Ten: Blue Team

You are not bound to loss and silence, for you are not bound to the circles of this world…

John rubbed his thumb over the edge of Cortana's empty chip, exposed from where it slotted into his helmet. It had been more than a year since she'd died aboard the Mantle's Approach in orbit above Erde-Tyrene – Earth – but the loss still hurt. He knew – they all knew – that this pain wasn't ever going to go away. Just like in the Parallel, a hundred thousand years down the line, something would make him remember her and bring the ache back, just as fiercely as it was today.

But during all the missions he'd taken in the interim between the New Phoenix Incident and now, there had been... whispers. "Flickrs," like from before, while Cortana was trapped on High Charity, and not just on the missions themselves. While he was eating in the mess hall, getting his armor put on - hell, even while he was sleeping or using the bathroom! And they were always the same, just Cortana saying his name, and databursts that matched her patterns, fragments of code.

John...

Another one. The hybrid shivered, shook the Flickr away, then sighed and put his helmet on. He retook physical control of the Pelican, tapped a key, then said, "Sierra 117 to Infinity, Blue Team has located Argent Moon. Signs of hostile activity, but she's still here."

"Copy that, 117," was the reply, "Eliminate all hostiles. Secure Argent Moon. You may deploy when ready."

"Affirmative, Infinity. One-one-seven out." He activated the transport's autopilot and defenses, then swung her around so her deployment bay faced the Argent Moon. Then he joined the rest of his team in the bay.

It was nice being back together.

"Here you go." Kelly passed him his somewhat signature assault rifle.

"Thanks, Kelly. Everyone ready?"

"Affirmative," Linda answered, and hit the switch to open the bay.

'Go go gadget scopes!'

[Settle down,] John said gently. As he stepped forward, Fred grabbed his arm. "You good?" he asked.

His concern was appreciated but not necessary. The Chief had fought while grieving before, with more debilitating "injuries" than this, and he could do so again. He had to. He nodded, and Fred released him. John could sense that he was reluctant, not willing to let this go, but the other S-II knew that this was neither the time nor the place.

They all stepped up to the edge of the deployment bay and activated their thrusters. "Blue Team," John said when they had the best angle they were going to get, "fall out."

The Spartans leaped from the Pelican and fired their thrusters to steer them around some asteroids blocking their way to the station. As they closed in, all four of them drew their weapons, though only John fired to break the viewport glass.

There were Storm Covenant Sangheili inside, of course. All of them drew their plasma swords and prepared to engage – but then the bay began to really depressurize. The Spartans were able to fire their thrusters again and activate their mag boots to hold them fast to the deck. The Sangheili weren't so lucky, and were dragged out into space before a barricade slammed up to seal off the breach. "Hull breach contained," said the station's automated system in an unusually cheerful voice, "Repressurization of affected areas completed."

"What do we know about Argent Moon?" Fred asked as they began their advance.

"ONI research station," Linda answered, "Went dark 19 months ago. Last week, Kig-Yar scavengers found it, and sold the find to Jul 'Mdama's people."

"We clear the Covenant and return this station to ONI."

"Fastest route to retrieval is to seize Central Control," Kelly reported, "Eliminate hostiles between here and then, then deactivate gravity and Life support systems."

"Ship data center is just ahead. We can pull down Argent Moon's schematics there."

The Chief slipped into the station's systems as they proceeded out onto an oversight platform to bypass a locked hatch. "Looks like they were designing a new stealth-class vessel." And a highly toxic bioweapon that escaped containment and killed off all the station personnel via internal liquefaction. Way to go.

"They lost years of expensive R&D with this station," said Kelly.

They moved down another hall and down a short ramp. This hatch opened at their approach and let them into a chamber where two Grunts were downloading data from the station. The Chief signaled Kelly, then both of them sprinted forward and assassinated the aliens.

Unbeknownst to the other Spartans, John began a download of his own, streaming all of the ship's data to the fleet, both for safekeeping and so they could begin synthesizing an antigen or some other cure for the bioweapon. It would be useful to have, in case ONI tried to pull something.

John...!

The super soldiers continued moving through the hatches and halls, killing all of the Elites, Jackals, and Grunts that stood in their way. At last, they reached the data center. "We've got a complete set of datasec keys for the station," said Linda as John aimed for the holo-display console, "We should be able to pull down Argent Moon's schematics and find a path to Central Control."

Fred analyzed the map the Chief pulled up, then said, "Should be a straight shot to Central Control through the assembly bay ahead." After a moment more, he added, "There're still Prowlers in the hangar bays. Nobody from ONI got out of here alive, did they?"

"No," Linda answered, short and to the point.

'I like her.'

[You got along well with her in the Parallel, Nep'Thalia. It's no surprise that it would be the same here.] Aloud, he said, "Let's go," and led the way into the next hall, where an elevator sat empty. Once they were all aboard, John started them down.

