Bleeding Out

Disclaimer: I do not in any shape or form own Halo. It belongs to Bungie, 343 Industries, and Microsoft, nor am I associated with them in any way. This is a non-profit fan work written solely for the purpose of entertainment. This is in no way canon. I shouldn't have to say this but I'll put it here just in case.

Responses to questions or statements:

-zacker1590: I happy that you approve of the changes I'm making. Thank you for reading this story.

-Krieger Techpreist: Thank you, I'm happy to know that you are enjoying the way I'm handling events. Hope this chapter is satisfactory.

-Guest: Thank you very much! Red vs Blue is one of my favorite shows and I wanted to try adding a few similar bits in this story, I'm glad that you like it. Hope you enjoy this chapter.

-Blasphemy for the bored: Yeah, I admit the beginning was slow with not a lot of deviations, but don't worry, I do have plans for more changes that'll be more noticeable soon. Anyway, thank you for checking this story out and I hope you like this chapter.

Now with that out of the way...onto the story!

Chapter 8

(Time: August 13, 2552)

(Location: Viery territory, Reach)

On the very edge of the Viery territory, a Covenant Scarab was moving along its assigned patrol path as it kept an eye out for any human forces that were still in the area as the UNSC called off the counter-attack and ordered all remaining ground and air assets to fall back to designated rally points after learning about the planetside Covenant Super-Carrier. The ground shook with every step the heavy assault platform took and sent vibrations throughout the ground, letting everyone in the area know of its presence as it remained to destroy anything of human origin with extreme prejudice with its main cannon that fired destructive plasma beams along with its anti-infantry support turrets.

Fortunately, the crew of the Scarab failed to spot three Spartans as they quickly took cover before making their way to an nearby cave once the walking behemoth was gone. They had just gotten back on a supply run as they've been running low after they've sabotage a Covenant communications array and blowing up an essential supply depot, which would hopefully delay the Covenant, if only momentarily, and allow time for the military to regroup and come up with a new plan of action.

"It appears our foe is more devious than we initially expected. Thanks to Noble Six, we have learned that the shield spires that were uncovered during the battle was a cloaking device for a Covenant Super-Carrier; allowing large amounts of Covenant troops and materials to be hidden when transported to the surface. As of now, the Super-Carrier is engaged with Navy assets in Reach's orbit ."

Dot informed the team as Casper, Jorge, and Jun entered the cave where the rest of the Spartan team was taking shelter in. Hauling crates and rugsacks of supplies as they threw them unceremoniously on the ground as soon as they entered.

"Thankfully, help is on the way. STRATCOM has dispatched reinforcements comprised of sixty percent of the UNSC fleet from existing deployments. The first battle group should arrive within approximately forty-eight hours."

"Forty-eight hours!?" Noble Three exclaimed in disbelief as he removed his Recon style MJONIR helmet and tucked it under his right arm before brushing off some leaves and dirt from Jorge's armor. "That's what they call imminent!?"

"It's the military," Emile said dryly as he began filling up on eight gauge armor-piercing slugs and buckshot cartridges for his M45 shotgun from the crate Jorge threw in front of him, placing them in the webbing on his armor. "What did you expect?"

The team's recon specialist shook his head before he noticed Jorge gazing at Carter and Kat, who were talking with one another as they remained near the cave's entry point.

"Uh-oh," Jun said aloud as he gave a light tap to Jorge's arm, getting his attention, "Whose your money on this time?"

"Her," the only Spartan-II of the group answered without missing a beat as he took his helmet off.

"You always pick her." Noble Three accused as he let out a huff.

The tallest Spartan in the team shrugged in response, "She's always had him dialed in."

"That thing is crushing us and we're waiting for backup? They'll be backing up a planet sized graveyard!" Noble Two said with clear frustration to her superior as she removed her helmet.

"The Grafton is the only frigate left that still has nukes, but the rest are either out of system or went down with the ships that carried them," Carter said in a grim tone as he let out a small, tired sigh. "the Super-Carrier will reduce it a smoldering pile of burnt metal along with every vessel we send to back it up. You're preaching to the converted here."

Kat gave the scenery outside the cave before her a quick glance before turning back to NOBLE's team leader, "How converted?"

The Spartan Lieutenant-Commander gave his second-in-command a warning look. "I know that look, Kat." He said with a worn out tone, knowing she was already cooking up a plan that could potentially get them in hot water with the brass.

"You can say no-"

"No"

"You don't even want to hear it?"

A few seconds went by before Carter gave a hesitant nod, "Fine...I'll hear it."

"Remember what happened to that colony ship en route to Cygnus. Around seven-hundred dead?"

"Vaguely, a slipspace drive malfunction, right?" He shrugged.

"Actually it worked fine." Kat corrected, "The drive was mounted improperly after a service haul out. When it fired...half the ship teleported to oblivion."

