Chapter 6: Modus Operandi
Disclaimer: I do not own anything from the Halo or Mass Effect universes
Operational autonomy.
In the UNSC, it is the measure of freedom granted to a unit to complete an objective. This autonomy varies from unit to unit, even from individual to individual. Rank and file marines and army personnel often don't have much autonomy, having to strictly conform to the orders laid before them by superior officers.
Army rangers, ODSTs, and other special forces have varying levels of autonomy, units employed by ONI tend to have more freedom to complete their respective mission objectives.
Sometimes these choices aren't always legal or ethical.
Even so, they are often bound by several mission parameters. This freedom is expanded by more experienced and skilled Spartan-IV teams. Wetwork teams or other secretive units are kept far away from the public eye and even most of the military so that they could conduct their nefarious acts; mercilessly rooting out insurrectionists, Covenant remnants, and other unsavories often utilizing methods that would raise the blood pressure of any lawyer working under a war criminal court.
Not that they would probably care too much about the Covenant remnants, but still.
The Spartan-IIs and IIIs took that level of autonomy and amped it up several notches, often given the freedom to execute any mission as they saw fit. Oftentimes, they can bend and loop through orders to their will if it results in the desired outcomes.
They have so much authority that they are generally untouchable by most of the military, nevermind a military court. It is basically impossible to charge a Spartan II or III for war crimes, especially since essentially all of their missions are shrouded in secrecy to the point where trying to find that information is next to impossible.
Then, there was Spartan-B312. From the moment he donned his old MJOLNIR MK-IV all those years ago, he was ONI's top asset, his exploits shrouded in so much black ink that it could drown an entire city. Six was so far down the rabbit hole of secrecy and special operations that not even a Covenant glassing beam from a supercarrier could dig him out.
As far as ONI was concerned, he didn't exist to the outside galaxy. For most of his career, only the highest echelons of ONI knew of his existence. UNSC personnel that he encountered during his operations simply regarded him as one of the Spartan IIs. No one ever caught onto his true origins.
His existence was not known by fellow Spartans, Catherine Halsey, most of the UNSC and ONI, and even Lord Hood was not aware of the Spartan's existence for many years.
Having an operative that no one knew of allowed ONI to conduct many operations that would be impossible through other means. The skill, efficiency, and precision that Six employed in his operations made it impossible for anyone to trace the results back to him.
Spartan B312's skill allowed ONI to crush insurrectionists and Covenant in a clandestine fashion, something that was impossible through other means.
It was why ONI detested Six's newfound spotlight under the public eye after his escapades with the Master Chief.
Why was this relevant?
Spartan B312 found himself in a unique situation, one so outlandish and seemingly impossible that for the first time in his life, the super soldier had to actually sit down and think.
It wasn't something he did often. His education, training, experience, augmentations, and the amplifications thanks to his MJOLNIR allowed him to process situations and formulate plans and solutions faster than a normal human could register.
But… this was different. He wasn't trained for the possibility of being dumped into a different galaxy with a different humanity. For all he knew, he could be in a different universe.
Thankfully, he was trained to adapt to any situation, and adapt he will.
The soldier wasn't overwhelmed, not even at the hands of this situation that would break the minds and spirits of less strong willed individuals. He has spent the last few days thinking about different solutions, different paths he could take to return to the UNSC.
While he has yet to formulate a proper plan, one thing is clear…
If he was brought here in the first place, then there is a way back.
He is no longer operating under the UNSC's jurisdiction or chain of command, he is the only UNSC asset and so he will be operating under his own jurisdiction in accordance with all the autonomy and power given to him by ONI.
Just another way of saying he could basically do whatever the hell he wanted, so long as he upheld UNSC and ONI directives.
Spartan-B312 looked around his room granted to him by the Systems Alliance. It was well furnished, of a far greater quality than what the Spartan was expecting. It was a bit too high of a quality in his opinion.
The comfortable single bed tucked in the back corner of the room, the flawless birch desk next to it, even the floor was carpeted. The wall was white dry wall, though it was obvious that beneath that was several feet of steel.
This environment, one that most people would find cozy and welcoming, left a bad taste in the Spartan's mouth. It was too complicated for his tastes, so unnecessary. He was used to a lifetime of UNSC quarters, the dull gray of the metal floor and walls and the lack of useless decorations was what the Spartan preferred. Just like the other Spartans, his room was as bland as bland could be.
Though occasionally, he did have a book or two on military tactics that he could read on the rare occasions he did have downtime. Even books on history and science the Spartan admitted he took some interest in, mainly to understand its applications in weapons systems, tactics and what not.
Though maybe it wasn't just for that purpose.
Regardless, the ridiculously high quality room (at least to him) was given to him due to his status as a detainee. Though he was being treated much better than the others due to his actions which have been nothing but helpful to the Systems Alliance.
If anything, he seemed more like a guest rather than a detainee.
Even so, the Spartan looked up at one of the corners, directly into the lens of a tiny camera that he was able to detect with his armor systems; they are still taking some precautions with him.
The hyper lethal couldn't blame them of course, only a fool would take their eyes off of a Spartan. Though he supposed they were still quite foolish to lock the Spartan behind an armored door that he could break down without too much trouble.
To be fair, they obviously were never expecting to have to detain an individual with as much physical strength as a fully armored Spartan. They probably didn't even know just how strong the Spartan was.
This was good, the less they know about him the better.
He briefly thought about the other individuals that were detained. Lieutenant Hawkins told him they were terrorists working for Cerberus, a Human-supremacist group that is known for performing all sorts of nefarious actions supposedly for the betterment of mankind.
As a Spartan, Six has performed many horrific actions for the same reason, though he can easily tell the difference between necessary actions and unnecessary ones.
He allowed civilians to die and even on some occasions killed them so that the enemy wasn't alerted to his presence. He only ever did this if it meant increasing the odds of success. In many cases, citizens in the outer colonies sympathetic to the insurrectionists would take up arms against the Spartan. But then they couldn't be classified as civilians anymore, could they?
He didn't regret those actions and wouldn't hesitate to do the same thing in the future, but he didn't like doing it either, Six simply recognizes that they are necessary for the 'greater good' as some would say.
The things that Cerberus has done, killing innocent people needlessly or trying to foster hostile relationships between humans and aliens is something that the Spartan does not agree with. These are the types of people that the Spartans were originally trained to fight, and Spartan-B312 has killed thousands of their kind over the course of his military career.
What was most interesting was that their leader, a man by the name of Commander John Shepard, was a hero of some kind, defeating what some speculated was a galaxy ending threat. Though some speculated that he only stalled said threat. His knowledge of the situation was still limited. He continued to scroll down using the omnitool given to him by Hawkins for him to learn about the galaxy.
At any rate, he could relate if this was true. Six has stopped galaxy ending threats several times along with the Master Chief, the Arbiter, and many others. He supposed they were experts in the field at this point.
To accomplish something similar as a relatively normal human was quite impressive. He thought about why an individual like that would work for a notorious terrorist organization. Brainwashing could be possible, they did bring the man back to life after all. He was aware of similar experiments being performed by ONI for applications such as interrogation or even 'reprogramming' members of insurrectionist cells so that they could infiltrate their respective organizations.
He wasn't aware of any successes, he was aware that such things were difficult so he kept this scenario in the back of his head as a secondary possibility; it was important to keep an open mind. After all, the Spartan has seen much stranger and outlandish things well before being transported to this universe.
The hostiles he neutralized and led into a trap were certainly well trained and experienced-some more than others, but he reckoned they could give some ODST teams a run for their money.
Although, he hasn't seen them operate at their best. This was intentional, as the Spartan manipulated the situation in such a way where they had no way of fighting back. The use of their teammates as bait and a shield to prevent effective return fire followed by the quick ingress of overwhelming numbers of Alliance marines. All of it was perfectly organized by the Spartan.
