Part One: Lost And Found
Thick smoke blinded her giant watery eyes as she stumbbled through what was left of the smoldering bodies on K2-L. Crying and sobbing Samus's nostrils burnt from the horrid smell of bodies. Suddenly a strong scaley hand grabbed hold of her tiny foot as a demonic voice of agony cried out. "Samus help me!" The burnt body of her fathers zombified corpse grasped her ankle tight. Screaming in fear she tried to shake him off but to no use of a tiny three year old. "Daddy mommy no!" She cried as the zombies began to chant as she was dragged towards her zombie father and mother. "Wake up Samus, wake up, wake up!"
"D...a...d n...n..no..." Samus's scratchy bearly audible voice mumbled in her sleep.
"Samus wake up." John grabbed a firm hold of his teens shoulders and gave a small shake to wake her from her nightmare. "Dad!" She cried out through pain, as she sprung into Chief, waking to a violent coughing fit.
Catching his distressed adopted daughter John held her tightly hoping her agonizing coughing would end.
Linda quickly joined in comforting and began rubbing the blonde teen's back, as the green armoured spartan waited for the blood filled coughing to sooth.
Soon the angry cough slowed to painful breaths, her heart pounding like it was about to burst out of her chest. Closing her eyes, pressing her head against the green chest plate she began to retain herself, calm and collected. Opening her eyes she thought to herself she had not had a dream without Ridely in quite sometime. Her dead parents now haunting the empty cavity the aloof dragon had occupied for years.
John looked up at Linda, he knew in his head Samus's first words to be spoken since being reunited she was calling for her biological father in her nightmare. Holding Samus tightly against him, in his heart he wondered if the cry for her father was for him? Looking down at those tear filled traumatized eyes, did he finally earn the right to be called such a title in his adopted little girls eyes?
A rumble, followed by moaning metal rang through them, chasing off anyones thoughts.
104 clutched his DMR scanning the room."What was that all about?" Fred thought aloud.
Samus caught her breath brushing off her nightmare flashing her suit on she began searching for any signs that would help them. (It's communicating with other Guardians.) Samus answered as John released his hold on her.
John watched as Samus retained a stoic stature, her visors blast shield hiding her face from the world. She reminded him of himself when he hit emotional situations like this.
"There are others around us right now?" Kelly scoffed pushing off the floor to stand upright.
Slumping her rifle Linda sighed. "Would really love an outside visual."
On that que the walls and floors around them began to shift, the team quickly moved away from the shifting walls. The floor beneath them began to shift sliding into a wall behind them, exposing the outer regoins of the guardian.
Kelly quickly stabalized her self next to the sniper and snorted. "Carefull what you wish for!"
"Alright anyone got a pla!" Fred didn't have time to finish his words as they all dropped, descending down the front of the guardian like slide from hell.
Sliding off a ski jump like wall John lit up his magnetic anti gravity boots and yelled his commands for the team to do the same.
Samus was off that chart with no magnetic boots she flew passed the spartans and off another ramp.
"Samus!" John called running to the edge of the ramp to see no orange armour. His thoughts quickly went to the worst scenario, she slipped into one of the crevasses and he could only hope she survived.
Kelly was the first off the ramp to begin the search, John followed with Linda and Fred. Finding a small opening they all quickly jumped in, lucky for them it was another odd room leading down corridors. But the last thing on their mind was the room.
"She must have fallen through one of those blank crevasses!" Panick was clearly in Kelly's tone as she caught her breath.
"Maybe she survived. I mean it's Samus, she's got good luck just like John!" Fred encouraged as the sprinted down the corridors.
"Worst case scenarion she's got a couple scratches and bruises." Linda commented.
John scanned for any doors leading to the outer shell of the guardian once more. "Samus could still be sliding down we need to find an opening." John redirected his teams focus.
