Halo: Man and Machine - Chapter 13

	I waited for what seemed like an eternity. I could tell by the time on my HUD that only an hour had passed, but it felt like a lifetime. I finally got tired of standing and sat on the floor, leaning my back against the wall. I placed my rifle beside me and took off my helmet, cupping my head in my hand. How could she do this? After all we've been through. She said she loved me for fucks' sake! What a way to treat your lover, lock him in a metal container until he starves to death. “I'm doing this for us” my ass. Why did she even do it? She's been in service for three years, not long enough to be rampant.
	My thoughts were interrupted by a peculiar hissing sound coming from the opposite side of the room. I scrambled to my feet and picked up my rifle, shouldering it and flipping off the safety. I aimed my rifle slightly downward so I could properly see what was going on in front of me. The black glass drew into the corners of the wall, exposing the other side of the room. I couldn't believe what I saw through the gunsight as I adjusted my aim.
	It was Jennifer. She looked normal, except for the fact that she was...human. Tangible. Real. She was dressed in the same skin-tight suit she had worn ever since she had been to the Cartographer. She was tantalizing and horrifying at the same time. I could feel my heart pounding in my chest. Part of me wanted to reach out and touch her, but I couldn't get her betrayal out of my head.
	“Jake, it's me,” she beckoned softly as she took a careful stride towards me. My index finger moved from the trigger guard and wrapped itself around the trigger.
	“Don't you take another step towards me,” I said sternly. Her expression seemed pained, but she walked on. Her movements were slow and calculated, no doubt wanting to avoid looking like a threat. She reached the rifle's muzzle and placed her hand on the top.
	“Jake, please. Put down the gun.” Her voice was barely above a whisper now. I could feel a tiny bit of pressure on the barrel. I locked eyes with her. Her gaze almost seemed to plead with me, and I could see tears welling up in her eyes. I didn't want to hurt her like this, and I knew she meant me no harm. I let out a shaky sigh and eased the my grip on the rifle. She was irresistible. She pushed the muzzle towards the ground and I let it go completely, the rifle falling on the ground in a loud clatter. She quickly leaped forward and hugged me, placing one hand in my hair and placed the other around my neck. Her chin barely managed to rest on my shoulders as she stood on her toes as I leaned into her embrace and wrapped my arms around her back.
	“Oh Jake. I'm so sorry I had to do that to you. But...”
	“You did it for us.”
	She sighed. “I'm glad you understand. There's so much I need to explain to you. And there's so much I want to do.”
	I gently backed out of her embrace. I place my hand to her cheek and stroked my thumb over it. She took her hand and wrapped it around mine. Her skin was unbelievably soft.
	“I know Jenn. But not here. Not now. We've been gone so long...”
	She squeezed my hand and nodded. I laughed softly.
	“I can't wait to see the look on Barnes' face when he sees you.”
	“I wouldn't miss it for the world,” she said with a mischievous smile and a sniff. I reached down and put on my helmet.
	“You ready?” I asked.
	“Let's go.”
	We left the Instrument and made our way through the airlock. To my surprise, my two companions who had entered the building with me had stayed, propping themselves up between each side of the corridor.
	“I thought I told you to go if I didn't come back in twenty mikes” I said, walking over to Barnes.
	“Yeah, well, fuck that. I sure as shit wasn't leaving you behind.”
	As Jenn came into view beside me, Barnes quickly stood up and took a step back, quite clearly shocked by what he saw.
	“Hoooooly shit!” He ripped off his helmet and blinked in disbelief. “I don't fuckin' believe it. How? How the fuck is that possible?”
	“I don't know myself. We'll have to ask later it seems”, I said as I looked down to Jenn. She smiled and took my hand.
	“Well, why didn't ya fuckin' tell us what was going on?” he asked.
	“Well, uh...” I glanced back to Jenn. The smile on her face faded and I could see a hint of concern on her face. “We lost comms as we entered the Instrument.” I heard her sigh in relief. Her secret was safe was me.
	“Excuse me, if I might interject.” said Kor. “But who is this woman? She didn't enter the building with us.”
	“That's his fuckin' AI” replied Barnes. “Or was. Sorry Jenn, uh no offense meant.”
	She laughed. “None taken. I thinks it's going to be an interesting day for everyone.”
	Kor seemed at a loss for words. “That's his ancilia?”
	“If you want to be technical, yes,” I said.
	“By the Prophets...amazing. I look forward to hearing how this happened.”
	We stood there for a few awkward seconds until Barnes spoke up.
	“So, you two, uh, ready to head for the surface?”
	“Seems like it.” I motioned towards the elevator. “Ladies first.”
