Chapter 26:
Six POV*
Today was the day.
It has been four weeks since he met with Lord Hood, and yet the rumors spreading around the station have not calmed down. Shress was still seen by everyone as 'the monster in the dungeons,' but for the first time in a month, the mood around the station doesn't bother him.
Looking around him, he sees the ODST squad tasked with keeping Shress in line during the upcoming experiment all giving him odd glances. Each of them was armed to the teeth and appeared ready for war as they all stood in the elevator leading down to the station's brig, and it didn't help that Six had the odd feeling they were briefed about the whole situation.
It turns out, this ODST squad had five members, and was transferred from a ship nearby just for this. It seemed to be an odd group, but other than the gunnery sergeant giving him a few odd glances here and there, nothing seemed to be too far out of the ordinary.
Glancing to the door, Six spotted Doctor Glassman standing impatiently at the exit. The doctor appeared to be nervous, though the spartan couldn't exactly fault the man. Six was well aware that most civilians didn't stand much of a chance in a fight against any sangheili, let alone a zealot.
'Not that Shress is any threat to his safety…'
Glancing down to himself, the super soldier double checks his own weapons. He knows there will be no need for them, but at the very least he felt a bit more comfortable having a battle rifle on him.
Hearing the hiss of the door as it slides open, the odd group slowly makes its way down the hallway towards Shress's cell. The silent nature of the ODSTs was a bit comforting, as the group made their way down the passageway.
His heart stabbed in his chest as he saw the bland metal door that led into Shress's room. He hasn't been able to see her at all in the last four weeks but just the thought of seeing her made him feel guilty.
This situation was never something that Six wanted, though he knew it was unavoidable. He could do nothing but hope that her show of good faith would convince Lord Hood to allow her to have a bit more freedom.
As they reached the door, Six watched quietly as one of the ODSTs hid his hands as he typed the code into the keypad. Hearing a muffled thunk as the lock disengages, he then turns to the supersoldier and gestures to the door.
"After you, sir."
It still felt a bit odd to be addressed as an officer, as spartans didn't typically make it past the enlisted ranks, but he ignored it.
Giving the gunnery sergeant a quick but respectful nod, Six makes his way to the door before opening it slowly. Peeking his head in, he tries to assess if they managed to catch her at a bad time.
Glancing inside, he immediately recognized the crimson clad form of Shress standing only a few feet away. Her helmet was off, but in her hands as she turned to look towards the open door.
Immediately, Six can tell when she recognizes him, her reptilian silver eyes growing wide as she seems to relax and she gives him a bright smile.
She began to make her way over to him, but sadly he knew that this wasn't a social visit. Swinging the door open fully, he allowed her to see that he wasn't alone as the ODSTs stood stoically in plain view with their hands on their weapons.
Watching as the happiness on her face morphs into a more composed expression, his heart lets out another stab of guilt. Shoving it down, he speaks up as collected as he could, though he couldn't quite keep the bottled emotion from reaching his voice.
"Ms. La'Vdam, we are here to escort you to the prowler."
Seeing as determination fills her eyes, she nods before she places her crimson helmet back onto her head and makes her way out of the cell.
The movement wasn't left unnoticed by the marines outside. The moment the seven-and-a-half foot alien stepped outside, Six easily saw as the doctor stiffened. Even the highly trained soldiers seemed to grip their weapons a bit tighter as they realized exactly who they were supposed to escort.
A quick moment in time came and went as the group examined the zealot openly. Standing there in the open hallway of the brig, they all stood there unsure of exactly what to do before Shress began to look around curiously.
Her movements caused everyone in the group to stiffen as she began to examine the hallway. Her advanced helmet spun around, looking for something before her gaze landed on Six. Tilting her head curiously, she asks a simple question that nearly made the lone wolf laugh out loud.
"So where is the prowler?"
The question seemed to disarm the group, as the marines shifted their weight. Oddly enough, it was Doctor Glassman that found his voice first as he cleared his throat.
"Ahem, right." He turns and begins walking toward the elevator. "This way please."
Six followed closely behind the doctor as the group made their way back towards the exit. He knew for a fact that any of the marines, if they were trained half as well as they should have, would be extremely uncomfortable turning their back on a zealot. Thankfully for them, Six didn't have such reservations.
As the odd group made their way inside the small elevator, the scientist pressed the button for the correct floor and they began their ascent back into the station proper.
Eventually, the window inside the elevator changed from the cold metal interior of the elevator shaft to the blue and green planet below. I could hear the metal of Shress's armor shift as she looks out over humanity's homeworld.
"Take a good look, split lip. You ain't getting any closer."
The voice immediately ruined whatever mood Six had, as he turned to glare at the offending ODST. Before he could respond, the gunnery sergeant spoke up.
"Lock it up Romeo."
Oddly enough, the voice sounded rather familiar to Six, but he couldn't for the life of him place where he heard it.
The now named Romeo simply grunts before he crosses his arms, thankfully not saying anything else.
