11 Chapter (12) One Final Preparation

March 5, 2525

Days until augmentation: 4

(Chief Petty Officer Franklin Mendez Pov)

*CRACK*

It has been eight 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.

*CRACK*

Each day I get up and make myself a decent breakfast that is usually just eggs and bacon. Once full I do the three S.S.S's except for the final one and am then ready to start another day of training with my uniform on. From there, I have a quick meeting with my instructors to go over the plan for today's training before proceeding to head to the area 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-olds to be killing machines I was disgusted by the idea…To this day I still find what I am doing reprehensible, and I am not so diluted as to make excuses like Catherine. We are in the end stealing the childhoods of children to suit our own personal means, and to dispose of 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, they are machines. Now they only know war, and the best methods to kill, even if that 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 killed an instructor by accident, the girl was simply trying to reverse a pin and ended up severing the man's fifth and sixth cervical vertebrae at the age of ten.

No matter the logic, no matter the reason, and no matter what my conscience may think my actions here are unequivocally wrong.

In the end, they have become what they were meant to be, the strongest of humanity, and that is the reason why I accepted the assignment. As the saying goes, "If you want a job done right, then do it yourself,". The only thing that these...weapons will have is strength by the time I am done, and with that strength, I believe that maybe one day they will no longer be weapons and will find something more, some greater reason to continue living besides orders that trickle from high command like sustenance to a coma patient.

*CRACK* *CRACK* *CRACK*

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 117,017,043, 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 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..well me when I was a lad. Unlike the rest he is quite sociable, making 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, and his uncanny sense to "feel traps" will serve him well.

*CRACK* *CRACK*

[Fun fact: That is actually a real lore bit. Kurt S-051 can actually sense traps and cause John to lose many times due to Kurt's instincts. Other Spartans have shown strange 6th senses like Dante G-188 who had a "supernatural" gift with explosives, and Li S-008 who was so good at 0 gravity fighting, it was said he fought better off the ground than on it.]

Besides being fearless and courageous they have uncanny teamwork skills. Each one of them considers their teammates to be family with the class as a whole being a quasi-clan or "family of families". Some of them also stand out with skill Linda S-058, though the class swears that 017 is better, is recognized as the greatest shot in the class. Grace S-093 has…unfortunately shown to be the explosives expert, and 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 not mentioned, but one stands out among the rest as the 'Odd One Out' as the other instructors call him.

*CRACK*

*cough* *wheeze* *cough*

I let out a groan as I struggled to shrug off the blow to my abdomen. I fell to my knees as I struggled to get my breath in order. My face was no doubt further bruised from the combination of the other day's sparring and today's. Thankfully he held back when he delivered strikes to the face otherwise

"Are you still alive? Or did that last jab puncture a lung?" A juvenile and deep voice asked from in front of me. The voice sounded half-concerned, and half-mocking, over the years I had found that it was difficult to determine which emotion it actually was.

"Kid, you are still ten years too young to be able to take me out of commission," I spat a small bit of blood that had come from my busted lip.

"Right…" he said as he began removing his gloves to show white hand wrap beneath, "Well from my perspective only one of us is currently on their knees, but please by all means stand back up,"

I couldn't help but show a rare wry expression to the boy, 'This is the monster I created, and 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.

Alpha began pulling the wrap from his hands showing the maws that had mangled instructors and the same ones that led to him being disqualified for hand-to-hand combat exercises with any other candidate besides Jai S-006. His paws so to say were marred with scars, and the maniac when pulled away from the combat exercises decided to do his own training. His scars were a result of punching steel plates to desensitize his feeling of pain, it honestly amazes me he can still move as quickly as he does considering the nerve damage he must have in them.

After I stumbled upon that scene one day, I foolishly let my guilt coerce me into assigning myself as both his instructor and partner. From that day forward I helped him add another specialty to his repertoire of killing. Looking back I can't help but kick myself at why I thought differently after the mountain of evidence proving the truth, and now I can't help but admit:

Alpha is a genius at killing.

The boy has many shortcomings, he is average at driving, decent enough with strategy, terrible at working with anyone besides Spartans, and the list goes on. However, he shines when he is on the battlefield. He won't crack under pressure, and his talent at learning techniques combined with his 'unique' physique makes any difficulty a small bump on the path of victory. Though that's not to say he is invincible, nor unbeatable, after all, he is still human, even if he is….different.

