1430 Hours, March 05, 2525
Epsilon Eridani System, Reach Military Complex, Planet Reach
(Chief Franklin Mendez POV)
*SMACK*
It has been 8 years since I was brought aboard the SPARTAN-II program put together by Dr. Catherine Halsey, the head of the Office of Naval Intelligence's scientific division. In the near decade of service for the woman, not much has changed for me.
*WHOOSH* *SMACK* *SMACK*
Each day I get up and make myself a decent breakfast that is usually a few eggs, some bacon, and some bread to make a nice breakfast sandwich. Once full, I finish with a shit and a shower, and then I'm ready to start a day of training. From there, I have a quick meeting with my instructors to go over the days training plan that Halsey had created for the Trainees, before proceeding to the barracks where the cadets muster and begin the evolutions set out for today.
I will admit when I was originally told I would be training close to a hundred six-year-old children to be the ultimate killing machines, I was utterly disgusted by the idea. To this day I still find what I am doing to be revolting, and I am not so delusional as to make excuses like Dr. Halsey. We have stolen the childhoods and dreams of children to suit our own personal means, and to slaughter our enemies.
The kids have changed, they don't even fully remember their parents anymore. They are exactly as O.N.I. wanted them to be, killing machines. Now, they know war and the best methods to kill, even if it is something they are still against. Candidate S-137, Carris, a little girl with black hair and blue eyes had an incident 5 years ago. She had ended up killing an Instructor by accident, the girl was simply trying to reverse a pin on the mat and ended up severing the man's fifth and sixth cervical vertebrae at the age of 10.
No matter by what logic, no matter what reason, and no matter what my conscience may think, my actions here are unquestionably wrong.
In the end, they have become what they were meant to be—the strongest of mankind. That's why I accepted the assignment. As the saying goes, "If you want a job done right, do it yourself." By the time I'm done, these weapons will only have strength, but I believe one day, they will find a greater purpose beyond orders from above. Trainee 001 has always been the key to any normalcy, helping others see themselves as "Defenders of Humanity" rather than mere soldiers.
*SMACK* *WHOOSH* *SMACK* *SMACK*
Now moving away from that subject, I am proud of the candidates and their progress from a strictly warrior perspective. All of them are fearless with candidates 001, 117, 043, and 051 showing unwavering courage even in the face of impossible odds, which fills me with a deep sense of pride, making it feel as though even though even a little bit of this was worth it, but I digress. S-051, Kurt, is almost like a son to me, as he reminds me of myself when I was just a lad. Unlike the rest he is quite sociable, he makes it a point to befriend and talk to anyone nearby, while the rest of the class are reserved and will only talk to other Spartans. I can see that he has a good heart, he will make a fine leader with his uncanny sense to 'feel traps' that will serve him well.
*SMACK* *SMACK*
*SMACK* *SMACK*
Besides being fearless and courageous they have uncanny teamwork skills. Each one of them considers their teammates to be family with the class being a clan or 'family of families'. Only one person is appointed as family of all and that is 001, who has been the customizable teammate, able to be inserted and removed from the teams without messing up the cohesion, the perfect puzzle piece. Some of them stand out with skill, Linda-058, though the class will swear up and down that 001 is better, is recognized as the greatest shot in the class. Grace S-093 has unfortunately shown to be the explosives expert, Michael S-120 is a tech-wiz, John S-117 is the de facto leader who with his confidence and luck can inspire the most downtrodden and conquer any battlefield.
Every Spartan is a monster in their own right, including the ones that have not been mentioned, but one stands apart from the others as the 'Eternal Flame,' as the other instructors call him.
*WHOOSH* *SMACK*
*SMACK* *SMACK* *SMACK*
*SMACK* *SMACK*
*CRACK*
*cough* *wheeze* *cough*
I let out a groan as I struggled to shrug off the punch to my abdomen, and as I fell to my knees struggling to get my breath in order, I saw the other two had been knocked unconscious from the kicks to the head. My face was no doubt bruised further from the combination of yesterday's sparring and today's. Thankfully he was holding back when delivering strikes to the head, otherwise a lot of instructors would be dead.
