it's a possibility. Nothing's happening on your neural network so you should be safe from the Hive, mentally speaking; I'll have Ephesians check out anything unusual if anything pops up."
Exiting the tower, they were met with an impossibly huge, dark red creature; its armour was all sharps and angles, three pale green eyes glowing from underneath the tri-horn helm. It wielded a crude claymore that looked like it was made of bones and glowed the same pale green as the eyes; it roared, swinging the sword down and causing a ripple of energy to make the soldiers stumble back momentarily save for the Guardian who counteracted against the sword by bringing up his forearms and using the spiked gauntlets to catch the blade.
Child of the Traveler's Light, you cannot hide. A crude voice rumbled within John's mind as the Guardian struggled against the blade, knees beginning to buckle under the strain as the creature leaned forward, snarling with what looked to be a very deadly, malicious grin. The Spartan rounded on the tall, undead creature, shooting at its head which was responded to with a loud roar, the sword lifting from the Guardian's gauntlets and swung towards the Spartan who slid underneath it just as the Guardian shot at the edgy creature, watching with grim satisfaction as it dispersed into ash and with a fading roar.
Leaving the tower, some Separatist and Marine reinforcements was dropped off along with heavy vehicular firepower, prompting John to jump in the Scorpion, leading them through the tunnels towards the Citadel.
"The Shipmaster's ship is out of commission," Keyes explained. "I need you to stop Truth. Punch through the cliffs and get inside that Citadel."
The Scorpion plowed through the suddenly snowy terrain, crushing Covenant, Ghosts, and Prowlers alike. The Mongooses and Warthogs followed behind, flourishing with their own weaponry, some Marines climbed out to pick up a Covenant heavy weapon and soon fuel rods were added into the mix of grenades and rockets.
Two Scarabs fell from the atmosphere just as the Scorpion entered the clearing; John looked over at the Guardian from his position in the seat of the Scorpion and said tersely, "Don't."
The Guardian growled in response but complied quietly, remaining in his seat on the tread of the Scorpion as it rounded on one of the closer Scarabs, shooting at its legs. It crouched down with a loud wail, turret shaking as it tried to pinpoint the vehicles driving around its legs to distract it.
"You get that one," John ordered and the Guardian nodded, jumping off the Scorpion and entering the Scarab without too much difficulty.
Turning the turret of the Scorpion, the Spartan focused on grounding the second Scarab permanently, the massive weapon entering the same state as its partner, turret swiveling wildly trying to pinpoint a target to shoot at. As John climbed into the Scarab, the one next to it gave a loud whine before exploding into its usual ball of blue and white plasma, bits and pieces of it raining down on the battlefield below. It didn't take long for the second Scarab to follow, the Spartan leaping out of it in a similar manner the Guardian had when he had teleported on to it. On a lighter side, the Spartan wasn't going to pass out unlike what happened to the Guardian.
The pair joined the Arbiter on the bridge, waiting for Guilty Spark to activate the light bridge to which they sprinted across it quickly. They had maybe literally minutes to spare and none of it could be wasted lagging around. Entering the structure, John made it to the door before She appeared, the first time in a long while, and she murmured,
"They asked and I answered. For I am their salvation."
When She disappeared, the Prophet of Truth appeared on the holoscreens lining the walls, giving one last rousing speech.
"My faithful, stand firm for we tread the blessed path. The presence of our God is righteous and whole and it is He who tells us so. Should He walk among us, we let Him tread freely so as to join us in this Great Journey. We will be delivered and join Him in Paradise." At this the Guardian snarled at the sight of Johnson and the sight of the rings being activated, white and blue energy began surrounding him, his form turning transparent.
"Guardian!" John exclaimed, jumping towards the other soldier but only had his hand pass through his fading form as the particles flew through the Citadel, reforming behind the Brute and Johnson. "Damn it!"
The Spartan and the Aribter activated the lift, the Prophet's rejoiced voice fading from below as they rose up into the actual Citadel itself. Stepping off the platform, they were stopped by a Flood Tank form and a ragged Hive Wizard, one hissing the familiar voice of the Gravemind and another hissing in a crude, croaky voice.
"Do not shoot but listen!" They crowed. "Let us lead you safely to the God and to prevent our doom. Only you can assist He Who Dwells In Light for you and He have set in motion these chains of events that lead us here now."
John watched warily as Knights joined his side and Flood spores scuttled past his feet and Thralls shrieked while running past them and towards the controls of the Citadel. He looked over his shoulder at the Arbiter who merely gave him a pointed look before they faced the Citadel once more, stepping forward as temporary allies with the Flood and the Hive.
