Chapter 1

Adrien B-243 sat stiffly on a bench outside of the staff sergeant's office, staring at the featureless wall in front of him. It was steel, he guessed, painted a pale gray - and that was all there was to it. There were no cracks to follow with his eyes as he waited; he could only think aimlessly. He didn't understand what was waiting for him. For the first time in years, he felt nervous. He started bouncing his knee, though otherwise he didn't move. The little jitter helped him focus. Graduation had been only a few days ago; he and the rest of Chakram had been preparing to be deployed. None of them had expected the call to come for him, and considering who it was from, he was worried that he'd secretly failed, or that he'd done something wrong.

How long was he expected to wait? He'd been sitting there for half an hour at this point, doing nothing but thinking. What had he done wrong? He didn't know. Everything had gone well in training and during the tests. His team had been doing well. Why call for him, and not for Janice? She was the squad leader, after all. What had he done wrong?

Forty-five minutes, down to the second, after he'd sat down, the door opened. Staff Sergeant Victor A-013 poked his head out and motioned for him to enter. Adrien rose to his feet and walked in, his knee stopping its jitter the moment he heard the door. Inside, Victor took a seat, Adrien saluted and stood straight, staring evenly at the wall. "Sir," he said. "You wished to see me, sir."

"At ease, Spartan. Take a seat." the sergeant replied. He sounded almost… was that regret Adrien heard in his voice? Nonetheless, he stepped forward and sat down, continuing to stare at the wall. He was expecting a lecture; instead, the sergeant reached beneath his desk and slid a file towards him. His eyes flickered over, and he allowed himself a look of confusion. "Sir?" he asked.

Victor sighed softly and motioned to it. "Open it," he said. "Read the first page."

Adrien turned to the file and reached forward; he flipped the file open and found himself staring at his own face. There were two pictures of him; one when he'd first arrived at the age of ten, and one taken just a week ago at program graduation. He pushed them aside; flipped them over. Looking at his own face made him oddly uncomfortable.

Beneath was his own file; details about age, birth, blood type. A small square next to the word AUGMENTATIONS read "Successful."

His eyes flitted further down, where someone had written a blurb on him. A summary?

"Aloud, please, Spartan."

"Sir. Yes sir," he said, blinking and taking a moment to situate himself. "Subject B-243 shows remarkable empathetic affinity for fellow members of Beta company from the start of the program. Studious. Driven. Functions well alone as well as with others. Post Augmentation: Subject's genetic makeup appears to mesh well with augmentations. Augs have taken hold exceptionally well. Rapid Recovery.

"Subject shows rapid acclimatization to augmentations. Extreme reaction times. Helps younger members of beta-company acclimatize. Subject's earlier talent in close-quarters appears amplified. Designated high skill level. Subject passes all classes and tests with high marks. Special marks in reconnaissance and scouting."

Adrien stopped reading, then. Hearing these kinds of details spoken from his own mouth made him even more uncomfortable than looking at his face. He didn't like singing his own praises, even if they were the words of someone else. He looked up, an eyebrow faintly raised, to Victor. "Sir?" he asked.

The staff sergeant motioned to the file again. "Read the last line."

Adrien nodded and looked back down, his eyes flitting through the last remaining lines. At the end was only a quick sentence. "Subject is designated Category-2 and recommended for redeployment to Gauntlet Team."

Just below was a red stamp that read "APPROVED".

Again, he looked up. He felt… eager, yes, and yet nervous. He wasn't sure he fully enjoyed the idea of leaving his squad - his brothers and sisters. "Sir?" he asked once again.

"Congratulations, spartan," Victor said. He looked at Adrien and smiled - of all things, smiled. In eight years, Adrien had never once seen the man smile. Victor rose to his feet and extended a hand; Adrien rose and cautiously took it. They shook, and the sergeant sat back down. "You're leaving Onyx to go on a special deployment team. Tomorrow at 0600 hours you will present yourself to the airstrip with your things and take a transport to a laboratory where you will undergo fitting and testing with MJOLNIR armor. There you will spend up to a month to get used to it, and then will be shipped off to joint Gauntlet. Don't be late for that transport."

