Provided by explosiveskull https://twitter.com/kaboomskull
Okay, okay.
Eight times! Eight times!
Pretty accurate. You should be used to it by now.
But rather than pay a fair price
for our precious deuterium,
the UNSC leadership on Reach
seek to enslave us.
New deal.
Yeah, let someone else deal.
The Professor has sticky hands.
You saying I cheat?
I'm saying you don't wash your hands.
My hands are filthy with the blood UNSC marines.
Speech, Professor.
Regale us with another one of your war stories.
I've got scars older than you.
- The things I've... - "...things I've seen."
They've repeatedly sent legions
of marines and their super weapons, the Spartans,
to crush us.
But war need not be the answer.
And that is why Jin Ha has sent me
and trusts me to negotiate an end to this endless war.
Turn that shite off.
As the Bard once wrote, "Wise..."
Vinsher's a fool, but he's a dangerous fool,
giving people false hope.
His peace talks will fail,
and the UNSC will come at us with everything they've got.
You mark me.
You mean Spartans?
Have you seen a Spartan up close?
I've faced marines.
"I've faced marines."
One Spartan is worth a hundred marines.
Ah, but, Djanka,
there's another difference between Spartans and marines.
Mm?
Marines can be killed.
Spartans aren't human.
They're faster, stronger, smarter.
They cannot be stopped.
They just keep on killing...
without mercy...
till there's nothing left...
to kill.
You in or out?
Jin Ha!
Tell our young one here.
The General knows.
Either Madrigal is free, or it's not.
There's no middle ground.
Aw, come on!
Oh, you got to be kidding me. Unbelievable.
Everything okay, General?
Where's my daughter?
Probably out wandering...
with her friends.
You know Kwan.
Slow down!
I didn't sign up for this!
I am completely shanked.
This better be worth it, Kwan.
Less talking, more looking, Cara.
Look, if the General finds out we left the outpost...
What my father doesn't know won't kill him.
I told you I'd find it.
Madrigal, the galaxy's highest concentration of heavy hydrogen.
Power your ships...
and power your drugs.
This is why you have to stay, Kwan, to find shit like this!
Too bad for you,
soon as I find a way,
I'm getting off this stupid rock.
Where will you even go, Kwan?
The UNSC owns the galaxy.
She's not gonna leave.
She'd miss us too much.
Doubters first.
- Yes! - Yeah.
See you on the other side.
Kwan, where are you going?
Off to plot her escape.
How long before this kicks in?
My brother says it's pretty quick.
Guys! Wait...!
Knew you would come to play!
Hey, your face is glowing!
Kwan, where have you been?
We need to get back to the outpost.
- Why? What's going on? - There's a ship out there.
- UNSC? - I don't think so.
Neru, no, I'm serious! Come on, Faaz!
Kwan...
Esso!
I don't know. They should have been here by now.
Kwan Ha.
Red flare!
Flag General Ha!
General Ha!
Red flare, north of the outpost!
Seal the pipes! Get your weapons!
Spread out!
Stay low! Stay low! Stay low!
Stay down!
Right behind you.
Here!
In position!
Kill the alarm!
Stand by!
Move out! Move out!
Move out!
Papa! Papa!
Do your job!
Get in the line!
Malchin! Come, come, this way.
Go inside the pipes.
Inside! Inside!
Get on in, get on in!
Move it, move it!
Come on! Come on!
Quick! Quick! Quick! Go, go, go!
Be ready.
What are those things?
I don't know what they are.
Papa!
Go!
- Where are you going? - I have to go. I have to help.
Are we gonna die?
No, of course not.
We're warriors, aren't we?
- Yeah. - Stay put. I'll be back, okay?
Take cover!
Let me in! Let me in!
Kwanya!
Go! Go! Go!
How many are there?
- Kwan! - I don't know,
but they have a ship.
Holy Mother of God, it's all true.
What? What's true?
I thought it was UNSC propaganda.
A ship!
UNSC!
Take cover!
Oh, shit!
The Spartans.
Spartans!
Silver team, engage.
Taking over watch.
They're helping. The Spartans are helping!
I never thought I'd see the day.
- They're on our side now. - So they are.
So let's fight!
Clearing north quadrant.
Elite cluster, west quadrant.
Silver team, clear the perimeter.
Team, I need covering fire. South quadrant.
Kai, hold your position.
Any time now.
Papa?
Kwanya.
No! No!
No!
Link Command, Silver team.
Covenant forces on planet Madrigal neutralized.
Twenty Elite warriors killed, 150 civilians.
No survivors.
Wait!
Correction: one survivor.
