"As of April the 3th, 2553, Secret-Spartan-011 is both the first of his unit to have ever found a small moment of peace, as the first to have successfully reflected on his past life, before ONI."
Masterdude21's trivia-moments pt. 1
Lucy AKA Gardevoir lvl 51 - significant moves: teleport, confusion, magical leaf and reflect. Light screen, Psychic. Future sight.
Fenrir AKA Nidoking, lvl 49 significant moves: double kick and horn attack. Poison jab. Earth power.
Cinder AKA Ninetales, lvl 49- significant moves: `Fires spin, confuse ray, quick attack and will-o-wisp. Flamethrower.
Fluffy AKA Aerodactyl, lvl 40 – significant moves: bite, wing attack, supersonic, ancientpower.
Phoenix AKA Jolteon, lvl 33- significant moves: tackle, sand attack, thunder shock.
Havoc AKA Gyarados 30 – significant moves: tackle, water pulse, bite, dragon rage
~0~
The night was long. Even though it was an otherworldly, alien sky, it was bound to be dark for a long while. He had spent several nights on this planet, all of which had resembled an ordinary night on past missions. He could see so many stars in the sky…some were more bright than others but all had a healthy glow, making realize that each and every one of them was a potential place where the UNSC ships could have been send.
"Your allies are here now," Cinder told him, "What are you going to do?"
"Talk to them," He explained as he watched three pelican dropships leave the lone Frigate that had been nleft untargeted for some reason. "Find out what is going on."
The Forerunner AI had told him the truth about the world he had found himself in a week ago. She had spent at least ten minutes explaining something that could have been explained in one…things about the war with the Flood, things about their desperation and creation of their AI's to oversee the project.
Oh their project. The sheer potential of what those aliens had attempted to do was still beyond his understanding.
"And then?"
"Then we'll see." Laughter had proven to be reasonably trustworthy after all; the UNSC really HAD been coming for him and they really had improved in their shipbuilding. He could see that the designs for the Dropships were completely different from those he had known in the past.
'Strange thing to think about, the past,' He thought. It felt so wrong to see his own world, one that he had left only a week ago, as part of history. It had really, physically been a week for his body and mind. But for the world around him, it had been months. His world had moved on…mankind had managed to win the war. Without him.
They had moved on without him.
"Will they like us?" Phoenix carefully asked him.
"Probably not."
"Aawww…"
"Couldn´t you at least soften the blow for her a bit?" Lucy berated him, having recovered quite swiftly from the mental blow she had received.
"Probably."
He heard both Cinder and Lucy sigh and began moving to the point where the Pelican Dropships would be the most likely to spot him. "Cinder, fall in."
He had no idea on where to start with those people; what he was going to tell the scared and confused soldiers aboard those ships. But he did know that he had to talk to them first; explain to them just what the hell was going on before the undisciplined marines started shooting at everything they saw.
He couldn't have that.
"What do you need?" The Ninetales asked him.
"A signal-fire. A big one."
"Alright, why? And where?"
"Those soldiers coming here need a place to go; a place to rendezvous where someone can inform them. We'll provide that place."
"Master?" Lucy asked him and joined them, Phoenix and Fluffy scurrying after her. "You told us that your people might harm us for their own benefit. Why are we helping them?"
"Because," He replied, not stopping to let his team keep up, "the war is over. There is no desperation now…no need to dissect and learn. This will be diplomatic."
"And if not?"Cinder asked him, "If they still wish to bring harm to us, what will happen?"
"If they want to learn more, I will let them."
"And if they wish to harm our group; our team?" Cinder then replied, "Will you stop them?"
"It won't come to that."
"Is that a promise?" Phoenix asked.
"It is."
They were silent for a while, allowing him to make his way to the barest, tallest piece of rock he could find. The Frigate had taken a position above the ocean, waiting while the dropships moved towards the closest piece of land and civilization available.
Which would be their island. Nevertheless, he needed their attention. He needed to make sure.
"Well, he DID save me when I was drowning…" Phoenix stated.
"And me when I was about to be torn apart by Growlithes…and when this guy was going to shoot me…probably some other times too."
Lucy sighed. "I have forgotten how many times he has saved my body," She stated. It was still a bit uncanny to hear her talk about herself and her body like they were two different things, but at the very least he could understand it. But her evil personality having been turned into a real, living body with real, existing abilities was not something he could understand.
Quite frankly, there was almost nothing about the situation that he was able to understand. Lucy had been cloned before she had met up with him, serving as a decoy to harm him. Then, she had developed the bodily and mental faults into a complete split-personality, which had haunted and hurt her throughout the brief time she had had as a Gardevoir. Then, the Forerunner AI had attempted –no, succeeded in transplanting that psychotic part of her mind into a new body. Then, Mewtwo –a cloned psychic himself- had been revealed to have cloned him as well, cladding him in Forerunner armour.
But what for? Humans were supposed to be the inheritors of the Forerunner technology, marking them as Reclaimers.
"Cinder, start a fire," He told the nine-tailed vixen. Throughout his time on this planet, he had somehow managed to befriend the local wildlife while alienating the local humans –as per Spartan-ways. Except that the local wildlife were really all intelligent creatures with the mind of a human stuck in the body of an artificially created animal, having been called into life as by-products of the Forerunner's last-ditched project to guard mankind against the Flood.
Except that they really weren't artificial, as they were capable of reproducing….like Fenrir was desperate to show at the moment.
`Where?" The vixen asked.
"Anywhere," He replied. Watching while the Ninetales started to put up some heavy fire in the air, he noticed the Dropships slightly changing their direction and moving towards him.
At the same time as they had noticed him, his speakers burst into a fit of static activity. Someone was hailing him.
