John-117/Post-War: Difference between revisions

[[File:H4 John-117 and Librarian.PNG|thumb|250px|John-117 encounters the Librarian's essence.]]

{{Quote|The Didact has to be stopped. If you won't do that... I will.|John-117 to Captain Del Rio before disobeying his order.}}

===Battle aboard ''Mantle's Approach''===

[[File:John and Kelly Escalation.png|thumb|300px|right|Before John and the rest of Blue Team set foot on Gamma Halo [[Mission to Installation 03|to investigate]], [[Battle of Installation 03|fighting]] had already broken out elsewhere on the ring between forces from the ''Infinity'' and [[Jul 'Mdama]]'s [[Jul 'Mdama's Covenant|Covenant]].<ref name="HSSOpB">''[[Halo: Spartan Strike]]'', ''[[Operation B: Steadfast Pursuit]]''</ref>]]

{{Quote|no=four|q1=Admiral Hood asked that I act as an advisor for your mission.|John-117|q2=Just as an advisor? You told the old man you're ''coming with'', didn't you?|Fred-104|q3=That a problem, Lieutenant?|John-117|q4=If you hadn't, I'd have ordered you to come along myself.|Fred-104|John teases Fred about he now technically outranking him as an officer.}}<ref name="HE8"/>

After he was dismissed, Lord Hood caught up to John in the hall outside the room where they had debriefed and apologized for the unprofessional behavior of Strauss and Hogan.<ref name="HE8"/> John stated that he was in no place to comment as such, and at this Hood half-jokingly noted that he could probably be made an admiral himself at this point with little pushback from anyone, or simply an officer at the very least. The Master Chief brushed off the idea by claiming that "the Admiral" just wouldn't have the same ring to it. John walked with Hood to another room, where the fleet admiral admitted that he had a problem he was hoping he could enlist John's help in solving. He reported that just an hour earlier, fractured bits of audio had been received from the surface of [[Installation 03]] and forthwith all contact with the science team stationed there had been lost. Listening the transmissions indicated to John that [[Promethean]] constructs had evidently appeared on the Halo. Hood also let him know that [[Black Team]], comprised of [[Spartan-II]]s John had grown up with, had been assigned to guard the scientists and were also now unable to be reached. John was surprised to hear that Black Team was still operational and didn't think twice about volunteering to investigate Gamma Halo himself. Hood had only been asking that John advise [[Blue Team|another team]] being dispatched there, but the Chief made it clear that he needed to see what was happening himself, as he knew of no reason why mechanical Prometheans should be cropping up outside of Requiem. John soon discovered that the team Hood had pegged him to advised was none other than Blue Team, now just composed of [[Linda-058]], [[Kelly-087]], and [[Frederic-104]]. John met his three oldest remaining friends and companions in a hangar within the ship which would be carrying them to the [[Khaphrae system]].[[File:Escalation - Installation03Skirmish.png|thumb|left|300px|When the [[HAVOK tactical nuclear weapon|HAVOK nuke]] detonated on the ''[[Mantle's Approach]]'', pieces of the ship followed the Didact through the same portal he had fallen into, carrying Promethean constructs to Gamma Halo.<ref name="HE9">''[[Halo: Escalation]]'', ''[[Halo: Escalation Issue 9|Issue #9]]''</ref> Some of the knights in particular had also been newly created from [[Composer|composed]] denizens of [[New Phoenix]].<ref name="HE9"/>]] Each Spartan greeted him warmly, with Kelly in particular expressing that she had reached the point where she hadn't thought she would ever see him again. When John mentioned how Hood had originally asked him onto the mission in an advisory capacity Fred scoffed and said that surely John had told him he was coming with them. John, aware that Fred was now a [[Lieutenant]], jokingly asked if his presence would be a problem, to which Fred said that he'd have ordered him to come along if John hadn't offered.<ref name="HE8">''[[Halo: Escalation]]'', ''[[Halo: Escalation Issue 8|Issue #8]]''</ref>

On [[2557#September|September 26, 2557]] John met for an interview with an operative from ONI's [[Beta-5 Division]] with the code name of [[Sapphire Three]].<ref name="lootcrate9">''[[Halo Legendary Crate]]'', ''[[Halo Legendary Crate/Data Drops|Data Drop #9]]''</ref> They met to have their discussion at the terminus of the [[Borneo Space Tether]] far above the [[Wikipedia:Pacific Ocean|Pacific]] [[Borneo|island]] of the same name.<ref name="lootcrate9"/> At just after 0721 hours, the conversation turned toward John's recovery of [[Cortana]] from the stasis vestibule within ''[[High Charity]]'' in [[2552#December|December of 2552]]. Sapphire Three asked John to describe what sort of state Cortana had been in when he found her, to which he replied that she had been functional in spite of potential defects. John further explained, when prompted, that these defects included problems with her response times, synchronization confidence, diagnostic alerts, and a few other things. The operative inquired as to whether she had told him beforehand that she had held on to the [[activation index]] from [[Installation 04]] and John had to admit that she had not. Sapphire Three pointed out that this would have qualified as a violation of Article 2477-6 of the [[UNSC Charter for Xenoarcheological Artifact Recovery and Quarantine]], to which John had nothing to say. When the line of questioning broached the subject of the possible "[[Character interludes|residual interface anomalies]]" John experienced after leaving Cortana behind on the Covenant city, John simply reported what he'd been told concerning a Software Trauma Analysis that had looked at the anomalies. According to the report, what had seemed like messages from Cortana were actually just echoes of her personality matrix in his neural interface and may have been been caused by her extensive data consumption in Installation 04's [[Control Room (Installation 04)|control room]]. John told the operative that he never brought the issue up after he and Cortana reconnected and when asked whether he agreed with the STA's conclusions, said that he didn't see why it was important.<ref name="lootcrate9"/>

