Five: Reclaimer

"Infinity to Gypsy Company…"

John slitted open his eyes when the captain's voice came over the radio. He pushed himself upright from where he'd been leaning against the hull of the Pelican.

"The air corridor to the gravity well is blocked by a network of particle cannons." Del Rio's hologram stood at parade rest towards the rear of the Pelican. "Infinity's shields are still down. Open the lane for us to move up and provide air support."

"Captain, what's Force Recon's assessment of the terrain?" the Spartan asked.

The man gave him a dirty look. "I know you've been off the field for a while, Master Chief," he said derisively, "but this is a blow through op. Sending in recon would just slow us down."

'But it would provide additional time to fix the shields, and minimize casualties.'

An image of one of the particle cannons appeared in front of the officer. John recognized the shape of it – a Z-8060 cannon. The fleet used them as stationary, close-range defense, though theirs were far more powerful and streamlined than what the Didact had here on Requiem.

"Telemetry indicates that the particle cannons are being controlled from a command post southwest of our position," Del Rio continued, "Roll on that target, and neutralize those guns. We'll meet on the other side and take out the gravity well." He shot one more ugly look at the Chief, then said, "Infinity out," and ended the transmission.

"I don't know about you," said Cortana in his ear, "but I usually like a bit more 'intel' with my intel."

"We'll make it work," John responded. Now that he had taken time to really rest, recuperate, meditate and organize his thoughts, his mental powers were back online – at least partially. He could receive broadcast signals but not send them, and he was slow on translating and interpreting what he got. His natural detection field was back up and just as precise as ever, but his range didn't extend much further than his suit's, and it was still up for debate if he could dodge some fire the way he used to.

But it was better than nothing.

The Spartan dismounted form the Pelican with the other members of Gypsy Company. The transport dropped them off on a small ledge next to a short, narrow tunnel. It was guarded by two Marines. As he moved toward it, his radio crackled. "Chief, Spartan Sarah Palmer in Infinity CIC. Commander Lasky's waiting for you on the Mammoth."

John couldn't help but imagine the officer straddling the neck of an actual wooly mammoth. "On our way." His amusement vanished when he exited the tunnel. "Well, someone's overcompensating."

As its name indicated, the Mammoth was mammoth. The tires alone were easily three to four times his height and eight times his weight, if not more, and the vehicle itself was even larger. The Spartan hummed and boarded, heading up.

Lasky was waiting for them, on the uppermost deck of the massive vehicle. "Chief, Cortana," he nodded to them, "Unfortunately for us, we've got to manually bring down a couple of particle cannons before we can get to the command post."

"Chief, Palmer again. The Mammoth's got jetpacks on board. If I were down there, I'd want one."

Cortana set up a nav point, and John followed it to one of the storage containers on the vehicle to dig one out. As he hooked it up, the captain came over the radio. "Gypsy Company, this is Captain Del Rio. The board is green. Let's shut down that gravity well so we can go home. Good hunting. Infinity out."

"Okay, Gypsy," Lasky came on right after him, "time to work for it. Let's shake some dirt."

The Mammoth began to move, rolling out of a short canyon and onto a narrow path at the edge of a sheer cliff. Three Pelicans flew in low and took up positions slightly ahead of the Mammoth, keeping pace with it.

"Captain Del Rio, targeting Pelicans are in position near the particle cannons, waiting for the Mammoth's mini-MAC to take them out," Spartan Palmer reported. Then, as the Pelicans began rounding the bend up ahead, "Seven Six Six, lose some altitude – you're inside the kill box!"

"Almost got target lock," was the earnest reply, "Just a little more…"

The Mammoth rounded the bend, finally getting visual confirmation of the first particle cannon. As it came into view, its targeting sensors locked on to the foremost of the Pelicans. John :heard: the cannon receive confirmation from the command post. It began charging to fire.

"Pelican, fall back!"

