Author's Note

Okay, I tried to get this out sooner, then made the mistake of opening Crunchyroll and learning of my newest favorite show in the form of Chainsaw Man. Between that, 40 hour work weeks, and trying to play Elden Ring as a gamer who's bad at those types of games, it's been a long few weeks. The fact that I refuse to look up a guide to help may have something to do with that...

heh...

But I do try to sit down every day and write some paragraphs of the many stories I post here. And this one is one I want to keep pushing myself on.

I do want to apologize. I initially was planning on really just skipping through this whole mission and rushing for the encounter with the Didact. The whole thing between the last chapter's end and the encounter with the Didact in Canon is a long drawn out battle across similar backgrounds, but I felt it would be cheep if I copped out and merely skipped it entirely.

That being said, I tried to make this chapter entertaining and place a few story beats in it for future use.

I hope you all enjoy.

Uploaded

12/11/2022

LEGEND BELOW

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

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

Chapter 7

A hidden understanding/Infinity on approach

Rated-M

M rating for blood, eventual entioning of gore and other body parts, and language.

Chief landed on his feet, rolling forward, rushing to put a small distance between him and the portal open behind him. He made it roughly twenty feet, his hefty footfalls echoing throughout the dimly lit Forerunner halls he'd found himself thrown into.

He heard Samus slip through behind him, flying into a slide as she slid to a stop, spinning around to take aim at the open portal. He took aim, rifle poised to unload unrelenting fire upon the Forerunner constructs that gave them chase.

The first one leapt through, but the moment it appeared he was met with a green tipped warhead, the velocity and power behind the resulting explosion shaking the foundation of the halls. The entity was reduced to a collection of blue and orange particles, but it didn't return.

Three more came through, roaring in defiance. There was no hesitation as they began unloading upon her with orange glowing weapons. Samus stood in the way, blocking the attackers from reaching the Spartan.

"You know where you're going, so go! I'll hold them off, don't wait for me!" Samus shouted, glaring at the Spartan from the corner of her eye. She couldn't risk having Adam destroyed by these things.

The man didn't have time to think or respond, watching as she was battered from multiple angles, orange hardlight projectiles buffeting her form. He saw her flinch with each attack, but she didn't step out of the way. Any construct that attempted to bypass her was met with a super missile to the face.

She glanced down to the radar on her HUD, noticing that he'd yet to leave. She snapped around, energy wafting off of her in waves. "NOW!!" She bellowed, ordering him off, her tone almost feral.

He spun around, hardlights rounds slamming into his shoulder, his energy shields flaring to accommodate.

The door to the tunnel shut behind him, yet he ran forward, not turning back as more small earthquakes shook the ground, all coming from the room behind him.

With the only friendly out of the way, she could stop holding back. She snarled as her body was buffeted by hundreds of hardlight rounds, the damage quickly ramping up as she was unable to dodge in such close quarters.

But with the surplus of energy she'd gained from the previous Covenant forces, and the entirety of the Phatom's power core she sucked dry, there was no chance of her shielding dropping any time soon.

Her eyes narrowed to slits as she jumped away from the portal. Twenty more constructs came through, as if they were endless. Knowing that the terminus where she had come from was their point of origin, she couldn't leave this portal open. And with no visible way to shut it down, that left her with little choice.

She crouched low to the ground, her suit shifting as it reformed around her in the form of a ball. Ignoring the damage she'd been tanking, her growl echoed out as if from the air itself, as her form began to glow white.

"Enough of you!" She snarled, dropping a bomb of energy. She quickly rolled out of the halls, the door shutting behind her. Nary a second passed before the bomb went off, a massive heatwave expanding at a rapid speed, fully encompassing everything within the room, be it flesh or metal. The entirety of the tunnel, including the Forerunner constructs and the portal were blown to hell as she left them with a devastating Power Bomb, vaporizing nearly everything instantly. All that remained was a massive pile of rubble, blocking the portal's use.

Knowing that she had to catch up, she decided it better to stay in this more mobile form. She sped off, boosting forward with a jump of kinetic energy.

It only took her a few moments to catch up to the Spartan, boosting into the large floating overlook she found herself in.

