8 System and Training (8)

long ass chapter and sorry for the wait everyone

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(Mc Pov)

"Samson Reese, I need you to come with me." said the ONI doctor in front of me.

"I am sorry, but what for? I was told that I was being escorted to an orphanage." I questioned the doctor.

At this point there is no use trying to keep my cover of an innocent and unassuming kid. Now I know many are wondering why I didn't just accept and immediately go with this shady doctor since I had already decided to work hard in order to somehow be picked up to join the Spartan-III program.

Well I am glad you asked, the reason I didn't was because of a fact about the Spartan-III program that not too many know. Due to my occupation of being a "wiki warrior" when I was younger I knew that there were 3 total Spartan-III companies with only 2 ever going active. Seeing that the year is 2535 I was originally planning to join up with Beta company, maybe buddy up with Noble 6 and be a headhunter pair. All while escaping the carnage that was Operation: Torpedo, a military engagement that saw the destruction of all but 2 participants.

Which is insane to think about because at that point in time Beta Company had only been active for about 2 months. Of course many would be calling me crazy for wanting to go into that company, however I could possibly survive that engagement if forced into it and there is always the chance I get pulled from the operation before it commences.

Alpha company also had a similar Operation 9 months after its activation, Operation: Prometheus, that wiped the entire company as well. Now it did allow for people to be pulled from the attack on the shipyard, but there is one minor detail between Operation: Torpedo and Operation: Prometheus. That fact is that there were no survivors from Operation: Prometheus because of an inability to fall back to the escape craft. Effectively stranding all the Spartan-III's to a doomed fate.

'So yeah I will take a rank check in joining Alpha company.'

****

"Huuuuh, as of now by order of the UNSC's Office of Naval Intelligence. I am now your legal guardian, as such I need you to come with me." the doctor answered with a long sigh and a wry smile.

'Well fuck. She's got my ass…and it's legal.' I think to myself realising the severity of the situation.

I paused for a minute before asking "I don't really have a choice do I?" with a similar wry smile on my face.

"No you do not." she responded promptly

"You can't just ta-" Locke tried to argue after noticing my unwillingness and the context clues in our little conversation. Before I stopped him with the motion of my hand.

"It's fine Locke. There is nothing I can do about it. I will go with them, you go to the orphanage and live a life you can be proud of. Just like my dad used to say." I say giving a small pat on his head. Which looked a bit awkward due to our similar heights and the fact that I am younger than him.

I begin walking towards the doctor, but stop once I hear soft sobbing behind me presumably from Locke. I sigh and rub my head thinking about how I was never good with kids. It actually took my brother growing a good bit older before I truly began to cherish him. However, I should do something to try and comfort him otherwise I might have to face him in the future as an insurgent. Due to butterflies being assholes and all.

"Hey hey hey calm down and stop crying. You are a big boy remember and big boys don't cry right?" I say to him sternly to which he seems to stop crying and calm down.

"Now this isn't goodbye, I hate goodbyes. I am certain that one day we will see eachother again one day. So let this be just to see you later, ok?" I say with a comforting tone to Locke.

"God willing we will see eachother again, but hopefully whenever that is it won't be one of us peering down at the other in a body bag or casualty report.' I think to myself grimly

"...ok" he answers back meekly.

I take a step back and he begins to turn around and walk away with the other children. He turned back to look at me every now and then only to see me waving to him with a melancholy yet hopeful smile.

"I didn't know you had such a way with words Samson." the doctor behind me remarks about my parting words with Locke.

To which I responded by giving her a glare out of the corner of my eye.

She responded by chuckling and stating "Well enough with the doom and gloom we need to get out of here we are on a tight schedule."

I stayed silent to her response and we began walking toward an area with another UNSC ship docked, however what made this stand out was the lack of giant white lettering detailing the name of the ship. Instead on the side of what I would call the wing of the ship there was a large ONI logo plastered onto it.

(pic here of ONI logo and ship)

We calmly boarded it after our silent walk and I finally decided to open my mouth to ask what I need to do now. To which the doctor motioned to a small room that seemed to be a bedroom or at least that's what I called it. After walking in I began to reach for what I was carrying….only to realise I wasn't carrying anything because I quite literally only have the clothes on my back.

