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Legacy of the Precursors

Chapter 12: Contemplation

The dinner had been an interesting affair and an altogether unique experience for Six. Even with Noble Team they had never eaten their meals like this. But then again, it was not if they had the chance. The spartan had been content with simply watching his fellow comrades as they dined and chitchatted. Six was undeniably curious as to how the vixen came into possession of such a familiar meal, and why he had reacted so powerfully to it.

The dinner had been pleasant, the best he had ever eaten. MRE's were not terrible, but they definitely were not great either. It was interesting to see the civilian side of the spectrum. They certainly had the better food. And something about this particular dish spoke to his heart, a thing he had long considered dead.

Midway through, Peppy underwent his monologue on the creation of the present Starfox team, a few years after the death of Fox's father. Six knew some of this from their previous talk a few weeks ago, but there was no problem with getting the finer details. It seemed they had started with just Slippy, Fox and the hare, with Falco joining later on.

Before he restarted his father's company, the vulpine carried out raids against Andross' imperial guard on his homeworld of Papetoon, an arid desert world a fair distance from Corneria. It appeared that General Pepper had personally sought him out with the intention of having Fox take his father's mantle. From what Peppy told him, it had been an easy choice to make.

Shortly afterwards, they defeated Andross for the first time and sometime later came the events on Sauria, where he had rescued Krystal and she in return joined their team. Six had asked her what had happened, but the vixen had explained that she had not been a part of it for long, giving a faint shiver as she spoke about some sort of gemstone prison. Andross then made a return there and was swiftly dispatched by Fox once more.

Once more ending in victory, Fox and his friends returned to Corneria where they spent a length of time without much action and enjoying their newfound fame and fortune. However, sometime later they got involved in a brushfire war on Katininan, subsequently admitting Miyu and Fay into the team upon its conclusion.

“I believe that's all there is to it. Not too long after that, Oikonny attacked Corneria and you appeared." Peppy concluded as he pushed his empty bowl to the side, having finished it quite some time ago.

Six creased his brow in thought. It was an interesting tale, one he doubted would be possible back where he came from. To think that so few could turn the tide of a war. Yet…was not that what spartans had been created for? This was a distantly similar, albeit peculiar comparison.

What would have happened if things had been reversed, if the cornerians had been discovered rather than humanity? Would they Covenant have called for their extinction? Or would they have been asked to join the alien hegemony? Neither sounded good.

Yet look what happened. His life seems to have been directed upon some radical course of which the conclusion ever remained uncertain. Had he been brought here for a reason? Or was this merely a random twist of cruel fate? Six had met many a religious man in his days, to some it brought comfort, to others purpose. But he had never bothered to give them too much thought. Not till now anyways.

Now he suspected that they might have been on to something.

Eventually, sometime during his musing dinner concluded and the table emptied. Soon, he was one of the few remaining people still lingering. Miyu still sat beside him, circling the bottom of her empty bowl with her fork and humming softly to herself. Krystal had chosen to remain behind as well, the vixen seemingly content with studying the grooves embedded into the wood table.

Six allowed himself a few brief moments to study both women.

Almost since he first joined Starfox, they had chosen to stay by his side, for whatever reason. Why they wanted or seemed to enjoy the company of a spartan was a question up for grabs. He was not like Fox, he was not charismatic or easygoing. Six was blunt and many would say callous, and definitely not overtly kind or charming by any measure of those words.

He was a thoroughbred soldier, trained for only one purpose…to wage war. True, he had discovered himself capable of more than that in this recent month. But he was still a far cry from the norm.

But perhaps of both women, Miyu was the greatest oddity. Whereas he was able to see a slim reason for Krystal's persistence, the same did not hold true for the fiery Lynx. By rights she should despise, him. He had been confrontational and harsh from the start, and yet she continuously refused to be intimidated.

Six had to confess he admired her dogged persistence, even if it was hopelessly misplaced.

If they knew what was good for them they would drop their efforts and leave him to his fate. But they did not, and he no longer possessed the resolve to forcefully dissuade them. The spartan was not sure what had happened in such a short time, but he had changed. In ways he suspected, he still could not grasp.

Six rose from his chair and turned to Krystal.

“Thank you for dinner, it was….interesting."

“Of course, Six." The vixen offered a pleasant smile.

It was time he got some rest. There was no telling what lay ahead for the next day and since coming here, he was feeling a great deal of exhaustion, more than usual. These cornerians were strenuous just to be around.

Patting Miyu on the shoulder in his version of a silent farewell, the spartan turned and walked away; heading to his borrowed room for some rest and a discreet place to be alone with his thoughts.

*****

As per usual, Six awoke at the customary hour of four. Once he took care of the habitual morning rituals he decided to take a peek at the area surrounding the villa. The spartan was curious to see if he would recognize any of the terrain and subsequently wanting some more time to himself.

Stepping out of the room he had been lent, Six was greeted to a dark corridor, the sun having yet to rise and no one beside him being awake. In the end he had decided to leave his MJOLNIR in Fox's room. He knew that no one would take it and they would not be able to carry the heavy plates if they tried.

