Legacy of the Precursors

Chapter 10: Faded Memory and Distant Promise

“Oh wow! Are you a robot?”

Six turned away from the departing hover car and transferred his gaze to the little ball of fur standing only a few feet away from him. He couldn’t tell whether the small child was a cat or dog. He had the floppy ears and long muzzle of a Labrador, but had an obviously feline form and tail. The kid was dressed up in a thick winter coat and his paws were covered in bright red mitts, leading Six to assume that the weather was cold. The spartan was not sure what to make of the child, or his wonder etched snout.

“Baxter!” A female voice gasped in mortification, Six watching as the kid’s paw was quickly grabbed and the pup was dragged closer to who he assumed to be the child’s mother.

The spartan looked up from the adolescent towards her. At least some part of the cub had to be felinus, as that’s what the woman was. From her looks, she must have a military background, if the uniform she wore was any indicator. He was curious as to what branch she served in, or if these cornerians even had branches separating their armed forces. The thought had not occurred to him until just now.

The feline crouched down beside her cub and shook his shoulders gently, giving him a stern look.

“What do we say?”

The cub ducked his muzzle shamefully, clutching his tail as he shuffled his little boots and turned to the spartan apologetically. “Sorry mister.”

Once her son had apologized, the woman gracefully stood up and shifted her gaze to Six.

“I’m sorry about that…Sir.” She hesitated briefly upon seeing the looming warrior. “Baxter suffers from the same thing all children do, diarrhea of the mouth. You know how kids are.” She chuckled ruefully and ruffled the top of the young hybrid’s head, ignoring his embarrassed protests.

“Jeez mom, stop!” The pup whined, trying to pull away unsuccessfully.

“Do not worry. It is of no concern.” Six did not know how kids are, having never spent any reasonable length of time around them. But he decided to humor her. “Now if you will excuse me, there is something I was in the process of doing.” Six rumbled dismissively, turning to head down the street, his path already plotted into his HUD and marked with a blue arrowed waypoint.

“Wait a moment.” She called out. Stopping the spartan’s departure and eliciting a quiet sigh from him.

“Yes…?” He glanced over his shoulder. 

“I hate to be a bother.” She began.

Clearly she didn’t, otherwise she would have let him walk away.

“However I felt the need to ask, and I hope I am not imposing by doing so. But are you in the service by chance?” She inquired, waiting patiently for his response.

Six shifted back around to face her and the child, conflicted. For once he was at a loss as to what to say. He had no response formulated for such a question.

“Was it the armor?”

The spartan watched uncertainly as the feline woman giggled, brushing a lock of charcoal black hair from her dark green eyes.

“You could say that. I suppose it was a stupid question wasn’t it? But I just had to ask it.”

“There is no such thing as a stupid question.” Kurt-052 had told him that many times, and while Six did not necessarily agree, it was a phrase that had stuck with him through the long years.

As her giggling subsided, the woman sighed and her jade eyes took on a distant air, muttering thoughtfully to herself.

“You know…my husband used to say the same thing.”

Six could hear a familiar tone in her voice. It was one he was quite used to.

“Then he was a wise man.” The spartan claimed with a steady nod.

The woman smiled up at Six and placed a paw on the silent child’s shoulder. “That he was.” She agreed with a sigh. “Now, I think introductions are in order, especially after my son here mistook you for a robot. I’m Mira.” Again, that outstretched paw.

The spartan grasped it firmly and returned the shake.

“Six…”

“Six? That’s an interesting name.”

“Indeed…”

“Well, this here is Baxter.” Mira patted her son. “He’s a troublesome little ball of fluff most of time, but’s he’s a good kid at heart.”

“Hi mister.” The young hybrid waived shyly.

“Hello young one.” Six rumbled softly in return. He had no desire to scare the child. The spartan knew the effect he had on most people. In fact he did not know how to feel about the kid, something about his youthful eyes set him on edge. Those bright blue irises were distinctly familiar. Yet he could not place them.

Mira chuckled bashfully, ignorant of his thoughts. “Here I am prying again, but where is it you were heading?”

“There is a park in nearby. I want to go to it.”

The spartan watched as Baxter tugged on the hem of his mother’s uniform.

“Mom, that’s where we’re going, isn’t it?”

Mira looked down to her son. “Yes honey, it is. I don’t suppose you would mind some company?” She asked, turning to Six.

He shrugged. “I don’t own the sidewalk, feel free to do so.”

*****

And that was how he gained two unexpected companions. Six was reluctant to admit, but he was somewhat grateful for the company. As of late he was not as welcoming of solitude as he typically was, and they acted somewhat as an unexpected buffer between him and the crowds. Since she was in uniform, they must have dismissed him as a soldier alongside her, which suited him just fine.

But the child, Baxter….

Something about the kid unsettled him, and it was more than just the eyes.

The spartan watched as he stumbled along ahead of him and Mira, feline tail zigzagging back and forth excitedly. The kid was probably lost in his own imagination, a place far superior than any an adult could devise, free of war, strife, and grief.

It was his innocence that disconcerted Six, his purity. He had lost that childlike wonder so many years ago, stolen from him by unforgiving fate. In its place darkness has festered, polluting his soul and staining it black. The child’s very presence pained him, a visual reminder of what had been taken, those carefree years of youth gone, replaced by war. Yet pain was not the dominating sensation inside him. There was a pale welling of contentment combating it. Despite his suffering, the world went on. And while that did nothing for him, he was happy to see that there was still innocence left in the universe, whether it was his or another did not matter. There was far too much hate and agony for the world to exist without it. He hoped Baxter cherished every moment, for it would not last forever.

