Justice League of Amazons: Halo

Chapter 6

…

Two days later.

John was going over his MJOLNIR armour in the specialised workshop that the League had kindly given him to use to store and repair or otherwise upgrade his armour. The day for him to visit Atlantis was nearing, and he and Cortana were working on some upgrades for the MJOLNIR so that it could be used for underwater environments. John had training in underwater environments during his days in the program as part of his EVA training. But the MJOLNIR, while it was rated for low gravity and the vacuum of space, was not truly built for aquatic operations. Luckily Cortana before their departure to the Ark had downloaded some schematics that Dr Halsey had been working on, and one of those schematics was a MJOLNIR suit designed to traverse aquatic areas.

The design was labelled the Orca after the Orca whale or otherwise called the Killer Whale. The armour itself was not heavily armoured, at least not like other MJOLNIR designs, as the metal itself would simply weight the wearer down. It had a compressed tank of oxygen that would last, at best, three hours before needing to be filled back up. On the legs and arms were propellers designed to provide a suitable swimming speed that clocked in at thirty nautical miles per hour. There was an additional propeller on the back that could provide a short burst of speed which would prove useful if one needed to get out of a jam. The helmet was shaped in a similar fashion to the EVA helmet variation of the MJOLNIR and was specially sealed to allow it to be waterproof and withstand deep sea pressure depths and was also outfitted with special headlights to allow visibility in dark environments such as the trenches in the ocean floors, but John hoped that there was no need to go such depths but it was for his peace of mind and careful planning that the Orca armour be outfitted with such accessories.

Then there was the issue of weaponry. John knew that his guns would be next to useless in underwater environments but he did not want to go unarmed. So Cortana helped design of a specialised spear-gun that could fire multiple spear-tips at an intended target. John also opted to take his combat knife as a precaution as he had never used a weapon such as a spear-gun before and many aquatic lifeforms liked to get up close and personal. So with that in mind, the combat knife would hopefully deter creatures like sharks from taking a bite out of him, but the Orca armour would hopefully be adequate protection against the bite of sharks.

John stood back and looked at the Orca armour with a discerning eye. Cortana's holographic figure appeared on the holotank and she asked, "So? What do you think?"

John glanced at the Smart AI then back at the new armour; it didn't have as many protective plates as he would have liked, but Cortana had explained to him that it would only weigh him in the water and he would sink right to the bottom if he had too many protective armour plates. Speed and mobility was the key when it came to the armour.

"It'll do," John finally said after a moment. "For now, at least," he added as an afterthought.

"Plenty of time to work on it, Chief," Cortana replied as she folded her arms and looked at him. "Wanna give it a test run and scratch the paint?" she suggested.

John nodded and allowed the servos that had assembled the Orca to place it on him. The helmet slid onto John's head and with a hiss of air, it sealed up and the systems came online.

Cortana's voice then made itself heard in John's head. "Alright. Try moving around in the armour first. See how it does on land," she said to him. John raised his arms up and moved them around a little, getting a feel of the new armour before he started walking around in it.

"Okay, looking good so far," Cortana said over the comm-systems. "Try running and jumping in it now," she ordered.

John ran to one side of the room before running back and jumping in the air and landing on his feet. A clang was heard as the feet of the armour landed on the steel floor.

"Okay, okay, doing well so far," Cortana said. "Now for the final test," she added.

A nearby glass pool began to fill rapidly with water. Once it had filled near completely to the brim, Cortana then said to John, "Let's see if this new armour lives to my mother's designs."

John then walked into the pool, slowly submersing himself in the water. Reaching the deep end of the pool, John slowly walked on the floor of the pool.

"Systems appear to be functional," Cortana said in his ear. "No signs of any water leaking in," she added before she asked him, "How is it holding up on your end, Chief?"

"It appears to be living up to its functions," John replied.

"Alright then, let's see how the propellers work," Cortana said. "The propellers should respond to your mental commands, so give it a shot."

