"Normal Speech"

"Internal Thoughts/Comms"

Location/Time/Date

"Gravemind/Brainiac"

Chapter 1

"The moment we were chosen to become Spartans we died to the rest of Humanity. Who we were before the Training, before the Augmentations: Forgotten to us. But we Spartan-III were made to be expendable. Made to die in the name of Humanity . . . Good thing we were already dead to them."

-Spartan B-312, Noble 6, Final hours of the Covenant's invasion of Reach

Planet Reach

Sinoviet Ship Breaking Facility, Aszod

SEPTEMBER 12, 2552, 19:00

In the end, Reach fell, like so many colonies had before her, to the overwhelming strength of the Covenant. But Humanity didn't retreat without a fight. One that left an everlasting memory within all the species of the Covenant. Of the ferocity Humans can give when pressed to their last. An omen of what they would face should they find Earth. But one that still Haunts the memories of all that survived the final battle of Reach was that of a Spartan. One lone Spartan held back most of their forces and allowed as many as he could to slip from the planet or find places still safe to shelter from the storm.

Accounts vary on how long he held out against them. Some say it was only a few minutes, some a few hours, and others say he held the same location for days. Drawing all Covenant forces he could to one place, using the bodies that fell before him as cover. Slaughtering with any weapon he could grab, even those he killed only gave him more ammunition to continue fighting on. The Ship Breaking Yards took on a new name in Sangheili, one all Covenant species shuddered to say for years after. 'The Wolf's Den'. For this was the location the 'Wolf of Reach' had made his last stand.

Bloodied and his MJOLNIR ready to fall to pieces from the constant Plasma shots he had taken and the rising heat on the surface of Reach. It wasn't until a horde of Elite Zealots, Generals, and Ultras swarmed him in great numbers did they finally knock him to the earth. It was at that moment a Zealot stabbed Noble 6 in the chest and slew the Spartan . . . or so they had hoped and the UNSC believed. For that was the only footage O.N.I. found was recovered from the charred remains of his broken helmet's camera before it failed and went silent. But the Zealot missed his mark, stabbing into Six's shoulder as he pulled away to dodge. Making the Spartan snarl in pain as he felt his flesh searing and his blood boils around the blade before it was cauterized. Leaving only pain as the Zealot laughed at the torment of the Demon under it, only for the Spartan to grab the grip of the Kukuri he had retrieved from the corpse of the last of his team, Noble 4, and stab the Zealot in the arm. Before pulling the Sangheili closed and bite into its neck. Holding it in place with all his strength as he pulled the knife out and stabbed it through the eye, killing the Zealot as the Energy Dagger deactivated and the body slumped forward.

Using what strength he could muster in his one arm he pulled the Zealot forward and into the path of another Energy Dagger wielded by the same Ultra that had attempted to stab him before. Using the body as a shield and the mental link to his MJOLNIR to grab the body and throw it into the Ultra. Knocking it and the nearby Field Marshal back. Buying Six enough time to get to his feet and grab a Plasma Repeater from the dust. Focusing his fire on the Field Marshal the moment the weapon was in his hands. The Plasma bolts shredded the Marshal, but only killed it after 25 shots. Leaving him open as the Ultra charged with an Energy Sword, making Six dodge as the Ultra swung. Cleaving the Plasma Repeater in two and causing an explosion that tossed them away as the internal battery was destabilized. That broke Six's already damaged arm completely, even the MJOLNIR assisted movements felt even more sluggish in his left arm and only caused him more pain than before to move.

