And here's another chapter to my newest story. When we last left off, Stella had assisted with the rescue of Doc, saved pulses life at the cost of her own... Only for her Ghost to sacrifice himself to bring her back. Now powerless in terms of her Voidwalker status, Stella is at the mercy of Six and the organization. I do not own R6, all rights go to Ubisoft... fix your game please. I do not own the Destiny Franchise, though I do own the intellectual rights to Stella as a character, as she is my own creation.

Stella stared numbly at the two way mirror across from her, her hollow, shell shocked expression hidden by her helmet's blacked out visor. Her mind struggled to process the events following the death of her Ghost. She knew that a second team of Rainbow Operatives had arrived shortly after the White Mask terrorists made off with her ship, but she couldn't remember who they were. Then they flew... somewhere. Without her Ghost, she had no clue where they were. She assumed it was still in France, though there was a strange rocking motion, and a dull hum that reverbrated around the small metal room she was being held in.

Oh, yeah. And now she was back in handcuffs, being contained within another interrogation room. Several people had already come in and asked her questions, though she was surprised to see that Caveira wasn't one of them. She didn't answer them though. In fact, the only reason she knew they were there was because of the heart pounding terror she felt when the door opened. No Light meant no power to her suit, which meant her motion trackers were offline. A sharp screech of metal brought her heartrate up again, and two people walked into the room. They closed the heavy metal door behind them, before sitting down at the table across from her. She almost didn't recognize Tachanka without his helmet, but his eyes gave him away. He looked at her quietly, concern and sympathy in his eyes.

His companion, a dark skinned woman that somehow reminded Stella of Zavala, placed a thin file on the table, steepling her fingers, "Hello, Guardian. I am Six, deputy director of the Rainbow counter-terrorism unit. I'm here to make a deal with you."

Silence rang out in the interrogation room, with both humans looking at her expectantly. After a moment, Stella opened her mouth, speaking with a harsh, ragged voice, no louder than a whisper. "I'm not a Guardian."

Six raised an eyebrow,"Excuse me? I believe that is the title you gave Mr. Senaveiv. Are you saying you lied?"

Stella slowly shook her head, "I'm not a Guardian... Not anymore. When my Ghost died, I lost my connection to the Light... I am now a normal Awoken. I can die just like you..."

Six nodded, carefully processing the information, "Yes, your 'Ghost.' All four of my operators say they witnessed you being brought back to life. Was that a one time thing?"

"No... And yes. My Ghost was the reason I could be brought back. With a steady connection to the Traveler's Light, he could do it at nearly any time he wanted. But he... he used the last of his own Light, the thing that enabled him and myself to fight for humanity, to bring me back one last time after I saved your man."

Six cleared her throat, hearing instability in Stella's voice and deciding to change the topic, "I'm sorry for your loss Gu... miss. However, I have a proposition for you, if you-"

"Let me guess: I work for your unit, and you grant me some sort of politcal asylum?" Stella looked up sharply at the woman, a small spark of fire entering her tone.

Six nodded, her lips twitching in the barest hint of a smirk, "Correct. You will be granted asylum, and your information will be kept classified. The only people who will know of your existance will be myself, the operatives sent to France, and another operator, Valkyrie. You will be allowed to wear your armour at all times, and only a direct order from myself can change that."

Stella remained silent, before slowly looking up at the one way mirror, "Is the observation room empty?"

Six nodded, "Yes. This conversation is completely off the books. No survellaince, no recordings, and no one watching us."

The Awoken girl waited a bit longer, before hesitantly removing her helmet. Dim green eyes, red with tears, stared at Six morosely. She took a deep breath, closing her eyes, "I've been fighting a war to defend humanity for the last ten years. As a Guardian, all human life was sacred... You're asking me to go against everything I have ever known, to assist you in dealing with this... 'White Mask' organization. To kill humans. Do you understand that?"