Female. Juvenile.
Silver team commencing comprehensive search of the area
for enemy landing site.
Wait! Don't just leave!
Papa!
Chief.
Covenant Phantom.
Vannak, Riz, clear that ship.
Hey, Chief.
Kai, on me.
Master Chief 1-1-7
reporting on the planet Madrigal.
We found the Covenant ship.
Local grid 12-Tango-Zone-Echo.
Now investigating the interior of a nearby cave.
Assessment report.
Covenant excavation.
Cave network does not appear
to be a natural formation.
Observing debris consistent with plasma cutters.
Covenant forces appear to be excavating
for some kind of object.
Unclear as to its nature.
Retrieving now.
Don't go too far.
Chief!
Chief, sitrep?
Riz, Vannak,
one Elite approaching cave entrance.
Master Chief?
You three commandeer the other ship.
Take it back to Fleetcom for research and intel.
I'll retrieve the object and follow in the Condor.
I'll fly with you.
No. Go with the others.
That's not procedure.
Go with the others.
That's an order.
Roger that.
Security access, Dr. Catherine Halsey.
Open Spartan mission logs:
Madrigal, Master Chief 1-1-7.
Alien forces appear to be excavating
for some kind of object.
Unclear as to its nature.
Retrieving now.
Admiral Parangosky:
Access granted.
A hundred and fifty dead civilians in Madrigal
is not a good look for your Spartans, Catherine,
even if they were rebels.
The Covenant wiped out an entire rebel garrison
before Silver team could intervene.
We saved one.
1-1-7's bringing her in.
One survivor's not going to make my job any easier.
The security committee's looking for an excuse
to cut your funding.
John recovered something on Madrigal.
Possibly Covenant.
- We'll add it to our collection. - No, no, no, no.
This...
this is different.
It's like nothing I've ever seen.
We've been fighting these alien creatures for years,
and we still have no idea what they want, where to find them,
or how to beat them.
Command on Earth want answers.
If that object can tell us anything about them,
I have a feeling the committee's concern about dead rebels
will go away.
One more thing.
They want a friendly face talking to the survivor.
Miranda Keyes knows Madrigal.
I've asked her to do the reach-out.
Is that going to be an issue?
No, no, no.
But the Madrigal object comes straight to my lab
for first analysis upon arrival.
Alien tech is Miranda's division.
John found it.
It belongs here.
I told you that was a nonstarter.
We have paused active development.
You've paused nothing.
Catherine, your genius has given us
so much to be thankful for.
Channel that genius appropriately and legally.
Get rid of that, and any others.
- Clear? - Clear.
I've given you a long lead, Doctor.
Don't hang me with it.
Hey.
Anybody! Please!
Please!
Hey. Hey, you!
Hey! Open the door!
Please!
- Open the door! - Kwan.
How are you feeling?
Who are you?
I'm Miranda Keyes.
I'm talking to you from the UNSC headquarters on Reach.
So sorry for your loss, Kwan.
Despite their differences,
the UNSC respected the way that Jin Ha
stood up for himself and the people of Madrigal.
Kwan, I'm not a politician.
I spend my time trying to understand the aliens
that attacked your outpost.
Yours isn't the first planet to face the Covenant,
and, unfortunately, it won't be the last.
If we don't all join together...
I don't know how we're going to stop them.
You could help us do that.
What does that mean?
If you would upload a few words to the other colonies,
just explaining what you saw,
the brutality of the Covenant,
the fact that the Spartans are actually taking them on,
I think that it would go a long way to putting aside
whatever these politicians are bickering about
and helping us focus on the real war.
My dad spent his life trying to free us from you...
until the day of his murder.
How can you ask me to...
to go on camera and...?
- I understand. I'm not trying... - No, no, no.
It's a great idea.
Yeah, let's do it.
What if I say the UNSC
sent a bunch of Spartans to attack us.
That's not true.
They killed over a hundred innocent people.
Children.
And then...
and then you kidnapped me to force me to say
it was all the aliens.
Kwan, the entire encounter was recorded.
You people can make video look like anything.
We've seen your Spartan propaganda broadcasts.
You think the Outer Colonies don't see through that?
And when they hear my version,
you can forget about unity or whatever.
Those other colonies are going to run from the UNSC
as fast as they can.
What is it you want?
Independence for Madrigal.
That's what my dad wanted.
So that's what I want.
Yeah.
Get some rest.
I'll see you on Reach.
Getting a red light on hatch 4.
Commander Shepherd, you are requested
at the Skillian Response Center.
Retrieving now.
Biometrics are all over the map.
