Khaela.
The Avatar jerked, moving its limbs. With a slight hiss, the armor's reactor started up; the motors and synthetic muscles began to work.
System check. Launch... Completed. No deviations in the Avatar's operation. Deviations in the armor's operation... Nominal efficiency exceeded. Excellent. The Sentinel hovering over the suit rose higher and flew out of the room so as not to interfere. A Sentinel scanned the suit. The robot sent a text message:
"Repair complete. Unit status—nominal. Unit ready for tasks. Operation code: 9845384537596237857345345437567456453. Duplicated to control block 50697845. This unit can continue the task."
The Avatar fell to the floor with a light thud when the field in which this body had been suspended two meters above the floor turned off.
Looking around, I realized I was in one of the technical rooms. A small square hall with a corridor and a door at the end, as light gray and illuminated as the other mechanisms of the complex. Nearby was a synthesis unit, where parts were literally condensed out of air and energy.
And where Forerunner robots, with my permission, had extracted this body from the armor, replaced the unnecessary parts, and even added a few things of their own. Both to the Avatar and the armor. More advanced superchargers, core protection, and a power cell based not on a plasma mini-reactor, but on converter crystals. I can finally say that the Avatar is created at a sufficiently high technological level. Overall, this body has ceased to be Geth, leaving only the synth-muscles, and has become a still-plausible but Forerunner machine. Thank you, Monitor. I wonder why such gifts all of a sudden. I'll have to ask when the opportunity arises. The last dozen connection attempts ended in nothing. And I don't like it; I tried to request a connection myself and through the robots. But...
"No communication signal."
Something is happening. One could assume the Control Center is lost, but where is the Monitor? Does The Covenant know how to block him? Interesting. But without the Activation Index, the Halo cannot be activated. Which means I need to retrieve it while there's still a chance. Command agrees with the idea; the Vice Admiral has approved.
With a mental command, I deployed the hard-light blades on my arms. And now, a full layer of hard-light armor. Wings—not for flying, but for gliding. Especially since the armor already has small engines for braking, for dropping from heights and softening the fall of a half-ton mass in MJOLNIR Armor. And this way, it will become even more...
More carefully.
Interestingly, the tails, previously retracted into movable tubes for protection, had received their own equivalent of "fur" made of hard light. Only very sharp, so they could be used as weapons. On the shoulder was a sentinel beam, powered by the suit's reactor. Instead of a mask, there was a full helmet made of hard light, like those the Forerunners used against us, but in the style... In the style of ancient Human armor. Black metal, a helmet with a pointed front edge. And with ears. Massive armor plates made of a complex composite with scarlet markings and vertical lines on the helmet's visor.
"Levitation module?"
The robot replied indifferently:
"Reduction of user mass. According to calculations, it will reduce the chance of a recurrence of this type of damage," the Sentinel reported.
It was talking about the fact that I had fallen from a height and damaged the avatar. Actually, the significant damage to the servomotors was partly because a couple more constructs, weighing a ton each, had fallen on top of me.
Anyone who says a steel box can't be damaged by the blow of a log clearly has a poor understanding of physics. Or is a fantasy fan. It was extremely unpleasant and serious. Previously, I hadn't brought the armor to such a state. Alright, let's try one last time.
"Connection with the Monitor?"
"No signal," the machine informed, "control over the backup control center lost. Control over the Monitor lost. Primary perimeter of The Library breached."
I see. We need to act fast. I hope when we're done here, they'll let me keep this suit. There's something ironic about the Forerunners giving that very armor to their enemy. Though, for the sake of the cause, I don't mind. The Forerunner machines are honestly making amends to the Reclaimer for the past. Or to the Reclaimer's assistant; right now, it doesn't matter much.
"We need to get the Activation Index before the others. And upload the armor schematics, they'll come in handy."
The robot objected:
"Access to the Activation Index can only be obtained by a Reclaimer in person. Three active Reclaimers detected in the Library cluster. Armor schematics transmitted. Reclaimer coordinates transmitted."
