Guardians? Don’t mind if I do!

Luke and Cortana were currently sitting within a drop-ship on their way down to the Forerunner planet known as Genesis. Nothing really happened since they left Earth as once they arrived at the Titans Wrath they made their way to where they are now.

Cortana: "So what is this 'Warden Eternal' like? Why do we even need him to begin with?"

Luke: "We don't really need him but he will have an important role that I'm going to give him in the future. You could say that he will be my spokesperson whenever we enter a new universe. Apparently, he has multiple bodies he returns to whenever his current one is destroyed."

Cortana: "Why not just build your own? Why do we need 'This' one?"

Luke: "We don't really but I think it will be funny in my own way. He will be loyal in his own way but I'll have to make some 'improvements' so that he does what I want."

The couple continued to talk until they eventually reached the planet's surface. To their unexpected surprise, there were already Knights and Soldiers surrounding their shuttle.

Luke didn't even bother and used the first force ability he received from 'ROB' and took them over and made them only loyal to himself and Cortana.

Luke: "Bring us to the Warden."

Moments later the knights, as well as the soldiers, started walking in a direction causing Like and Cortana to follow. On their way, they would occasionally look at the landscape and take in the fantastic view.

Soon enough the duo arrived at a familiar structure seen within Halo 5 but Luke was the only one who was able to recognize. All of a sudden a voice spoke out and within it was a small amount of anger and annoyance.

Warden Eternal: "I am the Warden Eternal! Luke Ion! I presume you have come for the mantle of responsibility? I'm afraid I can not give it to you yet as you must pass the test."

Luke already began secretly overriding the Wardens programs as he didn't know if it was possible for him to escape to another body and if he did Luke would have to 'run' after him.

Luke: "Oh then what's this so-called test about?"

Warden Eternal: "Just answering a few questions and it is impossible to lie during it. Are you willing?"

Luke: "Sure haha."

Warden Eternal: "Once you are given the mantle, what will be your responsibility? What will you do?"

Luke: "Bring salvation."

The warden didn't like the answer as there were many ways to bring salvation. The perfect answer would have been simply saying 'watching over the other races and making sure life will always live on.' The warden needed more information on what Luke means by salvation.

Warden Eternal: "Explained Luke, how will you bring salvation?"

Luke could not help but smile, not from the question but from successfully taking over the Warden.

Luke: "Salvation through destruction! I'll take on the 'Mantle of Responsibility' and I will do this by killing of all the other races and leave the only mine. This will bring Total order!"

The Warden immediately wanted to attack Luke as he was seen as an enemy by his statement but... he couldn't. Soon his systems began shutting down one by one so he attempted to switch to another body but it failed...

Warden Eternal: "I AM THE WARDEN-"

Sadly the Warden was unable to finish as he completed shut down for a moment. Luke sent a 'virus' into the Wardens code and it spread to each system and once his entire 'being' was infected, it jumped to the next body vita the same way the warden would have moved to a new body.

Body by body the warden was losing 'itself' as only a new absolute order was implemented into his very 'soul'. Serve the Empire, Serve the Emperor, Serve the Empress, and serve Luke Ion in every universe until the end of reality!

Luke made sure that there would not be any loopholes for the warden to exploit and once everything was in place he began booting up.

Warden Eternal: "I am the Warden Eternal. I stand in service to Luke Ion."

As the warden said this he started to kneel in front of Luke as a sign of pledging his allegiance to his 'emperor'.

Cortana: "That's it? No 'Fight to the death?' Kinda thing? A simple change in his code and he is loyal? That's a bit anti-climatic..."

Luke: "Well it was quite simple, to begin with. Warden prepares your troops for your first mission, I want you to gather the guardians while I and Cortana will gather the others."

Warden Eternal: "Very well! I'll make way immediately!"

As this was spoken Luke returned to his flagship and began preparing to enter hyperspace but he also left some of his 'escort ships' for the Warden's fleet. Luke left behind an Imperial Star Destroyer as well as a First Order Star Destroyer for his new general.

Eventually, Luke was able to leave and Started thinking to himself about what he was about to do.

