Divergent Warriors Rise Of The Hunter

by BeeSamusnChief

Alternate version of Different Galaxies Same Fighting Hearts. After destroying the first Halo, Master Chief on his way to warn Earth of the incoming Covenant invasion. On his Journey he accidentally enlists an extraordinary toddler to join him in the war against the Covenant.

4. Chapter 4

I know that Doctor Halsey, gets rescued by Osiris in the beginning of Halo 5. But I am changing her rescue to earlier and not by Osiris. I am not following a specific timeline I am just using the events as a guideline.

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Pacing around the Captain's office Commander Palmer shook her head with a scoff. "Every exercise they've run she's surpassed them better than most of the veteran soldiers aboard this ship!" She turned to the silent Captain who was unfortunately on the receiving end of her rant. "You and I are about to leave the Infinity. Does that not concern you?"

Captain Lasky sighed heavily as he leaned back in his chair. "Sarah, I can't jump to conclusions every time you get suspicious of something. Blue Team is training Samus, like both I, and the Chozo have assigned them to do. If she is quickly surpassing the training I see that as promising."

"Promising?" Palmer scoffed. "I read what little intel there was about her. She's not normal."

"Clearly." Lasky sarcastically remarked knowing his reply was only further irritating the Commander who was in turn annoying him with her constant scepticism.

"Tom, I'm serious!" She slammed both her hands down on his desk. "The kid is a mutant! I thought she just had some alien training, and some interesting alien tech. But no, she's a fully reconstructed alien hybrid, disguised as a human child."

Captain Lasky finally stood up from his desk with a data pad in hand. "You're being skeptical. The Chozo are our allies now. They sent their greatest asset to assist us in creating galactic peace. I've read the files, I see her as no different than one of our Sangheili allies like the Arbiter. Or like one of the Spartan two's. Samus, has been with us for almost a month. She is no threat to us."

"No threat to us?! The second day she was here she took down a squad of ODST's without even trying! One of them is dead!" Palmer reminded the Captain of the incident that happened not long ago.

"That was self defence. I have an officer working with the medical staff. That officer will address Blue Team, and Samus, today. I laid out set rules to make sure that incident will not happen again." Captain Lasky did agree with her that that was an issue, but it was also a mistake during self defence. "With all that has happened in the last two weeks, the child is the least of our concerns. We could really use her in the field right now." He mentioned, making his way past the Commander to the door.

"That nightmare with Halsey, and the Covenant, was enough." With a groan Palmer followed the Captain out of his office. "We lost the Janus Key. And the Absolute Record due to her stupidity."

"True. But Doctor Halsey, still went against the Covenant. We still need her out of Jul' Mdama's possession." Lasky reminded the Commander.

With a snort and scoff Sarah shook her head. "Hmph... perhaps we could send out the Spartan two's with their new lap dog. Give the little alien a taste of a real mission." Passing the said alien hybrid waiting outside the shooting range for one of the Spartans. Samus overheard most of the conversation between the Captain and Commander. The Commander was quite loud and expressive when she had an issue with something. Samus was slowly beginning to learn that the word mutant was to be intended as an insult towards her. She heard it quite often everyday from strangers they passed in the corridors, or from ones that observed her in the training facility.

Linda exited out of the shooting range, a bit surprised to see Samus out of her room wondering alone in the corridors without one of her teammates. "Samus? What are you doing here?" It was the first time Samus had voluntarily left her living quarters on her own without an escort. Nobody had forbidden her from roaming freely. Nor was she told she was to be assigned with an escort if she left her room. Though Samus certainly didn't seem like she was curious enough to leave her room and bypass the many crew members aboard the ship.

Samus gave no reply, she wasn't entirely sure what possessed her to leave her quarters. She had always had a very strong urge to explore everywhere and everything. Perhaps that urge was beginning to overtake her concern to stay away from the people aboard this ship.

"Just out for a little jaunt then?" Linda greeted Samus. Finding it surprising that the girl actually left her room without clinging to the Master Chief. Though she supposed it was really early not a lot of people were out in the corridors if any. "Come'on, let's go see if the rest of the team is awake." The redhead shrugged turning Samus in the direction of their assigned rooms. Escorting the child Linda tried to get a verbal response from the girl but to no avail. Especially when Kelly called out to them as they approached their quarters.

"You already making the kid do your crazy early morning drills?" Kelly teased the approaching redhead and child.

"No. I found her just standing outside the shooting range. Samus hasn't given me a response to any of my questions as of yet." Linda replied to the brunette in a black jumpsuit that was identical to hers.

Kelly shrugged with a smile. "She's probably just groggy from waking so early. Though I am a bit surprised Samus, actually wondered off by herself." She thought aloud, quickly glancing over her shoulder after the two males on their team exited their rooms.

"I was to." Linda replied.

"Good morning. Kid, you're out and about already?" Fred greeted the three with Chief stopping next to him.

Samus once again did not respond, she looked to be in very deep thought. The Captain and Commander discussed quite a bit of information. Information that Blue Team was lacking in knowledge. As they had been questioning the odd happenings on the ship. And the battles with the Covenant they have been left out of lately.

"The kid here is opting to try and talk less than Linda, does." Kelly sarcastically remarked as Chief approached Samus.

"Were you doing early morning drills with Linda in the shooting range?" Fredric asked, getting no response from the girl.

Linda shook her head no. "She was just standing out in the corridor, no attempt to get me."

"Are you ready for training this morning?" Chief asked. To the team's surprise Samus continued to be selectively mute, giving no response of any kind. "Samus, I am speaking to you. Are you ready for training? Answer me." He spoke firmly, reminding Samus that she needed to give her superior an answer.

Without making eye contact Samus gave a slow nod yes in response. Stepping off to the side she waited for the team to lead the way to the training facility.

Master Chief exchanged glances with the rest of his teammates before leading the way. Something was off with the girl. Was it possible she wasn't feeling well?

"We'll catch up with you, John." His teammates said as they went to go suit up. Leaving him to lead Samus down the corridors on his own.

John didn't often converse on their way to the training facility, but he was a bit concerned about Samus refusing to speak. "What made you get up so early?" He tried to start as casual as possible.

Samus took a moment to give any sort of response, before answering with a shrug. Nightmares usually kept her up most of the night. But she was able to hide them from the team so far.

"Were you the only one in the corridors this morning, when you were waiting for Linda?" He asked hoping to get a verbal response this time. But Samus simply shook her head in reply. He was beginning to get slightly annoyed with the child's refusal to speak. He began to wonder if this was how others felt during the times they tried to communicate with him and he remained silent.

Once inside the training facility Chief told Samus to armour up as they ran some simple close combat exercises. Samus was strong, and growing stronger by the day. She had gone from throwing him off balance, to nearly throwing him to the floor. Evasive exercises were quite fun as she could easily contort herself into her morph ball to avoid an attack. Rolling out of the way, she transformed kicking Chief squarely in the ribcage nearly unintentionally injuring him.

"Good work. You're getting stronger, and more comfortable in your armour." Chief praised Samus for her improving combat skills. "Go for a run. Then cool off. I'm going to speak with the team for a moment." He said as he left to go speak with his Spartans who were entering the training facility.

Samus did as she was told disengaging her armour as she hopped up on one of the treadmills. Kelly had recently taught her how to use the treadmills. It was odd at first but she caught onto the mechanics quickly. Samus liked that she didn't have to dodge other people on a track and that she could run as fast as she wanted.

"Still nothing from the kid?" Kelly furrowed her brow behind her visor.

Looking towards the treadmills Chief watched as Samus eagerly ran as fast as she could. "No. But I do not believe Samus, is being silent on purpose."

"Why is that?" Fredric asked curiously, following his leader's gaze.

John had remembered that Samus had pulled such silent treatments in the past when she was first discovered by him. Not to mention he witnessed it a few times on Zebes. "Samus, has been in this muted state before, when I first met her."

Both Kelly and Linda looked at each other for a brief moment before replying. "So you're saying a tiny defenceless toddler refused to speak with you and others?"

"John, she was just a shy terrified toddler. Of course she didn't speak a lot. I don't believe this is the same situation." Linda said, as they all continued to debate on what Samus was feeling. "I did notice the Captain and Commander walking down the hallway when I came out to see Samus there. Perhaps they said something to her."

"Pssh... That'd be a shock, considering they've been keeping us in the dark since we've brought her aboard. Seriously we've been battling with the Covenant. Had our ship literally dragged to some planet and now we're chasing the Covenant some more, after getting locked out of that world. What the hell is going on?" Kelly scoffed clearly frustrated that the Commander has been leaving them out of missions lately. "You guys starting to feel like we've been replaced?"

Master Chief did agree that being kept in the dark was quite frustrating. But he did not believe they were replaced. "We have a trainee. The Captain has most likely taken that into account before assigning us with a mission." He said gesturing to the girl. "Second. A Spartan is a Spartan whether it be a Spartan 2, or 4. We have not been replaced. I received a message from the Captain saying he is planning a reconnaissance mission for the nearby planet. It seems the Covenant are currently occupying it."

Quite a while passed by with each Spartan eventually picking a workout station after having their discussion about the girl and strange events.

With a small group of soldiers, crew, and Spartan fours watching as Samus trained. The comments, and rude whispers, were quick to follow.

"Great, the mutant is growing strong enough she can almost knock a Spartan down."

"I can't believe the Captain, agreed to keep her aboard our ship."

"I heard she was roaming freely earlier. Coincidentally just when the Commander, and Captain are leaving, the mutant comes out to play."

Fred and Chief both observed Samus from a distance. Noting the annoying peanut gallery making comments from their workout stations.

"Maybe just take her to her favourite spot. She might unwind, and give you some answers." Fred suggested to his Spartan brother.

Tired of hearing what she assumed to be rude comments, Samus decided to stop her run. Cooling off while from the corner of her eye she took note of the green Spartan leader approaching her.

Chief gestured for Samus to follow him out. Which she did so without hesitation. Reaching the atrium, once inside he noticed the girl's deep sigh of relief as she took in the calm atmosphere of the manmade park. Instead of asking Samus questions he let her lead the way through the gardens. Eventually after enough time had passed she spoke.

"What's a mutant?"

Master Chief was caught off guard by this question. "Why do you ask?"

"That's what most humans on this ship calling me. I heard Commander, talking to the Captain bout my training, she called me that word. Even Kelly, called me one on Zebes. I don't know what it means." Samus replied to which Chief turned his head away. "Is it a mean word?" She asked, regaining the Spartan's attention.

"It is." He could not be dishonest with the girl. Knowing if he hid the word's meaning it would eventually be used in a manner she would understand one day.

Samus furrowed her brow confused. "Did I do something to anger everyone on the ship? Why do they call me that?"

Leading Samus to a quieter spot in the atrium away from the few people wondering the park. "It is a descriptive word that describes someone, or something, who has had their DNA altered, or mutated."

Samus cocked an eyebrow even more confused by the Spartan's description. "But that's what I am. How's that mean?"

An insignificant smile crept behind Chief's visor only for a brief moment as he enjoyed the intelligence of the child. "You're correct. Kelly, was using that word exactly in those terms. Others aboard this ship are not."

"But the word isn't bad?" The young blonde was still very confused.

"You know how the word light has more than one meaning?"

"Um. Sure...?" Samus shrugged.

"Light as a feather. There's a bright light. Same word different meanings." Chief gave an example of what he was trying to explain to the girl.

"Okay, what's the other meaning of mutant?" She asked, at this point it was just pure curiosity. The human language was fascinating and complex.

"It's used as an insult to hurt people who are much more different from everyone around them. Or to jealousy put down those who possess different or stronger abilities than a normal human being." Master Chief finally explained a bit more thoroughly.

"You know a lot about that word." Samus thought aloud.

Chief took a moment to reply as he never would codified his own experiences during childhood to just anyone. "When I was a little bit older than you. Blue Team and the rest of the Spartan 2's that we trained with, were no strangers to being called mutants." He hoped his relatable past experiences would maybe help Samus. Although she seemed to be more confused than upset.

"But why call me something that I am? It's not imsalting at all. Are the mean ones trying to be funny? Or do they just lack brain cells?" Samus threw her hands up in defeat purely confused. Though she visibly jumped at the very quick chuckle that emerged from the Spartan standing next to her.

The pure naivety of the child was adoring and hilarious as Samus clearly did not fluently understand human social interactions quite yet. Chief was quick to catch the chuckle that barely escaped him. He couldn't remember the last time something made him genuinely laugh.

"Did I say something wrong?" Samus asked as she had never heard Chief laugh like that before. She didn't think he ever had the ability to do so.

"No. But now that I have you speaking. What were you doing walking around the corridors so early?" Master Chief swiftly changed the subject.

The girl lowered her head giving a sort of shrug. "I... I just wanted out of my quarters." She wasn't entirely lying to the Spartan. Samus had felt a strong urge to go explore. Though the true reason for her early exploration was skipped over.

"Why is that?" He waited for more of an explanation from the child. Samus visibly shrunk at his prying. Either she was withholding details of her reasoning, or she was reluctant to tell him what she was really up to.

Instead of going into detail about why. Samus went with an easier explanation. One that would hopefully satisfy the questioning Spartan. "I heard the Commander shouting. She sounded very upset so I went over to see if everything was okay. But I also saw Linda walk into the gun range so I waited there because from what the Commander was shouting it seemed like she was upset with me."

"Upset with you? How could she be upset with you if you didn't interact with anyone this morning?" Now Chief was confused by the child's explanation.

"She was mad that I am doing good with training. Captain Lasky, didn't sound very upset though. He called her ske-pi-cal..."

"Skeptical." John corrected. He agreed with the Captain, the Commander was very skeptical. "Commander Palmer, is very wary of strangers. You're still completely unknown to most aboard this ship. She just wants to keep everyone safe."

"I... understand..." Samus replied, her attention drawn to the approaching uniformed man holding a data pad.

Master Chief followed her curious gaze turning to address the approaching officer. He stayed silent as the officer stopped in front of them. Samus looked up at the Master Chief for reassurance. Out of the corner of her eyes she noticed the ODST squad leader standing in the atrium doorway with another officer.

"Master Chief. Samus Aran. I am here under order to deliver the Captain's strict instructions for you, following the unfortunate passing of ODST squad member, Sully Jablonsky." The man greeted the two as he read his data pad.

Unfortunate passing? What did that mean? It was not a phrase she had heard before or at least not recently. From Chief's firm stance showing his full attention to the officer, that told Samus something serious was happening.

"Due to the death of one and serious injuries to two other UNSC members. Captain Lasky, has ordered Spartan Blue Team to keep close 24/7 surveillance of Samus Aran, at all times. And forbids her from wondering the vessel unattended. Due to the circumstances Jablonsky' squad mates are forbidden to come in contact with Aran, unless all efforts in an emergency or mission are exhausted." The Officer read out the details of what was to be expected of Blue Team, and waited for a reply from the Master Chief.

Death? That was a word Samus was very familiar with. The question was whose death were they talking about? Was it this Jablonsky character? The name sounded familiar as well.