The doctor walked behind me and pulled up a chair from the desk in the room. Then sat down and faced me, she then gestured for me to sit down on the bed. Presumably to have a conversation with me, I am intrigued about what she would want to talk about so I take a seat on the bed opposite of her.

"I am guessing you want to talk to me." I begin our conversation with a somewhat questioning look.

"Yes, as I have already told you I am now your legal guardian. So.. I figured I should talk to you and get to know you." She said clearing the air.

"Well as long as it doesn't turn into an interrogation. Ask away, though I don't even know your name." I say giving permission as well as subtly asking for her name.

"Alright, I guess I will say my name is Naomi Hunter. As you know I work for the UNSC. So what do you do?" She answers and then counters with a question of her own.

"I believe you already know that." I say with my voice carrying an edge of a challenge.

She narrows her eyes before stating "You really are a sharp kid."

I then shrugged and responded with "I got it from my parents." while my gaze stayed centered on her eyes. Attempting to see if she felt any type of guilt from taking a orphaned child and probably putting them into a super soldier program.

It was subtle and I might not have noticed if I wasn't focusing on any body language. For about a second I saw her expression turn a bit strained, and she looked away from my gaze. Feeling her act slip she immediately recomposed herself, but I had seen what I wanted to. She remained silent after what I said while I just thought to myself.

'So she isn't a complete heartless bitch. Well I should probably play nice, I don't think she is evil and she does seem to hold some importance to the program seeing as she picked me up. It wouldn't hurt to befriend someone that has some pull in the program, and I would always rather have an ally than an extra enemy.'

After concluding my thoughts I decided to clear the silence "Don't worry I don't blame you for the deaths of my parents. What I usually do is eat,sleep,workout, and read. Hmmmmm my favorite food is chicken." I tell her

"What kind of books do you like to read?" She asked with a slightly tilted head and flashing interest on her face in the topic.

'Ahhh she is a book nerd, that is surprisingly fitting for a scientist.'

I bring my hand to my chin adopting a pondering expression, thinking for a minute before answering her question " I like a variety of books. I mostly read history, some science and math, a little bit of what others would describe as 'proper English literature', and a good deal of fantasy books."

Our talk went on for about another hour, and all in all it was enjoyable. I was able to discern a little about her character throughout it. For the most part she seemed like your typical cold and uptight strong woman that prefers to do everything herself. Now, however, she appeared to just be a super introvert, that showed pride in her achievements and even concern in some of my worries.

It seemed as though she was a bit happy to become my guardian. I found out why when I asked about her family and she said that she was an only child and her parents had gotten sick and died some years ago, with a pained expression.

She definitely won't be able to hold the mantle of a maternal figure to a 'child' like me. I say child, but I know that the look of a child only comes from the body and not the mind. She would much better fit the role of a big sister and it seemed like she kinda hoped that to be the case. I thought to myself and decided to allow her to act as one so as not to disturb her happiness. It would also give me someone who had some sort of attachment to me rather than just Locke, and that could help in the health of my mind in the long run. Of course if she decided to baby me I would demonstrate that her overprotection was not needed if the situation called for such.

*****

-time skip of 2 weeks-

(Still Mc Pov)

'So this is Onyx the home of the Spartan-III program. Honestly it looks nice, looks a lot like earth. The only difference being this world is literally made of a fuck ton of robots.' I thought as I stepped off the ONI Prowler.

"So where to…'sis'? I say teasingly and with a smirk to Naomi Hunter, or just Naomi as I call her usually.

She responded by rolling her eyes and pointing to a big building ahead with a UNSC flag on a pole out front before saying "The main building ahead to get us situated….'little brother'." with a equally teasing voice

Eventually we made our way inside to what I can only assume to be the central processing building for this UNSC camp. Naomi made her way to some important looking guy and began getting whatever tasks and orders were needed for the both of us. As you might have noticed I had begun to stop paying attention, one of the drawbacks of being a child again is having difficulty focusing like an adult from what I had noticed. So I told her I was going to step outside and have a look around to which she just nodded in response.

I stepped back out the door we came through and began to look around the UNSC camp- no base is more like it. Perhaps I didn't catch all the details of this installation when we first approached, but now looking at it I can verify that this place was not so small to be referred to as a simple camp.

From what I saw while looking around. I spotted 2 tall half circle buildings which would most likely be the 2 Spartan-III barracks if I had to guess. Strangely, I didn't see a cafeteria nearby. Anyway my attention was then caught by a vehicle across the street and wouldn't you know it there was a scout warthog across the street.

