04:30 hours, July 24, 2552, Hangar of the UNSC Frigate Saratoga above the planet Reach

Rubber finger tips grabbed hold of a long, black rifle from the weapons rack in the hangar, keeping fingers locked around it by the butt as it was swung over on their back. The small but notable click of the magnetic lock told the user that it was stuck in place, but they proceeded to lightly tug at it once, as to ensure it was properly placed. Walking ahead, the character approached a small crate. Within it held approximately two more clips, sixty-four additional rounds of 7.62x51mm NATO rounds in total, for the MA37 Assault Rifle. He placed the clips within his Tactical/LRP pouches mounted on his lower chest before noticing the glint to his bottom left. It was an M6G Magnum sidearm, laying atop a box of .50 caliber magnum rounds. Grabbing the weapon, he flipped the ejection switch. The noise of the 8-round magazine sliding from the weapon was satisfactory as he noted a full clip. Grabbing four more magazines, the character proceeded towards the edge of the hangar, wherein his transportation down to the planet below lay.

The loud sound of metal meeting metal was consistent for a few seconds before the entire bird shook slightly. The marines chatting with each other in the other seats ceased their conversation as some turned head to see what the cause was. Their organic green and desert brown fatigues and militant armor were shined, reflecting the indoor light of the Pelican aircraft like a mirror. Some held looks of surprise and amazement, while others held a straight face or smirk. Two marines immediately stood from their seated position in the transport, snapping a salute to the being that had decided to accompany them.

"Lieutenant, sir!" one of them, a female marine, shouted. This caused a slight uproar in the vehicle as the other seven Marines stood at attention, snapping to a crisp salute. The hulking six-foot nine-inch lieutenant stared blankly through his golden VISR, only to wave his hand as if to say "at ease". The marines all settled down, a few sitting down and changing the subject of conversation from whatever it was before to a new one.

"Holy shit, that's a Spartan!"

"I didn't realize the lieutenant was coming aboard with us."

"Wonder where he's going down on the surface?"

"What's his number tag?"

A volley of these questions was mumbled amongst the group of nine marines, but the Spartan just ignored them. He had purposefully sat the closest to the pelican door, wanting little to no interaction with anyone until he had touched down to the surface. Looking at his HUD from within his helmet, he checked the time. 04:40 hours. Enough time to get some rest and rejuvenation on the trip down. Powering off the VISR for his MARK V [B] helmet, he leaned back more into the seat of the pelican, tipping his head down slightly as he began to close his eyes. That is before his VISR glowed back to life as an incoming relay began to come through his private channel.

Letting a groan of disappointment roar from his throat, he proceeded to listen in on his comms, "Spartan-B312, this is Auntie Dot, acting AI of NOBLE team. I am here to request that you meet Noble Four and Three in hangar bay four in approximately three minutes."

The automated British voice came through his HUD comms, but also as a visualized grid of glowing blue. It fluctuated as she spoke, indicating that that was what represented the AI.

"Affirmative. Tell them that I'm on my way to the hangar now," Spartan B-312 responded skeptically. No way were they supposed to meet him way up here, in the Saratoga. He was supposed to arrive at Buford station on Reach at approximately 0730 hours to meet them. However, the thought didn't matter much to the Spartan as he soon stopped thinking of it, only thinking about how to prepare either on the way to or at the station when he arrived.

Standing up from his seated spot in the pelican, the hulking figure proceeded to step off the platform of the pelican door. The noise of metal to metal contact began again, only for moments, however, even though it startled the marines again. When clear of the bird, he stopped and looked to his right towards the other hangars. Bay three was a way down, as he was currently in bay eight. Noting the time he was given, he had three minutes to make it to bay three from his current location.

This, to him, seemed to be a test of sorts.

And so he treated it as such, opting to jog rather than walk to his designation. Taking a crisp turn to his right, he proceeded to move fluidly down the large hangar area, passing bays' seven, six, and five in a matter of seconds. The clacking of his metal soles against the floor brought the attention of some marines and engineers, but not many as they were hard to hear over the sound of pelicans coming and going, or the repair of some vehicles. Soon, he had achieved his goal and found Hangar Bay three. Looking at his clock, he noticed he had two more minutes to spare before they arrived, and opted to check the function of his weapons. At the thought of this, he proceeded to reconfigure his MA37 clip.

