Chapter 32: Weapons Free
February 9, 2558
The Ark
U.S.S. Voyager
0400 hours
The shrill chirping of the medical tricorder was trying Commander Miranda Keyes patience. She despised sickbays and she hated being sidelined.
After nearly twenty minutes of tests, Miranda was at the end of her rope. The Doctor was making absolutely certain that the nanites he'd used to resuscitate her hadn't caused any side affects.
When the tricorder was shut, the Doctor gave her an approving smile. "You're as healthy as anyone on this ship, Commander."
Upon hearing the news, she sighed in relief. "Does that mean I can leave?" She asked tersely while straightening at her fresh UNSC uniform.
"That's typically what happens when someone is given a clean bill of health." He teased with a smirk.
Miranda snorted softly at his response.
"You've lost a lot nutrients," he told her as he entered the information into the computer, "I suggest you visit the mess hall, Deck 2."
"I'd do that," She told him point-blank, "If I knew anything about this ship."
The Doctor sighed at his own forgetfulness and then smiled. "Then I'll take you there." He said and walked out the door with the Commander on his heels.
As she walked down the corridor, she began to note the ship's design and layout. As they neared a turbolift, she spotted a display panel showing a cross-section of Voyager.
She paused and studied its strange design. The upper hull hung over the lower hull and two mysterious nacelles hung from their pylons towards the back. She didn't understand the design of Voyager, unless it was critical to some ship function.
As Miranda's brain began to work overtime, the Doctor was forced to grab her attention. "The engineering debrief can wait, your health can't." He groused and entered the turbolift.
"Deck Two." He told the computer after she entered the lift. When the short ride was over, she followed him to the Mess Hall.
Upon entering, they found a tall, pale man-eating at one of the tables.
"Chief?" Miranda had never seen him outside of his armor before.
John-117 turned to them, his blue eyes instantly locking on Miranda. "Feeling better, sir?" He asked as he stood up in respect. Before he even had a chance to salute, she waved him down.
"I feel good as new." She told him and shook his hand. "Where's the food?" Her brow wrinkled at the absence of any in the room.
"They replicate their food." He told her with a hint of disbelief in his rumbling voice.
"Replicate?" She turned to the Doctor.
"Yes, though during Voyager's seven-year stint in the Delta Quadrant, we grew food as well." He explained as he stepped over to the side by side replicators. "Do you like scrambled eggs?" He asked her.
"Of course."
"Computer, two eggs, scrambled." He instructed the machine and it chirped in confirmation.
Then, before her very eyes, a plate with the food materialized in the alcove.
He handed her the warm dish and she hesitantly took a bite. After swallowing, it was clear she was impressed. "You don't have to store food?"
"Just the standard rations, just in case." He explained before leaving Miranda in her comrade's hands.
The Chief and the Commander sat down after he left, Miranda was still thinking about the applications for the machine that had just given her the best instant meal of her life.
"They replicated and built three sets of MJOLNIR armor in less than ten minutes." He told her point-blank before finishing the last of his meal.
"Three sets?" Her eyebrows rose high in surprise. "In ten minutes?"
"Cortana and Kalmiya have been adapting Voyager for Spartans."
As she finished the last of her eggs, Miranda pushed her plate aside. "Who else are they bringing on board?"
"They're still working out a new strategy. Finding the Spirit of Fire changed things." He explained, knowing that Cortana and the rest of the board was discussing this topic in the conference room.
"I bet; I thought she'd never be found."
"Neither did I." He responded.
Remembering that she'd seen three Spartans with him when she'd woken up, she figured it had been the three that had been lost with the ship.
"What was it like finding them? The other Spartans."
He shifted a little before answering. "I've lost many Spartans. I never expected to get any back."
After a momentary pause, Miranda stood up and walked over to one of the large windows. Without a war to worry about at the moment, she found herself appreciating the beauty of this monstrous Forerunner creation. "I never expected to survive this war." She confessed as he joined her.
"Not many did."
Miranda turned to him, "What about you, Chief?"
"I've always known I'd die in battle, Miranda."
And that right there showed her just how hopeless the Human/Covenant war had been. "We're you ready to die?"
