Hello again! So Chapter 3 is finally, FINALLY live. I want to explain my absence, but I will do so in a proper note following this chapter. For now, enjoy.

CHAPTER THREE

0455 Hours, December 13, 2527

Beacon Military Academy

UNSC Colony World Remnant

Ruby dreamed of monsters.

Monsters clad in shimmering armor. Monsters short and tall, tearing humans to pieces. A particular tall creature, splitting her father in half with a lance of fire. Her mother, speared with plasma as if she had been struck by lightning. And herself, too young and weak to do anything but scream at the monsters. Powerless to do anything.

The sound of trumpets…

"Time to get up, trainee!"

Ruby moaned and rolled over. She was vaguely aware that this was not her dorm at Signal, that she was somewhere new entirely…

"I SAID GET UP, TRAINEE! DO YOU KNOW WHICH WAY UP IS?"

Ruby groaned and rose from her bunk. She realized that the trumpet was in fact the morning reveille. As for the shouting voice that woke her…

She looked at the end of her bunk and saw a large man in fatigues glaring at her. His ashen hair was closely buzzed, and he sported a neatly trimmed mustache. He looked furious.

"I'm not going to ask you again, boot! Get up NOW, or I'll wake you up!" He flicked his wrist and a baton extended in his hand. Electricity crackled from the tip.

Ruby knew what the device was. It was called a humbler, essentially a very long and powerful taser. Ruby suddenly found the motivation to scramble out of bed. She quickly stepped in line with the rest of her fellow trainees, who all appeared to have been as rudely awoken as she was. She looked up at Yang, who had slept in the bunk below her. A slight look of worry creased her face.

The man stepped into the middle of the hallway between the bunks, eying the trainees with disdain. "Now that you are all awake, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Drill Sergeant Peter Port, but to you, I am just Sergeant Port, or better yet, just Sergeant. I will be your drill instructor for the foreseeable future. When I ask you a question, when I give you an order, the first and last words out of your mouths had better be 'Sir'. Are we clear?"

"Sir, yes sir!" the trainees echoed.

Port frowned. He turned on his heel and strode to the exit. "You all have 10 minutes to shower and clothe yourself and report to the parade grounds. You will find your trainee uniforms in the chests at the foot of your bunks. Any trainee who is late will run ten miles on the track. Now move it! Double time!"

Ruby, Yang and 48 other children moved with purpose.

The trainees stripped out of their night clothes and crowded into the large unisex showers. Jets of lukewarm water activated as the trainees frantically washed themselves. Ruby finished as fast as she could and rushed back to her bunk. She opened her footlocker to find a set of gray sweats with R. ROSE stenciled on the front. She quickly got dressed and rushed out of the barracks.

She made it to the parade grounds before any other trainee. Slowly the rest of the children made their way to the grass field, streaming from the barracks. Yang located her sister and moved towards her.

Before they could say anything, the sound of a whistle brought everyone to a stop. 150 children turned their head to the sound of the whistle. Sergeant Port was standing next to Major Goodwitch. The Major held a megaphone.

"Good morning, trainees!" she shouted. "Welcome to your first day of training. Please find your partners and prepare for morning calisthenics."

A flurry of movement started as the trainees found their partners. Yang gave Ruby an apologetic shrug as she left to meet up with a slim raven-haired girl. Ruby looked around for her partner, wincing when she saw the white-haired girl stalking towards her.

Weiss looked pissed. The cut that Ruby had inflicted the night before was almost already healed. However, an angry red scar ran down the side of her scowling face, bisecting her left eye.

Ruby backed away, hands up defensively. She regretted her course of action the previous night, and figured that it was best to lead off with an apology. "Look, uh, Weiss, right? I'm sorry about…"

Weiss shoved Ruby hard to the ground. Ruby recovered quickly, but before she could retaliate, Weiss' words ripped into her.

"Look, you dolt. You don't like me, and I sure as hell don't like you. But like it or not, we're stuck together. So as long as we stay out of each other's way, we won't have an issue. Got it?'

Ruby nodded meekly.

The Major waited until everyone had paired with their assigned partners. "They're all yours, Sergeant. Don't push them too hard," she added with a sly smile. She turned to leave. Sergeant Port turned to face the crowd. A dozen DIs stepped into position.

"ALL RIGHT, TRAINEES! Let's start off the day with some push-ups! How does 100 sound?"

A chorus of groans rippled throughout the pack of children.