"Is there a penalty to pay?" Master Chief asked worried for Samus's wellbeing.

The officer shook his head no, glancing over his shoulder at the clearly irate ODST squad leader. "The death has been ruled accidental. There is no penalty." Putting his data pad to his side the officer glared at Samus before turning back to the Chief. "Due to your new orders the Captain has relocated the child to your personal quarters. Where she will remain monitored by yourself or your teammates at all times. Are you capable of passing on this information to your team, or shall I individually?"

"My orders are clear. I will make sure my team fully understands. No further information is needed." Master Chief replied, to which the officer bowed his head in understanding. Giving Samus an uncertain glare before exiting the atrium.

Samus was quick to understand whatever news was just delivered was not good. "Am I in trouble?"

"I'm going to take you to, Kelly. Follow me." Master Chief replied leading Samus back to the training facility.

The Spartan leader's answer was not one to divert her overwhelming sense of concern and guilt. Remembering that Jablonsky was one of the soldiers from that mean woman's squad. Something happened, and she knew it was her actions that caused it.

"Kelly. I need you to take, Samus. Gather the others in my quarters. I will be there shortly." Master Chief ordered the speedrunner. As he turned to leave hastily.

Kelly cocked an eyebrow at Samus, confused by her leader's behaviour. "Where are you off to?"

"I'm going to try and have a word with the Captain if possible." Chief replied.

"He's not even on the ship. You're not going to have much luck." The brunette reminded her leader. Though it was clear he already knew that. With a sigh she watched Chief leave. "Well, come'on kid. Let's go gather the team."

Samus followed silently. Trying to understand if she truly caused serious injury or even death to an innocent man. The team seemed equally confused by the sudden round up in their leader's room.

"What's going on? Why is Chief requesting us in here?" Fred asked Kelly who shrugged in reply.

"Hey, your guess is as good as mine." The brunette shrugged.

Samus narrowed her eyes at the second berth in the Chief's room. She didn't remember that being there. But her wondering thoughts would have to wait as she watched Chief enter his room.

"John, what's going on?" Linda asked as soon as her Spartan brother entered.

Before answering Chief stared at Samus for a moment. Wondering if he should have her wait in what used to be her own quarters. No, he thought. She needed to understand what was going on. "The member of the ODST squad that was in critical condition is deceased. The Captain has given our team strict orders regarding Samus's care."

"A bit of déjà vu for you, huh John?" Kelly commented, seemingly unsurprised by the news.

Just when Samus figured she was catching onto the one of many human languages. The Spartans continue to use big words or weird phrases that she had either never heard before or just didn't understand.

John knew Kelly was referring to an incident he went through after augmentations. Although Samus had gone through a similar scenario the outcome was she is under their training and they cannot allow her to become unhinged. "One squad member is dead the other two seriously wounded. I attempted to contact the Captain to gain more details about the situation but was unable to gain contact with him during this time."

It finally hit. Samus's earlier theory was correct. She had hurt someone. In fact she had hurt multiple people. One so injured they died. "I killed someone!?" She thought aloud.

"Yes. But there's nothing anyone can do about it. What's done is done." Master Chief replied as he prepared to explain what the Captain expects from his team.

"So what are our strict orders?" Fred asked curiously.

Someone was dead! Samus was shocked everybody was being so calm about this situation. She made a mistake. A very lethal mistake. She killed somebody and that wasn't okay. Consequences were sure to follow.

"Our orders are not to let Samus, out of our sight. She cannot roam the Infinity freely. One of us must be with Samus, at all times. It's our responsibility to protect and keep her out of trouble. We continue her training, but she no longer can be trusted without an escort. She is not to come into contact with that ODST squad unless an emergency occurs." Master Chief explained what was expected of his team. He regretted not stating those rules initially when they brought Samus aboard. Perhaps he could've prevented the whole situation if he had just kept her with him when they entered the bridge that day.

Looking at Samus he could see the girl was conflicted. This was different. Samus was different. She was no longer a toddler that was easygoing and nonlethal. Samus was a young growing child, that now understood most things around her. Not only that. She was armed. Intelligent. Strong. Agile, and fast. She had enough training under her belt that Blue Team knew they were basically aimlessly running Samus through training simulators until the UNSC felt comfortable enough with an alien hybrid amongst them.

"That's reasonable. And completely understandable given the circumstances." Linda understood and agreed to the orders along with Kelly, and Fred.

Kelly glanced at the berth across the room from Chief's. "I suppose that's why that's in here."

Glancing at the bed Chief replied. "So it would seem."

"So I suppose that means she's ready to join us on the battlefield?" Linda thought aloud, knowing that thought had never crossed her leader's mind, maybe not even Kelly or Fred's.

It indeed did not cross his mind. The thought of Samus out in a real battle made him mentally cringe just thinking about it. "We'll have to run more training tests before we know that answer..."

Kelly scoffed with a laugh gesturing to the zoned out child. "Oh please. How many more simulations and training sessions are we going to put her through? The Chozo did the training. We've done the fine tuning. Samus, has surpassed the abilities of most soldiers aboard this ship. She's ready."

"The kid is a very young child. She's got much more to learn. Just because she's excelled past expectations. Doesn't mean her training is complete. Or that she's ready for battle." Fred reminded both his Spartan sisters that Samus was still just a child, despite her being a highly trained lethal alien hybrid.

Chief could see that Samus was still upset about the news of the ODST squad member death. This was not the time to debate with his teammates. "The next recon mission Samus, can attend."

His team seemed satisfied with that response. "I'm assuming we'll be making a training schedule later? So we know who gets the kid when?" Fred asked.

"We will most likely stick to the routine we've been doing. Each training and workout session with one of us, or the entire team. Samus, must have an escort everywhere she goes. Do not lose track of her outside of training." Master Chief informed his team who all obliged nodding in understanding.

"Understood."

Once Chief dismissed his team, he turned his attention to the child in his quarters. "Samus? Do you understand what is happening?"

"I didn't mean to kill him..." she cried softly as tears rolled down her cheeks from her turquoise eyes.

This was the first time she had ever killed a human. It must've been very scary and painful for her he thought. "You took the necessary actions."

"WHAT?!" Samus gasped confused by what Chief meant by that.

"You had multiple threats come at you. You neutralized them." He explained.

"I wasted a life..." Samus didn't intend to kill somebody, especially not a human ally.

"Samus, being a part of this means you are going to lose some people. It's just the way of war." Chief tried his best to explain.

Samus shook her head at that explanation. "I should not be causing it!"

"You don't understand yet. You're upset. It will make sense to you one day." He sighed, sitting Samus on her berth.

Samus furrowed her brow giving another head shake. She refused to try and understand what Chief was trying to tell her. It wasn't right that she killed that man. He didn't mortally threaten her life. He didn't deserve death. She only wanted to stop him from bothering her...

"When I spoke to the team were you paying attention?" Chief asked bringing Samus out of her thoughts. "Do you understand what's happening?"

"I'm in trouble..." She visibly shrunk.

Master Chief didn't understand why Samus was so anxious about being in trouble. "No. There's new rules, and a change to your living quarters." Samus remained silent as he continued to explain what was happening to her. "You are to be with any Blue Team member, or myself, at all times. I know you only happened to do it today. But no more wondering around by yourself. You and I are to share this living quarters. If we find it does not work in this space we can ask the Captain if we can move to a larger living quarter. Or if you are uncomfortable with me, you may stay with another Blue Team member. Do you understand what I am telling you?"

"I-I... understand..." Her reply was almost hollow. Samus didn't fully understand what Chief was telling her. But her mind was elsewhere. Everyone seemed so calm with the whole situation. Reasonably the ODST squad was really upset. But the Spartans seemed so emotionless about it. Even saying lighthearted comments to the Chief as they discussed the unnecessary death of the soldier. "What did Kelly, mean by day-ja-boo?"

"Déjà vu." John corrected turning his gaze away from the girl as he hesitated to explain what his teammate was referencing to. Then a thought crossed his mind. Perhaps it would ease Samus's mind to know that he went through a similar situation. "What Kelly, meant was... When I was just a few years older than you, I had a run in with a squad of ODST's. It didn't happen in the same manner as yours. But I was lethal... I neutralized them. And like you, I didn't know my own strength at the time. I was still learning my body after augmentations."

Although she did not understand every word, but luckily she understood tone. Samus was starting to feel a little better knowing Chief had a relatable story from his past. "You got in trouble?"

"Not in so many ways, no. I was told that I neutralized the threat." Chief mentioned watching as Samus walked across the room, standing on her toes as she peered out the porthole window.

As terrible and tragic as the story was. It did actually make Samus feel a little more at ease knowing she was not the only one who had accidentally killed someone in that sort of situation. She didn't feel any less guilt but a bit of her heavy anxiety lifted. "Can I go train with, Kelly?"

Chief nodded yes in reply. His relatability seemed to have worked in easing Samus's anxiety. "Yes. I will notify her to come get you."

"You're staying here?" Samus questioned.

"Only until I get all of your stuff moved into this room. Then I will join you." Master Chief reassured Samus he would come to the training grounds eventually.

"I can help you. While I wait." Samus mentioned. Although she wasn't thrilled about her restrictions. They made little impact on her due to her rarely exiting her personal quarters, and only going wherever and whenever the Spartans went.

Master Chief nodded in agreement. Following Samus to what used to be her personal quarters.

"I only have two items anyway..." Samus said as Chief grabbed her container of belongings while she grabbed the Master Chief plushy from the desk.

As they returned to the Chief's quarters Kelly commented upon entering shortly after they returned. "You two are going to share this tiny space huh?"

"For now. Unless Samus, feels more comfortable with you, or Linda." John replied, knowing Kelly was just making her usual sarcastic remarks. As their personal living quarters were quite large and nice compared to the shared barracks some of the soldiers aboard had to live in.

Kelly shrugged with a smile behind her oversized visor. "Well, I am more than happy to have a bunkmate if need be. The kid's probably easier to deal with than you or Fred."

Master Chief remained silent as he gestured for the ladies to lead the way to the training grounds. He usually never engaged in Kelly's sarcasm. On very rare occasions he would indulge it. Fred was the only one of them to consistently engage with Kelly's sarcasm. It was always like a friendly sibling rivalry between the two of them.

"Well what did you have in mind kiddo?" The grey and white Spartan asked the young girl.

"Sim-u-lay-tor..." She replied slowly as her mind wondered off track. Samus's turquoise eyes almost looked vacant if it were not for her being in deep thought.

"Samus?" Chief called softly with concern in his tone.

Samus blinked out of her thoughts. "Simulator. Let's do that." She repeated more confidently this time, as she suited up in a flash of light.

"Alright. Probably a good idea since we're going to have you on the field with us." Kelly agreed with a nod, as they made their way over to the simulator.

"I call choosing the scenario." The speedrunner called out as she programmed the simulation.

"Great. It's going to be something fairly real and something quick. Quick precise decisions." Linda mentioned from where she was waiting with Fred.

Samus was silent in her thoughts as the simulator sector transformed into four blocks of ruined city streets. Stepping into the city with the Spartans, Kelly began to explain the scenario and their objective.

"Alright, there are two Covenant bombs, one on each side of the city. UNSC forces were taken down trying to disarm the bombs, it's our job to take out enemy forces guarding the explosives. We have 5 minutes to disarm each bomb." Kelly explained the scenario as they stopped in an alleyway.

"We split up into two teams. Kelly. Fred. Disarm the east side bomb. Samus, Linda, and I will disarm the west side bomb." Master Chief quickly began to assign teams as a holographic timer appeared in the sky. "If one team finishes before the other. Quickly move to assist the other team."

The timer in the sky chimed signifying its activation. The anxiety inducing countdown had begun.

"Let's move!" Fred called out as both teams separated in opposite directions.

It was an interesting environment. It was a ruined city. It was not like the ancient Chozo city of Tourian. This city was much more human in style. Crashed cars smouldering, papers and ash danced in the wind. Rubble from grumbling shattered buildings lay everywhere. The further they travelled the worse it got. Samus rested her hand on top of her cannon, ready for a fight. Bloodstained asphalt put her on high alert as the sound of alien voices could be heard up ahead.

Master Chief merely nodded at Linda silently communicating with the sharpshooter. Linda nodded in acknowledgment quickly running off to find higher ground. Staring up at the sky Chief read 3:50 they were running out of time.

"Samus, we're going to ambush the Covenant. I want you to disarm the bomb. Linda, and I, will provide cover fire. Understood?" Chief asked as he aimed his assault rifle towards the enemy.

"Understood." Samus responded.

"I'm in position." Linda's voice mentioned over the radio.

"Acknowledged. Weapons free." Master Chief said as they opened fire on the enemy.

Samus fired her cannon, using charged blasts to take down the big hairy ape like aliens. She hated the Brutes. They were kind of frightening. The Elites were terrifying as well but not in the same sense. Elites were scary because they were calculated, very strong, and skilled in a fight. Brutes were exactly what they were. Brutal. Their sheer ferocious strength and manic rage fueled them. Samus fired at each alien that stood in her path. Diving out of the way of a swinging paw from a Brute, Samus rolled onto her back as she fired at the Brute. Once it was defeated she rolled onto her feet, ducking out of the way as Linda sniped the attacking Jiralhanae and Sangheili.

"Western bomb diffused. Moving to assist East." Fredric's voice came over the comlink.

"Acknowledged." Master Chief had to run a few feet away and take cover as suicide bombing Grunts chased him away from the bomb. Firing his pistol he took out one of the Grunts causing a chain reaction of deaths from the dropped grenades. Looking up at the timer he read 1:59. "Samus, bomb!"

Using her morph ball Samus was able to sneak past the snarling Brutes. Allowing Linda, and Chief, to take care of them. Transforming she rushed to the bomb where she was met face to face with a dead body. A soldier laid against the bomb with a sword through his chest, his deceased squad mates lying lifeless nearby. Was this also a rescue mission? She began to wonder if she had unknowingly killed them in the crossfire? Did she murder more humans? Was she just ultimately just a monster like Ridley?

"SAMUS!" Chief screamed, shaking the girl out of her trance. He rushed towards the girl's position as she quickly returned to her task.

Looking up the timer read 20 seconds. Samus quickly refocused herself on her task. Reading the alien language on the bomb she analyzed it solving the translation she quickly disarmed the bomb with 2 seconds to spare.

"Simulation completed. Success rate 80%" The simulation computer announced the score as the simulator disengaged the holographic systems.

Samus watched as everything around them dissolved, including the downed soldiers. They were not real it was just part of the simulation.

"What?!" Kelly gasped in shock as they all gathered near Samus.

Fred rubbed the back of his helmet, confused. "That's the lowest you've ever scored, kid. And we've done well over 20 similar scenarios by now."

Master Chief stepped up to Samus gaining her full attention. "What happened?"

"Nothing." Her acid green visor looked to the floor ashamed of why she failed to disarm the bomb quickly.

