Operation Unusual Paperwork

by kpmh2001

A side story containing all of the story exerpts, post chapter nonsense, and omakes that the world of The Men From Onyx has to offer, now in one convenient package! Warning: The tone and intention of these short stories will change on a by-chapter basis, tonal consistency is effectively not a consideration.

10. Chapter 10

Author's Note: Hey there, Kpmh2001 here. Just a quick forward, this particular story was written by a good friend of mine, Playererror404. A good while ago, he wrote a Halo/RWBY crossover called "Remnant's of a Spartan", which I imagine many of you have also read. For those who haven't, let much just preface the rest of this by saying that he's taken a considerably different approach to Noble Six's character than every other author in this little niche of fanfiction (in fact, that was his original motivation, to make a Noble Six that felt genuinely different). Oh yeah, and it should go without saying, but this story is non-canon, and just for fun, and frankly, I think that's why we're all here. Without further ado...

"Teleportation, Alcohol, Violence, and Migraines, in that order."

By PlayerError404

The Dominion's crew was enjoying one of the first relaxed days they had had in a very long time. Granted, there was the near constant stress of being stranded in another world with no way of seeing their friends and loved ones again, and the fact most of the planet still didn't like them, and that a lot of them had only ever set foot on Remnant to fight in a brutal war against racist slavers.

Okay, "when" looking back on it the stress was only lower because said war was now over, and their side had won; for a lot of the ship's crew things were… less than ideal.

Lieutenant Bradford was currently in a less than ideal situation. Yes his side had won and that took a lot of stress off him; but the wheels of an army didn't stop turning just because the war was over, and the paperwork stacking up in his hard drive really did need looking over.

He groaned as he slid back in his chair. Technically he could probably take the rest of the day off, maybe get a night of sleep without the guilt of knowing there were slaves that still needed to be liberated.

The problem was that stuff had started slipping a bit during the war and he was sure a decent effort tonight could get things into a manageable state tomorrow but….

I am so tired.

He shook himself, that wasn't a helpful attitude, he needed to try harder to get this finished.

That was when the ship started shaking.

"Curie, what's going on?" He asked, leaping to his feet, fatigue held at bay by an adrenaline rush.

"Unknown." Curie responded. "Something seems to be forming around the Dominion."

"Grimm?" Bradford asked.

"Negative." The AI responded, materialising from the Holotank in front of him; a look of stress on her face. "This force does not match with anything encountered before on Remnant."

"So, what do we do, Sir?" A new voice asked, turning around, Bradford saw the doors to the bridge slide open, revealing the rest of the bridge crew, the ship's two Spartans and Liaison from Atlas Winter Schnee. Identifying the speaker as Spartan G-021 (or Ben as most people called him)

"I would advise bracing." Curie said. "I am detecting a rupture in space behind us and I cannot imagine the path through will be comfortable."

"Can the Dominion take it?" Bradford asked, they could not lose the ship if they did then they lost everything.

"I cannot say, hold on, I am detecting a strong energy build up." Curie muttered before the bridge was enveloped in a dazzling burst of orange light.

The next few seconds were weird, it felt like everything around them was being pulled apart, layer by layer stripped away, examined in intense detail; the ship, the crew, the food, the weapons, everything, taken apart and studied down to the most intricate detail.

Then it was over, everything snapped back into place and all was calm.

Actually no, it wasn't, the people on the Dominion were… Rattled.

"What the hell was that!?" Bradford cried, shuddering as he moved his arms up and down his body, making sure everything was back where it was meant to be.

"I… I do not know." Curie said, her model flickering and glitching her limbs twitching and spasming uncontrollably.

"Curie!" Ben cried, running over to the holo tank, holding his hand out and allowing her to dive inside his Mjolnir helmet.

"I… I apologise for my outburst." She said, comforted by the familiar firmware of her partner's armour. "That experience was as rough on me as it was on everyone else onboard."

"What was that?" Winter asked, her royalty-like facade cracking for a second.

"I cannot say." Curie responded. "That is to say, I cannot say to the degree of accuracy I normally strive for."

"We'll take your guess Curie." Bradford said dully, rubbing his head carefully. "It's probably better than anything we could make."

"Thank you, sir." Curie said, enjoying the small complement as she transferred back to the bridge's holo tank. "So far as I can approximate, we have travelled through some kind of rift."

"Another slipspace incident?" Ben asked.

"How is that possible; we don't have a slip space drive, no one on Remnant does." Bradford added.

"I never said it was a slip space rift, the sensation does not match and also…" Curie said; sliding the blast shields off the bridge's windows as she did so; revealing a familiar planet and a very familiar shattered moon. "…We do not appear to have moved."

This put everyone on edge, something big had happened, the fact it wasn't immediately obvious what was… disturbing.

"Okay, we need to find out what happened. Curie, see if you can figure out what just happened?"

"Already on it Monsieur." Curie responded. "One thing that is making it harder is the lack of any of my existing backdoors into any of Remnants computer infrastructure."

"You don't have any difficulty gaining access to any of it though." Ben pointed out.

"Even if the walls are made of wet paper, the open door is still easier to travel through." Curie responded. "I do not like this, certain information I am gathering is just... wrong."

"How-" Bradford began before getting cut off, because one of the consoles was glowing. Ensign Gillespie spoke up.

"Sir, we appear to be receiving a transmission… on the UNSC E-band." he said.

"From the planet?" Jorge asked, seemingly incredulous at that news. "is it any of our people?"

"No, it's transmission seems to match a Vulture's radio system; but our own airwingis fully accounted for." Curie responded quickly.

"Can you get any more information on it?" Bradford questioned, more shocked then he cared to admit when the AI shook her head.

"No, something on board is blocking my efforts to dig any deeper, a firewall of some kind."

That rattled everyone else in the room; software that stopped Curie from achieving her goal was… worrying to say the least.

"Sir, do we accept?" Gillespie asked, looking around the bridge nervously.

"Curie?" Bradford asked, looking at the shaken AI.

"I… as far as I can tell there is nothing malicious about this call. However, I do not think accepting a call from an unknown factor that can stop me is a good idea, the ships firmware is too important, and we cannot afford to lose anythi-"

"BOOAARRRIIINNNGGG!" A new voice called out suddenly, the communication console flaring to life as the call excepted itself.

Everyone tensed as that happened, this was bad, they had hacked the ship anything could-

"SEVEN YOU UNBELIEVEABLE SHIT!" Another new voice called out, presumably a young woman based on how it sounded. "Piss off before you make this mess any worse!"

"But Siiixxxx…." The first voice wined, in a tone that Winter especially recognized as belonging to someone who was thoroughly drunk.

"SEVEN GO, NOW!" The second voice called out before audibly collecting herself. When she next spoke, it was in a much calmer (though clearly still stressed) tone.

"Sorry about that, I… well that is to say… Urgh. Look this is Spartan B312, Noble Six and I am so, so sorry about this."

---

Noble Six was less ignorant of social situations then she had been when she first arrived on Remnant but that didn't mean she had the complete picture on everything that normally happened on Weddings. But somehow, she suspected brilliant flashes of orange light followed up by the appearance of UNSC warships was not a part of it.

She did however, suspect why this was happening.

"Seven." The heavily scared woman said slowly.

"Hic! Yeah Six?" A glowing orange AI asked, stumbling forward. Six would admit she looked drunk; wearing boots and a cape over her bridesmaid dress. Granted Seven always looked like that; the only change now was she was cross-eyed and stumbling around like crazy.

"Can you please explain this!?" Noble Six yelled, gesturing furiously to the floating ship.

"Well yeah!" Seven said eagerly, bouncing from foot to foot. "See Coco and me were talking while she was picking out a dress and she was like 'I want to remember my wedding night, so I guess I shouldn't drink too much' and I was like 'Well I wouldn't know, never been drunk.' And Coco wouldn't stand for that and insisted I get plastered in her place…"

Six rubbed her aching head, scowling at Coco; only able to resist pouncing on her because she liked Velvet and figured she wouldn't be too happy about her wife getting splattered against a wall… no matter what she was indirectly responsible for.

To calm down Six reached for and took her girlfriends hand; Ilia reassuringly took it as she studied the cruiser above them.

"…So, I made myself more organs and now Boom! Wasted!" Seven grinned happily, swaying worse now.

"So how does the spaceship fit into this?" Ilia Amitola asked nervously.

"Well you know, Since I repaired the Ostium rings they've just been sitting unused for so long and I was like 'hey let's get these things working again!" Seven explained happily.

Six's brain was really struggling now, there had to be something she was missing, surely she'd heard something wrong.

"I… We broke those and 498, what happened to him; how was he okay with all of this?" Six asked, looking around for the Forerunner monitor; only to see the floating ball…

"Seven."

"Hic! Yeah Six?"

