Chapter 7: Past, Present, Future

“I hope you came here with a plan, because we sure as hell don’t have one.”

“Of course I have a plan.” Fox replied confidently as he glanced out of the command center’s wide four-sided window, studying the individuals bellow. There wasn’t much for them to do while trapped inside the base, so most of their efforts were spent on trying to pick up the pieces, mopping up blood stains and removing the rubble and scrap that littered the field. Even though it had been more than a week since they were attacked, there was still much to be done if they wanted to restore order.

He had ordered his team to spread out amongst the soldiers, help them where they could. Fay was in the communications building, trying to see if she could assist the surviving comms officer with reestablishing radio contact with the rest of the system. Falco was among the security personnel, trying to devise a way for them to further secure the base from infiltration. Krystal had decided to see if her medical expertise could be of some use to the injured staff. And surprisingly enough, Six and Miyu were together, although it looked more like the feline was following him around more than anything else.

The spartan was traversing the walls, scanning the tree line for any signs of the bioweapons. Miyu ambled behind him, probably trying to use the time to talk.

Fox wished her luck. While he was starting to get used to them, Six was still a long ways off from casual conversation.

“Then please, enlighten me.” A voice growled softly.

Fox turned away from the window and back to the CDF captain. He chose to forgive the canine for his impatience. Siegfried and the others had been through hell. Fox could see that much at a casual glance and he had experienced it for a brief moment himself back in the jungle. The greyhound certainly deserved to be more than a little frustrated with him.

The problem was, he didn’t really have a plan.

Sure, he had not forgotten what the General’s orders had been. Establish contact with the garrison and eliminate the threat. Well they had found the garrison. Fox just had no idea in hell how he was supposed to complete the second part. These things were dangerous, and there was no telling how many the venomians had brought. And to make matters worse, the shuttle was a seven hour slog through the infested jungle, and he doubted those things would let them take a pleasant stroll back.

Without that shuttle, they had no way of leaving the planet or contacting Peppy or anyone else. The natural interference from the untouched mineral deposits under the expansive rainforest made regular comms devices all but useless from any distance longer than thirty kilometers.

That gave Fox an idea for a temporary plan.

“Well, first thing we need to do is fix the radio tower and get in contact with the General.” That would give them something to do while he tried to find out what their next step was going to be.

Siegfried grimaced and shuffled his sling. “We’ve already tried to fix the comms systems, but we don’t have the parts we need and our senior tech specialist is dead.”

“Don’t worry, I’m sure Fay can find a way past that, at least temporarily. From there we can speak with Pepper and maybe get at least one ship out here to extract you or send reinforcements. A couple landmasters or some PX-30’s could go a long way.”

The Captain still looked doubtful. “And you believe she can fix it? The tower looks pretty much like scrap to me.”

Fox nodded. “Absolutely, she’s one of the best techies I know. She’ll have it up and running soon enough.”

“I definitely hope so. I’m not sure how much more we can take. We’ve lost so many.” The greyhound’s gaze passed through the window and to the makeshift graveyard dug into the airfield’s soil, rows of improvised tombstones jutting from the dirt like broken teeth.

Fox followed the captain’s stare and felt a pang of regret. “I’m sorry we didn’t get here sooner. The General didn’t receive word of this until just a few days ago. We came as fast as we could.”

Siegfried sighed heavily and for a brief moment his façade dropped, revealing a tired young soldier weighed down with the substantial encumbrance of a responsibility he was not ready to bear.

“I do not blame you or your friends. I simply wish this had never happened, or that Colonel Howzer had lived rather than I. I’m not fit to lead, as you can see. These soldiers rely on me, and look at what their faith has done for them. I lost little less than half to the venomians and their damned creations, seventy-four loyal and honest soldiers. My leadership had done worse than nothing!” The dog snarled and would have smashed his palm against the table if not for the fact his arm was broken.

“I disagree.” Fox countered. “You’ve played the terrible cards you were dealt as well as you could. Don’t take all the blame for what’s happened. All you can do is move on and keep doing your best.”

Siegfried snorted and gave a weak smile. “I wish I had your optimism, Fox. Fine, I’ll think on your advice. We’ll just have to see how it takes. Now, with that bit of unpleasantness out of the way, I have a question, about one of your team members.”

Fox had been waiting for this.

“Yeah?”

