A NOBLE Menace

Disclaimer: I do not own Halo or Star Wars in any way shape, or form, they belong to their respective owners.

(A.N) Now I know what you are all thinking, you already started a Halo x Star Wars crossover AND that only has one chapter...so why the hell are you starting another story? And the reason for that is that this is a sort of rewrite/redirection of where I originally wanted this story to go.

First off, I have decided that I am going to have it set in the prequel era/Republic era rather then set in the Empire era/Original trilogy. The reason for this is because quite frankly I know more about the Old Republic and the Clone Wars era then I do about the Empire era, which is only the three films and the games such as Jedi Fallen Order.

Secondly, Spartan-III's and Clone Troopers. Must I say anymore? I do not think there could be a more identical program then these two. Sure the Spartan-II's are the cream of the crop and know nothing but war like the Clones and the III's but at least they ALL got Mjolnir from the start and had a mother-figure that cared for their well-being...the same can't be said for Colonel James Ackerson. Sure, they had Kurt but there was only so much he could do, he had to fight like hell to keep Tom and Lucy with him rather than allowing Ackerson have Tom for one of his "projects"

But back to the Clones and the Spartan-III's. Both are mass-produced (Of course Clone outnumber them by billions) soldier that were intended to be expendable; and that right there would (IMO) create a kinship between the two factions.

Chapter 1: We're Meant To Be Expendable.

Finishing off the final Banshee that had returned from their patrol above Reach with the 30mm rounds of the YSS-1000 Prototype Anti-ship spaceplane, commonly known as the Sabre, Noble Six slowed down his fighter above the Covenant Corvette that he and the rest of Sabre's had disabled to prevent it from escaping and warning the supercarrier of their intent.

"Dot, analyse all available on that corvette. Find a way inside." The voice of Colonel Urban Holland came over the Sabres comms as the Spartan waited anxiously for the final stage of the Operation to be initiated. An operation that would ultimately decide the fate of Reach, humanities fortress among the stars.

"Scans indicate a structural weakness surrounding a platform on top of the vessel." The Dumb A.I, Auntie Dot answered in her calm, dry manner that the Spartan had grown accustomed with since joining up with Noble Team.

"You heard her, Lieutenant. Set your Sabre down on the Corvettes landing pad, every second counts." Colonel Holland ordered then went silent as he ended the transmission.

Doing as he was ordered, Noble Six piloted his Sabre and gently directed it to the waypoint that Dot had set for him and the other pilots that were still in the fight after their skirmish with the Covenant moments ago.

Arriving at the landing pad, Six set the Sabre down on the pad alongside the other four Sabre pilots, as the Colonel had ordered. Pressing a series of buttons, he first cut power to the engines, powered the Sabre down and opened the canopy before climbing out of the fighter. As he climbed out, he floated slowly down to the purple platform due to the lack of gravity as did the four army troopers that were wearing vacuumed-sealed suits when they got out their Sabres.

"Noble Six, the Savannah's counter-measures won't work forever. Find a way inside, and permanently disable the corvettes commutations!" Noble Actual instructed as a single Sangheili Ranger emerged from underneath the shield that prevented those inside from being sucked out into space.

Reaching over his shoulder, he grabbed his MA37 Assault Rifle from his back, aimed it at the Elite and opened fire taking down its energy shields then finished it off emptying a quarter of his magazine to do so.

"As soon as we're sure the corvette can't squawk, we'll initiate UPERCUT phase two."

"Acknowledged, Sir." The Lieutenant replied as he gave the four troopers a once over, their bios appearing on his visor HUD (Heads up display) which were green. " Six, out." And with that comms went silent once more.

"What's the plan, Spartan?" One of the troopers asked as they approached the armoured super soldier, cradling their weapons in their arms. Looking at the one that addressed him, Six saw the callsign Echo-1 above their head.

"Your current objective is to disable the corvettes communications by any means necessary." Auntie Dot answered for the Spartan, who was immensely grateful. He had spent a career working alone, relying only on himself to get the mission done. He was not in his element or even comfortable leading soldiers into battle, knowing that the slightest oversight, the slightly miscalculation on his part would result in their demise...and quite frankly he already had enough on his conscience after working for ONI (The Office of Naval Intelligence) without worrying about sending them to their deaths.

"Eliminate the Covenant but be selective." Six stated to the troopers. " We can't risk damaging anything."

"Understood, Lieutenant."

With their next course of action confirmed, the Spartan and troopers dropped down through the purple shields and to the control room below where the a bunch of Elites and Grunts were lying dead in the middle of the room where the holographic controls were located, leaving only Sangheili Rangers and Unggoy Ultra alive due to them wearing vacuumed-sealed armour.

As he floated down, Six and the Troopers opened fire on the Elite that stood on the centre of the control room taking down their shields as they landed on the second floor. Grabbing his M6G Personal Defence weapons system, more commonly known as the Magnum and unloaded four round from the chamber, dispatching them with four well-placed headshots making the Grunts scream hysterically and run away; before they were dealt with by the Troopers who opened fire on the fleeing aliens.

"Control room secure, Sir." B312 said over the comms as he placed his sidearm back on his hip and reached into the pouch on his chest to grab a fresh magazine for his now empty assault rifle.

"Holland to Savannah, enemy comm relay is now offline." Holland sounded over the Comms as the Spartan jumped down to the first floor to regroup with the rest of his fireteam.

"Copy that. Halting counter-measure, diverting all power and personnel to weapons." The Captain of the UNSC Savannah answered over the comms.

"Alright, Noble. Let's get that slipspace bomb on board. Six, head for the hanger." Holland ordered as the Spartan and Troopers headed for the door on the far side of the control room. Shifting his rifle in his arms, Six waited for a few moments before the door retracted into the walls and started a pair of Unoggy that were waiting behind him. Not giving them time to react, the fireteam opened fire quickly dispatching them then proceeded down the hallway to the Hanger bay.

"Colonel, we're on our way to the hanger." One of the troopers next to Six informed Holland as they headed down the narrow hallway. As they neared the end, they spotted Ranger and a pair of Grunts standing by the entrance to the hanger, the former using a Needler Rifle and the latter's using a standard Plasma pistol.

"Noble Five, meet em there."

"Affirmative, on approach." The Hungarian accented voice of Jorge responded over the comms.