Port chuckled. "Well, good thing I don't care what you think! He got to position. "Sound off! And that's one, two, three…"

Ruby and the rest of the trainees dropped and began the pushups. A few resisted at first, but the DIs descended upon them, forcing them down with a punch to their guts.

Ruby somehow managed to keep up. She was in good shape for her age, but never before had she or any one of the other trainees been subjected to such a workout before. Ruby muscles burned as she finished the set. She stood, already weak from the constant exercise.

"Jumping Jacks!' Port shouted. "The first trainee to quit earns themselves AND their partners a ten-mile run! And one, two…"

Ruby began jumping, glaring at Weiss to her right. The white haired girl glared back, her look screaming "Don't you dare quit."

And so the morning continued. Sergeant Port led the trainees through sit-ups, squats, leg lifts, mountain climbers, and all other sorts of other exercises. Many trainees vomited, Ruby included. It only bought her a brief moment of respite, as a trainer came over after a few seconds.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Sergeant Port signaled for a halt. "Time to rest, trainees! Bring out the water."

Trainers wheeled carts laden with water bottles to the exhausted children. Ruby grabbed one and gulped half of it down in one go. She flopped onto her back, sweat pouring down her face.

Ruby began to think what she had gotten herself into. There was no way she was going to survive this. If she felt this bad on the first day, how the hell was she going to keep this up?

Remember why you are doing this, her mind said. Remember the reason you agreed to do this training. It will be tough but it will be worth it in the end.

Ruby lay there for a few more minutes until she heard Sergeant Port speak again.

"A good start to the day, trainees! Now we run. Fall in!"

150 children fell into step with the Sergeant, jogging at as steady as a pace their tired muscles could allow. The trainees proceeded to run all over the base: around the barracks, along the fence boundaries, and past the landing strip, where transports roared into the sky. The run seemed to last for hours. Ruby's strength started to fade, but she kept pushing herself forward, motivated by the reason she was here to begin with. The group wound through a wooded area, following a narrow path to an open clearing. The trainees were ordered to halt. Ruby doubled over, gasping for breath. As she recovered, she noticed wheat the group had stopped in front of.

It was a sprawling obstacle course. A maze of wooden beams, rope ladders, and poles wound around each other. One metal pole stood taller than the rest. At the top hung a little brass bell.

"All right, trainees, you and your partner need to find another pair to join with for this exercise."

Ruby saw Weiss moving towards her, a frown on her exhausted face. "Any idea on who you want to pair with?" Ruby asked her.

Weiss looked up and grimaced. "I don't care. I don't even want to be with you."

Ruby sighed and looked around for Yang. She found her walking towards them, the raven-haired girl from earlier following behind.

"Hey, Ruby. How ya feeling?" Yang said wearily. Ruby let out a wordless sigh of exhaustion as a response. Yang chuckled. She motioned to the girl behind her. "This is Blake, my partner."

"Ruby." The red-head introduced herself.

"I'm Weiss." the white haired girl replied.

The weary Blake bowed her head in greeting.

Sergeant Port blew a whistle to get the attention of the children. "All right, listen up! Today's challenge is something I like to call, 'Ring the Bell.' You are all in teams of four. You objective is to have all four members of your team find a way to climb the structure and ring the bell. There are several ways to reach the bell. I'll leave it you to decide which route to take. Once all your teammates have run the bell, you will all then return to me here. The first team to have all four members ring the bell and return here will win a very special prize: exemption from tomorrow's exercises."

Every team tensed and looked at each other. Ruby almost salivated at the thought of a full day of rest after her experience with the morning calisthenics. She glanced at her sister. Yang looked equally enthusiastic to win.

"I'll give you all 5 minutes to strategize on how to complete this course. Good luck."

Ruby looked and scrutinized the mess of beams and poles, searching for a route through the structure. A moment later, she found a path; a rope ladder on the far side of the course led straight to the top of the pole where the bell was mounted. "Look," she whispered to the other three girls. "That ladder will take us right to the top. It's a long climb, though." She flexed her forearms, muscles burning.

Yang peered at the course. "We'll have to work together on this. Make sure none of us get left behind."

"TEAMS! Make ready!" Sergeant Port shouted. He drew is pistol from his belt.

Weiss scoffed at the other three. "Work together? With you plebeians? Absurd. I can do this by myself." The white haired girl got into a stance, ready to sprint.

