Chapter 1: The Woman Who Saved the World
A figure in dark grey armor walks back down one of the purple hallways of the corvette Ardent Prayer, her calmly striding past the corpses of marines and aliens alike. The armor she was wearing was splattered in a myriad of different splashes of color, it seeming almost like a rainbow with the different types, though it was more dark if you realized what it was. Blood, human and various species of alien alike. As for her armor itself, since it covered every inch of her skin, it made them look almost more like a robot than any living creature, and her attitude was more of what someone expected from a machine than a person. She soon walks silently into the hangar, moving surprisingly silently for someone in her armor, though that was to be expected from a Spartan.
A larger figure walks over, hefting a massive machine gun, them studying their ally. They then speak up with a male, hungarian accented voice. "The marines?"
"Dead." She responds immediately, her voice just sounding disinterested and emotionless. "But so is everything else I found."
He sighs, studying her for a few moments. "Well, I've got some good news, and bad news. This bird's taken some fire, and her thruster gimbal's is toast, so the only way off of this slag heap, is gravity."
The woman doesn't speak for a few moments, until eventually she realizes that he wants her to. "And the good news?"
"At current velocity, fifty three seconds to endpoint." A calm, though somewhat monotone voice quietly speaks into both of their helmets. It belonged to Auntie Dot, the "dumb" AI assigned to Noble Team.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah." He mutters in response to the AI's statement, taking off his helmet and tossing it to the ground. "That was the good news. The bad news is that the timer's fried, and I'll have to detonate it manually."
The statement actually startles her a little, a bit of uncertainty making its way into her voice, though it's just barely noticable. "That's a one way trip..."
"We all make it sooner or later." He sighs, before offering her his dog tags, which she gently pushes back at him. He stares at her. "Six, get going. They'll need you down there."
"You're going, not me." Six just responds quietly, her picking up his discarded helmet and giving it to him, the big man reluctantly taking it.
"Ruining my dramatic moment, are we?" He asks quietly, though she just stares at him from behind her mirrored visor. "Alright, I'll bite. Why are you doing this?"
"You're a Spartan II. Not only that...if this war ends, I think you might be the only one of us who manages to live with that. You're more human than I am." She gently pushes him towards the hangar door, knowing she doesn't have the strength to over power him. "Besides, dying is what Spartan Threes are meant for."
Jorge doesn't reply verbally, him just nodding a bit before sliding his helmet on.
"And Jorge?" She asks, just before he's about to jump.
"Yeah?" He stops, seeing her remove her helmet for the first time among the group.
"Tell them to make it count." Her dark grey, almost black colored eyes stare at him from behind her messy brown hair, that partially covered her face. To some, her deathly pale features might be considered attractive, if not for the several scars crossing her face, and the combination of rage and sorrow that was a bit visible in her eyes, that didn't travel to any other parts of her expression.
"I will...good luck, Six. Until we meet again." He briefly studies her, before jumping backwards through the shimmering field of energy and floating away back towards the planet, leaving her alone with the bodies.
The quiet spartan sighs, her briefly looking at her own dog tags, seeing SPARTAN Victoria B312, written on them, along with a few other things medics needed to know and such. She glances out the hangar and sees the massive maw of the supercarriers hangar engulf the corvette, and her with it, her sighing and walking over to the slipspace bomb. The Spartan Three slides her helmet back on. "Until we meet again, Jorge. Whenever that may be."
She activates the refitted slipspace drive, stumbling back as she feels nauseous, before falling to her knees, struggling to stay conscious. After a few moments, she feels herself start to fail that as well, her armored form collapsing to the deck. The last thought to go through her head before her vision fades to black is mostly 'I hope my dreams are pleasant, for once'. They weren't.
In another universe entirely, standing on the landing pad of a place known as Mother Base, a man smokes a type of electric cigarette, just standing there and watching the sky. In truth, he was waiting for a helicopter to arrive, though as it starts to land, he sees something emerge from a purple-black colored portal of sorts, though its too far away to see accurately. He pulls out binoculars, stepping back from the chopper, seeing Ocelot and Miller both run out from the main building moments later as he watches the purple...object, start heating up as it begins to rapidly descend.
"Whoah...not what I expected to see today." Ocelot quietly remarks, though Miller is a bit more practical.
"Will someone please get me a trajectory on that thing? If it's going to hit us..."
