Chapter 4

Axel toyed with her armor enhancement, turning herself invisible and then making herself reappear. She found herself in the mess hall,sitting alone. She had expected her squad to shun her like this. They were young and immature. But to be fair, she could be the same way at times.

They hoped to break her down, make her the worst soldier on the squad just to prove a point. They didn't know that it was far from the truth. What was that old saying? What doesn't kill you makes you taller? Wait...that didn't sound right, but Axel couldn't recall what it actually was.

Axel had already finished her meal fairly quickly, but didn't feel like leaving.

Suddenly, she heard footsteps approaching her, and looked up to see Tony and Chris walking toward her. Chris slipped into the seat beside her and Tony sat across from her.

"Hey, nice job out there. You think fast!" Tony complimented, taking off his helmet to reveal short brown hair and a few freckles. Axel turned on her invisibility.

"I don't want to talk about it," she said. Someone turned to listen in on the conversation, expecting to see her, but instead getting confused by her sudden disappearance.

"Hey, I totally wanted you to take charge! I just...pretended not to have an idea…" Chris explained in an embarrassed way, scratching the back of his neck.

"Yeah, sure you did, Norwood," Tony teased. Axel turned off her invisibility.

"Everyone hates me now," she said, pulling off her helmet. She didn't believe it, but she had been told by a few people that she was pretty. Her hair was as long as protocol would allow; any longer and she would have to cut it. She had freckles like Tony, along with bright blue eyes.

Axel set her Azule scout helmet down on the table while Tony looked at her curiously.

"What makes you say that? You lead the whole squad to victory!" Chris exclaimed with a friendly smile. Axel rested her chin on the top of the table, observing every detail in the cold metal tabletop.

"Because they figured that since I'm a girl I'd do horrible for my first time on the field. They all hate me now because I proved them wrong," she explained without emotion, as if it didn't bother her.

"Aww, they're just jealous. I still love you, baby!" Chris said, trying to wrap his arm around her. Axel slapped him on the hand.

"I know. That's what I'm upset about," she teased. Both her and Tony snickered. Chris started laughing, too.

Suddenly, Sergeant Smith came up to the trio.

"Cadet Taylors, I would like to speak with you. Please follow me. Norwood, Jay, you stay here," he instructed, turning around without waiting for their response. Axel looked back at the boys before snagging her helmet and following him.

"Permission to speak, sir?" Axel asked as the two walked through a hallway that she had never been to before.

"Go ahead, Taylors," Sergeant Smith said, not looking back at her.

"Where exactly are we going? Is this about my win for the squad earlier?" she questioned as she put on her helmet.

"Questions will be answered later, Cadet," Smith grumbled as the two continued to a small door where Axel, being immensely tall, had to duck in order to avoid hitting the top of the door frame.

As soon as Axel entered, she gawked at how gigantic the room was. It seemed to be about as big as a Grifball stadium, but in a dome shape. It appeared completely empty. As she observed the room, she heard a noise behind her and turned around just in time to see Sergeant Smith walk out, closing the door behind him and leaving her alone.

"What is this?" Axel called through the door. No response. "I know this is some kind of test!" A loud whirring sound came from behind her, and she drew her suppressor, which she had kept on her back. Axel whipped around, seeing that some small pillars were ascending from holes in the ground that closed up as soon as they reached ground level.

Suddenly, another spot in the floor opened up, sending up a platform filled with about ten ODST's. They all raised their weapons to her, and she raised her own weapon.

"Come on guys, we're on the same team here!" Axel thought. It was silent for a moment, so quiet she could hear her breathing echoing off the walls. It was a silent staring contest between her and the ODST's.

"Your move… "

she thought, waiting for them to do something.

The first shot was fired, and Axel jumped to one of the pillars for cover. More shots were fired until there didn't seem to be a millisecond where bullets weren't being shot. Am I supposed to take them out?Axel smirked, turning on her invisibility. She crawled down the edge of the room, and the ODSTs didn't seem to notice her. They were shooting blindly. However, they didn't seem to run out of ammo.

Axel was behind the group now, silently pulling out her knife. She assassinated the closest ODST to her, struggling to stay quiet and laying down the body lightly. She knew very well that she couldn't assassinate the rest of them, surely at least one of them would notice her. Then, a smile spread across Axel's face as a plan popped into her head. It was a very simple plan, but very effective. While still invisible, she slowly backed up, back as far as she could go until she hit a wall. She was still behind her attackers, so she turned off her armor enhancement to avoid wasting it. She didn't think it could run out, but you could never be sure with such fancy equipment.

Then, Axel decided to put her simple plan into action. She pulled out one of the frag grenades she had grabbed earlier. She pulled out the pin, and threw it as hard as she could. There was a loud clank as the grenade bounced on the ground right in the middle of the ODST's. Axel ducked and covered her head as the grenade detonated, sending ODST bodies flying.

"That was so cool! I am awesome!" Axel said to herself, beaming happily and doing a small victory dance. But then, something strange happened. All the bodies vaporized into blue pixels. Their weapons went with them. Sergeant Smith walked back into the room, and Axel turned to him.

"Congratulations, Cadet, you passed," he said gruffly. Axel pointed at him, pulling off her helmet.

"Aha! I knew it was a test! I don't know what for, but it was a test! I called it!" she teased, giggling a bit.

"Yes. Now we know you're ready. We're deploying you to another planet that is in desperate need of spartan assistance,"Sergeant Smith explained. Axel raised an eyebrow.

"Wait, what?"