Chapter 4: Wait what?
"You were attacked by a Brute Chieftain." The naked girl said, although her attention was fixed on the arm the Ape had grabbed.
"Like that explains anything." Coco muttered, looking over at the dead creature before turning to her blind teammate. "Fox, is this our stalker?"
"Yes." The boy responded simply.
"What do we do with her?" Yatsuhashi asked, looking down at the purple haired girl who was slowly poking her injured arm with her finger, wincing everytime she did so.
"She needs medical attention." Velvet said flatly.
"Vel, we still know nothing about her." Coco pointed out as her girlfriend reached into her pack and pulled out her first aid kit.
"She killed that thing for us, she at least deserves this much." She responded in a tone that suggested she was going to help the stranger no matter what Coco said.
"Just be careful." Coco said, nodding towards Yatsuhashi who walked with the rabbit girl, hand on his sheathed sword in case the stranger did anything. Eyeing the girl, Coco noted she hadn't reacted to anything they'd said, instead continuing to stare at her swelling arm, her head tilted to the side.
"Is it ok I look at your arm?" Velvet said gently, crouching down and looking the naked girl in the eye.
Said girl didn't respond, instead she looked back careful, mutely staring at Velvet. Her eyes darting back and forth as she debated to herself, before eventually speaking.
"Yes."
With that simple answer the Faunus set to work looking her over.
"I think it might be broken." She muttered, looking around for the splint materials in the box. "That was a nasty crunch your arm made."
"My arm isn't broken." The girl said flatly, Coco scoffed.
"Really, then what is it right now?" She gestured to the new girl's arm, it was swelling quite badly.
"I don't know, it just doesn't feel bad enough to be broken." She said flatly, eyes boring into Coco's sunglasses.
"Great, apparently we were being stalked by an idiot." Coco grumbled, turning to look at Fox who nodded and crouched down.
"What are you doing?" The girl snapped, panic in her eyes as her good hand jumped towards her pistol. She didn't raise it and Fox simply didn't react, instead staring at her with his blind eyes.
"You have the weakest Aura I've ever seen." He said flatly. "I thought the only reason I couldn't get any details on you was how far away you were."
That seemed to get the girl's attention.
"You… you knew I was following you?" The girl asked, face slack.
"Yes, I'm guessing you didn't know I could detect people's Aura." He responded.
"What do you mean?"
"Fox can see people's Aura; and before you ask anymore questions, we've got some for you if you don't mind." Coco butted in, standing tall and looking down on the girl.
"What do you want to know?" She asked, her head tilting to the side again before quickly snapping it back up.
"A name would be nice." Yatsuhashi said simply.
"UNSC Spartan B312, callsign Noble Six."
Team CFVY starred at the girl.
"Okay then… 'Noble Six'." Coco said slowly. "Who are you?"
"I'm a Spartan." She said flatly, looking slightly confused at them.
"Uh huh, and what does that mean?" Coco asked, the look of disbelief on the girl's face further confusing the tall Huntress.
"It… it means I'm a Soldier." Noble Six said, her heart pounding in her ears.
This situation was bad; these people didn't know anything. This could mean A: She was dealing with complete morons, or B: This planet was such a backwater mess they'd never heard of the Spartan Program.
Neither seemed likely, they'd been able to mostly take out a Brute's shield and the girl with the rabbit ears on her head was doing to good a job adding a splint to her arm to be stupid. That just left her with option B: A backwater planet.
A backwater planet where the civilians carry around miniguns and giant swords… yeah, right.
"Is Spartan a local term?" The Rabbit Eared girl asked before adding: "I'm Velvet by the way."
"...It is well known where I'm from." Six eventually responded, speaking slowly to process everything she was saying to avoid letting anything slip.
"As are things like that monkey over there I assume?" The man in Green asked before he added: "Yatsuhashi Daichi."
"It's called a Brute, how can you not know that?" Six asked, wondering how out of the way this planet was if they couldn't even recognize the Covenant?
"Never seen it before, what about the lizard things, they got a name?" The tall girl in the ridiculous heels and the beret asked.
"You have Elite's here, what rank!?" Six asked, the worry in her voice obvious even to her; these four didn't stand a chance against a Sangheili Warrior, and with whatever was wrong with her arm she wouldn't be able to help them.
