A beginning is found after an end.

Noble Six watched as, what was almost certainly the final UNSC warship, the Pillar of Autumn left its dock near the Aszod ship breaking yards. The SPARTAN found it, if only in a fatalistic sense, amusing that the ship carrying humanity's game changer was leaving from a location where similar warships had been dismantled. The ships' atmospheric rocket pods activated and began to change its direction.

Six looked on as the rocket pods flames began to flicker slightly. Seconds later they began to detach from their position as the Autumn's engines activated. He tilted his head to keep the Halcyon Class Cruiser in his field of vision for a few moments longer. So much had been sacrificed, so much blood shed, all for this one launch. In his mind it would dishonor all that if he did not watch it leave Reach.

Reach. The Crown Jewel of Humanity, and soon to be sight of its greatest defeat. If Earth was considered the heart of humanity, then Reach was the heart of the UNSC. This one world, this one military facility, represented so much to his species. Reach had always been seen as safe, untouchable. How wrong they had all been, soon the very ground he now stood upon would be glassed. Just like the dozens of other human colonies now lost.

The last member of Noble Team could clearly remember the first time he had seen a planet glassed. It had been on a mission of a significantly more personal and painful, nature for him. A mission that had never gone on record and was unknown to all save him and a single living marine. The fate of that planet had been forever marked as one of his greatest regrets and accomplishments.

Noble Six had gone to the world of Elysium to destroy a facility under the control of an ex-UNSC scientist. The monster had created abominable creatures in the dozens of laboratories scattered over the worlds surface. Creatures which were eventually tested by luring the lieutenants' original Spartan team into a deathtrap. The Spartan-III returned to that world with the goal of ending the life of that scientist along with one, at least at the time, First Sergeant Avery Johnson, and a detachment of UNSC Marines. Johnson himself had his own reasons for his participation, which he had withheld from Six. Not that it had any impact on him due to the reasons he himself had.

Their attempt was an utter disaster resulting in the death of all of Johnson's marines. . . Or worse, captured and experimented upon. In the end, the desire for retribution still burning strong, Noble Six found a way to make the mission succeed. The answer came in the form of a long range communications facility located on Elysium's northernmost continent. The destruction of that world however was not his own doing.

That honor fell to a small fleet of Covenant warships and their plasma weaponry.

The Spartan and Johnson managed to escape the planet before the arrival of the alien forces, reaching a UNSC Prowler sent to find the "rouge" Spartan. From the bridge of the warship he had watched as the Covenant burned every inch of Elysium, including the scientist and her experiments. That did not change the fact that he was responsible for the fate of that world. Thankfully the population of Elysium was relatively low, just under several thousand civilians. Civilians who died because Six wanted nothing more than to see the scientist pay for her crimes. The golden lands of that planet were forever gone from the galaxy thanks to him sending a broadcast to the coordinates where a single Covenant warship was sighted hours earlier.

Johnson had been appalled when he had discovered what the Spartan-III had done. He understood quite well why the world was annihilated however. The marine's reaction had been simply telling Six that he no longer had any trust in the super soldiers' plans. Johnson was demoted three ranks down by UNSC Command for his participation in Noble Six's unapproved mission. The Spartan himself received no such punishment save for the sharp words of Lieutenant Commander Ambrose himself.

"None, NONE, of your team would have ever revealed anything to the Covenant! And no sane member of the UNSC would ever just let them burn a world!"

At the time Noble Six had not cared for those words. He deluded himself into believing that the Lieutenant Commander didn't know his team as well as he did. That avenging their loss was worth a single planet with no value to the UNSC whatsoever. Slowly he began to realize that was not true, not even slightly. Jasmine herself had been almost a daughter to the Commander in fact. And then he cooled down and was more disgusted with himself than any of the abominations. That was when it truly sank in that an entire world was gone because of his thirst for vengeance. Backwater colony or not Elysium deserved his best efforts to protect it from the genocidal empire.

Now Reach shared the same fate as one of its many colonial siblings.

Despite all of its military might Reach could not stand up against the Covenant. The Millions of Troopers, Marines, Militia, Sailors, and Airman, the thousands of vehicles, the hundreds of warships. All useless and in the end, all but annihilated fighting a battle that had likely been lost before it had begun. He did take some solace in the knowledge that Reach wouldn't be forgotten, no matter who won the war. The damned aliens wouldn't forget the fact that humans had cost them so much to obtain their victory. The only report he had received on the space battle had mentioned that the Covenant armada had lost well over half of its number, and there was no doubt in his mind the aliens had encountered more than one type of hell on the ground.

If Dr. Halsey was actually correct, then the AI he had handed to Captain Keyes would have the knowledge it held used to, with some luck hopefully, turn the tide of the war. Certainly by simply being in the caverns beneath ONI Sword Base, Six had seen that there was, however long ago, a race of beings more powerful than the Covenant. Perhaps the crew of the Autumn would go of into the farthest reaches of space and discover some ancient super weapon, or technology. Or maybe the species still existed in some form elsewhere in the galaxy and could well be willing to aid them.

