6 Months Later

In space where the UNSC Infinity hovering. A Pelican zooms past to dock inside the spacecraft.

Roland (COM): Fireteam Osiris, you are clear to land in docking bay 11.

Inside the Infinity. The Pelican flies over an enormous hangar filled with other Pelicans, moving pads, and a few Mantises walking by. As the Pelican lands, two figures approach: Tom Lasky, Captain of the Infinity, and Sarah Palmer, commanding officer of the Spartans-IVs of Infinity.

The Pelican's rear door opens, allowing Osiris to exit with Najenda. She hurriedly walks up to Lasky.

Najenda: Captain, I sent you my position three weeks ago! I told you this was happening!
Lasky: We'll discuss that in private, Maam. Palmer.

He gestures to Palmer, who grabs Najenda's arm and pulls her away.

Lasky: Good work, Osiris.

The three of them walk away along with Night Raid Comrades, while Buck and Locke watch them.

Buck: What do you think that's about?

Locke doesn't answer. He stares ahead impassively, unconcerned about the matter.

Somewhere in Space

In Pelican, Master Chief is having some flashbacks about Mine's passing.

(Flashback)

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(Flashback Ends)

Master Chief is seated there, and is looking at his helmet face to face. He then rotates it and prepares to put it on before pausing to look at the AI data crystal chip port in the back of his helmet where Cortana put it. He mournfully slides his thumb over the port. Frederic-104, Kelly-087, and Linda-058 are in the Pelican's troop bay preparing their gear.

Fred: I haven't seen Chief press himself like this since we were in boot camp.
Kelly-087: He's fine, Fred.

Kelly passes a DMR to Fred.

Fred: This many missions non-stop isn't fine.

John puts on his helmet and activates a COM link to the UNSC Infinity.

Master Chief: Sierra-117 to Infinity, Blue Team has located Argent Moon. Signs of hostile activity but she's still here.
Infinity Comms (COM): Copy that 117, eliminate all hostiles, secure Argent Moon, you may deploy when ready.
Master Chief: Affirmative Infinity, 117 out.

Master Chief cuts the feed and slows the Pelican down. He enters the Pelican's troop bay.

Kelly: Here you go.

Kelly-087 passes Master Chief an MA5D assault rifle.

Master Chief: Thanks, Kelly. *puts his assault rifle on his back* Everyone ready?
Linda: Affirmative.

Linda opens the Pelican's exit ramp. John-117 starts to walk towards the rear of the Pelican when Fred stops him.

Fred: You good?
John nods. He then walks to the back of the Pelican.

Master Chief: Blue Team. Fall out.

Blue Team activates their thrusters and jump out of the Pelican. They maneuver through a cluster of asteroids and head towards Argent Moon.

Inside Argent Moon a group of Sangheili soldiers are inside a room. A Sangheili Storm walks up to his Commander.

Sangheili Storm: The Unggoy are resisting.
Sangheili Commander: (growls) Throw the Unggoy out the airlock!

Blue Team approaches the large window that leads to the room with the Sangheili. As they get close John opens fire to weaken the window and they all shatter the glass on impact. Entering the room, they use their thrusters to slow themselves down and land in front of the Sangheili Commander.

The Sangheili all activate their energy swords and charge towards Blue Team but are blown out into space. The Spartans activate the magnet systems in their boots which keep them attached to the floor. The Sangheili Commander lunges at the Spartans with his sword but they dodge the attack and the Sangheili is blown out into space. The window's blast door closes and Blue Team prepares to move.

System (PA): Hull breach contained. Re-pressurization of affected area completed.
Fred: What do we know about Argent Moon?
Linda: ONI research station. Went dark nineteen months ago. Last week, Kig-Yar scavengers found it, and sold the find to Jul 'Mdama's people.
Master Chief: We clear the Covenant and return this station to ONI.
Kelly: Fastest route to retrieval is to seize Central Control. Eliminate hostiles between here and there, then deactivate gravity and life support systems.
Linda: Ship data center is just ahead. We can pull down Argent Moon's schematics there.

The Spartans leave their land site. They pass a catwalk overlooking an enormous assembly bay, where an unknown ship is docked.

Master Chief: Looks like they were designing a new stealth class vessel.
Kelly: They lost years of expensive R&D with this station.

There are dead bodies around, skeletons in ONI uniforms.

Linda: What do we know about the experiments they were doing here?
Master Chief: We don't. And we don't ask.
Fred: But I'd keep your helmet on tight just the same.
Master Chief: Move toward the data center, Blue Team.

The Spartans open a door, to a room where two Unggoy manage computer terminals.

Unggoy 1: Why do we have to do downloading? So boring! Uh! It takes forever!
Unggoy 2: Wish we were breaking glass. I like breaking glass.
Fred: Hostile contact.

Then Unggoy are alerted to the Spartans' presence.

