Regret and Forgiveness

Prologue

"Happiness can exist only in acceptance" - George Orwell

BERLIN, GERMANY

JUNE 17th, 2557

OFFICE OF NAVAL INTELLIGENCE, RESEARCH FACILITY

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Dr. Catherine Halsey sat anxiously as she watched the readings before her on countless monitors and screens. She had been at her station for over 17 hours, but she would not allow herself rest until her task was complete. The benefits far outweighed a few hours of petty sleep. She began to feel at ease until the back of her head was stopped with an uncomfortable thunk on her chair's low headrest. She silently scolded herself and rose to walk to the corner of the room, seeking more of the dark liquid ONI claimed as "coffee."

'My Spartan project saves humankind and my reward is some freeze-dried garbage from a greenhouse in Iowa' Halsey spoke silently to herself.

Granted, the good doctor was given all the resources she could ever wish for to pursue any new project of her choice, after her less-than ideal time spent in the Dyson Sphere of Onyx. She quickly shrugged off the memories of those lost there and returned to her desk.

"The results look very promising, doctor. I believe we can have a human test the device within a matter of days. Would you like to inform ONI that they should ready the volunteer?" asked one of the researchers.

"That won't be necessary, Thompson. I've already notified Admiral Hood that we can perform a test, with select leaders present for observation. That will unfortunately mean several Sangheili representatives will be here as well…." Halsey stated with restrained disgust.

"They were the ones to find the data cache allowing us to start this project. They at least have a right to see how their investment pays off, especially when they willingly handed it to you for….."

"I am well aware of the situation, Junior Researcher" she scoffed at the young subordinate. "I am grateful for their support in this project; that doesn't mean I have to smile and become their friend. As much help as they have been, remember that I was the one who brought you on this project. Also remember what those Sangheili spent the past 25 years doing to humanity."

Thompson nodded with a small amount of fear behind his eyes, quickly returning to his work of prepping the equipment.

Catherine sighed to herself with both frustration and sadness. She longed to have Cortana working with her again. The AI may have been as snarky as a certain grey-armored Spartan III, but she never questioned the doctor. She could only hope the AI and the Master-Chief would be found soon…..alive.

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"Distance is closing on this vessels refueling track with the Covenant super carrier. Seventy-six seconds until this vessel impacts its target."

"Dammit! So, it's gonna be like that, is it?" He turned back to the equipment to give it a firm slap, only to be rewarded with a rebellious beep. He turned around to face his companion. "Well I've got good news and bad news. This bird took a few hits during the last firefight and the thruster controls are shot, which means the only way back to the planet is a nice big jump."

"And the good news?"

"That was the good news Six."

"At this ship's current velocity, it will impact the carrier in 53 seconds…"

"Yea yea yea. " The larger Spartan removed his helmet as he grudgingly accepted his fate. "Bad news is that the timer got fried too, I'm going to have to fire the slipspace drive manually."

"That's a one-way trip, Jorge."

"We all make it at some point, don't we? Better get going on that free-fall Six, they're going to need you down there in the fight." His tone now changed to a more somber one as he tore his service tags from his neck and handed them to his companion. "Listen Six, Reach has been a good home to me; it's time I return the favor. Don't deny me this."

The larger Spartan lifted his friend and carried him to the end of the hangar bay, standing inches away from the shield that was keeping the cold of space from reaching out and grabbing them.

"Tell them to make it count."

He watched silently as Jorge threw him out of the Covenant corvette, sending him plummeting towards the planet below. The ship silently drifted towards its target, the latter unaware of the danger that lurked on the tiny ship. A moment later the corvette began to shine a beautiful dark violet, enveloping the entire ship. A bright flash forced his helmet to polarize in an instant, allowing him to see the result of his recent actions. The entire middle section of the super carrier vanished from existence, leaving two pieces of the once great ship smoldering with boiling metal. A gentle shockwave of faint lavender light passed by him, sending a tingle down his spine.

He had failed Noble Five.

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"Noble Six, please wake up. Lieutenant, the test is scheduled for the next hour" a calm voice called, waking him.

He jerked himself awake, looking about the room he was in before noticing he was sweating. His dreams, nightmares, had been doing anything but improve over the past few months. He quickly wiped his face on the starchy cotton of his pillow and dragged himself up.

"I'm awake, Leliana. Please inform Doctor Halsey and Admiral Hood that I'll be in the armory within 15 minutes to dress. I just need a cold shower first…" he replied.

