A/N:

Thank you to all the people who have supported me during this tough time. I really appreciate it.
So, as you may have noticed, it is my plan to not have any of Noble Team die. This is because I'm planning on doing a sequel with them in Halo: CE. But we'll see how it goes.
Hope you enjoy this - Please note, Cate is Jorge's replacement, so she will be identified by the call sign "Noble Five". This will change to "Noble Seven" upon Jorge's return.

cнαρтєя 7 - gнσѕтѕ & gℓαѕѕ

Scarlett sat hunched in the Pelican, looking at the now burning skyscrapers of New Alexandria. She missed Jorge.
It almost seemed as if she was dreaming, so when she woke up he'd be back, and they'd be together and it'd all work out. But when she told herself it's not going to happen, she just broke down. It was all too much.
She knew he would probably become sad, or angry at this sight, New Alexandria being glassed. But he was ruthless against the Covenant in that mood. She knew she would make them pay. So she knew, she would make them pay for what they did.

Emile sharpened his knife harder, and for longer than usual. He was pissed. More than usual.
The Covenant had taken away Jorge. Jorge was almost like a big brother to Emile - Not that he'd ever admit it. Sure, he'd often made Jorge pissed, but they had a friendly rivalry.
Emile had heard the news yesterday from Scarlett. And that's when it had sunk in. The UNSC - Humanity - Were really losing this war. They'd just lost a SPARTAN-II with over 30 years of experience in warfare. They had no chance now.

Kat fiddled with her robotic arm nervously again. She felt guilty. She had sent Jorge & Scarlett up there. Sure, she hadn't forced Jorge. But she had thought of the plan. And now, she burdened the guilt of losing both Thom & Jorge. Both in so similar circumstances.
Constant thoughts ran through her head. I should've prepared better. It should have been me. That plan should have never been made up.
The Spartans had been taught to heal themselves, adapt in the battlefield, fight like a super solider. But they'd never been taught how to heal guilt, or heartbreak over another teammate. Sure, Kat and Jorge had never been that close. But Kat was close friends with Scarlett. And Scarlett had loved Jorge.
Jorge had fought with Kat, supported her, even used himself as a shield to help her. And now she felt it were her fault that he was gone.

Carter exhaled loudly on the Pelican, rubbing his face in tiredness. His helmet lay discarded, but he had no intention of putting it on.
Holland had insisted that Jorge be replaced. Carter hadn't wanted this, of course. He didn't want anybody on his Team to die and be replaced, like items. Property. But that's all they were - Assets. He looked across at Jorge's replacement, Cate-A300. She sat opposite him, watching the view of New Alexandria.
She didn't seem nervous, but why would she? She was strong, tough. He'd seen her file, and she sounded a lot like Emile. It worried him slightly, but she did have her limits. She didn't collect Covenant Contraband. Cate was also from Alpha Company, but he couldn't remember her.
She was one of the few survivors from the Operation that nearly annihilated the entire Company, so it puzzled him to why he couldn't remember.
He wondered if Emile & Jun would remember her. He wondered what Scarlett and Kat would think of her, and more importantly, what Jorge would've thought.

They arrived before Scarlett was dropped off. They stood in an awkward silence, before Cate spoke up.
"What's the Team like?"
"Well Kat Noble Two, is our technical genius. She can hack into any network. Jun, Noble Three, is our Sniper. He is great, but don't count on him in the battlefield too much. Emile, Noble Four, is a very, uh, quiet and violent person. Be careful around him," Carter said in his worried tone. "Jorge is the one you're replacing. He was a SPARTAN-II, and our heavy weapons specialist. He was ruthless in the battlefield, but co-operated with most teammates out of it. And Scarlett, Noble Six...Well, there's not a lot I can say; Her file is classified information. She is a hyper-lethal vector, and very, very good in the battlefield."
Cate smirked slightly. "Interesting Team, then."
"Yes..." Carter replied awkwardly. "That is said a lot."

