A/N: I said next week... so yep. :) Another long one. Some crazy concepts... hope it isn't too far out. Hot Tub Time Machine right? ;)

~ UNSC Frigate: Forward Unto Dawn ~

Hopeless eyes need not be real to understand what Cortana was feeling. Programmed or not the anguish was indeed real. The emotions cut into her psyche like a knife, digging deeper with each passing moment, trapped in this space coffin known as the Forward Unto Dawn. The ship (or what was left of it rather) had been stranded for months now, the Covenant/Flood War ended with that one stellar blast from delta Halo. The memory seemed like ages ago for this A.I.

Wake me up when you need me huh? Cortana sighed as her holographic image flickered in the dimness of the carrier. "You get to rest and relax while I have to entertain myself. How's that for a girl's devotion?"

Master Chief's body just laid there frozen without response, no matter how much she begged to hear a sharp comeback line. The loneliness was biting at her hours after he went into cryostasis. The past months had been pure torture. To kill the time and to help repress the thoughts of going through rampancy alone, she had been documenting Human and Forerunner history. Lately though she was beginning to think along more personal lines.

Hope was fading for her. An under duress A.I.'s lifespan wasn't that long and she knew it.

"… What story to tell now? Hmmm,"She swung her legs, seated on the com system in thought. "… I always told you I know how to pick em Chief. But I never told you too much about my first pick have I?"

Silent, Chief's visor glistened blue as her holographic body glowed onto it.

"Sorry to say again but you weren't my first." Cortana giggled like a schoolgirl at the naughty play on words, looking down as if an A.I. could actually blush. "Don't get me wrong. You're my favorite. But without him? My first protector…"

**Take it Lieutenant; she has made her choice… Do you have it?**

**Yes…**

**Say the words…**

**… I have it…**

I wouldn't even be here with you…

SKRRRRT

The ship suddenly breathes a low rumbling creak as if it were alive. A girl at heart, she shivered without Chief's protection, gazing into the unlit harrowing ship as if it were haunted. No sounds trailed. The construct wrote it off as the ship's rapidly depreciating structural integrity. It had been a jumpy last couple of days for sure and she wouldn't lie about that. Cortana swore there was this strange feeling in the back of her mind.

It felt like she and Chief were being watched.

**If you haven't figured it out Spartan… Father wants you…**

Voices. For the past few days a part of her sweared to have been hearing voices swirling around this tattered ship. Specifically a dark voice that was incoherent, faint, but there. Like a ghost mumbling in the darkness.

It's going to be okay. She held her head. Chief's right there… he's right…. here…

Rampancy. The thoughts of rampancy chilled Cortana's very being. Hearing voices was a sign of a declining A.I. but she couldn't give up – not now. She scowled trying her best to stay concentrated, the moment she could see and talk to a revived John once again keeping her sane.

"I can't be scared of a few noises. I gotta be a brave girl for you and all." Cortana laughed nervously to deny. … Anyway, she valiantly continued."There were four brave Spartans that mother said could protect me. All great in their own ways but I had to choose one."

She thought about how Hasley was prepping her for transport at ONI base. She recalled the four Noble Spartans that came to her rescue just as the Covenant came down upon them. She remembered the gray Spartan in the background, not wanting to be any more special than the peers that stood beside him. The problem was that he was special. She knew instantly he was the one to save humanity's hope.

Just like she knew Chief was the one to save humanity's existence.

"Even though you two are completely different," Cortana hesitated. "He actually kind of reminds me of you… both so damn reckless," she laughed. "He was younger. More foolish. A little more naive. More raw…"

. . .

Not in that way Chief… Cortana smiled at her choice of words, picturing an awkward moment with John-117 as if he had heard or could reply to it. " … I think you told me you two met once briefly." She recovered. "You too felt he was a Spartan with unlimited potential. That all he needed was a push in the right direction."

Maybe you could've been there for him if it hadn't been too late.

Cortana hugged around her body as if the coldness of space actually affected her. The thought of the one who saved her in his sacrifice was warming nonetheless. History would document Noble Six as such a tragic icon. Six wasn't like Chief, the legend. He was an anomaly. A soldier with just as much skill used in a more selfish way, a darker past.