"This is Lieutenant Delaware of the United Nations Space Command," The voice spoke, "Broadcasting to any and all UNSC personnel in the vicinity. Repeat, this is Lieutenant Delaware of the UNSC on an open broadcast, to any and all UNSC personnel in the vicinity. Do you copy?"
He opened up a secure channel with the origin of the call and replied. "This is Two-Sierra zero-one-one of the UNSC Platernus, reading you loud and clear."
"Copy that zero-one-one, we are descending to your location now. What's your status?"
"Gray, sir. We got a possible Omega-level threat."
"Come again Spartan? What threat?"
He sighed, realizing that the 'Omega' threat level was a Secret-Spartan code-word. It usually meant hostile alien activity, but marines didn't get that. And apparently, neither did officers. "Sir, " He started over, addressing the Lieutenant as if he were his superior, "We got live Forerunner activity here. Two AI's. I need a diplomatic party down here ASAP."
"Ehm, Spartan? I know of the Augmentation procedure for your unit. Everyone on this ship got hand-picked by ONI for clearance. It's been months of isolation…I need you to calm down and stand by for immediate medical attention."
"Negative sir," He replied, feeling agitated that this man suddenly adopted such a childish tone. "I'll explain when you get down here."
It was silent on the other end of the line for roughly half a minute, during which the officer was obviously discussing what to do with someone else. Then, finally: "Roget that. Prepare for touch down."
It was about damn time too. The dropships had grown in size considerably during the conversation, to the point that it was close enough to land.
"Two-Sierra, you got some indigenous life-forms besides you. Suggest you uh, clear them out. How copy?"
"Negative," He replied. Then he flicked the secured channel off again and turned to his Pokemon. "Get clear."
The four creatures didn't need to be ordered a second time and quickly moved away from the large platform where the two Pelican Dropships were going to touch down. He stayed his ground as two of the pelicans landed right next to him, while the third one moved to the beach.
He deliberately chose to remain unarmed while awaiting the UNSC response –and with unarmed, he meant not immediately capable of pulling a trigger. He had lost both of his weapons during the fight alright, but he had stuck a side-arm in the hip-holster on his right and left side, only to be used in desperate situations.
Marines attacking his team was a desperate situation.
The hatches of the two closest birds opened and seven marines thundered down the platforms, clad in different body-armour than he had remembered. Usually, any and all military personnel assigned to his unit used to wear black fatigues with special heat-resistant armoured plating for additional protection. These soldiers were wearing armoured plating alright, but nothing like he had seen before. The BDU seemed more refined; sleek and subtle, less bulky than usual.
They also seemed to be better protected than usual. They all waved their own rifles around; some of them wearing Battle Rifles and others holding shotguns. One of them was wearing an ODST helmet and held twin magnum-sidearms in his hands. The silver bar on his fatigues identified him as a First Lieutenant and he snapped to attention, feeling glad but also oddly frustrated with the presence of UNSC officers after an apparent intermediate time of a few months.
"Sir!" He snapped, saluting the man. He took notice of at least twelve of the fourteen marines bringing his rifles to bear on him, aiming down their sights as if he was their primary target.
He didn't see how his team responded to this unusual display of violence, but he hoped that they did the smart thing and stayed out.
"Two-Sierra zero-one-one?" The XO asked him, "Is that you?"
"Looking for another Spartan?" He asked the officer, suddenly feeling a surge of adrenaline spreading itself through his system. He didn't yet understand why, but he felt increasing aggression against these people. His people.
"Eleven, look," The Lieutenant started. Three pelicans worth of personnel wasn't very much; the majority had to be still aboard the Frigate –the frigate that looked more like a destroyer, if he was feeling honest. "Like I said, this is a delicate time. You have been out for a long time; you're lucky to be still capable of talking."
He raised his eyebrow, unaware of the proper procedure for telling an officer to 'shove it up his colon'. Why hadn't them an expected him to be capable of talking? He was bad with people alright, but a few months of the worst-case scenario –surviving in the wilderness- wouldn't reduce a Spartan to a feral animal. He had problems with aggression alright, but that just something that was his personal problem. Everytime he was away on a mission for longer than seven days, he felt increasingly frequent desires to kill, maim and murder. It was a fault in his personality, but it wasn't anything that couldn't be remedied by thinking or calming medicines that the UNSC would give him after such missions.
ONI was aware of his aggression problem and they tried to help him the best they could. So why did these people think of him in such a strange way?
"Sir, with respect. There is nothing wrong with me and we seriously need to talk."
"Spartan, I can honestly say that –Jenkins! Get those animals out of here now!" The Lieutenant suddenly snapped and pointed at the lone group of Pokemon, still waiting for him at the edge of the barren rock platform.
One soldier stepped forwards, his rifle at the ready to fire off a warning shot, but he acted sooner. He stepped forwards and grabbed the marine's rifle, tearing it out of his grip while simultaneously ripping out the magazine.
The marine cried out in surprise and jumped backwards –moving like he was suspended in jelly, or very thick saliva as his movements were slow and predictable.
Without realizing it, he had slipped in the combat-mode that spelt the time-dilation he was so prone to. He then heard the clicks of a dozen rifles being primed and he spun around, reaching for his sidearms. "These creatures are of great importance and should be treated as VIP's, sir!"
"Oh for crying out…listen up eleven!" The Lieutenant snapped. "You will stand down, or we will take you with violence. You have been without counter-agents for months; no Secret-Spartan is capable of withstanding that! Your mind is messed up and you need to face reality!"
"Sir, you need to listen. There is Forerunner technology involved, it was never months for me!" He barked at the man, having aimed his right arm at the Lieutenant's forehead and his left arm at the closest marine that had the second-highest rank. "There is a rogue AI on the loose and I have important Intel on the situation!"
The Lieutenant was about to reply, when he jerked around with his own rifle snapped up –aiming at nobody in particular. "Who's there!" He yelled.
"Ehm…sir?" The now-disarmed Jenkins asked him," Nobody?"
