A/N: I'm not so sure SPARTANs know how to plan when they're not on the battlefield...and NOBLE, is itreallya good idea if you take matters into your own hands?

Well...guess you'll have to see, huh guys?

Also, once again, SPARTANs being dorky. B/C I just love these guys and honestly they're a bunch of shits. Even Jorge can be, at times.

Another thing...I know next to nothing about how ship systems work in this galaxy. My lack of science/computer skills probably doesn't help. So uh...don't mind the part where I say that a planet has fuckin' vanished off radar. My bad.

A few hours later, Artemis stood alone in a hall near the ship's bridge, staring into the vast space beyond, thinking. She remembered just how much her life had changed since being assigned to Noble Team...how much it had changed for the better. She had never felt freer in her entire life. She finally felt like she was ... home. And that this self now – this new person who she was slowly becoming? This was her true self.

It felt good to finally belong.

"Mind if I join you?" Jorge's familiar, friendly voice disrupted her thought train.

"By all means, feel free," Artemis turned and gave him a genuine smile. It was a rare thing for SPARTANs to smile – especially SPARTAN-IIIs, who had not at all been "designed", so to speak, to deal with people. Not to mention the fact that there was never really much for a SPARTAN to smile about. But for Noble Six, that was changing – and she embraced that change eagerly.

Slowly but surely, a companionable silence drifted over the pair, and Artemis became wrapped up in her thoughts once more. Absent-mindedly rubbing her elbow, she continued to stare out the window, reflecting on her time with Noble Team, and working for ONI – doing their dirty work – before that.

Finally, it was Artemis who broke the silence. She turned to face Jorge, and queried, "It's different, isn't it?"

The older SPARTAN regarded her quizzically for a few moments, and then it seemed to hit him, because he chuckled and gave the barest approximation of a shrug. "In a way. But I am used to all of this "team as family" business, so that's not even on my list of worries."

Artemis tilted her head slightly, thinking she heard footsteps, but brushed the thought aside. "You miss the IIs, don't you?" she asked, instead.

"Yes and no. I'd never really imagined that I'd see them again the moment I was assigned to Noble. But who knows? I don't think many of them are left." He spoke sombrely, eyes looking downwards slightly; perhaps there was a hint of melancholy about his attitude.

Six was going to respond, when she heard what sounded suspiciously like one of Emile's crazy-ass war cries coming from nearby, followed by – giggling? – then what sounded like Kat apologizing. She frowned, wondering what was going on.

"Raaaaaaargh!" Okay, that was definitely one of Jun's war cries – the accent gave him away in a heartbeat.

Artemis shook her head, rolling her eyes before calling out, "Guys, come on, if you're trying to scare us with zombie noises, get Carter to make the sound effects instead. You two are too noisy in battle as it is and therefore identifiable, and Kat, for crying out loud, do you not know the meaning of stealth?"

The three aforementioned SPARTANs slipped out of the shadows, and both Jun and Emile looked annoyed at Kat, whilst the latter could only look amused about the whole situation.

"You know, the boss ain't exactly gonna try and scare us. He's too serious for that. All work and no play, you know what I'm sayin'?" Emile leaned against the doorframe, crossing his arms over his chest. "He ain't into fun and games like us."

Artemis suddenly felt a chill go down her spine, and she could have sworn that she heard heavy breathing behind her. She slowly spun around, and found herself looking straight at the grinning skull visor of Emile, only the assault specialist was behind her, not in front of her, and his helmet, last time she checked, was most definitely not on his head when he had walked into the room.

So what the heck was going on?

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Jorge tap Emile on the shoulder, and lean in to ask, "How are you in two places at once?" and the assault specialist turned and screamed like a little girl at seeing his own helmet seemingly floating in midair, whilst Jun suddenly went very, very pale.

There was certainly heavy breathing emanating from the helmet's external speakers, but oddly enough, Artemis couldn't see a glint that gave away the rest of the armour – nor where exactly the person who had the helmet on was located.

"Boo," the helmet said in a voice that was eerily calm, and poor Jun actually looked like he might pass out, whilst Emile screamed again. Even stolid, stoic Jorge looked slightly bothered by the whole encounter, and that was saying something.

Kat, however, was entirely unfazed, because she strode forward and practically yanked Emile's helmet off the other person, revealing it to be-

"Carter?! What the f-?" Emile seemed to almost choke on the irony.

"I'm sorry, am I "too boring"?" Carter smirked, looking rather smug. "I'm "not gonna try and scare you"?" He tossed the assault specialist his helmet after getting it back from Kat, and let out a rare chuckle. "Pretty sure I just broke your stereotype, Emile."

Emile simply glowered and said nothing, choosing to pointedly stare out the window instead. Jun snorted with amusement and shook his head, recovering from the scare. "Neat trick, Commander. Though next time, if you brandish his kukri as well, it'd be a hell of a lot scarier."

"I think I may just keep that in mind, Jun."

UNSC Stalwart Dawn, drifting past Outer Colony planet, unknown system, December 12th, 2552

"What's our location?" Carter repeated himself coolly, barely keeping his irritation in check as he stared down one of the officers on the bridge of the ship they were commandeering. They had barely just left slipspace after an emergency jump – a lone Covenant cruiser had locked onto their location – and now they had absolutely had no clue as to where they were.

