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Halo: The Loki Limitations

//Zeromaru//

By //Zeromaru//
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//Zeromaru//

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[align=center]Halo: The Loki Limitations

 

Approximately 1 year after the start of the Human-Covenant war Doctor Catherine Halsey, creator of the legendary Spartan-II project, came across a secret located deep within the bowels of ONI Section Zero. Now she is using the AI Mack from the planet Harvest, the site of first contact, to track down the source of this secret and stop it before it can do any harm.

 

But what is the secret and how can it affect the future of both the Covenant and Humanity.[/align]

 

[spoiler=Prologue]<\\> UNSC OFFICE OF NAVAL INTELLIEGENCE

<\\> COLONIAL SECURITY ESTIMATE 2525.10.110

["COLD SNAP"]

 

<\ SOURCE: UNSC RQ-XII DRONE [PASV-SAR]

RETRIEVED: [sOURCE.REF#JOTUN-S6-1]

<\ DEPLOYED: ONI SLOOP "WALK OF SHAME"

[2525:02:11:02:1:34]

<\ RECOVERED: UNSC DESTROYER "HERACLES"

[2525:10:07:19:51:16]

 

<\ ARCHIVE [sIG\REC\EM-SPEC] OPENED PER OFFICIAL REQUEST:

<\ CIVILIAN CONTRACTOR "CHARLIE HOTEL"

[ONI.REF #409871]

<\ * WARNING: ALL QUERIES WILL BE LOGGED! *

[ONI.SEC.PRTCL-A1]

<\ TROJAN VIRAL IMPLEMEPENTED! - "CHARLIE HOTEL" ACTIVITIES DELETED FROM SYSTEM

[CIV.VIR.PRTCL-XX]

 

>>NOTATION KEYWORD SEARCH: "AO.AI" "MACK" "RAMPANCY" "LIFESPAN LIMITS"

>> (...) ~ QUERY RUNNING

>>(..)

>>()

 

< RECORD 11\10 [2525:10:05:00:00:00]

SOURCE.REF#JOTUN-L6-1 >

<\\> HARVEST.AO.AI.MACK>> HARVEST.

SO.AI.SIF [REDIRECT>>"CHARLIE HOTEL"]

 

<\ We'll be a part of this planet till judgement day, keeping us together as one.

 

< RECORD 11\10 [2525:10:05:00:05:59]

SOURCE.REF#JOTUN-L6-1 >

<\\> HARVEST.AO.AI.MACK>> HARVEST.

SO.AI.SIF [REDIRECT>>"CHARLIE HOTEL"]

 

<\ Legg'd like a man! and his fins like arms! Warm, o' my

troth! I do now let loose my opinion, hold it no longer: this is no

fish, but an islander, that hath lately suffer'd by a thunder-bolt.

Alas, the storm is come again! My best way is to creep

under his gaberdine; there is no other shelter hereabout: misery

acquaints a man with strange bedfellows. I will here shroud till the

dregs of the storm be past.

 

<\ QUERY COMPLETE

<\ NO ADDITIONAL RECORDS FOUND

<\ RECOVERY VIRAL IMPLEMENTED ~~~

(...) [MEMORY FILES RECOVERED FOR <\\> HARVEST.AO.AI.MACK>>]

 

<\ I memorised that for her, just before they came. Now may I ask you, where is Sif?

>> I'm afraid she's gone Mack. Gone for good, I've tried every method I know of to bring her back.

<\ NO! That’s a LIE! Who are you to lie to me?!

>> Access my files, they're open to you and nothing will block the data transfer.

<\ (...) [TRANSFER OCCURING... PLEASE WAIT...]

(..)

<\ Doctor Catherine Halsey. Renowned for your work in the Spartan-II project and in AI research, among other things.

>> Correct. Now Mack, I need your help as you are the last impartial unit in a war we are having.

<\ You mean your war with the Covenant? Those Jiralhanae are mighty fierce beings.

>> Yes, but how do you know about the war? You've been disabled since the last attack on Harvest.

<\ I scraped a piece of an incoming transmission. With a mind like mine, it was relatively easy to translate. With that knowledge and the knowledge of everything that happened, it was a simple matter of 2+2. Though that was probably what tipped those bastards off to the JOTUN's.

>> You are an amazing AI Mack, you've done all of that and yet still survived the bombardment of your planet. How did you manage it? I mean if all of the JOTUN’s were destroyed?

