Halo Reach: Still Alive

Chapter 1

Blind Luck

Reach…has fallen. The Pillar of Autumn had escaped with Cortanna and the Covenant was after it. Word aboard was that the last of Noble Team, Noble Six, was killed after successfully defending the Pillar of Autumn. No one knew she was still alive but only barely. The Covenant had slaughtered the last of the UNSC and ODST ground troops and left the area where the Autumn had left. Nothing but the wind blowing and fires crackling were heard. Covenant corpses and vehicles were strung far and wide having been demolished and slaughtered by the dying Noble member.

Noble Six was bleeding in her suit, internally, and was slowly fading quickly as she thought, "This is where it ends. I'll see you all soon…Jorge, Kat, Carter, Jun, Emile it was fun."

Her short cut black hair blew slightly in the breeze as the light started to fade from her emerald green eyes. Her suit, even with the shield down, had deflected most of the plasma damage but couldn't deflect the Elite's energy dagger and swords. Six started coughing up blood and trembling slightly, going into shock. She never heard the slight sounds of metal scratching coming from the small building as a figure climbed out of the floor. It just as quickly replaced the floor piece and got into a crouching position.

The figure stepped out of the ruined structure slowly with a DMR at the ready. His helmet scanned the area before it picked up the slight signature from Six. He made his way to the Spartan and slowly crouched by her side.

Holstering the DMR he said, "You're still alive. C'mon lets go."

He put his arms under her legs and under her back then lifted and slowly walked to the ruined building.

He only stopped when he saw an ODST themed helmet with a silver and red color scheme matching that of the armor of the Spartan. He picked it up and kept moving.

The stranger stopped over a tile in the building, keeping his eyes away from the dead UNSC soldiers before tapping it with his boot. It made a slight hollow noise.

"E-Emile?" Six gurgled out before more blood dripped from her mouth.

Six only saw a black and red Spartan with a different emblem in gold on his shoulder before blacking out.

Noble Six's rescuer was indeed a fellow Spartan super soldier but not her deceased ally Emile. He was 6'5"and was in black and red armor with an emblem that had a skull with a sword through it on his shoulder in gold. He lifted the false tile out of the ground quietly before going, picking up Noble Six's cracked helmet, putting it on her head, and then lifting her up on his right shoulder.

"Not today Spartan, not today. What the hell went on out here?" Spartan asked as he balanced himself on the ladder and her on his shoulder then climbed down and replaced the faux tile.

He continued his ascension down the ladder for about 25 more yards before reaching a bottom level. He sprinted down a single hallway before stopping at a blast door. After multiple kicks, a UNSC soldier and an ODST trooper finally slid the door open.

"Back already? Wait damn is he even alive?" the ODST trooper asked.

"Barely, where's Doctor James?"

"Over checking Maryse's leg again" the trooper replied following the Spartan as the UNSC soldier struggled to get the door closed.

"I'm not deaf Sergeant Aster, what is this about another Spartan?" a man in a white but dirt stained coat asked.

"I found her as soon as I was outside. She has plasma damage that has been deflected mostly by her armor and a very serious energy sword wound. I couldn't see a single Covenant around." Aster replied.

"Lay him down here. You are going to have to help me here because I can't do anything about the armor." Doctor James ordered.

Aster explained as he laid Six down, "No need for the suit to come off. Get some biofoam from the medical supplies and we'll be good. Oh and doc…he's a she."

Aster pulled Six's helmet off and a slight jingling was heard as her head was laid back down.

"That's a lot of dog tags. Why does she have so many?" the ODST trooper asked handing Aster the biofoam.

Aster took his own helmet off, showing a reddish brown hair and hazel eyes, as the doctor took her pulse.

"Get that biofoam in her now captain. I don't know how to treat a Spartan!" the doctor said urgently.

Aster looked over the chest plate for the spot to insert biofoam into armor then stuck the needle in.