"Are you still alive Chief? Did I break your ribs? A juvenile voice, that sounded like 'Aizen' from Bleach, asked from in front of me. The voice sounded half-concerned and half-mocking; over the years no one had figured out what emotion it was. It might have been both as he has always maintained a certain unruliness about him.
"Kid, *cough* you are still ten years too young to be able to take me out of commission." I spat up a little blood that had gathered from my now busted lip.
"Yes, sir." He laughed as he began removing his gloves to show the white hand wrap beneath and proceeded to take off his leg pads. "Well from my perspective only one of us is currently coughing up a lung and trying to catch their breath, but if you want to go again, I can put on some more padding."
I couldn't help but let out a small chuckle and show a rare sardonic expression to the boy, 'This is the monster I helped create but before he can ever be set loose on our enemies, I have to deal with him...' I thought, with the irony not lost on me.
Aedan began pulling the wrap from his hands and legs before the meat hooks and steel beams that had mangled instructors and got him disqualified from hand-to-hand combat exercises with any other candidates besides Jai S-006, John S-117, and Kelly S-087. His hands and legs if they were on any other person would have been mangled with scars even more scars than his already battle torn body, and the battle maniac when pulled away from the combat exercises decided to do his own training.
He incorporated Taekwondo into his training, adding flying knees and double kicks to his repertoire. To toughen his attacks, he punched steel plates and kicked steel poles while practicing. Remarkably, his minor healing factor negated the damage from his intense training on his hands and legs. He was still able to be cut when the instructors were told to use knives but only the deeper cuts scarred as his healing was only minimal. But remarkably his body as the damage from the training continued was evolving to strengthen his hands, wrists, shins, ankles, and feet.
After I stumbled upon him practicing on the steel plates and poles one day, I foolishly let my guilt coerce me as both his instructor and partner after remembering that he had not received any prize while 117 had been made squad leader. From that day forward I helped him perfect his fighting style and added to his already extensive repertoire of killing. Eventually, as it was being perfected, I needed to bring in more instructors so that I was not overwhelmed by the sheer volume of attacks. Looking back, I can't help but kick myself at why I thought differently after the mountain evidence proving the fact of the matter, and now I can't help but admit:
Aedan is a genius of geniuses. He has been given the nickname 'Reaper' as during the war games, the Trainees had noticed a pattern that he would disappear and would only appear after Deja had declared whatever Team he was on had won. Even after they would give up on attacking and strictly defend the objective, they would say that he had appeared as the Grim Reaper who comes to harvest the dead and guide the souls into the afterlife and by the time the trainees had noticed his presence they were already 'dead'.
The boy does not have many shortcomings, as he is slightly above average at driving and is known to be quite unserious when uncomfortable and makes bad jokes to break the tension. However, when he is on the battlefield, his talent combined with his 'unique' physique makes any difficulty just a minor setback on the path to victory. Though that's not to say he is invincible, nor unbeatable, after all, he is still human, even if he is....evolved further than what normal humans are.
"We're done for today," I sighed as I stood up, "Return to the barracks, you are hitting the driving course early tomorrow," I informed him only to get a chuckle and a "Yes sir." I had a feeling he just wanted to drive a Warthog again and this was just another attempt to break the record for the course. Also, for him to blow off some steam and have some fun.
I shook my head at this thought and watched as he exited with a tinge of anxiety. Eventually, he departed through the door, and I was left alone to mumble to myself, "One final gate, Aedan, you and the rest of the class have one more mission before you can officially call yourselves Spartans, but for this mission strength, intelligence, perception, agility, nor charisma will help... only luck."
0800 Hours, March 06, 2525
Epsilon Eridani System, UNSC Field Operations Offensive Driving Course (ODC), Planet Reach
*VROOOM*
"Cal, sweetheart, I am going to need you to aim a little better because I am trying to break the record." I say cranking the steering wheel of the Warthog to avoid another spray of paint from the automatic turrets.
"Shut up Aedan" Daisy says as she tries to keep a straight face in the passenger seat, "Turn riiiiight.... now" she says in her usual monotone voice. Sadly, I had another idea and turned the wheel after the turn to aim for a small trail in the woods that was just big enough for a Warthog.
