Omega Team: Training Days on Reach

Disclaimer: Apart from owning three Halo games, I don't own Halo. That honor is reserved for Bungee.

Don't know why I'm doing this, don't really care. I just write what I feel like, when I feel like it. I don't know how it will turn out, but this strategy has worked for me enough times for me to let it have a chance. I'll get the books later, maybe for Christmas.

Free time, be damned already. I've got so much time; I may as well be designing the Chiefs armor myself. And I would be… if someone hadn't already done it.

"Omega-001, what is your position?" Said a female voice in his helmet. "Omega-001? Gene, where are you?"

Spartan Omega-001 was the strangest Spartan soldier of the program. He would almost always be found sleeping. Provided that you could find him. Stealth was one of his better known qualities. In fact, he was considered the most skilled Spartan child altogether. He was the most creative, the most physically powerful, and had the densest bone mass to begin with.

He stood at six feet nine inches tall and had natural blue hair. He had Heterochromia; one green eye, one silver. His skin was pale, mostly due to his constant sleeping, partly due to his armor.

He had just received his armor and had already managed to swipe enough paint to make his signature on the left shoulder; a green eyed, silver feathered peregrine falcon.

"Yeah? What do you want?" He asked. His voice was deep and very rough.

"Where the hell are you?" She asked. "It's almost chow time, and we'd like to know you'll be joining us." Said the female. He chuckled. It was his closest friend, Liz 022, a fellow Omega Spartan.

There were five Omegas altogether, but their numbers were spread out. He held 001 since he was the one chosen to be their leader. They were the elite Spartans, receiving better training, better armor, and better weapons.

They were all eighteen as well, though they looked to be twenty at least.

Gene was the only one to receive his armor, the others not having passed the tests for them yet.

"I'm at the usual place." He replied as he sat up.

He was sitting in an abandoned watch tower. It was abandoned because the tower itself had collapsed and the roof of it was on top of the search area.

He simply had to lift the roof enough and he could slip in and sleep whenever he wanted. Somehow, the roof dampened his suits transponder enough that they couldn't find him without using a handheld tracker.

"Well get back here." She said in an annoyed tone. "Sarah's looking for you, and she said she's going to break out the tracker again." Liz sat in the bunk room and heard a sigh on the other end of the comm.

Liz had red hair and eyes. She stood at Six feet nine inches as well, and she got along with Gene almost like a sister. She had fair skin and short hair, like most of the other Spartans.

"Alright." He said with a yawn. She heard a slight groan. She knew his armor was very heavy, and was one of the only things she ever heard him complain about being so, even if he was only joking. He could bench well over six tons with little effort, and with an adrenaline rush, he could lift a Pelican dropship off the ground and toss it for assisted flight. "I'm on the way. See you in three." She giggled. She enjoyed hearing him say that. It was like his signature phrase.

"See you in three Boss." She said happily. Some Spartans were given a nickname based on any number of things.

Gene had several; Boss, mainly because he was the leader, partly because was good at it. Sharps, because his best weapon was his sniper rifle. Speedy, because he was faster than any Spartan in the program. And Sensei, since he had learned a great deal about martial arts long before becoming a Spartan. In fact, he had almost injured their combat teacher in a routine exercise.

True to his word, he had made it to the room in three minutes flat. He stretched as their 'den-mother', Sarah, walked in.

Sarah was a normal human woman of twenty seven years. She was five feet, eight inches tall with long blonde hair and round glasses. She could almost always be seen with her blue jacket and red shirt, unless she was in the lab, in which case, she would wear a lab coat. She was always kind, except when something bad would happen to the Spartans she was taking care of, in which case she would become very protective.

"There you are." She said with a sigh. "I was about to break out the tracker." Gene shrugged.

"You said that if I completed my work early, I was free to do whatever I felt like." He said in a deadpan voice. Sarah placed her right hand on her forehead.

"And you felt like a nap?" She asked. Liz stood at attention, mentally snickering as Gene nodded. "You have got to be the laziest Spartan ever Omega-001." Gene shrugged again.

"I can't help it if I'm tired." He said, still in deadpan. "I'm a growing Spartan who needs his sleep." Sarah sighed. She had heard him speaking animatedly with the other Spartans, but when he spoke to her, all she got was that tone.

"You're going to wear your armor to dinner again?" She asked. Gene nodded.

"You told me to break it in, and that is what I intend to do." He answered. Liz saluted as Gene began the slight task of removing his helmet. He pressed a button on the left wrist, which controlled the pressurization of the suit. He then turned his head slightly to the right as he twisted the helmet to the left, out of his custom connector system, which was more or less an inverted twist off soda bottle design, ironically being the inspiration for the way he designed it. "And I think that nap was just what I needed." Sarah sighed again as Gene tucked his helmet under his right arm.

