Spirit of Fire

The UNSC Spirit of Fire was active with thousands of personnel, all running through the ship to get all of her systems online. RED Team, Naofumi, Raphtalia and Six were sat aboard a maglev tram that was going through to the Bridge. Both Raph and Naofumi looked around, the former with wide eyes and 'ooh'-ing and 'aah'-ing at every tiny little piece of technology.

Jerome asked, "Are they okay?" to which Six shrugged. Truth be told, the Spartan wasn't sure how to even take his own reawakening here, much less the fact he was looking at a Demihuman, he'd seen Zombies and all else. He finally had a moment to relax, to think of what had happened, and he realized that Reach had fallen…

And he was supposed to deliver the news that the planet fell. He sighed deeply, then leaned back against his seat and stated, "Sir, with all due respect… How am I supposed to mention to anyone on this ship, much more the Captain, that one of the greatest Nightmares of mankind since the start of this damn war happened?"

"You're here to brief him, Lieutenant," Jerome replied, leaning forward. He told his comrade, "He'll figure out a way around it."

"... Okay," He replied, then looked at Raph and Naofumi. The former was like a child in a candy store, while Naofumi was flabbergasted by what he was seeing:Humans in space, having saved his ass with this Spartan. The Lieutenant looked at the young man and told him, "Iwatani…" only to watch him pause and look at him. He added, "Calm down. It's fine."

"Sorry," Naofumi spoke, his voice low, "But the fact you weren't the only one of your people here, much more that you guys came with a spaceship, that's…" and he scratched his cheek, "I don't know. We always thought stuff like this was gonna be Science-Fiction for the better part of the next few centuries, but… Then again, winding up thrown to another world always felt like some silly fantasy."

"Agreed with you on that one, mister Iwatani," Doctor Anders stated rather calmly as she looked over research data. She then turned her head toward the over-excited Raph and noticed the purple seal on her chest. She asked, "What's that?" while pointing at it. Naofumi was about to open his mouth and reply, but realized that he was back with civilized people.

… He might as well bite the bullet. He didn't necessarily buy Raph for the reasons most others would have. It was still not a selfless reason like getting her out of slavery or helping her heal from her sickness, but regardless, it was better than… other things. He looked doctor Anders dead in the eye and said, "... It's sadly a slave crest," only to see the entire unit visibly pause, save maybe Six, who might've guessed it.

He explained to them, "Before anyone here tries to kill me… Look," he sighed deeply, "When I arrived in this world, I got fooled by the redhead Princess. She put a false rape accusation on me that most of the country believed, courtesy of that son of a bitch king that you guys nearly put a slug into…" and he sighed deeply, "Because of it, I was stuck without support. I scrounged what little cash I had and went to a slaver to… Get someone to help me fight."

"You wanted a warrior Slave. Basically an indentured soldier," The woman stated rather disapprovingly, while the Spartans stared at him. She sighed when she saw Naofumi bow his head, but nod to confirm it. Scratching her cheek, she asked, "I can't imagine you had enough…"

"For Raph? Yeah, I did," He replied as just about everything was finally coming back to him. All he'd done, including risking the poor kid. He frowned, internally berating himself as he told her, "She was just a kid. A sickly kid, taken from a village of Demihumans, presumably. I nursed her back to health with the promise she'd help me fight."

The Spartans seemed not-so-surprised at literal child soldier usage, which brought into question just how the hell they were made for Naofumi. He chose not to press it, instead simply looking at Anders as she scrunched her nose up. She sighed deeply, rubbing her eyes, then mumbled, "I'm trying not to judge, mister Iwatani, but you get it's hard, right?"

"Never said it wasn't, doc," He shrugged.

Raphtalia finally butted in, stating, "He saved my life," with a serious look on her face. She continued, "I am more than just a slave to him. I can tell. He cared for me, nursed me to health, he gave me food and shelter and a person to…" she breathed, her voice shaky, "He gave me a home after I was ripped from my own… Regardless of if he bought me as a Slave or not, I owe him my current life and well-being. And I won't let you judge him for it."

