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.

Author's note: So this fanfic is intended to be a prequel to my other Halo story "Unbreakable,". This story shows what happened during the fall of Reach and before the events of that story. You don't need to read it first to understand this one, so hopefully you don't get lost.

Anyways, thank you for taking the time to check out this story and I hope you all enjoy it.

Now without further ado, onto the story!

Chapter 1:

(Flashback)

(Location: Iraq)

Lieutenant James Graham of the United States Navy was currently scanning for any hostiles as the convoy he was in rolled down the empty, bumpy road as they made their way to their objective. Quickly conducting a brass check on his M4A1 Carbine to make sure it was ready for action before turning back at the desert landscape as it passed by.

After a few minutes, he pulled out his canteen and took a big gulp of water before putting it back in his assault pack. Trying to keep his mind off the heat as he felt he was inside of a microwave as the air conditioning for the HMMWV was broken for the second time in two weeks. Not really surprising when your "military-grade" equipment comes from the lowest-bidder. Stuff tends to break easily.

The reason he was apart of this mission was that they got word that there was a potential bomb threat that was called in from a patrol at a city that was near the Forward-operating base he was stationed at and he was one of the few Explosive-Ordinance Disposal specialists that was available at the moment.

Right now he was rolling with a platoon sized force from the twenty-ninth Infantry Division that was deploying as a QRF in response to the bomb threat. Taking a quick glance at his watch, he saw that it was still going to be another hour until they reached their destination. During this time he began to reflect on his life leading up to this moment.

He was born and grew up in the city of Cheyenne, Wyoming and was raised by his father along with his younger brother. Their dad was never around much as he had to work most of the time to pay the bills, therefore Graham and his brother had to do much of the housework. Graham was never really a smart kid growing up, in school his brother was the kid that mostly got straight As while he just barely passed most of the time.

James never really had close friends growing up. He mostly remained introverted and was diagnosed with Schizoid personality disorder when he was younger. He tended to avoid social activities and he would usually shy away from interaction with others, even with his dad and brother. Growing up he was a fan of many video game franchises such as Crysis, STALKER, Metro, Mass Effect, Dead Space, Fallout, Titanfall, and his favorite, HALO. While he had never read the books and did not know too much of the expanded universe, he still loved the games.

After he had graduated from high school and turned eighteen, he was unsure of what he wanted to do with his life. He was never really particularly good at anything such as science or math. Eventually, he decided to join the military cause he figured it could help him figure out what he was good at and maybe see the world at the same time. A few days after graduation, he went down to his local recruiting office and enlisted into the United States Army, where he became an 11-Bravo. Infantry. Once he had completed basic training, he was assigned to the Tenth Mountain Division when he was first deployed to Afghanistan.

The platoon he was apart of was stationed in a small combat outpost near the mountainside of a valley that was close to a village. During the fighting season, rebel fighters would lob mortar rounds at the outpost and open fire on them with machine gun bursts before disappearing. They had rigged IEDs and placed them near patrol routes and ambushed the soldiers from trees and rocks.

While to most it would've been pretty frightening, Graham fought it to be exhilarating. When firefights occurred, it was in those moments where he felt more alive than the rest of his life put together. He found it exciting as bullets whizzed by, mortar rounds landed all around him and as the adrenaline flowed through his veins. As long no one had died, he found it to be a pretty enjoyable experience.

It was during the deployment where he realized that fighting was something he was pretty good at.

Once he had completed his contract, he reenlisted into the Navy and became an EOD specialist. Which meant that his new job was locating and disarming explosives in the middle of warzones such as unexploded mortar or artillery rounds, IEDs, and mines. It was pretty terrifying at times as one single mistake can cause it to detonate and scatter your remains all over the block. Sometimes, Graham was assigned as a liaison to various Special operations units such as the Army Rangers, Marine Raiders, Force Recon Marines, Navy Seals, Green Berets, and Delta Force. During his time in joint training exercises or missions, he had become well trained in various skill sets such as reconnaissance, guerilla warfare, marksmanship, and close-quarters battle. As of now this was his sixth deployment since he became an EOD tech.

