A mix of plasma projectiles and bullets whizz through the air in a misshapen exchange of sorts. Two bodies fall over, their heads blown clean open as Six practices the dance of death amongst his enemies. Two plasma grenades thrown prior to the engagement had all but secured his victory, with all but the deadliest of his opponents still able to fight. With the majority of their forces disorientated, injured, or dead; Six relieved them of their worries, taking precise shots at two white armored Ultras, their shields flickering due to their heavily drained state. A Sanghelli General gives an angered shout as he and his remaining Ultras blindly fire in the direction of the spartan's shots. The desolate land provides no cover for either side, as three sharp cracks of rifle fire from the spartan's DMR provides another two confirmed kills.
The Sangheili General, now alone, unleashes a furious roar. Holstering his plasma repeater in favor of his energy sword, he charges the direction of the last few shots of gunfire. He anticipated that whatever had taken out his squad would've moved out the way, providing a sound cue that the general could use to his advantage.
Unfortunately, the General failed to realize that the foe he was dealing with was no mere human, his only cue being an angled knife, providing him with nothing more than a swift death.
For a week straight, Six has been evading and terrorizing Covenant patrols, striking quickly and mercilessly, all before disappearing just as fast. With his lethal skillset and augmented body, the only threats to him were his dwindling ammo supply, and the never ending torrent of Covenant soldiers that he would cross paths with. Having escaped his near death at Rally Point Omega, and found himself with another brief moment of respite, Six reflects on the battle that was almost his last.
Heavily injured and surrounded by Sanghelli Ultras, Zealots, Field Marshals, and Generals, Six unleashes his full fury in the form of a hail of bullets from his MA37 Assault Rifle and M6G Magnum. Successfully gunning down two charging elites, he focuses his aim on a nearby General, only to be tackled to the ground by another Ultra. The Sanghelli activates an energy sword, planning to end the now grounded spartan. Six's intentions, however, did not line up with the Ultra's, earning him an augmentation enhanced elbow to the face, breaking his shields. A Zealot attempts to succeed where the Ultra failed, only to recieve a kick to the chest, nearly breaking his shields and knocking him back. Two more Ultras approach, with Six rolling to his right to dodge the sword of a Field Marshall, before a glancing low kick from a General knocks his helmet off. As Six lies in a slightly disoriented state, the Zealot, looking to repay the spartan for his kick, activates his wrist mounted energy dagger, bringing it down in a furious stab.
Time slows down for Six, as he watches the dagger descend towards his chest. He wanted to move, but his body just wouldn't. Plasma burns and gashes dotted his armor, as blood leaked from the areas where his undersuit had been breached. His body just simply could not take anymore punishment. Six flashes back to Visegrad Relay Station, reminded of the Zealot that almost ended him there, had it not been for Carter's intervention.
There is no one here to save him.
Six recalls his homeworld, Jericho VII, and the life he had before the Covenant took everything from him. He relives a childhood memory, hopping off a school bus and running to the front door of his home. Opening the door, he expects to see the smiling expression of his parents-
There is nothing upon their faces. In fact, there is no face.
No nose. No mouth. No eyes. Not even a mole, or freckles. Just a white, blank face, with hair attached to it. As bland and bleak as his visor.
Had it truly been so long, that even at the end of his life, he could not recall the faces of the ones he wanted to avenge the most? Could Spartan B-312 not even remember the voices of his parents?
The scene suddenly changes to the hangar bay of a UNSC Marathon-Class Heavy Cruiser. Six finds himself standing before two individuals. On the left, a small kid cries on his hands and knees. On the right, a green-armored spartan stands motionless, staring down upon the boy.
In the background of space, Covenant ships can be seen glassing a planet.
His planet. The only home that he had ever known. The only place that had treated him with love and care. The one place where he had an identity, a name-
At that moment, Six comes upon a realization. It hits him- harder than Brute Chieftan slinging a gravity hammer at full strength.
That child is dead.
There is nothing worthwhile left of those memories. They belong to a weak, pathetic, aimless kid who cried over his parents death.
Six suddenly finds himself in the spartan's armor, looking down upon the boy, assault rifle in hand.
He is not that child.
Six checks the magazine of the assault rifle.
He is nothing more than property of the UNSC and ONI.
Six trains the rifle on the boy, center mass.
He is Spartan B-312 of Beta Company. A solo Headhunter. The Lone Wolf.
He pulls the trigger.
Six is brought back to reality by a sudden surge of strength. Mustering all the burning anger and ferocity left within him, the spartan shifts his body right, narrowly avoiding the blade. The zealot's split-second of surprise cost him dearly, as Six grabs its face and reciprocates his attempted killer's stab with a stab of his own. The other elites' surprise cost them as well. As Six sweeps the legs of two nearby Sangheili, he attaches a plasma grenade to one of them. The remaining Elites attempt to distance themselves, as the stuck Elite releases a roar, only to be consumed in blue light. Rolling to his right, Six attempts to escape the blast radius of the grenade. He fails to do so, but manages to escape the range of blistering plasma, resulting in him being blasted backwards. A massive cloud of dust and glass begins to saturate the area, as Six capitalizes on his chance to escape.
