Exiled soldiers

Just as Fire team Shadow's plan and allegiance came to light, the command crew of the Infinity had already met in the bridge. "Roland, what do we got?" Lasky asked.

"Nothing good, Captain," the A.I. replied. "The virus in the system is keeping anyone in the Wargames simulations- and only those simulations- in them. It's got some advanced code, so it'll take me a while to crack it. Anyone in Arena matches, though, were released. Best guess is because Shadow decided to lay it cruel and give Spartans a glimmer of them all getting out, and crush it."

"That's a villainous thought, Roland," Halsey said. "Are you sure we shouldn't be worried you're with them?"

"Doctor Halsey, right now, I'm bound by the three laws of robotics, which I'm sure you know," Roland retorted. "Also, Captain, Spartans Orochi and Palmer found the bodies of Shadow team. Looks like they were A.I. the entire time using bodies made by Forerunner tech to appear human. And before you ask, Doctor, the bodies are currently in quarantine. You'll have to wait until after all of this to look at them. Besides, I'm looking at what I can of the physical architecture to see what I can get of how they work. May help free everyone."

"Casualty reports so far?" Lasky asked.

"Three percent, sir. Most of what's going on are converted Warzone turbo matches. Kinda makes it easy for them to win when they can pull a Hannibal Scorpion or three into play at the beginning, coupled with Wheelman armor mods," Roland said. "Combine with Helios Phaeton and Ultra Banshee air support? Most groups are already in round three, and only five minutes have passed since this whole thing started."

Lasky sighed. "And how many are on Urban?" That map had gained infamy as the hardest Firefight map.

"Twelve to start, only three are are alive so far, sir," Roland said. "Apex has ninety percent survival so far, followed by Darkstar at eighty, then Strombreak and Sanctum at forty."

"What about Fire teams Lone and Phoenix?"

"Working together on Apex and on round three, sir. No casualties as of yet," Roland replied. "I'm currently working on a way to communicate with them, as, from what I can tell, Fire team Shadow is waiting to engage them when round five hits."

"So it'll be a match of legends for the crew, then," Lasky said.

"Not exactly, sir," Roland said. "Remember, Spartan Orochi isn't in this issue-the digital side, that is- and most of the crew still don't see Palmer and the rest as being a part of the team there given three of them are aliens who just recently became soldiers, and most of them just outright hate Palmer. So, in their eyes, it''l be Shadow against half of Lone, and they'll think it'll be Shadow who wins as the two teams are that- legendary teams, not legendary individuals."

"Then I guess it's up to Lone to prove them wrong," Lasky said with a sigh.

"If I may intrude upon this, Captain," the three heard Starburst say before her projection appeared on the holo-table.

"What is it, Starburst?" Lasky said.

"Well, sir, with Roland's permission, myself and the other Ancillas scanned a little deeper into the carapaces Shadow team was using, and, either on purpose or overlook, they forgot to cover up their point of origin. They may say they are created which Cortana made to infiltrate the ship, but, from what we found, that is false information."

"How so?" Halsey asked.

"It is true that their bodies have Forerunner parts," Starburst said, "but mainly the parts, including the CPU, are human made. Not concrete, I know, but we found a message-one which was deleted after we saw it for the first time, that revealed the two were instead acting on behalf of a human CEO, and that the quote unquote 'dead' Spartan are just put into a very death like coma."

"And who's the CEO?" Roland asked, this being the first he's heard of this.

"His short name is how Twilight Sparkle knows him," Starburst said. "Discord, the God of Chaos."