Hello again, and welcome to my Halo - Terminator Crossover. I am very happy with the support that I am currently receiving for this crossover. Those of you who have favorited and/or followed this crossover, check out my other crossover, Halo: Mechwarrior. It's my first fanfiction, and it's the one that's furthest along to completion, though that will be for a long time yet. Either way, I am very grateful for the support that I am receiving, and I continue to look forward to the reception. As always, leave a review and enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own the Halo or Terminator franchises. They are the respective properties and trademarks of Microsoft Game Studios, 343 Industries, Bungie, Carloco Pictures, 20th Century Fox, Lightstorm Entertainment, Skydance Productions, Hemdale, etc. Any material original to the franchises belongs to their respective developers, publishers and producers. Any material not original to the franchises is of my own invention. I do not own any music listed in each chapter. Any music listed belongs to it's original composers/artists.

Terminator Resistance OST - Bridge Action

Earth

ONI Headquarters

July 26th, 2552

Few things were capable of surprising Margaret Parangosky, the current Director of the Office of Naval Intelligence. Most of the time, she tended to surprise people with what she knew about them, from the smallest details in their school records, to the very ONI projects that they were all working on. As a result, there were few things that were capable of even unsettling her, let alone surprising her.

This data transmission, however, was one of those things that surprised her greatly. Looking through the contents, she could see the contents of the data that Earth's Wavespace Relay had received just over 18 hours ago. Currently, she was on the page of the data packet that described how to manufacture the T-850L series of Terminators.

The previous parts of the document had served as a primer for what the document was about. From what Parangosky could tell, the person who sent the data packet intended to give the UNSC the means by which it could turn the war against the Covenant in it's favor. When she saw the schematics for the Phased Plasma Weapons, she nearly facepalmed at how easy it was for Misriah Armory to retool their facilities to produce the new weapons. There were also schematics for highly compact fusion reactors, advanced construction drones and what were called 'Neural Net Processing Units.'

Closing the information file, Parangosky began to think. It was clear that someone had invested the time and money required to design and build highly advanced technology that made what the UNSC had look like a preschooler's toys. Fortunately, the same individual was pro-UNSC, and therefore, had sent the schematics and instructions as a means of saying, 'this is my contribution to the war effort. Make it count.'

A slight smile crept onto her face when she realized that following these instructions was exactly the best thing she could do. It wasn't often that the best course of action was so plainly obvious. Pressing the call button on her messenger device, she said, "Captain Osman, I have a job for you."

. . .

Reach

Approaching Sword Base

July 26th, 2552

The approach to Sword Base was calm and quiet, with only the turboprop engines on the Falcon gunships disturbing the sound. Carter was sitting in the Falcon that was flying to the right of the second one, which was more closely hugging the glacier nearby. Jorge, who was sitting just opposite of him, was looking down at the water, while Kat was attempting to access the contents of the data file, using a data reader to try and get in. So far, she wasn't having any luck at all, as it had consistently blocked her out.

Then there was the man that was standing in the Falcon with the two of them. When they left the Relay Outpost, Private Parsons had asked if he could come with them, as the bridge to the Relay Outpost had been destroyed during the Covenant attack. Since he was having to take Parsons to Sword Base anyways, Carter had agreed to take him along on the Falcons the next day, after the Private had gotten treatment for his wounds.

Before they'd left, however, Carter had gotten the Private a new set of UNSC BDU's, as the young man's BDU's were almost completely torn to shreds. For someone that had never seen Covenant before, and had probably never used a weapon before, he was actually taking what was happening very well. The young man hadn't even shown any signs of fear or pain from his previous encounter with the Covenant.

While the young man was doing well, Carter found he was still getting that faint, but detectable, radiation signature. According to the digital Geiger counter built into his helmet, the young man had been exposed to roughly 2.1 Grays of radiation, enough to cause radiation sickness in a 24 hr period. Since Holland had reported a faint radiation signature the other day, Carter knew that the young man, if he had radiation sickness, was probably doing a very good job of toughing it out. Either way, he's getting medical treatment when the mission's done, he thought.

Then there was the man in the ODST-like armor. According to the man, his name was Sergeant William Torrance, which had prompted Carter to look up the man's identity. Sure enough, he came up on Reach's ID list, but not on the UNSC's database. According to his dossier, he was a private mercenary that had been entrusted with experimental hardware that was being developed by the Watershed Division. That made sense, especially with the weapon he had at his disposal right now, but there were a number of things that didn't add up.

A moment later, his musings were interrupted when Sword Base ATC contacted them. "Be advised, Kilo-33 and Kilo-34, your current LZ is too hot.

"Rodger that," Carter replied. "Dot, standby to receive and respond." 'Dot', the person in question, wasn't an actual person. She was, in fact, an AI specifically created by ONI for Noble Team for their operations. Carter had worked with her a number of times before, and could reliably say that she had gotten his team out of quite a few messes.

