Alright, loving the reviews and the excitement with all the factions being established.

There's a lot to cover, a lot to do.

Some reviews and questions BSX and I will address towards the end of the chapter in the closing AN.

There are those reviews who made it sound like ring announcers and that got a laugh out of me. Possibly Gigan and Shadowwolf, you guys are awesome.

Now then, let's get on with the show.

Rate Read and Review and as Always Have Nice Day.

The Halo Effect War and Civilization Chapter 5: Prelude

2521/2165 CE

January 25th

Kamino

Su Des Facility.

Upon the endless watery world of Kamino, a lone facility stood far above the waters below.

It's appearance was dome-like, having multiple landing platforms and the numerous buildings either conjoined or connected via bridges.

The planet of storms lived up to its name as violent winds and crushing rain buffeted the lone structure yet it stood strong and unfazed against the raging storm.

The Kaminoans had long since adapted to their thundering and stormy home with their cities all built to withstand the endless rain and winds that were a constant on the planet.

While the outside was dark and turbulent, it was the exact opposite within the facility of Su Des.

Pristine, calm and clean halls were what was the norm of most of the facilities and even cities of the planet of Kamino.

Within the halls of this facility, a lone Kaminoan was walking in a slow stride though her long legs made it seem as though she was moving at a faster rate.

She was humming an unusual tune to herself, certainly out of character for the cold and more emotionless state her kind usually displays.

Taun We has become something of an oddball amongst her species though that is to be expected if one takes a moment to think about it.

For the past few years, nearing a decade now, Taun has spent a majority of her time off planet and in the presence of other sentient species.

Sentient species that display their emotions more openly and willingly, not like the Kaminoans.

She had been exposed, for lack of a better term to a broader perspective.

Whilst she had retained a great deal of her usual calm and collected self, Taun would be seldom pressed if she were to deny that she had changed in these last few years.

Especially now with what she has been selected to work on.

Striding towards a door at the end of the hallway, she stopped before it as it opened for her entry.

Stepping inside a darkened room, upon detecting her presence, lights began flickering on to reveal her laboratory.

The room was circular for the most part with a wholly unique design in a manner of speaking. There were black chalkboards that lined the walls save for the center that was adjacent to the door.

Multiple operating tables with various assortments of medical tools and chemicals.

One might assume this to be an emergency room given the overall look yet this room was being utilized for something far more… considerably amoral.

On the opposite wall that was adjacent to the door were a series of large tubes filled with a blue liquid with various pipes and contraptions connected to them. The interior was empty for the moment though not for long.

Going over to an elevated terminal that was in the center of the room, Taun placed her hand against the center with a light scanning her hand for a brief moment.

A chirp of identification confirmation made a large screen appear before the Kaminoan with a human woman waiting on the other end.

"Catherine." Taun said pleasantly.

"Taun." Catherine Halsey greeted with a friendly smile and nod. "Hope your trip back home wasn't too troublesome."

Taun shook her head. "Not at all. I am simply glad to be back here."

Halsey's expression fell slightly. "Yes. I wish it was at a later time though."

"We both knew we would have to start eventually." Taun said, walking over to several stations and activating functions and other systems. "This was only a matter of time. Better to do it now then withhold for a later date and time."

Halsey sighed in resignation on her end, body slumping slightly. She stayed that way for a few seconds until her expression became solemn and determined a moment later.

"Agreed." Halsey stated with conviction. "Have you received them yet?"

"They had arrived shortly before my arrival." Taun We answered, going over to the large tubes with a control panel next to them.

Inputting a series of commands, hissing steam and air came out from several of the pipes and bubbles formed from below within the tubes.

Several moments later, four bodies floated up within the tubes with them being completely still and unresponsive.

The four bodies were John-117, Kurt-051, Jerome-092 and Frederic-104.

Or they were imperfect copies of them.

These were flash-clones that were made a week ago by the UNSC, specifically created by Halsey and Taun.

