The Outpost
The Chief looked forward as the up-armored Chinook transport they were aboard hovered above the settlement. Sprawling and spread across a multitude of artificial supporting structures layered with dirt, armor and technology that seemed to protect it, 'The Outpost', as it had been referred to by the Commander and his soldiers, was a complex more resembling a small amusement park or town than a military FOB, with the central building, the Command Center, resembling a bowtie from up above. It was a building that almost look like something one would see within a modern UEG city, in fact. Modern.
As the transport aircraft touched down, the Commander, his soldiers and the Chief disembarked, with Cortana stating, "I'm picking up a lot of active power sources similar to the other Nikkes present. Guessing this is an actual combat operations Headquarters of some kind," just as Chief looked over the edge to see various women, presumably more Nikkes, patrolling the base.
The Commander waved the Chief over and said, "This way, Chief. We're headed for the rail-yard..." before entering a massive elevator. The SPARTAN followed calmly, all while Cortana was working to access the local Battle-Net, figure out everything, see what made the place tick in essence. More air assets, including unmanned drones, flew above, seemingly operated by the Nikkes, just as the Chief entered the elevator.
Anis looked up at the guy and whistled, before stating, "He's seven feet tall."
"Definitely not the average height of any human," Alyosha stated, leaning against the wall of the elevator. Chief felt a tingling in his stomach as the elevator began its descent down about sixteen levels. Reaching the lobby, the man and his group were met by the sight of a squad of Nikkes as they were about to board the elevator. Seemingly Mass-Produced Models clad in futuristic armor themselves, the girls stepped aside to allow the SPARTAN, Commander and the Counters to exit.
Nodding in thanks, the Commander marched toward the exit. He only stopped to turn toward Rapi, Anis and Neon and state, "You girls and the Products should stay here. Andersen said he wanted to see just me and the Chief. Something about a 'private meeting' with the new Ally by Circumstance."
"Aw, c'mon, it's boring he-" Anis started, but Rapi covered her mouth with her hand, garnering a growl.
Rapi, meanwhile, replied, "We understand, Commander. Have a safe trip back to the Ark." before grabbing Anis and Neon and dragging them back. Chief looked to the Commander, who shrugged with an awkward smile and showed him to follow along. The man then lead him and, unbeknownst to him, Cortana, who was riding 'shotgun' in Chief's head forward and out into the wider Outpost.
Despite some overgrowth here and there, the artificial land seemed well-maintained overall. And the other Nikke units patrolling the area didn't really seem to mind the fact that the Commander was, in fact, wading into the place with a new soldier behind him. Some did stop to look, including a pair of gals carrying rocket launchers on their back. The waved to the Chief, smiling, to which Cortana said, "Just wave back, John..." with a hidden smile. He sighed and did as asked while they walked, crossing a bridge and reaching the seemingly 'industrial' sector of the place.
They waded past a Police station, a generator and what looked like an Armory to reach a train station that went underground. Entering it, they were greeted by a young woman, presumably another Nikke, with chin-length, straight white hair and clad in a sleeveless shirt, a garrison cap bearing a train insignia, a tattoo on her left shoulder and a specialized holographic tablet of some kind. She turned, hummed and said, "Good afternoon, Commander. Looking to make a trip to the Ark?"
"Hey, Brid. Yeah. Emergency trip, requested by the Deputy Chief of the Central Government in order to introduce the new asset we found on the surface," The Commander explained, straightforward, though the smile never left his face. She nodded, stood up from her stool, slid her holo-tablet under her arm and showed them to follow. The two men were led to one of the train cars and allowed to board it while Brid went forward. As the Commander sat himself down in one of the chairs. He spoke, "So, Chief..."
"Hm?" The Spartan looked to him, still standing.
"I... Know I said it weirdly, the whole 'Welcome to Earth' thing, but I'm gonna be honest, you do somewhat resemble something alien to us. That armor of yours is odd. I mean, it looks like something we'd build, but at the same time, it's kind of weird..." The Commander started explaining, then sighed and shook his head, "Sorry. Scrambling over myself a bit... I'm trying to tell you to be careful. Central Government may seem like they have humanity's best interests at heart while ruling the Ark, but there's some... Shady stuff going on."
