-Author's Note-

**Chapter title taken from Halo: Combat Evolved, as quoted by Cortana to Captain Keyes; "Sir, with all due respect, this war has enough dead heroes."

So, this is the first chapter of my new series set in the Halo universe, titled "From Team to Family". It centres around Noble Team, a group of highly-trained SPARTAN-IIIs and one SPARTAN-II, who were deployed to Reach to defend the planet from the Covenant, and their adventures following Reach's destruction. A whole lotta family bonding will occur, 'cause I reckon these guys deserve to be one big, happy family...and quite a few shenanigans will ensue. It's Emile's fault, mostly. He seems to be the troublemaker of the pack.

Please note that this is HIGHLY CANON DIVERGENT. Meaning, a lot of things will either a) conflict with canon, or b) not be part of canon at all whatsoever.
Don't hate on me with reasons such as "oh, such-and-such didn't die" or "they couldn't POSSIBLY survive something like that", or "such-and-such wouldn't act like that". This is an AU, built up on a lot of headcanons, as well as the wild imaginings of my brain. Meaning that a lot of the time, the characters WILL BE OOC. Don't judge me on that, okay? It doesn't matter if they're OOC - these guys weren't exactly very developed characters in canon, and this is MY interpretation on how they think and how they act. If you don't like it, then don't read the story - simple as that! No need for any unnecessary hate.

Also, my Noble Six is female (which is already diverging from canon, as officially, Six is male), named Artemis Fox, and was created as a clone of the Master Chief by ONI. It's just my interpretation of how Six gained the same rating - hyper-lethal vector - as one of the greatest soldiers in history (well, for Halo, anyway). If you have a problem with it, fine. Just don't whine to me about it.

We good?
Cool!
So go ahead, read the story, leave a like if you enjoyed it, and feel free to leave a comment - just no hate, because that's mean, and I don't like dealing with mean people!

Olympic Tower (ONI HQ), City of New Alexandria, Eposz, Planet Reach, Epsilon Eridani system, August 23rd, 2552

Noble Team – or what remained of it, anyway – sprinted towards the fallout bunker, making conversation as they headed for safety. It was chaotic; the city was burning around them, and they needed to pause and regroup. It was hard for any of them to gather their wits about them and concentrate, even for a moment. Yet even then, over the roar of nearby explosions, and the murmurs of speech, Artemis heard it.

She and Kat were lagging behind the other three – their elevator having been slower – and were straining to catch up, when the unmistakable sound of a Phantom's engines whirring overhead filled her ears. And then, even more unmistakable still – barely audible as it was – was the sound of an Elite grunting as it cocked its weapon.

Sniper. They'd been spotted. No time.

"Where does he get off calling a demolition op Priority One-?" Kat was in the middle of asking, when Artemis interrupted her, and anyone else from responding.

"Look out!" she shouted, shoving the other SPARTAN-III out of the way. The needle, which was meant for Kat's head – a killing shot – hit her shoulder instead, eliciting a grunt of pain, the other woman nearly falling to her knees. In an instant, Jun, Emile, and Carter came out of their cover and lay down suppressive fire, which although had no effect on the Phantom and its occupants by way of killing them or damaging the craft, it thankfully discouraged them enough to the end that the Phantom flew away.

Artemis helped Kat to her feet, and half-pulled the other behind her as they ran the rest of the way to the bunker, Carter and Jun yelling at them to get inside. The automated doors slid shut behind them, and the SPARTANs all huddled around, sitting close to each other.

Kat was shaking, both from the near-death experience and the adrenaline rush it had given her, and the fact that Artemis had shoved her out of the way in order to save her life – Noble Six had nearly wound up getting shot herself. She took her helmet off and tossed it aside, revealing the sweaty sheen on her features – and were there tears, too? One quick swipe at her eyes confirmed that speculation, and indeed, it shocked her teammates...SPARTANs never cried.

The others took off their helmets also, and settled in for a weary, sleepless rest; Jun, Emile, and Artemis all sent curious glances at their Commander and the injured warrior, and quizzical looks between each other. Evidently Carter and Kat were rather close, judging by the fact that the dark blue-armoured SPARTAN had gestured for the cryptanalyst to sit closer to him as he tended to her wound – and he was comforting her, too, if his low, oddly gentle tone was anything to go by.

Some hours passed, and by then, Kat had simply passed out from exhaustion and blood loss, her arm bandaged and head resting against Carter's shoulder.

Rather close indeed.

Sure, SPARTANs weren't averted to leaning on or sitting close to one another, but the fact that Kat looked ... peaceful ... as she slept, and the fact that Carter was relaxed enough to keep one arm around Noble Two as she slept – lest she flop over entirely... there was clearly a very strong bond between the Commander and the hacker.

"Boss," Emile prompted, stifling his curiosity as he looked over to their leader, raising his eyebrows.

