Noble Team of Terra

Chapter 12: New mission: Lungmen (Bravo Team)

~Dorm, Noble Team~

It was another day, a day where the UNSC super soldiers were lazing with nothing to do, their new 'jobs' could only do so much before everything became autonomous and standards. Right now, the team were doing the only two things that kept them occupied.

One of which is reading, the ones who were reading was Kat, Carter, Jun, Jorge, Cal and Arthur. They weren't needed today as they were given a day off from work and as such, they spent their time reading, mostly about the history of the world and military tactics and strategies.

The last other was sleeping, in which Solomon, Emile, Daisy and Six were doing as their bodies were on the floors and walls, their chests rising slowly and softly as they were quiet in their sleep. With nothing else to do and caught up in all other things the four just rested and let their consciousness fade into obscurity.

So all-in-all the week was boring, and they were keeping to themselves, just the usual they assumed as even back then they kept to themselves and rarely actively try to seek out some form of entertainment.

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The door leading to their room opened up and the familiar figure of Doctor Howard entered, he greeted them "good afternoon Noble Team" he had announced his presence with a wave of his hands.

Not expecting this the team were caught off guard before they all scrambled and stand up, they all saluted as he was their superior while under Rhodes command. "SIR!" they all shouted at once, even the sleeping ones were quickly awake and were saluting.

Seeing this the company's tactician let out a chuckle before speaking "at ease, now as I'm sure all of you are curious as to why I'm here let me ask you this, what do you know of Lungmen?" he questioned them as he knows they seem and gave off the feel of wanting as much information as possible and have no doubt have some of that info regarding the city he mentioned.

Carter answered "Lungmen is one of, if not, the major trading cities. It is under the nation of the Yan Government and is led by a man known as Chief Wei Yenwu. It is also responsible for the creation of the LMD, Lungmen Dollars, the currency of the world. But it's treatment of Infected are harsh, but not as bad as Ursus treatment." it was a lot of information that was simplified yet got the point across.

Knowing that the Spartans couldn't get that much information from books alone, he decided to question the team's AI "Serina did you pull some information without anyone knowing?" he knows that she's advanced than any other AI on Terra as far as he knows, so she should be able to do that without notice.

The British female's voice came up "maaybe", yet her tone was like that of someone who enjoyed doing something so devilish and being all secretive about it.

He also had a bit of playful side "well if no one noticed then I guess you didn't then" behind his mask was a small smile, also finding it a bit entertaining to be secretive about things, especially if it's from Kal'tsit.

That nag hag.

Then he spoke once more "then you should know that we are approaching the same city, the Landship is docking with it as we will refuel and resupply." he paused before his tone took on a more serious one "and also there's something that's happening, the Lungmen Guard Department has requested Rhodes Island's assistance"

Hearing that the super soldiers also became serious, with Kat be the one to question "what is the situation sir?"

"A massive number of Refugees are arriving from Chernobog, normally LGD can handle it no problem but they're requesting help. They believe that Reunion may have blended in with the civilian populace that are asking us to help them separate enemy from innocent since some of the Refugees are infected."

"And why are you telling us sir if we're not allowed to go on Operations?" Jorge was the one who asked an important question, they weren't even real Operators, and the Doctor was telling them this information that should be privy to official Operators.

"Because Jorge, it wasn't my idea nor was Amiya or even Closure's. The Operator themselves requested the Spartans to participate in the Op" he said with seriousness as even he was surprised by the sudden request, and to hear that even a couple of others wanted to have them join them.

Hearing that the Spartans themselves were surprised, they weren't expecting Operators to actually ask for their assistance, thought they wanted them away from the battlefield and not join.

"Who was it?" Jun questioned as he was curious as to who requested their presence to join, it has to be someone who was interested with their combat abilities.

"It was Operators; Flamebringer, Grani, Plume, Orchid, Gavial, Shining, Rangers and Noir Corne. They're the ones that requested your participation in earnest. My assumption is that they want to dispel rumors circulating about you and want to see you in action." he paused as if he was thinking about what to say next.

"However, we cannot send all of you Spartans, so I have come up with a compromise in a loophole I found." he started once again as he looked at individual members of the UNSC. From behind his mask, he couldn't help but smile.

