I realized this past week that I have like, five-ish stories which I've started, but never really developed/finished. So, I've decided I'm going to focus on them one at a time. Lucky for you guys and gals, I'm starting with this one. Updates on the way.
KAT POV
"Noble Team, do you read, over?" Emile's words crackled to life in her helmet.
"This is Noble Two. I'm listening."
"Damn you two had us worried."
Kat's eyebrows furrowed. "Us?"
"The Commander is on his feet. Rough shape, but he wasn't very pretty to start with."
"Thanks, Spartan. I can hear this, you know." The voice, one gone far too long, brought a smile to the techie's lips as it went from wry to serious. "Noble Two, what's the status on the package?"
Upon reference, she looked down at the teammate beside her; the subtle wave of happiness broke and fell away. "The package was damaged but salvaged itself and stored its remains in Noble Six's armor. Six is down, but breathing."
"And remote firing?" Emile asked.
Kat frowned. "Give me a moment." She closed the channel. "Cortana, can you run a scan of this console?"
The slight, shimmering woman nodded. "One step ahead of you. It's far too damaged to actively control the Anti-Air cannon. However, its Com Array is more than functional."
An AI wouldn't spout information without purpose, or at least Two didn't think this one would. "What do you have in mind?"
"A data transfer. I can upload 93% of all valuable files directly to a nearby computer, such as those aboard the Pelican currently descending to our location. Best case scenario, the encryption confuses the aliens. Worst, the Covenant races get to read about themselves. But there's a catch."
"Catch?" Kat prodded tersely.
Cortana moved a hand of light to its chin, as if thinking. "The transfer, and thus our location, will be detected within moments of initiation. It'll take only a few minutes, but we'll have to be prepared to leave. I have… certain files which would be very… impractical to lose to a self-destruct sequence if I were to be captured."
Kat nodded sharply. "Prepare the transfer and wait for instruction. Noble One, do you copy?" she asked, reestablishing her radio connection.
"We've got you."
She swallowed. "Remote firing controls here are too damaged. You'll have to operate manually."
Her teammates seemed to take the ill turn of events in stride. "It'll be done. What about the package? Evac is five minutes out."
"Six is down, and I don't see how I'm going to get through that horde alone."
"Kat." Carter's voice was hard. "This is bigger than us. Don't do this because of Thom, or because Six saved your-"
"You know me better," Kat cut in icily, effectively ending his argument. "I can open an encrypted channel and transfer 93% of the files to the evac vessel, all of it non-sensitive in case of enemy retrieval. I'll be detected as soon as the process starts, but may have enough time to get out. What's your call?"
She could almost hear the Commander's internal struggle through the radio silence. Rocking on her heels, she waited.
"Do it. Establish contact with the Autumn and begin upload immediately. As soon as it's finished, I want you out of there. And, tell them to stay on route. One of us still might make it to evac."
Though she didn't quite understand his thinking on the last bit, she let it pass. "Understood. Noble Two out." She left the channel. "Cortana, get me Keyes."
Waiting, Kat crouched down next to her fallen teammate. She gently pried off the cold, gray helmet from Six's shoulders, revealing the woman's lax face. Its smooth planes struck Kat as though they were marked by a tired determination, even in the throes of unconsciousness. Her gloved hand reached out mindlessly, brushing a strand of dark hair from the Spartan's brow. The affection of the movement was surprising. Shaking her head, Kat pushed away the thought and replaced it with resolute focus.
"It's done," the AI informed.
Kat couldn't help but be impressed by the holographic woman's speed, but refused to let it show. She took a deep breath. It was time to set the wheels of their shaky plan in motion. "Keyes. This is Noble Two. Change of plans…"
CARTER POV
A shotgun roared somewhere behind his station, but Carter hardly noticed the sound. The smooth control sticks in his hands consumed his attention as he nudged them, guiding the cannon to its next target. The cross hairs on the screen found a Phantom, and he launched the firing sequence.
"Take that, you dumb Covenant bastards." The furious words weren't his.
Leaning out from his raised platform, the commander spotted Emile with his boot on a squirming Sangheili's neck. The Spartan's shotgun, barrel nestled against the creature's mandibles, jumped as Four pulled the trigger. The corpse twitched once and went limp. "Come on. Somebody has to want some more," Emile roared, but the rooftop was still, littered with dead or mortally wounded flesh.
Carter couldn't help but feel a bit for the man. He'd always been the reckless one, more concerned with making one more alien pay then his safety. And sometimes his missions, Carter pondered. It was a thought that had crossed his mind more times than he could count over the years. But somehow, while Emile had walked that fine line, he'd always fallen on the Commander's side. Noble One just hoped he would now, just one last time. This is going to be damn hard for him.