Anders hummed, looking at the girl and her determined face. She sighed deeply, then chuckled and said, "Well, you've certainly got a loyal friend, then… Can the Crest be removed, though?"

"Yeah. I think," Naofumi replied, "We just need to find the Slaver in Melromarc," then he scoffed and said sarcastically, "Which is sure gonna be easy, considering the fuckers probably don't recall the big alien dropships…" only to look at Raph. He seemed to calm down and, like a doting father, he pat the girls head, causing her to blush as he said, "But it might be worth it. She earned her autonomy…"

Anders replied, "Then we'll find that slaver and get you two to him," as she stood up. The Spartans did, too, just as the vehicle came to a very light stop, the main doors opening to the bridge. Raph and Naofumi both stood up, too, then followed the team toward the bridge, noticing the eyes of several troops and Navy crewmen were on them. Raph smiled, waving at them, while Naofumi gave a simple, two-finger salute to them.

Entering the command deck, the two non-UNSC members were surprised to see two things:The Bridge itself, a hive of activity greater than the Hangars, due to being more condensed, and the very man standing tall in front of a large viewport that overlooked the blue orb 'below'. Beside him, the holographic form of a female hovered. She turned around, smirked and said, "Captain. Our Guests are here."

The Captain James G. Cutter turned around, revealing his grizzled gaze to the group. He smirked as soon as he saw Six in the lineup, all ramrod straight and at attention. He spoke, "At ease, Lieutenant. Welcome aboard," as he walked up to the man. Six snapped a salute that Cutter quickly replied to, then waved him back at ease as he said, "Good to know Red team found you healthy."

"We nearly arrived to a massacre, sir," Jerome spoke, looking Cutter in the eye. The confused Captain nodded to the Spartan to keep talking, to which the leader of Red Team stated, "The local royalty had the Spartan and the two new arrivals with us at sword-point. The Lieutenant was comparatively well-behaved…"

"One more inch, though," Cutter stated, "I do have to ask, son, how'd you wind up here? How's the war going?"

Six visibly paused at that, as did Red Team. Anders winced, while Raph and Naofumi sat quietly, waiting for the discussion to reach them. The Spartan whispered, "Sir, with all due respect, I think this is best kept between us… It's a risk the crew's morale might plummet," only to see the man visibly furrow his brows, confused.

The Captain hummed, then said, "Son, I trust my crew to understand we're in dire straits regardless of the situation. You can go ahead and tell us anything… Any update on the War would be good at this time," before noticing Anders visibly shaking, her gaze falling to the floor. Six himself remained stoic, but Cutter heard him breathe a shaky sigh.

He took his helmet off, revealing the rugged face of a younger man, about the same age as the Spartans behind him from what Cutter remembered, before he leaned forward and whispered, "Sir… Reach is gone," only to see the captain's eyes visibly widen, face growing pale. The AI aboard the ship also turned, mouth slightly open in surprise.

Cutter took a step back, eyeing the Spartan. The young man continued, "I fought and died there, sir… She's gone, along with most of my team," before waiting to see what Cutter was about to say. The Captain took a moment to compose himself, looking at his hand, then mumbled something about home. He sighed deeply.

Looking up, he locked eyes with the Spartan again, a sense of determination glowing in said eyes. He focused on Six, asking, "What was your mission on Reach, son? The moment you wound up dead and dropped here by whatever woke you up, what was it? Asset denial, security detail, guard duty? And what happened to the rest of your team?"

"Sir," Six replied, steeling himself, too, as he said, "Package delivery, sir. Ordered by Doctor Catherine Halsey. I and what was left of my team needed to deliver it to the Pillar of Autumn," before noticing the Captain seemingly perk up. He added, "We did… Captain Keyes waited for us there to deliver it and they got away, sir. Heard they had Spartans aboard, too. Blue Team. The Chief…" and he looked back as Red team perked up at that.

