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 need to say this at his point but just in case.
Responses to questions or statements:
-Gwynx: Thanks man, hope you found this chapter to be satisfactory.
-Krieger Techpreist: Yeah, pretty much.
-Mythic Imagination: Thank you very much, hope you like this chapter.
-Onxio: Sorry, do you mean that you don't like my update schedule. If that's the case, I apologize but I have to tell you that I'm not a fast writer. It's difficult for me to even write a few hundred words when I create a chapter, especially if the chapter ends up being a few thousand words which I often try to do. Not to mention when I don't have the motivation or if my brain just cannot come up with ideas on what to write. Again, I apologize for this.
-WarCorgi: Thanks, I always felt that was weird too. I mean, if Six or any of one of the Sabre pilots destroyed the cannons, the Savannah wouldn't been lost. There was nothing stopping them from doing so since they had already took out the Corvette's anti-fighter defenses and there were no more Banshees and Seraphs left in the AO. Even if Six was the only Sabre left, the Savannah could have just launched a Longsword wing to neutralize the anti-ship guns. Guess the developers just wanted to have an emotional moment in the mission. Not saying it was a bad idea as it helped showed the player the stakes and sacrifices made in Reach's defense, I'm just saying it just doesn't make much sense when you think about it which kind of makes the destruction of the Savannah seem a bit forced when it easily could've been avoided. But that's just me, apologizes for the small rant.
-Edboy4926: Thank you very much, hope you enjoy this chapter. For the moment, I plan on having the MC not tell the truth about how his knowledge. Whenever someone questions him on it, he'll come up with an excuse like instinct or something like that.
Now with that out of the way, onto the chapter!
Chapter 10
(Time: August 16, 2552)
(Location: Alfold province, Reach)
Landing on his feet with a thud and kicking up a cloud of dirt and dust, Casper-B312 began pulling in his parachute as he took in the sight of the lower half of what remained of the recently destroyed Covenant Super-Carrier he and Jorge were tasked with destroying. The once massive behemoth of a starship was now reduced to a burnt wreck as a result of its shields being offline when it re-entered Reach's atmosphere. A few blue fires were scatted across what was left of the hull's husk as debris continued to fall from the sky, leaving behind a smoking trail akin to that of a meteor as they were plummeted down to the planet due to being caught in Reach's gravitational pull.
The sight was strangely beautiful if one discarded the fact that just a few hours ago the ship was demolishing Reach's defense forces.
Rabidly shaking his head to bring himself back onto task, Six removed his now defunct orbital re-entry pack and began scanning the area for any sign of Covenant troops. Not lingering on any one spot for two long. Soon as he was sure that his surroundings were devoid of alien life, as he took out the M6C placed inside the pack and inserted the magazine inside, racking the slide before conducting a quick brass check, satisfied at the sight of a round of 12.7x99mm in the pistol's chamber. Magnetically attaching it to his thigh on his right leg, he immediately began searching for his fellow Spartan and what remained of the coast guard team that assisted them in transporting the makeshift bomb onto the Covenant Corvette.
It wasn't long before he ran across the two remaining coasties, one of whom was helping the other take off his re-entry pack. They had managed to take the pack off by the time Six made it to where they were.
"You two alright?" Casper asked the two men.
"We're good, Lieutenant." One of the guardsmen answered as they took out a M6C from his re-entry pack and holstered it on his right thigh.
"Pack up what you can." Six ordered before he turned on his wrist mounted TACTPAD.
The only one that was still missing was Noble Five, who wasn't answering Casper's attempts attempt to hail him on their SQUADCOMM. However, Casper knew he wasn't dead as he saw him pull parachute on the way down along with the fact that his suit's armor was transmitting active vitals which indicated that he was still kicking.
Six instructed the two coastal guardsmen to follow him before activating the blue force tracker on his wrist-mounted computer. It began pinging Jorge's IFF tag which was located about a hundred meters west.
After almost ten minutes of walking across the deserted landscape, they soon found the Spartan-II.
