0530 Hours, September 26, 2517 (Military Calendar)

0330 Hours, September 26, 2517 (Reach Local Calendar)

Epsilon Eridani System, Reach Military Complex

Planet Reach

Sophia groaned and awoke as the call of a bugle was played through the speakers in the ceiling, thus sitting up she looked around at her fellow trainees. They too were groaning and complaining as the horn sounded in a consistent manner. But they knew what the Chief had said when they had woken up yesterday that they would be using the bugle to wake them up today. If they didn't wake up in time, the DIs would come in with the shock sticks. Thus, her feet hit the floor and she bounded to the showers - which still struck her as strange that the showers had a conveyor belt of all things. She washed off in the showers and then ran back to her locker and opened it, where she donned the gray sweats, thick socks, and those amazing combat boots.

She had just finished donning them when Grace ambushed her as they jogged outside. "Excited for today's classes?" she asked.

Sophia nodded, Déjà had told them that the special lesson today would revolve around how on the battlefield, communication had evolved. It was something that honestly sounded really interesting. "Don't you know it? I want to learn about how battlefield communication has changed across the centuries."

"It probably hasn't changed much in the past four hundred years." Grace noted.

"Excited about something?" Mendez asked as she and Grace formed up into the front line.

"Yes Chief, I am." Sophia said with a smile. "It's about what Déjà is teaching us today." she elaborated and Mendez nodded in response.

"About battlefield signaling?" He asked, causing Grace and Sophia to nod.

"Yes Chief, it sounds really interesting." Grace replied.

Mendez nodded again. "Good, now let's get started. Jumping Jacks! Count off to one hundred!" he shouted to the trainees as a whole.

Sophia felt at ease as she started doing the jumping jacks. She had an eager excitement in her, this routine while it was alien to some extent it also felt so much better than whatever she had been doing in her life previously. She felt as if she had been given a purpose, to become a stalwart protector of humanity. It was something that she felt like she needed to do, to succeed in this task given to her.

Doing the morning exercises went by without a hitch, but today it seemed to be a little easier actually. Grace looked her over as they downed their bottle of water. As always, it was warm and slightly salty, but as always she felt weirdly rejuvenated by it. Mendez looked them over and nodded in appreciation, maybe things were getting easier because she was actually building muscle.

"Alright trainees! On your feet, time for our morning run!" Mendez called and Sophia eagerly fell in with the other trainees, she loved this part of their morning routine. The reason for that was due to seeing additional parts of the base. They usually didn't see much action until they went by the runway, there was almost always something that was either coming or going.

"I wonder what craft we're going to see today." Grace said as they started running, Sophia nodded, on her first day they had seen what Déjà had identified for them as an AC-220 Vulture - standard heavy gunship employed by the United Nations Space Command Defense Forces. Yesterday they had the privilege to see a flight of B-65 Shortsword Suborbital Strategic Bombers come in for landing from somewhere. Today? Well, Sophia was eager to see what they were going to see.

"I just want to see some ground vehicles in action." John said from behind them and Sophia snorted. To her, ground vehicles really weren't that impressive, the stuff that flew was more impressive and she couldn't wait to see actual starships. That enormous blocky gray monstrosity that she had seen the day before training started stood out to her, she didn't know what it was other than that it had probably been a warship of some kind; except it wasn't on water but in the void.

Sophia didn't respond, she didn't quite feel comfortable enough to openly converse with people who weren't on her team. Grace and Anton. She didn't know why she was uncomfortable with talking with the others, but she knew for a fact that Anton was one of the few whites she knew that she could actually trust. But, she felt that eventually she could open up to the others.

"Hey, Grace, do you mind me asking you a question?" Sophia looked at the speaker, his sweater said Jorge-052.

"Sure, fire away Jorge." Grace replied and Sophia listened in, curious.

"Where's your homeworld?" The big kid asked and Grace hummed.

"Planet Victoria, where it is in relation to Reach, I have no clue. Where are you from?" Grace asked and Jorge grunted in response.

"Reach is my home, though, I have no idea where the hell my hometown of Pálháza is in relation to where we are." Jorge replied.

"You're from Reach?" Another voice, John, cut in and Jorge nodded. "Cool! Think you can point out all the constellations? They're different from the ones on Eridannus II."

"Sure, I wouldn't mind. We're in the same hemisphere at least, just as long as we haven't been worked completely to the bone." Jorge replied.

"Awesome!" John replied.

"Hey, Sophia." Jorge asked and Sophia startled, she just barely managed to avoid tripping over her feet as the kid addressed her.

"Yes?" Sophia asked in a cautious tone.

