AN: Allow me to make two things clear before we continue

1: I will not be writing every single action or fight sequence in the game as that gets very boring for me to write so you'll see … a lot throughout the story, at least until later

2: I will not cover every character in the game, only characters that are required or that I really like. In other words, I don't wanna F**king hear it that I didn't include certain characters, I already know so please don't pester me about it

Irina: Renewed Will

I turned in yet another mission and collected the spoils, of course I would have turned them down but their was no decline reward option. After turning in the assignment I took a step back and looked over the board again but I wasn't looking for another mission. Instead I thought of what Elma told me again.

'Maybe she's right, these ganglion aren't exactly the covenant so maybe I don't have to carry everything… no… no' the image of Nia kept creeping into my head 'Never again, I will carry the burden alone… that way I take most of the pain in the end.' My gaze began to wander to the right and I spotted Elma leaving the barracks in her usual attire of red and white armor. She looked lost… then she looked at me. I knew what she wanted even though I knew it was probably not going to work out 'Then again… I'm a SPARTAN, accomplishing the impossible is an expectation' I walked up to her and tapped her on the shoulder, giving the silent message of 'I'm coming with you, where ever you're going'. She didn't say a thing and just nodded in return. Lin came running up and joined us, something about taking a break with Elma, I wasn't really paying attention. Normally I'd take the VTOL to where ever I needed to go but Elma insisted on walking which I didn't mind at all. As we began to walk I took notice of the amount of people who stared at me. Of course this was hardly new to me but it was the first time I bothered to look back at a few of them. We kept walking down the street until we came across a familiar interceptor.

"Colonel" Irina greeted Elma with a smile, a bit different from her pure soldier personality.

"Irina, how's your day off going?"

"Well since everyone else is off doing their own thing, I thought I'd eat by myself but…"

"You realize eating alone is kind of pathetic?" Lin finished

"Well that's not exactly what I'd say"

Just then two men began to walk up. They looked to be BLADEs as well.

"Oh look it's Irina" one of them commented with a sarcastic tone which caught my attention.

"That's LIEUTENANT Irina to you. She was a real big shot back on earth. Though now she's no better then us grunts." The sound other said.

"Pretty much" Irina replied in agreement. 'I suppose she's being modest, she could easily take these greenhorns.

"Come on you got to give her credit, what she did with the hand she was dealt. I mean that rookie, what was his name? Ah, Gwin, he can barely hold his own and yet she settled for him."

Irina looked agitated and put up her fists. I would have done worse, these two wouldn't survive back in the UNSC, they would be eaten alive for their arrogance and attitude. Elma moved in.

"Let it go Irina, they aren't worth it" she said attempting to cool the situation.

One of the idiots spoke again "Look, like a cute little puppy she does as she's told, just like their robot over there" I didn't bat an eye at the comment towards me, Irina did bat an eye.

"It's one thing to talk shit about me, it's another to bring my team and the Lieutenant into this, put'em up" she raised her fists as did the instigators. This is when I stepped forward.

"Didn't take you for a hot head lieutenant, I like it." Irina said, her mood changed when I drew my magnum and pointed it at the two agitators. They immediately looked to be regretting their actions. "Wait what are you doing? You can't just-" I switched the safety off as Irina spoke.

"Have you lost it Six?" Elma questioned but I didn't budge

"You're… you're not going to… you wouldn't!" one of them could barely speak as they both put their hands up in surrender.

"I will if I have too… do I have too?" I asked.

"Freeze maggots!" the booming voice of commander Vahndam rang out. I didn't turn but rather kept my sights firmly trained on the two idiots.

"You two, scram!" he ordered and they took off, it was only when they were completely out of sight that I holstered the magnum. When I turned I was greeted by a shocked Lin, a blank Irina, a pissed Elma, and a stern commander. Vahndam was the first to speak.

"Sorry about those two, boys got no discipline, though I'm a little surprised to see you in a street fight Elma."

"You're right, normally I would have ended it right away but I've known Irina for a while now, this was personal."

"No doubt, though I want to know what the hell was going through your head lieutenant. I commend you for sticking up for your fellow BLADE but you can't just point a gun at every idiot who runs their mouth."

He had a point. "I understand sir but this is survival. Everyone needs to understand that and I don't think those two realize that yet. That kind of behavior is going to get them killed one day." He seemed to know what I meant but Elma wasn't too happy.

"Next time Six, try to cool the tension rather then turn up the heat. What would have happened if those two idiots drew their weapons?"

"Then we'd have two less idiots." That made everyone go quiet. Lin flat out looked scared and Elma actually backed up a bit. "Like I said, everyone pulls their weight to survive, we cast our individuality aside for the greater good, those that don't aren't worth keeping around."

"You said your duty was to defend humanity, yet you'd kill a couple of humans just because they can't keep their mouths shut? Seems hypocritical doesn't it" Elma said. Once again, she was right, but if she knew the truth she'd understand.

'If she'll even believe the truth' I thought. I knew I had to respond or I might lose their trust "It won't happen again colonel, you have my word." I was expecting another lecture or a stern 'you better' look, but neither happened. She smiled at me.

