Truth of the Rings 2 - The Heroes Of Earth

Part 1 - The Armory

Bones shattering. Popping. Bending in completely non human ways. Flesh tearing, expanding and forming new, horrific figures. Soldiers who would've given their lives to protect the UNSC and it's people, losing that opportunity by having their life stolen from them and re-used, just to be puppeteered by a Parasite.

Floyd stared into the Mark 6 helmet, in complete silence. Lost in thought already, much like he always was. The Yellow-Gold visor was captivating at first sight, and nobody could deny it. But that's not what he saw in that color. Not anymore. Fresh off the ring not so long prior, he had been having problems with bright colors. Neon Greens, Yellows, some forms of Bright orange, it brought him back to the Pillar in his mind. Sometimes the Library. It was a feeling he lacked the words to describe. And he really hated the feeling.

He felt a hard tap on his left shoulder, looking at the helmeted Man. There stood chief, wearing the same armor That Floyd wore currently. Back in reality, Floyd put the Helmet on and looked around in it as the Hud appeared.

The armor was much more flexible, and Maneuverable. He felt much less restrained without the giant box on his back or the strange shoulders That kept him from putting his hands over his head. The helmet seemed to protect better and overall the armor just... Felt better to wear. He felt more powerful and strong than before, and it gave him a small sense of enjoyment of the armor. And while he wasn't much for fashion, he had to admit - he loved the look of this Armor.

Stepping into the inhibitor, the rings lowered around him as the Armorer began speaking, seeming to continue and earlier sentiment that Floyd missed as he raised a power cell to the Spartans "Do you know how expensive this tech is son?"

Chief didn't miss a beat with his response, immediately re-filling Floyd's Morale with his words. "Tell that to the Covenant."

The Armorer continued "I guess it was outdated anyway. What you're wearing is the new Mark 6 armor. Shipped in this morning. First we are gonna test your targeting. Look at the top light."

The two Spartans looked at their top lights.

"Good, look at the bottom one."

The two did as they were told again.

"Alright, I'm turning off the inhibitors. Get a feel for the armor and meet me at the shield station."

Floyd stepped out of the inhibitors station and stretched his arms a little bit, trying a few stances from Various martial arts he knew and quickly switched between them, making sure he could still get into form by reflex at his top speed. The Armor was perfectly working, and there was no doubt about it.

The two Spartans stepped into their shield stations.

"The Mark 6's shields are much more resilient than the last one's." The Armorer turned the machine on and Floyd watched the shield meter fill. It seemed a little fast for the armor but attributed it to the station, until it broke and began charging at an even faster rate.

The Armorer laughed "Yeah! Now, notice how much faster it filled. If your shield breaks, find some cover and wait for it to charge fully."

"Or He can just hide behind me." As the Spartans looked at the new Voice, they saw a very nicely dressed Sergeant Johnson , waiting for them. "You done with my boys Master Guns? I don't see any training wheels..."

"Their armor's working fine Johnson. You're free to go sons, just remember. Take it slow."

Johnson led the two Spartans to the elevator. "Don't worry, I'll hold their hands."

As the Elevator got ready to leave, Master Guns started talking to the Sergeant. "Hey Johnson, when are you gonna tell me how you got off the ring?"

"Sorry Guns, that's classified." Johnson shook his head at the Armorer.

"Heh, My ass! You can forget abou-" the man was cut off by the elevator door shutting. The elevator began to ascend, bringing them to a small monorail type cart.

Johnson stepped inside, and looked out the window. ".... Earth. Beautiful isn't she..... "

He began describing the station's power and what the grid was to Chief but in reality, Floyd wasn't listening. He read the specs and such, he knew what they could do. But he couldn't draw his eyes away from earth. Johnson was right.... It was beautiful. The beautiful dark blue waters and green lands, or even the large bouts of tan areas all just clashed so perfectly. The light glow over the planet ever reflecting how angelic she looked. Mother Gaia never ceased to amaze Floyd when ever he laid eyes on it, and it just re-invigorated his desire to protect her and her inhabitants. Eventually the rail came to a Halt, and the Spartans turned around and began walking with Johnson. Marines clapped and cheered around them as they made their way towards the award ceremony.

Chief looked at Johnson as they walked, almost with a glare. "You told me there wouldn't be any cameras."

"And you told me you were gonna wear something Nice! Folks need heroes Chief. To give them hope. So smile would'ya? While we've still got something to smile about."

With those final words, Floyd began to understand even more why chief never talked. Looking around him and thinking about Johnson's words, he realized he was right back on the ring. He just didn't understand the scale. He thought once that Chief and him were inspiring their teams, and bringing them up to be better with morale. And that's why chief kept it on. And he was partially right. But it wasn't their teams. It was the entire UNSC that viewed them as Heroes. Champions of Humanity. It added a much bigger weight on his shoulders, but also....to some degree it was clarity and understanding. Something he lacked. And so Floyd looked ahead, and the trio entered the award ceremony in the bridge.