0730 Hours, June 23, 2520 (military calendar)/ Epsilon Erandi System, Reach Military Wilderness Training Preserve, Planet Reach
Three young kids dashed through the woods of the early morning. Each was no older than nine years. They were dressed in their usual training outfits which consisted of grey t-shirts, military pants and combat boots. Kimberly, Dan and Jesse had all been living on Planet Reach for the past two years. They were among a much larger group of children who were training to become part of a project known to them as SPARTAN II.
Their instructor, and overall father figure, CPO Mendez had played a critical role in their training to become the most top notch soldiers ever. He had made their lives miserable the first couple months but soon after he began teaching the young SPARTANS how to use their training in the field.
Today was a game of 'Capture the Flag'. This was by far the SPARTANS' favorite training exercise. This was one of the few times that the trainees could get back at their drill instructors for any unnecessary punishments that had been issued earlier on at the start of their training. Today was Team Eleven's turn to go into the field while the other SPARTANS-in-training worked with CPO Mendez.
The three kids slowed their run to a walk. Jesse pulled out the map from their survival pack and examined it while his teammates gathered around him. Dan was Jesse's age and almost the same height as him. He had semi-short dark hair and dark brown eyes. He and Jesse had made friends with each other early on in their training and were pretty comfortable with relying on each other for support when needed.
"What are you thinking?" Dan asked as he and Kimberly watched his expression. When Jesse was trying to think tactics he would go into a slight trance and stop blinking all together.
"Just thinking." Jesse murmured.
"God damn it Jesse! Tell us what's on your mind!" Kimberly hissed furiously. She hated it when Jesse got too wrapped up in what he was doing because, to her, it seemed that his sense of awareness went completely out the window. On a few occasions this behavior had cost them some skirmish matches against some of the other SPARTAN teams.
"The outpost is about three miles north of our position." He looked up from the map and peered out at the low mountains that surrounded the valley. "We could get to higher ground and scout out the situation."
"That's going to take forever." Dan sighed. He was one of the few who understood Jesse's distaste for splitting up a team. It was more to their advantage to split up but at the same time, too many things could go wrong. "I'll go up and scout things out." He reached into the backpack and pulled out two ear radios as well as a pair of binoculars. "I'll be your eyes in the sky. If I see anything funny closing in on you then I'll let you know."
Jesse was silent for a moment. "Alright then. You've got fifteen minutes to get up to a good look-out point. We don't want to keep our DI's waiting now." Then a sly smirk moved across his face. "You know how much they hate to be kept waiting."
"Don't I know." Dan chuckled, before slipping into the shadows.
Jesse and Kimberly headed towards their DI's outpost at a slow and stealthy walk.
"Any idea what our DI's are planning this time?" Kimberly whispered.
"Besides beating us to a pulp? Not a clue." Jesse muttered. Kimberly didn't reply, only sighed. They continued creeping through the forest as quietly as possible. Even though they were a considerable distance from the outpost, their DI's were known to post lookouts on the outskirts of their base.
"Jess, heads up!" Dan's voice crackled over the radio. "I've spotted a dropship coming in from the west."
"Roger that." Jesse confirmed. "We'll keep an eye on it. Maintain radio silence unless there is an absolute emergency." Jesse switched off the communicator and waved a few hand signals to Kimberly. She nodded and climbed up into a tree, making sure that she kept the trunk between her and the outpost. A couple minutes ticked away very slowly. At last Kimberly jumped down from the tree and landed silently on the forest floor.
"They've landed a mile west from us. Any ideas?"
"Hmm..." Jesse furrowed his brow. He had expected the DI's to use light reconnaissance Warthogs but not an entire dropship. "I think it would be safe to investigate the dropship before moving on. If they're expecting us to come from a certain direction, then the troops in that Pelican might try and flank us."
"Good idea." Kimberly nodded and the two of them took off at a steady run. The Pelican had set down where there was a small opening in the trees. Kimberly and Jesse held off several yards in the trees to check out the situation. Standing at the rear compartment of the Pelican stood six men, armed with stun batons, and stun-guns attached to their belts. They were dressed in UNSC uniforms which put Jesse's mind at ease. The year before, the SPARTANS had been involved in a mishap when several dropship pilots refused to identify themselves and ended up getting ambushed by all seventy-five SPARTANS.
