DISCLAIMER: I do not own anything below except for my own character and any characters mentioned outside of Hastati Squad, Colonel Mehaffey and General Black whom I will mention from time to time. Everything else is owned by 343 Industries and the writers and creators of Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn.
Chapter Three
1135 HOURS, MARCH 3, 2526 (MILITARY CALENDAR) /
CIRCINIUS SYSTEM, CORBULO ACADEMY OF MILITARY SCIENCE,
PLANET CIRCINIUS-IV
The distant grunts and groans of cadets running through obstacle courses in their training gear reverberated off of the high stone retaining walls of the ravine as I made my way around the far outside of the academy's grounds. The further I walked along the path leading into the ravine the louder the roaring of the rushing river from the dam grew, thundering as it flew from the brief confines of the intricately, strangely, and yet beautifully designed stone dam.
Despite the fact that the grounds were almost always filled with the sounds of cadets training or the distant echoes of gun shots from the firing ranges - which could be heard from every part of the academy's grounds during training hours - the pathway that wound down and around by the river and dam was always a peaceful and serene place. It was a common occurrence to stumble upon groups of cadets lounging around and relaxing in the ravine in-between classes or later in the evening after classes were over and the cadets had personal time before curfew. That is, of course, when General Black isn't ripping into a group of cadets mid-way down the pathway.
As I rounded the bend that leads further down into the ravine, my gaze quickly flew to General Black's signature Warthog which had pulled off from where the concrete road turned into the gravel pathway and was parked diagonally across part of the gravel path that led up to the dam from the forest. Two cadets could be seen walking up the concrete road, but other than that, the ravine was unnaturally void of many visitors. Though General Black's presence usually scares most people away, so it wasn't too surprising.
Pausing briefly at the top of the ravine I took this moment to take in the scene below me. My green gaze swept along the stone retaining wall to my left, the dam standing proudly in the distance ahead of me with the quickly flowing river leading away from it and the wide gravel pathway coming in from the surrounding forest along the river where Black's Warthog was parked at the beginning of before my scrutinizing gaze finally came to a rest on the group of cadets who stood at attention before the general at the bottom of the ravine.
Continuing once more in my descent down into the small valley, I quickly identified the cadets as being Hastati Squad once I picked up on the light blue colouring along their shoulder plates as I drew closer to the group. To their credit, they all stood steadfast before General Black as he continued to drill into them, no doubt having heard and read the reports about how Hastati had yet again failed another training exercise less than an hour ago.
"Let me remind you, cadets... this academy bears the name of the Roman general Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo. Because he represents honour, valour, allegiance! General Corbulo was to take his own life in the name of the Empire. Corbulo did not hesitate nor question. He loyally obeyed, screaming, 'Axios!' as he fell upon his own sword. Axios: 'I... am... worthy.'" The general yelled, stopping in his pacing up and down the line of cadets in front of one unfortunate soul, whom I noticed the closer I got that it was Cadet Lasky who had the great pleasure of General Black glaring down seethingly at him. And although the cadets all stood facing away from me I noticed Cadet Lasky did not even flinch as the general stopped and glared down at him. I could just imagine Lasky stood, staring unwaveringly in front of him, never once flicking his gaze up to meet the angry brown eyes of the general as he continues speaking.
"But I'm afraid, cadets, today, you have proven to be anything but. We are at war with Insurrectionists. Terrorists, who would like nothing more than to see all of us dead. Had this been a real firefight, the rebels would have likely killed every member of Hastati Squad." The heavy silence following the general's biting tone was broken only by the rumbling of the nearby river as the water tumbled endlessly over the rocks that littered the riverbed.
"Excuse me, General Black, sir," I called out, the general's piercing brown gaze flying towards me as I drew closer to Hastati and himself. His posture immediately grew ever tenser as his eyes tracked my every step. With my hands clasped behind my back and my shoulders squarely pulled back, I continued, "I apologize for interrupting your... ass chewing of Hastati Squad, however deserving they may be of it, but had these cadets been in a real firefight, I assure you they would have reacted far differently."
Had I been anyone else, I likely would have been frozen in place by the sheer fire swimming in the general's eyes that only seemed to grow more intense the closer I got and the more I continued to speak. Unlike most at Corbulo though, the general neither intimidated nor frightened me in any way. Which only seemed to piss off the general even more.
"You see, sir, despite our best efforts at all UNSC academy's, no matter how hard we try to make our training exercises as difficult and as realistic as possible, at the end of the day, the danger is simply not there. At the end of the day, the cadets still know that they will only be getting shot at with stun rounds and the grenades tossed no more than simple stun grenades." I added as I steadily made my way towards the line of cadets, my green gaze matching the general's own brown eyes in intensity with each step I took. If General Black thought I was going to back down now, when I never had before, simply just by glaring at me, he was in for a real treat.
The gravel stopped skidding and grinding together beneath my boot clad feet once I came to a halt beside the line of cadets, my unusually tall form of 6'6 easily dwarfing Cadet Shere's 5'10 stature who now stood to my right. All of Hastati Squad instinctually straightened their backs even more once I stood at parade rest alongside them, steeling themselves for the inevitable upcoming clash between myself and the general.
Most of our clashes were never really pretty and the cadets usually tried to stay away when the general and I went at it, usually fearing for their own lives more than anything else. Hell, even the officers and marines who were stationed at the academy did their very best to stay clear of General Black and me whenever we were having a spat. The only one who seemed to want to be around us then was Colonel Mehaffey, but the colonel was an exception.
"There is a distinct difference and change in the demeanour of soldiers and of cadets who are put in real life threatening situations. A fact, that you know all too well, sir. Their senses immediately heighten and they become hyper aware of their surroundings, once the initial shock has worn off, should they find themselves in shock at all. Not only do they immediately begin to calculate and strategize accordingly to their surroundings, their natural survival instincts begin kicking in as well. Most of them, immediately begin looking for ways to save themselves first before they even begin to think of their own squadmates. An instinct that clears a soldiers mind, and allows them to see their enemies and all possible exits clearly and permitting them to take down the nearest threats that would allow them a quick and safe escape from the firefight." Pausing, I glance over the cadets standing at attention to my right, studying their emotionless faces before turning my gaze back to the general. The two of us studying each other, silently sizing each other up and taking in the others battle scars, both visible and hidden.
