This was an interesting chapter; though the next chapter will be most certainly my favorite! In fact, Long Night of Solace/Corvette coupled with Nightfall are my favorite levels! I hope you enjoy this edition of TSoN6.


Part 1: Eposz

July 26, 2552, 11:26 Hours. Yet again riding in a Falcon alongside another, we are on our way toward the coast. Noble two slipped a chip into her data pad and typed something. I was curious as to what she was doing but did not bother to ask. Noble Five looked uneasy but there was no way to be sure. I only assumed this by the way he moved his foot and looked outside of the Falcon. Noticing icebergs nearby, a conversation began to brew, from Sword Control.

"Be advised, kilo-three-three and kilo-three-four, your current LZ is too hot!"

"Roger that," Replied Carter. "Dot, standby to receive and respond."

"Wait…who?"

We passed large island just before a large Covenant ship, probably holding position, came into view.

"Yes Commander…coordinates received"

"Oh…an AI."

"Initiate immediate course correction. The Office of Naval Intelligence Sword Base is presently under siege from a corvette-class Covenant vessel. Due to the sensitive nature of this facility, use of orbital rounds has been, for the moment, prohibited. Regrettably, my efforts to obtain relevant data on enemy forces have been unsuccessful. However, current defensive forces are insufficient. ONI has requested Team Noble's direct intervention to help secure Sword Base."

"Alright people, we're stuck with that ship for the time being. Let's focus on the hostile infantry - give those Troopers a hand."

Flying above the troopers and Covvie ground forces, a trooper was being shot at by a Jackal. Carter ordered Kat and I to defend the troopers.

Seeing that poor trooper got me fired up to defend him and his group but it also had me a little worried about Jun and where he was.

"Jorge, Emile - you're next. Get prepped." Noble Two cocked her pistol. The sound pulled me back into the fight with little effort. I was prepared for this. There would be no distractions this time - not much, anyway.

"Let's move lieutenant." Kat said to me as the Falcon lowered to the ground. We both jumped out.

"This is gonna be one hell of a mess to clean up after we're done with them."


Part 2: The Best Defense…

I cocked and loaded my DMR, closely watching Kat for any instructions.

"Kat, Six: push back the attack on Sword Base, find out what we're dealing with." Carter told us.

"Roger that. We're your strike team." Kat said back.

As she said this, an Elite major up ahead challenged me to a duel. I went up the ramp, he began to back up a little, then rushed towards me. With one bullet of my DMR, part of his shields came down; I then angered him with a melee to take his shields down fully. After which I socked him in the face, causing him to fall to the ground.

"Spartans, hostiles north." Sword Control said in our ears. To my left, I heard crazed screaming, coming from the Grunts. I turned right around, knowing at least one would be coming straight for me with two plasmas. I reloaded my DMR, out of habit, and noticed the suicidal Grunt running up the ramp.

"Let's knock some heads, lieutenant!" I hesitated a couple poor DMR shots but eventually took him out with a headshot.

Before going back down the ramp, I let the grenades explode. I helped a couple troopers with two Grunts who were thankful, saying, "Excellent work!". I traveled to the adjacent ramp, connected to a bridge, and again, in our ears, "You've got three new contacts, Spartans."

Near a sealed door now, I noticed some ammo by a fallen trooper. I took it and carried on. Two jackals were being menaces to the troopers; I took care of them somewhat carelessly. I couldn't get a proper shot on one and the other annoyed me so as I took out his shield and he tried to ran away but I assassinated him. I finally got a clear shot of him while performing a jump after narrowly avoiding his plasma fire. I shot down another Jackal at the end of the short ramp ahead. The courtyard was filled with Elites. The highest ranking one carried a Concussion Rifle; definitely not one to take care of up close. My best bet would be throwing a frag if they all formed in one group, but that would not be likely here. They are too smart for that and they move too fast.

Being shot at somewhat, I crouched and hid behind the railing, carefully calculating my next move.

"So many of them! I can't just hit them hard. I have to go slow on this one. Man, I hate taking fights slow…"

Taking a breath, I rose up, shot a Jackal in the notch of his shield, without realizing how incredibly accurate that shot was. I attempted this again with another Jackal near the last but only injured him. A Jackal was slowly creeping up the ramp trying to scare me no doubt. I focused on him, knowing that he would only pester me with his needler if I targeted other contacts.

"You don't scare me, ugly."

He responded with sending needles flying my way and some chittering noises. The fire actually caught me off guard slightly; my shields were going down and almost to yellow. I wasn't moving as fast I should've been because of how slow I have to take this if we want to clear the courtyard with little to no injuries. Having no success with this Jackal, I backed up to get away from the meddler. Then I gasped softly.

