0500 hours, September 17th, 2542 [MILITARY CALENDAR]\ Pikran System, Pikran 3, inside underground facility
Mark I prototype suits, heavy and thick. The trainers are protected inside of the slow moving suits, shelled by hydraulics and circuits. Their helmets are the early versions of the Mjolnir Mark VI helmet that is standard for most Spartan II's.
These are the things that we face during another stealth game of CTF. There are at least fourteen trainers in all peppering the football field sized arena.
There is a sloped wall to the far left of the room and the room is square and bland, but impossible to see through when pitch black. And that is why we always take out the lights before we start.
"You got 'em?" I whisper to Parkson who nods and pulls a thin string. There is a chain of glass shattering and the lights go out in unison.
By the time they've got the backups started, we've disappeared.
The trainers swivel their weapons back and forth, searching for a target. The flag is sitting in a barricaded base in which two trainers guard. Each time they change the rotations of the trainers, and the count of them. But it's all the same to us.
"211, kill the lights," I say to 211 who throws sharp metal slivers and takes out each and every one of the backup lights. "Lets move out," I say.
Parkson acts as our sniper, using a rifle to pique the attention of the trainers as we make our way to the base. Kia acts as our rabbit, running in and out to distract the trainers. She stays at the very edges of their radar, only showing a glimpse of herself for a split second.
We slip undetected by the off-set trainers. They can barely see anything in the darkness. Their suits are only adjusted to low level lighting.
Once we reach the bunker, I make a fist at the entrance and split my fist into two fingers held apart. 211 gets it and makes his way to the other doorway. The guards are standing in the doorways and keeping guard, unaware of the Spartans not two feet from them. I make a fist...count to three...and attack the trainer.
He screams in pain and surprise as I chop the back of his neck and force his head up sharply by slamming my palm into his chin. 211 had troubles with his target, but managed to subdue him with pure strength and forced his shooting weapon to fire on the other trainers, bringing two down before the trainer stopped firing.
211 discards the body and picks up the flag and activates his 1 minute invisibility cloak.
We slip out unnoticed, and back to the starting room where Parkson and Kia were waiting. I lean the flag against the wall and pull back the black skin-tight mask. "Another game well-done. Good job, team," I say. We slap high-fives and leave the room, heading to the showers.
We are fully adjusted to our new bodies now. We are super quick and much smarter then before, much more then Hokai and Waylen ever expected. We are Spartans, the protectors of the UNSC and her colonies.
Our first mission starts in two months, two more months of training. We can start any time now. But I think the techies want to watch us for a while.
We are supposed to get our Spartan armor today, after a month of arriving in this secret training facility. I've heard snatches of conversation from the techies and personnel posted here, and I think that we'll be getting the same suits of armor. Except for me, the squad leader who will be getting black armor. It's what i've heard. And it sounds intriguing.
After our showers, we are dressed in a skin-tight once-piece clothing that I can only name as underarmor. It is an inch thick and feels relatively light-weight.
After we dress in the underarmor, we are instructed to meet in the hanger where we load into a military troop carrier warthog and sent into the large main tunnel that delves deep into the earth and holds many different rooms that branch off from the tunnel. The tunnel is paved with smooth asphalt, a material that hasn't been used for hundreds of years. The overhead lights do little to light the path, and give the area a grim demeanor.
It is an hour ride down the 25% grade where it levels off after fifteen minutes. The distance between each door begins to be smaller and smaller as we go along. Each door is marked with eye scans, DNA checks, and metal (and other foreign object) detectors. We are getting into the more closed area that ONI has been keeping secret for years now.
At the end of the road lays a huge cylindrical door that opens vertically as the Warthog drives up to it.
We hop out onto the metal floor and scan the room.
The room is the size of a football field, and has a very high ceiling. The room is littered with all sorts of equipment that (to this day) I don't recognize.
Waylen appears from behind four cylindrical tubes, grasping a clipboard in her left hand. "Welcome to the area where all of the Projects are put together. You will be the very first test subjects in project Freebird. If you will come this way, you will be fitted with your armor," Waylen says and guides us towards the four cylindrical tubes.
"Open the armor," Waylen says into a communicator.
The tube's hatches hiss open and pull back to reveal four sets of Mjolnir Mark V armor.
The four suits look the same, except for my armor which is black with a blue stripe on the helmet and chestplate which, i assume, indicates me as squad leader. There are individual markings on each of the shoulder pieces for the different suits. On Parkson's suit is what looks like a bomb and a Sniper round. On 211's armor is a warthog with a missile attachment and a shotgun. On Kia's armor is a pelican with a chingun and a combat blade. On mine is a pelican with an assault rifle. I'm assuming the icons show what we specialize in.