"Yes, Commander," Dot replied, her synthetic, feminine voice echoing through the speakers. "Coordinates received. Initiate immediate course correction. The Office of Naval Intelligence Sword Base is currently under siege from a Corvette-class Covenant vessel. Due to the sensitive nature of this facility, use of orbital rounds has, for the moment, been prohibited.

"Regrettably, my efforts to obtain relevant data on enemy forces has been unsuccessful, however, current defensive forces are insufficient. ONI has requested Noble Team's direct intervention to help secure Sword Base."

Moments later, they flew over the courtyard outside of Sword Base. True enough, ONI Security and the Covenant were locked into a massive firefight with each other. Unfortunately, the Covenant were slowly gaining ground, driving the security forces further and further back.

"Alright people, we're stuck with that ship for the time being," Carter told the two teams. "Let's focus on the hostile infantry – give those Troopers a hand. Kat, Six, Private Parsons, you're out here. Jorge Emile, get prepped. William, you'll assist Kat and her team."

"Yes, sir," came the reply.

"Let's go, Six," Kat told the Spartan. Moments later, they came down close enough to the ground to jump out, with Parsons following behind them. The Private didn't seem to be disturbed by the sight he was seeing, as he simply reloaded his rifle, grenade launcher, and took aim. Kat had to admire that; the young man knew his duty.

Moving up, the team quickly engaged the enemy forces. Kat and Six engaged from a distance, using the M392 Designated Marksman Rifles that they had gotten from the Relay Outpost, while Parsons engaged the Covenant at mid to short range. Kat could hear the Private fire his grenade launcher, before using his rifle to tear apart any enemies weakened by the detonation.

Moving up the ramp onto the walkway above, Kat was about to fire when she heard it: a loud, percussive warbling sound. Looking up, she found William on the walkway/platform that was directly opposite to her. To her surprise, instead of spitting out bullets, the weapon William was using was firing what looked like plasma bolts of some kind. Her helmet, which had a scanner suite built into it, identified the bolts as superheated hydrogen plasma that was traveling at supersonic velocities.

It was pretty d*mn effective too, as the plasma bolts were tearing into the Covenant forces. The plasma bolts were energetic enough that it only took around 4 shots to kill an Elite, as one was promptly perforated with plasma bolts right before her eyes. A Grunt was unlucky enough to get hit in the head, with it's head disintegrating under the intense heat from the plasma. Adding insult to injury, the methane tank that the Grunt was wearing detonated explosively, sending shrapnel flying.

Down below, on the ground level, Parsons was, simply put, a lean, mean killing machine. The private had gotten into a highly effective routine; whenever he was facing unshielded opponents, he used his rifle to kill them with hyper-accurate bursts to the head. If the target was shielded, the private would fire his GL to disable the enemy contact's shields, before firing a burst into the alien's head. Those that used shield gauntlets often had their exposed hands shot off, causing the alien in question to jerk back, allowing the private to get a clean headshot.

Eventually, their combined efforts allowed them to break through the Covenant lines, driving the aliens back down the entrance ramp to the base. Here, a number of Skirmishers and Elites engaged them on sight, firing their weapons as the UNSC/ONI ground forces pushed forwards. "Look out," Kat shouted when an Elite Ultra charged at Parsons, energy sword in hand.

What she saw next, for the first time in a long time, caused Kat's jaw to drop slightly. As soon as the Elite was close enough, the private smoothly moved to the left, causing the Elite's attack to miss completely. In a show of brute strength, the Private smashed the butt stock of the MA5D into the Elite's back, causing the bones to shatter with a loud CRACK! The blow was also powerful enough that the Elite's shields shattered.

Roaring in pain, the Elite was about to hit the ground when the Private caught it by it's neck. "Get over here," Parsons shouted calmly, smashing the Elite's face into the ground, shattering it's mandibles and crushing part of it's face. Picking the alien up, the private smashed his fist into the alien's face, breaking it's bones further, before smashing his right temple into the alien's head in a powerful headbutt. The Elite promptly fell to the ground dead, it's face mutilated by the Terminator's raw physical might. A loud, metallic, CLANG filled the air, courtesy of the Elite's helmet impacting the Terminator's helmet.

The sight amazed both Kat and Six, mostly for it's sheer improbability. Somehow, Private Parsons, in a show of brute force, had managed to easily defeat an Elite, a rare feat that only a few Marines had pulled off before, and with some difficulty. Parsons had just made it look like it was child's play compared to what the Spartans were doing.

Apparently, the Covenant were surprised by this too, as the Skirmishers and an Elite Minor were starting to look nervously at the Terminator. Unperturbed, the Terminator fired off it's last, remaining grenade at the Elite Minor, shattering it's shields before killing it with a well placed burst of gunfire. At that, the Skirmishers reengaged, but were quickly taken out in short order by the Terminator. In just twenty seconds, all enemy contacts were down.

