The Spartan of the Shield Halo/Rising of The Shield Hero
Halo/Rising of The Shield Hero
Chapter 1
Authors Note
So, after hearing about the rumours of Jorge 052 being isekaied in Halo Infinite's AU universe event Fracture: Tenrai, I... Immediately dropped everything to grind the event challenges. Now, as a free to play cheapskate, I eventually finished that, so I decided to write a oneshot of Jorge being Isekaied, my other fic, Honourable Stupidity won't be delayed by this, so don't worry. This is just for fun, please enjoy.
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Jorge 052.
He was always the man they could rely on. The one taking responsibility, the older veteran guiding the younger Spartan IIIs as they relied on his greater experience. Both with fighting the Covenant, and with other matters.
Of course, he relied on them just as much, from Kats genius computer skills, to Carters commanding genius. The youngsters were as talented as they were inexperienced, and he enjoyed teaching them what he could, he was certain his Spartan II comrades would approve if they knew.
Of course they butted heads sometimes, Jun was too cold-blooded for his tastes, and Emile was so obsessed with terrorising his enemies, he forgot Spartans were so valuable because of the courage they inspired, not their utility as simple weapons.
This was why, the loss of Thom-A293, their Noble 6 had hit him harder than anyone else in the team, and that was saying a lot. All of them had been hit hard by the friendly Spartans death. In a way, it felt like their fault.
So it goes without saying he convinced B312 to go. Of course, he would be lying if the young Spartans relationship with Kat wasn't part of why he dropped him off the Corvette himself. Apparently the two had been trained in the same group of Spartans. He chuckled to himself as he thought of the unlikely romance budding between them.
He looked down at the datapad in his hands.
The Pelican was cold, beckoning him towards his death.
The seconds ticked by as the Corvette drew closer to the Capital Ship.
This was it.
He would die, saving his home.
Saving his Reach.
Saving his Spartans.
His breath came out heavy and his pupils dilated as he felt himself enter Spartan time from the sheer adrenaline pumping through his veins.
Time slowed to a crawl.
04.67
'Here goes nothing.' He thought with bated breath.
03.91
02.55
01.29
'This is Noble Five, signing out for the last time...'
0.00
He tapped the button.
Suddenly, a blue light shined from behind him.
Milliseconds later, the Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engine welded to the Pelicans rear within several metres of him ripped space and time to utter shreds.
For a few milliseconds, he expected it would end like this. With a bang.
Yet, his vision didn't go black. His surprise grew, and his eyes widened.
Instead it was filled with a world of colour, blue streams of colour blinding his vision.
For a few seconds the kaleidoscope of blue blinded him, then he blinked and everything went black.
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His vision returned slowly.
His senses fading back from oblivion.
He felt a sense of confusion.
'What was happening? Why was he still alive?'
He couldn't understand, the blast should have torn his very atoms apart as Carter had described happening to those poor colonists.
Yet he was alive.
He centred himself, and remembered Chief Mendez's training.
He was a Spartan, he couldn't let something like an existential crisis or miracle make him unfit for battle.
A Spartan was a symbol that gave people hope. He refused to let that hope ever die.
So it was that the Spartan surveyed his surroundings.
However, his confusion returned once more, at the appearance of his suits HUD.
'My helmet? How in the...?'
Distracted again, Jorge started to feel a bit of frustration.
He immediately checked his HUD and used his neuralink to get whatever information he could.
First things first, there was anomaly. Instead of Etilka or nothing, the corner of his HUD showed the symbol for an ancient Iron Shield.
He noted it and continued. His armour had sustained minor battle damage on the Corvette, the micro-fusion cell was in good shape and had enough fuel for at least 10 years. The Shield Cells had been over-used a bit but were in general good shape.
He had no weapons on him at all. This didn't worry him. As much as he clashed with Emile, the close-quarters expert was absolutely correct that a Spartan was a weapon.
