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Read about the Forgotten Spartan I Program
Butane: To protect the world from devastation!
sir_brilliant: To unite all people within our nation!
Rainman89: To denounce the evils of truth and love!
sir_brilliant: To extend out reach to the stars above!
SpaceGhostFlyer: Jessie!
Butane: James!
sir_brilliant: Team Rocket blasting off at the speed of light
Butane: Surrender now or prepare to fight
sir_brilliant: Meowth, that's right!
1557 Hours, May 8, 2525(Military Calendar)/ Epsilon Eridani System, Reach Military Complex, Immediately outside Bravo Company’s installation, planet Reach
Bravo Company was lucky to get a forest like this, three kilometers from their base. It was just close enough for everyday use, just far enough to make it a workout to get there. Simmons’ men had spent the majority of the morning hiking to rendezvous point, and though the Sergeants had kept a good pace, the Spartans beat them there.
“Hi Lieutenant!” cried the nearest Spartan.
“Hi John. Hi Fred. How’s the mission going?”
“Great. We’ve got Linda keeping an eye on the Bravo’s and James is keeping the back door open. As soon as you guys are in place, we’ll move out.” John was clearly excited, but he was still the master of his men and his situation.
“Men! Secure this perimeter. Suppressive fire areas there and… there. Okay John, looks like we’re all set up. You can go. If you’re not back in three hours, we’ll come in guns blazin’.”
“I doubt we’ll need it sir. Fred, Malcolm, Grace. Let’s go!” In thirty seconds the Spartan team was out of sight. Simmons expected them to take an hour and a half, but they were at Simmons’ feet panting with the flag in forty-three minutes.
“How in the name of…”
“Team (pant) secret (pant) sir.” John clearly enjoyed the mystery surrounding his team, and Fred didn’t seem to mind it either.
“Did you (pant) miss us sir?” Fred had the flag in his hands, and a cut on his face.
“Fiurah.”
“Yes sir?”
“Fix this Spartan up corpsman. John, we’re heading to the LZ in five.”
It took them twenty minutes to reach the LZ, and surprise surprise, the Pelicans were late. O’Donnell’s voice broke the expectant silence. “LT, the airfield just called. There’s some kind of fuel distribution issue, so no Pelicans tonight.” The men groaned, which seemed to have become their standard response to anything that happened on an exercise. Simmons looked to John to see if he was expecting it, but it seemed to be news to him. Odd that the Doctor would tell him, but not her Spartans. “Bravo’s gonna be looking for us, and this open field is not the place we want to be. Back to the ridge we passed in the forest. We can keep an eye on their movements from there. Let’s go!”
The hike was a short one, and remarkably uneventful. Simmons had just remembered the Doctor’s suggestion of the pickets. He was thinking how to pair everyone up when he nearly hiked past the ridge and Dominique tapped him on the shoulder and said “Uh, LT, you ok?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. Now, we’re gonna have to spend the night, so let’s set up some pickets. Um…Linda, you’re with Omni. Go to the best spot you can find and report on Bravo’s progress every fifteen minutes. John, go with Dominique. You two are on point. Joshua, go with Fiurah. Make sure everyone’s ok. Corporal McKay, meet Kelly. You two are going to be my runners tonight. O’Donnell, take Sam and take stock of our weapons. The rest of you Spartans, just mingle in the perimeter for now. Make a friend or two, we’re gonna be here a while. Oh, and Fred, you’re with me.” The pairs set up their perimeters and Fred made his way over to his buddy for the night.
“Hi LT.”
“Hi Fred. You seem like an observant guy, so I want you to keep your eyes open so I don’t have to.”
“Sure thing LT.”
“Do you mind if I ask you some serious questions?”
“No sir, but I can’t promise you I’ll answer. CPO Mendez would kill me if I told you some of the stuff I know.”
“Fair enough. Do you kids have official ranks?”
“I don’t think so, but John’s our squad leader. CPO Mendez just calls us ‘Spartans’ or ‘Maggots’ or ‘Trainees’.”
“Huh. So do you guys ever do normal kid stuff? “
“You mean like target practice?”
“No, like playing games and watching vids.”
“We play all kinds of games with CPO Mendez, but we always lose, and somebody usually gets hurt. And Déja shows us all kinds of tactical vids in class every day.”
“That’s not what I meant but ok. Does Doctor Halsey usually teach you guys?”
“About half the time. She seems to go all over the place, but she never says where she’s going. Sam says she’s the President of the UNSC and she’s got to go make big decisions, but I don’t believe him.”
“Hah. Now that’s real kid behavior. Here’s a serious question Fred. Do you like being a Spartan?”
“Yeah, its great. Doctor Halsey and CPO Mendez say were gonna defend the whole UNSC. We get to fight for the innocents everywhere, like…our…families.” He stopped for a moment, and he resolved himself. “Sorry LT. I don’t know what that was about. John and the guys are my family. I love being a Spartan sir, do you?”
“Do you kids consider me a Spartan?”
“James and Anton say you’re not, but John and Kelly say you are. I think you’re a Spartan who’s just not on the team. Not that we don’t want you, its just we’re all the same age and stuff.”
“I understand. Well, tell James and Anton no hard feelings. So is Linda your only sniper?”
“Oh, we can all snipe, but she gets the most practice and she’s the best. We’re all the best at something. John’s the leader, Grace is great at explosives, Anton is a scout, Li’s our zero gee guy. We’re all specialists.”
“What are you the best at?”
“I don’t know…I guess I’m the best at being second best. I get second at everything. Every race, every range contest, everything.”
“You sound like me during college. Except instead of a team always getting first, it was my friend Amacus. What was that?” A twig snapped two yards away. The nearest picket didn’t hear it, but Simmons and Fred did.
“Just me LT.” John’s outline came into the dimming light at a crouch.
“What is it John?”
“Just wanted to report. Sergeant Dominique says the Bravo’s are clueless, and I concur.”
“Thanks John. Keep it up. McKay, Kelly. Go check on Omni and Linda. O’Donnell, Sam, report.”
“Suppressive fields of fire are laid out. Oh, and we uh ‘found’ a couple extra sniper rifles. Those Bravo guys said they didn’t need em anymore.”
“You got some POW’s?”
“Yeah, they’re getting Fiurah to look at the boo boos they got when we found em. They’ll be okay.”
“LT, Bravos on the move. Two hundred meters to the left flank, three hundred meters distant. Request permission to open fire.” Omni had assumed his cold, calculating demeanor he always had on a real mission.
“How many?”
“A patrol of fifteen, sir.” Linda’s voice was as cold, if not colder than Omni’s.
“Can you hit em from there?”
“No problem,” the two snipers answered in union.
“Open up on em.”
A round fired from an SRS99C-S2 rifle will penetrate a human body with such force as to cause unbelievable damage to the entire corpse from a mile away. And corpse is the correct term, since by the time the round had done the majority of its harm, the victim is long dead. Luckily for the Bravo’s, Linda and Omni were using the simulation gear.