Be Human

Homecoming

December 1, 2557

Home...

What an odd word. So many meanings, and yet the feeling of being home often escaped him. He stared into the yellow KING coloration visor on his MJOLNIR GEN2 DECIMATOR helmet in gray with sapphire blue details. Originally, he had planned for white details, but he felt it replacing it with sapphire blue would honor NOBLE team by mimicking the color of the "Dumb" AI "Auntie Dot" that NOBLE team used to help organize their attempted defense at Reach.

He almost laughed as he was driven by a UNSC marine in a Warthog; the sound dying in his throat as he recalled that THIS is how he met NOBLE Team on July 24, 2552, only missing the Falcons flying overhead. Reach...

Thinking about that planet still put pangs in his heart, bringing forward emotions his trainers within SPARTAN BETA company had tried to extinguish. He was one of the very few pulled out BETA Company before Operation: TORPEDO occurred and every remaining Spartan in BETA Company was killed in a counterattack against the Covenant. Reach was where he became close friends with Noble-5...Spartan-2 Jorge. His hand subconsciously reached up to the dog tags he had hanging around his neck...the tags Jorge once wore. Jorge was the one who taught him that he could be human AND a Spartan. He could be both Spartan B312...

And Keitaro Urashima.

With those personalities combined, he became Noble-6. The cold, harshness of the BETA Company training and the humanity of Keitaro...whatever left of it.

Space travel was common, and on vacation to a human-colonized planet away from Earth, the Covenant had struck. He lost Kanako- his adopted sister, his mom, and his dad. He was now orphaned at the age of 6...and then taken in by the Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) for the Spartan-3 Program. He was broken, for the lack of a better word, and rebuilt. He had even been forbidden from calling himself by his name.

Spartan B312 was a successful, lesser cost mimic of the legendary Spartan-2 Master Chief Petty Officer Sierra John-117.

B312 had a record of over two-thousand confirmed mission kills against the insurrection.

B312 had assisted in an assassination against an Anti-Government Conspiracy of Insurrectionist sympathizers.

B312 had forced a Covenant retreat on multiple battlefields, ensuring at least a temporary survival of multiple human colonies.

ONI would consider Spartan B312 as a critical success...

Keitaro...Noble-6...knew his role of B312 as a monster.

B312 was responsible for the deaths of men, women, and children that ONI needed removed without any regret. So many senseless deaths that, in hind sight, could have been prevented.

B312 did not care for the notion of family. He did not care about love, hope, or even happiness if that ensured the success of the mission. B312 was detached from others, and only mourned the death of their abilities for the missions when allies fell.

Yet, for all his statistics...

He could not prevent the Fall of the planet Reach. He could not prevent the deaths of Jorge, Kat, Carter, or Emile. He had successfully delivered the Package to the Halcyon-Class Carrier "Pillar of Autumn", and ensured the discovery of Halo Installation 04, turning the tide of the war. Yet, the death of most of NOBLE Team weighed heavily on him. It was only running into Jun...Noble-3...within the cave systems of Reach that he didn't bear the guilt of being the only survivor of NOBLE, despite being willing to stay behind and die...

He didn't want to give the Covenant the satisfaction of killing him in person. ONI had then scolded him for his failure to defend Reach, and then forbid him from revealing the methods he and Jun escaped the burning Reach. He had been denied the RECON-class MJOLNIR helmet they had approved his request for.

Needless to say, he had become quite disillusioned with ONI after that.

He was stationed at Earth, fighting off the Covenant with Jun and other marines in different areas. It was then, in Japan-with schools shut down in emergency as Covenant ships appeared outside of the Orbital Defense Grid-he ran into something he never expected.

Family.

He had run into his cousin...legally his Aunt (after his grandmother adopter her after her parents died) Haruka Urashima and his grandmother Hina Urashima. To say the two women were tearful when he took off his helmet was an understatement. They could have literally filled up two pails each with their tears as they recognized the older Keitaro; despite the scar going down from above his left eyebrow to his left cheek, short military haircut, and the lack of glasses thanks to his Spartan Augmentation.

ONI then realized they were losing B312.

Noble-6 now preferred the call sign "Noble-6" or "Six" rather than "Spartan B312" or "B312". After the war ended, ONI went deep into research, emerging last year with two GEN2 armor sets; one for Jun and one for him. VIGILANT and DECIMATOR. He saw the other armors based on his fallen comrades armors:

NOBLE-Carter/Noble-1

INTRUDER-Kat/Noble-2

WRATH-Emile/Noble-4

INDOMITABLE-Jorge/Noble-5.