Sangheli roars announce the fury of the remaining elites, as he attempts to evade the vengeful soldiers. Six dashes straight ahead before quickly changing his direction, limping perpendicular to the Rally Point, attempting to throw his pursuers off his trail before returning to it. The hybrid dust and glass cloud would no doubt render him unable to navigate the terrain effectively. The absence of shields, motion sensors, and weaponry, along with his severe injuries, would leave him at an extreme disadvantage to his adversaries. Suddenly, his augmented hearing picks up footsteps, and Six quickly dives down and remains still. The rapid thudding of Sangheili footsteps sound out around him. The spartan lays still, attempting to trick their motion sensors. He lies there, awaiting either the roar of an elite that spots him, or the light of an energy sword to come flying in his direction. However, neither of these scenarios happen. Six halts for another minute, trying to make out any sounds, or signs of hostiles.
A minute passes by. A normal human would have most likely begun thanking whatever god had blessed them with this luck. However, Six was no normal human, and luck alone would not save him. He springs upward, his body responding to his movement with angry, blistering pains, a stark reminder of his injuries. Coughing and hacking up blood, Six hobbles in the direction of the ruined buildings and bunkers, trying his best to navigate through the immense cloud of dust. Making his way inside a building, he trips and falls over the body of a dead spartan-III. Quickly recovering, he observes the grey armor of his fallen comrade. He kneels down, pulling an identification tag from the body. Adrian-A247 of Alpha company- Headhunter. Six pockets it. He would ensure that at least one person acknowledges that this spartan existed. It was the least he could do, out of respect for his fallen comrade. He gazes upon the helmet, his military knowledge already identifying the helmet as a CQC variant. The helmet had a respirator attached to the bottom of it, along with a series of lights attached to the right of it. Six proceeds to put the helmet on, the software already linking to his suits system. His body is accompanied by a light orange glow as his shields automatically begin their recharge sequence. With shields, he now fares a better chance against the forces that would no doubt return to finish him. He then removes the CQC shoulder plates and supplemental chest armor of the fallen spartan, placing them to the side, before checking the trauma kit attached to the left hip. One small canister of biofoam is removed from the pouch. Turning his shields off, Six rushes to refill the empty biofoam injectors for his suit as much as he can, the automated systems applying it to his injuries. All of this being done in under two minutes-Six was low on time, and did not want to end up like Kat. He detaches his disfigured shoulder plates, and replaces them with the ones previously removed from the deceased spartan. Shortly after, he adds the supplemental armor to his damaged torso armor. The remaining medical supplies, consisting of some salve, disinfectant, and bandages; are placed into the trauma kit, Six taking it for himself.
He would have to thank the planet later for bringing that dust storm upon his location. There would have been no hope of survival without it.
Six departs as quickly as he arrived, but not before picking up whatever he could find. He refills the ammo for his DMR, and switches his MA37 Assault Rifle out for a nearby SRS99-AM Sniper Rifle, which he unfortunately could not find more ammo for. He holsters his DMR and a fallen UNSC soldier's M45 Shotgun, opting to carry the sniper rifle and have a greater range of tactics available to him. Another 3 minutes have passed. Six vacates the area before the Elites decide to turn around.
As he breaks down his tactics and reprimands himself on mistakes that almost cost him his life, the lone wolf comes across the battleground he looked down upon from the Aszod landing pad. What was once a violent mess of fire and flashing lights, was now nothing more than a silent graveyard of destroyed Covenant and UNSC vehicles, some of which were still burning. The blue and orange fires somehow managed to bring life to the dead terrain around it.
Ironic, considering the death that permeated the area.
Six concludes that Covenant forces have already sweeped the area, but cautiously moves through the wreckage. He could not rely on weather patterns to save his ass if he was spotted again.
Once more, the Spartan finds himself surrounded by silence, accompanied only by the distant thundering of ionized plasma. He had summed up his plans at attempting to drag as many Covenant forces down to Hell with him as he could, but he had also considered whether escaping off planet was possible. There was no doubt in his mind that the UNSC would welcome him back with open arms, but ONI wouldn't be so considerate. Most likely being labeled MIA, ONI would chew his ass out for what they would call "desertion". After all, he was a spartan-III, a life used simply for buying time.
Breaking his thoughts, he continues to trek through the dead combat zone, sidestepping the turret of a destroyed Scorpion. In the distance, a Covenant Cruiser, shot down by Six in the prior week, still burns brilliantly, the glowing, blue plasma fires still hungrily consuming the ship's hull and interior. Stumbling upon a crashed Pelican, Six elects to investigate the interior. Four bodies lie in the Pelican's passenger bay, and the pilot lies slumped over at the controls. Walking up to the pilot's seat and peering through the shattered cockpit, a quick flash of Carter's pelican slamming into a Scarab washes over him. Six quickly turns around, exiting the Pelican, as rainfall begins to saturate the area. A white flash washes over the area from the east, as the lonely Spartan continues navigating the carcasses of steel and fire.
