Halo: Noble Freelancer

Part One: Man Down

I see a team member injured on the ground, and a nuclear bomb next to her. She looks up at me, looking into my helmet. Her visor has been shattered and her right eye shows through the hole. She is in search for my eyes. My eyes which are hidden behind a visor of my own. The only way to see my face is to remove the metal plates covering it. But she is incapable of doing so, especially in her condition.

My team member turns her head the other way in shame as rubble from grenades and airstrikes land on us. I grab the nuke and use my jet pack to ascend from the ground up to the Covenant Corvette. When I reach the ship I enter through an open hatch in the side of the aircraft and come to a ledge. From there, I look out into the loading bay.

All I can see is elites entering the tanks. Grunts load into the transports with Brutes, Jackles, Skirmishes, and Hunters. More elites enter drop pods and Banshees. Buggers swarm above it all. I look down at my dog tags and read to myself what it says. Thinking back. Remembering. The lives that I saved, the lives that I have taken, and the lives I have lost.

ID NUMBER: Sierra-115

NAME: Unknown

TEAM: Noble

TEAM ID: Noble Six

I look at the nukes timer. It has one minute and thirteen seconds left. I sprint back towards the way I came but the hatch is closed shut. I place some explosives on the wall. A door opens and I hide around a corner. When an elite comes around the corner I gut his neck. Looking at the bombs clock one last time, I throw it into the Covenant armada below me. Taking cover behind a corner, I blast the hatch open with the explosives.

Before I can make it out in time the bomb explodes and I am pushed from the force of the explosion. My body is surrounded by flames and debris. The flames clear out and the force from the explosion fades away as I begin to fall to the ground below. My HUD glitches as my open wounds burn in the harsh, cutting winds. As I look down I see fire on the rest of my body burning and growing larger as the wind helps it breath.

I intercept a transmission from my team, "Noble Six this is Noble One, come in Noble Six... Six are you there...? Did you make it out in time...? Six!" "We've lost all communications with Noble Six... I am, truly, sorry Noble One but we have a war to win and one lost soldier is nothing to grieve over." Commander Hargreeve replies. Then, without warning, I crash into Reach's surface and all turns black.

When I wake up, I see a blur of gray passing over me. My eyes gradually focus on what appears to be a ceiling flying by on a continuous path. Every so often I am flashed by bright lights. I watch the ceiling fly by, barely able to move my head when I hear a voice by my side.

"It looks like we will have to amputate what's left of the arm."

My weak eyes hardly establish a man in a lab coat as he pushes me along, running the whole way as we turn corners and pass through doors. On the other side of him is an armed guard keeping pace.

The guard notices my open eyes and alerts the doctor, who then explains, "Can you hear me? Try not to move. We're here to help you. Do you understand what I'm saying? It's going to be okay."

I stare into the eyes of the young doctor, dazed and confused. Another voice comes from out of view but I don't have the ability to look nor can I understand what they say. A hand snaps their fingers next to my left ear

"She's losing a lot of blood. Keep the pressure up. We need to get her into surgery, and soon." The doctor says while looking to someone on my other side.

W-what are they talking about? What's going on...? Carter, I heard Carter's voice, where is he? Where is Noble... I need... I need to find... Noble.