Author's Note

We're approaching the end now, I can see it. I'm excited for it, and I hope that everyone who's followed me until now enjoys it.

Uploaded

09/26/2023

LEGEND BELOW

"Chief, that's not a good idea..." = Normal speech.

''You're you, don't let it control you...'' = Normal thoughts/Receiving coms.

Chapter 32

The beginning of the end, Part 1

Rated-M

M rating for blood, and language, and violence.

Music of the day

Star Fox Assault - Boss 3 theme

The first thing he became aware of the was the overwhelming scent of burnt flesh, the odd smell rousing him from his forced state of unconsciousness.

Blue eyes opened slowly, taking in his surroundings as he tried to recall what happened. Everything hurt, like like a pain he'd never felt before.

Yet, despite that, he had survived.

He was still in one piece.

Slowly, he raised his head upward, chin of his helmet scraping against the metal floor below him. The first thing that met his gaze was a pile of smoldering ashes.

His eyes widened as he pushed himself up onto his hands, glancing around the room to find even more ashes.

Bodies…

Or, perhaps, what was left of them.

It only took him a moment to realize that they were what remained of the people of Ivanoff station, reduced to atoms from the Composer.

No one had been spared.

Everyone who had still been aboard the station had been violently annihilated by the Composer.

With a start, he looked around, noticing that he was alone in the darkness of the dead facility. "Samus!?" He pushed himself to his feet, looking around to find the green armored form of his companion.

That's when he saw the large green armored orb laying in a pile of ashes, still in one piece. He stepped towards it, bending down to take a knee as he observed it. As if sensing his approach, the orb flashed bright, unfurling until the familiar super suit returned to its original state, the wearer laying face down.

However, more surprising than the fact that she'd survived the Composer without the immunity, was the fact that she hadn't done so alone.

As she came out of her morph-ball, someone else did too. The Spartan's eyes widened in disbelief as Doctor Tilson fell to the ground, alive, and still in one piece. She lay unconscious, but most certainly alive.

"Uuughnn…" The Bounty Hunter groaned, using her arm cannon to push herself up.

"Samus? Are you alright?" The Spartan asked, voice low, tight.

However, when the alien woman finally found the strength to lift her head towards him, he wasn't prepared for the nearly blinding level of light that seemed to permeate from her eyes. A bright pink light quite literally radiated from her eyes like industrial compound floodlights in the dead of night, so bright that he couldn't even make out the normal aspects of her face through her visor.

Even standing there, he could feel the pure, unadulterated energy that her body was exuding, even through his suit.

"What happened…? How did…?" He breathed, watching in something akin to awe as she slowly managed to stand to her feet. She wobbled, as if drunk on her own power, her balance thrown off, but he was quick to assist in stabilizing her.

"I think… I think my body absorbed the energy fired from the Composer, preventing him from Composing me…" Samus murmured, slowly finding her stability as her breathing leveled out. "I-I feel…. Oh fuck…" She cursed harshly, the words so unnatural coming from her mouth that it gave the Spartan pause. "I don't… I don't think I was made to take in all that energy, a-a-all at once…" She hissed out an explanation, head still spinning.

Every single cell within her body had been pushed to the absolute limits of their energy absorption capacities, and then they took in even more. She'd taken in such an absurd amount of energy that her body was glowing from attempting to contain all that raw power.

She felt like she would literally explode if she took in even a tiny amount more into her body, it was exhilarating.

She'd never felt as powerful before then she did in that moment.

But she knew that she couldn't waste time standing around, there were far more important issues at hand. "Chief…? Where's the Didact..?" Samus asked sharply, turning her blindingly bright gaze to him.

"I don't know. But I have a feeling I know where he's headed." He uttered lowly, the gravity of the situation weighing heavily upon him.

"It's not over Chief, not yet. We still have a chance." Samus urged, shaking her head to rid it of the sickness. "If we go after him now, we might still have a chance…" She muttered, turning away in thought. "Was Cortana ever able to track down a ship for us?" She asked suddenly.

