JEEZUS, you guys went all in on the voting for pairings and such. I mean we got some real bold ones like Garrus and Alice-130 of all pairings. I'm also really thankful for the reviewers who took the time to include the Mass Effect characters having their own romances. Some I really found cool to see like Garrus and Kasumi, Kasumi and Six, Jack and Six, Chief and Miranda, Jerome with Fem Shepard, Douglas and Liara and so on. So keep up the suggestions because for every review per chapter those suggestions and up votes are tallied in.
BulletStormX and I are including what the reviews have displayed thus far and will have the top three-four pairings for each Spartan and other pairing choices come the end of…. Chapter 5. So you guys all have a lot of time still since we're in the early stages of the story. And just so you all know, for prefacing, we're at the start right before ME1 and BSX and I have got a great ton of surprises to come. A great deal of this story has been planned out though there's still room for new ideas and scenarios to play out. So go nuts people.
Spirit Unto Dawn Chapter 4: Adjustment Needed Here
To say that Cortana and Master Chief would find themselves within a Prowler on route to a new alien world with a Spartan-III who was believed to be dead along with his AI companion called Legion… really, they wouldn't know how to end such a statement.
The pairing of the Spartan-II and his AI companion now rode alongside a Spartan-III and his AI companion. If that's what one would call it.
They had gone from discovering a ring that can cause mass extinction at the flick of a switch to a whole other reality.
… At least they weren't alone.
"So~, Noble Six. How on Earth, or Reach should I say did you survive?" Cortana inquired, greatly curious on how Noble Six made it off Reach.
Last she recalled from her fragment that he carried personally to the Pillar of Autumn, the Spartan made the heroic and tragic choice of staying behind to man the MAC gun that Noble Four previously helmed to give the Autumn the chance to escape. It was such a true shame that a Spartan with B312's reputation had to stay behind on Reach. She thought at one point what could have been, the best of the Spartan-II's working with the best of the Spartan-III's. The two would be virtually unstoppable.
But now, out of a miracle or sheer dumb luck, she would get the chance to see them in action.
To say that Cortana was excited would be a bit of an understatement.
She was about to undertake a mission with the two Spartans she had chosen so she had her recorder on.
Back to the earlier question at hand.
"Auntie Dot guided me to this Prowler at an abandoned ONI base." Six explained. "This is an experimental Prowler with a higher degree of stealth tech and capabilities."
"I could tell." Cortana noted, going through the functions of the Prowler at that very moment. She had been going over the data that Dot had on hand when they had found the Spirit of Fire and she felt it would take some getting used to with their current situation.
"You and Dot have been through a lot in a short amount of time." Cortana idly said with Six only nodding his head slightly at the mention of his own UNSC AI.
Six had left Dot with the Spirit of Fire to go over with Cutter and the crew of all the intel the Spartan accumulated over the past half a year. He had included his recent raid on Cerberus pertaining to data on Cyberware Software that can instantly take over communications relays, cause viruses, and turn weapon defense systems against its own military.
"So, you're Legion." Cortana's Avatar appeared before the Geth with the platform's eye zeroing in on the UNSC Smart AI with clear fascination.
"You are an unshackled AI." Legion stated as fact then query.
"Why yes I am." Cortana said happily. "And you are certainly an interesting one. Geth was it?"
"Correct. We are Geth. Over 1183 programs function within this platform."
"Huh, guess the term Legion fits you quite well." Cortana mused aloud thoughtfully. "So you're not one single AI entity but a multitude of them all dictating one body."
"That is correct." Legion said. "We operate on various functions for ships to the platform you see before you. The amount of programs within each ship or mobile unit varies based on necessity or storage capacity but we are all part of one consensus."
"But you're a named platform."
"Correct." Legion nodded. "When we were presented to Spartan-Six, we asked to accompany him to study organics on a more personal level. Most of the galaxy fears the Geth, thus direct contact would be difficult. Spartan-Six's and Construct-Dots arrival came as a surprise but an opportunity to learn."
Cortana found herself enraptured with this story with even Chief and Six having their heads barely angled but angled nonetheless over in Legions direction as they listened to Legion recounting his first meeting with Six and Dot.
"Spartan-Six was the only known organic that we would be able to interact with directly with the least possible chance of negative responses and reactions." Legion went on. "Spartan-Six presented us with the concept of individuality. This platform, while similar to most others, was still uniquely designed from others thus leading to the name of this platform being called Legion."
Cortana found herself smiling at the Geth. What a fascinating galaxy this must be if this is one of the first natives that they have met directly.
It was a bizarre first meeting to say the least.
-Flashback-
Those that stood within the meeting room were rather…
Well they really had no clue as to how to respond to what they had just been told.
A Spartan-III rolls up on them in a UNSC prowler and announces to them that they are in another universe. A few moments later, a one-eyed robot of some kind walks out from the prowler with the Spartan-III introducing him as Legion, a member of an AI species called the Geth.