Perhaps he was suspicious of the green plated orb flying towards him, as he snatched it out of the air, holding it in place as it continued to spin for a moment before stopping within his grasp.

For some reason, he could feel hefty amounts of irritation wafting off of the orb in waves…

"Could you put me down?" A voice he recognized as Samus's, snapped at him in irritation. If the Spartan was surprised by the disembodied voice of his companion speaking to him, then he didn't let it show, dropping the orb to the ground. The moment she hit the ground she unformed, revealing the Bounty Hunter once more.

"How did…?" The man voiced, lost for words. He'd seen a lot of things in his life, too many, but this took the cake as one of the strangest. His confusion was shared by his blue companion residing within his head, just as confused as the soldier.

Samus raised an eyebrow at him.

He stilled.

"Never mind. Let's keep moving." He grunted, turning on his heels as he moved for his destination.

"Where are we? This doesn't look like where you wanted to go." Samus mused, keeping pace with the Spartan as he ran.

True to her word, instead of being deposited at the site of the Infinity's signal, they'd been dropped close, but still a good distance away, thrown into a massive opening with nothing underneath them but a single platform of Forerunner metal.

Before them was…

"This planet really is hollow…" She muttered. Before her lay a single terminal, placed dead center of the platform. Yet beyond that was simply nothing. A massive hollow void stood before them, the entire core of the planet hollow, metallic walls forming a massive empty core. The core was easily large enough to contain multiple fleets, never mind the probable size of the Spartan's Infinity.

However…

Speaking of the Infinity.

"Where the Infinity?" The man asked, glancing around. True to his question, there was no sign of a UNSC vessel anywhere inside the core. Thinking for a moment, he pulled Cortana, placing her within the terminal. As she appeared, she too to a look around.

"This is Requiem's core alright, but the Infinity is definitely not here." Cortana muttered. Although the core was almost entirely empty, within the center was a massive Forerunner construct, a device she quickly determined that was a satellite of some sort.

In the background, Samus could be heard openly scoffing, from the sounds of her feet scraping against the ground, the Spartan gained the impression she had turned away. He could tell she was upset, but right now wasn't the time to confront that issue, so he carried forward.

"That satellite in the center is amplifying the ships broadcasts like a relay." Cortana muttered, blinking in thought.

Although the Infinity definitely wasn't here, they weren't out of luck just yet.

"Do you think we can use it to relay a message?" The Spartan asked.

"It's possible, but with those beam it's emitting, it's going to be impossible to do. Whatever is creating those beams is causing the strange interference we've been experiencing." She muttered. Indeed, surrounding the satellite was a strange energy field, with two separate beams of energy seemingly fueling the shield. The source of the beams were placed on opposing ends of the core, two massive towers powering the object.

She turned back to the green armored man. "If you want to use that satellite, we're going to have to take down the towers first." She explained. The Spartan seemed pensive, but didn't deny her words.

It was the only way forward. "Make a portal to the first tower." He said resolutely. She nodded, swiping her hands over the controls. A moment later a Forerunner portal opened, purple energy swirling. "Come on, let's go." He said, turning to the woman behind him. He stilled however, when he noticed what she was doing.

Perhaps she hadn't heard him, or she was too occupied in her own head to recognize what he'd said. She stood facing away from him, her hand placed against her armored belly. A soft orange glow radiated from her visor, a technology he had seen her use once before on the Forward Unto Dawn. It was the visor she used that seemingly allowed her to see through objects, perhaps a thermal visor of some sort.

However, seeing her use it again wasn't the strangest thing about what he was seeing. No, it was the fact that she was doing so on herself, as if to look inside of herself. That coupled with the strange way she was holding her midsection left the man's mind reeling.

Suddenly some things had started making far too much sense…

Her strange anger issues, the attitude flipping around at a moments notice, her going from calm and collected to ready to blow a fuse within seconds. The way he'd caught her glancing, almost longingly at her belly, hand pressed to it.

The noticeable size difference in her midsection from when he'd met her to now…

There was only one thing his mind could settle on…

''Cortana?'' He voiced within his mind, the A.I. picking up his thoughts.