Before he could make it to his personal shower, the hologram stand by the doorway lit up with a human figure, roughly one foot tall. Her appearance was that of a pale woman, in her early twenties, with short, red hair reaching the middle of her neck. She was forcing a smile, poorly hiding her concern for the room's sole occupant.

"Very well, Lieutenant…. I noticed your heart rate increase during the past hour of your sleep and you began to sweat heavily. You seemed very restless. Anything you would like to talk about?" Her question came off rhetorically yet politely, though she was smart enough to not expect an answer.

"Thank you Leliana, but I'll be fine after a shower."

"You also seem to be suffering from the effects of alcohol poisoning. I would advise against consumption of such high amounts of alcohol before you sleep. Drinking several glasses of water would do you some good, Noble Six."

With her comment on his less-than ideal habit, he realized how bright everything seemed in the room, and the violent throbbing in his head.

He simply ignored the sincere AI's suggestion as he made his way into the shower.

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"Lieutenant, I would like you to meet Shipmaster Usze 'Taham. His destroyer and crew were responsible for the discovery of the Forerunner relic that allowed all of this to happen. "

"My thanks Admiral Hood. It is a great honor to meet you, Spartan. You have been highly regarded among my people since we have become allies." The crimson-clad Sangheili said politely while offering a hand.

"I'll just bet, Shipmaster." The fully-armored soldier sarcastically answered, grasping the Sangheili's hand in a firm shake to ensure his comment was understood to be friendly, albeit a bit disrespectful. Despite his humorous intentions, the young Lieutenant still received an icy glare from the admiral. "However, if you would excuse me, I'll be making my way down to the lab and prepare for the test run.

The admiral simply nodded, happy to be rid of the one Spartan who won't keep his mouth shut. The Sangheili pressed a fist against his chest in a show of respect and turned away from the Spartan. Despite the Spartan's friendly and outgoing personality to new people, military leaders better suited for the political landscape were beyond even his standards.

As Spartan B312 made his way down to the lab below the observation room he was just in, he ran right into the one person who he actually wanted to speak with.

"Ahh Noble One, I'm glad I ran into you before you made it downstairs. I still want to go over everything again with you" replied Doctor Halsey.

"That's good because, despite your best efforts of educating me on this yesterday, I don't think I could remember one piece of information if my life depended on it" he replied with a chuckle. Switching to a serious but polite tone he said "and even though Jun and I are the only members of Noble Team now, I still use my original call sign of Six."

"Everyone from Noble Team besides you and Jun are dead, lieutenant. You may have convinced Leliana and Jun to continue referring to you as Six, but you won't be so easy to change me. Besides, Noble One, you need to move on from the past. You've done more than anyone else alive, and you deserve some peace. What happened on Reach was beyond even your abilities."

He simply nodded out of respect to her, listening to the doctor's opinion of his situation. "Now, care to enlighten me again, Miss Halsey?"

"Forget to refer to me as Doctor one more time and I'll certainly enlighten you on something. Well, as you know we have been experimenting with Forerunner teleportation technology ever since the….Sangheili retrieved the data core on one of their colonies."

'Having to refer to those creatures with any sort of respect was despicable. They switch sides after slaughtering humans for more than 20 years and we just forget it all happened? '

"We have been able to create a prototype that can transport matter from one fixed gateway to another, instantly. While not as advanced as portals like the one leading to the Ark, which allow transport to any destination desired, I'm sure you can still see the potential of this."

"Looks like slipspace is going to be a thing of the past" he commented jokingly. "What kinds of dangers could I potentially face if this thing decides it doesn't like me?"

"Realistically the worst I would expect to happen is you get thrown on your ass as soon as you touch the portal. In theory, you could be sent to multiple locations; all at once… Other potential risks include instant death or inter-dimensional travel… Don't worry too much; we've already tested this on a variety of smaller animals." She quickly added the last part as she noticed the look on Six's face.

"Well I guess that's what I get for volunteering for this job. I was just excited to be on Earth for a few days, away from whatever ONI had planned for me. But with that last revelation I think I might be looking for a way to forfeit my contract."

"We both know you wouldn't pass up a chance to test some new, dangerous equipment. Now put your helmet on and head down to the lab. The technicians should already have the portal ready. Just be careful."

"I'll see what I can do, ma'am."

Noble Six nodded with a smirk and sealed his helmet on, listening to the faint hiss as the suit pressurized him into his own personal climate of 72 degrees Fahrenheit. With that, he turned around from Halsey and made his way down to the open lab area, looking at the large, active portal in front of him. It was a strange sight, even after spending the past several days around the object. It was a tall, rectangular shaped device with the peak reaching about 10 feet in the air. It was relatively plain, no lights or moving parts, being made of a dull, silver metal.

