Chapter 37: Showdown, Part I
March 3, 2558
USS Voyager/UNSC Spirit of Fire
Conference Room(Voyager)
1 Hour to Requiem
The room was rather crowded.
Captain Cutter, Serina, Master Chief, Cortana, John Connor, Cameron, Commander Miranda Keyes, Seven of Nine, Derek Reese, and John Henry were all in attendance.
They'd laid out a series of scenarios during their time in slip-space, since the timeline Cortana had gleaned from Jim's universe hadn't been precise, to accommodate for whatever point in the campaign they'd arrive in.
Now that they were nearly to their destination, Cortana had calculated that they'd arrive very close to the end of the campaign, within five hours of Requiem's destruction.
It had taken her this long to analyse all the available footage and dialogue to determine the most likely timeline of the events that would happen today. As far as she could tell, they would likely arrive just before Doctor Halsey would be kidnapped by Jul 'Mdama.
They could not let that happen. Not only would it condemn her in the eyes of the UNSC forever, it would put Voyager and her crew in the awkward position of harboring a fugitive.
However, it was critical that they use Doctor Halsey to recover the Janus Key, since it was already known that the Librarian would hand it off to her. Everyone also knew that she would be critical in helping them in the fight against Skynet, just like she'd been in the Covenant war.
Her brilliance would prove a boon to their effort, if she could be trusted. She was known to unpredictable.
Also on their list was freeing the Infinity from the Forerunner devices anchoring it in a geosynchronous orbit. Should things escalate with the Covenant Remnant, it would be best if they had a maneuverable ally and not a vulnerable sitting duck.
Luckily, the episodes depicting the end of Second Requiem Campaign revealed where and how to disable the system.
The two Spartan teams would deploy to the surface of the Shield World, each one would deactivate a slipspace anchor, freeing the flagship.
The Spirit of Fire would hang back to avoid detection for the time being while Voyager would cloak and slip past both the UNSC and Covenant vessels to get the fire teams inside the planet. From there they'd deploy via transporter and deactivate the relics.
During this time, Cameron would capture Doctor Halsey and take her to Voyager. Voyager would stand by if things didn't go as they planned, and if things got really hairy, the Spirit of Fire would intervene.
Considering how many variables were unknown, that was likely.
Having the survival of the Spirit of Fire and her crew known to the wider UNSC before they could explain what had happened might have dire consequences for the crew in the long run. Especially where ONI was concerned.
It would be best if they could break it to the known galaxy on their own terms.
The meeting adorned as the time grew near, and everyone immediately went to their posts.
Miranda and the rest of the bridge crew had the shortest journey as they others were shuttled by the turbo-lifts or the transporters.
As the Commander settled in her seat, John Connor sat next to her dressed in the new ODST armor that Kalmiya had designed specifically for the non-enhanced. She had to admit that he wore it well. Having worn little to no armor his entire life, the man seemed to adapt quickly.
She liked that about him very much; he and the others from their universe. It was people like him who helped win the war in this universe.
People like herself.
"Ready, Commander?" He asked in all seriousness.
She turned to the view screen before answering, "As ready as any of us are."
Despite her cryptic response, John knew that she was ready to command Voyager.
He was to serve as her guard should anyone try to board the ship, such as Promethean Knights. He'd been training against the ferocious AI's for a while now, and needless to say he didn't mind the tips given to him by the Master Chief when it came to defending himself from the unstable constructs.
Cameron stopped next to the first officer's chair in which he was sitting. "Are you ready?"
"Ready," he patted the loaded phaser resting between his legs, "you?"
She nodded and went to her station. He knew she was reluctant to leave his side while she was rescuing Doctor Halsey, but he'd lived without her in the future for nearly two years, he'd be fine for ten minutes on his own in the protective gear he now wore.
Seven was heading down to Engineering with Weaver as they prepared for the reactivation of Voyager's primary systems.
Master Chief, Blue Team, Red Team, along with Six and Allison, were heading for the Aero shuttle embedded on the underside of Voyager's primary hull. Essentially an oversized shuttle-craft, they had finished and upgraded the never-used craft so that the Spartan's could use it as a very fast, armed, and extremely capable transport/drop craft.
While not initially as advanced as the Delta Flyer, the Aero shuttle was now even more advanced that Tom Paris' brain-child.
As the Spartan's boarded the Aero, Master Chief held back Red Team's leader, Jerome.
"Sir?" He asked privately over the comm.
He was silent for a brief moment before answering, "Be careful, expect the unexpected."
"Yes, sir!" Was Jerome's only response before they entered the craft.
Jerome understood the Chief's concern; he shared it. While they had trained for this mission he, and the other members of Red Team, were still significantly younger than their Blue Team counter parts and less experienced.
Despite this, he was confident that he and his team could accomplish their mission. In fact, it seemed infinitely easier than some of the tasks he'd faced in the past. The only problem was the active Forerunner Technology.
There was no good way to predict how that would affect the mission, if at all.
Everyone strapped in as the time drew near. They did not know if their timing was accurate, anything could be waiting for them on the other side.
At the helm of the Aero-shuttle, Six kept an eye on the system readouts as she and Kalmiya ran through the final series of checks on the craft.
They all felt the jolt as the Spirit of Fire dropped out of slipspace and the loud, echoing sounds of Voyager being released from it's dock.
Kalmiya's avatar appeared on a small pedestal situated on the control panel. "Everything's ready, now we wait."
Six nodded as she waited for the Commander to give the go ahead.
On the bridge of the Spirit of Fire, everyone was cheering at their successful, pinpoint accurate exit from slipspace.
They were, officially, the fastest ship in the UNSC.
Cutter couldn't help but feel a small bit of pride at his ship's performance, but it faded as he ordered his crew to release Voyager from it's dock so they could get underway.
As soon as the smaller ship lifted off the Spirit's hull, it cloaked itself and headed in system.
The ops technician let out a low whistle as he watched the ship disappear from sensors. "That's one hell of cloak, I can't detect anything, even with the new sensors!"
"Good, hopefully that'll give them some breathing room with the Covenant Remnant." Cutter said as he stepped up to the bay windows.
"Breathing room or not, Captain, we're on station and ready to assist." Serina told him as her Hard Light projectors activated, putting her full sized form next to Captain Cutter.
He turned to her, still not quite used to seeing her so...lifelike. It was amazing what a little perspective could do.
"I take it we made it out smoothly?" He inquired.
"Aye, Captain. We're ready."
He turned to the window again, "I have a feeling we're going to find out soon enough."
Miranda's eyes stayed glued to the view screen, only occasionally looking down the two consoles that sat on either side of her. They hadn't been there before the upgrades, but having such touchscreen displays had proven extremely useful in the past, especially for her.
Just by looking at the screens, she could get a great deal of information without having to speak a word; it was very efficient.
Right now they were telling her that the ship was running smoothly, and that the UNSC sensor probes spread throughout the system were not picking up the cloaked Voyager.
Even Requiem itself hadn't taken an interest in them as they slowly orbited the planet towards the maw of the shield-world.
The traffic corridor got very busy as they approached it.
