A/N: Noble Team discusses Emile's stupid plan to get them off Reach in one piece...and find that perhaps, it's not quite so stupid after all...
Also, to GypsyDanger2000... THIS is the idea that Emile had. Hope you - and everyone else - enjoy!

Camp Hathcock, Highland Mountains, Eposz, September 2nd, 2552

"No. That's – that's insane, even for you." Carter's eyes were sharp, and his voice stern as he immediately shot down Emile's stupid-ass plan which involved us basically hijacking a UNSC Stalwart-class light frigate to get the hell outta dodge. Even I thought the plan was stupid...and I was the one who had suggested that we save the Commander's ass even though he was basically deadweight and we were working under a ticking clock.

But this? This really took the cake.

"Come on man, work with me here," Emile pleads, and for a moment, desperation flashes in his green eyes. "What other choice do we have? It's either that, or sit here and wait for a rescue that isn't gonna fucking come because we're supposed to be dead!"

I roll my eyes and ignore their bickering, leaning against the wall behind me. I'd woken up from a rather refreshing sleep to this – Emile in the middle of explaining what was possibly the most stupid plan in the existence of ever to the others. Honestly, for an augmented soldier with a fuckton of kills under his belt, you'd think that he'd be able to use that big brain of his to come up with a decent plan to get us off Reach. But then again, Carter was made team leader for a reason.

"It wasn't exactly the idea I was expecting, but it's plausible," the way Kat says that word makes it seem like she doesn't believe it herself – and I'm not that surprised. She's got the right to be wary of Emile, though he called her scary for her almost supernatural hacking abilities...this plan wasn't "use a slipspace as a bomb and blow up a Covenant Supercarrier"-type stupid...it was something else entirely. That's why everyone was so unwilling to agree.

Me? I don't really care either way. I just want to get off this planet alive.

Jun and Jorge, for their part, remain silent, instead choosing to listen to and observe the back-and-forth argument between the other three SPARTANs. Jun seems amused; Jorge just looks like how I feel – tired and wanting to put the memories of his home planet burning behind him.

Oh yeah, did I mention that just like the big guy, I was born on Reach? Not in the same home town, mind you – he was born in the much-smaller Pálháza, whereas I come from the "crown jewel city" of New Alexandria. This is top secret information, mind you; my file is entirely covered in black ink so that even I can't read it. I only know where I was born from my memories, and I learned the name of my home city when Kat started hacking into my files a few days back and told me.

Whoops, getting off track here – better actually tune in and see if the others have gotten anywhere yet.

"-...which means that the only way off this planet is a vessel equipped with a slipspace drive, and the only one left is a frigate not too far from New Alexandria." Emile was saying, waving his kukri knife around for emphasis.

"Why are you just stating information that we already know?" Carter says crossly, folding his arms across his chest. "I just – even if we pull this off, imagine the amount of hot water we'd land ourselves in! We're supposed to be dead, and honestly I'd rather stay off the records as MIA because I'm getting a little tired of being bossed around by ONI."

"There isn't gonna be anyone of importance left...not to mention the fact that whoever is manning that vessel is probably going to be so happy to see an entire team of SPARTANs that they honestly wouldn't care where they were told to go." Kat points out, looking both troubled and thoughtful.

These words give Carter pause; he furrows his eyebrows in deep thought. Then, finally, he concedes the matter, throwing his hands in his air and letting them drop to his sides with a slap. "Alright, fine. I think we deserve a little bit of rule-breaking here...we've earned it. But you're leading this one Emile, since it was your idea."

"Now that's the kind of thing I wanna hear." Emile is all smiles again; though of course that just winds up creeping everyone out, because if someone's smile could be edged with knives, his definitely would be.

At this point, though, I've gone beyond caring about his scary-ass sharp smiles...I just want to rest. Hopefully we can pull this off without a hitch – if we do, I'm sure we'll all have a batch of Jun's brownies to look forward to as a celebration. That man can bake almost as well as he can snipe targets, which is saying something.

Looks like it's time to move out. Well, I'm sure you'll find out how it went soon enough.