Sorry once again for this taking so long, been dealing with changes in my writing process, and rewrite the last half at least three times, and life of course XD. Hope you enjoy it and have a good day.
Chapter 16 The Truth
Lexi could not form words due to the bomb dropped by agent Texas. Six's response to this reveal was to walk off to process this information, Texas attempted to follow Six, but Lexi placed a hand on her chest and said,
"Give him time." Tex looked at Lexi and nodded as the Spartan asked, "Want to go inside?" gesturing to the garage Lexi often works in during her stay at this base. Texas said sure as the gals headed inside.
Once inside, Lexi led Tex to the kitchen area, and the two sat at the table. Silence filled the air as the two were unsure who should start the conversation? Texas decided to be the one to shatter the awkward silence with, "So your Nathan's girlfriend?" curious about where the two were relationship-wise.
The fragment's question caught Lexi off guard, and she said, "We care and love each other a lot. We just never had a chance to be a thing outside of a long distance relationship" Texas understood and gave Lexi the reins to ask a question, Lexi took it by asking, "Sorry if this is rude but, are you like possessing the robot body?" Lexi was familiar with enough horror movies to know it was possible for ghosts to possess robots.
Texas chuckles at that question and answers, "I'm not a ghost, but an A.I." Lexi nodded and was about to add onto the question, but Tex cut her off by saying, "I'm not Allison. Best way to describe it is that I'm an interpretation of her. The memory of Allison, you could even say." hoping that painted a clear picture for the Spartan Gal.
Lexi nodded to show Texas was doing a good job. Beta knew it was her turn to fire off a question and asked Lexi, "Did Nathan talk about me? Allison I mean?" thinking herself unfit to be called Allison, especially in this context, "I wondered what I- Allison did to-" Lexi places a calming hand on Texas' to sooth her and the Spartan explains.
"Not often, we had more important things to do than reflect on the ones we still had." Texas nodded knowing Lexi was likely not done, the fragment would be correct, "I'm guessing you didn't die with your parents."
Texas nodded yes and went into detail, "On that day Nathan begged me to go and play with him. I wanted to hang out with friends but Nathan at the time was having a rough time in school. I felt it would cheer him up, and I could hang out with my friends tomorrow." If only Allison knew Texas thought as she kept on telling the story, "We went deep into the woods to play our usual games. It was a fun time. It is still hard to think such a sweet carrying boy would…." Texas couldn't finish what she was going to say.
Lexi understood and wanted to explain how Nathan became Six, but she felt Nathan should be the one to explain it to Texas. Lexi said instead, "I'm guessing that's how you avoided being killed with the rest of the population?" Texas nodded yes as the fragment placed a hand on top of Lexi's hand on top of Texas' other hand. Sandwiching Lexi's hand between her own,
"Lexi, I need you to promise me something. It's very important." Lexi nodded as Texas continued, "Promise me no matter what happens you will be there for Nathan. He needs people in his life, people that he can call his family." Lexi didn't need to be given this request, and She would have done it regardless. Texas got to her feet and prepared to leave, but a hand grabbed her own.
Turning to Lexi, the Spartan said, "Nathan needs you as well, Texas." the fragment looked away, thinking her existence would be a constant reminder of his guilt, "No I'm being honest he loves you, Allison or not. If he loses you or me… I fear…" Lexi could not finish, but both knew where it was going.
Texas fully turned to Lexi and said, "Thank you." then proceeded to hug her before leaving the garage to find Six, which she hopes is not a pain in the ass. She wandered a bit and soon saw an odd-looking aerial vehicle that was too big to be a simple Wasp but too small to be a Pelican. Six was sitting in the main cockpit of the vehicle.
Beta walked towards the vehicle, only stopping when he glanced at her. She was still uncertain if he wanted to gut her like a fish or not. "Hop in." Six said, which sounded more like a demand than a friendly suggestion.
Texas hopped in and waited for Six to get this vehicle into the air. The spartan three was about to but he could sense Tex's uneasiness and said, "Tex." this caught her attention as he kept on speaking,"I know you think I hate you and well I don't… it's not fair for you." Six was trying to be as honest as he could with the fragment copy of his long dead sister. She understood his stance,
"Thanks." as she watches the spartan start the vehicle's engine and start to reach top speed, "So what vehicle is this?" her curiosity could not wait any longer. Six thankfully didn't mind as he still got his eyes ahead of him and told her it was a Pigeon, a smaller variant of a Pelican used to be a UNSC version of the Covenant's Banshee. Eventually this Pigeon became airborne and flew up into the black void that we humans call space.
The two remain silent, unsure what to talk about during their long flight, Six knew there was no point in trying to avoid it, but first he asked Tex,"What's the last memory you have as Allison?" This will help prepare him for if he has to go back to "That Day".