“I do remember most of your team from the stories they tell and the videos on the news networks. But I do not recall such an…individual, as the one currently policing the battlements.”

“Six? He’s a recent addition to Starfox. He joined shortly after he helped repel Oikonny’s attack on Corneria.”

The captain seemed to have a slight difficulty with trying to formulate his words. “If I may…what exactly is he?”

Fox chuckled. “Now that is a long story. But to make it short and to the point, he’s a soldier.”

“From where? I know we don’t have anything like the armor he wears. And I have never seen someone so…imposing.”

Fox could see what the greyhound was talking about. Six had yet to clean the gore from his suit and it made for quite a grisly sight, as if the spartan was not already intimidating enough. He did not feel comfortable with telling of the spartan’s secrets. And he was not sure if Pepper wanted the rest of the CDF to know of his origins.

“I’m not sure where exactly. But he’s been with us for a couple of days and so I trust him. And that’s good enough for me.”

“I see…”Siegfried was clearly dissatisfied with his answer, but there was far too much to think about to let it bother him.

“In that case, might I have a suggestion?

*****

The jungle was all but quiet. There had been no activity since he and Fox had made it into the installation. The bioweapons had chosen not to press the attack after they reached safe harbor and by the spartan’s guess, most must have returned to their lair. He was confident that a few had stayed behind to keep watch over the base. While his tracker remained quiet, he occasionally noticed disturbances along the tree line, the flutter of leaves, the faint crackle of fallen twigs.

They were out there, waiting in the silence.

Ah, silence, if only it held the same here as well.

“Hey Six, are you ever going to take care of all that blood? Because it’s starting to gross me out a little.” The feline sauntering behind him had not ceased her questions for some time, this just being one of many.

Still, she may have a point. He should tend to his injuries and sanitize his armor. His shoulder ached and all the dried blood was starting to affect the joints of his suit. Now that the danger had passed for the moment he could afford to deal with his grievances.

He also had been delaying for another reason. His medkit was not one of the supplies he had brought with him. So he could not tend to the wounds himself. The vixen had earlier propositioned him a second time with the request that she help him. Her sudden interest into his wellbeing was a matter of concern for him. He was not sure why she was now seemingly less hostile or why she was choosing to attempt to be friendly. But he could not put his injuries off forever, or else they would start to affect his combat abilities. And he could not allow that to happen.

“Soon…” He muttered to himself.

“Good, it’s not a smart idea to ignore that kinda stuff. I knew a guy once, the macho type…”

The feline began on her reminiscent tirade and immediately Six tuned her out, her monologue muffled in the background.

He hoped that Fay would get the comms up soon.

*****

Krystal’s paws skillfully draped a fresh wrapping of gauze onto the leg of the soldier in the bed in front of her. The ursine inflicted with a deep gash in his calf, earned by a close encounter with one of those bioweapons.

The infirmary was full with soldiers in similar or worse condition. By the wounds, she could tell that many of these unfortunates had first paw experience with the creatures. The doctor, a beleaguered weasel by the name of Harvey, had been glad to take her help. He and his small collection of nurses were terribly understaffed to deal with such a heavy concentration of wounded.

Once finished up with the bear, she collected the supplies and extra gauze before moving onto the next patient. There were plenty to choose from.

As she tended to a canine with a ghastly cut across his muzzle, she allowed her mind to wander.

Six had refused her offer of help for a second time. After he and Fox had made it back, she had been so glad to see them safe, surprised to find that her concern had also carried over to the spartan. The vixen was not sure why his welfare was so important to her. Sure, he was one of the team, but when he had elected to stay behind so that they could escape…

She had felt anxious.

It baffled her, she had only known him for a few short days, most of which he remained distant from her and the others. But Krystal felt it nonetheless. Perhaps it was because like her, he too had his world taken from him. As one might expect, not many people in the Lylat System could relate. She just wanted someone that could understand what it was like to be completely lost and alone. And she felt that he would and did. Fox and the others could only do so much, but in the end they could all just go back to their homes. Admittedly, the thought of that filled her with an unwilling bitterness.

The canine’s muzzle was patched up and she continued on.

It seemed like hours, moving from one to the next, setting broken bones, mending torn flesh. It was a grisly job, but worthwhile in her eyes. Krystal preferred fixing rather than breaking.