"Central Control's straight across this bay."

"Everything's ripped up," Linda commented.

"They must be stripping the experimental ship for parts," the other woman added.

"Scavengers," Fred grunted, "taking what supplies they can find. The Covenant's war against the Arbiter must not be going well."

"Jul 'Mdama is a lot of things," Linda agreed, "but he's no Prophet."

The Spartans descended to the lower level, smashed through a grating, and dropped even further to the deck below. The Covenant heard them coming and were waiting for them, and the four of them engaged the aliens, handily slaying the Grunts before moving on to the Jackals and Elites. Their bodies hit the decks in spades, a testament to the Spartan's efficiency and skill. The humans kept moving across the bay, dodging fire and leaping from platform to platform, taking out any aliens the got between them and their goal.

"So this station was just drifting?" Fred asked, "For two years?"

"Apparently," Linda answered.

"How's an asset that big go missing for that long?"

"Its location was not consistent with expected drift patterns."

"Meaning…?"

"Someone didn't want it to be found, and sent it in a direction no one would expect."

"There's a bioweapon out of containment on the station," John answered their unspoken question, "Though if the Covenant is anything to go by, it's now inert, or it hasn't had time to infect them yet. The station AI steered it away from known colonies before he shut down.

"Central Control is through those doors," They entered another hallway after clearing the last of the Storm Covenant. He led the way across the catwalk, only to jerk back when his predictive resonance picked up on the destructive arrival of the Hunter. The Spartan dodged back, bringing his weapon up to bear – but the Mgalekgolo got there first and slammed its massive shield down onto the catwalk. The metal just couldn't take that level of punishment. The walk and the pipes under it gave way, sending him plunging down through the mist below.

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John woke in a cave of dark, almost oily stone. He recognized the onset of one of his visions, but something was different about this one, something – real. It felt as if he was actually standing in the cave, rather than observing from the outside. His spines began trying to slide out under his armor, but he held them in.

…Chiiiieef…

The Commander turned to locate the voice that whispered through the air of the cave system – and beheld something he thought he'd never see again. He approached carefully and sank to one knee before reaching out to touch, but the glowing AI data chip vanished before he made contact. His shoulders sagged.

…John!…

He lifted his head, and saw a passage through the caves.

The Spartan-Gravemind emerged onto one end of a stone bridge under a bright white moon. The bridge appeared to reach across a bottomless and otherwise impassable gulf. He leaned over the edge, just a little, and watched a few pebbles disappear into the swirling mist below.

"Chief…!"

John looked up again, and saw Cortana appear on the other side of the bridge, limned by the moon. A frisson of relief went through him at the sight; this felt more real than any of his other visions, so surely she was alive somewhere?

She looked as if she was now an AI version of herself when he had given her flesh, but her form was flickering, fading in and out, like she was fighting to hold on to the connection. Her eyes were wide with desperation, and if he didn't know any better, the Chief would have said that she looked on the verge of tears. "John!" she cried, but her voice sounded distant, as if she was speaking from the other end of a long tunnel, rather than a short bridge. "The Domain is open! Meridian! The next one is on Meridian!"

"Cortana?!"

"John, I need you!" Her form flickered again and began to fade out completely.

The Chief dropped his rifle and leaped for her, but with a massive grinding groan and a rush of dust, something emerged from the chasm. Something massive, that shattered the bridge between them and threw him back to his side of the void, blocking his veri from sight.

Something he recognized, despite having seen one only once before.

He tried to push himself back to his feet, staggered, fell to one knee and braced himself against the stone –

-------------------------------------------

"Chief… what's wrong?"

The Spartan came out of the vision just as suddenly as he went in. He was back on the Argent Moon, but the sharpness of the disconnect left him confused, disoriented, unsure of his exact location.

He managed to get to his feet with Kelly's help, though it was another minute before he managed to reorder himself to think. "Meridian," was the first word out of his mouth.

"What?" Kelly asked.

"Meridian," he repeated, looking away from them and focusing on a single spot on the ground to help him order his thoughts. "I told you about Cortana, about the copies of her that escaped High Charity."

"Yeah. You've been seeing them again?"

"Yes. But this time it was really her." The instant he said the words, he sensed their skepticism.

"That's not possible," said Fred even as they resumed their advance through the station.

"You said she was gone," Linda added, sticking close behind him.

"I watched her die," John affirmed, then said, "We have a mission to focus on. We can talk about this later." He flipped on his armor's flashlight with a silent command before returning his attention to the other Spartans. "Frederic, get us back on course for Central Control."

"Bringing up schematics," the other man reported, "There's an elevator we can use, but access is four levels down."