They didn't have much of a chance. The Spartan was sure that they were exceptional, based on the information on these individuals he was able to convince Hawkins to give him.
Even so, they weren't Spartans, his mastery of infiltration and stealth techniques thanks to his time as a headhunter allowed him to easily sneak up on and incapacitate the isolated members of the team. With speeds and reflexes akin to that of regular humans, it was an effortless task. The only thing he had to be careful with was how much force he applied into his strikes, as even a slight miscalculation can cave in skulls and shatter bones.
If the Spartan had to criticize something, it would be only assigning one member to rear guard. Only two, maybe three of them could have observed him and the Systems Alliance and the rest could cover their backs. That alone would have made things more difficult for the Spartan.
Next, allowing a teammate to charge forward towards the enemy therefore getting in the way of the team's guns was just foolish. Spartan-B312 chalked that up to them simply not finding it possible that a being exists that is stronger and faster than these aliens that the Spartan quickly found out are called krogans.
But then it was simply a mistake of underestimating their opponent, something you never did. He's had enough encounters with Unggoy and child soldiers radicalized by the Insurrection to know that better than most.
These krogans, they certainly are strong and fast, and if Six didn't have his armor, then things would have been more difficult. But these reptilian creatures don't even compare to Sangheili warriors, nevermind the Jiralhanae.
It was never fun having to engage those nine foot tall over metric ton giants in hand-to-hand combat.
They also never considered just how observant Spartans are, even without using his built in thermals and motion sensors. Six detected them easily and since the Alliance couldn't detect any non-Alliance ships in the system, his first assumption was that they ingressed using a stealth vessel, similar to an ONI prowler.
He assumed this because they obviously didn't belong to the faction that would enslave them without a second thought, and they operated like a special forces unit. Those units generally used stealth vessels like prowlers to bypass enemy ships and silently deploy troops planetside.
Vessels of that class tend to have sophisticated surveillance equipment like spy cameras and listening devices. It was why he resorted to hand signals and sending morse code to Lieutenant Hawkins' omnitool to communicate to her the possible situation after he put a shuttle in between them and the enemy. His next move would have been to have allied ships deploy fighter squadrons in erratic flight patterns to either detect or scare off the hostile stealth vessel, something that Hawkins immediately agreed with.
The hyper lethal was surprised she trusted him so quickly.
While it still isn't known if they did indeed arrive by a stealth vessel, Six was confident based on his past experiences working with ONI, the Swords of Sanghelios, and observing Covenant special forces in action.
His ability to predict his enemy's actions like the battlefield is a chess board is a skill that all Spartan IIs and IIIs have. Yuri was just better than most of them.
Besides cooperating with a foreign military with different tactics and doctrines, in Six's case, another implication of having to work with this Systems Alliance is having to disarm himself. Of course, the Spartan could understand why and while he was no diplomat, he was trained in knowing how to disarm potentially lethal situations. He needed to avoid conflict with the Systems Alliance. If he really needed to get violent, he was more than confident that he could plow through these normal humans without any weapons.
He couldn't care less if they examined his assault rifle and pistol as those were basic UNSC armaments. The plasma weapons were a slightly larger concern and the Spartan laser was by far the most classified weapon system.
However, his MK VI MJOLNIR armor along with the petabytes of highly classified data onboard it is many orders of magnitude more important than the Spartan laser's design. No one would bat an eye if he sacrificed the secrets of the Spartan laser to protect MJOLNIR and the data stored within it.
The design of the armor system, recordings of his classified missions, orders, contingency plans, data on the Covenant, Flood, Forerunners and more classified UNSC data than the Spartan could shake a stick at. If someone managed to get access to that data…. The UNSC would be in trouble.
He'd sooner self destruct his suit than allow anyone a sliver of hope of being able to access it.
When he was captured in that Batarian base, he remarked to himself how he could not allow them access to some of his more classified equipment, of course he did whatever he could to secure his gear and succeeded. But if that was not possible, it wouldn't be the worst scenario.
No, the capture of his MJOLNIR would be. The idea of letting his Spartan laser fall into enemy hands would irk the Spartan's perfectionist mindset, but he would instantly realize that it's better the laser than his armor.
The choices the Spartan makes can have serious consequences, though the super soldier was confident that he will make the right ones that will allow for him to return to the UNSC.
The Spartan felt the temptation to dig into his armored compartment, but then immediately crushed the thought. No, he couldn't telegraph any potential weaknesses to the Alliance.
There was a knock on the door, and the Spartan stood up from his position on the floor to his full impressive height. He looked through the small slot and raised an eyebrow, confused to see a rather young looking boy, probably seventeen or eighteen years old, worryingly looking back.
"Uh, s-sorry to bother you sir." He stammered. "But Colonel Yan would like to see you now."
"Affirmative." The Spartan deadpanned, causing the kid to flinch slightly. Finally, a chance to communicate with some leadership. Hopefully, the Spartan will be able to obtain valuable information about his situation, about this galaxy, information that he can use to return to the UNSC or enhance his chances of survival.
He wasn't looking for help, nor did he want help. Allowing an unknown party to assist him in returning to UNSC space was foolish, as he ran the risk of possibly introducing a hostile faction to the UNSC or running the risk of sabotage. He couldn't trust anyone, which is why he has every intention of divulging as little information as possible to the base's commanding officer.
As a Spartan, Yuri's social skills were frankly abysmal, but he was capable of knowing what information to divulge and what information to keep. He knew how to appease members of different militaries or factions without actually giving away anything.
The door opened, and the massive Spartan stepped into the pristine hallway. He looked down at the cowering boy, who stood no taller than five foot eight and probably weighed a good one hundred and forty pounds. The kid was definitely a recruit, an errand boy.
He looked around him, noting the lack of guards. They were putting an awful lot of trust in him, something that the Spartan did not like. This humanity, with their lack of rigor regarding security made them vulnerable to the apparently numerous alien species. To be fair, it didn't look like they went through a war against extinction recently, but still.
He nodded to the kid, who quietly motioned for the Spartan to follow him.
They walked in silence for sometime, he noticed the kid glancing behind him, no doubt confirming the silent Spartan was still following him. They passed a few guards here and there. The armor these soldiers wore looked more sleek and advanced than what UNSC marines wore. He wondered how resilient they were.
The armor and weapons were shiny. Shiny enough that it would make for bad camouflage, making them easy to spot. But the presence of kinetic barriers would be a problem for UNSC weapons. Regardless, the UNSC has spent almost thirty years facing off against the Covenant with heavily shielded elites, brutes, and damn near bulletproof phalanxes of jackals.
He was confident that kinetic barriers wouldn't decide the outcome of a battle in such hypothetical engagements, they were just an advantage that needed to be overcome.
"So…" the kid started, trying to break the awkward silence. "I've heard rumors that you're from a different galaxy… what's it like compared to ours?"
"Different." He responded, not caring at all for such useless small talk.
"Oh, well, what is your humanity like? Feels weird to say that…"
Six didn't answer at first, trying to filter out any information that could compromise the UNSC or reveal any weaknesses, just as he was trained.
"More militant."
"More militant?" The young recruit parroted, seeming rather intrigued at the idea of a heavily militarized humanity that existed in an alternative reality, or at the very least, a different galaxy. "Why?"
"No council."
The kid looked back at the Spartan, stunned. He was quick in understanding the implication of not having a unified interspecies government to keep the peace and everyone else in check. "Really? Can't imagine what that must be like. The council here is kind of the reason why we have a galaxy spanning peace… mostly."
The Spartan said nothing. He usually didn't care much about politics, but it looks like he'll have to in order to gain a foothold in this galaxy.