That line of questioning brought his attention towards the terminal a short distance from him, the familiar form of the blue artificial intelligence sitting quietly atop its display. "Cortana…"

He stepped towards her, his heavy footsteps echoing throughout the halls of the ghostly facility. Sensing his approach, Cortana glanced up from where she'd been quietly sitting. Her eyes widened seeing him standing, his armor burned and singed, but otherwise intact, same for Samus. "A-Are you OK…?" She whispered softly, voice broken.

The digital blue woman's gaze was drawn to the smoking remains of the researchers corpses, their ashes still smoldering. "I-I monitored the data pulse…" She informed bleakly. "I could hear them… w-what was left of them…" She whispered. "Chief… these people are gone…" She uttered, the horror of it striking her.

His gaze hardened. "And more will follow if we allow the Didact to reach Earth." He stated sharply.

Cortana was silent for a moment, working up the mental fortitude to put this entire tragedy behind her and focus on the mission at hand. "R-Right…" She murmured, standing up as she accessed the station's systems. "I'm spinning up a Broadsword in hanger bay eleven."

"Chief… I'll meet you outside, I've got to get Tilson out of here. I'm going to take her to that emergency shuttle station, there's still one aboard unused." Samus said quietly, having already picked up the unconscious older woman, holding her gently in her grasp.

"Understood. I'll meet you there." His gruff voice intoned. She nodded, before turning on her heels as she ran off with the Doctor. He noted with a bit of interest that her wings had fully healed, seemingly undamaged. He assumed it was from her energy intake, but he didn't have time to dwell on it. He pulled Cortana and ran, making long strides on his way to the hanger bay…

The facility was dead quiet, not even basic life support functioning anymore. So when the sounds of an ONI Broadsword's engines spurring to life echoed out, it was akin to a bomb going off.

The jet rumbled as the stations support systems loaded it with a nuke, the same nuke originally meant to stop this from all happening in the first place.

Chief situated himself in the cockpit, the hatch coming down above him, sealing him inside. His hands settled on the throttle controls, armored fingers deftly bringing all the necessary systems online.

The jet was slowly positioned to face the launch bay, the blast doors opening to expose the space outside.

''John, do you copy?'' Samus's voice suddenly echoed out, static interference making her sound fuzzy.

"Go ahead, Samus." He muttered lowly, hand itching to launch forwards.

''I've secured Tilson's safety in the lifeboat. I'm launching the Stiletto now, I'll meet you outside. Do you have the nuke?'' Her voice echoed inside his helmet.

"Affirmative. I'm leaving now." His voice was followed by the sound of the Broadsword's thrusters launching the jet forwards, practically exploding out of the base.

He launched forth, leaving the ruined ghost of a facility behind him as he quickly tracked down the Didact's ship.

On his radar he detected Samus fall into formation just behind him, easily keeping pace with the Broadsword.

Just ahead was the Forerunner's ship, the vessel having already put a decent distance between itself and them.

"I've got eyes on him." He muttered, pressing the throttle forward to increase his speed. "Distance, two hundred kilometers and closing."

''Chief… No matter what happens, you get that nuke to the Didact. If he reaches Earth, humanity may be lost…'' Samus spoke up with a grave tone, something he didn't immediately pick up on.

"Understood." He murmured in that gravelly tone of his. However, no sooner had he said that, the Forerunner ship opened a wormhole into slip space. "He's on the move again." He exclaimed.

''Don't let him escape! Get inside his shields before he leaves!'' Samus's voice echoed from his helmet, the Bounty Hunter having wasted no time before throwing the ship into full speed, launching it right towards the Didact's.

Chief quickly threw the Broadsword into gear too as he sped after her, quickly catching up as both took cover underneath the shields that formed around the massive ship.

Not a moment later they too were dragged into slip space alongside the Didact.

