"Six? Six? Six!" A shift in position, and that was all Spartan-B320 required. She stood up and exited the room to face the rest of Noble Team. Though, rather than grim expressions, none seemed troubled at all. They all believed Six would be able to pull through whatever had occurred to him. But what did trouble them was the fact that Six was alone. . .

Emile paced around the small, secluded area, trying to fit pieces of the puzzle together. Although he rarely volunteered to help in matters that required critical thinking, this mystery was something that had caught his attention. They were dead, stuck in the middle of nowhere, and yet, it still felt like they were still alive, fighting. A sudden tremor brought everyone out of their thoughts. In a flash, all Spartans in the room had their guns out. And as seconds elapsed, Carter decided to take action. "Emile, scour the perimeter and once your done, give me a report on the base's current status. I'll take a peek outside and see what's up, and for you Kat, I want Six up and ready when I return." Carter ordered. Two blue lights blinked in response and everyone was in action.

A dusty wind roared against Noble One's MJLONIR armor. His hands tightened around his two M7/Caseless Submachine guns. Personally, he would have preferred a more accurate gun rather than the one he currently had. But he couldn't afford to be picky with his weapons seeing that they were limited with their variety of guns. So he patrolled the front of the old, abandoned base, but his monitor displayed no enemy contacts. Seconds ticked away, and Carter began his descent back into base until something caught his eye.

"Noble One, this is Noble Four. Single enemy contact has been neutralized."

"Three here," Noble Two reported. "Neutralized."

Carter frowned. Something was up. He glanced back down at the five grunts he had managed to take down. He suspected that either there were unknown species or people attacking them, or there were Covenant in the area. He squinted into the distance, trying to gain some visual of the scenery. Nothing but sand met his vision and that frustrated him even more. He opened a channel. "Change of plans. Emile, I want a quick survey around the medical bay and weapons room. Pack all the ammunition and weapons you can before falling back to the medical bay. Kat, is Six up yet?"

"Just woke up sir, and standing by for further instructions."

A wave of relief passed over Carter. So Six was still alive and with them. But as much as he wanted to stop and cheer about it, he couldn't. "All right, you two just sit tight and wait for us." he commanded. There was a slight hesitation and silence in the COM channel before two lights blinked in recognition. Carter knew that if anything, the two Spartans would rather have something to do than have some time to rest.

Emile silently mulled to himself as he checked every empty room he passed for anymore Covenant. Having killed only one jackal didn't satisfy his needs of killing a thousand. He kicked over a half scorched gun in boredom as he entered the weaponry room. Most of the shelves were empty with the exception of dust. An adjacent rumble alerted Emile as he packed some magazines into a nearby box. He stood up and looked around, his eyes landing on an old M19 SSM rocket launcher. He gave a low whistle. "Now we're gonna have some fun. . ." he mumbled, shouldering it and preparing to shoot at whatever appeared in the doorway. Another loud rumble sounded throughout the room before a fully equipped hunter appeared in view. It didn't have so much as a second to move before it was shot dead – taking at least half of the hallway with it.

"Everyone here?"

Carter surveyed the room and checked to see if all three Spartans where back. They were. Carter let out a sigh. "All right. According to the quick reports you gave me, we've encountered seven grunts, one hunter, and one brute in total," he paused to let the information sink in everyone's heads. "That summarizes up to nine Covenant contacts in all." he concluded. Kat fumbled with the gun in her hand as she thought the recent events over; Six's arrival and sudden Covenant contact. They all had to have something in common, but what?

"I say we pack and go. We've been stuck in this hell hole for days now. And since we have Six with us, I don't see anymore reason to wait on the old man," Emile commented, talking about Jorge. Carter flashed him a warning glance. He had made it clear enough that he would leave no Spartan or soldier behind. Kat let out a cough, gaining their attention. "I agree with him Carter. Waiting around here won't help, I can refurbish the Pelican outside base and we can all head out of here." she said. Carter turned to Six. "This isn't a democracy people," he sighed. "But while we're at it, I guess the final decision is up to you Six," he said. Six looked at each Spartan's face. Their lips were all pressed into thin lines as they awaited his decision. Although, try as they might, they could not hide the obvious exhaustion in their eyes. They were all tired, and they couldn't really risk some R&R while Covenant were lurking around. "I'm with them sir." he said. "Fine. Emile and I will gather anything we find useful while Kat fixes the Pelican. Six, you got her back just in case any hostiles come," said Carter. Everyone nodded their head in agreement and set out to work. Emile began to whistle a soft tune. "We're finally moving. . ."he muttered.

"Is that so?" Kat had been fixing the D77H-TCI Pelican. It was newer and improved version of the old D77-TC Pelican. Prior to its predecessor, the DD7H-TCI Pelican is more heavily armed. There had been many changes to it in both exterior and interior layouts, but the exterior alterations are less noticeable.

"Yeah." Six had been telling Kat of his previous adventure with Jorge. He gave her an elaborate brief of what had happened since he died. He told her everything except for the part of the angel. He decided to exclude that small detail of his journey. Kat reappeared from under the Pelican. Her face was dirty with grime and oil. She frowned upon seeing her reflection on her helmet and wiped her face with a nearby towel. Most of the filth was gone and Kat readjusted her helmet back on. "So you're telling me that you suspect that a fleet of Covenant are hidden among the shadows of that cliff?" she asked. Six nodded his head. Kat stayed silent. She pondered over his suggestion of investigating that peculiar place. Obviously, she was all in for it, she just wasn't sure about Carter. . .

"Enemy contacts six o'clock of your position Six, status on the Pelican?" Carter's voice boomed. Kat took to answering. "Pelican ready for take off. How many contacts?" she asked. There was a pause and this time, Emile answered, "Enemy numbers are at least twenty at my side. Time to tango!" Kat gritted her teeth. Now was not the time to fool around. . "Emile! Fall back! I repeat, fall back!" But only static replied to her on the other end. She cursed. This was not going to be pretty.