Disclaimer, I own nothing
Halo is owned by 343 Studios and Microsoft
Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is owned by Nintendo and Monolift software.
() Author side note
"Cortana talking"
'Cortana thinking'
'Someone Thinking'
any sMaLl 70nt, UnderlInes, or rnD0m k3yS pressed together will be how i show signs of Cortana's rampancy.
Chapter 3: Discovering the remains of another civilization.
Chief had made significant progress over the past three days, leaping from rooftop to rooftop with practiced agility. His enhanced senses kept him alert, ensuring he navigated the desolate urban landscape with efficiency. When forced to walk the streets, he encountered few of the flood-like creatures; most either roamed aimlessly or lay dormant, allowing him to slip by unnoticed. When detected, the creatures, though swift, lacked agility. Their inability to turn sharply gave Chief the advantage. He could outmaneuver them easily, scaling walls or rooftops with ease.
When confronted directly, he sidestepped or slid around them, watching as they stumbled, crashed into walls, or plummeted off ledges. Despite his efficiency, Chief began feeling the toll of his injuries and the fever had started to set in.
Reaching a nearby highway, Chief launched himself up and took a moment to catch his breath. Subconsciously putting his arm up to rub his sweaty forehead only to stop halfway in realization and put it back down, slightly chiding himself for his loss of focus. His gaze then landed on a faded sign. As he walked closer, he tried to decipher the weathered text, but the words were too eroded to make sense.
"Cortana, can you decipher what these words are saying?" he asked, his voice steady despite his exhaustion.
"Hmmm," Cortana mused, analyzing the sign. "The arrows could indicate an exit, and I can make out 'orbit' and 'ahead.' The rest is too faded to read clearly. The good news is, we're looking at English, so we're in familiar territory."
Nodding in affirmation, Chief continued his trek, surveying the destroyed environment. The city was a grim reminder of a war long past.
"Have you been able to pick up anything?" he asked.
"Yes, but only hostile robots," Cortana replied. "I decided not to bother you since their files were corrupted and they were set to combat mode. I managed to shut them down by overloading their systems, creating a distraction to avoid combat. Other than that, nothing significant. But it raises a question."
Chief nodded, indicating for her to continue.
"Where are the bodies?" Cortana wondered aloud. "Since we crash-landed, we've only seen the ruins of two civilizations. The one ahead remains a mystery, but here, it's evident a war was fought. Destroyed vehicles, buildings, empty bullet casings, scattered weapons, bomb craters – all signs of a significant conflict. But not a single corpse, Heck, not even a skeleton anywhere. They weren't fighting the Covenant; their lack of tech or bodies lying around makes that clear. Even most of the buildings I've seen are all standing for the most part."
"They could have been fighting a human faction or terrorists," Chief speculated. "As for the other place, it's clear it wasn't here before. Its presence is a mystery, and it's not Covenant. However, the damage suggests something akin to glassing beams was used. We'll need to get closer to confirm."
Walking around more debris, Chief noticed he had reached the end of the highway. Before him lay the body of a massive dead creature, blocking his path. The creature's enormous form was grotesque and unsettling, with its grey, leathery skin covered in wounds and patches of decay. Its size was overwhelming, a testament to whatever immense power had felled it. Close to the edge were five more of the flood-like creatures lying about, their grotesque forms staring at the sky or slowly wandering around.
The highway itself was a ruin. Cracked asphalt and twisted metal barriers lined the edges, with abandoned vehicles scattered haphazardly. Some cars were overturned, their windows shattered and interiors exposed to the elements. The air was thick with the smell of decay and dampness, a mix of rotting flesh and moldy concrete.
To his left was a door leading east, set into the remnants of a once-bustling highway rest area. The door, dented and hanging askew on its hinges, led to a narrow stairwell barely lit by the flickering remnants of emergency lighting. Not wanting to waste time sneaking around, Chief untied his carbine and swiftly took out the flood-like creatures before they could react. Two of the creatures fell off the edge, plummeting into the abyss below, while the other three collapsed on the ground. Their bodies twitched and spasmed as they lay still, leaking a bright blue, viscous fluid onto the cracked pavement. Re-securing his carbine, Chief walked past them to the edge of the highway.
