Legend said four great Heroes would be summoned from their worlds into this one to fight the Waves of Calamity.
Spear, Sword, Bow and Shield. Those four came into this world not long ago, but not as they were supposed to, either...
Now, a Fifth is to be summoned. He is not a Hero. He is not a Villain.
He is an equalizer.
None will die under his watch, but he would kill all if he had to...
A Noble, Lost in Time, now joins our heroes... And in the nick of time too...
D:UNKNOWN, M:UNKNOWN, Y:2552,
UNSC Standard Calendar.
Unknown World.
IFF Tag:B312
Status:Alive
Rolling onto the floor and stopping into a crouch, a heavily armored soldier drew his Designated Marksman Rifle off his back and aimed about. Destroyed Middle-European Gothic Housing, strange creatures milling about and a sky colored a mix of blood and other paints hanged around and above him. A swarm of giant wasps came down upon the village like a plague and ahead of him, he saw that those 'creatures', reanimated undead in Knights' armors, from the looks of things, were attacking civilians... He had a feeling that wasting ammo would be a bad idea, since there seemed to be dozens more creatures approaching.
He holstered his rifle, then surged forth, cocking his fist back and delivering a hard first hit into the back of one of the Zombies' heads, pulverizing it and sending the corpse toppling through its other friends, before stopping the slash of a sword with his gauntlet. His shields flared, but he managed to literally disarm the thing by tearing its arm off, before severing its head clean off.
He spun about and delivered a roundhouse to another, breaking it in two, before taking another's sword and cutting his way through to the civilians, one of which went bug-eyed upon sighting the armored fellow cutting his way through the undead creatures. He halted beside them, gutting a trio of Giant Wasps with one slash, before ditching the sword as it dulled. He disarmed another Zombie, taking a long spear and throwing it through a trio of the Wasps.
He looked to his right as he heard the telltale clang of a sword against shield and saw a man clad in a green cloak, with medium-weight Knight's armor on... Following him was a ginger girl with raccoon ears and a bushy tail, who wielded a sword. She slashed clean across the monster's back, before both helped out a civilian who was wounded to get out with the others...
The Spartan slammed his armored forehead against another Zombie, pummeling his head in, before sweep-kicking underneath a squadron of 5 others and kicking their heads to bloody pulps. He watched as the guy with the shield, which had an emerald gem in its forefront, come up and halt a strike that would've clipped his shields, but nothing much else, before the Sword Raccoon gutted the other creatures around them.
The guy turned toward the Spartan, before asking "Who are you!?"
All he got was a shrug, before the giant in armor jumped over him fast enough to pummel another creature to the floor, its bones cracking and breaking under the weight of his armor's boots. And the rest of it. The Spartan's shield flared as he heard another blade slash across the back of his armor, with no damage to him. The weapon, did break... The creature, meanwhile, flew ten feet back, slamming into one of the destroyed buildings and turning into fine red paste.
"Not someone I wanna mess with... Noted." The Shield Wielder said, pummeling a pair of monsters and allowing his companion to slice clean through them. He turned to the Civilians and said "Go! Help evacuate! I'll distract the Undead!" to which he saw the Raccoon Girl's eyes widen. He turned to her and said "Raphtalia, I need you to help them! I'll be fine, so go do it, yes?!"
Helpless to the situation, the girl gave a nod, before showing the others to follow. The Spartan looked to the Shield Wielder, then shook his head and took his combat stance... To which the guy simply said "If you're sticking around, I'll need help..." yet again receiving a single, almost imperceptible nod from the Spartan. The Shielder chuckled dryly and said "Man of Few Words."
Said 'Man of Few Words' preferred, in this case, to talk combat. He and the Shielder cut swathes through the horde of monsters within the village, saving many a civilian in their charge. The Spartan kept taking weapons from the monsters, using them until they're to dulled to use and throwing them aside. In the midst were a squadron of giant bull-sized humans, clad in what looked to be the most painful armor yet, including a grated helm that resembled a grill. They wielded in one hand large axes for which you'd normally need two hands. Good enough weapons, Six would say...
He slid under one of the monsters, dodging one of the slashing attacks it tried to send, before jumping to his feet and delivering nine punches into the thing's back, breaking important bones and even parts of the spine. He climbed on its back, grabbed its head with both hands and... A loud snap and crack sounded off as the Monster collapsed, its spine broken at the base of the neck, head twisted for its empty, red eyes to stare at the Spartan in shock. He grabbed the War Ax of the monster from the floor, before cutting through a herd of smaller zombies like they were small trees to be felled.