One of the Grunts charged their plasma pistol to the max, forming a large condensed ball of plasma before firing it at one of the Troopers. Seeing this, Six reacted on instinct and jumped in front of the plasma to protect the unshielded trooper, the plasma connected shattered his own shields but was otherwise unharmed before he charged forward crossing the gap within seconds and firing his assault rifle at Ranger.

Emptying half of his magazine of the ranger to take down it's shields, Six dodged a kicked from the Elites by moving to the side before capitalizing by getting behind him, kicking him in the back of the leg top knock them down then finished them off by grabbing his combat knife and stabbed them through the top of their head, shattering the glass helmet in the process.

Feeling the Ranger go limp, he grabbed the needler that they were still holding and fired at the Grunts as the Troopers took down their shields, the needlers exploding as they made imbedded into the armour, ripping through the metal and organs and leaving the ribcage exposed as they slammed against the walls just as his shields recharged; all this happening in the span of a few seconds.

Letting go of the Needler and taking his knife back, he gave the latter a few swipes to get as much blood off the blade as he could then placed it back in the sheath before turning around to face the others.

"Thanks for the save, Lieutenant." The trooper thanked the Spartan who responded with a nod but otherwise said nothing. No thanks were necessary, at least he didn't think so. Perhaps it was a little naïve of him to think so, but he liked to believe that he would have done the same thing for him had it been the other away round; even if the trooper lacked the energy shielding that his Mark V Mjolnir Power Assault Armour had.

Reaching the hanger bay, the Spartan saw that it was swamped with Covenant both on the ground floor and the raised platforms on both sides of the room. Doing a quick count, he counted at least four to five Elites, a large number of Grunts and floating aimlessly above them was a single creature that had multiple tentacles that ONI had classified as an Engineer.

Not much was known about the Engineers, then again, they didn't know much about any of the species apart of the Covenant Empire now that he thought about...but they knew less about the Engineers than all the others. But! From what they did knew about them they knew that they seemed to be indifferent to Humanity, never attacking them unless provoked and carried on about their business repairing and maintaining the ships that they served on.

Placing the Assault Rifle on his back, Six grabbed his sidearm and fired at the closest Grunt. Firing a single round, he took down the shields, then fired another to knock their helmet off before finishing them with a headshot.

As the first Grunt fell, the others closed in and returned fire. A bombardment of plasma bolts slammed against his Mjolnir, though his shields took the brunt of the damage. Firing at the closest Unoggy that moved up the ramp, the Spartan saw the purple shield disappear as they were meters away from him. Not taking it for granted, he fired knocking their helmet off and watched as took their final breaths, greedily fighting an invisible enemy that robbed them of their lives.

Meanwhile as Six ejected his magazine to reload his sidearm, the Troopers laid down covering fire to draw the attention from the Spartan and onto them, which worked as the Grunts opened fire on them.

"Get down!" A Trooper shouted to the others over the gunfire as he ducked, narrowly missing a plasma bolt that flew past his heat, skimming the top of his helmet; he could feel the heat of the superheated plasma as it passed him but did his best to ignore the fact that he had nearly had his hole in his head.

"Eat led, you little fucker!" Echo-2 screamed over the gunfire as he fired at the Grunt, tearing them apart as they fired the armour piercing rounds as the others took down the other Grunts leaving only the Rangers in the room that were taking cover behind the barriers on the other side of the room who popped out of cover every so often to fire at the Demon and Troopers before reverting back to cover.

With his Magnum now reloaded, B312 took the Plasma Pistol from one of the fallen Unggoy before heading down the ramp and moving across the hanger to reach the Rangers that were hiding. As he reached the middle of the room where the pylons were, a Ranger with a Plasma Repeater appeared from behind one of the pylons and fired at the one Demon.

Charging the Plasma Pistol for a few seconds creating a spherical mass of plasma, Six fired at the Ranger overloading their shields then fired his Magnum, taking them down with a single round, their head snapping back and fell to the floor. With the first Elite taken care of, he headed across the room where the others were while the Troopers who stormed up the ramp to the other platform by the entrance took hold of the Covenant version of the HMG on the other side of the room.

Running around the barrier that the Elites were using for cover, the Spartan-III held down for the Plasma Pistol charging it up again and making his arm tremble as the plasma built up. He went around the corner where a Ranger was waiting for him. Once he spotted him, he fired a crystal at the Spartan who in turn fired at the Elite, overloading their shields, and finished them off with a 40mm round from his magnum.

As Noble Six finished off the Ranger, one of the troopers that was on the Plasma Cannon spotted a Ranger circling around to flank the Spartan. Refusing to allow that to happen, the soldier spun the HMG at the Elite and opened fire, raining down a barrage of plasma bolts at the Ranger who rolled out of the way to evade the plasma only to be on the receiving end of the other trooper who fired the other cannon on the left at the Elite; the plasma tearing through the shields, armour and eventually the flesh underneath.

Plunging his knife into the last Elite, Six gave the blade a twist to ensure that it suffered as much as possible before they died. Twisting it left and right continuously, the Ranger gurgled before going limp. Certain that it was dead he ripped the knife out and pushed him to the ground.

"Six, go for the shield controls. I need in." Noble Five spoke over the comms after Six confirmed that the Hanger Bay was secure.

Running up the ramp and around the corner, Noble Six headed up the platform where the holographic controls for the shields were located; and in front of it was dead Sangheili Officer laying on the ground, who he concluded had died due to having no vacuum-sealed armour like the Rangers or Zealots.

Six pressed the holographic button to lower the shields to allow Jorge entrance. He jumped down and landed gracefully as a pelican flew into the Hanger Bay and landed; in the background the UNSC Savannah flew past firing at the Corvette, the plasma cannons still in operation firing at the frigate.

At the back of the Pelican dropship, the slipspace engine that the Savannah had donated was secured on the back, and a group of army troopers emerged from the Pelican who nodded at the Spartan. And just behind them was Jorge-051, the 8ft Spartan-II and the heavy weapons specialist of Noble Team appeared holding his personal, and heavily customised HMG; even for a Spartan he was a sight to see, the term walking tank perfectly described the man.

"Powder keg is aboard, Colonel." Jorge informed Colonel Holland as he gave the slipspace bomb a once over to make sure that it hadn't been damaged on the way there, then patted it almost affectionally.

"Copy that. Six, get your fireteam to the bridge; the corvette's refuelling run will need to be activated manually."

"Yes, Sir."

