And I am back! Sorry for the long delay for all of those that have waited. I've been catching up with friends, trying to stay afloat in college, and read Inheritance. I am however committed to finishing this story no matter how long it will take me.

Disclaimer: I own nothing except OC's…damn it.

Tal Requien had not gone to sleep as Odin had recommended but rather she had already packed her things and was currently waiting in her chambers staring impatiently at her door. To keep herself relatively amused as she waited she used an old magic training regiment by levitating several different sized rocks in an intricate pattern of motion. She only did it with one hand as her other toyed with her curly brown hair. When the door opened violently followed by a booming crash she lost concentration and the rocks bounced off her hand. She stifled a yelp by biting the sides of her cheek.

In front of her stood none other than Odin himself.

"Sorry my dear." he said startled himself "The doors use to be heavier in my day."

Tal was surprised by two things. First that it was Odin himself who had come to see her and how much strength he possessed. The door was so heavy that Tal had to use magic to open it.

"It is time." he said beckoning her from her room.

Taking her staff and her belongings she made her way toward Odin. When she reached the portal she turned back to her room. Her room while decorated was not as lavished as those from the noble or wealthy classes. The room had fine linen on the bed, drapes, and clothing. A mirror hung next to her bed above the drawer that housed the few scents and oils. Tal in truth had no family to fund her such riches or any simple gifts. The only family she had were the friends that she had made. Despite how rarely she saw him Odin was the closest thing she had to a father.

She looked back at her safe room with worry. Could she actually do it? Could she cross the Wild Sea, where others had failed, and seek the one of her dream? Would her resolve hold firm or would it fall in a moment of critical need? It all seemed to much for her.

"Wondering if this is what you want?" he asked softly.

"What did you feel when you were leaving?

"Exhilarated that I was leaving and afraid that I would fail."

"What got you over your fear?'

"Nothing did, but I figured why not? I would never know what would happen unless I ventured forth." he said with a roll of his shoulders.

"So your whole reason for going out on your quest was 'Why not'."

"Yes." he responded before turning away.

She watched go slightly startled that one would venture into the unknown on the whims of why not. A joyful laugh escaped her as she strode after Odin.

"Why not?" she said to herself.

Odin escorted her through the markets that were already beginning to bustle with activity. Shop owners lifted the veils or curtains of their store alighting their goods for all to see. She passed several kiosk having exotic merchandise. Many of the merchants would call out to Odin with a friendly wave. He in turn would give a slight nod and a thin smile. Despite her youth Tal still had trouble keeping up with a man that looked nearly five times her age. Briefly she wondered if he was that old or if the ages had not been kind.

The markets were soon replaced with squat but humble abodes of many of the cities residents. The design of the houses were not because of squalor but rather military code that if the outer walls were to be breached that any archers would not gain any significant angles. A Sangheili female that was attending to drying laundry glanced at them as they passed.

Tal found it strange that despite the differences between the two races that the females looked closer to human females than they did their own kind. She had never seen a male Sangheili with hairs. She had often reasoned that it was gender locked but she had heard that males preferred to have it cut out of tradition.

Soon the port was soon in sight. Several ships of varying size were present. The port was separated into civilian and military harbors. Odin lead her away from the civilian and into the militaries. Seven guards stood guard before the gate. It was a mix of human and Sangheili warriors. They stared unemotionally as they approached but the grip on their weapons loosened. The men parted and saluted Odin as he passed before reforming ranks. On their way to the boat where only Odin knew. They passed several different patrols that eyed them just as steely as the guards. Strauss took his work seriously and instilled the finest discipline and loyalty into all of his sailors. They passed several supply boats, cruisers, dreadnoughts, and several large dragon carriers.

Odin lead her to a rather small dragon carrier that was scarred but its noble spirit remained strong. She read the name along the side. ENTERPRISE.

"The Enterprise, one of finest ships helmed by one of the greatest Captains and a dear friend."

"Odin you honor me with your words." said an approaching bald man that wore a simple long sleeve shirt, gray slacks, and large black boots. A simple cutlass hung loosely by his side in its scabbard.

"Captain Picard, your looking good." Odin responded in greeting.

"You expected something else?"

"Last time I saw you, you were covered in the blood of several different Long Arms and one rather nasty Serpent."

"If your trying to remind me of a certain battle your going to be more specific."

Despite Piccard's war humor she couldn't help but be enchanted by his voice. She shook her head at the thoughts assailing her mind. The man was well above her in age. While the fantasy was…entertaining it was far from reality.

"So this is our Seer?" said an approaching Sangheili.

It had always difficult for Tal to guess a Sangheili's age but by the gray scales on his forehead she guessed him to be close or in the later years of life. His helm was carried in his hand. His armor was gold that gave his already radiant authority some nobility.

"Plea my old friend. It does me well to see you still alive." Odin spoke embracing the much larger Sangheili in a hug. Which was rather awkward but the Sangheili managed. As the let go Tal saw the ever so present scar on his hand that signaled him as a dragon rider.

"I couldn't leave this world without having seen the cultists of the Black Gate."

"Black Door." Piccard corrected.

"Them too." was the Sangheili's response.

"Tal Requien this is Sureamee. He is an accomplished Dragon Rider that has accomplished much in his career. I hear you are now training your future replacements." he said after introducing her.

"I wish they strived to be. I think my moment of disobedience with the Admiral has finally caught up to me."

"Really which one?" Odin asked humorously.

Plea gave Odin a playful glare. Before he turned serious as he stared at Tal. "Now I should ask which promise are you keeping?"

