Walking the Halo
Prologue
Dan leapt from the last step on the bus. One of his best friends got off just after him. She gave him a strange look for jumping the way he did. They were both still frustrated. It was their high school senior year and they were still riding the bus to school. Dan had a car and had his license; however his little brother only had his permit. He had the idea he knew everything there was to driving. Well that accident proved otherwise. The part that upset Dan and his friend, Kristina was that it was Dan's car his brother was driving. Kristina was upset because Dan was her ride to school each morning. She would have driven herself only she too only had her permit.
The bus pulled away and their day set off quite slowly. Dan's day started just like any other. He went to class and pestered another one of his friends. He annoyed her every morning and she would fight back from time to time. They would entertain one another this way and get through the morning quickly. Maria was in most of his classes so it would often proceed through the day. Soon enough though lunch would roll around, it was one of few "classes" that Maria wasn't in. Kristina was though.
Dan got down to the lunch room and noticed that there were not as many people down there as usual. To pass the time he walked a lap around the cafeteria. At one end he noticed that a military recruiter was there handing out all kinds of things to get kids to join. Two men sat at the desk. Once Dan approached to look out of curiosity, they both stood to greet him.
"Looking to join son?" The taller man said. Dan stood about six feet and five inches tall. Looking at this man made him suddenly feel very short. He estimated that he must have been at least seven feet tall. The man was incredibly built and was quite presentable. He had a very satisfied feel about him where as the shorter man had a much grumpier appearance. The shorter man was roughly five foot, eleven inches. Reasonably short compared to Dan and a dwarf compared to the other man.
"You know I actually did consider it at one point" Dan replied. He looked at the different antiquities on the table in front of them. Simple things like papers, lanyards, and pencils. "I was actually inspired by a video game."
This increased the man's interest, "Really? Which one?"
"Halo." He answered.
Both men suddenly seemed to tense. The shorter man sat back down as if to avoid the conversation. Any other person might not have noticed but Dan had this ability to pick up on little random things like that. They were both did a very good job in concealing the fact. Dan himself almost missed it. The whole time they both remained calm as if they weren't interested at all. The sudden tension now interested Dan, "What's the matter?" he inquired.
Both men were taken off guard by the question. The giant man took a look around and told Dan to come with him very quickly. They merely went to the end of the table. "What makes you think that something is the matter?" He demanded.
Now Dan was taken off guard. The question made him slightly suspicious. "Nothing, I just…you…I mean…"
The man noticed two things: Dan obviously didn't feel comfortable addressing him as an equal or accusing him of anything either. Secondly he took note that people were starting to come into the room in many numbers now. So he decided to make it quick. He picked up an application for the marines and handed to Dan, "Here, if you're still interested, join. Once you get out of basic training request to have a meeting with General Coleman. He trains a special group of soldiers out in Nevada; they are about as close as you'll get to becoming the character in that game of yours. I trained with him for a bit but didn't do too well and dropped out." Dan found it hard to believe that this man was not equipped for such a thing. "The only thing I ask is that you not mention him to anyone else until you complete basic training, or boot camp. If you do decide that you are going to go for it, all I can say is good luck. Now go eat your lunch. You've got your whole life ahead of you."
Dan took a look over at the table where him and his friends normally sit and noticed that they were not only there but also had their lunches. Not knowing what to say or do, he took one last look at the recruiters and proceeded back to his table. While leaving he took note of other kids becoming curious in the huge man. Among them was a senior named Mike. Everyone called him "Tax" because that's what his last name was. He too was a fairly tall person. About as tall as Dan, only he was just a little bit taller. On the other hand Mike was much more built than Dan. He had actually gone to a camp that gave kids a test of military basic training. Dan didn't have too many classes with him because he was much more intelligent as well.
It wasn't long till Dan was back at his table all ready to eat his lunch as well. Kristina looked up at him, "Why were you over there?" She pondered. Dan and Kristina were friends since their freshmen year, so knowing the other's business wasn't uncommon. She and Dan would often joke with one another about different subjects, often making fun of people they knew. Dan had to be careful because she was Hispanic and any racist jokes towards her race might have meant his head. There were few girls in their high school that were as strong as Kristina. It actually scared Dan from time to time. Especially because she was even stronger than him. Of course she was more of the gentle giant type any way.
"What? I can't think about joining the military?" was his reply.
"Well if you did they would probably send you over to Iraq. Even if the war there is on the decline." She continued.
Now one of their other friends was in on the conversation, "Wait, who's going to Iraq?" Erin was one of Maria's friends who Dan soon got to meet. She was short and nothing like Dan or Kristina in terms of personality, but they still managed to get along without a problem. She wasn't as liberal as some of their other friends, but if she wanted she could stir up an argument. Once she found out what Dan had said she immediately protested him risking his life. Soon the whole table, which consisted of roughly seven seniors, was caught in a conversation about whether the war in Iraq was worth it.
The whole time Dan sat, starring into space, and thinking about what the recruiter had said. He had often thought hard on the idea of joining the military. The problem that persisted was whether to join before or after college. The recruiter was right. Dan did have his whole life ahead of him. Did he want to join the military and put all at risk?
Chapter I
The helicopter touched down as soft as if it were landing on a pillow. The roar from the engine slowly died down. The side door flipped open to reveal a field of military vehicles of all sorts. The sun reflected off the metal of almost every vehicle in the area and pounded the copter with more light than it already had. The pilot leaned back and shouted to everyone that it was safe to get out.