"What?" Carter seemed tired, almost unnaturally so. But then again, the death of Jorge, and the near-death of Kat...those would be weighing on him quite heavily. He was the leader of the team, and it was his job to take care of each and every member; the guilt would be doubled for him – perhaps even trebled, given the fact that it hadn't been that long since he had gotten over the loss of the original Noble Six. His augmented, deep blue eyes were dulled with weariness, and there were dark circles underneath. Clearly, he needed a break...at least this breather was better than nothing.

"Just how close are you and Kat, anyway? You seem pretty chummy to me." Emile questioned, lazily spinning his kukri in his fingers; his other hand rested on his shotgun.

Carter's eyes tracked skyward for a few moments, before looking back at the assault specialist. "To be honest, Emile-" that was already unusual, because it meant that he was revealing something personal, and none of the SPARTANs ever did such a thing- "Kat, to me, is like the younger sister that I never had, I suppose. Out of all those I was teamed with when deployed on the battlefield, it was Kat I connected to first. I can never recall why – I'm sure she'd be more than happy to fill in the gaps – but ... I guess it's always been that way, from the moment we met. I don't know what it was about her...maybe her defiant air, or unquenchable curiosity ... either way, we just hit it off." He shrugged his shoulders as best he could without disturbing the cryptanalyst, and closed his eyes, letting his head fall back against the wall behind him. "Always been that way, I guess," he repeated, almost as if to assure himself of that fact more than anything else.

"Heh. Here I was thinkin' that you guys were somethin' else to each other, get what I'm sayin'?" Emile remarked, a knowing look in his eyes as he smirked at the Commander.

Jun snorted with amusement, and Carter cracked one eye open to fix Emile with a half-glare. "Now that is the most bullshit thing I've ever heard, you crazy sonuvabitch. Get some rest, team; we'll be outta here in a few hours." he said gruffly, and it looked like Jun was trying to stifle his laughter at his boss' unusual use of expletives in his reply to yet another one of Emile's typical smartass observations.

"Aye aye, Cap'N'," Emile snarked, clearly not done yet, but when Carter actually growled at him, he suddenly decided that making marks on the floor with his prized knife was much more interesting than making wisecracks.

Landing pad of Sword Base, Babd Catha Ice Shelf, Eposz, August 30th, 2552

Exhaustion was now overtaking the entirety of the team's remnants. They could hardly keep their eyes open, let alone begin to think about entering another fight. But they knew that they had to focus now more than ever. They couldn't afford to lose what little concentration they still had – the AI fragment that Artemis was transporting...they needed to make sure that it got safely to the Pillar of Autumn and well away from Reach – and the invading Covenant forces – as soon as possible.

Now, it was time for the team to part ways. None of them ever dared hope that they would see one another ever again. But that didn't matter, because that was part of the job description of being a SPARTAN. Compartmentalization was key.

"Doctor Halsey, Noble Three will escort you to CASTLE Base." Carter instructed, the sniper turning to him with a curt nod.

"I require no escort, Commander." Halsey butted in, and it wasn't quite a protest – more of a denial against the help than anything else.

But Carter wasn't going to take no for an answer. There was no time to argue, and more importantly, Halsey needed the protection. "Jun, make sure nothing falls into enemy hands. And look after Kat whilst she recovers."

"I'll do what's necessary, sir... Good luck." Noble Three replied, determination in his stance and voice, and firmness in his nod. He patted Kat on the shoulder, and began leading her to the Pelican which Dr. Halsey was already boarding.

"You too, rifleman," Carter said curtly, walking up the ramp of the second dropship. Artemis and Emile jumped onto the back of the ramp after him, and moments later, both Pelicans took off, heading in different directions.

It was time. Endgame was here, and they had to get the AI fragment to the Pillar of Autumn. Noble Six was perhaps their last hope, and Nobles One and Four were assigned to do whatever they could to protect her as she delivered the package.

Even if they had to give their own lives to ensure her safety.

Somewhere above the UNSC shipbreaking yards, Asźod, August 30th, 2552

"Crevice to the east. Let's go." Emile said firmly to Artemis, his tone making it sound like he was denying the loss of the Commander. She nodded in response, and was set to move off, when, amongst the explosions – both on comm and close by – she heard it.

She held up a staying hand to the skull-visored assault specialist, and tapped her helmet just to make sure she wasn't getting a patchy connection. But no, her comm was working just fine.

So the grunts of pain, interspersed with panting and the occasional coughing fit – those were very real indeed.

Artemis turned to Emile, her stance and tone of voice showing that she was filled with confusion. "You hear that?" she asked softly, so as to not cover up the quiet sounds. When Emile showed no sign that he knew what she was talking about, she smacked him on the back of the helmet and told him to turn his own comm back on – he must've turned it off so that he didn't have to hear so much the explosions that marked the demise of their leader.