"Noble Four. Get me an energy sword," Carter called out, turning back to the control panel. The AA cannon hadn't fully cooled yet. Good. He locked in another target and commenced fire before levering himself from the gunner's seat. Walking out to the small raised platform which anchored the five-meter-long ladder one had to climb in order to reach the weapon's controls, he found the Spartan looking up at him.
"Catch." Emile tossed a small, dark cylinder up to him.
It went a bit to the left, and Carter had to stretch to grab it, the movement sending a small wave of pain across his body. Damn, I wish I had more morphine. Or maybe a good gin… Pushing the thoughts away, he flicked his wrist and pressed his thumb into the cylinder's surface's only defect, a slight dip in the surface. The three foot long blade appeared with a hum.
Feeling his teammate's gaze upon him, he tried to ignore it, settling down into a kneel. He looked down at the ladder below him. Here goes. With a hard sweep, the energy weapon bit into the steel moorings. It took two more hits before they severed completely, sending the crisscross of metal bars clattering to the rooftop. Work done, he thumbed the dip again and the blade retracted. It spun end over end through the air when he tossed it down to the other Spartan.
"What are you doing?" Emile asked cautiously, smoothly plucking the weapon from the air with one gloved hand.
Carter didn't reply immediately, his breaths rapid and out of control as he tried to wrestle away the agony his antics had sent coursing across his body. Cool beads of sticky sweat gathered on his forehead beneath his helmet. "Throw that thing off the roof, and see if you can't do the same to the ground ladder." Hoisting himself up, the Commander hurried back to the panel to take another shot before the firing system could cool and reset completely. As he finalized the input, his radio interrupted the silence.
"Noble Leader?"
"Noble Two. What is it?"
"Contact has been established with the evac vessel. Upload just started."
Carter took the development in stride. "Good. As soon as it's finished, get as far away from here as possible, as fast as possible."
"But sir, we need to get you-"
"No, Kat."
Her silence affirmed her understanding.
What am I supposed to say? Goodbye? He pushed away the uncertainty. "As soon as that bird is out of range, this place is going to blow. Don't be here when it does."
"Commander…" The word was slow.
"Kat. Good luck," he finished quietly, closing the channel.
"I could only get the top section – about ten feet," Emile informed, returning from his task.
Carter nodded as he took another shot. "Good. Now get on that bike and get to the evac site."
"Wait, what? Sir, I'm not going anywhere." Emile crossed his arms over his chest just as Carter ducked back outside.
"Like hell you're not. That's an order Spartan," Carter growled forcefully. He fought to not let his breath catch from the pain in his chest. "When that bird leaves, this cannon is going to overheat. The reactor's explosion will wipe out this entire facility. So you're going to go. Now." He paused. "Please."
Emile didn't respond immediately, staring up at his captain behind his skulled visor, tension thick between them. It didn't snap until Four's hand snapped into a salute, his body rigid and straight.
Carter's worries evaporated, replaced by warmth as he witnessed the expression of honor he'd only received from the man once before. The Commander's hands slowly found his cracked and beaten helmet, pulling it from his shoulders. Tucking the faceguard under an arm, he snaked fingers under the collar of his shirt, fishing out the chain. They withdrew, accompanied by UNSC-forged steel links. His name, rank, his birthdate, program information, his Spartan ID. Everything ounce of definition, every line of body and soul.
Carter threw them down.
Breaking form, Emile caught the dog tags in one hand, wordlessly sliding them into a pouch on his chest plate. As soon as they were secure, he looked up, meeting the commander's gaze for a moment before spinning away on a heel.
Smiling sadly, Carter watched the Spartan activate the lift and climb onto the mongoose. Emile never looked back.
SIX POV
She could hear distant voices growing closer as her childhood faded, feel a gentle caress ghosting over her cheek, a hand shaking her shoulder.
"Captain Keyes, this …Cortana. Prepare for data transfer on Aszod encrypted channel, frequency one, three... All non-hyper-sensitive files with access restrictions below level 5 will be transferred to you… jump coordinates for immediate usage. Do you acknowledge?" The fragments of speech became clearer.
"Acknowledged. Opening transfer channel now. You may begin."
Six willed herself to cling to the unfamiliar voices, to not drift back into oblivion.
"Alyss... Six... Come on, wake up." The accent of the anxious request was unmistakable as it reinforced Six's efforts.
Her eyes slowly opened into a squint.
Kat's sculpted face was hovering above her, helmetless, staring down with worried blue eyes. "Six, can you hear me?"
The pilot groaned. "Why is it every time we hangout, I wake up to your beautiful face and an aching body?" Even in her puzzled state, she immediately realized how suggestive the line had sounded with only a little help from Kat's unreadable expression. "And not so much the good kind of aching."
Kat shook her head and smiled slyly. "We'll have to fix that sometime." Alyss's eyes widened. "But right now, we need to move. Can you get up?"
