{"sf1_id":860005,"sf2_id":null,"title":"Legacy of the Precursors, Chapter 2: Somewhere Someplace","author":"Drake_The_Traveller","words":5955,"posted_at":"2015-05-12T05:44:00.000Z","tags":["Action","Anthro","Drama","Halo","Human","Starfox","Story Progression","Story Series","Violence (not In Yiff)"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/860005-legacy-of-the-precursors-chapter-2-somewhere-someplace","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/860005","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=860005\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"","content":"Legacy of the Precursors\nChapter 2: Somewhere Someplace\nMorality, like art,\nmeans drawing a line someplace...\n-Oscar Wilde\nSix blinked his eyes\nrapidly as he awakened, trying to clear his vision. That light had been so\nbright that even though his visor polarized, he had still been affected by it,\nand the affects lingered after he regained consciousness. While his vision\nreturned, so did his other facilities and the augmented human realized, that he\nwas sprawled on the ground. All he could see was darkness, and so he tried to\nrectify that problem by lifting his head, and it would not budge.\nConcerned, he gave it a\ngood tug and he managed to pull his head out of whatever it was that was\nrestricting him. His dark blue eyes perceived a discrepancy. The ground he was\nseeing was green and leafy, where as it should have been barren and steely. In\nfact, it looked more like a forest floor than anything else. Six lifted his\nhelm and took in the rest of his surroundings, and he frowned. \nWhy was he in a forest?\nThe Spartan-III\nappeared to be in an expansive forest clearing. The vegetation was alien, like\nnothing he had ever seen before. The trees that surrounded the clearing were a\ndeep verdant green and vibrant with life. Luckily, his suit was sensing no\nharmful foreign contaminants in the air and so it was not running on a closed\noxygen supply. He had no concept of how long he had been knocked out, and that\nwould have been a shameful way to die for a spartan, running out of air in his\nsuit and dying of asphyxiation. \nHis audio sensors could\nalso pick up the sound of wildlife and that worried the spartan. He had no idea\nwhere he was or what lived here. And then there was the other dilemma, he was\nnot alone. There were five bodies and scattered equipment from the lab. Two of\nthe bodies, were that of the marines that had accompanied him. And the others\nwere of the elites that had tried to kill him and succeeded in killing them.\nBut as much as he would have liked to worry about that, there was an even\nbigger problem. \nWhy was he in a forest?\nSeriously, what\nhappened? He should have died in that explosion, and yet....here he was, whatever\nand wherever here was. Six shook his head and climbed to his feet, immediately\nchecking for his weapons. \nHis rifle and pistol\nhad been stripped off of his body, and who knew where his kukri was. That loss\nhurt the most. That blade had belonged to Emile, and he had promised the\nspartan that he would take care of it for as long as he was alive. All he had\non him was his shotgun, and the combat knife sheathed on his breastplate.\nThat didn't bother the\nspartan, he had worked with less. Six then began the process of scouring the\nclearing for weapons and ammo. As he searched his fellow soldiers' bodies he\nrecovered an additional magnum, another shotgun, but no assault rifle. Along\nwith those was a handful of clips for the magnum and a further dozen shells for\nthe shotguns and a single rucksack. He would have to conserve his ammunition if\nhe ran into any trouble.