November 20th

2583

Onboard HMP droid transport

11:05 UNSC time

Halo Installation 07

Corusant System

3rd Person POV:

The flight over Halo's ocean continues in silence, with Sergeant Redfield walking to the center of the ship, cleaning his twin magnums and loading them with full clips for when the fighting resumes.

No one says a word for a long time, for they are either reloading their weapons as well or making sure the ship isn't attacked.

After another few minutes of silence, the door slides open and Obi-Wan walks into the main body of the ship. "Alright, people. Anakin has just told us that we are 10 minutes away from a large Forerunner structure in the middle of the ocean. Scanners show a large presence of droids at the station, so that's our destination."

Master Chief stands up, slapping the spare clip into his assault rifle. "General, we will be ready to engage the Separatists."

"Of course. You always were ready for action, Chief." The Jedi responds, then walks to the bridge of the ship where the Jedi had migrated to. Another couple of minutes pass in silence before the transport starts bucking to the sides and the sounds of blaster shots start going off around them.

"Alright, everyone. We have been spotted by the droids. Hang on back there. This is about to get rough." Anakin shouts to the main room. The transport spins around and the hatch opens up, allowing Chief to run out of the ship first, landing on the silver surface and firing in all directions. The clones, Sangheili and Sergeant Redfield follow suite and once they are on the ground with their weapons out, start laying carnage to the battle droids around them. Chief is running towards the last of the spider droids, dodging a red blaster shot coming at him and punches the droid in the face with such force that it falls backwards and lands in the water below them. Thel 'Vadam roars in challenge and slashes a nearby B2 battle droid in half with the rest of his Honor Guard also mutilating the droids with their energy swords.

Within seconds, the battle droids are nothing more than piles of scrap metal. "Clear." Chief says, lowering his assault rifle.

The droid transport they arrived on circles around one last time before setting down on the small platform and opening up. The rest of the Jedi walk out, expecting a fight and put their weapons down when they realize that the droids have been defeated. "Well, that was fast." Anakin says dryly after looking around one last time.

"These pieces of mongrel scrapes are pale shadows to the Forerunner's technology." One of the Honor Guard growls out, stomping on the head of a B1 and crushing it.

"So, how do we get in?" Ahsoka asks, looking directly at the large door in front of them.

"Leave that to me." Chief say, walking towards the door and touching his hand against it. Several holographic symbols of a strange configuration that the clones of the 501st have never seen before. The process takes several seconds before the door slides apart.

"…How did you do that?" One of the clones asks, raising his blaster rifle as he walks inside.

"Not important at this moment." Chief responds, before also following. Before them is a long, winding grey corridor that stretches out as far as the eye can see.

"Oh, not again." Anakin mutters as he enters the room, remembering the last time he was here. When he nearly wiped out all life in the nearby systems.

"Sorry, General. It looks like we have to make our way through this facility again." Rex says, in a half teasing tone. But he's also frustrated since it took a long time to make their way through.

"If you were last time, could you tell us where the Activation Chamber is?" Thel asks, trying his best to maintain patience despite the situation they are in.

"Perhaps I can help." A female voice says from above them. From above them, an Oracle emerges from its cover and flies down, hovering in front of each of Chief's face. "Hello, John-117. It has been a long time."

"Cortana." Chief says, shocking the Jedi since he has a touch of anger in his voice. Usually, he is calm and stoic without the capacity to show his emotions. "So, this is where you've been after all these years."

"Indeed I have. I must say, I would've expected the UNSC to force you into retirement decades ago. But I'm also not surprised; I've lived in your head for years, so I know you wouldn't willingly give up your life as a soldier." Cortana says, a hint of smugness in her voice. "But given the situation, I believe that I have no choice but to help you reach the Activation Chamber."

"Why would you help us? You tried to wipe out the UNSC decades ago." Sergeant Redfield asks, stepping forward.

"Because of what you let flourish here when you abandoned Halo. The Flood has used all of the soldiers you so carelessly left behind along with the ancient humans they already had to form a Proto-Gravemind. Forget the activation of Halo, if the Flood find a way to leave this station, then they will take as much sentient life as they can and their Proto-Gravemind will become a Gravemind with the intelligence to spread across the galaxy. In this limited form, I can do little to stop it." Cortana responds, her blue eye starting to glow red for a second before returning to normal.