They were the most advanced version of a Flash-clone, combining the expertise of the Kaminoans and ONI's best scientists to produce them.

Though as new a version as they were, there were still several key problems that persisted from the last generation.

Their cellular and internal makeup was incomplete.

On the outside, the four inside the tubes looked like exact copies of the Spartan-II's they were cloned after at the current age and stage they were in the program.

This was to be their next step in creating the perfect super-soldiers that Halsey had drawn up. Going off of what was attempted decades ago between the Kaminoans and humanity for the Orion project, Halsey believed that it wasn't ambitious or risky enough.

Years ago, when Halsey had first learned of the Kaminoans natural inclination towards genetic conditioning and manipulation she approached Taun We directly and showed her the plans she had.

It was different to say the least.

In the short amount of time that the Kaminoans had known the UNSC, they had found each species to be unique and strange in their own right.

The Mon Calamari were ones they could relate to, to a degree due to their aquatic capabilities and similarities in how their worlds are overall. There was of course a slight barrier due to the Calamari having a love of fine arts and culture as well as expressing individualism and creativity.

A trait that is shared by both the Wookiees and Humans as well.

Wookiees always held a wariness towards the long limbed species as they found their cold and aloof personas off putting.

Humanity was a rather mixed bag to say the least. They were all encompassing on many aspects from the perspective of the Kaminoans, finding them both intriguing and wary.

And from a species that was so emotional and rebellious to a great degree, Taun was certainly surprised that one would approach her species in doing something humans would find appalling.

Currently, Taun was about to undertake the next step in this "Appalling" program as she had the container holding the 092's flash-clone drain itself of the gelatinous fluid within. Several mechanical arms descended down from above and opened the tube, delicately lifting the body over to an operating table and setting him down.

Taun We loomed over the flash-clone with Halsey watching from her end with baited anticipation.

The Kaminoan geneticist looked over to her scientist human counterpart with Catherine sighing shakily, nodding in consent a moment later.

Looking back to the 092 clone, Taun's gaze lingered upon it for a brief moment before speaking up.

"Initiate procedure OCR-23." Taun said aloud.

Immediately, several compartments opened around the sides of the operation bed. Two mechanical joints tipped with drilling needles came out from the compartments.

Beside the bed was a heart rate monitor that also displayed the internal workings of the clone entirely.

Both were angled on either side of the clones temples with the needles beginning to spin rapidly. They drew in closer and closer to the 092 clone, Halsey holding her breath until the metal needles pierced the flesh.

They drilled into the temples of the clone with the copy not responding for several minutes.

Suddenly, without warning, the clone's eyes snapped open revealing them to be bloodshot red. 092's flash-clone yelled out in complete and utter agony, writhing in agony and pain even with the needles still embedded into his head.

Blood began seeping out of his eyes and after several more agonizing screams, the clone jolted and slumped upon the bed.

The sound of the heart flatlining was heard, the long whining sound that signified the death of the clone reverberating against the walls.

Halsey leaned back in her chair, trembling hand over her face to hide her pained and terrified expression.

Taun stared at the dead clone. "Subject 092-1 deemed unsuccessful in augmentation of Occipital Capillary reversal. Results. Death."

She turned to Halsey who still had her hand up and was now shaking all over.

"Catherine." Taun called to her gently. "We knew that the starting stages were going to result in immediate failure. It's what we do with the time that we have that will decide upon the fate of the true Spartan-II's when the time comes. We still have time to make this better."

Taun wasn't going to lie. She knew the procedures were more than likely going to be imperfect.

There are far, far too many variables to consider when going into such an intrusive and dangerous procedure wherein one is basically rearranging how a body functions forcibly. The margin for error was quite present.

"I know, We, I know." Halsey said softly, rubbing her eyes for a moment before exhaling to steel herself. "Prepare the next clone for CCO-8-3."