Sadly, it looks as if the damage was already done. As he turned back to Shress, he saw as her previously stiff but straight posture made way for a more depressed slouch.
Unwilling to let her fall into depression, Six reached over and squeezed her arm comfortingly. He watched closely as her helmet turned to him, and the moment he knew he had her attention, he gave her a smile.
Before his eyes, he watched as her confidence returned to her. She seems to hold herself higher than before, stepping a bit closer to Six in the process.
Six was a bit disappointed that they didn't even make it out of the brig before something like this happened. He honestly thought this experiment would be a nice breath of fresh air for her asa way to get out of the cell that she has been staying in, but now that he thought about it, Shress was about to be thrown front and center to all of the people aboard the station. He knew that the rumors about her 'aggressive behavior' might have died down a bit, but this was the equivalent of throwing gas on the fire.
Squeezing her arm comfortingly once more, he finally releases his grip as the door hisses open at their destination.
—UA—
Everyone's eyes were glued onto the odd group of five ODSTs, a spartan in coveralls, a sangheili zealot, and a doctor in a lab coat as they entered the hangar.
Taking a quick look around, Six could see several other oddly dressed scientists all stop in their tracks as they turn towards the open door. Sitting prominently in the middle of the hangar, with the main hatch leading to the inside open was a prowler. Simply looking at the side undamaged hull of the stealth ship, Six knew that this one was not the one they arrived in.
Striding in confidently was Glassman, who's nervous demeanor seems to have left him on the walk to the hangar.
"Alright people, everyone back to work! I want this entire process recorded from every angle!"
Grumbles rose up from the workers as they all returned to what they were doing, though Six could easily see their eyes continuing to look up to Shress in apprehension.
Shress doesn't seem to notice any of this as her gaze remains entirely focused on the prowler. Striding in confidently, she walks straight past the overexcited doctor which causes him to yelp.
The ODSTs definitely noticed the movement, as they pushed their way into the room with their hands on their weapons.
Six feels a bit uneasy at the situation escalating, but quickly noticed that Shress wasn't even paying any attention to them.
The doctor seems a bit flustered before he calls out for the focused sangheili.
"Hey, where are you going?"
Shress stops for a moment before simply responding to his question without even turning around.
"I am here to improve this ship. This is the whole reason I am here, no?"
Having said what she wanted to, she continued into the ship before disappearing inside without another word.
Doctor Glassman seems a bit flustered before he turns toward a rack of hazmat suits, frantically gesturing towards an aide as he began to don the suit.
"Jen, you have cameras placed everywhere in there, correct?"
The aide looks as if she is about to burst into laughter at the image but shakes off the temptation. Looking away from Glassman, she returns her attention back to the monitors in front of her.
"Yes, Doctor Glassman."
The doctor seems pleased even as he finished up and practically sprinted into the ship, following behind Shress.
"Hey gunny, shouldn't we follow them?"
Turning back to the group of ODSTs, he watched as four of the five grouped up and began to talk. However, before the sergeant could respond, another one butts in.
"What, and get toasted by the slipspace drives radiation? Are you crazy?"
The sergeant shakes his head before he gestures toward the prowler. "The engine room is the only place that isn't shielded by the radiation, so it sounds to me like you two just volunteered for guard duty."
The sound of grumbling came out from the helmets of the marines before they began to make their way toward the ship.
"Great job Mickey."
"Me? You are the one that asked about guard duty!"
Eventually the two stepped into the ship and disappeared from sight. A moment of awkward silence from everyone comes and goes before it was interrupted by someone's stunned voice.
"What in the…"
Suddenly, everyone's attention turned back to the scientific aide. She was staring at one of the monitors in disbelief, her eyes wide as she kept her attention firmly on the screen.
Buck seemed a bit put off from the words as he stiffens before making his way over to the screens. There was a moment before he spoke up, his hesitant voice resounding through the now silent room.
"Is the room supposed to be glowing like that?"
The aide simply shakes her head before she continues staring at the monitors.
At this point, Six was curious about what was going on. Striding over, he makes his way behind the other two people before taking a quick glance at the monitors.
There were severa camera angles, but the one that immediately caught his attention was the one that appeared to be looking over Shress's shoulder.
She was working on… something, but whatever she was working on had a soft blue glow to it. The light appeared to be flickering in and out, almost as if it was interacting with something. It only took him a few seconds to figure out what was going on, and when he did he groaned out loud.
'That won't make it easier to escort you around the station Shress.'
The aide turns around and appears to want to ask a question, but the moment she registered who exactly was standing behind her, her mouth snaps shut.
Buck didn't have any reservations, however, as he just outright asks without turning around.
"Do you know what it is doing? Is it a threat?"
Shaking his head, though the ODST couldn't see it, he responds with his observation.
"She," Six said, emphasizing her gender, "is using her plasma daggers to weld something."
Buck spins around, utterly baffled.
"That elite is armed?!"
Six ignores the tone before he makes his way back to his original position. While the gunnery sergeant's tone stabbed at his nerves a bit, he understood his concern.