Cortana thought about death. The idea of an afterlife… a strange concept of a soul…

"… Makes me wonder about you Spartans," she imagined hugging Chief's helmet for comfort. "You breathe battle to save your comrades. But when a Spartan dies-" she felt a pain jolt into her 'soul' at the thought of an M.I.A. Master Chief. "…Even then you guys don't stop fighting do you?"

The question had an obvious answer.

Noble Six…

Noble Squad…

To the Spartans passed on…

Thank you all…

**All you protect, will fall to dust…**

Cortana finally hushed as silent as the space that enclosed her, staring at her life-partner's unmoving state. She heard the noises again but fights to be brave. That eerie feeling of eyes watching her and John grew only stronger, ignorance the only medicine. She wasn't going rampant… yet. It's just being human to be afraid she convinced herself.

"… It gets kind of lonely without you keeping me on my toes," Cortana held back her doubts, her holographic image flickering static again. She stareed at Chief one more time before closing her transparent eyelids.

… I miss you… John…

~ Citadel: Flux ~

The Commander thought she'd seen most of what Sovereign and Saren could throw at her – the normal Geths, the modded Geths, the Batarian mercenaries, the cloned Krogans to name a few. But nothing in her wildest imagination would prepare her for this. There were enhanced humans, sided with the Reapers themselves, audacious enough to attack her crew on the Citadel without backup. It was madness incarnate but watching a giant Krogan like Wrex being sent airborne and crashing into the bar; she knew this was as real as it got.

"This isn't working Commander!" Ashley kept pulling the trigger either way, seeing a powerful kinetic barrier absorb every shot. Shepard reloaded her rifle, conjuring up some sort of counter offensive the best way she knew how.

"They want to use fancy biotics?" Shepard got up from cover, eyes down her sights. "Stop this…" switching a trigger, she launched the projectile. Like the other rounds it pushed into the barrier only to liquefy. The results were a little different this time however as the energy casing cracked, an inferno detonation rushed through the barrier, shattering it like glass.

The duo Reaper disciples let out screeches as a sentient beast would, suffering burns, their hoods turning to ashes. The crew finally got a glimpse at what exactly they were dealing with. Without the shrouds to hide them, there stood two biotic warriors, red glowing 'veins' all over their skin, one armed with dual hi-tech pistols, the other with a blade that dwarfed even Wrex.

"Nice sword." Ashley scowled. "Compensating much?"

"Ouch Williams," Garrus peaked over his cover. "Those are definitely humans Shepard."

"I'm going to get photo identification on these two." Tali typed away on her omni-tool hurried, sending out a droid which was flashing photos, passing them directly into the Normandy's database. "I have a feeling this might be useful… if we survive this Commander."

Shepard probably would have come back with a sarcastic quip but Tali couldn't get a reply. The pistoled disciple began unleashing a hellish storm of incendiary ammo, the Quarian getting clear out of the way. Shepard tried to return fire, but her shields absorbed too much damage from the frantic spray, being forced to dive into cover.

"Sovereign's brainwashing humans now?" Garrus stayed low as the blasts were coming in fast and furious. The Commander joined Williams, launching a few concussion rounds that connected to stop the intense heat.

She reloaded. "I don't like the sound of this either, but let's take them out and ask questions later."

"Works for me Shepard." Garrus was leaning out to unload his clip.

"Garrus! Watch out!" Tali suddenly dove at him, tackling the Turian so hard, sending the two sliding across the floor and slamming into another table. From behind, the thick wall the pair was using for cover was just a big gaping hole. One swing from a sword that was so titanic; its wielder that so powerful; it actually sliced through about three feet of reinforced palladium.

Garrus opened his eyes after the debris cleared, seeing that purple glass mask, Tali on top of him limp. The Quarian winced painfully and extreme concern hit the Turian instantly. The former C-Seq officer had seen injuries in his day but not melee damage like this. There was a sick gash wound on Tali's right thigh as if it was smashed with one hell of a cleaver.

"Agh, too… slow…"

"Don't move Tali." The Turian put pressure on her leg as the Quarian's suit began to patch itself up with its own anti-infecting gel. Tali grimaced as the gel stung so much, holding her leg like biting down to numb the pain.

"J-just go help Shepard. I'll be fine."

