Here's some unfortunate baby Akari and a smidgen of Spartan Ingo.

Had a dream last night where Ingo was a Spartan from Halo and we were in a dying spaceship full of the Flood, so i drew Ingo as a Spartan (he got infected by the flood in my dream tho RIP)

Learning from a 'living fossil'

Learning from a ‘living fossil’

As we live and breathe, ancient-looking fish known as bowfin are guarding genetic secrets that that can help unravel humanity’s evolutionary history and better understand its health. Michigan State researchers Ingo Braasch and Andrew Thompson are now decoding some of those secrets. Leading a project that included more than two dozen researchers spanning three continents, the Spartans have…

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Putting this down before I forget it (since it's 2 am and I really should be asleep)

Sangheili Akari is an illegally modified Sangheili. She was captured by an invading human force along with several other young Sangheili so young she doesn't even remember her birth name. The goal of the abduction was to create a sort of Spartan version of the Sangheili to go toe-to-toe with the invading force that could be controlled and guided, either by orders given in code or via a sort of neural interface. Similar to how Spartan-IIIs were given chemical augmentation to force their bodies to grow faster, the abducted Sangheili were given an injection as well. Of the dozens that were abducted, only a few handfuls survived. The planet that the research was being done on was raided by the Covenant before too much more could be done, and the surviving Sangheili youths were bundled into a ship and escaped with before the lab was destroyed.

They landed on Reach during the invasion. They were accosted by a force of Covenant as they headed for the lab, and those that survived were then stuck in place as human Marines arrived to "save" them. The Marines mistook the troupe as a group of undercover Sangheili abducting scientists and opened fire. The scientists protested all their hard work being killed but were unable to save those that failed to flee. It was a loss. They could replicate and improve the process, having ironed out some kinks, but there was still much to be done.

Akari (only knowing herself by an experiment number at that point) managed to be the swiftest of the Sangheili during the initial confrontation and managed to escape. She struggled to survive in an unknown area on an unknown planet, hiding from humans as well as aliens because she didn't know who was friend and who was foe. To her, everyone was an enemy that might kill her. Her anxiety and vigilance kept her alive, enabled her to successfully scavenge and bring food back to the ship- which she moved after several days of scoping out the surroundings. She had watched the pilot as they left the planet and as they headed for Reach. She was young and frightened, but her mind had been accelerated to an extent. She was able to make connections swiftly.

She ended up flying low and setting the ship down not too far from a mining settlement, banging it up to make it look abandoned so she wouldn't be bothered. She'd have stayed there until the glassing approached if it weren't for the swarm of Sangheili that appeared one day, all flooding towards one area behind the shipyards. She waited until movement stopped, until night fell, before creeping out to scavenge. Beggars couldn't be choosers, and the invading force of her own kind almost always had rations on them that she could use.

What she found was not just rations, but also a man in armor barely clinging to life.

there are things I SHOULD be doing, but what I did instead was sketch a shirtless spartan Ingo post reach

You know, for all of the trauma Ingo goes through as Noble Six and being the sole survivor (apart from Jun I think), thinking that he's alone, maybe suffering temporary amnesia maybe not...

But Emmet, too. Being on separate teams from his brother for the first time. Not being on Reach when the Covenant attacks. Only being able to hear about what's happening, getting updates through the news and chatter of other Spartans. Hearing about Jorge sacrificing himself, losing contact with the others. He has no idea if Ingo's alright or not, if he's alive or not.

And then Reach gets completely taken over by the Covenant. It gets glassed. And Emmet has no choice but to believe the Covenant killed his brother, that Ingo died - sacrificing himself - for the people on Reach. He lives for years completely angry at the Covenant, taking out his opponents mercilessly, thinking of Ingo with each shot he takes.

And then Ingo shows up on a comms channel, and when they go to pick him up he's got his arm around a small Elite- the kind of alien that Emmet's been killing without hesitation for years. And he says she's his daughter, and that they saved each other, and any thought Emmet had of maybe booting the thing out an airlock... He has to set aside.

So I KNOW noble six is supposed to have died on reach and I haven't finished the game yet so I don't remember how it ends (except the glassed on reach memes) but hear me out:

Spartan Ingo is Noble Six

The more I play Reach the more I like the idea of Ingo being Noble Six and seeing all of his team dying and sacrifice themselves, somehow surviving what happens on Reach (still haven't finished!), and by the time he sees the baby Sangheili Akari he's almost desperate for company. And she tries to run when she sees him, doesn't try to attack at all, and they start with an unsteady truce of sharing space, and then food, and then maybe Ingo gets sick or injured and feverish and when he wakes up the little Sangheili is sleeping next to him and he's got water and food nearby and his injury is (badly) patched up and he's like

oh, okay. This is okay.

i am spinning this video in my head and vibrating with spartan Ingo thoughts

It was never explicitly stated to the twins, but Ingo got chosen to be Noble 6 BECAUSE of Emmet. Because he could follow Emmet's plans and commands without arguing unless it was necessary. Because he and Emmet spent so much time training together, to improve their skills and sparring with others to one up each other, that he was constant learning and improving. Because if he thought Emmet would survive, Ingo would do ANYTHING to ensure it.

Spartan Emmet, on the other hand, is more selfish. He has to be the one in charge. He needs to be learning, improving, always because he needs to keep Ingo safe. Saving civilians is not his priority- Ingo is. If it came down to it and Spartan Emmet was required to choose between something and Ingo, he would choose Ingo every time. The world could burn and as long as he had Ingo by his side he could get through it. Being selfish isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it's definitely not good when you want a team player.

