So, I'm back with another chapter for you all.
Anyway, I don't want to keep you all waiting any longer than you already have, so the original idea for this story goes to Worldwonderer 2.0 and as always, all rights go to their owners as I own nothing!
It had been over a stander week since Chief and Cortana had met with the Historian, and in that time in between that meeting, he and John had exchanged a couple of messages with one another before the Chief had finally decided on his earlier offer to him. Now with that decision made John now found himself in orbit above one of the many deserters that spanned the surface of Mandalore.
"We'll be hitting the atmosphere in thirty seconds." The pilot informed Chief, as the ship slightly rocked underneath them.
A sign that they were hitting the atmosphere, even so, Chief's mind wasn't on that. But rather what the Historian had asked him to do as a part of their arrangement wasn't what John had fully expected if he was being honest. But then again it wasn't entirely unexpected, as he had known that this was the most likely outcome of this given the nature of his request.
"Did you have a chance to go through the files that we were provided?" John then inquired of his companion.
As his benefactor had provided as much Intel as he could about what they were looking for. Even so, John knew that Cortana would be better at handling this information than he would, mostly because she could easily go through it all and pick out what was most important and relay those facts to him in a timely matter.
"I've already run through it a couple of times. Still, I'm not entirely sure what you'll find once we're down there. Still, it should prove rather interesting either way." Cortana quipped.
As she was course referring to John's famous luck because she wasn't sure what they would find. But the Smart AI was more than certain that they would run across something interesting enough, and if not, they would at the very least be able to do another thing that they both had been hoping to do for a while now.
"We'll be fine." John then assured her in his usual way.
As the Historian also explained what they might come across in that area of the planet. He had also warned the Chief that he also might find nothing at all there; as this had been an old battle site that had been looted by many Mando's long ago. Little remained there now, and what was once there had regrettably either faded out of memory or had been simply taken by other Clans looking to rebuild from the scraps of the past.
The Mando'ade didn't have a tradition of documenting their history, nor putting artifacts in museums like most of the rest of the galaxy, so this was part of the reason as to the Historian was so eager for him to go there and see what he could recover. As he knew that whatever was left there would be extremely valuable to his growing collection.
"We're less than a minute out from the target. You sure you still want to do this?" The pilot asked the Chief.
"..." Chief didn't respond as he then made his way back.
This simple act gave the pilot their answer, as they then ensured that the ship was at a certain speed and altitude. All the while trying to figure out just how sane their passenger was as the light on the control panel then flicked to life.
It was the safe indicator: informing him that someone was trying to open the boarding hatch.
'Guess that's one way of showing it.' The pilot thought as he brought the shuttle into position and hit the override key on his console.
Allowing the hatch to be opened, all the while he wondered as to where his was either barvy or had balls of durasteel. Honestly, he thought it was the former as he then got confirmation of the release to the main boarding hatch. After which, there was a slight jolt through the shuttle, as the hatched locked itself opened. After which the pilot then felt another go through the ship, as his unknown passenger then leapt from his craft.
As he confirmed that this was the case and started closing the boarding hatch, the pilot silently wondered as to where or not he would ever see his mystery passage ever again, as he then confirmed that the ship was sealed and took the craft out of orbit and onto its next job.
It didn't take long for John to make the planet fall after he had jumped from the starship, as once John landed, he found himself in the middle of a vast desert. Though this wasn't unexpected given his mission briefing, still what he hadn't expected was the unknown outpost that had seemingly popped up in the area.
"Cortana check for COM traffic." Chief said as he slipped into his scout and assess mode.
As Chief didn't like this kind of surprise, especially considering that they were too close to his mission area for his liking. As such he knew that he would have to maneuver his way around this unexpected obstacle, all the while ensuring that he left as little evidence of his passing as possible. Because the Spartan would like to avoid a repeat of what had taken place at the relay on Concordia not too long ago.
"Chief, I have something," Cortana informed him of this development.
"Show me." He stated simply.
