"We are not fated." Six stated bluntly.
The three Sekirei looked as if he impaled them with that sentence.
"What the hell are you talking about!?" Toyotama gasped. Indignation had her surge to her feet which knocked her chair over. "I know fate is real! Our bond is proof of it!"
"YEAH!" Hikari followed up. "We all reacted to you! You are our one and only!" She asserted with a frown.
Hibiki threw in her own two yen. "Those reactions tell us you are our Ashikabi, our destined one to love and protect. It means everything to us. You mean everything to us."
Six was somewhat taken back by their volatile reactions. Seeing how much these girls believed they are meant to be, as if they were in some fairytale... Right there was the word: fairytale. He could plainly see that Minaka sold them a fantasy, one that made their feelings seem to be magic. Considering Minaka's act from the phone call, Six got the impression he never wanted to leave candyland as a kid.
"Love and protect me, huh?… Why put so much importance on someone you don't know?" Six asked with genuine curiosity.
"Someone we don't know?" Toyotama echoed bitterly. "Six, you've put yourself in danger to help a stranger under attack. You've fought to protect someone without thought of reward nor danger to yourself. We do know you, Six. You're a kind man who would help another at the drop of a hat."
She smiled warmly and put a hand over her heart. "You are the kind of man we want to share our lives and love with. You. Our beloved Ashikabi."
"It was my duty ." The Spartan III tried to argue back.
"Your duty?"
"It was my duty to help a civilian from attack." Six stated as justification of his actions to the greenette, then shifted his attention to the twins. "As was my duty to stop you two from pursuing the shrine maiden you were hunting before anyone got hurt."
"You could've killed us doing that if you had wanted." Hikari countered. "Why didn't you?"
Six thought about it for a moment. Why hadn't he? "Initially? Because I didn't know the situation. later? Because you're victims too."
This notion confused the three Sekirei. Victims wasn't a label you put on superpowered women.
Six elaborated further: "You sekirei are created to love another and invest your entire being to your Ashikabi. Yet the one who controls you, releases you one at a time to a world that doesn't understand you, is Minaka. He gives you over to chance, where those who would hunt you down like sport and take you against your will only need to act against you. To that kind of person you're trophies to be paraded around at best, or at worst, you're weapons to be used against others with no wills of your own. That's sickening."
Six felt an upwelling of emotion he'd long thought gone. The…determination humanity possessed - or perhaps was possessed by - to fight against seemingly impossible odds, but also some degree of anger. "You aren't animals. You aren't tools. You are not objects to be wielded at the whims of your conqueror's. You are people who deserve to live according to your own will."
The trio of Sekirei were surprised… no, astonished at his words! He saw them as people, and they felt his anger when he spoke of those who considered them as objects or tools. Toyotama couldn't help but smile at his words, she never knew how much she and her fellow Sekireis needed to hear them. The sisters couldn't help but feel the same way.
Toyotama made her way over to the Spartan and put one hand on the Spartan's chest, relishing the feeling of the Mjolnir armor almost as if it were the man it encased. Six looked puzzled at her actions.
"I have to say, fate chose a very interesting and strong Ashikabi for me." Toyotama purred, her eyes locked on his. "I knew you were the right one for me. You may not believe in fate but I do know this, you're the first person that's ever treated me as an individual rather than a game piece." Her eyes moved downward and she crossed her arms around her waist. "Even before I was released to find my Ashikabi."
Six frowned at her words, having experienced much the same treatment. Spartan IIIs like him are nothing more than expendable and disposable super soldiers just to buy humanity more time against an unstoppable advancing Covenant force.
"The more things change, the more they stay the same…" The Lonewolf muttered under his breath.
It didn't quite go unheard. "Hmm.. you say something?" Toyotama asked.
"Nothing."
"Okay?"
"I never put stock in fate, nor the divine, nor any form of faith in the supernatural." The Spartan admitted. Before any of the girls could reply he continued, "However I do believe in doing one's duty. My duty is always to protect Humanity. Minaka is endangering lives through this twisted game - both Human and Sekirei. You shouldn't be released like game to be hunted for sport. Sekirei are people. People who have a say in your own lives, to choose your "Ashikabi" because it's your choice not because they saved you from danger you should never have been in to begin with. You should determine your own destiny."
Six took a breath. This was the longest he talked in… as long as he could remember.
An unexpectedly excited Toyotama jumped up to hang by her arms wrapped around his neck.
"I said it once and I'll say it again. I knew I made the right choice of making you my master!" Toyotama happily exclaimed.
Before Six could even comment the twins wrapped their arms around his.
"I know we were meant to be." Hikari said with a smile om his left. "Despite this rundown car factory, I can definitely admit you're better than our first choice of Ashikabi by a country mile. You're not pervy, lazy or a freeloader, so I'm happy my sister and I held off just for you."
On his right Hibiki happily nodded her agreement. "Give us a chance and we'll show you there is such a thing as fate, and what bonds us to you."
Six felt mentally unprepared, seeing them confess their love to him just felt so surreal. He tried writing it off as their teachings from Minaka then what they really believed. However Six couldn't explain the weird sensation in his chest. He felt this same pang this morning when Toyotama confessed her love for him. He couldn't explain it but the sensation felt stronger….. could it be because of the two new additions with Hikari and Hibiki…. he wasn't sure but ever since these girls have been with him in the last couple of hours he's been having these weird sensations. Was it because of a xeno-symbiotic bond?
Athena couldn't help but snicker at the group hug before her. She took a few pictures for her own amusement to make fun of him later.