If their mission succeeded, whatever it may be, humanity may well survive the war. If they did then Reach would likely be remembered as the sight of the largest battle ever fought in galactic history. It certainly looked that way to him anyway. The Covenant had found Reach and then invaded with a fleet numbering in the hundreds. Its army landing with troops well into the billions given the large numbers of troops a single enemy warship carried. Reach had boasted over a 150 ships, over 300,000,000 defense personnel, twenty of the massive Orbital Defense Platforms, and then of course there were the Spartans.

Not even the best of humanity's soldiers could stop the massive Covenant war machine. He had an answer to Kat's question now, the thought of Noble Team's second in command brought up a wave of sadness. They were never losing the battle; they had lost it the moment the Covenant arrived en masse. As the Pillar of Autumn left his range of sight Six knew he was alone now. There were likely at the most only a few hundred survivors left on Reach, perhaps a few civilians were now waiting in a bunker, foolishly hoping that they could survive the glassing.

Six left his position on the ground and began climbing back up to the Mass Driver he had used to destroy a Covenant Assault cruiser. The little light left reflecting of his dark green MJOLNIR, and the small bits of gold around parts of his body. Reaching the top of the structure the Spartan looked off into the distance.

From his current high position he could make out a battle far from where he was. He could see a Scarab, and other Covenant vehicles engaging a small unit of Army Mechanized Infantry. The M808 MBT firing its 105mm High Velocity cannon doing very little to the massive behemoth destroying the few warthogs accompanying it. There was no hope for survival, not for them, not for him. Soon he watched the last of the attacking humans destroy a pair of Wraiths before they were in turn killed.

The Spartan felt some pride in the knowledge that the few humans left on this once beautiful world would not go quietly into permanent night. He was going to die on Reach, but first he would have to disobey Noble One's first order to him.

'Leave that Lone Wolf stuff behind.'

On Reach he felt something he had not felt for many years. He felt like part of a team, and despite his solo attitude during the years after he was taken out of Beta Company, it was something he had secretly missed. Now…. Now he was a lone wolf once again. Jorge, Kat, Carter, Emile. There was a chance Jun was still alive he assumed, after all Noble Teams' sniper was supposed to escort Dr. Halsey to CASTLE Base. The base was the most well protected installation on all Reach and would likely survive for a few days.

According to the Doctor, the Covenant was interested in strange artifacts. Six assumed that logically, CASTLE Base could have several such artifacts hidden inside. They would try to excavate the area and find a way in. If Jun made it with the doctor then he would have one mission left. Ensure that no intelligence of any kind fell into enemy hands.

Six tilted his head to the side and glanced at the figure near him. Emile lay slumped on a small rail surrounded by two Elite Zealots, two small holes showing on his chest plate the exit for the tips of the energy sword that killed him. Typical to his killer nature the dying Spartan took the alien with him, the knife he kept on his shoulder embedded in the Zealots throat.

For the first time since the Covenant had arrived on Reach, Six found himself finally feeling the effects of the constant battles. Six felt all the injuries he had sustained, all the bruises, a few cracked bones, and three broken ribs. The pain would be unbelievable to the average human, but to a Spartan it was merely bothersome. Still he felt that he needed to take a real break, to rest before his final battle. There was still one thing he had to do before he allowed himself the luxury of a few minutes respite.

Six walked over to Emile's body and kneeled in front of it. The Spartan reached out and laid his hand on the base of the fallen Spartan's helmet. He began to short process of removing the piece of equipment and soon found himself staring at the face of the man who had at one point been Noble Teams' self proclaimed "merciless wrath," and warrior spirit. Dark skinned, slightly scared, a broken nose, blood flowing from several cuts, a pair of lips curled in a contented smile. The man had died the way he wanted, taking his enemy with him.

Six bowed his head to the late Noble Four in a short display of mourning. Raising his helmeted head back to face his dead Spartan brother, a green and gold armored hand reached for the dog tags previously covered by the helmet. Gently he slid the tags over Emile's head and then placed the helmet over his face again.

Lifting a hand over the side of his chest piece, Six opened a small compartment. He pulled out two more pairs of dog tags and added them to the one he held in his other hand. Closing his eyes Six pictured them once again, and saw their deaths occur once more. His photographic memory denied him the right to forget anything he ever saw, or did.

Six saw Jorge hand him the larger Spartans' own tags and grip his hand fiercely, before lifting him up and throwing him out into space. He saw Kat standing next to him in the elevator, her quiet voice beautiful to his ears carrying a trace of fear, saw her body fall halfway before he caught her. Then he remembered Carter and his complete faith in Six's ability to complete the mission, right up to when he crashed his pelican into a Scarab to give them a chance. And he replayed Emile stabbed in the back by a Zealot, the honor obsessed creature seemingly forgoing any such idea to kill the Spartan.

The Spartan-III particularly remembered the death of the very large and welcoming man.

An Elite Ultra was forced to the ground of the hangar by a force from behind it. The alien had been tackled from behind by a large mass of green and golden armor. It roared in defiance and attempted to force off its attacker from its back. In response to the roar the armored figure gripped its helmet with both hands and forced it to the cold floor once before snapping its neck.

