Heyy guys, can you believe that it's less than a mouth between chapters? Crazy right? :P Not sure how things are going to go from here seeing as you're all about 20k from catching up with me :L
Note 16/8: Changed Six's age due to problems I've found later
There's not really much I can say about this chapter now without ruining it so I'll probably add a note at the bottom.
As always, thank you all for reading, reviewing, favoriteing and following :)
gwb99: Ah, that was slightly intentional -to show that Roh isn't super amazing at English pronunciation- but it's probably falling flat because I keep forgetting about it when I write him :/ Your services as Beta would be amazing if you don't mind my sporadic chapter sending :) Thank you!
Telron: Yeah, not going too good for her at the moment and while it's going to get better...it'll be a while. Glad you enjoyed and thank you :)
BloodDragonKing: Of course it is :D Noble team is just full of badass's. Yeah, she did. She's twenty-one in this story, which means she was six when she joined the program, I think. I'm looking forward to the Major finding out, not sure how he's going to yet, but it's likely to come up at some point :) I know what you mean, can't believe I missed that, was funny to re-read though XD Thank you
B312: Na, I can't forget this one, I enjoy writing it too much :) Thank you for the reviews and I hope you enjoy this update too.
56006: I want to, I really do. It's so tempting to throw in Jorge or another Spartan and have them and Six taking on a army of Con's, but with the way she's been sent there -the artefact- it's difficult to justify. If enough people want it, I'll try work it in, but I honestly don't know. Maybe I'll put a poll up to see what people think...Thank you for the review and the food for thought :)
jondarryl: Thank you, glad you enjoyed :)
.
"Speech"
Thoughts or words stressed upon
Words stressed upon in thoughts
Standing in the Way of Light
"Hear that Lieutenant, I'll be all by my lonesome back here. Make it quick would ya?"
Six smirked at the memory, her eyes firmly shut.
"At your earliest convenience, Noble Six."
She felt something solid beneath her feet and a presence move in front of her.
"Just thinking the Covies need a traitor to shoot at." Her eyes snapped open at the sneer in his voice.
She was in the hangar area of the 'Ardent Prayer' and instead of being filled with Covenant, it was empty. In fact, the only beings in the hangar were her and a very angry Jorge. His helmetless face had its lips curled up into a sneer -something she'd never seen Jorge do- and was only accentuated by the purple lighting of the alien hangar. His eyes were slightly narrowed, the hazel iris' no longer soft and caring, but filled with hate and betrayal. He was close to her, but she didn't like the waves of anger that were rolling off him. It made him seem like a completely different person. Not the Jorge she'd watch sacrifice himself for Reach.
"Jorge?" She made it like a question, unsure if she'd heard his pervious statement properly.
"You heard me, Six." His words came out a growl as he reach behind her and pulled something off her back. Catching a glimpse of the item Six was about to protest when Jorge hoisted her up, just like he'd done during the mission. She tried to pry herself from his grip, but he was a Spartan-II and therefore much stronger. As he walked her to what she knew was the edge of the ship his eyes grew darker and more determined.
She didn't understand why he was doing this. "Why?"
"You know why."
The blunt words hit her more than they should have. She was still reeling from them when Jorge stopped. They'd reached the edge of the ship and she knew what he was going to do next. He'd taken her re-entry pack, they only thing that made sure she survived the fall to Reach.
"Humanity doesn't need traitors," was all Jorge seethed at her before he threw her from the ship. That was when the hell began.
She could feel her skin burning -smell it burning- and it was agony. The atmosphere of Reach wasn't kind as it attacked her. Her shields had hardly done anything to prevent the pain she was in now. Her armour fused to her flesh before it was burnt away, exposing her skin and nerves. As the fire licked at her skin her nerve endings felt like they were bring ripped out, one by one. She couldn't help but scream though it all, the only reason she could being down to the fact that Jorge hadn't taken away her helmet. Although, he probably left her with it so she could suffer for longer.
As she sped up it only got worse, until she could fall no faster. She didn't know how far the ground was from her. Her eyes were locked shut in an attempt to ignore the pan. For some reason her body suddenly flipped round and it was then that she foolishly opened her eyes.
Approaching fast beneath her was the hard ground of Reach. Instinctively she shut her eyes again, but it did little to help as she felt her body hit the floor. She felt her bones snap and fracture through her skin. She felt vibrations course through her body so fast that everything was pushed together. The instant in which she felt it was horribly long and shot right through her skull. It-
Six woke with a start, sitting bolt upright in her bed. Her hands instantly went to grab a weapon from her armored body, but they were met with a soft sheet. Panic quickly tried to rear its head, instead Six shut it down as she realised where she was. With her mind slightly calmer she noticed her body was covered in a layer of sweat, making the heat of her nightmare all too real. She sucked a deep breath in and let it out slowly. She'd never felt so rattled by something. A quick glance at the window let her know it was still dark. Although, she knew there would be little chance of her returning to sleep for the night.
Swinging her legs out of the bed she rubbed the side of her face and sighed. She'd never experienced anything like that before; it was slightly unnerving.
"Humanity doesn't need traitors."
Six shook her head. She wasn't a traitor. She was doing everything she could to get back to the UNSC and nothing would distract her. Looking over to the clock she was greeting with the red glowing digits of 'Oh-five-dot-fifty'. She'd only managed five hours sleep. Sighing in annoyance Six awkwardly got changed into a set of day clothes. She then grabbed her crutches and after standing up she remade the bed. With her helmet tucked under one arm and the bed no longer a tangled mess of sheets, she left the room.