Not only was the Infinity present, but it's support ships that it carried in it's underbelly were as well. Not to mention the debris from the battle and the Pelicans transporting troops and supplies to the surface.
It was a delicate game of dodging space junk and pelicans to ensure that they wouldn't be detected.
As they passed through the maw, Miranda was impressed at how beautiful the Forerunner's made their technology, even one that was meant as a military installation.
She broke her brief observation to get an update from John Henry, who was navigating the ship.
"We're in the upper atmosphere, it doesn't appear that we've been detected." He responded.
"Good, keep up high and away from the Remnant fleet." She told him before opening a channel to the Aero-shuttle. "Aero-shuttle, you're cleared for launch."
"Confirmed, Commander, launching now."
The shuttle itself had a cloaking device to avoid detection, but it wasn't nearly as good as the one on Voyager. The shuttle had to take things slowly and cautiously to avoid detection by the Covenant ships. It was highly likely that any Forerunner based sensors had detected it, but whether anyone was paying attention to those was another thing.
Once they'd gotten far enough away from the fleet, Miranda had John Henry take Voyager back to the maw and wait for the opportune time to kidnap her mother from UNSC hands.
Cameron was already waiting in the transporter room.
"John Henry," Miranda began, "status of Infinity?"
The endo-housed AI was also fully integrated into ship, and it's sensors. As such, he was freely able to keep a passive eye on the massive starship anchored above them. Since active scans would likely be detected, John Henry waited for the indistinguishable signs of slipspace ruptures that the Promethean Knights would leave when appearing on the ship.
About five minutes went by, and then they got a confirmation that the Spartan teams had been beamed discretely to the surface.
Six and Kalmiya were in UNSC and Remnant territory, they opted to stand by at 80,000 feet above the surface where there was little activity.
Both ships were still cloaked, undetected as far as they knew, and then John Henry started receiving the typical signs of slipspace ruptures above them on the Infinity.
It was time.
Cameron was given a split second notification just as she was beamed away.
He then notified John and Miranda.
"The Prometheans have begun their attack, Cameron is on her way."
Miranda nodded as she kept her eyes on the Spartan teams down below. John understandably kept an eye on Cameron's comm signal beacon. As long as it was active, so was she.
At the same time, though, he was also alert to his surroundings should the Prometheans some how find and board the ship.
All the Voyager crew could do now was wait as everyone executed their mission.
Captain Thomas Lasky was having one of those days.
You know, the ones where your ship's only hope betrays you, hack's your ships AI and then getting slapped by said woman just before your ship gets invaded by Forerunner AI death machines.
Now his men were dying and he was fighting for his, and the Doctor's, lives.
After blasting his way through his tenth Knight, he finally ran into Sarah Palmer after nearly shooting her around a corner.
"Found him, Roland." Sarah said as she pushed the Captain's shotgun aside, "Doctor Halsey, too."
She handed Tom a few more shotgun rounds, "Still alive?"
"For now," he replied, "was their some concern?"
"Maybe a little." She admitted as she took point on their way back to the command deck.
Had he been in a better mode, he'd have smirked, but instead he just grabbed Halsey's arm and pulled her along.
Cameron had dressed herself up as a Marine PFC before beaming to the city-ship, it was more so for the crew than Roland. He would detect her presence as soon as she stepped out of the un-monitored storage closet she'd beamed into.
As soon as she left the closet, she found the ship in chaos. Prometheans and Infinity's personnel were clashing in a somewhat one-sided battle. Not wanting to draw too much attention to herself, she grabbed one of the dropped Promethean weapons and reloaded it from the dropped ammunition scattered about.
She smirked knowing what a Scattershot could do to both flesh and Promethean alike.
Cameron wasted little time blasting the knight nearest her. Two shots and it was digital dust. She ran past the thankful sailors who were just getting their butts kicked, but she paid them no mind and broke into a sprint towards the bridge.
She was already on the command deck, but she still had to fight her way to the bridge.
More than once she had to super-humanly dodge sword swings and weapons fire from the Knights. She hoped that Roland wasn't paying her much mind in the fog of battle, at least not enough to deter her mission.
As she was nearing the entrance to the bridge, more Knights appeared to challenge her progress. Apparently they'd noticed her actions, but the five that had appeared were all they could spare.
She charged forward and destroyed the first one before he could open fire, but the others opened up before their comrade had even disintegrated, forcing Cameron to pull some seriously challenging gymnastics to keep from being hit.
However, the Prometheans weapons had a spread that couldn't be avoided and she felt the liquid metal clothing and her pseudo flesh take hits.
Thankfully, she had no sense of pain.
It wasn't long before two more knights were down, but Cameron's flesh had since burned away, leaving a bare endoskeleton of hardened material and protected by close-knit energy shields.
She charged the Knights and knocked one off-balance with a blow to the head before sliding underneath it and shooting it between the legs with her Scattershot.
The knight went down as the other continued to fire upon her. Her shields were taking a beating, but they lasted long enough for her to destroy her opponents.
By now she knew she'd attracted Roland's attention, and that left her little time.
The door to the bridge was at the end of the hall. Cameron broke into a sprint knowing that Doctor Halsey could be taken at any moment.
Her arms began to transform into phaser cannons as she closed the distance to bridge door. Once she was close, she let twin beams of radiant orange energy ripped into the Titanium-A3 door, vaporizing it and part of the bulkhead.
At her speed, nothing could stop her, and the bridge crew had barely reacted to the door being vaporized before a Promethean Knight teleported in, attacked Palmer, and made a grab for Halsey.
Cameron would have none of it.
At thirty miles an hour she slammed into the Knight, knocking it violently back into the railing separating the lower-sitting holo-table area from most of the bridge crew.
Doctor Halsey was knocked to the ground by the sheer force of the impact, but was unharmed.
Palmer was just recovering from the blow dealt by the Knight when Lasky unloaded a round into the knight, but failed to destroy it.
Then Cameron, who'd stopped twenty feet from the knight, stood up in all her dark-grey and purple accented glory.
Halsey caught sight of her first, and her mouth was agape. Some of the bridge crew noticed her too as both Palmer and the Knight recovered.
Lasky pumped his last round into the Knight, but it was only a grazing blow that the construct shrugged off as it made its way back to Halsey.
Cameron raised one of her arms and opened fire.
The orange beam slammed into the Knight, forcing it to address Cameron's threat, but it was too late. Between Lasky's shotgun, the kinetic blow, and now this, the Knight could take no more and disintegrated.
With the Knight gone, all attention shifted to Cameron. Her grinning endo-skull and glowing eyes were enough to freak out the majority of the people present, including Lasky.
Palmer, finally on her feet, saw the diminutive machine approaching Halsey and stepped between them.
"Back off." She said bluntly with her Magnum in hand.
Cameron tilted her head in amusement before shooting Palmer in the head.
"Sarah!" Lasky cried as Palmer's body hit the floor.
The Captain, the only one on the bridge with a weapon, tried to hit her with his empty shotgun, but she grabbed it and crushed it.
She shoved Lasky back and dropped the destroyed weapon. "I only stunned her, Captain. She should really wear her helmet."