Looking at it up close as a child I can definitely say the game doesn't give the vehicle's size justice. The car slash truck slash thing was easily bigger than a Humvee from my past life yet smaller than a MRAP. Its tires alone were at least as big as me, maybe even bigger.

(Author's note: This isn't even hyperbole; the base warthogs are no shit almost 10 feet tall.)

However, my attention to the vehicle was abruptly cut short as I noticed the massive slab of meat that looked like a human dressed in military clothes, specifically a green t-shirt and camouflage pants.

He approached me with a raised eyebrow above his right eye, probably wondering what a kid was doing on a UNSC military base, especially one as classified as this one. As he got closer that questioning look turned into more of an amused expression once he saw my wide eyes that looked like they were going to pop out of my head.

He finally stopped once he got in front of me, looked down and asked something or maybe he greeted me? I can't remember because the only thing going through my mind was-

"You are a big ass dude."

…

'Uh oh. Hopefully this giant has a sense of humor. Otherwise he might bury me alive…or eat me….do giants eat people? I hope not because I am certain I wouldn't taste good. From my experience any carnivorous animal never tastes good even after cooking-'

I was abruptly pulled out of my thoughts by a small thick laugh from the behemoth in front of me. By that time Naomi had finished whatever she was doing inside and had come outside to find me talking with Surtr or whatever the hell his name was.

"Oh well this makes my job easier." she said as she walked to the side of me and the colossus.

"Sam, this is Instructor Kurt. He is head of training here at Camp Currahee…and he will be one of the ones responsible for your training."

(Picture of Big ass Kurt-051)

The man now named Kurt looked at both Naomi and me alternating glances and said "So this is the kid that Colonel Ackerson told me about?"

To which Naomi replied with a nod and said "Yes this is the child."

He then began to look at me as if examining me and then said "You and Ackerson were right he is a good seed. From his development I can see he has done some type of body exercise for close to a year, and more importantly he showed no fear when looking at me. Where most children would be at least a little scared seeing a guy as big as I am." he finished with a nod of appreciation.

"Thank you I guess?" I was uncertain how to exactly respond to what he said.

"I will let you give him the tour Doctor. I have business up here at the office anyway." he said, beginning to walk away before turning around just as he was about to enter the door and said "I will also see you tomorrow kid, bright and early,and welcome to the Spartan-III initiative." that last part he said with a menacing smile that didn't give me shivers, but instead motivated me towards a challenge.

Suddenly a line of text popped up in the bottom left corner of my vision.

[Prerequisite has been reached. Will now begin system awakening]

Instead of being surprised or shocked I instead felt relief. Thanking god for giving me some type of cheat that will hopefully carry both me and the human race through this war.

[Authorizing...]

[Downloading...…Complete]

{Name: Samson Reese}

{Age: 5}

{Sex: Male}

[Status:

Strength: 1

Perception: 3

Endurance: 1

Charisma: 2

Intelligence: 4

Agility: 1

Luck: [E-rror value cannot be determined]

Inherent traits:

-Invictus: Once you have the will and an equally hardened resolve you cannot be stopped. You will not break. You will not turn around. You will either achieve your goal or die trying, because that is just who you are]

I decided not to read up or think in depth about my status or the system that had just appeared in front of me due to still being out in public. I thought to myself with the intent for the system interface to close or disperse and it slowly faded from my view. I again thanked god for not giving me something like a voice activated system.

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After a short tour of the base we eventually made our way to what appeared to be a small apartment that me and Naomi would be sharing. Now, I know that might seem like favoritism, and it is and I am not going to rock the boat by pointing that out. I will take my own bathroom any day of the week.

Naomi told me that I would be waking up tomorrow at 3:00 A.M and be at the training ground known as "The Grinder", a giant concrete slab that the trainees do exercise and other torturous events. I said ok and walked away to go to bed early. Naomi seemed surprised to not hear me complain about waking up early like every other child would in my place. Little did she know that not only have I been doing that already these 5-6 months, but I have a near decade of doing just that. With those thoughts circling my mind I fell asleep ready to tackle tomorrow.

-The next day at approximately 4:00 A.M-

(3rd Pov)

In the early hours of the morning and on an open concrete foundation, stood nearly 330 teenagers in camouflage uniforms along with a couple men, one towering above the others, and a single child off to the side standing similarly straight. All of whom were covered in darkness except for a couple flood lights illuminating the concrete slab.

