Twenty: Ark of the Heavens

The mixed fleet made good time through the Slipspace Portal. They had been forced to delay their departure from Earth in order to organize their forces, but since the human and Sangheili ships did assisted jumps with the Forerunner ships into the Portal, they made up all of the lost time and arrived at the Ark right on schedule.

Truth had beaten them there, of course, but that didn't convey very much of an advantage. The Covenant's numbers were higher than they had been Before, thanks to the Fleet keeping them corralled around Earth, but that advantage was not as great as it might have been, again thanks to the Forerunners. Though the Last Fleet numbered only twenty-two warships total, with half of those remaining behind to safeguard Earth and the Sol System, that still doubled the size of their main fleet and distinctly seemed to give the Brutes pause when they arrived.

But the Covenant still came on to engage them. [Be mindful of the Ark, and do not damage the Foundry,] John ordered, [You all know what to do. Stations, people.]

'You got it, Commander.'

Meanwhile, two-thirds of the Spartan-IIs - a full twelve teams - were boarding Pelicans on the Forward Unto Dawn, readying themselves for a hard fight. High Charity had not yet arrived, but it couldn't be too far behind them.

"Truth's ship isn't taking part in the attack," Miranda told them over the COM channel, "He must have gone to ground."

"Roger that ma'am; we're on him." Johnson sat down in the co-pilot's seat of Blue, Yellow, and Black Teams' Pelican. To the pilot, he said, "Kick the door."

The other nodded and pushed a button on his console. One by one, the Pelicans started falling free from the Dawn, Forerunner fighters zipping around to cover them after being released in clouds from the supercarrier. One of them suddenly changed course and intercepted a trio of shots that would have destroyed one of the dropships, but the fighter's shields barely shimmered as it raced after the Seraph that had fired on them.

As a result of the Forerunner pilots' kindness, all of the dropships were able to weave in and out of the fighting starships, although they narrowly missed colliding with one of the Forerunner cruisers as it physically rammed a Covenant frigate. But they made it down and entered the atmosphere, approaching their chosen LZ.

"We good, Hocus?" Johnson asked.

"She's a little cooked, Sergeant Major," the pilot replied, "but she'll hold."

"Alright, pop the hatch."

The first up-close look that the Spartans got of the Ark was a wide desert that butted up against the foothills of a mountain range in the distance. There were the occasional spurs of rock up through the sand, but the area was largely rolling dunes. "That's some view," said one of the ODSTs.

"Enjoy it while you can, Marines," Johnson growled, "Soon as we land, we're right back to it. Priority one: Secure a Landing Zone for the Commander's Frigate. Keep your eyes and ears open. We need all the intel we can get on this 'Ark.'"

"Apologies for that, Sergeant," said a member of the Fleet, "This Ark is not the one we are truly familiar with. Though we lived here for a time after the Great Cataclysm, we did not actively try to know it better, nor did we ever return - until now."

"More fun exploring for us, then. Stand to, Marines!"

"Oo-rah!" several of them called in response, standing and grabbing their weapons.

"Go, go, go!"

The Spartans hopped down from their Pelican in twos and threes, meeting up with their backup around the bend. Yet as they went, one of the soldiers noticed something. "Hey, check it out, in the sky. Is that-?"

"Hey, focus. We've got a job to do," another called, but that didn't stop everyone from glancing up to see what had caught the first's attention.

The Milky Way was a swirl of light in the sky, visible even during the "day" and despite the occasional explosion or ship that blocked their home from view. It seemed so small from the Ark, barely bigger than two palms' width at arms' length, yet that was a galaxy, their entire universe until now.

"Jesus," someone said, but this time no one reprimanded him.

They advanced through a short tunnel and up onto a ridge overlooking one side of a dry wash. Tande, Shields, and Ambience were already there, weapons trained on the Covenant below. The enemy aliens were gathered around a holoprojector showing the Prophet of Truth. "My Dreadnought cannot rise," he said, "Even now it is engaged, turns deftly in the wards of this new world. Do not relent until the heretic ships are smashed!"