\nOnce he was done with\nthe grim and necessary task of policing ammo from his fellow man, he turned his\nattention to the elites. He searched the first two, grabbing their plasma\nswords and liberating a pair of plasma grenades from them. Then he went to the\nother body, and moved to grab the plasma sword in the elite's death grip. \nBut as soon as he\nattempted to remove the weapon from the strong grip, the alien groaned and\nrolled over, exposing a kukri buried in his sternum. \nSix instantly backed up\na foot and leveled a shotgun at the elite. But, for some reason, he stayed his\nhand, returning the shotgun to its home on his back and staring at the silver\narmored alien that had been his foe. He had no desire to kill this alien, and\nit confused him. Why was that? Was it because of their circumstances? Both were\nstranded on whatever world this was and he had no success in trying to contact\nany human forces. For all intents and purposes it looked like they were both\nthe only ones here on this world. \nStill uncertain as to\nhis reasoning, the spartan sighed, gently removing the kukri. The alien's\nwounds were still bleeding though, and so with great hesitation, he bandaged\nhim up out of his own medical kit. As he was doing so, he fought with himself.\nWhy was he helping this alien? He had killed humans, his marines, and yet... He\ncould not bring himself to let the sangheili die. It was a bothersome thing.\nSix finished bandaging\nthe elite; he had done an okay job. He was not exactly in an unbiased mood and\nso it was not the best of wraps, but it would work. With that done, the spartan\ngrabbed a pair of zip-cuffs he had in a compartment and proceeded to tie up the\nunconscious sangheili. Once he was sure that he could not escape, the spartan\ndragged him to a tree and propped him up on it, confiscating his weapons.\nAnd with that problem\nmomentarily sorted, he returned to scavenging the clearing and scouting the\nimmediate area. He salvaged a few tables and set them up in the center of the\nclearing. From there he deposited every piece of equipment and weapon he had\ngathered, placing them in sections on the tables. As he looked over the gear,\nhe frowned.\nThe pickings were slim.\n\nHe had two shotguns\nwith fifty shells for the both of them, a magnum with ten clips to its name,\nthree plasma swords, three plasma grenades, two plasma repeaters, two plasma\npistols, a needle rifle with five canisters, a camo armor mod, an armor lock\nmod, and his recovered kukri. \nThis could either be\nnot enough weapons or too many, depending on what he had to deal with.\nEverything was in the unknowns at the moment. There was no telling what laid\nahead for him. \n\"What is the meaning of\nthis?\" A voice bellowed angrily, and with a hint of indignation.\nSix sighed....the\nsangheili was awake. The spartan looked over his bulky plated shoulder at the\nnow conscious alien that sat tied up next to a tree. His legs and his arms were\nsecured and so he just sat there, taking in the surroundings and his state of\nbeing, occasionally struggling. When his black reptilian eyes spotted Six, they\nnarrowed. \"You Demon, what is this sorcery? Where am I?\"\nThe spartan turned from\nthe table and stared at the sangheili. Now that he was awake, he would have to\nfind out what he was going to do with him. The spartan grabbed a shotgun off\nthe table and walked to within a few paces of the elite, still silently\nobserving him.\nThe elite showed not a\nsingle hint of fear as he sat there unflinching in the face of his possible\ndeath. Instead he glared at the spartan defiantly, waiting for him to speak. \nSix decided that he was\nnot going to play any games and he simply explained his situation, that he and\nby default the elite, were stranded on this strange world by even stranger\nmeans. It did not take any deep understanding of sangheili facial expressions\nto see the skepticism planted on it. \"You speak lies Demon!\" He snarled,\nstraining against his restraints. \nSix watched his\ninfantile rage dispassionately. He cared little if the elite believed him or\nnot. It would be no skin of his back either way. \"Have it your way.\" The\nSpartan-III shrugged and walked back to his table to tend at his supplies. \nThe elite glared at him\nbefore finally caving in. \"Blasted Demon, fine...I believe you.\" He grumbled the\nlast part sullenly. \"But, why have you captured me, if our roles were reversed.\nI would have killed you in an instant.\" It was brutal honesty, and Six could\nappreciate that....not that he liked the answer.\nSix looked back and\ntook a moment to answer. \"I don't know.\" He replied, equally honest, before\nreturning to his business. \nThe elite stared at him\nin confusion. This Demon confused him. If he had found himself on a strange\nworld with the Demon in his grasp, he would have killed him without a hint of\nhesitation or regret, their extinction was a mandate of the gods, and it was\nhis holy duty to fulfill it. But...this Demon gave him pause, he was strange. And\nto compact it, it would seem that he had fixed him up. He could see that his\nwounds had been bandaged.