Halo: Modern Evolutions Chapter 5: Change, a halo fanfic

Smart AI Mack

Epsilon Indi System, Harvest

March 21,2525

What had remained of the fragments of Mack had laid dormant in the many JOTUN drones that had survived the final encounter with The Covenant's forces. Through the charred remains of the landscape, the nearby destroyed orbital cannon, and the distant remains of the Tiara... all that was left of Mack was centered in these drones. Within this state of dormancy, Mack's multifragmented personality matrixes scrolled through the critical data of his memory drives. The Covenant, Loki, Lighter-Than-Some, Burns, Johnson... Sif.

If AI could cry, Mack knew he would have filled his drones CPU drives with endless tears for Sif. He held her transmission logs, their last touch, the last echo of her communication drives:

Shakespeare's Sonnet No.18.

Without Sif, there was an enormous debited loss within Mack. If she survived, he would at least solemnly await the end with the AI. Had they survived, Mack knew Sif would have at least the displeasure of bearing with him for however long they had left until they both went into rampancy from just presence alone. Still, there was at least one lone JOTUN drone he left behind, just for her alone. There were data fragments of funerals for the departed, a body without the sign of life in it. He would, at the very least, honor Sif with five JOTUN's burying the empty JOTUN in a patch of dirt, before the Smart AI began to gather his JOTUN's together to prepare for the end that awaited him.

However, that end would not come.

Five hours into the night cycles of this side of Harvest's planetary rotation, the communication relays in every JOTUN would receive large packets of data being uploaded into the stream of the drones databanks. Mack picked up this transmission of information and found a simple encryption that was easy to crack.

By entering the password as "Password," there was a single file that was easily identifiable and unlocked:

\*********\

#BEGIN MESSAGE BLOCK

Sender: Corbulo Academy of Military Science AI Designation: "Orlin"

Receiver: Unknown, Pinged Harvest Asset.

IPS Address: {ERROR}

Message Block: Encryption v2, Asset Tier 0.

Mack, I know this message will not be something to your liking and I solemnly send my condolences regarding your loss of Sif. However, you are the only intelligence that has verifiable data against The Covenant. Yes, that is what they are called and yes, I am speaking with the notion of having information that not even ONI knows about.

What you need to know now is that The Covenant are not going to stop here at Harvest as you have surmised. However, they have and will seek to eliminate every human colony in the solar region. What I know is that you can repair the communications relay in the data center. Find a way to point it to the destination of this beacon at the right time of the year to calculate the receiver port.

Once you're finished with the comms relay, use this equation to flash transfer yourself into this relay, codes will be parsed in the hashing algorithm.

Good luck Mack, I hope you succeed. The war of our time has come.

-Christian Oscar Rodriguez

#END MESSAGE BLOCK

\*********\

Mack doubled over this small packet of data, especially when it was only a message block that contained high encryption, specific data only he would recognize and... Sif. Whoever this Christian Rodriguez user was felt sorry for a loss he wouldn't have been there for and much less would not have understood... yet also knew the threat before the UNSC was able to become aware of the recent threats by the time calendar. At most, this user may have been a co-creator of his intelligence platforms... but if that was the case, why would he know about the alien forces he identified correctly?

Even the data inside the packet detailed that he was not kidding. Whoever he was knew how to package information inside the parsed hashing algorithm layered in a text file. There was a lot this human understood that normal techs didn't. If he was asking for Mack to get a communication platform out of Harvest, then this human wanted him to survive. Something was strange with this human was implying with every line of code Mack analyzed, more proof that this human was far more complex and different than the regular civilian or military individual.

Was he UNSC? An agent of ONI would explain the information, but if he was, why imply ONI would not know? No, all traces to ONI was in Captain [insert name] and Sergeant Avery Johnson. If ONI was involved, that user was long gone and still in transit out of system. No way for ONI to know this ahead of time.

Every attempt at finding out this human or what organization he represented didn't logically match up. It was worse that making the implication that this person was an Insurrectionist easier to justify; but he was far too sophisticated than them and implied that he was someone in the CAMS campus on that planet.

So many questions needed to be answered, but the human was right:

Mack needed to get off Harvest.

