Vesper stared across Reach's red sky, cameras on the front of her Gungnir helmet showing her the planet's dying gasps with cold indifference. Banshees and Phantoms spelled covenant that would try to end her, snuff her out like they did to Reach. Too bad they'd never find her.

The active camouflage module, reverse engineered from covenant technology, would allow her to stay hidden for about 15 seconds, more than long enough for someone like her to lose anyone watching her. Light warped around her armor and she slunk away, deadened hearing inducing a numbness in her chest that she just couldn't shake no matter how well she hid.

She slipped around patrol after patrol heading for one last stand at Castle base. The tight corridors and secret passages allowed to someone with her clearance would allow her to last much longer against the invading force than a prolonged fight in the open. Who knew, maybe someone else would be there. She hadn't seen Jun die like everyone else, after all.

When she saw Jun, he'd just finished putting his helmet back on. Corpses surrounded him, both human and covenant. Mostly spec-ops elites, but also a hunter pair. No easy feat, but she wouldn't expect anything less from the team's sniper. Vesper let the active camouflage fade and—

Jun's rifle rang out, she saw the world slow around her, moved to dodge the sniper's shot—

The bullet had carved a furrow into her wrist's armor. A dull ache spread through her arm. At least it was still attached.

"Shit Six, warn a guy next time. I almost took your head off."

She shrugged in response. He'd do well to remember her stealth, even if he didn't expect her to still be alive. They'd snuck their way around the covenant invading army together, after all. Briefly, she wondered what had happened to the colonial militia members they'd encountered back then, they'd seemed determined to defend their own—

"So what now, Six? You're the ranking officer here. I had planned to take out as many aliens as I could to buy Halsey some time."

One of the dead trooper's radios crackled to life.

"I say again: That's a negative, Golden Arrow. I've got high value assets in tow and strict orders to drop them directly on your—"

Static interrupted the broadcast before it picked back up.

"If I can't set her down, I'll just drop these big Spartans on your head, out."

The signal cut out again. Vesper took the trooper's helmet, tuning her own comm system to the frequency the pilot was arguing on. The signal got much clearer.

"—didn't you say so? Come down close to the tree line at 2.3 clicks west of your current position. That's where me and my boys are, over."

Vesper spoke over the radio, "They still need our help. Still work to do. We do what we can, help who we can, and maybe live to see tomorrow."

"Good enough for me."

"Roger that, I'll see you. Out."

Traveling with Jun was an interesting experience. He was obviously used to working in a two man group, maybe a headhunter? She hadn't read up on the rest of Noble as much as she could have as a sign of respect. No one liked a spy, and there was no reason to cause unnecessary friction.

The two followed the covenant to exactly where they needed to be. They watched Wraiths roll in a column, along with a couple hundred miscellaneous grunts, jackals, and elites. No engineers, brutes, or hunters that they could see.

Vesper keyed the radio, broadcasting directly to the UNSC Battlenet.

"This is Sierra B-312, broadcasting to all remaining UNSC forces in the area. Covenant armored division with infantry, moving west, six kilometers an hour. Grid 20 x 24. Over."

The radio crackled in response for a few seconds, before a response filtered through.

"Beta-Romeo Actual here. Didn't know there were any S-3s left. We've got a visual on them now. Anything you can bring to bear against them, soften them up for us? Over."

"... I'll see what I can do. Watch for the signal. Out."

Vesper sat for a second, before looking over to Jun. The two had worked with each other long enough for him to pick up on her body language.

"Looking for some advice, Six? What's on your mind? We're gonna make some noise aren't we?"

"I'm not going back alone again. Not leaving you back here to die. We're sticking together, flanking. I'll use this-"

Six motions to a Spartan laser on her shoulder that she found on the way.

"And you'll pick off anything that gets close with that."

She motions to Jun's sniper. He was more than skilled enough to pull it off, from what she'd seen.

"Then we meet up with Beta-Romeo actual, whoever that is? Guess it's not gonna be so different than before, huh boss?"

"Vesper."

"What?"

"My name. It's Vesper. Now come on, the day's not over yet."

A solid crimson beam lanced towards the covenant armor from her Spartan laser. Her helmet had developed alongside the laser, and she'd tested it as well. It allowed her pinpoint accuracy at ridiculous distances. The lead wraith fell to the ground and exploded from the inside out, pilot cooking away and reducing the tank to a smoking wreck.

Three more shots.

Jun's rifle barked a steady stream of shots as the covenant scattered, the red beam had revealed their location but they hadn't been expecting it. Wraiths turned towards the two, but they were already moving.

The two ducked behind a ridge, running westward. The radio crackled.

"Let's hope we won't need them to. Defensive perimeter online."

Defensive turrets like the ones she'd used beneath Sword base opened ahead of them, distracting and confusing the covenant line.

"You ain't gonna believe this! Beta Red just punched right up into the guts of that Covie Column! Ever see a Spartan go hand to hand with a wraith? Unbelievable!"

Six crested a ridge, helmet optics finding her a new target, laser charging for another beam. She keyed the radio.

"Beta-Red, we're on our way to you. We'll—"

"Negative, Noble. Follow behind Gamma, they'll need you more than we do. Make sure they get off this planet, alright?"

The laser fired as soon as the line went dead and three covenant cruisers broke through the clouds.

Two shots left. Better make them count.

"Jun. Beta-Red's sending us with the marines."

"Babysitting again, boss? Let's get moving then. Beta-Red won't last forever on their own with those cruisers overhead."

The cruisers did not stay overhead for long. While making their way to the remnants of Gamma, the two Spartans felt their bones rattle as six MAC rounds tore through the covenant cruisers and the surrounding area. A few marines had survived the blast, but Beta-Red had been right at the center. If they were still alive, they hadn't said anything.

The evacuation site wasn't far now. Jun and Vesper walked side by side at the back of the marine column, taking comfort in the shared silence. After the cruisers were blown out of the sky, they were much less persistent in their search.

It was a somber thing to walk away from such bravery. Some small part of Vesper regretted not staying behind, not sacrificing herself to reduce as much of the covenant population as she could, to take her revenge . Her brothers and sisters died on Reach, it almost felt wrong not to share the same fate. At the same time, Jorge had told her that people would need her around, Carter had told her that Halsey's AI had made the right choice, even Emile had told her to get off of the planet, abrasive as he was.

Vesper was meant to keep living, keep fighting . She owed Jorge, and Reach, as much.