The cannon discharged, and incinerated the two trailing Pelicans instantly. Ironically, the one that tripped the sensors received only a glancing blow, and went down somewhere ahead of them. "Infinity," Lasky shouted, "Pelicans down!"

"Get to the crash site and retrieve that target designator, Gypsy," the captain ordered, "You've got no chance of clearing those guns without it."

When he snapped off, Lasky got back on to say, "All teams, we've got Covenant squads digging in up on the ridgeline. Weapons free, people!"

John took control of the port side rocket turret and began launching salvos at the aliens, a handful of S-IVs lending their aid. The Mammoth slowed its pace to help their aim. When all the aliens were dead, they sped up once more, only to roll to a halt near the crash site.

"There's Gypsy Seven's Pelican out in the muck," said Palmer, "Anyone still alive?"

"We're here!" was the reply from the pilot, "we're alive! We've got the target designator!"

"I'll get to them and retrieve the target designator," John said, already beginning to descend through the Mammoth. There were some Warthogs below that he could use to speed the process, and the LAAG would provide good cover fire. When they saw him approaching, some of the S-IVs mounted up to join him. The S-II hopped into the driver's seat of one of the LRVs and pulled out of the Mammoth.

Phantoms were dropping off troops, some Ghosts, and a Wraith between them and the crashed Pelican. The Warthog was fast enough to take out the enemy tank before it could do too much damage, putting bullets into the gaps in its armor until it exploded. The S-II and his passenger moved on to dealing with the infantry, leaving the Ghosts for the LAAG. The gun also provided cover fire when he dismounted to get the designator and when they escorted the survivors to the Mammoth.

"Target those Phantoms for the rail gun to shot down," Cortana suggested. The transports kept moving, weaving through the air, but the S-II was able to mark one without too much difficulty. The Mammoth fired with enough force to make the ground shake, and destroyed the targeted Phantom plus one other that had the misfortune of flying too close. While the rail gun reloaded, the Chief rode his jetpack up to the uppermost deck of the vehicle, then dropped to one knee to keep himself below the firing line of the massive cannon. The AI informed him that the rail gun had reloaded, so he marked the particle cannon and watched it explode.

"Target suppressed," said Lasky, "Nicely done, Chief."

'If I was still a full-fledged Gravemind,' John thought as the Mammoth began to move again, 'we wouldn't have needed to destroy it. I could take control of the entire planet, turn it on the Didact-' He shook himself mentally. There was no point in thinking about it when it couldn't currently be done.

"Lasky to Infinity, first contact cleared but no joy on additional targets," the XO reported, "Gypsy moving on to secondary battle position but requesting evac for casualties."

"I'm on it, Commander," the S-IV replied, "Palmer, out."

As the Mammoth began rolling again, two more Phantoms and a squad of Banshees swooped in to harry them. A few salvos of rockets blasted the latter out of the sky and sent the former scurrying, leaving the UNSC to continue in relative peace.

At least, until they reached the barrier.

"Force field," Cortana reported, "Barricading the far side of this canyon." There were some small distortions in her voice. "I'm seeing three power sources. Shut them down so the Mammoth can move through."

John flashed an acknowledgement and moved to ground level, creeping up to scope out the situation. A few Ghosts were patrolling the area, aided by a number of infantry, with a Shade turret overseeing it all from atop a spur of rock. His eyes narrowed, and he looked back at the Mammoth.

The rocket turret on the port side of the vehicle was close enough to lock on to one of the Ghosts, then the other when its driver came over to investigate. The Shade was out of range of the targeting systems, but simply aiming and firing worked well enough. Clearing out those threats enabled him to move in and kill the infantry around the first generator. As he advanced toward the second, he sensed the Wraith. He looked back at the Mammoth as it rolled closer to the barrier.

"Really? Again?" Cortana said after he destroyed the second generator and boosted himself back up onto the Mammoth.

"I'm taking advantage of available resources," he responded.

"Oh, is that what they're calling it now?"

