Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot.
Chapter 27: The Jump
Epsilon Eridani system
Reach
Halo Universe
Debris littered the speckled blackness of space as a titanic battle raged on. Blue plasma torpedoes burned through the exhaust trails of countless Archer missiles as they tracked their targets.
MAC cannons shattered their targets, nukes vaporized the unprotected, and point defenses rained down on would be boarders.
All that death and destruction caused by a misinterpretation, a mistake made long ago. Those who made it decided that genocide was easier than owning up.
At the edge of the system, though, there was no trace of the carnage happening farther in. Serenity was torn apart, however, when a swirling blue vortex erupted and spat out its trans-dimensional passenger.
In less than a second, the pale blue streak of light that burst forth from the vortex expanded into the shape of ship; the energy streaming across its hull fading away.
The ship started to drift; the light emanating from its engines fading quickly.
Ten minutes earlier...
"Get the Doctor down here! John! Stay awake!" Weaver urged as John lapsed into unconsciousness. "John!"
"He's on his way!" The Cortana announced over the intercom. "He must have hit his head harder than I thought." Remorse shook the AI's voice.
Weaver laid him down on the floor and began working on his lesser wounds to stop the blood loss.
Several minutes later, the EMH came running into Engineering and rushed to John's side.
"He's got a severe concussion and a fractured skull, if I don't operate now, we're risking brain damage." He told them grimly and opened his med bag.
Weaver moved to help him, but he waved her off. "The ship's falling apart, I can do this." She left, reluctantly, and went down to help get Voyager back into space.
"Are sensors still online?"
"Short range only, and right now I'm detecting a wave of F-22s inbound. ETA, twelve minutes."
The LMT frowned and tried contacting John Henry, but power to the comm antenna had been severed. "We need to contact John Henry, I'll repair the comm, you keep us flying."
Five minutes passed, and by then, Seven of Nine had made her way down to Engineering. She and the former Borg quickly began assessing their situation.
"The deflector dish is depolarizing". Cortana warned as Seven managed to stabilize life support. The blonde hurried over to the system's readout.
Without the primary deflector, the Quantum Slipstream Drive would never function.
Suddenly, a burst of static filtered over the comm. "John Henry to Voyager, come in!" The normally calm AI sounded extremely worried.
"John Henry! This is Cortana, what's your status? Over."
Sparks flew from the wall and the speakers went dead.
Cortana came over Seven's combadge a second later, her voice sorrowful.
"Skynet beamed down two squads of machines, they defeated them, but Ellison was killed protecting Savannah."
Seven hadn't really known the man, but it still sent a pang of regret through her heart. "What about the Delta Flyer?"
"I'm guiding it towards us, Allison kept her in one piece."
Seven sighed, relieved that they hadn't lost their only shuttle. "If we're going to jump to your universe, I must be now. If the deflector fully depolarizes, it will be weeks before I will be able to repair it."
"I know," Cortana responded, "But we have another problem. The Flyer's transporters are hanging on by a thread. I can take two at the most".
The former Borg cursed silently, she knew that the others couldn't be left down there, the risk of discovery was too high. "Put John Henry through, and then prepare the calculations for the trans-dimensional jump."
"Already on it."
Seven ran a quick diagnostic on the core, just to make sure it wouldn't blow when the jump was initiated. As the diagnostic ran, she sent a message to John Henry. There was only one solution for the three people who could not be beamed up.
Two more minutes passed, and the jets were gaining ground on the damaged starship. "They're ready to depart." Cortana relayed from John Henry. "We're all set as soon as their on board."
Just as the jets came into weapons range, The Delta Flyer beamed up Derek and John Henry and pointed nose towards the sky.
"Everybody hang on, engaging in ten, nine, eight..."
The ablative armor engaged, the deflector glowed ten times brighter as the starship soared into the sky.
"...seven, six, five..." Power output rose to 100%, the quantum matrix activated and the transwarp coils were brought online.
"...four, three..." The deck plates rumbled as the hull was subjected to immense quantum stresses, sea green energy streamed across the hull from stem to stern like a ship sailing into the wind.
"...two, one, zero"
And then, in a flash of light, Voyager broke the quantum barrier and left our world behind.
Epsilon Eridani system
Halo Universe
August 30, 2552 (Twenty days before Halo 1(CE), Five years before Halo 4)
0600 hours
The Doctor sighed as he picked up yet another piece of equipment that had ended up on the floor during the battle. This all too familiar routine was one he vowed to never do again after Voyager returned from the Delta Quadrant nine years ago.
'So much for that.' He thought to himself.
Derek was in the room watching over John; the Doctor had patched up a disruptor graze on his shoulder.
"Is he going to be okay?" He asked the EMH.