There was no indication that Jorge seemed aware of their arrival, as he didn't say a word to the group and continued staring at the crashed remains of the recently destroyed Covenant Super-Carrier, his re-entry pack on the earth behind him as he was standing as still as a statue as he was still processing everything that had just happened. How despite all their efforts, the planet which he called home would soon fall and how it seemed inevitable at this point if the size of the Covenant fleet that just warped in was anything to go by. Despite how much he didn't want to attempt, he soon conceded as the logical and rational part of his brain overpowered his emotional and optimistic side as his mind started giving in to despair at the very idea of the planet, he called home being glassed. And that despite all his efforts, after everything he had done, it was all for naught.
He was dangerously close to falling right into despair at that very moment.
"Hey, Jorge." Casper spoked up, breaking the Spartan-II out of his internal despair, and drawing his attention over to him for a brief moment before returning his gaze back to the Covenant wreck, not saying a word.
Sighing, Six walked to stand beside his teammate. After a few seconds of silence, the Spartan-III spoke again. "Look, Jorge. I understand how you're feeling, and I know what you're going through. But we can't stay here: we need to get moving before any Covenant show up."
Noble Five gave one last glance at the burning wreckage of the Covenant Super-Carrier before turning back to Six and giving him a curt nod in acknowledgement.
Jorge and the two remaining costal guardsmen collected their remaining gear as Six pulled up a map of the area on his TACTPAD, showing their current coordinates and the location of any nearby metropolises or military installations. The tracker was also showing locations of identified Covenant signatures and current positions of UNSC Colonial Guard, regular Army, and Marine assets in the area.
Unfortunately, they had a lot more enemy tags than friendlies. Including the Spirit, Phantom, and Banshee squadrons heading straight to their location. ETA: about thirty minutes.
"Nearest population center is New Alexandria, which is a few days trek that way," Casper informed the rest of the group as he chopped his hand in the direction of Reach's largest and most populated city. "I say we start making our way in that direction and link up with who we can."
"Can't we just radio in that we're still alive and request a bird to pick us up?" One of the coasties asked.
"Negative," Six answered as he shook his head after taking another look at the information on his TACTPAD. "According to the battle net, there are no friendly units nearby and Charlie has a large force inbound to this location. Trying to radio for evac now would risk compromising our position and draw them to us. And we ain't exactly armed to the teeth at the moment." The hyper-lethal gestured to their sidearms and the one extra magazine each of them had.
"Agreed," Jorge chimed in with a nod. "For now, we'll maintain radio silence until we rendezvous with friendlies, or we reach a more secure position. Whichever one comes first."
The two remaining coasties both gave a nod in acknowledgement as Jorge took the M6C in his orbital re-entry pack and two magazines for the weapon. Placing one inside before racking the pistol's slide and putting the other mag in one of his armor's pouches that were designed for pistol mags.
Jorge and Casper also each performed a quick diagnostic on their armor to make sure that the re-entry didn't cause any damage or issues with their suits. A few seconds later, the diagnostic was complete and indicated that all of their systems were in the green, which was a relief to the two super-soldiers as having your equipment break down in a firefight was one of the worst things that can happen: especially if it's a Spartan's MJONIR armor. It's why the multi-million-dollar suits had entire teams of tech experts and specialists dedicated solely to maintaining and making repairs to them whenever the Spartans were off-mission, which was very costly in of itself.
It was also a reason why there was friction of those who ran the Spartan programs and other branches. As there were arguments made that those funds would be better used elsewhere such as new frigates, destroyers, fighter jets, UAVs, armor, small arms, etc.
Fortunately, HIGHCOM-or more specifically Lord Hood- leaned more in favor of the Spartans as they've repeatedly proved their effectiveness on multiple occasions. Accomplishing objectives and finishing missions that few other SMU or SOF team could've done with less casualties than originally predicted.
But that was more on the Spartan-II side, as the Spartan-III program suffered extensive casualties during their deployments. Raising questions from a few generals and admirals who knew about the project, to begin asking whether or not the program was worth all the extensive funding, personnel, and resources that was put into it.
But this wasn't the time for that conversation.
"Let's get moving. We're burning daylight." Casper instructed once they were sure they collected everything of use.
The hike was spent in near silence as everyone remained quiet unless they had something to say to the others. For the next couple of hours, they encounter no sign of any Covenant forces other than the occasional Banshee or Phantom flying off in the distance, thankfully the alien craft didn't spot the four-man group as they continued heading to New Alexandria, stopping every now and then to take a breather and take a bite or two out of the few MREs they had on them.
