I'm skipping Episode 10 since the events of that episode would unfold nearly exactly the same as in the anime, minus the who Louise and Saito thing that happened after the crash...
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"Alexander, I have to admit, in the past I had committed a terrible sin... to make up for it I had devoted the remainder of my life the research and teaching... but... now I know, there is no way to make up for what I did, and the sorrow of the events that day are knowing at me once again... Alex... When you go to your world, please take me with you, but... also... I know you're a soldier... killing is in your nature... but... please... don't make people's deaths a habit... don't make killing a habit... you've taught me many things over the months I've known you... and taught me that killing... can never be fully justified, but... one can to an extent... please... promise me you will only kill another human if the their death will save others. Make the right choices; don't kill someone unless it will mean something in the end, preferably something better for everyone."
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The words of the old professor still rung in my ears, even after a mission to a small town for a strike ops... even after crash landing the FA38... even after meeting and saving my own enemies! This ghostly voice of Mr. Colbert sounded off in my head... I couldn't get it out...
But despite everything that had happened... I was glad... Noble Team was back, I had my friends again, well... my old ones anyways... this however didn't interfere with my duties as a familiar... sure I hung out with them at mess hall and we took a mission or two together but for the most part, they were just another cog in the machine. In reality when I wasn't with them, I rarely bothered with them, as cold as that may sound; I had other worries on my mind...
However relaxation was actually at the top of my mind right now... as Noble Team followed me through the streets of South Gotha... who in turn, was following Louise...
"Hey what's with all the commotion?" I asked
"It's the Silver Pentecost" replied Louise. "It is the end of the year after all!"
"Oh... so..." started Kat "The Silver Pentecost which you speak of is the New Years Day of your world?"
"Basically..." Louise replied, before looking around and scoffing under her breath... "Still... this is a time of war..." she eyed a few of the civilians "Don't the citizens of South Gotha have any pride at all!? I mean they even welcomed their enemies!"
"Miss um..." started Carter "What is it... Louise? That how you say it?"
Louise nodded.
"Well then Miss Louise, there is a distinct line between Conqueror and Liberator. Ravagers and Saviors. Barbarians and Knights... we came, we saw, we liberated, in vise to the old saying Veni, Vidi, Vici. We came and threw out the oppressors, who not only did a horrible job at defending them so much as they retreated without a fight, but they also took all the town's food... whereas we entered without so much as spilling a drop of blood, and are sharing our food with them... if it's the honorable mention that worries you... maybe you should be looking down Albion's retreat path." Said Carter "So isn't it common sense that they'd welcome us with open arms?"
Louise scoffed again "Where the hell'd you get that idea!?" she yelped, to which Carter raised an eyebrow.
"He's just making a valid observation... and a good point I might add..." I explained
"Huh! Commoners think the commoner's way I guess!" she shot
"What the hell is that supposed to mean!?" I retorted "Oh, riiiiight... We're from a different world then you noble snots... we'd prefer this celebration to war right!?"
"ALRIGHT!" she yelled "Then why don't you and your ol' buddies go and have fun on your own! I'll be going to the princess alone!"
"W-wait! Louise! Shit..." I said and didn't bother running after her... I felt Jun tap me on the shoulder.
"Is it always like this?" he asked
"More often then you know..." I replied...
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"This is magical, fire based damage Six." Said Kat, her head inside the engine compartment of the FA38 "This is gonna take some time to fix... plus we're talking about early 21st century technology here Six, stuff none of us have seen in over 400 years... not exactly my forte..." she explained.
"How long you think?" I asked
"Be ready tomorrow at latest..." she paused "You're in my light commander."
I rolled my eyes and went over to Carter and Jorge who were loading more ammunition into the gun's ammo chambers.
"You know Six" said Jorge, who wasn't even breaking a sweat from the at least 200 kilograms of ammunition he was carrying. "I think this is the first time I've actually ever seen your face. Not what I was expecting"
"and what the hell's the supposed to mean?" I inquired
"Nothing, I just pictured you to be more... generic..."
"Thanks..." I sighed...
Everyone in Noble team had their helmets off... except for Emile, as usual... the guy took his helmet off even less than me, which made it almost never... well... back on Reach anyways...
I climbed into the cockpit and turned on the dashboard lights... fuel was alright for now, ammo was back at 80% and the red outline of the rear left thrusters changed to orange... progress was being made at least... I glanced to the left of the plane so see Louise getting lifted up onto a white dragon with a red and blue face guard... Julio's dragon... and then I saw Julio himself...