Unclipping his MA37, the Spartan proceeded to pull back the slide, loading a bullet into the chamber. He removed the magazine from the weapon only to realize he was missing what he needed. An extra bullet. Turning towards the nearest marine, he turned on his external speakers and began to speak.

"Excuse me, I require an extra 7.62x51mm round, may I please receive one?" the Spartan spoke out in a smooth and strong voice. Definitely male, but it was slightly higher pitched than that of deeper voices.

The marine turned and stared for a moment before stuttering, "Uh, y-yeah. Here you go, sir."

Handing the Spartan a single bullet, it was gratefully taken from the soldiers' hand. Taking his thirty-one clip, Spartan B-312 slid the round into place among the others in his clip before he loaded the MA37 with it again. The blue indicator still read thirty-two, but in actuality, there were now thirty-three rounds within the weapon. One way, the Spartan had learned, to give himself an edge in any gunfight.

Once finishing with his little compliment to his gun, he swung it back over his shoulder and heard the click of the mag-lock as it locked the weapon in place. Checking his outer right thigh, the Spartan made sure his M6G sidearm was at his hip, in which it was. Knowing now that he had a full loadout, Spartan B-312 stood just meters away from the docking point, wherein the distance of space he could see a pelican approaching.

His private communications channel was reopened again, however, he was not greeted by the AI from before, "This is Noble Three of NOBLE team, attempting private communication. Spartan B-312, do you copy? Please respond."

"This is Spartan-B312 responding. I am here in hangar bay three, as per request of Auntie Dot." He responded to Noble Three in a clear tone.

"Acknowledged," Noble Three paused, "We're going to swing by with the Pelican door open. Commander wants you to meet the team early today, and he wants no time wasted."

"May I inquire as to why I am "meeting the team early" as opposed to the original arrive time?" B-312 asked, confusion slightly evident in his voice as the pelican became bigger the closer it got. It was just a minute out now.

"Honestly, I don't know for sure. This is a little abnormal for NOBLE team, but I guess getting you acquainted with everyone right away isn't too bad, eh?" the Spartan spoke through the comms with a Slavic accent, and immediately Spartan B312's mind went to the planet Harmony.

"No, it shouldn't be. However, I simply do not wish for this to interfere with any operation NOBLE team might have," The pelican hummed as it turned a one-eighty, the back wide open as another Spartan stood on the right inside of the bird. The Spartan had an EVA [C] helmet, with the particular design of a wrath-like skull carved into it. B312 had heard of the [C] variant EVA helmet, used to terrorize insurrectionists. It was carved with specific detail, to such an extent that the angles had to be the right degree. That was all the Spartan needed to know about the other. The helmet spoke for him; he loved a fight.

The grey colored Spartan stepped forward, jumping onto the hovering pelican before walking up the ramp. He sat down in the nearest seat to the ramp doors, watching as they closed and sealed before they exited the hangar into the vacuum known as space.

The other Spartan, the one with the EVA [C] Helmet opened up a private channel between himself and B312, "Hey kid, what's your name?"

B312 looked towards the Spartan before answering, "B312."

"No, that's your Service tag, not your name," The Spartan scoffed, "or does the wolf not like to be called by name?"

Spartan B312 didn't react to the taunt, as he had been called that many times before, "Alex-B312."

"Now that's better! Mine's Emile-A239, Noble Four, just in case you were wondering," The Spartan, now identified as Emile, laughed out his introduction. Alex simply shook his head slightly, he was going to be a very annoying person in some cases. But then again, B312 had had to deal with that.

"Since we're getting introductions out of the way," the Slavic accent of Noble Three came through the channel, "I'm Jun-A266, Noble Three."

"Pleasure to make your acquaintances," Alex stated with true satisfaction in his voice. He had been a lone wolf operative under an ONI supervisor from Sector III from 2545 to 2552, never once being assigned a permanent team.