Cortana then brought up a visual respiration that showed the message she had intercepted.
"I've tried to clean up the signal, but this is all I've got," Cortana explained as the massage started to play.
"Confirmed that *BAZZ* Received, attempted to-" At which point the massage cut off.
"It seems like they're searching for something," Chief commented as he continued making his way around the edges of the small settlement.
"Whatever it is they're looking for, we better be careful not to get in their way," Cortana said much to Chief's agreement.
As he knew that anyone, especially the local population, wouldn't be out here without a good reason. Knowing this, John had guessed that they would shoot first and ask questions later regarding anyone they came across in these parts. Still knowing this John knew that he had to balance his response to any attack, as the simple fact was that if he took the wrong course of action then he could easily find himself in conflict with one of the major Clans in the area.
A situation that Spartan wanted to avoid if at all possible; especially because he wasn't planning to stay in the system for any longer than he needed to. As John wasn't here to expand UEG's authority, all he was trying to do was simply survive until he could find a way home. Or in the more likely case that the UEG sent an expedition to bring him home.
The Chief didn't care as to how it happened, as the result was all the same, no matter how it happened.
"Cortana, how much further out are we?" Chief asked as he saw a small outcropping of stones sticking out of the sand.
"This is the place; I'll adjust your helmet scans and see if they pick up anything," Cortana informed Chief as he began his search pattern through the rock formation.
John wasn't sure what he was looking for, but because he had given his word in exchange for the older man's help, John knew full well that he couldn't afford to return to the Historian empty-handed. But as he did so Chief could help but feel that something was off in the area.
'Someone's been here.' Chief thought to himself as it finally clicked inside his hand.
At which point Chief made his way deeper into the rock outcropping, knowing full well that it was technically outside of the allotted area where he was supposed to search. But his gut and years of training told him that he needed to break any clear line of sight anyone might have on him. Besides the Spartan knew that if someone were to follow him, he would have every advantage in close quarters, where speed, power and protection should a confrontation take place.
"Care to fill me in on what's got you spooked?" Cortana asked as she noticed the change in the Chief's behaviour.
"There were signs of recent activity here. I thought it best to avoid contact until we can verify their intentions." Chief explained.
As he wasn't going to risk abandoning the mission, even so, John wasn't going to take any unnecessary risks, especially considering that he didn't need to, and he had to think about Cortana as well.
As she was his reason to keep safe until they returned to UGE-controlled space.
"I'll keep monitoring for anything in the high band. If anything comes up, I'll let you know." Cortana assured her partner.
"Understood, keep the signal ready," Chief said calmly.
The signal was of course referring to their ride out of there. Chief had insisted on using the other Pelican on their return trip, mostly because he wasn't entirely sure as to how long he was going to be out here. And partly because of what it had on board, even so with the way things were currently developing, it looked like he and Cortana were going to spend less than a couple of hours here before retreating to a safe distance and calling in the Pelican for pick up.
Still, if things didn't go as planned then Chief would simply hoof it to the nearest spaceport and charter a ship back to Concordia. Though this was his least preferred option, as that would've meant that something had gone disastrously wrong at that point; even so Chief wasn't one to let such things happen twice if he could help it.
"Chief, if you haven't noticed there's something buried in the sands just six and a half feet from you." Cortana then informed the Spartan.
At this point, he stopped what he was doing and moved towards the waypoint that Cortana had set for him. Upon reaching it, John immediately started digging through the sand. After doing so for a minute or two, the Spartan found what looked to be half to one-third of a Mandalorian helmet of unknown make, though he was able to tell that it was ancient, given its crude design. Or what little he could make out of it.
"Any matches on the files?" Chief inquired as he opened the small bag, he had brought along with them.
It probably wasn't the best thing that John could've brought with him. But considering that it was rated for heavy-duty carrying, Chief made a compromise given the limited availability of such specialized equipment.