Eventually, she finished with her last patient and went to the sink to wash the blood from her fur. A glance at the clock told her that she had been in here for a couple of hours. She did what she could but it wasn’t much. Many here needed some serious medication, but they had quickly run out. There plenty of supplies up on The Great Fox, but they had no way of getting there, at least no easy way. Without those, she wasn’t sure if some of these soldiers would make it.

With a tired yawn, she dried up with a cloth and stepped out of the infirmary and into the darkening sky. Night was soon approaching, and she was not relishing the knowledge that they would be spending it down here on the planet. At least the bunkhouse had beds for them to use and they were relatively safe behind the walls. She had not been able to get a good look at the creatures of Andross’ legacy, but from their sounds, she was okay with that.

Krystal hoped that Fay was doing alright. She had been in the comms building since they made it here, trying to get them up and running again. The vixen sincerely hoped that she would be able to.

Grabbing her staff from its lean against the side of the building, she crossed the field and headed towards the bunkhouse. As she wandered across, she could not help but look up to where she had seen the spartan last. Unsurprisingly he was still on the wall, steadfastly guarding the ramparts.

What was with that man anyways? Did he ever stop being a soldier? Every time she saw him, he was either, preparing for war, dwelling on it, or actively seeking it. He did nothing else. He did not spend time with the team and defiantly not any with her. The vixen felt a sudden surge of irritation, startled to find that it was directed at him.

Interesting enough to grab the vixen’s occupied attention, Miyu seemed to have gotten into a disagreement with the spartan before storming down the steps. Krystal watched as she thundered toward the barracks, looking none too pleased.

“Idiot! Stupid overbearing hunk of steel!” The cat hissed and spat as she neared the vixen.

“What’s wrong?” Krystal inquired as she took in her friend’s irritation.

“Six…” She began with a prickly grimace. “…has elected to stay on watch…all night.”

“All night, that’s crazy!” Zoness had thirty hour days, which meant that the nights lasted fifteen.

“You tell him that! I’ve already tried and he’s still dead set on waiting it out. Maybe you’ll have better luck.” The feline muttered, flinging a paw dismissively in his direction before entering the building beside her with a final scoff. She having had run out of patience.

Krystal’s eyes thoughtfully shifted between the newly closed door and the spartan’s lonesome patrol. The promise of a somewhat warm and soft bed, battled with the knowledge that Six would be standing sentry in silent solitude unless something was done.

“Oh damn it all.” The vixen groaned in annoyance as she shuffled her staff and turned to the stairs leading up to the wall.

*****

Night had consumed the jungle, the blanket of darkness draping across the expanse of disorderly trees and twisted vines. The spartan scanned the immediate area and turned on his heels, starting his sixth consecutive rotation on the wall.

As he stood guard over the battlements, he could not help but let his mind wander, justifying his lapse of concentration with the assurance that his tracker would make up for his distracted state. It was a pitiful excuse, but he found that he could not concentrate on his duty either way.

He had been more than a little shocked with himself after his actions against the feline that had been wandering the walls with him mere moments ago. Undeniably, he should have shown far more restraint then he had. But something she had said made him temporarily lose control.

“I’m just trying to look out for a friend!” She had mewled that in exasperation after he had rebuffed her advice for the fifth time.

Friend, there was that word again. Why did they insist on this unserviceable term?

He could not quantify why, but hearing her say what she did…insinuate what she did, that had filled him with sudden all-consuming fury. What did she know of friendship? She knew nothing of who he was inside his armor, what he had been forced to endure, just as he knew nothing about her. It was a childish flight of fancy to assume that friendship could be gained so quickly. They had barely crossed words since he joined.

So the spartan had rounded on her, defaming the feline and her actions. And he had watched, in dark satisfaction, as she recoiled and withered under his heated words, like a flower trapped under the oppressive heat of a desert sun. But she had not gone quietly, firing off with a trail of equally impassioned words as she left.

However, as she strode off in a fury, the vindicating sense of gratification he felt quickly faded, replaced by self-loathing and consternation. He may have been a spartan, but underneath all the cybernetics and layers of titanium plating and psychological conditioning, he was still human…mostly. And he liked to believe that there was something left of his forgotten humanity under all that.

He had displayed none of this in his previous actions. His retort had been callous and cruelly aimed to inflict pain. Even without immediate warfare, he still felt the need to hurt people. Perhaps the marines had been right about him and the others. They truly were monsters.

