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The following is a fan-based

FICTION

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"Once again, the Boot Camp"

August 16 2527 - Hour 0312

SSGT Serin Celik

Damascus Materials Testing, Vhalkem, Planet of Chi Ceti IV

Your job shall be of the utmost importance, Serin.

These words couldn't have been any truer.

While the young Staff Sergeant had her doubts regarding her capacity to handle this hurdle, she could see the importance of having to deal with this bunch of rookies. The Marine Corps and the Navy had moved mountains and seas to allow a peculiar amount of new troops to join the project, and the squad she was expected to lead with Rodriguez as her second-in-command was... well, interesting.

Not just for the 'mixed brigade' notion applied to the fact she was dealing with Humans and Kig-Yars, but because of their classification within the growing project: Snipers. She was expected to lead the sniper squads which would assist either in support of major operations or even take part to assassination attempts.

Logan told her it was essential for this group to be disciplined and to have a sharp eye mixed with exceptional reaction time. Then again, most of these people already had it in them. The two humans joining her team were both potential ODST candidates which had been swayed by the Navy to take on this project. Propaganda sure did wonder when it came to potential new subordinates of quality.

Lance Corporal Enrico Cortez was an example of that. Fit to command and was quite loyal to the chain of command. While his sniper skills were slightly above average, his predisposition to deal cleverly in unorthodox grounds made him a good pick for the group. He was also familiar with the slightly more skilled Percy O'Brien.

The younger soldier, a Lance Corporal too, was formidable from what reports said about his kill counts in the few missions he took on. He was also a bit cocky, which made him a 'last-resort' candidate to promote. Behavioral issues can effectively lead to delays within a rise in command, especially when that could be tied to age or overconfidence. O'Brien was held back by both, which meant Serin had to work through to break those flaws in him and shape him into a proper soldier.

The next two elements of her team were going to be the two most troublesome out of the entire squad: they were both Jackals. A simple soldier would think of them as a couple due to their closeness and their general familiarity which would be frowned upon immensely regardless of their already-unique situation. But Zhor (Male) and Yur (Female) were actually siblings, coming from the same batch of eggs that produced more of their kin.

Zhor was quite grim with his takes, while Yur was... meddlesome. For Serin in particular. Someone that has fought the Covenant for years would normally struggle to be tolerant of potential allies that had betrayed that side, yet Serin felt she was easily conceding a lot of respect to this particular Kig-yar.

Shorter than her brother and yet quicker with her takes, Yur was an order-abiding soldier. Smiling earnestly, offering little to no hesitation to follow her command and even doing things which would make her commendable had she been a human. Turning up earlier than other troops, cleaning the hall right outside the squad's rooms without being told to and even providing elaborate responses when needed.

And Serin felt like this was actually familiar to her.

When she mentioned this thought to her superior, Logan took a look off from the papers he was reading, offered a smile and then started to laugh. Sif was the one that ultimately told her while the Master Sergeant was still chuckling and it left Serin particularly perplexed if not shocked by what was going on. The reason why Serin was this invested and intrigued about Yur was not just her skills, but because of how much she reminded her of... well, her.

Serin had taken a similar behavior back when the project was in its infancy. She had been the most loyal and most supportive officer in the group- heck, she was still that but had taken a step back between other important duties to deal with and the years of warfare which had hardened her take on war itself. And what this told of her was that... she may have found her favorite.

In a sense, the young woman had thought Arturo would have taken that role due to his proximity to her in the chain-of-command but... that Kig-Yar had pressed all the right buttons to have a smooth stay in the UNSC for as long as she was under her command. But... At the same time, she made it tough on her because she will have to work to keep that privileged spot to herself.

Competition was going to be rough once the other soldiers realized there was indeed a system of rewards depending on their behavior and... she knew just how to make it a fun experience for all, but a hellish nightmare for those that were not working up to be in full shape.

"Got 'em!" O'Brien excitedly as he leaned his now empty sniper rifle on the side, all targets shot down.

It was introduced as a mere test to the group, to see how well they could handle sniping targets while also taking into account other factors regarding the mid-shooting conduct, the handling of the rifle and the general sense of reaction to a positive or a negative result. All was meant to give her a proper understanding of what to do with those people and what these people were going to face in this little 'boot camp'.

Yur merely hummed as she got close behind him in the timed competition while Cortez reached third and Zhor fourth. Arturo was looking around for anything foul unfolding while Serin calmly watched from her seat how they were doing. Now she could tell how frustratingly boring it was to be just a leader watching over her team and... doing nothing but that while the second-in-command had to do most of the checking.

She was soon given the papers with the set time, the accuracy and a few other parameters that Serin asked Arturo to keep an eye on, surprising the Lance Corporal, but getting a nod from him before he went through that extensive task. With the papers in hand and the rest of the team standing in a line giving attention to her, Serin was soon reading the ranking list she got out of what the papers offered to her.