"Hey!" I yelled and jumped off the plane and ran over to them. "Where do you think you're going?" I crossed my arms like a mad father.
"Isn't it obvious, we're going on a date!" exclaimed Julio
"Wha-what!?" I nearly choked
"He's joking Alex! I'm on a mission!" corrected Louise
"A mission?"
"Yeah, now I don't want to bring along a familiar who complains about his job every chance he gets! You yourself said this wasn't your war to begin with! Now goodbye!" she said as Julio took of... I felt like yelling at her, and scolding her further... the damned brat was just another hypocrite... as proven by what she had said the other day. "Pride and Honor, to us nobles it is our life... no matter the danger of the next mission, please, give it to me" which was funny since just before when we had rescued Henry Stratford of the Albion Air Knights, she convinced him to live on and go back and marry his girlfriend... like I said... hypocrite... you have no idea how hard I slapped her after that before storming out of the room...
When I returned to the plane, I noticed Carter giving me a look of sympathy... they all looked just like they had when I was back on reach, maybe a little less battle worn due to being freshly cloned... but they all looked the same age, as opposed to me... mind you, Jun was still Jun the original, and the oldest of everyone here... he still looked like he hadn't aged though... those five years seemed to have been nice on him. "Hey, Six, why don't you go into town and get a drink, we'll finish up the plane here. Jun, why don't you go with him?"
"Sure thing" said Jun, glad to get out of the sun... he leapt off the wing of the plane and replaced his Sniper on his back. It was awkward seeing me and him next to each other, since we both had very similar armor configurations... or at least helmets...
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"Six, don't tell me you have feelings for that midget?" Asked Jun as we walked through the streets of South Gotha."
"!... No! Of course not!" I exclaimed "I've said it over a hundred times already! I have not, nor do I nor ever will I have those kinds of feelings for Louise the Brat!" I paused "However I do think of her as a bit of a sister, that being said, I've become highly protective of her..."
Jun nodded "I see" he said with half enthusiasm, which meant he didn't understand... not surprisingly since he was the only one who was not cloned, hence had all the attributes of an unaltered Spartan.
"Damn that Louise, why doesn't she understand it! Why can't she just see it from y point of view!?" I asked aloud...
"Oh!" I heard a loud gasp and looked up from my feet, into the face of a short black haired girl with dark eyes and wearing simple clothing, carrying what I assumed were groceries of some sort judging from the stick of bread that stuck out of the brown paper bag. "Mr. Alexander!"
"I know that voice anywhere..." I muttered "Siesta! What are you doing here!?"
"Alex!" she ran at me and hugged me, catching me by surprise...
I could hear Jun chuckle softly "I see you've become quite the popular one with the women here?"
"Shut up Jun..." I spat before gently pushing Siesta away.
"Well" started Siesta "Since the curriculum in the academy has been suspended and my uncle has business over here, I asked him to bring me over!" she explained.
"Your uncle huh?" I asked
"Um... Six, don't look now" said Jun "But I think I see a trans-sexual maniac heading this way..."
"Don't tell me..."
"Aleexandeeeer!" I heard before rolling out of the way letting Scarron the owner of the Fairy Tavern slam into a wall behind me at top speeds... he turned around like nothing happened... which worried me even more... I turned to Siesta...
"Don't tell me you uncle is..."
"Yes..." finished Siesta
"Eh?" mumbled Scarron, before glaring at me "Who's this uncle you're talking about eh?"
"Oh you fucking know who I'm talking about, why not I deliver a kick the crotch and I'll prove it!" I shot, which got him off the subject pretty quickly... however I didn't know if I liked the next one so much...
"So Siesta and Alex are friends yes?"
"You could say that, from the magic academy, yes." I confirmed.
"The magic academy..." Scarron pondered "EH! That means that the boy in Albion that Siesta was looking for is... even though right now it's a bit of a one-sided love... the boy she's willing to fight for is... Alexander yes!?" Scarron said, while glancing back and forth between myself and Siesta...
"Wait-what!?" I exclaimed and noticed Siesta refusing to look back at me... Jun just stayed silent... probably a good decision on his part...
"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait!" Wailed Scarron as he slapped he across the back of my head several times.
"Oww" I muttered
"Alexander, you sure are something, you already have Louise and yet you want to... Two. Time? A bit of a love-triangle relationship it seems is going on."
"No nothing of the sort! I have said time after time, I don't like Louise like that!" I yelled "Why can't anyone get that through their fucking skull! Even Louise herself it to stubborn to understand!"
