//------------------------------// // Brotherhood // Story: Noble Six // by InfinitySlayer //------------------------------// The day is bright and warm. A gentle breeze blows through the tops of green leafed trees. Two young boys gaze up at the blue sky, under the shade of an kind, old oak tree. The older of the two brothers, about 12 years old at the time, looks down at his little brother. He's sprawled comfortably across the hard pavement, enjoying the moist, fragrant Arcadian air. The littler brother, around seven years old, looks back into his brother's eyes. They had been together since the younger of the two brothers was evacuated from planet Harvest in the first of the Covenant attacks. His parents had been brutally slaughtered by the Covenant in the very first assault they launched against mankind. Narrowly escaping onslaught aboard an evacuation vessel, the little boy survived the onslaught. Orphaned, the boy had nothing but the clothes on his back and the tears in his eyes. The older boy's parents found him alone, and adopted him. His newly adopted father, a Major in the UNSC, treated the small child as his own. A few years later, his parents saved enough money to take a surprise vacation on the recently discovered planet Arcadia. "Life's been pretty good lately, huh bro?" The younger boy nodded in response. Life did seem pretty good. It didn't get much better than chilling under a tree, with no responsibilities. The older boy smiled warmly. "It'll be you and me forever, bro. Nothing in the world will change that, you know that, don't you?" The younger boy nodded again. He returned his brother's warm smile. He knew that he'd found a family that loved him ever since he first met them. Yep, the younger boy thought, nothing will ever change that. Suddenly, the breeze picks up speed and turns into a forceful gale. Leaves are blown away from the branches they once stood proudly on. The two boys look up into the sky at the purple intruder invading the glorious day. Both of them instantly recognize it as the source of all their sorrows. A Covenant invasion ship. Then the two boy's father bursts from out of the vacation home. In his arms is an Assault Rife. He's just finishing getting dressed into his brown-green UNSC uniform. He looks at his sons in pale terror. "Quick, take these." The boy's father passes two objects to each of his sons. They are two Magnums, one for the each of them. "Dad...what's going on?" The younger boy asks, hoping his asking would disprove everything around him. "The Covenant are invading. I have to join Sergent Forge in his effort to evacuate the city. Jake, its up to you to get your younger brother to the cargo ships." Jake tries to plead with his father, to say he can't do it, but the screaming of Banshees overhead blocks out all other noise. Right behind them a group of civilians is destroyed by a Banshee's fuel rod cannon. Another is quickly surrounded by squads of Elites who show no mercy to the defenseless humans. "The cargo ships are that way," Their father points to a group of three large evacuation ships in the distance. A loudspeaker frantically announces, "This is Sergent Forge, we need any and all UNSC forces at the firebase, ASAP!" The boy's father turns towards the UNSC base in the distance. "I'm sorry, I have to go. Take care of each other, get to the cargo ships." Tears fall from their father's eyes. "But...promise us we'll see you again!" Jake says, his eyes blinded by tears. His father starts to move towards the base. "Just get to the cargo ships! Go, now!" Their father sprints towards the firebase. The two boys run without looking back. They keep sprinting and sprinting, running through plasma fire from surrounding Covenant forces. The younger boy swiftly tires, and comes to a halt. Jake turns and ushers him forwards. "Come on, bro! We have to keep running! We're almo..." The younger boy watches his brother get shot in the side by a pink crystal shard. Nonetheless, he stays on his feet. He hefts his Magnum and shoots the Grunt who shot him. He's shot by another shining pink shard in his opposite side. "Go! Keep running, don't stop!" Two more pink crystals stab into his leg. He collapses to his knees. His younger brother can't do anything but watch. "Go!" Jake continues firing rounds into the Covenant troops. His younger brother obeys and runs faster than he'd every run in his life. He can hear nothing but his brother's Magnum rounds penetrating the Covenant. His final stand. The younger boy finally reaches one of the cargo ships. He rushes aboard just as the ship begins to ascend. "Quickly, boy, get on!" A large man reaches out his hand and pulls him into the ship. The door to the ship fastens shut just as he gets in. The boy collapses into a comfortable leather seat. "That was a close one. Glad we could get everybody aboard that we could." The large man says to the boy. He looks down at the small child, and sees the tears rolling down his cheek. He's looking out of one of the circular windows at the land bellow them. "I'm sorry. I know you've got family down there. So do I. But at least we're alive, us lucky few." The boy is hardly listening to the man. His thoughts are placed on his brother's last stand. Why did he fight? He was as good as dead when he first got shot. Why did he keep standing? What was he standing for? "Thank God for those brave men and women willing to give up their lives for us" The large man said to himself. The young boy turned to face him. "Why do we fight them? We can't beat them." The large man scratched his beard. "You know what? You're probably right. It'll take a miracle for us to survive. But as long as we stand we'll keep on fighting. Because if we don't we'll die anyway. And even if we do, at least we know that we died fighting for the rest of humanity. For our brothers." A tear rolled down the young boy's cheek. For our brothers.