There was also a Fragment of Auntie Dot in his armours data core. Unlike actual Mark V armour, his heavily upgraded Mark IV armour didn't have the Superconducting liquid AI core that allowed a Smart AI to be installed in a Spartans Armour. However his armour his have a smaller core that allowed it's absurd computing power, Dot would be able to complete simple tasks for him with some prodding.
He realised with a bit of sheepishness he had forgotten to survey his surroundings first. Fortunately, he hadn't taken a second to finish, still in the midst of Spartan Time. Berating himself, he immediately looked around, eyes darting rapidly as he absorbed everything in his surroundings.
He did not understand what he saw.
No threats.
Just questions.
Men in robes kneeled before him.
They were indoors. A building made of bricks, with no windows, possibly underground. Not particularly well carved stone either he noted either, it was uneven almost as if it the bricks were hand-carved instead of laser cut or machine cut.
He was on top of an altar surrounded by various geometric patterns that were painted with fluorescent paint. They had symbols he vaguely remembered seeing in some history lessons about alchemy and how it lead to chemistry.
To his left with him on the altar, stood 3 youths.
Each with what looked like props from a movie. He wasn't well read up on modern culture, seeing as he had last seen a movie for entertainment alone when he was six years old.
The first possessed a white spear with a spherical green gem inlaid in at the base of its rather large blade. His appearance was rather eye catching, long blond hair with bright orange eyes. He was tall, and was the oldest of the three, looking to be in his early twenties.
The second held a similarly white sword with an identical gem in the hilt. His short black hair and kind blue eyes gave him a more approachable atmosphere, and he looked to not even be 18 yet.
The third carried a bow with the gem at it's centre above where most bows had the grip, with an odd concave grip behind where it would normally be. He looked slightly older than the last, and his light brown hair and dull golden eyes were the oddest of the lot.
All of them appeared of Asian descent, and were dressed like civilians.
If he had seen them on Reach he would have assumed them to be actors.
Yet in this situation? He had no clue.
He observed the body language of everyone in the room, their expressions, what they looked at, what sounds they made for several seconds. Using what he remembered of the espionage training he got, he assessed every person in the room with his full attention.
The people in robes looked as if they were in the presence of their heroes.
He smiled slightly behind his helmet, as he recognised their behaviour. They were acting like Marines that saw a Spartan coming to save them. It brought back a wealth of good memories. Of lives saved, and hope renewed.
The youths were different.
They all seemed somewhat confused, bewildered even. As if in disbelief at their surroundings.
Yet they all seemed to be somewhat familiar as well, in complete contradiction to that.
This was to different degrees. The black haired youth appeared far less comfortable than the other two, and was showing noticeable anxiety. The blonde was a little uncertain, but easily pushed his uncertainties down with his greater experience. The brunette was still floundering in both excitement, anxiety and confusion. This confusion only escalated as he turned and saw the armour clad Spartan, his eyes boggling.
He wondered if these kids were from Reach like him, or perhaps?
Were they the colonists killed in the slipspace drive accident his team had re-created?
'Impossible, its been centuries since then. Right?'
He was still hesitant to dismiss the possibility, after surviving what should have been certain death.
Then, he noticed.
On his right forearm, was a white shield with a gem on it.
It was attached to his MJOLNIR almost like a magnet. He curiously grabbed it and attempted to pry it off. It refused to budge even when he put his back into it.
Intrigued, he used the basic scanner suite in his helmet, lasers and infrasound sensors, to scan it. It was made of an unknown material, was completely solid with no signs of defects or weld lines in manufacturing, despite the gem being inlaid in the centre, and possessed a molecular composition and structure he failed to recognise beyond being some type of crystal.
While he was distracted by another insanity, the black haired youth spoke.
"Where is this place?"
"Ooh, Please brave heroes! Please somehow save this world!"
"""WHAT!?""""
The three youths shouted simultaneously. Jorge however kept his silence and observed the man intently.
He wasn't sure if his acting was that good, but he didn't appear to be lying. Jorge lamented at his lack of proficiency in cold reading. Yet despite the absurdity of the mans words, the other robed men didn't bat an eye.