Another was grabbed by the head. The Spartan squeezed until the skull exploded in his open palm, rotting blood dissolving onto his palm. The Shielder, meanwhile, deflected attacks and dodged through wasps and blades. He had a flaming piece of wood which Six had no idea how he had gotten, but for now chose to ignore as they lead the monsters toward a wooden watch-tower in the city center.
Covering each-other, the two went together to the tower... He showed the Shielder to do his thing as he slashed and sliced at the monstrosities charging them with calm rarely seen in any soldier. He watched the Shielder as he set ablaze the tower behind him, then jumped out, with monsters burning around said tower. The man safely landed, utilizing a rope item he had on him, before landing next to Six.
The Spartan gave an approving nod, before hearing the slashes of a sword. He looked to see the Raccoon Girl, Raphtalia, the Shield Guy had called her, joining in. She sliced and stabbed her way through several monsters as she joined them, then smiled "Master Naofumi! It's so good to see you're well!" before turning to the Spartan and saying "And thank you for helping him, sir."
Six gave a light nod, before hearing a whistle. He gasped, powering his shields to maximum, before Naofumi also took cover... A swarm of flaming arrows flew in over the wooden walls of the settlement, pinging off Six's shields and off of 'Naofmi's own, seemingly energy-based shielding. The Spartan covered his visor by crossing his hands in front of his face and the arrows harmlessly dropped to the floor, snapping in half and extinguishing... Several monsters died, but the archers nearly killed them too...
He watched as a merry band of knights stepped in, grinning to their ears about their victory... Their smug commander, a possible Nobleman, stepped up... Naofumi and Raph wanted to talk to them, but Six was the first to walk up to and grab the Commander by the Collar, hoisting him above his head. The Knights surrounded Six, raising swords and shields...
"Let go of me, you petulant child!" The Knight demanded of the seven and a half, perhaps eight foot tall soldier hoisting him in the air just above his head. For the Shielder and his Raccoon Sword Girl, it was kind of hilarious. Until it wasn't... Six dropped the Knight, as per request, but drew his Battle Ax and stopped a strike that was about to hit a kid, what felt like a squire. A second strike was stopped by the Shielder... And the Sword of the girl gutted the monsters relentlessly, dropping the corpses to the floor.
The Spartan looked to the Knight Commander, who seemed terrified, before walking up to him, Battle Ax in one hand and a clenched fist as the other. He picked the man up from the dirt, set him on his feet, then showed him to go on forth... Growling, the Commander ordered "MOVE! We go to assist the other heroes!" as they walked... The Kid six and Shielder had rescued looked at the trio with a joyous gaze... And his Platoon Commander ordered against the Knight's own, "We stand to help the Shield Hero! Phalanx Formation!"
"The Knights!" Raph said happily, watching as the soldiers moved in to help them... Six nodded to the Knights as they began to help...
After a while, the tears in the sky had vanished. And the starry night sky came back to the world... The subsequent trip to the Capital of the country they were in was rather quiet for the Spartan. He sat in one of the carriages, checking up ammunition count in his DMR, before looking at the rest of his gear. An MA37K AR, an SRS99 sniper and a Magnum M6D Pistol. Beside them resided his Kukri, a similar one gifted to him by one of his teammates and an Energy Sword hilt. The weapon was turned off, but still shined and arched with energy and the Covenant's symbolism...
"... Can't believe the kid and Sergeant helped the Shield Hero today..." Muttered a knight that was on the carriage with him, thinking Six couldn't hear his conversation.
"Tell me about it... Rumor has it he forced himself on the princess and that's why everyone hates him as such... Ya think it's true?" The other Knight asked.
"I don't know. I'm just a soldier... I follow orders. But if I were to hazard a guess, aye, it's true..." The Knight said calmly, sharpening his sword. For someone who'd have forced himself on the local princess, the Shield Hero... Naofumi... Seemed pretty normal. Hell, he got a hint of passive aggressiveness in his voice. It was probably due to these 'rumors', possibly spread by the Nobleman's Daughter.
... Something to look into and correct.