"And this is relevant...how?" Noble One asked with confusion as he was still unsure on what her plan was.

"A certain Covenant super-carrier could, with some assistance, perhaps could suffer the same unfortunate accident..." Kat trailed off as a sly grin began forming on her face.

Carter shook his head as he couldn't help but help but chuckle a bit, "Even for you, Kat, that's-"

"-inspired?" She interrupted with a smirk.

"Not the word I would use." He finished with a small smile as he saw Jorge, Emile, and Jun approach.

"What's going on?" Jorge inquired as the rest of the team formed a semi-circle and walked up to the two, wanting to be let in on what the two highest ranking members were discussing.

Carter let out a sigh as he waved for Kat to inform the rest of the team about her plan, "Go ahead, explain."

Noble Two nodded before turning to Emile and reached out for his kukri, only for his hand to grab onto it instantly as he gave her a warning look. The two entered a minor staring contest before it was broken.

"May I?" Kat asked with a small huff.

Slowly, Noble Four removed his hand from his blade as he relented, "Don't cut yourself," was all he said.

The kukri was removed from its sheath as Kat crouched down and began using it to draw a crude outline of a Super-Carrier.

"Objective? Destroy Covenant Super-Carrier in geosynchronous orbit above us." She began explaining before she was interrupted by Jorge asking Carter a question.

"Is this sanctioned, sir?"

"What do you think?" Noble One replied with a grumble.

"Oh..."

Kat continued as she ignored the pair, "Method? A slipspace drive in lieu of the nukes we don't have. Delivery system? Us. Solvable? Getting us up there. That and getting our hands on a slipspace drive." She finished as she stood back up and handed Emile's knife back to him. "Thank you for sharing."

"So...all we need is orbit capable transport and the single most expensive piece of equipment built by man?" Carter finished with sarcasm in his voice.

"As a simple warfighter in the field I couldn't possibly have access to those kinds of resources..." Kat began in false innocence, "...that said, a good place to start looking might be - I don't know - the nearest non-existent launch site in the nonexistent Sabre dismissed by three administrations as preposterous rumors..."

"...In which our newest addition was certainly never a..." She trailed off as she looked behind the semi-circle the rest of the fireteam stood and saw something that made her shoulders drop as a disbelieving stare grew on her face.

The rest of the team turned to see what see was staring at, coming across a sight that they've become all to familiar with in the past couple of weeks.

All five super-soldiers were greeted to the sight of the aforementioned newest addition sitting down with his back slumped against a rock wall with his GUNGNIR helmet leaning forward as a result of gravity. If anyone saw him like this, it was likely they would think he's dead because of how still he was. However, the team knew better as they known him long enough to know that he was actually sleeping, something that annoyed the Spartans as several of them let out sighs of exasperation and while others facepalmed at the sight.

"Really? Didn't you three just came back about five minutes ago?" Carter asked Jorge, who gave him a nod in confirmation.

"Wait, how did none of us even notice before now?" Jun asked aloud in bewilderment.

Nobody answered the question as Noble One placed his left hand on his forehead and let out a deep exhale, "Whose turn is it to wake him up?"

"I got this," Emile said as he gave the their newest member a hard shove on the shoulder, " Casper! Wake up!"

"H-Huh...what...whatever it was, I didn't do it," Six quickly stuttered out as he slowly got to his feet and rabidly shook his head.

"Did you hear anything that was just said?" Kat asked with sarcasm with a smirk on his face.

A moment went by as the sole hyper-lethal of the team processed the question, "Uhh...use a slipspace drive to destroy the super-carrier while using the Sabres to help deliver it. And since I was a test pilot for the things, I'm guessing I've been "volunteered" to help spearhead this Op."

The atmosphere in the cave had changed from exasperation to one of surprise as the rest of the team initially thought he had missed out on what was going on.

"Hey, come on, now. I was listening to what was being said," Six retorted. "Besides; I wasn't sleeping yet, I was just resting."

"Anyway... all we need is the green light," Kat finished as she turned to her team leader.

"Good luck with that," Carter scoffed.

"You're the one asking him," Kat retorted with a smirk as she held up a data pad for him to take.

The commander of NOBLE Team gave his second-in-command an annoyed look before standing up and grudgingly taking the pad.

"There is no way in hell he's going to go for this," He shook his head as he began setting up a comms link with the Colonel.

"So, you think these Sabres have a shot at pulling this off?" Jun asked Casper as he glanced at him.

"They handle alright," Six informed the group, "Though, Sabres are two-seated aircraft, so one of you is going to have to be my WSO." He looked at the rest of team expectantly.

""I'll do it," Jorge volunteered after a few seconds as he patted Casper on the shoulder. "How's your flying?"

"Well, I ain't no Maverick, but I would say I'm alright." He admitted as he saw the rest of the team giving him a look before they chuckled at the reference.