Dan stepped out into the Nevada sun. He looked around at the buzz of activity going on around the facilities. There were several hangars off to Dan's left and more copters in front of him. More men and women were getting off the now silent aircrafts. They were all dressed in military issued clothing. Dan jumped as two attack helicopters completed their morning run over head. He turned around and picked up his own things that lay on the sand covered pavement.
"Daniel O'Leary?" A deep unenthusiastic voice questioned. Dan whirled around to find a man about five feet, eleven inches in front of him. He was dressed as if he were a general and more than likely was. Almost as if he knew he was there Dan instantly saluted the tightly dressed man. "At ease. Is that your stuff?"
"Sir, yes sir!" Dan cried as quickly as he could.
"Leave it here." The man then turned to another soldier standing at attention next to him. "Follow this man here. He will give you a room, bed, and your cloths. Your things will be brought to you in due time. Now move out."
With another 'Yes sir' Dan followed the constantly silent soldier. He spent the rest of the day as if he were back in boot camp. He had spent nearly a year and a half in Iraq before anyone actually picked up on his potential as a warrior. He had for all intended purposes lost all contact with his life back home. He hadn't seen a computer since he left boot camp and hasn't talked to family or friends since that same time. Most of basic training was spent being yelled at and working his butt off. About an hour or two after getting off the helicopter he got his things back. They were all disgruntled indicating that someone must have been going through them. Inside his bag he had a smaller bag with some pictures. One of the few things he wasn't aloud to have in basic training but could have now. It didn't make any sense to him, but he accepted it and was glad they were all intact.
The next morning came as earlier as basic training and was generally the same thing: a morning run followed with breakfast. Dan was beginning to wonder how special these "special troops" actually were. The next several days were spent much in the same manor. Dan had been more than equipped for this and was getting quite bored of it. After a bit he began to realize that the barracks he was bunked in was slowly being emptied. Before long they moved him into another barracks as well. At the same time the work outs began to become more intense. The exercises were now at Dan's level and he actually had to work to accomplish some of them. Regardless he still passed with flying colors. Soon his new barracks was being emptied as well. It started to worry him.
After about two mouths of exercises that would get harder and barracks slowly being emptied, they finally asked Dan to have a private interview with General Coleman. The general's office was in the corner of a hangar that had been converted into an office building. The room itself was large and well lit. The only things in the room were the desk and chair, and an American flag next to the desk. The general sat at the desk looking over some folders. Dan noticed that the files contained information about him.
Dan snapped to a sharp salute. The general closed the files and stood up. He was relatively tall and well built. He looked to be in his early forties. Judging a person's age was never one of Dan's talents though.
"Dan. At ease soldier." He placed the folder on the desk and approached Dan. "You enjoy life Dan? Girl friend, wife, anything?" The questions confused Dan, but then they made sense. The general continued, "Cause you do know you are about to begin a program that is brand new. I'm sure you're very well aware of what goes on out here or you would not have come. However, now we are going to begin a program that we haven't tried before. This is going to the only time that you will be aloud to talk to me as an equal so if you have anything to say or ask…remember; anything mentioned in here does not leave."
"Sir?" Dan didn't know what to say.
"I was told by an old friend of mine about you actually. You came to us at just the right time. I was told that you were inspired to join the military by a game. Halo. Correct? Well, you are about to take part in our very own Spartan program."
Dan couldn't believe what he had just heard, "Are you joking…sir?"
"No Dan I am not. And right now we are looking for some people to take part in this program. Since the release of the game and books the government has secretly wanted to make there own super soldiers. They've been trying since the Gulf War but up until now they have had no real brake-through. The game simply provided the designs we needed. All the technical stuff was all taken care of. You and the select group of men and women have been selected to proceed to this next stage. If you haven't noticed, but we've been progressively making your exercises harder and harder. We've reached a point where you can't really go any farther without being told about. However, you will have to remember a few things. Which ties back to my first questions. If you intend to proceed, will be volunteering to die. You will cease to exist. If you chose to decline you will immediately be transported else where and you are to never aloud to speak of any of this. Especially this program. Anything to say?"
Dan was in a daze. He had always imagined being a Spartan. A cybernetic super soldier and being able to save the world from certain doom had always been a dream of his. He realized all he'd have to sacrifice to do it, but than again he never actually thought he'd be given the chance to have such an opportunity. He had no idea how to react.
"Sir…I…" was the only thing he could mutter out. Than something else caught his mind. "How?"
"How? Let's just say that 'that's for me to know and you to find out'." He seemed to stare straight through Dan as he said this.
"Than sir there is only one thing that I can say." Dan stood tall and proud to say it, "Where do I sign up?"
"Good. I knew you would. Take the day off. We'll contact you later to begin the rest of your life."
The next several mouths had been spent doing exercises that Dan and the other selects had never thought possible. Before long they started training in groups. Dan had been pulled aside by General Coleman himself, who was now watching over all of their exercises. He called over two other people that Dan couldn't see because they remained behind him.
"Now I was told an interesting bit of information. You three soldiers are all from the same high school. Daniel O'Leary, Kristina Roman, and Michael Tax. How do you three feel working together in a group?"
Dan turned to look and sure enough, there stood Kristina and Mike. Mike was much more built and still just barely taller than Dan. Kristina too was much taller and thinner too. She still was very muscular for a woman too. Only now she seemed to have a look about her of an empty shell and a blank stare. The three exchanged a quick greeting and agreement then turned back to the general.
"I see. Well, let's see how well you three handle a paint ball contest."
The three were set into a building completely unarmed. They were told that they were to go and take out everyone. They had to either incapacitate them or at least hit them with a paint ball gun. If so much as one of them was hit the entire exercise would be a failure. There was no set time limit but they were being timed. Neither of them knew how the other got there and what kind of experience the other had, but they went in and two hours came out successful.
