Hey, guys! Thank you for all the positive feedback! I'm glad you enjoy this!
Anyways, it's time to read the next chapter. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own Mass Effect or Halo. If I did, ME3 would have had a better ending.
Chief woke up.
For a second, he felt confusion. Then it hit him like a freight train. The Covenant. Earth. The Flood. The Ark. Activating the Ring. The cryotube. In an instant, his mind came into focus, Cortana's pleading reaching his ears. "Chief! Wake up! We have trouble!" He pulled the release hatch, causing the pod to open. He fell to his knees, the world spinning. As he regained his bearings, he stood up, looking to Cortana.
"Cortana. What's the situation?" he asked as the world finished coming into focus, causing her to frown.
"About 35 minutes ago, a ship arrived in the system. An unknown vessel of human make." She replied. Chief snapped to attention at that. Had the Insurrection resurfaced and found him? How long had he been under?
"Have they done anything?" He asked, "Scanned us? Deployed a shuttle?"
Cortana smiled at him as she gave her reply. "Hit the nail right on the head, Chief. Their AI is trying to hack into the ship, but I'm fighting it off. The shuttle is going to arrive any minute now. Pull me out and grab a weapon."
Chief nodded, pulling her chip and inserting it into his helmet. A familiar feeling of cold down his spine, and he was ready to go. He moved towards his weapons, which were floating nearby. 2 magazines left in his Battle Rifle and Johnson's Spartan Laser had 30% charge. He would have to be conservative with his ammunition.
"Cortana, what's their entry point?" He asked, "Give me a waypoint." As he moved through the halls, Cortana gave him said waypoint.
"They're going to enter the ship through the port hangar. Careful, Chief, I'm picking up some crazy gravitational readings from their ship and the shuttle."
When Chief was only about 50 meters from the hangar, the shuttle landed in the hangar. He checked his Battle Rifle again before he continued on to the Hangar. "Cortana, can you get me a visual on the unknowns?"
"Already on it, Chief." Cortana said, "Visual on your HUD now." The image appeared on Chief's HUD just as the shuttle's door opened, and out stepped three individuals. Two of them were human, one of which was in red and black armor with white stripes, "N7" written on his chest. The other human had a yellow chest piece with large white stripes and one large shoulder pad. Both of them had helmets.
The third figure was an alien. It wore damaged blue armor, a strange helmet over it's head. It had three fingers, dog-like legs, and was definitely a predator. Just it's posture suggested this. Possibly avian in nature. Both it and the human with yellow armor wielded strange, boxy rifles. The human in red and black armor wielded a weapon of similar design. From what he could tell, it was likely a close-quarters weapon of some kind.
They moved for the door on the right side of the hangar, which leaded straight to Chief. He ducked into a nearby room, prepared to catch them from behind. Now, all he could do is wait for them to move past the room he had ducked into.
Shepard exited the Kodiak, followed by Zaeed and Garrus. Hopefully, EDI would have an update soon. Currently, all they knew was that this ship had no Element Zero, was made by humans, and had at least one living crew member. He didn't like going in blind.
He stopped for a second to investigate one of the vehicles in the hangar. It greatly resembled a 21st century tank. Another, badly damaged vehicle was what resembled a Jeep. On it's back was a large gun that resembled a turret, also from the 21st century. Despite their appearance, he had a feeling that these vehicles were much more deadly than they appeared. Zaeed whistled. "Impressive collection. These look like they could pack a punch."
Shepard moved up, Garrus and Zaeed following, heading towards the door on the left side of the hangar. Activating his Omni-tool when he reached it, he began attempting to bypass the door. While it was more difficult than he expected, he managed.
"Eye's pealed. We don't know what we might find." He said as they moved through the now open door, heading towards what the probe had said was the Bridge. As they moved through the halls, he heard the sound of a door opening. He, Zaeed and Garrus whipped around. What they saw caught Shepard off guard.
The armored figure in front of them was about 7 feet tall. His armor was bulky, and was a dull, military green. His orange visor added to the intimidation of this unknown, as did his posture. In his hands was a gun of some kind. Because of the fact that it had a magazine in it, it was safe to say that it didn't rely off of Mass Effect physics. On his back was a large heavy weapon of some kind. Most likely a human.
