1400, July 3rd, 2542 [MILITARY CALENDAR]\ ORTZ system, Planet Mephis, Military Base Galich
It seems like a life time ago that I was taken from my home on a distant planet. It is now a distant memory when Hokai first told us that only one team would graduate. It has been years since we were first dropped into the Sienna mountain range and left to find our own way out.
It has been ten years total since our training first started. And in those years, we have developed a burning hatred for our rivals, four other Cadets designated Blue Team by our instructors. But we have also developed as soldiers-in-training and I truly believe that we are finally ready to fight whatever threat will be shown to us. We still have yet to be told what we are training for and what program we have been subjected to. But during our time, Melecia has come up with some interesting ideas about what we're here for. One time, he had hacked into their databases and pulled whatever he could. He found something titled "FREEBIRD". Melecia couldn't get much from the files because they were heavily encrypted. But what he did get is that it is a certain project being conducted by Christian C. Waylen, the mysterious woman that would some times pay their little wing a visit. We know that she is trouble because every time she arrives, Hokai gets tense and ill tempered.
The training missions in the Sienna mountains, or the "drop and run missions", only got more violent each time we were dropped. Both of our teams quickly stopped working together and instead started working against each other. Melecia had once hacked the mechanized predators to specifically attack Blue team during one of the exercises.
As it turns out, the predators in the mountain range had been placed there as obstacles and controlled remotely by the soldiers back at Galich. The terrain would even be modified differently each time in the most subtle ways. A tree out of place, a gulch slightly deeper, the river a little wider, or even narrower, than the last time.
Hokai has been giving the vaguest of hints that our training has nearly come to an end. But we don't need words to understand that because everyone can feel it. The other instructors wear it plainly on their faces and with their actions.
But no one expected our final obstacle match to happen so suddenly. One morning, both of our teams are marched out of our barracks and to the obstacle course where we are lined up in two single file lines. Despite it being early in the morning, we are wide awake and easily alert. We had adjusted to the sudden wake-up calls years ago.
The sun is low in the sky and hasn't yet risen above the horizon. The dim early morning sky faintly illuminates the looming obstacle course ahead of us. The UNSC flag standing on the hill at the end waves weakly in the cool breeze of the summer air and is one of the many noises that reaches my ears. The base had just begun to wake up. The distant sound of a Warthog's engine roars in the distance as Hokai explains the rules we have heard so many times.
"At the sound of the whistle, you will start. I don't want to see anyone leaving their teammates behind. Do that and you will be immediately disqualified. Unless of course, the teammate falls off of the course. No matter what happens, one team will be the victor," Hokai says. He turns to the other instructor and takes the man's weapon. It has a red line painted down its side and it's lethal rounds have been replaced with paintballs. "During this specific excersize, you will be given these weapons for the extent of the run. First team back wins."
Each member in both of our teams get a weapon, but Blue team's weapons have a blue streak instead of red. We test their weight before getting ready to take off.
Once Hokai blows the whistle, we are off like a shot. Jackson and his team are almost instantly ahead of us, having taken off a split second early. I bring up my weapon and let a few paintballs fly, trying to slow them down. Charlie does the same, firing one-handed as he sprints for the rope. He gets to it before me and nearly kicks me in the face as he begins his climb. I follow close behind him and the others behind me. Blue team is nearly on the other side of the tires as we are getting to them. We hop in and out before remembering to run on the sides. Melecia overpasses us again, having realized it sooner, and hits the rope bridge a second before the rest of us.
We waste no time in following the other team across one by one, making sure to not topple or twist the fragile rope. Once we are across, I am forced to duck as Jackson stops and opens fire, the paintballs splattering the ground around our boots. Melecia had gotten up onto the ropes but he falls straight to the ground when Jackson redirects his fire and splatters the rope, slicking it and causing Melecia to lose his grip. I glance down at the ground to see Melecia pulling himself up and making his way back to the starting line, shaking his head angrily.
With one teammate already down, I lead the others into the rope maze. Seeking revenge and balance, I quickly catch up to Jackson and pause to lash out with my weapon. It nearly catches his knuckles but the trainee pulls away last second and drops to the metal floor and fans out to the other end, rejoining his teammates.
Charlie passes me and sprints for 211 who was tailing behind the others. He hits the taller cadet full speed and mows him into the ground. Just as I am about to go over to help with the fight, Charlie slugs 211 in the jaw and then grabs him and shoves him over the edge where he falls to the ground, evening out the scores. Both of our teams fan out to separate sides of the platform, taking cover behind the barricades as we try to come up with an idea on how to take the flag.
"Janet, have any ideas?" I ask the other cadet who had been watching the other team. Before she can answer, Charlie interrupts by slamming his fist into his palm. "I say lets go for it. What can go wrong?" he says. Janet just shrugs and looks at the flag. "Sounds good," she says. "Alright. I'll go and get it, you guys give me covering fire," I say. I drop my weapon next to the others and survey the area before vaulting the barricade and hitting the dirt that is scattered around the clearing.
