UNSC File#29145: Overwatch

~My Sword, My Shield~

~Jason~

"No you won't!" A voice shouted. Jason backed up before he glanced over to see Hera in full human size glare at Cortana. Jason grabbed her AI chip to noticed the familiar blue glow, gone.

"Hera?" Jason asked as the blue haired woman turned and smiled. "Hey there." She said before turning to Cortana as her icy glare remained.

"What can you hope to do? You're a malfunctioning AI, you have at least 2 years to live before you're dispensed. Thrown away to protect this trash." Cortana said.

"Trash I'm willing to die for because I care about them." Hera spat before she thrust her hand forward, infecting one Promethean Knight as it turned and fired it's Scattershot at another, disintegrating it completely before another was infected as another and another before half of the Prometheans Cortana had summoned were under Hera's control. Jason glanced over to see her form change from her light blue to a violent red.

"Hera." Jason said as the AI turned and produced a small smile. Jason turned back to see her small army of Prometheans attacking Cortana's. The Spartans and Overwatch team returned fire at the new arrivals. Echo hopped onto the GAUSS turret as she swiveled it to the enemy Prometheans and fired. Jason hopped into the driver's seat as a Promethean Soldier hopped into the passenger's seat. It turned to see Jason staring at it before it scoffed.

"Get a move on Spartan!" It ordered with a womanly tone. Jason nodded before driving the GAUSShog into Cortana's army, dissolving Soldiers and Crawlers as the Soldier in the passenger's seat fired it's Suppressor at it's enemy brethren. Jason nodded as he drove the GAUSShog into Cortana's Prometheans as the two AIs went head to head. The Soldier in the passengers seat grabbed a Crawler by it's neck and squished it as it dissolved.

"C-can't k-keep t-this up and C-Cortana at o-once!" The Soldier groaned as it flickered from blue to orange and back to blue.

"I suggest we hurry sir!" Echo shouted as she fired the GAUSShog into an incoming Promethean Knight. Jason nodded as he drove the vehicle into both Cortana's controlled Prometheans and hers. Echo kept up the pace, killing groups of both Prometheans as the gunfire from the agents and Spartan teams continued. Once all of Cortana's Prometheans were finished, everyone turned to see Hera and Cortana fighting before Hera grabbed her head as Cortana began to grow a violent red.

"Hera!" Jason shouted. Hera turned and smiled as the rest of the Spartans watched her. "Don't worry about me Lieutenant. You'll always be, my Sword and my Shield. Don't forget that!" Hera replied before both AIs exploded in a shower of blue and red.

"Spirit of Hope, to Spartan teams. The Guardian is destroyed, I repeat, Guardian down." Charles announced to them. Jason had ignored the announcement as he stared at the spot where Hera and Cortana stood, her smile etched into his face. Everyone else watched the Prometheans disappear in explosions of orange. Everyone cheered as Jason remained frozen. Kelly turned to him as she walked over before a hand was placed on his shoulder. She looked up to see the Master Chief shaking his head.

"Give him time." He only said as Kelly watched Jason continue to stare at the spot. He removed his helmet and lowered his head as he brought his helmet to his eyes and pulled out Hera's chip, running his thumb over it.

"You'll always be, My Sword and My Shield." She had said to him as Jason stared at the empty chip. He was officially alone. Mitsugi and Echo were team members, but they didn't know the battles him and the others face, the horrors. Jason felt truly alone as everyone he ever knew was gone in a blink of an eye. He heard loud thumps as he turned slightly to see the Chief walking over to him and placing a hand on his shoulder.

"I am sorry Spartan." He simply said, but he could hear the respect and the sympathy from the towering Spartan. He went through the same thing, but Cortana had returned an evil entity. Hera was dead, gone in a shower of light.

"Permission to have a leave of absence?" He asked. "Permission granted. I'll speak with Captain Charles." Chief replied as Jason placed his helmet on and left, inserting Hera's empty chip into his helmet as he walked off before Kelly stopped him. They both removed their helmets as a silent conversation zapped through their eyes before Kelly wrapped him in a hug.

"I am so sorry Jason." She said as Jason returned the hug. "Thank you Kelly, but, I'm going to need time." Jason replied as they broke the hug. Kelly looked at him as he nodded before placing a light kiss on her lips and grabbed his helmet as he left the blue Spartan female standing there.

A/N: Thank you all for reading and I apologize for a short chapter. I know, I know, but I promise I'll add another chapter, an epilogue. I really hope you've enjoyed this chapter and the story as a whole. I am thankful for the 1k reads, it just tells me you really did enjoy this story and that is all that matters to me. Until next time, tata for now!