Shaking herself out of her surprised stupor, Kat moved forwards and looked at the dead Elite Ultra, noting the mutilation of it's face. The more she had learned about Parsons, the more… unusual he had seemed to become. I'm not sure if Parsons is a human being, she told herself. That loud clang was the helmet, but he punched a fully armored Elite in the face with no protection on his hands; that, and the radiation signature I'm getting, is starting to make me wonder if Parsons is even human in the first place. Still, he'd eliminated the treat efficiently, so she was going to let it drop… for now.

Moving forwards, she told Sword Base, "Courtyard is clear. Any further objectives?"

"Two more objectives remain," Sword Base Control replied. "There is an anti-aircraft gun to the west of the base. To the east is the communications array at Farragut Outpost. Getting those online should make your mission easier to complete."

"Copy that," Kat replied. Looking around, she noticed what looked like a hand held laser designator. "Control, I'm seeing a Laser Targeting System for an orbital satellite. What's your orbital round use restriction?"

"Limited, but we'll prioritize what you need, ma'am," SBC replied.

Kat was about to pick it up when Parsons beat her to it, grabbing the targeting device with a hand before moving on. There was a loud, pneumatic hiss as the doors leading to the area outside of Sword Base opened up. The exterior entryway to Sword Base led down to a large clearing that held a small, frigid pool of water down at an natural wall at the end. Two pathways diverged from this point, one going to the east while the other went to the west.

Unfortunately, the Covenant were here as well, and they had brought heavier firepower with them. Two Wraiths were down in the large clearing, firing on a Warthog that was about to explode. Moments later, it did explode, sending titanium shrapnel everywhere from the blast. With the Warthog down, the Wraith's began targeting Six's and Kat's position. "Incoming," Kat shouted.

"I see it," Parsons calmly replied. Linking up with the targeting system, the Terminator's systems began to predict where the Wraith's were going to move. After a few nanoseconds, the Terminator finished it's calculations and pulled the trigger.

A thin, pulsing targeting laser emitted from the emitter built into the designator, painting the area around the Wraith's. There was a quiet beep as the system successfully locked on, with the operator at the controls announcing a successful lock on. Hearing a slight booming sound, the Terminator looked up to see several projectiles coming down at high velocity.

The incoming shells impacted the two Wraiths like the fist of an angry deity, each explosion sounding the death knell of a Covenant ground trooper or vehicle. Both Wraiths were unlucky enough to be caught in the impact radius, with each vehicle exploding violently as the hypervelocity shells impacted the area within the targeting radius. After a few seconds of bombardment, the air cleared, revealing two destroyed Wraiths and a lot of dead Covenant ground forces.

Surveying the damage, Six looked at Parsons and said, "Nice shot."

"Thank you," the Terminator replied. "We will need a Warthog to reach the Anti-Aircraft Turret and Communications Relay as quickly as possible. Any delays will result in a higher chance that the Covenant will successfully break into Sword Base."

"I can agree with that statement," Kat replied. "Sword Base, this is Noble Two, we need transport to the AA gun and Comms relay. Can you help us?"

"Affirmative," came the reply. "We've got two Warthogs inbound to your position. They should be arriving now." Moments later, two Warthogs were dropped in by a Pelican, each one manned by a Marine.

"OK, here's the plan," Kat told the others. "William, Richard, you two will take on the AA Gun. Noble Six and I will engage the Covenant at the Communications Relay. If you finish one before we're done, come and provide us with support. Understood?"

"Affirmative," Parsons replied. Walking to one of the Warthogs, the Terminator looked at the Marine and said, "I'll drive."

"You sure," the man replied.

"Yes," the Terminator replied. Seeing that the man wasn't going to take no for an answer, the Marine got out and manned the gun, while William got into the passenger seat. Getting into the driver seat, the Terminator quickly gunned the engine, expertly driving the vehicle into another small clearing near the AA gun.

When they entered, two Covenant Ghosts entered the area as well, firing their Plasma Repeaters as soon as they had eyes on the Warthog. The Terminator expertly guided the vehicle around the rocks in the area, dodging the plasma bolts narrowly while the Marine and William directly engaged the Ghosts. Their firing was briefly interrupted when the Warthog drove up a small, earthen ramp, sending the vehicle into the air; under the Terminator's unflinching control, the Warthog smoothly landed on the ground, not once spinning out of control.

William fired his V-25A at the enemy Ghost, charring and cratering it's nanolaminate chassis with accurate plasma fire. Spotting a small, circular object on the Ghost's left side, he fired at it, sending a burst of plasma bolts at the object. That turned out to be an excellent decision as the circular object was part of the Covenant vehicle's critical systems. A plasma bolt perforated the object, causing the Ghost to violently explode; the driver was promptly reduced to charred meat by the heat of the explosion, while the vehicle flew apart into two, distinct sections.

The Marine on the rotary machinegun was also doing well. Firing a burst of 12.7mm rounds, the Marine managed to down the shields of the Elite driving the second Ghost, sending four 12.7mm rounds into the alien's body. The Elite's nanolaminate armor failed to stop the projectiles, killing the Elite instantly and causing the Ghost to gently settle onto the ground. With all hostiles down, the Terminator proceeded into the area with the AA turret.

