Eleven: Cairo Station

Their return home was extremely uneventful, but only in the sense that Epheria extended the time so that they could search for tracking devices and kill or capture all of the Covenant still onboard. Once both of these things were completed, they dropped out of Slipspace at the edge of the Sol System and immediately transmitted a message to the nearest human outpost with a request for an audience. After proving that they were in fact human and that they had in fact performed an exhaustive search of their Covenant ship, scientists and ONI spooks were all over their ship, and the crew themselves were hauled off for an almost insanely long debriefing. It was during that debriefing that ONI learned of the Gravemind and its words, and they were questioned extensively on it.

However, only Halsey realized enough to put the pieces together.

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"Who as he looking at when he spoke?"

"It was hard to tell with that active camo of his, but I think he was looking at Yellow Team."

Later, inside her office, Halsey pondered the words of the Gravemind. 'A "her" that has sins… probably to do with the Spartans. But the only one who qualifies for that is me.' Her eyes widened. '"I am a monument to all her sins." And if the 'her' is me, and the Spartans are monuments to my sins… does that mean that he is a Spartan? But all of them are accounted for!' The next thing she knew, the door to Epheria's holding chamber had opened up in front of her, and she stepped inside, the goddess turning to look at her.

"Well? You need something?"

"The Gravemind… he's a Spartan, isn't he?"

Epheria blinked in shock. "Wow. I wasn't expecting someone to figure that out so quickly. Yes, he is."

"How is that possible?"

"He came here from an alternate universe, and that's all I'm going to tell you."

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Upon learning that the Covenant knew the location of Earth and being presented with the data that confirmed the claim, the Spartans were required to remain on Earth in its defense.

More specifically, they were dispatched to New Mombasa, which was where the exact spacial coordinates would have brought the Covenant.

Epheria, too, was questioned by ONI once they learned about her, and when they asked to study her, she said, "Yes, you can, but only so long as I get out when the next wave pops up. I've had more fun gallivanting around the universe with the Spartans for the past week than in the last hundred thousand years, and if you think that you're going to be able to keep me in a box, you've got another thing coming."

And that was that.

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"The plating was about to fail, there's viscosity throughout the gel layer." The master gunnery sergeant picked up a piece of machinery from the Spartan's old armor. "Optics – totally fried. And let's not even talk about the power supply. Do you know how expensive this gear is, son?"

Fred picked up his brand new helmet and put it on, the airtight seal hissing closed. "Tell that to the Covenant."

The sergeant sighed. "Well, I guess it was all obsolete any way. You're new suit's a Mark VI, just came up from Songam this morning. Try and take it easy until you get used to the upgrades." He ran the Spartan through targeting and shield testing and was just about to proceed to weapons testing when Sergeant Johnson arrived via the lift. Linda, Sam, and Kelly remained on the elevator, but the redhead lifted her hand to give the fourth Spartan an informal salute. The two sergeants exchanged some witty banter before Johnson asked, "Are you done with my boy here, Master Guns? I don't see any training wheels…"

"His armor's workin' fine, Johnson, so shut your chili hole." To the Senior Chief, "You're free to go, son, but just remember to take things slow."

"Don't worry, I'll hold his hand."

With a sudden "va–WOOP!" noise, Epheria appeared on a nearby console and assumed a dramatic pose. "I'm here! Did I miss anything?"

"No." Fred sighed and shook his head; for a goddess, she was certainly not what any of them expected. He scooped her up and followed Johnson back to the lift, where he swiped a Spartan smile at the other three. They returned the gesture.

"So, Johnson, when are you gonna tell me how you made it back home in one piece?"

"Sorry, Guns, it's classified."

"Huh, my ass! Well, you can forget about those adjustments to your A-2…"

The elevator's ascent cut off the other sergeant's words, and Johnson grunted, "Well he's in a particularly fine mood. Maybe Lord Hood didn't give him any 'attention.'"

The elevator halted its ascent and disgorged its passengers onto a transportation station, where a monorail waited to continue them on their short journey to Lord Hood. Beyond the platform and through the windows, the four Spartans could see another handful of orbital defense platforms and the ships moving between the surface and the moon bases somewhere above. The whole planet was awash with light and color, splashes of tan in the midst of all the green, ripples of turquoise in the deep blue seas. "Earth," Johnson said, "Haven't seen it in years."