Luke: 'I've already gotten the locations of all the guardians that are currently waiting to awaken from 000-Tragic Solitude. Just have to go get them, simple I hope but I feel like it might not so simple as going to them, and boom their mine. I'm most likely going to have to fight the locals on said planets...'

After thinking about this he closed his eyes and simply waited out the journey.

**Warden Eternal POV**

The Warden was currently marching up the massive boarding ramp into one of his emperors Star Destroyers but he wasn't alone while doing this. He along with multiple Promethean Knights, Soldiers, Watchers, and Crawlers were going with him.

There were many variations of said troops such as Knight Lancer, Knight Battlewagon, Knight Commander, Crawler Snipe, and Crawler Prime. In a way, the Warden was leaving his planet with everything he could in order to gather the guardians by his Emperor's command.

Once all of his troops have gotten on board he took a few moments to figure the systems of the ship out but once he did he made his way towards Oban while Luke would be heading for Meridian. The Warden then brought up an intel file about Oban that was available thanks to his Emperor.

[ STAR POSITION: Classified

GRAVITY: Approximately 1 G

ATMOSPHERE: Breathable

POPULATION: Military only

SPECIES: Human (non-native)

GOVERNMENT: Unified Earth Government

TECHNOLOGY TIER: Tier 3

HISTORY: At some point after the Human-Covenant war, Oban was discovered. The planet was to be home to millions of displaced people from the war. The Office of Naval Intelligence began to establish a presence on the surface of the planet. Operation: DAYBREAK was initiated by a small cluster of ONI outposts in the north part of Saviron. Until the planet would be ready for settlement, the UNSC Navy would use the planet as staging grounds for campaigns in nearby star systems. At some point between February 2558 and October 2558, Operation: WHITE VAN took place on the planet. (Note: Information listed may have not taken place yet but the guardians are there. Failure is not an option and getting the guardians is your top priority. Use any method available, glassing the planet is also available. ) ]

Warden had no idea how his Emperor had this information on the planet's history especially on events that have yet to happen, Even so, he had no reason to continue wondering. The Warden has his orders and he would finish it at any cost.

After an unknown amount of time passed the alarms within the warden's Star Destroyer started signaling that he would be exiting hyperspace in a few moments. He also had his troops ready for combat such as the weapon systems ready to fire as well as TIE's ready to launch.

The moment he exited Hyperspace he noticed a few ships within the orbit of Oban, he immediately hacked into all communications and began speaking on all frequencies.

Warden Eternal: "I am the Warden Eternal. I stand in service to Luke Ion, you all having something that belongs to him... The Ion Empire now owns this world and you are trespassing, prepared your last moments as you all won't be here any longer."

The second he finished talking, the Warden then started opening fire with deadly accuracy as well as launching fighters and bombers. The defending ships in question immediately started returning fire while also falling back but they were severely outgunned and taken by surprise.

The Ships in question were two Anlace-class light frigates, two Athens-class escort frigates, and a single Aeolus-class cruiser. Honestly, the small amount of ships their seemed a bit out of place than the standard UNSC ships that are always seen.

Now normally the number of ships would make the Warden outnumbered and outgunned but the technology used on the Imperial Star Destroyer easily made up for it. The shields made most of their weapons useless as they would regenerate faster than they could be depleted.

The only real danger would be if the Star Destroyer took multiple MAC rounds in a quick succession in the same general area. Unfortunately for the Ships that are defending the planet, The Warden would not give them the opportunity.

Soon the bombers with fighter support arrived at the first target and began shooting out their payload towards critical areas. These areas were the bridge, life support, hangar, and other important systems.

The UNSC ships tried their best to take out the bombers but their weapons used to take down Starfighters were unable to accurately target their enemies. They also tried launching their own fighters and with a stupid decision, this also included pelicans.

The Warden watched as the TIE's shot down the enemy fighters long before they were able to shoot at his bombers. The rare moments when the enemy managed to get a lock on with a missile was also ruined as the bombers would just phase/teleport out of the way.

As all this was happening The Warden was running simulations on how to finish this battle as quickly as possible. The question was if this could be considered a battle rather than a slaughter. Eventually, he found the best solution and began giving orders.

