The ganglions' menace

Two days after Six's arrival

Elma POV

Lin was doing her usual routine at 4pm. She was putting her cooking skills to good use… and giving Tatsu a good tease by threatening to cook him up. It got a slight chuckle out of me as I continued to wait as Lin insisted she didn't need help.

"Hey Elma?"

"Yeah Lin?"

"Have you noticed something odd about Six?" that got my attention

"What do you mean?"

"I mean have you noticed that he hasn't taken a break since he got here. I mean he takes missions until night time rolls around. Then he's right back to work."

I didn't think much of it at first "Well we've had workaholics before Lin."

"Yeah but have they taken nothing but solo missions?"

"…what?"

"Yeah, he's done nothing but solo missions since he got here, and they aren't easy tasks either. He takes missions that would normally require an entire team."

I couldn't believe what Lin was saying. As I was about to speak again a certain SPARTAN walked in. He had a rifle in had as he was about to head to his room again.

"Hey Six, come here" he changed course and approached me. "You've been working yourself to the bone and have taken missions by yourself, care to explain?"

He didn't respond at first but then spoke.

"It's an old habit of mine colonel, I work best alone… but I can work with a team if that's what you're worried about."

"I'm more worried about the fact that you're going to burn yourself out, I don't care what kind of condition you're in, you'll get tired eventually."

He said nothing.

"Look, how about you take the rest of the day off."

"… is that an order ma'am?"

'What… why would I have to do that? What have you gone through Six' "No… but it's a sincere request from a friend."

Six POV

Friend… she didn't even know me. She had no idea who I was, where I came from, what I've gone through,… what I've done. If she knew she wouldn't call me friend. Yet, despite this I wasn't mad at Elma for wanting to get closer to me, I was her newest teammate after all. No, I was mad at myself. I made several promises to others and to myself that I would be better, that I would be different, that I wouldn't let my lone wolf nature define me ever again. Yet here I am, doing the same thing in this life as I did in the last one, bind myself to my duty to mankind.

"How about we work this out over dinner?" Lin said while passing out two plates, each adorned with a piece of pot pie. That got my attention because not only were we not eating MRE's but Lin cooked the food. I was tempted to grab the plate and go to my room to eat in solitude but that changed the moment I saw Lin's face. She had an expression of excitement but also… sadness. She really wanted to see me or at least see me beyond the helmet. This ODST helmet had been my mask for years, it carried with it a reputation but most importantly, it kept the wolf behind it hidden. However, this was a different world, perhaps I should try and "interact" a little more. I reached up and pulled off the helmet as it gave a light hiss. I set it down on the table and picked up the fork. I took one bite and stopped. The flavor, the memories, the pain and…. Happiness that came with it was a real shock to the system. I just kept the fork in my mouth as I tried to process everything that had just hit me when I felt a warm liquid running down my right cheek. I swiped at my cheek with my right hand and noticed a drop of water on the suite covered hand, then it hit me. I had shed a tear, I had cried, over a bite of pot pie… what the hell was wrong with me?

"Six, you okay?" Elma asked

"It can't be that bad right?" Lin asked with concern. I took one breath to regain my composure before speaking.

"No Lin… this is the best thing I've had since…"

"Since..?" Lin asked. I didn't want to tell her 'Since I lost my home… and mother' so I settled for

"Since I became a SPARTAN."

"How long ago was that?" Elma asked

"21 years ago" was my response. Elma looked mildly surprised but Lin looked devastated.

"That's it, you're eating with us from now on" Lin said with confidence. Most would have laughed at that 'order' but not me. If this was what real food tasted like then I would gladly break character for it.

'I guess good food really is an ice breaker' I just took every bite as slow as I could, almost like I was afraid that it would be the last time I had something this good. The next few minutes all blended together as I took in every bit of flavor this 'pie' had to offer. When I finally looked up from the plate I realized that commander Vahndam had joined us for dinner.

"Well look who finally gained his senses, how are you lieutenant?" he asked as I finished the best meal I ever had.

"Ready for whatever task you brought for us."

"Well aren't you observant, I do have a task for all of you."

I put my helmet back on as we all met in the briefing room for the commanders' task.