When they came out the General stood there waiting for them. He clicked his stop watch off. They approached him and saluted crisply.
"Good job, but guess what?" he announced. "You all failed. Do you know why?" They looked one another over and didn't find one paint ball on them. Dan knew why they failed though. He noticed that he was leaving foot prints. He had stepped in the paint of a shot that had missed him. He was hoping that it had dried, it confused him that it wasn't dry yet. "O'Leary do you know?" the general wondered, "That paint of on your foot, it has a special mixture of chemicals that prevent it from drying quickly. If that had been blood or some other visible liquid you could have been tracked much easier and if you had a designated extraction point you would jeopardize the extraction team. Anything to say?"
"No sir." They answered in unison.
"Very well, than we will see you in the morning."
Every morning for the next year was all relatively the same: They get up and went for a lap around the base then be given a series of exercises to perform. Each exercise was different every day; however they would eventually find themselves doing a particular exercise over again until they could do it with little to no trouble at all. They were never really given time to converse and find out how each of them got there. No one really cared anymore, just as long as they were there. Every chance they got to actually talk together some other topic would be more important. Eventually they were talking to one another during the exercises because they became too simple. They were quick conversations, but they helped pass the time.
One day after their run and stretching out they were told to go back to their barracks. Never once had they actually seen the barracks during the day. They did as were told; anyone who said otherwise might have themselves a problem. Dan had seen it in his first few weeks here. A man thought that it was stupid to be put through basic training a second time. Dan had never seen the man again, though he was sure that they had not killed him.
Once at their bunks they stood at attention until told otherwise. General Coleman came in and looked them over. Everyone could tell that he had something weighing on his mind.
"We are going to begin the next step in turning all of you into super soldiers. Our doctors have come to call it 'The Augmentation stage'." The general announced.
Dan knew what was coming next: they would give all of them the cybernetic implants and augmentations. Several of them would not, however, survive the process. He was not about to let that happen. Without hesitation he stepped forward.
"Yes Chief Petty Officer O'Leary?" the general asked.
"Sir I volunteer to be the first to be experimented on." Dan announced. The comment surprised the general and half impressed him.
"And why is that Dan?"
"Sir, because it is an experimental process and I refuse to see these people who I've spent the last year with get hurt. I wish to make sure that your scientists know exactly what they are doing. This way we can also get the highest number of Spartans at your disposal. Sir."
"Noble. Brave. But I assure you we've taken all the precautions we can. At this point if anything happens to any of you, it is your own fault. Yes it will be painful, however I have put faith in all of you and have no doubt that all forty of you will live. And having a good number of soldiers is not a big deal because it isn't like we are at war with any alien race. We have enough time to test all of your abilities and still have time to create another group of Spartans. The rest I will let our doctors tell you." Coleman turned to the door and motioned to a man in a white lab coat.
"Greetings, my name is Dr. Arkling." The scientist stepped into the middle of the room so that they could all hear him. "I'm sure you're all wondering what kind of augmentations you will be receiving. I'll give you a basic idea. Let me think, ah yes your bones. They will have a special metal like material coating them. It will make them stronger, and less likely to break or fracture. Your muscles will also be increased. Not just that but your memory and you ability to understand things will be increased as well. You will have some newly developed nanomachines that will drastically increase the time a wound will heal. You'll also receive several other cybernetic implants that will provide other bonuses you may need on a battle field. All of these things you will have nothing to worry about. So how about we get started than."
Chapter II
Dan woke starring at the ceiling of a dull hospital room. His vision was still blurred. He sat up as best he could. His motion seemed to also appear sluggish. Not that he was sore rather he perceived the world around him much slower. Yet everything was moving at a normal speed. The thought of it hurt his head, not that it was confusing more because he understood things that he might not have understood on his own.
There were a series of wires and monitors attached to him. Each one provided a different annoying inch. He grabbed each of the wires in one swift motion and pulled them off in the same move. All kinds of screens throughout the room began flashing in a panic. The sounds they produced irritated his ears because they suddenly seemed so much louder than anything Dan had ever heard. It was annoying however it actually did not hurt.
Suddenly a nurse burst into the room taking Dan off guard. She too was surprised by the fact that Dan was up. She ordered him to lie back down and wait for the doctor to come. Not to long later Dr. Arkling came in the room and began doing a series of checks on Dan. Every movement seemed so advanced that Dan was having trouble adjusting.
Over the next few days Dan had been subjected to all kinds of experiments and tests to make sure that he was in good condition. Other, what they were now being called, Spartans began appearing as Dan made his recovery. It was during this time that Dan was able to get to know some of his new family. He was able to talk with Mike and he learned that Mike had just joined the military and was later recommended for the program. Later he met another man by the name of Ray. This man seemed much less willing to talk about his past. It made Dan curious. It was not long until Dan had met one of the many women now in the project. Her name was Tiffany Claymotes. Apparently when they first gave her a gun she managed to shoot someone in the foot. This gave her the nickname "Tiffany Toe Shot." Later it had been shortened to just "Toe."
One day Dan walked into the weight room to work a bit and found Kristina in the room already. She was on a treadmill in the corner of the room. Dan hoped on another one next to her.
"Hey Kristina. Haven't talked to you in a while." He started, "So I guess the major question is how you ended up in the military."
"Long story." Was all she replied. She didn't even shift to address his question. She just answered it and kept running.
"Entertain me." He shot back. He wanted to get to the bottom of why she was so miserable.