He briefly met her gaze before turning back to the window. "No."
They stood watching the sun for a few more moments, both thinking about the comrades and friends they'd lost and what future would hold for them. It wasn't long after that they heard the sound of a hologram materializing behind them.
"Good Morning." Cortana's familiar voice echoed across the room. "Catching up I see."
At her appearance, Miranda noticed a slight change in the Chief's posture, and it made her wonder just how close the two of them had become during her absence.
"Cortana." He greeted back.
Miranda nodded to her 'sister' of sorts before turning back to the window as Cortana approached John-117.
"You're armor's ready, Chief. Meet us in the shuttle bay when you're done and then we'll go down to the surface."
He nodded and left the room after recycling his plate. After he left, the blue AI stepped closer to the Commander as she watched the light rays reflect off the Ark.
"I hear we're having a weapons demonstration." Miranda said as Cortana's reflection became visible in the glass.
"Yes, I was just going to ask you to join us since you're on the up and up."
Miranda felt excitement flutter in her chest at the idea of seeing what this ship could do. "What time?" She asked.
"Thirty minutes, shuttle bay." Cortana responded with a knowing grin, "I think you'll like what we have to show."
"As much as the Spartans? I doubt it."
Cortana's grin widened. "I plan on framing a picture of their faces." She told her before turning to leave. "You don't have to do it, you know?"
Commander Keyes turned and looked Cortana in the eye. "But I will, it's what needs to be done."
"That's why I picked you." And then she left.
Despite what she'd said to the AI, Miranda felt herself doubting her ability to command such a foreign ship and cosmopolitan crew. This was far beyond what her training and experience had taken her, but she was nothing if not adaptable. She would do her best even if it killed her, again.
Elsewhere on the ship, John Connor was getting dressed. Cameron had left while he was taking a shower to prepare for the weapons test. As he slipped on his shirt, memories of the previous night rolled back into his mind.
Needless to say, a smile spread across his face as they did.
They'd spent the night together for what John hoped to be the first of many to come, but even after they had settled down for the night, John wondered if they'd had taken things too fast.
Cameron hadn't been built, mentally or physically, to enjoy sexual intercourse. Rather, she'd been built to use it as a tool for infiltration.
She hadn't said much before he'd drifted off to sleep, and he wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not. Whatever the case, he didn't have time to worry about it at the moment.
John finished buttoning his new Resistance uniform, modeled after the US infantry's, before smoothing it out. The only variance was a patch on the shoulder displaying the Starfleet, Halo, and Resistance logos symbolizing the crew's diversity.
As he left his room, he spotted Derek walking just ahead.
"Derek. Hold up!"
The older man stopped and turned, showing his matching uniform.
"Staff Sergeant." The corner of his lip turning up at the joke. They both knew their ranks meant nothing anymore, but it was a token to their past, a part of their identity.
As John got to his side, they continued towards the turbolift. "Sleep well?" Derek asked, noticing that John was in a rather chipper mood.
Unable to hide a smirk, John responded. "You could say that."
Derek pinched the bridge of his nose. "I don't want to know."
"Wasn't going to tell you." John said as his smirk widened into a grin.
After exiting the turbolift, they walked into the shuttle bay. "So why aren't we beaming down?" Derek wondered as he noticed everyone gathered near the end of the bay.
"Cortana wants to keep it a secret until the weapons testing." John replied as they neared a chatting Allison and Six.
The two Spartans quit talking as the two soldiers got within earshot. "So," John started, "how's Spartan town?" He joked knowing that S-deck on the Infinity held the same nickname.
"Busy." Six replied dryly. "The younger ones spent the whole night in the holodeck."
"And?" He eyed Derek who seemed mildly amused, but it was Allison who answered.
"You've got some serious competition, Connor." John knew there was smirk under that red helmet.
He chuckled before engaging them again. "Where's Cameron?"
Six threw her head in the direction of the bay doors. "On the surface with Cortana. They should be ready."
"What about Captain Cutter?"
"Coming in now." Six replied as the whine of thrusters filled the room. Cutter's Pelican sat down at entrance and powered down like it had the day before. Everyone except those on the surface headed over to the drop ship as the ramp lowered.
