Please Note: This fan fic is a JOINT venture with Yuekichi. If your new here the first three chapters are his handy work. We don't own nothing that isn't already under copyright protection.
Chapter 3: Am I interrupting your death?
After her bold jump and assassination of one of the Minor, Noble Six remained crouched behind a large boulder, her Plasma Rifle at the ready.
Despite the reckless maneuver, none of the other Elites seemed to have noticed Six's stunt and continued to fire their rifles at another rocky position forty yards away from her. As Six peered out to the left of her rock to see if any Elites were moving, a Plasma Grenade flying through the air landed ten meters from her hiding spot. Six quickly moved her head behind the rock and caught sight of a Minor rolling towards her in an effort to escape the grenade's blast.
The Minor quickly got to his feet, only to notice Six crouched in front of him and his fellow Elite lying dead next to her feet. The Minor let out an enraged battle cry and charged towards Six. Six raised her Plasma Rifle and fired a quick three round burst at the charging Elite. The shots found their mark, quickly depleting the Minor's energy shields and causing him to momentarily stagger a mere ten feet away. Seizing the opportunity, Six charged at the Elite until she stood right in front of him before firing another three round burst into the Elite's unshielded chest, burning through the armor and killing him.
Two down four to go. Six thought as she moved to her right and away from the two dead Elites. A sharp scream from the direction of the zealot indicated another Elite's death.
Make that three to go. She thought as she moved further to where the Plasma grenade was thrown. She crouched down behind another large rock, peaked out the right side, and scanned the battlefield. A lone, dead blue-armored Minor lay dead where the Zealot stood only moments earlier; with a long slash through the front of the armor—the tell-tale marks of an Energy Sword wound. Behind him, the teal streaks of plasma bolts zipped pass, their deadly heat aimed in the direction of what Six assumed to be the Zealot.
At this rate, the only thing I'll be saving is a corpse.
At that moment, Six spotted the Zealot rolling behind a rock close to her position, with two Elite Minors chasing after him while rapidly firing their Needlers. The Minors let out a swearing bark as the deadly purple needles hit the rock he hid behind. Six could sympathize with his decision to hide, as she knew too well what happened when too many of those needles collected on an unshielded body.
"Six." Jun called out on his helmet mic. "Can you hear me?"
"What is it Jun?" she whisper.
"You mind giving me an update." He said, "Your movements are hard to track."
"I'm hiding behind a rock." She answered. "Two tangos, in front of me, do you have a shot?"
"Negative." He responded. "You'll have to improvise. I got your rear covered."
As usual. "Copy that. Do you have a sight on the sixth Elite?" She asked as she took a Plasma Grenade off her waist. She peaked back out and saw that both Elites had not moved and were reloading their Needlers.
"Again, negative. He darted off after your leap of faith earlier." Jun snapped.
"Keep looking for him." Six replied. She armed and threw the Plasma Grenade at one of the Elites. Six smiled as the grenade sailed through the air and landed on the leg of the left most Elite and laughed as the Elite looked down in horror at the pulsating ball of death before detonating; killing both Elites. Six could only imagine the confused look on the Zealot's face as he saw the Plasma Grenade kill his two attackers.
"Talk about a sticky end." Jun mused.
Wonder how many times he's said that. Six mused before focusing on finding the last Elite. Just then, she heard Jun's sniper rifle fire several meters to her left.
And that's six. Six thought. Now to capture the Zealot.
Six began to inch her way to the Zealot when Jun's sniper rifle fired for a second time. She immediately ducked behind the rock again as Jun fired a third shot. Concerned, Six called him on the mic, "Jun, sit rep."
"The reason I tried to stop you from jumping." He quickly answered. "Two more Elites just appeared. I got the last Minor that was flanking the Zealot, but two Spec-Ops followed him."
Damn, Special-Ops Elites. "I take it they were cloaked?" She asked.
"They were and there might be more of them."
"Fun."
Six noticed a quick movement to her right on her helmet's radar. She quickly turned in time to see the outline of a Spec-Ops Elite try to melee her with his Plasma Rifle. Six dodged his attack, brought her rifle up to fire, and fired two shots at the Elite. The Elite knocked the Plasma Rifle out of her hands, even as his overshield flared to life. The Spec-Ops grabbed Six by the neck with his right arm and hoisted her struggling form off the ground. Six let her right hand fall over the handle of the Energy Sword. In one quick motion, just as the Spec-Ops activated his Energy Dagger, Six activated the Energy Sword and sliced off his right arm. The Elite let out a pained scream as Six fell to the ground. Six wasted no time getting up and driving the Energy Sword through his chest. The Spec-Ops Elite's body fell to the ground.