As they crossed the bridge, passing models of the Halo rings, the ground rumbled and the front of the Citadel lit up with pure light accompanied with an echoing bellow in a language too pure for anyone to comprehend. John and the Arbiter gave each other passing looks before bursting into a dead sprint to the controls, passing the Flood and Hive who feasted upon the carcasses of the Covenant, running across a light bridge in time to see a crashed Pelican with Johnson and Miranda huddled underneath it as if they had gone out on to a nice picnic for the day.
"Your friend's mighty pissed off," Johnson supplied, pointing to the elevated platform.
The two soldiers circled around it to see the Guardian partially ascending the steps, pure Light spilling from every crevice of his armour which seemed to have increased in size and became intricately decorated with incomprehensible symbols in a language never seen before. Faint tendrils of Light surrounded him and his hands were clawed, picking up the Prophet of Truth none too gently.
"You are cursed, a liar, and a thief of those who seek salvation!" The behemoth roared, Light steadily growing brighter. "You led many down a false path of death and destruction, seeking what was to be prevented and forgotten and made it used and remembered! Prophet of Lies, you have forsaken the Forerunners, the Patriarchs, and all who have Ascended before and after your people! As one reborn in the Light and Child of the Traveler, bearer of the Light itself, I entitle you an ally of the Darkness and purge you of your errs, violations, and sins through death. You will be forgotten and lost in the dark corners of space and time!"
Raising the clawed hand that didn't hold the Prophet, the Guardian plunged it through the belly of the alien, letting his Light spill into the creature; the Prophet's desperate screams and cries were muted as, eventually, he faded away into nothingness.
Simultaneously, the Light burst outwards, blinding everyone momentarily before fading, leaving the Guardian to collapse against the steps in exhaustion, head bowed as John ascended the platform and turned off the activation key, ultimately turning off the activation of the remaining Halos.
"You are truly the God that we speak so highly of," the Arbiter stated in awe, kneeling before the Guardian. "It is an honour to serve by your side, to be in your presence alone."
The Guardian stared at the Elite in confusion, still breathing harshly before looking up at John and then at the approaching forms of Johnson and Miranda.
"...what?" He asked softly, his voice low and a thunderous rumble despite how weak he sounded. He struggled to his feet, swaying heavily.
With that ground out, he fell forward, caught by John who had lunged forward so he wouldn't hit his head on the steps. The Ghost appeared almost immediately, hovering above the Guardian, taking multiple scans.
"That's all he needed," the AI stated quietly. "He transferred the Darkness into the Prophet...and purged the Conflux."
His eye flicked up, looking over at the stunned people gathered. "Just give him a few moments, this has never happened before."
"Will he remember?" Miranda asked in a concerned voice.
"What he did to the Prophet? No, he won't. The one who took down the Prophet was someone else. I believe it may have been the person he was in the past. Before he became a Guardian. It's a little sad, isn't it? You helped save the galaxy and you don't remember how. Or that you even did for that matter. He's been as confused as you are ever since we arrived. Give him some space." The Ghost disappeared once more as the Guardian stirred, groaning softly as John helped him back to his feet.
"I-" The Guardian paused but didn't get to continue as the ground rumbled once more, sickly green tendrils rising from below as low laughter bellowed from around them. The trio of soldiers got into a low crouch as Johnson and Miranda retreated into the Pelican, quickly activating it and attempting to fly out of the Citadel. John jumped onto one of the landing supports, catching the Arbiter with one hand while the Guardian grabbed on to the support; one of the tendrils swung at them, throwing them back on to the platform just as Johnson and Miranda took off, disappearing around the corner.
"Not even your God can save you; the Hive will weaken him. We will rise as one, the Darkness and I. Do not delay the inevitable, for your end has already long come to pass," the Gravemind warbled as the trio of warriors looked around fervently, eventually standing back-to-back together.
"We fight as one, brothers," the Arbiter encouraged as he activated his energy sword. The tendrils receded as Flood combat forms and Hive Thralls began to appear from behind the Citadel controls.
"We can barely keep hold of her, Chief!" Johnson barked over the comms. "There's no way we can pick you up! Head back to the lift and find a way down!"
A loud shriek filled the air, as if someone were dragged metal across metal, and a ship reminiscent of a sarcophagus appeared out of a green slipstream void, an orange light passed along the ground of the bridge and several smaller versions of the Hive Knights appeared along with more Thralls. Acolytes, the Ghost had supplied helpfully as they tore through the paper-like flesh of the Flood and bones of the Hive.