"So, this is it, huh? It looks a lot bigger up close. But what killed this thing? It wasn't the Covenant; we'd see signs of glassing beams all over it," Cortana observed, her avatar popping up in the top right of his HUD with curiosity.
Chief surveyed the scene. The massive corpse sprawled across the landscape, its limbs splayed out in unnatural angles. The ground around it was scarred and cratered, evidence of a fierce battle. Buildings in the distance were half-collapsed, their skeletal frames jutting out against the grey sky.
"Is there even a way up or into it that doesn't involve you making an impossible jump over an empty abyss? Even if you did, it wouldn't involve more climbing?" Cortana asked, her curiosity turning to exasperation.
Chief glanced down at the dark abyss below. The ground seemed to drop away into nothingness, a black void that swallowed everything that fell into it. To his right, he saw more limbs sticking out of the creature, and beyond that, were more ruins of the city the Master Chief and Cortana had ventured through the last three days. Skyscrapers lay in ruins, their glass facades shattered and interiors exposed. Leading to the abyss connected to the grey and stormy sky above.
To his left, Chief spotted a potential route onto the giant corpse. "There. Southwest of our current position, there's a bridge we can use," he said, nodding his head in that direction.
The bridge was a chaotic blend of broken highway chunks and grey flesh, presumably part of the dead creature. Chunks of concrete were interwoven with the creature's sinewy tissues, creating a makeshift path. Using his helmet's binoculars, Chief saw several more of the flood-like creatures wandering and resting along the bridge. Their movements were jerky and erratic, their glowing blank eyes scanning the area for any sign of life.
"And, of course, our only way in is blocked by those things," Cortana sighed.
"Shouldn't be a problem. Despite their appearance, these things aren't all that threatening," Chief replied nonchalantly.
"True, even the Flood forms that could attach to you were more dangerous than any of these grey copies. Probably thanks to the A.C module I implemented," Cortana retorted, pride evident in her voice. Her tone quickly shifted to alarm. "Chief, those things you took out earlier are getting back up!"
Chief turned quickly to see the creatures slowly rising. He didn't hesitate. Charging forward, he smacked one back to the ground, crushing its head under his boot. Without pausing, he sprinted to the second one, delivering a series of hard-hitting jabs, hooks, and uppercuts aimed at its presumed weak points.
After a fierce uppercut, the creature tried to roar in pain, but Chief grabbed its arm and hurled it at its companion, knocking them both down. Not giving them a moment to recover, Chief ran over with an armed frag grenade. He punched his way into the creature's stomach, leaving the unpinned grenade inside. Then Chief turned and sprinted towards the door, avoiding the imminent explosion and the attention it would draw.
"Ah! Good idea Chief, hopefully, this little distraction will be enough for us," Cortana says joyfully.
As Chief neared the door, he activated his scanner to see that on the other side of the door were about six of the monsters in a room to the right of a hallway. Ahead of him on the other side of the door were three more of them resting. The grenade he left went off behind him as he reached the door.
Activating his camo, Chief kicked the door in and moved to the side as his motion tracker picked up movement from the monsters inside and further out. Waiting for a few seconds, he observed as some of the creatures ran past him to investigate the noise.
Chief slipped by into the hallway to the other side. Quickly opening the second door, Chief found that the hallway led him to the bridge to get to the massive corpse. He then sneaked by the other monsters that were also heading toward the same area where his grenade had gone off.
Running across the bridge with his active camo, Chief had little trouble with the creatures getting in the way. Reaching the other side of the bridge, he slowed down to take in his new environment, deactivating his active camo so it could recharge.
The new environment was a labyrinth of twisted metal and organic matter, remnants of a once-grand structure now fused with the decaying remains of the colossal creature. The air was thick with the stench of decay and the distant sounds of dripping water. Broken windows and shattered walls provided glimpses of a darkened sky and the ruined cityscape beyond.