Epheria didn't pay attention to the sergeant's little shpeal on the orbital defense grid, instead focusing on the planet below. It had changed so much since she had seen it last, more than a hundred and ten thousand years ago now, and the Forerunner descendants on it were no longer primitive cavemen without fire or tools. They had grown and learned swiftly, just as their ancestors had in the wake of the Precursor Empire's collapse, and their unintentional exile had helped them to spread without fear.

"…nothing's getting past this battle cluster in one piece."

'Famous last words,' Epheria thought to herself, 'Considering the fact that the Athens and the Malta are going to get blown up.'

"Ships have been arriving all morning," Johnson said as the monorail began to slow, "Nobody's saying much, but I bet something big's about to happen."

The transport halted at a bridge, where some Marines waited for them, cheering, and two naval officers guarded the blast door on the far side. The group stepped out, and Linda growled at Johnson, "You told us there wouldn't be any cameras."

"And you told me you were gonna wear somethin' nice," he shot right back, "Folks need heroes, gang, to give 'em hope. So smile, would ya, while we still got somethin' to smile about." He self-consciously adjusted his hat before the doors hissed open to admit them. They strode smartly over to where Lord Hood was waiting for them and gave crisp salutes, which the Admiral returned.

"Gentlemen, ladies, we're lucky to have you back." Another officer in white stepped over to whisper in his ear, and Lord Hood looked over at the holopanel eight feet away. "Go ahead, Cortana."

The holopanel's top brightened, letting the artificial intelligence's brilliant crimson avatar appear on top of it. "Another whisper, sir, near Io. We have probes en-route." She seemed to be in an good mood, had been since their time on the Halo.

Hood nodded, then spoke to the humans. "I apologize, but we're going to have to make this quick."

Cortana turned her gaze to the Spartans and Johnson, cocked her head slightly, and only Epheria saw the mischief in her eyes. "You look nice," she told them.

"Thanks," the Spartans said. At the same time, Johnson said, "Thank you," and that made them turn to glare at one another. The construct started snickering but kept it quiet while Lord Hood presented Johnson with the Colonial Cross, keeping an eye on the Covenant ships that Regret was commanding.

"Rear Admiral Jacob Keyes, your actions were in keeping with the highest traditions of military service. Your bravery in the face of impossible odds reflects great credit upon yourself and the UNSC." Lord Hood pinned the medal on Keyes' uniform – just before Cortana sounded the alarm. Both she and Epheria had picked up the ships' exit from Slipspace.

"Slipspace rupture directly off our battle cluster," Cortana said calmly as if she had done this a million times before. She brought up the images at Lord Hood's request. "Fifteen Covenant capital ships holding position just outside the kill zone." She flipped on the radio so that they could hear the incoming message.

"This is Fleet Admiral Harper, we are engaging the enemy."

"Negative, Admiral," Hood said firmly, "Form a defensive perimeter around the cluster." To the two Keyes, "Admiral, Commander, get to your ships, link up with the fleet." They acknowledged the order and moved off to do so as Hood turned to the construct. "You have the MAC gun, Cortana. As soon as they come in range, open up."

"Gladly." Her hologram shimmered and vanished.

"Something's not right," Hood said quietly, so that only Johnson and the Spartans could hear, "The fleet that destroyed Reach was fifty times this size."

One of the other officers hailed for attention. "Sir, additional contacts; boarding craft, and lots of 'em!"

It clicked. "They're going to try and take our MAC guns offline, give their capital ships a straight shot at Earth." He turned away from the screen. "Spartans, defend this station."

"Yes, sir." To Johnson, "We need weapons."

"Right this way." They followed Johnson down a flight of stairs and grabbed sub-machine guns and battle rifles from wall brackets, swiftly loading them as they moved through a short hall to a monitoring room. "How's it going, Malta?"

"Stand by… They're latched! Check your targets and watch for cross-fire. They're in standard formation, little bastards in front, big ones in back. Good luck, Cairo."

Through one of the windows facing away from the MAC gun, they saw the boarding craft zoom in close and "dock" with the station, and the term was used very loosely; they simply drilled a hole in the hull and sealed their ship around it. The platform shuddered as they did so, and Johnson growled, "Field of fire on that bulkhead." The Spartans took cover behind portable barricades set up especially for them and leveled their weapons at the blast door, and they could see the unmistakable glow of a cutting torch coming through.

Fifteen seconds later, a small eternity for the Spartans, the blast door exploded outward, peppering the humans with shrapnel. Unggoy swarmed out of the opening, firing their plasma pistols, and their leaders were right behind them. The three-round bursts fired by the Spartans' battle rifles and longer streams of bullets from the sub-machine guns were sufficient to take down the attackers and the two Elites who jumped down from above.