The Wraith wasn't initially in range, but firing on the much-closer infantry made its driver send it gliding closer to investigate. A couple of rounds put it out of its misery, and the Covenant tower with it. He was virtually unimpeded when he moved to destroy the final generator.

"I really like these jetpacks," said the Chief as he jogged to rejoin the rest of Gypsy Company, "It's a shame they don't come built in."

"That'd be interesting," Cortana chuckled, "You, gliding all over the place like some kind of Spartan-bird hybrid – I'd die laughing."

"I'll let you chose my bird call, then."

She cackled as he switched back to the target designator and marked the second particle cannon. "Shot's good," Lasky reported, prompting a muttered "We can see that," from the S-II. Then, "All units! Unidentified Covenant vehicle incoming!"

"Rockets?"

"Rockets."

The Covenant ship fired and shorted out the Mammoth's mini-Mac, but the turrets were still operational. The S-II fired at every Ghost the trailing Phantoms dropped off and every alien that drew the short straw and disembarked from the Covie vehicle, now dubbed a Lich. "I like this idea of yours now," said Cortana as they watched a Sangheili go flying.

"It is one of my better ones."

Unfortunately, the rockets couldn't penetrate the Lich's heavy armor, meaning that they still had to destroy it the old fashioned way: from the inside. "This is sort of becoming our modus operandi now, isn't it?" John commented as the grav lift carried them up into the belly of the ship, "Infiltrating things and blowing them up?"

"'Infiltrating' implies a bit of stealth, Chief. I'm pretty sure this is as far from stealthy as it's possible to get."

"Hey, now. I can be stealthy; I just choose not to." John kicked the last of the Elites out the open side of the ship and jogged over to the power core. A single slam with the butt of his battle rifle was sufficient to take down the shield over it, and a plasma grenade did the rest. He flung himself out of the side of the Lich, using the jetpack to slow his fall, and landed atop the mini-MAC with a solid thump.

"Thanks, Chief," said Lasky, "It was getting a bit dicey there for a minute." He paused while the Lich exploded in a flare of blue-white light. "All hands, form up on us."

As the S-IVs who had provided support returned to the Mammoth, Del Rio came over the radio. "Lasky, this is Infinity. Status."

"Mammoth's in pretty bad shape, sir," was the reply, "She'll make it to the objective, as long as nobody starts throwing rocks at us."

"Not a chance we can take," the captain snapped, "I'm sending teams out to pull some of their fire off you so you can make it to the gravity well."

"Roger that, sir. Gypsy, let's move."

"Shadow Company, Castle Company, put some pressure on those other particle cannons."

"Castle reading five by five. On station, ready to assist."

"Shadow Actual to Infinity, encountering enemy air! Significant EOF closer to the emplacements!"

The Mammoth rolled to a stop in front of a series of waterfalls spilling down across the rock face, across the path, and off the cliff. A vague memory surfaced in the Chief's mind, of some kind of genetic modification research facility nearby. Provided, of course, that the intervening years hadn't buried it under countless layers of sediment. Some installations' caretakers could be astonishingly neglectful.

The S-II was so focused on trying to work out their positions relative to each other that he almost didn't notice when the Mammoth began moving again. He did notice Cortana's brief slip.

"They don't care about you – they replaced you!" one of the personality spikes snarled, voice distorted, before she caught herself. "Blast it!"

"It's okay," the Chief said gently.

"How?" she demanded, a bit of distortion coming through again, "How is this 'okay?' How is putting you at risk because I can't keep it together 'okay?!'" She paused in her rant as if she was catching her breath. "Chief, do you even understand what rampancy is? Really? –"

"I do." He met her gaze on his HUD. "You're thinking yourself to death. It's like being smothered, only with data, with your food, and the personality fragments that split themselves off from you. It's as far from painless as it's possible to go, and no matter how much you try to stop it, to struggle and fight against it, it only gets worse." He swallowed. "You're having to fight to make yourself heard over a thousand other voices who only unite with you when you feel what they feel, and they're stealing the memory you use for processing, making you feel bloated and sluggish and slow. So you keep sucking up information in hopes that it'll satisfy them and quiet them and maybe, just maybe, you can find a cure." The S-II did not smile when he saw her stunned expression.