Scarlett pulled out Jorge's dog-tags. They were entangled with hers, but she didn't mind. Seeing the Pelican was coming to an halt, she put the dog-tags around her neck and in her armor again. She pulled out her DMR, and placed it on her back, standing up, readying to leave the Pelican's hangar.
She saw Carter, watching the Pelican come in. Just behind him, stood another Spartan, with White as both primary and secondary colours on her armor and a black visor. She was female, and stood almost emotionless, not giving away any feelings in her body language. Scarlet wondered why she was here. She'd never seen this Spartan before.
Scarlett stepped off the Pelican, and was greeted by Carter, who patted her shoulders in a comforting gesture. "Your report will have to wait, Lieutenant," He softly explained whilst they headed towards Cate. "The Covenant are jamming all calls to Command."
Scarlett nodded. They stopped in front of Cate. "This is Cate-A300. She's Jorge's replacement."
Scarlett narrowed her eyes. They were replacing him already?
"...Holland insists we have a replacement," Carter continued. "To get Noble back up to full strength. I have no saying in this."
"I understand, Sir." Scarlett replied. "Cate will be joining you on a counter-operation to get rid of the jammers. Kat needs your help on that, so she'll be your Command." Carter explained.
"Is Kat okay?" Scarlett questioned, worried.
"She's fine," Carter replied, nodding. "I'll, uh, leave you to it." He got on a Falcon that was waiting and flew off.
"Okay, Cate, you'll be in the turret. I'll be piloting." Scarlett explained, gesturing to the Falcon.
"Alright," Cate replied, clambering into the turret.
"Covenant have been deploying COMM jammers in buildings across the city," Kat explained over COMMS. "Holland can't hear us, and we can't hear him. When I point out the jammers, you hit them. Hard. Standby Scarlett. One of our trooper squads went silent after the Hospital was hit. I'll mark the location, take out the jammer."
"Oh, and don't fall in love with my voice," Kat added. "The closer you get to the jammer, the worst our reception is going to be. Kat out."
Scarlett nodded somewhat curtly, before starting up the Falcon and flying to the destination. Cate kept her eyes on the burning buildings of New Alexandria. Unlike Scarlett, who often had worked alongside Jack, Cate had been a lone wolf since coming out of training. Scarlett of course, had been alone after Jack's death, but not quite so much as Cate. Cate didn't really understand the inner workings of a Team - Heck, she couldn't understand that Noble were somewhat like a big family, having not experienced it herself. She almost had a certain arrogance to herself, almost like Emile.

Scarlett landed the Falcon gently on the landing pad outside the Hospital. She jumped out of the pilots seat, and turned to face Cate.
"Are you coming inside, or are you going to keep watch here?" Scarlett asked.
Cate got up from the turret and grabbed her assault rifle. "It's gonna be full of Covenant. Hyper-lethal or not, you're gonna need my help."
Scarlett raised her eyebrows at this. Cate almost made it sound as if her skills were somewhat unmatched, although it would have been hard to believe, seeming as Scarlett was hyper-lethal whilst Cate was not.
"How did you know, anyway? About me being hyper-lethal?" Scarlett was certain Cate didn't know about her file. So the only other explanation would be from Carter.
The doors slid upon, and Scarlett and Cate began picking off the grunts that were stupidly, sleeping on the job.
"Oh please, you've built quite the reputation within the UNSC. Everybody knows you." Cate explained. Scarlett herself, was surprised at this. She had no idea. "So, tell me about Jorge." Cate suddenly changed the subject. As if suddenly taken aback from her own boldness, she quickly added, "I mean, if you want to. I know you've just lost him. It can't be easy."
Scarlett looked up from assassinating a jackal. It was odd for a total outsider to just blatantly ask. Nobody had done that with Jack.
"No, it's fine. I mean, it's better to talk about it, right?"
Cate looked over at her, almost feeling skeptical at this. She didn't interrupt.
"He was always so kind. I mean, at the Visegrad Relay Outpost, there was this young civilian woman - Sara - She must have only been 18..her father was stabbed in the abdomen by a Zealot Elite. The poor thing, she saw the whole thing and hid well to stay alive. When she saw us, well, she must've thought we were all huge monsters in suits. I mean, we acted like that, right? We all payed no attention to her. Kat was trying to get the outpost online, Carter as always, was by her side; Jun was lurking in the shadows behind Jorge, Emile mocked Jorge and me? Well I just stood there, silent. Jorge comforted the girl. He told her his name and how sorry he was. And that was crazy. I mean, he was a Spartan. Why the heck would he be sorry? But he meant it, I knew that. It astonished me, really, particularly as he was a Spartan-II. But he said he'd have my back and he did. Sometimes I wish I set off the bomb. He deserves to still be here." Cate was silent. They continued killing more grunts and a Brute chieftain. Scarlett thought Cate wouldn't reply, and that was okay. Sometimes there didn't need to be words.
Just as they rounded a corner, Cate replied. "Hey, I'm sorry about your loss. He sounded great." And it sounded as if she really meant it.
"More Brutes!" A female trooper suddenly shouted over COMMS. "Stay back, you stinkin' bastards!"
Suddenly, the Brutes noticed Cate and Scarlett, charging towards them. Due to the brutes' limited armor, they were fended off quickly with a few head-shots.
"I said back off, you nasty son of a bitch!" The female trooper suddenly sounded again.
The brute made some noises in reply, in which another trooper sounded, "Go ahead and try it!"
Taking this as almost a challenge, the remaining brute chieftains advanced quickly towards the troopers' position.
"Hey!" Cate shouted, catching the brutes' attention. "Catch this!" She threw a frag grenade; the brutes, feeling too aggravated by Cate, began roaring. Oblivious to the frag grenade, they were all easy blown.
"Nice one." Scarlett commented.
"Thanks for the assist, Spartans," the female trooper said, heading over to them. Another trooper got up from the ground. "Jammer's right over here."
The female trooper gestured to behind her. Scarlett overrun the jammer, causing it to shut itself down and explode.
"Serves them right." Cate muttered.
"Noble Two to Noble Five & Six. I'm showing the Hospital jammer offline. Nice work. Soon as you can, I need you back in your Falcon." Kat sounded over COMMS.
Scarlett and Cate headed towards the exit, but where quickly stopped by Kat's panicked voice over COMMS, "Noble Two to Noble Five & Six, you've got incoming Tangos!"
"We've got jumpers!" The female trooper clarified. Cate picked up a nearby shotgun and charged in, shooting the Elite's.
Scarlett rolled her eyes. 'Very Emile-like,' she mused, trying to catch up with Cate.
"Hey, don't keep lone-wolfing it all, okay? It's dangerous out here alone. We work together, okay?" Scarlett told Cate.
In truth, Cate almost reminded Scarlett of when she had first joined Noble Team.
Cate sighed loudly, clearly showing her frustration. "Yeah..yeah," she responded. "Shall we just get on with it?"
Scarlett nodded curtly. "Right." They came back to the atrium of the Hospital, where they saw an Ultra Elite wielding a concussion rifle and two Skirmishers were now holding position.
"Cate, you distract the Elite. I'll deal with it." Scarlett ordered.
"Well, what are you going to do?" Cate questioned impatiently. Scarlett ignored this and dodged around the Elite's attacks, going around the side of the room. She quickly killed the Skirmishers, then snapped the Elite's neck whilst Cate distracted it.
"Not bad." Cate commented, reloading her Assault Rifle. Scarlett shrugged.
"We're good here, Ma'am," The female trooper said to Scarlett. "You can head back to your bird."
Scarlett nodded, then said to Cate, "You ready to go?"
Cate shrugged. "Yeah, whatever."