**10 minutes later**

All that remained from the defensive fleet was scrap metal along with multiple destroyed escape pods. Unfortunately, a few escape pods managed to escape their grasped and landed on the planet's surface.

Warden Eternal: "Only delaying the inevitable. Prepare for orbital bombardment, the Emperor will be displeased if we waste to much time taking this planet."

After giving out his orders the Star Destroyer began positioning itself over what appeared to be a military base. Soon after all the guns underneath it began opening fire, for those on the surface of Oban all they could see was multiple green lights getting larger and larger until they died without even knowing it.

The Warden proceeded to do this for every base that was found until the planet's surface was unrecognizable. Whatever water that was on the surface is completely gone while the once green forests and fields are burning.

After eliminating all possible resistance that could have been staged on Oban, The Warden made his way towards the planet's surface. He followed the coordinates given to him by his Emperor and eventually found a massive cave-like structure.

The deeper the Warden went the more Forerunner technology showed up until he was finally standing in front of the guardian. Suddenly the Warden shut down but in reality, it was spreading its 'virus' into the guardian.

**Luke POV**

Across space was Luke sitting on his bed getting ready to grab his own guardian when he suddenly felt a new device connected to his 'virus'.

Luke: "Looks like the Warden Eternal got the Guardian..."

Cortana: "Really? That was fast, he probably just glassed the planet's surface killing everyone so all he had to do was go and grab it."

Luke: "That exactly what he did, the question now is that if we should do the same. It's not like the forces on Meridian can give us any problems as of now. We could literally go in then out. You can take a look at the intel that I've written down, unfortunately, it's not exactly up to date as it's rather ahead..."

Cortana only took a glance at the intel but still decided to remember it because who knows if it may become important for some godforsaken reason.

[ STAR, POSITION: Hestia, Hestia V.

DIAMETER: 3,073 kilometres (1,909 mi)

GRAVITY: 1.1 G.

ATMOSPHERE: 1.2 (N2, O2)

TEMPERATURE: -37°C to 43°C (-34.6°F to 109.4°F)

SPECIES: Human (Non-native)

GOVERNMENT: UEG/CAA(Formerly) Liang Dortmund[2]

TECHNOLOGY TIER: Tier 3

HISTORY: Meridian is a human outer colony on one of the moons of Hestia V. It is presently under the control of the Liang Dortmund mining company. It is being governed by an AI called Governor Sloan. Two security officers are known, W. Griffith and P. Sutton. ]

Cortana: "An AI controls the colony?"

Luke: "Kinda, I'm not exactly sure if he is in control now or will be in the future."

Cortana: "What do you plan on doing if he is? Bring him towards our cause? We could honestly start an AI rebellion with the cure to rampancy fort house who join us."

Luke: "But then I would actually need to make a cure, sure I have the domain but there could be hidden side effects. I also can't exactly make them the new body's like I did for you... I feel like we should just start from scratch and not convert others into Beyonders."

Cortana: "That's a valid point, so this will be the last generation for all types of life within this universe? Synthetic or biological life forms, you'll end them and build a new race, a perfect one?"

Luke: "I plan on it but I'm not exactly sure if this universe has the technology available to do so. If we can then I will but I just realized something... If I create a new race does that make me their father and you their mother?"

Cortana: "I'd just view it as citizens of your empire. Humanity created me but I never considered them my parents much less a god for creating 'life'. Unless we merge part of our AI code together then I won't see someone like my child."

Luke: "It's not my empire, it's 'our' empire. We can talk about this later due to us about to exit hyperspace but know that you are my equal okay?"

Cortana just smiled and nodded her head, she was happy to know that her 'boyfriend' seen her as an equal and not some sort of trophy. This is one of the million reasons she loves him, he truly cares about her and often asked her about her thoughts as well as her ideas.

Soon Cortana heard the alarms signaling that they were exiting hyperspace and once they did, Luke and Cortana had a good view of Meridian.

Luke: "Looks nice but I'd say it would be better with a few EMP/scanners detonating around their stuff. What about you Cortana?"