"How…? How?"

"In the Parallel," he said, "there were a couple of points where I brought you into my body. You shared my flesh, and I felt your pain." The Chief took a hand off of his gun, and looked down to watch his fingers flex, then clench into a fist. "You're not putting me at risk. There's nothing you can do that can hurt me worse than seeing you suffer like this and knowing I can't help you." He looked back up at her.

"John…"

"One One Seven, Lasky."

"Go, Commander." The Spartan didn't look away.

"We've got significant blockage up ahead," the XO reported, "Think this is about it for the Mammoth."

"The command post for the particle cannons is through that trench." Cortana didn't look away, either.

"Sir, I can move faster alone."

"We'll see you back on Infinity, Commander."

John finally broke their impromptu staring contest to get more ammunition for his weapons and boost off the Mammoth. The trench was filled with Grunts and Jackals, making him glad he hadn't taken the sniper rifle before then. With his jetpack, he could get a high vantage point and take them all out. It made him understand Linda-058 that much better.

Some Jackals had the same idea but not the experience to follow through with their plan. Their bodies tumbled to the ground below. He rounded a bend, and the command post came into view. It was fairly plain on the outside as Forerunner structures went, but the inside was stunning, he knew. The main corridors in the fleet had a similar design and color and lighting scheme, along with the central approach to the main reactors.

There were more Covenant and Prometheans guarding the entrance. The Knights, Grunts, and Jackals on the ground were troublesome in their own right, but it was the Crawlers up on the walls that were the real problem. They kept squirming around all over the place, and the angle of the sun made it hard for him to see them on the trench walls even with his visor polarized. At last, he was able to enter the complex unimpeded.

"Cortana to Infinity," said his companion, "We're entering the Forerunner structure." A garbled transmission came through, and Cortana responded with, "Breaking up, but coordinates received, Infinity."

The first door sealed behind him before the one in front opened. It let them out into a short, v-shaped hall that formed a T with another corridor. A Sentinel shut the door immediately across from them, then turned and led the way down the hall to what the Chief knew to be a lift.

I see you Reclaimer

John stopped and gave his head a quick shake, blinking. He recognized the pattern of the Sending, despite its digital nature, but – but it wasn't possible…

"John?"

"Someone Sent to me," he explained quietly, stepping onto the lift, "but the sender is supposed to be long dead. Long, long dead."

"'Sent?'"

"Contacted me telepathically, Just briefly."

"This could be a trap," said the AI.

"It could," the Spartan agreed, "but this is the way to the control center. I think she's trying to help us." The lift came to a stop, and they passed through another v-bend before entering one of the larger halls. "This is what the main halls in the Fleet of Shadows look like for the most part, except when the Twins graffitied them with the most loud and obnoxious pink spray paint they could find."

Cortana snorted, then started laughing. "Are they," she began, "Are they a reflection of that the rest of the fleet was like?"

"No. They were simply the most outrageous of all my crewmen. You liked them."

"I can't imagine why." He could hear her smile.

Another Sentinel led them to the control center, which was also where all eight of the reactors were. The Spartan sprinted down the path to the control panel and slotted the AI into it. "The particle cannon network must use these arrays for targeting and guidance. It's an automated system, so it won't technically allow me to redirect the cannons to fire on one another. Technically." She turned back to look at him as she spoke. He heard the rumble of the cannons. "Cortana to Infinity, the guns should be offline. How's it look from up there? Infinity?"

"Cortana?"

"Something's in here-" She flinched away, doubled over as if she was being attacked – "Chief!"

"Cortana?" She was gone. He couldn't even detect the vaguest impressions of her. "Cortana!"