“So, what’s your story, Six?”

The spartan shook away his errant musing and focused on the dark furred feline walking along beside him. The cat’s fur was as black as pitch, much like his soul he’d imagine.

“There’s not much to tell.” A blatant lie, but preferable to the truth.

“That can’t be, there’s got to be something.” She persisted, looking up to him curiously.

“What about you? What’s yours?”

Mira chuckled and shook her muzzle wryly. “Touché, Six, touché. I suppose I can start first. What do you want to know?”

He wasn’t really interested in her life story. But as long as she did the talking, he didn’t have to.

“What about your husband?” Six had never really quite grasped marriage. That would require him to understand the emotions behind such a decision. But perhaps he could learn something here.

“Ah, Malcolm…” She murmured quietly to herself. “We met just after basic, he was heading into the infantry and I was dead set for communications. He was a goofy fuzzball back then, but something about that was what drew me in I suppose….”

As she talked, Six let himself study the city. It was an interesting design, just like any human colony he had visited, yet with an alien flare to it. Two sidewalks sat on either side of the street, a few surface vehicles still chugging around, but they were mostly civil service by the looks of it. Crowds traveled up and down both sides of the pavement, a mixture of species as well as professions. There were cornerians dressed up in business and casual attire both, with a sprinkling of uniformed bodies scattered throughout. Tall buildings towered above them, but the city’s planning had them spread out so as not to be too overwhelming. In the spaces were little outlet stores and other places of the like.

Deciding to check the waypoint, Six learned that they were still a few kilometers from the park, the gardens hidden behind the scattered skyrises. He could have stricken a faster pace on his own, but he was not altogether against the present company.

“…Then the war broke out and he was shipped off to fight.” Mira continued obliviously. “A few weeks later I received the news of his death and months after that, Baxter was born.”

Six jumped back into the conversation.

“It must have been tough.” He wouldn’t know, but it sounded like the right thing to say.

The feline nodded, sighing as she looked to her son, who was still blazing a trail ahead of them. “Yeah, it was difficult for a long time, but the CDF helped me and Baxter out. I still miss Malcolm, that’s one thing they can’t help me with. And he’ll never get to meet his father.” She looked up to him. “What about you, have you lost anyone?”

Six could not stop a dry chuckle from slipping out of his throat.

What a question to ask.

Mira gave him an odd look, unaware of the irony of her query.

“I have lost quite a few people over the years, my family, fellow soldiers, just about everyone I’ve ever known.”

“Oh….I see.” She mumbled softly.

No. She couldn’t quite see, that would require knowing him personally, but perhaps she did understand.

“I didn’t mean to be insensitive.” She apologized timidly.

Six shook his helmet. “Hardly, it’s only fair, one account for another. War takes what it wants, I think you know that.”

“That I do…” She nodded solemnly.

Such thoughts dampening the mood, they lapsed into silence, one watching Baxter and the other looking up into the sky.

*****

The park was beautiful, Six would confess that much. Kilometers of open forest was arrayed before him, an entire ecosystem within the confines of a city. Stone paths meandered through the flora, populated with small groups of visitors taking in the serene setting. It seemed the cornerians had an affinity with nature, perhaps their origins being directly responsible.

Six bid goodbye to Mira and her son when they reached the entrance, his plan called for privacy and he was sure they had other things to do. She seemed somewhat reluctant to see him leave. He did not really talk to Baxter and so he was unsure what his opinion would have been.

Once they were gone, he pulled up a layout of New Alexandria and overlaid it across the map he had created of Corneria Center. From there he wandered through the park, tracing a path by memory, with the aid of his HUD.

After an hour, he found what he was looking for.

A small glade rested far off the beaten path, a ring of trees circling a patch of brightly colored flowers. As if intended by fate, his destination lay exactly in the heart of the flower bed. Six weaved through the blossoms, careful not to step on them as he kneeled and reached inside his armor, extracting what he had carried since that fateful moment, what now seemed like a lifetime ago.

Lieutenant Commander
Catherine-B320
6’ 9” (205.7cm)
242.50lbs (110kg)

He could still feel the weight of Kat’s inert body in his arms, dragging her then lifeless body to the bunker doors. The truth of the event had not hit him until they had slammed shut, shrouding them in darkness as he held onto her. And he had held her, as the Covenant glassed New Alexandria, destroying the city above them.

That’s when he had realized….

None of them were going to see the end of the war. He had not been willing to admit it at the time, but her death had shaken him to the core. It was the first time he had seen a fellow spartan die, and it had not been the last.

Six gazed into the raised italics of the tag, all that was left of her, just a necklace, mass fabricated and produced for every soldier in the UNSC, every soldier equal in death. They were heavy in his grip, almost too heavy.

The spartan examined the clearing, taking in the tranquility of the scene. Sunlight laced through the branches, illuminating the silent glade and bathing it in a mellow light, the bed of flowers glowing underneath the golden rays, shining with new life.

It wasn’t a bad place to lay someone to rest.

Digging a shallow hole into the pleasantly warm soil with a gauntlet, Six gently rested her dog-tags inside, sweeping the mound of disturbed dirt over it with great care. Gloved hand raised, he tapped his index and middle finger against the lip of his helmet and pressed them into the freshly tampered earth.

