The next day, Simon saw Noah, wearing a green t-shirt, blue jeans, and sneakers, heading for the firing range with his AR. Simon noticed that this was the first time he'd seen the Sergeant without his armor. He was thin, but still had a little muscle on him, probably a result of his training. He had short, regulation-obeying blonde hair, piercing green eyes, and very pale skin. Simon decided that now was a good time to talk to the young SPARTAN-III before he went off on one of his tangents again. "Sergeant, wait up!" Simon called. Noah turned his head.

"What do you want, Simon? I gotta practice my shooting for my next mission."

Simon rolled his eyes. "You mean your next unauthorized tangent."

Noah shrugged. "Call it what you want, but with the way I do things, there are less casualties, therefore, there are more soldiers for the really big missions."

"That might be true, but you're also disobeying orders and making the UNSC Infinity look bad. What would Angel think of that?" Simon asked. Noah's fists clenched. How did Simon know about his sister? The only people he told were Commander Palmer... and Lieutenant Commander Austin. The LIeutenant Commander must've told Simon, that backstabbing SPARTAN shrimp!

"How the hell would you know what my sister thinks? You didn't know her. You didn't grow up with her. You didn't watch her die." Noah growled.

"That's true, but I did watch her progress in battle. Yours too. The both of you worked well together. You were strategic when you needed to be, merciful when you chose to be, and swift when you wanted to be. Then Angel died and you went rogue." Simon recalled.

"You'll never understand it, Simon. She wasn't just my sister. She was my twin sister. Twins have a bond stronger than normal siblings. When one is gone, the other feels like something is missing. Like a part of them is gone. After Emily died, I felt too scared to cooperate again. I didn't want more innocent blood on my hands."

Simon raised an eyebrow. "More innocent blood?"

"Emily's death was my fault. I was reckless and decided to go after an Elite by myself. I thought that the Grunts were too easy. Dumb move on my part. The Elite almost killed me, but then Emily shot in in the arm. It turned her attention on her. She looked at me one last time and told me to run. Then..." Noah turned away, not wanting Simon to see his tears.

"She put up a good fight. But in the end, the Elite got her with that Energy sword." Simon finished.

Noah turned his head. "Happy now? You know how my sister died. And it was my fault. That's why I fight solo." With that, he walked off.

-

"He blames himself for his sister's death? That's why he fights alone?" Austin asked when Simon had reported what he had learned.

"Yup. He says he doesn't want anymore innocent blood on his hands, which is why he fights solo." Simon replied. Suddenly, an alarm went off, its glow bathing the entire Infinity in it's red light.

"What's going on?!" Austin demanded. Captain Thomas Lasky's rushed into the room.

"A sole Elite is down on the planet's surface. It's battered, scarred, and missing an eye. I'm pretty sure it's the same Elite that killed Recruit Angel a few years back."

Austin's eyes widened. "Saint... is he...?"

"Already planetside. He's got his AR, 4 grenades, and his fuel rod gun." Lasky reported.

"That idiot! He'll get killed!" Simon exclaimed.

"No, he won't. Simon, Capt. Lasky, you two will come with me. We're going to help our brother-in-arms." Austin ordered.