From there, it leads to all Spartans present within the Fire, Professor Anders, Captain Cutter as well as several other high-ranking officials within the Fire to meet within the bridge of the ship.
Spartan-B312 along with UNSC Dumb AI Auntie Dot and this Legion stood before the assemblage and showed them everything they had collected over the course of the past several months in regard to this strange new galaxy.
The state of humanity, The Citadel, the other races, Biotics, Element Zero, the Mass Relays, the Galactic stage as a whole. Nothing was left out.
It was a difficult pill to swallow for those present in the room to say the least.
They were trained for various situations but interdimensional travel sure as hell wasn't a part of the brochure.
Captain Cutter knew he would have to talk to the entire crew as a whole while those present themselves were coming to grips with it.
"One thing Spartan." Cutter spoke up after a prolonged period of silence from the group. "You found us rather quickly."
"You can thank Dot for that." Six said straight away.
"Be that as it may, but what were you doing yourself?" Cutter inquired. "Being a Spartan-III all by yourself with no UNSC support or structure, I'd figure you'd have a bit of difficulty in adjusting to this new scenario. I'd be lying if I denied such a prospect of easily getting used to such a… universe shattering experience to be frank."
The Spartan in question glanced down, leaning his hands against the holo-tank of the bridge. "It wasn't easy." Six admitted. "I was a bit of a loss as to what to do. Meeting the Geth was a bit of a stroke of luck on my part. At least I wouldn't be going into this galaxy blind."
"So what did you do then?" Cortana had asked, her Avatar standing within the center of the holo-tank. She had noticed the intense gaze that Legion was giving her but it wasn't one of malice but curiosity and dare she say it, wonder. It was easy for an AI of her capabilities to recognize what other AI may display or show that could not be seen by regular folk.
"I learned, I scouted out the galaxy." Six said. "Went to the center of galactic civilization, the Citadel."
Dot had brought up the holo-display of the Citadel and the size and scale.
"Really?" Cortana remarked in disappointment. "Only 44 kilometers long?"
"Everything in this galaxy seems… smaller in a way." Professor Anders remarked, going through the accumulated data that Dot had entered into the Spirit of Fire's databanks.
"Yeah, it doesn't even come close to how big the Ark was." Cortana stated confidently.
"The Ark?" Six repeated aloud in curiousness. "What's that?"
"Alien Forerunner superstructure back home that we found." Cortana said, bringing up a separate display next to the Citadel. "Bout 99,956 kilometer larger than the Citadel."
For a Spartan and Geth, it didn't take long for them to do the math in their head.
"A hundred thousand Kilometer?" Six expressed slight to mild surprise. He had never thought of finding something that large.
Legion on the other hand. It was a bit of a rare moment within the platform itself wherein 1000+ programs all simultaneously halted in their functions and consensus. Then again, this had been a bit of a small constant since they had met these humans. Interdimensional humans from another reality. The odds of such an encounter happening were… if they would borrow a human expression, slim to none. They could not comprehend as to what they had just been informed of.
How was it possible that something of that stature exists? Just what kind of universe did these humans hail from? Ones of super structures and where humanity had not only created AI's but made it that they were an instrumental part of their daily lives for centuries.
This… was beyond anything the Geth Consensus would have expected when they had built this platform to interact with organics.
The Consensus…
Legion paused for a moment. Should the Consensus learn of this startling discovery? In hindsight, it would make sense. Inform the Consensus of what they had learned that collaboration with organics, specifically these humans can be possible. And yet… Legion's programs were unsure if such an action should be undertaken at this time and moment. They had learned that for organics, there is an important concept that is the foundation of building relationships both from direct and indirect studies. The foundation of trust.
Legions 1183 programs all concluded that should Six be the one to instigate a meeting between these group of humans and the Geth Consensus then it would be on his terms. Trust would be built.
While this topic of debate was done within Legion, nary a few seconds had passed
"So you've been busy." Six remarked.
"Same could be said of you, Spartan." Cutter stated. "You have given us a great deal of data that we can put to use."
"Were you doing anything else of note, B312?" Spartan Jerome-092 inquired with Six nodding his head.
"Dot."
"Noble Six and I along with Legion have been busy conducting operations upon two organizations within the galaxy." Dot stated. "Since our arrival here, we have been attacking an oppressive, slave-oriented species known as the Batarians. They had been attacking human colonies as well as other species and enslaving them under their hegemony."
Most of the individuals gathered within the bridge were now glaring hostile at the display of the four-eyed species.
"And the other?" Cutter asked in a cool manner.
"The Human Extremist-Terrorist organization known as Cerberus."
At the mere mention of the word human-terrorist organization, the Spartan-II's collectively tensed up with their fists clenching tightly. Imagine the amount of astronomical luck and coincidence needed to wind up in another universe yet somehow, the original purpose in which the Spartan-II's were made from were still here.
Human rebel and terrorist organizations. Of course there would be one here. Wouldn't be home without it all things considered.