It didn't take long for her to return to the hangar from a couple of hours ago. The directions had easily been remembered when Optimus had shown her to her room. She passed one or two people on her way and they each sent her wary glances. Six didn't blame them as she was sure that while most of the base knew of her temporary residence here, they probably believed she was supposed to have an escort. They didn't approach her about her lack of supervision, but she didn't doubt they radioed it in to someone.
Her thoughts were confirmed when she entered the hangar. Stood a few meters from her lonely armour was Major Lennox, looking like he'd just sprinted to the hangar. Six frowned at her unattended armour. She would've taken it to her room, but Guardian had still been working on it and while she was loathed to admit it, she trusted the orb; if only a little. The Major didn't really look all that happy at her early morning stroll.
"You need rest," the words almost sounded like an order. Although, Six was sure that the Major didn't feel comfortable ordering around someone such as her.
Six shrugged as much as she could, "My body disagrees."
He sighed, his face betrayed worry for her as well as his voice, "we could give you something if you want? The medics probably have something."
Six shook her head, "I'm fine, Major."
"If you say so," he paused. "Seeing as the rest of the base isn't up yet, why don't we get some of your debriefing done? I have a feeling I'm going to want to hear it in parts."
Six smirked at his comment, "if you want."
"Come with me."
Six followed the Major out of the hangar and into another area of the base that she hadn't visited yet. As she eyed the human sized doors and the plaques that were on them, she figured that this was where the humans co-ordinated their missions. Eventually they came to a stop at the end of the corridor. The plaque on the door had the Major's name, rank and position on it. It seemed that he was the one in charge here, it made Six curious how he got the position; he did seem quite young after all.
As they walked into the room, the Major indicated at one of the chair's in front of his desk. Behind his desk was a swivel chair along with a few monitors that were mounted onto the wall. On his desk was a simple computer with a webcam positioned on top. A few other momentous littered his desk including a picture of a woman and a baby.
Noticing her stare the Major instantly perked up, "Ah, I see you've noticed my beautiful ladies."
Six turned to look at him. There was a grin on his face as well as adoration in his eyes; he clearly loved them to pieces. To her it was a foolish notion, when at war you couldn't love someone that much. Despite what she and Jorge had experience together, they hadn't let it get to deep given what their occupation was. After he'd died, she'd felt lost, even if it was only a little. She believed herself foolish for even letting the thing happen, let alone all the pinning after him her mind seemed to have taken to. She hated herself for it. She must've shown her inner thoughts on her face as the Major's grin disappeared a little.
His voice was tender as he asked, "Who'd you lose?"
She snorted, "Parents, teammates and others."
Something she said must have triggered something as there was a sudden realisation on his face. Grimacing to herself, Six had a feeling she knew what it was.
"Your teammate, the one that died in the ship, were you…close?"
"We were just teammates," Six lied as she perched herself tentatively on a chair and dropped her helmet into her lap. The chair creaked a little, but it held.
The Major eyed her warily, as if he didn't believe her. If he didn't, it didn't matter to her, she just needed him to know where she stood with things like that.
He opened his mouth to say something, but seemed to think better of it as he closed it again. He then walked around to his side of the desk and sat down. He wiggled the mouse of the computer, typed a few things, clicked on something and typed some more.
"Let's just go over the basics," he said. "Name?"
"Spartan Bee-Three-One-Two, but recently people have called me Six," Six answered. Her birth name was of little importance, no one called her by it and it didn't feel right just letting anyone know it.
"Right," the Major murmured, typing away. A humorous smile appearing on his face at the next question, "Your date of birth?"
Six smirked, "twenty-second of July, twenty-five-thirty-one."
"The brass are going to have a field day with this," he chuckled. "You're twenty-one aren't you?"
"Yes."
There was a few moments as he quickly typed up what she'd said. There was another grin as he asked, "Place of Birth?"
"City of Antaeus on Charybdis Nine."
"Sounds Greek," he commented before they moved on. "I guess this is where the hard part begins…"
"Where do you want to begin?" Six asked and so they started an hour long conversation about where Six came from.
They began with the UNSC as the Major was curious about how it worked and what made is different from the current United Nations Security Council. Six went over how the UNSC had become the main military arm of the entire human race in the twenty-second century, after the 'Interplanetary War'. She didn't delve into the specifics too much, but ensued that the Major got the general idea. She then briefly mentioned the fact that the Unified Earth Government was the central civilian government for Earth and its colonies. As she continued she explained that while the Unified Earth Government was normally in charge of everything, including the UNSC, it wasn't the case for the Human-Covenant War. It was at this point that the Major's persona changed.
His eyes narrowed a fraction and become steely. His typing gradually became more pronounced and his tone of voice was slightly strained. Had it been anyone else, they might have asked him if he wanted to stop, but, Six didn't. If what she said disturbed the Major that much then he'd end the conversation.
She tried to keep it to the point by only revealing what she knew to be public knowledge. When he asked what she was doing at the time of any attacks, she would either lie about being on another planet or that she was being looked after by the UNSC. Of course they weren't complete lies, the UNSC –well ONI- had looked after her, in a way. But then again he thought she hadn't started fighting until she was eighteen, which was a complete and utter lie. She had been fighting long before then, but it was mainly militia groups as they were a big problem.
By the time he got to her being on assigned to Noble team on Reach he'd decided that she had told him enough for one day. She nodded respectfully and waited until he'd finished typing to see if he had anything else to say to her.
