Fireteam Mystic

Chapter 7

A/N - Woo another chapter out! A bit back to my normal length.

Erozoth - Hey man no hard feelings! I get that. I just feel like with the combination of the two worlds needed more time to develop so having a set POV earlier on wasn't something I was keen on as I felt it would leave out potential world building. I could be wrong here, maybe it's just how I write lol. Harry is the MC for sure, Master Chief will play his role for sure in this story.

Reach - Undisclosed Medical Facility - Year 2525

It's been a few hours since Harry woke up and about 24 hours past the start of the augmentation process. He was the first of his consciousness and he began to reflect on what had transpired in the last 24 hours. Chief Mendez had gathered the trainees to this uncharted medical facility to begin their augmentation process. They knew it was coming soon but according to Chief Mendez, UNSC decided to move the process up 3 months earlier, deeming the candidates ready to go. When he had arrived at the facility, he was surprised by a few familiar faces, namely his mother and Professor Snape. He knew Dr. Halsey would be there, as she was the architect of this entire program but the other 2 were a surprise to say the least. Over the last 8 years a few members of their family had gone onto Universities around the galaxy. His mother recently received her PHD in Applied Engineering while Professor Snape received his dual PHDs in Chemistry and Molecular Science. When he would visit on those rare weekends when both his mom and dad were available they would discuss the potential aid that magic could render to ensure the possible outcome for the augmentation process. The blood replenishing tablets and skele-gro injection would be instrumental during this time. Per Dr. Halsey the Carbide Ceramic Ossification, one of the key upgrades they were receiving, was successfully merged with the blood replenishing potion. They were able to push material grafting on their bones from 3% to roughly 8%. They began to explain the procedure to the candidates. Professor Snape would begin by administering a dosage of the "Draught of Living Death". Though now it has been rebranded and re-invented as an enhanced coma serum. It's purpose was to fully induce the patient into an unwakeable coma, this would knock out any severe reactions that any potential candidates might have while preserving important body functions. Up next they would begin with the ossification of the bones, Dr. Halsey had guessed with the upgraded version that they could take a hit from Pelican at full speed and the bones would not even fracture in the slightest. While that was being administered they would begin with a series of muscular enhancement injections. The magical side also supplemented multiple injections, ranging from the Edurus Potion, which would strengthen their skin, giving them the same toughness as a small dragon to a strengthening solution applied directly to their muscles. Harry hadn't tested out how strong he was yet but he would wager he could easily bench half a ton without breaking a sweat. Next was the Catalytic Thyroid Implant, while mostly unchanged, there was a series of runes inscribed with a laser on it that would triple the boosted growth of the skeletal and muscle tissues, reducing recovery time from about a month to 2 weeks. The next 2 augmentations in Harry's opinion were the worst. The occipital capillary reversal was painful, his eyes felt like someone had taken a hot poker and rammed it through his skull. To make matters worse the superconducting fabrication of neural dendrites, essentially felt like he had allowed a troll to sit on his head for hours on end. While magic was not used for the last 2 augmentations, every Spartan would meet with the Professors and begin lessons on Occlumency. Whilst it will be difficult for some of the candidates, it would allow each one to compartmentalize, allowing for near perfect recall, and control their emotions and responses to a more appropriate degree. When Harry had woken up earlier he could feel nothing but searing pain and let us a grunt of discomfort. This alerted Dr. Halsey who was standing just a few yards away. "Harry, how are you feeling?" she asked.

"Like I got run over by a Warthog and then fed to a troll," he replied. "How is everyone else doing?

"You are the first to wake up actually. Our initial estimates had surmised a less than 50% survival rate, however thanks to the advancements provided from Drs. Potter and Snape, we are around 90%. Unfortunately Candidate Serin, her body completely rejected the treatments and has been subsequently scrubbed from the program. Needless to say she is not happy with the results."

"She's always been trying to one up everyone else. Not much of a team player until it really mattered. You may need to keep an eye on her down the road Doc." he said looking about the room to where the rest of this team was.