She sighed and shut off the treadmill. She picked up her towel that lay on a bench not far from the wall and sat down. The treadmills faced the wall so Dan was able to keep running and listen at the same time. "It all started just after high school. I hadn't even gotten into a college yet and I had started a job. I met a guy there. We quickly grew attached to one another. However he was dealing with a gang on the side. He was trying to get out once he had met me… or that's what he said." Dan could see that she was starting to get depressed by the memories. "We could have gotten married with enough amount of time. But no, that damn gang refused to let him out so easily. He did everything he could. Then they had decided that negotiating wasn't working. They wanted to just get rid of him. So they just –just thought they could scare him by killing me. A drive by was what they came up with. In the event Chris, the guy I was with shielded me from the hale of bullets. He didn't live very long."
Dan stopped his treadmill and sat down next to Kristina. "Kristina I'm sorry."
"No its okay. I did my weeping and crying. I've moved on to revenge. I spent the next several months killing off or jailing each member of the gang. Now I'm down to the last one. The one I'm told who pulled the trigger. I've learned that his name is Reynaldo Larson. Apparently he joined the military once he heard what was happening to his friends. He would have been getting out of basic training at the same time as me. Once we get out of here I'm going to find him and kill him. This is the man I've been waiting to kill. There will be no stopping me from ripping his heart from his chest. Even if it means my life."
Dan didn't know what to say. They both sat starring at the treadmills for a bit. Dan was first to move. He got up and got back on his treadmill. He didn't start it but he was standing on it still thinking. She than stood up and tossed the towel over her shoulder.
"Well, I suppose sitting here thinking about it isn't going to get too much done. I'm gonna go hit the showers now. I'll talk to you later." She walked out leaving Dan in the room by himself with his thoughts. He was thinking about the man he met a few days back. His name was Ray, but he never did tell Dan his last name or his full name. What if this Ray was the man Kristina was hunting? The thought scared Dan. He could only pray that it was too different men.
Chapter III
It was early morning and in the desert it was still relatively cold. The cold air rushed into the copter and poured over Alexia's face and body. She cursed herself for not wearing heavier cloths. She bundled up as much as she could and hoped out onto the sand stricken landing pad. Two other scientists quickly followed. They had just met one another when they had been thrown onto the helicopter. She knew the male as Mark and the other woman was met as Gerry.
Looking on Alexia noticed there was a series of copter unloading even more men and women. Each person was dressed in the same manner of an engineer or scientist. She suddenly became very confused. She knew she'd be working with the military on this project however no word was given about what the project was going to be. With Alexia's biological engineer back-round, she figured that it was going to be some sort of chemical or virus. What did they need so few people for? For such a thing they would need hundreds more.
Just then a huge man approached her. He must have stood roughly seven feet tall and sported the biggest muscle mass Alexia had ever seen. She was amazed to think he actually fit in a shirt at all.
"My name is Daniel O'Leary. Follow me." That was all he had to say.
A man that size, she was not about to argue. She looked over her shoulder to see that Mark and Gerry both also had a huge person addressing them. Looking down the line of helicopters Alexia noticed that several of the people had an enormous human being talking to them and escorting them.
They made there way into a near by building and to an elevator that seemed out of place. The room seemed more like a garage than an access to a base. Following them were all the other new people. She accidentally walked into Dan's back, not realizing that he had stopped walking. The elevator doors suddenly slide open revealing an enormous elevator. Still not big enough for all of the people at once, but it would definitely take enough of them.
She jumped as Dan suddenly started to speak, "Go ahead. Perhaps we will meet again."
It didn't take long for everyone to pile into the lift and began there descent. Alexia couldn't see the control panel however she knew there must have been hundreds of floors. She only knew because the trip was taking close to fifteen minutes. Finally the doors split again to reveal a larger brighter room. There was only one door across from them. There was nothing in the room except for them and some over polished walls and floor. Twenty-five minutes later the elevator returned with the rest of the scientists. Now there was any where from forty to sixty people in the room, yet they still had room to move.
As soon as the elevator set off for the surface again everyone heard an intercom crack on. A man's voice came over the speaker, "Welcome. I'm sure you are all very confused. Don't worry. Those men and women that escorted you to the elevator are going to become the rest of your lives. Everything you do will be to support them in their up coming endeavors. What ever they may be. No one of you is going to have all the qualities necessary for such a task, however you will learn in time. Any other questions will be answered in due time. I hope you enjoy the rest of your stay here."
With that the room grew silent. No one could believe what they had just heard. Alexia worried about what was going to happen to them. Helping that enormous person was still haunting her. It was hard for her to grasp the idea of controlling such a person. As terrifying as it seemed, she was still quite curious.
It had been a while since Dan had held a real gun. The assault rifle in his hands made him eager to see if he still had the skill. He stepped up to the target range and raised the almost lightweight weapon. It required two hands before the augmentations and now he could hold it with one hand. Holding it with both hands still gave him better accuracy anyway.
He let out three bursts and each one nailed the silhouette of a man right in the spot that his nose would have been. Dan was satisfied with his accomplishment for the day.
"Not bad." Kristina claimed stepping up to the target next to him. She proceeded to empty a magazine of hand gun rounds all into the same spot. All of them right on the nose like Dan's target. She ejected the empty clip and starred at Dan, "Now what?"
"Hey, that's a hand gun you've got there. Try that with this." Dan handed the assault rifle over to her and she took it ready to put Dan to shame. She pulled the trigger and let the clip empty. When the gun fell silent they both looked on to see that the human outline no longer retained a head. Kristina looked at him in a way that let him know not to say a word.