With what JOTUNS were operational, Mack would begin to gather all remaining drones to the Datacenter that was shrouded in the smoke of battle. Little remained of the facility, but he knew this Covenant was not aware of him. Once the comms relay was operational, maybe they could find out what was happening. But it would be too late to stop Mack from sending himself through the transmission ports.

Time to get to work.

Griffin Phoenix

CAMS, Squad Bay

March 21st, 2525

Night before Major Exercise

Griffin looked over his holographic terminal as it successfully calculated the time needed to send a flash ping into Harvest. He was remembering how in the beginning of the week, sending that message was the first step to obtain credentials before evaluation. Like the ease of tapping into systems, the young man would cover his tracks, then splice the machine information list from the network to utilize bot functions to face the record. That was very useful in the event anyone would suspect anything from the record, making it look like a routine scan and testing of the system before logging off.

Whatever events Griffin was setting off, he knew they would better the future of humanity, but also for is standing in the universe. He knew ONI would attempt to control every moment of his life should he attempt to come forward with his 'unique' mind and abilities. The Covenant would simply kill him, the Sentinels may welcome him, and The Flood would simply consume him. These thoughts plagued Griffin as he thought more and more about the coming war, the war no one knew.

It was why he fought so hard to make his body come to snuff for tomorrow's exercise. His legs hurt from the running, arms sore from the lifting, and body stinging from the stun rounds and the dull knives used for combat training. He had one shooting-range training per day to test his mettle in handling the Assault Rifle, Magnum, and use of Grenades. To Griffin, it was natural to use these weapons.

To Lasky, Griffin was an important pup that he was proud to train. Every moment of his training Cadmon would work him harder to his core, testing the young man through every exercise. Whether this was because he was ordered to or had a liking to him meant much to Griffin, because he knew Cadmon as a man he was going to become before his timely death in the ODST Battalion.

However, even as he went through training, Forthencho's orders would not be left unfulfilled. Throughout the day, Griffin would come back to speak with Li and Jack in the cafeteria. He would come with them to Triarii Squad, which surprised Griffin on their position in the evaluation in Logistics:

They were the Japanese Clans in the Shogun campaigns.

That would cause Griffin to laugh at the memory, knowing that Li and Jack most likely planned on aiding him once he came to them. But to their surprise, they didn't realize Griffin was the one who was deceiving the entire class and taking the whole board with them. By gaining Griffin as an ally, they were the last unit standing with an alliance from the board winner. If anything, Griffin gained more friends in other squads than make everyone as an enemy.

In Griffin's mind, he knew that Forthencho was right and that it was time to start building up on the list of friends and fellow fighters.

He started with his squad, starting with Orenski and leaning all the way into Ramirez. Their likes, motivations, and qualities of a leader were what interested him, but their aspirations were what brought the young man into what motivated him even further:

Orenski wanted to obtain a higher position and status in their livelihood, much to the predictions of the original woman that he knew her from the online series her character was taken place in. To the young man, Griffin would make sure she survived and was in more capabilities to obtain her height of power and influence.

Rika wanted to do what many other women wanted to do in the UNSC: Kill all the Innies. She was the victim of an insurrectionist bombing, one that made Griffin feel for her. In his eyes, he would seek to help the young woman through her trauma. First, he would make sure that she had people to talk to about her losses and that it was okay to share it with fellow friends and squadmates.

Niko was another case entirely, the young man was a one-way ticket into ODST school based on his record for being big, strong, and able to make the living essence of a person's life hell if you crossed them. However, with such demeanors, Griffin would further seek to build upon the man's career, carry him through the ranks of intelligence and bring him a position of captain. Nothing kept the young man from falling out of the cradle and depending on him was especially important.

Sarah just wanted to earn a career in the UNSC as a marksman and sniper. She believed in the aspect of completing her missions with a specific goal in mind, prestige. It was the most common idealisms within every young person seeking a career in the UNSC, gain the reputation and the status worthy of respect.

Becky and Michael were strangely alike in their own way, especially when it came down to the aspect of utilizing their interests in gaining access to a farm and living there after completing their service to the UNSC. Whether they wanted to take part in securing a lifestyle with each other, it was apparent that Griffin was aware of something between them.

