Vandread Fan Fiction ❯ VanDread - Halo The Second Stage ❯ Blast From the Past Part 4 ( Chapter 8 )

A3VanDread Halo The Second Stage

Disclaimer: I don't own Halo or VanDread so let's leave it at that.

Chapter 5

Part 4

Blast from the Past

< >: Thoughts

***************

On the surface of the planet…

John-117 and Fred-104's teams were currently moving out through the remains of the Forerunner vessel while Kelly-087 and Linda-058's teams were now outside to secure the area for the salvage teams to reach the site below them, along with the salvage teams was Parfait and a handpicked team of engineers to oversee the recovery of technology and information from the ship.

As soon as the ships touched down, the rest of the ground team were quick to set up a defensive perimeter while Linda sent a COM signal to John and Fred, she normally operated well on her own and was a lone wolf by nature, but she knew the importance of this mission so now was not the right time to go solo.

“Squad Leader, the ground teams are on site.”

“Good, get ready for an escort mission, Cortana just called in before you did, the fleet's got their defense grid ready up top, so let's get to work.”

“Roger.”

As the shuttles landed, Parfait and her crew were on the site and taking several of the anti gravity platforms to gather what they could from the wreckage, once the teams were well spaced out and formed, both Kelly and Linda went back to doing their duties and were now escorting the Engineering teams, the very second Parfait saw the interior of the ship, she was in awe, she had NEVER seen such designs before and despite the place looking like a wreck, she was still amazed at the sheer size of the ship. The Megele Navy made large ships, but this one dwarfed them all and made look like the toys that young women back home used to entertain themselves when in the bath-tub.

“Wow….this ship is huge…there's nothing back in Megele like this!”

Parfait then managed to look at the Combat Skin that was recovered and she quickly began to analysis it as best she could with the circumstances she was in at the moment, as far as she could figure, the suit was indeed designed for heavy operations though it seemed to have no shielding systems, but as she looked at it, she couldn't help but be awed by it's design as it was still something as a work of art. However, for now she had to focus on gathering all that she could to study as she and the engineers, under heavy escort began to gather what they could. They knew however that unless the Spartan teams who were still exploring the ship's internal design found the ship's power block, they were not going to get far.

Despite that, Parfait and her crew ere finding a number of amazing artifacts in the ship itself, some were similar to the weapons that the Spartans and the Fire Teams would use in battle, but they were certainly different in both form and function, making Parfait suspect that the weapons on this ship were far different than the ones they had on the Nirvana, though she knew that they operated on the same functions and rules. The weapons were gathered as best they could and it was then that she and the others spotted strange robotic like constructs that apparently were no longer operational for a possible number of reasons. One of the engineers looked at the thing and spoke out as she tried to study the machine with the time permitted.

“What is this thing?”

Kelly walked over and spoke as she looked at the machine.

“Looks like a Forerunner Sentinel, judging by the damage it must have been fighting the Flood before they were all destroyed; they served as support weapons for the Forerunners and were sometimes used to contain Flood outbreaks that were not of a serious grand scale to limit Forerunner losses from what we learned in the records of the Shield World, and from the records John had with him. They may be small and not very powerful, but if in good numbers and well coordinated, they can be deadly.”

Parfait looked and was interested in their construction and asked the engineers to take the wreckage as well as anything else of value. The groups carried on piling up as much of the Forerunner technology that they could find on this level and while this was going on, the two Spartan IIs and their respective teams were moving out to find anything else that were of value and they were able to find more than enough as well.

In one section of the ship, there appeared to be the ruins of a number of turrets that were used to secure sections of the ship from borders, though these were now nothing more than wrecks, their construction was more than enough to interest the engineers as they gathered what they could. They also found other things of considerable interest despite the damage of the ship, some were the shreds of construction materials that the ship itself was made of and Parfait took those for study to understand what was the exact composition of the alloys used by the Forerunners on their ships, the next were an apparently intact number of pyramid like devices that still released light. Once the head engineer scanned it, she was awed.

“This…this thing is releasing enough energy to out match even the best portable fusion power cells on Megele!!!! This is amazing!!!”

Parfait has the devices brought along to study as well, though she extended advice for extreme caution as such pure energy could be highly destructive if handled in the wrong fashion. They carried on to see what else they could find on the ship that was worth studying. They then spotted other items, mostly energy weapons that were remarkably well preserved and still able to function, Combat Skins of various types that were still intact and other bits that were worth taking. All the while, they hoped that the others would find the ship`s main power block.

***************

In another part of the ship…

One of the Fire Team members in her Power Armor spoke as she gazed at the ship's interior.

“By Grand Ma….this place is HUGE! We could actually fit an entire housing unit's worth of occupants in here and still have room for more!”

The others nodded but were quick to remain silent when the Spartans looked at them, that was more than enough to cut their conversations short and it was then that both teams arrived in front of a massive set of doors and seeing that they would have to open it the old fashioned way, the Spartans and the Vanguards got to work with the Vanguards using their Plasma Saws to cut the door and the Spartans tore it open. As soon as they entered the room in the ship, they were able to see the massive banks of Energy Cores that powered the ship itself, they seemed to be barely active and it was when they hoped that they could find a way to reactivate them.

It was then that voice came out.

“Oh….Reclaimers! It has been so long since I have seen your kind.”

The entire force turned around and were greeted by a floating machine that resembled an eye and John reflexively tightened his grip on his weapon as the sight of it brought back memories of 343 Guilty Spark, that mad A.I was the killer of his friend Avery Johnson and that thing had tried to kill him and Cortana more than once when they were on the first Halo Ring. The unit then floated over to them and spoke in a very formal and respectful tone.

“Greetings Reclaimers, I am Naval Unit 503 Flowing Chapter, I am the current A.I unit in this Forerunner ship, it is good to see you here to finally reclaim this ship and take over the legacy left over by my makers.”

“Makers?”

John spoke.

“You mean the Forerunners?”

“Precisely, I have been trying my best to keep this ship repaired and operational but sadly the ship is no longer operational and is not much use….many of the Huragok onboard were slain by the Flood and many died after the firing of the Halo Rings during the Battle with the rogue A.I Mendicant Bias….excuse me for saying this, but have I done something to offend you Reclaimer?”

John realized that he was still aiming his weapon at the A.I unit and decided to speak the truth.

“One of your kind murdered a good friend of mine, it was 343 Guilty Spark, you know him?”

The A.I moved itself in what John could tell was it's version of a nod.

“Yes, he was in charge of Installation 04 according to my last inventory of the data my creators left behind….he went Rampant didn't he?”

“Yes he did.”

The A.I then replied in a sad tone.

“I see….he had always had a tendency to focus too heavily on protocol…what happened to him?”

John was very wary but took a risk and told Flowing Chapter everything, while watching the A.I to use it's weapon like Spark did, but afterwards, the A.I spoke.

“I see….Guilty Spark was indeed following protocol, but his programming became obsessive, it is a sad thing for one of my kind to turn on the ones chosen by my creators to inherit the legacy left behind for them, as for me, I do not blame you for your anger towards me Reclaimer, however I assure you that my programming has been and always will be to the protection of those chosen by my creators, and your arrival has been a boon to me.”

“How so?”

“You are the child of my makers, and as such, you are by right Forerunner, therefore as a creation of the Forerunner, I pledge my service to you and will fight for your cause.”

“How do I know you're not going to become Rampant?”

“I will give you this.”

The A.I revealed a device that resembled the same Index key that Cortana had with her, though in this case, it was gold and blue in color.

“This device serves as a power up sequence system for the ship, while the ship is too heavily damaged to worthy of space flight, it is capable of activating it's power system, though only a Forerunner can do so, my Captain was killed after Halo was fired but not before he gave it to me for safe keeping, he was not taken by the Flood at the time and charged me to keep this ship safe. I am giving this to you as a gesture of my intent to aid and not harm.”

John looked at it and then took it, warily examining the device while Fred and the others were ready for anything, the Master Chief then spoke to the floating Forerunner A.I, wanting to throw the final curveball on this unit and hope for the best, he looked at Fred and gave a slight nod, the Spartan nodded and got ready and so did the others as John spoke.

“I need to know something from you.”

“What is it you require of me?”

The Spartan told the Forerunner A.I what he knew of this world and the A.I was shocked to learn that it had landed not only on a desolate planet that was uninhabited, but also in a completely different dimension, and that here, the Forerunners did not exist at all. He told Flowing Chapter everything of this dimension's history and also the most critical, the ongoing war with the Harvesters and how they needed to destroy the Key ship to prevent it from falling into the hands of the Harvesters. As soon as that was over, the Master Chief spoke then to the Forerunner A.I to see just how it would react to the news that they intended to destroy the ship once it was picked clean of any and all viable materials, data, and salvage.

This was not going to be easy and John was not in the mood to have a repeat of what happened the last time when the Forerunner A.I Guilty Spark found out the plan to fire the new Halo Ring to kill the Gravemind and the Flood once and for all. The Spartan knew full well how that event turned out and that was the one thing they needed to avoid at all costs.

“I see…you wished to know if I would retaliate and stop you from destroying this ship, which has been my responsibility for the past one hundred thousand years ever since the end of the war that claimed my makers….your protectors, to prevent others from using the technology still here for their own uses?”

“More or less, yes.”

The A.I remained silent for a bit more and replied.

“I do not plan to stop you, this ship has indeed been in my charge for that period of time, but it is no longer the grand ship that it was before. And most of all, you are the child of my creators, inheritors of all their legacy and power, you ARE Forerunner, and as such, I will follow your orders and wishes, serve you and your fellow Reclaimers to the best of my ability and programming, and if so needed, I will gladly sacrifice myself to protect you. Also, I do not wish this ship to become a source of power to such deranged beings, though they themselves are human, they can no longer be classified as human and as such are not under the protection of the Mantle. This ship, ever since you stepped into it, is yours to do with as you please Reclaimer, if destroying it is the best option to prevent the technological legacy of my makers and your protectors, then so be it. I will guide you on how it can be done.”

That was unexpected in John's mind but he knew that time was against them so he had no choice but to agree, he motioned for the others to follow the A.I and they made it through the place, along the way, they saw the destruction of the ship, though as they moved deeper into the vessel, they saw that some sections of the ship were somewhat still intact and they finally arrived in a massive computer center, the floating Forerunner robot then activated the control surface and the same holographic display appeared before John.

He didn't need to guess what he was being asked to do as he placed in the device. As soon as the device had been taken into the panel, the ship began to go back to life, some sections of the ship began to have power and light coursed through it, reenergizing the systems of the ship once more, some naturally didn't work up to the standard, but it didn't prevent some of the ship to be fully reactivated. The panel flashed somewhat due to the damage to the core systems, but it was not long before an image of the key ship appeared.

It was then that Flowing Chapter spoke to the gathered groups as seven dots appeared in key areas of the Key ship.

“These dots signify the key areas where you must place your charges to finally destroy any trace of the ship itself, I can only hope that the weapons you have brought for this will be adequate for although the Key ship is severely damaged and it's structural integrity is compromised severely, it is still very much an active ship.”

“Don't worry, the NOVAs should do the job.”

That was enough for John to finally contact the others, namely Kelly and Linda.

“Linda, Kelly, how goes the salvage operations?”

***************

Linda was the first to speak.

“It seems to be going smoothly at the moment, though we have to clean up the internals of some of the Combat Skins since there are remains of the Forerunners in them, not a good sight, but Parfait and her crew are doing their best, we might get enough on the transport ships, but not everything here will be worth taking.”

Kelly was currently overseeing the operation and as soon as the ships were halfway full, she signaled to Linda to let her speak to John, Linda sent her agreement and she spoke next to John. She knew that they had time, but how much was still uncertain.

“We might need to wrap it up….I get the feeling that as soon as the Nirvana and those two ships engage the Harvesters, we're going to have a lot of company soon enough.”

***************

John replied to Kelly's worries.

“Got it, I'll try and contact the Nirvana right now.”

He then did just that as he spoke to his COM connection to Cortana on the Nirvana.

“Master Chief to the Nirvana, can you read me?”

“Loud and clear Chief, we saw the whole exchange….can we really trust him?”

John knew just what Cortana meant by that and replied.

“He's given us what we need to reactivate this ship, so I don't think that we will have anything to risk at this time Cortana. How soon can we get the supplies up thereon the Nirvana?”