"We'll get you out of here..." Garrus reassured her after a nod of appreciation. Glancing up protectively, he was now staring down the one responsible for the wound, that human's face as lifeless as any Geth.

The bladed hybrid was a blonde, eyes a mixture of blue and red from the Reaper enhancements. His armor was much heavier than your average mercenary, sporting an exaggerated shoulder brace, wrapped with a cape of dark gray and tatters. Behind his back he held his sword that must have weighed a ton. Biotic energy emitting from it like the Buster of a weapon it was.

/Normandy Database Match Found/ Codename: **Cloud**/

The Turian notices the other closing in his periphery. This one with the pistols was even paler than the other, black hair flowing, eyes red like the devil. One of his hands was gloved, glowing with biotic energy, actually having sharp claws like blades. His cape was in tatters as well but crimson, jet black armor wrapping close to the freak's body. This one actually had vampiric fangs to boot.

/Normandy Database Match Found/ Codename: **Vincent**/

"Guys a little help here!" Garrus reached out with his omni-tool, unleashing a trail of fire like a new-age flamethrower. It was effective but not by much.

The two continued to stalk, batting away the fire, taking the damage like it was nothing. Biotic electricity cracked around the air, their Reaper enhanced bodies phasing in and out as their stealth was going haywire. Just as in flames Cloud was about to unleash a blade to half our Turian another biotic barrier prevented any progress, the sword crashing into a purple shield in brilliant sparks. Tali and Garrus exhaled from the near heart attack. They had never been happier to see an angry Liara T'soni.

"Leave them alone!" Liara let out a force push she didn't even know she had in her, sending the two hybrids flying back and crashing through walls. With a groan, the Asari stumbled from prior injuries earlier in the scuffle, that last biotic attack taking a lot out of her.

"Not bad T'soni." Ashley grabbed her to prevent the Asari from falling, Shepard holding her up as well by the waist.

"Always trying my best…" Liara smiled weakly.

"Garrus get Tali out of here." Shepard commanded. "She can't fight like that."

"Gladly." Garrus sighed with a wipe of his face. He got down trying to pull Tali up to get her to safety. "I owe you and Liara dinner or something."

"As long as it is not the pyjack fritters like last time…" Tali hobbled, Garrus holding and supporting her weight, quickly trying to get the injured Quarian to a safe area.

… These guys are no joke. We need to finish them quick. Shepard held her crew back, watching as one of the two Reaper warriors were recovering a little too fast for comfort. From the other side Wrex finally decided to pull himself up and over the bar, away from the alcohol and glass shower, spitting out probably someone's martini.

"Not exactly my idea of a bar night… " Wrex growled, smashing his way out. He turned his fury towards the ones that embarrassed him. "That did it you human freaks. Now you've made me mad!"

From across the room Vincent recovered first and launched himself into the air with a biotic dash, landing in the middle of the fray, opening fire on the crew with deadly accuracy. The crew's shields held up for the moment. Thankfully that's all they needed

"Hey, your fight's with me!" A glowing rage of Korgan fury rammed the reaper servant into the wall. The barrier nearly gave way completely from impact; bluish blood running down Vincent's nose as he was then head butted, slumping to the ground.

"Hah! Take that you little-What the!" Wrex was suddenly grabbed by his ankle, a claw digging into him. A loud bellow later and Vincent launched him in the air yet again, several pistol rounds cutting through the Krogan's shields denting armor.

"I've never seen Wrex fly around like this." Garrus scowled, pulling Tali. "I wish I could enjoy this more…"

"Garrus…" Tali sighed disapprovingly.

"Just kidding…"

"… These guys are getting on my nerves." Shepard prepped, figuring it was time to finish this. "Williams on me!" She charged them, time slowing down for her like a shot of adrenaline as Ash followed. The two soldiers fired away, Vincent's shields taking a battering. The Reaper attempted to decapitate the Commander with his claws as she closed in, Shepard ducking by it, grabbing the arm and twisting.

"You picked the wrong side guy!" Ashley grabbed his other arm, both Alliance soldiers pressing their assault rifles up to his chest and firing with no mercy.

It was gruesome but they had to finish this and finish it fast, unloading their entire clips into Vincent, feeling the body go limp only after the last round. The dual attack tore through cybernetics and flesh, blood dripping down all over their Alliance armors. Ashley and Shepard glared down through the mess they made, figuring they had at least one of the duo down and out.