"You've given me a lot to think about…" His voice was uncertain, almost hopeless. "I know what you're talking about won't happen here, but…can't we do anything about it? I can't just sit here and let it happen, I would hate for my baby girl to grow up in a world like that. To get turned into…"
"Me?" Six supplied with a smirk. She wasn't insulted by his words, after all it was understandable. She was a killing machine. Designed to take almost anything and dish it out twice as hard.
He grimaced, "I mean no offence."
"I know."
He sighed, their conversation had clearly opened his eyes to a bigger and unforgiving universe. She could see that he didn't know what to do with what she'd told him. She didn't expect him to though. She didn't want his sympathy for her home or her 'unfortunate' childhood. She was happy with what she was, any other life held no appeal to her. It was her duty and life to protect Humanity.
"Do you think you can change it?" the Major suddenly asked.
"From here? No." Her answer was blunt, maybe too blunt, but it was the truth. Even though she was in the past she still couldn't aid her Humanity, it was like she was being taunted. "Also…"
"What?" The Major prompted after a few moments.
"I'm not even sure if we can make it back, we don't have a slip-space engine and even though Guardian knows how to make one, is it even possible here?" She frowned, "I'll have to talk with Guardian."
"Not sure where he went, but I'll ask around," the Major answered her unasked question. "Someone's bound to have seen him, he's pretty hard to miss."
"Thank you, Sir."
"That's going to take some getting used to, considering you probably have more combat experience then the whole base combined," he chuckled lightly.
"Not against your enemies though," Six reminded him.
"You'll catch up quick enough and we'll train you," he explained before he seemed to realise something, "that reminds me. When you start, you'll be assigned to a squad with another 'newbie' and I use the term lightly. Everyone here is the best of the best, so don't worry about us being able to keep up with you."
"I wasn't, I had a feeling most –if not all- of you were special ops."
"Nice senses, most of us are, though some of us are just the best at what we do," He paused. "As for your squad, I do have a few options in mind, but I'll let you know in time."
"Understood, Sir." Six wasn't completely satisfied with his words as it suggested that she would be waiting for a length of time before she could do anything. That was frustrating, she could fight now if she needed to and even though her armour was being repaired she was certain she could hold her own. She always would if it meant doing her duty. Her duty meant everything to her, it was her life –quite literally- and she didn't know what she'd do without it.
"Breakfast should be being served right about now, seems our talk lasted longer than I expected," he started to get up. When he noticed she wasn't making a move he stopped where he was, "what's wrong?"
"What will I do in the meantime?" Six asked respectfully, hoping the answer wouldn't be along the lines of 'rest' or 'take it easy'.
Eyeing her carefully he considered her question for a moment before he sighed and opened his mouth to answer. "To anyone else I would say rest up, but I don't think that's what you need or want. I won't throw you fully into training either, because you are injured and Ratchet would have my head." He sat back down and allowed his words to sink in before continuing, "You will run with us, sit in on tactical meetings and occasionally do combat exercises with us as well as the AutoBots. There are conditions though, you won't run until next week and Ratchet has to clear you, even if it is barely. When you run you'll stick with us and do the same amount, even if you can do more. Depending what combat exercise we're doing with determine your participation, but you can still sit in. Tactical meetings happen three times a week on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays. Today is Saturday so we'll introduce you at the meeting, I'll send someone to fetch you from the hangar at thirteen forty-five hours, got it?"
Six allowed herself to smile, "yes, Sir."
"Good, let's go fetch some food." And with that they both got up and Six followed the Major out of the room. The corridors they walked along were busier than they had been when she'd first woken up. The numerous military personnel gave the Major respectful salutes while Six received a notable amount of cautious glances. The Major explained that nobody meant any offence, but as she'd only appeared yesterday people had yet to trust her.
Six wasn't bothered by the looks she got. She understood their situation and if she was them, she wouldn't even let a stranger such as herself walk around base. Although, it seemed the Major wanted to give her a chance even if he probably barely trusted her. He was good at making her feel comfortable, relaxed even as he gave her space, but ensured that she never went anywhere unaccompanied. It made her wonder how he was dealing with Guardian, surely the orb was some form of a security risk? Six frowned a little at the thought of the orb. There was something strange about it, she wasn't completely sure, but she didn't trust it or its intentions. The way its voice would crack or the light on its eye would flicker to amber was enough to tell her something was up, but what was it? The orb had been nothing but on her side, backing her up and helping her out when needed. It just seemed too good to be true.
Six sighed. Maybe it was true, the way the orb had been talking told her that Humanity had been important to its makers. It was a strange to think that an alien race had actually liked Humanity, what with the seemingly entire galaxy trying to wipe them from existence. Forerunners…The word rolled through her mind. She'd never heard of them, but she doubted she was the first to discover their existence. There was little doubt in her mind that ONI knew something about this race. Now that she thought about it, Halsey had mentioned an 'ancient civilization' when her and Noble Team had recovered her and the package.
The revelation was interesting and continued the hold most of Six's attention as she and the Major walked into the mess hall. Despite her mind being otherwise occupied with what little she knew about the Forerunners, Six still kept up a relatively normal conversation. The soldiers she sat near would ask her eager questions about where she was from. They seemed to want answers about a beautiful universe filled with wonder and excitement. Unfortunately, Six couldn't live up to their hopes. Her future wasn't bright, happy or beautiful. Even the excitement of meeting an alien civilization had been squandered in its earliest days as a genocidal war had reared its head.
She didn't tell them all that, of course. They didn't appear to know much about where she really was from and she had a feeling that it was like that for a reason. The Major had likely withheld information because of the hinge-head, as to why, that was something she'd ask him later. Protecting the hinge-head was a foolish decision.