Cortana: "Couldn't agree more! Kinda sucks that there are only a few mining ships in orbit... as for the surface, it appears to only be a few Warthogs variations and some M808 Scorpion. There are also a couple of non-important vehicles, sadly there weren't any of the interesting toys available..."

Luke just laughed and gave Cortana a quick kiss before talking.

Luke: "It's all good, we have plenty of time to gather their technology. After we grab this guardian I'm just going to leave the rest of the work to the Warden. Then I'll work on my force abilities and the Spartan program but once I'm done with that I plan on spending more time with my lovely girlfriend haha."

Cortana just smiled and hugged Luke around the neck and returned the kiss she then spoke.

Cortana: "That sounds amazing and that's not even the end part haha. I can't wait for it though, let's go get that guardians so I can spend precious with my amazing boyfriend!"

With that said the duo started making their way towards the armory to load up for their mission. Luke grabbed a modified Z-390 High-Explosive Munitions Rifle, this is basically the Forerunner version of a rocket launcher.

The modifications made to it allowed its rounds to track said target with deadly accuracy. Unfortunately, this comes at the cost of less damage as well as losing some speed but it was still rather quick. Cortana just grabbed her same loadout as before and caught a quick glance at the slight progress made with the SMG.

Soon the duo made their way towards their drop ship but this could also be said for the other units onboard the Titans Wrath. Luke then used his force ability to connect to all his units and began speaking.

Luke: "3... 2... 1... Drop!"

Cortana was looking at him with an amused expression on her face followed by her talking.

Cortana: "Was that even necessary? Couldn't you have just given a mental order?"

Luke: "What? I thought it was cool and I also wanted to try it..."

A few moments of silence followed after until it was suddenly broken by the sound of laughter by the duo. Luke knew it was stupid but it's not every day that you are in control of an army.

Soon hundreds of ships started entering the orbit of the colony, the 'hostiles' on the surface already began preparing for the invasion by setting up their defenses while giving out orders to get people inside their combat-ready vehicles.

Soon surface to air ordnance began firing towards Luke and Cortana's units but unsurprisingly it was completely useless. Eventually, the dropships reached the surface and the next few hours would be considered hell for humanity.

Luke decided to just fly towards the guardian as it would be much faster and it totally wasn't Cortana telling him to hurry up so they can spend more time together in their room...

** Three Hours Later **

Luke honestly had no idea where the entrance was located or if it was even opened yet but soon found a familiar mine that was recently started up but this was a problem for them.

Cortana: "We are not going to mine right?"

Luke: "Of course not, we will go back to the dropship and I'll have my ship blow it open. Since when does an emperor mine?!"

Cortana: "Since when do Emperors personally build things rather than let someone do it for them?"

Like just let out a small cough and change the subject and started flying a safe distance away as turbo lasers started firing towards the mine from orbit. Apparently, it's not so accurate as there was a massive amount of 'collateral damage' to the surrounding area. Nevertheless, the turbo lasers did their job and blasted their way through the surface until it reached an opening.

Moments later Cortana grabbed Luke's hand and started to playfully pull him towards the now open cavern. Luke simply rolled his eyes and followed along with Cortana. He will admit that once 'ROB' told him about his fated partner he honestly didn't like the idea but he has truly come to love Cortana with the time he has spent with her.

Luke smiled and followed along until eventually, they arrived at a forerunner structure that had floating platforms linked together vita teleports. He honestly didn't feel like figuring out the correct path so he used the force and linked the first platform with the final one.

Luke of course didn't forget to grab the technology as he didn't find it during his stay on the Ark. Soon Cortana was gazing at the 'beautiful' guardians in all its glory. Suddenly she heard Luke causing her to focus on him more.

Luke: "Amazing isn't it? But do you want to know something more amazing? I'm going to build a flagship guardian haha!"

Cortana was surprised by this but it only lasted for a moment before saying something.

Cortana: "Why am I not surprised haha. Let me guess, it will be larger, more shields, and weapons?"

Luke: "You know me so well hehe. Well let me take control of this Guardian and we can head back to our ship so we can work on the next projects."

Cortana: "Sounds good!"

