Chapter Text
How he'd ended up in this situation was a mystery to 630. Tied up and therefore unable to communicate, missing limbs, and exhausted from trying to force a molt his body simply wasn't ready for- to regrow said limbs.
He'd been looking for 631, followed the path that the pod he had shoved the larger experiment into had taken, or so he'd thought. There must've been a miscalculation. 630 had found himself on The Lonely Planet, and he knew there was no way this planet was still functioning if the destruction happy 631 made it here first.
They'd had conversations before about The Lonely Planet, and its inhabitants, the humans. 630 felt that they should be studied. Their death planet was unique, their behavior bizarre! They should be studied.
They were a hit on the black market pet trade for how quickly they solved puzzles and their uncanny ability to survive and even thrive in hazardous environments. Entertaining, so long as they didn't get their clawless hands on you. They were feared by the masses for a reason after all. But 630, well he held a small flame of hope that they were smarter than they'd been given credit for, and could be befriended. Trained or domesticated, at the very least.
631 had had a different opinion. "They're dangerous, we were created to combat them. I can't wait to get my teeth on one. Let me near The Lonely Planet, I'll gladly end the entire human race." 631 had a tendency to pit himself against any and all creatures he thought could put up a decent fight, and the reputation the humans had as the most terrifying and dangerous lower species in the galaxy certainly put them on his list.
Looking at the walls of the strange container 630 found himself in, he felt there may have been merit to the other experiment's disdain for the Humans.
As soon as he'd touched down, he'd been met by more humans than he'd ever seen before, all holding guns. Interesting how even here, a gun was still recognizably a gun. They'd fired some sort of projectile, which had been stopped by his exoskeleton, but the shots to his head had still stunned him. They'd secured his wings to his abdomen, preventing flight. Their grunting would haunt his dreams, they created the same sounds in unison. Did they go beyond the known pack bonding? Was this a hive mind situation? He'd attempted to reason with them, but with his wings restrained he couldn't communicate, not that he could reasonably believe the beasts would understand anyway.
He'd settled for escape, one grabbed ahold of his leg. 630 panicked. He didn't want to die here. He could live without that leg. He thrashed about until the joint between coxa and trochanter ripped apart. The pain was secondary to his will to escape. The human growled, grabbed more of his limbs. 630 kicked and clawed, in the back of his mind lamenting that he never tried sparring with 631. He wasn't as adept at fighting, he lacked the muscle of the other 6-Class experiments. Another leg was ripped from him, this one between the metatarsus and tibia. He snapped at it with his pincers, drawing its strangely colored blood, indicative of a creature native to the Lonely planet. Angrily, the beast that seemed to be in charge placed a hand on 630's thorax, grabbed his arm, and pulled. Now he was down 3 limbs, and certain of his own death.
What if the calculations had been correct, what if 631 had landed here, and been bested? It seemed so likely now. 630 stopped fighting. His only hope would be that perhaps they would lose interest if they thought him dead. He stopped struggling, and the beasts restrained him.
A sound came from a little black thing secured to the human's head. It sounded like more growling. Could the humans growl from more than one orifice? Why was it covered? The one touching him leaned away, barked at the others, then moved away. Was he going to survive?
They'd thrown him into some large container, and he'd been in there for some time. The container had been moved around, by several machines, and there was a point where the container rocked continuously. Clearly whatever vessel was transporting him had a broken stabilizer, or worse, no stabilizers at all. There were growls and screams from time to time that came from outside the container. Gunfire. Were the humans attacking one another? Eventually, another human was thrown in with him. Why? This one was bound as well. It growled and writhed any time he moved, he was certain it would attack if he let it loose. Best to leave it alone. He had work to do.
630 had decided that once he got out of there, he was going to make 631 proud. He'd go down, probably, but he'd do so after taking out as many of these horrid humans as he could. He'd been wrong to think they could be tamed, or reasoned with. They deserved the extermination that the 6-Class experiments had been created for. He'd do his best to kill as many as he could. He just needed more time. He needed to shed, that would get him out of these binds, give him his legs and arm back, then he'd harden back up and claw his way out of the metal box they'd stuffed him in.
