0200, July 17th, 2542 [MILITARY CALENDAR]/ ORTZ system, Planet Mephis, inside Galich Base

I think that the two weeks we have to wait have been the hardest thing we have ever done. Hokai told us that, to keep up our strength, we would be given larger meals with more relaxation times. For fourteen days we did what we wanted. Most of that time was spent on the obstacle course swimming in our thoughts. But the other half was spent in our barracks rooms just biding our time. We were told that we were simply waiting for Jackson to heal, but even Charlie believes that we were waiting for something else. And our suspicions are confirmed once the two weeks' rest is up.

We are lead to a single room filled with high-rise benches. The benches overlook a single holographic projector in the flat open space near the double doors at the base of the seats. Hokai was there waiting, flipping his knife in his hands, lost in his thoughts. Once we arrive he gestures to the seats and waits for us to sit. Naturally, each of our teams sit across from each other.

The door opens a moment later and Jackson steps through. He looks just as he did before I had put him in the hospital, except the right side of his skull is a little red and has a scar across it.

Hokai suddenly throws his combat knife at Jackson, making it fly so fast that it's a pale blur. Jackson reacts swiftly by twisting his torso and outstretching his arm. He catches the blade mid-flight and looks at it a second before lowering it. Hokai drops his arm with a rare smile. "I see you're as sharp as ever. Good," he says. Jackson steps forwards and tries to return the CPO's blade to him but he doesn't take it. "Think of it as my last gift to you."

I glare at Jackson as he takes his place next to his team, wishing that he had died in the hospital instead of returning.

Hokai steps to the right of the holographic projector and clasps his hands behind his back. "Today, you will learn about the true nature of your training. As some of you may have heard at one point, you are training to become 'Spartans'. Now, 'What are spartans?' you might be wondering," he says. A holographic depiction of a male human appears with his arms outstretched and feet together. Direction lines point to different points on the male's body. "Spartans are specially augmented soldiers, supersoldiers if you will. You will become far more intelligent, stronger, and faster than you are now."

As Hokai explains the augmentation process and the different things that will happen, each of us listen in silence. What he explains is unreal. The process itself and what we will become afterwards. No one expected it.

Melecia raises his hand and speaks up once Hokai pauses. "Sir, with an operation like this, there has to be risks," he says. "What are you not telling us?"

Hokai's expression falls and he gives a bitter smile. "You have always been the clever one. There is a lot I am not telling you, Cadet-314. But I am not permitted to give you that information just yet. But I assure you that all of this will be worth it if you survive," he says. Just before we are dismissed, I decide to voice a question I have been thinking of for a while. "When will the augmentation take place, sir?" I ask. "You will be shipped to an underground base in two days time," he answers. I can tell that he it not allowed to give too much information, so we settle with that answer.

The holographic projector snaps off and the doors unlock, letting all eight of us out.

We silently return to our barracks, stewing in silence for a long time before someone speaks up. "So this is it, huh?" Janet says. "The files I pulled...the augmentation...I had hoped they were wrong," Melecia says sorrowfully. "What was the survival rate?" I ask hesitantly. He shakes his head, tears welling up in his eyes, and falls back into his bed. "I hate all of this!" Melecia suddenly shouts, his voice filled with rage. "They shouldn't be doing this to us. It's unfair. Aren't we good enough already?" His fist slams into the wall as hard as he can and blood begins welling from his knuckles. He sits back down, ignoring the crimson liquid soaking into his sheets. "It's out of Hokai's control. Whatever comes next, we will just have to bear through," I say. "It had better be good, and it had better be worth it," Janet says. She disappears on top of her bunk and doesn't speak for a while afterwards.

Not much activity happens for the next two days. Both of our teams are too worried about what is coming to even interact with each other. We go through the motions like a programmed robot. Eating, exercising, sleeping, reading. It's a certain level of relief when we are awoken on the final day and marched out to two waiting Falcons, one for each team. And as we are loaded into the birds, I once again wonder why Hokai was nowhere to be seen. We hadn't seen him once during the last few days. And I wonder if we ever will again.

The early morning light sweeps over the terrain and paints a beautiful picture of Galich base. The squat buildings span for miles and the small traffic patrolls its perimeter with soldiers miling about. I wish we were down there, training, instead of being inside of this cold Falcon that somehow feels like a coffin.

We are allowed to sleep on the way to the secret facility, but I never do. I am awake for the entire six hour ride despite the fatigue that pulls at my eyes.

Once we finally touch down on a landing pad we set eyes on a very large metal door that opens into the mountainside. The paved road leading up from the side of the mountain curves into the door and leads deeper inside. The sun is high in the sky at this point, illuminating everything brilliantly.

Blue team touches down a minute after us and they leave the Falcon, looking scared and sleep deprived. But also brave and confident at the same time. Their courage gives us fuel and all four of us stand straighter as both teams fall into two lines. Surprisingly, Hokai is there waiting for us. He looks a hundred years older with the bags under his eyes from the sleep that he probably never got. His mouth is pulled into a tight line and his stance is a little looser than when we last saw him.

"Cadets, this is your last test. If you pass, you will become the best we can ever make of you and you will learn to fight your enemy and save humanity in ways no others could. So follow me. Your augmentation awaits," he says. He then turns sharply on his heel towards the door. It takes a second but the doors slowly opens and reveals a road that slopes steeply into the man-made tunnel.

We begin marching downwards with the other instructors at our heels and Hokai in the lead. The tunnel itself is set in a semi-circle shape with four lanes stretching across. A sidewalk follows the left and right sides of the road which is what we follow to avoid being crushed by the traffic that passes us by. Scorpions, Warthogs, Mongooses, and other types of transportation go to their destinations, paying the eight cadets no mind.

We reach our destination, a single door marked A-12. Inside, the room is tiny. It's the size of a decompression room aboard a spacebound vessel. Each of us step inside, staying in our single file lines. We turn around as Hokai stops just outside of the door, hands clasped behind his back. His usual stern expression is stoic and each of us can tell he's under some very serious emotional stress. "Cadets, you will wait here until further orders. Obey the techies when they call you and do what they say. I want a clean operation, don't mess this up," he says. Techies is a sort of slang word for "egghead" or, Scientist. I find it funny because Red team made up the word and it just sort of caught on.

He then straightens up, his stance becoming firmer. "Cadets, it's been an honor being your teacher. But from here on out, you're your own instructor. You will become great soldiers, you count on that. You are dismissed." His tone was much softer than he has ever used. And at that point, I know that all he has ever done is to make us better. But that just makes me hate what we went through all that much more. Hokai's been like a father to us, even through the hell he's put us through. And to see him in such pain because of us, hurts me to the core. But to make it up to him, we have to survive whatever will come next.

The doors close, shutting Hokai out of our lives forever. Neither team ever sees him again and I never found out what happened to him.

It is hours until we are finally called upon. And in that time, no one moves a muscle or says anything. But the tension is visibly high.

When the scientists finally arrive, the front doors open and they call my team through first. I take one last glance over my shoulder at Blue team, at Jackson, and never look back. Little did I know at the time, that would be the last I ever saw of him for many years to come.

The room is large and long and equipped with many of the flat metal beds. But my team is secluded to just four of the end ones. Half circles of glass and steel hover by each end of the beds, presumably to monitor vital signs.

I am told to lay on the bed and put each of my arms and legs into the tight straps. I do so without complaint and watch as they tighten them down. My gaze is cast to the cieling and I barely even notice the needle going into my skin, and the anesthetics that are pumped into my veins. The last thing I see before I am pulled under is Melecia getting into his bed. And then its lights-out.