Cortana's Return (A Halo Fanfiction)

Chapter 6

Master Chief walked up the ramp to the front of the Pelican. He was worried, the pilot hadn't radioed back since the comms cut off. It was all too likely that the Prometheans had killed him.

As he walked up behind the pilot's seat he could see his head slumped over to one side. Master Chief crouched down as the slope of the windshield prevented him from walking any further and leaned over the edge of the seat to take a look at the pilot's face.

The pilot was awake and breathing. He had slumped over and was holding his bruised and red throat, panting and coughing heavily. He might have been passed out for a minute and just woken up. Other than that, he seemed fine. Chief sighed in relief and the pilot looked up at him, still panting heavily. "I tried to warn you...(gasp)...they snuck up on me out of nowhere...(pant)...not even a dot on the radar...(cough)..."

He struggled to sit up as he finally caught his breath and Chief put his hand on the pilot's shoulder. He flinched and looked up again. "You did well soldier, thank you for the assistance." Chief said.

The pilot was surprised but regained his composure and said, "It was an honor, Sir!" and saluted.

Chief returned the salute. Now that the pilot had snapped out of it, Chief could get a ride out of here. "Are you still fit to fly?" He asked.

"Sir, yes sir!" The pilot replied, coughing again lightly. He began powering up the pelican and the control panel lit up. "We leave in 60, this bird needs to be space-worthy. You'll be transporting 4 Spartans total." Chief said, walking towards the back. "Understood Sir!" The pilot replied.

Master Chief walked out and back towards the Forerunner structure. He lifted his left hand up, the pain of his fractured fingers finally catching up to him. His fourth finger, ring finger, and thumb were broken, held in place only by his glove and other fingers. He paused and opened the vitals screen that also signaled that his hand was injured. He adjusted a setting on his armor lock options, and closed the three fingers into his fist. Wincing a little, he locked those fingers in place. Now he could punch or do anything necessary without injuring then further. The armor would take the brunt of any impact.

Military transports had already begun arriving. Blue team was looking through the base, directing Marines to collect the equipment. Kelly walked up to him as he neared the entrance. "John, we've found a hidden door inside the base, but have been unsuccessful in our attempts to open it. We could use your assistance." She said, her British accent prominent. Chief nodded and she led him to the back left of the base, behind several Forerunner vehicles.

The door was nearly impossible to see, just a thin outline hidden against the lines of the wall. Fred was also waiting there, and as Chief approached he pressed the center of the door. A hidden panel lit up and a Forerunner lock appeared, the many extending circles more intricate and common than normal locks. Chief investigated the rings.

There was no clear pattern in the lock. Not any a normal person would pick up anyway, and instead of the protruding regions being important, it was the frequency and size of the spaces that mattered. Chief immediately began twisting and turning the lock, lining it up in ways that made no sense, but somehow felt right. He only used his left two unbroken fingers to hold certain disks in place.

He pulled rings from the back and middle forward and rotated several before pulling all of the rings towards him, twisting them, and pushing them into the door. The outline of the door glowed bright blue and extruded towards them. Then the door seemed to disintegrate, revealing the entrance to a room