As Cortana instructed, John gave the mental command for the propellers to activate. With a slow build-up, the fins of the propellers began to spin, going faster and faster until John was just a few feet of the floor of the pool and floating, so to speak, in the water. Leaning forward, John willed the propellers to go faster and they did so. Moving along at a steady pace, John got a feel of the propellers pushing him through the water. Making some basic maneuverers he learned in his EVA training, John put the Orca through its paces and he even used the emergency propeller which thrust him forward in a short burst of speed.

"Looks like the Orca is a success, Chief," Cortana said in the comm-system. "Seems you're all set for your trip to Atlantis," she added. John didn't respond to that as he climbed out of the pool and walked over to the armour dock and allowed the servos to remove the armour.

"So, how did the armour feel compared to the MJOLNIR?" Cortana asked him. John thought about it for a moment before replying.

"I have no issues with it so far," was all he said.

"Well, we'll keep working on it and any of the other designs I managed to download," said Cortana. "In the meantime, you need to pack for your trip to Atlantis," she reminded him.

John nodded and left the workshop to pack what he needed for his trip to Atlantis. He thought about what his fellow Spartans would think if they learned that the Atlantis of myth they read briefly about in their lessons was real in this universe and that he was going to be donating his seed to help repopulate it. If Johnson was here, he'd make all sorts of jokes about mermaids and other such nonsense. Dr Halsey would be fascinated with the idea of Atlantis being real and inhabited by an aquatic species of human. The thought of his fellow Spartans and those he called friend and perhaps even the closest thing to family back home made an uneasy feeling rise up in John. Quickly tamping down on the feeling, John focussed on heading back to his room to pack what he felt he needed for the trip to Atlantis.

…

A day later.

John stood on the Metropolis Docks with the Justice League standing beside or behind him. A sizable crowd had gathered behind them, and news crews were taking in some footage and reporting on the events. John was wearing the Orca armour and carrying a waterproof metallic case that was filled with some essentials such as a change of clothes for when he was in some areas of Atlantis where it wasn't submerged and dry, as well as his modified spear-gun and ammunition and medical supplies.

"You ready for this, Chief?" Diana asked him.

John nodded at her and looked at the ocean's surface, waiting for when the Atlantean delegation would arrive.

After a few minutes the water's surface began to bubble and rising out of the ocean was a ship that was of Atlantean make and the front hatch opened to reveal Queen Mera, dressed in her Atlantean regalia with the Trident of Neptune in her hand and her armed escort to greet them.

Some of Mera's escort had dark looks on their faces as they saw Diana who looked a little ashamed but she stood tall and unflinching before them. Mera glanced at her guards and they backed down. Mera walked out regally and stood before John.

"Spartan, I am glad to see you are alive and well after your bout with Aresia," she said formally.

"I can assure you that Aresia was punished by the Gods for her crimes, Queen Mera," John replied stoically. "I have the recordings of Aresia's punishment for your perusal, should you wish to see them," he then said.

"I shall be glad to, as will the rest of my people," Mera said regally. Looking at Diana, Mera said to her, "Princess Diana. I am… glad to see you alive and well," she greeted the Amazon princess who nodded in reply.

"Thank you, Queen Mera," Diana said formally.

Mera then looked back at John. "I see you are wearing different armour this time," she remarked casually, her ocean blue eyes looking over the details of the armour John wore.

"It was a design intended for aquatic environments," John replied. "This will be its first time in the field, although we did give it some test runs to be sure it would perform optimally," he said.

"I am glad you had the forethought to think of such measures," Mera said. "But rest assured, we have made accommodations for you so that you will not be submerged for long periods of time during your stay in Atlantis," she assured him.

John nodded his thanks. "Are you ready to go?" Mera then asked and John nodded in answer. Turning to the Justice League, John said his goodbyes and promised he would return in a few days. There were some slightly mournful looks on the faces of the Justice League but they nodded in acceptance.