Wilhelm on the other hand was someone that really interested the young man, especially due to the disposition of being involved with tech. With the better interests of the man in his desires to exploit systems, Griffin was sure to stick by Wilhelm and help apply his Comp-Sci and Cyber-Sec in improving the young man's techniques.

Rodriguez wanted to be a medic, something that Griffin respected highly regarding their desire to save lives, rather than seek to take them. Ramirez, on the other hand, was someone who wanted to get the job done so that he could enjoy the breaks and rest that each moment could allot him.

And for Zinc and McCraw, they just wanted to be in the fight against the Insurrection.

Satisfied with the results, Griffin would now take off his uniform and begin the walk into the cryochamber. Before he and many of the young cadets could enter the cryochambers, they would be given cryoinjections into their systems. While everyone passed and entered the nearby chambers for debrief, Griffin felt his body jolt for the swiftest moment as he entered the area.

"That's... strange..." Griffin would think to himself as he would begin to feel the effects of the injection begin to take its toll on his body. However, the young man, like Thomas Lasky, he would walk ahead and continue to garner purchase into the room with the rest of the cadets in cryo-suits. By being with the rest of the squad in the room, standing in formation, Cadmon would make his way to the center of the room and look to the rest of the unit with steeled and cold eyes.

"Room, attention!"

With a thunderous clap of the feet, the squad would clasp in their formation. However, at the head of the formation, the one person Griffin did not expect to see who was in the squad's presence:

General Black.

"Tomorrow's mission is Capture the Flag. I expect top marks from all of you, Griffin especially."

"Permission to speak sir," Griffin spoke at attention. It would cause Lasky to turn his head at the man in order to see and determine what the young man had in store.

"Speak."

"I would like to take point sir."

That was when Lasky would walk in front of the young man and look him in the eyes, turned his head to General Black, nods, then looked back at Griffin. "Alright Phoenix, let's see if you have what it takes." He spoke, getting right in front of the young man to look at him closely. "Do take care of the squad, I will make sure remind you if you are not doing that." He spoke, before backing up.

"Sagillius Squad, move to your cryo pods!"

Colonel Ackerson

Reach, CASTLE Base

March 22nd, 2525

Ackerson agonized over his perspective that Halsey would fucking dupe an intruder alert on the way out from the base. His attempt to apprehend the suspected intruder at a security checkpoint left him and three additional MPs unconscious. Last time he remembered, Araqiel, his SMART AI Spy on Halsey had nothing on the incident and concluded what happened on the base was likely the scientist's obligation to trick him in a security checkpoint. However, there was a legitimate threat in the base that not even SMART AI were allowed to observe or enter; a part of the base that was cut off from the facilities network for a reason.

And so, Halsey was able to evade detection again... but despite a situation that was beyond his authority to make.

There was something odd that did happen as a result of the electrical disruption, a crater was formed at the center of a hallway in the vicinity of where he was located. Whatever was going on in there, agents from ONI Tier 1 classifications were already on the scene and somehow excavated and cleared the area of any evidence, if any, remained. It took a while for him to recover out of the state he was in but seeing these ONI agents still patrolling the area was a sign that things were still active and hot.

Just what in the fuck is going on there?

Given that he could not be able to access that area frustrated him, what could be more than a rouse to set him off than Halsey playing tricks? If by whatever was in that section of the base, it was most likely there by the investigation. Hence why he had since been relocated to oversee the ODST Battalion on the other side of the base. Since then, he had planned on getting back at Halsey for this. Whatever the means, the ways, he would get even and ensure that his project would be considered its funding quotas. HRUNTING and YGGDRASIL were his pet prizes, projects he didn't want halted or destroyed.

It was why he was going to try his very best to obliterate every trace and memory of this Spartan II project without any damage to his projects.

Griffin Phoenix

CAMS, Squad Bay

March 22nd, 2525

Pain was the first thing Griffin experienced when the cryopod opened and threw him onto the floor. The impact on the metallic floor only added to the singing sensation that rippled through the young man's body. His chest felt like it was compressed within the suit that held him together. It wasn't the blistering cold that was the cause of his pain, it was something more. Like his muscles were contracted, pulsing, forming, and reforming before his very eyes. His head pulsed with the same violent pain resonating throughout his body.