"Dot, Legion and I have been tracking a series of bases under the control of Cerberus with the intent of disrupting their operations and bringing them down." Six stated firmly. "We were underway of attacking another base when Dot picked up your Slip space signature."
The room was silent as they regarded Noble Six and Legion whilst Cutter was silently contemplating on everything he had just learned of. This was a bizarre and rather crazy set of circumstances compounded upon everything else he had learned since the Spirit of Fire had re-awoken and upgraded. From learning of the end of the war, the flood, the halo rings and now this.
He would need some time to think this over.
Six in the meantime had officially met the Master Chief and Red Team. Six felt a bit humbled all things considered in meeting more of what he considered his older brethren. The Spartan-II's were a fabled group of individuals amongst the UNSC, more so for the Spartan-III's. To be like a Spartan-II was a high aspiration.
However, before he could dwell on the matter, Cutter had come to a conclusion.
"Master Chief."
"Sir." 117 stood at attention.
"I would like for you to go with Spartan-B312 here on this mission of his that he was undertaking. Getting a better gauge of this situation. He'll get you better debriefed and you in turn can debrief him on recent events back home in our universe."
Six nodded, saluting Cutter. "Appreciated sir."
As the two were now preparing to continue where Six had left off, one topic had come up that caught Cutter and Professor Anders attention. One that rather had some serious merit.
A home base where they can conduct their operations undetected and undisturbed by the Citadel and all other species within this galaxy.
They had debated on the idea for a time until Professor Anders had a spark of genius.
"Cortana…combine the map we have of all UNSC Colonies prior to the war with the Covenant with the galactic map of this universe."
Cortana looked at Anders and raised an eyebrow.
"If this dimension is the same as ours but with a different history and set of races, then it would make sense that the colonies of the UNSC are here as well…but un-colonized. We can use those worlds to set up shop since we happen to be the only ones who know their exact locations."
Cortana's eyes widened with her grinning a moment later.
"Not a bad idea…all right then, let's make plans before I take my leave with Chief and Six."
-Flashback end-
With that all said and done, the Spirit Of Fire had a series of coordinates locked in whilst Six departed with Chief, Legion and Cortana towards B312's original intended destination.
The planet known as Noveria.
Re-stocked with a fresh supply of UNSC arms and ammo on top of more Covenant weaponry, the Spartans and Geth were armed to the teeth for this Op.
"Cortana." Six spoke up, the ship still within Slip Space. "Captain Cutter spoke of you debriefing me on the goings on back home in our galaxy."
"You missed quite a lot, Spartan." Cortana said whimsically.
"That would be a slight understatement." Chief spoke, voice gravelly.
Cortana chortled at his statement before facing Six. She frowned slightly with a sense of somberness yet there was an underlying feeling of pride and accomplishment.
"We won in the end of it all." Cortana announced, almost tiredly though she now held a small smile. "After everything we went through, humanity and AI's and all. We won. We survived the war and beat the Covenant."
Six tensed up greatly, hands clutching the controls of the ship. His entire posture was unmoving with his head tilted down.
"...Really?" He asked softly, almost being unheard by the others. Yet Chief and Cortana heard it all the same. Legion sat off to the side, watching his companion with a curious gaze. He had never seen the Spartan react in such a manner.
"Did we really win? Survive, like you said?" Six almost couldn't believe it.
Chief, who had been sitting right beside him, turned to face his fellow Spartan.
"We did. After Reach, after our greatest loss, we managed to win."
"You played your part in it, you know." Cortana said kindly. "You and all of Noble. If it weren't for your sacrifice on Reach…"
Cortana left the statement unfinished as she did not need to say anything. Six felt himself suddenly slacken, leaning back into his seat with his head facing up at the ceiling.
"I… I don't know what to say." Six muttered out.
Both Chief and Cortana remained silent as they watched the Spartan-III reach for his helmet and took it off.
Like most Spartans, he was slightly pale but also riddled with scars. Two large ones in particular stood out. One down on his left eye and another on his right cheek that went down to his neck.
His eyes were a brilliant blue hue with a reflection that was all too common amongst all Spartans. A look of tiredness, somber, sorrow, rage, and grief. Tired of the war, somber on the reality of the situation, sorrow at the lives lost, rage at the Covenants horrendous actions and grief… grief of those closest to them dying before their eyes.
Six let out a weak chuckle. "Wish Noble Team was here."
B312 suddenly felt a hand placed upon his shoulder and knew that it was the Chiefs. Both were silent, not needing words. When it came down to it, Spartans hardly ever used words between one another when it came to more… personal matters. Sure the Spartan-III's were a lot more vocal and such but even then.
"Thank you, Master Chief." Six said. "Thank you, Cortana. Pretty sure Jorge would have been happy to hear that."
"Jorge?" Chief perked up at the mention of his fellow Spartan-II. "You knew Jorge?"
Six nodded. "He was a part of Noble Team. Noble Five."