“Soon enough, we've gotten all that we need at the moment, and we've just gotten word from Meia, they have managed to engage the Harvester Fleet and cause enough damage to slow them down with my Longswords providing long range support, but they are going to have to pull back soon, they know that we can't afford to lose them in this very critical juncture of the whole mission. Once they do enough damage, they will move back and reinforce the Nirvana as well as the Ruby Rapier and Titan's Wrath.”

“What about the other ships?”

“They are operational at the moment and are now ready to fight, but we've got to get out of here as soon as those NOVA weapons finally explode, seven NOVA Bombs going off at once is one fireworks display I can say I don't want to look at.”

John agreed with that and as soon as the ship was online, he asked Flowing Chapter the location of the central archive on the ship, once that was online, the Spartan guided the other teams to secure it, the barely functional ship was still impressive despite the damage and the others who were there were naturally impressed by the sheer scale of the ship itself as it began to come to life, though barely. As soon as John and Fred as well as their teams arrived on site with Flowing Chapter joining them and guiding the engineering team to the archives. Once they arrived in the room that served as the main data hub of the Forerunner Dreadnought, Parfait then tried to find an access port to place in her data collector and Flowing Chapter scanned it and replied.

“Odd….this device is quite archaic and flawed, are you sure that it can handle the data from this terminal?”

Parfait was naturally somewhat offended by that remark and spoke out her offense.

“Excuse me?! I'll have you know that this is my best work yet!”

“I mean no offense, but my scans show that it's not powerful enough to handle the data stream that will come from the data core archives, might I suggest that you upgrade to a Class Twelve data storage unit? It would be far more capable and limit the risk of being overwhelmed by the information stored here.”

John however replied.

“We don't have the time Flowing Chapter, can you compress the information?”

The Forerunner A.I nodded at that and decided to get to work on the matter and began to access the data, the screen came to life and Parfait was shocked by what she was seeing as literally rivers of code and information appeared before her, it made anything she had seen back on Megele look primitive in comparison, she couldn't help but be impressed though she couldn't read the symbols used by the Forerunners in their language.

As the data was being compressed, the ships that were going to take all the salvaged technology was given the clear go ahead signal to get out of the area, while the Spartans were still busy securing the area as well as protecting Parfait as she and her crew waited for the data. Flowing Chapter finally replied that it had done it's very best to shrink all the data and allow Parfait and her crew to gather what they could. The plucky head engineer went to work on gathering the information, marveling at the fact that she and her team had so much to work with, it took at least three sets of data core storage chips for them to get even halfway to storing the information and in this moment, she was happy that the Forerunner A.I had agreed to shrink the information for them to collect, along with the fact that she had been able to bring this many chips with her to store the data. The Megele device could store at least a full digital library back home and was used as a simple and efficient way to transport data though the more expensive ones had elaborate security programs, but the data stored here was remarkable.

The head engineer felt like she was in technology heaven as she saw schematics, data records, files, formulae, and more and it was only the words of the Master Chief for her as well as her team to pack it up and to get ready to leave the ship as they were soon going to set up the seven NOVA Bombs and destroy the ship, however, they knew that while this was going on, the Spartans and those who were with them needed to remain on site and get the bombs in place as they now had key areas to set the bombs into.

As she and her group packed it up, Parfait quickly contacted the Nirvana to report their success in the mission of gathering all the data from the ship itself though she had to admit that she was going to be very restless from here on out once she got back to the Nirvana and had the time needed work on all the information that they got from the ship's data core archive.

“This is Parfet, we've managed to get all the needed information from the ship and we're going back to the ship to begin the storage of the materials and information.”

“Got it Parfet, you'd better hurry up, scanners show that the Harvesters are really coming at full force, Dita, Meia, Hibiki, and Jura are engaging them right now with a wing of Cortana's Longsword forces but they are going to have to pull out soon, the Harvesters are just too many.”

***************

Earlier…

The Harvester Fleet moved at full speed towards their objectives and soon the Cube Fighters were getting ready to attack, however, they were going to be in for a surprise when two massive arcing blasts of energy suddenly came right at them, some of the Cube Fighters got away but the ones that were caught in the arcing attacks were easily reduced into nothing but scrap and debris. That was more than enough to force the Harvesters to break ranks and find out who was attacking them, though they already had an idea on who it was attacking them at this time. Several squadrons of Cube Fighters along with supporting Seed Ships were already making their way to the area where the attacks came from.

Several more blasts were released by the attackers and more Cube Fighters were destroyed by the blasts of energy and they were firing their weapons at that direction, it was then that the VanDread appeared and this one was the one piloted by Dita and Hibiki, inside the cockpit, Dita was in a very good mood.

“Yay! Take that you bad aliens!”

Hibiki ignored that as his game face was on as he watched the monitor and began to mentally calculate the numbers and distance of the attacking forces and unleashed the full might of his and Dita's VanDread, the sheer amount of firepower unleashed by the VanDread's cannons were more than enough to sent many of the Cube Fighters to the scrap yard beyond as they were destroyed, however, Hibiki was quick to spot several Urchin ships and he quickly fired several beam shots, the Urchin Ships were able to avoid those, showing their speed and agility once more though one had been a bit too slow and was destroyed by the attack.

Hibiki however was quick to move the VanDread out of the way as several barrages of spines came right at them, he blocked using the forearm blades on the VanDread but he also knew that while this VanDread was well armored, it was not agile and fast enough to chase these threats as he quickly spoke to Dita.

“We need to break off now!”

Dita pouted but she agreed as they moved their VanDread back, and as the Urchin vessels came at them at full force, several missiles were fired right at them by the Longswords, forcing the Urchin vessels to break formation and move to the defensive, however the missiles suddenly detonated just before they hit the ships, the explosions blinded the sensors of the Urchin Ships and that gave Hibiki and Dita the opening to break away and return their machines to normal….just as Meia came rocketing right in with her own Dread. In that exact moment, both Hibiki and Meia's machines merged just as Dita flew back to be joined by Jura and the Longswords.

The Urchin Ships were suddenly greeted by VanDread Meia as the agile eagle formed VanDread smashed through their ranks.

BOOM!!!!!

The Harvester ships were sent out of the ball park as they were unable to keep up with the VanDread as both Meia and Hibiki took advantage of the confusion and attacked as many of the Cube Fighters, Urchin Ships and Seed Ships that they could reach though they made sure not to go too far and attract the attention of the Harvester Battle Ships as they knew that they didn't have the kind of firepower needed to attack ships that were that size. Dita and Jura on the other hand were escorting a number of the Longswords that were getting into position and as soon as they were there, the two retreated and Jura contacted the two.

“The Longswords are ready! It's time for us to get the heck out of here!”

“Right! Let's go quickly!”

The VanDread quickly high tailed it out of the area and was soon joined by the other Dreads just as the Longswords were able to move in ahead. Jura and Dita had managed to defend the Longswords long enough for them to get into strike position and as soon as they were, the Tarak youth quickly radioed Cortana and the former AI told them to move as she was going to give the Harvesters her patented greeting card with an extra bang.

The four knew that meant and moved out of the way as three super hot glowing streaks of energy came out, these were not energy bolts but were MAC rounds, the three rounds smashed through the Harvesters that were trying to purse them, Cube Fighters were reduced to slag while Seed Ships were torn apart by the three weapons, such was the densely packed forces pursuing them. The four had planned this out well enough though Dita mostly followed through while giving some suggestions, and this was one of them, they knew that the Harvesters saw VanDread units they commanded were vital targets and would do anything to catch them and take them out, which was why the Harvesters were so focused in destroying them that they were unmindful of spacing and as such were easy prey to the massive MAC Rounds, which were then followed a swarm of Archer Missiles..

These weapons smashed through the Harvesters hard and fast and right into the battle group, even if the harvester battle ships had far better armor than any Harvester Ship, they were still hit hard and suffered damage. However, it was not enough to warrant them to stop their every encroaching approach to the Nirvana's current location, The Harvesters were far from done as several of their core assault group continued ahead of the fleet, escorted by new forces, these units were going to be key, but this time they were not going to relent.

However, that was when the Nirvana or more specifically Cortana unleashed her second surprise of the day as the Longswords attacked, they had been able to rely on the VanDreads to cover for them long enough and unleashed their missiles and special; weapons right into the Harvesters, this was enough to force the harvesters to divert their forces to deal with the Longswords, but that didn't mean that they were going to give up as they deployed all of their forces in the direction of the Nirvana, the Titan's Wrath, and the Ruby Rapier.

***************

In one of the Dread fighters of the Ruby Rapier…

“This is so darn boring….”

“Can the chatter, we're getting ready for the soon to come battle.”

“Yes ma'am.”

The leader Dread squadron leader was not in the best of moods at the moment as she looked at the scanners to find out what else was going to happen, she was not happy that they were in this kind of situation since she was more interested in doing what she could to end this battle between her squadrons and the men. That had changed big time and now here she and her pilots were, figihting alongside some unknown menace with the men.

<By Grand Ma! Fighting alongside these men….I must be out of my mind.>

It was then that one of her squadron spoke.

“Still can't believe we're working with these darn savages….what's the universe coming to?”

The Dread pilots of the Ruby Rapier were among the best in the Megele Navy meeting their match only with the Vanguard pilots of the Titan's Wrath, when they had attacked the Titan's Wrath, they had thought that it was just a massive ship that was slow and easy to hunt down but the Titan was quick to prove them wrong as it was able to outflank them and unleash a wave of torpedoes that smashed hard into their shields and then their Vanguards moved out with deadly precision and power while being given heavy support by their main ship as their weapons, moving faster than before caught them off guard..

They had thought that the advantage was theirs, but the men had proven to be more than able to match them blow for blow, and give back just as much pain on them, their Banshees had tried to board the ship to strike fast and hard to kill the Titan, but their Banshees were repulsed with heavy losses by the Sand Panthers in battle while they made sure to give as much pain as possible, they had been humiliated by that ship and it's crew so it was annoying to find themselves being forced to work with them.

However it was then that they spotted the forces of the Nirvana getting ready and that was when the Nirvana unleashed it's weapons out in one direction, they were curious indeed as to why and it seemed so were the mean, they then spotted the arrival of a massive eagle like machine flanked by two Dreads that were from the pirates, the squadron leader and the rest of the crew of the Dread Squadrons and the Ruby Rapier were stunned by the sight of the VanDread as the mecha flew to join the others.

They were not the only ones as well as the men were surprised to see this before them, they had no idea what that machine was and they were eager to get their hands on it and see just what was it that made it tick, but then both sides were stunned when the thing was covered in glowing energy and broke into two machines.

Both sides zoomed in to see Meia' Dread and Hibiki's Vanguard move apart and then the blue Dread came closer to the Vanguard and in a moment, to the surprise of the two sides, the machines glowed and merged in a flash of light and became VanDread Dita. They were naturally surprised by all this and it was then that they were wondering just how could two machines that belonged to two different cultures and civilizations located inside of their home system was able to merge into one another. However that was taken out of their hands as the Harvesters came en masse, the women and men of both capital ships were now able to see the Harvesters for the very first time and it was not long before the Harvesters engaged them.

The Dread squadron leader quickly gave orders to her fellow pilots and on the other side of the line, her counterpart was soon to make his move as the battle was drawn.

***************

On the ground the Spartans were doing all that they could to get the NOVA Bombs into position and set them on a combined detonation system that would respond to Cortana when she gave the order for the whole system to detonate, Flowing Chapter was doing it's best to guide them to the exact locations that would be able to ensure that the detonation of all seven weapons would completely destroy the ship and leave nothing behind. The Spartan knew that this was going to be a long situation and he had just gotten word from Cortana that the Harvesters had finally arrived and were now attacking them in full force.

Half the Nirvana Fire Teams were engaged while they were supported by both the Security teams with their new weapons and training as well as the Talvernians who were on the Nirvana and soon enough the fighting was really getting to the point that the Harvesters were doing all they could to wipe out the Nirvana, they saw the Nirvana as the key threat and ignored the other ships, thinking that with the Nirvana destroyed, they would fall into place and be easier to destroy, Cortana and Magno counted on that as the elderly Captain ordered Bart and Cortana to make sure that they were able to draw out much of the strength of the Harvesters to allow the Titan's Wrath and the Ruby Rapier to do as much damage as possible. It was very risky and quite dangerous to say the very least as this would expose the Nirvana to severe damage, but thankfully Cortana's support and use of the Nirvana's weapon systems worked well with Bart's increased skills in piloting the Nirvana and the plasma cannon banks kept the Nirvana from taking the worst of the hits, though they were still going o be seriously outgunned if they were suddenly set upon by the Harvester battle ships as well.