"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 grunt in response. He still needed work on that aspect, even if he could skin a man alive with just his hands or if he could nail targets 2 and 3 miles away if he just drove everyone off a cliff.

I 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, Alpha, you and the rest of your class have one more mission before you can officially call yourselves Spartans, but for this mission strength, intelligence, perception, agility, nor charisma will help you…"

Only Luck

======================================================================

(Alpha Pov)

March 6, 2525

UNSC Field Operations Offensive Driving Course (ODC)

0600 Hours

*VROOM*

"Cal for the love of fuck can you please hit those damn targets," I say whipping the steering wheel of the Warthog to avoid another spray of paint from the automatic turrets.

"Can it, Alpha" Anton says from the passenger seat, "Turn right..now" Anton says with his usual calm voice. Sadly, over the sound of the engine and the Moc M41 Chaingun behind me, I miss the 'now' part and jerk the steering wheel too early.

Driving down the path I spot the differences between this path and the correct route noticing my error, "Fuck," I say to myself admonishing my lack of attention.

"You took the wrong turn," Anton points out with his straight-laced tone.

"No shit Sherlock," I say in jest, "What brilliant observation do ya' have for me next? Is the sky blue? No Wait! Is the grass green perhaps!?" I say with a fake shocked expression.

"You are an ass Alpha," Anton says with a raised eyebrow before focusing on the road ahead, "...Are you going to try the 'shortcut'?" he asks with concern in his voice.

Ignoring his earlier comment I smirk and look at him out of the corner of my eye, "It's the only way to pick up the time we lost, and you know that none of the three of us can fail this exercise again," finishing my statement I chuckle as I see Anton visibly tense up and strengthen his grip.

Looking back I caught sight of Cal, who I had to admit looked… unique. Though in a buzz cut her hair is white, while her eyes are a strange shade of pale yellow. Those features coupled with the fact that her appearance was the most similar to a European princess from about a millennium ago made her stand out, to say the least.

Another prominent feature that she was known for, was her near-constant silence. Throughout the near decade of training, she tended to only answer in one-word sentences or simple hand and head gestures. Now one would ask "Why does she do this?" and the answer I would have to give is that I have no fucking clue because she won't tell anyone.

Needless to say this, like many other things in the universe, pisses me off. So I have made it a personal mission before I die to get a full conversation out of her, and through arduous trial and error over the years, I have come to the conclusion that by making her angry I have the best chances of getting my desired reaction. I hypothesize that this is because in one instant her own anger at my actions overpowers the thought of whatever keeps her from talking normally. As it happens, I now have a perfect opportunity to work on this 'pet project'

"Hey Cal I am gonna be honest here, you are going to want to hold on to something tight," I said nodding as I grabbed the gear shifter and pressed the clutch. The rpm on the display dipped for a moment before shooting back up.

Cal turned around, looked ahead, and was alarmed at the sight of the shortcut. She frantically shook her head, but there was faint resignation in her eyes, "Sorry Cal, but don't worry I will catch you…probably," I said before turning back forward.

A moment went by and I was ready to take my shortcut. I dropped a gear and went into a power slide into a small dirt trail to the left of the path. The warthog's inertia almost ended up rolling the vehicle and even I had to grip a bit tighter as the driver's side rose from the ground.

Luckily, the left side tires slammed back on the ground before anyone could fall off. I stayed focused and began taking the forest-made chicane at high speed. I felt like I was constantly opening a water valve due to how much turning I had to do with the warthog's abysmal turn radius. That combined with the constant shaking and rattling of the vehicle as it passed through the uneven surface made me feel as if I was in the middle of an earthquake or dryer depending on how you look at it.

Dirt was kicked up and branches were broken as the nine-foot-tall recon vehicle tore through the path, "If my memory serves me correctly, and it usually does! You need to turn…now!"

The moment the words left Anton's mouth I snatched the wheel to the right taking my leave out of the forest… and off an embankment. The scout vehicle flew off the steep hill and soared to the field below. I felt my heart became pitted in my stomach and my spine lacked a bit of compression for a moment.

At a glance, I noticed the wide-open eyes of Anton along with a death grip on the front passenger handle and the console. Of course for the worrywart the only emotion I could distinguish in his eyes was anxiety.