Blue Team's missions eventually took them back to the [[Epsilon Eridani system]] and the glassed remains of [[Reach]] in particular.<ref name="HTFORTAS"/> The Spartans split up but eventually came back together at a certain location for a reason entirely personal to all of them that Command had permitted them to indulge in. John and Linda approached Kelly and Fred in a Warthog and upon exiting asked if the place they stood was really what remained of they were looking for: the spot in the [[Highland Mountains]]' [[Reach Military Wilderness Training Preserve|military wilderness training preserve]] where [[Sam-034]] had carved a symbol into a tree so many years before. In his honor, John, Kelly, and Fred looked on as Linda carved a similar symbol, now used to represent Blue Team, into a large outcropping of [[lechatelierite]]. John verbally reflected on what Sam had meant to each of them and recalled that they last time they were all together in the preserve, he had asked them to trust him when he said he could get everyone home. As such, he pointedly asked if each of them was willing to continue trusting him and to keep following his lead.<ref name="HTFORTAS"/>

[[File:H5G-BlueTeam cinematic.jpeg|thumb|right|350px|John and the rest of Blue Team assaulting ''Argent Moon''.]]

{{Main|Operation: BIRD IN HAND}}

Near the start of October 23, 2558, John and the rest of Blue Team were deployed from the {{UNSCShip|Infinity}} for [[Operation: BIRD IN HAND]], a mission to find and secure ''[[Argent Moon]]'', an ONI research vessel that had been missing for nineteen months.<ref name="H5GBT"/><ref name="WaypointLinda-058">[https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/universe/characters/linda-058 '''Halo Waypoint''': ''Linda-058'']</ref> John piloted a [[D79-TC Pelican]] carrying he and the rest of the team through an asteroid field within the [[Crow's Eye Nebula]] in search of ''Argent Moon'' and notified the ''Infinity'' as soon as he laid eyes on it.<ref name="H5GBT"/> After turning the dropship to its rear bay faced their target, John joined the others and prepared to launch from the craft using his armor's integrated thrusters. Before departing he accepted an [[MA5D assault rifle]] from Kelly and confirmed all were ready. Blue Team then maneuvered around a few asteroids before readying their weapons and concentrating fire on a window as they sped toward it. By doing so, the Spartans were able to easily fly right through the glass and activate their suits' magnetic boot clamps upon landing within. A number of [[Sangheili]] that were there to meet them were quickly forced into space as the area they'd entered depressurized, but John and the others were held in place long enough for a [[blast door]] to seal the breach they'd made. ''Argent Moon'' was presently occupied by [[Jul 'Mdama's Covenant|Covenant]] forces loyal to [[Jul 'Mdama]], but John planned for them to clear the aliens and return the station to [[ONI]]. As the team made its way toward the ship's data center the Spartans passed a [[Unidentified UNSC stealth ship|stealth-class vessel]] that had been under construction as well as numerous skeletal remains once belonging to the ''Argent Moon'''s crew. Linda asked what they knew about the experiments that had been done there, to which John said they didn't know anything and further, that they ought not to ask. The first group of unsuspecting Covenant the team came across was made up of a few [[Unggoy]], who were mercilessly eliminated. Beyond the room the Grunts had been in the Spartans soon found themselves facing off against Sangheili and Kig-Yar as well. In the data center John used the complete set of data security keys they had for the station to access its databanks and pull its schematics and current population map. The plan was to reach and seize Central Control and thereby deactivate [[Artificial gravity|gravity]] and life support systems in order to efficiently kill off all enemies aboard. John next led his team to an [[elevator]] which carried them down to the assembly bay where the large stealth ship had been being built. Fred suggested the most direct route to the shipyard beyond was through a wall ahead of them, so John led the way in charging through a metal grating and sliding down a ramp on the opposite side. The shipyard was full of Covenant forces, including a [[Sangheili Zealot|Sangheili zealot]], but Blue Team had little troubling dealing with them. At the top of a series of stairs John acquired an [[Hydra MLRS|MLRS-1 Hydra]] and used it to great effect on even more adversaries which were gathered all about the unfinished ship in the bay. Central Control was just beyond a set of doors when without warning, a [[Mgalekgolo]] gestalt suddenly smashed through a pile of crates and brought its [[Wikipedia:Pavise|pavise]] shield down on a catwalk Blue Team was crossing, sending all four of them tumbling to a lower level.<ref name="H5GBT"/>