Jesse felt a slight breeze on his neck. He looked over at Kimberly who had blown on him to get his attention from the adjacent tree branch. She gestured to the dropship then made a fist. She was suggesting that they try and steal it. Jesse glanced back at the men standing around the dropship. Disabling the ship wouldn't be hard. But capturing it would be an almost unnecessary move. He was about to wave off Kimberly's suggestion when he caught himself. They might be able to capture the dropship and lure their DI's away from the base and sneak in and capture their flag when they were preoccupied.
Jesse held up two fingers and bounced them up and down. Kimberly was to act as bait and she bobbed her head in agreement. Kimberly jumped down from the branches and took off at a slight jog. She drew closer to the edge of the clearing until one of the soldiers spotted her. Instinctively she ducked back into the shadows and out of sight. Two of the men gripped their stun-butons and followed quickly.
Jesse leaped down from his branch and followed after them as soon as they were out of the view of their remaining teammates. As Jesse quickly closed the gap between them he heard a light thunk and some cursing from the men. Up ahead he spotted Kimberly with her back against a tree. One of the men was on one knee and clutching at his bleeding forehead. His buddy turned up the power on his stun-baton so that Jesse was able to hear the hum of the electricity. The man took a step towards Kimberly and Jesse leaped into the air. He executed a flying side-kick to the back of the man's head. The soldier stumbled forward and hit his head on the trunk of the tree Kimberly was standing in front of. He gave a muffled cry and fell to the ground unconscious. The soldier who was still clutching at his head looked up in time to see Kimberly's leg whip around and catch him in the side of the head before his world went black.
"Two down." Jesse smirked.
"Four to go." Kimberly smiled back and gave him a thumbs-up. Jesse felt his cheeks flush a little when he saw her smile but quickly shut those thoughts out of his mind. The two of them gathered up the stun-batons and stun-guns from the unconscious soldiers before backtracking to the landing zone. They crouched down in the bushes and watched while the other four men attempted to hail their missing comrades. After several unsuccessful tries they gave up. One pulled what looked like an AI data crystal out of his pocket and squeezed it between his fingers.
Just then Dan's voice came over the radio.
"Jess! Kim! It's a...!"
Before the young SPARTANS could figure out what was going on, a shrill screaming ripped through the air. All at once Jesse felt a sharp stabbing pain in his ear and he cried out in anguish. He had been hurt before but this was far beyond anything he had ever felt.
Kimberly covered her ears at the horrible screeching noise and looked at Jesse with confusion in her eyes. Jesse ripped his communicator off his ear and threw it away. The ringing was still lingering and blood was oozing out of his ear.
There was a soft thud next to Jesse. He shoved Kimberly back into the underbrush as the flash-bang grenade went off. Suddenly Jesse's world became muted and white. He could feel himself stumbling around trying to find something to grab onto or expecting an attack from the soldiers. At last he propped himself against a tree and held his guard up and looking around as if he could still see perfectly. He could feel the vibrations of voices and footsteps drawing ever closer to him. He could tell they were laughing at him in his current state which seemed to make him more determined to put up a fight. He was small but he was the best in their hand-to-hand combat classes.
A rough hand grabbed him by the wrist. Jesse immediately whirled his arm around and he felt his attacker's wrist snap. He threw a blind low-kick and connected with the side of someone's knee joint. Jesse repositioned his guard stance and waited for another hand to grasp him. Instead he felt a leg catch him in the ribs and he rolled across the ground. He gasped for breath and shook his head to try and get his bearings. His vision was clearing in one eye but he was still seeing flashing dots in the other.
The man he had kicked was down on one knee clutching at his dislocated wrist. Only one of the remaining four soldiers had joined him. He was about to strike with his stun-baton when the other man fell to the ground. He turned and caught two stun darts in the chest. He went into a convulsion and collapsed. Kimberly emerged from the bushes and helped Jesse stand up. She gave him a worried look and Jesse shook his head. Instead he held up two fingers and made a slicing motion with them towards the remaining two soldiers standing by the dropship. Kimberly looked at them and Jesse noticed the way her hands clenched into fists. She gave a slight glance back at Jesse and nodded once. Jesse took her stun-batons and turned up the voltage on them. He leaped into the clearing and flung one baton straight at the head of the nearest soldier. The man ducked just in the nick of time and stared in wide-eyed shock as the baton sparked against the hull of the dropship. Jesse flung the other immediately in order to distract them long enough for Kimberly to race across the ground to take one of them out with their remaining stun-gun. Just before she reached them the pilot emerged. Kimberly skidded to a halt only to get hit with four stun-darts. Her body gave a violent seizure then crumbled into a ball. Jesse's eyes grew wide as he watched one of the men walk out and gather up his teammate.