""Alright, as soon as we get the chance, I'm making you guys watch both Top Gun movies." Casper said with decisiveness in his voice before glancing at Kat with a grin that was hidden by his helmet. "Unless you guys want to watch something similar to the last film?"

Six was referring to what had happened during their previous movie night. The team was surprised at how much fun they had when they did it the first time and said that they would be open to doing it again. During their third gathering, the rest of the team had found out that Casper had enjoyed and still watched animated movies. This resulted in the team, mainly Kat, teasing him as even in the twenty-sixth century, animation was still considered to be 'for kids.' This prompted Six to play one of his favorite animated movies of all time, Wall-E.

If there was ever a time where a Spartan was almost driven to tears, it was during that night, including what looked to be a few real ones from a certain tech specialist.

"Don't you dare bring that up," Kat instantly responded, her voice dead serious as she knew what he was doing.

""Man, that was a good movie. We should watch it again sometime." Jorge chimed in with agreements from Jun and Emile.

"Never though an animated film would give me the feels like that." Noble Four admitted.

"Agreed," Jun said before glancing at the team's 2IC. "But the best part for me was your face when the credits were rolling, Kat."

"I told you; I wasn't crying," Noble Two insisted as she did her best to maintain a straight face, "T-There was...there was just something in my eye at the time, alright." She continued denying as she avoided eye contact.

"Yeah...sure," Noble Six replied with a bit of sarcasm in his voice. "If you think that was emotional, just wait until I get you to watch Edgerunners."

"Is that another animated movie?" Emile questioned.

"It's an anime based on the Cyberpunk universe," Noble Six clarified, "Remind me to show it to you guys sometime. Unless you still think animation's still just for kids?" He glanced at his fellow Beta company Spartan.

She gave no reply as she placed her helmet back on her head and began making her way to Carter to get an update on whether or not the higher-ups approved her plan. Ignoring the sounds of discussion behind her as she did not want to be reminded of what happened.

Hearing her approach, Carter quickly wiped the small smile of amusement on his face as he continued waiting for a reply from his commanding officer.

(Time: August 14, 2552)

(Location: Paxton Air Force Base)

Holland had managed to get CENTCOM to approve of Kat's plan, which was the reason why NOBLE Team were onboard two Falcons that were instructed to take them to a UNSC Air Force base that was being used as a secret test facility for the Sabres, along with being a launching area for the craft as well.

Once the two Falcons reached the shoreline near the base, one of the choppers began descending while the other provided overwatch from its current height. When the Falcon hovered only a few feet above the ground; Casper, Kat, Jorge, and Carter leaped out of the craft as Jun and Emile stayed on the second Falcon; keeping an eye out for any incoming hostile contacts. The four Spartans shouldered their rifles as they formed a perimeter around the LZ, their armored boots kicking up sand and puddles of water as they moved. They kept their eyes on their sectors as the UH-144 took off behind them and rejoined the other in the air.

"Bit of a hike to the launch facility..." Noble Five commented aloud as he took a look around, keeping his trigger finger disciplined.

"Any closer's too hot to land," Carter informed the group with a hint of frustration as he used flicked the safety off on his M392 DMR via the selector switch.

"Copy that, Commander," Kat acknowledged with a curt nod.

"Move up the beach, Noble!" Noble One chopped with his right hand towards the nearby hill before the group began advancing in a tight formation as they made their way over the hill.

It wasn't long before they had a visual on the Air Force base, along with a Covenant strike force in the field before them as they battled with the Airmen guarding the entrance. The few remaining M360 anti-aircraft guns that were still functional lit of the sky with tracer fire as they fired their twenty millimeter High Explosive Armor Piercing rounds at the incoming Spirits and Banshees. SAMs were still being launched by a handful of operational M95 Lances, which took down several Banshees and Spirits which destroyed their engines; making them at the mercy of gravity as they were pulled to the ground below. Unfortunately, it still wasn't enough as the Covenant craft continued to hit the base with fuel rockets and plasma cannon rounds, resulting in many destroyed and melting holes in the installation.

The four super-soldiers were soon spotted as they began taking plasma and needler rounds before dispersed and took cover behind nearby rocks. Soon, they began taking rounds from a fuel rod cannon that was being wielded by an Elite Minor.

In almost perfect sync, Carter and Emile took out a frag grenade threw it with an overhead toss over their cover, taking out several Grunts, Jackals, and evening damaging the shields on a few Elites. Soon after, Jorge immediately placed his M247H HMG on the rock he was using as cover to stabilize the heavy machine gun before he started sending rounds of 12.7 high-velocity explosive rounds at the Covenant squads. Taking out the Elite Minor holding the fuel rod gun along with a Major before the rest went into cover. The rest of the team followed suit as they joined the Spartan-II in firing their rifles, slowly pushing the Covenant back as they slowly pushed forward to the base's entrance.