"So... Who wants to join?"


~Pelican, Noir Corne~

A young man wearing a mask was seen in the canopy of the Pelican.

This young male was around his 20's, he wore a white shirt, around his neck was an ID card that he could use when on the Landship and could identify who he is. Around his body was a black jacket with blue edges, and on the back of it was the company's logo of a white Rook and the name underneath. He wore a pair of grey cargo pants that fit his frame and a pair of boots for his feet. His face was covered by a black mask with a filter and a single visor to cover his eyes, his hair was a shaggy yellow hair color. However, what was the most defining feature was the single black horn that protruded out of his forehead.

This man was Noir Corne, a veteran Operator of Rhodes Island and one of two assigned defenders to the squad.

He sat across from the individual known as Noble Six, the quietest one even among his peers, he doesn't know him personally but what he does know is the basic information like everyone. He served in a Galactic wide war, so he has more combat experience than any of them put together, he's a Spartan-III super soldier, a war orphan turned war machine.

A cruel and twisted fate if he ever saw one.

On Six's right was Carter, the dark blue leader of Noble Team. Noir Corne himself also doesn't know him well, but he was placed as the Squad's leader and as such he has to place his life in his hands, perhaps later in the operation they can talk and get to know each other. That's how he and Yato became friends in the first place.

On the other side of the sixth member of Noble was Jorge, the Defender of Noble team and heavy specialist. He had the appearance of a heavily armored individual and wasn't one to be taken lightly, unlike the other two however he was seemingly interacting with the more outgoing members of the squad.

Speaking of which, the blond Oni has taken a look around and saw who was it that made up the squad besides him and the other three super soldiers.

Melantha was closest to the wall that led into the cockpit of the craft. Across from the purple-colored Feline was Adnachiel, her Sankta teammate as he seemed to be examining his Crossbow and making sure it was working properly.

Flamebringer was next to Melantha, though he seemed to be focused on the upcoming fights if the rumors about him being a fighting maniac are true, he made sure his weapons were tucked safely. Across from him was another Sankta, this one being Executor as he too seemed to be focused and checked his gear.

Following those two were Pramanix and Cliffheart, the two sisters of sir Silverash, CEO of Trading co. From Noir Corne's perspective it seemed to be the usual sisterly interaction, with the youngest teasing the oldest and the other denying something he couldn't quite hear.

Next was someone who sat on his left was Ansel, he sat across Carter as the two seem to be discussing priorities and objectives, no doubt to make sure the operation goes as smoothly as possible.

On his right was Hibiscus, the last member of the Squad and she was seen across and interacting with Jorge, asking him a bunch of questions and him responding with simple one-word or avoided them completely.

Soon the voice of the pilot was heard [Approaching the LZ, ETA: 30 minutes] and not long after she said that, Carter let out a nod before he started to speak a bit loud to get everyone's attention.

"Everybody, listen up!" and like that any chatter or interacting had died down in favor of focusing on Carter's direction.

Seeing he has their attention he continued "Lungmen has requested Rhodes Island in assistance with the influx of Refugees arriving from the now occupied Chernobog, however rumors are circulating that Reunion has infiltrated Lungmen disguised as those civilians. But that is not our objective"

He paused for a moment, making sure everyone's attention is absolute, seeing that his words were getting to them he continued "our mission is not in the city but rather the outskirts. Some reports have claimed that Reunion have a hideout nearby which is how they're able to sneak in without detection. Our job is to locate that hideout, assess the situation and report back."

Executor would ask after hearing the mission objective "is the report accurate?" having valuable information was vital after all.

"The report claims there's a hideout, but we won't know for sure. That is why we're going to investigate it." was the response Noble one gave to the squad member.

"I see..."

"Any other questions?"

Noire Corne was next as he wanted to know something important "what is the rules of engagement regarding the nearby civilians?"

"Civilians and militia will be non-lethal, don't want to sour relations between Rhodes and Lungmen. The civilian populace should be sparse, still better be safe than sorry."

Then Foehammer's voice cut onto the intercoms once more, updating their distance [ETA: 15 Minutes].

