September 24th 2517
R̶e̶a̶c̶h̶ ̶F̶l̶e̶e̶t̶c̶o̶m̶ ̶M̶i̶l̶i̶t̶a̶r̶y̶ ̶C̶o̶m̶p̶l̶e̶x̶
2000 hours
Inside a large auditorium, tens of children sat around a stage watching the woman, the lone adult in the room, with anticipation.
Each and every one of them, both male and female, looked the same with only minor differences. They lacked hair, having had it shaven off during their initial induction. Their clothes were also uniform, wearing a pair of camouflaged pants, a black tank top, and black combat boots. The only noticeable differences (besides height and face composition) were the different hair colors and the numbers printed in white lettering found in the same place for every cadet. The lowest of these numbers was 003, and the highest was 143, with a large concentration being found in the 010 to 060 range.
On the stage, the woman was dressed in a white lab coat with blue accents; she wore grey fatigues beneath it. Standing quietly, she observed the children in the room as they whispered amongst themselves with numerous questions.
"What happened? How did I get here?" a blonde-haired girl whispered, gripping her arms
"I don't know," a dark-haired boy murmured back, glancing at the others. "One second, I was home, and now…" He swallowed hard.
After a while, she felt a final vibration on her wrist, bzzt, signifying that all preparations were complete and she was ready to begin.
"Greetings," she said, clearing her throat, and at once the room fell silent as they began to listen. "Many of you know me already, but for those who do not. I am Doctor Catherine Halsey, you may call me Dr. Halsey or just Doctor."
She paused, gauging their initial reactions.
Most of the candidates seemed a bit anxious, if not outright fearful; they consisted of the ones who did not understand the reason given for why they were here, 'Not worth much consideration for now,' Noted Catherine thought memorizing the numbers.
Some were agitated, and they were the ones who reacted negatively to the news of their new goal. They fought back, plotted to escape, and in general were the most difficult to handle. 'Somewhat intriguing,' her opinion of this group was a bit better than the other. They at least appeared to already have the will to act like the Spartans they would become.
Lastly, the group that caught the doctor's eye the most were the ones that sat quietly listening intently with the only prevalent emotion on their face being curiosity or intrigue, 'The ability to approach the unknown calmly. An ability perfect for leaders,' once again she scanned, taking note of the cadet's numbers, 'They will do well,' she finally remarked as she began to continue.
"As of this moment Per Naval Code 45812 you are all hereby conscripted into the UNSC Special Project codenamed Orion-II, also known as Spartan-II," she spoke as if she were a judge handing out their sentencing: cold, calm, and pragmatic not mincing words and as if it weren't enough she continued, "Your parents are gone. Reach is your new home, and the members in this room are your new family. All of you, your bodies and minds are above those of other children, and we will make them better. Your new purpose, which you will come to learn in the next few years, is to be the protectors of humanity," she said, finishing before taking one last glance around the room. After confirming what she wanted to see, she turned to a man standing off to the side in full military gear.
"Chief Petty Officer Mendez, escort the children to the mess hall. Feed them. Get them to bed," she ordered, to which the man nodded.
Immediately, Mendez turned and shouted at the crowd, "Trainees! Fall out!" All but one of them were oblivious to what the command meant.. Yet, they instinctively knew what they were to do, and thanks to the one who wasn't ignorant, David. They managed to depart the auditorium in a somewhat calm, orderly fashion.
The doctor stood by watching them leave, the automatic door lowered, and she turned back to a holographic display base. Déjà appeared once again in blue light and began to file away notes that the doctor rattled off. After finishing, she bowed her head to the doctor before disappearing.
The doctor took a moment to gather her thoughts before she departed the auditorium, 'So it begins. My life's work,' she mused silently. Inwardly, during the entire speech, she was the one who felt the most anxious. She had reviewed what she would say for days prior; young children were incredibly impressionable, and this was her first meeting as the leader of the program. Everything needed to be perfect; she couldn't, or rather would not, waste such an important opportunity.