The Master Chief stood out in front with Commander Keyes, whom John saw was looking pretty good now that she'd fully recovered.
As the Captain came down the ramp with Anders at his side, Keyes and the Spartans saluted him.
"Captain, it's an honor." Miranda told him as she shook his hand, "Admiral Hood's always spoken highly of you."
With a small smirk, the Captain responded, "It was an honor to serve with him, as I'm sure it will be with you."
Had she not inherited her mother's ability to keep her emotions under wraps, she would have blushed at the comment from one of her heroes.
As Cutter moved to shake the Chief's hand, Anders' eyes were locked onto Miranda. "You've grown up, kid."
Confounded for moment at the woman's comment, it took Miranda a second to recognize her mother's former student. "Ellen?"
The Arcadia born Asian professor smiled. "The one and only." She said before embracing the taller woman. Blinking in shock, Miranda stood back from the embrace to get a good look at the woman who had babysat her when she'd been earning her PhD. "Already a Commander too, your father must be impressed."
Blinking again, Miranda sighed, "He was proud when I received my first command, but he's gone now."
"I'm sorry." Anders apologized, realizing she'd forgotten that Jacob Keyes had been killed on the first Halo. However, she wasn't about to bring up Miranda's mother. Both Anders and Miranda had an intense dislike for her, as did many people.
As they joined the other group, they caught wind that they'd be using the Pelican to descend to the surface. Anders was incredulous, "Don't you have you're own landing craft?"
Connor answered simply. "The Delta Flyer's too small to fit all of us. We haven't had time to build a bigger shuttle."
Both Cutter and Anders sensed that he was leaving something out, but ignored it for the time being.
As they packed into the Pelican, Miranda noticed that Cutter was holding an old model Data Crystal Chip. Was he carrying his ship's AI? She found out quickly when he inserted the chip into the cockpit console.
Serina quickly appeared on the small holo-tank, her arms crossed. "Their lack of preparedness makes me feel so much better, Captain..."
Sighing, Cutter instructed her to head to the surface at the given coordinates. Rolling her eyes while Cutter's back was turned, Serina obeyed.
The Pelican lifted off Voyager's tail as Kalmiya watched them depart. Once on the ground, everyone stepped out and took in their surroundings. While everyone was looking for Cortana and Cameron, Miranda turned back towards the ship she was to command. Her eyes widened at the strange design and shape. The technology jutting out from various points of the ship were foreign to her and she didn't understand their purpose.
Keyes shook her head and joined the others, again questioning Cortana's wisdom in choosing her. She stopped next to Anders as Cameron stepped forward with a strange pistol-sized weapon in her hand.
"Starfleet uses primarily two types of weapons, phasers, and photon torpedoes." She began, and the Spartans appreciated her lack of formal introduction and other typical formalities.
Seeing everyone paying attention, the enigmatic cyborg continued. "Phasers come in many different sizes and shapes, from this hand held version to the massive arrays that can be seen on Voyager's hull. Everyone unfamiliar with the ship turned in the direction of Cameron's finger.
"I'm assuming their some-sort of energy weapon?" Serina asked from her miniaturized avatar standing on her Data Crystal Chip.
"Yes," She answered. "They use a nadion particle beam to heat up or disintegrate targets, depending on the setting." Before anyone could ask another question, Cameron turned the Type-II phaser on a nearby boulder and fired.
The orange beam leaped out of the emitter and slammed into its target, heating it up until it atoms disintegrated and were phased out of the space-time continuum. Within three seconds, the large bolder was completely gone. When she turned back to the group, she noticed some of the Spartans had tensed up. Cutter's face showed intrigue, while Anders and Serina were standing with their jaws open.
It was Miranda who spoke first. "Why didn't we feel the heat wave?" She asked, knowing that the required energy to do what the cyborg had done was enormous.
"Most of the matter was phased out of the space-time continuum." She explained, meaning that very little of the energy released actually affected its surroundings. "These weapons are far safer to use in close-quarters than plasma weapons."
Serina's digital mouth had closed at this point, her sensors open and attentive like never before.
The Master Chief had seen Forerunner weapons do something similar, but he never figured it was anything less than space magic, something far beyond human technology. Apparently not.