"Well, don't worry, the Systems Alliance will take good care of you. I'm sure they'll do whatever they can to help you return home. Humanity may be new to the galaxy, but we can hold our own." He said confidently, the nervousness he harbored around the silent super soldier momentarily disappeared.
The Spartan didn't answer, not noticing the boy getting more nervous as the silent seconds slowly ticked by.
They passed what looked like a sizable lounge, with a large window that stretched up from the wall to the ceiling in a sort of semi-spherical shape. Beautiful orange rays of sunlight passed through the window and illuminated the large yet still cozy room, decorated with sofas, tables, and photos of previously graduated classes of marines.
There were a dozen or so off-duty marines in uniform gathered around a large table in the center, playing cards and bantering with each other. The similarities between these marines and UNSC marines surprised the Spartan.
One of the marines looked up, noticing the walking tank. He quietly swore to himself, drawing the attention of his comrades. The room was instantly drowned in silence as the soldiers stared at the giant supersoldier. Their reactions to the Spartan's presence is also similar to UNSC personnel. Even after the war, the presence of a Spartan II or III would evoke awe and even fear from fellow UNSC personnel.
The difference between the original Spartans and the Spartan IVs was quite obvious with the former being on average larger not just in terms of height and muscle mass, but also in terms of the more powerful GEN 1 suits with thicker armor plates.
GEN 2 was initially meant to be a mass producible version of GEN 1, but frankly the original suits were so complicated and sophisticated that there is no reasonable way that they can be produced on the scale needed to equip the hundreds of Spartan IVs. At least, not for the foreseeable future.
Who would be foolish enough to think such a scenario would be economically possible? Especially with the UNSC's damaged post-war economy?
The GEN 2 suits were meant to combine the power of GEN 1 suits with the economic feasibility of SPI armor. The result was an impressively powerful suit that while it won't be able to compete with GEN 1, makes up for it with its reduced cost and complexity.
Six momentarily glanced at the marines, but otherwise paid them no mind. He looked out the window and silently observed the medium sized city before him.
The apartment buildings, the bustling streets beneath them. It reminded him of some smaller settlements that his humanity had built… at least before the Covenant found them.
"Sorry about that." The boy in front of him said as they passed through another door out of earshot of the marines. "No one here is used to… s-someone that looks like you."
He stuttered, probably worried about insulting the Spartan.
"I'm used to it." He responded. The deviation from vague one-worded responses seemed to have surprised the boy.
"Yeah I guess someone like you would have to be." The boy chuckled momentarily. Though the Spartan failed to see what was funny.
They passed through a series of offices, the human traffic in the halls becoming more and more scarce as the rank and file didn't have much business walking around in an area dedicated to non combat personnel and officers.
At the very end of the hall, there stood two armed guards; this was their destination.
"Colonel Yan's been expecting you." One of the guards deadpanned. They wore the standard equipment that the Spartan was familiar with, and stood with perfect posture, clearly well disciplined.
Still, a quick scan with his suit showed that their heart rates are slightly higher than normal. While they were intimidated by the Spartan, they did a good job of hiding it.
The guard brought up his omni-tool. "He's here, sir."
"I'll be back later to take you back to your room when you're done." The boy said. The Spartan just nodded and watched the timid recruit leave.
He turned to the guard. "You may enter."
The over half-ton supersoldier silently entered the room. In milliseconds, he scanned the room, looking for potential ambushes, escape points, and any other subtle details he could put to use.
The office was relatively sparse. Just a wooden desk with a few personal belongings including a small stack of books and a family photo of two parents and a young boy no older than thirteen. What was most obvious was the large pile of dossiers and files that were stacked in a perfectly organized pile.
Six looked through the window behind the desk, watching the last of the refugees leave the planet. He felt some satisfaction from that, knowing that those people will be able to start anew and live better lives.
"Ah, there you are." Said a rough, weathered voice. The man that sat behind the desk wore the look of a seasoned veteran, and while he seemed slightly surprised by the size of the soldier that stood before him, he hardly seemed intimidated. "You're much bigger than I thought."
"Colonel." The Spartan acknowledged, he assumed a parade rest in front of the Colonel. While his loyalties did not lie with the Systems Alliance, Yuri figured that it would be beneficial to show respect to the military's senior officers to facilitate a smooth diplomatic interaction.
The man chuckled in response to the formality. "You could teach some of my men a thing or two about respecting their superiors." He smiled. "At ease. Please, have a seat." He gestured to a wooden chair in front of him.
"It won't hold me, sir." Yuri simply responded.
The colonel's eyes gazed appreciatively over the Spartan's armor. "Yes, I'd imagine that suit is quite heavy. Power armor, right?"
"The details are classified, sir."
The colonel nodded. "I understand. Then let's get to business. Who exactly are you?"
"Lieutenant Spartan B312, UNSC ONI branch, NavSpecWar subdivision." The Spartan's reply was instant, practiced, a product of years of training on Onyx.
"Do you have a name?" The officer asked, with a hint of amusement in his voice.
"Six."
The man nodded, obviously knowing special forces when he saw them. The Spartan was glad. The less personal questions that were directed his way the better, it meant he didn't have to spend as much time performing the mental gymnastics needed to filter out as much classified information as possible.
Colonel Yan reached over to a large stack of files and procured a dossier.
"I've been told by Lieutenant Hawkins that you claim to be from a different galaxy, one in which there exists a different humanity, is that true?"
"Yes sir."
"Quite a claim." He said, though not with any malice. "I'm sure that you'd understand if I'd ask you to provide some sort of proof."
Six expected this conversational route. Of course, the Spartan understood completely. If the roles were reversed, he certainly wouldn't have believed his own claims. However, all of the information in his armor is highly classified. Only the highest echelons of ONI had the authority to freely access said information.
In fact, any personnel wanting to gain access to the information regarding his operations would need to work their way up the chain in order to even have a chance of getting the necessary clearance.
The Spartan did have the authority to provide clearance to other military personnel for some information but only if he could justify it to ONI. There have been times where the Spartan had to reveal classified information to other military personnel for the sake of ensuring the success of the mission. In all cases, he was perfectly justified in doing so and hence excused by ONI.
In this case, it would be unjustifiable. Nothing would ever make the Spartan divulge classified information to an officer of a different military.
"Unfortunately, all of the information I am privy to is highly classified, sir." The colonel frowned, not quite expecting that response.
"All of it?" A nod. "Just how far down the rabbit hole of special operations are you, son?
"Far enough, sir."
The senior officer sighed. "Well, I'm sorry but I can't just believe you strictly by your word. The Systems Alliance can't help you if there is no reason to do so."
"Respectfully, sir, I am not asking for the System's Alliance's help." The Spartan was not going to allow an unknown organization to assist him in returning to UNSC space, that would be idiotic.
"Then… for what other purpose are you here for?"
"Information."
How could he be so stupid?
Commander Shepard has made many mistakes in his life of varying magnitude. But this? This was lunacy. Shepard replayed the past events in his head countless times, trying to figure out how he could have been so naive, so miscalculating, so stupid. It was unbecoming of a veteran N7 operative, disappointing for the first Human Spectre, absolutely disgusting for a man given the responsibility of leading the charge against a galactic ending threat.
He shouldn't have trusted that Cerberus bastard, he should have known that things would have gone south.
Theories fired back and forth in the man's head, was Prometheus an Alliance mole tasked with leading Shepard into a trap? It was well known that Cerberus had moles in the Alliance so it was reasonable to believe that the Alliance could also return the favor with their own moles. Has the Alliance been aware of Shepard's return this whole time?
He supposed the concern made sense, he was a decorated N7 operative and the first Human Spectre, privy to all sorts of classified information, information that is dangerous in the hands of Cerberus. It only made sense that the Alliance went above and beyond expectations to ensure his capture. So what did that make their big armored friend? Some sort of new Alliance special forces?