"You froze. It was not just nothing." Chief challenged. He wanted to know what caused the freeze up so that they could work on correcting the issue.

Hearing other soldiers training across the room caught her attention. With a sigh Samus admitted what caused her to freeze. "There were dead... around the bomb. I thought I... killed them by accident... I don't wanna kill anymore humans!"

"Easy, Samus. The bodies you saw were just part of the simulation. It's supposed to mimic realistic scenarios and scenery. You hit every enemy target. No allies were harmed by you." Linda reassured Samus that she did not harm any human allies during the training session.

"Listen kiddo, not every human out there is safe. Sometimes humans are enemies, just like the Covenant are. So take it easy on yourself. You were not at fault." Kelly told the young panicked girl.

Chief had to agree with Kelly, she brought up a very good point. "Kelly, is correct. Unfortunate as it is that the soldier succumbed to his injuries. You did not intend to murder him. You simply neutralized a threat."

Once again the Spartans were numb to the fact she took down an entire squad of soldiers and terminated one of them. Samus exhaled deeply, turning her upset gaze to the floor. It was not the first time she had gotten carried away with not knowing her own strength. She had before on Zebes. Luckily mostly upon the training drones or the occasional unfortunate creature that got in the way.

John could see that the announcement of the ODST's death had affected Samus today. It was most likely best to cease all training for the day. "That's enough training today, Samus. You did well."

"You're lying. I was no good." Samus argued knowing Chief was disappointed in her performance.

"You still completed the mission. You did well enough for today. Time for you to wind down for the day. You've had a lot on your mind today." Master Chief assured Samus that she had accomplished the mission regardless of her hiccup.

"Can I call Zebes?" Changing the subject Samus asked the Spartan leader.

"I'm not sure if we can. I believe we need to keep long range communications open for the Commander and Captain at the moment." Fred mentioned reminding the team that the Captain was not currently aboard the ship.

Samus frowned behind her visor. Before remembering she had a Chozo gunship aboard the Infinity. "What if I used my ship?"

"Does it have capabilities for that type of long range? We're in a completely different galaxy?" Kelly thought aloud unsure that it would work.

"It's Chozo tech. It should have cape-abili-ties... of reaching signals from distant galaxies." The young girl replied leaning towards the exit direction.

"Fine... We may try." John gave a nod finally agreeing to let Samus contact her Chozo caretakers.

"Huh... have fun with that." Kelly scoffed gesturing for Chief to go follow the exiting girl. While the rest of them continued their training exercises.

With a heavy sigh he followed Samus to the hangar bay where her ship was docked. Walking past the many suspiciously glaring crew members and marine. Disengaging her armour Samus boarded her ship with Chief in tow.

"Uh she's not cleared to launch. We got no order about a bird taking off." One of the air traffic control crew members warned the Master Chief.

"We're using the ship's communications system only. No engines will be firing." Master Chief reassured the crew member.

While Chief spoke with the air control crew member. Samus punched in the com code for her alien home world.

Floating through the tunnels of Norfair one of Mother Brain's probes eventually zoomed its way into a nearby laboratory. "A transmission has dialled our codes from a distant galaxy. It's unstable but I can clean it up to the best of my abilities."

"Please do Mother. We wish to answer." Old Bird replied dropping the project he was working on out of pure excitement that it may be his charge.

"What origin is this transmission?" Grey Voice asked being more on the cautious side.

Once the signal was cleaned Mother Brain was able to confirm it was a Chozodian signal. "The transmission is Chozo in origin."

"Samus?" Old Bird called out, as the probe projected a small image of the young child.

"Old Bird, Grey!" Samus basically cried, after being away for nearly two weeks she finally saw her caretakers faces on a distorted hologram.

Old Bird smiled with joy and excitement. "We did not think you would able to contact us from such a far distance. The signal will not last. But we are happy to see you." His accent was heavy and thick as he spoke the Chozodian language.

Grey Voice was quick to notice Samus's happy tears were actually tears of sorrow and anguish. "What has upset you youngling? You surely are not homesick already?"

Without out even thinking about it Samus reverted back to the Chozo language. Telling her caretakers about her weeks spent on the human ship.

"That's excellent." Grey Voice praised Samus for her strong abilities to surpass the human soldiers of the Infinity. Their efforts in creating a Chozo legacy was not vein after all.

"Yes, but why so upset?" Old Bird cooed softly.

Samus scrunched her eyes tightly as she dread to replay the image of the ODST's she took down. "I... I accidentally killed a human..."

"You what?!" Both elderly birds gasped in shock.

"It was an accident! I didn't mean to kill him. I just wanted to get away from them!"

"Them? Who is them?" Grey Voice asked in his usual stern tone.

"A whole squad of soldiers." The girl sobbed in response.

At that moment Grey Voice signalled for Mother to mute the call. "We may have underestimated Samus's growing power. Did we send her off world too prematurely?"

With a humble sigh Old Bird leaned on his staff. "The reason we sent her away, was because of our inability to keep up with her growth. The Spartans are strong. They have the ability to keep up with her needs. They will teach Samus, how to control her power."

"For their sake I hope they teach her control, before she surpasses their own strength." Grey Voice scoffed.

"It will not come to that old friend. Have faith in the Spartan. Have faith in, Samus." Old Bird reassured his friend their child was in good hands.

Entering the cockpit Master Chief could hear Samus's sobbing as she spoke to her caretakers in the Chozo's native tongue. He could not understand what they were saying, but he had a good understanding about why Samus was upset.

"Before you make any assumptions. Samus, did not intentionally seek out to kill anyone. I had left her to wait outside a door while I handed in a report. A squad approached her and refused to stop harassing her even after she requested they stop." Master Chief explained as the elderly birds unmuted the call. "Her actions that took place afterwards were in self defence. All squad members were injured. Two critically, with the exception of one ending in death. What happened is not a fault of Samus's. It is clear to me and my team that Samus, does not know her own strength. We intend to correct this."

Grey Voice was pleased to hear that Samus's lethal mistake has not deterred the Spartan from teaching her. "That is most excellent to hear. Myself, and Old Bird, were unable to measure the strength of Samus, before she departed. We understood that she was growing stronger each day."

It was a bit odd that someone would be so thrilled about an innocent person's death. But Chief supposed if he viewed it from a science standpoint like the Chozo did. He might be just as excited to hear about their enhanced creation exceeding their expectations.

Samus was still visibly upset, as the elders around her conversed as if she was not sitting right there. But she could not be too angry as she realistically only wanted to hear her Chozo caretakers voices as she missed them dearly. But why were they so concerned about her strength levels? Was she abnormal? Was she not supposed to be this strong?

Master Chief restrained himself from asking just how strong Samus was going to grow. She was already strong enough to take down fully trained adult soldiers. And was starting to hold her own in their combat training sparring with each Spartan teammate. Chief supposed it did not differ too much from when he was training at that age. Though Samus seemed to have twice the strength he did at that age. But from what he could tell Samus had training and augmentations at an earlier age. Though he still was curious about the estimated strength Samus would mature into.

Mother Brain would remain silent throughout this conversation. Entirely intrigued by Samus's progress. It seemed no matter where the girl ended up she struggled. But with each struggle Samus prevailed, becoming stronger and stronger. It was no wonder the Chozo treasured the human child. Besides their current ongoing bioweapon project. Samus was becoming the Chozo's greatest creation. An exceedingly powerful bioweapon weapon. How fascinating...

"What I did was wrong!" Samus hissed tired of being talked about as if she wasn't there.

Grey Voice held a hand up to stop the girl from carrying on her cries. "Though your defensive actions resulted in tragedy. You showed skill and strength. Actions often speak louder than your words hatchling. This tragedy could've been prevented if the latter were smart enough to back away when you requested so. You learned from this experience. The next time the situation arises you will be prepared."

That was the exact point Chief was attempting to get across to Samus. Though not in so many words, he did not possess the wise poetic skills of a Chozo elder. "Grey Voice is right, Samus. You are not at fault. We need to learn and move on from this lesson."

"Your mentor is correct youngling. You are no stranger to hard lessons. It is time to focus on your next chapter." Old Bird added hoping their words would encourage Samus not to dwell on the unexpected tragedy she had caused.

With a deep sigh Samus nodded in defeat. "I will, Old Bird."

"Good. Please keep us updated as your training progress continues."

With another nod Samus assured her Chozo caretakers she would continue to do as they hoped. "I will, Old Bird..."

Once they had hung up with Zebes, Chief made sure to inform Samus that it was bedtime.

"Already? It's so early."

"English, Samus." Chief reminded as he lead Samus back to their now shared quarters.

With an eye roll Samus quickly switched back to speaking english. "It's too early for bed."

"No it's not. We're not sleeping right away. I am going to make sure I am caught up on reports. And you are going to make yourself comfortable in your new room." Master Chief explained gesturing for Samus to enter their room.

"Ugh... I own two items." Samus replied sarcastically as she sat herself down on her berth.

Master Chief exhaled deeply watching as Samus sat down. "You have more than two items." He gestured to the tote full of her belongings. "You don't have to put them out anywhere. Just go through them. It will occupy your mind. Maybe something will remind you of home."

With a heavy sigh Samus pulled the container up next to her on the bed. "Everything I have reminds me of Zebes..." she mumbled while she began pulling out items.

John caught himself rolling his eyes with a head shake. Samus had gotten to be as sarcastic as Kelly was. Though it seemed to build her confidence so he did not mind it too much. The child's sarcasm was minor in comparison to Kelly's. He was also a master of not responding to comments. As Chief did his reports he occasionally observed Samus from the corner of his eye.

The young blonde girl pulled out a few clothing items. She seemed to only have two other outfits. One being a white pair of shorts and tank top. The other a blue jumpsuit that seemed to have Chozo symbols on it.

"I've never seen you wear that. I didn't know you had a jumpsuit." Oddly enough in the presence of Samus, Chief found himself often trying to make conversation with the girl. Something he struggled to do normally with most other human beings that came into contact with him.

Samus gave an insignificant laugh. Giving a small smile. "I don't think it fits me yet." She stood up holding the jumpsuit out and over her head.

Samus was correct, it was much too big for her at this time. Even with the girl's efforts to hold it with her arms straight up the legs of the suit dragged on the floor. "You are correct. It will take some time for you to grow into that."

Nodding in agreement Samus folded the suit back up placing it in the bottom of her container. Only having a very minimal amount of personal items she packed everything away sliding the container under her berth. The only item that remained out being the plushy toy Spartan. Crawling up to the head of her bed she sat leaning her back against the wall she placed the plushy in her lap, as she grabbed the data pad Chief had given her off the built in shelf carved into the wall next to her berth.

Curiously observing as Samus conjured up her armour for a brief moment to be able to navigate the human data pad. Walking away from the reports he was going over, Chief approached the occupied girl as she disengaged her armour. "Do you know how to use that?"

Samus slightly shrunk at the Chief's question. She did not. Not unless she was armoured, using her suits built in translator. "Mmm... only if I use my armour."

"I thought you knew how to read?" He asked.

"Chozodian. Yes. I tried to do the human language lessons with Mother, but she was so mean. I remember what I learned in daycare on K-2L." Samus replied a bit disappointed she didn't try harder with Mother Brain.

John kept his tone neutral as he was both sad for the girl and curious about how much she remembered. "What do you remember from your previous lessons?"

"I don't remember much. I think the al-pa-bet. My ADC's." Samus shrugged.

"Alphabet. Your A-B-C's." Chief corrected.

"Oh, maybe I don't..." The Girl sheepishly grinned. "Human english is so hard to speak and read."

Chief nodded in agreement. There were many human languages and none of them were very easy. "That is true. But you have been able to mostly communicate in English. It should not take you long to understand reading it. I can help you when there is time."

"I don't know why you don't just use this language, it's much easier to figure out." Samus thought aloud as she opened up a tab that had the Sangheili language.

"How did you get to there? I thought you didn't understand how to read?" John questioned the little girl.

"I remember the buttons to get to it from when wearing my suit." She explained scrolling through the alien language. "I seen this on Zebes before."

"You saw this language on Zebes? Where?" Chief was now curious as to how the Chozo planet came upon the language.

Samus shrugged. "In the labs. I think elders were studying it."

Master Chief nodded in understanding. It must've been from when the Covenant attacked Zebes. "Okay. I'm going to finish reviewing my reports. Please try to rest."

With a deep sigh Samus put the data pad back onto the shelf before crawling under the blankets.

Chief gave a nod of approval before returning to his desk. Over the next few hours he could hear Samus restlessly trying to get to sleep. She seemed to be fighting it. But eventually he heard soft snoring from the other side of the room. A soft knock at his door diverted his attention, getting up to answer the door. "Linda?"

Linda stepped into the room to peek in on Samus to see how she was adjusting. "How's it going so far?"

John glanced at the slumbering girl before returning his attention to his teammate. "Samus, is a bit restless but is adjusting well."

Linda nodded in understanding. "Good. Don't be afraid to ask for help if you need it. Same goes for her."

"Goodnight Linda." Chief bid his teammate a goodnight before shutting the door. With that he finally made his way to bed.

Removing his armour, he laid down in his berth. A few of his joints were sore from the training he had done earlier with Samus. He was impressed, she was certainly getting stronger and stronger each time they trained. After a few periodic glances across the room to make sure Samus was still okay, eventually Chief fell into slumber.

Throughout the night Samus tossed and turned as tragic memories plagued her nightmares. Hearing the restlessness Chief awoke from his light slumber. Rolling over in his berth he looked across the dark room, barely making out the shadowy figure tossing and turning in her berth.

The stench of burning corpses. The blood soaked dirt. The screams of terror and agony as victims were torn apart limb by limb. Shot. Blown up. And mutilated beyond recognition. The head of this gory attack. A vicious purple space dragon that killed for fun. Each life that was snuffed put a grin on his face. With that grin he sharply turned opening his mouth wide so that his fangs could snap up the innocent toddler who watched in horror.

Samus gasped letting out a small scream as she shot up awake in her berth. Scrambling to press herself tightly against the wall as she got frightened by the tall dark figure standing over her.

John quickly turned on the light keeping it dim as to not shock Samus's tearful eyes. "Easy. It's just me." He spoke softly. Careful as he approached the trembling child. Samus had her eyes tightly closed even though tears were still running down her cheeks, she trembled as she stayed pressed against the wall.

Chief stood frozen unsure of what to do. He wanted to make Samus feel better but did not understand how to assist. Another situation he truly wished Cortana was around to advise him on. Wait... That was it! A very similar situation happened many years ago when he had rescued Samus as a toddler.

"Follow your instincts..." Cortana's words echoed in his mind as he tried to recollect what happened during that moment so long ago. Cortana gave him that advice before leaving him alone with the Samus. Many years later he was in the same situation. Hesitation was an understatement, but Chief did what he could to offer comfort. "Y-you... You're alright, Samus..."

Samus did not reply. She may have been alright but those in her memories were not. She was not alright. Remembering all those innocent people die that day. Being with the humans for only 2 weeks, she had already begun to kill the innocent. Just like Ridley.