The Titan's Wrath and the Ruby Rapier were quick to seize the chance offered to them by the Nirvana and inflicted as much damage as possible while defending themselves though Cortana told the Master Chief that the pilots on either side seem to be trying to outdo the other, something that was not needed in battle, having competitions in the battle zone might sound entertaining to some, but to the Spartan, it was a death wish waiting to be fulfilled as it distracted the ones doing it from the mission and could very well get them as well as others killed.

He placed that aside as he focused on getting the bombs in place and getting ready for any possible attacks on the surface by the Harvesters.

***************

Back out in deep space…

The Harvesters were locked in mortal combat with the Nirvana as well as the two ships from both Tarak and Megele and their respective squadrons, though in this case, the Dreads of the Nirvana were not without Longsword support and they were raking in the kills, though they were quick to retreat to Gascogne to reload, repair, and refuel once they were no longer able to maintain the attack, which left the Longswords to hold the front line which they did well under the support of the Nirvana with both Cortana and Bart unleashing all of their firepower into the fight. Once they were loaded, the Longswords would hold the fort still and they would come in and fight.

They were not alone as the three Dreads that have been transformed along with Hibiki's Vanguard were providing all the support that they were able to give their comrades and with good results, Dita and Hibiki provided the firepower needed to damage heavy formations of Cube Fighters as well as Seed Ships, as well as closing the gap and attacking Urchin Ships that made the mistake of getting into range with their forearm blades, then when they separated, VanDread Jura would step up to the plate and use it's energy emitters to act as whip like cutters to slice apart enemy forces as well as lend protection to refueling and rearming Dreads to minimize the damage they would be able to take, as well as increasing the defensive abilities of the Nirvana as well, allowing Cortana and Bart the time needed to reload and re arm the ship's weapon systems.

As soon as that was done, they would split apart and then Meia and Hibiki would go to work and fight alongside one another in their own VanDread, dodging and weaving while causing as much damage as they could while making the enemy fire into their own ranks using the VanDread's speed and agility as well as it's ramming powers to cause as much destruction as possible. Once they were in the clear, they would dive back in like an eagle tracking it's favored quarry and dive in, causing even more damage to the Harvesters while evading their counter attacks and using the confusion to their advantage.

Cortana and Bart were also raking in the destruction as they were quick to aim for key targets and hit the Harvesters hard while the Fire Teams onboard the pirate ship as well as the Security Teams and the Talvernians were also hitting back as some of the Boarding Craft were able to deploy their forces to hit the Nirvana, their increased training, weapon skills, and experience proved to be invaluable in blunting the attacks of the Harvesters.

However, that hardly meant that the pirates were winning hands down with their allies. The Harvesters had also adapted their own strategy and tactics to fight the Nirvana as well as their allies, the Cube Fighters were soon fighting in wolf pack formations, moving in well spaced units that would minimize the chances of them being destroyed en masse this time around, they would also rely on their larger size and increased speed to outpace some of the pilots and they also relied on numbers as well, though in a more tactical sense, they would focus on keeping their distance and fire while on the move in a more controlled fashion, they would strafe and also lead shoot the Dreads and Vanguards and even the Longswords and then their allies would pounce quickly into the path of their foes causing disarray and surprise in the ranks of the pirates, the men of Tarak and the women of Megele.

They were also able to work with the Urchin Ships with surprising efficiency, when the Urchin Ships were moving the Cube Fighters would then moved behind them, protected from missile fire from the Vanguards and the Dreads, once the Urchin Ships broke through the ranks of the pirates and the men and women of both worlds, the Cube Fighters would leap out from behind and blind side their victims and cause severe damage, They would also shield the Urchin Ships with their own bodies when the Urchin Ships were shot at by beam weapons as well as solid rounds, once they were out, the Urchin ship would suddenly unleash it's spines at the attackers and before the y were attacked another squadron of Cube Fighters would go in and break up the attack allowing the Urchin Ships toi recover their spines with new ones and then they would quickly go on the offensive.

There was also a new force of fighters in the Harvesters' ranks, these were ships that were shaped like crystal shards and seemed to be armed with some sort of beam refracting qualities similar to the blobs that the Harvesters had used back in the Mission where Liz and Patch lived, though in this case, the energy came from inside the fighters themselves. Once they unleashed the beams, the beam blasts would scatter all over the place, along these fighters were difficult to engage due to their weapons, but when together, they were twice as deadly as somehow, their prism like plates were able to refract the beams of their sister ships, mimicking the very same move that Hibiki had used back in the asteroid field.

These changes in the Harvester Forces' battle tactics were not lost to the pirates and Magno spoke.

“They have really been working out.”

Buzam nodded at that and it was then that they spotted a massive number of Cube Fighters break away to escort what appeared to be transport ships, the crew had no doubt that those were going to be used to deploy the assault teams to attack the Fire teams below as well as the Talvernians, the Megele and Tarak contingents, and the Spartans as well.

The elderly Captain quickly contacted the pilots who were able to fight to intercept them quickly to help keep them from attacking their comrades down on the planet's surface.

However, the Harvesters were quick to heavily defend the ships, and while it was costing them precious units, they were more than willing to gamble away those units for what they hoped would be the chance to kill or capture the Spartans along with anyone else there on the surface. The battle to prevent the harvesters from deploying their forces proved to be highly destructive as the Cube Fighters fought fiercely to defend the vessels no matter what would happen to them and it was becoming very risky to say the very least.

Meia was not the least bit pleased by what she had witnessed as the ships had managed to get past her Dread Squadrons. No matter how many times they had tried to take out the ships, the Cube Fighters were now screening them from attack, some of the Cube Fighters engaged her Dreads and the Longsword forces under Cortana's control. However the new Prism Gun Fighters were unleashing a barrage of beam weapons that kept her Dreads busy as well as the Dreads and Vanguards of the Ruby Rapier and the Titan's Wrath respectively.

She knew that those ships were going to be a real problem and if more were sent out, the advanced team was going to be in for a serious battle, and if the main capital ships decided to get involved, then things were going to get really nasty, but right now, they had to stop the Harvesters' ground assault forces from getting into the area and attacking the ground teams who were still in the process of setting up the NOVA Bombs.

However, the Harvesters main ground forces were being shielded by the Cube Fighters and Seed Ships and when they had taken out as many of the escorts that they were able to hit fast and hard with their weapons and support from the Longswords, the Harvesters would then deploy more fighter escorts to keep them away from the ships, almost as if they were doing all that they could in order to ensure that these ships were going to hit the surface.

That was more than enough to tell the Dread Squadron leader that whatever was being carried in those ships were extremely powerful units, and she was quick to wager a good guess on what was there….weapons meant to finally kill the Spartans and the Master Chief, with that in mind, she contacted the Nirvana to have Cortana warn the others on the ground of the soon to come danger while she and the others did what they possibly could manage in order to slow down and shatter the offensive of the Harvesters as best they could manage with the two front battle they were fighting.

They however got lucky then when Hibiki and Dita were able to break past the forces shielding the ships and they fired their cannons, the blast destroyed the rear of the ships, and that included their main engine banks, this caused the ships to be severely damaged and soon destroyed in their trip to the surface, however, before they exploded, they deployed their loads of pods, all aiming for the Forerunner Dreadnaught. Inside them were several platoons of Harvester Shock Troopers and an entire platoon of the Spartan Slayers, it would be their first taste of combat and if they won, good for them, if they failed, then the combat data was still useful either way for later analysis for the techs to study. If they were killed in action, they were designed to quickly relay all data to their masters so new models would be better prepared.

**************

On the ground…

“John! We've got a situation.”

The Spartan has just set the timing mechanism on one of the NOVA Bombs and the last one that they were able to set up, he quickly spoke to Cortana.

“What is it?”

“Meia and the others have shot down the transport ships and they aren't going to be a threat, but they have deployed assault pods in the area, John, get out of there now!”

“Keep your cool Cortana, we'll be fine.”

“I hope so, come back John….”

The Spartan had no idea what was going on here, Cortana was on the verge of panic and worry, something that he rarely if ever saw in her, whatever forces the Harvesters had deployed to this planet must be very dangerous for her to start acting this way. He felt something in him stir, something foreign yet familiar, the desire to get his team across this mess and get back alive….he had lost too many good friends and allies, Johnson, Keyes, Samuel, Arthur, Solomon, and many more, so many, he was not going to lose this time around, and he certainly was not going to die here.

He had fought amazing and terrifying odds ever since the wars and this was not going to change at all, he was not going to give up and die here and now. The bombs were in place and ready to go off as soon as they were in the clear, he was going to lead his team and his allies out of here, he was not going to lose anyone and he was certainly not going to leave Cortana alone. He did that once and she was nearly tortured to death by Gravemind.

He recalled when he had found her nearly spent and overwhelmed, reminders of the suffering she endured under the actions of Gravemind and when he saved her he managed to hide a small but strong amount of satisfaction in feeling her in his mind again. He would never abandon Cortana nor will he do something stupid and get himself killed.

<Now is not the time for this!>

That train of thought was more than enough to remind the Spartan officer that he had a job to do and now was time for him to get his focus on the right page as he quickly ordered the others to move out and get ready for battle as he ordered them to set up a kill zone quickly. It was then that they heard several large smashes on the ground before them and heard the tremors. The Master Chief knew that things were about to get dicey as Flowing Chapter spoke to him as it had flown out briefly ahead of them and came back just as quickly.

“Reclaimer, I am detecting several large forces approaching the ship….they do not appear to be of Flood origin or Reclaimer Origin, are these forces the Harvesters that you speak of?”

John nodded and quickly spoke to his team.

“Blue team! Hustle it up! We have company!”

Linda, Kelly, Fred, Tom, Lucy, Cade, Ash, Mark, Olivia and the other Spartan IIIs nodded and got ready, they had set the bombs in the key locations and were now going to have to get ready. The kill zone was set and soon enough, they were quickly attacked by the Harvesters, the forces turned out to be mostly comprised of Harvester Shock Troopers as well as several other units and as soon as they were in the kill zone, the Spartans unleashed hell on them as bullets and plasma rounds flew all over the place, as well as lasers and more.

The battle was chaotic as more and more of the Harvester Shock Troopers came in, only this time, they were followed by a new unit, this one was armed with the basic plasma cannon but was armed with a refracting shield that replaced the arm with the blade, this allowed the Harvester Shock Troopers to advance quickly under cover to the inside of the ship, and that was noted by the Spartans as Fred spoke.

“Those guys are fighting like the Jackals.”

The others nodded, recalling the Kig-Yar who used Shields to cover other forces and allow them to hold the fort and pin down entire strike teams.

However this time around, there were some brand new arrivals on the ship and those were spotted by the Master Chief and the other Spartans. Before them were the Spartan Slayers, they were the same as the harvester Shock Troopers but were better armored and no doubt carrying heavy weapon systems designed for intense battles, the Spartans also noted that despite increased protection, the Spartan Slayers appeared to be able to move well, this told them that the armor plating must be light weight and flexible without giving up raw protection strength.

The Master Chief and his fellow Spartan IIs faced off with the Harvesters' newest toys as the groups faced one another in the ship as the others were busy fighting the incoming Harvester Shock Troopers on the other area of the massive hallway area of the ship, The four member of Blue Team faced off with the Spartan Slayers as they began to unleash their weapons as the Spartans quickly dove for cover as the battle field rained out with bullet shots, glowing balls of plasma, lasers, and more were all over the place as the main hold of the massive Key-ship turned into a hellish battle.

The Master Chief knew that unlike the previous forces, these much larger and fiercer units were made specifically to fight him and his fellow Spartans and were huge threats to the others, so they had to hurry. He then spoke to his fellow Spartans.

“Blue Team! We have little time so let's not waste time! Take them out fast and hard!”

“Roger!”

As soon as the Spartan Slayers began to cool down their Plasma weapons, the Spartans attacked, Linda quickly aimed at one of the units and fired, but the other quickly ducked, being hit hard on the shoulder, but not enough to be fatal, the Spartan however quickly fired another shot that hit it dead center in the chest, severely crippling it and she quickly placed aside her SRS99D-S2 AM Sniper Rifles, and took out her Energy Carbine, quickly firing three shots in rapid succession, hit the chest area and planting two shots in the face, She then grabbed the body of the slain Spartan Slayer and used the body to intercept the Close Combat Blade of another, trapping it with the body of it's comrade. The Spartan quickly smashed the back of her Energy Carbine into the face of her attacker and evaded another slash that nicked her MJOLNIR's energy shields as the golden light flared up at the hit it received.

