Kingdom of Melromarc
Castle Town
A walled city awaited the returning Heroes and the newest acquaintance of the Shield Hero and Raphtalia. Tall, secure stone walls, patrolled by bowmen and knights clad in the armor of the Kingdom stood, protection for the massive city from anything. The houses themselves resembled something out of old Saxony or other German Lands like it. The houses themselves were nothing too unfamiliar to anyone who'd seen paintings or visited old architectural sites.
What stood out, however, was the tall castle perched on top of a small mountain. It had several supports and towers jutting out on bridges. Much of it was meant to be kept anchored in place, symbolically above every person in the city itself. It was fitting that royalty would live there, Six thought as they approached the place on foot. They had passed through one of the biggest gates of the city just now and were well on their way to the entrance to the Palace itself, as well as the way up to the heads of government.
Beside him, in a carriage, sat Naofumi and Raphtalia. Three more carriages moved behind them, with the other three heroes and their parties inside of them. He had not had time to meet the other heroes, nor their comrades, but could feel the stares from the three:The Bow, Spear and Sword Hero. He continued walking, despite some of the local guards eyeing him with surprise, while others gazed at him with fear.
He had stowed his weapons, but he supposed that the armor was enough to scare the living hell out of them. Good. If any of them turned out as incompetent as the man who had fired a volley of arrows at him, Naofumi and Raphtalia, they'd find themselves with slit throats or broken bones. He had no intention of letting any harm come to anyone who fought to protect the innocent like the Shield Hero and his Swordswoman did.
Halted in front of a checkpoint near the castle, they were searched and there was an incident. One of the guards had tried to remove one of Six's weapons off his back, namely his Sniper Rifle. He had grabbed the man's arm, twisted it behind him and shoved him away after nearly breaking said arm. He had no intention of giving up his firearms. He expected the King and his troupe to be hostile the moment word of the dead officer was brought up.
After a tense few moments, the Sergeant that had helped them guard the Village had managed to ease the guards and convince them while Six was already instinctively reaching for his Bowie knife. He'd had to promise not to draw his weapons in there, however. He reluctantly agreed, but would carelessly break that promise if his life was in danger. He hadn't survived thus far, only to be shanked by some kid or other that was guarding a group of noblemen and some royal assholes.
After the carriages stopped and the people were disembarked, the Spartan heard three faint gasps and turned slowly to face the three men sat behind him with their parties. The Spear Hero, a blond, douche-looking fellow clad in some of the most pompous armor and kit he'd ever seen, had a redhead in his party that just reeked of bad news. While the Spear Hero and the other two seemed fucking terrified of him, judging by the faces they wore even as he turned to join Naofumi and Raphtalia in the climb up the stairs and to the Royal Hall, the other members of the party were unaware of or didn't care about him, save for the redhead clad in the skimpy set of armor, of course...
She glared daggers at him for whatever reason.
Taking Naofumi's right, the Spartan spoke, his voice cold, accentuated by the crackling of the external speakers in his armor, "What's the deal with the redhead in Spear Hero's party?"
Naofumi looked to him for a moment, then scoffed, "The Princess of Melromarc, Malty... Not somebody you want to deal with. Trust me, I should know," and he tugged at one of the straps on his armor to tighten the belt. The Spartan sensed the hatred with which the lad talked about the girl and wondered just what had occurred between the two of them to cause this much bad blood. To be honest, a Princess was bad news from the get-go. The way she looked told Six she was a bitch.
He glared back at her, his visor polarized, then saw her shrink, eyes wide. She must've thought Six hadn't noticed her glaring at him. Obviously, that was objectively wrong. The Spartan replied to Naofumi with actual ice in his voice, "Understood," just before they reached the last step and were welcomed into the Royal Hall, a massive, cathedral-like room lit by the early morning Sun, lights peering in through the massive windows wo the Spartan's immediate left... A good escape point.