"Another Jackal? That one didn't even show up on my radar! He truly startled me!" I didn't panic too much, knowing that I could take them. They were just…annoying. Annoying as flies. I reloaded my weapon, jumping away in case they fired; which they stopped for some reason. Then I noticed an Elite Minor follow behind the Jackal I had trouble with first.

"I could just throw a frag…" I shook my head. "Time for plan B." I switched to my Assault Rifle and hid behind one of the ONI barriers to allow my shields to replenish before going yellow and then to red before I could blink. I heard gunfire behind me.

"Engaging!" Said one of the troopers. I had been so caught up in the mild irritation that I neglected to actually think of the troopers. I was about to go straight head on into the group until the Elite, who I lost track of, did what I was afraid of. My shields read yellow. And if I didn't move fast, they'd go red. So I moved to the barrier near the entrance to one of the structures and gritted my teeth

"I'm acting like a child. This is not some game! I'm bred for combat, built for war. What's holding me back?" An image of Jun's face appeared in my mind. I shook my head and sighed exasperatedly; "Not now. Time to clear the area."

I took out my DMR and went full on into the group. I smoothly put two bullets into the two Jackals. I reloaded my gun.

"Alright, there we go. Keep it up, Tyra."

Moving back down the short ramp, I struggled to get a clear headshot of the Grunt running for his life.

"Dammit, stop it! Pull yourself together…" I growled with extreme infuriation. I would NOT show signs of weakness, struggle, or poor skills. I would advance, no matter how difficult the batch of Covvies were that entered my path. The high ranking Elite targeted me with his Concussion Rifle. My shields got taken out by one of his shots. It bruised my helmet slightly.

"Ugh, now I know why they call it a Concussion Rifle…"

He kept firing but I swerved to my left. Luckily, Kat took his attention and meleed him, causing him to be pushed with such force that he was propelled several feet backwards. He threw his arms in anger.

"He didn't seem to like that."

As she hid behind the barrier in front of her, Kat motioned me to move forward. I didn't hesitate to do so. I came down the ramp and entered the courtyard. I took out the shieldless Elite with one bullet to the head.

"That's how its done in Noble team!" I shouted, making a victorious fist.

I backed up while changing mags, ready to fire upon the second to last Elite in the area. I had two clear shots to his head until he went behind the barrier next to him.

"What's wrong? You scared?" I chuckled, taunting the fool.

He growled at me and swerved left and right repeatedly, barely showing himself behind the barrier. Kat fired upon him when he eventually showed himself, then went back behind the barrier once more. I threw a frag but he not only avoided it, it missed completely.

"Damn…"

I followed him in a game of ring around the rosy, but I swear to you that he vanished, while I was distracted my shields were depleting by that same Elite! I didn't see him go the other direction of where I attempted to chase him down. At yellow shields now, I hesitated and took a Grunt down. Luckily, that Elite was a Minor and a quick melee killed him. I inhaled and exhaled.

"Thank God for shields."

Heading down a ramp, I saw a Jackal fall. I ignored it and tried to catch my own kill. I easily made up for it. Interestingly enough, trying to kill the Elite ahead managed to injure a Skirmisher! Smirking, I socked the Elite in the face. A Skirmisher body rolled on the ground.

"Again?!"

I injured a Major and put a bullet to his head,

"Now we're even again, Kat."

I stayed clear of the noisy explosive in front of my face. I had almost moved it aside. The last Skirmisher failed to take down my shields to yellow.

"Whew…that was fun." I looked behind me. "Yep, just what I thought. We mopped 'em up and now the Covvies have a mess to deal with!" I chuckled and smirked.

Kat came up behind me.

"Were you a bit hesitant back there, Six?"

"Eh…just a little. Not exactly used to Covenant invading, you know." She tittered in response.

"Get used to it. That's gonna be the reality until we clear them all out of this planet. Try to stay focused, okay?"

"Yes, Kat."

"Noble Two to Sword Control, the Courtyard is clear, over."

"Head to the main gate to the East, I'll brief you as you go."

"Sword Control, I see a Target Locator, any artillery support in the area?"

"Limited, but we'll prioritize whatever you need, ma'am."

Picking up the Target Locator, I was attentive to kill properly now.

"Alright, let's see how this thing works."


Part 3: Get the Hell Off My Lawn!

As the main gate opened, I saw a Covenant Corvette attacking the base. I gritted my teeth,

"They will pay for what they did to my father many years ago…"

I saw a damaged Warthog zig-zagging up ahead.