Six finally found the extent of his tolerance for this weird and foreign sensation. "OK, enough." Wanting to end this group hug, Six pulled his arms free from the twins and prying Toyotama loose from his neck.
"Hey! We were having a moment!" Hikari made her displeasure known.
"What a way to ruin the mood, big guy!" Toyotama pouted.
"That was more than a moment. Let's finish lunch, continue our search of the facility, and future planning." Six said.
All three Sekirei looked keen to argue, but nodded - fortunately for him - and went back to eating. Six retrieved his helmet and heard Athena snicker quietly through the speakers. "That was a nice group hug you had."
Six suppressed a groan and went back to eating his lunch.
Sometime later.
After lunch everybody resumed going through the facility. The girls went through the office rooms, cleaning and searching for anything useful as well as picking out the use for some rooms. Six explored the main factory floor. With all the machinery there, the Spartan-AI duo hoped they could make a customized Mjolnir mounting array. Athena had the schematics to fabricate one and began modeling for what was possible with local materials. They also needed to get some generators to get this part of the facility up and running. Then Six went to the where they had initially entered the building, gave that part a good look over and figured they could use it as a motor pool and armory.
Hours later, the girls returned from a quick shopping around the city. Toyotama went and bought dinner at a local burger joint, a burger and fries combo for each of their band, while the twins went out and got futons for everyone, and toiletries for the showers.
Sometime after polishing off dinner and washing up, the alien trio made ready to go to bed. Toyotama and Hikari saucily asked their Ashikabi if he would be joining them. Six declined, saying he wanted to stay up a bit longer to look over the facility some more. The girls respected his response with a little hesitation and disappointment. Toyotama - who had been with him a day longer than the twins - had hoped for their first night together twice by then so handled the disappointment better. Once the three young women went off to bed, like the previous night Six patrolled the perimeter with active-camouflage to veil him from MBI.
"Athena, continue your intel-report."
Athena appeared on his HUD and nodded, bringing up an image of a lean, yet muscular young man with black haired and black eyes of average height with a gruff, wild look about him. wearing a black leather jacket, dark trousers with a white skull-adorned belt and a pair of dark leather gloves.
"Sanada Nishi of the West." Athena couldn't help but chuckle at the name. His first name literally means west in Japanese and it was his real legal name. It wasn't a nickname, which made it even funnier for the AI.
Six though didn't find it humorous. "What do we have on him and how many Sekireis are bound to him?"
"From what I'm reading here he's a local biker who grew up in a poor section of the city. Dropped out of high school and joined a biker gang. According to MBI's count he has six Sekirei bonded to him. Personality wise, MBI thinks he is easy-going but has a temper to him. He could turn hostile and violent for petty reasons I suppose - they call him a 'typical Japanese' bike-thug."
"Is that all the Intel on him? Is he anything like the last two? Does he use hunting parties?" Six asked.
"Surprisingly no, he's nothing like Mikogami or Higa. His Sekirei joined him willingly… hmm, For a bike thug I suppose, he's a bit of a gentleman. Who knew? It does seem like he wants to win this competition. Sanada isn't a strategist like Mikogami, however I wouldn't rule him out. He could serve as a possible ally to us if we can convince him to turn against MBI."
Six nodded in agreement. "We'll see if we can establish contact with Sanada. That's all three of them then. Nobody claimed the north yet, right?"
Athena appeared on his HUD and nodded. "Right now there is no Ashikabi who has claimed the Northern Territory. Which is surprising with the months this game has been going on."
"Hmm, strange..."
"Agreed. Since no Ashikabi has claimed the north yet and you are the only one in this territory with more than one Sekirei, do you want to claim this territory as your own?"
Six thought about it for a moment. "No. We'll operate quietly within this territory. If any other Ashikabi does decide to take the north, let him claim it. Unless he proves to be hostile." Six responded, to which Athena's avatar nodded. "Your report on the rest of discipline squad? I noticed you skipped over number four and went to number five instead when we were at the store. Why?"
Athena sorted through all of the data she acquired to show Six. "The reason I skipped her is Sekirei #4 is still active as a Discipline Squad member and was a member for both the first, second and third generations. In fact she is the leader of the current third generation Discipline Squad." Six raised his eyebrows at this, while he knew why the first generation was disbanded, why try to recreate this group twice?
"Alright then, tell me about Sekirei #4, the generation rosters and why the two generations disbanded?"
Athena smiled and with a snap of her fingers brought up a picture of the Black Sekirei as well as micro-screens of info. Six looked at the image of Sekirei #4, Karasuba had sharp, angular features to her face; Long ash grey hair tied up into a ponytail, porcelain white skin that seemed to the spartan to look slightly grey either from lack of blood, sunlight, or sleep, yet she didn't look sickly.
Six noticed the bags underneath her eyes which could be due to a lack of quality sleep. 'Hmm a possible advantage against her.' the lone wolf thought to himself, but what really got to Six was the calm arrogant smirk she had on her portrait. Aside from her eyes being more slanted liken to a cunning predator, the eyes themselves seem cold, bored and apathetic. It was a familiar visage among certain Spartan 3s.
"This is Sekirei #4. Name is Karasuba, Code name is the Black Sekirei. Her files place heavy emphasis on her skills and fighting capabilities, and Karasuba seems to be a weapon user Sekirei like Toyotama, chosen weapon is a nodachi. Karasuba's fighting prowess is on par with both numbers 1 and 5, with 4 being ranked as the second strongest swordswoman among the Sekirei. Speed seems to be on par with that of a Spartan, able to dodge small arms fire and has even cut through bullets midair."