She sighed, 'For humanity's sake, I hope this all goes well,' and with that, she departed the room, turning off the light as the last departure.
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"GET UP TRAINEES!" In the early hours of the morning of September 25th, training for the Orion-II candidates started off with shouts.
A group of the program's instructors marched into the rows of beds, each with a trainee lying in them. The beds were all uniform grey blankets and white pads that took the place of mattresses, resembling a cot. At the foot of these beds was a rectangular foot locker that spanned the width of the cot, made for clothes and equipment strictly. No personal effects were allowed inside them, not that they would fit anyway. Similar to the cramped nature of the lockers, there was only enough space between two beds for a single person to stand at a time.
The trainees were startled as they were jolted awake from their slumber. Those who were quicker to get up out of their beds were gifted the ability to watch the chaos around them unfold. Some beds were flipped with their sleepers still in them by instructors, while others were hit with a taser, causing the recipient to literally throw themselves onto the floor.
"WAKE UP!" one instructor yelled into the sleeping ear of a boy with dark hair. The boy barely got to rub his eyes before the instructor grabbed him by his arm and dragged him to the floor, blanket and all.
From the first row of beds, David watched the scene with a complicated expression. He'd become customed to waking early and being ready for training at this time, and it was obvious to him that his classmates were not prepared. He also understood that just as he had been beaten down severely for the first weeks of training, so would they with equally creative and cruel methods.
But tasers and cattleprods?
'How are they supposed to react?' he thought to himself. It all seemed counterintuitive. After watching another classmate scream after being hit with a cattle prod on his back, David's fist unknowingly became clenched, and he began to take a step forward. But just as he went to move-
"Instructor Mendez?" his eye went wide as he felt a hand on his shoulder, only to turn and find that Chief Franklin Mendez was standing beside him. The man looked down at him with the same unemotional expression that he had worn 24/7, 7 days a week without variation. Even when yelling, the man's face didn't morph into anger or rage; rather, the change in voice seemed to be just another tool to him.
"Cool it, cadet," he said calmly before he released David's shoulder and marched into the fray. The boy swallowed, remaining rooted in his spot, and returned to watching the unfolding early morning wake-up call.
"UP trainee! Do you know which way up is?!" Shouted an instructor at a boy wearing the number [117] before marching over to the final trainee to rise.
"Last one up gets it, Jorge!" He continued shouting at a boy wearing [052].
The boy, still drowsy from being awakened,d looked up at the man, "It's pronounced George," he spoke in a light, informative tone
ZZZT
The boy yelped in pain as he was tased by the instructor and fell to the ground, "ZIP IT JORGE!" The instructor yelled as Jorge struggled to pull himself off the ground.
With the final trainee awake, all trainees stood at attention at the end of their beds. The group of instructors moved to the end of the room to a standing formation shoulder-to-shoulder as the chief Instructor, Mendez, walked through the parallel rows of cadets.
"I am Chief Petty Officer Mendez. You will refer to me as instructor or instructor Mendez," he ordered as he walked slowly between the beds slowly glancing at each and every cadet as he moved, "From today onward you will do what I say, when I say it, and exactly as I say. Anything less will be met with swift disciplined remedial tasks, and I promise you won't like it," he said reciting the same introduction he had given to David weeks earlier. Finishing his walk at the end of the rows of beds before swiftly turning on his heel to the cadets behind him.
"Am I understood?" he asked loudly, receiving a wave of 'Yes, instructors' from the cadets. "Very well, follow instructor Michaels, he will be leading you on your very first run, keep up. The slowest one will be exchanging breakfast for the first round of remedial training," he warned, and the first day began
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Two weeks passed in the blink of an eye on Epsilon Eridani II. Day in and day out the trainees were tested. Their limits were pushed continuously, and every day held a new evolution for those who saw the end of it. The instructors had been on guard watching for safety, and so none had perished, but in the future to come, the program was bound to lose a few. Such was the nature of the training...
