3 Chapter (3) A Time to Take Inventory

(Pov Mc)

'Ok calm down, calm down, calm down. Getting angry won't help anything except prolong my suffering and before even thinking about and analyzing my next steps I must be calm.'

"Fuuuuu…ok"

'Lets think about this logically the year is 2534 the human covenant war has been going on for about a decade if I remember correctly. If I want any semblance of survival the best option is to somehow become selected for the Spartan-III program surprisingly. If I joined as a regular marine I would be completely fucked I would be simply to weak against literally any covenant foot soldier not to mention any space skirmish. If I tried to avoid conflict as a civilian I would get glassed most likely seeing as the only planet I remember that wasn't destroyed was Earth and even Earth lost a continent to the Flood. Alternatively I could go to an extreme and join the insurrection, but then I would get assassinated by Noble 6 most likely'

'BUT even the plan of joining the Spartan-III program, which is still a very slim chance, is most likely going to lead to death. The Spartan-III program literally was meant to churn out disposable Heroes for the UNSC that could go on suicide missions that would buy humanity enough time to make some break through and win the war.'

'By the end of the war there was probably more Spartan-II's alive than III's due to shit like Operation Prometheus. That literally killed the entirety of Alpha Company besides a couple that were pulled out of the company before the operation. Then you had the head hunter teams that rarely if ever came back alive. Oh and lets not forget they did the SAME SHIT with Beta Company when they implemented Operation Torpedo which had only 2 survivors in its entirety.'

'AHHHH who the fuck wrote this sadistic fucking nightmare of a universe! Like what the hell by the end of the series humanity should be put on a endangered species list and Spartans would be like fucking unicorns'

I feel myself getting angry about the same issues over and over. So instead of continuing to harp and stew over the same issues I take a new approach. I close my eyes and simply push all thoughts out of the way. I don't have to make any concrete decisions about my future right now anyway. Dad also said 'Never make hasty decisions when overwhelmed by emotion'.

After calming down somewhat I begin to look around for something to do that would take my mind off my current predicament so that I don't fall back into that state again. As I am looking around the metal room I realize that to the sides of the room there are large crates stacked up with a mixture of different human languages. The most prevalent or at least the language in the boldest print is English thankfully because I never learned any other language in my past life. Based on the sheer volume of crates I safely conclude that the room must be some sort of cargo hold.

'I guess that makes sense. This ship was probably filled with as many people as possible though I wonder why this room is filled with only children. Not that it matters though we are all in this together so I am not going to complain about the cramped living conditions.'

Continuing to survey my surroundings I find an outlier among the rest of the kids. A African-American boy around the same age as me with brown eyes and brown hair. What stood out to me about the boy is that unlike the look of anguish seen in the other kids, he seems to have a look of determination as if he had concluded something. Then he began to look around gazing at, what I now assume to be UNSC marines, with eyes full of hate.

Eventually his eyes began to come to a stop at me after looking around. It seemed to take him a couple of seconds to notice that I was staring right back at him. His face no longer portrayed his previous hatred and seemed to hold a look of innocent confusion of why I was staring at him. I shrugged to him and began looking for something else to occupy my time. I could go up and talk to him but he is at best 5 years old and I am supposed to be 4 and a half…and to be honest I have no idea how to "artificially" act as a child without appearing shady as fuck. Therefore I will do what most light novel main characters never do!

…

Shut the fuck up.

…

Simple plan I know but believe it or not it will probably work. Most main characters that I can remember usually take too much rope and end up hanging themselves. Now fast forward to the moment where someone figures out my secret…Nahhhhh that will never happen I am taking that to the grave believe me.

"..."

After about a grand total of 5 minutes I feel more bored than when I started and realized this method of killing time was definitely not going to work. So instead I began to think to myself and ponder alternatives to just looking around the room.

'Man this is boring as shit I am literally watching paint dry. I would rather do anything other than this. Well I could begin working out doing some calisthenics in order to get my body in shape because no matter what I do I will definitely need to keep my body in shape whether it is running from the Covenant or to them. The first step is always to have a healthy, reliable body and that way many opportunities can be capitalized on.'

I first begin by doing some basic stretches. One must always do stretches before exercising so as to prevent possible injuries. That I learned after getting shin splints multiple times from running as well as a vast assortment of pain in various areas of my body.

Getting into the proper push up form that had been beaten into me all through basic training in my past life. Squeezing my abdomen and clenching my but in order to keep my back straight while making sure that my hands are shoulder length apart and are straight. I begin cranking out push ups in sets that are manageable. It takes a while and I can barely do 10 each time but form is what matters and I am guessing it's perfect because I feel a couple pairs of eyes staring at me. It doesn't matter though I won't call them out and make a scene…even though I am certainly standing out by doing push ups immediately after my home planet was practically turned to dust…

Well I am just going to ignore them and do bodyweight squats now. There is no way anyone is going to stop me from the grind of getting BIG. Just who the hell do they think I am?