"That's bull, I heard her! Who's there!" The officer ignored the signs of his own marines, all of whom were now staring at the man like he had gone mad.
He turned around for a second, risking the moment of concentration-loss to take a look at Lucy. The psychic hadn't moved in any way, but a faint green aura was currently encircling her and her face looked different. Her eyes were narrowed and her mouth was a straight line, signaling that she was not happy.
She was probably responsible for the XO's apparent illusions.
"Marines, listen up!" He yelled at the directionless soldiers, fully understanding that the 2553-era ONI had way more knowledge of the Forerunners than the 2552 one had, "There are no animals on this planet. These creatures were created by the Forerunners and have human-level intelligence. They are to be protected at all costs."
"I think this guy has lost it!" One of the marines yelled and stepped back, as did two others.
"This place got to the Spartan and the El Tee alike!" Another one stated and lowered his rifle. "I say we bag 'em and get the hell out of here!"
These were the men and women that had been chosen by ONI? Disappointing.
Lucy moved closer and one of the soldiers, a female one, turned to look at her.
"What the…?" She muttered and actually lowered her rifle too. The golden bar on her chest identified her as a Second Lieutenant, but her actions showed that she had the mental capacity for more than that. She actually put her rifle away and moved closer to the Gardevoir. "Lower your weapons, soldiers."
"Ma'am, not you too!" One of the marines complained, but she immediately snapped back at him. "You will get your shit in order Mac! Do it!"
The man sighed and lowered his rifle, soon to be followed by the rest of the marines. As soon as the overall threat-level had lowered, the hallucinating Lieutenant calmed down and sat down on the ground, courtesy of the mental manipulation that Lucy was playing on him.
Or at least he thought it was her.
"I don't know what the hell is going on here, but I saw too much things to start panicking just because I heard the voice of one chick on my head," The female –a Sergeant, by the looks of it- then told the group, "We all survived the crazy shit of these Forerunner aliens; their halos, their machines and all those other things. Hell, we even survived the Flood, didn't we?"
A few marines softly agreed with her.
"I said 'Didn't we?'" She then yelled at them, earning a chorus of "Yes ma'am's"
Then she turned to face him. "I think you had better start talking."
Why was she being so hostile to him? Had he done something to these people that they feared him like that? He had only been biologically gone for a week or so, what did they expect to find?
"Follow me," He ordered her and turned around, his mind set on reaching a safe place on Cinnebar Island where he could talk to the marines without anyone interrupting them.
And he didn't miss the three marines quickly aiming at him when he moved. Those men were supposed to be working for ONI; so they would have ice-water for nerves and a thoroughly trained heart. Why were they treating him like he was a feral Brute Chieftain then?
~0~
"Cinder, I need you to keep a close eye on Fluffy while me move with our trainer. We can't have him attacking these people –it would be a bloodbath,"Lucy told her. It was funny that she would worry about a bloodbath so openly, as the Gardevoir had just managed to avert what would most likely have turned into one.
"Don't worry girl, I got this," She told the Psychic. "You keep the humans from eating each other and I will keep the flyer from eating them too."
Lucy nodded, looking grateful. "Thanks. These people fear Math like I have never seen before. They camehere expecting a fight, which was narrowly averted. I don't trust them, if I may be so blunt."
"Sure, be as blunt as want to be as long as you keep them easy like good little humans," She said. "Might I ask just why targeted the female?"
Lucy shrugged, moving with them in a tight formation behind the human group. "She had an air of command and…well, she was a female. I knew she would have the most common sense."
Behind them, she could hear Phoenix chastising Fluffy for attempting to eat a rock. "You don't say? And what did you do to that mean Human then?"
"The misunderstanding leader," Lucy explained, "Became frightened when I contacted him. So I created a few mirages of female humans in a misjudged attempt to calm him down. After that, I…mentally calmed him down."
"Is that as perverse as I think it is?"
"No!" Lucy replied with shock, "of course not! I just forced his physical being to relax that is all!"
"Alright," She laughed at the Gardevoir and moved closer to the group of humans. They smelled weird; not at all like Math smelled. They smelled cleaner, more natural. Whatever that was supposed to mean, was still beyond her. A few of the men looked rather young and held her interest in a minor way. There was only one female with them and that was the one who had been contacted by Lucy.
"The AI told me that the Platernus had slipped into something called a 'star-chart', pulling it towards this planet," Her Spartan explained to the group, "It is their method of traveling, but it was damaged. It took the ship months to get there, while I experienced it as a week at most."
"So it preserved you like an external Cryo-field?" One of the older soldiers asked her trainer, who didn't respond at all. Math's way of talking sounded rigid and forced, as if he couldn't stand being near these people.
His people. Had he been estranged to such a degree that he despised his own humans, or was he simply more comfortable around his new team?
"There are two AI's at work here. They oversee a project called the "Energy Conversion Project", he then continued and moved towards the outcropping of rocks he had stood while listening to Laughter, a good half hour ago. It had taken the human Flying Birds a long time to finally start flying, but it hadn't taken them as long as to teach the shore.
"What is that thing?" One of the "marines" asked as they walked past the place where Havoc was residing, still calming down from her rage.
"A member of my team," Math replied to the male soldier. "One of six."
"With all due respect; you got a large snake…a dinosaur…a fox with nine tails…a yellow rabbit with spikes and a humanoid thing that uses telepathy. How did that happen Spartan?" The female asked him, much to her frustration. She didn't even know Math; she shouldn't be talking so freely to him!
"By accident," Her trainer replied and knocked on the exterior of the large laboratory-turned warehouse. Then, the door slit open and they entered the building.
"Laughter? You copy?" He asked, looking around to see where the AI would manifest.
When it stayed silent, she feared that the Artificial woman wouldn't reply to Math's calls. But she manifested from a metal cylinder after a while, much to her relief.