"How should I know, Gold and White that help?" Heel-wearing girl snorted.
"Gold and white, what were their helmets?" Six asked, when the four looked at her confused she added angrily: "The shape, what was the shape?!"
"The one in white had a full face helmet, a large circle in the centre and two prongs on the back. The Gold one had an exposed face with silver details that resembled large eyebrows." Yatsuhashi explained.
"Fuck." Six spat, an Ultra and a Zealot. Perfect, these four survive an encounter with a Brute only to be thrown against two of the highest ranking Elites the Covenant had to offer.
"I'm guessing that's bad news?" Velvet said as she finished adjusting the splint on the girl's arm.
"Extremely." Six answered. "Do you know if they have any other forces on this planet?"
"I heard something like 'ugnoy', Those count as their forces?" The leader in heels said.
"Yes, just because they're small doesn't make them not a threat." Six snapped. Unggoy were often underestimated by people fighting them, they might have been short, but each one was fiercely strong and suicidally dedicated to the Covenant. She'd often found they came closest to killing her just because they were willing to try things that no sane creature would ever attempt.
"And what are they, some kind of shrimp?"
Six was really getting annoyed by this woman, not only was her footwear ridiculous, but she was going to get everyone killed if they underestimated the Covenant. It was like she'd never heard of them and how dangerous they were, for goodness sake they'd managed to take out most of Noble team.
Don't think about them now.
They took out Spartans, these people don't stand a chance.
"They are, in fact, Crustaceans. Stop acting so flippantly, we're in serious danger!" The girl yelled, startling Velvet as she was putting the medical supplies back in their box.
"We're Huntresses, we can handle some crabs." Heels said dismissively, scowling as the girl stormed to her feet, using Velvet as a support by roughly shoving down on her shoulder.
"You would be dead if I hadn't arrived in time, that Brute was going to kill you." Six yelled. "Do you not get that!?"
"We… we could have handled that, we had that thing's Aura nearly down when you arrived."
"Coco…" Velvet said nervously, looking at the pair as Six moved closer.
"He was a second away from dying when I showed up." The Spartan spat, pointing towards Yatsuhashi. "You couldn't have stopped that thing in time with a broken weapon. Why did you even think fighting it was a good idea in the first place!?"
"It's my fault, I tried to get evidence of its existence and left the flash on." Velvet explained. Six rounded on the girl who flinched back, her ears falling down to the side of her head, reacting weirdly realistically for something she was wearing on her head, wait there was no band…
Are… are they real?
Hey, don't look at me, I don't know.
Six was not coping; she needed Jorge, he was good with civilians, he probably wouldn't be yelling at them.
Think soldier, trying to get evidence of the Covenant's presence on this world was a smart idea, right?
Yes, it was.
"Can I see it?" Six asked, straining to keep her voice calm. Velvet nodded and pulled out her camera, it looked rather boxy and old fashioned but the screen still showed her what she needed to see.
"Okay, this is… sufficient." Six muttered, looking at the Covenant pictured in the photo. "...We should be able to use this to alert the UNSC to their presence, is there any way of communicating off-world?"
The look the four were giving her reminded her of when she'd told the other Spartan III candidates the name of her old toy.
"Did I say something funny?" She asked.
"I… off world?" Velvet asked.
"I-yes, off-world. Unless the UNSC already has a garrison on this planet, we're going to need reinforcements." Six said slowly.
Would make sense, we're currently wearing a UNSC backpack.
No trooper would leave their equipment behind like that, and even if he was dead, who would move the body and leave gear behind?
"Dare I ask what the UNSC is?" Coco asked, rubbing her forehead with her hand.
"United Nations Space Command… Tell me, what's the name of this planet?" Six eventually asked, the idea forming in her mind was unusual, probably impossible. However, she was currently alive after being stabbed through the chest with an energy sword; that also wasn't possible…
"Remnant, and let me guess, you're from the moon." Coco responded, her expression softening when the girl shook her head and responded.
"I'm from… I was last on a planet called Reach; it fell to the Covenant. But, you don't know what either of those are, do you?" Six said, biting her lip as she spoke.
"No we do not, I assume they mean a lot to you though." Fox said, finally stepping back into the conversation.
"They mean a lot to everyone back home." Six sighed. "You… you need to know about the Covenant at least before you do anything else."