"...TIME," an instructor shouted from on top of a platform. Ahead of him, the trainees were lined up in neat rows for calisthenic exercises. They faced him as he performed the exercise in conjunction with the class. Once they heard the man call out that the exercise was finished, most fell onto their face, their arms no longer holding them up. The others were able to maintain some dignity and fall into a sit, but were equally drained from the day's training. They all silently prayed that this was the last trial for today.
As the group was trying to catch their breath, Mendez slowly climbed the stairs at the back of the platform with a small datapad in hand. He reached the platform and walked to the front of it. The previous instructor stood at attention beside him before being dismissed. He paused for a moment as if deciding something before he called out, "Listen for your number when I call it out… 104, 087, 117, 058, and 034," he said and the five stood up at attention, "You five will be designated Blue team. You will fight together, win together, and lose together, so I suggest you get familiar with each other, and that goes for the rest of you," he announced and warned.
The five sat back down, and the man returned to his assignments. Red team, Black team, Omega team... one by one, teams were designated and filled until finally-
"003, 023, 141, 065, and 127 designation: Alpha team," he said this time carefully watching the members who acknowledged, 'This will be a good test for you,' he thought as his eyes settled on David, who analyzed his team members.
A few minutes later he had finished and brought the pad down to his side, "The day is finished," he announced turning to one of the instructor's that stood at the base of the raised platform, "Instructor Ramirez escort the trainees to the chow hall for supper," he commanded and the other man nodded, "I suggest that you all get acquainted with your teams. Tomorrow you will begin training with them," he finished as they began to be led away.
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"Psst, Over here!" a voice called out in the crowded dining room.
"Hm?" David turned in the direction of the voice meal tray in hand. There, waving him over was a boy around his age sitting with 3 others across the table. A quick glance at the numbers on their uniforms and David recognized that the group was his team.
"Come sit over here!" the boy said with an inviting expression. David was curious, and so he accepted and sat down beside the boy, glancing at both him as well as the other three members across the table. A small, awkward silence filled the table as no one said or did anything but eat.
"Lets introduce ourselves?" the boy beside David suggested. He appeared to have darker colored hair like David, but seemed to be smaller than him physically. His eyes were a chocolate brown, and surprisingly seemed to be filled with energy even after today's training.
"Sure, I am David, 003," David said, giving a half-wave
"I am Benjamin, and my number is 127!" the boy said a bit excitedly.
"Oh, me next! I am Sheila, 065," she said with a small, bright smile. Sheila had cherry red hair with green eyes resembling green grass. Her face was littered with freckles, and she seemed to have an always-present grin.
The next two were quieter than the others, only responding with a short "Daisy, 023" and "141, Cal" before going back to their food. Strangely enough, both had blonde hair with minor differences. While Daisy's leaned in the direction of gold, Cal's was lighter, seemed platinum in color, at least that's what David could make out. Daisy's eyes were sapphire blue, and Cal's were pale yellow. Daisy's features were tough, whereas Cal's seemed more delicate. One major difference between the two was that Cal was taller than most other girls in the room, while Daisy was one of if not the smallest.
David paused for a moment, staring at Daisy, 'She seems familiar,' he remarked to himself as he continued to look at her.
"What are you looking at?" she asked sharply with narrowed eyes.
David paused, blinking innocently, realizing that he probably made her feel uncomfortable, "Ah, nothing. Don't worry about it," he said, scratching the back of his head.
"Hey, you're the one who walked through those exercises today, right? How'd you do that?!" Benjamin asked, David's attention snapping to him.
"I did a lot of sports before this," David lied through his teeth. He didn't want to lie, but he was already warned by the doctor, 'No personal details to anyone,' he recited the words to himself.
"Really? What sports did you play?" Benjamin asked, stars in his eyes and his expression filled with enthusiasm.
