Chapter 18: Come Out, Come Out Wherever You Are
Cortana didn't have much hope as the two of them plummeted into the ground.
For three full seconds, she couldn't get any readings from the armor. When she finally was able to access the data, it wasn't good; John's vitals were thready after the powerful impact. He had lost consciousness, broken several bones and a dislocated shoulder. The biofoam went to work, but she knew that he would be lucky to move on his own power anytime soon.
Despite her concern for John, she had other, potentially galaxy-devastating events to deal with. If the Covenant got their hands on Truth's pod, there would be no way to guess how revitalized they would be. And Earth was too weak to wage another war with them.
The Harbinger was ready to shoot down the Pelican as soon as it exited the atmosphere, but the Covenant had other plans. Cortana detected another three Cruisers that had not been there when they first entered the system. As the rogue vessel left the atmosphere, they released several thousand Ghosts and Phantoms in space, making a direct hit impossible. The Separatists' ships were being infiltrated with some kind of virus that the Loyalists seemed to have uploaded to their systems. They were unable to use any of their weapons or propulsion systems. They were sitting ducks for the Loyalists but, fortunately for them, the Covenant were busy trying to protect their prize.
She needed to get back on board the Light.
Her subroutines ran another vital scan of John; he would survive but there was no telling how long he would remain unconscious. She opened a comm channel to Keyes. "Sir, I need to get back on board. The Covenant are putting up more of a fight than anticipated."
"I'll escort you back, Cortana." Keyes' voice cut through the channel. "Catherine needs to stay here with Johnson and the Chief."
"But, what about Miranda, sir?"
"I trust that she's in good hands."
Cortana prepared her subroutines for transferring out of John's armor. "All right. Yank me."
To her surprise, John reached up and blocked the captain's hand. "Permission to escort Cortana myself, sir."
She didn't miss the slight slur to his voice.
Neither did Keyes.
"Negative, Chief. Who knows the injuries you sustained during the fall?" Keyes replied. He shook his head. "Doctor Halsey will keep an eye on you here."
As John moved to stand, Cortana knew some of that stubbornness that allowed him to escape impossible scenarios was about to show itself. "That won't be necessary, sir," he countered.
Keyes looked at him for a second.
Cortana didn't like the latest information coming from the ship scans. "Do I need to remind everyone that if Truth escapes that we will probably be fighting another war?" she said pointedly. To Keyes she said, "I've worked with the Chief under worse circumstances." Or at least she thought she had; specific details about his vitals during the first Halo campaign were lacking. "I wouldn't risk my well-being if I didn't trust him to be alright."
Keyes looked at Catherine who gave a half-shrug. "I think John knows his own limits better than anyone."
Keyes sighed but nodded. "Go ahead, Chief."
"We need to use your Pelican to get back to the ship, sir."
He nodded curtly. "Permission granted. You do what it takes to get that ship down," Keyes said. "Good luck, Chief. You too, Cortana."
With a quick glance at Johnson and the Arbiter, neither of which had regained consciousness, John turned away and boarded the Pelican. He wasted no time to transfer Cortana to the Pelican controls. She activated her avatar. "I hope you're in the mood for a ride because something tells me this is going to be a bumpy trip," she warned.
That turned out to be an understatement.
As soon as they exited the atmosphere, two Cruisers shot at the Pelican. The ship shook violently, but the reinforced bulkhead held.
Cortana was still monitoring the Phantom's position, but, despite its vast firepower, the Harbinger had been unable to pinpoint an exact shot.
"Hang on," she said, pulling the ship hard to the right. The inertial dampeners proved virtually ineffective as the force of her dangerous move threw John across the cabin. A quick check of his vitals proved that he was still conscious.
"You alright?" she asked as John pulled himself to a sitting position.
He seemed to study her for a second before replying. "Maybe I should have let Keyes take you back on board."
John's sense of humor did have the oddest times of appearing, she noted.
She spun the ship around and weaved between the giant vessels. What the Pelican lacked in firepower, it made up for with maneuverability. She piloted the Pelican away from the Separatists ships which were unable to do anything other than take the shots the Cruisers were firing.
Cortana knew she needed to decrypt the jamming signal so they could defend themselves. She infiltrated the Covenant battle network and found the obtrusive code. Line by line, she began to delete the file.
Meanwhile, her subroutines were busy tracking the Phantom where Truth was. It was slowly and steadily making its way to the Cruiser closest to the planet's atmosphere. Cortana fired the Pelican's chain gun, but the bullets bounced off the superior ship's shielding.