But he still rose once more, grabbing the Kukuri from its sheath on his shoulder, holding it tightly as he saw the Ultra also steadily starting to stand. It had been closer to the explosion and it had damaged its shields. This gave Six an opening. So he charged and tackled the Ultra from behind, stabbing the Kukuri into its side to keep a hold of it as the blade pierced the skin-tight undersuit and under its ribs. Tearing through the Sangheili's flesh as Six rolled over its back, leaving a long gash as its purple blood poured from the new wound. The Elite roared in rage as it ignited the Energy Sword once again and held a Plasma Pistol in its other hand, fully charged from the glowing ball of plasma that it fired off and struck Six. Putting a hole in his chest plate and making him snarl in rage as well. Only recovering just in time as the Ultra had closed the distance and swung for his head. Making him lean back and narrowly avoid the blades before he twisted his body around and stabbed the Kukuri into the Ultra's neck. Pushed it down to its knees before he stabbed the other shoulder and slit the Elite's throat. Letting it drop dead in the dust before he too fell hard. Barely able to keep his eyes open any longer.

"Keep . . . Moving . . . Have to . . . Keep Moving." He muttered to himself, yet his body was near the end of how much he could take. Refusing to heed his commands. That was when he heard it. The hum of Covenant Banshees coming in from above behind him. Blowing up heavy dust and giving him some cover as he forced his one good arm to reach forward and pull himself into a building. There he found two other Spartans long dead, one with marks that an Energy Sword impaled them. While the other was riddled with many holes throughout their MJOLNIR from Plasma rounds. An M392 DMR and MA37 at their feet with many spent rounds around them. But one of the Spartans still carried a Tactical/Trauma Kit, the case opened, and most of the contents used, no doubt on these two. But there remained two small canisters of BioFoam and MediGel with a bandage as well. Not much, but this was made for Spartans to heal minor wounds and seal up more deadly ones in the front line on their own until they reached proper medical attention. So this would have to do for Six. So he poured some Hydrogen Peroxide from the pill-sized tablets that rattled around the bottom. There was still a water pipe that dripped some drops of water he used to clean his wounds. Before applying the MediGel and covering the wounds with the BioFoam to keep the gel untouched by any dirt outside his armor.

This helped him get some movement in his arm, but it wasn't much. He'd need real medical attention to have full use of it once again. But now he had more concerns as he heard the Banshees wheel around once more. Touching down in the area the Elites piled on top of him. More than likely have gotten a transmission from one of them that they were about to kill the last Spartan on the planet.

So Six silently picked up the DMR and propped it up against the window with his dead arm just able to weigh it down as he aimed an Elite Major and another Ultra came out of the backs of the Banshees. Six zeroed on the Ultra, firing the DMR as quickly as he could on its head. Tearing through the shields and killing it with a headshot after seven rounds. Rendering the DMR useless as it clicked when he shifted to the Major. So he cast it aside and grabbed the MA37 as the Major charged and opened fire on his position with a Plasma Repeater. The plasma burned many holes in the thin metal sheeting that made up the call. But Six held the Assault Rifle as best he could with one hand and stuck it through one of the holes before pulling the trigger. Shredding the Major's shields and making it stumble to its knees before Six now jumped out and tackled the Major. Stabbing it in the eye with his knife and killing it as the last gurgling breath left the Elite's throat.

Six took a deep breath, feeling his body growing heavy once more as the adrenaline wore off. So he slumped back against the broken wall and fell through it. But he didn't care. He just laid there panting. The very air became hotter with every second as the Covenant Glassing Beams destroyed Reach, and were drawing closer to him. "Five minutes . . . That's the most time I'll get to rest. Before more come here. Or will they just Glass me instead after all this trouble I've caused them?" He thought to himself, barely able to move and nowhere to go for escape. That was when he heard his Tactical/TACPAD ping softly, alerting him that coordinates had just been added. Slowly moving his left arm to where he could move his head to look he saw a message; 'Noble Six -DOT'. This simple message made his eyes narrow at the coordinates, more than a thousand miles away. Steadily he rolled over onto his stomach then pushed himself up onto his knees next to the other two fallen Spartans. Reaching under the helmet of the one that had been impaled to activate the manual release on their helmet, a GUNGNIR with the Hardened Uplink/Remote Sensor Package, and put it on his head. Letting the helmet run through diagnostics as it synced up to his MJOLNIR. Flashing every point of damage it suffered from the last nine days of straight combat. No chance to repair, eat, drink, or rest. Just constantly fighting any that came to kill the last 'Demon' they knew about on Reach.