"Noble Five, stay with the bomb. Discourage anyone who grows curious." Holland ordered the older and far more experienced Spartan of the two.

"My pleasure. You hear that, Lieutenant?" Jorge asked the Spartan-III as he lifted Etilka in his arms." I'll be all on my lonesome back here. Make it quick, would ya?"

"Try not to miss me too much." Six quipped getting a small chuckle from gentle giant.

"I'll do my best."

"Noble Six, get that corvette moving towards the supercarrier. Head to the bridge and find those NAV controls." Noble Actual came over the comms once again.

"Got plenty of arms and ammo if you need em, Spartan." One of the Troopers piped up. Looking over to them, Six saw them standing in front of three black cases that had different weapons inside each one. Walking over to the Trooper, he spotted a Designated Marksmen Rifle in one and picked it and grabbed a few magazines that he placed in the pouches on his torso.

"Contact!" Jorge's voice echoed across the hanger gaining the rooms attention. Looking over to where the giant of Noble Team was located, Six saw the big guy standing in the middle of the room with his weapon trained on the door on the far side where a group of Elites that consisted of mainly Rangers, though there was a single Zealot that seemed to be leading the bunch.

Darting over to him, Noble Six with his DMR stopped besides Jorge as he held down the trigger of Etilka and fired at the Elites as they advanced down the purple ramp that was already filled with bodies; no doubt fuelling their anger...that and seeing a pair of Demons and filthy heretics tainting their ship with every step. Jorge took down their shields fairly easy with the high velocity rounds that tore through their shields like a hot knife through butter; which allowed Six to pick them off with his DMR, the Elites falling down and sliding down the ramp as they fell.

"You gonna be alright here?" The black armoured Spartan asked looking over at Jorge who had lowered Etilka but kept it battle-ready in the event that more Elites stormed the hanger; which he knew was only a matter of time until the Covenant came to investigate why none of their fallen comrades had reported back...that or they knew that the Savannah was only a decoy to allow them to infiltrate the corvette.

"I'll be fine." Jorge assured him with a confident nod. "Now get going!"

"Back soon." Six stated as he ran ahead to regroup with the troopers who were now standing by the door where the Elite had emerged from. Taking point, he headed through the door and down the empty purple corridor.

"Savannah to Holland: sustaining major structural damage! We need to break off, Colonel!" The Savannah's Captain shouted over the comms; terror evident in his voice.

"Copy, Savannah. Our team is in, disengage! I repeat disengage!" Holland barked over the coms as the fireteam arrived at the plasma battery where they spotted three Elites manning the corvettes Plasma canons and firing at exposed Savannah that had no backup or ways of escape now that they lacked a slipspace drive.

Seeing his chance to deal the first Elite, which was a Zealot, Six placed his DMR on his back then sprinted down the ramp while his fireteam followed not far behind him. Once he was directly behind the Zealot, who hadn't noticed him being focused on firing at the Savannah, he kicked him in the back of the leg to get him down on one knee before he wrapped his arm around his neck and snapped it in one swift move.

"Break off! Break off! Hull breach, reactors flaring! Dammit I'm losing her!" The Captain screamed over the comms, before everything went silent on his end.

Letting the Zealot fall, B312 Looked past the shields that covered the Plasma Cannons and preventing them from being pulled out to the vacuum of space, Six and the Troopers could only watch as the Savannah began to fragment before their very eyes.

First the right starboard engine/wing was ripped off as a Plasma Torpedo stuck the back of the frigate, followed by massive explosion in the midsection that tore the frigate in two, sending a shockwave that rocked even the corvette, and sent the two parts drifted in opposite directions.

"Savannah Actual, can you hear me?" Holland asked over the comms as Six and Troopers turned their attention to the Elites that had jumped of the guns to engage them.

"Frigates gone, Six…. Nothing we can do." Jorge said softly over the comms, the good men and woman that had just been lost weighing heavily on the heavy weapon specialist.

"I know." B312 said quietly as he grabbed his DMR and fired at the next Elite who was a Ranger, who let go of the turret controls and jumped back to face him and his fireteam, just as the other Elite did upon noticing that they were not alone.

Unloading three rounds to take down the Rangers shields, Six fired another round that went through the large visor shattering the glass, or at least what he assumed was glass, and into the head.

As their head slumped back and they fell to the floor, the Troopers fired at the last Ranger taking some of their shield sown before it activated its jetpack and took to the air.

Moving back as he aimed at the Ranger, Six unloaded a few rounds as did the Elite taking down a bit of his shield as needler rounds were fired at him, some hitting and some narrowly passing by skimming his helmet.

"Argh!" He heard one of the Troopers scream from behind him. Briefly looking over his shoulder he saw that a few of the needler rounds had embedded into the closest ones chest before detonating, revealing his ribcage and a large amount of blood covering what was left of his armour and the floor from where his heart had once been.

Gripping his DMR tighter to the extent that he heard the metal creak, the Spartan returned fire on the Ranger taking down the rest of its shields before using his last round to take them down; as its head slumped back the momentum sent them into a summersaulting fit as they drifted through the air until they hit the ground.

"Noble, you're in deep with no cover. Get that corvette moving and get the hell out of there!" Noble Actual ordered over the comms as Six walked over to where the Troopers were mourning their fallen comrade.

"Those Split-Lip fucks! Paul didn't stand a fucking chance." The Trooper that IFF tag came up with the name Phil above his head cursed gritting his teeth. "They won't be satisfied until were all dead, will they?"

"Paul wouldn't want us mope around." A trooper with the tag Raj above their head said softly; whether that was his name or a callsign the Spartan did not know. "We've still got a job to do."

"He hasn't been dead five minutes and you're already brushing him off!"

"He didn't mean it like that, mate." Eggs said calmly; though why he was called eggs of all things was lost on the Lieutenant. "We just lost over three hundred people on the Savannah, and billions more will be lost unless we get this corvette moving."

"We'll come back for him." B312 said after allowing the Troopers to vent, even if he knew that second was vital. "But I need you all to stay focused." He added firmly looking between the three members of his fireteam.

"Yes, Sir!" The three chorused earning a nod from the Spartan.

"Let's move." Noble Six commanded as once more he took the lead and headed for the bridge, the Army Troopers following.

"Dot?"

"Yes, Lieutenant?" The calm, articulated voice of the A.I came over his suits comms as he headed deeper into the corvette.

