Planet Reach, August 30, 2552, Aszod ship breaking yards 20:00 Hours
Reach burned around him
Max B-312, also known as Noble Six, had just took down a squad of Zealots, along with a Field Marshall, then proceeded to take down a Covenant CCS-Class Battle Cruiser, to allow the 'Pillar of Autumn's' safe passage off of Reach, with the package, or A.I, that was apparently Humanities best chance for survival.
Max decided to say his last words and opened a transmission to the Autumn
"Give Em hell Keyes" He said in his deep, somewhat rough voice.
"*Static* - we'll co-*Static* Ack f-*Static* Spart- *Static*" Keyes crackly voice said through the comns.
Max didn't make out what Keyes said, and brushed it off, as he prepared for his last stand against the bastard's who had had killed his whole entire family right before his very eyes when he was only six years old, the ones who had taken everything and everyone from him, the ones truly responsible for the demon of warfare, destruction, and death he really was.
The Covenant
He would go down, the warrior had accepted that a long time ago.
But not without a fight.
Two hours later
Max took of his now useless cracked helmet, after taking out at least three two hundred and fifty Covenant bastards, killing enemies in a rage filled slaughter, using all of his skill to kill as many of the genocidal enemies as he could. But he had no time to rest, as more elite's approached his position, no doubt frenzied with bloodlust and the desire to one of the famed heretical demons.
They started sending in only the Sangheili warriors after he killed around one hundred and twenty of different classes of infantry and lesser enemies, but they kept sending in wraith's, but to no effect as Max quickly took them down with grenades, rockets, and other weaponry he could find. Six saw an Ultra running towards his position, but it crumpled under the volley of gunfire Max's assault rifle spewed out, and fell at his feet with a bullet riddled body.
Six's super human hearing allowed him to hear a small growl from behind him. Knowing what this was, Six brought his arm back behind him, and elbowed the golden armored general behind him to the ground with extreme precision and force.
Even though it was unconscious, Six put two shots in its head just in case. He had no time to celebrate however, as more elites were rushing toward him. He saw an elite minor rushing out of the fog toward him, and he managed to break its shields with his Assault rifle, before he felt the burning, stinging feeling of plasma splashing against his unshielded chest. Max winced at the nearly unbearable pain of plasma impacting against his body, but stayed standing and face the other foe. An elite, but a major this time. Max unholstered his pistol a second time, and opened fire on both elites and they soon both fell dead at his feet. But was now dry on ammo for both weapons as a result. An Ultra rushed out of the fog, energy dagger ignited, intending to knock the Spartan down. But Max had other plans. He felt the small jolt go up his spine, and the whole world around him was as if trapped in amber, becoming like a a movie on pause.
And he was the remote.
Spartan time.
Waiting until the last possible second, Max unsheathed his combat knife and spun around, making the elite run right past him, stunned by the near instantaneous movement of the Spartan.
Before the elite could even react, it had a knife in its neck for a split second, and was then taken out and the elite fell, lifeless. Max then caught the gaze of a Zealot, and a Field Marshall standing side by side, ten feet away from him, Their hatred fueled irises meeting his unnaturally dark blue eyes, a result of his augmentations. (His eyes are a deep, dark blue, like something that a normal human can't have.)
The Field Marshall muttered something in its extraterrestrial tongue to the Zealot, and it backed off. The Field marshall then walked forward, throwing the Spartan an energy sword, which he deftly caught.
Knowing what the elite planed to do, Max Ignited the sword, and the elite followed suit.
"You will die well demon" The alien said, with reluctant respect for the fellow warrior
The Spartan inwardly scoffed, the alien only throwing fuel on the fire for his anger. "No, you will"
The elite lunged at him, making the first move. Max deflected the strike, and countered with his own, which the elite Narrowly dodged.
They both kept battling, Neither opponent able to get the drop on one another, until the elite horizontally striked. Max drove his sword up from underneath, deflecting the strike, and making the elite throw its sword up in the process. Seeing the opportunity, he disarmed the elite, and shortly after, it fell dead with a very prominent energy sword in its chest.
Six was not able to enjoy his hard-won victory, as he was soon knocked over by the Zealot he had forgot about, no doubt enraged by the death of its superior.
The Zealot then proceeded to pick him up by the neck, and look him in the eye.
