The Master Chief followed Anton to a well hidden cave, leaving the Marines behind to guard the Phantom dropship.
"How many are left?" he asked once they entered the cave.
"Three, Master Chief, and one other make up our team. Apologies for the disabled FOF tag, but we're trying to confuse the Covenant forces in this area." Anton looked to his left then right. "I'd rather not give a full report in the open." He motioned forward to the entrance of the cave and John saw two chain guns bolted to either side of the opening, each operated by a Spartan he recognized as Grace-093 and Li-008.
Grace followed Anton and John into the cavern, leaving Li to operate the guns after they exchanged the Spartan smile signal. It was a relief for John to see that members of his family were still alive.
He blinked, his eyes adjusting to the florescent lighting. The walls had a grooved texture, as if they'd been dug out by machinery. Standing before a foldout card table in the center of the cavern was another man, in a Navy uniform.
The Master Chief stiffened and saluted. "Admiral, sir!"
Vice Admiral Danforth Whitcomb snapped off a clean salute in return. "Master Chief, welcome to Camp Independence. Accommodations ain't four star...but we call it home." Despite his European name and Texan accent, the Chief had heard the man claim to have Russian ancestry. While he had never worked with the Admiral before, his accomplishments in the battle for New Constantinople and the Siege of the Atlas Moons were well know.
"I'm happy to see you, Chief," the Admiral continued, "so don't take this the wrong way, but what in the hell are you doing here? Keyes had orders to take you on a mission deep into Covenant territory."
"Yes, sir. It's...a long story."
The Admiral twisted the end of his mustache, glanced at his wrist watch, and said, "We got the time, son. Let's hear it."
Omegamon briefly jumped into Cassy's Digi-Bracelet, checking on the frozen Herrismon and combing through the device.
"Find what you were looking for?" Cortana asked once he was back in the ship's network.
"No," he shook his head. "I have combed through every bit a data in the device and still cannot find the Index."
"The Index? Cassy really stole the Index?"
"Unintentionally. It may have been a security measure put in place in case a Tamer could access it after the Flood containment failed."
"So where is it now? If it's not in her device, then where else could it have downloaded..." Cortana trailed off as she came to the same conclusion Omegamon had come to just moments ago. "Shit! That would explain why she hasn't woken up!"
"Please set up a designated space for a data transfer. We'll need to work fa-" Omegamon froze, his form glitching. "Cassy!"
Cortana immediately alerted to the medic closest to Cassandra, and through the bond Omegamon felt jolts of electricity course through him. He appeared in the med bay as a glitching hologram and watched three medics use a crash kit to resuscitate his partner.
"Get her to the nearest console," he told them, falling to his knees in pain. The medics didn't ask why and gently carried Cassy to the nearest terminal. Her left hand was placed on the screen, her Digi-Bracelet glowing orange, and Omegamon began to transfer the massive amount of data from her brain to Cortana.
"Heart rate is steady," one of the medics said, keeping his eyes glued to the data pad monitoring Cassy's vital signs. "She's stabilizing."
"Mind telling us what's going on, Omegamon?" another of the medics asked.
"Cassandra unknowingly downloaded a massive amount of data from the Halo network," the Royal Knight explained, feeling his strength return. "The data didn't go into her device like it should have, but it went into her brain."
"And that's why she's been unconscious this entire time? That must have been a massive amount of data to mess with her brain that much!"
The orange glow faded and Cassandra's eyes fluttered open.