"Good to know John's still kicking," Alice spoke and Six could swear he heard her grin behind her helmet.

"The Autumn. Last we saw it was over Arcadia, venting athmo after fighting a Covenant landing ship," The man spoke, to which Six simply remained quiet. He hummed, then asked, "And you said 'Keyes', like the one spunky Lieutenant assigned to another ship in Admiral Cole's fleet?" only to get a nod. He added, "Alright, son. What's left of HighCom? Who's defending Earth?"

"Last I heard, sir? Rear Admiral Harper and Lord Admiral Terrence Hood," The Spartan replied.

"Ha! Hood became HighCom?" Cutter smiled, "I knew that kid had it in him the moment I saw him… If there's anyone out there capable of defending Earth and kicking the Covenant to the Curb, it's gonna be the Chief, his team and Hood… Which means all we have to do is wait for rescue," only to turn about and order, "Serina. Turn on the PA."

"Sir, wait," Six started, surprised. Cutter turned to face him, a stare of steel.

"Son, if we're gonna make it out of here, we're gonna need the crew to know what we're diving into. I'm not going to keep this from them…" Cutter told the young man, shutting him down. The Spartans, Anders and Naofumi exchanged glances of concern, while Raph continued to be a giddy young girl in basically the world's greatest amusement fair.

Serina nodded, a hint of compassion in her gaze. Cutter activated the PA system and began, "Ladies and gentlemen, this is your Captain speaking… Good news, we've recovered the allied unit from below… And even better news? He's a Spartan," and he paused as he heard cheers from the entire crew. Six sighed, while the Captain frowned, "Sadly… That's all the good news for now."

The entire ship went quiet again, with Naofumi and Jerome both crossing their arms at the same time while Raphtalia now listened. The captain breathed shakily for a moment, steadying himself, then spoke with steel in his voice, "... I'm afraid our Spartan reinforcement has come from Reach. And there's no easy way to say this, but the Covenant have found it…"

Various gasps echoed across the hull and on the bridge. Each member of the crew knew what it meant when the Covenant found the planet. He saw a few stifling tears, some breaking down, but others simply stared with empty eyes. He sighed deeply, then said, "I know. I was born on Reach and I know a good bunch of the crew who also were."

He then looked back at Noble Six, Jerome, Alice and Douglas, before stating, "But that doesn't need to bring us down… Reach may have fallen, but from what the Spartan, Sierra Three-Twelve, was able to tell me, the Covenant haven't found Earth just yet. And the bastards will have one hell of a surprise when they do, because despite him not being all about grandiose speeches like Admiral Cole was, the man in charge of our Homeworld's defense is none other than Lord Terrence Hood," and that got a few laughs.

"Not just that," The man smirked, seeing some color return to the faces of his Crew, "But he's got the Master Chief and Blue Team in his corner, not to mention the Home Fleet and the greatest military-industrial capability in the UNSC to reinforce his fleets. Hood is a genius, a real prodigy… If there's anyone out there who'll kick the Covenant's ass twelve ways to Sunday, it's a man like him with a force of soldiers like Blue Team under his command."

He put more gusto into his speech as he continued, "So get your asses in gear! Don't let that sadness that you feel knowing Reach is gone put you down for good…" watching his crew steadily stand up and look at him. He continued, "Cry if you need to, but when you're done, take whatever's left of that sadness and turn it into fury. Fury that we're gonna focus on finding our own way home to help them!"

"They'll make it. You all just pray they leave some targets for us when we get there…! To all crew," The man spoke, seeing that they were all listening. He smiled and said, "... To this little family we've built… Action stations," only to see the entire Naval Crew snap salutes. Red Team and Noble Six all did the same, nodding in approval. Alice gave a gentle tap on the shoulder to Six, who nodded approvingly, sliding his helmet back onto his head while cracking a smile he was trying to hide.