"Your team is doing better than just fine I would say Harry, so no need to worry. You will spend the next few days on this bed however like everyone else to allow for the healing process to begin." she said. Harry groaned, he hated lying in bed feeling sick. It made him feel weak.

"With all due respect Dr. Halsey, I will be fine."

"Uh huh. Try that when your mother comes over to check on you." she smirked at him.

Harry's eyes shot up, he had nearly forgotten about that. "I'll be a good Dr. Halsey. Let's not hit the emergency button just yet."

Dr. Halsey just laughed, "I hope when Miranda gets older she has the same fear of me. Well rest up, I will be checking in periodically."

Within the next several hours, the sharp pains he had been feeling started to dull as now the medics began the physical therapy required. During this time, everyone else would take up one by one and each time Dr. Halsey or his mom and Professor Snape would make the rounds to check in on them. He was elated to learn that his friends had also come through with flying colors. Of the 82 candidates for the program about 74 went through the process without any issues. Of the remaining 8, 6 of them would be removed from the program and transferred to a naval academy to finish their education. 2 of the candidates would be unable to walk due to the stress, but once again from a projected 33 candidates surviving to 74 candidates was a miracle. According to Lily later on, the success of the Spartan II program had given the UNSC the spark to provide her with a fully equipped state of the art lab with a near bottomless pit of resources to draw from.

The next day, they started physical therapy off the bed. Harry worked with his medic and when he stood up he realized just how much taller he was than the normal folk. Before the augmentation he was maybe around 6 foot and 3 inches tall. Now he was around 7 feet! He did have to be reminded a few times to control his strength as he was not used to it yet. The first attempt to stand up and nearly snapped the guardrail on his bed with just his one hand. Needless to say the medics gave him plenty of room to maneuver. While they had expected him to stumble for fall, his augmentations truly came through. His balance was near perfect on his first step, if not a bit shaky due to nerves. He would eventually get through his routine with no issues and be given the go ahead to walk around. His first stop was towards his team. They too had begun taking their first steps. It was slightly amusing to watch as it was like seeing a baby take their first steps as well. But thankfully the augmentations were successful and they quickly were able to move around freely. While the physical therapy wasn't the only treatment they would go through they eventually incorporated jogging, weight lifting, high nutrient dense meals, a variety of vitamins, magical potions and supplements to get them back to near top shape. Near the end of their 2 week recovery period, Harry and John were the last to leave the gym. They had just finished benching nearly half a ton and were racking up the weights when 9 men walked into the gym. One of the men went to the leg press machine but stopped when he noticed a missing pin. "Where the fuck is the pin?" he exclaimed.

John noticed the pin by his foot "Sorry, my mistake." as he grabbed the pin from the ground and tried to hand it over.

The men, now recognized by Harry, all had matching tattoos of the same insignia. These men were special forces, ODSTs specifically, much like Uncle Sirius. "You can take that pin and shove it up your ass freaks. Better yet, I'll shove it up there for you!" barked out one of the ODSTs.

They quickly moved to surround. Harry looked over to John and only nodded. They would wait, let the men make the first move, after all they were just fellow servicemen, maybe they just caught them in a bad mood. One of them quickly threw a right haymaker at Harry, who moved faster than he ever thought he could. He slipped in closer to the offender and threw his own jab at the inside of the man's arm. Just one punch and Harry could hear the bone break. The man went down and screamed "GET THESE FUCKERS!" as he tried to hold on to the mangled arm.

2 of them charged forward, trying to catch Harry in the back in a chokehold of sorts. But they were no match for his raw strength, he pulled one off and launched him across the room, head hitting the bench press bar with a sickening thud. The man had instantly died. Now normally they should stop most fights but it only incited the remaining 7 further. Harry and John held back, not wanting another potential death on their hands. It was then a shout was heard, a rather portly Sergeant walked in "Stand down!". He looked at the man who was dead in the corner and scoffed. "Bad luck it seems. If you want to fight so badly, do it in the ring! Don't get blood on my equipment!"

