Planet Reach

July 24, 2552 07:28 Hours

` The Lieutenant sat patiently in the vehicle scanning his helmet. This was it, this was the day he met his new comrades. For so long Spartan B312 had been a lone wolf, taking matters into his own hands. Now he was going to follow someone else's lead, have other soldiers to worry about. It was going to be something to get used to, but he had been trained years on teamwork. He was just one of the lucky ones. As the lieutenant stepped out of the vehicle he could see a Spartan in greenish armor loading rounds into a sniper rifle. The Spartan was bald, and had a tattoo on the side of his neck. The Spartan starred at his new teammate, but kept walking inside the compound. Already there was a discussion between the commander of the lieutenants new team and colonel Holland, the man who chose him to replace a fallen Spartan.

"Contact with visegrad relay was lost last night" said Holland. "Signal flatlined at twenty-six hundred hours" he continued to inform the commander. "I responded with trooper fire teams which have since been declared MIA".

"And now your sending us" replied the commander.

"The office of naval intelligence believes the deployment of a Spartan team is a gross misallocation of valuable resources…I disagree" responded Holland. The lieutenant now entered the room only to be cutoff by a female Spartan with a prosthetic arm.

"Commander" said Kat. The commander turned to look at the lieutenant briefly but shifted his focus back at colonel Holland.

"So that's our new number six" said Jorge the biggest of them all. Jorge was the only Spartan two in a group of Spartan threes.

"Kat, you read his file"? asked Emile the Spartan with a skull on his visor.

"Only the parts that weren't covered in black ink" responded Kat about the lieutenant's highly redacted personal file. The commander turned his focus on colonel Holland.

"Anyone claim responsibility sir"? asked the commander.

"ONI thinks it might be the local insurrection". "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" responded Holland. "That cannot happen here, Reach is too damn important" said Holland. Reach was humanity's most important colony. Not only was it close to earth it was strategically important for the UNSC. "I want that relay back online noble one" ordered Holland.

"Sir, consider it done" acknowledged the commander.

"Then I'll see you on the other side, Holland out" said colonel Holland. After the conversation was over the commander turned to the lieutenant.

"Lieutenant" said the commander.

"Commander, sir" replied the lieutenant.

"I'm Carter noble teams leader". "That's Kat, noble two, Emile and Jorge, four and five" Carter said looking at his teammates who were now exiting the compound. "Your riding with me noble six" said Carter signaling for noble six to follow him. "I'm not gonna lie to you lieutenant, your stepping into some shoes the rest of the squad would rather leave unfilled" Carter spoke to six. After the death of Thom-B293 some of noble team, especially commander Carter began to have some trust issues. He continued "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 too" said Carter. "I'm glad to have your skill set , but were a team that lone wolf stuff stays behind got it" said the commander.

"Got it sir" responded six. Six was now part of a team, he was no longer on his own.

"Welcome to Reach" said June, noble teams sniper. He talked a bit much for a Spartan but he made up for it with deadly accuracy. The falcon lifted and noble team was away.

Szurdok Ridge, Utkozet

August 13, 2552

20:07 Hours

Noble team had fought together on reach for a while now, barely getting any time to rest. The covenant was now on Reach and everything seemed to be getting worse. Noble six had settled a bit more with his new teammates. He felt more confident and he felt like he could trust them more now. Commander Carter was an excellent leader who cared for his teammates even six. Kat was technical genius who could hack anything. Jorge was a veteran who has been fighting way before noble six was even born. Jun was a sharpshooter, the best noble six had ever seen. Emile was cold, but a great warrior. Noble had grown quite fond of his new team, even if at first he was hesitant. But even with noble team fighting the covenant everything seemed to be going south. As noble team sat in distant cave they could only watch as the covenant slaughtered more and more of the UNSC. Not only had covenant came in force they brought a covenant super carrier which was tearing the UNSC apart. They had to come up with a plan to take that thing out.

"Our foe is more devious than we imagined, that spire was indeed a teleporter linked to cloaked covenant super carrier" Dot noble team's A.I informed noble team on the situation. "A grave threat" she continued. "Thankfully help is imminent, sixty percent of the UNSC fleet is on route to reach" she added, attempting to give some hope. "The first battle group should arrive in forty eight hours" she stated.

"Forty eight hours, that's imminent"? said Jun. Brushing off some of the rust from Jorge's armor, Jun seemed hopeless. "Who's your money on this time"? Jun asked Jorge.

"Her" Jorge said looking at Kat.

"You always pick her" replied Jun.

"She's always had him dialed in" said Jorge.