"Speaking of which, where is Miss Valliére?" asked Siesta
"She's... busy..." I sighed...
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"Yes, yes, cheers and what not!" I said after raising my bottle along with Jessica, Scarron, Siesta and Jun. I took a sip from the bottle with my cheek on my palm, elbow on the table...
We all sat in a large tent or pavilion which had been set up as a portable tavern for the townsfolk...
"Well, isn't that a shocker?" said Jessica, "You're the guy who Siesta fell for?"
I sat up straight. "I... guess..." I shrugged...
"Even though it may let Louise down to hear it, I have to help my cousin on this one."
"Your cousin?" I asked, to which Jessica nodded. "I should have guessed... I mean... they look kinda similar..." and that was one of the things I liked about Jessica and Siesta, they really didn't care what I said for the most part, as long as it was somewhat positive and about them, or somewhat negative about someone they didn't like... or a neutrally based comment and/or opinion...
Oddly enough Jessica smirked at the comment while Siesta blushed, and then Scarron had to go an ruin the joke by adding "But of course everyone in my family has huge breasts! See look at mine!"
"Um, I'll pass..." I replied... taking another swig from my bottle...
Then the flap to the tent opened and Carter, Kat and Jorge came in, I didn't see Emile however...
"Emile is guarding the plane, he said he wasn't thirsty anyways... but honestly I think its cuz he doesn't want to take his helmet off around us..." said Carter, who had his helmet at his side, just like the others.
I slapped a few coins on the table "Mind giving them a round?" I said, to which Scarron signaled a few of his workers to carry out a few drinks for the rest of Noble Team.
Carter took a drink from his beer "Ahh, been a while since I've had a good one..." he commented...
"Weird place though..." added Kat "Seriously, what's with those outfits, and what's that guy's problem?" she pointed at Scarron.
"Don't ask" I answered, saving her from an earful from Scarron, and Scarron, likewise, from a bloody nose... "Trust me, I had to get used to allot of crazy shit when I first got here, if I can adjust within a week, surely you guys will have no problem considering we're all here now... me? I only had myself to work with!"
"Don't forget about me!" added Cortana
"Oh right and her..." I corrected myself.
I finished off my drink then sighed as the tent flap was lifted again...
"Alexander!" said a voice I hadn't heard from in a long time, the voice belonging to a blonde prissy boy I knew to some extent...
"Guiche!" I exclaimed "Wow... I..." he started to cut me off.
"What's up? Oh this?" he lifted a small metal star off his shirt, some sort of military medal. "This is the Medal of Honor from the Government Ordinance. (Whatever that was). Although it wasn't much of a big deal, I certainly did achieve an honor for them!" Guiche puffed his chest out "General Porche personally put this on for me. As nobility there aren't many honorable moments like this. Hahahahaha..."
"Yeah, I don't care about your stupid medal... I'm just amazed your still alive! I mean... considering it's you who went to war, I would have given you a medal just for surviving the first hour!" I said, putting emphasis on the final blow of my reply.
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Louise's POV
I walked into my hotel room and called out "Alexander! I'm back!" there was no reply... "Humph... some familiar, doesn't even greet his master when she gets home..." I scoffed... I walked over to where Derflinger leaned against the wall. "Hey!" I said and kicked his sheath.
"What's up!" chirped Derf as he popped out of the sheath.
"Where's Alex?" I asked
"I thought he was with you?" he replied
I rolled my eyes and sat down on my bed before sighing long and deep...
"I take it you've been giving partner the cold-shoulder again, or something similar... right? then in the end my good ol' partner just went off somewhere on his own."
"W-what! No! No I didn't give him any cold-shoulder or of the sort!"
"Bingo! Right on the nosey!" cheered Derf.
"What's his problem anyways!?" I demanded "Instead of arguing with me about everything, he should just listen to my orders! But... he..."
"Maybe he's smart? Maybe he's got a mind of his own? Maybe he cares greatly for you and wishes to protect you? And, not necessarily in that way, but... maybe he loves you?"
The sun shining past my shoulders from the outside sunset through the window glared off the shinny floorboards as I contemplated what Derf had just said... "No, this has nothing to do with that! ...right?" I asked.
"Are you sure? Maybe Partner knows something you don't? Or he really does care! He gave up returning home just to be in this war with you... either this guys knows something, or he really cares about you... that or he's just plain stupid, I mean c'mon! A life with you!? HAAHAAaaa..."
*KA-PEW*
The window of my room got blown out... leaving Derf in a coughing fit... "Scary" he muttered...
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Meanwhile...