"How far is the bridge?"

"Scans show it is roughly ninety-five meters ahead of your current location." Dot informed him as she set a waypoint on his compass, that was above his shield meter, for him to follow. "Follow the path around and you shall find the entrance; but be warned it is highly probable that the Covenant will be expecting you."

"Noted." B312 responded almost robotically as he followed the path around that seemed to circle around before he and the troopers stopped in front of the large metal door. Waiting a few moments, the door hissed to life then retracted into the wall allowing them entrance.

Stepping into the room, the Spartan raised his hand and made a fist to stop his fireteam in the their tracks before making a chopping motion to tell them to circle around to the left as he saw a pack of Grunts staring at the massive holographic image of Reach in the centre of the room, and Elites of various classes using the terminals around the room.

While the troopers headed left, Six headed right and circled around the room. "Fire at will." He ordered over the comms as he saw quietly snuck up behind one of the Grunts that was watching the holographic image of Reach.

As they did the room erupted as the Grunt that was left screamed hysterically seeing his "buddies" not only being killed but also because there was a demon in the room. Blue and green plasma bolts shot through the image of Reach and hit one of the Troopers, killing them in an instant as it went through the head.

"EGGS!" Phil cried out seeing Eggs fall back with a hole in their head, which had burnt through their skin, bone and brain like a hot knife through butter….and considering that it was plasma it might as well had been.

"Die you little bastard!" Phil cried out as he grabbed a grenade and lobbed it at the stocky little alien. The grenade exploded taking the Grunt with it, sending blood and guts everywhere. "Not so tough now, are you?!" He added before he briefly saw the air shimmer in front of him. Not even thinking, he held the trigger and fired at the cloaked Elite that became visible as their shield popped up.

Seeing the outline of the Elite, Raj copied his partner and opened fire on the cloaked Covenant soldier. Between the two of them they quickly took down their shields and forced them out of active cameo to reveal that it was a Spec-Ops class before finishing it off.

Diving into cover behind a one of the portable shields, the two troopers reloaded their respective weapons as the shield changed from a bright purple to a deep, crimson red as a pair of Grunts fired at the shield.

"I think they're angry we killed their buddies." Phil chuckled as he gripped his assault rifle a little tighter. "Not so funny when it's on the other foot, is it?!"

"Do me a favour." Raj asked as he briefly looked over to see the Spartan engaging an Elite.

"What?"

"Shut. Up!" He barked grounding each word out before his eyes widened when he saw one of the Grunts overcharging their plasma pistol. "Get ready!" He shouted as the overcharged shot struck the shield and disabled it leaving the two troopers exposed.

When the shield went down, they both fanned out in different directions as green plasma came at them and scorched the ground where they had previously been standing. Taking a deep breath and working up his nerve, Raj raced forward firing at the Grunt closest to him emptying his entire magazine to take down their shields, then when he was a few feet away from him he leaped into the air and used the end of his rifle to hit the Grunt square in the face.

Getting them to the ground, he reached for his sidearm and unloaded a round between the eyes. With the Grunt dead, Raj got back to his feet to see the General heading straight for Phil as he filled the other Grunt full of rounds.

"General, twelve o-ugh!" He gaped loudly, his words escaping from him as he felt a hot, searing sensation in his abdomen. Looking down he saw a plasma blade sticking out his body, then he knew no more as the Elite behind him pulled the blade out and tossed him to the side.

"Phil!" The last remaining Trooper cried out seeing his friend/brother-in-arms being taken out by another Spec-Op class Elite.

"You son of a bitch!" He roared seeing Raj tossed to the side like an old rag doll. Grabbing a grenade, he primed it for a few seconds before lobbing it at the Elite, which detonated near his feet taking them out.

With the first Split-lip out of the way, the Trooper spun around to face the General that was a few meters away from him. As he did, he held the trigger down and fired what was left of magazine until a clicking sound came from his assault rifle. Looking down at the bullet count he saw the number 00 on the face of his weapon making him panic.

Chucking the rifle to the side, he grabbed his sidearm and aimed it at the General prowled towards him, his mandibles flaring, like a vengeful god before he slapped the magnum from his hand.

"Weak and undisciplined, like the rest of your pitiful species." The shipmaster spat in his native tongue after smacking the sidearm from his hand. " A warrior would not shy away from his death, but embrace it. You may consider this a mercy, heretic!" He sneered as his plasma gauntlet activate and he plunged the blade through his neck and beheaded the human in one swift movement.

Watching as the human fell and their head rolled along the floor, Ardo turned to see a demon finishing off an Unogoy by stabbing them in the head with his knife. And while they may have been nothing more than a cannon fodder, they were still apart of his crew. The demon would pay with his blood!

Strafing to the right, Six dodged a kick from the third Spec-Ops Elite that had tried to assassinate him. As he came past him, he got behind the Elite kicked the back of his/her leg getting them down on one knee before he grabbed his combat knife and stabbed him in the head, killing him as the blade went through the brain.

Ripping the knife out, B312 flipped it so that he held the tip of the blade in his fingertips before throwing it at the last Grunt, eliminating them as they tried to escape. Looking around at his handiwork, he saw bodies littering the ground that consisted on Spec-Ops Elites, Rangers and a couple of Grunts that had all fallen to him.

Looking into the corner of his HUD, Six frowned seeing the troopers bios flatlined before they disappeared. He should have told them to stay back, what the hell was he doing leading men into battle? He had no experience doing so, he should have had Jorge clear the bridge while he guarded the slip-space bomb...at least that way he knew the troopers would have come back.

He was pulled from his thoughts as he was knocked back and his shields cracked. Looking from where the shot came from, he saw a General heading his way and firing a Concussion Rifle at him. Rolling to the left to avoid another shot that blasted away the body of the Spec-Ops that he had just killed, Six picked up a Plasma pistol from a dead Grunt before jumping back to his feet.

Now back on his feet, Noble Six fanned around the room avoiding the blast that were fired at him hit the purple walls of the bridge. Holding down the button to charge his shot for a few seconds, his arm trembled at the pistol charged up and a large ball of condensed plasma formed at the end before he fired at the General.

The shot hit its desired target and overloaded their shields getting a roar of frustration from the Shipmaster. With the shields out of the way, Six raced forward and towards the Elite using his augmented speed to cross the gap between the two in a matter of seconds before he tackled the Elite hard enough to break a human in half.