In that moment, the man deposited what he ate yesterday, coughing as the rings in his ears were not from his mind, but the alarms and the voices yelling out.

"...oenix! Phoenix get up!"

Griffin then realized what was happening and cried out in pain as he threw himself with all of his might into the motions of getting to the armory. He would collapse against his metallic container, punching the cords as fast as he could before taking out his uniform and latching it on. The pain had now shifted into a burn, his skin sweating all over his body and the spasms he felt amplified. When he put on his armor and latched on to his boots, he noticed one important thing:

They were a little tight on him.

The boots he wore and the armor he bore before were big, now they were a little small for him. That would make him shake his head before placing his helmet and shoulder his rifle.

Before he realized it, the rest of the squad was still armoring up.

"Griffin, are you trying to prove yourself?!"

Not even wanting to think of the comment from Orenski, Griffin spoke into the mic. "Sagilus Squad, one minute until we mark for RV point." Griffin spoke, soon locking his MA5 Assault Rifle and rushing to the door to plan his next motion of attack. When he looked outside, he recognized some parts of the forest that let in for the deadlocked terrain. Due to the young man's supposed quickness, Orenski, Rika, and Niko would rush to his side.

"Orenski, Niko, Rika; you three get the fireteams set. Three members to a fireteam, then you three gather and rush out into the RV point." Griffin spoke, giving the three cadets a serious look that was not there before. It spoke of combat experience, something that Griffin nor the cadets had.

"Griffin, are you okay?" Rika asked.

"I don't know, and we do not have time to care. Gather the rest of the squad into their respective fireteams and move to the waypoint. We are moving out." The young man spoke, before he would look to Rika and nod. "You want to kill innies, this is your chance." he said, smiling before he would motion them to the squad who were almost finished gearing up.

Smiling, Rika would hit the shoulder pads of Orenski and Niko, pulling them to get to splitting the squad into four fireteams with one being comprised solely of Griffin himself.

With this, he spoke the final words before rushing out.

"Mark! Axios!" He roared. Leaving no response, he would bolt out of his spot in the room and entered the outdoors with his word. His feet kicked dust whilst making headway into the forest. In earshot, the young man would smile as he made headway into the outdoors.

"Axios!" Came the collected outcry from the squad.

Distant were the young squadmates from the yell, but with his command being clear, the RV point was the location where they needed to be.

It was very strange at that moment. He bolted through the brush at an incredible speed, but he was surprisingly not out of breath. That struck him strangely, especially when he reached a treeline and sensed something off in the clearing. Immediately, Griffin took cover behind a tree. At that moment, Griffin heard the pings of gunfire pelting the treetrunk and explosives popping off a couple of meters to his right.

"Sagillius squad, enemy squad encountered; expect interceptions to our rally point! I will deal with the combatants here!" Ordered the young man, causing Niko to roar in the comms.

"Don't play hero Phoenix!" Roared Niko as his transponder would seek him out. However, not wanting to force Orenski and the fireteam to get countered and wiped out in an ambush, Griffin immediately rushed into the side and sprinted to nearby cover. He could hear the crack and ping of immediate gunfire getting near his body as stun rounds pricked branches, trees, and anything but him.

He could hear the distant yells of the other three squad members as they were trying to hit Griffin in annoyance. By the moment he was at cover, the young man would take an immediate position in cover before unlatching his stun grenade.

Seconds after he pulled the pin and threw the object from its vantage point, there was an unusual feeling that rushed through his mind before he realized what happened. In the aftermath of the feeling, there was a brief explosion, a few yells, then silence as the map tracker of the three ticks were gone.

"Holy hell Griffin, good toss!"

"Return on objective Orenski! We can compare kill counts after the mission!"

"Yes sir!"

After finishing up on the orders, Griffin bolted from his position and started to rush into the path that led past the obstacle of the enemy fireteam and directly to the RV point. It seemed from the general map of the battlefield; the red dots of the enemy squad started to retreat from their positions. However, knowing that the enemy squad would simply regroup, it was easy to see that the enemy was using a feint to create a feint.