Once the last Ultra Elite went down and the area was clear, the Spartans made their way to the entrance to the facility and met with the remaining Airmen whose patches identified them as Air Force Security Forces.

"Thanks for the assist, Spartans!" What looked to be the highest ranking Airmen said to the super-solders, " You're cleared to go on through," He said as another Airmen radioed for the blast doors to open.

"Let's move, People!" Noble One ordered once the entrance opened and a group of Airmen ran out to reinforce the ones remaining. The Spartans ran inside inside as their HUDs lit up with a waypoint as they made their way throughout the facility. Killing a few Elites that managed to sneak into the facility and were fighting the few Airmen left inside.

"Warning: facility was been breached. Enemy forces have entered the base. All personnel begin evacuation procedures." An automatic message played through the PA which prompted the Spartans to start picking up the pace.

"I still can't believe Holland managed to get this plan approved," Jorge muttered to himself in disbelief as they neared the control room for one of the launch bays where their Sabre should be waiting.

"Well...some plans are too good to say no." Kat commented smugly with a shrug of her shoulders.

"I bet you'd say the opposite if you had to be the one to carry it out," Casper said dryly which caused Kat to give him a glare from behind her Air Assault helmet, only for Casper to give her a look in return that said 'come on, you know it's true'.

"Let's just get you two airborne," Carter said with a hint of amusement in his voice as the Spartans entered the control room for launch bay 3G, where they were greeted with the aftermath of what was probably an intense firefight between the base's security forces and Covenant troops; with no indication of who emerged as the victor as all the bodies were cleared out.

The place was a wreck as spent casings of 7.62 by 51mm rounds along with empty cartridges of buckshot rounds and .50 caliber pistol rounds littered the floor with bullet holes and plasma scorching on the walls. Both human and alien blood were splattered all across the room that looked to be recent.

"Must've been one hell of a shootout here," Jorge muttered aloud as broken lights flickered from the ceiling and sparks flew out of exposed wires hanging out of damaged consoles. The Spartans immediately began sweeping the room to make sure there wasn't any surprises hiding, like a Spec Ops Elite cloaked in the shadows just waiting for them to drop their guard so that it can pounce.

"Armory's clear!" Noble Six called out first from the far side of the room, disappearing into the room as the rest of the team relayed that their sectors where secure in a similar manner.

Kat began working on the main console, which was thankfully relatively undamaged, and inputted a few commands which resulted in the shutters being lifted from the observation window in the room to reveal the experimental craft from where it was in the launch pad in the next area of the facility.

"Jorge, Casper, get to the Sabre and launch before Charlie wrecks this whole facility!" Carter ordered the two, the latter of which who had now exited the arms room and rejoined the others, just as another explosion could be heard in the distance as the base took another hit from what was most likely a plasma missile, which sent shockwaves throughout the facility as the walls of the control room rumbled.

Six nodded in confirmation before making his way down the hallway leading to the next area, only stopping when he saw that Jorge had yet to move as he gave his team leader a worried look.

"Sir, what about you and Kat?" Noble Five asked with concern in his voice.

"Emile and Jun are inbound with a Falcon, we'll egress once the two of you get airborne. Now get moving!" He stated with finality as the sole Spartan-II of NOBLE Team gave his head a slight incline downwards in acknowledgement as he started following Casper.

The duo continued down the corridor until they made it the ramp leading into the cockpit of the aircraft. Where an airmen was standing guard with a MA37 as he greeted the super-soldiers, stepping out of the way so they could enter the craft. "Sabre is prepped and ready for launch. Good hunting up there, Spartans."

Climbing up the ladder, Casper and Jorge stepped into the cockpit and sat down before the canopy slid over them and sealed shut. The ramp detached as the compartment was pressurized and the computers and instruments turned on as the two super-soldiers strapped themselves in. Activating a mode in their helmets that made them function like oxygen masks that regular aviators wore when flying, allowing the two to breath while in flight.

"Struts disengaged," The PA announced as the booster rockets began emitting a low hum as they powered up. Six began flipping a few switches as he performed a quick pre-flight systems check on the Sabre, which reported that all instruments were in the green. Once it was done, he placed his right hand on the stick and placing the other on the throttle which resided on the left console.

"Commencing launch in T-minus five...four...three...two...one..."

The attached rockets rumbled to life as they filled the bay with smoke and exhaust, launching the experimental fighter into the sky at thousands of kilometers per hour, sending vibrations through the craft and the two Spartan occupants as it made its way into orbit.

And cut! Hope you guys liked this chapter. Thanks again to everyone for taking the time to read my stories.

Terms:

-WSO: Weapons Systems Officer (Pronounced as 'wizzo.'")

Have a good day and remember...stay frosty, gents.