UNSC File#29145: Overwatch

~Guardian~

~Spirit Of Hope~

As the Halcyon cruiser drifted towards the ring, the noticed a giant bird-like monstrosity floating near the Earth. Kelly stared at the Guardian before the comms opened up.

"Who is this? Identify?" An officer demanded. "Sierra-G145 2nd Lieutenant Jason Yeager, reporting for duty." The voice on the other end replied. Kelly froze and turned to the officer as he looked at the Captain.

"Authenticate." The officer said. "Whisky-Zulu-Theta-Tango-4-9-6-1-Houston." The voice replied. The officer type on a data pad before turning to the Captain as the authentication came back positive.

"Spartan Yeager, is that you?" Charles asked. "Yes sir, the Monitor here has filled me in on the situation. This Guardian is blocking our escape. We need you to order a MAC strike." Jason replied.

"I don't know if we can do that son, these Guardians, we don't know anything about them." Charles replied.

"The only mode of transportation is a modified Pelican from Overwatch or to transport via Monitor to the planet." Jason said.

"Sit tight, we'll think of something." Charles said before the officer ended the connection. "Sir, what can we do?" Aaron asked.

"I don't know yet." Charles replied. Kelly had blocked out the conversation as she sat down and stared at the ground. After all this time, Jason was still alive. She was happy but also angry that he kept this from her. Kelly was shaken from her state as she turned to see Aaron nodding at her.

"I know what you're thinking. I'm with you." He said. The two turned as Mitsugi and Echo nodded along.

"As are we." They said. Kelly nodded before grabbing her helmet as the four left the bridge and headed to the tech wing as they checked up on Hera.

"How is she?" Aaron asked. "She's stabilized. Whatever happened, she's deteriorated past her 6th year. At this point, we need to retire her for final dispensation." He replied sadly. They looked to see Hera sitting on her chip, a sad look on her face as she stared at her hands.

"Hera, what happened?" Aaron asked. The AI turned as the red mark on her face remained.

"C-Cortana did this." She said, causing the room to grow silent. "Are you sure?" Kelly asked.

"Positive. She tried changing me to her side. She plans on using this Guardian to put these humans in line." Hera said.

"We'll need the Infinity to help. They've got the most firepower than any ship in the fleet." Mitsugi said.

"Go, tell the Captain this. We'll see if we can try to head to the Installation." Aaron ordered. He walked over and grabbed Hera's chip before a few technicians looked at him.

"Are you sure?" They asked. "Positive." Aaron replied as he inserted her chip into his helmet, his HUD fritzing before going back to normal.

"Don't worry Hera, we'll figure this out." Aaron said. "I hope you're right." Hera replied sadly. Theta exited the tech wing as they made their way back to bridge to see Mitsugi speaking with Charles before he nodded.

"Fine, we'll provide cover fire while you extract whoever is on that ring." Charles said. Theta nodded as they ran to the hangar bay and entered a pelican. Aaron walked into the cockpit as Kelly walked in after. Her helmet masked the emotions on her face as she began cycling the engines.

"Engines at 100%, rail turret online, GAUSS cannon online, board is reading green across the board Lieutenant." Kelly informed him.

"Understood, everyone cozy back there?" He asked earning a pound on the door. "Let's get to it." Aaron said before glancing out the windows to the expanse of space as the blue marble of Earth Beta showed.

"Let's move." Kelly said as the ship lurched upwards and flew out of the hangar as they turned and headed towards the awaiting ring.

~Jason~

After relaying the authentication code and going through the options, Jason's hope was dwindling. He turned to see a few Sentinels repairing his SPI armor as the Overwatch team were restless.

"What do we do now?" D.Va asked as she twirled a BoltShot. "Now, we just hold out until they do something." Jason replied. He walked to the makeshift prison as Mati, Moira, and Team Apollo remained.

"What, have you come to gawk?" Moira demanded. "No, he's going to let me and my colleagues out and then we'll throw you in a prison, Talon scum." Kent spat.

"Glad to see you back to normal Kent." Jason said with a nod. "Sergeant, we are not your enemies, let us go man." Tech said as he rubbed his head.

"Are you sure you four aren't still sick?" Jason asked. "Yes, mousier, we are fine. I just want to be well away from her." Stark said jabbing a finger at Moira. Jason nodded before turning to Mati as he remained in the corner.

"Mati, are you okay?" He asked. The man turned, a wild look in his eyes as he glared at him.

"I don't think he's with us. A few years in a mental hospital might do him so good. I hope." Kent chimed in. Jason opened the door as Team Apollo exit and closed as Moira remained sitting on her bench as Mati stayed in his corner. He held a sullen look before turning and left as they entered the conference area. D.Va, Tracer, McCree, and Reinhardt turned as the four members of Apollo entered.

"McCree, Tracer, Reinhardt. It's good to see you." Kent said with a nod. "Mr. Williams, it's good to see alive and well." Reinhardt replied as D.Va jumped from her seat and walked over as she crossed her arms and stared at them.

"So, these peeps were Overwatch's replacement?" She asked. "Yes, but not as effective as this Titan here." Tech said pointing at Jason.

"Spartan, but for now we have to sit tight because Cortana's Guardian is hovering above us. The Spirit of Hope is near us, but for now they're waiting in case of whatever Cortana's going to do." Jason replied.

"That's comforting, you know, I wish this Cortana, Flood, Covenant, never appeared near us." Kent said as he sighed.

"Well, if you wanna complain, complain to the Forerunners." Jason said. "Forerunners?" Rhodey asked. Gem appeared and floated about.

"More questions? Splendid!" Gem said excited. The four turned to him as they heard him recount the tales of the Forerunners and the purpose of the Halo rings.

"What do we do now?" Tracer asked. "Overwatch base to insertion team, do you read?" The radio crackled to life. D.Va ran over and turned to Tracer as she nodded.

"Insertion team to HQ, we read you. We've successfully entered the Halo Installation. Be advised, we've acquired rogue Talon agent Moira. Team Apollo has been found and awaiting further orders." Hana said.

"Understood." The operator replied. Hana turned and nodded before the radio crackled to life again.

"Spartan Yeager, this Lieutenant Cassidy, we're on our way to your location. Advise?" Aaron said.

"I read you Lieutenant, you've chosen a hell of a time to pick us up. We'll be waiting for your attack on the Guardian." Jason said.

"Understood." Aaron replied. "What now?" Tracer asked. "Now we wait." Jason said.

A/N: I know, I know, sorry for a short chapter, but I want to tell you I have two maybe four more chapters for this then it's over. I want to thank you all for reading and voting and whatever. I'm glad you enjoyed my stories. I would also like to announce that I am discontinuing Battle for the Galaxy. It wasn't meeting to my expectations and I don't know how to continue it. So if you enjoyed it, I'm sorry. Until next time, tata for now