No, it can't be. No one has armor that sophisticated. Nor could anyone build a mech that technologically advanced. So what faction has the Alliance struck a deal with? If there is a new faction on the block, what would they gain from assisting the Alliance in capturing Shepard? He thought back to his encounter with that silent killing machine. He'd never admit it to anyone, but he was-is afraid of that thing. Not so scared that he'd turn tail and run, he'd lay down his life for his crew and take that bastard head on even if death was a certainty. But its size, its strength, its seeming lack of any organic characteristics, and its fucking speed. Unnatural. Who could blame a man for being afraid of that?
He wouldn't want to fight something like that, he'd rather fight ten Sarens. But if it came down to that, he wouldn't hesitate.
The amount of damage it did to Grunt was astonishing, several fractured bones and torn muscles. Being a Krogan, Grunt will recover from that amazingly quick. But still, to think that was the result of that armored monster making an effort to subdue Grunt instead of killing him…. unbelievable.
Shepard looked around the interrogation room. He didn't really know what he was looking at. The place was about as barren as it got.
He zoned out, trying to think of a way to negotiate or convince the Alliance to let them go, to try and make them see the threat of the Collectors and Reapers.
But Shepard knew better, the Alliance will never let them go. He knew from experience, in fact. There was numerous times where he apprehended terrorists in his N7 days. N7 operatives were skilled in ambushing and quickly eliminating unsuspecting combatants through non lethal means. Those skills were drilled into Shepard's brain during his counter-terrorism classes.
Those bastards never saw the light of day again and for good reason. It was so ironic that the Commander now found himself in the position of the terrorist.
Was he a terrorist? Were they all terrorists? Most people would say yes. Associating with terrorists was crime enough, even if he doesn't commit any acts of terrorism.
But one could argue that the reasoning justified the heinous act. The Reapers and Collectors are out there, lurking in deep space, and no one is doing a damn thing about it. Shepard could, in a way, understand that. Obviously, alerting the public to the existence of a race of synthetic killing machines that wipe out all intelligent life every fifty thousand years would incite galactic panic the likes of which has never been seen before since the last cycle no doubt.
But what's stopping the deployment of clandestine units to investigate the possibility of there existing the Reapers if the appearance of a big fuck-off Reaper on the council's doorstep wasn't evidence enough? What's to stop the Council from deploying the Spectres with all their authority to verify if the Reapers do exist?
Damn politicians need to get off their high horses.
In truth, the Commander wasn't sure, he didn't know what the council's thoughts were and he didn't know what was stopping them from launching some sort of clandestine investigation far from the public eye.
Just bureaucratic bullshit.
Right now, he has bigger problems.
Shepard knew that the Normandy was out there. The Alliance would not have been able to detect the Normandy, nor would Joker and EDI have lost them. He was certain that they are in orbit right now.
Now, the question is, how could Shepard get himself and the ground team out of this predicament?
Suddenly, the door opened, revealing a figure clad in Alliance marine armor. The figure walked straight into the room at a brisk pace, aggressively, as if they were on a mission.
Guess planning will have to wait.
The slimmer build revealed the soldier to be female, but besides that, the helmet made it difficult to discern any other features.
Several seconds went by. No one spoke, just eerie silence. Shepard could practically feel the hatred radiating off of this newcomer. Shepard wondered what he did to piss her off.
"The great Commander Shepard." The figure spoke, in a familiar voice dripping with disgust.
Shepard didn't respond, not knowing where this was going. Was she supposed to be the interrogator? Or was she just paying a visit to the terrorist?
"I guess the saying is true." The woman continued, slowly stalking towards Shepard like a predator. "You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become a villian."
That stung. He knew what he stood for dammit! The Commander did well to guard his tongue, he needed to be calm, collected, willing to negotiate. He needed to do whatever it took to get on the Alliance's good side. This was all covered well in his special forces training; play nice, don't piss off your captors.
She gripped the back of her chair. "You don't remember me?"
"I'm afraid not." The ex-Spectre responded, calm and collected.
The woman nodded her helmeted head. "I suppose it's been a while."
She sat down, eyes never leaving Shepard's. Her hands reached towards her helmet, and pulled it off.
Shepard's eyes widened, as the removal of the helmet revealed a face he hadn't seen in several years.
She looked older, hardened by combat. She's definitely seen some action since the incident.
"Phoenix?" Shepard almost whispered, in disbelief. He certainly wasn't expecting to see her after all these years in the worst of predicaments.
"That's Lieutenant Hawkins to you, asshole." She growled. The Alliance marine stared daggers at Shepard.
He frowned, knowing full well the hatred she had for Cerberus since the attack on Tokyo and that all that hatred was being taken out on Shepard.
Phoenix was a major at the time, a good major at that. Her battalion was renowned throughout the Alliance military for its success rate and efficiency. It was why her unit was the first responder when Cerberus stuck its ugly head out in Tokyo.
Sadly, even good leaders make bad mistakes. It was one of the most disastrous Alliance operations in the last five years. Casualties were high and the threat level became high enough to warrant the deployment of Shepard and his N7 teams. They cleared the bastards out, saved the day, but at what cost?
He remembered her barely contained tears after the fact.
You did what you could. I would have done the same. Empty words, but what else could he do?
He knew she looked up to him afterwards and that her hatred of Cerberus only deepened.
Shepard sympathized with her of course. He knew what it's like to lose men and women under your command. It weighed down heavily on him.
Shepard couldn't blame her for her hatred of him, to see the man she looked up to join forces with the bastards that almost ruined her life and killed countless people she was supposed to protect… Shepard was surprised she didn't just blow his brains out.
"What did they do to you?" She asked. "We all looked up to you. You were the best humanity had to offer. You were the first Human Spectre, the man that defeated Saren and the Geth. You saved the citadel."
The Commander closed his eyes. He wasn't a timid man by any means, but he knew better than to fight back when the woman was right.
"The whole galaxy looked up to you, you fuck!" She was yelling now, her voice bounced around inside of the interrogation room. The echo that followed seemed to last longer than it should have.
"I looked up to you! You took everything you ever stood for and spat on it when you joined Cerberus! Why?! They give you an offer you couldn't resist? Brainwashing? Or did you have a change of heart?"
"It's the Collectors, Phoenix. They're attacking Human colonies and kidnapping the residents."
The woman stopped her rant, she stared long and hard at Shepard with an expression that the man couldn't quite place.
"The Collectors…" the woman parroted the word, as if it was her first time hearing it.
"That's what those bastards have been telling you?"
What?
"The Collectors haven't even been seen leaving the Omega 4 relay. You know as well as I do that their only interaction with the rest of the galaxy deals in small scale secretive trades through agents-"
"What about the colonies?" Shepard interrupted.
"The colonies?!" Phoenix retorted. "Who the fuck else do you think? Every secretive bastard in the galaxy has their eyes on the Omega 4 relay! What? You think the Collectors can slip past some of the best surveillance in existence?"
Fuck.
Shepard realized that the Collectors might be better at hiding their tracks than he at first anticipated. But still, how does an attacking force turn a full scale invasion of a planet into a clandestine operation? The thought made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.
"The Collectors have some of the most advanced technology in the galaxy." The Commander responded, surprisingly calm given the circumstances. "We know almost nothing about them, how can you say with certainty that they are not the culprits?"
The woman opened her mouth to respond, but Shepard beat her to the punch. He was gonna make this damn woman listen, even if it killed her.
"How about the Batarian slavers? Their technology does not compare with any half decent standing military. Their technology and force projection capabilities, according to Alliance intelligence and other prominent organizations of similar operating capacities, limits their ability to effectively eliminate all resistance and communications of these more heavily defended colonies that have recently been attacked in the short time interval that has been observed." Shepard explained. He was a seasoned special forces commander.
He knew what he was talking about.