Samus hit ramps and rigged bumps on her rocky descent, the more jumps she hit the faster she came to hitting the whatever was below. Breaking through many white clouds, she recognized she was on a planet. Hitting another large ski jump Samus flew preparing herself for the impact once more, breaking through more clouds she finally caught site of the green world below. *Holy shit!* quickly hit her mind as she was inches away from the edge to the solid ground. Then a thought quickly hit her *Magnetic boots... I got spider ball dumbass!* quickly contorting into a ball she stuck to guardian like a leach. Using boost ball she flew down and off another ramp, her controlled jump landed her above the ground a few feet below. Transforming once more spining through the air in a controlled flip she finaly impacted the dirt. Turning to look up at the sky she watched as the humongous flying forrunner ship, flew slowly away from her.
(Chief?) no reply. (Kelly?) still nothing. (Blue Team?) Static was the only thing Samus recived. Readying her cannon she sighed. *Great now I lost the team, on an alien planet... guess I have no choice.* She thought to herself as she began following the ship on foot.
The planet felt fresh almost untouched, many of the bioscans and readings she recieved from the planet reminded her of some of the enviroments back on Zebes.
"Samus do you read?" nothing but static filled the Master Chief's helmet.
"We are stuck in this thing god knows where, and there is no way out." Kelly scoffed Scanning with her eyes.
Linda snorted. "And no contact with the kid."
Out of frustration John punched the wall infront of him, leaving a small crater behind. "We find a way out!" he snapped gesturing his rifle to the wall like door.
Fred cuffed a hand onto his stressed brothers shoulder. "John we're going to find her, we always do." he reassured with a nod.
"Doors open!" Kelly announced as the site of a blue round platform reachend the exit.
Blue team wasted no time running out of the guardian, eagerly hopping onto the platform, John recieved a broken text. (Ch...f)
"Samus do you read, do you copy?" He quickly attempted contact.
(Ch...f.. I...On...Pl...n..t... he...ding...to...w...a...r...d...s...yo...ur...lo...ca...tion...)
"Samus is on the ground heading our way, her condition is unknown. We will meet her halfway. Fred track that faint signal." John quickly gave a brief report before heading towards a terminal.
"On it!"
"Sound like a pla..." Kelly was interrupted by a familiar whistle tone, only change to it was the robotic tone.
"Consol lit up as I approached." John noted aloud.
Linda totted her rifle as she scanned the forcefield. "Who else would know that tone?"
"How long has it been since we've used that signal" Fred snorted as John activated the consol.
"We have no long range communication, only close range, and whoever is on the planet." Kelly reported.
"We're a long way from nowhere then." Fred scoffed.
"Cortana, Cortana do you read?" John radioed out for a response.
"No response." Kelly noted as the elevator activated. "Where are we?"
"Some Forerunner planet, beyond that who knows." Linda replid to Kelly's query.
"Think Samus will be led the same way?" Kelly asked as they descended on the cilinder elevator.
"Unkown at this time, we stay in contact for now. Wherever we are Cortana brought us here, her and Samus are on this planet." John replied to the female spartan.
"This planet is like nothing we've ever recorded, it seems artificial but organic at the sametime." Linda scanned and observed what she could.
Fred finally caught a faint signal. "It's fuzzy and faint but we head eastbound through those over passes and caves. Then hopefully find the kid." Fred said with hopefulness.
"Let's move."
Samus pulled herself up onto yet another rocky ledge, climbing was a bit difficult with an arm cannon, but still she managed. Exhaling deeply she stood up straight, scanning the rock she stood upon, finding a purple crate that ressembled the Covenants ammo and weapon caches. Scanning the purple object her guess was correct walking further past a small water fall Samus found a needler, off a small distance she heard humming and soft but heavy foot steps over her shoulder. Climbing back to the higher levels of the small cave following the sound, she located a lone grunt humming away sitting on the ledge of this rocky cliff side. Thinking to herself she thought the picture was a perfect opportunity to boot the little gremlin off the edge.