"We've got one. Now let's go." He said. The pilot nodded and disappeared back inside the Pelican.
Jesse gritted his teeth and charged them at full speed. All at once Kimberly jolted awake. The man carrying her over his shoulder cursed in surprise as she wrapped her legs around his neck and began to squeeze as much as her nine year-old body would allow. He started to pry her off but she whirled around and began pounding on his head with the thick piece of bark she had hidden under her shirt to protect her from the darts. When the man knocked it away, she proceeded pounding at his face with her fists.
Jesse wasted no more time standing by in awe. He lunged for the other soldier who seemed to be twice his size. The eighty-five pound tackle managed to knock him off balance which Jesse used to knock the man's weakened leg out from under him. Once on the ground the young SPARTAN began throwing his hardest punches at the soldier's face.
Just then something hit the side of the dropship's hull. Jesse looked over to see that the man Kimberly was fighting had managed to slam her against the hull of the dropship; hard. Kimberly's eyes rolled back in her head and she fell off the man's shoulders and hit the solid ground. The man Jesse was sitting on got his bearings and delivered a punch to Jesse's still-blurry eye. Jesse fell off and struggled to see through his right eye. The man got up and gave the same eye a backhand and spun the SPARTAN around. Jesse coughed and picked himself up off the ground. He hurt. One eye was gone and one ear was gone. Not to mention the bruises and cuts which were nothing more than a minor nuisance but did not help his condition.
The next thing he knew, he was in a strangle hold and being lifted off the ground. Jesse struggled to get air into his lungs but the man's muscles were denying him the opportunity. Jesse jolted his head back and felt his skull connect with the man's face. One hand released him and Jess dropped to his knees. He turned back and kicked the man's knee in. The enormous girth of the soldier was almost enough to crush the nine year-old SPARTAN as he came tumbling down. Jesse managed to avoid most of the shock and returned the choke hold. In one quick jerk, the man stopped moving. His partner grabbed Jesse by his throat and lifted him up off the ground. Jesse gouged him in the eyes and delivered his most devastating hammer-fist to the man's carotid artery. The man coughed and staggered back. Jesse was about to go after him again when he was grabbed from behind. He tried to free himself but his shoulder was locked. The more he struggled the harder he was held.
Finally Jesse had had enough. He let out a yell and forced himself to whirl around. There was a loud snap and Jesse caught the pilot upside his helmet with a hook. The pilot staggered back and Jesse planted a kick in his chest to back him off even more. The SPARTAN stood between the two enemy soldiers, waiting for one of them to make the first move. Just as the pilot took a step forward a gun shot cracked through the air and the man fell dead at Jesse's feet. He and the remaining soldier looked towards the edge of the clearing to see CPO Mendez standing with his M6D pistol pointed in their direction. Beside him stood four other Marines.
"That's enough all of you." Mendez said in his gruff tone of voice. The remaining soldier raised his arms in surrender and the Marines took hold of him. One of the Marines picked up Kimberly and carried her into the dropship while the others escorted the prisoner and gathered up the other bodies.
Jesse watched as his teammate was set down on the floor of the Pelican. Kimberly was bleeding from the head and her clothes were stained red. Jesse felt a deep sense of despair as the bodies were loaded up. He slowly began to realize that this had all been an exercise that had somehow gone horribly wrong. Mendez walked up and placed a hand on Jesse's good shoulder. On instinct Jesse whirled around with a fist but caught himself just before it made contact.
Mendez ignored the reaction. "Are you okay son?"
Jesse sighed and saluted. "Sir. I'm fine sir. Just a bit confused right now."
"Those soldiers you were just fighting, we're not our men."
"I don't understand sir." Jesse arched an eyebrow. "I thought that after last year's incident that you declared all personnel be required to wear uniforms to prevent further misunderstandings during field exercises."
"That's correct." Mendez nodded. "As you know, you are all training to become soldiers. Your enemies are the ones who are actively rebelling against the UNSC and causing trouble for us in a lot of the colonies. Apparently they have managed to infiltrate the planet's defenses and discover what we have going on here. We assume that they were trying to kidnap you and your team to take back and become part of their armed forces."
A chill went through Jesse's body. He couldn't stand the thought of having to fight against his friends here on Reach. Mendez escorted him aboard the dropship and began the long flight back to the main compound. When the ship landed they were greeted by the rest of the SPARTANS on the landing pad. Dan was already there with them. The kids all wanted to rush around their commanding officer and ask what had happened and why they had been taken out of their combat drills; but discipline restrained them. Medical officers rushed to take the bodies. When they reached for Kimberly, Jesse threw himself in front of them with a savage look on his face.