"You know this, Phoenix. You've tangoed with those pricks more than enough times to know it better than most."
The woman actually stopped, and seemed to consider his words. But Shepard knew better; strong biases can lead even the most logical minds astray.
"Cerberus put a lot of effort into training you to become a good liar." She said. "And like a good little toy soldier, you learned well."
Shepard took a deep breath, and steeled his nerves.
Stay calm.
Phoenix was smart, and under normal circumstances she would see reason. But Shepard was working with Cerberus, and she hated Cerberus. That bias is clouding her judgment.
Still, his argument was convincing enough to get Phoenix to calm down, if only slightly. He just needs to run the point home.
"Think about it, please." Shepard almost pleaded. "The both of us have encountered slaver organizations of differing magnitudes, both in terms of equipment and training, and sheer size-"
"Well, I don't know Shepard!" Phoenix responded. "Seems to me the Batarians are getting some pretty nifty upgrades if that base where we caught your ass had anything to show for itself!"
It was true, the Commander could recall only a few times that the Batarians had an installation as grand as the one he witnessed no more than a few days ago. What was most alarming was their distance from the nearest human colony; only a few days in terms of space travel.
How did no one see this coming?
"That base couldn't even house a battalion of troops. There is no way a force of that size could ever hope to eliminate even a lightly defended Alliance colony in such a short amount of time. That's not even factoring in the fact that all communication was disabled well before any calls for help could be sent."
Again, Phoenix stopped. But Shepard didn't.
"Just think. Your Batarian argument holds no water here. Their technology, tactics, troop quality, and force projection capabilities are nowhere near the level needed to take out these colonies like this. Besides the Batarians, who else would want to abduct Human colonists en masse?"
Phoenix frowned, the Commander could see the logic fighting against the hatred.
Come on Phoenix, please see reason.
Humans are tricky creatures in the sense that they are naturally driven by emotion rather than logic. This mentality may have been helpful back when Humans were still hunter-gatherers, but not in this era. To survive in this day and age, you have to be able to crush your emotions with logic, not an easy feat, even for the most experienced and disciplined individuals.
Shepard should know.
"Why the fuck would the Collectors want to kidnaps humans?" The Alliance lieutenant questioned.
"That's what we're trying to find out."
Phoenix sighed.
"Whatever the case, whether you're right or wrong, you're still Cerberus, and I have my orders. We've got no intel, no evidence, that what you're saying is even remotely true."
Of course, Shepard should have expected this. His arguments may be enough to sow doubt in Phoenix's thoughts, but it's the evidence that matters more.
Maybe Phoenix is the logical one here.
"I have evidence." The ex-Spectre said through gritted teeth, not willing to back down yet. "You need to let me contact my people-not the Cerberus assholes-so that I can prove myself to you. Isn't that how it works? Innocent until proven guilty? Damnit Phoenix, I didn't have a choice!"
"The hell you didn't!" The woman staccatoed, now yelling again.
"You had a choice! You could have walked away! You could have told the Alliance what was going on!" Shepard clenched his jaw, but otherwise made no other move to display his frustration.
"I died, Phoenix." Shepard said. "They brought me back to life, told me what was happening. No one was doing anything about the colonies. No one believed that it was the Collectors. No one suspected their connection with the Reapers."
"The Reapers?!" Phoenix slammed her gauntlet into the metal table, with more force than what most would assume a woman of her stature would be capable of producing. "This isn't the place for fucking fairytales! Cerberus kills innocent people you dimwit! You know how fucked up these pricks are!"
She stood up from her chair and leaned over the table, as if she was preparing to pummel Shepard to death.
"You think because those fucks brought you back to life that you owe them something now?" She whispered under her breath with barely concealed anger.
"How many soldiers do you think would go down your path if they were gifted a second chance at life? Precious few, I'd imagine." Shepard didn't know how to respond to that.
Phoenix was right. If another soldier woke up in his position, and found out that it was Cerberus that brought them back to life, they would probably immediately take up arms and take as many Cerberus personnel down with them as possible.
She leaned forward and whispered. "What about Kaidan?" Shepard's eyes locked with Phoenix's. Suddenly the self doubt turned into anger.
What did she say?
"Don't say that name." The Commander responded, calm, yet the anger was there.
Phoenix didn't react, she only continued.
"What would Kaidan say, if he could look at the man now that inspired him to-"
"Don't say that name!" Shepard roared, slamming his handcuffed fist into the metal table with enough force that it produced a small dent in the steel.
Phoenix flinched, but not enough for most people to notice. She clearly wasn't expecting Shepard's calm facade to break so quickly into one of such rage.
Shepard took a deep breath, and cursed himself for his emotional outburst. That probably hurt his chances. But dammit to hell, no one has the right to disrespect Kaidan's name. That man's dedication and willingness to sacrifice himself was unparalleled.
He died for something far bigger than him, and Shepard would be damned if he let that sacrifice go in vain.
It was silent now. No one spoke, or even moved. Shepard and Phoenix unflinchingly stared at each other, neither of them willing to back down.
The Alliance Lieutenant sighed. "Kaidan was a hell of a soldier." She said. "Sorry."
The apology surprised him. But he realized that it wasn't for him.
Kaidan did deserve better.
"No one is doing anything about the Collectors. If it was the Turians, Asari, or Salarians under fire then you could bet my ass that the Citadel would send in the cavalry."
She didn't say anything, surprisingly. Shepard figured that was his cue to continue.
"Not even the Alliance is taking the threat seriously, and Humanity is taking the brunt of it." He took a deep breath, knowing that Phoenix didn't want to hear this, but also knowing that he had to try and make her see reason somehow.
"When I woke up and realized that Cerberus were the ones that revived me I was a hair away from massacring every last one of those pricks on the space station. What, you think I want to work with these assholes? But I realized that… that the only way I was gonna take on the Collectors, was that I had to rely on Cerberus."
Shepard raised his hands, as Phoenix's blank expression immediately turned hostile.
"It was the only way!" The veteran said. "I can't do this alone! The Alliance sure as shit wasn't gonna help with the way they're wrapped up in their damn politics and what good is the Citadel if those assholes don't even see the threat lurking from deep space?"
Shepard sighed. This wasn't going anywhere. Phoenix's hatred of Cerberus was far too rooted to see reason, besides, without any evidence, what good was his word?
"You remember what I told you? After the incident?" The lieutenant closed her eyes and looked away, Shepard was trying to avoid opening old wounds but she technically started it.
"Soldiers must be willing to make the sacrifices necessary to protect the innocent, even if morally grey." They said together.
Silence.
Phoenix breathed in.
"You may have been right, Shepard, but this time you've gone too far. You said that Cerberus brought you back to life?" Shepard only nodded.
The woman's head lowered, and the rage suddenly made way for sadness. So much sadness.
"I've heard the rumours of brainwashing." She closed her eyes. "It really isn't you."
"It is me, Phoenix!" She looked up, surprised. "It is."
"I know working with Cerberus is likely the worst thing I have ever done. But given the threat that we will one day have to face, this is a necessary sacrifice."
The female soldier shook her head. "You're dead to me. I looked up to you once upon a time but… not anymore." She turned around.
"Wait! Please, you have to listen to me!" Lieutenant Hawkins turned around.
"I'm done listening." She turned and left, leaving Shepard alone.
His shoulders sagged, his head lowered. All of the emotions he tried so hard to suppress started to bubble up.
His death and resurrection, being forced into a situation where he had to work with Cerberus, this damn galactic game of hide and seek with the Collectors, his failure to protect his team.
Shepard roared and then drove his fist into the table, then again, and again.
He stared at the dented table, then at his bloodied knuckles.
No one can help us now.
Crack.