Lasky, too stunned for words, could only watch as the petite machine approached Halsey. The good doctor, still clutching her data pad, did nothing but stand there as the machine stopped in front of her.
"Doctor Halsey," she offered her small metal hand, "come with me if you want to live."
Halsey took one look at the destruction she'd caused and knew that this was the only out. She didn't know or trust the combat-machine, but it couldn't be any worse than what the UNSC and ONI likely had planned for her.
She took the metal hand offered, not knowing what to expect. What did happen when she did, however, would change her for the rest of her life.
Since Cameron had left several minutes ago, Miranda had focused on the mission updates from both Red and Blue teams as they fought their way through Remnant hoards to their goals. So far so good.
John sat nervously to her left, obviously awaiting Cameron's return. If she were honest, she was nervous too. She'd hadn't spoken to her mother in years, and they hadn't been on good terms either.
"Commander, Mr. Connor, Cameron's returned with Doctor Halsey." John Henry informed them.
John made to get up, but Miranda put her hand over his and told him to stay. "I'll take care of this. Keep me updated."
He nodded before moving next to John Henry. The two began discussing the Spartans' performance as she left the bridge.
Getting into the turbo lift, Miranda wasn't sure what she felt towards her mother now that she knew so much more about her. The Halo books had provided great insight into the mind of the woman who birthed her.
Cortana and Kalmiya had also provided invaluable insight as well.
As she stepped walked off the turbolift, she steeled herself for anything her mother could throw her way.
Catherine Halsey was not a person who was easily surprised or caught off guard, but now it had happened three times in one day.
The first had been finding out that John was alive, the second was endoskeleton battle chassis that had broken into the bridge, defeated a Promethean Knight and Commander Palmer without much effort.
Then she'd gone with the machine, in a way she hadn't expected. It was unlike any other teleportation she'd ever experienced.
Once they'd fully materialized, her mind overflowed with questions, but she could only ask one at a time. So she used her eyes instead to answer her questions.
While the transporter itself was certainly unique, it didn't intrigue her nearly as much as the architectural design of the transporter and the room that contained it. She could tell that it was designed for humanoids roughly the size of humans, and upon spotting English on the wall, confirmed it.
This ship had been designed with humans in mind, further proved by the human-like endoskeleton the Machine possessed.
Halsey observed the gynoid as she walked off the transporter pad. She walked with strange gait, but it was steady and filled with purpose. Her motions were controlled and concise.
Definitely an AI and not some sort of tele-presence that she'd seen proposed in the past.
Just who was this being, and who had made her? Why had they rescued her?
The dark-grey gynoid stopped at the control panel and began to manipulate it's controls.
Halsey stepped down from the staging area as she continued to observe the gynoid's actions.
"It's not polite to stare." The machine deadpanned.
Had Halsey not spent her life around AIs, she might have been startled, but it simply fascinated her instead.
"I know I've been kept out of the loop, but I think I would have heard something about the UNSC implanting AI's in hardened battle chassis."
The machine looked up at her with glowing purple eyes. "Who said I was built by the UNSC?"
Halsey scoffed, "The Insurrection couldn't have made you, they're innovative, but not this much. Who else would build you?"
"Another AI." She responded, earning a raised eyebrow from the silver-haired woman.
Halsey pondered that as the gynoid finished her work. An AI building another AI? While the concept wasn't foreign, the implementation was. It opened a whole can of worms that Halsey was both excited, and afraid, to open.
"I assume you don't always walk around undressed do you?"
The gynoid seemed a little impressed at her assumption. "No, my semi-organic sheath was vaporized by a Scattershot blast."
"And yet you survived," Halsey observed as she reached out and touched the bare metal, only to find an impossibly slick coating that shimmered under her touch. "with MJOLNIR energy shields."
"They were based on your designs, but they've been improved and optimized for my smaller frame." The gynoid corrected, but that's all she would speak on the matter.
Realizing that she was stalling, Halsey changed the subject. "What are you waiting for," she asked suspiciously.
The gynoid's eyes met hers once more, "Not what, who."
That's when the doors slid open.
The gut wrenching conflict Miranda felt as she approached the transporter room only seemed to get worse the closer she got, but she wasn't one to run from her fears.
Her mother and she hadn't parted on good terms and they hadn't spoken in years.
Halsey's intelligence often lead her to believe she knew what was best for other people, especially her daughter, and it had driven them apart.
Now, after all that had happened, after her 'death', she wondered how her mother would react. She wondered how she herself would act.
As the doors slid open, Miranda caught sight of her mother talking to Cameron. She looked exactly as she appeared in the videos from the Alternate Universe.
She wore a white lab coat over a light-blue jumpsuit that hung on her slim shoulders and small frame. Her once black hair was now white as snow and her face betrayed the years that had passed since they'd spoken.
As her mother turned to see who'd opened the door, Miranda spoke.
"Hello, mother."
The only response she got was the sound of a data pad hitting the floor.
Halsey could only stare.
Cameron walked up to Miranda, "I'll be on the bridge."
"I won't be gone long." She responded as the cyborg walked out.
Her mother still hadn't moved, but her face was no longer a picture of shock. She'd always seemed to take things in stride.
Even the revelation of Halo and it's incredible power hadn't phased her much from what the Chief had told her.
Miranda realized that the resurrection of her daughter, to Halsey, wasn't that shocking.
"They'd told me you were dead."
The Commander suddenly realized what her mother was thinking. That ONI had lied to her for some sinister reason, to manipulate her emotions, likely.
"I was," she said flatly, "for about two hours." With that said, she unzipped the top of her uniform, knowing only proof would convince her mother.
She didn't like exposing herself like this, to admit that she was vulnerable to the woman who'd gone to extraordinary levels to protect her.
If she were honest with herself, she wasn't quite over her mother's antics, but they needed her expertise.
She slid the uniform off her shoulders until it fell it her waist and turned around.
Cold fingers touched the small scars on her back.
"These wounds...", her mother's voice faltered, "you shouldn't be walking much less living."
Miranda pulled her uniform back on. "I should know." She turned back around and faced her mother, who seemed conflicted.
"Miranda, I know the limits of humanity, better than anyone," She paused as she looked at her daughter, "and we certainly can't do that."
The Commander smirked, for once she knew more than her mother did, for however short a period of time it would last.
"Not yet."
Halsey guarded her heart with fervor, she rarely let things get to her. She rarely let people in.
Miranda was one of those people, and it had devastated her when she found out that Miranda had been killed in action. She'd never seen her body, never taken to her grave.
She'd been taken into custody immediately afterward, her freedom had been non-existent for nearly five years. With all the work she done since then, most of it on Halos and Infinity, she'd never looked into the details.
With an IQ of 200, and an impressive list of accomplishments behind her, ONI couldn't afford to lock her in a cell. She was too useful.
Having lived a life dealing with ONI and keeping her own secrets and playing her own games, she couldn't afford to take things at face value.
Was this really Miranda? Her gut instinct told her yes, but that left open the question of the grey machine and the unusual technology that now surrounded her.
Who'd resurrected her daughter? And why? What did they want with her?