The tube containing 051 was next.

-Several days later-

To say that the past few days were stress inducing would be an understatement for Halsey.

They had started the experimentation phase of the Spartan-II's program regarding augmentation and thus far were met with failure after failure.

She had expected this of course. Halsey knew that she was hoping for far too much at this early stage.

Most of the children had turned ten or were turning ten this year and they had yet to hit puberty.

Both Taun and Halsey believed that the augmentations were best designed to be implemented sometime after the children began hitting their growth spurts.

If it was forced upon their bodies now at such a young age, the augmentations that would accelerate their growth in terms of muscles, nervous system, height, skeletal structure and so on would simply result in their bodies being torn apart from the inside out.

Not exactly the result Halsey would like and one that ONI would approve of.

That didn't discourage Taun and Halsey from trying to grasp these augmentations now.

Each one was highly dangerous in their own right as they had accounted for numerous aspects of these augmentations that would undoubtedly come into play.

When she had drawn up the Augmentation process for the SPARTAN-IIs, it was divided into two parts.

One was a more physical and highly intrusive set of surgical procedures and the other was an equally dangerous series of injection procedures.

From what Halsey and Taun were able to gather along with several other surgeons that were working on the process, the surgeries were highly risky, intensive, and required special medical talent. Their safety and effects varied substantially from subject to subject, with the benefits and risks varying with the surgeon, the surgical conditions, and the state of the patient.

Then came the Chemical augmentations.

They were to be applied by working on a molecular level, targeting molecules within the body and then altering them to begin a growth process of targeted tissues. Although the chemicals work on a molecular level, they do not work on a genetic level, as targeted mutagenesis is impossible using chemicals alone.

This proved especially challenging for one such as Taun as they were Genetic geniuses in terms of manipulating genes. However, going over the chemical augmentations and the means in which they were to be applied, Taun realized that even if they tailor made the chemicals to be based upon every single individual that would receive them, the results would still be unpredictable. The chemical augmentations primary risks were dependent upon the subject's genetic background and how they adjust to the alteration of cells and molecules and to a more physical point, tissue growth.

Taun suggested extensive Gene Therapy in the coming years to better prepare the Spartan-II's for their eventual Augmentation, something Halsey agreed on entirely.

She could only hope that the Spartans would be ready for something like this when the time came.

They were being drilled that so long as a situation was in their control, they were able to win at any given situation. If they can adapt, they can win.

This was something outside their control entirely.

The survival of their lives when the time comes would be completely in the hands of Halsey and Taun.

And she would not fail them.

October 15th: Halsey took the time to muse somewhat in her journal on the vulnerabilities created by the standardization of operating systems, highlighting the recent disabling of a patrolling destroyer by a terrorist who hacked its code. Given that the UNSC, conversely, had not had much success penetrating the homegrown collections of software employed in the Outer Colonies, she concluded that the time had come to think outside the box as far as programming practices were concerned. She had spared no resource in the development of routines that allowed the newly-operational third-generation A.I.s to penetrate any system software. Additionally, they had already learned to mutate and defend established UNSC operating systems from attack, a side effect of the routines which Halsey found serendipitous.

2522/2166 CE

Earth

March 19th

A lone man sat outside a room within a white hallway where there were other people going about their business, leaving the man to stew in his thoughts.

Or more like tremble with anticipation and fear.

Currently, he was in a hospital, one he damn near sprinted to upon receiving word of his wife's admission into one.

He was glad that his friend David was on leave at the time here on Earth or he may have found out at the last possible second all together. His wife would have killed him.

…

Alright, not kill him, but still he'd rather her not face this alone.

Until he was promptly shoved out of the labor room, forcing his wife to face it alone.

So here he sat within this hospital corridor, waiting and jittering about.

This was how he acted until…

"You know your leg is gonna snap clean off if you keep shaking it like that Gerald."