Harry and John nodded, making their way to the ring. The 6 remaining uninjured troopers climbed in after them. The other simply stood there with his limp arm, knowing he wasn't able to continue on in his current state. The fight was over as soon as it started. A few jabs and kicks had left 2 more dead, their bodies bent and twisted into unnatural states. 3 of the others suffered life threatening injuries, ranging from a crushed pelvis to a fractured skull. The remaining trooper had walked himself back into a corner, having soiled himself at the sheer ferocity on display from Harry and John.

"At ease 117 and Mystic One!" barked out another voice. It was the familiar voice of Chief Mendez, who then proceeded to give the chubby Sergeant a dressing down. At the end of it, the Sergeant turned to John and Harry, eyes widened in fear and panic. "They are one of them aren't they?"

Mendez didn't give him a response "Medics are on their way. There are two intel officers awaiting you in the Ops Center. I suggest you leave immediately."

It was about 30 mins or so before the gym was cleared and Chief Mendez motioned for Harry and John to follow him. "Permission to speak, sir?" John asked.

"Granted." Chief Mendez replied.

"Was that a test of yours?" he asked.

"You took care of a threat to yourself and your teammate. I believe that speaks for itself."

Harry spoke up this time "Sir, we followed orders from the chain of command. They provoked a fight but it didn't sit right with me. Sergeant ordered us to fight and we took out the threat but they were still fellow soldiers of the UNSC."

"You followed orders given by those in the chain of command, you took care of the threat to yourself and your teammate. Not everything in a mission will be simple or have a logical conclusion, the best we can do is just to follow orders and make sure everyone goes home afterwards." Mendez said, voice surprisingly softer and lower. "Your workout is over for the day, shower and get some rest. Dismissed."

Harry and John saluted him as he left. John nodded to Harry as he went ahead. Both would later go on to say it was a defining moment in their development as UNSC soldiers. Follow orders and get everyone home safely, that's all they had to focus on from here on out.

2 Months Post Augmentation

Now it had been 2 months after their procedure and they had just wrapped up their "graduation" ceremony. The teams had been assigned and it was rather easy from the get go to see how the teams were set up.

Blue Team -

John-117 (Assault/Team Lead)

Sam-034 (CQB)

Kelly-087 (Scout)

Linda-058 (Marksman)

While they had toyed with the idea of splitting up the magical Spartans to provide more coverage in other units, it was later argued by Dr. Halsey that the 7 of them had proven to be the strongest when working together. Though command wasn't for a larger team at the time they conceded that the teamwork displayed by the 7 Spartans eclipsed even that of Blue Team and thus reluctantly agreed with Dr. Halsey's assessments and Fireteam Mystic would be formed.

Fireteam Mystic -

Harry-M01 (Commando/Team Lead)

Neville -M02 (Sub Leader/ EOD)

Ginny-M03 (Marksman)

Ron-M04 (Heavy Weapons)

Draco-M05 (Scout/Infiltration)

Luna- M06 (CQB)

Hermione-M07 (Mission Overwatch)

It had been requested by Dr. Halsey that she retains Hermione for most of the time as a personal bodyguard and as protege. The girl scored abnormally high in her aptitude and intelligence tests and would be a waste to let a fine mind like that. Command would agree, Hermione had the makings of an exceptional handler as well, so they agreed to set her up as Fireteam Mystic's Overwatch. She would act as Dr. Halsey's bodyguard and assistant when Fireteam Mystic was not deployed.

Soon after their assignments the Spartans were gathered to the equipment bay. Apparently Drs Halsey and Potter had surprises for them, a graduation present so to speak. They filed into the bay, quickly saluting Chief Mendez. "Spartans!" he called out. "As you are all aware this program was the brainchild of Dr. Halsey. She has also been working on a fun toy for you all as well to complain about each of your strengths and to cover for your weaknesses. Pay attention to what she is showing you! He quickly ceded the floor to Dr. Halsey as she walked up to a large covered mannequin, pulling away the sheet covering it.