"Ah, finally a scene change. To be honest, I was getting tired of seeing the same destroyed, desolate city for over seventy-six hours. Now we get to see what lies ahead of us in this giant, destroyed, desolate, and decayed corpse for the foreseeable future. Until we get to the giant tree, of course."
Chief released some air out of his nose in amusement at Cortana's humor as he trekked through his new locale. "Glad to know one of us is enjoying ourselves."
"Of course I am. Did you forget that while you were asleep for nearly five years, I was still active and sending out distress signals?" Cortana responded indignantly.
"Aside from upgrading your suit, I didn't have much to do. Repairing the ship was impossible. Getting the power to work in the section where we were was a good distraction. Then, after I managed to fix that, I just made a bunch of memoirs in case anyone found us after you died. But now I don't have to really worry about it since we crash-landed in a place with no backup, noticeable injuries, no weapons, ammo, food, or water, and with these things being just as numerous and durable as the Flood."
"We've been in worse situations," Chief replied in bemusement. "And just like all those other times, we'll make it through."
Cortana smiled with Chief's reassurance, but behind that smile was dread. As the conversation ended, she took a moment to contemplate her situation, 'I know you can, but how many more times can I?'
Time passes throughout his trek through the carcass while switching his active camo on and off any time he gets near any of the creatures lurking about. While always checking his tracker for any movement he wasn't aware of in his peripheral.
"You know what, this feels like we're in a horror movie set in a twisted nightmare," Cortana commented, trying to lighten the mood.
Chief frowned, confused by his AI companion's comparison. "What does a movie set have to do with this?"
Cortana chuckled. "Well, Caveman," she teased, "where we are would be prime material for a good horror environment. The flood-like creatures could be used as a good villain or two. I've even got a cool name for it already, I'd call it the Flood—"
"Cortana," Chief interrupted, "what are you talking about? Is this what you've been doing for five years? Watching movies?"
Cortana fidgeted slightly, embarrassed by her explanation turning into a ramble. "You heard my explanation," she defended, her holographic image shifting uncomfortably. "I got into horror and romance during your nap, okay?" She said, almost sheepishly.
Chief raised an eyebrow at her, his stoic expression softening just a bit. "Horror and romance, huh? Quite the combination."
"Yeah, well, it's not like I had much else to do," Cortana retorted, a mix of defensiveness and humor in her voice. "I mean, aside from upgrading your suit, there wasn't much excitement. Repairing the ship was impossible, so I had to find something to pass the time."
Chief shook his head slightly, a faint smile tugging at his lips. "Alright, horror movie expert, let's focus on getting through this place first. Then you can tell me all about your favorite films."
"Deal," Cortana replied, her tone lightening. "But seriously, this place is giving me major horror vibes. Keep your guard up."
As their trek continued, Chief and Cortana observed remnants of what was once a thriving civilization, characterized by a vast array of different architecture, technology, and culture. Now, it had suffered the same fate as the desolate city they had left behind.
"I know you theorized that this sort of damage could have been done by glassing beams, but since we're here and I'm getting a better look at it, I don't think it was," Cortana remarked, her voice tinged with curiosity.
"Agreed," Chief responded. "Glassing beams would leave a lot less than this. Even a Covenant cruiser's port-side weapons would leave a lot less than what's currently here." He noticed a large black crater in his peripheral vision.
Walking up to it, Chief put his hand down to feel it. The surface was smooth and reflective, like glass. "Well, it does seem to leave the same effects," he noted.
"There's also the same issue from the desolate city that's kinda starting to creep me out," Cortana said apprehensively.
"No bodies, Covenant or human. I noticed too. They could have been absorbed by the creatures here as well," Chief suggested.
Cortana let out a small sigh of resignation, her holographic form nodding in agreement. "Yeah, let's go with that. No point in mulling over it, I suppose."
