- Wolverfrog
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- Fabled Legendary Member
Okay, this is growing really long and honestly I think you've been patient enough. I'm going to post Chapter 53 now, and afterwards will follow the Epilogue, which I'm still writing. Nothing has been cut, and this is Chapter 53 as it would have appeared had it been posted alongside the Epilogue. I just feel that it's unfair to make you wait any longer.
So without further ado, here we are. The journey's end.
Part 53 - Descent into Mortality
John smashed his hand into the strange, semi-organic metal floor of the Gravemind's ship, which was rising at a completely vertical angle. Immediately he came to a jarring halt, and stared down at the oxygen barrier with dread. The barrier kept a steady level of oxygen in the ship, but objects -- and people -- could pass through it. With his other gauntleted hand, he held on to the flailing Arbiter. Kelly had done likewise, and had grasped Sergeant Johnson's hand in a bone crushing grip. Mendicant Bias was floating near them, not even looking at them.
"Do something Mendicant!" John shouted at the inactive Monitor with anger, who turned to him.
"John, I'm currently battling the Gravemind to stop him from completely destroying this section of the ship, whilst simultaneously fending off attempts from Offensive Bias to hack into my systems. Even speaking to you just now has allowed the Gravemind to bypass one of my locks. I'm sorry, but you'll have to deal with this yourself! I'd hurry though, the Flood are fast approaching."
Crates, vehicles and weapons flew past the hanging group with dreadful speed, hitting the shimmering oxygen barrier and flying out into space, impacting against the swarms of spacecraft soaring through it. John knew that if the same thing happened to any of them, even their armour wouldn't protect them.
John's MJOLNIR armour had been cracked and dented, and he was certain that a few ribs had been broken. Kelly's helmet had been completely lost, exposing her pale, war torn face and untidy hair. If they fell, they'd be as dead as dead can be.
"This reminds of that time I was at Coral!" Johnson shouted, somehow managing to keep his voice level in the midst of terror. "Except then all I risked was a few broken bones and-- ow, not so hard, Kelly!"
The Gravemind had sensed them in the ship, and had subsequently altered the direction of the ship's anti-gravity in an attempt to stop them, before opening the blast shield which would usually cover the oxygen barrier.
"Cortana! Can you adjust this ship's gravity emulator?" John shouted as his arm felt like it was being ripped out of its socket as a result of the Arbiter's weight.
"Not remotely, I need to have manual access to a panel near the door to override the Gravemind's control," Cortana answered with clipped and measured tones. John processed that information for a few moments, before he realised what he meant.
"You need one of us to drop down and touch it," John replied with horror. It wasn't a question.
"Yes," Cortana answered, her voice full of apology. "I'm so sorry."
"So wait a second, you're telling me that one of us has to let go and fall, and hit the access panel before flying through an oxygen barrier and dying of asphyxiation?" Johnson asked the AI.
"It's either one, or all," Cortana answered, disabling many of her emotional algorithms temporarily so that they wouldn't overwhelm her. "Again, I'm sorry."
"Transfer yourself to my Neural Interface, Cortana. I'm an old man, I'll do it," Johnson answered softly, yet resolutely.
"I admire your courage, sergeant, but that won't work. You don't react fast enough under pressure, not fast enough to hit that panel before falling through the barrier. It has to be a Spartan," Cortana replied. John felt his heart skip a beat. He closed his eyes, before nodding.
"Arbiter, I'm going to swing you up. Catch on to this ledge," he told the Sangheili hanging onto him. "Cortana, brace yourself. I'll make the drop."
Kelly's head snapped to face him.
"Don't be ridiculous John, I'll do it. You need to get to the Gravemind," she told him sharply. John shook his head.
"You can do that. Too many have died for me today, Kelly. Too many have died for me in the past. It's time for me to give something back," he answered.
"I don't care sir, I'm doing the drop," Kelly replied firmly.
"No, Kelly, you're not," John told her just as stoically, swinging the Arbiter up. The Elite flew through the air, and John watched him like a hawk, ready to catch and try again if necessary. Luckily, his friend managed to grasp on to the ledge.
"Spartan, allow me to perform this task," the Arbiter implored of him quietly. "I can move almost as fast as you."
