To Celestia, Braden's mind was a horrifying series of flashing visuals beyond her imagining, and she felt every ounce of pain he ever experienced. To her, the intrusion into the spartan's mind lasted only twenty seconds. But to Braden, it was like reliving an entire lifetime...
**********
July 7, 2510
Sigma Octanus IV, Cote d'Azur
Darkness. Then, a flash of white light. Braden felt something wrap two arms around him. He was briefly lifted into the air, and set into the grasp of a new pair of arms. He slowly opened his young eyes. The first thing he saw was the face of his mother.
She was beautiful.
**********
December 24, 2516
Sigma Octanus IV, Cote d'Azur
"...And Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night." Braden's mother softly said as she closed the book. She got up from sitting on the bed, and kissed Braden on his forehead. "Good night, Braden."
Braden closed his eyes as he drifted off to sleep. "Good night mommy..."
His mother smiled. She walked over to the bedroom doorway, where her husband was waiting, shut off the light, and quietly closed the door.
**********
March 2, 2517
Sigma Octanus IV, Cote d'Azur
Museum of Natural History
Braden and his father walked among the crowds of the Museum of Natural History. Braden looked up. Above him was the skeleton of a blue whale hanging from the ceiling. "Woah." He said.
Braden's father noticed his awe. "That is the skeleton of a blue whale, Braden. Largest living creature on Earth."
"On Earth?" The little boy asked. "You mean it's not from this planet?"
His father chuckled. "Nope, but we'll talk about that some other time. C'mon, there's lots of other neat stuff your mother wanted me to show you."
The two continued onward, heading down the east wing. Braden saw displays of all sorts of flora and fauna; gigantic flowers with petals as long as his legs and beetles bigger than his fist. Then they turned a corner and made their way into the west wing.
Now Braden was passing by static electric generators and quantum field holograms and all sorts of other weird electronic crap. Then they turned another corner and entered another wing. The entry arch was simply labelled GEOLOGY. The room they were in contained various mineral samples ranging from sulfur crystals to rubies, but what immediately caught Braden's imagination was the giant six foot monolith of pink quartz.
As they passed by the display cases, something caught Braden's eye. He peered into the glass for a better look. Sitting inside the display case was a sizable piece of granite that glittered with a few jewel- like inclusions. Braden didn't know why, but he couldn't shake the feeling that there was something... fishy about the rock.
He continued to stare at it when his father tapped him on the shoulder. "You hungry? It's past noon, we should stop by the cafe for a quick bite."
Braden looked up to him. Now that he mentioned it... "Yeah, I'm kinda hungry. Let's go." They left.
Just before they exited the room, Braden gave that suspicious rock one last backwards glance...
**********
July 7, 2517
Sigma Octanus IV, Cote d'Azur
Braden blew out all seven candles on his chocolate birthday cake. His friends and other party guests all clapped and smiled and laughed in congratulations. His father rustled his hair and his mother took out a camera. "Cheese!" She said.
Braden smiled.
He was happy.
**********
August 28, 2517
Sigma Octanus IV, Cote d'Azur
Braden was playing ball with a couple of his friends at the local park. Just thirty feet away his mother was sitting on a park bench reading her personal copy of The Hobbit. His father was sitting next to her, napping.
Braden accidentally kicked the ball out of bounds. "Don't worry, I'll get it!" He rushed off to get the ball. Braden picked up the ball from the grass.
And then he saw them.
A short distance away, by the street, were two strange men. They wore sharp black suits, black sunglasses, and had no visible emotion on their faces. They were looking at him. Then they turned back to each other and appeared to be speaking to each other. Braden shrugged and turned back around to resume his game.
If anyone had been watching, they would have noticed the two mysterious men discreetly return their gaze to Braden...
**********
September ?, 2517
Sigma Octanus IV, Cote d'Azur
Braden heard a noise in the dark of the night.
He opened his eyes and turned over. Two shadowy men were standing in his doorway. The man who was closer to Braden appeared to be carrying a pistol, while the man behind him was carrying an unconscious little boy who bore a striking resemblance to Braden.
Before Braden could so much as scream for help, the agent with the gun raised the weapon at him, and pulled the trigger.
A tranquilizer dart silently hit Braden in the neck, and he immediately blacked out.