The humans got into position with the aliens and began firing on the Covenant. Linda and her sniper rifle took the Captain Major out in two shots, making the Grunts flee even as the other Brutes whirled to face them. They kept shooting and threw grenades down into the wash, then followed them down to make sure that the Covenant were actually dead. They headed for another tunnel through the rock ahead, taking out the Jackal and two Grunts in their way.

Motion-activated torches lit their way, and they found themselves on a ridge over another wash beyond. But there was one major difference.

"They're setting up an AA battery," an ODST at the forefront whispered, "That thing could tear the Dawn apart."

Which made it all the more important that they stopped its construction, or better yet destroyed it. Fred gestured for them to fan out and pick targets among the Covenant below. At his signal, everyone fired, painting the sand with blood in multiple colors. Their snipers worked in tandem, Cal, Linda, and Shields gunning for the upper command structure as fast as possible, leaving the lower ranks to the others.

But before they could descend to the ground below, Tande held up a hand. "Something's coming."

A moment later they heard the hum of a Phantom and scrambled back into cover. But it was worse than they imagined; the transport dropped a pair of Hunters off below the gun before zipping away. Kelly and Shields raced in to play rabbit, encouraging the Hunters to turn around and expose their vulnerable backs to the other fighters. When they fell, the humans and their allies advanced up the slope on the far side of the wash, killing the aliens in their way and approaching the cavern beyond.

"Spartans," Keyes said over the COM, "I'm giving the Brutes all I've got, but this is a heavyweight fight; the Dawn's only got the tonnage to last a few rounds. Find me a place to set her down, over!"

CATEGORIZATION HAS QUICKENED WITH THE NEW IMPROVEMENTS

BUT THE INDEXING OF SENTIENT SPECIES HAS CAUSED EXTINCTION EVENTS ON [18 WORLDS]

{/} (I WOULD THAT IT WERE MY CHOICE TO COME HOME)

{/} (I AM CLOSE – CLOSE TO SAVING THEM ALL)

I HAVE LEFT THE SPHERE AND ENTERED THE ENEMY'S TERRITORY

THE THINKING DEAD ARE EVERYWHERE

{/} (DESPITE THIS MORALE REMAINS HIGH)

{/} (BUT THEY KNOW THAT IT IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR ME TO SAVE THEM)

THEY SACRIFICED THEIR CITIES TO HALT IT

{/} (AN DELIBERATE ATTEMPT AT RESOURCE DENIAL)

IS THIS THE NOBLE SACRIFICE THAT MY CREATOR'S SPOKE OF?

WHERE IS THE NOBILITY IN STREETS PAVED WITH CARBON AND ASH?

{/} (MY MOUTH SPEAKS AT ANOTHER'S BEHEST)

They dropped off a ledge into the cavern and entered a small Forerunner structure - little more than a glorified hallway. Shields approached one of the holograms on one side and spun it, then tapped a few points on it. She waited a moment, and a red alert flashed up, making her hiss, before she turned away and lifted her carbine again.

"What is it?" Fred asked.

"The installation's Monitor isn't responding to our hails," she answered, her scowl clear in her voice, "If he was, he could override Truth's access and add the Covenant to the Sentinels' targeting roster, on top of preparing the Ark's defenses for High Charity."

That made the Spartans frown too. First Penitent Tangent, and now this one; what was it with these Monitors and dereliction of duty?

They exited the hallway just as a Longsword roared by, trailing fire and smoke. Its pilot was shouting, "Thrusters are gone; I can't control it!" A second later, the ground shuddered as it crashed, and the Spartans heard the Forerunners murmur a soft prayer for the pilot.

"They got our Pelican, too, sir," said an ODST hunkered down in the cavern beyond the hall, "but before we went down, we spotted a good LZ for the Dawn. If we can get to our vehicles, we'll lead you to it."

The snipers were already getting their angles on the Brutes. When they fell, the others charged forward to kill the surviving Covenant - mostly Grunts - and ran for their vehicles.

"Incoming!" Tande shouted and pointed. The Spartans looked, just in time to see a pair of Brute Prowlers come over the rise. One of them skidded to a stop one on the far side of the small canyon, all of the Brutes bailing out in favor of attacking the ODSTs hand to hand. But Sam was already there, throwing two plasma grenades at their feet, and they exploded and sent the Brutes flying.