"Oi, Knight." One of the soldiers said, taking his attention to him. He nodded and the trooper continued "The king has asked to see you, Shield Hero and his Slave in person... The other heroes will be present there, so behave." to which the Spartan hummed. So he had an audience to tear down the rumors... If they were untrue. He'd have to look at the woman's posture and such to understand if the allegations were true or just bullshit... And he'd need to hear Naofumi's side of the story too. He stowed his weapons on his person, then waited...
The Arrival to the Palace was greeted by a party for all heroes... Six made a mental note to sit far from Naofumi for the time being. As the Heroes sat in front of the King, the man watched every little detail in the movement of the red-haired woman sitting next to the King, whom he imagined was the Princess. She stared at the Shield Hero and had a faint grin on her face... Her body motion suggested no fear, instead a trailing smug aura... Aside that, her body language seemed to intone a belief of superiority, not what she reports would have happened to her. He knew too little of the events or when they'd transpired, but even now, she'd have fear visible in at least body language when looking at the would-be rapist. Her eyes, however, flickered with joy as she saw the man suffer... The Spartan scowled behind his helmet... This was not going to fly.
"Ah, sire... We must also add we found another Knight fighting alongside the Shield Hero in the village... But the two do not seem to be friends." One of the Guards whispered to the king. "He was protecting the populace..." He then pointed to the Spartan clad in Black armor, with red accents, sitting idly in a shaded corner, his azure visor scanning the surrounding area. He looked to the King as the man too looked at him, before he was waved forward.
The Spartan took a step beside the four heroes confidently, arms crossed. To his left was Shield Hero, Naofumi...
"Greetings, fair knight." The King spoke, feeling as the air suddenly got a hint colder when the soldier had walked up. The soldier simply gave a light nod to the man, glaring daggers from behind the damp blue visor. The king stared on at the man, seeing an empty void in his visor, rather than a pair of human eyes, as he continued, feeling a chill tingle at his spine... "Are you here to introduce yourself, Knight?"
"No..." The Spartan spoke, his voice sharp, gruff and cold as ice with a passive-aggressiveness that weighted the air down... That chill that the king felt soon spread throughout the room and even the Princess, in all her would-be-glory, froze, her cocky, but faint grin disappearing and her eyes going wide. The Spartan let his arms by his hips, hand wrapping around the hilt of his Energy Sword, to which the Guards were not sure how to react as they stared on...
"Then... What are-" The King started, but the Spartan cut in...
"I am here to address the issue of one of your Heroes." He spoke in as flat a tone as possible, almost horrifyingly robotic... The Four Heroes soon realized that the items on his armor weren't just decoration... They were guns. The King waved the man to speak on, unsure of what he would say next. The Spartan looked at the Princess, then said "I have heard the rumors spread among the Soldiers and Populace of your nation over the Shield Hero..." He continued. "And from the way the supposed Victim... Your Daughter... Acts around him, I am not believing them. She seems very blasé about spouting accusations such as the one placed upon the Shield Hero without any actual evidence to back the claim, Nobleman."
Unknowingly to him... Or knowingly, perhaps, the Spartan had just blatantly insulted the king in his face, by calling him a simple Nobleman, instead of Royalty as he was... The Bitch's eyes went wide with shock... Perfect reaction. She glared at the Spartan, scowling, but he continued, unabated "Her body language, as small as it may be at the moment, leads me to believe what she has spoken about the man behind me is false. She moves as if she's superior, as if what she has pulled from her bag of dirty tricks is naught but that. A trick. And honestly, I am shocked... Shocked at the blatant lack of investigation, of evidence and of a fair trial."
He looked back to the Shield Hero, to see him, mouth slightly open and his emerald eyes wide, while the Raphtalia stared there, stumped by the defense put up by the man. Turning back to the king, who seemed angrier with every word the Spartan spouted, he heard him speak "Are you a friend of this pes-" and the Spartan stomped his foot into the ground and shook his head.
"I am a neutral third party witnessing the events from the outside. I only have decided to step in because your daughter falsely accused a man of possibly the highest degree of treason in your nation, Nobleman." He accentuated the last word as if to rub salt into the wound "And she did so without any basis. She shows no physical or psychological damage akin to the act the Shield Hero supposedly forced upon her." He continued to deconstruct the accusations that Bitch Princess brought forth toward Naofumi, who pursed his lips and tried not to smile... Maybe there was some hope for him in this world beside Raph...