Noting how it had gone silent, Alex decided that now would be a good time to get some shut-eye right before they got to the surface of the planet below. Once again, he leaned back into the seat of the pelican, letting his head lean forward as he powered off his VISR and began to close his eyes, before falling into slumber.

05:20 hours, July 24, 2552, atmosphere of Reach, ETA to Bufford Station: Ten Minutes.

Emile-A239 glanced at Alex-B312, noting how still the Spartan had been for the last thirty minutes. He hadn't bothered to wake him, but Jun had just given the ten minute ETA until they arrive at Bufford station, where the rest of NOBLE team was currently stationed. And it was rather untrue to say nothing interested him about Alex-B312. No matter what the file sent to the team had said – or what it was allowed to say – Alex-B312 was a very secretive soldier. Only sixty-seven confirmed ops that were not covered by ONI Sector Three. He alone was responsible for turning entire militia groups inside out, disrupting organizations, assassinations, espionage, etc. Hell, the assignment that had gotten him approved to be transferred to NOBLE team had been the stamping out of an Insurrectionist operation on Mamore in May of this year, however, the how's were never detailed. Emile didn't usually bother reading files, but the amount of dates covered up, along with operations, had caught his attention. He never actually cared enough to read files, only if he was going to kill something, so their new Noble Six was something else. There was a chilling note to this guy though, and it was why he wasn't so sure that Noble One and Two were going to like it.

He wore almost completely identical armor to Thom-A293. In both variant, and coloration. Emile shuddered at the thought of that. It was like looking at a ghost. Suddenly, his communications crackled to life as Jun began to speak.

"ETA is two minutes now. Emile, you might want to wake up our guest," Emile chuckled, slightly shaking his head as he stepped over to the sleeping Spartan. He quickly opened up a private channel with Alex, getting a quick jolt from him as he woke up

"Hey–"

"–wake up, Lieutenant."

O5:28 hours, July 24, 2552, Bufford Station, Reach

Alex awoke to the tail-end of Emile's wake up call, immediately standing up from his spot in the pelican. Checking the time, he saw that it read 05:28 on his VISR, "ETA?"

"One minute and twenty-three seconds to touch down," Jun crackled to life over the private communications channel. B312 nodded at the information before getting a chuckle from A239.

"You ready to get a meet and greet session with the team?" the Spartan asked Alex, who had now faced towards the pelican door. Looking at Emile, he noted how he stood straight, but at ease.

B312 turned towards the pelican doors as well, "Yes, although I don't understand why this is necessary, as this was going to happen at the designated time later on,"

"Damn," Emile leaned back and look at him incredulously, "no need to be so robotic there. I don't know either, this is a little abnormal for the team as well. But then again this actually wasn't the commanders' idea, it was Holland's."

Alex's brow furrowed behind his visor. Colonel Urban Holland was the handler for NOBLE team, as well as the one who had approved of his transfer to the team after Spartan-B312 proved exceptionally well on Mamore in May of this year. He hadn't met the colonel, and hadn't heard much about him either, but knew he had to be proficient at his job if he was handling NOBLE team.

"Really?" Alex asked with a small amount of distaste.

Behind the two, a door within the pelican opened from the cockpit. The noise caught Alex's attention, causing him to turn around and see what the clunk was. The Spartan that presented themselves was who he had assumed to be Jun-A266. They walked over to the other two, their footsteps light despite the heavy armor.

"So, you're our new Noble Six?" the Spartan asked with a smooth, Slavic accent. It was Jun-A266. Alex confirmed with a nod of his head.

The pelican door began to open, telling the Spartan III to look forward. He straightened out his back, standing straight and his full scale of six foot and nine inches. The light blasted his suit as it was allowed to eat away the dark of inside pelican, but his VISR and enhanced eyesight allowed for easy adjustment to the planets' light. The loud clank of the pelican door hitting the ground was only present for a moment before the group of Spartan III's exited the back of the air vehicle. June and Emile took the lead, turning to the right after they had left the ramp. Straight ahead seemed to be the Stations' briefing building, which would act as the building for the 'Meet-and-Greet'.

