I found that I really liked the idea of Noble Six arriving in the Mass Effect universe. But the fanfic I found on here that depicted that I had a lot of issues with. So I took the liberty of crafting my own.

So basically this an experimental fic.

Lack of details about Shepard and Noble Six are entirely intentional. I want you the reader to be able to keep your image of Shepard and Noble Six true to how you see them. The only part that's forced is Shepard is a female and Noble Six is a male.

Disclaimer: I do not own Halo or Mass Effect, they belong to Microsoft and Bioware and if anyone honestly thinks the owner of either of those franchises would be writing a crossover about them on FFnet they need to get clubbed upside the head. Not really, but c'mon.

Stepping onto the Purgatory gave Shepard a chilling sensation. She had a tendency to never get along with Mercs, and the Blue Suns were no exception.

Walking forward with Garrus and Miranda behind her, Shepard kept her head high. On a twitch of curiosity, she questioned Miranda about the mission.

"So what is this package we're picking up?" Turning to Lawson.

"Subject- Enn-oh-six is currently held prisoner here, not much is known about him. But from what we can tell he was apparently found near a Mass Relay about 10 years ago."

"Just drifting out in space? Really?"

"He was wearing a sealed suit that resembled nothing on the lines of any human technology, and his strength is extremely superior. The Blue Suns got to him first and he's been kept in cryo-containment for the last decade."

Shepard felt like it was just better to roll with it, questions filled her mind but only so much could be explained. They were approaching the front guard.

The Turian merc started, "Welcome to the Purgatory Shepard, your packaged is being prepped and you can claim it shortly. As this is a high-security vessel, we need you to relinquish your weapons before you proceed."

Shepard, Miranda, and Garrus drew arms as if on cue, "I'll relinquish one bullet, where do you want it?"

A large Turian appeared from the back, "Everyone stand down! Shepard, I'm Warden Kuril and this is my ship. Your weapons will be returned on the way out, you must understand that this is simply standard procedure."

Shepard retorted back, "It's my standard procedure to keep my gun."

Shepard and Kuril exchanged death glares when Kuril backed down, "Let them proceed, our facility is more than secure enough to handle three armed guests."

The guards walk to the side and take a seat, body motions depicting they're upset with the warden's decision.

"We're pulling Enn-oh-six out of cryo, as soon as the funds clear you can be on your way. If you'll follow me to the processing for pickup commander." Kuril nudged his head to gesture Shepard forward.

"Let's go,"

For the next few minutes Kuril explained and boasted how the Purgatory was the most secure facility and how they had many ways to control prisoners. His mood when he left Shepard seemed off but she put it away as Kuril being a turian.

When it came to the processing chamber Shepard was quickly surprised to learn the truth behind Kuril and the facility.

"My apologies Shepard, you're more valuable as a prisoner than a customer. Drop your weapons and proceed into this open cell, you will not be harmed."

Rage boiled in Shepard's blood, instinctively reaching for her gun she retorted, "Go to hell! I'll send you there myself!"

"Activate systems!" The Blue Suns poured out of the far doorway laying down the pressure and the heat was on. After winding down a couple tunnels and facing a few firefights Shepard, Miranda, and Garrus approached the security control center.

Looking at the holo-computer Miranda said "If we hack that control, every door in the cellblock opens." Not to deter Shepard, Garrus finished with "It's the only way to get Enn-oh-six out of cryo."

"I'm doing it, be ready," probably realizing she'd hesitate if she waited, Shepard hacked the panel and the doors across the entire ship were unlatched. Too busy watching the mechanical arm grabbing N06's cryo-chamber to notice the chaos that was the prisoners running ramped. The three got their first glimpse of the soon-to-be new squad member who was covered in bulky armor and a helmet that shielded any view of whom he really was.

Having been used to cryo-sleep, NO6 without the slightest sense of frustration yanked out of his metal restraints and faced the awakening security mech's. The seven-foot tall metal titan charged them with a jump at the last second and ripping the head off the first while aiming the mech's gun at another mech using his superior strength. Shepard couldn't see the rest of the ordeal and soon realized she was watching for too long as Garrus tugged at her arm telling her, "We have to get down there."