Before he could speak a loud shriek of joy was heard over the canopy of the sailors moving materials onto the ship. Staring up to the ship she saw a boy with dark wild brown air waving at her. She only got a glimpse of the boy before he leaned to far and was falling. If it was not for the timely action of his sea green dragon leaning quickly by the edge catching him in one tooth by the seat of his pants.

The boy seemed unfazed by the sudden change as he rubbed the back of his head and laughed. "Hey Tal." the boy said loudly.

"Thomas, get back on the ship." Plea said flatly pinching the space between his eyes.

Tal turned to ask Odin what he Plea had meant but the old man was gone but a simple parcel was left in his place.

Jordan watched as he released another batch of patients. Unemotionally he watched as lovers reunited. After the first day he had fathers, mothers, lovers, and children praying in front of the Field Hospital. He had told Mirra to pray to her gods, but he never thought that she would spread the word resulting in the congregation before him. To the Spartan it was annoying to have people of every hour of the day praying in front of the makeshift hospital. For once the Spartan's superb hearing was a bane as he could hear the muted whisper of people praying. He already had gotten past the red zones with his remaining patients and the praying only served to add more pressure on him than was needed.

He turned back to head in when the doors closed on him. The Spartan awkwardly stopped before the doors. The gathered crowd turned to the Spartan who appeared to be dumbly staring at a door.

As the unease grew in the Spartan he asked the Watcher "Why won't you open the doors?"

YOU HAVE NOT EATEN IN FIVE DAYS. YOU NEED SUSTENCE.

"I've been taking a cat nap for five years." he responded back annoyed.

All the while the crowd stared at the Spartan wondering who he was conversing with.

YOU HAVE AN APPOINTMENT WITH NASUDA

"I made no appointment."

I DID. SHE WISHED TO SPEAK WITH YOU MORE ABOUT YOUR HISTORY SO I TOLD HER THE BEST TIME THAT YOU WOULD BE AVAILABLE. BESIDES IT WAS THE ONLY WAY TO GET YOU TO EAT. SO GO ON.

Briefly Jordan thought of a way to delete the AI or at least using his Spartan strength to smash the door in. Reluctantly however he gave in as he still had to talk to Nasuada. Turning around he stared back at the crowd who stared at him curiously.

"Excuse me." he said as he walked through the crowd to Nasuda's tent.

After passing through the winding paths of the Varden camp Jordan eventually made it Nasuda's tent. This time Jordan noted that even Urgals were standing guard.

The guards saluted him as he approached. He thought it odd that they did as he had no official ranking amongst the Varden.

"Probably out of respect and admiration." he reasoned nonchalantly.

"Nasuda is expecting you." one of the human guards spoke as they stood aside to grant him passage.

As he walked into Nasuda's over lavished tent in his opinion he saw that the space had been cleared for a table stacked to the brim with food. Fruits, vegetables, and meats were piled high. A succulent roast pig sat in the center of the table. At the sight of the food Jordan's stomach grumbled. Only now did his bodily requirements make themselves known.

Taking his sight off the food he saw Nasuda, Ayra, who were accompanied by four others. Well three technically as the other looked like a large house cat. The cat was covered in red fur that was slowly graying. The yellow eyes never parted from him and examined him with interest. Of the other two they were both female one old and one young, Jordan noted. The older woman was covered in a red robe that covered any of the garments that she was wearing. She had black curly hair the wound down to her shoulders. The young one couldn't have been more than three or four years old. She was the most interesting of all as she had a strange glowing mark in the middle of her brow. It was hard to discern, but he could have sworn that it was a dragon. Her purple eyes stared at him as if they were boring into him, staring at his soul, seeing all his faults. Briefly he wondered if her eyes were genetic or result of her bewitchment. Both women had their eyes set on him.

His instincts kicked in, sending alarm bells in his head. The only thing he was certain of that he could trust in this world were his gut feelings, as they had saved him from death many times. Right now his instincts were telling him that despite their appearance these people were dangerous. Briefly his hand went to feel for the reassuring presence of his side arm only to feel empty air. Mentally he cursed as he hadn't grabbed it when he let out today's group. He had disarmed himself intentionally when releasing the patients so as he wasn't tempted to put them down. Still he was an Apocalypse class Spartan so he was fairly confident he could take them on. Magic or not.

Off to the side of Nasdua sat another man just as dark as her. He wore a golden crown with a purple tunic with white stockings. He stood straight with a scepter in his hands. If the scepter was for magic or show the Spartan could not tell. If he had to bet the man was a king and not an advisor or a high ranking noble.

"Who are the guests?" the Spartan nodding his head in the direction of the three. He found them the oddest of the gathered.

Before Nasuda could speak the robed one spoke. "Did you bring someone else with you? You are the only guest."

Jordan didn't answer her and stood at parade rest before Nasuda.

"This Jordan is King Orrin. The leader of Surda. These are Angela, Elva, and Solembum." Nasuda said gesturing with her hand to the respective individual.

The Spartan cocked his head slightly as he stared down Angela. To a casual observer it may have been amusing to see a giant in armor turn his head much like a dog. However a casual observer would probably keep his amusement to himself as to not get hurt.

"You didn't answer my question." Angela said breaking the silence.

The Spartan didn't bother to answer her turning his attention back to Nasuda.

"Ma'am." he spoke as he straightened himself with his hands behind his back. "You requested my presence?"

"Yes, as we were interrupted last time…"Ayra and Angela both coughed at that last statement. "I assume that as a foreigner you would like to know more about this land. Also we would like to know more about you."