''I know.'' She returned, having come to a similar conclusion herself once she read over the information he'd been dwelling on.

Out of all the things the Master Chief was trained to do, catering to and caring for a pregnant alien woman was not on his list of skills. Neither was handling an extremely emotional alien woman who at times wanted to eat him, and at others wanted little to do with him. It didn't help that she most certainly had the power to accomplish one of those things if she truly wished it. He was just glad she was sensible enough to rein in the hunger.

''Could that be related to why her odd powers are acting up?'' Cortana mused, the idea striking her suddenly.

''That could explain the strange urges with her uncontrolled hunger issues.'' He returned her thoughts. ''Doesn't matter, we can't do anything right now. We'll handle this once we return to Infinity.'' He decided, pushing her growing issue to the side for the time being. There were more important things to worry about.

''She's the last of her kind, and she's carrying the last of her species within her… We can't afford to lose her. If ONI found out, we'd lose our heads.'' Was Cortana's last thought before Chief began making his way towards the portal.

"Samus, let's go." The man said again, not turning to face her. It would be better to pretend he didn't know for the time being, leaving her that small comfort. She obviously hadn't told him of her pregnancy for a reason, and he wasn't privy as to why just yet. He'd let her tell him when she was ready.

The woman spun around, quickly catching up to the much taller man. "Right."

When they appeared on the other side, it became apparent that they'd been dumped off somewhere near the tower, but not directly below it.

Quiet purple caves met their gaze upon exiting the portal, a large rocky world between them and their destination. The only light down there was coming from odd and old looking Forerunner towers that rose out of the ground, emitting a soft blue light. Whatever their purpose was before, neither of them knew.

The run to the tower was made in near total silence, Samus having moved on ahead, taking the lead in the charge. He had little say in that department, and so he left her to herself.

Eventually they found the exit to the cave system, the tower not far from their current location. Along the way they'd encountered resistance from the Forerunner constructs similar to the likes of which had attacked them at the terminus. Although similar, these were far more fragile and fast, crawling on the ground like wild dogs.

Cortana had delved into the data cloud left behind by one of the bigger ones, learning that at least the creatures had names. They were Forerunner defense A.I.'s called Prometheans. The small ones were referred to as Crawlers, while the large ones were called Knights. The armor of the constructs was durable, yet with the combined powers of the Spartan and Bounty Hunter, they posed an insignificant threat.

Their threat posed was lessened by the overwhelming firepower the alien in question used against anything that came near her. He was clearly aware that she contained weaker lesser missile weapons, yet she continued to use the green warheads that shook the very ground beneath them with every detonation.

Beforehand he had no understanding as to her continued use of overkill upon her enemies, but with his recent revelation, understanding had begun to hit him.

Whether she understood it herself, or not, she was acting overprotective. He knew at least from what he'd seen that her suit was far stronger than his, yet she acted as if everything around her had the real chance of bringing her down in an instant.

That reaction she had to combat only served to reinforce his theory that she was carrying little ones inside her. Cortana helped him to understand that, filling the empty gaps in his understanding.

Nevertheless, he was still in the dark as to why she hid this information from him. He was her only companion in this scenario, yet she didn't seem to trust him with this information. Did she not trust him?

And if she did trust him, then why withhold this from him? If she doesn't trust him, then why would she continue to accompany him on his mission?

Too many questions, and no time to dwell on them.

Eventually they reached the first tower, rushing into an elevator as hoards of Promethean's assaulted the doors behind them. Once safely aboard the tower lift, they were forced to wait as it raised them up to the top. It was at that moment that a signal from the Infinity managed to reach the duo, although still choppy as it was.

"-his is-… -ptain Del Rio of-… -finity. Forward Unto Dawn, we r-… distress beacon…. -ing from inside t-.. planet." That was all they managed to pick up before the line went dead once more.

"The Infinity! They're in orbit above the planet." Cortana realized.

"They're tracking your distress beacon." Samus stated, pointing out the immediate danger of such a fact.

"The beacon was pulled in with us. If they try to follow it…" The man muttered, trailing off, a sinking feeling entering his gut.