"H-How dare-" The witch spoke, but cut off again as Six glared ice daggers at her to shut her up. She hid, cowering, behind a Guard. Whimpering child...
The Spartan calmly continued "I expected sanity in a country who faces death threats such as these things, these creatures your heroes go against, Nobleman. The fact that your daughter concerns herself with trying to make one of the four people here to save you from imminent, not to mention brutal destruction makes me think this whole country... If not this whole world... Deserves to be put to the sword. Lest I had found the Shield Hero, and his Demihuman Companion, I would've myself razed your entire city to the ground. You never even allowed the man to my left to speak his mind or his story, all because your precious girl's antics. You so blindly trust her, that I fear you nearly lost an ally in the form of the young man. Two, if I account the well-trained swordswoman that is the Demi-Human... I know not what your little brat's game was, but I know this much... Your kin are doomed to failure with this kind of tomfoolery, Noble Man."
His final words had enough Venom to kill the strongest monster within the legions that attacked the world. One of the guards growled, then finally snapped, drawing his sword and yelling "Nobody disrespects the king and Princess!" As he charged, raising the sword. The Spartan looked behind him at the charging man, grabbed him with his open right hand by the one wielding the sword, twisted his wrist, forcing him to drop the sword. He then punched the forearm, bursting and pulverizing the bone inside while also denting the gauntlet... The man's screams of pain came to cringing people around, but were cut short by the Soldier grabbing him by the head and heaving him, then throwing him at the king's feet, helmet dented, arm broken and screaming for help...
"... If any of you try that again, I will fill all of you so full of lead, not even your closest relative will be able to identify your bloated, rotting carcasses when they wash ashore." He growled, almost like a wolf, while glaring around at the Guards. All guards stepped back, eyes wide and trembling. And all dropped their swords and pikes to the floor... One fell to his knees and threw up on the marbled floor of the Throne Room, before the Spartan turned to the Princess and stomped toward her... The guard she cowered behind fainted, leaving her open to the Spartan. She too ran, to the side of the King, as the Spartan glared at them.
"W-W-What do you w-want?" The King asked with a trembling voice, gripping onto the arms of his throne tightly. The Spartan looked back calmly to Raph and the Shield Hero, both of whom were smiling, though the latter a little less, then said "You will keep your arrogant brat and her Party members away from the Shield Hero and his Demihuman companion. And until you prove to me that he has done what you say, Brat..." He turned to the cowering Princess "I, myself will serve with his party and gather evidence to the contrary of his... 'Personality' as you want to paint it." before turning his back and walking away, not even bowing before the king.
He stopped beside the Shield Hero and placed his hand on his shoulder, before giving him a calm, light nod... He nodded back, still dumbfound at what happened, before looking to Raphtalia, whose tail was waggling out of joy as she smiled at the Spartan. The soldier then looked to the Bow and Sword Heroes, who both gave him light, imperceptible nods... They must've gotten the message ahead... But the Spear Hero didn't... The blonde fucker looked ticked off...
Ignoring the deathly glares aimed at them, the Spartan, Naofumi and Raphtalia walked out into the halls, with the latter most bursting out into a loud cheer "That was amazing! Thank you! You defended Master Noafumi like I never thought I'd see anyone else do outside the party!" to which Six looked to her, a slight frown behind his helmet... From the way they acted in there, he wasn't sure if they believed the Spartan's Sherlock-esque assessments...
"Yeah... You actually stood up for me and Raphtalia... Thanks." Shield Hero nodded to him, face blank, but eyes shimmering... The Spartan could tell the man lived with this
"... A clinically insane person like Rapists would not have helped the people in the village with the fierceness you did, Shield Hero." He noted simply. "Until I'm proven otherwise, I will be your vanguard... Because I think, with all the Rumors, you will need one added companion." He simply stated, his voice as cold and calculate as before. Though, in the words, the Hero and his ally could feel a hint of fondness.
"I'll hold you to that." Naofumi answered calmly. "Let's go... We've got a road to take."
"Naofumi, wait!" Spoke the Spear Hero... Six swiveled about and drew the hilt of his Energy Sword, but didn't ignite it... The bastard, scowling, stared at the Shield Hero, then said "Duel me! I know what you did, you son of a bitch and we, Heroes, aren't supposed to do that! Free the slave girl right now!" to which Six looked to Raphtalia and the Shield Hero... Hmm... Curious...
... First piece of evidence, or just bullshit?