Tali did well to ignore the sounds of rock hitting reinforced concrete. The past few days have been rough for the young Quarian. Since she met Shepard, she's grown and matured a lot. She has become more confident, less naive. Many would say that she was a shining example of what every Quarian should try and achieve when they embark on their dangerous and often lonely pilgrimage.
But Tali didn't think of it that way. She suspected that were the fleet to learn of her current whereabouts, working with Cerberus, then she was sure that her people would reconsider their opinion on her.
She'd like to think that wasn't the case, she was working for Shepard, a man that despises Cerberus probably even more than she does. He was just exploiting them, that's it. He was using their resources to fight back against the galaxy-ending Reapers and their Collector pets because no one else was going to offer their help. She's working with Shepard to protect the galaxy, and by extension, the Quarians.
Wasn't that a noble act?
That's what Tali has been telling herself these past few days. Though truthfully, she wasn't at all sure.
A part of her was angry with Shepard, and a quick look around the ground crew's portion of the prison told her that some of the crew felt similarly.
But it couldn't have been entirely Shepard's fault right?
She thought back to their situation, outnumbered and outgunned. The Alliance had hundreds of soldiers, air support, and three warships in orbit. The fact that nobody died meant that Shepard did well to deescalate the situation, right?
Shepard was the best leader she's ever seen, he was the reason they were able to defeat Saren, he was the reason they made it this far in the first place. But she knew that even he wasn't perfect.
Besides, their information was provided to them by a Cerberus agent. Maybe the Illusive Man got tired of Shepard and betrayed them. She wouldn't have been surprised if that was the case, conniving Cerberus bosh'tets.
She turned away from where she sat; facing the wall, towards Kasumi, who was her cellmate. The asian woman said nothing, she was content in her current position, laying in bed and facing the ceiling.
Tali frowned, it was so uncharacteristic of the stealth artist to be so quiet and unenthusiastic, as ironic as that sounds when describing one of the most accomplished thieves in the galaxy.
"Are you okay, Kasumi?" Tali inquired softly.
The woman turned her head to face Tali, and smiled. "Oh yeah, you know. Sneak around a complex filled with a few hundred soldiers, get beaten at my own game by a seven foot tall super-duper mech, and end up with a minor concussion." She chuckled. "Just another day at the office, nothing really out of the ordinary."
Tali rolled her eyes, damn this woman and her incessant need to make every sentence that comes out of her mouth a sarcastic one.
"Seriously." The Quarian said, now trying to get a real response from Kasumi. "How are you feeling?"
Kasumi shrugged. "Fine I guess, head hurts a little. But besides that, I'm fine."
Tali wasn't fooled. Quarians learn from a very young age how to read body language. It was a must given that Quarians spend almost their entire lives in their enviro-suits so they can't read each other's faces. Instead they have to settle for the next best thing.
As a result, Tali was very skilled at reading other people's body language, not even the amazingly stoic Samara could truly hide her feelings from Tali.
It was easy for Tali to see the way Kasumi's body went limp into the mattress, and the way her chest rose and fell faster than usual with each breath she took.
"It bothers you." Tali said, matter of factly.
Kasumi's eyes locked with Tali's… that got her attention.
"You ever get that feeling where you know that you're the best at what you do and that no one's gonna ever kick you off that throne?" Tali nodded, she thought she understood. She was indeed a very skilled engineer, even by Quarian standards, but she wouldn't call herself the best.
Kasumi, on the other hand, Tali was confident her self proclaimed title as the best in her field would be more valid than in Tali's case.
The Quarian could understand Kasumi's competitive and perfectionist mindset to be the best at what she did.
"It's one thing if Thane got the jump on me. Sure it would bother me, but at least it would make sense, he's pretty sneaky after all." Kasumi went silent.
"But when a seven foot tall killing machine is the one that gets the jump on you? Something that weighs more than a krogan? That's not right, you can't explain that."
Tali shuddered. She didn't want to think about that… thing.
Crack.
She remembered it like it just happened a minute ago. The way it melted out of the shadows, standing atop the unconscious bodies of Thane and Kasumi. It's supernatural strength and speed, the way it handled Grunt as easily as if he were a toddler.
It was a robot, had to be. With the way it stood there, completely silent and unbothered by all of the crew pointing their weapons at it. It was so fast. She remembered how its limbs literally blurred out of existence when it moved, she didn't know how that was possible. All she did know was that nothing, not even the fastest Geth platforms, had the right to move as fast as that black armored monster did.
Tali shuddered again. She was terrified of that thing.
Keelah, I hope I never see that thing again.
"Did you see it?"
Crack.
Kasumi shook her head. "That's the worst thing about it. I didn't hear anything. There was no sound, no indication that we were being watched. One moment I was searching the Alliance camp, looking for it, the next moment everything went black as if I just fainted without warning. Next thing I know, I woke up in this bed."
Tali felt herself getting goosebumps. She tried to rub her arms to make the sudden cold feeling go away, but it was no good. How could something sneak up on Kasumi of all people and knock her out without her even catching a wind of trouble.
Crack.
Tali tried to put herself in Kasumi's shoes. She pictured herself hiding in the bushes with maybe some trees to help conceal her, watching the Alliance from afar. She pictured it, that mech, standing there unmoving. She imagined its height, its bulk. She could see it towering above the Alliance soldiers, head and shoulders above everyone else and as thick as a Krogan.
She was certain that it must weigh a ton.
The dark armor it wore absorbed all of the light from the sun, and absorbed the spirit of anyone brave enough to look at it. In her eyes, she imagined herself trying to get a bead on it. Sneaking through the woods.
The Quarian tried to imagine what it would look like, what it would feel like, for everything to just go black. No warning, it just happens, and then she just wakes up in a hospital bed. No context, seemingly no explanation of how she got there.
It just happened.
And then she finds out that the massive metal mountain she was stalking was the one that did it.
She shuddered again.
Crack.
"Oh for fuck's sake will you stop that shite!?" The sound of Zaeed shook Tali from her thoughts.
"The fuck you gonna do about it gramps?!" Retorted Jack." Goodluck breaking down that door you crusty ass bitch!"
Keelah, please shut up.
"You better watch your mouth, else I'll unscrew your head and shit down your neck!"
"The fuck you say to me?!"
"Guys!" Garrus said. "Can you please save this for another time?"
"Fuck off! Stupid overgrown bird!"
Tali heard Garrus sigh. "Look we're all pissed off, I get it. But we aren't gonna improve our chances of getting out of here if we can't settle our differences and work together. I'm sure Shepard has a plan."
Jack suddenly broke down laughing, the sudden switch from anger to humor caught Tali off guard. As far as the Quarian was concerned, anger was the only emotion that Jack ever seemed to experience.
"You trust Shepard? After the situation he got us into? The pussy surrendered. I would have expected that from a little bitch like Miranda and not Shepard!"
"The only reason you're even free is because of Shepard!" Miranda angrily retorted. "You want to-"
"Yeah and look at the end result you dumb shit!" Tali jumped slightly at the sudden intensity of Jack's anger, knowing full well that ticking off the diminutive psychopath is the equivalent of a Quarian setting off a ship's reactor to explode.
"From one jail to another, the difference being this time they think I'm actually working for Cerberus! So now I'm worse off than I was before! Fucking fantastic!"
Then Jacob spoke.
"If we can work together to get out of this situation, then you won't end up in jail your whole life."
"Oh, go fuck yourself! Why the fuck would I listen to another Cerberus cunt! You're just Miranda's lapdog you little bitch! Guess we know who has the pants in the relationship you dirty little-"
And damn him for doing so. One Cerberus bosh'tet trying to reason with Jack is bad enough but two? They were never getting out of here.
"I can assure you that Jacob and I are not-"
"Sure keep lying you insecure little-"
"Guys this is not really productive-" Tali agreed with Garrus.
"We're sitting in these cells with our thumbs up our asses! You think that's productive!?"
