CHAPTER ONE
Today was the day the new Six arrived. She stepped out of the Warthog she had arrived in, her helmet tucked snugly under one arm.
"See you, Spartan," Said the Marine, Travis, who had been trying to flirt with her during the whole journey. Six rolled her eyes as the Warthog pulled away, thankful that she wouldn't have to deal with him again anytime soon.
Jun, who sat in the Falcon waiting for Six to arrive, reloaded his Sniper with extra ammo, debating with himself on what gender the new Six would be. He became distracted when she walked past; Her armor was blue and teal, and surprisingly for a Spartan, she had long, flowing red hair that had obviously been dyed.
"Damn," Jun chuckled under his breath, quiet enough for her not to hear. This new Six was attractive. Six stepped into the doorway of Noble's for now, temporarily base.
Carter turned and eyed her cautiously, as if he felt the need to make sure she didn't look dodgy before welcoming her. "Scarlett-B312?" He asked, catching the attentions of Jorge and Emile. Scarlett nodded.
"Well, I'm your new Commander."
"It's a pleasure, Sir."
Carter nodded. "As it is to you."
"Kat," Emile broke the awkwardness going on; Kat had been eyeing Scarlett as if she was a threat. "You read her file?"
"Only the parts that weren't covered in black ink." Kat snapped.
Emile shrugged and continued sharpening his knife. Jorge chuckled, catching the attention of Scarlett, who cocked her head to the side. "Hm?"
"Oh nothing," He replied, a twinkle in his eye. "Just seems that your skills were highly anticipated. Classified."
Scarlett shrugged this off. "Well I was an assassin before I joined this Team."
Jorge nodded. "Well, it's good to meet ya, Lieutenant," He stuck his hand out in a formal handshake, which she took. He shook her hand firmly; she noticed his grip was strong. "I'm Jorge, Noble Five."
"I was going to introduce us all formally, Jorge." Carter growled.
"Sorry, Commander."
"Right, that's Emile, Noble Four. He likes, uh, sharp objects...And blood." Carter looked at Emile with a worried expression. Emile continued sharping his knife, oblivious to those around him.
"And that's Kat, our technical genius. She is good." He winked playfully at Kat, who giggled. Scarlett and Jorge exchanged looks.
"Jun is out in the Falcon. He's our Sniper. Jorge is our heavy-weapons specialist."
Scarlett nodded, "Got it."
"Alright, Team. Head out to the Falcons. We're heading out on our first mission; Visegrad. I'll debrief on the way. Scarlett, Jorge, you're riding with me. Kat, Emile, you're with Jun."
Everyone nodded, apart from Kat, who scowled, annoyed that she wasn't going to be sitting with Carter.
"Alright, Noble Team. We're looking at a downed relay outpost fifty clicks from Visegrad. We're gonna introduce ourselves to whoever took it out, and then Kat's gonna get it back online." Kat nodded.
"Whoever took it out is gonna be formally introduced to my knife." Emile growled.
"Emile," Carter sternly replied. "Remember what Holland said. If you're going to be violent on the Insurrectionist missions, then Rosenda will replace you."
"Stupid Rosenda." Emile muttered.
"Who says it's actually rebels?" Scarlett asked thoughtfully.
"Who else would it be, Six?" Jorge sharply replied. Scarlett shrugged. "I don't know, I just thought-"
"Well don't."
Emile snorted. "Ignore the big man, Scar. He's very attached to his planet. Won't let anyone else even think of it being Covvies, believe me."
Scarlett shook her head at this. "Perhaps you should keep an open mind, and not push those who have an open mind away, big guy." Scarlett coldly replied. Jorge looked away, ashamed.
"Shoot-down attempts are likely, so keep your distance." Carter ordered the Pilot.
"Yes, Sir."
"Let's stay focused. Watch your sectors." Carter ordered, watching the scenery.
"I've got eyes on the relay outpost," Scarlett pointed out, before Jorge could get a word in.
"I'm picking up a distress beacon...Military. Placed in the last few days." Kat reported, examining her data pad.
"Rodger that. Put us down on the bluff." Carter replied.
"Alright Team, spread out. Jun, keep an eye in the sky. Watch how you approach the beacon. We want to surprise any hostiles, not alert them of our presence." Everyone spread out, and soon enough found the beacon, thanks to Emile's sharp eyes. Kat examined it, whilst Carter examined the burning Warthog wreak. Jorge kept a steady hand on his machine-gun, keeping an eye out in the area, whilst Scarlett kept a good length away from him.
"There's a lot of a blood on the ground," Scarlett commented. "And...Residue?"
"Noble Three, can you confirm any e.x. Residue in the area?" Carter asked Jun over COMMS. "Hmm.. Negative, sir."