Once they had settled back into the Falcon, a distressed call came over COMMS.
"4 Charlie 27 to Command, requesting immediate assistance!"
"Go ahead, 27." Kat responded.
"We're at the Vyrant Telecom tower, got Hunters between us and the jammer!"
"Copy that. Noble Six, I'm uploading co-ordinates," Kat informed Scarlett. "Go get those troopers unstuck."
Scarlett flew to the Vyrant Telecom Tower, or more commonly known as Club Errera. A few turrets were placed, but were quickly taken out alongside the Brutes, Grunts, Jackals and Skirmishers.
Scarlett landed and hopped out, followed by Cate. They headed inside, where they heard the troopers over COMMS.
"Fall back, four Delta, fall back!" One shouted.
"Defensive positions! Go, we'll cover you!" The other responded.
They entered and saw four hunters; Two on the main floor, with two on the floor above. The jammer was placed between two hunters on the floor above, whilst the troopers took cover from the hunters beams at the bar. Scarlett jumped down from the DJ's booth and grabbed a rocket launcher, just missing the hunters beams. She fired at one hunter, and within three rockets, it was dead. The other hunter roared and charged towards Scarlett; Cate, taking this as a cue to intervene, dashed over to the hunter and shot it several times in the back with her Shotgun, killing it quickly.
"Phew," Scarlett breathed out, relieved. "Thanks for that."
Cate shrugged. "Eh, it's not a problem."
After successfully killing the remaining two Hunters, Scarlett looked around for the jammer.
"Thanks for the hand," a Trooper called out, standing up by the bar. "Jammers on the upper level."
Scarlett nodded and headed upstairs, overloading the jammer the same way she had done before.
"Jammer offline," Kat informed Scarlett and Cate. "Well done, you two. Head back to your Falcon."
"We've got things under control here, Lieutenant." The trooper informed Scarlett. "Head on out."

