N O V A

_Part Two: What Remains_

Nova and the marines stood at the center of group of dead grunts. It was strange. There weren't any Brutes or Elites leading them. Only these grunts made the patrol. Cole loaded a fresh magazine into his rifle and turned to Nova. The Spartan slid his pistol into it's harness-like holster that stuck to his waist. He then looked at the purple helmet that he held in his right hand.

He flipped the helmet so he could see it's back, eyeing the AI drive slit. He pressed it, seeing a glowing drive slide out. Nova took the piece, giving a slightly pained grin. Autumn had kept it safe like he had ordered her to. Nova thought for a moment. Had she survived? If so, then how? And where was she?

Many questions ran through his mind, but Nova put them on pause. He took the AI drive that he had previously placed into one of his pouches and held it close to Autumn's. Like on the Infinity, the sleeping AI quickly swapped to Nova's drive. He then placed Autumn's drive back into the purple helmet.

Pérez had seen the entire thing, moving next to Nova and gesturing towards the helmet he was holding.

Pérez: "So you have an AI now?"

Nova gave a nod.

Nova: "I've had it since the few moments before the Infinity was attacked. It's asleep though, and the one who gave it to me didn't tell me how to awaken it from it's locked state"

Pérez hummed for a moment as Carmine, Cole and the ever silent Hardey closed in on them.

Pérez: "Would you mind if I took a crack at awaking it?"

The Spartan was cautious. Nova didn't want anything bad to happen. Specifically a lock-out that would take ages to deactivate. But it also wouldn't hurt in trying. It was a gamble that Nova could live with. Hopefully.

Nova: "You can when we get back to camp"

Pérez nodded.

Cole: "It seems to be fully clear. So let's head back to the campsite before anyone else shows up"

Everyone agreed, following behind Cole. The group walked for nearly an hour. There were no serious ground patrols of Banished, but there were a few close calls with Banished drop ships. Yet there was no serious combat. And as they approached the hill where the marines had set up their camp, the ever quiet Hardey came up behind Nova, standing next to him. Hardey spoke.

Hardey: "So what's your story?"

Nova glanced down to the marine.

Nova: "What do you mean?"

The marine shrugged.

Hardey: "I dunno. Why did you become a Spartan?"

Nova chuckled.

Nova: "Same as everyone who joined the UNSC. To protect my people and my home"

Hardey nodded, then spoke once more.

Hardey: "Do you have any friends? Family even? I hear that a lot of Spartans are selected because they have no family left"

Nova's eyes lowered from behind his helmet's visor. He remembered the holographic messenger that he once had. Now it was broken, lost in the forests of this damned ring.

Nova: "I do have family. They're doing what they can to rebuild our home"

•

When the group reached the campsite, Pérez approached Nova. Hardey jogged to Carmine, helping his comrade with a set of heavy metal boxes that were placed in the back of a warthog that was set up on repair blocks.