"There are some, the rare true soldier, the natural born leader, who instead begins looking for ways to save his fellow soldiers and squadmates first, before even thinking about looking for a way to save himself, if the thought even crosses his mind at all. Soldiers like this, fight their survival instinct and the ability to do something like that, to fight instinct, is what makes them such deadly yet powerful and resilient soldiers in war. Had Hastati Squad been put in a real firefight today, I assure you, sir, that the outcome of their mission would have been completely different. And had Hastati been in a real firefight this morning, I am completely confident in saying that we all would have seen at least one true soldier shine amongst these cadets." My voice cuts through the silence of the ravine once more, echoing slightly off the stone walls behind us.
General Black's cold, stony brown gaze quickly slid from my own and over each of the cadets standing beside me, seemingly looking at them in a new light after my words. He studied their expressions, looking for cracks in their demeanour as each one of them processed what I had just said before sliding back over to gaze coldly at me once more.
Another minute or two passed as the general and I stood there, staring each other down before the general's gaze moved from my eyes and quickly glanced over my form. His brown gaze taking in my dark auburn red hair which was pulled back into a braided bun atop my head, before slowly traveling down and taking in my perfectly arched auburn eyebrows which rested over my otherworldly brilliant green eyes and the small scar that cut vertically through the left side of my otherwise perfect light pink lips. Next, his gaze moved over my olive green dress uniform, which was the same as the one that he wore himself, except for some minor differences.
Where he had four gold bands wrapped neatly around the cuffs of his sleeves of his dress shirt, my sleeves only had one gold band while two grey strips of material wrapped around and along the shoulder blades of my dress shirt, just as they did for his uniform. While the general had four gold bars that sat on the outer edges of his shoulder boards and four bronze stars resting in a diamond shape on either side of his neck along the top of his collarbone, symbolizing his rank as a general, my rank was shown only on either side of my sleeves, over my biceps.
The insignia for a senior chief petty officer was simple, three lines of gold bars that pointed down and in at each other, meeting in the middle rested over my biceps while a gold semi-circle rested over the top bar, each end of the semi-circle meeting the outer edges of the gold bar. A silver eagle with its wings spread open rested in the middle of the gold semi-circle with a five-pointed silver star resting above its head and just below the eagle in-between the semicircle and the first gold bar, two silver anchors crossed over each other.
Unlike the four small epaulettes that lined either side of General Black's collar in a diamond shape, my green collars remained bare, and where the general had four rows of medals over his left breast, mine sat bare except for the Corbulo insignia stitched in black. Over my right breast rested a gold nameplate which simply read KIM in bold, black lettering, a mirror image of the general's own nameplate, save for that his read BLACK.
The general's scrutinizing gaze traveled further down my form where they glanced over the large adjustable grey belt that wrapped around my waist with two large copper buckles on each side which attached to the middle panel that ran the length of my dress shirt. After that, his gaze traveled even further down over my green slacks that tucked neatly into my black, polished combat boots. The general's own uniform mirroring mine perfectly here.
The general's gaze swept back up my body and met my own green eyes and once more we continued our stare down in silence. The cadets and marines standing idly by, not having moved an inch while the general and I studied each other. Taking in a slow, steadying breath, the general closed his eyes briefly, reigning in whatever control he had over his anger, before opening them and breaking the thick silence.
"That may be correct, Chief," General Black started condescendingly, "However, that does not excuse Hastati's poor record. We have never had such low training scores at this academy, especially not from a group of students coming from such esteemed military families. Never. And if you are implying that one of these cadets has the potential to be one of those rare soldiers, you are far more naïve than I originally thought. If Hastati does not start to show signs of improvement soon... Well, I won't get into that just yet." General Black ground out, annoyance at my interruption poorly hidden in his tone.
"Oh, do not get me wrong general, their record is horrendous, they are the farthest thing from being a unit, a squad. None of them have proper leadership skills, which could not have been put on better display than in the last exercise where Vickers led half his squad out without even thinking about waiting for the rest of his squad to ready up. A mistake on Vickers' part, that later cost the 'life' of Cadet Sullivan. Or when Lasky blatantly disregarded Vickers' orders and ended up getting himself shot and 'killed,' effectively bringing the training mission to an early and unsuccessful end.
"However, there is potential. Potential that not even you can deny. So, before you start threatening to discharge these kids, give them a chance. It is still way too early into their training here at Corbulo to even begin to think about that, sir. And if opening my eyes and seeing the true potential that even these cadets possess, then call me naïve, but to not be willing to open your eyes to one's potential, no matter how weak or small or incompetent one might seem, is to be completely and undeniably stupid and foolhardy, sir." I ground out, a fire building behind my brilliant green eyes as I held the general's gaze with my own, my fingers wringing angrily together behind my back. Each of the cadets and the two soldiers who stood by the general's Warthog shifted a little uneasily on their feet, nervous about the ever rising tension between the general and I. No one had ever dared to speak to the general like that, let alone use that tone of voice with him.
Again, the general and I found ourselves stood there in the ravine, glaring silently at each other for over five minutes. Not a single word was said, not even a single sound was made. The cadets and the general's marines barely breathing and any cadets who were walking around the academy's grounds steering far clear of the ravine we were in now. Not even the birds could be heard chirping in the trees to our right and even the river seemed to slow and quiet it's eternal journey over the rocks as it cut straight through the academy's grounds. It was as if the very world around us had come to a complete stand still, patiently and quietly waiting for an explosion of our anger and for the general and I to physically go at it, something that inevitably would happen sooner or later. Over the course of the two years that I had been stationed here at Corbulo, it was made very clear that the general and I did not get along and we had often gotten into many verbal arguments, but never once had it grown to be physical. The itch was there though. So very close to the surface, just waiting for the perfect situation to break free.
Only, it never happened. Not today anyway. Not right now.
General Black turned his attention from me and began to slowly walk to the front of the formation of cadets, speaking as he went, "Every single one of you at this academy was sent here because your parents are the upper echelon of the United Nations Space Command. Because all of you are its future." He came to a stop next to Squad Leader Orenski, glaring over the top of her head. The squad leader remained at attention, though I could see a hint of unnerve creep into her gaze.