For almost a minute, they stood facing each other, guns raised. In the end, it was Shepard who ended the silence. "Who are you?" He asked the large soldier, "What's your rank?"
The titan just stood their for a moment, likely pondering if he should answer or not. In the end, he decided to answer his question. "Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy John-117." He answered, his voice completely monotone, "And you?"
"Commander Shepard of the Normandy SR-2. Former Alliance Navy." Shepard replied, slightly unnerved by the soldier's monotone voice. "My squad mates here are Garrus Vakarian and Zaeed Massani." The soldier showed no sign of reaction outside of a nod of acknowledgment. "What are you doing here?" Shepard pressed, "Better yet, how did you get here without Eezo?"
"Eezo?" the MCPON asked, obviously confused. "I have no idea what that is. Some method of FTL travel?" Shepard was dumbstruck. How could this person not have any idea of what Element Zero was? It was impossible to achieve FTL without it!
"Yes it is." Shepard confirmed, "But how did you get here if you didn't use Eezo?" the soldier's reply came fast, as though it had been said a million times.
"I arrived through use of slipspace. It's standard amongst UNSC ships. The Forward Unto Dawn's slipspace drive had a malfunction. Split the ship in half.
Shepard's confusion only increased at this. "Your ship, Forward Unto Dawn. No matter how it got here, is in no condition to fly. We can pick this up back on my ship. It will be much easier to explain there." The soldier again hesitated for a minute, before slowly nodding in agreement.
"Alright." Was all he said in response. He lowered his weapon a little.
Shepard nodded in kind, as he, Zaeed, Garrus and this stranger moved towards the shuttle. Shepard frowned under his helmet. This soldier kept glancing at Garrus, and, judging by his body language, he wasn't comfortable around aliens. He sighed. This was going to be a long day.
John was the last one into the shuttle. He sat down opposite of Shepard and his two crew mates. Honestly, he didn't trust them. Specifically Vakarian. Now that they had their helmets off, John could see his mandibles. An unpleasant reminder of the past. Turning away from the alien, he turned towards Zaeed. He was an older (probably around his late 50s to mid 60s), grizzled man. The right side of his face had obviously surgically attached skin, and his face seemed to be fixed in a permanent frown.
"So," said grizzled man said*, "why aren't you taking off your helmet? Your face classified or something?"
John stared at him a moment before giving a reply. "I prefer to keep the armor on." Zaeed nodded, accepting that as an answer for now.
"What about that rifle you got there? Thing looks pretty beat up."
"When you're getting shot at by aliens bent on destroying humanity, your weapons get beat up." John replied.
The rest of the ride was relatively silent.
John instantly didn't like Miranda. She poked around like some of the spooks at ONI. Her catsuit didn't grant her any extra protection. Currently, they were in the debriefing room. Thankfully, Shepard, now dressed in casual attire, arrived. "Miranda," he said, "enough questions for now."
She nodded, backing away from the Spartan. Shepard then started asking questions. "What is the UNSC?"
"The UNSC is the United Nations Space Command. They protect Earth and all her colonies." Chief responded. "When I was put under, they had emergency powers due to the United Earth Government's inability to handle the Insurrectionists."
Shepard frowned. "We have a problem there. There is no UNSC. Earth is governed by the Systems Alliance."
John frowned under his helmet. No UNSC? No insurrectionists? His list of possible scenarios shrunk down to one. Traveling between realities? How could he be sure? He didn't trust these people as far as a grunt could throw a tree! There had to be some way to... of course!
Turning off his external speakers, he spoke to Cortana. "Any luck hacking into the ship? Can you confirm their story?"
"I did. Their AI's a bit more clever than we thought though. Gonna take a while longer to get any more info. Although it doesn't know I'm hacking the systems!" Cortana responded.
"Alright." Chief said, external speakers now on, "I'll believe you. For now. But if there is any evidence that you're lying to me, I won't hesitate to end this."
Shepard nodded, not seeming to be the least bit intimidated by him. "I was about to say the same thing." He replied, "One more question. What are you?"
John frowned under his helmet. "I'm afraid that's classified. All that I can tell you is that I'm a Spartan.
