Cold.

So cold.

Time had past so slowly.

The battle on Reach, alone. The knowledge of no back up, not Jorge, Kat or even Carter to help her. Jun had at least made it out with Dr. Halsey. Or so she hoped.

Her wrists ached from the shackles chaining her to the wall. She hadn't eaten in at least three days, and her body was starting to deteriorate.

She closed the eyes. Pain, hunger, and exhaustion raked through her.

This was not the closest she had ever gotten to death. She remembered her unit before Noble. Being gravely wounded, even as Michael, her CO, pulled her to safety barely.

That had been nothing compared to this.

Torture.

Her armor had been removed. She had barely been healed, when thrown into the cell, and chained to the wall.

Then came the Elites, and Brutes. One Elite and One Brute at a time. The Elite would question her, while the Brute tortured her. Even going so far as to attempt to rape her.

But she had to admit the Elites were at least marginally better than the Brutes. They had stopped that Brute, for whatever reason.

But now she had a fever. She could feel it raging inside her, setting her on fire.

Three days.

That was when the last Elite had brought her food.

She wasn't sure what was happening, but now was her chance to try what she had planned.

She tried to stand, bending backwards to get to her feet. Gritting her teeth, she dislocated one shoulder. If her wrist had been bound together, this trick wouldn't have worked. But they were shoulder length apart, and allowed her to push her feet against the wall. She pushed, trying to pull herself free of the energy shackles.

They were just like the energy shields that had been part of her armor. She let herself relax for a second then pushed again.

The shield blinked once.

She tried again.

The shield blinked again.

She tried again with as much force as she could muster.

The shield blinked again, and disappeared.

She fell to the floor.

With a rush, she stood and moved to the door. It opened as she neared it. Outside was an Elite and a Grunt.

She moved slowly up behind the Elite. With a twist and a snap, the Elite laid dead below her. The Grunt looked at her, shot a string of needles at her, then ran down the hall. She dodged the needles easily, and ran after it.

She pounced halfway down the hall. Within a second, the Grunt was dead, a needle sticking from it's throat.

She took the needler and ran.

She had a blurred memory of a hanger with multiple banshees within. But she couldn't think about that right now. She needed her armor.

But she didn't know where that was, and she knew she didn't have time to look or worry about it. So going forward to the hanger was her only option.

She took quick steps down the hall, and angled around corners with ease.

She had to find the Hanger.

If she didn't... let's just say things would get very difficult.

After about five minutes of running, killing, and generally just trying to move faster than the enemy.

She rounded the last corner, and almost ran into an Elite.

It towered above her, opening and closing it's four-way mouth. Half of it's body was covered in bright yellow armor. The helmet's crest rose a foot up from it's head, giving it an even taller appearance. Tiny orange eyes glared down at her.

Even as she raised the Needler, she knew it was too late. She was too slow from her fever, and the beatings.

The Elite roared, and slapped the weapon from her hand. She threw herself backwards, and it lunged with her.

She felt her back touch the wall, and saw the Elite power it's energy sword.

Her eyes closed, and she waited for the burning-slash of the weapon.

It never came.

Her eyes opened to the Elite, a bowie knife sticking out of it's throat. It's hands scrapped for the knife, even as a hand reached around and pulled it along the width of it's neck. Blood poured from wound, staining the floor, and splattering the walls.

The hand pulled the knife out and let the Elite's body fall to the floor.

The form leaned down and picked up the energy sword.

She closed her eyes again, defeat clawed at her chest.

" Are you alright?" A voice said, as a hand was laid on her shoulder. " who are you?"

" Sp-" her voice cracked.

She licked her lips and wet her tongue, swallowing it to wet her throat.

" Noble Six," she croaked out, weakness holding her firmly to the ground. " Spartan J132."

Darkness flickered at the edge of her eyes, and she fought it away.

" Armor gone. Weapons gone." Six croaked out. " Taken August 30 2552."

Darkness threatened, and the velvet voice said, " it's okay Six. You're safe now."