**********
September 23, 2517
Reach, Military Complex
Braden and seventy four other children were ushered into an amphitheater by men in camouflaged pattern fatigues. He and the others were tired, cold, and most of all, scared. They all took their seats.
A woman at the head of the amphitheater cleared her throat, gaining their attention. "As per Naval Code 45812, you are hereby conscripted into the UNSC Special Project, codenamed SPARTAN- II." She said.
Braden and the others looked among each other uncertainly. He saw a few of the others try to stand and leave, but their handlers firmly forced them back down.
"You have been called upon to serve," the woman said, "You will be trained... and you will become the best we can make of you. You will be the protectors of Earth and all her colonies."
This caught Braden's attention. A sort of confidence welled up inside him, and he and a handful of other children who seemed to have the same feeling straightened up in their seats. He was still frightened, but at least he was interested.
"This will be hard to understand, but you cannot return to your parents."
A cold chill suddenly took over Braden's body. He was dimly aware of the other children stirring and their handlers keeping them in place, but he paid them no heed. "I can... never see... Mom and Dad again?" He thought to himself. Tears welled in his eyes, but he did not cry. It is not that he would not, but rather he could not. He had simply lost the willpower to bother crying.
The woman continued speaking, regaining Braden's attention. "This place will become your home. Your fellow trainees will be your family now. The training will be difficult. There will be a great deal of hardship on the road ahead, bit I know you will all make it. Rest now. We begin tomorrow."
**********
September 24, 2517
Reach, Military Complex
"WAKE UP, TRAINEE!"
Braden stirred in his cot and opened his eyes. Directly across the room from him a man was yelling at a boy. Said boy rolled over in his sleep and turned away from the man. The man responded by zapping the boy in the ass with an electric baton. The boy gave a yell in surprise and fell out of his cot and onto the floor.
"Jesus Christ!" Braden thought to himself in horror. The only reason he didn't say it out loud was because his mother had told him that it wasn't decent to say things like that in front of other people. For some reason that had never stopped his father from saying such things every now and then.
The boy got back up as the man continued yelling at him. He had short brown hair, a few scattered freckles on his cheeks, and a gap between his front teeth.
Suddenly a bunch of other angry men with electric batons rushed into the room and scared Braden and the other kids out of their cots. "RABLABLABLALALALA!!!!!"
"I am Chief Petty Officer Mendez!" The first angry man shouted out so everyone would hear him. "The rest of these men are your instructors. You will do exactly as we tell you at all times." Mendez pointed to the far end of the barracks. "Showers are aft. You will all wash and then return here to dress." He opened a trunk at the foot of the cot that belonged to the boy with the zapped ass and pulled out a matching set of grey sweats.
Braden looked at the foot of his own cot. There was a trunk there. He leaned closer and saw something stenciled on the chest. It said Braden- 007.
"So... does this mean I have a license to kill?" Braden asked himself in his head.
What? He saw Goldfinger when he was six.
...Stop looking at me like that.
"No slacking. On the double!" Mendez shouted as he randomly zapped the kid again, but this time between his shoulder blades. "I mean it! Go, go, GO!"
Braden and all the kids then made a mad dash for the showers. There they undressed and stepped into the shower room. The water turned on. It was lukewarm and soapy. "Hey, this is kinda alright." Braden thought to himself. And then they were all rinsed in an icy cold spray. "F- f- f- friggin' c- c- c- cold!" After that they were all handed dry towels.
Then they all rushed back to their cots and opened their trunks. Braden looked at what he had. Underwear, thick socks, sweats, and a pair of combat boots. He looked around after putting his clothes on. Every kid had the same outfit.
"Outside, trainees." Mendez announced. "Triple time... MARCH!"
Braden and the others marched out of the barracks and onto a strip of grass. The sun hadn't risen yet, the sky was indigo. As they passed by a dozen rows of other barracks through the wet grass, a pair of jets roared by overhead. "EEP!" Braden looked to his right to see the source of the noise. A girl who was just beside him, Ashley- 090 from what her clothes were labelled, had been startled by the jets. In fact, the poor thing looked more frightened than all the other children who were here.
"Hey." Braden said to Ashley. She looked at him with pitiful teary eyes. "You're gonna be okay."
Ashley sniffled and gave a nervous nod.
"You will make five equal- length rows." Mendez suddenly said. "Fifteen trainees each. Straighten those rows. You know how to count to fifteen, trainee? Take three steps back."