"What should I be copying?" Laughter Under the Coexisting Years asked as she appeared from her metal device. Several of the humans jumped back in surprise, while four of them aimed their weapons at her. Two guys simply stared; their mouth's hanging open just wide enough to see their teeth.
All across time and space, an entire civilization and years of bloody war away from this world –and still did the guys stare at the naked females. Was that a universal male thing?
If so…did that qualify Math as a non-male non-female?
"This, is the Forerunner AI. She will talk now," Math then finished and crossed his arms, pulling his mind off of the dusted, rusty button that said "talk to people" and switching it to the overused button that said "Be quiet and sexy."
Perhaps that last one was inaccurate.
"These are your allies I see. Very well. They know of our plight with the Flood and the Array, so I shall explain only the situation of this world. I cannot tell them more."
"Why not?" The man that had been identified as "Lieutenant" Demanded, "Why can't you tell us more, miss…"
"My name is Laughter Under The Coexisting Years," The nude female finished the man's sentence and sighed. "I am only in command of this particular Testing Ground. There are others more fit for explaining; others who have stayed behind throughout the ages, waiting to be discovered by Reclaimers. Millennia Never Fall, for example-"
"Miss, let me stop you there," Lieutenant snapped. "If you are going to say the word 'protocol', I will have no choice but to shoot your terminal and await further orders."
The marines whispered in agreement, but the female sighed and rolled with her eyes.
"I am sorry? Have I caused offense?" Laughter asked them, sounding pretty confused for an all-knowing creature.
"Just some really bad experiences with rampant AI's, let's leave it at that ma'am," One of the younger men reassured her.
Her helmeted head turned to look at the human that spoke to her and then seemed to decide that she would address the issue further to him. "Very well then. This world serves as a testing ground for us to oversee, me and him."
"Him?" The female human repeated and pointed at Math, who raised his head and looked at her.
"No, there is another research Ancilla in this world. He and I were supposed to oversee the experiments, but our ways changed."
"What Experiments?" Lieutenant asked.
"For the Energy Conversion Project; one of our most crucial means of preserving mankind should the Flood attack. The other one felt like humanity was not yet ready…and sought to protect the results against any and all Reclamation attempts. I did not agree with him and a war was inevitable. After that, I made sure that nobody could remember the cause of the war and peace returned."
"What is this 'Energy' thing?" The Sergeant asked the AI.
"Our means of an end to the Flood. The Energy Conversion project was meant to increase the efficiency of an energy conversion to a near hundred percent. For example; your weapons. The projectiles are meant to convey a lethal kinetic energy and penetration, but energy is lost in friction in the hull of the weapon and in the path it travels. Or the lights mounted on your helmets. A part of the energy poured into it is converted into heat. The Energy Conversion Project was meant to optimize the transformation of energy within biological lifeforms, amongst others."
"Hold on, within biological lifeforms? Like these animals that teamed up with the Spartan?" One of the soldiers asked.
"Yes, but no. The Pokemon –their scientific names- are byproducts of our attempts to allow for lifeforms increasing their efficiency. For example, the adult specimens of the Vulpix line have a near one-hundred percent efficiency in their metabolism. Their ingested food is burned and the energy received is used for sustenance and offensive means."
A few males turned around to look at her and she sat down, her nine tails waving through the air periodically as she tried to impress them. She knew that Laughter was talking about her like she was some sort of a test-subject and she disliked that, but the attention that the humans gave her was quite enjoyable.
The more the admired her, the more she would be able to influence them into acting like they should.
"So…you created animals that can do weird stuff?" One of the larger males replied, much to her chagrin. Time for a chance.
'If you consider weird stuff being me burning you to ashes within seconds, yes, they did. I was born naturally however, as nobody but my parents created me!´
The human she talked to neatly performed an entire pirouette when he heard her speaking to him telepathically, before finally deciding to reach for his rifle and aim at the AI.
"I just heard someone talking to me in my head!" He snapped at her. "Explain that!"
"Stand down soldier," Math told the man. "Telepathy is common in these creatures."
"What?" The man asked, before looking around to see which Pokemon had been responsible for that attractive female voice in her head. "Animals that can read your mind?"
"Can we focus on what is important?" Laughter then proposed.
"Yes, " Lieutenant then stated, sounding rather agitated. "Like telling us where the hell you sent our battlegroup? Where does that fit in your plan?"
"I stated it before. This world is a testing ground where we tested the Energy Conversion Project on biological processes. There are other testing grounds; places that need a Reclaimer presence for other plans to be set in motion. I have sent the other humans there, as there is more to be found. More to be reclaimed. It is your best chance to survive the oncoming storms…the coming darkness."
"Excuse me?" The woman asked, before turning around and picking six men at random. "You six! Secure this island, make sure that we are alone. Don't fire on the things called Pokemon and keep frosty!"
The six men agreed on that random, silly order and then left the building. Curious.
"Sir," Math asked Lieutenant, "we have bigger trouble than the battlegroup being scattered-"
"- I can guarantee they are safe-" Laughter added. "Moreover, let me explain, Reclaimer. The very first Pokemon that we managed to create with the project came to be called ´Mew´. From her successful DNA, we created the other species. The humans we reseeded on this world were given access to cloning technology, to advance up the technological tiers. However, because of the war and the lack of governing bodies, the only group finding success was a group that sought to increase their own power."
"Hurry it up," Math impatiently told the Artificial creature.
"As a result, they managed to clone this first energy being for their own purposes. "
While Laughter Under the Coexisting Years explained the Mewtwo situation, Math walked up to one of the remaining soldiers and asked him for his weapon –which he got."
"Cinder, the longer we wait the more our enemy will prepare. This needs to end…and I hold no desire to be with these people," Lucy told her. It was a sentiment she shared.