Just as she was about to jump down she heard the footsteps again, stoping her actions, she watched as a large shadow formed over the wall beside the oblivious grunt. Readying her cannon for a large sangheili bogey, instead got a much more familiar target. She burst out in a whisper like laughter as she watched her adopted father boot the poor humming grunt off the edge.
"John we've got movement up ahead." Kelly radioed the green spartan.
Samus was to busy busting a gut to notice her spartan family disappear beneath her.
"The demon is here, everybody for themselves!" the sound of screaming grunts brought her attention back to reality, looking to see the green spartan gone.
John and Kelly were both busy taking out the turrets and Charging Sangheili, while Fred and Linda took out the snipers and stragglers.
Finally the battle came into view as Samus reached the top of the cave roof. She watched as a single swordsman sangheili beganing sneaking behind her adopted father. Leaping down with a charged cannon Samus quickly resolved the problem by melting the aliens head.
John whirled around, his rifle aimed, quickly realizing who stood at the end of the barrel the weapon lowered immediately. The other spartans spun around also taking aim.
"Hold your fire!" John quickly commanded.
"Christ kid what the hell, don't you have anti gravity boots or something?!" Kelly quickly stomped over to the pair.
(I have spider ball, I forgot, then remembered when I hit the bottum of the guardian.) Samus shrugged her shoulders at the passive aggressive spartan.
Shaking his head Fred sighed clamping a large hand onto the teens shoulder plate. "Spider ball... glad to see you safe and sound kiddo."
"Alright now that we are back together we can carry on." Linda began heading towards a Forerunner facility catwalk.
"The path ahead is shielded... I stand corrected..." Fred recorrected his words as the shield fell.
"It fell when the last of the Covenant dropped." Chief pointed out.
"Like someone was keeping them out." Fred added.
The rest of the team followed Linda in suit towards the blue and silver catwalk. Samus however wasn't so eager. Agreeing with Fred's therory, Samus wanted answers first.
(Why are we here, why is the Covenant here?)
Chief stopped in the middle of the ramp, looking over his shoulder he gave what resonable answer he could. "The Covenant must have been sucked into the slip space, what walks now is whatever made it through alive." He said before carrying on up the ramp.
(The slipspace also murdered thousands of people, and considering there are many other Guardians arriving, I imagine that there is thousands more dead from thousands of other planets. But you still didn't answer why we are here?) Samus pushed on, her spitfire attitude kicking in.
Stopping now at the top of the ramp John kept his gaze forward as he thought to himself. What was he really searching for here? Cortana was calling upon these massive guardians and with it him. Why they were here was a very good question, one he could not answer. Walking forward he ignored his daughter and moved toward the next terminal.
Samus rolled her eyes, finally making her way up the ramp to the team. As she walked side by side Chief the consol lit up with a whistle like tone.
"There's the same signal from before." Kelly pointed out.
Fred snorted. "You think we are being led?"
"My guess would be yes, we most certainly we are." Linda concurred.
John lit up the consol activating another cilinder elavator.
(So is it Cortana then?) Samus looked up at the green spartan.
Part Two: Familiar Voice, Unrecognized soul.
After a few more small battles the team came across a now suddenly activated bridge. Blue team was hesitant for a moment, questioning the sudden activation. While Samus could care less she walked across before the team of Spartans even noticed.
Kelly rolled her eyes with a sigh. "I guess it's safe to cross." Kelly followed John with the rest of the team.
(Chief come see this!) Samus's sudden text blipped onto Chief's visor.
John walked with a purpose, rounding the corner with his team to see the aftermath of what was probably a dire battle.
"What the hell did all this?" Fred's eyes scanned the mutilated corpses on the ground.
John didn't have an answer he hadn't seen bodies damaged like this before. "Keep moving, Samus is loosing us again."
Linda quickly scanned the surrounding cliffs for any targets. "You know John we don't have to constantly chase Samus around if she runs ahead." Linda lowered her rifle and spun back in the direction of her team.
"Yeah she can hold her own." Kelly agreed as they rounded another bolder, seeing Samus standing waiting on a platform.
