New Allies (Star Wars: The Next Generation, Book 4)

Chapter Three

A New Player

Cortana: "Chief can you hear me?"

The Master Chief wakes up turning on the lights on his combat helmet.

Cortana: "I thought l'd lost you too."

The Master Chief noticed his assault rifle floating in zero gravity close by and grabbed it, turning on the flash light attachment under the barrel of the gun.

John: "What happened?"

Cortana: "I'm not sure."

Master Chief put the assault rifle on his back realizing he would need his whole body to navigate in zero gravity. He came to a hole in the hull and saw they were only in half a ship now.

Cortana: "When Halo fired it shook itself to pieces. It did a number on the Ark. The portal couldn't sustain itself. When made it through just as it became unstable and collapsed and... It spit us out somewhere... I don't know where we are."

Cortana seemed more upset than usual, she always had some sort of idea of what to do, but now she didn't. The Master Chief then worked his way through the ship to the cryogenic stasis pods.

Cortana: "But you did it, Truth, The Covenant, The Flood, it's finished."

Master Chief inserted Cortana's chip into a terminal in the stasis pod bay.

John: "It's finished..."

The Master Chief secured his assault rifle on a near by weapons rack and climbed into a stasis pod.

Cortana: "I'll drop a beacon, but it may be awhile before anyone finds us... Years even..."

She said sadly and solemnly.

John: "Wake me... When you need me."

The Master Chief said as he went into stasis.

*Years later...*

The Forward Unto Dawn drifted in space and had been for about 4 years, with Cortana's message/beacon on repeat the entire time. She was thinking about the posibility of herself going rampant, being that smart A.I.'s like herself degraded after 7 years, and she had been in service for 8 years, and had only just barely been able to hold off rampency.

Cortana's S.O.S. : " Mayday Mayday Mayday this is UNSC FFG201 Forward Unto Dawn requesting immediate evac. Survivors aboard prioritization code victor zero five dash three dash sierra zero one one seven."

Cortana detected a scan of the ship but couldn't tell who or what was scanning them, after a moment based on what little the senors that were left could pick up, she could tell they had been boarded. She weighed her options and decided it was best to wake the Master Chief.

Cortana: "Wake up, Chief. I need you."

When the Chief came out of stasis he was very disoriented, which was normal. His hands slammed against the pod view window as he came to.

Cortana: "Chief! Easy, you've been out for awhile."

Chief: "Where are we?"

Cortana: "We're still adrift aboard The Dawn."

Chief: "Why did you wake me?"

Cortana: "Hang on, bringing your systems on right now."

Chief's H.U.D. came online and he noted other changes to his armor. Apparently Cortana had swapped out his damaged armor with a different variant.

Cortana: "I rewrote your suits firmware while you were out."

Chief: "You've been busy."

Cortana: "Activating the ship's gravity generators."