Blinking, Gerald looked up with his face breaking into a wide grin upon seeing who it was.

"Marcus." Gerald said with a boisterous tone, standing up out of his seat and walking over to embrace his friend in a hearty hug. "What're ya doing here? Vanessa?"

"Yeah, Vanessa." Marcus confirmed for him. "Just being checked up on. She should be expecting our kid within a month or so. How's Inna?"

Gerald slumped in a dramatic fashion.

"In there, right now."

Marcus laughs aloud, patting his friend upon his shoulder.

"Chin up, Gerald." Marcus said. "Give it another few minutes, and then you're a father."

"I just don't know why they won't let me in!" Gerald exclaimed in annoyance, completely ignoring the looks he was receiving from the other people and several Wookiees within the hallway. "God knows how many times a husband was present for their kids. But noooo~ for some dumbass reason, I can't be in there."

"Well if you're stressed out that much, I think you're on the right track to being a good father." Marcus assured.

"You think so?"

He shrugged. "Sure, why not?"

The flat look he received from Gerald was enough for Marcus to laugh again.

"Oh yeah, Dad made sure to send these to me when he had the chance from Meridian." Marcus said, reaching behind his back and pulling out a set of cigars.

"Sweet Williams?" Gerald said in disbelief.

"The very best." Marcus remarked with a wide smirk. "Old pa had to pull a few strings but the name Williams has some major pull still."

Gerald chuckled as he took the Cigar graciously and pocketed it for later.

"Decided on a name yet?" He asked his friend and fellow Father-to-be.

"Yeah, Vanessa strong-armed me into Ashley." Marcus revealed.

"Ashely?" Gerald said aloud in thought. "Wait… is it cause you and her did it near-"

"Don't." Marcus Williams cut him off with a half-lidded stare. "Just… don't."

His friend had a mischievous grin appear upon his expression seeing his friends annoyance.

"Bet that meadow was mighty comfy beneath you."

Williams' face scrunched up before he found himself smiling.

"It was actually. I forget that when she lets loose, she can be a bit of a screamer."

"Don't remind me." Gerald said.

Marcus was about to make a witty comment when a Mon Cala doctor appeared.

"Mr. Gerald?" The Doctor said aloud with the man looking over to him.

"Yes?"

"This way please."

Tensing up, Gerald looked up to Marcus who only smiled encouragingly.

"First dibs on seeing your kids, Sheppy." Williams stated, clapping his friends shoulders. "Go on."

Gerald only nodded, following after the doctor and entering the labor room where he saw his wife holding two bundles in her hands.

She looked tired but positively radiant with the loving smile she held as she looked down at her two children.

Silently, he walked over to his wife and stood by her side placing a chaste kiss on her temple.

"Inna." He said lovingly. "They're beautiful."

"They are, aren't they?" She whispered reverently.

Gently, he placed a hand beneath the head of the closest babe at his side while looking over to the one opposite to him.

Chuckling softly and wiping away some tears out of the corner of his eyes, Gerald was positively beaming as he managed to sit down upon the bed with his wife and held his family close.

"Hey there kids." Gerald said quietly. "It's your dad saying hi to you both for the first time."

The babies shifted about with both slowly opening their eyes and gazed up at their parents.

"Welcome to the world, Michael and Michelle Shepard." Gerald declared.

Sometime later within the month of April, an individual named Kaidan Alenko was born on the 4th.

Ten days later on the 14th, Ashley Williams was born to Marcus and Vanessa Williams.

December- After multiple Flash Clones, Taun We and Catherine Halsey make some headway with their Augmentation pre-implementation.

The success rate for survival increases by 12% leaving a 53/47 chance of survival.

2523/2167 CE

March 11th- Emile-A239 is born.

May 25th- Scott and Sara Ryder are born to Alec and Ellen Ryder.

June 8th- Fifth batch of Flash Clones involving Augmentations deemed 61/39 chance of success rates.