"Override Code: Ambrosia. Personal Input Code: 2545." He said, negating the warnings and enabling him to start using MJOLNIR's mental connection to his brain to stand once more. Testing his arm's servos to see it moving fairly normally. The Biofoam finally numbed the pain enough to allow him to almost be ready for another fight. But his HUD pinged towards the Highland Mountains, towards what looked like Camp Hathcock. "Too risky to walk, take too long as well." He thought before he looked towards the Banshees and smirked under his helmet. Jumping inside one as he threw a Plasma Grenade that stuck to the other and blew it up as he flew off and away from Aszod.


Planet Reach

Camp Hathcock, Highland Mountains

SEPTEMBER 13, 2552, 01:00

The Flight was thankfully mostly easy, the Covenant was more focused on Glassing the rest of the planet so had a majority of their Phantoms and Banshees still aboard their ships. Seems he had gained most of their focus to drop off troops at Aszod as the days passed. Clearing out some from other facilities for the honor of killing a Demon, especially one that was holding out as long as he had. So the skies were clear from hostiles that could engage him. But he still flew low and at high speed, even as the ground rose into the mountains he hugged it as close as he could until he saw the facility before him. He had never been there himself, but he knew the Spartan-II's had been here during their training as well as for debriefings.

Six slowed the Banshee down and landed as close as he dared and jumped out. Silently approaching the camp to see many of the buildings had many Plasma burns and bullet holes. So Six slowly entered the facility, looking for more ammunition for his DMR and MA37, having only one clip left for each. Each building he looked through gave him some from the many dead UNSC Army Soldiers and Marines that were scattered about the facility with dead Grunts, Jackals, Elites, and a few dead Brutes, and a pair of Hunters exploded near the central command. But there were also many piles of ash scattered about the facility, some of the piles being blown away in the wind as he moved about. "Dot, do you copy? Repeat: Dot, do you copy?" Six say as he tried to use Comms to connect to anyone.

But even on an unsecured transmission, there was no response. So he held the MA37 close to him and was ready to fire as he entered the main building. Finding the interior no different than the exterior as many bodies of both humans and aliens filled the corridors, with even more piles of ash inside the building itself. But Six heard something echoing through the halls as the broken monitors flashed a strange symbol he'd never seen before as he drew near them. All leading in the direction of the sound deeper into the facility as it drew him down into the sub levels.

When he reached SubLevel 04 the echo became a steady beeping that took him towards large data banks that went from the floor above to another floor below. The coolant had seemingly drained or sprung a leak as it was now making the very air hot from what the helmet's sensors picked up.

He stepped into the room as he saw a single light flashing ahead of him in time with the beeping noise, the source of it. Approaching the console he should see the monitor flashing, 'AI CORE REGULATION FAILURE! CORE TEMPERATURE REACHING CRITICAL LEVELS!' It flashed again and again. So Six did what he could to remove the core. He was no tech, but his time as a lone Headhunter had given him plenty of experience to splice into the mainframe of Dumb AI like this one. Though it was to retrieve information on assets and targets unnoticed by anyone, not to remove a whole AI from the mainframe. Still, after a time, the screen turned blue and out popped a Data Chip from the terminal as the lights powered down and all data was expunged from the data banks.

Taking the chip carefully from the slot Six looked it over. "Did you want me to find this, Dot?" He asked aloud, placing the chip within the Tactical/Hard Case on his hip to keep it safe. Before he started to move back to the stairs, only for the whole facility to suddenly rock with an explosion as the passageway back towards the surface collapsed and forced Six to run the opposite direction, towards an open elevator shaft and jumped down through it. Falling for a few seconds before he slammed into the ground hard, the MJOLNIR just being able to take the sudden impact and absorb the shock. Now he is on SubLevel 15. Deep underground with only emergency lights glowing red to give some sense of direction in the darkness.