Once he had got him to the ground, he struggled to keep him there as the Elite fought against him even after the strong tackle. He received a hard thump from the General but returned one of his own before he aimed the plasma pistol at his head and fired a few bolts of plasma bolts through the head just to make sure that he was dead. Certain that he was dead he climbed off him and scanned the room to see if battle was over, which from what he could see it was.

But at what cost?

"Bridge is clear, Colonel." Noble Six said speaking into the comms as he walked back over to retrieve his knife that was sticking out the back of the Grunt. "My fireteam is K.I.A."

"Understood, Lieutenant." Holland said sounding disheartened to hear that. "Get that corvette on a refuelling track with the supercarrier."

"On it, Sir." The Spartan responded as he swiped the blood from his knife and placed it back in the sheath before jogging over to the NAV controls and typed in the coordinates for the CSO-class supercarrier that had revealed itself a couple of days ago when it had glassed on of their frigates in retaliation for destroying their teleporter that they had covertly build on the surface of Reach.

"Well done, Lieutenant." Holland commended over the comms. "Operation: UPPERCUT initiated; corvette is underway."

"Six, our ride outta here is taking heavy fire! Could really use a hand here!"

"On my way!" Six replied to Jorge as he turned around, grabbed the DMR from his back and hightailed it back to the Hanger Bay. Heading through the door and back around the winding path he had used earlier, he arrived back at the plasma battery to see the door on the far side opening to reveal a pair of Grunts and a single Jackal waiting for him.

Reacting exactly like he had been trained, Six snapped his weapon up and took down the two Grunts with headshots then fired between the gap of the Jackals shield hitting their arm and forcing them to lower the shield. Once the shield was out of the way he unloaded a final round between the eyes, taking out the Jackal. With the Covenant taken care off, the Spartan headed up the ramp.

"At you earliest convivence, Noble Six!" Jorge sounded over the comms as he reached the door to the hanger bay. Waiting anxiously for the door to open, he rolled his shoulders to get ready for whatever was waiting for him inside the hanger. From working with Jorge over the last few weeks he knew the man didn't ask for help unless he really needed it; and if he needed it then you could bet that it was swarming with Covenant.

The door hissed then retracted into the walls allowing the Spartan-III entrance. Moving into the room that separated the hanger and the plasma battery, B312 stepped over the dead Zealot that was laying on the ground and headed into the hanger bay that was lit up like the fourth of July as blue and green plasma bolts flew across the room hitting the Pelican that had gained multiple holes since he had been gone; right now he wasn't even sure if it was space worthy...but at least they still had the Sabres to fall back on.

Spotting a Grunt standing near the purple wall on the outskirts of the hanger, Noble Six moved behind him and assassinated him by snapping his neck. As it fell, he took down a Jackal that situated by the Pelican firing at Jorge who was busy gunning down an Ultra.

"Good of you to come, Covenant are pounding the hell outta the Pelican." Noble Five greeted as he spotted the black armoured Spartan from the corner his eye as his armour-piercing rounds tore through the Zealots armour and ripped them apart.

"Didn't know you were so popular."

"What can I say?" The gentle giant chuckled softly as he ploughed through a Jackals shields with ease, the Jackal following shortly behind it. "The Covenant love me!" He added as he moved towards the centre of the hanger where a handful of Grunts were cowering behind one of the antennas.

"So it would seem." Noble Six smiled in amusement as he took down a Grunt that stood atop the ramp on the other side of the room that was his elevated position to try to get the drop on them both. As the stocky alien fell, his eyes went down to his radar that with a glance seemed to be on the fritz as multiple blips suddenly appeared In every direction.

Knowing that this meant one of two things. First his suits software had been damaged on the way back to the hanger or maybe his suit had gotten a virus creating by the Covenant...which while plausible seemed unlikely seeing as how he had never heard of such a thing happening before. The second and far more feasible was that somebody near him was using Active Camouflage...and seeing as how Jorge was not the most covert member of Noble Team, that meant only one thing.

Going by his gut feeling, He swung his arm around and used the butt of his rifle as a weapon to hit an Elite that cloaked and knocking it to the ground. The camo shimmered before disappearing revealing a Spec-Ops Elite on the ground with a slight dent in the side of their helmet where the DMR had hit. Turning the weapon on the Elite, he unloaded two bullets between the eyes, the first to break through the helmet and the second to finish them off.

"Contacts, north side!" The Spartan-II called out as he turned in the direction of the ramp to see Elites, Jackals and Grunts pilling out of the door. Tilting Etrika up, he held down the trigger took down the Grunts first that fell to the barrage of bullets that he fired at them. With the Grunts out of the equation, Jorge turned his attention to a Minor that came running at him and fired his T25-DER at him which brought his shields up.

His shields shimmered as the Elite Minor at him, but he took care of him, with the help of Etrika, within a matter of moments as he launched a barrage of bullets that tore the Elite weak shields and ripped him to pieces before he hit the ground.

With the weakest of the Elites out of the way, Jorge turned his attention to the lone Zealot, who seemed to be the ringleader, and opened fire on the silver armoured Elite. Holding down the trigger of his heavily modified HMG, he sent more bullets at the Zealot until he was forced to let go as he saw the signs that she was starting to overheat, but he did manage to take most of his shield down.

As he let go, the Zealot grabbed a plasma grenade and lobbed it at him forcing him to move out of the way, but due to his bigger and heavier Mjolnir compared to just about every other Spartan, he couldn't just roll out of the way, and so turned his back to it just as it detonated shattering his shields; but he had lasted over two decades without shields, he could last thirty or so seconds without them.

Seeing Noble Fives shields shatter after the grenade discharged, Six took down the Zealot with a headshot after dealing with the Covenant that came from the left-hand door on the ground level.

"You alright, Jorge?"

"Is that concern I hear?" Jorge teased lightly as he turned back to face what remained of the Covenant. "Never thought I'd live to see the day." He added with a chuckle as he headed up the ramp and fired at the Jackal who used his shield to defend itself from the barrage of bullets as it was pushed back into a corner. The shield ultimately did him little good as it turned from blue to red before shutting down and leaving him exposed as the armour-piercing rounds ripped through him like a hot knife through butter.

