Hi guys just some notes. One I'm not good at writing comedy, so… no I'm not going to spoil it. But there may not be many of them. Still, I hope you enjoy.

Second, the next chapter for Mass Effect Demi-humans will be the last chapter for the year. 2020 has been a shitshow, I'll be glad to be rid of it. I'm sure the rest of you will be the same.

Finally, sorry about the exposition dump and dialogue focused chapter, but I couldn't think of a better way of explaining what happened with the past 15 years of the story :P.

Enjoy.

August 30th 2552 Reach.

Six looked out at the blasted landscape as she slid her helmet on and cocked her assault rifle. She had always been like this, alone out in the wild. It was better that way, no one else to look after, no one else to worry about. She walked down the ramp keeping her ears open for the Covenant. In the fog, she could see them. Their shapes blurred by the fog, but she cud make them out thanks to two sets of enhanced vision. Her helmet, and augments. Cracking her neck, she charged in.

Plasma shot around her; needles flew through the air. She didn't care as she fought all she cared was payback. Her weapon barked as she charged into a group of elites and managed to take two of them down, at the cost of her helmet's visor. She pulled it off and tossed it to one side as the elites began to surround her. Another one fell as she was pushed down to the floor. She pushed him off as they descended on her with their swords.

Picking up her pistol she fired it off at one the elites, it's shields fell and a round hit its head blowing it's brains out. It fell down dead as another on descended on her. A loud crack sounded and that one fell two. Two more shots echoed in her ears followed by gunfire. The elites pulled back and Six stood to see two Spartans walk out of the fog followed by a mix of militiamen and UNSC marines. Civilians also followed them, some armed others not.

They approached Six carefully keeping their weapons at the ready. "Name and rank," one asked.

"Specialist Erica B312, Noble team," she said. "But most people call me Six,"

"I'm Sargent Kai B165, just call me Kai," the Spartan in green said before he indicated to his partner. "This is Dan B249, he doesn't speak much,"

Six nodded. "Where you headed?" she asked.

"There's a Spaceport to the west," one of the marines said. "We hope to find a space ship there that can take all of us,"

"How many of you are there?"

"A good hundred, maybe more," Kai responded. "Care to join us?"

Six looked to a dead Spartan. She walked over to it and pulled his helmet off.

"Sure," she said as she dusted the helmet of the dust. "Space port's this way," she said and lead the way.

OOOOO Present.

John shook his head as he thought he was seeing things. But no, Kelly was standing in front of him supporting a pregnant belly. Even more questions flooded his mind as he slowly walked off the pelican looking her up and down, unsure what to say.

"Speechless?" she asked. "Not surprising, I mean you've been asleep for a long time. Now you are awake to see your metaphorical sister pregnant. How could you not be?"

In spite of himself, John smiled. It seemed like Kelly had changed, but not by much.

"I'm happy for you," he said. "But I thought it was impossible for us to have children,"

"ONI bullshit," Six said as she cracked her neck.

"Yeah, turns out we can. But there are a few complications," Kelly said as she turned and made her way to the lift with Six and John. "Not surprising given the augmentation,"

"You said that you were going to tell me what was going on," John then said looking at Six.

"Kelly," Six said, "He trusts you, you tell him," she said as the lift stopped and Six exited.

Kelly sighed and rubbed the back of her neck. "Follow me," she said as she walked out with John following her. "The year you went into cryo it was 2552, the year is 2567. You were in cryo for 15 years, John," she said as she walked into the bridge.

"15 years?" John asked slightly confused. "Why didn't Cortana wake me?" he asked as he followed her.

"Because she couldn't," Six said as she looked over a holotable "Smart AI's have a life of seven years before they go rampant and useless. Cortana was no exception to that rule,"

"And there's no way to stop it," Kelly added. "Until 10 years ago when the Empire found a way,"

"Empire?" John asked looking between the two. "What Empire?"

Kelly took a deep breath; she needed all the strength she could muster. "After the battle for the Ark, the UNSC fell apart," she said slowly allowing John to absorb what she said.

"What?" was all he asked after a moment.

"Roland," Six said and the hologram of an AI in a bomber uniform stood on the holotable. "Show the Chief Earth,"

"On it," he said and an image of earth appeared.

John stared at the image in shock. He was expecting to see a green and blue ball, but instead his eyes gazed on a black and brown charred rock. In his mind he had now doubt what happened, there was only one question he could ask.

"How did this happen?" he asked.