"Why is 498 being used as a Volleyball?" Six asked, pointing across the room towards the Forerunner monitor, who at the moment was being battered around by some of Coco's friends over a table laden with cakes.

"Oh right! So, see when I told him what I was planning he was like 'Seven that is foolish and stupid even by your low standards' and I was like 'Oh come on Niney-"

"NINEY!?" Six called out; her brain thoroughly broken.

"It's his nickname, cute isn't it!" Seven explained happily. "Anyway, I told Niney 'So like, you're being a buzz kill, if you joined in you also might have some fun.' And he was like 'I know how to have fun' and I was like 'No you don't you float about working, Tell ya what I'm gonna make you some drunk code once I know what it's like and you can join in the fun!'"

"Did he agree to that?" Ilia asked quietly, even though she and Six knew what the answer to that was.

"Well I mean… I was really buzzed by the time I had enough data so I didn't really hear anything; but he seems to be having fun." Seven said, pointing towards the floating ball as he drifted off course and smacked into one of the walls.

"I… Fuck." Six groaned, looking up at the ship. "Gotta deal with this now"

"Six you're gonna miss the rest of the reception." Ilia pointed out, looking at her girlfriend who nodded.

"Yeah, if you see Coco and Velvet tell them I'm sorry, but I think I have to sort this mess out quickly." Six said, pointing at the floating ship.

"You're… probably right." Ilia admitted, sighing. "Just stay safe okay."

"I will." Six said, leaning in and giving Ilia a quick kiss, enjoying the sight of her skin markings going pink.

"Have fun Six!" Seven declared happily, going to stagger off.

"Oh no, I'm not going alone, come with me now." Six said, grabbing the AI and hoping she was too drunk to realise she could just turn off her hard-light body.

"Siiiiiiiixxxxxxxx!" She whined as she was dragged towards the parked Vulture.

Everyone on the bridge of the Dominion was on high alert, in theory a Spartan being on the planet contacting them was a good sign, but one thing had thrown them off; Jorge was staring at the screen, disbelief written all over his face.

"Spartan B-312, this is Lieutenant CommanderBradfordof the UNSC Dominion; can you explain what just happened?" Bradford asked, this was the only lead they had and probably their only chance of even starting to understand what just happened.

"Urgh… Sorry it's just, you will not believe how moronic this situation is." The woman at the other end responded. "Look, this is probably a surprise to you but you've just been dragged over from UNSC space to a planet called Remnant; it's really weird."

"Can you explain how we got here?" Bradford inquired, watching the screen as the speaker spoke again.

"That's the Moronic part, see the reason we're here is because of some old Forerunner project; it was designed to escape some sort of Flood and the AI in charge of it appears to have gotten drunk and pulled you over… Look I can probably get her to send you back but you might have to wait a bit; she's plastered right now and I don't think I can convince her to reverse what she's done while she's like this" the Spartan on the other end of the call responded. Irritation clear in her voice.

"I need to discuss amongst the rest of my Bridge crew before I make a decision; are you okay if we call you back once we've made a decision?" Bradford said, rubbing his forehead as if fighting off a headache.

"Go nuts, I'm not going anywhere." Noble Six responded before the call ended.

---

As soon as the channel was cut Bradford looked up at Jorge. "Do you think she's being genuine?"

Jorge let out a snort. "Not a chance Sir; that is not Noble Six."

"How do you know?" Winter asked, no one of the Dominion knew more than the basics of Jorge's old team, dwelling on likely-dead comrades was not helpful in a war or survival situation.

"Because the Noble Six I fought with was a man." He responded flatly. "Whoever was down there really didn't do their homework."

"I can confirm his point about B-312, Sir." Curie added. "Also, it is worth noting her explanation lacks credibility, AI cannot get drunk."

"Awfully poor cover story all things considered." Winter muttered. "Do you think this woman is hostile?"

"I cannot say, she could be any number of things; an SDC loyalist trying to lure us into a trap, a fangirl who wants to meet aliens… None of which are very likely. I feel we aren't going to get much of her just talking over a radio." Bradford eventually concluded before looking over at the Spartans. "Ben, Jorge, think you can handle an extraction?"

"You want us to capture her?" Ben asked, looking at the Senior officer who nodded.

"Obviously search her; she brings nothing up with her; whatever she's done to beatCurie has me worried, so just bring her up here. Any back-up she has can't reach us up here."

"We understand, Sir." Jorge said with a nod. "How rough should we be?"

"As rough as she makes it, if she agrees to come with you without a fight bring her, but if she resists..."

"We fight back?" Ben asked; wondering what weapons he would need to bring with him.

"Yes, but nonlethal, we can't interrogate a corpse." Bradford added.

"Understood." Ben and Jorge said, the former retrieving his AI and plugging her back into his armour.

As the two left Bradford called the imposter Spartan again.

"This is Bradford, are you receiving me?"

"I hear you Dominion, are you coming down or what?"

A Spartan wouldn't have such poor radio discipline either. Ben noted.

Bradford ignored that part of his brain and responded simply. "I'm sending a small group down to meet you; are you okay with that?"

"Erm sure." The speaker on the other end responded. The sound of typing followed. "Send 'em here; we'll talk once they're down."

"Acknowledged, they'll meet you there." Bradford responded, nodding for the communication to be cut. "Right, open up a new call to Ben and Jorge, tell them to land and be on their guard, the way she spoke there's going to be more than one person there waiting for you."

"Acknowledged." Ben responded.

---

Six watched, spotting the familiar silhouette of a Pelican coming in for a landing. The craft's engines roared as it hovered above the landing spot and gently set itself down.

She watched as the hatch opened, a single figure walking down the ramp.

A Spartan.

Six took a second to look the figure over, he was wearing silver Mjolnir armour; this told Six a lot of things about him.

1: He was high priority, most Spartans had to make do with SPI armour given the cost of production, a suit like that must have meant he was very important to whatever mission he was on.

2: He was the only person disembarking, meaning they were cautious about her, but didn't feel the need to send an entire company after her.

3: The ship's mission was important enough to bring a Spartan with them.

4: This Guy was armed, with a battle rifle on his back and a magnum magnetically attached to his thigh.

5: When she found where Seven was, she was going to fucking strangle her.

Okay no pressure, still you never know, maybe they just finished the mission and are on their way back home?

Yeah and Maybe Coco is going to stick to her promise of being responsible with the Alcohol, face it Seven fucked up this time.

For once I'm with her, we are in so much trouble.

Thank you you two, you're a big help.

"Hey, I take it you're who the Dominion sent to talk to me?" Six called, looking at the speaker who nodded. "Cool, hey you got a name?"

"Spartan G-021" The Spartan responded. Six groaned, so he was one of those guys.

Weren't you one of those guys until you got here?

"Not helping…" Six muttered under her breath. "…Yeah okay, do you have a name or am I just calling you 'G'?"

"Ben." The Spartan responded. "You wanted to talk?"

"If we could that would be great, seriously I am so sorry for what Seven did." Six said, thankful they were listening to her as she advanced, she watched as the Spartan's head jerked slightly as she got closer.

What the hell happened to her?

Ben knew it was a mistake to have sympathy for a potential enemy, but he could also tell this woman must have gone through hell. She couldn't have been out of her early 20's but the girl's body was a wreck, her body sporting a complex network of Scars covering basically everything.

But the worst part was her face, her face was… mutilated, covered in a spider web of trenches dug deep into her skin, marks that had faded to some extent; but clearly were never going away. As someone who'd had most of their face melted, Ben could sympathise; until he remembered why he was here.

"So, are you going to come out or what?" the Woman asked again, tilting her head sideways. It was as she did so that Ben confirmed this woman wasn't from UNSC space, her hair was a lavender and her eyes were bright orange. Granted there was a possibility of dyeing it but for a Spartan the chances of that happening were unlikely, not to mention her hair was far too long to possibly fit within any kind of regulations.

There is no way this person is a Spartan, she's even wearing high heels. Ben noticed.

"Why don't you come aboard?" He asked, knowing that if he got this woman up close the fight would be over, two Spartans within such close range could easily stop one woman who admittedly had some muscle, but not enough to stop two fully augmented Spartans.

She might have realized this herself because she seemed hesitant to move.

"Err… no that's okay, I don't need to go up in space, to tell you the truth I was planning to stay here; look I just need to explain what's happening, if you come with me I can show you to Seven, she should be here but she-"

"That's fine, we don't need to see this 'AI'" Ben responded simply, figuring out this woman wasn't going to come quietly as he moved down the Pelicans ramp.

"You kinda do, she's the only one who knows how to send you back; look trust me here, you know we're both Spartans right, that's gotta count for something? The purple haired lady asked, somewhat desperately as she looked over at the figure. Perhaps she was realizing her ruse wasn't working.