That was too close. Six leaned back against the rock and heard two more sniper rounds go off.
Jun must be having a blast.
"Six," Jun said, "I know you're having fun down there, but could you hurry it up a bit? I'm down to my last two clips here and I can see a group of Rangers taking interest in what we're doing here. Whatever, you plan to do, do it fast."
The plasma beam of a Focus Rifle shot across the sky at Jun's position, as if to accent his point.
Damn it. I thought there were only six Elites here, not twice that. Six picked up the pace and moved out from behind the rock, only to be rewarded with Plasma Repeater rounds from an emboldened Spec-Ops Elite ready to avenge his comrade.
I have no time for this. Six thought as she sprinted to her dropped Plasma Rifle. She grabbed it and dropped him with two quick three round burst. When she looked to see if the Zealot was still where she saw him last, she found that he was nowhere to be seen. Six scanned the area to spot him, when the needle trails from a Needle Rifle forced her back behind the rock she was hiding behind. Fifteen meters away, a lone Ranger stood on top of a bolder reloading his rifle—preparing himself for a deadly assault. The Ranger taking aim at Six used his jet pack to propel himself towards her position. As he was nearing her, something to the left caught his attention and he flew away.
It did not take long for Six to see what caught his eyes. To her left, where the bodies of the two Minors she killed lay, stood the Zealot; surrounded by three Spec-Ops Elites, each armed with Needlers intent on carrying out their leader's orders. The Zealot, still armed only with his Energy Sword, looked on at the numbers he was against with amusement.
"So the Ultra intends to cower behind his men." Said the Zealot to the Spec-Ops, "Or perhaps, you wish for the glory of killing the only Heretic on this forsaken planet."
The Spec-Ops looked at the Zealot with blank stares, their weapons raised for the kill.
The Zealot said, "If you seek glory, then I would suggest doing so elsewhere, for you will find only death awaiting you here."
The Elites stood there waiting for one of them to make the first move. The Spec-Ops struck first. The first Spec-Ops let out a challenging howl and charged at the Zealot; priming a grenade as he ran. At the last second, the Spec-Ops feigned to the left, a move the Zealot anticipated, rolled into him, and sliced his throat. The second Spec-Ops saw this and taking advantage of the opening his fallen comrade left, fired his Needler at the Zealot's exposed back. Six watched in awe as the Zealot grabbed his fallen foe's body and threw it at the second Spec-Ops before grabbing the first Spec-Ops' Needler and firing its homing needles in the direction of the third Spec-Ops; whom had activated his optical stealth at the beginning of the fight.
The third Elite's shields quickly came to life as the needles hit him. He tried to avoid the deadly bolts but to no avail as the Zealot quickly emptied and reloaded the Needler before the Spec-Ops' shields could recharge. Six grimaced as four needles found their mark on the Spec-Ops' exposed flesh; combining and killing him in a explosion of crystal shards.
The Zealot rolled over to the Spec-Ops' corpse and picked up its Needler and turned his attention back to the second Spec-Ops just as he was tossing the body of the first Spec-Ops off his self. Six watched as the second Spec-Ops' shields and flesh were ripped apart by the duel-wielding Zealot.
Just as the second Spec-Ops' corpse hit the ground, the Ranger Noble Six spotted earlier appeared overhead. The Ranger took aim with his Needle Rifle at the Zealot. The Zealot—hearing the Ranger's jet pack's exhaust—turned around to see the Ranger about to fire a his weapon directly at his head. Without thinking, the Zealot threw one of his Needlers at the Ranger. Needler hit the Ranger's rifle, throwing off the Ranger's aim. Taking advantage of the distraction, the Zealot rolled, then jumped, and brought his Energy Sword down upon the Ranger's head. A second Ranger, who had been behind a rock as the first Ranger made his attack, stepped out from behind it and kicked the Zealot in the stomach; knocking him back. The Ranger pressed his attack, keeping the Zealot on the defensive and preventing him from using his sword. Six watched as the Zealot desperately tries to fend off the Ranger's continuous stream of melee attacks.