Was this a cult?
"Many things happened, and due to our justified motive which is driven by certain circumstances, we were able to summon you brave Heroes through an ancient spell."
"This world is currently facing a global state of crisis. Brave Ones, please lend us your might."
The robed man bowed deeply in their direction while saying so.
"Well… This is a bit sudden–"
"What a pain."
"Is that so?"
"Can I just go back to my old world? I already heard this kind of story before."
He was stumped. The kids had been varying shades of nervousness and confusion, yet all of sudden they were the pictures of confidence. Though while he could respect their guts, their attitude was rather...lacking to put it bluntly.
"Aren't you people guilty over summoning us without our consent?"
The black haired youth pointed his sword at the robed men. Jorge cringed at his horrible form and stance. Mendez would have beaten the kid black and blue if he'd seen that...
"For instance, we won't just fight for world peace and then return to our old world empty-handed, right?"
The brunette scowled in the robed men's direction.
"You guys don't seem to take much consideration into our own plans, do you? Depending on what you have to offer, we might end up becoming this world's enemy instead, got it?"
"Well first, I'd like you all to have an audience with the king. We can discuss your reward then."
The representative of the robed men opened the heavy looking door to guide us through.
"…Guess it can't be helped."
"Right."
"Duh, the guy we'll be meeting changes, but I bet the story's still the same."
'Story?'
Jorge decided to hold his peace until he saw this so called 'king'. There hadn't been a living member of Royalty in over a century now, so he was rather curious.
As they passed through a stone corridor, he absently noted that the kids kept sneaking him glances, he wasn't surprised. Spartans were intimidating. He considered taking off his helmet.
As they went up a spiral staircase, they saw a window.
The kids let out gasps of awe at the view of what had to be a medieval age town spanning across the horizon.
This wasn't Earth, his radio wasn't picking up a thing, so why were they in what appeared like a European historical site? Was this a recreation made by a colony? Why? For what purpose?
Several minutes later, they reached a grand audience chamber. Rich looking men dressed in ancient style clothing were lined up. Several guards with medieval weapons and armour were at strategic points in the room, and the King. A regal old man, with white hair and a beard. He sat with a crown perched atop his head.
His eyebrow's raised at the sight, as if a mirror to the King raising his own eyebrows at Jorge. He appeared to breathe deeply as if collecting himself.
"Hou, are these fellows the Ancient Heroes?"
He began evaluating the kids, but appeared un-impressed. Jorge wasn't surprised.
"I am the king of this country, Aultcray Melromarc XXXII. The thirty-second ruler of Melromarc. Brave ones, please raise your heads."
While Jorge wasn't well versed in politics, he had enough knowledge to realise this was a political situation.
He knew people generally bowed to Kings to show respect and fealty. However, he wasn't beholden to this King.
That said, making a fuss now would serve no purpose. The 'King' had ignored them not bowing, so he felt he could return the favour.
"Now then, let us explain our situation. This country, and moreover, this whole world is facing its demise."
The King launched into a fantastic story about their world being assaulted by 'waves of calamity'.
How these waves would arrive roughly once a month, which was marked by ancient hourglasses.
How to save the world, these waves must be repelled before being dispersed.
At hearing this was all merely according to some ancient prophecy, Jorge scoffed in derision.
However.
When the King explained his people too had ignored the prophecy, only to suffer the price when a Dimension crack unleashed a horde of hideous and brutal monsters, killing many before knights and adventurers repelled them, Jorge was surprised.
He looked at the nobles and guards. Many of their faces reacted to what the King said. All of them were solemn. They body language told detailed stories of loved ones lost and fear of the unknown.
There was simply no chance this many people could be this good at acting. Either this was the most bizarre cult he had ever heard of, or these people were, dare he say it, telling the truth.
Jorge liked believing the best in everyone. He wanted to help and inspire others. This was why he took such effort to re-assure civilians even knowing they might die hours later.
So he decided to give these people a chance.