Supreme Commander of the Fleet of Shadows

John whipped around just in time to see a light bridge activate, leading to a maintenance access hatch identical to the ones on the fleet. He paused, eyeing the Sentinels, then went back down the path and crossed the bridge. The Spartan followed the open hatches to an active Contact Chamber, and stepped into the beam.

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

Requiem's artificial sun was bright as hell. John lifted a hand to block a little of the light, blinking to clear his vision of spots, then sensed something approaching. "Who are you?"

"You already know the answer to that."

"Librarian," he said. When his vision cleared, the alien female was there smiling at him.

"Hello, Warrior," she said, "I've waited a very long time to meet you."

"But… you died… on Erde-Tyrene when the Halo Array was fired."

"I did," she agreed, "This is but an impression of me, memories left behind to provide guidance." Her expression soured. "The guidance I provide now is this: the Didact is leaving Requiem. Soon. You must not allow it."

"He's going after the Primary Composer."

"To finish what he started," she nodded, looking pained, "When I indexed humanity, we hid seeds from the Didact, seeds which would lead to an eventuality already assured by those who followed you home. Your physical evolution. Your combat skin. Even your ancilla-veri, Cortana. You are the culmination of a thousand lifetimes of planning and preparation. You must stop him."

But John didn't care about what all the planning had been for. One thing was at the forefront of his mind – "My Infected," he said, half-breathless with longing, "they're here?!"

The Librarian smiled and nodded, and it was as if a million tons of weight had been lifted from his shoulders. They were here, and he felt like he could take on the UNSC, Covenant, and enemy Flood combined. His Infected were here!

A low rumbling filled the area, but even the Didact finding them couldn't bring the Spartan down. "Even in death, her meddling continues," the Promethean growled.

"Commander!" John's gaze snapped back to the Librarian. "The genesong I placed within you contains many gifts, including the return of your Flood-based abilities and an immunity to the Composer, but it must be unlocked!"

"Can I hide the Flood DNA?"

"Yes, the Guardians of the Tower modified it themselves so you could conceal yourself. Stealth-enabled it, in a way."

"Relinquish your contact essence!" the Didact roared.

"It will stay hidden from all sensors until you trigger the change," the Librarian continued, "but it and the immunity must be activated!"

"I'm not about to argue. Do it."

She nodded firmly. "Prepare."

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

John regained consciousness to the feeling of :crawling: under his skin and inside every cell. It was akin to the feeling that preceded a Flood-based shape shift, but more alien and invasive. Yet, at the same time, his senses were opening up again, to well beyond the level they had been at in the Parallel. It was like there, someone had given him a television for the first time after a lifetime of nothing but books and newspaper. But only now did he realize that that TV had been black and white, and shitty quality, too. Now he "saw" in color and high-definition. It was overwhelming to his senses, so much so that when the Prometheans appeared at the far end of the chamber, he was dazed, unable to fight back. Instead, he scrambled for cover.

The Librarian had done more than just restore his Flood-based abilities – she had enhanced them, amplified them and honed them to the point that he could sense the rounds leaving the rounds leaving the Prometheans' weapons as if they were moving in slow motion. The Spartan recognized that particular enhancement as one his team had been researching for quite a bit, using locusts and their collision avoidance as inspiration.

The Spartan felt the surge of power and data before Cortana called, "Chief!" He peered around the support beam that he was taking cover behind. Cortana was up on a pedestal to his left. He scrambled to his feet and moved to retrieve her, dodging fire as he went. "How do we get out of here?" he asked, more out of reflex than anything else, bringing his gun up to fire on the Knights and Crawlers harrying him.

"Elevator," the AI responded, "Back of the chamber."

The Spartan noticed something strange happening with his vision. When he focused on a particular target, a translucent image of it would appear and play out its actions and movements in advance, almost like – the Gultanr foresight, their predictive resonance. The Librarian, she had made it into actual visions of sorts, just a few seconds ahead and only for one target, but coupled with his equally enhanced "motion tracker," it was enough to give him an incredible edge in battle and anticipate the movements of his targets.