Sighing, he stopped his patrol and leaned against the rampart’s railing, staring off into the silent jungle and wishing that his thoughts could be the same. Maybe it would have been best if he had died back on that corvette? He was no longer alarmed that such a notion had arisen inside him more than a few times in the past few days. At the moment, he was a far cry from a spartan’s renowned resilience and determination. Six was starting to believe that it had been an error in judgment for him to join Fox and his merry little band. He was a fool to think they could replace Noble Team.

What was he doing here? What had he to gain from all of this? Was there even a reason to keep going? These questions had plagued him relentlessly since his arrival, and the lack of an answer filled him with a hollowness he had never experienced before.

After his home had burned and all he knew was taken from him, it had been ONI and the spartan program that had given him purpose, filled the holes in his soul. They may not have had his best interest at heart, but it had at least been something. Now he was on his own again, feeling just as lost and confused as he had been aboard the pelican that had taken him from his dying world, his only vivid memories being the purplish haze tainting the air and the overwhelming scent of burnt ozone.

A strange noise shook him out of his reflection and threw him into alert, the sounds of a tortured scream. Six searched for the source of the disturbance and realized that it had come from just below him. Glancing down, he noticed that the metal bar he had been leaning on was distorted and twisted into abnormal shapes, the perpetrators of the act closed tightly around the battered steel.

Carefully, the spartan extracted his hands from the warped metal and stepped back, gazing down at his blue gauntlets in mild curiosity at this new experience, watching as his gloved fingers twitched ever so slightly, almost as if they now had a mind of their own.

They had never done that before.

Before he could dwell on what that signified, he heard an approaching pair of feet and turned to face them, subconsciously placing his trembling hands behind his back and blocking the view of the vandalized metal.

He half expected the feline to return with a fresh batch of insults but was surprised to see the azure vixen sedately strolling towards him in her place. For whatever reason, she looked different, not like the other times he had laid eyes on her, as if some previous filter had been lifted from his vision.

The eyes that usually held such loathing and distaste for him were now filled with curiosity and perhaps...sympathy? He did not know how much she had witnessed, and the thought that she might have seen him at such a vulnerable and weakened state filled him with inwardly aimed disgust.

Her poise stuck out far more than usual to his eyes as she strode with notable grace and confidence. The armored flight suit she wore was perfectly matched to her fur tone and fit perfectly to her lean and flowing contours. No doubt she was a fast and agile adversary in combat, although her choice of coloring was garish in his opinion. Camouflage would have suited her far better. The vixen’s tail fluttered softly behind her, the white peaked appendage weaving gently back and forth in the wind, a sight he was still not used to seeing.

Six was not fluent in the physical mannerisms of these aliens, and their peculiar muzzles and animalian appendages made it difficult to judge their age or emotions. But he was fairly confident in his assumption that she was perhaps in the same age group as himself, somewhere in the late teens or possibly early twenties. Six had never had reason to celebrate birthdays and so he had forgotten what age he was. The years of endless warfare tended to blend together and he had been thrown into combat when he had still been very young. But he was confident he could no more than twenty-three.

He could get somewhat of an idea on hers by the lack of age bearing crinkles on her muzzle and the vibrant luster to her sapphire coat. He guessed that her range was anywhere from nineteen to twenty, all speculation of course.

What else stuck itself out to him was her unusual black nose. It shone wetly in the moonlight and the whiskers on her cheeks twitched of their own violation.

What a strange species.

The spartan realized that they had been silently eyeing each other for some time and became aware of something he had never experienced before.

He felt awkward.

“Yes…?” He growled, feeling the familiar rush of anger.

He didn’t know why, but those turquoise eyes and that faint canine lipped smile fueled his temper. It was an alarming development and he forced himself to relax, easing his gauntlets from behind his back and lowering his guard as much as he could force himself to.

The vixen did not respond immediately, choosing to stare up into his silver visor with the faint trace of a friendly smile in an irritating and simultaneously intrusive way.

Those eyes, he felt as if they could see right through him, peering into his soul. He had not forgotten what she was and it only made him more distrustful, she could very well be doing just that.

He watched as she walked around him, the spartan turning to keep a wary eye on her as she elected to lean on the undamaged railing and gaze up into the night sky, almost ignoring the bewildered hulking armored supersoldier standing less than a meter from her.  