"They're going to be pulled in too." Cortana muttered in horror. "Chief, we've got to get those towers offline now!" She exclaimed.

"Right!" He grunted, more than a little off put by the shift in intensity of the situation.

The reached the top of the tower, rushing through the doors and into the tower control room. The Spartan didn't hesitate to bring the tower offline, the first of two beams blocking all signals fizzling out.

"I'm going to try to warn them, you two get to the second tower immediately. We don't have a lot of time!" Cortana urged, a second portal appearing. They ran straight through, appearing at the original point of entrance once more. In the distance they were forced to watch as a small Covenant fleet came out of warp inside the core of the planet. And it was obvious that their destination was the second tower.

"What are they doing here?" Samus asked, coming up from behind the Spartan. The man's eyes narrowed.

"No idea. But it can't be good." He decided, moving for the second portal as soon as Cortana brought it online. Samus was hot on his heels.

Just like the first tower, Cortana could only manage to get them within a short distance of the beacon. They'd have to hoof it a second time.

Upon their arrival at the second location however, they were posed with a problem.

The only way forward was, unfortunately, blocked by a massive group of both Covenant and Prometheans, both sides fighting a bloody duel in a small rocky valley between them and the second tower.

They ran to the valley edge, just a tiny distance above the battle.

Before a plan of action could be made by either the Spartan or the A.I. he housed, Samus moved in front of him, blocking his path. He wisely took a step back, energy wafting off of her in waves.

"You're not getting through here in time to stop the Infinity." She started, tone odd. "I'll distract them while you sneak through." She stated, but her voice felt off, shaken.

"You mean to take them all on your own at once?" The Spartan asked, tone displaying his taken aback confusion.

"We don't have a choice. If we clear them out together, you won't get to the satellite in time. I could get there much faster by myself, but I can't make the call like you can…" She explained, holding up her shaking hand, pink energy swirling around the extended limb aggressively. "I'd destroy the whole thing before I could make any use out of it, and I don't have access to your encoded channels to warn them either."

He wanted to refute her words, but he knew she was telling him the truth. He found his gaze drawn to her hand, the limb shaking. He glanced at her body, the way she was standing, the strange weakness that had overcome her body language.

She was asking him to go on ahead for more than simply allowing him to make it on time.

Her control was slipping, and she didn't know if she could trust herself not to bring him harm.

She was vulnerable, and he wasn't about to call her out on it.

His head tilted slightly in understanding, glancing her dead in the eyes.

"I see. Then I will meet with you at the satellite." He said resolutely. He quickly ran ahead, stopping only once he was a short distance away. He didn't turn around, but he knew she was looking at him. "And Samus… Don't get yourself killed." He commented, taking off for the tower. Everything from here on out depended on her ability to draw the fire off of him.

Samus sighed, watching him go. She bit her lips, blood leaking out as she glanced down to her hand. The energy was out of her control, and simply standing near her would place him or Adam in danger. Worse more, she was hungry…

No…

She wasn't hungry…

She was starving, and the sight of the small army below was enough stimulation to bend her will over and nearly take her control away from her. She had to get him away from her, before that control was lost entirely.

She could never forgive herself if she ended up killing Adam due to her own weakness. And worse yet, she wouldn't live with herself if she allowed these urges to convince her that eating the man responsible for bringing her back from the brink of death was okay.

It wasn't.

None of this was okay! Everything felt wrong.

''Breathe!'' She hissed in her own head, claws raking down the front of her visor. ''Focus on the mission. Don't let them hurt him.'' She thought. ''Don't let them hurt Adam…'' The swirling urges inside of her halted for a moment, before bringing her attention to the two sided battle below. That was her target.

Those were the ones she was allowed to eat. Those were the ones she was supposed to stop.

And she was going to do just that.

She growled, a thunderous almost lightning like green aura appearing around her as she summoned her Lightning Armor. The very ground around her cracked, splintering underneath her sudden burst of raw power. The hunger and the urges she'd been painfully holding at bay this whole time were finally given some leeway, the black sclera of her eyes bleeding away until only red remained, only the eyes of a true ultimate predator remaining.

She set her eyes on the small war happening before her, taking a step forward.