The world around them was enveloped in blue, Ivenoff station now hundreds of millions of light years behind them as they sped towards earth at godlike speeds.

Chief glanced up through the cockpit window to see Samus speeding in ahead of him, zero patience in her eyes as she barreled forward to help clear a path for his Broadsword.

''Get moving, I've got your back. Whatever happens, don't stop, even for me.'' She muttered, no beating around the bush. ''You get that nuke to that bastard, end this madness before it's too late. Nothing else matters… Even me.'' She stated with dreadfully calm seriousness, launching the Stiletto forward ahead of him. The automated turrets all turned to face her, immediately opening fire.

But she wasn't a legendary Bounty Hunter for nothing. Her ship spun through the empty space, deftly dodging any attack that came her way, her twin assault cannons laying waste to the Forerunner weapons.

With most of the focus on her, he was able to make his way forward without much difficulty, easily keeping pace with the speed of her lighter star fighter. He was the one with the nuke, he was the one that needed to be careful, lest this entire mission go to hell.

''Heads up, we're coming out of slip space!'' Samus called out. Not a moment later the tell tale signs of slip space travel vanished, and normal space surrounded them once more. Far above them stood the Earth, floating innocently in the vastness of the universe.

And standing between her and total annihilation was the entire UNSC fleet. ''All ships, fire at will!'' The familiar sound of Del Rio's voice echoed out through all local UNSC coms, preluding to the earth shattering assault that suddenly slammed into the Didact's ship, courtesy of the Infinity's twin Mass accelerator cannons.

"Sierra 117 to Infinity, Captain Del Rio do you read?" Chief called out suddenly, tapping into the coms.

''Chief? Is that you? What the hell are you doing aboard that ship?!'' The aged man snapped in surprise, his face appearing on the Spartan's HUD.

"Sir, delivering a Havok grade nuke to the Didact." Chief explained briefly, cranking the controls to the side as he avoided a volley of missiles heading his way. "The Didact has the Composer, he's going to annihilate the Earth if we don't stop him."

''Copy that Spartan! We'll back you up, you crazy son of a bitch.'' The man sighed, unable to hide the amused smirk that tilted his lips. ''Christ, I thought we'd never see you again once you left Requiem, I'm glad you've proved me wrong. What happened to Ivanoff Station?''

"…It's gone, sir." The Spartan uttered lowly. "We saved who we could." He added after a moment.

Del Rio stood back, hands clasped behind his back, face tense. ''Understood Spartan. Let's make sure that the tragedies end there, he's not going to get to Earth.''

The coms faded into the background as the Didact was forced to defend against the entire fleet of humanity, completely ignorant to the two that were making headway towards his bridge.

"Samus, watch yourself! Phaetons moving up on your right!" He warned, watching as a group of Forerunner fighters moved in to combat her.

There were a lot of them too, far too many for either of them to ignore. And worse yet, they were blocking access to the path forward.

''I'll worry about the heat, you make your way to the bridge!'' She called back, moving in to grab the attention of the enemies that sought her demise. ''Don't worry about me! I'm not the one with a bomb strapped to me!'' She reiterated, cranking the fighter of her backwards to engage with her enemies. The swarm of Phaetons all chased after her, leaving a path forward available for him.

He hated the fact that he had to leave her behind, but he had to put his faith in her, for it was his only choice now. The throttle splintered underneath the intensity of his grip, fingers tightening around the controls. "Copy that Samus…"

He launched it forwards, banking to avoid oncoming fire from the turrets that sought to shoot him down. He easily evaded their assault, something a million times easier to accomplish without a literal swarm of Phaetons hot on his tail.

He disappeared into the tunnels that led him ever closer to his objective, the walls beginning to close in around him in an attempt to halt his progression. But he was too fast, slipping through the gaps left in the wake of the shifting ship.

The Didact must've been onto them by this point, he knew as much. But with Samus pulling the attention, he was finding little struggle in making his way forward.