"I have it on good authority that you are not a Spartan, standing here in front of you I can confirm that isn't the case. Miss, stand down and tell me why we're here." Ben said simply, taking another step towards the woman whose plan was evidently falling apart based on her confusion.

"What, no that not… I am a Spartan…" She muttered, glancing around before looking up at him.

"Ma'am stand down, you cannot win, please don't make me take you in by force." Ben said, moving forward and raising his Battle Rifle.

"I am a Spartan" the Woman said, before she opened her eyes, staring at him with a fierce determination in her eyes. "I am a Spartan."

Ben sighed, it seemed peace talks had broken down, time to get more serio-

WHERE THE HELL DID THAT COME FROM!?

The imposter Spartan had drawn something from under her skirt, the thing shifting into something very familiar looking.

It was a large box on the end of a large pole, with glowing vents on most of the boxes sides; the only one lacking anything was the back of the head, and that was because of the large glowing Axe blade protruding out the back. How she'd fitted the weapon under her skirt wasn't a priority; what was was what the thing looked like, because he'd seen weapons like it before.

A Remnant made Gravity Hammer?

Ben didn't get a chance to ponder further because the Huntress had suddenly exploded forwards and slammed him in the guts with her hammer. It was at this point Ben realised two things.

One: The Huntress's weapon acted somewhat like a gravity hammer; in that it could create large amounts of force from the vents on its sides.

Two: The weapon didn't act entirely like a Gravity Hammer, which were limited to only sending force out of one side and only capable of using it to crush things, This girls weapon allowed her to discharge force from the vents on the side to move herself around and close the distance between the two very fast.

The good news was that Ben's shields had held up, the bad news was he was now flying off into the nearby forest.

Well, she started this fight.

Ben hit the ground hard, but he could deal with it, rolling for a few seconds before righting himself. Battle Rifle drawn, he sent a burst of fire towards where the girl had been.

"Ben above you!" Curie called out, causing the Spartan to look up. The girl hadn't stayed still, electing to blast herself into the air as she went to bring the weapon swinging down towards him.

Ben jumped back and watched as the girl's hammer met the ground hard, it was then Ben realized something about her weapon.

There's no Shockwave.

This meant a lot, the hammer only seemed to affect what it directly hit, meaning that while it had made a hole in the ground and sent him flying, nothing outside of that had been harmed, provided he didn't get hit, this girl wasn't much of a threat.

He turned and ran as the girl made a wild swing at him, the tip of the Axe head missing his back by a good foot, Spartans were very fast runners by themselves, adding Mjolnir power armour into the mix and they were the fastest moving humans alive.

The girl wasn't hanging about either, following him with several blasts from her weapon; the advantage being she had to aim it behind her and wasn't in a good position to swing it.

Ben suddenly stopped, jerking his arm out to the side; it had the desired effect as the girl slammed into the metal covered arm, her purple aura flashing up on her and dissipating as she crumpled, her weapon flying out of her hands; it was moving with such force that when the glowing Axe head hit the tree's it shattered into shards.

The Woman groaned as she stood up.

"Not bad." She spat before lunging again, this time with her fists as her main form of attack.

Ben blocked the punch, shocked by how fast he had to move to counter her next strike, and every attack after that. One thing was for sure, this girl did not slack off on her hand to hand combat skills. Most Huntresses were reliant on their weapons, too; most being separated would be a big drawback, but for this girl not so much.

She was fast and precise, each fist targeting some vital area, Ben realised that if this girl was a Spartan and fully augmented then she might have stood a chance, hell with a set of Mjolnir she might have even been a match for him.

But she didn't have any of those things, and as soon as his shields fell, he was able to attack her; only holding back when he realised a full force punch to the chin was going to kill her; or shatter it, neither of which was particularly useful traits to have on someone you wanted to interrogate.

She went flying back, colliding with a tree next to where her hammer had broken. Ben realised how close she was and fired a burst at her weapon, sending it flying away in even more pieces.

"Don't even think about it. Surender and come with me, before I seriously hurt you." Ben said, watching the girl. He could see her thinking before eventually she gave up. Curling her fists in anger she punched the ground before forcing herself upwards, stomping towards him, a look of frustration on her face.

Ben slung the Battle Rifle onto his back before reaching for a pair of handcuffs he was keeping in one of his armour's pouches, only to get a shock when she went to punch him in the side of the head.

Okay enough.

Angrily, he went for his pistol, this girl didn't seem to want to calm down and might only start cooperating when she had a gun pointed at her. He made a point of not shooting prisoners, but this girl seemed unwilling to acknowledge she was one unless she had a weapon trained on her.

Unfortunately, Ben had made a mistake, he thought he had won the fight and was just dealing with a sore loser. He wasn't. He was dealing with an incredibly resilient fighter who had a plan clenched within her other fist.

Ben cried out in pain as something burrowed into his gut, a surge of heat rippling through the body suit. What had happened; how had she done? Then he realised something else, when she'd hit him she had lunged for the Magnum he was holding, using the pain as a distraction to wrestle it out of his grasp and taking it herself.

He didn't get a chance to think, the girl had already expertly primed it and fired a shot at him. It hit his helmet's visor. It failed to penetrate but it threw him off enough for the girl to disappear. He could hear her barrelling through the forest.

Good news, she was running scared, bad news she was armed; with his gun.

"Ben do not remove your helmet!" Curie warned. "Your visibility is impaired, but one shot from that Magnum…"

"…and my head goes splat." Ben finished, scowling behind his helmet; pissed at how messed up his vision was.

"Yes, I'd advise waiting for your shield to regenerate before you attempt pursuit. You should be able to remove the shard of dust that she stabbed you with, it appears to be hot enough that it cauterized the wound."

Ben nodded, reaching down and trying to look at the glowing shard he could now see sticking out of his Mjolnir's body suit. Carefully he pulled it out and examined it. It seemed to be some kind of composite dust, at least partly Burn and thunder, if his time in Beacon Academy's weapon labs had taught him anything.

He looked over and saw the remains of the Huntress's weapon in the corner, she hadn't stopped to grab it, then looking around he examined the shattered remains of the axe portion; he realised she must have grabbed a shard of the Axe when she hit the ground, more importantly, she'd been quick to do it without him seeing her take it.

"The blade must have been completely made of this Dust variety, programmed to shape in an incredibly sharp form. Its heat and shape combined with downed shields must have been enough to penetrate." Curie hypothesized while Ben examined his injury.

It was shallow and more of a burn then a cut, it must not have gotten down very far; but it had clearly been enough.

Ben cursed inside his head, this girl was a pain and now she was in possession of stolen UNSC tech, tech she clearly knew how to use.

"This makes no sense." He muttered darkly.

"You're right, it doesn't." Curie responded darkly. "Something is wrong here Ben,. Remnant, it's just... wrong."

"How do you mean?" Ben groaned as he massaged his burnt side, it wasn't the worst heat related injury he'd ever had, but it still hurt.

"Several errors, Atlas seems to have suffered extensive damage to a large chunk of its surface, Menagerie has a lot more fertile land than anything we know… Something is going on here."

"We'll get our answers when she's back on the Dominion." Ben said, retrieving her weapon, it wouldn't do to leave such a dangerous tool lying around in the forest, though he'd have to be careful to keep it away from her.

He then heard a set of mechanical thumping footsteps, turning around he saw Jorge, he'd hung back on the ship so he could follow them and catch her off guard, he smiled behind his visor.

"Did you get her?" He asked, watching the armoured figure who thought for a second before answering.

---

"SON OF A MOTHER FUCKING!" Six swore as she ran; her gambit with Mjolnir's blade had paid off but her hand was suffering for it, the sharp break had torn through her hand, burning her muscles and a hole clean through her skin.

Still she had her prize, she quickly detached the guns magazine, she had 7 shots left.

Guess I'm making these count.

She looked around, as far as she could tell she was alone, although for how long that would stay the case was anyone's guess.

Hastily she checked the rest of the weapon over, happy to see the owner had looked after the gun properly.

Well on the plus side this thing probably isn't blowing up in my hands.

Downside the owner is probably going to be really pissed when he catches up with us.

"I should not be on the ground." Six decided, kicking off her heels. In all honesty, she was shocked she'd been able to do what she had without them breaking. Then she looked around, she was in a forest. There must be a decent tree around somewhere.

Deciding on a sturdy looking oak she hiked up her dress (absentmindedly wondering if she'd ever get to wear a formal garment that didn't get wrecked in a fight) and clambered up.

Six liked trees, she didn't spend excessive amounts of time up in them anymore (Mjolnir tended to be more than the average branch could take) but during training they had saved her neck more times than she could count.

People just don't look up enough.

Quickly Six took off, moving from branch to branch, scanning around for signs of activity in the ground which she soon found.