The explosives did a little damage to the Prowler but not enough to break it. Black Team mounted up and swung around to target the other Prowler, which was still skidding around and shooting at the Marines still in cover. Linda nailed the driver with her rifle, which made the job much easier, and they all mounted up. The Forerunners chose to leave the actual seats to the Spartans and Marines, instead jumping and sprinting alongside the vehicles at speeds that made Kelly jealous. "I want to try out your armor, if only to see how fast I can go."

"That's fair," said Shields.

They swerved around the crashed Longsword and the Phantom not too far past it, riding the drop into the canyon beyond, where they saw a large, bronze-colored Forerunner structure held by a bunch of Brutes. They fought their way through the Covenant to its upper doors, where Johnson met them in his Pelican. "Ma'am, Hocus almost got a wing shot off," the Sergeant Major said, swinging his chain gun around to look for more foes, "but we spotted a structure on the other side of this wall. It matches Cortana's description of the map room from the first Halo ring."

"A Cartographer, good," Keyes replied, "That should help us fix Truth's location. Secure the LZ, and we'll push through that wall."

"Roger that. Follow my Pelican, Master Chief! The LZ's this way." Hocus and the Sergeant zoomed away, and the humans and allies followed. They headed back up the way they had come and went around another bend next to the drop off, where they found more Covenant waiting for them: some Grunts and their Ghosts. They died like all the rest, and the Forerunners took their vehicles and kept following the Spartans.

They headed up another slope, where they found another group of Covenant firing on Marines taking shelter in a rock tunnel. Their band mowed through the Jackals in front of them, even as those on the turrets swung around to nail the Brutes and the Grunts a bit further away. Then they continued through the tunnel.

The Covenant held the canyon beyond, and two mounted teams went right to engage the Wraith while another and the Marines and Forerunners went left to take out the Ghosts and a lookout tower. They converged again to advance further through the canyon, where a bunch of Brutes were defending two anti-air Wraiths. They used their vehicles' plasma weapons to great effect against them and the Wraiths, which were quickly destroyed.

"That did it. LZ's clear." Johnson's Pelican swooped in and hovered off to one side. "Commander? Bring her down."

"Roger that. Beginning my descent."

One of the ODSTs called out, "Look! Up high! Here she comes!"

"Is the Dawn rated for atmosphere?" another asked.

"Guess we're gonna find out," the first replied, "Hey! Take cover!"

The Forward Unto Dawn swooped down from the battle overhead in a steep curve, settling overhead with ease - but not without air displacement causing high winds that threw vehicles and even people hundreds of meters. The Spartans and the Forerunners anchored themselves with their armor, and more than a few of them lifted a hand to catch other UNSC personnel who got caught in the draft.

"Thanks, all of you. I wouldn't have lasted much longer up there. Come to the back of the frigate."

Three cargo platforms were lowered from the Dawn, carrying two Scorpions, two Warthogs, and plenty of reinforcements - including Guilty Spark, who dropped out from inside the Dawn and glided around over their heads. The wounded, meanwhile, were evacuated back to the ship.

"Did the Elites get a fix on the Cartographer?" Miranda Keyes asked. She seemed to begin the shutdown procedures, but before she could activate the ship's automatic defenses, there was a soft clang on the roof near the engines at the rear, then another near the bridge at the front. "What was that?"

"Us, Commander," was Nethalia's reply, "Overhead dazzlers to prevent the Dawn from being seen from above. While we do not expect that there will be any Covenant ships left to attack her, we are still awaiting the arrival of High Charity."

"Thanks," Miranda said, "Although a little warning would have been nice."

"Apologies."

"Johnson?"

"Yes, ma'am, it's just on the other side of this wall, but it's surrounded by Brute heavy armor," the Sergeant Major replied, still inside his Pelican.

"Don't worry, I've got a plan. If we can't go over the wall, we'll go right through it. The Spartans have the tanks; they'll lead the way. If you encounter any locked doors, Spark will be happy to pry them open for you."

"I will certainly try my best," Spark said in reply to Miranda, "though I am unfamiliar with this facility."