The Hive didn't move so erratically or in jerking movements, didn't show that they were, in fact, actually undead creatures; they move smoothly and with precision, they knew where they were going. True, the Flood was an intelligent life form, it could wield weapons but it was weak, the majority of it was cannon fodder, it connected to one mind, the Gravemind. The Hive, however, was trained, they were a regime, a military, they had a leader but they also had their own individual thoughts. They didn't need a host body to live. They showed their intelligence and they used it wisely; they crafted their own weapons, created their own ships, and developed their own technology, some of which John had never see the likes of it before.
Somehow, that type of undead was a lot more unnerving than the single mind that was the Flood.
While the Flood and Thralls launched forward, swinging at the trio of soldiers, the rest of the Hive reinforcements hung back, shooting at them with violet energy projectiles that washed over their shields. One of the Acolytes carried a rather large weapon that spat out blue-and-white energy in a large bolt that arched across the bridge, creating small explosions at their feet.
When the Hive were killed with precision, their bodies burst into ashes that floated among them. When they were killed by other conventional methods, their bodies collapsed, bursting into embers before fading away. John didn't know whether he truly killed them or if there was something calling them back so it could revive them; it was a very unnerving mystery to say in the least. Anything that was related to the Guardian was unnerving. It was an unknown and the Spartan hated going against something so blindly.
By the display of raw power that the Guardian had exhibited, the Spartan could say that he was more than relieved to have the Guardian himself on his side. Should he had succumbed to the lies of the Covenant, John highly doubted the outcome would have been as neat as it was back at the controls of the Citadel.
Running across the bridge and into one of the rooms interrupting it, John scowled when his vision darkened once more, the Arbiter and the Guardian circling him protectively as She appeared once more.
"But a thief - I keep what I steal," She teased before disappearing again. John retaliated by shooting down a small squad of Acolytes huddled in a corner, watching as they burst into embers and then their ashes disappeared, dispersing in a hidden, unfeeling wind.
Seeing that the Spartan was back in action once more, the Arbiter and the Guardian fell into step next to him, creating an easy rhythm as they forged ahead, backtracking to the lift that would hopefully lead them outside of the Citadel.
Several Sentinels had appeared to assist them, their lasers easily striking down the Flood and Thralls. A Wizard's shields didn't really stand a chance against them despite the other weapons seemingly being useless. The shields probably reacted to heat as the Guardian's shotgun seemed to also prove effective against the fiery orange shields that surrounded the levitating creatures.
Clearing the area of Flood carrier forms, the three left the Sentinels to take care of the remaining Flood and Hive that entered the area, going behind the lift and entering a small chute that glowed a bright cerulean blue. They all landed next to each other, their hands free of weapons when they didn't spot an immediate threat.
Looking around, John spotted Cortana, or what he thought was Cortana, casually walking down a hall in the corner of his eye. The Spartan got up slowly, following after her at a leisurely pace.
"What do you see?" The Arbiter queried, mandibles clicking together when John didn't answer. The two, however, followed him, walking down the hall and towards a control panel. Activating it revealed a platform jutting over the edge just outside; walking on to it, the trio simultaneously peered over the edge curiously, watching in stunned silence as an unfinished Halo began rising from beneath the clouds.
"A replacement," the Arbiter finally stated, looking over at the Spartan. "For the ring you destroyed."
"When did you know?" John asked accusingly, causing the Guardian to step between them, in case he needed to break any upcoming fights. 343 Guilty Spark, however, chose the perfect time to appear and remark cheerfully,
"Just now." He hovered in front of the Arbiter and then the Spartan, "But, I had my hopes. What will you do?"
"Light it," John snapped, anger simmering beneath his voice. The Monitor nodded, as if in agreement, and then asked,
"And what would my Maker do?" He turned to the Guardian who stared back, his body tense. There wasn't a verbal answer, not this time; the Guardian opted to snarl menacingly and loudly at the AI, making his irritation known as he swatted at him angrily. The AI, however, simply floated out of the Guardian's reach, beaming.
"I see! I agree with what you say! A tactical location and activating it will eradicate the local infestation!" Spark said happily, circling the trio before beginning to fly off towards the levitating ring. "I will personally see the final preparations. I am glad to know that the action has finally been approved of."
"How will you light it?" The Arbiter asked as soon as the Monitor was gone. John simply looked over to where High Charity had crashed, the other two following his gaze.
"I will return to my ship with Johnson and Keyes and meet you there," the Arbiter announced when the idea finally dawned in his mind. "I wish you luck on finding your Construct." The Elite turned, heading back into the Citadel while hailing a Phantom to pick him up.
