Sword Base, Babd Catha Ice Shelf, Eposz
August 29, 2552 26:16 Hours
As the falcons carrying Jamie, Six and a squad of ODSTs touched down behind a hill Colonel Holland came over the radio "Noble One, this is Noble Actual. Noble One?" "...Go ahead." Carter answered "We need that base taken out, son. What's your status?" "Still outside. Thermal on the interior shows standing-room-only. We're gonna have to thin 'em out or we'll be way too popular." "Copy that, Noble One. Holland out."
As they get their bearings the Jamie notices that they are right outside of the Ferragut Station from the level "Sword Base" and how it was a lot harder to move in the water now that he was actually here and not on the other side of a screen. As Six and the ODSTs get into position behind him Jamie listens to Carter on the comm "We've got a job to do, so let's stay focused and get it done. Six, Seven, are you in position?" "Affirmative." they both sound off "Good. Execute." with that Six takes point and they head closer to the station, as the other falcons carrying the rest of Noble Team leave Jamies private comm lights up with Kat speaking briefly "Stay safe."
As they get closer Carter fills them in "Covenant own this sector now. They are defending for a full major strike, not a small-group infiltration. Eliminate all hostile ground air-defense so the rest of Noble can land at Sword Base for the torch-and-burn. Keep a low profile - we'll take them by surprise, this will be a hell lot easier.". As they get closer to the station Six marks a shade turret and watchtower highlighting them on everyone's HUD while Jamie gets his DMR ready to take out the grunts milling about. "There's a downed falcon watch for bodies." one of the ODSTs points out as Six calls out "Ghosts, stay still." as a trio of ghost piloted by grunts come around a bent in the part of the road that wasn't flooded.
As the others got into position Six spoke on the team comm "Wait for my signal then take out those ghosts, I have the shade turret and Seven has the watchtower and grunts." greens lights flash as acknowledgment. A few tense moments go by as the grunts on the ghosts power down and start to converse with their brethren before the loud crack of a Sixs sniper ring out as the grunt manning the shade turret is immediately killed. With silent fury the ODSTs lay into the grunts taking them out with efficiency as Jamie takes out a pair of jackal snipers that were about to take shots at them.
As all this was going down the rest of Noble team was busy pondering over why they were at Sword Base "Kat was right. Does seem like overkill... Sending us back here for a simple demo-op?" Emile asked Carter as Jun answered for him "ONI thinks it's worth it. Ought to tell you something." "Tells me things ain't so simple." Emile shot back
Soon all the covenant were dead and Jamie ran over to the dead grunts and grabbed their dropped plasma grenades knowing that they could be useful later. Seeing that the ghosts were in relatively good condition three of the ODSTs hopped on them and started to scout ahead, they didn't make it far before they reported "Looks like we have a Scorpion still operational, sir." Jamie couldn't help but grin, no matter what halo game he played the scorpion was always his favorite, and now he was about to drive one. He beelined it for the scorpion and jumped into the driver's seat and started it up as Six got into the gunners seat and the last ODST got onto one of the side treads with the others who had gotten their hands on ghosts formed up around him.
Seeing and empty covenant watchtower up ahead Jamie aims the turrets and fires a 90mm round right into the center of the watchtower blowing it to pieces. Unable to contain his joy Jamie had a massive smile on his face as he rolls the tank forward destroying ghosts and watchtowers as the ODSTs pick off ground troops. After making the turn and cresting the hill the Airview Base comes into view as well as the two massive covenant AA guns that now take up residence there. Above the guns there are several falcons and banshees locked in an air battle.
"AA guns dead ahead, Lieutenant." the lead ODST calls out as Carter comes over the comm at the same time "Time to get to work, Noble Seven. Take out those guns!". As Six jumps out of the gunner seat to stock up on ammo Jamie starts to fire on the back of the closest AA gun using a trick that helped him loads during his legendary run of the game back on Earth. Eventually a warning chime is heard as covenant troops around the guns start to take notice of the Spartans and ODSTs present but they are too late to save the gun closest to Jamie as it goes up in a blast of blue plasma fire with the shockwave tossing a few grunts around."First target neutralized. Falcons, stand-by." Carter calls out.