Along the way, the ground started vibrating as they could see several MSM-25 Avatar surface-to-orbit anti-ship missiles being launched from UNSC air force missile silos off the distance miles away from their current position, leaving behind a trail of smoke as they headed upwards. As soon as they reached atmosphere, they could see the boosters falling back down before a series of bright lights flashed as bright as a star before just as quickly disappearing. Signaling that the missiles had either hit their intended target which were most likely Covenant capital ships, since they were carrying the W706 VENGENANCE warhead as a payload, making it idea for taking out-or at the very least disable- Covenant warships.
After a few more hours of walking, the sun was starting to set over the area as darkness began replacing the light of the sun. Resulting in the group making the unanimous decision to make camp and rest for the night and continue in the morning.
Not too long later, they came upon a cave which they decided to take shelter in. It wasn't long before the two coastal guardsmen were fast asleep, leaving the two super-soldiers as the only ones still awake.
"So, what's the situation?" Jorge asked as he sat down beside his teammate and removed his GRENADIER helmet, placing it beside him.
"FUBAR pretty much sums up the situation all across the planet." Casper informed dryly. "7th Air Cav's been deployed to New Alexandria along with the 40th Infantry Division to help with evacuating the city. CENTCOM has already issued a planetary wide evacuation order for the populace and the alert level has been raised to DEFCON 1. Every available military unit stationed planet side is being deployed to help with the evacuation by forming defensive lines around the space ports and elevators, others are fighting Charlie within the cities. COLE Protocol has been enacted for the entire system."
"What about the fleets sent by STRATCOM?"
"Far as I can tell, the battle groups that are already en route have been briefed on the situation with continued instructions to reinforce Reach for the battle ahead. As for anything else, that's above my clearance level."
"That's all I got at the moment." The Spartan-III stated. "Ever since the Covenant fleet arrived the whole battle nets turned into a beehive with activity."
"You have any word on the team?" Noble Five inquired with a hint of worry in his voice. No doubt as a result of his concern for the rest of the Spartan unit.
"I haven't been able to get in touch with them since we landed, same thing with Colonel Holland. Can't say I'm surprised as they've probably got a lot on their plate at the moment." Noble Six explained. "Don't worry, Jorge. I'm sure they're alright, we'll link up with them soon enough. Until then I say try not to worry about it too much, they can take care of themselves."
Jorge didn't reply as he lowered his head slightly and gazed blanky at the ground. The atmosphere in the corridor became a lot more downtrodden as the Spartan-II's feelings of hopelessness and dejection could be felt by his fellow Spartan sitting right next to him.
"You alright, mate?" Six asked Noble Team's heavy weapon specialist, who looked more down than he had ever been in the time the two have known each other.
"To be honest, I'm not, Casper." Noble Five said truthfully as he took off his helmet, revealing a sadden expression on his face with a grim look in his eyes. "I just… I never would've believed this day would come."
In an attempt to comfort his teammate with his internal despair, Casper gave Jorge a few light reassuring taps on his shoulder.
"Look, Jorge. You can't blame yourself. Sometimes stuff just happens that's outside of your control and all you can do is make the best of it."
"I was ready, you know." Noble Five revealed after a few seconds of silence. "I was prepared to stay behind to set off the bomb." He chucked darkly. "Guess it would've been for nothing, huh."
Jorge would've never admitted it out loud, but a small part of him kind of wish he did die back on the Corvette. At least he wouldn't died with the belief that he saved Reach from complete and total annihilation. He would have gone into the afterlife with a smile on his face.
"Look, it doesn't matter; what could've happened, what should've, it makes no difference now. You'll have plenty of time to ponder on that later. The only thing that matters is what you do right now. "
"If you're trying to be motivational right now, I can say that it needs a lot more work."
"Well, that's the best you're going to get. So, either take it or leave it." Six responded with a small hint of sarcasm in his voice.
The two super-soldiers shared a small laugh before silence filled the room once again.
"Get some rest," Six suggested before he grabbed his M6C off his right thigh and stood up, performing a quick press check on the weapon before walking the cave's entrance. "I'll take the first watch."