Body temperature is up. It's up.
Lymphatics, they're ignited.
Elevated activity in his hypothalamus
and pineal glands.
Look, look.
The energy pulse is stimulating his connective tissue.
All this from contact with a piece of rock.
Has he said anything?
No.
How long until they're back?
- Better part of a day. - Okay.
Sierra 1-1-7.
Connecting.
Dr. Halsey. Status report.
Returning from Twenty-Three Librae, Planet Madrigal,
with a single survivor.
Covenant disarmed, one escapee.
And your neural lace metrics, any anomalies?
I saw things...
when I touched the object.
What kind of things?
Woods.
A white dog.
A family.
A family?
That's what it felt like.
Okay.
John...
until we know more about that object,
I'd like you to keep your distance from it.
Copy that.
You've been through a lot, John.
So, whatever's happened, you get yourself back here
and we will sort it out, okay?
Yes, ma'am.
Sierra out.
I need live updates every ten minutes streamed to me,
and when he lands, you bring him straight here.
Yes, ma'am.
Okay.
Please, open the door. Please...
Identification.
Master Chief, Petty Officer, John 1-1-7.
What are you doing?
Scanning the integrity of all bio interfaces
for evidence of abnormalities.
That your way of saying you don't feel well?
Checking systems.
Yes.
You gonna live?
Yes.
Hey.
There anything to eat on this ship?
Heard you played politician today with the rebel girl.
Dad, I tried.
I sucked up my pride, and I really...
I gave it my best.
I believe you.
Selling Dr. Halsey's Spartans to a rebel, of all people.
As if Halsey'd ever do a thing to promote me.
- That's not entirely fair. - Please don't. Don't defend her.
She's done nothing but throw roadblocks in my way.
Halsey's always been single-minded.
Work is the only thing that matters.
I made my peace with that a long time ago.
It's nothing personal.
"Nothing personal" isn't a great excuse
when it's your mom.
Blood, ocular fluid, glandular extracts,
and bone samples sent to external lab...
You know, you are a lot like her.
Ouch.
I mean that as a compliment.
Anyway...
I'm guessing the UNSC
isn't about to grant Madrigal complete independence.
Mnh-mnh.
So what happens now, to the girl?
That's what I came over here to tell you.
Tell me what?
Kwan Ha was badly wounded
in the alien attack on Madrigal.
Despite our best efforts, she succumbed to her injuries.
I-I spoke to her, and she was fine.
What...? What injuries?
Dad.
You didn't order an Article 72.
Came from up top.
I wanted you to hear it from me.
Well, then you're okay with this?
It's not about being okay.
No, it's about keeping the deuterium flowing,
regardless of the cost.
- It is not that simple. - It is that simple.
It's-it's an Article 72.
We're murdering a teenage girl...
and I'm complicit.
We're in a war, Miranda.
The future of humanity...
What's the point in saving humanity
if we're going to give up our own?
Sometimes you have to make hard choices to get good results.
Now who's sounding like Halsey?
You don't eat?
Didn't see anything I liked.
Yeah?
What is it you like?
Nuts. Bolts.
Microchips.
- That was a joke. - Yeah, no, I get it.
Hilarious.
You ever take that thing off?
All of my diagnostic command and control systems
run through here.
I need it.
Master Chief, huh?
You know we've actually met before today.
When was this?
When you killed my mother.
She was at a meeting.
Outer Colonists getting together to talk about how the UNSC
was stripping us of all our natural resources.
But before they got into all that,
you and three other Spartans showed up,
responding to an insurrectionist bomb threat.
But, see, that never made much sense, because why would...?
Why would insurrectionists
blow up a meeting for insurrectionists?
Yeah.
We were ordered to eliminate the organizer.
And the orders changed.
To what?
The assembled were deemed an imminent threat.
My mom seemed like an imminent threat to you?
What I can see on the ground may not reflect
the entirety of the situation.
- What does that mean? - Sometimes...
others know things I do not.
It ever occur to you that it might work the other way around?
Then you question everything?
And someone told you that's bad?
Of course they did.
It's funny, I...
I don't look at pictures of my mom that often, but...
you...
you're everywhere.
Can't turn around without staring at an uplink
about humanity's best weapon.
What is your name?
Kwan Ha.
How much longer are we stuck in here?
ETA is still several hours.
And then what?
That's still being worked out.
So, what's the problem?
Roll it back for her.
Yes, ma'am.
What's he doing?
Wait for it.
Captain, does Master Chief know the girl is Article 72?
Of course. It would have been communicated to him.
Dr. Halsey, what's wrong with 1-1-7?
