This is my version of what could have happened through the lives of Roland and Jonah. I got the idea from Halo Evolutions, Headhunters. It's not much, and is my first real fanfic. Reviews are appreciated. I wish I owned Halo, but I don't, none of the characters are mine.
Headhunters, in the beginning
Chapter One
1330-28/June/2545/Halo Universe
Onyx Training Instillation.
Jonah sat in a chair in the center of a large dark room. The only light came from directly over his head, removing the possibility of seeing those speaking to him. He had gone through several training missions with the SPARTAN III program and apparently had been selected for a "special" position.
"Please state your tasking number and name for the record." A feminine voice said from the blackness.
"Alpha-211, Jonah." He replied, sitting at attention. Jonah had a southern accent that he could downplay when he wanted to sound more professional. Something about that drawl made people automatically drop about thirty points off your I.Q.
"Jonah," A different voice this time, a huskier male voice from the left of where he was sitting. "Would you want to be more... involved in the war with the Covenant?"
Jonah didn't even have to think. "Yes Sir!" He hastily said.
"It would involve not being on the front line, but being far behind the enemy's lines." The voice paused. "Son, I can't tell you much more, but it is not likely that you will be returning from every mission."
Jonah thought of his family, the ones the Covenant had glassed. "I understand, sir. I would like to volunteer for this program. I understand and accept the risks involved. Provided I get to kill Covies."
A pause for ten seconds followed. The same voice as before. Alright son, there are two doors in this room. Through the door to your right, you will forget this conversation, and rejoin Alpha platoon of the SPARTAN III program. Through the left, your life expectancy will be short, your accomplishments will be classified, your name will be known only to your teammates and to those who send you back for more..."
Jonah stood interrupting the man, after executing a smart left face marched to the door...
1000-06/July/2545/ Halo Universe
Headhunter training facility
Onyx
"Run you maggots!" The instructor shouted over the command intercom.
Jonah, along with eighteen other SPARTAN III's had been shipped to the far side of Onyx to a much smaller training camp than the one where LCDR Kurt Ambrose and CPO Mendez had trained the rest of the Spartan III's. This camp was run by a skeleton crew of ODST's. The chief instructor was Gunnery Sergeant James R. Hawkins. He had several combat tours against the Covenant as well as the Inies and so far had been a good trainer. They were on training day seven out of who knew how many.
Today's training was with paint pellet guns. The nineteen recruits had started in a line in a large high ceiling room. They had been broken into two and three man teams. Across the room eighteen loaded paint pellet guns were spread about. Their goal was simple, survive. Last team standing got dinner and blankets for the night. Losers went hungry and cold. The one hitch... no one knew who's team they were on. They we're individually given colored rags that we're to be stowed until the start of the exercise.
Jonah was the first to make it to the guns. As he reached for one, the floor began to rise in certain places making cover to hide behind. He rolled to cover and opened fire on the others who were still making it to the guns; he risked shooting a teammate but figured it was worth it. He managed to tag two of them before he started taking fire. As he was in cover, he tied his purple rag around his upper arm. He looked around and saw another trainee with a gun. Jonah snapped on to him with his sights but held his fire.
"Friend?" he asked warily, his sights hovering over the trainee.
The other trainee turned around, weapon snapping up, a purple rag tied to his ankle clear as day. "Friendly!" he exclaimed. Looking left and right he darted over to the cover Jonah was behind.
Jonah recognized him as Roland, but he wasn't sure of his number, not that it mattered. "Good to see you." Jonah muttered as he checked his corner. There wasn't a lot of shooting going off so he figured the others were doing exactly what he and Roland were doing, finding friends and assessing the situation.
Roland looked around quickly and stuck his hand out shaking. "Roland, A-258" had a rather neutral accent, with just a hint of southern roots. Brown hair almost the same as Jonah's, but he had hazel green eyes.
Jonah shook his hand, replying with "Jonah, A-211. We need to get ready to break from cover. I fired from here, so someone must know that I'm here."
Roland nodded in response. "Let's head for a corner and we'll take it from there." He said, checking that the nearest corner was probably twenty meters across the room. However there was good cover, but that also meant hostiles could be there just as well.
"You watch my six." Jonah chuckled, "I'll move on your go."
Roland set up to cover Jonah across the largest part of open ground. "You set?" Roland asked, as he aimed down his sights.
"Yeah." Jonah said, bending a little at the knees so his could get the best start possible.
"GO!" Roland started laying down some suppression as soon as Jonah took off. Spartan III's didn't have many of the augmentations that their predecessors do, all in all, they are just normal teenagers, expected to do the work of hardened special forces warriors. And yet, at only seventeen, Jonah covered the expanse in less than four seconds.
He hit the wall hard to stop himself, drew a bead on where Roland had just been firing and shouted "Set!" as he began laying down fire. The second the rounds started going down range, Roland sprinted over toward him, making it not quite as fast as Jonah, but still quickly. As he neared Jonah's position Roland caught movement out of his right eye.
"Right side!" Roland screamed as he put a four round burst into the target while running all out. Three struck the assailants cover, but one caught him in the head. The trainee shrunk back, out of the training session, and knowing he'd be going cold and hungry tonight.
Roland tapped Jonah and took his position. They had started taking fire from across the room and so Roland focused more on that direction.
