Chapter 10

Clan Wolverine Training Grounds, Circe, April 2822

Targets popped up left and right, holographic simulations of opponents appeared all around the Chief as he ran the assault course, but as quickly as they appeared, they vanished under a hail of gunfire from his assault rifle. Continuing to methodically clear the rooms and areas on the course, he noted that both his time and accuracy were lower than usual, probably due to the distraction of the conversation he was having with Cortana in his head.

"So you're telling me in the past two months that I've been cooped up in your suit that not only are you on the eve of testing out and becoming a full-fledged member of the Clan and going native, but also you've found yourself a girlfriend?" Her tone could barely betray an edge of skepticism and perhaps a twang of surprise.

The Chief merely shook his head and groaned, thankful that the MJOLNIR helmet encasing his head hid the slightly irritated look on his face. The suit had been finished almost a week prior, a complete overhaul, and in fact some ways was even enhanced due to the nonstop effort of Chief Technician Karl. All of the armored plates on the suit had been completely remolded and replaced with ferro-fibrous armor, a much lighter and considerably stronger alloy that was used in the Clan's most advanced battlemechs. The redesigned and improved fusion engine provided almost 150% more power than the original, enough of a surplus that his shields could natively charge themselves to overshield levels, and took a proportionately lower amount of time to regenerate.

Some of the more sensitive joints on the suit that had to cope with considerable force and stress had also been augmented with additional myomer "muscle" to add greater strength and power to the suit, namely in the knees, ankles, wrists and elbows. While the MJOLNIR suit relied on a reactive liquid crystal mesh that responded to electrical impulses, the myomer cable was the Clan's equivalent and was used in battlemechs and armored suits to provide mobility. While it lacked the speed and fine manipulation that the crystalline mesh his suit provided, it was notably more powerful, and augmenting the crystalline mesh with extra muscle allowed him the advantages of both, and the weaknesses of either.

Overall by replacing the armored plates they had shaved almost 300 pounds of weight off the half-ton suit, and the additional power from the myomer and reactor increased his burst speed to almost 84kph at a dead run, with sustained speeds of 64kph over a 15 mile stretch. He could now lift comfortably almost three metric tons of weight, strength that had he been fighting Brutes, he had no doubt that he could literally decapitate them bare-handed.

All of this was for nothing, however, if one did not have a good warrior to exploit every advantage of the new suit, and he fully intended to. He was impressed, and the Point had collectively come to the conclusion that should he and God ever come to the same battlefield, God would probably go home crying.

"She's not my girlfriend," came his deadpanned, flat response as he flicked the assault rifle to fully automatic and emptied the contents of the clip into a series of targets.

Cortana gave a little giggle, "so just friends with benefits then, is that it?" Mentally, the Chief could picture her blue avatar swaggering with a smug expression on her face.

In truth, he really did not know what Meghan Buckler was to him. She was the head of the Point, and while he was at the moment an honorary member, she was not really his superior, at least not yet. Did he have feelings for her? Yes, he did. Did she have feelings for him? As a friend and a comrade in arms, most definitely, but did they share love? They were lovers, and the battles on that particular field of combat was just as pitched and intense as any other ten operations the Chief had participated in, but he really didn't know where passion and desire stopped, and true emotions began.

He could hardly picture himself in bed with any of his fellow SPARTANS like Linda or Kelly, although in a particularly fond memory before they were augmented, they did spend a rather interesting evening of playing a game of truth or dare and spin the bottle which resulted in some very interesting and awkward makeouts, but nothing that came to fruition.

He shook his head, "this is crazy-talk Cortana," as he slammed another magazine into his assault rifle. SPARTANS were bred for war, and so were Elementals. Settling down, starting a family, raising kids, dirt farming? The image was almost too ridiculous to picture, and yet, there was an undeniable allure to it.

Further contemplation into that line of discussion was squashed during a door breach and another half-dozen targets thoroughly ventilated. Cortana gave a vocal huff, "well I hope she was any good," she teased.

"Cortana, we are not having this conversation right now! We are in the middle of a combat simulation, you're distracting me!" A hurled frag grenade exploded in one of the small adjacent rooms, accentuating the point he was making.

She merely gave another giggle, "must have been if she's distracting a SPARTAN from battle. I want details," refusing to drop the issue.

"I mean it, enough!" With that, he actually punched clear through the reinforced concrete rebar wall, planting another grenade among a midst of targets, saving him the detour around to the entrance into the final room. The last explosion was like a cannon in his head, but the target counter indicated "0" opponents remaining and the timer stopped.

"Point taken," was her only response at the sight of the massive hole in the solid concrete wall. A klaxon sounded, indicating the end of the training run, the Chief automatically making his weapon safe by ejecting the magazine along with opening and clearing the breech.