"Lady, you don't know how foreign I am." Jordan thought it was rather ironic how closely related he was to this world's humanity, yet how different they were. On that same train of thought he assumed that this lunch meeting was more than history telling.

"Please sit." she gestured to one of the several lavished chairs that surrounded the table.

The chair was made of oak that had been polished to a mirror like reflection. Large fluffy purple cushions with gold embroidery were fastened to the back and seat of the chair. A chair that could probably hold a fully armored human of this tier level with no problem. A chair the he would probably break if he sat in.

"This chair won't support my weight." he stated plainly.

Nasuda looked at the armored Spartan as if he grown a second head.

"My armor weighs half-a-ton, or a fourth of Saphira's weight." he said realizing that neither riders or dragons were present.

"How can you move so fast when your armor weigh's so much?" Orrin asked baffled.

"I'll answer that in the history lesson." Jordan stated bluntly.

Nasuda looked at him in shock before calling for a servant and making a request for a stone bench.

"Ma'am, where are Eragon and Shakii?" he asked as they waited for the bench.

"Eragon and his brother have undertaken the task of eliminating a valuable resource of Galbatroix. As for Shakii…" Nasuda trailed off turning to Ayra.

"We believed that it would be better for all those present if you two were kept as far away as possible." Ayra said neutrally.

"She sounds like a politician." Jordan thought off handed at Ayra's response.

"Wonder if its sexual tension." Angela whispered to herself.

Jordan stared down Angela with a gaze as blank as his visor. Which he was thankful he was wearing, as it hid his initial face of disgust.

"What?" Angela asked indifferently as the Spartan stared her down.

"I heard you." For such a neutral voice his image made it come across as a death threat.

"Are you sure it's wise to send Eragon and Roran to kill the Razac?" Jordan said changing the tide of the conversation. He was just about as objective with a casual conversation as he was with a mission.

"I believe them to be more than capable." she responded tersely as if he had encroached on a dangerous subject.

"Excuse me ma'am I meant no disrespect. Only if it is wise to send two that have a vendetta with the targets."

"Targets? Is that what he calls all of his opponents. To dehumanize them and consider them as just numbers?" Nasuda thought briefly as she looked upon her newest and potentially most deadly ally.

"And if they do have a vendetta it will make them all the more reason to fulfill that task. Do you not agree?" she stated her reasoning.

"While I agree with it makes them more determined I was concerned if they would be able to turn their anger into a useable advantage rather than a berserker furry."

"I believe Eragon and Roran are more than capable." she paused before continuing. "Jordan I have enough advisors stating how they believe I should be running this war." she spoke with authority.

"Yes ma'am." Jordan responded becoming more rigid than Nasuda thought possible.

"None have fought the wars I have." he would have voiced his mind but as Nasuda was his superior he knew better than to talk back.

Not a moment to late the stone bench was carried in by four men who were grunting and heaving as they placed in on the ground.

"My lady." They said respectively.

One came forward and addressed her "Where do you want it?"

Nasuda respectively gestured to the Spartan's end of the table. As the men were about to pick up the heavy furniture once more the Spartan stepped up and effortlessly took it off their hands.

"I'll take it from here." Jordan said dismissing them.

Once he had set the table at the opposite end of Nasuda he sat down arms folded across his chest.

"So who goes first?" the Spartan asked.

"Spartan, I am most intrigued in your story." Orrin was the first to respond.

"Actually as he is the guest in our land I find it courteous for us as hosts to speak first."

Orrin glanced at Nasuda with a look of interest. Nasuda responded with the same gaze before flicking her eyes to a corner of the tent. Whatever message it was Orrin nodded in confirmation.

"Yes, Nasuda. Excuse me Spartan for my rudeness."

"No offense taken your Majesty." Jordan responded glancing between the two. Something was up, that much was for sure.

"The founding of the Varden was in the aftermath of Galbatorix's rise to power. A former dragon rider, like Eragon, named Brom gathered together those that had been imprisoned or exiled to oppose the Empire. However as Brom wanted to pursue Morzan, he entrusted the lead of the Varden to his closet friend Weldon. Morzan was one of the Forsworn. The Forsworn were thirteen corrupt, power-hungry Dragon Riders that flew under Galbatroix's banner. As to how Galbatroix corrupted the riders I can only speculate that they were drawn in by the allure of power. As to why Brom chose to pursue Morzan, I don't know." Nasuda said catching a moment to collect herself.

The entire time Jordan had been observing all of Nasuda, not in the way that a man may be interested in a woman, but her body language. He was an expert at reading people. Granted it was more with predicting the next move in a fight, though the concept was the same. As he observed her he saw that she was truthful for the most part. However he caught her eyes flick to the left when she mentioned not knowing Brom's reason for pursing Morzan. He could only speculate that Nasuda with held that information to save face of the Varden's founder. Either way it hardly seemed like relevant information.

"At first the Varden didn't have the necessary numbers to confront Galbatorix so we resorted to decisive infiltration and sabotage. We were able to assassinate many of the Forsworn, however our first real victory against the Empire was 20 years ago when Brom slew Morzan who was trying to recover Saphira's egg."

"Saphira's egg? The blue dragon. How old is she?"

"A little under a year." Nasuda responded with surprise.

Jordan was slightly surprised that Saphira had grown to a size a little bigger than a scorpion tank in under a year. However what truly got him was that Saphira had been in an egg for nineteen years. It was a biological conundrum.

