Alright, Chapter 1 takes place at the end of The Revelation. Let me know what you think. As always, this is not my stuff. I wish I owned Halo and Legend of Korra, but sadly others beat me to the idea.
Chapter One
Korra had watched as four benders had their bending removed from them at the Equalist rally. Amon was a terrifying threat to Republic city and she, Bolin, and Mako had barely made it out on Naga. They were riding for their lives right now, but even with the danger, Bolin still complained about being carried in Naga's mouth. As they rounded a turn on the dark roads, a flash of greenish light appeared in front of them and something metallic sounding clanked to the ground. As they approached it, Korra could see blood seeping out of it.
"Mako, how far have we gone?" she asked as she pulled Naga to a stop in front of the metal thing. She looked up at the tall buildings around them scanning for a possible ambush and then back to the metal object.
Mako looked back the way they came. "Probably at least two miles. If nothing has happened now, I don't think they chased us."
Korra nodded and the two of them climbed out of the saddle as Naga set Bolin gently to the ground.
"This was definitely not one of my better rides." Bolin tried to dry some of the drool off of his shirt. Naga proceeded to lick him across the face before turning a following Korra towards the object.
"Naga, stay." Korra commanded as she cautiously approached the metal hulk that laid there. As she got closer, it seemed to have the form of a man.
"Korra, shouldn't we get going?" Mako asked cautiously, as he looked about the dark street. This was a bottleneck, and if the Equalists had followed, all they would have to do is come from both ends and that would be it.
Korra took a few more steps. "Mako, Bolin come look at this." Korra gently prodded it with her toe.
Mako and Bolin walked over and flanked Korra. All three stood staring at it. "It looks like a man." Bolin whispered. He seemed to be a redish color, but a dull red, not like the hot rod reds that many of the satomobiles had now. He was fully incased in a suit with strange markings on it, and from the right side of his chest through his right shoulder was seeping blood.
"What on earth is it?" Mako asked. As he spoke, the chest rose slightly.
Korra reached down to touch the smooth face. "I think it is alive…"
"Maybe we should try to help it." Bolin reached down and looked at the wound.
Mako looked around the area. "No, it is probably a trap from Amon. He is probably watching about to ambush us."
Korra looked up at him. "No Mako, we are going to help. He's obviously hurt, and I don't think this is Amon's style." And with that, she tugged on the 'face.' It budged slightly and she pulled harder. It slid off revealing the face of what looked to be a twenty something year old man. His hair was cut short and he was cleanly shaven, as she looked, air mixed with blood escaped his lips. "See, he is breathing!" Korra exclaimed. Breathing was an overstatement, as it looked more like blood bubbles were coming from his lips.
Korra grabbed him by his good shoulder and Bolin moved to the feet. "We need to move him, Mako, can you get his arm and keep it from moving?" Mako grudgingly did as he was asked.
Bolin looked at Korra. "One, two, three, lift!" The two of them struggled and tried, but it felt like he weighed more than a polar bear dog.
"What are we going to do? We can't lift him." Bolin tried once more to lift just the legs, but they barely lifted an inch off the ground.
Korra started to feel around the body. "Well, the helmet came off, and it weighs like twenty pounds! Maybe the rest will come apart as well."
The three of them worked quickly, finding latches and removing the armor piece by piece. Soon, they had removed almost all of it; the chest and back pieces were all that remained. Korra grabbed a latch and pulled and the two pieces separated along the seam. Korra and Bolin lifted away the chest piece and the man's body seemed to sag apart at the wound.
"That injury doesn't look good, Korra." Mako wiped some of the blood away to inspect the injury better. The man had been cut completely through by some type of blade. Mako could see the sliced muscle tendons and the bone underneath them. Blood started to pour out of the gash and Mako immediately put pressure on the wound.
"Let's try again." Korra placed her hands under his good shoulder and prepared to lift. This time the three of them were able to lift him and place him across Naga.
"He has a backpack. Should we bring it?" Bolin grabbed the bag by the straps.
Korra nodded and somehow they all managed to get back to the Pro Bending Arena where Bolin and Mako lived. They managed to carry him up to attic room and placed him on the floor.
"He is going to need a doctor." Mako looked the wounds over once more. The entire right shoulder blade seemed to have been sliced through and he wondered what could have caused such an injury.
"Get his shirt off." Korra told Bolin as she paced the floor.
Bolin tugged at it, but he seemed to be wearing a body suit. It came off in sections and Bolin piled the sections next to the man. He removed all of the pieces around the injury, including the cut ones.
Korra looked about the room. "Where can I get some water?"
"The bathroom, right over there." Mako pointed her to the bathroom door.