'Even if it is unwarranted.'
"She isn't a threat to anyone, armed or not."
The Lance Corporal snorts, deciding to interject.
"Maybe you forgot exactly what we are dealing with here. Seven foot tall murdering alien ringing a bell?"
Buck steps away from the monitor and points to Romeo again, cutting him off.
"You got a good point Romeo." He said, his helmet pointed toward their final teammate who appeared to be happily sleeping in a chair nearby. "Hey rookie!"
The only sign that the relaxed marine heard him was a slight shift in his helmet towards Buck.
"How about you stop sleeping on the job and go in there to give Dutch and Mickey some backup in case they need it."
Groaning, the marine slowly got up from his spot before making his way into the prowler without so much as a word.
Realizing that this might take a few minutes, Six began to relax as he resigned himself to waiting. Simply judging from the last time that Shress had to do this, he knew it would take about ten minutes or so.
Deciding to give the impromptu science lab a more detailed examination, he found that the desk that the aide was using was a flimsy excuse of a card table. The computers she was using were definitely portable, and even as she was studying what was on them she was sipping coffee out of a plain white mug.
Looking around the room, Six also spotted a piece of paper that was haphazardly taped over the airlock release that had scratchy writing that said 'DO NOT PULL.'
Shaking his head, he quickly realized that this wasn't exactly the most ideal science lab that they could be in, but they were making due.
Hearing the sound of someone clearing his throat next to him, Six turned to see the gunnery sergeant awkwardly standing nearby.
"So… You are a spartan, right?"
Unsure as to exactly where the marine was going with this, the supersoldier simply nods and allows him to continue.
"So umm, what's your name?"
The ODST seemed a bit flustered as he shifted his weight a bit, but before he could gather his thoughts the voice that came from the ODST Six recognized as Romeo came out from behind him.
"I didn't know you had a crush on spartans gunny!"
The higher ranking marine spun around before giving his subordinate a death glare that could be felt even through the polarized helmet. Jabbing a thumb back towards the confused spartan, he attempted to defend himself.
"Oh don't you ever shut up?"
The marine simply shrugs lazily, not bothering to respond.
Not seeing any harm in answering the question, Six thinks about his response for a while before realizing he had several answers.
He could respond as his command taught him to, which was with his spartan number, but that didn't feel entirely accurate anymore. With all the intimate time he has spent with his xenomorphic friend, he has been feeling less and less like the the trained indoctrination means much to him anymore.
He could respond with his first name, but it felt almost taboo. As of now, the only ones that even knew his name were the higher ups in the Office of Naval Intelligence… and Shress.
Or he could respond with his previous callsign.
It felt odd to still be using the moniker 'Noble Six' even after his entire team had been wiped out, but before he was on Noble Team, he was a lone wolf operative. Callsigns didn't matter when you were the only one in the field.
Deciding that he would keep the name, if only to honor his late friends, he responds to the question.
"Noble Six."
The gunnery sergeant stumbles back, almost as if he was struck.
"Noble Six? Really?"
The visual question of surprise that the ODST was showing was cut short as a soft punch from his subordinate landed against his shoulder.
"Wow gunny, you surprised that the supersoldier l has a number not a name?"
The gunnery sergeant spins around and points angrily towards his subordinate.
"After we had our sorry asses saved by spartans twice back on reach, I thought you might be a little bit more respectful. You know you owe this man your life, right?"
Now Six was thoroughly confused, but decided to try and get a bit more information by listening instead. After all, his old training always emphasized intelligence gathering before action.
"What? I've never seen this guy before in my life!"
Shaking his head, the gunnery sergeant shakes his head in exasperation.
"New Alexandria? The falcon escort? I think I remember you shouting from the turret that it was 'raining flaming banshees.'"
Six thought back to the events in New Alexandria. Immediately he remembered a small diversion during his time flying around the city attempting to find Covenant jammers when an ODST squad requested his help.
Blinking, he connected the dots and tried to remember the name.
'Command: this is Gunnery Sergeant Buck, 11th ODST, over.'
Now that he thought about it, that must be why the voice sounded so familiar.
The other ODST, a Lance Corporal now that Six bothered to look, turns his gaze back to the supersoldier.
"That was you?
But Six wasn't even paying him any mind anymore as he was lost in his memories. Sadly in trying to recall the event, the spartan was painfully reminded of Kat's death.
Taking in a deep breath of air, he nods solemnly.
Another moment of silence comes and goes before it is broken by Buck.
"So where is the rest of your team?"
Six continues staring straight ahead, refusing to let any emotion reach his face or his voice.
"They didn't make it."
Buck seems to deflate at the news, deciding to simply say, "I'm sorry." Before deciding to remain quiet after that.
Wanting to shove the emotions welling up within him at the reminder that his team was gone, he thought back to everything that he was fighting for.
At this point, after everything that happened with Shress, his original reason for fighting against the Covenant was dulled. The vengeful fury each time he saw one of the aliens was simply not there anymore, replaced with scenes in his mind of the time he met with Shress on the mountains.