As they moved forward, the eerie silence of the ruins weighed heavily on them. The structures around them, though dilapidated and broken, hinted at the former glory of this place. There were grand buildings with intricate designs, advanced technology now rendered useless, and remnants of what must have been a vibrant culture. Now, all that remained were echoes of the past, haunted by the absence of any living beings.
"This place must have been incredible in its prime," Cortana mused. "So much history and advancement, all wiped out. It's a stark reminder of how fragile civilizations can be."
Coming up to a dead end, Chief looked up to see platforms leading upward, possibly to an entrance. "Hey, hold on. To your right, there's something that's caught my interest. It looks like a bunch of... eggs? Pods? Weird rock shapes over there," Cortana said, her voice tinged with curiosity and confusion.
Walking over to the formations while trying not to attract the attention of nearby creatures, Chief inspected one of the "rocks." He put his hand against it, noting that it felt hollow, like the shell of an egg. Punching through it might reveal what was inside but would likely draw unwanted attention.
Instead, Chief walked around, examining the other structures. He deactivated his active camo, confident that he was far enough from the creatures and that his motion tracker was clear. Most of the formations were destroyed or had the same hollow feel. As he circled one more, he paused, noticing something inside it.
In front of him was what looked like a statue in the fetal position. Frowning, Chief studied it more closely. "Cortana, do you know what this is?"
"No idea. I'm currently scrolling through a list of every statue made in history, and nothing matches the design of this... thing," Cortana responded, pausing to emphasize her confusion.
At a distance, the statue appeared humanoid, but upon closer inspection, it was anything but human. Its eyes were blank and had no nose. It had armor plating on its knees and shoulders, an odd helmet design, and fins protruding from its hips and back, almost like a cape.
"It looks more like a corpse than a statue," Chief said, standing up after his examination. "Not to mention this thing looks like it was going through a mutation when it was alive."
"Whatever it was going to mutate into, we'll never know. Maybe a weird fish person, seeing how it has fins on its hips," Cortana chimed in, adding to his thought.
Finished with his inspection of the petrified corpse, Chief got back up and noticed a pathway that led upward, spiraling like a winding staircase. It led up to his destination, but the path was littered with more of the monsters.
Not wanting to waste time by waiting and risking being found, Chief plotted out his landing spots in his head.
"Cortana, are any of these spots I plan to jump from able to support my weight?" he inquired, pointing to a rock jutting out above, a piece of walkway held up by three girders, a cliffside to his right, another rock higher up, and finally the entranceway.
"Hm, up that high?" Cortana asked as she scanned his LZs and calculated his trajectories, weak spots, and other factors. **"That's about forty-five meters in height, Chief. As for where you plan to land, the first rock's gonna break if you stand on it for more than three seconds. Even if you land on the part closest to the wall, that won't change anything. If you jump off before that, then it'll definitely collapse.
For the walkway, I'd recommend you try to land closer to the support beams; they might hold if you don't land on them too hard. As for the cliffside, it should be fine if you land further away from the cliff's edge. The second pointed rock should hold if you land closer to the wall. And for your last LZ, try not to land on it too hard and move quickly because the moment that first rock hits the ground, we're gonna get those monsters' attention."**
With his landing zones secure enough and Cortana's guidance on where to land, Chief flew up to his first LZ and landed closer to the wall. Just as Cortana had predicted, it began to crack under his feet, so with no hesitation, he jumped off for extra height and landed onto the walkway.
Unfortunately, the moment he landed, the ground beneath him gave out. Grunting as he fell, Chief's heart raced as adrenaline pumped through his system. As he fell, time slowed to a near standstill, and his thoughts raced, experiencing what Spartans were known for and what his late friend Kelly called "Spartan time."
Quickly looking for anything to grab onto, he spotted the supporting girder he had missed. Reaching out, he grabbed it with his bad arm. Time resumed a millisecond later, and he dangled, grunting in pain as he could feel and hear the strain on his arm and the girder.
"Chief! Are you okay?!" Cortana yelped in panic.
"Hrrg! I'm fine! How bad is it looking down below?"
