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0000 Hours March 30, 2525 (Military Calendar) /
UNSC Carrier Atlas en route to the Lambda
Serpentis System
"And so we commit the bodies of our fallen brothers to space."
Mendez solemnly closed his eyes for a moment, the ceremony completed. He pressed a control and the ash canisters moved slowly into the ejection tubes… and the void beyond.
Daniel, like the other Spartans, stood at attention. His body felt sadness and he wasn't sure whether or not to say something. The deck was eerily quiet, the usual hustle and bustle was no more and you could, theoretically of course, hear a pin drop.
"Honors!... Ten hut!" Mendez barked.
All the Spartans saluted in unison.
"Duty," Mendez said, "honor and self sacrifice. Death does not diminish these qualities in a soldier. We shall remember." His face was like that of a statue, staring coldly into the space as the canisters, one by one, floated by. With a sigh, "Crewmen, dismissed."
Daniel turned to Ruchi and they nodded to each other. Not all the Spartans had died, a good thirty others had survived and were back to normal. Another twelve after that had lived, but with crippling side effects. Daniel and Ruchi walked up to their other teammate, Fhajad.
Daniel gave a crisp salute as he stared down at the shaking teen. He now had what resembled Parkinson disease, as he shook uncontrollably in his wheelchair. Fhajad returned the salute and Daniel let out a sigh.
"Do us proud."
Daniel and Ruchi walked back to the other Spartans, giving exchanged looks of sadness. This was one of the hardest missions yet, after the "drug test" they had been explained fully what had happened. Their genes had been messed with and mutated, which would explain all the side effects. Everything felt clumsy at times, Daniel had actually fallen over quite a few times already while most of the other Spartans were able to keep their balance.
John came up to the group and repeated what had just been told to him by the CPO, "Two days of full bed rest, then microgravity physical therapy, after that dropship simulator training along with organic chemistry and complex algebra."
All of the Spartans saluted.
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0530 Hours, May 20, 2525 (Military Calendar) /
Epsilon Eridani System, Reach UNSC Military Complex,
planet Reach
"How long have you been awake?"
Today was an ordinary day for the Spartans. They had been given an assignment of basic training and physical exercise then immediate lecturing with Deja. Ruchi and Daniel had been the first ones to awake and had started their training early, like always.
The sun was just starting to creep over the hills in the horizon and an orange and indago was burning through the sky.
"An hour sir." Daniel had responded to John who was staring over the two. They had been told that within a month or two their barracks and training chambers would be moved, with that in mind the Spartans had been trying to use all the resources they could get out of the training grounds.
"You need to rest just as much as train." John decided to remind Daniel, almost in a mocking tone of sorts. Yes he was the higher rank in the two but it seemed Daniel didn't really care about that. Every time John had tried to talk to him or become friendlier with him it always ended the same.
"I understand that, John." Daniel smirked. No matter how many times they had gone through this it never seemed like it was enough. They would constantly push off each other over and over. But in a way it was good, Daniel was making damn sure he was training to surpass John, while John got to keep a small bit of his human side. Rivalry, like most other things that humans have, can be good and bad, depending on who it is between.
But what happens when a rivalry is between two of the strongest soldiers in the known galaxy? These two aren't stupid enough to actually fist fight, where they have sparred before they would never cause physical harm to each other. They acted almost as brothers, bickering in a sense. But if you were just a stranger and happened to listen on to one of their conversations, it would seem normal enough.
"Would you like to train with us, John?" Ruchi had stopped her training and now was standing in-between the two. While Ruchi and Daniel never let on, they were pushing themselves past the limits of their bodies. But it wasn't just them, they had caught other Spartans training past lights out and it was refreshing to know that they weren't the only ones.
John contemplated the question for a moment but thought it would be good. Everyone in the Spartan program had a different way of training physically and mentally and this way he could see how these two were progressing on a personal basis, instead of seeing it through statistics or paperwork.
"Alright, today is my day to decide." Daniel smiled at Ruchi, who just stood there. Teasing didn't happen often but they were trained to let go of emotions such as anger or jealousy as it would only cloud your mind while you were on a mission. Ruchi nodded, their agreement was that they would trade off days to choose how to train.
"Ten laps around the complex. Go!"
The three Spartans blasted off, "going fast" was an understatement. Marines were in confusion when blurs flew by them and a wind followed soon after. Being able to run bursts of 55 KPH is pushing their max speed, but for John and Daniel today that wasn't fast enough. It almost seemed like a race, a foot race against the two rivals. They were bitter opposites of sorts and yet all the same. Daniel, like John, was fearless and brave, ready to step into a mission or save the day if need. Although John, like the others, were trained to not show emotion at any time, Daniel loved to try to get under the other Spartans skins at times as a joke of sorts.
