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The Siege of Zion Base; Part One: Mission - Chapter 3
Posted By: Scimitarex<scimitarex@omegacell.net>
Date: 13 February 2004, 7:29 PM
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Chapter Three
01200 Hours, December 6, 2552
Sinai Star System, UNSC Test
Facility, code name: Zion, planet
Genesis
After running the obstacle course five consecutive times, John's patience was wearing thin. Cortana and her knack for wanting perfection was running him quite literally into the ground.
"OK, lets have one more go at the course, I think the calibrations are finished and are at peak efficiency," said Cortana.
The neural implant adjustments had worked normally at first but after Cortana had let the new subroutines take over, there had been some minor problems. A miscommunication here, wrongly interpreted data there. Cortana had been running him through the same drills and stimuli in an attempt to recreate the subroutine's mistakes so she could fix them. He had run the course so many times he knew he could do it with his eyes closed and one hand tied behind his back.
"It's about time. I'll definitely feel better once I'm back in armor and not so..."
"Vulnerable? Naked?" finished Cortana.
"Take your pick," shrugged John. He knew that it didn't really matter right now, but it was his nature to want to be in his armor.
Cortana's voice popped in over the COM, "OK, do everything as before and let the subroutines work in the background. They can't help right now, but I want to make sure all the neural networks are ironed out. After this last run, you can take a break then we'll fit you back into your armor. After that I'll take you through a new course and let the subroutines guide you through. Understand?"
"Sure, can I go now?" asked John with a certain degree of annoyance.
"On your mark, get set, go." Said Cortana sarcastically.
John bolted forward toward the first obstacle, a huge fifty-foot high wood climbing wall. He leapt upward and grabbed hold of two handholds and slammed his foot into the foot grooves. He climbed upward until he reached the top and then climbed over it to climb down. After reaching the bottom he sprinted toward the next part of the course.
He came to the minefield, or more actually, a fake-mine field. The explosives used in the field weren't lethal or dangerous, but if you triggered one you got covered with paint from a small explosive in the ground. This he did with ease, since he had already been through it four times.
The next part of the course was more difficult, even for someone who had just been through it and knew what to expect. He had to run up an inclined hill toward a group of mounted guns that shot large paint-filled globs of weak plastic at him. The globs with harmless but they hurt like a real slug to the unarmored skin. All he was wearing was a white workout T-shirt and running shorts. One hadn't hit him yet, but he wasn't going let complacency due to previous successes make him slip up.
He ran up the hill, hiding behind small wooden planks that had bet set up to give at least some cover. He waited until the firing died a little and then bolted to the next wooden base. He did this all the way to the top of the hill, dodging globs of paint all the away. He finished that section and headed to the next.
The next section was the last and was most definitely the most challenging. But that was all it was, challenging. And John liked a challenge. He suspected that Cortana may have lain some surprises for him this time around but he hadn't seen any yet. He knew that if she were going to do something to throw him off it would be now.
The next section was a multiple-tiered platform with several square floors made of solid wood panels. Each floor was built on large circular beams of wood that were two feet thick and spaced evenly apart, at the corners of each square and in the middle. Through a hole in the first floor a rope hung from the underside of the second floor. From the first floor he had to do the same thing, find the rope and climb through the hole onto the third floor. He had to continue this routine up four floors and reach the top of the fourth floor. At the top of the fourth floor there was a rope to repel down to the ground and then he was finished. However, he also had the climb the platform while dodging stun mines, paint-gun traps and whatever else might be waiting for him.
To a marine, this was hell. To a Spartan, it was a playground.
He ran flat out to the platform. Suddenly, without warning, paint pellets started impacting the ground around him as he ran. He glanced up and saw that some Marines with training weapons were standing on each floor of the platform and were shooting at him.
So Cortana, this is your little surprise.
John didn't hesitate, he ran for the rope suspended underneath the first floor. He grabbed hold of it and climbed up. The Marines didn't shoot at him through the hole he was about to climb through. He was so fast they didn't realize he was already climbing it. As he climbed through the hole he quickly got to his feet and faced a stunned Marine. The Marines has only just started to think about turning to the hole when he grabbed the first Marine and threw him threw out of the tower. The other Marines turned their paint guns on him and fired, too late. John had already moved out of the way and ducked to allow the shots to fly over him. He noticed a paint mine mounted on the pole next to his head as it started to fire. He grabbed the mine, tore it off of the pole, and threw it as exploded in mid-air in the face of one of the Marines. The Marine yelled and fell to his knees trying to wipe the paint out of his eyes.
The last Marine knew he was done for but decided to go out with a blaze of glory. He pulled a stun grenade from his belt and armed it. John though that the Marine was going to throw it at him at first, but soon realized that the Marine had no such plan. Instead, the Marine ran toward him with the grenade in his hand. At the last second the Marine dropped the grenade as it went off, releasing a bright light and electric charge. The Marine yelped and staggered, and John, temporarily blinded from the flash was immediately disoriented.