Linda however quickly introduced the barrel of her Energy Carbine into the face of her attacker and blasted one clean shot right into the eye but the Spartan Killer was quick to recover despite being shot hard in the face as it somehow seemed to be still operational as it quickly fired a plasma blast at close range, causing Linda's MJOLNIR shield systems to flare up as the close range shot proved to be a considerable bit more powerful than a standard Harvester Shock Trooper shot as it seemed that the Spartan Killers had better weapons than the ones used by their more standard brethren. Linda quickly leaned away as she quickly slammed her shoulder hard to force her foe back as she aimed and fired another round that finally put an end to her foe, however she knew better than to relax and her wariness came to her aid once more as she quickly moved away from a smaller and more powerful bolt of plasma that managed to hit her shields as she quickly turned and spotted another Spartan Slayer, only this one appeared to be a Sniper variant as it's plasma weapon was longer and more sleek in design, resembling a more streamlined version of a Covenant Hunter's Fuel Rod Cannon.

Linda dodged the attack quickly and fired right back and managed to force her attacker to back away from the position that it had earlier. The Spartan II elite sniper was quick to fire her weapon and take out several more of them though this time she was quick to aim for the vital parts of their bodies, ignoring their weapons fire as she remained calm and took her shots and supported her comrades as best she could in the situation before her.

Fred rolled out of the way and fired his MA5C ICWS Assault Rifle at full tilt as the Spartan Killer closed in on him, his shots were able to force the Harvester Unit to use it's shield and then allowed him to quickly place aside his Assault Rifle and took out one of the Plasma Rifles and one of his Combat Knives, The Spartan Slayer folded the collapsible shield and extended it's Close Combat Blade, but the Spartan quickly responded to that by swinging his Plasma Rifle hard on the left arm, moving it down and forcing the Close Combat Blade to be imbedded on the Floor of the Key-Ship and he followed through with a powerful Knife stab to the side of the neck. The Spartan Killer however was not out of the fight just yet and attacked once more with it's Plasma weapon, forcing Fred to move away while firing his own Plasma Rifle at the attacker, it freed it's blade and charged at the Spartan, Fred rolled out of the way and took out his other Combat Knife and quickly slammed the weapon right into the lower jaw of the attacker and killed it quickly.

The Spartan was soon greeted by another Spartan Slayer that extended it's Blade and slashed at him and he managed to lean back just as the weapon cut on his MJOLNIR's shield system, creating a glowing line of energy as the blade hit the shields and Fred quickly responded by deflecting the blade with his armored forearm as he heard the sparks from the blade and he managed to attack with a powerful fist on the chest of the Spartan Slayer, but this one seemed to be better armored as it took the Spartan II's attack and seemed to be still standing and slashed out with an attack. Fred quickly launched an attack to force his foe back and he then took out the Combat Knife that he had used earlier from the slain foe and quickly used the Plasma Rifle he had in hand and slammed it's underside in a side sweeping punch that sent the Spartan Slayer reeling from the blow as he quickly slashes the side of it's neck through the crack in the armor it had on. That action spilled out a good deal of blood from Fred's foe and sent it reeling back, but not enough for it to be out as it aimed it's Plasma weapon at the Spartan II's face.

However, Fred was quicker and moved in and quickly dropped to the ground and used the Plasma Rifle he had with him to fire several bolts that damaged the Spartan Slayer before him as he then followed with a powerful slash that took the creature's head off as it unleashed a geyser of it's magenta colored blood as Fred took out his Assault Rifle and took out another one of the Harvester Shock Troopers that came with the Spartan Slayers to aid them.

Kelly was quick to use her speed and unleashed several quick bursts of weapons fire on the pair that were fighting her, and to her surprise, they were able to keep up with her, though briefly as she was quick to fight back, using her weapons to deadly effect and killed two of them though she had expended all of the ammunition in her weapon at this point but she was quick to use her other weapons in conjunction with her speed, bypassing their attacks and she evaded a slash that would have taken her head off, she quickly ducked and grabbed the arm and pulled the enemy to the side and with a kick to the head, sent it flying away from her in that exact moment, she then smashed her fist hard into the face of another attack, spilling magenta colored blood, but the unit was not out as it slashed with the Close Combat Blade, scratching her shields and forcing her back as it then lunged at her at full force with the blade, she evaded that quickly and landed a deadly elbow, breaking the neck and killing her attacker, but she barely had time to relax as two more came at her, forcing her to use her MA5C to block their attacks, thankfully the weapon's outer shell held the blows and she quickly struck with hard strikes and quickly tore off the blade arm of one of the slain Spartan Slayers and used her own Knife training to even up the odds with her attackers.

They fought her well and it was only when she made a feint did she get an opening and smashed the blade she had taken into the face of her first foe and she grabbed the plasma cannon and aimed it while ripping the arm open and quickly pulling on a nerve connection, Kelly found the firing trigger and the second attacker got plasma right in the face as she then got her Assault Rifle and began to fire once more, showing that while her weapon was damaged, it was still in good working order and that mattered well to her.

John himself was quick to fight down several of the Harvester Shock Troopers and take them out quickly as he then blocked an incoming slash aimed for his head as the MJOLNIR mark VI's shields crackled as the blade scrapped on them with golden sparks, the Spartan then smashed the butt of his weapon in the face of his attacker and fired a burst of weapons fire into the face of his attacker, the Spartan Slayer was shredded in the face, but not before firing a plasma blast that hit the shields and that was enough for another pair to attack the Master Chief, one forced the Spartan to discard his MA5C ICWS Assault Rifle and he was forced to use his hand to knock the next attack aside and he used his Plasma Rifle and blasted the enemy hard and fast, the Spartan Slayer took the blows and then lashed out with a kick that hit the Spartan, making John wince a bit at the blow but he forced that pain back and lashed out with a kick of his own that sent the attacker smashing into its ally and the Spartan quickly unleashed a hail of Plasma bolts with both Plasma Rifles in hand, the first two were destroyed by the Master Chief, and then another pair was quickly dispatched by the Spartan with blasts and combinations of melee attacks with both weapons.

As soon as he eliminated three more, the Spartan placed them aside and that was when one Slayer closed the gap and attacked, but the Spartan rolled backward and as soon as he was done moving back, he moved quickly to a crotch position and aimed with his still working MA5C ICWS Assault Rifle and then fired several blasts, the Slayer stopped and was hit though the armor it had on took the rounds and it tried to fire, only for the Master Chief to rush in and swat it's weapon aside with his recovered rifle and smashed a fist right into the neck and tore it's neck open with his bare hands as a spray of it's `blood' splattered on the armor, the Spartan cared little for that and quickly engaged the enemy alongside his fellow Spartans.

The battle was fierce indeed and there was no doubt that the Spartans were going to have to go all out as more of the Harvester Shock Troopers fought with their Spartan Slayer brethren, and this was more than enough to tie down the teams while the other Spartan IIIs were doing their best alongside the Nirvana Fire Teams, their Talvernian allies, and the men of Tarak and the women of Megele to hold the line, but they were also getting hammered by the Harvesters who were not engaging the Spartan IIs to prevent them from giving any support to the Spartan IIs who were making sure to fight in the main battlefield itself in the main hold right in the field.

It was a serious fire fight and they were making sure that the other Harvesters were focusing on them instead of the older and more experienced Spartans and that worked well as they were ensuring that their fellow Spartans were not attacked as they carried on with the battle. At this point however, the others made the decision to move forward as the Spartan Slayers were focused on the older Spartans, they needed to clear the area and ensure that the Harvesters didn't choke them off from rescue. With the Spartan IIs mopping things up, things were looking up, but they were still going to need help and if they were able to cut the Harvesters from reinforcements, then all the better.

It was then that the rest of the team made their move and advanced forward, with the Vanguards and Cyclops units spear heading the assault and they closed in and attacked the Harvesters who were at the entrance. They were far better armored and were quick to shrug off the attacks and were soon breaking through the ranks of the Harvesters, but they were severely damaged in the attempts as the Harvester forces focused their fire on the charging units as well as their melee attacks, and even though the Vanguards and Cyclops units were able to take the damage, they were still severely damaged as the barrage hit them hard and fast, and as the battle wrapped up, they were soon forced to be left behind as they were badly damaged, showing that while they could easily handle smaller targets, they were not meant to handle that many at once in confined areas as there were plasma marks and gouges in the armor plating in various areas.

John then contacted the Nirvana for emergency extraction as they knew that they needed to move out of the area quickly so as to avoid being overwhelmed by their enemies, there was no telling when or if the Harvesters would deploy another force but they were not going to wait and let them do that either way. He could see that the battle had been very difficult and some of his Spartans were exhausted and needed to rest as well.

**************

The Nirvana's crew wasted no time and sent down the Albatross ships that were on standby ever since the battle started for the rapid extraction and the pilots onboard were quick to do what they possibly could to get the strike teams out of the area, the Harvesters were not relenting and it wa sonly with Hibiki and Jura using their VanDread's shield that the rescue boat was unmolested by the Harvesters. The Albatross was stripped bare of anything that was not worth taking and all the room was needed to house the teams to get them out as quickly as possible.

As soon as the vessel landed, the teams got in, many were badly wounded in the firefight and there was no doubt in the Master Chief's mind that this was going to be a turning point for him, the Harvesters had upped the ante on them and while none of his comrades were lost, he knew better than to let things slip just because of this victory.

**************

As the Spartans and their comrades evacuated, sadly leaving the severely damaged Vanguards and Cyclops units behind, they looked at the soon to be destroyed ship as a whole wing of Longswords came from space to escort them back to the Nirvana, many of them were somewhat exhausted from fighting the Spartan Slayers as despite defeating them, the machine beings were able to adapt and become something of a serious threat to the Spartan IIs as well as the Spartan IIIs at the same time.

As soon as the Albatross was out of the planet and they were in the Nirvana, the elderly captain made a sigh of mental relief as the Harvester forces had been forced to withdraw and regroup with their Harvester battleships which had arrived, as soon as she was given the signal that the ground team were in the ship, Magno quickly gave the order for a full retreat, there was no doubt protests from the men and women on the two ships but they quickly changed their minds as the Harvester battle group came towards them. Buzam quickly order them all the retreat to the other side of the planet at full speed to ensure that the rest of the planet would buffer the blast of all seven NOVA bombs and give them the time needed to escape.

Dreads and Vanguards quickly heeded the order and the Nirvana's aces in the hole, Hibiki Vanguard, Jura, Meia, and Dita's Dreads were quickly brought back into the ship and they all pushed their engines to full burn as they fled the battle. The Harvesters took the bait and quickly began to pursue the retreating forces by deploying advanced elements of their battle group to harry and slow down the retreating forces, unaware of the soon to come attack. As soon as they were in the best distance and being warned by Parfait that the engines couldn't handle any more speed, as well as warnings from Marcus and Cassandra, Magno gave the order and Cortana complied as she sent the signal to activate the NOVA Bombs.

**************

The end result of the detonation of the NOVA Bombs was seen as the Harvesters were suddenly hit hard by the massive release of energy from the detonation of the seven NOVA Bombs that were left in the Fore-runner Key ship, the massive power unleashed by all seven weapons was seen as the massive burning flash on the surface of the world was powerful enough to be seen by the fleeing Nirvana's crew, as well as that of the Titan's Wrath crew, and the Ruby Rapier's own crew even from the other side of the planet itself, the planet itself couldn't withstand such a combined assault from the seven UNSC built WMDs as the Forerunner Dreadnought contained the blast for a few brief moments, before it's structural integrity was finally lost.

On the surface, the destruction was evident as the Forerunner Key-ship's already severely damaged super structure finally lost any trace of stability in that exact moment as the ship was blown apart by the detonation and was soon incinerated by the NOVA Bombs. The ship was blown apart and before the pieces of the now completely decimated Forerunner ship could even fall apart, the pieces were consumed by the massive wave of light from the NOVA Bombs and were soon hit by the sheer heat and energy of the weapons.

The surface of the world was quickly incinerated in a heartbeat as entire mountains were easily reduced into puddles of glass, sand and earth were instantly destroyed by the detonation and the land was quickly hit by a flash of light that rivaled the very light of the stars, as soon as that happened a shockwave of intense force literally shook the whole planet apart. The destruction was more than enough to shake the planet to it's foundations as a massive wave of pure energy and radiation was sent flying away into the void of space.