The Historian had of course offered him equipment to use, but John had declined his offer. As he didn't want to be dependent on him more than he already was. Perhaps he might do so in the future; though he would have to gain John's trust first. Something that was no mean feat, especially considering that most personnel in the UNSC hadn't accomplished such a thing.
But such things concerns were far in the future. As the Chief's attention was needed in the here and now, as he then finished closing the bag Cortana's voice then came across his helmet speakers.
"Movement, come from further up the valley!" Cortana called out as this brought Chief out of his thoughts and he then ran to the nearest available piece of cover.
As he then heard the sounds of feet moving through sand. Not running thankfully, but still, it was close enough that Chief prepared himself for a potential confrontation.
That was until he started to hear them speak.
"This place is already picked clean, why are we even looking at this point." A female voice said to someone Chief couldn't see.
"Orders are we do so unless you're volunteering your shebs for cleaning duties." A man's voice replied.
There was a moment of silence in which Chief strained his hearing to try and catch more of their conversation. But it seemed that they had already moved out of range. But not out of the range of his motion tracker, as there were two dots still showing where they were.
Coming to a quick decision, John slowly crept his way forward and back into hearing range of his two targets. As he then overheard more of their conversation.
"Shab; got any idea as to why they have us collect all this junk?" The female asked her counterpart.
"No clue. But the orders for this came from up to." The man replied.
"Satine? What the Shab could she want with this stuff?" The woman asked.
"How should I know? It's not like we have any uses for it at any rate." The man retorted.
"Is that why we built the camp; just to store all this, this, di'kutla?" The woman sounded rather irritated as she asked this.
But John was no longer paying attention to their conversation, as he had gotten all the information needed. Now all the Spartan had to do was break contact without them finding him. So, he waited until they were off his motion tracker, at which point John then emerged from his hiding place, as he had a new objective he needed to investigate.
"Cortana, pull up the map of the area," Chief asked her.
Then without so much as a word, the map of the local area was superimposed on his HUD as Chief then zoomed in on the area where the unknown settlement they had bypassed earlier was located.
"You're going to go to their camp, aren't you?" This wasn't so much a question as a statement from Cortana.
As it was rather obvious what he was planning.
"Are you going to stop me?" Chief then asked.
Because if Cortana had a solid reason as to why he shouldn't 'investigate' their camp, he was all ears.
"Probably not, as I know that going there will be our best bet of finding something worthwhile out here. So, care for a little trespassing?" Cortana asked in good humour.
As she could get behind Chief's choice; as both knew that what they were looking for would in all likelihood be located in the New Mandalorian outpost. Especially considering what they had overheard, the outpost might be the only place where they could gather what he was sent out here to recover in the first place.
"At least we know who was sending those messages now," Cortana commented as John started to retrace his path.
As those transmissions had been the salvage teams speaking with one another, something that suggested that this New Mandalorian operation was bigger than they had originally thought. But as to why the New Mandalorians had put so much effort out here, it was something that Chief and Cortana were going to find out.
For one way or another, they were going to get what they came here for.
It hadn't proven very difficult for the Chief to make his way into the New Mandalorian camp; mostly due to the lax security around the place.
As John had noticed this while he had been thinking of the best way of making it through the outer perimeter of the outpost.
'Probably weren't expecting any trouble.' Chief thought to himself as he continued making his way into the camp.
This was probably the case, as the New Mandalorians probably hadn't expected any problems so far out in the middle of nowhere. But this begged the question as to just what they were even doing here in the first place.
As from what the two of them had been able to gather about the New Mandalorians, they rarely if ever left their strongholds. This was because of how much their local population despised them, so for them to be out here meant that there was something here that they felt was worth risking their necks for. And that meant whatever they were doing, John and Cortana needed to know as well.
So, they continued further into the maze of tents they had set up, while John watched his motion sensor and Cortana monitored all outgoing and incoming communications in case it gave them a clue as to why they were there.
They did have an idea as to why they might be here. Even so, it was nothing but speculation until they confirmed it with facts; but such things didn't matter at that moment. As John was forced to hide, a part of the guards came out of one of the nearby buildings.