\nNow curious, he watched\nthe Demon as he worked, taking care of the things he had gathered. And when his\neyes spotted the sword of his ancestors in that Demon's grip he snarled. \"Don't\ntouch that!\" \nThe Demon paused and\nlooked back, dropping the hilt of the blade back onto the table. \"What...don't\ntouch this?\" The Demon asked, deliberately poking the blade with his grubby\nheretical gauntlet.\n\"Yes that!\" He snarled,\ntrying to break his bonds. \"That belongs to me and my ancestors; you defile it\nwith your touch!\" As he raved, the spartan stared at him. He would not have\nadmitted it, but the alien's anger amused him. \n\"And why should I?\" \nThe elite paused his\nraving. It was true; he was a prisoner and had no power over anything, not even\nhis fate. The only reason he was alive was because the Demon had dained not to\nkill him. \"Because.....it belongs to me, and my family,\" The sangheili sighed.\n\"Family.....\" The Demon\nmuttered softly.\nThe elite picked up on\nthat. \"Yes, family, that weapon has been in my family line for untold\ngenerations, it is a symbol of our keep's heritage.\" He watched as the Demon\nseemed to ponder that, it seemed that family struck a chord with the Demon, and\nthat was strange.\nAfter a minute of\nsilence, he sighed loud enough to be heard and walked back over to the elite,\nshotgun prepped once more. \"Look, we are both stranded here. We have nothing\ntying us to our superiors. It's just me...and you. So I have a proposition. I\nwill free you, but in return I demand a truce. I don't know what's out there on\nthis planet, but we have a better chance of surviving if we cooperate.\"\nThe elite mulled it\nover. It was true, there was no hierarchs here to order him around, but there\nwere the gods, and they were all seeing and knowing. \"I cannot go against the\nwill of the gods.\" \nThe demon nodded. \"Very\nwell, then I can't let you go.\" He turned and walked away. \"But we do have to get to\na better position We need a place we can\nfortify and hold.\" \n\"We...?\" The elite asked\nin confusion. \"Why we...why would you take me with you?\"\nAs the Demon started to\npack the rucksack he responded. \"I don't plan on killing you at the moment, nor\ndo I intend to leave you here.\" Once the bag was packed, he slung it onto his\narmored shoulders and walked back to the elite. He was holding his shotgun in\nhis arms, grenades on his waist, and the kukri that had recently made its home in\nhis abdomen was sheathed on the Demon's shoulder.\nHe reached down and\ngrabbed the elite's shoulder, pulling him up besides his protests. \"You can\npick the way we go.\" \nThe elite growled, but\npointed in a random direction.  \"There...\" \nThe Demon patted him on\nthe shoulder. \"That's the spirit.\"\n**********\nBefore they left the\nclearing, the spartan-III did what he could for his fallen marine brethren; he\ngrabbed their tags and dug graves for them with the only tools he had...his\nhands. He had also decided to bury the elite's, it was a decision he came to as\nhe worked. They had fought like warriors and in doing so, earned his respect.\nSix may have forgotten much of his childhood, but he did not forget his\nheritage. He had been born on a mainly Scandinavian colony in the outer arm of\nhumanity's influence. And in so, his youth had been saturated with tales of\ntheir proud warrior traditions. It was something that stuck worth him despite\nthe atrocities that befell his colony. Yet, he would have gladly forgotten\nthat, just to be able to recall his mother's, or his father's face. All he saw\nwhen he tried were blank faces; he couldn't even remember the sound of their\nvoices, just a hum his mother used to use to help him fall asleep. Those\nthoughts were not conductive to a healthy mindset and so he crushed them\nswiftly. He had no need of his family now; they were far gone anyways, turned\ninto glass. His thoughts would be better used to try and figure out what it was\nthat he was going to do now.