Entering the Atlantean ship, John was then shown to the bridge where he would have a seat to see where they would be heading.

The ship's engines then powered up and submerged itself in the ocean before turning slowly and zoomed off. The interior of the ships had been rid of water so that John wouldn't be underwater for the duration of the journey to Atlantis. John was shown to the bridge and there he saw the Atlantean soldiers and crewmembers carrying out their duties. Some had apprehensive looks on their faces upon seeing the Spartan, but they didn't act outright hostile or fearful. Perhaps Mera had smoothed things over with her people to make them more accommodating out surface dwellers and be less xenophobic.

"This is a very well-constructed ship," John said offhandedly to Mera who smiled in response and said, "Thank you, Spartan. This is one of our best ships that we have in the Atlantean fleet."

"I'd like to see the Atlantean fleet if possible during my stay," John then said professionally, curious as to what numbers of ships Atlantis had at its disposal and just how many of them were battle-ready.

"I shall be glad to show you, Spartan," said Mera. "But forgive me if I am overstepping my boundaries, but would you kindly remove your helmet?" she requested.

John looked at her and asked, "Why?"

"I understand that you are a soldier with the need to be combat ready at all times and thus wear your helmet at all times, but it feels disconcerting to talk to you when you wear your helmet," Mera said.

John hummed slightly in thought before putting his fingers to the base of his helmet. With a hiss of compressed air, the helmet was removed and John's face was revealed. Mera had a slight smile on her lips and nodded in approval.

"My thanks, Spartan," the Atlantean queen said in gratitude and she glanced at some of her guards and crewmembers who all took a moment to stare at the Spartan who looked at them.

"What?" he asked. A few embarrassed looks were on the Atlanteans' faces and they quickly went back to what they were doing. Although some did steal a few more glances at the Spartan, their cheeks dusted a shade of pink. Mera had an amused smile on her lips as she saw some of her fellow Atlanteans steal glances at John. In truth, she was stealing some glances at the Spartan; he was a handsome man for a surface dweller. Her husband back when he was alive was a handsome man as well and the Spartan was handsome enough. A slightly sorrowful look was on Mera's face as the thought of her deceased husband and son entered her mind. A solitary tear rolled down from Mera's eye and down her cheek.

"Are you alright?" Mera looked up to see the Spartan looking at her in professional concern.

Wiping away the tear, Mera quickly replied, "Yes. I am well, Spartan."

"Very well then," the Spartan said as though he was not to pursue the matter. Mera took in a breathe to compose herself and reign in the emotions within her.

"Approaching Atlantis," called out one crewmember and sure enough, the underwater city of Atlantis came into view.

John gazed at the mythical city of Atlantis. It looked otherworldly, almost reminding John of Covenant architecture yet he knew that there was no similarity between Atlantis and the Covenant. A large dome covered the entire city of Atlantis and John could spot some figures swimming about in the seaweed fields surrounding Atlantis with natural ease. The pressure at such depths would crush an ordinary human, but from what John read of Atlantean physiology, the average Atlantean could withstand such depths with no apparent struggle. The Orca armour had been built to withstand the deep sea pressures, so John was confident that he would survive.

As the ship entered the city and entered the docking port, John put his helmet back and it sealed up and Mera gave the nod for the ship to filled back up with water. As the ship filled with seawater, John checked over the Orca systems one more time; everything appeared to be functioning perfectly, but John ran the diagnostic once more, for his own peace of mind. The memories of Kurt being killed ran through his mind and the fact that after Kurt's death, every Spartan would go over their equipment themselves to make sure there was no fault in their armour or vehicles.

Mera looked at the Spartan for a moment as the ship was filled entirely with water and she spoke to him. "Are you alright, Spartan?" she asked him. The Spartan did not say anything but simply nodded in reply. Mera nodded as well before giving the order for them to leave the ship.