As the ODSTs open up on the covenant swarming towards them Jamie takes aim at the banshees that had managed to extraxt themselves from the arial battle and were now trying to assist their ground forces, the keyword there is 'try' as 90mm tungsten rounds soon blew them out of the sky before the turret swung back to assist the ODST whose ghosts were now looking much worse for wear. "Jump out of your ghost if its damaged and come give me some cover." Jamie called out to the ODSTs, one of them had managed to extract themselves and was about to run back to the scorpion, not seeing the elite major right behind them but before Jamie could call out, CRACK went a sniper rifle as the elites shields flashed briefly before a 14.5×114mm armor piercing round punched through its helmet and nailed a grunts gas tank behind it, courtesy of Six who had apparently just found a sniper laying around.
"Thanks Spartan!" the ODST called out before running over to his squad mate who had dismounted from the tank and was now using as cover as Jamie now turned his focus on the second AA gun knowing the Six had the others covered. After a half-dozen rounds the gun finally went up in blue flames and the banshees above scattered and the rest of the covenant were taken care of. "Nice job, Seven. Falcons, commence descent. See you inside the base, Lieutenant." "Let's give 'em hell, Spartan!" one of the ODSTs yelled out enthusiastically.
Jamie just grinned as he gunned the tank forward and rolled over the now dead covenant and made his way back to the gate of Sword Base. Coming across a watchtower and a pair of ghosts, Jamie takes out the watchtower as Six takes out the grunts piloting the ghosts with two precise shots. rounding the corner Jamie spots several shade turrets "Hang back let me take care of the shade turrets, keep the covies off my back will you?" he calls out to the ODSTs and Six before he blows up the closest shade immediately drawing attention to themselves. "You got it Spartan." one of the ODSTs yells as he opens up on a squad of grunts as Six focuses on the elite leaders visible.
"Noble Team: Falcon group has landed, hostiles engaged. Kat is working on getting the gate open." Carters voice calls out as Jamie and the others get halfway through the area before having to stop to deal with more shade turrets and revenants as well as plenty of ground troops "Almost done, hang it there." Kat calls out. As they finally take out the rest of the covenant and make it over to the gate, Jamie is just about to ask how much longer it would take before Kat calls out "Got it. Gate's open, boss." "Six, Seven, get over here! Covies all over the base."Carter calls out as Jamie jumps out of the tank and starts to move up the path with Six and the ODSTs right behind him.
Reaching the courtyard they see the rest of Noble Team fighting several elites and grunts "Just in time, Six." Emile calls out "Took you long enough." Kat says as she bashes a grunts head in with the butt of her assault rifle "Kill 'em all, Noble!" Carter yells as Jamie Six and the ODSTs jump into the fray with the Spartans taking out a pair of elite minors as the ODSTs tear into the grunts not sparing the ammo. With the arrival of two more Spartans and a squad of ODSTs the covenant in the courtyard quickly fall even when reinforcements come in up from the garage they do little to turn the tide as they fall under a hail of 5.56mm.
As they enter the garage to try and take the elevator up with the ODSTs taking point one of them calls out "Elevators out." "Lets go through maintenance then." Carter says as he heads over with Jun calling out sarcastically "The way this place has been done? We're lucky anything still works." not paying him any mind Carter just turns to Jamie and Six, "Six Seven, you two take point with the ODSTs we're right behind you." nodding Jamie heads into the maintenance hall and start to head up a series of catwalks, taking fire from jackal snipers and skirmishers with Six taking them out with precise sniper shots while Jamie and the ODSTs dealt with the shield wielding jackals.
Reaching the top they arrived in a destroyed security checkpoint, bodies, plasma burns scoring the walls and floors along with bullet casings blanketing the floor with both blue and red blood coloring the floor and walls. Pausing to take in the carnage Jun turn to Carter and asks quietly "Where are we going now, boss?" Carter calls out to the teams A.I "Dot?" a moment later she responds "Please proceed to the prearranged coordinates." "Cryptic..." Emile says "You know as much as I do, Noble Four." Dot shoots back.