"Stand down 029." Mendez ordered. "They will take care of her."
"Sir! No sir." Jesse answered. The other SPARTANS stared in shock. None of them had ever dared to say no to Mendez or even considered it; or the punishments that would follow. "Sir!" Jesse continued. "My team is my responsibility. I will take her, sir."
"Not with that dislocated shoulder you won't" One of the medics pointed out. Jesse looked at his shoulder which he had thrust out of its socket to get a hit on the dropship pilot. Without so much as a word he gripped his arm and with a sharp jerk and an agonized yell, popped it back into place. The medics stared in shock as the young boy picked up his injured teammate and staggered out of the Pelican and past his fellow SPARTANS. Mendez watched Jesse go before returning to his job of attending to the rebel spies.
Two days passed very slowly for Jesse and his team. Dan hadn't been engaged by hostile forces and spent most of the time running back and forth between the infirmary and class with their instructor AI known as Deja. He had tried to warn Jesse and Kimberly about the trap when he received a radio transmission from Mendez warning of enemy intruders in the valley. Unfortunately his warning was cut off when the rebel spies set off an EMP disruptor causing all unprotected radios within their area to scramble.
Jesse had refused to take any medical treatment. When Mendez inquired as to why Jesse stated, "Sir. My team comes before me sir. You said that on the first day of training sir. 'You don't win unless your team wins. One person winning at the expense of the group means that you lose' sir!"
Mendez gave only the faintest hint of a smile. "I'm proud to see that you remember that 029. But if you put off treatment too long then you still run the risk of your team losing. In order for a team to succeed in any mission, they must all be able to perform at one hundred percent capacity. Understood?"
"Sir! Yes sir!" Jesse saluted. He felt a new energy swell up inside of him. He turned back to Kimberly's bed and sat back down. "Sir. With your permission, sir. I would at least like to wait until my teammate is awake."
Mendez looked at the boy and his eyes narrowed slightly. "Permission granted 029. But the instant she wakes up you are to report to me. Is that clear?"
"Sir! Yes sir! Thank you sir!"
CPO Mendez left the infirmary and Jesse was alone with his thoughts again. The nurses came in to check on Kimberly and gave her some clean bandages. A couple hours passed quietly. Jesse hadn't slept the entire time since they had returned and was starting to nod off when he heard Kimberly groan. His eyes snapped wide open.
"Hey Kim. Are you okay?" He whispered softly. Kimberly gave another tired groan and opened her eyes.
"Jesse? Where am I? What's going on? What happened?"
"We're back at the main compound." Jesse replied. "You've been unconscious for two days."
"Ugh...What about the exercise? Did we win?"
Jesse frowned. "No. CPO Mendez canceled the exercise because of the soldiers we encountered in the forest."
"That doesn't make any sense. Mendez has always thrown in a twist to each exercise we do. Why would he quit now?"
"Those men weren't from our base. Mendez said that they were rebel spies who managed to bypass the base's defenses and were attempting to capture us."
"Oh...Well, where are they now?"
"The ones that aren't dead are in being questioned by ONI personnel so they can find out how they got here in the first place."
Kimberly sighed again and let herself sink back into the bed.
"I have to go. Mendez ordered me to come see him as soon as you woke up."
Kimberly wanted to protest but she knew better than to disobey a commanding officer.
"I'll try and get back as soon as I can." Jesse assured her and gave her hand a light squeeze. Kimberly looked down at their hand and realized that he had been holding it the entire time. Jesse released her and left the infirmary. Kimberly looked at her hand for a long hard minute before setting it back down and closing her eyes.
"Sir! SPARTAN-029 reporting as ordered sir!" Jesse saluted once he was escorted into CPO Mendez's office.
"At ease." Mendez nodded without getting up from his chair.
"Hello Jesse." A woman standing behind Mendez's chair spoke up. Jesse stood up right and saluted the civilian. Normally this was unheard of in the military but this woman had been no ordinary civilian.
"Sir! Dr. Halsey sir!" Jesse had been caught off guard at her presence. This was the woman who had inducted all seventy-five children into the SPARTAN II program.
