AN: I do not own ME or Halo.

Alright, I went back and decided to do it right this time. Enjoy.

Chapter 1

On the planes of the UNSC fortress world, Reach, the last Spartan on the planet, a Spartan III, made her final stand. Her name had been stricken from the records and some believe that not even she remembers her own name. Not even the team she was assigned to, Noble Team, knew her name. She gave a silent, tired sigh at the thought of Noble.

At first, it was just another assignment. But Noble was unlike anyone she had served with before, and for the first time that she could remember, she felt like she belonged. Don't misunderstand, the members of Noble were just as wary of her as she was them and as Carter had put it: "You're filling shoes that the others would rather leave empty." But when the Covenant showed up, well, they learned to get along.

None of this matters though. She came here after seeing the Pillar of Autumn off planet to make her stand. All of them, Jorge, the towering Spartan II with a caring heart, Kat, the XO and technician, Carter, the leader and the first to welcome her, and Emile, the CQC expert, had all died fighting. Jorge taking down a super carrier, Kat with a sniper round to the back of her head, Carter ramming his Pelican into a Scarab, and Emile taking out his killer. All except her and Jun, the teams scout and sniper. With the way they were losing, she figured Jun had already met his own end, if not then soon.

There were no more ships, no reinforcements, no one else to fight beside her. This was her moment, her glorious death on the battlefield, the inevitable fate all Spartan III's were trained for. She had fought off the waves of grunts and jackals. She had destroyed seven Wraiths and forty Banshees that tried strafing runs at her and almost twice that with Ghosts. A few times, she had tried high jacking a low flying Banshee so that she can rest a bit and kill even more of these Covenant bastards who had taken everything from her. But, she was shot down each time, and the fighting continued.

Her body was sore and tired as she continued to fight the elite of the Elites, Zealots. Her HUD had long since stopped working and her visor was now cracked in several places making it difficult for her to see. She took a moment to reach up and unclasp her helmet before taking it off. Some of the Elites were firing at her with Plasma Repeaters, so she tossed her helmet to the side. It's cracked silver faceplate staring, recording her final moments. But this didn't matter to her. She had accomplished the mission, sent humanity's hope away, and killed wave after wave of these Covenant bastards. No one would deny that she had earned her rest. But, she wasn't done yet.

She bent down and picked up a discarded assault rifle and fired at the Elites. She fired at an approaching Elite till its shields failed and it fell dead before her. Hearing footsteps from behind, she whirled around and slammed her rifle into the Zealot, bringing down its shields and sending it to the ground. She took out her pistol and shot it once in the head, making sure it won't be getting back up.

She was hit from her left by a stream of plasma fire. She turned and fired at her would be killer but, a second stream came from her right. She pulled out her pistol and began firing at both of them until one fell dead, then the other. But, as the second one fell, another Elite charged her, knocking her to the ground. It made to impale her on it's energy sword, but she kicked it off, sending it reeling back.

Another Elite, a Shipmaster, tried his hand but she punched it away, knocking its sword from its hand. The Elite from before tried once again to kill her, but she rolled to the side, dodging the blow. She gave it an elbow to the jaw, shattering its shields and causing it to fall. The Shipmaster, now recovered, projected its wrist mounted energy dagger and gave her the final blow. And with that, Noble Six, Spartan-B312, the only female Spartan and Spartan III to be given the designation hyper-lethal, died on the desolate plains of Reach.

Unknown

Noble Six sucked in a large gulp of air as her eyes snapped open. She took immediate stock of her surroundings only to find herself in a sea of endless white. She climbed to her feet and examined herself. To her surprise, she looked fine. Minus her missing helmet, she hadn't a scratch on her. "What?' she asked herself, voice soft in disbelief.

"Come this way," someone said in her ear. She turned her head to see nothing. She spun in a circle to make sure no one was behind her, but she was alone. "This way," it said again. She felt a tug and her feet began moving. She tried resisting, but she didn't even slow. It wasn't long before she saw something off in the distance. At first, it was just a black speck, even with her enhanced eyesight. Though it wasn't long at her current pace before the speck gained some features. Some very familiar features.