Braden stepped into the third row.
"JUMPING JACKS! Count off to one hundred. Ready, go." Mendez started the exercise and Braden and Ashley followed his lead.
However, the boy in front of Braden refused for a split second. An instructor was on his ass instantly. The thirty- something year old man in camo whipped the seven year old boy in the stomach with his baton. The kid doubled over in pain.
"Get with the program, boot!" The man snarled. "RABLABLA!"
The boy uncurled, glared at the man, and started jumping. The man walked away. Once he was out of earshot, Braden spoke. "Hey, you alright?"
The boy didn't turn around, but he did answer. "Yeah, yeah I'm fine."
"NINETY- EIGHT. NINETY- NINE. ONE HUNDRED." Mendez paused. He took in a deep breath and said "SIT UPS!" He dropped onto the grass. "Count off to one hundred. No slacking."
Braden and the others dropped to the ground.
"The first crewman who quits gets to run around the compound twice- and then comes back here and does two hundred sit- ups. Ready... count off! One... two... three..." Deep squats followed, then knee bends.
Kids all around Braden were throwing up at this point. The instructors were having a baton- whipping field day. Braden noticed the kid who got zapped twice by Mendez throw up, and then be promptly beaten down by an instructor. "Geez, that kid just can't get a break, can he?" Braden thought.
Suddenly the boy in front of Braden stopped and clutched his stomach in pain. "Uh oh."
The instructor who had hit the boy earlier returned. He lifted the kid up by his shirt collar and brought him right up to his face. He growled.
"I thought I told you to get with the pro-"
"HURBLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
A torrent of vomit had shot out from the boy's mouth and into the man's face.
"Leg lifts." Mendez said, completely oblivious to what just happened.
The instructor dropped the boy and began running around like a pussy screaming "OHMYGODOHMYGOGOHMYGOGOHMYGODGETITOFFGETITOFFGETITOFFGETITOFF!!!" A couple other instructors ran after him in an attempt to calm him down. Amazingly, Mendez was still unaware off what was currently happening. That or he just didn't give a fu damn.
"Rest." Mendez said. "Trainers, get the water."
The boy wiped some vomit off the side of his lip and snickered. He turned to Braden. The label on his clothes said James- 149. "Funny stuff, huh?"
"Uh, sure, I guess." Braden replied with a shrug.
"That was disgusting." A boy who was next to Braden in row four said. His label was Richard- 046. "You can't just go and spit in a superior's face."
James narrowed his eyes at Richard and crossed his arms. "I didn't spit. I vomited. There's a difference."
Richard rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Delinquent."
"What did you call me?!"
"I said-"
"Um, aren't you guys gonna get some water?" Ashley meekly asked. She already had a bottle, which she sipped.
James and Richard glared at each other. "We'll finish this later." They both said at the same time.
Braden, James, and Richard each grabbed a water bottle that the trainers were handing out. Braden twisted off the cap and gulped the liquid down. It was warm and salty, but he didn't care at this point. Warm salty water is best water.
"Hey, you guys are the only people I've gotten to talk to here." James said.
"Yeah? So?" Richard said.
"So, what's your names? I'm James."
"I'm Braden."
"I'm Ashley."
"I'm Richard."
"Alright, that settles it. We are all officially friends."
Ashley smiled a little at this, but Braden wasn't too sure, and Richard did not look convinced at all. "You expect us to just go along with this?" Richard sarcastically asked.
"You wanna go through this by yourself? Okay, that's cool with me. Suit yourself."
Richard grumbled and looked away.
"He does have a point." Braden thought. He smiled a sad smile. "At least I have friends here now."
"A good start trainees!" Mendez blurted. "Now we run. On your feet!"
The trainers brandished their batons like hoodlum street gangsters would brandish their knives before a mugging. Mendez started jogging and the kids followed him. First they went down the gravel path, then past more cinderblock barracks. They ran alongside a river, over a bridge, past a jet runway, through Jellystone Park, and on a zigzagging path of stone.
They ran into a courtyard. At the far end was a building with a dome, white columns, and wide steps leading to the entrance. The words NAVAL OFFICERS ACADEMY were chiseled into the arc over the entrance.
A woman at the top of the steps beckoned to them. She wore a white sheet wrapped around her body. As Braden neared her, he noticed the motes of light orbiting her head, and realized that she was an AI.