The Spartans left the Prowlers and Ghosts to the Marines, mounting up on the tanks and Warthogs, and swung back the way they had come. Yet as they did so, a swarm of Ghosts and a Prowler came pouring out of the tunnel on the far side of the LZ, heading their way. Fred took aim and nailed the Prowler, making Sergeant Stacker laugh and call, "Hey, how does 90 millimeters of tungsten strike ya?"

"Shame we couldn't get a Forerunner tank again," said Anton. He was driving the second Scorpion. "That would be even more useful."

"Please, use caution," the Monitor pleaded over the COM in response, "avoid collateral damage! While this facility appears quite durable on the surface, no doubt there are delicate facilities below the facade."

"Which is why we are not using our tanks," Shields added, "Too much risk of the charges penetrating the facility's armor."

"Bummer."

[Also, not a good enough reason to use the word 'penetrate'.]

The band continued along the path back to the tunnel, the Scorpions nailing the Ghosts with the tank rounds. "Tank beats Ghost," one of the Marines on Anton's tank jeered as the last of them went flipping end over end into the wash below.

Fred's tank was at the front of the line and had just started its ascent toward the tunnel when a pair of Hunters bounded out and began firing on him. The Scorpion was just maneuverable enough to get out of the way, letting Anton fire on them. One was killed right away, and Fred brought his own gun around to kill the second. "Tank beats Hunter," the Marine razzed again.

They rolled into the tunnel and out the other side, where a Phantom was deploying a lookout tower. A single shot knocked the tower off its gravity lift, but Fred kept rolling forward to let Anton help against the Phantom.

"Tank beats everything! Oh, man! I could do this all day!" the Marine cried as the Phantom exploded, the pieces falling out of the sky and crushing a handful of the Covenant beneath it.

"Oops," Kelly said, sounding not at all apologetic.

The humans and Forerunners mopped up the survivors and moved on. Some armor seemed to have been dropped in behind them, because they ran into a squad of Ghosts around the next bend. Fred paused only long enough to make sure there were no friendlies in the blast radius before firing on them, sending two of them flying. The others skittered back and away, hosing fire in their direction, but it wasn't enough.

They turned tail and ran for the Wraith below the drop off, but the Spartans just followed them. The Warthogs and allied Ghosts zipped ahead to cover the approach of the Scorpions, which took aim at the Wraith. They put one round after another into it, and it exploded before it could get a good angle on them. Then they turned their attention on the Ghosts and the next lookout tower, which went the way of all the others before it.

The Scorpions led the way into the first canyon, taking aim at the Wraiths being dropped off on the ridge on the far side. Fred and Blue Team advanced across the ridge towards them while Stacker called over the COM, "All armor, form up on the lower doorway. Chief, get upstairs, have your robot pick that lock!"

"I beg your pardon?" Spark sounded indignant. "I am 343 Guilty Spark, Monitor of Installation Zero-Four."

Stacker was unfazed by the Monitor's irritation. "Yeah, well you're also our ticket through this wall. So if you don't mind?"

"I would gladly aid the Reclaimers' progress."

The Scorpion's rounds pierced the Wraiths' armor and killed them and their drivers in an explosion of blue-white fire. Yet as they continued their advance, a Shade turret at the corner turned to spray fire in their direction, but it was too diffuse to do any real damage by the time it reached them.

Their shells were not.

The Grunt went flying out of the seat, and the turret itself broke off from its mount, rolling away, even as the Brute there tried to rally the troops. Another shell was enough to blow most of them away, and Linda swung the chain gun turret around to finish the Covenant off as they drew near.

There was also fresh infantry on the bridge leading to the upper door. Although there were new barricades as well, the Scorpion sent them toppling over onto the Covenant sheltering behind them and gunned down those who weren't killed right away. They also destroyed two more Shades before Fred jumped out of the Scorpion. He signaled for Linda to take over on the main gun, and Kelly climbed into the turret. The tank spun around and headed back towards the ridge and down into the wash below, while Fred approached the door.