"In the first place, we have the best sniper of the team at the moment... Yur."

O'Brien's face fell at these words. "W-What?"

The leading officer frowned. "Something wrong, Lance Corporal?"

"Yes, why is the freak getting first place, ma'am?"

Eyes narrowing, irritated look and blatant disrespect for fellow soldier and his own officer. She knew it was bad, but didn't expect the punk to be this frustrating. Tension emerged through this interaction and... Serin was willing to take a page out of her superior's book. It would be futile to be too direct about it and an indirect approach would be too passive for this case.

Instead, she relied on a flaw that O'Brien was keen to ignore whenever it came to the shooting range. Serin fished her handgun out of its holster and took aim at the young man. He tensed up in shock and gritted his teeth in fear.

"M-Ma'am!?"

"Ma'am, what are you doing?" Cortez asked, tensing up with the rest while Arturo remained quiet but vigilant due to this move.

"O'Brien, considering your pride is tied to your skill with a rifle, then use it on me or I will shoot you."

The issue was that he couldn't. He had ditched the gun by his station, a flaw that now only he had. Zhor too used to do that, but Serin had a feeling that his sibling straightened him up about this bad habit before it became problematic. Right now, in that line, O'Brien was the only one without a ranged means to defend himself from such a situation.

"Ma'am this is-"

The gun released a bullet before Cortez could finish that sentence. Everyone jumped, but only Cortez looked ready to rush in before he realized one thing: the bullet that soon struck O'Brien in his leg? It bounced once it slammed onto his boot. The man yelped and fell on his butt, holding his hurting limb but realizing quite quickly it was a rubber bullet that hit him.

"W-What the hell?!"

"The goal of this test, O'Brien, was to test your capacity as a sniper. This doesn't stop just at getting the target hit right, but also how you behave within the sniping and how you handle your gun. It has been told to you many times you need to man the fuck up- well, you will do while you are under me, rookie," She growled approaching him and suddenly grasping him by the collar. "So, let me put it in a very silly way so you can understand it properly, O'Brien. Many have given up on you as a proper soldier. You think that your skills alone will get you anywhere in this place? Humanity is in danger and you try to play it as if this is somewhat a game for you to play and have fun with. Lives perish, and you dare to waste time and effort set up to aid you to be a proper soldier, to fight and protect those that can't do it on their own."

Serin pulled him up, ignoring the wobbling leg he had.

"So, here's the deal so you understand this clearly: You will not be kicked out of this project lest you murder someone, betray the UNSC or even voice interest for the insurrection. But until you satisfy these conditions, the only thing coming your way is hell in here until you genuinely put a goddamn effort into this training. Do you understand, O'Brien? Or do I have to make it harder on you to get through your thick skull?"

At this point, he was deadly pale. He wasn't hurt, the bullets were indeed made of rubber and she didn't hit anything exposed. No blood was coming out of his 'injury', nor was he bruised due to the fall. No, he was genuinely frightened because not only he found hell, but he learned he couldn't leave it with that attitude of his.

"I-I'm sorry, ma'am! I-I will not- I mean, I will never do this again, ma'am!"

She snorted, letting him fall once more on his butt before turning to... Zhor. "Pick him up and drag him to the infirmary. Have someone check him and then get him to go through these exercises with you."

Serin concluded that interaction by handing Zhor the copy paper of the exercises she had already planned for the last two positions to go through after this test. And she could see that the Jackal blinked, stunned by the display and the ensuing order. Usually he would just grunt, nod, and then do the job as lazily as possible. But Zhor looked a bit more motivated, not in a frightened way but in a... happy way. That was a bit surprising, but O'Brien didn't lament the fact a 'freak' was carrying his ass to get his leg checked.

"While you two... Corporal Rodriguez shall teach you the fine details to know how to prevent your guns from jammed in the middle of combat."

"Yes, Ma'am!"

Serin nodded, offering a smile at the good response and left the trio to their job before retreating to Logan's office to rest. It was still going to be embarrassing due to the man teasing her about her 'protege' but it would be a good place to also start resting as the adrenaline was now out of the system and that whole scene had been just so... monumental to her. Heck, Serin herself was surprised she had that much steel in her sternness.

And yet leading was proving to be slightly tougher than expected.

AN

The entire team got new rookies to train and Serin got two OC Kig-Yars since I couldn't find any canon ones that could reasonably fit in the context, together with the ODST leader and the sniper from the Halo Legends story where the UNSC kills a Prophet.

I will add the rest of the new troops as soon as they appear in the next chapters. Balmung is growing in numbers alright.

REVIEW Q&A!

Valerious Lake: Spartans will soon get a POV as Halsey is considering her options.

Danielsnow: Many questions! But, in order: Maybe, Potentially, Maybe as an Omake, Classified.

Archivest Grim: He is Texan.