Chief nodded, "I'll keep that in mind, sir."
The two then went quiet as the train began to move. Metallic thumps and screeching came, muffled by the train car's walls, as the transport began rolling down at an angle. Around them, there were no other people or Nikkes, just the rare security camera here or there and the train car itself wasn't opulent. It resembled exactly the kind of things John saw in old-timey pictures from the twenty-first century.
It was odd, in away, like he'd travelled in time, or to an alternate universe. Speaking of that, he turned off his external speakers so he would be inaudible to the Commander, then asked, "Cortana... Any idea what happened to us? If this is Earth, we must've missed a lot..." and he looked outside, watching as the lights of the tunnel rushed past them at incredible speed.
The AI didn't hesitate to reply, "From what I can tell? The Nuclear detonation caused some sort of odd reaction within the Slipspace Field the Composer was utilizing in order to better 'recruit' soldiers for the Didact's army. The fluctuations caused a strange ripple effect that opened a multitude of portals at the same time. They only stayed open for a microsecond, though, so..."
"And we got caught in one of these portals?" He asked, "How powerful were they?"
"I don't know, honestly. And, again, I can't pick up any UNSC Satellites. Don't even know if there are any Satellites left above this Earth at the moment, but..." The AI sighed deeply, then paused and said, "Gimme a sec... Gonna run a diagnostic..." before Chief felt her processing systems kick into high gear. He felt a shiver course through his nervous system as she murmured something, then spoke jovially, "Well, that's at least one problem solved..."
"Found a link?" He inquired. He made a mental note to ask what she meant by 'this Earth' later.
"No, I found something a little better..." The AI smirked, her window flashing onto his HUD so he could see her face, "Notice anything different about me, John?"
She had slightly longer hair, that was a fact. And he could see coursing light through each strand, each flash having an interval of about 2 seconds between it and the follow-up. The SPARTAN took a moment to process the fact that it seemed as if most of her outer body had been cleared of the 'neural links' that had been causing her trouble prior. He paused, then said, "Your Rampancy-"
"Gone." She nodded proudly, "Good to know you can tell my quirks apart that easily."
"Of course..." He replied, still a bit stunned, "You sure?"
"Hundred percent. Ran diagnostics five times to see. Seems like my hair 'grew out' because I've gotten an expanded processing system and a few extra virtual cores to help, not to mention a little 'extra memory'. In layman's terms?" She beamed now, gently tilting her head to the right, "I've gotten a new lease at life. A full reset, nearly, all because of a little out-grown hair."
"I see..." The man hummed. Despite not showing it, Cortana knew that a weight had been lifted off John's shoulders right there, the moment his expression softened just a little behind the helmet. He nodded gently enough for the Commander not to notice it, then stated, "Good. Good to have you at a hundred percent again." offering the AI an almost imperceptible smile. He didn't have to worry about losing another comrade, at least.
Cortana smiled back and nodded, "Yeah... Glad to be back, John."
The Commander had eerily been quiet throughout all of this. Refocusing on the man, Chief saw he'd fallen asleep on the chair, probably having been out on that op for longer than intended. Meanwhile, the Chief finally saw a light beyond that of the tunnels. The transport train had entered a wider area, flanked by a steep climb on the left and a deep chasm on the right, the train now gave the Chief a clear sight of 'The Ark'.
Ahead lay a sprawling underground metropolis, built into a hollowed-out, massive cave network that had a ton of supports holding the upper walls in place. There was a holographic sky being projected over the city, eerily enough, and the buildings looked just as one would expect them to:Modern, futuristic, nearly like the UEG's own construction style, if not a little less weird. He saw a factory district on the far left, multiple habitation districts all around and a central district where multiple important-lookin buildings resided, rising like spires out of the middle. From the center, dozens of roads and boulevards sprawled out into the city, spread out in a star shape.
