Cortana: Difference between revisions

During the battle, Cortana excelled in her capabilities as an onboard AI, managing to maneuver the ''Autumn'' through an [[asteroid]] field upon the appearance of a [[Covenant carrier]], destroying the enemy vessel with little effort.<ref>'''Halo: The Fall of Reach''', ''page 328''</ref> Cortana also assisted Captain Keyes in destroying a dangerous, [[Unidentified Covenant warship|theretofore unknown Covenant warship]], which had wreaked havoc upon the defending UNSC [[Epsilon Eridani Fleet|fleet]].<ref>'''Halo: The Fall of Reach''', ''page 364''</ref> However, the Covenant destroyed Reach's [[orbital defense generator]]s, and began [[glassing]] the planet as they had done countless times before.<ref>'''Halo: The Fall of Reach''', ''page 372''</ref> The ''Autumn'' was eventually forced to flee the burning planet, jumping to a random location as per the [[Cole Protocol]]. However, Cortana secretly inserted coordinates translated from symbols on [[Sigma Octanus IV artifact|a rock]] that [[Blue Team]] discovered on [[Sigma Octanus IV]], in addition to coordinates extracted from the [[Babd Catha Forerunner complex|Forerunner installation]] at the [[Babd Catha Ice Shelf]] beneath [[SWORD Base]], believing them to be of great significance to the Covenant.<ref>'''Halo: The Fall of Reach''', ''page 376''</ref>

===Battle of Installation 04===

===The Guardians===

{{Quote|no=three|q1=Chief. The Domain is open. Meridian is next.|Cortana|q2=Cortana?|John-117|q3=John! The Reclamation is about to begin!|Cortana|What remains of Cortana reaches through the Domain to warn and entice her former friend.}}<ref name="H5GBT"/>

