Disclaimer: Samus Aran belongs to NinTenDo. Master Chief and the other thirty two Spartans belong to Bungie.
Samus didn't realise that the girl was awake until after she'd said it, but then she smiled as she realised she didn't mind if the girl had heard her.
"Welcome back, four five eight." She said, her voice soft. Apart from the occasional externalised thought, she didn't have much cause to use her voice.
"How did you..? No, of course the angel of death would know my designation..." The warrior groaned as she sat up and removed her helmet, shaking out short, brown hair. "I expected hell to be less... earth like though."
"That's a new one for me, I've been called a lot of things, but never 'angel'." Samus chuckled to herself. "My name is Samus Aran. I'm a bounty hunter, and you're not dead. What's your name?"
"A bounty hunter?" 458 blinked "Oh. I'm sorry. I'm Spartan 458, petty officer second class, UNCS Marines. Are we secure?"
"There's nothing moving. Your bomb took out their ship, and a few of your drop ships showed up a couple of minutes ago. I don't think they're in any hurry to chase us down... Wait, you don't have a name?" Samus blinked. It was the first time in a long time that something had surprised her. "So what should I call you?"
"Petty Officer is what most say. You can call me Nicole if you want." She smiled, shyly. "Though it doesn't really mean anything.. It's what they called me before I was given a number."
"Nicole, then. Here, let me help with that first." Nicole was trying to take off her armour, but she must have been wounded in the fight or the crash because she was fumbling the catches. Samus moved forward and helped her, lifting each piece away and laying it down carefully until the Spartan was wearing just her back under suit. It was amusing to note that despite the differences in their armour, both women wore roughly the same thing beneath - a skin-tight, tear-resistant layer that both cushioned their skin against the armour and let them interface completely with their suits' systems. Under 458's Mjolnir armour was a powerfully built woman with a stunning physique even most marines would kill for.
"Thankyou" Nicole smiled again, then staggered Samus moved to catch her. The weight of the larger woman forced her back two steps until she was leaning against the wall, supporting 458's weight with her hands on her shoulders. "I couldn't fight you... once I saw." She whispered in Samus' ear before she put her arms around the blond, hugging her close. "I'm sorry it took so long for me to realise that you weren't one of them."
"N-no, that's okay... It was an honest mistake, even if I am still a bit annoyed that you destroyed my suit." Samus stuttered, blushing inexplicably and as surprised by the Spartan's actions as the other girl seemed to be. Hesitantly, she hugged back. "Are you okay? You're a bit unsteady." She asked after helping Nicole stand again.
"I'll be fine. I'm just a little sore... and maybe a bit dizzy..." This time, 458 caught herself, putting a hand out to rest against the wall. "The healing factor will take care of it. I just need to sit down for a minute... And maybe have something to eat..." Turning, she put her back to the wall and slid down it slowly.
"Is there anything you could eat in that?" Samus asked, pointing at the pieces of power suit still laying where they'd dropped them.
"Ugh, Military rations" Nicole grimaced, but nodded "Yes, there should be. In the chest armour, liquid rations" She tried to stand up, but Samus pushed her back down with a disapproving look.
"You, Petty Officer Second Class Nicole Four Five Eight, are not going anywhere until that dizziness fades." Samus told her, scowling. "I'll get the drink." With that, she stood and went over to the armour, searching the breastplate for access. Eventually she found it, and flipped the cover open to find a mess of wires and tubing at least as complex as her own Varia suit, if less efficient or effective. Finally settling for ripping the plastic bag out of the surrounding attachments, she brought the transparent container over to Nicole and offered it to her. Inside was a blue liquid that looked as appetising as the Spartan had described.
"Thanks" It was Nicole's turn to blush without explanation now as she took the bag and sucked thirstily at the scrap of tubing left at the top. After a moment, she offered it to Samus, who smiled at her and took a long drink before pulling a face.
"It really doesn't taste good, does it?" She grimaced, and Nicole chuckled.
"I think it's to stop us getting distracted by the drink in the middle of battle. Though I did hear that 117 managed to get beer in his once. Him and his technician both swore it was an accident, but you know Marines." Nicole grinned again. "By the way, what's a Bounty Hunter doing out here? And how'd you get that kind of technology? It's beyond even what I've seen the Covenant using, and they've got some scary stuff."
"My foster parents gave it to me. When I was three, my parents - they were miners - were killed in a pirate attack. The Chozo - Choujinzoku, to give them the name they call themselves - took me in when they realised what had happened. I was chasing some pirates when they went into hyper drive. I followed them, something went crazy on my scanners, then the next thing I know those religious fanatics were demanding my unconditional surrender and the pirate ship was fleeing. I ducked into the atmosphere to avoid their attacks only to find myself in the middle of a ground war." Samus shrugged, sitting down next to Nicole. "I hid my ship in a blocked tunnel, then you know the rest."
"Where are you from, then? Wait, 'Religious fanatics'? You don't know who the Covenant are? Where have you been for the last two years?"
"All over the place. Between the Federation and the Chozo, I've been pretty much everywhere."
"How come I've never heard of this Federation, or these Chozo, then?" Nicole was confused. "The only two forces I know of are the UN and the Covenant, and the Covenant certainly aren't friendly."
"That's odd..." Samus started, ready to tell her about the Federation, Space Pirates, the Chozo and Metroids. She didn't get the chance to finish, however, as 458 keeled over without warning. "Damn. She must have been worse off than I thought, and without my suit there's no way to scan her..." Samus muttered to herself. The nearest medical help was with the UNCS forces spreading through the city below, and they had no way to get down until someone found them, the stairs having been destroyed. 'Well, at least it's just the humans down there now. The ship should be fine...' She decided, tapping a few controls on her wrist computer - the only thing apart from the sword that she'd managed to salvage from the wreck of her armour - to wake Adam up and summon the ship to her. There was a rudimentary medical centre in the ship, and hopefully it would be up to the task of diagnosing what was wrong with the Spartan.