"We've brought you hear to talk to you about your medical treatment." Dr. Halsey continued, ignoring his sudden jumpiness. "Because of certain events that occurred during your team's field exercise the other day we have felt it necessary to boost security around Reach. But that's not the important part. You sustained severe injuries during your skirmish that are too dangerous to operate on at this point in your life."
Jesse's heart sank. He was never one to complain about being in pain but when it meant putting him out of action he was miserable.
"The soldiers you encountered were equipped with flash-bang grenades correct?" Dr. Halsey peered at the young SPARTAN through her glasses.
"Sir! Yes sir!" Jesse nodded and straightened himself up as much as possible.
"Normally a flash-bang grenade will cause temporary distortion of one's hearing and vision. But that is primarily for someone who is already an adult and is fully developed. For someone your age, the results of a point blank detonation are extremely dangerous and sometimes fatal."
Jesse's heart was beginning to race and he felt his face get hot.
"We have two options as of right now." Dr. Halsey said and took her glasses off. "If we were to do the operation now, we could fix what is wrong with you. But the chances of problems recurring in the future are very possible. Your other choice is to undergo a new experimental procedure that will allow your body to recover to over one-hundred percent and completely eliminate any chances for future problems."
Jesse raised an eyebrow. "Sir. Permission to speak freely, sir."
Dr. Halsey nodded. "Go ahead."
"What's the catch, sir? There has to be some sort of risk with this new procedure. Especially since you said it's experimental that means that not all the bugs have been worked out."
Dr. Halsey smiled at the boy. She and Mendez shared a glance before turning back. They were both glad to see that as young as these children were, they were smarter than any other child of their age in the galaxy.
"The catch, Jesse, is that you could die. Bio-augmentation is not something that is highly smiled upon in the UNSC. But in the case of the SPARTAN II program they have made an exception. But I'm giving you a choice as to what course of action you might take."
Jesse looked from Dr. Halsey then to CPO Mendez. His commanding officer made no change of facial expression. This was indeed his own choice to make. Jesse wanted to be returned to his group but he didn't want to drag them down because of him. But the thought of dying and losing them altogether was even more frightening. After several minutes of private thought Jesse straightened up.
"Sir! I will go with the bio-augmentition."He had obviously mispronounced it but he didn't care.
"Are you certain that's what you want 029?" Mendez asked without changing his facial expression.
"Sir. We all will have to go through it at some point, sir. Might as well get it over with now, sir."
"Very well then 029. Dismissed." Mendez nodded.
Jesse saluted and left Mendez's office.
On his way back to the barracks he ran into SPARTAN team three; Sam-034, Kelly-087 and John-117. This was the best team of the SPARTAN II program. Jesse had always envied John who was the SPARTAN squad leader. He admired how respected John was by the other SPARTANS. Jesse hoped that one day he would be able to lead his own team the way John lead them.
"Hey Jesse." Sam piped up. "How's Kimberly doing?"
"She's awake." Jesse replied. "Just woke up a little while ago."
"How are you feeling?" Kelly asked curiously.
"I'm fine." Jesse sighed. This was only a half truth.
"Dan briefed us on what happened to you guys." John said plainly. "He said you took a direct hit from a flash-bang grenade."
"So it seems." Jesse shrugged.
"And you still managed to kick the snot out of the enemy soldiers too. That's pretty impressive." Kelly smiled. She seemed like she was eager to hear more details.
"I'm sure any other SPARTAN would have done the same." Jesse mumbled.
John cocked his head slightly. "Is something wrong?"
Jess sighed again. "No sir. Nothing's wrong. I'll talk to you guys later."
Team three watched their fellow SPARTAN trudge down the hall to their barracks.
"I wonder what's going on." Sam pondered aloud. "He doesn't seem like his usual cocky self."
"I wouldn't worry too much about it." Kelly suggested. "We're SPARTANS. So that means we look after each other. We're family."
Three weeks went by very slowly while Dr. Catherine Halsey prepared for Jesse's operations. During that time the SPARTANS continued about their daily training routines with CPO Mendez. Kimberly was up and about two days after she had woken up in the infirmary and back in training the day after that.
Jesse was finding it extremely difficult to continue his training. His vision in his right eye seemed to be getting worse every day and his hearing was still very muffled. As for his broken shoulder, he wasn't about to drop out of training for it but rather he continued with the daily exercises at a slower pace. Mendez watched over him and made sure that the young SPARTAN didn't re-injure himself.
