1000 hours, July 3rd, 2532 [MILITARY CALENDAR]\ ORTZ system, Planet Mephis, Inside Base Galich
"All of you have been called to serve the UNSC and her colonies. You will be trained as soldiers and assassins. You will become the best we can make of you," Waylen says. She is standing below 74 children, all accompanied by an individual Drill instructor.
These children have just been stolen from their homes and shipped out in slipspace then awoken from their cryo slumber and put into this indoors amphitheater. It was terrifying for most, scary for the bravest, and I wasn't excluded. But as this woman speaks, I become more intrigued then scared. Her words meant something to me. Something deep and powerful. Though I didn't yet understand what it meant, I would in ten years when our augmentations would begin.
Waylen shifts her stance, her eyes turning cold. "It has been a rough trip for you all. But I regret to inform you that you may never see your parents again," Waylen pauses and lets it sink in. I hear a shocked silence and sniffles as it hits home with the entire audience. I had already accepted the facts at this point. I knew what came next would be new and scary. I had already let go of my old life, and embraced my new one, whatever it might be.
Her voice is cold and sharp as she continues. "This place will become your home. All of the other children you see around you will become your family. You trainers will become your parents," She says. Her voice does nothing to sooth the panicked children, it just makes it worse. But the tiny bodies of the children cannot break free of the drill instructors. No matter how hard some of them pushed.
Waylen pauses before speaking again. "Follow your drill instructors to your room. You may have ten hour's sleep before your new life begins," Waylen says, and leaves the room.
Our Intructors march us out of the room and to the shower's where we are instructed to strip our clothing. Most of us are reluctant to change in front of the adults and other children. The ones who refuse to strip are stripped down by the instructors and are left with tears flowing down their cheeks.
We stand naked and scared for ten minutes. In this time, the children begin getting restless and going out of line. But when they do, the instructors shove them back into the line, no matter how much they cry or try to run.
After fifteen minutes orderlies appear with boots, shirts, pants, and belts. The number 332 is stenciled into the left breast of my grey shirt. A number that identifies me amongst the 73 others. The clothes fit perfect, as if they were made specially for me. I was too tired at the time to care much for it.
I sit on my bunk that has 332 embedded into the metal frame. The mattress is flat as well as the pillow. But I am exhausted. My tiny body isn't used to the abuse.
I started thinking about my family. What were they thinking, what are they doing? But my thoughts don't get far as I fall asleep the instant my head hits the pillow.
I awaken a few hours later as the door flies open and the instructors begin rudely waking the other children up. Those who refuse to get up get jabbed by a metal rod. Halfway down the line of beds, the other kids begin getting the idea and get up before they get shocked. I don't, though. I don't want to get up. I'm still too tired. And the thought of what awaits me keeps me in bed.
I get angry at the instructors. Angry for bringing us here. And for waking us up so rudely and treating us so badly.
I wait for the instructor to near, and when he gets to my bed, I lash out with my small legs and knock the rod from his hands.
"Why you!" The instructor snarls and grabs me by my neck and throws me to the ground. "Get up!" He roars, towering over me with his rod.
I don't move fast enough and he jabs me in the side. I give a yelp of pain and climb to my feet before he can hit me again.
The man who grabbed me pushes me roughly towards the other trainees who look just as bewildered and tired as I am. I'm too shocked to cry, so I just stand stiff like the others are.
"I am Chief Petty Officer Hokai. And the rest of these men are your instructors. You will do what they say, when they say," He says. "The showers are behind you. Shower then return here. On the double."
We scurry off to the showers and undress again then shampoo ourselves in lukewarm water and then rinse in ice-water. The water wakes us all up and we are practically buzzing as we return to Hokai. "Outside, double time!" Hokai shouts. No one wants to ignore the massive man. So we all march outside and onto a large lawn.
The instructors herd us into formation as Hokai takes his stance. "100 jumping jacks, go!" He shouts and begins doing his own set of 100 in front of us.
The man is like nothing I have ever seen before. As we were gasping for breath and our muscles were screaming for rest, he didn't look like he had even broken a sweat. Now, I understand why he was like that and I even respect it. But back then I resented the man. I absolutely hated him.
My muscles were shaking like a man with parkinson's by the time he got to 80. And by the time he reached 100 I felt as if I was made out of paper. I could barely breath I was hurting so bad.
"100 sit-ups!" He shouts and begins for us. We follow suit, barely able to do it.
At the 30th situp I stop and flip to my knees and vomit violently and then collapse into the bile. I couldn't do it anymore. I was worn out, exhausted. I knew I was going to get into trouble, just like the other kids. But I couldn't will my arms or my legs to move. All I could do was lay down and breath shallowly.
The trainers jerked me back up, but I didn't respond. I only responded when they jabbed me with a shock-stick, and then only barely roll onto my back and finish the rest of the 60 situps. My body was hurting, and I could barely think. My eyesight was blurring as well.
Hokai stops after the 100th call and stretches his arms. "10 minute break!" He says and grabs a bottle of water from the ground.
The instructors wheel in bottles of warm water and we are each handed one. We down them without a word. We are all too tired to do much more then pant.
After the grueling exercise, we are marched down to a large building with columns. This is our school where a holographic lady teaches us different things. I learn a lot there, but not much I can remember. I was always too distracted by my hate which burned inside of me like an inferno. But we did get a small snack of three crackers each, which wasn't much but it did restore my vision and let me think a little clearer. I did learn math and different history lessons there. I was interested in the tactical side of things. Such as how the battles were planned out and how the generals guided the soldiers.
After class, we are marched another two miles to the "playground" which is really just an obstacle course. It has a large wooden wall that you scale over to get to a wooden bridge which leads to the monkey bars and then climbs over to the slides which leads to the poles that you climb up, and razor wire that we are forced to crawl under while live fire whizzes over your head.
We train like this for a good five years. In those five years, we harden like steel, becoming something that we never thought possible. We become soldiers at just ten years of age.
Eight of us are separated from the main group of 74 and put into a special program named "Project Freebird". I am paired with three others. Parkson-333, Kia-334, and Spartan 211. We learn to become an excellent team after many trial and error training missions. 211 is the unofficial leader, since he's the bravest.
We are called blue Team, while the four others are called Red team. We form a burning rivalry, one that is forced onto us by the instructors.
We train for another five years and become even harder then before. The trainers get worse and worse and even stricter then before. Hokai steps back a little and lets the others take over. But he's always there, screaming at us for each mistake, but not always guiding us.
When the final day comes around, we are more then ready. We have been training our butts off for 5 years. it doesn't sound like much, but trust me. It was. We got into many deadly fights with Red Team, many of which put our team members into the hospital. But over this time we learned how to deal with enemies and formed our team without even having to go onto the battlefield. It was truly a learning experience, even though it didn't feel like it at the time. We learned teamwork, and our friendship formed during the years.
Anyways, once the final day arrives we are ran five miles to the final testing grounds, a large obstacle course.