Scarlett and Cate headed back to their Falcon, awaiting the next order from Kat.
"Mayday! Mayday! Seven-delta one-niner to all UNSC forces!" A distressed Trooper shouted over COMMS.
"What's your status, one-niner?" Kat asked.
"We found the jammer, but we're getting hit! Request immediate assistance! SinoViet Centre is- arggh!
"You still with me, One-Niner? Kat asked, sounding concerned. "7-Delta One-Niner, do you copy?"
It was completely silent on the other end of COMMS.
"Scarlett, I'm uploading coordinates now. Get to SinoViet Center. Help those troopers if you can, but get that jammer offline either way." Kat ordered Scarlett. Scarlett headed towards the waypoint Kat had marked on her HUD.
"Approaching the objective, Scarlett," Kat informed her. "Watch for hostile fire." Scarlett slowly lowered the Falcon, whilst Cate shot the shade turrets by the landing pad. Once the turrets where down, Scarlett landed the Falcon. Scarlett and Cate clambered out, instantly killing any hostiles they came across.
"So. Do you think he's still alive?" Cate asked.
"Who, the trooper?" Scarlett replied.
"No," Cate rolled her eyes. "Jorge. I mean, slip-space bomb and all that."
Scarlett was silent for a moment. Cate quickly looked over and added, "You don't have to talk about it," She tossed a grenade into a pack of Brutes.
"I understand that."
"Noble Two to Noble Six," Kat suddenly said over COMMS. "I'm still getting nothing from those troopers. You may have to take care of this jammer yourself." "Six, I'm accessing building schematics," Kat added again. "There's an elevator on the North landing."
Scarlett and Cate got into the Elevator, Cate slamming down on the button. Finally, Scarlett sighed and responded, "Well, I hope he's alive," She watched the scenery whizz past and quickly got out of the Elevator, scanning the room. "But even I can't help but wonder if he's not. I feel so guilty, too. I should have done something." Cate nodded.
"Schematics show alternate routes to either sides, Six," Kat informed Scarlett.
Scarlett approached the jammer, which was hidden at the back of the room.
"You're close to the jammer," Kat told her. "Destroy it."
Her HUD seemed to blur as she got closer, but soon returned to normal once the jammer had been destroyed. Suddenly, buggers flew out of corners - Cate and Scarlett's HUD were full of red dots.
"It's a trap!" Kat yelled. "Get the hell outta there!"
"Come on!" Cate, who was already in the Elevator, yelled to Scarlett, who was trying to fend off the buggers. "Let's just go!"
Scarlett nodded and sprinted towards the Elevator, pushing down the button. They both let out a sigh of relief.
"Noble Two to Noble Five & Six. Thermal looks clear for now. Head back to your Falcon." Kat informed them.
Scarlett began taking off again, wondering if there were any jammers remaining, when Kat said over COMMS, "Noble Two to Noble Leader. All jammers are down."
'Well, that answered my question.'
Scarlett silently mused. "Solid copy, Noble Two," Carter, who had been absent most of the mission, responded. "New orders: All personnel are to be evacuated from from ONI HQ. Say confirm." He sounded so monotone, so negative, Scarlett noticed. Even to Kat, he wasn't any happier.
"Confirm, ONI Tower evacu- oh!" A loud explosion was heard, causing Scarlett to worry dearly for Kat.
"Noble Two! Noble Two, sit-rep!" Carter's panicked voice sounded over COMMS.
"Copy, Covies are hitting the Tower in force!" Kat's distressed voice replied. "They must have zeroed my signal!"
"Get that evac started!" Carter barked at Kat, clearly stressed himself.
"Copy that. Scarlett, Cate, get over here and cover our evac Pelicans! I need you two overhead now!" Kat ordered the girls.
Cate rolled her eyes, whilst Scarlett simply nodded, concentrating on the mission at hand. Once they had reached the tower, a Pelican pilot spoke up, "Command, this is Whiskey 35. I've got eyes on six long range Shade turrets in the vicinity of the ONI tower. Making life pretty hard on our evac birds."
"Copy, Whiskey 35," Kat replied. Scarlett, take out those enemy shades."