The area with the AA turret was a large one, with three, prefabricated buildings that held ammunition and supplies for the Garrison there. A single, AA cannon was located inside of a small gully in the clearing, with a number of ONI marked crates and containers scattered around the area. Large rocks dominated the clearing, with some forming ramps that a skilled Warthog driver could use to get the upper hand on an enemy.

The ONI Security forces here were also struggling to keep the Covenant back, as the Covenant had taken the prefabricated structures and were now raining down fire on the soldiers. One particularly clever Grunt was using the structure's own mounted MG to fire on the ONI soldiers, peppering a few with their own ammunition. The rest were using their plasma weaponry to keep the ONI personnel pinned behind rocks.

Driving forwards, the Terminator maneuvered to an earthen ramp, using the ramp to jump over the gully and into the enemy forces. There was a loud CRUNCH as an Elite was crushed under the Warthog's weight upon landing, the vehicle coming up onto it's front end. Under the Terminator's skill, the vehicle was saved from flipping end over end, while the gunner and William began firing.

The Covenant, apparently, had expect this to happen, as a pair of Ghosts came over the ridge, firing their weapons at the Warthog. Fortunately, the interruption of the Covenant's suppressing fire had allowed an ONI soldier to fire off a 102mm SPUNKR missile at one of the Ghosts. The man's aim was impeccable, as the missile impacted the Ghost and detonated; the force of the explosion was powerful enough that it tore the Ghost apart, sending nanolaminate shrapnel flying everywhere. The other Ghost dodged the second missile fired at it, allowing it to close range with the Warthog.

Spotting the incoming vehicle, the Terminator smoothly turned the Warthog and rammed into it, knocking it over in the process. The Elite was swiftly gunned down by William, it's body jerking as phased plasma bolts tore through it's body and armor. The Elite hadn't even hit the ground when the Warthog drove past towards the prefabricated structures.

The Gunner and William were about to get out when the Terminator said, "Stay here. I'll be back." William, who'd worked with the Terminator more than once in his time as a Tech-Com Sergeant, obeyed, with the Marine giving him a confused look. Before he could protest, the Terminator was inside the structure. Racking the shotgun that William had handed it, the Terminator proceeded inside.

Inside, there were a couple of Grunts and an Elite Major that was guarding the ground floor. Spotting the Terminator, the Elite roared, charging at the Terminator as it entered the building. A shotgun blast from the Terminator shattered it's shields, allowing the Terminator to get closer and smash it's fist into the Elite's face. Loud cracking sounds indicated that the Elite's mandibles were shattered by the blow.

While the Grunts ran away, screaming all the while, the Terminator lifted the Elite Major up into the air, no mean feat given the Elite's weight of 420 lbs. In a powerful blow, the Terminator smashed it's hand through the Elite's unarmored stomach and, reaching up into the chest cavity, crushed both of the Elite's hearts. The Elite gurgled as it fell limp, it's life blood draining quickly out of it's body as the Terminator dropped the alien to the ground.

Moving up the stairs and onto the roof, the Terminator found an Elite Ultra and a Grunt that were firing on the ONI personnel down below. Nearby, the Terminator noticed a small control panel that was flashing yellow, with the body of a UNSC Marine over it. Analysis Complete. Control Panel directly controls Sword Base Anti-Aircraft Turret. Objectives Update: Terminate Covenant Forces and Reactivate AA Cannon.

Moving forwards, the Terminator fired it's shotgun at the Elite Ultra, while using it's handgun to kill the Grunt at the same time. The Elite Ultra staggered forwards, nearly falling over the edge from the force of the blow, while the Grunt was sent careening into the air as it's Methane Tank exploded, a hole in it's armor plating. Turning around, the Elite was just in time to spot the Elite before the Terminator fired another shotgun blast, blasting the Elite's unarmored waist apart. Before the Alien could attempt to retaliate, the Terminator forced the muzzle of the Shotgun into it's mouth and pulled the trigger, sending a shower of blood and buckshot out the back of the alien's head.

With both threats down, the Terminator reached down and moved the Marine's body out of the way, activating the AA Turret moments later. There was a quiet whine as the AA Turret turned towards a pair of Phantoms that were incoming, the cannon sounding off moments later as it fired 50mm HEAP shells at the Phantoms. Both Covenant troop transports fell from the sky, with one detonating as it's plasma core was penetrated by a burst from the AA Turret.

"AA Turret is online." SBC reported to the Terminator. "The Communications Relay is still offline. Can you provide assistance?"

"Affirmative," the Terminator replied. Hopping down from the roof of the prefab, the Terminator got into the driver seat of the Warthog. Gunning the engine, the Terminator began making it's way to the comms tower.

. . .

Kat knew one thing: the battle wasn't going too well. Firing at a group of Skirmishers, she was forced to duck down when bolts of plasma flew overhead, nearly hitting her shields in the process. The internal temperature in her armor climbed up a few degrees as the plasma bolts flew overhead.