"You have fought an honorable battle demon, but for the great journey to proceed, you, like the rest of your disgusting species, must be silenced" It told him, raising its energy sword.
Max waited for the blow that was to come, but it never came. Instead, he heard a loud, "CRACK" and the elite fell dead, with a very large hole in its face.
Shortly after, a Spartan wearing green colored, standard Mk.V MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor with a golden visor, came up to him with a sniper rifle in hand.
Just who the hell was this guy? Six had thought every one on Reach was dead, or in hiding.
The mystery man offered Six a hand, which Six gladly took and got up of his feet.
"Im impressed lieutenant" The mystery man said, looking at the bodies that littered the battle field like sand on a beach.
"I was sent by Keyes to extract you, theres a pelican not too far, lets get back to the Autumn sir."
'So thats what Keyes meant' Max realized, genuinely surprised they had come back for him on the dying, abandoned world.
"Affirmative."
September 19, 2552, 1:20 hours. On board the 'Pillar of Autumn'
"Well thats it then, bring the ship back up to combat alert alpha. I want everyone at their station." Captain Keyes ordered
"Everyone sir?" Cortana asked, surprised at the order she was given
"Everyone" He repeated, crewmen scrambling to their stations among the ship around him, no doubt surprised by the sudden alarms blaring around them.
"And Cortana"
"Hmm?"
"Wake up the lieutenant and Master chief, were going to need them"
"Already begun"
"Sir, you requested our presence?" Master chief asked, Noble six next to him.
"Yes, things aren't going well. Cortona did her best but we never really had a chance." Keyes said gravely.
"A dozen Covenant superior battle ships against a single Halcyon-class cruiser. given those odds I'm content with three... make that four kills." Cortana said rather quickly, and turned around.
"You boys sleep well?" Cortana asked the Spartans.
"No thanks to your driving, yes" Chief joked
"Wait... your the A.I. i delivered?" Six asked, clearly bewildered by what was happening
"Yes, and for all that was going on, that was a pretty nice ride lieutenant"
Before any more words could be exchanged, an explosion rocked the ship, making the men stumble.
"Status report!" Keyes yelled
"It must have been one of their boarding parties, i'd guess an anti matter charge." Cortana told him.
"Ma'am! fire control for the main cannon is offline!" a crewmember shouted
"Captain the cannon was my last defensive option" Cortana informed him.
"Alright then, i'm iniating Cole Protocol article two. Were abandoning the Autumn. That means you too Cortana" Keyes said, pointing at her holographic form.
"While you do what, go down with the ship?" Cortana asked, confused.
"In a manner of speaking, the object we found, i'm going to try and land the Autumn on it"
"With all due respect sir, this war has had enough dead heroes"
"I appreciate your concern Cortana but its not up to me, protocol is clear. Destruction or capture of a shipboard A.I. is completley unacceptable and that means your leaving the ship. Lock in a selection of emergency landing zones and upload them to my neural lace, and then sort yourself for a hard transfer."
"Aye Aye sir" She said sadly, before flickering out and doing what she was told.
"Which is, where you come in Spartans, get Cortana off this ship. Keep her safe from the enemy, if they capture they'll learn everything, force deployment, weapons research... Earth" Keyes said.
"We understand sir" Six said, speaking for himself and Chief. They knew the consequences of what would happen if she got captured, It would essentially be the end for humanity as they knew it.
Cortana's holographic figure appeared once again on the holotank.
"The Autumn will continue evasive manuevers until you iniatiate a landing sequence. Not that you'll listen, but i'd suggest that you let my subroutines handle the final approach"
"Excellent work Cortana, thank you. Are you ready?"
"Yank me"
Keyes typed in some controls on the holotank, and pulled out a chip, containing the advanced A.I. He handed her to Chief, and he put her in his helmet.
"Good luck Spartans. Oh and heres my magnum, i don't keep it loaded so you'll have to find ammunition as you go"
With those words Keyes turned around, focused on the screen in front of him.
"Lead the way lieutenant" Chief spoke, as Six was a much higher rank.
"Affirmative."
And with that, the two Spartans and smart A.I. went off to save the galaxy itself, blissfully unaware of what would happen on the mysterious ring, and the events to come forward that would shape the galaxy itself.
Normandy SR-2, 2185, Lazarus cell
"Wait, but if theres no element zero on Canalus, How could there be such a large spike?"