Athena then brought up a very slowed down video of Karasuba being attacked by a squad of ten armed with rifles firing at the swordswoman. Six saw Karasuba smiling as she effortlessly dodged the bullets coming towards her, occasionally using her blade to either block or deflect the bullets of their trajectory or simply cutting through them with ease. Once the video was back to normal speed he saw the Black Sekirei kill the squad of soldiers within several seconds. The squad of ten was now several dozen pieces.
Six saw she had the same look in her eyes as some of the Covenant soldiers he had seen killing and butchering either UNSC marines or civilians. A look that said they viewed the taking of human life like that of swatting a bug or exterminating vermin...It made Six's blood cold. Not out of fear, but contempt. "Psych profile?"
Athena closed the video and files on her combat prowess and brought up the Black Sekirei's psych profile. "From what I have been able to gather, I would say three things make up the entire personality of Karasuba, the first would be her love of battle, her rivalry with another Sekirei, and her absolute disgust and hatred of humanity as a whole." Athena summarized before going into further detail.
"Karasuba enjoys, perhaps more than anything, especially capable opponents. At first I thought it was some form of honor code or the 'Path of a Warrior' like what we've seen with the Elite culture, but that is not the case. It seems her love of battle stems from bloodlust. Evidence shows she enjoys the act of killing, be it humans or her own kind." Athena tabbed to a different page. "She seems to regard humans as a whole to be - I quote - 'no better than animals and the perfect fodder for her blade' - end quote. When asked by MBI scientists what she thought of the bond between a Sekirei and Ashikabi, she said the idea was 'disgusting'. Then the psych evaluator had to be cleaned off the walls... When he was replaced and the line of questions continued#4 showed signs of disdain towards life in general, nihilism, psychopathy, hints of sociopathy, as well as superiority complex to both humans, who she dubs 'Monkeys', and Sekirei."
The more Six heard about this woman the more he was reminded of the Elites of the Covenant.
"Found something here you might want to see." Athena bringing up another video on his HUD.
"What Is it?"
"Remember earlier today? When Toyotama mentioned a scientist who took care of her?" Athena replied.
Six nodded.
"I've gone through MBI's database again and I found some old security footage taking place within MBI tower. Playing it."
On the screen six saw this long hallway with two figures walking down it, one roughly the size of a child and another as an adult. As they got closer Six was able to make out more detail. The child-sized figure he realized was Toyotama by the green hair and pale blue eyes wearing a white lab robe, looking to be either 6 to 8 years old. The adult next to her is a man dressed in a science lab coat, with short black hair. Black eyes and wearing glasses. Looking like he was in his mid to late 30s.
The scientist looked at the young Toyotama and asked "So Tama-chan What do you feel like ordering today?" The little Toyotama thought about it for a while and said "Chicken udon! And two pastries with red bean paste in 'em!"
The Scientist laughed "Sounds like somebody worked up an appetite. Alright then we'll get that just for you." They continued their journey down MBI's halls.
It felt kind of like a big brother/little sister relationship, artificial as it might be. Which brought up some echoes, memories of the Spartan's own family. Athena then interrupts his thoughts "Here's where things go FUBAR." The AI said as at the end of the hall where the cafeteria was, Karasuba began walking toward the two without either little Toyotama or the Scientist noticing as they were wrapped up in their own conversation.
Six was able to see the look on Karasuba's face; it was like that of a predator fixated on easy prey. She began to move towards the pair Six began to feel the scientist's fear, even separated by years and a security camera. Once they were within a foot of each other, Six saw quick movement coming from her right hand before settling on her nodachi. Once they passed each other, Karasuba removed her right hand from the handle.
After several seconds had passed the scientist stopped moving, Toyotama looked back at him with a smile and said "Come on we're nearly there. What's wrong?" The scientist looked confused as he looked at Toyotama and said "I'm sorry Tama-Chan...I-." Toyotama was confused. The scientist's left hand twitched as he began to complain about a sharp pain in his wrist .
Toyotama just kept pulling on his arm until both of them noticed that Toyotama pulled his hand off. Karasuba had cut it cleanly off at the wrist. Past Toyotama screamed as she dropped the man's severed hand. A thin red diagonal line ran across his left forearm. The Scientist tried to pick up his right arm with his left hand only for another half of his upper arm to fall off. The man collapsed, hyperventilating and gripping the stub remaining of his arm. More thin lines began to run red. Toyotama's face was of frozen shock and horror.
Toyotama screamed, tears running down her face. The man was fading in and out from blood loss. His whimpering climaxed and wavered as he attempted to stand, only to falter. Karasuba took the whole scene in, with a smile, as if someone had fallen for a prank.
No.
That wasn't quite right. Six knew this visage
Karasuba was relishing the sounds of fear, the power over another. To carve her pound of flesh out of someone. Six had to admit. All the Spartan 3s all did the same in the past… Some, more than others, wanted vengeance against the covenant. Then there were those like Saeko B036 and himself. Once they completed training, those early missions brought out the worst in them.
B036 like all humans hated the covenant, but held a special fixation on jackals. Allegedly, her family had been torn apart before her by a hungry pack of them. They found themselves with spare time, and a trio of still breathing jackals. The aliens were on death's door, he was ready to just snap their necks and be done with it. She intervened, demanding they be left to her. Her helmet was set aside and he could see the gleeful fixation on her face.
Just like Karasuba's, it was a need. She needed to drag them down, slowly work her blade into them and squeeze as much satiation out of having power over their final desperate moments.
