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The Second Ring (Part 1)
Posted By: Jason<promodo@tampabay.rr.com>
Date: 24 November 2003, 5:33 PM
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This is going to be a story series I'm working on for a while, off and on as college permits. I want feedback, or no further installments.. I know it's rather action-lacking right now, but don't worry... once the Chief don's the MJOLNIR-MARK VI(hint hint), things will start getting exciting.
The Second Ring, Part 1
1400 Hours, July 15, 2561 / Unknown Installation in Sector 41.4.23, Gamma Quadrant
"What the hell is -that-?"
The young ensign was staring through the forward viewscreen, squinting his eyes in a sharp narrow as the Highline Class Slipstream Navigator, or HacSan, slipped from light speed back into the normal range of space.
What appeared as a small beacon in his neural implants gave off a faint silver glow as the sunlight touched it from millions of miles away. A strange structure, it was definitely not human, and likely not Covenant either.
Captain Michael Preston stood at the center of the deck, his uniform clean and straight pressed, not a whisker on his face. A true military man from the day he was born. Even he, however, lost that straight line of his lips as the viewscreen was increased in magnification, bringing the structure into scope.
Some twenty-eight thousand miles in diameter, a giant ring of strangely lucid metal drifted, slowly spinning on its axis as it rested in orbit of a massive iodium-core gas giant. Within the first structure, a grand metropolis of metal plating was seen, thin vents of blue vapor erupting at sustained intervals and meeting the outer structure of yet another ring.
The secondary ring in the center of the mass had large, fin-like structures on its outer surface, using the expelled vapor to continue its orbit, sustained at rhythmic bursts as it rotated on an entirely different axis.
Even still, within this ring rotated a third, expelled on the same geocentric force of the first two and spinning lucidly on what would be the 'z' axis... each ring rotating in a different angle and direction, reminding the Captain of the orbital g-force inducers he had seen astronauts use in ancient terran space training.
Within the center mass of it all, a smaller sphere rotated on its axis, steadily spinning in a single driven motion. Upon the surface, smatterings of light could be seen, covering the surface of the structure that could only be described as a metropolis, as it would be seen from above in space.
The younger crewman of the ship had never even heard of such a structure, but Captain Preston remembered a tale of something similar. Eight years prior he had been in command of a smaller Frigate, navigating on a path back toward Earth for defense from the Covenant. As they traveled through slipspace, however, a transmission had come through over encrypted UNI frequencies, priority alpha. It came, oddly enough, from a single lifeboat found floating in space, a great distance from Reach. Inside, the Captain unlocked a Pandora's Box.
The last of the remaining Spartans and the most highly developed AI ever constructed were sealed within the hushed casket. When the Captain rescued them, he and a few choice others outside of the UNI department came to know of a fantastic and amazing world... a ring world, known only as Halo... the story of the forerunners, the Covenant, and the flood. The story of sacrifice, and salvation. He heard everything from the Covenant assault on the Pillar of Autumn, all the way until the Master Chief stored himself into cryosleep.
Soon afterward, the Master Chief and the crew of the Captain's old ship, the Resistance, made their way to Earth. En route, the Master Chief and the AI, Cortana, were brought up to speed on the happenings-- the Covenant had found Earth. Undetectable probes that used the same cloaking technology as their Elites sometimes did, had attached to the hulls of numerous cargo-class refugee ships. The Covenant had followed them straight to Earth after Reach fell.
After watching rather astonished as the Master Chief had literally leapt out the door of the spacecraft, the Captain fought valiantly through the battle, and saw the Covenant defeated. Now, after three years without war or combat, he had found something that caused a sudden knot to form between his stomach and his heart.
"Ensign Reilly, stop ship now. Do not move any closer to the structure. We don't know what it is, yet, but we need to send word of it to Naval Command."
A high-range pulse had carried the message back to Earth, still rebuilding after the Covenant assault. The signal was received, encoded heavily, and directly sent to the head of UNI itself. Admiral Peter Sandecker looked over the documentation, and reviewed digital footage of the structure itself... turning to his personal AI named Pitt, he spoke rather clearly. "Be a good man, and bring up Master Chief SPARTAN-117's video recorded data of Ring structure classified "Halo"."
The dark-haired construct of a man in a Hawaiian shirt and cargo shorts gave a nod, "You got it boss," then using the first four words spoken as voice print activation protocol, and the rest being processed. A moment later, the viewscreen of the Admiral's desk was filled with an image of the original Halo.
Comparing the two, definite similarities were seen in the carved lines covering the outer rings. A call was made at once through encrypted channels, beamed to the military retirement facility known as Valhalla, and connected directly to the officer in command there. He then conveyed the message through the channels, and in the end, it came to a private line in room 112.
"Hello?" asked a quizzical, voice, the tone a bit flat... bored.
"Master Chief. It's good to hear your voice again."
The Chief stood upright in his seat looking out over the tropical paradise, his form straight and his shoulders square as he spoke in a sharper tone. "Admiral, Sir."
The admiral didn't even need to see the Master Chief to know what to say, "At ease, soldier."
"Sir, might I ask why you've called me? I've been retired from USNC Naval Operations."
"That's true, soldier, but that was your doing. I never expected a Spartan to withdraw from any form of duty, even if it was just teaching cadets."
The Chief closed his eyes, and the memories came flooding back to him...
~~~~
It was cool in the tech lab. Cool air was channeled through to keep the processors running. Before him, an image of Cortana flickered occasionally, silent for the first time in a while.
"Chief... I'm dying. I-.. I was not made to last forever. It's a part of my neural lacing."
The Chief knew all about it. The neural constructs inside Cortana were made before the adaptation of Covenant technology. Her memory matrix was operating too fast for her core programming, and essentially, she was simply thinking too much. It hurt the Chief to know that in exactly twelve minutes-- dictated by the countdown timer below the pedestal- Cortana would cease to be.
"Oh, don't make that face, John. These past years inside your mind have meant the world to me. I remember how bravely you fought, Chief. We beat the Covenant off this planet, and drove them out into deep space. We won!"
The Chief simply shook his head. "We won, but you lost. Cortana... you're all I have left." He stared at the ground, remembering, "The other Spartans, Chief Mendez, Docto-... everyone... they're all dead. Now I have to lose you too."
For the first time in all her years of knowing him, and being inside his mind, Cortana watched tears roll down the Chief's stone-cut cheeks. If the construct could join him, she'd be crying too.
The countdown timer beeped an alarm at thirty seconds, as a small light beacon at Cortana's 'feet' turned red.
"Chief... this is goodbye. I'm sorry I couldn't stick around, but it's time. Don't forget me, John. Keep yourself safe."
The Chief was about to say his goodbye, before the image of Cortana simply disbanded outward in a spiral of light her memory cube shuddering, and then sparking as it ruptured from overload.
~~~~~
The Chief remembered why he had left, alright. He was tired of watching everyone die. "I must ask again, Admiral, why have you called me?"
The Admiral's voice was short, then, but what he had to say spoke volumes to the Chief.
"We've found one, John. We've found another Halo."
To Be Continued...
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