After making sure that every corpse was just that, the team continued on, rounding the corner and coming upon the rest of the boarding party. Two well placed grenades killed the Grunts and drove the Elites from cover, enabling them to get pumped full of lead by both the super soldiers and a pair of humans with a machine gun turret concealed below a stairwell. The Spartans headed up and through a set of doors to a research station. There were two turrets, one mounted in either "window," and a pair of the Spartans manned them while the other two dropped to the floor of one of the Cairo's habitats. They took cover behind the raised plant beds and fired on the especially brave (or stupid) Elites holding the midway point in the habitat. The bodies dropped, and the two below split up to kill the Grunts hiding in the recessed pathways, the turrets providing cover fire. When the area was clear, the Spartans and a handful of formally-dressed naval personnel proceeded up another set of stairs into a Pelican bay, where a handful of Marines were holding position against a Covenant boarding party.

There were grenades on the floor; Kelly scooped one up, ignited it, and hurled it across the room; it stuck to the helmet of one of the Elites and exploded, killing the alien and the clutch of Grunts surrounding it. Sam shot the remaining Unggoy and moved over with the others to join the Marines in staving off more assaults. Three waves later, one of the Marines noticed something beyond the Cairo: "Hey! The Malta's already driven off its boarders!" Indeed, when they looked toward the platform, they could see boarding parties racing away from the station like the Devil himself was after them.

Almost immediately, Cortana came over the COM; "Malta, what's your status, over."

"I don't believe it! They're retreating; we won!"

And then explosions began rippling the length of the orbital platform right before it detonated from within. The Spartans couldn't help but be thankful that none of their brothers and sisters had been on the orbital defense gun.

"This is bad," one of the Marines called, "Real bad."

The shockwave of the explosion reached them then, made the Cairo shudder beneath their feet as they moved to kill the Covenant that had just entered the Pelican bay, and the Marines high-tailed it after the Spartans. In the next bay, the Covenant had set up some plasma turrets on an upper level, and Linda, ever the expert, dropped to one knee so she could take out the Grunts manning them with two three-round bursts from her battle rifle. There was another boarding craft in this room, too, and the Spartans took to chucking grenades just below the opening when troops came tumbling out, saving them some ammo.

"Uh-oh. Hey, they're leaving the Athens." And then that platform exploded, too, the shockwave shaking the Cairo seconds later.

"Cortana! Assessment!" Lord Hood barked over the COM.

"That explosion came from inside the Athens, same as the Malta. The Covenant must have brought something with them: a bomb."

"Someone set us up the bomb!" said Epheria.

Amidst Cortana's laughter, Lord Hood said, "Then they sure as hell brought one here. Spartans, find it."

The foursome flashed an acknowledgement at them and split up to move below, slaying the Covenant that had taken up residence there before heading up the opposite stairs. Through a grating they could see that they were back in Master Guns' armory, and they heard him growl, "Get the hell out of my armory, split-lip!" right before he was gunned down by plasma fire. They used the cover provided by the recessed stairwell to pump the two Elites full of lead before taking their positions by the blast door as a clutch of Grunts advanced on their position. They were much easier to kill than their leader, who kept ducking behind the plant beds until Kelly slipped around and snapped his neck from behind. Once again, Linda claimed the lives of the Unggoy manning the plasma turrets set up farther in, and they advanced through the habitat, up another set of stairs, through the research facility beyond, and down yet another set of stairs, gunning down anything that got in their way.

They arrived in a long hall with cargo modules being used as over by Commander Keyes, Sergeant Johnson, and a handful of naval personnel with them. By way of an explanation, Miranda said, "I was almost onboard when they showed up."

"Don't worry, ma'am; we're on it," Johnson replied as he moved forward with the Spartans, and they took aim at different targets, firing in almost perfect synch. The bodies toppled, and they moved up again, gunning for the fresh troops that had turned a corner and entered their field of fire.

"Thanks, Spartans. I owe you one," Miranda called after them, and Fred waved her off as they moved out of view. They went out the way the second wave came in, and the door sealed behind them, air hissing out as the room depressurized before the airlock in front of them unsealed, revealing a pair of surprised Elites. Kelly lunged forward, managed to snap one's neck before they could react, and the second activated his jetpack, getting himself as far away from the Spartans as he could and still have them in range of fire. Of course, that meant that he was in range of their weapons, too; despite the pull of Earth's gravity, there was no air resistance to slow the bullets Linda pumped into its body, and it crashed to the deck. They moved one and found a third hovering above them but ignored him, racing easily across the decks despite the minimal gravity and ducking through another airlock with a few parting shots.