"Great, we're going back into the scary space city," the Guardian's Ghost mumbled as he appeared over the man's shoulder. "Question is: how're we going to get there?" The Guardian looked over at the small AI, murmuring something too low for John's enhanced hearing to pick up. "Yes, yes, I think he can fit."
"What?" John asked, furrowing his brow beneath the helmet when the Ghost came over and began casting his strange blue beam over his armour. "What are you doing?"
"I'm uploading you to the transmat system. We can take the Guardian's ship over to the crashed city," the Ghost whistled in explanation smoothly. "Alright, took a bit to decrypt some areas but you're in. Let's go." The world flashed before him and he closed his eyes, the sight disorienting, and he didn't open them until he heard the sound of boots on solid ground and the soft hum of an engine.
Looking around, he observed that the ship was relatively small, containing a loadout room with a wall separating it from the rest of the ship. A bed and a closet was built into the wall and a lavatory sat off to the right of the small area. The front of the ship had a pilot's chair and several screens set up, surrounding the window that gave a view of the High Charity ahead of them; the Ghost flitted about, whistling and toying with several controls on the dashboard which contained devices and dials that John couldn't really care more or less about.
The Guardian had gone into the loadout room, checking over a weapons' locker leisurely, acknowledging the Spartan when he entered the room after him. John watched curiously as the Guardian replaced his rocket launcher with the cheery AI machine gun John had seen the Guardian use back in the jungles of Africa, placing it on the workbench below him as he sifted through other weapons.
"Hi there!" The gun chirped in a child-like voice and manner, managing to flop on its side when it saw John. "I've seen you a couple of times! You look like a Titan but Cal says you're not!"
"Cal...?" John rose a brow at the name and watched as the gun rolled over, falling on to the Guardian who absentmindedly pushed it away, farther down the bench and more in front of John.
"My friend who picked me up out of a box on Mars! His full name is kinda hard for me to say so I like to call him Cal! He doesn't like it but it's fun to say! He's really nice too, gave me cool upgrades and made me more stronger!" It felt like he was talking to a child which certainly made the Spartan feel a little bit out of his league; he was never good with children, always thought himself to be too gruff for them.
"Oh, where are my manners? I'm Super Good Advice but everyone calls me Adi!" John's eyes flicked over to the Guardian who had settled with a new set of weapons, a rifle that had a bird-like skull on the end and a large, black revolver - both of which had green gas flowing out of them - a jagged, red-and-steel sniper rifle, and the chirpy gun and an ornate white-and-bronze rocket launcher. The Guardian had opted to lean against the workbench, arms crossed, and watched the conversation with slight amusement radiating off his person.
"Master Chief Petty Officer Sierra-117," John answered gruffly and automatically. The AI went silent for a moment before speaking up in a confused tone,
"Um, that's kind of...long? All of you organics seem to have all these fancy names, it's really hard for me to keep track of them! Can I call you Sierra?" That was a first and the gun sounded genuine. A gun. Sounding. Genuine. A gun that talks. Somewhere out there in the galaxy, someone thought it was a great idea to stick an AI into a machine gun.
This was really getting to John's head and he blinked a few times before rubbing the back of his neck and head to make sure that, yes, he wasn't going insane and there was a gun talking to him.
"Yes."
"Oh cool!" A moment of silence passed over them until John's curiosity got the better of him.
"Why 'Super Good Advice'?" The gun, if at all even physically possible, seemed to have perked up.
"Because when we're in battle, I can give really great tactical information and spot enemies that you can't!" John looked over at the Guardian skeptically who actually nodded in agreement with a slight shrug that read, Saved my life a few times even.
"Alright, you two, we're just about there. I see a place where I can drop you off, better get ready," the Ghost announced, interrupting the conversation as he flew into the room.
"Hi, Ghost!"
"Hello, Adi." The Guardian turned back to the weapons' locker and opened it once more, pulling out a white, smooth rifle with a large bayonet attached to it; facing the Spartan, the Guardian held it out towards him expectantly.
"What's this?" The Spartan looked down at the weapon, silently admiring it's design but unsure whether or not he should take the weapon.
"Thank you," the Guardian said nonchalantly, holding out the weapon a little farther.
"For what?" Silence passed over them as the Guardian seemed to mull over his words before stating simply,
"Everything." Slowly, John took the weapon, aiming down the sights appreciatively and when he looked back up, the Guardian also presented him the machine gun.