"Mark a path," the Chief instructed, and led them all down into the station's service tunnels. They were filled with Grunts, but when they reached a service supply room, some stealth Sangheili joined them. They didn't cause much more trouble than their non-stealth fellows before the Spartans moved on.

"Chief," asked Kelly, "what did Cortana say to you?"

"Not enough," he answered, "something about 'the next one's on Meridian.'"

"Meridian's a backwater," Fred put in, "If she's active, what's she doing so far out on the frontier? And 'next one' what?"

Good question. [Thoughts?]

'No major installations, nothing really worth mentioning, aside from the Guardian that used to be active in-system, but she'd need help accessing that.'

[I don't think it's her that's doing the accessing.]

John wrinkled his nose behind his visor. He knew that the "Guardians" weren't big on guarding so much as they were on oppressing. Before the Librarian took up "oversight" of Erde-Tyrene after the Human-Forerunner War, there were thirty in the Sol System – THIRTY – and that was after the Builder Council had had the species devolved.

The Spartans continued through the service corridors. After John shot the suicide bomber Grunt he :saw: coming around the corner, the tunnel creaked alarmingly as something followed them along outside the walls. "Hunters," the Chief said when one slammed its shield against a fiberglass barrier, but the viewport didn't yield. "They're keeping pace with us."

The halls continued to rattle under the Mgalekgolo's blows as the humans sprinted ahead, then the thuds faded away for a time – right before they encountered more Kig-Yar and suicide Unggoy. The noises picked back up again as they continued down. In another service supply room, they encountered more Grunts and Jackals, this time led by a zealot with a plasma sword. John blocked his own motion tracker signature and knifed the Sangheili from behind while the other Spartans took care of the rest.

The banging of the Hunters resumed again as they passed Level Three and continued down toward Level Four. As a hatch slid open in front of them, Kelly said, "Covenant battle net just lit up."

John knew that, and he also knew why. "Covenant ships exiting Slipspace."

"We're outnumbered here, Chief. A few thousand to one."

The Commander agreed with Fred's assessment, but, "Surrendering Argent Moon is not an option."

"Neither is fighting half the Covenant in close quarters," Linda added.

"Then forget about reaching Central Control," said John, "The plan changes to asset denial. We scuttle the Argent Moon."

"Ship's engine core is near here," Fred reported, "Same plan as the Perpetual Devotion?"

"We overload the reactor and evac," he agreed, elaborating for Linda, who hadn't been there, "Ship explodes, destroying any ships nearby."

"The reactor is below the lab just ahead," Fred informed them, "We can use air ducts to travel between them. Marking the access panel."

John keyed in the code and moved onto an observation lift. As he did so, some transmissions came in over the Covenant bands. "There's chatter about Sali 'Nyon and Jul 'Mdama on Covenant comms," said Kelly, "The new arrivals say the former's dead, and the latter's defected to the UNSC."

"What?" Fred said for all of them, his head snapping around to stare at his sister-in-arms, "'Mdama defected?"

They reached the ground floor of the lab before Kelly could listen for more details. "Hunters…" John growled upon seeing the squirming of the Lekgolo that made up the larger beasts.

"They're strong but slow. We can use the lab equipment to keep above them and out of their reach," Fred advised.

"Agreed."

The closest Hunter slammed its gun and shield against the glass viewport even as the hatches to the lift slid open. "Weapons free," John ordered, and sprinted for the nearest lab deck, jumping and hauling himself up out of the way of an attack. He turned to fire back down at the Hunter near the lift, ducking to evade a fuel rod round to the face.

Kelly sprinted forward to be the rabbit, making the Mgalekgolo turn its back to the other Spartans so it could chase gave them the opportunity to fire at its exposed flesh, ultimately bringing it down before it could do any substantial damage to their sister. The other Hunter went berserk when its soul-twin died and charged her, though she was able to use her thrusters to launch herself out of the way in time. The Hunter's rage blinded it such that the Spartans were able to defeat it with the exact same plan as before.

The four of them moved on. "Schematics show a path to the reactor through here," said Fred as they arrived at a vent labeled "Override Junction." As they dropped down, he continued, "The reactor room is just ahead. We can light this fuse and bolt."

"No salvage for the Covenant," Linda affirmed.

"Right, let's go," Kelly agreed.

John slammed through another barricade, and briefly eavesdropped on a conversation between a pair of Jackals before jumping down to kill them. "Reactor controls are on the far side of the room. Eliminate the Covenant forces and get to those controls," he ordered, sprinting forward with Kelly to engage an Elite on a platform spanning one side of the room.

Despite not having any maintenance for more than a year and a half, the reactor was still running, still intact, and its shielding was still up to snuff, absorbing fire from the gunfight without so much as a crack, for which the Spartans were immensely grateful. They had all had missions go even more pear-shaped than their current one already was, so it was nice to have something going at least a little bit right for once.

