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CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

0600 Hours, August 29, 2552 (Military Calendar)

Epsilon Eridani System, UNSC Military Reservation

01478-B, planet Reach

The firing range was uncharacteristically quiet Normally, the air would be filled with noise--the sharp, staccato crackle of auto combat operations; and the barked, curse-laden orders of drill instructors John frowned as he guided the Warthog to the security checkpoint

The silence on the co were the extra security personnel; today, there were three tiate

John parked the Warthog and was approached by a trio of MPs "State your business here, sir," the lead MP demanded

Without a word, John handed over his papers--orders direct froies Dr Halsey and the others are waiting for you at the P and R area"

The guard saluted, and waved the gate open

On survey e was listed as "UNSC Military Reservation 01478-B" The soldiers who trained there had a different nareat deal of the Spartans’ early training had taken place there

The range was divided into three areas: a live-fire obstacle course; a target practice range; and the P&R

--"Prep and Recovery" area--which ency first-aid station

John had spent plenty of ti

The Master Chief walked briskly to the prefabricated structure Another pair of MPs, MA5B assault rifles at the ready, double-checked his credentials before they ad

"Ah, here at last," said an unfao, son, on the double, if you please"

John paused; the speaker was an older man, at least in his sixties, in the coveralls and lab coat of a ship’s doctor No rank insignia, though, John thought with a twinge of concern For a , and clubbing, kicking, and beating un-uniformed instructors into unconsciousness flashed into his memory with crystal clarity

"Who are you, sir?" he asked, his voice cautious

"I’m a Captain in the UNSC Navy, son," the man said with a thin-lipped so"

A Captain--and new orders Good "Yes, sir"

The Captain in the lab coat escorted him into the P&R’s medical bay "Undress, please," the man said

John quickly disrobed, then stacked his neatly folded uniforan to swab John’s neck and the back of his head with a foul-s liquid The liquid felt ice-cold on his skin

A moment later, Dr Halsey entered "This will just take a rade a few components in your standard-issue neural interface Lie back and remain still, please"

The Master Chief did as she said A technician sprayed a topical anesthetic on his neck The skin tingled, then went cold and numb The Master Chief felt layers of skin incised, and then a series of distinct clicking sounds that echoed through his skull There was a brief laser pulse and another spray He saw sparks, felt the rooo His vision blurred; he blinked rapidly and it quickly returned to normal

"Goodthe procedure is complete," Dr Halsey said "Please follow own He slipped it on and followed the doctor outside

A field coe Its white fabric walls rippled in the breeze

Ten MPs stood around the structure, assault rifles in hand The Master Chief noted these weren’t regular Marines They wore the gold conia of Special Forces Orbital Drop Shock Troopers

--"Helljuh and iron-disciplined A flash ofinto the

John felt his adrenaline spike as soon as he saw the soldiers

Dr Halsey approached the MP at the entrance and presented her credentials They accepted them and scanned her retina and voiceprint, then did the same to the Master Chief

Once they confirmed his identify, they immediately saluted--which was technically unnecessary, as the Master Chief was out of unifor their salute

The soldiers kept looking around, scanning the field, as if they were expecting sorew--not much spooked an Orbital Drop Shock Trooper

Dr Halsey led the Master Chief inside In the center of the dome stood an empty suit of MJOLNIR

armor, suspended between two pillars on a raised platform The Master Chief kneas not his suit

His, after years of use, had dents and scratches in the alloy plates and the once iridescent green finish had dulled to a worn olive brown

This suit was spotless and its surface possessed a subtle htly thicker, and the black underlayers had a more convoluted weave of coe, and tiny lulowed near the articulation points

"This is the real MJOLNIR," Dr Halsey whispered to hi was only a fraction of what the armor should be This--" She turned to the Master Chief "--is everything I had always dreamed it could be Please put the suit on"

The Master Chief stripped the paper gown off and--with the help of a pair of technicians--donned the arh the armor’s components were bulkier and heavier than his old suit, once asseht as air The armor was a perfect fit The biolayer warmed and adhered to his skin, then cooled as the temperature difference between the suit and his skin equalized

