Halo Reach Alt. Ending. Pt. 1

Chapter 1: A Moment of Silence.

     As the Pelican was taking off from SWORD Base, Noble Six peered down at his up-armored gauntlets holding the glowing package given to him by Dr. Halsey. His mind brought him back to the SWORD base underground complex and Dr. Halsey's comment to Carter about the importance of this glowing thing. "Save the human race? How is this going to save us from the Covenant?" Noble Six thought to himself.
     Jun, who noticed Six studying the object, mocked, "Don't look at it too hard, you might break it."
Six looked up, shook his head, and acknowledged the joke with a quiet chuckle as he latched the package into his back. Jun smiled under his helmet, turned to Kat and asked, "What is that package exactly?"
     Kat replied, "From what we saw earlier, it's supposed to be an AI."
     "Great," Emile quipped, "the 'fate of humanity' rests on a damned computer program. Isn't this type of work better suited for the damned Postal Service?"
     Carter sternly ordered, "Stow that language Noble Four. We've been ordered to deliver the package and we follow orders. We're Spartans; you know what is expected of us."
     "I copy that sir, but, we're Spartans," Emile emphasized the word "Spartans" and protested, "The UNSC trained us and modified us to fight. There is a fight going on down there and my shotgun is up here. What use are we if we're not doing what we were bred to do?"
     "And ONI said that us going in to retake the Visegrad Relay was a 'serious misallocation of resources,'" Kat sarcastically commented.
     "Kat is right," Jun turned to Carter and added, "Why haven't we been evacuated? If we're valuable resources to the fleet, shouldn't we be helping organize a counter-attack, or at least be on one of those ships heading out of here?"
     "ONI feels that using us to deliver and protect the package is a valuable use of resources," Carter replied.
     "Frankly sir, I beg to disagree," Jun remarked.
     "Okay, Rifleman, what do you think? What would you have us do?" Carter jokingly challenged.
     "If you asked me, sir, I think that ONI is severely underestimating our value as a squad," Jun began.
     "Okay, continue."
     "Well, if you asked me, we have the best and most diverse squad of Spartan III's in this cargo hold. We have you, sir. You're a combat genius."
     "You trying to kiss my ass, Noble Three?" Carter grinned.
     "No sir, just stating the facts," Jun continued, "Kat over there knows how to hack better than any Spartan I've seen."
     "You flirting with me, Spartan?" Kat joked.
     "Heh, heh. Emile here is so skilled with a knife, that he probably…screw it, Emile is just a damned killing machine," Jun joked.
     "Takes one to know one, sniper," Emile cracked.
     "Hell, sir, even fly boy over there," Jun resumed, "is apparently hyper-lethal. Do you know what that means, sir?"
     "No, Warrant Officer, what does that mean to you?"
     "Sir, that means that Six is worse than Emile!" Jun exclaimed.
     "I aim to please," Six quipped as the squad tittered in amusement.
     "The point is sir, if you asked me what I would do, I'd say we should be getting off of this planet. You never know when the fleet may need us. I mean, there could be worse things than the Covenant," Jun suggested.
     Carter asked, "Jun, do you seriously think there is some entity worse than the Covenant?"
     Jun answered, "I'd like to think so. I mean, it could get worse. We could be dealing with zombies."
     Emile interjected, "Whoa, whoa. I'll make out with an Elite before that will ever happen."
     "Duly noted," Carter smiled.
     As the laughter died down, the ghostlike calm that Six felt before every engagement began to settle in his mind. It was then that Six pulled out a set of dog tags from one of his magazine pouches. He peered at the letters that spelt out Jorge's name, noticing the indented scar through his name caused by Six's impact into Reach's welcoming ground. It was almost as if it was crossed out, he thought.
     Six then looked up and realized that everyone was looking at him holding Jorge's tags. The Pelican's cargo hold grew solemn as Jorge's tags swung with the tilt of the Pelican. Carter and Kat's faces looked exceptionally distressed. Carter ordered Jorge's death and Kat planned it. Six looked at them, his body relaxed as he sighed and said, "Jorge told me to make it count. He said how Reach has been good to him."
     Jun added, "He loved Reach. He was saying how it was great for him to be back home."
     "He trusted Dr. Halsey." Kat said, "He always considered her a close friend."
     "Heh. He was always sentimental," Emile recalled, "Made you realize that the Spartan process never tore out his soul."
     "Jorge was always telling me about his times back on Reach," Carter mentioned, "It's almost surprising how he got through that with a heart."
     Carter paused at that thought and continued, "This mission would've probably been just as important to him as it is to ONI. He died for Reach, for Halsey, for us. It's time we make it count. If our stake in the war, and in victory, is to protect this package and the ship it's on, maybe we'll do the UNSC proud. Maybe we'll do humanity proud. Maybe," he paused, put on his helmet, and continued, "Maybe we'll do him proud."
     Six packed the tags in his pouch. He pondered about what Jorge would really think about this mission. His thoughts were immediately interrupted by the sound of the ground rumbling as the explosives in the underground base activated. Noble Six turned to see the ground where the base lay rise up a few feet and sink into itself. He quickly shook his head, took out his DMR and checked the magazine. The Pelican ascended from the base and through the clouds towards the shipyard.