Her helmet also seemed to gain some curious glances as it sat perched on the table by to Six. A few of the soldiers she was sat near questioned her about its presence and why it had talked the other day. She didn't tell them much, only that it was a piece of military hardware she'd been given, nothing more. Despite what little she told them about her helmet, there was still some keen interest in it.
When she'd finished eating she told the Major that she'd been in the hangar if he needed her. He sent her a quick nod and when she leaned down to pick up her tray, the soldier –Graham- from yesterday offered to deal with her tray. She nodded in thanks before scooping up her helmet and hopping out the room.
~/~
Will Lennox
Will watched as their resident super soldier hopped out the room with her helmet tucked under an arm and her posture stiff. He wasn't sure he could wrap his head around her. She saw everything so differently and didn't seem to view herself as completely human as their talk that morning had shown. She'd talked to him as if Humanity was separate from her and while the war she'd been through must have been terrible something didn't make sense. She'd said that she'd been in the forces for about six year and apparently three of them had been in training. However, she had an air about her that suggested she'd been fighting far longer than that. There was something in her eyes too, the way they were like a cold steel and so distant couldn't be from three years of fighting could it? No war was that bad was it?
"Yo, Will?" It was Eps. Turning his gaze from the now empty spot where Six had been, Will found himself staring at his concerned friends.
"Yeah?"
"You good? Seem a bit out of it," Eps asked with reason.
Will smiled, "I'm good, just…"
"Worried about her?" James supplied as he took a sip of his water.
Will nodded, "Something doesn't seem right with her though, y'know? The way she acts and talks about where she's from, it's not right."
The others all nodded in agreement, but it was Captain Samantha Hughes -who had decided to join them that morning- that spoke. The thirty year old had sad little to the Spartan, but Will supposed she was more of a listener than a speaker.
"She's made herself detached or she's been trained that way." Samantha mused before asking, "What kind of training has she had?"
"I haven't been told the specifics, but she's had a lot. It was three years long and I've seen proof of her in CQC, using both human and alien ordnance as well as insertion. I think she's a bit of a pilot too, but I haven't seen anything," Will explained, wondering what his men would think about Six now that they knew more about her training.
Eps whistled in appreciation while Graham and James grinned, mentioning how they were looking forward to seeing her in action.
"Over three years? Long time, must be pretty advanced stuff," Samantha marvelled, her lips pulling into a smile as she commented, "I wouldn't mind having her in my squad."
"Ey, wait your turn man, I think Graham wanted her," Eps said nudging the brit.
Graham waved him off, "sorry Sam, I've got dibs."
Samantha frowned, "you can't put dibs on a person, besides she's got to be excellent at tech so we'll benefit from her the most."
"She's an assassin you know," Graham shot back with a smirk.
"It hardly-She's a what?" Samantha almost choked on her drink in surprise. Her brown eyes widening slightly as her eye-brows nearly disappeared into her brown hair. She looked over to will in an expectant manner.
Still smiling at her reaction Will began to explain, "C'mon guys, she only said she makes people disappear. Besides I think she was talking about terrorism when she said that."
"Who knew terrorism was still a problem in the future?" James sighed while he grabbed Six's tray and put it on top his own. As he started to get up he gave the rest of the table a brief goodbye and left.
"Always leaves on a bombshell doesn't he?" Graham chuckled as he took in yet another shocked expression from Samantha.
"She's from the future?" She asked slowly, her eye-brows still raised. "Really?"
"It's a bit more than that, but yeah," Will replied with a smirk.
"A bit more- how can it be a 'bit more' than the future?" Samantha exclaimed. "In fact don't tell me, I'll stick to one surprise at a time. You'll explain at the meeting won't you?"
"I'll be sure to break it to you gently," he teased.
She frowned, but decided not to comment and instead went back to their original point, "So where is she going?"
"All will be revealed," Will chuckled as he scooped up his tray and beat a hasty retreat. He heard a respectful curse or two from Samantha and a few laughs from the other two before they were out of earshot.
As he made his way back to his office he thought about what he was going to do about his three visitors. Guardian seemed to be like the AutoBots, but he was incredibly difficult to keep tabs on. There was also the fact that Noble Six didn't appear to trust the floating orb. He could understand why, but the orb appeared to put a lot of care into making sure she trusted it. Something about its eagerness to please Six did make Will a little suspicious, although he barely knew anything about Guardian or where it came from; that would be another thing to ask Six, if she knew. As for what he was going to do with Guardian, he doubted the orb would stay placidly on base as it had already demonstrated by killing a couple of Decepticons; the ease of which it did it was almost terrifying.
Sighing, Will rubbed the side of his jaw as he turned down another corridor. The few soldiers that were darting around gave him quick salutes of which he returned before continuing on his way.
The alien –Roh- was also a big problem. Given what he knew about his background Will didn't want to trust the alien, even if he genuinely regretted what he'd done. He was conflicted, on the one hand he didn't want to alienate the alien, but on the other could he trust Roh to work in a squad and with Six? He wasn't sure his soldiers would trust the alien either as he was going to reveal that there was a feud between Six's and Roh's people. Now that he'd thought about it he'd probably be best off getting advice from the General when it came to dealing with Roh. He knew that keeping the alien around wasn't something that Six agreed with, but for the moment he hoped she'd trust his decision.