She considered her options. She could easily destroy the remaining battlecruisers with the Harbinger's weapon systems, but the debris field would be so dense, it would be nearly impossible for her to track the movement of the Phantom. She needed to make sure they were able to track the Phantom's location in the midst of the chaos.
Cortana turned to John. "When we get docked, you need to transfer me to the Light's systems immediately."
He cocked his head to the side. "You're not going on the Harbinger?"
Logically, going to the Forerunner ship made sense. The ship was superior to the Light in every way but one. She was still adapting to the Forerunner systems; her subroutines instinctively knew the UNSC systems better. "Not this time, Chief."
She barely had time to set the Pelican on the ground before John ejected her chip and transferred her into the Light's main systems. She had extended the Harbinger's shields around the Light. Wasting no time, she accessed the data from the defense systems of the Forerunner vessel. So far the shields were holding; the Harbinger was doing its job protecting the Light.
Satisfied with their protection, she transferred her avatar to the bridge. Quickly, she apprised the crew of their situation.
John walked onto the bridge and looked at Cortana questioningly.
She shook her head. "No luck so far. I'm still trying to disrupt the jamming signal which means the Separatists are still out there like sitting ducks." She put a hand on her hip.
John nodded and looked around. "Who's in command?"
The bridge crew exchanged a look with each other.
"Actually, Chief, you are the highest ranking officer on the bridge which would make you in charge," Cortana replied, not having the time to fully appreciate the awkward situation he was in. John was used to receiving orders, not giving them on a vessel.
He shifted slightly. "I don't think Keyes intended to leave me in command of the Light," he said via a private comm.
"I don't think he intended on an Elite hijacking the pod that held Truth either, but that's what happened," Cortana replied. "Don't worry, Chief. I've got things under control."
Another shot rocked the cabin.
"Well, mostly," she muttered.
She fired a volley of shots from the Harbinger and took out the plasma canons on two of the cruisers. She continued firing as she weaved through the Separatists signal and found the source jamming signal.
With a defiant push, she grabbed the code and erased it line by line herself. Finally, with a healthy dose of stubbornness and determination, she managed delete the signal. She opened a comm channel to the Separatists. "Your weapon systems are back online. I'm uploading Truth's coordinates to you now."
"Understood," the ship master replied.
She concentrated on hitting the tiny target in the middle of the zero-gee battleground. Finally, the Phantom moved into a position where she could hit it. There were several Ghosts in the vicinity, but she was confident she could still destroy the vessel with Truth's pod.
Together, the ships launched a volley of shots at the well-protected Phantom. Their combined efforts connected with the engines. The hijacked vessel started spinning wildly before it exploded in a burst of fire and debris.
But, to her surprise, the ship's sensors still detected the unique energy signature of the pod that held Truth's cloned body.
They had been outplayed, she recognized with a sickening realization.
She quickly pulled up the footage from the Light's sensors. There. Moments before the Harbinger and the Separatist ships shot the Phantom, a "disabled" Ghost approached the vessel. It must have been there that the switch had been made and Truth's pod transferred to a different location without her knowledge.
Cortana would have considered the move brilliant if she had thought of it herself. Inwardly, she cursed.
The Ghost had managed to dock onto the Cruiser and Truth's pod was protected in the superior shielding of the larger vessel. Still, she had to take a chance that there was still time to stop Truth from slipping away.
"The pod's location has changed," she said to the shipmaster on the Shadow of Intent. "Uploading new coordinates."
Together, they fired a barrage of bullets and plasma, but the Cruiser had an enormous head start over them. The Shadow of Intent moved to follow the Loyalist Ship, but the another Cruiser fired its plasma cannons at it. Cortana targeted the ship with the Harbinger's cannons.
Another shot rocked the cabin. "We've lost artificial atmosphere in decks 17-19," announced Ensign Paulson.
"Cortana?" John asked, concerned. She knew he hated feeling so helpless, being stuck on the bridge of a ship, watching the action instead of taking a more active role.
"Sealing the decks off. Firing the Harbinger's cannons now," she said, as she pushed the engines past their normal operating levels. That ship was not going to go anywhere.
She felt a wave of satisfaction when hit their target. Their shields faltered. All it would take it one more shot and the ship's slipspace engines would be disabled.
But, the Loyalists had another plan in mind. The other ships, crippled or not, started moving in a formation blocking the Separatists and the Harbinger from hitting their target. The Separatists fired simultaneously at the intrusive targets.
It, however, was pointless.
Cortana frowned as she detected a slipspace bubble being created.
She watched it disappear as the ship blinked out of sight.
Truth was gone.
Chapter 19: Don't Make a Promise...Never Mind