Six looked as if she wanted to respond, but was stopped by Tachanka, "Six, allow me." The Russian smiled sadly at Stella, sighing, "Stella, you must understand something. In this time, Humanity isn't united as I presume they are in your time. We are constantly at war with each other. Every country has their own ideals, and they all fight to defend them. However, the White Masks are not represented by any country. They kill indescriminantly, and are hell bent on destroying the human race. We aren't asking you to kill humans. We're asking you to keep us from destroying ourselves."

"Yes, bu-"

"Stella, you remind me of Gustave, or Doc as you know him. He's a medic who hates taking a life. However, he knows that his skills are needed on the battlefield. I remember asking him why he kills, and do you want to know his response? He said, 'I find that in order to save a life, you sometimes have to take one.' Don't look at this as just killing a man... Somewhere, you're saving someone from a grizzely death at the hands of bioterrorists."

Stella paused, a small light entering her eyes as she processed what the Russian said. After a moment, a look of determination crossed her face, and she nodded to Six, "They have my ship, and the Hive sample."

Six nodded gravely, "Yes. However, I doubt they'll be able to weaponize it very soon. According to the report from Tachanka, the pathogen acts immediately, with no cure other than a rather copious amount of bullets."

"There's only one person who's ever been 'cured' of the Hive corruption, and it's the same woman who I was delivering that sample to. Ghost, I... Right..." Pain flickered in her eyes, but she quickly pushed it away. "Do you know where they took the Arcadia?"

Six shook her head, a flicker of concern appearing in her eyes, "Unfortunately, no. They went off the grid as soon as they took your spacecraft. We have our best intelligence operatives working around the clock to track them down. Until then, I want you to help my operators with other situations. The White Mask organization may have taken a rather volatile weapon, but until they know how to utilize it without utterly wiping out the entirety of the human race, they will continue their usual methods of bombings, hostage situations, and standard bio-terror attacks. I understand that as a Guardian, you were sworn to defend humanity. I'm asking you to continue that oath... With a few less restrictions."

Stella raised an eyebrow, already guessing what these restrictions were. She had managed to hear a bit about Rainbow, and something told her they didn't exactly go through normal red tape to get things done, "I think I already know what you're going on about. However, I doubt that you'd just let me join your little club."

Six glanced at Tachanka, "I see what you mean, Alex... Stella, all Operators have to go through a series of mock simulations to determine their inclination towards attacking and defending the objective. Most of them are simple training excercises, though some are live fire. You will be killing humans in this line of work. I need to know if you are willing to commit to the team."

Stella nodded, "Yes, ma'am. I have a question, though. My Queen of Spades should be acceptable for this era, but I am going to need other weapons. How should I acquire them?"

Tachanka took over at this point, standing up and unlocking Stella's restraints, "Pulse and myself will arm you to the teeth, Stella. However, we need to make a codename for yo-"

"Lupa."

Tachanka paused, scrutinzing Stella carefully before noticing the stylized wolf emblazoned on her shoulder and nodding, "Wolf Queen... Okay then, Lupa. Let's go to the armoury, and you can tell me what you used in your... previous occupation."

Stella nodded, rubbing her wrists to get the circulation back in them as she followed Alex out of the interrogation room. As she put her helmet back on, she noticed idly that there were more cramped quarters in the corridors of where ever they were. The strange humming was louder now, and more rythmic, like an engine. They must have been transported to some sort of ship. Interesting. After a moment, she decided to go ahead and tell Alex about her usual weapons. "As a guardian, I used a rather large variety of weapons, though I will just explain the more mundane ones. Snipers, DMRs, burst and auto rifles, rocket launchers, grenade launchers, LMG's, swords, and bows... Along with the occasional hand cannon, side arm, and shotgun."

Tachanka seemed to pause, letting the rather large list of weapons sink in, "Oh. I suppose you're comfortable with all of them then?"

Stella shook her head, "Do I look like a Gunsmith? I had a tendency to stick to mid ranged to long range weapons as my primary, usually a full auto or burst rifle, a hand cannon er... revolver for my secondary, and a sword as my tertiary. Every once in a while, I'd grab a bow or sniper if the range was needed."