Besides, it would be nice to get some fresh air after being cooped up for so long. While his armor was more like a second skin to him, sometimes it could be a little restrictive.

Outside, the villa was surrounded by a heavily thatched forest, with a small dirt road winding in between the trees and down the path back to the city. Despite the lack of visible light, Six was able to see as well as if the sun was shining at its peak, a benefit of his augmentation.

As the spartan stood just beyond the villa's front steps, he could not help but feel at ease. The cool night air carried a gentle breeze, filled with the soothing scent of juniper and pine. Not that far away from him was the trees themselves, a scant few meters from the home of his companions. The flora brought to him a welcoming familiarity that he appreciated in the uncertainty of his new existence.

It was the perfect time for a jog.

Adopting an easy and relaxed pace, Six took off down the wooded road.

*****

Six spent the better part of an hour leisurely making his way through the vegetation in a form of semi-meditation that spartans were adept at creating. He thought about a great deal of things as he jogged, all the events that had brought him to this world, the bizarre attachment he felt for this team of aliens, and perhaps most importantly, what his purpose in life now was.

The strange desire to protect Krystal, and by extent the rest of the team who had taken him in, even if he was not aware that he needed them at the time. But now, he could reason why this held true.

Six had no idea what might have become of him if he had never run across Fox and his friends. Would he have surrendered to death upon waking up in his sabre so many days ago? Might he have eventually decided to make the cornerians his enemy?

With all of this ambiguity, there was one thing he remained positive of. He owed them, for their guileless benevolence and persistent hospitality. They had weathered one of the darkest sides of him and continued in their kindhearted pursuits. They may be mercenaries, but they were nothing like the soldiers of fortune he had met in the past, indeed, they were unlike many of his fellow humans. Alike in actions, but not completely so, they held an inherent innocence that many back home sorely lacked, at least amongst those he consorted with. They were friendly and supportive, what he might consider to a fault.

Six wondered what it would be like if all the people of the universe had that attitude, at the least there would never have been need for soldiers like him. But such thoughts were naught but flights of fancy, there would always be darkness to combat the light. Good could not exist without evil to contrast.

But these were thoughts for another time. He could not spend all his time out amid the forest, as pleasant as it was. He had an obligation to his team.

Six made his way back to the villa, arriving just as the sun began to rear its golden crown over the pseudo-familiar mountains. Next time he would wake up earlier so he could spend more time out here, the spartan had not even broken a sweat and there was still much to explore.

Slowing to a walk, he would have entered the villa, if not for what sounded like a voice coming a fair distance from the north. It was too far to make out if it was one he knew, but it was close enough to garner a look.

The spartan cut through the trees and made a path to the source of the voice. It was a short walk only lasting a handful of minutes.

This side of the forest was not as deep as the others and in little time he reached its end, emerging at a location he had not seen before. The tree's only made a short distance out to the rocky edge, fading away until only a scant few remained, the expanse covered in a thick canvas of verdant grass and low growing bushes.

Here the voice was much clearer and Six was able to recognize it. Which there was no need for seeing as the perpetrator was within easy sight of him, sitting precariously at the cliff's edge.

'Miyu…?' Six's eyed widened slightly in surprise.

The lynx's voice must have carried through the forest, but what was she doing out here at such a time?

Curious, Six stood at the border of the line of trees and studied the scene in greater detail.

What he had taken for her voice was just the cat humming a tune to herself, the same one he remembered from the night before, a soft melody with low notes and high points. A colorful object was clasped delicately in her paws, a flower he realized upon seeing its radial design. The feline picked at the blossom's petals, her tail lazily drawing incoherent arcs in the morning air as she murmured softly amid the sound of gulls and the crashing waves of the ocean beneath.

A pile of the stripped flora laid to her left, on her right, a heap that had yet to be disassembled. He did not know what the purpose for her actions was, but such a thing was far from his mind, the spartan more interested in why she was there.

His curiosity outweighing his reason, Six decided to approach. The spartan had to give her some credit, the feline noticing him far quicker than a human counterpart would have.

“Oh, Six, I had a feeling I wasn't the first one awake." She greeted him with a friendly smile.

Six had developed somewhat of an understanding of the team, starting to form a mental dossier on their personalities and actions. He had been highly trained by the office of naval intelligence in the study of the mind with the intent to increase his capability to hunt down insurrectionist cells in the outer and inner colonies. That being said he could tell that Miyu was not acting in her usual character. Admittedly, it had taken him longer to develop his profile for each member do to their alien nature, but by this point he was mostly certain of his assertions. And in this case he was confident something was troubling her.

The lynx was exhibiting an unusual amount of sobriety, he sensing it in her posture and tone of voice. That aside he had not taken the feline to be so careless, sitting at the edge of a cliff was not something most people did if they valued their lives.

“What are you doing here?"

“Me?" Miyu replied, a faint thoughtfulness to her tone as her gaze returned to the rolling sea underneath her. “I'm just admiring the view."