"And I expect you to act like it." General Black bit out, his words directed at the squad leader before him. To Orenski's credit, she didn't even flinch at the lingering implied tone the general took on at her side.
"Understood, sir!" Orenski called out, staring blankly into the face of Cadet Vickers in front of her, her own feelings poorly hidden behind her unwavering brown gaze.
"Well, what are you waiting for? Lead them on tour, Orenski!" General Black orders of the squad leader before slowly and deliberately glancing over each member of Hastati Squad and myself one last time before making his way back over to his Warthog. As soon as General Black had turned his back to the squad, Orenski shot a pointed glare at Lasky, silently letting him know just how she felt about the ass chewing that they had all just received for his mistake in the training exercise earlier.
As the marine charged with driving General Black around starts up the engine of the Warthog Orenski calls out, "Axios!"
"Axios!" Hastati Squad repeats.
"Before you lead them on tour, Squad Leader, I would like to have a word with you. All of you." I say, stepping forward from my position beside Cadet Shere and moving to stand in front of the cadets, taking up parade rest in General Black's former position.
"Yes, ma'am. Of course." Despite the roaring, guttural sound of General Black's Warthog, I didn't miss the general's rather loud disapproving grunt before his Warthog reversed and turned around, driving back up along the road by the dam from which they had driven down from, taking most of the tension in the air with him. The cadets before me never relaxed their stances, though I could see relief shining in each of their eyes now that the threat of a fight between General Black and I had left with him.
"Thank you, Orenski." I paused, gathering my thoughts and taking in our once more lively surroundings, the chirping of birds and the roaring of the river behind me before I continued, "Let me just say this once: do not make me regret stepping in and defending your asses there, cadets. You more than deserved that ass chewing from the general, however, not to the extent that he was leading in to. Now is not the time, nor the place for my lecture, that will be tonight... at 2100 hours."
I paused for effect, a part of me relishing in the slight droop of the shoulders of each cadet as my words sunk in.
"Yes, after dinner none of you will be participating in any personal time as it is now mine. Let me be clear, I do not care if you have class work to work on, you will be there, no excuses and no exceptions. I expect you all to be waiting at the eastern track on time, and for every minute that one of you is late, you will be running an additional mile around the track, that includes you too, Orenski. Is that understood?"
"Yes, ma'am!"
"I am sorry, did you say something? I do not think I heard you. I said, is that understood, cadets?" I yelled, scaring Cadet Chen a little as he took a step back unintentionally before quickly moving back into line.
"Yes, ma'am!" Hastati Squad roared, their voices echoing loudly off the damp stone retaining walls to our left and the dam behind us, so loud that they drowned out the roaring of the river for a few seconds. A few small birds jumped up and flew away from the trees they were once resting peacefully in, chirping angrily as they went.
"Good. Before I let Squad Leader Orenski here lead you away on tour, I will leave you all with this: you did fine today, cadets, for the most part. However, there were plenty of mistakes made, do not get me wrong, far too many mistakes made. Many of them simple and easy mistakes that should not be made this late in the term, let alone this late in your first year. You have all been here long enough by now to know better than to be making mistakes such as the ones you all made today.
"However, the potential is there. There were positives, though few and far between. But they were there and there were things you all did to be proud of today." I gave a firm nod of my head signalling that I was done talking, making sure to catch the eye of each member of Hastati Squad as my gaze ran over them from right to left. Each cadet saluting me in turn as we locked gazes before I turned to my left and gave a short nod to Senior Cadet Orenski, letting her know that she was free to take her squad on tour now. She nodded once in return, knocking off a quick salute before taking a few steps forward to stand at the front of the line of her cadets, and once again yelling out, "Axios!"
Hastati Squad echoed her as they continued to stand at attention, awaiting further orders from their squad leader. Turning sharply on my heel, I began making my way up the concrete road towards the dam which, if I continued along it, the road would eventually lead me into the innermost complexes of the academy. Taking a quick glance at the sky, I noticed the slight change in the sun's position and realized that I was over twenty minutes late in getting to the firing range where I was supposed to be meeting Accensi Squad.
'So much for a quick detour,' I thought to myself, 'Though I guess I did manage to kill the spare time I would have had if I had gone my original route. Too bad I killed more time than I had wanted to.'
Picking up my pace as I neared the dam, I could feel the overwhelming sense of pride and hope from the cadets at my back at having received such a rare compliment from me, bringing a slight smile to my lips and a twinkle in my eye. At least these cadets still had hope, and one could do a lot of good things with a hopeful group of cadets.
"Hastati... right, face!" Orenski's voice rang out, echoing off the dam and retaining walls.
As one Hastati Squad turned sharply on their heel to face right, staring back down the gravel pathway through the forest they had previously come down.
"Double, march!" Senior Cadet Orenski called out again and as one the cadets break out into a jog down the gravel pathway alongside the river and back into the forest. After a few miles of jogging along the pathway – which branched out and became a gravel pathway with a dirt road on either side for Warthog's to drive on - they will eventually find themselves in and amongst the main buildings and grounds of Corbulo Academy.
"One early morning 'bout zero-five!" Orenski began to shout the UNSC Marine Cadence, her cadets echoing her as they made their way further away from the dam and into the forest.
"The ground will rumble, there'll be lightning in the sky!" The next line of the cadence could be heard echoing faintly off the dam.
As I continued along the concrete road running through a small cutout section of the dam, I made a sharp right and turned into an entryway built into the dam and began climbing the fifteen flights of stairs, taking the large black/grey stone steps two at time. In just a quick minute I found myself exiting the stairwell at the top of the dam, momentarily pausing as I was temporarily blinded by the sudden brightness of the sun peeking through the few light grey clouds that danced across the sky. In the distance, I could still faintly hear Hastati Squad as they continued to sing the Marine Cadence, "Don't you worry, don't come undone!"
After allowing my eyes a few seconds to readjust to the brightness of the sun, I began to run at a brisk yet steady pace along the cool, slightly damp concrete that made up the top of the dam which had been designed to be used as a road and a pathway connecting the large grounds of the academy on either sides of the river.