John made use of the propellers, keeping pace with the Atlanteans and Queen Mera. Exiting the ship, they were greeted by the Atlantean people who gave cheers as their queen returned and they gazed at John openly, their gaze curious and wondering. There were some Atlanteans who had slightly mistrustful looks on their faces, but there were only a few of them.

Mera gave a short speech and bid her citizens to go about their business. Mera then spoke to John. "If you'll come this way, please, Spartan," she said to him formally.

"Where to?" John asked through the comm-system speakers in his helmet.

"To the sperm donation bank we built for your arrival," Mera replied. "Then we'll get you settled in for your stay," she then said.

"I suppose we'd better get it over with," John said with a resigned air. With Mera and armed escort guiding him to the sperm donation building, John entered the building where the interior was free of water.

Mera looked at John and said to him, "If you do not wish to donate right, we can leave it for a later date," she offered.

"No, it's fine," replied John. "Get it over with as soon as possible," he said as he was shown to the donation room where he began to undo his armour, leaving it in a neat pile on the floor. The door opened and John turned to see Mera enter the room.

"Your majesty?" the Spartan said to her. Mera had a slightly embarrassed look on her face and she replied.

"I was told by the Justice League that you required help the first time you donated your seed," she said. "They did not tell me too much of your past, but they did say that you had very little knowledge of such matters and required some help," she added.

"So, if you are not opposed, I would assist you in this matter," Mera then said, her cheeks slightly red as she realised what she was about do.

John nodded after a brief moment of silence. With a shaky sigh, Mera began to take of her regalia, revealing her nude form to the Spartan. John watched in silence as Mera stripped off her clothes. Mera had quite a sleek toned body, and her hips and breasts were indicative that she had given birth and nursed her child. Combined with her gorgeous face, deep blue eyes and fiery red hair, Mera would certainly make a killing in certain careers with a face and body like hers, although John had a feeling that Mera would not like that sort of work.

Once Mera was fully naked before the Spartan, she looked at him asked, "Shall we?" The Spartan nodded in response as he took off the last article of clothing on him to reveal his own nudity. Mera gave a slight gasp as she gazed at the naked man before. She was reminded of the Greek statues from ages past when she saw the Spartan naked before her. His body looked as though it was chiselled or carved from the finest white marble or ivory. The pale skin was covered in scars ranging from bullet wounds, knives to burns. But such scars didn't detract from the Spartan's form, they only served to show Mera that the Spartan was a soldier and a warrior. And looking down at the Spartan's manhood which wasn't yet erect but still an impressive specimen, Mera felt a little guilty about the thought of courting the man and yet slightly glad that perhaps courting the Spartan wouldn't be so bad after all.

Mera then stepped towards the Spartan until she was in his personal space and began to run her hands over his form, feeling the heat from his skin and the scars beneath her fingers. "Did they hurt?" she asked suddenly, looking at the Spartan. "The scars?" she clarified.

"A bit," John admitted. "But I've gotten used to them in time," he said. Mera felt the scarred skin as she leaned up and pressed a soft kiss to the Spartan's cheek, pecking her lips down his neck and running her lips on the scars. Mera's hands then slid down towards the Spartan's manhood where she felt the heft of it and slowly began to stroke it, feeling it react to her touch.

Sure enough, Mera's eyes widened when she saw the Spartan's manhood grow hard and erect in her hands.

"Neptune's beard!" she exclaimed quietly, a blush on her cheeks and a bite of her bottom lip.

"Something wrong?" John asked the Atlantean queen, his own cheeks dusted pink and his breathing slightly deeper.

"No, no! I just… you're an impressive specimen of manhood," Mera replied.