"Thats exactly what I'm trying to find out Shepard, its far too large to be made by a pirate, or mercenary gang. Its puzzling"
"How exactly do you know this?" Shepard asked, her arms crossed.
The Illusive man took another long drag of his cigarette before responding. "They were picked up by a passing Alliance patrol a couple of hours ago. Luckily for us they didn't have the right equipment or time to investigate the readings. And as far as I'm aware no one else has investigated it."
"Why do even want me to investigate this?" Shepard asked impatiently.
To her, it seemed like a waste of valuable time, something they didn't have unlimited amount of on their mission.
"While the readings scream element zero, it could possibly be something else, a new type of energy source, ancient ruins, the possibilities are intriguing. And besides, you did incredibly good work on Horizon Shepard, you deserve something a little... less intense for a little while"
"God dammit that wasn't a victory! Half of the colonists on that planet got taken by those things, and i still need a way to hit them, i don't like chasing them around everywhere as if their ghosts."
While what Shepard said was true, there was another particular, large reason why she didnt like what happened on horizon. When she saw Kaidan, and what he said to her, it struck deep. Yet when she really thought about it and put herself in his shoes, part of her could understand where he was coming from. If their roles were replaced, and she had saw him come back after two years of being dead, she would probably snap too. That still didn't take away the fact that it hurt. She truly did love the man, and really wanted him on her team, but despite her efforts, it wasn't enough. She was also starting to miss the good 'Stress release' nights as he had called them, shortly after defeating Saren and Sovereign, while searching for any pockets of geth resistance. While in reality it had been two years for everyone else, it all felt like yesterday since she woke up on that operating table.
"Thats exactly what I'm trying to do Shepard, though its going to take some time. And despite what you think about Horizon, it was better then we could have we could have hoped for. Whether you like it or not. I'm still working on new dossiers for you, but i will contact you when i have more for you"
Shepard let out a large huff, her nostrils flaring "Alright, I guess i did good work. But lets not get off topic, wheres this planet, Canalus?
"Its a relatively barren world, and only a single Relay jump from the system your in. While in the end its up to you to go there or not, i would highly recomend doing so"
And with that, he tapped a button on the arm rest of his chair, cutting the connection.
"Joker?" Shepard asked out loud.
"Yes commander?" The pilot responded on the comns.
"Did you hear that?"
"Yes Ma'am, you want me to plot a course to Canalus?"
Shepard waited a few moments before responding, contemplating on whether or not she should.
On one hand, if it turned out to something stupid, it would be a serious waste of valuable time, which was of the essence for the mission.
On the other hand, it could be something very valuable, and could be a good asset to the team, whatever it was
Shepard had no idea how right she was.
'Eh, Fuck it' She thought
"Do it"
While the shuttle began its descent down to the planet, Shepard observed her team in front of her.
on the left, there was Mordin Solus. A certified Salarian genius, he had sealed the deal on horizon, allowing them to survive the seeker swarms with the life saving armor modifications. He was also no amateur in combat, being a former special tasks group member, his missing horn and scars upon his face attesting to that.
On the right, there was Grunt. His seemingly endless bloodlust often did get annoying in combat, but Shepard could not the deny the fact that the young Krogan was a a walking tank, and definitely the second best next to her in combat. And in when things got heated in a firefight, he was toughest SOB one could ask for.
Or so she thought...
"Shepard! Energy readings off the charts, extremely interesting. Possibilities very intriguing. Could be new energy source to be harnessed, ancient ruins, or could kill us all. looking forward to results " The fast talking Salarian said, genuinely intrigued by the information on his omni-tool.
"Bah! This seems pointless, it is probably something meaningless" Grunt exclaimed, uninterested in anything that had to with something other than combat. But due to the fact that he was a tank bred Krogan, Shepard wasn't all surprised.
"Come on Grunt, lighten up a bit, a lack of danger isn't going to to kill you" Shepard said with clear equal annoyance and boredom in her voice.
Grunt simply simply let out a huff and silence reigned the shuttle again.
They soon landed near an odd looking tunnel system, where the energy readings were coming from.
"The readings are getting progressively higher, we are close" Mordin informed the group.
It took them a while to navigate through the rather complicated tunnel system, but eventually they found it, and what they found was something no one could have possibly predicted.
