EMERGENCY TRANSMISSION....
POINT OF ORIGIN: COVENANT BATTLECRUISER NIGHTSTALKER
RECEIVING: UNSC SCOUTING VESSEL VALKYRIE
MESSAGE AS FOLLOWS, FOR UNSC ATTENTION:
---> This message is cleared for any and all UNSC personnel.
This is an emergency transmission to any UNSC contacts in vicinity. All information following is NOT sent by the Covenant, I am hacking their transponder to send this message.
Recently identified planet, Equestria, is to be recognized as a formal ally of the UNSC, ONI, and all of humanity as our first extraterrestrial friendly contacts. As such, they are subject to our aid and protection in times of crisis, being either economical, physical, or military based. Likewise, they have, and might continue to, benefit humanity in more ways than we can imagine.
PLANET COORDINATES- 104R-564F-BB76-QQWG-MIKE
Spartan B32---Noble Six
MESSAGE ENDS
"With all due respect sir, this is crap mail sent by the Covenant."
Lieutenant John Walker had good reason for believing so, the captain could obviously see. Indeed, the emergency transmission from out of the blue did seem more than a little bit suspicious. Just the fact that the person who wrote the message specifically said that it wasn't sent by the Covenant was convincing enough. On top of that, the point of the transmission's origin was a Covenant Battlecruiser! Plus, it was very unlikely that any known UNSC personnel could get up the the cruiser's bridge to send the message, after fighting and surviving thousands of zealot Covenant soldiers.
However, Captain Marcus Andrews was perhaps the only human aboard Valkyrie that recognized the name of Noble Six. He had seen him before, back at the fall of Reach.
The day just hadn't been going all that well for Lieutenant Andrews, or the rest of humanity, for that matter. In fact, things didn't seem like they could possibly get worse.
Indeed, the situation did seem disastrous. Andrews could tell that by looking outside the Pelican back hatch. Pretty much, the entire planet was on fire. If it wasn't, it was dead. The Covenant completely destroyed the planet. Andrews thought that perhaps he and him men could organize some kind of defense plan, but obviously to no avail. Now he and those aboard the Pelican, and the Pillar of Autumn, were just about the only remaining humans on the planet.
One last thing needed to be done, however. If there's one thing that the UNSC hammers into your head at basic training, it's to never leave a man behind. For honor reasons, of course, but leaving Noble Six behind to die on Reach was just plain stupid. He was an extremely valuable asset to the survival of humanity as one of the last Spartan III's in existence. Not having him aboard the Autumn was near suicide.
So Captain Keys organized a rescue party to save the valiant Spartan. And here Andrews was, aboard the Pelican with Keys and a few other good men, rescuing the best chance for their survival. Andrews could see him in the distance, standing on the metal platform, just waiting to be rescued. Around him were a comical amount of dead Covenant bodies. It was then that Andrews realized that they really really really needed him to survive. Without him, they were toast with butter, and maybe a little honey on top, depending on the situation.
Just then, a Covenant Battlecruiser flew in on a mission to destroy the Autumn. It was not an encouraging sight, but Andrews was encouraged to see another Spartan aiming a huge MAC cannon at the belly of the beast to destroy it. Then Andrews was not as encouraged to see the Spartan killed by about ten Energy Sword wielding Elites.
Once just a few feet from the Spartan, Andrews called out, "Get aboard, we need to get the hell out of here!" He was quite anxious to get the Spartan and go, seeing how they were still very surrounded by hundreds of thousands of Covenant troops.
Then, Noble Six said something that blew his mind.
"Negative, I have the gun. Good luck, sir."
There was no way that they could save the Spartan if he mounted the MAC cannon, Andrews knew that. They needed to escape as soon as possible, or they would all die. Yet, Andrews marveled at the courage of this warrior, knowing that by staying behind he was calling his own death. Andrews also took Noble Six's last statement to heart, even if it wasn't especially directed to him.
"Good luck, Spartan." Keys somberly replied as the Pelican began it's flight back to the Autumn, leaving Six there to cover it's escape, and give his life in the process.
Four years later, Captain Andrews never forgot Noble Six's final act of courage. He knew that if this message was sent by Noble Six, then two things change for humanity. One, Noble Six is alive and ready to finish the Covenant with a vengeance. Two, this planet he listed, Equestria, was on the side of humanity. At last, some perhaps lasting alliances with extraterrestrial beings.
If the message was sent by the Covenant, however, those planet coordinates listed were likely the coordinates into the middle of twenty other Covenant Battlecruisers. The Valkyrie had no chance of fighting that many and surviving.
Andrews had a decision. Input the coordinates into the NAV computer and risk the destruction of the Valkyrie, or leave what could be the alive Noble Six to die an eventual death.
"Captain, what are you orders?" Lieutenant Walker asked, eager to do something rather than watching his captain have flashbacks.
Andrews made his decision.
"Lieutenant, is the Valkyrie ready for faster than light travel?"
The Valkyrie, being one of the best scouting ships in the UNSC fleet, was equipped with one of the most advanced FTL Drives in history. It was a mash up of human, Covenant, and even Forerunner systems, creating an FTL Drive that could travel further, faster, and recharge more swiftly than most any other in existence.
"Yes sir, FTL Drive is fully functional."
"Then let's go."