Author's Note

Alright, here we are again. I feel like we're approaching the end of the road, but it's not there yet. We've still got a bit of a ways to go, and I'm excited to continue working on it till the end.

Uploaded

08/13/2023

LEGEND BELOW

"Chief, that's not a good idea..." = Normal speech.

''You're you, don't let it control you...'' = Normal thoughts/Receiving coms.

Chapter 24

In preparation for the last war

Rated-M

M rating for blood, and language.

Music of the day

Metroid Dread - Lower Brinstar

The elevator ride was quiet, the hum of the magnetic rails thrumming as it took them through the ship a rather great speeds. However, unlike the last time, this time the Green Spartan wasn't alone.

Again he'd been reunited with the intergalactic Bounty Hunter, the strange human-like alien woman who he'd become strangely close to in his rather short time with her. Seeing her now, standing tall and proudly beside him, he couldn't help but recall the time when he'd first met her.

When he'd first been awoken aboard the derelict frigate Forward Unto Dawn by Cortana, he'd not known what to expect. It honestly could have been anything at that point in time, as he'd been lost in space, left adrift in an unknown galaxy without help.

The source of the intrusion could've been Covenant, maybe Forerunner sentries from a nearby planet, or even an asteroid. Neither he nor his ship was in the condition for another war, and despite that, he'd been ready for anything…

Or so he'd thought.

But for all his mental preparation, and his years upon years of experience in the field, and all his military training as a child, nothing could've prepared him for what he'd found.

Her body, cold and lifeless, skewered to the floor by a piece of her very own ship. She was, without a shadow of a doubt, dead. Yet, somehow she clung to life, even with such a massive gaping hole in her chest.

He remembered kneeling by her side, urging her to answer him, that maybe there was something he could do, despite how foolish it sounded now in retrospect. He remembered the urge to back away from her hand as it gently, weakly approached him for help.

In that moment, if he had refused her his energy, her story would've ended then and there. He realized now that if he had, there was a very real chance that he'd probably not even be alive right now.

Everything changed from that point on, and he decided that the week plus of hell aboard the ruined ship, having to fight her to stay alive, was all worth it in the end. Because if he was honest with himself, which he wasn't very often, having her as a companion was worth any extra effort he had to suffer through to keep her by his side.

And now, after everything, he was reunited with her once more. And again it was because of his efforts that she was allowed to return to her full potential, for he'd been the one to make the call to retrieve and save her arm. He'd also been the one to refuse to turn said arm over to the science team for study, instead keeping it on his person for safekeeping.

And, speaking of disembodied arms…

"Oh, Samus." The Spartan spoke up, finally breaking the silence.

The woman in question turned her red visored gaze towards him, expression hidden. "Yes?" She asked lightly, head tilted slightly in question.

He decided not to dwell on her odd mannerisms…

"I've been holding onto this for you, in case you returned." He explained gruffly, procuring a container from the back plate of his armor.

She watched in facilitation as he opened the container, pulling free from its contents her missing arm. Her eyes widened as she gazed upon her arm cannon once again, and even then, a few feet away, she could feel the nerve in the arm responding to her presence. It was as if the limb had a mind of its own, no matter how tiny and limited that it may be.

The part of her that had been missing, that had prevented her from becoming complete once again, was right in front of her.

Her eyes widened behind her helmet, looking up to face the Spartan.

She wished in that moment that he wasn't wearing that damnable helmet he refuses to remove, just so she could see that hidden reserved expression of his. "Thank you." She said, voice soft despite herself. She grasped the limb from his hands, her energy shield's powering down.

The entire elevator system shook as her shields dropped suddenly, the strength of them so powerful that it shook the foundations of the platform. The Spartan was forced to take a step back from the sudden release of energy, eyes widening as he watched her press the limb up to her stump of an arm.

Her suit began to glow a bright orange, temporarily becoming translucent as it began assimilating the cannon back into the suit, but more then that, her body rapidly reattached the arm, within moments it was fully reattached. A moment passed, and the orange light faded as the suit was completed once again.

Samus glanced down to her arm cannon, clenching her fist beneath the armor tightly. It felt as if she'd never lost it. She held the cannon up to her face for inspection, bringing up a super missile with a mere thought, before returning the warhead to the confines of her weapon.

She had to refrain from grinning wildly at the sensation of finally returning to full power, instead planting her feet as she recalled her shields to full once more. Yet, despite herself, her newfound wings weren't so eager to stay put, as they responded to her excitement by stretching out wide.

"…" The Spartan said nothing, but his cold blank stare seemed to convey his open blatant confusion.

"When did you grow wings? Y-You can grow wings?" Cortana openly voiced the thoughts swirling around in the Spartan's head, her voice echoing out from the green super soldier's helmet.