Looking at the schematic, I wanted to smirk, even though such emotionality isn't characteristic of me. After all, this is that very armor, ours. In essence, they had reassembled the MJOLNIR Armor into something else. Hellcat-class armor. There are a couple of thousand such sets on the Boundless Will, but time hasn't spared them. Humans, as best they could, adapted it for paratroopers and ODST in various configurations, but it was always just a lower-quality copy. On the avatar now was the original.
I assume the Monitor used blueprints from the archives. The Forerunners were provident; they must have saved simulations in case of war or for assistance. Thanks to this, they were able to synthesize the necessary elements. Even if it took almost five hours in total.
The fact that there are people in the complex is also good. It means someone from Noble Team actually survived.
"How long ago was the perimeter of The Library breached?"
"Four standard hours ago. Three standard hours ago, the landing of hostile forces marked 'Covenant' began. Currently, forces are storming the second level of the outer perimeter of The Library. Containment is being carried out. Special attention. Quarantine breached in Zone 9. Quarantine breached in Zone 17. The Infection is loose. Mass infection recorded. Control forces reassigned to infection containment. Recommendation: Reclaimers must activate Halo, suppress the infection."
"How long ago did the breakthrough occur?"
"Two standard hours ago, forces marked 'Covenant' broke into the containment zones. Aggressive forms of low intelligence ignored warnings and entered the containment zone. They destroyed the capsules, leading to the release of The Flood and the infection of the attackers. The Infection was released."
And as proof, the robot played a recording where a shaggy Jiralhanae in heavy armor roars in rage:
"We were supposed to find a divine relic, not this! Food supplies, they were guarding food supplies!" The Jiralhanae smashed a capsule and grabbed a Flood infection form with his hand, which tried to stretch its tentacles and beak toward him. "What, you want to eat me, beast? I'll eat you myself. Let's at least see what kind of food the gods kept here."
"Maybe it's not so bad, Chieftain," asked a second one, "who else gets divine grub?"
The leader thought and nodded.
"That's true. Let's try it. Can't bring the Prophets any old garbage."
The recording cut off at the moment the Jiralhanae, opening his maw, prepares to bite into the Flood infection form.
"The infection consumed the creature and infected their ship. Immediate destruction was required, but the infection is spreading with frightening speed. Too many corpses, too much food for the parasite."
Now that's a PROBLEM. If the parasite is loose... There are hundreds of thousands of corpses here, thousands of ships. This filth could gorge itself so much that we won't be able to hold it back physically at all! Plus, it'll scatter across the galaxy on captured tech, and then the living will envy the dead.
"Gravity shift, section plating ejection? Bombardment?"
The Sentinel, hovering opposite me, replied:
"Impossible. Ring procedures are initiated only by the Monitor and the Reclaimer. Attempting connection. No signal from the Monitor. Manual equipment launch recommended."
The avatar immediately switched to the Vice Admiral, who had heard the conversation through the monitor in her office. And she looked very grim.
"Your assessment, Khaela?"
What assessment? It's one thing to have one transport and a couple of hundred survivors. It's another to have legions of biomass and thousands of ships, and with proper engines at that. We have a few days before the parasite leaves the system. At best. At worst—a day. Oh right, we're still ignoring the elephant in the room. Or rather, the massive Covenant station. Which definitely has enough biomass to wipe out the entire galaxy and all life in it. And no Reapers are needed. The parasite will handle the task perfectly on its own.
"I'm afraid we won't be able to contain this. With the Monitor we could, but now we don't have enough control over the complex. We need to fire. If the parasite hijacks Covenant ships, everyone dies. Absolutely everyone. One ship falling on Earth or Reach and the epidemic will wipe out the planet within a month. I guarantee it."
Black Box added:
"Analyzing the archives provided by Khaela. Confirming, according to the archives of ancient Humanity, the danger level is extreme. Recommend immediate destruction of the threat."
Cortana also nodded.
"Agreed. This is all too much for all of us. Humans must survive. But won't the shot burn the whole galaxy?"
Margaret Parangosky listened and nodded.
"And yet, the control center is lost, and we still need to reach the Activation Index. Can you handle it? And Cortana's question isn't idle at all. We need to destroy the parasite, not all of us."
I shrugged as a hologram.
"Is there a choice, Vice Admiral? In the end, we can play along with the Covenant. If we can localize the blast using only the power of one installation..."