About fifteen minutes later, Kuril lied dead and the Purgatory might as well been destroying itself. Having got a lucky glimpse of where NO6 was heading, Shepard and the other chased him to the docks.

NO6 saw the Normandy but wasn't exactly sure where to go or what to do. When he noticed Shepard walking down the hall, he pulled out the assault rifle he retrieved from a dead guard and pointed it at the commander.

"Identify your name, rank, and means of business or I will drop you!" Without the slightest hint of shaking, Noble Six moved like a born solider, not wasting a single twitch in his actions.

"Calm down, I'm Commander Shepard and I'm here to take you off this station and to safety,"

"Safety? I was abducted and forced into cryo-sleep for an unknown amount of time, on a place that I don't know anything about. Filled with a bunch of ugly aliens that look nothing like the Covenant."

"Ugly? Is it the scars?" Garrus joked.

Wiping away the smile Shepard looked away from Garrus to NO6 and started, "I know you've got a lot of unanswered questions, but on a ship that's about to vent the rest of its atmosphere when there's a perfectly good escape isn't the best spot to chat it out."

A slight stall in reaction and NO6 lowered his gun, "Alright, it has to be better than here,"

Meeting in the conference room, NO6 didn't feel comfortable without his armor on which drew the attention of the entire crew as he marched perfectly with a pistol loosely in its holster. One wrong move and he was ready to retrieve it and down everyone on the ship.

Shepard hated to admit it, but NO6 scared the hell out of her. Luckily Shepard's ability to maintain her stone cold demeanor was working and she wasn't letting the crew know how afraid she actually was.

Walking into the conference room, Jacob as always was there to greet their new guest.

"Welcome aboard the Normandy, umm..."

"Oh," NO6 realized he hadn't introduced himself, "I'm SPARTAN-B312 of Noble team lead by Noble Actual; Colonel Urban Holland. I'm Noble Six."

Both Shepard and Jacob were completely dumbfounded, but Jacob felt it was needed to finish introductions. "I'm Operative Jacob Taylor." Jacob reached out a hand as friendly gesture.

Delaying for half a second, Noble Six returned the favor with a firm handshake.

"Thank you Jacob," Releasing the handshake Noble Six then turned his head to try and look at Jacob and Shepard at the same time, "I hate to come off rude, but I really would like to understand where I am."

"What do you mean" Shepard replied with her arms crossed.

"This ship is run by an organization called Cerberus? And there's a whole slew of aliens I've never seen before. The technology of this place is so different than that of the UNSC's."

"U-N-S-C?" Jacob thought out loud.

"United Nations Space Corps, surely you've heard of it!" Seeking answers Noble Six pressed.

"I'm sorry, can't say I have," Jacob scratched the side of his head.

"And I'll speak on behalf on the rest of the galaxy as in we haven't either. Perhaps it would be best if you explained where you came from." Shepard took a step forward curious as to what Noble Six was going to say.

Noble Six sighed, and then started, "I'll try to sum it up as best I can. Before I ended up here I was on the doomed planet of Reach; the last line of defense before the Covenant got to Earth. Before you ask what the Covenant are; they are a conglomeration of multiple alien races united under one religion that apparently demands the extinction of the human race."

"Reach? Never heard of it. But you mentioned Earth as well? Last I checked Earth was perfectly fine, it's run down, but it's fine," Shepard concluded. Noble Six then fixed his gaze on the commander.

"What is the current year by Earth calendar?"

"Twenty-one eighty-five." Noble Six dropped his head and spoke just loud enough so that Shepard could hear.

"Where I'm from, the year was twenty-five fifty-two."

Shepard's eye's widened along with Jacob's as both looked to each other for an answer.

Jacob spoke up, "Commander, I believed we've encountered first contact with a being from a parallel universe."

In complete surprise, the three just stared off into space realizing what this meant.

Noble Six was the first to break it, "In my head I was thinking I wound up in some far off part of the galaxy where Insurrectionists had set up and made contact with friendly aliens or something."

"Sorry Noble Six," Shepard started, "The Alliance has charted nearly the entire galaxy, we both have an Earth it seems, and here, there is no such thing as the Covenant or the UNSC."

Noble Six picked his head up, "This is just me hoping for the impossible, but I suppose you don't happen to have a way for me to get back do you?"

Shepard shook her head.