"Satine new economic policy hit me and the Clan hard." One of the guards said as he and his partner started walking.
"Still, at least we can afford to stay in the system." The other man remarked.
John then waited until they were a safe distance away until he started moving again. As he then made a mental note to look further into this Satine and the New Mandalorians as a whole. As he got the feeling that they would have more run inns with one another in the near future.
Still, that was something to do later, as he and Cortana had located the area in which they believed they were storing all the recovered materials from this area.
Knowing that they would have a chance to confirm their suspicions, Chief continued making his way through the camp as if he was a shadow.
"Chief, we're here. I've already got a point of interest I want you to explore. I'll mark it on your HUD." Cortana said as a waypoint showed up on his HUD.
Taking a moment to ensure that he could reach the place without being seen, John quickly made his way into one of the largest prefabricated buildings in the whole camp. When he got inside it, however, he wasn't met with a surprised guard, but rather what looked like a small record room.
This was a completely unexpected find, as the Chief hadn't expected to stumble across this. Even so, he was going to take full advantage of this opportunity, as the Spartan quickly made his further into the room. All the while keeping a close eye on his motion tracker, as the Spartan knew that no one would leave this room unattended for very long, so they had to make the best of this opportunity.
"Chief can you get me a better look at that data-pad?" Cortana then asked as she then marked it.
As Chief then went over to the desk it was currently resting on and grabbed the device, upon which he saw that it was password protected.
"Give me a moment." Cortana then said as she connected with the data-pad.
Taking only a matter of seconds to break through its security. Cortana then started searching through the records to locate what they were looking for.
But when she did find it, however, Cortana was shocked that they would even send people out to do this. As something like this hadn't been done on earth for centuries; so, to find the government here doing such actions took her completely off guard.
"John. We need to stop them before it's too late!" Cortana called out in a rare moment of passion for her.
As she couldn't stand hypocrisy; especially from a government that claimed to be supported and represent the people.
Still, Cortana would have more time to look deeper into the rabbit hole she had discovered later, as John was still trying to understand what had set her off.
"Cortana; slow down and start from the beginning," Chief said as he then did a shoulder check.
As someone outside had passed a little too close for his comfort. While he did this Cortana recovered from her earlier outburst, one of the rare times she had done so. But then again Cortana hadn't been expecting to find what she did, and when it did it had made her angry. As she saw no reason as to why they should be engaged in this, but for one reason alone.
A reason they were all too familiar with.
'At least we can do something about this.' Cortana thought to herself, as she then addressed her Spartan.
"John… they're here to destroy all cultural artifacts in the area." Cortana then explained to him, to which her explanation immediately raised some questions in Chief's mind.
As he couldn't understand why the New Mandalorians would put so much effort into destroying simple relics of a past age. That was until his mind clicked, at which the Chief knew that his mission here had changed considerably.
As this wasn't a simple search and recovery operation as they had originally planned before. But it had now turned into an intelligence-gathering one as well. As Chief, Cortana, and the Historian needed to know just how to spread out these New Mandalorians' operations where.
"I can't believe they would do something like this. Just throw it all away." Cortana muttered to herself.
Which was understandable, considering how much she valued information and history. As such it rather upset her to lose the possibility of regaining lost knowledge that might never be seen again. And the worst part of it was she knew that this was being done deliberately by the Mandalorian government.
For his part Chief was still trying to put the pieces together as to why Satine would waste so much resource on such an effort. But for the moment he went blank. This was a feeling that John didn't like, as he felt that there was something important that he was missing.
But he filed that away to be looked into later as he still was in the middle of what could be termed enemy territory. Especially considering that he was going to be moving through it momentarily, as the Spartan had figured out their next objective.
"Cortana, do you know where they are storage the materials they've recovered?" Chief then asked her.
As he wanted to investigate this area as well, as it might have contained valuable information. If not, then maybe they could at the very least recover something to make this trip here worthwhile.
