Admittedly I had given up on fully accessing all the schematics, there was too many with too much detail to realistically analyze in the short period of time-
I received plasma damage to the left arm, thankfully it just scorched the armor.
Anyway... I cheated, anytime Six picked up a weapon I immediately had access to everything rather than having to scan through it in data format.
Hmm... Oh, was that a plasma grenade that just went off next to us?
Well, I was also now cognizant of the fact that I was right in the middle of Six's last stand and there was dreadfully little I could do to help at all.
I wasn't even sure if what happening was even the same as canon though. He could be randomly saved by the UNSC, as small a possibility as it was. It's not like I was doing much to even fly off the rails of canon anyway, maybe things were just the way they were supposed to be.
The most I had done up to this point was materialize some ammo at Six's feet which also had the consequence of making him suspicious. It wasn't the worst thing in the world, there really wasn't anything he could do to me if he decided I was hostile for some reason.
Which, I was trying to help him in the first place even if I'm not doing much at the moment. I don't think the UNSC had anything against AI's considering they used them all the time. Maybe there was some taboo on unrestricted AI, I don't know, and I don't think I will know until I actually introduce myself.
I felt a jolt of fear run through me as I shifted my attention fully to the sensors. I wasn't paying attention before but- Three balls of plasma were trailing downward through the air, likely from Wraiths, to our location. Shit, what the fuck is he doing? Why wasn't Six moving? He was just standing there looking up a them!
Abruptly I started formulating countermeasures and considering my MP was full there was a lot I could do.
A dome of iron maybe? No, the bombardment wouldn't hit all at once it would be staggered. Maybe a few walls then? I had no idea how powerful Wraiths were in reality, they could have a splash radius so large it would kill us anyway.
I continued burning through valuable time as half my attention was put into watching the projectiles descend. Was he committing suicide? He can't just- Why would he-
I'm in here too idiot!
Fuck, what do I do?
To my immediate relief and surprise Six lurched forward into motion, starting off at a jog and then proceeding into a full on sprint.
It was amazing watching the landscape fly by as Six continued moving faster into superhuman speeds. He must have seen the arc before I did and figured out where the Wraiths were. Considering we were in the middle of the burned out husk of a landscape that was probably once a set of hills, it couldn't have been hard.
I saw the view shift as Six slowed down and tilted his head towards a half destroyed building with UNSC eagle emblazoned on to one of the walls.
He shifted towards the right and began closing in on it. Gun up, eyes peeled, ready for anything. I was currently absorbing all the info inside the armor, I think this is a practical learning experience for me.
I hadn't ever actually seen soldiers doing their thing so it was interesting to see Six breach the building and look for... something, presumably supplies.
I tapped my currently metaphorical chin now that we had time to breathe, I could plan a little more and try to repair the armor.
I almost absently grabbed the armor schematics before settling into repairs and upgrades as I watched Six.
It seemed like he found what he was looking for, a rusted and burnt hatch with the- Is that an ONI supply cache? I didn't get much from Six opening the hatch but it was definitely made by ONI, that's what I was able to find in it's history anyway. That and the logo stamped onto it with bright white paint.
Shit. Was this good or bad? I really didn't know. ONI, the Office of Naval Intelligence were pretty fucking spooky and things were going so off the rails of canon I didn't know what was going on at all. I didn't want to get AI lobotomized by some creepy ONI scientist. They literally had their hands in everything in the Halo universe, who knows how they could detect me.
I burned all of my MP on fixing the armor as Six descended down a ladder into an unlit corridor. He stopped at the bottom and switched my- the visor to night vision. I was kind settling into the armor too much honestly, I had access to all the systems and I was starting think of it as me. Was that a problem? Hmph, I need to get out of here soon.
Reinforcements to the armor were complete and I was able to replace some of the more damaged pieces. The Mark V was beat to all hell and it almost seemed like sections were missing...
I pulled up my stat sheet for a moment before waving it away again. I was left with only a single percentage of MP left.