Her coat glowed unnaturally brightly in the moonlight and the spartan idly wondered if it had perhaps been altered by some form of advanced cosmetics to achieve such a bizarre feat.

“It’s a beautiful night tonight, don’t you think?” The vixen enquired amiably as she turned her muzzle to him once more, that selfsame pleasant grin on her furred features. Her tail swung lazily from her lower back, signifying that she was at ease. Strange given how close the hyper-lethal spartan was to her. Most people tended to be in a constant state of fear around him, whether they were aware of his deadly reputation or not.

Her question caught him by surprise and he found that he had no response. He must admit, he had never chatted about the weather before. Still, as he looked up into the star filled sky he supposed she did have a point. The night sky was indeed pleasant, one of the very few he witnessed not tarnished by the flashes of weapons fire and black smoke. The lack of pain filled screams was also an enjoyable added bonus.

Six nodded silently in agreement.

“Still not much of a talker huh?” The vixen chuckled lowly, finding some fount of amusement in his actions.

Again a nod…

This was all deep in uncharted waters for him, and he was taking a guarded approach, lest he become lost in them. Six did not know of this vixen’s intentions, why she was attempting to speak with him. But he remembered his previous dishonorable actions and was making a conscious effort to be as courteous as he was capable of being.

As if understanding his inner plight, she nodded along with him and gazed back up into the sky, becoming silent once more.

Six’s head was crooked in the same direction as hers but his eyes remained locked onto the vixen at his side. He wanted to know what the purpose of her coming up here was. By rights she should be back with her…friends, relaxing and preparing for the next day. But here she was, choosing to spend her time with him instead.

That’s when he realized.

The cat had been trying to do the same thing, and he had run her off with his anger. Once more he felt an uncharacteristic pang of guilt that he had difficulty burying. It was not right for him to turn on his allies, no matter how annoying and seemingly useless they might be. It would be extraordinarily difficult and perhaps impossible, but he vowed to try and be less antagonistic in the future. After all, there was nothing to be gained from such actions.

But why, what hidden agendas did they hold? What was there purpose for seeking him out with the false pretenses of cordiality? There must be something they wished to gain, some ulterior motive to their attempts. He did not know what they could be, but he would find out. He needed to find out to set his mind at ease. These thoughts were unlike him and the sooner they were silenced the better.

An hour passed between them, not a word spoken or a glance shared, both staring up into the lonely silver light of the star lit sky. A strange sensation overcame him in this time. The beating of his heart had slowed to a nominal level and his constantly vigilant aura had been subdued. His breathing was paced far apart and he felt nothing. For once, in all his years, he felt absolutely nothing, no hate, no pain, no grief, not even guilt, just…nothing.

Was this what being at peace felt like? If so, he was not sure if he liked it.

Six noticed an odd flicker of movement to his side and turned to the vixen, finding that she had her arms folded tightly to her chest and tail wrapped securely around her. Her usually perky ears were pulled closely to her head. While still looking content, he could see her tremble every now and then when a particularly powerful gust of wind blew across the rampart.

The spartan checked his HUD for the temperature outside of his carefully monitored armor and saw that it was below freezing.

The vixen’s garb was wholly inadequate for the low temperature and it was possible that she might contract hypothermia if she stayed out here with him any longer. The spartan was baffled to find that he felt a small almost unnoticed pang of unease in regards to her health, and a certain responsibility for it.

“You should go inside.” Six felt the words slip out of his mouth on their own accord.

Taking a moment to register that he had spoken, the vixen looked up to him questioningly, her muzzle tilting to the side and a single ear popping up.

It was…peculiar.

“The weather is unsuitable for you. It would be best if you head inside and get some rest.” He repeated in more detail, wondering why he was making such an effort in the first place. What did he care for her condition? What possible reason did he have to concern himself with her in any significant way?

She seemed to mull over his words before speaking. “And you…?”

“My armor protects me from the cold. Yours does not. I will be fine.” Such was true. His MJOLNIR was rated to withstand vacuum temperatures and conditions, a chilly breeze was nothing compared to that.

“And rest…?” She added, a thoughtful depth in her jade eyes.

“I need little of that.” He could function for days without sleep, weeks if absolutely necessary.

He waited for her to leave, but it seemed she was not done yet. Her features shifted into a myriad of undiscernible expressions before they finally settled on a single one.