"When did Galbatorix begin his rise to power?"

"Over a hundred years ago." Orrin answered.

"Over a hundred? That would make Galbatorix way over a hundred. That's way past the standard human life expectancy. Are you sure your fighting the same man?" Jordan asked wondering if they had been smoking something.

"Yes. Did you not know that riders can live forever as long as they don't succumb to illness or blade." Ayra answered this time.

"That would have been good information to know." Jordan thought. "She's only been telling me of the Varden's origin. Either she doesn't know how about Galbatorix's rise to power or she is specifically not telling me."

Jordan glanced between Orrin and Nasuda. They had conferred earlier in secret before his approach. Maybe this had something do with their conversation. Then he glanced at Ayra, the Elvin princess and representative had barely spoken a word since his arrival. He didn't even know how they were tied into the Varden or what their purpose was in this war. He was now beginning to believe that he should have been more patient before deciding to reveal himself.

"I take it Brom himself must have been a rider?"

"Yes, one of our finest." Ayra responded once more.

"He was an intriguing man, but slightly awkward at times." Angela spoke up.

Jordan glanced at her now intrigued that she had known Brom. As she was among royalty here he figured she must have been important.

"She may know what Orrin and Nasuda are hiding from me. I should interrogate her later." he thought.

"Spartan, why have you not taken off your helmet? This feast is also for you." Nasuda spoke up noticing that the Spartan hadn't bothered to eat the food before him.

Jordan stared down at the food awkwardly. While his body was hungry the habit of being fully armored in almost every situation held him from taking off his helmet. Sighing mentally to himself in defeat he removed his helmet with a twist and a hiss.

As Nasuda and Ayra were the only two present they were the only two that didn't stare agape at him. Without much ceremony he, civilly, began to dig into the food before him. At an astonishing rate the food began to vanish to the Spartan's gut. Even Elva who had been eating to keep up with her bodily demands could not match the Spartan's pace.

"Please continue." the Spartan gestured to Nasuda before resuming his feast.

Nasuda observed the Spartan eat with gusto. She never thought that someone could eat so fast or so loudly while being civil at the same time. She wondered if the Spartan could even hear her if she spoke. Remembering that the Spartan could hear even through Ayra's enchantment she continued on with the story.

"After many attempts, the egg had been secured we opened negotiations with the Elves and ferried the egg between both lands in the hopes of finding a rider. Many years passed, but our hope that the egg would chose someone held true."

"Wonder how Saphira would like knowing that she had been used as a bargaining chip. Still why put your hopes, if these legends are anything to go by, on one egg that may not even hatch for anyone? If Eragon is the spear for this revolt then where are the sword and shield. To not seek other options is the height of folly." he thought absentmindedly as he crunched through the bone of the chicken leg he had been stripping the flesh of.

"I take it something must have went wrong for the egg to have ended up in the Mountains near Carvhall?" Jordan asked already piecing together some of the information he had collected from Roran.

"Yes, a Shade called Durza found out about our trail and ambushed us while we were traveling with the egg. With a powerful spell the egg was sent away before Durza could claim it. By fate or by chance it landed before Eragon."

Jordan noticed Ayra's use of "our" and "we". It sounded as if she was part of the defensive escort. Why would she be apart of the escort? Wouldn't it be safer to have the egg transported by someone of less importance. For her to have been captured under the UNSC would have been a major breach in security.

Jordan would have opened his mouth to ask her why she found it necessary to risk herself in the protection of the egg, but it occurred to him that he still didn't know the customs of the elves and that asking her may be offensive. He already had one elf with a dragon mad at him, he didn't need an entire nation screaming for his head after insulting their princess. That was one annoyance he would rather not like to create if he could help it. So he asked the other question that he had on his mind.

"What's a Shade?"

The assembled stared at him stunned. How far did he come from that he didn't know any of the legends? Almost everyone had a basic understanding of the riders, shades, and the other creatures that roamed the lands.

"Do they not have any monsters where you come from?" Orrin asked the question on everyone's mind.

"Your looking at one." Jordan thought bitterly to himself.

"We have plenty of monsters where I come from." Jordan remarked. "Probably worse than whatever this Shade is." Remembering the terror that was the Flood.

"Shades are creatures of dark magic. They are formed from the most vile and cruel of spirits." Angela spat with disgust. "They are created by…"

"How do I kill it?" Jordan interrupted her.

Angela looked at him at a cross between miffed and anger. Never before had someone had the audacity to interrupt her while she was speaking. Either this person didn't know who she was or didn't care about the details.

"To know how to kill your enemy you must know them." she spoke like a mother scorning a child.

"When I asked how to kill them I meant for you to tell me their strengths and weaknesses." he said speaking like the scorned child.

A pregnant pause followed while two titans, in their own right, stared each other down. Angela was the first one to break the silence continuing from where she had left off.

"They are normally created by a sorcerer who couldn't control the spirit they had summoned and consequently become controlled by that spirit. Some sorcerer's willingly submit themselves to gain even more magical power."

At the description of the creation of a Shade brought back the memory of the Flood once more. As for a possible reason for creating a Shade the Spartan revolted at the thought of giving up one's body at a quest for power.

"With the creation of a Shade the body matter not. As with all sorcerers undergoing the transformation their body changes drastically. Eyes and hair turn the color of blood. Most of them have thin compact bodies. They have highly translucent skin."

From the brief description that Jordan heard they sounded like Spartans who had been in their armor far too long, aside from the whole blood colored hair and eyes.