"3 Echo 57 heading back to base, but we got enemy tangos on our six. How copy?" Soon, the poor Warthog was destroyed by one of the Wraiths. Hiding from both Wraiths behind a rock nearby, I kept seeing flashbacks of my father in a similar situation where he was in a tank, desperately trying eliminate other Wraiths but there were too many…luckily, he made it out alive but was in a coma for several years.

"Fire that Target Locator on those Wraiths!" As soon as Kat said this, I realized what this weapon was. I used it against both of them and waited for the missiles to fall from the sky. While doing so, I switched to my DMR, ridding of the pests in front of me. I took down the Elite Minor and the Grunts gave themselves an easy death as all three cowardly ran for their lives.

"Outstanding!" Kat replied trying to help take down the last Grunt. Watching the Pelican fly towards us, I moved out of it's LZ. Knowing that I would have to drive, I hopped into the driver's seat and nodded to the trooper already in the side seat. Kat hopped the gun.

"The old Farragut Station has its own comms array that should bring us back online with command. Airview base has an anti-air battery that will help clear the skies." Notified Sword Base.

"AA gun is to the west, comms array to the east. Let's roll." Kat ordered from the gun.

I wanted to take down whatever was closest, so I headed east.

"Good call, let's take comms first."

Near the ocean, I splattered a Grunt, letting Kat shoot down the remaining ones in the area, including the Ghost, before reaching our destination.

Treading across the snow, we made our way to the station.

"Hope that comms array has a working generator." Kat reported.

I took note of the Covenant forces as well as the Revenant.

"Yeah, yeah, YEAH!" The trooper exclaimed shooting at the Revenant. "Uh oh, Revenant inbound." He finished as the vehicle fired at us. Circling near a small rock, Kat inputted that we had to search for the generator switch. Like a vulture, I orbited the buildings as to not get too close to the Revenant; allowing it to follow me at its own pace to eventually get shot down by the gunner. Along the path I took, I splattered a Grunt who was injured by the gunner. I did this twice before deciding to confront the Revenant. Luckily, my tactic worked and as the Revenant was deteriorating, a few bullets caused it to explode.

"Revenant down!" I called out.

My attempt to splatter the Elite Officer near my first target failed but Kat made sure it would not get up once she took it down. Parking by the door near my target, I let the other two take care of the Grunt and the Elite Minor outside. I activated the first switch. Behind me a Grunt fired his needler. As I turned around to take care of him, another Minor threw his fist at me.

"You wanna play? I'll play." As I sent a few bullets towards his face, his shields were depleting - and he knew it. Spinelessly, he backed up, turned his back on me and just stop firing all together, allowing me to take him out without a problem. "He, obviously, didn't live up to his threat he gave me."

"Okay, generator up and running. Find that comms array, should be up high." Kat said from the passenger seat of the warthog. A Grunt wasn't impressed with his leader dead so he decided to fire at and curse at me in his native tongue. So I shot him in the head.

"This is getting easier than I thought…" As soon as I said this, a suicidal Grunt surprised me and took down my shields within a split second. At one red bar, I hurried into the building, sitting down. I could hear my heartbeat racing.

"Me and my big mouth…"

"Get that comms array up and running!" I grunted, not wanting to move. I used the health pack I noticed on the wall to secure any seeping wounds that would further exasperate my performance. Grabbing my DMR, I headed to the second building. Though I only used one bullet, I still reloaded, just in case. I meleed a couple Grunts within the first building. Then I took care of the Jackal Snipers just ahead, behind the box. One of them did get me, but I shook it off. Getting into the Hog and trying to splatter some Skrimishers near the second building was unsuccessful but it at least bought me time to move forward into the second building. Walking up the wooden steps, I could hear the gunner shooting at the Skirmishers, shouting "More where that came from!". Afterward, Kat escaped the Hog from an Elite's plasma grenade throw which ultimate killed the Hog. Kat withdrew from the fiery vehicle.

Moving onto the second flight of wooden stairs, a couple Grunts attempted to move up to defend the Comms Array, but they did not make it very far. On the second floor were two lowly Major Skirmishers. One made a croaky sound as I approached them. With a punch to each, they both went down without much of a fight. Moving up the third staircase now, a third Skirmisher, who most likely jumped from below, tried to distract me. Well, he sure succeeded. But the Minor went down with the bullet to the head. On the very top floor, I jumped over some boxes and came to the Comms array at last. Activating it, I noticed a dead soldier in the hay to my left. I knelt down to turn him over.

"Hope they killed you without much pain; that you died honorably, soldier."

"You did it, Six; Comms Array up and running." I jumped off the second to the top floor and landed near Kat. "Now let's head for Airview Base and get that AA gun online."