Cal on the other hand was actually no longer standing on the chaingun platform in the back. Instead, her body had become horizontal with the only thing keeping her tethered to the vehicle was her arms firmly gripped around the handles of the chain gun. Seeing Cal's precarious situation I wasn't fazed, Cal was easily one of the strongest girls along with Carris. Though to be safe I pulled my foot off the gas pedal so that she could resettle herself upon landing.

Now as for how I felt during our express trip down… it was pretty awesome. I had a wide smile as I felt the exhilaration of falling. The entire experience reminded me of the piloting lessons in the falcon and hornets. Though the possibility that we would crash and burn was prevalent that didn't stop me from laughing at the responses of my friends in the warthog.

*BANG*

A sudden jerk downwards signaled our landing, "Everyone in one piece?" I looked around and asked quickly. Cal had fallen down and was shakily standing back up, her response was only a glare as she grabbed the M41. Anton looked like he was about to spring into another lecture so I did what every sane person would do.

Shift it into gear and floor it.

The warthog bolted forward from the priming of its ignition, "Targets up high Cal!" Anton screamed out over the engine. To back up his claim the aerial drones that filled the role of a theoretical aerospace target began their approach.

I heard the moc chain gun spool and a stream of red burst forward as we raced down straight away.

The first burst knocked out 3 of the 5 meaning we still had two more to deal with, which should have been an automatic fail had it not been for Anton's timely bursts from his battle rifle. Two separate 3-round bursts hit accurately on the bull's eye-painted target carrier by each drone, "Nice!" I couldn't help but remark.

From there we had another small stretch where I gunned it to cut down on time, from there we had to hit the left corner and begin the downhill slide. The hill was layered in uneven gravel making it difficult, to say the least, to stay straight and go fast. Combine that with the fact that there was a descending outcropping that was filled with stationary targets mimicking infantry units, you could say that you have a sufficient challenge. Not to mention the fact if we were to miss a single target we would again have another insta-fail.

"Oh great," I muttered under my breath as we began our descent. It seemed Mendez had done all the teams a favor and had his men dig potholes into the surface.

*SCREEECH*

I took evasive action as I rocketed down the earthly ramp. The bumps caused by the gravel and speed were difficult for everyone involved. My view bobbed with every bump making me increasingly more annoyed with the course. Meanwhile, I saw that Cal was beginning to get stressed along with Anton as she began to miss a larger amount of targets only for them to barely be picked off by Anton as we almost left his range.

"Cal, for the love of god and all that is holy, please shoot straight for once," I said in a hostile tone, but without any real malice behind the statement.

My words seemed to have finally pushed Cal over the edge as I saw her grit her teeth before blurting out, "If you would fucking keep it steady I would be happy to Alpha!" as she finished speaking the built-up anxiety and negative emotions she had bottled up were released, and the result was immediate. Because she finally relaxed Cal finally managed to start tearing the targets to pieces with her chaingun.

"There we go!" I said with a smile, "See with a small yell everything started coming up daisies. Maybe I should have been a therapist," I thought out loud as the pair finished the last couple of targets.

Without responding to my previous statement Anton lowered his moc BR-55 and pointed forward before commanding in a firm voice, "Gun it!"

My response came naturally, "Ya' don't have to tell me twice!" I dropped us into fifth gear and floored the military recon vehicle, pushing it as hard as it would go. Of course while still avoiding the remaining obstacles.

Finally, after close to another minute of sharp maneuvering we had made it to the finish line at the bottom of the hill. Once we had made it through I began slowing us down as I saw Mendez with his stopwatch begin walking towards us. I stopped just in front of him, keeping the vehicle idling but in park, all three of us looked over to hear our result.

Mendez took up his clipboard making a couple of notes as we sat with only the lone hum of the engine filling the air. He lowered the sheet of paper with his pen attached while looking between the three of us as he began to speak, "On the whole, not half bad you three. You passed but each of you could have done a lot better," he spoke informatively before directing his gaze at me.

"Alpha you missed a turn partially due to your inattention, that simply cannot happen in combat, work on it. Besides that you need to work on your turns, you took too many wide turns around some of those corners and it ate up some of your time," he criticized and I nodded sternly to his assessment.