"It won't. But I would like to know where it lands." Venom Snake, or if you would rather call him after the one he's impersonating, Big Boss, says quietly.
"Why? Do you intend to go to it?" Ocelot asks, sounding quite curious about the thing himself.
"Well, it could be aliens, in which case, it would be better that we get there and introduce ourselves before the Soviets do. Or Cipher." Snake replies, putting the binoculars away as he sees the thing disappear beyond the horizon.
"Or it could be a trap. You're not going alone." Miller says immediately.
"If it's a trap, the last thing we want is to get more people killed in it."
"And its safer for you. Besides, you're needed elsewhere. The CIA wants us to retrieve a prototype weapons system from Da Smasei Laman. That's a literal Fortress at this point. You're the only soldier capable of doing a mission like that."
"That can wait, I-"
Ocelot clears his throat, causing both of the other men to stare at him. "You two, stop arguing, please. I'll go, and take a squad from our Combat team and our Research teams each with me. Boss, go do the CIA's op. I can handle this."
The two stop, Snake eventually just sighing and nodding, not seeing the point in arguing any more. The man walks over to his helicopter, a rather large canine already waiting inside, him just scratching it behind the ear as the aircraft takes off. After he's gone, Ocelot calls in his own helicopter, Miller just looking at him.
"Good luck." He finally says, Ocelot just nodding and grinning a bit as he walks over to the second chopper that arrives, this one loaded with six Diamond Dog soldiers, though a second can be seen rising from the research platform as they take to the skies.
"So pilot, where exactly did this thing crash? And how big is it, I never got a good look." Ocelot says after the door shuts, breaking the awkward silence that had begun to form.
"It crash landed close to the Afghan-Pakistan Border" The pilot repeats the second part of the question over his radio, waiting a few moments to get a reply before they answer Ocelot's question. "It's a bit under a kilometer long, at least, that's what the research team thinks."
"That is...quite big." One of the soldiers comments. "I think. Honestly, I use Imperial, how big is that?"
"Three, almost four times the size of an Essex class aircraft carrier, dumbass. Or about...nine of your american football fields." Another replies a moment later, this one being a female, and having a light british accent.
Ocelot just chuckles a bit, relaxing back in his seat and enjoying the ride. About a fifteen minute helicopter ride later, he notices the female soldier slide open the main door and look down, letting out a bit of a gasp.
"Yeah, that is very large." She says quietly.
"That's what she said..." One of the others mutters.
"Grow up. Sir, where are we landing? Cause I see the easiest entrance is probably in that top bit..."
Ocelot shrugs, him getting up as well and taking a look through the opposite door. "I assume that's where we're landing, then...though there seems to be a few fighters that beat us here." He studies the two intact Sabres, not recognizing the design, though they looked too similar to human ships to be alien.
The helicopter lowers itself down to the "landing pad" area, setting itself gently down on the deck. As he looks around, he notices four sets of landing clamps that had no doubt been ripped off of other craft through...some sort of trauma to the main ship. "I wonder what sheered these off? Not the crash...maybe the portal thing the research team says they saw. Oh well." He clears his throat, walking over to a hole, curious on why there was no door for the opening, on what seemed to be a spacecraft. Though that's when he studies the hole a bit more slosely and sees a faded blue energy field covering it. "Someone want to touch that first?"
All of the soldiers shake their heads, before Ocelot just sighs, crouching and waving his hand through it. "Its harmless. And I do hope you're not going to be this scared throughout the entire mission." With that, he steps into the hole, sliding down a smooth pillar-like structure, onto a raised ring, where he sees several dead aliens, of a few different species. He notices a rappel line being thrown down, the other soldiers sliding down and fanning out.
He just walks towards what he assumed was a door, it's purple lights flickering as it slides open, just stopping halfway with an awful grinding noise, the crash having obviously messed up a few things. Though as he steps through, he finds a dead human in full armor of sorts, which was partially burned away and such. Judging from their position, which was lying facing away from the door, they had been killed immediately upon stepping through the doorway. He leans down and studies an eagle symbol on their helmet, hearing the other soldiers step through. "Two of you, stay back and guard this room. The rest of you, we're going to find out what happened here." They continue deeper into the structure, none of them aware that they had several stalkers following them.
