A Hero's Sacrifice: a tale about Noble Six

... doesn't define you.

Agent: Rhode Island

Status: Critical

Nearby: Carolina (Critical). North Dakota (Critical). South Dakota (Critical). Spartan-A266 (Critical)

Time: 0701

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With a growl, I charged the thing. We locked fists and that was when I threw away the persona of Rhode Island and put on the familiar role of a "Hyper-lethal Spartan". With a growl, I slammed my knife into the robot, causing it to stutter. I then proceeded to kick it while ripping the knife out, causing a bit more damage.

"NEW TARGET: AG-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G--"

The robot kept stuttering, sparks shooting off the thing. I sprinted up its oversized MAC cannon and found an exhaust port. Dropping in, I began to hack away at the insides, planning on blowing the thing up from the inside, which I'll accomplish by a combination of my knife and some explosives.

Leaping out of the port, I grabbed a grenade from my belt, pushed the activation button, then shoved it into what equates to the robot's mouth. Rolling off, the frag ignited, blowing the jaw clean off along with causing a chain reaction with the other explosives I tucked away inside the vent. The parts flew every which way, and one came right towards me, forcing me to duck.

Bad thing, because Carolina was right behind me. "ARGH!"

"Carolina!"

I spun around to see Carolina without her helmet and she looked bad. Her face was swollen and bruised from the impact as well as bleeding. Her nose was covered in blood, mouth ringed with the stuff, and there was a nasty gash running down the side of her face, going from the top of the left eye to the back of the neck. AN: Don't ask me how that happened, just go with it. Post reasons as to how Carolina got that nasty wound in the comments! I'd love to hear y'all talk!

Damn it! "Hang in there, Carolina! I'll get you outta here!"

She let out a quiet groan as I lifted her up and started to limp away from the fight. 479 came down from the clouds and hovered as close as possible to the platform, cargo bay open. I activated my radio.

"479er! Prep for a heavy load! A Spartan's coming aboard!"

"Come again? Did you say Spartan?"

"Affirmative. He saved our sorry hides."

"Copy that. I assume all y'all are bleeding from every possible place?"

"More or less. Now get us out of here!"

North, South, and Jun climbed onto the Pelican and watched as I pried off Carolina's chest plate to look at the wound underneath. I cursed under my breath and tried to grab a can of bio foam, but realized I had used my last one.

"Darn it. Jun, mind handing me some foam?"

Jun looked up and tossed me a full can. Wedging the nozzle into Carolina's wound, I looked into her eyes.

"This is gunna sting like hell, Carolina, but it'll keep you alive until we get to the Mother of Invention, so stay with me!" I pulled the trigger and she began to wreath in intense pain. I placed a heavy hand on her shoulder, then winced in my own pain. "Just stick with us, Carolina. We're almost there."

She looked at me with a strange glint in her eyes and I stood there, comforting her. The Pelican touched down and as soon as the cargo bay opened, I fell down, almost unconscious from blood-loss. The medics flocked around us and the black Freelancer from my first day lifted me up with ease.

How is she doing that so easily? I'm in my Mjolnir armor. She shouldn't be able to lift me!

She walked me into the med bay and laid me down on the operating table and the docs immediately helped techs take off my armor. I heard the door open and when I looked to the left, I saw Texas standing in the doorway, blocking Hope. Texas looked back at me, then took a step to the right, letting Hope in. She rushed over to me and struggled to look at me. The Freelancer picked the girl up and allowed her to see me in my sorry state.

"Rhode..." Tears tugged at her big brown eyes.

I tried to smile. "Don't worry about me, Hope. I've survived Reach, after-" I began to double over due to pain, but the docs pushed me down. "I survived Reach, after all."

Hope nodded. "But-."

"Hope. Chin up. I've been through worse when I used to be with ONI, trust me. Taking out in- ergh- insurrection camps alone can inflict some huge injuries."

Texas took a step away from me, taking Hope with her. "It's time we go and let the docs do their job. He'll be back on his feet before we know it."

She left the room and I sighed, letting my head roll back. The docs got into full swing and they put a mask on my face, placing me under anesthetic.

When I came-to, Texas was sitting next to me. When I stirred, Texas looked up at me.

"You're awake."

I placed a hand on my head, noticing the fact that my armor had been taken off. "How long was I out?"

"Around a month. Things have... happened... while you were out."

"Fill me in. Honestly. I don't care how dark something is, I want to know."

Texas nodded. "Okay. That Spartan that helped you, Carolina, North, and South out decided to join Freelancer. He's going by New Jersey. Visited you more times then that girl did. UNSC Spartans came aboard, looking for a 'Noble Six', but Jersey shooed them off, stating that he used to be a Spartan and has access to the personnel records as a result. Said there was no 'Noble Six' aboard. Tensions seemed high between the two. You know something?"

I sighed. "Spartans? Why the heck are they looking for a Spartan confirmed KIA? Although his file reads MIA, we all know he couldn't have survived Reach."

Texas nodded. "Right, Reach. You said you were there. Something you want to tell me?"

I looked right at her visor. "Drop. It."

Texas shrugged, then stood up. "Fine. When you can walk, both Carolina and the Director want to see you, at separate times. Director: on the bridge ASAP. Carolina: she says she'll contact you. Bye."

Texas left, allowing me some time to myself. Why are Spartans looking for me? What's happened that needs my aid so badly, they're willing to dig through a graveyard and traverse the galaxy to find me? Why, why, why?

I heard the door hiss open and when I opened my eyes, I saw it was Jun. He sat down next to me and gazed at a closed fist.

"Hey, Jun. What's in the fist?"

"Good to see you're up, Six. And these?" He opened his hand, showing me four pairs of tags. "You know what these are. I grabbed 'em from your armor's pocket. You going to be okay, Six?"

I nodded. "Yeah, I'll be fine. I just need some time to heal up before I'm combat ready again. Heard you've joined the team. Welcome aboard."

We smiled at each other and then Jun stood up, slipping the dog tags into my hand. He left and I closed my eyes, ready for sleep.

Nightmares came to me.

Sorry for the delayed update! I've been focused on writing other books, so I haven't given A Hero's Sacrifice enough attention.

Next chapter will be about Six's nightmares and his reaction to them. Just saying, I plan on going a bit dark with the chapter.

See you there.