'Math?' She told her trainer telepathically, 'I do not like these people very much. We need to go after Spartan-Lucy and your clone and stop them before they can abuse this…Project… that Laughter is talking about.'
"Sir, I operate directly under Section Seven of ONI in my operations." Math started to explain.
"And what does that mean?" The man he addressed replied, crossing his arms in an authoritarian gesture.
"It means that, when a Secret-Spartan is on an official operation, nobody is his superior officer. As such, my presence here cannot be counteracted by orders coming from Commanding Officers."
The soldier huffed. "Spartan, you have been in this jungle for too long; your mind has fallen apart. You have allied yourself with animals, thinking that they are your new team for crying out loud! Just because some old AI –no offense ma'am- told you that she created them, doesn't mean any of it is true!"
She sighed. These people could be so…so thick at times. She had half expected them to be like Math was, but they resembled him in virtually no way.
And that might as well be a good thing.
"Lucy, bring him up to speed," Math told his psychic sidekick and then marched out of the warehouse, ignoring the confused looks that the marines threw at him.
"Cinder, I have a question," Young Phoenix asked her.
"Go ahead," She replied, watching as Lucy kept her distance while explain the situation to the man in command of the group.
"These humans are friends of our trainer, right?"
"Sort of, yeah."
"Then why does he act like he hates them?"
Phoenix brought up a reasonably good point; Math had to be, for all intents and purposes, more comfortable with the humans than with them. They were his people and he had spent virtually every waking moment searching for them. But now that they were here, he treated them like they were a bunch of strange civilians pushing him around. He acted very hostile around them, even going as far as to aim his weapons at them. What happened to the whole 'my people' thing he had going on lately? Was it that he had grown so close to his Pokemon that he didn't know how to act around humans anymore?
No…it had to be something else. The humans had come here prepared for a fight, that much was obvious. They had been trying to keep him calm alright, but their primary thought had clearly been dealing with a hostile Math. They had insulted and belittled him, saying that he had gone mad from the isolation when his body and mind had only been a week away. And why would any human go insane from being alone? Math had never struck her as the type that needed people around him; on the contrary, he had always acted like he wanted to be alone.
The words that these soldiers used against Math were…strange, to say in the least. They spoke to him like they expected him to attack them on first sight. Was that how Spartan soldiers were treated in public? Feared and hated for what they were?
"I think they simply don't like each other," She explained to the Jolteon and quickly ran towards her trainer, knowing for sure that he was going to pursue their fight.
Something was very, very wrong with the way these humans treated Math. And even though they were supposed to be understanding Laughter quite clearly with their experience, they just didn't take them serious.
Lucy had better convince the man in charge.
~0~
The difference between Math and his human friends was quite obvious. These soldiers were more like the civilians she had encountered in the cities on their journey; worrying about human things like people being weird, or things not making sense. In their heads, her master had been gone for months on an end, disappeared in the middle of a desperate war. Then they had managed to find him again, tracking him to a planet filled with…well, them –Pokemon. Beings that defied the laws of physics by existing.
And these soldiers didn't know anything like them. These men had been born in a world without Pokemon, a world where things like telepathy and psychic abilities didn't exist.
And it showed. Their sheer surprise at the things that Laughter had told them had only been kept in check by a certain amount of discipline that every soldier seemed to possess. But then Math had ordered her to 'bring the man up to speed' and she had been forced to make the soldier in command understand that their memories were, in fact, realistic.
And as she had showed the man her memories of the past events –their fight with the alien robots, the cloned Mewtwo, the battle for Saffron city- she had felt his consciousness struggling to accept all that she showed him. In the meantime, Math was moving out with a freshly acquired rifle and Phoenix and Cinder moving behind him. Fluffy was sitting and staring at all the new humans, while she felt the minds of Sabrina and Blaine in his gym. They were doing the smart thing; there were things going on that no Pokemon or human not part of Math's army could understand. Ancient civilizations having created them all as a part of a greater plan to protect mankind, a monstrous parasite still seeking to consume them and the soldiers fearing her master… they were all things that were understandable and even normal to the people from beyond the stars. But to her and the Pokemon that resided in the region known as Kanto? Those things were like myths to her. Legends. Horror stories.
Eventually, she decided that enough was enough. They had more important things to do than sitting around educating people that didn't remotely care for them; both her and Math had a clone running rampant through the region and these people were obviously not going to help them track them down.
She sighed and teleported away, tracking the mind of her master and using that to guide her own corporeal form towards him.
When she arrived at the place where the Spartan was standing, she was surprised to see that he was discussing something with a fellow soldier. Both of them were standing right next to a Pelican and from the looks of it, they weren't very amused.
"Sorry sir," The soldier told her master, "But the Lieutenant was very clear on this. While the AI debriefs our squads, nobody may leave the area.
"Marine, this is a delicate and black operation. Hostile elements have attempted to engineer their own super-soldier. I need to stop them."
"Sir I have no idea just what the hell is going on here, but I cannot let you leave with this dropship until the LT gives us the order."
She felt Math's frustration rise, but once she broadened her view, she found that that wasn't the only emotion currently rising. Fenrir had been hiding with the Nidoqueen ever since they had moved out of the large laboratory…but she could feel his emotions now.
And the raw torrent of feelings and sensations she was currently experiencing from his mind made her blush heavily. It was a…good thing that the two of them were hiding, as they were currently working on…celebrating their new…friendship.
Fenrir had found a girlfriend and judging by HER emotions, she had found a boyfriend. If there was an award for the world's worst timing possible, Fenrir would have won it easily.
Havoc was finally done with recovering from the fight and she was already keeping a close eye on Math, making sure that nobody would try anything weird with him.
"I don't answer to your squad, Private," Her master told the young soldier and stepped closer him, unleashing a torrent of fear and other, less prominent emotions. She long since understood that Math had a really terrifying effect on human beings, but the mere fact that he managed to scare a warrior by simply being near him was a testimony to the inhuman personality that seemed to dominate the Spartan. "Now move out."