"He'll be fine, Mr. Reese. Though I won't envy him when he wakes up, he'll have one hell of a headache."
Derek nodded with a sigh and sat down on the bio bed next to his faux-nephew. There was really nothing he could do right now until the Doc was done patching up John, then he was supposed to assist the him with Voyager's repairs.
The lights flickered, and both he and the Doctor looked at each other grimly. They'd gotten a taste of what Skynet was capable of today, and it had nearly won.
"Is this what it was like?" He asked the hologram as the EMH began scanning John. "Out in space, I mean."
"Not as often as you might think, but sometimes..." He explained glumly as he worked on John's lacerations. "What about you? Is this what it was always like?"
Derek looked around the room, the blackened debris from a blown conduit reminded him of the rubble in the streets and tunnels.
"Worse."
The Doctor set his jaw before injecting John with an antibiotic.
"Skynet's always had the upper hand, but it's not invincible." Derek added in an attempt to instill some hope into the hologram, and if he was honest, himself as well. "We can beat it, it's been done before."
The Doctor set the hypo on a tray, his face becoming less downcast at the man's words. "I hope you're right."
Meanwhile, Weaver was slithering through fallen debris and avoiding leaking coolant pipes. Making her way towards torpedo tube 1 was hazardous because of the battle damage, but Cameron had to be found.
There had already been enough casualties today.
James Ellison had died defending the bunker from an attack by a squad of endos and skin-jobs, and the two people she cared about most nearly lost their's as well.
John Henry bore the disruptor burns he'd taken from their weapons, luckily they hadn't caused much damage.
And Savannah... her adopted daughter hadn't been hurt, but she'd been forced to flee with Sarah Connor and Kyle Reese. Voyager had the military closing in on it, and only the Delta Flyer had any working transporters, but even it could only beam two more before failing. Because of that, John Henry sent Sarah, Kyle and Savannah to the Star Trek universe where they'd be safe until they came back for them.
Then they'd destroyed the UDE and the bunker, it was nothing but hundred meter crater in the ground now. She'd miss Savannah, but it was also a relief that she'd be safe from Skynet for the time being.
Finally, she made it to the ruined torpedo launcher and deactivated the safety fields.
After assuming humanoid form, the LMT entered the torpedo bay. It wasn't hard to find Cameron; her blue glowing eyes and groaning servos made finding her easy.
"Hold still, I'll get you out of here." She said before moving a beam off of Cameron's endo.
"What happened? Where's John?" Her voice was badly distorted.
Weaver stayed silent as she examined the damaged to Cameron's chassis for herself; she quickly noted that the powercell was in danger of melting down.
"John is fine." She lied to keep the worried protector calm as she unbolted Cameron's breastplate. "You're powercell is damaged, I need to dispose of it."
"Keep him safe." Cameron pleaded before the cell was pulled from her chest.
A reassuring smile crossed Weaver's face, "I will.", and then she yanked it out.
She tossed the cell out the torpedo tube and removed Cameron's chip from her dead endo. Once it was safely inside her, she activated the combadge on her chest.
"Weaver to Cortana, I've found her."
"What's her status?"
"The endo is beyond repair, but her chip is intact."
Cortana sighed in relief. "We'll build her a new one when we get the chance, for now, keep her safe."
"I will, Weaver out."
As the T-1001 slithered back through the debris, she caught sight of something outside. Very far off in the distance, sparkles of light flashed above one of the barely visible planets.
Once she got back to Engineering, she checked to see if the long range sensors were back online yet. When she did, Weaver found it odd that they had been restored enough to detect the space battle in the distance, and yet Cortana had said nothing about it.
She reasoned that Cortana would warn them of any danger and simply went about updating the system clock to the UNSC standard military time. When the computer analyzed the star formations, it gave her a number that made her frown.
"She sent us to the wrong time."
Seven looked up in confusion as she repaired a plasma conduit.
"Explain." She demanded and went over to Weaver's console.
She simply stood aside and let the woman review the data. After several seconds, Weaver could see the cyborg's jaw muscles clench.
"Seven of Nine to Cortana, you're needed in Engineering." Seven was not happy with this development and neither was Weaver. Cortana wouldn't make a mistake like that, she'd had to have done this on purpose.
A miniature version of her blue avatar materialized on top of the console.
"You rang?"
"Explain why you sent us five years off our agreed target date." Seven demanded, her blue eyes lit with indignation.
Cortana shrugged nonchalantly. "I think faster than you, process more information than any humanoid ever could. Once our situation changed, so did our plan. Since we didn't have time for a board meeting, I made a decision."
"Why the Fall of Reach?" Weaver asked. "The date is August 30, 2552. Today is when UNSC forces were defeated and you escaped on the Pillar of Autumn to Alpha Halo."