The more she saw of the ship, the more she wondered. It was a strange design, unlike any she'd seen. It had almost a civilian feel too it, like it wasn't designed to be a military ship.
Then why was Miranda still in uniform?
It was then that she noticed the patch on her daughter's uniform. It held a trifecta of symbols: A UNSC logo, an arrow shaped logo, and a red double helix. On the edge of the badge was a motto: "United We Stand".
On the southern boarder, the name of the ship they were on was revealed.
NCC-74656 USS Voyager
An unusual classification paired with a naming scheme that hadn't been used in hundred of years, it just added to the piles of questions in her mind, to which she had few answers and a lot of speculation.
All of which she kept to herself.
They entered what was labeled as a 'turbo-lift', obviously a intraship elevator.
"Bridge," her daughter commanded and the machine obeyed.
"Where are the crew?"
"Voyager is mostly automated or run by AI, the only real crew maintain and upgrade the ship. The rest are soldiers."
Before she could ask more questions, the lift stopped and the door opened, revealing the strangest looking bridge she'd ever seen.
It was build like an amphitheater. A partial circle with multiple, stepped levels.
There were stations on either side; one was occupied by the grey machine. Miranda stood next to what Halsey assumed was the command chair.
"John Henry, sit rep." She asked the plaid shirted man sitting at the helm. Halsey immediately noticed his stillness and assumed automatically that this man must be like the grey machine behind her.
"Blue and Red Teams are making steady progress. The enemy is taking heavy casualties as we predicted." The plaid shirted cyborg answered without so much as touching the controls. Halsey realized that he must be linked to the ship, unlike the one now standing behind her.
"Show me on the map."
The cyborg quietly brought up a holographic projection in front of the command chairs, but behind where John Henry was sitting.
Both Miranda and the man sitting in the XO's seat stood on opposite sides of the map analyzing a large area of Requiem. There was four blue dots next to one structure, and four red dots next to one some distance away.
There were multiple black and orange dots on the hi-def landscape that were quickly becoming fewer in number.
Halsey watched the way the dots moved and how swiftly they eliminated both Covenant and Promethean foes.
The red dots were less familiar to her, and not as effective at their Blue Team...peers
It all made sense then, at least the blue dots pattern of motion, those blue dots were Spartan IIs, specifically Blue Team. She'd recognize them anywhere.
Judging by their effectiveness, she guessed that they were being lead by John.
Her heart beat quickened at the thought of seeing him and the rest of her Spartans after so many years.
But how had they acquired them? What was going on here?
Seeing a console in front of her, she was determined to find out.
Just before she had the opportunity to do so, a metal hand firmly, but not harshly, gripped her shoulder. "No, Doctor."
It was the gynoid.
"Come with me," she told her while releasing her grip. Knowing she had little choice and feeling like appealing to her daughter, she obeyed. She followed the armored AI through a door on the right of the bridge, leading into what was obviously the captain's ready room.
"Am I supposed to be a decoration?" She asked sarcastically.
"No," the machine answered, "but you can use this time to read up," she gestured to a terminal on the captain's desk. "You'll have access to our files, nothing more."
Halsey said nothing, and the machine left.
She sat down at the terminal, quickly learned it's intuitive interface, and delved into the ship's files. Like those who'd joined before her, she had no idea what she was getting herself into.
On the surface, Master Chief and Blue Team were carving a path of destruction with their new weapons. Phasers had proven highly effective against the Remnant troops, but only slightly more effective than other weapons against the Prometheans watt for watt. However, when they encountered Knights they just cranked up the juice and and ended the threat with one or two level 13 shots.
They were reluctant to use anything more powerful with all of the Forerunner machinery around them. A missed shot at level 16 could spell disaster for the mission.
This also meant that the single antimatter grenades they each carried were to be used as a last resort weapon.
"Battle-wagon on the left!" Kelly shouted as it appeared over a ridge with a Scattershot in hand.
Linda, who'd fitted her weapon with a scope, targeted it and fired two bursts at level 13, ending the threat.
"We've got suicide grunts on our six!" Fred warned as the trio of Unggoy rushed out from cover with an elite Minor covering them with his fuel-rod cannon.
The Chief dove to the side to avoid taking one of the radioactive bolts to the chest; Linda was forced to do the same.
Kelly swiftly, and deftly, blew the head off of the Elite, leaving Fred to pick off the grunts before they got close enough to cause harm.
Both the Chief and Linda had recovered before the grenades went off in the dead grunts' hands.
The team regrouped before continuing forward, the entrance to the structure was just ahead.
They made short work of the remaining troops, executing their tried and true tactics with almost psychic unison. Watching them work was like seeing old grandfather clock work flawlessly as it had done for many years. It's gears worn in and well oiled.
Blue Team sometimes made ground assaults look easy.
When the last Promethean dissolved, they knew they had little time before a counter-strike was organized. Keeping Infinity locked in position was a huge strategical advantage, one they wouldn't want to lose.
A counter-strike was inevitable, and John did not want to get caught in a corner like his other teammates did trying to find him.
Entering the structure was easy, but they quickly met resistance.
The corridor was narrow compared to most Forerunner structure, which meant that the whole place suddenly turned into a shooting gallery. Even with their advanced armor, they were forced to take cover behind pillars.
This is what they'd saved their conventional grenades for.
Syncing wordlessly through their green/red blip comm interface. They all tossed grenades in two waves, eight fragmentation grenades were launched at the enemy hordes, taking many of them out.
Knights, Crawlers, and Watchers advanced over their dead comrades firing their weapons to keep Blue Team behind cover. They paid for it as the Spartans picked them off every time they risked breaking cover.
The Chief stepped out from cover and blasted two knights before the combined fire forced him back.
"Chief," Cortana broke her silence, "get me to console at the end of corridor, I'll be able to finish them off with the automated turrets."
Not needing to respond, he called out to his teammates over the comm, "Cover me!"
Blue Team snapped into motion with synchronized cover fire as the Chief ran towards the Promethean and Remnant horde.
They cleared a path through the enemy lines, allowing John to sprint through them without even losing his shields. He didn't stop until he reached the console, upon which he transferred Cortana with the touch of his hand.
Her blue avatar barely had time to appear before the Chief was forced to refocus on the battle.
She wasted no time activating the turrets, giving Blue Team the breathing room they needed to finish off the rest of the Remnant troops and their Promethean allies.
Linda and Fred began checking the bodies for anything useful, while Kelly joined John at the console. "I'd forgotten how useful you were." She told Cortana, who looked satisfied with her work.
"Can you shut it down," the Chief asked, indicating the device pulsing with orange light in the center of the room.
She smiled, "Already done."
The device powered down with a hum and stopped glowing.
"Well, that's one down." Fred observed, "How do you think Red's doing?"
The Master Chief looked at Cortana.
"According to my uplink to Voyager, they're still clearing out bogies surrounding the main structure, but their making progress."
The Chief nodded before taking her back. They set one of the anti-matter grenades near the device and set it for remote detonate.
Blue Team hustled out of the building and didn't stop until they were nearly a mile away.
"Are you sure that tiny thing's going to destroy the device?" Kelly asked with some doubt, she'd never seen one of the grenades explode when set to it's maximum setting.
