I'll Stay
Ch. 5 Feet Not First, Until First made Last!
POV: O'Brien
"ATTENTION!"
The moment of truth had arrived, all of us were in assembly. ODST, Marines, and quite a few Spartans were segregated by what they were. (You could tell they were Spartans as they were in armor.) As we waited, the good doctor from before came to a podium. Composing herself with a pull on her lab coat, she began.
"Soldiers of the UNSC. You have come here for one purpose, one of urgency. So let me be brief. You have signed on to what could be a suicide squad if any part of the mission fails. All of you will now begin your training. It will entail everything that we used to mold the spartans you see before you."
Dr. Halsey directed her hand to the said behemoths in clothes, akin to drill instructors that we dealt with back in ODST training.
"And who better to mold you than the spartans themselves. One or a few will take some of you under their wing. Depending on the number of spartans per team will decide how big that training group will be. Example. An individual spartan will be in charge of no more than a few of you. So teams with three spartans should expect no more than twelve personnel to work with. So let me be clear on one more thing to each of you..."
Halsey moved closer to the microphone and a look of anger briefly shot across her face. "I want all of you to take this seriously. If we feel you aren't giving it your all, we have "ways' of fixing that. You had your chance to back down. And if you are going to survive the next couple of months you're going to have to listen to your instructors…"
If I could look in a mirror right then, I would've see the drained color from my face. Though I'm sure it matched the other men's faces around me. Including my team.
The woman's face softened after a moment and directed us forward.
"Now, we'll begin assigning everyone to their instructor. If you enter through this door you will be given what our research has shown where you will fit. You'll be given instructions on what to do next."
That said, the doctor walked off. Many of the men started to mumble as they were contemplating what we were told.
I guess Cal was right, the Spartans are in command. This time… I won't complain.
As I made that vow, one of the marines got up on stage. Older gruff looking man had a big cigar in his mouth. He was a sergeant by the look of his insignia.
"You heard the lady! So stop acting like a bunch of gossiping school girls with their panties in a knot and get going! The spartans already beat y'all to it!"
Sure enough, we saw the spartans walking into the building wasting no time. Without another thought, all of us rushed to follow behind.
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The room we entered was a hallway that lined up with everyone except the spartans. A voice rang out and stated calmly, "Attention! You will enter ahead in small groups at a time, there you will be sorted to your assigned spartan."
As soon as the intercom stopped, The doors opened to let about ten people in before shutting the door quickly. A poor marine slammed his head into the door when it happened the first time, and the rest of us made sure not to make the same mistake. So there we waited. It was about eight minutes for the doors to open again, repeating the process over and over again. This was taking forever.
"Cortez, do you think we'll be separated?"
"I doubt it, It would be stupid to break apart long standing teammates. Not to mention the time it would take to earn trust with everyone."
A weight was lifted from my mind. He was right, they would be stupid to break us up.
"Let's hope it applies to Cal."
"Figured you'd say that."
Cortez had a big grin that soon matched with Dutch. I could do nothing but roll my eyes.
I mean it was a joke to them, and it would only get worse. And why shouldn't I care?
She saved us and I want the chance to pay her back. And this training will give me the best chance to do that.
After all the waiting, it was now our turn. Another team followed behind us and the door shut just as quickly as before. The room was huge and other marines had datapads leading others to their assigned spartan.
"Sergeant Cortez? Is your squad all here?"
"Yes."
The man started typing on his pad, only building suspense. I held in my breath in hope.
"Then go through door A. You'll be assigned to Spartan 141 for training, alongside 052, and 117."
Air escaped from my chest in relief, 141 was Cal's number. I had no idea about the other numbers, believing that it didn't matter.
All of us walked in silence to the door not knowing what we were going to see.
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Low and behold, the room we just entered was a gym. A gym not much different than the one on the ship we left behind. Although we had room this time, room for an entire track. In the center of the track were three Spartans all suited up, side by side. Cal was to the left with 141 on her left breast plate, the shortest of them being in the center was 117, and on the right, whose armor was much different than what Cal or the one in the center had, was 052.
Guess not all Spartans are equal…
"Sergeant Cortez reporting for duty."
The short one stepped forward with his hands behind his back.
"Please choose a row, we'll begin our test when the rest of the squads come in."
Sure enough, there were lines in the center for different squads, enough for three.
It took the better part of what felt like forever before the next squad came. It looked like a group of marines led by the Sergeant from the auditorium with a big cigar in his mouth.
What's he doing here? I thought he was just observing our training?
"Staff Sergeant Johnson reporting for duty."
117 was quick to respond, "I would advise you to not smoke during or after our training sessions."
The sergeant only said, "Rats." Before tossing the cigar to the ground and stepping on it.
"Need I reminded you all the importance of this operation? There will be no time for horseplay or shenanigans you are used to. If you are going to be a part of this training, I will need your full cooperation. Failure to do so will result in 'consequences'."
Yeah, prison or worse…
More time went by as we stood there in agony, waiting for what I hoped was the final team to join us.
Come on! Clearly they don't find this important enough if they're not gonna show up on time.
No sooner had I thought this, the door opened revealing the last squad marching through the door. They were neither Marines or ODST. In fact, I didn't know what they were.
What kind of uniform is that? Just a one piece black jumpsuit? And now that I got a better look, some of them look pretty young?!
"Commander Carter reporting for duty."
None of the other recruit's including myself could hold back our visible shock.
An army guy! And a commander?! Isn't that high rank?!
"Commander, what have you been briefed in regards to the training?"
"Under this Op, you are in a higher position and have full control over the training as a Spartan II. And when the final operation is underway, I will be in a second in command in case you are MIA or you have lost communication with the main force."
I could only shake my head slightly at the confusion from the logic behind it.
That is just too weird! An officer under command of an NCO? I mean, sure they're from different branches! But Commander is an army rank and 117 is… a Master Chief! Is a Spartan II that much of a difference?
"Then we'll begin the training. Expect this to be different than your Spartan III program."
My mind short circuited at the new revelation of a new Spartan type as the "Chief" moved forward.
"The first step in your training will be to evaluate each of you, the best way to do that will be to do a little test."
None of us knew what a Spartan would consider little at this point. For all we knew little would be clearing a minefield, running three marathons, or pulverizing a tank. One thing I did know was that us "mortals' " ears itched to know what it would be. Though the words escaped his hidden mouth, it did little to reassure us.
"A small race."
End Chapter