Nimbly, I weaved my way between groups of cadets walking to and from classes and training exercises along the top of the dam and through corridors of the academy itself as I continued making my way towards the firing ranges on the opposite side of the academy. Passing through one of the inner complexes, I cut across a few fields filled with groups of training cadets, hastily saluting tired and mud-streaked teenagers who laid resting on the grass between hand-to-hand combat exercises as I passed them by.
Within ten minutes I had finally reached the outer complex that held just four of the many firing ranges the academy had. Running through two more fields, I gracefully dodged multiple groups of hand-to-hand combat fighting cadets and cadets learning how to defend themselves against armed targets while they themselves were unarmed before finally coming upon the small plateau of land where the firing ranges were located.
Slowing my pace down to a steady walk, I made quick work of climbing the short flight of concrete stairs two at a time before stepping foot upon the large landing of the ranges.
"Officer on deck!" Cadet Hansen called out in her Norwegian accented voice, straightening herself into attention and bringing her right hand up to salute me the moment my foot landed on the red rubberized landing.
Loose strands of the cadet's blonde hair which had slowly escaped from her loosely braided bun throughout the day blew gently in the warm breeze. Her seven other squadmates, which included her squad leader, quickly jumped to attention beside her from their previously relaxed positions about the landing, many of them had been leaning against the grey concrete half-walls that bordered the ranges.
"At ease, Accensi Squad. Athena, are you here?" I called out for my AI as I came to a stop in the centre of the pathway which ran along the entire expanse of the firing ranges, not even at a loss of breath from my quick paced run through the academy's grounds. A moment later Athena was seen standing on the terminal to Cadet Hansen's left.
"Here, ma'am. What took you so long? You're over forty-five minutes late." Athena asked, a knowing smile dancing upon her lips.
"I took a scenic detour down by the river before coming up the road by the dam, if you must know," I replied tartly, a mischievous twinkle in my eye as I glanced over at her.
"Ah, what a beautiful and peaceful path that is down there, especially at this time of day," Athena winked before pulling out a small data pad and continuing, "I've got Accensi Squad's numbers here from last week, Chief. Would you like me to send their numbers to you?" she asked, quickly getting down to business.
"Yes, please." I paused, glancing at Accensi Squad gathered before me, quickly analyzing each one of them in turn.
Closing my eyes and drawing in a deep breath once I had finished my brief study of the cadets before me, I expertly tuned out the sounds of at least a hundred and seventy cadets, making up about eighteen squads who were working on hand to hand combat drills fifteen feet behind us in just three of the multiple grass fields on Corbulo's grounds. I also disregarded the yelling of commands from six squad leaders who were instructing their cadets to do this combat move a certain way or this battle formation in certain types of firefights in the fields located down a small hill and a hundred feet to the right of the firing ranges. Finally, I blocked out the sounds of twenty M6A pistols firing off in the range immediately to our left, fifteen BR55 Pioneer battle rifles firing off in the range to our immediate right and twenty-three M392 Designated Marksman Rifles, DMRs for short, in the firing range furthest from us on our right.
Four of Corbulo's sixty firing ranges were located in the easternmost outer complex of Corbulo Academy. Each range was large enough to hold thirty-two cadets for target practice as well as still having enough room for each of the squad leaders along the rubberized landing strip at the back of the ranges.
These four ranges were located in the middle of massive, wide open grass fields with plenty of space for at least forty squads to train and exercise in and still have plenty of room to move and train about in. There were three, short flights of concrete stairs leading up to the ranges which all rested on one massive plateau of land.
All along the landing strip Accensi Squad and I were standing on large metal racks were placed at various intervals along the grey concrete half-walls which were filled to the brim with assorted weapons, ranging from the basics like M6A pistols and MA5D assault rifles to more advanced weapons like BR55 Pioneer battle rifles and M392 DMRs to even the 99 Anti-Materiel sniper rifle, among a few other weapons.
From where we stood on the landing strip, we could see the Corbulo Academy of Military Science Space Elevator, the forests that surrounded the whole compound and the currently empty track - which was just one of eight that the academy had. In the near distance we could see four of the six massive satellite dishes that the academy had for all of their communications and in the same complex, we could see the dark grey concrete buildings where communication classes were held. These buildings also housed all of the communications officers while they monitored all ONI and UNSC news, reports and orders from their stations in these buildings as well.
In the same inner complex of the comms buildings, we could also see four of several large vertical-axis wind turbines which helped power most of the inner buildings, including the comms buildings and several other important complexes of the academy; the rest of the buildings ran off of a combined system of wind and hydro power. The wind turbines were just four of twenty that were spread out throughout the vast grounds of Corbulo.
Finally, we could see more large grass fields which were almost always filled with hundreds of squads working on training exercises further in the distance as well as six more firing ranges. From where we were on the eastern side of the academy, we could only see a small fraction of the magnitude that was Corbulo Academy. It truly was the biggest and the best military academy that the UNSC had to offer throughout UNSC regulated space.
Opening my eyes, I grabbed one of the four firing range data pads from the nearest weapons rack on my left and logged in waiting for the files to transfer from Athena before once again focusing on the cadets in front of me that made up Accensi Squad, one of the academy's top squads which was led by Senior Cadet Riley McDermott.
Senior Cadet McDermott wasn't the tallest of guys, he stood at maybe 5'7, but what he may have lacked in height he more than made up for in upper body strength, skill and sheer determination to be a good soldier and an even better leader. He was a bit of a hot head, who could have one hell of a temper if pushed the wrong way but he also knew how to reign in his emotions when needed and when and how to reign in the emotions of the cadets under his command as well. McDermott's strong work ethic and sheer will to be a great leader worked to his advantage in his early years at the academy and in his fourth year, he was rewarded with his own squad of fellow fourth-year cadets. He learned the hard way what it took to be a proper leader by making mistake after mistake but never giving up. In doing so, he learned how to push his cadets to their limits and how to bring out the best in them.
Senior Cadet McDermott had light brown hair which was shaved thinner on the sides and left slightly longer along the top of his head, all the while still keeping the length within UNSC regulation. His light green eyes always seemed to hold a glint of pride in them, while the light brown freckles speckling his face stood out in stark contrast against his pale skin. A small scar cut through his right eyebrow, something he received in combat training in his first year when he reacted too slowly against the cadet he was sparring against, allowing his opponent to land a small cut along his eyebrow with the combat knife he was wielding. This small injury only proved to showcase his determination to become better as he was often found working with that same cadet on improving his speed and tactics in close quarters combat.