She smiled as she spotted Jorge moving around, the rest of Noble Team was at the reception and she guessed Ilia must have told them what happened.

She was about to jump down and greet him when something stopped her. A gut feeling; as someone who mostly got by via winging it, her gut was a very important factor in keeping her alive.

Something was wrong here, Jorge just looked off; but she couldn't say why. So, she did something very stupid.

She dropped down anyway, Jorge was Jorge, his armour was custom, and he was already here on her side, no one could have stolen it; so, she was just being paranoid.

At least that's what she thought until he swung a fist at her that knocked her clean out.

---

Ben was somewhat shocked to see his ally pointing his gun right at his face.

"Sir, what are you doing?" He asked slowly, looking around for a place to run to if this talk went badly.

He knew Jorge sported a fully unique and heavily customised set of Mjolnir armour, he was for sure looking at his comrade and fellow Spartan 2; but certain things about it were just wrong.

For one thing the Scratches; Ben had helped repair that particular suit, he knew where all the damaged areas were and while some matched up, others did not.

"I could ask you the same thing." Jorge responded.

"I don't understand." Ben responded carefully, trying to move his head as little as possible as he checked for escape routes.

"You attacked Noble Six." He responded simply.

That set off alarm bells in Ben's head, for one thing how had he seen that and secondly…

"Sir, you told me she wasn't Noble Six."

"And when did he tell you that?" A new voice asked; Ben's jaw almost dropped inside his helmet. Another Spartan in bright blue armour had just walked out from the tree line; an Atlesian style robotic arm aiming a magnum at his face.

"On the bridge of the Dominion." Ben responded, struggling to understand what he was seeing; there were more Spartans on Remnant.

"That's the name of your ship?" Jorge asked; gesturing his gun up at the floating frigate.

"Yes." Ben responded before muttering: "Curie, this doesn't make any sense."

"I might have an idea." Curie responded

"Feel like sharing with the class?" Another voice suddenly asked, Ben whirled around to see a third Spartan standing over him. The grey suit might have been unremarkable if not for the fearsome skull scratched into the helmets visor.

Concerned at seeing a third weapon pointed at him (in this case a shotgun) Ben carefully redocked his battle rifle.

"Good, now perhaps we can talk?" A fourth voice said, emerging from the forest behind the skull faced Spartan. A man wearing a dark blue suit, his gun was also on his back and he seemed careful enough. Still he did not like his chances against four other Spartans. Worryingly, this Spartan's armor seemed familiar somehow… like he had seen it a long time ago.

"Yes, that might be for the best." Curie said, projecting over the helmets coms to talk to the full group.

"You have an AI?" The woman in blue asked, her tone implying she was interested in the AI.

"Yes, Curie." Ben explained carefully. "She was just telling me she might have an explanation for what's going on here."

"I'd love to hear it." The Blue Spartan responded.

"If it is all the same to you, I'd respect it if you stopped pointing guns at Monsieur Ben. He means a lot to me and I'd rather he wasn't injured over what I believe to be a misunderstanding."

The Spartans looked at each other before the Blue man nodded.

"You heard her Noble, weapons away." The Squads leader eventually said before the rest of his squad put their weapons on their back. Though Ben didn't fail to notice the Spartan with the skull face had moved one of his hands to the knife holstered on his shoulder armour. Ben lowered his own weapon, there was no sense in instigating a fight he couldn't win, especially against allies.

Noble? Ben thought. It made some degree of sense, he'd learned about Jorge's old team in training, and he now understood why Carter's armor seemed familiar, still, that didn't explain what they were doing here.

"Thank you." The AI said. "Your armour configurations match my recordings of Noble team; would I be right in assuming that is your designation?"

"You would be correct. You know our names?" The Blue Spartan asked carefully.

"I believe I am in the presence of Carter-A259, Catherine-B320, Emile-A239 and Jorge-052. Is Jun-A266 here?" The AI asked.

Carter thought for a second. "It's not in our best interests to say if our sniper is hidden somewhere to a force that attacked a squad mate; however, you were right about our names."

"Very well. And just to confirm, the girl we encountered earlier, standing roughly one-hundred and seventy-five centimeters, with purple hair and orange eyes is B312 Noble Six." The AI continued, deciding not to press about Jun in case he was around.

"Yeah that's her; do you not have her on file?" Emile asked, a hint of accusation in his voice.

"No, as a matter of fact, I do not possess her information. The information I have for B312 is a Male standing significantly taller with a more natural hair and eye colour." The AI explained. "And I do not believe my records are wrong… I just do not believe they are accurate to this version of Noble Team."

"This version… Do you mean the many worlds theory?" Kat asked, looking up at the Spartan where she knew the AI chip was.

"Based on all the evidence I have collected on this version of Remnant, yes; it is notably different from the Remnant we know; based on how… different, your Noble Six is, is I think you are not from the same space we are from."

"Hold on." Jorge butted in, looking at Ben. "Are you saying multiple versions of us exist… and what, that somehow we both ended up on different versions of the different world?"

"Yes." Curie answered.

"Welp this couldn't get much weirder" Emile commented, only for another Jorge to walkout of the foliage.

Basically, everyone present gasped. The two exceptions being Curie who had just had her theory confirmed and Noble Six; because she was currently unconscious and slung over the Second Jorge's shoulder.

"I… am I seeing things?" Emile eventually asked.

"No, I don't believe you are Noble Four; my theory is just proving to be correct." Curie responded before a dull thump was heard.

The Jorge who lived on the Dominion had dropped his quarry, all thoughts of the Noble Six imposter (who wasn't actually an imposter) was gone; replaced with one simple fact: His team was standing in front of him.

They were here in front of him on Remnant; except Kat's arm was wrong and there was another version of him; all his enhancements and armour and everything.

"Jorge… We have a lot to talk about." Carter said, carefully stepping forward towards the very confused Spartan.

"I, Sir how did you get here?" Jorge eventually asked. "Where is here; there's another me over there and…"

"It's a lot to take in, isn't it Spartan?" Carter said kindly, putting a hand reassuringly on the very confused Spartans shoulder.

"You could say that… Sir I; are you the Carter I knew?"

"Afraid not Noble 5." He said before sighing deeply. "Look, this night has been long and nowhere near as fun as I was promised. We can clear everything up if you return Six."

"I… She's really your Noble Six?" He asked, looking at the heavily scarred teenager he'd dropped.

"I know, she's certainly unconventional." Carter said, smiling up at his friend. "Please, can we talk?"

---

"Just to confirm…That all actually happened right?" A recently woken up Noble Six asked, looking around at her squad, complete bemusement on her face.

The nod she got from the rest of her squad led her to one conclusion.

"I… Fucking hell I am nowhere near drunk enough for this shit." Six eventually concluded, kicking her chair back she stood up and strode off towards the bar.

Ben wasn't sure what to make of this situation; He'd already gathered that this version of Noble Team was… unusual as far as Spartans went but this… This was… amazingly unprofessional.

"Aren't you going to call her back?" he asked, looking down at Carter who shook his head.

Ben silently groaned. He did not get this squad; it was weird to think they came from a functionally identical home universe and had both ended up in a similar alternative world. It boggled his mind somewhat; but that he could get. Seeing how well this version of Noble team had adapted to Remnant was… Unusual.

This night was weird, weirder than even he had gotten used to.

Ever Since Noble Six had woken up, they'd returned to the wedding they'd apparently been at to talk about what happened. The lack of secrecy for a Spartan operation was weird, or at least it had been, until Noble Team had used their Semblances to warp away their armour, 3 out of the 4 members having their augmentation vanish only to be replaced with unaugmented humans. The exception was Jorge, who for some reason kept his augmentations. They had said it was something to do with how they were brought over and that Jorge had needed less adjustments to safely occupy Remnant or something along the lines, in all honesty he wasn't fully sure, and something told him he never would be.

Still he could live with this, the logistics of what happened to some of the team while using magic superpowers wasn't an issue, what was; was Noble Six.

Now knowing the woman currently making a beeline for the bar was indeed a Spartan was a fact he was having a lot of difficulty processing.

"She's uh… not the most professional Spartan I've met." Ben muttered. To his shock, Carter nodded.

"You're not wrong. I've read her file, even before she got here, she didn't always do things by the book." He explained. Ben caught notice of how he phrased that sentence.

"Before she came here?" Ben asked.

"I believe she saw no use for UNSC protocol given how the UNSC does not exist in this dimension; based on the information I have been able to gather, she was rather liberal with explanations over our technology and information regarding the fall of Reach." Curie explained, pulling herself out of this Remnant's Atlas military systems. "On an unrelated note, I am happy to report the SDC does not engage in slavery in this dimension."