"I'm your gift, too!" Adi chirped. "He never says more than five words so I'm gonna say them for him! He's really, really grateful that you haven't left him alone and that you were willing to work with him! He likes you, you're his friend, so he wants to give you gifts because he doesn't know how else to show his gratitude! I'm your gift! I like you, too, Sierra!"
John stared at the gun before looking over at the Guardian who still held out the weapon expectantly once more. The words felt strange to hear; the Guardian, a man that the Spartan didn't know existed until a couple of months ago - or was it weeks? -, who stood valiantly by his side and without question, aiding him in his long-term mission, and turned out to quite possibly be some type of Forerunner God, was now considering him...a friend.
"It's an honor to have met you," John finally stated, taking the second weapon, relieved by how truthful it sounded, how it felt to say that. It certainly was warming.
"Now that we've got the ceremony out of the way," the Ghost spoke up impatiently, causing the two soldiers to face him, "you might want to bend your knees a little, the transmat tends to set you a few feet above the ground." With that said, the ship flashed around him and John bent his knees as the Ghost told him to, landing on the ground softly.
Looking around the fleshy interior, John listened as the ship sped away and back into orbit while Miranda reported,
"Chief, I'll fallback with the survivors, take them to the Dawn." Dropping down into a hole, they peered around the large area they fell into, cautious of the sudden silence that surrounded them."The Arbiter will do the same with the Elites."
"Cortana's in there somewhere," Johnson added as some kind of words of encouragement although it did little to inspire. John already had his hopes rather high in the thought of finding his lost friend.
The place was completely unrecognizable, no longer the contouring beauty of years of architect but rather, it was now several weeks worth of rotting flesh and infection, the area filled with a retching haze that made it through the suit and nearly made the Spartan gag. He'd never get used to that stench.
But the place hadn't fallen wholly under the control of the Flood. Gothic-like structures recycled from the metal of High Charity protruded from several places in the flesh, pale green torches lit several corners of the area but rather than cast a comforting light, it seemed to have only made the place darker and eerier. Small grey and grey-green spores grew with the large, swollen spores on the walls, and they seemed to breathe as they pulsed gently. The Hive didn't fail to make High Charity their home as well.
"I've picked up a faint signal," the Ghost reported, hovering over the Guardian's shoulder while he marked a small grey rhombus as the navpoint. "Could be her, the algorithms match from when we first met and the diarchs readout wholly artificial. Worth checking out."
The pair traversed the fleshy tunnels, stepping over and on the infection spores that seemed to be running around. Coming across a small chasm, they didn't wait for the spores to grab a host and proceeded to curb stomp on the already infected bodies that were littered around; several had managed to grab one before they reached it and John used his new rifle for the first time, the bullets - upon firing - seemed to be glowing white and tore through the ligaments of the dead combat forms, downing it quickly. It had a powerful recoil but nothing John couldn't handle; it certainly fired a lot more quickly than the average assault rifle or plasma rifle, the ammo counter indicated that it had four more bullets than the assault rifle and as insignificant as those four bullets were now, John had a feeling they'd be some kind of lifesaver later on.
Reloading the weapon, the Spartan was surprised to see a new clip magnetized to his hip, 'surprising' in the sense that he never grabbed any extra clips. Dropping the current magazine in the rifle, he slowly reloaded, looking down at the empty spot and tilted his head when he saw another one appear where the first one previously was.
"The Guardian asked me to upgrade it so the weapon would automatically synthesize suitable ammo from weapons lying around because you don't have someone to synthesize the ammo for you," the Ghost explained when he noticed the Spartan staring at the ammunition. "We got the idea from abandoned schematics and Guilty Spark when we located those terminals. Also, I scavenged those sentries, everything's been useful in the long run."
"So...unlimited ammunition?" John asked as they continued on through the chasm, taking out a small swarm of infection spores and Thralls that ran after them.
"That's the idea, yes. Sometimes the ammo won't synthesize because it doesn't register the extra ammunition or weapons in your radius and because it's a work in progress, I can work out the kinks along the way. Maybe Cortana could help when we find her." When. John took note of the fact that Ghost had said 'when' and not 'if'. That, in itself, was a kind of relief for the Spartan; he wasn't the only one who knew that they would find her. Cortana couldn't leave him that easily.
Passing through the fleshy barrier that led deeper into High Charity, John groaned when a massive wave of pain hit his head and his vision narrowed, shuddering violently as the Gravemind rumbled,
"Child of my enemy, why have you come? I offer no forgiveness but for the sins cast to his son." As his vision faded back into normalcy, he looked over at the Guardian to see the man's head bowed although it seemed to be that his own vision had passed. Was it this so-called Darkness the Ghost spoke of often? The Hive?