Six had begun scanning for escape routes just as soon as he'd noticed the several dozen Royal Guard troops armed with spears, swords and other utilities and lined up into two formations, flanking each side of the embroidered red carpet they walked upon. Ahead of them, several more steps up and sat on one of three... Make that four thrones, one of which was smaller than the others, an old man with a thick, long beard and grey hair sat. His frown never vanished, even as he spotted the four Heroes and their parties.
One would think the persons who saved the world from one of those 'Calamity Waves', as he'd heard the locals refer to them on his way here, would've granted themselves at least a smile from the king. Still, as the Spartan gave the once-over he had to give to the man, he noticed one thing in his movement and demeanor. He had been some form of veteran. Even clad in all the fancy clothes and purple-colored capes of this Kingdom of theirs.
"Welcome back, Heroes," The man stated, eyeing the four men and their party members as they lined up. The Spartan took a step back, crossing his arms to his chest and listening in as King Aultcray Melromarc the Thirty-Second spoke, his voice as soft as he could make it, "You have done well in defense of our Kingdom and the World as a whole. Your fight against the Calamity Wave that plagued one of our most important agricultural regions has brought much fame to you and your party members and the slaying of the magical beast that led this wave by the Spear, Bow and Sword Heroes has most certainly saved many lives."
Six made a note that the Shield Hero hadn't even been mentioned there. He watched as the little 'Daddy's Girl the Princess was approached her doting father with a smile and turned to face the heroes, while the king made a motion of his hand and four of his aides appeared, before he continued calmly, "As is common, your reward will now be handed to you," and he paused as his daughter whispered something in his ear. One more wave of the man's hand and the first of his servants turned around. The Spartan picked up the clink of a few gold coins being placed in the bag. The king continued, "For the Spear Hero, Motoyasu, who has slain the beast commanding this wave, four hundred Gold Pieces shall be given..."
The servant approached the man and handed him the bag and the King added, "For the Bow Hero, Itsuki Kawasumi and for Sword Hero, Ren Amaki, three hundred gold pieces shall be given to each..." and as the men delivered the purses of coin, the King added, "And... As agreed..." he seemed to scowl at Naofumi, who simply crossed his arms as he listened, "The Shield Hero shall receive seven hundred silver pieces for assisting in what some say was the defense of the Village in the affected region."
"However," The man started just as the Shield Hero was about to be handed his dues... And the Spartan stepped up.
"However what...?" He inquired, his voice monotone. Room temperature dropped to below zero as the Spartan eyed the servant with the most dangerous death glare he could muster from behind the visor. Everyone seemed taken aback by the fact that the Spartan had stepped up to speak, but he didn't care. He nodded to Naofumi to grab the sack of money, then turned to the king and stated, "What were you about to say?"
"Who are you?" The King demanded, glaring at Six for a moment. The Spartan's own ice-cold, visor-based glare sent him stammering for a moment.
"Doesn't matter. Reply," The Spartan stated. The entire room watched the confrontation between the soldier and the King with bated breaths, waiting to see who would snap first... Until one of the Guardsmen ran up to and whispered to the king the news of the death of the Guard captain in that village. The Spartan paused, looking at the young man that had reported it as he immediately made himself as incredibly tiny as possible and rejoined the line.
The King made one sign and sixteen Royal Guard soldiers surrounded the Spartan and put their spears up to his neck. Naofumi started, "The hell are you doing!?"
"This is not a good idea, my lord," Even the Spear Hero seemed to intervene, like he knew what Six was. Naofumi approached Motoyasu and looked him right in the eye, to which the man immediately understood and said, "He's a Spartan... Supersoldier from an old Sci-Fi series from my, Ren and Itsuki's worlds. To put it bluntly... The guy could kill all of us in this room and walk out whistling Dixie."
"... Oh," Naofumi paused, then turned to the Spartan and said, "That explains the slaughter... I'd listen to him, King. This guy ain't something to be trifled with. Took out entire legions of the creatures that attacked during the Wave right in front of me and the oth-"
"Be quiet," Aultcray growled, then stood to his feet and glared at the Spartan, "You killed one of my officers."