Scorch's POV
"So, where is Louise anyways?" Guiche asked as Siesta, Jessica, Scarron, himself and I sat around a brown oval table, more drinks in hand. "Aren't you usually with her?"
Jessica and Scarron leaned towards me... I don't know what their problem was as I casually took a sip from my drink, which I had swapped from beer to cold black tea, since I'd already had a few ales and didn't trust myself having anymore...
"Well, not today" I replied...
"Aww, what a shame, I wanted to show her my Medal of Honor." Bragged Guiche as he polished his Medal with a white handkerchief from probably the seventh time today.
"That medal means shit dude!" I shot at him, getting fed up with his attitude.
"What! How dare you insult a noble's honor!" he retorted, catching Noble Team's attention.
"You wanna go through the same greetings when we first met, or would you rather have me explain first?" I said as I pulled out and cleaned my combat knife.
"Erg!" he squealed "Um, maybe the latter will suffice."
I looked him right in the eye. "War is war Guiche, for most people, back in my world, you joined the army, not because you wanted honor, but because you believed your home was worth protecting, worth fighting for, and if need be, it was worth dying for..."
Everyone stayed silent...
"Your fighting to protect Tristain right?" I asked and Guiche nodded "Right! Then this shouldn't be about medals or honor... those things don't matter when you're fighting for your life! This is about winning the war, and if fighting with the UNSC has taught me anything, you win a war, by surviving it... and that means killing the Covies, before they kill me, or in your case Albionians or whatever they're called... and trust me on this one, I know this topic well..."
"Well put Six!" cheered Carter "A shame none of us held up to that by a hundred percent... well, 'cept Jun here maybe but..."
"Well... whether it's about the medal or not, would it hurt to bring Louise down here?" asked Jessica
"Erm..." I stuttered and glanced at Siesta. Wasn't Jessica supposed to be allegedly helping Siesta? Not cockblocking her by bringing what everyone perceived as her ultimate opponent?
Then conveniently enough Louise walked right in... along with Julio... like I said... convenient...
Once they both had sat down and greeted us, Guiche launched right into another story...
"Oh a Fairy you say? Was it as cute as me!?" wailed Scarron... I really wanted to shoot that guy where the sun don't shine if you catch my meaning... at least that way he'd be half right... one way or the other.
"No! It was a Real fairy!" Guiche protested.
"A... fairy...?" Julio asked and yawned "Riiiight..."
"I really saw it! I'm serious!" exclaimed Guiche "It was when the army from Losailes encountered the enemy. We'd set up camp in the mountains, a whole company at least, 100 or so men... when I woke up that morning, I found I was surrounded by enemy soldiers. It must have been an ambush... I must have been killed, I am positive I suffered a fatal blow... but not long after, I woke up again, my body wasn't injured at all!" Guiche stood up in his chair "Thank you Missis Fairy!"
"Are you sure you weren't dreaming?" asked Jorge, highly skeptical.
"Or hallucinating?" added Carter.
"People with too much time on the battlefield can leave one person... not well in the head... are you suffering from post-traumatic-shock syndrome or something?" asked Carter.
"It's also quite common for a human on the verge of death to have illusions of such things" added Julio.
"That too." Said Carter
"No! It wasn't a dream, I'm not crazy and I wasn't hallucinating!" Guiche demanded.
"Anyways, it's a good thing you lived" said Siesta, stalling the erupting argument/fight that would have broken out... "On the battle ground, it's a frightening place to die, what with being on foreign soil and all..."
Guiche was silent for a while, before standing up straight and proud, flipping his hair back like an emo-chap. "No, no, I'm a noble! I'm not afraid of death! If I were to die for my reputation, I'd be happy to die at anytime!" he put two fingers to his forehead and sighed "But since any path could lead to death, I'd wish to honor my country more and get another medal before dying!" he started laughing... which stopped abruptly as I slammed my fist on the table, breaking a bit off in the process...
"You're hopeless!" I yelled "Didn't I just tell you about the whole, don't die for honor, die for the sake of protecting your country! As far as I can tell from the reports, YES! I've seen them... from what I can tell you were the luck one of the nine men who survived the attack on your company right? You should treasure your fucking life more! Talking about dying for reputation, that's not honorable, that plain stupid! Only idiots think that way!" I shot.
"Alex!" Louise exclaimed who I had almost forgotten about... almost... Damnit... "Apologize to Guiche now!"
"No" I blatantly stated. "But just to humor you and Guiche, why should I?"