"Plasma, maybe." Emile replied, doing a quick sweep-over of the ground where Scarlett was. There was a lot of blue-looking residue on the ground...Plus Jun had only been looking for Human explosives residue, not Covenant.
"Can't be. Not on Reach." Jorge snapped.
"There IS a lot of blood on the ground." Emile agreed with Scarlett's earlier point.
"Alright Noble, looks like there's nothing here. Let's move on." Carter ordered, ignoring Emile's comments.
There wasn't much; A few Moa ran from around a corner, clearly distressed. This land was farmland; The Moa were obviously farm animals. Nothing the farmers did would've made them distressed; It was something here.
"Noble Six, move into the house; Go in quiet, I'm right behind you." Carter's voice channeled over COMMS, snapping Scarlett out of her thoughts.
For once, she was thankful; She didn't want to over think about the Covenant being on Reach.
"Commander, I'm seeing heat syncs in that structure!" Jun's worried voice piped over COMMS.
Emile barged forwards, taking Scarlett by surprise - Jorge gently trod after, obviously trying to refrain Emile from doing any stupid.
The door opened, and out stepped a middle aged man; He wore a brown hat, with matching jacket; A red jumper, and dark trousers with what looked like Wellington boots. He had quite a wrinkled face, with brown eyes and a brown beard. Simply put, he did not look responsible for the Relay Outpost going out. The man looked worried at the sight of Jorge and Emile, holding his hands out in surrender.
"Whoa - On your knees - NOW!" Emile shouted, literally poking his shotgun in the mans face.
The man literally turned a pale colour, and began shaking, blabbering something in another language.
Jorge sighed, speaking to Emile as if he was a five-year-old who needed to be told to put his toys away. "They're not farmers; they're rebels. Look at them." Emile stepped back, not replying. He obviously accepted this idea, but did not lower his weapon.
"Ask 'em what they're doing here." Carter ordered Jorge.
Jorge nodded, turning to face the civilian and Carter, in what was an easier-translation-conversation. He began talking to civilian in whatever language he had being speaking, and translated back to Carter, "Hiding, sir," Jorge replied, translating as the civilian spoke. "Says neighbors were attacked last night. He heard screams; gunfire. Says something in the fields...Killed his son."
"Something." Carter repeated coldly.
"Commander, be advised; I'm seeing heat syncs in that structure directly east of your position, over!" Jun blabbered over COMMS.
Scarlett frowned; He spoke too quickly.
"Noble Team, double-time it." Carter ordered; sprinting ahead, Kat short on his feet. Scarlett ran not too far behind, but ran out of breath, before being taken over by Emile.
'Hurray,' She thought to herself. 'Big man is directly behind me.' With that thought, she sprinted off again.
When she arrived at the next building, Carter had already proceeded inside.
"Damn," He muttered softly; Scarlett winced at the sight. Two marines, essentially butchered. One body was slumped on the floor by the wall, one hanging off a meat hook. It wasn't a nice sight.
"Fill me in Commander, what are you seeing? Over." Jun's voice crackled over COMMS.
"We've military casualties, two of the missing troopers. Looks as if they were interrogated...It's messy." Carter quietly explained to Jun, who did not respond. "Commander," Scarlett quietly spoke. Carter turned around and advanced towards were she was kneeling. "What is it, Six?"
"These footprints," Scarlett gestured to the footprints that led to the doorway, to the bodies, then out of the doorway adjacent to the bodies. "They're not human."
"Covenant?" Emile asked out loud.
"Looks like it, Four," Carter responded. "Elites, I believe."
Scarlett stood up, just as Carter gestured to the next doorway. "Alright Noble, let's move on." Carter slowly walked down the next corridor, closely followed by Scarlett, Kat, Emile and finally Jorge.
There came some loud thunks from the metal roof; Quick as a flick, Scarlett rushed outside, but did not find anything.
"Movement. Watch your motion trackers." Carter highlighted the motion tracker on everyone's HUD. "Six, you see anything?"
Scarlett slowly shook her head. "Nothing."
"Jun, thermal check." Carter ordered. After a few moments, Jun responded, "Thermals clean."
"So what the hell was that?" Emile questioned, confused.
"Could be a piping problem?" Kat suggested.
Scarlett moved into the next building, where they all heard a loud, rather annoying chirping sound. Scarlett assumed it was another Moa in distress, but was not surprised to see a Jackal calling out.
"Damn." She muttered.
"Huh?" Carter asked, confused himself at the sound.
"Dammit!" Emile growled.
"Covenant!" Jorge yelled; You could hear the despair dripping from the cry. Scarlett wondered what the Jackal was calling to. She couldn't see anything in the radius of her eyes; And then she did. Streams of Grunts and more Jackal snipers came out of hiding.
"Contacts, contacts! Spartans assist!" Carter ordered.