Texas takes a minute or two to skim through her memories and eventually gets her answer, "My last memory is of me leaving due to being called to fight back against the Covenant, but Leonard didn't want me to leave." Six dreaded this answer as he knew what she was going to say, "So that leaves how I actually died up in the air."
However, that was a lie I was told so I would not know who I was really meant to kill." Six shouldn't be surprised by the fact they do it, but... hadn't he paid enough to do their dirty work, to be the one to ultimately pay for their sins? This info was enough to trigger something inside Beta's mind, taking her on a trip down memory lane.
Texas' vision changed, showing she was now inside what appears to be an abandoned UNSC base. Like she was listening to an audiobook, Texas was informed that Allison was just transferred to this team under strange circumstances, along with the fact that most of the team members were pieces of shit. Allison stood close to this trash tier ODST team leader with their helmet off, allowing this pervert to see her pretty face.
The flirtatious fuck says, "So Allison, You're a new ODST recruit, correct?" Clearly, he didn't read her file. Allison could smell this guy was shady, so she decided to play dumb and said in an innocent voice,
"So what if I am?" hoping he takes the bait. Predictably he did as he said to the ODST gal.
"It's just, you're such a beautiful rookie; I would love to show you the ropes." licking his lips, making it hard for Allison to not break the role she is playing and give this perverted fuck a good punch to the dick.
Allison asked, pretending to be a dumb blond that many foolish boys thought she was until they learn the hard truth, "In that case mind telling me what the others are doing while I'm standing here with you?" Trying to draw this perverted moth into her raging flames, which is not normal for her given her tomboyish demeanor most of her life.
The horny bastard fell under Allison's spell and explained to her, "Well you see me and my boys like to do some under the table salvaging. selling scrap to those who will pay a fine price to get their hands on." Allison nodded, acting shocked by this information when she wasn't.
The two heard a blood-curdling cry of pain with a pinch of horror filling the air. Allison has been in the thick of it, but even she got a chill down her hardened spine. The ODST leader was not as brave as the blonde gal.
Allison decided to take action by putting on her ODST helmet and said to the horny leader, "We should go check on the others see if-" when she turned around, she saw him running away like the little bitch he was, "Why am I not surprised." Rolling her eyes, picking up her Assault rifle, Allison heads to the source of the scream she heard, even though a little voice in her mind was telling her otherwise.
Allison was on high alert, looking for any of the other ODST members, but no luck and all she heard was ambient noises of forest creatures and the wind blowing. The sound of boots stepping on a metallic surface caused her to spin one-eighty only to see the side of a building? Allison glanced up and saw a figure covered in darkness crouching on the roof. Allison unloaded the entire clip in her assault rifle into the black figure, only to see the shots go through the figure with a glitchy effect.
Allison was confused until she saw the figure dissipate and realized it was a simple hologram. "It was unwise to waste an entire clip on thin air." A modified voice said, mocking Allison, and it worked like a charm as she growled as she tossed her rifle and drew out her sidekick pistol and looked around, trying to find the source. moments of failing to find a needle in a haystack and shouted,
"Why not show your face, coward." The ODST killer just chuckled at her getting his kicks out of messing with Allison. Once again heard something behind her, but it sounded like a helmet hitting the dirt floor? Allison gasped, turning around to the source, seeing three helmets belonging to the other ODSTs on her team. She was aware she was easy picking, so she ran in one direction, trying to lose this person and find the leader. They stand a better chance united against the killer.
Allison kept looking for the ODST leader, but that horny bastard seemed to have vanished from the face of this planet? Allison's first thought was that the hunter got the leader already. She was not surprised, considering he was a little bitch and probably deserved it. Arriving at the entrance, Allison was greeted by a headless corpse, which she recognized as belonging to the leader.
It triggered the fight or flight within her body, and it chose the latter. The hunter watched the ODST gal run off into the forest, pondering how to kill his last target, but a small part of him felt something was off about this one. Her voice sounded very familiar, but he ignored it, thinking it was probably someone he had walked by one time.
Allison knew that the hunter was still on her tail, but she could not find him while she was likely a sitting duck. Allison turns on a dial, hoping it catches the hunter off guard, only to receive a strong backhand when she attempts to run past a tree. The blow launched Allison away, nearly shattering the visor of her ODST helmet.
The hunter was impressed that she could take the hit and not be knocked out cold. The ODST gal struggled to her feet, finally getting good luck at the person that had been dogging her through the woods. Allison was shocked to see it was not a covenant alien, but a mother fucking spartan?! Its armor was completely black with a few red parts, and its visor was pure black in color.
Allison asked the spartan, "Why are you killing your fellow human? Is it over the old beef between ODST and spartans?" she doubted it was the case. The spartan walked closer to her, not making a sound which freaked Allison more.