"Where are you from?" Jorge asked and Sophia hummed, then smiled.

"Earth!" She chirped.

"You're from the homeworld? You lucky devil." Grace added and another voice added. "So am I."

"Really Randall? What part?" Grace asked and Sophia ignored the conversation, things were just getting too sociable for her liking. She wasn't ready to fully trust everyone here yet. As they approached the runway, she could already hear engines roaring and as they started running alongside it. The craft that screamed into the air this morning were wedge-shaped with enormous aft thrusters that glowed blue as they shot into the brightening sky like missiles. They climbed into the sky so rapidly that they were out of sight in seconds after they lifted off. Sophia couldn't help but wonder what those things had been and why they could move so goddamned fast. This time, she actually couldn't contain her curiosity and asked.

"Chief?" she called to the front of the pack.

"Yes, Trainee-102?" Mendez called back.

"What were those and what the heck did they use to move that fast?" Sophia asked, looking in the direction of the craft that had departed. With a roar like thunder, two more of the strange craft screamed into the air and vanished in seconds as they rapidly climbed out of sight. The speed at which they were going, it seemed like there was nothing in the world that could have kept up with them.

"S-14 Baselards, the Air Force's standard strike fighter as for what they use, it's a fusion engine," Mendez replied without preamble as a third pair of fighters rolled and shot into the heavens. Their singular engine burning like the sun as they streaked upwards, leaving a glowing trail of light in their path.

Fusion. Just hearing that they used fusion for propulsion was absolutely crazy. Sure, fusion happened in stars, but it never occurred to her that fusion could be used as a thruster. But, it was obvious now that the performance clearly spoke for itself. For the fighters had likely gone supersonic within minutes of taking, but likely due to their positioning or maybe altitude, Sophia hadn't heard one or well, six.

Compared to the Vulture that they had seen on their first day or the B-65s on their second day, there was just something about the Baselard that just screamed how lethal it was. Maybe it was the sheer speed that the craft had, maybe it was the shape, what it was, Sophia didn't know. All that she did know was that it was incredibly awesome seeing something that large move that fast.

From there, Mendez led them to the Academy for their classes. Sophia couldn't help but feel a building excitement for her courses today. She really wanted to learn how battlefield communications had evolved, it had been a running theme it seemed like throughout time, at least from what she had seen. As they ran into the courtyard, Déjà had a holographic avatar projected upon the top of the stairs, her kind smile as always illuminated the room. Sophia couldn't help it, she bounded up the stairs as the AI greeted them.

"Welcome class, ready to get started?"

"Yes Déjà!" she eagerly called as she crested the stairs and followed the signs to the classroom. The classes in the morning always focused on typical academics like mathematics, languages, literature, science, and history. But more than that there was always a specialist class whose content varied considerably from day to day and she couldn't wait to see how battlefield communication had evolved.

As the class began, the holoprojectors hummed and warmed - displaying various devices. Ranging from this odd contraption that had poles and flags, a man and a horse, to one that looked like a tuba, to a device that looked like a flute, a horn, a bagpipe, drum, telegraph key, the telephone, a radio, and finally a satellite. Sophia looked over the various devices with confusion, why were various instruments displayed here? She wasn't the only one who was confused about it either.

Déjà began "One of the greatest sources of trials and tribulations throughout history on the battlefield is communication. It is communication that allows officers and generals to coordinate their troops effectively and oftentimes the side that wins battles because they can employ better coordination. Throughout time this has been proven again and again - from the Spartans coordinating the second day at Thermopylae, the Romans in their battles as they conquered much of the known world at that time. The British used the combination of the fife, drum, and runners to conquer a third of the planet during the 1600s through to the 1800s. During the American Civil War thanks to the implementation of portable telegraph systems the Union would be able to gain an upper hand over the Confederate States of America."

"Each one of these methods of communication was quicker or able to relay more complex commands, but with instruments complex orders couldn't be given out quickly or easily. This is where the duty of the runner came into being, able to relay written instructions from a commanding officer to a subordinate. However, as weapon technology advanced, the ability to carry messages long distances did not advance anywhere near as rapidly and thus for centuries, it was the task of the runner to relay complex messages and orders between units in the field. However, runners have several weaknesses inherent to using them." The AI explained and Sophia couldn't help it, she raised her hand.

"Yes Trainee-102?" Déjà asked.

"Was one of these weaknesses the fact that Runners could get lost?" Sophia asked.

Déjà nodded. "Yes, that is correct Trainee-102. If a runner gets lost, they could arrive late to their destination or worse not at all. This has played a role in battles before where messages haven't arrived in time. What are the other risks associated with runners?"

Another hand shot up. "Yes, Trainee-029."

