A/N: It's been a number of years since the fall of humanity's military stronghold, Reach. Noble Team are war-torn but light-hearted, and their bond is as strong as ever. Hopping across the galaxy as they take out the many factions of the Covenant, as well as rebel factions of humanity, they face more challenges than just the difficulty that is posed by Jul 'Mdama's faction known as the Storm Covenant. New threats will rise up... new Spartans will make their mark... the UNSC has a new flagship leading their fleet... is there any use for the Spartans of Noble Team and their outdated frigate?

Annnnd finally, here is the next fic in the series From Team To Family. This time, the story will shift focus somewhat and include more characters, some of whom you know and love, and some of whom are OCs of my own creation. Once again, as with the previous story, this is canon divergent. Meaning the shit that goes down? Yeah, a lot of it didn't actually happen. I wasn't really impressed with how they handled everything post Halo 4's Spartan Ops, and this is my attempt at doing it - and Halo 5: Guardians - justice. This is my own take on what the galaxy is like after Spartan Ops. It will be different. You don't have to like it, but please, don't hate on me for changing up canon events. This is an Alternate Universe, a what-could-have-been.

And this work is pure fiction, written by moi.

(also, fic title is taken from a line of Warriors by Imagine Dragons, a song I headcanon as being the theme for all generations of Spartans)
[p.s. this is sort of a filler chapter. the more interesting stuff will happen in the next chapter, I swear]

In orbit above New Harmony, unknown system, May 11th, 2558

"It is good to be back home."

"You say that like we've been gone for more than a month."

"Hey, what can I say? I missed the place."

"Boys. Enough." Artemis strode over to her bickering teammates, slapping Carter on the back of the shoulder before cuffing Jun on the back of the neck. "We get it, Jun, you missed being on New Harmony. And Carter, seriously, stop being an ass. It wasn't like we just left your home planet."

The Commander rolled his eyes. "Ah, forget it. I'm going to get out of my gear and take a nap. That fight was exhausting." He strode off, and Jun snorted quietly; Artemis shot the sniper a glare.

"Be nice. You're all up in the sky, cushy in your Falcon, whilst the rest of us were fighting on the ground and organizing civilians." she chided, folding her arms across her chest and staring out the window. "...But ... We made good progress. And... to be honest, it's nice to have you back again."

The Warrant Officer had been away from the rest of NOBLE for quite some time. He had 'officially' retired from active duty, and was currently holding the – supposedly temporary – position of Chief of Staff of Spartan Operations. That meant he had to oversee the newest generation of Spartans – the S-IVs – and make sure their training was up to par, as well as recruit people for the program in the first place. It was time-consuming work that involved a lot of paper as well as star-hopping, and the sniper had been busy with work for the past five months. Thus he had only just returned to the team, and he hadn't even had much of a chance to catch up, being thrown in battle practically the moment he had set foot on The Athenian.

That was right – the Stalwart-class light frigate they had escaped Reach aboard was renamed The Athenian, and was beginning to be outfitted for Spartans. She had also received better armaments, and was upgraded with better fusion reactors and a better slipspace drive. This work was being done at the request of the ship's captain – at the time, Noble Team were away in the city of Tyumen, as they did not want the rest of the UNSC knowing they were alive and kicking. As they had vowed years earlier, they did not want to be under the jurisdiction of the UNSC or ONI or the likes of them... they were striking out on their own, and managing just fine. The crew of the former UNSC frigate were more than fine with having Spartans as their commanders anyway – after all, there was a lot more shore leave for them than there ordinarily would have been had they been working directly for the UNSC, and most of their families were dead or out of contact anyway.

The Spartans were older, now, and more war-torn. But they were lighter in heart, less weary, and still as close-knit as ever. They looked after one another. Hung out together. Trained together. Lived and breathed and ate together. Criticized Jun's cooking, or praised his baking. Scolded Emile whenever he got too rowdy. Calmed one another through nightmares. Their bond was one that had been forged in fire, and it was stronger than it had ever been since it had formed that fateful day of July 24th on the planet Reach.

