John-117/Late War: Difference between revisions

[[File:CEA KeyesChiefTaR.png|thumb|350px|right|The Master Chief rescues Keyes.]]

By the time seventeen hours and just over eleven minutes had passed since John had blasted away from the ''Pillar of Autumn'', he and a group of ODSTs were riding in ''Echo 419'''s bay as the bird weaved through low-lying hills toward the ''[[Truth and Reconciliation]]'', a {{Class|CCS|battlecruiser}} undergoing repairs and holding position about three hundred meters above a plateau.{{Ref/Reuse|HTF4}}<ref name="HCETTAR">''[[Halo: Combat Evolved]]'', ''[[The Truth and Reconciliation]]''</ref> The cruiser was also the location in which Captain Keyes was being held prisoner. [[Wellsley]] had concocted an array of signals designed to trick the Covenant's technicians into believing any approaching UNSC [[dropship]]s were actually their own. As they approached the [[ODST|Helljumpers]]' Sergeant [[Parker]] reminded his troopers that the Master Chief would be disembarking first and moving to clear the outer defenses around the ship's [[gravity lift]]. John returned the sergeant's thumbs-up gesture when he offered it and as soon as Parker gave the signal he led the charge down the ramp, dropping to the ground from where the Pelican hovered about a foot in the air. John's first move was to sidestep and sweep the area before creeping along a rocky footpath to his right. He was armed with an [[SRS99C-S2 AM sniper rifle]], an [[MA5B assault rifle]], a full combat load of ammo, grenades, and other gear, plus two [[M19 missile]]s for the attacking force's SPNKRs. Cortana warned John of the presence of enemies ahead and he in turn took cover next to a tree before locating the [[Type-29 Shade]] emplacements on the far side of an excavation beneath the cruiser. He took out the gun emplacements and then he killed all the Covenant surrounding it. He and the squad of ODSTs eventually boarded the ship and rescue Keyes.

===Fighting for control===

Initially, the fierce fighting on Halo was solely between UNSC and Covenant forces, but after the Covenant unwittingly released an ancient parasite, the [[Flood]], the majority of both forces became infected or destroyed

[[File:HCEA ChiefLibrary.JPG|thumb|right|300px|The Chief's harrowing struggle against the Flood on Installation 04 left him prone to unexpected outbursts and a frayed temper even after the ring had been destroyed. {{Ref/Reuse|HFS5}}]]

John next opted to traverse a confined Flood-packed maintenance corridor apart from the monitor, only meeting back up with him five minutes later to be led across a circular depression to another enormous door.{{Ref/Reuse|HTF9}}

===Betrayal and sacrifice===

[[File:TwoBetrayalsAnniversary.png|250px|thumb|left|Chief, Cortana and 343 Guilty Spark in Halo's control room.]]

Upon John's return to Halo's [[Control Room (Installation 04)|Control Room]], Cortana revealed that Halo's true purpose was not only to destroy the Flood, but prevent its spread by targeting all sentient life within its blast radius. John was then forced to disrupt Halo's firing system by disabling the ring's [[phase pulse generator]]s in order to delay the Monitor's plan. John carved a path through the three-sided conflict among the Covenant, the Flood and the Forerunners' [[Sentinel]]s. Soon after, he tried to rescue Captain Keyes, but was too late. Captain Keyes had been transformed into a [[proto-Gravemind]] Flood form. After infiltrating the Covenant cruiser ''[[Truth and Reconciliation]]'', the Chief managed to retrieve the Captain's neural implants, which he used to activate the ''Pillar of Autumn'''s self-destruct sequence. After the sequence was aborted by 343 Guilty Spark, he proceeded to manually overload the fusion reactors, which would subsequently destroy both the ''Pillar of Autumn'' and Installation 04. After successfully destroying the fusion reactors on the ''Pillar of Autumn'', John used a [[Warthog]] to reach the extraction point where Pelican ''[[Echo 419]]'' was to recover him. John reached the extraction point, only to witness the Pelican crashing after being shot down by a pair of Banshees. Quickly making his way to the ship's [[Launch Bay 7]], John used the sole [[Longsword]] fighter stored there to escape Halo just before the ''Autumn''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s engines detonated, destroying the Halo.

===Dust and echoes===

Approaching Avery again, John assured him he'd get them both out of there, but the marine rebuffed the suggestion.{{Ref/Reuse|H3H}} His injuries were far too extensive. Instead, Johnson simply returned Cortana's data chip to his old friend and told him to ''never let her go''. He then asked that John send him "out with a bang" just before finally slipping away. Without a word, John transferred Cortana to the installation's controls. She told the Chief she was sorry for his loss before then completing what remained to activate the ring in fulfillment of the sergeant's last request. Almost immediately after John returned Cortana to her place in the back of his helmet, a powerful column of energy erupted from deep within the installation, signifying the start of its firing sequence. As 343 Guilty Spark had predicted this had noticeably deleterious effects on the incomplete ring, with parts of the control room already coming apart as John fled from it. Beyond the chamber he reunited with the Arbiter once more, who offered condolences for Johnson's death. The Spartan and Sangheili then ran together for the exit, fighting through Flood forms on the way. Cortana urged them both to head for a doorway within the surrounding cliffs, through which they would be able to reach the place where Johnson had left the ''Dawn''. In addition to the Flood a number of [[Aggressor Sentinel|aggressor sentinel]]s indiscriminately targeted John and Thel as well, but the pair still managed to make it to the door and through the interior structure it opened to. On the other side they found a Warthog Johnson had used to get there after leaving the ship.

[[File:Await lithograph.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Cortana oversees John sleeping in cryostasis, lost in space.]]