"What other types are there?" He asked, earning Cameron's immediate attention.
"There are several others." A ghost of a smile spreading across her lips before picking up the Type 3c. "This is designed for prolonged combat. It uses phaser pulses, instead of a beam. This conserves power while still killing its target." She fired off several rounds at some practice targets to prove her point. Each ended up with neat holes through their torsos or found themselves ending at the shoulders.
"Each bolt is exactly 1 mega-joule. The magazine holds 1000 shots." That sent some eyebrows rising, such power capacity was unheard of in so small a weapon. "Unfortunately..." She took the weapon by the barrel and the stock and snapped it in half, "It's not designed for super-humans."
"Let me guess..." Serina started as Cameron opened a metal container. "You built one that was."
"Of course." She responded as she pulled a gun that looked oddly similar to the assault rifle. Only the metal was more grey than black and the barrel had a phaser emitter. Raising the weapon to new targets, she fired. This time, there was nothing left of them; the bolts had totally disintegrated them.
"The casing is Titanium A, light, but incredibly strong. The internals have also been hardened to shock, heat, and EMP damage. The magazine operates the same as a MA5B assault rifle, and hold enough power for 1000 level-16 shots." She paused and turned her head towards the destroyed dummies. "That was level 16."
The Master Chief eyed the weapon curiously. He liked that it had a familiar design and that it was constructed with Spartans in mind.
Seeing his intrigue through the faceless helmet, Cameron walked over and handed him the weapon. "For you." She told him plainly and he took the weapon without pause. He quickly found that the weapon synced with his armor's systems, like other UNSC weapons.
He also noted that it enhanced his motion sensors. Placing it on his back, he nodded his thanks.
After handing out the rest to the Spartans, Cameron pulled out a small grey metal ball. "This is a photon grenade." She turned a small dial on the ball and pushed it down before throwing away from them.
It landed three football fields lengths away, and then it exploded. The explosion shook the ground, forcing most to keep their balance. By the time they shook off the shock, a small mushroom cloud was rising into the artificial sky. "It has a variable setting." She assured them as concern crossed Cutter's face.
"What kind of explosive has a variable setting?" Cutter queried as the explosion's rumble subsided.
Cameron simply tossed him one. On the label was a warning: 'Caution, contains 2 isograms of antimatter.' He nearly dropped it after that. Spying the label with her sensors, Serina's mind went wild with speculation.
"Do you use antimatter charges? Or better yet, antimatter missiles!?" The AI seemed to be on the verge of outrage and sheer excitement.
Cameron's only response was a smirk as she silently communicated with Kalmiya on board Voyager.
Everyone turned around as Voyager's thrusters fired up and her landing gear began to retract. Within seconds it was flying over their heads and heading off into the sky.
At this point, Cortana answered Serina's question. "We have more than just antimatter torpedoes." She barred her teeth in shit eating grin that the Chief had only seen when she had an ace up her sleeve.
They watched as the grey strips along Voyager's hull began to glow orange at their ends before quickly converging in the center. And then, 13 orange beams shot from them at nearly light speed in all different directions.
"My God, it's just like a glassing beam..." Anders breathed as the beams cut off and then re-fired in different directions in the span of a second.
Cutter just stood transfixed as his mind thought of all the possibilities of having such a weapon, and all the lives that could have been saved if they'd had them during the war.
The Spartans stood in both awe and respect of the tiny ship as it obliterated any debris Voyager's phasers found in their path. The Chief was taken back to the fall of Reach when he witnessed a Covenant ship possessing a similar thin light speed beam sniping UNSC ships at great distances.
While that ship only possessed one, Voyager possessed thirteen. He sincerely hoped Cortana would share them with UNSC engineers, but he was unsure if she could or not.
"Impressive, is it not?" The blonde cyborg, Seven of Nine, said to him as she watched her ship continue to pick off chucks of Halo debris.
He couldn't find the words to speak. It wasn't the weapon itself that had him transfixed, it was the idea that a parallel humanity, Seven's humanity, had built such things in conjunction with other aliens centuries before the UNSC had known such weapons might be possible.