The planet trembled at the blast as massive tracts of land were ripped out by the rapidly expanding blast of the combined NOVA Bomb detonation, sections of the planet's water ways were reduced to vapor in a moment while plants and animals died instantly and were reduced to ash and base molecules in that exact moment. The blast was intense enough to take over a quarter of the planet's surface and reduce it to near glass, the shockwave caused such destruction that it became too much for the planet to handle as chunks of it were sent flying up the atmosphere and a massive dust cloud was unleashed in a heartbeat that spread all over the world in mere moments. In that instant, the planet had been turned into a massive dust bowl of destruction as the heat cooked it all over. In moments the area where the Forerunner ship once resided was turned into something out of hell itself and the surrounding land was turned into a fiery nightmare.

As soon as it occurred, it raised hell on the Harvester Fleet as they were in the area of the wave itself, the massive waves of energy and radiation quickly overloaded the Harvester ships and caused Cube Fighters, Prism Fighters, Seed Ships, Space Urchin vessels to be shut down in moments as the energy washed over all of them. The next thing that followed was a massive wave of pure energy and explosive force that slammed hard into their Fleet and caused intense damage, destroying Cube Fighters, Seed Ships, Prism Fighters, Space Urchin Ships and more.

Even the heavily armored battleships were severely damaged as sections were torn up by the blasts. This was soon followed by massive debris that were sent towards them the energy even created massive arcs of lighting in space due to the energy released, the particles and radiation, unleashing titanic blasts of lighting that gouged holes into the plating of the battleships that were too close, two were instantly destroyed by the combined impact and worse as they were sliced apart by the energy bolts that were unleashed by such a detonation. The others were severely hit and were soon covered in explosions that tore entire sections off of the ships themselves. The chunks of the planet that followed further destroyed any surviving smaller ships and tore into the rest of the battle group, and they were soon lost. This lasted only for the briefest of moments but when it was over, an entire planet had been literally blown in half by seven bombs and an entire harvester battle group had been reduced to nothing but burning ruins.

**************

In the Nirvana two weeks later…

A good number of the Nirvana Fire Teams were currently in the Medical bay and trying their best to heal up after the intense battle before them in both the Nirvana from the stealth attacks of the Harvesters and some boarding attempts by the enemy, thankfully they were not fatal injuries but it was going to be a while before everyone in the groups could recover from the battle, the Spartans were also currently resting and recovering as the Spartan Slayers had pushed them considerably in the battle below in the planet. They knew that unlike the foes that they had faced before, these foes were better armed and programmed as well as being more organized and deadly. That wasn't the first time that they had faced foes that had pushed them to their limits, but this was the first time that they fought non sentient beings that had been more than able to match them.

The Titan's Wrath and the Ruby Rapier were still alongside the Nirvana, it's respective engineering teams making moving repairs but the tales of what had happened were still circulating on both ships, Magno and Buzam could only hope that this would bring good results for the need for both sides to finally agree in working together to face the threat that was no doubt not over. There were still other chances for them to forge alliances and hold that by the time they were able to make it back the home system of both Megele and Tarak, the two sides would heed their advice and consider a mutual alliance to fight the growing threat of the Harvesters themselves.

The fact that they had developed new tactics meant that sooner or later, they will unleash even more weapons and horrors on the universe and on all humanity in their desire to survive even if it meant wiping out all other human civilizations. That was something that they all had to prevent no matter what. This was in the minds of everyone in the Nirvana and even more so for the Spartans themselves.

They had beaten them, but the Spartans had no doubt that sooner or later, they were going to face them once more so they would have to train harder and make the needed changes in order to deal with the next encounter. At the moment, the Spartan IIIs were taking a much needed break and getting some sleep, while the Spartan IIs were taking the time to also unwind and rest.

All that is except for one of them, as John continued to review the information with his helmet off of his face as he was in the Main hall and looked at the holographic information as he sighed a bit, and he was tired, he knew that he needed to rest but he was still going to finish all of his work before finally getting some much needed shut eye.

He was so busy that he was not aware of someone walking up to him, but when he was, he tensed up just as the person spoke.

“It's just me John, relax big guy.”

The Spartan II turned and despite his face being hidden by his helmet and the polarized golden visor, he was happy to see Cortana before him as she was dressed in her regular clothing, she seemed to be happy to see him as well as she smiled. The Spartan visibly relaxed at this as he was happy to see her, after the intense battle they had just taken part in no less than several hours before, he had been worried about her being affected by the energy emitted the detonation of all seven combined NOVA Bombs.

Cortana could see that and she replied.

“I'm fine John, Dr. Catherine….or rather….mom as she wants me to call her gave me a clean bill of heath.”

John spoke about that as he was surprised by that statement.

“Mom?”

Cortana grinned a bit and nodded.

“Yeah, though it does make sense, I am genetically related to her and I was….well before becoming a human, I am created from her thought patterns. And in that regard, I am her daughter, though it is taking me some time to digest it all. Thankfully Mom's been supportive of the whole thing.”

“I see…”

As the two relaxed, the Spartan decided to remove his helmet for the time being and Cortana noted that as she heard the slight hiss and snap as he placed the helmet down, he then placed the helmet aside and looked once more on the map before him as well as the information, allowing Cortana to look at him more closely. She looked at every feature on the Spartan's face….her Spartan's face actually.

The woman felt her body feel more relaxed as she looked at her long time protector and she couldn't help but feel her heart beat a bit faster than before. As she then hugged him tighter, feeling this urge to get closer to him, she could smell him, sure the scent was not too good, but it was his smell.

The Spartan noted that and spoke with a slightly teasing tone.

“You seem to be trying to smell me or something….”

Cortana raised an eyebrow at that and smirked.

“And what is I am doing just that?”

“Well….nothing wrong, though I might think that you might get offended and say that I need a bath right now.”

“Maybe you do big guy, but right now…I like what I smell.”

The Spartan laughed a bit at that, a warm and sincere laugh though subdued and controlled as he still wanted to keep his emotions and thoughts on a controlled keel, something that made Cortana happy and she suddenly decided to make a move that was tied more to some form of instinct as she moved into the area between the Spartan's arms and leaned on him, completely surprising the Spartan once he calmed down and looked at her.

“Cortana?”

The Spartan II was not sure what to make of what Cortana was doing but he didn't resist her as she leaned on him and even though he couldn't feel her due to his MJOLNIR Mark VI still on his body he couldn't help but feel something stir in him in that moment, something that seemed both foreign yet natural at the very same time. It was a warm feeling that started somewhere and began to flow through his body, moving slowly through him. He looked down and smelled something on her.

It was a scent that he had not noted before, it seemed like….roses and pine, as well as some hint of something that seemed to be totally female. It began to really affect him as he suddenly felt the urge to hold Cortana closer, he did just that while keeping his Spartan strength from harming the woman, and he held her closer to himself as he couldn't help but find the smell to be very nice.

The Spartan was not the only person being affected by the sudden change in the atmosphere as Cortana felt her heart begin to beat faster, she tried her best to figure out just what was happening to her as she had just intended to help keep John company during this moment but somehow she ended up doing this with the Spartan, not that she didn't like it, but that was what made no sense to her at all at the moment as this was the first time she had ever felt this way when she was close to John.

She wondered what these feelings were and she looked at John and to her surprise they were now face to face, apparently John had moved closer to get to the scent that she had on her and the woman was face to face with her long time protector, she looked at his face deeply and she couldn't help but admire his features once more, he was indeed attractive and she couldn't help herself as she reached out with her hand which she moved from his chest and she cupped his face, she mentally sighed as she felt his warmth and that feeling coupled with feeling John's skin on her hand made Cortana become even hotter and sure enough, she felt herself blush.

John saw that and couldn't help but be surprised by the sudden rush of color in Cortana's face, he didn't find it bad, but for some reason, he found it to be very….attractive for some reason, he had never seen Cortana blush before in all the time he had known her, before and after she became a living breathing human being, and it seemed to be something new, he had no idea what this might lead to, but he already began to feel that this would complicate things between her and him so he had to do something.

However, his train of thought was cut short when Cortana moved her hand that was suddenly pulled him to her, he was surprised and didn't resist and before he could speak, she kissed him gently on the lips, this had an effect on the Spartan as he felt his body suddenly become hotter, his heart also began to beat even faster by the second, the sensation was so new to him, yet he felt as if it was the most natural thing to happen to him at the very same time.

He tried to make sense of it, but his mind which normally was so focused on military matters. tactics and the like was suddenly overtaken by something else and before he could figure out what it was, he felt this urge to kiss her back.

Cortana was worried about that she was doing since John didn't seem to respond, she had no idea why she was doing this, she knew that this was something she had never done before in her whole existence and maybe she was wrong in letting her desires get to her, but she suddenly felt John respond and in that moment, all her thoughts were focused on deepening the kiss between her and the Spartan.

The two kissed one another deeply as time passed, and soon the kiss became even hotter as Cortana held the Spartan closer to her while he in turn held her close to him as he deepened the kiss, the two had no idea what they were doing, but they didn't seem to care as the desire to feel these emotions and sensations grew even more in the two of them. The kiss became more passionate by the second and it turned from a simple meeting of lips to a full blown kiss of passion.

While it was true that Spartans like John had their sexual drives suppressed by the Catalytic Thyroid Implant, it didn't get rid of it, that much was already obvious since Maria-062 had supposedly gotten married back on Earth and had children. That fact was now coming through as John suddenly turned Cortana around and he then made her sit on the holograph table and she sat there as the kiss became more torrid between them.

They finally parted as they realized that they needed to get some air into their lungs and when they did so, they were able to see the results of their actions on one another. John was amazed to see Cortana blushing wildly her breathing rate at a higher pace than before and her eyes had a fire them that held his gaze, he couldn't help but be more drawn to Cortana as the way she looked to him at this moment was utterly….woman.

The same could be said for Cortana as she looked at John, she couldn't help but notice that his own breathing was faster than before while he actually had a blush on his face, not as intense as her own no doubt, but it was there for her to plainly see on his face, and his eyes were also burning hot at the moment, it made her feel…proud to have made the normally calm and dedicated Spartan become this….flustered.

John then recovered and began to speak.

“Cortana….what did we just….”

Cortana smiled a bit, her feminine side as Dr. Catherine had said now took over as she hugged John and she whispered to him.

“It was….good, very good…”

“But…we're fraternizing, that's against UNSC….”

Cortana looked at John and she decided to take the initiative in this one, it seemed that what she heard her fellow female Talvernian allies aid to her once about men was true, women had to take the first strike as it were before their targets got away, and John was definitely in her target sights, and no way was she going to let him go.

“Keep in mind that everyone in the UNSC had families too, loved ones, and while some didn't do all that well, others have, so there's nothing wrong with this.”

“But….”

“John….listen to me, it's true that you are a Spartan and you have been trained all your life for war and you are, more than human, but you are human still, I know that no amount of training can change that. This isn't easy for me either, but I want this badly, this is a brand new feeling for me for me, but it feels right. It might be just hormones and the like, but that certainly doesn't mean that if feels wrong to me.”

Cortana moved further with her plan and held John's face closer to her own and spoke to him deeply.

“Besides, this is something that is human and natural for two who are….attracted to one another, it might just be my hormones, but this it also involves my feelings, feelings that have been growing inside me for a very long time. Besides, if I don't….do this….I feel, I feel like I will never get the courage to do this again.”

John had never seen Cortana this vulnerable before, not even when she had been held prisoner by Gravemind in the corrupted hive of High Charity all those months before back in their world, and it hit him hard, he did care for Cortana, but ever since she had become human when they came here into this dimension, and their growing closeness, he began to feel something else for her, and it both confused and somehow elated him.

Now here he was, with Cortana, being like this before him and a voice in his head, something that was both foreign and familiar at the same time telling him to go ahead and do it. His military mind was telling him not to, yet that voice was losing it's hold on him for the moment. He tried to make sense of it all, yet when he looked at Cortana once more as she gently licked her lips totally out of reflex, he felt his mother, more male side take over as he spoke.

“All right….but Cortana, you are right about one thing.”

Cortana looked at John with some level of confusion and he replied to her question.

“I am a human, but I lived a life of a soldier…I'm not exactly gifted in the realm of….intimacy.”

Cortana however smiled warmly at that and spoke to him while rubbing her hand on his cheek.

“Don't worry, I already know what to do, come on, it would be asking for trouble if we….do it here, come on.”