Lord Hood ordered them to get rid of the bomb in the fire control center, so they would. There was an elevator in the next room that would take them to another elevator to the fire control center, and they joined the Marines covering the top level. Their SMG's proved to be very effective against the drones that swarmed up from below, firing on them with plasma pistols, and a moment later, Cortana called, "I'm going loud!" Beyond the glass, they saw the MAC gun's parts shift into position and begin launching the gun's massive slugs at the carriers somewhere above them.

The lift coming up from below ground to a halt level with them, the Covenant in control. Sam threw a grenade with uncanny accuracy, impacting on a central alien's midsection and blowing a good half of them to bits. The remaining were Grunts, and they had clearly lost courage with the death of their leader, making it easy to gun them down.

Once again, they headed through an airlock and encountered Elites with jetpacks, but they had a plasma turret with them; Fred, Kelly, and Sam advanced to give Linda cover so she could take out the alien manning the turret. They encountered no more resistance on their way to the supply lift, but it was a tight fit for all of them to get packed into the small space. Cortana chuckled at their expense, then said, "Just so you know, there are quite a few Elites guarding the bomb. You may need to get creative."

"Quite a few" turned out being not as many as they expected, and Sam and Kelly ducked across to the other side of the MAC loader platform to give the Spartans the advantage of cornering their opponent. Though the needlers one of the Majors carried was hell on the humans' shields, they were able to take him out first, then chase down all of the Minors that he had with him. Cortana appeared over the holopanel next to the bomb and said, "Me inside your head, NOW."

Fred laid a hand across the panel, enabling her to sort herself into his armor through the holoscan on his palm, before he moved over and did the same to the bomb, which was whistling with a slowly increasing intensity. Half a second passed, then it beeped benignly and stopped, assuming an inactive state. "How much time was left?" he asked her.

"You don't want to know."

"Cairo, this is In Amber Clad. The carrier's shield is down. I'm in position and ready for immediate assault." It was Miranda Keyes; she'd made it to her ship unharmed.

"Negative, Commander; not against a ship that size. Not on your own," Lord Hood told her.

"Sir," Fred interjected, "Permission to leave the station."

"For what purpose, Senior Chief."

"To give the Covenant back their bomb."

"Permission granted."

The other Spartans helped Fred haul the immense explosive device back to the lift and assured him that they would catch a Pelican, join him down at the surface as soon as possible. The door slid closed between them, and Spartan and bomb began to descend to the lowest level of airlocks. "I know what you're thinking," Cortana said to him, "and it's crazy."

"So stay here."

"Unfortunately for us both, I like crazy." She dropped her voice and muttered something that sounded suspiciously like, "But I like crazy all the more when I'm with him." Fred ignored her comment in favor of hauling the bomb out of the lift when the door slid open, and he moved over to the airlock door to see how the battle was going and all potential targets. A Seraph raced by, chased by two Longswords as Cortana pulled up a nav point on his HUD, and he nodded in consensus before sprinting back to the airlock controls, determined not to let this opportunity slip through his fingers. "Just one question," the construct said as her prepared to pull the handle, "What if you miss?"

"I won't," he said bluntly, then opened the airlock. He instantly felt the fierce tugging of the escaping atmosphere and grabbed onto one of the bomb's spikes as it went sliding past, out into the abyss of space. He'd timed it perfectly; the carrier was directly below him as he fell, and a UNSC ship glided precariously close before it was crippled by the carrier's plasma weapons. A pair of Longswords dropped in as an advance escort while the UNSC ship futilely fired its engines; the two fighters unleashed a small hail of carpet bombs on part of the carrier to open it up for the Spartan before swooping away to continue their work elsewhere. He carefully "climbed" his way up the bomb and laid his hand over the input, letting Cortana restart the countdown before he shifted position and pushed off of the explosive, using the forward momentum to make it out through the hole the Longswords blew in the carrier.

The Covenant warship exploded in plumes of silver-white as he dropped toward Earth.

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There was a heavy clang of metal on metal somewhere overhead, making both Johnson and Miranda look up. "For a brick, he flew pretty good," the former commented, bringing an amused smile to the latter's lips.

"Chief, get inside, gear up. We're taking this fight to the surface."

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It's the fear

Fear of the darkness

Growing inside of me,

That one day will come to life.

(Have to save)

To save my beloved,

There is no escape,

Because my fate is horror and doom.

-"It's the Fear," Within Temptation (The Silent Force)