During meals, Jesse was given hormonal injections. This was ordered by Dr. Halsey as preparation for his operations. The purpose was to rapidly induce a forced puberty. Within the three week waiting period Jesse, as well as the other SPARTANS, began noticing his drastic changes. Not only in appearance but in attitude as well. Jesse had become more energetic, was learning at a faster rate and, as Kimberly pointed out on several occasions, was even cockier than he had been before.
"It's like you've become a whole different person since the intrusion at the training preserve." Kimberly said as they ate in the mess hall one night.
"I don't know what you're talking about." Jesse chuckled. "I'm just trying to be me."
"As if you weren't enthusiastic about training enough." Dan pointed out. "You've been really pushing yourself hard lately. Especially since your shoulder still hasn't fully healed yet."
"I'm not about to let some little injury slow me down." Jesse replied. "Any one of us may receive an injury in the field and need to push on."
"True." Kimberly nodded. "But don't get so wrapped up that you hurt yourself again."
"Don't worry." Jesse smiled as he stood up. He was already taller than all the other SPARTANS. "We're a team right? We'll look out for each other." His teammates smiled and they tapped fists as a way of sealing the deal.
"Kimberly!"
"Uh?" Dan's voice rose Kimberly from her sleep. She opened her eyes and looked around. Several of the SPARTANS were clustered together; some grouped around her cot, others glancing over their shoulders as they got dressed for their morning exercises. "What is it? What's going on?"
"It's Jesse. He's gone!" Dan exclaimed.
"What!" Kimberly immediately sat upright. The other SPARTANS moved a bit so she could see the empty cot where her teammate had been sleeping the night before.
"What do you think happened to him?" Fred asked. Fred was SPARTAN-104 and one of their best scouts.
"Do you think another group of rebel soldiers kidnapped him?" Kimberly asked, her concern was very clear in her voice.
"All right cadets! Form up!" The DI's had entered the barracks and the SPARTANS lined up at attention. As they made their way to their usual training spot to meet CPO Mendez the murmuring continued among the SPARTANS. Once they were all lined up CPO Mendez ordered them to be silent.
"As I am sure you all realize by now, we are one soldier short. SPARTAN-029 had suffered serious internal injuries after engaging rebel spies in combat several weeks ago. " The SPARTANS all exchanged glances but didn't say a word. When all eyes had fixed back on him Mendez continued his speech. "During the night, SPARTAN-029 came to the hospital reporting that he was feeling ill."
This sent a murmur through the lines of SPARTANS. None of them had ever reported being ill even once. They had been through times of mild colds but nothing that they felt was enough to report to the hospital for.
"Unfortunately, before we could treat 029, he died." The SPARTANS were dumbstruck. They had never heard of a SPARTAN II dying. They hadn't even considered it possible. After a long, cold moment of silence, John raised his hand.
"What is it 117?" Mendez asked.
"Sir. Permission to ask what the cause of Jess...I mean 029's death."
Mendez nodded. He had expected this to come up. "As some of you may know, when in the field, SPARTAN-029 was hit with a flash-bang grenade at point blank range. Normally this would be little cause for concern. But since you all are before you prime development, the damage was more serious than we had once thought. 029 suffered from an inner ear imbalance which in turn caused a lack of blood flow to his brain thus leading to his death. I am sorry to say that he will be missed deeply. He was much like the rest of you; striving to prove himself as a soldier as well as a SPARTAN." The sounds of jet engines came from the distance. Mendez turned his head to see a pelican lift up from the landing pad and over the trees. The SPARTANS watched him and soon their gaze followed to the dropship. The pelican came to hover over the training field before taking off to the clouds.
With that, Mendez proceeded to run the SPARTANS through their daily training. The SPARTANS put in their time for training but their energy died down at dinner time. None of them had much of an appetite. They had to force themselves to eat so they would have enough energy for the next day before heading off to their barracks.
"I can't believe it." Fred shook his head in the dark. "Jesse's dead." Emotions were rising within all the SPARTANS.
"I swear that one day, we'll make those rebel bastards pay for what they did to him." Kelly hissed and cracked her knuckles.
"We'll make them pay a hundred times over." Sam agreed.
"That just means we're going to have to get stronger and better." John muttered.
"Yeah." The other SPARTANS chimed in agreement. It wasn't hard for John to get the other SPARTANS worked into an enthusiastic frenzy.
While they talked about their plans for revenge and what they were going to do to the rebels once their training was over, Dan slipped out of his bed and crawled over to Kimberly.
"Are you okay?" He asked quietly.
"What do you think is going to happen to us?" Kelly whispered. "We're now a two-person team instead of three. We'll be short handed from now on."