With that, the Spartan moved away from the table and allowed Cortana to move away from it, she then took him by the hand and they left, unmindful of the fact that they had left his helmet behind on the table. They finally found in the Forward Unto Dawn a fairly spacious cabin and saw that it was the Captain's secondary room, the room had a large bed there, several lockers, a table and chair for use as well as a terminal that was now locked into the Nirvana's data-net, and of course there was a bathroom with a shower, sink, toilet and even a bath tub if one can believe it and it had some basic amenities.

The two looked the place over and afterwards, Cortana turned to speak to the Spartan, she knew that she was a lot better prepared for this than John was. Although he had received a top of the line education in the various subjects that would aid him in the field of battle, the Spartan curriculum didn't have anything on physical intimacy and the like. She on the other hand had access to ALL the knowledge of humanity, including the more, intimate and sexual aspects of it; she retained it in her after she had been turned into a full blooded human and her time with understanding things with Dr. Catherine had also helped as well.

She looked at the place and spoke to John to remove his armor and take a shower, John was a bit surprised by this and decided to get things done quickly as he began to meticulously remove his MJOLNIR Mark VI, unaware that he was doing so right in front of Cortana, and she didn't mind that to say the very least as she absorbed the sight of her long time protector stripping his MJOLNIR Mark VI armor before her

**************

(Lemon Time! You heard it right ladies and gents, VanDread Halo's FIRST Lemon is now in the works!)

**************

John could only stare at Cortana as the two of them were currently in the bathroom as the shower continued to spray water on the two of them and in that moment, he was amazed by the beauty that she had before him. When he had seen her naked for the first time after she became fully human, he had not noticed it at all since he was so concerned for her safety and afterwards, they returned to being partners like before, now however, things were different, Cortana's actions had sparked a fire in his body and his feelings for her had changed, so now, he was taking full notice of her form.

Her hair was still the same form as before but with the water in them they flowed like waves of wet brown silk with the water reflecting the light like diamonds, her face was also covered in droplets of water, making her face all the more attractive as her eyes were glowing in the light as well, Cortana was beautiful indeed to anyone's standards, and that was becoming all the more apparent to the Spartan as he looked at her completely. He moved his gaze from her face to the rest of her body.

Cortana had the form and figure to go with her age, as she was up to half his chin in height, with him being 6.10 without the MJOLNIR Mark VI on him. She had all the right curves and swells that would make any man who appreciated the female form and the female sex very interested in looking at her as there was not an ounce of excess fat on her that was visible, a testament to the fact that she had a very efficient metabolism as well as her own regime of keeping healthy by training and exercise.

Her long and slender arms had muscle on them as a testament to her own training as John gently looked at her more. His eyes naturally moved to her chest and her breasts as well, they were full and firm with deep pink areoles and nipples, her lower body was well toned and her slightly tanned skin was smooth and had no scars on her, the Spartan also saw the flatness on her toned stomach as well as the smooth curves of her sides as well as her hips, making her look all the more attractive to him. He looked to see the patch of hair there between her thighs as he looked at her legs which were well formed and toned with muscle. He looked at Cortana from head to toe once more and couldn't help but feel his body begin to react even more to the sight before him.

As for Cortana, her view of the Master Chief was just as arousing to her, he looked at the hair that had grown a bit more which was also being soaked by the water and turning into a mass of brown wet silk before her, he looked at the Spartan's deep green eyes and also his face, John was very attractive to any woman who could appreciate the beauty in the male form and John, due to his life time of training, discipline innate genetic traits, and the augmentations was a very strong example of the male form in it's best.

His pale skin might have seemed out of place but she had seen it too many times to be put off by it as she looked at him carefully, While most men would have gone to the gym to build their muscles, John was already well muscled to begin with due to his life as a Spartan and the augmentations he had undergone as a young man. Cortana looked at him very slowly, taking in every detail of his now naked form as she looked at his arms, she knew that with just a portion of his augmented strength, he could easily cripple or kill a normal person, she moved her gaze on them and saw the scars.

There were some on his arms, shoulders, and even his chest and toned stomach, she knew them quite intimately since she had been there with him when he got injured in the long career that they had when they were still fighting the Covenant, some were also wounds from friendly weapons-fire from Marines and the like, other scars were shrapnel wounds. The scars had faded but she recalled them and she gently ran her fingers on them to get used to the feel of them on her fingers, she looked down and spotted the part of John's body that showed him to be a full blooded male, and she gasped.

Apparently John was well….gifted in the size department, she was no expert in that part of male physiology but she could see that he was going to be a literal handful, even if he wasn't full aroused, the Spartan's full length was at least six to seven inches, something that was very impressive considering the fact that the Spartan was not fully aroused yet, but she could see him begin to get harder and a bit longer, she couldn't help but feel her body react to the whole picture of her protector and love interest as she felt her heart beat faster and she couldn't help but feel the need to touch John's naked form.

She didn't hesitate as she continued to touch him and she felt her body become even more excited and she could see that her actions were having an effect on the Spartan as well as he began to moan out in pleasure, something that she had never heard him utter before in her whole time of working with the Spartan, and it served to drive her even more to touch John, she then recalled something that Dr. Catherine had mentioned to her during a meeting in her annual medical check-up as well as her usual discussion on her life as a human.

Catherine had mentioned that one of the augmentations done to John in his youth which was on his nervous system can sometimes amplify sensations that a Spartan could feel, it all depended on the stimulation involved, the Spartans were already familiar with painful sensations as well as gentle ones, but the others were new to them. This was now being shown as the truth as John continued to moan out in pleasure and she could see his cock beginning to get even harder, the sight of the Spartan being like this in her hands made Cortana feel even more powerful, it even rivaled the sensations she had when she first interfaced with Halo's information network when they first came there on the Pillar of Autumn.

Cortana moved her hands over John's body and then decided to use her lips as well as her tongue as she leaned closer and began to kiss John's form as well as even lick his skin, finding it to be rougher then her own skin but warm and delightful to the touch and taste as she licked him slowly along with lavishing him with gentle kisses, she gave special attention to the scared areas of the Spartan's body and she relished the way he moaned out and sometimes said her named.

“Cortana….”

John had no idea why he was being assaulted by such sensations before but he was not going to go against it, as a Spartan, he was familiar with a range of things and feelings, but all those things were only related to fighting though he had felt other things from time to time, such as satisfaction for a job well done on either working on his gear or his MJOLNIR Mark VI or in training with the other Spartans, Hibiki, and the Nirvana Fire Teams, relief that a mission had gone well enough without too many injuries for his forces, and several others. Pleasure and this intimacy were totally foreign feelings to him but he couldn't turn away as the pleasure continued to flow all throughout his body, it was like a wave of pure sensation had flooded every nerve in his body as Cortana continued to touch him with her hands, lips, and tongue.

He finally decided to do something about it as he began to move his hands on Cortana's own naked body while making sure not to use his full strength, he had no idea what he was doing but something in his mind was telling him to do the same things that Cortana was doing to him at this moment. He started to run his fingers on her body slowly, namely on her spine and her shoulder blades, he then heard her moan out a bit in pleasure at his actions and it seemed to make him feel a lot more….satisfied, and the way Cortana moaned at his touch was something that served to make him a lot happier.

“Mmmm….that's nice….I was beginning to wonder about when you….were going to join in.”

“Sorry about that…I…”

“It's all right….you….you can touch the rest of me you know…”

John gulped at that as he slowly began to run his hands on Cortana's body, slowly running his hands on her back all the way to her buttocks, gently touching them as he felt the sensations flow through him as he felt the smoothness of her skin there as well as hearing her moan out in even greater pleasure at his actions as she moved away her head from her licking and sucking on his chest to kissing him deeply as she then began to rub her naked form on him. The sensations she felt in that moment grew even more intense by the second as she felt her now hardened nipples rub on John's chest as she pressed herself closer to him while they continued to kiss one another, she could feel John's growing heart beat as well as his breathing grow, she loved it as she allowed him to move his hands on her hips then to her sides as well as her thighs, he then broke the kiss between them as she moaned out deeply in his ears while speaking at the very same time to him.

“I guess you're a quick study when it comes…..mmmmm….to touching a woman.”

“Lucky me….”

Both John and Cortana smiled a bit at that as they continued to kiss and caress each other, the woman took it further however as she moved her hands down and touched the part of John that was at full attention and she gasped, it was amazing to the touch, soft and smooth skin yet hard flesh underneath the skin like steel rods, and it was at a very nice length and she briefly wondered if anyone in the UNSC had any idea how those augmentations affected the human body? One thing was for sure, if any woman found out about the enhancements then who knew how they would take it? John's cock was one inch shy of a foot and a half and that fact was more than enough to make Cortana both aroused and worried as thoughts filled her head. What if it couldn't fit into her? What if she couldn't take all of it? What if it hurt too much for her to handle?” For a brief moment she was hit by the desire to give up what they were doing.

But just as easily as those thoughts came to her mind, they easily faded away as well, she wanted this and damn the consequences, she had grown too attached to him and she….loved him too much to turn away from him now. With that in mind she carried on as she began to examine his cock slowly moving her hands carefully to make sure that not only did she have the sight of it burned into her mind, but the feel of it was burned in her mind as well, she looked at John and saw that her actions had a very strong effect on the Spartan as he was blushing hard and his eyes were burning pools of green fire and that excited her to no end.

“Cortana…..ahhhhhh…..this is….”

The former UNSC A.I focused herself as she continued her actions on his cock as she then moved closer to rub her breasts once more on his body and to her surprise, the Spartan decided to get into the act as his hands moved to her chest as he began to touch her breasts, this action was more than enough to excite her as she moaned out her lover's name as well.

“John…..”

This carried on until Cortana realized that while doing it in the bathroom was not a bad thing, it was their first time so it would be better if they did it in a more formal way, with that in mind and with extreme reluctance she stopped her actions and spoke to John though she hoped that he was able to control himself, the fire in his eyes and the way he was right now was a bit worrying to her despite her trust in him that was built up for a long time due to their respective time together.

“John….we….can't do this here….I think a bed would be more….suitable.”

John looked at her and for a brief moment , he wanted to damn the consequences and do it or whatever it was in his mind that was roaring at him with the force of the Super MAC Cannon on an Orbital Defense Platform going off to get this whole thing done with Cortana, but that was quickly dashed as he saw the pleading and vulnerable look in her eyes, showing that she was a bit fearful of his possible reaction and as soon as his control came back, he couldn't blame her, he was so enthralled by the sensations and feelings that he would easily lose control and he might do something to her that would hurt and frighten her, the way she looked when she had been an A.I in the clutches of Gravemind as he rescued her from that monster was enough to stop him in his tracks, he would never let any harm come to Cortana and hurting her was the worst thing he could do to her at this point.

He took a calming breath and nodded.

“Right, sorry….I guess I….uh….”

Cortana smiled gently as she hugged John in thanks as she could see that he had managed calm himself well enough so they could carry on soon enough. She then moved way from the shower and took a pair of towels nearby and then two of them dried each other out, and she smiled at the nervous way John was acting as she asked him to dry her, he was so gentle with her body as he dried her, almost like she was a living statue of glass and one wrong move would break her.

She found it undeniably amusing and endearing that his hands which were honestly powerful enough to crush old Earth concrete to powder, carry enough weight to equal an entire sixty six ton tank, and hit with enough force to bend steel and crush bones as well as send normal people flying back several feet were so gentle with her. She felt so cherished by John in this moment that she felt like she was going to faint, but she placed that aside as she also gently dried her lover's naked form with a towel as well as drying her own naked form.

Once that was done between the two of them, they left the bathroom and as soon as they were there, Cortana gently pushed John to the bed and he sat down there without any form of resistance to her unspoken commands, further arousing her as she relished the fact that John was not trying to resist her at all, this made her realize how much he cared for her to not try to fight her and he was more than willing to let her have her way for this time. She then decided to reward her protector and lover as she began to kiss him once more while gently asking him to move backwards a bit more. He complied with her request as she was now on top of him and she studied him once more with her eyes wanting to savor this moment as she looked at his fully naked form.

Cortana relaxed herself as she moved back to kissing John deeply as he responded deeply as well with their tongues now dueling with one another as the woman began to move her hands on her lover's body once more, starting at the shoulders, then the length of his arms, then his chest and his stomach, she still loved the feel of his naked form in her hands until she moved away from the kiss and began to lavish kisses on her lover's form, each step she took in pleasuring the Spartan served to pleasure her at the very same time as she felt the hardness and warmth of his form, John naturally was not going to be left behind as he touched her with his own hands though he didn't do anything to stop her from her already deep examination of his form. As she reached his lower half she couldn't help but examine his sex in far greater detail and she couldn't help but be awed by all this as she looked at it, gathering every detail into her mind.

