Reach for Halo

Home, Sweet Home

I'm slowly shaken awake. Groaning, I open my eyes to see Six's face right in front of mine, her brown eyes glowing almost hypnotically in mine. 

Mutasim: Six...? 

Noble Six: Enjoy your nap? Cmon. We're back on Earth. 

Nodding, I yawn and stretch my limbs before standing up. Six leads the way out of the ship and I follow after her. Upon leaving the ship, I feel the sun shine down on us. A relaxed sigh leaves my mouth as I take a deep breath of air. Looking around, I see we're in the middle of an airfield, surrounded by man-made aircrafts. Though along with the aircrafts, there were also plenty of soldiers around us, murmuring amongst themselves. 

Mutasim: Were we expecting a welcoming party? 

Cora: No. But I suppose flying to Earth in a Covenant ship was bound to draw attention. 

Emerging from the crowd of soldiers was an older man with various medals pinned to his chest. I immediately recognised him as Lord Hood. I take a deep breath. 

Mutasim: I'll uh... Let you do the talking, Six. 

Noble Six: Really? You're gonna throw this on me? 

Mutasim: Hey, I did all the work getting us out of Covenant hands. 

Noble Six: Fair enough. 

Lord Hood: Noble Six. Care to explain why you and this civilian flew back to Earth in a Covenant aircraft? 

Noble Six: We were captured by the Covenant fleet that destroyed Reach. But, after a duel with terms, we were allowed to leave. I already checked the ship for a tracker of any kind. No such luck finding one. 

Lord Hood: I find it difficult to believe that the Covenant would just let their own prisoners free. 

Cora: With all due respect Lord Hood, while the Elites may be part of the Covenant, they still retain some sense of honour. 

I pull out Cora, allowing her to reveal herself. The older man nods. 

Lord Hood: I see. You must be one of the Cortana AIs, Halsey mentioned. 

Cora: Yes. 

Lord Hood: Civilian, I'll need to ask you to hand it over. 

Cora: Not so fast. I've chosen him as my carrier. He's held his own during Reach and has contributed to saving lives better than most marines. If you don't take my word for it, you can ask the Spartan. She fought alongside him. 

He turns to Six who simply nods. 

Noble Six: It's true sir. Mutasim's a resourceful asset, able to use just about any form of weaponry he can get his hands on. If it weren't for him, I don't think some of the missions could've been pulled off successfully. 

Lord Hood looks at me and nods. 

Lord Hood: Very well. But like every other marine, you'll need to go through training. Even if you've proven your worth, we have a system in place for soldiers. If you want to continue fighting the Covenant, you'll need to be apart of it. Do I make myself clear? 

Mutasim: When do I start? 

Lord Hood: I like the attitude. You start tomorrow. Today, get some rest. After hearing what happened to Reach, I say the two of you deserve a break. 

With that said, he walks away, leaving Six and I alone with each other (and Cora). I put the AI back into my pocket and sigh. 

Mutasim: Great. Now I've gotta go through marine training. 

Noble Six: Compared to Reach? It'll be... umm... 

Her cheeks flush red a little. 

Noble Six: W-What's the expression again? 

Mutasim: "It'll be a piece of cake"?

Noble Six: Yeah. That's the one. 

Mutasim: You seriously didn't know what the expression was? 

Noble Six: If you've played the Halo games, don't you know what Spartans' childhoods were like? 

Mutasim: Yeah, fair point. But you mean to tell me the entire time you've been part of the military, you've never heard of it? 

Cora: I'm in agreement with Mutasim. That surprises me too. 

The Spartan sighs and shakes her head, her cheeks still red from embarrassment. 

Noble Six: L-Let's just move on from this. 

Chuckling, I nod with a small smile. 

Mutasim: Alright. No more teasing. Even if it is cute. 

Her face burns up even more from the remark and I can't help but smile at her. 

Though now, I wasn't sure what to think if I was gonna go through standard training right after Reach. Was there really any point to it?