It was a fitting tribute. Once he was placed in his DECIMATOR armor in 2557 after being sent on multiple peace-keeping missions against Insurrectionists who emerged from hiding and Covenant Loyalists, Grandmother Hina had made contact and revealed her blood relation to Spartan B312.

Legally, now the UNSC and ONI had no claim to B312 since he did have blood kin he could return to. As Jun was now a recruiter for the Spartan-4 Program, Keitaro had confirmed that he wouldn't QUIT being a Spartan...but would now be "on call" so to speak, more of a worker in a specific area; the Hinata Hot Springs District in Japan. He had also donated blood thanks to his unique Chi/Ki healing ability. It was now used in the Biofoam injectors of all Gen-2 MJOLNIR suits. While the Biofoam sealed the wounds, a system would accelerate the natural enhanced healing of Spartans, but only with the shield systems fully charged.

It wasn't a perfect replica, but it helped enhance the chances of survival. He had carried Emile's Kukiri knife on his chest plate because of the man's dying request to "not let it rust", and the UNSC also had him equipped with a M6H Magnum, M11 Combat Knife (holstered under his left arm), and the MA5D Assault Rifle. Once he was inside his new "base" (in actuality, the home he would be staying at with his Aunt and Grandmother), he would be given access to more weapons such as:

BR85N Battle Rifle.

Hydra MLRS.

M20 SMG.

M395B DMR.

M45D Shotgun.

M9 Fragmentation Grenade.

SRS99-S5 AM Sniper Rifle.

And the M319 Grenade Launcher.

His reason behind his Hyper Lethal vector was his adaptability to situations and decent skills with multiple weapons. The UNSC knew that limiting his arsenal would be problematic when situations arose.

The Warthog screeched to a stop in front of what LOOKED like a traditional Japanese inn, but Keitaro's enhanced vision saw the underlying titanium bracing and structure. The wood was a covering to enhance it's beauty and color within the tall, gray or white buildings common in the city. Keitaro almost put his helmet back on, but stopped when he saw Haruka and Hina waving at him. Ensuring Emile's Kukiri was on his chest-plate, knife was sheathed, Magnum was on his leg, and Assault Rifle was on his back, he jumped out of the Warthog and walked up the multiple steps with his helmet held under his left arm.

"It's great to see you again, Keitaro." Hina said with a nostalgic smile. "My how you've grown since you were the young boy who played with Mutsumi-chan and Naru-chan in the sandbox." It was true. He wasn't the scrawny boy in the sandbox. He was the 205.7 cm tall (6 foot 9), 108.6 kilogram (239 lb) of muscle and reinforced bone Spartan.

That wasn't including the 1,000 pound armor he was wearing.

"It is a pleasure to see you again, Grandmother, Aunt." Keitaro said, barely wincing as his Aunt slapped him with her fan. "I suggest you not do that again Aunt Haruka."

Haruka pouted, "I won't if you won't call me Aunt. It makes me feel old." She said as she crossed her arms.

"Affirmative, Haruka." Keitaro said.

"Just wait until I introduce you to everyone!" Hina said cheerfully. Keitaro was so nostalgic and relieved to be with family, he missed the sign by the door.

"Hinata-Sou All-Girls Dorm".

"EVERYONE! MEETING!" Haruka's voice echoed through the seemingly empty building as Keitaro was absentmindedly signing legal papers with his grandmother. A beautiful redhead was down first, glaring at Keitaro after he looked up and shrugged at her. The next was a black haired young woman carrying a sword, giving him a look that promised death with a hand on a katana. A shy, blue-haired preteen girl emerged from the kitchen was she brought her hands together under her chin at the sight of Noble-6. The next was a beautiful grayish/ashen blonde woman who had her eyes narrowed in a fox-like manner, giving her a mischievous look. A young, preteen girl in a sailor-like uniform who was tanned with blonde hair looked at his armor with wide eyes and an excited grin. Finally, a beautiful woman with an airy look with brown hair tied in a plait stumbled down with what looked like a small, flying sea turtle that the black haired kendo girl suddenly became stiff in fear around.

Seeing the girls gathered, Haruka lit a cigarette. "Ladies, meet your new Kanrinin (landlord)."

"A MALE Kanrinin in an all girls dorm?! Absolutely not!" The redhead shouted.

"Agreed. That vile male would force us into his lecherous acts." The black haired kendo girl said as the grip on her sword tightened.

"Ara. Ara...He looks familiar." The brown haired girl with the turtle said, as the turtle gave a little "Myu" seeing him.

"He looks fun! Can he be a new playmate?!" The tanned girl said.

"He's not bad to look at either." The woman with the fox-like expression said.