"Okay, just don't do anything to cause a food fight today, or you'll be pulling KP in the afternoon tomorrow." Sarah said warningly. Gene nodded.

He was allowed great freedom since he acquired his armor. He no longer was required to salute his superiors unless they were there for evaluation. He also was allowed to alter his personal diet as he saw fit. And as a gift from High Command, he was always provided with double rations, which he always split evenly among his team.

"I'll try." He replied, shrugging once. "But that last one wasn't entirely my fault. Jerrid-629 threw the first piece, and I got caught in the crossfire. I'll try not to let it happen again." Sarah nodded as the dinner bell rang.

"See to it that you do." She warned. "Dismissed." Liz lowered her hand as she walked out the door, Gene following while looking at the helmet.

He had been given the early prototype armor; The MJOLNIR Mark IV. The first three versions were partially failures, but each paved the way for the next in line. His however had a slight modification to it; A series of visual selections, ranging from thermal to X-ray to ultraviolet.

"What did you order for the team today Boss?" Liz asked. Gene looked thoughtful for a moment.

"I remembered that you'd been saying you wanted more vegetables, so I ordered a salad with your favorites." He answered thoughtfully. Liz grinned. She liked him more than she let on, but wasn't sure how he felt about her. "Zed kept harping about nachos. It took a while, but I got some. Not sure if he'll like them, but we should be able to split it up evenly. He didn't say anything about cheese, but I special ordered my favorite kind, from those old convenience stores." Liz chuckled lightly as he grinned.

"That spicy stuff?" She asked incredulously. He nodded. He spoke about it whenever someone asked what his favorite cheese was, which was a surprisingly common question. The Spartans were somewhat close, despite numbers and designations. They all had wanted to try the cheese, so Gene had ordered a fair bit of it, asking that it be passed to all Spartans this day so they could experience it. "Are you sure it's a good idea? Nobody's lactose intolerant, but if it's as spicy as you remember, it could cause problems." Gene shook his head.

"With all the stuff they've modified us with; I'm surprised we can still taste things at all." He said jokingly. Liz nodded. She and Gene were further modified from the normal Spartans, as were the other Omegas.

Along with the carbide ceramic ossification that all Spartans were given, the Omegas were given a small fraction more. In Gene's case, small amounts of an unknown, but stronger, metal were added to his skeleton. Four of the Omegas were slightly more durable than the others, and Gene was almost unstoppable against most close combat weapons.

Basically, Gene was given experimental upgrades on a different level than his friends. They themselves were almost twice as dangerous as normal Spartans, but Gene was on a whole different level altogether.

"Oh well." She said quietly. "At least we're alive. I heard that thirty other Spartans have died, and about a dozen more can't even fight." Gene shook his head.

"Seventy five of us come in, and we're already suffering casualties." He replied. Liz sighed as they entered the mess hall.

"Well, that just means we'll have to fight harder." She said proudly. "For the sake of those that don't make it." Gene nodded as Liz picked up her tray. As he picked up his own, he sniffed the air.

"Ah. This scent is amazing." He said happily. "A little bit of home came back to us." He settled into the line, helmet under his right arm, tray held in his left.

As he got closer to the end, he heard one of the Spartans laugh. He turned his head and saw Jerrid looking into a small paper cup. It was the cheese.

"Thank you Gene." He said loudly. "I'd heard rumors, but it looks like he came through after all." Jerrid turned his head and saluted Gene. They weren't as close as they were with their squad mates, but they weren't enemies. Rivals more like it. Jerrid was always pushing himself a little harder each test, trying to prove that he could be as strong as Gene.

"Always nice to hear that you're still a nice guy." A deep voice said. Gene turned his head to see the chef looking at him with a smile. Chef Murray was a good man, and a better cook. He had made the nearly inedible slop from HQ into fairly decent meals.

"If not that, what am I?" Gene replied with a smile. Murray nodded as he placed a large bowl of salad on the tray, followed by the bowl of tortilla chips. Gene smiled as Murray gave him the equally large bowl of cheese. Gene was always the last to get his food, simply because he had larger portions due to his heightened metabolism. "Thanks Murray. Where would we be without you?" With a smile, Gene walked away, carefully balancing his tray on his way to the table.

"Let me help." Jerrid said quickly. "You gave us cheese; I can get your salad to the table." Gene smiled as Jerrid picked up the bowl, making it easier to get to his table.

"Thanks Jerrid." He said gratefully. "How'd you do at the sniping test?" Jerrid shrugged.

"Not bad." He replied. "Three off of your record. I took too long focusing the shots." Gene nodded as Jerrid set the salad at the table. "What'd they stick you with today?"