"Didn't expect so…"

"Look, Noble Six - ah do you have another name?"

"Shepard, just call me Noble Six or Six. I never want to forget them…" He lowered his head once again.

"Them?"

"Noble Team, my squad mates who sacrificed their lives in the struggle to save Reach. I should've been buried with them…"

"Sure thing Six," She took a deep breath and unfolded her arms. Walking towards Six she placed a hand on his right shoulder. "If we were to continue talking about this we'd be here for weeks. So let's get you settled in and I'll give you access to information about this universe. At any time you want to talk just let me know."

Six raised his head, "Yeah, I can do that."

Jacob re-entered the conversation, "Where would you like to be made your private quarters on the Normandy?"

"…I'm not sure, preferably a place I can keep my equipment organized and secure."

"I think you'll want the spare-storage room on the engineering deck. I'll get some crew on it to set you up with a bed and some lockers."

Slightly bowing Six gestured, "Thank you Shepard, I'll make my way there now."

Marching out as professional as he came in, Six did what his Spartan training prepared him for and did his best to store his emotions after being so careless in the conference room. When he left Jacob turned to Shepard.

"Think I should be worried?"

"Doubt it, his life may have just turned upside down but he's obviously some kind of super soldier that's meant to deal with the hard stuff. You should've seen him take out those mechs."

"Understand Commander, but I hope you can understand that I'll be reserving my final opinion when we know more about him." He saluted the Commander and returned to his post.

The spare-storage room was basically a semi-hidden entrance to a plain rectangular room beneath the engineering deck. By the time Six arrived, he had already noticed that much of the crew was carrying stuff down to accommodate the space for him. EDI even took the luxury of establishing a permanent hologram that looked like a window to help the room feel less like a prison cell.

When the crew cleared out with the renovations in place, Six took a seat on the ground fearing what would happen if his half-ton armor made contact with the bed.

He had a minute to think to himself when Shepard walked in the door with a couple devices in hand, laying them on the table the crew brought in. She then redirected her attention to Six with her hands on her hips.

"What's that stuff?"

"Data pad, Omni tool, and a couple of other essentials you'll need to function in this Galaxy." Shepard grabbed the data pad and handed it to Noble Six

"Thanks Shepard," Six started to fiddle with the data pad. Looking up information about the universe was a no-brainer. He took his gaze away from Shepard as he skimmed the data displaying on it.

"Are you going to be alright?" Concerned, Shepard pushed for an answer.

"I don't know right now, I mean, I'm a Spartan and I should be able to handle the impossible. But a lot of me wishes I was dead back in my own universe and not stuck out in this one wondering the fate of humanity. Feel like as if I let down my entire race."

"How'd you get here by the way?"

"…gah-I don't remember. One moment I'm on Reach and then the next I'm in space next to one of those 'relays' or whatever you called them."

"I can't imagine what you're feeling right now." Six didn't know what to say so he remained quiet. Shepard stood up and started to heads towards the door.

"Look Six, if you want I'll have our ship's counselor; Yeoman Chambers, see what she can do for you. And if there's anything you ever need let me know."

Sighing, Six took his eyes away from the data pad for a moment, "Not sure I actually need counseling. But thanks Shepard, for helping me with all of this."

"No problem Six, and who knows. Maybe killing some baddies will do you some good."

"Heh, maybe so… in the meantime I'll read up on all of this."

Shepard nodded and walked out of the room. She knew Six would be a high-valuable asset on the field, but she wondered if his skills were worth the risk that he might have a psychotic breakdown.

Six lifted the pad up and began his research. Beginning with the aliens, not knowing where to start he went alphabetically. He was fascinated by how different they were from the covenant. Asari, Turian, Elcor, Batarian, you name it. It also was enlightening when he got around to learning the history of the universe and the current technologies they possessed. What he found amusing is that in some ways the UNSC was more advanced then the Alliance, but in other ways they weren't. He was inevitably surprised to learn that AI are considered a dangerous piece of equipment. But it rather made sense considering how dangerous the Geth was to the galaxy. He would've soon missed the soothing monotonous voice of Auntie Dot and other AI voices had EDI hadn't been around.

After an hour of Six filling his mind with information of the new universe, EDI appeared in his room.