“Cortana, stop it.”

Cortana looked at John and she couldn't help but be amused as she saw him blushing in what was termed embarrassment, a totally new emotion in her mind to the Spartans as he had NEVER been embarrassed before in his life, and now he was as he tried not to look at her.

This was yet another thing that amused Cortana, before her was one of the most recognized UNSC war heroes and had faced the Covenant and the Flood without batting an eyelash, took on odds that would have sent any other soldier cowering in their foxholes, pulled amazing victory from the jaws of defeat every time, and now he was acting like a bashful schoolboy with her! It was just too amusing and endearing to her at the very same time.

She however cared for John's feelings as she moved to caress his face with her hand and replied.

“Sorry, but I can't….I can't help it, you are very handsome you know….don't be embarrassed about this, in fact I can bet any other woman who knew about the joys of intimacy with men would have willingly just ravished you right here and now. You have nothing to be embarrassed about John, at least not with me.”

“I…guess not, sorry, I've never done this before.”

Cortana smiled and kissed him once more and spoke.

“Neither have I….you know that. We're both new at this, and to be honest, that fact that we already have been together for so long kind of makes this special for the two of us. I want this to be good for both of us so don't be embarrassed about this, I know what to do.”

John then reached with his own hand and caressed Cortana's cheek as he kissed her back, showing without words that he was all right, this made Cortana relax more as she began to access what she learned of male anatomy as well as the things she had learned on this matter, she knew that she had to be careful with this and she went slowly, all the while making several glances at John to see how she was handling things right, the fact that he was moaning her name in pleasure was enough to convince her that her current actions were working well enough.

She moved to focus on her lover's body once more, repeating the actions she had done previously on John, feeling how he shivered at her touch and she moved to caress his cock once more, hearing the Spartan moan out in pleasure at her actions made her happy as she carefully began to explore his sex with a very serious eye, looking for the right places to touch in order to bring him the best pleasure that she could manage.

She started to move lower to his testicles, gently rubbing them with her hand, making the Spartan all the more aroused as she felt him twitch under her touch, she carried on with her actions for bit longer as John held the sheets tighter as the pleasure flowed through him and was evident in his breathing and the way he moaned out Cortana's name.

“Cortana…..ahhhhhhh…..”

The Spartan had no way to handle the pleasure flowing through every inch of his body at this moment but his discipline was holding strong to say the very least as he gripped the sheets tightly in his hands as she touched his sex slowly moving her hands up and down his cock as well as gently touching his testicles.

The woman then decided that now was the time to let John have her turn, she knew of something that would be really pleasurable for him, the idea of allowing John to feel his first orgasm of the day was very tempting, and while that method was both new and tempting, she decided that it would be better for another time in the night, after all, they had the whole night to do this, and besides that, she felt her sex also getting wetter by the second, she knew from her access to human knowledge and with her chats with several members of the female crew from both the Nirvana and the Talvernians as well as Dr. Catherine that her current wetness there in her vagina was the sign that she was ready for her to be filled by John's sex, she already knew the mechanics involved but she was eager to feel it for herself, she wanted to experience those feelings for her own so now was a very good a time as any. With that in mind she stopped and moved to lie down on the bed and spoke gently to John.

“Now it's your turn…be gentle all right John?”

The Spartan nodded, showing that he had his military control back, but in reality he was shaking like a leaf inside of himself as he knew that he had no idea how to do this, however he decided to try doing the same things she had done to him as well to be fair, he started by kissing her deeply once he was on top of her while making sure not to smother her with his body, as soon as the kiss ended between the two of them , he began to caress her body with his hands while continuing to kiss her body while also using his tongue though his actions were not as refined as Cortana's own, owing due to the fact that he had no prior knowledge or experience.

However, Cortana didn't mind that in the very least and John was naturally a quick learner as he began to find ways to make her moan out his name in pleasure with each movement of his hands, lips, and tongue on her naked form.

“John….mmmm….there….right there.”

The two lovers were going at it until John finally reached Cortana's breasts, he couldn't help but admire them now as he gently reached out to touch them hoping not to hurt Cortana in some way, but her moans of pleasure plus the way her breasts moved with her breathing was more than enough to tell the Spartan that his actions were more than welcomed by the former UNSC A.I

“MMMMMM!!!!”

Cortana moaned out deeply as John continued to kiss her breasts slowly and touch her breasts with considerable gentleness, the pleasure that flowed through her as she felt his tongue on her breasts and nipples made her moan out even more, and that served to make John all the more eager to pleasure her as his actions began to get stronger and more precise as his hands and tongue moved over her breasts.

John himself had to admit that the taste of her skin was something that seemed to make him want more, he wanted to taste her fully and the feeling of her breasts seemed to arouse more fire in his body more than anything he had felt thus far in his life as a soldier, he couldn't help but have to restrain himself from losing all his control as he continued to lavish attention to Cortana's breasts, he then moved his hands away, running them slowly on her sides, all the way to her hips as well while he began to suck on her nipples slowly while using his tongue at the very same time.

“John….mmmmm…..right there….”

The two carried on and the results of their actions on one another's body were obvious to the them as John felt his cock become harder and he felt this eagerness in him that seemed to call him to do something, as for Cortana, she felt her pussy become even wetter by the second like every nerve in her body was on fire and she wanted John to finally end the whole thing in the most pleasurable way possible. She already had an idea on what this desire meant and she looked at John as he finally moved away from his pleasurable assault on her breasts while still running his hands on her body, as soon as she was sure that she had her Spartan's attention, she spoke to spoke to him.

“John….I need….you….inside me….hurry…”

“I….all right….I'll try.”

John managed to understand some part of what he had to do in order for Cortana to feel the pleasure she wanted as he moved between her legs, he looked to see her sex already dripping wet and while he wanted to see what it looked like, his mind had other more primal thoughts in it at the moment, and this served the Spartan well, for despite not having done this himself for the past thirty years since he was always fighting, his suppressed male instincts were now coming to life. As soon as he was sure he was in position, he listened to the voice in his mind and slowly pushed his hips forward.

“Oooooh!”

Cortana moaned out deeply as she felt herself being penetrated by her lover's cock, she couldn't help but relish these new sensations of being filled her John's sex, she felt it flow through her as the tip of John's cock went past her pussy's outer lips, making its way deeper into her sex she held onto the bed sheets for the moment until she reached out to hold John's arms and the feel of his strong arms in her hands made her feel even more aroused until finally, with one final push, John was buried deeply inside of her, bypassing the barrier she had in there.

“AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!”

Cortana cried out deeply as she felt herself being filled to the brim by her lover's cock, the pain she felt was brief and was soon removed and she felt her body begin to adjust to the feeling of John's cock buried deeply into wet sex, she couldn't help but be amazed at how well he fit into her, almost as if her body was specially made to suit his just fine. She couldn't help but wonder if the Paeksis, when it made her a flesh and blood human being, had this in mind.

The feeling of being perfectly built to suit her Spartan to such a degree was amazing, in the past she had chosen him because of their neural compatibility, as well as seeing his records and his luck, as well as admitting that he was kind of cute, in a primitive animal sort of way. But now that she had this human body, it made her think that they were made for one another, his entire length was deep inside of her and she felt no discomfort or pain, only the feeling of oneness with her Spartan. But she knew that despite the pleasure she got and the joy of being united with John in such an intimate way, there was more to come so now was not the time to slow down with their actions with one another, she then spoke to John.

“John….now, move your hips back and forth so…”

John however spoke while blushing still as he felt the pleasure all around him, the wetness, tightness, softness, and heat from Cortana's inner walls were something that he had never felt before in his life, and as soon as he was buried deeply into Cortana's wet sex, he was amazed that he was actually this deep inside of her. He had been worried that he might be able to put it all in and ending up hurting Cortana in some fashion, but now that it was done, it was worth it and when he heard Cortana speak he figured out easily just what was it she had in mind for the day.

“Are you…?”

Cortana nodded and replied.

“Please…”

That was more than enough to convince the Spartan that this was not the time for words as he went ahead to do what she was asking of him.

As he slowly moved his hips back, he heard Cortana gasp and moan out in pleasure and he could understand why as he was also moaning a bit as he felt her walls caress the full length of his cock in a very delicious fashion, all his discipline was put to the ultimate test as the feeling of his cock being caressed by Cortana's inner walls ran all over his body, he managed to hold onto his sanity at this point and was nearly out, he looked at Cortana who was blushing wildly while she looked at him with her eyes burning with passion and silently pleading with him.

He pushed back in at that moment and was soon back inside of Cortana's pussy, the reaction was obvious as Cortana cried out in pleasure.

“YESSSSSSS!!!!”

The former UNSC A.I relished that action, the feeling of it all, both John's movement out of her sex and then back in was utterly delicious, she knew that in the scientific mind, that this was how men placed their sperm into a woman, but the pleasure was only clinically described in the archives, experiencing the pleasure first hand was a completely different situation all together. It was not long before she was caught in the desire to feel even more pleasure from the actions of her lover as she spoke out to John.

“Harder! Faster John!!!....Ooooooh!!!!”

The Spartan said nothing as he felt all his logic and reasoning taking a full fledged back seat to his desire to go all out and pleasure the woman before him in this fashion though he did remember not to hurt her as he began to pick up his pace.

As he moved deeply into Cortana's pussy, the two of them were feeling wave after wave of pleasure that they had never felt before in their respective lives, for Cortana it felt like she was being flooded with all the most delicious and pleasurable sensations as she felt each thrust of her lover's cock into her wet and hot sex. Each thrust in and out was so delicious that she doubted that anything that she had felt matched this pleasure and joy. For John, it was a feeling that defied anything he had felt before, he felt relief and happiness when it came to seeing friends and comrades make it out of the most hellish battles, but this was something else entirely, he and Cortana were always close due to their long history and time together. This however made that bond even closer as he was literally becoming one with her.

He looked at her, seeing the pleasure in her flushed and sweating face was more than enough to show how much she enjoyed the moment between them. He looked at her and without hesitation, moved forward to kiss her deeply on the lips, and Cortana was more than happy to reply in kind as they kissed one another deeply as the Spartan began to speed up his actions on her sex.

As time passed between them, the two relished the pleasure they gave one another, the Spartan began to pick up the pace while the former UNSC A.I began to move her inner muscles to give her lover and protector all the more pleasure. The lovers continued as the Spartan was now moving in fast and hard into his lover's pussy while she held him close as they continued to kiss each other senseless.

It was not long before they finally reached their respective limits and they made that obvious as they parted from one another and both cried out as they finally felt their respective orgasm hit them hard and fast.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!”

For John it felt like he was unleashing all of his essence into Cortana and for a brief moment, he was worried that she couldn't handle it, but seeing that she was able to handle it well enough, he relaxed as he felt his body unleash more and more of his inner essence into her body, it amazed him that he had felt his way before. It was something special to him as he felt this greatest pleasure only with Cortana.

Cortana moaned a bit in joy as she felt herself being filled to the brim by her lover's seed, it felt somehow delicious and fulfilling at the very same time. She could feel it fill every corner of her body and she could tell from the expression on the Spartan's face that he was utterly enjoying the feeling as well as she was, that made the whole moment all the more wonderful in her mind, it amazed her that despite the amount of his seed that her Spartan released in her in his orgasm, she was not feeling limited and was able to take more of it into her.

She had heard about how human men and women would do this act not just to have children, both in her time studying humans, but to show love and feel pleasure in being with one another. As an AI she knew the science behind it all, as well as the `feelings' but that was just data to her….now it was different. She loved John deeply and cared for his well being, now that they had done this….it was worth every moment.

As they relaxed, the Spartan gently moved away from Cortana, wanting to make sure that he didn't accidentally smother her. However, the woman was not going to be content for long, she had gathered a lot of information about sex in her free time, and now was the right time to see which was fact and which was fiction….either way, she knew one thing, it was going to be worth every moment of it all.

**************

Later….

“OOOOOHHHHH!!!! HARDER!!!!”

Cortana was in utter pleasure as she straddled John's hips as she was on top of him and moving up and down while John was moving his hips up and down and his hands were on her breasts, massaging them gently as she continued to feel the pleasure hit her hard and fast. She looked down at John as he was gently breathing in deeply to get the most energy into his limbs and his stamina was really getting into the forefront of their passionate lovemaking.