"Advanced Combat Driving." He answered with a shrug. Jerrid snickered.

"I wouldn't trust you with a golf cart, let alone a jeep." He said calmly. Gene chuckled as he set the tray down, followed by his helmet. "What's so funny?"

"Wasn't a jeep this time." The omega replied. Jerrid looked at Gene as he sat at the table.

"What was it?" He asked. Gene looked back at him, smirking.

"It was a warthog." He said proudly. "The new one." Jerrids' jaw dropped.

"You lucky punk." He said in a stunned tone. They both laughed while Gene turned around.

"You can try to take me down a peg tomorrow." He said with a grin. "We've got that interteam challenge tomorrow. Winning team gets their suits early. Though if Omega wins, I get to customize my armors color scheme." Jerrid snickered again.

"I'll make sure that if you do win, you'll have to earn it." He warned.

Gene sniffed his salad before laughing. After a second, his team sat down next to him. They were talking to some of the other Spartans, one in particular that had just arrived. The planet Reach was very quiet, and very ideal to stimulate their minds. The new Spartan walked over with the Omegas and sat down quietly. Jerrid walked away to join his team for dinner.

"Hello." He said, barely loud enough to not be mistaken for a grunt. "You must be the new guy. I'm Gene-001." He held out his right hand while the new boy stared at his armor. "Okay, stunned. I get that from time to time."

"What are you wearing?" He asked. Gene looked at his armor, smiling at his luck.

"MJOLNIR Mark IV powered armor." He said proudly. "I got lucky on the tests and they gave me my suit early. We all get a suit, once we've passed the tests." The new boy nodded.

"I can't wait for mine." He said hopefully. "I'm John-117 by the way." He shook Genes hand slowly. "I'm not sure how long I'll be here. I was told that I'd just be passing through." Gene chuckled.

"You picked a great time to pass through then." He said happily. "We've got a competition between squads tomorrow." John nodded.

"I've heard." He replied. "I wish I could participate, but they said I should wait until they finish the paperwork." Gene nodded in response.

"Too bad." He said, sounding somewhat dejected. "We could use another member. All the other squads have six or seven kids. We've got five." John looked at Gene's meal before looking at his own. "And before you ask, I've been stuck with a few botches in the system. Due to my status as leader, and the fact that I've proven so myself so skillful, I get double rations." He picked up his fork and skewered a few pieces of lettuce while Liz moved her tray over to him. He set the salad bowl, now only half full, onto her plate. He then set the tortilla bowl and cheese bowl in the center of the table. "Feel free to dig in John. Just because I get special treatment, doesn't mean I'm rude."

"Thanks. I didn't get lunch today." John said as he grabbed a tortilla and dipped it in the cheese.

"No problem." Gene said quickly. "As long as you're passing through, I'm considering you part of my squad." Zed picked a chip for himself, as did Liz. Gene gestured to them in turn, introducing them and their positions in the team. "This is Zed-015, the demolitions expert." Zed raised his nacho before eating it. He had brown hair and eyes. He was the calm guy of the group, despite his role in the team. "This is Liz-022, second in command and our communications officer." Two other Spartans sat down on either side of John. "These are Arthur-045 and Richard-046." They picked a chip as he spoke their names. They were identical, save for their eyes. Arthur had blue eyes, Richard had green eyes. They both had dirty blonde hair and a penchant for being difficult to stop when they worked together. "Arthur, or Art, as we call him, is the field medic. Richard, or Sparky as we've come to know him, is our mechanic. He can take apart a jeep in under an hour in good light." John nodded.

"What do you do, besides being the leader?" John asked. Gene chuckled.

"I'm a Jack of all trades, or rather an Ace." He answered smugly. "You name it, I can do it. Explosives, communications, machinery, sniping. And I've almost got the hang of driving." Liz laughed as he spoke. He always warmed up to strangers quickly.

"Really?" John asked, in awe of the armored Spartan before him. Gene nodded.

"I get a lot of training in every day." He said proudly. "I'm a fast learner, almost too fast. If it weren't for my requests, I'd be out of here, away from my friends. I'm too valuable for the guys at high command to pull me from my team. That and we work together so well, they made us into an official squad." Gene ate all of his salad in one bite, chewing it rapidly and swallowing the resulting lettuce paste.

"Cool." John said quietly. "What do they call your team?" Gene looked serious for a moment before grinning, as did the rest of the team, before they all spoke at the same time.

"Spartan group Omega." They said in a resounding tone, making several other Spartans laugh out loud. Liz slowly crunched on her salad as the others ate the chips, when the door opened.

