Wow, WOW, just unbelievable at how many favorites and followers this new story got in such a short amount of time is just humbling and well, can't put it properly into words at how giddy that makes me feel. Like fucking eh people, I really can't tell you how much that means to me. BulletStormX and I are gonna make sure to give you guys a wholly new story though again, many inspirations played a great role in shaping this story.
Unknown Defender by Gabernator5, The Spartan Effect by Gatekeeper333, To Infinity by creamofwheat2311, Spartan Dawn by Freedom Guard(RIP comrade) and Mass Effect: Clash of Civilizations by Eterna1Soldier just to name a few off the top of my head. These are some of the best stories not just in Halo/Mass effect crossovers, but overall within the site.
And I hope the several variations BSX and I have in store will one day reach their level of greatness but that is a damn long way to go.
So, I know some of you did have some legit criticisms in case of the ship size and I updated that, removing the feature yet it doesn't seem to be appearing. So the UNSC Spirit of Fire is officially still 2.5 kilometers long which is a hell of a lot bigger still then most of the ME ships even the Reapers.
But really, all that's left to say is again, thank you for such an up swell of support and love, genuine honest criticisms that will be taken into account. And mind you, this is only variation 1. BSX and I have another in store where we're just about done writing the outline out for that story. So more to come in variety.
Rate Read and Review and as Always Have Nice Day.
Spirit Unto Dawn Chapter 2: Days in solitude Part 1
Noble Six climbed down the ladder to the MAC cannon stationed at the Aszod docking facility while watching the UNSC Pillar Of Autumn slowly hover away from its docking area until its primary engines sent it flying high into Reach's atmosphere disappearing from Six's view.
The Spartan walked forward on the arid land around him, DMR in hand as he looked around the area where Covenant Phantoms, Banshees and dropships flew about.
He knew what he had chosen.
He knew that this was it here. His last stand.
But Noble Six, Nathan-B312 was sure as hell not gonna go down without a fight.
Six was gonna make sure these Covenant bastards knew just who it was they were fighting. All that silent rage and fury, what drove him to first becoming a Spartan-III was fueling his every step as he saw his first set of Covenant forces landing on the ground.
It didn't take long for him to quickly kill them off with the unit being composed of only a dozen Grunts being led by one Elite Major.
Pulling his knife out from the Elites neck, Six began lightly jogging throughout the Aszod encountering sporadic Covenant ground forces here and there until…
He stood upon an elevated platform built atop a hill overlooking many structures and former UNSC bases that were all destroyed and in ruin.
Reach… has fallen.
The stronghold of the UNSC Navy and Military has fallen to these alien bastards. It left a bitter taste in the mouth of Spartan-B312. He remembered when his planet was glassed by the Covenant, when he lost it all. His family turned to ash before him, his home that he could vaguely recall turned to glass.
Everything, everything he had was taken from him.
So he was gonna make sure to take as much back as he could within his life.
Joining up the Spartan-III's at the age of five, Six completed his training when he was 11 undergoing the augmentations before being swiftly deployed in 2543. For nine years, Six conducted many missions against the Covenant as well as handling Insurrectionist cells that didn't get the bigger picture of extinction.
To gain the title of Reaper of the Covenant was no small easy feat. Something he was actually proud of. Almost as proud as his other title. Hyper-Lethal Vector.
And now, it was high time he started living up to that name.
Reloading his DMR, Six prepared himself for a long battle when…
"Noble Six, can you hear me?"
Six froze on the spot, his hand suddenly raised to the size of his helmet.
"... Dot, is that you?"
"Affirmative Noble Six, I had feared for the worst when I had lost contact with you and Noble Four."
Six was silent, beginning to move forward as he saw Grunts and Elites being deployed with the squadrons all making a beeline for him.
"Where are you Dot? Are you nearby?"
"Though I can transfer into your suit, I believe it would be more beneficial that you come to me." The Dumb AI said plainly.
"Which is…?"
"Approximately 2 miles from your position is another UNSC base though the Covenant force here is strong. This base contains a Winter-Class prowler outfitted with a Slip-space drive and stealth tech that may allow us to escape undetected by the Covenant."
"Think it'll work to get us off Reach?" Six asked, pulling out Emile's kukri and jamming it into an Elites head.
While the Elite fell to the ground, Six fired off his DMR clip to take out the grunts who were all now fleeing in terror at the sight of their leader being killed.
"I can see no other current alternatives available at this time, Noble Six."