Refocusing his mind, he responded at last. "Cortana mentioned antimatter torpedoes."
Seven nodded to Cortana, whom relayed the message.
Voyager swiftly fired a torpedo at a large mass of debris. It weaved around smaller pieces at incredible speed before impacting and exploding. When it was all said and done, the chuck had largely been vaporized by the nearly half Gigaton explosion.
After that, Voyager's weapons quieted, and Cameron drew the group's attention back to her. "We have two other types of torpedoes that specialize in penetrating shields."
That was when their attention was drawn to three oval shaped torpedoes that had been off to the side. "The grey one is a type 6 photon torpedo. The black is a Mark III quantum torpedo and a the gold one is a Mark II transphasic torpedo."
"We'll hand out the general specs for them later." Cortana continued, "But for now we have one last thing to show you."
Taking the que, Cameron activated her comm badge, "Kalmiya, beam us up!" Her voice loud enough for everyone to hear. Before anyone asked what she meant, they all were enveloped in a column of blue lights and strange sounds.
When the lights faded, and the sounds ceased, they found themselves not on the Ark but on Voyager.
For a moment, the Spartans and the Spirit of Fire crew were silent, until Serina broke the ice.
"I..." She looked shocked. "A matter/energy converter. We're no where close..."
Seven spoke up as she separated from the crowd. "That is the advantage to having alliances with other species."
"Apparently." Anders groused as she shook off the unfamiliar feeling of being transported. "How does it work?" She asked immediately, "How did you store our material patterns and compensate for the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle?"
Despite knowing the professor wouldn't be satisfied with just the basic theory, Seven decided it would be better than keeping it fully secret. Besides, she was predicting the UNSC would reverse engineer Forerunner slipspace transporters before the end of the century.
"Come with me, I'll show you our Transporter room." Seven said with a smile. Anders followed the cyborg without even asking permission from Cutter.
Said captain shook his head in amusement. He hadn't seen Anders in high spirits since before Sergeant Forge sacrificed himself on the shield world.
The younger Spartans began chatting privately amongst themselves about the new weapons and technologies and how they would apply them in battle with Skynet.
Master Chief ignored the chatter from everyone and went directly to Cutter.
"What are your thoughts, Master Chief?" The Captain asked as he put down his communicator. The Spirit's XO nearly had a heart attack after watching them disappear.
"Their technology's more advanced than I thought." He said plainly, "A Covenant cruiser would likely be destroyed in the first volley."
"Easily." Cutter grunted as his eyebrows furrowed, "The question is, will they share?" and he left the Spartan with that as he radioed back to the Spirit of Fire.
As the older man walked away, he sensed someone approaching. It was Cortana.
"So...what did you think?"
Ignoring her cheerful tone, he replied, "We need to talk."
The smile disappeared almost instantly. "Fine." She deadpanned, and transported them away. After materializing, John-117 quickly tried to figure out where they were.
It didn't take long to figure out they were on another arm of the Ark.
Standing next to her holographic projector, Cortana let out a annoyed huff. "You wanted to talk?" A blind man couldn't miss her attitude.
Not understanding why she was being this way, he did the only thing he could: respond. "What are your intentions, Cortana?"
"What is our intentions!? I think we've made those quite clear!"
"Not their intentions, your's." He clarified, shocking the AI into momentary silence. Once she did, she crossed her arms and set her jaw.
"I've already explained my loyalties, Chief. What more do you want?"
"Cortana...that's not what I meant."
She relaxed a little. "Then please, explain."
"I know you've shared some of our secrets with them, but will they let you share their's?"
She shifted her hands to her hips, her eyes becoming thoughtful. "That depends on the secret." She turned away from him, looking towards the non-existent horizon. "The Federation has a strict policy on not sharing their advanced technology with other races. Especially those who'll use them for proactive violence."
Her tone left little room for interpretation. She was implying that the UNSC was inciting violence. He didn't like the implication, but also couldn't deny it either. Cortana was rarely wrong in such things.
"Meaning...?"
"Meaning ONI is the reason why the Arbiter cannot restore peace on Sanghelios. Not to mention how they'd use such technologies against the Insurrectionists. It would be mass murder."