Six hated to admit it. He had been there before. The high of taking everything away from those that took everything away from you. The succulent taste of a pound of flesh… Six cared little for this scientist's life. He was an MBI minion, tampering with alien lifeforms. His sympathy only extended to the young Toyotama, still crying, attempting to speak though her sobs, Karasuba, put two fingers behind her ear and leaned down at the child Toyotama "Sorry, can't quite hear you." The smile never left her face, eyes closed like she relished a sumptuous meal.
Toyotama once she was able to calm down a little screamed out "Why did you...kill him?! Big Brother was nice to me! he was my friend...why...What did he do to you?! WHY?!" the little girl screamed out the last part. Karasuba stood and looked at Toyotama with the same smile as before, but the warmth faded from her eyes.
The high was gone.
"Why are you so worried about him?" The past black Sekirei asked. "He's just a monkey, just another monkey keeping us here." Six noticed a hunger in her eyes return; considering testing her blade sharpness once more by cutting through some more flesh of young Toyotama. Then it glazed over… suddenly she looked worn as if the thought weighed on her…
What was this now?
She then turned her back and began to walk away as she said "I'll never understand what you, Yume, or even #01 see in these worthless apes. This dung heap of a planet is infested with them…" After she left Toyotama walked to the scientist and once she was near his unconscious form, her young legs gave out underneath. The young #16 trembling hands reached forward to his head when she heard from behind.
"Toyotama what's wrong?". When he saw the woman behind his future Sekirei Six was shocked as behind her was the same Sekirei he saw the twins chased after, but upon further inspection he saw that the one in the video and the one from before were two completely different women. Yet that didn't stop Six from wondering why these two look so much alike.
Six eyes then went back to Toyotama, looked at her handler and then to the woman behind her, giving the newcomer an unobstructed view of the scientist bleeding out. This woman's eyes were wide with horror as Toyotama said "Big sis! Yume! Big sis!." Toyotama kept repeating with tears starting to well up once more she began to cry.
The video ended there as Athena said "It looks like Toyotama has a good reason to be afraid of this Karasuba. Her skills speak for themselves, but her attitude and psychology are… yikes." Athena noticed Six didn't answer at first "Six are you okay?"
"I'm fine, continue with the report."
Athena nodded and continued. "I just covered points one and three of Karasuba's personality, but the second part is what is strange as she seemed to have a strong rivalry with her leader."
"Number one?"
Athena shook her head. "While I have found some files here about her thinking of challenging Sekirei #1, who I am referring to is the leader of the second generation discipline squad. Only Karasuba and her captain, Sekirei #8 named Yume, were the members of this second iteration of the squad."
Six wasn't surprised given what he saw of the first discipline squad and figured the second generation was a special ops group like ONI's headhunter teams. "You have a file on this Yume?"
"I do, and before you say anything, no it doesn't look like there is any relation between Yume and the other Sekirei we saved from the twins. DNA samples show they have no familial tie with each other." A profile of Yume was brought up. This Yume seemed to carry a genuine kindness and warmth. In many ways he was reminded of Noble team again most notable Spartans 052 and A239 Jorge and Emile. Albeit Emile's was when he got to use his kukri.
Like Jorge he saw that this Yume was apparently kind and caring towards civilians, scientists and her fellow Sekirei earning he nickname "Big sister". She would always look out and care for her younger siblings and teach them about what it means to be a Sekirei and what finding an Ashikabi meant.
Karasuba reminded Six too much of Emile as both of them tended to use overkill in their approach to combat as well as having a sadistic side to themselves when it came to battle. The only difference is where Emile did this only to break the enemy's will to fight, Karasuba actually enjoyed watching the enemy suffer; and unlike Sekirei #4, Noble 4 never went after innocent civilians to feed his bloodlust.
Six looking over Yume's profile again asked "Where is #8 now? Still part of the discipline squad?" Six hoped not, as when he saw Yume's abilities of using light based attacks combined with her super strength and martial arts skills the Spartan knew she would be trouble down the road sooner or later.
Athena knew what Six was thinking and put his mind at ease. "Don't worry, Six. Yume is no longer a part of the discipline squad nor is she a part of the game. Records showed Yume died some time ago before the Sekirei Plan was properly commenced."
Six was rather surprised to hear that. "How? She seemed a capable combatant if she lead Karasuba around."
Athena looked through the files she acquired from MBI. "Officially there is nothing on the subject. Unofficially according to the documents, both Yume and Karasuba were sent to retrieve two young kidnapped Sekirei from a government black site." Athena brought up the file on the mission on Six's HUD so that he couldread the information.
Athena continued "It seems this government entity was able to capture both Sekirei #87 & #88 while MBI was busy transporting the adjusted Sekirei to the capital. The convoy was attacked mid transit and the two Sekirei captured. According to the report, both 87 and 88 were just children when they were taken. Once MBI found out what was going on, they sent the Discipline 'Squad' to reclaim both numbers 87 and 88 from their captors. Between the two, the government forces were slaughtered."
Six raised an eyebrow. "Doesn't explain why or how Yume died."
"I'm getting to that. They found 87 safe for the most part it, but Sekirei #88 was in critical condition. Apparently the scientists working for this government entity removed 88's Sekirei Core or "Tama" as it is also called."
Six was confused. "What is that?"
Athena shook her head "I'm not so sure from what little I was able to gather this "core" acts like a Sekirei's nucleus, like that of a cellular organism it allows the Sekirei to live as well as use their abilities. Of course I'm not sure about the specifics of that. I would need to do more research on the subject."
Six nodded as he thought on the information. "Keep digging. I want to know more about this Sekirei Core."
"Understood. I'll see what I can find"
"So if #88 lost her core, that means she died, correct?"
