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Final Chapter: The Maw
The E.A.G.L.E. was near a hill. It was dusty and dirty. The Banshee containing the remaining members came close.
"This thing is falling apart!" Cortana cried,
"It will hold, Cortana." Numbuh 1 said,
"We're not gonna make it!" Cortana cried,
"We'll make it." Numbuh 65 supported,
"Pull up! Pull up!" Cortana cried, as the Banshee dipped down. It crashed. "You did that on purpose, didn't you?"
Numbuh 52 and the remaining K.N.D. boys boarded the E.A.G.L.E. "We need to get to the bridge. From there, we can use Numbuh 274's neural implants to initiate an overload of the ship's fusion engines. The explosion should damage enough systems below it to destroy the ring."
The team crept slowly and killed off any Flood or Covenant enemies they see. After 5 minutes of massacring foes, the team reached the bridge. Numbuh 65 placed Cortana into a terminal.
Her human form appeared. "I leave home for a few days, and look what happens. This won't take long."
She tinkered with the controls, and soon the 15-minute time limit showed up on screen. "There. That should give us enough time to make it to a lifeboat and put some distance between ourselves and Halo before the detonation."
Just then, someone said, "I'm afraid that's out of the question really."
"Oh, bloody hell!" Numbuh 65 cries
"Ridiculous! That you would imbue a warship's AI with such a wealth of knowledge! Weren't you worried it might be captured? Or destroyed?"
"He's in my data arrays," Cortana said, referring to the Monitor. "A local tap."
"You can't imagine how exciting this is! To have a record of all of our lost time! Human history, is it? Fascinating." 343 Guilty Spark ranted
"Oh how I will enjoy every moment of its categorization! And to think that you would destroy this installation. As well as this record. I am shocked. Almost too shocked for words." it said, as it scanned something.
Just then, the screen froze. "He stopped the self-destruct sequence..."
"Why do you continue to fight us, Reclaimer? You cannot win! Give us the construct, and I will endeavour to make your death relatively painless and..."
"At least I still have control over the comm channels." Cortana said,
"Do you know where he is?" Numbuh 2 asked,
"I'm detecting taps throughout the ship, Sentinels most likely. As for the Monitor . . . he's in Engineering." Cortana reported, "He must be trying to take the core off line! Even if I could get the countdown restarted . . . I don't know what to do."
"How much firepower will it take to crack one of those shields?" Numbuh 65 asked,
"Not much. A well-placed grenade perhaps, but why..." then she noticed everyone tossing grenades up and down. "OK. I'm coming with you."
Just then, Sentinels appeared. They shot the team! Numbuh 4 removed Cortana from the terminal, and handed it to Numbuh 65. They have their weapons ready!
The team rushed out of the bridge. They crept through the cryo chamber knocking out all Flood enemies in the area. Then, they rushed to engineering. Not before Numbuh 4 picked up the T.H.U.M.P.E.R. Rocket Launcher!
Cortana gave them a heads up. "Alert! The Monitor has disabled all command access. We can't restart the countdown. The only remaining option is to detonate the ship's fusion reactors. That should do enough damage to destroy Halo. Don't worry, I have access to all of the reactor schematics and procedures. I'll walk you through it. First, we need to pull back the exhaust couplings. That will expose a shaft that leads to the primary fusion drive core.
"OK, team. We'll split." Numbuh 1 said, "Numbuh 65, come with me. You too, Numbuh 52. The rest of you go to another area! Quickly! Move it!"
Numbuhs 1, 52 & 65 rushed to an exhaust coupling. Numbuh 1 opened the shaft. Numbuh 52 & 65 jumped in and tossed a grenade. It exploded! The reactor is detonated! "Numbuh 2!" Numbuh 1 cried, "Come in, Numbuh 2!"
"We have the second shaft open, Captain!" Numbuh 2 said,
Numbuh 4 shot a Teddy Rocket inside. It detonated the reactor! "Get to the third one! We'll take care of the last one!"
Just then, Flood flew in everywhere! Everyone tried to kill them, but they kept multiplying! Numbuh 2 & 4 shot down the third reactor!
On the fourth and final reactor, Numbuh 65 and Numbuh 52 jumped across. Numbuh 52 hung on for her life! "Hang on, Numbuh 52!" Numbuh 65 cried, "Give me your hand!"
"I can't hold on!" Numbuh 52 cried,
Just before she let go, Numbuh 65 grabbed her. "Don't let go!" He tossed another grenade. It's in! The reactors blew up! "Guys! Let's get out of here!"
Everyone rushed to an elevator. It began to rise. "Cortana to Numbuh 91!" she cried, "Come in!"
"Numbuh 91 reads you, 5 by 5." she responds
"The E.A.G.L.E.'s engines are going critical, 91! Request immediate extraction! Approach the crash site and be ready to pick us up at external access junction 4C as soon as you get my signal!" Cortana said,
"Affirmative!" Numbuh 91 said, "I'm on my way!"
A few moments later, "Numbuh 65!" Numbuh 91 called, "I hear something's wrong down there! Is everything OK?"
"Negative, negative! We have a wildcat destabilization of the ship's fusion core. The engines must have sustained more damage than we thought!" Numbuh 65 cried
Then, they rushed to a W.A.R.T.H.O.G. Numbuh 65 jumped in the driver's seat. Numbuh 4 manned the guns! The K.N.D. now have 5 minutes to get out of Halo!
Everything was exploding. The enemies are really after the kids. After 3 minutes, they reached an open field. Then, they saw a P.E.L.I.C.A.N. It's Numbuh 91! But, there was trouble.
"Numbuh 91!" Numbuh 65 cried out, "You've got 2 Covenant Banshees on your six. Evade. Do you read?! Evade!"
"I'm hit! Mayday! Mayday! Airfoil structures have been shot to hell!" Numbuh 91 cried, "I can't hold her! I can't hold her!"
"NOOOO!!!!!!" Numbuh 65 cried, and he kneeled in despair.
Just then, Cortana began to speak. "Calculating alternate escape route. The ship's inventory shows one Longsword fighter still docked in Launch Bay 7. If we move NOW, we can make it!"
"Fine. Let's move!" Numbuh 65 cried
The W.A.R.T.H.O.G. drove all the way into its docking bay. Everyone got off, and rushed to the ship. Numbuh 65 hopped into the cockpit, and yelled, "OK, people! Here we go!"
The ship flew off the E.A.G.L.E. and Halo. The fighter jet cleared Halo's atmosphere.
Halo exploded in small sections. Numbuh 65 turned off the engines. Just then, Numbuh 2 said, "Hey, guys! I think I found something here!"
Numbuh 65 took a look in a room. He found Numbuhs 3, 5 & 274's bodies on the floor. "But... how?!" he thought, then he found a piece missing to the puzzle. He gave them the three metal objects. Numbuh 65 prayed. Just then, a hand grabbed him. "Numbuh 274!" he cried,
"My friend." Numbuh 274 said, "You did it."
"Hi." Numbuh 5 said, when she came alive.
"Numbuh 5." Numbuh 1 said, "Uhh... Let's not split up again."
They soon kissed each other. So did Numbuhs 3 & 4. Numbuh 65 said,
"Well, Tess. We had quite the adventure."
"I agree, Luis." she replied, and kissed him.
Numbuh 65 said on his communicator. "Did anyone else make it Cortana?"
"Scanning." Cortana said, "Just . . . dust and echoes. We are all that's left. We did what we had to do . . . for Earth. An entire Covenant armada obliterated, and the Flood . . . we had no choice. Halo. It's finished."
"I disagree." Numbuh 65 said, "I think we are just getting started."