Margaret Parangosky smiled. Not a nice smile.
"The Covenant will lose a massive station, fleets. If we can limit the shot to one single ring. Otherwise, we'll be wiped out too. That's possible, right?"
I turned the question to the robot. It replied in the affirmative:
"Possible. Activation of the installation puts the others in a state of high readiness. It is possible to adjust the blast in case of a localized breakthrough. Localized breakthrough of The Flood within one installation confirmed. Firing the entire block is not mandatory; the message has been entered into the complex logs. Localized equipment blast—Installation 06—authorized. The Monitor does not respond. Manual equipment launch required."
Right, it's all logical. The Activation Index fires from a specific ring. With the help of The Ark—from all of them. Now we need someone who can take the Activation Index. Spartans will do. Connection...
"...landing, Phantoms again!"
"Platform 3 is falling!"
Oh, they've got a battle in full swing over there.
"Not a good evening, folks. Plans are changing."
The silence lasted exactly one and a half seconds. Spartans aren't prone to reflection at all.
"We thought you were dead, Noble Six."
I chuckled.
"A couple of seven-hundred-kilogram carcasses fell on me. And one landed its shiny metal ass, weighing a ton, right on my head. That's bad for the gear. The robots restored it, but it took time. Ready to continue."
Noble One sighed almost inaudibly in the speakers.
"Good, where are you?"
Finally, let's talk business.
"Still on the wall, I can fly in on a Sentinel. And yes, we have a new plan from command."
"Great," Noble Five sighed, probably feeling a bit uncomfortable at the thought that I'd been left behind, "and what does ONI want from us?"
Now here's where the fun begins.
"We need to be the first to break through to the Activation Index and capture it. After that, we'll sneak into one of the control centers, make some adjustments, and give the Activation Index to the Covenant."
Silence fell on the line.
"They did mention this ring is a weapon. Of mass destruction. Has ONI decided to stage a local apocalypse on a galactic scale? Why am I not surprised," Noble Five sighed.
I nodded, even though no one could see me except the robots.
"That's right. But the Covies, out of extreme idiocy and hunger, released the parasite. And in the system is a massive Covenant fleet, including a large station. And very, very much organic matter for infection. We can destroy them all with one strike. It won't hit the Orion Arm or Human colonies. We just need to make adjustments to the system. And for that, we need the Activation Index. Questions?"
Carter-A259 answered, good man.
"How soon can you reach us?"
I thought, looked at the Sentinel, which helped with a transmitted map.
"In about twenty minutes."
No sooner said than done. I was led into the shield control room, where all four columns were already raised, and five Brutes lay in the passage and below (Noble Five had managed to fight them off with a rocket launcher), and then it was time to jump onto the roof of the Sentinel and forward to heroics.
It must be understood that the firing of even one Halo will cause colossal damage to the Council Races. If you calculate the radius... At a glance, it'll wipe out part of Asari territory, about a third, several Salarian colonies, half of the Attican Traverse, a chunk of the Terminus Systems, fifteen to twenty percent of the region's territory.
I harbor no illusions, but I also understand that we won't be able to control the containment of the parasite in the system in any way. Even the strain of all Human fleets wouldn't be enough. Which means the shot is the most rational solution. The main thing is to make sure no other rings fire. Let all the Covies that are here gather; they'll stay here.
We rose into the sky, giving me a chance to assess the changes. In the shield over The Library, a slightly matte film, a missing sector was visible. On the surface, it was marked by the glows of numerous fires and a lake of fire. They're bombing and storming. The Covenant Carrier is no longer burning, but judging by its appearance, it was shot into total non-combat capability.
A Covenant ship hangs over the complex; a second lies right on the shield in a semi-destroyed state. And numerous black dots are flying toward the shield from both ships. Covenant, presumably. Visibility due to the fires, contained by the shields, is near zero. Heavy black smoke clouds breaking into the sky through the single raised shield sector. The temperature is also well above normal. On the bright side, visibility is zero for everyone.
"Take me to the Reclaimer group. No, wait, go right. Toward the Phantom. Can you break the roof?"
The robot immediately pulled a turn, taking advantage of the rider's total immunity to G-forces. Pity about the hammer. I'll have to act with whatever's at hand. Or rather, on-hand.