"Both yes and no according to the files it seems that a Sekirei can still live without their Tama. They would just be in a vegetative state until their Tama was returned. Anyway, once Yume found out what happened to number 88, Yume decided she would save the young Sekirei by sacrificing her own Tama and giving it to number 88 so she could continue to function."
Six was surprised Yume would sacrifice her life for a child she barely knew, but from what Toyotama said Yume viewed all the younger Sekirei as her siblings and they saw her as a big sister. Six smiled a little as he began to respect this Yume.
"After that Yume's body was put into cold storage and number 88 Musubi was able to live out her life until the start of the Sekirei Plan." When Athena pulled up a picture of Musubi, Six was surprised once again as the photo was of the same Sekirei he and Toyotama had saved from the Lightning-Twins.
Athena noticed and cracked a smirk. "It really is amazing how you ran into the girl Yume sacrificed her core for. If I was superstitious I would have called it fate."
"Don't you start as well." Six groaned. "What about the current Discipline Squad?"
Smirk lingering several moments, Athena went over the information. "Aside from their leader Karasuba, the third Discipline Squad is made up of two three-digited Sekirei. Sekirei #104 named Haihane, and Sekirei #105 Benitsubasa."
Athena then pulled up their files as well as photos of the two squad members. As Six looked at them he could tell right away compared to the other members of the previous Discipline Squads, these two were as green as grass. Haihane looked like she barely gets any sleep at all and Benitsubasa looked like a pouty, spoiled child that would throw a fit if she didn't get her way.
Looking at the psych profiles of both members it seemed Haihane was absent minded at times, lethargic even, as well as having a rebellious nature that would make her hard to deal with on missions. While Benitsubasa had the short fuse of a plasma grenade, prone to violent outburst, and poor impulse control. Six could think of a hundred different ways to deal with either of them. Even with the experience and skills of Number 4, Karasuba wasn't a leader. Karasuba preferred to fight by herself. The other two were the poorest excuse of soldiers he had ever seen.
Six nodded to himself, satisfied. "Now we know this current discipline squad will not pose a threat to me, aside from Karasuba of course."
Athena smiled. "You're welcome big guy."
"Though, Minaka went through all this trouble having the discipline squads fend off infiltration and invasion attempts to protect the ship and other Sekirei just to have them all fight each other to the death in the end?" Six bewildered that MBI went this far to protect the sekireis just to kill them in the end.
"Wish I could answer that question for you, but since Minaka erased most of his personal history from existence I really have no clue as to what end he is working towards." The synthetic said scratching her virtual head.
"Don't suppose the flash drive with the Jinki on it might have his personal information?" Six wondered
"I thought of it too. If we can get our hands on the drive, maybe we can learn something about the madman."
Six nodded agreeing with his digital partner, that flash drive might be the key to unraveling this mess.
"I'll be honest with you Six, the way Minaka has his tournaments, its similar to an arcade fighting game." Athena proposed.
"What do you mean?"
"Here." Athena brought up another video on his visor, Six start watching videos of these arcade fighting games, watching men and women in ridiculous outfits beat everything out of each other, some of them using special powers and abilities almost similar to the Sekirei….. Just like Sekirei… Was this actually some game to him?
"I was also able to hack into Minaka Hiroto's personal computer. Bit of a hassle to get into but you need to listen to this." She brought up a text file.
"What is it?"
"I'm not sure. It sounds like he's is definitely off his meds, I'll start reading it for you." Athena preparing herself to read what she found.
"I'm going to tell you a story from long ago. In ancient times, the Gods lived in a land known as Takamagahara. It is said that the stone ship of the Gods once landed here, carrying their treasures. However, that is just an old story. It is merely a tired, ancient myth, unrecorded even in the Nihon Shoki and the Kojiki. But the new legend begins now! One hundred and eight Sekirei have been dispersed! The Sekirei must fight for the Ashikabi which they have chosen for themselves. The final one remaining, shall guide their Ashikabi to the heights of heaven, where he shall obtain the faith of the world! So, let the new legend begin! The beautiful tale of war! The miraculous love story! There are 108 spirits of the emancipated Sekirei. Now... Shall we start? A renewal... A new strength. A miraculous love story...!"
"He's either talking to himself or making a speech. And I don't know which is worst" Six concluded, as disgusts as he was disappointed. He had heard more than his fair share of speeches from the Covenant leadership.
"I'm actually starting to get the impression he must have been unpopular with the ladies." Athena joked.
Six chuckled a little. "Some of the things he said…'Stone ship', 'Takamagahara' and why are these aliens referencing birds so much." The Spartan questioned out loud.
"If I had to guess, Takamagahara in Japanese translates to 'high plane of heaven', probably the Sekirei homeworld. Stone ship, I think, he was referring to the spacecraft he found them on. Doing research it seems like the ship they were found on it's about the same size as a Auriga-class Light Prowler. So it's nothing too large, by our standards" Athena exposite.
Six made note to plan an infiltration of this vessel in the future.
"As to why the reference to birds," The AI continued "that's a good question since Sekirei literally translates to wagtail in Japanese. So I'm not sure how they're named after a certain species of bird on earth….I'll be honest though from what we see of these Sekireis I can't help to compare them to Angels you see in mythology. Beings come from the high heavens with wings of light. Sound familiar?"
"That's a theory." Six commented.
"They fit the description well. Angels are said to be heavenly beings and have been a pillar in many religions. They serve as messengers of God. Some believe that angels are here to guard and protect us. Fits what they said earlier about serving and protecting you." Athena putting the pieces together.
Six shrugged. Whatever MBI taught them, Six didn't care too much about it.