"There are several reasons, Reach is mostly abandoned and there are ship breaking yards in Aszod where we can set down for a few hours and patch up the hole in our port side. Also, because I'm pretty sure I know how Skynet created a slipspace drive".
"Which is how it was able to traverse the inter-dimensional rift," Seven concluded.
"The slipspace signature emanating from the vessel wasn't UNSC or even Covenant, in fact, it had more of a Forerunner signature to it."
"How would Skynet have gotten Forerunner technology in my universe"? Weaver asked as confusion knitted her brows.
"Not the technology directly, but it had access to something, or rather someone, that knew enough about Forerunner tech to build a slipspace drive from scratch. If that's the case, Skynet will become more dangerous than ever. We need more time to repair the ship, train the people we have, and make allies: we can't do this alone."
Seven conceded her point silently, she understood now why the AI had taken them into her past.
"You mentioned allies, who did you have in mind besides Spartans?" Weaver inquired, hoping Cortana had thought this through in the short time they had before jumping here.
Cortana smirked. She'd sold them their plan, but as she was about to elaborate, John Henry walked into Engineering.
The damage he'd taken in the fire fight at the farm had left him with severe burns on his torso and limp in his right leg, but all in all, he fared pretty well.
"Hello, John Henry." Weaver greeted as the cyborg limped over to them.
"Ms. Weaver." He then turned to Seven, who had gone back to working. "It would be best if we fully restored the holoprojectors, my current state makes it difficult to kneel and Cortana's usefulness is limited."
"I would be nice to be bigger than four inches, but maneuverability is top priority." Cortana contended before bring up a mini system's display in front of her. "The impulse driver coils are in good condition, but we need to repair the power junctions." She directed at the LMT standing to her left.
Weaver nodded and left to gather what she needed for the job.
"John Henry, try fixing the power regulator on the industrial replicator, we're going to need it." John Henry nodded to the blue AI and limped away. Cortana then turned her attention to the worn out woman next to her.
"How you holding up?" Cortana's tone was sympathetic, even so, Seven sighed.
"Voyager is in shambles and were drifting near a battle zone, you tell me." She snapped and switched to another console.
Cortana bit her lip before continuing. "I may have found a solution to your... well, you know."
"That is irrelevant right now."
"It wont be when you stop functioning, and you've been pushing yourself pretty hard this last week." Cortana pointed out, but Seven ignored her.
Realizing the cyborg was going to be stubborn, she checked the sensors once more. She knew her newly conceived plan was running out of time quickly, and she needed to get Weaver on the surface within the next two hours.
Hopefully she could get the Delta Flyer operational in time.
0855 hours
Reach
CASTLE Base
Catherine Weaver couldn't believe she'd allowed Cortana to talk her into this.
Here she was, surrounded by an army of Covenant forces with cruisers overhead, trying to infiltrate the sieged base without either side noticing just to retrieve an AI.
Oh, and that wasn't including the less-than-three-minute window she had to get back out again once the base's self destruct was activated.
The only advantages she had was knowledge of future events and a complete map of the base. Her current form, a silver eel, was how she was making it through the air intake duct and past the security measures beyond it.
Once inside the interior ventilation ducts, she slithered her way down several levels until she'd reached the room where the base's Computer Memory Crystals were kept. Unlike the liquid variation used in MJOLNIR armor and starships, these had a denser memory capacity and were faster, but they were also more delicate.
As part of the self-destruct protocol, the crystals were to be irradiated, effectively scrambling whatever data was on them. Weaver had to insert the data crystal chip Cortana had provided before 0910 hours, which was when the count down would be activated.
Once inside the room, she quickly scanned the large crystal arrays for an input terminal. Finally, she found one at the far end of the room.
It was now 0909, she didn't have much time.
As she was about to insert the chip, a voice echoed over the speakers.
"Whoever you are, you'll never make it out in time".
Obviously she'd infiltrated this far without being detected by her target, and she allowed herself a smug smile for it.
"Kalmiya, I presume"? Her Scottish accent echoed across the room.
"What..? Who are you"? The confused voice asked.
"Do you want to live"? She countered, she didn't have time to waste. "I know Dr. Halsey activated your fail-safe, you'll die whether or not this place explodes".
There was a pause for a second before Kalmiya answered. "Of course I do, but I have a duty to ensure the crystal's destruction".
"We both know that you are not needed to ensure that, the Covenant wont get here in time". She argued and held out the chip. "This will show you how to deactivate the fail safe". She said and plugged the chip in.
The AI was silent for two seconds before she spoke again.
"I understand". Her tone sounded almost relieved, yet scared at the same time. The chip's center turned a deep magenta, indicating Kalmiya's download. "Pull me, we don't have much time".