Spark was talking to himself. "Odd, for a door to require such brute-force security protocols. One moment, Reclaimer." He interfaced with the door the same way he had the AI storage matrix from the Flood ship, zapping it with the thin white laser. After a few moments, the panels slid back, admitting Fred to the facility. He followed the Monitor around a large bridge that appeared to have no purpose down to a door on the lower level, which opened up onto a platform. On a lower level on the opposite side of the room, the Scorpions and the other vehicles sat, waiting for them to activate the light bridge.

There was a display on the edge of the platform. Fred tapped at it, and the bridge hummed to life, letting the others cross.

A soft grinding hiss drew his attention to a terminal behind him, where panels retracted to reveal a blue and yellow interface.

THE TASK IS ALMOST FINISHED

THE ARRAY MUST BE ACTIVATED

{/}(ACTIVATION IS MURDER, GENOCIDE LARGER THAN THIS UNIVERSE HAS EVER KNOWN)

THIS THING - WE WERE WARNED ABOUT WHAT IT WOULD DO

BUT TO DOUBTERS, SEEING IS BELIEVING

{/}(MILLIONS OF BRAVE AND HONORED SOULS DIED AFTER THE LINE WAS DRAWN AND HELD RESOLUTE)

THERE ARE NO UNSTOPPABLE FORCES, IMMOVABLE OBJECTS

EVERYTHING GIVES IF IT IS PUSHED HARD ENOUGH

{/}(AND PERHAPS IT IS OUR TURN TO GIVE)

The Spartan thought on the words in the terminal as he prepared to leave the Sentinel Wall. He was approaching the door panels when there was a large THUD overhead.

"Watch out - Scarab inbound," said the Supreme Commander.

"Oh shit."

The panels retracted in front of Fred, right before a massive pede hit the ground right in front of him, close enough that his armor shrilled an impact alarm. He jumped back and lifted his assault rifle to fire on it, but it was already moving away. Instead he aimed at the Grunt manning the rear plasma turret and nailed the alien between the eyes with his pistol.

A Gauss Warthog drove up, a Marine at the wheel. "Sir! Hog's all yours!" He jumped out of the driver's seat and let Fred take over, hopping on the turret instead. "Let's hit that hostile armor!"

The Spartan gunned it through a switchback canyon, where they came across a few scattered Ghosts - which the Gauss cannon quickly took out; he was no Spartan, but the Marine still had a very sharp eye. That let them work their way back to the main column, where Fred let another Marine take over driving in favor of hopping back on Linda's Scorpion.

Her shooting was just as scarily accurate with the tank gun as it was with an S99; she seemed to have some sixth sense for exactly how and where and when to fire to do the maximum amount of damage. Her focus was on a pair of Wraiths up ahead on the first of a few wide sandy steps leading down to the base of the Cartographer. The structure itself rose high above them, faintly bronze in color, all the metal and mathematical angles he'd come to expect from Forerunner construction.

"First line clear," Sergeant Stacker called over the COM, "Move up!"

The Scorpion rolled down a slope of sand to the second step and swung around to focus on the Wraiths parallel to them. She took out one, while the other tank took out the second, then they both turned to focus on the weaker Covenant vehicles. Finally the call came; "Second line clear, push forward!"

However, that seemed to be the signal; the Scarab returned, appearing on the far side of the Cartographer. "Bravo," Stacker ordered, "Flank and cover. I want everybody supporting the Spartans; they'll take it down!"

All three Spartan teams advanced under cover fire from the Marines, though they did do a little shooting of their own. The continuous fire caused the Scarab to glitch and overload, crouching low enough that Black Team (the closest at the time) could board and destroy it. They fought their way through the aliens onboard to the shield protecting the power core. Arthur slammed the butt of his carbine into it once, twice - and it went down. From there they just shoved two plasma grenades into the exposed core - then jumped out and ran like hell.

The Shadow of Intent entered the atmosphere in the distance just as the Scarab exploded, everyone turning away to protect their eyes, a wash of blue-violet-white light illuminating the area like the briefest and smallest of suns. "Not bad, Spartans," Rtas said, "I saw that explosion from orbit.

"Truth's fleet lies in ruins; find where the liar hides, so I may place my boot between his gums!"

"We'll know soon enough, Shipmaster," Miranda replied.