"How much longer till we get there Sergeant?" asked Private Wilson who was sitting opposite of Graham, snapping him out of his thoughts. This was Wilson's first deployment so he was still kind of learning the ropes.

"Wilson...I promise you, if you ask that question one more time I'm gonna NJP you when we get back to base." Sergeant Hendrix replied back to the Private. While to most people it would seem like he was completely serious, Graham knew he was mostly joking as most of the men in the unit were pretty cool with each other, even with Wilson who was still considered to be an FNG.

The others knew that too as everyone in the HMMWV let out a small chuckle.

"So, Graham. How's your dad and brother doing?" The driver, Private First Class Jacobson, asked the only Sailor in the vehicle. Graham was always known as kind of loner with everyone. He never really spoke to anyone outside of missions and mostly preferred being left alone. Occasionally, he would participate in a conservation, but even then he only answered the question and not much else.

"Alright I guess. Brother finished up at MIT and my dad stated dating again. Gonna meet up with them for a barbecue at my next shore leave." The EOD specialist indulged them before retuning his gaze back out the window of the HMMWV.

"That's nice. What about you Sergeant? How are you doing?"

"Other than my wife divorcing me and not even bothering to tell me or give me the papers until I got back, I'm all fine and dandy. Thank you for asking." Hendrix replied with sarcasm dripping in his voice as he gave a quick glance at the driver of the HMMWV.

"Yeah...sorry to hear about that Sergeant." Wilson said with sympathy. It wasn't uncommon for serviceman to be cheated on by their significant others, or to receive a 'Dear John' letter when they were deployed overseas.

The Sergeant let out a small sigh before he spoke up. "It's fine, nothing we can do about it. How about you, Wilson?"

"Parents are doing alright. My sister , Emily, is getting married this summer, still don't have a date to attend with." Wilson responded.

"Well if you're looking for someone I can give you my ex's number." Jacobson laughed out.

Before anyone could say anything else, an ear-shattering explosion from a buried IED rocked the vehicle.

(Flashback ends)

(Present time)

(July 24, 2552, Reach)

Snapping his eyes open, the man that was once known as James Graham, who was now known as Casper-B312, instinctively moved his hand to his sidearm that was holstered on his right thigh as he immediately began scanning his surroundings for any sign of threats.

Looking around he saw that he was in the passenger side of a M12 FAV Warthog and that the vehicle was driving down a dirt road. Glancing his head to the left he saw the UNSC Army trooper that was assigned to take him to his new unit keeping his eyes on the road as he drove the vehicle. Realizing that the area was clear, and recognizing where he was, he relaxed his posture and took his hand off his pistol. After about a minute of silence, he looked down as his GUNGNIR helmet that sat on his left thigh before picking it up and placing it on his head and activated the Heads-up display as he began running a systems diagnostic on his MJOLNIR armor. Soon, the diagnostic was complete as everything seemed to check out.

Casper still found it hard to believe at times that he was living in the Halo universe, despite the fact that he has been here for years already. Sometimes when he slept he dreamt that he was back in his original life with his brother and father, though they've been occurring less frequently in recent years, the one he just had was the first one this year. Although he still missed them dearly, he had come to terms with the fact that it was unlikely that he would ever see them again. He still hoped that wherever they were, they were alright as well as kept them in his prayers.

He still remembered when he first arrived in the Halo Universe. The planet he was born on was called Jericho VII and he was the son to new parents. They seemed to be nice people, unfortunately, Casper didn't know them very long as a Covenant fleet soon attacked the planet and glassed it. He had barely managed to escape before the planet fell, his new parents staying behind as there wasn't enough room left on the evacuation transport.

After a few weeks after he arrived at a refugee camp, he was approached by a man from ONI who asked him if he wanted to get revenge on those that took everything from him. He didn't even hesitated in agreeing and joining up with the program.