His whole reason for existing prior to reach was to do as much damage to the Covenant as they did to him when he was younger. A lone wolf, hell bent on fighting, and not particularly following his oath to protect humanity at whatever the cost.
Even as he thought about it, he still didn't hold true to his oath. Sure, he fought to extract civilians from Covenant bombardments back on Reach, but deep in his heart he knew that he wasn't doing it for them. He was fighting to avenge Jorge, his lost brother.
Even as the civilian transports flew away, he couldn't tear his eyes away from the flaming alien corvette slowly crashing before him.
Turning to look to the open hatch of the prowler, he knows why he is fighting now. He will do whatever it takes to make sure that no one will touch the only person he still cares about.
"It looks like they are done… wow that was quick."
A few of the nearby scientists appear stunned, before they all scramble towards the entrance of the prowler.
Sure enough, a few moments later the crimson form of Shress strides confidently away from the ship. Her helmet immediately locks onto Six's position and she heads straight for him.
The entire group of humans give the sangheili a large berth even as she ignores them all. Reaching him, her mandibles spread into a wide smile as she gestures toward the ship.
"I am finished. What now?"
Shress POV*
It turns out that after I improved the slipspace drive, they needed to test it.
Thankfully, while we waited for the results of the test, Shress was able to remain outside of the small room that she has remained in. The human warriors in black escorted her to an open area with a small amount of plant life growing from oddly shaped basins filled with dirt.
It honestly gave the room an odd feeling to her, almost as if the place she has found herself wasn't actually the same place she has been housed below.
Sadly, the fact that they needed to wait until the result of the experiment came back led to her sitting awkwardly on a human bench that was a bit too small for her and definitely wasn't meant to be used with someone that had her leg shape.
At the very least, Michael is with me.
Glancing beside her, she saw that Michael was attempting to sit on the same seating as her. It still felt a bit odd seeing him in the strange human clothing instead of his armor, but in the end she was able to better examine her suitor without all the metal plating in the way so she wouldn't complain.
The last few cycles have been infuriating, but understandable. She knew that she wouldn't be the most well liked person to arrive at this planet, and her situation wasn't nearly as bad as it could be. She is simply glad that things are finally progressing and she can prove to the humans that she is acting in good faith.
She remembers being stationed as a minor as part of the guard for a cruiser's brig when she was younger. She can remember a time when three kig yar in a cell fought each other to the death, simply to use the loser's body to have enough food to survive, and at that point became thankful that the humans brought her meals regularly.
'Even if they do put vegetables in it.'
Looking around from her spot seated on a slightly raised platform, she saw that the five human warriors were still watching her very closely.
Looking back around the room she has found herself in, she sees that there are a few other humans making their way around, but every single one of them is eyeing her suspiciously.
Sighing, she realizes that even though the small cell she has found herself in was quiet, at the very least she was able to talk with someone who didn't hold any grudges against her like these people did.
"So… Are we just going to sit here and act like this is normal?"
Everyone's attention was drawn to one of the human warriors, who didn't appear phased at the attention.
"I mean… Since when do we babysit covvies?"
"Lock it up Romeo."
The human seemed to ignore the order as he continued.
"I mean, look at it." He gestures towards her with his hand. "This is the calmest I've ever seen a split lip. This isn't normal."
She could hear Michael shifting his weight beside her, but she ignores it. While she was angry at the insults, she knew that responding in a calm manner would be the best solution. At this point, she wanted answers to questions that have been staring in her mind for cycles.
"Since you find it odd that I am acting peaceful, so how do you think I should act?" She asks curiously, actually wanting to know the answer.
The group sits in silence, staring at her for a moment. She assumes it was simply the fact that she surprised them with her fluency with their language, but kept it in mind for future reference.
The first be that appears to react to the question was the one that Shress assumes is the leader.
"Now we are talking to it? At what point does any of this make sense?"
Tilting her head, she isn't quite sure how to respond to the question. Deciding to ignore it and simply elaborate on her earlier point, she continues.
"If I act aggressive, I can not prove to you humans that I am genuine in my attempt to defect. If I am peaceful, I do not fit into your stereotype as to my race and you assume I am deceiving you. You all appear to be surprised as to the fact that I can talk at all, which means you assume I am nothing but a murderous animal which does not help my case at all."
She leans forward on her seat, idly noting that the metal seating groans as her massive weight shifts on it. At this point, all the frustration from facing the unknown and everything that has gone wrong since she arrived was coming to a head.
She noted that the warriors were a bit more stiff than before, but ignored it. She didn't intend to attack any of them as Lord Hood's warning not to harm anyone still rang clear in her mind.
Feeling the soft grasp of a hand on her shoulder, she glances to the side to see Michael looking at her worried. His deep green eyes somehow managed to pierce through her anger and cause a flutter of… something to blossom in her stomach.
Taking a relaxing breath, she turns back to the human.
"So I ask again, how am I supposed to act if everything I do is seen as suspicious simply because of what I am? How do I prove to you humans that I am not a threat?"