As the seventh lap ended and the eight began, memories started flocking to Daniel's mind as though it were bees to pollen. Thoughts of the first day back plagued his mind, a day his unfortunate talent was present.
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1000 Hours, May 01, 2525 (Military Calendar) /
Epsilon Eridani System, Reach UNSC Military Complex,
planet Reach
"This is going to be a simple spar." The CPO barked, "Marine Coats will fight against … Trainee 045."
Daniel was eager to get in the ring, he had been on bed rest for almost a week. Just because he had been one of the ones who almost didn't make it. He shook his hair, which was starting to grow back, and readied himself.
"Begin." Mendez practically yelled.
The marine smiled and closed the distance between himself and the Spartan. He figured this would be the day he got his promotion for kicking this kids ass. Coats threw the first punch and unfortunately his last.
Daniel, who was wandering why the marine was running so slow, decided to wait for him to throw the first punch, which he did. Daniel used his arm to block and push the punch away. Inherently, Daniel did not hear the cracking of the bones, but everyone else did. Following up with a quick two punches to the stomach, causing the marine to stumble backwards. Blood forming quickly in his mouth, Daniel decided to finish it with a high kick to the chest, this time he did hear the cracks.
Medics had immediately rushed over to the marine. His ribcage was completely shattered along with his right arm, he was as good as dead in a few minutes. Daniel, to say the least, had gained some new enemies. But how was he supposed to know that his punches and single kick could kill a full grown man, if he had known he was this strong he would have held back.
"Spartans, go train alone. No more marine contact." Mendez said solemnly.
"Sir. Yes sir."
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Back in the present the final stretch of the last lap had begun. John and Daniel had been neck and neck for most of the race, while Ruchi was only just a fair bit behind. The finish line, proudly marked by Daniel's tree, was sitting their almost tauntingly, waiting for the competitors to finish. Only a good fifty or so meters left, Daniel decided to push as hard as he could, one last time.
It was over, the race was complete. John and Ruchi were standing next to the tree and Daniel was laying face flat on the ground, he had tripped.
"How about we eat and then continue."
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0930 Hours, September 11, 2525 (Military Calendar) /
Epsilon Eridani System, Reach UNSC Military Complex,
planet Reach
"Start the drill."
Mendez's voice echoed throughout the cavern as the men wearing the primitive Mark I power armor readied themselves. Around the concrete bunker were six men in these suits, another three stood at the top surrounding the flag.
Daniel and John were blazing across the ceiling, they balanced themselves on the girders. "There." Daniel pointed to three different spots and John acknowledged him. "Cameras are unplugged, start Kelly." said John.
Daniel watched as Kelly blasted along side the shadows, guns blasted to life as bullets flew through the air towards her, but none connected. Daniel decided now would be best to do his part of the drill. He free-rappelled down from the girders and gantries overhead, landing behind one of the perimeter guards, quiet as a cat. Daniel punched the guard's armor twice, denting the heavy plates, then dropped low and swept the target's legs out from under him. The guard sprawled on the ground. Attaching his rappelling line to the trainer, he burst off into the darkness waiting to help, if needed.
John and Ruchi descended to the center, they were unnoticed. John immediately landed, braced, and kicked one guard, eight meters away. Ruchi, on the other hand, flipped end over end, evading the stun rounds that filled the air. Throwing herself at the farthest guard and bringing him into the shadows. Then man's gun fired once and than silence.
Daniel could see, and hear for that matter, that John twisted one of the arms in the exoskeleton suit, that would most likely hurt. Stopping in front of the electrical box he looked at if for a moment, counted to three and undid all the plugs in a fell swoop of his hand. The lights went out and the Spartans went in.
"Backups. Hit the backup lights now!" Mendez yelled into the microphone which in-turn blasted through the air thanks to the speakers. Amber lights flickered to life to show no Spartans, but all the guards were laying immobile in some way.
After a few minutes of silence Mendez's voice echoed once more, "Topside. On the double! Get to your barracks and prep for evac, be ready to muster at 0400."
"Sir, yes sir." All the Spartans stepped out of the shadows to salute.
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Well that concludes chapter four. I was going to continue writing up to the part where they are debriefed but I figured that will make for a good start to the next chapter.
So reviews, comments, flames, questions, anything and everything from anyone, send em in. They are great motivational helpers and makes me get chapters out quicker and hopefully better.