“Farewell Kat, enjoy your rest. You earned it….”

Six rose from his kneeling position and took several steps back, studying his handiwork. It was far from an ideal funeral, but it was the best he could do…the least, he felt he could do. The spartan hoped she was at peace, she and the other members of Noble. They all deserved that much.

With a salute, he turned away and vanished amidst the trees.

There was one last thing he had to do.

*****

Fox was just starting to enjoy his reunion with Fara when he got the call. With a groan he pulled himself off the couch, leaning over the sleeping vixen and grabbing the comms bracer that had been sitting abandoned on the table beside the TV for the past few hours.

Once he saw who it was his groan intensified. Muttering to himself on the lack of free time he had, Fox tapped the screen.

“What is it Falco? And it better be good.” He snarled irritably.

“Oh, it’s nothing big.” The avian’s sarcasm was apparent, even through several miles of bandwidth. “I just got a call from the local boys in blue. Apparently some poor shmuck got carjacked….by a giant blue robot; I believe was what he reported.”

“Giant blue robot...?” Fox muttered to himself in confusion, seconds before it dawned on him. “Oh…shit.”

“Oh shit is right.” Falco agreed. “It looks like our favorite supersoldier has gone rouge.”

Fox sighed, rubbing the bridge of his snout. Why did something like this always have to happen? Could there not be just one day where nothing bad occurred, just one day? And just after the vulpine thought he and Six had struck a chord of mutual friendship the spartan had to go off and do something like this. Did he enjoy making Fox’s life difficult?

It certainly seemed like it.

“Alright, get the team together. Do you know where he went at least?” He didn’t fancy having to hunt Six down. Corneria was a big place, even when you’re looking for someone like Six. But the last thing he wanted was to have to deal with the local authorities. And he wanted to hear the spartan’s reasoning behind this sudden criminal act.

“Yeah, luckily the guy’s car has a tracking beacon. You know, one of those fancy little things that rich people pay for? Last read they had on it shows the car heading east, to that huge crater a hundred or so kilometers outside the city. And don’t worry, I told the cops we were going to handle this.” It was fortunate that they had a little extra leeway with the police, otherwise the situation would have been a mite more complicated.

“Well that’s something at least. Once you get the team grab a car and head out, I’ll meet you guys there.” Fox sighed again.  “Wait for me before you do anything.”

“Okay, see you there.” Falco ended the call and the vulpine sat up, groaning as he wiped his face with a paw.

“Ugh…why me?” Fox muttered.

Moments later he felt a soft paw run itself across his shoulders comfortingly.

“What’s wrong sweetie?”

Fox turned to the vixen lying beside him with a smile. “Don’t worry, it’s nothing big. But I have to leave a little early, but I’ll be back in a couple of hours.”

Fara pulled herself up and leaned against him supportively, holding his paws in her own.

“Is it that Six you were talking about earlier?”

“Yeah, seems he went off on his own and landed himself in a spot of trouble. It’s alright though. I’m sure he has a good reason for it.

‘At least I hope so.’

“Want me to go with you?”

“No it’s okay, you go ahead and sleep. I’ll be back before long.

“Are you sure?” She asked worriedly, concern apparent in her green eyes.

“Yeah I’ll be fine.” He waived her off with a grin.

She nodded, not completely convinced, and kissed his forehead. “Alright, stay safe and out of trouble.”

Fox chuckled, still grinning. “Oh come on, you know me.” 

“Exactly my point.” She countered with a giggle. “Now get out of here before you never leave.” She urged, pushing him off the couch.

“Okay, okay, I’m going…sheesh.” He muttered humorously, sliding off the coach and getting dressed as he headed for the door.

Once he was ready to be seen by the outside world, Fox slipped out of the apartment and took the elevator down to the ground floor. Then it was an easy trip to his rented car, taking it to the crater outside the city.

******

An hour or so later, he approached the naturally massive basin, spying two cars at the edge. Assuming them to be his friends, Fox set his down close by. His assumption proved to be correct when he saw Falco step out of one and make his way over.

Shutting off the engine, Fox slipped out of his and met him halfway.

“So…the signal ends here. That’s the car…” Falco gestured to the bright silver one that sat empty. “But I don’t see the driver.”

“He’s got to be around here somewhere.” Fox stated confidently, he wouldn’t have gone far. Let’s spread out, we’ll find him.”

“What do you think he it did it?” Falco wondered inquisitively. “Always took him as the type of guy to stay out of trouble.”

“….”

“You know what I mean!” The avian muttered defensively.

“Yeah I know.” Fox admitted with a chuckle. Falco did have a point, Six was the last one he suspected of going AWOL. But as he kept telling himself, he was sure the spartan had his reasons. The only real problem he saw was the theft of the car. That didn’t sound like Six at all. But there weren’t many beings running around Cornerian that fit the description applied.

“Well, let’s get looking.” Fox proclaimed loudly to his team leaving their vehicle. At that moment Fox had an errant thought onto their expenses. The two rental cars weren’t cheap, even for a few days, and it took a lot of fuel to get out here. The trip back to Corneria was turning out to be a costly one.

They split into teams of two and headed out around the crater. No one really knew what caused it, but it’s been around since anyone could remember. Despite being somewhat of a tourist attraction, not many cornerians made the trip out here. After all, to most of them it was just a really big hole in the ground. What Six wanted with a place like this was anyone’s guess. Perhaps it had a significant meaning back in his universe? But he could have just waited for the team. Instead of stealing someone’s car. They would have been glad to help him out. There was something off about this whole thing. The sooner they found Six the better.

