Hey guys! I'm back! And yes, I have decided to rewrite The Shepard and the Spartan. Defiance was, sadly, going to end up as a huge badfic, and thus I am no longer writing it. You guys deserve better! So now, without further adieu, onto the story!

The Normandy moved gracefully through the vacuum of space, the Mass Relay just ahead. As it approached, a tendril of energy grabbed the Normandy. The rings that contained the Relay's Eezo spun wildly. Then, in an instant, the ship was shot through the Relay at speeds faster than light itself.

"So, Commander. This 'anomaly' the Illusive Man want's us to investigate... did he happen to mention what it is?" Joker asked, looking over his shoulder.

"He didn't."

Commander John Shepard stood behind Joker, armed to the teeth, his Scimitar and Carnifex strapped on his back. Behind him stood Garrus Vakarian and Grunt.

"Great. Let's just go into the middle of nowhere and take a peek at something that could be anything from a shiny rock to a Reaper," Joker replied, "This couldn't possibly end up with us dead!"

"Hopefully there's something to kill here," Grunt said, pacing with his Eviscerator drawn, "I've been getting restless sitting in this ship."

"Well, if you want to get eate-" Joker started, before EDI cut him off.

"Commander," she said, "It appears we are not alone. I am detecting two frigates near the anomaly, which I have identified as Blue Suns owned. Scans show that they arrived only minutes before us."

"Damnit!" Shepard cursed, "Any sign of the anomaly?"

"One moment... anomaly located. Communications between them identify this anomaly as some sort of suit of unknown make. They have a shuttle headed to collect it now." EDI replied.

"Any idea what ship that shuttle is headed to?" Shepard asked.

"Yes. It appears to be from this ship." EDI said. Almost instantly, one of the ships (designated Contact 1) was highlighted blue. "We can still get on that ship, and retrieve the anomaly. I can get firing solutions on their-"

EDI paused for a split second, before she spoke again.

"The other ship is firing on Contact 1," she said, "and it appears that our target had the same idea."

The space between the ships was light with weapon fire, their shields shattering under the onslaught. The fire from the target vessel began to lessen, until it stopped entirely. Of course, the other ship was badly damaged. It appeared, however, to still have operating weapons and engines.

"The aggressors have launched boarding parties. They intend to retrieve the anomaly intact." EDI stated.

"Damnit," Shepard cursed, "EDI, can we take down Contact 2?"

"Yes. With their shields severely weakened, it should be a simple matter. Firing solutions calculated." EDI replied.

"Take them out! Garrus, Grunt! To the shuttle, now!" Shepard barked.

"Wake up, Chief... I need you..."

"I was put into service eight years ago. AIs deteriorate after seven, Chief."

"I will not allow you to leave THIS PLANET!"

"I didn't mean to... I didn't mean to do that... don't... please... please.. I don't want to... you don't want to... please... please... I don't want to..."

"I'm not doing this for mankind!"

"It worked, you did it! Just like you always do.."

"I'm not coming with you this time...most of me is down there. I held only enough back to get you off the ship."

"We were supposed to take care of each other..and we did!"

"Welcome home, John."

John woke up.

The first thing he noticed was how small of a metal enclosure he was in. The second thing he noticed was two armored aliens sitting on the other side of the enclosure. They were about as tall as a normal human, their armor blue with white patterns on it.

His body ached. He had no weapon other than one Pulse Grenade.

Ignoring those factors, he sprang up with lightning speed. He smashed one of their heads into the wall, before punching the other in the head. Shields flared up both times, but shattered under the enhanced might of the Spartan-II. Their helmets crumpled. Almost immediately, the room lurched- which meant he was either in a container or a shuttle that just docked. Judging by the guards, he guessed shuttle.

"What the hell is going on back there?" Said a voice.

A door, previously unseen, opened. John grabbed the new figure, pushing him up against the wall. This one, however, was human.

"Who are you?" He boomed.

"Holy shit! D-don't hurt me! I'm just a pilot! For the Blue Suns!" the man replied.

"The what?" John asked.

"The Blue Suns! Mercenary group!" The man stammered out.

Before John could ask another question, the shuttle shook violently. The man's head smashed into the wall, rendering him unconscious.

Placing the man down, John moved to the cockpit. Somehow, he managed to open the shuttle doors. Stumbling out, he realised he was in a hangar. Inside were two more shuttles, painted the same as the alien's armor. Various individuals ran about, both alien and human. Some of the aliens were avian, with mandibles and grey or brown scales. Others looked almost human, except they had different facial structure, an inverted triangular ridge for a nose, and four eyes.

Several noticed him, one of them aiming a weapon that vaguely resembled a Plasma Rifle. It, however, was a mixture of dark grey and light grey in color.

Chief took a running leap, the alien's shots absorbed by his shields. He pulled the rifle out of his attacker's hands, before bludgeoning him with it. The unarmored skull caved in, the four eyed alien killed. Several of his fellows opened fire on John, forcing him into cover. He popped out of cover during a lapse in fire, shooting two bursts into a human. The first was blocked by his shields, while the second dropped the shield and scored a headshot. He fired another burst at one of the avian aliens, which ducked into cover. The ship continued to shake, taking fire from an unknown source.

