Chapter 14: Dude, srsly?
John knew something wasn't right.
It shouldn't have been so easy to reach the control center, especially with the Covenant having such a head start on them. Even with the disorganization they would be dealing with after the death of the Prophets, the Covenant weren't sloppy. Whatever they were after in the other structure was more important than the control center and John hated not knowing what was going on.
He pushed away his discomfort. There would be time to see what they were doing once Cortana retrieved the Key from the systems.
"Are there any signs of the Flood?" he asked as he descended another ramp.
"No," she said assuredly. "Besides, I don't think they would have been able to survive after the Gravemind died."
John wasn't so sure; he knew the Flood were not to be underestimated.
"Speaking of the Gravemind, want to let me in on what happened on High Charity during those three weeks I was left to fend for myself?" Cortana's voice with laced with exasperation.
John knew she longed to know what happened to her during her self-imposed exile, but he had no desire to go into the details of what happened there. She had survived. He had kept his promise. It was as simple as that. "I wasn't there."
He could almost feel her wave of annoyance wash over him as if it was his own. It was the second time he had felt that intensity of their connection since Cortana had entered his armor. It was strange despite the familiarity he shared with the AI.
Worse, it was distracting. He didn't know how he would react if Cortana's colorful feelings overrode his more calm emotions in the heat of a firefight.
"What's wrong?" All traces of frustration in her voice were gone.
They had other, more pressing, issues to deal with. He would talk to her and Doctor Halsey about it after they completed their mission. "It's nothing."
"Chief, if this about the Gravemind-"
"It's not."
"Then what is it?" He could almost see her placing her hand on her hip.
"Later." The tone of his voice ended that part of the conversation.
She blew out a sigh, but thankfully she let the issue go. He walked down the last ramp and saw the enormous terminal in the center of the room. After scanning the room, making sure there were no hidden enemies, John crossed the room and and reached behind his helmet to eject Cortana's chip.
John slipped the chip into the slot and waited for Cortana to appear. Several seconds passed before she activated her avatar. Her arms were crossed, her face determined. "All right, the system seems to have accepted the voucher, but it's going to take some time to work through the encryption as expected. It's nothing I can't handle, but..." She trailed off, frowning.
"Yes?"
She looked at him uneasily. "The Covenant are up to something, John. I'm detecting massive energy surges from their position. I can't tell what they are doing there, yet, but you need to get over there and find out what is happening."
John frowned. "You don't know what they are doing?"
She shook her head. "Though the voucher has been accepted by the system, there hasn't been enough time for it to authenticate yet. I should have more information once it has been accepted, but I'll be honest, Chief, I'm not sure how long it's going to take."
The Spartan didn't like the idea of leaving Cortana alone in the Forerunner system; it reminded him of what happened during their trip to the first Halo ring. But, he knew that Cortana wouldn't send him to see what the Covenant were doing unless she thought it was necessary. He nodded. "All right. If there are any problems-"
"I'll let you know," she finished. "I did manage to get the grav lifts working again, so you won't have to climb seven flights."
He nodded his thanks and turned from the AI. She deactivated her avatar, causing the purplish hue of the room to fade away. As he stepped onto the gravlift, he opened a comm channel to Johnson. "Plans have changed. Get everyone ready to mobilize."
There was a long pause. "Everything alright?"
"We're going to figure out what the Covenant are doing."
"Good." He laughed. "We were starting to get bored up here."
John reached around and grabbed his assault rifle. By the time the lift reached the ground level, John was ready to fight. The group of Marines led by Johnson were giving covering fire as the Arbiter and several Separatist soldiers came into the building.
One of the grenadiers aimed and fired an RPG at a crippled Banshee. "Now that's how it's done!" Johnson crowed, slapping the Marine on the shoulder.
The sergeant noticed John and inclined his head in his direction. "You missed all of the fun, Chief."
John said nothing as he curtly nodded in the Arbiter's direction. As he led the group out of the structure, Cortana uploaded the Covenant location. They were just over four kilometers away. He glanced towards the southwest and saw a large building in the distance. "They're over there."