Hearing that Noble Leader began to speak once again "Doctor has decided to implement a new 'Partner System' and as such I will go over who will be partnered with." he then stared at all of the team from behind his helmet.

"Melantha and Adnachiel, Flamebringer and Executor, Ansel and Hibiscus, Noir Corne and Jorge, Six and Cliffheart. These names will be your new partners in this Operation, miss Pramanix you're with me" he announced as he looked at her and giving her a curt nod.

The feline woman nodded back "understood" she then started a prayer, seeing as she was the Priestess of Karlan this was allowed as it not only eased any tensions but gives the operatives some peace of mind.

Then the Pelican slowed down and the feeling of hitting against something was felt [We've arrived] announced Echo-419 as they have arrived at their destination, then slowly the hatch began to lower into a ramp allowing the Operators to see what kind of environment they were in.

Now it was time to begin the mission.


~Lungmen Outskirts, Pramanix~

The entire squad was in the middle of a desolate desert, there was barely any signs of life with the exception of a small group of shacks that were made by the homeless. A Shantytown she remembers, the homeless back in Karlan also created something similar to protect themselves against the cold nights.

The Pelican lifted off and she could hear from Carter's helmet the voice that belonged to the pilot [good luck team Bravo, I will stay on station and will provide whatever support I can between the two squads]

"Understood Echo-419, we'll call for you when we're done with our mission"

[Roger that, Foehammer out]

And like that the connection between the two was cut and the squad leader turned to everyone "this area is where the hideout is supposed to be, but with limited intel we can only guess." he said to everyone as they all gathered around.

Flamebringer spoke "then let us ask the locals at that Shantytown and be done with it, I'm eager to fight Reunion" the male Sarkaz of the group spoke as he seemed ready to fight, they can tell his eyes glowed a soft yellow as he was very eager.

"We must be cautious when doing so, for all we know they could ally themselves with Reunion out of fear for the Government" countered the stoic male Sankta as he turned his head and narrowed his eyes at his current 'partner', he then made an offhand comment "but I guess nothing is going through that thick battle-muddled skull of yours"

"WHAT DID YOU SAY YOU EMOTIONLY STUNTED BIRD?!"

Not even a full five minutes and already the two are arguing.

"You heard me or are your ears so bad that you can only hear your own voice?"

"WHY YOU!"

Hibiscus merely smiled and she voiced her own thoughts between the two "aww! You two are like a married couple! A strange, deranged, stunted couple!" she even seemed happy about it whilst the others sweat drop at her way of thinking.

""We're NOT a MARRIED couPLE!" Both men turned to her and said at the same time, then looked back at each other before their heads butted and seemed to get into another argument.

Ansel looked at his partner before speaking himself "I don't think that's the case Hibiscus"

Melantha looked scared and nervous now that the two of them were fighting, even looked ready to cry herself. Adnachiel just merely patted her back in an attempt to cheer her up or at least keep her calm.

Noir Corne looked at his partner and chuckled "I guess this mission won't be so boring huh?"

"Mm"

Pramanix could hear her own partner sigh and mutter under his breath "handling Emile alone was enough... Now I have to deal with two more Emile's, what did I do to get this?"

She herself giggled at how the group seem to be lively than earlier, it was quite amazing how something serious can immediately switch in the middle of a serious event. She turned to speak with her sister, but she noticed that her and her partner were missing, she looked everywhere and saw them ahead of everyone.

As if sensing her thought Carter spoke surprising her "Six tends to go off by himself, be a lone wolf and complete the mission solo. That's why I put your sister with him, so they can not only work together but she can keep him close, reign him in so to speak." she turned to him and saw him staring at both Six and Cliffheart.

She didn't get a chance to say anything before he shouted for everyone to hear.

"Squad! We're heading to the Shantytown; we shall ask the locals if they spotted or see anything strange as of late." he then grabbed his DMR from his back and began to move "Bravo squad! Move out!"

And so, the group of 10 walked forward and were heading towards the Shantytown, with Six and Cliffheart waiting for them halfway.

"About time! Jeez what took you guys so long? I thought we're going to be serious, but you all had to take your sweet time!" Cliffheart had pouted and complained about them as she folded her arms and stared at them.