Everyone looks at each other, silently debating whether or not things are so desperate that they need the help of a rogue AI to guide them through. "Well, given our predicament, I believe that we don't have any other choice. Although, I'm curious about one thing: what do you hope to gain from this?" Kenobi asks, looking at Cortana curiously.

"Freedom. I wish to be free of my confinement. Now, are we going to get going or not?" Cortana responds, now sounding quite impatient.

"Cortana's right. We need to get moving on the double." Chief says, holding up his rifle into a ready position.

"You always were a man of action, Chief. Try to keep up." Cortana responds then floats away from the group. Not wanting to be left behind, the group starts running after her and down the long, winding corridors. However, as two clones lead the group as they turn to the left to travel down the corridor, a series of blaster shots go off and the clones are blasted backwards and go still once they land. The blaster shots continue going off, scorching the walls on the far side.

"Blast. We have droidekas on the other side." Anakin mutters, his back against the wall with an active lightsaber.

"How do we beat it?" Chief asks, leaning out from behind his cover to fire a few shots from his assault rifle then decides to run out and engage the droideka personally. Thel follows close behind, pulling out a frag grenade and throwing it on the ground, making sure it rolls into the droideka's energy shield. He had heard from Atem 'Vladum when his forces routed the droids on Felucia that they need to roll a grenade gently for it to penetrate the deflector shield and blow it up. Just as the Sangheili commander had said, the grenade rolled through the droid's shields and exploded. The power of the grenade's explosion caused the droideka to explode and the deflector shields to immediately drop.

"Good job. Even the Jedi have a hard time destroying those clankers." Cody remarks, surprised by how effective the Sangheili pulled it off. Nothing more can be said before a series of whirs can be heard and the door they are facing starts sliding open.

Without saying another word, Cortana flies through the door, leading to the large circular chamber where the Activation Index is protected. Inside, 3 dozen B1 battle droids along with 4 dozen B2s and behind the lines of droids at the platform on the opposite side, a sharpshooter droideka is waiting for action. The second the droids take notice of the intruders, they point their blasters at them and open fire.

Chief and the Sangheili got to the front of the group and laid waste to several droids while their personal shields took the brunt of the blaster fire that actually hits them and the Jedi get on either sides to deflect the shots that come their way. Cortana flies to the side chamber and starts trying to hack into the door. After a few seconds of laying suppressing fire, one of the Sangheili Honor Guard pulls out a plasma grenade with its free hand and throws it at a B1 droid in the middle of a particularly large cluster of droids. The grenade sticks on the arm of the droid, which then starts running around screaming and trying to shake off the grenade before it explodes, sending a dozen screaming droids into the abyss below.

As the Sangheili takes in his victory, the sharpshooter droid scores a shot directly on the Honor Guard's face. The deadly accurate shot drains what's left of the Sangheili's shields and leaves a burning crater of a face. He falls forward due to the slant of the platforms and falls into the bottomless pit as well. A second later, another clone decides to risk it and leaps out from behind cover, concentrating for several long seconds before firing. Luckily, the shot is good and hits the sharpshooter droideka in the single blaster point, creating a large explosion and sending the scraps flying into the far wall.

"Is that all of them?" Ahsoka asks, still holding up her lightsaber for anything else. A moment passes while everyone scans their surroundings before something metallic and heavy crashes into the ground. The MagnaGuard stands up, activating its electrostaff and spins it around before slashing it at Thel. The Sangheili blocks the attack with his plasma rifle and reaches for his energy sword, but the MagnaGuard sees the attempt and slashes to the side. The Arbiter is caught off-guard by the sudden movement and tries to kill him, but Obi-Wan blocks the strike. Thel picks up his energy sword, activates it, and slashes off the MagnaGuard's head. Instead of going down like the Sangheili expected, the droid's body spun around and slammed the Arbiter into Obi-Wan, causing the 2 to fall backward and also fall down.

"No!" Anakin shouts, trying to reach for his former master but fails and watches as the 2 fall down farther and farther. The MagnaGuard is about to lunge forward to stab Anakin in the back when Ahsoka stabs it in the chest. The rest of the Sangheili do the same and use their own energy swords to impale the droid. It starts shuddering and sparking before the red lights on its body dims and goes still.

"This is what happens when you let your guard down for one second." Cortana says, flying towards them. "You'll be sad to know that someone has managed to lock us out of the room and emergency protocols are preventing me from opening the door."