Tali drowned out the argument. She turned to Kasumi, noticing that the woman buried her head in her pillow to try and get some peace.
Poor girl.
She frowned and clenched her fists. What was the point of arguing? Can't these idiots see that the only way they are getting out of this is if they set aside their differences? This pointless bickering was just tearing the team apart even more, and making it more and more clear that no one was getting out of here.
Was this Tali's fate? Stuck in this stupid jail with a bunch of immature bosh'tets never to see the light of day again?
Tali resisted the urge to cry.
She didn't want to cry, hated it. But Tali felt so defeated. They've been hunting the Collectors for months and it feels like they've gotten nowhere. She's working with a faction that has hurt her people numerous times and now she is trapped in a prison because the Alliance thinks she is working for said faction.
What do I do?
The overwhelming feeling of helplessness continued to get worse and worse as her friends continued to argue and tear the group apart.
Please figure something out, Shepard.
Lieutenant Hawkins stormed through the many hallways that made up the skeleton of this large military base, the few base personnel she passed hastily made way for the murderously angry marine.
They knew better than to get in her way.
Phoenix's mind was a mess of angry incoherent thoughts that tried to arrange themselves in her brain.
She found the door she was looking for, opened it, and slammed it shut. The woman sat down in the small room and tried to think.
She couldn't believe it. She was willing to accept that Cerberus brainwashed Shepard and that the man in front of her wasn't the man she once knew. Turns out, it was Shepard. The bastard willingly betrayed the Alliance, the people that looked up to him, his ideals, everything he stood for!
For what? To chase around a galactic boogeyman that doesn't exist? Or to follow up on fake Collector attacks? As technologically advanced as the Collectors were, there was no way they'd be able to send a force large enough to invade a colony through the relay without being detected.
He was blowing smoke up their asses. He must have been doing something else for Cerberus and the recent attacks were just a cover up, a story to try and throw the Alliance off his trail.
Or maybe Cerberus is using him as a puppet for some nefarious act and even the Commander doesn't know his true purpose.
Both scenarios seem equally probable when it comes to Cerberus.
Whatever the case, Shepard is working with Cerberus under his own volition.
Phoenix clenched her fists and growled. She could feel the anger bubbling up inside of her. She really wanted to go back into that interrogation room and beat that traitorous son of a bitch to death.
"I haven't seen you this mad in a long time, ma'am."
Phoenix calmed down, and took note of the other three occupants of the room. It was Joel that spoke. The man lounged in his comfy office chair, staring at one of dozens of computer screens hooked up to security cameras around the base. He was flanked by Marcus on his left and another man that she didn't know, probably the guy that manned the security room.
The screen that got Joel's attention the most was the room that Phoenix was in a few minutes ago. Shepard was calmly answering questions directed to him by an interrogator-the real interrogator.
"Colonel Yan won't be happy when he finds out."
"I don't give a shit." She responded, more aggressively than what she would have liked. "I needed closure." This time she spoke more softly.
Joel turned around, their eyes met.
"I understand." He said. "It bothers me too, I can't believe he joined Cerberus. But I know this is worse for you."
Phoenix didn't respond. Joel and the others didn't work as closely with Shepard as she did. They didn't get to know the man the way she did. Shepard saved her operation, not their's.
His actions left a more significant impact on Phoenix than the others. His fall from grace and subsequent betrayal of the Alliance and humanity as a whole hit her harder than the others.
"I'd rather not talk about that asshole right now." She said. "I've spent enough time talking with him already."
Joel nodded his understanding.
"Where's Gunther?" Phoenix asked, noticing the lack of the large marine.
"Big man's at the gym." Said Marcus, pointing at one of the screens. "Don't think he's too happy about the whole Shepard situation either."
Phoenix followed the man's finger. There was Gunther, on the bench press, lifting a large amount of weight befitting his large size.
"Why are you guys stalking Gunther?"
A confused Marcus spun around on his chair until he was facing Phoenix.
"What makes you say that?"
The woman had to fight back a smile. "There's a lot of computer screens here, even more cameras for you to switch between. It's a little suspicious that you were so easily able to point out the right one. Tells me you were already watching him."
Marcus frowned. "So what? Gunther's been acting all cocky since he broke his last record. Gotta know what he's lifting, know your enemy and all that shit right?"
Joel laughed. "Gunther is a giant. You're never gonna beat him."
"Size isn't everything."
Phoenix grinned. "Yeah I'm sure you tell yourself that in more ways than one."
The other two marines bursted out laughing. Marcus was flabbergasted, not at all expecting such a comment from his superior.
"Man, why does everyone always pick on me?"
"Hey it's okay man." Said Joel. "There's plenty of girls that don't like the big ones. 'The big ones hurt'. Or at least that's what I heard."
"I guess that's why your mom always asks me to be gentle."
Joel glanced to his side at the grinning man.
"Leave it to Marcus to be the most original fucker in the galaxy."
Phoenix chuckled at the banter between her friends, grateful that she could at least forget about the realities of life, if only for a moment.
"So I heard that Yan had a hell of a time with our guest." The other marine that Phoenix didn't know spoke.
She raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?" The giant soldier seemed to be nothing but cooperative so far. Sure the guy was intimidating and quiet as all hell, but he hasn't done anything to endanger her troops and had no problem complying.
"Well, I heard that he-what is he called, Six?" Phoenix nodded. "Yeah I heard he wasn't forthcoming about his origins and his humanity, claimed that everything was classified and that it would compromise his military. Yet he had no problem demanding information from Yan."
"So, what? He was trying to turn this into a one-sided negotiation or something?" Joel asked, now watching a different screen.
Phoenix followed her eyes and felt her heart skip a beat.
Six was back in his room. He sat against the wall, legs crossed. He was once again back to reading off the omni-tool. He's been reading for hours non-stop. Six seemed more like a hyper-diligent student right now instead of a special forces soldier. Clearly the man believed in the idea of arming the mind with knowledge just as much as arming oneself with big ass guns.
"Not entirely." The man responded. "Well kind of." He leaned back into his chair and put his legs on the table. "He didn't say much about his military, only that they were the exploratory, military, and scientific agency of his humanity."
Phoenix nodded, she's already heard this before.
"He also said they are allied with a coalition of aliens called the 'Swords of Sanghelios'. Whatever that means." Hawkins raised an eyebrow at that. The soldier didn't mention that piece of information.
Was this coalition like the council? Or something else?
How was she just learning this now?
News travels around this base fast.
"But besides that, he didn't elaborate. He said nothing of his humanity's population or how many worlds they have. You know, basic questions you would think anyone would be okay with answering. Now all of that is gossip. I'm not sure how much of it is right or how much of it is wrong. I certainly don't know the full story so don't quote me on it."
Phoenix wasn't sure what to say. She was hoping that the Alliance could negotiate with Six. But it didn't look like the enigmatic soldier wanted to have a dialogue with them. Why?
It was Marcus that answered her question. "He doesn't trust us."
"Why wouldn't he?" Joel wondered aloud. "We're humans too after all."
Phoenix almost chuckled at the man's naivete.
"Well if his story is true, then the guy is a long way from home. Think about what that feels like. Imagine getting stripped away from home, far away from your friends and family and any sense of normalcy. You get thrown into a galaxy with a completely different humanity. Would you trust them?"
Joel considered Phoenix's argument, before shaking his head.
No.
"Exactly, if he's telling the truth, then I can't imagine how he feels."
Marcus grunted. "Seems like he's holding up just fine to me. I mean, how do we even know he's telling the truth? It's convenient that everything he could offer up as evidence is classified. Don't you think that's suspicious?"
Phoenix nodded. It was suspicious. Everything from history, to population, to the number of worlds his humanity has. Even this UNSC's supposed allies he did not elaborate on, if the gossip she's been hearing was true.