“Why are you up here, Six?” It seemed that she wished to get to the point of why she came up here.

Six didn’t know why, but finding out that she had an ulterior motive for coming other than concern for him was relieving and the spartan’s answer was simple.

“To keep watch.” There was a chance that the things in the forest might attempt to find a way inside and he wanted to make sure that he would be there to stop them if they did.

“There are plenty of others already doing that.” She reasoned, poking a hole in his explanation.

True, the base already had a night watch. He had seen them up in the towers once the sun had set. No doubt they had a duty rotation as well, making his post up here wholly unnecessary. But he felt that only he could keep a truly adequate vigil.

“Do you not trust them?” She guessed.

Honestly?

No. He didn’t. They were not spartans. They were susceptible to the same frailties as non-augmented humans.  If he had learned anything in his career, it was that the only ones you could truly trust were yourself and your fellow spartans.

She took his silence for acceptance to her question and the vixen sighed in resignation.

“You know, Six. Eventually, you’re going to have to trust us. I know you trust Fox, but you have to learn do the same for the rest of us. You took his offer so that means whether you accept it or not, we’re your team now. You can’t live like this forever. I don’t know what you’ve been through or why you insist on being so distant. But I do know one thing.” She declared firmly as she looked up at him, her jade green eyes unflinching.

Her sudden burst of resolve interested him.

“You need to change.”  Her eyes flashed briefly, full of force.

Such an order might have been cause for violence if he had not resolved to be more tolerant minutes ago.

Now…

He gave it far more thought then he would have days prior. Had he not come to the conclusion that he had to adapt? That he could not stay the same and hope to survive? This place was not like the one he had left. It had a different set of rules and principles that he remained oblivious too. There was some wisdom to her words, not that he wanted to hear them.

“What you ask is not easy for me.” He replied slowly, having to fight to get himself to speak. To say that divulging anything to someone he considered an absolute stranger was difficult, was a ridiculously enormous understatement. “I am not used to…trusting others.”

“Well everyone has to start somewhere.” The vixen replied positively, probably pleasantly surprised that he had not outright denied her advice. This time her smile arrived in full force, and her bushy tail wagged with surprising vigor.

“Then I will…do what I can.” That was as far as he was willing to commit for the foreseeable future. He would try to be less aggressive from now on. It would be a long and difficult road and one he did not want to travel. But there was a lot of things he had not wanted to do in the past that needed to be done. This would be no different.

“Right then, first step. You need to let the guards do their job. Come on let’s get some rest.” The vixen grabbed his thick forearm and began to tug him towards the stairs.

Not wanting to have her snap back and collide with him, Six chose to reluctantly follow after her. It was no easy decision, having to trust that the guards here would be sufficient. And it was far harder for him to resist prying the vixen’s padded grip off his arm. Her touch made him openly uncomfortable. And that was saying something.

Yet, she had been one of the first to treat him somewhat kindly and even stand up to him and he decided to let this one instance go without retaliation.

Thankfully, she released her grip when they arrived at the door and he followed her inside, having to duck under the portal, grunting in irritation after his helmet’s crest scraped against the doorway.

Being so tall was not always a good thing

Inside he was surprised to see rows of closed doors, each most likely a private room. To think that the cornerians cared enough for their soldiers to give each one their own reserved lodging was remarkable. Then again he supposed they could afford to whereas the UNSC could not.

From the looks of it, most if not all the rooms were already occupied, even the second and third floors were full up, despite the unfortunate loss of so many. He supposed that one of the buildings that had been demolished might have been another one of these barracks, thus the back up on rooms.

It was looking like her plan had been pointless in the end. There was nowhere for him to rest. There was only one spare room at the end of the hall on the third floor and that one was being taken by Miyu, the feline opening the door just as he and Krystal showed up.

The feline noticed both of them as she made to enter, the feline smiled at her friend but it quickly vanished upon seeing the spartan behind her.

“Heya Krystal…” She greeted her friend happily. All the spartan earned was a dismissive. “Six.” He felt that he might have deserved that. The cat seemed curious to see them both together. “What are you doing in here?”

“Well the plan was to find somewhere to sleep, but it looks like the all the others rooms are full.” Krystal explained with a sigh, her lips curling into an unfortunate grimace.

Miyu grinned. “Well that can easily be remedied. You can just bunk with me!” The feline gestured to the open door. “There’s a spare bed under mine, you can use that.” 