The marine swallowed, looked at the Pokemon surrounding him with a very nervous demeanor and then nodded, stepping away from the ship. "Aw man, the Lieutenant is going to get my ass…"
'He won´t find out,´ She told the scared soldier. It was obvious that these men and women were still as human as possible. They weren't like her master, but that was a good thing. She could keep one emotionally-damaged soldier under control, but not many more. And she couldn't help but feel sorry for these people; having been sent by their leaders to a world they could not possibly find anything in. And she had the need to take care of the creatures that couldn't take care of themselves; to tend to them and help them.
It was probably a Gardevoir thing.
"Who-" The man asked, but then he looked at her and he visibly relaxed. "Oh, it's one of you lot. You look more human than the rest."
While she managed to have an actual, pleasant conversation with the man, Math started to inspect the dropship and check it for any weapons, explosives and possible traps. She knew that he did that because she knew him. Their bond throughout their time together had strengthened, escalated towards a perversity rarely seen in her kind and then somehow settled down, growing stronger all the while.
And with those…messed-up thoughts and desires brought upon by Math's own suppressed emotions…she could not have helped BUT to mistake them for her own. The emotions of a human being were different than those of a Gardevoir. They were darker, edgier and sometimes more…explicit. While her own thoughts should have been pure and untainted, the dark influence of Math's own bottled-up feelings had been more powerful than she could have ever thought possible.
As such, the creation of Spartan-Lucy had led her to believe that the perverted and violent things she had been thinking were her own. But now that she was gone, her mind was her own again.
She smiled, knowing that these humans might dislike her master and think him to be a liability, but that would help them save this world. Laughter Under the Coexisting Years was doing an excellent job explaining things for them, allowing them to do what needed to be done. They couldn't truly be defeated now; there wasn't anything in their team that could undermine their effort anymore.
Mewtwo had spoken the truth. Her relationship with Math had truly been based on lies and perversions…on her being a clone and her mind being ruled by all her dark sides. But now that Spartan-Lucy was gone…and their team was closer than ever…there was nothing left to hurt them.
And with Spartan-Lucy's departure…Cinder was now the only one who had a crush on her trainer.
She had mistaken her other self's feelings for her own, but now that her mind was hers again, she knew what was there and what was not there. She loved her master and she wanted to do anything to make him happy…but she didn't love him the way Cinder did. She was there to protect and help him; to be his friend, his partner and his companion.
But…that revelation had a bitter and sad undertone. At the very end of the conflict, she had managed to briefly feel the feelings of Math's clone. She had felt no desire for violence or murder, unlike her own trainer. She had only felt a very vague cry for help; a brief moment of weakness.
And she knew that Spartan-Lucy had a twisted crush on Math…or on one of them. And she had escaped by teleporting…taking Math-II with her.
And she had no illusions about what would happen should Spartan-Lucy have another violent fit. In a way, they only had one enemy.
And that enemy was her. Except it was Math.
~0~
It was time. The UNSC could no longer help him with this. He had uncovered secrets greater than he could comprehend and it was up to the AI to bring the humans up to speed. If they had moved on without him –and the war was over- he didn't really have any reason to stay with them. If he couldn't protect mankind like he had sworn to do, he would have to find some other way to do so. Without the UNSC to help him, he would have to work on his own.
He had a team and with that team, he was going to move find S-Lucy and kill her. And then he would kill his clone. And then, only then, would mankind be safe from the threat that this world posed. He was right back at the beginning; no allies, no help, no hope. No problem. Fighting without UNSC support was basically his thing –he had done it all of his life. Fighting, killing, kidnapping and torturing all on his own, with rarely any support unless the Covenant invaded. This was exactly the same, as the current soldiers stationed on the island couldn't do anything to stop him. He operated above them. And this time, he truly did have a team.
"Fluffy, Phoenix?" He told the two kids, "Guard this ship. We'll need it to leave the island."
Without waiting for their consent, he beckoned to Cinder and Lucy and made his way to the place where his motion tracker indicated that Fenrir was. He was together with a Nidoqueen, according to his. Very close to her, in fact. He had been fighting her in a rather violent fight…was he still fighting her even though they were supposed to be allies?
Mewtwo was watching the soldiers move in and out of the Laboratory, having apparently decided that he wanted to stay low.
He looked at the Psychic and made eye-contact with him, after which Mewtwo subtly nodded, understanding what was going to happen.
The AI was probably done explaining to the UNSC what had happened, but he could understand that the lack of Intel could be seen as a sign of hostilities.
She had forced almost an entire battlegroup into a new slipspace vector, sending them to distanced worlds where other experiments were being conducted. Whether those were safe or not had yet to be determined. But that could easily been seen as a sign of aggression –it was nothing short of a miracle that the marines sent by ONI didn't initiate hostilities. It meant that they believed her story…but now they would take action. Strip the tech, scan it and use it. But seeing as Secret-Spartan-009 had once gotten away with punching a Rear Admiral in the face, the Office of Naval Intelligence wouldn't berate him too hard for ignoring the presence of UNSC forces.
Although the Admiral had been the lower half…oh well.
"Lucy," He softly spoke, knowing that the green Pokemon would hear him.
"Yes master?" She asked him.
"Find out where Sierra-Lima is heading."
"Ehm…what is a Lima?"
"A code for the letter L."
"Ooh…and what is Sie-"
"Code for letter S."
"I see. So I must find out where…s l is going?"
"I meant Spartan-Lucy."
"I shall find out where she is heading master."
"See to it."
He made his way past the few spiky rocks to the place where Fenrir was supposed to be sitting next to the Nidoqueen.