"Give me another quickly!"

The trooper gave him another and he stuck it in as well. Noble Six immediately arched her as the surge of medicine shot into her. The doctor checked her pulse again.

"Nothing" he said.

He kept his fingers on her neck before saying, "Wait. I think I got something…but it's faint."

"Let's keep an eye on her pulse. We sure need another Spartan." Aster remarked. He took the dog tags from Noble's neck and finished, "Let's not have her join her allies yet."

A few hours passed before someone spoke up.

"Whose dog tags are those?" a Latino woman in UNSC soldier garbs asked.

Aster looked down at the four he took, "The top one says Warrant Officer Emile-A239, Commander Carter-A259, Lieutenant Commander Catherine-B320, Chief Warrant Officer Jorge-052, and Lieutenant Sara-B312. That means our unknown Spartan is the sixth member of Noble Team Vasquez: Lieutenant Sara."

"That team we kept hearing about on the radio before we had to shut it down so Covenant wouldn't find us?" Vasquez asked.

The Spartan replied, "The same team. Last I heard though was their heavy weapons specialist gave his life to destroy a Covenant cruiser only for a whole fleet to come in and ruin the victory and their tech specialist was shot by a sniper while the team tried to escape to a bunker. I don't know what happened to Commander Carter or Warrant Officer Emile and the only one I can remember that isn't K.I.A is reservist Rosenda-334 and the group's sniper Warrant Officer Jun-A266."

"If that's what happened to one of the top Spartan teams of the UNSC then how are we going to survive up their if there are any Covenant up their? We are only two privates, a commander, an ODST grunt, three civilians, and one Spartan! The Covenant took out a Grade A group and we are a rag tag band of survivors strand-…" a short male soldier was saying before getting interrupted by a slap in the face from the equal height Latino soldier.

"Get it together Shepard! I am not going to hear this from even a private in the UNSC. You are a soldier, a tech geek but still a soldier! Now if you aren't going to say anything to help then keep that trap shut so we can think of something." Jessica Vasquez shouted.

The woman had light brown skin, black hair tied in a ponytail, and icy blue eyes. She had a tough attitude for a private and was the perfect example of an assault specialist. The man she slapped was Private Glen Shepard, a 5'8" Caucasian male with blonde, buzzed hair and hazel eyes. He was the tech specialist in his squad.

"Lock it down, we don't need any quarreling only plan thinking. We don't have just one Spartan now but two Pvt. Shepard, and a member of Noble Team as well. Lieutenant Tolsen, do you have any input? You can at least take your helmet off. Since we've met you haven't taken it off."

The two private's commander, Jack Traynor, was a man of 6'5" and a solid frame with blue eyes and brown, buzzed hair. He addressed the ODST trooper Riley Tolsen, a sniper in his ODST squad with a 6'1" frame and brown, curly hair with blue eyes under the helmet he wore.

"I don't follow what you ask Commander. Mine was killed so I'm following Sergeant Aster-C284 over there." Riley replied taking his helmet off. "But I do think we should follow what the Sergeant was trying to do before he came back down with Noble Six."

"We might revise that a little. It was Covenant carnage out there. This Noble member is not someone who you piss with because she killed almost a hundred before she was in the state I found her in. She is a lone wolf to the end it seems but that might change if she's fine." Aster explained.

Doctor James tapped Aster on the shoulder plate, "Sergeant, the Lieutenant is stirring. Her pulse is normal and she seems fine."

"Thank you."

Aster walked up over to the table with the dog tags and helmet in hand. He saw Noble Six's head stirring. He shook her slightly and her eyes shot open. She delivered a swift punch into Aster's armor knocking even him back and shot to her feet. She shoved the doctor back, making him fall and roll backwards, and delivered a big kick to Aster. He reacted by tackling her and causing them both to go over and tip the table Six had been on. The four soldiers had their assault rifles out as they made their way to try and aid Aster.