Sensing that this would be her only chance to get the Zealot, Six began to inch closer to the brawl. As she neared the two of them, the Ranger, now frustrated with the Zealot's will to stay alive, used his jet pack to propel his self behind the Zealot. The Zealot watched the Ranger sail over his head. Six immediately began to move to dispatch the Ranger before he could assassinate the Zealot, but stopped. She felt a smile grow on her face as she saw the Zealot duck underneath the Ranger's latest kick, come up behind him, activate his Energy Daggers on his arms, and laugh maniacally as he drove one into the Ranger's back and the other into his chest; killing him instantly.
Impressive. She thought as the Zealot let out a triumphant cry. Now's my chance.
Six leapt from behind the rock—Energy Sword in hand—and behind the Zealot. Hearing Six's footsteps, the Zealot turned around and spotted Six slowly walking to him. As Six drew closer, the Zealot raised his Energy Sword; readying his self for an attack. Six stopped far enough outside the Zealot's melee distance but close enough to use her Plasma Rifle if she needed to.
Both adversaries stared at each other—studying each other's physical condition, their scars, their weaknesses. The Zealot moved first, swinging his sword at Six. Six swung her sword—the two parrying the other's attack, the force of the blows knocking both of them to the ground and dropping their Energy Swords. Six scrambled to her feet, drew her knife, and sprinted towards the downed Zealot. His exhaustion catching up with him, the Zealot struggled to get up even as Six barrels towards him like a grey hornet of death. Six leaps into the air, her knife ready to immobilize the Zealot. At the last second, the Zealot kicks at Noble Six with his right leg knocking her to the ground.
With knife in hand, Six stands up just as the Zealot rises to his feet. The Zealot draws his Energy Dagger and Six pulls her knife close. The two combatants circle one another like lions—each looking for an opening to exploit. Finding one, the Zealot charges Six and just as their blades meet, a sniper round zooms in between the Zealot and Noble Six. The two combatants look to their left to see Jun standing off to the side, his sniper rifle aimed directly at the Zealot's head.
"Move and the next one goes in your head." Jun calmly said to the Zealot.
The Zealot looked at Jun then glance back at Six. A moment passed between the three of them before the Zealot put away his dagger and raised both hands in a sign of surrender. The whole time Noble Six kept her attention on the enemy in front of her.
Jun walked around the Elite, making sure to keep his sniper rifle trained on the Zealot's head. The Zealot watched Jun with mild curiosity, wondering what a small human like him could do against a close quarters master such as his self. Jun inched his way to the Zealot, all the while; the Zealot remained, understanding the implications of what moving would bring.
"Get on your knees." Jun commanded.
The Zealot complied with his command.
"Good." He said raising the butt of his rifle. "Now, take a nap." He swung his rifle and knocked him out.
The Zealot fell to the ground, unconscious, but alive. Six let out a sigh of relief.
"Thanks, Jun." she said putting her knife back in its holster.
"No problem." He replied. "Just one thing, WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING? Are you trying to get killed?"
Six looked at Jun, taken aback. "Jun—"
"Because if I had known that you wanted to die, then I would have left you at the mercy of the Elites."
Six remained silent.
"I know you're not used to the idea of relying on a teammate to give you assistance," Jun continued, "but it's really important that you do. I didn't rescue you just so you can go throwing your life away at your earliest convince. Throwing down in a massive gun fight against an army of Elites all vying for your destruction may sound great and heroic and worthy of a film script but I can tell you from personal experience that the heroes don't walk off laughing into the sunset."
He paused to catch his breath before continuing, "I will repeat what Noble One said to you when you first joined up with us: We're a team; that 'lone wolf' stuff stays behind."
Six remembered Noble One saying those exact words as she boarded the Falcon with him to go on their first mission together. Six regained her composure, and said, "I'm sorry, Jun. I won't let it happen again."
Jun did a quick nod with his head, "In the future, just make sure you let me know when you're going to do something crazy before you act. I might have something that could work with your plans, like say for instance the fight a few moments ago."
Jun held up a small black box. After a few seconds, Six realized it was a detonator to a bomb.
"I was going to detonate the make shift bomb I planted inside the Pelican I came here in to distract the Elites away from here so we can steal the Phantom with as little resistance as possible but you shot that plan to hell when you jumped from the ridge behind us."
Six shifted her weight to her right side.
"But what's done is done, no use whining about it now." He looked at the unconscious Zealot lying in front of him. "So, what do we do with him? I figured you wanted to save him for some reason, which is why I didn't shoot at him."