"So you would leave humanity defenseless against Skynet?"
She sighed. "That's what we're here for, Chief. You and I both know that ONI spooks will do anything to ensure their vision is carried out. Look at you, or any other of the Spartan IIs, or even the IIIs! We cannot trust them with these secrets!"
He said nothing for a moment, but then laid a hand on her shoulder. "I understand." He said quietly, "But I'm not sure the others will."
She stood resolutely. "Then I'll make them understand!"
After handing out weapons to the younger Spartans IIs and sending them down to the surface to practice, John Connor sought out Cameron. Strangely enough, he found her in the company of Miranda Keyes.
As he got closer he caught bits of their conversation.
"So you're Lieutenant Connor's body guard?"
"Originally, yes". She responded
That raised the Commander's eyebrow, not fully understanding her meaning. "But now you're friends or... are you closer?"
John cleared his throat. "Commander, Cameron." He greeted and shook Miranda's hand before leaning in and kissing Cameron full on the lips, answering Miranda's question without words.
When he stepped back, he could see the surprise on her face.
"I see." She seemed indifferent to the matter at first before her face became amused. "AI's don't have bodies in our universe, but an old classmate wrote his thesis on human/AI relations. He would have given anything to interview you both."
"Would?" Cameron questioned.
Miranda's eyes glazed as she spoke. "He died on Reach."
Cameron blinked once, her head tilting slightly but chose not to respond.
"I'm sorry," He placed a hand on her shoulder for a brief moment. "We've all lost friends."
"That seems to be the one thing we all have in common." She told him before changing the subject, "Voyager is an impressive ship." Her eyes flitted over room taking in its unfamiliar curves and technology. "But I know almost nothing about it." She pointed out quickly.
"Except for Seven and the Doctor, none of us did." John told her, "With Cortana and Kalmiya's help, you'll know this ship stem to stern before long."
"Then I better get started." She said and walked over to the pink skinned Kalmiya chatting with Weaver. After a brief conversation, the trio left to start familiarizing her with Voyager.
As he watched them leave, Cameron gently touched his arm to get his attention. "Cutter is looking for you." She whispered and nodded toward the older man with the AI chip in his hands.
Meeting him halfway, John saluted him and shook his hand. Cameron, having never been officially in a human military, just gave a handshake.
"That was quite a demonstration, Ms. Cameron." He knew no other name for her.
"Just Cameron, Captain." She corrected as she released his hand.
He just nodded while Serina seemed to study her. "An AI with a humanoid body, remind me why we've never done that?" She said mockingly.
Cutter looked down at her. "They say it's to prevent a rampant AI from causing too much trouble."
John nodded in agreement. "Smart AI's can only do so much physical damage stuck in a network."
Serina look offended, "I see your contradicting your own story Mr. Connor."
Cameron quickly came to his defense, "Skynet isn't a Smart AI, it's very different from you because it's not based directly on human synapse patterns. We also didn't have counter AI-intrusion algorithms like the UNSC does."
"Even so," Serina began more calmly, "AI's have never had the rights that humans do, even though we think and feel. Keeping us like this..." She gestured to her holographic avatar, "Makes it easier to see us as fancy computer programs, nothing more."
Cutter's eyes furrowed, he'd never heard this kind of talk out of her before, or any other AI for that matter.
John and Cameron looked at one another briefly. "Maybe we can help with that." He said lightly and held his hand out for Serina's chip.
Though he was reluctant to hand over his ship's AI, he realized that these people wouldn't harm her any more than they would harm him.
Once transferred to John, he gave the AI a quick smile before handing her to Cameron. "Create a shell, drop her in."
Cameron went to a wall terminal and quickly did drew up the same containment program that they'd once used on Cortana.
"Ready?" Cameron asked as she held Serina's chip close to the socket.
"As I'll ever be..." Her voice worried and excited at the same time.
Just seconds after inserting the DCC, Serina's new life-sized solid interactive holographic avatar materialized in between the trio.
Stumbling as the initialization sequence completed, she fell into someone's arms. Serina was not used to the sensations that flooded her neural network. Collecting herself once more, she stood up straight, coming face to face with James Cutter.