Reaching the end of the checkpoint the ODSTs, Jamie and Six watch as the door slowly opens revealing the bases atrium now filled with a shallow film of water, moving slowly Jamie feels the back of his mind trying to tell him something but because of how quiet the atrium is he can't take the time to figure out what. "ARGH!" cries the lead ODST as they're picked up by some unseen force and Jamie is unable to bring his rifle up to bear before an energy sword pierces the ODSTs chest and the now decloaked elite lets him fall dead as two of its brethren grab two other ODSTs before Jamie fires upon the first one "Contacts! We got spec-op elites keep your eyes open there may be more!" Jamie yells over the team comm as the elite trio re-engage their cloaks and he hears them run off.
Reloading his assault rifle he spots movement at the top of a flight, and turning he sees an elite general raise its weapon pointed at the last ODST, BAM BAM goes Sixes sniper as he tries to take out the elite but its shield is too strong and its only staggers for a second before firing a trio of shots from its concussion rifle and the last ODST goes down just as the rest of Noble team reaches the atrium and Jun and Emile immediately fire on the general.
With a furious roar the elite fires at Noble Team forcing them to spread out to not get hit, now jackals and grunts are coming down from the upper levels but are falling just as fast as they arrive as Kat, Carter and Jorge lay into them with Jorge tossing a frag grenade that lands behind a jackals shield and takes it out along with a slew of grunts who go flying. Before Jamie and Six can jump in to help their teammates they notices slashes in the water and the unnatural shimmer in the air and immediately fire, shields flare on both sides as the spec-op elites who left earlier have returned, however due to their reduced shield capabilities to compensate for their cloaking units Six and Jamie quickly dispatch them before reloading and moving to assist Jun and Emile who are now engaged in melee with the elite general as well as another elite major who has joined the fray.
Seeing its back turned to him Jamie draws his combat knife before jumping on the major and going for its throat as Six slams two more rounds of his sniper into the generals shield finally dropping it before slamming his shoulder into its side throwing it off balance giving Jun the opportunity to slam his rifle into its chest knocking it back before Six kicks the back of its knee joint bringing the elite down before plunging his combat knife into the base of the generals skull right were the spine connects, killing it instantly. Jamie and Emile aren't slouches either as they take turns throwing haymakers at the elites head after it managed to throw Jamie off its back, with a hard left from Jamie finally dropping its shield Emile levels his shotgun and blows a whole right through chest armor and flesh finally killing the elite.
Turning around the four spartans are about help their teammates deal with the tide of grunts and jackals before pausing, the others are already looking at them "Took you long enough." Kat says mischievously before Dot reminds them "Please proceed to the prearranged coordinates." "Yeah yeah we heard you." Jamie remarks as they start to follow the bodies of dead UNSC troopers before the reach the coordinates, a large half opened door with the ONI symbol on it
"This is it. In here!" Carter says as Noble team enters a corridor littered with dead bodies and destroyed equipment with an unmanned turret standing behind some sandbags, with plasma burn and bullet casings everywhere. "Looks like they got themselves cornered." Jun comments "Or were committed to the position." Carter adds, Emile and Jamie head further into the corridor and find a dead end "I'm going with cornered. There's nothing here." Emile says lightly tapping the dead end wall with his boot,"No load-bearing columns, either... Sir, if we're supposed to blow this place, this ain't the spot to do it from." Jun adds with a hiss
Exasperated Carter holsters his assault rifle and askes Dot "Dot, check your vector." he says annoyed "Vector confirmed. Commander, we are precisely where ONI has directed- apologies Coordinates revised. Please confirm?" Dot says "Revised...?" Kat askes "By an AI of unknown origin. Whose clearance is well above my own." Dot clarifies "Well, it's pointing us a click and a half east and two thousand feet underground." Jun points out as Jamie get ready to finally meet Dr.Halsey. "And I didn't bring my shovel, Commander." Emile says getting a snort from Jamie and a head shake from Jorge.