Thinking of Six wasn't something he found easy. The way she was and her mannerisms were strange. It seemed like she was completely a solider to the bone, but not the kind of solider he or anyone else on the base was used to. She was slightly cynical, although it was never disrespectful, and she didn't appear to trust anyone; which was something he knew Optimus found strange to deal with. Most of the soldiers the AutoBot commander had encountered were excited about the prospect of meeting an alien race, which were giant machines. In the instance of meeting Six it was a compete three-sixty. She found the AutoBot's irritable and hardly wanted anything to do with them. It was something that would take some getting used to for everyone, but Will hoped that they could change Six's opinion on the AutoBot's; after all nobody should have to view the universe with such anger that Six did.
As he walked into his office he smiled at the picture of his ladies. He missed them a lot and it had been a long time since he'd seen them in the flesh. Although, it made it all the more special when he did see them and he treasured those moments.
A beep from his computer made him tear his eyes away from his beloved family and to the computer's screen. He almost laughed when he saw what it was. There were at least half an hour's worth of messages from numerous people about the wayward orb that he hadn't seen since last night. A few of them included pictures that were mainly outside and made the futuristic orb look stark out of place. The accompanying messages were what almost made him laugh as a lot of the soldiers seemed to think Guardian had a screw loose. The favourite nickname being 'crazy light bulb' while a few just called him 'Tinkerbell'.
As he moved away from his desk he quickly grabbed his small tablet from the desk's draw and ran out the room. He quickly sent everyone back a message that he would be dealing with Guardian and then a quick reminder about the day's meeting.
Just as he was about to run out onto the air strip where Guardian had last been seen he got another message. The messaged was from Epps and was telling him to get his ass to the AutoBot hangar as Guardian and Ratchet were having a rather heated argument. There was an attached picture of a rather animated Ratchet glaring at the usual passively floating form of Guardian. While redirecting himself towards the AutoBot hangar he sent a message to everyone to get Noble Six to the AutoBot hangar as he had a feeling she would be needed. Captain Hughes was the one to reply this time and said that she and Six would be there ASAP.
~/~
Noble Six
Six was currently sat on a metal chair as she examined what Guardian had done to the two different armours. While hers was hardly recognisable as armour any more the other still appeared dead. There were a couple of scorch marks here and there as well the hole that was reasonably smaller.
"What do you think Dot?" Six asked as she angled her helmet to see what would be her new armour.
"While currently damaged this armour is a significant upgrade to the Moljnir Mark Five armour and I believe I will be able to interface with it." Six smiled, glad that in her own way Dot approved of the armour.
"It should be ready soon and then you can get all its specs, maybe the UNSC can find a way to replicate it when we get back," Six explained quietly.
"Affirmative, although some materials are unable to be identified."
Six nodded, that was a given considering it had been made by a race that could wipe out the entire universe if they wanted. "I'm sure once the eggheads have a go at it we'll know what's what."
"There is an unknown contact approaching." The familiar words from battle instantly made Six tense and reach for a weapon she didn't have. It was then that she forced her body to stand down, it was probably the Major or another soldier just passing by. It appeared that neither of her assumptions were correct as it was the woman she'd seen at breakfast and she wasn't just passing through.
The brown haired woman made a beeline for Six, her face showed hints of strain and it told Six that something was wrong. She had a feeling it might be to do with the fact that Guardian was missing and they believed she knew where he was. Of course she didn't, the orb had eluded her since the other night and it hardly told her anything anyway; something she would rectify soon.
"Noble..Six," the woman hesitated a little before continuing. "Major Lennox has requested your presence in the AutoBot hangar. There's been a situation to do with your companion and Ratchet."
Six nodded in understanding and began the process of getting onto her feet. When she'd finished she told the woman to lead the way and they set off on the short and silent journey to the AutoBot hangar. Six could only wonder what Guardian had done, but it was probably something minor as the medic appeared to have a short temper.
When they arrived in the hangar few noticed their appearance as they were much too preoccupied with Ratchet and Guardian. The Major was stood between the two along with another man and both were attempting to diffuse the situation. Even the other robots were trying to calm down their medic, although it looked like it was making it worse. The situation continued to go downhill as Ratchet continued to argue with Guardian about being a 'trigger happy fragger'. Six wasn't completely sure what the word 'fragger' meant, but she knew an insult when she heard one. Guardian didn't sound like he was too bothered by the word itself, it seemed to be the tone that Ratchet used that irritated the normally placid orb.
"Your tone is unnecessary, you-"
Ratchet cut Guardian off as he manifested a large wrench and roared at the orb, "My tone is 'unnecessary'? How about this you conceited piece of scrap?!"
Six raised a brow at what she knew Ratchet was about to do. Would he really throw something such as a wrench at Guardian? It was a foolish move as she doubted the medic knew what Guardian was capable of; even she didn't know.
"That is not a wise action as I will have to retaliate with a similar course of action," Guardian replied in a tone that verged on anger. "I suggest you re-think your decision."
"Oh, shut it," the medic growled before hurling the oversized wrench at Guardian. The glowing orb swiftly moved out of the path of the wrench before his colours changed from blue to orange. The change made Six tense a little as she began moving forward quickly. She wasn't completely sure what Guardian would do to the medic damage wise and doubted her intervention was needed. But, should she help the medic perhaps it could work in her favour. With a smile that no one could see Six locked her eyes onto Guardian and watched as he used an orange light to grab the object that had been thrown at him. In her mind Six nodded; it looked like Guardian didn't want to critically injure the medic, which made aiding the medic all the easier.