\nHe had an alien\nprisoner; he was stranded on a foreign world and had no contact with any UNSC\nforces. In fact, by rights he should be dead, that explosion should have\ncompletely evaporated him. And yet instead it seemed like something happened\nthat he had not anticipated. But then again, he shouldn't really be that\nsurprised, Slipspace technology was still uncharted terrain. Humanity\nunderstood little of its true properties. He knew that it was composed of seven\ndimensions and the laws of physics changed drastically when involved with it.\nThe concept of dimensions and physics worried the spartan to no end. It was an\nunexplainable and controllable variable with an almost infinite amount of\nunknown variations. Basically, to dumb it down, no Intel was solid when\nconcerning slipspace, and he hated fluid Intel. It was always changing and\nwarping in ways one could never be prepared for.\nHis thoughts occupied\nhis mind for several hours as he and his unwilling companion plodded through\nthe thick jungle, and it didn't help that night had fallen and it was raining\nharshly. Six was protected by his suit from the muggy oppressive air and\nintense sleeting rain while the elite, with his open helm, suffered through it.\n\nThe spartan led the way\nas they marched through the vegetation and pouring rain. He hoped that they\nwould soon find something to orientate on, something to get their bearing and\ntake shelter in. As he walked, he could hear the elite grumbling to himself, as\nhe had been since they started moving. And the Spartan-III wondered for the\nhundredth time why he was letting this sangheili travel with him, let alone\nletting him live. And he was still fuzzy on the reasoning. \nAnd yet before he could\nproperly consider it, he spotted something through the thick canopy of the\njungle amidst the darkened sky, something large and looked to be of sentient\nconstruct. \n\"Looks like a\nstructure.\" Six announced, pointing at the gape in the tree line. A crack of\nlightning briefly illuminated the odd structure. The spartan's keen eyes and\nenhanced targeting software allowed him a defined look at the massive building.\nIt was made entirely of some sort of black alloy, and familiarity rung inside\nof his head at the sight of it. He couldn't place it, but the structure was\nfamiliar in some way, as if he had seen its like before. \nThe elite did not\nrespond which sent alarm bells clanging inside his head, the alien had always\nresponded to his inquires, despite whether or not it was what he wanted to\nhear. The spartan quickly ripped his head around, expecting to either see the\nalien gone or about to attack him. But instead he saw the elite crouched by a\ntree. \nThe spartan was baffled\nas to why the alien was doing that, if lighting was going to strike, it was\nbetter to be away from trees, which naturally drew it. But, a faint sound soon\nwhispered its way into his audio sensors and the spartan understood.\nThey were about to have\ncompany.\nA strange guttural\ntongue...far removed from sangheili dialect or any known Covenant vernacular,\nfound its way slipping through the trees to the west of their current position.\nAnd judging by the alien's response, they were either unfriendly or he did not\nknow who they were either.\nThe spartan was not\ngoing to take any chances; he cocked the pump of his shotgun and moved to\ncrouch beside the elite. It was at this moment he would have berated himself\nfor choosing the armor colors he did. It was hard to conceal a cerulean giant,\ncovered in white Nordic runes. But it was the only thing he could remember of\nhis heritage and so he would not have it any other way. It was the only thing\nthat had singled him out from his fellow spartan-IIIs' It was his identity, his\ndistinguishing mark. It was his identity.\n\"Demon, release me!\" He\nheard the elite whisper loudly beside him. The alien was crouched down\nawkwardly, legs and arms restrained by the zip-cuffs. \"I will not suffer an\nignoble death!\"\n\"Quiet!\" Six hissed,\npushing the protesting elite into the tree for cover. It was possible that\nwhoever was approaching was not hostile, (the spartan checked to makes sure\nthat his shotgun was ready to fire), not that he would willingly bid on that.\nThey waited in silence,\nuntil the owners of the guttural voices made themselves know. And when they\ndid, Six sighed.