From B312's personal analysis of NOBLE team so far, they seemed to be comprised of primarily Alpha Company Spartan III's. They had one Spartan II, something he found out through his ONI supervisor, but Spartan III's were the norm now essentially. Not a surprise that this team was full of them. He hadn't bothered looking into his teammates' profiles if they were III's, as most who looked at his didn't either. They were Spartan Three's, the most expendable form of military unit out there. They were created to put their all into each operation, up until they died on duty. No Spartan III was exempt from that. They were supposed to die in the line of duty; it was their purpose. Which was the reason for not looking through their files. There would be no point in reading up on them when on the next Op one or all could die.

They arrived at the open door in moments. Emile filtered in first, followed by Jun. Alex immediately followed suit, stepping through the door and into the lit briefing room. He saw that Emile had sat down on some crates to the left of the doorway, the soldier had just pulled out his knife and balanced it on his middle finger, point down. He looked up from the knife to Alex and nodded his head towards the open briefing table, telling him without words to look the other way. Doing so, Alex-B312 was presented with the rest of NOBLE Team.

"Commander, Sir!" Alex snapped to attention immediately, his figure became tense and straight. A light chuckle emitted from Emile as the Commander, who was currently standing next to someone with a holo-pad in their hand, looked at Alex. He was clad in a majority of his armor, save for his MARK V Commander Variant helmet, which rested neatly upright on the table.

"At ease, lieutenant," He stated directly to Alex, "I'm Carter, Noble teams' leader. Am I right to assume that you've already met Noble Three and Four?"

Alex eased up, but still retained his posture, "Yes sir, I have,"

"Good. Jorge should be here soon, he just went to get his armor checked up on," Carter explained to the other Spartan, "what's your name? I don't think the file divulged that to me."

"Alex-B312," Answering the question seemed to wield results, however not in the commander. The person, or rather woman, who was holding the holo-pad snapped her gaze up from whatever she was doing. This allowed Alex to get a better look at her himself. She was only wearing her Titanium Nanocomposite Bodysuit, the plated black suit outlined her figure, but also clued into Spartan-B312 that she was a Spartan. He noted how she had a scar that went from the top left of her forehead to just below her left eyebrow, as well as the metal apparatus that had replaced her right arm.

"You're from Beta Company?" she asked with a Slavic accent, much similar to Jun-A266. Alex nodded in confirmation. She had deep blue eyes, proof of the Spartan augmentations undergone by Spartan III's.

"I thought I was the only one pulled out of Beta Company before Operation: TORPEDO…" she mumbled to herself, but B312 caught it. And it caught his interest as well because he thought he was the only one to be pulled out.

"I'm assuming you exceeded criteria for the Spartan III program?" Alex inquired, finding interest in the topic of discussion.

She nodded, "Exceeded the criteria for III's, met the criteria..."

"…For II's." Alex finished the sentence for her, knowing exactly what she was going to say. The memo must have been the same for her because it was very practiced and precise in its wording. However, one could simplify it as "congrats, you're better than everyone else".

"I see our new number Six is getting himself comfortable with the team," a deep voice interrupted from the doorway. All people present looked at the voice, and Alex was met with a large Spartan. This must've been Noble Five, as the large Spartan walked his way into the building. Walking past Alex to the briefing table, he placed his Grenadier Helmet down on the table. Before promptly sitting on a crate in the near corner of the table.

"Yes, he is," Jun stated from the wall to the right of the doorway. Noble Five simply chuckled before looking at Alex.

"M'name is Jorge-052, Noble Five. Sorry for interrupting your little spiel going on there, I just thought I'd drop by. It is already 05:50 hours after all," Jorge introduced himself, giving a small smile as he did so. Alex immediately picked up a slight Hungarian accent within his speech, which could come from a variety of places. Carter walked over and stood next to Jorge, waiting for B312 to finish introducing himself to before engaging in a conversation with Jorge.

Alex met his gaze through his visor, "Alex-B312, pleased to be here."

Jorge simply nodded, allowing Alex to turn towards the woman in her Bodysuit, "I haven't gotten your name yet, ma'am,"

"Catherine-B320, but everyone here calls me Kat. When I was pulled out I was assigned straight to NOBLE team with a few others, Carter included. What about yourself?" Catherine identified herself, then asked a pressing question to Alex-B312.