"Sir, I say we go AI-free on this one. Obviously, these coordinates are junk, and the longer we go chasing them-" Jun start to rant to Carter before a loud screeching noise filles the corridor as a wall in the dead end opens up, Jamie and Emile stand ready at the door as Kat and Jorge move to cover where they entered from "What is this, Dot?" Carter asks "Our revised route, Commander." with a sigh Carte walks past Jamie and Emile "Alright, we came this far, Jun take point."
With Jun taking point the rest of Noble team enters the passage as it slides shut behind Jorge who is the last to enter. The team continues down the tunnel and finds a tram a security camera watches Noble Team entering the tram silently in a corner. Once they are all aboard Carter aska Dot again "Your new AI friend tell you anything else, Dot? ...Dot?" "She's been expecting you." Dot says critically "That's perfect..." Emile says deadpan.
As they spartans all cram into the trams and the door shuts, a holographic screen turn on and they come face to face with Dr.Halsey. "Apologies for the unusual security measures, Commander, but the stakes demand it." she says "Dr. Halsey. Casualty reports have you listed as-" Carter begins before Halsey cuts him off "Yes, well, as they say...news of my death has been greatly exaggerated. I can see that all of Noble is here as well as a new addition, hello Jamie." she says before looking right at him. Simply nodding Halsey continues "Your friend has told me lots about you, I look forward to you shedding some light on thigs that I've been told about as well as explaining how you lost a prototype A.I." She says while cocking an eyebrow at him "Yes ma'am." Jamie says while frantically thinking about how he would explain that 'Cortana' Had gained sentience.
"Ma'am, why is Noble team here." Carter asks the doctor bluntly "It may please you to learn the data module Noble Two procured from the Visegrád station contained precisely what my scientist promised: a latchkey discovery. It has unlocked, at last, the secrets of this excavation." Halsey starts to explain nodding to Kat "Not sure I understand." Carter says as the tram starts to move along its track, "Your orders were a pretext to bring you to me, and have been overridden. You are here, Team Noble, to assure the delivery of this vital data to a secure location." She says finally "Doctor, our orders are to destroy all sensitive material-" "Others will handle the demolition." she cuts him off "I'll need to confirm this new directive with command-" she cuts him off again "Colonel Holland will be briefed. You belong to ONI now.". "What could go wrong?" Emile says looking sideways at Jamie, how he managed that through the helmet Jamie had no idea, so he decided not to focus on that at just took a seat on one of the trams chairs that groaned under his weight, with Kat sitting next to him as the rest of Noble team also got into their spots seeing as it would take them a while to reach their destination.
SOME TIME LATER
After some time Dot told Noble Team that they were almost at their destination so the team got up from their positions around the tram and stretched to get their blood flowing. As the tram cleared a wall they came face to face with a huge cavern full of ice with a outpost but what caught their attention was a huge . . . something? They couldn't make heads or tails of it but Jamie knew what it was, it was a forerunner artifact. Halsey started to explain thankfully for the rest of the team what they were looking at "Before you is an alien artifact neither human nor Covenant in origin. Advanced beyond our comprehension... until now. Thanks to Noble Two, the decryption of its data is nearly complete." as she explained several massive boulders fell from the ceiling. Emile was the first to comment "Whatever we're doing down here, we'd better do it quick." "Have your data ready, ma'am. We're coming to you." Carter said as the tram reached halfway down "The decrypting process is still underway..." Halsey tried to explain "I don't think you understand - we're out of time. If it isn't portable when we reach you, it's gonna get buried!" Carter interrupted her "Bury any of it, and you bury mankind's best chance for survival! Commander, you've been wondering what thousands across Reach died for? They died for this. Please. Buy me all the time you can."
As they reached the bottom and the tram door opened Jamie and Six took point as Noble Team quickly left the tram "Let's find Halsey's lab. Move!" Carter says. As they move further into the outpost Jun spots something and calls out "Commander, I'm seeing turrets already in defensive positions." "ONI was expecting company?" Emile asks. As if on que several covenant drop ships appear out of the gaps in the ceiling where the chunks of rock had fallen earlier, "They sure as hell got it. Doctor, we have hostiles inbound." Carter says as they all start picking up speed "Spartans, you cannot allow the Covenant to break through the door to my lab." Halsey said "Understood. Let's give the doctor the time she needs."
