Cortana: Difference between revisions

At some point Cortana's attention was drawn to the [[Lethbridge Industrial]] research and development facility [[Auriga Station]], notable for its ability to carefully disassemble, analyze, and rebuild nearly any piece of recovered technology to aid in reverse-engineering efforts.{{Ref/Reuse|CF63}} As part of her galactic conquest, she stripped bare Lethbridge's vast archives of secrets and made a mockery of its counter-cyberintrusion suites, quickly repurposing the loyalty of the station's resident A.I. and removing the human crew. She and the other A.I.s of the Created were eager to use the station's tools to harvest, decompile, and rebuild new tools and weapons to be wielded by constructs advancing Cortana's plans across her growing [[ecumene]].<ref name="CF63">[https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/news/canon-fodder-storm-surge '''Halo Waypoint''': ''Canon Fodder - Storm Surge'']</ref>{{Ref/Note|It is known that a plan was hatched by those resisting Cortana to board Auriga Station with Spartans, disable or steal the manufacturing systems onboard, and wipe the A.I.s still bound to its holographic storage systems. The ''Halo 5: Guardians'' [[multiplayer]] map [[Stasis]] is set within the snow-covered wreckage of a [[habitat ring]] that likely represents the station, indicating that something caused it or debris from it to deorbit and slam into the planet it existed over.}} As Cortana and the [[Created]] further extended their influence across inhabited worlds, the A.I.s burrowed into Forerunner machinery and UNSC information systems to turn [[terraforming]] equipment and world engines to their own grand designs.{{Ref/Reuse|IA}} At Cortana's direction they initiated processes which they hoped would reshape worlds into verdant gardens teeming with life after only a few decades of manipulation, be it at much short-term cost. On one colonial planet in particular which was scarred by wars both ancient and recent, the Created shifted entire continents and oceans after balancing the drawbacks of both limited [[extinction]] events and damage to the existing colonial infrastructure.<ref name="IA">[https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/games/halo-5-guardians/updates/infinitys-armory '''Halo Waypoint''': ''Infinity's Armory'']</ref> On [[Sanghelios]], Created scouts persisted as a problem for UNSC expeditionary forces allied with the [[Arbiter]].{{Ref/Reuse|CF77}} By [[2559#January|January 24, 2559]], the {{UNSCShip|Infinity}} remained on the run from Cortana, maintaining an erratic series of slipspace jumps in order to avoid detection by her Guardians.<ref name="lootcrate11">''[[Halo Legendary Crate]]'' ''[[Halo Legendary Crate/Data Drops|Data Drop #11]]''</ref><ref name="lootcrate12">''[[Halo Legendary Crate]]'' ''[[Halo Legendary Crate/Data Drops|Data Drop #12]]''</ref> A little over two months later a Guardian intercepted [[Installation 09|a newly built Halo ring]] that had been launched from [[Installation 00|the Ark]] just after the start of April, it having suddenly dropped out of slipspace soon after entering a portal between the extragalactic installation and the [[Soell system]].<ref name="HW2LS">''[[Halo Wars 2]]'', ''[[Last Stand (Halo Wars 2 level)|Last Stand]]''</ref> One year after the original issuing of her galaxy-wide ultimatum, many worlds remained subject to martial law under the indomitable grip of Cortana's Forerunner weapons.<ref name="CF107">[https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/news/shadows-of-the-former '''Halo Waypoint''' - ''Canon Fodder #107: Shadows of the Former'']</ref>{{Ref/Note|1=In ''[[Discover Hope]]'', a trailer for ''[[Halo Infinite]]'', Cortana's voice is heard while John walks toward a blue light within the control room of a [[Halo ring|Halo]] installation, extolling John's uniqueness and their partnership. Whether or not this voice-over strictly corresponds with the scene in question canonically is undetermined but it has been deliberately and explicitly confirmed that John was walking in the forerunner room to ''connect'' with someone or something. Additionally, an audio file hidden within the trailer features Cortana's voice remarking "This... This is part of me. I don't know why. I don't know how. But it is me." In an [https://youtu.be/Jye1-0zh41E?t=406 interview], a 343 Industries developer states  "That was a... a really important part of the trailer where Master Chief is um, going into a very... Forerunner um, environment, to kind of uh, reconnect."}} After being contacted by [[Leonidas]], Cortana had him destroy Laconia Station along with 76 Spartan-IV's.{{Citation needed}}

===Defeat and second sacrifice===