To McDermott's immediate left was Cadet Laura Hansen, one of his top cadets. She was short, one of the shortest cadets Corbulo had actually, coming in at just 5 feet tall with a gentle, heart shaped face. Despite her short and small stature, Hansen had spirit and if one pushed her hard enough that fight, that fire that lied just under the surface came out and she became a force to be reckoned with. Her Norwegian accented voice gave away her heritage back on her homeworld of Reach while her blonde hair was tied up in a loose braided bun. Her light hazel eyes were gazing determinedly in front of her and her pale ivory skin shone beautifully in the mid-afternoon sun when it peeked through the clouds and you could just make out the light brown freckles that gently lay across her cheekbones. Though she spent plenty of time out in the sun, Hansen never tanned, she had a tendency to burn, but her skin always remained a rich ivory colour.
At Senior Cadet McDermott's immediate right was Cadet Ashleigh Walker who stood proudly at 5'8 with bright green eyes and lightly tanned skin from spending so much time out in the sun during training. Her fire red hair was pulled back into a simple, clean bun and she had an attitude to match her hair colour. Walker wasn't afraid to run her mouth and make her opinions known, her temper often getting her into trouble with many of her instructors, myself included, but under McDermott's command, she seemed to do well and keep her attitude in check – for the most part. She was a spitfire, there was no doubt about it, but she knew how to channel her anger and her aggression into her combat training, often favouring in hand-to-hand combat over anything else.
On Walker's left side stood the twins, Cadets Kaidan and Cassandra Dimitrios who both came in at 5'10 with naturally tanned skin. Kaidan had black hair and black, large bushy eyebrows which rested over his bright blue eyes whereas his sister, Cassandra, had light brown hair which was pulled back into four intricate fishtail braids that wound around her head in complicated twists before coming together in a bun at the nape of her neck and striking light grey eyes. Identical small scars ran across both Kaidan and Cassandra's right cheekbones from an accident back on their homeworld Eridanus II when they were young children. Both were quiet and kept mainly to themselves, but they were a force to be reckoned with in battle. Kaidan could shoot an apple clear off your head from over half a mile away, while Cassandra could take you down in less than three seconds flat with her skills in hand-to-hand combat. Cassandra and Walker usually practiced their hand-to-hand combat skills against each other, which usually resulted in a tie, but the few skirmishes that didn't always go to Cassandra, she almost always had the upper hand over Walker. Overall, Kaidan and Cassandra's skills complimented each other beautifully.
Next to the twins stood Cadet Levi Jacobs who was the tallest of his squad at 6'3 with brown hair, beautiful brown eyes flecked with the occasional odd topaz hue and a round gentle face. Jacobs was your average cadet, nothing too particular stood out about him. He followed orders when given without complaint or question and he listened closely and attentively in every training exercise, the perfect student. Never speaking out of line, Jacobs simply listened, watched and learned all that he could. The only thing that stood out in Cadet Jacobs was his strength in strategy; he could come up with a sound, strategic plan in just a few short seconds during any training exercise.
Finally, to Jacobs' right stood the last two members of Accensi Squad, Cadets Tyler Moore and Michael Edwards, two complete opposites. While Tyler stood at 6'2, Michael stood at just 5'4. Tyler had jet black hair and strikingly bright green eyes with an extremely outgoing and boisterous personality and an ego that was two sizes too big even for him whereas Michael had natural golden blonde hair and brilliant blue eyes who was a very soft spoken guy, extremely polite, very shy and far too reserved for his own good. Tyler had a hard face with a very well defined jawline and very distinct muscle definition to his body while Michael had a much softer, kinder face with little to no muscle definition – not for a lack of trying though. Cadet Edwards worked out more than any other cadet at the academy, in any personal time, if he wasn't doing class work he was exercising in some way. Edwards had the muscle, there was just never any real definition. Despite the two of them being complete opposites in every sense of the word, they were inseparable and worked together almost as well as the twins did. What Michael couldn't take down with his near perfect aim, Tyler could take down with his brute strength.
All in all, Accensi Squad was one of the best Corbulo had ever seen, each of them complimented the other perfectly and they worked together as one fluid team. They were nearing the end of their time at Corbulo, only one and a half terms away from graduation and were well on their way to being the best squad at the academy for the term once again, four consecutive terms in a row.
Each cadet stood in half of their service uniform. They wore the white form-fitting pants which all had black sectioning running along their inner legs, each pant leg tucked neatly into their standard issue black combat boots, but instead of the white jacket that accompanied their pants as a part of their service uniform, they all wore light azure blue t-shirts with CAMS written across their backs in white. Only the senior cadets wore the light azure blue CAMS shirts, as a way to distinguish each year of cadets.
"All right Accensi, listen up. Today some of you will be starting off with stationary targets, Cadets Levi and Walker that will be you, while the rest of you will be working on stationary and moving targets. Now before you interrupt me, Walker," I paused, sliding my piercing green eyes up from the screen of the data pad resting in my left hand to lock with Walker's own green eyes, effectively stopping her in her place, her mouth hanging slightly open in the beginning of an angry protest, "You and Levi have the lowest score percentage when it comes to hitting the centre of your targets and I want you two to work on stationary targets to improve your aim first before you advance on to moving ones. The last thing I want either of you to do is fire off a round and accidentally hit someone." Cadet Walker quickly shut her mouth, seeing the reasoning behind my decision, albeit begrudgingly.
"Now today, I am switching things up a little bit, cadets. Instead of having you all work with the M6A's, today you will be moving onto the more challenging 99 Anti-Materiel sniper rifles."
"Aw fuck yeah!" Cadet Walker loudly exclaimed, enthusiastically throwing her right fist into the air and giving a little jump, her anger at the stationary targets chosen for her immediately forgotten. She nudged shoulders with her squad leader on her left and then again with Cassandra on her right in sheer excitement, completely ignoring the annoyed glance her squad leader was sending her way out of the side of his eye. Her actions earned a displeased grunt from the cadet on her right and a very disapproving grunt from her squad leader, something that clearly didn't phase the excited young woman one bit as she continued to smile enthusiastically and bounce on the balls of her feet.