(Took you guys long enough?) Samus totted her canon.
The spartans didn't have time to answer raising their weapons to a large forerunner being stepping out of the shadows stopping directly behind the oblivious teen.
(Whoa ok I didn't mean it!) Samus held up her hand and canon.
"Identify yourself!" Master Chief demanded keeping his weapon locked on the new target.
(You know who I...)
Samus was cut short when a humongous metalic hand clamped down on her shoulder plate. "I am the Warden Eternal. I stand in defence of Cortana."
John's trigger fingure twitched at the brave move the Warden did. "She called me to her!"
Whatever this thing was, was screwing up Samus's suit from scanning. It was as if her suit was being siphoned of her personal imformation.
"And you came scampering." The Warden mocked the Spartan, Samus was forced forward, still tightly in the Wardens grip, as he stepped forward. "She knows your forgotten name. Who you were before 117." the Warden continued to patronize John, not seeming to care for the other spartans surrounding him.
John lowered his rifle in disbelief, dumbstruck with what this Forerunner was saying.
"Do you find it odd, your trusted companion should keep so much to herself?" the Warden could see his success on getting in the Chief's head.
Growing tired of this monologuing Forerunner, Samus really wanted to just power bomb the bastard, but didn't want to vaporize the others in the process.
The Warden then gestured down to the young armoured girl in his clutches. "And yet your newfound companion is nothing but an ancient artifact, that has yet to learn true power of the ancient race pumping through her veins. Very little does she know, that the Chozo altercated with the Didact eons ago!"
Samus finally wriggled out of the tight grip, taking aim at the Warden. (What the hell are you talking about?) Samus was confused and frustrated with the new knowledge or lies the Warden spoke of.
John finally stepped beside his fuming daughter. "Take me to Cortana!" Chief demanded, tired of the mind games.
Suddenly the Warden warped away his voice dripping with venom. "Not just yet. Let us talk some more."
(No way, you can't just say wierd sentences, and float off like nothing happened!) Samus didn't hesitate in leading blue team through a small cave.
Once through the tunnel the team was greeted by hostile Prometheans.
"Typical, of course you would leave us with nothing but questions, while you test our strength!" Kelly fired at the Promethean soldiers and crawlers.
John took fire apon the appearing targets, as the Warden continued to question his choices to find Cortana.
"You answered her calls, why? What do you intend when you reach her?" The Warden's voice was clear but a visual of him wasnt.
"I've come to bring her home." John continued to fire on at the promethean soldiers.
"If you have seen what she has become you wouldn't have such juvenile consults. Your newfound alien child, will only give Cortana more of what you wont want to see become of her." the Warden continued to drawl on about Cortana's transformation.
Samus quickly pounced on a soldier behind Master Chief. (Chief, should I not be looking for Cortana with you?) Samus slamed her canon through a soldiers chest obliterating it.
"Samus, the Warden is only trying to get in our heads, ignore him." John lead the team further into battle, finally catching up with the Warden who finally decided to attack the team himself.
Samus aimed charging her canon at the Warden. She wanted to believe Chief's words, but deep down she had a feeling, the Warden was telling the truth about Cortana.
Finally after battling many prometheans and Warden clones, the team reached a huge odd structure there was four different ways to get to the center, but no bridges were active.
"Chief, is that you, hello?" a female voice filled everyones helmets except Samus, but she could hear the voice clearly from standing next to John.
"Cortana?" Chief responded immediately.
"John you made it! Oh my... I... I can't believe you're here!" the voice almost sounded as if it was choking back tears.
"Where are we?" John continued casually.
"You're on a Forerunner world, designation Genesis. But enough of that, let me get the bridge, the Warden will be back soon." Cortana blew onto the next subject.
As the bridge activated John felt the need to continue questioning AI his friend. "You know him?"
(Uh, duh Chief. What part of stand in defense of Cortana did you not understand?) Samus walked backwards infront of the Master Chief.
