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Cortana: Difference between revisions
→Racing the Didact
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{{Quote|I can give you over forty thousand reasons why that sun isn't real. I know it because the emitter's Rayleigh effect is disproportionate to its suggested size. I know it because its stellar cycle is more symmetrical than that of an actual star. But for all that, I'll never actually know if it looks real... if it ''feels'' real. Before this is all over, promise me you'll figure out which one of us is the machine.|Cortana, musing to John aboard the ''Infinity'', 2557}} | {{Quote|I can give you over forty thousand reasons why that sun isn't real. I know it because the emitter's Rayleigh effect is disproportionate to its suggested size. I know it because its stellar cycle is more symmetrical than that of an actual star. But for all that, I'll never actually know if it looks real... if it ''feels'' real. Before this is all over, promise me you'll figure out which one of us is the machine.|Cortana, musing to John aboard the ''Infinity'', 2557}} | ||
[[File:H4-John&Cortana-01.jpg|250px|thumb|Chief and Cortana aboard Ivanoff Station after the [[Raid on Ivanoff Station|Didact's assault]].]] | [[File:H4-John&Cortana-01.jpg|250px|thumb|Chief and Cortana aboard Ivanoff Station after the [[Raid on Ivanoff Station|Didact's assault]].]] | ||
The ''Infinity'' had tracked the Didact to a southern dock where he was preparing to exit Requiem in search of the Composer. Cortana and Chief flew their Pelican to there, and attempted to deter him by lowering the defensive field around his Cryptum. As they battled through the surrounding towers, the Didact became aware of their presence, taunting them with messages that John could hear but Cortana could not. Realizing he knew of their plan, Cortana attempted an alternate defeat by taking control of the surrounding towers, then making the towers form a cage around his Cryptum. Unfortunately, Cortana's rampancy overtook her, and the surge of emotion distracted her long enough for the Didact to escape. As the Cryptum merged with [[Mantle's Approach|a larger ship]] and prepared to leave the system, Cortana and John pursued him by hitch-hiking on a following [[Deployment Platform Type-56 Ground Support/Ultra Heavy|Lich]].<ref name="shutdown"/> | The ''Infinity'' had tracked the Didact to a southern dock where he was preparing to exit Requiem in search of the Composer. Cortana and Chief flew their Pelican to there, and attempted to deter him by lowering the defensive field around his Cryptum. As they battled through the surrounding towers, the Didact became aware of their presence, taunting them with messages that John could hear but Cortana could not. Realizing he knew of their plan, Cortana attempted an alternate defeat by taking control of the surrounding towers, then making the towers form a cage around his Cryptum. Unfortunately, Cortana's rampancy overtook her, and the surge of emotion distracted her long enough for the Didact to escape. As the Cryptum merged with [[Mantle's Approach|a much larger ship]] and prepared to leave the system, Cortana and John pursued him by hitch-hiking on a following [[Deployment Platform Type-56 Ground Support/Ultra Heavy|Lich]].<ref name="shutdown"/> | ||
The Didact's ship traveled to [[Ivanoff Station]], an orbital research facility stationed near [[Installation 03]] which had unearthed the Composer. As the Chief warned the scientists inside that the Forerunner planned to steal it, Cortana's rampancy emerged again and, in a fit of anger, crashed their Lich. The two survived, but the ''Ivanoff'' was already under attack. Cortana prepared the station's defenses to assist evacuation while Master Chief defeated the boarders on foot. When the Composer was found to be too large to transport, Master Chief resolved to destroy it. A nuclear device was prepared, but Cortana was breaking up further, now swinging between joy and anger, even forgetting where she was, deterring them from keeping contact with the scientists. The nuclear weapon came too late, and in that time the Didact's ship gained the Composer and | The Didact's ship traveled to [[Ivanoff Station]], an orbital research facility stationed near [[Installation 03]] which had unearthed the Composer. As the Chief warned the scientists inside that the Forerunner planned to steal it, Cortana's rampancy emerged again and, in a fit of anger, crashed their Lich. The two survived, but the ''Ivanoff'' was already under attack. Cortana prepared the station's defenses to assist evacuation while Master Chief defeated the boarders on foot. When the Composer was found to be too large to transport, Master Chief resolved to destroy it. A nuclear device was prepared, but Cortana was breaking up further, now swinging between joy and anger, even forgetting where she was, deterring them from keeping contact with the scientists. The nuclear weapon came too late, and in that time the Didact's ship gained the Composer and digitized everyone in the station.<ref>'''Halo 4''', campaign level ''[[Composer (level)|Composer]]''</ref> | ||
[[File:H4-John&Cortana-04.jpg|250px|left|thumb|All Cortana's fragments standing together to protect John from the Didact.]] | [[File:H4-John&Cortana-04.jpg|250px|left|thumb|All Cortana's fragments standing together to protect John from the Didact.]] | ||
Their | Their loss deeply upset Cortana, and caused her to reflect on her own mortality. By now she was sure that she could never be repaired, confessing that the next AI cloned from Halsey would likely not be her. John consoled her the best he could, but stoically reminded her of their duty to Earth. The duo then formed a new plan: to fly an [[F-41 Broadsword]] carrying the [[HAVOK tactical nuclear weapon|HAVOK-class nuke]] in hopes that it could reach the Composer. Their Broadsword piggy-backed on the Didact's ship through slipspace, arriving with it in orbit around Earth. The UNSC ''Infinity'', now under the command of Lasky, assisted the two by using its weapons to punch a hole in the Forerunner vessel, allowing them to fly inside.<ref name="midnight">'''Halo 4, campaign level ''[[Midnight]]''</ref> | ||
When their Broadsword crashed, John and Cortana exited to carry the nuke to the ship's center where the Didact and Composer were. The device was heavily shielded, but Cortana overrode by fragmenting herself and sending her rampant parts all over the ship's system so that the shield would become as unstable as her. Their plan worked and the shield fell, but the process further destabilized her, as her fragments whispered to John while the main Cortana's voice spoke with pain. The Didact | When their Broadsword crashed, John and Cortana exited to carry the nuke to the ship's center where the Didact and Composer were. The device was heavily shielded, but Cortana overrode by fragmenting herself and sending her rampant parts all over the ship's system so that the shield would become as unstable as her. Their plan worked and the shield fell, but the process further destabilized her, as her fragments whispered to John while the main Cortana's voice spoke with pain. The Didact fired the Composer on Earth regardless, digitizing the entire population of the metropolis of [[New Phoenix|New Phoenix, Arizona]]. John then confronted the Didact on a light bridge, but the Forerunner easily overpowered the Spartan, knocking the bomb from him and telekinetically lifting him off the light bridge's edge. John's life was saved, though, when Cortana's fragments emerged from the light bridge and formed chains of hard light that held the Didact down and temporarily trapped him so that John could climb back up and plant a pulse grenade on the Didact's armour. The resulting explosion knocked the Didact off balance and sent him falling into a slipspace rupture underneath the Composer. With the Forerunner defeated, John fired the nuke, destroying the Composer and the Didact's ship.<ref name="midnight"/> | ||
===Sacrifice=== | ===Sacrifice=== | ||