Once he had graduated from the Spartan III project, he was placed under the command of Colonel James Ackerson. While the Colonel had a bad rep in the Halo community and even in universe as well, Casper didn't find him all that bad. Sure, he was a bit petty at times and sent many people to their deaths, but there was no doubt in Casper's mind that he cared about the survival of Mankind and he was definitely not afraid to fight up close and personal if he had to. The missions that he found himself assigned to were mainly long-range recon, sabotage, guerilla warfare, high-value target capture and elimination, and direct action missions. He was solely responsible for the destruction of many Covenant and Insurrection assets and personnel ever since he was placed on active duty. Eventually, Casper grew to have a fearsome reputation in ONI and was considered to be a Tier one ONI asset, he also had the trust of influential figures in the organization such as Margaret Parangosky, the head of ONI.

Casper worked alone for the most part, occasionally he would be assigned to take part in a joint operation with other units or Spartans like Rosenda-A344 and Cal-141. During the operation to assassinate a Covenant Prophet, he had manage to prevent Cal from being fatally wounded from the Brute Chieftain, which she was grateful for. He had overhead some chatter about how she was assigned with the rest of the Spartan IIs to take part in Operation: Red Flag, the mission to capture a high-ranking prophet and force the Covenant into a ceasefire. An operation that would be cancelled if the upcoming events Casper remembered occurred in the games were still indeed happening.

The Spartan Lieutenant was taken out of his thoughts as he saw that the Warthog had arrived at the UNSC base that housed the Spartan III unit known as Noble Team. The vehicle slowed down as they drove pass the chain link fence towards the base's entrance as the gate opened just as they arrived. As they drove in, Casper saw many activities that helped to remind him of his previous life such as supply trucks offloading supplies and gear to the base and a few Army soldiers being chewed out by their Staff Sergeant. Seems as though some things never change no matter what time period or reality you are in.

As soon as the Warthog came to a stop, Casper stepped out of the vehicle and dropped onto the soft earth. Taking a quick look at the UH-144 Falcons that flew overhead of the base and soldiers training or running drills as he made his way towards his destination.

Casper soon passed by a bald Spartan sitting on a UH-144 Falcon that he recognized as Jun-A266, Noble team's sniper and reconnaissance specialist, loading 14.5x114mm rounds into a magazine for his SRS99-AM. He give him a quick look of curiosity before returning his gaze back to his task.

Walking up the stairs to the small room that contained the rest of the team, he began to hear a familiar voice that he knew belonged to Colonel Holland, the commanding officer of Noble team. " / Contact with Visegrad Relay was lost last night. All signals flatlined at twenty-six hundred hours. I responded with trooper fireteams from the 7th Cavalry that have since been declared MIA. / "

" / And now you're sending us, / " a man that Casper knew belonged to the leader of Noble team, Carter A-259, responded in his deep voice.

Upon entering the room, Casper spotted Emile-A239, the team's close-quarters battle expert, with his signature skull face on his EVA helmet, sharpening his kukri knife against his shoulder armor plating. He paused and looked up at him as soon as he noticed Casper entering the room.

" / The Office of Naval Intelligence believes that deployment of a Spartan team is a gross misallocation of valuable resources, / " Colonel Holland said sternly. " / I disagree. /"

Casper started to take a few steps forward before a robotic arm blocked his path. The owner was another Spartan-three that he was already familiar with, Kat-B320, the unit's tech expert and second in command.

He hadn't seen Kat for a long time, but remembered her from when he played 'Halo: Reach,' as well as when they were Beta company and training to become Spartan-threes. The Lieutenant figured they would see each other again considering that he would assigned to Noble team in the future.

Kat gave Casper a quick once over before turning her gaze over to Noble one, who was still being briefed by Holland, "Commander?"

Carter-A259 looked over his shoulder at the Lieutenant with a curious gaze along with Jorge-052, the team's heavy weapons specialist, who was sitting beside the team leader by the terminal that was used brief Noble team on their new mission.

