Halo Legacy

Prologue: Noble 6

She didn't know how long she'd been fighting. All she knew was that there were more of the covenant, more she had to kill. There was a slight crack on her visor and she received minor injuries. She rammed another magazine into her assault rifle and she was ready for another dance with the elites, jackals, and grunts that were flown in by the dropships.

She ran from behind the ruins she used for cover, fired a short burst from her assault rifle and killed two grunts with ease then turned and rammed the butt of her rifle into a nearby grunt. She focused on two jackals next, dodging and firing then dodging again. In thirty seconds the two jackals were neutralized. She turned and to her surprise an elite was closer than anticipated, knocked her off her feet.

Noble 6 quickly recovered with cat-like grace, alternating between shooting the elite and hitting him with her rifle. It was a good tactic because the elite fell in fifteen seconds.

Two more dropships emerged over the mountainous terrain in the distance. She reloaded her rifle and switched to her pistol. More jackals, grunts, and a pack of elites were deployed a distance away. She sucked in a deep breath. Two more dropships appeared over the horizon. Fatigue was beginning to settle in. She rushed to another remnant of a building fifty meters west of her previous position and ducked her head down and waited.

The red dots on her motion tracker began to converge on her position. When she felt the time was right, she popped up, fired a short burst killing a grunt and destroying a jackal's energy shield, then ducked again. She quietly relocated to hide behind a concrete barrier.

A jackal sniper hit Noble 6 in the visor. Six determined it to be a lucky shot as fatigue continued to seep into her bones and muscles. She was a SPARTAN and there was no way in hell she was dying today, not without destroying more of these aliens that thought it their right to kill her team and invade her home. Reach wasn't falling today. Six was determined to make that reality.

Another fifteen minutes and all the current covenant in the area were neutralized. More dropships appeared over the horizon. From what six could make out the reinforcements were purely zealots. The energy swords were their preferred weapon, but that was because they were so fast they could dodge bullets as they rushed their assailant and then stab them, watch the blood seep out of their enemy.

The zealots were on the ground now. Swiftly moving and running around her. She knew it seemed chaotic but they were like the ancient dinosaurs on earth, the Velociraptor. They hunted in packs, similar to the zealots. They were quick and smart. 

If only they were extinct like Velociraptors. 

Six "held the fort" so to speak against five zealots but the next pack of five, an unusually large number for a zealot pack continued to dodge her bullets. It was difficult to land a sufficient amount of hits. A shot suddenly cracked her visor now. She was knocked off the ground, her assault rifle a meter or so away. She ripped off the helmet and tossed it to the ground, crawled to her assault rifle, stood and took out a zealot. Then she turned 180 degrees and shot with her assault rifle one-handed and used her pistol in the other hand and took out two zealots. She leaped and whacked the head of an approaching zealot. Another zealot threw her to the ground. She kicked the zealot. Hit the other. The two zealots then stood aside as a third zealot stepped on Six's legs, rose the energy sword in his other hand and delivered the final blow.

Six didn't die instantly. She was too tough for that. The zealots left her for dead, they knew she was mortally wounded and they had other places to be.

Reach felt at peace, despite the chaos of the past few days. She knew that Reach was lost. She just wished it wasn't today. She didn't want to die, today. There was still so much to do. She heaved a labored breath and felt the bloodied holes in her chest.

She felt at peace.

She'd been fighting her entire life it seemed, and now here she was...laying on the ground...laying down on duty...It was unacceptable behavior for a SPARTAN, but she knew that she only had seconds left. The darkness closed in. Six died on Reach that day, ironically it was her birthday. She didn't know how old she was, she didn't really care. She'd never grown up celebrating her birthday. But today was her birthday.

"One hundred, and seventy two," she sputtered, blood flowing in earnest. That was how many covenant she'd killed. 

That was probably the best birthday present I could ever give myself. 

With that final notion. Six closed her eyes and died.