Or, at least, it seemed that the bridge hands didn't know where they were. And that pissed Carter off. He was usually good at remaining calm and composed, but he needed some kind of location – that way, they could actually bother asking for help. If they were in the middle of nowhere, what was the use of asking for help if it came to that, when they might wind up alerting more Covenant forces to their presence? At least if the system they were currently in was charted, someone – whether it be UNSC, ONI, or even just the UEG itself – would be able to provide backup.

Who knew if that Covenant cruiser was still tracking them now?

"Sir, I – we don't know. Nothing's coming up on the maps. There's... there's a planet, but it just comes up with "unknown" every time we try to work out the designation." The man in front of him fidgeted nervously, and Carter shook his head.

He pressed his lips into a line and paced about the room, until the surface of the planet caught his eye, and there was an achingly familiar feeling in his gut – explosions, distant plasma fire, people screaming, hands shoving him, they were glassing the planet – he shook his head again, and turned back to the officer.

"Corporal, that isn't an "unknown planet"; you're looking at Biko." the Commander informed the other man, who just looked confused.

"How do you know, sir? If it's not showing up on the system-" the Corporal protested, but Carter was quick to cut him off, eyes flashing a warning to keep quiet.

"I know, because I was born there; I grew up there. It was glassed in 2525, and that might explain why it's not showing up on the systems."

"That, or you probably need a system update. If it's listing a known, formerly colonized planet as "unknown", then there's some kind of anomaly in the software." Kat chimed in from somewhere behind Carter. She came to stand beside him, looking unimpressed. "Whoever's in charge of your computer network clearly needs to be fired."

"If it was glassed, then how are we supposed to call for help? There would be nobody down there." the officer replied, but Carter had had enough of the conversation; if Kat had come to the bridge, then it was time for the team meeting they'd discussed earlier. He jerked his head in a "get back to work" motion, and strode out of the room with Kat at his heels.

"Sitrep, Two," he requested, glancing at the Lieutenant Commander, who had been his most trusted second-in-command for so many years now.

"I'm pretty sure they're getting anxious, Commander. Jorge seems certain that the Covenant wouldn't have left off so easily – he suspects there's something bigger at play here. I think Artemis is more worried about us finding a human-occupied planet more than anything, and Emile and Jun are too busy arguing like children to give any opinion... again." Kat reported, falling into step beside him.

Carter grunted softly, rubbing his jawline as he mulled over her words. "Hm. I think that's about what I was expecting. And what's your opinion?"

Kat smirked at him, keying in the code for their shared quarters. "You know me; I could always use some more fresh air. I'm tired of wandering around in a spaceship."

The Commander was about to respond when he took note of just what the hell the other soldiers under his command were up to and he shook his head, rubbing a hand down his face. "You have got to be kidding me." he muttered.

Artemis, Jun, and Emile were all locked in a handstand – all attempting to balance on just one hand – and Jorge was examining a stopwatch; probably timing how long the three SPARTANs could hold the kick up for.

"Four and a half seconds," Jorge announced the moment Emile fell over from the distraction of the two higher-ranking SPARTANs entering the room. "Not bad considering you don't seem to be able to keep your balance."

"Damn," the assault specialist shook his head, and then offered Nobles One and Two a sheepish grin, rubbing the back of his neck. "Ey boss. So uh...training, you know? Core strength and all that."

Carter snorted and crossed his arms over his chest, scrutinizing the forms of the other two soldiers. It seemed that Jun was the more composed; Artemis looked like she was struggling to maintain the one-handed, upside-down position. "Looks like you're just messing around to me."

"Naw, well, what can I say? The head rush is worth it. Plus it's kinda fun to see if I can beat the others." Noble Four shrugged, leaning against the wall behind him. "A little competition is supposed to be healthy every once in awhile."

There was a thud as Artemis fell over, and Jorge announced, "Three minutes and thirty-five seconds. You did pretty well, Six." The SPARTAN-II helped the other soldier to her feet, and both of them watched Jun, checking for any signs of him falling over anytime soon. However, the sniper was utterly composed, and it seemed like he would be able to hold that position for quite some time.

Noble One cleared his throat impatiently, staring at Noble Three with his eyes narrowed. The aforementioned soldier did not fall as his teammates had done; instead, he very calmly righted himself and stood at attention until the Commander told him to stand down.

"Enough games, Noble – we have work to do. We need to figure out where we're gonna get help from – and try not to alert the Covenant to our location in the process."

So, the decision had been made. Whilst they could not call for help in this long-abandoned system, they could – with the utmost precaution and security measures in place – make a jump to the nearest system, which still hopefully had human-occupied planets. There, they would first scope out the area, and if the Covenant had not followed them, they would land on one of the planets and try to get into contact with the UNSC.

It was a loose plan, and there were many things that could go wrong, but it was the best they could produce on such short notice. With fuel supplies rapidly running down, and the MREs and canteens of water their only sources of food and drink...they needed to get to UNSC-occupied space as soon as they possibly could if they wanted to survive.