“There are far safer ways to do that." Six countered. It would not do for an experienced pilot to die from such a paltry accident as falling off a cliff.

“Aww, are you worried about me?" The feline teased lightly, but he noted that it lacked the intensity he had grown used to, the lynx sighing moments later. “Well if you are you don't need to. I know how to take care of myself."

“Clearly…" Six rumbled blandly, recalling their recent mission to a certain jungle world.

“Hey!" She yowled defensively, demonstrating a brief flare of her usual ardor. “That was a fluke! It caught me by surprise, that's all. I could have taken care of it without your help."

Six decided to hold his tongue, not wanting to get into again with the cat. Instead he traveled the rest of the short distance and sat at the edge of the cliff next to her, intending to catch the cat if she fell. Though…the view was no so bad either, this world was truly like Reach. While he was not familiar with this area, he did remember Reach's vast ocean. This one was just as grandiose as its matching pair. Though the one he knew was in all probability no longer existent.

As he settled in, Miyu removed her attention from the rolling waves and shifted it to the spartan beside her, the cat's eyes roving his frame and lacking their usual tinge of lust. At this moment they were clouded by another emotion.

You know…" She broke the silence, looking down to the partially dismantled flower she held in her paws. “I never did thank you for saving me back there."

In response the spartan shrugged. “There's no need to thank me." He did what any spartan would have done for a fellow soldier.

“Still…" The feline pressed, tightly grasping the last petal clinging to the flower in her paw.

It seemed she wanted to say something more, the lynx's lips pulling open with the intent to speak, but after a few moments she reluctantly closed them, sighing instead as she let go of the remaining petal.

Six was unsure of what exactly was running through the feline's head. But then it was not his job to know. The spartan left her to her to them, having thoughts of his own on which to dwell.

He wondered…

If this was indeed an alternate universe as he suspected, were there other humans out there somewhere amidst the immeasurable expanse of stars? Should he not make it his life's goal to find them? But, the universe was so large what hope had he? Would it not be better to stay here, where he was already somewhat situated? Why risk all he had managed to obtain? In any case, he lacked a ship suitable enough to get him very far, and he doubted the cornerians would just let him appropriate one. Maybe after this war he would have enough influence to inquire about it.

The spartan did not feel as if he could abandon this team yet, he had put far too much effort into this to walk away now. At the very least he owed Fox and the others to stick around until this war was over, which looked like it was just about done already. The battle on Fortuna would be the turning point. Six had an acute affinity with the flow and ebb of war, and he could tell that what happened on Fortuna would be the deciding factor for this one's conclusion. If Venom broke at this point, their resolve would shatter and any momentum they had managed to gain with this surprise assault would be rendered null and void.

But if they managed to repel the cornerians, such an action would cripple the already strained CDF and subsequently bolster their desire to press their chances. If the event were to occur, the cornerians had little chance to stop them. One thing Six had noticed from his brief encounter with Venom, was that they had the supplies and capital to outlast the CDF, though he sensed that their forces were not as enamored with the cause.

In the end it all came down to the tenacity of each faction's forces. Venom had numbers but had a want for experienced and charismatic leaders. If they had a competent commander the invasion Six had walked into would not have been so utterly trumped. And the soldiers he had fought lacked the inherent battlefield awareness that even the most rookie of UNSC soldiers grasped. If they had, they would not have been so easy to kill. If he had command of Venom's forces, even the CDF for that matter, he could have this war won by now.

Even so, he had no desire to command an alien army or even a human one. He much preferred to fight then to lead. Six would gladly leave that to Fox and the General. Just because he could did not mean he should.

“Hey…Six."

The spartan was thrust out his musing by the feline's voice, having forgotten she was there.

“Yes?" He replied, shifting his crimson irises over to the furred individual sitting next to him. He had not taken the time to notice her apparel upon his first glance, but now he was aware that she was clad in little but a thin red gown that clung to her generous curves and fluttered lightly in the ocean breeze. Without his armor he could tell that the morning air had a distinctly chilled bite to it, but it was little problem for him but one he imagined was not so pleasant for her. In his opinion she should have dressed appropriately.

“What was the war like, the one you fought before coming here?"

Six froze.

Such a question had come at an odd time and its intrusive premise took him greatly by surprise. Of all the things she could have asked him, why did it have to be about the war? He would rather have her make one of her normally suggestive remarks rather than this. But, he had to wonder.

“Why?" He murmured softly.

Why did she ask this of him?

The guilt evident by the immediate slouch to her shoulders, Miyu tore her gaze from him as if physically struck. The feline had seen the sudden flash in his eyes, the haunted glint that had so completely taken them over, and instantly she was ashamed to have asked him something that cut him so deeply. But she had to know. Up till now all she had heard was his brief stories, ones he was obviously not enthused in telling. But she had to know, what had made him so? What had turned him into the man she saw before him now?

“I…I know you don't like taking about it." She admitted as her ears wilted with remorse, the furry lobes clinging to her skull contritely as she forced herself to look back at him. “But, I…well I just want to know."