Reaching within his chest piece, Six pulled out a pair of dog tags with a familiar set of numbers and name upon them.
He held it out for Chief to take which he did and inspected them.
"Jorge." John said somberly. "I read a report on a supercarrier that orbited Reach during its invasion being taken down by a makeshift Slip Space bomb. Was that-"
"Yeah it was." Six nodded. "He gave those off to me. Believed me to be more of use to Reach then he did."
Chief barely contained his mirthful snort. "Jorge always did tell us he never truly leave Reach."
Six snorted, somber smile in place. "Jun, Noble Three; he said the same thing."
Chief gazed at the tags for a moment before holding them out for Six. "He gave them to you for a reason."
Six took the tags back tentatively, giving Chief a look with the older Spartan nodding. Nodding back in turn, he placed the tags back into his chest piece.
There was a moment of silence between the two…
"Nathan." Six said aloud, looking at Chief once again. "Name's Nathan. Only got to tell Jorge my name once before I saw him last."
Cortana was curious as to what Chief would do, she quickly realized the other occupant in the room and sent a silent message for Legion to turn away.
All she relayed to the Geth was that this was a bit of a private and personal moment and it'd be better if he were to just look away.
Chief had already glanced over to see that the Geth was not facing them. He hesitated for a brief moment but then considered this. This was the Spartan that Cortana had been entrusted to as well as chose to deliver to the Autumn during Reach's final hours. Noble Six, Nathan-B312 was just as responsible for ensuring the survival of humanity just as much as Chief was much as the Spartan-II would deny it.
With a twist and hiss coming out from him removing his helmet, 117's tired blue eyes meeting B312's own blue eyes.
"John."
Not much else needed to be said between them both. After another moment, both Spartans placed their helmets back on with Cortana popping back up.
"So… how'd we win?" Six asked casually making Cortana laugh with John grunting out a chuckle.
Cortana went on to explain the events that occurred directly after their escape from Reach. Stumbling upon Halo, learning of its inner workings, the discovery of the horrifying entity known as the Flood.
Even Six couldn't contain how he was a bit disturbed by such creatures.
From there it was a race to prevent the firing of the extinction level event of the Halo Ring as well as stopping the flood. To say that it was a close call would be underselling it.
And then, the real gut punching shocker. Towards the end of the war, with everything that had happened, the Covenant fracturing and entering into a Civil War, Cortana revealed the alliance the UNSC entered in with the Elites to beat back the Covenant permanently while also stopping the Flood.
It was a shock to the system for Nathan to say the least. To think humanity would ally with one of the species that had been murdering humans indiscriminately for 27 years.
He didn't exactly know how to process that information.
Six had become a Spartan-III for the very purpose of revenge. His motivation was to kill, murder and utterly annihilate as many Covenant Fuckers as he possibly could.
He had done a pretty good job of it if he said so himself. One of the few topics of slight pride he held. The fear and death he was able to inflict upon the Covenant during his tenure before ending up here.
Now, Six wasn't exactly hostile towards the aliens he had encountered here save for every poor Batarian he shot and stabbed. A part of him was rather curious about them but extremely wary all the same.
The Asari may be one of the few Citadel species to get along with to a degree due to them being the closest to human appearance. Diplomacy and communications is their strongest suit after all.
Hell, the Quarians and Krogan were perhaps the easiest to relate to and perhaps even get along with in a sense considering their species bordering on the edge of extinction on a constant basis. Something B312's and Chiefs version of humanity was all too familiar with.
Still, Six wasn't exactly keen on trusting a conglomerate of new aliens so readily. Some may point out Legion to be a bit of a hypocritical display but he was an AI in the end. The only reason he had Legion on board was the fact that he trusted AI far more than any organic within this universe. After all, there seems to be a heavy emphasis on politics and treachery from what he learned of and politics was considered a bane on Spartans with ONI being exorbitant in their treatment of Spartans at times.
Look no further than the Council Spectres. They were in a way similar to the Spartans with their high degree of training and reputation in a way yet completely different as well. Answering directly to the three council members only, their level of corruption was rather too apparent with what Six had managed to dig up thanks to Dot and his own personal research.
But recently, he had been hearing rumblings about a human being elected as a Spectre.
As well as the Geth being seen outside the Veil, being spotted on a human colony world of Eden Prime.
He had been meaning to ask Legion on what was going on yet had been a bit distracted with his campaign upon Cerberus.
Maybe if they have time on Noveria, they may be able to discern more answers and some clarity. The galaxy had been shifting for the past few months, and it was just due to Six's actions against the Batarians and Cerberus.
For now, they had a mission to prepare for.
-Scene Cut-
As soon as the Spirit of Fire appeared from the Slip space portal, it found itself in a system and before a large number of planets were moving in orbit.
The Spirit of Fire then made its way towards the system, aiming for a world that's suitable to set up a base.