"We’ve made hundreds of minor technical improvements," she said "I’ll have the specifications sent to you later Two of those changes, however, are rather seriousused to"

Dr Halsey’s brow furrowed John had never seen her worried before

"First," she told hiht add, iy shield the Covenant Jackals have been using against us to great effect"

This armor had shields? The Master Chief had known that ONI research had been working on adapting Covenant technology; Spartans had standing orders to capture Covenant ineers had announced soravity--sorav systems

The fact that the MJOLNIR arh For years, there had been no luck back-engineering Covenant shield tech Most in the scientific co it Maybe that’s why Dr Halsey orried Maybe they hadn’t worked out all the bugs

Dr Halsey nodded to the technicians "Let’s begin"

The techs turned to a series of instruer man, donned a COM headset

"Okay, Master Chief" The tech’s voice crackled through John’s helmet speakers "There’s an activation icon in your heads-up display There is also a manual control switch located at position twelve in your hel happened

"Wait a ive the suit an activation charge After that, it can accept regenerative power from the fusion pack Stand on the platform and be absolutely still"

He stepped onto the platform that had held the MJOLNIR arlowed a brilliant yellow The pillars started to spin slowly around the base of the platfor in his extrelow intensified and his hele in the air intensified; his skin craith ionization He sht dimmed

"Reset the activation button now, Master Chief"

The air around the Master Chief popped--as if it jumped away from the MJOLNIR armor There was none of the shi?

He ran his hand over his arm and encountered resistance a centi

How many times had he and his teammates had to find ways to slip past a Jackal’s shield? He’d have to rethink his tactics Rethink everything

"It provides full coverage--" Dr Halsey’s voice piped through the speakers "--and dissipates energy far more efficiently than the Covenant shields the Spartans have recovered, though the shield is concentrated on your ary field tapers down to a hair under a millimeter so you don’t lose the ability to hold or manipulate items with your hands"

The lead technician activated another control, and new data scrawled across John’s display "There’s a segmented bar in the upper corner of your HUD," the technician said, "right next to your bioe level of your shield Don’t let it co the hits"

The Master Chief slipped off the platform He skidded--then came to a halt His movements felt oiled

His contact with the floor felt tentative

"You can adjust the bottoloves to increase traction In normal use, you ant to set these to the minimal level--just be aware your defenses will be diminished in those locations"

"Understood" He adjusted the field strengths "In zero-gee environth, correct?"

"That is correct," Dr Halsey said

"How e can they take before the system is breached?"

"That is what you will learn here today, Master Chief I think you’ll find that we have several challenges in store for you to see how much punishment the suit can take"

He nodded He was ready for the challenge After weeks spent traveling in Slipspace, he was long overdue for a workout

John slid back his helmet visor and turned to face Dr Halsey "You said there were two major system improvements, Doctor?"

She nodded and smiled "Yes, of course " She reached into her lab coat and withdrew a clear cube "I doubt you’ve ever seen one of these before It is the rave;?"

"Yes, like your forhtly different I’d like to introduce you to Cortana"

The Master Chief looked around the tent He saw no coraphic projectors He cocked an eyebrow at Dr Halsey

"There is a new layer sandwiched between the reactive circuits and the inner biolayers of your armor,"

Dr Halsey explained "It is a weave of additional memory-processor super-conductor"

"The same material as an AI’s core"

"Yes," Dr Halsey replied "An accurate analysis Your armor will carry Cortana The MJOLNIR system has the nearly the same capacity as a ship-borne AI system Cortana will interface between you and the suit and provide tactical and strategic information for you in the field"

"I’raency routine," Dr Halsey told hi thee-translation software as well Her primary purpose is to infiltrate their computer and communications systems She will intercept and decode point-to-point Covenant transence in the field"

Intel support in an operation where there had been no reconnaissance The Master Chief liked that It would level the playing field significantly