Each of the tubes are highly illuminated by high power lights set in the top "ceiling" of the tubes, so I can clearly see each shining piece of armor in great detail.
Each tube is decorated with its own numbers, "332, 333, 334, 211" number the tubes from left to right. "These are ours..." I whisper, despite myself. "If you would please step in front of your respective suits, we will get started with the fitting process," Waylen says, stepping back as a machine rolls in. It has a number of "arms" that stick out from its box body.
"Now stay perfectly still," Waylen says as the Robot comes to surround me. My eyes dart around, looking the Robot up and down and watching it as it takes apart the armor and reassembles it onto my body.
The different pieces feel very heavy at first, but then become as light as air as they come online. Once the helmet is placed over my head, the HUD comes online. The HUD is filled with a radar, grenade readout, armor readouts, bio reads, weapon readouts, and a curious light blue bar that its at the top of my vision. I don't ask what it is, i'll figure it out later.
"Now I just want you to think about moving your arm. Just think about it, envision it," Waylen says. I do so and my arm moves lightning-quick. It was a blur, almost unseen. 211 and Parkson draw in a sharp breath of amazement. Kia's eyes brighten up and she holds back an awed smile. I am instructed on how to move with the new armor, and I master the instructions as soon as they are told. "Good?" Waylen asks as I swing my arms slowly. "Good, ma'am," I reply. "Go use the obstacle course while your team is suited up," She says and turns to the other Spartans.
I slowly walk over to the obstacle course and spot a nine foot wall. The concrete wall overlooks the obstacle course, but isn't part of it.
I back up a few steps, and sprint forwards. I am amazed by which the speed my body reacts as I coil my muscles and leap over the wall, landing with a roll on the other side.I look back and grin, then take off to do the rest of the course.
I vault barriers and crawl under barbed wire barriers in record time as bullets whizz past overhead. I even let a few bullets hit me, just to see what it would do. The armor flares up in a bright orange light that fades after a moment. The bar at the top of my HUD refills after dropping. "Interesting," I mutter. I hear thuds and clanks and turn to see 211 flying over the wall. He lands with a very ungraceful roll that looked more like a summersault.
"Ow," 211 says, standing up. "Next time, go around the wall," Kia says, approaching us. Parkson appears from behind her, studying the course as he walks.
As I make observations, waypoints appear over their heads and mark my team's names. Parkson-333, Spartan-211, and Kia-334 hover over their heads.
"Nueral interface. Awesome!" 211 says. "Neural COM's, too," Kia says over the TEAMCOM. "Wow, I am in love," I say with a chuckle. Parkson nods in agreement and jerks his head towards the obstacle course and takes off.
It takes a good twenty minutes for my team to get used to their new armor. We have to create a new system in which to understand each other again. But when we finally do, it's better then ever.
I find that they had taken Hokai's blade from me when I hadn't noticed and put it onto my armor. It sits on the left shoulder in a sheath.
A blue triangle pops up over by the door in which we came through. We hesitate before going to it. "Welcome back, Spartans," Waylen says. "We will proceed in taking off your armor. Afterwards, please proceed back to your barracks."
They remove our armor and we board the Warthog which climbs the hill and drops us off at the door which leads to our training area. We head back to our Barracks and spot Hokai standing with his hands clasped behind his back. We all stop and snap a salute as soon as we see him.
The first thing i recognize is that his short head of hair has turned completely gray, and he is wearing formal attire with his magnum clipped to his thigh.
"At ease, Spartans," he says with a sad note to his usually emotionless voice. "I have come here today to say my final goodbyes. I have trained you soldiers well, but now your training is out of my hands. I hope that the things I have taught you, you will remember. I hope that you will not remember me as the dreadful trainer, but as the man who shaped you into the perfect soldiers that you are today."
And after a moment...he leaves. I never see him again after that, not even a glimpse. I find out that he was killed during a Covenant raid on a military base on Reach. It was heart breaking news. But i had no doubt that he went out with a bang.
We go to bed with heavy hearts, and racing minds. I can't stop thinking about Hokai's words and how he said them. "I hope that you will not remember me as the dreadful trainer, but as the man who shaped you into the perfect soldiers that you are today." That sentence repeats itself over and over again in my mind. I flip it over and go over every possible meaning. But there isn't any more then one possible meaning, the obvious ones. I find out that night that Hokai truly cared about us, no matter how little he showed it. He truly wanted what was best for us and acted as our father. Guiding us and watching out for us. And for that, I loved him for it.