Plasma grenades went off beside him, his shields flaring with him snapping around to fling his other combat knife into the neck of an Ultra who clutched his bleeding neck. Eyes narrowing with his heart rate beginning to increase, Six bolted forward and tackled the Ultra down while switching to his pistol.
He unloaded the entire clip into the Elite closest to him, 4 to take down the shields around the head and 4 more to ensure that Sangheili would indeed die.
Still, it was a long walk from where he was to the facility, and the other phantoms would soon arrive. He had to act fast. Six scanned his surroundings, scouting the small deserted outpost.
Lying keeled to its side, he found a warthog a few meters distant. He flipped the car and gave it a quick once over. The rear axle is a mess and the hydrogen engine's casing was cracked and leaking, but it would get him to where he needed to be.
The spartan keyed the ignition and gunned the engine, speeding away from the mass driver and the approaching covenant forces.
The drive was longer than anticipated, he had to duck countless covenant patrols and weave through plains of crackling glass. It gave him plenty of time to see the enemy's handiwork. Off in the distance lay the broken and jagged spires of New Alexandria. The covenant had thoroughly annihilated the once beautiful city, taking great pleasure in its destruction.
All that remained were the skeletons of the city's high rises, Reach's looming tombstones. The rest of the metropolis had been slagged to glass, nothing but twisted steel and scorched bone.
Thankfully, the city's forsaken ruins soon disappeared behind the shattered mountains and the abandoned shell of UNSC base materialized on the horizon. Six could see the remains of their last major battle weeks prior, broken vehicles and bones garbed in standard UNSC combat armor, still fiercely clutching their weapons in skeletal grips in defense of the fallen fortress, their loyalty surpassing the cold grasp of death.
The warthog gave its last cough and spluttered to a stop a kilometer from the base's doors. The spartan climbed out and patted the car on the hood, thanking it for getting him this far.
Once inside, Six walked its deserted corridors and traced a path through memory to the launch bay.
Things had changed, a matter of days ago, he had come here with his squad, all still alive and well. And now, he alone marched through its barren halls.
The spartan paused as he came across a set of large steel doors, remembering that the armory was down that way.
Should he bother? Was there even a point in arming up?
He thought it over before he shrugged.
Why the hell not? There was no one left to use them anyways.
Six went inside the armory. The room was mostly empty, but there was enough for a duffle bag of munitions and he found a sniper rifle with a few spare clips lying discarded in the corner. Tallying that with his rifle, shotgun, and magnum he had a decent arsenal. On his way out, the spartan decided to acquire a few covenant weapons as well. After all, there were plenty of corpses to take from. He took a full plasma repeater from an elite's dead hands and found one of their needle rifles beside the corpse of a jackal, placing them both inside the bag.
With his equipment set the next step was finding the Winter Class-Prowler. Which thankfully didn't take long with Dot's directions.
"So Dot, care to elaborate on our escape plan?" Six asked, entering the Winter-Class Prowler and seating himself in the pilot's chair.
"This Winter-Class Prowler is a uniquely designed experimental Gen 3 model focused on experimental retrofitted technology that allows for a prolonged period of active camouflage as well as making it invisible to most scanners and can send out short burst jammers to keep itself well hidden from enemy forces."
"ONI pulled out all the stops."
"This is the only one of its kind left on Reach." Dot said.
"So nobody will mind that we borrow it to get ourselves outta here." Six said, the ship powering up. "Can I rely on you as my co-pilot, Dot?"
"Of course, Noble Six."
Smirking slightly beneath his helmet, Six felt the engines whir to life as the Prowler jolted and began to lift up off the ground.
After breaching orbit, the spartan did a quick search for any nearby Covenant vessel within the Prowler vicinity. The ship onboard Intel system warned him of a massive Covenant fleet circumnavigating the planet. It was fortunate that they were preoccupied with glassing. Otherwise he suspected they would have noticed his launch from planet side. He would have to be careful to remain undetected.
"Dot."
"Cloaking has been activated. Jammers are functioning and the Slip-space drive has been prepared."
He looked out the window, down onto the planet that was lost.
Six grasped his controls tightly, feeling the material bend slightly before letting go before his enhanced would break them.
"Let's get out of here, Dot." Six said, his tone hollow and conveying a feeling of defeat. Reach… it was gone now. Noble Team had all but perished in its defense and he was all that remained.
"Now entering Slip-Spa-Alarm. Energy fluctuation detected."
"What?" Six said in a sharp manner. "What do you mean?"
"Slip-Space Rupture, detected." Dot announced.
"What does that mea-"
Six's vision was engulfed in a bright light that made him shut his eyes when he felt his entire body seize up.