Jumping down a loud hatch clearly of Hive-make, they hit the fleshy ground with a wet thud just as John's sight went dim once more but it wasn't the Gravemind that wasn't invading. This time, it was Her. She was crying into Her hands, having sunk to the ground on Her knees, whimpering in pain. It hurt to see Her like that, to see that She was pushed to a limit, to a point where She was actually able to feel it.
He gripped his rifle a little tighter at the thought, grimacing as he marched forward with renewed energy. That son of a bitch Gravemind was going to pay for torturing Her like that.
A loud shriek pierced the still, infectious air and Acolytes appeared with Flood combat forms and pure forms scuttling around, heading towards them at an alarming rate. John pulled out Adi who proceeded to trill in joy just as the Spartan unleashed it's bulleted glory all over the undead enemies.
The Guardian had taken to climbing one of the fleshy pillars, taking out pure forms before they could fully transform, and any Acolytes that carried the dangerously explosive weapons with the rifle that had the bird skull on it.
"On your left!" Adi shrieked and the Spartan turned, rolling to the side just in time to dodge a ground shuddering punch from an incoming Tank form.
"Oh my shit, what is that thing?!" John didn't answer it as he fired the entire belt on the Tank form, dodging around it when it tried to bodily swing itself at him, and occasionally, he turned to take down approaching Thralls and combat forms.
"I've found a flamethrower, highlighting it on your HUD now!"
Through a fleshy wall, a yellow outline appeared. Following it, John found that it led outside on a small platform where a Pelican had crashed, bodies littering the area; pushing off the corpse of a Marine, he picked up the highlighted weapon and turned to face a horde of Thralls and a trio of Tanks that came crashing through the Gothic pillars, lighting them up with the hungry flames that lapped at them incessantly. He beat them back, stepping over the smouldering corpses and entering the city once more with a crown of flames adorning those who got too close.
As the battle came down from the climax, the two soldiers wandered around, smashing any corpses that remained intact so that they couldn't play host to any infection forms that scuttled around, trying to give twisted life to them.
Creeping upwards, through a narrow tunnel, they entered through another section of the ship only to be stopped by the mental presence of the Gravemind once more, teasing the Spartan as the realisation of his mission finally dawned on it.
"Of course you came for Her. We exist together now. Two corpses in one grave." They continued on, refusing to relent to the words when Cortana's voice began echoing around them in a sickly sweet voice.
"Immaculate lies, that's all I am," She groaned. "Stolen thoughts and memories." The Gravemind taunted relentlessly, his words were mumbled but what would have been a low rumble of laughter turned into Cortana's maniacal cackling before fading into the deep recesses of High Charity.
The pair remained deathly silent as they continued deeper into the abandoned city, refusing to either disturb the restless infection or to avoid talking about what invaded their minds, John knew it was one of the two.
Jumping through what would have been a lift, they landed on the floor below, it looked vaguely familiar to the Spartan despite being over run by spores and dark, Gothic structures. It was lit by the dim green fires, casting a mournful glow around the room and highlighting silhouettes of combat forms, scattered around the room, John could spot the small, pale green shimmers of the Hive's eyes.
As they battled against the Flood and Hive, John was quite sure that he could hear Cortana rambling to Herself but the sound of battle was too loud for him to properly make sense of what she was saying. He figured that they must be getting close and it renewed his vigor to find her once more as he threw a Brute Shot at a Tank form, the blade slicing neatly through the infected creature.
"You like games! So do I." It's what he managed to hear as the Flood and Hive dwindled and he knew that it wasn't Cortana speaking but rather Doctor Halsey. He remembered all those years ago when he first met her, when she showed him that old disk, testing his luck. Her tone was always so different from Cortana, more maternal and stern, and he knew that Cortana was sifting through Her memories now.
Ascending out of the room, he heard Cortana cry out,
"I'm just a shadow! Don't look at me! Don't look at me! I'm not real!"
Pure forms blocked their path, consistently changing between Stalkers and Tanks, scuttling away from them at the last moment when they were deemed to have gotten too close. Spikes attempted to pierce their shields and long hardy limbs attempted to bash in their armour but to no avail.
The Gravemind returned when they finished the small fight, it's anger was evident but did little to rock their demeanour or courage.
"Time has taught me patience!" It roared, "I am asking for a new freedom! I will know all that I POSSESS!"