Master Chief said nothing, but simply hit the detonator.
The explosion was brilliant and deafening, the shock wave knocked them back a few steps as the entire structure was turned to rubble.
As the mushroom cloud rose through Requiem's atmosphere, Kelly shrugged her shoulders before comming for beam up.
On Infinity, Captain Lasky was still dealing with the aftermath of the Promethean's attacks when Roland brought the explosion to his attention.
"Captain Lasky! Several of our science bases and fire teams have just recorded a massive explosion in sector Alpha-430!"
"Nuclear?" The captain asked as almost an afterthought, he'd just helped medics move an unconscious Sarah Palmer onto a gurney.
"No, Captain, according to some of our sensor stations, it was a focused antimatter explosion inside a Forerunner structure."
"Antimatter?" That got his attention, he went over to the holotable where Roland brought up the location where the explosion occurred. "Why would Jul destroy something we weren't even interested in?"
The AI 'hmmmed' in agreement, "Perhaps we should have been, Captain. The Forerunner device holding us in place? It just lost half it's holding power."
"But we still can't break free."
"No, but that this does give us a lead. I've located a few other structures on the surface that are similar to the one that was destroyed."
"Send scouting parties to find which one the Covenant are most interested in," Lasky instructed before turning towards his ready-room.
"But Captain, why would Jul 'Mdama destroy one of his main assets?" The AI questioned as the Captain retreated to brief his superiors.
Having too many things on his mind at the moment, he dismissed it for the time being "One thing at a time, Roland, but keep me updated."
"Yes, sir."
Roland watched as the door closed behind the captain as he pondered all of the possible reasons Jul 'Mdama would want to destroy one of the very things keeping Infinity from descending upon him.
From what his multitude of decision tree algorithms told him, there simply wasn't any path that he could see putting Jul in a better position that what he was in before.
This had to be the work of a third party, but the question remained.
Who was responsible?
Jerome-092 was not one to get easily frustrated, but these Prometheans were quickly grating on his nerves.
It didn't help that his older S-II brethren had already completed their objective, while they had yet to enter the structure containing their's.
To blame their lack of progress on their relative inexperience would be only partially correct, it was really because of their imperfect team-cohesion.
Having Allison Young mixed in complicated matters. She was not part of the Spartan IIs; he'd barely known her for a month. Integrating her, and Six, into the team was no easy task, but Allison was the more difficult of the two.
Six was an S-III who was easily as good as any of the S-IIs, and she'd been trained by Mendez and one of their own number, Kurt-051.
Allison wasn't even from their own universe; she wasn't even a proper soldier, in his opinion. A fighter, yes; she had smarts, bravery, and the intuition necessary to survive the conditions she grew up in.
That was reason he'd been willing to work with her. She'd taught him a thing or two about the Terminators that he hadn't learned from fighting them in the simulators himself.
But when it came to the Covenant, she was the student.
They fought very different than the Terminators, as did the Promethean Knights.
An intense plasma bolt zipped by his head, shaking the small distraction off completely, "Sniper! Three o'clock!"
Both Alice-130 and Douglas-042 snapped their weapons over and dealt with the threat swiftly and efficiently. Allison had covered them while they'd taken out the sniper.
Working with her for the past month had helped Jerome figure out what roles she was best placed in. This had been one of those situations they trained her for.
Allison was not as well trained as the S-IIs, but she was always aware of her surroundings and took orders well. She possessed a smaller target to the enemy and was naturally agile and quick.
Jerome knew she was diamond in the rough, someone who's training and skills still needed polishing. He only hoped she'd have the opportunity to do so. If she did, she'd prove extremely useful.
Until then...
"Red-4, focus on the crawlers!" He shouted to Allison as a pack of them began closing on the group.
He only got a confirmation blip from her as she switched her aim to the dog-like AIs, but he and the rest of the S-IIs knew she'd been embarrassed by such a simple mistake.
The battle raged on as Red Team continued to whittle away at the outer defenses, and a few minutes after Blue Team completed their objective, they were able to gain entrance to their's.
Inside they found a very similar situation that Blue Team had. Enemy forces lined the corridor with troops at the rear protecting the objective, only it seemed their numbers had doubled from their previous scans.
The destruction of the other relic had them scrambling to protect this one. Jerome cursed at this team's relative inefficiency. The delay was going to cost them.
"Grenades!" He shouted as he primed and tossed one down the corridor. The other three followed suit, all landing critical hits against the crowded defense line.
The momentary confusion brought on by the detonations was swiftly taken advantage of by Red Team as they fired into the defense line.
More fell and the team was able to move up farther before having to duck behind pillars for cover.
"We're out of frags!" Allison noted as the remaining Prometheans continued to advance.
Jerome dialed up the power on his phaser to level 14, the highest he was willing to go.
"Set to automatic." He ordered, and the others followed suit without question.
They they peaked out from cover, and unleashed hell upon their adversaries.
Jerome didn't like 'spray and prey', it was a waste of ammunition and could easily hit unintended targets.
In this case, some unknown piece of Forerunner tech.
After a ten second volley, they were forced back to cover under the barrage of return fire.
However, they'd halved their enemies strength.
They wen't back to normal weapons settings on their phasers and continued forward with their assault.
Jerome kept a close eye on Allison as they picked off more and more Prometheans and Elites. He could feel the disruption she brought to Red Team's normally liquid-smooth operation.
Still, she fought admirably and to the best of her current ability.
Slowly they progressed, each taking turns running across the room to the next column for cover, shooting up the enemy as they did. So far, no one had even downed their shields, and the enemy's number continued to drop.
They were just twenty feet away from the artifact's control panel, and the Spartan's progress only made them more desperate.
All the remaining Grunts were ordered to rush the Demons with armed grenades in their fists.
"Suicidiers!" Alice shouted as they emerged from behind their larger comrades.
"Retreat!" Jerome shouted, knowing they didn't have time to take them out before getting roasted.
They wasted no time rushing back in pairs while the others provide cover fire. Grenades detonated as each grunt fell, shrapnel and super-heated gas nipped at their heels.
Their hasty retreat provided an ample opportunity for the enemy to regroup and focus fire on them once more.
Jerome felt a tad embarrassed about loosing ground, but he had to feel somewhat impressed by whomever had given that order.
It took another three minutes to regain their lost ground, but when they reached that point, the remaining Knights rushed them.
They picked off a few before they were forced into hand to hand combat.
Knights were powerful, quick, and brutal. Red Team had trained for this situation, but that didn't make it any less challenging.
Ironically, Allison had the least trouble, having fought against bigger, stronger opponents her entire life. Her smaller size and greater agility afforded her the advantage and she killed the knight skillfully with her combat knife.
The Knight's rush had left an opening in the defense, giving the Spartans breathing room to finish off the Forerunner AIs.
Unfortunately, it had been only a distraction.
An Elite, hiding in the background, stepped forward with an Incineration Cannon and fired.
The shot was pointed in their general direction, but Alice was the one in the most danger. Douglas finished off his Knight and dove after Alice, tackling her and sliding them both behind a pillar. Jerome and Allison got out of the way just in time for the last Knight to take cover.