"A pathfinder team has discovered a piece of the white whale, well okay they think they've found a piece in Noctilum, that's north west of here lieutenant." The map on screen shifted north west and zoomed in on the marked area.

"Oh, friends mean nightglow woods." The no-pon Tatsu commented

"Is that what the no-pon call it?" Elma asked but never got an answer as the commander continued.

"The team tried recovering the piece but pulled out due to indigenous resistance, thankfully we haven't detected an intelligent lifeforms."

"No that wrong, no-pon visit nightglow woods all the time." Tatsu said

"Well like I said no 'intelligent' lifeforms"

I smirked at the commanders jab at the aliens pride, Lin then threatened to cook him again if he didn't keep quiet, he shut up real quick after that.

"Since you're the best Reclaimer we have Elma we're sending your team in to recover the piece. Lieutenant, you've been gaining a reputation around here but you haven't done a Reclaimer mission yet, here's your chance to prove you're more than just a one man army."

I saluted "Will do commander"

"Well if it's all settled we should get a move on, lets go Six." Elma commanded and I followed her out but not before retrieving my DMR and MA37.

The journey to the southern edge of Noctilum was rather uneventful, just passing by a bunch of grass and rock formations, kind of like Azod on Reach… well before it got turned into a wasteland.

'I've got to move on from that, it's not like I'll ever know what happened to my humanity' as we got closer we came across the pathfinder team the commander spoke of, they had a SKELL that was busy planting a probe. One of them turned to us, he had long jet black hair and looked to be of Asian descent.

"Well look who's here" he said

"Lao, it's been a while" Elma responded

"It has, you gonna introduce me to you're crew? Where's Danny and Boris?" Lao asked

"This is my new team, hand picked them myself, as for Danny and Boris…. We had a run in with a nasty indigen, they didn't make it"

'I know that feeling all too well, it's why I preferred being a lone wolf… but that's not an option.'

"And what about you, you look more like a walking tank" Lao's question pushed me out of my thoughts.

"Lieutenant SPARTAN B-312, Noble Six, just call me Six" I was tired of giving the full title.

"What kind of a name is Six?"

"My name" was my answer, it seemed to be good enough for him

"So what brings you out here?" he asked

"We were told that your team located a piece of the white whale, we came here to mark it for retrieval" Elma explained. Lao had a face of confusion

"Really? We haven't come across anything, of course it's possible that one of the probes we plated earlier detected the unit"

"Well it was good seeing you Lao but we need to get going" Elma stated

"Wait, let me come with you." Lao insisted

"Are you sure?"

"My team's about done here, besides this is more important."

"…very well" and so Lao joined the squad as we entered the forest area known as Noctilum. We made our way across a land bridge and into a narrow valley when something came up on my motion tracker. Elma noticed as well. I drew my DMR.

"Heads up everyone, somethings coming" Elma warned. I quickly moved in front of Lin to guard her.

"Hey down in front, I can't see!" she complained. A blue skinned Xeno approached, it had two horns coming out of its head and its blue skin nearly matched the color of my armor. I kept my DMR trained on its head as it got closer.

"Another Xeno" Elma bluntly stated

"At least it's not a prone" Lin said

The mysterious Xeno then spoke "Perish the thought good sir's, perish and kill the thought. We would not wish to be compared to them"

"Who are you?" Elma asked

"You may call us L"

'Strange, it refers to itself in the 3rd person' I thought.

"Like the No-pon we have inhabited Mira since the days of antiquity." L continued

"Friend knows the No-pon people?" Tatsu asked. I realized this was spiraling into a conversation, something we didn't have time for. I turned to the colonel

"Ma'am while I understand why you'd want an affinity with L here, this isn't a good time, we've got a ship piece to recover."

"Right, how about you go on ahead, see if you can find the ship piece. You have its general location on your map, I'll handle the talking."

With a nod I went off into the forest.

[Play: Bits and pieces-Halo 3 ODST soundtrack (0:00-4:55)]

The ground beneath me kept giving off the familiar sound of crunching grass as I continued toward the marked area. The forest wasn't as thick as I imagined it, in fact there were quite a few open areas filled with nothing but grass and a few native creatures which didn't bother me. Moonlight lit the way as night had set in again, the days were already starting to blend together so I didn't really care what day it was, I just needed to reach that lifehold piece.