"So, that's our new number six." Jorge said.

The lieutenant-commander lowered her arm, and Casper stepped forward to silently introduce himself to the group.

"Kat, you read his file?" Emile asked the 2IC.

"Only the parts that weren't covered in black ink," Kat replied to Noble four before looking back at the team's newest addition. "Still the quiet type aren't you Casper?"

Casper only shrugged his shoulders before he gave her a nod. During their training, Casper never spoke unless he had to or when he was tutoring a fellow recruit, as many cadets came up to him to ask for help on the subjects as he had an easier time understanding it. Outside of that, he always preferred to remain by himself and never really interacted with his peers. He also had difficulty socializing and interacting with others, as well as he didn't like to talk much himself. Being reborn into a world that he once thought to be fictional didn't exactly help with his social skills.

Kat let out a smile, which looked more like a grimace, before turning back to Emile. "Yeah, he hasn't changed a bit."

Carter only gave a look in Kat's direction before turning his attention back to the Colonel, "Anyone claim responsibility yet, sir?"

" / ONI thinks that it might be the local Insurrection, / " Holland responded. " / Five months ago they pulled a similar job on Harmony. Hit a relay to take out our eyes and ears, then stole two freighters from dry-dock. That cannot happen here, Reach is too damn important. I want that relay back online ASAP, Noble one. / "

" / Sir, consider it done, / " Carter replied with a nod.

Without saying another word, Jorge picked up his M247H HMG and began to walk out of the room, Kat and Emile following behind him.

" / Then I'll see you on the other side. Noble actual out. / "

The screen on the terminal blinked out as Carter grabbed his Commando helmet before turning around to meet the team's newest addition. "Lieutenant."

"Commander, sir," Casper said respectfully with a quick nod.

"I'm Carter, Noble Team's leader," he introduced himself, not knowing that Casper already knew who he was. "Looks like you already know Kat, Noble two." He says as the two of them glanced at the door where the team was leaving. "Emile and Jorge, Four and Five. You're riding with me Noble Six." He stated as they began to walk to one of the UH-144 Falcons.

"Not gonna lie to you, Lieutenant. You're stepping into some shoes the rest of the squad would rather leave unfilled." Carter continued as they walked towards the Falcon where Jun was already sitting, who was now wearing his recon helmet. "Me, I'm just happy to have Noble back up to full strength. Just one thing; I've seen your file. Even the parts the ONI censors didn't want me to. Glad to have your skill-set, but we're a team, that 'lone wolf' stuff stays behind, we clear? "

"Got it, sir." Was all Casper said as he sat down on the Falcon and equipped his Designated Marksman Rifle. Quickly checking over his gear and ammo for the mission.

Just before the Falcon took off and followed behind the one that contained the rest of the team, Jun turned to look at him and gave him a welcoming nod. "Welcome to Reach." The marksman said to the newest addition.

Casper returned with a nod of his own before looking down at the landscape below. Fully aware of what was going to happen in the upcoming days. That he would now experience the events of 'Halo: Reach' in person.

"Here we go." Casper thought to himself as the outpost faded off in the distance.

And scene! Here is the first chapter for Bleeding out. I hoped you enjoyed it and that I will see you again next time.

Also, if anyone is wondering what Noble Six's looks like:

-Helmet: GUNGNIR / HU/RS

-Shoulders: FJ/PARA

-Chest: TACTICAL/LRP

-Wrist: TACTICAL/TACTPAD

-Utility: TACTICAL/TRAUMA KIT

-Knee guards: FJ/PARA

-Primary: color: Black

-Secondary color: Grey

Furthermore, if you don't know what some of the terms mean:

-NJP: Non-judicial punishment.

-HMMWV: High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (Humvee)

-QRF: Quick reaction force

-IED: Improvised Explosive Devices

-EOD: Explosive Ordinance Disposal

-2IC: Second in command

Remember...stay frosty gents.