"What truly makes Shades such dangerous creatures is their inhuman abilities. They are stronger, faster, and senses greater than that of any natural being. All Shades can use magic and are well versatile in swordplay. However their greatest ability is to defy death." she spoke of Shades' with such ill intent that he thought that she might start tearing into someone if they sneezed.

"The ability to defy death?" Jordan asked curiously. Spartans' had the ability to defy the impossible, they did not have the ability to defy death…at least not permanently.

"Yes," she began coming out of her inner musings, "Shades have the ability to come back from the land of the dead. You could bludgeon them to death, hack off all their limbs, rip off his balls and make him choke on it and the Shade will still come back. "

"The last one sounded like the voice of experience…should I be taking notes?" Jordan wondered.

"Some believed that coming from the realm from death only made them stronger. The only way to truly kill a Shade is to stab them through the heart."

"That's it?" Jordan asked a little crestfallen. Their was this huge build up to such an awesome opponent and all that was required was to remove his heart.

"I expected some sort of magical enchantment doodad of opposing…magic to slay a Shade."

"You want a harder opponent?" Angela asked her demeanor turning to that of a sweet aunt.

Jordan noticed the sudden change with weariness. His gut still told him despite the frail old woman that she appeared in front of him that she was dangerous. Out of all them here he only considered her an actual threat.

Ayra hadn't acted openly hostile so he didn't consider her a possible threat. Going by any of the unanimous description that he had the Watcher gathered on the description of elves he knew that they were fair with beauty and powerful in magic. The first was correct as to the second he still didn't quite believe in this "magic". Orrin and Nasuda were both well trained in swordplay, but they were not frontline soldiers. Elva was just a child, a strange one at that, and the other one was just an overgrown fur ball.

His gut still told him to keep an eye of the two near Angela, but he felt fairly confident that his appearance alone would be the sole defense he needed.

When Jordan spoke he spoke carefully.

"I expected a harder opponent."

Angela continued to stare at him sweetly while everyone else looked at him with a mix of amazement and frustration.

"A Shade is no being to be trifled with." Nasuda spoke calmly.

"Yes ma'am." Jordan responded respectfully.

"If all you say that I have to do is destroy the heart then that Shade won't even get close to me…unless I let him." Jordan turned his head to Angela. It wasn't a threat or a promise. It was something much worse. A statement.

Angela stared at him just as coolly as she did before.

"Is that a wager?" Angela asked curiously.

"Depends on the stakes." Jordan responded.

"That can be settled for another time." Nasuda cut in.

Both turned to regard her before nodding in respect. Angela shot the Spartan a look which he did his best to ignore.

"Now Spartan, Jordan please tell us your tale." Nasuda asked, Jordan however took it as a command.

"Spare no detail." Angela said "Unless you want to." with curiosity.

Jordan eyed Angela queerly. Why would she ask him to spare a few details if he wanted too? Putting that thought aside he realized that this was the first he actually contemplated telling them of his history. The UNSC's history. He had thought of it when he was in the Field Hospital, but duty to his patients always brought him out of his musings. The quirky AI didn't help matters either. Speaking of the AI he knew that it was probably listening in with some device. The fact that the AI had thrown him into this trap spoke of its loyalty.

"Loyalty." he praised and detested the word.

He now realized how big of an impact his words could have. On one hand he had to gain the trust of his new found allies if he was to be granted asylum within their lands. The number of resources he had were great, but even he knew that they were limited. Information was one such resource which he was sorely lacking.

On the other hand their was the loyalty of the AI to consider. It was UNSC and he wasn't anymore. How far would the AI go to help him? Would it use him then cut him off when he was of no more use. By cruel fate or chance they had been thrust together into this situation. He would carefully speak to the AI when this was over.

Deciding on the course to take Jordan opened his mouth to speak in doing so sealing his fate.

"I do not come from any land that you are aware of or ever know of. I come from another planet entirely."

"You what?" almost everyone said simultaneously. Only Angela refrained from speaking, but she folded her arms as she examined him with new intrigue.

"I was born on another planet. Draco III in the Draco Systems to be precise."

"The Draco System?" Nasuda asked still trying to grasp the fact the person before her came from an entirely different planet.

"Yes, the UNSC or United Nations Space Command had dominion over the system as well as a hundreds of other planets."

"Hundreds?" Ayra asked completely taken aback by his statement.

"Had?" Angela asked more intrigued.

"Yes, hundreds. More than eight hundred to be exact." he said to Ayra before turning to Angela "I'll get to that soon enough."

As Nasuda listened to him she heard his voice subtly crack. She most doubted that the young before her was still dealing with changes of boyhood to man, so was it in pain?

"You seriously can't expect us to believe this." Orrin asked in disbelief.

"You don't have to believe, but it is the truth." Jordan stated flatly.

"Please, Jordan, continue." Nasuda said shakily but still retained enough conviction in her voice to silence Orrin so that Jordan may continue.

Jordan paused as he now actually had to tell them a tale of his history. The UNSC's history…the easiest place to begin would be to begin at the beginning of it all.

"The Draco III was not our home world. Humanities home world…My humanities home world. Is Earth. It is where we began."

"Were there any other races with you? Dragons, dwarves, or elves?" Orrin asked.

"No, Earth was solely humanities."

"Fascinating," Angela said from where she sat with her arms crossed with one finger on her temple "if rather dull."

