(Reaper Team: Helshad)
Dr. Halsey has arranged a meeting for my fireteam. Once we all line up adjacent to her desk in her office, she stands and starts to brief us, "Fireteam Reaper, you all remember the story from your days as cadets? If you don't I'll repeat it for you: The glassy surface of Reach shimmered under the pale light of a distant star; its once vibrant cities now reduced to smoldering ruins. The Covenant's relentless assault had left the planet scarred and broken, its defenders overwhelmed and scattered. Amidst the wreckage, a figure clad in battered armor emerged from the shadows, the telltale markings of a spartan barely visible under the grime and debris. This spartan was different, though, a lone survivor of a squad lost in the chaos of battle. As the spartan navigated through the desolation, memories of fallen comrades flooded their mind, fueling a burning desire for vengeance. They knew the Covenant's forces would not rest until Reach was fully conquered, and they were determined to defy the odds and fight back. With a silent vow to honor the sacrifice of their fallen brothers and sisters, the spartan set out into the unknown, a ghost in the shadows, their true identity and motives shrouded in mystery."
"Yeah, yeah, Halsey. We've all heard the tale in training. What's it gotta do with Reaper Team though?" Asked Zack, with an annoyed tone. Halsey responds quickly to him, "If you would show some respect, Sierra-7737, I was getting to that. See, that 'tale' is true, a lone spartan survived Reach, but we don't know how. Theories say they took over a Covenant Phantom and some say they've been captured by the Banished. Nonetheless you need to find them; ONI expects it."
"Hold on ma'am, do we even know where this spartan is located or if they even need our help, and what could a half-dead soldier do for us?" I interrupt.
"A 'half-dead soldier?' Reaper One, he's going to be taking your place as Reaper Team leader." Halsey replies.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. You can't just demote Helshad, we don't even know what this guy is capable of." Zack steps in. Amanda follows, "He's right, how are we supposed to take orders from a spartan that has been alone for so long?"
"You have your orders, Reaper Team. It's best if you get to them." Halsey urges, dodging Amanda's question.
A few hours go by, and Zack and Amanda are making small talk while I devise a plan.
"Alright Reaper Team, drop on Reach is in a few hours. The plan is to deploy at a location where the Covenant were unusually active, suggesting our Spartan may have been there. From there, we'll track them down." I say, commanding my team. Zack and Amanda acknowledge me and then go back to their small talk, while I search through ONI's files on Reach.
While searching through ONI files, I discovered documents marking Covenant activity sites on Reach. Most are scattered around the planet, but a few hotspots stand out. Larger Covenant forces were deployed to specific locations: hills located far from any civilization, a MAC gun installation, and a vast expanse of canyons.
"Reaper Team, we drop at an old MAC gun, we start our search there." I state.
"Copy that," both Zack and Amanda reply.
We all head to the armory to gather our weapons; I grab a BR75 Battle Rifle and a VK78 Commando. Zack holsters a CQS48 Bulldog and an Mk50 Sidekick. Amanda arms herself with an MA40 Assault Rifle and an M392 Bandit. After we all have our weapons we go down the loading docks of the UNSC Valor's Edge and board a Pelican to get ready for drop.
After a few hours of flight, we descend onto the glassed ruins of a MAC gun and secure the area. While searching, we discover the body of Spartan A239, Noble Four. Further inspection reveals that his right shoulder plate was forcibly ripped off.
We move northeast a few kilometers, where another high-end Covenant assault occurred, but there is no tag. "This might be the individual we are searching for," I relay over comms to the rest of Reaper Team.
We walk for a couple hours and come across numerous ruins of Covenant ships and glassed-over bodies. Upon reaching the top of a hill, we start scanning the area for any signs of the spartan we were looking for.
"I see a small cave opening that seems to be around a few hours of a walk. Maybe there, sir?" Zack suggests.
"Let's head to it, no where else anyone could have gone." I reply.
As we approach the cave, I ready my BR75 Battle Rifle and take point. We walk for a while in the cave and come across a small camp, burned, but not by fire.
"Plasma weapons?" Amanda asks.
"Way to point out the obvious Reaper Three." Zack says sarcastically.
"Would you two stop bickering and help search this place?"
We end up finding nothing in the cave except a back entrance with a few glassed Banshee's.
"Those banshee's part of an ambush?" Amanda suggests
"Not quite, they're the only ones here. I doubt the rest of the Covenant have discovered this cave, considering the lack of ship ruins outside." I state.
"Guys? Who abandons a tac-knife in the middle of a cave?" Zack asks.
"A tac-knife? Let me see. This is possibly the spartan we're looking for." I state
"Well, a small crumb trail leads down to the West, to the ruins of New Alexandria." Zack points out.
"Then we follow it." I state.
Following a couple days of walking through the ruins of Alexandria, we come across a small clearing, with the body of, Spartan B320, Noble Two.
"What happened to her arm?" Zack asks a bit sarcastically.
"Her file stated that she lost her arm in a Banshee attack; it was supposed to be replaced with a mechanical arm." I read.
"Then where's her arm?" Zack asks, giggling a little.