Nothing, it's just a neurochemical glitch
caused by a power surge to his prefrontal cortex.
It's not nothing.
Rather than execute the rebel as ordered,
he has decided to kill the video feed from his ship.
What's going on?
I think he's having memories.
What?
Of?
His parents.
I thought you'd sealed those memories.
He's not even certain that they're his memories.
For the moment, they're just visions.
Then why violate procedure?
I don't know.
Not knowing why a walking killing machine
is doing what it's doing
is a risk that cannot be taken.
I agree completely,
which is precisely why the Cortana system could prove...
There is no Cortana system, Catherine.
No cloning, no Cortana. Is that clear?
Now get your Spartan under control.
What's happening?
Something is...
wrong.
I can't breathe.
What are you doing?
Ship's oxygen levels dropping.
I need to...
Kwan.
Take down the oxygen in 1-1-7's suit.
Don't drop the O2 below 40. I want him unconscious,
- not dead. - Yes, ma'am.
Can the girl survive this?
I thought you wanted her dead.
- It's over there. - Here.
It's holding at 40%. He's unconscious.
I'm getting a report of access to panel Alpha 1-6.
If he's unconscious, how come he's opening panels in the ship?
- What's in A-1-6? - Atmosphere controls.
Oxygen levels are returning to normal.
What sort of weapons is the ship carrying?
John is not going to fire on us.
I think it's safe to say you don't know
what Master Chief is going to do at this point.
Ship's flying on AI. We have control.
I'll send an escort of Pelicans.
I need more than an escort, Captain.
Put out the alarm.
Scramble everyone to landing bay,
full squadron protocol.
Due respect, we are talking about
our most important military asset.
We are not taking any chances.
Let me investigate. I'll speak to John,
and whatever influence this object's...
Question one more order, Doctor,
and you can watch from your lab.
Come on! Let's go! Move!
- Move out! - Let's go! Let's go!
Move your ass out! Go!
Move, move, move!
Clear.
Silver team,
Master Chief has been compromised
by the object you located on Madrigal.
Because of this, he's no longer able to comply with orders.
You've been dispatched by Fleet Command
to neutralize him.
- I'm superseding those orders. - Move!
Whatever he's experiencing,
there are other available solutions.
When that ship lands,
I want you to secure and protect Master Chief
from anyone who actively threatens his life,
whatever the circumstances.
Engage friendlies, ma'am?
If they go after Chief, they're not friendlies.
Correct, Dr. Halsey?
Correct.
Kwan.
Don't move.
You're gonna need to listen to me.
What did you do to me?
Stop messing with that stuff.
UNSC changed the air mixture, not me.
Why should I trust you?
I am trying to get control of the flight.
I will kill you.
This is Mark Six Mjolnir armor.
The outer layer is enhanced titanium.
You won't even dent it.
If you want me dead...
you'll need to aim up here.
What just happened?
I think he just took off his helmet.
- What are you doing? - Trying to help you.
If this ship lands,
they will remove you and execute you.
They told you this?
And you just decided to help me?
Why would a Spartan do that?
I don't know.
Get me thermal imaging on the Condor.
Right away.
So what now?
We need to work fast.
There's a weapon signature on the girl.
Did your Spartan just give an insurgent a rifle?
Green Deck, two minutes till touchdown.
Two minutes!
Let's go! Let's go! Let's go!
Open ECAM panel two.
Disconnect the AI autopilot fail-safe.
- Autopilot what? - ECAM panel two!
That's how we get control of the ship.
- Rip out the cables to the FMS! - Which cables?
I need to disconnect the stabilizer servos
at the same time, otherwise we lose complete control.
I can't! They're stuck!
Must work faster, Kwan!
I'm trying!
Go! Go! Go!
Shit!
...now in manual mode.
You are now in manual mode.
He's disabled the AI.
Flying manually, ma'am.
What are we waiting for? I thought you had control.
I do. Hang on.
Captain...
This is Keyes. Pulse the ship
before he can load fire controls.
Knock it down!
Let's go! Move!
Move! Flanking starboard!
Halt! Cover me!
Ready!
Bravo Two, at the door!
Hold your line!
In your ranks!
Hold your section!
What do we do?
Prepare to breach!
What do we do?
- All engines dead. - No response.
Drop the girl.
And if he makes a move, drop him too.
Shit.
Master Chief, please tell me you have a plan.
Placing charges!
Master Chief!
- Want to see? - Of course.
What just happened?
Debasement status?
A.I. is disengaged.
What did you just do?
Switching to auxiliary power.
What was that?
Strap in.