On the other side Dan, Ray and Toe stepped up to practice with there sniper rifles. Toe stepped up first and put bullet after bullet into the forehead of the target. She stepped away from the wall to let Ray in.
"Nice shooting, but watch this." Ray bragged.
"Yeah okay. You're a home boy who got lucky. I'm a trained sniper." She snapped back.
Ray responded with, "Hey, I've fired a gun before."
"Yeah. Where? Boot camp?" Toe joked.
"No, before that even."
"Yeah whatever. Shut up and shot Mr. Larson." She ordered.
Kristina and Dan both heard the conversation and the minute Kristina heard the name "Mr. Larson" she became suspicious. She walked up to them to talk. Dan instantly knew what was going to happen. Yet he let her talk because he was hoping it was just a coincidence.
"Mr. Larson," Kristina repeated. "Reynaldo Larson? Ex-resident of Allentown, PA?"
Ray looked up and questioned, "Yeah, what about it?"
Kristina instantly raised the reloaded hand gun and began shooting off at Ray. He dove over the target range wall for cover. Once the clip was empty she tossed the weapon off to the side and proceeded to hurdle the obstacle between her and her prey. Dan followed and grabbed her arms and pulled them behind her back. Ray jumped up and rolled over the wall again while Dan wrestled with Kristina. Dan had a firm grip on her, however once her head flung back and bashed him in the face, he toppled over gripping his face.
She quickly set in pursuit of the Hispanic run away. The only thing was that he was no longer running. As she approached the wall he sprung up and brought his fist into the bottom of her chin, knocking her to the ground.
"Now what the hell is your problem lady? We're on a team aren't we?" Ray inquired.
"What's the matter Ray?" Kristina mocked as she got to her feet. "You can't tell me you forgot your gang. The man you shot on the side of the street? You remember now?"
Ray thought for a moment than gave a look of interest, "So you're the one Chris dumped us for. You're the reason he's dead by the way. YOU caused him to leave which pissed off our boss. YOU were the one he was protecting when he got shot. And YOU were the one in love with him. You can't blame me for any else other than following orders."
"Following orders!? You're full of it." Tears were building up in her eyes at this point. "If you were quote-unquote following orders, than why the hell did you try to hide in the military once you heard about your buddies? You were the one that pulled the trigger you bastard!!"
Not even thinking she hurled herself at him and caught him right in the neck. They both fell to the ground and rolled. Using the momentum Ray kicked Kristina into the air. She spun and landed on her feet as if she planned the jump. Ray kicked in the air and sprung to his feet. Both of them shot at one another like bullets. Each of them began throwing punches and kicks disregarding where they hit, just as long as they did. The only thing was that neither of them could hit the other. Ray would sweep his leg across the ground to trip her. She would then respond with a hope in the air and a kick to his face. Then he would just tilt his head to avoid her foot and proceed with some other attack. This continued for about a minute. Before long the fight evolved into flips, leaps and grabs.
Dan couldn't stand watching any more and decided it was time to end things. Dan ran over to the competition and jumped into the first opening. "You two have to stop! NOW!"
They both totally disregarded him and sent an attack towards him too. The fight was now a free for all. Dan was now also thrown into the mix of flips and kicks. This new fight didn't last long; there was a burst of gun fire into the air. The general stood where Dan had left his assault rifle. No one moved for quite a bit.
"If you kids are done we have some things we have to take care of." General Coleman was most displeased with their behavior. The expression on his face made sure everyone knew. At least that's what Dan was getting out of it. He knew bad things were to come.
Dan was brought into the general's office under guard. That little fight probably made the man in charge a little uncomfortable. Perhaps he was worried that Dan and the other Spartans may become uncontrollable.
Standing in the room was the woman that Dan had escorted to the elevator a few weeks back. She now stood up straight and tall. She was dressed in the typical scientist engineer overalls. They were a terrible green/gray color. She only moved to watch him walk in and stand at attention in front of the general.
The general himself simply sat down at his desk. "Dan do you know why I brought you here?" Dan didn't answer. "It's because I've noticed something in you that doesn't seem to be in the others. Each one of them has been chosen for their own reason. You have been chosen to be the head of this new elite team. You're being promoted to the full rank of Master Chief. Anything to say?"
"Sir Permission to speak freely?" Dan asked.
"Granted"
"Sir I'm not the one for this role. Mike Tax would even make a better leader than me. Out of forty….I mean thirty Spartans I'm sure that you can find a better candidate for the task."
"Dan listen. I can understand how you must feel about the ten Spartans who didn't survive the augmentations; however you have a more important task here. You're right Mike might be better for the roll. What you don't know is that is exactly what I don't want. I don't want someone who can lead I want some one who will lead. Mike knows what to do in the right areas however I don't want him ordering people around as a superior. What I need is an equal to relay the orders. You seem to have that nice guy attitude that I need. Understand?"
Dan didn't know what to say. He stood starring at the ground processing the past events. It wasn't like he could say 'no' to his superior officer, and he did want the rank. He just didn't think he deserved it. Following orders had always been what he did, but giving them was a totally different story. There was only really one thing he could do. He stood up tall and straight, looked General Coleman in the eyes and spoke firmly.
"Yes, sir."
Chapter IV
Dan slashed through the finishing line as if it was butter. The new car he was driving was the fastest car he'd ever driven. He knew there was probably faster, but for an all-terrain it was flying. The sleek design of the vehicle aloud it to perform as such. It was a design that earned it the nickname of 'Puma.' It was about as big as an SUV only it handled and performed like a jet. Sadly the vehicle only seated two at the time; however it could retro-fitted to seat three or even four. A gun of any caliber could be mounted to the back or two extra seats could be welded in. Currently it didn't have either because Dan was conducting a speed test.