Six did her best to summarise the Covenant quickly, from their basic concept of a humanity hating religious order of aliens, to the involved species and what had happened on Reach.
Coco to her credit didn't interrupt, her mouth was thin and she was clearly thinking hard.
"Okay, I'm calling a team meeting, You… Wait there." She said, gesturing towards Six before moving away and forming a huddle with her group. The Spartan decided to allow them to talk, standing up and aiming her pistol into the forest where the tree's were the most damaged, she only had three bullets left but at the very least her firing would alert the others and give them a chance to run.
Wait, hang on, what's that?
"Okay, what's the verdict on Purple, do we buy what she's selling, or is she just crazy?" Coco asked, looking between her team members.
"It's… a lot. I could certainly believe she's been in a warzone before; she's got more scars than you Fox." Velvet muttered, her ear's twitching as the girl started walking. Probably patrolling based on the sound.
"Her concept is absurd though, even Atlas can't get anything into space, how could she merrily travel to different planets?" Coco pointed out.
"Unknown, but I believe it's possible." Fox pointed out. "I've never heard of anything like that Brute or those lizards, and given how they're intelligent enough to speak, I think we'd be aware of them if they were native."
Coco had to admit that the blind boy had a point, she'd never heard of anything like these aliens before either.
"Okay, so if we take it as read, that these things are what she says they are and as dangerous… what do we do now?" Velvet asked, looking around nervously. "I'm not an expert but she's wrong, that arm is badly injured. Gianduja is also mangled right now, and we can't fix it out here."
Coco winced as she looked over at her own weapon.
"Point, and it's not like Anesidora is working either, at best we've got Fox's tonfa and Yatsuhashi's sword; I can't say I feel like fighting against aliens with that setup."
"You might not have too."
Team CFVY's group huddle jumped apart, looking at the purple haired girl who had moved close to them without them realising, Velvet in particular winced, she should have heard her approaching.
"Don't do that!" Coco cried out. "We weren't done with our meeting!"
"I found something you might find useful." The girl named after a number said simply. "I still would recommend you look for backup, but it will provide more tactical options."
"We'd have to go back to the village if we want to contact help." Yatsuhashi explained, holding up his scroll and adding. "No reception out here."
The strange girl muttered something about 'backwater infrastructure' before continuing.
"Do you wish to see what I found or not?"
"Might as well." Coco muttered, retrieving her weapon and following the girl as she led them a little into the tree line, stopping when she reached some kind of vehicle.
It was probably green initially, but all the burn damage made that hard to tell. The front was sloped and it sat on four wheels, all on individual suspension; the set up semi reminded Coco of a large animal with them looking a bit like legs, maybe a cat? She continued to examine the vehicle, it all seemed fairly standard, the only real exception being the large cage structure on the back with more seats.
It was also lying on its side, so that was an issue.
"It's a transport hog." Noble Six explained. "I've looked it over and if we can get it onto its wheels, I believe it will drive."
"You... sure about that? Thing doesn't look like it'll drive anywhere." Coco pointed out, gesturing towards a patch of missing bodywork.
"Well you don't look like you can walk with your terrible footwear, and yet you made it here."
Team CFVY backed up as soon as the Spartan finished that sentence, they all knew this was going to end badly.
"And what is that supposed to mean!?" Coco snarled, fists tight as she glared at the purple haired naked girl.
"It means I cannot think of a less practical thing you could have chosen to wear on your feet out here." Six said flatly, gesturing at Coco's boots.
"You aren't even wearing sho-" Coco began before gasping, the girl had turned around and crouched down, putting her good arm under the car to try and flip it.
"We need to get this on its wheels." She said flatly.
"I never said we were taking that thing!" Coco yelled before being faced by the Spartans' dull eyes.
"Then what was your plan?"
"I, well…"
"I thought so, why are you their leader? Everything about you screams 'unqualified'." Six said before turning away.
Then Coco punched her in the back of the head.
The girl sprawled out in the ground, caught off guard from the surprise attack.
"Coco!" Velvet cried, going to run to the girl's side before she snarled and kicked out, striking Coco in the ankles and forcing her off balance.
The Spartan was angry now, as she sprang to her feet, closing in and punching Coco in the gut, seemingly intent on bringing the girl down, but she was blocked and soon Coco sent her own punch back. It caught her off-guard just how slow she was, how badly hurt was she?