Unggoy: Humans! How did humans find us?

The Spartans kill the Unggoy and encounter more Covenant in the room past them as They fired their weapons. They kill them all and head to the next room, where a map terminal awaits.

Fred: Data center is just ahead. Let's go.

Linda: We've got a complete set of datasec keys for this station. We should be able to pull down Argent Moon's schematics and find a path to Central Control.

Master Chief activated the data terminal.

PA: Datasec entry accepted.
Master Chief: Accessed the databanks. Grab the data and current population map.
Fred: Should be a straight shot to Central Control through the assembly bay ahead. There are still Prowlers in the hangar bays... Nobody from ONI got out of here alive, did they?
Linda: No.
Master Chief: Let's go.

The Spartans find an elevator leading down to the assembly bay. A ship with torn plating can be seen out its window.

Master Chief: Elevator.

The Spartans enter and descend down the elevator.

Fred: Central Control's straight across this bay.
Linda: Everything's ripped up.
Kelly: They must be stripping that experimental ship for parts.
Fred: Scavengers. Taking what supplies they can find. The Covenant's war against the Arbiter must not be going well.
Linda: Jul 'Mdama is a lot of things, but he's no Prophet.

The elevator opens to a platform, where Covenant troops pass below. A shed door blocks the entrance to their site he grabbed his shotgun for the preparation.

Fred: Most direct route to the shipyard is through the wall ahead.
Master Chief: Let's charge through.

John charges through the door, smashing it and falling to the assembly bay below, which is full of Covenant.

Master Chief: Contact.

He fired his shotgun as the Firefight began between Blue Team and the Covenant Troops. After battling through Jackals, Grunts, and Elites, including a Zealot, the Spartans come to a platform looking a larger bay ahead. Near the stairs are weapons cases.

Master Chief: Hydra here.

The Spartans leap into the arena, engaging numerous Ranger troops.

Kelly: Push through this resistance and reach Central Control!

After battling them all, Blue Team clears the area.

Fred: Nobody's left standing. Let's move on to Central Control.

John leads the team to a catwalk leading to a nearby open room.

Master Chief: Central Control is through those doors.

A stack of crates go flying as a Mgalekgolo bursts out from a wall. The impact causes the walkway to shake and tilt.

Master Chief: Hunter!

The Hunter slams its shield arm into the walkway, breaking it and sending Master Chief plummeting down.

All: Chief!

John lands at the bottom of a dark rocky cave. Unharmed, he raises his assault rifle in prep for threats. Seeing nothing, he slowly lowers it.

Master Chief: Blue Team, report. ...Sierra 117 to Blue Team, report. ...Sierra 117. Does anyone copy?
Cortana: Chief...

John turns at the sound of a faint familiar voice.

Master Chief (thoughts): Cortana?

Behind him is a small blue light, coming from some rocks a few yards away. John walks to the light cautiously, a low hum heard from it. It appears to be a data chip, glowing brightly in the dark. John kneels to pick it up, and it vanishes. The humming stops.

Cortana: John.

John looks to his right. There's more light coming from further in the cave. John follows it to its source, and comes to a cliff. A dark chasm is before him, with smoky clouds in the sky. John looks down the chasm, as small rocks fall. He cannot see the bottom; the clouds obscure his view.

Cortana: Chief.

John looks up. At the other side of the chasm, he sees a rocky peak framed by a bright moon. A silhouette of a woman can be seen walking up the rocks along with her Company it was the comrades from Night Raid.

Cortana: The Domain is open. Meridian is next.
Master Chief: Cortana?
Cortana: John! The Reclamation is about to begin!

Cortana raises her arms, and a rumble is heard coming from deep beneath the chasm. John steps back as the rumble turns into a roar, and an enormous construct rises out of the abyss. It creates a dust cloud, blotting out the moon. John raises his assault rifle at the gigantic creature. The construct continues to rise, sprouting titanic spiked wings It was the Guardian. John suddenly feels faint, and collapses.

Kelly: Chief? What's wrong?

John comes to. He's on his knees, back on the Argent Moon. His teammates are with him standing guard. John gets back on his feet.

Master Chief: She's on Meridian.
Kelly: Who?
Master Chief: Cortana.

The Spartans are in disbelief about Cortana's Active

Fred: That's not possible.
Linda: You said she was gone.
Master Chief: I watched her die. We have a mission to focus on. We can talk about this later. Lights on.

The Spartans activate flashlights on their weapons and helmets.

Master Chief: Frederic, get us back on course for Central Control.
Fred: Bringing up schematics. There's an elevator we can use, but access is four levels down.
Master Chief: Mark a path.
The Spartans go into the tunnels, where they encounter Unggoy guards.

Master Chief: Hostile contact.