Six on the other hand was crouched one a knee and he looked towards the settlement, not bothering to turn around as he heard his partner speak and notifying him. He stood back up before pulling his assault rifle from his back and loading it with a clip, he then spoke so Carter could hear "nothing odd, will have to get closer"

Bravo lead nodded as they all continued their trek to the settlement.


~Shantytown, Ansel~

As the large group approached, they can see that many of the civilians looked terrified of them, some of civilians ran in the opposite direction to get away from them, others hide behind their shacks or shanties. There were others that glared at them, as if they were focusing their hatred on them.

The pink Cautus boy couldn't blame them though, living in such harsh conditions tends to alter a person's view, and it didn't help that the Spartans were even armored and armed with weapons of mass destruction.

But as they were edging closer to the settlement his hearing had picked up some information, not intentional but one he would bookmark in his head.

"Papa... Why another one?"

"Hush my cub... They will go away just keep still and quiet..."

"Okie..."

Perhaps the LGD patrol this area and they assumed they are with them, the reports themselves were from the LGD and it wouldn't be difficult to assume such.

Still though, there was something off about this whole scenery and he couldn't place it.

Before they continued any further, they were stopped by an elderly man, a Vulpo by the looks of it.

"Halt! Who are you?"

This elderly man was wearing a cloak that covered his body, the only exceptions being his hands. His hair was swept back neatly, its color was a pinkish tone with the edges becoming grey with age. On top of his hair is a single Fox ear with a white tuft and the tip missing, the other ear was completely gone as there could be seen a stump of where it once was. His eyes were a deep violet color that held wisdom and knowledge yet also caution and doubt as he stared at him. In his hands was a normal staff he used for walking as it was old and worn, it looked ready to crumble yet was going strong.

"Who are you... You're not with the LGD" he said as he stared at the group and examined each and every one of them, especially the armored trio that moved with ease in such armor.

"We're not sir, we are with Rhodes Island" Carter answered, and as if hearing the name triggered a reaction the occupants of the Shantytown began to murmur amongst themselves.

"Rhodes Island?"

"The Pharma Company?"

"They don't look like Rhodes..."

"Has anyone even seen what members of Rhodes look like?"

And the old fox man narrowed his eyes "and how do we know you aren't lying?" he questioned with scrutiny as he studied them, making sure if they actually were Rhodes Island or are imposters.

Flamebringer walked up next to Carter and leaned in "we should just take the information by force, that way we can get the mission over and done with" he was feeling impatient at not making any progress at learning where the Hideout is, no doubt the people know and are playing with them.

"We will not do such thing Flamebringer, we don't want to make the situation worse for these people than they already are now." Carter had countered as he turned back to the elder before asking "to prove that we are with Rhodes Island, what do you want us to do?" if doing what the elder asks of them is the peaceful and non-violent way of obtaining information then they'll have to go through with it.

The Sarkaz male let out a low growl before turning away and walking, not liking this idea one bit.

"Rhodes Island is said to help those who are in need, if that is true then I will ask you to help us here in the village. First is our sick and injured, they are currently in the infirmary. If you have anyone that has any knowledge regarding medicine or medical, then assist there." he said as he started to give out requests.

Carter motioned for Ansel and Hibiscus to on ahead "these two are our Medics, they will help tend to your people in the infirmary. Anything else?" he had heard the male say 'first' which means there's other requests.

"The LGD constantly patrol here, I want someone on lookout and tell us if they're headed this way" it was a simple request.

The blue Spartan-III merely nodded, a simple request and it meant being active "Done."

"Third, we want people go be on guard duty. Infected animals are in the area and have been harassing our settlement far too often, we lost some brave souls trying to ward them off."

"It's done."

"Then that shall be all, with your help our lives here should be a little bit easier" the elderly man stated as he slowly turned away and would begin to walk back into the settlement.

Ansel and Hibiscus wasted no time and followed the elder into the village, prepared and ready to tend to the poor in the infirmary.

They may not have gotten the information on the hideout now, but if obtaining said knowledge required them to help out the Shantytown then they will do it.


~Shantytown, Carter~

[How are things on your end Bravo?] Kat's voice came through on the comms.

Noble One stood outside of the settlement just a few meters away, far from anyone that can hear.