They were wrong.

NNGHT! Shepard couldn't even gasp feeling like her throat was being crushed, Ashley being batted away with a nasty backhand. The Commander struggled but was lifted off her toes, staring horrifically down at a bleeding carcass that was still alive. There were holes through Vincent's body that Wrex could stick a hand through and this monster was still going.

'AAAAAAAG!" Vincent let out a screech, pulling back his claw for a kill only to have it grabbed.

"You need to quiet down." Noble Six twisted that clawed arm breaking it straight off, circuitry spraying sparks. The Reaper child screamed out robotically registering pain as Six tossed the limb aside.

"Six…" Ash was awaking from her backhand, wincing, staring at the carnage in front of her.

Noble wasted no time. He grabbed a grenade from his belt, shoving it straight down Vincent's mouth to stop the screaming covering it. "Don't ask questions and back off Commander!"

"… Ungh," Shepard's throat was too sore to even reply, watching Noble Six hold Vincent's mouth shut with a gloved hand, having him in a headlock. The Reaper hybrid clawed at his Mark V helm, struggling against the Spartan's grip, doing anything to save its life. Noble Six ignored coldly, picking up Vincent high in the air, viciously sending his skull crashing into the ground, still pressing against that robotic jaw.

Vincent continued to shake violently, a Spartan helm the last thing he was about to see. "Good night…"

Normandy team closed their eyes as robotic body parts scattered across the floor. They didn't even have time to voice their concerns as they all stared dumbly at a Spartan who was glowing blue, locked in the position he was in when he was holding his victim down. The shield the Spartan suit was generating was so powerful it actually locked up the suit.

"You've made a mistake Noble Six." Raven landed from across, staring at her dead servant. "A big mistake…"

"This wouldn't be the first one." The Spartan crossed his arms as his armor lock dissipated. He stood between Raven and his new teammates, his line of alliance clearly drawn. "Tell Sovereign that it was a mistake bringing me here in the first place." Noble drew his rifle, pointing it directly at the girl.

Sovereign brought him here? Shepard was in disbelief just like the rest of the team.

Raven's pupils began to illuminate, prepping for a biotic attack. "It's as if you think you're the only one of your kind left. If my knowledge is correct, I'm sure there is another one of you isn't there?"

Noble Six snapped at the thought. He wasn't going to let Earth's only hope in his world be swept up like him. "I'm going to kill you and your master before all this over."

"Hah, this is far over for you and him." Raven reassured. "You can tell him yourself."

"… Maybe I will." Noble Six was ready to pull the trigger, but he sensed danger coming from his right. The Spartan backed up, has saw everything in slow motion, his Volkov Assault Rifle separated cleanly in half, mechanisms splitting, ammo spilling out one by one. Six's eyes focused to see the Reaper disciple Cloud glaring him down, protecting his prized leader with that gargantuan blade.

"… You'll regret this." Raven waves of biotic energy began to pulse from her. She was about to show everyone why exactly Sovereign risked so much to turn this girl into one of them.

"We have to leave now…" Liara gasped as the club's foundation began to shake. This type of biotic display couldn't even be matched by the strongest Asari and it was a scary thought. Shepard nodded, not needing a biotics 101 class to understand that. The crew took off as the stability of the room was compromised. Only one of them reacted slower, Six just staring down the two Reapers behind his mask, clenching his fist for the first time in his life doubt creeping in. Raven giggled giving him a wink for his troubles, eyes now pitch black.

"Six get your ass out of here! Come on!" he heard Ashley yell at him, grabbing his arm. The Spartan took off hesitantly, eyes not leaving the two Reaper projects. It was a frightening thought. A part of him felt he belonged over there. What the girl told him. What she showed him. He was still trying to bring it all in.

"Don't worry," Raven was so calm, literally just smiling like an evil toy doll as she was bringing the whole club down piece by piece. "… You'll be back."

~ Normandy SSV: Medic Bay ~

(Minutes after Take Off)

The crew was beaten silent as they were being patched up. Shepard stared at her teammates with a bit of empathy, getting Medi-gel into her wound on her neck. Ashley was treating a black eye. Wrex was getting shots into his sore back. Garrus had a bum shoulder. Liara had biotic exhaustion. And the worst of them, Tali was on the operating table, being treated under a sterilized surgery tool that wrapped completely around her thigh. Not the best shape for a team trying to save the world.