"You missed the turn." Daisy points out with a calm tone. "You would be very correct with that one Daisy, but I am aiming for the record and on my original test run I had noticed a ramp at the edge of the woods that will launch from the cliffside right outside of the finish line into the field below and would only have 100 yards to go. And besides it'll be fun." I said looking at her with a mocking grin.
Looking back, I caught sight of Cal, eyes wide and mouth open, I started laughing as I told her, "Hey Cal I'm going to be honest here, I've never attempted the jump, and I don't even know if it'll work but you are almost guaranteed to need to hold on tight." I grabbed the gear shifter, hit the clutch, and watched the RPM on the display dip for a moment and shot back up.
Cal turned to look at me and franticly shook her head, but her eyes had already resigned to the fact that there was no stopping me. "Don't worry Cal I will catch you just like when we were younger." I spoke.
A moment went by, and we had just cleared the forest into a small meadow, and I could see the jump come into view. I dropped a gear; dirt was shot up and branches were flying everywhere as the Warthog shot forward tearing through the meadow. Daisy was now gripping the passenger handle with a death grip and Cal was holding onto the chain gun for dear life.
*VROOM*
We then hit the jump, and the Warthog flew from the cliffside and soared above the field below. I felt as if I was soaring through the sky free as a bird with only the sound of the engine blaring through the air. *VRRROOOOOOOOOM* I glanced over and saw Daisy had a look of pure terror as she slowly started rising in her seat and was franticly grabbing for another handle.
Cal was now no longer standing and was slowly becoming more and more horizontal as her feet lifted into the air. But before she could completely go and leave the Warthog truck bed with the only thing tethering her from a plunge from death, was her grip on the gun, I reached back and grabbed her uniform and pulled her down. I then turned back focused on the landing and let off the gas so that she could resettle herself.
Now for the express trip down I had never felt more alive than in that moment. If Daisy or Cal were to look over and see my face, they would absolutely think I was insane and with how hard I was laughing at their reactions of my friends, I couldn't help but slightly agree with that assessment.
*CRASH*
With a sudden surge of gravity finally catching up signaling our landing, "Everybody good?" I looked around and asked quickly before shifting back into gear and flooring it.
*VRRROOOOOOOOOM*
Cal had fallen and was shakily standing back up when with a jerk from taking off again almost lost her grip. She glared at me through the rearview mirror before checking over the M41 again and looking for more targets. Daisy looked like she was about to blow her top and launch into another lecture, so I decided to call out to Cal, "Targets up high Cal, 4 o'clock,"
Daisy tried to yell over the engine but soon the M41 Chain gun spool soon began, and Daisy focused up and began to assist Cal in taking out the aerial drones that simulated an aerospace target. Soon there were no more targets with Cal getting 7 and Daisy getting the other 3 as we raced across the finish line.
Once we had finished, I drifted the Warthog to a final stop and saw Mendez with his stopwatch begin walking toward us. We all waited in the vehicle with the idle rumble from the engine filling up the air as Mendez took up his clipboard to make some notes here and there.
He lowered the sheet of paper with his pen attached and was looking between the three of us as he began to speak, "On the whole, you three broke the record by 30 seconds. I have never seen something so utterly reckless and irresponsible in my GOD DAMN LIFE!" He screamed at us, but he was making direct eye contact with me, so I knew he was talking to me.
He then turned to Cal, "S-141 that shooting was not half bad, but you need to work on your verbal communication like we have been telling you. You should have expressed to 001 that the 'shortcut' had never been attempted before for a reason. But other than that, I felt that you had done an excellent job given the circumstances."
"Understood, Sir!" Cal replied.
"Finally, for this temporary fireteam's leader," Mendez said switching over to Daisy, "Nice shooting. But the only issue I have is like S-141, with your communication, you need to make sure that your driver or whoever you are giving directions to acknowledges them. Besides that, well done S-023."
"Now go get some rest. The final test is in a couple of days, and once you conquer it you can call yourselves Spartans."
