The lights in the room dimmed as the pod hissed open, steam pouring out from its edges. Noble Six stirred inside, slowly coming to life after being in stasis for so long. His breathing was heavy, labored. His helmet shifted slightly as he blinked his eyes open, trying to make sense of his surroundings. Everything was a blur.
Before anyone could react, Noble Six's instincts took over. He shot up, his hand grabbing the closest thing in front of him—the specialist who had been tasked with opening the pod. With a swift, powerful punch, Six sent the man flying across the room, slamming into the wall with a heavy thud. The specialist groaned in pain as he crumpled to the ground.
Six's eyes darted around the room, his vision still foggy, but what he saw didn't make sense—blurry figures that looked like Covenant forces. **Elites. Brutes.** He could feel his adrenaline spiking as he assessed the threat, his mind not fully grasping the situation.
Without hesitation, Six flipped over the bridge table with surprising speed, heading straight for Captain Avery. His fists clenched, ready to strike.
"Six, stand down!" the captain shouted, but it was too late. Six's fist was already flying toward him.
Before the punch could connect, Spartan S-213, **Sierra**, appeared in front of Noble Six in a blur of motion. She caught his arm and twisted it behind his back, forcing him to the table with a powerful slam. "Spartan, you need to calm down," Sierra said through gritted teeth, struggling to hold him down.
But Six wasn't listening. He was still in fight mode, seeing only enemies in front of him. With a burst of strength, he pushed back against her, their armor scraping as he shoved her off balance. They both moved with the precision of trained Spartans, their strikes fast and swift. Sierra managed to dodge one of his punches and swept his legs out from under him, but Six was quick to recover, rolling back onto his feet.
The fight between them was smooth and intense, the sound of their armor clashing echoing in the room. Their movements were a dance of survival, muscle memory guiding them through every move.
A minute passed, and Sierra noticed Six's attacks were starting to slow. His muscles were still recovering from cryo-sleep. Taking advantage of this, Sierra twisted around him, using her momentum to toss him over her shoulder. He hit the ground hard, and she pinned him there, her knee pressed into his back, holding him down.
She leaned close to his helmet, her fist raised and punched the floor beside his head. "Spartan, **stand down**. We are not your enemy. We are your comrades."
For a brief moment, there was nothing but the sound of heavy breathing in the room. Noble Six's body finally relaxed beneath her grip, his mind clearing enough to realize the situation. His eyes slowly focused, recognizing that there was a Spartan looking down on him and not a brute. He then looked around the room. This wasn't a Covenant ship. These weren't enemies.
He let out a sigh of relief and gently removed her off of him. She stood and offered him a hand, which he took, pulling himself up. "Uh, look, I'm sorry about that. I, uh, before I was put in there, the last thing I can remember was choosing to stay behind and fight off the Covenant," Six said, his voice tinged with unease.
Captain Avery, who had been watching the entire encounter, finally spoke up, his tone calm but firm. "I forgot how fast you were, Noble." His eyes looked over to the specialist groaning in the corner. "Try not to knock out any more of my crew."
Six stood there, taking in the words, still dazed. His mind was struggling to catch up with everything, but one thing was clear: he wasn't on Reach anymore.
Sierra glanced at Six, her visor hiding the expression on her face, but there was no doubt she had just earned some respect from the revived Spartan.
Captain Avery turned to the rest of the bridge crew. "Get our specialist up and see if he's alright." He then turned back to Six. "You've been out for a long time, soldier. We'll bring you up to speed soon enough, but for now, we're just glad to have you back."
A few hours later, two marines were walking past the door to the women's locker room, talking to each other. "Did you hear? Rock Team found Noble Six!" one soldier said with excitement. The other one didn't seem amused. "Yeah, I know. You want to know the more exciting juice? Sierra and Six fought when they woke him up," he said with a smirk on his face.
"What? For real? Man, who won?" the other marine asked.
Sierra was seen sitting on a bench in the locker room, listening to them talk on the other side of the door. "Sigh. I didn't want to fight him," she said softly to herself. She got up and slowly walked over to a locker, wiping off the dust. "Where are you?" she said with a sad tone in her voice.
The sound of the door opening made her turn her head. She noticed a female Spartan walking in, heading toward her locker. As she opened it and took her helmet off, Sierra turned around, trying to mind her own business. A voice cut through the silence. "You're that new recruit, aren't you? S-213?"
Sierra nodded. The female Spartan walked up to Sierra but kept her distance. "Your armor. It's the newest addition, isn't it?" she asked.
Sierra shook her head. "No ma'am," she replied. The female Spartan walked beside her and took a good look. "Well, it's not one of the older models like mine and John's. Also, your helmet kind of reminds me of an ODST mixed with a Mark II."
Sierra finally looked at her. "I, uh, made the armor myself."
Sierra scanned her body with her visor. A name popped up on the bottom right: **Senior Chief Petty Officer Alice-130.**
"What are you doing?" Alice asked Sierra. "I see they finally woke you up from cryo sleep."
Sierra asked while closing the locker door,
Alice noticed the locker Sierra was looking in but said nothing, watching her walk away, rubbing her neck. "Hey, uh, you know taking the helmet off from time to time could help with the pain," Alice said.
Sierra stopped and turned her head slightly. "It isn't from the helmet," she replied before walking up to the door. She placed her hand on the hand scanner to unlock it. As she left the room, the door shut behind her. Alice noticed something flickering off the hand scanner. She walked up to it and saw it was cracked. "What the hell. Did she do that?" she muttered.