As if seeking answers, the Chief turned his attention to the Trooper beside him.

Exeter shook his head. "I was just as surprised as you when I first saw it. And no, I cannot explain it." The man stated plainly, head tilted slightly towards the green soldier.

John seemed to dwell on the words, before glancing back to the alien in question's large dragon wings. He stared for a moment, before nodding and saying nothing more on the matter.

"While you were gone, the science team here was able to restore Adam to proper functionality. He's currently with the Captain now." John thought to add after a moment.

Samus's eyes widened, relief filling her.

It had been a long time since she'd been able to communicate with him, she was very welcoming to the idea that he'd be by her side once again.

Eventually they reached their destination, and a short walk through halls filled with men and women alike who all stopped to salute the duo of green colored individuals later, they were on the bridge once more.

"Samus, welcome back. Next time you plan on going MIA, could you let me know ahead of time?" Andrew Del Rio grunted, a small sprinkle of humor hidden in his gruff aged tone of voice.

Samus, eyes hidden by her visor, her expression was hard to gauge. But she nodded after a moment, deciding it better to play along for a second than do anything else. "I make no promises." She added after a moment, voice flat.

"Good. Now then, with you back in the picture we can finally get back to business." Del Rio stated gruffly. "But, before we do that, maybe you should introduce me to your friend here."

Exeter glanced to Samus in silent question, before turning to face the man who controlled the enormous star ship. "My name is Commander Exeter, however, as of right now, Samus is the acting Commander for me and my Platoon."

"I see. How is it that we've never heard of this Galactic Federation before?" Del Rio asked.

"We… Come from far away." Exeter added after a moment. He glanced to Samus in silent question, but the look she gave him told him otherwise. He turned back to the Captain, nodding in confirmation. "That's the story."

Del Rio didn't missed the small communication between the man and Samus, and knew that for some unexplained reason, she was not interested in divulging the location of their home system. For whatever reason, he was not sure, but he knew damn well that pressuring her or her colleagues would get him nowhere, and such information wasn't relevant at this time.

Deciding to put the question behind him for the time being, he dove headfirst into the situation at hand. "Aine, bring them up to speed on the situation." He grunted, clasping his hands behind his back.

Samus blinked, turning to face the yellow A.I. that seemed to originate from an ancient human goddess…

A lot had happened since she'd been separated from the Master Chief's side.

After she'd been deemed MIA, the Chief had continued the mission alongside the members of Spartan fireteam Castle. Together, they stormed a path through the remains of the Covenant forces on the ground and manually made the target lock for the last gravity well.

Some time after that, the Chief had been separated temporarily by an unseen force, pulling him out of the combat.

An ancient Forerunner, who called herself the Librarian, had abducted the Spartan in green to deliver a terrible message.

The Didact was not only a threat to the UNSC stationed here on the planet, but to the entire galaxy if he were to escape. Using the power of an ancient super weapon which has since been lost to him, he had gained the ability to turn living tissue into a digital form.

It was the origin of the Promethean's that they'd been fighting against the entire time. The Promethean's were in fact, humans from a millennia ago, turned into mindless fighting machines forced to do the bidding of their master.

The reason that they'd never made an appearance beforehand was due to the fact that the Didact had been imprisoned. But with his escape from the Cryptum via tricking the Master Chief, he was now free to regain control of his seemingly limitless army of synthetic weapons.

If that wasn't worse, the Composer, the super weapon which allowed him to wipe out humanity once before had not been lost to time, but had been hidden somewhere. If that wasn't bad enough, the only person who knew of its location was the Didact himself.

There was only two things keeping the ancient war criminal from going out and wrecking havoc on the unsuspecting galaxy, and that was the damage his ship had sustained during the conflict prior, and the reality of a new find.

There was a second gravity well on the opposite side of the planet, and it continued to serve the function that the first did. With it activated, no ships that entered the planet's atmosphere would be able to leave. That meant that the Covenant, the UNSC, and even the Didact were stuck planet-side until it was dealt with.

While it would be rather simple to destroy the device, it was the only thing preventing the Didact's escape. The alien himself must've known such truths as well, and had gone into hiding ever since he'd been repressed from his initial assault upon the Infinity.

This placed both the Didact and his army of Covenant and Promethean's against the UNSC. If either faction were to destroy the Gravity well and retreat from the planet, they could gather their entire army and return.

If the entire UNSC fleet was alerted to the existence of the Didact and his army and stronghold here upon Requiem, he'd be annihilated by the full might of the UNSC.

If the Covenant destroyed the well, they could escape and gather their army for the same thing. But the likelihood was that without the Composer at his side, the Didact would lose the war he started.