August 7th- Jennifer "Jack" Tayler is born.

October 25th- Jacob Taylor is born.

Spartan-II's in their sixth year of training. Entering their own early stages of puberty which will be the most critical time for Taun We and Halsey to get the Augmentation processes down as best as they can.

During this time, the next batch of Flash-clones undergo the augmentations though the results had ended up the same as earlier in the year.

2524/2168 CE

February 28th- Jun-A266 is born. Second batch of Flash Cloned experimental Augmentation experience similar results with only a ten percent increase of survival rates likely.

May 3rd- James Vega is born.

Around the same time, Catherine Halsey was reunited with the newly promoted Captain Keyes within the University of Calippus.

They would later conceive a child.

2525/2169 CE

January-31st - On the world of Jericho VII, in the city of Damask, a boy who would be a part of the "Greatest Generation" with the future callsign of Noble Six is born.

February 1st

Kashyyyk

Rryatt Trail Gates

Seventy-Five Spartan-II's stood at the entrance that represented their final test.

After eight long years, it was time to see if all that training all the pain they had endured to get them to where they were right now paid off.

Accompanying them were their commanding officers and trainers, Franklin Mendez and Chieftain Tarfful. By their side was their "caretaker", so to speak, Taun We who had been unusually inconsistent whenever she was around for the past two years. The last two months especially as they had seen her a grand total of four times and even then, it was only for a brief few minutes.

Yet they had picked up on something unusual every time they saw Taun and whenever she was among them.

There was this look that she would give to each and every single one of them. This look of unyielding determination that they couldn't quite describe.

She was always soft spoken, kind and gently with how she was around them like their older sister.

These past few interactions had made some of the Spartans begin to slightly worry about Taun's behavior and had questioned on several occasions if she was alright.

Kurt, Jorge and surprisingly Sam had been the main three to ask her this question directly.

She had calmly brushed them off with a prolonged placement of her arms upon their shoulders with her displaying an extremely rare smile.

There were a record few times they had seen her smiling, something she did even less then Chief Mendez.

The only notable time she smiled that came to many of their minds was the incident with Carris-137 in 2520 involving her accidently killing one of their handlers.

137 was so devastated by what she had committed, it took her a while to get over the action with Taun managing to break through to her.

"It shows that you have a good heart and will never lose your humanity."

Those words resonated with Carris and being that most of the Spartan-II's were present for them, it had the same effect on them.

To think that a Kaminoan would be the one to say that to them truly struck a chord.

Now… they were still trying to deduce her sporadic appearances and strange gazes.

Margaret-053 of Black Team noted it may have to do with the prolonged absence of Halsey which many had agreed to.

Aside from Taun We's extremely rare appearances, Halsey was hardly as present as Taun was.

And by hardly present, they had only seen her face once over a transmission as she had instructed them and informed them that in the coming months would be the final stretch of their training. She was preparing something and the Spartans had no idea as to what that may be.

Regardless, they pressed on with their training.

Mendez and Tarfful made sure to push them to their absolute limits and had them forcibly go beyond them.

Tarfful had even roared aloud something about "Plus Ultra", whatever that meant.

And now they were here.

Their ultimate last hurdle for their training.

Well… Step 1 of 2 of their last hurdle as Mendez aptly put it.

And what a hurdle it was.

Back into the Shadowlands.

Only this time there was a large distinction from their last time here within this landscape.

From what they had been able to gather due to where they had been dropped off at, it was clear to them that their end goal was to get to and survive the true Shadowlands all with a goal in mind.

Rather than just survival, Tarfful had spoken of a specific goal in mind.

Each Spartan team has been given dots on the map of the Shadowlands for each individual team. They are to retrieve what is found there and be brought to the top of the Tree of Origins.

How they are to collect these items and objects is entirely up to them.

Each team can either do it by themselves or work collectively overall.

For Tarfful and Mendez, it didn't matter.