Walking out of the assault course, he was greeted by the Franco and Galen, the Point's CQB specialists. Ushering John off to a series of monitors to show him the results of his run, Meghan Buckler stood back and watched. She smiled as the Chief nodded appreciatively to the constructive advice he was being given by the two specialists. While he certainly was just as well-trained as any other member of her Elemental Point, having an outside observer give feedback was the only way to improve.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sounds of the door to her side opening, and her blood simultaneously boiled and chilled at the sight of the new guest, Star Commander Greg Ebon. He sported a series of scars from the facial reconstruction surgery from the very one-sided altercation he had with the Chief a few months back, and even then he was lucky that the Chief hadn't outright killed him. The scars made him appear almost as if he was constantly smirking or scowling, but even without them she had no doubt about he was there to talk about.

"Greetings Star Captain," was his opening statement. "I see that your little pet has been allowed out of his pen to play. I hear that he has made quite an impression around you." He paused for a moment to eye her up and down, Meghan Buckler narrowing her eyes in a response to the jab.

A deep throaty chuckle came from the Star Commander. "A real shame since tomorrow, my Point and I will be euthanizing him. I hope that you have another pet in mind, not to mention a sorry excuse for the wasted time and resources in training it."

Megan for her part maintained her cool, and allowed a smug grin across her own face, a grin that indicated her desire to kill. "Ebon, other than to try and shore up what little courage and face you have left, did you have a reason to be here, or did you want the Chief to paste you now so that you have an excuse to cower out of the Trial?"

"No, just buttering you up now so that when he fails it will be even more sweet. We both know, one way or another, he will not succeed. No stravag freebirth, no matter how well trained or well-equipped, will ever be admitted. I have seen to it." With that, he turned and left, Meghan turning darker. The Chief, sensing the traded volleys, sidled up to Meghan. The two locked eyes for a moment, and shared an almost telepathic connection before jointly turning and walking out.

Not a word was spoken on the long walk from the assault course back to the residential sector of the base. Cortana broke the silence on the externals speakers of the MJOLNIR suit, "that was Ebon, the one you told me about, wasn't it, I mean quiaff?" The Star Captain's face twisted slightly at the botched language but let it slide.

"Aff, it was him," not turning to face the Chief or Cortana.

"I am surprised that considering what the Chief did to him a few months ago even when he had the drop on the Chief and was outnumbered that he would still be willing to face him." The Chief kept silent but also wondered what delusions the Star Commander held, or beliefs so deep that he would be willing to have another round, even though this time the Chief would be fully armed and armored.

"Neg, it is simply our way. Warriors do not cede defeat easily or are turned from opinions due to what one may consider a chance occurrence. In fact, fighting and indeed sacrificing your life for one's cause is viewed as perhaps the greatest and noblest act of all."

It suddenly started to make sense to the Chief, and he spoke next. "We are boxed in either way this comes out. I die, and it only further reinforces the superiority complex and example for the trueborns and those of the crusader faction. I win, Ebon becomes a martyr and rallying cry for the crusaders, is that about right quiaff?"

"Aff, John, that would about be it." Her shoulders sagged slightly at the admission that the situation was less than ideal.

Arriving at John's quarters, Meghan waited at the door to see whether she would be allowed in. The Chief opened the door and allowed her admittance, his heavy armor looking almost out of place in the small ground-floor apartment he had been granted on the base.

Moving to a specially equipped room and locker, John began removing the various pieces of heavy armor and placing them inside the heavy safe which normally would hold Clan infantry battle suits. Meghan respected his privacy at the moment, not wanting to be imposing too much. John emerged later wearing a loose-fitting set of sweatgear, looking forlorn and tired, favoring a shoulder.

She motioned for him to sit next to her on the sofa, which he did, and her powerful, massive hands dug into his neck and back. The Chief let out an appreciative sigh, thankful that for once he did not have to hold all the tensions for once, but he could not quite seem to let go of tomorrow.

"He is going to cheat tomorrow, John. The Crusaders have set it up, I am completely sure of that. You have to be ready, expect the unexpected, and hold nothing back."

John merely grunted an acknowledgement, not wanting to think about his Trial. It would be a simple mission, him against Ebon and two other members of Ebon's Point. Rules? Kill or be killed. Deep down though, he felt it was a waste. Even though Ebon was a narrow-minded supremacist he was one of the Clans more formidable warriors and capable Elemental Star Commander. It would be a waste to kill him, but if he desired to make himself an enemy of the Chief, he would not hesitate at the slightest to eliminate the possible menace.

Closing his eyes and not desiring to think about that particular battlefield, he leaned back against Meghan who cradled him gently, hoping to unwind for a little while. Relaxation would not be the order for the evening as Meghan reached behind her to kill the lights, and a little while later he found himself fighting a much more pitched battle on a very different field.

Snow Raven Maximum Security Medical Facility, Location: Classified

The flood infection form continually bounced in and around the small tube it was confined in. To most observers, it appeared the flood spore was like an insect trying to fly through a closed window to get outside. To the more observant, they would notice the hairline crack that was forming in the clear material............