Either way, they were currently at an impasse.

The well was currently at the opposite end of the planet, unguarded by either sides.

Captain Del Rio didn't wish to destroy it and retreat to HQ unless it was his last resort, knowing he'd free the Didact and allow the criminal to roam the stars and gather even more power and influence over the Covenant.

The Didact needed to flee the planet to retrieve his super weapon, but if he did, he'd be alerting the entire collection of humanity's armies to his existence before he could stop them.

So, that left the war temporarily dead in the water. Knowing that a head on assault would no go well in his favor, the Didact had retreated to the corners of the planet to hide.

The Forerunner, was on the run…

The only thing left to do was track him down and end it for good, and put a stop to the war before it could go off world…

"Then why haven't you begun the assault on him? He is cornered, and we have the upper hand." Samus, after having been caught up to speed with the situation asked.

"Believe me, I want that bastard dead now. But we've been unable to locate his presence. We know he's not escaped the planet, but we have no idea where he could be hiding. And with the communications blackout thanks to the interference the entire god damn planet seems capable of emitting, our sensors range is extremely limited." Del Rio explained tiredly, collapsing into his chair.

In that moment he seemed less a battle hardened captain, and instead a man who was tired of all the fighting. She supposed that she couldn't blame him, this entire situation on Requiem had been going on for far too long as it was.

"This game of cat and mouse is not my cup of tea, but I can't just sit around and wait. We need to track this son of a bitch down and end him before he manages to make his way off the planet." The man huffed, rubbing at the bridge of his nose.

"May I make a suggestion?" It was the voice of Adam that broke the silence left in the Captain's wake.

The man waved his hand. "Go ahead…"

Samus listened in intently to the A.I.'s words, finding solace in simply hearing his robotic and short responses once again. She'd missed his rude remarks.

"The only way the Didact will be found is if he wants us to find him. I suggest we turn our attention elsewhere." Adam suggested.

Del Rio sighed. "And the other option?" He almost regretted asking.

"We spend the next few days, possibly weeks searching for the Didact, allowing him the chance to find the Composer. Once he does, it's a war to stop him before he can compose humanity. How many must fall before he'd be stopped? Such a calculation is not appropriate, even to dwell on. There is no option, Captain Andrew. We must stop the Didact here, now." Adam expressed his concerns on the matter in that robotic uncaring way of his.

"The Didact is an ancient warlord, having led countless armies and wars. I don't think he'll be easy to trick…" Cortana added in worry. "What makes you so sure he'd fall into any trap we'd set?" She asked.

"Your statement is correct, Cortana. However, the Didact is blinded by his hatred for humanity. He is not thinking clearly, his mind is frayed from his years in captivity." Adam added.

Cortana crossed her arms underneath her breasts. "Oh? What makes you so sure?" She asked, unbelieving.

"For what reason was there for the Didact to leave the Master Chief behind before? If he was thinking clearly he would've made sure to kill him then and there, but he thought it to low of him. And again, his laxness in combat on his raid against the Infinity showed greatly by his lack of intervention. He was content to let the Covenant he has underneath him do his dirty work, and that backfired for him greatly."

"His overconfidence will be his undoing." Samus stated, realizing what it was that Adam was referring to. If the A.I. had a physical body, she was sure he'd be nodding at her.

"Precisely." Adam spoke sharply. "And, more than that, we may still yet have the element of surprise."

"How so?" The Master Chief asked.

"The Didact is under the assumption that Samus met her end in the destruction of the Forerunner facility. Unless he has intel inside the Infinity, he has no idea she survived the encounter." Adam clarified. "When he falls into the trap, he won't be prepared to deal with her."

"You think one woman will change the odds that heavily in our favor?" Aine spoke up, questioning the validity of the other A.I.'s statement. "Is not such a statistic minuscule in the grand scheme of things, or have you such faith in Miss Aran that you believe our odds far greater with her by our side?" The golden goddess questioned inquisitively.

"Indeed." Adam retorted. "I propose a plan, should Captain Andrew Del Rio agree to give the idea a chance. The statistics show that we have an eighty percent chance of success."

Samus felt like he'd poked her pride.

Eighty percent?

Did he have such low faith in her?

"I've got time to kill, shoot." The Captain sighed. He lost nothing letting the A.I. explain his plan.

Who knows…?

This could be just the thing he needed to hear.

"Get a message back to your headquarters, warn them of the Didact. They can prepare a counterattack before he's even aware of anything. When they arrive with the fleet in tow, we will corner him and end him here." Adam explained.

"That's all well and good, but unless you've forgotten about the communication's blackout, we can't warn HQ." Del Rio snapped. "Unless you have a plan around that?" He poked.

