"Dylan."
I wake up to see Mèndez standing there. The cadets are awake as well, and at attention. Mèndez tells us to follow him.
I almost jump off the bed. He orders us to head to the Armory.
"Double time. I'll be right back."
I start running.
What do you think it could be?
I shake my head in response.
We reach the Armory, and I slip inside before the door can open fully. We gather closely together, and wait for Sergeant to return.
He arrives with a datapad then directs us to a door. Inside there is another room with two machines, and several people in white.
Mèndez tells us that we'll have to be ready. He begins to explain about the big picture. About the human-Covernant war.
Normally there would be a briefing
That's what we have been training for. That's where John's cadets went. To war. He says we have to prepare ourselves because the enemy will always kill on sight.
He says we have to suit up first. I knew for a fact that I didn't want to go first. Mathew did, so I waved him on.
By all means
The people gave us some sort of suit, and told us the change in a smaller room. Changing at once isn't unusual, so no worries there.
The suits kind of stick to your skin, and feel like rubber. It's tight too. I feel vunerable, and exposed.
We return to the techs.
The machines have two clamps at the base, and hooks at the top. Like for grabbing stuff. I'm assuming the clamps lock around your feet.
Sergeant shook his head as Mathew offered to go first.
"Dylan you're a commander, so your armor is slightly different. It's by rank. 138, and 080 are in charge of Tango, and Kilo" he explains.
I mentally goan, and they direct me around the back. As I expected the clamps lock around my feet. There are two claws on the side for my hands.
From the top there is a chest piece, and a back piece thing. It's not a good decription, but whatever. The armor sticks to the suit I'm wearing.
There at pieces for my legs, and a helmet. The clamps have attached smaller pieces to my feet.
They release my feet, and I walk around a little examining the armor. It's mostly black with some grey, and two distinctive yellow stripes.
There's also an emblem symbol thing. A snake wrapped around a wolf head.
Mathew, and Sylvia have very similar with mostly black, and little grey. They have one distinctive stripe.
Kilo has a red emblem in the shape of a snake. Sylvia has a red stripe, and the emblem. Mathew has the purple wolf. Stands for Tango. Mine has both colors.
The rest of the cadets. Well Spartans now have either a red snake, or a purple wolf. The tech says that a number can be added to signify position.
Whatever that means.
"Chief Petty officer." I hear, and turn to face Mèndez. He motions to me. He's sitting on a crate with a datapad in his hand.
That's a rank I think
An officer one Dylan.
Is it mine? I ask Creature who nods.
If it wasn't then he would have kept calling. I think it's based on how you did, or your position. John got Master Chief remember?
Yeah.
I stop in front of him. Sergeant stands up then hands me the datapad. I'm not sure if I should thank him, or ask why.
"I won't have time to teach you what you're going to face, but I will give you this. It has information about the Covenant, and the multitude of species within it."
I turn of the screen to find a single file on the center. Tapping it I can see a list with names that I can't pronounce. Good thing though is that there are smaller names.
"I highly suggest that all of your Spartans have access to this info. Once you have been suited out there for weapons then make your way to the bay." He began then put his hands behind his back before continuing.
"There are two pelicans waiting to take you aboard a small cruiser. It's called the Tempest. After that I'm not sure." He ended.
I give a nod.
He seems quiet. More than usual.
"Is something bothering you sir?" I ask.
He says nothing.
"In a sense."
I look up waiting for more.
"It's the worst part about being a Drill Sergeant. No matter how much you train them, nothing will prevent death" he says.
I look down then back up. I heard about the loss of Sam, and it saddens me. I liked him.
"I understand sir. But you told John that was a difference between spending lives, and wasting them. In my opinion augmentations was a waste of them" I say turning to walk away.
I pause, "I guess it's a leap of faith because time is insignificant when death doesn't care how strong you are."
I stand close to them, and wait for the last couple to finish. We walk around a little to adjust, and get used to the new weight.
I take one last look at Mèndez, and he's watching me. I can tell he's thinking about what I said. I don't remember where I heard it, but I feel like it was important.
I try to remember quotes the most because they wouldn't be written without a reason.
I leave the room, and enter the main part of the armory. Finding a pistol, and a battle rifle I find a small holster of my waist for the pistol.
There is also a spot for two grenades, and one for a knife on my shoulder. The armory is silent except for the small clicks of weapons.
I found a slot on my back for other items, so that's where I put the datapad. I wait patiently with the BR in my hand.
"There's a magnet on your back for that."
I hear the Gunny who is stacking magazines. I test his words, and sure enough there is. It makes room for a second weapon too.
Not sure what else to grab I just grab an assualt rifle. Checking to ensure I have enough rounds I walk around to check the others.
Quietly we leave, and make our way to the bay like Sergeant said. We board the pelicans to leave the UNSC Hopeful.
Once aboard the Tempest several more techs introduce us to cryo. Apparently it will become a standard. Basically sleeping until someone wakes you up.
Weapons are stored nearby, but not in the tubes themselves.
I'm not ready. I don't want to be.
We're going to the front lines of Harvest. From what I've heard humans are winning, but with heavy casualties.
That's where we come in.
We have to push the enemy back.
It will be four months of slipspace before we arrive.