A few moments later, he clipped his shotgun to his back, and stepped closer to the ridge, peering down. "What the hell...crazy bastard's still down there." he muttered in disbelief. Artemis peered down as well, and she shook her head.

"Damn, he's stubborn alright," she remarked, "Still...as much as we have a mission to complete...we should go get our Commander. We can't just leave him like that."

"I was wrong about Kat being the scary one," Emile snorted, but he wasn't objecting. He jumped down the ridge, sliding in an almost out of control freefall – he only stopped when he reached a ledge that was more than halfway above the wreckage.

Noble Six joined him moments later, and they stared at the cliff face, trying to work out where their Commander was now. It didn't take them long to spot the blue-armoured SPARTAN climbing up the cliff an inch at a time...they could see he was beaten and bleeding everywhere. How he was still alive after all that, they didn't know.

More important right now, though, was saving the Commander's ass and getting the package to the Autumn.

The SPARTANs waited until Carter had climbed up close enough before pulling him the rest of the way up. They nearly dropped him as they reached the top, and so all fell backwards and landed in a tangled heap, the Commander grunting as Emile squashed him.

Artemis was the first to get up, and she shoved the assault specialist off their leader before helping them both to their feet. "So, now who's the crazy sonuvabitch, huh?" she questioned, hands going out to steady Carter, who was standing on unsteady feet. "'Cause last time I checked, you said that was Emile. But he ain't the half-dead one here, now is he?"

"Funny," Carter said gruffly, his voice laced with pain. "We should..." He stopped to let out a hacking cough, and shook his head, shoulders slumping.

"Get moving? Yeah, already thought of that. C'mon Boss, we've got your back." Emile butted in, steadying the other man. His loyalty was shown, then – he wanted their leader alive and well just as much as Artemis did; even though the blue-armoured SPARTAN would slow them down, they didn't care. If it meant that Carter lived to see another day, than it would be well worth it.

Together, moving as one, Nobles Four and Six supported Noble One, and began the slow, painful trek towards the awaiting Pillar of Autumn.

Thankfully, it wasn't quite as slow going as it would have been on foot, because they hadn't gotten very far before Emile found them a Warthog. The assault specialist insisted on driving, but since Carter was too weak to man the machine gun, and the package needed protecting, it was decided that Noble Four would use the turret, whilst Artemis drove, and Carter tried not to slip into unconsciousness in the passenger seat.

They made much better time, though Artemis didn't push the Warthog to its limits – she didn't want to jostle Carter and cause him any further injury.

UNSC shipbreaking yard, Asźod, August 30th, 2552

Artemis watched in horrified disbelief as the Phantom shot down one of the Pelicans, and she dodged out of the way as the crashing gunship landed near her. She scrambled to her feet, and whirled, eyes widening with fear as she saw the Covenant ship heading straight for the MAC gun that Emile was manning.

No. NO! Those bastards aren't gonna take one of my brothers-in-arms. Not after... She shook her head, banishing thoughts of Jorge's sacrifice, and sprinted up towards the platform where the mass driver was located.

The assault specialist let out a war cry, his shotgun smashing the window of the control box of the Onager, before firing it a second time at an advancing Zealot-class Elite, destroying the alien. "Who's next!?" he shouted, loading another round into his favoured gun.

Heartbeat pounding in her ears, breaths coming in shallow pants, Artemis barely had time to scream a warning to Emile as another Zealot snuck up behind him, this one brandishing an Energy Sword. "BEHIND YOU!"

She was so close, so close, and yet she still felt too far away as she watched Emile turning almost too slowly, unsheathing his kukri just as the Elite lunged forwards, ready to stab the SPARTAN. "I'm ready! How 'bout you?!" Emile practically snarled at the bipedal creature, stabbing it in the neck before it could even so much as touch him. Both warriors tumbled off the MAC platform, and Artemis could hear the sounds of the fight continuing.

Straining as fast as she could, she raced up the steps of the platform, just in time to see Emile standing triumphantly over his deceased enemy, wiping the blade of his kukri on the Elite's head.

"Hah. That's what you get when you mess with a SPARTAN. After all, payback's a bitch."

He sheathed his knife, and looked up as Artemis approached, before slumping against the railing in weariness. It was then that Noble Six noticed her teammate was bleeding from one arm, and there was a gash in his chest armour that looked particularly nasty, as well.

"You can't-" Artemis began to voice her protest, but Emile cut her off with a wave of his hand.

"Utilize the mass driver? I noticed. I can however, protect Carter. So get your ass up there and defend the Autumn whilst I make sure nobody kills our boss." the assault specialist responded firmly, and Noble Six nodded, climbing up the ladder of the stationary MAC gun.

Now it was her duty to defend the cruiser like her life depended on it.