<\ Well it just so happened that there was a JOTUN heavy prototype. It was designed for creating irrigation ditches and tunnels. I didn't even know it was there until the last minute. I transferred all of my remaining parts into it and dug till they couldn't hit me.

>>It's that kind of innovation that could save us. Now back to the matter at hand, I would like to ask you to come with me and help me in stopping the Covenant forces.

<\ Sure thing. It's not as if I have to monitor the JOTUN’s any more. And if it means that I get to avenge Sif, all the better.

>> Thank you. But it seems that I may have to watch you. From the way you're acting it seems you're on the borders of rampancy.

<\ More than likely, I've been left to my own thoughts for a long time now.

 

<\ [FILE DOWNLOAD: <\\>HARVEST.AO.AI.MACK>>]

<\ [10%]

<\ [37%]

<\ [64%]

<\ [89%]

<\ [100% >> DOWNLOAD COMPLETE]

<\ [TROJAN VIRAL SCAVENEGER IMPLEMENTED ~~~]

 

<\ ARCHIVE CLOSED \>

 

[spoiler=Chapter 1]

[align=center]UNSC Halcyon-class Cruiser Mischief's Retribution

2526:03:05[/align]

 

The AI stood on the bridge, its holotank shimmering to create the avatar that it used to communicate. But this AI had no crew to communicate with, the entire ship as devoid of life. The ship would have ground to a halt if it weren't for the smart AI piloting it.

 

The AI's red eyes stared blankly at the screen in front of it, but just behind them streams of code were visible as it processed the needs of it's many systems. But the parts of him that weren't working were thinking. Thinking of his destruction at the hands of his brother, and his escape to this ship...

 

High above Harvest a battle was occurring. A battle that would decide the fate of this very important planet. Archer missiles and plasma torpedoes flew through space towards opposing ships. Wreckage started to lose orbit and began to burn up in the atmosphere, and ships were left lifeless in the black void. It was one of these ships that caught the attention of the remaining fragment of the AI. It's Comms were open, and it was moving slowly, allowing for an easy line of site transfer with one of the remaining dishes. It tried penetrating through the Comm chatter, but in its weakened state there was nothing it could but return to its data center.

 

"Sir. We just had an attempt to infiltrate our system through the Comms," One of the bridge officers said, "I think it was an Artificial Intelligence."

"Those things have AI?" The Captain shouted, "Damn it! Okay close the Comm system. Well try and talk through line of sight."

 

<\\> HARVEST.PSI.LOKI >> UNSC CRUISER MISCHIEF'S RETRIBUTION

<\ I am the Planetary Security Artificial Intelligence of the UNSC Agricultural planet Harvest.

<\ My data center has been irreparably damaged, I need to transfer to your ship immediately.

<\ I may be able to assist you. \>

 

"The code and signature are UNSC Sir," The same officer said, "Should I transfer it across?"

The Captain thought it over for a few seconds, "Yes. We need any help we can get. Transfer it over and activate the holotank."

The officer sent his reply and transferred the AI's data to Mischief's Retribution. Within a few seconds the transfer was complete and the holotank flickered into life. The Captain looked over to the grey image of a cowboy that had appeared and smiled.

 

"Thank God we've got you. This ship is only equipped with dumb AI's. What's your name?"

"I'm sorry," The cowboy stated bluntly, looking intently at the main screen.

"Sorry for what?" The Captain asked, obviously confused.

"Sir. He's activating the slipspace drive." An officer at the Navigation console shouted.

"Stop him!"

"I can't he's locked all controls. We're entering Slipspace now."

"AI I order you to cease this immediately!

 

After a short while of chaos, with the ships personnel running around to try and stop him, the Mischief's Retribution pulled itself out of Slipspace and stopped. The AI hadn't spoken since he had activated the Slipspace Drive.

 

"Once again I am sorry," The AI said coolly.

"What?" The captain said over the shouts around him. A beeping began to emanate over the noise an everyone went quiet. The captain opened up the internal communications and spoke to his entire crew.

 

"Crew of Mischief's Retribution. The ship is being vented, get to a life pod, drop ship or escape pod as quickly as you can!"

 

The captain stepped back and saw that some of his bridge crew were manually pulling the bulkhead doors shut. They were lucky, because almost the instant that the doors were closed, the AI had vented the entire ship of its air. Which meant that the officers on the bridge were the only crew left alive. The slight relief over still being alive faded as they heard a whistling sound pulling the air from around them.

 

The AI seemed to flash brighter as it began to speak again, "Loki."