Again it was like déjà vu for the Chief. Except he did not have Cortana to aid him in the situation. But he would take her past advice and try to go off of his instincts. This time he would not awkwardly abandon Samus to deal with her nightmares on her own.

Samus desperately tried to erase the horrid memories of the nightmare from her mind. But every attempt failed.

"Breath. Deep breaths. You are safe here."

Those words were familiar to her after episodes of nightmares. Her Chozo guardians would often say that to her. That of course was when they were able to respond to her after a nightmare. Old Bird often did his best to comfort her. But he and Grey Voice often worked tirelessly in the many different labs of Zebes. Rendering them unaware to most of her rude awakenings or nightmares.

After a few deep calm breaths she finally spoke. "Sorry I wake you..." Samus apologized.

"Why are you apologizing? You had a nightmare. You cannot control them." John replied. Confused as to why the girl would apologize.

Samus crawled to the head of her berth to sit. "I-I'm sorry... maybe I go back to the other room..."

"No. You do not have to concern yourself with hiding your nightmares. We all get them we understand." Chief replied trying to sound encouraging and relatable towards the upset child. "Do you get them every night?"

With a slow unwilling nod Samus confirmed her nightmares attacked every night. "I do... sometimes worse." She shamefully hung her head lowly. It was hard to believe there were worse nightmares. "I'm making you awake..."

"You're not keeping me awake." He reassured her. "But I will let you go back to sleep if you're tired. Are you sure you're going to be alright?"

Samus nodded in response hiding herself under her blanket as she curled up into a tight ball. Tears continuing to stream down her face as she tried to wipe the nightmare from her mind.

Master Chief took two steps away from the girl's side of the room before stopping midway after hearing quiet sobs from behind. Pivoting to face the girl's side of the room he noticed his replica plushy lying on the floor.

Samus peeked her head out from under her blanket after a large shadow cast over her.

"This was getting cold on the floor. I figured you wouldn't mind sharing your blanket." Chief said handing the girl the toy. Through her tears Samus managed to crack a small smile as she took the toy. Tucking the plushy under the blanket next to her.

Chief felt awkward talking in such a manner. But it seemed to work well when engaging with the child. The sound of rowdy marines walking down the hallway spooked Samus, causing her to recoil at the increasing noise as the group passed by the door.

"Easy. It's just other soldiers walking in the corridor." He said, noting that Samus was still leery of the human occupied environment. It had been a little over a couple weeks since her introduction to the Infinity. And although she was adapting well, Samus still had a few quirks to work on.

"I'm sorry..." Samus shamefully apologized.

"It's alright. Try to close your eyes and rest." He said before returning to his side to of the room.

Samus did as she was told going back under the covers. She closed her eyes, only for a moment. Before staying awake lying still in her bed the rest of the night. That nightmare had shook her to her core.

The next morning came soon enough. Samus was already waiting at the door ready to leave for today's training exercises. Master Chief was a bit surprised by that. But he did notice the girl was trying her best to act like she was not tired.

"You're ready for today?"

Samus nodded in response to the Chief's greeting. "Yes, Sir."

Chief did not believe that for a moment. Samus looked exhausted and distraught. He led Samus out of their room into the moderately busy corridor. Samus seemed a bit wary of the onlookers and passerby's but she was definitely getting used to them. "Let's go to the mess hall. Get something for you to eat."

Samus was about to protest that she was not hungry. But with the little energy she had today, she did not want to waste it on arguing. Following Chief into the very busy messy hall, she almost spun around to leave if it were not for Fred walking in behind them.

"Good morning kid." Fred greeted the young girl that basically ran into him.

"Fred, do I have to eat?" Samus greeted the Spartan, clearly urging to leave the occupied area.

Fred chuckled escorting the reluctant child to follow Chief. "Haha, as long as you're hungry."

"I'm not hungry." She replied almost refusing to walk forward.

A female Spartan chuckled from behind Fredric almost making Samus jump. "Kid, you've been here for just over 2 weeks. I have only seen you eat maybe once. Maybe."

"Kelly's not wrong." Fred shrugged in agreement.

"Can we train please?" Samus basically begged.

"No." Chief turned to face Samus. "You cannot function to your full potential on deficient nutrition. As a growing child, you need nourishment."

Samus visibly shrunk at Chief's stern reply. He was correct though she needed nourishment to function properly. And with her horrible rest cycles perhaps eating would help. "Understood..."

"Finally read that kid's need to be fed?" Kelly sarcastically remarked at Master Chief.

Master Chief gave a nod of approval before handing the girl a tray of food, pointing her to an empty table. "Go sit with Kelly. I will be there in a moment."

Watching the two go sit at the empty table, Fred turned to his leader. "John, just out of curiosity. Did we ever question the Chozo about Samus's needs and care? I'm only asking due to the kid possibly having different needs than a normal kid."

It had not crossed his mind. Chief had been used to guessing what Samus needed. When he first had her years ago, he had Cortana to aid him with some care needs. But Samus seemed so simple back then. "I will have to contact them and inquire. I'll have to be quick as long range communications need to be kept clear."

Fredric bowed his head in understanding, watching as Chief made his way to the exit. "We'll watch her."

On his way to the bridge Master Chief halted as a thought crossed his mind. He did not need to contact the Chozo with trivial questions. Samus was old enough to tell him and his team what her needs were.

"You look tired kiddo." Kelly told the exhausted blonde child sitting next to her.

Samus was definitely struggling to keep her eyes open. The haze of drowsiness weighed heavily on her body as the stared blankly at her tray of food. "I-I'm not..."

"That was quick." Fred thought aloud as Chief took a seat next to him. With Linda not far behind him, Chief took a seat on the other side of the table across from Samus.

Placing her tray on the table Linda hummed in thought. "You actually brought the kid here to eat something?"

"Why do you say it like that?" He scoffed gazing at Samus, who basically refused to touch any food on her tray.

Linda gave a small smile in response. "I was wondering how long it would take you to realize the kid needed to be told when to eat. Especially one this reluctant."

He regretted that it took so long for him to realize. But Chief was not about to let a fussy child go without sustenance. "Samus, you need to eat."

"I will..." The girl basically groaned at the Spartan leader.

Chief could already tell getting Samus to intake nourishment was going to be a battle. "You will eat. And only after you are finished will we return to your training schedule."

"Ugh, I will..." Samus whined. The loud atmosphere of the mess hall mixing with Chief's stern commanding tone making her frustrating exhaustion all the more irritating.

John couldn't believe Samus's behaviour. He had witnessed her juvenile tantrums on Zebes. But he would not stand for her childish attitude. "Do not whine. Eat quickly now."

With a huff Samus reluctantly ate the fruit that was on the breakfast tray. She didn't mean to get grumpy with Chief. She was just so tired.

Observing Samus eat the fruit his memories of his days with toddler Samus reminding him of her love for simple fruits and veggie dishes. Leaving the table he removed the tray from in front of Samus. Returning it to the kitchen staff. Retrieving a spoon and cup of fruit, filled with yogurt, and granola. Placing it on the table in front of Samus.

Samus recognized the food Chief had given her. Reaching out to grab the cup her exhaustion misguided her depth perception, causing her to tip over the cup.

Catching the cup before it completely spilled over Chief placed it upright on the table.

"You need a cup of coffee." Kelly joked at Samus, gesturing to the hot drink on her tray.

"Coff-ee...?" Samus cocked an eyebrow at the female Spartan.

"Have a try." Kelly slid her mug over in front of Samus.

The scent was was strong but not terrible. Wrapping her hands around the warm mug, Samus contemplated taking a sip.

"Just take a little sip. Try it." Kelly gestured for Samus to have a sip.

With hesitation Samus eventually took a small sip. Almost spitting it back out the moment it hit her tongue. Her facial expression contorted in disgust as she forced herself to swallow the sip of the hot bitter beverage. "Yuck!"

Coffee was something Chief rarely chose to drink if he had the luxury of time. Water was still his preferred beverage. But he did not believe it was wise to push the caffeinated beverage on the child. But he would've been lying if he said Samus's reaction to drinking the beverage wasn't entertainingly comical.

Kelly and the rest of the team except for Chief, all chuckled at the child's disgusted reaction. Samus's face and quick pass back of the drink was too much not to laugh at.

"Try a tea." Linda laughed sliding her tea over to the girl.

Tea. That was something Samus was used to drinking on Zebes. The Chozo had so many varieties of tea there was no shortage of it. Taking a sip of the offered tea Samus drew her head back at how sweet it was. It was difficult to even taste the herbs.

"What you don't like it either?" Linda cocked her head curiously.

"Why so sweet?" Samus questioned handing the drink back to the sharpshooter.

With a chuckle Linda placed her cup back on her tray. "Oh, it has milk, and sugar in it. Next time I get some I'll make sure to leave yours with nothing added."

"Are you finished in here?" Chief asked growing tired of waiting for Samus to actually eat more than just a bit of fruit.

"Yes. Let's go." Samus replied getting up from the table. Following Chief out of the mess hall, she could tell he was either irritated or waiting to ask her a question.

"You didn't get any sleep after your nightmare did you?" He asked slowing his pace so Samus kept pace next to him.

Hesitantly Samus admitted that she did not. "No, Chief."

"I will take you back to our quarters so you may rest." Master Chief told the young girl. As he did feel it was unwise and pointless to drag Samus around when she was this exhausted.

"Wait. What? Why?" She asked following Chief in the direction of their living quarters.

"We have an upcoming mission. You cannot be deprived of rest before your first mission with us." John replied escorting her back into their room.

"We have a mission? A real mission?!" A flush of excitement and dread washed over Samus as she looked forward to finally getting out on a real mission. Her dread quickly took over as Chief made her sit down on her berth.

"Yes. You will be briefed before we leave. Now lay down, close your eyes, and rest." Chief said.

Samus wanted to do everything but sleep. Laying her head down on her pillow was fine until she closed her eyes. Hearing the busy hallways outside. Knowing Chief was right She kept her eyes shut eventually falling asleep.

Chief was actually surprised Samus fell asleep considering all the hustle and bustle outside of their door. She seemed so anxious about the noise last night. She must have been more exhausted than he thought. He made a move to leave the room, but stopped himself at the door. Remembering he could not let Samus out of his sight. It seemed a bit overboard to not be able to leave her alone to sleep. Turning to his desk he grabbed a data pad to review their upcoming mission objectives.

Samus shifted in her sleep, drifting in and out of deep sleep. The sound of rushing footsteps coming into the room woke her up. Sitting up in her berth Samus scanned the dark room with her eyes. Empty. The room was empty.

"Help..." a wispy voice mumbled in the room. Heavy laboured breathing followed.

Scanning the room again she nearly screamed as a shadow figure appeared at the end of her berth.

"Help... me..."

"Ch-Chief...?" Samus stuttered as the figured twitched at the sound of her voice.

The laboured breathing halted suddenly. Making Samus's heart skip a beat as the eerie silence made the shadow figure even scarier. "Chief...?"

The figure rushed onto the berth pinning Samus to the bed. "HELP ME!" The beaten bloody face of the ODST had pale blue skin sunken in eyes. "HELP ME!" They screamed louder as his face dripped blood onto Samus.

Samus screamed herself awake causing the two Spartans in the room to visibly jump.

Linda was first at Samus's side. Sitting the girl up in the berth. "Samus?"

"I-I'm s-sorry!" Samus trembled and shivered as she cried. "I-I'm... sorry... so sorry..."

"She had a nightmare." Chief said as he stood over the two.

Linda nodded in understanding. "What did you see in your nightmare? Why are you sorry, Samus?"

"It was him..." Samus tried to wipe away her tears as she answered.

Linda turned to Chief hoping he may know the answer to who Samus was speaking about. "The creature that um..."

"No. Not Ridley." Samus cried. In her mind she felt as if she were Ridley in this situation. "The m-man I killed..."

"The ODST?" Chief asked getting a confirming nod from the girl. "You still feel as if you took his life needlessly?"

"I did." Samus cried.

Master Chief turned his head away for a moment to think. They could not constantly keep coming back to this subject. "Samus, you protected yourself. His death was an accident. But it was not your fault. This is just the beginning. You are going to take many more lives moving forward."

"John..." Linda hissed thinking his words were a bit too much for the girl to take at this moment.

"You are, and have been trained to kill. There's no mistake about that. I have made the same mistakes. I have killed accidentally. Linda, Kelly, Fred, and myself have all been highly trained to kill. You are stronger than you know. This is why we are training you. For you to be able to harness your strength so it doesn't become out of control. So no more of those mistakes happen." Master Chief expressed to the girl that he understood she was not innocent in causing an accidental death. Hoping that she would understand that him and his team are there to help her not make the same mistake twice.

"Do you understand what Chief is saying, Samus?" Linda asked.

"Yes..." Samus gave a small nod, locking her gaze to the floor.

"Good." Chief gestured for Samus to get up. "Let's go train." He said leading the way out of their room.

Linda helped Samus wipe away her remaining tears as they went to follow the Master Chief. "Look he may be a bit straight forward. But he tells the truth. We understand your first real kill was not exactly ideal. We're upset for you that this accident happened. But you must move on and put your focus on your training so it never happens again." Escorting Samus to the door Linda expressed how the girl should deal with this unpleasant situation.

Following the Spartans through the corridors, the thought of one of Grey Voice's lessons popped in Samus's head. A lesson she attempted to twist in order to make things end on a peaceful note. The Ionoferia incident was one she did not understand at the time. But now she did. Sacrifices had to be made in order to keep others safe. If they had not eradicated the Ionoferia they would have spread disease across Zebes. Samus refused to partake in the barbaric actions of the slaughtering of the creatures. But realistically she aided in the execution. Saving Grey Voice from their attacks gave Mother Brain the opportunity to command her drones to attack the Ionoferia. The situation with the ODST squad was not the same. But taking, Linda, and Master Chief's advice, looking at her mistake from a different perspective. The accidental death of the soldier was a sacrifice in order to provide her with a very unfortunate and jarring lesson.

"What took you so long?" Fred asked the three who joined them in the training arena.

As Samus ran over to Kelly Chief responded to Fred's inquiry. "Samus, needed a rest. But again struggled with nightmares. The news of the ODST's death is..."

"Haunting the poor girl." Linda finished Chief's sentence.

Fred bowed his head in understanding. "It's her first kill. I know she probably took out a few creatures on that planet she ran around on. But the fact the kid disarmed a hostile creature that was actively a threat. Rather than kill it. It says a lot about her." Taking a deep sigh he watched as Samus playfully sparred with Kelly. "Her first kill being a human that had family and friends who will never see them again. It's gotta sting pretty badly."

Linda scoffed. "She's training to become a warrior. She's had the training. She knows how to kill, and does so with ease. Most of the Covenant we kill also have families."

"She's a child." Fred reminded his Spartan sister.