The Guardian scoffed quietly next to him as they entered a large area filled with multiple floors; the Spartan speculated that this was probably the centre of the city where the main lift would be. Peering over the edge, John jumped back when a stream of violet energy flew up to meet him, brushing against his shields momentarily.
"That's a Hallowed Ogre down there!" Adi chirped helpfully, speaking up for the first time in a long while. "I recommend burning it or using some kind of elemental in general to damage it; it'll die a lot quicker that way!" As the AI gun said this, the Guardian threw down his bolt grenade, relishing in the angered cries that came up from below.
Carefully peering over the edge this time, John speculated the giant creature; it had armour reminiscent of the usual Hive wear that he was getting used to seeing now, it didn't have any eyes, rather, it's head looked rather swollen with small orbs pulsating softly beneath it. When it roared and fired the violet beam once more, it came from it's head and John leaned back once more to avoid it before throwing down a pair of incendiary grenades he had swiped off a couple of dead Brute Stalkers.
As it roared in pain, John leaned over once more, using Adi to give additional damage to it; the Guardian joined in with his revolver, the Ogre lighting up with green whenever the bullets struck it and it eventually disintegrated with a fading roar, one last bolt of violet energy flying to meet them but was easily avoided.
Sweeping the rest of the area of Hive, they exited the large area into one of the corridors that was connected to it with a flesh-like door. They walked through the dim hallways, poised for any more threats that dared to try and ambush them.
"I have dared to walk to the edge of the abyss!" Cortana cried suddenly, Her voice heavily distorted, Her face flashing in front of the Spartan's face. He recognised the vision as when She sent the message of the Ark to him. "I have seen the future and I have burned!"
"SUBMIT!" The Gravemind invaded with an angered bellow. "End her torment and my own!"
It was getting impatient, furious at their progress, and doing everything it could to break one of their minds. The only reaction it really elicited was a grumble from the Guardian and a hidden scowl from the Spartan as they continued on, splashing through some coolant as they veered off the path and into Flood-made halls instead.
They entered another impossibly large room but this time, John recognised it as one of the engine rooms that had managed to keep the city abroad in space. Or what was left of it, there were only several delicate bridges connected to various ends of the enormous room, the rest had suffered under the weight of the Flood and the Hive infestation. A loud whine filled the room, echoing eerily, and the pair watched as one of the pistons eventually exploded, having overheated.
They sprinted across the bridges when the Ghost pointed out that they were getting relatively close to Cortana's position, avoiding the Flood and The Hive alike. There was nothing more important than this now.
Entering the only door that was unlocked, Cortana appeared once more but Her voice was heavily distorted to the point it was unrecognisable and incoherent but it was soon taken over by an angry Gravemind who growled out, "You will show me what She hides! For I shall feast upon your bones!"
John bit back words of retaliation, letting the Guardian snarl angrily at the voice as it retreated once more while they entered where the navpoint ended, revealing a small, cramped room ignited by a single holotank, a shield having been formed around it.
The Ghost flew forward as the Guardian and Spartan surrounded the tank. John punched in the stasis shield that blocked his way from the AI and stared down at it while the Ghost took several scans.
"Where is she?" He snapped, seeing that all that was there was a small, cerulean crystal. "You said she was here!"
"And she is!" The Ghost replied just as harshly. "But she's not here, not in this world. She activated some kind of failsafe and it transported her elsewhere. Hold still." The AI flew up to the Spartan, scanning his head while whistling in understanding. "I see. She's activated some kind of hidden neural network that's been dormant in your brain and hid in there. How she managed to wake it up without proper protocols or procedures or even manage to reach you from such a distance is unknown to me."
"'Neural network'?"
"The neural network is a type of neural science that Guardians and their Ghosts use to stay in contact with each other as well as with other Guardians or creatures of the Light. It's also how the Guardians don't die. When they do, they're transported into a world between life and death conjured by the neural sciences and the Light itself and they have to find their Ghost, their Light, in order to be revived. We call it the Other side and that's where Cortana is."
"How do we get in there?" Ghost hesitated momentarily, eye flickering for a moment before he began slowly,
"I could have my Guardian enter the Other side by removing himself but I don't know how you could enter. I could attempt to integrate your neural network with Cortana's and then transfer it into the Other side; it won't make you a creature of the Light but it does mean that you could, essentially, have the ability to be revived if killed as well but it'll only work when we find Cortana."
"If it doesn't work?"
"You'll die. The Guardian could get Cortana out but the process will have made you permanently brain-dead." John was silent for a moment, looking over at the crystal that was supposedly Cortana before looking over at the Guardian.