Next, he looked at Cal, "Not half bad shooting, but Cal you need to work on communication like I have been telling you. Your lack of speech will be a liability in a firefight and it leads to you locking up your issues and not airing them. The result is a breakdown of the team cohesion that all of you have been working to build, " he said to which Cal nodded silently causing the Chief to sigh, "Though I hate to give credit to Alpha, sometimes a good yell is all we need to relax,"

I smiled widely at the credit Mendez gave me and Anton had a small smile as well. Cal looked uncertain before she once again nodded before replying, "Understood, sir"

"Finally this temporary fireteam's leader," Mendez said switching to Anton, "Nice shooting I must admit without your well-placed bursts you three without a doubt would have failed. The only issue I have is one similar to Cal's, communication. You need to make sure that your driver or whoever you are giving directions/orders to acknowledges them. Besides that well done Zero-Four-Four" With that said he finished his criticism of the exercise.

"Now go get some rest. The final test is in a couple of days, and once you conquer it you can call yourselves Spartans," hearing that we nodded in sync and I shifted the recon vehicle into drive and drove off.

…

(John S-117 Pov)

"I heard you finally passed the driving test,"

I shot my view over to the bed across from me. My friend looked up from his datapad displaying his newest piece of literature. The pad mimicked actual books with the panel facing outward showing a cover, "The Screwtape Letters" by C.S. Lewis was scrawled in black lettering amongst a white and red background.

Alpha looked up from the datapad, a smirk ever-present on his face, "Yeah, I almost made Cal go airborne, almost slapped Anton, and almost rolled the hog, but it all came up aces somehow," he said with a careless shrug.

I snorted, adopting my own smirk, "It took you long enough, now Kelly might stop teasing you over it," Alpha didn't respond much to my surprise, that usually gets to him and he always argues back. Yet, this time he simply rolled his eyes and continued reading.

'I wonder how far I can push before he snaps back..' I thought to myself. Alpha was always the one to take things personally, therefore it is guaranteed that he would defend himself if he felt that he had misjudged, even if someone was teasing him.

"Actually now that I think about it, we no longer have to drive you around like you're a kid going to a soccer game," I spoke prodding at Alpha. Still nothing, the only sound from the other side of the room was a sigh released.

I leaned up from my position in my bed, "The Chief said it was embarrassing to somehow have a student so good at piloting aircraft, but so terrible at driving. You know, I bet he probably gave you some pity points,"

This time I seemed to have landed a glancing blow. Alpha didn't respond, but I saw his eye twitch from my comment. He was right where I wanted him, and all I needed was a final blow to break him.

Closing my eyes I inflected a scholarly tone, "On the matter of betting, I bet Daisy has already found out and will walk through that door any mo-"

*SMACK*

Just as I was going to open my eyes all I saw was a white blur before the speeding projectile threw me off the bed. I tumbled into a back roll and fell onto the cold floor due to being nailed in the head by a…pillow.

Looking over my bed to the opposite side of the room I saw Alpha now standing on his bed posing in a pitching position just after he had launched his attack, "You done?" he asked with an annoyed expression.

I smiled, "Yes, I am," I slowly climbed back into bed

Alpha dropped down from his bed before shooting me a glance, "You are proud of yourself aren't you," he asked as he began walking to retrieve his pillow.

"Yes, Yes I am," I said matter-of-factly.

"Well what are you two ladies doing?" in walked the missing members of Blue team. Kelly walked in front followed by Fred and finally Linda.

Before I could counter Alpha had already beat me to it, "We were talking about our scholarly superiority. Why? Want some tutoring lessons?" Alpha said smugly as he laid back down on his bed.

"Hardly," Kelly answered, rolling her eyes before sitting upright on her bed.

"How did the exams go?" I asked inquisitively.

"I passed," Kelly said with a smile

"A pass for me as well," Fred said with a nod

"Great work," I said, nodding at their accomplishment.

"I still have no idea how you struggled with Military History and tactics when you are easily one of the best if not the best tacticians in the class, Fred," Alpha chimed in wearing confusion on his face. Fred didn't respond but just shrugged with a helpless smile.

"At least he didn't struggle with a driving test," Kelly snorted. Alpha didn't say anything but glared at Kelly.

"What about you Linda, how was your test?" I asked our designated markswoman.

"It was fine John, thank you for asking," she responded with a short and simple response. To many, it would seem rude, but Linda was easily the quietest on the team.

No one said anything else after Linda answered my concern. It seemed as though everyone was on edge, surprisingly. I think we all believed that what came next was the easy part and that we had just finished the hard part. Who could blame us though? For eight years we had trained, we suffered through grueling hours of exercise, learning concepts that were at the forefront of military theory, and now all of our hard work hinged on…luck? It was almost poetic in a way.