As the King explained how the following waves would grow in power, he removed his helmet.
The people around him gasped, though the King and several individuals controlled their reaction.
At the view of his scarred face, brown hair and bright, blazing hazel eyes, the kids couldn't help but gape slightly, though the responses from the crowd were slightly more muted. He helmet tucked under his arm, he shifted his posture straighter.
He looked Aultcray directly in the eye, and cleared his throat.
"This world, is it a colony?" He deep voice echoed in the chamber, as he asked a simple question.
Aultcray shook his head. "I do no know what you mean by that Shield Hero, but this world is certainly no colony of an empire. Or perhaps you meant this country? I assure you, Melromarc is an independent state."
"So you don't know of Earth, of the UNSC?" Jorge's tone grew resigned.
"I do not recognise those names, no." Aultcray appeared curious, surprised even.
"Then, I best explain. My name is Jorge. I'm a Spartan, and a Chief Warrant Officer of the UNSC army. That means as an officer of the UNSC, I have the minimum training and authority to make contact with your nation. Firstly, I must state that while I have doubts about my ability to do so, you have my full assurance that I will assist you to the best of my abilities." At this, Aultcray seemed to almost approve, and nodded.
Jorge continued. "However, I have some conditions. My people are at war. With an alien threat not dissimilar to these waves you spoke of. Your summoning saved my life as I set off a bomb that hopefully saved my home planet. Unfortunately, Reach is doomed to fall like the hundreds before it. Our enemy, an alliance of alien species called the Covenant, burns our planets to glass. Now they have found it, it's end is inevitable." As Jorge let show his fears for his beloved home, he felt his gaze grow solemn, he voice hinting at his pain.
"My duty is to humanity first and foremost, so I will aide you either way. I cannot abandon the UNSC so easily however. So I will ask that in return for my assistance, you do your utmost best to help me find a way to send aide to the UNSC." At this, he gave Aultcray a sharp gaze.
To his surprise Aultcray seemed to smile at that, his body language changed as if he had stopped controlling himself, and he seemed to radiate satisfaction.
"It seems I have been hasty in my judgement. You are a splendid Shield Hero, Jorge. You have my promise that we will do whatever we can to find a way to aid your people. I will task a group of mages towards that end immediately, though we might need a sample from your belongings to use to find your home. A reversed summoning spell might take years to create as well." Aultcray suddenly seemed deep in thought.
"That's acceptable." Jorge responded, feeling like he'd dodged a bullet.
"Hey, what's this about aliens?"
"Um, did the setting change to sci-fi?"
"Sir, are you some kind of super-soldier?"
At the kids questions, Jorge chuckled.
"You kids were summoned with me no? Are you saying you've never heard of the Covenant?" He was curious, who were these kids?
"""No.""" They responded in unison, shaking their heads.
"Where are you from then? Some colony planet?" His eyebrows raised slightly.
"""Japan."""
"You're from Earth, and you've never heard of the Covenant? That's impossible..." He'd had enough questions today for a lifetime, he was starting to feel tired.
The brunette suddenly raised a finger.
"Hey, maybe you're from the future? You're armour does look futuristic. What year is it?"
"2552. We've been at war with the Covenant for 27 years now, and I've lived through all of it."
At that, all of the kids raised their eyebrows.
Suddenly, the king cleared his throat.
"Interesting as this is, we do have business to conclude, why don't you heroes finish your discussion later?"
Jorge nodded, and the kids faced the King once more.
"Now then, Heroes. Let us hear the rest of your names."
"My name is Amaki Ren. Age 16, a high schooler." Jorge could finally put a name to each of the youths. Ren, the black haired youth was rather aloof and confident despite his anxiety back at the altar.
"Okay, next up will be yours truly. My name's Kitamura Motoyasu. 21 this year, a university student."
The blonde seemed a bit concerned about something. He wasn't surprised, if they didn't know about the Covenant, it was a rather nasty revelation.
"It's my turn next. My name is Kawasumi Itsuki. 17 right now, another high school student."