"Spartans, this is Sword Control. Thought you could use some mobile firepower."

"Always. Take that Hog, Six." The three of us headed towards the new vehicle. As we mounted up, I immediately shifted the gas to full power. We went on our way towards the Base. Near paths that forrmed into a V, I noticed a Spirit Dropship coming our way.

"Spirit inbound!" I instinctively called out as we easily took care of the few Elites it threw at us. From behind, a Ghost fired vehemently towards our direction. With some shots by the trooper and a ram into it, the Grunt fell dead. Then popped up a second Ghost, which the gunner took care of himself. Following the path into the Base now, I could see the ever ominous Corvette looming over Sword Base like a storming cloud ready to strike with lightning bolts.

"I'm picking up a power source, we're close to the AA Gun." Said Kat. The trooper cheered as I picked up some air before landing on the ground at a small jump. He immediately opened fire against some Elites attempting to take hold of an abandoned Warthog turret. If they get to it, we're screwed. I decide to hop out and throw a grenade after the gunner takes one Elite out so that the other who decides to take his brother's place will be kicked off his mounted gun. I apparently missed because as I decided to use the Target Locator on the Phantom some yards away, I heard an Elite fall behind me. Watching to make sure the Phantom went down, some Grunts were becoming pests. So I decided to make myself one back. I took out a Grunt and the other two fled. But I shot one of the them in the head. Making sure that the abandoned Hog will not be used by the enemy, I throw another grenade to cause it to turn upside down.

Moving into the building, I meleed two Grunts and assassinated another. I retrieved ammo from the wall. I tried one last time to take down the Phantom with the Target Locator. But, yet again, my attempt all but prevailed. The fool of an Elite with the Concussion Rifle at the top level didn't look behind him and I snuck up behind him and snapped his neck. I was about to activate the AA Gun when I noticed Kat under attack.

"Get them off my back!" I beat down two of the Rangers behind her as she stood in the gunner seat. I was on my way to kill the Grunt near the rock by the abandoned Hog when a Ghost fired at me. I lured it close to me then threw a plasma at its hood, backing up a little. Luckily it didn't come to close to me or more of my shields would have been taken down. Another Ghost behind a larger rock came close to splattering me before I shot the Grunt off his seat without his methane tank attached to him. Kat took care of the last Grunt. I went back up to activate the AA Gun.

As I activated it, I groaned disappointed at how easily it took down the Phantom I tried to eliminate.

"That did it, Six. AA Gun is online."

"Noble Strike, this is Noble Leader. Get back to Sword Base, ASAP."

"On our way, Commander. Six, Let's go."

"Good work, Spartans. Return to Sword Base, the rest of your team is inbound, imminent."

"Noble, be advised: Covenant Corvette moving into position. Kat, Six, get here quick. We'll meet you inside."

I headed towards the Warthog Sword Control left for us, as it had a better gun and our other one was greatly damaged.

"I've got the gun."

The trooper took the steering wheel and we were off; for some reason Kat decided she wanted to go on foot. We made our way through a path, encountering a Ghost in our way. I took him out with one shot; after a first shot as a near-miss. A lone on-foot Grunt nearby was no match for my Gauss Cannon! Seeing him fall flat on his ugly face put a smile on mine.

"This is one of my specialties."

I took down the Elite who growled at us. I laughed at his futile endeavor. And then I became cautious at the Trooper's words: "Revenant rollin'!" I knew that this one would be just as much dangerous as the one we faced before. As the trooper struggled to find a way around the beaten path, I counteracted the Revenant that fired against our vehicle. Luckily, his attack came close to us but didn't harm us or the Hog. I didn't even notice until now but Kat had snuck up when neither the trooper nor I were looking and snagged the passenger seat!

"Glad you could join us." She nodded at my remark, knowing I was only being sarcastic. The second Revenant was proving to be a nuisance, so I took it out with the Gauss. The orange Elite in front of the huge rock behind us fired, also. I kept my eye on that location, making sure there were no stragglers in the area. The Trooper parked in front of the gate. I got out to open it. And then a familiar voice came on the comms.

"We're stalled at the Tower Atrium. Kat, where are you?" It was Jun.

"Opening the gate now!" Knowing that there would be Covenant once again occupying the Courtyard, I asked the Trooper to drive me in front of the barriers so I could more effectively take care of them. It was certainly more efficient - all but two Elites and a Grunt were out of range. As I got out of the gunner and we moved up though the courtyard, I noticed what looked like a fleet of Banshees in the sky, swirling around like falling leaves. In the main entrance to the Base, some Troopers were being attacked by Covvies and a pair of Hunters.