"Thank you," he said in the direction of the Librarian as the last of the Prometheans broke apart.

"Chief?"

"What did the Librarian tell you when she pulled you from the system?" he asked, sprinting for the lift.

"Everything."

John paused at the hatch, waiting for it to open. "Then you understand why I didn't want to say anything. I don't want your fear of the Gravemind to turn into fear of me."

"I would never be afraid of you, John," the AI answered immediately, "What you could do, maybe, but never you. But I don't know what she did to you, now."

The Spartan explained as the elevator took them down, adding, "The R&D teams had been searching for ways to naturally explain and augment the abilities we all brought together for millennia. I guess they turned their research data over to her so she could help."

"And it looks like you all finally succeeded."

"So it would seem."

The lift let them out into a sort hall. John sensed a portal forming nearby and headed for it. It dropped them off in the middle of a pitched battle between the UNSC and the Covenant, temporarily overwhelming John's senses once again, this time with other biological beings. "I'm not gonna be effective as a soldier if I keep getting blindsided like this," he hissed.

"I'm reading Sierra One One Seven on-sensor," shouted the familiar voice of Sergeant Stacker, "Everyone form up on the Chief!"

'Yes, please, make me even more confused than I already am,' he thought. Aloud, he said, "Sierra One One Seven to Infinity, what's our status?

"We're taking a beating up here!"

'Of course you are.' "Does Infinity have a shot on the gravity well?"

"Negative," the captain answered, "We'll never be able to get a target lock with all the air traffic we're seeing!"

"Captain, what if we can spot the target for you with the laser designator?" Cortana offered.

"Do it!" the man ordered, "TAC-COM, find the Chief coordinates for somewhere with line of sight!"

A tank rolled to a stop next to the S-II, the driver hopping out so he could take over. It seemed that his "anticipation" and "motion tracker" worked just as well on pure machines as it did on biologicals and semi-biologicals. He could "see" the Wraiths before they moved or fired and get out of the way while returning fire.

"First line clear!" Stacker reported as the two tanks and handful of LRVs rolled up the slope, "Check it off. Push forward! All eyes on the Chief –he's lead dog!"

Once his extra senses settled, the only real problem John had was with the speed of the Scorpion at turning, moving, and reloading. Even so, he blasted the Covenant soldiers to bits until the soldiers following him encountered a force field blocking the way to the next canyon. Cortana pointed him to the shield generators off to one side, and he dismounted to deal with them. "It's just a shame I don't have any more rockets – OH WAIT." He grinned and hefted the rocket launcher he'd kept after leaving the Mammoth behind.

"Some people complain about men and their cars. Me? I complain about my Spartan and his rockets."

"Oh I doubt there will be much complaining involved when things start exploding." To prove his point, he destroyed one of the generators and earned a flurry of giggles.

"We're both very enthusiastic about blowing things up," said the AI.

"Do you think we should see someone professionally about it?"

"I don't know. I do know that there's a clearing just past the ravine. We can get eyes on the gravity well up there."

The Spartan put a bullet between the eyes of the last Unggoy and a rocket to the shield generator. Then he turned and headed back down to the main path and over the rock fall blocking the way. As the gravity well came into view, Cortana said, "Infinity, we're at the gravity well."

"Then paint that damned target so we can get out of here!"

John bristled. He understood that the man was desperate, could feel it even at his distance from the bridge, but no one was allowed to treat Cortana like that. His skin began to crawl-

"J-John?"

The Spartan stopped the change, then reversed what he had done, forcibly pulling his spines in as well. "I'm sorry," he said quietly, knowing he had scared her, "I don't like him addressing you like that. You've earned more respect than what he's showing you." He picked up the designator the Infinity had dropped for them and painted the target.

The missile launched from the ship took out the core of the gravity well, the external supports falling inward as their moorings were destroyed. The Chief sighed as it fell, then sank to one knee. "Keep everyone away from us, just for a minute," he murmured, already opening his mind up again, "There's something I need to check."