"Six, come in" Elma's voice run out, disturbing the quiet that was starting to sink in.

"I read you"

"Apparently L here found the lifehold piece we're looking for, he took one of the terminals to 'satisfy his thirst for knowledge' before you ask no he didn't tamper with the unit."

"So it's not the core we're looking for?"

"No but it's still vital. It's an archive unit containing one third of human history. If you find it make sure nothing happens to it."

"And if those Xenos from before are messing with it?"

"Stop them, by any means necessary" he order was to the point and honest. I knew she would rather talk it out but she'll have to learn that that's not an option… most of the time. I continued through the open field back into a wooded area. It wasn't long before I came across a gorge which was devoid of any running liquid so I jumped down.

'It can't be too far now' I continued along the gorge before a certain sound caught my attention. The sound of an engine… and it was getting closer. I took cover behind a few rocks as I waited. The sound grew closer and I looked up to see a dark colored SKELL pass over. When it moved on I sprinted onward toward to the marked area. It didn't take long as the gorge lead right to my target. The piece was a lot bigger than I thought it would be at it reached to the top of the cliff it was leaning against. I then positioned myself behind another set of rocks when I heard voices.

"Move you grunts, prepare to fire!"

Prone, they began to encircle the unit. I griped my DMR, took a deep breath,… and let the wolf take over.

3rd POV

The prone were set to fire when suddenly a shot rang out. One dropped to the floor and then another as the shots continued to come. It total panic the prone began to fire randomly in several directions. Six continued to pick them off one by one as the barrel of the DMR began to smoke. He moved out from his hiding spot and reloaded. The remaining prone took notice and fired but they were shaking so badly from fear that only a couple of shots contacted the hyper lethal SPARTAN, they didn't even break the shield. They soon met their end as two armor piercing rounds punched though their skulls, sending them to the dirt. The SPARTAN did not know yet but his carnage was being observed by another Xeno. Goetia, the second commander of the ganglion was in shock and awe of this mysterious warriors raw power.

'And yet, it defends the property of those human scum… why?' she wanted an answer. Besides, the prone could be replaced if this warrior joined them. She lowered her SKELL into the valley below. Six immediately turned toward the SKELL with his DMR at the ready, before realizing he only had one shot left in the magazine. Goetia stepped out, letting her tentacle "hair" flow freely.

"You there" she called out. Six knew this freak was talking to him and didn't bother to respond rather he kept his sights firmly trained on her head.

"You've shown that you have great power yet you waste it defending human junk, why is that?" Six still didn't respond. Every nerve in his body was screaming at him to pull the trigger but he waited, waited for this alien to slip up and give him info. That went out the window as Elma and the others arrived.

"You okay Six?" Elma asked but received no response, instead she prepared to draw her weapons on the Xeno Six was aiming at.

"Why are you doing this?" Lin shouted at Goetia

"Why? Because it is the ganglion's calling, to wipe out humanity"

"Then you should know that my duty as a SPARTAN is defend humanity, whatever the cost" Six spoke, his voice giving off the aura of death that the Hyper lethal was used to giving in his past life.

Goetia was confused 'A SPARTAN? How did humanity manage to tame such a beast?' she played one final card "So SPARTAN, why is it your duty? What did they ever do to gain your favor?" Silence… then a shot. A searing pain spread through Goetia's torso, the SPARTAN had shot her. Six dropped the DMR and switch to his assault rifle. Goetia immediately stepped into the SKELL and took off as bullets hit the armor as she flew off.

Six POV

I was mentally smacking myself. That was the easiest headshot I had in years and yet I only hit her upper chest, pathetic. I took a deep breath and let my adrenaline ease down to normal levels.

"Six" this time I turned to the colonel

"I'm fine colonel. The unit is undamaged" I stated. She didn't look pleased with that answer.

"I was going to ask what made you go quiet, I mean more quiet then usual."

"I let the wolf take over."

"What?"

"I'll explain later." She let it go as we marked the unit for recovery.

I inspected my armor and weapons again and again to pass the time. The question the freak asked me was somehow still in my head. Why did I serve humanity? Because it was my duty. What did they do for me? They gave me a purpose and a way to get revenge for mom. That's what they did for me, nothing else matters.