The shot exploded and scattered it's deadly payload all around. Allison took the smallest hit, her shields barely flaring. The rest hadn't been as fortunate, but no one had been injured.
"Sir," Allison commed, "I can take him out."
He was hesitant to authorize it, but she was closest, and her shields were in better shape.
"Affirmative," he responded, "Red Team, cover fire!"
Blips from Douglas and Alice were received as they swung out from cover and began firing back as Allison made a made dash into enemy lines, taking hits as she got closer.
She leapt over some Jackals to confront the Cannon wielding Elite. He dropped the weapon and pulled out an energy sword. Allison ducked under his first swing and fired phaser bolts into his near-armor-less sword arm.
His shield failed, and his arm was blown off. He howled in pain, allowing Allison to claim his sword and cut him in half with it.
By now her shields had fallen and she was taking hits from the few remaining Remnant soldiers.
There wasn't much cover, so she used another dead elite for cover as the Spartan IIs finished the others off.
Jerome vaporized the last Jackal as Allison shrugged off her meat shield. He looked at her with respect, she'd known her limits and executed the maneuver well.
"Alice, shut it down."
She wordlessly acknowledged and accessed the control panel. It took only a moment for her to enter the shutdown code, and then the device dropped to the floor and went dark.
Douglas set the anti-matter charge for remote detonate and then they cleared the building.
They jogged a good distance away and then triggered the grenade.
"Good work, Red Team." Jerome said before requesting beam-up.
Captain Lasky had barely read all the section reports before Roland interrupted him again.
"Sir! Another explosion!"
Lasky closed the document and stepped over to the holo-table, "show me."
"This one's in the Beta sector, Captain. Same structure type," the AI confirmed as he brought up a surface map of the structure. "Also destroyed by an antimatter explosion."
"And our anchor?"
The AI smiled, "Cut free. Looks like we have a Guardian Angel."
Lasky turned to the helmsman, "Lieutenant Jet, put 100,000km between us and the planet."
"Aye, sir!" The man responded as he input the commands into the console.
The ship lurched forward, inciting a cheer from across the bridge.
Lasky breathed a sigh of relief, but he still had to figure out who was pulling the strings in their favor.
Despite the chaos going on below, Seven of Nine was having a rather exciting day.
Well, as exciting as one could get studying a Forerunner planet with passive scans.
Still, she studied other things that didn't involve the underlying technology; such as the placement of things and their shape. She also made a mental exercise of trying to guess what some structures did without referencing the information Cortana had about the planet.
After ten minutes of study, Seven's metal clock informed her that it was time to get back to work. Voyager was programmed to tell her if things were not optimal, but Seven liked to keep things well within tolerance.
She stood up gracefully from her engineering station and went to the Warp core. The hybrid core had performed as expected so far, and continued to be less problematic after the refit that they'd given the ship on Venezia colony. Cortana and Kalmiya's input had been invaluable in that aspect.
They were some of the few inventive people on the ship, the rest were basically soldiers, Weaver included. While the T-1001 was brilliant in her own right, she was not an inventor. Otherwise she'd have never hired so many people to work on John Henry as she did.
Now, however, there was another brilliant mind on Voyager besides the Doctor and herself.
Catherine Halsey.
From what she'd heard, she and Halsey had a lot in common. Both brilliant, both fiercely protective of those they held dear and extremely pragmatic. The main difference was that Seven had been ingrained with Starfleet ideals, tempering her Borg practicality.
Halsey, however, had lived amongst wolves and had acted as Seven would have as a Borg: practical, methodical, ruthless, and executed out of calculated necessity.
The Doctor didn't want anything to do with her, his moral standards abhorred her rationalizations, despite the overwhelming positive results her crimes had made.
Seven knew arguing with him over this was pointless, but at least he admitted that she'd be necessary. Especially since the Spartans, MJOLNIR, Cortana, and Kalmiya were all her handy work.
Speaking of handiwork, Halsey was going through the 'allowed' material at a rate that easily matched her own. In fact, she was already testing the limits of her permissions and even trying to find ways around them.
This was part of a test that John Henry and Seven of Nine had concocted for the good doctor.
Only time would tell if she were up to the task of breaking their encryption and firewalls.
Six and Kalmiya had done little except to keep the Aero flying undetected, patiently waiting for their comrades to signal for beam up.
They kept an eye on UNSC and Covenant battle-net communications, just in case; but nothing significant happened, other than Blue and Red Teams wreaking havoc.
Finally, Blue Team requested beam-up.
They appeared on the pad built into the floor and ceiling five feet behind Six, and in the center of the shuttle's bridge.
She did her best not to check on her brother. Any unusual movement or action would be picked up by the hyper-observant Blue Team, and she didn't want to give any of them a reason to pry.
Kelly, the most amiable of the S-IIs, sat down in the co-pilot's seat. The rest passed through the bulkhead door and into the rear of the shuttle.
"Have fun?" Six's voice was dripping with sarcasm.
"More than you." Kelly responded in her witty British accent as she began typing away at the console.
Six observed the Rabbit's actions from her own console, noting that she as accessing the sensors.
She noticed that the passive sensors were zeroed in on the IFF tags of Red Team.
She was checking the statuses of each of them, even Allison. It didn't take a genius to know why Kelly was worrying over them like a mother hen.
After Six lost her own team, she could understand why she felt that way. In war, people presumed dead usually were, and getting them back did funny things to the people who'd mourned for them.
"They aren't fighting like they should," Kelly noted with worry leaking into her voice, "Allison is disrupting their focus."
"A lot of things are disrupting their focus."
Kelly's eyebrows furled, "She'd better not get them killed..."
"If they can't adapt to one minor complication, then they don't deserve to be Spartans" Six deadpanned, hoping the message would get through.
Kelly stood up, not having any good retort, and walked away.
Kalmiya, who'd been quiet up 'til now, commented on the exchange. "You didn't need to be that harsh."
Six said nothing as she checked the ship's system once more.
Back in the rear of the Aero, John-117 and Blue Team were servicing their phaser rifles and checking their armor in preparation for the next mission.
As the Chief slid a new power cell into his weapon, he noticed that Cortana was staying unusually quiet.
"Cortana," he asked privately.
"Yes, Chief?"
She sounded distracted.
"Anything I should know about?" He was referencing her obvious preoccupation.
"Nothing important, at least, not yet."
Having nothing else to do but wait for Red Team's return, he said: "Humor me."
She hesitated for a moment before launching into her line of thought, "I was thinking about Skynet."
"What about it?"
"The more appropriate question would be what not about it? There is so much to speculate about! Is Skynet here? Has it been here already or will it be long after were gone? What technology will it have? How long will it take it to adapt Forerunner technology? So many questions... We've speculated so much ever since we faced the probe, and we still can't come to consensus."
He was a little confused, and worried, by her confession. "I thought John Henry was the expert on Skynet."
"He is, but that's more on a psychological and systematic level; there's a lot of things that we simply don't know about this incarnation," she shrugged unabashedly.
The Chief was smart enough to understand the gist of her words, but he hadn't been raised to be an AI engineer.