"If I don't make it out, you take care of Cortana, you understand?" He eventually asked in a dangerously low voice.
"I understand," the Guardian rumbled, taking out his black magnum once more.
"So you'll attempt the integration process?" Ghost asked with a low whistle.
"If it'll get me Cortana, I'll do it."
"Alright then." Ghost looked over at the Guardian. "You go on ahead and enter the Other side, wait for us at the Conflux, and tell Ephesians what we're doing."
The Guardian nodded and put the sidearm underneath his chin where his lower jaw hollowed out and unceremoniously pulled the trigger, making John flinch slightly at the sudden, frighteningly smooth movement; bright white fluid escaped him as his head jerked violently and he fell on to his side with a thud, weapon clattering to the floor as the white, glowing blood pooled around him, coating the Spartan's boots.
John's eyes were wide behind his helmet: the Guardian was completely willing to commit suicide to enter this Other side, the amount of trust that he had in his Ghost was insurmountable, completely insane. The fact that the Guardian had done it because he wanted to help find Cortana made John almost shiver at the thought. This man was sacrificial and didn't hesitate to remind people of that fact.
"Please hold still, close your eyes, and clear your mind," the Ghost ordered, turning to John as if nothing had happened. His nonchalant attitude at the fact that his Guardian just committed suicide was the most disturbing and unnerving thing the Spartan had ever witnessed to date, how many times have they done this?
Nonetheless, the Spartan obeyed the AI, closing his eyes and waited patiently to be transferred. Around him, he listened intently but couldn't necessarily hear anything, the sounds became muted, muffled, and unclear. Then they disappeared entirely. A sense of peacefulness overwhelmed his being and he felt weightless as if he were in zero-gee but it felt more...calming and gentle. A chill wind seemed to bypass his armour and he shivered underneath it momentarily as gentle chiming entered his hearing, it echoed around the area quietly.
"You can open your eyes now," an unfamiliar voice said and he did so slowly. Looking around, he noticed he was in some kind of spacious, stone temple. It looked ancient and his vision seemed to have adopted some kind of grey-blue and teal colour. He took a step back and nearly fell off an edge and into a glowing white abyss below.
"Careful now! I know, this place can be a little disorienting what with being out of space and time," the voice stated cheerfully. Looking around, his gaze met a pair of glowing golden eyes which were a part of a dark purple android who wore a bright aqua robe, the collar flaring up and covering a large portion of their face, and seemed to be wearing bone armour that looked startlingly similar to the Hive.
"You all good? Good!" They stated in a bright, synthesized voice as a helmet made out of bone formed around their face. "We didn't get introduced properly because I was a vague outline in the real world the first and last time we met." The android held out a hand in a warm greeting.
"Hello there, my name is Ephesians-44, I'm an Exo Warlock Guardian! Welcome to the Other side, Master Chief, the land between life and death! I'll be your kind of dead guide for this particular journey!"
"Where's the other Guardian?" John asked gruffly as he met the Exo's hand with a firm handshake.
"Callixtus is hanging out by the Conflux," the new Guardian jerked a thumb over their shoulder, pointing at a large stone-metal pillar that levitated in the centre of the area. Sitting near the base of it was the Guardian - Callixtus was apparently his name.
John approached the Guardian slowly although he made sure his presence was known; he stood behind him, quietly admiring the power that seemed to resonate from the device.
"It did not alarm you, did it?" the Guardian asked suddenly, his voice resonating throughout the area, smooth and low.
"You committing suicide? Yes." A low laugh vibrated the air as the Guardian got to his feet.
"I do not do it often, I promise." Walking over to the Spartan, the Guardian patted his shoulder lightly before holding out a hand and saying, "Now that I can properly speak, I ought to reintroduce myself. Titan Guardian Callixtus, Time's Conflux. It has been an honour to work by your side, Spartan."
"I'm glad you joined us. What stopped you from talking before?" John couldn't help but ask, giving him a proper nod as he gave another firm handshake.
"I was tasked with taking down a Hive General named Omnigul and she caught my throat. Hurts to speak but I can get a word out here and there when I am alive." A moment of silence passed and then the Guardian-no, Callixtus began to walk towards Ephesians. "Come now, let us find Cortana, Spartan."
John paused for a moment, lagging behind Callixtus before choosing to say,
"I'm glad you'll help. Also, friends of mine call me John."
A/N: They're besties now, hooray. Aha but yeah, I just threw a lot of things at you guys in this chapter and there will be a lot more coming in the next one.
Other than that, if you have any comments, feel free to leave a review, PM me, or send an ask.
Thanks for reading.