1300 Hours, March 09, 2525
Epsilon Eridani System, ONI Medical Facility, in orbit around Planet Reach
I shivered and complained as I stood in my single filed like dress only in my underwear. Kelly-087 standing behind me, Cal-141 to my left, and Daisy-023 in front of me, all simultaneously decided to smack my head to get me to stop complaining. I was about to glare at all three of them but the large blast doors opened up revealing Dr. Catherine Halsey in her white lab coat.
"Good morning cadets, I know I have already harped on the danger and importance of this test so I will not take any more time talking about the procedure. Instead, I will say good luck and Godspeed." She finished her quick introduction, and we began being called one by one. I watched as everyone walked forward with bated breath towards the disk-shaped room and towards our individual medical tables.
Eventually, everyone was called except for me. "Imagine having the Spartan number 001 and being picked last," the irony of the situation wasn't lost on me as I mumbled to myself.
"Last minute jitters?" looking up, Halsey stood in front of me cocking her head to the side. I shook my head, "Good, we had to do a bit more for your operation, follow me," she motioned for me to get up and walked to the bed in the furthest portion of the arc-shaped room.
I went ahead and laid down on top of the medical bench. The bed was quite long, with the surroundings filled with a variety of screens that began to beep to life monitoring different vitals as the doctors hooked me up.
"So, what's special for me this time?" I asked making small talk, "I assume it has something to do with what the insurrectionists' did to me."
"You would be correct in your assumption. We are worried about what could possibly go wrong because we will need to increase the augmentations to a higher level." she explained as she worked.
I simply nodded my head and began to count down from ten but never reached one.
'W-What's going on...?' I called out to anybody listening, but I seemed to be unable to move my mouth. I attempted to open my eyes but could not even twitch my eyelid.
I was still trying to look around at what was happening near me when I heard a doctor speak near me, "The first phase is complete, the subject's occipital capillaries have been rearranged according to the plan for Candidate 001. Likewise, the Platinum Catalytic Thyroid Implant was inserted after the incision was made to the Thyroid. All signs so far are adequate, and it would appear the subject is taking hold of the adaptations naturally and will proceed with Phase II momentarily," I heard a male voice ramble off in the distance.
'Well, my head feels fine, with a slight stinging pain just above my eyes that was fading away, my throat however felt like it was sliced apart but could feel that beginning to fade also.' I thought to myself, 'Well I am obviously not supposed to be conscious, so they should notice my brain activity… hopefully.'
As I finished complaining in my head, I felt multiple sharp jabs that pierced through my skin. I felt as if I could see everything that happened as they entered into my temples, legs, and arms. I wanted to grind my teeth as they injected fluid for what seemed to be hours, but I still didn't have control over my body. It was not even a minute later before I began to feel the effect of whatever cocktail of drugs they introduced into my body.
A searing feeling in every muscle, every inch, and every cell within my body erupted like a volcano underneath my skin. I did not scream because I had no mouth to do so, my blood boiled, and my body involuntarily convulsed at the rapid changes I was experiencing. But there was no relief as seconds became hours. I remained awake for every moment without a break, time and space seemed to slow to a crawl while the experience of boiling and tearing waned into a crushing soreness. 'I felt as if I was 5 years old again and was being tortured by the insurrectionists.' I thought grimly.
And just as I began to hear a voice, which I hoped would be my savior, "Subject experienced normal symptoms after being injected with F.E.V. muscle enhancements, though the cardiac response skyrocketed. Muscle relaxers were administered in small doses to the heart so as to negate a possible fatal volume increase," the monotone voice sounded out sickeningly to my ears. "Due to the success at this stage proceeding to the final step of augmentations immediately. Dr. Halsey warned that if the Carbide Ceramic Ossification was not issued as the subject's growth hormone-stimulated growth occurred, the possibility of the subject dying skyrockets."
At that moment, I took a brief pause to process the doctor's words, subsequently hearing the sound I had been most apprehensive about.
*WHIIRRRRR*
The blade of a saw whirring just above me and with a sickening realization my sternum was about to be carved through. I cranked my mind block to the highest possible wave I could and made me almost numb to the pain. But that numbness would never be able to take the memory of the feeling of having your bones carved open and having your organs moved around so the doctor could pour the hot liquid onto my skeletal structure.