"15 years ago, after the war a whistle blower at ONI put up everything. The Spartan program, the flood, the Forerunners. Every little dirty piece in ONI's closet was pushed out into the open," Roland said feeling pleased with himself. "It caused massive and widespread hate towards the UNSC, UEF and ONI. In fact, it almost turned into a civil why just by the leaking of information,"

"Because of what was leaked," Six began. "Many both in the inner colonies and outer colonies began to call for the dismissal of ONI. Hell even a few places seceded from the UEG altogether with the what was left of the UNSC in those areas,"

"It quickly turned into a civil war within a month," Kelly added. "What was still loyal to the UNSC and the UEG tried to re-establish control while trying to hold ONI accountable and get them to push something out so they didn't lose control,"

"And that's were the Spartan Rebellion began," Roland chipped in. "With the successionists growing, ONI pushed out Spartan IV, their last attempt. But there was a problem. With the lack of oversight and something going wrong with the augmentations, many Spartans defected and created their own empires from these successionist states. Mostly from the threes and fours. It would appear that the augmentation in the fours was flawed and gave them a sense of ego and power. With that, after ONI deployed them those Spartans took over and began to fight against the UNSC and others," as he spoke, Roland presented a visual map about what happed.

John just started at the holotable trying to take everything in. That was easier said than done, his own Spartan brother and sisters turning on the UNSC. For some reason, his brain couldn't accept that fact.

"How did earth get destroyed?" he asked, knowing he wouldn't like the answer.

"The Flood," Kelly answered with a very angry tone. "During the purge of Voi, a Flood spore managed to get lose. Someone got infected and it spread across the planet during the Spartan Rebellion. With the civil war going on, no one noticed it at first but then Lord Hood found out. But by then it was already too late to contain,"

"Lord Hood then activated Earth's nuclear arsenal," Six said. "He destroyed the parasite, as well as the UNSC, UEG and ONI. What was left of them was claimed by the Warlords. Since then, the war charged from a civil war to a war of power between the different Warlords and factions,"

John took a moment and removed his helmet making some people turn to look at him before getting back to work, but they occasionally took a glance at the legend. John did take off his helmet every now and again, but those times when he wasn't in the presence of Spartans was rare. His pale skin almost sighed in the light and his short brown hair was unkempt. Despite his stoic appearance, Kelly could see how this was affecting him. He, like her, had spent all his life fighting for the UNSC. But to hear everything you knew was taken away, that was never easy to hear.

"So…" he began looking around. "Which faction are you with?"

"What was left of the UNSC at Sol headed to Mars. We understood that the UNSC was dead, so what was left of us and still 'loyal', if you want to use the term, knew we had to form out own faction to fight back. Try to keep the idea of a unified government alive from Sol," Kelly answered. "We call ourselves the Martian Federation with Mars as out new Capital. Our leader is President Parisa, she's a four. One of the few who remained loyal during the rebellion,"

"What about the other factions?" John then asked.

"Aside from us, there's almost about 3 dozen," Roland said as he pulled up a map of what was previously human controlled space. "But since that would take too long, I'll just list the big ones. The Empire is the biggest faction in terms of territory. They are the ones who figured out the cure for AI rampancy. But how they are not telling anyone and use a networked system of AI called the 'Hive' to conduct military operations," he then changed the image to a large galactic map and showed the Chief the area's the Warlords held. "Little is known about their structure outside of the military. We have no idea about their goals or who rules them. Many of the captives we get from the Empire kill themselves before divulging any intel,"

"The second most powerful is the Atlas Republic," Six said. "They are the ones who we faced today," as she spoke Roland's map changed to an image of a female spartan with brown hair. "This, is Supreme Commander Sarah Palmer, the leader of Atlas. She's a four, and has a good 200 Spartans on her side. She rules Atlas with an iron fist and treats the other Spartans as a form of nobility. She believes in the innate superiority of Spartans and treats everyone who isn't one like dirt," Six then spat on the floor in disgust. "She burned and entire city to the ground because of rebels and slaughtered their families. You are not a person, if you aren't a Spartan in her eyes,"

"They are also the most technologically Advanced," Kelly added to try and keep Six from venting even more. "Most of their scientists are former ONI, and they have quite the stash of Covenant tech that they are researching. It gives them better shields and access to better weaponry,"

"They also have an Infinity-class ship, the Eternity," Roland added as he showed one of the largest ships John had ever seen. "It's also her main command ship. No planetary invasion is complete without it hanging overhead, it's a symbol of her authority,"

John nodded as he looked at the ship. It would be hard to take down, but his mind already raced thinking about the possibilities.

"The next is the Victorian Union," Six said and the image changed back to the map.