The tugging had stopped, but her feet hadn't. In fact, she began to pick up speed. And the closer she got, the more of the object she could identify. Finally, she was in reach of it, or rather, him. Lying down on an invisible ground was the slumbering giant of Noble Team, Jorge. Six didn't know how to feel, she never was good with her emotions. Jorge was special to her in the sense that he was the one that made her open up and begin to befriend the others. And while he didn't like her filling in the past Six's shoes, he accepted her into the team. Losing Jorge was difficult for her, as was the others. It was one of the few times she was thankful for the near endless fighting. It allowed her to focus on it instead of her deceased teammates.

She didn't know how to feel at the moment. A part of her, a long forgotten part of her, wanted to cry in joy? Relief? But her training said for her to be wary. To her, she still couldn't believe he was alive. His eyes snapped open, only to close them again thanks to the light. "I didn't think slip space would be so bright," he said, bringing a hand to cover his eyes while they adjusted. His words brought Six back to the time she last saw him. When he lifted her with one hand and carried her to the edge of the corvettes hangar. "Tell them to make it count," he had told her. Did they? She wondered on that.

"Six?" he asked. She looked back down, broken from her thoughts about his sacrifice and saw him looking back up at her. His brow furrowed showing his confusion. "What are you doing here?"

She reached down and he grabbed her hand. She had to use both hands to pull him to his feet. To her, it was another difference between the II's and III's. "I think we're dead," she replied.

"Dead?!" he exclaimed, looking at her.

"I made it back down," she assured him having guessed where his thoughts were going.

"Then how?"

"Energy dagger, pierced her heart and left lung," someone said from behind. They turned and spotted a man around 6 feet in height dressed in sharp military uniform. More specifically, of a general. Both Spartans snapped to attention causing him to chuckle. "At ease." They dropped their salute into a parade rest stance.

"I won't lie to you," he said. "Both of you are indeed dead."

"Then where are we, sir?" asked Jorge.

"I'm here to offer you, specifically Noble Team, a choice," the man said, deflecting the question.

"But, sir, we're the only ones here."

"I can see that," the man said, unperturbed. There was a moment of silence before three, what seemed to be, slip-space portals appeared danger close to them. Yet, there was no pull. What was more, the portals weren't the size they should be. They were all frightfully small, about the size of a standard Warthog. When they dissipated, there on the ground were the bodies of Noble Team who had fallen in the fight. The man jerked his head from Jorge and Six towards the rest of Noble.

As the two approached, the others started to wake up from their slumber. "Oh, damn," said Emile. "Did anyone catch the license plate of the bastard who ran over me?" He brought his armored hand up to grab his head. "I'm going to need to have a serious 'chat' with 'em."

"Stuff it Emile," said Carter.

"It's good to have you back among the living," said Jorge.

That stopped all three. They looked up and spotted the two. "Jorge? Six?" Carter asked in disbelief.

"Commander?" asked Emile.

"What?" Kat for once, was at a loss for words.

"Kat!?" Carter asked, even more shocked, though you had to look closely to see it.

"Enough!" thundered the man, grabbing everyone's attention. "My apologies, but if I had let you continue, then we would be here longer than necessary, and I am an incredibly busy man."

"You said you had a choice for us?" asked Six.

The man nodded in confirmation. "I did. But, we're still short one member." Another portal opened, then disappeared, leaving the last member of Noble.

Jun, closed his eyes for a moment to adjust to the sharp brightness of the light. "Well, looks like the bands back together," Emile said.

Jun's eyes snapped open before turning around. What he saw shocked him to his core. Standing there was the deceased members of Noble. "What's going on?" he asked.

Jorge gestured over to the man standing at parade rest with a nod of his head. "He said he is offering us a choice."

The man nodded in the affirmative. "Listen well Noble as I do not like to repeat myself. I am, I suppose you could say, the watcher of this galaxy."

"Watcher?" asked Kat.

"Indeed. As you already know, there are many galaxies within the universe. Each one created by The Almighty, and each one with its own humanity."

"Wait," said Emile. "You're saying there're other humanities?"