As she looked upon the spartan again, the haunted shine was gone, they were just blank, lacking any visible trace of emotion. Even his face was an emotionless mask, much like the visor he was usually hidden behind.

“Do you really wish to know what it was like?" He rumbled quietly, his lips barely moving to form the soft words that left his mouth.

“Y-Yes." She stammered hesitantly, suddenly freighted of his response.

“It was cold…." Six muttered ominously, the past events of his life coming to the fore of his thoughts with a silent power. “Cold and dark…."

The pain in his voice was readily apparent, and she could not help but feel terrible for asking this of him. But…she had heard from Krystal that she had managed to speak with him in detail. And she felt that she too deserved to at least hear some things about his previous life.

Now though….it was not as worth it as she thought it would be.

“I have learned a great deal about both humanity and our enemy during the war." He continued, his tone muted and yet having little difficulty caring over the sounds of the wind and nature. “I discovered our aptitude for cruelty, endured the brutality of our hated foes. You may think this war you fight is terrible, that the consequences of defeat are untold in their horror."

“You are hopelessly naïve." Six shook his head sadly.

Despite the hardness to his tone, she felt that he was not admonishing her, at least not in a hateful way. To Miyu it felt more like a warning.

“The war we waged was of survival rather than pointless ideologies or petty desires of conquest. The Covenant were not satisfied with just winning the war, they sought our complete and total annihilation, down to the last man, woman, and child. They slaughtered innocents, regardless of age, race, or gender, burned entire worlds to ash. There was no surrender, no retreat. Every battle fought was to the last. The last bullet, the last tank, the last ship, the last man…. To the last…" He muttered, scoffing contemptuously with a degree of self-loathing.

“We could not hide, for they hunted us, we could not win, for their technology was advanced, their numbers too vast to rightly stand against. All we could do was fight, endless battles in a hopeless war. Thus we were thrown against them, myself and my predecessors, spartans, supersoldiers, the supposed saviors of humanity, as if we could actually turn the tide on our own." He chuckled morosely. “Even with our incredible prowess in battle and inhuman strength, we too began to fall. But the UNSC could not acknowledge our deaths. No. That would affect moral. So though we died…we did not."

“After all…" He smiled, a small and wretchedly miserable affair.

“Spartans never die."

Six locked eyes with Miyu, still holding that small sad smile.

“Tell me, Miyu…was that sufficient?"

Her capacity for speech stolen from her, the cat gave a sluggish nod.

Still smiling, Six allowed himself to fall back on the soft grass behind him, his arms crossed under his head as he gazed up at the deep blue sky, yet seeing in his mind's eye the dying skies of Reach as the Covenant's energy beams tore its atmosphere asunder.

It was all he could think to do, smile..

*****

_ _

Miyu had no words to say, nothing to offer in the form of comfort for the man sitting beside her. Even though it had been her question and she felt responsible for the effect it had on him. There was nothing she could do that would be of any use to him. The hesitant feline gathered her courage and turned to him, the spartan lying on his back and looking up into the sky, that poignant smile still lingering on his face. This was the first time she had seen him smile, and she felt as if he did not smile for the same reasons she or the others did. His was not one of happiness, but despair.

It came to her attention that she should probably leave, having done enough damage already. But the feline owed him for asking such a bellicose question. Miyu wondered how she could make amends, deciding that what she needed was to distract him.

But how?

What she might have done for a normal male would not prove to be effective on him. After all, he did not seem interested in the same things that any ordinary male was. And in case she lacked experience in that field of feminine expertise.

As she thought hard, an idea came to her.

He had told something of himself, she could do the same.

*****

“You know…growing up, I hadn't really planned on being a mercenary."

Six rolled his head to the side, watching inquisitively as the feline adopted a similar pose, her tail curled in her lap as she lay beside him, staring up into the sky with a wain smile.

“My mom and dad went aboard the first wave of colony ships heading to Katina, an applicant for the local defense force and a fighter mechanic respectively."

The spartan was silent as he listened to the cat that had suddenly started spewing her life's story, both curious and confused as to why she had decided to randomly do so.

“My mom…" The feline chuckled softly. “Well, she was a real hot headed gal, the kind of woman who wasn't afraid to speak her mind and made sure everyone within half a mile could hear what she had to say. And my dad was a real quiet fellow, didn't talk much and was kind of a big hearted softy most of the time. Still, they somehow made it work. I was born a few months after they settled down in the small growing suburbs a few kilometers off base. It was a small town, mostly military families and a few miners working the deposits up in the mountains."

Six was surprised to find that he was interested in her tale. Any information on this universe was welcomed, even if it was not necessarily pertaining to his personal interests.

“I spent my childhood there while mom flew with the local fighter garrison and dad kept her ship running. It was a peaceful place, nothing worse than the occasional pirate raid every year or so, which the local DF had no problem taking care of. That's where I met Fay. Her parents came with the planet rush about the same time as mine, though she was a few grades behind me when I met her. Poor girl, she was the quiet type you know, didn't make many friends. Long story short I helped her become popular and she made sure my grades didn't take a dive."