"Behave yourself. This is my long lost grandson." Hina said playfully, as the brown-haired girl looked at him in shock, mouthing the words "Kei-kun." as the redhead blinked and looked like she was trying to remember something. "Why don't you introduce yourself?"

Keitaro stood up, making the black-haired girl's grip on her katana tighten and the redhead tense up. "I am Lieutenant Urashima Keitaro (In Japan, Family names are given first). Spartan B-Three-One-Two. Hyper Lethal vector. Noble-6 of Spartan Team NOBLE. One of the last two survivors of NOBLE Team from the Fall of Reach and one of the few survivors of Spartan Company Beta. My skills include piloting and turning the tide of battle. I hope we can at least get along civilly."

"A...Spartan?" The black-haired girl said in shock.

"What's a Spartan? Is it delicious?" The tanned blonde asked.

"Spartans are augmented human soldiers, said to be the last defense between Humanity and annihilation." The redhead said in shock, "I am Narusegawa Naru. I hope to get into Tokyo University."

"I am Aoyama Motoko. Heiress of the Gods Cry Swordsmanship school." The black-haired woman said. "If you try anything..." Motoko unsheathed her katana, only to stare into the barrel of an Assault Rifle with the safety clicked off. Keitaro's expression was devoid of any emotion; like it was chiseled out of stone.

"I wouldn't draw a weapon on a Spartan. It would end badly for you." Keitaro said in a worn, gravelly voice. The voice of B312. Motoko slowly sheathed her katana, watching as Keitaro quickly flipped the safety back on and attach the assault rifle to his back. Hina and the others let out a sigh of relief seeing a potential bloodbath averted.

"Hey! I'm Su Koalla, or Koalla Su! Just Su! Are yous going to be my Onii-chan?" The tanned blonde, Su, asked in a somewhat broken Japanese.

"If we get comfortable enough." Keitaro said in a dull, almost detached tone. Su grinned. That wasn't an outright no!

The brown-haired girl went up next. "I am Otohime Mutsumi. It's a pleasure to see you again Kei-kun. I haven't seen you since we were kids. Do you like Watermelon?"

"I'm...not sure." Keitaro answered honestly, "I've lived off Military Rations and water throughout my Spartan career. Don't think I've ever had a watermelon." With that piece of information, Mutsumi collapsed in a near faint, Granny Hina keeping smelling salts below her nose to keep her awake as she ate a piece of watermelon to fight against her anemia.

The blue haired girl went up next. "I'm Maehara Shinobu. I hope to learn about life and school from you, Sempai."

'Sempai.' Keitaro mused with an emotionless expression, 'A term used for upperclassmen students, or older role models.'

"I'm Konno Mitsune. Just call me Kitsune, Suga." Kitsune said as she took a sip from a Sake bottle, with an accent affecting the word sugar, "I'm sure we could...work something out." The grayish/ashen blonde woman said while opening a single brown eye.

"Girls, as you know, I was preparing for a hot springs tour of Earth." Hina said, "But you can help the new Kanrinin as he can help you."

"Help us?!" Naru scoffed in disbelief.

"You all have attitudes and stereotypes to men that doesn't fit every man out there." Hina said sadly, "Keitaro, before losing his parents, was such a kindhearted young thing. In the same instance, Keitaro was...broken...by the Spartan-3 program and I'm hoping you can teach him what it means to be human."

"Aauuu...Poor Sempai..." Shinobu quietly said as Naru and Motoko turned up their noses and the others looked sympathetic.

"Heyas! What's that armor?!" Su asked, climbing up to Keitaro's shoulders as he pulled the helmet on and let the KING color visor flare to life.

"This is the DECIMATOR class MJOLNIR GEN2 Armor." Keitaro said in a detached, factual tone. "It is a design being approved for the Spartan-4 Program based on the design of the Mjolnir Mark 5 Type B that I wore as Noble-6 on Reach."

"Wasn't Reach glassed by the Covenant?" Kitsune asked, and Keitaro stiffened.

(Insert Halo 2 OST: Never Forget)

"Affirmative...I was there..." He slumped down into a sitting position on the floor as his head faced the ground as he blankly stared at the floor while his right hand went to the dog tags around his neck. "Winter Contingency had been declared...we were fighting back on all fronts. We had taken out a Covenant teleportation Spire when a cloaked Supercarrier took out one of the few frigates that was able to battle." With his gaze to the ground, he could not see the looks of concern the girls-even Naru and Motoko were giving him. Despite their hatred of males, stories of glassing were always horrific from space...and he witnessed one firsthand.