As they walk deeper into the ship, they pass by several more human corpses, and many more alien ones. It made Ocelot nervous, less so from the aliens, and more so from the fact that something had to be helping these humans if they killed this many. Still, it doesn't take long before he hears heavier footsteps that were off pace to his fellow soldiers. "Everyone stop."
They do, all looking confused, before he sees almost a heat shimmer, him deciding to fire, the round striking something...which promptly seems to materialize and lunge, brandishing a four foot long weapon, that consisted of two curved blades of energy. It slashes at one of the soldiers, them being neatly cut in half, though as they open fire, the rounds just deflect off of some sort of energy shield. Ocelot then yanks back one of the other soldiers a moment before the blade passes where their head had been less than a second prior. It roars, four mandibles splaying in anger, attacking again, though a grey blur leaps past Ocelot and grabs its wrist, shoving the alien roughly, it stumbling a few steps backwards.
After a moment, Ocelot recognizes the figure standing between them and the creature as human, though it was nearly a foot taller than him. He sees it draw a combat knife, holding it in a reverse grip and settling into a combat stance. Despite the crazy day that they had been having, it still manages to surprise him as the alien starts speaking english.
"Demon...so you survived as well. This will be a worthy fight, then."
The figure doesn't reply, her just waiting a moment, before the alien lunges and attempts to impale her. And, at a speed he didn't even know was possible, the gray armored being sidesteps, grabbing the alien's arm and promptly flipping it over her shoulder, using a combination its own momentum and her enhanced strength to slam it onto its back with a loud thud. Though as she tries to lean and thrust her blade through it's throat, the elite grabs her wrist and forces it back as they stand up. It then shoves her back and releases her, the message clearly being 'it won't be that easy'.
This time, it just slashes at her, keeping her at a distance with their longer reach, and far larger weapon. As to be expected, she simply sidesteps, before ducking under the next and leaping back to dodge the third. Though as one of the Diamond dogs personnel tries to help, firing their assault rifle at it, the alien simply blocks the rounds with their energy sword, before closing the distance with two steps and slashing, cutting them diagonally into two pieces. It gives the armored human an advantage, though, her using the Sangheili's distraction to charge at it, slamming the alien into the purple wall with a distinct clang of its armor meeting the metal.
She pins its sword arm there long enough to fire three shots into its hand with her sidearm, causing the creature to drop their weapon, before a blade of energy comes out of its other wrist, it attempting to ram it into her stomach. The attack fails, her easily shifting herself so the attempt just misses, before bringing her knife up and ending the aliens life with a quick slash to the throat, her slowly lowering the now dead elite to the ground. The strange person then slowly rises to their feet, flicking the blue blood off of her knife before sheathing it. They then turn to Ocelot, staring at him from behind their pale gold colored visor.
He glances at the corpse, before back at her, deciding on the question least likely to piss her off. "What was that thing?"
They tilt their head, before speaking in an emotionless voice, sounding partly synthesized from the armor. "Sangheili Zealot. One of the higher ranking elite classes, and with shields strong enough to withstand...a lot. Even more so, with your...rather ancient weapons."
He notices the UNSC emblem on her armor in a few places, along with the unrecognizable weapons she carried. "Alright...this probably isn't the time for questions, but who are you, and are there any more alive?"
"If there's any Covenant left, they're invisible like this one. Or they're in the reactor room, since its locked down. Either way, there's nothing within shooting distance. And I'm Spartan B312." She stops, her seeming a bit confused as she actually studies Ocelot, though nothing changes in her voice as she speaks. "Why are you dressed like that?"
Ocelot glance down at his clothes, fairly aware they weren't standard, though he just shrugs. "Its what I prefer to wear. Can I assume this isn't your ship? And could you tell me why you called our weapons 'ancient'?"
She doesn't move, besides an almost imperceptible tilt of her head. "Not my ship...What planet am I on? And...what year is it?"
"Earth, and...wait, are you from the future? The year is 1984."
"I'm from 2552, but whether it's this future might be up for debate." The rather unusual soldier falls silent yet again, making Ocelot a bit more curious about her.
"Alright, enough talking for now. Would you mind coming back with us to our base? I can promise that no invasive testing will be performed."