As they went past a set of train tracks their comm lit up "Noble Team this is ONI control, there are four defense turrets to assist you in defending the lab. Get them online, and quick! When the turrets take too much damage, they'll shut down to recharge. You'll need to reactivate them when they come back online."
As they finally reached Dr.Halseys lab Jamie saw a spartan laser and snatched it immediately as it was one of his favorite weapons while the rest of Noble Team stocked up on ammo. "Noble Six, activate the turrets! Set up a perimeter. Seven you and Kat run interference and recon, once Six is done with the turrets you three will use hit and run tactics while we hold here." Carter said as he, Jun, Jorge and Emile got into positions around Halseys lab.
With a nod Six ran off to set up the turrets while Jamie and Kat went to set up in a good spot where they could see the lab and any covenant that tried to get close. As they got to their spot they watched as several phantoms and spirit dropships landed and off loaded their troops while their HUDs lit up with markers where Six had been activating the turrets that were scattered about. "They're landing out of range, across the bridge!" Kat called out "I need more time. Whatever you have to do, do it." Halsey said as Six joined them.
As the first wave composed of brutes,jackals and grunts crossed the bridge Jamie and Kat took precise shots taking out grunts and jackals while Six took down the brutes using a sniper. Seeing more coming from another direction Jamie turned and fired taking out a pair of grunts that didn't jump out of the way like the rest did, ducking behind a large boulder and reloading while Kat took shots at them Jamie looked up and saw more phantoms but they had vehicles under them as well "Noble One we have enemy armour dropping is, wraiths and ghosts." Jamie said as Kat ducked back and he fired at the brutes that were starting to get too close "Acknowledged Seven, start to fall back but if you get a chance to take out those wraiths don't hesitate." Carter said
Jamie finished off the brute before holstering his assault rifle and taking out the spartan laser and turning to Kat "Im gonna take out that wraith across the bridge, you and Six fall back to the lab reactivating turrets I'll catch up." he said before running over to a spot where a plasma grenade had blown a hole in the wall giving Jamie a clear shot at the wraith that was throwing plasma all over the place. Taking aim he focused on the center of the tank right behind were the gunner seat was targeting the power supply. Squeezing the trigger he watched the energy reading on the laser charge before releasing it once it reached 100, with a bright flash the beam hit the wraith hitting it right as it was about to launch a plasma bomb which only made the ensuing explosion that much bigger.
"Wraith across the bridge is down." He said over comm as he slung the laser back over his back and took out his assault rifle and made his way back to the lab. Reaching it he found a lance of elites trading fire with the rest of Noble Team, grabbing a frag he tossed it to where two elite minor were taking cover, as it bounced on the ground next to them they elite didn't have time to scream before it went of taking both them and their cover out with a loud BANG.
Seeing as he had gotten the attention of some of the elite with his loud entrance Jamie took cover behind a nearby rock formation as plasma bolts flew by melting snow, ice and whatever else they hit as one or two barely missed him. Hearing heavy footsteps get closer Jamie leap out from cover and slammed an elite in the chest before shooting several rounds into its companion stunning it before he grabbed a plasma grenade and stuck it to the elites armor before shoving it hard and running for cover.
Jamie calmly reloaded while a BOOM went off and bits of armour flew around Jamie before he came out from cover and sprinted across the snow to the rest of Noble Team, who lay down covering fire taking out the rest of the elites and grunts as Jamie reached them.
"Heads up, we got more trouble!" Jun called out as he leaped out of the way from plasma fire, looking up Noble Team scattered as a trio of banshees flew away before they started to circle back for another run at them, thinking quick Jamie turned to Emile who was closest to him "Grab one of those rocket launchers I got the laser." Emile nodded them holstered his shotgun and grabbed a launcher.