Soon enough, all the shade turrets had been destroyed, and the Pelicans were able to safely make it out.
"Scarlett, Cate, you are some steely-eyed Spartans," Kat spoke to them over COMMS. "I'm extending the vertical landing platform. Come home."
Scarlett landed, and both Scarlett and Cate proceeded into the ONI Tower. Carter had already informed Jun, and Emile of Cate being Jorge's replacement, and for the most part, they ignored her, having just lost Jorge. Cate didn't really seem to care either way.
"Look at this place. Used to be the crown jewel... Not anymore," Jun mused quietly. He turned around to see Scarlett leaning against a wall. "Hey, you made it." "It's a regular family reunion." Emile replied, almost sadly. Scarlett glanced over at him and loosened her hand, showing Jorge's dog tags dangling from it.
Emile shook his head, "Keep 'em," He replied. "He gave them to you," He pointed his kukri at himself. "I'll honour him my own way."
"Jorge always said he would never leave Reach." Jun said thoughtfully.
Emile laughed, "The big man was sentimental..."
"He gave his life thinking he just saved the planet. We should all be so lucky." Carter replied roughly, walking towards the window besides Jun.
"Sir, that true about Gauntlet, Red and Echo Teams assigned to civilian evac ops?" Jun asked curiously. Carter gritted his teeth, knowing it was Kat.
"Those are senior-level communiques." He warned her.
"I hear what I hear," Kat shrugged. "Point is, why put Spartans on defensive deployments?"
"I need that link to SATCOM, Kat." Carter ordered.
"Chasing it, but this console has more shrapnel than transceivers," Kat replied, irritated. She suddenly turned to face Carter. "You didn't answer my question." "You want to know if we're losing?" Carter asked, aggravated.
"I know we're losing. I want to know if we've lost." Kat replied, almost solemnly. Carter looked back over the city.
It was silent until when beeping and static from the comms broke the silence.
"Colonel Holland. Hailing us!" Kat said, clearly surprised. "What's he doing on an open channel?"
"Let's hear it." Carter ordered.
Colonel Holland's unclear voice spoke over the COMMS. "-near the southwest quadrant of the city, over? Sierra Two-Five-Nine, if you are receiving, I am authorizing override of radio security protocols to link with this channel."
"How long for a secure link?" Carter asked.
"I can't guarantee secure anymore."
"Could the Covenant trace it to us?"
"I could." Kat replied with a shrug.
"Noble Leader, this is a Priority One hail. If you are receiving, acknowledge immediately."
Kat grimaced and picked up the communicator's ear piece, handing it over to Carter. "Keep it brief."
Carter took the piece from Kat and placed it to his ear. "Carter here... Yes, sir." Carter walked towards the window again, nodding his head a few times.
Jun suddenly leaned forward into his binoculars, having noticed something. "We've got movement," He informed the Team. "Multiple Covenant vehicles vacating the area... and they're in a hurry."
"How often do you see Covenant retreat for no reason?" Emile piped up.
"Radiation flare! Big! Forty million roentgens!" Kat suddenly shouted.
"Just lost Holland. What's going on?" Carter turned around, asking Kat.
"Atomic excitement scrambled the signal. Ninety million now!"
"Source?"
"Airborne. Close!"
"How close?"
"That close!" Kat shouted, being thrown off her feet due to the force of the Covenant glassing the area.
Cate followed the rest of Noble into an Elevator, whilst Scarlett helped Kat up and ran towards the next Elevator.
Kat sighed and put her helmet on. "First glassing?" Kat asked Scarlett, who nodded. "Me too. Don't worry, I'm on it. Our best option is a fallout bunker in Sublevel 2. Ninety-six metres northeast. We get orders from Holland, sir?"
"We're being redeployed to Sword Base." Carter replied.
"Sword?! Covenant own it now!" Jun shouted.
"Which is why they want us for a torch and burn op. Keep Dr. Halsey's excavation data from falling into enemy hands." Carter's elevator stopped first; Carter, Emile, Cate and Jun sprinted out to the bunker's entrance.
"If it hasn't already." Kat replied, sprinting from her Elevator with Scarlett. "Maybe, but according to Holland, the Covenant are still hunting for something." Carter, Jun, Cate and Emile reached the bunker's entrance; Kat and Scarlett weren't close behind; Suddenly, something told Scarlett to look up. She saw a Field Marshall aiming for Kat's head. Taking the chance, she tackled Kat out of the way.
The needle hit the ground by them, the Elite growling in frustration. With not much time to spare, the Phantom sped off.
Kat was surprised, but shook this off and got into the bunker. Once the doors were safely closed, Kat sighed in relief and turned to Scarlett.
"You saved me.." She said quietly, still not over the shock.
"You're safe. That's all that matters now." Carter interrupted.

A few days later, and New Alexandria was falling apart. The Covenant had finished glassing. Noble Team crawled out of their bunker and looked around.
Almost nothing remained; just ashes.
A Pelican flew overhead, looking for survivors. Jun pulled a flare out and held his hand up, signalling the Pelican to pick them up.
The flare made Scarlett think of Jorge and how he had pulled out a flare to lure the Covenant out of their hiding places in the outpost. She didn't like to think him being dead.
But with so much happening to Reach, it almost felt there was no hope..
She missed him dearly.