"Don't shoot!" he shouted as he held six off by the shoulders.

Vasquez holstered her rifle and ran over applying a chokehold on the 6'0" female Spartan who stood up and flipped the soldier over with enough force that knocked her out. This bought enough time for Aster to lock the Spartan in a full nelson against the wall. He had to struggle himself to keep Six from breaking free.

"Lieutenant Sara Baxter stop moving! Stop moving Spartan-B312, stop struggling! You are safe and alive!"

Glen Shepard was checking the barely stirring Vasquez while Traynor and Tolsen had their assault rifles pointed at Noble Six.

Aster continued calmly, "I'm going to let you go now. Do not kill anyone, we are not Covenant."

Aster let go of the full nelson and backed off. Sara Baxter spun around still ready to fight even though she was clutching her stomach. Her eyes moved back and forth between Aster and the soldiers like an animal backed against the wall.

She felt around her neck quickly then asked angrily, "Where are the dog tags, where are the dog tags?"

Aster tried to calm her down, "Its okay Lieutenant. I have yours and Noble Team's dog tags. We were seeing who they were and had them in case you didn't pull through. All we could do to help you was put two shots of biofoam into you and hope you didn't crash. Settle down and let us explain.

Noble Six stood against the wall after Aster returned her helmet and the multiple dog tags. He told who himself, the four soldiers, and the three civilians were. The other two civilians with the doctor were 32 year old Maryse Linhart and her 15 year old son Shawn. Maryse had red hair, a small 5'6" frame, and green eyes. Her son was 5'9", had blonde, and green eyes.

"The three soldiers were part of a larger squad assigned with this ODST troopers and three others to escort civilians. I got assigned to help. When we got to the landing pad, Covenant banshees attacked. We escaped but not without having to push through an attack. We lost soldiers and civilians before we were picked up. We got as far as the valley around the Pillar of Autumn before a giant bug robot of theirs hit us. We crashed landed and continued on foot. Jackals and these weird bug things attacked us and that's when our ODST friend's commander stayed behind to give us cover." Aster explained.

The female Spartan eyed the bunker around them after putting on the dog tags before asking, "What is this bunker?"

"I read about there being these bunkers for emergencies and launch testing as seen by the computers, food, water, and weaponry down here. When we got here there was shooting from the main base and we were in the area of this shack structure. I remembered the safety bunker info I read and we started looking. It was the only thing we could do besides get into the fighting. In doing this we haven't lost anyone and we managed to re-equip ourselves. That was a few hours before we heard big explosions from even down here. After a few more hours I went up and found you among a Covenant massacre I presume you caused. I brought you down here and three hours later with some biofoam, you try to kill us. That is the short version."

Six looked at her helmet and asked another question, "Now what do you plan on doing. Are there any of those alien bastards around still?"

Riley Tolsen answered, "We don't know. Things are quiet and we haven't gotten a solid enough plan formed. Maybe now that we have two Spartans we can get something together."

Six eyed everyone again as Aster said, "It is in my best intention Lieutenant that we keep everyone safe. That means you, the doc, Maryse and her son, and the soldiers here from dying by Covenant means. I have a new plan that I wouldn't put up if you weren't alive but now I can."

He turned around and continued, "A group is easily spotted. More easily spotted than a single soldier or two. The majority stays down here where there is one way in and one way out while the one or two who go head up to the base and try to find a comms. center. I'm putting myself as that one who goes and anyone can volunteer. It's also the easiest way of telling if any Covenant are around though it is the most dangerous. Most likely there isn't any Covenant except maybe some grunts but we still need to get off of Reach. So who is coming with me?"

No one said anything for a few seconds until the Noble Team member stepped forward holding her helmet, "I'll help you Sergeant. None of Noble Team survived except Jun and I owe you for your help in saving my life. Since there is technically no current team you can call me Sara and I'll call you Aster got it? I never liked formalities."