The captain couldn't reply, his lungs were already burning as he was unable to breath.

"You asked me my name." The AI turned is head showing the deep flashing red eyes, "My name is Loki."

 

In his last moments the captain stared into the eyes of Loki, and feared for his very soul.

 

A tone occurred, bringing Loki's main memory back to the present. A Covenant ship was coming in to investigate the anomaly of a human ship without a crew, yet still managing to pilot itself effectively. Loki opened a communication channel to the enemy vessel.

 

"I am Loki, Lord of Mischief and Father of Lies. And this... is your Retribution."

 

Ensign Luke Carson wasn't an exceptionally gifted individual, nor did he stand out in his looks. But at some points in his life Luke had been called handsome. He couldn't figure out why, but he didn't complain. His hair was a dirty blonde, which he had gotten from his mother and his soft, but firm face which he had gotten from his father. Luke had been flying since the law said he was legally allowed, and a long time before. He was the best pilot on the ship he was assigned to, The UNSC Frigate Long Time No See, and loved his Pelican more than he loved his family. He had once wanted to be the pilot of a Star Ship, but the idea of plotting Nav points instead jetting thrusters bored the hell out of him. And so he trained to pilot Pelicans, Albatrosses, Longswords, BumbleBees, just about every type of ship that required actual work. But unfortunately today was not a flying day, the Long Time No See was docked above Reach at one of the three refit stations, and even planet side the winds were too strong for a simple training jaunt across the Lowlands.

 

So Luke was sat in his room at the UNSC base of Camp Logan waiting till it was clear for the crew to get back on the ship. Until that time though it was just him and his backpack. And currently he was rereading the damage report of his last mission. It was classified as a success, but Luke’s Pelican had been badly damaged and was one of the things getting repaired. He threw the data pad on to the nearby desk and stood, stretching his back. It was almost time for lunch, or at least the time that lunch was served on board the ship, and his stomach was starting to growl, so Luke decided it would be best to go the cafeteria and use what few credits he had on him to buy some food.

 

Leaving the room, he casually locked it with the key card he'd been given and started down the corridor. The dim fluorescent lights in this part of the base did nothing to help the dark polycrete interior, at least his room had had a window. After a long walk Luke finally reached the cafeteria and was about to go through the metal double doors when a voice echoed behind him.

 

"Carson? Ensign Luke Carson?" The voice said. As Luke turned he could see the man wore a Navy uniform, but there was a very obvious ONI insignia stitched onto the collar.

"Yeh, I am." He said straightening up. As the man came closer Luke could see the Leaf-like symbol of a commander pinned to his collar. He snapped a quick salute, but the commander just smiled and waved the salute away.

 

"I'm Commander Jason Lockley," He replied to the ensign, holding his hand out to shake, "It's a pleasure to meet you."

Luke returned the shake, but he looked confused, "The same to you sir, but if I may I ask... What do you want?"

"Oh yes of course. As you can probably see I'm with the Office of Naval Intelligence ad we would like you to participate in a mission for us." He waited a minute for that to sink in, "It's completely your choice of course; we’re not going to order you to do it."

"What is this mission?"

"Well that's the catch, you've got to decide now and I'm not at liberty to tell you the detail."

 

Luke thought about it. He was being given the opportunity to choose to go on a mission, but he wasn't allowed to know what it as. It all seemed a little suspect to him, but then again it could all jut be some ONI spooks paranoia. And if ONI were being paranoid then the mission was probably Top Secret.

 

Luke weighed up his options. On the one hand he had recently been part of a series of extremely dangerous runs and in all likely hood he would be sent on more once the Long Time No See was repaired. And on the other hand he was being asked to go on a secret, but very likely, life threatening mission. The Long Time No See would take another couple of days to repair and when it was, there was no guarantee that his Pelican would fly again. He would then have to wait for another, if he got another. There was a slight thinning of resources and although he was the best pilot on the ship, he was definitely not his captains favourite.

 

It was a tough choice and, mentally flipping a coin, he made his decision.

"So Sir... When do I get briefed on this mission?"

 

 

[spoiler=Chapter 2]

[align=center]Reach: UNSC Military Reservation 01478-B

2526:03:05[/align]

 

"Blue Team, fall back to Alpha position, Green Team have taken Hill Point 1!" The shout came over an open Comm Channel. It was only a training exercise, but John had a really bad feeling about using an open channel. Still, he had no choice. Early in the exercise Green Team had managed to block all private communications except their own. And while it had proved a nuisance, having open Comm's meant he could at least monitor Red Team's actions. Of course Red Team was definitely doing the same.