There was more gunfire, more barking, and then the door opened.
***
Alejandro opened the door, Gaz cleared the small container. Valeria was right where he expected her to be, tied to a chair and waiting. Behind her, on the ground, was a writhing mass.
Four lumps, one much larger than the others, and too many limbs, with way too many joints. No, scratch that, 3 lumps. One of them was actually two separate... limbs? Appendages? It looked like pincers... "Oh fuck, that's gotta be Ghost's cousin." Soap had shown him a sketch of what he probably looked like. Apparently Ghost had drawn him on the wall in another man's blood, which, why? But really, it tracked for Ghost.
The thing before them was smaller than Ghost. About the size of a medium dog, really. As he crept closer to it, Gaz noted its different aspects. It certainly looked like a bug. It's head reminded him of a wasp or an ant, but... cuter, really. Like Ghost, it was fluffy. Unlike Ghost, it had an odd number of skinny, segmented legs. Could've sworn the drawing gave him more, and an even number. Did Ghost forget? Or is he hurt? They reminded him of a tarantula a bit, and Gaz quickly made himself think of literally anything else.
The meeting in the barn was what he decided on. Specifically, what Ghost had called his cousin. He said it meant 630, and that that was his name, so why not try calling out?
"I'm gonna try something." He informed Alejandro. " 630 " He tried his best to replicate the undulating growl his friend so easily produced. The beast stilled. He tried again. " 630 " It clicked its mandibles together, antennae waving in the air, outstretched towards Gaz.
He and Alejandro shared a look heavy with mixed emotions.
***
There was no fucking way. It did it again. The human said his name. Unprompted. It couldn't have been a mimicry thing, 630 hadn't spoken his name, therefore it couldn't have heard it and repeated it. And yet it said it. Twice. It wasn't perfect, the word seemed difficult for the human to form, a bit garbled. Even weirder, it said 631. It took a hand, balled all digits together but one, and gestured out through the open door. Was it trying to communicate that 631 was out there? Unlikely. But it really seemed like it. More likely was that he'd suffered more head trauma than he initially assessed, and was hallucinating as his injuries healed. At least it was a fun hallucination.
These humans were different from the ones before. They were covered head to toe, much like the others had been, but they had white markings on their face coverings, and held out their hands, as if trying to stop him from attacking them . Ridiculous. Was he planning to? Yeah, but their species had started it. He wouldn't normally resort to violence.
The one closest to him, the one that had tried to speak to him, barked while holding a little box on its front. More barking, but muffled, through a smaller box on its head, and the human disconnected some wires from the first box.
"630?" Again, his name, but that sounded suspiciously like... "630 it is 631, listen carefully: these are my humans," leave it to 631 to claim ownership over victims he couldn't even presently see. "They're going to unbind you, they won't hurt you." Oh. Definitely a hallucination then.
The human that carried the communications device from which he imagined the other experiment's voice stepped forward, softly barking and chittering. It wasn't as unpleasant a sound as the others had produced. It slowly moved one hand around itself, dipped the hand into a pouch of some sort, and grabbed at what 630 assumed were some sort of tool to release him. He sat as still as possible, bewildered at the similarities between what was truly happening and the hallucinations he was experiencing. Something must've tipped off his subconscious that this human was going to help him, he decided.
As soon as his limbs were freed, he threw himself into the corner, putting distance between himself and the most feared beings in the universe, and then began trying to wriggle out of the binds around his wings and body.
The humans watched him struggle, then approached again. He froze once more. The one nearest, that held the communications device, began chittering gently once more, hands in front of it. It slowly lowered itself, making sure only to touch the binds, not 630. He was grateful for that. The binds fell away, and this time, 630 didn't move away. But the human did. Slowly, it gave him his space.
***
Ghost let his momentum carry him into the room and he landed on three feet just inside the doorway. Shooting broke out immediately, but Ghost's attention was drawn upwards. He followed the scent of sweat, fear, Graves, up to a catwalk at the back of the room they'd just entered. Graves was running.