"Calm down, Walker and listen up. These rifles have enough firepower to them that the kick back alone could dislodge your shoulder clear out of its socket if fired or held incorrectly. So pay attention, everyone, because I am only going to demonstrate this once. And if you miss it, I will not be accompanying you to the infirmary because you dislodged your shoulder or broke your nose because you were not holding the rifle properly."
As I ran through how to properly hold and position not only the rifle but your body as well and then how to properly fire the high powered weapon, such as when to take a breath of air, when to hold your breath and then when to release your breath, I almost forgot that I was on the training grounds of Corbulo on Circinius-IV and not back on Reach. Almost. I had to shake my head to rid myself of those long forgotten memories before continuing on instructing the cadets in how to set up the rifle stand and how to place the rifle correctly in the stand so that the gun wouldn't dislodge or move from the stand when fired.
Accensi Squad seemed to pick up the techniques quickly, not surprising in the least that Squad Leader McDermott picked up how to properly use the rifle slightly faster than the rest of his squad, but within a few minutes the others had picked it up too. The twins were effectively shooting all moving and stationary targets with ease, while Walker and Levi still continued to struggle to hit the bulls-eye of their stationary targets. Cadet Hansen had more troubles than her squadmates simply because of her disadvantage with her size. It took some alternative tweaks and positioning but we were able to get her properly aiming and firing the SRS99C without having her left shoulder jerk back too severely with each shot she took.
Twenty minutes into Accensi's training session at the firing range we could distantly begin to hear Hastati Squad chanting the Marine Cadence over the sounds of gunfire as they continued to jog their tour of Corbulo's grounds, slowly working their way towards the easternmost complex.
"Helljumper, Helljumper, where you been?" April Orenski's loud clear voice could be heard even over the near deafening firing of the 99 Anti-Materiel rifles, her squad echoing the cadence behind her as they continued at their brisk, but still steady pace.
"Feet first into hell and back again!"
"Don't cry for me, don't shed no tears!" Hastati Squad sounded off, louder as they ran alongside the firing ranges before growing distant and quiet as they rounded the bend after the ranges and continued back into the inner compounds of the academy. I noticed one specific member of Hastati Squad was beginning to fall behind the others as I watched the squad run by and made a mental note to bring this up in the meeting later with Doctor Hughes and Colonel Mehaffey.
"Just pack my box with PT gear!"
"Shit, I don't feel sorry for those guys. Can't even do a simple training exercise properly!" Cadet Moore laughed obnoxiously as he meticulously reloaded his rifle in between targets. His comment eliciting loud chuckles from Cadets McDermott, Walker and surprisingly Cassandra Dimitrios.
"Stow it, cadet. If I remember correctly when I had my first training sessions with Accensi Squad, you could barely hit a target, Moore, and you, Cadet Walker, could not even floor someone with a single kick to the chest to save your life. Not to mention, McDermott's inability to successfully last five minutes in a hand-to-hand combat exercise, or Hansen's inability to run five miles. You are all coming into your last term and a half at this academy, you have all come so far in just the last two terms alone, not to mention the last two years. Remember, they are only barely a year into their training here. They will come around. Once you are all out of this academy and serving the UNSC with your own squads, you will hear stories about how great Hastati is in a few years from freshly graduated cadets, I promise you that." I state from behind the cadets, pacing my way along the rubberized landing strip that ran along the back of the four firing ranges connecting them together.
As I paced, I was constantly glancing over each cadet, eyeing their positioning and giving out pointers here and there before coming to a stop behind Cadet Moore. Reaching my right foot forward, I slightly nudged his legs so that they were spread further apart in his prone position on the ground before giving him a small nod of encouragement to take another shot. Nodding his head slightly in thanks he turned back around, pausing for a few heartbeats as he lined up his shot before pulling the trigger and grunting in slight shock after noticing his shot had just barely missed the bulls-eye by a few millimetres. I chuckled quietly at his shock, continuing to watch as his shots became closer and more tightly grouped together.
"Are you implying that before you came along, Chief, that we were no better than Hastati!?" Cadet Walker cried out indignantly, taking a pause from her target practice.
"Have you gone soft on us, Chief?" Cadet McDermott asked in mock shock as Athena glanced at me curiously from her terminal, her small data pad resting against her chest in her arms which currently displayed Accensi Squad's numbers for each target hit and each one missed from today's session.
"No, no, no. I don't care if the Chief's gone soft on us, Squad Leader. What I care about is that she has the balls to imply we were as bad as Hastati!" Walker yells, carelessly throwing her rifle to the ground and jumping to her feet, storming her way over to stand angrily in front of me. Strands of her fire red hair were billowing in the breeze behind her, escaping from her bun. I turned my body so that I faced her and tilted my head down to glare at her, angry green eyes meeting angry green eyes.
"Who the fuck gave you the right to-" Before Cadet Ashleigh Walker could continue her sentence she was flat on her back on the ground, struggling for breath as the wind had been knocked out of her. My right knee was forcefully pushing down against her chest with each breath she continued to try and suck in.
"Need I remind you, Walker, that I am an officer of the UNSC and you are nothing more than a cadet? I far outrank you and I do not tolerate your tone of voice nor your attitude right now. If you cannot handle criticism then I suggest you talk to Colonel Mehaffey and General Black about your discharge papers and leave the military, immediately. This is a career that is filled with criticism, get used to it. Now, get back on your feet, go pick up your rifle and get back to firing at those targets. I expect you bright and early at the dam tomorrow morning at 0230 hours for our twenty-five-mile run. Is that understood, cadet?" I lean in closer to her with each spoken word, my knee driving further and further into her chest as my anger raged through my veins. A small shiver ran up the young cadets back at the menacing words spoken into her ear.
The steadily increasing pressure of my knee was forcing her already oxygen deprived lungs to struggle even more at trying to take in oxygen as she lay on the ground, unable to do anything more than simply nod her head in understanding. She moved slightly underneath my knee, trying to alleviate some of the pressure on her chest so she could get better air flow into her oxygen deprived lungs as she continued to try and recover from her harsh landing on the rubber surface.