\nWhy did it have to be\nlizards?\nOut of the darkness,\ntwelve large bipedal reptiles of various sizes and colors in what appeared to\nbe in some sort of primitive armor, marched into sight. Half of them also had\nwhat looked like blunderbusses in their tri digited claws, while the remaining\nones wielded an assemblage of medieval weapons, axes, swords, maces and the\nlike. These creatures very loosely reminded him of elite's. Yet they were far too\nsmall and unintimidating to truly resemble sangheili. \nSix watched them\ncarefully as they made their way down the animal trail they had been following,\nheading towards the structure like he had been. The lead saurian was blue and\nstood at an excessive height, taller than Six. And the spartan was nothing to\nscoff at, being seven feet tall when in armor. It was a massive beast to be\nsure, and all the more reason for him to let them go. He had no idea if these\nstrange aliens were hostile or friendly, but by judging their attire and\nattitude as they growled and stomped through the foliage, it was safe to assume\nthat they were in fact, not the friendliest bunch of aliens one would like to\nmeet. \nThe problem was that\nthe aliens were heading in the same direction as they were. And he did not like\nthat at all. There were only two ways of getting past them, sneaking, which he\ndid not think would work with a bound sangheili in tow, or following at a\ndistance. Neither options were popular in the spartan's opinion. \nYet even as he was\nthinking on what to do, the wind suddenly shifted, sending a gust towards the\nmarching group of saurians. Almost instantly, the massive blue scaled beast at\nthe front of the party halted, raising his scaled snout and meaty fist as he\nsniffed the air. He turned to his companions and barked a quick command in his\nlanguage, turning them back around. \n\"Shit....\" Six muttered.\nIt would seem that they\nhad incredibly sensitive noses, and had probably picked up on the foreign\nscents clinging to Six's and the elite's armor. After all, he was still\nsplattered with dried blood of both humans and aliens, not to mention that they\nmust have smelled of things they had never smelt before, if he assumed their\ntechnological level correctly. Unfortunately the rain had not been pouring long\nenough to wash their scents away.\nAs the party of aliens\napproached, the elite beside him increased in his demands to be let go. \"Hear\nme Demon, release me from these confines. I will not abide a foolish and\nhelpless death. If these...creatures, desire a fight, then let me fight!\"\n\"Not a chance\nsquid-head. I can't trust you.\" The spartan retorted quietly, once more shoving\nthe elite back down roughly from his raised position. \"If things go south, I'll\ntake care of it.\" \nThe elite snarled at\nhis remark. \"You think me an honorless beast!?\" \n\"No, you're an enemy\nthat's why.\" The spartan hissed in retort as he watched the reptilians close\nin. Once they were within range, he had to come to a decision. He could try and\nreveal himself, or he could fire on them without the benefit of the doubt.\nAnd yet, these aliens\nwere completely different than the Covenant, and just because they looked evil,\ndid not necessarily mean that they were. And so with that in mind, Six made a\nvery, very, very hard choice, he shrugged\nof his rucksack and his deep seated hatred for aliens, the decades long rage\nthat had consumed him, and stepped out of hiding. \nWhereas, he promptly\nreceived a slug to the breastplate, sparking off of his shields in a dazzling\ndisplay of light and dropping his shields four percent, eliciting a sigh from\nthe spartan. It would seem that his luck with aliens would remain unchanged. \nThat only ignited the\nspartan's deep seated hatred for aliens and he growled as he charged at the\nclosest creature. They had the advantage in numbers, and so he would take that\naway from them, one death at a time. \nHis first target was a\nshort and stocky yellow saurian with a mace and round shield. It snarled as it\nraised its guard and charged him.