	“Oh, what a gentleman,” said Jenn as she boarded the elevator. “I think you could learn a thing or two from him Barnes.”
	I saw his face go beet red as I hopped on the elevator. “She always like this in your head?” he whispered as I got on the elevator. I chuckled.
	“Sometimes.”
	“Hey, I heard that. You two might be great soldiers, but you're awful whisperers.”
	“See Barnes, you're getting me into trouble already,” I said with a raised eyebrow and a smile.
	“Can't seem to please anyone today,” he muttered as he put on his helmet. We arrived at the top of the elevator.
	The Marines had gotten a bit leisurely while waiting for us, but they didn't necessarily seem calm. Despite many of them reclining on their rucksacks, the mood was anxious and concerned.
	“What now?” Barnes asked as we walked out of the doorway.
	“I have a private call to make. After that, we're on our way to ONI. Jenn, follow me.”
	We walked off out of earshot of the rest of the group. I could hear a few Marines mutter in disbelief as we walked past them.
	“So...who exactly are we calling?” Jenn asked as I found a suitable spot.
	“Catherine Halsey. I think she'll be...interested in recent developments.”
	“Oh,” was her reply. I could sense a bit of contempt in her voice.
	“What?”
	“Well, I know about her work on the SPARTAN program. What she did. What she did to you I mean. It was criminal.”
	“Maybe. But, that sent me on a totally different direction in life. And look where I am now. I suppose I have her to thank for that, in a bit of a weird fucked up way.”
	“I guess you're right, I don't know. Just promise me you'll keep my interactions with her as short as possible, please Jake?”
	 I nodded. “Let's get this over with,” I said. I took out a collapsible compad out from my hardcase. The handshake to Onyx took some time, but soon enough I was face to face with the Doctor.
	“Jacob! It's so good to see you. How are you?” said Halsey. Her tone of voice was more relaxed  than usual, but she seemed very tired. I could hear it in her voice, and the bags under her eyes had become more prevalent.
	“Well, the last 24 hours has certainly been...something.”
	“Oh?”
	“I've got an update on what they sent me looking for.” Her eyes widened.
	“Well, what is it?” she said with a surprising amount of energy.
	“Do you remember my AI?”
	“Yes, Jennifer was it's name, right?” She paused for a moment. “Why do you ask?”
	“Jenn, come here,” I beckoned to Jenn as she entered the camera's field of view. Halsey gasped.
	“My God! How-How is that possible?”
	“Well, it seems this Venerable Instrument is actually-” Jenn began, but as soon as she did the connection began to lose connection.
	“Dr. Halsey! Catherine?! What the fuck?”
	The triangular ONI emblem appeared on the screen. It appeared that the all-seeing eye was not purely symbolic.
	“Aw, shiiit.” I whispered as a familiar face appeared on the screen. “Serin. Do what do I owe the pleasure?”
	“I apologize for interrupting whatever you and and Dr. Halsey were talking about. But, well, I have bad news. And new orders.”
	This was odd. It wasn't uncommon for us Spartans to receive orders from ONI, but not this far up, and not in this manner. Something didn't feel right.
	“What's going on?”
	“There's no easy way to say this so I'm just going to tell you the truth. Earth's been invaded. We're recalling all Spartans back to Earth, and we've dispatched a transport vessel to your position. It should get there in a few hours. From there, you'll be reassigned as we see fit.”
	I felt like someone had just punched me in the gut and the balls at the same time. I had known it was inevitable for some time now, but to know that it was actually happening was heart breaking. It was my home. Humanity's home. This was the endgame.
	“How bad is it?” I barely managed to say.
	Serin sighed. “It's bad. We've been evacuated from Sydney. New Mombasa is gone. There's fighting all over the planet.”
	“Jesus Christ. How did they even find us?”
	“We don't know. Maybe it someone brought some piece of Covenant tech with a tracker, or it was just luck; it doesn't matter. All that does is that they're here.”
	I nodded. “I just hope you sent a ship with enough space for me and my men. I've got a squad of twelve plus myself.”
	“We're sending a Black Cat-class prowler. You'll have the space you need. Well Jake, I need to get going. I need to make a few more of these calls. Not many unfortunately. Goodbye.” The connection abruptly ended. She was right about one thing though, there weren't many of us Spartans left. I stared at the ground. I still couldn't believe the Covenant had found Earth. The Cole Protocol had been successful for so long, but now just after the Fall of Reach, it seemed like the end of the war was in sight. And it didn't seem like humanity would be the victor.
	Jenn placed her hand on my arm. “Oh Jake, I'm so sorry,” was all she could manage to saw. She went to give me a hug but I stopped her before she could.
	“Not now Jenn. I'm sorry, but I can't show any sign of weakness in front of the rest of them. I'm the only hope they have left.”