"Six, Commander Shepard has offered you the chance to join her and Miranda Lawson on a mission. Do you wish to accept the offer?"

His inner-Spartan kicked back in, standing up straight he responded, "Affirmative".

"Then please head upstairs and take the elevator to the bridge and proceed to the armory to gear up."

"Thank you eedee."

"From what I understand you were an all-rounded soldier correct?" Jacob asked.

"That'd be correct, Colonel Taylor," Six replied.

"Hmm, well honestly I don't really know what to assign you as, so feel free to pick up two guns of your choice from the selection."

Six turned around to the tables where the armory laid out in front of him, he couldn't recognize any of the weapons so he turned around to Jacob puzzled.

"Sorry, didn't think about that, how about you just tell me what you're looking for."

"Preferably an assault rifle, single shot semi-automatic would be good, and a shotgun that has at least 4 rounds in a barrel and fires decently-fast."

Jacob snapped his fingers, "I know just what you're looking for." He picked up a M-96 Mattock and a Scimitar shotgun. "I don't know if your universe had the kind of tech, but weapons fold up for concealment with the press of a button."

Six held onto the butt of the mattock when he touch the switch and watch the rifle fold up in front of him.

"If you like, I can give you a harness to hold them, or you can do it your way."

Six thought he didn't want the guns to be a problem when he needed to draw them out in tight situations and they'd still be unfolding.

"I'll keep it old fashioned, thanks colonel." With a nod, Six walked to the elevator to proceed down to the docking bay.

Arriving downstairs, Shepard and Miranda were chatting amongst themselves when the elevator doors opened. Their eyes locked on his armor, if Miranda didn't know any better, she would have saluted Six.

"Noble Six reporting for duty commander!" Six stiffened up and saluted Shepard.

"At ease soldier," Shepard crossed her arms and cocked her head slightly sideways in attempts to relax around Six who despite his apparent loyalty to the chain of command, only made her feel uneasy.

"What's our mission?" Six eased himself from his at-attention stance.

Miranda began, "We're heading to the planet Korlus, a Krogan Warlord by the name of Okeer is there and we need to find him."

"Is that it?"

"Wish, the facility he's located is a ruin of old ships that's heavily guarded by the Blue Suns. In other words, the same group that held you captive in cryo-sleep for the last 10 years." Miranda finished.

"Alright then, ready to engage the enemy at any time commander." No signs of a need for revenge could be heard in his voice. Shepard was quite impressed how he managed to deadlock emotional tugs.

Shepard then focused her attention on the hatch to their ride down onto the surface and popped it open. The mission would soon begin.

Five hours later, the crewmen were hitching up a forklift to the pod containing Okeer's 'perfect' Krogan.

One of the men walked up to Shepard, "Where do you want him commander?"

She yanked her helmet from her head, shook her hair loose feeling the sweat and grease buildup causing it to cling together, "put him in the cargo hold for now, you can get him in there right?"

"It'll be a tight squeeze but I'm pretty sure we can fit him through the maintenance elevator commander."

"Thanks, I'll figure out what to do with him in a little bit."

Shepard found Noble six observing the tank as the crewmen began hauling it off, she nudged him on the shoulder to get his attention. When he turned to her she began,

"You mind standing guard in the cargo hold with our new guest for the time being?"

"Yes ma'am," He stood straight and saluted.

She laughed a bit about his strict formalities, "At ease Six, I'll be back down in a half an hour or so." As she said that she turned to the center elevator and set her target for the captain's quarters. For how tired she was, a nice shower, and a few minutes checking things on the extranet could be spared before she continued on with her duties.

Fifteen minutes later, Shepard walked into the COM room to see Miranda and Jacob arguing.

"Bringing the Krogan for study makes sense, but I have concerns about waking it,"

"Yeah, you've said that a few times now." Jacob was tired of hearing the same crap over and over.

"A normal Krogan is dangerous. This one was created, and likely educated, by a madman."

"There's no way he's getting out unless one of us lets him out," Shepard interjected.

"Or unless Okeer installed some sort of failsafe. Or a malfunction causes the tank to shut down."

"Relax, I have Six guarding the tank, you saw what he did on Korlus to those other Krogan yourself."

Miranda looked down laughing a bit, "I didn't even know it was possible to kill a Krogan with one movement of a combat knife."