It took a long time to find him, almost an hour. But Krystal and Miyu had been the ones to see him, spying the spartan close to the lip of the crater on the far side. Once found, they contacted the others and they met up at the two women’s location, a fair distance from where they began.

What they all saw was something they would not soon forget.

The spartan kneeled before a funeral cairn of stone. One it seemed he had erected himself. His armor was completely covered in a film of rusty brown earth and he carried a silver chain in his gauntlets, held up to his helmet like one did with prayer beads. At the end of the chain was a pair of tags, quite obvious as to what they were as the light of the sun glinted off the shining steel.

Once they realized what the spartan was doing, they began to feel as if they were intruding on a very private and very personal moment. Six had in fact not gone AWOL. He had just wanted to have a secluded memorial for one of his comrades. This was his world after all, at least one exactly like it. One, they remembered, where his previous team had been killed. Less than a month had transpired for him and their loss must still be fresh in his mind. The spartan never talked about his past and they had almost forgotten the events that had brought him here. But this was a very vivid reminder.

“Ah shit…” Falco groaned awkwardly, turning away from the private scene. It didn’t feel right to him, watching the spartan as he mourned. This was something meant only for him.

The others soon followed suit, walking back a short ways so that he could finish uninterrupted, all except for Krystal, Miyu, and Fox.

The two women had never seen the spartan like this. He had always appeared as having an indomitable spirit, strong and unyielding, no matter the circumstance. Dropped out of one universe and falling into the next, forced to adapt to a new way of life and another war. Six had never shown a sign single sign of weakness, not once had he collapsed under the enormous stress that must have been piled onto his shoulders. But in this one moment it seemed he had let some of that pressure go. It was a unique opportunity to see him act so mortal. Even a man like him was not invincible.

There was a soul inside that suit of armor, however battered and broken it might be.

Fox saw a lonely man, one without anyone to rely on or at least believed that to be true. The vulpine was not sure if he was being disrespectful, but he liked to believe that Six did not have to do this by himself. He would have been willing, even happy to accompany the spartan. No one should have to grieve alone, as he had with his father’s death. Such an experience was as terrible as it was lonesome. Once Peppy walked in, the hare had been instrumental in helping him cope.

Now it was his time to take the hare’s place.

Stepping forwards, Fox walked the distance to where the spartan kneeled and took up a similar stance beside him, not a word was given as he settled in. The vulpine just sat in silence, resting a consoling paw on the spartan’s shoulder.

If aware of Fox’s presence, the spartan did not openly acknowledge it, preferring to ignore the vulpine. But that was fine. People handled grief in their own ways. Fox just wanted Six to know that he was there.

There was no telling what went through the spartan’s mind with that opaque visor. The only reason Fox knew a person was inside the armor was the subtle rise and fall of Six’s chest. Fox watched in fascination as the spartan thumbed the links of the necklace in his grip. The CDF had phased out dog-tags during the last century, preferring the identification chips they implanted into the back of a soldier’s neck. Yet, there was something mystical about a dog-tag, a physical link to someone’s life, only taken from them upon death. The spartan quite literally held someone’s life in his gauntlets and Fox could only imagine what Six was thinking as he had taken it from the fallen member of his team, as the world he knew died around him. The vulpine wished he could see what he had seen. Then he might have been able to better understand what Six was going through. As it stood all he had to go off was what the spartan had reluctantly given, which was not much in the first place.

Several minutes had passed in silence between them before the spartan finished. Then, in an act that took Fox by surprise, Six sinuously unsheathed the curved sword on his shoulderplate, the one he had been absolutely adamant on keeping, and swiped the blade across his palm, slicing into the thick glove and drawing a steady flow of blood. The spartan then clenched his gauntlet around the chain and let his lifeblood seep downwards, the crimson fluid running in rivulets along the silver beads. Once it was thoroughly coated, Six carefully placed them onto the makeshift headstone, pressing his palm into the rock and leaving a bloody print.

Shortly afterwards the spartan wasted no time in cleaning and wrapping the self-made wound before standing up and sheathing the exotic blade.

As Fox moved to join him, Six rested his uninjured hand on the vulpine’s shoulder, stopping him Six’s silver visor angled down at Fox.

The spartan did not utter a word, simply giving one soft squeeze before he turned and walked away, his boots thumping mutedly along the dusty ground.

Fox understood what had transpired and his black lips pulled into a small smile as he stood up to follow.

*****

In the end Fox had Falco return the commandeered car to the owner, letting the avian sort that unwelcomed bit out. While he did that, Fox decided to take the others back to the villa before heading back to Fara’s apartment. Might as well get Six settled in there also.

Not that far from the crater, it was a relatively short trip. Once they arrived, Fox took them all inside. Everyone else knowing the place by heart, they disbanded throughout, letting the spartan have his privacy.

Since he had not thought he would ever have another team member, there were only enough rooms for the others and himself, leaving Fox with a conundrum. The answer came to him eventually. He would just let the spartan share a room with him. His room was already large enough to support at least two other people, Fox indulging himself in that regard. It would not be that difficult or expensive to just add a wall in later.

He took the spartan into his room and showed him around, pointing out the amenities and promised to set up another bed soon. For now, Six could use his, seeing as Fox didn’t plan on coming back until tomorrow. The spartan listened to all of this in silence, the vulpine unsure if he was listening at all.