"You let her do that?" Ben asked; mouth agape under his helmet as he looked at Carter who shook his head while Kat gave an actual answer:

"When we arrived here we were scattered, Carter and I were alone on a tropical island for the first few months, Jorge was in Atlas meeting a polar bear woman and Emile was in Menagerie. we're only here because Six came out to find us; by then, it was too late." Kat explained, leaning back in her chair to look at the standing Spartans (Both of whom were far too tall and heavy to be supported properly) "I'm not complaining, because by the time she found us, she was friendly enough with Atlas to get me this."

She showed off her pale blue prosthetic, curling the fingers into a fist. "It's got better tactile feedback than my old one and it can punch through most walls."

"That sounds useful, but doesn't it bother you that you have a teammate who committed treason against the UNSC?" Ben asked, looking at the group, causing Emile to snort with laughter again.

"It's not like she was telling Covenant how to find earth, she told people stuff like who they were fighting and how not to get killed while messing around with Alien tech, yeah she should have been more careful explaining about the Spartan Program but…"

"SHE DID WHAT!?" Ben cried, pure disbelief on his face. "We're one of humanity's most guarded secrets and…"

"If she hadn't said anything, I have a very strong reason to believe she might have stayed the girl she was when she found us." Carter interrupted softly.

"I'm sorry but I don't see how she overrules top secret UNSC military information." Ben responded simply.

"She was a broken girl when she arrived here; she was in a new world and needed to start a new life here, finding other survivors was a start but… Look trust me I've been over her medical records, Reach was bad for her. She wouldn't be able to function as a civilian let alone a huntress." The squad's Jorge responded. "When she found me… She was over the moon, pulled me right into a hug the second she saw me; the girl was practically bouncing off the walls she was so happy. At first I thought that was unusual but the more I learned the more I realised it was the universe finally giving her a break; the weight off her shoulders for once."

"And anyway…" A familiar voice said; Ben glanced around for the speaker, he spotted a small black cylindrical object floating above the Table, it soon lit up orange and an AI hologram materialised in front of her. A full-scale human, decked out in a dress similar to what Six was wearing, ruined only slightly by the large Tricorn hat and Cape she was wearing. "…If you're gonna be pissed at anyone, be mad at me, I'm the reason they're out here in the first place."

"I take it you're Seven." Ben said, recognising the AI Noble Six had been yelling at while she was radioing the Dominion. "You don't appear to be drunk."

"I was, then I realised how mad Six was at me and decided it might be best if I turned my hologram off and hid for a bit, While I was gone I patched myself sober to figure out what I'd done that made Six so mad, then I realised what was wrong, saw you two fighting and ran to get the others."

So, the AI had been drunk, a small thing to focus on but Ben Suspected if he focused on the bigger picture, he was at risk of going mad. So, he stood up.

"I ah, need some air; I'll be back soon."

---

"Hey Six." A voice called, Six looked around and smiled as she saw who was approaching the bar.

"Hi Velvet." Six said; smiling at the Rabbit Faunus; looking her up and down she added: "You look good in that dress."

The Rabbit Faunus blushed.

"Thank you Six; I'm just sad I didn't get to make it." She said, looking down at the gown. "I know that's not the point but, I think I want to make one sometime."

"I'm sure she'll love it." Six said as she poured herself a shot, Vodka wasn't her go to drink but tonight she needed something strong.

"Please tell me you're not pulling a Coco." Velvet said nervously as she watched the purple haired girl down her shot.

"No, I've had enough of Coco level drinkers tonight." Six scowled, looking across at the other end of the room at the extra two Spartans.

"Yes, I was going to ask about them…" Velvet said awkwardly as she pointed at a cider on the shelf as the bar keep went to take it.

"Seven called them over." Six said simply. "When I can find her again, I'm sending them and their damn ship home."

"Ship?" Velvet asked nervously. "Do you mean like the thing you and Ilia live in?"

"No, their ship is way bigger than a Vulture." Six said as she pointed out the window. "See that black box up there? That's their home."

Velvet looked where Six was pointing and saw the massive warship; gasping in shock as she began to understand the scale of the vessel.

"I… I… What? How did…"

"I do not know and frankly I don't want to think about it; hence this." Six explained, lifting her vodka bottle up.

"That seems a little… irresponsible." Velvet said awkwardly, eyes wide as she looked up on the ship.

"They aren't hostile." Six said. "Just… really friggin' confused, frankly I don't blame them."

"I… Yeah I get that." Velvet said awkwardly.

"Hey, it's your wedding; go enjoy it. I'll… handle this." Six said dully; looking around and noticing something. "Hey where's Coco; shouldn't the brides be together?"

"Coco says if she goes near the bar the temptation will be too great and she'll end up trashed." Velvet explained as she opened her drink.

"So, she's sticking to that?" Six asked, slightly shocked. Coco passing up the chance to get drunk was like Nora turning down pancakes. Six always knew it was possible, but she was also having difficulty believing it was actually happening.

"Yes, she is." Velvet said, pride on her face.

"Huh, you know if she hadn't started this mess by encouraging Seven to get drunk, I might have a little bit of respect for her." Six said before downing her second shot, slotting the rest of the bottle under her dress for later.

"Do I want to know how you keep things under your dress?" Velvet asked nervously.

"It's not that bad." Six responded, looking over at Velvet, who was still hovering awkwardly. "Did you want to ask me something?"

"Oh!" Velvet gasped going red. "I, well yeah a little bit, see it's just; it's my wedding and I was wondering… are you planning on having one soon?"

"What with Ilia?" Six asked, pausing for a second. "I mean… I'd like that but… I'm not planning on having it soon."

"Why not?" Velvet said hesitantly.

"Cause… because for once I'd like someone else to take the lead." Six explained, sighing. "I know it's stupid but I'm always running in headfirst, I'm coming up with plans and dealing with shit… I want someone else to plan something around me for once you know."

"Have you told Ilia that yet?" Velvet asked, already knowing the answer.

"I… No." Six admitted sheepishly. "It's stupid, I want someone to look after me, but I don't want to stress anyone else out, so I don't tell them."

"You're right Six, that is stupid; so, go tell her that." Velvet said as she stepped away from the bar; about to head back to Coco but before she was gone she stopped and turned around: "When I said I wanted to make someone's dress I meant I wanted to do yours."

"What if I want a suit?" Six asked. "Coco looks great in hers."

Velvet smiled.

"Because I know you Six; no way in hell you don't want a big stupid gown."

Noble Six, last defender of Reach, the only hyper-lethal Spartan III, blushed.

Velvet knows me too well.

Yeah, she really does.

"I… Yeah I do want a dress…" Six eventually conceded. "But no heels, I told your wife this was a one-time deal and I meant it."

Velvet nodded and smiled before heading back to Coco. Six smiled as she retreated before she caught a tall silver figure walking outside. Realising the Spartan was leaving, she went to the door. They needed to talk.

---

"You okay?"

It was a weird experience, being asked a question by yourself. Jorge wasn't sure he could ever get used to it; then again, he might not have to.

"As well as I can be." He eventually admitted. "Wish I were back on the Dominion; Remnant is crazy but at least some things kind of sense."

The Jorge native to the new planet nodded.

"Yeah, I can see that." He said casually. "Trust me I'm still shocked this is happening, and my life has been crazy since I woke up here."

"What was it like for you?" Jorge asked, looking at the native who looked confused, so he elaborated. "When you first arrived, what was it like? I was lost in Menagerie's desert for quite a while."

"Opposite for me." The other Jorge explained. "I got dumped in Atlas, if my suit wasn't working, I'd have frozen to death before Lucy found me."

"Who?" Jorge asked in confusion, looking at the other him who smiled slightly.

"My Wife; She and some other survivors ended up stuck surviving out of a shipwreck somewhere in the Atlas wastes." He explained, holding up his hand to show off his ring. He smirked as he watched himself process this information.

"I, you have a Wife?" Jorge asked in shock, looking at the other him who nodded.

"Yeah, trust me I'm as shocked as you are." He explained; he then thought for a second. "It's erm… not just her; I have a Son as well."

"You're a dad?" He asked in shock as he nodded back at him.

"Yeah; he's a big kid… Seven's looked into it and it seems he's a little bit of a Spartan himself."

His mind was struggling to cope; somehow learning he had a family was even harder to process then what was in front of him. The other Jorge seemed to notice his counterpart was struggling.

"It's a lot to take in isn't it; seeing them again."

Jorge nodded, looking at his teammates. The three at the table casually talking and… Her.

"I take it she's not like the Six you knew?" The other Jorge asked, a knowing smirk on his face as he nodded.

"No. And I don't just mean the fact she's not a he." Jorge said dully. "I; She was a Spartan right?"

"Yup; helped me storm and plant a bomb on a Covenant supercarrier."

"He did the same… Did you throw her out as well?" Jorge asked, a light grin on his face.

