Chapter 1: The Beginning

Six looked at her helmet one last time before putting it back on again. She loved the way her silver visor looked on her helmet. Her purple armor glinted in what little sunlight that could escape through the clouds. Her armor was simple, sort of. Just a few modifications of her own that she made. Her helmet was of the CQC Variants with a UA/HUL upgrade. Her shoulders were the GUNGNIR kind. Her favorite part of her little modifications was her chest. She had the simple HP/HALO chest piece. Simple…but oh so cool. On her wrists was the UA/BRACER armor. Last but not least, for her knees she had the GRENADIER.

It felt good being in her armor again after missing in action for so many years…but that's a story for a later time. Being a Spartan once again gave her her old thrill of battle that she thought she lost a long time ago. There she was riding in a Warthog to her new team. The Noble Team. Six…I'm going to be called Noble Six from now on, she thought. She then thought about her old team. Is her new team going to be like them? She hoped not. Her last team was a stickler to the rules, strict, tight on protocol. Maybe a little too tight. But no matter, that's in the past.

Even if that team wasn't exactly the team she wanted, she had a lot of memories with that team. Not a lot, but some. For some reason, Spartans are humorless, they don't know how to let loose and have some fun…or treat each other like a family. La familia. That's all Six wanted all along. To be a Spartan and to have the family she never had. Six never got to meet her parents; they died when she was only a year old. A team of Spartans came in her house to investigate and found her…that's when it all started. So here she is now years later, all grown up and ready to die. Yes…I said to die. Some people say Spartans never die, they're just missing in action. Six, however, thought differently…

"Spartan, we are at your destination," the driver of the Warthog said.

Snapped out of her daze, Six looked at him. The poor thing was very young; she estimated he just turned 18. He was only a private. She nodded and stepped to get out of the Warthog when the driver spoke again.

"It's good to have you back again…eh…Six."

Six smiled even though the driver couldn't see. "It's good to be back, Kaine."

Kaine smiled and nodded as she stepped out. With a good-bye wave he turned the Warthog around and drove off. Six stared as the Warthog grew smaller and smaller until finally she couldn't see it anymore. There's no turning back now, she thought. For her it was a good thing. She didn't want to turn back, much less a chance. Her future lays right in front of her with her new team. As she walked toward the building where her team awaits, she found that she was walking differently. She had a bounce in her step, a confident sway in her hips, her arms casually swinging by her sides.

As she walked toward the place where her new team lay, she saw a guy waiting in the helicopter. He had a sort of camouflage green armor. Maybe a little bit darker than that. He looked at her with a keen, critical eye, judging her every move. All the while reloading an ammo cartridge. A little crept out at this, she kept walking as if she didn't notice him. Faintly, she heard the voice of Colonel Holland speak from the building.

"Contact with Visegrad Relay was lost last night. All signals were flat lined at 2600 hours. I responded with trooper fire teams which have been declared MIA."

Then she heard another male voice. "So now you're sending us?"

Then after what seemed like a lifetime, she finally walked into the building. Colonel Holland wasn't actually there; he was talking through the comlink in a computer. Standing there facing the computer was the guy talking to him. She couldn't see him clearly; he looked like a shadow to her right now. Then Colonel Holland spoke again.

"The Office of Naval Intelligence believes the deployment of a Spartan team is a gross misallocation of valuable resources."

There was a guy to her left sharpening a knife on his armor. His skull design on his visor and his mostly gray armor makes him look like he takes no shit from anybody. The only thing not gray aside from his visor is his red-orange shoulder armors. She moved to go out of the doorway when an arm stopped her…a robot arm. Six stared at it and almost jerked her head back until she saw the owner of the arm. It was a Spartan, female. She had short dark hair and light blue eyes that matched her armor. She quickly looked at Six, taking her in all in one glance. Then she spoke to the guy that was talking to Colonel Holland.

"Commander."

The guy turned around, but she still couldn't see him clearly. She could see his dark blue armor and the way the faint light played on his keypad. So he is the Commander, she thought. Hopefully he isn't like the other Commanders back at the Main Headquarters. All of the Commanders there were air-heads, always full of themselves, and way too cocky. They always strutted around the halls making sure the artificial light caught on their keypads. It made her sick. Those Commanders weren't leaders of a team. They were leaders of a group of individuals that just put up with each other.

That's not what a team is supposed to be like. A team is supposed to be a second family, la familia. That's what her first team was like. Only in her case, it was her only family. She felt that she actually belonged. It was her hope that this Commander isn't like all the other ones. She then turned her attention to a guy sitting to her right who wasn't hard to miss. He was fucking huge. His armor, the primary color being yellow, secondary red, didn't help reduce his size one bit. Then again, that could be an advantage in battle, she thought.

This guy was tan, very tan. He had short dark hair and a thick mustache the same color as his hair. The deep brown eyes looked at her as he leaned one elbow on a knee. Then he spoke.

"So that's our new number Six."

He said it so matter-of-factly. His voice was so low that for a moment Six didn't even know if he spoke. Not knowing what else to do, she stepped forward passed the woman that stopped her. Even from that distance she still couldn't see the Commander's facial features clearly. Then Skull Visor spoke.

"Kat, you read her file?"

Jeesh, he even sounds like he won't take shit, she thought. He gestured with his knife so fluently that if she had an active imagination, she would've thought he was trying to throw it at her. Then the woman spoke.