"Sir. Yes sir."

"Dismissed, spartan. Oh, and one final word - you are not to speak any details to your squadmates outside of the fact that you are being redeployed and designated Cat-2. Understood?"

Adrien stood up straight and nodded. "Sir. Yes, sir," he said. He saluted, spun on his heel, and walked out of the office, walking back through the empty halls towards where his squad was bunked.

When he returned, he offered a tight smile to his squadmates and explained his redeployment; he was met with some cheers and a few claps on the back. Packing, of course, took no time at all; a couple sets of clothes and his knives. It all barely filled half of the duffel bag they all had at their disposal. All that was left, then, was time.

In the end, they all decided to kill the time the best way they knew how: moving. As a unit, they made their way to the gymnasium - though Derrick rushed off at some point without explaining why, other than it being important.

The walk took little more than five minutes, and they started stretching and warming up as one. Adrien listened to the idle chatter with a smile, though he remained quiet himself. He was thinking too much to be able to enjoy the conversation, which at this point was revolving mostly about what they think would happen in the upcoming missions, now that beta company was going to be deployed for real. Janice was the one that broke him out of his reverie by punching him in the shoulder with a grin. When he looked at her, she pointed to the entrance; Derrick had returned, along with all of Teams Lance and Bulwark.

"Alright, listen up!" Janice shouted to everyone in range. Adrien listened with one ear as he looked through the new arrivals; there she was. Gen winked at him through the gym as she moved through a warmup, and Janice continued to shout out commands. At 6'1, she was among the shortest in the company, but she was nonetheless a great squad leader. People listened to her - not that they had a choice, of course.

In the end, dodgeball was decided as the time sink. Adrien had played dodgeball often before entering the program, but now that they'd all graduated, it was sure to be something different. They'd played a handful of times. He enjoyed the competition.

They were split into two teams, each totalling nine and consisting of an even mix of all three squads, and then went at it. It was a good thing that the balls were specially reinforced - if they'd had normal ones they'd have been scrapped after the first throws. The match moved quickly. Scoring a hit was a difficult thing to manage when your opponents were trained to dodge gunfire - and, at times, actually could. The balls whizzed through the open air; getting hit without being prepared for it would send you tumbling. Adrien let out a laugh as he tilted his head at the last second, watching the ball barely miss grazing his ear - before he whipped his hand out and caught it. There was a groan from the other side as Guy stepped back out onto the ring, letting out a whoop. Adrien leapt above another ball and, from his airborne position, launched the ball to the other side; he was rewarded when his target was hit in the head and fell to the ground.

The game moved back and forth, back and forth. Dodgeball, admittedly, wasn't the best game to play with spartans, since it moved so quickly, but it did allow them to work up a good sweat. They took a break after an hour; Janice called for them to reconvene in ten minutes.

Adrien let out a pleased sigh and took a seat on a bench, waiting for the line to the water fountain to shorten. A moment later, someone plopped down next to him and rested their head on his shoulder. He smiled, closing his eyes.

"You play dirty," Gen said, poking him in the ribs.

"And you don't?" He replied, opening his eyes to look over at her. She was staring out frontwards, smiling; he let out a gentle sigh as brown eyes slowly found his. "Of course," she replied, sticking her tongue out at him. "Now, what's this about you being reassigned?"

"I don't know the specifics," he said. "And I'm not allowed to say a lot. But I've been designated cat-2, so they're sending me out."

"When are you leaving?"

"Tomorrow," he said. "Oh-six-hundred."

"Damn. That's early."

"Yeah."

"So, what do you say we scram for a little while, let these guys keep beating on each other?"

Adrien paused, looking at his fellows jostling themselves in the lines, laughing and chattering. It would be his last chance to see things like this. It would be his last night here no matter what. He opened his mouth to reply when he saw Janice from a ways away, making a shooing motion towards him.