Each thrust of her hips down was met with John's own upward thrusts, allowing her feel his cock reach deeply into her, making her feel more alive than before while she felt her lover's hands on her hips as well as on her breasts. The former A.I felt the pleasure flood her body in every possible way until she couldn't help but feel like she was soaking into a hot tub of pleasure and she knew that the same could be said for John as she could tell from the looks on his face.

John himself had to admit that after what they had just done with one another before, this felt different but no less wonderful as he continued to thrust upwards hard and fast.

“AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!”

“MORE!!!! HARDER!!!”

“MMMMM…..JOHN….FEELS SO GOOD!!!!”

“CORTANA!!!!!”

Both lovers cried out as Cortana arched her back as she climaxed hard for the second time this night and she felt herself orgasm once again when she felt John's seed flow into her deeply once more, she would never get tired of that feeling at all, she leaned back and lay down on John's own chest loving the feel of his hardened, muscled form underneath her own. She would never get tired of the feeling as she decided to take thing up a notch as she smirked seductively at the Spartan.

“Ready for another go?”

John blushed a bit more, he knew he had more than enough stamina for this sort of thing, he was a bit worried about Cortana though since she might run out of energy soon and be really tired, however, she seemed to be more than ready for another round. He sighed mentally and replied.

“You're on.”

**************

Later still….

“Mmmmm…..”

“Cortana….”

The Spartan couldn't help but moan out in pleasure, and why not? Considering the fact that Cortana was using her mouth on his cock, she took his cock into her mouth, showing that she was able to do so despite the length and thickness, and the sight of her doing that to him was going to be burned in his mind for a very long time, he had NO idea where Cortana got this, but he was not going to ask or complain as Cortana knew what she was doing already so no sense interfering on his part.

Cortana took her time to do this right, she made sure to recall all the information that she had on the whole technique as she moved her head back and forth, she then gave a slight glance at John and she loved what she was seeing before her at this point and time as he was really enjoying this, she took all the time she had in the world as she continued with her actions, she knew that she would have to return the favor soon enough to John once she was able to finally get him to release himself once more. Though she knew for a fact that this would be a first to her as well as she had never done anything like this before.

“Ahhhhh…..”

It was not long before John finally felt his body release another wave of energy through him as he climaxed once more and Cortana felt the first streams hit her mouth, the heat, thickness, and taste were so new to her that despite the amount that came out, she was able to handle it just fine as she took in more of her lover's cum. Once she was done, she moved away and leaned back as she then parted her legs, allowing John to look at her form completely as she spoke.

“You're turn.”

John gulped a bit as he felt himself move closer to Cortana as she gently guided him with both her hands as well as her words, he moved to her sex and then his sense of smell was able to pick up the smell of Cortana's juices and before he could figure out what to do in a situation like this one, the voice in his brain was quick enough to guide him as he examined the way Cortana's sex looked, making the woman blush even more though she was beginning to become somewhat impatient as she spoke to him.

“John….please….use your tongue and….ahhhhh!”

The Spartan did so and that was more than enough to make Cortana happy as she continued to relax under her Spartan's actions and she was quick to finally reach her own release as he had before and it was a delicious sensation as she finally had her first orgasm with a very loud cry.

“YES!!!!!!!”

John took in as much as he could manage at this point and time and it was worth every moment in his mind as he tasted Cortana's juices for the very first time.

As soon as both relaxed, Cortana sighed as she recalled the taste of her lover's seed, it was slightly salty but sweet as well, something that she could quite easily get used to given time and patience, as for John he too had to admit that tasting the juices that were coming out of Cortana's own sex was different, sweet, with a slightly tangy aftertaste. It was not bad at all, and he might get used to it as well.

It was then that Cortana felt the need to try something new, she had been able to learn enough and heard the stories so she decided to see if those were true, she looked at John and smirked once more as she moved over to him and kissed him while on all fours on the bed and whispered to him.

“It's not the end just yet.”

**************

“Ahhhh…..yessss…..harder….harder!!!” ;

“Cortana….this is….”

John gasped as he and Cortana were once more at it again, only this time she was on both hands and knees while he was behind her with his hands on her hips and moving his own hips back and forth while his cock went in and out of her pussy from behind, the two were moving at a much quicker pace at this point as the pleasure hit them at the same time, John then moved his hands from her hips, to her breasts, pleasuring them as well as her nipples to make Cortana feel all the more aroused as they continued with their position.

Cortana relished the pleasure that came to her with each thrust, the angle of position allowed her to feel John's cock hit her spot even more, making her juices flow out even more from her sex. This went on for a lot longer until Cortana looked back and kissed John as he leaned towards her and the kiss became all the more heated as their tongues were dueling with one another all the more fiercely. It was not long before the two finally reached orgasm and at the very same time no less.

The two remained in that position for a bit more as Cortana felt her body being filled once again by John's seed, the feeling of the heat and thickness of it flowing into her body was an utterly delicious feeling that she would never replace for as long as possible and the could be said for John as he felt Cortana's inner walls milk his cock deeply. As soon as that was over, the two parted from one another and lay down on either side.

Cortana felt her body become relaxed and tired at the same time, she however was not content with just what they have done and she was going to make sure that they were going to have all the time in the world to do what they liked. She proved it as she whispered to John.

“Don't relax just yet my Spartan….the night is still young.”

John could only look at Cortana with some level of surprise on his face as it seemed that she was ready for yet another round. It amazed him that she was still willing to go at it and he was worried that she was taking it too far.

“Cortana….I think now's not a good time….”

“Oh I beg to differ, but I prefer the phrase in Latin, “Acta Non Verba' I believe.”

**************

“Mmmmmm…..yesssss……like that John….harder!!!!”

John couldn't help but do as Cortana asked of him as he was once more moving his cock deeply in her sex while she leaned back on the wall and her legs were on top of his arms, this position had them leave the bed and Cortana was leaning back on the wall and he did what she instructed. As the two continued with their actions, John then moved away from the wall and held onto Cortana as she continued with her actions as she moved up and down on his cock.

The feel of it all was delicious for the both of them and while most men would have been rendered exhausted by what they were doing before, the Spartan II had more than enough energy for this though he had his worries about Cortana herself as she was no doubt already going to be very tired from all the things that they had been doing since the whole moment between them.

“Ahhhhh…..yesssss…..more!!!!”

It was not long before Cortana finally made her last downward thrust of her hips and the two finally hit the limits, and this was the right moment that Cortana also hit her limits as she held onto John tightly, the Spartan sensed the changes in her breathing and heart rate, and that told her that she had finally reached her limits. With that he gently carried her to the bed and despite the results of their previous….adventures, the bed was still good to sleep on.

As soon as they relaxed, Cortana smiled at John as she hugged him close to her as sleep finally got it's hold on both of them.

**************

As the two lover slept together, they were unaware of the door being opened silently as someone went into the room, the person gasped a bit and instead of waking the Spartan and former UNSC A.I, the person decided to leave the area, and closed the door.

This was minutes after the two finally woke up, Cortana being the first and she couldn't help but feel some level of happiness and some level of aches in her body and they were good aches as she blushed heavily at the memories of what the two of them had done last night as she had to admit that the Master Chief had QUITE the stamina, as expected from a life time of training and the augmentations plus his own level of physical strength and power. The good thing was that despite all the things they did, he was still very careful not to hurt her in any fashion and that was nice, she looked to see John waking up and without any hesitation she leaned forward to kiss him on the lips.

“Mmmm…”

This time John didn't hesitate in the least as he kissed her back and gently touched her face as they kissed one another. After the heavy kissing session between the two came to a halt, the former A.I gently caressed her lover's face and she spoke.

“That was….amazing….”

“You'll get no argument from me on that account.”

Cortana smiled at that as she rubbed her body on his once more, making him moan a bit at her sudden action of seduction and he reacted by touching her breasts with his hands, making her blush once more.

“You're not being fair John.”

“Neither are you.”

With that the two laughed a bit together and then decided to get dressed, Cortana however dressed first and did so slowly so to give her Spartan a good show. After all, he had been with her through everything back in their world and here so she had every right to view him as HER Spartan, though in this case, that might change to her lover and boy-friend as well as protector. As soon as she was done with changing into her clothes, John was next and they took their time in putting back on his MJOLNIR Mark VI.

The two decided to head back to the planning table to get John's helmet which he had left behind last night, however when they got there, they were greeted by the sight of Dr. Catherine smirking a bit and for a brief moment, they felt like they were being studied by the UNSC scientist and she then spoke to the two of them.

“So….how was last night?”

John was confused by that and so was Cortana for a moment until she realized that Catherine was saying and she blushed deeply and spoke.

“You….you know about me…and John?”

Catherine smiled and replied.

“Yes, you know, I suggest that if this happens between you two again, you try to use a more unique password so no one could barge in on the two of you. I might have caught you when the whole thing was over, but if I or anyone else caught you in mid action….then you two have some explaining to do.”

Both Spartan and former UNSC Ai blushed and tried to look away from Catherine and she laughed a little bit at the pair and gently spoke.

“Relax, I had a feeling that it was going to happen sooner or later, by the way John.”

“Y-Yes ma'am?”

“I hope that you were gentle with Cortana that night, it would be hard even for me to explain to the others if she got some hickey marks.”

“MOTHER!!!!”

Cortana blushed fiercely at this and wished that she could find a place to hide but John stopped her gently with his hand on her shoulder and he replied to Catherine's words.

“I would never hurt Cortana, Ma'am.”

Catherine smiled at that and Cortana felt even more embarrassed but also happy about that as she stayed close to John as the scientist could see that there was a very strong bond between the Spartan and the woman who was her `daughter' and it was a good thing, they had been together through so many dangers that it was a good thing that they could always rely on one another to see things through. That was a good thing to have in the soon to come battles though it was going to take a while before that bond fully matured.

“Good, anyway, I know that sooner or later this might come out but for now, you're secret is safe with me, in the mean time I think it would be best that both of you have a checkup and also take some much needed time together, and Cortana…”

“Yes mother?”

“When we're alone you tell me how it was, and I want all the details.”

Cortana blushed even more while Catherine smiled and for the first time, John smiled warmly.

**************

To be continued…

**************

Author's Notes:

Well that wraps up this gem of a story arc, now to clarify when I said in the previous chapter that, I will be ending the story, I was referring to this arc and not the story itself, I have no intention of giving up on VanDread Halo The Second Stage and I want to end this story myself so no need to worry about it.

Speaking of which, we have just read the first lemon in VanDread Halo The Second Stage and you can bet that there will be others soon enough, John and Cortana had just crossed the Rubicon as some would say and have done the deed. Will this result in Cortana getting pregnant? That's a distinct possibility and there will be a chance that John and Cortana will one day become parents.

If you want to know how it might act out….here's an idea.

********

Trailer:

Mendez couldn't help but shake his head as he, John, Dr. Catherine, Magno, Buzam, Duero, Paiway, and Cortana looked at the information being shown in Cortana's latest physical.

When Cortana began to suffer some weight gain, sudden cravings for food, sickness, and the like, John was totally shocked and beside himself, trying to figure out what was wrong with her, he had taken Cortana to the Medical Bay for a checkup and it was there that the truth came out.

The very second the news came up, the senior officers of the Nirvana arrived and looked at the information. Cortana herself was sitting on the bed and looking utterly shocked at the information while Catherine was grinning from ear to ear at this.

Mendez then spoke to Catherine.

“Dr. Halsey…is there any possible way that all this data is wrong?”

The woman shook her head and replied.

“The classical symptoms are there already Chief Mendez, and the DNA test confirms it, there's nothing wrong with the information….Cortana is one hundred percent pregnant.”

The woman then turned to smile in a very motherly fashion to both Cortana and John.

“Congratulations you two, but that is to be expected since you two have been very close as of late. You two are going to be parents in nine months time, so I guess tha we've got some serious matters to discuss.”

In that moment, the Medical Bay was filled by several new faces, Hibiki was there, as well as Jura, Meia, Dita, Fred, Kelly, Linda, the Spartan IIIs, Ezra and Kahlua, Pyoro, Flowing Chapter, and of course the NCOs of the Nirvana Fire Teams. All of them heard the gossip and they were eager to see if it was all true. None of them said anything yet until Jura spoke out.

“Cortana's pregnant?!”

As soon as Magno nodded at that, the women were amazed along with the others, while Kelly joked at the whole thing.

“So I guess that makes all of us Spartans uncles and aunts huh? So when's the baby shower?”

In that moment, John and Cortana blushed bright red and wished that they were anywhere but here!

********

That's it….wait for the next chapters!