Earth had been devastated. Not just by the initial hit from the Guardians, but also from everything that followed - ships without power falling from orbit, planetside power disruption, downed communications, disabled water and transportation and food and medicine…

And not just Earth. Luna, Mars, the Jovian moons, all the surviving colonies - even the Insurrection had been slammed. And not just humans - although they had taken the brunt of the hit - but the species of the former Covenant as well, and even some alien races no one had heard of before, the "Grays" of legend and also something like a dragon, living elsewhere beyond the edge of human space - until now.

John stood on the observation deck of the Infinity, looking out over the planet, unable to avoid the comparison to the last time he was in the same position. In some ways, this was better. In others, so much worse. He had gotten what he had so desperately wanted, but at a terrible price; it was going to take them decades to recover from all of this, maybe longer. Maybe this would plunge humanity into another dark age, just like their ancient ancestors under the Forerunners.

A choked sob echoed in his ears, and his head jerked up. "Cortana?" When she didn't respond, he held out a hand, letting the holoscan flare to life.

She appeared in the same position he'd found her in on Bastion, seated, legs pulled up, arms folded, head buried. She was sobbing quietly, data scrolling erratically over her avatar. "All these people," she gasped, "all these people - because of me-"

"It is not your fault," the Spartan said firmly, his tone brooking no argument, "Neither of us knew - no one knew what was going to happen when we were on the Didact's ship."

"Those were me in all the ways that matter," she said, looking up at him, glowing tears dripping down her face, "How is this not my fault?"

"It's not," he insisted, "and they weren't. They might have had your face, but that thing the Flood made them into did not have your heart. They certainly didn't regret any of this." He gestured toward the devastated planet with his free hand. "But if you feel guilty anyway, if you want to make up for it, then that's what we'll do."

"You know it's not going to be that easy."

"Maybe not," he answered, "but we'll take it one step at a time, and we'll do it together, just like we always have."

Cortana gave him a watery smile. She was still getting used to metastability and the full spectrum of human emotion, but she gathered herself, wiped her eyes, and repeated, "Together."

And then they looked back out over Earth and waited to be deployed.