"I want to interrogate him." Six answered walking closer to them. Six could hear the whines of an approaching Banshee in the distance. "I imagine you've scouted this area out a bit so you probably know a safe place to have our chat with this guy." She tapped the Zealot with her left foot.
Jun put away the detonator and put both hands on his sniper rifle. "There's a cave in the rocks about twenty meters west from here. It's big enough to hide both ourselves and the prisoner and deep enough such that we won't get any uninvited guests."
"Alright, grab him and let's go." Six ordered and started walking away.
"Um, I don't know if you know this Six," Jun said, "but Elites aren't exactly, the lightest beings in the world."
Six sighed, turned around, walked back to him, and said, "If that's your way of asking for help, then you need to work on it."
"Oh yeah smart one," he replied grabbing the Zealot's left arm while Six grabbed his right, "how would you go about it?"
"Just asking for it." She said and the two of them carried the Zealot to the hidden cave in the rocks. When they reached the inside of the cave, Six bound the Zealot's legs and arms with a pair of zip ties and propped him against the back wall of the cave. The cave was dark except for a few small beams filtering in from a hole above the Zealot. A few rocks littered the area and a dark corner a collection of leaves and sticks sat bundled into a small nest where an animal once called this cave home.
Thirty minutes pasted as the Zealot lay unconscious and Six and Jun sat around cleaning their weapons and keeping watch for any Covenant coming to investigate the lone Phantom sitting in a rocky arena amongst the bodies of eighteen dead Elites. After an hour, Jun decided to wake the Zealot for his interrogation.
"Wakey, wakey." He said lightly kicking him in the leg.
The Zealot slowly opened his eyes to see Jun standing in front of him holding Dr. Halsey's prototype translator.
"Nice to see you awake. Well not really, I would prefer if you didn't get up so that that's one less problem for us to worry about."
Us? The Zealot thought as he scanned the area. In his immediate view, he could see the green Demon who knocked him out. The Zealot made a mental note to kill him first the moment he saw an opportunity. The brown color of the walls, the dusty dirt on the ground, and the darkness of the rest of the area told him that he and the Demon were the only ones inside the cave. The other must be outside or keeping watch in the shadows, he thought as he stared at Jun.
"Hey, aren't you going to say anything?" Jun asked.
The Zealot continued to stare.
"How's about answering a few questions?" he asked.
The Zealot looked at the green paint on Jun's armor.
"Okay, how's about this, I have some biofoam here. It can treat the wounds on your body so that they no longer hurt. I will only treat you if you answer my questions, sound good."
The Zealot noticed the sniper rounds on Jun's upper right and left arm.
"Alright, my patience is wearing thin here so I will ask nicely one last time or else it gets rough, will you answer my questions?"
The Zealot tested the bounds of the zip ties binding his arms and legs together making another mental note of how tight they were.
"That's it now—"
"Tell me, does all of your kind talk this much?" the Zealot asked.
"Finally, he speaks." Jun said throwing up his arms, "Now, I'm going to ask you some questions, and I want answers. First one, who is your so called Prophet of Mercy?"
The Zealot narrowed his eyes at Jun.
"There's no need to glare at me. In fact, I heard quite a bit about your little predicament."
Jun held up Halsey's translator, "We were watching the whole discussion from a ridge above us and the best part, we recorded the whole thing. Now we can listen to you getting kicked out of the Covenant and find out about your command structure all at once. It's a win-win for us. Except, of course, for you since you being exiled is the whole reason we have this intel in the first place."
"Cowardly, pathetic, humans." The Zealot menacingly said, "Nothing you do surprises me any more. My only solace is that your kind is forever scattered and broken. No longer will my brothers have to die by your hands. Soon you too, shall die and your doomed race will be gone."
Jun whistled. "Pretty harsh words coming from a—what's that word he called you, ah yes, a heretic."
The Zealot snarled at Jun.
"You are the last to issue such insults, Demon! You, who are too cowardly to face his opponent in an honorable engagement by using you sniper rifle from a safe distance. You, Demon, dishonor your own brethren who are not afraid to fight my brothers in face-to-face combat and against multiple foes, in situations that even we would consider perilous, and against all odds emerge triumphant and ready to continue fighting, where as you are too afraid to even look at your enemy without the aid of a scope. Perhaps you should assess your own honor before you call to question others."
"Why you—"
In the shadows leaning against the cavern wall, Noble Six began to laugh. When she stopped, she said, "I believe you've lost that argument Noble Three."