"Yup; Went to blow the ship then the next thing I know I'm here fighting giant monster Saber-tooth's."

"Huh, so our Reach's were similar…" Jorge said before looking darkly down at the ground.

"What is it?" The other Jorge asked, though he could guess.

"I… I know our home's aren't identical but I have to ask; is Reach…?"

"Lost." The Other Jorge said dully, his eyes losing their usual life for a second.

"I… Are we sure?" Jorge asked; the edge of desperation slipping into his voice.

"Six was on the planet while they glassed it." The second Jorge explained.

"I… So, she must have been the last Spartan there, or did everyone else…?"

"You want to know what happened to your teammates." The other Jorge said simply, looking over at himself who nodded.

"The chances of me ever finding out are so low… this might be the only chance I've got to find out."

"I can see that. Well I've confirmed all of this as best as I can with the others… but mostly I know this from Six…"

So Jorge sat and listened while he explained what happened; How an EMP had taken out Kat's shields and made her vulnerable to a Covenant Sniper; How Carter had been critically injured and sacrificed himself and a Pelican to let everyone else continue; How Emile had been killed by an Elite and managed to keep going long enough to bring down his opponent, and how Jun had left to protect Doctor Halsey.

"So, they're alive?" He asked hopefully.

"Six knows Jun is." The Other Jorge responded.

"So, that just leaves her. What happened to your Six."

"The plan was for her to board the Pillar of Autumn with the AI and leave the planet while Emile stayed behind and operated the groundside MAC to hold the Covenant off long enough for the ship to take off; but as I said, Emile died before the ship could take off."

"So, she took over." Jorge guessed; getting a nod of conformation.

"Yup; did her job, the ship left the planet."

"So… she was stuck there."

"Yeah, Apparently she didn't have much of a plan besides fighting as long and hard as she could; Everyone's asked her how long she fought for and she doesn't know; she thinks it went dark once or twice but she's not sure. All I know is an Elite eventually got her after her armour failed."

"So… that's what happened." Jorge said, seemingly lost in thought as he processed everything.

"Wasn't fun for me to learn, though…" The other him hesitated, looking over at the purple haired girl who was making a beeline for the door; apparently done with the bar. "…I wonder what it was like for them."

"You mean going on?" Jorge asked, earning a nod.

"Yeah, my Six… she sort of fell apart. I saw her when she finally tried to tell me Reach was gone, it was… Well she didn't even manage to get the words out before she got overwhelmed by it."

"The mental training doesn't seem to have stuck with her." Jorge noted.

"No it didn't; personally I blame Coco for that." The Other Jorge began to say before his scroll went off. "…Give me a sec."

Jorge watched as he checked his scroll.

"Sorry, looks like I've got to go." The Other explained. "John's tired and we need to go back to our hotel room."

"How old is he?" Jorge asked, almost without thinking.

"Just turned two a few weeks ago… Do you want to meet him?"

Jorge was taken aback.

"I… Well yes, but are you sure that's a good idea?"

"Can't see how it's a bad one." The other Jorge said simply, offering him a hand up.

They moved through the crowd quickly, a few eyes on Jorge as he clunked around in his armour (Unlike his counterpart, he couldn't take off his Mjolnir so quickly) but soon they were at the back door; Jorge hanging back while his counterpart told her what was happening.

He stopped for a second to look Lucy and his kid over. She stood over six foot tall; muscle bound with long blond hair running down her back. The other most noticeable feature about her was the pair of white bear ears she had growing out of her head.

The Kid (John) was different, tall for a two-year-old with a similar pair of ears. That was where the similarities ended; however, his hair was dark and his eyes were; well his.

Soon he was waved over by himself and he moved in.

"Ma'am" He said simply, wishing he could say something a bit more complex.

"Wow, you are my husband, aren't you?" She said weakly, taking in his face and armour. "Sorry just… Wow this is weird to see."

"Yeah I know the feeling." Jorge responded, looking at the sleeping child. "Can I?"

"Sure?" Lucy said; holding the kid out so he could get a better look.

Exceedingly carefully he brought a hand out and touched the child's ears. They twitched and he squirmed slightly in his mother's grip.

"So; he's part Spartan?" He eventually asked.

"As far as we know yeah." Lucy responded, bringing her kid back in. "But he's also a Faunus."

"If he ever gets in a fight he's going to be near unstoppable." Jorge said, thinking about what a Spartan with enhanced senses and in built night vision could do.

"Whatever he chooses to do he'll be great." The Father Jorge said, smiling as he looked down at his kid.

"Yeah…" Jorge muttered before smiling. "I should go. Get him some rest; he looks tired."

He turned to leave not wanting to stay with the family anymore; it wasn't his place.

"Hey!" The other Jorge called out.

Stopping to look behind him he heard:

"If a chance comes up; take it." The other him called out. Jorge thought about what he meant for a second, before nodding.

"I will."

---

Six staggered out; her throat burning from the vodka and almost tripping over her stupid heels. No matter how good she supposedly looked in them, this was not worth it.

Flats all the way from now on; No more friggin' heels.

Steading herself on a wall she looked around, spotting the Spartan she was looking for rather easily; he was lying down atop the stairs of the reception house, his battle rifle out and trained on a wandering Beowolf.

"Do us a favour and don't piss it off." Six said before she could stop herself.

Great start genius.

"It's a Grimm, why is it even remotely close to this place?" Ben snapped, not taking his rifle off the creature. "And why hasn't it attacked?"

"They've been different for years now; ever since I shot Salem off into space." Six explained, sitting down and smoothing her dress. She knew it must be an odd sight. The horrendously scarred bride's maid sitting down so casually next to the heavily armoured alien super soldier.

"Another irresponsible thing to add to the list I assume." Ben muttered as he got ready to pull his gun's trigger, only for Six to kick the rifle with enough force to knock the magazine loose. Six could tell he was fuming under the helmet. She also didn't care.

"I saved the planet from a Covenant/Promethean invasion, thank you very much." Six responded huffily as the Spartan looked his rifle over to make sure Six hadn't done any damage that might interfere with its functionality.

"What's a Promethean?" Curie asked, her curiosity out of sync with the body she inhabited.

"Forerunner organic-robot… things." Six shrugged. "Only showed up near the end and they were a pain in the ass to deal with; ask Seven."

"Near the end of what?" Ben asked, having asserted that the gun was safe to use again and presumably trying not to think about the orange AI.

"Near the end of an apparently hundreds year old war against an evil witch called Salem. Ask Ozpin about her sometime, long story short we were stopping her and… It wasn't fun." Six sort of explained. She looked down at the ground, playing with the hem of her dress.

"If you saved humanity, you did your job… Or did you do it as a huntress?" Ben asked, looking up at her noticing the angry look on the girl's face.

"What's that meant to mean?" Six snapped.

"You don't seem like much of a Spartan." He responded simply, watching the look of fury on Six's face grow. "Are you that angry because I'm right? You certainly didn't like the implications back in the forest."

"Want to go for a round two?" Six asked, eyeing his pistol again.

"No, just saying you don't seem to want to admit you're not much of a Spartan now."

Six scowl grew deeper before she calmed down, taking a deep breath before speaking.

"I nearly died; we'd just taken down a communication blocker before the place got vaporised with me in it."

"You completed your current objective, there are worse ways to go out." Ben responded simply.

"That was the third time I've died." Six said flatly; that got a raised eyebrow from Ben so she explained. "The first time was when I was three and the Covenant destroyed my home, taking my planet and my family. The second time was on Reach after days of holding out against them, an Elite finally managed to impale me." She turned around, showing him via the dresses exposed back the large unsightly plasma burn that ran through her. "Third was during the Battle of Vale… the last one was the only time the idea of me dying scared me."

"You weren't scared when you lost your family?" Ben asked, surprising Six with the lack of bitterness or anger in his voice for once.

"I was angry then, angry that there were beings so mean and heartless that could do such a thing." Six explained. "Reach… didn't feel like anything, I didn't have anything left to lose; everyone else was dead and all I had left was taking as many Covenant with me as possible. I'm happy to report I made good on that."

"So, what made Vale sad?" Curie asked, determined to get all the information she could on this version of Six now she was actually talking.

"Because I hadn't lost everything, I'd put considerable effort into building a life here, tracking everyone back down and trying to help them; falling in love; my girlfriend was on the ground waiting for me; My friends were all still fighting and I was just… gone. Woke up back in UNSC space actually."

Ben was shocked, she'd found a way back?

"Actually, not just in UNSC space, right near Jun, the one guy who's fate I never knew. Out of everywhere I could have been I was near him; we didn't talk long; but I found out something, humanity won."

"Won what? The fight at Reach?" Curie asked, not convinced that could be the answer.

"The Human Covenant war, like the whole thing; Spartan John 117 ended it, almost single handedly; teaming up with the friggin' Elites of all people."