"I'll take as many out as I can from here." Scarlett informed everyone; Carter nodded. "Alright, everyone, head into the basement. Looks like they're going to be flooding in there."
"Here we go..." Jorge grumbled as they moved down. Scarlett smirked. She knew it was the Covenant. For some reason, she felt happy to have shown Jorge. But then she stopped. Why? She hardly knew him; So why was she acting like it was some sort of competition?
"Falcon, moving to assist." The pilot informed the Team, snapping Scarlett out of thoughts. From then on, she focused on the job. Nothing else.
After what seemed like endless waves of Covenant troops, they finally reached a river, which seemed clear.
"Stand down Noble, stand down," Carter informed everyone, mainly Emile, who was running ahead. "Contacts neutralized."
"Contacts?" Jorge grumpily answered. "It's the damn Covenant."
'Damn,' Scarlett thought to herself. 'He must be really annoyed about the Covenant.' She began to feel guilty for almost laughing at him. However, she almost hit herself for it. Guilty? She hardly knew him.
Emile snorted, "Cheer up, big man. This whole valley just become a free-fighting zone." He gleefully answered.
Jorge didn't reply, simply pushing past him as a response. This just encouraged Emile to snigger, failing whatever intimidation he thought Emile should feel.
"Kat, we gotta warn Holland," Carter continued. "I need you at that relay outpost now!"
"Boss, I'm seeing most activity to the east." Jun's voice chirped over COMMS.
"Copy that Jun, we're on it," Carter responded. "Scarlett, you got point." He gestured to Scarlett to take point.
Scarlett briefly nodded, running ahead. They came across more grunts - No surprise - Yet Scarlett was surprised to see three Ultra Elite's. She then realized that the Covenant weren't just causing trouble. This was so much more.
After wiping out the hostiles, Carter ordered everyone to spilt up. "Kat, Emile, you infiltrate the Relay Outpost. Kat, I need you to get it back online."
Kat nodded, "Noble Three, requesting air lift. Over." She spoke over COMMS to Jun.
"Scarlett, Jorge, you're with me. We'll run an assault on ground, try and draw the Covenant's attention."
Kat and Emile boarded the Falcon; Scarlett took point again, finding a truck. She took drivers seat, Carter shotgun, and Jorge on the back, making it an improvised Warthog.
"Get to work, Noble." Carter sternly ordered.
After finding yet two more waves of Covenant troops, and finding three of the missing troopers, one of which was Travis - Looking overjoyed to see Scarlett, which made her want to gag - Carter, Jorge and Scarlett had just arrived at the relay outpost, to see a good amount of Jackals and Grunts attacking Emile, who was struggling to hold them back. Kat was already inside, trying to hack the controls to the door. After killing the hostiles, Carter retreated inside, standing close to Kat's side.
"How we doin', Kat?" Carter asked. "Taking a little longer than I had hoped, Commander," Kat replied, clearly annoyed herself. "I've cut about halfway through the door."
Suddenly, a Spirit pulled up, filled with Covenant troops.
"Contacts!" Emile yelled out.
"Hold them off until Kat can hack the controls!" By the third wave of reinforcements, Carter was stressing about how long the hacking was taking. "Kat?..." "Just about...There! We're in." Kat replied.
"Everybody inside! Go, go, go!" Carter yelled; They were literally overwhelmed with Covenant forces.
Everybody ran in; Kat fiddled with the controls, looking up every now and then to make sure the door was closing correctly.
When it had closed, Carter began to debrief, "We need to find the control room. From there, Kat can get the relay back online. Emile, you post here; If we flush any hostiles, they're yours."
The doors slid open. "Alright. Let's do this."
Scarlett turned on her night vision, treading slowly and carefully, staying sharp and focused for hostiles.
"Control room," Kat softly spoke. "Go easy."
Scarlett turned a corner and found a body; A civilian man. "Scarlett, search that body." Kat ordered.
Scarlett searched his torso, turning him over. Just as she did so, a data chip dropped around. Scarlett picked it up, and examined it briefly. She looked up to Kat, who was assessing the outposts power supply.
"Damn," Kat muttered. "Plasma damage."
"Found something." Scarlett informed Kat, who turned sharply and snatched it from Scarlett's open hand.
"I'lll take that, Scarlett. Not your domain." Kat sharply replied. Scarlett stood and turned, to see Jorge holding a Civilian girl at arms length. She shouted out in an language unknown to Scarlett.
"I've got a live one over here!" He yelled out.
"Jorge." Carter sternly addressed him.
"I've got her." Jorge responded sharply. "It's alright, I'm not gonna hurt you!" He almost yelled in her face, which Scarlett was sure just made things worse. The girl tensed for a moment, before replying something in her language. Jorge seemed to understand; He stiffened, before whipping into defensive mode, shielding the girl.