"Noble Six" Dot's voice called out to him; voice elevated until…
…
…
…
…
"Noble Six, can you hear me?"
Noble Six grunted, slowly beginning to stir.
"Dot?" He leaned forward, removing his helmet to rub his eyes. "What happened?"
"It appears that during our escape from Reach, the atmosphere coupled with plasma fire and the powering of the Slip-space Drive caused an unforeseen anomaly." Aunty Dot informed him.
"Meaning?"
"Unclear." Dot stated in a blunt manner. "I have run diagnostics upon the ship and have detected no signs of external or internal damage. Though the trip has forced our ship to power back up. Stealth, engine, slip-space and weapon functions unavailable for the next half hour"
"Good news and bad news." Six muttered as he placed his helmet back on. "What's our status overall? Where are we?"
"Unknown, Noble Six." Dot answered. "My preliminary scans show that we are in uncharted space though star alignments and constellations suggest we are still within our galaxy."
"One step forward, five steps back." Six grunted. "Do you have any idea where we might be in the galaxy? The constellations could give us an idea."
"I have detected an unidentifiable large object of unknown design not far from our current location." Dot said a moment later. "It is made of materials that are unknown to my data and holds unusual energy readings I cannot discern."
"Can I see it from my position?" Six inquired looking out through the window.
"Affirmative." Dot stated. "North East of your position, one kilometer out from the ship."
Utilizing his advanced eyesight along with his helmet's own zoom features, Six spotted a strange structure that was rather bizarre in appearance. Two curved and elongated arms with a rotating energy gyro contraption in the center that connected the two arms.
"What am I looking at, Dot?" Six inquired.
"Unknown, Noble Six." Dot stated. "I have been making multiple preliminary scans yet I cannot find any matching elements or energies within UNSC data caches."
"So alien in makeup." Six surmised.
"That would seem to be the case, Noble Six." Dot stated.
Six slumped back into the pilots chair. He knew there wasn't much that he could do right now other than wait for his ship to finish power back up.
"Unknown energy source spike detected."
Six sat up in alarm, eyes on the strange unknown alien device that began to glow and radiate when from seemingly nowhere, a dozen strangely shaped ships appeared.
"Dot."
"Those ships do not match any known Covenant or UNSC designs." Dot said straight away.
"Are you sure?" Six asked.
"Affirmative, Six." Dot went on. "No matching identifications suggested…"
"First contact." B312 murmured under his breath, eyeing the oncoming ships.
They were slowly making his way over to his ship that was still not fully powered.
"What's the status of our ship, Dot?"
"Ten minutes until it is fully powered once more."
His fists tightened as the ships grew closer. They didn't fire at him or do any aggressive motions. Their shape was rather unusual in design. Somewhat smooth in shape and appearance as well as curved.
"Noble Six, I am detecting an attempt on our security systems from an unknown source."
"And?"
"I am currently holding them back."
"Them?" Six eyed the vessels that were now less than a few feet away from him.
The ships surrounded him entirely. He had backed from sight, with him grabbing a shotgun and loading it. His Prowler was smaller than most, only 83 meters in length. These ships were substantially bigger, Dot managing to get a measurement of about 1083 meters just a bit shy over a kilometer.
Suddenly, the ship jolted as he felt it begin to move.
"What's happening Dot?"
"We are being pulled into one of the ships."
The ship jolted and stopped in its motion.
Six strained his senses as he tried to gauge just what was possibly out there. There were strange warbling sounds with unusual skittering around and now on the ship.
Six gripped his shotgun tightly. "What's going on out there, Dot?"
"I am detecting movement all around the ship as well as what I believe to be AI attempting to access our ship logs and data."
"AI?"
"Yes, I have correlated this attempt to the one from earlier when they were approaching our ship."
Six looked back at the window of the Prowler before gazing at the exit ramp. Whoever it was that pulled him in had AI yet it appeared that Dot was more than capable of holding them back.
"Are they attempting anything right now?" Six inquired. "Any means of entering our systems, gaining control of the ship?"
"Negative, they have not attempted another means of breaching my firewall and are, in a manner, simply hovering before the firewall while conversing amongst themselves." Dot stated.
Six was silent for several moments, noticing the skittering around the ship had stopped.
"Three individuals stand outside the ship, Noble Six." Dot announced.
"Are they familiar in any way shape or form?"
"The best way that I could describe them is yes and no." Dot surmised. "When you see them, you will find many correlations with species we have seen before."
Knowing that just standing around inside his ship, Six figured it was time to face the music and just deal with whatever it was that was waiting for him out there.