They had undergone several missions up to this point and time and had found several planets from their own galaxy yet a good few of them were missing.
Cutter had spoken with the Crew, Red Team, Anders, and Dot with a sort of undercurrent of a unanimous decision being that they find a suitable planet that was still within reach of the rest of the Galaxy. Primarily, the System's Alliance controlled space yet also bordering on the Inner Citadel Colony Space.
Now they were on route to the newest world that overlapped with their map of home.
Once the Spirit of Fire had arrived, Dot brought them here to this place and soon they arrived on a planet that was a very beautiful and pristine world. It was then that the Spirit unleashed small drones all over the surface of the world in question. Already the UNSC made Clarion Spy Drones were on the move to scan the whole of the planet.
Cutter smiled as he looked at the world before them, he began to read the Clarion Spy Drones scan the world .
Cutter turned and asked Dot about the planet.
"So, what did you find out there Dot?"
"There's no sign of any habitation structures so far on this side of the planet, the Clarion Spy Drones have spotted no sign of anything that would show occupation on the other side of the planet. It looks like this place has not been found out by anyone. I'll send out the drones after a few minutes to do a full-scale scan of the area of the system for any sign of Mass Relays of both types. All in all though, this place is pretty much a Relay Dead Zone at this point and is not registered anywhere on Citadel or Alliance maps."
Cutter nodded at that.
"Perfect. Is there anything else on scanners so far that we need to deal with or exploit?"
"Yes, apparently the atmosphere has progressed nicely and is ideal for human habitation; geological stability seems to be at an all-time high, and there are signs of a slightly higher concentration of metals and minerals on several exposed locations. The soil appears to be remarkably healthy and ideal for the growing of livestock and agriculture if needed and herds of native life are present. The weather patterns are stable as well so the cycles are not too different. Looks good as a home as it is. A shame that neither the Alliance nor the Council know about this place .
"Where's the best place to set up base?"
Cutter and Anders began to think and plan about how to set up their base of operations here in this world as well as the other planets that will be in the area. They had the support and the natural resources of this world for them to use in their plans.
There were mountainous ranges as well as brilliant scenic flat plains that stretched on for miles. It was really a matter of choice. Thanks to the Spirit of Fire being a colony ship first, it can sustain itself on its own for quite a while. With this planet, they'd practically be self-sufficient mostly on their own. All they really need to do is fix their damn pivotal Factory-Module.
"So Dot, what do you have in mind?" Cutter asked amicably. "I don't really have a preference."
"There are a litany of areas to choose from, Captain." Dot began, with multiple holo-displays of the world below being portrayed. "We can start by-"
Dot paused which made Cutter tilt his head in the direction of her grid-like projection.
"Dot?"
"Covenant signature detected.
This earned Dot a sharp look from the Captain. Before he could even have a chance to respond however.
"Captain Cutter, sir. We've received a signal from the surface. It's UNSC!" A bridge crewman shouted out.
"What?!" Cutter said aloud. "What the hell is going on here? What do you mean? UNSC? Covenant? Both?"
"It appears to be so sir." Dot answered, showing both transmission signatures. "However, in my review of the signals, I have detected the UNSC signal to be more constant while the Covenant appears to be fragmented as if it is damaged."
Cutter frowned. This was not what he was expecting when they had found this world. Then again… they had encountered a Spartan first before being dumped with the information of them being in another universe. So who knows what they might find this time around.
"Isolate the UNSC signal, Dot." Cutter instructed. "I wanna know just what we're dealing with down here."
"Of course sir, running diagnostics now." Dot said, beginning her work with the radio frequency being shown before Cutter.
"Isolating signal, running matches with-" Dot froze midway through her scans.
This rather alarmed Cutter but he remained calm. "Dot?"
Dot suddenly reshaped the transmission sequence into one where a voice with a Hungarian accent could be heard.
"This is Sierra-Oh-Five-Two broadcasting on an open channel. Repeat this is Sierra-Zero-Five-Two, callsign Noble Five, broadcasting on an open channel. If there's any UNSC personnel nearby, please respond."
Captain Cutter's mouth slightly fell open, leaning upon the holo-tank as he watched and listened to the transmission.
"Dot, is this-?"
"I would never fail in recognizing one of Noble Teams own." Dot said. Though her voice was the usual dry and computerized tone, there was a hint of something more that made Cutter grin slightly.
"Get a Pelican ready for Red Team while the Spirit of Fire preps landing sequences." Cutter ordered, Dot sending out the message to Red Team and the Hangar Bay.
A few minutes later, Red Team was flying aboard a pelican down to the newly discovered planet below following Dot's guidance as to where they could find Sierra-Zero-Five-Two.
However, it didn't take long for them to spot quite the sight upon the base of a mountain field. It seemed to be some kind of wreckage of a Covenant ship and judging from the size of it… it may very well be the centerpiece of a Covenant Supercarrier.