An extremely large human was lying down in what looked like a small, newly formed crater. The giant was encased in somewhat rather bulky looking armor, but at the same time, it looked rather sleek, and cutting edge. The paint scheme was a deep dark blue, and looked rather aesthetically appealing. It appeared customized, as the shoulder pads/Armor was different. The helmet had a pitch lack visor, and offered a much better field of a vision than that of an Alliance trooper. On the top left of the breast plate there seemed to be an emblem of some sort. A single pitch black wolf, on a cliff, howling up at two at two large glowing moons in the clouded dark sky above.
"Mordin do a sc-"
"Already done. Incredible. Metal seems to be made out of extremely dense titanium, better then what we have even on Normandy." Mordin said, clearly excited and fascinated on equal levels. "No element zero coming directly from armor, but from crater instead, possible stealth system maybe? No, suit is far too small to posses one. larger than average sized human, appears to be male, based on body shape. Armor appears to be powered by a hybrid of fusion-plasma power cells, extremely advanced. Appears to customized, due to shoulders and emblem. Hmmm. He seems to be fine, besides unconscious of course. Also local A.I., appears to be installed in armor as well, most likely helmet. Denying all access to armor systems, but not attempting any hacks on my own. Wants help perhaps? Seems like logical conclusion".
Shepard was utterly flabbergasted by the amount of information that was just dropped on her, and a many questions ran through her mind.
"Wait, back up a second Mordin. Fusion-plasma cells? A.I.? The largest Fusion generator he have on the Normandy is the size of an Elcor, how can he have a fusion-plasma hybrid in his armor.?" Shepard essentially thought out loud, having no intentions of holding back her skepticism about all the info bombarded on her.
Mordin simply ignored Shepard's questions, instead focusing on scanning the colossal Human with his omni-tool.
"A.I. extremely advanced as well, if wanted, could hack systems with little effort, but chooses not to. Most definitely wants help, recommend taking back to Normandy for in depth analysis" Mordin informed
Mordin, are you sure its not a V.I? I mean, EDI takes up a whole room, how can he have one in his helmet?"
"Please Shepard, not an apprentice technician, scans and evidence only point to A.I. And does not seem to be hostile" Mordin explained to Shepard, with some amusement in his voice, due to Shepard's astonishment
"Alright Mordin, if you say so" Shepard said, wanting to find out just who this guy was just as much as Mordin did.
'Guess it was something interesting after all ' Shepard mused to herself, glad she chose to come to the seemingly desolate planet.
Shepard went to pick up the giant of a Human, only to find that when she tried to pick the man up, despite the extensive cybernetics cerberus had implanted in her during her reconstruction, she could barely nudge him, let alone pick the giant up.
After a couple of useless tries later, Shepard gave up, and backed off.
"Mordin, do another scan find out how much our mystery man weighs" Shepard jokingly asked, despite panting like she had ran a mile after trying to lift the giant.
"Of course, one moment please"
Mordin brought up his omni-tool once more and scanned the giant again.
"Interesting, user and suit seems to weigh one thousand total " Mordin informed, not surprised as Shepard thought he should have been.
"What? No Human i know could ever hope to wear something that. Theres something different about this guy. Grunt, you know what do" Shepard said, pointing behind her. at the giant
"humph, you Salarians and Humans are weak, maybe this one is different" Grunt spoke as he picked the man up, surprised as even he had to think twice as he did so.
Joker then cut in through the comns
"Commander, the signals pretty patchy, what you guys find down there? Joker asked.
Shepard was confused as on what to tell Joker, what could she really say?
"you'll find out when we get there don't worry, just inform the doctor she'll have a... odd, patient under her care soon"
"yes ma'am"
"Alright, lets get back to the shuttle" Shepard told the squad, and they did just that.
YAY! i finally fucking updated. Sorry it took me so long, but they should be a little more frequent from now on.
Anyways, i just wanted to let you guys know, this story will be very action packed, and not just romance.
Second thing, this will be Max and the Normandy crews story, not anyone else's. No other characters from halo will be in the story, though they will most definitely be mentioned.
Third thing, Max will have a loyalty mission, and it will involve something from halo, but no characters from it itself, you'll know in due time, don't worry.
Thats all i wanted to say, so please RaR, and have have a fantastic day!