"This is the first successful iteration in a new line of Powered Assault Armor. Specifically designed with the Spartan II program in mind. To be specific this is the Mjolnir Powered Assault Armor Mark IV. It has been given numerous upgrades thanks to Dr. Potter and her friends. It is made of a titanium and goblin steel alloy, nearly indestructible against conventional weapons. Testing shows that it could withstand a few high explosive rounds shot at point blank out of a Scorpion. But that's not it, it is also fitted with the first of its kind personal shielding. Thanks to a runic array designed by Dr. Potter, a multiple layer shield system is available. Stage one absorbs kinetic energy, dispersing it into the shield. It will take 4 rounds from any high caliber rifle before it disburses and needs to recharge. Stage 2 is an overshield, you can push the shielding to become invincible for approximately 6 seconds, afterwards the shield will come down fully and will take about 30 seconds to recharge. Use the overshield with caution. The final stage or should I say ability, you will be able to project a shield in the form of hard light in whatever direction you want, meaning you could potentially create a barrier for yourself or your team in areas where there are none. It can also be used to create platforms for you to jump and climb on to reach areas otherwise unreachable. Be warned, only 1 platform or barrier can be created at a time." explained Dr. Halsey, who proceeds to go over the features of the armor. "Other variations will be released to the Spartan Corp in due time as testing and research is still on the way."

Harry listened as they proceeded to go over the new technomagic gear. There was the M21 Cluster Grenade, it appeared to be a regular fragmentation grenade however it had a duplication array based on the Gemio charm set up on it. According to his mother, when you prime the grenade and hold the pin down, the longer you hold it down the more grenades will duplicate, with an upper ceiling of 10 total grenades. Testing shows it could potentially wipe out entire platoons with a single cluster grenade. The next few items were multiple iterations of spell combinations retrofitted onto the varying magazines for each weapon. For example the SRS99-AM Sniper rifle had a few magazine variations. All had extension charm arrays inscribed on it that tripled capacity but that's where the similarities end. The first one was a piercing hex and velocity hex, meant to punch through any material from a maximum range of almost 4000 meters away. The 2nd iteration, was essentially a tank buster, it had been layered with a piercing hex and a bombarda, the idea was that this round would explode inside a tank once it had made initial contact. The last one currently developed and in production was layered with a transfiguration spell formula layered with an Immobulus Charm, the bullet would fly straight at the target and at first contact would transfigure into steel chains with the inscribed freezing spell. It was a long distance capture net essentially. Each weapon had a different set of capabilities that would be used in different situations, such as Anti-Personnel rounds (Piercing Hex) used by the MA Assault Rifle Series that would shred any normal human to magazines laced with a nasty cutting curse that accelerated the bleed out of the enemy that was created with the battle rifle in mind. Harry knew this to be a variation of Professor Snape's Sectumsempra. No amount of healing, stitching or any kind of medical treatment would fix that unless the counter curse was used. As a precaution the magazines also had anti-theft charms on them. Once the magazine was emptied or if taken more than a foot away from the body of the Spartan it would dissolve into harmless water.

Of course Capture Cubes were once again variations had been produced at this point and were used by the normal troops. One such variation was once deployed the cube would emit Garroting Potion that once aerosolized would effectively suffocate anyone in the containment field within minutes. It had proved very effective and deadly against multiple insurrectionist groups.

The day went on as they were debriefed on their new armor and weapon systems. It was later that day that everyone's first mission was given. Blue team and Mystic would start their careers on a joint operation. Intelligence reports of an insurrectionist leader named Robert Watts, a former UNSC Colonel had unveiled a meeting between him and the nastiest group of arms dealers in the Eridanus Asteroid Belt. Primary objective for Blue Team will be the Capture and Extraction of Watts, secondary objective of finding information regarding his communication with other insurrectionist leaders. Fireteam Mystic was ordered to dispatch the arms dealers, capture their leader alive if possible and recover information pertaining to how UNSC Arms had made way to the hands of the dealers.

Harry had been given his first mission and he looked at his team, each staring silently at him, all fully understanding the gravitas of the situation. Training was over, it was time to put everything they learned to the test.

A/N - Done and done! Another chapter in the books! Next chapter will be the Erdianus Secondus mission. Blue Team will go as it normally does. This next chapter will be solely on Fireteam Mystic and their first mission as Spartans.