"Give me a moment... and there! Follow the waypoint on your HUD." Cortana said as the marker then appeared on Chief HUD.
Having a destination, Chief slipped out of the building and slowly made his way through the maze of tents and buildings until they came to their main destination. At which point Chief slipped inside only to be once again confronted with a sight he wasn't expecting.
"This is the place," Chief stated simply as he moved further into the building.
It was indeed the area they were looking for as there were over hundreds of different artifacts in this one area. All of them are destined to be either destroyed or in the case of the armour melted back down to either be reused or sold abroad.
Still, this fact was lost on the Chief, as he was busy trying to ensure that there was no one here in the building with them. As he knew that he couldn't fully rely on his luck to keep them out of trouble. But as he moved through the storage area, trying to confirm that they were the only ones in there, did Cortana suddenly speak up.
"Chief, there was something on one of the tables you passed. I'm marking it in your HUD." Cortana said as the waypoint appeared on his HUD.
Knowing that Cortana wouldn't do this unless she thought it was worth the effort, John then turned and made his way to the marker that Cortana had set for him.
"Cortana what is it?" John asked coolly once he had reached the tablet, she had marked for him.
"I'm not entirely sure myself, but it's got some writing on it that almost matches some of the things that are on file." Cortana sounded interested, which was enough to make the Chief retrace his steps until he found it.
"Can you confirm their original?" John then asked her.
Depending on the answer he got, Chief would either take or leave them.
"I can't, but I'm certain that it's an earlier version of the main Mandalorian language." Cortana wasn't a hundred percent sure but knew enough to make an educated guess.
Still, this fact alone made this worth taking in the Chief's mind, but he wanted to be sure that it was worth taking back.
"Should we take it?" The question was a simple one.
Cortana took a couple of seconds to respond, as she was still trying to make a sane judgment as well, especially considering that they could only take a limited amount of material from this place.
"If we don't take it; it will most likely be destroyed," Cortana said giving Chief his answer.
At which point gently picked up the tablet and wrapped it in something that would hopefully protect it, as the Spartan then placed the item in the bag he had brought along for this mission. After which he started to make his way around the area, passing by tables, shelves and racks that were scattered throughout the room. As the Chief tried to guess just how much material was located just in this room alone.
"Any hits on the motion tracker?" John then inquired as he continued to scan the room.
"No. Why?" Cortana then asked.
Not understanding why, he was asking this.
"I'm going to document what I can," Chief stated simply as he started making his way through the room.
It wasn't out of any love for this mind you. But for the rather practical reason, because if all this material was fated to be destroyed then the Spartan could at least try to ensure that there was a visual record that the Historian could use. As they both knew that they wouldn't be coming back here after this trip. Knowing this the two companions would simply have to gather as much information as they could on this trip. Even if that meant taking a risk, as Chief started moving throughout the holding room.
Knowing that at any moment of one, the guards could walk into the storage area and discover him. But John had to ensure that they got something out of this trip. As he then moved through and collected three other pieces of the tablet, Cortana identified them as parts of the one they had already taken. Alongside this, they also took what looked like the right side of a helmet to match the left piece they had found earlier.
So, in all, Chief and Cortana were able to save five pieces for the Historians Museum, while making a visual record of those pieces they couldn't take with them.
"We're leaving." Chief then stated as he knew that at this point, they were starting to push their luck.
"Agreed, too bad we weren't able to log everything," Cortana said with a hint of longing, knowing that there wouldn't be a second chance at doing this.
"Next time," Chief assured her even though they both knew that this wouldn't be the case.
But just as the Chief started making his way to the exit of the building, Cortana then spoke up with warming.
"Chief, I'm picking up movement just outside the door," Cortana informed him as he could hear voices just outside the building.
"Anyway, just make sure that a certain amount of Beskar is set aside. We'll figure out how to sell it later." The voice was that of a man.
Chief froze not making a sound as he tracked the two men through his motion tracker.