Before they could make use of it another wave of enemies arrived this time with ghosts, Carter and Jorge held off the grunts and elite while Kat and Six took down the ghosts with a pair of grenade launchers they found with a lucky shot from Six taking out a ghost and a trio of grunts next to it. Seeing that the banshees were getting closer Jamie and Emile took aim at them and after waiting a few second for them to get closer they fired, Jamies laser shot pierced right though the banshee blasting it out of the sky while a pair of rockets from Emile streaked through the sky and slammed into their targets with a bright flash and loud explosion. Even as another wave of covenant arrived Jamie and Emile couldn't help but watch as a brute chieftain in a rage tried to rush at Jorge and ended up getting crushed by a banshee.
"We get through this I'll buy you a drink." Jamie said as he tossed the spartan laser aside having depleted all its energy and picking up a rocket launcher, "I'll hold you to that." Emile said while reloading.
As the most recent wave of covenant fled or fell the spartans took a brief moment to catch their breath and regroup, "Any injuries?" Carter asked while he and Jun resupplied on ammo "None here." Jorge said answering for the others, as they all filled up on ammo and grenades "How much left doctor, we're almost out of time." Carter asked while getting into position as the next wave of phantoms dropped of their cargo, "Not much its almost finished I just need a little more time." Halsey said
Jamie spotted movement and looked through the scope of his DMR, and he saw bright golden armor of an Elite General. "Head up we got a general." Jamie called out as the others got into position, when from the sky a squad of six elite rangers dropped it shooting plasma bolts. Ducking into cover Jamie watched as two rangers fell their shields all but ignored as Jun and Six wielded their snipers with deadly aim, Jamie quickly shifted his attention however as one of the rangers was now alarmingly close to him, he ducked as the massive elite swung its plasma repeater at him before slamming the butt of his DMR into its sideattemping to throw it off balance but he only managed to stagger it, with a roar it swung again closer this time as Jamie ducked and tossed his DMR to the side as he drew his pistol and combat knife, he swiftly plunged the knife into the side of the elite but that only seemed to enrage it as it swung and actually hit him this time throwing his a good two meters back. As he got up he saw watched as the elite removed the knife and let it fall to the ground as it drew its plasma sword and raised it, ready to cut through shields, armour and flesh.
Not giving him time to recover the elite lunged at him swinging its blades in a wide arc forcing him to dodge under before he put several round into the side where he stabbed it, but by now its shield had recharged and flashed but the impact of the bullets still caused the elite to flinch. Seeing the shield was back Jamie dodged backwards while glancing around for his knife, he didn't call out for help because he knew that the rest of Noble team was dealing with the rest of the rangers and the other covenant swiftly approaching.
Dodging another swing Jamie retaliates with a hard left before following with a swift uppercut dazing the elite and seeing his chance he takes his pistol and shots the last 5 rounds into the elites hand with the last one breaking its shield and hitting right in the center of its palm, Jamie dove to the ground as the elite with furious with pain dropping its sword as it tried to smash Jamie in a blind rage. Before it can regain its clarity Jamie grabs his combat knife and dives between the elites legs as it lunges at him and he manages to land right next to where the elites sword lays in the snow unactivated, he quickly picks it up and rolls as the elite slams its foot right where he was a second ago, seeing an opportunity Jamie slashes one of the tendons in its leg right where there is a gap in its armor for mobility.
As the ranger falls Jamie heaves upwards and slams his knee right into the elites faceplate stunning it for a brief moment and just as he is about to stab his knife into its throat is grabs his wrist, and slowly starts to push it back Jamie puts more force into his arm and force the knife back, with a snarl the elite punches Jamie in the abdomen knocking all the air out of him and heaves upwards pinning Jamie on his back with the elite on top as they wrestle for control of the knife punching and kicking, and just as the elite is about to get the upper hand, Jamie ignites the plasma sword in his other hand and watches as the rangers shield flash briefly then fail as the bright blue blade of plasma stabs through armour and flesh, killing the elite.
As he heaves the elite off of him and looks around Jamie sees dozens of dead covenant of almost every species even a pair of hunters are over by Jorge and Emile who toss away the rocket launchers they used to turn the pair of hunters into smocking piles of worms. As he stands up Kat notices him and walks over "You alright there Seven? You look like you just crashed from orbit." she says while inspecting his armour as Jorge and Emile walk over "Wouldn't be the first time." Jamie jokes getting a huff from Jorge.