"Help would take at least 48 hours to reach the planet...so Noble Team devised a plan. We took out the Slipspace-that's the term for our Faster Than Light travel-Drive and delivered it onto a Covenant Corvette on a refueling run with the Supercarrier." Keitaro was reliving every moment, the sound of gun and plasma weaponry echoing in his ears. He knew the SABRE program was "Officially" rumor, so he was not allowed to talk about being a Sabre test pilot. "We delivered it, but our only way out was to jump off the Corvette and let gravity pull us down to Reach. However, the timer system was damaged. Spartan-052..."

"Noble-5...Jorge...That Spartan-2 who had become the closest thing I had to a friend...stayed behind to set the bomb off manually...which was guaranteed to kill him. I watched when I was falling as a Slipspace rupture tore the Supercarrier in two. Then...then the entire damn Covenant fleet appeared around the planet. Jorge's sacrifice was now meaningless!" In his anger, he punched the floor, shattering the wooden covering and denting the titanium plates beneath it.

"All inbound ships were now reverted away from Reach...right when it seemed we made some headway...we'd be put back to conditions worse than what we started with...all that smoke... Plasma burning into the ground...the flaming, twisted metal skeletons of the once tall skyscrapers...Dust, smoke, and plasma filling the sky as the ground burned until it turned to glass and all water evaporated..." Keitaro was now imagining the burning New Alexandria in front of him.

Two soft weights on his shoulders made Keitaro look up into the concerned expressions of Kitsune and Mutsumi. "What am I supposed to do now? I lost my parents and adopted sister in front of my eyes...Watched as a Covenant Needler exploded and tore open my sister's guts, and then mom fell over me as Needler rounds exploded and shredded her spine and lungs. Dad had a a Covenant Focus Rifle beam melt through his chest. It was only being trapped under my parent's corpses with my sister's dead eyes staring at me that kept me alive until the recruiters found me. Since I was 6 I was trained to be an effective soldier...no...a Spartan...but now...I'm not sure how to be human. The little I do know came from Jorge and he's..."

Noble-6 just stood up and paced around the Hinata-Sou, taking in every little detail in the room he was in. Shinobu shivered as she imagined what Sempai had been through. Motoko, while still against a male being anywhere near her could sympathize slightly. A male had taken away her older sister-her role model-from her warrior lifestyle as she was married. Urashima had witnessed his immediate family's deaths and then lost his only role model teaching him how to be a human. Naru was shivering at the imagery he described, and Su was unnaturally quiet. Hearing that her new "Onii-chan" had witnessed the death of his parents and sister was heart wrenching; even for the childish inventor.

Su had ran away to escape the burden of being the Princess of the Island of MolMol...but even SHE couldn't imagine how much pain Onii-chan was going through having lost his sibling and parents. Maybe...just maybe...playtime should be reserved for later.

"I know!" Mutsumi said, "Why don't you try and get into Tokyo University?"

"While I would love to, I am afraid I cannot." Noble-6. "Do not forget, once you become a Spartan, you are always a Spartan. While from this point forward I am stationed at this location, I could be asked to fulfill a mission at any time by the United Nations Space Command or Office of Naval Intelligence. On the drive here I noticed an increase of gang activity compared to what is being reported. I could be asked in class to leave and eliminate the threats. Also, I will be under a lot of obligation to care for the Inn and it's inhabitants. If I stretch myself too thin, I may not be there when I am needed."

"See... This is why I made him the Kanrinin." Hina Urashima said as a couple of bodyguards carried multiple suitcases down from a room. "He may be broken, but he is still that fiercely loyal Keitaro I watched over. He won't let anything happen to you girls."

"Affirmative." Keitaro added, "In my Career as Spartan-B312 I have a confirmed Insurrectionist kill count of over 2,000 and have forced Covenant battle groups to retreat to ensure the safety of human colonies." Hina patted his arm with a concerned look on her face.

"In the meantime, he will take over the room I moved out of, the Kanrinin room." Hina said, as she moved to the door with her bodyguards, "Stay safe, everyone!"

Keitaro set down his guns and ammunition into a UNSC munitions box provided for him as he laid back on reinforced futon that Hina apparently ordered from the UNSC especially for him. A piece of wood on the ceiling moved and Naru stuck her head through the hole.

"Listen here, pervert, this is an All-Girls dorm. I don't care what position you are in. We'll teach you a lesson if you get on our wrong side." She snarled.

"As I told Aoyama-san earlier, it is not wise to threaten a Hyper Lethal vector Spartan. " Keitaro said dismissively, "Also, that hole is a a threat to health and safety. I will have to call someone to repair it." Naru blinked at the complete lack of an emotional reaction she could use to get him removed or start a "mob" of angry tenants to evict him with. She just settled on huffing before leaning back into her room and placing the wood over the hole again.

