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Project Shadow Spartan: Chapter 1
Posted By: Shadow Spartan<silent_shadow13@hotmail.com>
Date: 5 February 2003, 9:17 pm


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Planet Mars, ONI CASTLE Complex, May 5th, 2581
 
       Doctor Halsey was old. She remembered when she used to be young. Huge imagination, wonderful flying hair, and very jubilant. Now, all she was was an old, dying lady, with so many wrinkles, they looked like layers on her skin. She sighed deeply, removing her spectacles from her eyes and slowly leaned her crocked back into the padding of her wheel chair. Her office was much like the old one she had on Reach, except slightly smaller. She didn't care though. She kept it just as tidy as she always did. Classified papers scattered across her desk, files on various candidates on the floor, but like always, she didn't care. The hologram projector given to her was alive on her desk, showing images of the new MJOLNIR-X armor that the soon to be ready Spartan IIIs would be wearing. It was quite similar to the old model. Shields, strong alloyed armor, various motion trackers, but it had one unique new invention. Each one of them had and AI in them, and with this AI, the Spartans could communicate telepathically. Of course, the Spartan IIs could do that just with hand signals, but the Spartan IIIs would be able to use words. She quite liked this invention, and pointed out to herself that she was the one that camp up with it. Feeling her eyes start to burn from the light of the projector, she looked away and fixed her vision on the pictures that scattered her wall. She sighed, tears welling up in her old eyes, and moved her wheel chair closer. They showed pictures of her Spartan IIs. Oh, how she missed them. She sadly knew that all of the Spartan IIs were dead save one, who was MIA. She looked over to her favorite picture. It showed the Spartan IIs Master Chief, John, getting a medal pinned to his already stocked up jumpsuit. She sniffed, looking at the picture. When Reach was attacked, she had been here on Mars, helping out Chief Petty Officer Mendez with the children that would become the Spartan IIIs. The news of the fall of Reach devastated her and the chief. Mendez resigned the next day and went traveling in a UNSC corvette. Halsey however had to stay functional. She remained in office, holding back her emotions of her Spartans. Now, she was almost done. Her successor was already trained and well ready to take over, but Halsey had one last thing to do before she would leave. She turned the wheel chair around and parked it in front of her desk. She pressed a button near the edge.
       "Chief, come on in" she said through the respirator mask on her mouth. Seconds later, the door that was located to her left opened, and light shone into the dull room. Two people entered. A young boy and a large man, who held onto the boy with a firm grip that was making him wince. The man stopped just in front of the desk. Halsey turned the chair to look at the boy.
       "Hello Josh" she said. The boy looked at her with painful eyes. Halsey wanted to look away, but couldn't. He reminded her of John. Halsey focused on her task.
       "Do you know where you are Josh?" she asked. The boy slowly shook his head, still staring at her.
       "Josh, this is going to your home for the next few years. The people in this home are your new family. We are going to train you to become humanity's hope for survival" she said, staring at him. Josh's mood seemed to brighten and he stood straight. Halsey leaned back.
       "Tomorrow Josh, your training begins. Your family is going to work you very hard, so be ready. I will be seeing you soon" she finished. Nodding at the Chief, she turned around and returned to the papers at her desk. The Chief turned Josh around and marched him out of the room. As the door closed, Halsey heard him mumble.
       "Bye mommy." This immediately brought tears to her eyes. She sniffed them back though, trying to forget about what she was doing to that child. She had no choice. He would become what every kid dreams of. A hero. A hero, better than the marines, special ops, Special Forces and the Spartans. He would dominate the battle ground alone. The door suddenly reopened and the Chief reappeared and saluted. Halsey waved at him.
       "Oh please Diego, put your hand down, you now I don't take kindly to saluting" she said. The Chief smiled and lowered his hand. He had a strong build to him. Square face, strong eyes, huge shoulders and contact lenses in his eyes that made them look red. He had his head completely shaved and looked like a demon from hell, but he was a very quiet, nice man when not on duty. Halsey looked at him.
       "How are my Spartans?" she demanded. Diego smiled and nodded.     
       "Doctor Halsey, your Spartans are progressing very well. Within six more days, they will be well ready for MJOLNIR-X" he said. Halsey nodded and picked up a piece of paper.
       "These status reports are incredible. All of their skills are completely untraceable, they are better than the Spartan IIs. Have you found someone to lead them though? They will need a Squad Leader soon" she asked, looking from the paper to him. Diego nodded.
       "Spartan-213, Ian, he is the perfect candidate. He comes in the top three in every drill, including the team ones. I think he would be perfect" the Chief said. Halsey picked up the status report of Spartan-213. She looked at the picture and winced. It was if John was haunting her, every picture she looked at reminded her of John. Nevertheless, the marks that Ian received were high. She nodded, putting the paper away.
       "Good, promote him, and then have Chief Petty Officer Browning take over for you. You, Chief Petty Officer Jose will have the privilege of training our finest weapon ever" she said, feeling a pain of regret hit her as she called Josh a weapon. Diego stood straight.
       "Yes ma'am" he said. Halsey looked at him and their eyes met.
       "Chief, you train that boy, and you train him well. The Covenant are pushing us, and it seems as if they have found Earth. We need him up and moving ASAP. Use the Special Forces training stats. Then, proceed with augmentation, and finally, the Dark Arts. He must be trained" she said, keeping her fix with his eyes. The Chief nodded.
       "I will make him the best ma'am, he will not fail" he said, looking away. Halsey nodded.
       "You begin his training tomorrow morning at 0700 hours. Take him to the various training facilities in CASTLE, but don't take him outside just yet. When all of the augmentations are completed, you proceed with outdoor training, and then we put him into you-know-what and train him with that on. Once done that, he will be in the field by next month" she said. Diego nodded. Halsey then sighed, and then turned back to her desk.
       "That will be all Chief. Good luck" she said. Chief Petty Officer Jose nodded and turned briskly on his heel. He walked out of the office and left Halsey alone with her thoughts. The Doctor was getting tired. She couldn't read any more reports. She realized that it was time to call it a day. Before she left, she leaned forward and pressed two buttons on the hologram projector. The image of the green MJOLNIR-X armor disappeared and was replaced with a different image. Halsey felt a rush of pride. A black armored suit appeared in the projector. Seconds later, a cloak was appeared over top of it, hiding most of the armor. The hood on the back then moved forward graphically and placed itself on top of the armor's helmet. Immediately, the entire image disappeared, but Halsey could make out the faint outline of the armor and cloak. It then reappeared, the hood off. Halsey smiled to herself and shut the projector off. Grabbing her spectacles and a file folder, she moved her chair to the door, which opened and out into the hallway. The door locked behind her. Doctor Halsey then zoomed down the empty hallway, heading home. And so it begins she thought to herself....TO BE CONTINUED...





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