Hearing a loud THUD they turn and see Six and Carter shove the corpse of the Elite general onto a pile of other elites and Jun scavenges what left of the ammo. "All out of rockets grenades and sniper ammo, almost out of everything else." he says to Carter as Noble Team regroups and tends to their injuries. "Doctor, we can't survive another wave like that, we have to leave now regardless of how close you are." Carter says before Halsey replies "Don't worry I just finished, I'm opening the lab door now." she said sounding relieved as the heavy metal door to Halseys lab opened up before them "Door's opened lets finish this." Carter says as he leads the way into the lab.
Despite their injuries the spartans quickly reach Dr.Halsey and find that she is not alone, Captain Magnus Drake of the Everchanging is here as well. Nodding to Jamie almost imperceptibly the captain continues to type at the terminal he is in from of not sparing anyone a glance, looking around the lab they see several artifacts and when they reach Halsey they see the huge alien structure that was outside the lab, its massive with what looks like huge wires going here and there with arcs of energy going across them.
"What is this stuff?" Emile asks the question that was on all their minds "Knowledge. A birthright from an ancient civilization. This AI is its custodian, and she has chosen you as her couriers." Halsey answers cryptically "Chosen? By an AI?" Emile says doubtful "By this AI, yes. Her measure of you carries as much weight as my own..." Halsey says as she moves and they all see what was behind her, a holotank with an A.I sitting crosslegged with various screens appearing and disappearing as the A.I seemingly read them all whatever they were. The A.I looks up at the spartans briefly and upon seeing Jamie her eyes widen slightly then she returnts to her work as Halsey continues "...Perhaps more. You are to take her to the UNSC ship-breaking yards in Asźod. There, you will find a Halcyon-class cruiser waiting to get her off-planet, Captain Magnus has also volunteered a few of his men to assist you as he has been here helping me speed up the process and his ship is waiting in orbit as well."
"I understand." Carter says as Halsey raises and eyebrow "Do you? Mankind is outmatched. When Reach falls - and it will fall - our annihilation is all but certain. Unless...we can glean from this artifact a defense against the Covenant. A game-changer. On the level of the conical bullet in the nineteenth century, or faster-than-light travel in the twenty-third." she says while starting to pace "And what if we can't?" Jorge asks quietly as if afraid of the answer "An apt question, if there were somewhere else to place our hope. There is not." Halsey says with a sigh.
Dr. Halsey looks at the A.I one last time and shuts off her projection. Jun curiously looks at the lab as Dr. Halsey pulls out the data storage unit. Halsey, holding the package securely with both hands, walks forward as if she is approaching Carter, but passes him and holds it out to Six instead. "Take it, Lieutenant... She has made her choice." Halsey says. Six looks at Carter as if unsure how to dealt with the situation as Captain Magus walks over and joins them, Carter nods and Six places his hands over the package. "Do you have it?" "Yes." "Say the words, please." "I have it." she lets go and takes a step back as Six handles the package carefully.
"Let's get going then, the covenant aren't gonna wait on us." Carter says as he turns to the door "Go ahead, I just need to grab a few more things, would you stay and assist me Jamie?" Halsey says as Jamie nods while Carter pauses "Ma'am we don't have time, this cavern is about to collapse and the covenant are still out there." "Its only a few things plus I have the captain here to help and Jamie owes me an explanation for why he lost something important a few years back."
Seeing as she wasn't going to back down Carter sighed "Fine we'll clear the way but hurry." he said as he and the rest of Noble Team went ahead. Dr.Halsey then walked around and pointed out the things she wanted to take with her and with that they left the lab, as they walked Halsey asked several questions about the Cortana prototype that he had lost and so explained how she had locked herself into the system and would not left herself be taken out. "I think that she gained sentience like Cortana will in the future." Jamie said which caused the doctor to not talk as they walked further. Soon she was asking questions about the future and how things played out in the games, she seemed quite proud of the Master Chief everytime she heard about how he saved everyone and defied the odds.
