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October 20, 2557, 0100 Hours
Thunderous rain poured down in the mountains, cracks of thunder echoed off the tall peaks and down into the valleys below. The heavy clouds blocked out any sliver of moonlight, leaving the area in total darkness.
At the base of mountains lies a small outpost, hidden away from prying eyes of the public and UNSC. Within were the holdouts of the Insurrection, they had been hiding in the region for the past few months. The compound was made up of five buildings set up in an X, the Command center was at the center with the mess hall, armory, barracks, and storage buildings at the corners. The compound was surrounded by a simple barbed wire fence with guard towers at each corner.
A young guard named Thomas stood in the shadows under an overhang off the Command Center. Looking out toward the front gate he could see a few of his fellow insurrectionists standing guard. He took a long drag at his cigarette before putting it out. Thomas has been a part of the insurrectionists for over two years, a Marine washout he had grown up in the UNSC and had learned to hate it, the way they used their soldiers in wars. He had been at this little outpost for the past six months, waiting for their time to strike back at the government and what it stands for.
Thomas began to walk out of the shadow and back to the gate when the two men standing there dropped to the ground. Less than a second later he saw the guard in the nearest tower fallout landing only a few feet away from him. Thomas didn’t understand what had happened till a few seconds later the echo of shots rolled through the valley. He quickly took cover behind some stay barrels under the overhang. It was hard to hear anything over the pouring rain that beat down around him. He could almost make out what sounded like suppressed gun fire throughout the camp. He was ready to make a run for it when a blackened figure moved through the gate.
That when he saw it… the Spartan. He had never seen one in real life, only in videos and pictures. It stood at the front gate, under the small lamp that hung from the gate. It was all blacked, black armor, black visor, black soul. He could see it looking around until it seemed to lock eyes on him. He stared at him for a moment, before reaching for the M6M on its hip and aiming up. It shot out the light without looking, without breaking the stare. When the light went out it disappeared into the darkness.
Thomas could feel his heart rate skyrocket, he began to look around frantically, hoping he could see the looming figure that he knew was coming for him. Next thing he knew there was a knife to his throat and metal against his back.
“Give me one good reason not to end you.” A female voice whispered from behind.
“I-i…. I have a family… a-a little g-girl.” Words tumbled out of his mouth. “Please don’t hurt me.”
The Spartan forced him to the ground, his arms pulled behind his back. He felt the cold metal of handcuffs click around his wrists.
“Noble, check in.” He hears the voice whisper. “Copy all, I have one in custody, meet me at the ground gate.”
He was lifted to his feet and pushed toward the gate, he was still having a hard time seeing in the dark, but he could make out a couple other large figures in the darkness.
“Why did you leave one alive, boss?” one of the figures spoke.
“When I saw him, DOT ID’d him as a former Marine, thought it would be a good intel grab.”
“Nice call I’ll take him,” Another figure called, another female voice. It didn’t take him long to realize that his outpost had been attacked by a team of Spartans, but he was surprised how relaxed they seemed. “Move it Innie.” The barrel of a rifle poked his back.
They began to walk, they walked for what felt like a few miles till they forced him to kneel. A Pelican came down from the clouds and they loaded on board. It wasn’t till the door closed that a red light came on in the hold. He was now able to make out five Spartans sitting around the hold.
“Thomas Kane, born on Earth, March 9th, 2525, London. AWOL for the last Twenty-Eight months.” A Spartan that sat across him spoke, he could tell it was the same one that captured him. “When we get back to our base, you will be placed into a war tribunal, and you will be tied as an insurrectionist and hanged for being a traitor to the UNSC. That is unless you talk and give us all the information you have.”
“What do I get if I talk?” He spoke after a moment.
“To live.”
“Okay I'll tell you anything you want.”
“Good.” The Spartan took off her helmet, revealing the pale redhead women underneath. She turned to the Spartan next to her with a Skull engraved into his helmet and a large knife on his shoulder.
“Four, when we get back I want you to take him to the brig. Five, Six I want you to go restock our gear in the Armory. Jun, you are with me. Gotta talk to the Captain.” When they landed Thomas was taken away, and handed off to the MP’s never to see the Spartans again.
Noble Team hadn’t changed much since Kat and Erica got their promotions. Noble Team had been running just as smoothly as before. Jun had been moved to Noble Two, Emile had decided to remain as Noble Four as did Cassie & Marcus as Five and Six. They have yet to get a new Noble Three but they hope one will rise from the Spartan Leadership School.
Erica and Jun made their way through the maze of hallways that made up the UNSC Headquarters. They quickly made it to the Command center. When they entered the room they easily spotted the two Spartan officers, towering over everyone. Making it over them in only a few strides. Kat smiled at the sight of her wife approaching.
“Admiral, Captain, Noble Team is reporting in. We cleared the base of all insurrectionists and took one former Marine who's been AWOL into custody and has been handed off to the MP’s.”
“Good work Commander, that will be all for now.” Osman turned to Kat as the two others walked towards the door. “We can pick up the rest of this later, Have a good night Captain.”
“Same to you Ma’am.” She quickly left and caught up with the others in the hall. “So how was it?” She interlaced her fingers with Erica ’s
“Good, cleaned house and pretty sure I gave one AWOL Marine nightmare for life.” She laughed. They quickly joined the rest of Noble in the lobby.
“Come on, let's get you all home. Dinner at our house.” Kat received a round of smiles and light cheers at the sound of a good home cooked meal.