The five humans seem to look each other over, seemingly unable to answer the question.
Shress waits for an answer, but none of them seem to be able to give her one. She wasn't entirely sure what she wanted from these humans, but this was the answer she expected. Dejected, she looks back down to her hands in defeat.
"Why are you here?"
Looking up, she realized she wasn't entirely sure which one of the humans spoke. Feeling like she was somehow being rude as she was unable to make eye contact with the one that asked her the question, she saw as one of them shifted his weight before clarifying.
"What makes you different? Why are you defecting and not the rest of the elites?"
"Because I found out the truth. My people are being lied to by the ones we worshipped for centuries. The leaders of the Covenant have been using my people's faith and honor against them, and I refuse to be used any longer."
One of the humans snorts, calling attention to his disbelief.
"So you're telling me that all we gotta do to end the war is tell the elites that killing innocents is bad?"
Surprisingly, it was Michael that spoke up next.
"It worked for me."
Looking back over to her suitor, she realized that he was right.
While their conversations didn't exactly start that way, she ended up seeing the truth simply talking with him. Giving him a bright smile, she nudged him playfully.
"It did, didn't it?"
Suddenly, a commotion from one of the entryways caught all of their attention. Striding in was the Doctor that followed her into the ship, but it was the white garbed Fleet Admiral that was next to him that caught everyone's attention.
All six humans, including Michael, quickly stood up leaving Shress the only one seated. It took her an extra second to rise, but thankfully she didn't think anyone noticed.
"-still attempting to analyze the video footage, as we are unsure of exactly what the sangheili did to the engine, but the experiment was successful."
Immediately, Shress breaks out into a wide smile. She knew it would work, but nonetheless she felt as if a weight had been lifted off her shoulders.
Hopefully I can have a bit more freedom now.
The admiral takes all the information in as he scans over all of those present. Turning to the doctor, he dismisses him before continuing on his way towards the group.
It took him a moment to fully reach the raised area in which they were seated, but once he did, all the humans snapped into an odd salute where they placed their flat hands on their heads.
"As you were."
The group relaxed but remained silent, allowing the aged human to speak.
"It seems as if you held up your end of the bargain Ms. La'Vdam… and I'm nothing if not a man of my word."
Even as each word was said, she felt more and more relieved by the second.
"As of now, I am approving you as if it was a case of someone seeking asylum. Until we find someplace to house you, you will sadly need to remain onboard the station."
Nodding, Shress realized that even though she had gained a bit of trust, she still had a long way to go.
"Your housing sadly will not change, though you will be allowed to roam around the ship with an escort present twice a day from here on."
Glancing towards the black garbed humans, she realized that she will be seeing them quite a bit more now.
"Spartan B-312."
Hearing Michael stiffen next to her, she is a bit confused as to why the admiral would address him.
"You are now assigned as her handler. The same rules apply until we have a proper place to house her. The rules about needing further reinforcements are now rescinded. Understood?"
Six responds quickly, but his voice was no longer the flat composed tone that Shress has heard him use when around others. She could easily hear the undertones of happiness in it, which caused her to smile as well.
"Yes, sir."
Nodding, the Fleet Admiral turns to look at the other human warriors.
"Alpha nine, your mission is complete. Return to your previous posting."
Most of the humans snapped back into the odd salute giving a respectful, "Yes, sir!" In the process, but one of them simply began to walk away. Slipping into the hallway quickly, he took his helmet off and made to go towards the exit as fast as he could.
"I'm out, see you all back on the ship."
The odd human simply walks off, ignoring the laughter from his squadmates as he simply holds one hand over his shoulder in farewell.
The leader of the group points at him angrily, shouting after him.
"Romeo, that was Lord Hood!"
Before he could fully leave, the human turns his head around and shouts back.
"I don't care if it was the President, there is no way I will ever babysit another covvie ever again gunny. No way."
Hearing the remaining three humans laughing as they make their retreat, and even hearing a small chuckle of amusement from the Fleet Admiral, Shress turns back to Michael.
Only to see his deep green eyes staring back up to her with a happiness she hasn't quite seen from him before.
For a moment in time, the two of them simply stared at each other. While she knew he couldn't see her eyes, she was sure the warm feeling building within her was reflected in her own the same way she could see it in his.
Hearing someone clearing their throat, the two lovers turn back to see Lord Hood staring at the two of them with a stern look on his face.
"We will need to go over the exact details of your asylum request at a later date, as I am sure you don't wish to simply stay in a cabin in the middle of the woods somewhere."
Nodding, Shress waited patiently for the human leader to continue.
"For now, if you wouldn't mind simply going back to your cell, it would make the transition a bit easier. It might be a little while longer before we have something ready."
Placing her hand over her chest, Shress bows her head deeply.
"I thank you for giving me the chance to prove myself to your people at all. Thank you."
Examining her for a moment, the aged admiral simply nodded before looking back over to Michael.
"I assume you can find your way lieutenant?"