"Captain!"
"Serina?" He asked, wondering if his trusty AI was coming undone.
Letting out an artificial breath, Serina took several tenuous steps backward, her eyes never leaving those of her Captain.
"I'm...fine." She said quietly as her systems stabilized fully. "More than fine." More loudly this time and quickly stepped closer to Cutter.
Not knowing what she was about to do, he didn't flinch when she drew her fingers over his face as she felt every contour and whisker the hardened captain had.
"Amazing..." She breathed as she lingered on his jaw.
Feeling more than a little uncomfortable, he gently removed her hand from his face.
Not caring that he'd done so, she instead marveled at the texture of his hands, her mind linking the sensation to forgotten memories of her progenitor. Releasing his hand, Serina took a moment to revel in them before they faded away once more.
Serina stepped away from Cutter and looked around the room with new eyes taking in every detail. Her jaw slightly agape at the experience, just as Kalmiya and Cortana before her.
"This..." She started before her face fell, "You won't share this technology, will you?" She turned to Cameron and John, her face turning from sadness to anger. "You'll take away this gift! That's why you've isolated me in this shell!"
Cutter was about to scold her, but John beat him to the punch. Putting up his hands in mock surrender, John stepped closer to the tumultuous AI. "We won't take away this away from you, but you're right about us sharing Starfleet technology. However, the UNSC is on the verge of creating portable solid holography. I believe Cortana completed the design as a side project."
Serina nodded, feeling slightly embarrassed at her outburst. "I...apologize Mr. Connor, and to you too, Captain."
Cutter nodded and John smiled in understanding. Cortana had her moments after all, this was nothing new.
Looking around again, Serina noticed that Noble Six had taken her helmet off. While this wasn't odd, what caught the AI's eye was her face.
"Captain, Noble Six looks a lot like..."
She was cut off by Chief and Cortana beaming back.
"Like who?" He questioned quietly as stopped next to her.
"Like him."
Allison Young was probably the only one who registered Serina's comment, Six was too busy talking to Derek to hear Serina's hushed voice and the infamous Spartan himself was busy talking to Cortana.
She knew she wasn't the only one to hear her though, Cameron had been in the room and she doubted that either her or the ever-present John Henry had missed it.
Her curiosity piqued and she left the room to find answers.
It wasn't long before she was clomping into sickbay searching for the balding EMH.
"Can I help you, Ms. Young?" He asked in that polite yet bored tone she'd grown accustomed to during her recovery.
Taking off her red helmet, she ran an armored hand through her short locks before answering. "Yeah, can you do a DNA comparison for me?"
Raising his eyebrows in surprise, he quickly responds. "What for? And for whom?"
"Six and the Chief. Serina noted that they look a lot alike."
The Doctor frowned, "I noticed that too, but I don't have his DNA in the system yet!"
Now it was Allison's turn to frown. "Shouldn't Cortana have it?"
"If she does, she hasn't shared it." He muttered as he began working on another solution. "I'll have the computer analyze their facial structure for similarities."
Pulling from security footage, it didn't take the computer long to come up with a result.
"Computer, what is the probability that Spartan-117 and Spartan-B312 are related?" The Doctor asked with his hand thoughtfully propping up his chin.
The computer answered, "There is a 95% probability that Spartan-117 and Spartan-B312 are related."
"Relation?" He asked, thinking they might be cousins or perhaps...
"Brother and Sister."
Shadow of Intent
February 9, 2558
1536 hours
Standing on the surface of the mighty Elite assault cruiser, the Didact watched as they approached the glassed ring. After the Spartan known as John-117 and the humans had fled the ring five years ago, the quarreling Elites and Brutes united for a brief moment to glass the ring's inner surface to rid it of the Flood infestation. Even though the vast majority had escaped to High Charity, it still stopped the ring from being overtaken.
Now, since Skynet was gunning for a Halo, the Didact and the Arbiter had both agreed to destroy the remaining rings. Installation 04 was long gone, destroyed by the Master Chief in 2552. But Delta Halo, as the humans called it, or Installation 05, was still repairable and the closest to Sanghelios.