"Ms. Tali do you always have to be on that omni-tool of yours?" Chakwas barked, trying to concentrate on the surgery. Tali was so into it she didn't reply at first, digging for info. It actually helped her ignore the pain.

"S-sorry Doctor," She looked up. "I'm reading up on the three that attacked us."

"Well you're going to be spending a lot of time reading. You're not going to be walking for awhile." The doctor sadly informed. She was trying her best but this was a deep wound. Tali's leg was in pretty bad shape, bad enough that walking in was a privilege.

Tali sighed, knowing she couldn't aid her teammates on the ground. "This meaning I'm out of the mission correct?"

"Just heal up Tali," Shepard kept her spirits up with her enriching smile, patting the Quarian's shoulder. "You can help us being our eye in the sky with Joker. I couldn't think of a better person to monitor the mission from above."

"Thank you Shepard, you're too kind." Tali grinned only to perk up as she had found some tidbits about the attack on Flux. "Oh, I'm finding some very interesting things about our attackers by the way."

"Quarian, the only thing interesting you can find is how we find and kill the last two." Wrex groaned face down, smiling as a machine was massaging out the kinks in his back.

Shepard just let her head bop the back of the wall in annoyance, grimacing equally at the pain as she did at her two alien knuckleheads, the gel leaking into her cuts. She took her sights back to more important matters. "Tali, what about those three at Flux?"

"The two males were codenamed Cloud and Vincent." Tali informed. "Both were known mercenaries for hire before joining a biotics program run by Cerberus."

"Cerberus?" Garrus cringed as a needle went into his shoulder. "… Those freaks of humanity were Cerberus operatives?"

"Were subjects in a classified Cerberus project," Tali corrected as she kept digging through the files. "The young girl's name was Rachel. Also a subject in a biotics project. All top secret. No details beyond that."

"So they're behind this?" Ash drew hatred at all things Cerberus. "They're helping the Reapers?"

"I don't think so," Shepard shook her head. "Geth and Cerberus operatives don't exactly get along."

Kssst. The door opened. All eyes turned.

"She's a human, abducted by the Geth to do Sovereign's bidding." Six walked into the room as serious as he had ever been. The crew stared and listened to him attentively. "So were the other two lackeys."

"Abducted?" Shepard tried to read Six, thinking of what exactly those Reaper servants let him in on. He'd been a disturbed soul ever since he came back to the Normandy. Not exactly the same enthusiasm fuming as when he first appeared. The Commander noticed even before he mouth grenaded another human being.

"She tells me I'm 'special' in Reaper eyes." Six retold the story with haunting details. "How 'special' people like her and I are the future and unlike the organics? Sovereign understands this."

"Sounds like bullshit recruiting propaganda." Garrus skewed.

Shepard paused. "You did say something about Sovereign bringing you here… why?"

Noble Six knew the question was coming and shook his head at the thought. The most important part of the conversation with Raven was glaring right in his mind as Shepard said it. It wasn't a coincidence he was here with team Normandy. It also wasn't Sovereign that brought him to this world. He knew the source of all this turmoil and it wasn't directly the Reapers. "… Raven, the girl, she brought me here."

"T-that girl?" Tali stuttered. "W-what are you saying? She can-"

"She says can manipulate the fabric of the world." Noble Six remembered the words clearly. "She told me that her gifts were unlocked by her 'Father', just like he wants to do to me. She brought me here by literally ripping a black hole, like some sort of inter-dimensional Slip-space."

Shepard nodded. She remembered the Slip-spaces Six talked about when had first arrived. Their method of travel via a fabric tear of space itself to cut down on wasted motion. "To my ears Noble, that sounds like Sovereign is eliminating the weak, raising up the strong, and-"

"Enslaving them." Noble Six finished.

"Manipulate reality?" Liara gasped. "T-that is not possible. Can a biotic-"

"It's not biotics." Noble Six stopped the Asari's thought. He instantly pictureed that blue planet that sucked him in before the Covenant could toast him, the Phantom dissipating into the brilliant light. "That girl is something else entirely." He then thought of the power she exhibited. "She's something the world has not seen in a long time according to her."