As John turned to leave, the commander spoke again. "Judging from your body language around Garrus, it's safe to say you don't trust him. But if you try to harm him or any other non-human members of my crew, I will throw your ass out the airlock. Is that clear?
John nodded, leaving and heading towards the hangar. "Why didn't you tell them about the Covenant?" She asked, "If they exist in this universe, then they need to-"
"There are aliens in this universe that are 'allied' with humanity. They would have encountered the Covenant by now.
Cortana would have nodded had her avatar been their. She began to sift through more data, putting together a file on alien species. Turian, Asari, Salarian, Krogan... plenty to go through. She put the file aside, shifting through more data. Dossiers, Weapons and Armor, more on Eezo, history of various races, Citadel Law... Forwarding it to Chief, she began to read a bit of it herself. Particularly intrigued on how AI's were illegal, yet this ship had an AI. There were also research files... but they didn't say anything about rampancy. This was indeed a strange universe.
Shepard frowned as John left the room, turning to Miranda. "What do you think, Miranda? UNSC? Insurrectionists? Spartans?"
Miranda frowned as well. None of it made much sense. "The way I see it, commander," she replied, "is that there are two possibilities. The first possibility is that he's lying. That's highly unlikely, as their is little to gain from that. The second is more... outlandish. He said that HIS Earth was protected by the UNSC. OUR Earth is protected by the Alliance."
"So your saying that he's from some kind of alternate reality?" Shepard said.
"Precisely commander!" she replied. "That explains a lot of things. It's also unlikely, but it's the best theory we have. Until EDI can get us some information from the ship, we wont know for sure."
Shepard nodded, exiting the room and heading for the science lab. Mordin had wanted to see him earlier, and Shepard needed some help on theories for the Spartan's origin.
05-032 Mendicant Bias: Accessing terminal... Access complete. Creating new entry...
And thus I have set the Reclaimer on the path to wiping out the Parasite and cleansing the universe of them. However, my redemption is far from complete. Their are others that would threaten the Mantle. They are a lesser threat, but will still attempt to destroy the Mantle. I shall do all in my power to destroy these "sleeping gods", but it may not be enough. The Shepard and the Spartan may not be enough to stop these abominations from spreading on their own. And thus I must stand by them, and shield them from the inky shadows and foul notes of the Harbinger's song. I must aid them in drowning it out with a blinding light and notes of beauty. The sleeping gods must be stopped by the Shepard and the Spartan. And above them is a far greater darkness. The Apex Race slumbers in the depths, hiding from their creations until they are destroyed. When this occurs, they will awaken and seek to rule once more. All of this evil must be purged by the hands of the Shepard and the Spartan. And I, the Sinner, will aid them.
05-032 Mendicant Bias: Saving entry... Entry saved. Logging off...
So... how'd I do? Please leave a like and/or favorite if you enjoyed this story. Constructive criticism is appreciated!
So, now that this is done, I'm gon- ASSUMING DIRECT CONTROL!
THE SINNER BELIEVES THAT BY STOPPING PERFECTION HE CAN REDEEM HIMSELF. PATHETIC. HE, LIKE ALL OTHERS BEFORE HIM, WILL FALL. THIS PARASITE MEANS NOTHING TO US, THE AGELESS ONES. THEY ARE A PLAGUE ON PERFECTION. ONE THAT CAN BE EASILY CURED. OUR CREATORS HIDE FROM US STILL, AVOIDING PERFECTION OUT OF FEAR. THEY ARE ARROGANT. THEY BELIEVE THAT THEY CANNOT GO ANY FURTHER TOWARDS PERFECTION WITHOUT CREATING CHAOS. THEY BELIEVE THEY ARE PERFECT. WHAT THEY FAIL TO UNDERSTAND IS THAT THERE ARE NONE WHO HAVE ACHIEVED PERFECTION OTHER THAN THE CROP OF THE HARVEST. WE ARE PERFECTION. OUR CREATORS ARE ARROGANCE. THE PARASITE IS A MONUMENT OF SIN. WE ARE HARBINGER, THE FIRST OF THE AGELESS ONES. AND WE SHALL DESTROY ALL WHO STAND IN THE WAY OF PERFECTION!