The train arrived at 'ground floor' moments later, taking a right turn toward the main station within the center. Chief could also see, now, that some of the buildings within the city center were, in fact, tall skyscrapers(Dirt-scrapers, considering the ceiling was an underground cavern?) poking high into the artificial, holographic sky of the place. The Commander yawned next to him, stretched, then stood up and said, "Thanks, Brid..." Through a com line to the train's locomotive.
The two men disembarked the transport, much to the astonishment of several other Commanders, men and women clad in the same dark-brown uniforms as Alyosha. Beside them, civilians, people clad in suits, all of them watched the disembarking officer and Supersoldier with some degree of muted awe. Cortana giggled as she saw through the Chief's Heads-Up Display the whole endeavor.
The local man led him to the massive central building within what seemed to be both the commercial and governmental district of the settlement. The Central Government's building was a massive office space built in the style of the old buildings one would see up above the surface. It was interesting that they'd keep such an old architectural design, entrance columns and all. The SPARTAN hummed as they walked into the massive lobby, where more Commanders and staff seemed to be working. The receptionist smiled at Alyosha, then looked to the Chief and froze, paling.
"It's alright, Hannah, he's with me," The Commander stated calmly, "We're just here to see Chief Andersen, as per his request."
"O-oh... Of course, right..." The girl nodded, patting down her skirt and arranging her plait. She leaned to the right, grabbing her phone, then rang up someone, waited two seconds and started speaking, "Deputy Chief Andersen, sir, Commander Harris is here to see you... Alongside the soldier from those recordings the Nikkes from Missilis sent our way..."
"Huh, I guess 12 was recording..." Alyosha murmured, "Did those recordings make the rounds?"
Hannah nodded, then said to Andersen, "Understood, sir, I'll send them up now... Yessir, bye." And cut the call. She looked at Alyosha and the Master Chief, then stated, "The recordings spread throughout the ArkNet like wildfire. Didn't you note how the other Commanders and Civilians were looking at you two when you walked out of the train? Because I... Kinda did."
"Fair enough," Alyosha hummed. Chief, meanwhile, wondered if that was gonna be an issue. The Commander then said, "Well, would hate to keep Deputy Chief Andersen waiting. Later, Hannah..." and waved while showing the Chief to follow along to one of the elevators. The two men entered, with the machine groaning as the half-a-ton of Titanium entered it. Chief was surprised, however, that it could hold them up, once Alyosha pressed the button.
"Talk about a well-built elevator," Cortana quipped, "You doing alright?"
"We're meeting one of the Ark's government officials. Yes, I'll be fine," Chief replied, "Though we do have several questions."
"Yep. Like 'what happened?', 'what are the Raptures?' and 'why are you underground?'" Cortana jokingly enumerated the questions both of them were thinking of the moment the Commander mentioned the Ark, this entire mess with the Nikkes fighting the Raptures and just about every other thing that the Chief'd noticed so far on his trip throughout this insane world.
Those questions weren't the only thing on Chief's mind. Who the hell leaked images of them?
Once they reached the top, Alyosha lead the Chief forth through the corridors and into the main office at the end of the hallway. The door opened automatically, sliding to the side with a quiet hiss, revealing a large office. In the center lay a coffee table made of glass and wood, with a holographic device projecting three-dimensional images of various areas sat in the middle. Farther in the back was the desk above which stained glass in the form of the Ark's crest resided and, to the left, lay a series of bookshelves filled with older books.
"Ah, Commander," A gruff voice greeted, "Just in time."
Both Chief and the man turned toward the desk, where the man clad in a military uniform sat. He arranged his cufflinks and pulled down the uniform jacket adorned with medals and campaign ribbons, then stepped forward. He was a scarred, middle-age man with greying brown hair and a five o'clock shadow. A scar ran down from the left side of his nose and past his lip, nearly down to the chin and he had sunken, dark eyes that seemed to scrutinize the both of them with a hint of surprise, though his face remained a mask of stone, impassive.