''Fleet control, Forerunner vessel still on approach, will reach the Earth in T-minus five minutes! No weapons seemed to have any effect on outer hull, redirecting weapons fire to ship's core!'' An officer's voice echoed out, bits and pieces of a different conversation reaching his coms systems. ''Mac cannons, focus fire, burn a hole through his defenses!''

"Chief, Earth's fleet isn't doing so hot!" Cortana muttered in worry, the hull of the Broadsword shuddering as he pushed the vessel to its max.

"They're distracting the Didact, that's enough. Once we get inside, it won't matter anyway." The Spartan muttered lowly, flanking hard as he avoided a devastating volley of missiles heading his way.

Then the path forward suddenly disappeared entirely, the ship shifting right before him.

"Chief, down!!" She screamed, the ship banking hard as he suddenly dove. A secondary tunnel had opened, thin passages that barely gave him enough leeway to fly. "That was too close!"

Entirely focused on not crashing, he missed the gathering of enemy ships that suddenly dove into the tunnel behind him, now hot on his tail.

Not a moment later he emerged into a wide open space, the focal point of the Composers weapon at the center.

That's how they would get inside.

"Chief, it's there!" Cortana cried out, marking a ping on his HUD as he launched out into the open space at the entrance. From there, it would be a straight shot for the Forerunner super weapon.

Or, rather, it would've if the entrance wasn't suddenly closed off. "No! He's sealed it off, we can't get in!" Cortana exclaimed.

"Captain Del Rio, the Didact has blocked us access to the Composer." Chief grunted quickly, pulling the ship around as he began circling the massive open space.

''Chief, get those turrets off of my fleet and I'll blow a hole straight through that son of a bitch's hull, make you a damn path!'' The Infinity's captain ordered loudly.

"You heard the man, Chief!" Cortana intoned, bringing up the location of the power cores for the four turrets that surrounded the entrance. He launched the Broadsword forward, flying straight for the first core.

Upon his approach, however, he detected a few stragglers on his radar. Before he could respond, hard light bullets began slamming into the rear of his ship, his shield flaring to compensate. "Evade Chief!" Cortana cried out, eyes wide as the ship blared alarms from the continued assault.

"Shit!" He exclaimed, forced away from the first turret.

There was no chance of him taking the weapons offline with a swarm of Phaetons right behind him, he'd be shot down before he could do what needed to be done.

However…

''Chief, who said you could leave! You heard the Captain, get those god damn turrets offline!'' Samus's voice appeared suddenly, followed by the sounds of explosions as she destroyed the ships chasing him. She soared past him, every single Phaeton within the vicinity hot on her tail. With their companions destroyed, the ships that had once been chasing the Spartan all turned their attention onto her.

"Samus!" He called out.

''No, you do your job, I'll do mine!'' She cut him off, flying away, a literal swarm chasing after her.

"Chief, do it!" Cortana urged frantically.

He clenched his teeth, returning to his objective as he made his way to the first core. With a clear line of sight, he unleashed a volley of missiles, obliterating the thing. "One down." He grunted, already halfway towards the second tower.

''That's it Chief!'' Samus's voice echoed encouragingly, the radio seeming patchier then it was before.

He soared for it, the automated turrets too slow to halt his approach. "Second one down." He stated.

He was entirely focused on taking down the turrets, blocking out everything else. It was almost as if it was too easy, nothing focused on him, granting him a easy victory against his greatest foe.

This was all that mattered, this was what he had to do.

"Third turret down." He grunted, soaring for the fourth and final weapon. Once it was offline, the Infinity could come in and take the shot.

Then it would be approaching the end.

He could almost see the victory before him, waiting for them to reach out and take it. "Fourth turret down, Infinity you are green!" The Spartan called out.

''Affirmative Master Chief, clear out, I'm coming in hot!'' Del Rio exclaimed loudly, the Infinity flying into view as it charged up its twin Mac cannons. With an earth shattering blast, a massive hole was torn into the hull of the ship, granting them access.