"Indeed." Adam stated sharply. Or at least those around him thought so, his tone was always exactly the same, so it was hard to judge his tone per say. "While you have been thinking of a way out of this situation, I have spent time pouring over mission data, schematics gained from the site cartographer Cortana and Master Chief accessed before your arrival, and passive suit scans made at intervals from Samus's Power-Suit. She seems to forget simply how powerful her own sensors are frequently."

"…" Samus didn't say anything, but she did look the other way…

"Wait, are you saying…?" The Chief spoke up, catching onto what Adam was hinting at.

"Indeed. I have found the location of the facility that is the cause of the communications blackout. The destruction of the facility would allow us to warn the rest of Humanity of the war here, and prepare proper countermeasures to respond." Adam explained.

Del Rio sat back in his chair, eyes widening. If they'd truly found the location of the facility, then this plan would work out perfectly. The Didact would remain hidden to flee an attack from the Infinity thinking that they'd be chasing him, while a hit squad took down the fortress that was stopping them from warning humanity…

He wouldn't bet his life on it, but he realized that any other plan probably had even less of a chance to work out.

It was a risk they had to take…

"Ladies, and, other Spartan's! Listen up!" Commander Spartan Palmer's loud and proud voice rang across the entire armor bay, her face displayed on screens if she was out of visual range. She paced to the side, hands clasped tightly behind her back.

"The time has come to bring an end to this nightmare! The Didact is on the run, cornered and cowering like a little bitch! He's mocked humanity, spit on our lineage, and has threatened to destroy us all." She declared loudly, raising her eyebrows as if personally offended.

"Now then, I'd say it's time to put that bastard in his place. And our new friends here have come up with the best way to do that." Palmer added. "The bastard is hiding somewhere on this bloody rock of a planet, and with the communications blackout, we've been unable to track him down. Until now, that is."

The Spartan Commander clicked a button, bringing up the schematics of what appeared to be another Forerunner facility. "This is the facility creating the blackouts planet wide. It's what's stopping our sensors from tracking the Didact, and also what has prevented us from initiating contact with HQ. Up until one hour ago, we had no idea of the device's location."

"However, thanks to Samus's intelligence, and through the assistance of her platoon, we've identified the location of the facility." Palmer stepped back, giving the stage to a new face, blue visor glowing with a different technology.

"Thank you, Commander Palmer." The armored super soldier spoke gruffly. "Spartans, I'll save you the introductions. As soon as you are battle ready, we will be shipping out to the far side of the planet. In the center of a bio storm covering half the continent is the facility that has been the cause of the communications blackout. Your job will be to roll on that target and bring it down. Without it functioning, nothing will stop us from getting word to HQ."

The screen flashed, bringing up the layout of the facility and the region around it. "Due to the storm that the facility has created around itself, we will be unable to get in close with any air support until it is taken offline. Furthermore, there are an unknown amount of anti air cannons surrounding the facility, and Infinity's shields are still down. The Infinity cannot handle the particle cannons long enough to get anyone in close, so tactical insertion is out of the scope of this mission, you'd be shot down in seconds. You'll be on your own. This mission will have you boots on the ground in twenty." The man explained before sighing.

"Look Spartans, I'm going to be frank with you. I know you have gone through the wringer here on Requiem, but it's not over yet. This mission is going to be a blow through op, no recon, no map schematics. The nature of this facility has prevented us from anything but the barest of ground scans, and even those are rendered nil upon close proximity to the facility. Whatever is down there, whatever opposition you will face, will be unknown even to us until you face it." The man explained further, knowing just how daunting it sounded to them.

"We're working on a tight schedule. If we stand around any longer we'll give the Didact all the time he needs to find a way off planet or blow up the gravity well and leave. Before that happens, we need to get this facility offline and a message back home." He finished the mission prep. "Good luck Spartans, and godspeed."

Exeter vanished, giving the stage back to Palmer once more. "You heard the man, load up and move like you've got a purpose. Spearheading this assault on the control center will be Samus, and unless you plan on being a casualty, I'd suggest you stay out of her way and do as she says. Don't like it, tough shit. Now play nice, and go out there and knock some heads around!" Palmer declared loudly, raising her eyebrows to see if there was any objections.

But these were her Spartans, and they listened to her like they damn well should. She nodded to herself, turning on her heels to leave the armory. She had a war to prepare for, and she didn't want to send any of her men home in body bags…

This war had gone on long enough and already had far too many dead heroes, she wasn't planning on adding anymore to that list. Her Spartans were the best of the goddamn best, and she was going to show that here and now, whether or not their training had been finished or not!

Expectations be damned!

Chapter

24

End