"For ten thousand years, give or take, humanity rose and covered the world. Our beginning was bloody and savage. Wars fought for religion, resources, and power. As we changed from hunter gathers to a more civilized society we became smarter and thus more dangerous. As Empires began to rise one stood out above all others. The Persian Empire. They rapidly advanced in the ways of war. With leaps and bounds above many other smaller empires they set about conquering them. With each consecutive victory the people began to believe that their king was a god. As with each passing generation the fame and conquests of Persia grew. Eventually the successive King Xerxes, turned his attention to Greece. There they would meet their first failure when King Leonitus of Sparta would lead three hundred Spartans and other Greeks against the tyrannical Xerxes and his army."

"Spartans?" Nasuda asked connecting his title, almost family name, to his history.

"Yes. Historians vary on the number Persian warriors present but the most accepted total is one million." As he watched the looks of shock spread across each individuals face he continued on to tell the legacy of the battle. "The battle was held at Thermopylae. Thermopylae was the only road that that the massive Persian army could pass. Thermopylae was double-edged sword however. At it's widest the road it was 100 meters across. This allowed Leonidas much smaller force to take on the much larger Persian army. The battle lasted for two days before Leonidas realized that the Persians were beginning to flank him. The Persians new found strategy was not born of ingenuity but of one man's greed. Knowing that they could no longer hold their ground Leonidas dismissed the bulk of his army. Hundreds of others remained behind however to fight alongside their King.

"What happened?" Orrin asked.

"They were killed to the last man. It is one of Earth's greatest last stands. It was the best example of a patriotic army of freemen defending their home land. However, it was much more than that. It became a beacon of hope and courage as it displayed how training, equipment, and knowledgeable use of terrain can be used to turn the tide against overwhelming odds. This proved useful as it rallied the other Greeks to believe that their opponent could be defeated."

"Finding victory even in defeat." Nasuda said very moved by this battle.

"For something as desperate as that rearguard action required, for you to take up the mantle of those ancient warriors some truly desperate times must have been upon you." Angela said being more perceptive than the Spartan had granted her.

"Yes, and we were the desperate measures. There is still much story to cover however before I can get to that." the Spartan responded.

"As years turned to decades and decades into centuries humanity continued to advance in science. What that science was used for depended upon if it was an era of war or an era of peace." Jordan thought of the numerous wars that were fought along with the first use of WMDs. If ignorance was bliss it was probably he best if he didn't tell them what he truly could be capable of. It was best he reasoned if no one here ever realized how destructive he could be with the arsenal of weapons sitting in the dark hallow steel guts of the Forever in His Hands.

"In the 1960's humanity would begin its first venture out of its cradle and into the galaxy. It was a long a grueling struggle but eventually man made it's first steps on Luna, our moon."

Jordan found it surprising how the relatively primitive task of reaching the moon would astound his audience. Granted back in humanities early years no one thought that they could even reach the moon.

"From their it was a slow process, usually held up by stupid politics, that we began to venture out and harvest our solar system. However as we rapidly began to expand livable space available began to diminish. As such wars broke out. It wasn't until after these wars that humanity became unified under one single banner, for a time."

The Spartan took a great intake of air to pause and regather his thoughts.

"As humanity began to expand their were those who wished for independence from the UNSC. As most of the UNSC leaders had learned that a divided humanity would most often breakout in war. However to avoid any backlash a diplomatic attempt was made to resolve the unrest. For a time their was relative peace as a compromise was tried. In many peoples eyes those who attempted to break away from the UNSC were thought of as innocent rebels and the UNSC as power hungry war pigs. However this thought was soon washed away as the Insurrectionist rose to power using terrorist tactics."

Jordan paused when he saw the looks of confusion of his audiences faces he knew immediately what he would have to clarify.

"Terrorist tactics is the use of spreading fear to influence the ideas of the opposing sides policies. Most often the target of such tactics are innocent civilians."

The look of shock that spread across their faces was exactly as he expected. From the look of Elva he guessed that she understood it but didn't grasp the concept fully.

"My story gets darker from here. This may not be a story she needs to hear." he said staring directly as Elva.

" I can…" she began to protest.

"Elva, please take Solembum and await me in my tent." Angela said with a motherly tone. From his military experience Jordan knew an order when he heard one.

"Angela will tell me anyways." she huffed before walking away with Solembum in tow.

As Elva walked away he felt an attack at his mind that he batted deftly aside the weak attempted breach. The snaky tendril of her conscious retreated as she left the tent. Turning back to Angela he could see the coals of fury burning on Angela's disappointed face. Apparently she was aware of Elva's weak attempt, and she was not pleased. Sliding off the attack on the inner sanctum of his mind he continued his story.

"Multiple attacks were spread through out the colonies at the Insurrectionists attempted to gain their ideal freedom by any means necessary. The UNSC attempted to destroy the Insurrection by both conventional and unconventional methods, however this proved to be rather difficult as the Insurrection proved to be well funded, trained, and the cells that managed to be captured knew little information into the organization that they worked for. Facing a complete breakdown of human society the Spartan II project was launched to take the best that the UNSC had to offer and make them better."

Jordan knew he was not telling the whole truth, but enough kernels of truth to make his story both accurate and believable. If he had told the entire truth he could kiss the fragile allegiance he had with the AI goodbye.

"Men and women went under rigorous training that separated from all other branches of the military. However for all the training they had the UNSC military minds along with ONI, Office of Naval Intelligence, decided to take the Spartan project one step further. Through the use of thousands of years of medical science the soldiers under went procedures that would elevate them above the human norm."

"What were these procedures?" Angela asked intrigued.