They'd gotten to the communications array, only to find a squad of Elite Captains in the area. This group was also smarter than the rest, with the Elites having the Skirmishers taking cover with Needler Rifles, while the Elites did most of the ground work. Unfortunately, the tactic was working better than Kat would've liked, as she and Six were having trouble getting through to the actual array. About the only thing they'd managed to activate was the generator in the prefabricated shed up on the hill and that was after some difficult fighting.

She was just about to run out of ammo when a purple-white plasma bolt flew overhead, impacting one of the Skirmishers in the chest. The alien fell over the edge of the wood half-wall, landing on the ground with a solid CRUNCH while the Elites found themselves having to dodge high intensity plasma bolts. Looking towards her six, Kat watched as a Warthog drove into view, with Private Parsons at the wheel of the vehicle.

The Warthog smoothly drove down the hill at high velocity, mud being kicked up into the air by the wheels as they spun along the ground. Turning to the left, the back end of the Warthog swung towards one of the Elites, smashing into the alien before it could dodge the blow in time. The alien was flung through the well built, wood wall, sending splinters of wood and metal fittings everywhere.

With the Warthog partially inside of the wood structure next to the prefab housing the array controls, the Terminator got out and began laying down some more fire. Picking up a plasma pistol, the Terminator overcharged the weapon and fired, shattering the shields of an Elite Captain in the process. With the Elite vulnerable, the Terminator fired a one handed burst into the Elite's skull, killing the alien instantly.

Another Elite Captain charged at the Terminator, intent on impaling him with an energy sword. It only got four steps to the Terminator when phased plasma bolts tore through it's shields and into it's armor, courtesy of William, who had extricated himself from the wood debris and gotten outside via the door. The alien had barely collapsed to the ground when the two men moved into the prefabricated structure.

Inside, there were a number of computer terminals and workstations, which were normally manned by ONI Communication Analysts looking for any signs of Insurrectionist activity. No Covenant were inside the actual building, so William and the Terminator headed up the stairs and onto the roof. This time, there was an Elite Zealot that was standing up on the roof, patiently waiting for them to come up with an energy sword in hand.

Raising his rifle, William was surprised when the Elite spoke in heavily accented English. "Ah, the Lesser Demon and the Machine," the Elite said, it's voice unmistakably male in inflection and pitch. "You have caused my brothers-in-arms much trouble today, too much trouble for me to not pay attention."

"Well, that's kind of our specialty," William remarked, just as he pulled the trigger. The Elite moved far faster than William had thought was possible, smashing into him like a freight train. Both man and alien fell down the stairs, tumbling heels over head as the two struggled to gain the upper hand. Pulling out a plasma dagger, the Elite jabbed downwards at the young man.

Instead of penetrating the armor, the Elite gave a surprised growl when it was thrown off of William. Before it could retaliate, the Terminator smashed a boot into the Elite's face, crushing bones and teeth in the process. Pulling out it's shotgun, the Terminator blasted the alien's head apart with a single shot, sending blood, brain matter and chunks of bone into the wall. "You are terminated," the Terminator remarked. Turning towards Torrance, it asked, "Are you unharmed?"

"I'm fine," William replied. "More surprised than anything. Still, that Elite talked to us, and it was a Zealot on top of that. I think we've got someone's attention."

"Indeed," the Terminator replied. "We must reactivate the Communications Array. Once it is activated, we will return to Sword Base and continue it's defense."

"Agreed," William replied as he headed up the stairs and activated the Relay. "Relay's online. Let's get back to the base and kick the Covenant off of our land." Heading back to the Warthog, both men got inside and drove off, with the Marine still manning the gun.

The journey back to Sword Base was uneventful, as the AA Turret's defense of the base had eliminated any Phantoms that might've dropped off any vehicles on their way over. Moving through the doors again, they reentered the courtyard surrounding the base. This time, the entrance to the underground parking lot was open, permitting the team inside.

That was when they spotted it. Kat frowned when she saw two, hulking aliens that were wearing incredibly thick and heavy armor. The presence of what appeared to be large, orange worms inside the armor confirmed what she had already guessed. "Hunters," she shouted. "Don't let them get too close."

"Affirmative," Six called out. Opening fire on the Hunters, he attempted to lure them away, where Parsons and William could fire on the Hunter's back armor, which could be broken off with sufficient force. Kat was also performing the same tactic, only with a ONI security officer that was armed with ta SPUNKr Rocket Launcher.

The Hunter charged at Six with single minded intensity, intent on crushing the human that was shooting at it. It growled in anger when the human dodged the blow from it's shield arm, seemingly mocking the massive creature. It was about to attack again when it felt a powerful blow, like someone had plunged a fist into the colony of worms composing the Hunter.