Six stalked forwards raising his shotgun in the process. The door at the end of hall slammed open and 3 gun barrels pointed out of the doorway into the corridor.
"Freeze motherfucker, or we'll blow your god damn brains out if you take another step!" A voice barked from the entryway.
The lights along the hallway flickered to life and Six switched off the night vision. I looked on in rapt interest as the Marines at the end of the hallway seemed to understand their blunder. Two of them sagged in what seemed to be relief at the sight of a Spartan while the other one took off his helmet and stepped forward with grim look on his face.
He was an older weathered man, probably early forties, with standard issue Marine armor that was scratched to hell but still prominently displayed his rank of Sergeant Major on his shoulder. He cracked a bitter smile, "Sorry about the warm welcome, but we thought the covies finally found our little hidey hole. Not like we could much to stop them anyway..." He trailed off for a second before recomposing himself and rubbing his face in thought, "I know that you might have some kinda mission or something but, can you, I don't know stay..." The Sergeant's face took on a look of resolve.
Six stilled for a moment. I don't really know what he's thinking, honestly he seems pretty torn up about something. A previous order, maybe? Or, maybe he just wants to continue fighting. If he tried to leave I'd probably have to lock the suit down, I don't need a Spartan running around with a death wish, I want him alive. Preferably that way so I can avoid the previous threat of Suffering from the System.
God, just stay you idiot...
Six abruptly jolted, not visibly to the other soldiers but, I could 'see' below the armor. He tensed and relaxed a bit before nodding. Something was wrong about what just happened but I couldn't put my finger on it.
Then something magical happened, he spoke! Almost reluctantly, but he did, "I'll stay, there's nothing left out there anyway." His voice was unnaturally gravelly almost like it hadn't been used in a while, there wasn't any accent I could make out either, he tilted his head as if a thought had occurred to him, "Noble Six, last of Noble team. Six for now."
The Sergeant cracked a genuine smile and held out a hand to shake, "Thank you. Really. I don't know if we could've survived without you here"
Six looked at the offered appendage and, with the slightest hint of hesitation, took it, shook it, and retreated from the man's space immediately.
The Sergeant gestured to go inside the... underground base, storage site, or maybe a secret testing facility, at this point I was just throwing out guesses as to the purpose of this place. How am I supposed to know what's going on if even the metal below Six's feet didn't shelve out it's purpose to me?
The Marines that flanked the doorway to the inside moved inward and Six followed. The Marines made small talk between each other, occasionally glancing Six's. I wanted to smile at how awkward Six really was, they would ask him something and he'd almost shyly nod or shake his head.
Six abruptly cleared his throat as they approached another hallway with doors all along it, "What's the purpose of this facility? It doesn't follow any standard ONI layouts." He looked toward the intersection they had just came from.
One of the Marines, a younger guy, actually piped up at that, interest evident in his voice, "We don't know. At first we thought it was just a storage site, but..." He squinted at one of the doors labeled 'E0011' and opened it, it was a large room with bunk beds and lockers lining the walls. "There's housing for personnel on this floor, adjacent to us there's a vehicle hangar with Pelicans and light vehicles, there's a vehicle elevator that leads to the surface, the floor below us is for weapons storage and testing, and final floor the below that is just regular storage." He listed off the floors and then looked at us expectantly with a proud look on his face. The other two Marines grinned at him like idiots, he faked a cough and scratched awkwardly at his helmet.
I got a faint sense of amusement from Six at their antics... Wait a minute. How did I do that?
I kept an eye on the situation but dug into the connections I had established. I was just kind of plugging myself into everything in the background. Weapon's link, HUD, communications, aha. I found it, I cackled evilly in my mind at the new connection I had made in the background. I kinda forgot these existed in Halo.
Neural Link established...
Finalized.
I believe, with this I could actually talk with Six, hopefully anyway.
A Skill has increased in LVL!
Computer Proficiency : LVL (4) - 5
Oh yeah, it's all coming together.
I was fully fine with smugly basking in my small achievements even if no one was around to witness them.