"Thank you, I think," John said and Mera nodded in response and she quickly set about on bringing the Spartan to his first release. Mera even grew so bold as to have the Spartan place a hand on her breasts, encouraging him to touch them. John clumsily touched them, but Mera didn't mind and she gently guided him on how to touch a woman. Her own cheeks growing red as she the Spartan's hands fondled her breasts, Mera stroked and massaged the Spartan's manhood in her palms, feeling the throbbing heat from it.

Then John's breathing grew deeper and heavier and Mera quickly guessed that he was about to hit his peak. Deftly grabbing a nearby cup intended to the Spartan's seed, Mera positioned the cup and with a few final strokes, the Spartan released his seed, nearly filling the cup to the brim. Smiling to herself and pleased with performance, Mera placed the cup on the table for collection and looked at the Spartan's manhood. Seeing that it was still hard and erect, Mera looked at John questioningly and John nodded in response, indicating he was still good to go.

The next hour proved to be quite productive as Mera assisted John in his donation, filling over ten cups with his sperm before finally deciding that enough cups had been filled for the day. Mera admitted that John cut quite a figure with his manhood to which John awkwardly thanked her before calming himself down and putting his armour back on. A technician came to collect the cups and left the room, not saying a word as Mera put her clothes back on.

"Are you alright, Spartan?" Mera asked John who had put his helmet back on and nodded at her in response.

"Come, we'll get you settled then we shall what you want to do," Mera said to the Spartan as they left the clinic and made their way to the Palace of Atlantis. John was given a room of his own which was quite lavish with an open view of the surrounding city and the ocean depths. John had said to Mera that she needn't have gone to such trouble and that a simple room would've been more than fine, but Mera waved it off saying that he was a guest of honour and that it was no trouble.

John asked to look at the royal archives, professing to be curious of Atlantis's history and Mera acquiesced to the Spartan's request, showing him to the Royal Archives where John began to peruse the selection of tomes on Atlantean history from the earliest recordings of Atlantis's beginnings to their most recent history. Mera watched as the Spartan scanned the tomes with a tablet device, no doubt for later perusal and studied the tomes intently. She never would've thought it, but the Spartan had a keen scholarly mind, as much a thinker as he was a warrior. Mera was guilty in thinking that the Spartan was simply a soldier who carried out orders when given them without thinking twice, but it appeared she would have to rethink such thoughts as she watched John study the Atlantean tomes.

John studied the Atlantean tomes intently, scanning some of them for Cortana to peruse later and see if any advancements could gained from them. One particular tome which detailed how Atlantis found itself beneath the sea was when the ancient world had come under the attack of the Old Ones who were extradimensional beings preparing the way for their master Icthultu. King Poseidon summoned all the ambient mystical energy in the world to forge the Trident, a weapon of great magical power, to destroy the Old Ones and seal their master away. But the act had caused Atlantis to sink beneath the sea to where it was to the present day. The description of Icthultu and the Old Ones reminded John of the prose of H.P Lovecraft who wrote of beings similar to what he was reading in the tome. John scanned the tome for Cortana to look at later, and hopefully prepare for the eventuality of this Icthultu arriving in this world.

After studying the tomes, John decided to call it off for now and looked to Mera who had been watching him. "Something wrong?" the Spartan asked her who had a vaguely guilty look on her face.

"Forgive me for staring so, but I did not take you for a scholar," the Atlantean queen admitted.

"I don't profess to be a scholar, but I was taught the importance and power of knowledge," replied John.

"You must've been taught well to know the value of knowledge," Mera commented lightly.

"I like to think so, but I'm far from infallible and I have made mistakes before," John said. "But I take the time to learn from my mistakes so as to avoid repeating them a second time," he added.

"A wise way of doing things, Spartan," Mera said in approval. "Would you join me for dinner?" she asked him politely.

John nodded in reply and they headed to the dining hall where a small feast had been prepared for Mera, John and her advisors. Contrary to what surface dwellers thought, Atlanteans did eat fish and seafood and they served many types of fish cooked different ways, as well as crustaceans and molluscs and also things like squid. There was also servings of seaweed which John professed to be curious about.