"So were we once. This is why we should've just thrown her into battle from the get go. Instead of wasting time with trivial simulations." The female Spartan replied, shockingly being quite expressive about the topic. "The Chozo were trying to teach that killing something is necessary in certain circumstances. When we were on Zebes they tried to explain that to her. Exposure to those circumstances will cause her to use her lethal abilities in the right way."

"You may be correct, Linda. Though we have not gotten a mission until now. Now is the opportunity for Samus, to experience what you're explaining." Master Chief spoke watching as Samus nearly struck Kelly to the ground.

With a nod the brown armoured Spartan gestured to the girl sparring with their teammate. "Then skip the training for today. Let Samus relax. Regain some of her sleep. Then throw her into battle tomorrow. She's beyond ready. Samus needs to understand when killing is necessary. She just needs to gain confidence in her ability to control herself."

As harsh as Linda sounded, she was correct. Although the simulations they ran were hyper realistic. Samus was too used to running those kinds of training courses. She needed a real time event to truly awaken her skills.

"Agreed." Chief agreed with his Spartan sister. But he then wondered how he would entertain Samus for the rest of the day as it was in the midst of the afternoon.

"If we're not training. How are we supposed to keep her busy?" Fred asked after being silent for quite some time. "From what we saw on Zebes the kid didn't have time for breaks."

"Well, in between combat training she had lessons. Talk with her. Pick something she struggles with and go from there."

What a highly unusual thing to ask of him. It was not normal for Spartans to be training a child in the first place. Their mission couldn't come soon enough. Chief was not one for socializing. But perhaps he could go over the mission briefing and see if Samus had any questions about it.

Watching the cockpit windscreen, many Infinite crew members worked tirelessly below. Chief had asked Samus where she would like to go to relax. She had responded by bringing the team to her ship. Her comfort zone.

"So what now?" Kelly asked a little bored in the cramped space.

Samus shrugged her shoulders at the Spartan. "I don't know. I like in here. It's like home. Quiet."

The girl wasn't wrong the ship was very alien in nature with a calm quiet ambience. A small, but very nice divide from the busy world around the ship.

Kelly shrugged with a nod. Agreeing that it was indeed peaceful. "Can't argue with that."

"So, kid? If you don't mind me asking. Do you remember your parents and home-world at all?" Fredric asked out of curiosity. Though it seemed Chief did not approve of his question as they were trying to get Samus to relax and not think of sorrow.

Samus took a moment. Closing her eyes she recollected what little memories she had of her parents. "I... I re-member... their faces and voices. Playing in the forest. The rest is not there." She explained truly wishing she was able to remember more.

"So with this whole alien hybrid situation... how come you somehow managed to come out featherless?" Kelly questioned lightheartedly joking in order to change the subject.

Samus smirked with a laugh. "Chozo tech-nol-ogy...?"

"Technology. Yes." Linda nodded Samus's word choice was correct.

"Chozo Technology is amazing. There's lots much hidden all over the un-verse." Samus explained in her broken English eager to speak about her alien family.

Kelly cocked her head curiously. "Huh, well travelled bunch of birds. Well just judging by your armour it seems there were Chozo warriors. With ancient technology being that advanced I would think those warriors had a pretty scary arsenal." She dread to think of the weapons those giant alien birds used.

"Arse-nal?" Samus was confused by this word she had never heard, with the exception of overhearing the word from the other humans aboard the Infinity.

"Weapons, and equipment. Guns, swords, armour. Other abilities." Master Chief explained clearing some of Samus's confusion.

"Oh, I see. Yes. I have not learn fully what my armour can load down. Much of Chozo technology is hidden around the un-verse. At the end of each training week I was rewarded with a new load down to my armour." Samus explained to the Spartans who seemed quite interested in the subject.

"Isn't it a little inconvenient to have all that great tech and armour scattered across the universe?" Kelly thought aloud, her comment seeming to be the thoughts of her teammates.

Samus shrugged in reply tracing the arm of her chair with her fingers. She didn't fully understand the meaning of inconvenient, but by the way the word was used she could tell the Spartans wondered if it was difficult having everything so spread out across the universe. "Maybe... but it can be helpful if you find."

"Mhm." Chief grunted thoughtfully. Understanding Samus's point. But also it was a bit concerning that all of the Chozo's highly advanced technology was just spread out across the universe. "Do the Chozo not worry that others will obtain their technology and use it against them? Or for their own benefit to gain power?"

"I am also curious about that." Linda added.

It could be a concern but from what Samus could tell the only ones who could obtain and use Chozo technology were the Chozo themselves or Zebesians. But there's always a possibility the Spartans were right. "Um... what's the word for living thingy that's also a weapon?"

"A bioweapon?" Fred answered cocking an eyebrow behind his visor.

Samus nodded she had heard the Chozo word for bioweapon many times throughout her life. "Yeah! Unless it's a Chozo or Zebesian bioweapon I don't think no one can take the technology. It's no easy to copy Chozo technology. Is very very compil-li-cated."

"Huh, I guess that would explain half the reason why the Chozo gifted you to us." Kelly scoffed.

The young blonde was quite confused by the speed runner's comment. "What do you mean?"

"You're a Chozo bioweapon. You said it yourself Chozo technology and weaponry is only obtainable to those who are Chozo." The white armoured female Spartan explained to the hybrid child.

Samus cocked her head curiously. Confused as to whether she should be insulted or not. "I'm not a bioweapon. I'm human."

The speedy Spartan knew this was definitely a subject they would have to remind the girl of in the future. "You're an alien hybrid. Armed. And highly lethal." Kelly corrected, seemingly making the girl more concerned and frustrated.

"That's enough, Kelly." Fred warned as he could see Chief's anger rising slowly as Kelly continued to be overly blunt.

(Let's not anger the kid. And tell her what she really is, until we've had at least a few real missions accomplished with her.) Linda texted the other female Spartan before she could question why Fred was trying to shut her up.

"Our mission begins shortly. We should start prepare a Pelican, and load it with necessities." Swiftly changing the subject, Master Chief told his entire team.

"Take my ship? We're on it. And it's battle ready." Samus suggested.

Linda smiled behind her visor. "Very kind of you to offer, Samus. But we must have room to accommodate marines if they're joining us. And to pack enough ammunition and weapons. Your ship is just not big enough for that."

"Come'on kid." Kelly called as they exited the alien gunship.

Walking towards a vacant Pelican Samus asked if she could pilot the vehicle. "Can I fly it?"

Kelly wrapped an arm around Samus's shoulders giving her a playful squeeze. "Look kid, I'm not doubting you're a good pilot. But I think this time we'll leave it to those who are experienced."

"I'm experiments..." Samus retorted. Knowing she could easily pilot the Pelican.

"That you are, kiddo." The speed runner agreed Samus was indeed an alien science experiment.

"That's enough, Kelly." Even though Samus was naive to Kelly's sarcasm, Chief warned his teammate she was walking a thin line.

"I was only teasing..." Kelly release Samus as she went to grab some cargo to load up. "But seriously..."

Giving his head a shake as he glared at the leaving speed runner. Kelly was lucky Samus clearly didn't understand what she was saying.

"I say something wrong?" Samus asked as Chief approached her.

Cupping a hand onto the child's shoulder, Chief reassured Samus she had nothing to be worried about. "Do not concern yourself with Kelly's trivial jokes. I want you to make sure you're prepared and ready for this mission."

"I'm ready." Samus was eager to go on her very first mission. Although it was only a recon mission, she was still eager to prove she was more than just a child.

Once the time had come two Pelicans took off one holding marines, the other holding both Spartans and marines. And a young alien hybrid. Samus could not sit still wanting to see where they were going, Chief lead Samus into the cockpit so she could take in the view. The pilot looked over their shoulder to see the alien armoured human excitedly pointing out that they were descending into a jungle. Samus's childlike excitement reminding Chief that they now had a very young child on the field.

As the marines and the team stepped out, Chief grabbed Samus by the shoulder halting the child in her tracks. "Remember you listen to my every command. You don't go running off by yourself unless I tell you to. This isn't a Zebesian training mission. This is real."

"I promise. I'm listen, Chief." Samus promised the Spartan leader she would listen to his commands.

"Do you think we should've brushed up on her communication and language skills? Before dragging her out here?" Linda thought aloud after hearing Samus's broken English.

"She'll be fine." Fredric reassured Linda the kid would be just fine.

As they began to move into the dark jungle. Not a single sign of the Covenant was in the path they were trekking. Causing the Spartan leader to make a choice.

"Let's fan out. See if we can locate any evidence of the Didact's Hand." Master Chief ordered his team. It took a moment for Samus to understand what he was asking of them but watching the team split in different directions she quickly understood the command.

This terrain was a breeze for Samus she could hear something up ahead. Sounded like a deep voice speaking an alien language. Crouching in some nearby bushes she locked her eyes on the familiar Covenant aliens below. "Chief, I founded some Covenmant." She announced through the comlink.

"We're heading towards your location. Do not engage. What's your visual?" Master Chief responded as the rest of Blue Team began making their way to Samus.

"There's two or three big ones outside a building. They're with six different littler baddies." Samus gave the description of what she was currently seeing below her.

"Is one of the big ones wearing blue armour, with a white handprint on his chest plate?" Fred asked as he met up with Chief, Kelly, and Linda.

Samus narrowed her eyes to gain a better look at the big aliens. "No I..." as she was replying she could hear heavy footsteps approaching her. They sounded much heavier and aggressive than Chief's. Quickly thinking she transformed into her morph ball hoping her inhuman appearance would confuse the approaching enemy.

"Samus?" Chief called concern deep in his tone. "Samus, do you read?" Turning to his teammates. "Something's wrong. Let's move!" He began sprinting towards the direction Samus had gone.

"Let's not jump to conclusions. No gunshots have been fired." Kelly tried to look positively at the situation.

Linda nodded in agreement as they all picked up the pace. "She was mid sentence before she went dark. A patrolling Elite could've been on top of her."

Unknown to Linda she was correct. A Sangheili warrior had picked Samus up. Confused by the unknown spherical object he had taken her inside the temple building.

"By the Rings, what is that?" One of them scoffed clearly confused.

The one who had carried the object in placed the copper sphere on the centre table slab in front of many other Sangheili soldiers. "It's beyond me brother. I found it just above the ridge. It's definitely not the humans. I'm not even sure if it is the Gods technology."

Samus was able to understand the aliens quite fluently. Coincidentally she had been studying their language over the humans languages, as the Sangheili dialect was similar to the Chozo.

A large blue armoured Elite walked out from the shadows. Leaning over the table to get a good look at the odd technology. "Take it to the Doctor. Perhaps it is a tool that will assist us with her mistake."

"As you command." The other Sangeilli bowed his head respectfully as he unknowingly picked Samus back up.

Samus wondered if the Elite that was giving commands was the one Fred spoke of. It's description matched perfectly with what he asked.

Looking through the scope of her sniper rifle Linda was able to get a visual. "looks like they've got the kid. She's in morph ball and seems to be causing the Elites great confusion."

"They may believe she's a Forerunner relic. Samus, is completely unknown to the Covenant." Fred mentioned looking through the scope of his DMR.

Kelly turned to Chief who was still looking very concerned. "Let's move in. Get her out of there."

"Shit!" Fred cursed taking note of the travelling Elites floating up a gravlift into a Covenant carrier. "They've taken her into the Carrier."

"Let's get in there!" Kelly led the charge down the hillside. As they did so the ship disengaged the lift flying away from their location.

"No! Dammit!" Fredric cursed as he shot down the last attacking Jackal.

"This is my fault. We should've stuck together instead of fanning out." Chief immediately blamed himself for what has happened.

"It's not your fault, John. Samus, was just following orders trying to hide in plain sight until we arrived." The speed runner reassured the guilty Spartan leader he was not at fault. "Unfortunately for us the Covenant took her instead of thinking she was just a part of the decor."

"It doesn't look like the Covenant are done on this planet considering they didn't just go off world after finding, Samus. As a matter of fact their ground troops seem quite relaxed." Linda noted.

"They may not be relaxed once the kid blows her cover." Fred thought aloud.

Samus was now a bit panicked that she was aboard an alien ship full of hostiles. They brought her into a secured mid size room, with multiple monitors. She was placed on a table in the middle of the room. With the limited vision she had in her morph ball she could see the room was empty. Except for the figure in the back of the room.

"What did you bring now? More Forerunner decor you believe to be a sacred and useful tool?"

Samus was surprised to hear a woman's voice. What sounded to be a human voice at that.

"Do not mock me, Doctor!" The blue armoured Elite with the painted hand hissed at the woman in his alien tongue. "After all that you have lost us you're lucky to be alive!" He gestured to the large sphere on the table. "This, is unlike I have ever seen before. Study it. Dissect it. I will return shortly."

Watching as the two massive aliens exited the room, a distinctive hiss and snap of the doors locking mechanisms followed. Uncertain of what to do, after a few minutes of silence and no advances from the stranger in the room. Samus attempted to slowly roll discreetly angling herself in order to get a better view of this stranger. An older human woman how curious.

The woman stood up from her seat startled by the ball's movement. "Alright... You've peaked my interest." Moving towards the large ball the lady put her only hand on the ball. "You are not Forerunner, nor human..." running her hand down the ball's armoured plating she found minuscule alien glyphs engraved in the metal plating. "Whatever you are it's not something I intend to allow the Covenant to gain knowledge of. Especially not Jul'. The Didact's Hand is the last one who needs to understand new technology."

From what Samus could tell this was a prison cell. And the babbling older woman was a prisoner here. She did not understand everything the woman spoke of but from the tone and words she used Samus could tell she was against the Covenant. The woman gasped leaping back as Samus transformed out of her morph ball now sitting on the table.

"Good. You do not like them to." Samus greeted the flabbergasted woman.

The woman stuttered as she responded. "W-what are you?"

"I'm Samus Aran." The girl replied. "And you?"

"Doctor Halsey." The woman responded stepping closer to the girl. "I'm sorry, you just surprised me. I wasn't expecting you to be a..." she paused for a moment. "Well... What are you exactly?"

"Samus."

With a sigh she realized from the alien accent there may be a language barrier. Doctor Halsey explained what she was asking in more detail. "Yes, that is your name. But I want to know what you are. I have never heard that alien accent before. Nor have I ever seen armour and abilities like yours."

Samus looked over herself as if someone had pointed out a speck of rust on her armour. What was the best way to describe what she was? She wasn't just a simple human child. Nor was she a Spartan. "In training...?" Was the best reply she could come up with.

"With whom are you training with?" The older woman cocked her head curiously.

"I was with my Chozo family. But they gifting me to Master Chief."

Doctor Halsey almost looked as if she was beside herself after Samus replied. "John? John's here!?"

"All Blue Team is. We on a mission. But I lost them when taken by bad guys." Samus explained as Halsey began to pace the room.

The Doctor shook her head with an concerned expression. "Is the Infinity standing by to assist in an attack? Because if not, it is highly unlikely Blue Team will be able to get on this ship. Especially if it is mobilizing."