The last night for many things.

"Alright," he said, rising to his feet. "Let's go."

They left the gym and headed towards the mess hall, walking in silence. At this hour, there would still be a few people there, but after the day and the game they were both getting hungry - and Spartans needed to eat more than most. They moved quietly, at ease with one another. They'd first started interacting during a training exercise a year before augmentation and had been close ever since, different squads be damned. He would miss her, he realized as they walked, and more than he'd miss almost any of the others. He didn't know if there would be others on the transport, though a few others had been pulled other the past two months. Most of Beta company would simply move on without them.

They talked about random things as they got their rations and ate. The mess hall wasn't all that full, in the end - for the next few days, meal hour wasn't quite as strictly regimented, giving the spartans a little leeway. Only a few tables were properly occupied, and they managed to get one just to themselves. Adrien offered some waves to the other tables now and then, but for the most part he focused on Gen. When at last the conversation lulled, he watched her eat intently.

"You'll come by the barracks tomorrow morning, right?" she asked eventually, her eyes flicking up at him. "We don't have anything scheduled, so I'll come see you off."

"Yeah," he replied. "Sure thing."

They left the mess hall soon after, wandering through Currahee. At some point - Adrien wasn't counting the minutes anymore - Gen reached out and took his hand, pulling him close. They walked in companionable silence. She was the one that broke it, in the end. "Want to kill some time?" she asked him.

He paused mid-stride, finding himself deep in thought. "Last night," he said with a small nod, looking at her. Her eyes seemed oddly wide, and he smiled, reaching out to push a rogue strand of hair off her forehead. "Why not?"

He got back to his bunks late; there was some teasing from the others about his disheveled state, which he retaliated to with friendly shoulder-punches. He needed to sleep, he knew that, but if he was leaving he couldn't just go already. So he stayed up another hour, chatting with the others, acting as if everything were still the same. As if he weren't leaving the next day. In the end, however, he needed to get to bed; he undressed, lay down, and was out before he knew it.

He woke up early the next day, before sunrise. Looking at the clock, he had an hour before he needed to be at the airstrip. As quietly as he could, he got dressed and walked out of the room. Janice was leaning against the wall next to the door, looking up at the ceiling.

"I was wondering when you'd be up."

"Not going to reprimand me for not saying goodbye?"

"Nah," she said, reaching out and slugging him in the shoulder. "I know you will. Besides, I'll have them all awake and at the airstrip when it's time. Figured you might want some time to yourself. Not that you won't be getting plenty of that."

"Yeah," he said with a small sigh. "Well, I'm going to get something to eat. See you in a bit?"

"See you in a bit," she replied before moving back into the room. The door closed, and Adrien was alone in the hallway.

The mess hall was utterly empty when he arrived. He ate in contemplative silence next to the door, staring at the wall. His thoughts were oddly blank. Leaving Camp Currahee didn't excite him as much as he'd thought it might. But this morning, he couldn't afford to waste time; he headed back into the sleeping quarters and found Team Lance's room. The door opened silently, and he made his way to Gen's bunk. She looked peaceful when she was sleeping. More than she usually did. He reached out and shook her shoulder, muttering for her to wake up. Her hand reached for his wrist before her eyes even opened; only when she saw him did she relax. She motioned for him to wait, then got dressed quickly. They made their way out of the room together, headed for the airstrip.

The rest of Chakram was already there when they arrived; Janice carried Adrien's bag over her shoulder. With a smile, he hugged each of them in turn before taking the bag and holding it in one hand. The transport was already there, waiting.

"I'm gonna miss you guys," he said, looking back at them all. "Take care, alright?"

"We can handle ourselves," Gen replied with a smile.

Janice laughed. "Yeah, don't you worry about us, Ade. And you make us proud, you hear me? Or else I'm gonna find you and kick your ass."