Six watched as the wrench began sailing back to its owner and as it did she hoisted one of her crutches up. Her mind went through numerous calculations as she pulled back her arm. Her muscles complained and protested as she coiled them up, but she ignored it. She inhaled as the wrench went past a point she'd mentally marked out and ignored all the yelling that had occurred as the spectacle went on. With as much strength as she had Six exhaled as she threw her crutch ahead of the soaring wrench.
As both objects collided in mid-air there was a rather loud crack as the plastic of her crutch shattered under the impact of the wrench. However, the force she'd put behind the obviously flimsy material had been enough to ensure both objects avoided any bystanders. Both potentially harmful objects then continued their decent to the floor off to the side where they landed with a crash. The crash had everyone falling silent as they all locked their eyes onto her.
"Noble Six…" The Major was the first to speak as a look or grateful surprise encompassed his face. "I appreciate the timely entrance."
Six nodded as she juggled Dot into her now free hand, "no problem. What is the issue?"
"Honestly? I-"
"Reclaimer! Your assistance was unnecessary, the situation was in hand," Guardian interrupted as he floated over to Six. She spared the orb a glance; she knew the situation had been in hand for him, that hadn't been why she'd interfered.
"We don't harm allies," she said pointedly as she glanced at the robot medic.
"I highly doubt there would've been any lasting damage," Ratchet growled at her before he quickly transformed and left the room.
Six nearly shook her head at the irritable medic, but instead look over to Optimus when he spoke. "My apologies for Ratchet, he has been under a considerable amount of strain recently and I believe it is taking its toll."
"Just keep your people in line, I'm sure that's something you aliens can understand." Six turned away from him and sent the Major a quick salute before she decided it best to leave. While she made her way towards the exit Guardian decided to follow her and impart some of his wisdom.
"That binding implement is unnecessary on you, your burns were the most problematic injury, but it appears the Ancilla Hybrid managed to do an adequate job; if not slightly primitive."
"I know," Six agreed before she decided to change the subject away from the medic. "Why was my helmet unattended this morning?"
"Unfortunately I had to leave it to assess the Liberator and scour the planet for relevant materials that would be key in repairing your combat skin."
The explanation made sense, but "I'd rather you not leave Dot unattended."
"Of course Reclaimer," Guardian chirped. "However, my investigation proved productive as I found the relevant materials needed to build the basic components of the slip-stream space engine and repair your combat skin."
Six almost stopped walking at that; had it really been that easy? She doubted it would be that easy, there would probably be a problem with her leaving the base and entering foreign territories. Never mind the fact that using these raw materials would be another problem in itself, but at least they were making progress.
"There's nothing more we can do to the armour then?" Six clarified as they reached the object of her question.
"Not until I can recover the raw materials and process them into a usable form, if left undisturbed the process will only take 48 standard hours. After that time the combat skin shall be ready for your Ancilla and combat."
"That's great," Six said cracking a smile before her mind wondered to how little she knew about Guardian. Considering she was likely to spend the majority of her time with the orb, Six decided it best to know as much as possible about the AI and even its makers. She wasn't completely sure where to start as she had so many questions, but in the end she settled on something that had been bothering them since they'd met.
"Why do you call me Reclaimer?"
"It was you and your people who should inherit all that my makers left behind. Your people have always been important to my makers despite their differences." Six said nothing in hopes that he would continue without her prompt and of course he did, "Your confusion is understandable, but I am surprised that you had never heard of us before me."
"We've been busy. The UNSC has probably found some of your tech though." Six's thoughts drifted to one of her last missions for Noble. She was almost certain that whatever Doctor Halsey had found was to do with the Forerunners and if Guardian was anything to go by then she was sure it would win them the war.
"Yes, I did detect access to an extension of my facility. I allowed it because it was a Reclaimer's Ancilla, although I'm uncertain as to what they were able to decrypt from the data the accessed. If incomplete then there could be dire consequences."
That worried Six, the UNSC didn't need anything more that was dire and not in their favour; things were bad as it was. "What consequences?"
"The activation of the Halo Array or the release of the flood from its containment, however both should be easily stopped by the instillation Monitors should they believe the course of action not necessary."
Guardian's words did little to alleviate the tension in Six, but she continued on with her questioning as she placed Dot on the table and sat down. "Okay, where did the Flood come from? Did the Forerunners make it?"
"The exact origin of the Flood is unknown, but it is believed that it came from the Precursors –the creators of all. From the little information I have the Flood as they are now came into being due to Reclaimer's applying a powder to domesticated pets. It is said that initially there were no issues, but somehow a mutation happened and the creatures began to consume their owners. This led to a war between the Flood and Humans and therefore a war between Humans and my makers. With Humans glassing the worlds of my makers it was only logical that they uphold the Mantel and punish the Humans and their allies for their crimes. Due to being weakened it was not long before-"
Six held up a hand as she processed what Guardian had said. Humanity had been capable of spaceflight before the UNSC? She couldn't believe it! And they'd also had allies, she could only wonder who they'd been as it seemed all aliens hated them now. But, the Ancient Humanity must have been powerful if they'd managed to battle on two fronts, just how it should be. She only wondered what had happened to her ancestors when they'd been defeated as it seemed that they'd somehow become important to the Forerunners.
"What happened to the Humans?"
"They were devolved back to a primitive state and were observed by the Lifeworkers until they had to be indexed. Their allies –the San 'Shyuum- were quarantined to a single system and many of their achievements were stripped from them. Your ancestors were of great importance during the war against the flood for the knowledge they held was irreplaceable." Guardian's light blinked once as he stared at Six. Six had a feeling she looked pretty shocked and she was. Humanity had once been allies with the Prophets! She would've thought Guardian were lying, but what reason did he have to lie about that? Despite the Prophets newly discovered history it didn't change the fact that she hated them with a passion and would love nothing more than to see them wiped from the face of the universe. Then there was the fact that Humanity had somehow been useful against the flood. She wasn't completely sure how her devolved ancestors had been helpful against an organism that lived to consume everything.