The super soldiers swept through the Covenant line with the devastation that had earned them the name "Demons." "Area's clear," Kelly called at last, "Initiate the overload."

John keyed in the code, and a pulse of energy shook the room. "Reactor failsafe disarmed," the system informed them, "Failure immanent."

"Got it. Reactor's overloading. Move for the hangar bay-"

"Containment protocol initiated."

"Containment…?"

"The station's gonna try to cool the reactor," said Fred, following John as he made his way back toward the dangerous yet innocent-looking cylinder.

"I guess the UNSC has better reactor safety protocol than the Covenant," Kelly chuckled.

"They should, given how many times they've seen us destroy ships that way," John agreed, smiling, "but we can stop that. Board the reactor."

"Board the reactor?" Kelly repeated incredulously.

"If it's being moved, we should go with it." He leaped up on top of it, the other Spartans right behind him.

"Coolant chamber ready," said the automated system, "Stand clear of deployment bay."

"The safety systems are set to pump coolant to the reactor," said the other man as they began their descent.

"This whole plan fails if that coolant gets a chance to work," Linda tacked on.

It wouldn't. John was already infiltrating the system again and rerouting the coolant away, while making the automated system think it was moving into place.

"Shame to lose the Argent Moon," the other woman commented, "but I'd love to see the look on the Covenant's faces when she goes supernova."

"How do we stop it?"

Fred consulted the schematics, then answered, "There are sheds located on either side of the cooling chamber. Those are our targets."

"Reach the control sheds," John ordered, "Get the cooling system offline. Kelly, go. Linda, cover her. Fred and I will get in the air so we can be ready to kill the vents when the shades open."

"Roger that," the other Spartans chorused, and moved into position. Kelly leaped down from the reactor and landed on a catwalk to one of the sheds. Linda remained atop it, and rained fire down on the enemies in the other woman's path and those who attempted to slip in behind her. The fastest Spartan made good time, and quickly opened the shades.

"Warning," said the system, "Security shutters disengaged. Warning: coolant system shutters exposed to open space."

John and Fred reached a free pair of Banshees at almost the same time and launched into space, circling back around to begin bombarding the vents all around the bay. More Covenant reinforcements arrived in the form of Phantoms, but the Spartans' Banshees were faster and more agile than the transports, and they easily dodged fire while aiming for the cooling vents.

The system continued its alerts, unaware that the immanent coolant system failure was exactly what they wanted. When the last vent was destroyed, it advised they evacuate, which was one alert they were willing to listen to. Kelly attempted to call in the Pelican, but there was no signal from the autopilot; the Covenant must have shot it down.

"Frederic, find the nearest hangar bay," John ordered, already swinging his Banshee around, "We're taking a Prowler."

Fred activated a nav point, and they all aimed for it. "Prowler is just inside, through an airlock," the other man informed them, and John led the way to the hangar bay were it was docked. Of course, the bay was full of Covenant, forcing them to shoot and run while the system fueled the ship, the Winter Is Coming. They fought their way through Grunts, Jackals, Elites, and even another pair of Hunters before the fuel cells reached full capacity.

"Time, Linda?" John asked as he moved to a control panel after the last enemy fell.

"Eighty-nine seconds," she answered.

The Chief pushed an Unggoy off the panel and tapped the "launch" key. The platform lifted them toward the Prowler's own troop deployment bay. Explosions began rippling through the halls in other sections of the station.

John activated the comms. "Sierra 117 to Infinity. Argent Moon scuttled. I've reassigned Blue Team, destination Meridian. Potential contact from Cortana-"

"Negative, 117. Another team is already being prepped to deal with her."

I'm sorry, what was that?

Deal?

With?

Her?

Deal with her, how?

"What the hell?" Fred asked, successfully expressing the Chief's thoughts without his flurry of cursing.

"You're to return to Infinity immediately."

John didn't even need to think. "Negative, Infinity." He closed the connection. "I don't like it."

The Prowler's ramp lowered, and Kelly started up it, saying, "Whoever they are, let's get to Meridian before they do."

"Kelly, no," John started before Linda cut him off.

"No need to do this by yourself, Chief," she said, and followed the other woman into the ship. As she did so, more explosions rattled the station, blooms of fire appearing in the bay.

"They won't court-martial all of us, right?" Fred said, and patted his arm before jogging after the other two Spartans.

'AW YISS, you go guys! Welcome to the family!'

John sighed and boarded after them, pushing another button to close the boarding ramp. He pushed into the Prowler's systems and launched them away as quickly as possible, eager to escape the fiery doom of the Argent Moon. He did so just in time; they escaped the blast radius just in time, the detonation nipping at the ship's heels before dying back. The Commander triggered the Prowler's active camouflage, concealing their departure from the system and allowing them to slip right past the Infinity.

**********

Glossary

veri - wife