So they started with Ingo, told him the solo mission he'd be going on needed to be done without Emmet. Said he needed to start working with other people, and it was a little escort mission so it was fine. He didn't like it, and was anxious to not have Emmet at his back, but it went fine and he came back safe.

And when he was on Reach, looking out through a hole in the wall of a broken tower in a destroyed city, he realized this. He realized following Emmet through training, following orders, had led him to here. To being among a team of strangers bonded by a world ending. And he didn't hate it. Not at all. Because Emmet would sacrifice the world for Ingo, but Ingo had always kept silent about how he'd sacrifice himself for his brother. And he knew, something in his gut told him, that sacrificing himself was going to be the only way to keep Emmet alive.

Okay I am diving deeper into the Halo au purely because I've been playing Reach. And I'm gonna argue something for funsies.

Yes, Reach was glassed

However! Your helmet? Survives. It survives the glassing. I am taking this to mean that while every square inch of a planet is supposed to be glassed, Reach was not. Mostly glassed, yes, but not completely. Although Reach fell, I am going to happily claim that for my own purposes, the UNSC was able to give them enough hell that only a majority glassing could be achieved. Enough to say "yes, this planet was fully glassed" BUT, c'mon. How many of them are going down to examine it?

With how many Elites Noble Six Ingo took out, he didn't die. They certainly thought they killed him, and he appeared dead, but they had to get off the planet before the were glassed. He was down, he was out, and they left him. I'm thinking some scientists - similar to Halsey - decided to stay behind and found Ingo before the glassing could start. They stuck him in a cryo-chamber of a sort in order to heal him and then, for whatever reason, vanished.

Reach falls in 2552 and you know what happens in 2553, according to the official timeline? A survey team comes down! Know who was in that survey team in my au? Emmet and Elesa! Hence they find Ingo's helmet and the video. Due to the damage they don't see that te Spartan was pulled to safety by scientists. They leave believing that he fell with Reach.

Delightfully, I am finding that the war actually ends in 2553- not long after Reach falls. I am still figuring out this timeline though. This means, potentially, that by the time Ingo and Akari are found and recovered the war is over. Ingo believes he died in the war and when he wakes up there is no war. Is this heaven or hell?

Of course, I still want battles so I'm going to say there are small forces who are still fighting. Not well, not making progress, but they're still on the side of the Prophets and require Spartans to handle them.

i will say, with how much halo reach I have been playing, I am very tempted to make a spartan ingo & emmet attempt as well as sangheili akari. Considering sangheili rei? I do like bby spartan rei seeing bby sangheili akari and going “yes!! another baby!!” and just immediately taking to her. that’s his 7′ tall alien bestie!!! is elesa a spartan as well? maybe. skyla isn’t, though. i don’t think drayden’s a spartan either, or perhaps he’s a spartan from a previous generation,,, dunno yet!!

but i’ve been playing so much reach, having so many emotions, that i am staring at the armor going “okay, how do i draw that. how do i draw that. the elites- how do i draw them. i need to figure it out.”

god help me.

God. okay. So Noble Six is said to have died. I'm still ignoring that for Spartan Ingo purposes. But I'm imagining Emmet and Elesa part of some team that goes to reach, and they find Ingo's old helmet and they watch the footage of him being completely overrun by Elites and they're certain he died. So there mourning him.

And then a couple years later there's a distress beacon with his code coming from Reach and nobody knows how. They saw the footage, his body was gone, how could they be getting a distress beacon from Ingo? It's almost ignored, but better to make sure...

And they think he's a ghost when they first see him. Pale, armor fucked up, scarred, skinny from so little food. Barely surviving. But he did. Somehow, he did.

Thinking about the Flood last night got me thinking that Noble Six Ingo completely missed out on the first encounter with the Flood. Emmet and Elesa have had several encounters with it, it remains horrifying but they don't scream in surprise when the little hermit crab parasites jump out at them spontaneously.

Ingo is not prepared for the first time he encounters the Flood.

Actually can you imagine the difficulty for Spartan Ingo, coming back from living practically alone and feral to survive, coming back from the brink of death after war, after watching all of his team die through sacrifice or assassination, and the world...

is no longer at war

Can you imagine breaking the news to him, that he and his team - his team that is no longer around, except maybe Jun but no one's heard from him in years - were the catalyst that let John 117 end the war? That helped humanity win? That there's some sort of peace now? That he's died in battle and now he's awake and there's no war to return to? Barely any Spartans left?

The adjustment period where he's waking up from nightmares, one hand on a knife, ready to fight, to protect himself or Akari, and the night is just- still and peaceful and quiet. There's no battle to be in. There's no elite zealots sneaking up on him. There's no glassing going on around him. The dissonance of what he's grown used to and what he has to adjust to.

Walking around in the middle of the night, wondering what would be better- if he'd truly died, if he'd been found to find the war still active, or this?

Just finished Reach and a bitch is emotional. I love Emile so much.

Also, Noble Six is implied to have died by both the beginning of reach and the fact that the last quote of the game is "Did we lose them Cortana?" "I think we both know the answer to that." which MEANS Noble Six doesn't have a confirmed death and therefore I can continue with my "Spartan Ingo is Noble Six" idea.

Spartan Ingo has cat ears, you cant change my mind

Its what he deserves

But you know who else has cat ears?

Akari