Korra bent water from their bathroom and placed it onto the wound as Katara had taught her. She focused on the injury and slowly started to knit the skin and muscle back together. Mako and Bolin just stood there, shocked to see a healer at work.
Korra felt the torn muscle fibers reattaching and healing. The cells coming together once more. It seemed to take forever, but soon, she was sure they were healed. She tried to focus on the bone, but if felt almost as if it was metal. None of the healing water was doing anything to it. She decided that this man could allow his body to heal itself in that department. As she looked over the rest of his body, it was also covered in scars. Many of them seemed to be quite old. Almost as if he had been a fighter in a war for years, but he looked as if he was only twenty five or so.
"Let's let him rest, and I am sure we could all use some as well." Mako said. He placed a blanket over the man as well as a folded one under his head and sat down on the couch. Korra sat at the other end and Bolin took off into talking.
"Rest! How can I rest right now? There is a strange, half dead guy on our floor and I almost had my bending taken away!" Bolin was almost running about the room now. "I can't thank you enough. I was ready to pee myself when Amon was all like 'I'm going to take your bending away.' And then he took out the Triple Threat leader." Bolin sat down heavily in a chair. "Thank you both… so much."
Mako looked downward. He couldn't count the number of times he had saved Bolin's butt, however he loved his brother and he was all he had left. He would have given up his own bending to save him.
"You're welcome." Korra said absently mindedly. She was not really paying attention to Bolin, but staring at the man. He had short brown hair and was very pale in complexion. His eyes were still tightly shut in pain.
"And then! We have this guy…" Bolin stood up and nudged him in the leg. "Who do you think he is anyway?"
Mako shot a glance at Bolin. "Maybe if you stop kicking him, he'll wake up and tell us."
Bolin leaned over the man. "Nah, I bet with an injury like that, he won't be awake for days…"
At that moment, the man's eyes shot opened. In less than a second he had scanned the room and assessed the situation. His mind reminded him last time he was conscious he had been injured by his enemy. Assuming this was still a threatening area was easy to do. He spun on the floor and knocked the stocky guy who was standing over him to the floor. The thinner guy and a girl jumped up from the couch they were on as his arm snaked around the neck of the man who had been over him. He was prepared to break the neck or strangle, which ever needed done. Slowly his ears recognized the words being spoken to him.
"WAIT!" Korra shouted "We are your friends!"
"Well… some of us are." Mako mumbled under his breath, as prepared to blast the guy to kingdom come. He had his fingers ready to shoot lightning at the man's head if he didn't comply.
Bolin had his hands wrapped around the man's arm trying to pull it away from his throat. "Yeah…. You should definitely listen to them."
He looked around once more. "Why should I? I obviously have the upper hand. And while you look like you can fight, I promise I can take you." The man grinned slightly at the two teenagers.
Korra raised her eyebrow. "Oh really?" She shot a glance at Mako and he nodded slightly.
Mako breathed deeply. "Hey Bo, why don't you show him that thing you can do." Bolin gulped slightly before he moved at all. This time, it was the man who raised his eyebrows, prepared still to snap Bolin's neck. Bolin dropped his arms and two stone disks that were sitting on the table shot towards him and his assailant, quickly he dropped all of his weight and was able to slide out of the chokehold. At the same time, Mako and Korra sent blasts of fire towards the man.
The man had ducked with Bolin, expecting some type of attack. The disks had been a surprise, but the fire was a shock. These two had shot fire out of their hands at him. Mako and Korra didn't press their attack, hoping the show of force would subdue the man. Unfortunately, they were quite wrong, the man rolled away from them wincing slightly when his shoulder hit the ground, but was still easily able to grab a chair and lifted it over his head as if it was a paper weight.
"Stop!" Korra shouted urgently as she flung the water that she had used for healing the man, and froze him where he stood.
Mako looked at her. "Well, that might have been good to do sooner."
Bolin strutted up to the captured man. "Not so tough now, are ya?" Bolin leaned his face a little too close to his and nearly got a broken nose when the man tried to head but him.
"You really should stop; I don't want to have to freeze your head to." Korra smirked at him.
This time, the man lowered his head. "Obviously if you wanted to kill me, you would have done so. I stand down."
Korra looked at Mako. "I say we let him chill out for a bit." Mako said looking him up and down.
"No," Korra unfroze the water and sent it back into the bathroom. "let's let him tell his story. What is your name?" Korra inquired as she took a seat.
"Roland, Alpha-258, Spartan of the UNSC." Roland looked them over again. "Who are you and where am I?"
"UNSC?" Bolin looked at the others. "Spartan… I think this guy is a wacko."