"So that's it, huh?" Fred said the thing occupying everyone's mind at that moment, "One final push, and we can at last call ourselves the greatest warriors of humanity?"

"So we've been told," said Kelly with a bit of skepticism.

"I doubt Halsey would lie about this," Linda said, defending Halsey from Kelly's skepticism.

"You're right, but both Chief Mendez and the doctor have been talking up the danger of this procedure," Kelly said uneasily, "What if we end up disabled? Will they throw us away after that?"

"I don't believe that they have put too much money and time into us not to gain something from all that training. But… it would be a worse hell to live but forever be bound to a desk," Fred said with some disdain and fear.

"Come on guys, have a little faith. Remember what Mendez says the Navy takes care of its own. Besides, we have completed every task before us. What's to say that this is any different," I said confidently but felt more anxious than everyone in the room. I..I don't want to lose anyone, just as with the wilderness exercise I will find a way to bring everyone home.

"I agree with John," Linda responded to which I couldn't help but smile. She had always backed me up and my gratitude could never be fully expressed.

Still even with my words Fred and Kelly weren't relieved of their anxiety, "Hey Alpha you have been quiet. What do you think?" Fred asked, looking for a third opinion.

"Hmm? I honestly, don't really care," Alpha hummed in confusion.

"You have trained longer than anyone in the class. You of all people should be the most worried about their time being wasted, or becoming a cripple," Fred said with confusion rising due to Alpha's carelessness.

"Why would I worry about that?" Alpha asked with a raised eyebrow from behind his datapad, "I have done all the push-ups they directed me to plus some. I have passed all the exams and most at the top of the class. I have done all that I could so if some dumb shit happens now, what could I change?" Alpha presented his reasoning, "Besides why the fuck are you guys so worried about something two days from now. Focus on the present, on today because today has its own troubles while tomorrow carries new challenges," Alpha finished his spiel.

We all were silent after hearing what Alpha said. Slowly we looked at each other confirming that we all had just heard that and that what was said came from…Alpha. We were all a little baffled that something…so calm and mature came from the number 1 troublemaker in the class.

"Well, I must say we really must be overthinking it if Alpha is being the voice of reason, but I must admit he does have his moments," I said with a teasing grin looking at Alpha. Fred and Kelly chuckled a bit and Linda even broke character having a small smile as well.

Alpha glanced at me out of his peripherals, "Fuck you too John," this caused everyone to fully bust out laughing Alpha too had a smirk on his face and chuckled a bit. And with Alpha's antics, we were able to smoothly sail on until the promised day.

…

Medical Facility Endurance, in orbit around Reach

March 9, 2525

The Day of Augmentations

(Alpha Pov)

"Man…it's fucking cold," I shivered and complained as I stood in my single filed line dressed in only my tidy whities.

"Alpha, can you please take something seriously for once," said the bitch standing behind me. Turning my head I caught sight of the brown-haired, brown-eyed, and brown-skin-toned leader of Black team, also in her underwear.

"Come on ol' one eye this is my way of coping with my anxiety," I gave an innocent smile after I finished my words. Margaret had to get a replacement cybernetic eye due to an 'incident' with some candidates during a stint where Jerome, Douglas, and Alice had been moved around to other teams.

"Alpha," she said seriously and with disgust, "In our underwear or not, I am not afraid to kick your ass," she said with venom.

I chuckled at the insinuation that she could even make me take a fight with her seriously, "You would have experience wrestling in your underwear wouldn't you?" I said, prodding the same nerve.

From my peripherals I watched as she began to slowly move closer to what I assumed was to hit me. I readied myself and clutched my half-numb fists, with a single right hook I would knock out a row of teeth. For her, it would feel like she got hit with a piece of concrete, but for me, it would be like hitting a standing heavy bag.

"Hey you two, can you please stop acting like children for once?" Joshua standing in front of me turned his torso around. Josh had always been someone I respected, a real tough son of a bitch.

We both snorted and just like that the situation had been de-escalated. I didn't bother to complain anymore, instead, I was finished with my annual session of bellyaching. Now, I was bored and wanted to get this thing over and done with. Close to ten minutes of just standing must have gone by as we waited until-

"Good morning cadets," the large blast doors opened revealing Catherine in her white lab coat, "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 have faith in me and the other scientists to do our job," she finished her quick introduction and we began being called one by one. I watched as everyone with bated breath walked into the disk-shaped room and headed to medical tables.