"Ehm…master?" Lucy tentatively said, "I wouldn't do that if I were you…"
"Lucy, focus on the bigger picture," He told the slender girl and jumped over a large rock. "Fenrir, fall in and –oh…ehm…sorry."
He coughed awkwardly, realizing just why the two Nido's were so close together. They were copulating. And he had disturbed them. And that was bad.
He turned around, feeling a bit strange. He could see Lucy standing just far away enough to not see the two mating Pokemon –she was frowning and her arms were crossed.
"I told you," She told him sternly. "I told you it wasn't a good idea. And you ignored me."
"Yes. Sorry," He stated. "I…seem to have made a tactical mistake."
"You have developed a fault?"
"I have developed a fault. Can you tell what I am feeling?"
"Excuse me?"
"I don't know whether I am disgusted or shocked. You feel what I feel, right?"
"I…yes I do. You feel neither disgusted nor shocked, but you feel confused. Mildly so."
Right. It had been a bad idea to ask Lucy for her opinion on that matter. "Fine. I need him to join me ASAP."
"Let´s…give them additional time. Go get Havoc, I´ll wait around for them to…finish."
"Got it. No peeking."
"I would never!" Lucy replied with a shocked voice, but he was already walking away. It had been a joke. It was humor.
He marched over the rocky terrain for another thirty seconds, taking notice of the many soldiers walking around and carrying equipment. It seemed that they were going to set up a base of operations at Cinnebar Island. Good. If only he didn't have to steal one of their pelicans. It was a very positive thing that he was able to recall his Pokemon to their Poké balls, as they would have been impossible to carry with him otherwise.
He spotted Havoc at her little clearing between the rocks, finally alone after having calmed down.
"Hey," He said and stopped near the edge. "How are we feeling?"
"I am feeling just fine!" The mighty serpent snapped at him with an edgy tone.
"Really?"
"Yes."
"You don't sound fine to me."
"And you would know when I sound fine, would you?"
"Why the attitude?"
"Just…leave me alone."
He sighed and shook his head, not understanding what was wrong with Havoc. "I thought things were fine?"
"Your friends are here now, why would you need us?"
"What?"
"Oh please, I have known about your goals from the very beginning. Calling your people so you can escape this world and leave us behind, won't you?"
"Things are different now Havoc."
"And why is that?"
"I had a war to fight," He replied, understanding just why Havoc had been so mad with him all the time. It wasn't because she disliked him or because she resented him for how he treated her. It wasn't because of him being a Spartan or her being just generally angry –although that might have contributed to the problem.
No, Havoc was scared. Scared that he was going to leave her all alone just when she had finally found someone. But…why would she care for that? She hadn't grown as attached to him as Cinder and Lucy had. Why would she care if he left her or not?
"Havoc, listen to me. I never had the luxury of deciding where to go –my people were dying in a war against…monsters." Calling the Covenant aliens would only confuse the Gyarados further. "I was needed…more than any of you needed me."
"How would you know how much we needed you? You were our trainer! Nothing was supposed to get between us!"
"Not supposed, no. But that is behind us now…the war is over and my people don't need me anymore. I can be with you –all of you."
"Oh you are so pathetic…" The serpent then laughed without humor.
"What?"
"You talk about everyone needing you and you needing to do everything…but what about you?"
"What about me?"
"Don't you need anyone?" Havoc asked him, taking him aback. Did he need someone? He needed personnel to supply him with weapons and ordnance…he needed pilots to bring him to places he needed to go. Only he could scavenge and improvise his own weaponry and he was certified to pilot every vehicle in the UNSC arsenal. He could single-handedly arm himself, prepare himself and then transport himself to the location he needed to kill people. If he looked at the question with a rational eye, he didn't need anyone.
And yet…he had proven time and time again that he was no good when it came to doing anything but hurting living things. He needed someone to talk for him lest he alienated possible allies and he needed someone to tell him how to act to take care of people. He was unable to convey his thoughts to anything but a fellow Spartan and he could not function in society. He was, essentially, a living weapon. A weapon couldn't do anything but kill and maim…just like him.
For all intents and purposes, he needed people close to him when he was in a time of peace. And the UNSC had just conveniently managed to end their decades-long war.
"I need people…because they are people," He told the serpent. "I need my team with me to…help me through moments of noncombat. "
"Wait, what?" Havoc asked, "You need to be helped through peace?"
"Yes. Answering your question…I need all six of you. Very much so."
The Gyarados sighed and brought her head closer to him, placing one of her great eyes right in front of his helmet. "When all of this is over…I want to swim with you. In the ocean. To show you what the world underwater is like."
He kept his mouth shut and repressed the memories of his last under-water operation. "Where does that thought come from?"
"Just my way of saying thank you…and I forgive you."
"What for?"
"Which one?"
"Both."
"I forgive you for how you treated me when I was small…and I thank you for rescuing me from my small, meaningless life. You might have made me feel bad but…you made me part of something that affects so many souls in so many worlds…it is the greatest thing I could wish for. I should not have forgotten that."
A weak sensation of warmth in his stomach…a brief weakening of his knees. He felt satisfaction. Satisfaction at having repaired his relationship with Havoc.
He extended his hand towards her head, reaching out to pat her on her scales. "Are you ready for one last ride?"
"The last ride of the day?"
"One way or the other."
"I think we don't have time to cross the ocean again…the crazy bitch might blow up the world in the meantime."
"Trust me," He told her, "I have a plan B."
Havoc closed her eyes, looking pleased at his affection towards her. Then, he pressed the button on his Poké Ball and recalled her.
The two AI's that had ruled this world had created the Pokemon called Mew as a by-product for their Energy Conversion Project, enabling weird biological processes. In turn, through Mew's DNA and the curious effect that the Project had on wildlife, the rest of the Pokemon species had been created. A fox with the efficiency in her metabolism could have become a Ninetales and a snake could have become a Gyarados. The world had been turned into a place of hope for mankind, but then the other AI –who Laughter had stated did not possess a name- had decided that they should keep working, as their work wasn't yet ready for the humans that were bound to come. And when the Platernus had appeared on their testing grounds, the AI had taken action.