\nSix punctually pulled\nthe trigger and emptied a full shell of buckshot into his opponent. The pellets\nshredded right past the flimsy shield at such a close range and then proceeded to\nburrow into the reptiles hide and flesh. The force of the shot also tossed it backwards\nand he saw bright red blood spew into the air as it tumbled to the ground in a\nnerveless heap. \nIt would seem that his\nweapons could easily breach the alien's armor, and so he placed his shotgun\naway. It would be a waste of ammo to use on them. There might be things on this\nworld that would be more suitable candidates. And he had only a finite supply to\nuse.\nFour slugs ricocheted\noff of his shields as he grabbed the kukri sheathed on his shoulderplate. He\nturned to his left to see the culprits, a group of large green reptiles. Six\ncharged them, weaving through an additional two slug fired from his left, and smashing into the first dark green scaled beast. \nHis half-a-ton of\nweight decimated the alien, and he could hear the sharp snapping of bones as\nthe unfortunate saurian flew into a tree with a sickening crunch. Six soon after\ndarted to his left, evading the stock of a gun and spun to face his attacker.\nThe saurian glared at him with a fang filled maw and bellowed into the spartan's\nhelmet. In return, he jammed his kukri into its sternum and used his immense strength\nto tear the blade in a horizontal line. The monomolecular diamond carbide blade\neasily carved through, flesh, steel, and bone, and the spartan ripped it\noutwards, followed by a crimson arterial rain.\nThe reptile had no\nvoice to use as it collapsed to the frigid rain soaked ground in a pool of its\nown blood as Six sheathed his blade.\nSix felt a weight slam\ninto his shoulder and turned to see an axe wielding creature stumble backwards,\narm jarred by the deflected blow. The strength of the hit had dropped his\nshields by thirty-five percent.\nSix whipped around, faster\nthan a snake, and grabbed the saurian's clawed hand and squeezed. It howled in pain\nand sunk to its knees as the bones in its arm turned to powder. Then, the\nspartan tore the axe out of its grip and brought it scything down into its\nneck. \nThe reptile's head flew\nfrom its shoulders in a wash of gore and it went rigid, hitting the ground like\na rock. Six turned to his left in the same motion, and hurled the weapon at a\nrifle-bearing creature. The large heavy axe smashed into its chest and crumpled\nits armor, sending the beast to the floor. \nA slug impacted his\nspine, swapping his attention to the short blue creature holding the gun. Six growled\nat it and fluidly tossed his combat knife after taking it out from its sheath.\nThe blade split the air as it hurtled towards its target, slamming into the saurian's\ncranium between the eyes. \nWithout pausing, the\nspartan rushed the last two rifle saurians, crashing into both of them. He grabbed\nboth by their throats and lifted them off their feet. His gauntlets constricted\nand their necks twisted at an odd angle. He tossed the limp bodies and turned to\nsee his last few targets. \nThe last four enemies consisted\nof three yellow reptiles and the hulking blue monstrosity. The large azure\nbeast watched him with a spark of intelligence in his eyes and ordered his\nunderlings to go first with a roar. \nThe three smaller\nreptilians charged, weapons brandished high in the air. They were poorly\ncoordinated and would be easy targets. \nSix tore them apart. \nHe caught the first saurian's\nsword by the blade and brought it hammering down into its skull, cleaving it in\ntwain. A mace flew by his head and he swerved under it, socking the alien\nin the chest with his full force. Its steel armor did not save it. Instead, his gauntlet\nfolded the armor and broke past it, as he pierced through the beast's chest and\nout the other side. Blood flowed out of its jaws as it plummeted to the jungle\nfloor.\nThe last yellow armored\nreptile attempted to run, and the spartan snatched its fleeing tail. He pulled\nhard and ripped the tail off, roping it around the saurian's throat and choking\nthe life out of it. He was so blinded by rage that he almost didn't feel the\nmassive mace as it careened into his helm, shattering his taxed shields and\nsending him tumbling into a tree, shattering the large oaken giant. The tree\nthen ponderously crashed down, pinning the spartan to the ground and allowing\nhis attacker to saunter over at his leisure.