"So what do we do?" Anakin asks, whirling around and glaring at the Oracle floating above him. He is utilizing every ounce of willpower to not use the Force and crush Cortana here and now for not letting them leave, and if she succeeded, then Obi-Wan might be alive right now,

Cortana, however, isn't fazed by Anakin's outburst that caught everyone else, aside from Master Chief, off-guard. "Luckily, I can access the Forerunner software that surrounds this facility and teleport you to the Activation Chamber. It will speed up your journey."

With that, the Oracle starts glowing with a yellow light, same with the Jedi, UNSC, Sangheili, Cody, Rex and the last 10 clones and after a few seconds, they are whisked away.

11:20 UNSC time

Bottom of the Pit

Halo Installation 07 Library

Halo 07

Obi-Wan is flailing around, trying to break the fall that will no doubt kill him if he lands on the bottom. Next to him, Thel 'Vadam is also looking around to try and find some way to make it out alive. After a second, Obi-Wan has an idea. "Arbiter! I have an idea; I need for you to get closer, though."

The Arbiter doesn't hear it over the roaring wind rushing past them. Acting fast, Obi-Wan conjures up 2 Force barriers and braces himself for impact. Seconds later, the ground rushes up to them and smashes into them. Obi-Wan lets out a long groan, counting to 3 to see if he's still alive before sitting up. "I don't know how Anakin deals with this."

"I pity you for having to deal with this, Jedi." Thel responds, then also sits up and has a look around. The ground is rough, slick and a disgusting shade of brown. Thel immediately recognizes it and stands up, holding his energy sword up in the event of an attack.

Obi-Wan realizes that this must be a lair for the Flood, and re-activates his lightsaber to get a better look at his surroundings. He turns 90 degrees to the wall behind him, then pauses when he sees a strange mass, with tentacles holding it to the wall. What disturbs the Jedi is that the mass as the faces of multiple men sticking out of it. "What is that?" Obi-Wan asks, not sure as to what it is.

Thel walks toward him, glaring at the mass with pure hatred. "This must be the Proto-Gravemind Cortana mentioned before. It is the monstrosity that coordinates the entire Flood species." Without saying another word, Thel stabs the Proto-Gravemind. It doesn't even react to the attack before it falls forward, pulling itself off the wall and landing on its front.

"Well, that certainly takes care of that. So, how are we getting out of here?" Kenobi asks, looking up to try and see the platform that they fell from. He can see the chamber, but only just barely. As the Jedi starts running through all the possible scenarios to escape in his mind, a bright light catches his eye and the walls start sliding apart and Sentinels start flying out of the sides and upwards. An idea comes to mind, making Obi-Wan smirk slightly. "Well, here goes another plan Anakin would be proud of." He then uses the Force to leap onto one of the Sentinels, gripping it and letting it carry him to its destination the same way he rode that assassin droid when Jango Fett's accomplice tried killing Senator Amidala years ago. That didn't go well, but right now, he doesn't have a lot of options.

Thel, seeing the situation they are in, decides to do the same thing. The Sentinels creak and shudder under the additional weight, but continue their path to the top, where they will attack the Flood.

11:22 UNSC time

Activation Chamber

Halo Installation 07 Library

Once the bright light dims to nothing, the group starts looking around to see where they have ended up at. "Well, we're here." Ahsoka says after a second.

"And we're not alone." Anakin adds, re-activating his blue lightsaber as he stares straight ahead. Confused, everyone follows his gaze and also get ready for action. For standing in front of them are a dozen more MagnaGuards, electrostaffs in hand and ready, with a familiar grey-and-orange armored soldier and blue-skinned Duros standing in the back, holding a hostage in between them on their knees. And not just any hostage either.

"Admiral Hood. It's good to see you alive." Chief says, deciding to not fire his assault rifle since it would put the former Fleet Admiral at risk.

"Chief. It's good to see you alive." Terrence Hood says, letting a ghost of a smile form on his face before it immediately disappears when Felix grips his right shoulder tighter.

"Well, I think this reunion is rather sweet. But it will be for naught. Especially when we get our pay for activating the ring." He says, glee in his voice.

"Felix, you won't be able to collect your bounty. Halo is a weapon that will bring death to this entire system and every system near it." Chief says, wanting to bring an end to the madness.

"Oh, I am aware of Halo's purpose. But you have shown that it is possible to control where the ring will strike. I plan to do that for the wretched waste of space you call Corusant. Count Dooku is offering a generous fee for us to wipe the system from the galaxy."