Halfway through another burst, the gun clicked, out of ammo. Discarding the weapon, Chief charged out of cover, crossing the distance between him and his enemies in seconds. Leaping over the cover of an avian and a human, he smashed their heads together. Scooping up a boxy pistol, he fired at the last alien. Flanking it now, he dropped it's shields and finished it off with a headshot.

Grabbing what looked like a clip of some kind, Chief managed to eject his current one, adapting to the new weapon's reloading mechanism quickly. Satisfied that he could use it, Chief decided to head for the command bridge. Maybe then he could figure out what to do next. He dared not take a shuttle, fearing that it would be shot down.

Wherever he was, at least he was armed.

The Kodiak landed in the Blue Suns hangar shortly after the gutting of the winning Blue Suns frigate. One shot in the right place had devastated the once proud vessel, torpedoes blasting the remaining halves into pieces. After that, they had picked off the remaining shuttles inbound for their target. Now, John exited the shuttle, followed by Garrus and Grunt.

"Well... this is unexpected," Garrus said, "we come in here thinking that we would meet heavy resistance. Instead, we're greeted by corpses."

Just as Garrus said, corpses of mercs were all over the hangar. Most of them appeared to have been shot in the head.

"Think this is a suit anymore?" Shepard said.

["The suit is real- however, it appears to have an operator inside it,"] EDI stated, ["I would recommend caution. The target is fighting towards the CIC, and may believe you to be hostile."]

"Finally, a fight!" Grunt growled.

"We came here to get the suit- and now it's operator- not shoot them." Garrus replied, "Besides, whoever this is is efficient. They dropped shields quickly and then shot them in the head. I don't think we want to be on the receiving end or that."

"Agreed." Shepard said, "Come on, let's move!"

Dispatching the guards in the way, Chief moved through the ship quickly. Soon, he arrived at the bridge. The door was sealed, and Chief could hear these 'Blue Suns' on the other side of the door. He grabbed his last Pulse Grenade, priming it and placing it by the door. Backing away, he watched as the door opened, fried by the EMP effect. Instantly, the bridge crew opened fire. Chief dashed in, his shields nearly depleted, quickly disarming and eliminating the armed crew, Captain included. Moving to the console, he began to try and access the ships systems. He paused, spinning around at the sound of armored boots.

There were three individuals in front of him. On the left was a hulking alien, natural plates on the top of it's head. It had a hump on it's back, and was equipped with heavy armor and what Chief guessed was a shotgun. On the right was an avian alien, wearing damaged blue armor. This armor, however, lacked the white patterns of the Blue Suns. It also had scars on the same side as the damage, suggesting that it had been hit by explosives on it's left side. It wielded an unknown, boxy rifle. In the front was a human, equipped in black armor with a red strip on this left arm. On his breastplate was a symbol that read 'N7'. He had a boxy pistol, same make as the one he was wielding.

The human lowered his weapon, signalling for the aliens to do the same. They lowered their weapons slightly, ready to raise and fire them if trouble started.

John examined the man closely. He had short black hair, and a 5 O'clock shadow. His most striking feature, however, were his glowing orange scars and his blue eyes tinted with the same glow.

"Identify yourself." Chief said, his weapon lowered slightly.

Shepard stared up at the hulking green soldier before him. He stood at about seven feet tall, towering over even Grunt. His polarized visor revealed no emotion behind the helmet. The faded military green paint was chipping in some places, various signs of damage adorning his armor.

Shepard stepped forwards, "I'm Commander Shepard, Alliance Navy. And you?" He replied.

"Master Chief Petty Officer John-117" The soldier replied, his voice deep and gruff.

"Listen, this ship is in bad shape. It won't be able to go anywhere anytime soon. We can take you on board, but you'd have to hand over your weapons and armo-"

"No." John said, cutting Shepard off, "I'll hand over my weapons, but I will not give you my armor."

"Alright." Shepard said, surprising all present.

Garrus' mandibles flared in surprise, "Shepard, are you sure this is a good idea?" Garrus asked, "We have no idea what this armor can do."

"I'm certain we can handle it." Shepard replied calmly.

'John' cocked his head, "You can understand it?" he asked, confused.

"You can't?" Shepard replied, surprised. The ship shook as some internal component exploded, "Nevermind, we'll sort it out on the Normandy."

With a nod, John followed Shepard out of the CIC, heading for the Hangar.

So... how'd I do? This story takes place after Omega's, Jack's and Grunt's recruitment mission(s), and right after the destruction of the Mantle's Approach/ Cortana's Goodbye. This means that everybody has been recruited that can be before Horizon with the exception of Kasumi, and Cortana is (for the moment) dead. They have not yet been to the Citadel, nor have they done Zaeed's Loyalty Mission.

As always, Read and Review! If you like the story, follow/favorite it to keep up to date with it. Please, do not flame! Do, however, give constructive criticism.

Until next time!