"Because, you don't understand anything around these parts! Reputation and honor are more important to the nobility than their lives! How many times must I repeat this!?" Louise wailed
"No, your the one who doesn't understand a thing! For the sake of a medal, or title, or simply fame of some sort! Everything is gone when you die! And what for!? What is a medal, fame or money at the end of the day? Huh!? Pieces of metal, paper and naught but thin air! Fame, money, power, prestige, honor, these things are expendable when it come to your life! When in a battle, it should be always about you and the guys next to you! It's your job to make sure you and your friends make it out of that conflict alive and intact if not simply worse for wear!"
"I don't want any medals, I don't want any money, I don't even want the fame..." said Louise... "Hell, I don't even want the recognition. I want what you're talking about... what's most important to me, is my loyalty to the Princess... I want to make sure she gets out of here alive... I would gladly die in her place!"
I was silent for a while... then I nodded "Very well... I can, at the very least, not complain about that kind of loyalty..." then I left the bar if you could even call it that... no one followed me thankfully... I didn't want to talk to anyone right now...
I walked down one of the streets of South Gotha... it was snowing and I could slightly hear the *Crunch, crunch, crunch* of the fallen snow beneath my boots... my armor was thermal heated (or Air conditioned in opposite conditions) so I could stay warm, or cool down. I looked up at the sky, the snowflakes hitting my visor and making a crystallized snowflake field on my face. It was actually pretty cool to look at...
Then I heard crunching at a faster pace from behind me... "Alex!" called Siesta as she hugged me from behind... "Are you angry at me?" she asked
"Why would I be angry with you?" I asked
"For following you all the way to Albion and giving you trouble?"
"No of course not Siesta, but I am a little disappointed you'd risk everything just to see me... but I'm also impressed..." I shrugged... "but why are you out here? It's cold, you should head inside..."
The Siesta fell to her knees, which was a little overkill in my opinion, and didn't make sense with her next comment. "Y-yeah... It-It's c-c-c-cold... I'm F-f-f-freezing already!" she whined.
"Oh geez..." I sighed...
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I'd taken Siesta to the Inn me and Noble Team were staying at, along with the UNSC force stationed here... which by now, wasn't that much...
I sat in my room with Siesta next to me on my bed, I wore my fatigues just so she didn't have to press against the uncomfortable metal... and the fireplace was lit as well...
"There, are you better now? Warm enough for you?" I asked
"Yes... It's hot now..." Said Siesta, who then paused for a moment "I lied... I wasn't cold at all... I just wanted you to hug me tightly..."
I raised an eyebrow... "Siesta?"
"I love you!" she exclaimed and kissed me... this was probably the most I've been kissed by girls in the last... well... forever... 5 or so different girls all in under one year... I don't know if that's a good thing or not!
We held the kiss for some time until...
*Ka-boom!*
"Aw you gotta be fucking kidding me!" exclaimed Siesta.
I looked outside... "Shit... shit, shit, shit, shit, shit!" I said "this is bad! Real bad!" I put on my armor and got out my assault rifle... "Siesta, go find Scarron and the others and wait for instructions!"
"R-right!" stammered Siesta. "But... but before you go, take this..." Siesta took my hand and pressed a small purple vial into my hand. "It's a sleeping potion. If Miss Valliére wants you to do anything dangerous, get her to drink this and then run away once she falls asleep!"
I shrugged, doubted I would need it, but it might come in handy later... "Thanks" I said
"Girls and men of noble status take life and death for granted... but I can't bear it if you're involved in it!"
Then I heard it...
"ALEX!"
"That's Louise's voice!" I then heard sounds of battle; swords clashing and guns being fired... "Shit! I gotta go!"
I ran outside and loaded my rifle... I had a feeling this war was nearing its end... and it was going to start ending tonight...
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Sorry for the short chapter guys, but I didn't want to put the season finale and the season finale prelude into the same chapter... that being said, this chapter and the next are going to be shorter than usual, to make up for it I will try to make the next chapter after the season end longer and I might post the next chapter on a Monday rather than Tuesday or Wednesday.
Also really sorry that this chapter was mainly dialogue I'll try to change that up in the future, but sometimes there just isn't enough space (as in the scenery isn't all the interesting, or there really isn't much action going on) to put that sorta stuff in...
Since I took the time to write this out, why not drop me a review on what you did, or didn't like, providing me with tips, constructive criticism and the works if that's the case. Also if you really liked the story, why not add it to your faves and follow it so you can stay in the know of future updates?
Anyways... I shall sign out now, as per usual with my normal saying.
WTYL guys :D
-Rogue