Eventually Jamie asked a question of his own "Who am I?" Halsey paused and thought for a moment "The body you are in belonged to Shawn Peterson, like with John I personally selected him and he went into training(A/N ALL CANNON) but from what Captain Magnus and a certain someone in ONI have told me that in the original universe Shawn had several complications during augmentation so they have kept an eye on you since you suffered no complications, and the main turning point was when you where injured during a battle and went into a coma, we tried everything but nothing worked, your body would not respond at all despite your brain functioning perfectly, then after about three weeks your body just got up one day and defended the station it was in all while still not responding, we tried new things and found that it would respond to orders still so we put it to work in low level missions aboard the UNSC Spirit of Fire and I put the prototype Cortana into your armour so that she could keep you alive and moving incase there was no one to give orders. She was quite startled when you woke up and started talking and immediately sent a message to me and so myself, Captain Magnus and ONI have an eye on you. I know of your plan to help John and save Noble Team, a Noble Goal that will save more human lives for sure but i'm afraid that it might limit John if someone is there helping him."
"Ma'am i'm going to help him whether you want me too or not, don't worry i'll keep John safe." Jamie said trying to comfort Halsey when he turned to Magnus "So why are your here?" Magnus gave him a wide grin over the crate in his arms the grin didn't reach his eyes "Reach has been a blessing and a curse, its been a curse because so many are dying and I can't do a damn thing about it, but its a blessing because for every life I save, and for every stinking covenant bastard my ship and men kill we make progress and my ship gets stronger." he said before adding "1 day after Operation uppercut, I was able to catch a covenant corvette with its shields down and I sent it straight to hell, that gave me enough to upgrade my ship to Halcyon-class, I chose the Autumns variant since we're about to head over there, Everchanging is waiting in orbit above Azód."
Jamie was silent as he took all that in. Everything was falling into place, he had managed to save both Jorge and Kat from death and now they were about to deliver Cortana to the Pillar of Autumn and leave for the first Halo ring, then he remembered. "Magnus, how are we going to save Carter and Emile?" Jamie asked turning to him, Magnus thought for a moments "I am still in contact with my ship I'll have them send some reinforcements for Captain Keyes at the shipyard and try and get some longswords to meet you and escort you to try and keep you off the ground, but I don't know if it'll be enough." He said as they finally reached the hanger where a group of marines and the rest of Noble Team were waiting.
As they reached Noble team Carter looked at Halsey " "Dr. Halsey, Noble Three and Noble Five will escort you to Castle Base." he said "I require no escort, Commander-" she started before he interrupted "Jun, make sure nothing falls into enemy hands." "I'll do what's necessary, sir... Good luck." "You too, rifleman." Seeing that she had no choice Halsey went with Jun, Jorge and a pair of marines while the other two went into the other pelican were Carter was already heading towards the pilots seat. As Jamie and Magnus boarded the pelican and moved to let Six, Kat, and Emile aboard Carter started the engine and took off and they watched as the other pelican carrying Jun,Jorge and Halsey flew off.
As Magnus took a seat Kat walked over to them "Who's the new friend Seven?" She asked "This is Captain Magnus of the UNSC Everchanging, his ship is waiting above Azód in orbit." Jamie said as the other spartans and marines in the pelican stood up to salute the captain. "At ease, just focus of not dying for now." Magnus said with a grin as he interrupted everyone mid salute, "Everchanging huh, thats a big black spot on the net." Kat said as she put her hand down "I know, I got innies, covies, ONI and plenty of power hungry people who desperately want to get their hands on me and my ship so naturally I made and A.I that took everything about my baby off the net." Magnus said as everyone looked at him incredulously "What do you mean you MADE an A.I?" Emile asked not sounding convinced and Jamie had to admit that even he was curious.
"Trade secret." Magnus said with a shit-eating grin as he stuck his tongue out at them throwing them off even more, since when is a captain of a ship this . . . silly and unserious? Deciding not to dwell on it Jamie and Kat sat down next to Magnus as Six and Emile sat next to the two marines who looked just as baffled as the spartans felt, but Jamie was focused on something else.
Saving Carter and Emile, and making sure that Six wasn't left behind.
A/N Hey hope you liked the chapter, leave a comment telling me what you think or what you want me to add/change. Give me some stones if you don't mind and share this with a friend!