"Let's not get carried away." Noble Six retorted as he used the last bullet of his DMR take down a Grunt with a headshot. "I just don't wanna fill out the paperwork." He joked lightly as he placed his weapon on his back and grabbed his sidearm. After doing a quick ammo count, he darted up the ramp and around the corner to see the 8'0 ft Spartan engaging group of Elites that were standing at the top of the second floor.

Between the two of them they took the Elites down quickly, Jorge taking their shields down with Etrika and Six finishing them with his magnum. As the last one fell and slid down the ramp, a stray bolt hit the Spartan-III informing them both that the fight still far from being over.

"Oh, this is getting tedious!" Jorge grumbled before saying something in Hungarian, which sadly, Six did not speak. "How many damn Covenant are there?!"

"The mathematics are undetermined, Noble Five." Auntie Dot spoke over the comms starting the two who had almost forgotten about her." But if you like I can give you an estimated number based upon the information gathered by..."

"It was just a figure of speech, Dot." Jorge interrupted the artificial intelligence with a heavy sigh as the two Spartans head back the way they came.

"Ah, I see. Apologies, Sierra-052."

The pair reached the bottom of the ramp and saw an Ultra and two Rangers in the middle of the room. Arriving at the ground floor, the two fanned out in opposite directions as the Elites fired at them, Six heading left and Jorge going right.

Circling around to the right, Jorge shifted his beloved Etrika in his arms as he reached the pylons that were situated in the middle of the room. As he moved around the pylon, an Ultra came charging at him and fired their twin plasma rifles taking down his shields within a matter of moments as a volley of blue plasma bolts struck him, preventing him from defending himself.

When his shields popped, Jorge held the trigger and trailed off to the right as bolts and bullets flew across the air and hit their respective targets. Plasma skimmed across the thick, ship-grade titanium scorching the metal, but otherwise did little to stop the hulking Spartan-II returned the favour and took down the Elites shields, who as he anticipated roared in frustration before running at him.

But without the shields to protect him the Ultra quickly fell as Jorge's shields recharged.

Stepping over the dead Ultra, Noble Five moved around the pylon to see the last two remaining Elite in the centre of the room, both engaging Noble Six who was using his magnum to deal with them.

Pulling the trigger in quick succession, B312 managed to down the first Rangers shields with three rounds from his Magnum then finished them off with the fourth. As he went to engage the last Elite, Jorge appeared behind them, dropped his HMG on the ground before wrapping his arms around the neck then snapped it like a twig all in a matter of a few seconds; preventing the Ranger from escaping his hold.

"Hopefully, that's it." Jorge said, mostly to himself, as he looked around the room after invoking murphy's law to see if any more covies would come running in...thankfully it seemed they had all been taken care of or had got the message that whoever they sent after them would die; which any left on the corvette would once they activated the slipspace bomb.

Speaking of which.

Grabbing Etrika from the floor, Jorge spun around and quickly headed for the back of the Pelican where the Slip-Space drive was located. As he passed the Pelican he frowned at the overall condition of the dropship. One of the thrusters had taken damage meaning that until it was fixed it was going nowhere, and with time against them and lacking the tools needed to repair the Pelican there was no way fix it in time.

"Distance is closing with this vessels refuelling track to the Covenant supercarrier. Seventy-six seconds to endpoint." Auntie Dot reported as Jorge entered the commands on the keypad to set the timer. When pressed to enter to start the countdown, a beep sound rang out. Pressing enter a second time it did the same thing, much to the frustration of the Spartan. Upon further inspection, he saw that it had received some light damage during the firefight, a burn mark near the centre of the drive and a few frayed wires.

"So, it's gonna be like that?" He asked looking down at the keypad that let out another beep, almost like it was mocking him. He abruptly slapped the side of the Slipspace drive in frustration. That supercarrier needed to go, if UNSC estimates were correct then there were millions of Covenant aboard that ranged from Grunts, Brutes, Jackals, Elites, Hunters and Drones...and with the Home Fleet still days away Reach wouldn't stand a chance.

Looking over his shoulder he saw Six heading over to him. He frowned as he stared at the newest member of Noble Team. Despite being a Spartan, he was still just a kid, not even twenty years old. He was young, still had potential and could give humanity a fighting chance...unlike him.

He was forty-one years old. He knew that he wasn't considered old, especially when the modern day human had an estimated lifespan of a 110-130 but he had believed for a while now that he had outlived his time for being a Spartan; and if his death meant that he could save Reach, his home world...What more could he ask for?

"Well, I've got good news and bad news." Jorge explained as he turned around and walked over to his fellow Spartan. "This bird took some fire during the fight meaning that the only way of this slag-heap is gravity."

"And the good news?" Six asked, almost afraid to.

"That was the good news." Jorge responded grimly.

"At current velocity, fifty-three seconds to endpoint." Dot updated the two Spartans of the distance between the corvette and supercarrier, irritating Jorge immensely.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Jorge grumbled at the A.I, growing tired of her constant reminders of how long they had left. Reaching up he grabbed the side of his Grenadier helmet twisted it and removed it and let it fall to the ground, revealing the man hidden beneath. He had short brown hair that was greying, either from age or stress, tired brown eyes with a long scar down the left eye, a light skin tone and a rather impressive moustache.

"Bad news is timers fried and is going to have to be set manually." Jorge explained to the Spartan-III who frowned behind his golden visor at what he had heard. If that was true...

"That's a one-way trip."

"We all make it sooner or later." Noble Five shrugged accepting his fate, speaking like he was talking about the weather. At least he could die knowing that he had saved his home world, and dealt the Covenant a deceive blow by destroying one of their supercarriers and killing the thousands of soldiers that were aboard; although he knew that for the latter he wouldn't even make a dent in their overall military strength...but at least his home would be safe.

The Spartan-III frowned at his choice of words. He was planning on staying behind to activate the slipspace drive while he got away safely; and it wasn't just staying behind, it was the possibility that he would be lost forever in slipstream.

"I'll do it."

"No." Jorge said adamantly, a hard look in his eyes." Out of the question. I'll activate the bomb, now get out of here!"

"We can't afford to lose you, Jorge." B312 countered not budging in the slightest. "Noble Team needs you."

"And they don't need you?" The Spartan-II retorted with a hard glare. "You are just as much a part of Noble Team as I am."

"I'm a Spartan-III."

"Don't give me that crap, Six! I don't want to hear it."

