//------------------------------//
// Chapter 2 
// Story: A Noble Death 
// by LSTS Connor 
//------------------------------//





Six had been walking for several hours now through this desert , her pace never wavering even under the scorching sun. Well on the outside the ambient temperature read as a sweltering 40 degrees centigrade but inside her armor, it was a cool as a cucumber. If Six hadn’t already thanked her armor designers for the built-in cooling system after a particularly challenging solo operation to take down an Insurrectionist Cell in the deserts of Durisdeer, she would be thanking them now. Well... not that she needed to anyway, as it came standard issue with the armor, but she did so anyway after the ambient temperature exceeded 60 degrees during her tracking of the cell through the desert. 

The trek had been uneventful allowing Six time to think about her current situation as well as get more acquainted with the new body she found herself in. The fact that she could still use her armor meant that her neural interface was still there but what about the other modifications? She didn’t feel any different and her reflexes seemed to have improved a little as well... or a lot. It’s hard to tell how your modifications meant for combat were holding up if there was no combat to test them with.

‘Well, there are some birds in the sky. And some food just in case wouldn’t hurt’ Thought Six stopping in her tracks whilst looking up at the birds circling high above her. ‘Vultures huh... well it’s better than nothing’ Six pulled her knife from its sheath on her shoulder, it’s blade reflecting the one-way golden visor of Six’s helmet. She looked up at the birds above, her helmet calculating their distance from six.

‘Target range around 100 meters, medium to large size...Should be a piece of cake’ Thought Six moving to stand on her hind legs, flaring her armored wings out as a counterbalance to prevent herself from falling. ‘Heh... well at least they’re useful’ Went through Six’s mind in amusement, before focusing her gaze back on the bird above her.

Momentarily flipping the knife as to grab the blade, Six once again wondered how the hell she was holding the knife through her armored limb, once again, crossed her mind. She could feel the knife’s warm steel as if she were holding it with her bare hand. Unless her armor got an upgrade (Which she doubted massively) this was seriously weird.

The ‘Deal with it’ protocol went through her mind once again as she was reminded that it didn’t matter in the long run. She could hold a knife, which meant she could fight and that meant that this bird was dead meat as Six threw the knife at the flying bird (or moving target, whatever you prefer). 

*Squawk* 

Bullseye.

‘Heh... I still got it’ Thought Six a small grin on her face as she followed the falling form of the bird, her knife glinting in the sun, as it fell to the ground stuck to her target. It landed nearby with a small *thump* kicking up some sand into the air with its ‘landing’. Walking up to the corpse of the bird she saw her knife glinting in the sun as she went and removed it, wiping the blood off before sheathing it. Picking up the bird for later she tucked it under her wings before tightly pressing them against her barrel, keeping the bird in place before resuming her journey towards civilization.

Or again, what she hoped was Civilization and not some random forest fire or burning wreckage in the middle of nowhere.

After about roughly another hour of walking, daylight was beginning to fade as the Desert got progressively colder and darker as time went on. Six needed to find some shelter for the night and luckily a small rocky overhang was visible on the hill in front of her. A large pillar made of rock extending into the sky serving as the overhang’s origin. Several other of these pillars were visible in the distance and had been for several hours now. If they were natural occurrences or not Six couldn’t tell, but night was beginning to fall on the desert as Six made her way underneath the overhang.

Dropping the bird off on a nearby rock Six moved to the nearby edge of the hill she found herself on. Since night had fallen the smoke she had been following had vanished into the dark sky, but what it left in its place was exactly what Six was looking for.

Just on the horizon lights could be seen. These weren’t just any lights, of course, they were far too bright and spread out to be anything natural. These lights were artificial meaning a town was nearby. Six allowed a small smile to grace her features before turning around and going to gather some wood to start a fire for the night.

After a few minutes of gathering dry sticks and shrubbery, a small fire was now burning, lighting up the overhang she now found herself under. Sitting down on her haunches six removed her helmet with a *hiss* of the pressure seal being broken cutting through the otherwise quiet atmosphere. Setting the helmet down on the stone underneath her she grabbed the bird and began to prepare it for consumption. 

As she began cooking the meat on the tip of her knife another thing became clear. Could she still eat meat? Her body seemed quite herbivorous, but whenever she looked at the piece of meat she was cooking, her mouth couldn’t help but water a little, after eating little to nothing during her three-day last stand, her body was crying out for sustenance. Plus with the uncontrollable response of a watering mouth at the sight of meat, it was safe to say that she could still eat it.

Taking a bite out of her meal and not gagging instantly confirmed that meat was still on the menu for this Spartan. Now with that question out of the way, Six hungrily devoured the rest of her food, getting as much off of the bone as possible. Leaving nothing but an exposed skeleton and feathers.

After burying the stripped bird carcass in some nearby sand and now no longer starving six grabbed her helmet and went to tinker with its radio. Putting her helmet back on she changed to the standard ONI frequency. ‘Rather get the spook’s involved after what happened to me. I doubt the marines will hear me out before shooting on sight’ Six thought with a small chuckle. She really couldn’t blame them for such a reaction, as the only other alien species they know wants to wipe them off the face of the galaxy.

ONI was a safe bet for the Spartan turned alien, sure they would poke and prod her, maybe even lock her in a cell until they confirmed her identity but they for sure wouldn’t shoot her on sight, as a live alien prisoner is too rare an opportunity to pass up for the ONI Spooks.

After tuning the radio, Six began to speak.

“Local ONI contingent, this is UNSC Sierra-B312 callsign Noble-Six respond.”

Nothing but empty air and static is what she got in response from her radio. Six tried once again…

Still nothing.

Deciding to take the risk she transmitted her message on the standard UNSC Marines channel.
She was once again met with only static and empty air.

Thinking this over there were several possibilities for such a situation. Either she was A: Inside a covenant jamming zone or B: the soldiers stationed on this planet had become way too comfortable. There was a third option however and that would be that whatever brought six back from the dead, transported her to another planet.

Saving answering those possibilities for once she reached civilization Six set her message to repeat on both channels for the duration of the night before she lay her equine body down on the smooth cold rocks underneath her.

Putting her helmet back on, Six adjusted her position, laying on her side, forelegs tucked close against her body.

‘I feel like such a cat right now’ Six thought in amusement with a small chuckle, adopting the position of a cat laying down for a nap, her black and silver tail covering her back legs. Lying there, staring into the fire Six allowed her eyes to close as the crackle of her campfire and the static from her radio lulled her into a dreamless sleep.