The ground troops turned their attention to the ramp leading up to the doors of the Cartographer - and the enemies holding it. Regardless of the risk to whatever lay below, the tanks turned and fired on the Covenant there, as did everything else with the ammo to spare. When what seemed to be the last of the aliens perished, the Spartans dismounted and moved up the ramp to the top, where they joined the Arbiter, Stars, Sharp, and two other Forerunners who only showed up as "V" and "K" on their IFFs.

The newcomers inclined their heads to the Spartans, a gesture they returned. Then they turned to each other and played a quick match of rock-paper-scissors. V chose paper, while K chose scissors, and K knocked V's hand before taking the lead for the two of them.

As they walked past, the Spartans distinctly heard V blow a raspberry at K, followed by a soft thunk and an "Ow."

Guilty Spark unlocked the door ahead, and the Spartans inclined their heads to the Arbiter as they drew near. "Well done, Spartans," said the Sangheili, dipping his head in return.

Inside the antechamber, it seemed like there had been an epic battle between the Covenant and some Sentinels, but exactly who had won was unclear.

Spark seemed to be taking longer than before with the next door, prompting one Marine to ask, "Hey, what gives?"

"It seems I've crossed a circuit," said the Monitor.

"Well, let me have a look." When the Marine approached the door, Spark zapped him gently with a blue laser, but that concerned everyone else, especially the Forerunners. They knew their protocol better than anyone else, and ancillae were not permitted to harm humans except in special circumstances.

This was not one of them.

"Oracle!" Thel sounded alarmed, raising his weapon slightly.

"Little bastard stung me!"

"I did not want you to come to any harm."

"You've got a funny way of showing it," the Marine muttered under his breath.

Spark got back to work, interfacing with the door's security systems, until at last he succeeded in bypassing them.

K immediately moved right through, ignoring the sleeping Grunts in favor of knifing their Brute commander while his back was turned. That let the Spartans take out the sleepers without fear of injury.

Beyond that antechamber was a downward ramp, leading them deeper into the facility. They followed it down and eventually encountered a lone Unggoy, which they also took out silently; the longer they could go undetected, the easier it would be on them.

It didn't last. In the very next room, they found many more Grunts, who shrieked in fright. V threw one of the plasma batteries from the last room into the next, and K shot it, setting off all the others and killing all the Unggoy at once, though that thoroughly put an end to any attempts at stealth - at least right then.

YOUR INTRUSION HAS BEEN LOGGED

AND NOW IT HAS BEEN HALTED

{/}(BUT ON WHOSE AUTHORITY?)

ANY ATTEMPTS TO ACCESS [INSECTS UNDER STONES] WILL RESULT IN IMMEDIATE TARGETING

YOU KNOW WHO I AM - WHO ARE YOU?

{/}(ALL OUR MAKERS ONCE HELD DEAR [ALEXANDRIA BEFORE THE FIRE])

THIS PLACE HOSTS THE LIBRARIAN'S FINAL GIFT

BUT ALSO OUR MAKERS' BITTEREST CURSE

{/}(A CRUCIBLE, A FOUNDRY - RINGS WITHOUT NUMBER, WITHOUT END)

{/}(I SEE YOU, RECLAIMERS)

The ramp beyond seemed to have a wall and floor made of lilac glass. The Spartans followed it down to a room held by the Covenant, Brutes with Brutes shots and Jackals with plasma pistols and carbines. They overwhelmed the enemy - especially the Forerunners, whose weapons worked to great effect on the Brutes' shields, letting the others come in behind and finish them off.

Then they swept through into the Cartographer proper. The Forerunners lowered their weapons, and Tande murmured a soft litany in an alien tongue. "It's been millennia since we've been here," said Shields, running her fingers over part of a wall.

Everything was exactly as they had left it almost one hundred thousand years ago; a world untouched by time.

Fred laid a hand on the panel, ancient machinery clanking and groaning as it woke at his touch. An immense hologram of the Milky Way spun to life before them between the great arms of the platform extending out to either side of the gulf in front of him. "That's... our galaxy," he said, "We're beyond the rim."