Tachanka nodded quietly, thinking carefully, "Well, Lupa, I think I might have just the thing for you." He pulled out a small rectangular device, turning on and pressing the screen a few times. After a moment, he turned it to show Stella the image. "This is a M16A4, standard issue in the United States Armed Forces until the advent of the M4 carbine. It has two firing modes, semi and burst, and has many attachments to include optics, laser sights, and a slung-under grenade launcher."

Stella raised an eyebrow, inspecting the weapon. It looked nice, if a little primitive for her tastes. She nodded, "It seems acceptable. I assume I wouldn't be limited to this weapon, correct? After all, there's a weapon for every occasion. What if I need more firepower, or larger bullets for armour peneration?"

Alex laughed heartily, "Well, that depends... how accurate are you?"

Stella grinned like a shark, remembering Cayde trying to convince her to join the Hunter Vanguard, "I don't miss."

Tachanka nodded, "You need to meet our Korean operator, Dokkeabi. She uses a Mk14 EBR and a BOS-G12 shotgun. Both have a powerful kick, and both have the range. The BOS-G only has two shots before it needs to be reloaded, though. It's a high-risk, high-reward weapon. If you hit your shot, you're practically guaranteed a kill. If not... then I suggest you fall back, quickly."

Stella nodded, the battle rifle sounded like her cup of tea. Range, power, and accuracy. "Right, I'll er... get with her later. What else do I need?"

Tachanka frowned suddenly, as if realizing something, "Each operator brings a unique weapon or gadget to the table. It will be hard to convince the others to accept you if you have nothing but bullets and wits."

The Awoken girl shook her head, "My armour is still operational, as well as the hover systems. I'm betting I'm a lot more durable and faster than most of your operators."

"Hover systems? Are you saying you can fly?"

Stella turned to Alex, who was looking torn between amusement and astonishment. Slowly, she nodded, and he gestured for her to follow him. The duo traversed the ship in silence, going through dozens of twisting, cramped corridors, until they arrived inside a massive hanger. Stella realized they were in some sort of aircraft carrier. Tachanka gestured towards three people, a blond haired woman, an Asian girl with a beanie, and an older, dark skinned man with an eyepatch. The blonde woman appeared to be teaching them how to use a rappel system to scale a makeshift wall, up to a platform about twenty feet above them.

"Meghan! I want you to meet our newest operator, Stella, codename: Lupa. She just gave me a rather interesting piece of information."

Meghan raised an eyebrow, gesturing for the other two to stop what they were doing, "So, Six trusts you enough to join us?"

Stella nodded, "I think trust is a strong word though. More like, she wants to keep an eye on me, and the easiest way to do that is to add me to her roster."

The blonde woman laughed, "I suppose so. You can call me Valkyrie, everyone does. This here is Grace and Vicente, codenames Dokkeabi and Capitao. We're just going over how to most effectively scale a wall. Care to join us? I hear Six wants you on the attacker side."

Tachanka laughed, gesturing for Stella to go ahead, "Show them, little star. I want to see this, too."

Stella raised an eyebrow, before looking up at the platform and shrugging. With a single leap, she shot upwards. The soft hiss of her jets were barely audible in the belly of the aircraft carrier, making her ascent stealthy and quick. She landed on the platform, looking down at the humans. They wore matching expressions of shock and awe. Valkyrie let out a soft whistle, "Well... That will certainly be an advantage on attack. Have you already decided on her weapons, Tachanka?"

The bear of a man laughed, nodding, "Of, course, comrade. As much as I would have enjoyed strapping her down with some Russian firepower, I decided to direct her to the American M16A4. I was hoping you could help with that side. As for her other weapon... Grace, sweetheart, is your Mk14 in the armoury?"

The beanie girl frowned, looking at Tachanka over her glasses, "You already know it is. Why do you... wait, why doesn't she already have her own weapons? Her government should be providing everything."

Stella decided to intervene when Tachanka looked like he didn't have an answer, "I'm English, but my government disavowed me after I refused to follow an order that would have put the lives of civillians at risk." She jumped off the platform, landing softly on the floor. "I am not at liberty to discuss my former occupation, nor my employers, as it has been deemed classified by Six herself."