The firing range that Accensi was currently using fell silent, the only sounds to be heard were from the steady firing of M6A's, BR55's and M392 DMRs from the ranges around us as the rest of Accensi paused in their target practice. Each one of them glancing back over their shoulders at the confrontation between their fellow squadmate and me.
"I am sorry. I did not hear you, so I am going to ask you one more time, cadet. Do... you... understand?" I asked harshly into her ear.
"Yes, ma'am." Cadet Walker croaked out between breaths.
"Good. Now get your ass back up and to your station, cadet!" I yelled loudly by her ear before pulling my knee up and off her chest and standing back up on my feet all in one swift, graceful movement. Once back on my feet, I moved to stand at parade rest as I watched the young cadet scramble clumsily to her feet and rush back to her station, cheeks as red as her hair with embarrassment. Her squadmates quickly turned their attention back to the firing range and began firing at their targets again, acting as if they hadn't stopped just moments ago to watch the scene play out. Turning my attention back to Accensi's squad leader, I added,
"Watch it, McDermott or I will have you up at 0230 hours to run twenty-five miles with your fellow cadet and me tomorrow morning too. Simply stating a fact is all, you have no need to worry about me going soft. In all seriousness, Hastati has more potential than even your squad. All they need to do is set aside their differences, their attitudes, and their egos and open up to the idea of working together. As soon as that happens, they will be right up there fighting alongside Accensi for the title of best squad at this academy."
"Yes, ma'am. Sorry, ma'am." He said before sucking in a steady breath, lining up his sights and letting his breath out at the same time as he released the trigger. The bullet cut right through the centre of the bulls-eye of his target.
"And to answer your question, Walker: no, I am not implying that Accensi was as bad as Hastati. I am implying, however, that Accensi was actually worse than Hastati when I started overseeing your training. If I can help you all become one of the best squads at this academy in just two years time, just think of what Hastati could do with three years of training under me." I bit out as I stood at the feet of the prone young woman, watching her critically as she took a few shots at her stationary target, each bullet hitting closer and closer to the bulls-eye. I hummed at her improving accuracy before moving on down the line of cadets.
1715 HOURS, MARCH 3, 2526 (MILITARY CALENDAR) /
CIRCINIUS SYSTEM, CORBULO ACADEMY OF MILITARY SCIENCE
FIRING RANGE, PLANET CIRCINIUS-IV
For the next four and a half hours Accensi trained at the firing range, past the point where each cadet could no longer feel their shoulders from the severe kickback of the Anti-Materiel rifle. As Athena and I watched their hits increase and their misses decrease, and their groupings grow tighter and tighter together, we noticed a change in the cadets before us. Apparently, with my comment about Hastati rising up and competing with them for being the best squad at Corbulo soon, they all seemingly decided to buckle down in their training. We noticed them tighten their aim, steady their breathing better and work their asses off to perfect their shots.
As the squads in the firing ranges next to us left, the sun began to set lower and lower in the sky, painting the few clouds beautiful hues of light pink and orange. With each passing moment that the sun set lower, more and more squads who were training nearby in the fields began to end their sessions and head into the inner buildings of the compound until only Accensi Squad remained on this side of the academy grounds. Sharing a sidelong glance with Athena who showed me that it was now 1715 hours, we both silently agreed to end training for the day.
"All right everyone, that is enough. Training is done for the day." I motion to Athena to shut the course down. The protective barrier at the end of the firing range pinging as the last bullet fired from each cadet hits it and bounces straight down into the ground. The protective barriers worked wonders at our ranges, the only downfall is that they were only at the back of the ranges, and not also on either side. It made moving targets practice that much more interesting with first-year cadets. Blanks or stun rounds aside, if an unsuspecting cadet were to get hit or nicked by one, the academy could be in a lot of trouble. Luckily, for the past and present cadets and the academy itself, an accident like that hadn't happened yet and hopefully never would.
"Yes, congratulations Accensi. You all did fantastic today, raising your stats by an amazing 3.02%. Even you, Cadets Walker and Jacobs, managed to raise your stats by 2.79%. Cadets Kaidan and Edwards, you two, of course, had the highest scores today. Again." Athena said as she read off the information from the data pad in her hands as a tinge of yellow seeped into her avatar, displaying her happiness towards Accensi's successful training for the day.
Cadets Kaidan and Edwards simply nodded towards each other, each with a small, gentle smile playing at their lips. The small gesture went a long way for both of them. They might both be quiet young men, but they understood each other and the small nod and smile were all either needed to appraise the other for their skill with a gun.
"Head on off to the showers and cool off, cadets. You did well today. Cadet Walker, remember our run tomorrow morning." I dismiss Accensi Squad with a nod of my head and a salute in return to the cadets as I watch them casually head off down the stairs and around the bend, heading into the inner buildings of Corbulo Academy. Each one looking three times as exhausted than when I first arrived at the firing ranges and every one of them was massaging their shoulders that had to deal with the brute force of the SRS99C for the last few hours, trying to work out the pain from the abused muscles. Cadet Walker murmuring an acknowledgement to the reminder of her punishment as she passed me by.
As the last of the Accensi Squad walked down the stairs and around the corner, their conversations gently echoing off of the concrete and stone walls around them, I turned towards the trees, staring across the academy's grounds and taking in the rare quietness and peacefulness of the area.
"What is it, Kim?" Athena asks curiously, a tinge of worry creeping its way into her tone, tilting her head slightly as she studied my rigid and tense posture.
"Nothing," I sigh, "Just remembering when my brothers and sisters and I all used to train in an environment so eerily similar to this back on Reach. As much as I hate to admit it, I love these cadets to death, Athena, I really do, but we both know this is not for me. I am not meant for this life. I am supposed to be out there, out on the front lines, getting shot at with real bullets, facing down real enemies, being put in real dangerous situations... not pretending to be."
"I know. I can see it clear as day just how much it kills you to be away from your team, from your brothers and sisters, but we both know you have to stay here until you are cleared for combat duty again."