"Only the parts that weren't Covenant making."

She had a thick accent, of what language six didn't know. All she knew was Big Guy on her right was fucking huge and scared the shit out of her, Skull Visor didn't give her a pleasant first impression, and Commando Woman seemed like she knew everything about her life already. That kind of scared her. What kind of team is this? I was much better before I was even introduced to teams, when I worked alone, she thought. The Commander said nothing and turned back to his conversation with Colonel Holland.

"Anyone claim responsibility, sir?"

Six didn't hear the rest of the conversation because she was thinking. Yeah, just like all the other Commanders, full of himself, she thought. Looks like she was just another person in a group that only put up with each other. So much for la familia, she thought. She breathed a quiet sigh that none of her new teammates could hear. Why am I even hear, she thought. Why do I have teammates? I am one of the only few with the rank of Hyper Lethal, are any of these like me? Probably not. Maybe I should've just stayed put where I was and didn't agree to replace their Six. All I wanted was anotherfamily, and I can't have it. She snapped out of her thoughts as she heard the Commander speak to her for the first time.

"Lieutenant."

A little surprised that he talked to her she stepped toward him and the only thing that could come out of her mouth was, "Commander, sir."

His voice seemed so commanding yet gentle. Finally, she got to see her Commander's facial features clearly. Short dark hair in a crew cut, piercing blue eyes that scanned her in one glance, sizing her up. He didn't seem like the Commander that gave her her first impression on him. Maybe he's not full of himself.

"I'm Carter, Noble Team's leader. That's Kat, Noble Two, Emile, Jorge, Four and Five. You're riding with me Noble Six."

As he walked out, putting his helmet on all the while, she followed. Already I have the privilege to ride with the Commander, she thought semi-sweetly. After all, she was ranked Hyper Lethal, she was a high rank but it is still an honor for the Commander to invite you to ride with him, especially on your first day. Carter kept talking.

"I'm not gonna lie to you, lieutenant. You're stepping into some shoes the rest of the squad would rather leave unfilled."

Six stopped walking, flabbergasted. "So then I can leave the team? Sah-weet! See ya later guys!"

Acting like she was walking away from the team, she walked back toward the building. Her mind kept buzzing with alarm bells. Usually Spartans don't have any humor and if they did, it was bittersweet. Six, however, had a lot of humor and not the bittersweet kind. It was the funny kind. The kind that made people laugh and let them get closer to each other to where they are what she always wanted, a family. She just didn't know how well her knew team handled her humor.

Carter turned around and when he spoke, there was a hint of laughter in his voice.

"Lieutenant, that doesn't mean we don't appreciate your help! Come back!"

Six held her belly but held in her laughter to where it was only soft giggles and turned around to face Carter.

"I never was going to leave in the first place. Chill, Carter, you're not going to lose this woman for a while."

Carter stood with his legs spread out in a dignified stance, his arms crossed.

"Ahem, that's Commander to you, thank you very much."

Six walked toward him and when she past him whispered in his ear teasingly, "Carter!"

He turned around to say something, but nothing came out. Six turned around to look at him.

"Are you coming, Commander?"

Carter sighed and walked toward her. "I guess I am. And please, it's Carter."

Six turned around and put her hands on her hips.

"Okay then, Carter. You were saying?"

She hopped into the helicopter and sat by the guy in the green suit that she passed earlier. Carter went on with what he was saying.

"As I was saying, you are stepping into some shoes we would rather have left unfilled. Me, I'm just happy to have Noble back up to full strength. Just one thing, though."

He motioned for the driver of the aircraft to take off and continued. "I've seen your file, even the parts that the ONI sensors didn't want me to. Glad to have your skills set. But we're a team. That Lone Wolf stuff stays behind. We're clear?"

Six nodded then added wryly, "Got it, Carter."

The aircraft took off. While they were flying the guy sitting next to her said, "Welcome to Reach."

Six nodded and said, "Glad to be here."

Unexpected, he spoke again, "My name is Jun, I'm Noble Three."

Six extended her hand to shake his, "Nice to meet you."

He took her hand and shook it. Then Six heard static in her STATCOM.

"Welcome to my home Six, this is Jorge. If you need any help at all in battle I'm the guy to go to."

Six held back her laugh. "I know. You're fucking huge."

Jorge let out a deep laugh and so did Carter and she heard Kat laugh on her STATCOM. Then Kat spoke.

"Six, this is Kat. I'm probably going to be your partner if the team ever splits up for a mission. Us women need to stick together anyway."

Six nodded. "I agree. I believe we're going to be the one's saving the men's asses."

"Six, this is Emile. I assure that if you're going to saving somebody, it ain't going to be me."

Six giggled. "I agree, Skull Visor."

Carter spoke to her again. "Please, if anyone going to be saving anyone, it's going to be the men saving the women. Women are always too loud to think clearly themselves."

Kat scoffed. "Are you kidding me? Do you know how loud you are in my STATCOM before, during, and after a battle? It's like having a dying elephant screeching in my ears."

Everyone laughed. Six decided to add, "Somebody remind me to turn off my STATCOM before a battle!"

Six relaxed in her chair. I have it, she thought. The one thing she always wanted. She has a great team, a great Commander, a great woman friend, great friends altogether. And she has a family. La familia.