Author's Note:*cough cough* ok, since inqusitor Toth is becoming a real pain in the ass, I have to hide all my Master Chief fan articles...no matter, time for the
Disclaimer:If I would own halo, I would be marked as a heretic by inquisitor Toth...I don't want that, no?
Chapter 4: Oh sweet alluring insanity
ONI provided the Spartans with all the weapons they wanted, even Covenant weapons. John made sure that all of his teammates had at least one Plasma Sword and one conventional pistol. Other than that, the Chief (John) took a Spartan Laser with him, a very heavy weapon, able to take out both vehicles and infantry with the precision of a pistol and the firepower of a rocket launcher.
Alice used two Plasma swords but unfortunately was not allowed to bring the Chain Gun with her, which she had already used in the Harvest Campaign. Instead she took a shotgun.
Jerome took a sniper rifle and a Spartan Laser, while Douglas had to discard his rocket launcher, using that in a canyon would only slow him down. He took a brute-mauler as side arm and a shotgun.
While they prepared, they held a conversation, with the rogue "Laughing Death" as subject.
"I would have never thought that we would have to fight against a brother...but then again, I don't even know him. And we have all seen what he did to this scientists." Douglas shook his head in disbelief. He had seen things like that in the war, had seen how Covenant brutes tore men apart, drenched in blood and organs, reveling in the carnage. He himself had seen the dismemberment of limbs from enemies as a tactical fighting he had never seen a Spartan - a brother - living out his sadistic desires on an unarmed civilian. He had simply never thought it possible before, as all of them hadn't.
The Spartan-II Program was sparked to life in the year 2517, 75 children at the age of 5-6 were secretly abducted from their parents (thus drafted into the army), the children replaced by clones for the former parents, and then tutored under various teachers, the most famous (or infamous) of them was Mendez. The head scientist of the project was Dr. Catherine Halsey (she was also the one of whom the brainwave patterns were taken to create the AI Cortana).
The young Spartans always visualized Halsey as "mother", Halsey gave her "children" occasionally opportunities to engage in various activities, for example, she allowed John-117 (later known as "Master Chief") to play piano.
The children underwent several augmentation processes, boosting their muscle-and-bone-growth, density, thus giving all surviving Spartans their gargantuan growth of usually 2 metres. The bones were also given a Carbide-Ceramic-Ossification, making the bones nigh indestructible. Their brains received a Superconducting Fibrification of Neural Dendrites, increasing the Spartans reflexes by 300%. Aside from that, the augmentation process (which was conducted on the Spartans at the age of 14) killed all sexual drives, as a Spartan was bred for war and nothing else.
The overall results of the augmentations were:
Capable of running speeds exceeding 55 KPH (34,155 MPH)). Kelly-087 (Member of Blue Team (John-117's actual team), famous for being the fastest Spartan in existence) was capable of running even faster, her top speed in the MARK V armor being 62 KPH)
Capable of lifting 3 times their body weight
Virtual night vision
Reaction times of estimated 20 miliseconds. Significantly faster in combat situations or with AI assistance
Capable of unprecedent teamwork, that resembled "telepathy"
No physiological or mental instabilities
Unusual regenerative abilities
Mendez himself stated that the Spartans would only develop their abilities further with the time, adjusting to their augmentations.
Unfortunately, the program also stated a high casualty rate. From the 75 children, only 45 survived, from those 45, 12 were severely crippled, rendering them unable to fight. Those 12 "Wash Outs" , as Mendez called them, were barely able to breath, their skeletal structure twisted beyond recognition, giving them an almost inhumane appearance. Others were blind, or had their limbs paralyzed.
The Spartans were always a tight-knit group, every Spartan knew his brothers by name, appearance and even voice. That they didn't know this particular rogue Spartan was...a disturbing experience for them. They didn't want to fight a brother, yet was this man even a brother, despite his appearance and prowess?
Letting lose a resignated sigh, the Spartans finished grabbing their gear and made their way to the chopper, which would bring them to their target. The order was like before "shoot on sight".
Again he was surrounded by the eleven pairs of eyes, all staring down at his prone figure, laying in a pool of blood. Laugh was alone. A horrifying experience, which made Madness a mercy. Laugh knelt before the intimidating eyes. Insanity, born from this pitiful excuse of an existence. Loneliness, longing. Hunger. He was never made to be alone. Was he a monster? Did it matter? Was a monster evil? Was he evil? If he was a monster, and as the result evil, was he then innocently evil, since he had just become what others wanted him to become?What were those others then? Loneliness. He was scared to be alone. He never thought he would have to endure the horrible feeling of loneliness, part of him was gone and so was his mind. Yet he was too old to just give up, too old to be disloyal. He had dug his way through time, stone and earth. He had suffered too much to give up.
From the eyes, a solid hand erupted, scars running across the once delicate skin. Laugh recognized the hand immediately, tried to grab it. His bloodstained hands touch the skin with a desperate longing, the hand emitting sweet indulgence. He will never forget, never forgive, never die. Slowly the hand retreats, he tried to clasp his hands around it, tried to pull Cry to him. All in vain.
He was alone.