Three Zealot Elites leaped out of their hiding places, one wielding an Energy Sword, who immediately swung at Kat, who was just drawing her weapon. Almost taking out the Kat's arm, Carter quickly jumped in and shielded her, leaving Scarlett the only one firing at the Zealot.
It growled at her and pushed her down, getting on top, and withdrawing its sword. It stabbed her once in the stomach, but Scarlett hit it, withdrawing it from the shock of the hit. Growling in her face, the Elite was about to stab again, when Carter pushed it off, Kat firing at him.
"That tango blew past me," Emile voiced over COMMS. "Permission to pursue?"
"Negative Four, stay on the entrance." Carter ordered. Now using an trooper as a shield, the two Elites escaped through a doorway. The civilian girl screamed, terrified. "Two, handle her. Five, Six, clear the hole!" Carter ordered.
Kat nodded, moving back to the girl. Jorge advanced forwards, and allowing Six in first, sealed the door shut. After eliminating all hostiles, including the Elites, Carter ordered Scarlett to reset a junction.
Just as she was about to do so, Jorge opened a private channel to her, "Six, wait. Are you okay?" Scarlett paused for a moment.
"Yes. Why wouldn't I be?"
"I was just concerned...After those Elites," Scarlett nodded. "Anyway, I'm sorry about earlier. I was truly concerned about the Covenant threat. It was wrong of me to treat you like that."
"Doesn't matter. Sorry for snapping back."
Jorge shrugged, "Over and done. Friends?"
Scarlett smiled under her helmet; She was glad he couldn't see it. "Sure." She replied, resetting the junction.
They walked back to the main control room of the Outpost in silence. Scarlett knew Jorge was probably worrying for Reach, but did not say anything.
Once they reached the control room again, Scarlett sighed and leaned against a wall opposite Emile. Jun stood back from the group, in a dark corner.
Kat began unscrewing the panels of the control panel for the relay outpost.
"How long?" Carter asked, towering over Kat as she pulled out a module from the panel.
"Question of my life," Kat replied, analyzing the module. "If the question is, when will the relay be back online? Two weeks, earliest. This is plasma damage. All major uplink components are fired."
"Two minutes is too long." Carter replied, impatient.
Kat snapped her head up at him, "Which is why I'm splicing into the main overland bundle to give you a direct link to Colonel Holland," She turned back to the module. "You're in my light, Commander." She snapped.
Carter sighed, stepping back. He looked over at Jorge, who was towering over the civilian girl, unsure of what to do.
"Find out what she knows." Carter ordered Jorge.
Jorge kneeled down to better suit her height and gently touched her shoulder. The girl shrugged him off, clearly upset. Emile chuckled at this, looking away. Scarlett continued watching though, curious.
"What's your name? Do you live around here?" Jorge asked gently. With still no response coming from the girl, he removed his helmet.
"A nevem Jorge." He introduced himself in Hungarian, the girls language.
Sensing that Jorge was not all too bad, the girl replied gingerly, "Sára."
"Sára...szép határozott née," He replied, smiling. "Your accent sounds familiar. Sopron?"
"Tengeri." Sara replied quietly.
Jorge looked over at the dead civilian mans body, sensing that he was close to Sara. "Friend of yours?" He asked gently.
"Father." Sara replied, burying her face in her arms, upset.
Jorge looked down, "Sajnálom. I'm sorry."
'Sorry?' Scarlett thought to herself, surprised. Here was a SPARTAN-II…Showing compassion to a civilian? It was almost unheard of.
Sara looked up at Jorge sharply, "Why would you be?" She asked bitterly.
Emile turned to Scarlett, "Big man forgets what he is, sometimes."
Jorge stomped over, furious at Emile. "She just lost her Father." He growled at him. Jorge then turned to Carter, "She needs a full psychiatric work-up." He advised Carter.
"She's not the only one." Emile added with a smirk. Jorge whipped around, glaring at Emile, furious.
"Lock it down, both of you!" Carter ordered. "Get her on her feet. The body stays here." He told Jorge.
Jorge nodded, satisfied with this outcome, "Thank you, sir." On his way back to Sara, he glared at Emile furiously again.
"Signal!" Kat suddenly spoke up. "It's patchy, but it's there."
"I'll take it." Carter replied.
"Better not touch anything," Kat warned Carter coldly. "You wouldn't want to ground this place."
Carter watched Kat leave with Scarlett before sighing again. He turned to the screen which had a photo of Holland on it.
"…I'm barely getting you," Holland suddenly said. "What's your situation, over?"
"Colonel, this is Noble One," Carter replied, "There are no rebels. The Covenant are on Reach. Acknowledge?"
"Come again, Noble One?" Holland questioned, "Did you say Covenant
"Affirmative. It's the WINTER CONTINGENCY." Carter responded.
"...May God help us all." Holland muttered.