Tachanka and Valkyrie nodded in approval. They knew the truth, of course, but neither of them had actually come up with a good cover story for the time traveller. Capitao grinned, letting out a hearty laugh, "Well, if Six deemed it prudent enough to classify it, I don't think I'll be poking that jaguar any time soon! Welcome to the team, Lupa! When are we doing her initiation?''

Tachanka chuckled, "Believe me, Capitao, I think she's been through enough of an initiation. Even so, Stella still has to go through a few tests. Dokkeabi, she'll be partnering with you. Show her the ropes."

The Korean girl blanched, "B-But, Tachanka, I'm still in training myself. Thatcher hasn't cleared me for something like that."

The Russian shrugged, "Not big problem. I will speak to comrade Thatcher about pushing your papers forward. You will still be working with him, of course. Consider Lupa as a sort of... final project. Get Lupa acquainted with the battle rifle. I will see about getting another one on hand for her.

Tachanka walked off with Cap and Valk, leaving the Korean operator muttering darkly, "Don't they know I already have enough on my plate? God, I hope Vigil doesn't find out... Alright, listen up, new girl. I w-"

Stella held up her hand, silencing the girl with a single gesture, "Please... You don't have to act that way. Just be yourself. I'm not going to judge... much." She smirked at the flabbergasted expression on Dokkeabi's face. "I'm not some military stiff who follows protocols to a t. Hell, I hated most of my superiours. I'm just here to help where I can. Now, shall we go take a look at this rifle I keep hearing so much about?"

Dokkeabi remained silent for a second, before giving a little shrug, "Alright then. It's nice to meet someone on the team who isn't all about the job. I'm Grace Nam. My callsign comes from the fact that my logo is a goblin... and Vigil just likes to call me 'little goblin' on a account that I keep hacking his phone and annoying him."

Stella laughed, shaking her head, "Maybe he has a reason to call you that, then. I take it you don't like this... Vigil?"

Grace shook her head vehemently, leading Stella out of the hanger, "No way in hell. He was with me when we were attached to the 707th SMB, and I'm positive that he's reporting back to our superiours to try and get me kicked off the team for disorderly conduct. So, no. I don't like him."

Stella nodded, "Fair enough. No one likes someone who's a goody-two-shoes 24/7. Hell, I kicked one of my superiours in the groin for pulling that act on me... I'm surprised I wasn't shot right then and there."

Grace laughed, "Oh I wish I could see something like that on video!"

Stella shrugged, "It didn't really help his case by insulting the woman I was close enough with to call a sister. 'Threat to the city' my ass..." She shook her head, trailing off with a thinly veiled threat in a language Grace couldn't understand. "Anyway, what's this unit like? I haven't heard much of anything other than it's some sort of specialized counter-terror unit. The only people I've seen are you, the operators at the rappel course, and Six. Oh, and Pulse, Doc, and Caveira. She was quite rude. I don't like her."

Grace raised an eyebrow at the rather intense venom in Stella's voice, "The skull face lady? Yeah, she can be a bit scary, but I don't think that warrants that much dislike. What did she do to you?"

Stella remained silent for a moment, a pang echoing in her chest and mind at the absence of her friend and Ghost. Eventually, she spoke in a subdued voice, "She attempted to attack me from behind while I was mourning for a friend who just sacrificed himself to save me."

Grace cringed, "O-Oh, um... I'm sorry for your loss. Oh look, the Armoury!" The Korean girl quickly marched ahead, opening a side door to reveal a rather large armoury/workshop. "Oh, hi Thermite! I didn't know you were working in here today."

An older man with a standard, military buzzcut looked up from his work, taking off a pair of welding goggles and setting aside a strange looking mat that appeared to be lined with C4 charges. He grinned, flashing white teeth that contrasted greatly with his soot covered face as he spoke with a southern drawl, "Grace, honey! I thought Vakyrie would be keeping you for another three hours! How's our new girl on the block doing? Staying out of trouble, I assume?"