Her suitor snapped into a salute, giving the admiral a quick, "Yes, sir."
Lord Hood appeared pleased, before he gestured to a previously unseen datapad tucked in between his arm and his body.
"Good, because your duties for the day aren't over. Dismissed."
—UA—
Shress feels a bit flustered as the door slides shut in front of her. She knew Michael couldn't stay, because he had something called 'watch' that he had to go do, but unlike all the other times she has been left alone, she knew he would be returning.
Shress lies down onto her small bed, listening as the footsteps of her suitor made their way back down the hallway, leaving her alone again.
Alone.
It's a feeling she has grown quite used to over her life, but only recently has she longed for something different. The close contact with the subject of her affections just moments prior seemed to pour fuel on a flame that was simmering just beneath her skin.
Knowing that soon, she would be able to simply spend time with her suitor without worrying about nosy humans or silly questions was a feeling of bliss she has been missing for a while now.
Knowing that falling asleep would be the most simple way to pass the time, she closes her eyes and wills her fluttering hearts to slow their rhythmic beating as she drifts off into unconsciousness.
—UA—
Shaking herself out of the fog of her sleep, she hears the odd sound of the door unlocking. Looking up, she watches as the door slides open.
At first, she thought it was Michael, and she became excited, but then a foul odor came across her senses. One she recognized immediately.
'What are they doing here? I thought I was done with this!'
Walking in is the large human that she simply knows as ONI. He has a wide smile on his face, but despite his odd demeanor, she feels a bit uneasy. Even more so when she looks over his shoulder and sees the green garbed soldier entering the room behind the ONI agent.
Shress decides to stand up, but before she could properly assess the situation, the large human takes out a metal shaft and slams it against the wall. She jumps when a small electric storm erupts from the end of the stick, filling the room with bright blue flash as lightning arcs it's way along the wall for a moment.
Shress is honestly surprised at the show of force that the human was attempting to portray, but she refused to be intimidated.
Does he truly think that they stand a chance in a fight against me?
She steps forward, fully intending to stomp these two humans into the ground with little effort.
She's a Zealot, she wouldn't retreat in the face of any threat. Even if this human has a weapon that she hasn't seen before, she has been trained in close quarters combat since she was old enough to walk. Her deep crimson armor was still active, granting her protection from the human's strikes, and she was quite sure that she could easily win this fight with no issues.
Sadly, at that point she remembers something. Something rather important as Lord Hood's words ring through her mind, sapping the will to fight away from her as she realizes the situation she is in.
'From now on you will not harm anyone on this station. If you do, the consequences will be severe. Am I clear?'
Her eyes widened in horror as she realized that she couldn't touch these humans.
'If I harm these two… would I still be punished? He said nothing about defending myself, so if I harm them… will he take me away from Michael?'
The green clad guard closes the door and strides forward. His small human pistol was still strapped to his hip, but he holds out a hand towards his ONI companion and he throws him the metal baton. The guard inspects the rod before bringing it down on the floor, causing another storm of sparks to fly. He grins wickedly as he begins to circle around Shress.
She raises her mandibles, but her uncertainty towards the situation prevented her from raising her arms to defend herself.
"I've been looking forward to this for a long time, you know." The green soldier asks in his usual obnoxious voice.
Shress snarls in response as she glares at him, keeping a wary eye on the human with the weapon.
During her examination, the large human in black begins to speak up.
"You know, originally we couldn't harm you because it was believed you couldn't understand us," the human says as he walks to position himself opposite of his companion, making it difficult for Shress to keep an eye on both the humans. "You see to us, to humanity that is, to harm you simply because you can't understand us is like harming a child, a crime against humans… I'm not sure if it's the same with your race though."
She turns and growls at him, but that was a mistake. She hears the rushing footsteps and she turns with a raised arm to try and swat away an attack, but the guard goes under her arm and hits her bare skin between her chest and hip pieces.
The crack of the weapon hits her energy shields, and she is surprised that even through the weak impact, the electrical current that the weapon used drained a significant portion of her shields.
"Nasty little bite isn't it?" questions the large human, "Now, understand this, if you don't answer my questions, he'll hit you again until you start speaking."
This infuriates Shress further; he is speaking like an adult to a youngling once more, but she decides to remain silent out of principle once again.
The black garbed human steps towards her, slightly surprising the sangheili at his lack of fear compared to last time, but she didn't have much time to contemplate it as he spoke up in a softer tone, but it was a tone full of condescension and malice.
"My captain told me to get these answers by any means necessary. Let's not make it too hard eh? Just answer them and we don't have to hurt you. Got it?"
When she doesn't respond to the question, she hears the sound of the electrical weapon making its way through the air once again and tries to jump out of the way. The baton skids on her chest armor, but she still feels the uncomfortable heat as it passes by her face. The guard turns and before she could weave out of danger, is struck against one of her legs. Sadly enough, the impact and energy emitting from the weapon was enough to break through her shields, and land a solid blow against her.