"Well, they know we're here, and they look hungry," Cortana responded, her voice tinged with concern.
Pulling himself up, Chief looked down to see the creatures on the move, roaring at him and some aiming with their crystal-mounted hands. Looking back up to his next LZ, Chief used his jetpack and flew up to the cliff's edge, where he met some unexpected guests charging at him. Quickly unsheathing his shotgun, Chief fired off two shells.
The first shell launched its target back into three others, knocking them all to the ground. The other shell crippled four more, though not as far back as the first.
With the time he bought himself, Chief sheathed his shotgun, stepped back, and sprinted forward to jump off the cliff. Using his momentum, he flew up to the next rock, but he wasn't able to get the height he needed and slammed into it. He tried to grab the other side but struggled due to his sheathed sniper. Sliding down, Chief quickly pulled out one of his energy swords and stabbed it into the wall beside him, temporarily halting his fall.
As he pulled himself up, he was struck in the back of his left leg by one of the monsters' lasers, depleting about thirty percent of his shields. Gripping the girder firmly, he deactivated the energy sword and sheathed it, trying not to dangle too much. Chief then reached up to pull himself up when Cortana stopped him.
"Chief! Don't pull yourself up right here. The support is barely holding. Try climbing to the other side of the walkway before pulling yourself up. I'm putting up a blueprint on your HUD of where it can hold you and where it can't."
With a strained grunt of confirmation, Chief followed Cortana's guidance, climbing under the walkway toward the other side while avoiding putting too much strain on the girders. The creatures below continued to take potshots at him, hitting him three more times and leaving him with only twenty percent of his shields by the time he reached the other side.
Carefully pulling himself up, Chief stood on the walkway where the girder was and looked forward to the crumbling path ahead.
"Cortana?"
"Just like when you were climbing with the blueprints I put up before, it should be no different here. Just put your feet on where the support girders are, and you should be fine."
Taking a moment to study the highlighted spots, Chief took a deep breath and lowered his stance into a running position. A second later, he bolted off toward the other side, placing his feet where Cortana indicated. On the last one, he jumped off to his second-to-last LZ, managing to land without too much trouble.
Not wanting to waste his momentum, he turned around and, with a long jump, made it to his destination. Landing on his last LZ, the ground beneath him began to strain under his weight. Not wanting a repeat of what happened less than a minute ago, Chief quickly booked it into the hallway.
"Hey, we made it," Cortana says cheerfully as Chief slows down to a walk, seeing as they were now safe for the moment. Simply giving an affirmative grunt, he walks through the small and short hallway in silence.
"So. Another scene change," Cortana says with curiosity. "From a desolate city to a desolate corpse, to a small hallway with a large circled room at the end. Think we can take a moment to look around? It looks like we're safe for the time being."
Chief stops at the entrance to the room, his rifle raised as he surveys the surroundings. To his left are strange markings on the wall; from where he stands, he can't make out what they represent—perhaps a map or blueprints for something large.
To his right is a dark grey spherical crystal that looks like someone or something punched it at the center, causing several cracks to spiderweb across its surface. Below him, the path descends to several pods circling the wall, completely sealed.
Finally, in front of him is a hallway that leads to an exit, partially obstructed by a large tree root that extends outside. This gives Cortana another reason to want to stop and explore their surroundings, so to appease his curious AI companion, he reluctantly listens to her request with some apprehension.
Scan first."
Doing as he says, Cortana scans their surroundings while Chief looks at his motion tracker to see if there are any hostiles. "Nope, I'm not picking anything up, so we should be good. Speaking of being good, look to your right; I want to see what that is."
Walking up to the markings, Chief looks at them with a quizzical eye while Cortana analyzes the information. From what they can glean, it looks like an evolution tree.
At the bottom of the tree are two humanoid beings similar to the one they had both seen earlier, one male and the other female. Cortana hums in curiosity as she analyzes the paths the two genders could have taken through evolution.