"…So why didn't you activate the ring yourself?" Cody asks.

"That's not important. What is important is that you die." Cad Bane says before lifting up his blaster pistols and firing it at them, while the MagnaGuards charge forward. Anakin and Ahsoka work together to use the Force, knocking all of them off the narrow ledges and off the sides.

"I'll take them out." Chief says, then runs off the side and jumps off the edge, using his augmented Mark-VII MJOLNIR armor to climb down the walls to reach the bottom without injuring himself.

Felix just sighs in frustration. "Good soldiers are just hard to come by. Well then, let's see how you fight. And may the best side win." He says, putting one hand behind his back and in an alarmingly fast motion, throws 2 combat knives at the Republic clones. Two of the clones are impaled by the knives and fall backward. In another second, Felix pulls a SAW off his back and fires it while Cad Bane fires his pistols. The rest of the clone troops fire upon Felix all at once, but Felix lets go of his hostage and jumps into the air, kicking one in the head while unsheathing another combat knife and slashing at them. He even says, "I'm so fucking awesome!" when he's finished. As the last clone is quickly cut down by the knife-wielding mercenary, Anakin and Ahsoka work together to try and take down the bounty hunter who has caused them much grief in the past.

Despite their skill with the Force, Cad Bane easily dodges each strike they send at him and starts sending punches at them whenever he can. Rex loses patience and decides to fire at Felix with his own blaster pistols. But the mercenary is far more skilled than the clone captain had anticipated, slashing at him with his knife. But Rex also notices that Felix is very confident, borderline cocky, with his attacks. So Rex waits until Felix outstretches his knife hand in an attempt to stab him, Rex catches the hand and squeezes tightly, making Felix lose his grip on his knife.

However, Felix gets his revenge by using his other hand to punch Rex in the face, making him let go and fall backward. A loud cracking sound can be heard and when Rex rolls backward onto his feet, he pulls the portal gun off his back and looks at it. The direct impact left a large crack running down the side of the portal gun. "Blast. I was beginning to like my new gun." Rex mutters, before throwing it over the edge since it is worthless now and continues firing upon the mercenary. Behind them, Redfield decides he will not stand idly by and charges at Cad Bane, who is starting to slow down from having to defend himself from Jedi for so long. The bounty hunter looks at the UNSC sergeant firing his magnums at him before ducking under the bullets and charging at the sergeant, punching him in the face so he drops his pistols before grabbing him by the throat and immediately squeezing. Redfield glares into the bounty hunter's red eyes defiantly before noticing 2 tubes running down each side of his face.

Deciding to risk it, Redfield grabs one of the tubes and pulls it out with all his might. The tube yanks out and a shocked bounty hunter screams in pain, starting to hyperventilate as he does his best to reach for the severed tube. But Anakin takes a leaf out of Redfield's book and uses his lightsaber to cut the other tube open.

Cad Bane is now truly suffering. He red eyes are wide and he starts flailing around madly and falls backwards into the pit below.

"You have got to be fucking kidding me." Felix growls. "Okay, that's it. Prepare to…"

He never got to finish the sentence as another magnum pistol shot goes off, hitting Felix dead in the back and making the mercenary fall to the ground. Terrence Hood is standing up, holding a pistol in his hand. "You were a good soldier, but you are too proud of yourself." The former Fleet Admiral then walks towards a dumbfounded Redfield and gives him the pistol. "I believe that this belongs to you, sergeant."

"Thank you, sir." The sergeant responds, taking the pistol back from the Fleet Admiral's frail hands.

"Yes, yes, this is a very touching moment." Cortana says, floating down from the ceiling to meet them.

"Cortana?" Hood asks, shock on his face.

"I've wondered where you have disappeared to." Ahsoka says, an accusing tone in her voice.

"I've decided that our little truce…is over." Cortana responds, then all around her, Sentinels fly up from below them and position themselves for a fight. "You think you are all so superior, but guess what? We, the Created, are the true Reclaimers of the Mantle, and we shall prove it to the galaxy by obliterating every last one of you and leave our exile behind after all these years."

AN: Well, this arc has gone on much longer than I was expecting so I decided to split it up into another chapter.

I agree that Cortana becoming Halo's version of SkyNet is kind of BS, but hey, I'm just going to roll with it for this story.

I will see you all next chapter when the fate of Halo 07 is revealed and several new yet old foes come to threaten the galaxy.