The Spartans exit the tunnels and find a room full of sleeping Unggoy. When the Grunts are killed, the opposite door opens, letting in more Grunts and two Elites who are cloaked.

Kelly: Elites. Active camouflage.
Sangheili: Kill the Demon and his allies! They must not interfere!

After Blue Team kills the enemy troops.

Master Chief: This area's clear.

They have reached Level two

Master Chief: We've reached level two. Keep moving down.
Kelly: Chief. What did Cortana say to you?
Master Chief: Not enough. Something about Meridian.
Fred: Meridian's a backwater. If she's active, what's she doing so far out on the frontier?

Blue Team leaves the room and enters another tunnel. As they go further down, they encounter suicide Grunts but Master Chief neutralized them. Deeper still, their tunnel shakes. A Mgalekgolo is dimly visible through a window, smacking it and cracking the glass, also knocking a large crate over.

Hunters. They're keeping pace with us."
The other Hunter dents another window with an arm then its head.

Fred: "We've got a lot of ground left to cover. We should keep moving down."
A suicide Grunt rushes at them, wielding lit grenades. After the suicide Grunt is a pair of Jackals and another suicide Grunt.

Grunt: "Big ones gonna get you. Big ones gonna get you."
They pass a level lower and reach a room where Unggoy and Kig-Yar are chatting. After killing them, the opposite door opens, letting in a cloaked Sangheili Zealot.

Zealot: Fight for the glory of 'Mdama!
Fred: Zealot with an energy sword!

Master Chief kills the Zealot with his Shotgun. The Spartans exit through the tunnel the Zealot came from. As they approach the door, it shakes from the Hunters following them.

Kelly : Reached level three. One more level down to the elevator for Central Control.

Blue Team enters the room, and sees numerous Sangheili corvettes coming out of slipspace portals. Phantoms fly past with them.

Master Chief: Covenant ships exiting slipspace.
Fred: We're outnumbered here, Chief. A few thousand to one.
Master Chief: Surrendering Argent Moon is not an option.
Linda: Neither is fighting half the Covenant in close quarters.

Master Chief knows that Linda's right he knew what he had to do.

Master Chief: Then forget about reaching Central Control. The plan changes to asset denial. We scuttle the Argent Moon.

Blue Team enters an armory with many available weapons.

Kelly: Ship's reactor core is near here.
Fred: Same plan as the Perpetual Devotion?
Master Chief: We overload the reactor and evac. Ship explodes, destroying any ships nearby.
Fred: The reactor is below the lab just ahead. We can use air ducts to travel between them. Marking the access panel.

John opens the access panel and puts in the password. Its door opens, revealing an elevator.

PA: Green Five clearance accepted. Authorizing entry.

Blue Team enters the elevator, which starts traveling down.

Kelly: There's chatter about Jul 'Mdama on Covenant comms. The new arrivals say he's dead.
Fred: Somebody cut the head off the Covenant. Bravo.

As the elevator approaches the bottom, a few alien worms crawl down its windows. At the bottom, they slither into armored shells below, which form into two massive hulking beasts.

Master Chief: Hunters...
Fred: They're strong, but slow. Use the lab equipment to keep above them and out of their reach.
Master Chief: Weapons free.

The Hunter closest to them roars and slams its arms in the elevator windows, cracking it. The doors open and Blue Team battles the Hunters.

After a tough fight, the Hunters go down.

Master Chief: Hunters Down.
Fred: The reactor core is just below us. Let's go.

The Spartans approach a tube over their waypoint.

Linda: Schematics show a path to the reactor through here.

The player breaks the lock on it, and the cap lifts up to reveal a hole leading to further below.

PA: Venting system released.

The Spartans land in the air vents, with no Covenant in sight.

Fred: Reactor room is just ahead. We can light this fuse and bolt.
Linda: No salvage for the Covenant.
Kelly: Right. Let's go.

John breaks through a shutter door, arriving at the reactor room. Many Elites and Jackals patrol the room.

Jackal 1: What is happening? Why has the fleet come?
Jackal 2: Jul 'Mdama is dead! Regroup! Attack Sanghelios!
Master Chief: Reactor controls are on the far side of the room. Eliminate the Covenant forces and get to those controls.

The Spartans battle for control of the reactor room, eventually clearing the Covenant.

Once the Covenant hostiles are eliminated.

Kelly: Area's clear. Initiate the overload.

Master Chief puts the password into the control panel. A wave of energy bursts off the reactor, and electrical sparks surround it.

PA: Reactor failsafe disarmed. Failure imminent.

Master Chief: Got it. Reactor's overloading. Move for the hangar bay-
PA: Containment protocol initiated.
Master Chief: Containment?
Fred: The station's going to try to cool the reactor.
Kelly: I guess the UNSC has better reactor safety protocol than the Covenant.
Master Chief: We can stop that. Board the reactor.
Kelly: Board the reactor?
Master Chief: If it's being moved, we should go with it.