Samus was definitely grateful for the use of her translator as she feared if out of her armour she would not fully understand this lady. "I don't know. Captain and Commander are on another mission. Only little of us came here."

"It sounds like you're on a reconnaissance mission. Searching for signs of Forerunner and Covenant activity." Halsey pondered fiddling with the data pad lying on the table.

"Yeah! We are spossed to report back to Captain of what we see." Samus replied confirming the Doctor was correct.

Doctor Halsey narrowed her eyes quizzically at the copper alien armour in front of her. Her curiosity continually took over the gravity of their situation. "Your voice is very young. And your accent. What did you say you were? Chozo? Was it?"

Samus was very wary of removing her armour in front of a stranger. But this woman seemed to know Chief well enough. And if she remembered correctly Blue Team often joked about someone named Doctor Halsey saying she would take great interest in her.

Flabbergasted by how the armour simply disintegrated from the child. Doctor Halsey was shocked to see a human child underneath such alien armour. "I'll be honest, I wasn't expecting you to be human."

The girl shrugged with a sheepish smile. Reluctant to reply and reveal that the Doctor's theory was correct.

"The Chozo, is some sort of humanoid alien species I'm guessing? I've never heard of them."

"Really. Really. Really. Old, alien bird people." Samus rubbed her head, only a few of Halsey's words confused her as without her armour she tried to fully understand what the Doctor was saying. "Sorry, I'm no good with all human speak yet." She apologized as a flash of light engulfed her as her armour materialized around her entire body.

That explained the broken English the girl was speaking. But who were these Chozo? They must've been an advanced alien race if they were able to produce such unique armour. Halsey had so many questions but knew they just simply didn't have enough time. "We need to get you off this ship before Jul' Mdama, realizes what you are. It's a miracle you were able to get past the guards. That unique form you took was enough to fool the Covenant."

"That's silly the Covenmant think I was some kinda weapon." Samus laughed as she followed the Doctor to the monitors.

"They are not wrong. I don't know the extent of your technology but if the Covenant discover you they may very well try to keep you for experimentation." The one armed woman described as she tapped away at the keypad. "I have scrambled and erased what I could of this room's surveillance footage. But there's no telling how long it will be until they discover I've tampered with it. You must quickly escape."

"What about you? I can't leave you here a pr-is-nor!" Samus argued as she scanned for an escape from the locked room they were in. There was a vent she could easily open and travel in morph ball but she could not leave the Doctor.

Following Samus's gaze Halsey sighed. "I will only slow you down." The silver haired woman shook her head no.

Samus refused to take no for an answer she could not leave this woman to suffer as a prisoner. "I can open the lock. We'll get out together."

"I have tried repeating the code after observing the code they type before exiting. I have tried hacking the lock. Jul' Mdama knows me too well." Halsey replied defeated, as Samus began to tinker with the lock keypad.

Mother Brain had taught her to hack in multiple different ways. One time she attempted to Challenge Samus by using multiple encryptions with the left over Covenant technology from the wreckage on Zebes. This was going to be a breeze compared to her training.

Halsey blinked in shock by the sound of the doors opening. "Y-you did it!"

Peeking out the door with her cannon aimed she watched as two Elites walked further away down the corridor. "Follow me. Stay close. Do you know the way out?"

Halsey warily followed the alien hybrid. She knew if they got caught they were both as good as dead. This escape would not end without death or serious injury. "If we continue down this hallway. Then take a left we will find the hanger bay. We can take one of the Phantoms."

Samus nodded in understanding. Rounding the corner she was quickly met with gunfire. Four Grunts, two Jackals, and two Elites blocked their pathway. "I'll be quick. Stay here, follow when the shots stop." The girl told the woman as she transformed into her morph ball.

Halsey couldn't help but peek around the corner to watch the girl in action. Samus bowled straight into the crowd laying 3 bombs as she did so. Each bomb went off killing the Grunts while injuring the Jackals. Transforming Samus fired her cannon at the aliens causing the Jackals to attempt ducking and covering to no avail as she blasted them with her gunfire, right through their long faces. The Elites grew enraged causing them to throw grenades and fire more ferociously. Samus dodged the attacks by using her morph ball. Firing a charged blast at one of the Sangheili's legs causing it to collapse to one side the girl used it as an advantage to shoot the massive alien in the head. The last standing Elite roared at her with anger, charging her with duel plasma rifles. Her shielding taking the brunt of the hits Samus shot one of the guns out of the charging duel wielding alien's hands. Ducking under the Sangheili's swinging arm she grabbed its massive hand, yanking it completely backwards throwing the alien off balance and to the floor. The Elite roared with anger as he fired his remaining plasma rifle. Samus stomped on the Elite's wielding hand angling the firing weapon towards her opponent's head.

"Let's go! Quick!" Samus waved for the Doctor to follow her.

Halsey was quite impressed with the alien hybrid. If they were truly to survive this escape she would have plenty of questions for the young girl.

As they entered the hangar bay Samus whispered as there were quite a few Jackals wondering the docking bay platforms. "You're gonna have to point out a Fan-um... to me."

"There, do you see those odd shaped ships where the Elite is commanding those Grunts?" Halsey pointed to the Phantoms docked to the left of the platform they were on. "Our best chance is to take the Phantom they are docking. It is open and ready for takeoff."

Samus scanned each enemy with her turquoise eyes, planning out the best way to approach and attack.

On the ground Blue Team had been jogging through the jungle trying to keep pace with the wondering carrier ship.

"Ugh! Still no signal!" Linda hissed frustrated she had lost Samus's signal.

"Linda, we lost Samus's signal the moment she entered the carrier. I don't think we're getting it back anytime soon, unless she drops out of that ship." Kelly scoffed as she ran point through the jungle.

Making sure the Sangheili was dead, Samus gestured for the Doctor to quickly board the ship. Helping the Doctor into the Phantom, Samus followed Halsey to the cockpit. As Doctor Halsey began to pilot the Phantom Samus began to see the Covenant reinforcements pouring into the hangar bay. "The Hangar bay doors shields are on. We need them off so we can get off the carrier!"

Firing at the incoming enemies, Samus leapt back onto the platform to locate the door control panel not too far from their Phantom. Gunfire kept hitting her armour like a deadly rain. Returning fire just to gain a small window of time to be able to hit the buttons.

"You got it!" Halsey cheered. "Get back inside. Quickly they're approaching!"

As Samus leapt back into the ship she was pierced by an excruciating burning pain through her abdomen and chest. It was so intense it felt as if every part of her body was melting.

Hearing a gasping yelp of pain from behind, Halsey whipped around just in time to see Jul' Mdama disengage his cloaking as he drove his energy sword into the alien hybrid.

Samus could feel the blood pooling in her throat as she desperately waited for the release. Jul' ripped the sword out of the alien armour, tossing Samus to the floor. He turned sharply to lock eyes with the Doctor. "You continue to hide secrets! Hoping to take power for yourself!?" Jul' hissed in his native tongue.

"I was just as shocked as you are, to discover that the ball your lackey brought in. Was a young warrior from another alien civilization!" Halsey replied trying to remain confident against the Didact's Hand.

Jul' snorted in disgust. "My brothers are working on decrypting your attempts to erase your interactions with this supposed warrior. You are of no further use to me, Doctor..."

Samus could barely focus on anything but her blinding pain. Barely able to hear her attacker's conversation over the sound of her frantic, beating, fading, heart. Samus could not allow herself to fail in freeing the Doctor. With all her strength she stood back up charging her arm cannon the sound of it causing the Sangheili to turn back to her. Firing the blast The Covenant leader roared in agony as he began making his approach on his soon to be science project. More weapon fire from Covenant forces outside the ship began to hit Samus and the ship.

"I have to pull away." Were the words Halsey mouthed to Samus, who seemed to be waiting for her to do so.

As soon as Jul' Mdama rushed the young warrior Samus fired her cannon until he was inches away. The massive Sangheili went to tackle the girl. Samus held her breath biting her tongue as not to scream too loudly as she transformed into her morph ball dodging the tackle.

Halsey tipped the ship as Samus made her move dumping Jul' Mdama back onto the hangar bay platform. Where he screamed and cursed at the escaping Phantom.

Jul' rushed to the control panel to stop this escape but the mysterious armoured warrior was smart and had destroyed the panel. He could not do anything but watch his valuable prisoners escape.

"Samus's signal is back!" Linda announced.

"Phantom!" Chief called out as the ship barrelled to the surface of the planet with many Banshees in pursuit.

Watching the odd sight it quickly sunk in what was happening. "It's the kid!" Fred said as the Phantom flew by them.

"Open fire on the Banshees!" Chief commanded as he fired at the incoming purple aircrafts. Shooting at the engines in order to disable the attacking aircrafts.

Samus dragged herself to one of the mounted turrets on the Phantom using it to assist the Spartan team on the ground.

"Samus! You shouldn't be moving, my Spartans can handle this!" Halsey gasped after realizing Samus was still trying to shoot and assist with enemies. Samus was reluctant to comply continuing to shoot until they were in the clear. Once the pursuing Banshees were taken down Halsey piloted the Phantom to hover dropping the grav lift for Blue Team.

"Doctor Halsey!?" Kelly was shocked to see the one armed Doctor piloting the ship.

Doctor Halsey brushed off the greeting from the Spartan. "We can greet each other later, Kelly. We need to get out of here as fast as possible."

Master Chief was just as shocked to see Halsey as the rest of his team was, but like the Doctor said they could not focus on that right now. "Kelly, take us back to the LZ."

"John!" Linda called, dread weighing heavy in her tone. "Samus, is down."

Rushing over to the bloodied Chozo warrior splayed on the floor motionless. Chief began looking for any signs that Samus was still conscious and alive. "Samus?! Samus, can you hear me?"

"Multiple plasma burns. Fatal energy sword wounds. We're going to be lucky if we can keep her alive on our way back to Infinity." Fredric said, his growing concern for wounded teammates clouding his thoughts. "What if she doesn't make it?"

"She'll make it." Chief replied observing insignificant eye movement beyond the acid green visor. "Make sure the Pelicans and Infinity are ready to leave." He ordered his Spartans as Halsey knelt down next to him.

"She fought very impressively. But Jul' Mdama got her just as we were finally in the clear." The Doctor mentioned as the Phantom came to a halt.

Master Chief carefully scooped Samus up in his arms. He did not like the way she felt in his arms. Samus had zero strength and ability to hold herself she was completely limp. Jumping into the Pelican it immediately took off back to the Infinity. "How did she find you?"

"Jul' brought her to me. It seems this little one is quite unknown amongst the Covenant." Halsey replied. Taking note of her Spartan's concern as he was hyper focused on the unresponsive child in his arms.

As soon as the Pelican landed armed Spartans and Marines took care of Halsey while Blue Team rushed to the Infirmary alongside the medics.

"Master Chief, we cannot access her injuries, her armour refuses to budge. It is preventing us from being able to save her." The CMO told the Spartan leader, with urgency in her tone.

"Well take it off her!" Kelly spat.

Master Chief unfortunately knew this was not an easy task. The alien armour was literally a part of Samus's body, it would have to surgically removed if Samus wasn't strong enough. "Samus, we need your armour off please. Please try..." he hoped his words would somehow wake the child enough to get her to comply.

"Please Samus..."

Even though her body was slowly repairing Samus knew she was critically wounded. Her armour had been keeping her alive for the moment. Now that she was safe inside the infirmary she hoped dismissing her armour was the right decision. She did not want her armour to be surgically removed.

Samus thankfully complied with Chief's request. Disengaging her armour in a flash of light. "Let's get scans done immediately. I want to know what the sword struck."

"This is my fault." Watching the medics take the girl to triage Chief shook his head greatly regretting how he conducted the mission. "I should've kept her close to me."

"We all were cautious, John. Even Samus, was." Fredric reminded his leader they were all very cautious during the mission.

Kelly nodded in agreement. "Yeah, she even tried to hide in plain sight until we got to her. And it worked... To a point."

"Look at the bright side. The kid didn't disobey any orders." Fred told his concerned brother.

"Samus, and the Chozo, are so unknown to most that her morph ball looked like an unknown artifact." Linda thought aloud to which everyone nodded in agreement. "She risked everything to get Halsey, out."

"Like Fred, said. Samus did listen to our every command. In an unexpected situation the kid went full throttle on this mission. At least we know she's very skilled and willing to complete the mission." Kelly attempted to point out the positives of this morbid outcome.

Kelly was correct. Samus had zero issues fighting her way single handed through a Covenant cruiser to save a single life. "I wish she would've tried communicating with us more. We could've possibly assisted her. Gotten her to take control over the Cruiser so we could board."

Fred nodded his head agreeing with the Master Chief. "We've been so focused on her abilities we forgot to teach Samus, the importance of communication and teamwork."

"Samus, has a good understanding of teamwork and communication. She's just never offered to use it. We have to remember she's only been training with us for two weeks. Samus, has been training solo for eight years." The sharpshooter reminded the team their youngest prospect had only been with them for a very short time.

"Our next mission I won't let her out of my sight." Chief announced. This was too close of a call for him. Samus was in critical condition and this was her very first real mission. A mission that was supposed to be recon only.

Fred could tell his brother was deeply hurt by this entire incident. Although he did not show it outwardly. Chief cared deeply for the young warrior. "Simple mission, or not. Missions always change. You can't prevent everything brother."

Fredric was correct. But it didn't mean he wasn't going to try his best to make sure he kept Samus relatively safe during missions. "It's been too long without an update." Chief looked at his HUD clock, changing the subject.

"She was critically injured, John. I don't think it'll be quick." Kelly mentioned as the door next to them opened.

All Spartans turned as the one armed Doctor approached them. "Any updates on her condition?"

"None, Ma'am." Linda answered.

Halsey gave a small nod as she scanned the room with her old eyes. Over the next hours she observed 117. Focusing on John's concerned stance. Even pacing for a short while until his teammates told him to try and relax. He seemed completely focused on waiting to hear news of Samus's condition. It was very intriguing to see.

Finally the CMO emerged blood staining her medical uniform. Her hands wore gloves that were equally bloody if not more. "She's stable..."

"Can I see her?" Master Chief didn't wait for the CMO to speak any further.

Doctor Skye gestured for Chief to follow. Leading the team into a recovery room. "She's resting. We had to preform emergency surgery. Remarkably her body was rapidly healing the surface wounds. So much so that she woke multiple times, we had to keep sedating her to put her out, and slicing her open because she healed so quick." The Doctor began to explain as she disposed of her mask and gloves in the biohazard bin. "A lot of vital organs were hit. That energy sword went right through her heart, and one of her lungs, severing her spinal cord in the process. I don't know how she was alive when you brought her to me. I'll spare you the gruesome details but Samus, should make a full recovery as long as she rests."

Blue Team exchanged worried glances with each other. Concerned that Samus may never be able to battle with them again.