Roughly 3 minutes later, a thunderous echo washes through the land, a burst of wind kicking up dust and glass everywhere. Six knows this sign all too well. He picks up the pace, coming to the conclusion that the Covenant Navy would no doubt be upon this area once more. The rain grows heavier, as Six reminisces about Kat's final words.
"First glassing?Me t-"
Six dives inside of a nearby wrecked Phantom, the low drone of a passing Banshee echoing through the silent graveyard. Unable to determine where it is, Six opts to remain in his hideout, using his hearing to attempt to place a bearing on the craft's direction. The droning gets lower as Six finally determines it's direction, exiting the phantom out of the right side.
Looking upon the lone aircraft fills him with emotion for some unknown reason. Six could not identify whether it was hatred, guilt, or fury. What the Spartan did identify, however, was the still intact M68 Gauss Cannon, planted on top of a Warthog that was missing a small part of it's passenger side.
In a near instant, Six was already at the gun, checking it's systems and ammunition.
The Banshee continues flying through the rain, surveying for any sign of life below, oblivious to the vengeful spartan aiming at it from behind.
Checking the battery, Six verifies that there is still a charge left in the weapon's system.
Dropping altitude in order to get a closer look at the terrain, the small craft continues onward, clueless to it's impending doom.
Six squeezes the trigger, as a 25mm hypersonic projectile exits the barrel at blistering speeds.
A Sangheili Ranger operates a Banshee, assigned with patrolling the prior combat zones for any humans unwise enough to get themselves spotted. Flying over the silent war zone, the Sangheili remarks at the sheer carnage. The heretical beings they had massacred referred to the location as the Aszod ship breaking yards. Strange, why would so many foolishly throw their lives away for one ship? The Ranger is broken from his thoughts by the rain that begins to pelt the shell of his aircraft. He would give the humans respect on one end-If they had to, they would fight to the very last man. Bringing his aircraft at a lower altitude, the Sangheili expected to get a better look at the battleground below him.
What he did not expect, however, was a 25mm projectile to punch through the back of his Banshee at speeds equivalent to Mach 40.
In the distance, a spartan watches as the Banshee's wings and shell crumple from an explosion, all before falling towards the ground. He hops off the turret, as the gauss cannon returns to its deactivated state.
A small amount of satisfaction wells up within Six, as he revels in the feeling of bringing down one more Covenant bastard, before being stamped out by his military training. He harshly berates himself for letting his emotions get the best of him. What if that ship had been in radio contact with another? There was no doubt, Six knew that a search party would be on his position as soon as Banshee missed it's patrol schedule. Breaking off into a sprint, the Spartan begins to run towards a now split mountain-
Only to trip over a small grey object that laid exposed in the dead terrain. The object appeared to be a small capsule with two wings on the side. Blue light shines from the object that Six now identified as a device. The device unfolds itself and begins to float, as he trains his sniper rifle directly at it. A small machine seemingly stares at Six's visor from it's blue "eye", before a line of light in the same color washes over the spartan's armor. The light disappears as quickly as it appeared, with a small beep in apparent confirmation.
"Intrusion: Unknown system detected", states a message panel on the Spartan's HUD. Shortly afterwards, a waypoint appears on his map, pointing him roughly 2km east. Six is confused momentarily. How was he receiving GPS data? Every single MIL-NET satellite had been destroyed following Operation Uppercut, and the constant radiation flares from glassing should be interfering with any form of communication.
"Tell them to make it count".
Jorge's final words sound out in the Spartan's head, as another brilliant flash makes itself known on the horizon. Six couldn't trust this unknown automation, but it was his best chance at finding some way to better combat the overwhelming force he was up against. Checking his ammo count, he sets out in the direction of the waypoint, the automaton flying alongside him on the right.
Author's Note:
I've finally finished chapter 2. My original plan was to upload the day following part 1, but I had found myself stuck in an attempt to flesh out Six's personality a bit more. This is the result of that. I wanted this trek through the battleground to resemble that of Halo 3:ODST's scenes with the Rookie. My main problem, however, was the clash of pacing. In most crossover stories featuring Noble Six, his departure from Reach results from a battle, or split-second decision made under pressure. Some even have him reincarnated. What I wanted to do was give him a chapter of quiet reflection. The Battle for Reach had all members of Noble Team active the whole time, so we only were able to see flashes of guilt, sadness, or despair hidden in their patterns of speech. Even then, it's quite hard to get a read on their emotions. A few cutscenes highlight on this, but the very nature of Spartans makes it difficult to expand on it. For Carter, Jorge, and Emile; their deaths aren't over the top and glorified, but they are executed well. Carter and Jorger simply accept that a sacrifice has to be made, and they carry out their mission to the end. However, Kat's death would have hit the team harder than the others. It would have been a stark reminder that not everyone gets to die fighting for what they believe in.
I'm making this way too long, so i'm gonna cut it here. It's just very difficult to quickly convey how I want this story to go in just a few words. Regardless, thank you once again for reading my story, and I'll try to make the next chapter longer than 2,500 words. It's hard trying to write out material that refers to a character's actions over and over again, without boring the reader to death. Have a great day.