Dokkaebi laughed, "I'm not the new girl anymore! Oh, Stella, meet Jordan. He goes by thermite on account of his rather... explosive ordinance."

The American man laughed again, "Let me guess, she has to registre the weapons her country's sending her? Let me get the paperwork."

Stella shook her head, "Actually, I've been dissavowed. I do have a personal sidearm, but Grace is going to show me the rifle she uses."

Thermite raised an eyebrow, taking a better look at Stella. He had never seen body armour like that, and he probably would have heard of a counter-terror unit that dressed up like some science fiction soldiers. And the wolf insigna on her shoulder pauldron was rather strange and almost archaic looking. There was more to this 'Stella' than met the eye. "Alright then. We'll need to get you a weapon locker when we get back to HQ. The range should be open. I'll get you girls some ammo."

Grace sighed as the man left to grab some brass, moving to a small station decorated with little goblin logos. There were four weapons sitting on a wall rack, two machine pistols, and what appeared to be a double barreled shotgun and the battle rifle. Grace hefted the battle rifle up, and Stella had to resist the urge to snicker. Despite Grace looking like she seriously knew how to fuck shit up with the rifle, it still looked rather large in her hands. The Korean girl racked the charging handle, holding weapon out too her, "I'm sure you know how a fire-arm works, so I'm not really going to train you with it. We can see how well you shoot it though. The sights are adjusted to me, so you might have to compensate some since I wear glasses..."

Stella nodded, looking around carefully for her own weapon. Surprisingly, she saw a relatively new looking workshop, with her hand cannon resting on the table. She gestured to the space, "That's my weapon, the Queen of Spades. You can go ahead and check it out, since I'm using your weapon."

Grace handed the rifle over, before checking out the massive hand cannon and picking it up. If the battle rifle had looked a bit large for her, then the hand cannon was absolutely gargantuan. She looked over at Stella, who seemed even smaller than her, and back at the cannon, "How on Earth do you fire this thing? It's huge!"

Stella glanced over from the rifle and shrugged, "I fire it. It's a hand cannon made to punch through armour, not some sidearm. When Thermite get's back, grab one of the ammo pouches... It should be the one with a white marking on it."

Thermite walked in at that moment, carrying several magazines of ammunition, "Alright, lady's let's throw some lead." He took the girls to the back of the armoury, where a 25 metre range had been set up. With a grin, he handed Stella a magazine. "20 shots, make them count."

A single silhouette target popped up at the end of the range, prompting Stella to load the rifle with a fluidity that was way to easy for comfort. She turned, and let loose a torrent of bullets, squeezing off 20 rounds in less than ten seconds. As the last bullet casing dropped to the floor with a ping, Thermite and Dokkaebi stared at Stella with stunned silence. They hesitantly lowered their hands from their ears, having put them there when Stella started firing out of the blue. Thermite pressed a button, bringing the target to the front. It looked like there were only fifteen or sixteen bullet holes in the target, but the electric sensor attached to it read 20 hits... Meaning Stella had managed to shoot with one hundred percent accuracy, without even zeroing in the weapon! Grace and Jordan looked at the Awoken girl with stunned disbelief, with the latter whistling loudly, "Well, remind me not to get on your bad side, new girl. Jesus, I think you could give Glaz a run for his money, and he's the unit's designated sniper!"

Grace swallowed nervously, "Uh... Stella, did you even feel the recoil?"

Stella shrugged, "Yeah, there was a little kick, but nothing I haven't dealt with before. So, you ready to fire Queen?"

The Korean girl looked at the hand cannon in her hands, suddenly terrified. But she wasn't one to back down from a challenge. She opened the ammo bag to see revolver speed loaders, only they were solid cylinders, rather than individual bullets on a disc. With some difficulty, and a few pointers from Stella, she managed to figure out how to load the massive revolver. Thermite pulled out a phone as Grace stepped up to the firing position, nervously readying herself for some large recoil. She was expecting the kick of a 50 calibre weapon, hopefully a .45 ACP weapon, but nothing could prepare her for the monstrous, booming shockwave that literally knocked her off her feet, prompting Stella to dart forward and catch her. Thermite began laughing his ass off, struggling to hold up his phone as Dokkaebi stared upward, her glasses askew and cradling her potentially broken wrist.