She looks away, her studying the bodies, the Spartan seeming more than a little stumped on how to answer, her unsure of if she could trust them. "Not yet...I'm going to the engine room to clear the Covenant from this ship, and hopefully the planet. As far as I know, the Covenant were spacefaring long before my people were, and I'm pretty sure the last thing you all want is a beacon summoning their fleets here. If you're any indication of humanity's strength, they wouldn't even have much of a challenge."
The soldier turns and starts walking off, her clearly not exactly eager to go anywhere with the strange group. Still, it doesn't stop Ocelot from calling out after her.
"Do you need any help?"
The figure pauses, her taking a moment to think, before just walking off without another word, the answer clearly being a 'no'
"So...are we going after her, or letting her go?" The female Diamond Dog member from earlier asks after a few seconds, her standing a few feet behind Ocelot.
"Second choice. Face it, she could probably kill us all without us even hurting her. Hell, we don't even know if our weapons will pierce that armor. Its probably better we keep our distance."
"And if Cipher, or the Soviets get her on their side?"
"We hope to god that doesn't happen, or failing that, that Big Boss can defeat her." Ocelot sighs a bit, before turning and starting to leave.
Six slowly walks away from the group, having been listening to them the whole time, several thoughts racing through her fairly exhausted mind. Honestly, she had barely gotten any sleep (short of being knocked unconscious, which never really gave her much rest), since the mission to Visegrad Relay, when they learned the Covenant was on Reach. Since the human body wasn't designed for combat after 22 days of exhaustion, she reacted slowly when she heard a thud on a nearby wall, capable of shaking the deck beneath her feet. The Spartan glances back to see Ocelot and the others at the other end of the hallway, looking confused as well.
THUD. The second hit is even harder, making even Six stumble a bit, though it sounded like it was coming from the wall next to her. As the third strike hits the wall, the purple metal bulges slightly, making Six instinctively back towards Ocelot and the others. By now, she knew their were only a few creatures capable of doing that amount of damage, so when the wall shatters, she isn't surprised as a behemoth in dull gray armor bursts out from the hole. She manages to leap back a few more feet as the massive slab of metal, known as the Hunter's shield slams into where she had been standing a moment prior.
As she sees the customary green glow of the alien's plasma cannon charge up, she slaps her rifle on her back, before charging the thing, sliding under it's shield as it swings at her again, the green glow fading. In one smooth motion, she quickly stands, pulling a plasma grenade out and sliding it inside the mass of worms at the creature's midsection. Though, before she can activate it, her eyes widen beneath her visor as her hand is pulled away from the grenade by the worms, being held in place just long enough for the Mgaelekgolo to bring its arm back. With her distraction of ripping her arm free, she doesn't notice the shield until it's already moving, and by then, it was too late.
The sharpened edge of it hits her diagonally on the chest, shattering her shielding in a moment, before ripping through the durable titanium outer shell, her feeling it bite through the layers below as well. And that was before it struck her ribs, breaking a few, and causing quite a bit of trauma to her organs, and cutting through a bit of muscle too. Not to mention the 'uppercut' of sorts flinging her like a ragdoll, lifting her armored body off the ground, before she slams to the deck again, several meters away.
The soldier does her best to blink spots from her vision, the woman lying sprawled on the ground, her trying rather pathetically to sit up as she feels the pain where she had been injured, her seeing the blood leak out from the gash. Six then sees the glow of the plasma cannon again, her briefly having a few flashbacks, from her seeing her parents be vaporized out the window of an evacuation transport, to her first day of training, various missions, and finally, her experiences with Noble team.
She collapses onto her back, more or less accepting death at this point, when she hears the Hunter's arm cannon...and she can't move. Not from pain or anything, she had just noticed her armor stiffen a fraction of a second before the impact of the green energy. A presence in her head and armor that wasn't her had just activated her armor's locking features, something that had completely slipped her mind. Still, she soon runs out of time to think, her feeling one of the most intense pains she had ever felt, her vision literally turning white, before it fades rapidly to black as she falls unconscious.
Author's Note: So...I decided to leave this on a sort of cliffhanger. Also this technically had the highest number of votes, well, besides A Song of Ice and Fire, which it tied with. Since I wanted to do this one first, that's what I'm doing, though when one of my stories finishes, the ASOIAF will likely be the next project. This will probably get updated more, with longer chapters, than A New War. The next chapter for this story will be released soon as well. Anyways, I'll stop rambling now. Bye.
(And yes, the title of the chapter is a rather lame joke. Sue me. Or preferably don't)