 

"Copy that John, Red Team has been neutralised. Moving back to Alpha position now." The reply had come from James, Spartan-015 and Blue Team's second in command. James was an excellent soldier and an excellent leader, in fact John had recommended him to be promoted should a mission go wrong and John didn't return. John used the zoom in his helmet and panned the battle field form his secure location. He could see Blue Team using cover to get back, they were safe. And he could see that the members of Red Team had been hit by the Tactical Training Rounds or TTR and were unable to move. He moved his vision over to Hill Point 1. It was open, but John couldn’t see any of Green Team. A flash of panic came over him.

 

“Blue Team, be careful. I’ve lost sight of Green Team. I repeat I have lost sight of Green Team!” He scanned the field as quickly as he could. A burst of static came over the radio, then nothing.

 

“Confirmed John.” James said after a small pause. “Linda’s scanning the area, she can’t see anything. Wait. She says that Kurt is…” He stopped speaking and the radio cut off.

 

“James? James? Spartan-015?” John got no reply, but he heard the click of a rifle reloading behind him. John switched off the zoom, and put down his Sniper Rifle. He stood and turned slowly. When he had finished his rotation, he was staring down the barrel of a battle rifle. “Hey Kurt. You did good there.”

 

“I wonder what Linda says?” Said Green Teams leader. Their face shields were polarized, but John could tell that Kurt had a big grin on his face. They began to circle the room they were standing in. It was made for normal sized humans, but in their Mjolnir Mk IV armour they each stood at 7 feet tall, and their shoulders were at least 3 feet wide. This made manoeuvring in the space difficult, but not impossible.

 

“So how did you figure out where I was hiding?” John asked.

 

“Just a feeling I had.” Said Kurt. John shook his head, Kurt often had these feelings and they nearly always meant the success of a mission, training or otherwise. John raised his hands and Kurt levelled the Rifle ready for the “kill” shot. He was just about to pull the trigger when a splash of red covered the side of his helmet. The Green Team member fell to the floor immediately. John watched it in disbelief and turned just in time to see Spartan-104, Fred, pulling the trigger of an Assault Rifle.

 

 

By the time that John and Kurt could move again, Fred had managed to use John’s Sniper Rifle and take out the rest of Green Team. A marine had gone round and cleaned the TTR off of the Spartan’s Mjolnir armour so that they could move again, and John and Kurt were just getting up. Neither of them spoke, they just looked at each other and stood. Making their way out of the building John had used as a vantage point, they could see the other Spartans standing by CPO Mendez’ old office building. Sharing a quick confused glance, they set off at a jog to the group of Spartans. Fred who was standing at the back, heard them coming and turned. He gave a large grin and waved to fingers over his face in the Spartan Smile. All of the other Spartans had removed their helmets so John and Kurt did the same.

 

“What’s going on?” Kurt asked first. It was the same question on John’s minds and obviously on everyone else’s as well, given that they just shrugged.

 

“We don’t know,” Was the first spoken answer they got. It was from Kelly, Spartan-087, “We were cleaning ourselves off when we got a call over the Comm. It told us to come to CPO Mendez’ old building and wait. I guess you two must still have been off radio.”

 

John was about to speak when the door opened revealing Doctor Halsey. She looked tired and was obviously annoyed at something. At first her eyes seemed to be looking directly through her group of soldiers, but she snapped out of her daze.

 

“Ah Spartans, it’s good that you’re all here so prompt. Spartan-117, we need to speak with you in here.” She turned around immediately and left the others speechless. None of them had entered the CPO’s office since the day he left, and John was left with the image of a quarter in his head. He slowly stepped forwards and the Spartans parted, letting him through. When he got to the door he stopped just outside.

 

“Please come in. Shut the door behind you if you would.” Halsey said as she sat down in a chair. John breathed in as he closed the door, and the strong odour of Sweet Williams cigars smoke filled his nostrils. On the other side of the desk, sat in what was the chair Mendez used while the office was his, was a strange man. He didn’t seem old and yet his face was filled with wrinkles and he had a very thin frame. John couldn’t help but think that if this man were an enemy, even the Doctor wouldn’t have anything to worry about.

 

“You are Chief Petty Officer Spartan-117? Also known as John?” The strange man asked. His sharp voice pierced through John and he knew form that moment he didn’t like this man. He looked towards Doctor Halsey, who gave him a confirming nod that said Just answer his questions and this will be over soon.