"You?" Jorge chuckled in clear amusement, skepticism, and a small bit of humor. "You're volunteering to stay up?"
"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up," Six replied sarcastically. "Just go to sleep before I change my mind. I'll wake you up in a few hours." Casper took a few steps towards the entrance to the cave before stopping at the sound of Noble Five's voice again.
"Casper?"
"Yeah, Jorge?" The Spartan-II turned back towards his squad mate and leaned against the nearby rock wall. Given him an expectant look.
"What made you think we were going to need an extra timer of the bomb?"
"I didn't," Six replied without a second of hesitation. "I took it just in case if something went wrong and we needed it."
"Don't get me wrong, it's a good thing you do; otherwise, one of us would've had to stay behind. I'm just curious as to why you grabbed it in the first place."
"It's like my dad used to tell me. "Casper shrugged, "Hope for the best, prepare for the worst no matter how unlikely that may be." He answered with a bit of fondness in his voice.
"I see, he sounds like a wise man." Jorge replied.
Six nodded in response. "He was, he wasn't around all that much and sometimes he could be a bit overbearing . But overall, he was a good father to me." Noble Six let out a tired sigh. "Hope he's doing alright; wherever he is now."
"You remember your parents, Casper?"
"Not my mom, I didn't know her too well." Six revealed to the Spartan-II. "My dad, I remember him. Greatest man I've ever known, even if he was a bit of hard on me sometimes." The Spartan-III let out a tired sigh. "My brother and I didn't hang out all that much. But we had some good times and he was alright."
"I'm sorry," Noble Five offered his condolences.
"Yeah…" Casper replied with a bit of hesitancy, before muttering a quick prayer and making a sign of the cross. Not revealing that when he died in his previous life, his father was still alive along with his brother. Sure, he had new parents when he first arrived in the Halo universe, but he didn't know them too well as he wasn't with them for very long to be "raised" by them. Still, they seemed alright from what he could tell.
Now that he thought about, they were probably the reason why he joined the Spartan-III program when he got the chance, to make sure their efforts to save him when the Covenant invaded didn't go to waste.
"What?" He questioned as he noticed Noble Five giving him a look.
"Nothing," Jorge answered. "Just…didn't know you were religious."
"Well, I am," Noble Six replied dryly. "And now you do."
"What about you?" Casper inquired. "You remember your folks? I mean, your actual parents who gave birth to you. I know you Spartan-IIs considered Doctor Halsey and CPO Mendez as parental figures."
"Not a whole lot," Jorge answered. "I remember my mother's cooking though and my father playing catch with me, but that's about it."
"You miss them?"
"I did when I was first inducted into the Spartans. Now, I only do sometimes."
"You ever though about trying to find them?"
"No," Noble Five shook his head. "I mean, I though about it but eventually I decided it was better for them to think I was dead."
"Well, maybe when this is all over you can pay them a visit." Casper suggested to his team mate.
"I don't know. I mean, it's been years. They probably wouldn't even recognize me if they're even alive that is."
"Well, I mean, would it really be so bad for them to know that their son is alive?"
Jorge didn't answer verbally, as he turned his gaze to the ground. Thinking on his teammate's words.
"It's your choice, Jorge." Casper shrugged. "I'm just giving you my thoughts on the matter, it's up to you whether or not you want to go through with it." The Spartan-III didn't wait for a reply as he headed to the entryway into the cave to stand watch.
As minutes turned to hours, Casper couldn't stop himself from pondering on the whereabouts and well being of his dad and brother. Just because he had already accepted the fact that he would never see them again didn't stop him from worrying whenever he began thinking on the subject. Casper wondered sometimes if they would get reincarnated into the Halo universe just as he had when they themselves bit the dust. Or would they get reborn into an entirely different universe.
Shaking his head, he decided not to think about it anymore as he knew it wouldn't help with his current predicament. However, he mumbled a quick prayer for them if only to help calm his worries by a marginally amount.
"If you two are hearing this, I hope you guys are alright. Take care of yourselves."
That's it for now, hope this chapter was satisfactory. As always, thanks again for taking the time to read my story and for the favs and follows. Don't mean to sound like a youtuber asking people to subscribe but I really do appreciate it. Again, hope this chapter was satisfactory.
Have a good day and remember… stay frosty, gents.