"I believe I just said that," the man deadpanned. "While each humanity shares a similar history, up to a certain point in time, each galaxy is different from the others. Whether this is different aliens, different technology, or any other number of reasons. The Almighty is always at work. Creating, planning, or listening and watching his creations, he is always occupied. This is where I and my siblings come in."

"How many watchers are there?" asked Carter.

"As many as there are galaxies. One guardian per galaxy. Now, our duty is to ensure the survival of humanity in our chosen galaxy." Here a grimace crossed his face. "Unfortunately, we don't always succeed." He paused to let that sink in. "One of my sisters, Athame, has run into a problem. Her humanity faces extinction, and they are woefully unprepared."

"So are we," said Jun.

"Let me phrase it like this; If the Covenant had attacked Earth first, instead of Harvest, how do you think you would have reacted?" Silence was his answer. "We all know that the UNSC had hid what had happened to Harvest for the first few years in the war, so as to not cause a panic. However, if it was Earth, than everyone would have known. In my sisters universe, Earth isn't 'the heart' of her galaxy. It is a station called The Citadel."

"The vanguard of her humanities threat had already succeeded in striking 'the heart' of galactic society. And yet, The Council, the races that govern everyone else, has written it off as a one time thing to be ignored. They haven't upped their defenses only their security, and have denied anything to do with the actual threat! Even humanity is doing their best to shove the whole incident under the rug, so to speak." He paused for a few seconds to get himself together from his rant. "Except for a few 'key' figures."

"That still doesn't explain why we are here…sir," Carter said.

"Occasionally, if we deem our humanity has little hope of being saved, we will ask one of our siblings to see if they could 'lend' us a few of their 'heroes' to pull our humanity out of the situation they are in."

"Sorry, sir," Emile said. "But, you're talking to the wrong people."

"I know exactly who I am talking to Noble Four. My sister doesn't need a hero or some icon that humanity could look up to, she needs soldiers who can get the job done."

"Why us?" asked Jorge. "Surely there're others who would be more suited for this."

"Jorge, I know you mean you're fallen brothers and sisters, but I wouldn't have called on you if I didn't believe you were best suited for the job. Now, before I send you all on your way, there are a few rules you need to abide by."

"One, under no circumstances are you to allow anyone from my sisters galaxy to get a hold or even a thorough scan of your armor. If one of you falls, destroy the armor, no exceptions! Two, you cannot tell anyone that you are from a different galaxy, nor that my siblings and I exist. Three, make sure my sisters 'hero'-a woman named Shepherd-survives."

"Noble, this is your mission should you choose to accept. Ensure Shepherd survives to make one of four choices that will forever affect my sisters galaxy. 1) Destroy the threat. This shall wipe out all 'synthetic' life in the galaxy. People who have robotic limbs, enhancements, and biotics can and will be affected. 2) Sacrifice their body to become one with the enemies conscience which will allow them to take control and lead them away. However, there is no guarantee that they may eventually decide that continuing the attack would be the better option. 3) Sacrifice themselves so that everything becomes…equal. Every thing in their galaxy will be both synthetic and organic. It will halt evolution completely. Whether they know it or not, this is a death sentence for all life because life is to continually evolve. 4) The second most idiotic choice, do nothing. Let the enemy continue and pray they can hold out."

"In all actuality, the only viable option is the first one. My sister wants her chosen champion to have the ability to decide. I want you to make the choice beforehand. If you are able to find a way, make an option five. But if you can't, make sure Shepherd chooses option one."

"And what if we say no?" asked Kat.

"Nothing. You've already lived your lives, except Jun who has yet to die. If you say no, then for all except Jun shall pass on while Jun is returned right where I took him with all knowledge from here erased."

"Sir, if you know everything in your galaxy, did you know what would happen when we met the Covenant?" asked Jorge.

"I knew about the Covenant, and I knew that humanity would one day meet them. However, the ability to decide is a powerful thing and not everyone chooses what I expect them to. Let me tell you this, The Prophets had learned something that shook them to their core. They did and are doing everything in their power to make sure this knowledge remains secret. That is why they ordered humanities destruction."