"If I told you I would have to kill you." he deadpanned "Or anyone who made an attempt at those secrets." this statement made to any of the mind readers that may or may not try.

"I can tell you however that some of those who underwent the procedures either died or were ill formed. However to those who did survive the procedure unaffected the benefits outweighed the risks. They were able to see farther and had great night vision. Reaction times were quadrupled. Strength and speed were tripled. Every bone in their body was nigh unbreakable. These were Spartan II Commandos and were perhaps the greatest known warriors the UNSC had to offer. In months after their activation into service the Insurrection movement was severely crippled in terms of leaders and military might."

Jordan had sped through much of the UNSC history, but had done so out of confidentiality and the sake of time. The next bit he knew would be the most controversial story these people would ever hear.

"As soon as it seemed like we had the Insurrection under control a new more dangerous threat arose. The Covenant. The Covenant was a religious hegemony of multiple species. This threat was not for one of control, the need for resources, but the simple gift of the right to exist."

"The right to exist?" Nasuda asked, not believing what she was hearing.

Jordan nodded solemnly. "The Covenant declared humanity as an affront to their Gods and as such needed to be purged. The first meeting of the Covenant was at one of our Outer Rim colonies Harvest. It was called First Contact as it was the sole time in all of humanities venture out into space that we had met actual intelligent life. Needles to say it all went to hell. The UNSC garrisoned on the planet was able to evacuate some of the populace, but many civilians still died."

"One of our ships was sent in to investigate Harvest after the rescue of the civilians. We soon lost contact with it and three ships were sent out this time to investigate. Two of the three were lost with the final one limping back to the UNSC. This time a small fleet was sent to assess the damage. Roughly 2/3rds of the fleet was lost in the single engagement." "The war for Harvest would not be a quick a decisive victory. It took five long years of constant war fare before Harvest was reclaimed…the death toll was staggering. However the Covenant suffered greater losses and proved to humanity that we could win on the ground…It was not enough. Even though we could regain the ground that we had lost the battles in space were completely one sided. Once the Covenant had complete orbital dominance it was all over. They would burn the world to ashes."

The Spartan was silent in remembrance and his audience shocked in horror.

"They burned worlds?" Ayra asked with a slight tremor in her voice.

"Why?" Nasuda asked.

"Like I said we were an affront to their gods. No one was spared. Not one man, not one woman, not one child. Hundreds of planets fell to the relentless advance of the Covenant Juggernaut. Each with thousands or millions of souls."

Each face that he gazed at had the same sickened expression.

"The same happened to my world." Jordan said with an indifferent tone. He leaned back from his meal one arm on the arm of the stone bench and the other resting on his temple.

All of them stared at him in shock.

"I was six years old, when they came." he added as a kicker.

"I remember it clearly as they brought me, my mother and a host of others to be used as food for the Grunts and Jackals as we weren't good enough…for sport. Only me and two other children survived out of the thousands of colonists that made up our city."

"Oh by the Gods…" Orrin asked his jaw slack and his eyes as big as golf balls.

"When I became old enough I joined the UNSC." Jordan said almost completely shifting gears. After my evaluation they recognized my skill and had me put through Spartan III program. I graduated from my group with top honors in a majority of the categories."

"Most of my missions were expected with a loss of all assets. However the pay off for such missions gained the UNSC valuable time against the Covenant. I will not lie to you though we were Spartan's we were not given the same amount of equipment as our elder kin. Fatalities were in the hundreds."

"Disposable heroes. That's what you were to them wasn't it?" Angela asked speaking softly.

"Take it as you will." Jordan said with a dismissive roll of his shoulders. "I was trained to fight and fight was what I did."

"For several years I would under go a variety of missions that were grueling even by Spartan standards. Since my missions were deemed Classified EYES ONLY I am not able to share the exact details of my missions with you. However I can tell you that we struck deep into enemy territory. Wherever we went death and destruction followed. Each individual member of my team probably attributed to hundreds of thousands of Covenant dead."

To the esteemed gathered it sounded as if he was recalling a fond memory.

"However it wasn't enough. For each stride we made another planet would fall. It was only a matter of time until every human within the Orion Arm would be dead. That time was compounded further still after the fall of the UNSC's power center Reach. Ironically however Reach's fall contributed to our survival. A lone ship the Pillar of Autumn following the Cole Protocol made a blind jump to uncontrolled space and discovered the greatest marvel of humanity's history, and that of the Covenant's. However once more the exact details to what happened are classified."

"So what exactly can you tell us that isn't classified?" Angela asked in spite at Jordan's build up that ended in an anticlimactic finish.

"We discovered a remnant of a once galactic civilization that expanded far further than either the UNSC's or Covenant's empire. The Forerunner's as they were called and the reason for their fall…the Flood."

"I assume that this an analogy to a race and not water?" Orrin asked.

Angela flashed him a "What do you think?" look before turning back to Jordan.

"Yes. The Flood is a parasitic organism that can infect both live and dead tissue."

"Infect?" Nasuda asked.

"Yes, the Flood infect any organism and take it over." The Spartan knowing that he may be using words that were over his audiences head or were unfamiliar, changed tactics. "Imagine your best most trusted friend, a gentle soul that wouldn't kill even to defend his or her self. Now imagine that friend being taken over by a malicious spirit and grotesquely transfigured into a mindless husk bent on consuming you. With each consumed body turned into a weapon the Flood as a whole grows more powerful militarily and mentally." he let his words sink in before continuing.