“So…you got it all down?” Fox asked once he had finished his once over.

After a few moments, Six gave a silent nod.

“Right then…if you need anything the others are somewhere around here and you can always give me a call.”

Another nod.

It being quite obvious that Six wanted to be alone, Fox turned to leave. It was just as the door opened that the spartan at last opened his mouth.

“Fox…thank you.”  It was brief, and yet the words carried a certain power to them.

Smiling, the vulpine nodded and slipped out of the room, closing it and turning to leave, almost bumping into Krystal and Miyu as he did so.

“Is he doing alright?” The feline asked, looking over Fox’s shoulder to the closed door.

“Honestly…?” Fox mused. “I don’t know. He’s not exactly an emotional person, but I think he’ll be alright. Just give him some time, okay?”

“Of course...” Krystal agreed. “I’d imagine there is much on his mind.”

“Yeah, so let him be. I won’t be back until tomorrow, so if he decided to stay in there until then, that’s his choice. Give him some privacy. He’s been through a lot I’m sure.”

“Jeez Fox, you only have to say it once. We get ya.” Miyu submitted to the vulpine’s repeated suggestion.

“Right, well I gotta go. See you guys later.” Fox slid past them and continued down the hall before disappearing out of sight.

Miyu turned to Krystal with a grin, tail weaving back and forth mischievously.

“No.” The vixen denied firmly.

“What, I didn’t even say anything!” The cat meowed defensively.

“You don’t have to. I know you and that’s all it takes. Now come on, let’s go. We can talk to Six later.” The vixen turned and beaconed over her shoulder with a paw.

“Holy crap Krystal, You can be such a buzzkill sometimes.” Miyu mewled, yet still followed after the vixen, albeit reluctantly.

*****

Six unhurriedly popped his helmet off,  carefully resting the heavy piece of armor on the table in front of him and staring into its silver visor. Sighing, he ran his untorn gauntlet through his hair and leaned back into the steady chair underneath him. His eyes locked onto the sheathed kukri mag-locked onto his shoulder, recalling the events that led up to his ownership of the blade.

Despite the other spartan’s seemingly gruff and confrontational attitude, Six had carried a great deal of respect for Emile. He was the one member of Noble he could relate to. He understood why Emile acted the way he did, and he knew that Emile had understood him as well. They had been alike in many ways, and had been the last ones left alive of Noble Team in the end. It had hit him hard, watching Emile die. Yet his fellow spartan had sold his life dearly. Indeed, it was a death he imagined Emile was proud of.

Six shifted his attention to his gauzed gauntlet.

The spartan did not know exactly why he had done what he did with the blade. It had just felt…right, something he thought would cater to Emile’s eccentric interests. It seemed like the best way to honor his memory.

The death of his last comrade had been the pivotal moment that Six realized that his death was soon to follow that of his brothers and sister. The Autumn would never have made it without someone staying behind to man the gun, and while a marine could have done the job just as well. Six felt that he should have been the one to do it. It was exactly the type of situations spartans had been made for. Not only that, but he felt that it was his duty to stay behind. It would not have felt right, surviving where the others had not. There was nothing special about him. So why had he lived?

At the very least Jorge should have outlasted the fall of Reach. He was a Spartan-II, one of the best soldiers ever made. He had been a giant of a man, wielding a M247H as his weapon and the strongest among them. The only thing stronger than his loyalty to his friends and the UNSC was his desire to protect them. He imagined that Jorge would have liked Fox. The two would have gotten along just fine. Certainly, he would have been a better choice for the vulpine’s team.

Six had personally seen Jorge  go hand to hand with a hunter, cracking its breastplate and throwing the titanic creature backwards with a single fist. How? How could someone like him die?

The answer was a simple one. He had loved his home too much. Six would have been glad to stay behind and detonate the bomb in his place. But Jorge had always been the sentimental type and had felt that it was his responsibility, no his duty, to carry the sacrificial task out.

And when the big man had his mind set, there was little anyone could do to change it.

Six pulled Jorge’s tags from their container and studied them.

He hoped the big man wouldn’t mind if he held onto them. They were a source of inspiration and solace for Six now. They helped remind him of what he had fought for before coming here. Six did not fight for the UNSC, not on Reach. There he had fought for his team. The tags helped him to never forget Noble, Reach, the war, all of it. Despite all that had ensued, it was easy to forget. This place he found himself was so strange, so unlike any he had seen before, that it made his previous life seem like a work of fantasy.

Often times since coming here he had wondered, what purpose did he have? He could die right now, and this place would go on, unaffected by the time he spent here. Back on Reach, at least he had known everything he did was for the benefit of humanity. That had been the drive given to him by others. He did not understand non-spartans, how they gave themselves purpose. He couldn’t do that, didn’t know how to do that.

How different would his life have been if humanity had never encountered the Covenant? What kind of man would he have been?

Would he have still joined the military? Or would he have been just another farmer on Concord Dawn? Or maybe even a husband….a father? But such was life, there was no way to know what could have been, only what is. And he supposed there was no use dwelling on the past. As he had told Krystal, look to the horizon, not the sunset. He had lived his life that way up to this point, there was no reason to change that now.

It didn’t matter what the UNSC would think of him if they somehow found out what he was doing. He had given enough of his life to them, most would argue too much. He supposed what mattered now, was what he wanted, a completely foreign concept that would take some getting used to.