"This AI is the co onto the Covenant ship," the Master Chief said

"Yesand more Her presence will allow you to utilize the suit reat deal of point defense during Naval operations "Can she control the MJOLNIR armor?" He wasn’t sure he liked that

"No Cortana resides in the interface between your mind and the suit, Master Chief You will find your reaction ti the impulses in your motor cortex directly into motion--she can’t make you send those impulses"

"This AI," he said, "will be inside rade" to his standard-issue UNSC computer interface had been for

"That is the question, isn’t it?" Halsey replied "I can’t answer that, Master Chief Not scientifically"

"I’m not sure I understand, Doctor"

"What is the e they exist, but we still don’t knohat ht words "We nals in the brain--because we just know that the human brain worksbut not how, or why Cortana resides ‘between’ your es in your brain and transferring them to the suit via your neural implant

"So, for lack of a better term, yes, Cortana will be ‘inside’ your mind"

"Ma’am, my priority will be to co directives"

"There is no need to worry, Master Chief Cortana has the sa necessary to make sure that yourherself--or you--to accomplish it"

The Master Chief exhaled, relieved

"Now, please kneel down It’s time to insert her memory-processor matrix into the socket at the base of your neck"

The Master Chief knelt There was a hissing noise, a pop, and then cold liquid poured into the Master Chief’s mind; a spike of pain jammed into his forehead, then faded

"Not a lot of room in here," a smooth female voice said "Hello, Master Chief"

Did this AI have a rank? Certainly, she was not a civilian--or a fellow soldier Should he treat her like any other piece of UNSC-issued equipain, he treated his equipun and knife was cleaned and inspected after everyhe could hear Cortana’s voice through his hel inside his head "Hello, Cortana"

"Hree of cerebral cortex activity You’re not the muscle-bound automatons the press makes you out to be"

"Auto choice of words for an artificial intelligence"

Dr Halsey watched the Master Chief with great interest "You h-spirited You may have to allow for behavioral quirks"

"Yes, htaway There’s no better way for the two of you to get acquainted than in si about coed a test for you and the new MJOLNIR system," Dr Halsey said "There are some that believe you two are not up to our proposed mission"

"Ma’am!" The Master Chief snapped to attention "I’m up for it, ma’am!"

"I know you are, Master Chief Othersrequire proof" She looked around at the shadows cast by the Marines outside the fabric walls of the command dobut stay on your guard, just the same"

Dr Halsey’s voice dropped to a whisper "I think some of the ONI brass would prefer to see you fail this test, Master Chief And they ardless of your performance"

"I won’t fail, Doctor"

Her forehead wrinkled orry lines, but then they quickly disappeared "I know you won’t"

She stepped back, and dropped her conspiratorial whisper "Master Chief, you are ordered to count to ten after I leave After that, make your way to the obstacle course At the far end is a bell Your goal will be to ring it" She paused, then added, "You are authorized to neutralize any threats in order to achieve this objective"

"Affirh uncertainty--now he had an objective, and rules of engagement

"Be careful, Master Chief," Dr Halsey said quietly She gestured at the pair of technicians to follow her, then turned and walked out of the tent

The Master Chief didn’t understand why Dr Halsey thought he was in real danger--he didn’t have to understand the reason All he needed to knoas that danger was present

He kne to handle danger

"Uploading co electronic detection algorithhty-five percent I’m ready when you are, Master Chief"

The Master Chief heardsound pattern," Cortana said "Databasethe bolt of an MA5B assault rifle I know Standard-issue weapons for Orbital Drop Shock Troopers"

"Since you’re ‘in the know,’ Master Chief," Cortana quipped "I assume you have a plan"

John snapped his helmet visor back down and sealed the armor’s environetting shot?"

"No"

"So, what’s the plan?" Cortana sounded worried

"I’h in frustration John shook his head in puzzlement He’d never encountered a so-called smart AI before Cortana soundedlike a hu to take a lot of getting used to

Shadows ht