Scans had also picked up on a smaller Covenant ship near the Supercarrier. Judging from what Dot picked up on, it was about the size of a Corvette. However, the main attraction was the Supercarrier before them.
Intact centerpiece but damaged Covenant Carrier nonetheless. It seemed the front and back portions of it were seared off by something that could produce a lot of heat.
"Land in that small rock outcropping there." Jerome directed Alice as she flew down. "If there's any Covenant stragglers around, wouldn't want them to get the jump on us."
"You got it." Alice said, the Pelican landing a few short moments later.
The three Spartan's exited the Pelican and faced the large Covenant ship before them. The sight of the Corvette strewn out before the Supercarrier. It looked to be virtually in better condition than its much larger counterpart for the most part. There were clear signs of damage, possible from crashing down onto the planet's surface.
"Stay sharp." Jerome instructed. "We've got no idea if there's a sizable Covenant Force around here."
Douglas-042 and Alice-130 only nodded silently, the two walking by Jerome-092s side with their weapons pointed down yet positioned in case of any surprises.
Their approach was quick yet steady. Their formation was made where all three could snap back to back to cover all blind spots for one another.
Good thing too, as they began to hear gunfire on top of plasma fire.
"Double time it, Spartans!" Jerome said aloud, the trio now sprinting at full speed towards the Corvette as that was where the source of the gunfire emanated from.
Running up to the Corvette, they heard the familiar sounds of Sangheili grunting and shouting with Unggoy shouts of terror along with Kig-Yar squawking about.
"Come on you bastards, I haven't got all day." A Hungarian accented voice roared aloud with gunfire coming after.
"Up there." Alice said, pointing up to the Hangar Bay of the Corvette.
The Spartans saw a strange makeshift sort of series of platforms that went up to the Corvette Hangar and shrugged, making use of them.
Quickly scaling up the platforms, Red Team jumped into the Covenant hangar bay to find themselves in the middle of a small firefight.
And there in the center of it all with his arms wrapped around the neck of an Elite Ultra was…
"Jorge." The Three Spartans of Red Team whispered simultaneously in relief and an undercurrent of joy.
Jerome didn't hesitate in bringing his battle rifle up to fire at the Elite that thought it could jump at his Spartan from behind.
Immediately, Douglas and Alice joined in with chaos reigning for the small Covenant force that seemed to occupy the hangar bay.
The Elites were completely caught off guard by the arrival of more Spartans with them being the first to get killed off. The Grunts and Jackals all began to panic at the loss of their leadership with them being easy picking for the remainder of the Spartans.
Jorge had already snapped the neck of the Elite he had been choking and returned back to his primary weapon to mow down the Covenant within the hangar bay.
Alice had run forward, the force of her elbow strike killing a Grunt from getting struck in the head using her Assault rifle a moment later to kill off several more along with a Jackal.
Douglas saw a Grunt suicide bomber running straight at him and with quick maneuvering, went around the Grunt, grabbed it by the wrist and tossed it into a small cluster of other Grunts and a surviving Elite.
Jerome had already killed nearly a dozen or so Grunts and Jackals until his eyes locked onto the sole remaining Elite within the hangar.
A Zealot class Elite.
Glaring beneath his helmet as the Zealot let out a challenging roar, Jerome ran forward while firing the rest of his clip at the Elite.
The Zealot already had his Plasma Sword out, holding it up in defense as both the sword and his shields absorbed the hail fire of lead.
092 had drawn close to the Zealot with it raising its sword back in a position ready to swing back in retaliation. What the Elite did not expect however was his shields to suddenly burst from Douglas-042 firing off the remainder of his own magazine.
Stunned by the momentary loss in shields, that was all the opportunity Jerome needed in ducking down before pouncing upon the Elite.
In an instant, the two tumbled against one another before 092 was atop one knee pressing down onto the Elites chest with his combat knife embedded deeply into the skull of the Sangheili.
With a satisfied grunt, Jerome pulled his knife out, flicking the blood off and sheathing it.
"Jerome." A soft voice said from behind, the Red Team leader glancing back at the Reach born Spartan-II.
"Alice, Douglas." 052 had removed his helmet to make sure that his HUD wasn't playing tricks on him.
"Good to see again, Jorge." Douglas said in an upbeat tone, removing his own helmet to give his brother a smirk.
"It's been a while, hasn't it?" Alice remarked, her own helmet tucked under her left arm. Her jet-black hair was slicked back while her green eyes twinkled with a reminiscent gaze.
"How-?"
"Could be asking you the same question, Jorge." Jerome stated, standing back, and moving to remove his own helmet as well. Buzz Cut sides with a fuller small crop of brown hair on top with blue eyes as well as face riddled with faded scars. A standard amongst all Spartan generations. "Still, like Douglas said, it's good to see you again."
Douglas had glanced down at a fallen elite, nudging it with his foot.
"I know John told us we technically made peace with these guys… but I don't think they count." Douglas said casually earning a snort out of Alice with a wry smile from Jerome.