In a short amount of time he came up with an answer, "That's classified."

Catherine, as well as Carter, both looked on in confusion before Carter spoke up, "Elaborate lieutenant."

"Under regulations of the Office of Naval Intelligence, Sector Three, I am unable to divulge my whereabouts between May of 2545 and April of 2552. To do so would mean forceful retirement for myself as a military soldier." Alex stated with no hesitation, as though he had answered the same question numerous times. Carter looked on his new Noble Six with narrowed eyes before Jorge tapped him on the shoulder, gaining his attention.

It was Catherine's turn to speak up, "Sector Three, ONI Black Ops, correct?"

"You are correct ma'am," the newest addition replied, accompanying a nod with his words.

"I had thought so, with the amount of censored information on your file, it was hard to make out anything. I've only been able to fill in a few of the blanks," she said as she grabbed the holo-pad again, "you have completed – officially – only forty-nine assignments. All of which were mainly insurrection curing and covenant engagements."

"Kat, I am going to stop you for a moment. Let's not try to dig too deep into Alex-B312's ONI history. If it's enough that they're willing to forcefully retire a Spartan III, then its stuff that cannot be brought to public ears," Carter spoke up from the back once more, having stopped his conversation with Jorge. Alex lightly gave a nod of thanks in Carter's direction, who returned the gesture.

"So what did your Operations entail?" Emile asked from the crate he sat on by the door. Jun nodded in agreement, as to say 'What he said'.

"I can say that I did Lone-Wolf Assassination primarily."

Jorge perked up, "Who of? If I may ask."

Alex directed his gaze at Jorge, "Insurrection Leaders, Organization CEO's, etc. at least those of the official accounts,"

Jorge nodded as he looked on in thought. Meanwhile, B312's gaze slowly passed over all of NOBLE team around him. They seemed cautious of him, primarily Carter-A259. It was expected that would happen when he had told them he was previously Sector Three, but he felt that it was necessary for him to tell them if he wanted to be a part of this team. He needn't pour his heart out, however, he could disclose information about himself that they would find out later. It would build trust knowing that he told them before they found out themselves, instead of hiding it from them. But everyone had their secrets, and he wasn't telling his anytime soon.

With these thoughts, an inquiry came to his mind. Alex looked directly at Noble One, making visor to eye contact before asking his question, "Sir, if I may ask, why this meeting was called at the time it was? I understand that this was Colonel Holland's notion, but I fail to see the full reasoning behind this other than a 'Meet-and-Greet'."

Emile chuckled a little in the back, but Catherine gave him a stink eye look from over her holo-pad, quieting him down. Carter looked on at their – his – new Noble Six, before sighing.

"The primary reason for this meeting was, for lack of a better term, a 'meet-and-greet'. However, the secondary reason was a test of trust. Your profile withheld more information than we thought, which meant that we couldn't evaluate where you would stand in the team. This was to evaluate your personality and compatibility with a team, and to say you pass or fail isn't a determining factor. Either way, you're on the team, Noble Six. And we're sure as hell glad to have you."

Alex straightened in his posture, "Thank you, sir."

Meanwhile, Catherine was just finishing up cleaning their newest additions' file, accessing ONI censors via her holo-pad to look at his profile more. She'd read the original file, and she would read this one, but Carter would have to see this as well. Checking the time at the top left of her pad for a brief moment, in which it read 06:20 hours. She had five minutes left of access, which was enough time with her "borrowed" clearance level four from ONI for her to finish up the last of the censored data. Alex-B312 was a very secretive man, who hadn't even taken off his helmet yet. It was strange, and with curiosity at the wheel, Catherine pressed the next black square on his profile. However, it lacked the reaction she had thought it would give. Instead of disappearing to reveal what was behind, it gave an error code.

Unauthorized clearance level

Level 7 clearance required to access

Er_JA(a)R4A

Catherine looked on in confusion for a moment, ignoring the small banter that was taking place between everyone else as one question flooded her mind repeatedly.

Who is 'JA'?