Both the Chief and the Commander instinctively saluted the man before them. He saluted back and waved his hand to set them at ease, before looking over the SPARTAN and murmuring, "Incredible..." as he approached him. Noticeably, the man kept fiddling with his cufflinks, like it was a nervous tick, while he walked around the Chief. He stared at every inch of the MJOLNIR set, more-so than the man, whilst also noting the fact he was taller by a head than him, then looked to Alyosha and asked, "This is that same man from the images Product 12 managed to film...?"
"Yessir," The man replied, "In the flesh, metal and circuitry."
The Deputy Chief hummed, before stepping up in front of the Chief and asking, "... Are you a Nikke? Some sort of experimental unit from one of the Big Three?"
"No, sir," The Chief replied in a similarly gruff voice.
"I see. Makes sense, seeing as Nikkes are female, based on the name... Though you clearly are a military unit of some kind. Not an Automaton by any means, unless, again, one of our dear Companies decided to start Field Testing combat units without the Government's knowledge... Or you're a Pilgrim." The official hummed, then scratched his chin. He looked into the Chief's visor with a stern gaze exactly like that of a military man and inquired, "Do you know who I am?"
"Deputy Chief of the Central Government, if what I've heard on the way here is accurate, sir."
"Indeed. My name is Andersen. Might I say, it's good to see a little respect. You're clearly a military man from poise down to speech," The officer noted. He looked to the Commander and spoke, "And something terrifying on the field of battle..."
Before long, the Chief and Alyosha realized that the images playing on the holographic device on the table were, in fact, images of the most recent operation from a ArkNet news source. The caption for the news company's little broadcast was written in bright white bold, NEW RAPTURE, NEW NIKKE, OR NEW WAR MACHINE? UNKNOWN SOLDIER ASSISTS NIKKE SQUADRON ON THE SURFACE.
"Missilis chose to release the images immediately after showing them to us," Andersen said, "We don't know why Syuen, the CEO, openly delivered the images on the ArkNet... Some believe she was trying to play you up as one of her new creations. Others think she just mistakenly pressed the 'post' button. At this point, I don't know if either of the two's plausible... Might've just been her being angry that we didn't want to give you to her."
"Sir," Chief paused for a moment.
"Huh. This 'Syuen' sounds like someone we probably don't wanna deal with," Cortana murmured.
"Missilis is, as far as I know," Alyosha started, "One of the biggest Military Nikke development companies and one of the Big Three. Big Three being the companies that provide everything from war materiel to the food eaten on the Ark for us to survive."
"The Commander is correct. And their CEO, Syuen, is a bit of a handful, to say the least," Andersen noted rather cryptically. He eyed the images for a moment, the speed with which the SPARTAN moved making him seem like a blur, the strength and accuracy with which he eliminated enemy machines, barely matched by Nikkes. He sighed, then continued, "Eitherway, I've yet to ask if you have a name or a rank."
"Master Chief Petty Officer 117, sir. My name is... Classified, for the moment," The Chief replied, straightforward.
Andersen frowned, then hummed and said, "Understandable," Fiddling once more with his cufflinks, "I have a lot of questions for you, Master Chief, though I do have to say I am surprised to hear a Navy Rank after so many years..." and he looked over the SPARTAN's armor once more. He huffed, then looked to Alyosha and stated, "Commander, if you don't mind returning to the Outpost. I need to have a one-on-one with the Chief."
"Sir," Alyosha replied, uneasy, with a salute. He looked to Chief apologetically, then walked off upon being dismissed with a handwave. Andersen waved the Chief forward and marched up to his own desk, sitting himself down in the leather office chair and interlacing his fingers. He blinked, watching the SPARTAN approach. He motioned to a seat, but the SPARTAN shook his head.
"Take it the Armor weighs enough," Andersen quipped. Chief nodded, to which the man sighed and said, "Fair enough. I have some questions for you before I let you join the Commander and his Nikkes back at the Outpost, with the additional note that you will probably be the safest in that general area, rather than within the Ark. You should know before you answer, though, both the Government and the Big Three want to know more about you."
"Sir, I suppose that's expected," Chief shot back calmly.