Ghost couldn't help but grin, the human expression now ingrained in him, it seemed. "He's on the run! Clear in!" He leapt back up, and crawled along the walls, claws leaving divots as he went. Those who decided to turn their guns on him were quickly dispatched, he noted in the back of his mind, by Rudy and Soap.
On the second floor Ghost tore through Shadows, making his way through an office towards his prey. Some of the Shadows he left in his wake were merely injured, and he took comfort in hearing his humans dispatching the discarded and mutilated soldiers, just as they themselves had been doing to innocent civilians just the day before. It felt like justice for the Vaqueros.
He entered a control room. It was full of computers and servers, tech that Ghost would love the opportunity to dismantle and play with on a normal day went ignored as he closed in on Graves, who still ran.
Ghost leapt at the human's back, Graves never had any hope of outrunning Ghost, and took him down. No sooner than he'd hit the ground did Ghost use two arms to secure both of Graves's, and a third to squeeze the human's throat. Just enough pressure from his claws to release drops of blood from the back of Graves's neck and to make breathing difficult, but not yet enough to kill him.
Being forced to face Ghost, the human, predictably, screamed. Ghost snarled back. He wanted to relish in this, what he was made for, the opportunity to strike fear into the most feared creature in the universe. "Where is he?" He grit out. He didn't have time for that. 630 needed him. "Where is the bug?" He punctuated each word with a squeeze of his paw.
He barely remembered to be gentle enough to keep from killing the human. But only just. He needed him to speak, he didn't really need him to speak clearly . Rasping out through a crushed windpipe would work just fine.
Soap and Rudy arrived just as Graves was beginning to garble out useless observations. "One of them-... you're-... oh Christ-... monster-" Ghost was losing his patience. He forced himself to let up on the human's throat, though he refused to let go completely.
"Yes, one of them. So where is the other?" He grit out, a growl tumbling through his teeth.
Graves's eyes went wide. "Ghost?!" Had he not connected the dots before this moment? Unbelievable.
"Obviously!" He snarled. The urge to rip into the human was so great, he could practically already taste it, he salivated at the thought, drool flecking onto the human as he barked out the word. Distantly, he recognized that he was losing his temper, that he was perhaps going too far, but he couldn't help it. 630 had previously been his only friend, the thought of him being in pain, or worse, no longer being alive, was driving him mad.
His radio crackled. "Ghost," it was Gaz. "Ghost, we found him. He's alive." Ghost froze, his next growl died in his throat. "I tried saying his name, and yours. He seemed to respond, but I don't know what else to say. I don't want to scare him, he's tied up. I wanna cut him loose."
"He's alright?" Ghost's voice sounded far away to his own ears. 630 must be terrified. He knew the other experiment was fascinated by the inhabitants of this planet, but he also possessed the healthy fear most other lifeforms felt towards them as well. "Let me speak to him." Ghost instructed. He then informed his cousin that the humans weren't there to harm him, that they would be freeing him. It must've been the last thing possible that the other could imagine him saying. He realized the other most likely still thought he viewed them as prey. Well, he was mostly right. Most of them were nothing to him. But he didn't have time to explain that he'd selected a handful of them as worthy of being his. They'd discuss it later.
"Ghost," it Soap, behind him. "Don't wait for us, go for him."
"We will catch up, hermano." Rudy assured him.
Ghost knew they would. He glowered down at Graves and gave him one final squeeze. The human went limp, and he dropped the carcass.
"Thank you." Ghost placed a paw on the shoulder of each of his companions, before tearing off in the direction they'd come, intent on getting to the shipping container as quickly as possible. Behind him, the duo continued forward, clearing out any remaining Shadows that refused to surrender after Soap and Rudy announced over comms that Graves was dead.
Ghost moved as fast as he could. He leaped out a window and hopped along rooftops and building sides. It took him mere moments to get there without having to slow himself for humans to keep up.
***
A loud thud reverberated through the box. Something had landed heavily on top of it. The humans barked, but didn't seem afraid.
Another thump as something large landed in front of the box, then stretched out to its full height.