Miyu sighed, her paws twiddling on her chest as she took a deep breath.

“I always wanted to be a florist… Now don't laugh at me." She warned him with a stern glare. “A girl can dream."

Six remained silent, having little desire to do anything of the sort. He had no idea what a florist was exactly, but that aside he had always reserved judgment for civilian occupations, thinking that each was important in their own way.

“Katina's a dry place. Not much greenery. But…there is this one flower." She murmured softly, her muzzle etched with a whisper of longing. “It only grows at a certain place, a few hours from town by hovercar. They named the planet after it, the Katinian blossom. My mom and I always did love it and I would make it a goal to get one every once and a while to cheer her up."

Miyu shook her head, an almost unnoticeable shine in her eyes. “Anyways, a few days after I graduated, I took Fay out with me to get some flowers for my mother, it was her birthday that week and I wanted it to be a surprise. And well…" She shuddered and sniffled. “Well…the war had been going for a little while by then, but we never thought it would come to us. But it did."

Six frowned softly. He knew where this story was going.

“Venom attacked the garrison, full force. And they burned it to the ground, most didn't survive…including my mother. CDF reinforcements came too late. They managed to push back the venomians, but not soon enough to save her."

The cat rubbed a paw across her eyes and cleared her throat. “Dad took it pretty hard, blamed himself for her death. He believed that if he had maybe done a better job she wouldn't have been killed. And I…." She paused, a flower now in her paws. “I didn't really want to be a florist anymore."

Six was startled to feel an emotion he had not felt in quiet some time…sympathy. Learning of her mother's death struck a particular cord inside him and it resonated briefly with his heart.

“Anyways…" Miyu exclaimed loudly, lithely gliding up to her feet as she did so, seemingly back to her old self. “Fay and I met Fox a little while later, helped him out some, having been freshly recruited into the local garrison. Sometime later we joined his team and the rest is history."

Six slowly rose to his feet, silently studying the feline beside him. In all outward appearances, she looked fine. At least that's what most people would see. Six was an excellent interpreter of body language and by now he had a firm grasp on the cornerian “dialect" as it were.

Telling her story had taken a great deal out of the cat. While her facial expression was neutral, her tail could not lie. The furred appendage hung lifeless from her lower back, dragging against the grassy earth as she stared off into the ocean.

The spartan was surprised to find that he was not in agreement with this version of Miyu. He in fact disliked it greatly.

Moving autonomously from his body, the spartan's hand reached out to her, resting firmly on the feline's shoulder, a simple gesture often reserved more for the battlefield when offering support to a fellow soldier. It was an action he had seen Carter do for Kat after they had learned of Jorge's fate.

Caught unawares by the spartan's unusual display, Miyu looked back to him and was accordingly shocked when he gave her a terse and measured embrace, bringing her close to his chest in a concise action before swiftly releasing her and stepping away.

While lasting less than a minute, to her, it felt like an eternity. Miyu allowed herself to fully return it, hugging him back fiercely and burying her muzzle into his muscled torso. Despite her ragged inner state, she was instantly calmed upon feeling his arms wrap around her shoulders. She knew how incredibly uncommon this act was, and she wanted to get as much as she could out of it before it ended. Her bosom vibrated as an unregulated purr manifested from within her. His very presence was enough to reduce the pain she felt at her old memories. There was only one feeling she could describe as he held her.

Safe…she felt safe.

Unfortunately, it was with great reluctance she felt him pull away as he quickly retreated from their embrace. The feline gazed up into his face, curious to see it after he performed such an unfamiliar action.

The spartan's face was consumed by a slow transformation, uncertainty and doubt twisting his striking features. In the end he hurriedly swiveled away from her without a word, heading back into the forest and towards the villa.

Yet Miyu was not discouraged by his actions, rather she bent over and picked up the flower she had been holding previously, the one with the single petal. The feline gazed down at the blossom and grabbed the remaining frond, smiling as she plucked it.

*****

Six's mind was a whirlwind of uncertainty. Embracing her had seemed like the appropriate response for her state of being. It was a natural thing to do for someone who grieved. He had seen it done many times before, after a Covenant glassing of an ill-fated planet. It was a conventional response, a human response.

And that was what troubled him.

He had never felt that it was his responsibility to do that for someone, and yet, he had seen the cat suffering silently and could not abide such a sight. Six was troubled; he felt as if he was slowly losing himself, losing what he had used to be. And he did not know if it was something to be gladdened or frightened by. He had no desire to fail as a spartan, to lose what it was that made him into a peerless warrior. If he did, how could he protect those in need? He could not afford to let himself forget where he came from, what he truly was. It was a nice thought to want to be human, but if doing so meant that he could no longer perform the duty he had been created for…then was there any real reason to try?

If he could not find a balance between his humanity and his duty as a spartan, then he could see only one road left to take. Better he sacrifice what could afford to be lost. What did one life matter if it was for the betterment of all?

One thing he did know for now was that he needed to clear his head. And the best way to do that was through physical exertion.

And with that Six set off into the villa with the intent of finding the means to do just that.