The figure then quickly rolled off the alien's back and drew its sidearm. In rapid succession four shots were fired and killed a trio of the diminutive grunts shocked by the death of their leader. All around the armored mass the scattered traces of Army Troopers trading fire with the invaders was decreasing in size. Looking around he took notice of the fact that nearly all the troopers were dead or dying. The scattered clacking of their automatic weapons was their final act of protection for the planet below them.

Stepping away from the group of his most recent kills the he approached the only human survivor aside from him. The human soldier was large enough to easily dwarf him and was heavily armored, even by Spartan standards. After dropping his large machine gun to the ground the larger of the pair attempted to begin the activation of their makeshift bomb.

After several moments with no sign of effect the Spartan slammed his fist against the side of the bomb in frustration. Pausing to mutter silently under his breath the Spartan turned to face his companion.

"Well, I got good news and bad news. This bird took some fire and her thruster gimbal is toast. Which means the only way off this slag heap is gravity." Noble Six shook his head in disbelief before reply.

"The good news is?"

"That is the good news Six." Jorge said seriously.

'At current velocity, fifty-three seconds to endpoint,' came the voice of their AI, Auntie Dot, over the COM.

"Well isn't that outstanding intel?" Six mused aloud.

"Yeah, Yeah, Yeah Dot." Jorge added himself before removing his helmet and letting it fall to the ground, and then roll away from him. "This is the bad news Six. One of us is going to have to fire it manually."

"That's a one way trip, and you already know that don't you?" asked the younger Super Soldier.

"Yeah, I do. We all make it sooner or later. You better get movin' Six, they are going to really need your help on the surface." the Spartan paused for a moment before removing his dog tags. "Listen, Reach has been good to me. Its my time to return the favor today. You won't be denying me that Six, it is my choice to make."

The older Spartan-II placed Six's hands over his own tags before enveloping them with his own. Jorge then lifted Noble Teams most recent addition off his feet before carrying him closer to the outside of the hangar. Jorge halted just inches separating Six's back from outer space, and then bringing him close. The forty one year old veteran's face was utterly calm and peaceful. More than Six had seen it throughout their battles together.

Jorge had been made to watch as the Covenant invaders destroyed his home day by day. The veteran Spartan was unable to do much to prevent that, but now. . . Now he was in a position where he could destroy the largest threat to his homeworld. His younger companion nodded his head in acceptance of what was to be Jorge's fate. An end worth of a Spartan.

Six closed his fist over the tags, and held them close to his heart for a few moments. In the short month he had known them, he had felt like he truly belonged. That he was not just some Captain's personal assassin, a tool. He was what he was meant to be, a Spartan, and he was damned proud to have finally felt such after everything. Even if it was just for a short time, and even if he had been made to suffer their loss as the battle dragged on. His only regret was not sharing a similar fate to Jorge's own. Dying for something as noble as saving Reach, at least in his own mind.

Placing the dog tags back in their hidden compartment, Six sat down next to Emile and stared into the painted skull which adorned his Spartan brothers' helmet.

"You did good Warrant Officer. You did your duty…. Brother." Six then looked off into the distance once again. He saw storm clouds off in the distance, the flashes of lighting signaling that a Covenant ship had begun to glass. Lifting his hands to his helmet, Six removed it and stared at the piece of armor that had served as a constant reminder of who he was. During the seven years after being reassigned from Beta Company he had eliminated many threats to the UNSC. A fair amount he had done without donning his set of armor.

The visor reflected his image and once again he stared at his own face. Lightly tanned, an emerald green right, and a golden left eye, a surprisingly unscarred face, brown hair that had grown unruly and reached halfway to his shoulders in the time he had spent in the armor, reddish-brown lips, and a regal nose. As some of his missions required him to infiltrate suspected insurrectionist groups he knew he was considered handsome, something he had a type of grip on due to his contact with civilians. Several times he had used his looks to his advantage, but felt almost dirty after. Using people like that, seemed wrong somehow to him.

With a snort he put the helmet over head once again and activated his shields. Looking around his position he saw there were no Covenant with the area, the Phantom and Spirit drop ships far off engaging what few friendly air assets remained. He laid his back on the floor and allowed himself to relax for just a few moments. He could worry about where he would make his last stand later. For now he was going to enjoy the simple pleasure of being alive for a few moments longer.

With a smile, Leo-B312 fell into a light sleep and like the few times he had slept since joining Noble he knew he would not have a nightmare.

AN: And there you have it. The first chapter of my new revised version is here for your viewing. Please take note of the changes, and what I kept the same. For the most part the chapters will be the same, except for corrections for the grammar and some small additions to the original. Things like this will be the norm for these new chapters. So I'd expect maybe a thousand or so new words every chapter, give or take.

Please comment on how this chapter is in comparison to the original intro to Noble Life. Is it better, is it worse? Did I foreshadow at certain points a bit too heavily? Seriously, tell me. I want criticism.

Also, it seems rewriting is somewhat easier than actually coming up with new content. So expect a revised chapter every two days. Meaning my next update will be on the 11th. Peace guys and gals.