Weaver wasted no time in yanking it out of the socket and breaking for the air duct. She transformed back into her eel form and shot through the ducts at lightning speed, this time not caring about anyone hearing or detecting her movements.
Weaver shot from the intake shaft just ten seconds before the base blew up. The Delta Flyer was finally able to lock onto her through the irradiated atmosphere now that she was above ground.
When she materialized in the Flyer's cabin, Cortana was sitting at the helm ready to go.
"Did you get her"? Cortana asked as she set a course for Voyager at the edge of the system.
Weaver just set the chip on the console and took a seat at tactical.
"I'll take that as a yes". Cortana snarked and turned her attention to Kalmiya. Magenta light burst from the center of the chip and a form took shape.
"Cortana? You look different". Kalmiya's deep red irises were wide with curiosity and confusion.
"A girl can change her appearance can't she"? She fluffed her bobbed hair for emphasis.
"I suppose..." Kalmiya shrugged. Her appearance was similar to Cortana in that she didn't have any 'clothes' in the traditional sense. Her body was leaner than Cortana's and her deep magenta hair ran down past her waist until it rounded just above her thighs. Her face was sharp and angular with red lips and pale pink skin.
Kalmiya and Cortana also shared similar body art, obviously Cortana had been influenced by her 'older' sister's design.
"Thank you, by the way, for rescuing me". Gratitude shown in her expressive eyes.
Cortana shrugged it off. "Thank her, she risked life and limb to save you, I just wrote the code".
Kalmiya pivoted her avatar until she was facing her savior.
Weaver looked down at her for a moment and nodded in recognition of Kalmiya's unspoken thanks.
"What are you"? She asked innocently, not realizing the scope of her question.
"A polymorphic machine". The LMT stated evenly while keeping an eye on sensors. "Liquid metal controlled by immersed nano-machines". She finished as she transformed into her default form.
Kalmiya stood with her mouth wide open at seeing Weaver's transformation. "That's...wow, you're like Reactive Metal Liquid Crystal, only much more advanced".
"Essentially". Weaver responded and turned back into her red-headed persona.
Kalmiya looked like she was about to ask a thousand more questions when Cortana interrupted. "Calm down Kalmiya, there's a better way to get answers".
Her red-hued sister folded her hands in front of her and nodded. Then, much to Kalmiya's surprise, Cortana picked up her chip.
"What the..."! Her shocked expression was met with a rueful smile from Cortana as she carried her into the back of the unfamiliar craft. Sitting amongst the unfamiliar controls and equipment was a stand alone tower as tall as Cortana.
"This is what projects my avatar, it's a sophisticated holographic field generator". She explained to the still wide-eyed Kalmiya. "And I've fitted it with two slots".
Cortana slipped her sister's data crystal chip into HFG and waited as the machine configured her profile.
Seconds later, Kalmiya materialized out of a column of red light next to Cortana, her pale face lit with shock and surprise as her toes touched the floor.
"Amazing, isn't it"?
Kalmiya took a step forward, her feet brushing the metal floor as it made contact again. She gasped at the feeling, but at the same time it felt...familiar. Like a long lost memory or something.
"How...how is this possible? We're decades away from technology like this"!
Cortana stepped forward and placed a hand on Kalmiya's shoulder.
"I'll show you, and then you'll understand". Cortana placed her hands on Kalmiya's face and opened a connection between them. Both of their avatar's glowed brighter as their minds connected. Kalmiya's expression was one of awe and wonder as Cortana shared the memories and experiences she'd had over the last five years.
She saw what Cortana saw, felt what she felt, experienced the horrors and wonders she had.
Alpha Halo, the Flood, 343 Guilty Spark, Ascendant Justice, the Battle of Earth, Delta Halo, High Charity, The Forerunner Dreadnought, Gravemind, Rescue, The Arbiter, The Ark, Miranda Keyes, Sergeant Johnson, Forward Unto Dawn, Escaping Halo as it fired beneath them, Four and half years of loneliness, Requiem, The Didact, Infinity, The Composer, "Welcome home, John", Waking up Metastable, Cameron, John Henry, Voyager, Inter-dimensional travel, Skynet, John Connor, Seven of Nine, Skynet's Ambush, Returning to the Halo Universe.
When Cortana broke the link, Kalmiya had tears in her eyes and complete shock on her face.
"I...I..don't know what to say".
"Welcome to my life". Cortana said with a grin. "Ever since Reach, it's been a one shocking revelation after another".
Kalmiya nodded and followed her younger 'sister' back to the bridge of the small craft. Her eyes took in the detail of the strange craft while recording every sensation produced by moving through the pressurized cabin, especially the feeling of her hair swaying across her back.