The fight may have escalated if the rest of Team CFVY wasn't there to grab the pair and pull them apart, Yatsuhashi grabbing Six, and Fox grabbing Coco.
"Let me at her!" Coco growled, struggling to free herself from her friend's strong grip.
"No." Yatsuhashi said simply.
"Stop trying to hit me before you hurt your arm any more." Fox said flatly as he moved to the side to avoid being hit by the girl's elbow; surprisingly, this actually seemed to work, and she stopped moving, simply standing still instead.
"I cannot believe you." Velvet said, the look of disappointment on her face dragging Coco back to the real world.
"Vel… I-" Coco began before she was cut off.
"No Coco, insulting your fashion sense or capabilities as a leader is not a reason to start a fight with someone." Velvet said sternly, stepping forward, an accusing finger planted on her girlfriend's chest.
"Especially when their back is turned." Yatsuhashi added.
"I… It's…" Coco said, not really knowing what she was going to say; she really couldn't justify what she was doing. She was Team CFVY's leader, she was meant to be better than this, and yet she had lashed out at such a simple comment.
"Coco, we all know you're a good team leader." Velvet said, slowly turning away. "Stop caring about what idiots don't even have the guts to say to your face."
The rabbit Faunus then approached the now calm Spartan.
"Six, I'm sorry Coco attacked you, it wasn't warranted, but did you have to antagonise her like that?"
Velvet noted the girl's head tilting again; seemingly something she always did when she was confused before quickly snapping back up.
"That wasn't my intention." She said slowly.
"Well what was it then?"
Six was clearly in deep thought as her head bowed before she sighed.
"I wanted to get you out of here before the Covenant found us. She was… getting in the way, it didn't make sense."
"Well annoying her was never going to speed the process up." Velvet said before sighing again.
"I… Will try to remember that in future." The naked girl finally answered.
"Good enough for now, we need to move quickly, all that negativity could very easily have attracted Grimm." Velvet said, looking to Yatsuhashi who got her message and let Coco go.
"Velvet's right, we need to get out of here. Let's try and get this car flipped; you're sure this will work?" She said, looking at the Spartan girl who nodded.
"They've been in service for over two hundred years for a reason."
"Good, Yatsuhashi, do you mind if she borrows your coat? I never thought I'd say this but, The naked girl is making me uncomfortable." Coco said, looking at Noble Six who stared blankly at her. Their leader's request suddenly seemed to make everyone aware that the girl was wearing nothing besides a backpack. Going red, the boy hastily pulled out said garment.
While it was good that the purple haired girl was finally given her modesty back, the part of Coco that cared enough about fashion to wear expensive heeled boots out in the middle of a muddy forest cringed; that shade of green did not look good on her, still, she'd at least stopped shivering now.
After that, the four members of Team CFVY were able to get the truck back on its wheels.
"Okay, can you start it up now?" Coco asked, having to resist the urge to rip her hair out as the Spartan bent down to pick something big up from under the car.
"Yes, let me just check this over." She muttered; examining the long rifle in her hands. Seemingly happy, she turned around and looked at the team and asked: "Which of you is the best shot?"
Velvet raised her hand; she'd copied a few long-range weapons in her time and the skills had thankfully stuck with her.
"Take this, you've got four shots in the magazine and spares of those in the hog, take the seat on the back and shoot anything that looks dangerous."
Velvet took the rifle but looked at Coco before she moved.
"Sounds like a good idea to me." She said, shrugging before looking expectantly at the Spartan, who got the point and a minute later, the purple-haired girl had climbed into the driver's seat and had gotten the engine running.
"Cool, shouldn't one of us drive though? You know, on account of your arm?" Coco asked, trying her best to not let the fact she was still annoyed at the girl influence how she spoke.
"Do any of you know how to drive an M831 Troop Transport?" She asked dully.
"I mean I have my driver's licence and it's a car; how hard can it be?" Coco asked, in response the girl shuffled over and pointed at the footwell; which had six pedals, all of which had holes drilled into the metal they were made out of.
"With your attire, very. Just find a seat. I don't know where to go, so I'm going to need a navigator."
With that Coco nodded and sat down shotgun, vowing to at least get them to the Village before she strangled the girl.