Last but not least, the excitable brunette with odd golden eyes.
"Fumu. Ren, Motoyasu, and Itsuki, huh?"
"Now then, everyone please confirm your own status. As a matter of fact, I would like you all to visually check for yourselves."
Jorge raised an eyebrow? He wanted their status? He looked down at his armour as his instructed, before reporting.
"No weapons, armour sustained minor damage, anomalous object attached, overall, read for battle." He voice rang out clearly.
The kids looked at him bewildered.
Ren pointed to the side of his face and spoke.
"He meant your game status, the icon right in the corner of your vision."
"Game status? This isn't a game kid, wait, what is that? How is this interfacing with me, it's not showing up on my neuralink?" Jorge scrunched up his face in frustration.
"Magic." Ren responded plainly.
"Ah magic."
"Yes magic."
"How annoying." Jorge grumbled. The kids chuckled.
He focused on what the status 'magic' was showing him.
Jorge - 052
Occupation: Hero of the Shield Level 1
Equipment: Small Shield (Legendary Armament), Parallel World's Power Armour
Items: None
Skill: None
Magic: None
Help
There were several menu options, as well as a graph showing defense, attack and agility, and some more he didn't recognise. It was heavily skewed in favour of defense, with attack being rather low.
He remembered vaguely some games he'd played as a kid. It was a lifetime ago, but he did remember playing with his friends and family in Pálháza on Reach.
"Level 1 huh… this doesn't look very reassuring."
"Right, I don't even know if it's possible to fight like this."
"That's exactly what I meant."
"Tools like these don't exist in the Brave Ones' world? This Status magic can be used by everyone in this world, helping to improve ourselves."
"Is that so?"
"So then, what should we do now? Our current values seem rather troubling."
"Fumu. From now on, you Brave Heroes will need to venture forth so that you may hone and strengthen both yourselves as well as your legendary armaments."
"Strengthen? Does that mean that our starting equipment isn't strong enough?"
"Yes, the legendary weapon of each summoned Hero has their own special method of enchantment. By doing so they can become very powerful."
"Legend this, legend that. It's fine not to change weapons as long as it can function properly as a weapon, no?"
Motoyasu whirled his spear around while commenting.
Jorge crossed his arms.
"You kids don't need to worry one bit, I'm a veteran of a war that's lasted a quarter of a century. I'll make sure your ready to deal with whatever this world has to offer." He smiled reassuringly at them, yet somehow, the kids felt a chill down their spines at the student of Chief Mendez offering, 'training'.
"Brave Heroes, please hold for a moment."
"Huh?"
"Is there a problem, Your Majesty?" Jorge suddenly felt thankful for Halsey's varied history lessons. Learning that highness was for royal families, and majesty for the ruler was a weird tangent from Sam, but his long gone rival in weightlifting had saved him from embarrassing himself beyond the grave.
"Each of you Brave Heroes will need to recruit your own companions and begin your adventures separately."
"Why is that, exactly?" Jorge stated, sighing.
"You see. According to legend, it's said that the legendary armaments will reject one another should you Brave Heroes band together, interfering with the growth of both the owners and the weapons."
"I don't really get it, but if we act together, we can't increase our power?"
Suddenly, a screen popped up.
Attention: If those who possess the legendary weapons work together on a united front, a repulsing reaction will occur, preventing the wielders from growing in power. Therefore, move individually as much as possible.
Jorge idly remembered the help option in the status menu. Perhaps this would be easier than he thought.
"That really does seem to be the case…"
"Improving ourselves and recruiting comrades. Which should be done first, I wonder?"
"Please allow me the honour of preparing your comrades. At any rate, the sun is already beginning to set. Brave Ones, please take your time and rest for the day. You may depart for your journey tomorrow. During that time I shall make arrangements and scout for talented individuals who can accompany you on your destiny."
"Thank you." Jorge inclined his head slightly, careful not to show submissiveness or disrespect. The kids followed his action, thanking the king.
Then the robed man from before showed them to the guest room.