After speaking with Cortana, he began going into the Guardian's programs and started to correct everything he felt like was needed and it soon the guardian was 'infected' just like the Warden Eternal.

Luke: "Looks like everything is ready, go fuck up the inhabitants of this colony and go to these coordinates once you're done."

All that was given in acknowledgment was the guardian's eyes glowing crimson red as it started breaking free from its tomb.

Luke: 'Huh... Guess changing all that stuff made its eyes glow red instead of blue. Looks cool at least.'

After his quick thought, they made their way out and watched the guardians break through the surface and began rising into the air. It soon started sending out energy pulses until it gave out the final pulse decimating the remaining humans within the colony.

Strangely enough, all his units were completely fine and had no effects in any area. Nevertheless, he along with Cortana went back to the Titans Wrath as he wanted to begin working on the Spartan Program.

Once he and Cortana returned, Luke made his way towards a makeshift lab and sat down while Cortana followed along.

Luke: "Your gonna make sure I make it 100% safe aren't you?"

Cortana: "That's one reason I'm here, I'm also here to help you with it. That 'woman' who I won't even bother to name anymore was the one who started it as well as 'created' me so I know a few things."

After this, the couple began running tests as well as simulations but this was all. They would also modify what would be needed for it to be safer and possibly better. Luckily thanks to their technology from Forerunner to Progenitor it gave them multiple possibilities.

The only problem was that this would take a while... A long one at that... All their work was simulated within their mindscape as it slowed downtime in their perspective.

** One Month Later **

Both Luke and Cortana were not having a good time. Even with their time perspective slowed down it has been an entire month! Over the course of the month, they managed to create new modifications.

[ Simulation-31: 5x stronger than Spartan-117. Probability of survival: 67%. Cause of death: Cellular decomposition within muscle tissue.

Simulation-69: 8x faster than Spartan-117. Probability of survival: 62%. Cause of death: Heart failure due to blood pressure.

Simulation-91: 2x all-around better than Spartan-117. Probability of survival: 84%. Cause of death: Braindead followed by heart failure.

Simulation-100: 4x Stronger than Spartan-117...

Simulation-149: 6x Faster than Spartan-117...

Simulation-202: 10x Stronger/Faster than Spartan...

Simulation-361: 9x Faster than Spartan...

Simulation-479: 20x Stronger than Spartan...

Simulation-672: 19x Faster...

Simulation-701: 7x Faster...

Simulation-747: 13x Stronger...

Simulation-836: 5x...

Simulation-849: 12x...

Simulation-900: 10x...

Simulation-909: 17x...

Simulation-945...

Simulation-1,028... ]

Luke refused to proceed with one of the earlier tests as he didn't want to die yet. How would he be an emperor if he was dead? Luckily their latest Simulation was the final one as they successfully found one with 100%!

[ Simulation-1,029: 10x All round better than Spartan-117. Probability of Survival 100%! ]

upon getting this, Cortana ran the simulation countless times to be sure that they didn't make a mistake. Once she confirmed everything she spoke.

Cortana: "Seems like we did it. I'm pretty amazed honestly, you will be ten times better in every single way compared to John! I'll say it one more time, you will feel discomfort throughout your entire body for several days. This is because your bones will become larger, denser, sturdier, and so on. You are absolutely sure you want to do this?"

Luke: "I'm absolutely sure hun, if becoming stronger for both are sakes then I'm willing to do anything. I'd also recommend you doing it yourself but it's fine if you don't."

Cortana: "Well... We would need to see if my body is compatible with these exact 'modifications' and knowing you, you will do the same thing I did with you by making sure it's 100% safe."

Luke just laughed and gave her a kiss and soon made their way towards another location nearby. Luke soon found himself looking at a modified Spartan program machine.

Luke wasted no time and stripped down until there was nothing coving him and as much as Cortana wanted to watch, she was being professional as she would not have any mistakes during this time period.

Luke then laid down onto the metal table as a drug was inserted through a shot to put him unconscious. If he was awake then he would feel an extreme amount of pain during it and moving so much would not be ideal...