"I know what you're thinking. And yes, she will be able to continue fighting on the battlefield with you. Her unique healing capabilities seem to allow her to recover quicker than most." Doctor Skye said in an almost amused tone. "Samus, will be under constant supervision and monitoring while she's in here. The kid shouldn't wake up since she's got enough sedatives and anesthesia in her system to be able to knock out a squad of Spartans. But I will let you have a moment with her. Call me if anything happens." Skye said as she did one last scan on Samus before exiting, giving a nod to Doctor Halsey who entered the room just behind the Spartans.

How Samus was able to stay alive to fend off the Phantom until finally meeting up with Blue Team was astonishing to say the least. One of the blades on Jul's energy sword no doubt pierced right through the girl's heart. It should've been an instant kill.

Samus could hear the voices as soon as the team entered her room. She began to wake with little to no strength every part of her body was in agony. Most of her pain coming from her chest, abdomen, and spine. "Ch-Chief...?"

"I'm here, Samus." Master Chief replied quickly stepping next to the girl's bedside. Looking into those turquoise eyes Samus could barely keep her eyes open.

"Psh... How much does it take to keep the kid knocked out?" Kelly scoffed shocked that the girl was awake.

"Where... we...?" Despite being awake Samus was too exhausted and disoriented from the sedatives to form a proper sentence. Trying to look around the room without tweaking her pain she could barely see her teammates.

Fred took a step towards the resting child. "You're in the infirmary on the Infinity. We're all safe."

"Hall-zee...?"

"Everybody's safe kiddo." Kelly nodded confirming that Samus had rescued Doctor Halsey.

Doctor Halsey stepped forward standing at the foot of the bed. "I'm here. We escaped the Covenant because of your brave efforts."

"We definitely have to speak about how this mission went. But you did beyond what I thought you were capable of." Master Chief let the young girl know that he was proud of her. But there were mistakes she made that they had to discuss.

Samus gave a small nod in understanding wincing as she tried to sit up. Chief assisted her in doing so. Once settled she scanned herself. She had no clothing covering her top. Bandages were wrapped around her entire torso, she could feel there were three major wounds underneath. Recollecting how she got those wounds made her cringe and internally laugh at the same time. Remembering the first time she had met Chief they faced off against an Elite with a sword. And now she was battling them just like Chief did that day.

"Samus, you're awake and sitting up? I'm surprised!" The CMO gasped as she came to the girl's bedside. "Though at this point I shouldn't be too surprised as you are full of surprises. How are you feeling?"

Sitting up was definitely making her pain intensify. It felt as if her entire upper body was on fire. "Ow..." was about the only response she could give to the Doctor.

"Since you're already awake, I'm going to assume the painkillers I administered into you have also depleted." Doctor Skye sighed, at a loss of what to do for the girl. "Is the pain excruciating right now?"

Samus blinked as her head was still foggy she did not recognize that word. Chief could see she was clearly not understanding what the doctor was asking.

"Do you really. Really. Really. hurt bad? Is your pain too much to take?" He rephrased seeming to get through to the girl.

"Just bad." Samus replied.

Skye nodded. "Well you're going to have some soreness and discomfort kiddo. I fear I've already given you too much. I don't want to administer anything else into you unless it's absolutely necessary."

Samus understood and to be fair she didn't want anything else put into her either. She was just really tired. And the others could see her exhaustion.

"We better let her rest." The CMO smiled gesturing for the others in the room to leave.

"No!" As soon as everybody started heading for the exit Samus broke down into tears. Clearly afraid to be alone in the infirmary.

Chief was quick to return to the girl's bedside. "What's wrong?" He asked calmly.

"D-don't go..."

"We have to debrief, John." Linda reminded her leader who was strongly considering disregarding the debriefing.

Master Chief was hesitant. They did wait for a few hours to see Samus was okay. During which he could've done the debriefing so he didn't have to separate from Samus. "No."

Kelly cocked her head with a scoff. "What do you mean no? We have to, John."

"If the Commander wants debriefing from me she can come here. Or receive my report later." Master Chief responded, shocking everyone in the room as he usually was not this disobedient.

Halsey was shocked at her favourite Spartan's behaviour. It was a very rare occasion he'd pull something like this. Unless it involved a member of his team. Someone very close to him.

The speedy Spartan shrugged with a head shake. "I'll let her know. But I think we all know the outcome of that." She said following her other teammates out of the Infirmary.

Doctor Skye gestured for Chief to approach her across the room from the girl. "We're just stepping outside this door, Samus. I'm just going to have a quick word with Chief."

As the two exited the room Halsey remained in the room with the very young anxious girl. "Samus, I know you're uncomfortable at the moment. But I really cannot thank you enough for freeing me from the Covenant."

Samus barely darted her eyes in acknowledgment at Doctor Halsey. Too concerned about when Chief was going to return, her heart pounding faster and faster with each passing moment.

"How long have you known, John?" A simple enough question to distract the girl from her separation anxiety.

"Th-three..."

Halsey would've believed the girl if everyone around didn't keep hinting that Samus was a newbie. "You've known John, for three years?"

Samus went to shake her head no, but stopped herself due to pain. "No... I was 3."

The one armed Doctor was a bit shocked by this information. "You've been with John, that long?"

"No. I discovered Samus, when she was an orphaned toddler adopted by aliens." The deep monotone voice of the Master Chief replied, answering Doctor Halsey's confusion.

Chief seemingly only added to Halsey's curiosity. The child had mentioned she was raised by ancient aliens. "I'm sure that's an interesting story for another time. But spare me the details. What is this Chozo? I didn't want to mention it on the Covenant ship, but the symbols on your suit. I have seen them before in Forerunner scriptures."

Focusing on the conversation instead of the pain Samus understood most of what was being said to her. "The Ch-Chozo very... old." She winced as every breath she took hurt but slowly began to ease every minute that went by.

"So you have an understanding of the Forerunners?"

Chief shook his head no. Answering for the child who was clearly in pain the more she spoke. "It is heavily implied that the Forerunners and Chozo have crossed paths maybe even worked together. But Samus, does not have enough knowledge about the Forerunners as far as I know. The Chozo are very secretive."

Samus nodded in agreement as she tried to swing her legs over the side of the bed. "V-very secret..."

"I see." Turning to Samus, Halsey had a million questions flowing through her mind. But she could not badger the poor child with them while the she was recovering.

"What do you think you're doing missy? You're recovering from serious injuries. You have to stay in bed." The CMO reprimanded the child as she entered the room.

"I hurt... a bit. But I'm okay." Samus replied standing up only to land herself back on the bed.

Doctor Skye shook her head using her data pad to scan the reluctant child. And to her surprise the girl was telling the truth. "This is absurd. You cannot be this healed already. It's impossible. It's barely been an hour since you've come out of surgery."

"Doctor?" Chief waited for the CMO to explain her outburst of disbelief.

"I didn't think it was possible. But Samus, makes a quicker recovery than you Spartans. An hour ago I was positive she could've died even with surgical attention. But now I am not so certain." The shocked Doctor was wrong, the girl would've been dead if it weren't for her. Although Samus's body was already attempting to repair her heart and abdomen, the surgery did seem to boost her recovery system.

"Can I go?" Samus asked clearly. Despite the horrendous pain her strength obviously was coming back.

"I honestly think you should stay just to be safe." John told the girl who disagreed completely.

Shaking her head no Samus pulled off whatever medical instruments were attached to her. "I'm fine." With a flash of light she was fully armoured and ready to go.

The Doctor was hesitant but reluctantly agreed to discharge the girl. "Fine. But I want you to take it easy. You need to get a full medical examination done before you head out on another mission."

Samus of course rolled her eyes at that but reluctantly agreed with the CMO's terms. "Okay..."

"I will make sure she will, Doctor." Master Chief reassured the CMO he would take care of Samus and follow the medical orders.

Samus internally groaned exiting the infirmary by herself. As soon as she exited into the hallway she had to catch her breath as the short walk caused a flush of aching pain through her entire body. Giving her just enough pain to remind her that she was still healing. A hand gently being cupped onto her shoulder plate caused her to sorely turn to look at the Spartan leader.

"Are you sure you're feeling alright enough to leave?" Chief questioned the girl who was clearly struggling in pain.

With a nod Samus slowly made her way down the corridor. She wasn't entirely sure where exactly she was heading. But as long as it was away from the infirmary she didn't care.

"The team is being debriefed if you're feeling well enough to attend. If not I suggest we head to our quarters and have you rest there." Master Chief told the stubborn child as they neared the bridge.

"Ugh... Training?" Samus complained, as she sorely turned to face the Spartan leader.

Following the two Halsey secretly wanted to study everything about Samus. Curious to know how adaptive she was in different situations. Though she got a good enough understanding during her rescue. But it was clear Master Chief was not interested in allowing the child to train during this time.

"No. Come'on." Chief had no desire to argue with Samus. Picking a direction for them he escorted the girl into the room where the team was getting debriefed.

"Samus? You're already out of recovery?" Captain Lasky greeted, standing up from his seat to help assist the girl take a seat.

Reluctantly taking a seat Samus wanted to so badly swat away the helping hands away from her. Tired of being treated like a wounded puppy. But in her irritation she refrained from being rude. "Yes... I'm fine now."

"Really? After your medical status report from the Chief Medical Officer. We were concerned that you wouldn't survive." Lasky glanced at Chief to confirm Samus's supposed healing. To which he received a head shake no.

"Your team informed me you refused to attend your debriefing due to this little one." Commander Palmer addressed the Master Chief.

"Indeed." Chief replied emotionlessly.

As much as she disliked that the Spartan team leader often got away with bending the rules, Palmer respected the Master Chief. But she wasn't afraid to direct her gruffness towards their very young trainee. "But the kid is fine now? So we can get this over with?"

"A bit sore... I'm fine." Samus surely was wincing in pain behind that acid green visor as she lied saying she was fine.

After that stubborn reply the Captain sighed returning to his chair. "Since you're feeling so well, let's get this debrief done since you're the one who orchestrated this daring rescue mission. Which was only supposed to be reconnaissance by the way."

Samus sorely shifted in her chair, preparing herself for her debriefing. Halsey sat next to her, getting a dirty look from Commander Palmer.

The Captain would've asked Halsey to leave as she had done a quick debriefing a few hours ago. But if Samus felt ill Halsey could at the very least attempt to pick up the details of what happened. "Doctor Halsey, since Samus, was the one to free you from your imprisonment in the Covenant ship. I will allow you to stay, in the case Samus may have difficulties explaining."

"If you can, Samus. Please explain how the reconnaissance mission turned into a rescue mission?" Commander Palmer asked the armoured child directly. A hint of annoyance in her tone.

Samus internally sighed not wanting to explain the beginning of the mission. She glanced at Chief hoping he would assist in explaining.

John could see Samus wasn't exactly talkative at the moment. Fair enough she had just got out of major life saving procedures only a couple of hours ago. "Commander, if I may explain that part for, Samus?"

Palmer sighed gesturing for the Spartan leader to explain. "Please explain then."

"Once we had left the LZ Blue Team quickly combed through the nearby jungle, to locate the Covenant. I ordered my the team to fan out. Samus, was the first to locate the Covenant." Master Chief explained to the room. As he explained the feelings of regret for treating Samus like a fully trained experienced Spartan pained him.

"Okay Aran, I need you to take over the explanation from there, because I would assume Chief told you that if you located the Covenant relay that immediately, and hold position." The Commander once again pointed her full burning glare on the alien armoured child.

Samus nodded yes in reply. "Chief, said stay. I told him bout the Covenmant..."

"In the middle of her report in, a patrolling Elite approached her position." Chief added.

Captain Lasky gave a thoughtful hum in reply. "Samus, was ambushed, and captured then? Where was Blue Team?"

Before Chief could explain Samus lifted her left hand stopping Chief from trying to explain himself. "Not attacked. Taken."

"The kid contorted herself into her weird ball in order to avoid conflict, and giving away the human presence on the planet." Kelly mentioned hoping the clear detailed answer would help Samus.

"It did not work obviously." Palmer scoffed folding her arms.

"It worked. Too good." The young girl replied rubbing the back of her helmet.

Raising an eyebrow along with her curiosity Sarah questioned how? "Care to elaborate on how exactly you turning into an oversized bowling ball gets you past Covenant guards, onto the ship containing their leader? That would never work!"

Halsey took that moment as the time to step in to help Samus explain. "Samus, used her abilities and though I don't believe this was her intention. Jul' Mdama's lackey believed Samus's spherical form was a Forerunner relic. So they brought her to my cell for examination and study."

Both Samus and the Blue Team Spartans nodded in reply. "Indeed. Our last transmission with Samus, before we lost her signal was that the patrolling Elite saw Samus's morph ball and thought he stumbled upon an artifact." Fred added to the growing story.

"Why would they think a bright orange ball could be an artifact? It makes more sense for the Covenant to walk right on by thinking nothing of it." It was easy to tell the Commander was anything but impressed by the explanation she was getting.

"On the contrary, Commander. The child's armour has alien scriptures etched into it. Those symbols were on her spherical form. The glyphs on her armour are very similar to Forerunner dialect." Doctor Halsey said as she gestured to the glyphs engraved in the child's alien armour. "I also believed it could've been a Forerunner artifact when they first brought her to me."

The yellow AI that stood on the table they all sat around, nodded in agreement with the Doctor. "Indeed those glyphs are intriguingly familiar in some of the Forerunner scriptures. They definitely would've peaked my interest if I was a Covenant member searching for useful artifacts."

"Thank. You. Roland..." Bringing her hand to her forehead with a groan Commander Palmer turned her attention back to the child. "Samus, I would like to hear just from you now."

Despite the large amount of pain Samus was feeling she tried her best to explain what had happened on the Covenant Carrier. "I surprise Halsey when I moved..." she held her breath as her pain took over for a second. "I remember Blue Team say stuff about Halsey..." it was at this moment she wished she took the CMO's advice she needed a rest desperately. "Chief..."

Master Chief nodded cupping a hand on Samus's shoulder plate before addressing the room. "Doctor Skye advised Samus, to rest. I will assist Samus, with a debriefing report and get it to you as soon as possible, Sir."

It was pretty clear from the slurring of her words and the incomplete sentences that Samus was very fatigued from this. "Please, get her some rest. But I need that report sooner than later." Lasky nodded in understanding as Chief began escorting the young girl out.

"Understood, Sir." Chief replied. As he led Samus to their quarters he looked to see if his team followed but it seemed they were not done debriefing.

Taking many breaks along the way Samus did feel mostly alright. It was just her wound sites that were bothering her. The sensation and pain of that energy sword still intensely burned within her body. Her external wounds healed quickly, she was positive the Doctors would say the same about her internal parts as well. But as much as they were healing, her internal injuries still took slightly longer than her exterior damage.

"I told you that you needed to rest. Did I not?" Chief told the child who disengaged her armour as he carefully sat her down on her berth.

Samus winced as she eagerly laid herself down. "You're right... I know..." she closed her eyes as her body relaxed into the soft berth.

Although he was unpleased with that sarcastic response. John knew the girl's attitude was a sign that she was feeling a bit better now that she was resting. "You could've died."