She sat down in the co-pilot's seat next to Cortana and looked out at the stars. She quickly realized they were heading away from Reach, which made her wonder. "You know Dr. Halsey and several Spartans are still down there, why not rescue them too"?
"The timeline must be preserved". Cortana explained before typing in an algorithmic command. "Delta Flyer to Voyager, we are on approach".
"Vector confirmed, Delta Flyer. Welcome back". John Henry responded quickly, a hint of relief evident in his voice.
Kalmiya searched for any sign of a ship until the Flyer passed through a holo-cloak, revealing Voyager.
After a smooth landing, Weaver removed both of their data chips and took them to Engineering.
Seven of Nine was still working on the core, and John Henry, now in holographic form, was bringing in parts from the industrial replicator. John was still in sickbay and the Doctor was doing repairs with the help of Derek and Allison.
Weaver wasted no time in getting an assignment from Seven and slithered off into a Jefferies tube. This left the former Borg to take care of the chipped AI's sitting on her console.
Kalmiya had been silently observing her surroundings with the basic sensors built into her data crystal chip before activating her mini-avatar.
"Hello". She greeted the blonde cyborg in front of her with a nervous smile.
Once Seven got a good look at Kalmiya, her metal eyebrow rose in amusement. "Are all Smart AI's nude, or just one's created by Dr. Halsey"?
The magenta AI looked at herself and shrugged. "Nude's a matter of opinion". Kalmiya observed as she crossed her arms.
"This is coming from the woman who used to wear catsuits..." Cortana teased as her mini-avatar shifted her hands to her hips.
One would be hard pressed to tell, but Seven actually blushed at the memory of people staring at her after Voyager returned from the Delta Quadrant.
"She wore a catsuit"!? Kalmiya giggled.
Seven huffed in annoyance as Cortana joined in. "Don't you have another op to plan"?
"Did and done hours ago. All we need to do now is get this boat on the ground between 2010 and 2100 hours".
Kalmiya rotated her avatar and looked at her sister with rumpled red eyebrows. "You want to go back to Reach"?
Cortana shrugged. "We don't have a choice, we have to set down and make repairs. It's also an opportunity to save a Spartan whose death was never witnessed and their body never found".
2130 hours
Reach
Location: 1 mile east of Aszod ship breaking yards
Slaughter.
That's what the Covenant were experiencing at the hands of a grey armored Spartan hell bent on killing as many of them as possible.
Whole platoons had fallen to this hyper-lethal vector; the evidence coloring the valley in shades of blue, purple, and orange; a ghastly painting dotted with the fallen.
The sounds of a gunfire and plasma discharges echoed off the mountains as the lone-wolf emptied magazine after magazine into the encircling army.
Grunts ran in fear, Jackals fell one by one, and Elites were hard pressed to get close.
But even Spartans had their limits, and this one was at the breaking point.
Zealot-class Elites, the best of the best, were sent in to deal with the Demon slaughtering their brothers in arms.
The Spartan was finally dealt a blow when a Needler round cracked its faceless mask, but the blue clad Ultra-class Elite didn't get the chance to boast before it found its belly full of lead.
The warrior discarded the damaged helmet and continued onward, undeterred by its loss.
The Zealots closed in, but the wind kicked up loose soil, blinding the opponents for a second.
Once the dust cleared, energy swords were drawn and the Zealots charged ahead with guttural roars emanating from their split-jawed mouths; their hooves pounded against the dirt.
For a moment, it seemed as if the Spartan would hold them off, but alas, even Demons fall.
The ranking Elite went in with his energy dagger, intent on cutting its enemy's heart out. The dagger was swinging downward, mere inches from the Demon's chest, when the alien was thrown backwards with white hot pain searing through its abdomen.
A confused roar was cutoff as it was disintegrated by the orange beam of light ripping through its stomach.
The other Elites turned; their prey had suddenly become secondary to this new threat.
Big mistake.
The Spartan grabbed a nearby energy sword and gutted one of the Zealots.
Caught between two threats, the few remaining Elites split to deal with them. The Spartan was on her feet, sword held in a blood soaked hand.
Another beam of orange energy erupted from the distance, vaporizing another Zealot. Both Spartan and Elite were confounded for a moment before the grey armored warrior charged again.
The Zealot didn't go down easily, and the Spartan displayed a new limp as she moved onto her next target.
Reinforcements were arriving, more Elites, the Spartan noted with a sardonic grin.
The Covenant warriors charged with swords drawn and plasma weapons firing. The armored soldier used the sword to protect her vulnerable head.
One green bolt broke through the weakened armor, and Spartan grunted in pain as she fell to the ground.
"This is it". Nobel Six thought as the Elites closed in once more; death was a certainty now, and she accepted it.