"This was an opponent that defied a far more advance and far more powerful empire than the UNSC at the height of its power. This was an opponent that even the Covenant feared. This was an opponent even I was afraid of." Jordan admitted honestly.

"One Flood spore can lead to the destruction of an entire race." Jordan said remembering the conversation with Rtas Vadam.

"The Covenant was bad but the Flood were something else altogether. The Flood aren't driven by simple desires of power or politics, but one simple purpose. To feed on every living creature."

"A second generation Spartan that was on the fleeing ship was the one who discovered the Flood. He defeated both the Flood and a Covenant Armada before heading back to Earth with a handful of survivors. That Spartan was John-117. Both the unofficial and official leader of all Spartan generations. The soldier every Spartan strives to be."

"It was his actions that would lead to the Covenant Schism which would lead to several of its races aligning with us with the purpose of mutual survival."

"You allowed your enemy to join you even after all they had done to you." Orrin asked still aghast from hearing all that the Covenant had done to humanity.

"Survival is preferable to extermination." was the Spartan's response.

"Also the factors of our allegiance had to deal with the fact that the Flood threat had become much greater than anyone could have predicted."

"The combined threat of the Covenant Loyalists and Flood had united the UNSC and Covenant Separatists. With this new found allegiance we were able to end both threats before galactic extermination. Our final battle took place in Dark Space, beyond the galactic rim on a world sized Forerunner construct. We were only able to get to the construct because of a Forerunner built portal on Earth. On the way back through the portal to Earth the…connection was severed and my ship was left to drift before stumbling upon your world." Jordan said quickly, generalizing the true history, and keeping certain facts from them.

The quiet that descended was thicker than the slop that chef's of the UNSC called turkey and gravy surprise.

"You have given much to think about Jordan…" Nasuda said still digesting what he had said and wondering still what he had hidden.

"You are dismissed." she said finally.

Rising from the stone bench the Spartan saluted Nasuda before curtly turning on his heels to have a talk with a very quirky, very enigmatic, and very annoying A.I.

The sun had already made its pass over the sky as the Spartan made his way back to the Field Hospital. Most of the Varden had already turned in for the night leaving the rough roads barren. In truth he preferred the silence after the long lunch conference. He already began thinking about how he was beginning the conversation with the A.I.. Knowing that he had tactfully hidden secrets from those he could trust more than the AI did not sit well with him, but after being raised by ONI he had grown uncomfortably use to deceit and telling half truths. For all he knew the AI could have repaired or made a new beacon which was already transmitting.

That made him wonder if the UNSC or ONI found him what would happen? Would they kill him? Or would they take him back…

It was probably more likely that they would kill him.

His internal musings were brought short as he reached the Field Hospital that loomed like a sleeping beast. Innocent while asleep but awaken it turned into a terrifying monster. The monster being the AI.

The doors slid shut inviting him in and he entered without pause.

I SEE YOU DID WELL was the blocky golden lettering that dominated the screen that the Spartan stared at. Jordan leaned against the far wall as he really didn't need to be in front of the screen to speak with the AI as it existed through out all the electronics in the Field Hospital.

"I see you were spying." was his response.

I WASN'T SPYING…JUST KEEPING MY EAR CLOSE TO THE GROUND

The Spartan gave an unbelieving grunt crossing his arms over his chest. Briefly he wondered why the AI gave the three dots. Did it honestly take the AI that long to process a response or did it just to annoy him? Either way it annoyed him.

"Well I had to keep to ONI protocol's."

WHY DO YOU HAVE TO KEEP TO ONI PROTOCOL'S?

"Why don't I?" the Spartan returned.

The AI didn't transmit, actually at a loss for words. Both of them knew why he didn't have to, but the Spartan made it clear that he was for the moment still apart of the UNSC.

YOUR WONDERING IF I CAN BE TRUSTED

"I'm wondering if we can trust each other."

The Spartan's tack was to keep the AI guessing but stay close enough that he could be trusted. Nothing got to an AI more than having to guess.

I'LL TRUST YOU UNTIL THE UNSC GETS HERE. AFTER THAT YOUR FATE IS IN YOUR OWN HANDS.

"Good." was the Spartan's sole response before he turned away. Briefly he wondered if the AI had said about the UNSC being on the way. Were they actually coming? Was the AI still trying to contact them or had it already? Or was it all a ruse to instill some measure of authority over him? What baffled him more than ever though was what had it meant about his fate being in his own hands?

"Well with that both exciting and slightly lacking in action packed chapter. I am…"

Door to room explodes open as a familiar green Spartan comes in with a shotgun out.

"Son of a…" I barley began before the barrel of said shotgun is shoved into my face.

No one moved. With slow motions the Spartan motioned me away from the computer. The Spartan motioned me to the door before pumping the shotgun. It was all the incentive I needed to move.

The Spartan waited a few moments before he called out to his fellows in a Texan accent.

"Get in here men we have a job to do."

"Remind me again why we are here Sarge." said an orange colored Spartan that entered.

"We are here to deny the blues air superiority."

"By denying some poor guy the ability to write about a series of books about a blue dragon in a completely fictional world? Sarge this is by far your worst plan."

"Nonsense Griff. Sarge this is a great plan." said the ass kisser of the group.

"This room is pretty dark and dreary." said light pink colored Spartan that followed after the maroon one. "With a few additions of hand penciled turkeys and other bright colors this room could match the festivities of the season!"

"Well speaking of denying stuff I'm going to deny right to the guy's beer." said Griff.

"While your out see if you can find any paint remover…Dirt bag."

How was the short? Good or epic fail?