Gunfire rings out and paintballs fly through the sky, clearing both Jackson and I by mere inches. By the time we get to the top of the dirt mound, the ground is splattered with red and blue paint.
I manage to reach the flag seconds before Jackson and waste no time in ripping it from its stand. I lift it up and ram it right into Jackson's skull. He reels from the sudden attack and drops to his knees. He coughs and blood drips out of his mouth, painting his teeth an eerie crimson color. Before I can register what had just happened, I hear someone coming up behind me and whip around to see Parkson approaching quickly. I raise the pole again and whack the cadet in the side of the head, making him drop to the ground and fall down the hill. I am about to turn and run with the flag when Kia side-swipes me out of nowhere, wrapping her arms around me and bringing me to the ground. She seizes the pole from me with adrenaline induced rage and hits me in the sternum with it. It feels as if she had just shattered my bones. The hit leaves me breathless and nearly writhing.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Charlie come out of nowhere and grab Kia by her arms and wrench her off of her feet. She drops the flag which rolls down the hill, coming to a stop at the edge of the dirt. Charlie brings her down but the cadet manages to get her feet under her and launches my teammate off with surprising strength, making him almost slam into Janet who helps him to his feet. I once again go for the flag but Kia had gotten to it first. I pull against her grasp and plant my feet, but am forced to let go when Jackson grabs me by my shoulders and pulls me hard backwards. I whip around and have my fist up and hit Jackson hard. He stumbles back and I take the chance to retrieve the flag that had once again been dropped after Janet wrestled with Kia.
With rage flaring in my eyes, causing me to practically see red, I charge Jackson and slam the metal pole right into his throat. He falls to one knee, showing his weakness and submission to me. I let my rage take over and ram the end of the pole right into his chest. He falls to the ground and I follow up my attack with a boot to his face.
And just then, the fight is over in an instant. ODST's storm the platform, weapons drawn and loaded with lethal bullets. "On the ground, now!" one of them roars. Dust swirls as an emergency Falcon comes to hover a few feet over the platform. Medical personnel rappel down and come to the wounded cadet's aid. One of the soldiers shoves me to the ground and trains his weapon on me, screaming at me to not move. The other standing cadets are treated the same way.
"Multiple wounded, no casualties," One of the ODST's reports. Another one of the soldiers finds Jackson quickly after getting the others under control. "We've got a wounded over here!" the soldier calls.
The medical personnel rush over and begin issuing orders and applying medical bandages and medicine. It is only then do I see the damage I had caused to him. The side of his head is shaped at a strange angle and blood pours profusely from it. Biofoam is applied to the wound and holds the bone together and stops the bleeding. I watch in shock as a Pelican lands on the concrete below and Jackson is carefully handed down to the waiting personnel below and taken far away and out of the boundries of Galich Base.
As for the others, we are taken to the medical wing and treated for our injuries. But I am pulled aside by an instructor and lead once again into Hokai's office. But this time, it isn't to commend me.
"Why did you try to kill the other Cadet?" Hokai snarls, his rage barely contained. "Sir, I was trying to win," I answer honestly. Hokai balls his fists up and angrily takes a step forwards. "By killing the other team?" he demands. "Yes sir," I answer hesitantly. Was that what we were really doing? Looking back and feeling the bruises and scrapes all across my body...yes. We really were trying to kill them. But I don't have any regrets. We weren't given any specific rules, only that we had to win. And we carried the orders out and adapted to the situation as we saw fit.
"Jiroku, please," A female voice says from the back of the room. Hokai exhales slowly and steps aside, revealing a petite woman in a civilian scientists clothing. Christian C. Waylen, the one that is in charge of the entire project. "None of you will be punished, Cadet-312. But that kind of behavior is highly unacceptable. We did not train you to harm your fellow cadets," she says, her eyes ice cold. But then she softens up and stands a little straighter. "As of today, your training is nearly complete. You have one final hurtle ahead of you and you will need all of the strength you have to pass it. Therefor, your training exercises will be ceased and you will have two weeks to ready yourselves. I expect you to pass along the information to both teams, Cadet-312. Dismissed."
I pause before saluting to Hokai and nodding to Waylen and leave the room briskly and head back to our barracks before letting the news sink in.
I was supposed to be checked out in the medical wing, but I dodge the other instructors and fall heavily into my bunk. Our training is done for. We won't have to do another drill or march ever again. Now the real thing starts. The very thing we have been waiting for is finally here. It's a lot to digest, and it makes my head spin. But the others assured me, when they returned, that everything would turn out okay. That what whatever is ahead, we would make it through. And that alone made me know that we are a family. And family never leaves each other behind. No matter what.