"Excellent work, Chief Petty Officer Mendez." The AI said. She turned to the children. "Welcome. My name is Deja and I will be your teacher. Please come in. Class is about to start."
Braden gave an audible groan, as did some of the other kids. James even voiced his resentment. "Great, first we played The Biggest Loser and now they want us to star in an episode of Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader!"
Deja turned and started to walk inside. "Of course, if you prefer to skip your lessons, you may continue the morning calisthenics."
Braden and the others all double- timed it up the stairs.
When they got inside, they took their seats in an air conditioned room. They were served crackers and milk. It was in that class that Braden first learned of an ancient group of Greek warriors called "Spartans". He was fascinated.
So anyways after a kick- ass battle simulation via mini- holograms Deja announced that class was over. "That's all for today. We'll continue tomorrow and I'll show you some wolves. Now it's time for you to go to the playground."
"Playground?" Someone asked. Braden looked over to who it was. It was the boy who was constantly getting his ass kicked by the trainers. His clothes were labelled John- 117. Braden and the others ran out of the room. Mendez and the other trainers, even the one who got puked on by James, were waiting for them outside of the classroom.
Mendez waved the kids closer. "Time for the playground. It's a short run. Fall in."
The "short run" turned into two miles. And when Braden finally got there, the "playground" turned out to be a goddamn obstacle course. It was a forest of twenty- meter tall wooden poles. Rope cargo nets and bridges stretched between the poles and swings and platforms and loops and- oh you know what I mean.
"Trainees," Mendez said, "Form three lines."
Braden and the others did so without comment or fuss.
"The first person in every row will be team number one. The second person in each row will be team number two... and so on. If you do not understand this, speak up now."
No one spoke.
Braden looked for Richard, James, and Ashley. All three of them happened to be the row in front of him. He looked to his right. A spunky- looking girl with a mischievous smirk was next to him. Stenciled on her sweat top was Rose- 064. Beyond Rose was a small nervous looking boy who appeared to be younger than any one of them. Kenny- 013.
"Today's game is called Ring the Bell." Mendez said as he pointed to the tallest pole on the playground. It was thirty meters tall and had a steel slide pole next to it. Hung at the very top of that pole was a brass bell. "There are many ways to get to the bell. I leave it up to each team to find their own way. When every member of your team has rung the bell, you are to get groundside double time and run back here across this finish line." Mendez drew a straight line in the sand with his baton.
Braden noticed John raising his hand.
Mendez glared at John. "A question, trainee?"
"What do we win?" John asked.
Mendez cocked an eyebrow. "You win dinner, Number- 117. Tonight, dinner is roast turkey, gravy and mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, brownies, and ice cream."
A murmur of approval swept through the children.
"But," Mendez said, "For those to be winners there must be a loser. The last team to finish goes without food."
The children fell silent.
"Make ready."
"I'm Rose." Rose whispered.
"I- I'm Kenny."
"I'm Braden."
Braden attempted a small smile to boost their confidence. It seemed to work. A little.
"GO!" Mendez shouted.
Braden and all the kids rushed the nearest cargo net. He had gotten near the front and was almost at the top. He looked ahead to see who was in first place. It was John. Braden, Rose, Kenny, and five others were on the first platform.
Suddenly, Braden felt a jolt of instinct to get off the platform. He grabbed onto Rose and Kenny. "Jump!" He yelled. They leaped to the nearest platform to their left. As soon as they were airborne the platform they were just on flipped over and sent the other five kids into the water below. And before you ask, no, they were not eaten by alligators.
The whole game was complete chaos. Children were scrambling over each other, getting tangled in ropes, falling to their deaths into the water below. Only a spare few were actually aware of what the hell was going on. Braden was one of those few.
"Follow me!" He said to his two teammates. He motioned to a net that went straight up to the bell. "Quick, up!"
Kenny and Rose nodded and began climbing. They heard the bell ring three times. Braden looked up just in time to see John slide down the steel pole next to the bell. "Dammit."
"Help!"
Braden looked down. While they were climbing, an entire cluster of kids had formed down below, and were now following them. One of the kids who was closer to them than the others had grabbed onto Kenny's ankle, and was trying to throw him down.
Kenny was too far beneath Braden. He couldn't save him. But Rose could.