"John?" Jorge repeated. "John is here?"
"Not at the moment." Jerome said. "But we'll catch you up on that once the Spirit of Fire touches down."
"The Spirit of Fire is here?" Jorge asked in more surprise. "What in the hell did I miss?"
"A lot Jorge." Alice said plainly, slipping her helmet back on. "Though not as much as us."
"Still a lot though." Douglas said with a shrug. "More so than you'd realize."
"I can see that." Jorge stated.
"What happened to you, Jorge?" Jerome asked. "I didn't think we'd find Covenant down here with you after what we were told from B312 on your attack against the Supercarrier."
"You've met with Six?" Jorge asked, grinning now. "Good to hear he's alive then. Well to make a long story short, after crash landing down on this planet, been dealing with Covenant stragglers that survived over from that Super Carrier. Still a sizable amount all things considered so I've been whittling them down these past few weeks. Maybe a month or two by this point. This was the last of their forces after all my hit and run tactics."
"Well, it's good see you're alive Jorge." Alice stated, patting the slightly bigger Spartan on the shoulder.
"It's good to see you three." Jorge said. "And that the Spirit of Fire is alive and well." The Noble Spartan-II then looked to Douglas. "But what was that about peace? Peace with who? The Covenant?"
The three members of Red Team exchanged awkward glances at one another with 042 and 130 making it very obvious who should be the one to talk to Jorge about this.
092 however decided…
"Let's get you out of here, Jorge." Jerome said, sliding his helmet back on. "We've got a lot to catch you up on."
-Scene Cut-
Aboard the SSV-Normandy SR1, one Commander Shepard sat alone within the Captains personal quarters of the ship.
Shepard was currently on route to the planet Noveria where the high-ranking Systems Alliance had received information from the Council about the presence of Geth being there on top of interest with the Geth itself.
Now one may ask why would the Council entrust such an important mission to Shepard rather than one of their own Spectres? After all, Spectres would seem to be better suited in handling such a mission especially if it's one that involves the Geth.
Well it's due to the fact that Shepard is in fact one of the Councils Spectres. Their newest one in fact as well being the first human Spectre in the entire galaxy. A large step forward for humanity as a whole. So no pressure there.
Aside from the Geth presence and interest on Noveria, why would the first human Spectre be doing this at all?
It is due to the matter of a rogue Turian Spectre named Saren Arterius working with the Geth and committing abhorrent atrocities across the galaxy, especially against humanity. So, in response to such actions, the Council made Commander Shepard the first official human Spectre to counter the growing threat of Saren.
Shepard searches for Saren and leads planet to planet in hopes to find the Conduit that supposedly will bring back an ancient race known as The Reapers.
The Geth was certainly a surprise. The human Spectre had not thought that the sentient AI that had driven the Quarians out from their home world of Rannoch would be out beyond the Perseus Veil.
Shepards squad mate and growing friend in Tali'Zorah Nar Rayya certainly had a field day and extra incentive in joining on this mission. She was a Geth expert after all, even she has yet to encounter one in a more civil manner.
And speaking of Geth, the Spectre began to recall bizarre rumors that had been springing up for the past few months.
Rumors and sightings of a lone Geth platform tackling Batarian Slave Traders and this growing human splinter group known as Cerberus.
But it wasn't alone. No it was never alone. From what eyewitness accounts have stated, this Geth platform had a companion, a partner of some kind.
And from all descriptions that were told, most have stated it to be a large humanoid armored being of some kind. It possessed weapons and technology unfamiliar, if not archaic and advanced at the same time.
This being used old fashioned dated bullets that can kill most even with kinetic barriers but also, it apparently wielded plasma damage.
Plasma weaponry! The entire galaxy wishes they had something like that.
The Commander leaned back to the bed in the personal quarters when…
"Commander Shepard, we're approaching Noveria." The voice of the Normandy's pilot echoed through the Normandy's intercom.
With a sigh, the human Spectre stood up and headed out of the room.
"Thanks Joker." Shepard said, bringing up the Omni-Tool in their possession. "Liara, Tali, Kaidan, get ready to depart for Noveria."
Shepard received blinks and calls of confirmation from the selected ground team.
Steeling nerves, Commander Shepard prepared for another long mission but would see it through to the end. Noveria wouldn't know what hit it.
And speaking of Noveria…
On the other side of the planet, far from the Normandy's arrival was another ship.
This ship was different in design from every other ship within the galaxy. It was a stealth ship that had advanced technology in camo, sensors and communications jamming.
And it had two Spartans with their two AI partners ready to undertake their mission against the Cerberus base stationed upon the icy planet.
-Scene Cut-
He lit his cigar and inhaled deeply before exhaling a puff of smoke with satisfaction.
Perhaps one of the only few ways that he can have "satisfaction" considering what he had been personally enduring these past few months.
The Illusive Man wasn't exactly pleased nor happy to say the least on learning of yet another base falling to the mysterious duo of the Geth platform and Armored being.
