Authors Note

Hey Everyone! First things first, this is my first Halo fic and my first fic on this site, I mainly post under Wattpad, but I decided to give this site a try, so be gentle :) Constructive Criticism is always welcome. This book will be a slow burn. It will go through the events of Reach first before introducing Chief. For the most part, the storyline and the timeline will be accurate to the canon, but since there's not much known about Six, I'll be changing up a few things here and there to help weave her past into the current storyline.

Anyways without further ado, enjoy the story!

Disclaimer

All rights go to Bungie, Microsoft, and 343 Industries. I only own my original plotlines and characters.

❝ You will never know the value of a moment till it becomes a memory. ❞

- Blue Valentine

July 24, 2552

Unnatural augmented blue eyes snapped open when a gloved hand tentatively shook her shoulder, waking Elise-B312 up from her nap. "Sorry to disturb you, ma'am, but we're almost there," He informs uncomfortably, his eyes not being able to meet her own.

Instinctively, her hand had moved to the magnum she kept holstered on her thigh while her ice blue eyes looked away from the Marine to take in her surroundings, checking for any signs of danger.

Once she deemed it safe enough, Elise allowed her posture to relax by the slightest and gives the Marine a wordless nod. After doing another sweep of her surroundings, she looks down at her Mjolnir ODST variant helmet that rested on her lap.

While the feud between the ODST and the Spartan was notoriously infamous, with most hell-jumpers hating her kind, she had her reasons to choose the style she had; it served as a reminder of who she was and who she continued to fight for. The silver visor glared back at her, glinting in the sunlight, silently she put it on.

True to the Marine's word, it wasn't long till the Warthog approached the small command outpost belonging to the Spartan III unit, Noble Team.

The Warthog barely came to a stop before Elise was already climbing out of the vehicle. Two falcons waited outside the facility, but for the time being, she ignored them and continued to make her way to the entrance of the outpost.

Elise passed by a bald tattooed Spartan loading rounds into the magazine of his sniper rifle. She had already been briefed on who her new teammates were, and if she had to guess by his armour and the sniper in his hands, that this was Jun-A266. He gave her a glance of curiosity before going back to his task; his hands never faltering in their smooth movements.

As she drew closer, she could hear the voice of Noble Team's direct superior, Colonel Holland, "Contact with Visegrad Relay was lost last night. All signals flatlined at twenty-six hundred hours. I responded with trooper fireteams that have since gone MIA."

"And now you're sending us," A deep voice responded calmly, it was another male, but unlike Holland's voice, which was slightly warped by the weak electronic signal, this voice was clear and smooth.

Upon entering the compound, Elise spotted another Spartan III, but this one wore an EVA helmet that had its visor scratched out into the face of a skull. Emile-A239, she didn't even have to guess, his helmet was distinct enough for her.

Like Jun, Emile also looked up from his task of sharpening his kukri on his armoured shoulder. Without even having to see his face, Elise could tell he was studying her, but instead of going back to his task as Jun had, Emile took his time to study the team's new addition.

Meanwhile, the Colonel continued speaking. "The Office of Naval Intelligence believes the deployment of a Spartan team is a gross misallocation of valuable resources. I disagree."

Elise moved to take a few steps forward, but she didn't even manage a step before a robotic arm blocked her path. The owner of the said arm was another Spartan III, a familiar one at that, Kat-B320.

She hadn't seen Kat in years, but she remembered her from their time when they and the rest of Beta company were still being trained to become Spartan III's.

Kat gave Elise a once over before looking over at the blue armoured Spartan who was communing with Holland, "Commander?"

The blue armoured Spartan briefly turned and gave Elise a small nod, while the bigger Spartan in the yellow armour next to him spoke up, "So, that's our new number Six," He mused, sizing Elise up.

Elise looked over at the yellow armoured Spartan; he wore no helmet, which allowed her to see that he was an older man with a hint of a five o'clock shadow growing. He looked a little too old to be a Spartan III, which left him to be the only Spartan II on the team, Jorge-052.