The back of his prowler slowly opened with him placing his shotgun on his back while keeping a pistol attached to his thigh for a quick draw in case this situation goes south. Slowly, he walked out from his ship to face whoever or whatever it was that found him.
And…
Six stood before several unusual synthetic bipedal beings that all stared at him with their singular glowing eyes.
Humanoid, though only slightly, the design of these robots -if he could call them that- were all the same. They all shared the same curvature as domes of sorts in head pieces, two stubbed toes for feet and three fingers on their hands. Overall, they appeared to be made out of some synthetic flexible shell that vaguely resembled nerves and muscles. Each one of these mono-eyed bots seemed to have some sort of fins around their heads. The way each ones moved up and down looked akin to a display of curiosity.
The single glowing eyes were affixed on him, though there was the occasional rapid movement over his entire form.
Eventually, the silence was broken by the center bipedal synthetic being by a series of high-pitched clicks and warbles.
Six titled his head. "I guess that there's gonna be a bit of a language barrier then."
The fins of the one-eyed synthetics reared open in full until settling back down.
"You are a human."
Now that slightly alarmed the Spartan-III.
"How do you know that?" Six asked defensively. "Who are you? What are you?"
The fins of the synthetic that spoke moved about. "We are Geth."
"Geth?" Six was wary yet they hadn't done anything aggressive as of this moment. "What are Geth?"
"We are Geth." The lead 'Geth' stated.
"That doesn't answer my question." Six stated.
"Apologies." the lead Geth said. "We were unclear as to your question. Geth are a collection of networked Artificial Intelligence programs all working collectively together."
"Artificial Intelligence?" Six said aloud. "You're a race of AI then?"
"That would be a simplified version of it, but yes." The lead Geth stated with a nod of its head.
"So you attempted to gain access to my ship and its functions." Six stated knowing this to be true rather than false.
"We attempted yet failed upon being blocked. A firewall was erected and we could not bypass the coding nor the subroutines that prevented us from doing so." The Geth said in a blunt manner.
"Why tell me this? I figured you would at least try to lie."
"Geth do not lie or see a point to lying unless necessary for Geth survival."
"So I don't seem to be a threat to you?"
"You have displayed no signs of aggression nor a means of harm to us." The Lead Geth said in an analytical manner. "If you were aggressive then you would have attacked us in an instant."
"Now that wouldn't make sense." Six stated. "You have twelve ships surrounding my own before taking me into your ship. What would I gain from such an action if not for a suicidal last stand?"
The fins of the Geth's head moved about as if processing the information.
"That would be an apt and logical judgement choice to not engage."
Six found himself grinning slightly underneath his helmet.
"So you know what I am." Six pointed out. "How? Are you aware of the other species humanity faces right now?"
"Humanity is at war?" The lead Geth said with its tone shifting into one of confusion. "We were not aware of such a state for your species. Data consensus shows that the last known galactic conflict of warfare for humanity was in the first-contact war between themselves and the galactic council race members, the Turians."
…
…
…
"The Turians?" Six repeated. "...And they are?"
The Geth did not answer, regarding Six inquisitively.
"How is it possible that you are not aware of the Turians?"
"Are you talking about the Covenant?" Six answered back. "The Elit- I mean, Sangheili. The Unggoy? Kig-Yar? Is Turians the name you use for the Covenant?"
"The names in which you have listed are not recognized by the consensus." The lead Geth stated. "We are unfamiliar with all that you have listed as well as your ship design and armor. You are human yet you appear different from those that we have studied."
"Why study humans?" Six found himself asking.
"Humans are new to the galactic theater but they are a fascinating organic presence." the Geth admitted. "They appear to be an amalgamation of the many organic races that exist beyond the Perseus veil in which we reside. Stubborn and militant as the Turians, diplomatic as the Asari, reckless as the Krogan, deceitful as the Salarians, mechanically sound as the creators. Humanity is a unique organic race; unlike any we have studied since our war with the creators. We have yet to encou-"
Six held up his hand as a means of silencing the Geth for a brief moment.
"Give me a moment." Six said, crossing his arms in thought.
Shutting off his speakers, Six spoke in private to his own AI. "Dot, what can you make of all this?"
"UNSC Proto-"
"I don't think we can use UNSC protocol for this situation, Dot." Six said firmly. "These Geth seem to know about humanity but just listed a bunch of names of species that we are probably not familiar with. They know that I'm human yet know nothing of the Covenant."
"This is a first contact situation."
"Not in the usual regard." Six said, uncrossing his arms and gazing back up at the Geth in front of him.
