CHAPTER TWO

0630 Hours, July 22, 2523 (Military Calendar) Epsilon Eridani system, planet Reach, Spartan training Exercise. Twenty-nine years ago.

Rachel and the other Spartans stood at attention as CPO Mendez strolled in front of them. "Your mission today recruits, is to retrieve the flag at the other end of the obstacle course. You will take turns attempting to recover it. The recruit with the slowest time or any recruit KIA will have to run back to base. Rachel wasn't especially nervous or bored, she was content. She knew that the obstacle course wasn't any normal one. It was a two mile long battlefield. Mendez usually had many surprises hidden along the way. "117 you are up first. Good luck." John stepped forward accepted his rifle, and sprinted off into the course. Seven minutes later he was back with flag in hand. "Piece of cake."
"035, you're next."
Rachel accepted her rifle, she checked the ammo indicator, sixty tranc darts. No extra clips, so she would have to conserve ammo. She turned and sprinted into the course. A short run brought her to the first obstacle, a thirty foot wall. Normally challenges weren't this easy so she was cautious as she jogged up to it. There didn't seem to be any obvious dangers around, so she backed up about a hundred feet and sprinted straight towards the wall. When she got close to it, she jumped onto the wall, allowing her momentum to hold her to the wall as she ran up it. As she got to the top she stopped. Down below her were three marines with assault rifles aimed right at her. She jumped backwards and grabbed onto the edge of the wall with her free hand as bullets bit into the wood around her. The marines ran around the wall to get a better shot at her, and were greeted by a hail of tranc darts from above. Content that there were no other threats in the vicinity, Rachel moved on. As she moved further through the course she heard a voice yell "Hold your position and drop your weapon!"
Rachel looked around and saw that a group of at least fifteen marines from Tango Company were moving into a circle around her. Tango Company has faced the Spartans on several occasions, and were pretty tired of loosing. That meant that they weren't going to play fair. She dropped her weapon and stepped away from it. "Damn Section Three kids, you never learn do you?" One of the marines moved over with a zip-tie to restrain Rachel. "Touch me, with that" she gestured to the zip-tie "and I will attach your tongue to your ankles with it."
The marine laughed and grabbed Rachel's arm. She pulled her arm back swiftly and whipped the marine's arm around into the hammerlock position. She herd a wet pop as the marine's shoulder dislocated. She then threw the injured marine at his comrades in front of her, then spun around with a roundhouse that connected solidly with two more marine's faces. They dropped like rocks.

The other Spartans and CPO Mendez waited for Rachel at the finish line. CPO Mendez looked at his watch, it read 8:54. "Where in the hell is that girl?"
As if on queue Rachel sprinted around the last corner and dove across the finish line. "Finished sir!"
"What took you so long soldier?"
"Sir I was ambushed by a group of Tango Company's men sir!"
"How many?"
"Sir there were at least fifteen sir!"
"Fifteen! How the hell did you…" His voice trailed off as a medical jeep pulled up to the group. A medic jumped out of the driver's seat. "Explain yourself!" Mendez said to the medic.
"Sir I found a group of wounded men out on the course. Some of them are pretty bad, and one has his tongue attached to his ankles with a zip-tie sir." Rachel and the other kids giggled.
"Well, don't waste any time, get them to the hospital."
"Sir!"
The medic snapped off a quick salute before jumping back into the jeep and speeding off down the dirt road. Mendez looked at Rachel, then back at the jeep fading into the distance then shook his head. That day she found her calling. She didn't have superior aim like Linda, nor blinding speed like Kelly, not even extremely good luck like John, but as she found out no one could match her in unarmed combat, no one.