So…what was it that he did want? Dare he try to live the life he could have lived? Shed his MJOLNIR and give up on the profession of a soldier? Perhaps become a husband, a father? There was nothing stopping him anymore, not even his loyalty to Fox.

Yet, as he thought about it, Six could not find the will to do such a thing. He did not have the strength to let it all go. He may be able to punch a hole into a titanium bulkhead, crush a man’s skull in his fist, but he could not surrender the path he had been forced on since childhood. Truly, he was a frail individual in that regard. He took comfort in his life as a spartan, something many might think him insane for. But it was the only life he knew how to live. The instructors at Currahee certainly didn’t tell him otherwise.

Perhaps he was too far gone, too broken. Perhaps there was no other future for him besides war. The only end he saw to his life was a bullet riddled corpse resting on some alien battlefield. And he was fine with that. Many spartans had met a similar fate before him.

Six had heard tale of a spartan that had escaped such a life, a women, he could not recall her name. She left the program, even became a mother, started a family. He didn’t know the events behind such a decision and he doubted ONI ever truly let her go, but it showed that there was a chance, however small, that spartans had a brighter future than the darkness of war.

It was just not one meant for him.

Even if he did decide to try, to give up on it all, he remained the only human in this universe as far as he knew. And Six could not see himself with any woman, most assuredly not a cornerian one. They were aliens, and he doubted that if he did try to…start a family, however impossible that seemed to him, they were in most likely events, not genetically compatible. Even if they were, was he actually psychologically capable of raising a child? Of being a husband?

Six had never had the…urge, to lay with a women, whether for pleasure or with the intent on producing a child, the reason for this abstinence most likely being the augmentation process and a result of one of its side effects, seeing as no other spartan had ever verbally or otherwise, conveyed such desires. He had certainly heard enough from marines to know that they did not suffer from such chaste ways of thinking. Would he even be able to…go all the way, as he heard it put?

Six chuckled dryly in the silence of Fox’s room, his laugh carrying a maudlin blackness.

Jorge would no doubt have a lark if he ever heard him thinking like this. And that wouldn’t bother Six, to hear him one last time. He wished that the S-II was here with him now. If there was anyone who could help him with this and understand exactly what he was going through, it would be Jorge.

The chuckle replaced with a sigh, Six rested his chin on a gauntlet and rapped his gloved fingers across the table idly.

With nothing now to do, he was becoming impatient. He had given himself something to do with the process of finding the resting places of Noble Team. But he was unsure of exactly where Carter died and didn’t know for certain if Jun had perished on Reach. He had done all he wanted to and now he was once more objectiveless.

As his eyes idly wandered the room, Six spied what looked like a network terminal sitting on a desk besides the vulpine’s bed. Curious, he rose from his seat and made his way over, trading out for the one in front of the computer. Finding a button on the side of the strangely designed object, he pushed it. Moments later he heard a faint whirring of cooling fans as the device gave off a faint rumble. The screen flashed on and Six waited patiently for it to boot up.

Once the machine was finished processing, a password prompt presented itself. Bored, Six tried a number of codes, Fox Mccloud, variations of his name, password, password 1234, password 12345, Starfox. None of them seemed to work, and in one last ditched effort he pressed 1-9 on the keyboard and hit enter, surprised to see that his last combination worked, logging on appearing in bright blue text.

“Really…?” Six mumbled to himself with a thin-lipped grin.

Fox was not very original, but then again, sometimes nothing beat a classic.

The home screen appeared next, comprised of a gallery of photos. The first image was of a vulpine in a pair of darkened sunglasses as he held a child in his arms. Six almost assumed that it was Fox himself, but realized after a few moments that it must have been his father. The similarities were uncanny, but he looked a great deal more weathered than the vulpine he knew. It was easy for the spartan to see that his commander’s father had been a mercenary. Even smiling as he held his son, Six could see the hardened edge dominating the older vulpine’s muzzle. 

Looking away from the dad, he studied the younger version of Fox. It was hard to get a good lock on his age with all the fur, but he could be no older than Six had been himself during the destruction of Concord Dawn. Despite himself, the younger Fox looked…cute.

Six wondered if his own father had taken a similar picture with him, the thought dulling his mood. Turning his eyes away from the first picture he studied the next.

This one was a more recent photo, presenting a much older Fox holding hands with a female of the same species as they grinned into the camera. The vixen had remarkably peculiar ears, almost a full foot in length. But she had the same determined sheen in her eyes that he had seen in Fox himself. Judging from the image, they were either really close siblings or a couple, most likely the latter.

The spartan then scanned through the rest of the pictures, all varying of the team in one place or another, on the Great Fox or alien planets. Six suddenly got the feeling that he was intruding on his commander’s personal matters. Yet he had a few things he wanted to check first.

It took Six a little while, but he finally managed to open the browser, from there he searched the net. Human, UNSC, Covenant, none of these produced any results. It seemed that he was well and truly alone.

Disappointed, Six closed the browser and shut of the terminal.

It seemed he would not find his answers this day.

Stepping away from the desk, Six began to pace about the room, brooding on what to do next. Usually, on the rare occasion he was not on assignment, he spent his time in the gymnasium of whatever base or vessel he was currently stationed, burning away his vast reserves of excess energy with the fitness equipment. Notwithstanding his already impressive physical acumen, Six followed a strictly regimented routine to keep his strength up to acceptable levels.