"He ordered his men to fire a volley of arrows at me and at the Shield Hero and his guardian," The Spartan replied coldly. His hands clasped around the tip of one of the spears that were pointed in his general direction, "If your soldiers don't understand the basis of not firing upon friendlies, or that, at the very least, making sure the area they're about to saturate with fire arrows is free of allied units, then he is either a moron or doing it on purpose. I've saved your army a waste of breathable oxygen which can now be replaced by someone that is competent..."
"He was one of my men, you ingrate cur!" Aultcray yelled, though the Spartan seemed unfazed, "I had him placed in his function because he was a good officer!"
"... Perhaps this country could use better leadership, then, if you viewed that thing as a good officer..." He said, cold, blunt and to the point. Wide-eyed, the entire room watched now with bated breath at what the King, who was visibly getting more angry, could say. The Spartan paused for a moment, eyeing his motion tracker as several golden dots appeared around the room.
"... You will pay for your insolence," The King growled while his seeming bitch of a daughter stared at the exchange. He barked, "Take him away and chain him! We kill him tomorrow!"
"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Six replied, then snapped the tip of the spear off and tossed it aside. The weapons tightened like a noose around his neck. The Spartan craned his head back and looked toward one of the top windows, to see familiar silhouettes. The king was about to bark at him and at his own soldiers once more... But the windows above shattered.
"Breach! Breach! Breach!" A voice echoed over the com, hardy and tough. Rappelling down from the place, a dozen UNSC Marines hefting BR55s and MA5Bs marched into the room, forming a perimeter around the Spartan, with the Marines shoving the royal guard away and corralling them beside the king, whilst doing much the same to the Heroes. Three more Spartans clad in heavy-duty, experimental Mark-IV suits with active shielding descended, weapons drawn. Their leader carried an M90 Shotgun, while his comrades carried an MA5 and a BR respectively.
Finally, rappelling down behind them was a young woman of Asian descent. A civilian clad in a light bulletproof vest. She had a handgun in a hip holster and a tablet in her hand. She marched forward to him, standing face-to-visor with him, then said, "Beta Three-Twelve... I'm Doctor Ellen Anders, of the UNSC Spirit of Fire. Apologies for the tardiness, but we got stuck in traffic when a flying lizard tried to burn us out of the sky."
"Ma'am," The Spartan nodded. The Spirit of Fire? Six knew that ship. He'd read her records.
Anders turned to face the king, his daughter and the guards, then stated, "I would have greeted you openly and in a friendly manner, had you not ordered your soldiers to point weapons at one of our own, Your Highness... I am doctor Ellen Anders of the UNSC warship Spirit of Fire and, if I were you, I'd order my men to stand down before someone gets hurt."
The King glared at the young doctor, but saw a Marine with his Battle Rifle trained right on him, just waiting for him to make a mistake. He scoffed, then demanded, "What is the meaning of this, then, 'doctor'? Why do you intrude on the sovereign territory of the Kingdom of Melromarc with an armed force?!" almost angry, as it seemed. Anders looked to Six, raising a brow.
Six shrugged, "He ain't very bright, ma'am."
Those words garnered even more ire from the men around and a chuckle from Naofumi and Raphtalia. The Spartan saw the two were pinned against the windows by Marines, then stated, "Those two are fine. The others, I'm not so sure of..." and pointed at the Shield Hero and his peer. The leader of the SPARTAN-II Commandos in the room with him, SPARTAN-092, nodded to the three Marines keeping them corralled. They stepped back and let mister Iwatani and miss Raphtalia join them in the middle.
"Thanks," Naofumi nodded, a grin on his face as he looked at the gathered unit.
"If one of ours vouches for you," 092 spoke, his voice rough, "You're good... Spartan Beta Three-Twelve, we're going to need a briefing when we get aboard the Spirit."
"I asked something, you dogs!" Aultcray roared, "Why are you in my land!? DO YOU SEEK WAR?!"
