Noble 6 took an elevator down to Kat and the rest of Noble Team inside a heavily-damaged room with a decent view of the rest of the city. Carter was looking out the window, next to a crashed Banshee which had gotten tangled up in some wiring, while Jun was across from Carter, looking through a pair of binoculars. Emile was sitting against a crate on the floor, sharpening his kukri, and Kat was attempting to fix a disabled transmitter. "Look at this place", Jun commented in disbelief. "Used to be the crown jewel. Huh. Not anymore." Jun turned around, noticing 6, who had just entered the room. "Hey, you made it!"

"It's a regular family reunion...", Emile muttered. Noble 6 turned to face Emile, who noticed Jorge's dog tags in his hand. "Keep 'em. I'll honor him my own way", he said, pointing his knife at himself. "Jorge always said he would never leave Reach", Jun replied. Emile chuckled, and the rest of the SPARTANs turned to look at him. "The big man was sentimental..." "He gave his life thinking he'd just saved the planet. We should all be so lucky", Carter stated.

"Sir, that true about Gauntlet, Red, and Echo teams assigned to civilian evac ops?", Jun asked. "Those are senior level communiques...", Carter snapped at Kat. "I hear what I hear", she explained. "Point is, why put SPARTANs on defensive deployments?"

"I need that link to SATCOM, Kat!", Carter ordered.

"Chasing it, but this console's got more shrapnel than transceivers", Kat replied. "But you didn't answer my question."

"You wanna know if we're losing?"

"I know we're losing. I want to know if we've lost."

Carter turned to face the window, but at that moment, the radio suddenly started beeping. "Colonel Holland! What's he doing hailing us on an open channel?", Kat asked in confusion. "Let's hear it", answered Carter.

"...-Near the southwest quadrant of the city, over? Sierra 259, if you are receiving, I am authorizing override of radio-security protocols to link with this channel."

"How long for a secure link?", Carter asked.

"Well, I can't guarantee secure anymore", Kat replied.

"Could Covenant trace it to us?"

"I could..."

"Noble Leader, this is a Priority 1 hail", Holland continued, "If you are receiving, acknowledge immediately."

Kat handed Carter the communicator. "Keep it brief."

"Carter here. Yes Sir", Carter replied.

Suddenly, Jun noticed something in his binoculars and leaned forwards to get a better view. "We've got movement!", he declared. "Multiple Covenant vehicles vacating the area, and they're in a hurry..."

"How often do you see Covenant retreat for no reason?", Emile questioned.

Suddenly Kat picked something significant up. "Radiation flare! Big! 40 million roentgens!", she announced.

"Just lost Holland; what's going on?", Carter asked.

"Atomic excitement scrambled the signal! 90 million now!"

"Source?"

"Airborne! Close!"

"How close?"

Suddenly a large plasma blast shook the building. "That close!", Kat yelled. The SPARTANs quickly dived to the floor as a large shockwave blasted through the large window, with fire, burnt debris, and glass shards blown through the room in a powerful wind. A few seconds later, the explosions and strong winds ceased, Noble Team got up, and ran into the nearby elevators.

"First glassing?", Kat asked Noble 6, "Me too." 6 nodded in agreement.

"Don't worry, I'm on it", she continued. "Our best bet is a fallout bunker on Sublevel 2. We get orders from Holland, Sir?", she asked.

"We're being redeployed to Sword Base", Carter answered.

"Sword?", Jun questioned in disbelief. "Covenant own it now!"

"Which is why they want us for a torch-and-burn op, to keep Dr. Halsey's excavation data from falling into the wrong hands!", he explained.

By this point, Carter, Jun, and Emile's elevator stopped at Sublevel 2. The three SPARTANs got out and quickly sprinted towards the bunker, passing under a large breach in the ceiling in the process, with Kat and Noble 6 close behind.

"If it hasn't already!", Kat continued.

"Maybe", Carter replied. "But according to Holland, the Covenant are still hunting for something!"

"Where does he get off calling a demolition op Priority 1-"

Suddenly Kat's sentence was abruptly cut off when a Covenant Needle Rifle struck the back of her helmet from above. The projectile went straight through her helmet and out her visor. Kat instantly dropped to the ground motionless. Catching her body in his arms, Noble 6 pulled out her holstered magnum and looked up from the hole at a hovering Phantom. Suddenly 6 noticed something alarming. The shooter wasn't a Jackal or a Skirmisher: it was an Elite Field Marshall, the Field Marshall that 6 and the team battled at Visegrad, the one that escaped. 6 opened fire at the Elite with the handgun, and the other SPARTANs, assault rifles armed, followed 6's lead and opened fire at the Elite as well. As soon as the rest of the team began firing, the Phantom flew away. 6 fired four more shots before tossing the emptied magnum away. 6 dragged Kat's lifeless body into the bunker, while the rest of the SPARTANs opened the bunker door.

"Come on, come on! Get in here!", Carter barked.

"Let's go, come on!", Jun added.

Once 6 got Kat's body inside the bunker, the SPARTANs sealed the door.

August 26, 2552

The surviving SPARTANs exited the ground-level bunker into the dark, burned, destroyed city streets below. As a result of the glassing, the ground was now a river of molten glass. Carter was cradling Kat's lifeless corpse, and Noble 6 observed silently, feeling a significant depression inside himself, and respect for how Kat took the bullet. At the same time, Jun pulled out a signal flare, and tossed it onto the ground, as a Pelican dispatched to pick up the survivors approached them.