"I don't know." Dan shrugged. "We can't give up though."
"I know. But it's just going to be hard without Jesse there."
"Training has always been hard." Dan sighed. "But we'll need to stick together to get through this."
Kimberly nodded and Dan left her side. Kimberly curled up under her blankets and let her tears soak into her pillow until she was fast asleep.
0900 Hours, September 17, 2520 (military calendar)/ Epsilon Erandi System, Reach Military Wilderness Training Preserve, Planet Reach
CPO Mendez paced in front of the SPARTANS. The dropship had landed in the training preserve where Kimberly and Jesse had fought the rebel spies months before. Every SPARTAN looked around with serious expressions. Their training efforts had increased and they had put all their effort into carrying out their future plans to eliminate the rebel forces. The memory of Jesse's death lingered in each of their minds every day and seemed to resurface as they looked out at the trees.
"I am proud of the improvements that you all have made these past months." Mendez announced. "Even with the news of a comrade's death you have been able to push on and not let the news interfere with your team dynamic. So, for showing such outstanding ability I have decided to give you all a very special treat today."
The SPARTANS all looked at him skeptically. They weren't sure if he was being serious or setting them up again as he usually did.
"Today I am going to introduce to you a new game. I'm certain that you'll enjoy it." A slight grin spread across his mouth. "This new game is called Juggernaut." The SPARTANS looked from one to the other then back to their commanding officer, waiting for an explanation. "It will be a one against many exercise. The one who is 'it' is called the juggernaut. You must defeat the juggernaut." The SPARTANS grinned. This was sounding even more fun than they had expected. "But, only the juggernaut can win." The grins disappeared.
Kelly, Sam and John all exchanged glances as if asking: "How do we win like that if we're not the juggernaut?" The SPARTANS were used to fighting along side each other, not against each other in a field exercise.
Mendez lead the SPARTANS a few yards away from the pelican's landing spot. "I hope you're ready for this because the exercise begins as soon as the juggernaut is ready."
"Sir!" John stepped forward and saluted. "May I volunteer to be the juggernaut first sir?"
"Negative 117. We have already selected a more suitable candidate to be the juggernaut."
The kids all looked at one another in disbelief. They couldn't believe they had just heard CPO Mendez say someone was more suited as the role of juggernaut than John.
Mendez turned his head slightly and listened to the communicator hooked onto his ear. Then he turned to the SPARTANS. "Fall back to the dropship! We have incoming!" The SPARTANS loaded up into the pelican and the dropship took to the air again. However, it only hovered a few hundred feet off the ground. The SPARTANS were getting restless. Was it an enemy attacking? Had the rebels managed to infiltrate Reach again?
"Hey I see something!" Fred exclaimed and pointed to the sky from one of the view ports. The SPARTANS gathered around and looked up. It was hard to see at first but then a fiery object could be seen plummeting towards them.
"What the hell is that?" Kelly demanded.
"A comet maybe? Space debris?" Dan shrugged. He and Kimberly had been working with the other teams, bouncing from one squad to the next for the past months. Neither complained because they were given ample opportunities to hone their skills in different areas of combat training.
"It's heading right for us." Sam pointed out sounding a little unsteady. The metal drop pod hit like a missile into the ground bellow them. A few minutes passed and suddenly one of the sides blew off and a person dressed in ODST armor stepped out. They looked up at the pelican and waved.
"Who is that?" Sam asked skeptically.
"That, would be the juggernaut." Mendez replied. "Although he didn't need to make such a flashy entrance." John turned from the view port and looked at CPO Mendez. He was almost certain he was smiling but if he had been it had melted away by the time he turned to look back at John.
The pelican landed and the rear hatch opened up. The SPARTANS rushed out and lined up in front of the new-comer who removed his helmet. It was a boy who appeared to be in his early teens. He was long and tall and stood about 5'3''. John noticed his hair was a dark auburn that shined a deep crimson in the sunlight. His eyes were also different from one another. The damaged eye from the flash grenade was no longer brown but a light blue while the other stayed brown. CPO Mendez walked up to him and the young man saluted.
"At ease." Mendez returned the gesture before turning back to the SPARTANS. "Cadets, I would like to re-introduce you, to SPARTAN-029."
The eyes of every SPARTAN grew wide and mouths fell open.
"Sir!" John started but Mendez stopped him.