"We haven't gotten the information yet, it's going slow" he answered as he was having a conversation with the other members of Noble team that were with Alpha "anything happen on your side?"

[Reunion was indeed hiding amongst the Civilians, a fight ensued. To be honest we weren't expecting so many to pop up like they did] she answered his question, it seems that Alpha had the more action than Bravo but that was a guaranteed.

"Anyone die?" he asks lowly as he knew that the chances of death were high, Reach showed that and even Chernobog has yet proven that death will occur.

[Five LGD officers died in the chaos, but just some injuries Operators Shining, and Perfumer couldn't fix. Emile was having the most fun here]

He let out a chuckle "I can imagine, unfortunately no action here. But the elder did ask for someone on lookout for any LGD, he said they patrol here often." he said as he turned and looked at the settlement from his position on top of a small hill.

[Want me to ask Serina to hack into the LGD and see if there are any actual patrols?]

"No. Not until otherwise, just make sure you guys do your job and we'll get through this no problem"

[Understood. Since we're here why not talk about us?] her tone was unusually emotional, and Carter knew what she meant.

Their relationship.

"What is it Kat?" he asked as he had a feeling as to what she was thinking but then again, she's proven to catch him off guard.

[Do you think we should be able to go on a date once this operation is over? An actual proper date?] once again she caught him off guard, but this had him curious, why did she want to go on a date all of a sudden?

"What brought this on?"

[Doctor Howard and Amiya told us to relax and not think about the what ifs, focus on the present, for a young girl she is showing quite the wisdom. And it got me thinking, after Fumirole when we began, we haven't had time to form this relationship of ours normally. Always missions one after the other, then finally Reach happened...]

She did bring up a valid point, when they began to date, they both barely had time to do anything romantic or even form this relationship normally. They haven't even had one date yet and then the events of Reach transpired.

[I know we both agreed that if nothing changes on the date then we can all it off and be friends, but don't tell me you aren't curious as well Carter.]

She knows him very well.

"I am curious. Tell you what, once the mission is over, we're going to go on that date, my treat."

[Hehe, very well I will be looking forward to it. After all... I haven't forgotten that kiss]

One would think Carter be focused, stoic, serious even given how he and the other Spartans were raised in Alpha Company of the III program. But what no one would ever expect was to see that same serious, driven, motivated and inspiring leader...

Blushing...

"T-Talk to you later Kat, g-gotta focus on the mission!" he even stuttered his words as his face became a bit red, it becomes even redder when he remembers kissing her on the lips all that time ago.

Kat's voice returned to her normal tone, but there was a hint of teasing [very well, talk to you later Noble One]

And like that the connection cut, leaving Carter alone to gather his thoughts and calm down. He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, and was prepared to head back when he spoke, his tone back to its seriousness.

"What is it Six?" standing behind him was Noble Six, the green and white armored super soldier looked at his leader as if he heard everything but didn't comment on it. Turning around Carter saw that his teammate was just standing there, looking at him almost as if he was judging him with his gaze.

For a moment it was just the two Spartan-IIIs looking at each other, the moon slowly rising up ahead and the sun setting.

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*Thump*

"I approve..." Six had suddenly moved his hands away from the rifle and gave Carter a thumbs up, even saying words of acceptance at seeing both Carter and Kat's relationship. Noble One can also swear he saw a sparkle surrounding the ODST helmet.

He was by bond Kat's brother so of course he was going to look out for his sister.

"You going to make Kat an aunt?" He knew that Kat liked to tease her brother about having kids now that they are not part of the UNSC at the moment, and that meant less restrictions as the IIIs weren't as indoctrinated as much as the IIs were.

Without any hesitation the green and white armored member of Noble team immediately turned around and walked back to the settlement, as if avoiding answering the question.

Carter shook his head at that, he also began to walk back to the Shantytown to continue to help and aid the settlers and hoping to gain more information on the Hideout.

The two of them didn't notice were several eyes watching them from a distance, a barrel pointing at their direction as it resembled Jun's Sniper rifle except less modded. Watching their movements.


This has been Cross posted from Archive of Our Own, AO3. Check the name FantasyRanger1234, that is where it'll be posted first.