Larry shortly pulled up in another Puma next to his. Dan and Larry had just completed a short race around the perimeter of the base. Dan had been declared the winner. Larry had been anointed the team's vehicle expert. He had boasted that he could win a race in the Puma with a rocket launcher attached. So the two made a wager and set off. Neither of them however really was going to give anything to the other just because they had nothing to give.
All the other Spartans approached the vehicles each supporting both drivers. Among the crowd there stood Dr. Arkling and General Coleman. Dan and Larry leapt to the ground to salute them.
"Please gentlemen, we're just a couple of guys playing with our toys." The general complained. "Let's drop the titles for now."
The doctor stepped forward, "What about the reason we're out here?"
General Coleman suddenly had an expression of discomfort. Dan could tell that some had come up, "Sir?"
"It's nothing much," he responded. "It will be nothing more than a routine exercise for all of you. Well, at least the one's that will be going."
Now there was unrest among the Spartans. Dan spoke for them, "Sir, what do you mean? What has happened?"
"Dan this will be most difficult for you. Mike and Kristina, you too." The three of them were now confused. "Well all of you have no idea who the president is now but he has tried to pick up where President Bush had left off after his second term. Now the terrorist sects that our wonderful government failed to delete have come out of the wood work. Well, one particular sect has chosen to attack a local hospital. They haven't attacked yet. Some unknown source contacted us. Don't ask me how, but they did. Apparently they intend to attack in a few hours. The president has only now given me the authority to intervene."
"He's going to let them attack!?" Mike shot out of the crowd. "If this is going to affect the three of us, just how will it?"
"That's the thing." Coleman continued, "The attack is taking place at the hospital right across from where you three went to high school."
"What!?" All three said in conjunction.
"Relax. We can still prevent a national disaster." The general recommended.
"How? That's practically on the other side of the country." Mike pointed out.
"Did I not say to relax?" General Coleman replied. "We've developed a new attack fighter. I'm told it can even operate in outer space, but we can't exactly test that just yet. It has all the latest technologies and is the fastest jet we have recorded in existence thus far. You don't even have to worry about a decent run way. It can hover. Heck it can go up and down if you want it to. At some pretty decent speeds I'm told. Actually to tell you the full truth it apparently has the maneuvering of the space shuttles. Just think of all the fun stuff we could do with that. The other thing is that it sits three people: the pilot and the co-pilot and than the specials pilot. It has a small cargo bay but it's more of a bomb bay than a cargo bay. So Dan I'm going to leave to you who it is you want going, even though I some how know who will."
Dan thought for a moment than decided that he did know who would be good to go, "Sir. I believe that Mike, Kristina and Larry will go with me."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes. Mike is a brilliant strategist and Kristina is a good frontal assault. Larry we need because he's the best with any vehicle you give him. Mike, Kristina and me will penetrate while Larry waits near by. My only question is how will we hide this new jet of yours?"
"Well as a matter of fact we've developed a special polymer that can act a TV screen of sort. So the whole ship is coated in this polymer. At several angels there are mini cameras set up to provide the image the polymer needs. This makes it appear that it is invisible. There will still be some sections that will be visible however the ship is designed in such a way that they will be hard to spot from any angel."
"Didn't I see that in a movie?" Dan joked, "Anyway, now that we've settled that. When do we leave?"
"As soon as you're ready." Coleman answered.
Suddenly Arkling chimed in, "Wait general the ship was only designed to support three. The extra weight from the other Spartan may cause problems. I do not –"
"Arkling I don't care." General Coleman cut off, "I don't want to waste anymore time with your crap. We have a mission to do and lives to save. We can test your new toy later. Dismissed."
"General I—"Arkling tried.
"I said 'DISMISSED!' Coleman snapped.
Everyone began dispersing to do there appointed tasks. Arkling however didn't move. He stood scowling at the general's backside.
"We'll see who is dismissed soon enough general. You can be sure of that." He said to himself with out any one hearing him.
Dan crashed to the roof and rolled to his knees. Mike landed next and dove behind a vent shaft. Kristina was already down and had found the door to go down. Everything was going as planned. Dan waved his arm to let Larry know that he could leave. If it wasn't for Dan's enhanced vision he might not have noticed the outline of the jet rotate and take off towards the mountain not to far off.
Dan scanned the roof. Tax was busy unscrewing the screen of the vent shaft. Dan and Kristina trotted over the side of the building. Kristina rapped a rope around her and tossed the rest of it over the side. Dan checked over the side to see if the rope was lined up. Once it was he took a look at Mike who had the shaft open and was ready to jump in. Dan gave a thumbs up and Mike slide into the small vertical crawl space. Kristina braced as Dan flung himself over the side of the building and slide down to the third window from the top or the second from the bottom. He gently and quietly opened it. Once inside he watched to see if Kristina brought the rope back up. Once she did Dan left her to her own.
The room was void of all life. An elderly man lay in his bed next to the door. He was turning blue and didn't seem to be breathing. A monitor next to his head indicated that he no longer had a heart beat either. Dan guessed he had most likely died of a heart attack or stroke. The door itself appeared to be slightly open and sprawled across the floor in front of it lay a tray with some food spilled all around it. A nurse was probably bringing dinner when a terrorist jumped in grabbed her and scared the old man to death. Just to be sure Dan checked the man's pulse. There was none. Dan looked at the man for a bit. He shut the man's eyes and let him rest in peace. He knew he should not have done so because if someone came in and noticed they might alert the other terrorists of an intruder. Regardless Dan felt the man should have deserved better, and letting him sit there and rot was not the greatest way to go.
