o.n.e [REDACTED]

[majestic_leader]

Thorne! Get ba--

Thorne?

Majestic, form up on me!
Where did everyone go?

[DeMarco had been used to a lot of weird shit happening over the past couple months, what with Promethean Knights and Covenant teleporting pell mell all over Requiem, but to find himself in a swank lobby was about the farthest thing from his mind. Congratulations, Paradisa, there's a 7' armored Spartan in your lobby glancing around a mite confused. As per usual, he doesn't notice the open journal nearby.]

[He stands, since there doesn't seem to be any immediate threat at the moment, and starts channeling through the frequencies on his headset.]

Miller this is DeMarco. We fall into another portal or what? Miller? [Switching channels, anyone with a ]

Dalton? Uh, Commander Palmer? ... Roland?

Comments

[lonenoble]

[At receiving the new and strange signal on her radio. she can't help replying.] I'm not any of the named. And you aren't wherever you came from, Demarco.

Who are you?

[majestic_leader]

Yeah, I sort of figured that part out.

[Voice over the radio is comforting, even if he can't place it.]

Spartan DeMarco, leader of fireteam Majestic. [Who he's thinking is managed to misplace somehow. Talk about embarrassing.] And, who might you be?

[lonenoble]

Welcome to the castle, I guess.

Spartan? Really? Unfamiliar name...

Call me Noble Six. Spartan-III of Beta Company.

[majestic_leader]

[That gets a stunned silence. He'd known there were -IIIs and -IIs wandering around, but besides catching sight of Chief a few months back, he hadn't noticed any in the crowd of -IVs.]

I, uh-- [Then something else dawns on him, and there's a moment of stuttering.] Didn't you, like ... didn't you die? On Reach?

[Or is he forgetting his Spartan history lessons?]

[lonenoble]

Good to know that they're keeping up on the history lessons. And that I wasn't forgotten.

Yes, I did... At least, I assume so, with all the wounds I had and the planet being glassed. Still have the scars if you need proof, DeMarco.

[majestic_leader]

Uh --[Give him a moment, this wasn't what he was expecting when he woke up this morning.]

So, does this mean ... I'm dead? [Sure, things had gotten heated, but they'd had it under control, right? Well, just up to the point when Thorne ran off ...]

[lonenoble]

No. Plenty come here that aren't dead. I was just... Lucky.

The place pulls from all kinds of places and points in history. Welcome to Paradisa, Spartan. Mind describing your location so I can meet you in person?

[majestic_leader]

[Well this is still confusing. He's still trying to figure out why there's nothing Forerunner or UNSC in design anywhere.]

Lobby. Swank lobby. I feel a little underdressed.

Dictated

[inharperwetrust]

I'm gonna take a guess and say they aren't here.

[lonenoble]

You're not. Trust me. I arrived there wounded, just to have a few friendlies patch me up. It's not an uncommon arrival point.

Speaking of that, any injuries?

I'm almost there. [Have a female Spartan approaching you, DeMarco.]

Dictated Forever!

[majestic_leader]

Okay okay okay, so, I'm not where I was, but they're not here, and we weren't anywhere near a teleporter but hell if the Prometheans weren't fucking things up sideways.

Someone else [Someone previously very dead] said Paradisa?

[inharperwetrust]

Yep. Welcome to Cair Paradisa, fun-filled inter-dimensional hell hole, suitable for all ages and races. My name is Seamus Harper and I will be your guide.

What do you know already?

[majestic_leader]

Nothing a little biofoam won't fix. [Those plasma shots had been close, but thankfully it wasn't quite close enough to get through his shields.]

[And oh hello. He's definitely looking her over when she walks up. The armor is an older model, but not like the bulky Mark-IV that the -IIs carried about. He much preferred this model to the older ones.]

Nice to see another Spartan, sorry you had to catch me without my team. Almost feels like I'm not wearing any pants. [There's an eyebrow waggle under that helmet.]

[originalcopy]

[Church is passing by on one of his "totally not a patrol... I'm just bored as shit" walks, when he spots the pretty obvious. A guy in SPARTAN armor isn't exactly going to blend into the scenery.]

HAH, I'm not the noob anymore!

[The satisfaction of not being the "new guy" is overcoming his dismay that this could be another Freelancer. But he really hopes he's not a Freelancer.[

Welcome to "Castle Wonderfuck" new guy.

LOL just occured to me he hasn't found the journal.

[majestic_leader]

[And DeMarco comes to the realization that this isn't coming through the headsets. He starts looking around the lobby curiously.]

So you're the resident AI? Who is this place affiliated with?

[majestic_leader]

[He lowers his weapon and glances over the guy. The armor was familiar but, well --]

Aren't you a little short to be a Spartan?

Catch up, Paul

[inharperwetrust]

Resident AI? Hey, there's some hope for you, yet! But, no.

There should be a book nearby. It's like a comms device. Find it.

somehow oddly IC

[majestic_leader]

So if you're not a little flashy, where-- oh.

[Piiicking up the journal.] Holy shit, this is fancy. In a ... vintage sort of way. They using more of the Forerunner tech for this?

Seems that way.

[inharperwetrust]

Trust me. This place is way beyond anything you know. [And, of course, he sounds smug when he says that.]

Oh, hey. I almost forgot. There's a test.

[majestic_leader]

I doubt that. I'm a Spartan. That means I'm trained for anything. [A little disoriented right now, maybe, but he's certain of things started popping out of the walls and shooting at him, he could handle it.]

Yeah? What sort of a test? [Not at all worried here.]

[lonenoble]

Then just ask for it. The nice thing about the place is you won't run out of supplies. You can wish for them.

[Six is going to ignore that last remark.] You aren't the only one short a team, DeMarco. I'm the only Noble here. Nice to have another Spartan here. [Even if she questions the quality here already...]

[inharperwetrust]

You're the one who couldn't determine an audio source, man.

[Clearing his throat]

Answer the following question: From the beginning, what are the ten radical isotopes?

Take your time.

[majestic_leader]

Oh, no; I've got some in my suit already. Mark-VII, gotta love it.

[Tilting his head slightly.] Wait, we're the only Spartans here period?

[majestic_leader]

Hey, I found it, didn't I?

[There's a brief moment of silence, and then a scoff.] Yeah, physics wasn't really my specialty.

[inharperwetrust]

And you pass. Welcome to the castle.

[And one less thing to worry about.]

Right. So. First thing's first... You're in another dimension.