"Shot was clean, Sir! I'm going in." He called out, cranking the fighter to the side as he made a beeline for the hole. "Samus, get over here, we're going in!" He ordered, scanning the horizon for his green armored companion.

That's when his eyes widened. "Chief…" He didn't even register Cortana muttering in his head, too focused on what he was witnessing.

Across the divide, spinning out of control, engines on fire and one wing entirely missing was Samus's Stiletto fighter. Behind her was an army of Phaetons, all heaving hellfire upon her carcass of a star fighter. Her ship limped away, only narrowly avoiding death by the slimmest of margins.

"Samus! Get out of there!" He found himself calling out, changing his flight course to chase after her. But, as he did so, he noticed the hole that the Infinity tore in the ship beginning to close in on itself.

''What did I tell you John? I said focus on the mission at hand.'' She called out, ship struggling to keep away from the storm that was chasing her. ''I told you I'd pull their fire, and I did. You get that bomb inside, just like you promised.''

"C-Chief, the hole is closing! This is your only chance!" Cortana spoke up, realizing the terrible situation they were in.

Again he felt like the world slowed to a crawl, everything slowing down as his mind raced to figure out a solution to both save her, and stop the Didact.

…

…

…

But no solution came to mind…

He had only one choice to make, and she was demanding that he make it, even though it was going to cost her everything.

''Remember what I said John? No matter what happens, you stop the Didact. I'll manage on my own, I always have. I've gone into all of my missions knowing this could be an outcome, but it's a sacrifice I was willing to make. I'm asking you to do the same now, go on without me, complete the mission.'' Samus continued with a wide yet entirely fake grin on her black lips, explosions echoing out as her ship was struck again, her control over the fighter slipping away with each passing second. She sped away, a swarm right on top of her. ''Don't think, act, John!'' She exclaimed sharply, knowing that he was weighing his options. ''This is your only chance! Don't waste it on me! I'll find a way out, I always do!'' She yelled at him, leading the swarm away from him, exposing the giant hole in the ship.

He said nothing, cranking the throttle forward as he made a beeline for the hole the Infinity made for him. As he began his descent into the massive ship, his grip around the controls tightened nearly enough to destroy them. "Copy that, good luck Samus…" He bit out, refusing to turn back, refusing to look back.

He wouldn't let her sacrifice be in vain, he would make her proud. This was what had to be done, and he was going to make the Didact pay for making it come to this. He wasn't going to let anyone or anything stop him now, now after he'd come this far.

The explosion that echoed out quietly in the distance behind him sounded like a bomb ringing in his ears, knowing damn well that it had not come from any Forerunner ship.

"Chief…" Cortana muttered, eyes wide. But she couldn't think of anything to say…

What was she supposed to say…?

Even if she could think of something, it wouldn't change what happened…

His eyes narrowed at the sight before him, the Didact desperately trying to close the hull of the ship on top of him. He cranked the thrusters forwards as max speed, spinning around to avoid being crushed.

He could see it!

It was right there, the end just in sight!

"Chief, I don't think we're going to make it!!!!" Cortana screamed as the world closed in around them, the tunnel growing thinner and thinner. Right as they reached the end, the tunnel closed in on top of them, crushing the rear of the Broadsword. The ruined carcass of a fighter flew forward, crashing into the floor of the atrium they collapsed into, sparks flying as they skid to a stop.

As the dust settled as the world stopped spinning around him, he punched out the cockpit, pulling himself free from the ruined jet. He landed on the ground, heavy footfalls echoing throughout the empty halls. He turned back to the ship, the vessel obliterated.

"What do we do now…?" Cortana asked quietly, a sinking feeling crawling over her digital skin. As if to answer, Chief reached up and pulled the nuke from its housing, securing the entire warhead to his rear armor plate with magnetic clamps.

"We improvise…" He growled, drawing his heavy assault rifle as he began his descent into the depths of hell…

Chapter

32

End