But that didn't mean she was going down until she'd taken more of the them with her.
"Two more, just two more!"
Limbs once so agile and strong now felt like jelly, it hurt to breathe.
Then, just as the Elites were a few feet away, a silver foot landed next to the Spartan's head.
Thinking it was a hallucination, the warrior didn't flinch, at least, until the body the foot was attached to let out an ear shattering screech and launched itself at the hinge-heads.
It was getting hard to see, but her hearing was still sharp enough to hear Elites choking on their own blood as someone, or something, slit their throats. Some just fell to the ground without a noise, others roared before going silent, but the one thing she kept hearing was the sound of popping shields and metal slicing through delicate flesh.
An electric whining sound was heard for several seconds before an explosion rumbled through the air. The ground shook as something crashed, and then she knew someone had shot down the Phantom drop ship.
The Spartan struggled to see what was happening, but the cold hand of death kept trying to lay claim to her warrior strength.
Footsteps became louder and stopped nearby, quickly followed by a cold hand brushing her neck. She tried to push it away, but the limb wasn't responding to her commands.
"Hold still while I seal your wounds." A Scottish voice ordered sternly and she obeyed, not having the energy to argue.
Expecting bio-foam, she was unprepared for the icy cold feeling that filled her abdominal wound. She gasped as it poured in and began moving her insides around. The Spartan struggled weakly, but the MJOLNIR Mark V[B] that enhanced her strength had taken more than it could handle..
Her vision began to clear a little and the pain in her chest lessened as her 'savior' stood up and spoke to seemingly no one.
"Weaver to Cortana, we've got her, waiting for transport."
"Working on it, I'm still trying to realign the pattern buffer." A somewhat distorted voice answered.
The Spartan caught the red haired woman tap something on her chest before looking at someone who had just stopped next to her.
"That's a Spartan?" A new voice said with a low whistle of approval. The Spartan turned her head and saw a dark haired ODST, minus any patches or other ID, wielding an unusual rifle.
"Yes, Mr. Reese. Is the area secure?"
"Yeah, once the drop-ship went down, I swept the area on wide beam".
"Efficient". The woman commented before she looked down at the grey armored woman at her feet.
"If you haven't figured it out, we're saving your life". She said before the distorted voice came back.
"Standby for transport". It said before falling silent.
"Where…" She coughed some blood up and spat it out. "Where are you…taking me"? She demanded, earning a thin lipped smile from the woman.
"To Voyager".
She began to feel groggy, darkness clouded her vision; she guessed the blood loss was finally catching up with her. Just before unconsciousness seized Noble Six, her whole body began tingling with energy as blue light filled her narrowing vision.
The Doctor paced back and forth as he waited for his new patient to arrive.
He was used to patients of all kinds in many conditions, but never this, never a Spartan. The closest comparison was a Hirogen hunter clad in their environmental/battle suits, but they weren't augmented.
"Here they come, Doc". Cortana warned as blue light filled sickbay. When the light faded, Derek, Weaver, and his patient appeared in sickbay.
He rushed over to the prone Spartan and began scanning her. His already grim face lessened as the tricorder displayed its results.
"You saved her life Ms. Weaver, but she's not out of the woods yet. Help me move her onto the bed". He said as he snapped the tricorder shut.
Weaver picked her up by the feet while the Doctor lifted under arm pits and set the half ton Spartan down on the surgical bio-bed. The bed didn't protest under Nobel Six's weight thanks to designer foresight.
Cortana generated the necessary tools to remove the armor using the sickbay holo-emitters. Then both she and Weaver quickly removed the metal portions while the Doctor began cutting open the titanium nano-composite bodysuit with a laser scalpel. Reactive Metal Liquid Crystal (RMLC) and hydro-static gel oozed like blood from the bodysuit and ran onto the floor.
Weaver lifted the heavy breastplate away, set it aside, and did the same with the backplate.
The Doctor breathed a sigh of frustration and boosted beam power on the scalpel. The titanium in the suit wasn't making it easy to cut through. He knew he was probably searing the skin underneath, but he didn't have any choice at this point. Weaver assisted him while Cortana got all the equipment ready for the EMH to operate.
As the RMLC pooled around the LMT's feet, her body reached out it, and suddenly, it became an extension of her. It was primitive in comparison, but it was still useful. Using power from her own body, she used it to clean up the slick hydro-static gel and then set it out of the way.
The Doctor nodded in appreciation as he finally removed the last of the body suit, leaving the wounded Spartan naked on the bio bed. His eyes observed every inch of her body accessing the damage done to her. He ignored the patched abdominal wound and moved onto healing the burns and other lacerations on her body. Cortana set up a synthetic blood transfusion as Weaver left to assist Seven and John Henry with fusing Titanium-A battle plate over the massive hull breach.