Six opened her mouth to ask something she knew she needed the answer to, even if it meant more earthshattering information. "How were they useful? Just the Humans, I don't want to know anything else."
"It was believed that the Humans held a cure to the Flood, but they didn't. It was a trick orchestrated by the Flood to give my makers false hope. Revenge from the Precursors who intended to hand the Mantel of Responsibility to the Humans, whereas it was instead seized by my makers. Instead of the cure my makers had hoped for the Humans held other information. Some of the devolved Humans held imprints from those from their past. These memories helped the Humans set off a chain of events, which had a significant impact on the Forerunner-Flood war."
"The Flood sounds formidable," Six commented while her mind mulled over what Guardian had just said. Humanity seemed to be important to a few pretty powerful aliens; a strange feeling for Six. It also seemed that they were to inherit a lot of tech that would turn the tide of the war. If she could get back to the UNSC quickly then maybe what she'd learnt would be able to be put to use. She knew that the UNSC would still be there when she got back, something told her that whatever that AI on Reach had held would ensure that. Although, she was slightly worried about what Guardian had mentioned, but the UNSC wasn't stupid; they knew when and when to not touch something unknown. She was more worried about the Covenant. They were known to follow UNSC ships through slip-space and if they got to wherever the Pillar of Autumn had been heading first, things could go downhill rapidly.
"They are," Guardian agreed. "I have logs of the Flood if you wish to study them, it would be valuable to learn containment protocols."
Six nodded, she could agree with that. Something with the nature to consume everything in its path could be devastating if not stopped. It didn't help that the Flood sounded like a pain to kill so reading up on a potentially new threat to the UNSC was a good way to spend her time.
"Send them to Dot, I'll watch through her."
"Of course, Reclaimer. Will that be all?"
"Not much else I can do and I need to think about what you've told me," Six replied quietly as she reached for her Helmet. The damaged helmet was still covered in all manner of things from Reach, from purple and red blood to dirt covered scorch marks. Even with all the damage the helmet still worked. Although, the HUD didn't display properly and Dot mentioned that a few things were corrupt, but everything was attempting to repair itself.
"I shall began extracting the materials we need," Guardian eased away from her as he spoke and made for the hangar door.
"Hold on," Six called, seeing an opportunity. "I want to come with you. It'd be good to know what I'm working with and if you run into civilians I can deal with them."
He turned back to her in a curious manner, "While I will not require assistance, you are welcome to accompany me, Relcaimer."
"Good," Six smiled in satisfaction. She would probably have to get authorisation from the Major to leave the base, but she had a feeling he'd let her go with an escort. While having an escort would be bother and she had a feeling Guardian wouldn't appreciate it, she was sure they could find a way around involving their escort in their activities. Even though she could've let Guardian go alone, she wanted to know how he was going to repair then armour and what with. It was intel she couldn't just ignore, anything Guardian knew could be worth something to the UNSC and quicken her chances of getting back.
"I shall bring the Liberator to you," Guardian turned away from her and stared out over the large airstrip.
He's bringing it now? Six thought as she got up and hopped over to Guardian with her helmet. As she crossed them hangar she told Dot to contact the Major, but it seemed she didn't need to as the man in question came running into the hangar kitted out ready for combat. A group of soldiers similarly dressed were also with him as well as a green motorbike and the big black car from the day before.
"Sir?" Six called, having a feeling she knew what they were running to. She was pretty impressed by their reaction time, but she couldn't help but tense at the aliens. She barely managed to squander her automatic reaction to reach for a weapon and instead focused on the Major.
He held his hand up as he came to a stop just before her. The others behind him followed suit as they eyed Six and Guardian with suspicion and curiosity. The aliens also mimicked their Human allies and stopped a little further back.
"I should've known it was you two, you know you had half the base ready to fire on you?" the Major sighed his body relaxing before he eyed her and Guardian suspiciously. "What are you doing?"
"There's some materials we need to recover, I was about to contact you, Sir," Six explained quickly.
He nodded, "you know I can't let you off base alone, right?"
"You'll be sending an escort?"
"Yeah, probably us as we're already kitted out. I need to let the others know because this will mean postponing the meeting," he turned to say something into his radio, but Six spoke up.
"Thank you, Major, but we can go after-" she began trying to be the diligent soldier she was.
"Don't worry about it," he cut over her with a smile. "Where is it you need to go?"
Six looked over to Guardian who turned back around as his ship touched down outside the hangar. There were a few 'damn's' muttered by the soldiers accompanying the Major as they eyed the ship with appreciation. The Major was slightly more contained as he'd already seen the ship, but that didn't stop him from smirking.
"Your records refer to the place as, Idaho, United States of America. There is a mine there which recovers one of the material I need. I can send you co-ordinates if you require them," Guardian said pleasantly.
"Yeah, I do," the Major replied as a beep went off from one of his pockets. He smiled at the noise and brought out a small durable looking screen, "Thanks, should be easy to get clearance and we'll figure out what to do with the civilians that own the mine."
"I shall make adjustments for your companions," Guardian said as he glanced at the robots before flying off to the ship.
As he flew off the Major turned back to Six, "I'm not sure about you coming, but this is for you so it's probably best and you can handle Guardian better than us. He trusts you. Speaking of which, thanks for earlier, I didn't get the chance to speak to you afterwards, but I'm glad you intervened even if the damn wrench wouldn't have done any damage to Ratchet."