The entire room focused on the man for a moment. He felt his heart sink as he saw the four Spartans in the room tense up, while the three Heroes who would have supported him backed off, raising their hands to show they meant no harm. Anders turned to him, then spoke softly, but well aware she and her forces had the Big Stick in this situation, "I don't think you want a war with us, Your Highness..."
"You dare come here, you dare mock me, you DARE disrespect me, my soldiers and the heroes we summoned to defend ourselves from the Calamity and then you have the ABSOLUTE GALL say that we wouldn't want a war!?" He seemed ready to snap. Just as he was to begin some form of tirade, the Spartan withdrew his blade from its sheath and threw it. It stuck itself in the wall behind the thrones, just between his head and the head of the Princess.
"We're saying you don't want a war with us," Six turned to face him, a glare behind the visor, "Because we'd uproot your entire Kingdom... Your Highness," and he almost seemed to be mocking the man again. He marched, past the Marines and the guards and up the stairs before shoving the man aside. He retrieved his knife from the wall, sheathed it, then stood face-to-face with the King for a moment, forcing the man to stare into his opaque visor. Standing at a head above the king and his daughter, the hulking war machine of a man was still a few inches shorter than the SPARTAN-IIs in the room, but he still had quite the imposing figure.
Clad in jet-black MJOLNIR MARK V Armor with a RECON helmet that had the added armor package and the com link system, HAZOP shoulders and a COMMANDO chest with a brace around his neck, as well as a TACCOM, the SPARTAN-III stood as the single most imposing thing currently in front of the king. So much so that the man had finally gone quiet, while his daughter seemed absolutely and completely terrified.
"We'll take our leave, now," Anders remarked, "A good day..."
Turning to leave, the doctor and the Spartans all marched under the cover of the Marines, with Naofumi and Raph in tow. As the group of futuristic soldiers retreated through the main door under the gazes of the other three heroes, the roar of jet engines came. In the courtyard, what must've seemed like magical chariots that flew hanged, one of them a bit more cooked than the others. UNSC Pelicans, heavily armored gunships painted the standard mean green of the UNSC Marines.
God, was Six glad to see them...
One of the aircraft touched down and opened the rear hatch before the shock-filled Melromarc citizens, their royalty and even Naofumi and Raph. Raph murmured, "Flying machines..." with all the awe of a child entering a candy store for the first time. First to board the new bird were the SPARTAN-IIs and doctor Anders. Six stopped, hesitating for a moment in front of the vehicle.
SPARTAN-092 turned to him, then said, "Lieutenant, c'mon."
"Sir..." Six's mind raced to the five comrades he'd lost on Reach. Certainly, they'd only known each-other for a few weeks at most, but that didn't mean he hadn't gotten attached to them. He had seen them all die. As he took a step forward, the clink of their dog tags rang in his ears, louder than any noise in the world. 092 looked to his comrades, then stepped out of the vehicle and placed a hand on the younger SPARTAN's shoulder.
"We need somebody to tell us what happened, Lieutenant. We've been out of the loop for a few years," He spoke calmly, "You're safe, now."
Six looked at the paved stone floor below them for a moment, then sighed and met visor-to-visor with the SPARTAN bearing a Commander's rank. He nodded, then saluted and followed 092 aboard the bird. He showed them to wait for a moment, turning to face the Shield Hero and his Guardian, then offered, "You two can tag along, you know? You fight pretty well."
"I'm thinking about it," Naofumi noted, them smirked and said, "Thanks for the live show, though... I enjoyed seeing the King and his bitch of a daughter shit themselves."
"What did they do to you?" Anders inquired from between the SPARTANs.
"It's a really long story, doc," He replied.
"Then get aboard and tell it to us, so we know what we're dealing with," Anders remarked, then took her seat. Naofumi looked to Raphtalia, to see if she was okay with it, but he saw the girl giddily jumping from one foot to the other, an excited smile on her face and her tail wagging cutely. With his heart skipping a beat, Naofumi relented and the two climbed aboard the Pelican.