"Okay."

John sensed something faint but unseen, like the warmth of the Sun to a blind person, and extended his mind as far as he dared in that direction, searching, searching –

-and for just an instant, barely long enough to register in his mind, like brushing fingertips in the dark –

-he made contact with the Fleet.

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

The Chief told Del Rio a modified version of what he knew on the bridge, implying that it was the Librarian who imparted the knowledge he retained from the Parallel. Del Rio simply shook his head. "Infinity cannot handle that kind of punishment, not again."

"This isn't about us or this ship anymore!" Cortana protested.

"Sir, we've seen what the Didact is capable of. If he can deal this much damage to the Infinity, the most advanced ship the UNSC has to offer – the rest of the fleets will be just cannon fodder. I'm not eager to see what a scaled-up version of the Prophet of Truth's orbital bombardment of Earth looks like."

Del Rio clenched his jaw. The Spartan was right, and everyone in the room knew it. "Look," he said, trying to play sympathetic, "I understand what you think you saw."

"Think?!" Cortana was indignant.

"Asilli cav'ciryatur sangië, hesto, sintenyë i tünenyë."

Everyone's heads snapped around to look at the S-II, even those officers who were simply eavesdropping on the bridge. Their Forerunner language translators whispered over their earpieces:

With all due respect, captain, I know what I saw.

Del Rio was stunned for a moment, but then the display of Forerunner linguistics skill seemed to piss him off. "And with all due respect to you, soldier, I'm not willing to jeopardize my ship because of the hallucinations of an aging Spartan and his malfunctioning AI!"

"Sir," Lasky interjected, trying to mediate, "what if he is right?"

Del Rio gave his XO a look of such disgust that the other man flinched, though he didn't look away. "Nav," said the captain, "as soon as we know we are airtight, I want a course laid in to Carinae Station. COM, prepare a warning beacon."

The S-II received about a second's warning when Cortana flashed red with anger, but even as fast as he now was, machines could only process his intrusion so fast. He was unable to halt the AI's outburst of "I – will not – Allow you – To leave – This – PLANET!"

As quick as it had come, the rage fragment was gone, but it was too late. The damage was done. John murmured, "Just me, just me, just me," on repeat as he infiltrated her systems. Instead of flinching away as he expected, she clung to him, seeking stability.

"- Article 55 of UNSC Regulation 12-145-72. I am ordering you to remove that AI's data chip and retire it for final dispensation."

No.

John drew himself up just a little, radiating protective, predatory intent, enough to make a number of the more mentally-sensitive officers scramble away, but everyone knew that Del Rio had just crossed a line. Without hesitation, he ejected her chip from the system and slotted her back into his helmet. "The Didact has to be stopped," he said quietly but clearly, the faintest hint of a Flood growl making goose bumps rise on everyone's skin without them knowing why, "If you won't do it, then this 'aging Spartan and his malfunctioning AI,' will."

"I… am ordering you… TO SURRENDER THAT AI!" the captain shouted, spittle flying from his mouth.

"No, sir." The S-II's tone didn't brook any argument, and promised painful things to anyone who tried to stop him.

"Lieutenant!" Del Rio shouted at Palmer, "Arrest that man!"

"Captain…" Lasky tried.

"ARREST HIM!"

"Captain!"

The Chief turned to look at Infinity's XO. A quick scan of his mind's surface showed that Lasky agreed with him and thought the captain was a fool for trying to argue against the S-II's sound logic, even if he was just trying to get the whole crew to safety. It would cost them in the long run, because this was bigger than all of them. Palmer's thoughts were along the same lines. "Get word back to Earth that trouble is coming," he instructed, "Cortana and I will do what we can from here." When Lasky nodded, the Spartan left the bridge.

**********

Glossary

Asilli cav'ciryatur sangië, hesto, sintenyë i tünenyë – With all due respect, captain, I know what I saw; lit, with-all bow-ship-ruler (bowing to the captain), captain, know-I what saw-I