Mewtwo was the direct result of the humans on this world having received Forerunner tech, allowing them to clone Mew. The AI had used Mewtwo to try and wipe the humans that were supposed to land there out, only Mewtwo had developed a consciousness of his own. Team Rocket had sought to gain control over the city, but he had put a stop to them. And the war he had heard so much over had been the conflict between two incredibly intelligent, but differing AI's. Laughter had worked for a long time to erase all signs of hostilities and protect the Pokemon and humans alike, but his own arrival had messed her plans up.
In the end, he was still the pawn of greater powers. But he didn't care. He had a team he cared for and his team cared for him. They were all subjects of larger experiments –he was a pet to ONI and his Pokemon were pets to Mewtwo and Laughter. But if they worked hard and fought like Spartans, they could turn the fate of mankind around.
That…or they could finally find peace for themselves. As the war was over, mankind didn't need him anymore. He had plenty of humans to defend on Kanto.
"Hey Spartan!" A female called out to him, but he ignored the voice. Humans were only important to him once he had destroyed Spartan-Lucy. Then, he could broker a truce between the Pokemon, led by Professor Oak and Laughter, and then UNSC.
But only if the Office of Naval Intelligence kept themselves out of it. And he knew that that would never happen.
"Spartan, listen!"
He spun around a hand on his sidearm and his mind set to kill. But it turned out to be the Sergeant, the female one. She seemed to have attracted the attention of Lucy in the past, so she had to be clear.
"What?"
"Listen to me. The UNSC can learn so much things from this world, the AI wishes to work with us. But…the Eltee isn't too happy with your attitude."
"So?"
"So…one could think that the Ark is way more important than this place for mankind. So on the grand scheme of things, your actions are not important."
"…so?"
The Sergeant opened her mouth, lost the words she wanted to say and shut her mouth again. Then…"I don't know why the Lieutenant thinks you to be uncontrollable…and neither do the rest of the soldiers. We were never granted permission on your files. But…as your actions aren't important…the disappearance of one Pelican Dropship is even less important."
He paused, realizing that this female knew what he wanted to do. That meant that she was aware of the looming threat. "What do you know?"
The marine looked around carefully and then sighed. "Your friend…she calls herself Lucy…she is so human."
No shit.
"And she knows so much. She told me about a creature similar to her, in possession of incredible intelligence and seeking this Forerunner tech to destroy the world." She paused and took a deep breath. "I have no clue how big this thing is, but you do. You have been here for a long time…and if you think it is the right thing to do, you should do it."
That was a very long speech to tell him to "take the ship and get the hell out" , but he appreciated nonetheless.
"What are you going to do?"
"We are going to establish a base of operation, set up a perimeter and investigate the tech we found. When this is all over…we can take you back to the UNSC. Things will return to normal. There are a LOT of things you missed out on, Spartan."
He got that much. Things had changed for the better and for the worse. But…he didn't know about returning to the UNSC.
He nodded at her, letting her see that he understood what she tried to tell him. "Keep your lieutenant busy."
"I think he keeps himself busy pretty good," The Sergeant told him. "I'll just go…to the other side of the perimeter, okay?"
He nodded, realizing that the UNSC wasn't going to assist him, but also that they weren't going to interfere.
He had one more mission ahead of him. One more effort remaining to finish what the Forerunners had started millennia ago.
Watching was the Sergeant moved away, he realized that the Pelican he had prepped was now also unguarded. Even though he had managed to secure it properly, he now had two windows of opportunity.
"Lucy," He yelled, hoping that the psychic would hear him. Phoenix and Cinder had remained with the ship, as had Fluffy. He still needed his Nidoking though, before they would all leave. "How far is Fenrir?"
'Still going strong, master.'
He walked towards the rocks where he had left Lucy behind. "I thought you didn't want to peek?"
'I didn't. Fenrir's emotions…speak for themselves.'
"How to break them up?"
'How about now? Why don't we let them…finish…their passionate moment?"
"I don't need mating Pokemon, I need a fighter. Give them two minutes."
'Math! You don't give two people in love an ultimatum! Didn't you –err…never mind. Get the rest ready and I…I'll see about Fenrir and his new mate.'
He made his way to the Pelican dropship, spotting Cinder and Phoenix sitting around Fluffy, waiting for their trainer to come to them. He knew that they were ready for their final operation, just like he was.
"What now?" His Ninetales asked him.
"As soon as Fenrir is ready, we are going after Sierra-Lima." He explained.
"And then?"
"Then…nothing. We'll be done."
"But…wouldn't we have to fight for our lives anymore?" Phoenix asked.
"You'll be safe. When she is gone, the UNSC can search and leave without harming anyone."
"Are you sure of that? How can anyone be sure of that?"
"I'm not. I know you will be safe…and I know that this will all be over one way or the other."
"One more thing before we leave," Cinder asked, "Are you sure that your people won't help us?"
"I don't want them to. We will do this by ourselves."
Before any of the two ladies could reply, he heard another voice speaking to him. A voice that was pretty familiar.
'Human…before you leave on your last voyage, you and I need to speak.`
He turned around and had his weapons at the ready within half a second, longer than it took his allies to process the words. "What do you want?"
'One last exchange, you and I,' The powerful psychic known as Mewtwo stated, having teleported himself to his location without letting anyone see him.
~0~
"Like I said in previous chapters, the potential of a Psychic Pokemon can be unlimited. Were a maleficent Pokemon to find out the workings behind…say… a glassing beam…the consequences would be catastrophic. Good thing that no psychic as had access to the mind of a Spartan, right? Oh…wait…"
Masterdude21's trivia-moments pt. 2