But, if he wanted to keep to his regimen, which had already been horribly thrown off, that would require for him to remove his armor, something he was still not comfortable doing here among this team. He was also clueless as to whether they had such a place here in this villa.

There was only one way to find out.

With great reluctance, the spartan sighed and retrieved his helmet, donning the vital piece of armor before stepping out of Fox’s room.

*****

A low ambience of pleasant chatter filled the den as the team relaxed. Slippy and Fay were back on the console, playing that new construction game that so recently snatched their imagination. Falco sat near the back of the room, a holo magazine in his feathered grip, the images of blasters on the holographic cover making it quite apparent as to what he was reading.

Peppy has just returned from his errand, having been gone when they searched for Six, and was once more deep into a book. Krystal and Miyu were at their familiar lounge near the center of the room. The cat lay on the ground. Her legs hanging over the arm of the couch as she idly watched Slippy and Fay twiddle their time away, already on another building project after having completed their detailed statue of The Great Fox.

Krystal lay on the couch, trying to finish the novel she has started many days ago, her reading occasionally interrupted by the feline’s feet, Miyu batting at the book playfully as the vixen did her best to ignore it.

This was the scene Six came across when he discovered the den. Having been shown around by Fox, it had taken him little time to find the place. As he watched them, the spartan could not help but feel out of place. This was not the type of environment he was familiar with. Once more, he was the one that did not belong.

As he watched them from the entryway, his previous ruminating nagged at him. Despite their professions as warriors, they were able to make time for a normal life. Then should not he, a spartan, a man who could surmount any challenge no matter how impossible, be capable of doing the same?

The answer was a firm and inconclusive maybe.

Six stood uncertainly at the cusp of the den, unable to find the willpower to cross the threshold, doubt plaguing his mind. Up until this point, the spartan had made a tremendous effort to keep his distance from them in all but the most important scenarios. It was his firm belief that it would be best to keep isolated. What reason had he to make friends with a group of aliens?

Yet, despite his obvious desire for solitude, they had made every effort to fight against his decision, whether consciously or unconsciously Six was unsure. But they had seemed to make it a mission to befriend him. The spartan had never come across individuals like them, and was still conflicted on what to do. After so long, and all they had done for him, he felt as if he owed them to at least try. But the other side of him was adamant that he continue along his current path of seclusion. A short but fierce battle of philosophies raged inside his mind, as his two personalities warred with each other.

If this had been a pre fall of Reach Six, his recluse side would have prevailed. But after all he had been through after Reach and coming here. His other more human side managed to pull a knife-edged victory.

He would try, at least this once, to see what it truly meant to be human.

His decision made, the spartan moved to place his boot across the doorway, only to find his body unresponsive. It seemed while his mind was ready to take the next step, his body was not.

‘Oh well then, maybe next time.’ He thought with rapid relief, turning away to return to Fox’s room.

At least he could say that he tried.

“Hey Six, don’t be a stranger, come on in!”

‘…Shit.’

The spartan shifted back to the den and saw Peppy waving with the goal of drawing him inside the room. At the sound of his name, all the occupants turned to face him. The multitude of alien eyes was…disconcerting.

‘…Fuck.’

Giving an uncertain nod, Six stepped inside, the spartan deciding to make his stand at one of the den’s corners, taking solace with the presence of a barrier at his back. With his defense set up, he focused on the team.

It would appear that whatever they were doing had been put on hold at his arrival, giving him their complete and undivided attention.

“Are you alright?” The vixen that had been lying on the couch before he came in had now sat up, and was studying him with what he suspected was concern in her eyes.

Six could not help but feel slightly irritated that they had interrupted what was supposed to be a private moment. But his irritation was no lasting. He could not fault them on their obliviousness.

“I will survive.” After all he had been through; Six could afford to carry a little more emotional burden, adding it to the already massive load.

It was quite clear in his curt response that he did not want to broach the topic, even if they were immensely curious. It was far too close to him. With this understanding, nothing more was asked about his health or what he had been doing.

“So…did you like your first visit to Corneria?” Slippy was the next to speak.

“It was a…curious experience. So much is different, and yet the same.” Six crossed his arms and leaned against the wall.

“Did the people bother you too much?” Falco wondered.

“Not as much as I would have imagined.” Once he and Mira had parted ways, he had attracted a significant increase in attention. But he was quite proficient at projecting an air of intimidation when he needed to. And they were more than glad to keep their distance afterwards.

With his one sentence responses, it became readily apparent that he was not in a talkative mood. The team decided to put a hold on their inquiries, waiting until he was further well-adjusted. Slowly, the returned to what it was they were doing before he entered, the spartan content in watching them from his lonesome position at the back of the large room.

In the face of his usual self, Six could not help but watch them with envious interest. For once in his life, he wished that he was capable of acting normal. He studied their interactions, observing a tightknit bond that could rival that of Noble, at least in their own way. It was apparent that they had experienced and endured many trials together, and become stronger for it. They acted as if they were a family, something he had witnessed in other spartan teams, and what he had been previously incapable of doing.

Watching them soon brought up unwelcomed thoughts on what could have been so Six retreated into the depths of his mind, something all spartan’s were skilled in doing.

In his trance like state of semi-consciousness, Six remained unaware of the eyes studying him.

Krystal peeked up from her book, the vixen’s emerald irises watching the spartan in keen interest as he leaned against the far wall. Unlike the others, she had sensed his reluctance to enter the room long before Peppy had noticed him. But she had decided to let him be, wanting to give him space after watch she had seen earlier. Unlike Miyu, she was patient enough to wait, knowing that he would speak when he was ready to do so. She had born silent witness to his internal struggle as Six tried to cope. He had been doing well when he first entered.