"Just be sure that this is kept between us. I don't want to end up like the last couple of Di'kuts that tried this, that's for sure." The voice was also that of a man.
"Shab, if that happens then..." The first man's voice trailed off.
"It won't, as long as you keep your uram shut." The second man growled as they continued walking.
The Chief waited until they were a safe distance away, at which point he exited the storage area and started making his way out of this place.
It had taken him a couple of hours, but John had managed to extract himself from the New Mandalorians camp without being discovered.
Add to this the fact that he had been able to recover some more artifacts for the Historian while getting more data on more New Mandalorian operations that were taking place throughout the system. It was safe to say that this mission was successful; all Chief needed to do now was wait for transport.
"How far out is our pickup?" Chief inquired as he continued scanning the area.
"ETA is around two minutes and counting." Cortana then informed the Chief.
John acknowledged this with a nod of his head. As the two minutes would give him time to figure out just what he would say to his employer.
'Employer...' This word bothered the Chief.
But as Cortana had pointed out, they needed allies. Even if they turned out to be just temporary ones, despite this necessity the fact that he had sold his services out to another person didn't sit well with the Spartan. Because of what was implied, even so, John pushed those thoughts aside as they would do nothing but distract him.
Thankfully, the approach of the Pelican helped to clear his mind, as the drop ship with its extended troop bay stopped less than ten feet away from him before turning and opening its boarding ramp. At this point, the Chief entered into the equipment latent ship. As he then made his way to the drop-ship cockpit and put it on a straight course into the void of space.
Once the Pelican was clear of Mandalores' outer atmosphere did Chief punch in the contact information for the Historian.
It took around two minutes before the old Mandalorian responded to his call.
"I wasn't expecting a signal from you till at least tomorrow." The old Mandalorian admitted.
But then again, the Historian hadn't had the privilege of working with a Spartan before. Something that he would come to greatly appreciate, but for the moment the Historian was still trying to understand why the Chief was already making contact with him considering that he had been down there for less than a stander day.
"The mission is complete. We're currently returning to the Moon now. I estimate an ETA of two hours till we arrive." Chief informed the old man before he left Cortana to take over.
"Understood, I'm guessing you didn't find anything down there." There was a hint of disappointment in the Historians' voice as he said this.
As it was obvious from his voice that he had hoped that there would be something down there that would justify sending them there in the first place. As the Master Chief wasn't the first person who quit on him for what they saw as 'wasting their time.' As such he hoped that this partnership didn't end the same way.
But needless to say, it came as something of a relief when Cortana's voice suddenly came onto the call.
"I wouldn't say that," Cortana said, as she cut into the Com circuit.
As Cortana knew that she would be better at explaining the situation planetside than her caveman would. Besides, she was feeling a little social anyway, so she might as well let John do all the flying while she socialized.
"Cortana, I wasn't expecting to hear from you" The Historian sounded genially surprised by her sudden appearance on the Com call.
"Nice to know that you missed me; still I wish I had better news for you." Cortana left the opening for the obvious question.
"How bad are we talking?" The old Mandalorian didn't at all sound pleased by this sudden turn in the conversation.
But knowing that there was no way that they could avoid it, Cortana gave him the cliff notes of what had taken place on Mandalores surface. All the while the Com line remained silent, as the Historian was undoubtedly coming to terms with what he had just been told.
"Shab, did you learn anything about what they were doing there?" He then inquired.
"Other than commenting culture genocide, we manage to get records of all the other operations in the sector." Cortana informed him.
The Historian was generally shocked, as he hadn't expected them to go that far for him. He was of course grateful that they had done this; even if they took an unnecessary risk to obtain this information in his opinion. Still, the old Mando was at the very least got to ensure that they were going to be composited for taking such a risk on his behalf.
"Very well, I wasn't expecting you to do that." The Historian did sound surprised that Chief would go that far for him, "As such, we'll have to renegotiate your payment for the information you obtained." The Historian didn't sound all that excited at that prospect.
But then again this was coming on the heels of unexpected bad news.