"I'd like to introduce you all to my companion." Six said. "Dot, if you would."
"Hello, I am UNSC AI ADT-6849-9, you may call me Auntie Dot."
The Geth's head fins raised up in surprise and their equivalent of shock.
"Query: You carry an AI with?"
"Within my suit, yes." Six said with a nod. "She is the AI that prevented you from accessing our ships controls and data."
"We were unaware that humanity utilized advanced AI. Our observations showed only VI in use."
"There's a lot that both sides here seem to be lacking." Six noted.
"We would like to offer an exchange." Dot spoke up. "You have showed us no harm, only a curiosity and we are rather lost in a manner of speaking and perhaps our two parties may exchange data that can benefit one another."
The Geth fins moved about with the three eyes taking a look at one another.
All around Six, he could literally hear the buzzing of information throughout the entire ship he stood in.
"We have come to an agreement." The Lead Geth spoke. "We shall agree to the exchange data. What is it you wish to know?"
Six knew that knowledge was power. And the more knowledge one had, the better one would be equipped for any situation. Chief Mendez and Kurt Ambrose drilled that into his head during training.
"Everything."
With the knowledge of the greater galaxy in hand, Six parted from the Geth ships with the promise of keeping in touch should they contact him for further queries. The idea of learning how to be more sentient was apparently a unanimous agreement within the Geth consensus and meeting with Six made the idea more possible.
To the Geth, it was a surprise to discover an organic work so closely with an AI to the point that he basically has Dot be in his brain. The level of trust Six displayed for Dot fascinated the Geth to a great degree and they wished to know more and why.
But for Six, he had a greater challenge ahead of him.
Everything the Geth have divulged, everything they had shown… this was not the galaxy he knew of.
There was no intergalactic empire hellbent on the complete extinction of humanity. Instead, there was a "Galactic Council" of aliens wherein humanity held an embassy at this "Citadel". None of the new aliens looked even remotely threatening in the eyes of Six save perhaps for the Krogan and what he dubbed the Elites long lost cousins, the Turians.
Then there were the means of Faster Than Light travel. The Mass Relays.
Who or how they function was completely separate from how he knew FTL to work. They relied solely on these Mass Relays and this "Element Zero" for FTL travel. As a matter of fact, from what Dot has shown him, this entire galaxy relies solely on Element Zero, Eezo for short, for just about everything. Talk about technological stagnation. Nothing could be advanced unless Eezo was involved.
Using the info from the Geth, Six decided to jump the ship to just outside of what the peoples of this galaxy called the Attican traverse. In order to listen into the farthest colony outposts located there, using the outposts communications and electronic systems to hack into the rest of the galaxy at large, so as to learn everything he could about every faction and danger he could find without the risk of being traced or discovered.
Exiting slip-space Six found that he had arrived near a small colony settlement, although it was more like a sparsely populated outpost than an actual settlement, the place was located on an almost completely un-inhabited garden world that was orbiting the nearby star.
Six is relieved to see that the ship had exited slip-space on the fringes of the rings of a gas giant in the solar system and was thus very well hidden from the few sensors that the settlement's basic communications systems fielded. Though he opted to remain extra cautious, utilizing the Winter-Prowlers Stealth capabilities to their fullest performance.
Drawing closer to the human settlement, Six piloted the ship down to the surface and settled it down upon an isolated area where there was little to no chance of his ship being discovered.
Stepping out of his ship, Six had Dot outline how far was the nearest base from his position.
Beginning his trek towards the base, Six took note of the environment around him. This planet was rather mountainous yet due to its alignment with the star that resided in the system, it was brimming with shrubbery and other flora. Some of which looked familiar to Six.
Seems this human colony was already gaining more human inhabitants and earth-based plant-life.
"Dot?"
"Nearest human settlement and base is less than several hundred meters away."
"Population?" Six asked, continuing his jog while also initiating active camo.
"From what I have been able to gather, no more than a few hundred that reside within the base." Dot stated.
"What kind of base is this?" Six stopped atop a hill overlooking a structure that sat at the base of a river that entered into a lake.
"It seems to be a research facility." Dot surmised. "I can gain more access upon entry to the base, Noble Six."
Wordlessly, Six began sprinting down the hill towards the river. He was on the opposite end of the base, so upon reaching the edge of the river, he performed a mighty leap over the water and landed on the other side.
Making a quick pause and scan to see if he were detected, Six resumed his pace, approaching the base at the side.
As he drew closer, his enhanced ears picked up on something…
"What do you figure? Several more weeks of this before we get cycled out?"