The Spartans climb on top of the reactor, which descends down a tunnel leading to the coolant site.

PA: Coolant chamber readied. Stand clear of deployment bay.
Fred: The safety systems are set to pump coolant to the reactor.
Linda: This whole plan fails if that coolant gets a chance to work.
Kelly: Shame to lose the Argent Moon, but I'd love to see the look on the Covenant's faces when she goes supernova.

The reactor reaches the bottom and enters its cooling chamber. Blue Team arrives at an enormous facility, open to vacuum where Banshees fly about.

Master Chief: How do we stop it?
Fred: There are sheds located on either side of the cooling chamber. Those are our targets.
Master Chief: Reach the control sheds. Get the cooling system offline.

Master Chief breaks into a shed and finds a control switch.

Master Chief: Override controls.

PA: Warning: security shutters disengaged.

Master Chief: Override activated.
PA: Warning. Cooling system shutters exposed to open space.
Fred: Perfect. Coolant inner system workings are exposed.
Master Chief: Eliminate the targets, Blue Team.
Kelly: Grab Banshees. We can target the pipes more easily from the air.
Fred: The armada's been alerted to our presence. Reinforcements inbound. They're sending Phantoms.

John's Banshee shoots and breaks a coolant pipe, which explodes.

PA: Coolant system damaged. Pressure falling.
Fred: It's working! Keep firing!

The Spartans destroy all the coolant pipes in the area.

PA: Coolant system failing. Reactor core temperature rising. Evacuation advised.
Master Chief: Blue Team, evac now.
Fred: Banshees aren't fast enough to get clear of the reactor explosion.
Kelly: Calling in the Pelican. No signal on autopilot retrieval. Armada must've taken it out.
Master Chief: Frederic, find the nearest hangar bay. We're taking a Prowler.

The Spartans fly their Banshees through the shield door and exit to go back into the station. John spots a docked Prowler through the windows.

Master Chief: There's the hangar entrance.

PA: Reactor core temperature has exceeded 1373 Kelvin. Failure imminent. Immediate evacuation advised.
Master Chief: There's the Prowler. More Covenant. Clear 'em out and prep for launch.
Fred: Do it quick. I'd rather not be here when the station melts around us.

The Spartans engage the numerous Covenant infantry inside the hangar.

Linda: Marking the Prowler's control panel.

John presses the launch control switch, activating the vehicle.

Master Chief: Launch controls are here.
PA: Vehicle launch preparation. Fuel cells at zero percent. Initiating refueling.
Fred: Hold off the Covenant while the Prowler preps for launch.

Master Chief switches his shotgun to assault rifle and fires at the Covenant Forces, Kelly uses her shotgun, Linda uses her Sniper, Fred uses his DMR, as they fired at the Covenant. As the Covenant Reinforcement arrived but they were easily neutralized by Blue Team. Prowler's Fuel is now 100%

Linda: Prowler is ready.
Master Chief: Board now, Blue Team.
PA: Cascade failure. Fires on all decks.

The Spartans get to the boarding point.

Linda: Clear.

John walks toward a terminal with a dead Unggoy on it.

Master Chief: "Time, Linda?
Linda: 89 seconds.

John pushes the dead Grunt off and hits the "Launch" button on the screen. The floor rises to lift them into the Prowler.

Cut to fire bursting through hallway. John sees it and activates his comm.

Master Chief: Sierra 117 to Infinity. Argent Moon scuttled. I've reassigned Blue Team, destination Meridian. Potential contact from Cortana.
Infinity Comms: Negative, 117. Another team is already being prepped to deal with her.

Fred turns to face Chief, confused.

Fred: What the hell...?
Infinity Comms: You're to return to Infinity immediately.
Master Chief: Negative, Infinity.

Master Chief presses a button to open the Prowler's bay door.

Master Chief: I don't like it.

The Prowler's bay door opens. Kelly walks aboard up its ramp.

Kelly: Whoever they are, let's get to Meridian before they do.
Master Chief: Kelly. No.

Linda steps on as well.

Linda: No need to do this by yourself, Chief.

John looks up, a little exasperatedly. More explosions burst in the room. The hangar starts to fall apart.

Fred enters the Prowler, patting Chief on the arm as he passes.

Fred: They won't court-martial all of us, right?

John looks back, sighs, and then joins them in the ship. Arriving inside, he presses a button to close its bay door. John watches it close.

The security latches come off and the Prowler rises in the air. At full height it aims down a long runaway. Its engines charge and then blast, propelling it through and out of the exploding starship.

The Prowler flies out of the sinking Argent Moon, away from the expanding fireball, past exploding Covenant ships, through an asteroid field, and then vanishes as its cloaking activates. They were nowhere to be seen. For what he didn't know is Akame and her Comrades are alive and so did Cortana.