Cutter turned around, then extended a hand to Noble Six, stating, "Welcome aboard, Lieutenant… You're one of ours now and until further notice," to which the Spartan stared, stunned. Cutter nodded to him and the Spartan gently gripped and shook his hand. He was visibly a little shorter than Red Team, probably because he was something else, taking into account that 'B' next to his name.

"... I'm honored. Drop me where you need me, sir," Six replied.

"Stick with Red Team for the time being. Doctor Anders," The man looked over to her. She nodded, to which he said, "Take him, mister Iwatani and Miss Raphtalia over to compile a report for the planet below, so we know what we're wading into on at least one front," Then he looked at Jerome and asked, "Hope you don't mind if your new addition is a bit late for the party."

"Of course, sir," The woman replied, then sighed and remembered, "Before we do go, please," as she handed him her tablet. It was the compiled discussion so far, including talk of removing the Slave Crest the young woman had on her chest. The man furrowed his brow, looked up at Naofumi, who smiled a little awkwardly, before looking at Raph.

He nodded and said, "When night falls over Melromarc, Noble Six and a squad of ODSTs will go deal with this," before handing it back. Naofumi nodded, then looked at Raph and thought for a moment what the removal of the Crest would entail. She'd probably still be in his party, meaning they'd be levelling up the same, but at least she'd be free of the kind of creepy control that thing offered.

Which Naofumi thought was a good thing. He'd stopped considering how icky it felt to have an actual slave when he was training her to fight monsters. Now that he had a minute to think and an entire ship that believed him, not to mention a place to retreat to should things get ugly in Melromarc, he figured it was for the best. Optics and all.

Raph seemed a bit worried, though. They and Six followed Doctor Anders toward the laboratory. The young Tanuki-looking demihuman said to Naofumi, "Err… M…" and she paused. Enough common sense flowed through her noggin to know that calling him 'master' was gonna ruffle some feathers. So, she started, "Mister Iwatani? I don't know if I want my Crest removed…"

The group paused, looking at her. Naofumi raised a brow and asked, "Why not…? It's basically a symbol of oppression at this point."

"To me it's a sign of loyalty to you," She stated, "You've never truly used it the way it would be used normally by anyone who owned slaves…" and she chose mentally not to bring up the very early days during that one battle. It had helped her beat her fears more than anything. She still looked at the pair of space folk, who stared at her with wide eyes for one(The Doctor) and a deadpan from the other. She put a hand up to her chest, balled it into a fist and said, "I will always be your Sword. That's what I promised myself…"

"There's other ways to show your loyalty," Six spoke just before Naofumi could say anything. He turned to face her, crossing his arms, then said, "Keep fighting by his side. It's clear as day his Shield ain't letting him pick up any other weapon, so you stay by him and wield your sword. Like you basically just said, you're it to him."

She blinked, staring at him, then looked back at Naofumi. He nodded and said, "He's not wrong… You've done great so far. The Crest isn't exactly a necessity at this point," and he smiled, patting her on the head. She pouted, blushing a little, to which Anders snorted. Part of the Doctor's mind had been locked onto worrying about this whole slave thing, but Naofumi didn't seem like a bad guy. Just a normal one dealt a bad hand until now.

"V-Very well," She sighed deeply, then smiled, "I suppose that's fair…"

"Alright," Six replied, then told Naofumi, "Let's get the Doctor the details she needs, then we can prep for the Drop. If we're going with the Helljumpers…" and he cast a glance at a platoon of ODSTs packing their gear for deployment, too, from up here. Naofumi nodded, with the three marching down to the Doctor's lab.

… Down below, within the confines of the Kingdom of Melromarc, the night almost seemed to stir the world to sleep, the glowing light of the stars in the black dome that now covered their part of this plain of existence, a short little man with a fancy purple suit sat in his tent, looking at an egg-shaped egg with weird striations like it was an alien.