"Two months max."
"You sure about that? Last I heard from Sarge, we're not getting any reinforcements."
"Meh, it's just a research outpost. All they do here is study plants."
Six stood behind a tree line that bordered near the base and watched from afar.
Two guards armed with what seemed to be assault rifles armored in…. Well, he couldn't really deduce just what it was they wore. Both were light-skinned with the one on the left having red hair and the other on the right having brunette.
He tensed as the door to the base opened. Out walked several individuals, two females, a human male and what appeared to be what he would best describe as a literal blue human with a strangely shaped head crest.
"Hey ladies." The guard on the left greeted the newcomers. "And Ryan."
"Markus, Skyler." Ryan greeted the former on the right and the latter on the right. "Nothing interesting happen?"
"What sort of interesting could happen here?" Skyler asked in a dry voice. "We're on a garden world where all they do here is research plant life."
"It's very important plant-life research Ryan." The blue alien spoke in a teasing feminine tone.
"Lessa, the only green Skyler is interested in is the good stuff back home." Markus said knowingly.
"Is it that recreational plant that I have heard of?"
"You do know we grow that here, right?"
While the humans and their alien friend conversed with each other, Six had managed to approach and slip by with his steps and movements as silent as the grave.
Walking down a corridor, Six was unsure of what it was he was looking for but he had Dot instructing him as she had managed to map out a means of directions. She didn't know the full layout of the base but she would use the data she had in finding the center, the control room and access what they needed from there.
He halted as he heard more talking from around the corridor. Going over to the wall, he pressed himself up against it while peeking out from his hallway.
Camouflaged he may be, he'd rather not take chances.
He saw two more humans in what he would gather to be some sort of hazard suit or what goes for scientific clothing on this planet. They were approaching a door which opened up to be…
'The control room.' Six surmised judging by the amount of people he was able to spot.
Quickly making his way over to the two researchers that were entering the room, Six managed to slip by just as the doors behind him closed.
"We are where we need to be Six." Dot stated.
"You sure about that Dot?"
"Affirmative." Dot stated. "From my initial scans of this base, this room appears to be the center hub of energy and data output. We will find what we are looking for here."
"And just how do we do that?" Six asked, warily making sure that his outline was unseen, movements silent and staying out of the way of people walking around.
"Your presence is all I need." Dot said. "Now beginning download and data retrieval."
"How are you doing that, Dot?" Six inquired. "Don't you need some port or slot for me to do that for you?"
"The data and security transmissions here are almost entirely different and more open then what we have dealt with in the past." Dot informed the Spartan. "The Geth spoke on open transmissions and data exchange between organics and it seems as that they were correct."
Six only hummed in thought, moving around the room that suddenly had a large ringing noise.
Then a voice over what must have been the base's intercom.
"Soups on everyone, let's eat."
"Oh finally, I was starving."
"Hear, Hear."
The room soon cleared out of all the scientists and researchers, leaving Six standing rather awkwardly in place.
"Dot?"
"Motion detectors and Cameras have been disabled."
With that being said, Six de-cloaked and walked over to a random terminal and held out his hand. It appeared like a holo-tank from a UNSC ship so he just needed to figure out the controls overall.
Shouldn't be too hard.
It didn't take long for Dot to gain the data, with her informing him they have what they need and could depart this human outpost research station named Divine Harmony.
Soon enough, Six retraced his steps out of the base and made his way back to his Prowler.
"Alright Dot." Six seated himself in the pilot's chair. "What do we have?"
"The data I have managed to extract has many similarities and additional information from what the Geth have given us upon meeting with them." Dot's grid-like appearance displayed upon a display on the Prowler's controls. "We are currently residing within a section of space called the Attican Traverse which borders upon the lawless Terminus System, The Human Systems-Alliance Space, the Outer Citadel Colonies and the Citadel's inner controlled space."
"Where is Earth?" Six asked. "The Systems Alliance controlled Space?"
"Correct, Noble Six." Dot said, displaying Earth.
Dot went on to show Six a plethora of information, some familiar to Six as he had seen it with what the Geth gave them and a lot newer info.
The Citadel Council being made up of the humanoid Asari, the lizard-amphibian-like Salarians, the sort of Cousins of the Sangheili, the Turians, humanity, the Volus, Krogan, Drell, Elcor, Vorcha, Quarians, Batarians. Then came the ships and the weaponry, Omni-tools, politics and warfare. Laws, rules and regulations.
Everything… everything showing Six and Dot a galaxy they did not recognize. A galaxy that wasn't their home.
