CHAPTER 1

2210 HOURS SEPTEMBER 23, 2517 (MILITARY CALENDAR)/ EPSILON ERIDANI SYSTEM, REACH MILITARY COMPLEX, PLANET REACH

35 YEARS AGO

Chief Petty Officer Mendez he had made sure his service uniform was encrested with campaign ribbons and silver and golden medals he had taken the time to thoroughly polish and shine when he had arrived. He had a touch of gray at the bottom of where his hair met his scalp at his temples as he had recently shaved. He walked from one of the doors on the upper decks of the amphitheater and marched towards Doctor Catherine Halsey, a slender woman with black hair and cool, blue eyes and was in her mid twenties, he slowly crept up towards the circular platform of the amphitheater Halsey beckoned him forward, "up here, please." He mounted the stairs and joined her on the platform. "Have you read my psychological evaluations, Doctor? A disembodied voice spoke, from a holographic figure that projected next to Doctor Halsey, it resembled a Greek Goddess dressed in a toga, she was barefoot, and motes of light danced around her holographic blue form. Doctor Halsey turned toward her holographic avatar form, "yes Deja, they were very thorough, thank you." she said

"And?" Deja responded, Mendez noticed the smoothness of her voice

"I am forgoing your recommendations, I'm going to tell them the Truth" she responded

Mendez silently grunted in approval, for all the wrong she would to a few, namely the children's or "trainees" families. She was at least honest with herself, for all he didn't like. He had to respect that trait of her character.

Chief Mendez was the very best the UNSC navy had to offer as a physical training drill instructor, he had been called to train the 75 candidates of the SPARTAN II Program. An elite force of soldiers who would brittle down the insurrection and restore order and peace to Earth's Colonies from the violent tide that was the insurrection. These candidates, however, were no older than six years old, "chosen" by Doctor Halsey and Identified as being faster, stronger and smarter than most children, while other children at age six would learn basic mathematics and literacy, they would be learning the structure of angles, or pythagorean theory. He hoped that God would have mercy on his soul for his part in this project, but as now thousands died to the insurrection that swept across the colonies, he came to accept the cause behind the program.

"The truth has risks" Deja responded "So do lies, Deja" Halsey answered back

. Any story fabricated to motivate these children-claiming their parents were taken and killed by pirates, or a plague that devastated their planet. If they learnt the truth later on, it would turn them against us" Halsey responded"It is a legitimate concern, Doctor" Deja said "may i suggest selective neural paralysis?"A memory loss that may leak into other regions of the brain" Doctor Halsey called back. "They'll adapt, Or they won't, and they will be unsuitable and untrainable for the project. Either way, I want to get this over with."She clicked on her wearable microphone and spoke into it, "bring them in now"A voice crackled through the . "Aye,aye" it said, before the doors slid open, Seventy Five children came from the upper doors of the theater, accompanied by several naval drill instructors, keeping and herding them in line to their seats.

Margaret Brookmere did not know where she was, or how she got here, all she knew is that she was being walked with other children to a larger room, the children conversed amongst themselves about how they got here, like the rest of the children, Margaret was only six. She entered a Ampitheater, where a tall man, who was in a green uniform, her curious mind dwelling on the funny ribbons and medals that surrounded the man's chest. She was led through a door into an arena-like room, an Amphitheater. She sat down onto the steel slate slab seats with the other children, whispers rang out amongst the row, questions which she, herself was asking too. A woman, in a white lab coat walked onto the circular grey stage. She introduced herself as Doctor Elizabeth Halsey via the badge on her smooth white labcoat. "Please, all of you, have a seat." she said, speakers across the rooms forward walls powered her voice to the far reaches. Muscled men stood at each corner of the room, analysing each child and holding down one or two as they tried to run away. The woman spoke again, her eyes glistening through the room of children, "as per Naval Code 45812, you are hereby conscripted into the UNSC Special Project, SPARTAN II." Margaret noticed the nervous shimmers of shuffling amongst the large crowd. Some tried to fight off the larger men who were holding them down. The woman spoke again. "You have been called upon to serve, you will be trained and we will make the best of you, you will become protectors of earth and all her colonies."A few of the children, visible faces of interest, leaned in. Margaret, herself, was still confused. She wondered where her mother was, her father, and their dog, Patchie. But then she spoke again, "This will be hard for you all to understand, but you cannot return to your parents" Margaret felt herself on the verge of tears. She let them flow down her cheeks. She would never see her Mother again. "This place will become your home. Your fellow trainees will be your family now. The training will be difficult, and there will be a great deal of hardship on the road ahead. But I know you will all make it."

The words did little to comfort her, she fought hard to not cry, she wanted to ask something, but she suddenly could speak, as if the words had been ripped from her mouth.

She spoke again, "Rest now" and then to the man in green next to her, "have the children...the trainees, escorted to their barracks, feed them, and put them to bed" He nodded and turned to the children, "trainees, fall out!" he roared out into the room. The green man took her and the rest of the children to a series of large semi circular quarters, inside they ate, not at all anything appetising, and she herself had even been hungry, she fell into her bunk bed, directly beneath a bed at the far end. As Margaret closed her eyes, she tried thinking of her mother and her jubilant lullaby, which all suddenly seemed distant in her mind.