The spartan said, "It's nothing personal. I'm just doing my job. like any spartan would," his voice sounded cold, unfilling but was faintly familiar to Allison, but her fear of dying clouded that familiarity. The ODST drew her combat knife and got into a fighting stance; she was not going to die without a fight or, even better, take this spartan bastard with her, unlikely as it may be. The spartan was unfazed by her actions. He hardly notices the knife in her hand. It was far from a concern in his mind.
Allison thrust her knife forward once he was in face stabbing range, but he moved his arm to the side to deflect it. Allison tried to pull her arm back, but he gripped her wrist and squeezed it hard enough to cause her to drop the knife. Trying to go for an old-fashioned punch to the face, the spartan caught it easily and squeezed it, causing pain followed by a fast punch in her stomach.
The punch was enough to forcefully remove the air still in her lung. The spartan followed that up by letting go of her hand, gripping her by the throat, and lifting her up.
Allison thrashed about as she was losing air at a rapid pace and knew the clock was ticking down. The ODST grabbed from her utility belt a tool that might help her get free from the spartan's grasp. It was a tool called a glass breaker. Allison bought it, thinking it would be a useful tool to have on hand. Gripping it tightly as she shouted,
"FUCK YOU!" smashing the glass breaker into the black visor of the Spartan, causing him to toss her away, gripping his head clearly, panic took control over his body.
The spartan removed his helmet, not wanting to risk the glass falling into his eyes, "Lucky shot." saying to himself, done playing around with the ODST bitch. Turning around, he saw Allison was gone, but he knew where she had gone.
Allison's heart was beating a million miles per hour as she looked for a way to escape. She sprinted through the forest, but she hit the brakes hard so she didn't run right off the side of the cliff. She took a moment to slow her heart rate and finally noticed how hard it was to see due to how cracked the visor was.
She grabbed her ODST helmet and tossed it off the cliff, letting her long blond hair flow from the gust of the wind. Allison turned one-eighty and tried to run in a different direction but saw the spartan hiding faintly under the shadows formed by the trees.
The spartan just arrived and finally sees the true face of the last ODST member he has to kill. The face he recognized right away and had to blink to make sure his mind was not playing tricks on him. The spartan remained covered in shadows meaning his face could not be seen by Allison.
Allison was tired of this spartan messing with her, "COME ON! KILL ME!" knowing she was a dead man walking and hated it. The spartan stepped out from the shadows uncovering his true face. Allison was ready to curse the spartan bastard for taking a mother away from a little girl and a loving husband. However, she recognized it and could not believe it, "No... it can't be?! Nathan?!"
Nathan hadn't heard his name in years. It was almost foreign to him. Allison had so many things to say, but she knew their last interaction didn't end well, "Nathan... I know that I owe you a-"
"DON'T WASTE YOUR BREATH! I don't need your last-minute sympathy. What I needed was someone that wouldn't abandon ME!" Nathan's eyes were red from crying. The old Nathan was still there, clearly hiding behind a spiteful persona.
Allison knew she needed to be a big sister, which she failed him all those years ago, "Nathan... I-" the ground shook as seismic activity triggered an earthquake. It was causing the balance to become imbalanced and in an attempt to regain it by stepping back.
Nathan noticed this and shouted, "ALLISON!" running towards her, but she was too late as she fell off the cliff into the ground far below. Nathan watched as she slowly got closer and closer to the rough floor, knowing her head would crack open due to no helmet protecting it.
As Allison's head met the ground, she could hear a sickening crack before Texas sprang back to the present, "Are you okay?" Six asked of Tex. for a solid minute, she remained still like a statue until she had a spaz attack.
Texas took a moment to collect herself and said, "I just saw Allison die." Six visors made it hard to read what was written on his face, "And the event's leading to it." Tex finished as she stared into his visor, trying to see the man within the suit of armor.
Six faced forward, trying to not show emotions. Texas places a hand on his shoulder, trying to comfort him. "It should have been me." Six said out of the blue, confusing the fragment what he meant, but then the planets aligned as the spartan finished, "The world would be a better place if I died that day or..."
"Nathan. No ONE is beyond redemption, least of all you. It's what Allison would have wanted." looking away and added, "And what I want." letting her emotions be written on her sleeves. She felt one of six's hands resting on her, comforting her. She loved him like an older sister should, and he loved her like any little brother would.
Six broke silence but not the embrace, "Getting and finding the Alpha will be hard." Texas nodded as he kept going, "But you can head back to the Mother of Invention and narrow down where he could be stored." Six had a few ideas, but he would share them with Texas when the two arrived at the destination the spartan had in mind.
Texas nodded, "Should be easy enough." Thinking this heist they two were cooking would be easy, far easier than the sarcophagus heist. Texas and Six should remember nothing in either of their lives was ever simple let alone easy.