He turned to the other heroes and said, "I'll see you three and your parties at the next Wave, I think!" with a grin on his face.
"... We hope so!" Motoyasu remarked, though he was clearly afraid. The aircraft's doors shut behind them and it lifted off first, its engines pushing it to escape velocity so it could leave the planet's atmosphere. Following its departure, the Marine platoon boarded the other Pelican and departed, stowing their weapons. The bird lifted off, joining in formation with its sibling on which the Spartans, Doctor and their newly-acquired pair of Heroes were.
Aboard the Spartan Pelican, Naofumi had sat himself down and strapped himself in, with a giddy, but pale Raph in the seat on his right. Sat face-to-face with them were the Spartans themselves, with Doctor Anders at the front-most seat on his row. A few more Marines had also joined them aboard, though these fellas and girls were more preoccupied with their own chatter.
"So," Naofumi looked to Six as the last of the exo-atmospheric turbulence vanished and the ship started sailing smoothly, "You... Uhm... You're from some form of alternate reality, too?"
"This, I gotta hear," Anders said, looking over to Naofumi, "What do you mean 'alternate reality'?"
"Well, I and the other three Heroes," he rolled his eyes at calling them 'heroes', "Were apparently brought here from four different versions of Earth, each of us. I know my version of the world, its history and events and they know theirs, so I think it's safe to assume you folks had much the same happen to you. I don't know how or why they'd summon a force of soldiers, but..."
He saw Anders taking notes on her tablet, several gears clearly already turning in her head. Naofumi hummed, then looked to Six and said, "You kind of saved us back there, I think.." before feeling the pouch of silver coins he had. The Spartan shrugged, then looked back through the rear window of the bird. Naofumi did the same and gasped, "Wow..." as he saw the planet shrink behind them.
Raphtalia, meanwhile, beamed as she saw her world from this angle for the first time.
Anders looked to Six, then asked, "So what's the situation, Spartan? How bad is the war going?"
"... We lost Reach, Ma'am..." The Spartan replied almost hesitantly and that seemed to stop every single UNSC trooper in the Blood Tray of the Pelican. The three SPARTAN-IIs of Red Team looked at him, clearly in shock, while he continued, "I should know... I fought on the blasted remains of the Viery Territory while the Covenant were pouring Plasma down on my head..."
"... Oh," Anders paused, "... That's not good. Earth?"
"Unknown, ma'am. I never got a message out to ask what'd happened..." He shrugged.
"Damn..." The leader of Red Team murmured. He leaned back into his seat and said, "That's gonna plummet morale unless the Captain can figure something out..." before turning to his Spartans and the other people aboard and ordering, "Not a mention of Reach to anyone except for him. We don't want to cause a general panic," and he got a nod from everyone aboard.
"Approaching the Spirit!" The Pilot called out from the front... Six undid his safety harness and stood to his feet, then marched to the cockpit. Naofumi and Raph both did the same within seconds and followed him up. Both paused upon entering the cramped cockpit as they saw her. A knife-like bow with two armor plates that resembled wings hanging off the sides, a sleek midsection with lots of internal machinery protected by layers of Titanium Alloy armor and a heavy-duty reinforced stern with the ship's main propulsion systems...
The Spirit of Fire looked as clean and beautiful as Noble Six would've expected an old UNSC ship to look. And, according to the shock on the faces of the local girl and the fellow transferee, they agreed with him. He leaned against one of the chairs, arms crossed to his chest as the Pilot called out, "Spirit Actual, this is Pelican Echo Three-Seventeen, requesting permission to land. We have the package on board..."
"Permission granted. Welcome home," The stern voice of the UNSC ship's captain replied. The two Pelicans veered for the belly of the ship, with the awed pair of human and Demi-human aboard Six's Pelican regarding the ship like she were some sort of god. To Six, she was his new home for the forseeable future. A home with an actual UNSC presence, too, one where he could repair his armor, rearm and relax for a change, compared to Reach when he was always mobile, always fighting...
... He hated that he brought bad news, though...