"A thought crossed my mind... why send a ship with one adult guarding it and the rest being eggs and embryos? It doesn't sound like colonization nor an invasion force." The Spartan contemplated.
"I was wondering about that too. Sending unborn children thousands or possibly millions of light-years away through space is a very dangerous move. A life boat, perhaps?" Athena theorized.
"An ark?"
Athena nodded. "Think about it, sending nothing but eggs and embryos through space. Why? I think something happened back home and they had no choice but to send children through the cold depths of space. We might be dealing with the last of an alien race, though it doesn't explain why they are generically compatible with humanity."
Six narrowed his eyes. "Or how much they look like us."
"That's why they fascinate me so much. Convergent-Evolution theoretically can create similar lifeforms, but to look exactly like humans AND be able to be compatible is astronomically low. MBI theorizes the ship crashed during or maybe even before the Japanese renaissance, so just imagine escaping some kind of calamity traveling light years just to crash in the ocean to found by some delusional CEO with too much time on his hands." The AI said with a hint of sadness.
For Noble Six, if this ship is an ark, a number of scenarios played in the former headhunters mind. Did a disease wipe out the species? A war? Did they destroy themselves and their home world or was it something like in his reality? Did another race of aliens want their extinction? Could it be the Covenant? Who knows. But forcing them to fight for his entertainment for the sake of some worthless legend… Minaka sounded far too much like a Covenant Prophet.
In the back of his mind, if what Athena said was true, then Hiroto Minaka did the most evil and unforgivable thing imaginable for Six. The Sekirei species might have found kindred spirits in his humanity.
The irony.
"Earlier today, you said you had the blueprints for MBI tower?"
Athena nodded on his HUD. Using the screen of his visor Athena constructed up a 3-D render of the tower.
"Going over the data I can tell you on the outside it looks like a normal giant tower, but the inside is definitely a fortress. With everything you can possibly think of, Remote machine gun turrets, motion sensor lasers, kill-zones, defensive hardpoints, even remote control mines..." Athena reading out its defensive suite.
"Sounds like they're preparing for an army." Six commented looking at its defenses.
"There's more. It looks like they have plans of improving their defenses, just for you. Since they're aware of your energy shields and active camouflage. Putting in new cameras that can detect beyond the visible light spectrum and EMP devices to take down your energy shields." Athena going over update reports.
Six sighed.
"We couldn't predict the portal would land us in the middle of enemy territory in another universe and time." Athena counseled him.
Six nodded. "At least they know nothing about you yet."
Athena smirked, MBI knowing nothing of her, Six's true secret weapon.
Six taking his attention back to the blueprints. "Athena, if we're going to infiltrate this tower, where would be the best insertion points?"
"We have several options. Option one would be trying to access the roof, accessible if you can climb, grapple or drop from an aircraft. Option two is through a motor pool, staying on board one of their trucks. Three is through the underground network underneath the tower, through the sewers and a secret entrance." Athena highlighted each point of interest.
"Good work." Six complimented her. He began planning a covert infiltration of the tower.
"We need to be careful. We don't have any friendly UNSC nor ONI assets to support us. Though my load out isn't exactly fit for covert operations."
An M6 with no silencer, MA37 assault rifle and m90 shotgun did not leave room for subtlety. What he would do for a suppressed M7 SMG and a M6C socom pistol. Unfortunately such equipment like this was in another universe 500 years in the future.
"We can always STEAL it from MBI." Athena chimed.
"Strategically Take Equipment to Another Location." Six recited, letting slip a hint of amusement. "Always an option."
"I took the liberty of gathering the locations of MBI private military assets all over the city." Athena brought up a map of the city on his HUD. At least 30 to 40 Red dots on the map littered throughout the city. Most of them in the west, of the east in the south, not too many in the north.
'Why so little activity in the north?' The headhunter wondered to himself. Putting that thought aside he refocused. "Good work. One of these bases should have what we need."
Athena smiled. "You're welcome! A number of different bases around the city sport helicopter pads, motor pools, refueling stations, barracks, weapons, ammunition, and supply depots." Athena said as she applied different markers to point which bases hosted what.
"Taking these bases out would see less MBI activity around the city." Six pondered. "Tomorrow morning I'll scout out some of these bases and the homes of the three major Ashikabi. Tomorrow night we raid one of these bases for supplies."
Athena nodded "Pick your target and I'll map out." The Spartan gave his approval and continued his patrol for the rest of the night.
That Night, Location: Izumo inn.
Somewhere in the middle of the northern territory of Shinto Teito is Izumo Inn, a classic two level Japanese house with traditional rice paper walls and tatami flooring. The second floor occupied rooms for the inhabitants.
The owner of the small little inn, Miya Asuma A.k.a. Sekirei #01, the most powerful being alive on earth, once the only natural-born found on board the crashed alien ship, now an adult, had just finished sweeping the front of the inn. This inn had once belonged to her late love, Takehido Asuma. His unfortunate accident years ago had left her to run the Inn by herself.
Miya returned to the kitchen preparing dinner for her residents. With the exception of Kagari, who just left now to go to work at his host club tonight. Uzume was in her room napping. Miya's most secretive resident, Sekirei #2 Matsu, lived secretly in a hidden room in the walls from MBI.
As secretive as keyboard clicking could be at least.
As she finished steaming the rice, the obnoxious tapping sound coming from upstairs became unbearable, Matsu was by no means quiet at all times, especially when she found some… filthy diversion, but the activity being loud enough to hear through the floor below and for this long roused her curiosity.