"Not fast enough," John told him, glad of the fact. He didn't want anyone else to sacrifice themselves for his sake today.
Cortana, are you ready? he asked silently, and waited a moment expectably. After a few seconds of quiet, he frowned. Cortana?
No reply.
"Goodbye, John," Kelly called, snapping him back into reality. He turned to face her, eyes widened, coming to a silent realisation.
"Cortana's with you, isn't she?" the Master Chief demanded, heart racing. The other Spartan nodded sadly.
"Yes. I have a higher predicted chance of success than you, John. I'm faster, and I always have been. And you have a higher predicated chance of stopping the Gravemind. Cortana's primary programming is to make sure the mission succeeds, and she has initiated it. Don't blame her, she's just doing what Halsey designed her to do," Kelly told him, her voice constrained.
"Dammit Kelly, no! I can't lose you, not after Fred and Linda and everyone else who has died in the god damn war!" he shouted at her, tears springing into his eyes. Kelly shook her head, lifting Johnson up onto her ledge.
"I'm sorry, John. It's the only way. Just promise me you'll do what you do best."
"And what's that?" John asked her through sobs.
"Win," Kelly said simply, before letting go of the ledge and falling.
"No!" John shouted after her, nearly letting go of his own ledge in a foolish and suicidal attempt to grab her. As he began to raise his hand from the sturdy handhold however, he felt another hand pin it down, that of the Arbiter's.
"Don't be a fool, my friend," the Elite told him with anguish, before turning back to watch Kelly.
The Spartan had a long way to fall, but she was doing it with grace, as always. Obstacles were deftly moved around, or in some cases destroyed when she crashed through them. She outstretched her arms, and air resistance slowed her down a tiny bit.
Kelly was just a few dozen metres away from the oxygen barrier and the access panel now, and time started to trickle like water through the holes in a dam, milliseconds became minutes. The Spartan spun around so she was falling on her back. She stared at John for the last time, her eyes were needles, stabbing at John's heart, making him feel weak and unworthy. .
At the last possible moment, she smacked her hand against the small access panel to her right faster than John had ever seen her move before. Kelly slipped through the barrier of life, her suit losing oxygen rapidly. As the last pocket of air left her suit she began to clutch her throat and writhe hopelessly, as if she were strangling herself, and then... nothing. Her delicate body graceful even after death, floating through the vast emptiness of space.
Then, she was gone.
John felt a huge lump rise in his throat, and the strength left his arms. He began to fall himself despite the desperate lunging of the Arbiter, but he didn't care. Suddenly, he felt his direction change, and fell heavily down to the ground, gravity restored to its former state.
The Spartan just lay on the ground, shaking with shock. Tears flowed freely from his eyes, and he just wanted to die.
I'm alone. Truly now, I am the last of my kind. There are no others. All my brothers and sisters are dead.
He saw the Arbiter and Sergeant Johnson rush over to him with corner, but batted them away. Instead, he rose to his feet, livid with rage, and stormed over to the access panel where Cortana stood, head hung in upset, but not shame. John raised his fist, and felt like punching the panel. He managed to repress the urge, instead settling for an unfortunate wall, which crumpled under the force of the fist.
"How could you--" John began to ask Cortana with choked anger. She shook her head, distress clear in her face.
"Kelly had a projected 87% chance of succeeding," Cortana told him bluntly. "Yours was only 56%, John. I did the calculations, and checked them again, and again. Each scenario came up with the same answer. The mission is the priority, Spartan. You should know that by now."
That was one of the first things Cortana had told him when they had first met. John closed his eyes, unable to grapple with the prospect of truly being the last Spartan. He then knelt down to stare at Cortana with hatred.
"I will never trust you again," he told her forcefully, and she noticeably flinched. She reached out a hand tentatively.
"John--" she began.
"Don't speak to me!" he shouted back, smacking his hand onto the panel and transferring her back into his MJOLNIR suit. "All that matters is the mission. You've made that abundantly clear."
He looked around the room, and saw the Arbiter, Johnson and Mendicant Bias staring at him as if he'd go crazy and kill them all at any moment.
"John, you need to calm down," Mendicant Bias told him. "This isn't Cortana's fault, or yours. It's the Gravemind's. And you can avenge Kelly when we reach him."
[Edited on 07.25.2010 7:53 AM PDT]