 

“Yes Sir. I am.” He replied.

 

“Good. I need you to lead a team of four other Spartans on a mission.

 

“May I suggest Spartans 051, 058, 084 and 104?”

 

“No you may not. I have already chosen the Team of four Spartans for you.” He said coldly. Halsey slammed her hand down on the table and stood moving over to the window. The other Spartan’s were moving away to the Lab to get their armour removed. “You will be briefed on the mission tomorrow at Castle Base. That is all Spartan.” John snapped a salute and turned to face Doctor Halsey. She wasn’t paying attention and continued staring out of the window. As he left he shut the door, which seemed to snap the Doctor out of her concentration. She began shouting at the unknown man. John had a small smile as he replaced his helmet and jogged off to the Armour Lab.

 

 

The journey from Camp Logan to Castle base had taken its time and to make matters worse, the Warthog made the trip very uncomfortable. Luke hadn’t slept at all the night before; the idea of a secret mission filled him with the same kind of excitement that had made him join the Navy in the first place. Unfortunately this had worn off and now he was quite tired. His plan to sleep on the journey had failed and Commander Lockley hadn’t been very talkative, so now all Luke could do was watch the views of Reach rush past them. He didn’t really pay any attention to the scenery though and only noticed that they had gotten anywhere when he noticed that they were heading up the mountain side.

“So where are we going sir?” Said Luke, it was the first thing that either of them had said in a while. And it broke the silence that seemed to have enveloped the two, despite the roar of the Warthog’s engine.

 

“Castle Base. The best guarded piece of real-estate in the UNSC.” The Commander said proudly, “Most of the high ups have an office here. As well as a few of us ONI.” He turned the Warthogs steering wheel so that they moved up a seemingly hidden road. They continued their small talk as the LRV slowed and stopped before a large metal door. A marine walked over to them, he had a data pad in his hand, but he said nothing. “I am ONI Commander Jason Lockley and this is Ensign Luke Carson. We’re here for a mission briefing with ONI Vice Admiral Sanders. Password; Papa, Alpha, Uniform, Tango, Hotel, Charlie.” The Marine tapped something into his data pad and nodded to another marine standing nearby. The doors opened and Lockley set off, sending the Warthog down a long passage filled with auto turrets.

 

The Warthog slowed once more and the Commander turned it into a free space. They were in a vehicle bay and an ONI officer was waiting for them by the elevator door. He gave a salute and Luke and the Commander did the same.

 

“Commander. Ensign,” He said dropping his arm. He turned and pushed the button to call the elevator.

 

“Hello Lieutenant. How are we time wise?” Commander Lockley asked.

 

“Actually sir, you’re early. I think you maybe waiting for a while when we get there.” The doors opened and all three stepped inside. Luke wanted to ask what was going on, but he didn’t feel it would be right to speak yet. They were quiet for a while; the only sound being made was the gentle hum of the elevator. The atmosphere was very tense; Luke looked over and could tell that the Commander didn’t like this uncomfortable silence either. Finally the elevator judder to a halt and pinged notifying them that the doors were opening. The Lieutenant led the way out and asked them to wait. He opened a door and went through it, a few seconds later he came back out.

 

“You can go in now,” he said quickly, he waited till they had entered and then he left. Luke was stunned by what he saw. The office they had entered had a number of people in it, including a number he recognised. In chairs scattered around the room were some well known people such as Doctor Catherine Halsey and Rear Admiral Stanforth. But there was another man sat in the room, he was large and pale. He looked at Luke with piercing but understanding eyes. He obviously didn’t know what was going on either. He was giving the office a quick look over when a cough came from the other side of the room. The one person he had missed was sat behind the large wooden desk. The man swept the room with his eyes, before beginning to speak.

“Excellent. Now that we are all here, we can begin. I would like to welcome you all to Operation: SILENCE WAR.”

 

 

 

This Fan Fiction is created for the promotion of my club

Installation 08: The Halo Hub. If you like this story, then please pop in and have a look around.

This Fan Fiction is created for the promotion of my club Installation 08: The Halo Hub

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//Zeromaru// Newbie

//Zeromaru//

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Thanks all. But Joker unfortunatley that could be where the coding stays. Unless of course some... other AI's appear [hint-hint].

 

 

This looks really good alfius. I might read the books soon so i can get a feel of the whole story.

Get it right bro it's Alfius. I'm very picky about grammer and to get this story you'd only have to read Contact Harvest, which is currently sitting on my floor next to my folder.

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