"Wait, what! I, What?" Ben asked, struggling to process all this information he was learning.

"Yeah, didn't get the full details outside of the fact they turned against the Covenant and helped humanity turn the tide; oh and here's the kicker: My last mission on Reach was to take an AI to the Pillar of Autumn; where 117 was; I gave him the rest of his AI. He found the super weapon that helped end the war, He did it because of me and my team, we did it, we made a difference… I made a difference, staying behind on a doomed planet to die saved the human race."

Ben nodded awestruck; this was a lot to take in, but he might have attacked one of the saviours of humanity; even if she was an indirect saviour.

"So, knowing all that, do you want to know what was going through my head? After learning all that, that the war I wanted to fight was over and I'd helped win. Do you want to know what I was thinking?

"I'm not done with Remnant yet?" Ben asked, understanding the feeling of not wanting to leave Remnants innocents to die even if a chance to go home came up.

"Kinda?" Six shrugged. "To be honest I didn't care about Earth, or the humanity I left behind… Don't get me wrong, I'm so glad that war is over, and that me and my team helped win it; I'm serious I really am. But everyone who meant something to me was back on Remnant, I didn't care about UNSC space anymore…"

"Your duty was to protect humanity… so why do you seem so apathetic when it comes to doing your job the right way?" Ben asked, looking at the girl who shrugged.

"Cause I'm also human, I guess? Took me a while to relearn that, and once I did, I didn't want to be who I was again… I didn't want to go back." She looked down at the ground, playing with her dress more as she spoke.

"What do you mean, I thought you liked being a Spartan?" Ben said simply. "If you don't you get very upset about not being one."

"Yeah… I know. Look how many missions have you ran back in UNSC space?" Six asked; wondering if even the number was classified.

"None." Ben responded flatly. "The Dominion was my first official posting."

"Fair, working on a ship, that's a respectable enough post. Want to know what my first official job was?" Six said, then speaking louder so she could drown out Ben's protest. "I was an ONI assassin. I went out and killed whoever they told me too. Often humans. Think about that for a second, you're a III right, Gamma company I assume?"

Ben nodded.

"Awesome, I'm B312, so I was with Beta, got the same offer all of us got, train to fight back against the Covenant; take revenge on those fuckers who destroyed our lives and burn them to the ground. I wanted that so badly; I wanted to be a Spartan, to save humanity. And after pushing myself so hard to be the best of the best want to know what fucking happened? Well I already told you didn't I; I killed Humans, people ONI didn't like or want around. I was a fucking murderer! And I didn't give a shit. I was just the weirdo Spartan who got all her emotions muffled due to an augmentation error, the one glitch in an entire batch; but that's fine, turn her into a monster anyway! It's not like she matters!"

Six's fists were clenched tight now as she took a moment to stabilize herself.

"All my documents over here will tell you Noble Six is my legal name, It's not back in UNSC space, In UNSC space my name was Bethany. I didn't like being her." Six explained. "She was the girl who lost everything, she was the girl who attacked an entire squad in ways that put them in the hospital during training matches, she's the girl who crushed everyone to be better. She's the one who put down so many people who didn't deserve to be put down; maybe they were causing problems but more likely the one FUCKTARD!"

She paused, took a deep breath, and continued.

"Who had control over me just didn't like them. I… fuck she was a broken monster who didn't care. Want to know who Noble Six was? She was who Bethany became, she was the hero of Reach, she was brave, she fought the Covenant, she was who I wanted to be; the fucking Spartan hero I signed up to be! The brave; the courageous… I, the fucking…"

Ben watched as the purple girl collapsed into a sobbing mess. He wondered if she'd ever told anyone this before.

"The Spartan who thought she'd done enough on Reach, the girl who could die knowing she'd tried; knowing that at least by the end she'd figured out how to be a Spartan. The girl who got a second chance."

Her face was still tear stained, her eyes still red. But her mouth was smiling.

"When I got here I knew I was Six more than Bethany when I looked at myself, I was my armor's colours, Purple and orange just like I'd painted it; It was great; I was me. And as Noble Six operated on Remnant she made friends, found the squad she thought she'd lost; fell in love; and then…"

"She died?" Ben finished, looking at the girl who nodded.

"I left them… I left them in that mess, in the middle of a fight, I couldn't bear it, as soon as the chance to go back came I took it, didn't even have to think. Left Jun behind and came home. I flew a friggin' Longsword into a Grimm Dragon, I fought my way back up to my friends, I fought hard and long, I lost my armour, but I won, I saved Remnant, I was a hero and my life was ahead of me… It was amazing; I'd never got victory's like that. Life went my way here, I got to be the Spartan I always wanted to be."

She had leant back and relaxed by now.

"Then… then another UNSC ship showed up and I was terrified, I didn't want to go back, my life was here but… I had to help them if I could and well… you know the rest." She finished.

Ben looked at the girl next to him. She wasn't what he'd expected based on what Jorge had told him about his teammate. Then again, Remnant did seem to like throwing him curveballs.

He thought hard, he wanted to say something to her, but he couldn't override one point in his mind.

"Noble Six… to be frank with you, I don't think you're a Spartan; not anymore." He held out a hand to stop her protesting. "No, you're not, to be honest based on what you've said the Spartan side of Noble Six died on Reach… It seems like she gave out when that Elite killed you. I'll admit I don't even have close to a full story on what happened to you but… You saved Remnant; but I'm not sure you were a Spartan, I think this planet's crazy got to you."

"The hell does that mean?" she asked, a slight laugh in her voice.

"I think it means Noble Six is a damn good Huntress, and she should be proud of that fact." He said simply, watching her as she processed what he said.

"I… Thanks; I think." Six said before she reached down and retrieved her Vodka. She was about to neck it but then she hesitated, offering it to the Spartan.

Ben looked at the bottle in confusion.

"I'm not allowed to get drunk on duty." Ben said weakly.

"Dude we both know full well you can't get drunk; seriously just have some." Six insisted, shoving the bottle towards his face.

"I would advise you to just go along with her instruction, Ben." Curie said simply. "My digging into her history seems to suggest she can be stubborn when she wants to be."

"Damn right I can be." Six said, still holding the bottle out, an annoying grin on her face.

Ben sighed; deciding to just go along with it. He reached up and pulled off his helmet. As per usual it was weird to feel the cool air on his bare skin.

Ben looked at Six's reaction, most people who saw his face had a fairly similar reaction: Shock before realising they were being rude and trying to hide their reaction. Noble Six didn't do that, she just looked more awed than anything else.

"Younger than I was expecting… So, what's the story there?" Six asked, in much the same way as one might ask about a picture on someone else's wall.

"Grazing shot from a Plasma Rifle, I was three years old." He said, then figuring it would be okay, he gestured at the spider web of scars across her face and asked: "What about you?"

"Woman by the name of Cinder Fall; she had some weird bug Grimm in her hand, shot goop on my face; didn't see the rest 'cause I passed out. Just knew when I woke up, I had more scars to add to the collection and no more Semblance."

"She stole your Semblance?" Curie asked.

"Tried too." Six said, a cruel smirk on her face. "Thing was, she tried to pump herself full of Spartan Augmentations as a fully-grown adult, I'm told the results were... messy."

Thinking back to the horror stories he'd heard from Jorge about failed Spartan II augmentations, he gave a short nod, He then noticed Six was staring at the bottle in his hand; making Ben remember why he had taken his helmet off in the first place He took it and downed a glug… an experience that he quickly regretted.

"Agh, you drink this stuff, for fun?!" He gasped, wondering why the hell anyone would drink that vile liquidas he set the bottle down and tried to get his throat back to normal.

"Yup, probably should have warned you that it had a bit of a kick." Six said, smirk still firmly in place as she took the bottle back, taking a gulp and smiling. "But I figured a Spartan could handle his drink better than a simple Huntress."

"Then I guess it must be a Huntress thing then." Ben said, smirking as he put his helmet back on.

"Guess it must be." Six said, looking down at her dress and smiling. Then she stood up. "Welp, no offence to you but I'm off to find my girlfriend, you and your crew have kept me away from her too much tonight; I'll leave you two alone now."

"We need to talk to the Dominion." Ben said simply. "Tell them what we now know."

"Really, you're just going to get back to work?" Six asked, slightly incredulously.

"Yes, why what would you do; build another stupid hammer?"

Six snorted.

"Two things: One, insult Mjolnir again and I'm taking out your ship; and Two: If I had a hot French girl living inside my head, I would be doing so many things. Frankly I'm amazed you're not."

"I don't understand" Ben said, his obliviousness practically unwavered.

Six looked at him, a slightly lost expression on her face.

"Seriously dude, you plug the girl right into your skull for years and that's all you feel? Look, the only AI I've ever had in my head is Seven, and I can get not wanting her around in there; but you two… Seriously nothing?"