Dan pulled out his tube camera he had been given and stuck it under the door. The tiny screen it was attached to flickered to life and displayed an empty hall way. He rolled the tube to see the other end of the hall and saw one lone guard starring at a vending machine. Dan watched as the masked man bashed the butte of his AK-47 into the glass of the vending machine. Just as he did this Dan opened the door a bit more. The man assaulting the food display didn't seem to notice, he simply continued to rummage through the variety of snacks.
Pulling out his silenced handgun Dan opened the door ever so slightly. All he could hear was the rustle of candy rappers. He poked out from the door and raised the handgun. The man was now on the move around the corner. Once out of sight Dan went back to retrieve his tube camera from under the door. Reports indicated that the hostages were on this floor and saving them was Dan's top priority.
The hospital halls seemed roughly familiar to him. Dan checked down the hall the terrorist disappeared down and say the cafeteria of the hospital. The terrorist entered the double doors that lead to the cafeteria. Dan remembered that there was another set of doors just around the corner because another terrorist came out to get some water from the fountain that was there. Dan scooted up to the next corner and peeked around it. The wall came in a bit so the water fountain wasn't sticking out into the middle of the hall. The man bent over it sipping away peacefully. Dan made sure not to peek enough to see his face because than he'd be able to see him as well.
Finished his drink he stood up and wiped his mouth with his sleeve. Dan dashed around the corner, grabbed the man's jaw and mouth than gently rotated his head so that it was facing him. His body still faced the wall. Dan quickly and silently dragged him back to the room where he entered. He shoved the corpse under the bed. It was a bit cramped for a human body but it wasn't like he was going to be feeling any pain.
Dan approached the corner where he was not to long ago and heard voices. They seemed to be giving orders. They were in another language that Dan was not even begun to comprehend. Just then a group of people came around the corner all with their hands on the back of their heads. A man followed the group pointing an AK-47 at them. Dan decided that regardless of what this radical group had in mind, the hostages were his first concern.
Maria was smashed against the window even harder now that more hostages were discovered. She looked over at Erin who was still shaking with fear. They all knew that any one of them could be at the end of someone's gun barrel. Maria was scared too but knew she could only hope someone would come to save them. Just then the door slid open.
Just as planned all the terrorists turned to see what just scurried across the floor. The grenade went off and blinded every last one of them. The hostages were unaffected because they had their backs to the flash bomb. Each terrorist doubled back in pain grabbing their eyes. It was then that Dan burst into the room at incredible speed and almost no sound. There were nine terrorists in the room and Dan managed to take out five in his opening attack. He dove behind a pillar to reload. At the same time a terrorist groped for his weapon and managed to get off a couple of random shots that decimated a register not to far from Dan's location.
Dan leapt out from behind the pillar to the counter that previously held a register. He stood up and aerated two more of the terrorist's craniums. Sitting on a table next to one of the windows was a strange box that a third enemy ducked down behind. The final villain grabbed a near-by hostage to use as a human shield. The man's eyes were still red with pain and didn't dare try to shoot Dan until he could see. Dan could see perfectly however but didn't fire either. He stepped closer to the pillar again so he could see the one man yet not get shot in the back by the other.
"Now what hero man?" the man said with a fairly Arab accent.
Dan put a round into the light just over the man's head. Some minor debris collapsed down the man's shirt forcing him to stand up straight to let the glass get through. This motion exposed much of his upper body and face. Dan took this opportunity to relieve the man of his brain matter. The hostage, a young woman quickly dropped to the floor. Dan rotated his pistol to face the other terrorist still behind the green box. There were some wires leading from the box to a gym bag on the table next to it. Dan could see there was another bag on the chair the man hid behind. The only mistake was that with a few steps Dan could crouch down a shoot right under the table and chairs. Naturally Dan was not about to let the opportunity pass.
The man toppled over landing on his side. He tried to get his gun up and fire at Dan however he was already over top of him and kicked it away. Dan put the pistol barrel to the man's face.
"Who sent you?" Dan inquired.
"Go ahead and kill me American pig!" he remarked.
"Wrong answer." Dan swung his leg into the man's ribs than re-adjusted his aim. "Now who put you up to this? If you tell me I can get you back to your country alive. No one will know you were here."
"My country is this country!" the Arab man spat back.
Chapter V
Kerr was now even more interested. Every one of the humans was stunned by the man's reply. His superiors sent him down to monitor the humans up close and possibly bring some of there technology back with him. He had already collected a pair of hand held communication devices; he wanted to get his hands on a weapon though. How the weapons operated was a new concept to him.
No one in the room moved for a minute so Kerr took the time to check the battery on his optic camouflage. He still had up to three Earth hours worth of power. That would be more than enough time to find a spot to hide and recharge the battery in time for extraction.
"What do you mean?" the intruder demanded. He was huge for a human. The man was bigger than any human on their records. Kerr focused the camera on his shoulder more on the giant.
"I will tell you nothing I said." The wounded man stated.
"Bull," with another whack to the face he repeated himself, "Now, who sent you? I will not repeat myself again."
The man hesitated but with the pistol suddenly pressed even more in his nose he gave in. "Alright, alright! You win. I was called up by a man or woman I don't know they had a voice changer. They told me they wanted to test something. Some new experimental bomb. He said that it would not necessarily hurt anyone. They didn't say what it would do. He said that I'd now when I activated it. Then they told me to take a plan here and someone would pick me up."