"No problem, Sir," Six replied evenly. "What was the issue?"
"Apparently it started with Guardian destroying something of Ratchet's yesterday. I guess it just escalated from there," he sighed, but his lips held a tense smile. "There's a lot of tension between them."
Six rose a brow slightly. She hadn't realised that Guardian didn't get along with the robots, she hadn't really seen the orb interact with them. She would've thought that he'd get along with the robots, but there must be something about them that Guardian disagreed with –or it was just the medic.
"Guys, load up and play nice with Guardian," the Major quickly ordered his group as he turned to his radio and began asking about a line to General Morshower. Leaving the Major to his conversation Six led the way over to the ship and found herself still slightly in awe of it. The soldiers behind her voiced their appreciation as they grew closer to the ship. Six allowed herself a tiny smile; in a way they reminded her of the marines from home. Without stopping she made her way up the ramp that had probably been activated by Guardian. The orb was floating at the far end of the ship and was muttering about something as it fired a blue beam at the control panel. In front of him, where the window had previously been, it was now closed off by more blue pattered metal. The new addition left the entire ship illuminated by a calming blue light. Guardian had evidently noticed her entrance as he turned to speak to her.
"Reclaimer, this extra assistance is not required. I am fully capable of extracting the material I require."
"I know, but we don't need them thinking we're loose cannons. If they do, then we'll probably end up in lockdown," Six reasoned, walking closer to the clearly agitated AI.
"Their permissions for our activities are irrelevant. You were the one who requested we remain here, Reclaimer." He was berating her for her choice. She wasn't going to justify herself to him, she had to help because if she didn't then…what kind of a soldier would she be? I'll protect Humanity, no matter where they are.
"I stand by my decision," Six asserted. "I can't stand by while another group of aliens decide that Humanity shouldn't exist."
"I meant no offence, Reclaimer, but wasting our time with these limitations is not productive." Six guessed that was as much of an apology she'd ever get from Guardian. He was all about productivity after all and anything that got in the way was a nuisance.
Six sighed, "Things will probably pick up once they've known us for longer than a day. It's a Human thing, Guardian."
"They do not trust me," Guardian stated as if testing the idea. He was about to say something more when Six interrupted.
"They don't trust us, Guardian. I may have joined them, but they're not going to trust me from day one."
"I understand, I did not expect Humans to be so untrusting." He paused as if something had gotten his attention, "it appears our companions are ready to board."
Six also turned and was presented with the Major's team coaxing the large black truck onto the ship. There were a few laughs as they did it, due to some of the comments it was making about being in a confined space. In the end the truck ended up right at the front of the ship. Six eyed it wearily as she shifted over to the control panel.
"I won't bite fleshy," the truck chuckled darkly.
"Not if I do first," she smirked back.
"Looks like you found someone who doesn't cower at the sight of you, Ironhide," a soldier called from somewhere behind the truck.
"Didn't she try to rip your eyes out?" Another called and a few dissolved into laughter.
"Optics, Anderson, it's optics. They don't have eyes," A third voice ribbed.
The one who was called Anderson sighed, "Same difference."
"Alright guys, time to get going. Morshower said to keep it quiet so we've got to use some of our budget to get the stuff," the voice of the Major was accompanied by the scuffle of his boots against the metal floor. There was a rev of an engine, which Six assumed was the motorbike. A small thud followed along with more footsteps as the Major walked up to the front of the ship.
"We're ready on our end. Hopefully this will go smoothly, but when it comes to us that's asking a lot. What about you guys?" he asked as he came to a stop in front of them.
"The Reclaimer and I are prepared for what is to come, despite her injuries. You do not need to loan us currency as I shall be dealing with it."
The Major didn't seem to like what Guardian was saying as he frowned, "Deal with it how?"
"By purchasing the materials myself of course, I have managed to acquire currency for this particular expedition."
Six was just as surprised as the Major and was about to ask how he managed to get a hold of some money, although she had a pretty good idea. Instead the Major beat her to it, "since when did you have money?"
"When you were talking to your superior I took the liberty of gaining my own funds."
"You were listening to our conversation," the Major bristled a little.
"I monitor all communications that I believe are relevant."
"Sir, Guardian is only doing what he knows. All AI are usually tasked with monitoring communications, he's trying to help," Six reasoned, not wanting to anger the Major. It seemed that she'd have to talk to Guardian about telling people he was listening to their communications.
The Major looked at her, "I see, just keep him off our lines. We don't need a walking security breach."
"Understood, Sir."
"Good," the Major nodded, satisfied. "Let's go."
Guardian said nothing as a green light appeared on the console and the sensation of taking off encompassed them all. A small hum reverberated throughout the ship while the soldiers began to chat excitedly about anything and everything. Six tuned them out as the Major left to join his men and instead she leaned against the side of the ship and allowed her thoughts to wonder.
So, I hope you all enjoyed :)
One thing I felt that needed explaining was Six's dream because I don't think I conveyed it very well, but the main reason for it is to show that she, in a way regrets her and Jorge. She thinks his sentimentality got in the way of him letting her deal with the bomb, but it's also about her thinking she's a traitor to the UNSC by joining NEST. I hope that makes sense for Six because, even though she's a Spartan, she's going to have regrets. But, then again they're so minuscule that she only notices them in dreams because she's such a machine.
Man, I hope that makes sense. If it doesn't let me know and I'll tweak it all :)
Thank you all for reading and I'll see you next time.
