053 - Meeting Dr. Halsey once again

After Noble Team and the UNSC cleared out the building once again Noble Team met up with Dr. Halsey once again.

"Apologies for the unusual security measures, Commander, but the stakes demand it," Dr. Halsey states on the screen.

Looking at Halsey, Carter states, "Doctor Halsey. Casualty reports have you listed as-"

"Yes, well, as they say, news of my death has been greatly exaggerated. I only wish the same could be said of the rest of Noble Team," Halsey replied.

"We all do, ma'am," Carter replied with a frown.

"It may please you to learn the data module Noble Two procured from Visegrad station contained precisely what my scientist promised: a latchkey discovery. It has unlocked, at last, the secrets of this excavation," Halsey informed the team.

"Not sure I understand," Carter stated.

"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," Halsey ordered.

Carter then replied, "Doctor, our orders are to destroy all sensitive material-" before getting interrupted.

"Others will handle the demolition," Halsey interrupted.

"I'll need to confirm this new directive with Command-" Carter tried to reply before getting interrupted.

"Colonel Holland will be briefed. You belong to ONI now," Halsey stated before the video screen faded out leaving Noble Team in the room by themselves.

They soon boarded an elevator where Halsey appeared on a screen once again.

As the elevator descended they could see some kind of giant structure buried in the ice.

"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," Halsey informed them.

They looked up to see some large boulders falling from the ceiling.

"Whatever we're doin' down here, we better do it quickly," Emile told the team.

Upon hearing this Carter looked at Halsey and said, "Have your data ready, ma'am. We're coming to you."

"The decrypting data is still underway..." Halsey replied looking off-screen.

"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 told her with seriousness.

"Bury any of it, and you bury mankind's best chance for survival! Commander, you've been wondering what your Spartans died for? They died for this. Please. Buy me all the time you can," Halsey told Noble Team as the elevator door opened.

Once they left the elevator they began searching for Halsey's lab and once they found it they noticed Covenant phantoms landing a small distance away, dropping off troopers.

"Protect the lab!" Carter told Noble Team as he ducked behind cover, dodging a few plasma rounds.

As Noble Team fought off the Covenant I flew over to the Forerunner machine and began entering its database.

To my surprise, it was an ancient Forerunner ship that massive and disk-shaped, inside the ship I managed to find a holographic Forerunner data terminal that contained some minor data.

Its data only listed some common things like a Manifest, the ship's route, damage reports, and a map of non-classified Forerunner bases.

Once I copied all the data and the schematics of the ship I flew back to the Noble Team who was about to enter Halsey's Lab.

Stepping into the lab they walked through a corridor until they reached Halsey's Lab.

A large sphere-shaped Forerunner artifact hovers outside the lab's windows.

"What is this stuff?" Jun asked.

Dr. Halsey, still in the middle of preparing the package, moves to another monitor.

"Knowledge. A birthright from an ancient civilization. This AI is its custodian, and she has chosen you as her carriers," She replied.

"𝘊𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘯? By an AI?" Emile asked skeptically.

"By this AI, yes. Her measure of you carries as much weight as my own..." Halsey informed them.

Dr. Halsey then moved away from view, revealing Cortana on a holo-tank analyzing Forerunner data.

"...Perhaps more. You are to take her to the UNSC ship-breaking yards in Aszod. There, you will find a Halcyon-class light cruiser waiting to get her off-planet," Halsey informed Noble Team.

"Understood," Carter replied like a true soldier.

"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 nineteenth century, or faster-than-light travel in the twenty-third," Halsey asked.

"And if we can't?" Carter asked.

"An apt question if there were somewhere else to place our hope. There is not," Halsey replied.

Dr. Halsey looks at Cortana for one last time and shuts off her projection. Jun curiously looks around the lab as Dr. Halsey pulls out the data storage unit. Dr. Halsey, holding the unit with both hands, hands it over to Noble Six.

"Take it, Lieutenant... She has made her choice," Halsey told Noble Six.

Six looks at Carter, who nods in response, and places his hands over the package.

"Do you have it?" Halsey asked.

"Yes," Six replied.

"Say the words, please," Halsey told Six.

"I have it," Six replied seriously.

Dr. Halsey lets go of the unit and Six looks at her.

Then Noble Team had Noble Three, Jun, escort Halsey out of here leaving only three of Noble Team left to escort the package to the Halcyon-class light cruiser on the planet.

All that was left was Carter, Emile, and Noble Six to make the journey and deliver the package.