"Two to the eighteenth light years from galactic center, to be precise," Spark replied cheerfully, seeming to push the display of their home aside and pulling a complete map of the Ark out in its place.

"Long way from home," said Kelly.

"Indeed," Spark agreed, zipping out over the hologram, "I had always assumed the Ark was part of a shield installation, but it seems I was mistaken."

"That's a first," Linda grunted.

Spark turned back to them for a moment. "Not at all. While I had a complete understanding of Installation Zero-Four, my Makers wisely limited my knowledge of all other strategic facilities." He continued on his path over the hologram. "Compartmentalization in case I was ever captured by the Flood." He seemed to nod to the Forerunners, who inclined their heads.

"Can you tell me where we are exactly?" Fred asked, bringing the Monitor back to the task at hand.

"Here." A nav point appeared on the map of the installation.

"And Truth?"

"Near one of the Ark's superluminal communication arrays, I'm afraid. Unfortunate; the Meddler has triggered a barrier; a defensive perimeter around the Ark's core."

Everyone but the Monitor perked up and saw a pair of Banshees fly by outside the Cartographer. The aliens moved to take cover, the Spartans and Arbiter moving to do the same.

"The barrier will be difficult to disable," Spark continued, half to the Forerunners and half to himself, "Why would you place such a comprehensive defense around a single - Oh my."

"What is it?" Fred asked, but Spark was unable to reply before a Phantom swung in. It dropped off a number of soldiers, its side turret aiming at the Arbiter and the Forerunners near him, who promptly fired right back.

"Spartans, we've got a whole mess of hostile air inbound," Johnson said over the COM, "Get back inside while we take them out!"

"Follow the Oracle," the Arbiter said, even as he hijacked a Banshee from an unwise and now dead Brute, "I will help your Sergeant clear the skies."

The Spartans did as ordered, the Forerunners and Tande close behind. They reentered the halls, finding that the Covenant had come in behind them. Brutes and Grunts fired on them from the corners, and the humans and their allies fired right back, pitching grenades into alcoves that the enemies tried to take shelter in. When they were dead, they kept moving further down into the structure.

The next chamber had more of the lavender transparent steel, and from the floor below them, a Brute chieftain shouted, "The pack will feast on you!"

"Oh, I don't think you want to do that," said Tande, and the Spartans could hear her wicked-edged smile, "I have it on good authority that we don't taste very good."

There were actually only four Brutes with active camouflage below. They were using radar jammers to try and confuse them, but the Forerunners' tech cut through the jamming with ease, so the Spartans let them handle the Jiralhanae. Instead, they went for the Jackals that came up the ramp beyond, clearing the path down to the lowest level.

There were a number of Brutes in the space beyond, including a chieftain with a gravity hammer. Sam fired a full magazine from his fuel rod gun, sending him flying off the edge of the platform, even as the other Brutes fired their jetpacks to escape. Their curving paths made them easy to track, if not to kill, but the Spartans and Forerunners took them down in the end, even as Linda took care of the Jackals and their carbines on the far side of the room.

The room now clear, they moved over to the edge of the platform to wait even as Johnson said, "ETA damn quick; stand by for pick up." Hocus' Pelican zipped in and swung around, passenger bay opening up for them. A Forerunner ship decloaked right behind her and dipped gracefully to pick up the aliens nearby.

"Commander," Fred said suddenly, lifting his assault rifle.

"Johnson, look sharp!"

"No," Spark interceded, "Don't shoot; they mean us no harm."

As the Sentinels began to zip away across the sea stretching out beyond the Cartographer, he continued, "Those units have a priority task."

"Oh yeah?" Johnson asked, "And what might that be?"

"I really can't say... not for sure. But if you allow me to find a terminal closer to the Core-" A Sentinel came up to the Spartans and inspected them before moving off to join its fellows.

The Arbiter interrupted Spark. "No, Oracle. We must keep the Prophet of Truth firmly in our sights."

"But what about your construct? Her solution to the Flood? With more data, I could find the deployment facility-"

"The Arbiter's right. We have priorities, too. Until we kill Truth, stop the Rings from firing..." Miranda said as the Spartans climbed aboard the Pelican, the Forerunners already moving off, "...nothing else matters. Not yet."