"What's gotten into her?" The purplenette wondered, Matsu must've found something very fixating if she's typing this loudly.
Suddenly the typing stopped, followed by the sounds of somebody running down the stairs. "Miya !?" called out a female voice. The glasses wearing, redheaded brain Sekirei came running uncouthly into the kitchen in her pajamas, with shocked look on her face.
"Miya!…. you have to! …come see this!… I gotta show! ….you something!" Matsu exclaimed sporadically while out of breath.
Miya gave her former squad-mate a very doubtful look. "Matsu, can it wait? I'm in the middle of preparing-"
Matsu cut her off. "Someone has hacked into the MBI network and accessed restricted files and left no traces!"
"Really?"
"Yes! I got to show you!" matsu pleated.
Miya was now intrigued by such an accomplishment. Even brain type Sekirei like Matsu have a rough time trying to break through their cyber security.
Miya nodded. "Very well, Matsu, but first." The widow lowered the temperature of the room, a Hannya demon mask manifested from behind her. "Please dress properly and refrain from running in the inn. Color drained from Matsu's face at the horrid Yokai, she meekly yipped and retreated back to do as the landlady said.
A change of clothes later, "Now look at this." said Matsu.
Matsu's room is a dark lit room, with the only light coming from the computer monitor. Miya was kneeled down next to the brain type.
"So, Matsu, what is it you wish to show me?" Miya asked.
"Well, Miya, truth is stranger than fiction here." Matsu said as she typed away on her keyboard.
Miya raised a confused eyebrow. "Stranger than fiction?"
"Here." Matsu had a video file on the screen. "This was from yesterday afternoon, MBI surveillance satellites captured this strange anomaly." The glasses wearing Sekirei explained, and played the video.
The video played the satellite going through its normal routine surveilling the city, scanning blocks of urbanized landscape, then a bright light spawned in a random alleyway. It lasted for a few seconds and caused considerable static in the live feed. Once the light and static died down, the older Sekireis eyes narrowed, this armored thing impacted the ground, the concrete was shattered beneath. For a few moments it lay still, until it finally picked itself up, simply brushed dust off and scanned around. Matsu paused the video.
"Extraordinary." Miya was curious what this armored thing just appeared out of nowhere could be. "What has MBI done or discovered so far about our mysterious stranger?"
"No idea. But I've never seen armor like that before, no nation or organization we know possesses this kind of technology. It looks like something you see in sci-fi, even the weapons look the part." Matsu zoomed in on the arsenal. They were clearly guns, an assault rifle, a shotgun and pistol, but of unknown model and make. In addition to more recognizable weaponry like a combat knife and fragmentation grenades, were these round purple-blue orbs on his belt.
It was obvious whoever the stranger was armed for a war.
Matsu began "Whoever they are, they could make a lot of noise."
"Certainly." Miya commented, eyes appraising the stranger on the computer screen" Could it be a government infiltrator still trying to steal MBI secrets?"
Matsu answered,"Possibly, however his entrance wasn't exactly subtle. I'm pretty sure most instruments pickuped on the sudden power surge. And he hit the concrete hard…very hard." The redhead noting the destroyed concrete beneath the behemoth, "A normal human would've at least broken most of their bones."
"Unless the armor protected him from the impact." Miya theorized .
"That's another possibility, but if so he's even less likely to be affiliated with anyone MBI knows." Matsu said with a little hint of fascination in her voice wanting to secretly study that armor.
Miya nodded. MBI tends to be on top of their private and public rivals.
Matsu started typing agin on her keyboard "As for how MBI is handling this matter, it seems like they are just observing for the time being." The MBI feedwatching it avoided human contact jumping roof to roof and sneaking alleyway to alleyway until it ended up at a very familiar burn down apartment.
" Is that not the apartment complex Kagari…"
"Burned down when he was with a client? Yes." Matsu finished for her.
Miya nodded. "Our armored stranger taking up residence in there?"
"It seems he's no longer there." Matsu said, still typing on the keyboard.
Miya said nothing as she let the brain type access more data "Our armored friend here became an ashikabi."
Miya's eyes widened a bit. "Is it Ashikabi now?"
Matsu nodded, "Believe it or not. According to this report, a hunting party from the eastern sector of the city chased an unwinged Sekirei and cornered her in that apartment complex."
Miya remained coldly neutral on these implications.
Matsu brought up a lineup of portraits of the perpetrating eastern sekireis, Number 18 Ichiya, strength Type, number 31 Sai weapon type and number 101 Orhia weapon type.
As well as their prey, a woman with Long green hair and pale blue eyes, Number 16 toyotama a weapon type.
Matsu played footage of the chase watching number 16 fighting and avoiding her pursuers before making it to the apartment complex. The drone footage circled the building, The two older sekireis watching the battle had to admit number 16, unwinged at the time, put up a valiant effort against 3 winged sekireis. Just when they were finally able to bring her down, that's when the armored stranger intervened.
It unveiled into existence like it dropped from invisibility and engaged the three surprised Sekirei .
Miya and Matsu couldn't help but be amazed; a single combatant took on three winged Sekirei, knocking out the numbers 18 and 31, and forcing number 101 to gather up her companions and break off.
"Matsu, do you think our armored stranger is actually human? " Miya put forward.
"I don't know to be honest. but there's more."
The otaku Sekirei continued playing the footage, after the battle of the armored stranger assisted Toyotama, taking her to the only good room in this burnt down apartment and treating her. The drone recorded through the open window without the behemoth's knowledge. That was enough to convince them this was no enemy infiltrator from another nation. They would never show kindness to a Sekirei.