Six limbs, it stood tall on two. It tilted its head, and barked softly in response to the humans. Then it advanced.
As it approached, it spoke. "630?" It was 631. Despite all odds, it was the other experiment. 630 tried and failed to prevent his antennae and mandibles from quivering. He couldn't help it. He was so relieved to see the other, he cried uncontrollably, and launched himself towards him.
631 closed the distance between them quickly, saving 630 the effort of gracelessly flopping across the metal floor. He first turned 630's body, checking him over for injuries and assessing the ones he found, before he lifted him up, cradling him close. "You're okay, you're okay. I am so thankful." The other mumbled. His mantra seemed more for himself than for 630, and he lowered them both to the floor.
With his remaining limbs, 630 began the customary ritual of placing his limbs in 631's own, as well as into the larger experiment's mouth. The gesture was returned, 631 placed his limbs between 630's mandibles and pincers. The show of trust grounded and reconnected them both.
After they finished, 631 lifted him back up and started walking out of the box. It occurred to him then that the other was still oddly poised on his hind legs, instead of supporting himself with all six as he was meant to, as the larger experiment then carried him out of the container he'd been locked in. It was odd, but 630 was too relieved to be reunited to care. Though the oddities didn't stop there, and 630 still had the niggling notion that he was simply hallucinating.
The humans were non-combative in his presence. They barked and chirped, even touched him. Wilder still, was that he responded in kind. Chirped back, like he was... "Oh my Stars, you're talking to them..." It wasn't often that 630 invoked the balls of Light and Life, but it felt appropriate here. "You're speaking their language!"
"Watch your bloody mouth!" What did blood have to do with their conversation?
"But you're communicating with them! The implications of this, 631, they may not be lower lifeforms after all!" Then he remembered the one that spoke his name. "Did..." he was hesitant to even voice his suspicion. "Did you teach it to speak?"
"They are more intelligent than anyone gives them credit for." More humans approached, yet 631 carried on. They must've been more of his. "That one wants to be a biologist, and I'm certain he has the mental capacity to earn the title." He nodded at the one who'd spoken his name.
Said human's eyes narrowed. It flapped a limb side to side and crudely uttered "Hello 630. Friend." How peculiar. How exciting!
630 excitedly buzzed his response, truly elated to have a human to speak with. the human turned to 631, clearly waiting for a translation. It seemed his understanding of Common was limited, but that was alright. Clearly he could learn.
***
Ghost cradled his cousin close to his chest. Sure, the other still had most of his limbs, and he could easily keep up with them by flying, but he didn't want to put him down. Relishing their closeness.
Their human companions began removing their masks, Ghost felt a quick twinge of sadness seeing them remove their unifying moniker.
Suddenly, 630 gasped, then lunged towards Gaz, flailing his remaining arms towards the man. "This ones a different color!" He buzzed excitedly.
Ghost stopped, glancing between Soap and 630. The fuck is wrong with them?
As if summoned, Soap came tearing around the corner of a building. Rudy followed shortly.
"Ghost!" Soap excitedly shouted. 630 cringed in his arms. He couldn't have that, he needed to set the record straight immediately for his cousin's sake, that these humans were harmless.
He grinned at his humans. "Soap!" He crowed happily. He warned 630 that he was going to set him down before doing so, and the other watched on in confusion as he grabbed Soap and pulled him close. Hugs were a human gesture, and he knew it wouldn't quite make sense to his cousin, but he couldn't help it. He'd been on the planet so long, it felt natural.
He then grasped Soap's hand with his paw and dragged him over to 630. That gesture, at least, wasn't lost on the other alien. A clear sign that the human was to be trusted.
That particular gesture seemed to be universal, as he'd seen many humans grasping one another's limbs. 630 tentatively stretched a limb towards Soap, who looked to Ghost for confirmation. "It's a sign of trust for us as well," he informed the collective. Soap wasted no time in grasping the small alien's paw, and had zero hesitance as he wrapped his fingers around and between the two digits. Ghost's heart swelled at the sight. Everything was going to be okay.