A wave of reverence passed through her when she looked at him. Despite the name, Spartan II's were the first and the best of the Spartans, and she had a deep respect for them.

Kat slowly lowers her arm, and Elise took a step forward, a silent way of introducing herself.

"Kat, you read her file?" Emile questions, his tone guarded but curious.

Without even looking, Elise could still feel his visor covered eyes still scrutinizing her, no doubt trying to figure out what Spartan class she belonged to.

"Only the parts not covered in black ink," Kat replies before looking over at Elise, "I see your still a lone wolf."

A soft snort escapes Elise's lips, and she shrugs, "Good to see you too, Kat," she replies dryly, her low yet feminine voice filtering through the external comms.

Kat returns the nod, her lips turning up to give Elise a tight-lipped smile, but it looked more like a grimace instead, not that Elise could blame her; it was hard to smile when your whole life was filled with war and death.

She and Kat were never close in their time of training, Elise preferred to be left alone, and her 'Lone Wolf' habits often were the primary source of annoyance among her Spartan peers.

The last Spartan, Elise's new commander, Carter-A259, the one talking to Holland, glanced back with a quirked an eyebrow in Kat's direction before turning his attention back to the Colonel, "Anyone claim responsibility, sir?"

"ONI thinks it might be the local Insurrection," Holland replied. "Five months ago they pulled a similar job on Harmony. Hit a relay to take out our eyes and ears, then stole two freighters from dry-dock. That cannot happen here. Reach is too damn important. I want that relay back online, Noble One."

"Sir, consider it done," Carter nods.

Without a word, Jorge picked up his heavy chaingun and walked out of the compound. Kat and Emile started to follow as well, which left Elise with her new commander.

"Then I'll see you on the other side. Holland out."

The screen blinked out, and Carter grabbed his Commando helmet from the table before turning to greet Elise, "Lieutenant."

"Commander, sir," Elise nods respectfully.

"I'm Carter, Noble Team's leader," He introduces, despite not needing to, he points to the other team members who were now walking out, "You seem to know Kat, Noble Two." He says, and Elise glanced behind her where the team was exiting the compound, "Emile and Jorge, Four and Five. You're riding with me, Noble Six." He states as he walked towards one of the Falcons, Elise in tow.

Carter continued as they climbed into the falcon with Jun, who was now wearing his recon helmet. "I'm not going to lie to you, Lieutenant. You're stepping into some shoes that the rest of the squad would rather leave unfilled." Carter said it wasn't said to be unwelcoming; it was just a matter of fact, one Elise couldn't help but silently agree with.

If it were up to her, she'd be back as the Lone Wolf, alone, staying in the shadows, assassinating her enemies but here she was with a team that needed but didn't exactly want her.

Carter continues, "Me, I'm just happy to have Noble back up to full strength. Just one thing; I've seen your file. Even the parts the ONI censors didn't want me to."

Elise stiffened at his words, wondering just how much he had seen on her file. The movement didn't go unnoticed by Carter, but he chose to ignore it for the time being. It was his job pick up small cues like those to determine if his teammates were alright, but rather than commenting on her slight reaction, he let it slide. It was neither the time nor place to bring up her past. "I'm glad to have your skill-set, but we're a team, that 'lone wolf' stuff stays behind, clear?"

Elise clenched her jaw, every fibre in her being wanted to protest to his words, it wasn't who she was, but she refrained because as much as she hated to admit it, it was now. ONI assigned her to this team, and she had no choice but to play by their rules, so she forced the muscles in her jaw to relax, and she gave her new commander a stiff nod, "Got it, Sir."

It wasn't the fact that she didn't like her fellows Spartans; it was the fact she never wanted to work with a team. Alone she had more free reign and was able to accomplish the given mission her way; with a team, she had teammates and trying to act on her own could jeopardize the mission.

Working alone also meant she didn't have to watch anyone's back but her own. Elise was taught that the mission always came first, but she found that that idea was easier to focus on when it was only her life on the line.

Jun turned to look at her, his sniper in hand as he gave her what she assumed was a welcoming nod.

"Welcome to Reach."