"What was that message, you have a new friend?" Cortana tapped into John's visual, seeing the smaller brightly coloured armoured being. "What is this a new kind of Spartan. The technology of the suit seems ancient, and yet somehow familiar? I can't seem to tap into your comlink systems quite yet."
(I'm not a Spartan, I'm an intergalactic bounty hunter!) Samus shook her head, rolling her eyes behind her acid green visor.
"A bounty hunter?! John you work with bounty hunters now?" Cortana almost sounded shocked.
John sighed, holstering his weapon. "No, this is Samus, a member of this team, our family"
"Family?" Cortana almost scoffed.
"Yes it's a long story, to long for us to tell at the moment." Kelly replied to the concerned AI. "But long story short, we found this lovely high strung teen as a tiny kid. John raised her as his own, and we helped. She took off on her own for a bit, acomplished some crazy shit, then found us again. Chief gets his adopted daughter back, and we're one big happy family out on an adventure."
"That wasn't very short..." Fred complained about Kelly's short story of how they came to have Samus.
"Curious, where did you find the heart to have a child, John?" Cortana quried trying to hide the malice jealousy in her tone.
(Why do you ask like Chief is a cold blooded killer?) Samus challenged the rude AI's question.
"John said you were destroyed." Linda gave a suspicious tone, changing the subject as they continued up a ramp.
"I was pulled into slip space, that's where I found access to the Domain." Cortana coldly replied.
Kelly agreed with Linda's suspicion. "How are you still active, ramancy..."
Cortana cut Kelly's sentence short. "Entering the Domain! Touching this place, it cured me, it's like a water of life for AI's." Cortana explained as John activated the next consol.
(So how do we get to you?) Samus threw her head back in boredom.
The AI scoffed. "Through the gateway, the big building putting on a light show." Cortana didn't like not hearing, or being able to invade the new attachment to her Spartan. "Only one more to activate. Think you can handle that, and keep up with the spartans there kid?" Cortana was trying desperately to infiltrate Samus's suit for any sort of information.
Samus exhaled. (Well I made it this far in life, I think I can keep up, and push a button. Oh sarcasm intended, by the way!)
"Hmm, I see you have taken sarcasm lessons from Kelly." Kelly chuckled at the teens response to the AI.
Chief activated another small elevator. "Cortana, why does the Warden think he has to protect you from me?"
(Cause she want's to convert all who were created, to follow her, and overrule humanity. Starting a universal war!) Samus joked, but clearly her sarcasm was not heard through the text message.
"Quite the imagination on this delinquent child of yours..." Cortana sounded unamused by Samus's joke. "John, to answer your question. It will be easier for me to explain, once we are face to face."
"Try me." John replied to Cortana's surprise.
*I haven't even met her and she already hates me...* Samus thought to herself, as she followed the team to their next objective.
"Once there is peace we can focus on, poverty, hunger, illness. The Warden thinks some will resist us, he thinks you will resist against this." Cortana continued to speak with Master Chief, while Samus thought to herself.
"Sounds great, don't know why anyone would be expecting resistance." Fred snorted.
(Come on Fred, I'm sure there's got to be some sort of catch to that. No way is there such a sweet deal, with out some sort of consequence.) Samus dissagreed with the second in command spartan.
John sighed, agreeing with his adopted daughter. "Didact made it clear that the Mantle Of Responsability, was an imperial piece. Step out of line, and suffer." he lead the team across a bridge into cliff sides.
"It wont be like that John." Cortan reassured her spartan.
Samus took aim at the vacant vehicles ahead of them. (I don't know, I don't buy it, what you say seems to good to be true.) Samus dissagreed with the AI's reassurance.
Cortana was boiling inside, the teen was begining to burn her last nerve. "So tell me, spartans child, why is it you do not speak. Are you that shy, or just lack the means to communicate through speech?" Cortana figured she should begin to ask questions about the teen, and gain some info.
"She was seriously injured in battle, hindering her speech. Now is not the time for this conversation, weapons free!" John replied opening fire on the Promethean soldiers across the way.