"Then it's time for us to get some wheels," Johnson proclaimed as they jogged to the Pelican. Four Warthogs were waiting for them. Johnson jumped into the driver's seat and waited for John, the Arbiter and another Marine - Private Masterson- to get into the vehicle before pressing the gas.
John heard the other Warthogs' engines following closely behind them. The ride across the barren structure was swift, courtesy of Johnson's lead foot. In less than five minutes, they had reached their destination.
The Spartan took the lead as the solders around him disembarked from the Warthogs. As he approached the building, he hesitated slightly. His sensors were detecting nearly twenty life signs in the building. They were outnumbered and, most likely, outgunned.
"Something wrong, Chief?" Johnson asked, matching John's stride.
It still managed to surprise John at how quickly Johnson learned to detect the emotions behind the helmet. A subtle shift in the Spartan's actions perked the sergeant's ability to know that something wasn't quite right.
"I'm detecting about two dozen hostiles in there."
Johnson let out a hearty laugh. "Damn, and here I thought this was going to be a difficult mission."
"We will be victorious. Whatever those vermin are doing...we will stop them," the Arbiter replied.
"Now that's the kind of positive thinking that we need," retorted Johnson. "Don't worry, Chief, this is going to be easier than the first day of basic training."
"Cortana," John said, opening a private channel, "Do you know what's going on in there?"
"Not as much as I would like," she replied. "I'm detecting about a dozen Brutes, a handful of Jackals and a couple of Grunts. But, there are a few other life signs that are very faint. I can't access their information yet. This system is more difficult to infiltrate that I thought. If I find anything else, I'll let you know."
"Understood," John said, taking a step towards the building.
"Be careful, John. There is something in there that has their interest and it's not the Key," Cortana warned.
Then what were the last of the Covenant hoping to find?
John nodded his head forward and gestured for three of the soldiers to stand guard at the front of the entrance. The rest of them followed the Spartan inside the giant building. As the doors slid apart, John carefully entered, looking for any proximity mines that the Covenant might have hidden in the corridor.
When he was confident that there was no threat, he led the men down the narrow, yet tall, passageways that were reminiscent of the Halo rings. Several minutes passed as they made their way to the location that Cortana had marked.
At the end of the hall, there was a pair of blast doors. Beyond those, the large group of Covenant were there. In an ideal situation, John would have asked Cortana for another route, but time was not on their side. They needed to learn what had the Covenant's interest.
With a determined step, he approached the doors which obligingly separated for him. Without hesitation, he threw in three plasma grenades into the room and ducked back behind the wall. He waited for them to detonate and then, along with the others, stormed the room.
There was a Brute, bloodied and furious, charging at him. He raised his rifle and unleashed a barrage of bullets. Despite hitting its mark, the Brute kept charging forward. John aimed slightly higher and shot three shots directly into his skull.
Seconds later, the Brute slumped forward, no longer a threat.
The Elites and Marines had their hands full with the surviving Covenant. John took a flanking position and picked off the Grunts before they could charge at his team with active plasma grenades in their hands. He watched as the Arbiter made quick work of two Brutes, stabbing them in the stomach with his ever-present plasma sword.
Whatever they were protecting, it was very important to the Brutes in front of them. He loaded a new clip and started shooting at the Covenant who were still alive. Suddenly, John noticed several dozen new targets at the far end of the room on his radar. He lifted his rifle and took aim.
"That's me. I finally managed to activate the security grid," Cortana's voice cut through the sounds of gunshots and grenades. "I thought you guys might like a little help."
John watched as the Sentinels started shooting at the remaining Covenant in the room. The Marines and Elites fell back as the Forerunner machines disposed of the remaining threat.
"Tell Cortana thank you," Johnson said from across the room with a cocky grin.
When the last Brute fell, John walked up to the large rectangular cubes that were standing in the middle of the room. Whatever it was, there was no question that this was what the Covenant were trying to protect.
As he looked up at the top of the unit, he froze.
Staring back at him, frozen in time, was Truth, the Prophet of the Covenant.
Chapter 15: Shock and Awe