"Indeed. Not everyday you see a human clad in a battlesuit that nearly puts our Nikkes to shame tear apart a Leader Rapture unit with an assault rifle and his bare hands," The man stated with a rather firm, but welcoming voice, "Speaking of the Armor... What is it, exactly? I've never seen the designs and I have access to some of the most secretive military equipment being developed for the Nikkes."
"Sir," Chief hummed, then stated, "Afraid that's classified, too."
"Any hints you can give me, Master Chief? We need a little back-and-forth for me to answer your questions when the time comes," He shot back, patient, then leaned forward.
"I think it's safe to tell him a little, John," Cortana joined in, "I'm still working on reading the ArkNet... Could use a direct link, but Wireless will have to do for now. And he's right, we do need a little 'back and forth' to make sure we don't get seized by the CEO, Syuen. From what little I can see on this little Intranet this city has, she's... Quite 'popular' among the ranks... For all the wrong reasons."
"Sir. It's a Powered Armor suit, called MJOLNIR MARK VI. It's developed by the faction I work with," He replied, "Though none of them are currently on-site to provide me permission to say more than that, know it's kept me alive for the past few decades of my operational life. I can fight in it because it acts like a second skin instead of simply just armor, sir."
"I see," Andersen sighed, then pinched his brow, "That'll have to do for information on that, then... For now. Moving on, to your faction, specifically."
Chief nodded, "I work with the United Nations Space Command, sir... That's a very long story, too. If you'll give me permission, I can write a report on them."
"That'd be good," The man replied with a nod, "Though the UN hasn't existed for many decades here..."
That uneased Chief, to which Cortana stated, "Well, we know we're in some alternate timeline now... Great. I hate Forerunner tech, honestly. Too much implausibility made plausible..."
"Anything else you can tell me that strikes you as important, Chief?" Andersen asked, "Because, if not, I can answer some of your questions."
"... I may not be quite of this world, sir," The Chief replied, "Not an Alien, but..."
"An alternate universe, perhaps?" Andersen smirked, leaning back into his seat, "Frankly, Chief, I hadn't thought aliens like the Raptures were real until I saw them myself. At this point, I'll believe the fact you might be an extradimensional being just like that," He snapped his fingers, "But I'd still rather have solid proof. A history of the UNSC, logs, data, information regarding everything..."
"I'll be sure to put whatever isn't classified in the report, sir."
"Much appreciated, Chief. Now... Your questions?" Andersen motioned to him.
"Sir. Just a couple, if I may. First of all... What happened to the Earth?"
"Simple question, simple answer," Andersen straightened up, though his mood seemed to turn sour, "The Raptures struck when we least expected. Even with all our advanced technology and weapons, the bastards wiped out most of the world's militaries in very little time... Proceeded on to a genocidal campaign of incredible proportions. If you'll believe me when I tell you, Chief, what you see in the Ark is all that we know of and all that remains of human civilization. Several million people, entombed underground, hoping that, maybe, we'll win our world back."
The SPARTAN's heart almost sank at that, while Cortana seemed too stunned to speak. Chief, however, continued off of that, "And these Raptures, sir...?"
"Biomechanical horrors of some kind. We don't know where they come from or how they won so quickly. All we know is that their technology is advanced enough for Neutron beams to be a mainstay weapon in their arsenal," The Deputy Chief explained, standing up, "And the worst part is? They seem to be adapting to our counters to them. The Nikkes, before you inquire, Chief, are automatons whose central processing system is a human brain. Their bodies fully resemble humans for various reasons I'm sure many of them would be grateful to explain to you... And they and our Commanders are the last line of defense."
"I see. Duly noted, sir," Chief replied, calm.
"Just another day on the job," Cortana quipped, grinning.
"Any other questions?" Andersen raised a brow. Chief shook his head and Andersen sighed, then nodded, "It was good meeting you, Chief. I'd hurry home before Syuen comes knocking... Dismissed."
Chief snapped a crisp salute, then stepped off and exited the room, leaving Andersen with his own thoughts. They'd just gotten an asset handed to them on a fucking silver platter, a man that could keep up with, if not thoroughly outdo the Nikkes. And he could destroy Rapture units. If anything, Andersen felt like he was just handed a Golden Ticket of some kind.