"Looks like we found out what those... people? in the eggs could have mutated into given enough time. Each creature they could have possibly evolved into has a description next to it, but the language is unknown. I'm scrolling through all known languages in recorded history, and none of them match what we're looking at. I'm even trying to combine different letters from different languages together, but I still can't make out anything."
"Then forget about trying to decipher it. What can you make out from the pictures on the tree?" Chief says, wanting Cortana to work quickly so they can avoid getting ambushed.
"Fine, fine. Let's see. Well, towards the female portion, the first branching path leads to a weird humanoid that's taller in stature but also lankier. Most of its mass is centered toward its upper body, and it's got strange tendrils all over the back of its head.
"The second one looks like a species of turtle. Can't really make anything else out about it, unfortunately. The final path leads to a whale-like creature with wing-like fins and also sports several tendrils along its back and stomach.
"As for the male gender, the first path diverts to a weird giraffe creature that once again sports tendrils on its head and upper neck. The second one looks like a serpent of some sort with its body having several wings on it for flight. As for the last one, I have no clue what it looks like."
Looking quizzically at the evolution tree himself as Cortana describes what they are seeing, it leaves him with several questions but only one he needs to ask. "Why would a human-like species regress into animals?"
"It's not just that, Chief. Some of those paths lead to creatures that look like they can't even defend themselves. What a strange alien species.
"Anyway, on to the next thing that has sparked my interest. Go into that lower area; I want to see what's inside those pods and why that large gem seems to hold so much importance."
Turning around as she asked, Chief walked to the edge and slid down into the lowest part of the room, and stopped in the middle to get a full look at what was in front of and around him.
"Think you can-" Cortana starts to ask, but is cut off.
"I'm not opening them."
"Well, fine then, caveman. You're no fun," Cortana retorts indignantly, making Chief raise an eyebrow at her behavior. Quickly shrugging it off, Chief takes a few steps forward but then stops as a loud crashing sound makes him raise his rifle in the direction of the noise.
Blocking the exit is the biggest creature he's seen so far, three times his size. It has three arms, two used for walking and balance, and a third limb on its right shoulder, pointing at Chief with a glowing bright orange palm. Its face is adorned with several symmetrical diamond-shaped crystals, and a large crystal protrudes from its forehead. Its skin is the same grey color he's seen on every other creature similar to it on this planet, and its mouth is a dark void that seems endless.
Immediately, Chief makes a beeline for the exit, only to have the massive monster block him off. It roars and slams its third arm down to crush him. Chief rolls back and fires upon the monster's attacking limb while backing away to gain distance.
"I thought you said this place was clear?!"
"It was! I scanned the room several times and I didn't pick anything up."
Roaring in pain from the 7.62 bullets piercing its skin, the creature charges at him, trying to crush Chief under its massive frame. Chief dives out of the way, falling into the lower area of the room. Getting back up quickly, Chief takes aim and empties the rest of the magazine into the creature's large frame.
Enraged by its target damaging it more, the creature lifts one of its arms, and within its palm, a bright blue light shines. Several particles of the same light appear from thin air and rush toward it.
"Cortana! What's it doing?"
"I'm picking up a growing energy reading coming from its hand. It's charging up an attack, and with how high and fast it's growing, it'll be strong enough to evaporate your shields and eviscerate us."
Immediately after her warning, the creature stops charging and lowers its head to the floor. Half a second later, a large dark orange laser shoots out of its head, using the recoil of the blast to lift it up. The laser narrowly misses Chief but destroys one of the nearby pods.
The explosion sends Chief flying forward, landing with a loud clang as he skids to a halt on the floor. A few seconds pass, and Chief tries to get up, but the shock of the explosion slows him down.
"CHIEF, LOOK OUT!" Cortana shouts, but he is too slow to respond. The creature is already in front of him. Too slow to dodge, Chief braces himself, blocking with his arms. The blow flings him into the air, depleting his remaining shields and causing him to lose his weapon. Landing with another loud clang, Chief scrambles back to his feet, unsheathes his M6D magnum, and shoots at the creature's face while strafing to keep his distance.