"Another risk that runners have is that they can be killed, right?" he asked and the holographic woman nodded.

"Indeed, another negative with using runners is that they can be killed in action. This means that the message will never arrive in the first place. Which can again have deleterious effects on a battle if a unit can't effectively communicate or if a General can't communicate with their units in the field. This has also played a role in shaping the battlefield, now what's the third way that the runner provides a major weakness?" Déjà asked.

A hand rose. "Yes Trainee-052?"

"Is another problem with using runners is that the message is delivered to the wrong unit?" Jorge asked and Déjà nodded in response.

"Exactly, delivering an important message meant for one unit to another unit could and often did have disastrous consequences when it happened by often putting a unit completely out of position - allowing it to either be cut off and promptly destroyed or by opening up a gap in the lines that the enemy then exploited." The AI replied and Sophia tapped out a few notes on the pad that she had for this before eating one of her eight crackers and taking a sip of milk.

Another hand went up. "Yes Trainee-117?"

"Would it be possible to intercept the message as well and act accordingly?" John asked and Sophia hummed in response.

"Indeed Trainee-117, that was another risk of using Runners if you were trying to contact units that were potentially isolated." Came the response and so the special lesson went.

Senior Chief Petty Officer Franklin Mendez

Franklin watched as the trainees descended the stairs from the Academy, as had been the case for the past few days - they were primarily discussing their special academics course. He had to admit, they were uniformly sharp as a tack and they were definitely slowly but surely gaining muscle mass. Granted on the later bit, their meals were loaded with vitamins and other nutrients to help promote that sort of stuff. The Spartan-IIs were, so far, progressing very nicely, he had to admit that he couldn't wait for them to get older and see what they could really do.

"Alright trainees, ready for the playground?" he called out and he had to keep his expression flat as the kids began to fall in, ready for the two mile run to the Playground. He had to admit, they definitely seemed to constantly be wowed by the action going on at the airfield and he couldn't wait to get started on doing the simulations.

"Yes Chief!" they chorused and Franklin nodded.

"Then let's go!" he called and then he broke into a trot and his sensitive ears picked up the sounds of seventy-five pairs of feet moving at a run after him, with the other trainees jogging after them. He actually couldn't wait for the time at the Playground today, mostly because of the fact that he had a surprise in store for them.

It was something that he wanted to instill within the Spartan-IIs, the idea to never assume and to never be complacent with your decision making. Personally, he couldn't wait to see what Trainee-044 would come up with. He was half the reason why Team Seven which besides 044 and 102 and 093 were as consistent as they were with finishing. They had been the first team to finish on the first day of boot, had been the third team to finish on the second day, if 044 kept up his knack for spotting routes, then they would probably finish within the Top 5 today. If that was the case, he would make a note in 044's file that he likely had a knack for scouting. That had been part of the hope for Spartan-II, that every trainee would have a skill where they were a cut above their fellows.

So far, it seemed that, at a minimum, Trainee-044 might actually fill the role of scout for the Spartans. Still, as usual, the run to the Playground went off without any fuss. This time, the Playground was at most, seven meters tall, for the bell. But there was a wrinkle in that, for the final runup to the Bell, the trainees would need to negotiate a moving platform before they could ring the bell, negotiate another moving platform before getting to a slide pole and sprinting across the finish line.

Fortunately, the trainees weren't at the point in their training where he wouldn't tell them about any unexpected twists yet. Yes, it would be a good way to teach them how to always expect the unexpected, but, he would prefer to wait at least a year before doing so as right now boot had just barely begun. At the very least though, this sort of change up should cause them to really start employing teamwork. He suspected that teams three and seven would have the most success here, but he wasn't entirely sure.

He spun his baton as he announced that they would be using the same teams as yesterday and drew the line in the dirt. "Alright recruits, before I announce what tonight's dinner is; I am going to deliver a briefing on this course."

The murmuring as the teams tried to work out strategies died off, which Mendez knew was a good thing. "As usual, the game is Ring the Bell. However, there's a wrinkle in getting to the bell and to the slide pole platform to finish the course. All of the routes that get to the bell converge on a platform, from that platform there is a moving platform that you must wait until it gets close enough to before jumping to it and waiting for it to carry you to the point where you can jump. It will wait in position for three seconds to allow for you to jump to the platform, if you fall, there's a cargo net that will catch you but you have to go back to the start of either platform section in order to try again. That will be all." He explained quickly and nods went through the recruits.

"Right, as for tonight's dinner. It's steak with gravy, crispy hashbrowns, and mashed potatoes with cheesecake for dessert." He said and once again, the trainees all cheered. "As usual however, the team that finishes last goes without dinner."