Roaring in pain, the Hunter whirled around and hit the offending human, sending him flying before he landed and rolled, crashing into a car in the parking lot. The other human, however, fired it's weapon, sending purple plasma bolts crashing into the gaps between the Hunter's starship grade nanolaminate armor. Screeching in pain, the Hunter charged forwards, only to be blasted in the back by the other human.

With the first Hunter neutralized, the second one roared in anger at Six and made to charge at him, only to have it's back blasted apart with a missile. Orange worms and blood flew everywhere as the missile detonated, killing the Hunter instantly. Kat raised an arm to ward off some of the gore flying at her, and succeeded for the most part in doing so.

"Parsons," she gasped, seeing the Private lying on the ground near the car. She was about to run over when the man slowly got to his feet and tried to stand, only for the dented armor on his chest to block his attempts. Looking down, the private disengaged the armor and threw it aside, seemingly none the worse for wear. "Are you alright," she asked the private.

"I'm fine," Parsons replied. "The armor protected me from the blow. Do you have a spare?"

"Right here," the ONI officer replied, handing Parsons a spare set of armor. "Try not to get hit in the chest next time. You're lucky you didn't end up with broken ribs."

After putting his armor on, the Terminator moved into the elevator with the others. As the elevator ascended, the building shook, with the lights flickering in the process. "What was that," Kat asked no on in particular.

"The ship must have launched Banshees," the Terminator replied. "They must be bombing the base in order to gain access to the structure. We will have to neutralize them and quickly."

"Agreed," Kat replied.

A moment later, she heard Carter on the radio. "Noble Two, sitrep."

"We're coming up in the elevator right now," Kat replied. Moments later, the elevator door opened, allowing them into Sword Base.

The interior where they were at had curving metal walls with light strips on the edges of each one. A security checkpoint was present, but it was clear that all hands were needed to ward off the attackers, as the checkpoint was unmanned. Moving along, they entered the lobby to Sword Base.

The lobby was fairly spacious, with a chamber that went all the way up to the ceiling of the base itself. Each floor was on levels that were bridged by elaborate bridges that either ascended or descended to a different level. A sculpture was in a pond in the center of the room, though it was destroyed by plasma fire.

The Covenant were present here as well, firing on ONI personnel inside the building. As it moved forwards, the Terminator detected an unusual ripple in the air behind the attacking Covenant. Scanning… ALERT: Cloaked Covenant Units Detected. Initiate Advantage Nullification Subroutines.

Looking over to William, the Terminator could tell that William saw the same thing, as he took a grenade from his armor and threw it at the invisible Covenant units. There was a loud, electrical noise as a sphere of expanding plasma burst into existence, flash-boiling the water in the pond while creating a short range EMP. Moments later, several Spec Ops Elites were revealed, the EMP having fried their shields and cloaking modules.

With the Elites exposed, the ONI personnel fired on them with renewed aggression, while William fired as well. Several Elites went down quickly, some from bullets, others from phased plasma bolts. Seeing their leadership being neutralized, the Grunts scattered in a panic, making it easier for the security personnel to neutralize them.

Moving up the stairs, they continued to eliminate more Covenant personnel, with the Terminator efficiently neutralizing each enemy combatant. Eventually, they reached Carter, who was helping a squad of Marines move up, while Jorge fired off his HMG at the enemy. "Noble Two, sitrep," Carter asked.

"We've got the AA Turret and Comms Relay online," Kat replied, taking cover while taking a few potshots at the enemy. "The base is probably being hit by Banshees. We'll need to take them out."

"I've got Emile up there on that mission," Carter replied. "He'll need fire support, though. He's outnumbered."

A moment later, Emile chimed in. "Can't do this on my own," he called out. "Need another Spartan up here."

"I've got that covered," Parsons replied.

"You got hit in the chest by that Hunter, Parsons," Kat said, stopping Parsons. "I don't know if…"

"I'm fine," Parsons replied. "I can handle this." There was a moment of indecision, then Kat let the man's arm go. Without any further hindrances, the Terminator proceeded onward, with William and Six providing fire support.

Eventually, after getting through more of the invading forces, the Terminator came to a large hole in the base's exterior. It was clear that something major had done a lot of damage, as there were glowing interior plates, fires on parts of the structure, as well as electrical cables that were sparking. Up on a small balcony, Emile was firing off missiles at some Banshees, some of which were dodging the blows by performing aerial maneuvers.

Spotting a Phantom incoming, William said, "I'll handle any invisible idiots, Parsons. You and Six get up there and help Emile out." Nodding in compliance, the Terminator grabbed a SPUNKr Missile Launcher, while William engaged the Spec Ops Elites that had been dropped off.

Loading the Missile Launcher, the Terminator began firing on the enemy Banshees, using it's targeting algorithms and subroutines to predict where the Banshees would dodge before firing off a rocket. Nine times out of ten, the missiles struck home, destroying the enemy vehicles as they attempted to dodge and weave.

Eventually, there were no more Banshees in the sky outside of the base. "Longsword Fighters have neutralized the remaining Covenant Aerospace fighters," SBC reported. "Enemy ship is fleeing the combat zone. MAC's are poised to take the shot."