I noticed some shotguns, took one and some ammo; following the trooper and Kat near a barrier or what appears to be a parking place for vehicles. The troopers were hiding dangerously close to it; enough to be killed or injured from a blast of the Hunters' weapons. I quickly hid behind the barrier, keep some distance between me and the barrier. As Kat was being attacked, I threw a grenade behind one of the Hunters. I did this again to lure it away from Kat. The other Hunter fired his cannon towards my general direction but I was thankful for the barrier protecting me. This time, I threw a plasma at the one I was targeting, It tried to protect itself instead of moving all together; which was an imprudent mistake. Of course, standing too close to the barrier, forgetting the blast radius injuries caused my shields to go down some; which made me just as imprudent. One of the troopers got injured, as well. The pole in front of me blocked the attack of the Hunter.

Kat also hid behind the barrier, crouching trying not to be seen. But unfortunately, the Hunter's blast took some of her shields.

"This one seems to like me. Someone kill it!"

I was going to send some bullets over to it but it took part of my shields. Hiding behind one of the huge crates, I waited for the precise moment to attack. I came out of hiding, having plenty of distance from the barrier. I looked at the one Hunter and the other, back and forth. They both would easily attack at the same time. i "Without seriously taking a risk, how could I get past them without being flung across the room?" /i

I was indecisive; I went one direction to attack one but it was too risky and the other direction was equally suicidal. And then I looked to my right - Kat was being physically assaulted by one of the monsters. "Now's the moment." I forgot about how risky it was going up close but one of my own were being attacked. I could not let up. I waited for times when it had its back turned to shoot or melee it. I narrowly avoided the arm swing it gave. I stayed behind the narrow part of the barrier in front of me; playing a another mere game of ring around the rosy. It once again swung at me when it got close on one side but I was fast - I went the to other side. I came around it and shot it in the back. I knew it felt the blood that I saw come out of its wormy back. Before I gave it a chance to turn around, I had the last stand with the melee to the back.

Targeting a Grunt near the elevator room, Kat said; "I don't plan on making this quick or painless!" She barely escaped the blast of the other Hunter. I had one bullet left in the clip of my shotgun so I reloaded it. I was not feeling at all indecisive now. I jumped over the barrier, as if it was a hurdle, and threw a grenade at the Hunter. I chuckled at the sight of it injured and groaning in pain. It shot at me, but because I was moving too fast for it to shoot precisely, it shot near me, taking out my shields partially - and I was unfazed. This happened a second time. Then it charged at me but I continued to back up in a circular motion. And it missed with its swing, hitting the crate instead. Two shotgun shells took it down easily.

I shot the head of the remaining Grunt and bashed the Elite. "We have to get to the atrium; we have to go through the security office." A suicidal Grunt crept up when we both least expected it but was easy to rid of.

"Elevator, Lieutenant; take it." I went inside and started the elevator. Midway up, an explosion rocked the elevator.

"Corvette's hitting this base hard." Emile alleged.

"Where's our orbital support? Got to be four platforms that could take it out with a single MAC round." Replied Kat. As the elevator opened, I had realized one thing;

"I haven't used my armor lock yet!"


Part 4: Office of Naval Intelligence

As the door swiped open, I felt oddly at home within Sword Base.

"WELCOME TO THE OFFICE OF NAVAL INTELLIGENCE. AN ONI REPRESENTATIVE WILL MEET YOU SHORTLY." It was the Sword Base Automated PA.

"I doubt that ivery much /i" Kat sarcastically replied. I chuckled to myself at her remark.

Inside the Security Office, an Elite and three Grunts were up ahead. I aimed my DMR straight for the Elite's head. He backed up long enough to bring his shields up slightly and piss me off. As I was fighting the bastard who shifted to the side, the PA came on again.

"THANK YOU, LIEUTENANT. YOU HAVE BEEN CLEARED FOR ACCESS."

"It knows me?"

I threw my elbow into his gut and down he went. The Grunts not surprisingly began to run away spinelessly. After I broke the neck of one, I beat down the other two within a second.

"All targets, neutralized, confirm?" Kat asked me.

"Affirmative." I responded back.

The door leading into a multi-level roomed opened up and I noticed Jorge, Jun, and one trooper fighting an Elite and some Jackals.

"…or maybe not." Kat looked at me. I'm guessing the look on her face would have been saying, "No, you think?"

I could hear Jun and Jorge speaking as the door opened.

"Closing in on the target!" Jun exclaimed. Jorge was too quiet for me to hear exactly what he said.