"What are you saying?" Ashley scowled. "Is she using hokey pokey magic or something?"

"Magic is just science we don't yet understand." Six shrugged. "She says she's been watching me and my world for years. She showed me my Earth as I left it, detail to detail."

"So let me get this straight." Ashley got up walking to Noble Six with skepticism galore. "This girl can somehow bend reality, and snatch up people from different realities?"

Shepard was as cool as the other side of the pillow. "There are stories of people for millennia that have been passed on to us. Humans that can perform miracles. Raise people from the dead. Heal the sick. Bend reality to their will. Heck that's what most religions are based off of. You should relate Ash?"

Ashley nodded. She was kind of at a loss for words herself, being a Christian girl. In a book full of magical prophets, big whales, miracle workers, Godly Armageddons and necromancers she figured she kind of backed herself into a corner. The fact that Noble Six did indeed travel through reality, she conceded her skepticism.

"Maybe there is some truth in those old 'foolish' stories in those books of yours." Garrus pondered.

"Looks like you and that young little biotic were getting along on the side, chatting that much." Wrex commented towards Six with sarcasm. "No wonder it took you long enough to get into the fight."

"Shut up Wrex." Ashley swung her head towards the Krogan antsy, defending Noble.

Noble Six stepped over to the space window, turning his back on the crew and faced the blackness. " No Lieutenant Williams, it's alright. I hesitated. I should've been by you guys from the start. A mental lapse for me."

"You got us very important information Six." Shepard smiled. "It's alright."

"Right." Noble Six muttered with very little acceptance of the lie. He began walking out of the room. "Uh, can I get a word in before this last mission Shepard? Alone?"

Ashley was concerned with his tone, never really seeing a down Spartan before, let alone one seemingly doubting himself. She was getting along so well with him and this was coming from a girl that hated 90 percent of males. She hated seeing him like this.

"Noble Six…" Ashley tried to call to him but he was already gone, out as fast as he arrived.

"… I'll be there ." Shepard got up, looking over to Ashley reassuringly. She knew the two Lieutenants had chemistry but begged Ash to understand why he wanted to talk to only her. Ashley didn't take to the reassurance well gulping down her sadness as they left the room. Why couldn't Six confide in her? She thought they had something… at least to speak about dire problems like this.

"It is okay Lieutenant." Liara looked over to her with a hand on the shoulder. Ashley tried to ignore her in her foul mood. "Noble Six is a complicated young man. He doesn't need a loved one's words. Right now he needs guidance."

Ashley wanted to argue about the word love but just shut her mouth. It wasn't time to have petty arguments. Even Liara knew more about Noble than she did and it was frustrating. She glanced out the empty doorway. These upcoming hours may very well be the last time any of these members would see one another. She wanted to be there for her crew. For the newest member especially.

"… I just hope he's okay."

~ Ilos: Outside Conduit Bunker ~

(Hours Later)

The dreary brown bunker that held the Conduit was fitting. It was a dead and rotting building, a perfect home for the key to the destruction of organic life. Saren tried to concentrate on the moment, usually Ilos being as quiet a place as there was in the galaxy, it basically being a graveyard to the Protheans after all. To get to this realization he had to block out the beeps and sounds from the Geth army amassing here. The renegade Spectre learned their language quite quickly, being able to command them at his will.

Geth seemed mindless in their actions but Saren understood their motivations. The Reapers were their Gods and he was their prophet. It was a religious war for these sentient machines, and their march to victory was at hand. For many Geth, like Spartans, death was the ultimate sacrifice for their race. Their death dealers such as the Alliance were actually welcomed. The Geth had a term whenever they got onto the battlefield, no matter what the odds each of them moving forward to their death taking out any one who would prevent their glory.

They called it The Walk.

Walk. The word rumbled repeatedly into Saren's head like a pulse as the Geth communicated with one another. With little regard for his Geth armada escort, he arrived at the doorway to mission completion. It was strange. For the past hours he hadn't heard a word from Sovereign. Ever since they met it felt like the Reaper had been in his ear, telling him what to do at every moment. At such an important junction, why the silence?

… What am I doing?