Speaking of AI engineers, he suddenly wondered if Doctor Halsey had been retrieved yet. He hated to admit it, but he would have preferred to retrieve her himself, but Cortana and the others had insisted it would only turn people against him if he had to assault UNSC personnel.
While that was likely true, he didn't want Halsey to end up as a POW of the Covenant, or worse, as an enemy of the UNSC. He didn't even want to think of the trouble she'd cause working for the Covenant.
"She's fine, Chief. Cameron already retrieved her." She assured him.
It was times like this that John wondered if she was reading his mind, but in reality he understood that she knew him better than he knew himself. Smart AI's were typically very good at understanding human behavior, but Cortana could be exceptional at times, especially with him.
"And Red Team?"
"Closing in on their goal, they should be done soon."
He was silently relieved there had been no casualties thus far, and felt pride at their adaptability despite being far less experienced than their Blue counterparts.
Nothing else was said after that as they waited for Red Team to complete their objective.
Finally, after what seemed like a small eternity, Cortana announced Red Team's success and subsequent beam up to the Aero.
The Chief and the others stood as they entered the rear bay.
They looked a little weary, having been pushed near the limit, but otherwise battle-ready.
Jerome and John exchanged a quick nod before Red Team began servicing their weapons.
With their objectives completed, Six set a course back to Voyager. As the ships engines hummed in response, the Master Chief turned his attention back to Cortana.
"Is Infinity free?"
"Mmmmhmmm, and moving far away from Requiem's maw. That gives us some breathing room," She smirked in the corner of his visor.
"What are the chances Cameron's interference will balance out with us freeing the ship?"
"With Lasky? It should be fine, but who knows; he and Sarah Palmer are fairly close."
This was not news to him, but clearly something had happened he hadn't been informed about yet. "What happened?"
"Cameron may or may not have had to stun the Commander in order to secure Doctor Halsey," she didn't bother keeping the grin off her face.
The Chief 'hmmed' in response as the shuttle docked smoothly with Voyager.
As the Spartan's filed out, the Chief hung back for a moment.
He waited until the others had gotten into the turbo-lift before speaking, "Cortana."
"Yes?" She was clearly intrigued by his actions.
"Remember how you told me I needed to figure out which one of us was the machine?"
She let out a deep, almost sorrowful sigh, "How could I forget?"
"I need you to help me figure that out. You're the one who started me down this path, I need your to help finish it. You're the only one who can."
Her pause was noticeable.
"John...what are you saying? Exactly?" Her voice was hesitantly hopeful.
It took him a moment to find the words, this wasn't something he did well. "You helped me care about more than just my team or my mission. You showed me I could be more than just Humanity's Savior."
"And what is that, John?"
This time, he didn't hesitate, "I want you to help me find what I could have been, Cortana."
If Cortana had physical heart, it'd be beating out of her chest. Coming from the Chief, this was practically a love declaration. Where this had come from, she wasn't sure, or why he'd chosen this moment to bring it up.
It didn't matter, really, not when he was finally opening up.
"You know my answer, John, you always have."
He couldn't help the small smile pulling at his weathered lips. "Thank you, Cortana."
Back in the Ready Room, Catherine Halsey had immersed herself in the sea of data she'd been granted access to. It hadn't taken long to figure out the control interface, and even less time to configure the room's holographics to her liking so she could manipulate vast amounts of data.
It hadn't taken much digging to get the gist of the situation.
Evil AI overthrows mankind, hero rises to fight back, time travel, etc. It read just like a 20th Century science fiction fantasy.
But the transdimensional jump into a more contemporary 21st century Earth, and the subsequent triple crossover would be absolutely ludicrous had she not been standing on a ship not made by any hands in the known universe.
Then she started going through the theory, the math and science behind the 'transdimensional tunnels' that allowed sub-spatial objects to shift between realities. It was certainly plausible judging by the numbers she was running in her own head, but she didn't have time or access to a Smart AI to speed things up.
However, this group clearly had one, and the way the theory had been described and written had struck her as familiar.
It reminded her of something she'd write herself, and that meant one person.
Cortana.
How she'd survived was a mystery, but Halsey wasn't that surprised.
What did surprise her was the ship and the universe from which it came. It sounded near Utopian compared to hers, and the focus that was put on science and peaceful, yet prudently prepared, space exploration was pretty much in line with her own beliefs.
There was a great deal to study, and she was finding it difficult to organize the data into what was most important.
Just as she was about to start on the AI of the 'Terminator' universe, the door to the room opened, revealing her daughter on the other side.
"The Spartans are back, if you want to see them."
It seemed her daughter knew more than what Halsey was comfortable with but didn't let it show.
"Then let's get going, there is much to do."
She could have sworn her daughter sighed in annoyance.
Halsey would be lying if she wasn't excited to see her Spartan's after so many years. Once they stepped off the turbo-lift, Miranda led her down a wide corridor towards a series of large rooms. She quickly realized that this deck had been optimized for Spartans.
It was becoming apparent that this group Miranda was apart of was keen on recruiting Spartans, and taking care of them. The observation made her feel slightly better about the situation.
As Miranda guided them down the hall, Another turbo-lift arrived behind them, next to the one they'd left.
The door slid open, revealing the Master Chief.
Halsey let out a apprehensive breath as he stepped out of the lift and walked towards them.
She didn't wait for him to reach her and met him half way.
Despite her best efforts, she couldn't keep the joy out of her eyes, something he no doubt picked up on.
For a split second she didn't know what to say to him, after all that had happened.
"Doctor Halsey," he greeted her with respectful nod.
Finally, she managed to speak, "I should have known you'd survive. I'm sorry I doubted you."
She was referring to the time after he'd destroyed the first Halo and rescued her and a few other Spartans from a nearly glassed Reach. Halsey, thinking the end was nigh, kidnapped Kelly under John's nose in an attempt to save her and the Spartan IIIs on the planet Onyx. That had turned into it's own little interesting adventure, but ultimately John succeeded, Humanity was saved, and Halsey was taken into custody.
He considered her words before answering, "Just stick around this time, Doctor, we're going to need you expertise."
Halsey said nothing in response, her apology was all he needed, however, there was one thing she was curious about.
"Cortana."
The Chief tilted his head, obviously having a private chat the AI. A few seconds later, he reached up and pulled a DCC from his helmet.
It was not a model she was familiar with, but the AI who appeared on it's surface, was.
"Hello, Doctor, " the sardonic AI greeted with her hands on her tiny blue hips.
Halsey carefully took the chip into her hands, all the while Cortana staring up at Halsey with a neutral expression on her face.
Nothing was said for a moment while they stared at each other; Halsey looking at Cortana like some kind of miracle, and the AI to creator with something else.
"Let's be clear," she started, "you won't be prodding around in my matrices ever again."
Halsey raised an eyebrow, Cortana rolled her eyes.
"Don't touch my memories again, I know what you did on Ascendant Justice."
Doctor Halsey didn't look too perturbed by the confrontation, mostly because she didn't feel guilty about it. She'd done it to keep important data from potentially falling into ONI hands.
"If you know that, then you know why I did it."