“Thanks, but what about Six?” The vixen asked with a troubled frown.

The spartan felt certain that the cat would gladly leave him out, but after a thoughtful gaze she nodded. “Well, Falco’s already passed out and Fox is still in the HQ with Captain Siegfried. I’m sure he can fit in here with us if he doesn’t mind being cramped of course.”

He expected Krystal to be opposed to the idea, but she shrugged. “That could work.

No actually it couldn’t.

There were more than a few reasons why he considered that bad news. Just the thought of being crammed up into a bedroom with two females filled him with trepidation. That was not even factoring the knowledge that they were aliens.

“No don’t worry about me I’ll be fine.” He refused, perhaps just a little too fast and with an odd timidness that did not suit a hardened killer. The spartan took a hesitant step backwards. Perhaps he could just wake up Falco or find Fox and help him plan. Anything then what they were suggesting.

He watched in growing unease as the feline’s lips slowly curled into a smug, knowing grin. “Are you, Six, the biggest baddest solider of them all, afraid of sleeping in a room with a bunch of girls?” She looked about ready to burst into laughter and Krystal was not far off, the vixen trembling as she made a poor attempt to keep her chuffs hidden.

The spartan scoffed. “Ridiculous…” He was not afraid of anything. He had engaged brute chieftains in hand-to-hand combat, fended off hordes of sangheili and their armies of zealous unggoy, survived countless battle with hunters. To think that he would be afraid of what she was suggesting was both preposterous and unfounded.

“Then why don’t you come on in.” Miyu gestured to the open door invitingly, still smirking.

Six hesitated, the gaze of both women burning into him. With a shake of his head he stepped forwards and confidently strode past the cat and into the bedroom, wondering why he was subjecting himself to such torture.

*****

This may have just been the worst decision he had made in his entire life. The bedroom was silent, except for the soft snores of the two women in their beds and the spartan idly tapping his finger against his thigh plate.

What had possessed him to do this? Taking his chances by sleeping in the jungle was a more appealing idea. Strangely enough, as he sat in the bedroom’s darkness, Six thought of Jorge. The Spartan-II had been the most human of them all. And he could have used some of his easygoing nature right about now. It was just one of the many social skills that he was severely lacking in. Jorge had always known what to say, and if not for his immense size and fearsome MJOLNIR, he could have passed as any other regular human. And in that regards he and the big man were vastly different.

He wished that he had been able to spend more time with him, and the other members of Noble Team. He could have used some of Jorge’s advice right about now. No doubt he would tell Six to buck up and be normal. He and Jorge had always gotten into small scraps about this in-between battles, telling him he needed to change if he wanted to be able to live a normal life once the war was over. As if it ever would. Despite their disagreements, Six had always admired the Spartan-II’s faith in victory, even when he himself could not see it.

It had been a short month together, but he still found that he missed them occasionally, even Emile. They had never really seen eye to eye, but he had still been a good friend, all the way until the end. The Kukri on his arm was his and Six still remembered what Emile told him right before he died.

“Don’t let the old girl get rusty.”

Emile always did have an unhealthy fondness for that blade. Six wished he could have heard what he would have thought about all of this. He imagined his thoughts would be quite interesting.

Kat had been different. Six didn’t really talk to her much. She had been a good spartan, but not one for idle words, much like his self in that regard. It was a shame how she died, no honor in that. He just hoped she was at peace.

Carter had been an interesting commander, one of the few he had grown to respect. Much like Fox in fact. Both were levelheaded, clever, resourceful, and dedicated to the mission and their team. At least that’s what he had observed from the vulpine so far. He hoped that would not change. That’s all about he was clinging to at the moment.

Six never figured out what happened to Jun. last he heard the Asiatic spartan was evacuating Doctor Halsey. He didn’t care much for what happened to the good doctor. He just hoped that Jun made it through that mess. If he did, then all the better for him. Maybe he might live through the war and see that peace Jorge was so fond of mentioning.

Then there was the war. Was it still going? Had humanity been defeated? Or had they managed to pull a miracle out of the hat? He hoped it was the latter. More likely, the war was still going, wherever they were.

The main thing running through the spartan’s head, was what was going to happen to him. He had never given much thought to the future. But now, after all of this, he found that it frequented his mind quite often.