So Six went on, following the lights as best he could to find a different way out. Until he came upon a room that opened wide before him, making him activate his Night vision for the first time in a while to see beyond the lights. In this way, he found himself in a hangar bay, one that held a Winter-Class Light Prowler standing by to be launched.

"Command would've evacuated all VIPs and essential members down to here. But without proper cover drawing off Covenant forces from the base they would've been shot down just after takeoff." Six muttered, a slight edge to his voice as he approached the Prowler and rubbed his fingers along the surface. To any, he would've sounded annoyed, but to another Spartan, he would've sounded furious. All the Spartans and Soldiers who'd been left for dead, and they couldn't even die beside their men. Not unless forced to.

He moved to a ramp near the back and found the power insufficient to do anything. But it seemed this level had its own power generator in case the main reactor went down. So Six followed the cables he could find towards the source and fired the generator up. Getting real light in the Hanger as the Emergency lights flicked off. Moving back to the control terminal Six activated the ramp and sent the elevator for the Prowler to proceed with the launch. Jumping onto the platform as it began moving down another level and spun around towards a tunnel and began carrying the Prowler down it.

Six entered the cockpit, placing the MA27 on a rack and the DMR by the seat as he sat down. Beginning to power up the ship as he started to feel some pain as the pseudomorphine began to wear off. But he ignored it and focused on preparing to fly a ship he hadn't flown since he had been assigned to Noble Team. The engines kicked on as he began to see a light at the end of the tunnel, the very side of one of the mountains opening up for a platform to emerge in a deep valley with no ways in from the ground. Leaving the air as the only option to enter and leave the hanger.

So Six gunned the engines and took off, flying low until he got used to the controls and then shot straight up into the air. Leaving the planet as the radar pinged incoming Banshees and Seraphs. Six evaded them as best he could, flying towards the wreckage of a UNSC Frigate that hung in the atmosphere with the remains of the orbital shipyard. Weaving through the debris as he also uploaded random coordinates to jump into Slipspace and fly away from here. Engaging the cloak all Prowlers had as he tucked behind the largest part of the Frigate and remained behind it as the Banshees and Seraphs flew about him. Searching for him as some were hit by the debris and destroyed, he waited for what felt like hours as they swarmed around him like bees.

Only pulling back as he finished preparing to jump to Slipspace, he kept waiting a few moments more to buy him time before he detached the magnetic landing gear of the Prowler from the Frigate. Drifting in the debris as he slowly angled the Prowler and gunned the engine once more, entering Slipspace before the Covenant picked him up again.

Escaping the glassed remains of Reach and gave a heavy sigh as he looked at the swirling tunnel that surrounded the ship. Feeling the painkillers wear off fully and only keeping awake now from the pain his body felt. So he looked to see if the Prowler had a MedBay, which luckily for Six it did. But it would require an AI to operate it for him, but he could at least path himself up better than he could in the field.

Before he did though, Six took out the Data Chip and stuck it into a port near the main console. Watching as a holographic image of an elderly woman appeared. Sitting in a rocking chair with her arms crossed over her chest. As though she was waiting for death to take her. But he saw her begin to open her eyes and looked around the cockpit and then settled on the lone Spartan. "Good to have you back, Dot." He said, feeling the corner of his mouth tug up to a brief smile before it faded.

"Noble Six? All mathematics determined you and Noble 4 both died within Aszod." She said, her voice neutral as her face. But there was a twinge of shock to it. "How are you still alive? And how am I still functioning? My self-dispensation protocols activated when Camp Hathcock was overrun."

"Overrun? The place was abandoned by UNSC and Covenant. The only things I found were bodies and ash." He said, shifting his arm to bring up his TACPAD and uploading the message he had received. "Then I take it, you didn't send me this?" He asked.