But it seemed he had hit a roadblock in his determination. All he needed was a little coaxing. Tapping into a share of her powers the vixen had not used in a long time, she concentrated on the reclusive warrior.

<Six….>

The vixen giggled in quiet mirth as the spartan flinched, his helmet scanning the room to find the source of the voice suddenly manifesting inside his head. Krystal was not worried of repercussions for this action, she knew now that he would not hurt her or the others, even if he felt like it. The spartan was too good of a man to do such a thing, whether he knew that or not.

<Over here.>

The familiarity of the feminine voice slowly dawned on him and the spartan’s visor turned until its gaze was locked on her.

<Don’t worry about opening your mouth, just think and I’ll hear it.>

<What….what is this?> She could hear the confusion in his response. But what surprised her most, was that his voice did not sound the same. It was not the coarse speech she had grown so used to, his tone was still deep, but far softer, almost music to her spiritual ears.

<Why do you sound different?> She asked curiously.

<I do not know.> He confessed. The spartan suspected it was because his voice had changed after the augmentation procedure, irreparably damaged by the operation. Perhaps this strange form of cerebral communication used what he would have sounded like. Not that he cared, what surprised him more was the method in which she was speaking to him.

<I will ask again. What is this?>

<Telepathy, my people were quite adept at speaking within each other’s minds. Admittedly it has been some time since I last attempted such a method. I am somewhat rusty.> He could hear her giggle inside his mind.

It was an otherworldly experience to say the least.

Six could not help but wonder at the military applications of such a means of communication. It would have increased the effectiveness of stealth operations immensely and the possibilities for further synchronicity with spartan teams was incalculable.

<I will admit, this is…interesting.>

<Yes, well I would have spoken along much normal means, but I thought this conversation would best be conducted in privacy.>

<Why?>

<Tell me, why must you feel the need to keep your distance with us?> The question had been on her mind for quite some time. She could feel that Six had little desire to answer, and she was afraid that he would soon shut her out. <Please…> She beseeched him earnestly.

<I…> Six went quiet for a short time, the vixen able to feel the previous conflict resurfacing with an ardent fury. <I don’t think I am capable of doing otherwise. I have told you much about my life, but not my thoughts on it. We spartans, we do not socialize. Even at this moment you could not understand the difficult I have with confiding in you as I am. You could not understand the envy I feel, seeing something I can never belong to. Tell me, could you see me sitting amongst you, laughing and basking in each other’s friendship? Can you?> He demanded with gentle force.

The vixen thought it over. Could she see him, playing games with Slippy and Fay, relaxing in conversation with Peppy, chatting happily with Falco about weapons…sitting on the couch with her?

<Do you wish to know my honest answer?>

<Yes.> He answered eagerly. Krystal had become one of the only ones on this team he felt who’s opinion was valuable, her and Fox.

<Then I will tell you. I can see you doing this, but not as you are now. You need to let go of this weight you seem so dead set on carrying. You may believe that you have. But I can feel it, dragging you down inexhaustibly towards the darkness. I know you have lived a hard life, one I could not hope to understand. But if you cannot break free of your demons, I can see little hope of a real future for you.> It pained her to be so brutally honest. But if he was going to have any chance to change, someone had to tell him.

She could feel his tumultuous emotions reach a whirlwind crescendo, the flames of his thoughts blazing rampantly, the vixen retreated a distance from his mind and waited the length of time it took for the spiritual fires to settle. She watched, in curious wonder, as the intensity ceased all at once, cooled until she could feel a minuscule lump of his soul break away, a diminutive piece of sparkling silver that shone faintly in the darkness of his heart.

That’s when she realized, she had unwittingly fractured him even further then he already was.

<Six…are you…are you okay.> She inquired softly, slipping back into his thoughts.

His response was weak. Having nothing of the great strength and resilience she had seen in him before. The spartan was visibly shaken, his arms had dropped to his sides and she knew the only thing keeping him standing was the wall against which he leaned. <How…how can I change who I am when I can see no future for me?>

Krystal was frightened. The vixen had never heard him so uncertain, so full of fear and doubt. She had not known that such a fragile individual existed inside the spartan’s core. But, she could not afford to be nervous. Six was counting on her response. Despite his feelings of despair, she could not help but feel a laugh surface.

<How can you be so blind?> She giggled reproachfully. <Of course you have a future. It’s here with us. We are your friends Six. And while you may not understand or see that, we are here for you, just as you were there for me.> She explained warmly, recalling the moment that he had held her paw and comforted her. That is when she had known that he cared about them, cared about her. <We will help you….I, will help you.>

He took a brief time to dwell on her thoughts before returning his arms to his chest and standing up from the wall.

<I…I will try.> He seemed much more confident, somewhat back to his old self. <It will be a challenge, but spartans have never backed down from one before. And I refuse to be the first.>

That sounded like the Six she knew.

<Thank you Krystal, for helping me see. I am in your debt.>

The vixen’s emotions swelled and she could not help but grin, feeling suddenly as if she did not need her arwing to fly. <Of course Six, I am glad to help. Why don’t you come join us?>

<I suppose it would be a start.> He nodded once, taking a step forwards and leaving the wall and his past behind him.

It was time to be more than just a spartan.

It was time to be human.