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"So, you kids were saying?" Jorge sat on the floor, his heavy armour making a reverberating thunk as he descended carelessly. The kids widened their eyes as they realised how heavy his armour was.
"It was 2022 for me." Ren answered.
"For me the year was 2017." Motoyasu scratched his head.
"Um, 2010..." Itsuki nervously answered.
"Hmm, interesting. So all of you three are from Earth during the 21st century. I wonder why I'm the exception." Jorge speculated.
"Speaking of that, you said you had set off a bomb right?"
"Yes, I had accepted my death." Jorge stared off into the distance, lost in his own world all of a sudden, then he was torn out of his reminiscing.
"Actually, I died too." Motoyasu rubbed his head while smiling sympathetically.
"You died?" Jorge was beyond giving a damn at this point. He thought he hadn't actually died, or had he?
Motoyasu pointed at himself and began to speak.
"For me, it was because I had too many girlfriends."
"And after doing a bit of this and that…"
"Did you get stabbed for two-timing or three-timing?"
Ren asked with a straight face.
Motoyasu's eyes blinked with surprise before he gave a small nod.
"Man… Girls are really scary, aren't they?"
Jorge stared in wonder. He knew civilians could get up to strange stuff, but he hadn't heard of a situation this ridiculous...recently. He'd heard a lot of things.
"Kid, if you ever need someone to talk to about it..." He trailed off.
"Ah thanks Jorge, but I'm sure I'll do just fine." Motoyasu nodded.
"Then I'll go next."
Ren spoke up.
"I was walking back home from school, when I unfortunately encountered a troubling murder incident."
"Fumu fumu."
"I tried helping my childhood friend who was with me at the time, and somehow I managed to capture the killer, but that's as far as I can remember."
… Ren explained his circumstances while rubbing at his side the whole time.
"I was already in this World before I even felt a thing."
Itsuki had a hand on his chest and began speaking.
"I guess it's my turn now. When I was crossing the street on my way home from cram school… a dump truck took a sharp corner turn. And afterwards…"
"""…"""
"Kids, again, if you need someone to talk to, just ask. I've dealt with people who had serious trauma before, though never someone that had, well died. You've got a great deal of pressure on your soldiers now, this world is relying on us, so don't feel afraid to ask for help okay." Jorge looked them each in the eye as he said his piece.
They nodded back. Then...
"So how come this place seems like Emerald Online?" Motoyasu asked the group.
When he got blank stares, he tilted his head in consternation.
"Um hello? Emerald Online, world famous VRMMO?"
"Never heard of it." Ren shot back.
"Um, VRMMO? Aren't those fictional?" Itsuki asked timidly.
"Wait a minute, what?"
After some discussion, Jorge found that each kid had played a game that reminded them of this world.
Motoyasu had played a VRMMO called Emerald Online. Ren, Brave star Online.
Itsuki's world didn't have VR, but this world reminded him of Dimension Wave Online.
Jorge admitted his galaxy might have a similar game, but as he hadn't played video games since he was six years old, he wouldn't have a clue.
"Um, Jorge will that be a problem?" Motoyasu looked concerned.
"What problem?"
"You don't have knowledge from a game. You have the weakest class, and uh no offense but you are an old man."
Jorge laughed.
"I'm a Spartan. I'm old because I'm deadly kid. As for knowledge, I know how to fight, not in a game but real life. None of you kids have that experience. Now what do you mean by weakest class."
As Motoyasu explained why the Shield class was unable to do much damage and was best as a tank for other players, they all agreed that Jorge would need party members, and he in turn convinced them that they would need companions as much as him. Without a way to read the written language, or knowledge of politics, maps, daily life and other details they didn't have from their games, they would need some form of aid.
After that, they retired for the night. Jorge sleeping on the floor.
The information they had shared had been rather enlightening. They would prepare for the waves as best as possible. Jorge only hoped he could save this world quickly, and go back home in time to save Reach. Taking down a Supercarrier wouldn't stop the Covenant.
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