A hand went up and Mendez briefly consulted his tablet before going "Yes, Trainee-005?"

"If we go without dinner if we lose, why are we still given a liter of water and told to drink all of it?" He asked and Mendez allowed himself to smile, he had wondered when that question would be asked.

"Because, Trainee-005. That bottle of water contains all of the nutrients, vitamins, and minerals of a full meal." Mendez told him and a few nods went through the assembled trainees and he figured that he was making progress on connecting to them - he wanted to come across as harsh but fair.

"Any other questions?" he asked and nobody raised their hands.

"Good!" He called as he drew the line in the sand with his baton.

"Ready….set….go!" he said and watched the usual outbreak of chaos and pandemonium as the trainees rushed towards the playground. There was shouting and pushing as the mass of trainees began to work their way through the course. As usual, he could see that some teams were doing better than others. As always though, Team Seven seemed to be doing exceptionally well, Trainee-044 was leading 093 and 102 through the course like he had managed to sneak out to watch it go together.

That being said, Teams Three, Five, and Twelve seemed to be right on their heels as they negotiated the course. All three teams were doing good as they negotiated the climbing nets that led to the final platform. In fact from where he stood, Team Twelve seemed to be pulling ahead of Team Three while the first member of Team Five seemed to be overtaking Team Seven as they approached the platforms.

He kept his eyes on the trainees as they carefully negotiated the first moving platform, but since Team Seven had got there first they would likely win the bell again. Still, he couldn't.

A scream of pain and Trainee-102 fell from where she had tried to jump as the platform rolled back, striking the edge, and landing in the net. The megaphone was already in hand, he activated the horn function and had it howl its electronic cry into the air then he flicked it back to voice mode. "All hands freeze! This exercise is officially dead, medics get ready!" he roared and then he moved.

He wasn't an ordinary man, he was part of the reason why the Spartan-II Program had even come about. He was a shining example of the Orion : Project - the first foray into doing major augmentations beyond what UNSC ODSTs and other Special Forces received. This program had been retroactively renamed Spartan-I and according to Doctor Halsey, the reason he had been selected instead of another exemplar of the program, Sergeant Avery Junior Johnson, was primarily because of his experience in being a drill instructor after the Orion Program had been shuttered in the aftermath of the Gravel's Ridge Incident.

He showed it now, for he began to sprint towards the course. He quickly hit his top speed of thirty-five kilometers per hour, it was a speed that he could sustain for minutes at a time. He got to the course and began to surmount the course. His mind working as fast as his augmentations and neural implants would allow it to do so through the use of thought acceleration. The tricky part would be getting down from the Playground, but he could handle that.

Once he got up to the cargo net where Trainee-102 had fallen, it was just a quick effort to navigate to her - one that wasn't particularly hard as he had navigated much harder things than this. He quickly glanced over her injury, the knee looked broken. Right, nothing serious with how potent UNSC Medical Technology was, she would be back on her feet, running with her fellow trainees like nothing had ever happened in a day or two. Still, he would need to notify Doctor Halsey about this and that she would need to prepare an Autodoc - from there it would be standard procedure.

Scoping the trainee up and slinging her over her shoulder. He then proceeded to negotiate his way to the moving platforms. That was easy, he could see that Teams Three and Seven were on the Platform with the bell and were looking on with concern - maybe for their teammate. The other landing was 7-meters away, a relatively easy jump provided that he got a running start. He didn't have as much room to work with as he wanted - but he had pulled off tighter jumps in the field during combat against Insurrectionists.

Four rapid steps and then he jumped and soared through the air and the trainees of team three and seven scattered as he landed, having covered seven-point-four-six meters in a single jump. That by itself had caused the trainees to gap at him in complete shock. But he didn't notice, instead he focused on the next two jumps that he needed to do which were each of the same distance as the jump he just completed. He dashed, jumped, made it to the first platform, jumped again while retaining his momentum and landed on the platform with the slide pole. Grabbing the pole he proceeded to slide down one-handed and landed amongst the cushions, his reinforced skeleton easily taking the brunt of the impact.

From there it was a fifty meter sprint to the Aid Station - just enough time to get up to full speed. He crossed the distance in twelve seconds and laid the injured trainee on a gurney. Already one of the medics had a hand-held MRI unit in hand while the M12A Ambulance Warthog turned over, its twelve liter hydrogen fueled engine rumbling in a low menacing way. The medic looked up at him. "It's broken and badly at that, she needs Dr. Halsey."