"I'm Korra, this is Mako," She point to the older brother who simply dipped his head in a greeting, "and that is his younger brother, Bolin." who huffed loudly. "Welcome to Republic City."
Roland looked them over once more and walked to the window. "Something tells me I'm not from around here."
Korra walked up next to him. "Well, we saw a flash, and you were lying in the middle of the street."
"How did I get there?" Roland checked his shoulder. "Why is my shoulder alright? Last time I checked, I should have died from my wounds, and now I am about to throw chairs around."
"I really have no idea how you got there, and I healed you."
"Huh, you must have some sort of medicine here."
"We saved your bag." Bolin walked forward and handed Roland his hard shelled backpack. "I tried to get into it, but there aren't any latches. I didn't want to smash it opened."
Roland nodded his thanks and took the bag. He wanted to know where his armor and helmet were, but that would have to wait. He thought he could trust these people, so he set out to get to know them. He pressed the button one the rucksack to unlock it and then sat cross legged as he emptied the contents in the middle of the floor.
"So, what exactly are you?" Korra sat across from him.
"I'm a Spartan. Trained to be the best." Roland picked up his M6C, thankfully, he had stored it when he picked up the Covenant Carbine shortly before he was injured. He had ten magazines, each containing twelve rounds of .45 ACP for it.
"What is a Spartan?" Bolin sat on the couch, showing interest in all of the green and grey items the Spartan had dumped out.
Roland had never really had to dissect what he was before. Honestly, he had never had to talk to anyone other than Jonah and an odd officer or enlisted man. "Well, when I was thirteen or so, I was given an offer to become a soldier. Where I'm from, an alien race is over running humanity. I jumped at the chance and I was trained to be an assassin."
"So, Spartans are assassins?" Korra asked.
"No, just a few of us." Roland rolled two frag grenades about on the floor and picked up the last charge of C12 and the detonator. "Several of us from my class were given the chance to become headhunters. That is where we learned to not just be killers, but assassins. Either with guns," Roland held up his pistol. "knives," He held a combat knife, not much different than the one Jonah had always carried "explosives," He placed the grenades and C12 back into the pack. "or our bare hands."
"Sounds fun." Mako commented from the corner off Roland's left side. He had taken up what he thought would be the best point to take the Spartan out if he needed to.
"You know," Roland packed away several days worth of rations and some medical equipment. "if you were going to hit me, my right side is slightly weaker with the bone not being reattached yet."
Mako nodded and stayed where he was. "How do you know it is still broken?" Korra questioned him. "I tried to repair that to, but it feels like it is made of metal."
Roland finished repacking his bag. He had kept out a pair of fatigue pants that he never thought he would have needed, and an under shirt, and a holster for the M6C. "Well, they sort of are." As he placed the undershirt over his head, he could see the confusion in Korra's face. "We are augmented. Stronger muscles, harder metal infused bones, quicker reflexes. All around, better warriors than normal."
"So, all of this happened when you were younger?" Korra asked with a look of shock in her eyes.
Roland removed the lower part of his under suit and stood their stark naked from the waist down as he put his pants on. "Yes, most of it was when I was fifteen or so."
Korra was too shocked to speak as he slid his belt into place. First, he was barely a teenager when all that happen to him, and second, he hadn't had his pants on! "Um…" Korra blushed slightly "So how old are you exactly?"
Roland finished by clipping the holster to his hip and strapping his knife to his leg. "I'm eighteen." He looked at his feet and wiggled his toes. "Any chance of getting some shoes?"
"Back up a second." Mako said, walking out from the corner now. "You're eighteen?"
"Yes." Roland didn't really understand the looks all three of them were giving him.
"But you look like you're at least twenty five." Mako looked the Spartan over once more. His muscle structure and facial features all led him to believe that he was more than eighteen years of age. "How can that be?"
Roland shrugged. "Augmentations." Was his mater of a fact answer before he looked at his feet again. "Shoes?"
Mako sighed and shook his head out of confusion, he still didn't get how this all worked, but he went into his room to find a pair of shoes.
"So, what are you going to do here?" Korra asked.
"I'm not exactly sure." Roland looked about once more. "Tell me what is happening here, cause I doubt I'll be heading home anytime soon."
"Well…" Korra started before she was cut off by Roland.
"Wait. What was that thing you did?" Roland inquired.
Korra looked at him oddly. "What thing?"
"With the water," Roland then pointed to Bolin. "and the disks, and the fire."
"Bending?" Korra looked at him quizzically.
Roland shrugged his shoulders. "Sure, if that is what you call it."
Korra knit her eyebrows in thought. "Well, it is something that um… yeah I don't know how to describe it."
"But you can control water, fire, and stone?" Now it was Roland's turn to be confused.