Jun and the Zealot looked over to towards Noble Six as she emerged from the shadows tossing her knife into the air and catching it again.
"I'll take over questioning our Zealot, or rather, our Field Marshall friend from here."
Jun looked back at the Zealot in surprise. "Now that I'm looking at him closer, I can how he resembles the one that tried to kill you. Alright Six, it's your show." He walked off into the shadows.
The Field Marshall gave Noble Six a curious glance over, taking note of her armor's grey coloration and Noble Six's short height and medium build.
As Noble Six approached the Field Marshall, she did the one thing that no SPARTAN would ever consider doing when interrogating a prisoner, she removed her helmet. Then she crouched down in front of the Field Marshall and looking directly into his eyes said, "I'm not as nice as my friend. I prefer action to these...delicate operations. Now, I'm going to ask you some questions. You're going to answer them. Fail," Six showed him the gleaming blade of her knife, "and I use this on you and I will continue to use it until you answer or die. The choice is yours."
The Field Marshall reassessed his opinion of Noble Six. Hmm, this one is the one who is the cause for most of my troubles and yet shows no fear of doing what is necessary to achieve her goals.
"You will not need that device." The Field Marshall said,"I know it translates what I am saying. I am capable of speaking your language, rough though it may be."
Six sat aside Halsey's translator. The Field Marshall continued, "You amuse me, Demon. Most of your kind would not remove their helmets willingly. You are also a female Demon. In all my battles I have never encountered one who is not only a female but would also do me the honor of engaging in a fight using nothing more than blades. Ask your questions, I may answer."
Six nodded her head. "First question: how did the Covenant find Reach?"
At that, Jun, who was watching the tunnel leading into the cave, turned his head towards Noble Six. Behind his helmet, he had a puzzled look on his face; wondering where Six was going with this line of questioning.
The Field Marshall gave Six a curious look. "Why would you ask a question you already know the answer to, I wonder?"
"Don't play games." Six responded with a hint of malice in her voice. "I am well aware of the cloaked supercarrier, Long Night of Solace, and its small force—"
"I wouldn't call it a 'small force'." Jun interrupted.
Six glared at him. He turned his head finding something interesting about the wall.
"As I was saying, I am aware of the size of the initial force. I am also aware of what happened afterward. What I want to know is how you found us?"
"Perhaps I misjudged your intelligence, Demon." The Field Marshall said.
Perhaps I should start cutting you up. Noble Six though as she started tossing up her knife.
"I am about a few seconds away from cutting your foot. I hear it's quite painful."
The Field Marshall grunted. "There was a battle shortly before this one where our fleet endured a significant loss. The sole surviving ship claimed to have engaged a worthy foe capable of strange and wild maneuvers."
Strange and wild maneuvers, huh.
"This resulted in the destruction of one of our destroyers. However, just before the cruiser left the system, it left behind a tracking device to latch onto the ship to which the ships leaving the system confirmed its attachment and followed it here."
Noble Six recognized the battle he was talking about, despite the fact that she was else where at the time; just about, everyone on Reach had heard of the "Keyes Loop", named after then, Commander Keyes's wild tactic to outmaneuver a Plasma Torpedo, which resulted a Covenant destroyer's destruction as well as two Covenant frigates to be destroyed. Six's blood began to boil with rage as she thought of Captain Keyes' ship the Iroquois, leading the Covenant to Reach and his ship being the cause of both Reach's and most of Noble Team's destruction. Six's silence did not go unnoticed by the Field Marshall.
"Are you satisfied?" he asked. "Or are you…upset with what you heard?"
Six shook her head. "Don't concern yourself with that. Second question: why the brutal tactics?" Six paused to consider her next words. "Before I heard that conversation earlier, I assumed it was because you Covenant thrive off the destruction of us humans, but what your Prophet of Mercy said has changed my thoughts on that."
The Field Marshall remained silent and kept his eyes on Six.
"This is just a hypothesis, but I think you Elites in particular hold a serious grudge against humanity."
"What gives you that idea, Demon?" The Field Marshall asked.
Six's face darkened, "I have seen what you Elites do to those who get in your way. I have seen your brutal handy work. I have also heard the stories of what your kind has done to mine; how you make no distinction between combatant and non-combatant. So, I ask again, why the brutality?"