…

..

.

(??? Pov)

'Why was that kid staring at me? Did I look weird or something? I don't think so if anything that kid over there is the weird one. He seems to be doing those things my dad did every night. What was the reason he said he did them again? I can't really remember, but whatever the reason I don't think it's the same as to why he is doing that.'

That boy seems to be really really focused on whatever he was doing. There are a lot of people around but he just keeps doing those things on the floor. Why is that? Most importantly when he looks at those guards why isn't he angry? They were supposed to protect us from the evil aliens, but they didn't and now both mom and dad are dead.

'I hate them, we did our jobs, why couldn't they? They failed and we were the ones that were punished. I will make them pay and avenge my parents for their pointless deaths, and after that I will make the aliens pay as well and save humanity while I am at it.' I conclude in my mind before giving a couple of nods to myself

…

..

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(3rd Pov)

Soon after the boy was done with his plotting and reflection, multiple lab coated individuals with carrying containers of syringes as well as boxes of rations and jugs of water. They walk along the wall by the armed soldiers and begin setting up a couple of tables placing cups of water as well as rations. Presumably for the children gathered in the room.

As this is happening the boys and girls in the room begin to look at them in hunger as well as curiosity. Most hoped that the food and drinks the doctors were setting out were for them. These reactions were not unwarranted seeing that it had at least been multiple hours since they last ate and most had not ate for upwards of 8 hours. Of course for adults 8 hours without eating is doable, however for children that are exhausted from their sudden escape. Combined with the most likely hours of crying and sadness would lead to many becoming irritable.

"Is that for us?" one boy shouted from a corner of the room

"Can we please get something to eat already?" complained one girl in the front of the group

Suddenly a boy a bit older than the rest made a rush for the food on the table. His attempt to take the food was thwarted when one of the armed guards stepped forward into his path and the boy slammed into the man.

"Easy kid, let us set up and you will get your meal like the rest. If you continue to disrupt the doctors over there I can not only guarantee it will take you longer to be able to eat, but I will personally make sure you get no dinner. That also goes for the rest of you boys and girls that are interested in trying to cause problems. If you get in the way of our work you can just go to bed hungry." the marine said to the boy before calling out to the crowd of children

Eventually the doctors had finished erecting a quasi ration center with a small health center attached to it. Though most children were more focused on the food in front of them instead of the health center. There were some that threw curious and questioning glances at the little medical station because they had seemingly already had a check-up immediately after the ship had gotten underway to its new destination.

Seeing the curious and suspicious glances Doctor Naomi Hunter decided to quell their feelings stating to the group "Alright I need all of you boys and girls to form a single file line to get food, water, and also give a little blood. I know some of you are confused as to why we need your blood and that is to check for any hidden diseases you might have picked up in the unique environment of your home planet. It will also check to see if you have any extended family you can go live with that inhabit other colonies. Now, no pushing or shoving and if any of you have the foolish idea to try and cause a ruckus. You will, as Lance Corporal Sanders here said 'Go to bed hungry" now chop chop." she finished clapping her hands together while saying her last words.

And so all of the fears of the children were quenched with her half-truth and they began to quickly get in line in order to get a spot closer to the front. In order to hopefully eat even a few seconds faster than they might have otherwise by taking their time.

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So this is chapter 3 hope you liked it. The main purpose of this chapter was to further establish the main character's personality. Now I know it may seem as though he might be coming off as over dramatic, but honestly he really isn't. He knows he could have dropped into worse universes such as 40k and Lovecraft, but he at the same time knows he could have been pushed into a fuck ton of better ones as well.

Also cut the guy some slack he literally went from one war to another in what seemed to be a matter of moments.

I also introduced another character if you had not noticed. No he's not an OC he is definitely canon and to be honest I am surprised about his origins. I will probably reveal who it is next chapter so as to give a little surprise and something to look forward to. Concerning his dialogue according to the sources that I have read and listened to this is actually how he thought and acted in canon. Though I hope to give him more personality than just revenge.

As a side note I hope I did a half way decent job representing children's attitude and actions at 4/5 years old in the halo universe. I kinda tried to think about how it was in Halo: The Fall of Reach movie that depicted the training and early years of the Spartan-II candidates.

Anyway I may drop another chapter later today if I find the time to write but no promises.

As for the song of the day lets go for "The Infection" by Disturbed. Honestly one of my favorite songs from vocals to instruments.

Hope you enjoy! And See you Starside.