"I'm expendable, I've known that since I became a Spartan...whereas you are not." The Lieutenant pressed on ignoring the giant of Noble Team. "Humanity is going to need you, Reach is going to need you." He added as he picked up the discarded helmet from the ground and slammed it in the big guys chest. "Now get going, Chief Warrant Officer."

"Reach has been good to me, don't deny me this." Jorge pleaded, but he did not miss how Six put emphasis on his rank letting know that.

"Then fight for her." Six said he reached behind his back and pulled of the re-entry pack. "This fight is far from over."

"Thirty-three seconds until endpoint." Dot updated them both in her usual, dry, articulate manner that they had both grown accustomed too.

"You heard her, GO!" The Hyper-Lethal barked as he circled around him and slammed the re-entry pack into the back of his armour and shoved him forward, though he only moved a step or two.

Jorge briefly looked over his shoulder before signing and putting his helmet back on as he saw him walking over to the slipspace drive. Six, Noble Six, he was beginning to think that maybe that name was cursed. Everyone that seemed to have that callsign seemed to die aboard a Covenant supercarrier. First Thom, and now his replacement. Another dead teammate, another dead Spartan.

How many more friends would he lose before it was over? How many more until it would be enough?

"Make it count." It came softer than he had meant it too, but Six had heard it all the same.

"Will do." B312 acknowledge as he watched as Jorge lifted Etrika in his arms and ran, plodded would be more accurate, to the exit. "It's been an honour, brother." He added quietly, he was not sure if Jorge had heard him, but he did not care.

He had saved one and that was all that mattered. He could not be there for his brothers and sisters when they needed him the most, but at least rest easily knowing the fact that he had saved Jorge. With him there, maybe there was a chance of Noble Team surviving until the fleet arrived.

"Fifteen seconds until endpoint."

"Dot."

"Yes, Noble Six?"

"When you get back in contact with Kat, tell her I said goodbye."

"I will, Lieutenant." The artificial intelligence replied as the Spartan breathed in, then out as he anxiously waited for the signal. "Do you have any last requests?"

Did he? None sprang to mind as he stood in front of the slipspace drive. Did he have regrets? far too many to count. Did Tom, Lucy, Kat, and Owen know that despite his cold demeanour that he loved them like any brother loved their siblings? Did Noble Team know that he had come to care about each of them although he had only been with them for a couple of weeks. Did Kurt and Mendez know that he respected them more than words could describe?

And did Colonel James Ackerson know that he thought that he was a self-righteous bastard?

"Five seconds until endpoint." Auntie Dot alerted the Spartan, bringing him back to reality...for the final few seconds of his life. "Four, Three, two, one..."

When she said zero, he activated the bomb and knew no more as a dark abyss engulfed him and he felt himself flung back.

Naboo System, Chommell Sector, Mid Rim, A Galaxy Far, far away.

Flying through the never-ending vastness of space, a heavily damaged J-type 327 Nubian royal starship could be seen which as the name suggests belonged to the royal family of Naboo, a bountiful planet located in the Naboo system in the Mid Rim that bordered near the Outer Rim of the known galaxy, a place that was thriving with pirates, Bounty Hunters, Slavers and just about every other form of villainous scum you could imagine.

Deep inside the Nubian, Qui-Gon Jinn meditated inside the cargo hold wanting to collect his thoughts on everything that had transpired within the span of the last twenty-four hours. His assignment was meant to be an easy one, a simple mission acting as the diplomat between the Galactic Republic and the Trade Federation of Planets, after the latter had set up a blockage around Naboo preventing anyone from arriving or leaving the planet.

He and his Padawan, Obi-Wan Kenobi had boarded one the of Lucrehulk-class battle ships where they were to meet with the leader of the Trade Federation, Nute Gunray to negotiate peace with the man, despite knowing first-hand that he was Anti-Republic; which didn't surprise the Jedi Master in the slightest. Many had felt as he did about the Republic, more so than ever due to the rise in taxes.

It had supposed to be an easy assignment, but as he had come to expect with just about every assignment he was sent on...expect the unexpected; it was that which had ultimately saved his and Obi-Wan life.

He had felt something was afoot as soon as he stepped on the battleship with his Padawan. Through the Force he could fell how scared the Neimoidians were inside at the mere presence of him and Obi-Wan, at least far more than they should have been for a simple negation.

The Neimoidians were well-known for their cowardice across the galaxy, as well as their greed. It was for that reason that the Chancellor of the Republic that two Jedi go as diplomats rather than a random Senator, even the one from Naboo that had to be beside himself with worry about his home world. What better to speed the negotiations along then the presence of two guardians of the Republic?

Even if he did not like the idea of him and his Padawan being used as the Republics errand boys; but alas, that was what the Jedi have become over the last millennia. Gone were the days when the Jedi followed the Will of the Force or even protected the people like the Jedi from the Old Republic. These days they did as the Republic told them, went where they said, defended worlds that were beneficial to the Republic...and they died for the Republic.

The latter of which was the reason why his old Master had grown disillusioned with both the Republic and the Jedi Order over the last decade; the Republic because they didn't seem to care that they had sent hundreds of Jedi to their death, and the Jedi because they had become complacent, even arrogant in their status as Peacekeepers of the Galaxy.

But he digressed.

The negotiations had been a trap, whether that had always been the case or the presence of him and Obi-Wan had made them desperate was unknown to him, but he was betting on the latter.

They had tried to gas them both in the conference room while they had been waiting for them to arrive. It was only thanks to the force that they managed to protect themselves from the gas long enough for the doors to open and deal with the Battle Droids on the other side. After fighting through the ship, they managed to escape to the surface of Naboo, but not before the ship that they had arrived on being destroyed, killing the crew that had brought them there.

After reaching Naboo, and being separated from his Padawan, he met one of the natives of the planet in the form of the Gungun, Jar-Jar Binks. He was a clumsy oath that caused more trouble than he was worth, but he was relatively harmless...now if he could think then they would all be in trouble.

Reuniting with his Padawan, after he had saved Jar-Jar from being squashed by the troop transporter, Qui-Gon managed to convince the Gungan to take him to his people, who just so happened to live under the surface of lake Paonga in the city known as Otoh Gunga. After using a Mind Trick to influence Boss, the leader of the Gungan community, they were given a ship to help them reach Theed and managed to save Jar-Jar from execution...apparently his clumsiness had gotten so bad that he had gained a kill on sight order.