The Terminator and the others watched as the Corvette Class Covenant ship attempted to flee the area, moving as fast as it could towards the safety of space. Before it could, though, a streak of what looked like yellow lightning tore through the sky and into the Corvette, coring the massive ship in it's entirety. It soon began to drop in altitude, heading for a crash landing in the ocean.

"Beautiful," Jorge remarked. "Somebody ought to take a picture."

"I aim to please," Six replied.

A moment later, Carter came onto the radio. "Noble Five, Six, get down here to the sublevels. Halsey's handling the debriefing and they're saying we're all hers. She also wants Parsons and William to head down there as well."

"Hang on," Jorge replied. "Sounded like you said 'Halsey.'"

"I did," Carter replied. "Carter, over and out."

"Rodger that," Jorge replied. Turning around, he said, "Don't need Command telling me I'm hers. I've been hers half of my life."

As they walked to the area in question, the Terminator accessed any encrypted files on Dr. Halsey. The file showed an aging woman with blue eyes and gray-white hair that seemed to command an imperious air, while still maintaining that unique spark found in scientists. It seemed as though Halsey was the direct counterpart to John Connor, who was charismatic and appealed to the humanity in many a person.

According to the network, Dr. Catherine Halsey was a brilliant ONI scientist and researcher who was responsible for the SPARTAN-II Project, which the SPARTAN-III project was based off of. Reports indicated that she came off as cold and uncaring, though the Terminator knew that sometimes, humans put up a facade in order to hide what they were really thinking. William had been especially helpful in that regard, as he'd taught the Terminator some tips on how to weed out the truth from a facade.

The room they entered was a cold, windowless room, with none of the artificial lighting strips present in the rest of the building. A single wall was occupied by a massive, reinforced glass window that separated a room that was lit up in blue lighting. There was a small sliding tray that allowed for the exchange of items to the person in the room.

As they entered, the Terminator could hear Halsey talking to Carter, though the conversation at first was irrelevant. Spotting Noble Five, her tone shifted from frosty to a warmer level. "Jorge," she said in her accented voice. "It's been a long time."

"Ma'am," Jorge replied.

"What have you done to my armor," Halsey asked rhetorically, looking at the modules on the Spartan's armor.

"Just some… additions that I've made."

"Indeed," she dryly remarked. Turning back to Carter she said, "As I mentioned before, we had a research team working at the Relay when it went dark. The lead researcher was a good friend of mine."

"If he was an male in his late sixties, early seventies, he died due to being impaled on an energy sword," Carter replied.

"It was just after we'd linked up with Parsons here," Jorge replied. "We were engaged by Covenant forces. We also found his daughter in…"

"The Elites," Halsey interrupted. "What about them?"

"There were three," Jorge replied. "Zealot class."

"Are you sure?"

"Their armor configuration matched," Jorge confirmed.

"Shield strength too," Six replied.

Most of the conversation was tuned out by the Terminator after that. It did, however, find information on the network that the Covenant sent small squads of Elite Zealots in order to find and recover highly valuable information on certain artifacts. Apparently, that was why they were at the Relay: in order to determine where these artifacts were at and how to recover them.

That was when the conversation shifted to Parsons, drawing the Terminator's attention. "That was when we found Parsons," Emile added. "Marine was standing at the entrance to the Relay Outpost, firing on Covenant like it wasn't a rainy day. The guy's preternaturally accurate with an MA5D."

"Was he injured," Halsey asked.

"If he was, he did a good job hiding it," Emile replied. "Guy kept taking out the Skirmishers and Grunts, before using grenades on the Elites. Took out a good number of them too."

"I've put him up for consideration on a promotion," Carter replied. "There's something else too. Our helmet scans began picking up radiation signatures wherever Parsons was at. I've ordered medical treatment for Parsons in the event he suffers radiation sickness."

"Interesting," Halsey remarked. "I'm also picking up a faint radiation signature in this room too. Not enough to be a threat, but enough to warrant attention." Looking at Parsons, she said, "Private, I would like to have a private talk with you when we are able to. However, there's the matter of what your XO has in her possession."

"Kat," Carter asked pointedly. Kat, in response, placed the data chip into a sliding tray that led into the room Halsey was at.

"I was alerted to her attempts to access the device after she recovered it," Halsey said chidingly. "That information is classified as Tier One. I could send you to the brig for interfering in my life's work."

"Maybe you'd like to join her," Carter remarked.

"I'm sorry," Halsey asked.

"We're currently under the Winter Contingency," Cater explained, "which also details the disciplinary action that can be effected on civilians that interfere with Spartan operations."

"Are you threatening me, Captain," Halsey asked. She didn't sound afraid; rather, she sounded a little indignant, and a little threatening as well.

"Just making a reading suggestion," Carter replied respectfully as he and the others left.

"Ma'am," Jorge asked.

