Zereth Prime's orbit was quiet, the blackness of space broken only by the shimmering outline of the Starforge's massive frame. Within its core laboratories, Cassian Voss stood before a multi-dimensional schematic, blueprints layered like interwoven threads of light. They were designs for a new generation of Spartan armor—sleeker, stronger, and more adaptable than anything previously seen in the UNSC's arsenal.
Across from him stood Dr. Catherine Halsey, arms folded, her sharp gaze fixed on the simulation running in front of them. The projected Spartan moved with uncanny fluidity, dodging plasma fire and returning precise bursts from a rail-assisted rifle.
"This is beyond MJOLNIR," Halsey said finally, her voice a mix of admiration and suspicion. "Even our GEN3 prototypes can't process battlefield data this fast."
"That's because they rely on current Earth-bound hardware," Cassian replied, keying in another modification. "This suit uses a Forerunner-derived neural filament weave. It syncs with the user's brainstem in under ten milliseconds and offloads predictive processing to Athena."
Halsey's eyes narrowed. "Your AI is already integrated?"
Cassian nodded. "Athena doesn't need to be installed in a chip. She's quantum-localized across the armor's systems, synchronized through dimensional phasing. There's no latency, no uplink loss, and she can even hijack enemy drones mid-fight."
Halsey gave a rare smile. "You've just redefined what a Spartan can be."
Cassian didn't respond right away. He was watching the simulation as Athena piloted the prototype through a mock Covenant ambush. Every move was precise. Every bullet counted. Even Elites wearing active camouflage were picked off before they could strike. It was beautiful and terrifying.
But Cassian knew it wasn't enough.
"We need more than armor," he said finally. "The Covenant is only part of the equation. There are… other threats out there."
"Other threats?" Halsey asked. "You mean the Flood?"
Cassian's system pinged softly as he uploaded new data. "Worse. Things not bound by our reality. I've seen remnants—fragments of dimensional warping in Forerunner ruins that suggest incursions. There's more than one kind of extinction."
Halsey looked at him, the weight of what he said slowly settling. "And you want Spartans ready for those as well."
"I want humanity to survive what's coming," Cassian said simply. "To do that, we need to evolve."
With her approval secured, the project gained full support. ONI remained unaware of the depth of Cassian's designs—he had kept his interdimensional capabilities hidden behind carefully layered firewalls and forged credentials. Only Halsey had access to the full scope of the work. She had her secrets. So did he.
The next step was harvesting the raw materials needed for the suit's power core. Cassian activated his system's dimensional rift drive and stepped through a breach portal, entering a collapsed Forerunner weapons cache on Installation 07. Time did not move the same way here. The structures inside were half-frozen in stasis fields, slowly degrading but still active.
He moved quickly, siphoning energy from dormant hard-light arrays and salvaging core components from containment pillars. These would power the new energy shield matrix, one that could shift frequencies mid-impact to counter plasma, kinetic, and even dimensional disruptions.
When he returned to Zereth Prime, the AI greeted him immediately.
"Cassian. You've acquired the prism cores. Shall I begin fabrication of the next variant?"
"Do it," he ordered. "And simulate an engagement against a Hunter pair and two cloaked Elites. Limit the Spartan to half shield capacity."
Athena responded instantly. "Understood. Engaging simulation. Estimated outcome: ninety-seven percent probability of survival."
As the test began, Cassian looked on. This was no longer about upgrading Spartans. It was about creating a new kind of warrior one who could fight across space, time, and dimensions. A soldier equipped not just to survive, but to win where no others could.
The kind of soldier Cassian knew the universe would one day need.