For the first time in a long time his realized doubt had no repercussions. For once was a dark cloud oppressing his mind it now felt like a fading fog. Slowly but surely it was happening. His connection with these Geth seemed distant. Sort of like how it was in the beginning of this when he found Sovereign. The Turian had no time to dwell on it too much, a deathly pair waiting for him at the Conduit gates. While his mind cleared, his body was still a tool of the Reapers.

… Are these two responsible for this?

"… Aren't you missing one?" Saren closed into the base with his Geth army, seeing a floating Raven cross legged in front of the doorway. Across from her Cloud leaned against the wall to the Conduit itself, crossed armed, silently watching over the young girl.

"… We ran into a little issue." Raven had her eyes closed tight, giggling as she replied with little regard to her servant's death. The biotic energy emitted off her as she seemed to be using up an extreme amounts of energy.

"What are you so happy about then fool?" Saren grumbled at the disturbing human, waiting for his minions to initiate the doorway's opening sequence. As he stalked Raven with his cybernetic eyes the Turian thought of Benezia, the last one on this earth that was actually looking after him. This new servant he'd received from Sovereign couldn't be trusted, let alone be a replacement for the Matriarch.

"I just like staring at half blown up carriers 'master'." Raven's sarcasm cut be cut with a knife. Those eyes didn't open, seemingly disregarding Saren as a peer let alone her leader. "Especially ones with frozen super soldiers waiting inside to awaken."

**I miss you John…**

"W-what are you babbling about human?" Saren snapped, growling as he grabbed her again by her collar in a violent tug. His red eyes burned a target into her forehead. "Ever since you and your two sniveling humans appeared things aren't-"

"The same anymore Saren?" Raven whispered in a mocking finish. The Turian a bit speechless at her tranquil state, not even an ounce of fear that he could crush her skull. "… You must understand that times change. Things evolve… things die… Things become… obsolete…"

Obsolete?

"You better put me down." The biotic shoved him away with a mere thought, Saren clenching his fist ready to engage her. "… You have company."

Saren hesitated at the thought, suddenly feeling his neck gripped, bringing him down hard, a static image of an arm fading in from a discovered stealth processor. The Turian growled forming a biotic blast in his right hand, sending a charge straight behind him out of reaction, only to be thrown back and slammed into the wall. "Agh!"

"Nice to see you again Noble Six," Raven had a snug smiled on her face. "How was your drop from the sky?"

"Shut up." Noble had a Cain canon pointed right at Saren's face, all Geth around him pulling their weapons up at the sight of their in danger prophet. The gamble of sending him down alone was a choice Shepard had to make. The Mako couldn't get down fast enough. Six was here to stall for time. With him perhaps Saren wouldn't even make it to the Citadel.

Saren was not easily impressed. He showed no weakness, chuckling like a madman, finally staring face to face with what he'd been hearing so much about. "Noble Six." The enhanced Turian stood still at gun-point yet as calm as the wisest Spectre. "I've heard a lot about you."

"Funny I've heard a lot about you too." Six pressed his finger to the trigger. "Not exactly the nicest words. The word jackass comes up a lot."

"… A hero with a sense of humor, how fresh." Saren was looking for any opening he had. "Tell me, do you really think you can actually stop me alone? I applaud your stealth abilities but you're standing in the middle of an army of my Geth."

"I figured you're an important figure to them." Six replied with no worry. "As long as I am one press away from blowing your head off I'm safe." He pressed the gun right into his head. "Then again, if you really have heard about me, I'm not one to play it safe am I?"

"… No, no you're not." Saren seemed careless.

"So why don't I finish you nice and easy, and just take my chances with your little armada here." Noble Six pressed the gun deeper, slamming his head into the gateway.

"Nargh!" Saren grunted as a piece of his face fell off. He only laughed at the pain, Six looking at the Turian like he was completely psychotic. "You should've finished me when you had the chance hero…"

This was fast. Even Noble Six couldn't react in time. In Saren's hand was a biotic energy cluster, it being unleashed sending both of them flying back slamming into opposite walls respectively. Saren's kamikaze attack didn't let Noble Six telegraph a counter, getting up as his robotic parts began to repair itself almost instantly.

"Finish the fool!" Saren yelled out to the Geth army.

… They didn't reply.

"Did you hear me? I said kill him!"