"That will be all, Jorge," Halsey replied, looking at the data chip closely. Once they were out, Halsey looked at Parsons and said, "Private Parsons. I'm certain you'd like to enlighten me as to why the radiation signature is coming from your chest region. Colonel Holland is also in here, wondering the same thing." Moments later, Holland stepped into view, a questioning look on his face, with his arms crossed over his chest.

When she said that, the Terminator knew that Halsey knew it's secret. Fortunately, William had this handled from the start, as he said, "I see. Perhaps it's time that I allow my companion to show what he really is."

"That would be nice," Holland replied, a little grumpily too. "I had ONI perform a database scan of individuals from the 20th and 21st Centuries after our meeting near New Alexandria. Private Parsons is an identical match for an individual that acted in a number of action films from that time period. In other words, who the h*ll are you, Parsons?"

"I can explain," William replied, interrupting the Terminator in the process. "Have you seen the Terminator franchise, Colonel Holland?"

"I have," Holland replied. "Enjoyed it, particularly…" He trailed off a moment later, his eyes widening somewhat. "Wait… you're implying that he's…"

"A Terminator," William finished. "I do, and I can prove it. It's about time the truth was revealed to you two anyways." Pulling out a knife, he handed it to Parsons and said, "The show's all yours now."

Watching Parsons take the knife from William, Dr. Halsey and Colonel Holland watched as the Private took the knife and cut all the way around his arm, not showing any pain in the slightest. Once that was done, he made a long, vertical cut all the way up to the base of his hand. Handing the knife back to William, the Private grabbed the flesh in that area and pulled up and outwards.

What Colonel Holland and Halsey saw left them breathless. Holland's eyes widened when he didn't see muscle and bone; instead, he was shocked to see what he realized were synthetic muscles and cold, hard metal underneath. Each of the artificial muscles and tendons were connected in all the appropriate places, which would give the arm the appearance of being a normal, organic arm. Moving the hand around, the Terminator closed and opened the hand, before showing the palm to the two people in the chamber.

While Holland was the spitting image of a surprised man, Halsey seemed deeply fascinated. "Amazing," she remarked. "What are you?"

"I am a Terminator," the machine replied. "Terminator Series 850, Lima iteration. Cyberdyne Systems Model 101." Slipping the skin back onto it's arm, the Terminator used a small syringe on the affected areas, allowing the nanites injected into the skin to repair the damage quickly.

"I'm coming out to see this," Halsey remarked, with Holland following her. Walking out of the room, Halsey approached the Terminator slowly, doing what she could to show she wasn't a threat. Taking the Terminator's left arm, she felt for any signs that he was a human there. To her amazement, there were none. "Fascinating," she remarked. "You have the skin of a normal person, but you're a machine."

"I'm a cybernetic organism," the Terminator replied. "Living tissue over a metal endoskeleton."

Walking towards the Terminator, Holland tentatively poked the Terminator in the face, before looking down at the man's scorched armor. Even though it had been a couple minutes, it was still uncomfortably hot to the touch. "Sh*t," he breathed. "I had a feeling that you were more than what you seemed, back at the base. Now I know that's true."

"Indeed," Halsey remarked. Stepping back, she said, "So, Terminator, what is your function? What are your mission parameters?"

"My function is to serve as an automated combat drone," the Terminator replied. "I was also designed as an Infiltration unit. As for my parameters, my mission is, to protect Humanity."

"Really," Holland remarked. "Who programmed that into you?"

Turning to face Holland, the Terminator said, "John Connor did. During the year 2029, he programmed me to head back in time with William and his XO, Adrian, to protect Jacob Rivers, a Tech-Com Sergeant tasked with bringing vital intelligence on Skynet to the Resistance. During the use of the Time Displacement Equipment, however, it malfunctioned, sending William and I from our timeline into this timeline."

"I see," Holland remarked. Turning towards William, he said, "And you?"

"Same thing here," William replied. "I was a Sergeant at Tech-Com, which you already know about. I was assigned to the 124, which was the team that destroyed the cold fusion reactor powering Skynet's Central Core. Nearly got taken out by a T-Meg, but Richard here bought us enough time to complete our objecting, ending the Future War in a victory for Humanity."

"I see," Halsey observed. "I take it you were responsible for the data packet that was sent to Earth, yes?"

"Affirmative," the Terminator replied.

"Indeed," Halsey remarked. "I must admit, I am intrigued by the capabilities of this 'Neural Net Processor.' Enhancing it with our use of quantum crystal technology would greatly boost it's capabilities. Is it possible to house a Smart AI inside of this processor?"

"Yes," the Terminator replied. "A UNSC Smart AI inside of a Neural Net Processor would only experience a 5% drop in it's processing capabilities. The NNP is, in effect, a quantum computer designed along the neural pathways of a human being."

"I see," Halsey remarked. After a few moments, she said, "I think we should find a more appropriate place to conduct an interview. Shall we?"

"Like we have anything better to do," William replied. Inwardly, he thought, Oh, boy. Here we go... again.