"That things crushing us and were waiting for backup"? Kat argued with Carter. "They'll be backing up a graveyard" she said.

"All our nukes are either outsystemed or went down with the ships that carried them" responded Carter. "Your preaching to the convertant" said Carter.

"How converted"? Kat asked looking at the commander with in a convincing way.

"I know that look Kat" said Carter. Carter and Kat were the only remaining Spartans of the original Noble team. They were closer together than anybody else on noble team.

"You can say no" Kat said.

"No" Carter responded quickly.

"You don't even want to hear it"? Kat asked.

After taking a deep breath Carter finally gave in to Kat. "Fine… I'll hear it" he said. Kat began to explain to Carter her plan.

"Remember that accident a couple years back, colony ship on route to signas… seven hundred dead" she started.

"Vaguely a slipspace drive malfunction right"? Carter asked curiously.

"Actually it worked fine" she replied. "The drive was mounted improperly after a service hall out" she continued. "When it fired it… teleported half the ship to oblivion" she stated.

"And this is relevant… how"? carter asked.

"A certain covenant super carrier could with some assistance suffer the same unfortunate accident" Kat said unraveling her plan to take out the super carrier.

"Even for you Kat that's…" Carter didn't believe that something like that could be pulled off.

"Inspired" Kat interrupted him.

"Not the word I would use" Carter finished. The rest of noble team had come to hear the plan.

"What's going on"? Jorge asked.

"Go ahead, explain" said Carter inquiring that Kat reveal her pan to the rest of the team.

"May I"? Kat asked reaching for Emile's Kukri.

"Don't cut yourself" Emile said sarcastically allowing Kat to borrow his knife. Kat began to map out her plan on the ground to the rest of noble team.

"Objective… destroy covenant carrier in geo synchronous orbit above us" Kat said.

"This sanctioned sir"? Jorge asked Carter.

"What do you think" responded Carter.

"Oh" Jorge acknowledged. Kat continued explaining her plan.

"Method… slipspace drive in lure of the nukes we don't have" she said. "Delivery system…us" she said. "Solvable… getting us up there" she said. "That and getting our hands on a slipspace drive" she said "Thank you for sharing" she said giving Emile back his combat knife.

"So… all we need is orbit capable transport, and the single most expensive peace of equipment made by man" Carter said.

"As a soldier on the field I couldn't possibly have access to those kind of resources" Kat replied. "That said… a good place to look would be, umm…I don't know… the newest non existent launch site, in the non existent sabre program dismissed by three administrations as propostorus rumor" Kat hinted at the top secret sabre program. She continued "and in which our newest member was certainly never a pilot" Kat said sarcastically about noble six's involvement in the sabre program. When Kat mentioned six's involvement in the saber program both Emile and Jorge gave six a curious look. Six just shrugged his shoulders in guilt and shifted his focus back to Kat who was finishing her plan before being cut off by Emile sharing Kat's intimidating personality.

"Your scary… you know that" Emile joked.

"All we need is a green light from Holland" Kat added.

"Good luck with that" Carter responded sarcastically.

"You're the one asking him" Kat said handing Carter the communications device.

"There's no way in hell he's gonna go for this" replied Carter as he began contacting Colonel Holland.

Sabre Program Launch/ Research Range

Farkas Lake, Eposz

August 14, 2552

12:48 Hours

Noble hopped out of the falcon and were now at the sabre launch facility. The facility was top secret, but the covenant had found and launched an attack. Automated turrets were firing and the covenant air support with an attempt to secure the facility. Noble team still had walking to do to get in the facility.

"Bit of a hike to the launch facility" said Jorge.

"Any closer is to hot" responded Carter.

"Copy that commander" acknowledged Kat. Noble team got the green light from Holland to use a slipspace drive to take out the carrier. They needed to get through the covenant and inside the facility. Once inside they take a YSS-1000 sabre and infiltrate the super carrier. Noble team began their march to the facility. Covenant drop pods began raining down from orbit to halt noble team. Covenant poured out to engage the Spartans, which slowed but didn't stop noble team. Noble team pushed through the covenant and into the facility. Once in the facility noble team rushed to find a sabre ready to launch.

"Six, take point" ordered Carter. Six began leading the way as the rest of the team followed. As six moved forward, suddenly a dead marine flew at him. Six took a quick step back to avoid being hit by the body. Out from the corner an elite jumped out in front noble team and gave a loud roar before being put down by a barrage of gunfire. Six checked the marines body, but he was no longer breathing so they kept moving. Noble team finally made it to the control just in time and found a sabre ready to launch. To everyone's surprise Jun entered right after them. He was supposed to pick them up after Six and Jorge left the facility, but instead he came in.