"I plan to," he said with one last salute. Someone called his name from within the pelican, and with a nod he was on his way over. He got strapped in and set his bag into the cargo area. There were, to his suprise, three others in the transport. Raquel, Jordan and Michael all offered a wave as he settled in, and he found himself smiling. "Well, I'm glad I'm not going to be alone," Adrien said as the pelican's rear bay door closed. They could faintly hear the roar of the engines as the pelican started up; a faint jolt as it pulled off of the ground and started flying up.

"You said it," Jordan replied. "The way they explained everything to me, I thought I was going to be all alone before I shipped out. At least now I know I get to beat on the rest of you."

"Where do you think we'll be going for armor fitting?" Michael asked, looking at each of the three others in turn. "They didn't tell me anything."

"I don't think any of us are supposed to know," Adrien hazarded. "They don't want the covenant finding anything like that out. Could you imagine what would happen if they did?"

"Lots of explosions," Jordan said, tapping her foot on the ground. "Damn. I think I'm actually gonna miss camp Currahee. Who'da thought."

"Well, all things considered, it was home," Raquel said, offering a shrug. "I can barely remember what it was like before."

"That's because you're one of the youngest," Michael replied with a chuckle.

Adrien smiled at the teasing, but the truth was, he couldn't remember what things had been like before Currahee, either. He'd been ten when he arrived, and the intensity of everything since then had all but wiped his memories of the time before out. He could remember a few things, but his time at the orphanage was fuzzy. He figured it was better this way. He would remember his brothers and sisters. That and his desire to fight the covenant. That was good enough for him.

They all grew quiet as they flew out of Onyx's orbit, up towards the corvette that was waiting for them. It was a small thing and, if Adrien had to guess by the particular shape he could gleam through the front viewport, was likely a prowler, which made sense. A stealth corvette would mean less chances of Onyx being discovered.

The bay door opened as soon as they landed, and a sergeant ushered them out. He spoke little, leading the way to what would be their cabins for the trip. They were each put in separate rooms right next to one another, seeing only a spattering of crew members. When the door closed, Adrien put his bag down and glanced around the room. The trip would likely take a few days, perhaps a week, and he knew that there would be much to do. For the time being, however, he allowed himself to fall on his bed and nap.

He wasn't sure how much time had passed when he awoke; what roused him was a knock at his door. Adrien rose to his feet and shook his head to clear what remained of the sleepiness. Jordan was the one who'd knocked; she looked him up and down as the door opened. "We're going to grab lunch," she said. "Wanna come?"

Adrien nodded, passing a hand through his hair. "Yeah," he replied. "Sure thing."

He stepped into the hallway and closed the door behind him; Jordan lead the way towards the mess hall. "We've been exploring," she said. "The crew here is tiny. Passengers are us and the pelican pilot. We've basically doubled the amount of hands on board. Good amount of room for passengers, though. Max capacity is somewhere around twenty, according to Raq's guess."

"Guess?" Adrien replied, raising an eyebrow. "So she counted the number of rooms, you mean."

"Well… yeah. But there could always be more than what's in the rooms. She did some guesses based on life support systems and whatnot. Did you know they don't want us on the bridge? We're free to roam, but that's restricted."

"They must really not want us to know where we're headed."

"Yeah. Must be."

By then they'd reached the mess hall, and walked over to where their fellow spartans were eating. Only two members of the crew were there, speaking in hushed tones. Adrien spared them a momentary glance before picking up rations and taking a seat. "Is the gym any good?" he asked, looking between the others. Michael shrugged. "It's functional, I guess. Could do with some heavier weights, but I guess this was a last-minute thing, or maybe they really don't expect this trip to last long."

"At that point, why not send us into cryo-sleep for the duration?" Raquel wondered aloud. "It's not like they'd need to worry about us when we're asleep."

"Who knows," Jordan said. "Adults are weird."