The slicing feeling never went away and instead began to spread as flaps of flesh peeled off my body like taking tint off of a car window. The disgusting sound of wet meat falling to the floor, along with the sizzling sound of the liquified metal mixture that acted in conjunction with my own body to form an unbreakable shell around my bones was the sound filling my peripherals.
"OH MY GOD! HE'S AWAKE! QUICKLY GET THE STRONGER SEDATIVE!" The male monotone voice from earlier sounded out in a panic. The new sound snapped me out of my pain-filled daze, as I felt my brain had begun to shut down due to the overloading of my senses.
But by this point, it didn't matter, I had survived some of the worst possible torture imaginable, I had been flayed alive, stabbed multiple times, and basically boiled alive. For better or for worse I knew that the torture from the insurrectionists had in a horrible way prepared me for this moment.
As I felt the mask tighten around my wet and cut-open face, I had only one thought running through my mind, 'Was it worth it?' and only time will tell.
1100 Hours, March 27, 2525
UNSC Carrier Atlas en route to the Lambda Serpentis system
"Aedan, wake up!"
"Huh!" I shot up from my position lying on my back. My heart felt as if it would leap out of my chest as my eyeballs shot around the room with precision scanning the area. I felt the differences in my body immediately, not only did I sit up at a much higher height, but my eyes were as sharp as a hawk's. Not only could I pick out details perfectly from a distance, but I could even do so in low-light areas.
"Aedan, are you ok?" snapping my head to the right I found the doctor and realized I was gripping her shoulder, not tightly, thankfully, otherwise I am certain I would have turned her bones to dust.
I quickly lowered my hand and took a deep breath, "D-Doc, how long-how long have I been out?" I asked hazily through what I recognized to be bandages that covered most of my body.
"A little under three weeks," she answered as she looked me over, then sighed, "Everyone else is already up and moving, but we ran into an unforeseen circumstance. It turns out you have dextrocardia, I am beyond livid with the fact it wasn't found in your previous checkpoints, but…thankfully you pulled through like you always do."
"So, my heart is on the right rather than the left huh," I squeezed my fists together, "Say, you wouldn't happen to know who that was that operated on me, would you?" I asked while rubbing my thumb over my knuckle feeling the grafted Ceramic Carbide covering the bones.
As Aedan got up from his bed and started stretching his arms and legs and could feel the differences in his body; he walked over to a mirror and took a look at himself. His crimson red hair was all but gone but it had grown only slightly more than a buzzcut, his brownish-grey eyes now have small red flecks in them now.
He noticed he was also taller, as he stood at 7'0" compared to his previous 5'10". He was also more muscular than before when he suddenly felt something in the back of his neck where his brainstem was and moved his hand and went to touch it. "Damn is that a neural plant as well?"
"Yes, it is standard issued" Halsey said. "Aedan, are you alright? After we had run into some unforeseen consequences as the augmentations also boosted your already extensive mutating DNA and was filtering out the anesthesia but thankfully you were able to pull through."
I listened to her while tracing my scars, thankful for the reminder that this is reality and that I am not invincible.
"Scars will fade over time," Halsey stated, prompting me to look at her with a puzzled expression. "Scars represent stories of survival, strength, and resilience, and I am like any other person, with my own story of survival engraved on my body."
"So…how many survived" Aedan asked unassured if he wanted to hear the answer of what ended up of the others.
Halsey had a serious look and spoke. "Only 33 of the Spartans survived the augmentations, 12 were crippled and 30 died due to the procedure."
"Wait what?" Aedan said looking baffled. Close to half the class was gone and close to 20% was crippled. It was difficult to learn that individuals I had aspired to fight alongside were no longer with us. Despite being aware of the narrative, it remained heartbreaking to hear.
"So, what am I to do now?" Aedan asked.
"Get some food to eat" Halsey said. "Your new augmented body will require the protein to function properly."
0000 Hours, March 30, 2525
UNSC Carrier Atlas en route to the Lambda Serpentis system
"And so we commit the bodies of our fallen brothers to space."
Mendez solemnly closed his eyes for a moment, the ceremony completed. He pressed a control, and the ash canisters moved slowly into the ejection tubes . . . and the void beyond. Everyone stood rigidly at attention. The carrier's missile launch bays—normally cramped, overcrowded, and bustling with activity—were unusually quiet. The Atlas' firing deck had been cleared of munitions and crew. Long, unadorned black banners now hung from the bay's overhead gantries.