By [[2558#September|September of 2558]] Cortana had become convinced she was destined to [[Reclaimer|reclaim]] the [[Mantle of Responsibility]] formerly upheld by the [[Forerunner]] [[ecumene]].<ref name="WaypointGenesis"/> Near the end of that month [[Catherine Halsey]] began to study various incoming signals which were bouncing off of Forerunner objects on the planet [[Kamchatka]] in the [[Caspar system]].<ref name="H5GO">''[[Halo 5: Guardians]]'', ''[[Osiris (level)|Osiris]]''</ref><ref name="H5GOMI">''[[Halo 5: Guardians]]'', ''[[Osiris (level)|Osiris]]'' [[Mission Intel#Osiris|mission intel]]</ref> To Halsey, it seemed evident that Cortana was behind the signals and was attempting to map the area in search of [[Guardian Custode|something]].<ref name="H5GOMI"/> However, after further investigation she started to wonder if rather than intentionally bouncing signals off of different locations Cortana was trying to access them directly but failing.<ref name="H5GOMI"/> A few days after October 17, Cortana and the [[Warden Eternal]] began to awaken [[Guardian Custode]]s on multiple planets.<ref name="WaypointGenesis"/><ref name="H5GO"/> Guardians had been used by the [[Forerunner]]s to enforce their vision of the Mantle upon the rest of the galaxy and they both planned to deploy them for the same purpose.<ref name="WaypointGenesis"/><ref name="HWF88">''[[Halo Warfleet]]'', ''page 88''</ref> After Cortana had first learned of the Guardians, [[Unidentified Builder|a]] [[Forerunner]] of the [[Builder]] [[rate]] whose consciousness still survived on Genesis had attempted to stop her from gaining power over them but had subsequently been discovered and hunted by her in kind.<ref name="H5GRMI">''[[Halo 5: Guardians]]'', ''[[Reunion]]'' [[Mission Intel#Reunion|mission intel]]</ref><ref name="H5GTBMI">''[[Halo 5: Guardians]]'', ''[[The Breaking]]'' [[Mission Intel#The Breaking|mission intel]]</ref> He ultimately escaped her clutches thanks to her being distracted by other matters.<ref name="H5GGUMI">''[[Halo 5: Guardians]]'', ''[[Guardians (level)|Guardians]]'' [[Mission Intel#Guardians|mission intel]]</ref> In a span of seventy-two hours since Cortana began to activate the Guardians, five of them were reawakened on [[human colonies]], where their emergence from beneath the ground caused massive amounts of destruction.<ref name="H5GO"/> Among these colonies were [[Conrad's Point]], [[Oban]], and [[Ursa IV]].<ref name="H5GO"/> She also reactivated a Guardian on Kamchatka very soon after the first seventy-two hours of such acts had passed.<ref name="H5GO"/><ref name="HLOO20">''[[Halo: Legacy of Onyx]]'', ''Chapter 20''</ref> Shortly before 0630 hours on October 23 Cortana managed to successfully contact [[John-117|John]], who was just then engaged in a [[Operation: BIRD IN HAND|mission]] within the [[Crow's Eye Nebula]].<ref name="H5GBT">''[[Halo 5: Guardians]]'', ''[[Blue Team (level)|Blue Team]]''</ref><ref name="WaypointLinda-058">[https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/universe/characters/linda-058 '''Halo Waypoint''': ''Linda-058'']</ref><ref name="TD">[[Troy Denning]] on Twitter [https://twitter.com/TDenningauthor/status/932052034701942784]</ref><ref name="H5GG">''[[Halo 5: Guardians]]'', ''[[Glassed]]''</ref> After falling down a tall shaft while aboard the ONI research and development plant ''[[Argent Moon]]'' John found himself suddenly and mysteriously surrounded by rocky tunnel space and then a bottomless chasm. On the opposite side, the vision then showed him the figure of Cortana, who informed him that the [[Domain]] was open and that [[Meridian]], a moon of [[Hestia V]], was to be "next". She then declared that the Reclamation was about to begin just before the hulking shape of a Guardian rose from the pit and John's mind returned to the ''Argent Moon''.<ref name="H5GBT"/> It was her hope that on Meridian, the Chief could board the Guardian buried there and as such be brought to her on Genesis when it traveled there to join all the others which had been arriving.<ref name="H5GR"/><ref name="H5GU">''[[Halo 5: Guardians]]'', ''[[Unconfirmed]]''</ref> At some point prior to October 25 Cortana reached out to [[Sloan]], the A.I. [[governor]] of [[Meridian Station]], to give him fair warning concerning the presence of the Guardian and her intentions for it.<ref name="H5GU"/><ref name="HFWR"/> She offered him the chance to be a part of the "new dawn" she intended to bring to the galaxy and also promised that he could help his people survive what lay ahead.<ref name="H5GU"/> It was then on October 25 that Meridian's Guardian finally emerged from beneath the moon's surface and initiated a [[slipspace]] jump at a little after 0833 hours, leaving destruction and death in its wake but taking John with it just as Cortana had planned.<ref name="HFWR">''[[Halo: Fractures]]'', ''[[What Remains]]''</ref><ref name="H5GE">''[[Halo 5: Guardians]]'', ''[[Evacuation]]''</ref><ref name="HTTCAM">''[[Hunt the Truth]]'', [https://huntthetruth.tumblr.com/ CAM videos]</ref> By the next day, five additional colonies had all seen the reactivation of Guardians on them following the [[Battle of Meridian (2558)|events]] on Meridian.<ref name="H5GR"/> On October 27 Cortana announced herself without warning to [[Spartan]] [[Jameson Locke]] and the [[Arbiter]], [[Thel 'Vadam]], who had been discussing Locke's search for the Master Chief within a camp of the Arbiter's on [[Sanghelios]].<ref name="H5GA"/> Her single declaration denouncing any efforts to find John as futile made Doctor Halsey and [[Sarah Palmer]] rush into the tent where her voice had appeared. Halsey noticed right away that Cortana had briefly interfaced with every networked device in the camp and plainly knew of a nearby yet-dormant Guardian the humans were then seeking to exploit for their own ends.<ref name="H5GA">''[[Halo 5: Guardians]]'', ''[[Alliance]]''</ref>