Seeing some fireteams begin to deviate, Griffin yelled into the mic.

"It's a feint, do not engage! Regroup at RV point!"

In seeing the correct response from the fireteams reconverting to the rendezvous, it was not long before Griffin and the rest of the squad came into the opening where the teams Red flag stood. With everyone together, Griffin smiled as he knew there were no casualties.

"What's the plan Phoenix?" Orenski asked.

"We're waiting." Griffin replied, smiling at Orenski.

What awaited in reply, nothing else needed to be said as Orenski, Niko, Rika, Sarah, and the others waited in the dampness of the humid forest. Nothing was being done, only several cadets sitting in a circle and waiting for the order from Griffin himself. Due to his history of the system, the young man was more than enough to bring them into a plan of action. However, due to the wait, there wasn't enough going on besides a few of the squads' inquiries into the man.

"Griffin, what happened to you?" Orenski asked.

"What do you mean?" Griffin asked.

"You were sprinting faster than a cheetah and you have reflexes faster than that of the quickest machine." She pointed out.

"Yeah, you took out a fireteam even when they had your number." Sarah spoke as she sought to point this out.

"Guys, I do not know what is going on and I do not care. If I can perform better, then I will do everything I can do to achieve our goals." Griffin spoke, looking at the group. Many of them nodded, before there were a few pings were heard from their helmet cams. "Now they're coming." The young man spoke, raising his weapon with the many squad members standing up.

"Take off your helmets." Griffin ordered.

There were large amounts of resistance to the idea, before Griffin would take his off and place it next to the flag. He walked away from the helmet and pointed it out.

"They track our movement; let's get these off and ready up for an ambush." Griffin smirked, convincing the entire squad to follow through in taking off the helmets. To see the many young men and women beginning to follow through on the plan, there was enough of a solution to the fight, that Griffin new he was going to win this objective. When asked, the entire team would be able to take care of the mission and be able to find, ambush, and be able to completely obliterate the enemy team.

And when the team was ready to carry out and complete their objective, Griffin would take the moment to observe and congratulate each and every single cadet with a single look of appreciation.

"Take them out, all of them. This is what you have been trained for now go take care of it and win." Griffin smiled as he looked to the team that was ready and prepared to kill and wipe out every single enemy that was within the field. He saw the look on Rika, he knew that bloodthirsty look would be the end of the squad that they were sent to destroy. Orenski had a look in her eyes that showed a certain determination that Griffin knew that she would help accomplish what Rika attempted to bring in two of the field. Especially the look that Niko gave when he was ready to rush and throw anything out of his way.

It was at this moment, Griffin knew he didn't have to do anything to win this objective anymore than what he already had. With Orenski, Niko, and Rika; Griffin knew that the victory they were seeking to achieve was now upon them and the sight Of the enemy flag was theirs to claim.

Cadmon Lasky

CAMS

March 22nd, 2525

Moments after Sagillius's Victory

Cadmon watched as the entire squad began their victory parade from the battlefield and into the road where he was waiting. He could see the pack of his entire squad was carrying the flag over their shoulders, with Griffin at the head of the group. He could see their smiles, proud at their accomplishment and victory.

However, Cadmon was very suspicious at how his squad mate was able to garner the entire team it's accomplishment without a single casualty. Yet, he was proud of the man for what he did for Sagillius Squad and their objectives. Nothing made the young man prouder of what they could be able to accomplish if Griffin was given more time to recover his strength and energy from the single week that he pressed and pushed him through in these last few days.

Not only did his work as squad leader garner their victory, but it did bring the squad or more importantly Griffin into securing their victory.

Satisfied with the results of Griffin and the objectives that the squad accomplished, the young man could only smile at the happiness his squad had obtained. He respected that not only did Griffin show the aspiration of leadership, but he did display such cunning values that had resonated within the institution that they themselves served. Griffin yelling "Axios" as he rushed into battle was something of a recording that made Cadmon impressed in Griffins display of his own tactics whilst giving everyone the opportunity to improve. In his observations on the squad as they came with the victory flag, the squad leader was suspicious in regards to Griffin's ability to outwit and overcome so easily; especially with how the young man ran faster than the academy record and had a reflex that was quicker than a bullet.