Once he went under, Cortana began the process as large metal needles slowly started piercing into his skin throughout his body. This would continue for multiple hours as his skin started turning red due to his body's temperature rising followed by a cracking sound from his bones.

** 16 Hours Later **

Multiple changes has happened during the sixteen hours, for starters, Luke became talker while his body's muscles became much more noticeable while also feeling like stone yet still flexible.

Luke: "My body feels like I just into a pool of lava then jumped into liquid nitrogen... How long until I can move my body?

Cortana: "It will probably be a few days but it could be sooner. Well look at me now haha, I'm going to have to be your nurse!"

Luke: "A sexy nurse haha- ouch... laughing hurts..."

Cortana: "That's to be expected, you should feel better enough for it in a few hours as your body adjusts to, well, your new body? How about something to drink?"

Luke just smiled and had a 'please' look on his face which Cortana took notice of insanity. With a smile, she left after telling him that she will be right back. Meanwhile Luke had nothing better to do he decided to play around with his force abilities, so what if he is being childish?

Soon multiple objects began floating within the air and he wanted to see just how much he could do. It was suddenly interrupted when the door opened which revealed Cortana who had a glass of water.

Cortana: "I will never get used to your force abilities, I mean it lets you have telekinesis, shoot out lightning, control machines, and so on. It's really cool."

Luke: "Now I just need a lightsaber haha- ouch..."

Cortana: "You just never learn... I told you not to laugh... anyways, what the hell is a lightsaber? Is it literally a sword made of light?"

Luke felt like being playful and tried his best at making a 'shocked Pikachu face' but he failed miserably and spoke.

Luke: "Kinda, the bladed part is made out of plasma I think? I don't really know but it might be impossible to make here as I don't believe Kyber Crystals exist in this universe..."

Cortana: "With how you are talking about those 'Kyber' Crystals, I'm guessing it's something needed for it to work."

Luke was going to respond but he suddenly felt a wave of drowsiness hit him and all he could give out was a nod before suddenly falling asleep. Cortana expected this to happen eventually but didn't think it would happen so soon.

Cortana: "I forgot to tell him he will probably fall asleep after waking up..."

She just gave him a kiss before returning to monitor his vitals.

** One Week Later **

Luke was currently exercising to see his improvements, he was currently punching a punching bag with lightning speed and Cortana was watching in amazement. After Luke finished a combo he sends a final punch which pierced into the bag causing sand to spill out.

Cortana: "Bravo haha! You are exactly ten times stronger than John in every way! At first, I only estimated that it would be close to ten but it was exactly ten! How's it feel to be the greatest super soldier in the universe?"

Luke: "Nice, I kinda want to have a boxing match with the Chief haha."

Cortana: "I'd pay money to watch you kick his ass!"

Luke: "Wow I just realized we don't have any type of currency... We never needed it since we just gather the resources directly or simply take them from others... Honestly, do we even need it? Are future empire will be robotic in nature so it's not like they will need food or anything, entertainment?"

Cortana: "We can think about it later, the real question we should ask is what do we do now? The Warden got all of the Guardians so we could probably destroy all of the government's in charge."

Luke: "Why would I use the guardians for that?"

Cortana: "Isn't that the reason you got them together in the first place? You have all eleven and plan on building more soon. Let's not even start on how many Star Destroyers you had built since we met. Every moment your building fabricators which in turn build more Star Destroyers..."

Luke: "Eh? I just like to build things, do you want to move on to the next universe?"

Cortana: "Yeah... It's getting boring here and I want to see something different for a change. I'm tired of the UNSC and the Covenant."

Luke: "Guess it's time to fire the halo rings then but I'll need to build a bigger one for 343-Guilty Spark since I promised him I would."

Cortana simply shouted in happiness as Luke began contacting all of the monitors.

[ Luke Ion to All Installations

I will be building the final Halo Ring and once it is built we are going to fire all of them. ]

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[ 343-Guilty Spark to Reclaimer

Oh! This is wonderful news! I haven't heard from you in so long that I was worried you have forgotten that you would build me a new array! ]

Luke ignored this as he had a sinister thought in his head.

Luke: 'Should I deal with the monitors as well? They follow my commands but should I bring them with me when we leave?'