"Roger that," Michael agreed, leaning back in his seat - it creaked in protest. "So the ship's small, their gym is made for regular military personnel, and we've got days with nothing but free time. What do we do?"

They decided on sparring, since it was the easiest thing for them to manage without figuring out how to squeeze load lifters onto a barbell. It also meant that Adrien would find himself outnumbered more often than not. For once, he felt just fine about that. After eating, they took some time to set up an impromptu sparring ring, using some crates to determine the corners. Then they were ready. Raquel and Jordan went at it first, moving with quick, precise strikes. Jordan was stronger, but a little slower and less exacting in her technique. It was the kind of thing Adrien picked up on, now. He'd give her some suggestions over the next few days. How to correct her footing, so that when Raq kicked out low she wouldn't stumble as easily. It was a good fight nonetheless, and both of the girls were getting into it. Raq had the upper hand, at least until Jordan managed to grab her and tossed her to the ground, pinning her down. Only then did Adrien let out a sharp whistle, calling the match. "Point to Jordan," he said, leaning back. "Take your spots."

Raquel looked up, then peered at Jordan and let out a small bark of laughter. "How about we switch it up?" she asked. "Ade, how about you?"

Jordan let go and stood back, shaking her head. "Uh-uh. No way. I'm not falling for that again."

"You've improved a lot since the last time," Adrien said. "Though you need to work on your keeping your feet at the right width."

"No way."

"Oh, c'mon," Raquel replied with a cheeky grin as she backpedaled out of the ring. "You won against me."

Michael simply laughed from his seat in the corner. Jordan grimaced, then sighed. "Fine. But you get to go after him next."

Adrien nodded and stepped into the ring, taking position. Jordan stood in front of him; a little shorter, a little smaller. Not by much. They nodded to each other and stood in silence. Michael called the start of the match.

Jordan struck first, closing the distance and rapidly striking at Adrien with her fists, followed by a drop to the ground as she attempted to sweep his legs from under him. Adrien grinned as Spartan Time kicked in. He blocked her kick with a subtle motion; nothing more than a slight raising and twisting of his foot. He brought it down on her ankle, stopping the blow in its tracks, then raised that same foot and aimed a side kick at her face - stopping only a hair's breadth from her nose.

All in all, it was over in perhaps three seconds. Adrien lowered his foot and reached out to help her up; Jordan scoffed, but took the hand, staring pointedly at Raquel. "See?" she said. "You get to take him on next."

"Not before I get a turn!" Michael called out, jumping off of his crate. "You girls can wait."

Of course, Michael didn't win either, though he lasted four seconds. Raquel didn't manage much better. Raquel and Jordan together managed to last a minute, but Adrien was grinning the entire time. When Michael jumped in, he narrowed his eyes. This wasn't a sparring match, anymore. It was still friendly, sure, but the others wanted to get him down. They wanted to see if they could get him down.

They didn't stand a chance.

Adrien moved like a whirlwind between them, dividing their fronts, not giving them a moment to properly launch an attack. He played defensively, but used their strength against them; when Jordan charged, her flipped her into Michael, then dropped and swept Raquel's legs out from under her. On a few occasions, they actually did make him sweat; Jordan managed to pin him and the others started attacking, or Raquel managed to stop him from landing evenly at just the right moment for Michael to tackle him. It went on, and on, and on. Time was meaningless; all they could focus on was the competition.

At least until the door opened and an officer walked in. "What's going on, here?" he asked. As one, the four spartans stood straight up and saluted. "Sir," Adrien said. "Sparring, sir."

"Cut it out, soldiers. The scientists will have our heads if any one of you injures yourselves. Find something else to do."

"Sir, yes sir," they echoed as one. The officer looked at them for a moment, then shook his head and left the cargo hold. Adrien looked to the others with a sigh; Raquel had an irritated grimace on her face. "So much for that," she muttered. "Maybe they'll have books?"

"Yeah, maybe," Michael replied.

Only one thing was certain, now; this was, indeed, going to be a very long ride.