'For something that is supposed to make me instantly go to another side of the facility, couldn't those techies at least make it glow or rumble?'

"Lieutenant, would you kindly walk over to the portal and stand in front of it until we initiate the test?" one of the technicians asked politely.

He nodded, walking up to the object, tempted to touch the black wall of energy being projected inside of the frame. Thinking better of it, he simply turned around to look up at the observation window several floors above.

After listening to the scientists bicker with each other for several minutes, the portal finished its start-up sequence and began to faintly rumble with the additional power being fed to it

Hah! Maybe this day would be more fun than he thought...

"Alright lieutenant, the rest is very simple" Halsey added over the speaker system from her observation perch with the other military and ONI officers. "All you have to do is walk through the object."

Giving a lazy two finger salute, Noble six turned and walked to the portal before him. Simply admiring it a few moments, he gazed at the empty darkness of its projection. He briefly joked to himself if the team on the other end had forgotten to turn the welcome lights on, but dismissed the idea and walked up and began putting his hand through the veil...

"Son of a bitch! Noble Six, get away from the portal!"

"What the hell is going on!"

"Major power surge, the portal seems to have drained power from the MJOLNIR armor's power supply! Noble Six I said back away from the portal!"

He couldn't move. He was struggling with all his enhanced might and couldn't budge a muscle. The power from the object screaming though his body resulted in a pain the Spartan had never experienced.

"Dammit shut, down the portal! Cut all power to it!"

"We did already! It's feeding off his armor's power supply now!"

With that it let out a loud crack of electricity, shocking one of the researchers to the ground. It cracked again as it sent a shockwave through the entire complex, shorting all electronics in it. The Spartan could only watch in discomfort while the energy of the portal reached out around him, pulling him in closer.

Everything went black and the Spartan was left unconscious.

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Author's Note:

This is my first attempt at writing a Mass Effect/Halo themed fan fiction piece. I've read a few on here and liked the idea some had of merging Mass Effect and Halo, so I thought this would be fun. If you are expecting a noticeable amount of Halo elements in the story I am sorry; aside from this prologue and introducing Noble Six into Mass Effect 2, I have no immediate intentions of developing more Halo elements or characters into this, aside from flashbacks.

As I am new to this, I would be more than excited to have feedback on all elements of this story (writing, grammar, dialogue, battle descriptions, location descriptions, story direction, etc.) so please give me all and any ideas you think would be relevant to this.

The story will pick up roughly in the middle of Mass Effect 2, and I plan on developing a relationship with Noble Six and Tali during the story. As it would be odd for her to call him Noble Six the entire story, especially if they are to become love interests, I would appreciate ideas for a first name for our grey-armored Spartan III. Feel free to leave name ideas. And thank you for any other type feedback!

Just for some story information, Noble Six, Tali, Garrus, and Shepard will be the story's main characters, possibly Kasumi and Mordin. I'll try to incorporate others for specific chapters relating to loyalty missions and such in a way that makes each seem relevant. I also am considering leaving Zaeed out, as he and Noble Six are similar in that they are both straight-laced soldiers. Thoughts on this would be nice before I reach a decision point.

I thank Tairis Deamhan for writing "The Razor's Edge", nevertalk for writing "Reclamation", and LT Ashler for writing "Awakening." Anyone looking for a great story, check any of those

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REVISION NOTES:

Due to some detailed observations by a few readers, I have changed a few lines to better flow with the story. The portal scene in which Six is transported into the Mass Effect universe was altered slightly. Originally the out-portal was across the globe, spurring Halsey to request Noble Six to pick up some sushi. Since the portal was a test, it would seem more logical that the out-portal be located close by, in the same facility. This made me remove the sushi joke all together.

Also, due to Noble Six mentioning a new Noble team, I received a few messages asking if this team would attempt a rescue. Since the portal event was a complete accident, this would not be realistically possible: Noble Six is in the Mass Effect universe alone. I revised the scene to indicate on he and Jun are the team members, removing the possibility of any new characters. And unless I hear a huge outcry for Jun to enter the story, I have no intentions of adding him. This story is about Noble Six and Tali, Garrus, and the rest of the Normandy crew.

Since I was revising select lines, if you notice any mistakes in the story, please don't hesitate to mention it to me. Thank you, and enjoy reading!