"Sorry about her." A familiar voice said as he saw Kitsune standing in the doorway with a bottle of Sake. "Can I offer you a drink?"

"Thank you, but negative. Right now I'm settling into my new housing of operations. This isn't the best time to test the abilities of my augmented body to hold alcohol. Another time perhaps." Noble-6 said, taking off a set of dog tags from around his neck and lighting a bowl of incense by it. Kitsune, like her namesake, was a curious person. She glanced over at the tags, but the words on one of them was all she needed to see.

Jorge-052

She pulled away and glanced at him with sympathy. "I looked up to him, you know?" Her new Kanrinin's voice broke through her thoughts to see his visor-covered gaze directed at her; the visor reflecting her image.

"He was...different from most Spartans I had met. Despite carrying a massive, modified M247 machine gun he preferred to overcome obstacles with subtlety and minimum risk to the lives of others. He was sympathetic to those who lost family and friends. Noble-4...Emile...often said that he forgot what he was at times." Keitaro let out a bitter laugh, "The first time I saw this, I agreed with Emile. I was taught that my emotions had no place on the battlefield where it could affect my mission performance. Yet...There was big, strong, tenacious Jorge, defying what people expected from a Spartan. I naturally knew the Japanese language...I learned English in training, and because of Jorge, I took the time to learn Hungarian-a language Jorge was fluent in."

She had seen bits and pieces of his broken personality earlier, and had gone to sweet talk him to get on his good side-possibly even some leniency on rent...but now...

Now she could use her freelance journalism skills to get firsthand stories of the Human-Covenant war! She could make a fortune off them, more than enough to cover her rent cost.

Of course, she would have to wait until he gave permission...and avoid sensitive topics. The last thing she needed was the Office of Naval Intelligence coming after the people in the Hinata-Sou.

Noble-6's head snapped upwards and he seemed to press a finger against the side of his helmet in habit. "Sync. Affirmative, Six here. Location confirmed. Affirmative." With that, Six lowered his hand and moved to the balcony.

"What is that all about?" Kitsune asked.

"The UNSC are delivering munitions crates to my housing location to be stored until we need them." Six said, gazing at the sky as a Pelican Drop-ship roared into view from the sky and turn around. On the back, a ramp lowered, revealing marines carrying munitions cases into his room. Once that was done, not a word was exchanged between the marines and the Spartan, just a nod of the head before they climbed into the Pelican, had the ramp raise, and the drop-ship took off.

"CUT THAT RACKET OUT! I'M TRYING TO STUDY!" Naru's voice yelled from the room above Keitaro's room. Kitsune chuckled as Noble-6 just stared at the board while muttering about health hazards. Things weren't going to be boring in the Hinata-Sou anymore!

Keitaro...Noble-6 still remained on edge as he left the munitions boxes locked under his futon as he exited the room with Kitsune as Su ran down the hall on a robotic turtle of all things; which was terrorizing Motoko. He felt conflicted. On one hand, Motoko and Naru did not introduce themselves as pleasant people, and this might be Su's version of playing. On the other hand, this machine WAS terrorizing one of the people he was tasked to take care of. Mind set, he jumped down the stairs, cracking the wooden floors under the weight of his armor impacting from the jump, and sprinted forward as the thrusters embedded in the armor further accelerated his speed.

He slid underneath the robotic turtle and grasped onto the other end of it's shell hard enough to dent the metal and swung himself onto its shell feet first; magnetic strip in his boots locking him in place on it's shell. He moved up it's back and pulled back a sheet of metal before glancing at the wires inside with a discerning eye. This was not his "domain" as Kat would have told him. He was the assassin, pilot, and tide changer-not the technician.

That was Kat's role.

Still, he did learn a few things under Kat's tutelage, and he reached in and pulled a few wires out, causing the machine to suddenly sputter and die as Su let out a groan and Motoko let out a sigh of relief as Noble-6 slid down back to the floor.

"Thanks for not completely destroying it, Oni-chan!" Su said cheerfully as she looked at the damage to her invention. Noble-6 just gave a nod and walked past.

"I'm going to be looking over the premises, to investigate repairs needed. I've already found one with the hole in Narusegawa-san's room. Would anyone like to accompany me?" Noble-6 asked.

"I'll do it!" Motoko and Kitsune said at the same time as Mutsumi gave him an airy smile and said something about preparing watermelon and left the room. He had missed so much growing up under the Spartan BETA Company training. He himself knew he wasn't the best at social cues or reading emotions.

Part of him truly doubted he could ever be "human" again.