Disclaimer: The author does not claim to own the Halo franchise, RWBY, or Red vs. Blue. Halo is the property of 343 Industries, while RWBY and Red vs. Blue belong to Rooster Teeth (Happy Birthday, guys).
Dedicated to Monty Oum. Thank you for being the amazing person you were and for continuing to inspire people. We'll never stop moving forward.
Noble Six decided that, as far as shitty days went, today could easily rank somewhere in his Top 3.
The day had started out simply enough. Fight off several dozen waves of murderous aliens, keeping them out of the subterranean lab of one very cranky, snarky and incredibly condescending old woman all while trying to keep himself and his teammates, Emile, Jun and Carter alive. Simple enough work for a Spartan.
Things only started to get complicated when the old woman, who just so happened to be one of the brightest scientific minds in recorded human history, told his team to enter her lab, extract a Package, and get it off of Reach before the Covenant could destroy it.
Noble Team had assumed the package would be the scientist, and this wasn't an unreasonable assumption. Dr. Catherine Elizabeth Halsey was probably the smartest person to have ever been born, period. She'd had a hand in almost every major technological advancement or scientific breakthrough over the last three decades, and was directly responsible for both the original SPARTAN-II Program and Project MJOLNIR, the supersoldier program that had given rise to the single greatest fighting force in recorded history and the specialized armor they wore that made them exponentially better fighters. So, of course, it would make sense for the "Good Doctor" to be of enough importance to think she was worth an escort team of Spartans.
She wouldn't have been wrong, but no. As it turned out, this was not the case at all. Halsey hadn't been interested in securing transport for herself. Instead, she wanted Noble to protect and deliver an AI fragment carrying information that, according to Halsey, was beyond critical to the war effort. "A game changer," had been her exact words. The strange part was when Halsey had singled Six out specifically, stating that the fragment had "made her choice".
After exiting the lab, Carter had ordered Jun to accompany Dr. Halsey to ONI's CASTLE Base, the single most well-hidden and heavily defended location on the planet, as far as anyone could tell, while the rest of the team made their way to the nearby UNSC Halcyon-Class cruiser, Pillar of Autumn. Halsey had insisted she could handle herself, saying she wouldn't need an escort. However, Carter's intentions were made clearer when he ordered Jun to "make sure nothing falls into enemy hands". Jun only replied by wishing the rest of the team luck on their task, Carter wishing him the same before both Spartans boarded separate Pelicans and took off in separate directions just as a series of remote detonations buried Halsey's lab and everything they couldn't take with them.
That was when things really started to go south, fast. First, the remaining members of Noble Team had been spotted by a Covenant air patrol, who didn't hesitate to engage. Noble was able to destroy the wing of Banshee flyers, but the commotion had attracted the attention of every strike craft in the valley. It was only a matter of time before Noble's Pelican was damaged to the point it wouldn't remain airborne much longer.
To make matters worse, one of the Banshee pilots had landed a ludicrously lucky shot into the Pelican's troop bay, firing into the cockpit and critically wounding Carter, who was quick to order Six and Emile out and onto the ground, opting to use himself to draw attention away from the others so they could make it to the rendezvous point, docked just on the next mesa and within view of the two groundside Spartans. As well as an entire battalion of angry Covenant soldiers and mechanized armor.
Six and Emile had managed to either avoid or wipe out most of the resistance they came across, but when a Covenant Scarab walker spotted them, Carter drove his Pelican straight into the behemoth's side, sacrificing himself for the sake of the mission, and his team. He never hesitated. Six had to admit, even if only to himself, he admired that kind of bravery.
After fighting their way through several of the reclamation plants that overlooked the valley the UNSC had used as a ship breaking and recycling yard, the Spartans finally arrived at the landing pad the Autumn's Captain, the legendary Jacob Keyes, had designated.
Of course, things weren't that simple. As it happened, the Covenant had chosen that exact moment to launch a full scale assault on the pad with everything they had to spare. Keyes wouldn't be able to claim the Package until the pad and the airspace around it were clear, so the last survivors of Noble Team would have to fight off the Covenant forces in their entirety.
The battle was long, painful and draining, Emile having taken position on a nearby Onager MAC platform to deal with Covenant dropships and fighters, leaving Six to fight off wave after wave of Covenant ground forces. The only real saving grace was that the area around the pad was too small for the Covenant to deploy any attack vehicles. That, combined with some covering fire courtesy of the Autumn's point defense guns, allowed Six to stave off the Covenant's assault until their reinforcements finally ran dry.
As he withdrew his knife from the skull of the last Covenant soldier, Six radioed Keyes and gave him the all clear.
"Noble to Keyes," Six called over comms, "the pad is clear of hostiles. You are clear to make your approach, over."