"Of course you missed me, you shit," Jun drew an arm around the Lieutenant and she let out a growling squeal before elbowing him in the ribs, darting off.

"I'll be at the gym. See you later, dweeby man!" She flipped him the bird over her shoulder and laughed as the sniper scowled at her.

It was good to have Jun back among their ranks. The team just never felt the same when they had to be apart from one another. In battle it suited them just fine, but when they were off-duty? Yeah, it sucked really badly.

Artemis hung upside down from a high bar, curling upwards before dropping straight down again. She watched keenly as a handful of Army Troopers entered The Athenian's gym – or, rather, one of two gyms – chatting amongst themselves. She recognized one of the females in particular – an auburn-haired, green-eyed peppy woman whom Noble had saved during yesterday's fighting. Some... Sergeant Curtis, if she recalled correctly. Bright spark, good in combat, but somewhat dumb in regards to reacting to the way the Covenant now fought. She fought them like one would the Covenant during its old days, but the Storm Covenant were a new thing and they were different. That was what had caused her to get into trouble and thus Noble having to save her ass.

The Spartan flicked her gaze over to where Carter was doing some arm curls with the third-heaviest weight he could find – which thankfully, Jun had been able to pilfer some of the Spartan-strength equipment from the Infinity, the UNSC's flagship. Sergeant Curtis broke away from her group and made her way over to the Commander, and Artemis' lips downturned into a suspicious sneer when she noticed Curtis' approximate position in relation to the Spartan.

Oh, you are way too close for comfort, bitch.

She couldn't really make out what the Trooper was saying – nor what Carter was saying in response – because of the earbuds in her ears filtering music to her, but judging by Curtis' body language, it was clear that she was interested in whatever the Spartan had to say. And that she – oh no. Oh, don't you fucking dare. Why the hell are you grabbing his arm like that?

Artemis dropped to the ground neatly, a growl rumbling in her chest as she marched towards the two soldiers, all but tearing Curtis away from the Spartan and sending the Trooper sprawling to the deck with a vicious backhand. "Watch your proximity to my teammate, soldier, and keep your hands to yourself." she hissed, low and dangerous. She felt Carter's shock from where the Spartan stood behind her, but he didn't do anything to stop her – seemed like he was too surprised at the contact from the Trooper to react.

Said Trooper stared up at the Lieutenant in a mixture of awe and fear, wiping her bloodied nose and bobbing her head in a nod. "Y-Yes ma'am. Sorry... i-it won't happen again." She scrambled to her feet and scurried back to where her fellow Troopers were waiting. A couple of them laughed at her, one shook his head in sympathy, and another one just rolled her eyes. The group of soldiers left the gym and tended to avoid it after that incident, using the other gym instead. They didn't want to run into the Spartans again – which suited Artemis just fine, because that particular group of Army Troopers tended to be on the irritating and hostile side.

"So, what's new?" Jorge's voice rumbled from seemingly out of nowhere, causing Jun to recoil in surprise, spinning around to face his teammate. His expression was a mixture of shock and annoyance; he shook his head and sighed when the heavy weapon specialist chuckled.

"Latest batch of S-IVs just finished their training. They show a lot more promise than the last lot. The Infinity's repairs from the attack at Oth Lodon are almost complete. Fireteam Majestic are making a lot of headway against the Storm, and... I think that's about it, really." The sniper shrugged, turning away to look through shelves of books lined up neatly against one wall of the rec room.

"Nothing about you-know-who?"

The Warrant Officer glanced sharply at his fellow, and his mouth twisted into a grim smirk. "Well... nothing that I could find, but I asked Roland and he showed me some records that stated yes, he had been aboard the Infinity before, and less than a year ago. We were a little slow and he's elsewhere now, moving across the galaxy with the rest of Blue Team."

Jorge rubbed his jawline in thought. "Hm. Interesting..."