"Good"

Irina then stepped forward "For what it's worth I thank you for your help." Her face then revealed a scowl she'd been hiding "I just can't stand men like that!"

"Neither can I" I replied

"You gonna be okay?" Lin asked finally finding her voice

"Just forget it, I'll be fine" I could tell Irina was frustrated so I opted to change the subject.

"Commander sir, you came out her for a reason?" I asked

"Actually I was looking for Elma" she turned to him and we received another mission. This time about clearing out several creatures that were causing trouble for other teams. Irina then decided to join us even though it was her day off which I commend her for, silently of course. I picked up my MA37 from the barracks before heading out with the rest of the squad.

…

Clearing out the last of the target creatures was trivial and I began to make my way out of the cave.

"Six, you copy?"

"Go ahead colonel."

"The rest of the squad is waiting for you in a clearing, I've marked our location."

"Copy that." I climbed up to the entrance and was greeted by the sun… and then a splitting headache. My vision began to go dark but I could still somewhat see in front of me. The pain was unlike anything I've felt before and that was saying something. Soon green flashes began to pop up and began to take the shape of a flickering green woman.

Could you sacrifice the future to regain your past? Could you watch it burn to save the one person who loved you?

That voice… it sounded so familiar. Just as quickly as the pain came, it was gone along with the flickering lady who looked and sounded familiar, so familiar that I swore I knew who she was, I just couldn't remember why. My vision returned to normal and I made my way to the rally point.

"Lieutenant, you okay!?" Irina called over the coms, her voice filled with concern

"I'm fine Irina, what's wrong?"

"You're vitals just flat lined."

"What?"

"You're fine now but your heart stopped for about 5 seconds."

"I don't know what to tell you Irina, I'm okay." The radio went quiet and I reached the rest of the team soon after. They all looked concerned and they were all staring at me. I really didn't want to deal with this but I could feel the question coming.

"What happened?" Elma asked. She was my new teammate and leader, what was I supposed to do, lie to her? I've done it before but I could tell she wouldn't buy any fib I came up with. Then I thought of Nia again and shook my head. It didn't take a more than a second to realize that Elma wasn't happy at all with that response and looked like she would press further when suddenly all of our com alarms went off.

"I was about to say, none of the creatures we ran into should have caused problems but another team just sent a distress call." Elma said

"Then lets go." Irina said as we ran off to the source of the distress call. Elma gave me a 'This isn't over look' before we started running again. We soon came across what looked to be a massive flying hummingbird… and two familiar jackasses.

"There's our real target." Irina stated

"Hey wait… those are the two that gave us a hard time earlier." Lin said

"Doesn't matter, lets give them a hand before they become lunch." Irina rushed off and Elma followed, Lin was hesitant but eventually joined them. That left me. Normally I would rush right in and help them all out… but I was hesitant. Those two had it coming and yet Irina stepped in and helped anyway despite being harassed by them. 'I guess even I still have somethings left to learn.' I equipped my AR and charged behind the pillar which the two BLADEs we cowering behind. They looked at me with horror in their eyes.

"You wanna live?" I asked and both nodded "Then stay down and watch, maybe you'll learn something" I opened fire on the flying nemesis while Elma was slashing at its underbelly. Irina began to open fire on its wings which proceeded to ground the target. I reloaded and dumped the entire mag into its face which split wide open, causing the creature to give off one last blood curdling scream before succumbing to death. The barrel was red hot and smoke was visible as I put it on the magnetic holster on my back. I walked back to the two men as they got their feet, the rest of the group joined me.

Irina was the first to speak "You two okay?"

"Yeah, you really saved our asses… listen, about earlier-"

"Forget it, just go home" her tone was demanding yet not angry. The two then ran off back to NLA. "Thanks for the help guys, we made a good team, not that we didn't before colonel."

"No problem Irina, if you ever need help, I'm here. Now back to what happened earlier."

I could tell she was talking about me "What happened in that cave Six?" I was on the spot with no way out now, yet I continued to say nothing until Irina spoke for me

"Maybe it's best if you leave him be on this one colonel, he clearly doesn't walk to talk about it."

"But I can't let it slide, if he has a condition that I don't know about-"

"It's not medical" I interrupted which got everyone's attention.

"Then what is it?" Elma pressed on

"Elma, you said that could trust you to carry some of the weight on my shoulders."

"Of course"

"Well I don't want to tell you because even I don't fully understand what happened in that cave. When I figure it out, I'll tell you but not now." She stared at me for a moment before nodding with a bit of a frown. I was beginning to trust her as she seemed to understand my thoughts without needing to know everything.

"Hey, how about we head back and I'll make us all lunch." Lin suggested and we all followed her back to NLA. While walking my mind wondered a bit

'My brain is telling me that I'm seeing things, that it was just a hallucination… my heart on the other hand, I haven't listened to it in a long time but it was telling me something else, something I couldn't believe but wanted to believe so badly… but she's been dead for years and to top it all off I'm in another universe entirely so it can't be… it just can't.' despite that conclusion I couldn't help but think of the false alternative.