Cortana crossed her arms, "I just wanted to make myself clear."
Miranda stepped in after that, "We don't have much time, come on."
Halsey turned to follow, but the Chief stopped her with the brush of his hand. She turned to see him holding out his hand. She gave him Cortana, just as she'd done all those years ago.
As they walked down the hall, Halsey couldn't help but wonder just how close John and Cortana had become. Judging by his rather possessive behavior, she'd say a lot.
This added to the ever-growing list of things she needed to analyze.
Miranda stopped at a large set of sliding doors, which promptly opened to reveal the large, spacious room.
Amidst all the training equipment were eight Spartans mulling about doing one thing or another.
Her eyes immediately sought out the rest of Blue Team, and they weren't difficult to find.
They were already looking at her.
Kelly greeted her first; "Ma'am," she nodded respectfully. Fred and Linda did the same.
The Chief walked over to the computer terminal in the middle of the room while Halsey and Miranda joined Blue Team as they had their armor removed for servicing. The Doctor was glad to see their faces for once; it had been a long time.
Like with John, she wasn't entirely sure what to say to them.
"It's good to see you." She finally managed; the situation was starting to get to her and the Spartan's noticed.
Fred cracked as small smile, "It's a lot to take in."
Kelly huffed, "If anyone can understand that interdimensional mumbo-jumbo, she can," she then turned to Halsey, "It's good to see you again."
With her attention on Kelly, she suddenly noticed how young she looked.
"You've certainly aged well, " she asked with a small amount of worry.
The Rabbit only smiled, "A few nanites never hurt anyone, ma'am"
Halsey raised an eyebrow at her statement as the Spartan began working on her armor. Not wanting to disrupt their work, she turned to the rest of the group; wondering who they were.
Miranda, still by her side, waited for the inevitable questions.
Looking at the other five Spartans, of whom only three had removed their armor, she immediately picked up on three things. The red one was clearly a Spartan IV, the way she moved spoke volumes.
Another was clad in grey Mark VI with Mark V[B] styled helmet. The female Spartan's movements were familiar; controlled and precise like any Spartan II, but she didn't recognize her as such.
She knew her Spartans each by how they moved, even when they wore identical armor.
This one was not one of hers, but she recognized her none the less.
Noble Six.
While that bit of info was interesting, it wasn't life changing, and she continued her examination.
The last three had all taken off identical green Mark VIs, just like John's, but that's where her analytical thoughts ground to a halt.
Their faces were unmistakable, even though she hadn't seen them in over thirty years.
Jerome, Douglas, and Alice.
She stopped cold, her breath hitched. This was something she'd never expected, something she never saw coming.
They were very young too, but not in the way Kelly seemed. They had their scars still, and that left one real explanation in her mind.
Cyro-sleep.
Suddenly the mystery of the Spirit of Fire was revealed.
"I was surprised too." Her daughter interjected, breaking Halsey out of her shock. "They spent almost thirty years on ice after the Spirit sacrificed it's slipspace drive."
Before she could ask why the ship's captain would do such a thing, the young Spartan IIs approached her.
They stood as straight as they would for an admiral. "Ma'am," Jerome greeted, "It's been a while."
It was his attempt at a joke, and she couldn't help but smile. Having so many miracles happen in one day would improve even the worst of moods.
She reached out and put her hand on his suited chest, but seemed at a loss for words.
"Ma'am?" Jerome was clearly confused.
As the hand slid from his chest, she looked up at him with misty eyes, and it startled him. Doctor Halsey wasn't someone he'd associate with being emotional.
After all, look at what she'd done to make him and the other Spartans.
She blinked the tears away, "It's not everyday that people comeback from the dead, Jerome."
It was then that he understood just how much she cared the Spartans.
It was also at this point that Miranda got to the point of Halsey's timely rescue.
"Doctor," clearly this wasn't going to be a mother/daughter conversation, "the reason Cortana brought us forward was to retrieve a Forerunner device."
"And you need my help to retrieve it," she correctly surmised.
"As a start, yes."
"And then?"
This time, her daughter didn't answer, instead she was looking over her mother's shoulder. Halsey turned around and saw something that piqued her interest.
It was Cortana, only she was a life-sized, high resolution hologram standing in front of her.
Cortana walked in her slow, elegant fashion; stopping only a foot away from Halsey. Her bright, blue eyes locked onto Halsey's own as she raised her blue hand and touched Halsey's face.
Created to Creator.
Halsey was struck by the significance of that gesture, both metaphorically and technologically.
Cortana was a solid hologram, years beyond anything the UNSC had.
The AI dropped her hand and answered her question, "You help us win this war."
Miranda escorted Halsey back to her Ready Room, the entire way talking about the Forerunner device they needed her to retrieve.
She told her that the Librarian would give her a two-part device called the Janus Key. A real-time locator for all active Forerunner technology.
Halsey was immediately intrigued, and shocked, by the existence of such a device and immediately wanted to know why they wanted it.
"Skynet will want the fastest way to destroy resistance, Forerunner tech is the best way to do that."
The doctor suddenly became much paler upon realizing what that meant.
Halo.
Now everything came into place for Halsey, and she now understood why the Chief and the other Spartans had joined this cause.
She understood, because she just mentally joined for the same reason.
While the Spartan's prepared for upcoming battle with Jul 'Mdama's forces down below, Halsey would continue catching up.
After they entered the room, Miranda palmed the object in her pocket. Six had slipped it to her while Halsey had been occupied.
As the door slid shut, she spoke.
"Mother," she started, getting Halsey's attention, "Before all of...this, I didn't think much of you. I thought you were just a self-conceited scientist who wanted to control everything around her and didn't have time for anyone but herself."
Halsey said nothing in her defense.
"But the stories I've read, from the other universe, they told a different story. About a woman who do anything to protect humanity, no matter the cost."
Again, Halsey said nothing.
"I read about the Spartans, the armor, even Cortana."
Halsey didn't even blink.
"People call you a war criminal," she paused as images of what she'd done to 14 year-old kids flashed through her mind, "but you did it not because you could, but because you knew there wasn't any other alternative."
This time, Halsey spoke, "There are always alternatives, just none I could stomach any less than the path I chose."
"Which is why I don't despise you," she admitted, "you're more human than I gave you credit for."
With that, she pulled the object out of her pocket.
It was a Data Crystal Chip, just like the one Cortana now resided in. Only instead of bright blue, it was glowing bright magenta.
"Noble Six wasn't the only one Cortana had rescued that day."
Halsey's eyes locked onto the chip in her daughter's hand, realizing that they had another Smart AI on board.
Then Miranda laid the chip in her mother's hand and left the room.
As the door shut, a brilliant pink AI avatar sprung from the chip.
"Hello, Doctor, it's good to see you again."
At the sight of Kalmiya, alive and well, Halsey could hold the tide back no more, and wept.
A/N: Well that update was a little faster than usual, same excuses as usual. RL, video games, etc.
Anyone else excited for Halo Wars 2?
(I so called the SOF ending up at the Ark :) )
This is the first part of three chapters that will encompass the Requiem section of the story.
Once that is done the story will be about 2/3 of the way over.
Until next time...