"Honors, ATTENTION!" Mendez barked.
Aedan and the other surviving Spartans saluted in unison.
"Duty," Mendez said. "Honor and self-sacrifice. Death does not diminish these qualities in a soldier. We shall remember."
A series of thumps resounded through the Atlas' hull as the canisters were hurled into space.
The view screen flickered and displayed a field of stars. The canisters appeared one by one, quickly falling behind the carrier as it continued on its course.
Aedan and John were absorbed in watching, as with each of the stainless-steel cylinders that drifted by, they felt that they were losing a part of themself.
It felt like leaving their people behind.
Mendez's face might as well have been chiseled from stone, for all the emotion it showed. He finished his protracted salute and then said, "Crewmen, dismissed."
I looked towards my left and saw Serin in her wheelchair. I know I couldn't do anything towards the dead but maybe just maybe I can at least help Serin and the others. As the funeral was over, we started to disperse. I waved to John, and he came to me already knowing where I was going
We went over to Serin where she and the others who were crippled by the process were talking to our handlers.
As they were finishing talking Serin looked and saw me and John, she gave us a small smile telling us it was okay. Me and John nodded together as we walked up to her together. We all stood/sat in awkward silence until Serin broke it.
"I guess this is it then." Serin said
"What do you mean?" Aedan asked with a frown.
"The last time we will be seeing each other." Serin said as tears began to tear up in her eyes.
"Are you an idiot?" I asked calmly, which surprised both Serin and John. "Just because you failed the argumentation process doesn't mean this will be the last time that we will see each other. We are family Serin and family sticks together." I said as I kneeled on my knee to meet her eye to eye, and I hugged her.
"Thank you." Serin sobbed on my shoulder as I patted her on the back.
"Serin before you go, I have to warn you about O.N.I." I spoke. Both John and Serin looked at me with confused looks.
"What do you mean Aedan." John asked and I looked at him and spoke. "Look, John there are 12 crippled Spartans. True they might not have augmentations, but you don't have to be a soldier to be of use of the U.N.S.C or O.N.I. Out of all of the Spartans that have been crippled Serin is probably the best at wet-work assignments and that is the type of expertise that O.N.I will be looking for." I said both John and Serin looked at each other and nodded grimly knowing that I'm right.
"So, what should I do?" Serin asked
I sighed knowing that this will not be easy, "I got nothing. O.N.I will either ask you nicely or kidnap you." again they nodded, "The only thing I can think of is to remember us."
"'Remember us' what do you mean by that Aedan?" Serin asked
"Remember that you are not alone, and you have a family." I said as John nodded. "One final thing, O.N.I despite what I might have said still does good. Even though they do good through some questionable means. They fight monsters using darkness but remember this, "'He who fights with monsters should be careful lest he thereby become a monster. And if thou gaze long into an abyss, the abyss will also gaze into thee.' -Nietzsche. And do not forget to tell the other three exactly what I said, alright?"
"I will." Serin said and smiled at her before giving her one last hug. We waved good-bye as she along with the other cripples were being moved off site.
For the next three weeks the Spartans had gone through a daily routine of stretching, isometric exercises, light sparring drills, and lots of eating. They were under orders to consume five high-protein meals a day. After every meal they had to report to the ship's medical bay for a series of mineral and vitamin injections.
0430 Hours, April 22, 2525
UNSC Carrier Atlas en route to the Lambda Serpentis system
Currently Aedan was inside the Gym of the Atlas where he trained using the weights and the punching bags to test his Taekwondo and Karate skills as it had been a while since he had last used them. As he was sitting on the bench nearby as John came in the gym, went straight to the leg machine and then moved over to a tether ball.
I noticed that he was entranced in his workout, probably trying to work through his grief and get used to his body at the same time. I moved my attention away from him as I noticed the four ODSTs entered the gym heading straight for John.
"Aw bloody hell the damn ODSTs" I said under my breath as they began harassing John until they started grabbing him by his arms, as I saw this I got up and started walking toward the ODSTs and John who looked like he was about to kick one of them in the nose.