"That is bullshit and you know it, Athena. I have been here for two years! Two fucking years! Two god damn fucking long years of training cadets, training kids, and my injuries have completely healed. ONI is just pulling this stupid act at delaying their 'certified' doctors from arriving sooner so that I stay away from the front lines longer and they have a better chance of studying Doctor Halsey's number one asset." I yell, flying back around to look at the AI in anger, fire dancing dangerously behind my green eyes.
As my temper flares precariously out of control my hands instinctively curl tightly into fists at my sides, my knuckles instantly turning white at the increased pressure as my body fights against my rage naturally, warring against itself to keep itself in check. Athena visibly flinches back and recoils in on herself slightly from where she stood on her terminal, not being at all prepared for the bitterness in my tone or my sudden out lash.
"I am so sorry, Athena. I did not mean to frighten you or yell at you like that. I just... I feel like a caged animal here, like some lab rat, being scrutinized thoroughly by ONI's beady little eyes." I sigh, dragging both of my hands slowly down my face. Turning away from Athena once more, I stare into the woods to the east, watching the pink tinged sun steadily making its eternal journey behind the tall pine trees, trying to calm my ragged breathing and reign in my temper.
"I understand, Kim. There's absolutely no need to apologize to me, after all, I feel the exact same way. Just as ONI has delayed their doctors from coming here to clear you, they have restricted my abilities, only allowing me to have access to Corbulo's network and nowhere outside of this planet. But we both know that any doctor's that ONI sends down that tether to come and check on you, that every single one of them will say the same thing: you are not fit for combat. Even if they were to send Dr. Halsey down herself, if ONI could ever track her down long enough, she'd still say the same thing. You haven't fully healed, despite what you say and despite how hard and how well you try to hide the pain. We both know that that injury is far worse than we or anyone else ever imagined it to be." Athena says, her eyebrows creasing sympathetically as she stared at my back, her gaze feeling as if she was staring straight through me and into my very soul.
"I know I am not fully healed yet, but I should be. There is no reason why it is taking my body so long to heal this time. The injury was severe, I will at least admit to that, extremely severe, sure, but I should have healed months ago. Instead, my muscles are still slowly weaving themselves back together again." I let out a long, slow, body shuddering sigh, twinging and flinching in pain as, if on purpose, the muscles in my back spasm painfully and uncontrollably. Despite the embarrassment flowing hot through my veins at the blatant sign of pain that I had just shown, I hold my head high. It wasn't fair. All of my friends, my squadmates, my brothers, and sisters... him, were out there, fighting the real battles, trying to win the real war and I couldn't be there with them. I swear, if any one of them has been injured or worse, killed, I'll...
"You know better than to think that, Kim. You and your squadmates do not die, remember? You are only ever 'missing in action.'" Athena perks up, a small smile on her lips and a hopeful glint in her eyes that she'll have at least calmed me down a little, if not cheered me up. Apparently, I had spoken my thoughts aloud, instead of keeping them to myself. Shaking my head, I respond, "See? I have been away from them long enough that I forgot we never die.
"Come on, Athena. It is getting late and I have to head to the showers before grabbing something to eat. I will catch you back in my barracks, right? Before I have to head out to meet Hastati at 2100?" I ask, a small smile on my lips as I turn and make my way towards the steps heading down from the firing ranges.
"Yes, ma'am. I will be waiting at your terminal for you." Athena gently calls out and gives a small wave after my slowly retreating form around the corner as I head into the inner compound of the academy, languidly making my way towards one of the main shower buildings.
Turning back around, Athena takes a lackadaisical gaze about the now peaceful academy grounds around the firing ranges before disappearing from her terminal and heading into the academy's systems, arriving shortly at the terminal back in my private sleeping quarters. Just as she disappears from the terminal at the firing ranges, the sun slips behind the grey clouds which had begun to move in steadily throughout Accensi's training sessions. Rain was surely coming.
Author's Note: First, let me apologize profusely for how late this chapter came up. There really isn't any excuse as to why it took me so long to update, but with that being said here's the third chapter! There was quite a lot of this chapter that doesn't take place in the movie, so hopefully, I was still able to please all of you with it.
Just to clarify what I mean when I say 'rubberized landing', you know how in playgrounds you'll find that sort of rubber surface that's been laid down, so that when kids fall they don't hurt themselves as much? That's what I'm talking about, the floor of the landing strip has been covered by that rubber surface, it doesn't really have a proper term as I've found out so I just decided to call it a rubberized landing.
I also have a Tumblr page set up for all of my stories, so that I can post chapter updates, character info, face claims, that sort of thing. If you want to check it out and give it a follow just look up phoenix-rising29
Please don't forget to leave any reviews if you like this story so far or if you dislike it. I'm always open to hearing what you all have to say, polite criticism is wanted too! :)
On that note, I have some people I would like to thank. First of all, 601 views everyone! 601! I can't believe so many people have stopped by to view this story, that's honestly incredible and I just want to thank all of you so much for stopping by. :) Secondly, I want to give a huge shout out and a big warm THANK YOU to Archangel 1997, Ghysu, Joldino-Sidestreaker, Pearlmegan, Silent Ninja 93, TwilightNinja00, WolfAssassin369, grudgematch and huntergo123 for following this story! I can't believe so many of you have followed this story. It really does mean the absolute world to me. Thirdly, thank you Silent Ninja 93, TwilightNinja00 and WolfAssassin369 for favoriting this story as well! And finally, thank you WolfAssassin369 and Paladin73 for reviewing!
WolfAssassin369: I'm so happy to hear that you are already loving this story after two chapters and I hope you enjoy this chapter too! I tried to give a little better insight as to who Kim kind of is as a person, and I threw in a tiny little snippet of her back story and why she's at Corbulo in this chapter. Hopefully, you like it!
Paladin73: I'm glad you like my story! I'll definitely try to update a lot quicker this time instead of waiting like four months between chapters haha. Unfortunately, it won't really be Lasky orientated per say. I mean, Kim will definitely be spending a lot of time around Hastati squad and training them, that sort of thing, but to really grow the story and make it last longer than just a few chapters I will be adding in my own characters like I did here in this chapter. Once I get to the end of the movie that will pretty much be the end of my story, I haven't really thought that far ahead yet, but I'll be sticking to canon, so, unfortunately, Lasky will not be made into a Spartan after the attack. Sorry!
*I've updated this as of August 15, 2017