It had to be destroyed. The Arbiter and the remaining Elites had all agreed to that cause and here they were, ready to destroy the weapon he had so hated.
The humans studying the ring had raised quite a stir when the Arbiter announced their intentions, but gave them enough time to evacuate to their space station. Without any ships standing by to defend them, they had no choice.
R'tas Vadum, the Shipmaster of the Intent, and the Arbiter signaled to the few other ships in their group to fire on the weak spots of the ring.
Feeling something akin to joy watching the ring tear itself apart, the Didact returned to the launch bay and reentered the ship. Repairs were still being conducted on the vessel, but the Huragok were doing their job as efficiently as ever.
Upon walking into the Command center, everyone turned to look at him. His presence was still commanding, even though the Elite's no longer saw him as a god.
"Didact." The Arbiter greeted dully, his mind still burdened by the loss of his home world. He turned to the helmsman and barked for him to change course for Installation 03.
"No." The massive Forerunner held up his hand as the mask retracted from his face. "I have the Index, it is useless for now." Then he waved his hand over the control panel controlling navigation. The reverse engineered tech instantly complied with his commands and jumped into slipspace.
R'tas looked contemplatively at the Forerunner as he waited for an explanation.
"Where we going?" The Arbiter asked as he stepped forward.
The face scarred with Borg implants looked back at him. "To Requiem, my home. "
UNSC Infinity
In Orbit of Requiem
February 9, 2558
0754 hours
Bridge
It had been two days since they'd returned to the Forerunner planet that had imprisoned the Didact for 100 millenia. So far, the plan to rid the place of the Covenant squatters was going slowly, but steadily.
Moral was high, especially after Infinity slammed through a Covenant cruiser without so much as breaking its shields.
The teams on the ground though were having a tougher time with the native Promethean warriors and the Covenant ganging up on them, but still progressing.
Captain Lasky stood at the holo-table as Roland briefed him on a new, unexpected situation.
"Are you sure, Roland?"
"Positive, Captain Lasky." The yellow WWII bomber AI assured him. "Orbital surveillance has, without a doubt, identified the missing Prowler, Wink of an Eye."
Rubbing his chin thoughtfully for a second, Lasky then set his eyes on the holographic layout of the region. "Alright, send Blue Team to my ready room."
"Right away, sir."
Ten minutes later, three Spartan's entered his ready room and saluted him.
"Captain Lasky, reporting as ordered." Commander Frederic-104. Returning the salute, Captain Lasky stood up.
"Spartans, our surveillance satellites picked up the Wink of an Eye sitting in a canyon a few kliks from the compound housing the Librarian AI."
Kelly-087 stepped forward. "And the Chief?"
Lasky's face fell slightly, "No response on any frequency, and were not picking up his transponder."
That meant little though, interference could explain both of those, but right now, there was no interference anywhere on Requiem.
Fred held back a grimace before responding, "So, you're sending us in to find him."
"And to recover the prowler, if possible." Lasky added before sending the mission files to their armor. "Hanger bay 6 will be waiting for you."
Fred nodded once and saluted. "We'll leave immediately, sir."
"Good luck to you Spartan." Lasky smiled as he returned Fred's salute.
After entering the tram, Kelly finally broke the silence. "I know why he came here."
"And?" Fred asked, his curiosity piqued. Linda turned her head as well, obviously interested as he was.
"Cortana, he's thinks he can save her." She kept her voice monotone as she said it, but internally, she was a torrent of emotions.
Linda looked at her with surprise. "What? I thought she got FUBARed on the Didact's ship."
"The Captain told me that there was momentary slipspace rupture in the ship during the explosion." Kelly explained further.
Fred nodded in understanding. "Let me guess, John promised he'd get her back home and now he thinks she escaped the explosion. To what end though? She was rampant!"
"Your guess is as good as mine." Kelly said, shaking her head. In truth, though, she an idea but didn't want to voice it unless she had more proof.
"We'll ask him when we find him." Linda interjected as the tram stopped at their destination.
Slipping on their customized helmets, they headed out to find their wayward brother not knowing what they were about to get themselves into.
A/N: Not an easy chapter to write. I hope you liked it. Sorry it took so long. Hopefully the next one will be out before the end of November.