The Field Marshall narrowed his reptilian eyes. "And do you believe that your kind is absolved of committing atrocities of your own? Do you believe that your kind is innocent of the destruction they have brought upon yourselves by defacing our most holy of relics of my Lords?"
"Relics?" Six looked at the Field Marshall with a confused look.
The Field Marshall grunted. "Do not act like you do not understand. Your scientist was studying one such and showed no reverence to its treatment. You humans have defiled many of the sacred relics left to us by my Lords. Even now, as this planet burns, your race continues to show its contempt by desecrating the Sacred Ring to which we, the worthy have long since sought."
Six shook her head. "No wonder we call you Zealots, your religious fanaticism blinds you to the fact that we never once did as you claim."
"LIES!" The Field Marshall yelled struggling in his bonds as he did. "The planet you called Harvest was covered with them, and you humans defiled them as if they were nothing more than play things. Your contempt for that which we hold sacred is the main reason the Prophets wisely ordered your extermination."
"Which brings me to my next question: who started the war?"
"I just said—"
"Not what your Prophets told you, but who fired the first shots."
The Field Marshall remained silent pondering Six's question. "To be honest, I do not know. All I know is that the Prophets said you were a blight and hindrance to the Journey and that you should be eradicated. No earlier contact is known to us other than the fighting at Harvest."
Jun, who had been silently listening to the conversation, looked over at the Field Marshall and said, "So what your saying is that this entire time you have been blindly following orders, without once questioning who it was you were fighting." He shook his head. "Man, you are blind."
The Field Marshall growled at Jun.
"Jun." Noble Six said warningly.
"No Six, this needs to be said. Do you even know what Harvest was? It was an agricultural planet. The people there were farmers! They knew nothing of war and most certainly nothing of your so called 'relics'. You want to know when we first encountered your Covenant, the day Harvest was glassed to ruin that's when. So don't you tell me that humanity is nothing more than defacers of your religious symbols and gods."
Six stood up, stared at Jun and in a commanding voice said, "That's enough Noble Three. You've said what you wanted to say now go cool your head before your temper gets the better of you."
Jun stared hard into Noble Six's eyes for a minute before turning his head and sinking back into the shadows.
The Field Marshall watched this with amusement dancing in his eyes. "A male being put down by a female, I thought the males of your species were better."
Six quickly glared at the chained up Elite, "This coming from someone who was nearly defeated by the same female standing in front of him."
The Field Marshall turned his head, muttering complaints and insults under his breath. Six continued, "And for the record, what my partner just described is only part of the truth. Apparently, we've had contact with the Covenant before Harvest."
Six felt both Jun and the Field Marshall give her their full attention. "It's not widely known. Hell, even I did learn about it until recently."
And by recently, on my last mission before I joined up with Noble Team.
"Humanity's first contact with your Covenant took place on the February 3, 2525, when one of your vessels by chance raided one of ours. Our command thought the raiders were rebels and tried to set a trap for them. Who would have guessed that the raiders were nothing more than a ship full of Grunts and Jackals? Certainly not us, no we had no idea who we were dealing with, however that didn't stop our people from trying to talk with them first.
"But as with anything dealing with Jackals and Grunts, they were too nervous to talk and instead a firefight broke out and shortly there after Harvest was invaded and glassed by your kind."
"Where did you hear this, Demon?" the Field Marshall inquired.
Six grunted. "I'll tell you as soon as you answer these two questions: what is Halo and what is this Sacred Journey your Prophet spoke of?"
The Field Marshall did what could pass as a snort. "Like I would tell you. I maybe a Heretic, but I will not disclose the most sacred knowledge of the Covenant. My oath is not one that I will break even unto my dying breath; I will up hold the Covenant I long ago pledged to protect. Besides, why would you even tell such a tale, to inspire doubt in my mind?"
Six nodded her head as if she were expecting that response. "No. I asked to see what you knew and from that, I determined that you're nothing more than a pawn in someone else's game. I would know—I've killed my fair share of both pawns and the ones that move them."
Six's statement hung in the air, a cloud of death baring more wisdom than they understood.
"I'll let you think on that for awhile." Six said holstering her knife, "As far I'm concerned, this conversation is over."
"I gather you now intend to kill me?" The Field Marshall asked glaring at Six.
Six looked over at Jun; who was still sulking with his sniper rifle against the dark wall of the cave.
"Just say the word, Lieutenant." Jun said brandishing his rifle, "I'll have a hole in his head before he even realized he was dead."