"Victorian?" John asked. "I assume they are from the planet Victoria?" he got nods of confirmation. "I thought we lost contact with that planet,"

"We did," Kelly said. "But it turns out there was a reason for that. After our raid in 2531, it turns out that the population was just left to its own devices. They used it to becomes pirates and establish a small empire of their own. When the UNSC fell, they quickly began to take what they could and expand further. It was a largely stealth operation, something that they seem to specialise in. While they have the smallest of the major factions, that doesn't stop them from being powerful,"

Six nodded that that. "They are rich and trade in both tech an intelligence. It makes them hard to target as well due to that. Most of their intel agents are former ONI, so they know how to make themselves scarce if found out. Not to mention they are one of only a few factions not to be led by a Spartan,"

Kelly nodded at that. "The final group is the Greater Human Republics," the map then changed to a section of the map.

This section had a hard border, but the inside was divided up into different coloured sections. "Why is it like that?" John asked, "Divided?"

"That's because they are made up of the rebel factions," Roland said. "They are united under a common cause. Each territory is under the control of one or more worlds. Each world is considered a sovereign nation, but they have a mutual defence pact. If one territory is attacked, all are attacked. They are what remains of the United Rebel Front,"

"A union of independent republics who answer to no one," Six muttered. "Just what they always wanted. The problem is that while they are strong, there are factions within the GHR who seek to control more territory if not the whole of the faction itself," she shook her head. "It's amazing how long they managed to stay like that these past years,"

"And that's it for the major factions," Roland said as the map disappeared. "The rest are squabbling over what territory they can get their hands on,"

"What about the Covenant?" John asked.

The thee looked to one another. "That's another matter John," Kelly said as she brought up the map and indicated a large purple section next to the Warlords map. "We've identified at least four factions with the fallen Covenant empire. The Storm Covenant, Abiding Truth, Swords of Sanghelios and the Banished. Out of all of them, only the Swords of Sanghelios don't attack human colonies unless attacked first. The Arbiter still keeps in communication with us. But… the rest of the factions are hard to predict. Most of the time we can't tell which one is which," she sighed. "Only the Banished can easily be identified due to their, brutish machines. But even they have fractured. It's hard to tell where the lines are with them," she took another sigh. "Two fractured empires, fighting over the remains. This is why I quit being a Spartan,"

"You quit?" John asked surprised.

Kelly nodded. "I just…" she sighed. "When the UNSC collapsed, it was hard to know who to fight for. Not just me, but the rest of the twos. We gave our lives for a military that no longer existed. All of us, lost unknown what to do. Some of us just left, by the time I figured out what I wanted to do, two years had passed. Two years of just living like a normal human. Now, I don't fight unless I have to. I support by Spartan brothers and sisters on the ground. I fight my own way on my own terms. And it's been like that since I joined the Federal Army,"

"Most of the twos have gone John," Six added. "Where? We don't know, maybe off to find themselves. We both know what the twos went though, that kind of indoctrination destroys a person. When something like the UNSC, you swore to protect and die for, dies itself. That void is something that can never be fulfilled. But ones like Fed, Kelly and Linda have stayed with the Federation. We do have word about twos being in high positions within some of the other factions training new Spartans. But that's about it,"

"How many twos in the Federation?" John asked.

"Including you, Kelly, Fred and Linda, twelve," Six answered. "Six in combat roles, three in supporting and three retired,"

"Fred and Linda are on their own mission at the moment John," Kelly said. "You'll see them when they get back. They'll be happy to see you,"

John nodded as he looked at the map in front of him unsure what to make of all of the news that had been dumped on him. Spartan or not, it was a lot to take in. This was one of those times were words where lost on him.

"I… I need to process this," he said.

Six nodded. "I have a room ready for. Kelly, if you please,"

"Sir," Kelly saluted and lead John out as he fitted his helmet back on.

Six looked to her command team. "What are you all gawking at?" she asked. "Get back to work," the team smiled as they turned back to their terminals, the wars had just begun.

OOOOO A box canyon.

"GRIFF!" Sarge yelled as he got up and recovered his shotgun. "That was the worst flying I've ever seen,"

"Because that wasn't flying," Griff replied as he patted out a fire on his ass. "That was crashing and burning! Can someone get me some water!"

"Did someone get the licence plate of that boulder?" Tucker asked in a dazed state before meeting a wall. "Ow…" he muttered before falling back.

"Remind me never to let Griff fly again," Carolina muttered as she crawled out of a river.

"Hummm…." Simmons muttered as he looked around. "We seem to trapped,"

"Trapped?" Church asked as he walked up to the cyborg. "Wh…" he stopped looking around. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" he cried out falling to his knees.