He scratched his chin, arranged his glasses, then stroked his mustache and mumbled something. His tent still had plenty of unsold merchandise. A black-maned werewolf glared at him from its cage, baring its fangs at him as its golden eyes glowed. He laughed a little, scratching his cheek, then paused, feeling his stress levels rise as he heard a twig snap outside.

He turned toward the door, then gasped as he saw one of his finest customers and his little slave girl step in first. The young man spoke, "Slave Trader," with a calm smirk.

"Aah, master Naofumi! Welcome, welcome! And good to see your little Demi-Human friend, too," He greeted with a bright, somewhat creepy smile. He asked, "Here for another Slave perchance? I heard that a new people has arrived recently in Melromarc and stirred all kinds of trouble for the King and his posse, so some extra protection might be more adeq-!" only to pause as he saw half-a-dozen figures enter his tent, carrying unknown weapons in their hands and dressed in magical armor.

"Funny you should mention them," Naofumi spoke, "Ladies, gentlemen, this is Slave Trader Beloukas. Beloukas… These people are fellow Humans," and he motioned to the soldiers around him. He continued, "As much as I appreciate your help, I think you can hazard a guess not every human you meet's really gonna be happy with you trading slaves around."

"O-of course not? There's plenty who protest it," Beloukas stated, looking around. He paused as the tallest of the lot approached him, then knelt in front of him. He asked, "What is it you wish… Soldier… Sir?" with an awkward smile. The tall one looked at Naofumi, then waved him forward, before giving a signal to the other Soldiers.

Cages were slowly unlocked, freeing other small slaves from captivity, all while Beloukas started protesting, "Hey, wait! Wait! What are you doing!?" and pausing as he saw the soldier stop him from trying to halt this little liberation. He demanded, "Why are you doing this!?" from Naofumi, "I only treated you fairly!"

"Guys, seriously," Naofumi sighed deeply, "Here's the deal, Beloukas… We're freeing all of your slaves and we need you to remove Raphtalia's Crest," and he tilted his head to the girl. When Beloukas was about to protest again, the man pulled out a bag of coin, audibly clinking and fat to the bottom, then threw it to him. He said, "In exchange… You'll work for us, get paid a salary… And maybe redirect any Slaves you get to us."

"O-Oh," The man spoke as he caught the bag, opening it up to look inside. He gasped and doubled over, stating, "T-This is more than enough to-!"

"Consider it a starting bonus," One of the soldiers, a woman, said as she undid the lock on a smaller cage. She looked at the Werewolf, noticed his injuries and said, "Polasky, get your ass in here. Combes, change," and the man saw another woman clad in full armor, this time bearing a white pauldron on her shoulder, step in. She motioned to the Werewolf and said, "Can you treat this guy?"

The monster's fangs remained bared, but it stared up at them, surprised to hear that. Polasky nodded, shifting her medical bag and stating, "Sure should be able to," in a murmur. She knelt in front of him, then gave a wave of the hand, stating, "Hey, buddy… Look, I know you're a werewolf and all, but can I ask ya not to bite if I come in there to help treat those injuries…?"

It seemed to pause and think for a second, before huffing and shielding its teeth with its lips. It gave a nod of approval, to which the soldiers all prepared for the worst as the cage's lock was smashed open. The young woman entered and began to treat the Werewolf, much to its displeasure, while Naofumi said, "That's all… We're helping deal with some issues in Melromarc right now."

"I see…" Beloukas began, then smirked, "I don't see any problem whatsoever with shipping these poor creatures to your friends… For the salary stated," and he lifted the bag. He then stowed it in a box nearby, before walking over to Naofumi and Raphtalia and saying to them, "And, of course, I'll remove her Crest free of charge if that's truly what you wish."

While Raphtalia remained a tad unsure, Naofumi looked at her and put a hand on her shoulder. She breathed in deeply, then nodded, with the man motioning to them to follow to the back of his circus tent. Six walked outside to provide overwatch, making sure no hostile or any of Malty's and the King's men would find them.

This was just the beginning, Six thought to himself…