David hadn't prepared for further questioning. Thinking back, he remembered the little bit of hand-to-hand combat skills that Lieutenant Keyes had shown him, "...Wrestling," he responded after pausing for a moment. He received an interested look from all members at the table, but without David elaborating, they fell into the previous awkward silence.
"Well… any bets on what this is?" Sheila decided to step in to fill the gap, pointing at a gray mass on her tray that everyone had been avoiding.
"Potatoes?" Cal guessed, tilting her head to the side as she focused intensely on it.
"Uh, food? I think?" Benjamin's guess seemed more like a question than an answer.
"Of course it's food. Eat it, it won't kill you," Daisy chimed in.
"I don't see you volunteering to try it, Daisy," Sheila poked back smugly, grinning before she turned to David, "And you, 'Mr Wrestler', what do you think it is?" she asked
David shook his head, "I have no idea, but… it's probably dangerous," he concluded half-joking, half-not.
"Hmmm, four different answers," Sheila said, nodding to herself, thinking, "We need to get to the bottom of this, and since no one wants to find out then there is only one way to decide who is sacrificed," Sheila said with a glint in the corner of her eye.
When she finished what she had said, everyone's eyes, besides David, widened as they knew what was coming.
"3-2-1- NOSE GOES!" Sheila rattled off in an impressive display without stuttering and instantly placed her index finger on her nose. Around her, everyone had done the same; meanwhile, David sat oblivious, raising an eyebrow in confusion at their antics.
"You're the last one, David. You know what that means," Sheila said, shaking her head solemnly. "You are the one who has to take a bite," she said, handing out a death sentence.
David, noticing that the mood had brightened a bit, decided to play along, "This…this can't be," he said as if having received a death sentence.
Sheila stifled a wide smile from spreading to her face from David's acting, "Whoever places their finger on their nose last, is the one who must act. As the saying goes, 'Whoever smelt it dealt it'," she said with a fake expression of sadness.
"Hey, that's not what that mean-" Daisy noticed the inconsistency immediately. Only to be shushed by Sheila before she motioned for David to carry out his punishment.
David gulped as he stared down at his plate. Wiping the sweat from his forehead, he picked up his fork and plunged it into the pile of mystery material. Bringing it up, the new element seemed to congeal and slide off his utensil, or maybe it was so potent that David was seeing things.
Either way, he took a deep breath and shoveled the fork into his mouth.
His reaction was instant, his eyes bulged, when the bite connected to his tongue, and his brain had time to process, his jaw stopped after a few chews. It was as if he was frozen in time, and by this time, Cal and Benjamin were smirking, Daisy was curious, raising an eyebrow in his direction, and Sheila was barely keeping in a fit of laughter.
"Wh-what does it taste like?" Sheila choked out as she held her cheeks with one hand.
David, in one motion, forgoed any hope of chewing it up and immediately swallowed it like he had taken a pill, "...Regret with a hint of lemon," he shivered thinking of what he had just eaten.
That was enough to break Sheila as she fell apart laughing, hearing David's response. Beside him, Benjamin chuckled. By this time, Daisy also had a wide smile. "Is it really that bad?" she asked with an apologetic expression.
David took a napkin and wiped down the taste buds on his tongue, "I am half convinced that is part of the table we are sitting at," he glared at the table accusingly.
Sheila wiped a tear from her eye, finally getting her laughter under control, "Oh, you're not half bad, Dave."
Cal shook her head, "That's impossible… The table is blue," she said, cracking a joke of her own. Getting everyone to laugh this time.
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Another chapter done. And I am pretty happy with this one. I think it accomplished everything I wanted it to.
Hopefully you enjoyed the team interactions (AS YOU ARE STUCK WITH THEM H A H A H A H A H A).
In all seriousness hope you enjoyed drop any questions you have in a comment. And I will do my best to answer them.
I got a test in Physics this week so no guarantee what day the next chapter will be.
That's it from me, MAY YOUR DAYS BE MANY, AND YOUR WOES FEW