"Some people can control air as well." Bolin chimed in, receiving a glare from Korra.
"Yes, some can control air as well." She muttered.
Roland absentmindedly rolled his shoulder a bit before asking "So, how did you heal me?"
"Well, water can be used to heal as well." Korra thought for a moment. "I didn't really heal you, I just sped up the process your body normal does for healing."
"Well, Korra, it seems that I am in your debt." Roland looked straight into her eyes which he noticed were a lovely shade of pale blue that almost seemed out of place against her tan almost brown skin. "I have seen injuries before and I saw my vitals. Without you, I would have died without a doubt."
"Don't mention it…" Korra broke Roland's gaze and reddened in her cheeks.
"So, can you control several elements?" Roland looked at Korra as the color started to fade away. "You used fire to attempt to scare me and water to freeze me."
Korra shrugged. "Not exactly. Only I can use all four elements." Roland looked confused so she elaborated. "I am the Avatar, he or she can use all four elements. I'm supposed to be training to become the protector of the world." Roland laughed quietly to himself. "What!" Korra was now glaring at him, and red was returning to her cheeks, but this time out of anger.
Mako also had a bit of a grin on his face as he walked back into the room, having heard parts of the conversation as he was locating a pair of shoes. Roland thought for a moment before speaking. "You are going to be the protector of the world?" Roland strolled back over to the chair and leaned back in the seat. "I do owe you, but I could have taken you easily. This world will be rather interesting indeed."
"Whatdya mean you could have taken me?" Korra's blood boiled with anger and she stood up defiantly.
"I'm just saying, I could have." Roland sat there crossed legged and just looked at her as she stood there fuming.
"Fine then, come at me again." She adamantly took a bending stance and motioned for him to attack at her.
Roland drew his M6C, a standard issue suppressed pistol. "I don't want to fight you. While we aren't exactly friends, you aren't my enemy, and you have helped me, so I have no fight with you."
"You're scared, aren't you?" Korra used a mocking tone as she placed her hands on her hips.
Roland looked to Mako. "Are you terribly fond of that pot?" He asked, motioning to a small ceramic pot sitting beside the window about two feet besides Korra.
"No, not particu…" PFFT! Crash! The sound of the suppressed M6C resounded throughout the room. Each of the three benders felt the thump in their gut. Ting ting ting… the .45 casing rattled to a stop on the wooden floor as the air filled with an acrid stench of cordite that burned their nostrils when they inhaled.
Mako and Bolin's mouths were agape. "What was that!" Korra asked as she side stepped the window. A small hole had punched through the wall behind the vase and continued onward.
"The reason I could win. Unless you can detect and stop a bullet flying through the air at you." Korra shook her head and sat back down, shocked and afraid of this weapon that Roland carried.
"Sorry I had to do that. Just didn't want you to think I was helpless." Roland set the safety and holstered his pistol. One Hundred, nineteen left. Roland thought to himself.
Korra nodded silently. Apparently, there was more to Roland than she had thought.
"So, all you are doing is training?" Roland assumed. "I mean, don't get me wrong, I trained for years, but it can get old quick."
"Well, she is." Mako said. "The three of us are in a competition together as well. It pits benders against each other in a ring. We are actually headed to the finals now." Mako's chest swelled slightly with pride for his team.
"So, that's it? Not to sound disappointed, but I figured you" Roland pointed to Korra "as the protector of the world and all, would have some sort of emergency right now."
Korra looked at Mako and Bolin. "Well, there is…" The three of them sat down and took turns explaining what had happened with Amon and his followers. They went into detail about the Equalists and how bending was being removed.
After nearly thirty minutes of explanation, Roland spoke up. "That's more like it. When do we leave? We can go get him now."
"No, not yet." Korra looked at the two brothers. "Y'all should get some sleep."
"What about him?" Bolin asked.
"I'm sure Tenzin won't mind him coming to the island." Korra stood to leave and Roland followed suit.
Mako still didn't seem totally convinced by the concept of Roland staying on the island with Korra. "Are you sure that is a good idea?"
"Do you have a better one?" Korra asked. "The other options are throwing him out on the street or leave him with you."
Bolin looked around. "Well, we do have plenty of floor space."
Korra shook her head. "No, he'll be fine with me." She looked him up and down once more. "And I still say I can take him, unless he tries that trick again. Besides, like he said, he owes me. The least he can do is help as a guard or something."
"I can do that." Roland said patting his M6C.
Korra walked out of the room. "Or, I can always just use him as a training dummy." She hollered as she left.
Roland grinned and followed her out. This would be very interesting world indeed.
As always, please read and review. No flames, but constructive criticism is gladly accepted.