There was no Covenant. No UNSC. No Slip-Space, no war, no Reach, no Spartans or ODST's…
"Dot." Six said slowly. "Where are we?"
"Due to what we have learned as well as correlating the Data from the Geth and our own… I can surmise that we are not on our Galaxy. Not our universe."
Six leaned back in his chair while taking off his helmet.
Large car over his left eye and another on his cheek that reached down to his neck with silver-blue eyes and a short buzz cut brown-blond hair.
"We're in another universe then." Six didn't ask. He simply stated the obvious. The details added up. This wasn't a farce or a dream. This was reality.
"It would seem to be the case, Noble Six."
Six's lip twitched upwards before he couldn't help but let out a small laugh.
"You've gotta be fucking kidding me."
"I do not believe I have made a humorous statement."
"No, Dot, I know just… trying to make sense of it all."
"Acknowledged."
'Another universe. We're in another universe.' Six repeated that phrase in his head several times over to allow for it to settle in. How in God's name did this happen?
Thinking back, he recalled his escape from Reach.
Was it that anomaly Dot picked up on? Was that what caused it?
Right now, he couldn't really think properly so he simply told Dot to keep going over the data they found and notify him if she found anything of use after a few hours.
For the time being, he was feeling a bit overwhelmed.
Leaning back into his chair, Six closed his eyes and fell asleep after what was a few days of not getting any rest whatsoever even during Slip-Space travel. Right now was the time to rest. Thinking and planning for his next move would come later.
-Scene Cut-
Six stood atop a building, active camo on as he gazed down at the bustling city streets below.
So this was what the Citadel was like.
He saw alien species of all kind intermingling below, walking, talking and spending time together overall.
The sight itself was rather overwhelming to say the least. The size of the Citadel was… alright but for him, it was just the setting of it all.
B312 was very much used to the idea of having to deal with only extremely violent and zealous aliens that were focused on killing all humans that they came across.
To see a human male walking with one of those lizard-like Salarians and avian-like Turians was rather surreal to see.
This truly was a different universe. One where humanity has integrated itself into a galaxy of aliens.
He had been stuck here for the past two weeks, learning at a more personal level about the goings on about the Galaxy he now found himself in. The various alien factions, the culture, the armies, the laws and just overall way of life here in this new universe.
Shaking his head, Six thought back to his training when he was becoming a Spartan.
Chief Mendez and Kurt told him and his brothers and sisters that Spartans were all about adapting to their environments, to their battlefields. A Spartan may specialize in something truly specific or unique but they were still Super-Soldiers. That meant master of arms, melee, vehicles, combat and so on.
This was not in the training books.
It was safe to say that no amount of training would have prepared him for this.
His ship was safe, with Dot keeping its camo features on until it was time to depart this station. He'd rather not overstay his welcome here in unfamiliar territory.
During his time on the Citadel, with Dot, he had gotten a deeper understanding of the goings on of this galaxy.
The multiple governing Galactic bodies and civilization that made up the galactic community. The factions, the mercenary groups, the intelligence agencies, he absorbed it all.
So humanity in this universe was represented by the Earth's Systems Alliance and was the newest player in the galactic community.
The date was 2182 and they had been a part of this whole galactic theater for only 25 years.
The first-contact war with the Turians back in 2157 was averted quickly by the intervention of the rest of the Citadel Council.
At least that was different in comparison to home. 25 years later back in his universe, humanity was in the middle of a losing war whose purpose was their extinction. Here though, it seems that humanity of this galaxy was rather timid, and with the human government trying to gain power through the council races, by requesting a council seat, they were becoming more and more dependent on the other races. Not as independent as he had hoped.
Then again, a different set of circumstances and all.
Didn't mean he agreed with it. If humanity was capable of holding back an entire conglomerate of alien species by themselves they should at the very least show a greater degree of independence here.
There were some actions he noticed that made the other species of this galaxy rather wary of them. And it was something he was rather proud of slightly.
Apparently, Humanity here was a bit too aggressive for the other species' tastes. They were spreading fast throughout the Attican Traverse and were adapting a lot faster than most species that have come before them.
The Council apparently is keeping a close eye on them both in a curious, observational and wary manner.
And speaking of the Council, he thought on the three races that represented the most dominant trio of species in the galaxy.
The Asari, Salarians and Turians.
These were the top dogs of the galaxy that apparently dictated all the major rules and enforced the galactic law overall that every species followed. While they did not intervene on interspecies issues and problems, when it came to the galactic stage involving two or more species they were directly involved.