Eventually, everyone had been called…all except for me, "Imagine being named Alpha, but ending up being picked last," the irony of the situation wasn't lost on me as I mumbled to myself.

"Last minute jitters?" looking up Catherine 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 and I began to walk behind her.

After a minor walk that took me to a 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, abnormally so which says something coming from me as one of the tallest in the class. Surrounding my bed were 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 my uniquely high density of muscle tissue,"

"You would be correct in your assumption. I won't go into much detail because we sadly do not have the time, but I worry that if you went through the standard augmentation procedure you would crush your bones with the sudden influx of muscle and that your heart might not be able to keep up with the density of the tissue. Therefore we will be doing things differently for you," she explained as she worked.

I simply nodded and before long a mask was placed over my face. I began to count down from ten but never reached one.

…

'W-What's going on…?' I called out in my mind. I would say I woke up groggily, but I do not seem to be capable of opening my eyes.

"The first phase is complete, the subject's occipital capillaries have been successfully rearranged according to the modified plan for candidate 017. Likewise, the platinum pellet was inserted after the incision was made to the Thyroid. All signs so far are adequate and it would appear that the subject is taking hold of the adaptations naturally. Will proceed with phase two momentarily," I heard a male voice ramble off in the distance.

'Well my head feels fine, except for a stinging pain just above my eyes, I have felt worse. My throat hurts like a mother fucker however,' I thought to myself, 'Well I am obviously not supposed to be conscious, so they should notice my brain activity…hopefully,'

As I had finished my thought I felt sharp jabs that pierced through my skin. They entered into my temples, legs, and arms. I was not new to the feeling of needles, but even I wanted to grind my teeth as they injected fluid for what seemed to be close to an hour. It wasn't even a minute before I began to feel the effect of whatever cocktail of drugs they had just introduced.

A searing feeling in every muscle, every inch, and every cell within my flesh erupted. 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 passed and the boiling and tearing feeling I continually experienced waned into a crushing soreness.

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 cardiac response skyrocketed. Muscle relaxers were administered in small doses to the heart so as to negate a possible fatal volume increase," the voice spoke in that sickening monotone voice, "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 under the weight of their new muscle skyrockets,"

From there I had a moment to pause and realize what he had just said. Then I heard a sound I had been dreading.

*WHIRRRR*

The blade of a saw whirring above me.

Surprisingly I had almost become numb to the pain as I felt my chest be sliced through. The worst part was the thought of a metal blade cutting my chest open and opening me up like a stuffed teddy bear. I felt sick at the thought of some doctor moving around my intestines like stuffing just so he could pour the hot liquid onto my skeletal structure.

The slicing feeling never went away and instead began to spread as flaps of flesh were peeled off my body like wallpaper in houses. 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 that filled my peripherals.

"Oh my god! He's awake! You quickly bring a stronger sedative!" The male voice for the first time raised his voice in a panic. The new sound snapped me out of my pain-filled daze, as I had practically shut down my own brain due to the overload of my senses.

But by this point, it did not matter. I had survived some of the worst possible torture imaginable, I had been flayed alive, stabbed multiple times, and boiled. For better or for worse I knew enough about pain that all other injuries seemed incomparable to today's experience.

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 would give me my answer.

==================================================================

Howdy! It's your main man Memes here. So bam this is the final training chapter. Hopefully this arc has been enjoyable, I know many training arcs usually aren't but I feel like I didn't do half bad.

Now from here chapters are going to be shrunk back down to the usual 2000 word chapters, for example this one is about 6200 words.

I am doing this because of time, more releases, and to actually beef up chapter numbers because I know a lot of readers tend to just focus on the chapter numbers without seeing that I have like 40 thousand words which would be equivalent to twenty chapters.

Anyway enough about those house keeping notes, going forward I am going to return to providing pictures of certain things, and hopefully, and I mean hopefully. Maintain a auxillary containing all of those pictures categorically, but no promises.

After this we will have a mini arc that will focus on post-augmentation work, the Spartan-IIs original test, and then the raid on Colonel Watts. Then we go to war! The battle of Chi Ceti will play out with blue team, but I want to expand on what was shown and do things differently due to the addition of Alpha.

With all that being said I hope you all have a blessed day, And I Will See You Star Side

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