Only getting a shake of her head as she held up her hand to her forehead as she analyzed the message and coordinates. "No. All communication relays between Camp Hathcock and Aszod were destroyed just after you reached the Pillar of Autumn." Replied the AI, seeming confused as she poured over it. Even if she was a dumb AI, military coordination was her domain. "This was sent from someone else. But without a connection on Reach, I cannot pinpoint where it was sent from. Even then I don't think I could."

"What do you mean?" Six asked, becoming concerned that he was being played by someone or something as he moved a hand closer to the DMR out of instinct if there was someone aboard behind him.

"For someone to know the location of my core and share the coordinates with you, stopped my deletion subroutines without me knowing it, and have already prepared for my removal from the mainframe is . . . concerning." Dot said, even if her programming kept her from feeling emotions she still sounded hesitant about what was going on.

"Whoever it was, they couldn't have followed me on board. I made sure no one was near before I jumped on the platform and boarded." He said, having made sure it was clear in all areas. Yet he couldn't shake the feeling he was still being watched. "So there's not much we can do about that now. Right now I need medical attention. Can you find me something to help take off this suit and repair some of the damage?" He asked

"No. There seems to be an MJOLNIR assembly rack installed before this Prowler was taken by ONI executives to be their escape from Reach." Replied Dot after going through the cameras and checking systems. "Strange that they never made it. All recordings this ship saved show they were all atomized before they reached the first SubLevel. No known Covenant weapons cause such an effect to the body."

"Sounds like whoever sent me the coordinates to you, also cleared the camp and made sure no one would take the prowler. Leaving it for me as well." Six said, standing up from the chair and replacing the DMR with the MA27 as he moved towards the back in case he was wrong and there was a stowaway. Taking with him the clip from the DMR for safety as he did.

Then he went to the 'Armory' if it could be called that. It was more for small Black-Ops missions prior and kept on board for emergencies from the look of it. A single MJOLNIR rack, weapons bench to maintain arms and create ammunition from what supplies there were in the lockers. But it would do. So Six stepped into the rack and let the mechanical arms strip off the damaged layers of his armor. Until he was left in only the standard inner skinsuit that was underneath the MJOLNIR and just as essential for keeping moisture away from the body.

The Titanium Nanocomposite Bodysuit, Reactive Circuits, BioFoam Injectors, and the Titanium Alloy Outer Shell would need to be repaired or replaced. Along with the Power supply and Energy Shield System being fried or near failure from the constant fighting over the last few weeks. But considering everything else, he was still alive and needed to get back to UNSC territory and report this strange occurrence to ONI. The Admiral would be most interested in knowing who had helped the 'Wolf of Reach' escape to fight another day.

He knew he'd have to write a report on it when he could. But first, he went to the MedBay and pulled his undersuit off enough to begin applying MediGel and bandages to his non-lethal wounds. He then stitched the more grievous woulda back together and applied the same MediGel and more bandages over them. Felt his body relax a bit without the fear of the covenant about to burst in and shoot him. But he still held on edge knowing someone set him up to take this prowler. Yet they didn't try anything when they were in Reach's atmosphere. Still, he would do a sweep of the ship before he was sure they were alone. After that, he'd need to go into Cryo Sleep until Dot could wake him up again.

So he did just that, checking every inch of the interior for any signs of it being bugged or any hidden occupants waiting for him. Even took apart a few non-essential panels to fish a camera through to check deeper. But he found nothing. No trackers, no cameras, not anything that he didn't already move when he got aboard. So he relax a little bit, believing at least there was no one else with them. Then he went to the crew quarters, then to the Cryo Bay. Finding 25 Cryotubes, five on one wall each and another five all-around a central support strut. Choosing one he locked the MA27 in the weapon rack next to him, before he entered the cryotube, and quickly felt his vision fading to black.