*****

It did not take him as long as he thought it would have to find what he was looking for. Fox did indeed have a fitness room in the villa, though it was on the second story which seemed to be dedicated for secondary necessities.

As suspected, the gym housed equipment that was exact replicas of the ones he knew. It was a logical assumption, seeing as both humans and cornerians shared exceedingly similar anatomical builds.

Wanting to get started as soon as possible, the spartan jumped onto the closest machine, a bench press. It took him a little while to get situated with the weight system the cornerians used, they seeming to favor smaller and yet denser weights. Deciding to start light, he only placed a few hundred pounds onto the bar. After a few trial pumps, he realized that it was inadequate and so he increased the weights by a further hundred.

From what he knew of his own physiology, without the air of his MJOLNIR he could bench roughly three times his immediate body weight, more in times of great duress. This aside, he still wanted to find a place to mark his strength after having spent so much time without training. He was confident it had dropped by some margin since he came here.

A few minutes into his weightlifting, he was disappointed to come to the conclusion that the cornerian equipment was inferior. He had already reached the max the bar could hold and he felt that he could still lift more. At the current rate this was not even capable of inducing fatigue.

Sighing, he dropped set the bar against the stand, the two prongs of metal groaning under the considerable weight.

Deciding that perhaps another machine would be advisable, Six shifted over to the treadmill, this too proving to be insufficient in tending to his requirements. The machine could not exceed the speed he needed and maxed out before he could reach even 40 kmh.

Seeing that the machines were not to par, Six dismissed them and chose to do things the old fashioned way. Grabbing the nearest pull-up bar, he got to work.

*****

Falco was not a morning person. All it took was one look for anyone to see this.

Grumbling to himself, the avian haphazardly staggered his way through the villa and into the kitchen, starting up the coffee maker and plopping down on a stool beside the counter as he waited for the machine to finish its cycle. Even after a shower he still would appear to most people to be half dead.

Dressed in a sweatshirt and pants, he had given up on trying to look presentable, placing comfort over style.

Though he did not like waking up so early, he did not want to develop a bad habit like sleeping in until at least the war was over. It didn't matter if they were hanging around corneria at the moment he was not willing to break the routine for anything.

A trio of piercing whistles from the machine signified that the brewing process was done and the bird slowly grabbed a mug of coffee and filled it up to the top, black, just how he liked it. Falco left the rest of the pot on the burner for anyone else interest in a mug and meandered through the halls with a goal in mind.

As he made his way up the stairs and into the next set if halls, he was surprised to see light seeping through the partially closed gym's doors.

'Is Miyu up already?'

Intrigued, he made his way over and placed a feathered hand onto the handle of the door, pushing it open and stepping inside.

'Well…that's something you don't see every day.'

_ _

*****

'297…298…299…300'

Six counted off silently in his head as he completed his first set of push-ups.

Having finished on the bars, he had taken to the next most familiar form of strength building, seeking to improve his upper body strength.

“Do you think that might be a little…excessive?"

Stopping before he started his next set, Six removed the three, hundred pound weights he had placed on his back and positioned them carefully upon the rug covered ground as he easily climbed back to his feet.

“Excessive…?" He repeated, turning to Falco in confusion.

The avian seemed to mull over his response before shrugging and taking a sip from the mug in his grip. “You know what, never mind. Knowing you by now it's probably not enough." He had seen plenty of Six by now to know these things.

Leaving the spartan to his own devices, Falco set his mug down at the small table flush with the wall beside the door and took his usual place on the barbells to curl the heavy weights. As he fired out his own routine, he allowed himself to watch Six as he did his own thing, the spartan back to what he had been doing before the avian entered.

He had always considered Six to be a strong guy, but damn….that was certainly something else. Falco would be lucky to do the same with only a hundred pounds on his back, but Six was doing three times that. Yet, it was obvious even to his eyes that he could have done more if not constrained by the equipment he was using. Just how strong was Six exactly? Not so long ago he had been tempted to try and spar with the spartan, but now he was not so eager. Falco had a feeling he stood little chance at being an even opponent. Maybe, if he used every move he used, even the underhanded ones, he might be able to last. But that was it, last, not win. The only way he could see winning was if Six let him, and he doubted the spartan's pride would allow him do that.

Falco wondered what it had taken for Six to reach such a level of physical aptitude.

When faced with such an impressive specimen of bodily acumen, Falco found it hard to work out himself, plagued by a feeling of inadequacy. Still, he soldiered through until he finished his usual routine and headed for the showers.

Six had finished up moments before him, an almost unnoticeable sheen of sweat covering his visible skin. The spartan followed the avian into the shower room, with the same intent in mind.

The showers had private booths, enough for each member of the previous team. Falco claimed one closer to the entrance and Six had picked his to be in the very back.

The avian took very little time to wash up, just intending to ensure that there would be no lingering odor. Finished within a few minutes, he wrapped a towel around his waist and stepped out. As before, Six had finished before him, the spartan already, reaching for the strange black suit he wore.