"Copy that Spartan," Keyes replied, "I'm on my way. Keyes out."
Satisfied, Six took that time to catch his breath. While the fight itself had offered nothing too terribly draining, he had been in and out of dozens of firefights over the last few hours. As a result, he was exhausted. He may have been able to fight longer and harder than an entire squad of marines, but even Spartans had their limits, and Six could feel that he was very close to his. As he was waiting for Keyes' Pelican to reach the pad, Six was shaken from his recuperation by his comm unit crackling to life.
"Hell of a job down there Six," Emile said, "Couldn't have done it better myself."
Six scoffed lightly. "Wow, that almost sounded like a compliment," he teased. "You're not going soft on me are you?"
"Don't get full of yourself kid," he shot back. "You may outrank me, but that don't mean I won't still kick your ass if you step outta line. I'm the senior member of Noble."
Before Six could reply, the steadily approaching roar of VTOL thrusters pulled his attention to a pair of Pelicans rapidly approaching. Keyes had arrived. Over comms, Emile let out a short sigh before speaking up again.
"All right Six, this is it." Emile said, his tone lacking the usual bite. "Get the Package to Keyes, then get the hell off this planet."
That immediately set off an alarm in Six's head. He knew what Emile was saying, and Six wasn't having it. He had already bore witness to the deaths of three of Noble Team's number, there was no way in hell he was going to leave a fourth to die when he could do something about it. However, before Six could give voice to his thoughts, Keyes' Pelican touched down, the troop bay door opening and the Captain himself stepping out.
On instinct, Six snapped off a crisp salute and reached around to grab the containment unit locked to his lower back, offering the Package to the approaching senior officer.
"Good to see you, Spartan," Keyes began, taking possession of the Package. "Halsey assured me I could count on you."
"Not just me, sir." Six clarified. The Captain's praise caused Six to reflect on not just that day's events, but those of the past month, since the Covenant had first been discovered and engaged by Noble Team at the Visegrad Relay Outpost. Every sacrifice, every life spent in service to the continued survival of the human race, all leading up to this moment. To say the cost was enormous would be a colossal understatement. To not even acknowledge those sacrifices… that was a disservice. Fortunately, the Captain agreed.
"They'll be remembered," he replied, placing a reassuring hand on the much taller Spartan's arm. Six could only hope that what the man said was true, but considering what the Covenant had just done to Reach, humanity's second most powerful world next to Earth, he had his doubts. For the first time in his career, for the first time in his life, Six doubted whether or not humanity had any chance of winning; doubted whether or not everything he had ever done, endured or witnessed actually amounted to anything.
Six shook those thoughts away, violently. He couldn't think like that. Even if humanity lost the war, even if the Covenant succeeded in rendering them extinct, he would fight. He would fight and he would make certain that the Covenant never forgot how a technologically and numerically inferior race held them back for almost thirty years. In this way, at least, humanity would live on regardless of the outcome of the war. His resolve set, Six prepared to follow Keyes back to the Autumn, determined to continue the fight and ready to drag Emile along with him even if he had to physically drag the man. That is, until he noticed the look of alarm flash over the Captain's face as he looked into the sky just over Six's shoulder.
"Cruiser!" Keyes called out, broadcasting over comms so Emile, still in the gunner's seat overlooking the platform, could hear. "Adjusting heading for the Autumn!"
Glancing up, Six saw it too, and his heart plummeted. In the distance, a Covenant Battlecruiser emerged from the clouds. The 1500 meter warship easily dwarfed, outclassed and outgunned its human counterpart, leaving the Autumn with no real chance. The only hope for escape would be to somehow kill the Battlecruiser…or distract it.
"Noble Four I need fire on that cruiser or we're not getting out of here," Keyes ordered, noticeable urgency in his tone. "Do you copy?"
"You'll have your window, sir," came Emile's simple, stoic reply.
At that moment, Six understood Emile's earlier words. From his raised elevation, Emile probably saw the cruiser as it initially changed course. The Captain wouldn't have seen it, nor would anyone aboard the Autumn, the canyon walls that surrounded them were too high. But the Onager cannon had been placed at a higher elevation. Emile had seen the cruiser, evaluated the situation, and come to the same realization that Keyes had: unless Emile could somehow draw the cruiser's attention away from the Autumn, no one would make it.
Six wanted to say something, apologize maybe for the way things had turned out. By the time he found the words, the cannon was already moving into position. Before he could say anything, Keyes called his attention.
"Lieutenant…it's time to go," Keyes stated. Six, for the first time in years, hesitated, casting one last look towards the MAC before moving to join Keyes aboard the Pelican. The distinctive whirring of a Phantom's engines stopped him in his tracks. Sure enough, a Phantom shot up from the canyon's depths, well below the sight line of the Onager, and let loose a salvo of explosive plasma rounds, crippling the escort Pelican and sending it careening into the landing pad…and right towards Six.