Dropping down to one knee as she tries to sooth the injury as best she could, grinding her mandibles together as she releases a whine at the pain. It felt as if she had been branded, her skin burning and cracking slightly at the feeling of the extreme heat from the electrical strike. Shress touches the wound but quickly withdraws her hand with a hiss; the flesh was still too hot to touch.
The large human laughs, giving a rare show of emotions as he stares down at her from from above.
"Now I will finally get my answers, won't I? No more delays, and no more failed reports." The large human continues, "My question is this; what is the location of the Covenant superstructure known as High Charity? The real location, not some stupid cop out answer!"
In spite of the agonizing pain she is feeling, Shress is dumbfounded. She answered the question as truthfully as she could the last time it was asked, and yet this human didn't seem to care.
Not that she was prepared to answer him. Even as she knew that she couldn't risk harming these two humans, she still wanted to show her defiance. Gritting her mandibles through the pain, she stands up tall and holds her head up high.
'Even if I can not harm these humans, I refuse to back down. I am not a coward.'
A moment of silence comes and goes before the large man sighs and signals the guard further. The marine smiles once more as he moves forward, baton raised. Upon a quick examination, she realized that this marine was thoroughly enjoying himself.
Shress snarls in determination, daring the human to do his worst.
Six Pov*
Grunting, Six hefted the five hundred pound weight above him effortlessly. Grunting, he slams the bar back into place before sitting up and massaging his arms.
Looking around, the spartan could see the other marines giving him stunned looks, similarly to what Emile received back on Reach. The almost fearful looks of the marines that whispered behind his back nearly caused his mood to brighten, but sadly, it didn't quite reach his face. No matter how good his situation is, nor how this has been the longest stretch of calm that his life has ever had, Six couldn't help but feel agitated.
It has been four weeks since he met with Lord Hood, and yet the rumors spreading around the station have not calmed down. Shress was still seen by everyone as 'the monster in the dungeons.'
He almost lost his professional attitude when he came across a group of marines taking a vote as to whether or not they should throw her out one of the air locks. It was one of the very few instances that he spoke up, letting them know exactly how bad of an idea that would be.
It infuriated him to no end every single time he has heard one person or another casually throwing the idea of torturing her or worse simply because of what she was.
All of the marines and naval personnel onboard the space station for the last several weeks were well aware of this fact, as most of his fellow humans gave him a wide berth.
The supersoldier idly wondered if any of the marines would notice his abrupt change in mood now that things were looking up for them finally. Now that Shress has been granted asylum by Lord Hood, there was nothing that anyone could do to her.
Glancing toward one of the clean towels in the gym, he realized he didn't really need them. Even after a workout that a normal human wouldn't even physically be able to do, Six was still barely even breaking a sweat.
Making his way to the doors, he checks the time. Quickly realizing that he still has a few hours before it's the scheduled time to meet with Shress and go on their first walk around the station, he decides to head to the galley to get something to eat.
Six opens the door and is stepping out when the alarms goes off. The lights dim and emergency power kicks the flashing caution lights on.
Six freezes and waits for the announcement, soon enough it comes on and a voice says, "Attention, attention, all hands stand to, an unidentified ship has entered the system and is inbound to the station, over."
That's all Six needed to hear. As quick as a flash, he is out of the room. As a Spartan he can't really help much in space, but if the unknown vectors try to board, it's his job to repel them.
Vectors, he thought to himself, it must be the Covenant, who else could it be? This thought is enough to make the Spartan shiver. Earth is the last and only place for humanity to fall back to, if they lose Earth, they lose everything. Six grit his teeth even as he made his way through the station. Even after the many sacrifices that were made in this war, he promises to the loss's memories that they did not die in vain.
He speeds by rushing sailors and Marines, all of whom pauses to watch the Spartan run at an unnatural speed. His boots barely touch the floor as he flies across the station in an attempt to get to his duty section, which is the hangar bay.
He quickly reaches the stairwell and in the heat of the moment, flips himself over the railing and drops down the stairwell. With a crash, Six lands on his feet, jarring his legs a little, but he ignores it and continues running to the hangar.
Finally, Six passes through the door and to his station area. The room is huge, made to accommodate any assorted aircraft that might need to be placed here. Pelicans hang suspended from the ceiling on large chains, while the latter is resting on raised platforms on the ground. The Prowler he and Shress traveled on is still pushed against the far wall, being worked on by the same science team as the one Shress just modified no doubt. The navy engineers are all rushing around, putting tools away and breaking out weapons as the scientists are ushered out of the room.
Following suit, Six rushes to the nearest gun locker which is built into the wall. He punches in the code and the small handle that is holding the guns retracts itself. Six grabs an M7 SMG and a BR55 battle rifle. He tries to clip the SMG to his hip but then remembers he isn't wearing his MJOLNIR armor. He curses as he is forced to drop the SMG to the floor while he gets into a kneeling stance and prepares himself for a fight.