	She withdrew her hand and nodded with a deep exhale. “I understand. You're going to tell them, aren't you?”
	“Of course. I don't know how I will, but I will. I guess I'll just tell it how it is.” I drew my hands down my face. “All right, let's go.”
	“Marines! Attention! Semi-circle around me, double time!” I yelled as I marched over to them. The Marines jumped to their feet, and formed a neat half-crescent around me. “At ease.” I ordered, and their posture loosened slightly. “I've just gotten new orders from ONI. There's no easy way to say this, so I'm just going to cut the bullshit and tell it how it is. Earth's been invaded, and the UNSC has seen fit to recall all major assets back to Earth. They've dispatched a prowler to pick us up, and upon arriving at Earth we will be given a new objective, whatever that may be. I'd imagine we'll be fighting in major population centers or strategic military locations. Regardless of where they put is, we're going to be seeing some nasty shit soon. I know many of you are from the colonies, but many are also from Earth. Myself included. Earth isn't just my home. It's all of our homes; as a species. You Marines embody the spirit of your motto, semper fidelis. Always faithful to me, to the Corps, to Earth. I could not have asked for a better group of troops to defend our home with. Semper fi, Marines. Fall out.”
	Each Marine took a step back, then continued upon their business. Some were silent, others talked, each trying to reconcile the news in their own way. I wondered how much worse the mood would be if they knew how I felt. I couldn't help but avoid my usual esprit de corps in my speech. I just wasn't able to bring myself to include it. I didn't think the nature of my revelation called for it either.
	We moved into the forest in order to be better concealed by any potential Covenant air assets. We took turns on guard duty: one person to watch the forest, and one more to scan the sky for the sloop headed our way. I had just gotten off watch and handed Pulowski the binoculars when I noticed Jenn leaning against a tree, looking quite bored. I took off my helmet and walked over, taking a seat next to her.
	“What's up?” I asked.
	“Oh, nothing,” she said with a sigh. “I'm just bored, that's all. Nobody'll talk to me.”
	“They're just reacting to the news. Plus I think that they're getting used to having you around. They'll change, just give it time.”
	“I hope so” she said as she put her head on my shoulder. She looked up at me and gave me a warm smile. “Y'know, I never told you this, but I really like the sound of your voice. Do you-do you think you could read a story to me?” I paused for a moment, then planted a kiss on her forehead. She was so sweet. I was more than happy to anyways, figuring it would take my mind off of Earth.
	“Of course, I just hope you don't mind my choice of reading material.”
	“Well what did you have in mind?” she asked as I pulled the compad out of my hardcase. She knew I had a few books on it for the downtime in between missions.
	“Moby Dick. I've been meaning to start it for some time now, but just never got around to it.” The transparent glass of the pad turned white, and the black words of the novel emerged on the screen. “Call me Ishmael,” I began. “Some years ago—never mind how long precisely—having little or no money in my purse, and nothing particular to interest me on shore...” The hours seemed to meld into one another, only the darkening sky indicating the passage of time. The stars had become fully visible when Nakamura called me over, saying that he had sighted something in the sky. Passing the binoculars to me, I saw a thin, black hull with two long, forward swept wings moving towards the field in front of us.
	“Our ride's here Marines. Form up on me, we're leaving.” I stated. While small for a Shaw-Fujikawa equipped vessel, the Prowler still took up a nice chunk of the field, totaling just over 50 meters long. Despite their relatively small size, the sloops were extremely fast, among the fastest ships in the entire UNSC fleet, and while they lacked armament, they were almost totally invisible on radar and IR imaging. Painted black, they blended well to the ambient color of space. I let the Marines get on first and pick their rooms, as the bunks normally meant for 38 Spartans could more than accommodate the twelve others who would soon board. As the rest of the Marines boarded, I pulled aside the ONI officer who helped them climb aboard. He wore the standard gray ONI fatigues without nametape as usual of the organization, although his had a significant amount of grime and grease on it, most likely from onboard maintenance.
	“Is there anything I can help you with sir?” he asked as I approached.
	“Yes, actually. What do you plan to do with the gaping hole we've left in the side of that cliff? I mean, not to be rude, but I hope you weren't planning on leaving it that way for the Covenant to stumble upon.”
	“We've got a holographic projector that we'll place next to it. It should give the allusion that it hasn't been tampered with. Anything else Petty Officer?”
	“Yes, one more thing. How long will the trip to Earth take us?”
	“About 4-5 days, depending on slipspace conditions.”
	“Alright, that'll be all. Let's get underway.”
	“Yes sir. Welcome aboard the UNSC Catalina.” We climbed aboard and soon enough, we were on our way.