Six flexed her limbs and nodded, struggling to sit up despite the pain in her back and head. Gloved hands found her back and wrist as Kat helped her forward. Kat slung Six's arm over her shoulder, supportively hoisting the recently-awoken Spartan to her feet.
Six's vision swam at the change in altitude, but she shut her eyes and gritted her teeth, refusing to blackout again.
"Cortana, how much time do you need?" Kat asked, sliding her own helmet back on before handing over Six's. Alyss, having not really noticed the missing piece of equipment, quickly donned it.
"Upload is at 98%. Estimated forty-two seconds required to finish and close channel."
Six looked at the small blue figure hovering over the cracked cylinder. The package! "Kat, what's going on?"
"Improvisation." The Spartan jogged to the door, ducking and peering out. "Shit. They'll have us in the open."
"The roof. I parked the mongoose on the backside of the building," Six recalled.
"Good. Let's get you up." Kat grabbed her arm and began pulling Alyss towards the ladder in the back corner.
"Wait," the blue woman interrupted. "My systems are in B132's armor. I need her to stay until it's finished."
Starting to get the gist of things, Six nodded. "Kat, I'll be right behind you."
The techie hesitated for only a fraction of a second before starting to climb.
"Ten seconds until channel termination," the woman informed, but Six hardly noticed, her attention far more taken by the guttural alien shouts not far away.
"Five seconds."
Six moved to the ladder, stepping to the bottom rung. C'mon, c'mon…
"Three, two, one." The holographic figure blinked out as Halsey's broken storage unit went dark. However, the latest Noble member didn't see it, too busy scrambling up the ladder rungs.
Don't let them see me, she begged, trying to ignore the pounding in her head and focus on the brief ascent.
She reached the top and levered her boots from the opening, rolling away just as the first Elite bounded up the steel steps to the building's disheveled entrance. Staying low, she moved to the roof's edge in a crouch. She spotted her teammate. Kat was already waiting on their getaway vehicle.
"Jump!"
Alyss responded immediately and stepped from the roof. Her feet hit sandy soil, knees buckling as she grunted in pain. Kicking up ground, she struggled to stand.
The mongoose revved to life as Kat toyed with the throttle. "Six!" She reached out with a hand, which the pilot promptly took, letting herself be guided onto the rear of the bike. "Hold on to me!"
Six wrapped her arms around the driver's torso just as the bike popped into gear. The engine roared, wheels spinning and spraying dirt as the rear-end slid about under Kat's control. And then they were off, clear sky and unforgiving rock blurring together as her eyes struggled to keep up with the flying landscape.
"We're… going the wrong way," Six realized. "Evac is-"
"Change of plans. We're not making it to evac."
Six tried to grasp the change, but something was wrong. The fall from that roof… her head reeled painfully as her adrenaline-induced strength began to fade. "I… I think I…" She felt her grip on the other Spartan loosening.
A hand was suddenly there, anchoring her own to Kat's torso. "Shit Six. Hold on."
The words echoed and twisted, sounding as if spoken from underwater and fading quickly.
"Just hold on."
EMILE POV
"Eeeep!" A grunt screamed out, its eyes wide with terror as Emile bore down on it, shotgun held firm by one outstretched arm. It bucked with a pull of the trigger, sending the alien to the ground, but the Spartan's bike was flying too fast for him to investigate the corpse.
"Come on!" He urged the mongoose on, though the throttle was already wide. I've got to be close. Four gritted his teeth as he swung his bike around the last corner. The sight that greeted him was relieving… nearly. The Pelican was there, but he could see it wouldn't be for long. Bright licks of fire shot from the thrusters as they increased power.
No. This won't be for nothing.
"Evac bird, this is Noble Four. Hold that bird for ten seconds," Emile growled into his helmet mike, hoping it would be picked up.
Apparently, it was. The bird hesitated, and it was all he needed as his bike neared the dock's edge. Its wheels left the pavement, but he wasn't there to feel it. Instead, he was flying through the air, sprint enhancement activated as he wind-milled towards the bird.
And then he was inside, rolling across the Pelican's floor. Strong hands pulled him to his feet, and Emile found himself staring face to face with an aged man in officer's regalia. "Get this bird moving." He shoved the hands away, moving to the back of the bird.
"You heard the man! Get us out of here," the officer confirmed.
The docks of Aszod fell away as the aircraft gained altitude and distance.
A few minutes later, the older man came back. "Spartan."
But Emile's attention was riveted to the ground below, witnessing through narrowed eyes the mass of flames and plumes of dark, acrid smoke, hungry fingers reaching up from soil to sky.
Bam. And so ends the Reach campaign, as per the game. Now to my universe and maybe some Halo 1… not sure how far I'll go, but I've got some arc planned ;)
Anyways, criticism and reviews much appreciated!