'The guy really needed clothes of his own.' It must have been inconvenient, stuck with only that and his armor.

Yet, Falco was alarmed to see the myriad of scars and old injuries carved across the spartan's alabaster skin, a flowing tapestry of timeworn suffering. The avian spotted just about every type of physical mark that could be left on a body, lacerations, burns, bullet wounds, skin grafts. It was not a pretty sight.

“Had it pretty tough huh?" Falco commented with an air of casualness, slipping on his sweat clothes.

Six nodded as he dressed himself back into his suit, a process that looked particularly odd with the bodysuit's design. So as not to compromise its integrity, the suit was a single piece requiring the user to enter with some measure of difficulty.

Because of this Falco finished before him and walked out of the showers and left the gym. He understood Six's desire for seclusion and respected his wishes. If the big guy wanted to talk, he would.

He traveled back down the kitchen, seeing that Peppy was awake now, a mug of coffee in paw as he read the morning news on his holopad. Some things could not be done the old fashioned way.

“Morning, Falco." The hare greeted, sparing only glance to the avian as he entered.

“Sup, Pep." He replied, filling his mug back to the top and moving to the couch, flicking the TV on and flipping through the channels until he found the one he was looking for.

“In other news, reports of a strange individual in blue armor have been popping up all over Corneria Center…."

“I wonder who that could be." Falco chuckled, watching as the leonine newscaster delved deeper into the story. He often tuned into the one of the larger news corporations to see what was happening in the system, and this time it looked like this particular story catered to their personal interests.

“Eyewitness place this unknown individual in close proximity with Fox Mccloud, the System famed Mercenary captain." The usual array of shoddy images from personal comms devices popped up on the television, all clearly putting Six next to Fox as they exited the Starport.

“Since yesterday, rumors have spread on who exactly this person is, ranging from the assumptions that they are a new member of Team Starfox to a visitor from another System."

Those were actually pretty good guesses, though it probably didn't take a genius to come up with them. Not many people hung out with Fox, those that did tended to be pretty important.

Falco listened as the newscaster went deeper into speculation, going on for a few minutes before changing off to the early morning traffic reports.

“And just like that everybody goes on with their lives." Peppy muttered quietly to himself.

“Yeah, it'd probably take something really crazy to stay on the air for long." Falco agreed.

“I don't need publicity anyways." Six stood behind the couch, a mug of coffee in his hand just like the others. It was not often he drank anything more than water, but this time he was willing to make an exception.

The spartan took a sip from the dark liquid, finding that he particularly enjoyed the bitter flavor. “The sooner they forget I exist, the better."

The last thing Six wanted was public attention. Such would only interfere with his duties and intrude on his privacy. Spartans were often idolized in human media, the UNSC placing them as figureheads for the war, never had a spartan been logged to fall in battle, they were only ever reported as MIA or WIA. It was best if they were shown as an invincible fount for humanity to put their faith in. Yet not even he or his fellow S-IIIs would get even such an “honor" as that. They had been created with the intention to never exist, neither dead nor wounded, a fate far worse laid in wait for them, to be thrown away and forgotten.

“What about your claim to fame?" Falco wondered. “After all, you did pretty much stop the invasion."

“I told you some time ago." Six replied easily. “I do not fight for fame. I fight because I was bred to."

“Bummer…" Falco sighed.

Six shrugged, sitting at the end of the couch. _“Maybe for you…" _

The spartan pulled up his wrist, where he wore the only piece of his armor he felt he currently needed. Popping open the TACPAD's hardcase and booting it up, Six ran a diagnostic on the device he hardly used. It had proven little use to him during the fall of Reach. Now though, he suspected it might show itself to be more valuable. He wanted to catalogue all the information he had gained so far from his stay here, data on Venom and the CDF, the planet's he had visited and the ones he had yet to.

It took him a little time, but he managed to connect the TACPAD with the network the cornerians used. He had to hand it to them, their version of the internet was better than humanity's. From what he knew of it, the net could be used even between planets, and it spanned the entire system.

Six went through his coffee as he learned what he could about the fields that interested him, the spartan reading on modern weapons manufacturing to the latest advances in applicable military sciences. He wanted to know how they stood on a martial standpoint to humanity, as well as how expansive their territories were. He had a great deal of knowledge on the USNC, but that would not help him here. What he needed was a better understanding of the CDF, their strengths and their weaknesses.

From what he was reading, they were a republic, with an elected leader and a house of representatives, much like the UEG before martial law had been declared. Though, they filled little more than a peacekeeping role, with each planet ruling independently from the coalition. The exception being the CDF, the martial organization amassed from every planet and led entirely by a single figurehead, General Pepper.

The Defense Force seemed to field equipment far advanced than that which humanity had at their disposal upon the Covenant's entrance and ignition of the war. Yet, the balance of tech was at an odd angle. The CDF's ships had shields and energy weapons, yet their groundside forces seemed to lack effective armors and did not have shield technology like the navy.

Yet even the most basic human infantry armors were capable of withstanding some damage from Covenant plasma weapons. Six could deduce that they would prove to be equally effective against cornerian lasers, perhaps even superior to their current defensive gear.