Chief Mendez nodded, he had expected that and thus he looked at his second. "Chief Nylund! You're in charge, get the trainees off the Playground and back to the Academy for their afternoon classes and Team Seven isn't to be denied dinner. I'll be back later to give them a debriefing."

"Aye Chief!" The man replied and then began barking orders for the recruits to make their way down from the Playground.

Meanwhile, Mendez joined Trainee-102 as she was sedated then loaded into the Warthog. He sat down in a chair near the front of the compartment as the medics worked on her and the doors banged shut. The driver put it in gear and the Warthog let out a throaty roar as it accelerated, its Infinity Variable Transmission constantly shifting gears as the massive engine propelled it to extremely high speed. Mendez listened to the snarl of the engine and concluded that they were approaching the Warthog's top speed of a hundred fifty kilometers per hour.

It wasn't that long of a drive to where they needed to go, which was CASTLE Base and the medical facilities therein.

1225 Hours, September 26, 2517 (Military Calendar)

1025 Hours, September 26, 2517 (Reach Local Time)

Epsilon Eridani System, CASTLE Base, Planet Reach

Dr. Catherine Halsey

"So the trainee mistimed the jump?" Doctor Catherine Halsey asked and Mendez nodded.

"Yes ma'am she did." The Chief Petty Officer replied the Doctor jotted some notes down on the injury in question.

"Well, MRIs seem to indicate a badly broken knee and that's been confirmed by X-Rays - but it's not beyond saving." She said as she glanced at Sophia's vitals, strong and steady - there were the remnants of those seemingly benign tumors that had been found by the autodoc. How the hell those had been missed in early screenings was a mystery. But the more she looked at it, the more she couldn't help but wonder how the hell it wasn't causing Sophia problems either. For the first time in an extremely long time, Catherine was honestly completely stumped and she was regarded as one of most brilliant minds alive.

The list of ways that these two so called benign tumors couldn't be negatively affecting Sophia was extremely short. In fact, she couldn't think of any realistic manner as to why. But the oddest part about them was how seamlessly they seemed to be integrated with her brain, more than that, they hadn't been causing her any pain or discomfort or any symptoms that Déjà could have discerned. Contrast fluid had found no evidence of brain bleeds nor had there been any solid evidence of even inflammation. It was like she had been born with the damn things and yet, something had clearly happened to them - and she wanted to find out what. She thus made a note to biopsy these things. She wanted to know what made them tick.

Still, if anything, Sophia's injury was also a blessing as it would allow for her to have a standard issue UNSC Neural Implant installed. It was a standard procedure, but doing it now would save time compared to when they needed to do it as they were going to be removing those tumors so they might as well do it now. She made a note though to lock down the permissions that Sophia's implant would have.

Sophia's chart had already made a note that she was sedated and Halsey added a note that she wouldn't return to her fellow trainees until a full day had passed. Ordinarily against procedure and arguably paranoid, but she felt like she needed to be paranoid in this case. She had no idea where these tumors had come from and why they hadn't been causing Sophia any problems. Furthermore, training Sophia how to use her implant would be better done in a controlled environment like a hospital room.

Still, she felt like she needed a second opinion on this. She arranged to have some of the tissue that would be extracted to be sent to UNSC Hopeful for analysis as she was the most capable hospital ship in the entire Navy. It was a rarity that something like this happened, but like any good scientist, she wasn't above reaching out to try and gain a fresh perspective.

"That's a relief hearing that, anything else you need me to do ma'am?" Mendez asked her.

"Yes, I want you to give Sophia a dressing down on safety briefings and explain to the other trainees that she will be rejoining them in a day's time." Halsey answered and the man nodded.

"Anything else?" Mendez asked.

"I actually have a request, Doctor Halsey, can I please have Chief Mendez for the afternoon classes?" Déjà asked.

"Why is that?" Halsey asked and the AI exhaled.

"It seems that Mendez's little rescue of Trainee-102 got everyone's attention as he's a Spartan-I and they want to know how he could move so fast." The AI explained.

Not unexpected actually, Halsey had known that Mendez was a Spartan-I since before the Spartan-II Program had been even in its infancy. Furthermore, every single Spartan-II who had been inducted into the program had the hallmarks of being Mensa level intelligences, this meant that they had IQs of at least one hundred eighty. She glanced over at Mendez and was surprised to see that the man was pale. "Something wrong Chief?" she asked.

"I hate public speaking." Mendez groaned.

"I have a better idea, we can put that off till tomorrow, that way Sophia can also recover. It also will buy time for you to actually get yourself ready for a lecture." Halsey said and Mendez groaned again.

"I agree, because doing a lecture on the fly? Not my strong suit, though I could use some pointers." Mendez replied.

Halsey smiled. "Okay…"