Ruby was floored with the selfish and uppity attitude from Weiss. She didn't have time to retort, as Sergeant Port pointed his pistol in the air.

"On my mark! Three, two, one, MARK!" He fired into the air, pistol cracking.

A roar sounded as 150 children charged towards the course.

Ruby ran as fast she could for the rope ladder. Yang and Blake kept pace just behind her. But Weiss seemed determined to show up everyone else. She shot like a rocket ahead of the pack, reaching the ladder and beginning the long climb to the top just as Ruby, Yang and Blake caught up.

The three girls started the climb, Ruby leading ahead. She looked up as she climbed, noticing the other trainees scrambling up the structure as everyone raced through different paths to the bell. Weiss was already almost halfway to the top. "Wait, Weiss! We all have to ring the bell!"

Weiss heard the little redhead beneath her cry out to her, pleading for her to slow down. She smirked to herself as she continued to climb, determined to be the first one to ring the bell. If I can do that, I can prove I'm the best here, she thought. Weiss want to prove to the rest of these trainees that she was better than them all. Her father had taught her that being anything less than first was unacceptable. It was one of the last lessons he had taught her…

Two years ago, Weiss had lived with her mother and father on Atlas, one of the UNSC's smaller but most productive Outer Colonies. Weiss' father was the CEO of the Schnee Colonial Company, a large manufacturer of everything from farm equipment to cutting edge military tech. The SCC was easily one of most wealthy corporations in all of humanity, and it showed in the Schnee family's extravagant lifestyle. Atlas was the new base of operations for the SCC, and Weiss and her family had lived in their cushy HQ all her life.

Then the Covenant came.

The alien menace swept aside the small UNSC fleet stationed in orbit with ruthless ease, and proceeded to cleanse the planet of the human population. Due to his connections Weiss' father had managed to send his only daughter off planet via a chartered shuttle before the Covenant fully began their attack, but the five year old was forced to watch as the alien vessels glassed Atlas to a cinder, murdering her parents. The SCC was practically obliterated, with any other company assets still existing off planet either liquidated or sold to rival companies. Weiss Schnee, once the daughter of one of the most powerful humans in the universe, was now just a lost little girl, an orphan of the Human-Covenant War.

Which brings me back to here, Weiss thought, as she focused on the task at hand. Weiss needed to make something of herself. She jumped at the chance to become a SPARTAN, because she knew it would make her great again. It would allow her to regain her honor and exact revenge on the monsters who destroyed her family.

The top of the ladder was almost in reach now, as Weiss continued to climb at a feverous pace, determined to be the first trainee to ring the bell. She took a moment to look around the structure. The majority of the children were struggling to make it up to the bell. Ruby and the rest of her "teammates" were directly below her on the rope ladder, but Weiss would still be the first to ring the bell. Satisfied, she continued her climb. She stepped onto another rung…which decided at that moment to completely snap. Weiss lost her footing and almost slipped off the ladder, one hand desperately gripping to the rope.

The white haired girl frantically tried to pull herself back up, but her arms, already weak from the morning's exercises and her previous frantic climbing. Slowly, her grip loosened, and Weiss Schnee began to plummet to the ground.

Before a hand shot out to grasp hers in a surprisingly iron grip.

Weiss, just now recovering from the shock of slipping and the fear of falling to the ground below, looked up to see the girl who she had fought with before, red hair whipping in the wind, clutching her hand while still grabbing the ladder. "I…uh…I…was…uh…" Weiss stammered.

Ruby grimaced, hoisting Weiss back onto the ladder. "Don't worry about it. We're partners. We may have our problems, but I wasn't gonna let you die just because we fought each other." She motioned with her head to the top of the ladder, where the bell hung. Now, come on," she said with a smile. "We have a bell to ring."

The four girls finished their climb and grouped together on the small platform just beneath the bell. Ruby gestured to Weiss, allowing her to be the first to ring it, to which she graciously accepted. Weiss grasped the ringer and rattled it back and forth. The bell clanged loudly, a sweet sound for the four weary girls. Ruby, Yang, and Blake proceeded to ring it as well, completing the task.

The four girls slid down the metal pole and regrouped at the bottom. They took off in a sprint, rushing to be the first team across the line. It didn't matter. No other team was even close.

"We have a winner!" Sergeant Port bellowed as the four exhausted girls staggered past him. He walked over to the team, now sprawled out on the grass, panting. "Well done, you four. I think we can expect great things from you."