Master chief looked at the girl. She couldn't be called a woman not yet. If she had once had short hair, it had lengthened and allowed the color to return to a dirty blond. Even looking at what little skin he could see through her clothes, she didn't look in the best of shape.

He had orders to destroy the Covenant Cruiser that they were on at the moment.

" Spartan Noble Six." Cortana said, her voice was stony. " Talented, powerful, and now the sole survivor of Reach."

" But how did she survive?" Chief asked, reaching down and lifting the girl in his arms.

" I don't know." Cortana said, a shrug in her voice. " the Covenant mus have thought they could get the home planet out of her. Which based on the condition she's in, didn't work."

" The bombs are already placed," Chief said, hefting the girl onto his shoulder. " Now all we gotta do is get back to the Hanger, and find a way off this dead ship."

Chief began a quick jog toward the last hanger he'd seen. He tried not to jolt her. He brought up her vitals on his HUD. Pulse strong, Minimal bruising, but at least two broken ribs, internal bleeding, and a high fever.

The Hanger he ran into had five sets of Bansees, but nothing large enough for both of them. He turned to his right. There was a single Phantom, with a hunter standing right in front of it.

It's back was turned to him for the moment. But that could change at any moment.

Chief stealthed behind a pillar, and put Six down. She looked small and frail, but he couldnt' worry about her right now.

Chief straightened, and slowly made his way toward the giant creature. With it's small head covered with an almost completely closed helmet, the Hunter's eyesight was it's undoing. On they're back, beneath all of the armor, they were just like anything else. But it's back and neck was the most exposed Orange colored flesh standing out from the dark blue armor.

Chief was close enough now. He ran the last few yards, and leapt. The sound of his boots on the polymer of the floor, caused the Hunter to do a half turn. But his trajectory was set. He landed on it's back.

The creature began to flail, and scream in a shrill little voice.

The sound was cut off by The Chief plunging his knife into it's jugular, and slitting it's throat.

It fell to the ground with a giant thump, even as John jumped off its back. Running back to Six, he scooped her up and ran to the Phantom.

Her eyes flickered for a moment as he set her in one of the gel chairs, that immediately cradled her sleeping form.

She looked, to John, as though she had been through far to much in to short a time for someone her age.

But he also knew that she was a soldier, and beyond that a Spartan. They could take harder hits than most. At least physically, though he had no doubt the damage done wasn't just hits. Her entire body was bruised, cuts littered it as well, and there was no telling the damage that had been done to her mind either.

She could have become a raving lunatic for all he knew.

So he strapped her to the gel chair. He wasn't afraid of her, but more to what she might do to herself.

He moved to the front of the phantom, and sat down in the pilot's chair. The controls were part hologram, and part neuro- gel.

" Cortana" John said, " can you control the ship?"

" only if you let me." Cortana replied, " but in all seriousness, I don't know. You need to put me the the neuro- jelly to find out."

Chief pulled the AI Chip out of the back of his helmet. It blazed bluish purple.

Chief looked at the panel. No openings for an AI chip. He shrugged, and pushed the chip into the gel.

The lights flickered for a second, then Cortana appeared on the hologram.

" alright Chief," she said, tapping an invisible keyboard. " Time to go."

The phantoms engines blazed to life, and the ship lifted from the ground. Cortana maneuvered the ship toward the exit. It was covered in a blue light that John immediately recognized as a force field.

John winced as the ship drew closer, holding his breathe and sure it was going to crash in a second.

But the shield recognized the ship as Covenant, and allowed it through.

John let out a sigh as the ship proceeded to the coordinates given to it by Cortana.

" Chief." She said, looking up at the mirror visor covering his face. " we may have a problem when she is better rested, and more in her right mind."

" and why would we have a problem?" John asked, crossing his arms.

" Because," Cortana replied, looking away from him. " This girl, Spartan J132, Noble Six." She looked back at John. " She was my first choice as a carrier. Six was my first Spartan."

can everyone tell me what they think about this story?

Please.