"We've got company!" The trooper said.

I walked in and a flood of memories came pouring back. Unless I'm not mistaken, this room was where I was first trained.

"Taking rounds!" Jorge's call for assistance clicked me back into the fight. I immediately threw a grenade and the plasma stuck to the Jackal closest to me. The Jackal was startled by this motion but it was too late to react. The blast killed the other Jackal near him.

"Two for one, excellent." I thought.

"Six, head upstairs and assist Emile. Jorge, make sure she gets there." I scoffed softly as I went for the last Jackal.

"Not that I don't appreciate the big guy, but do I really need escorting?"

I killed the Jackal with two DMR shots before Jorge said,

"Depend on it."

With very little shields going down on my armor, I took out the Elite with some bullet to the waist and a punch to the face. It was then I realized Kat also went for the kill. I looked at her, trying to think of something to say but could not.

"Perhaps you were a little faster than me, Six." I nodded at her respectfully then turned around and noticed Jun walking up the ramp. I followed suit into the room on the right. "All clear, here, Six." A Trooper told me. So I went up into room above where several Grunts decided to show up at the wrong time. One died with a bullet in its head. Another beat down. I looked around for any others; saw none, reloaded, and moved on. In a quick succession, two more up ahead died with a fractured skull. I snickered and reloaded again. "Six! Can I have a second?" Jun said, from behind, calling me over.

"What could he want?"

I looked at Kat as I hurried down the ramp.

"Make it quick." She said to me as I neared Jun. He was perched by the edge of the ramp, with his rifle over the railing, ready to fire at any ambushing fool walking down the ramp. Though, not wanting to risk too much damage, he ducked and looked up every so often.

"Six," Jun said, slightly looking at me as he was about his business. "The base is probably gonna fall like Jericho, so be careful." After which he reloaded his rifle and nodded at me.

"Come on Six, let's move!" Kat ordered. I nodded at Jun before joining Kat.

Reaching into the depths of the second floor, an Elite was causing trouble in the corridor. He was blinded by a handful of bullets into this eyes and cranium, good ole' DMR. As it was in the elevator, a light flickered within the base.

"Corvette's gonna rip this base apart. What's the situation, Noble?" inquired Sword Control.

"Can't do this on my own! Need another Spartan up here!" Emile sounded agitated.
"Six, get to the top floor and assist Emile."

"Acknowledged but…do I need to be told the same order twice?"

Up the ramp leading into the third floor were an Elite and two Jackals. The Jackals weren't even looking my direction so they were too foolish to see the bullets whizzing for their brains. The Elite at least reacted; but he, too, fell with splattered brains. Walking across the red carpeted room, another ramp led to the fourth floor. I brought out a weapon I hadn't used in a while;

"I have a shotgun and I'm not afraid to use it."

I encountered a couple Jackals, several Grunts, and an Elite. I threw a plasma a the Jackals that shouldn't have been so close to each other. Unfortunately, neither one leapt out of the way nor did all three die. So I threw another. It, too, failed. I sighed angrily. I brutally attacked the Elite with some shotgun shells and two punches. A Grunt nearby was sounding crazy.

"Aw crap…" I waited for it to come to me and as soon as I went for the Jackals, coming out of the entry way to my left, a Kamikaze Grunt headed straight for me. Luckily, I backed up before shooting my shotgun and went further for the grenades to detonate.

"Keep tearing them up!" A trooper nearby shouted.

I killed a Jackal and turned, hearing two frightened Grunts coming out of the room to the left. I beat down both of them before they could go anywhere. One trooper with an assault rifle took my kill but I shrugged it off. Dealing with the remaining Jackals and Grunt that were in the next area being the fifth floor, I took some shotgun ammo from the wall.

"Commander, this base won't survive another salvo from that corvette. Kill those Banshees!" Sword Control said through the comm.

"Upstairs, Lieutenant, we need those Longswords in the air." Commander told me. A Grunt and a Jackal snuck in from the smaller ramp within the room. A trooper killed one, saying, "I bet you felt that one, huh?"

A white-armored Minor Elite was standing guard, pestering the troopers below and the adjacent balcony. It killed one near me and that set me off. I thought I would help the other out despite the fact that he was retreating.. This Elite was an easy target with a grenade tstick…so I thought. He didn't even budge! I was bewildered! He threw his arm at me, taking down my shields fast. With two punches, he finally went down.

"What rank were you?" I asked myself about the Elite as I moved back up the normal route, letting my shields return to normal..