"What the fuck is going on here?" I said slowly approaching. The ODSTs and John all turned to look at me.
"What do you want punk? One of the ODSTs, who seemed like the leader of the bunch said.
"I should be the one asking you that." I replied.
Then the ODSTs left John and instead start surrounding me, "Don't try to act smart bitch." the leader said.
"Or what?" I asked cocking my head and smiling trying to agitate the ODSTs even more. "If you really want to get your asses kicked then get in the ring, I could use some stretching as well."
"Tch, it's on then." The leader said and then they all walked toward the sparring ring that was in the center of the gym, me and the leader got inside the ring taking opposite corners, around them the 3 ODSTs were on the leader's side, while John was on the side line giving me a curious look.
"Get ready to get your ass kicked punk" the leader said with a cocky grin.
I started laughing and said, "I thought I told you I was going to kick all of your asses? What are you three dumb fucks doing outside the ring?" The ODSTs stood still gritting their teeth waiting for the leader to say something.
"Alright motherfucker. Don't go crying to mommy after I finish beating the shit out of you and your buddy over there. Get on up here, let's give the kid what he wants." the leader said laughing.
Soon the match started with John ringing the bell, in that .1 second after hearing the *ding* I launched forward and drove my knee into the leader's face knocking him out breaking several bones. By the time the others had reacted, I had launched forward again and jumped into a split kick sending two of the ODSTs flying into the corners of the ring. The last ODST awake in the ring charged forward, "You're going to pay for that, bitch!"
I remained quiet and soon he went for a punch which I easily dodged, then went for another punch this time to the face in which I simply dodged by ducking down. As he continued to throw punches and not one of them were landing, he got angry and said, "Damn you, punk, stop running and fight like a man." Then without warning I proceeded to punch him in the jaw knocking him unconscious on the mat of the ring.
As I looked at the downed ODSTs I shook my head and then broke all of their arms and legs as a lesson for pissing me off.
As I was about to get off the ring one of the ODSTs leader awoke and groaning in pain suddenly attempting to grab my left foot, "You damn bastard you will pay for this" the ODST said as he went for a punch at my knees. I was about to kick the guy with my right foot and then a voice sounded off.
"That would be enough!" Chief Mendez said, both me and John immediately stood at attention, soon another man entered the gym, I noticed the name tag on his uniform which said 'A. Silva.'
"Would someone please explain, why four of my men are on the floor unconscious and injured?!" Silva asked with a commanding tone.
"Sir, Yes sir" Aedan said while saluting him since he was a 2nd lieutenant, "Your men were harassing a fellow crewman" Aedan looked at John.
"I simply asked them what they wanted but instead they responded to me in a hostile behavior, so I proceeded to ask their leader and the other three ODSTs to go into the ring with me to settle this, all I did was simply humble them in a fight, Sir"
Silva gave me a look and nodded, "I see, did you break the arms and legs of my men?" Silva gave me a glare. 'Damn he sure was protective of his boys.' I thought.
"Yes sir, I did. Maybe with a few broken bones they should learn to not fuck around and then they won't find out. Sir." Aedan said to which Silva looked enraged again and then looked at Chief Mendez.
"He is definitely not what I was told they would be like" Silva said and left.
As I got off the ring, soon medical teams arrived and started treating the 4 ODSTs. That's when Mendez approached, I snapped to attention, "Sir!"
"At ease 001, Doctor Halsey would like to talk with you at the observation deck" Mendez said. "117, stay back."
As I started to leave the gym John gave me a nod before Mendez approached him as well. As I was walking through the halls of the Atlas, we were passed by some Naval personnel aboard the ship and soon made it inside the observation deck where Halsey was seen standing.
"I saw what happened." Halsey said. "And I am sure you knew that we saw what happened"
"Yeah, I did, the fight just seemed off. There should have been no reason to be so unprofessional and aggressive; and for that transgression they had their arms and legs broken. They got lucky that the only consequences were a few broken bones." I spoke.
She sighed, "Promise me that the next time you do something like this, you will do it without getting caught."
"Alright, I won't get caught." I said with a chuckle.