Jonah rolled around their cover and moved toward the corner wall which also had a small low wall in front of it. He jumped behind it and called Roland over. "Roland! On me, common!" He yelled. Roland darted over and hunkered down. They both had on their grey battle dress uniforms and a mask to protect their eyes, but Roland's was beginning to fog up a bit.
"Dang these stupid things!" Roland muttered as he tried to wipe the fog away. Off on the other side of the room, they could hear several paint guns firing away. Roland looked up on the wall and there was a score board.
"Well looky there," Roland exclaimed. "red and brown teams are already down, green had three but they are down to one as are orange and yellow. Blue and Black are two man teams at full strength, like us."
"Humph, we can handle this." Jonah replied. "Let's start moving; we can't just sit here like a couple of little girls." Roland nodded and Jonah took point. He swept a few of the pillars and low walls, clearing each before he moved on.
"Spartans! There are extra supplies for the team that reaches the center point." An instructor said over the intercom.
"Do we need them?" Roland asked as he rechecked a bunker Jonah had cleared.
"Yeah, I'm running a little low, plus everyone else will be going the same way." Jonah said grinning under his mask.
The two of them moved toward the center of the room. A low round wall encircled a UNSC issue crate, which must have held the supplies, followed by a larger wall making almost an arena of sorts. As Jonah was about to move out to retrieve them, Blue team opened fire from across the arena, driving Jonah back to cover.
"Dang it, they are going to recover the supplies first!" Jonah griped as he saw the two of them darting towards the crate. He and Roland fired towards them but nothing hit. However off to their right, Black team caught Blue in their flank, hitting both of them and ending their chance at victory. Now Black pinned Jonah and Roland down and made it to the supplies. As one laid down fire, the other opened the box. Roland glanced out to see a huge explosion of paint covering both of the Black team.
"Crap… the box was a trap." Roland breathed to Jonah. "Good thing Blue forced us back."
Jonah looked up at the score board. Only one yellow team member and one green team member were left. "Come on, we can take these two. They are trying to get each other as well me and you." Roland checked their six as they moved out.
After only ten paces, they heard paint gun fire and hastened their pace. The two remaining trainees were exchanging fire. Jonah and Roland hunched down and quickly came up with a plan. "You go right and drop your guy and I'll go left." Roland pointed out the directions to add emphasis.
"Gotcha, you watch yurself."
"You too. Let's do this."
The two Spartans darted from cover to cover towards their targets. Roland moved a bit quicker and got into position. He sighted in a squeezed of a double tap. Both rounds hit the trainee, eliminating him. Roland looked toward the other hostile and was shocked at what he saw. Jonah had climbed onto the cover behind the final trainee and just as Roland looked, he lunged.
"What the!" The green team member exclaimed as Jonah grabbed his barrel and twisted it out of his grasp.
"Roland, on me." Jonah shouted as he back peddled a few steps away from the hostile, weapon trained one handed at center mass. Roland darted over to Jonah side.
"What are you doing!" He hissed. "Why didn't you just drop him?"
Jonah tossed the guys weapon to the ground half way between them then cast his to the side. "Let's get this over with." Jonah chuckled; removing his mask to reveal a huge grin, lending itself to just how much Jonah was enjoying this. Jonah hunched forward a bit, ready to go. "Make your move buddy. I have a hot date, and I don't want to keep your sister waiting." The other Spartan fidgeted and tensed to run for the gun. Jonah rolled his shoulders and seemed to hold his left hand loosely as if he was holding an egg that he didn't want to break.
The other Spartan didn't move… "Roland, ten credits says he has paint on him before he can even touch the rifle." Jonah glanced at Roland his brown eyes twinkled with glee. "You take that bet?" As "bet" rolled off his tongue, Jonah sprinted forward, as did the other Spartan a moment behind him. Jonah made it about half way to the gun and rolled the remaining distance. As he recovered from the roll he burst off his legs and leapt forward. The other Spartan tried to dodge Jonah's outstretched hand, but Jonah simply slapped him. The paint bullets he had been holding burst on the Spartans shoulder, marking him, and sealing the win for Roland and Jonah.
The other trainee sulked off from the field as Roland jogged up to Jonah's side holding his paint rifle. "Purple, front and center!" Gunny Hawkins bellowed. Jonah and Roland sprinted toward where the Gunny was standing and snapped to attention.
"Roland, you did well. Good team work, good cover. Well done."
"Thank you, Gunny." Roland said crisply.
"Jonah, Jonah, Jonah….." The gunny shook his head. "NEVER pull a stunt like that again. Engage and destroy your enemy as quickly and efficiently as possible." Hawkins thought for a moment. "Half of the meal and no blanket for you."
Jonah's smile never faltered. "Yes Gunny!" he replied, still high off the adrenaline he craved.
"Is that all Gunny?" Roland asked
"One more thing. Everything leading up to now has been preparation for two man teams. You two scored second closest as far as compatibility together." He looked them over, a pair of teenagers, both very similar in build and height, almost even had the same hair color, training to be killers when they should have been chasing girls their age. More than likely they wouldn't make it to the age of twenty. "Hope you like each other, because you'll be together until the end." The two winning Spartans broke for attention to glance at each other. "Dismissed!"
So, What do ya think!