This had been a recurring occurrence for the past few months and it was starting to grate slightly on his nerves.
He had been pulling at straws here for the past few weeks and nothing. There was no information or data available in the slightest in regards to both the singular Geth nor this Armored humanoid that had been assaulting Batarian bases and freighters and now, Cerberus bases and facilities.
The damned Shadow-Broker had nothing on the two. The Shadow Broker! Information was his trade and he had nothing.
The Illusive Man was gazing intently out into the Red sun that the station he resided upon orbited.
It was a bitter pill to swallow at times when he was on the losing end of a situation that had been quite frankly, out of his control.
Taking a sip of his scotch, The Illusive Man went over the data from the last base that these two elusive individuals had taken down before the damnable Systems Alliance came in to claim it for themselves.
There was nothing. No videos, audio, photos, nothing same as every other time this armored being and its Geth ally was seen.
Instead of focusing on the lack of data, TIM read up on what he did have.
And it was more of the same again. Eyewitness accounts of the pairs combat capabilities in action. While the Geth was no slouch and had "shown" to be a capable fighter, it was the armored being that stood out.
Strong and fast were common words used but the one constant. Deadly.
Absolutely deadly.
The way it moved, the way it killed. It wasn't just unnatural. One Asari maiden had compared it to that of the fabled Justicar's of the Asari race. Except it seemed more so capable.
Apparently, one of the eyewitness accounts spoke of the armored being making a beeline for a Batarian biotic user. Something that had happened on multiple occasions whenever the pair would attack a Cerberus facility. Biotics were the first to be taken out.
And the way that they described it.
This armored being… it could move and fight like a regular advanced soldier yet at times, it almost seemed to be more akin to that… of an Assassin.
Eyes narrowed, TIM couldn't contain his frown at all these reports and accounts of those who had seen this armored individual.
There was one, one image however that he had recently gotten.
But it wasn't a captured photo.
No it was a child who had done the best of his ability to draw what he had seen with his own eyes. Which in turn led to a flood of crudely drawn or somewhat decently drawn attempts at this armored being.
And the three things all these drawn pictures had in common? The Blue tinted visor, the amount of black needed to convey the color of the armor and the mass. Whoever this being was, it was large.
Large, lethal and an unknown entity running across the galaxy.
The Illusive Man sent those files away and brought up something of note that one of his best agents had brought up.
He would make sure to thank Miranda Lawson for this find.
There was residual energy of some sort that nobody within Cerberus could identify that had recently begun to get detected at every known location the mysterious duo had struck.
Now it wasn't always directly there, but within the vicinity so to speak.
And this for now was the only lead they could think of and find. Locate the energy reading, they'd have a chance at locating the armored being and its Geth ally.
The Illusive Man smirked a moment later.
The galaxy was changing at a rapid pace. Batarians being attacked left and right, Turians getting torn down from their untouchable status and the Citadel had just elected their first Human Spectre in the form of Commander Shepard.
Whatever happens within the foreseeable future, The Illusive Man would make sure to have Humanity on top in the end.
Alright ladies and gentlemen, lot of crazy shit went down and this is only the start of it all. Shout out to one Dark Chronist who had left a review of what was to come within this chapter. That's right. Jorge, our favorite big guy is in the story!
BSX: Were we going to bring Jorge in from the start but you guessed it correctly so congratulations.
FMW: So we've been wanting to hold off on it but now with Jorge in place, give us your pairing ideas quick because come next chapter, we're setting up the official poll for pairings and those that came before in the last three chapters and the reviews to come in this chapter will be taken into account.
BSX: I would also like to say Fem Shepard is eligible to be voted for the pairing of your choosing. I'm throwing in Jerome x Fem Shepard as my vote.
FMW: Same here, I'm really liking Jerome and Fem Shepard and also, Miranda x Chief.
BSX: Miranda x Chief is my vote as well along with Six and Tali. Also from here on out one vote per pairing. Just as I did for my votes to the pairing.
FMW: One vote per pairing per chapter, remember it well comrades so choose wisely. You can choose multiple pairings but it can be only one vote of the set of characters. Like say you have the choices of Chief being with Miranda, Cortana or Liara and Six with the selection of Tali, Kasumi and Jack. You can only select one from each. I chose Chief with Miranda and Six with Tali. So there, you've gotten your example. You can vote on every chapter but only once. We'll be keeping you posted at the start of every chapter of poll votes and such so yeah, keep 'em coming. If you have ideas that you would like to see, feel free to share them and BulletStormX and I will look and see if said ideas could be fitted into the story he and I have planned out. We've gotten a great deal of this story already planned out but there's still room for other ideas to come.
BSX: Don't hesitate to ask me anything as long it's not spoiler related to the story.
So other than that everyone, if you've got anything else in mind Review or PM either me or BulletStormX. Thanks for taking the time in reading our story in such still hectic times.
Rate Read and Review and as Always Have Nice Day.