Thermite went over to where the Queen of Spades had been thrown, picking it up with a surprised expression, "Jesus, this thing feels like it's made out of lead!" He stepped up to the firing range, bracing himself and aiming down range. After a moment, he fired as well, stumbling back a few steps and quickly wringing out his hand with a pained expression. "For the love of God, woman! Are you telling me you can actually shoot this thing?"

Stella scowled, looking at the man out the orner of her eye as she tended to Grace. After a moment, she stood up, and grabbed the weapon from him, aiming it downrange with one hand and firing the remaining eleven shots with no hesitation. It jumped in her hand a bit, but her control was too good to let it go astray. The entire silhouette target was blown apart by the weapon. She popped the quick load cartridge out, dropping it in her ammo pouch, before strapping both it and her weapon to her hip. Then she went back over to Grace and helped her to her feet, "Where is the med bay? I think she may have broken her wrist."

Jordan's eyes widened, and he cursed, "Shit! I'm sorry, Grace. Come on, I'll show you the way."

The strange group quickly rushed out of the armoury, nearly taking out Valkyrie and Caveira on their way out. Valkyrie looked at Grace's dishelveled, pained appearance, and Thermite's panicked expression, and immediately knew that something was wrong, "What happened?"

Thermite cleared his throat, "Sorry, ma'am. We were in the range, letting Lupa use Dokkaebi's rifle, when we decided to test fire Lupa's personal weapon. We weren't expecting the kick, and it may have injured Dokkaebi's wrist."

Valkyrie sighed, stepping closer to inspect Grace's now swollen wrist, "Well, that must have been some weapon."

Clearly, she didn't believe the story. What weapon had that much recoil? Stella rolled her eyes, drawing her weapon, "This is the Queen of Spades. A friend of mine gave it to me before he was brutally murdered. It's made to pretty much kill anything that moves, no matter how thick the armour. It uses DU* rounds at a .75 Calibre, making it capable of penetrating most armours. Each quick load magazine is also encased in a solid lead casing, allowing for containment and a 13 round magazine count. This weapon will punch through six inches of solid steel, and shatter most titanium or tungsten armours with relative ease."

Thermite blinked owlishly, "What sort of monsters was your counter-terror unit after?"

Stella replied cooly, "The kind that would make you go running for your mummy. Now, can we get Grace here to the med bay? And you might want to get your wrist checked out as well, Jordan."

Jordan watched as Valkyrie lead Stella and Grace away, a sudden chill going down his spine, "I thought the White Mask was bad... What the hell was she shooting at that required literal anti-tank rounds in a sidearm?"

Caveira shook her head, "You remember the operation in France? The one where Pulse was nearly killed and the terrorists got away with the obj? She's the one who pulled our asses out of the fire. Got us together long enough to mount an attack that helped save Doc. Believe me when I say we shouldn't trust her."

Jordan glanced at Cav, who had a plaster on her nose, and a rather large bruise on her face, "Was she the one to give you the shiner?"

The interrogator scowled and marched off after Valkyrie, not responding to the Texan. Jordan grinned, getting the answer he wanted. At least one of them. He would have to convince Grace to hack into the R6 files and try to figure out where this Lupa came from.

Alright! This should make up for the short chapter I gave you last time. I'll try to get another chapter up for TFoC before I go to the field. It'll be about a month before I can effectively work on any writing at all. Still I want some reviews and suggestions on my stories when I get back in April! Now, I'm wondering who I should ship Stella with here. I was originally thinking Dokkaebi, but I'm starting to think that she could potentially go with several operators.

* DU: Depleted Uranium. Used as a form of anti-armour/anti-tank. Unlike normal bullets which splash or shatter against armour, DU rounds impact, causing the area around the tip of the round to vaporize and leave a second point. This pierces the armour, sending the heavy bullet clean through and spraying the inside with shrapnel and semi-irradiated gas. Nasty stuff.