What was he going to do with his life? Could he even acclimatize to a life outside of wartime? Humans were determined, masters of adapting to harsh and unforgiving circumstances. But he was a spartan. He would have to adjust to the exact opposite. He thrived off of conflict and was gratified in the fires of war. To him, a life without war sounded like too much. He felt that he was too far gone to change. At least for now there was a war to fight. He could take solace in that fact.

His mind wandered to the cornerians… He had first considered them far different from humans in more than their looks. But after these few days he came to realize something.

They weren’t different, he was.

They acted like any other regular human he had met before, and that was it, regular. He was not regular. Nothing had really changed in the end. It was the same thing slanted a different way. There was always a bad side and a good side, as opposite as the colors black and white. He rarely ever saw the grey.

Six watched as the two women slept, they looked peaceful, unmindful of the nightmares of war. Their muzzles were unmarred by the ever present gauntness that years of unrelenting war left you with. No doubt they had pleasant dreams, falling back to friends and family in their slumber. He could not even find consolation in his dreams, for he had none. When he did sleep, it was just a wall of oppressive blackness that consumed him till he woke.

Six didn’t sleep much.

He wondered what it would be like, to sleep just because you could, to curl up in bed, perhaps even with someone else to share it. He wouldn’t know, it was so far off in the realm of possibility for him that even the thought was absurd and abhorrent, but still one that gnawed on him all the same.

They could afford peaceful sleep. Six could not. He was destroyed by the spartan program, any remnants of normality were far too fragmented and dispersed across the wasteland of his waking mind. It was much like the battlefields he had waged war across the years, desolated ruins of a once ordinary place.  

Sometimes he forgot that he had ever been normal. Once before he had a family, a home, even friends if he could remember correctly. It seemed like all of that belonged to a different person. And that was true, whoever he had been before the program was gone, dead. Now he was Six, no longer Noble.

Regret, loss, rage, grief, these were his true companions. They had followed him dutifully throughout his life, always with him…always, every waking moment, every time he slept, they never abandoned him.

Only once had he been truly alone, truly as himself as he could ever hope to be. And that had been on the ramparts, with that vixen, Krystal. At that moment he had only his own thoughts in his head, truly his own person.

It was not lost on him that she had been there when it happened. He just wondered what it signified.

He looked up to them again and was surprised to see the vixen’s jade eyes glowing in the darkness of the bedroom, much like a predator in the night.

His eyesight was perhaps superior to her own, and he could clearly make out the vixen sitting up from her bed on the ground, scant feet away from his rest against the wall. The entire situation struck him as odd. If anyone had told him he would be sitting on the floor of an alien barracks in the middle of the night, across from two women more animal than anything else, he would have certainly figured they were absolutely insane. But now, perhaps he was the crazy one. At least then it would make sense.

“Are you still awake?” She whispered quietly, having seen him move with her keen vision.

“Yes…” He replied just as softly. His wandering mind had unlocked many of the barriers he hid himself behind. And for a brief while, he was not the cynical spartan he always was.

“Something on your mind?” She asked curiously as she scooted closer, her blanket still draped across her slender frame. A different man might have noticed that most of her clothing had been removed, revealing more fur than was most likely proper, but he was far too interested in why she moved closer to him.

“Several somethings.” Six rumbled with a quiet chuckle. He still found this whole thing to be immensely amusing, at least for the moment. “I have never been so lost.” His chuckle faded as a grimace surfaced on his hidden visage, his good humor evaporating as quickly as it had manifested.

“Do you want to talk about it?” She asked lowly. “Sometimes it helps to have someone listen.” Krystal moved even closer, until she sat against the wall beside him, snugly wrapped up in her blanket until all that could be seen was her creamy furred neck and earnest expression. He was surprised to have a sudden and attentive listener.

“I have never...talked, about things before.” The spartan explained uncertainly. He did not know why she was doing this, but at the moment he had nothing else to really do and he was feeling more vulnerable than had ever before in his life.

Is this what Jorge had meant when he had told him to be more human? Was being weak the answer?

“That’s alright, just start whenever you feel comfortable and soon the words will just poor out.” She seemed to be speaking from personal experience.

Six decided to hell with it, not much else could go wrong anymore. The spartan tried to find somewhere to start but it was difficult. This all seemed highly unorthodox. He supposed it would be best to just start from the beginning.

“When I was five…”