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The Titan Eleven: Chapter 1
Posted By: Lysander<xhalcyon713x@yahoo.com>
Date: 24 August 2006, 4:49 am
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The Titan Eleven: Chapter 1
There was the smell of gunpowder and iron in the room. Though the room had been rebuilt from the ground up after the Covenant invasion, it still smelled of blood and fire and dust and the ages of time. It hadn't been used since the Covenant Wars, and had so been unused for over a hundred years. But, the rebellion led by Xavier Brands had changed all that. And now Dr. Gabrielle Smith stood in the once abandoned research lab on Reach.
The rebuilding of the facility after it had been destroyed had taken some time, but it was the only place in the UNSC that was without a doubt completely safe from rebel attack. The funding for the project was astronomical. The largest funding for human modification since the Spartan II projects in the 2500's. And, it was only fitting that Gabrielle Smith was in charge of the facility. After all, it had been her ancestor, Dr. Catherine Halsey, which had last stood here.
The dim amber overhead lights flickered on over the gathered audience before Smith. One hundred and fifty men and women were gathered before her. Most were just Marine regulars that had shown all the required markers required for the project. However, there were several officers in the room as well, including five ensigns, four lieutenants, a commander, and a captain.
Smith approached the large oak podium in the center of the room. The hundred and fifty pairs of eyes stared at her. She looked back at them. She spied one of the ensigns, and his eyes seemed to glare right into her heart. An icy pair of grey eyes that stared right through Smith, like a piece of paper being held up to a light.
She cleared her throat. "Hello. I am Dr. Gabrielle Smith, director of the Titan Mark IV Project. This project is designed to modify the human body to the point of near superhuman status. The current Zeus Mk. III series of biomodified enhancement currently employed by fifty-seven percent of the United Nations Space Command Marine Corps is ineffective.
"However," she continued. "You all have the proper requirements to become the next generation of modified humans. Codenamed "TITAN", this project is designed to modify you in ways never before imagined. If you accept, you will be transformed into the pinnacle of human engineering. This is the pilot run of this new system of biomodifcation, and, if successful, will replace the Zeus modification system as the current standard amongst Marines. You will run faster, jump higher, lift more, do more, be more than you ever could've been on your own.
"However, this project is not without its risks. And there is no guarantee that you will survive the transformation. That is why we are asking for volunteers. If you wish to join, please, at this time, stand up."
In unison, the entire assembly of soldiers before her stood up.
'Thank you," Smith said, her voice choking a little bit. Not in admiration of the bravery of these soldiers. But in regret, as she knew that she was now condemning most of them to their deaths. "The new Titan system incorporates the standard Zeus series of modifications, and then some. Muscle growth accelerants will allow you to lift up to three times your normal weight. They, along with the adrenaline amplifiers we will implant, will also allow you to run at bursts of up to sixty-five kilometers an hour. Brain implants will give you improved reaction times, down to the nano-second. Also, certain enhancements will also be made to your eyes, giving you better sight range and near perfect low light visibility.
"Amongst other things, the Titan series is developing a breakthrough technology. We will give you, in a series of surgeries, a new system of organs. These organs will allow you to mend wounds more quickly, and will also pump synthetic cells into your blood that will allow you to clot wounds almost instantly. They will also increase your recovery from lactic acid, make your lungs and heart more powerful, and in conjunction with other implants, accelerate muscle and bone growth. These organs will also allow you to break down food more quickly, giving you quick bursts of energy.
"Are there any questions?" she finished.
The man with the icy grey eyes raised his hands. She nodded towards him.
He fixed her with his eyes, and interwove his fingers together. "When do we start?" he asked. His voice was rough, but gentle like at the same time. Like an orator who had been giving orders on a battlefield for far too long.
"Right away," Smith replied. She locked stares with the grey eyed gentleman. "You will be introduced to your new quarters shortly. Welcome to the Titan Project, ladies and gentlemen," she said and turned on her heel, walking off stage. She added to herself in a whisper, "I hope you won't regret it."
And now, some five years later, only eleven of those original one hundred and fifty marines still lived. The other unfortunate one hundred thirty nine individuals had not been so lucky. Their bodies had violently rejected their implants. Instead of making them near invincible, the implants designed to enhance their bloodstreams instead turned their blood into a sort of acidic ichor that burned their hosts from the inside out.
The military had dubbed it "Acceptable losses", and the eleven survivors of the 'successful' Titan project were soon to become legends. The Captain that had been among the group had catapulted to an Admiral in little under two years, his innumerable victories in both ground and naval engagements were often pivotal points in the war.
As it had turned out, all of the Titan Eleven were the eleven officers that had attended that day. The commander was now a Lt. Colonel in command of a small fleet in the Thracian Gulf. The ensigns were now all at least lieutenants. Two of the lieutenants were now Captains. One was a Major, and the other went from Lieutenant JG to a full lieutenant.
The Titan Eleven were often light years apart. On only one occasion had two of them fought in the same engagement. And in that one, one had been commanding a ship while the other one had led the ground forces.
It was unknown how or why the survivors of the Titan IV project were so successful. In five years the squads or ships they commanded or were attached to racked up more kills than any other in the engagements they were in. In the battle of Odin II, a Titan Eleven soldier and the regiment she commanded killed four thousand rebel soldiers in the two months they were stationed on the planet.
In the battle of Deus I, a company of one hundred men led by Lt. Colonel Roland Dean was charged with holding a base against a rampaging rebel mob. For six days the held out against the rebels. UNSC strategic reports said that if they stayed there any longer, they'd be over run. Rather than scorn retreat, Colonel Dean held out another day. At the end of the seventh day, the rebels were all but defeated in that theatre of operations, and the company still held the ground.
The Titan IV project was never again attempted. The UNSC did not want to risk losing anymore men in a project with only a 1/15 success rate. However, through the five years since the project, more and more questions have sprung up about the Titan Eleven and their actions. And the UNSC has given fewer and fewer answers. Especially in the case of the Massacre at Nova Roma.
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