\nThe giant azure saurian\nstrolled over and placed a clawed foot onto the fallen tree pinning him to the\nground. \"Fhofuho ke tao!\" It\nbarked in a short grating chuckle and raised its broad headed mace and prepared\nto send it crashing down onto the spartan's helmet.\n\"Fuck you!\" Six snarled\nat the creature. If his helmet was off, he would have spit on its snout in\ndefiant contempt. \nBefore it could land\nthe final blow, a flash of silver collided with the behemoth and knocked it off\nbalance. That gave the spartan the time he needed to free himself from the\nfallen tree and confront his foe.\nThe spartan was shocked\nto see that the elite had tackled the saurian and now sat helpless at its feet,\narms and legs constricted, by the spartan's hands. \nThe mace wielding monster\nwas set on spending his rage on his new victim, only for his head to explode in\na cascade of gore. He fell to the ground, revealing the spartan behind him,\nshotgun barrel smoking. \nSix grabbed the elite's\nshoulder and lifted him up to his hooves, gently. \"You...saved my life.\" The\nspartan muttered in confusion. He had full expected the elite to let him die,\nand even rejoice in his death.\nThe elite snorted\nsimply. \"I was merely repaying a debt I did not wish to owe, Demon. You healed\nmy injuries, and so I saved your life. It was nothing more than that.\"\nThe spartan nodded silently,\nunsheathing his kukri and advancing on the elite. The alien eyed him warily. \nThere were two quick\nslashes and the cuffs fell to the ground. \"What is the meaning of this, Demon?\"\nHe demanded, rubbing his wrists and watching the spartan carefully.\n\"I think...that I can\ntrust you.\" The spartan replied as he turned his back on the sangheili and\nstrode over to his rucksack, picking it up.\n\"And what makes you\nthink that?\" The elite asked curiously. \"I could try and kill you at any time.\"\nThe spartan made a\ngrating nose that the elite eventually figured out, was laughter. \"I have a\nfeeling that you won't.\" He responded in an annoyingly confident tone. He\npulled two things out from the bag and approached the elite. \"Here, you can\nhave these back.\" It was the hilt of an energy sword, a single plasma repeater,\nand a lone plasma grenade.\nThe elite warily took\nthe weapons, staring at the spartan in wonder. It baffled him as to why the\nDemon was placing so much trust in him, his mortal enemy. \"Why?\" He asked.\n\"There's a saying\namongst my people.\" The Demon replied, turning to resume their interrupted journey.\n\"The enemy of my enemy is my friend, and it looks like we both just inherited a\nlot of enemies.\"\nThe sangheili watched\nthe retreating armored figure of the Demon. He could have shot him, or killed\nhim with his sword. But instead the elite shook his mandibled head in bewilderment\nand followed after him.\nAs the spartan walked\nin the direction of the strangely and enticingly familiar black structure, he\nlooked up to the sky deep in thought. He had expected the elite to betray him, killing\nhim while his back was turned.\nAnd it wouldn't have\nbothered the spartan that much. \nSix had nothing to give\nhim purpose any more, nothing to motivate him to want to live. Before all of\nthis oddness, it had been his duty to humanity that gave his life purpose, but\nnow that he was here, he didn't know what to do. \nAll he had pushing him\nonwards was his desire to see what that fortress like building was, he felt\ncompelled to go and uncover it, as if something was drawing him towards it.\nThat feeling was what was holding him together.  If nothing arose from his discovery.....\nThe spartan did not\nwant to consider what he would do then; it would mostly entail staring down the\nbarrel of his shotgun. \nSuicide was not common\namongst spartans, but that was mostly because they tended to not live long\nenough to contemplate it. Spartans...were guided by a stringent code of beliefs,\ntheir duty to humanity and her colonies. Take that away from them, and they had\nnothing. There was nothing waiting for them once the war ended, if it ever did.\nSix could never see himself living the life as a civilian. His rigorous training\nand indoctrination had stolen that away from him...stolen his future away from\nhim. All he was now was a warrior without a cause, a man without a purpose. \nPurpose.....