"… I don't think they're taking orders from you any longer Turian." Raven was above Saren, suddenly forming a kinetic barrier around him, raising him up against his will. The Turian struggled to no avail, not even the Reaper enhancements a challenge for the girl's biotics.

"W-what… what are you doing?"

"Sovereign has no more use for you." Raven shrugged. "You're obsolete. You've done your part well enough."

It was too much at once. The indoctrination was completely gone. Saren's suspicion had finally come to fruition as he understood why he had been able to think for himself recently. Sovereign had plans to get rid of him. And as he stared at Raven and the Geth army that wouldn't even react to his orders he knew he had been duped. Regret settled in like a shotgun blast to his back. What started as a renegade plot to save organics was now his infamous legend. He was the murderer of all things he was supposed to protect. Shepard was right… he was wrong.

"What have I done…?" Saren growled, struggling against Raven's bind.

"You've been a useful tool." She suddenly tossed him into a sharp edge, impaling the Turian to the side of it like a stake.

"AAAGGH!" Saren yelled out as he was immobilized instantly, blood running down his body as he tried to pull himself out of the edge. The Turian gasped for air from a pierced lung, creaking his neck over, noticing the Geth army staring at Noble Six who was being pinned down by multiple Geth prime units.

"Get off me!" Noble Six threw one back far, only to be grabbed by another, a whole army mobbing him.

"We gave you a choice." Cloud inexplicably spoke for the first time, his voice making Saren gasp in disbelief. This was the same voice that had been haunting his decisions for the past months. The nightmare was no longer bound to a ship. The threat Shepard and company had been defending against was walking alongside them all along…

Sovereign... in a human body?

"… W-what's… going on…" Noble Six shivered feeling a tingling up his spine, not being able to move as Cloud spoke.

"You should've chosen to serve me." The Reaper Hybrid slammed his hand into the back of the Spartan helmet, red energy emitting from him. "You actually think Shepard was the first to find you?"

**I'm no hero…**

**I'm a killer…**

"N-no… no!" Noble Six struggled to move but felt his thoughts being suffocated by a darkness that closed in around him.

"If you won't serve me? I will use what you have for my own." Sovereign spoke through his avatar, suddenly a red eruption shocking him and Noble Six to paralysis. Saren was blinded by the brilliant crimson light, controlling his breaths as he stared at what just occurred. A freak of nature had just been born…

"… How does it feel?" Raven floated over, looking now at Noble Six who stood strong. The two glanced down for a moment, looking at Cloud's body which laid limp on the Spartan's feet, like a puppet without a master. The Spartan began to look around him behind his helmet, then looking at his gloved hands, moving his fingers as if he were just born. The power was there. Everything he imagined and learned about human progress was all true.

A human's emotion and strength.

A machine's Immortality and might.

Sovereign had just took one of the final steps in his twisted plan.

"This human body is incredible." Noble Six laughed, his voice digitized unlike the young man the UNSC knew. "… The perfect balance of organic and machine. Who knew humans… would be the one."

"I told you so Master Sovereign." Raven bowed her head at her God. The Geth around her stood straight in mechanical war formation awaiting command as well. "We will serve you until your vision is reality."

Six was the nightmare. Sovereign had ripped his very soul out. All that was left of Noble Six on the surface was gone. The AI/Computerized side of him that helped him become the soldier hero of Reach was a distant memory. Sovereign had corrupted him to nothing. He was a Reaper incarnate now. And like his past he was just another weapon for someone to use, his own will and cares disregarded for destruction.

"… Prepare the Conduit…" Noble Six smiled evilly behind Spartan armor. "It's time to bring out about our salvation…"

A/N: Dun Dun Dun!

Well the next chapter is the last one in this story arc which of course will be the battle at the Citadel. As you can see I finally got to write in Cortana, my favorite in the Halo trilogy. She's so cute. :) I can't wait till she and MC become a big part of the story arc. I imagine all this is just one big ass intro... so I have an excuse to write MC, Six, and Shepard all in the same world blowing shit up without being a Halo/ME historical mix up. Well, one more to go!

And just a question to my readers. How many people actually want other Noble team survivors to be in it? I just figured two of the best Spartans was almost already overkill. Give me a holler on review or PM and I'll think about it because it is a possibility I am considering.

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