Making it to Theed, the capital city of Naboo, he and Obi-Wan rescued the Queen and those that had been captured by the Battle Droids. After he had explained the negotiations had never taken place and persuaded the Queen that he needed to get her to Coruscant because 1, it was the safest place for her and 2, she needed to convince the Senate to send aid to Naboo to force the Trade Federation and their Droid army off world.

And that was how he and the rest of the crew found themselves in a heavily damaged ship that he knew would not get them to Coruscant due to the Hyperdrive being damaged and needed to be repaired. It was for that reason that he had told the Queen that they needed to head to Tatooine, despite the protests from Captain Panaka.

And under normal circumstances he would have agreed with the Captain. Tatooine was the last place anybody wanted to go unless they had no other alternatives, but it was also the best place to go if you didn't want to be found; that and not even the Trade Federation would risk angering Jabba the Hutt by attacking Tatooine just to get the Queen.

"Captain Panaka, we've got a situation!" Ric Olié, the pilot that was flying the Nubian suddenly came over the ship's intercoms pulling the Jedi Master from his thoughts. "You'll want to take a look at this...whatever this is!"

Feeling out with the Force, Qui-Gon frowned when he felt the anxiety and confusion rolling off the pilot and co-pilot in waves. Deciding to investigate for himself and praying to the Force that the Trade Federation hadn't caught up to them, the Jedi unfolded his legs and pushed himself off the ground. Once he was up, he walked through the Cargo Hold passing the many doors that were sealed shut with the largest being the Queens personal quarters.

Making it to the cockpit within a matter of moments, the Jedi Maverick saw his Padawan Obi-Wan Kenobi, Captain Panaka, the two pilots and Jar-Jar staring out of the window of the ship, none of them speaking or moving a muscle. His leonine features hardened as he felt even his Padawan astonishment through the Force, something that surprised the aged Jedi Master, considering everything they had both been through over the last decade.

"Is there a proble…" He started to ask before felt his breath hitch as he saw what the other were looking at and gained the same reaction.

Before them, at least a few hundred meters in front of the Nubian, was a massive portal that easily dwarfed the starship and in the middle was a medium-sized purple ship that was of an unknown design and made with a material that the Jedi Master was sure he had never seen before. It had a more curvature structure than any ship in the Republic, present day and during the Old Republic from what he could see.

But it was not the ship that left everyone speechless...or at least not that ship.

Just above the smaller ship was a larger, if only a piece, of the ship that overshadowed both the Nubian and the smaller purple ship could be seen coming out of the portal just above it. It wasn't just the size that left the crew lost for words but rather that the ship seemed to be sliced in half on both sides leaving only the middle intact, and even that outclassed the two smaller ships considerably.

"Master, have you seen any think like this before?" Obi-Wan asked the question that was on everybody mind but did not take his eyes off the portal.

"Never." The Jedi Master confessed to his Padawan." But I believe we should take a closer look." He added as he felt across the stars with the Force only to be puzzled when he felt nothing. Maybe whatever had sliced the larger ship in half had killed everyone on board...but then what about the smaller ship? From what he could see it seemed undamaged.

The only plausible answer was that the ship was manned entirely by Droids. If that was the case then hopefully, they weren't programmed to follow the Trade Federation, although considering that the ships were of unknown design he highly doubted they would be.

"Absolutely not!" Captain Panaka declared hotly as he turned to glare at the Jedi Master for even suggesting it. "You're already putting the Queen in danger by making us land on Tatooine, and now you want to investigate a potentially hostile ship because you are curious!? I forbit it!"

"You may forbid it all you like, Captain." Qui-Gon retorted airily, not at all bothered by the man's anger. "But there could be thousands of people trapped on that ship or..."

"They are not my responsibility." The Captain cut off the Jedi with pointed look. "The Queen is, and I will not allow you to endanger her any more than you already have done so."

"I'm sure Master Qui-Gon…" Obi-Wan spoke up trying to place peacekeeper between the two only to be silenced by a look from Panaka.

"I don't want to hear what you have to say, Jedi." He said scornfully to the Padawan who frowned but otherwise said nothing. "My duty is to protect my Queen."

"That is the reason for us being here as well, Captain." Qui-Gon spoke coolly narrowing his light blue eyes. "If not for us then you would all still be in the custody of the Trade Federation. And I would ask you not to speak to my Padawan like in the future," He said tersely. "If you have a problem with me fair enough, but Obi-Wan has done nothing to warrant your anger."

"Nothing?! You are both making us head to Tatooine!"

"Alright, not that I'm not enjoying this little debate of yours but could one of you decide what we're going to do?" Rick spoke up as he looked over his shoulder to look at the Jedi and Captain. "Are we going to help them or bypass them and head for Tatooine like we planned too?"

"Continue to Tatooine." Panaka ordered.

"Not so fast, Captain."

"I am the superior officer here and I say we head to Tatooine." The dark-skinned man declared to the Jedi before looking over at the two pilots. "That's an order, Olié."

"Yes, Sir."

"Maybe we should ask the Queen?" Obi-Wan suggested to the room as he looked between his master and the Captain of the Royal Guards. "We're only here to protect her until we reach Coruscant." He added looking directly at Qui-Gon.

"Very well, Obi-Wan." Qui-Gon said before the Captain could say anything. "We'll see what the Queen has to say, hopefully she will see reason." He added giving Panaka a look before he spun around, his robes flapping behind him, and left the cockpit.

As he walked away a thousand thoughts formed in his mind. Where did that portal come from, where they friend or foe, what weapon could have been used to slice the larger ship in such away, why couldn't he sense anything from either of the ships...but most importantly it just highlighted the fact that he and Obi-Wan were cut off from the rest of the Jedi and the Republic, and had no way of contacting either side for backup.

He did not know what was on those ships, but he had a feeling this mission just got a lot more interesting.

And cut! Finally! That was a long ass chapter that I could have probably shorten a hell of a lot, but I didn't want to rush it by having Six arrive in the Star Wars galaxy within a hundred words, hence the long introduction of Six fighting through the Corvette before he activated the bomb.

I have not really got anything else to say seeing as I said everything up top about why I changed it to the Clone War era rather than the Empire. But if you have ideas/suggestions on the tech upgrades that Six could use to upgrade himself while he is there then I would love to hear them.

Also, should Six have a pairing for this story? It can be from either Halo or Star Wars, but it would not happen for a while. At least not until he has grown accustomed to the Star Wars Galaxy.