"I know what all of you are thinking. SPARTAN-029 supposedly died months ago. That story was just a cover-up while we sent him away to undergo some very delicate operations. It was also a test to see if the death of a friend would hinder your abilities to function as soldiers. You all passed with flying colors." Mendez turned back to the new SPARTAN. "029 here indeed suffered severe injuries from his encounter with the rebel spies. He would have lived had he been treated or not. But of course we can't let injuries go untreated." He turned back to the others. "SPARTAN-029 was given a choice. He would be allowed to have his operation corrected now and run the possible risk of future relapses. The other choice was to undergo a new operation prematurely. Ultimately he has survived it and has made a full recovery." Then Mendez's expression hardened. "All of you will be going through the same operation one day. But until then, let's get on with the exercise."
The dropship set down on the launch pad late in the afternoon. The SPARTANS hobbled out and to the showers. They were all sore, bruised and bleeding from the juggernaut exercise. SPARTAN-029 had really done a number on all of them. All had been surprised and caught off guard by the dramatic change of their old teammate. The showers were lukewarm and soothed most of the SPARTANS'. Dan, Kimberly and team three were the first ones in the showers. When Jesse walked in Dan and Kimberly walked up to him.
"Sorry I didn't get to say hello to you guys earlier." He said in a more mature voice. "But it's really great to see you all again."
WHACK! Kimberly punched him in the face. Dan followed her with a punch in his chest. Jesse barely budged from the blows. Instead, his two teammates gripped their already sore hands and let the shower water cool down the burning feeling. Jesse didn't need to ask what the punches were for.
"I'm really sorry guys." He bowed his head slightly. "They just came and got me in the middle of the night without warning me either. I wanted to say goodbye and let you know, but CPO Mendez ordered me to stay quiet because he needed to use my absence as a test for you guys."
"And you went along with it?" Dan snapped. "You could have left us a clue or something as to what was going on."
"Yeah. With CPO Mendez and Dr. Halsey standing over me. That would've been easy."
John perked up. "Dr. Halsey was there?"
Jesse nodded. "Yup. She was the one who suggested the operation in the first place."
"I see." John was closer to Dr. Halsey than any of the other SPARTAN II's. He was surprised that he hadn't seen her around the compound.
"You couldn't have done anything to reach us?" Kimberly demanded angrily. "Do you have any idea how upset we all were because we thought you were dead?"
Jesse sighed and turned away. By now the other SPARTANS were entering the showers and cleared a path for the now much taller SPARTAN-029.
"Where do you think you're going?" John shouted. Jesse stopped and turned his head slightly so that he could see them out of the corner of his eye. Jesse didn't answer and left the showers.
Dinner passed by slowly for Jesse. He sat at his own table away from the other SPARTANS. He felt oddly out of place. He had hoped that his teammates would be glad to have him back. But so far, this homecoming was far from pleasant. When it was time for lights-out he found himself staring at the cot where he used to sleep and his trunk with his name and number written on it. He changed into his new boxers and climbed under the sheets. He had missed sleeping with his fellow SPARTANS. He also wondered if he would even be able to sleep at all. His thoughts were interrupted by the other SPARTANS who had just finished getting changed and were clambering onto their own cots. A few minutes after the lights went out John spoke.
"You're still one of us. You know that right?" Jesse didn't answer. "Jesse?"
"I heard you." Jesse hissed. "This isn't the way I pictured my homecoming. I missed you guys even more than you missed me."
"I really doubt that." Kelly piped up.
Jesse sat up and looked at her. The bio-augmentation had greatly improved his eyesight, enabling him to see perfectly in the blackest of night. "In case you didn't hear CPO Mendez explain earlier, I could have died from this operation. If I took the first operation now I would risk bringing the team down in the future. How do you think I felt knowing that little bit of info and still not being granted the privilege of saying my goodbyes."
"You guys can't really blame him." SPARTAN-051 spoke up. Kurt was the more sensitive and socially outgoing of the SPARTANS. "CPO Mendez gave him and order and he had to follow it. How many times have we had to do things we didn't like?"
There was a long silence before anyone spoke again.
"Alright. We're sorry." Kimberly whispered. "We should've been more understanding of the situation. As much as we didn't like it."
"And I'm sorry too. For not telling you about my operation sooner." Jesse agreed. "Now can we put this behind us and get things back to the way they were before?"
"Sure." Kimberly and Dan replied in unison.
"Works for us." The other SPARTANS nodded. They rustled down into their sheets and let the silence take over once again. Then Dan broke the silence.
"So...Jesse. Tell us about this operation we're all going to have to take."