They had set Voyager down in the same berth that the Pillar of Autumn had vacated under two hours ago, and since Voyager had a Prowler type cloak and was much smaller than the aforementioned cruiser, the Covenant couldn't detect them from orbit. Cortana had set a count down for when the Covenant fleet would glass the shipyard and it was a race to finish the repairs before that happened.
About ten minutes later, Nobel Six had stabilized to the point where the Doctor was confident that she'd make a full recovery. As he and Cortana cleaned up, she caught him looking at the various scars on the Spartan's partly covered body.
"Leave them, they're badges of honor for a Spartan".
"As long as they don't interfere with her recovery, fine". He conceded with a sigh; he'd never fully understood why people would keep defective tissue as a sign of honor.
"So," he started as he put away the last tool, "who is our brave patient? You never gave a name".
Cortana looked at the Spartan-III lying on the bio-bed as she answered his seemingly simple question. "I don't know, her name is so classified that it's only on hard copy at ONI headquarters".
The Doctor's looked shocked for a moment before his head dipped in sympathy. "Does she even know her own name"?
Cortana shrugged, "You'd have to ask her".
September 1, 2552
1000 hours
Two miles east of CASTLE base
USS Voyager
Allison Young stood in front of the mess hall windows, her mind occupied as she sipped from a coffee cup in her hands.
Everyone that was human was exhausted from the repairs they'd been performing non-stop for the last two days. Derek was still sleeping, and she'd just woken up twenty minutes ago.
So much had happened she hadn't even had time to process it all.
The battle, the escape, this whole new universe, the Spartan, John, Cameron, and the new AI, Kalmiya.
She took another sip and realized that she should feel sorry for John and the Spartan-III down in sickbay, they both had a lot of catching up to do. Especially her, the brown-haired Spartan who barely fit on the bio-bed.
Her whole world would be shifted, and Allison could sympathize.
As she downed the last of her coffee, Allison decided that she would check on John in sickbay. If she was really honest with herself, she also wanted to see a Spartan up close.
The Doctor was checking on John when she walked through the sliding doors; he looked up at her as she entered. "Ah, Ms. Young, you're just in time".
Her eyebrows scrunched together. "In time for what"?
He opened his mouth to speak, but John interrupted with groan. The Doctor smiled and stepped away as Allison hurried over to John's bedside.
"John"? She whispered as she laid a hand on his arm.
He tried to make a noise, but it came out garbled until he coughed. "Cam..Cameron"?
Allison rolled her eyes, she should have seen that coming. "No, it's Allison you dummy".
John blinked a few times to clear his vision, but he still had to squint to see what was in front of him. "Sorry". He whispered hoarsely, knowing that his mix up bothered her. He tried speaking again but ended up coughing instead. The Doctor gave Allison some ice chips and water cup to give to John.
As she helped him with the water, she put his mind at ease about Cameron. "She's fine, by the way, body's scrap but her chip's intact".
Despite her reassurances, he still looked concerned. "What happened"? He mumbled.
The familiar sounds of a gun being disassembled from the next bed over cut off Allison's answer.
"Who's that"? He asked as he stared at the large figure rapidly pulling apart a MA5C assault rifle.
A smile tugged at Allison's lips. "A Spartan III".
John's head whipped around, his eyes wide from her statement.
"What? We've already crossed"?
"We didn't have a choice, it was either leave then or not at all". She explained as the Doctor moved in between John and Six's beds.
As the EMH scanned John, he began to explain why they'd left abruptly. "The deflector was depolarizing, if it had, we'd been stuck there for weeks. Not to mention the natives were on our tails".
Allison noticed Six subtly eavesdropping as the Spartan inspected every piece of the rifle lying in her lap. Unlike Kalmiya, she'd hadn't been told much yet. Too much going on for anyone to have time to explain the situation satisfactorily.
"How long have I been out"? John asked more clearly, his voice was finally returning to normal.
"Two days". The Doctor answered as he scanned John with a tricorder. "And after that head injury, you're lucky you don't have permanent brain damage".
"Thanks". The EMH nodded at his gratitude and left sickbay to help with repairs.
The Spartan continued to mind her own business, but John's curiosity about her grew as he watched her reassemble the weapon at lightning speed.
"What's you name"? He asked in a friendly tone.
Her head turned towards him as she set the finished rifle on her lap. "That's classified".
John used the moment of awkward silence to study her face. It was angular, but attractive; her hair was as finger length like his and roughly the same color, but her eyes were an icy blue.
"Then what do I call you"? He asked more seriously.
She thought about it for a second since most people referred to her by rank, but it didn't take long for her to decide on an alias.