"Now before we begin today's training I have a small announcement." the large man identified as Kurt by the name tag on his uniform said.

"First thing's first Carter come here, what I say will pertain to you especially." Kurt said, calling out to one of the teenagers among the other hundreds.

(picture of young Carter)

Carter, the leading class officer, walked with a straight back before slowly making his way in front of the Instructor at attention, waiting for his orders.

"Alright as of today we will have a new trainee." Kurt said before pointing to the kid standing up straight with a blank expression "Sam over there will be joining your training as of today, and will be sticking through it with all of you. Now, many of you may have some thoughts or feelings against the matter so let me make this clear."

"If any of you sabotage or do anything to harm your new fellow trainee. I am going to demolish you, whatever you attempt to do to him I promise you I will do a thousand times worse to you." he said, dragging out each word so that what he said was clearly heard.

"Now Carter as the leading class officer I expect you to be more squared away than the others. So he will be joining your fireteam as of today, and you will also be the one teaching him the ropes on the exercises. Am I clear?"

"Yes, Instructor Kurt." Carter responded clear and concisely with no argument.

"Good. Now Sam fall into the front of the class. I will be watching you, so please give me a reason to make your life worse." Kurt said before grabbing the whistle around his neck "We will begin with jumping jacks. As usual 4 count and no cheating, or you will be getting wet and sandy like the trainees of the U.S Special Forces back in the 21st century."

*tweet*

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(Mc Pov)

"Finally food. I am glad that I didn't eat any unhealthy food or I would be puking by the second set this morning." I say to the group of teenagers sitting around me.

"I can feel that. I am surprised you actually got through all of the exercises this morning with no cheating or failure. I remember my first day of training and it definitely was not so great." one of my teammates Jack said

"Well I have been working out and doing the exercises me and my dad did back on our farm." I say in response. "Though I don't think my body will hold up all day. I am certain that my body will eventually fail, and once that happens I am toast."

"It happens to all of us at first. Once you get conditioned properly you will stop failing and then you can move on to the next stage of training." Carter says comforting me

"Yeah, but I must say that cadence run almost killed me. Yesterday when I first arrived I was wondering where the mess hall was, now I understand the purpose of placing it 2 miles away from the barracks and training grounds."

I am currently sitting with my officially assigned fire team. It consists of 5 members including me which is 1 more compared to the usual 4 member teams that the rest of the class consists of. There is Jack A-067,Carter A-259, Anna A-156, Jill A-079 and then there is me Sam ?-???. I don't have a number yet because I will most likely be sticking around for Beta company anyway due to my young age. Though it seems Ackerson or whoever is in charge of the program wanted me to begin training early. Not that I am complaining of course.

"That reminds me of our first mess hall run. I ended up being forced by Kurt to carry Jack the last quarter mile, because he passed out from over exertion." Anna recalled with a teasing smile directed at Jack.

Jack blushed slightly from embarrassment of the memory before saying "Yeah I got my ass handed to me the first two years of training. Though now it is all about learning instead of conditioning."

"Hey! I heard we will be getting our augmentations in the next 2 months." Jill chimed in with excitement oozing from her body.

"I heard something similar from Kurt. That means we will be deploying soon, and we can finally pay the Covenant back for what they have done." Carter said with determination in his voice.

'I can see why he was pulled from the class. Carter definitely has a surprising amount of charisma. He must be a naturally born leader because it doesn't seem to be a skill but more like a trait.' I said looking around at my teammates giving Carter their full attention.

'Well with this atmosphere I don't think training will be that hard. If it stays like this I am certain we will be just fine.' I thought to myself with a smile on my face before going back to the conversation.

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And that's the chapter folks how was it?

Sorry for the late upload I pulled an all nighter working on a project for a class in college. If there are any mistakes point them out so I can fix them I haven't slept in a while.

So this will be the last chapter of the intro arc hopefully this arc wasn't super boring and was still enjoyable. After this we have a small recap and then action.

I feel like I did pretty good portraying the characters how I wanted to.

Tomorrow will be the author's check point and I will probably upload a auxiliary chapter detailing the system Saturday so probably no real chapter until Saturday.

Anyway hope you have had and will have a good day See You Star Side.