With a shout, the Spartan dove out of the way, narrowly avoiding being crushed as the Pelican skidded off the pad and into chasm below. As Six hit the metal grating, he tucked hard and rolled back to his feet, reaching over his shoulder for his DMR. Six took aim at the Covenant dropship continuing towards the Onager… only to notice that the weapon's scope had been flattened and the barrel was bent at a noticeable angle.
Disgusted at this turn of events, Six tossed the now useless weapon over the edge of the pad, only to be caught off guard as one of the Phantom's side gunners opened up on him, forcing him to the ground. Raising his head, he watched the Phantom hover over the control booth for the massive cannon, dropping off a single, red armored Elite Zealot onto the glass. Zealots were notoriously dangerous amongst the ranks of the Covenant, often fighting on near equal footing with Spartans. Of course, not all Spartans fought the same, as evidenced by the shotgun blast that erupted from the control booth, shredding the saurian warrior's shields and hurtling it onto its back.
Rising from the booth, Emile pumped his shotgun, chambering another round before taking aim at his stunned and startled foe. The 8-guage buckshot overwhelmed what was left of the Zealot's shields, chewing through the warrior's armor, popping the Elite's head like an over-ripened melon... stuffed with firecrackers.
Pumping his weapon again, Emile reveled in his victory. "WHO'S NEXT?" he challenged. His answer was the twin prongs of high intensity plasma that erupted from his chest, as another Zealot snuck up behind him and stabbed the Spartan in the back.
Believing its target had been dealt with, the Zealot grabbed Emile by the head and roared in triumph, only to be silenced by the barely alive Spartan driving his kukri into the Elite's neck.
"I'M READY! HOW 'BOUT YOU?!" He screamed, his last breath dripping with defiance.
As the Elite died, both it and Emile fell off of the Onager and out of view, several ragged breathes sounding out over the radio before everything went silent.
'No…that's not how it was supposed to happen,' Six thought. He honestly couldn't believe it. While he had never considered himself and Emile to be friends, he had held a begrudging respect for the man's ability in battle. Too see him go out like that, taken out by a sneak attack, it was an insult to Emile's love of combat.
"Lieutenant! Get aboard! We gotta get the hell outta here!" a Marine called, reaching out to pull the Spartan into the troop bay of Keyes' Pelican. Shaking his head, Six came crashing back into the reality of the situation. Without Emile in the gunner's position, the Autumn had no covering fire and wouldn't make orbit. There was still a chance, though. If he could get up to the Onager in time, he would be able to divert the Covenant cruiser long enough for the Autumn to take off.
"Negative," Six said, having made up his mind. "I have the gun. Good luck, sir." Keyes could only cast Six a sorrowful and apologetic look before replying.
"Good luck to you, Spartan." With that said, the Captain turned to the pilot and ordered the Pelican back to the ship as Six started sprinting across the pad, moving towards the set of stairs that would take him up to the Onager position.
Reaching the top, he barreled through the door to the next level of the complex, only to stop short and dive for cover behind a crate as a barrage of plasma bolts pelted where he had been not a moment ago. Sparing a glance, Six was able to get a good view of his attackers. A standard squad of a half dozen Grunts were waddling down the next flight of stairs with a pair of Jackals moving to flush him out, their Point Defense Gauntlets flaring up as a pair of brilliant blue, circular shields snapped into existence.
Looking out the door he had just come through, Six saw that the Covenant cruiser had slowed down. That was not a good sign, it meant that they were almost in range to attack. He estimated he had less than two minutes to reactivate the Onager or… well, he tried not to think about that.
Deciding the Jackals were the more immediate threat, Six ripped his last frag grenade off his belt, pushed the activator, and skipped it across the grated floor, coming to rest just behind the unsuspecting pair. With a solid bang, the grenade sent bits of the avian creatures flying across the room, some of it coating a Grunt unlucky enough to be at the head of the pack. The loss of their superiors, as always, caused the methane breathing aliens to fall into a panic.
Before they could recover, Six vaulted over the crate, sidearm in hand, and double tapped one of the still dazed Grunts. His first shot ruptured its methane pack, the highly explosive gas leaking out and causing the alien to panic even more as his air supply spread amongst the squad. Six's next shot ignited the gas, consuming the entire squad in a fireball.
"Cruiser, moving into position," Keyes' voice crackled over the radio. "I need it dead!"
The urgency in the Captain's tone got Six moving, ascending the next flight of stairs three at a time. As he rounded the next corner he very nearly lost his head as an Elite Zealot decloaked and took a swipe at him with an energy sword.