Most human ships were also several leagues larger than their cornerian counterparts. The biggest cornerian vessel he had seen was barely the size of a standard UNSC cruiser. Furthermore, he was certain that no ship they possessed would be capable of surviving a single shot from a MAC cannon. Though was willing to bet their energy weapons would prove to be a challenge.

This was all hypothetical anyways, considering such occurrences would never happen. The likelihood of a UNSC ship being here, and going against the CDF were slim to none, completely inconceivable. It was just something that interested him as a soldier.

Six dug deeper into the net, pulling up starcharts and researching all he could on what cornerian scientist had explored of the stars, sifting through countless research papers and scientific journals with the goal to learn how far they had expanded.

An hour of perusing later he was able to uncover quite a bit on cornerian expansion, or rather the lack of it.

For whatever reason they seemed content with the small system they now occupied, though bigger than sol, it was still a shadow of what humanity had achieved. And judging from cornerian history, they had the capability of space travel for what seemed like a millennia, And in all that time not a single one has ever ventured further than the edge of Lylat. The spartan was intrigued by this, wondering why they had never gone farther. They certainly had a huge population if the city he saw was any indicator. Surely they would want to expand to relive the pressure on over population?

What was it that kept them bound here?

Tired of reading articles, Six closed the TACPAD. Such things could only interest him for so long. He was a man of action, which made his current predicament all that more infuriating. Knowledge was welcome, but if he never had the chance to use what he had learned then there was little point in having it.

The times where he was not needed were so few and far between that he had never developed habits on using his free time. Now with an abundance of such a once previously rare commodity, he knew not what to do. His weapons were still detained and his sabre was aboard The Great Fox, so he could not do that which he normally did.

This left the spartan at a loss. He supposed since he was now a part of a mercenary team, free time would be a common occurrence that he should adapt to. But while the idea of having time to himself was appealing, he did not want it to hinder his responsibilities as a spartan. Thus entailing that though he desired such things, he had to balance it with his already outstanding duties.

As long as he did not grow lax in those, he was willing to allow himself some leeway to pursue more social recreations, of which he had yet to determine.

For now, he supposed he could allow himself to sit here on the couch and……relax. Besides, he might be able to pick up some more information from the news network, while most in the colonies had been either propaganda or trivial bulletins, these hopefully might prove to be better.

*****

Eventually after some time, Six came to the conclusion that cornerian news was just as inane as what he had come to know. There was little information pertaining to the war, most of it just idle gossip about the frivolous attentions of the civilian masses. Fox and the team were referenced several times, news filtering in about their more recent exploits, though these broadcast also seemed to include him.

That did not make Six very happy.

It would appear that information had leaked pertaining to the incident on Zoness, which put him in the limelight. The news cut to the streets, where a reporter was attempting to gain the opinions of the general populace.

Not wanting to watch such meaningless drivel, Six rose from the couch and left to find a place more suited for him.

Six hoped Fox would return soon. The spartan was curious to know when the drop pod would be ready for deployment, he was eager to get back in action. He decided that it would be best for him to leave, before the den became too stifling.

The spartan entered the hall and in doing so, found Krystal to be within a few feet of him. The vixen was slightly bedraggled, her fur only partially brushed and lengthy blue hair out of order. A faint tiredness was still visible in her eyes and he wondered if she had some trouble sleeping the night before. Her health had come as a point of concern for him.

“Good morning Six." She greeted him with a warm, albeit tired tone and the customary friendly smile he was used to seeing.

“Good morning." He dutifully responded with a respectful tilt of his head_._ Six did not like seeing her so exhausted. “Are you…alright?" The inquired hesitantly.

The vixen grinned, her tail suddenly shifting into motion as it wagged happily back and forth. It seemed his question had perked her up a little bit.

“Yes I am, thank you for asking. And well...actually…" She turned tentative, wringing her paws with indecision.

Six waited silently for what she no doubt intended to ask, some favor he assumed.

“Six…would you care to…go for a walk?" She requested timidly, a strange red tint surfacing bellow the cream colored fur of her cheeks. The vixen's stance shifted, crossing her arms under her breasts and looking up to him expectantly.

Six frowned slightly. It was an odd request for her to make, but… He supposed it would be one he could acquiesce to. The spartan had intended to get some air anyways. This would kill two birds with one stone as it were. And if there was anything Six liked, it was efficiency.

He had not responded yet, and she was beginning to grow concerned, visible in her uncertain stance as the vixen's tail curled close to her legs.

“If that is your wish..." He replied, curtly nodding in acceptance. Six could see no harm in allowing her to join him.

“Great!" She yipped happily, her unease instantly vanished, replaced by an almost overwhelming display of joy as her tail once more flapped with new life and any anxiety on her muzzle was washed away amid the new flow of emotions.

Six did not know how to react.

“Indeed…" He agreed apprehensively, motioning for her to lead the way and following after the bouncing vixen as she directed him to the door.

He hoped this would not end up like the events earlier that morning.