"Well I hate to tell you but I think you're full of it. Because why would need guns than?"
"Hey when I got to the airport a bunch of men in brown trench coats and sunglasses dragged me into a car. I was told that the guns were only to keep control of the people in the hospital. They said we'd all be paid handsomely for our troubles. They told us that the police officials were told about our operation and that they would not interfere. I didn't think I was actually going to be shot."
"Right and what made you think that this was going to be okay?"
"They said the hospital staff was not told because they wanted it as real as possible."
"Why you?" the man was getting very anxious.
"I have had some military experience in the Gulf War. Some of the other guys did too maybe that's why they were chosen."
The larger man backed away and holstered his gun. He looked at the different men lying around the room. He was a pale white as if he couldn't believe what he had done. If Kerr understood this right those men were no more than every day retired veterans of a past human war. Why would these creatures send others of there own clan just to be slaughtered later? Kerr thought to himself. Conspiracy perhaps?
He took his attention away from the humans momentarily to adjust the monitor sitting on his right shoulder. He agreed with the idea of obtaining as much information as possible any way possible. He didn't leave the monkeys for long. Many of the hostages were moving away from the window by this point.
She could recognize his voice and face. Maria crouched to get a better look at their savior to get a better look. He immediately brought his weapon up to her face.
"Back off!" He barked.
"Sorry I just wanted to see who you were." She answered stumbling backwards.
"Well now you've seen so get back." If it was someone she knew there was no way she wanted anything to do with him now.
"Okay you just looked really familiar." She stated.
He stood up, holding the crippled man in one hand and holstering his gun in the other. The soldier placed the new hostage in a near by chair. Turning back to Maria and took a good look at her.
"What's your name?" Were the only words he uttered.
"Maria Nagle."
He instantly recognized the name. She was a friend from high school. He often was teasing her in some way or another. He made no motion that he knew her.
"Ring any bells?" she asked.
He didn't respond but he started searching the room for something. Another girl still stood close to the window with her arms crossed. Dan looked at her closer and discovered she too was familiar. She was fairly scared by his approach and tried to back away from him only to find the window no more than an inch away from her.
"My name's Erin. Please don't hurt me." She pleaded.
Being two feet taller than the frightened girl he had to bend a bit to see her face clearly. Just than Kristina walked in the room. She was anything but concerned about her surroundings.
She walked straight over to Dan, "Upper floors are taken care of. We still have some extra hostages up stairs. What—"
Dan turned to her to realize she too recognized Erin. Senior year the three of them sat together at lunch. Maria saw it too and jumped in.
"You do recognize us, don't you?" She chirped.
Neither of them said anything. Erin looked up at the two monstrous people. Her expression quickly changed when she too recognized them.
"You're—"She muttered.
"Shut it!" Dan instantly ordered. He couldn't afford to let them spoil who he was. "Call for the evac we're done here."
Kristina shot from the room at lighting speed. Dan hit the radio head set.
"Green 3 what's your status?" Dan barked into the speaker.
"I'm about to hit the main lobby. Why?" Mike's voice came over the headset. "What happened to radio silence? You trying to—"
"Shut up we've got a problem. We're making our exit. Make the hit quick and easy than get to the roof."
"Roger."
It surprised Dan that he didn't argue more. Dan was not about to argue though and perhaps Mike was aware of that. It was time to go and he was going to let the two girls of his past destroy him. However protocol stated he destroy them. Something there was no way he could do that. Than he thought of something, I already am dead according to society. Dan grabbed Erin's wrist and tossed her into Maria. The two stumbled to the floor. Grabbing the man in the chair with his left hand he un-holstered the pistol in his right hand.
"You two come with me." He pointed with the gun at Maria and Erin so they had less reason to argue. Suddenly another man ran up behind him pleading.
"What about us? You gonna just leave us here? We could be killed."
"You'll be fine." Dan announced not even looking back. Just as he finished his sentence an explosion rocked the building from down stairs. Mike had no doubt used a grenade. Dan knew that the men involved in the explosion probably were no different than the man that lay limp in his left hand. However every last one of them knew that if they were given guns than there was some level of risk. "Let's go."
Kerr leaned against the column that held the bridge up. Checking around one more time for any humans he de-activated the optic camouflage. He was distressed knowing that he had to stay on this rock for at least a week. That was of course suggesting that he was not detected. No one had any idea he was there. Then that soldier in the hospital, he hadn't seen him either yet he seemed to have an awareness that the others didn't. He seemed to be conscious of everyone and everything in the room and not being able to see Kerr confused him. Lucky he spotted that other female.
With a heavy and deep sigh Kerr activated the recharge sequence for the optic camouflage. He leaned against the column again and ran his hand through what the humans had called "dread-locks." That soldier still dwelled heavily on his mind. He knew that the Apostles would want to know of this for sure. Nearly two years they have been monitoring the humans from space undetected. They had done a few ground missions, but never on a scale as the one he was on now. There had never once been any sign they were aware of there presence.
He sat forward and took out his transmitter. Under the bridge was a large dirt hill so there wasn't any flat area for him to leave it, so he left it on his lap. Reaching to the camera on his shoulder he retrieved the cable connection wire and plugged it into the transmitter. The transmitter was no more than half a sphere and the top could retract for communications to the ship in orbit. The slot for the wire appeared out of the side and began transferring the footage to the orbiting vessel. He leaned to his left to check the path that lay at the bottom of the hill. Relaxed that no one was around he leaned against the pillar one last time and fell to sleep.