Mera explained to John that Atlanteans grew a special seaweed which was served with almost every meal in Atlantis and formed a staple of their diet. Curious as to what Atlantean seaweed tasted like, John picked a piece up and ate it. To John's mild surprise, it wasn't as salty as he expected, in fact it almost tasted like bacon and he ate another piece with interest before serving himself some grilled tuna.

"Did you like the seaweed, Spartan?" Mera asked him as she ate her meal.

"It was interesting to try, Queen Mera," replied John. "I've never eaten seaweed before, but Atlantean seaweed was certainly interesting to taste," he said.

Mera smiled and said, "My head cook and seaweed farmers will be pleased to hear that, Spartan." Before going back to her own meal.

The Allira who had been seated nearby spoke to John. "Spartan, if you'll forgive my observation, but you have the look of a soldier about you," she commented. "Might I ask what your experience in war is?" she asked.

John looked at the blonde for a moment before replying, "I've fought in the Human-Covenant war for nearly thirty years of my life. Before that, I fought the Insurrectionists," he said.

"Insurrectionists? You had a civil war in your universe?" Allira asked and John nodded in answer. "Would you tell us of your wars?" Allira asked.

"It's not very glorious," John said stoically.

"Wars usually aren't," Allira said sagely. "But I profess to be curious of what battles you have fought," she added.

"Perhaps at a later date, Allira," Mera said regally. "Certainly not at dinner," she added firmly. Allira and made a quite apology. John nodded his thanks at Mera who gave him a sympathetic look.

Soon, the evening meal was finished and everyone made their way to their rooms. John was shown to his where he stripped off his armour and climbed into the surprisingly comfortable sheets. The lights dimmed and the only light came from the city lights of Atlantis below and the distant sounds of whales calling to each were heard, before John drifted off to sleep.

TO BE CONTINUED…

A/N: There! After a lengthy wait, the sixth chapter of this story is done and dusted. I hope it lived to expectations and I know many of you were asking me when I would update this and I hope did not disappoint with this chapter. So the next chapter in Atlantis will have John taking a tour of Atlantis and sharing some war stories, or perhaps cautionary tales with the Atlantean soldiers, and then some bonding time with Mera who will no doubt be hurting over the loss of her husband and son and she did ask to court John so as to have an heir to the Atlantean throne, so she could be a romantic interest for John.

I included the bit about the Old Ones and Icthultu as I have some plans regarding them for this story and my other JLoA story variants. I will also include some bits of John meeting Lex Luthor, for each of them to gain the measure of each other. Could you imagine the Master Chief having a meeting with Lex freaking Luthor of all people? Given Luthor's history, it'll be a tense meeting between him and Master Chief as our favourite Spartan-II doesn't have much sympathy for men like Luthor. But Chief's practicality will force to make sure that Luthor stays alive for the time being, as he'd be curious as to how Luthor is still alive. If anyone here is familiar with the DCAU Lex Luthor and his history, you can guess how he's still alive which will come into play over the course of the story. But don't leave any spoilers in your review of this chapter, we want it to be a surprise to other readers *wink-wink nudge-nudge*.

In other news, I've decided to branch out a little by doing a Marvel version of my JLoA idea. Now to clarify, it won't be a Marvel character like Spiderman, Wolverine, etc. in the DC JLoA universe, rather the idea is that the Marvel universe suffers a similar fate to JLoA and a man from another universe arrives and becomes the new father to mankind. The title would Marvel Femizons and the first one will be a Game of Thrones/A Song Of Ice & Fire crossover with Aegon VI/Young Griff and I've set up a poll for that one and once I've published the first chapter and a couple more chapters after that, I'll write up a Halo version. But we'll see how it goes and if it takes off.

Other than that, I haven't got much else to say, so I'll just leave this here.

Be kind to one another,

Angry lil' elf.