- MaxRealflugel
- |
- Elder Mythic Member
Part Four
November 6th 2552 (Forerunner shield world)
Kelly casually walked from the small stream back towards their makeshift camp at the base of one of the many rolling hills. Despite the vast area available for them to explore, she felt trapped by a world that was designed to keep its inhabitants safe from danger. But at the moment it was prison, with no guards, no windows and no obvious way out.
Her first impressions of this shield world had been positive despite their losses, but after only two days of walking and setting up camp on a daily basis with no clear objective, Kelly had become somewhat disheartened.
She had resorted to running around the local area in order to maintain her high level of fitness. But she was fortunate.
Linda and Mark on the other hand only had a limited supply of ammunition, which meant that their exceptional abilities were being used for small scouting runs into the surrounding valleys, whilst Olivia was constantly tracking a herd of cattle that vaguely resembled the common cow on Earth.
Fred and the chief were probably the most optimistic in Kelly’s eyes, as they were doing everything in their power to aid Dr. Halsey in her research. So far they had set up a series of small solar panels to help power the doctor’s equipment, but it was a far cry from fighting the Covenant.
Dr. Halsey was the only member of this unofficial and unwilling group of explorers that seemed to move with any real purpose, but then safeguarding the Spartans had always been her intention. That was why she was here in the first place.
Kelly looked over at the isolated cryo-tubes. Ash and Tom had remained with them since they had arrived, as though on a constant religious vigil. But there was little that could be achieved within two days. Even Dr. Halsey was at a loss as to how to free them.
In all the years of the war, Humanity at large had made little progress with the technology that they had gleaned from their encounters with the Covenant, so how were they to crack the seemingly impossible Forerunner puzzles that were scattered around the galaxy. Even the Covenant had been unable to achieve that.
Kelly reached the small encampment and handed out several water canteens to Fred and the chief, each of whom took a series of long gulps of the fresh cold water from the stream.
Dr. Halsey briefly looked up at Kelly and the others before burying herself in her work once again. Although the doctor was the one that wanted them all here she was still extremely anxious when it came to the members of team Katana and the whereabouts of John and Cortana. Despite the fact that all of the Spartans were all extremely proficient in the art of warfare, she still viewed them all in the same way as a surrogate mother pines for the children that are no longer hers. To her they were still children, even John.
“Are you any further forward doctor?” asked Kelly
Doctor Halsey sighed before removing her glasses and rubbing her eyes with the palm of her hands.
“Unfortunately not,” she said with a smile “But don’t worry Kelly, there must be a way to open the cryo-tubes, I just have to find out how.”
Kelly tried to force a smile herself, but ended up pulling a face that better resembled a child receiving an injection with a needle meant for a horse.
As all of the Spartans, new and old, had removed their helmets they no longer had the luxury of hiding their emotions from Dr. Halsey, but she refrained from letting the Spartans know that she could see their concern. But unknown to them, she also had concerns of her own.
There was no way to know for sure if the Covenant had another way to reach the interior of the shield world, or if Kurt had actually succeeded in detonating the Fenris warheads.
Unlike the waiting Spartans, she had a mission, an objective, a target. Above all else she had to unlock the cryo-tubes holding team Katana. If she succeeded she would have more Spartans to look after and more Spartans to help defeat the Covenant once and for all, when the time was right.
Except this time they would be fighting with Forerunner weapons, and against that the Covenant would have no defence. They would be the ones on the back-foot instead of Humanity. They would be the ones losing.
May 18th 2866 (Location Unknown)
John walked cautiously towards the nearest spire, its imposing presence made him deeply uncomfortable.
His Mjolnir armour was designed to withstand excessive concussive force, projectile weapons and certain Covenant energy weapons. In combination with energy shields and a body hardened to withstand warfare, and endure countless environments that would ordinarily kill a man, he was a force to be reckoned with. Even the Covenant had realised that.
But whenever he was around a Forerunner structure his abilities paled in comparison to their accomplishments. He could understand Cortana’s fascination with them along with his former mentor Dr. Catherine Halsey. Here in front of him was probably one of the most powerful weapons in the known universe, designed to fight one of the most deadly creations in the universe: the Flood.
If the Covenant had gained any of this technology before their arrival on Earth, then no ship or Spartan would have been able to stop them and Mankind would have been condemned to death, or a state of existence that they would never recover from.
John pushed the thought from his mind, Cortana was right, the war with the Covenant had ended and Humanity had been saved. Despite this John was still troubled by his new-found isolation, even with Cortana.
He was, as far as he or Cortana knew, the last surviving Spartan and the only human on this strange new world.
As he walked towards the nearest spire he began to recognise the familiar sight of the Forerunner doorway that Cortana had seen, but this one was big enough for Scarab to walk through.
Taking the Pelican all the way to the entrance had been tempting, as traveling around or through any Forerunner structure by foot always took a lot longer than any first impression would indicate. But they had both agreed that any such action might activate whatever dormant defence system was lying in wait.
John stopped several feet away from the large heavy looking doors, looking for anything that might resemble a threat whilst Cortana went over the security system guarding the door.
Although she was not in direct contact with the access terminal Cortana could still breach the security settings of the antiquated entrance.
“I’ve got it.” Cortana informed
John took a couple of steps backwards as the huge dark doors slowly heaved open; there was a hiss of air, indicating that the seal was airtight but surprisingly there was a thin trail of sand running into the vast cathedral sized interior.
Cortana utilised the internal sensors to scan the vast complex, but only some of them were working and only on some of the levels. Of which there were dozens.
“I’m picking up a power source several levels below chief; it could be a control chamber, I suggest we investigate.”
John agreed and started to walk further into the structure until Cortana jumped onto the secure COM channel.
“Wait chief I’ve got a life-form, very weak but it’s definitely a life-form!” exclaimed Cortana
John detached his assault rifle from its magnetic plating on his back before continuing into the Forerunner structure.
“Let’s go and introduce ourselves then.” Answered John
To be continued...
[Edited on 05.06.2008 8:29 AM PDT]