"What's even more impressive is that he barely knows their inner workings yet he could analyze them so quickly and detect where to strike." Shepard added

Miranda lifted her head, "Okay, all my worries are put aside. Not that you needed my approval or anything."

"Understand," With that Miranda and Jacob made their leave as Shepard took a moment to gather her thoughts before she headed toward the elevator.

At the engineering deck, Shepard walked into the cargo hold to find Six standing guard like he was outside of Buckingham Palace. At that point Shepard realized that Six was going to get to her every time with his level of discipline.

"Relax Six, this isn't the queen of England," she laughed. "Just back me up incase this Krogan tries anything."

"You're opening the tank?"

"You got a problem with that?"

"Sorry, just for clarification."

"Right then, let's open the hatch."

EDI chimes in, "Cerberus protocol is very clear regarding untested alien technology."

Shepard rebuked, "He's either a powerful addition to the crew or a time bomb. I'd rather deal with it now."

"Very well Shepard. The controls are online. The switch – and consequences – are yours."

Shepard stepped forward to the holographic panel and pressed the proper command to open the tank.

The tank's nutrient-filled water level began to lower. Shepard stepped back while Six drew his serrated combat knife for safe measure. As the tank's water depleted the hatch began to unseal.

The Krogan inside stumbled out of the tank and landed on the floor of the deck on all fours. He coughed up a couple of gallons of nutrient-water caught in his throat before he stood on two legs.

The Krogan analyzed his situation; in front of him were two smaller beings. A Human female – soft and weak – and a humanoid figure completely covered in armor that held a deadly weapon and posed ready for combat. This was obviously the bigger threat and such he desired the challenge.

Six knew what was about the happen, the Krogan (which he had downed plenty already) had that look in his eyes. In a moment the colossal alien was charging straight at him. Six took a stance like a Sumo-wrestler and braced for the impact. They collided with massive amounts of force but Six with his half-ton armor and augmented levels of strength absorbed the impact as his boots skidded slightly back on the floor.

Six jerked his head back before he head butt the Krogan with his helmet. The Krogan stumbled back just long enough for Six to roundhouse kick him which caused the Krogan to fall to the floor with a massive crash.

Six jumped on top of him, with the knife still in hand he pointed it right for his forehead.

"You will stand down and obey the order of Commander Shepard, or I will have to put you down like I did with so many others before you."

The Krogan smirked before he lifted his hands up and grabbed Six by the sides. He then threw him back towards Shepard (who jumped out of the way). Six crashed up against the walls of the storage room.

Six felt his back ache in pain but he knew he couldn't delay for a second. He lifted himself back up to find the Krogan charging him again.

Six also realized his knife was off to the side. Improvising, he pulled back a fist before launching forward and hitting the Krogan on the nose. It didn't stop the Krogan's forward momentum but it wasn't hard to tell he lost his concentration.

Six pushed him off of himself. He took the chance to swing at the Krogan again who surprisingly had regained his focus so quickly as he grabbed Six's fist.

Six used his open left arm to punch the Krogan so he'd release his fist. It worked, and now they were back on equal footing again.

A split second later a pistol appeared at the side of the Krogan's head. It was from Shepard, "You should've taken Six's words. One more move and I drop you."

The Krogan didn't care about the threat. He quickly punched Shepard's gun out of her hand and then turned his attention back to Six. He grabbed Six by the sides and threw him out of the room.

But as Six flew threw the door it also closed behind him.

EDI chimed in, "Protocol issues to detain the threat, and until the Krogan is subdued no one is allowed to exit or enter."

"What?" Six walked up and pounded on the door, "Shepard needs me! I can't leave her in there with that rabid animal."

EDI took attempts to calm him down, "She'll be fine Six, trust me on that."

Six didn't get much time to read up on Shepard when he sat down with the data pad earlier but he knew that to be true.

"And currently, The Illusive Man would like to see you in the COM room."

"The Illusive Man?"

"The leader of Cerberus, he was very interested in meeting you."

Six amused himself, "guess it's not everyday you meet someone from a parallel universe is it?"

EDI chose not to reply to that, "He was the one that paid for you to get off the prison facility."

Six felt he'd stop talking for the time being.