She swung out her legs and kicked the kid off of Kenny.
Braden made it to the top. He looked down and crouched, arms extended. Rose came up first, then Kenny. But before they could ring the bell, a trio of kids scrambled up from the rope and tackled them from behind. Whoever pinned down Braden- he never got a good look at his face or name and number- kept his foot firmly on Braden's chest and moved to the bell. He would have made it, too, had James not blindsided him with a fist sandwich.
"Get off him!" James yelled at the boy. He held a hand out to Braden. "C'mon. The bell's waiting."
Braden took his hand and stood up. He looked over James' shoulder to see that Richard and Ashley had managed to save Kenny and Rose from their attackers.
The six of them took a moment to look at each other out of companionship, when they remembered that the other kids were still coming. They each ran up to the bell, rang it, and slid down the pole, landing on a pile of cushions. They all ran for the finish line, and they all crossed it at the same time. Mendez and John were waiting for them. Mendez looked at them in a funny way for a moment, as if he was uncertain about something, and made six new checks on his clipboard.
The rest of the children came running soon after in a large crowd. Mendez checked them each off on his clipboard as they each crossed the finish line. After they had all crossed the line, Braden saw that there were two stragglers- a boy and a girl- still up in the playground. They both rang the bell and slid down the pole together. As they ran for the finish line Braden read their labels. Their names were Samuel- 034 and Kelly- 087.
After they both crossed the finish line, Sam and Kelly walked past Braden and up to John. They looked pissed off. John gave them a shrug that said "I don't give a crap". Braden deduced right there that John, Sam, and Kelly were teammates, but John had left them in the dust. For some reason, Braden felt a little irked by John.
"Good work, trainees." Mendez said. "Let's get to the barracks and chow down..."
The kids cheered.
"...All except you three." Mendez said to John, Kelly, and Sam.
"But I won," John protested, "I was first."
"Yes, you were first." Mendez explained. "But your team came last." He turned to all the children. "Remember this: you don't win unless your team wins. One person winning at the expense of the group means that you lose."
"Damn, talk about getting screwed over big time." James whispered to Braden as they ran back to the barracks.
When they got to the barracks, a fancy Thanksgiving- style cuisine had been made for them. Braden and his five "official" teammates all had a table to themselves.
**********
October 2, 2517
Reach, Military Complex
Braden and Richard watched as James argued with James. While Braden's face was that of confusion, Richard's was that of wry amusement.
"No, I'm James!" James- 149 yelled.
"No, I'M James!" James- 005 yelled back.
"NO I'M JAMES!"
"NO I'M JAMES!"
"BLAH!"
"NYAH!"
"Should we stop them?" Braden asked.
"No... let him suffer." Richard responded.
Braden face- palmed.
**********
May 8, 2518
Reach, Military Complex
"Hey, did you guys hear that we have a visiting officer here today?" Rose said.
"Really?" Braden said. "What's his name?"
"I think his name was Colonel Ackerson or something. He's up there actually." Rose pointed to the second story window of a nearby building. "He's in there talking with Chief Mendez and Doctor Halsey. For some reason, he and Doctor Halsey don't like each other very-"
"LOOK OUT!"
Braden and Rose turned around and immediately ducked when a bowling ball went flying over their heads. Said bowling ball crashed through the window that Rose just pointed out.
"OW! SON OF A BITCH!" A voice that Braden never heard before called out.
Braden looked back again to find the culprit. Kenny and James were standing not ten feet from him with "oh shit" expressions on their faces. Without taking their eyes off of Braden or the window, they both pointed accusing fingers at Jorge.
"Hey don't look at me I didn't do that!" Jorge- 052 said with his hands defensively raised.
"I know." Braden said. He turned back to Kenny and James. "What I want to know is where you two got a bowling ball and what the hell you were doing with it."
Before either could answer, a pissed off looking man with a comically sized bump on his head poked his head out the window. "YOU LITTLE SHITS! I'LL GET YOU BACK FOR THIS!"
"Run." Braden said. He and all of the nearby kids ran for it.
"DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHO I AM? I AM COLONEL JAMES ACKERSON! I WILL HUNT YOU ALL DOWN UNTIL THE DAY YOU DIE! I WILL-"
"Ah blow it out your ass Ackerson." Halsey said.