"They killed billions just for a secret?" asked Jun, outraged.

"What was it?" asked Kat.

"That is something humanity will have to learn on its own," the man said, voice low.

"How 'bout you tell us right now?" said Emile.

"To what end? If you choose not to take this mission then the knowledge would do you no good. And if you take the mission, you'll be going to a galaxy where it won't matter. Even if I did, what's to stop me from just erasing it from your memory?" This gave them all pause. What he said was true and there is nothing they could do to stop him. "So, what's your choice?"

The team by near reflex turned towards Carter for his decision. He brought up his hand to rub at his brow, showing the strain being in command gives him. "I can't make this decision alone," he said. "This isn't just another mission from the UNSC or ONI. We're not fighting the Covenant. We were never trained for this and for the first time since basic, I don't know what to expect."

Spartans, for all their enhancements and training, are still at their core, human. And while humanity has always been curious about what they did not know, humanity has also feared the unknown. Noble now had a choice to make and if they chose to accept, they would be facing an unknown amount of unknowns. More over, they would be practically on their own. They would no longer have the UNSC for reinforcements, evac, funding, or supplies. But, at the same time…

"I don't know," said Jun. "What do we get in return for this?"

"Simple," the man replied. "Accomplish the mission and I will send all of Noble onto The Pillar of Autumn. Also, my sister may send you requests every now and then. Do these and you will be rewarded."

"How so?" asked Emile.

"Would the location of The Spirit of Fire be worth a few requests?" Silence. "How about The Everest? The location of Grey Team? Stop me if I'm getting warm."

"You mean," began Jorge, "you could tell us where Red Team is? And Admiral Cole?"

"As I said, I watch over this galaxy. While I don't know what runs through your heads, I do know what someone says and where something is. All your brothers and sisters who are MIA can be found."

"I'm in," Jorge said. "If I have the chance to find them, I'll take it."

"I watched the Covenant destroy my home," said Carter. "If I have the chance to prevent others from seeing everything being destroyed around them, I'll take it. I'm in."

"You won't get far without me," Jun smirked. "Don't worry, I'll make sure you face any opposition."

"Heh, a chance to get back to gutting the split-lips? You know I'm taking it," Emile stated. "Plus whole new aliens to terrorize, how could I say no?"

"If all of you were left alone, nothing would get accomplished," Kat said. "So, yeah, I guess I'm in to. Someone has to keep their head on straight."

Six was silent for a moment, looking at her team, the only people she felt she actually belonged with before replying. "Impossible odds, no knowledge of our opposition, and mankind on the brink of extinction. Why does this remind me of basic? You can count on me, sir."

The watcher nodded his head, hiding the smile that wanted to split his face. He knew he chose wisely. "Alright Noble. My sister wanted me to send you to the planet called Anov III. Before you go, your helmets." He snapped his fingers and their helmets appeared before them. "And while I cannot permit you to take any of your weapons with you, you'll learn soon enough, here are your knives." Another snap of his fingers and their knives appeared in their sheaths.

Emile grabbed his kukri and brought it out. "Oh, my baby. Did you miss me. Don't worry, you'll be gutting all kinds of new aliens." If they were normal soldiers, Noble would have been freaked out by his behavior. However, Jun did the same with his sniper, Kat with her data pad, and Jorge (although not as badly) with his turret. The only thing Carter 'obsessed' over was his armor, but all Spartans did that. As for Six, well, she never had the time to repeatedly use a weapon to begin obsessing over. Although she liked the DMR.

"You'll find all the information to get you started groundside. Good luck Spartans." With that, the Watcher snapped his fingers and the team was enveloped by that slip-space anomaly and were gone.

AN: How'd you like the new version? Someone had said to change the name of, well I guess we could call it Limbo, as it was originally The Afterlife. However, Afterlife is the name of a bar in ME. Also note that I didn't put down Six's name this time. Reason for this is I felt that Cana just didn't suit her. If you have a good idea for her name let me know in the reviews or by PMing me.

So, did you like this new version? Hate it? What do you think could I have done different/better. Let me know and I will hear from you in the next chapter. G'night!