As he entered the COM room, the table lowered into the floor and the room darkened as a holographic tube with a grid-like pattern encompassing it.

Six stepped into the cylinder and he saw before him a room that certainly was very much a holographic display itself. The floor was made of reflective material, and before him was a man with unnatural looking eyes that were obviously mechanical, he was sitting in a three-legged chair with a cigarette in one hand and the other free. Behind him was the projection of a gaseous planet emitting its red glow.

Noble Six spoke first, "Are you the man I owe my release from cryo-sleep-imprisonment?"

"Think nothing of it Noble Six,"

Six cut him short, "I appreciate the gesture – but please – just call me Six."

"Six then, regardless of unnecessary formalities or not think nothing of it. I had every intention of getting you off The Purgatory as soon as you got on there. I just needed a little more incentive. Had I known you really were from another universe, let's just say I would've paid your ticket off that station before you set foot on it."

"I haven't even told you about that, care to explain how you know."

The Illusive Man took a whiff of his cigarette, "Please Six, information is my weapon. I 'm supposed to know what my enemies – and my allies – think before they do."

"That would've been helpful against the Covenant for sure."

"Speaking of which," The Illusive Man interjected, "I'm very interested in the universe where you came from."

"Why wouldn't you be?"

"It's not just the fact that you are from a parallel universe but also the similarities apparent between us. Yet there are differences. For instance, I understand Earth exists in your universe." The Illusive Man pulled up a holographic display of it, "Like this?"

"Exactly like that."

"And yet these 'Covenant' you speak of. Do any of the alien races in this universe are the same as yours?"

"Not one,"

"See that's what interests me, along with the fact that you somehow managed to wind up in this universe, next to a Mass Relay of all things. Suggesting in some way our universes are tied, or connected. Whichever use of words suits your fancy."

"Considering the endless variables but the sheer infinite amount of possible parallel dimensions, perhaps it was just by sheer luck. There might be universes where the Covenant are the only beings in Milky Way."

"A possibility yes, but once again that doesn't explain how you appeared in our universe near a relay. Tell me Six, do you remember what happened before you left your universe?"

Six shook his head, "It's so fuzzy, those last moments. Heck the last thing I recall is entering one of the last bunkers on Reach – CASTLE base – after that I can recall nothing."

"Well, perhaps your helmet cam does."

"Probably so but my armor's locked up ever since I got here."

"Locked up?"

"My suit is programmed to lock up and explode when it detects alien intrusion so information stored on my drive doesn't fall into Covenant hands, or the suit itself. Something about the jump seems to have fried the exploding part of that function, thankfully."

"What else was stored on your drive."

"Virtually everything, the UNSC prepared for a million possible extinction scenarios. One of their plans included having the SPARTAN program and all available Spartans get as far away from the Covenant and the UNSC as possible to start somewhere else. My suit has virtually all of our history, technological advances, and the like in a compact memory crystal."

The Illusive Man thought for a second, "any possible way we can unlock your armor?"

"You can try, but you'd need a mechanic that'd be able to understand the tech."

"That might be a possibility already."

Six found that statement to be a little bold, "I don't think you understand what I mean. When humanity in this universe built their technology upon the Mass Relays, you took a completely different course than the UNSC. The UNSC never had alien interference in our technology, and henceforth our technology is vastly different down to the most basic software."

"That's true, and by following the technology of the Reapers we have doomed ourselves into being technologically inferior to them. Which is why your presence may be the luckiest turn of events for the sake of humanity, for the galaxy maybe. If what you say is true about the information drive stored in your suit. Than we may have a shot at defeating the Reapers."

"Maybe, but you still haven't answered me on how you plan on accessing my drive when my armor is still on lockdown."

"Leave that to me Six, your technology may be structured differently but that doesn't mean it's unbreakable. In the meantime however I'm interested in learning more about your universe. Perhaps if it's not too much to ask, if you take time every day detailing information on your data pad and sending it to me."

"I see no problem with that."

"Thank you Six, let me know if there's anything I can do for you."

With that The Illusive Man severed the connection. Six turned around to find Shepard leaning up against the door to the COM room with her arms folded. She wore a look of some concern Six could notice.

"What seems to be the problem?"

"What's your opinion on The Illusive Man?" Shepard ignored him, obviously pining for something out of Six.