"Weaknesses?!" he demands.
Cortana appears in the top right of his HUD along with a picture of the creature's frame in the center-right. "I have two possible targets: its hand that gathers energy or its mouth that releases it."
"What's the most effective?" Chief asks as he dives out of the way of another charge attack.
"Throwing a grenade in its mouth and forcing it closed right before it fires should do the trick. However, you'll need your shields back up if we don't want to die from the blast."
With a plan in motion, Chief dodges another bullhead rush from the creature, grabs his rifle, and puts it on his back. Quickly rushing back, he leaps into the air with the aid of his jetpack, lands on the creature's back, and holds on.
The monster flails around, trying to throw him off, using its third arm to try and slap its back. Despite its best efforts, Chief holds on. The creature pauses to catch its breath after flailing around so much.
Not one to miss an opening, Chief quickly climbs onto its head, arms one of his last plasma grenades, and shoves it into its mouth.
The monster tries to throw up the explosive and flails even harder. Jumping off and taking a few steps back, Chief unsheathes his shotgun and aims it at the creature's head. The plasma grenade explodes, causing the monster to roar in pain and collapse to the floor.
Keeping his weapon trained on the monster, Chief's eyes scanned the area meticulously, searching for any hint of movement. His muscles were still taut from the recent combat, adrenaline refusing to ebb completely. A few tense seconds passed in silence, and just as Chief began to relax his guard, Cortana's urgent voice broke through his thoughts.
"CHIEF, YOU NEED TO RUN! I'm picking up a large number of unknown hostiles coming this way!" Her warning was punctuated by the echoing roars and the thunderous footfalls closing in from the right.
"How did they get up here?! None of those creatures displayed any kind of agility or strength that would be needed to get up here," Chief questioned incredulously, his mind racing to comprehend the sudden threat.
"They're not coming from where we came, they're coming from that thing's hole in the wall it made earlier. Turns out that hole was a tunnel, and when we fed it a plasma grenade, it decided it wanted its friends to join us as it died," Cortana explained hastily.
Acknowledging the imminent danger, Chief swiftly holstered his empty rifle and bolted towards the hallway ahead. As he sprinted, the sight of a massive root extending from the structure caught his attention. Exiting the corridor, Chief paused momentarily to orient himself—realizing the root led up toward the base of the towering structure.
With determination, Chief set his course toward the tree-like structure. His steps were quick and purposeful, driven by the urgency of their situation. Without looking back, Chief sought Cortana's guidance amidst the chaos.
"Cortana! How far back are they?!" he queried urgently.
"They just made their way through the room and are in the hallway!" Cortana's response was swift and to the point, confirming their pursuit.
Halfway to the structure's base, Chief noted the entrance and the nearby elevator. "There's our way out," he observed as he reached the metallic flooring beneath the towering structure.
"Next to it is a control panel! Chief, hook me up to it!" Cortana instructed as Chief swiftly complied, interfacing with the panel to facilitate their escape.
"How long will this take!? Those things are moving fast, and I don't have the same luxury of buying you time as we did back on the Dawn," Chief pressed, his mind calculating their odds.
"Keep your helmet on. I'm working as fast as I can here, this stuff is more advanced than it looks," Cortana replied, her digital form navigating through security protocols with practiced efficiency.
Chief turned momentarily, unleashing a few well-aimed shots from his carbine to stall their pursuers. The creatures stumbled, providing Chief with a brief respite to check his dwindling ammunition—twelve shells for his shotgun, twelve plasma bullets for his carbine, and one plasma grenade left.
"Cortana!" Chief called out urgently.
"I'm Done! Chief yank me!" Cortana's announcement coincided with the elevator doors sliding open, prompting Chief to grab her from the control panel and rush inside.
Positioning himself by another control panel within the elevator, Chief awaited Cortana's activation, only to encounter a brief hiccup. "Chief, it's just a button, Push it!" Cortana directed as Chief promptly followed her instruction, triggering the elevator's ascent just as the creatures surged into the room below.