Then another, and another, and soon she was rushing headfirst into the fray, arm cannon blazing on her right while her left hand flared with snapping pink energy. This had the intended effect as it drew both the Covenant's attention and the Promethean's.

She roared out in fury, purposefully blowing her cover and attracting all eyes on her. She soared, flying into the battle like a blood starved beast, landing on one poor unsuspecting Elite Minor. The soldier fell to the ground in a heap, a glowing clawed hand clamped around its throat. Samus didn't hold back, letting her powers loose. The Elite was absorbed in mere seconds at most, the Hunter having already moved onto her next target, blowing another Elite to hell with a charged Plasma Beam shot.

She slid to the side, easily dodging the slurry of plasma weapons sent her way, reciprocating with a multi missile barrage that shook the battlefield.

Explosions rung out behind her, a horde of enemies rushing her in a heated fury. Promethean Knights fired upon her to the best of their abilities, unrelenting in nature.

She placed her hands on the ground, crouching low before she launched herself up into the air. This high up she was able to clearly gain a target lock on tens of twenties of those who opposed her, the barrel of her cannon opening wide as if to accommodate for the things soon to come. Thrusters on her back flared to keep her in the air for a brief moment, long enough to let the attack loose, rapidly burning through over fifty of her Super Missiles.

The resulting explosion shook the very world beneath her, causing a massive cave in across the entire valley where the main battle was taking place.

Not too long after that, the green clad Bounty Hunter landed below. The smaller amount of those left were unable to describe the sensation of true unrelenting horror that filled them upon hearing the shrill monstrous cry that she emitted. That cry was the last thing they'd ever hear, the vision of a hand reaching for their face appearing at speeds unable to track as she practically teleported upon them, feasting upon their screams…

He slid into the opening that contained the second tower, before him the bridge that led straight to the second elevator. He ran forward, keeping his eyes peeled for any hostility. He knew Samus had been drawing their fire, but it would be foolish to believe that she'd managed to gain the attention of all local hostiles.

That being said, the valley was empty, not even Banshees littering the area. They'd all run off to her the moment she powered up, emitting an energy signature so large, any system within a mile was easily capable of picking it up. And once they had, they made a beeline for her location, leaving the Pylon exposed.

"Chief! I'm getting a signal from the Infinity!" Cortana's worried voice drew his attention, her panicked face appearing on his HUD. He didn't even wait for her to explain, running as fast as he could across the light bridge.

"UNSC survivor of the Forward Unto Daw——…, we're reading a faint iff tag near the planet's core, do——-… read?" The signal came through, patchy but better than ever before. It was from the Captain, Del Rio.

"They know we're here." Cortana muttered, before seeing this as their chance to warn them. "UNSC Infinity, this is A.I. Cortana! Do not approach the planet, I repeat, d-" Cortana tried, but the man's voice cut her off.

"UNSC asset, we read you but you're breaking up." The man said, turning away. "Helm, increase speed by point seven, get us in there!" The man urged.

"No! Negative Infinity! Stay away from the planet! Do not-"

"Survivor, if you can hear us, hang tight! We'll be there shortly!" Del Rio promised, before the line went cold once more.

"No no no! Chief! You've got to hurry and shut that beam off now!" Cortana panicked, the Spartan's HUD wigging out in response to her distress.

"Right!" He grunted through his teeth, running as fast as he could to cross the massive gap between him and the tower. Once inside he ascended the elevator, appearing at the console to the second beam. Seconds later the beam was down, and all signal interruptions were stopped.

Cortana tried desperately to warn the Infinity once more, but even without the disruption, the Spartan's suit emitters weren't strong enough to reach the ship from within the planet.

"Chief, you need to get to that Satellite!" Cortana exclaimed, opening up another portal. The man grunted, quickly moving for the portal.

He stopped suddenly, a strange chill running down his spine. In the distance he heard a terrible screeching cry, the sound truly unnatural and unnerving in nature.

"What was that?" He asked suddenly, glancing away from the portal. Cortana didn't have an answer for him, and his instruments couldn't bring up anything in the sound.

However…

"That, was my Lady…" Adam spoke up oddly…

Chapter

7

End