"Well he paid my way out of prison – not that it did any good considering the malfunction in negotiations – but he came off to me like a good person. What can I put against him honestly?"

"More than you realize," Shepard started, "The Illusive Man may present himself like so but everything he does is surely for ulterior motives."

"With all do respect Shepard, people without ulterior motives to their actions are hard to come by." Six defended, "from what I've read up on you so far, he brought you back from the dead, and it wasn't cheap either."

"Of course it wasn't, but that doesn't mean I have to trust him."

"I am assuming there's a lot to this that I'm not aware of."

"Plenty,"

"Well then, I'll trust your judgment Shepard, but understand I don't hold anything against Cerberus or The Illusive Man either."

"I can be fine with that." Shepard unfolded her arms.

Six almost forgot, "How did the whole thing with the Krogan go,"

"His name is Grunt, but fine really. Once you left he pinned me to the wall and I talked him into joining us. He was very impressed by you, I think it was part of the reason he agreed into becoming apart of the crew."

"Well he wasn't making it easy on me, he was more powerful than any of the Krogan I killed on Korlus."

Shepard had something on her mind, "How did you get so strong in the first place?"

Six thought for a moment before taking a deep breath and began, "the SPARTAN program was always about drug augmentations to increase strength, endurance, intelligence, and so forth. I understand they even considered implementing one that would make our skulls nearly unbreakable."

"So you just got injected with drugs and sent into combat?"

"Far from it Shepard, see I was apart of the SPARTAN-III program. Everyone apart of it were kids from the ages of six to nine at the start of training. By as early as fourteen most of us were ready for combat."

"Wait, did you say six years old?" Shepard looked like she just found out someone poisoned her drink.

"Well yes, the UNSC felt it necessary to have expendable heroes. They never went public about the SPARTAN-III program – Or the SPARTAN-I program for that matter – but everyone apart of the program knew humanity needed us. You have to understand Shepard, the last planet I was on in my universe, Reach was the UNSC's equivalent of a fortress world, and the last planet before the Covenant would find Earth. We had been fighting a bloody struggle to slow down our inevitable extinction, anything that could've been the magic bullet to win was considered and likely looked into."

Shepard was quiet for a few moments realizing the gravity of the situation he explained, "you mentioned that they didn't go public about the SPARTAN-III and SPARTAN-I programs. What about the second?"

Six recollected the short time he not only spent fighting beside Jorge, but also his old teacher – Kurt – the others he had come to know like Shelia, and the famed Blue Team. "The SPARTAN-II program was much more selective than mine. Unlike the typical 300 they'd chose in every company for the SPARTAN-III program, they selected seventy-five children with the UNSC's best genetics who were the ages of six and seven. They were trained until they were seventeen or eighteen years old and went through much more rigorous training, drug augmentations, and had better suits. At least for a while, I'm wearing a suit similar to what they had for nearly twenty-five years now. Except for shield technology, that's recent."

"Why did they go public about them?"

"They told the public that they were volunteer units in the military willing to dedicate their existence to save humanity regardless of what they become. But that of course couldn't have been further from the truth. People just needed a symbol of hope, and a Spartan standing over a mountain of dead Covenant was a pretty strong one."

"That makes sense, I can't imagine what it must've been like, fighting for survival like that. I mean sure the threat of the Reapers is significant but it's been a rather indirect war surrounded by the annoyances of bureaucracy."

"Kind of like out of the fire and into the frying pan wouldn't you say?"

"Ironically yes, thanks Six for telling me all of that. I'd like to know more too, so anytime you want to talk feel free to meet with me."

"You and The Illusive Man both," Six stretched out a hand, "I'll keep that in mind." Shepard extended her hand and they shook on it.

The Illusive Man had a holographic interface displayed in front of him, contemplating about the best candidate for getting in Six's armor and accessing the information without messing something up and possibly reactivating the exploding part of his failsafe. Then build a device that can read the memory drive and display it's contents allowing to be transferable to their own drives.

He opened up a dossier that he planned on passing to Shepard soon, perhaps I need to give it to her early, he thought to himself. The itch to discover what Six had stored in his suit was too much to consider delaying. So he highlighted the dossier that was titled "Tali Zorah," and sent it off to Shepard.