Looking at the blank expression Ben was communicating (Spartans/former Spartans were very good at reading body language) Six sighed. Curie was also dead silent, which somehow communicated far more than Ben's silence.

"Whatever, I'm off to go make out with my girlfriend. You two… Go do something I dunno." She said, throwing her hands up into the air and going to re-joining the Party… promptly tripping up because she'd drank more than she'd realised and could barely stand in heels normally; let alone when she had several shots of vodka in her system.

"Do you hear that Ben? I'm hot." Curie proudly said.

"Don't let it get to your head." Ben replied with a chuckle.

---

The Dominion didn't leave until the next morning; Seven had to spend a good chunk of the night scanning through her memory to figure out exactly what she'd done. Apparently, the coordinates she'd picked out had been so long and confusing she couldn't make sense of them anymore.

"To be honest Dominion, I'm not ever sure how I found you in the first place." The AI explained. "I would try and send you back to your space, but these coordinates already don't make any sense, I wouldn't even know where to look."

"We understand Seven." Bradford responded. "Just get us back; we already have our work cut out for us on Remnant."

"Will do; Good luck Dominion, and seriously so sorry for pulling you over."

"You're forgiven Seven. Just, please, don't do it again. Those people… they need us, whether they know it or not."

"I won't; Okay brace for the return trip." Seven responded as she began to glow, communicating with the rings.

"You know this mess has got me thinking about something…" Six said as the Dominion disappeared into the orange rings of light.

"Yeah, what's that?" Ilia asked, looking at her girlfriend who blushed.

"It's kind of silly but I was just thinking; Two lots of Spartans getting dumped on different versions of Remnant is a really big coincidence, right? Well I was just thinking; what if we're not the only group?"

"I… Guess that could be possible." Ilia answered thoughtfully.

"I like that idea personally." Kat said from the side. "Anywhere that has a Salem could do with a few Spartans to kick ass for them."

"Yeah… Man she is so screwed if this is a common thing." Six said, smirking as Ilia gently took her hand and pulled her into the main hall; there was food to be eaten and booze to drink; Other worlds weren't here responsibility.

Elsewhere, on Remnant No.3

Eighty years ago, the bloodiest battle on Remnant had taken place across the barren wastelands of Vacuo. Even so many years later, mankind and it's mortal enemies had failed to match the earlier devastation wrought during such a brutal, bloody engagement, all until the Sacking of Salem's Castle.

From an outside perspective, it was as if a tornado of fire and brimstone had torn the structure apart. But hundreds of craters and splintered boulders marked the aftermath of a battle fought between an army of Grimm and the combined efforts of one of the most devastating military units in history, Noble Team. Had the Grimm left any remains, the corpses of thousands of them would've scattered the ground.

Leading up to Salem's throne room were the bloodied remains of Emerald Sustrai and Mercury Black, who had not noticed as their superior fled and left them to die. Despite the impossible odds they faced, they fought with a shred of dignity, something that the Spartans of Noble team had noticed as they effortlessly brought the duo down with supreme tactical efficiency.

Not twenty meters down the hall was the small pile of ash that was all that remained of Cinder. Even leaving her subordinates as a sacrifice had not extended her life for more than a few seconds, as the full force of a Spartan Laser burnt her to a crisp, a fitting fate for the former Fall Maiden. The Spartans did not even get an opportunity to see her magical powers, as she had been vaporized so quickly.

The door to Salem's throne room marked another corpse, that of Tyrian Callows. Salem's most loyal servant had fittingly died in her defense, and had managed to put up a more lengthy fight than some of his contemporaries. Still, even with his talents he had been unable to escape the high-velocity round from a DMR that Carter had lodged firmly into his cerebellum.

Salem had proven to be a more serious challenge, as her unpredictable magic had forced them to improvise somewhat, but Carter was satisfied with the ingenuity of his team.

"There, that should hold her down." Kat said, adding one final knife to the forest of objects that they had assembled with Salem's limbs. She'd stopped screaming long before the Spartans were done, but Carter had to imagine that at least some of her nerves were still working.

"Good, go check on Six and… Thom." Carter replied.

Having been handed two Noble Sixes was something of a blessing, but also a conversational nightmare. Having the original members of Noble team from Alpha Company back created similar issues, but the problem with Thom and Six was the most pronounced. Still, Carter was absolutely thrilled to have a force of twelve Spartans, not to mention long-lost friends, on his team.

"Have Jun keep a look out for any more of those Grimm contacts, and let Emile start working on the Doctor." Carter added. "And uh, remind him that we need the egghead alive, please."

"Copy that Commander." She happily announced.

There was a notable levity in her voice even despite the rather brutal battle that they had just fought, as well as Carter's rather morbid instructions. But he couldn't help but return the positive feeling, even despite his veneer of professionalism, he was happy to be alive, and even happier to have his team back.

In truth, Carter didn't have a single fathom of an idea as to why he or his team were alive, much less on a planet with magical beings and demonic monsters. But it was reassuring to know that even death itself couldn't stop his team. Although his mind raced with a billion questions, he fixed on the only critically important one as he looked the wounded witch in the eyes.

"I'm looking for a man, Jorge-052, I want his location and his status." Carter said.

"You're wasting your time, hero!" She spat back defiantly, and with a hint of bitter sarcasm. "I have endured an eternity of pain, whatever you plan on doing is nothing compared to-"

Carter drew his magnum and placed it against her temple. "I want you to think about everything you've seen today, about how well your army did against us. Do you really want to take a chance against us, do you really think we won't find a way to kill you?"

Maybe it was fact that he and the other eleven other members of the now-expanded Noble team had plowed through an entire army of her demonic creatures, or how easily they had butchered her human minions. Or maybe it was the cold, unflinching visor that he stared back into, but Carter saw fear flicker in the eyes of an immortal being.

Huh, maybe I do need to calm down a bit… Carter thought, reflecting on the ease at which he had given out some of his more recent brutal orders. Regardless of his personal conflicts, Salem was quick to answer to his demands.

"You're on the wrong side of Remnant if you want the answer to that question." Salem said. "You'll want to speak to Ozm… Ozpin, at Beacon Academy, in Vale."

Carter silently stared at the expression in the pale, monstrous being's eyes, before turning and walking out of the room. He would've slammed the door in the witches' face, but unfortunately, Emile had already blown both of them in splinters. He reached for his commlink orders, and issued a single set of instructions.

"Noble, listen up." He began. "Gather up your gear and secure any prisoners, we're taking the dropship on the landing pad and heading out."

With a moment's pause as he thought of what to say to address the undoubtable concerns of his Spartans, he only had one thing to say. "ONI says Spartans never die, and apparently they're right. So let's take our newfound immortality, find our missing man, and head home."

A series of acknowledgements rang out across the comms. From the short, professionally spoken "Yes Sir" of Noble Six, to the more well thought out "Let's go get the big guy back!" From Emile, Carter was sure of one thing.

He had Noble Team back, and nothing was going to stop them now.

No version of Remnant could ever stop Spartans.

Actual Author's notes here:

Playererror404 here; just wanted to say thanks for reading; The idea for this came up because I often make jokes about my Six interacting with Ben and just how many rules she broke over the course of 'Remnants of a Spartan'

Speaking of which I just want to comment on my story for a sec now I have the chance (well that and I've needed to vent for a bit):

Number 1 - If you are interested in reading it you can do so; but just know I didn't have a concrete plan going in; what plan I did have changed when I got too attached to the characters and didn't want to kill any of them and lastly: I didn't edit most of the early stuff; the thing is a typo and grammar error riddled mess.

Number 2 - My Six is as stated above: Not written to be like most versions of Noble Six. I suspect you know that already having read this omake but let me just clarify - The inaccuracies are intended; I didn't want to write another brooding badass in black armour; no shame on people who enjoy those guys they're fine I just don't think they're great story leads; so I decided mine should be interesting… even if I may have overdone it in places.

(Also this might just be me but when I play Reach my Six isn't a cool confident badass; they're a complete moron who dies to stupid things and wastes time driving forklifts around and getting cars stuck in elevators)

Number 3 - She wears purple and Orange because that's how I colour my Spartans in Halo.

Number 4 - I got lore stuff so wrong it's not funny and you can mostly blame me being stupid/not checking stuff. For example I got the idea (Somehow) that Spartans were sterile and wrote that as a plot point.

Number 5 - The thing is infested with Lesbians. I will not say this is a problem; only that a lot of them stop being relevant/add nothing so I was letting my shipping instincts override my common sense and most of it goes nowhere long term. (still mostly no regrets, Coco and Velvet get a lot of the best scenes in the thing)

Number 6 - I know Omni Gel is from Mass Effect, everyone has told me already. You don't have to, see Number 4 for details.