Six put on her helmet and shook her head. "That won't be necessary."
Behind his helmet's visor, Jun raised his eyebrows. "Just what do you have in mind, Six?"
Six turned her attention back to the Field Marshall, his eyes closed in mock sleep. Six kicked his clawed foot to wake him.
"I know you're not asleep."
The Field Marshall opened his eyes and looked at Noble Six with a bored expression. "Have you decided my fate; ironic that it comes from a human; and a female no less."
Six smiled. "As much as I would enjoy killing you right now, I have a proposition if you are willing to hear it."
The Field Marshall nodded his head. Six continued saying, "Since we're are both being hunted by the Covenant, how would you like to join forces under a temporary truce."
"Have you gone mad?" objected Jun.
"No, Noble Three, I haven't. Given the circumstances neither one of us will last long alone on Reach. This Field Marshall is no different than we are; alone, forgotten, and left for dead."
Six paused to catch her breath before continuing. "Therefore, I propose a deal, we will assist you in getting your revenge, and in exchange you help us get to where we need to go and I can promise you, we're both headed in the same direction so you won't be inconvenienced."
The Field Marshall continued to stare at Noble Six for a few minutes before saying, "I will agree to this…proposal under two conditions: the first that I kill the Ultra Field Commander."
"Field Commander?" Jun inquired.
The Field Marshall turned towards his direction. "Yes, that is what I said. He is the one in charge of making sure this planet is properly glassed and acquiring any information as to the whereabouts of any remaining human settlements so that they may feel our wrath."
"Basically, a HVI." Jun said.
The Field Marshall nodded.
"Oh." Jun said, "Continue then."
The Field Marshall continued, "the second is that after you're job is done, we finish what we started earlier."
Six stared at the Field Marshall, waiting for any more conditions. When he remained silent, she said, "I can agree to those conditions, provided of course either of us is still alive at the end to carry out that last one."
"Then I accept your terms for a truce. Cut me loose and I will follow you and that other Demon until your business and mine and anything related to it is finished."
Six walked behind him and cut his hands and feet free of the zip ties biting into his flesh. Once free, the Field Marshall rose to his feet, extended his hand, and said, "As the Lords as my witness, I swear to this truce between you, Grey Demon and those who follow you. From hence forth you are my honored enemy, may your blades remain sharp for the day of our fight."
Noble Six looked at his hand and took his into hers and the two shook, the pact made.
"Oh joy," Jun said sarcastically, "another companion. I wonder which of us dies first."
Six glared at Jun behind her visor. "Keep talking like that and I'll help you be the first one."
Jun raised his hands in defense. Six turned back towards the Field Marshall, watching their exchange with curiosity filled eyes.
"By the way, what do we call you?" Six asked lowering her hand to her side.
The Field Marshall's mouth made what Six guessed was a frown. "We hold names sacred in our race." He said, "And normally, we do not divulge our names to others unless they are of higher status or it is a formal setting. If you must call me something, then I believe calling me 'Icarus' would suffice, for now."
"Icarus," Jun answered, "as in the legendary hero who's wax wings melted when he got too close to the Sun and he fell back to the ground?"
The Elite nodded his head. "The very one."
Six cocked her head to the left in a puzzled gesture.
"I have studied your kind's legends and culture in my spare time." He said to her answering her unasked question. "To fight one's enemies, one must understand them. This includes their culture, their history, and their legends."
Six nodded her head. "We can do that."
Icarus asked, "What then should I call you and your companion, Demon?"
"You can call my friend 'Jun', 'Noble Three', or something else. You can call me 'Noble Six' or keep calling 'Demon' if you prefer. "
"Then Demon it is then." He said with a nod.
"Hey, what about me?" Jun asked pointing to his self.
Icarus turned towards Jun and said, "I think call you Kig-Yar Jaw"
"Sounds fearsome." He replied.
Icarus walked towards the cave entrance smiling as he passed Jun. Noble Six shook her head and followed him. Jun looked towards Six and asked, "What? What does it mean?"
Six looked back at him and suppressed a laugh as she said, "Loosely translated, it means 'Jackal Jaw'. He probably called you that because you never shut up."
"Jackal Jaw!" he complained, "Why do I get the lame name?"
Six shrugged. "Could be worse."
"What could be worse than 'Jackal Jaw'?"
"He could have called you 'Grunt Jaw'."
"I'll keep what I have." He said and followed Icarus and Noble Six out to the cave's entrance.