The Asari appeared to be the most dominant of the three species in regard to culture, politics and influence. They were just about everywhere from all sorts of positions and jobs.
Salarians were the brains of the council races, specializing in espionage and intelligence gathering. Keeping the council and their own species informed was their top priority.
The Turians was the overall military arm of the Council, able to enforce the law properly should the need for it arrive.
And when concerning himself with the laws, all Six could do is completely scoff at them.
No AI allowed. If you join the Citadel, you were to cut your navy down in half and keep it up to regulatory standards, limiting dreadnoughts and such.
Apparently, however, humanity had found a loophole as they focused on building up their fleet around carriers up to the sizes of Dreadnoughts.
But then there were the ship size. Sizes that were a bit laughable in the eyes of the Spartan.
Sure, some were decently sized but in comparison to what the UNSC and especially the Covenant a great deal of these ships weren't really all that up to snuff in terms of size.
Their weaponry was a mixed bag.
There was the whole complete reliance on Eezo again. Their strongest weapons aboard ships fired at a faster rate in comparison to the UNSC's but were generally weaker. They were a great deal more maneuverable yet if he were being honest, if one of the UNSC's or Covenants ships just flew straight at one of them a quick ramming would all that would be needed to take some of the smaller ships out.
However, one new topic that truly caught Six wasn't the ship sizes, weaponry or galactic customs and norms.
It was these Biotics that were apparently individuals that had the capacity to manipulate dark matter.
And it was easy for one to assume at Six going over its combat capabilities.
Warps, Pulls, Pushes, Singularities, Charges and so on. While there was a basis and standard to the utilization of Biotics, the limits truly seemed as though to be based upon the user.
"Six."
B312 blinked, hearing his AI companion in his ear.
"Dot?"
"I have just received a transmission from the Geth Consensus." Dot informed the Spartan. "They wish to meet."
"For what matter?"
"They did not say, but they told me that it was rather important and wished to speak with us in person."
Six hummed, thinking on the matter before nodding. He didn't want to hang around the Citadel any longer than he should have and he figured seeing the Geth would be a good excuse for leaving.
Aside from the Batarian Hegemony but he'll get to that after meeting with the Geth.
Right now, it was time to depart from the Citadel.
Eventually getting to his Prowler and flying away from the Citadel, Six punched in the coordinates Dot last recorded when they had first arrived and encountered the Geth.
Activating the Slip-Space Drive, a portal was torn open in time and space with the ship entering before the portal vanished with nothing left behind.
…
…
…
"I'm telling you; I know I picked up on something."
"You're overreacting, for all we know it could be a glitch."
"You really think it'd be a glitch? Say what you will about the time but those who remember know the exact coding and I know for a fact that they sent out a communication transmission."
"But to who? Who on earth would the Geth want to speak to outside the Perseus Veil?"
"I don't know. And that's what worries me."
"Keelah. Notify the Admiralty. They need to know about this development."
Ok folks, here's another one for ya, following one Noble Six on the start of his time in the Mass Effect Universe.
BSX: We will get back to Spirit Crew soon but were looking through Six eyes of his experience in the ME galaxy for the time being.
FMW: And don't worry, it won't be too long but just enough to convey a passage of time, showing what Six has been up to and if you paid attention, the year is 2182. Right now, as of this moment it is approximately several months out from the start of Mass Effect 1 which starts in 2183.
BSX: It gives time for Six to shake the galaxy presence just as you saw with the Geth.
FMW: And it's a large ripple with just one Spartan that'll eventually turn into a tidal wave with the oncoming crew of the Spirit of Fire. So strap yourselves in people, we're on for a wild ride.
BSX: So stay tuned for more.
FMW: And on one final note, see, I'm personally a bit of a sap when it comes to romance. Take it from a guy who has helped several of his friends in real life find girlfriends. So BulletStormX and I are leaving it to you guys for pairing ideas. Get creative, give us compelling reasons and after the most consistent ones or our favorite one's are formed, we'll set up a poll to determine them all in the end.
BSX: I'm really leaving it up in the air for guys so think carefully.
FMW: Same on my end save for Noble Six and Tali cause I'm a sucker for Tali and she's my favorite romance in all of Mass Effect save for Liara. But other than that, go nuts folks. Leave your pairing ideas in the review, the consistent and best ones will become the ones where we'll set up a poll. Really go for it.
Now, other than that, BSX and I bid you all adieu. Stay safe and at home, social distancing and all to beat this fucking virus that's been on our ass's for the past two months now. Enjoy life and all.
Rate Read and Review and as Always Have Nice Day.