He, as well as the other defenders, all ready their weapons, but keep their eyes on the large opening into the hanger. The thick glass gives a clear view into space allowing the Sailors, Marines and single Spartan to see whatever was out there. Each one of them stood there, daring any extraterrestrial being to cross into their territory.
Eventually a massive ship drifts into view and Six allows his eyebrow to go up in confusion and wonder.
The ship is a human shuttle, a Frigate, or what's left of it that is. The main body of it has been blasted away, probably from being hit by plasma torpedoes. The soft underbelly looks as if it's being dragged across the black void of space as it trudges forward. All over the ship titanic plates are missing, gaping holes appears almost on every deck and every so often a small piece of the ship will break away.
At first Six thought it was a ghost ship that has drifted into the UNSC controlled space, but then he notices that the bridge has its lights on and there appears to be no damage around that area. He notes that around the sides of the bridge are hastily welded pieces of metal where there has no doubt been extensive damage, apparently somebody tried to patch the ship up so the occupants on the bridge can breathe.
He then notices the large white letters just below the stern of the ship. It's been scraped and blasted so many times that it's difficult to read but Six eventually reads, 'Gettysburg.'
Just then the PA system came back online and the same voice says, "all units stand down, I repeat, all units stand down, friendlies coming on board."
Almost as one, the soldiers let their arms dropped and looked relieved. All except for Six, he is taught to take the world as a serious threat, to never let his guard down. Which is why he is watching through his scope and sees a Pelican heading to the hanger.
Everybody began to make their way out of the room, realizing that the depressurization of the hangar wasn't exactly something they wanted to stay for. Forced to wait outside, they all listen as the hangar door opens to make room for the spacecraft as it lands inside and the air is slowly vented back into the room.
Once the all clear was given, the door opened and Six made his way back inside. Quickly moving closer to the landing pad, he makes it just in time as the Pelican's rear hatch opens.
The deckhands and Marines appear to be curious about who could be onboard, but Six stands his ground as he waits for the craft to land.
A moment came and went as no one left the ship, but Six remained standing close to the Pelican, holding the weapon down but ready to bring it back up if the forces inside the green drop ship turned out to be hostile.
Eventually, Six hears a strange thumping noise, which he realizes are footsteps, originating from the Pelican. Six couldn't believe at what he is seeing.
Stepping out of the Pelican are Spartans. For one wild moment he thought one of them was Jun when he sees the green alloy of the armor, but that hope dies when he further examines the Spartans. There are four of them, all in green and all looking alike, only their width and height shows the difference between them.
Six quickly realizes that none of them are III's, as III's decorate their armor to match their personality and add their own upgrades to make them more unique. These guys are exactly the same, nothing sets them apart; they're II's.
It is then that he notices that standing by the Spartans is a Marine, wearing a cap, cigar in his mouth; all matched with a rather amused expression. Six notices the chevrons on the man's chest armor proclaim him to be a Sergeant.
"Well this is some welcoming committee…" The
sergeant says as he looks around, "All guys, no women, no beer; wonder if they even made an effort to bake a cake."
Nobody laughed, not the Marines or the Sailors and most certainly not the Spartans. It is then however that one of the Spartans orange visor looks directly at Six. He is taller than Six is and appears to be the leader for it isn't long before the other Spartans follow the person's gaze and their gazes settle on him.
Six wonders how he looks. He had cut his hair earlier so it isn't too long or too short, but he did this so Shress could rub his hair… Whenever they are ever together again. He had also scrubbed himself clean and is now wearing a clean set of coveralls, but he knows what the Spartans are thinking. He is too tall and too muscled to be a normal human being.
The leader steps forward and pauses; the visor looks at Six's shoulder and sees the image of a silver bar, the rank of an army Lieutenant, a rank higher than most Spartans receive.
The leader snaps a salute and the other Spartans do the same.
Finally the leader speaks, "Sir, Master Chief reporting for duty."
—Authors Note—
Alright… so… hi?
The way this fic is being written is kinda an odd amalgamation of 3 writers all taking turns and improving upon each other. We each take the time to write, then try and fix and add what everyone else would like, right? Odd way to write but it's worked thus far.
Right up until one of us, the one that was supposed to write the bulk of this chapter, went completely awol. Haven't heard from him in almost 2 months… so I decided to knock it out instead of writing songbird for now.
We waited, assuming it was just some life stuff… but we aren't entirely sure at this point.
Verbus, if you are reading this, we hope you are alright man. We are worried about you.
Anyway, thanks for reading and sticking with the fic to this point. We appreciate all of ya'll out there who review and are following it.
-PyreElegy
This is Jtf0012 here, My writing muse for my HP is still out.
I am still working on all of my stories a little at a time but right now I have been reading a lot.
Love harmony stories in the HP fandom and love Nick X Judy stories in the Zootopia Fandom so send them to me. Preferably rated M or T.
Verbus if you are there man. I hope you are doing well. It is difficult to write my hp story without bouncing ideas off of you to strengthen any idea I come up with and tell me if any of them are idiotic. Hope to hear from you soon.
-Jtf0012 signing off