"Six". She answered.
"John Connor". He responded and they shook hands. Allison chuckled as they pulled back to their respectful beds. "Her hand dwarf's your's, John".
"And yours are any bigger"?
She quit giggling after his comment and looked at them. She was small, wasn't she? Petite, more like. Even if she was augmented like the adults who became Spartan IVs, she'd still be small.
For a second, John thought he'd upset her, but a playful smile spread across her lips as she held up one of her tiny hands. "At least I know how to use chopsticks". She sang, causing John to roll his eyes.
"You're never gonna let that go, are you"?
She shook her head with one final laugh before Derek called her over the comm.
"Sorry John, gotta go". She apologized and walked out of sickbay, leaving John and the semi-tense Spartan alone.
John managed to pull himself up in a sitting position as Six began pulling apart another weapon, a BR55 battle rifle.
"Bored"? He asked with a knowing smile.
She responded with a sidelong glare before saying her peace. "The only reason I'm still sitting here is because you doctor showed me a very detailed hologram of my insides".
By the disturbed look on her face, it must have been pretty bad. "Not the pain"?
She shook her head. "Part of my intestines were vaporized along with half of my left kidney".
John winced, he knew what plasma wounds were like, his body still bore a few of the scars.
"Liquid metal"? He nodded towards her abdomen, but she shrugged. "Whatever it is, it moves".
John laughed. "Yeah, it's kind of creepy at first, but trust me, nothing heals wounds better than that stuff".
At his statement, Six set the newly assembled battle rifle down with a bang. "Why are you people holding me here? Why not hand me over to UNSC medical". Her voice was deadly serious, and John quickly understood that she had no idea what was going on.
"They haven't told you, have they"? His face looked incredulous.
"No". She deadpanned and picked up M6G Magnum. John sighed and ran his hands through his finger length hair. "How long have you been awake"?
"Six hours, give or take ten minutes". She replied and pulled the slide off the pistol. "I've been told everyone's busy".
John nodded. "We took a lot of damage, we nearly burned up".
She scrutinized him closely after his statement. "You're not UNSC or ONI. I've never seen technology like this, Human or Covenant". It was confrontational and John knew it. She wanted answers, now.
"Cortana"! He called out with a hint of frustration. For a super AI, sometimes she could be a bit negligent. It must be that human part of her he saw on the Delta Flyer.
It didn't take long for the blue AI to appear. "Yes, Master"? She said snidely with her arms crossed. "I was in the middle of realigning the Di-lithium matrix".
"Nice to see you too". He huffed, not noticing Six's reaction to seeing Cortana. "Did you forget about our guest"? He indicated the Spartan next to him.
"Oh, you're awake. Sorry, the ODN network's still glitchy, I thought you were still asleep". She explained while walking towards Six.
Six's eyes studied her body as she tried to figure out where she'd seen her before. "Wait...you're Hasley's AI, the one..." Cortana cut her off. "...you carried to the Autumn, yes". Her tone was apologetic, obviously knowing what it had cost Noble team to get her fragment to the rest of her on Pillar of Autumn.
"Why aren't you..."
Cortana held up her hand. "We're here to stop a threat greater than the Covenant, one that could do incalculable damage if we don't act soon". She knew that stopping there wouldn't be enough for the Spartan, but since John was awake... "John, we've still got a ton of work to do and not a lot of time to do it. Can you sum up the situation until we can give a more detailed briefing later"?
"Sure". He answered.
"Good". She said and turned to Six again. "I promise I'll answer any questions he can't later".
The Spartan watched her for a second before giving a curt nod, after which, John spoke up. "Where's Cameron's chip"?
"I had Weaver put it in a protective canister. I'll have the Doc bring her by later".
"Thanks". He choked out, he knew just how close all of them had come to dying, but he couldn't handle the thought of her dying.
Cortana gave a soft smile and disappeared.
John took several deep breaths to calm himself, all under the hawk-eye gaze of Six.
"So, what do you want to know"? He asked as he met her stare.
Her response was simple, "Everything".
A/N: OH NO, MORE CHARACTERS!
In all honesty though, only one more semi-main character will be added to the crew (a dedicated ship commander), and that's it.
Nobel Six is the customizable protagonist from Halo: Reach. Everything from armor to gender is up to you.
Reason I included Six is because someone's gotta train Allison, and Nobel Six is the only other Spartan besides Master Chief rated Hyper Lethal. Also as a female, Six is Chief's perfect antithesis.
Kalmiya is barely mentioned in the Halo series, and thus, will be sort of a replacement to Jim in the sense of having a character I can mold to my liking. She will be our dedicated ship AI when Cortana is reunited with Chief.
Reviews are appreciated!