How could all of this basic information be so classified? The first assumption would be that the man was lying and that he wasn't from a different galaxy.
But why make such an outrageous lie? If he wanted to protect his identity or throw off investigators, he'd have been better off claiming to be part of an isolated human colony. A lie like that would be outrageous but at least more believable.
Now that she thought about it, the intergalactic lie was laughable, pathetic. So pathetic that it was confusing. In fact, between the never before seen armor and weapons and the unlikely way that they found him, the lie is so outrageous that it might just be more believable than claiming to come from an isolated Human colony.
There was a second reason for such secrecy.
Maybe something happened in his home cosmos. Something bad. Something so bad that his people deemed it necessary to classify even things that normally wouldn't be classified.
But what? A war? Some kind of disaster?
She didn't know.
Phoenix explained her thoughts to the marines, and they listened with rapt attention. When she finished, they were silent.
"What could have happened for them to become so secretive?" Joel asked. "What could have sent him across galaxies? Why was he sent here?" Phoenix shrugged, hell if she knew.
She stared at the giant man, who was still reading. She wondered what this meant for the galaxy, that this man could very well be living, breathing proof of intergalactic travel. What would he do now? Assuming that there is no way back.
She thought back to when they encountered him on that planet. His combat capabilities, his ability to perform feats that no normal human could ever dream of accomplishing. She wondered what the Alliance could accomplish, having a soldier that could eclipse the likes of Shepard by several orders of magnitude.
Someone that was loyal to Humanity.
Then she wondered what would happen if he suffered the same fate as Shepard, working for Cerberus.
A chill worked its way down her spine.
"This whole talk of intergalactic travel and separate humanities is making my head hurt." Said Marcus. "Can't we talk about something normal?"
"Well, we'll be on leave soon, and I heard they've got a badass Korean barbeque close by-practically in the wire." Joel said.
Marcus perked up. "You know, I've never had Korean barbeque."
Joel snorted. "You're one of the most uncultured people I've ever met."
"That's not true!" Argued Marcus. "I've had plenty of different cuisines. My palette is more refined than your dumbass."
The smaller marine laughed. "Oh, what? Just because you've had gamey alligator a few times in your boring life means you've got a refined palette?"
"Alligator's good. You just gotta marinate the meat real good so it doesn't get gamey. Not surprised you don't know that. You couldn't even boil a fucking egg."
Phoenix laughed. "Now, now ladies. If you two can get your panties straight then we might just make it past the few days before leave. I don't wanna have to deal with the paperwork because you guys can't go a few hours without starting shit with the army pukes or traumatizing citizens or whatever the hell else you guys do when you've got the hots for each other."
"You talking about the one army sergeant whose coffee Joel spiked with laxatives? Man that asshat had it coming with all the shit he was talking about sending us to the brig for playing cards too late of all things. That guy was a stuck up pussy and he deserved it."
"That was you Marcus."
"Nah, it was you!"
"Alright, alright." Phoenix said, raising her hands in defeat. "I gotta admit he did fucking deserve it. But no dumb shit, I've got enough headaches as it is."
Her subordinates reluctantly agreed, they respected their lieutenant too much to not. Besides, they were fully aware that Phoenix wasn't in the best mood at this time.
She could appreciate their concern and respect. But Phoenix was more than capable of weathering that particular mental storm. As a leader, she had to put the needs of her troops before her own. It wasn't easy, but it was necessary.
They didn't speak for sometime, each content in the silence that permeated the room. Phoenix appreciated the silence. She smiled.
It was peaceful.
Then it wasn't.
The alarm pierced through the silence so suddenly, that Phoenix couldn't even recall the period between silence and chaos. She instantly shot up out of her seat and unholstered her sidearm.
An instant later, her friends did the same. Their instincts, honed by years of combat experience, made it second nature.
"Colonel Yan to all personnel. We are under attack by an unknown enemy. This is not a drill, repeat, this is not a-"
A massive explosion cut off the man's voice, and weapons fire erupted all around the compound from every direction. Phoenix could hear the engines from Alliance aircraft zipping over them, followed by more explosions.
"You've gotta be fucking kidding me!" Roared Marcus. "Who the fuck would attack us now!"
"Batarians?" The other man questioned.
"No, we would have identified them as Batarians." Said Phoenix.
"Ma'am? What's wrong?" Said Joel, noticing the woman's haunted expression.
Unknown forces attacking a human colony. Not Batarians.
Just think, your Batarian argument holds no water.
Her eyes widened.
It can't be.
"Check the cameras. We need to know what we're up against." Phoenix ordered, fear replaced with the confidence of a seasoned veteran.
They gathered around the computer screens. Outside the base, they could see marines encircling the main entrance, which was now sealed off.
"Man how the fuck did they get past early warning?!" Said Marcus.
No one answered him, they watched the two dozen or so marines waiting patiently. They were all heavily armed, clad in full body armor. Without warning, the entrance exploded, the massive door fell over and a cloud of dust encompassed the breach.
Immediately, the Alliance troops opened fire, sending short controlled bursts into the dust cloud.
Then, the enemy returned the greeting in kind.
A torrent of mass accelerator fire ripped into the marines' defenses with a ferocity that Phoenix could not believe. Barriers dropped and armor was shredded as one by one the marines collapsed silently. Explosions went off from grenades, fileting the survivors with shrapnel.
It was over in minutes.
Two dozen skilled soldiers, killed faster than what would have been possible for Batarians slavers.
The dust cloud persisted, and the enemy did not reveal itself.
It was so eerie. Aside from Joel, Marcus, and the other man cursing, no one spoke.
She could have sworn she saw something moving in there.
"What the fuck is going on!?" Demanded Joel.
"This isn't right man, who the fuck are these guys?"
Phoenix didn't say anything, she just watched the camera.
She watched a series of shadows slowly becoming more and more clear.
"Look." She said, drawing the attention of the other marines.
The shapes became easily distinguishable, appearing to be humanoid in nature, the details of which could not be made out completely.
Until they stepped out in the open.
Her eyes widened, as it became clear that these humanoids were of an alien species she's never seen before.
They were around as tall as an average human, but a little thicker. They resembled bipedal insects with a chitinous exoskeleton with four eyes and a distinct, tapered head.
Their physical features were something that the woman has heard before, and she knew what myth was described as such.
"Oh my god." Said Marcus. "Is that?"
"Collectors." Finished Joel. He looked at Phoenix, she could see the fear in his eyes. "They're real. We need to get our weapons… and we need help."
She noticed his eyes glance towards the screen, and she understood.
She followed his eyes towards the one thing that might help even the odds in the face of this never before seen threat.
Six wasn't sitting anymore. She could see him tense up into a combat stance, fists clenched, eyes burned onto the door. She didn't know if this was the best idea, but if there was anyone that might be able to kill the Collectors, it was him.
To her surprise, the helmet turned towards the small camera until the visor was staring right at it. It felt like Six was staring at her through the lens.
She wasn't sure if he knew he was being watched or if he thought so, but he only gave the camera one gesture.
A nod.
Sup guys. Sorry for the delay. I was busy dealing with some things. Some personal bullshit among other things. I also wasn't very motivated. I know, lots of excuses. Don't worry I came around with this long chapter hopefully to make up for it. It's almost 13k words so hopefully you guys enjoy it. Let me know how my character interactions went. Right now that's the thing I'm worried about the most. I think it's gotten a bit better but make sure to let me know how I did (also I'm switching the rating to M because this story is going to be quite violent in the future). I've recently been more motivated to work on this story so hopefully I can take advantage of it and get more shit done. Reviews for the last chapter were overwhelmingly positive which surprised me. Hopefully it means I'm actually doing good and you guys aren't just being nice lol. As always let me know how I did. Don't be afraid to criticize me if you think I need to improve something. Thanks and I'll catch you guys later.