I could hear Banshees flying about outside. I'd love to get my hands on a sniper and take them down; but I knew that wouldn't happen. The Field Marshall waiting by the balcony shooting at the troopers below wasn't paying attention. I slew him with an knife to the throat. He was just like his cowardly Zealot friend back at the control room. I grinned after killing him,

"The Unicorn is dead, heh heh!" I reloaded and moved into the room where two Jackals were. A gaping hole in the wall revealed the Corvette holding position, the Banshees I heard, and an inbound Phantom.

"About time." Emile said rather annoyed. The Phantom dropped of some Spec Ops. Though I knew I could take them out, they were still a pain. "Noble Six, Watch down low." Emile said as I picked up a Rocket Launcher from the ground. After eliminating all the cloaked Elites, I fired upon the Phantom attacking Emile. I locked on and waited to see how close the rocket came to it. Centered but no real damage. I reloaded and tried again. Second time resulted likewise. Third time's the charm. As I reloaded one last time, I smirked.

"Told ya." The explosion of the Phantom was extravagant. A real work of art.

"That's the way we get it done, Spartan." Emile seemed to like my artwork, also.

"Noble Team, Longswords are inbound and ready to push. Orbital defense is standing by to take the shot." Sword Control said with a notable sigh of relief in his voice tone.

Two Longswords flew towards the corvette, which was attempting to flee. I watched as the Longswords followed the corvette for a distance, but they soon broke off. A MAC round suddenly penetrated the corvette from above. Its engines flickered, and it loses altitude. Jorge emerged from the shadows, approaching me.

"Beautiful, ain't it?" He says coming into the light.

"No…I'd say it is gorgeous."

"Someone should take a picture." He finished. I nodded agreeing. The corvette crashed into the lake.

"Nice work, by the way." He said putting his arm on my shoulder.

"I aim to please." I responded. As we looked out into the lake, glistening now in our favor, I wanted this moment to last forever.

"Five, Six, get down to the science wing." Carter broke the peace I had felt.

Jorge cocked his head, listening closely.

"Seriously? When I was just getting comfortable…"

"Doctor Halsey wants a debrief-"

As he was saying this, Jorge then turned around in slight shock.

"-and command's saying we're all hers."

"Repeat? Sounded like you said Halsey." I turned towards him, curious of what was going on.

"I did."

"Copy that, on our way." As we walked towards the wing, he told me that he didn't need command to tell him because he's been all hers half his life.

We approached the room that was to be the Science Wing. Carter is talking to a woman behind a shield door, who I assume is Halsey. Kat watched us walk in.

"I requested your assistance, Commander, and do not need a report on events that occur on my own doorstep. What I ido/i require is a detailed account of your previous engagement—" Halsey paused mid sentence and notices Jorge walk in. "Jorge, it's been too long."

"Ma'am."

She lowered her eyebrows and sternly replied,

"What have you down with my armor?"

"Just some…additions I've made."

"Indeed…" I looked to the floor.

"iI've heard of this woman and how she is a lot like a mother figure…but has she always got her attitude level all the way up to bitchy? /i"

"Visegrad Relay," She continued to Carter. "Its data center was home to one of my xeno-archaeologists, Professor Laszlo Sorvad. Perhaps you could shed some light on his death."

"If he was a civilian male in his mid-sixties, he died with a Covenant Energy Sword through his abdomen."

"Elites then."

"They engaged us as well. It was just, uh, just after we found your scientist's daughter, ma'am. She was hiding in the-"

"Irrelevant." She told Jorge. The way he hesitated made think he has always known of her coldness. Though, the shocked look on his face didn't accurately portray this prior knowledge. "The Elites - tell me more about them."

"Three. Zealot class." I looked at Jorge as he spoke. "One got by us. The leader, from the looks of him." The way Jorge's humanity slips in him never ceases to amaze me. Though, every time the soldier within comes up thereafter always amazes me. He just doesn't look like he would be a killing-machine. Then I focused on what he had said.

"Leader? He ran away like a coward." I looked back at Halsey.

"Zealots? You're certain?" She asked.

"Their armor configuration matched."

"Shield strength, too." I chimed in. That was most evident to me.

"I gave the order not to pursue," Carter added. "Our primary objective was to get the station's relay back online."

"Your primary objective? Commander, are you a puppet or a Spartan?" Jun and Emile looked up, slightly bewildered at her callous remark. I'm sure even Emile was felt the chill; as cold as he can be at times.

"Ma'am?"

"There are those at ONI, myself included who believe the Covenant dispatch Elite advance teams to hunt down artifacts of value to their religion. Survivor accounts suggest such teams are small, nimble, and almost always Zealot-class. No doubt they came to the station for the abundance of ONI excavation data stored there. And you let them get away."