"We'll talk further details once we're back on Concordia," Chief said.
"Understood Chief, Historian out," The Historian replied as he then cut the link.
Thus, leaving John alone in the cockpit, his thoughts then turned to what he would say to his employer once they made landfall on Concordia.
'Employer. . .' Chief couldn't help but linger on that thought.
As he then wondered where he had taken too far a step in accepting this job. Because the Spartan was more aware that they would need to gather resources if they were ever to have a chance at returning home; but still given the risk that he had taken. He couldn't help but feel as if he had taken this task too far. Especially considering that he had taken the risk for someone who was still a stranger to him.
Still, his thoughts must've shown themselves in some way, as he was then brought out of his thoughts by a familiar voice.
"John, is something bothering you?" The voice of Cortana immediately cut through his thoughts.
For a moment Chief thought about explaining to her what was bothering him. But his Spartan training kicked in and the impulse to do so was gone.
"It's nothing." He assured her, as he then fed more power into the engines.
After which a deep moment of silence then filled the cockpit, as the only sounds came from the Chief as he moved the controls to keep the ship on course. But in the background, it seemed to say that someone needed to say something to break the rather uncomfortable silence that had fallen between them.
This burden of course fell to Cortana, as she knew that John wasn't able enough to know what to say or do in this kind of situation.
"John;" Cortana began, the words seeming all the louder in the stiffening silence, "I know that things aren't what we expected. Still, if you needed to talk. I'm here." Cortana offered him the olive branch.
Because she could only guess how Chief was adapting to their current circumstances. But if she were to make an educated guess, Cortana would have to say that John was in full-on survival mode at the moment. As he was in a completely different environment than he was used to. As John didn't have a chain of command to report to, and for all intents and proposes was a free agent despite the sole goal of returning to UEG-controlled space.
But despite having that goal, Cortana knew that he was probably having an extremely difficult for him to come to terms with this. As there was no safety net for him now, no one, not even his other Spartans twos, to call upon if John ever needed them, instead he only had Cortana to rely on to help him through this. Something Cortana already knew.
As such, she would do everything possible to help John get back home. But if the worst-case scenario turned out to be true then Cortana would do her best to prepare him to live here with the time she had left. But such things could be planned out in greater detail later, as John finally responded.
"... Thanks; Cortana." These weren't words that John was used to using.
But they were the only ones he could use, the only ones that came to him.
"No problem, also don't hold back on my account. It's nice to know that I'm not the only one who's lost." Cortana admitted to him.
"Then we'll forge a path. That's a promise." The only words that John could think of were to comfort Cortana.
"Don't make a girl a promise, if you know you can't keep it." Cortana quoted a favourite saying of Halsey.
"I won't, you know I won't," John assured her.
As Cortana knew when he made such promises, John did everything in his power to keep them. Such as diving headfirst into the Flood hive of High Charity to rescue her from the Gravemind.
"I'll hold you to that." There was a hint of good humour in Cortana's voice as she said this.
Feeling that there was nothing else that had to be said, John then fed the overburdened Pelican engines the last of the available power. As the drop ship raced towards the moon of Concordia, and there meeting with the Historian once they made it planetside.
Mando'a Dictionary:
Shab –short for Shabiir meaning screw up
Di'kutla – Useless, worthless, stupid
Beskar – Mandalorian Iron
Uram – Mouth
Di'kut – Idiots, worthless individuals, a waste of space
And that's all she wrote, anyway I hoped that you enjoyed this chapter.
So, I wanted to start this note with two announcements. First and most obvious is that I've added a Mando'a Dictionary, so you call all understand what's being said in native Mando'a. But the second is that despite my own feelings is that I'm going to stop responding to story Comments in my AN. As the time I spend on doing that is usually two to three days at most.
Sorry if that is a disappointment to some of you, but on the bright side it frees up more of my time to work on more chapters and editing.
Still, I do hope that you all enjoyed this Chapter, and until next time have a good one.