"Check the rubble. It might give us a clue on where our spartan is." I command.
As the team searches the rubble, I ask my team's AI, "Clunker, what's our due on time for this mission?"
"According to ONI files you have under a week remaining." Clunker responds with a hint of helpfulness in his voice.
"Reaper Team, find anything yet?" a callout.
"Nothing yet, sir." Zack replies.
"I got something! Looks to be a toolbox of some sort, maybe to take off a mechanical arm?" Amanda states.
"Reaper One, a spartan tag was detected on a scarab far in the canyons a few miles south of where you landed," Clunker states.
"That has got to be our target! It'll take too long for us to walk there." I state to myself, then continue
"Clunker, could you call in for our pelican? We have a pin on our spartan."
Our pelican arrives not too long after Clunker calls for it, we set off towards the signal of the spartan. As we ride the rest of Reaper Team has questions.
"So what do we do when we find this new 'Reaper One'? Do you go down to Reaper Four or do we all get demoted?" Zack asked.
"We probably will all take one step down, I'll take the position of Reaper Two." I respond
"Drop is in two minutes, Reaper Team," states the pilot.
"Are we ready to go down there, sir - considering our worries? I mean we could just go back to ONI and say we didn't find anything and that it was a false alarm." Amanda suggests.
"Are you dumb, recruit? If ONI finds out we abandoned a mission, they'll have our heads," Zack says annoyed.
"We don't abandon a mission, I'm surprised they even let you join in with ops like this considering you're a spartan IV" I state. The pelican goes silent for a few minutes.
"Drop is ten seconds out." The pilot states.
We all stand up and open the back of the Pelican.
"Drop is now." The pilot counts. Upon the pilot's mark, we all drop out of the pelican, diving down towards the Scarab.
"Clunker, is the tag still there?" I ask.
"Affirmative, sir," Clunker responds.
"Two, Three, you both take the flank. I'll go in through the front. In case this guy tries to rabbit, we want him boxed in." I command.
"Copy that sir." Zack responds.
The team branches off from me while diving, once we land and all of us are in position we move in.
"Clunker, do you know the status of the spartan inside?" I ask, while moving through the scarab's top layer, while my team closes in.
"One active sir, the other MIA," Clunker says hopefully.
"Copy that Clunker," I respond, moving down into the cockpit of the scarab, holding my battle rifle at the ready. I turn a corner and see a crashed pelican inside the scarab.
"Reaper One, the tag signals are coming from inside the pelican." Clunker says informingly.
"Thanks, Clunker." I say softly trying not to blow my cover.
I take a step inside the pelican to find an MA37 assault rifle pointed at me.
"Who are you?" Says the spartan holding the assault rifle. "Why are you here?"
"Fireteam Reaper; we're here to rescue a spartan stranded here. How about you?" I reply.
"I'm a lieutenant for the UNSC. My team was wiped out during the fight for Reach. ONI took control of my team and we completed the mission we were set to finish," the Spartan replied.
"Why come to this place? It's a ruin."
"I'm scavenging." The Spartan replied. He steps out of the shadows to reveal a cracked helmet, Emile's missing shoulder plate, and another armor plate that looks recently attached.
The MIA tag is originating from Spartan Carter A259, Noble One.
The rest of Reaper Team comes down to the engine of the scarab.
"Who the hell is this?" Zack asks, a bit ticked off.
"This is our target. The role of Reaper One is now theirs." I state.
"Well, I don't like him; scavenging the armor off of his fallen comrades. He's weak!" Zack shouts.
"You're just pissed a spartan II like you couldn't survive this," The spartan states.
Before Zack could react, a Banished ship siren goes off.
"Shit, they know we invaded Reach. Amanda, call in for evac." I say, slightly surprised.
"What are the Banished? Are you saying the Covenant war ended?" The spartan exclaims with confusion.
"It's a long story, but we need to get out of here. Now!" I shout, in a panicked voice.
As we all surface from the scarab, a Brute army stands in our way.
"Amanda, how are we looking for evac?" I ask with a more rushed tone.
"ETA five minutes." Amanda replies.
"Well Reaper Team, let's buy ourselves some time," Reaper One exclaims. The Brutes start charging us with their bladed weapons, firing as soon as they get close enough.
I draw my VK78 Commando, a marksman rifle, and open fire on the oncoming Brute onslaught.
Zack draws his Crysknife and his Sidekick to charge straight for the army of Brutes. Amanda draws an MA40 assault rifle and starts to open fire on the Brutes as well. Reaper One single-handedly fires his MA37 assault rifle while holding an M6G magnum in the other hand.
Several minutes pass, and our pelican hovers overhead, ready to land and pick us up. As we clear an area for its descent, a Brute Chieftain bursts through the ranks, slamming a modified gravity hammer down equidistant from me, Amanda, and Reaper One. The force of the impact launches us several feet away.
Regaining my senses, I witness Zack disarming the Chieftain, engaging him in a brutal brawl. Out of the corner of my eye, I spot another Brute atop a hill, armed with a Skewer. With deadly accuracy, he fires into the pelican, killing the pilot and sending the aircraft crashing down.