**********
July 12, 2519
Reach, Military Wilderness Training Preserve
Braden and John stood at the sides of the entry into the Albatross dropship as the rest of the children entered.
"Who's getting left behind?" Kelly asked.
"No one." John said. "Just get in." The last kids got onto the Albatross. Braden and John followed after. They entered the cockpit. "Okay, Deja, get us out of here."
The dropship's jets roared to life and it rose into the sky.
"So... why wasn't someone left behind?" Serin- 019 asked.
"Yeah," Naomi- 010 added, "Mendez is gonna be pissed."
Braden turned around and gave them an icy death glare. "Because we don't leave people behind. But if that bothers you two so much, we can always turn around and leave you BOTH there."
Serin and Naomi nervously glanced at each other and straightened up. "N- No, sir."
Braden looked upon the rest of the children. "Any other complaints?"
They all straightened up in their seats. "NO, SIR!"
"Good." He turned back around to look out the cockpit window.
He looked at John and saw that he seemed to be worried about something. "What's eating you?"
"Naomi's right." John replied. "Mendez is gonna be mad. Specifically at me."
"Well then it's a good thing that I let you take all the credit for the plan, eh?"
John frowned even more.
"Oh lighten up. I'm sure the whole leave someone behind thing was just a test to prove our loyalty to each other. Or something. Who knows, maybe you'll be promoted to squad leader for this."
**********
March 9, 2525
ONI Medical Facility, In Orbit Around Reach
Braden was strapped to a bed. The needles were getting closer.
According to Doctor Halsey, the chemical, physical, and biological augmentations would greatly increase their performance.
Those needles looked really sharp.
He had to stay strong.
The needles drilled into his skull, his arms, his legs, and his torso.
It really hurt. But he didn't scream. He couldn't. The slightest movement would screw up the process and possibly kill him.
He felt something being pumped into his body.
The needles retracted. Now he could scream.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
**********
March 30, 2525
UNSC Carrier Atlas En Route To The Lambda Serpentis System
"God dammit." Braden thought.
"...And so we commit the bodies of our fallen brothers to space." Mendez solemnly said, finishing the funeral. He pressed a control and the ash canisters moved slowly into the ejection tubes... and the void beyond.
"Thirty dead..."
"Honors... TEN HUT!"
Braden and the other surviving SPARTANs saluted in unison.
"...Twelve permanently disabled..."
"Duty, honor, and self sacrifice. Death does not diminish these qualities in a soldier. We shall remember."
"...Why were only we thirty three spared?"
A series of thumps resounded through the Atlas' hull as the canisters were hurled into space.
**********
November 2, 2525
Reach, Military Complex
Braden and the other SPARTANs were sitting in the amphitheater. To put it bluntly, he and the rest had no idea why they were here. Mendez entered the room and marched onto the center platform. The SPARTANs rose and stood at attention. Halsey entered.
Another man, older than either Mendez or Halsey, strode onto the stage soon after.
"Vice Admiral on deck!" Mendez announced.
The SPARTANs snapped straighter.
"At ease, spartans." The man said. "I'm Vice Admiral Stanforth."
Braden and the others sat down.
Suddenly, dust swirled onstage and collected into a ghostly robed figure. Its face was obscured within the shadows of its hood. Braden could not see any hands at the end of its sleeves.
"And this, ugh, is Beowulf." Stanforth said with evident distaste as he gestured to the Nazgul Dementor Ghost of Christmas Past Wraith. "He is our AI attache with the Office of Naval Intelligence. We have several important issues to cover this morning, so let's get started."
The lights dimmed. An amber sun appeared in the center of the room, with three planets in close orbit. "This is Harvest." Stanforth said. "Population of approximately three million. Although on the periphery of UNSC controlled space, this world is one of our more productive and peaceful colonies. As of military calender February 3, at 1423 hours, the Harvest orbital platform made long range radar contact with this object."
A blurry outline appeared over the stage. "Spectroscopic analysis proved inconclusive. The object is constructed of material unknown to us." A molecular absorption graph appeared on a side screen, spikes and jagged lines indicating the relative proportions of elements.
Beowulf raised a cloaked arm. The image darkened, the words CLASSIFIED- EYES ONLY appearing over the censored data.
Stanforth shot a glare at the AI.
"AI bastard." Braden thought.