"Data retrieval was not a command directive. Even had we known, we had other, more urgent, matters to attend to." Carter sounded so cool, like he always has been. He has only raised his voice once or maybe twice in the time I've known him. How many soldiers, I've wondered, have wanted to be like Carter that have known him?

"Like warning the planet." Kat added. Halsey came closer to the door.

"Professor Sorvad's final entry in his field notes made reference to 'a latchkey discovery'. Latchkey... Not a word he would use lightly. So let's hope that the data module your Lieutenant Commander stole contains it."

"Kat?" Carter asked Kat, looking a little bit shameful yet irritated.

"So that's what she had her hands on at the start of this mission…"

"Before you ask, I was alerted the moment you attempted to access its contents. As I am with any unauthorized tap." Kat placed the module in a container in the shield door. The way she dropped is was hesitant and cross, as if she really didn't want to throw it in there - and run away with it. Halsey pulls the container to her side of the door and retrieves the module, observing it closely. "That data is classified Tier One... I could send you to the brig for interfering with my work."

"Maybe you'd like to join her." Carter retorted. I chuckled to myself, and I swear I heard Emile do the same; possibly even Jun.

"Always count on Carter to defend his Team. Maybe that's why he's such a good guy. He doesn't treat us like puppets - he treats us like soldiers, one of his own."

"…I'm sorry?" She said, looking up at him. Kat seemed content, grateful of her Commander even. I would be, too, if that were me.

"We're currently under emergency planetary directive, WINTER CONTINGENCY. I'm sure you're familiar with the punishment for civilian interference with a Spartan deployment."

"Are you threatening me Commander?"

"Just making a reading suggestion ma'am. Let's move Noble Team." Kat followed Carter outside the Wing, Halsey closely pondering on the module, Emile and Jun coming after the two. I followed Jun, closely watching Carter's voice for any further instruction. Jorge, being so kind, asked Halsey,

"Ma'am?"

"That…will be all, Jorge." She was still analyzing the module, as if she didn't hear him.


On our way out, the Commander had looked at me, just as I was hoping he would.

"Six, I know you probably miss one thing in the world right now. I understand, from your file, that you're a sniper in training," Jun had his eye on me. He chuckled. Carter probably would have told me that Jun was Noble Team's sniper, which I already knew, but, in his wisdom, Carter let the conversation between Jun and I occur on its own.

"Looks like I've got some competition, I see." He hadn't put on his helmet until after he said those words, as if he wanted me to see that smirk on his face.

"Jun, I may be decent with hte rifle, but, noticing it since the beginning, you are the team's sniper; I'm just whatever I'm told. My only true preference of weapon is the DMR. If I can get my hands on a sniper, I'll use it. Otherwise, I'll use whatever I'm given."

"No, from what I've observed, Lieutenant, you're a mix of everything - including an assassin." I cocked my head.

"Has he really been paying attention to me?" I shook my head. Of course he has, he's the eagle eye of the team; Noble's watchful hawk. He sees everything.

"I look forward to sniping with you, Six. It should be fun, heh heh," He said putting some bullets into the rifle.

"The two of you will be under the command of Kat; all three of you won't be on your mission until nightfall." Carter doesn't seem to be one for small talk; Jun, I know, could talk all day. Personally, I could too. Especially if it means meeting new people. Sure, I'm a lone wolf; but even I need to meet new people.

"That's the best time for sniping." Jun nodded confidently, gripping his rifle tightly.

"And the best time for the hawk to snatch up its prey." I added. I don't know why I said it, but I felt as though I should. No one really answered, but Jun sure looked at me real hard.

"Have you always had the mind of a sharpshooter, Lieutenant?" I smirked behind my helmet.

"I prefer the term, 'Be the bullet'." I replied holding my DMR casually. Jun loosely pointed his finger at me, moving it up and down in fast motions.

"I like how you think, Six."

"Alright, Jun, hand her a rifle, and hop the bird on your way to your destination. Get prepped."

"I already am, Commander. I already am."

As I entered the Falcon, I grew peaceful of one thing; I was within breathing distance of Jun. It was nice to relax, as I prefer doing rather than constant moving and killing. Hence why I prefer waiting upon my prey. Looking at the sunset, I embraced the future time I would have with Jun. I think I was slowly starting to understand the feeling I had towards him.


Just for further clarification, I had always wondered what the transition was from level two to three was (actually, I grow curious with most of the level transitions of the Halo series) and I decided to add my own transition at the end. I probably could have done the same with the last few, but I feel a special connection between me and the third and fifth level. So stay tuned!

Next Time: Tyra and Jun have some bonding time.