"John-117, where are you?" Sara asked. John stood up. She walked in and made a beeline to the new Spartan. "Good. The papers have been finalized. The day after tomorrow, you will be transferred to a new facility." John nodded as she looked him over. "And I see you've met the Omegas." He nodded again, followed by her sighing. "Be careful around them. They've been known to attract trouble around dinner." She looked at Gene, who was quietly eating his nachos while Zed, Art, and Sparky all started fanning their tongues.

"I told them the cheese was spicy." Gene said in monotone. John looked at him curiously.

"Can't you open up to me Gene?" Sarah asked. "I may not be your mother, but you could at least try to think of me as a friend." Gene looked at her for a moment before sliding down the bench, near the middle. He wasn't really sitting; more like squatting. If he sat, the armor would probably break the chair.

"Okay." He said with a shrug. He picked out a chip and held it out to her. "Join us for dinner then?" Sarah sighed happily. She always wanted to connect with him, and she felt like now was her chance. She sat down, as did John, and took the chip and dipped it in the cheese as three of the Omegas drank their water quickly.

"What's wrong with them?" She asked, sounding a bit concerned. "Are they ill?" Gene shook his head as he positioned his helmet on his lap.

"This cheese is a bit spicy." He explained. "I warned them to get milk, but they didn't want to." Sarah ate her chip and enjoyed talking to them before they went to their relaxing period.

Gene had taken to his favorite activity for his free time. Sleeping. Though now he slept in plain view, with his helmet at his side. Liz was reading a book on various subjects that she figured would come in handy. Mainly tactics from old civilizations. Difficult though it was, she was making notes on how to adapt large numbered maneuvers to work with five people.

Arthur and his twin were practicing some martial arts that Gene had taught them, while Zed was reading on how to properly defuse large explosives. John had been assigned to the Omega barracks for the duration of his stay. He was doing basic exercises, pushups and the like.

Sarah was lying on her jacket, looking up at the sky. It was late in the day, and most of the other Spartans had retired to their barracks to plan for the competition.

"Do you have any plans Liz?" Gene asked quietly. He had a habit of waking up and spooking people when they approached, but Liz seemed like she would never flinch.

The reason was almost unheard of, but not one person could find any other way to explain it. They both had some level of psychic ability. Not much, but they could tell when they were near each other. Gene had trained his ability from childhood, while Liz was just getting used to having the ability herself.

"The first contest will be the hardest, though I think we can do it if we work together." She answered. The competition was done in three parts, spread over the course of the day.

The first contest was a survival exercise. They would be dropped into a large maze, separated from each other, and the objective was to find each other and get out of the maze. All but Gene would be given a communicator. There was a catch however; they would only be able to make a few crude noises. Other than that, they had to use whatever was around to achieve their objective. The team with the lowest time would win.

"What do you reckon?" He asked calmly. Liz shook her head.

"We should try to rig a system so you can communicate with us." She said thoughtfully. "Or some way to re-wire the squawkers to send proper messages. If not, you should come up with something to signal us. Remember, you can only use what you take in with you." Gene sat up and stretched his arms.

"I'll bring the suit." He said with a groan. "That much is a given." Liz nodded as Zed sat down near them.

"Too bad I can't bring one of my bombs." He said dejectedly. Gene chuckled.

"I've got an idea, but I'll wait until we go to bed to let you know." He said with a mischievous tone. Liz and Zed exchanged curious glances. Whenever Gene would come up with a plan, it had a tendency to be complex in the amount of simplicity. "Other than that, I can't wait until the second part." They all smiled as Sarah sighed again.

The second contest was one she always worried about. They would place two of the eight teams in a small forest area with paintball guns. This was to test how well the teams worked together. They would wear special suits that transmitted to a damage readout on their goggles. The suits were full body worn and looked like standard Marine issue combat gear.

Each hit would realistically, based on the stats from the wearer, enact damage, such as shutting down the use of a limb should enough damage be sustained. Various types of paintball guns were to be scattered about the map and would fire similar shots.

Assault Paintball rifles would be provided at first, along with a single paintball firing pistol. Other weapons included a paint rocket launcher, which fired a large cartridge full of paint, around a liter or so. A trio of paintball firing sniper rifles would be set for each team. Each team also had a base that they could fall back to should the need arise. The final weapon would be scrambled after at the start of the match. It was a mockery of the Covenant plasma rifle.

The paint was filled with special nanites that told the suits what weapon fired it, thus modifying damage based on that information.

"Yeah." Gene said in a mock troubled tone. "That's going to be the decider." Zed looked at Gene for a moment, and then smiled. "I'm sure that we'll win that one. But if we don't, it's okay." They all laughed as a Pelican flew overhead. Unknown to them, it contained something that would change the rules of their training.

Repairs of chapter one: Complete. Took longer than I wanted, but I like how it turned out.