"Don't shoot, break the roof."
The robot, flying up to the Phantom, spread its massive "paws" used as gravity hammers, forming a ball of energy between them. The Phantom didn't react to what was happening; we were higher and behind. Once over the roof, the robot sharply brought its limbs together, striking with its paws and sending the ball down. The Phantom jolted, and a jagged hole formed in the roof. And into this hole the avatar plummeted, having first sent a couple of gifts down there.
"Dmitry is here!" the avatar yelled at the full depth of the armor's sound amplifiers, mimicking the Covenant name for Spartans, "demons." I'm sure they didn't understand.
But they did react to the Plasma Grenades that flew into the Phantom. As did they to the figure in black-and-red armor that appeared in a flash, piercing a Kig-Yar's skull with a blade of light while discharging a Shotgun into an Elite with the other hand. The latter flew against the ship's wall, leaving purple guts on it and flooding the floor with blood. The Covies were not in the best position: there were at least fifteen of them in the Phantom, conditionally alive to varying degrees of roasting, and no room for maneuver. And I had close-quarters weapons.
Only one swordsman was able to offer resistance. He tried to launch an attack. He soaked up two Shotgun blasts on his shield but still staggered. Seizing the moment, I spun, pinning the swordsman to the wall with my tails, and gave him a coup de grace to the head. Four seconds later, the avatar had already jumped out through the hole in the roof and climbed onto the robot. The Phantom, having lost control, crashed down.
"Continue the flight."
The robot easily set off again, and the avatar continued to scout for the nearest targets. Below us, the forest is burning; flashes of skirmishes are clearly visible. The Covenant and the infected are pushing forward through forests, fields, and rocks. And on the horizon, fifty kilometers from The Library, a very characteristic dirty-yellow haze is visible. It's multiplying. With such a concentration of spores, infection can take minutes, not days. Without protection, even living organic matter will be quickly converted. But you really need a lot of corpses for such density.
"Noble Team, what are you up to?"
"Advancing toward The Library. The enemy is distracted by the landing and fighting each other. The building's anti-aircraft system is shooting down everything flying above a certain level. Where are you?"
The robot, hiding in the smoke clouds, successfully evades the battles. When needed, a Sentinel can be very fast. In acceleration mode, it has maneuverability issues, but it's fast. And the protection allows it to race over the burning forest, through smoke and soot. Flying out of another cloud, I saw the Spartans below.
"I'm above."
The robot, pulling a turn, hovered over the squad of three soldiers and opened fire on the infected with needles. I looked at my colleagues. Noble One, Noble Two, and Noble Five. It's still about five kilometers to the complex from here. While gunning down the Husks, I noted:
"We're making good progress. But I suggest we fly the rest of the way. Blazing a trail for the others isn't the best idea," and added to the robot, "request three more Sentinels for transport."
The machine replied:
"Request accepted. Stand by."
The squad decided to move on, and the robot flew above us. Across the rugged terrain, the fire almost caught up with us. Several flashes of plasma whistled over us: The Library's anti-aircraft system is mowing down unauthorized flyers. The explosions confirmed this fact, as did the need to move. The explosions would only intensify the fire.
A door to the technical rooms appeared ahead. As we approached, the door folded into sections and rose up like a shutter. And more robots flew out from there. Including Sentinels.
We had to delay again; this time the Covenant tried to suppress us. But four Spartans and a small army of flying robots are a strong argument. Yes, Covie plasma mows down Sentinels fairly easily, but there are about fifty of them here. Enough for a couple of attacks. We set off for The Library on the Sentinels. The anti-aircraft system doesn't touch us, as Humans are Reclaimers, not hostile targets.
"Noble Six, what kind of armor is that?" Noble Five inquired during the flight.
I smiled, even though they couldn't see it, but for the image, it was necessary.
"Like it? Forerunner robots restored ancient Human armor based on MJOLNIR. I was already putting this armor together from whatever I had to save resources. So I don't see a problem with the robots replacing some elements with newer ones."
More like almost all elements; only the frame remained.
"And you'll be able to fix it?" Noble One clarified.
I turned, looking at the Spartan; he was looking at me. The avatar nodded.