Samus opened one eye spotting the Spartan standing next to her berth looking across the room from her. "But I didn't."

It was concerning to hear the little to no concern for her own life. "I don't know if you're ready for missions yet."

"What! I been ready for long time!" She sat up, instantly regretting doing so as the searing pain in her chest rippled through her. "I res-coo-ed someone! By my alone!"

Chief glanced over his shoulder at the upset girl. It was difficult to discipline Samus as she was correct. She did selflessly accomplish a mission and more. But she did fail to communicate. "You are not to go back into the field until you brush up on your communication skills."

Samus didn't argue against that. She knew Chief was right. Communicating with the team was the last thing on her mind. And it took time to read translations on her visor. She had been learning the different Covenant species languages as opposed to human languages. Which should have not been her priority over the human languages.

"I know you have barely been here a month. But it is vital you learn how to communicate with us properly." Master Chief told the young alien hybrid.

"I'll try better." The girl replied. Even though she greatly disliked learning the one out of the hundreds of human languages. She would attempt to learn and better her skills.

Master Chief gave a silent nod in response. He knew Samus was trying. Even though her English was broken and she spoke it in the same manner a toddler would have. He was impressed that after nearly 10 years of being raised by aliens she was still able to remember her human language skills. Even if it was a preschool level it was impressive enough. They would just have to run exercises that replicate what happened today. Even though Samus was mostly fine on her own. She needed to remember she had a team behind her. "Did you want to do a report? Or do you want to do one later?"

"Sooner, than later right...?" Samus sighed.

"Not if you're too exhausted." Chief reminded the obviously exhausted girl.

"Can I just load down what I did from my suit?" The alien hybrid suggested, sliding off her berth she stood as a flash of light engulfed her.

Chief didn't know why he found it surprising that Samus would have recorded footage from her mission. "Your suit records audiovisual? If so yes, you can download the footage to my data pad and I will send it to Captain Lasky."

"I used to load down stuff all the time after training lessons on Zebes." She replied, sending the mission footage to the Spartan leader's data pad.

That made sense to John. He's glad Samus told him about being able to upload footage as it would make her reports easier to do. Once he began to review the footage Chief was shocked to see how much the young girl was able to accomplish in such a short period of time. He was also very impressed to see she was very selfless and determined to accomplish rescuing Doctor Halsey even though she was greatly outnumbered and chances of escaping were slim. She took a lot of risks. He didn't know if it was overconfidence or she was just fearless in battle.

While reviewing the footage Samus was able to finally close her eyes and nap for a while. Rest was something she desperately needed after nearly dying. But the girl was resilient and difficult to keep still for long. After an hour of reviewing the footage and making notes in the report for the girl. Chief was left impressed by the young warrior's ability. If she continued to gain more experience Samus would eventually become a force to be reckoned with. Leaning back in his chair Chief thought to himself. Remembering the conversations with the Chozo and Samus. The Chozo were a well equipped, well travelled species. Leaving their gifts behind for their successor to claim. Hearing Samus stir in her berth caused him to glance over at the alien human hybrid. The young child was still asleep. Chief hesitated to send the report out. He now understood why the Chozo gifted the child to them. It was now just a matter of how powerful the child would eventually become. And if she would stay on the path of fighting for galactic peace that her alien guardians had pathed for her. John knew that is exactly what Commander Palmer would question.

"What you thinking bout?" Samus asked almost making the Spartan visibly jump.

With the tap of his finger he sent the report and footage to be reviewed by the Captain and Commander. "You're awake. How do you feel?"

Samus could feel her body still recovering from her injuries. Besides being a bit sore, and slightly dizzy she felt just fine. "Fine." She shrugged with a wince, before approaching the Chief. "Are we going to train?"

Master Chief laid his data pad on the desk as he got up from his chair. "Do you remember on Zebes, when you spoke about human children getting days off?"

The young girl shrugged with a nod, vaguely remembering the conversation she had with Grey Voice. "Yeah...?"

"You're going to take it easy for the rest of the day. There will be no further training for you today."

"What? Why are you being weirdo?" Samus questioned why Chief would say no to her training.

"I am not being weird." Chief corrected. "You are still recovering. You don't need to strain yourself just before you're completely back to normal."

"I am my normal, just with new scars." The girl replied wincing as she peeled the bandages off her chest and abdomen just under her shirt.

Shaking his head at the child. "You shouldn't be taking those off." Chief sighed.

"Why? It's fine." Samus replied lifting her shirt enough to show just her lower abdomen. Revealing the large scar that was clearly the length of her torso as it continued upwards from just the small peek the child gave.

Master Chief exhaled deeply as he gestured for Samus to follow him. "Come'on."

"Where we going?" She asked following the Spartan leader to a very different training area where they met up with Linda. "What is this place?"

"This is the all terrain training arena, or my favourite place to train." Linda greeted the two.

Samus scanned the area with her curious eyes, it was a very large arena that consisted of different terrains such as water, mountain cliffs, deserts, snow, jungle, and parkland where you could cool down and meditate. "What place we training in?"

"Right here is just fine." The red headed Spartan replied. Standing in the parkland area where it was quiet and unoccupied by strangers.

"Really?" The young girl cocked her head in confusion, as Chief nodded in reply.

Linda could tell Samus was eager to be put back in the battlefield but the young child still needed some fine tuning. "No armour. We're just going to observe right now. I want you to be able to observe, listen, and be alert all at the same time."

No armour was fine, she had to allow it to repair itself anyway after getting pierced by the energy sword. "How you do that?" Samus questioned, as the task sounded very complex. Even the way Linda explained it was complicated.

The red headed Spartan smiled in reply. "It's a lot simpler than it sounds. You cannot simply rely on your armour's HUD. Your monitor won't always be reliable especially with cloaked enemies."

Samus understood that Linda was referring using her own senses to sense danger, and calculate her next moves. "Grey Voice always tell me to listen with your feet, and with my body." Though she honestly didn't know whether it was because he wanted her more in tune with her armour.

"That's good advice. So you understand what I'm saying to you?" The sharpshooter was hoping the child's answer would be yes. But judging from Samus's puzzled expression the answer was no.

Master Chief knew it was best just to dumb it down. "Samus, do you know what senses are?" The young girl eagerly nodded yes to the Chief's question.

"Okay, so what I am asking you to do is use all of those senses at once." Linda explained simply.

Samus cocked her head in confusion. "All at the same time?"

"Yes. Try to feel the world around you."

"I did on Zebes all time. You had to." As much as the Spartans were trying to teach her something new. This was definitely a skill she had already mastered on Zebes. A lot of the different ecosystems on the planet required different skills and sensory abilities. Or else you were as good as dead, a meal for the apex predator in that domain. "Fine test me in it. Let's do it." She challenged since the Spartans seemed doubtful.

Chief quickly stepped in as he wanted to avoid physical training for today. "No. You're to take it easy until we see the doctor."

Samus rolled her eyes with a groan. "Let's go see the Doctor."

With a shrug Linda picked up her rifle, turning to her leader to say a few words before resuming her training session. "John, it seems Samus, is already fine tuned in these skills. Being raised in a hostile alien environment has taught her to be very diligent of her surroundings. Why do you think she's so skittish in the busy corridors?"

That was almost sarcasm from the one Spartan that rarely used it. John sighed deeply escorting Samus out of the arena. Leaving Linda to her meditation.

"Chief?"

He barely glanced down at the girl walking next to him. "Yes?"

"Who Doctor Halsey?" Samus asked as they got closer to the infirmary.

"A very intelligent Scientist. And the creator of the Spartan 2 project." He replied emotionlessly.

It took a few moments for Samus to piece together the Spartan's words. "She made you a Spartan?"

"Yes."

Samus wasn't exactly satisfied with that reply. If this Halsey did such a great thing like create super soldiers. Why did everyone around her act like they hate her? "You are really good. Why it seem like no one likes her?"

Master Chief stopped directly in front of the infirmary doors. "Her intelligence can be intimidating to many. It often gets her into trouble." Saying that he realized that Halsey would most likely take a great interest in Samus, if not already. It would either be a good thing with the Doctor's help. Or something he would have to monitor to make sure the child was not becoming an experiment. Even though the presence of a child working with Spartan 2's seemed to be entirely experimental.

"Little, miss, Samus Aran. Back in my infirmary. It's only been three hours since you left. How are you feeling?" Doctor Skye asked the young child who entered with the Spartan. Taking note that the child looked in decent shape.

Samus simply shrugged in reply. "I'm better."

"Mhmm..." The CMO nodded slowly turning her gaze to the Master Chief for a real answer.

"She is incredibly difficult to keep still." Chief admitted to the Doctor. "She's is in pain even though she won't admit it."

Doctor Skye sighed in a playful manner. "Indeed she is. Let's have a quick scan Samus, see how much you've healed in the last few hours." She gestured for the girl to sit on the examination table.

Samus was hesitant to do so. The dread of being poked and prodded by medics while sitting on the table was not what she wanted to experience again. She also knew if she did climb up they would see how much pain she was hiding from them.

"Samus, please listen to the doctor." Chief gently guided Samus over to the examination table.

With a deep breath she went to climb the table but nearly doubled over in pain from her burning abdomen. Clenching her teeth she did her best not to yelp in pain.

The CMO shook her head disappointed in herself for allowing the child to leave the infirmary too early. "Chief, would you mind?"

With a nod John gingerly hefted the child onto the table. Concerned with how well the girl could hide pain. He worried that Samus was in this amount of pain the entire time he's been lugging her around.

Samus cowered away while the CMO examined her body. She did multiple times until her pain reminded her that her movements were harmful.

"Samus. I'm not going to repeat myself to you after this. You. Need. To. Rest!" Doctor Skye waved a finger at the young girl. "You are still very much recovering on the inside. You're not doing anything physically demanding until you've completely healed inside and out. No excuses. Just because you can, doesn't mean you should. You're not on an active mission you can take the time to rest and recover." She scolded Samus, knowing that the young warrior was coming here asking to be cleared to train and fight.

"Chief..." Samus whined hoping that the Spartan would take her side.

Chief shook his head no in reply. "Medical experts give orders that supersedes mine." Even though he himself wouldn't care what the medics told him he would immediately go back into battle. "Sometimes..."

The young blonde girl gestured to Chief as to say. See Chief gets away with it!

"The one time you couldn't be silent and stoic..." The CMO glared at Chief unamused by his ending comment. "Listen, Samus. The difference is You're a child. Chief is not. Right now we're making the best decisions for you." She argued as Doctor Halsey walked past them to collect data pads.

Chief could see the frustration and irritation building inside the young girl. It seems she had forgotten that she was a child. That or too many of her peers around her viewed her as just another soldier. It was a bit conflicting considering he was never really treated as a child when he was in training. He was just another soldier. Another candidate.

"Recover first. We have more upcoming missions. You need to be completely healed before we deploy." Master Chief's words seemed to encourage Samus to understand the importance of why she should take it easy.

"It's just little bit of pain. I feel fine." Samus still wanted to argue.

Overhearing the conversation Halsey internally chuckled in admiration of the child's ambition. "Might I suggest running a more detailed scan? If the girl's recovery system is so rapid it was interrupting your surgical procedures she may very well be fully recovered already."

"Samus's pain indicates otherwise. Doctor..." Doctor Skye hissed as she was not about to willingly take advice from the criminal Doctor Halsey, but she figured she would humour her anyway. "We'll run another. Stay still, Samus." She sighed running a more thorough scan on the girl. And to her surprise Samus was basically healed completely.

Seeing the results over the CMO's shoulder Halsey gave an explanation as to why Samus was feeling pain. "Since Samus recovers so incredibly quick. I believe her body sends out greater pain receptors in a delayed response to the damage she took in battle."

Doctor Skye shook her head cocking an eyebrow at the scientist. "What are you talking about? That's an insane theory. Pain cannot be delayed for that long."

Halsey gave a small scowl at that response. "The child is anything but normal. A delayed response to horrific injuries may just be a survival mechanism ingrained into her mutations."

Samus hated that most of the conversations the adults had about her were done in front of her and spoken as if she was not even there. She understood most of what was being said about her. She would like to be included in the conversation.

As the two Doctors argued John could tell that Doctor Halsey was already beginning to research and read up on his past reports. Reports and any records on the alien hybrid child put under his care.

Halsey turned to the young girl in question. "Samus? When you dealt with traumatic injuries before you came to the Infinity, was your pain able to overtake you several hours after you completed a training task? At some point long into your recovery?"

Chief didn't think there could be a more puzzled expression on someone's face after witnessing Samus's full on confusion from Halsey's question. "Did you ever get badly hurt when training on Zebes? Did you feel pain right away? Or later after you completed a training session?" He simplified the sentence for the young warrior.

It was something Samus had to remember clearly. She did go through many different tests while getting used to her reborn body. Though she did distinctly remember both Mother Brain and Grey Voice putting her through a week of torturous excruciating pain. To test recovery and pain tolerance. "Ummm... I did when Grey, and Mother, did testing on me..."

"Testing?" Chief questioned, his tone a bit suspicious of what kind of testing she was referring to.

"I don't know the human word for it." She responded with a shrug. "I got hurt lots. I broken a lot of my bones, and insides. Grey, said it testing my pain strong...?"

Doctor Halsey hummed curiously at the child's explanation. "Hmm... It seems her alien caretakers did some sort of pain tolerance training. Testing her strength against pain."

"Sounds like torture to me." Doctor Skye scoffed.

Chief was silent but he was inclined to agree with the CMO. It sounded like straight up torture for the very young girl.

"How long did it take you to recover from those injuries? When did you feel the pain from those injuries? During the injury? After the injury? During and after the recovery?" Halsey continued to dig for more information from the curious subject.

"I feeled them when it happened. But not much after. Only when I healing it really hurt most." Samus explained looking to Chief for an escape, who he in turn looked as if he was ready to scoop her up into his arms and escape with her.

Doctor Skye groaned, it seemed Halsey's theory was correct. The girl felt more pain during the end of the recovery process. A very unheard of situation. Though it served as a survival mechanism, which would explain why Samus was able to continue fighting and escape after her dire injuries. "Since this is the most painful stage for you, Samus. I will remind you to rest and take it easy. Remember your team needs you."

"Thank you Doctor." Chief replied gently guiding Samus out of the infirmary. Samus was thankful for the quick exit as she could tell both Doctors were wanting to ask her more. Doctor Halsey seemed like the most curious out of the two. And was sure to have many more prying questions for her.

"What now?" The young voice of the girl asked him. Chief seemed to be in some sort of mood he almost seemed zoned out as he ignored her question. "Chief?"

Samus being with them was entirely experimental. It would make sense as to why others around them would want to study this unique young warrior. But was it fair to the young girl who had everybody's high expectations of her weighing down on her shoulders. Coming out of his thoughts Master Chief turned to the child he was escorting down the corridors. "Come'on. We'll work on some studies." The girl needed to work on communication skills and he intended to help with that.

Studies? It was the last word Samus wanted to hear.