"Jun… what are you doing" Carter asked. Jun took a deep breath before answering.

"It's hell outside commander" Jun responded.

"What… what do you mean" asked Carter curiously.

"The covenant… they've began pulling out for some reason" Jun said.

"Why would the covenant pull out" asked Emile.

"Maybe they're scared of us" joked Jorge.

"I don't know why, but they left pretty quickly" responded Jun.

"Well then it's better for us, lets get moving" ordered Carter. Noble team began getting ready for the mission ahead. Everything seemed to be going fine until suddenly the marines began shouting.

"Get down"! a marine shouted to the Spartans. The Spartans were confused at was going on. Just as commander Carter was giving noble team the signal to get down a huge explosion was heard. The shockwave ripped through the facility sending everything flying. Six turned his head to see the purple shockwave just as it impacted him sending the fully armored Spartan crashing to the wall. The explosion was a powerful one instantly knocking the Spartans out cold.

It was dark and cold. Six opened his eyes to the sight of a planet, that looked much like the planet he was born on. It was dark covered in smoky clouds from nuclear winter. The clouds completely blocked out the suns light from shining on the planet. Six attempted to move but his body didn't respond. He could see covenant ships in the distance glassing the planets surface. Six could hear the inhumane roars of the sangheili in the distance. Not far away six heard screams, and they were getting closer and closer. The noise was getting louder and louder, and everything seemed to be getting darker. As six turned his head he could see hundreds of people running towards him in a hurry. He tried to figure out what was going on but he still couldn't move. Men, women, and children were all stampeding towards him. In an instant six was momentarily blinded by a bright light in the distance. As six regained his eyes the people stood there hopeless. The women began crying and holding their children who were also crying. The kids didn't know what was going on, but it was probably better that way. The men hugged their families and said goodbye for the last time. Six could see mushroom clouds in the distance every one getting closer. The shockwave zoomed by instantly vaporizing anything in its way, but six still couldn't move. Six closed his eyes waiting for the inevitable. Not even his advanced armor could withstand the power of a nuclear detonation.

Eden Prime

2186 CE

Six opened his eyes to see Jorge standing directly over him.

"Ah, finally" said Jorge extending his hand out to six. "Sleep well" asked Jorge jokingly.

"What happened" asked six looking around at this strange scenery. All around them was green grass. The place looked like a beautiful paradise. The sky was clear, and blue. The wind brushed the lush grass from side to side peacefully. In the distance there were large artificial structures. It seemed as there was no longer a war going on.

"Commander, he's up" said Jorge signaling that six had awoken.

"Lieutenant, are you alright" asked Carter.

"Yes, sir" replied six. Carter took a moment to look around before asking Dot about their location.

"Dot, any idea where are location is" asked Carter.

"I think we might be just outside of Manassas, or Quezon judging by the environment" said Jorge.

"Incorrect, we are no longer on Reach noble five" said Dot. The entire looked at each other in confusion not knowing what was going on.

"What do you mean we're no longer on Reach" Kat hissed.

"Dot, if we're not on Reach then where are we" asked Carter.

"Scanning… unknown" replied Dot. Noble team was now stranded on an unknown location with no contact with HQ.

"Dot, can you contact Holland" asked Carter.

"Negative, I cannot establish connection with noble actual commander I apologize" said Dot. Noble team looked around for any clues as to where they were.

"Commander there are some large structures a few clicks north" informed Jun. "Maybe we should go check them out" he said. Carter took a look around before ordering the team to scout ahead. Noble moved swiftly and quickly through the open terrain. Once they got closer there were more structures. It seemed like a small settlement judging by the number of structures.

"Commander there's smoke coming from the buildings" said Kat.

"Move quietly, and stay alert noble" said Carter. Noble team did exactly as they were told and moved on searching structure after structure.

"Commander, come look at this" said Emile searching a dead body.

"Looks like someone massacred all these people" said Jorge.

"Covenant, maybe" asked Emile.

"I don't think so" replied Jorge. "No plasma damage on the walls" he said.

"No plasma burns on their body either" said Kat. Six looked around only to find more dead bodies lying around.

"Insurrection, probably" said Jun as he was looking outside the window. As the team continued searching around Jun noticing something coming.

"Commander we got company" shouted Jun.

"Noble team weapons hot, but do not fire unless fired upon" commanded Carter. Noble team took cover in the structure and waited.

"What is that commander, some sort of shuttle" asked Jun

"Must be, keep your eyes peeled Spartans" replied Carter.

"Looks like it dropped something off" said Jorge.