"Contact with Harvest," Stanforth continued, "Was lost shortly thereafter. The Colonial Military Administration sent the scout ship Argo to investigate. That ship arrived in- system on April 20, but other than a brief transmission to confirm their exit slipstream position, no further reports were made. In response, Fleet Command assembled a battle group to investigate. The group consisted of the destroyer Heracles, commanded by Captain Veredi, as well as the frigates Arabia and Vostok. They entered the Epsilon Indi System on October seventh and discovered the following."
The holograph of Harvest changed.
The planet was... charred. Burned.
Glassed.
"This is what was left of the colony." Stanforth said. He paused for a moment to stare at the image. "We assume that all inhabitants are lost."
Three million dead. Braden could not fathom the power it had to take to kill so many. He was horrified... and angered.
"And this is what the Heracles battlegroup found in orbit."
The blurry outline that was still visible sharpened into crisp focus. Braden leaned forward a little bit. It looked like a ship. It was purple, and had a very sleek, smooth, and curved hull. He thought it was beautiful, in a scary sort of way.
"The unidentified vessel launched an immediate attack against our forces." Stanforth said. The image began moving. Blue flashes shot out from the alien ship and hit the Arabia, burning away its armor. "Those were pulse lasers, and- if this record is to be believed- some kind of self- guided, superheated plasma weapon."
The Heracles and Vostok launched salvos of missiles at the alien craft. The enemy's lasers shot half before they reached their target. The missiles impacted and detonated into blossoms of fire...
...That quickly faded. The strange ship shimmered with a semitransparent silver coating, which then vanished.
"They also seem to have some reflective energy shield." Stanforth continued. He took a deep breath and his face turned into a mask of grim resolve. "The Vostok and Arabia were lost with all hands. The Heracles jumped out of the system, but due to the damage she sustained, it took several weeks for Captain Veredi to make it back to Reach. These weapons and defensive systems are currently beyond our technology. Therefore... this craft is of nonhuman origin." He paused for a moment. "The product of a race with technology far in advance of our own."
A murmur buzzed through the chamber.
"Extraterrestrials?" Richard whispered to Braden.
"Maybe they're an honor- bound race of split jaws that can turn invisible?" Kenny suggested.
"You've been watching those Predator movies again, haven't you?" Braden said.
"We have, of course, developed a number of first contact scenarios, and Captain Veredi followed our established protocols." Stanforth said, quieting the SPARTANs. "We had hoped that contact with a new race would be peaceful. Obviously, this was not the case- the alien vessel did not open fire until our task force attempted to initiate communications."
He paused, considering his words. "Fragments of the enemy's transmissions were intercepted. A few words have been translated. We believe they call themselves "The Covenant." However, before opening fire, the alien ship broadcast the following message in the clear."
Stanforth gestured to Beowulf, who nodded.
A moment later, a voice thundered from the amphitheater's speakers. Braden stiffened in his seat when he heard it. The voice was calm and formal, but laden with hate and malice.
"Your destruction is the will of the Gods... and we are their instrument."
**********
November 27, 2525
In Orbit Over Chi Ceti 4
Braden, Halsey, and three technicians from the Damascus facility were in the cockpit of the Pelican. Twenty nine other SPARTANs were in the aft section.
"I shouldn't have let them go..." Halsey solemnly said to herself.
"John, Sam, and Kelly are three of the best, Doctor." Braden responded. "They'll make it back."
The Covenant ship exploded.
Halsey put her hand to her mouth. "No..."
"Hey... I think I see something." One of the technicians said, pointing in the direction of the destroyed vessel. Among the debris, two figures could be seen flying towards them. "They made it!"
Halsey gave a sigh of relief.
Braden, however, was not feeling so jovial. Three were sent, but only two were coming back.
He knocked on the aft door to let the SPARTANs know that the others were coming back. Someone on the other side knocked back in confirmation. He waited. The two figures floated past the front of the Pelican towards the back. He heard the Pelican ramp open, and then it closed. He opened the cockpit door to enter the aft.
When Braden entered the aft, he noticed that the SPARTANs were quiet. Not in their usual stoic sort of way, but in a sad, solemn way.
"No..."
Braden waded through the crowd until he found who he was looking for. John and Kelly were present, but Sam was missing.
Braden took a deep breath. He looked to John. "Sam... what happened to him?"
John looked at the floor. "...He stayed behind."