"Quite. ONI has specialists."
"I don't doubt it," snapped Catherine-B320, also known as Noble Two.
Overall, the squad looks less than whole, but okay. My colleagues' armor is scorched, and they're using Covenant weapons, not Human ones, but nothing critical. The fight can continue. And the massive structure of The Library is getting closer and closer. The robots didn't fly inside but descended to the passenger platforms. After that, they remained hovering nearby. Sentinels are racing above us, flying toward the enemy.
"Second level of the perimeter. Use the gondolas."
The gondola turned out to be a flying platform on an energy guide. The platform had to cross a chasm (a moat a couple of kilometers wide and five deep), the shield that goes into this chasm, and pass through a hatch in the airlock. And there are five such gondolas here. The avatar immediately clarified with the robot:
"Can we activate them all? That will delay the pursuers."
The machine replied immediately:
"Transportation and sequential activation of gondolas is possible."
Noble One immediately got his bearings.
"Wait for me at the far one. I'll turn on the mechanisms one by one, then join you."
Which was done. One by one, the platforms left, and we set off on the last one. The fact that we were flying played to our advantage, and the flight among the mechanisms of the huge complex on the platform passed quietly and peacefully. But it was long; we flew for almost an hour. After all, the platform was in no hurry, moving first inside the building and then flying upward. Then down and forward again.
Yes, we're being taken not through the endless corridors of technical labyrinths, where you can't find your way without a map and a guide, but directly. Straight to the third security level. We'll have to walk a bit more there.
Next, we found ourselves in the colossal, truly huge corridors of The Library. A massive Forerunner computing complex where you could drive a tank and still have plenty of room. There was no tank, but there were robots, so we reached the fourth floor of the Activation Index block without incident. We arrived where we needed to be.
"How far have the enemies advanced?"
The robot replied:
"Advanced units have reached the gondola landing zone. The gondolas have left. The units are searching for other landing zones and fighting among themselves. The infection has consumed the sectors closest to the breached containment zone. At the moment, no fewer than twenty-three thousand primary combat forms are recorded."
"Is that bad?" Noble Two clarified, looking not at the robot. At me.
The avatar replied with a short nod.
"Very. In essence, there aren't many specimens yet, but the more bodies there are, the more of an army they'll have. In ten hours, there won't be twenty thousand of them, but a hundred, or even more. The virus can process dead tissue with startling speed. Even carrier forms aren't mandatory; you just need to start the process. And a combat form can do that by releasing spores."
The Spartans exchanged looks.
"Then we need to hurry."
On the fourth floor was a platform that, when we stepped on it, moved down toward a small, T-shaped green mechanism hanging in the void in the center of the hall. The Activation Index. The cylindrical device spat the key right into Noble One's hand. I think he expected me to try and take the device. But the fact is, he's Human, and I'm not. Examining the key, Noble One inquired:
"Excellent, what's next?"
I quoted the Vice Admiral's decision.
"Next task: reach the backup control center and, using the Activation Index, change the equipment settings. We don't need the other rings to fire, and it wouldn't hurt to lower the output power of this one.
Apparently, Noble One heard some sarcasm in my tone.
"Will there be problems?"
I spread my hands.
"Teleports without the Monitor's help aren't in the cards for us, which means we need to hijack a Phantom. Flying on robots is possible, but sooner or later we'll just be spotted and shot down. Which is undesirable; we need to keep the Activation Index. And secondly, judging by the defense system maps, the nearest terminal we need is already in the infection zone. Basically, it'll be fun."
Noble Five shrugged.
"We're Spartans. And we know what we need. We'll manage. Are The Library's defense systems still working?"
"No idea, I hope so. Otherwise, the non-locals will realize too soon that their divine relic has been stolen. There will be more problems than I'd like. The Covies have already noticed the attention on the complex and are storming it with infantry forces. Completely ignoring losses, for the record."
Noble One listened, then pointed to the exit.
"That's not our task. Ours is to make the shot. Let's go; we'll solve problems as they come."
The squad moved toward the exit, and I thought about how we'd need to send the gondola back once we got out so no one could fly inside on it. No point in making life easier for either the Covenant or the infected. Or the parasite, for that matter.
***
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