…

Shepard, Liara, and Garrus jumped out of the shuttle to find the prothean. As soon as they stepped out they knew Cerberus had killed the residents of the settlement.

"No sign of survivors" said Liara as they walked towards the dig site.

"This was a beautiful colony once" said Shepard.

"It survived Saren, it can survive this" reassured Garrus.

"The city on Earth I grew up in was hard and dirty, I can see it as a war zone" said Shepard. "Eden Prime doesn't deserve this" he continued.

"Nobody does" said Liara. They kept moving through the compounds searching for the dig site.

"There that's the elevator that leads down into the dig site" said Liara as they made their way to the dig site. Liara began working on bringing the artifact when she made a startling discovery.

"Goddess that doesn't seem possible" Liara said.

"What is it" asked Shepard.

"It's not a prothean artifact it's… a live prothean" Liara replied.

"Like the collectors, or the bodies we found on Illos" asked Garrus.

"Like the bodies we found back on Illos, but this one is alive" Liara replied excitingly.

"You're right that doesn't seem possible" said Shepard.

"You saw prothean stasis chambers in the archives on Illos" Liara started. "The only reason those failed was the lack of power" she continued. "Cerberus found this in an underground bunker, it still has power" she said. "He's been in stasis for the past fifty thousand years, waiting for us". "Think of what we could learn" Liara sounded hopeful that the prothean could teach them new things.

"This could be what we need to finish the crucible" Shepard said seeing it as an opportunity to maybe defeat the reapers.

"I hope so" Liara replied. "If this single prothean was sent into stasis, he could be the foremost scientist of his time, or perhaps the wisest counselor" she said. Liara informed Shepard about what they had to do to open the pod and they got to it. Before they could do anything Cerberus shuttles began pouring troops down on Shepard.

…..

"Commander we have more shuttles inbound" said Jun. Cerberus began dropping soldiers down all over the settlement to attack Shepard.

"Should we engage them commander" asked Emile hoping that carter would say yes.

"Negative, not until we know what we're dealing with" replied Carter. Before noble team could do anything else Cerberus troops began firing at them thinking they were alliance soldiers.

"C'mon commander, do we have permission to fire" asked Emile.

"Roger" said Carter. Noble team began firing back at Cerberus who stood no chance for trained Spartans. One by one the Cerberus troops began dropping.

"So… we're dealing with insurrectionist huh" said Jorge

"Looks that way, but we don't know for sure" replied Carter.

"Doesn't matter, nobody messes with Spartans" said Emile. Noble team kept trading fire with Cerberus still not sure of what was going on.

"Commander, it looks like they've engaged someone else on the far side of the compound" said Kat.

"Looks like someone's fighting back" yelled Emile.

…

Shepard and his team were working their way through Cerberus troops trying to open the prothean pod.

"Shepard, I think someone is fighting back against Cerberus" said Garrus. "I hear more fighting on the other side of the settlement" he said.

"Lets open the pod, then we worry about them" replied Shepard. They kept on searching for ways to open the pod before Cerberus.

…

After a few minutes of fighting the Cerberus troops were no longer a threat. Noble team had successfully taken them out.

"Whoever was fighting these troops, might be able to help us" said Jorge.

"Yea if we can trust them" said Emile who had trouble with many non-Spartans.

"We have to find them first" said Carter. "When we find them stay alert, we don't know what's going on here" he said.

"Commander, we still don't even know where we are, maybe they can tell us" said Jun.

"Like I said, if we can trust them" said Emile.

"Dot can you pinpoint their location" asked Carter.

"Yes, uploading it to your HUD now commander" replied Dot.

"Alright let's move noble" Carter ordered. Noble team began moving towards Shepards location. Noble team moved in on Shepards location to see them talking to Javik the prothean.

"Hold" ordered Carter for noble team to stay back and in cover.

"Aliens" Emile whispered.

"Should we move in commander" asked Kat.

"We don't know if they're hostile yet" Carter replied.

"The one in middle is a human" said Jorge.

"Those other aliens… they're not covenant" stated Jun.

"Who knows they could be a new species" said Emile.

"Yea, but they're working with a human" said Jorge. Noble team remained in cover for the time being not knowing who Shepard and his crew were.

"Alright, noble team get ready" Carter said. "We go out introduce ourselves… if they're hostile, then you know what to do" he said.

"One…two…three" as soon as Carter finished noble team came out of cover and stood face to face with Shepard and his crew. Both sides raised their weapons in uncertainty. Noble team walked slowly towards Shepard.

This was it whether they were hostile or not, noble team was ready.