Six ducked, but didn't stop. Instead, he rammed the saurian warrior, charged towards the railing overlooking the rest of the canyon, and shoved. The Elite's surprise at Six's bold and decisively stupid action was replaced by shocked horror as its lower knees collided with the railing, sending it tumbling end over end into the chasm below, bellowing in anguish all the while. Had it been any other time, he would have indulged the fanatical lizard and engaged it in a one on one duel. But right now, he was tired, frustrated and pressed for time.
The last threat dealt with, Six scrambled up the final flight of stairs and onto the Onager, sparing a glance to Emile's still form as he ascended the ladder and grabbed the controls for the MAC.
By the time Six had brought the massive gun to bear, the Cruiser's shields had irised, providing the ship's devastating energy projector a firing lane; and giving Six the opening he needed to fire a kill shot.
He didn't hesitate. Pulling the trigger, the magnetic coils charged and drove a hypersonic round into the belly of the beast with the force of a meteor. The effects were immediate and devastating, the Cruiser's midsection disappeared as a small sun briefly engulfed the vessel, causing Six to turn away as his visor automatically polarized in an attempt to protect his vision from the glare.
When the light finally died down, the Cruiser was spewing flames and molten bits of deck plating, the engines sputtering and lights flickering as the ship struggled to maintain altitude. Not a half second later, Six hailed the Captain.
"Noble to Keyes, Cruiser is down and your exit is clear; GO NOW!"
"Good guns, Spartan," Keyes congratulated. "All hands, prepare for castoff." At the Captain's order, the Autumn's massive engines ignited. The titanic vessel lifted off the mesa and made a hard burn into orbit, climbing rapidly until the glow of its engines were nothing but tiny pin-pricks of light before vanishing altogether. Six continued to stare after it, watching, waiting, for any kind of sign that the ship, its crew and precious cargo had made it. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, his patience was rewarded.
"This is the Pillar of Autumn," Keyes' voice crackled over the radio. "We are away. The Package is with us." Hearing this, Six released the breath he didn't even realize he was holding before beginning to chuckle under his breath in disbelief.
His chuckling eventually petered out, giving way to deep, heavy breaths as the exhaustion of the day finally caught up to the Spartan. Six took a few minutes to catch his breath. With the Autumn gone, the Covenant wouldn't be as active in the area. Or, at least he hoped they wouldn't. Although, he had just blown an entire Battlecruiser out of the sky… not to mention the waves of special operatives that wouldn't be reporting in.
With that in mind, Six decided that it would probably be smarter to get moving. He was quite a ways out from CASTLE Base, and the terrain around him was almost completely open. But if he was quick, careful and ridiculously lucky, he might be able to make it.
'Who knows? Might even be able to link up with Jun and Halsey. But first…'
Descending the ladder, Six stopped to examine Emile's body, slumped against the railing overlooking the landing pad. Kneeling before the man, Six shook his head and moved to remove his helmet, but stopped at the last minute. Instead, he released the seal on the other Spartan's helmet and felt around the back of the man's neck. Finding what he was looking for, he reached around and removed Emile's dog tags with a swift yank.
Looking them over, Six turned back to his fallen teammate. Resetting the seal on Emile's helmet, Six got to work laying the man out in a more dignified position, crossing the man's arms over his chest, hands meeting over his heart.
Looking around, Six found the body of the Zealot that had killed Emile crumpled in a broken heap a few feet away, the Spartan's kukri still embedded in the alien's neck. Walking over, Six grabbed the angled knife's handle and pulled, the blade coming free with surprisingly little resistance.
"You always did keep this thing sharp," he chuckled, walking back to Emile. Carefully, he placed the grip of the blade under the dead man's hands, closing his fingers around the handle.
"I admit it. I never liked you Emile," Six confessed, giving the man an impromptu eulogy. "You were brash, you were arrogant, hell, you were hostile and aggressive to everything and everyone we came across. But despite that, you were one of the most fearless men I've ever met. And in the end, you didn't hesitate to take on what you knew was a death sentence. For that, you have my respect."
Rising to his feet, Six thought it best to finish up.
"Rest in Peace, Spartan," Six said, casting his gaze onto the now destroyed Cruiser burning amongst the decommissioned husks of UNSC vessels. "Sorry about stealing your kill."
"Oh, and your shotgun," he added, stooping down to retrieve said weapon. "Hope you don't mind. I accidentally crushed my DMR when that Pelican almost flattened me, and I don't feel like fighting off the entire Covenant Army with just a pistol and a couple of knives."
Finishing his impromptu funeral with a crisp salute, Six turned to depart, pausing only briefly to use his wrist computer to get a heading before he made his way down into the boneyard and off towards CASTLE Base.
To those of you that make it this far, thank you for taking the time to read this. To those of you who take the time to offer a review, thank you for that as well.