Disclaimer: Halo is property of Bungie and 343 industries. All OC's belong to me.

Notrous's Perspective

I finished the detailing on my armour to hear the ships comms come to life once again. "All Spartan personal please report to the barracks for skirmish debriefing and weapon calibrations and mission debriefing. Kyle rolled out of bed, quite literally and fell onto a pile of tools used to take apart my armour. He yelped in slight pain. "OW Fuck! Why do you keep your shit in the middle of the floor?" He said as he wiped blood off of his forehead from a deep cut from a decompression tool that lay upon the pile. "Umm sorry to tell you dude but that's all of your crap. You used it to take off YOUR armour yesterday when you went to bed." I said as I put my helmet back on. "Oh yeah damn, well let's stop fighting and get down to the barracks."

He gave me a strong hit in the ribs causing me to stumble back into my bunk. "Come on get up off your ass and let's go." He said as he dragged me out of the room. As I walked down to the barrack I saw many of the other Spartans still struggling to get out of bed and get down to the barracks. "Hey dumbass, over here!" I looked over to see my good friend Ehric Haggard standing by a crowd of marines along with another Spartan wearing a set of E.O.D specialized armour. "I'd like to introduce you to Private Zac Webber, he's one of us." Said Ehric quite contently. "Yeah I can see that he is a Spartan there Haggs. I'm not blind you know." I responded in a rather confused fashion. "No that's not what I mean you idiot, I meant that he is on our team. He's Shameless as well." He stated trying to correct himself. "Not to intrude but I'm pretty sure that Clayton already introduced us. I'm Callum Downey's partner so we might be a man down for the match because he is with us also." Zac concerned as he stepped away from the marines to join the conversation. "Hey Spartans, Callum will be in the match; he got out of the infirmary this morning. I just thought you should know." A marine informed. "well isn't that great news. Let's head down to the barracks before the debriefing starts without us." I suggested as began to walk towards the barracks once more.

When we got to the barracks Captain Caussnik was already explaining the conditions of the match. "...now the ammunition supplied to you while in combat against other Spartans will always be plasma or stun rounds depending on the purpose of the battle. This battle's main objective is to test your physical and mental feats under pressure. As of 1800 tonight we will be converging with Spirit of Vengeance to assist them with the exploration of a newly discovered shield world. "He took a deep breath and went to continue but was interrupted by a few Spartans. "What is the name of this Shield World?". "Well Spartans if you didn't interrupt me you would know by now that it doesn't have a name, it is just newly discovered. I'll keep you informed though when the name is picked. Spartans, it's time to see what you are made of, and remember; this not the same as live combat. Your enemies won't be as nice as some of your teammates and rival teams. Now each team will Enter the corresponding side of the VCA deck as according to your new Service tags."

A light flashed in the bottom right of my HUD again.

/New Intel/

Service Identification changed. New Service tag: SLSR

Active effect: Immediately

I saluted then left them assembly and proceeded towards the Virtual Combat Arena. When I finally arrived I saw the silver crest above each door way and on them read each team's insignia: EPSILON, PHANTOM, THETA, SHAMELESS, CLAYMORE. Each door bared a similar crest but had only an assortment of letters instead: EPL, PNT, THA, SLS, and CLM. I saw my fellow Spartans enter the doors one by one until there was no one left. Everyone entered except me. I couldn't, I tried but I didn't want to. What if there is a malfunction I kept thinking, what if someone I know gets hurt because of me.

"What seems to be troubling you son?" Caussnik said as he approached the observation deck.

"Nothing sir, I was just having a stretch before I kick some ass." I stated while I proceeded through the door.

The Room was empty; except for the other Spartans and five nodes around the room also marked with different team insignias and names. Each door seemed to correspond with each of the nodes.

The loud comms came to life with an unfamiliar voice bleeding through it.

"Welcome Spartans, I am the overseer of all VCA skirmishes. My name is not important however what I say may very well save your life within these battles. While you are in the VCA your suit transmits your shield integrity and your pulse to the observation room. Once your shield integrity reaches 0% your shields will disable and your armour will shut down. If your pulse is faint then it will indicate on your HUD with a flashing red light at the top right of the HUD. This will also give you the option to power down your armour manually instead of having someone else do it with their own means. During this skirmish there will be one vehicle located somewhere on the premises. This vehicle will be available for the team that reaches it first and manages to secure the area, only then will it operational. The vehicle is programmed to shut down upon the driver's incapacitation. This is not a lone wolf operation. This is a tactical team evaluation and will be supervised heavily by Capitan Caussnik and Lieutenant Siguar. Best of luck and May the most efficient team win."

The Comms terminated the signal and each of the nodes roared to life.