After a few seconds John could see the Marine bringing his gun up his chest. He fired at near point-blank range right at John's chest. Only his Spartan augmented reflexes saves him. Even without his MJOLNIR armor he was still incredibly fast. He dodged the shot to the left by a millimeter and smacked the gun out of the Marine's hand with a deft right rook at the same time. The Marine gave up and sat down on the floor, letting John continue.
John thought, These guys were good. I wonder what platoon they're with, they should be out on the front lines.
He continued and finished climbing the platform. After reaching the top he found himself face to face with four ODST troops. They wore less armor than the Marines had. They obviously didn't think he was going to make it all the way up to the top of their platform. He could see on their arms the Elite-skull tattoo of the 108th Orbital Shock Drop Trooper platoon, the Skulls. The Skulls weren't as well known as the Helljumpers, but they were every bit as nasty.
They held in their hands large pieces of wood that they had themselves carved out of the platform and fashioned into clubs. He only hoped that the knives they had used to cut the wood were sheathed. Not that that would have been much of a problem, but he was tired from running the course five times already.
The ODST leader charged at John with his club raised high. John sidestepped to his right and drove a quick, but not lethal punch into the man's back. He wanted to incapacitate them, not kill them. The other three ODST's joined the fray, all from different sides. John stepped back and dropped to his knees right as the trooper to his left swung. The club missed him and hit the trooper to John's front square in the chest. John swung both arms forward knocking the troopers to his right and left on their backs, their clubs flying off of the platform to the ground. The trooper who had taken the hit to the chest was already back on his feet and swung to hit John's head from the right with his club. John lifted his left fist and swung it to intercept the incoming weapon. John hit the club with full force, splintering the entire length of it. The ODST was somewhat shocked at John's strength, but he wasn't phased for long. The other two ODSTs grabbed his arms from behind and held him for precious second that the trooper in front of him needed to get a hit landed on John's face.
This only spurred John of further. He flexed both arms out and literally flung the two ODSTs binding his arms off of the platform. The last remaining ODST looked on in shock as his comrades fell seventy feet to the ground. His momentary lapse of concentration found him in the air meeting a similar fate.
With all the opposition defeated, John repelled down the rope to the ground to finished the course. As soon as he stepped on the ground he heard a sound he hadn't heard in a long time. Applause.
He looked around and saw that a hundred or more Marines and technicians had made a crowd and had watched his performance. He even saw a few Marines exchanging money over a lost bet. He had never thought much about his ability to do so well against such odds, but that was because he was constantly around his team who had the same abilities and augmentations that he himself had. It was gratifying to think he could help boost morale in such a backwater base with simple expositions of his strength, and speed.
"I knew it," said a voice behind him. John turned around to see a man in a colonel's uniform approaching him. He was in his 50's or early 60's but the man had a full head of red hair and was more in shape than most colonels John had seen. John immediately snapped to attention.
"At ease, son. No need to salute me out of uniform after such a display. I knew you were a Spartan the moment I saw you, but I wasn't completely sure until now," said the man.
John reluctantly lowered his hand and put his arms at his sides. "Thanks you, sir," John replied. "Just undergoing some testing for some new modifications to my neural implant."
"I see. Well that was one the best pieces of tactical awareness I've ever seen. I think whatever modifications you had worked."
"I tend to agree," the voice of Dr. Mathis spoke behind John. John turned away from the Colonel to face Dr. Mathis who was dressed in a purple civilian dress and white lab coat. "Cortana says the algorithms, though not fully active due to you not being in your suit, worked perfectly. The subroutines were able to boost your reaction time just as Cortana would have been able to were she linked to you, through MJOLNIR. This is very promising. I can't even begin to imagine what your reaction times would be with your armor on."
John was satisfied with his performance. He knew he had given his best and had done exceedingly well even without his armor. Though right now, all he wanted to do was rest and take a cool shower.
"I'd like to rest for awhile before we begin testing with the armor, if it's possible," stated John.
"Of course, Cortana gave me instructions to order you to do so anyway. I'll call you when Cortana is done evaluating the data and is ready to begin armor testing."
With that, Dr. Mathis turned and returned to her duties back in the main building. John turned back to the Colonel who was still standing right where John had turned away from him. The Colonel stuck out a hand and offered a handshake.
"Colonel Arthur McLeod, base commander. I've been watching you since you've been here. Best soldier I've ever seen. Only heard of you until now."
"Yes sir. Thank you, sir," replied John. "I've heard of you as well, your engagement with the Covenant at Theta Agni was well executed."
"Why, thank you. That was a long time ago, I'm afraid. Not as young as I used to be. Anyway, I am due for a staff briefing, those lab rats have been wanting to test some new weapons and I have to authorize it or they'll keep on me like a pack of ravenous hyenas."
"Good day to you sir."
"You too, I'll see you around. Might even show you my trophy case of Covenant skulls sometime. Keep up the good work, Master Chief."
"Sir, yes sir!" John saluted as the Colonel saluted, turned and left, then started walking back to the barracks. It had been a long morning, and he was itching for some food and rest.
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