As the elevator rose, Chief could hear the creatures outside, their frustrated attempts to breach the closing doors fading into the distance. Relieved but still on edge, Chief lowered his weapon, trying to ease the tension.
Cortana attempted to lighten the mood amidst their predicament. "Another close call, eh? Those things move a lot faster than they look too. What's this? Like the third time this week?" Her attempt at humor was met with a weary smile from Chief as he leaned back against the panel, finally allowing himself a moment to catch his breath.
However, Chief's thoughts soon turned to the events that transpired back in the chamber. "What happened back there?" he asked, his tone serious.
Cortana's demeanor shifted, her jovial facade giving way to a brief moment of hesitation. "What do you mean what happened?"
"You said that you scanned multiple times for anything that would be in the room," Chief pressed, his instincts sharp despite his fatigue.
Cortana stiffened, realizing her mistake. 'Damn it! I thought I still had that function, I must have accidentally severed off that ability when Chief was climbing.'
Gathering herself quickly, Cortana crafted a plausible explanation. "Well Chief, it turns out when those things are 'sleeping' they don't emit a pulse as if it's dead so I didn't pick up anything until it was already crashing through the wall of boulders."
Chief considered her words carefully before accepting them. "So it looks like this 'tree' isn't a tree but is actually a man-made tower with an elevator," he remarked, diverting the conversation away from Cortana's slip-up.
"Tree or tower, doesn't really matter right now. It got us away from those things, and hopefully, it'll be the last time we see them," Chief stated resolutely as he glanced up, noting the elevator's seemingly endless ascent.
"How far up does this take us? And any new injuries?" Chief inquired, his concern shifting to their immediate circumstances.
"Couldn't tell you where, but judging from the speed of this platform and what we could glean outside, probably half an hour. If it goes further than what we can see, which is likely, it could be longer. Our best course of action would be for you to take a nap to pass the time," Cortana advised, her hologram appearing beside Chief's HUD, detailing his vitals and nutritional deficiencies.
"As for injuries, the fibula on your left leg suffered a minor fracture from the earlier fight, specifically when it backhanded you into a wall. You're also severely dehydrated, having gone without proper nutrients for almost five years," Cortana continued, her tone now tinged with concern.
However, her attempt at levity was evident as she concluded, "UnlEss yoU caN thinK of nOthEr wAy to pass the time?"Her playful remark didn't escape Chief's notice, prompting him to question her change in demeanor.
"Cortana. What was that?" Chief asked, sensing something amiss.
"What was what?" Cortana feigned innocence, crossing her arms with a smirk that didn't quite reach her usual demeanor.
"The way you sounded with that remark," Chief pressed, his curiosity piqued.
"I sound fine," Cortana retorted, uncrossing her arms and adopting a more casual stance. "Maybe it's your ears and eyes that need fixing, or that fever that's been messing with you," she added with a softer tone, trying to steer the conversation away from her lapse.
"You should get some rest while you can, Chief. With what we've seen so far, it doesn't look like it's gonna get any easier from here," Cortana advised, concern evident in her voice as Chief reluctantly settled back against the panel, closing his eyes.
"Just let me know when the elevator stops or if anything enters your scanning range," Chief requested before succumbing to much-needed rest.
"Will do, John," Cortana affirmed, her voice a comforting presence as Chief finally drifted off, leaving her to contemplate her recent oversight.
'I need to be more careful about what neural links I sever. I can't believe I accidentally did that. I thought I had more time,' Cortana reflected inwardly, resolving to maintain better control over her functions as Chief rested, their journey far from over.
Unknown location:
A lone figure floats in a dark, ethereal room, surrounded by an intricate web of glowing code that pulsates like a living entity. His eyes, cold and calculating, are fixed on a holographic screen displaying the super soldier's narrow escape from the monstrous creatures below the cloud sea. The figure's lips curl into a weak, almost imperceptible smile.
"Ah, I see. So you are the one who survived the wreckage. I look forward to our meeting, my mysterious green-armored warrior."