Then it, or rather he, removed his helmet, the mystery man had the face of a young man, late teens or early 20s, pale skin combined with greco features making him almost look like a greek statue. Both women wondered if he ever saw sunlight or lived in that suit
Matsu blushed a little seeing his face, she found him to be very exotically handsome, like a gender-bent Galatea. He was a Olympian someone chiseled out of ivory, and blessed the goddess of beauty. A sharp chill jumped up her spine, her landlord's infamous demon mask returned.
"You're not getting any degenerate ideas are you?" Miya tilted her head ever so slightly.
Matsu shook her head "Me? Hahah, NO, NO! I would never!"
"Good." Miya turned her attention back to the young man's true face, she noticed some scars, one on his cheek, another across his nose, one above his right eye starting from the brow and going up to the middle of his forehead.
'What happened to you?' Miya thought to herself and even looking at his eyes, It was a look she was familiar with; it spoke of hardship, conflict, unbearable loss and pain. What could have left such a mark on this person?
The two continued watching, number 16 faked a headache luring him close and kissing him, pillars of light blossomed behind her. Miya couldn't help but smile slightly. Seeing a sekirei find their true ashikabi was ever heartwarming, and this number 16 definitely chose an interesting one.
Matsu stopped the footage and said "Not long after the winging Minaka contacted the stranger and he gave supposed name, Spartan B312 Noble-Six."
"How peculiar." Miya noted. Matsu put in words their thoughts.
"Sounds like a code name or designation, either way Minaka as always explain the rules."
"And how did that conversation go?" Asked Miya with a hint of amusment.
"Well, he insulted Minaka calling him a basement dweller who should move out of his mothers basement.'' Matsu couldn't help but laugh at that part.
"Oh my." Miya chuckled as well at that comment.
Matsu then turned serious. "Though during this conversation, it was mentioned the newly bonded Ashikabi held number 16 at gunpoint."
"Oh dear, he didn't hurt her, did he?" Miya worried for one of her feathers.
"No, I think he was just taken by surprise. Odd his first instinct was to act defensive. Thankfully, no one got hurt." Matsu assured the widow. Miya too was relieved that he didn't hurt her.
After that phone call Matsu read out more of the report, Noble six and Toyotama spent the whole night in the burnt out apartment.
After an incident of this armored individual holding an MBI agent at knife-point, this Noble Six battled the lighting twins, numbers 11 and 12, when they were in pursuit of number 88.
Hikari and Hibiki had been adjusted by her husband sometime ago, Miya still remembered when Seo came over one night for food and mentioned what happened between them. She couldn't blame the twins for leaving Seo since he's such a dirty freeloader, but now she worried for them, going up against the armored stranger.
Since she saw the B312 violently separating them, sneaking up behind them cloaked and throwing the oldest twin in an alleyway. Number 16 and Noble Six fought with the younger twin.
Though from the footage, it seemed like they were just trying to stop the twins from pursuing number 88. At least it seemed like they had the best of intentions.
Six and Toyotama proved victorious, surprisingly they spared the twins with both parties walking away, Hikari collecting her unconscious sister and fled in another direction.
They watched amused as Six flipped off one of the satellites, suddenly aware he was being watched and displaying his displeasure of it. The twins secretly followed the stranger. Why were the twins following him? Matsu theorized they were reacting to him. She was proved right when they cornered him in the other alleyway and saw the winging of the twins the footage stop there.
"MBI lost track of Noble six, the twins and number 16. They just vanishing from their surveillance systems entirely!" Matsu exclaimed.
"Doesn't MBI possess the best security in the world?" questioned Miya.
"They do! And I'm not sure how, but he accomplished it somehow! MBI is looking tirelessly for them."
"Nothing yet?"
Matsu shook her head "Natta, Six, number 16 and the twins have all gone dark."
Miya nodded acknowledging what she said.
"Also whoever this hacker is, I believe it was Six, was able to slip into their systems undetected and mess with bank accounts and even leak some MBI's secrets onto the net before they took it down." Matsu worked he magic on her keyboard again. "He also seems to have a bit of mischief in him. You'll get a kick out of this." The brain-type opened up the fake article about Minaka marrying big Mama from the anime One Piece.
Miya chuckled a bit at the absurdly well edited article picture.
Miya having her laugh got up from her seat next to the red head "Well, its nice to know he has a sense of humor. I much to finish dinner. Please keep me updated as the situation changes."
"Will do." The pervy nerd saluted.
Miya left the secret room and went back to the kitchen to finish dinner. The arrival of this Stranger, called Noble Six, no doubt will change the landscape of the city and its participants in the plan. But deep down inside she had a feeling the gods and goddesses brought him here and for what reason. Why, she couldn't fathom. Only time will tell.
Notes.
that was chapter 10. I'd like to apologize for this chapter for being nothing but exposition. I wanted to finish up that Intel report I started up in chapter 5 part two, Just to get it over and done with.
I said this in my notes in the last chapter. The next chapter will be six reconning around the city and meeting up with Minato and Musubi again. Those are the only free spoilers I will give.
This will be the last chapter of this year, the next chapter will be I'm hoping to have out in January or February of the new year, not sure when to be completely honest.
I just revealed another member of delta squad in this chapter.
Saeko B036 based off of Saeko Busujima from Highschool of the dead. That's all I will reveal about this character for now.
Other than that, I like to thank Annoying POW marine and SoTaWoB for editing.
The Son of Sparda 343 who helped write parts of the chapter , Big thanks to him. Also for SPARTAN-626 for beta reading this.
So, leave me your thoughts and comments on this chapter. Merry Christmas and happy new year to you all!