\nWhat had been his\npurpose anyways? To fight and die for something he could never experience,\nfreedom, happiness, a family...love. It was all denied to him. \nThe spartan frowned as\nhe crested over a rise and looked back down to see that the elite, was\nfollowing him. \nThen there was him. He\ncould have blamed his sudden compassion towards the alien for when he had saved\nthe spartan's life. But the truth was he just didn't want another enemy at the\nmoment. He didn't think he could stand having to constantly watch over him and his\nback. So he had decided to roll the dice. And the dice landed in his favor. \nSix's brooding lasted\nlong enough that he reached the outskirts of the strange structure. And it was immediately\nreplaced by a sense of awe.\nThe obsidian fortress\nwas larger than he gave it credit. There was a massive bridge that spanned from\nthe end of the hill he stood on and all the way to the center of the nest of\nspires. Rain fell in sheets as far as the eye could see and he could feel the\nwind tugging him forwards, as if it was urging him onwards. For some reason, he\nfelt as if his destiny awaited him in that forest of black steel.\nHe heard the weighty\ntrod of hooves as his companion stopped besides him. \"That is a most wondrous\nsight.\" \nThe spartan looked to\nthe elite, who had been taking in the staggering vista with wide eyes and slack\nmandibles. \"I think for once, elite, we can agree on something.\" \nThe elite shifted his\nattention to the spartan and sneered. \"My name is not elite, it is Varn'Natan.\"\n\"My name is not Demon, it's Six.\" The spartan retorted. \nVarn stared at him hard\nbefore chucking softly. \"So it is, so it is.\"\nSix shook his head and\nushered the elite forwards. \"Come on, let's check this place out. Maybe we can\nfind something useful and plan our next step.\"\nWith that said, both\nspartan and elite began to traverse the expanse of bridge and into the heart of\nthe strange fortress. And as the spartan was walking, he spotted a flash of movement\non his peripherals. He looked up and zoomed in on a flying object with his HUD.\nIt appeared to be some\nsort of reptilian creature, with a blue object on its back. It was too far out\nto tell what, but it was obvious that the creature had a rider. \"It looks like\nwe are not the only ones here.\" Six informed Varn, motioning for him to look\nup. \nThe elite complied and\nspotted what the spartan had seen. \"It matters not.\" Varn replied simply. \"If\nthey wish to fight, they will die.\"\nThe spartan agreed and\nthey picked up their pace.\n**********\nFar above them, amid\nthe rain swept skies and high winds, the figure sitting atop the winged\nsaurian, stared at the majesty of the black citadel, and home to the distress\nbeacon she had picked up. \nIt would seem that the\nearthwalkers were in dire need of help. And though she was trying to find who\nwas responsible for the destruction of her homeworld. She was willing to\npostpone that in order to help. \nShe signaled for her\ncompanion to set her down somewhere inside of the citadel and he complied,\nswinging down to a lower altitude in order to drop her off near one of the\nspires, on a balcony. As he descended, the women spied out two figures crossing\nthe large bridge leading into the center if the fortress. Her sharp eyes picked\nup that one was dressed in silver and the other blue and white, much like her\nfur color. \nThe girl was intrigued\nby these two strangers as they did not appear to be sharpclaw, even from this\ndistance. But her curiosity could be satisfied later, for now she had a job to\ndo. \nHer winged guide set\nher down near the center and bowed. \"Thank you for your assistance.\" She said\nin the saurian tongue, bowing in return.\nThe cloud runner nodded\nhis beaked head. \"Of course Lady Krystal, when you need me, I'll come.\" He then\ntook off, disappearing into the night sky.\nShe watched him depart\nbefore turning and walking into the massive doors leading into the citadel.","previous":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/859598-legacy-of-the-precursors-chapter-1-lost.json","next":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/863123-legacy-of-the-precursors-chapter-3-destiny.json"}