There worst part was that from the angle of the Tempest I got a look at all of the cryo tubes. The ones that store the lost cadets. I think there were fourty-five that died.
Cryo was cold, and I'm glad to be out of the tube again as the tech run through tests to make sure we didn't die. Or get "freezer burn."
How do you get burned from freezing?
Creature shrugs, and lays down
He seems impatient, or bored. Not only that he's been sort of quiet.
Anyways back to the story.
We get our weapons back, and that means another trip to the armory. The Gunny there is a dark female. She seems nice.
I realize what Sergeant meant by numbers. I can't tell who's who in the nine different sets of matching armor.
Fantastic.
Actually I do know their service numbers, so I guess that's a step up. It'll be fine I hope.
"Why do you seem so happy Chief?" Eddie asks me.
"Trying to lighten my mood before we all painfully die" I respond.
Silence.
"I was kidding. I'm just trying to keep it off my mind." I add.
We do final preparations while we wait for the pelican. I can't really read, so I hand the datapad to Destiny to read to us.
There are seven species all together, but Harvest is fighting mainly five. Brute, Elites, Grunts, Jackals, and Hunters.
She goes over each species, in detail, to provide combat advice.
Brutes are difficult to kill, but they're aggressive. Brute is a name given because they have a lot of strength. They also like hammers.
Elites are a problem too. They're honorable, and won't back from a fight. They carry swords to duel with.
Grunts, and Jackals are usually cannon fodder, but Grunts are known to be suicidal. Jackals carry a shield, and can be snipers.
Also cannibals which is kinda creepy.
Hunters are probably the worst in my opinion because they always travel in pairs. They're heavy armor, but it's best to kill them from the back.
While avoiding a huge shield, and a plasma cannon.
Fun.
"Spartans report to bay two." A voice sounds, and I sigh. Destiny hands me the datapad back.
My mood dies instantly. I want to remember all of their faces, and how long we've been together.
The walk to the bay seems endless, and I didn't want to leave the ship. Everyone just expects us to.
We load up into the pelican, and I lay back trying to calm down. I wonder if John felt scared when he went to destroy the Covenant ship.
I start to feel tired as the ship picks up speed. Staring at my feet it feels like hours before we get down to the surface.
The pelican begins to shake, and rattle. I find something to grab onto. The bird starts to swerve then jolt still.
"Move, move move!" The pilot yells backwards, and I stumble trying to jump out. Landing on my back I quickly get up.
Bad choice.
Plasma fires all around us, and I jump behind cover. To help my comrades I fire back at the enemy. I look around for friendly tags, and I can see the blockade.
It's made of warthogs, and scrap metal.
The pelican disappears up into the sky. I switch to my battle rifle to target the bigger aliens, and to make more precise shots. I can breathe easier with help from the others.
Ducking back down I reload then growl at myself.
Wrong weapon ammo. Left side is battle rifle.
Frustrated it takes me a little longer than I wanted to. I grab a grenade off my belt, pull the pin, then throw it as far as I could.
Elites are difficult to hit because they move around a lot.
"Push them back!" I shout jumping from behind cover. I switch to the AR, and spread my fire to multiple targets.
We advance out of cover, and pump lead into them. The worst part is when they throw grenades at us, but the up side is that since they glow you can dodge them.
Plasma grenades are sticky, so don't bother trying to catch one. A counter against them is to aim at the hands until they drop it before they throw it of course.
The moment we get breathing room we make a break for the blockade It was a couple meter sprint. It felt strange because usually we don't run, and get shot at.
I take a big leap over the wall then roll before I lost my balance. A line was dug on the inside, so that snipers could find holes in the wall to shoot.
I look over my shoulder to see the large figure of an elite approaching. I turn around, and use one of the holes.
When we move further back behind the blockade I can see a group of tents. The medical tent is pretty obvious with a red cross.
As we walk around I can feel a lot of eyes on me. Most of the Marines are staring at us, and I'm not sure why.
"Chief Petty Officer?" I hear as a guy steps through the group.
Must be the officer in charge
No handshakes
Why? He wouldn't try to do anything to me
No room for friendships. We have a job to do
Right
I can tell he's an older guy with small strips of grey in his hair.
"Sergeant Adams. When I called for reinforcements I didn't expect Spartans, but we're happy to have you." He explains.
I walk beside him into the biggest tent. There are two other people inside. Both women, but one has darker skin.
I can't remember what her rank was called, but it was below Sergeant.
Wasn't private either.
The tent is nicknamed "War Room," and there are holograms of the area on a datapad. A second has troop locations. A third one is for communication, and one for giving orders I think.
Didn't get a good look at it.
"We've been stuck here for the past couple weeks. With the enemy coming from the North. According to intelligence they habe a large base two, and a half miles from here."
He says bringing up the area on the map. The base has an advantage from one side where it's clear with no cover.
The rest of it is surrounded by a small mountain range.
The range would be a good place to set up snipers, and do a little scouting. If I can just find out where they have their troops then we could possibly ambush them.
Someone would have to scout.
I relay my thinking to Sgt. Adams, and he doesn't reply. I can take a good guess on what he's thinking.
"I advise that until we have a firm plan of attack that you allow your men to rest." I suggest to him.