So long as they get it done.

"Spartans." Mendez said aloud. He no longer called them Trainees by this point. "This is where Tarfful, Taun and I will leave you to the gate guardian of the Rryatt trail. This… is your final mission. Your final task. Listen to what Krepauk has to say and listen well. Commit his words to memory as you have done with everything we have taught you."

Tarfful roared aloud several sentences of his own to bolster their resolve and encouraged them to become greater than they already were.

Taun simply said that they will pass and she will be waiting for them by the end of it all.

All seventy-five stood straight, firm and tense with anticipation.

They were ready and will not fail.

The trio that had accompanied them stepped back when a Wookiee came up to them riding atop a large quadruped reptilian that could be described as slightly crocodilian in appearance.

This was the Rryatt Gate Guardian Krepauk and his mount was a sacred creature to the Wookiees known as a Katarn.

Katarns had slender bodies with rodent-like tails, and narrow faces leading back to a cartilaginous ridge protecting their neck and shoulders. Their paws had opposable digits, and their lower limbs were covered with sharp spurs, both of which allowed them to climb and hang from the branches of the giant Wroshyr trees.

Tarfful whined and growled several greetings at the Gate Guardian with Krepauk pounding his chest as a show of respect and promise towards the Chieftain and friend.

With Krepauk now alone with the Spartan-II's, he jumped down from his Katarn and regarded them all.

Krepauk then began to speak to the Spartans, telling them how he had heard much about them from Tarfful and the potential they possessed.

He recognizes it and states that this is where their potential will be brought out to its fullest capacity.

The Wookiee went on to describe the trial overall with the five paths that they were to undertake in the coming month.

They would be starting with the safest area, the Common Paths atop a series of hills. They would then move on up to the High Grounds which contains dense foliage that would eventually lead them to the Wroshyr canopy.

The last two parts would be the most exceptionally dangerous.

The Web weaver path which was home to an exceptionally large population of Wyyyschokk, something that made several of the Spartan-II's grumble in aggravation at facing those multi-legged bastards again.

And last, but especially not least, the Shadowlands proper.

The most dangerous and fiercest area where only the best of the Wookiee warriors along with a number of exceptionally deadly creatures. Terentateks, Gúta, Tuk'ata, Gundark, Vornskr and Maalraas just to name a few.

And some of these weren't even native to the Shadowlands.

They had been taken from other colonial worlds that had jungles in them and brought here by the Wookiees for the purpose of creating more elite warriors and pushing the Wookiees to greater degrees of skill.

It was always still a funny thing to consider for many of the UNSC.

Though large and intimidating, Wookiees for the most part were calm, cheerful and quite lovable towards many. People tend to forget just how dangerous and skilled a Wookiee is in combat.

It's why many within the UNSC respect them so much.

Krepauk finished his "presentation" of their final trial, informing that from here on out, they were on their own.

They were to complete their assigned tasks or die trying.

The gates before them opened and with their tools that were given to them in hands, the Spartan-II's ran in at full speed with the intent to win.

-Two Weeks Later-

"TAKE IT DOWN, TAKE IT DOWN!"

"GRAB THE ARMS!"

"SAM, DOUGLAS! OVER HERE!"

A motley crew of about fourteen Spartan-II's were currently engaging a particularly large creature that had multiple limbs with blood red skin.

This was a Gundark.

It roared and thrashed about, tossing two of the Spartans away though two of its arms were quickly tackled and held by another seven.

"Keep it secure!" Fred-104 roared aloud, grasping onto the Gundarks upper right arm with all of his might.

"Trying." Alice-130 responds, holding it with one arm while embedding her combat knife into the creature's forearm.

"Tackle it!" Leon-011 yelled out with him, the other two standing Spartans and the two that recovered from being tossed all running at the Gundark at full speed.

The advent of five Spartan-II's jumping atop the Gundark was enough for it to topple over onto its back.

The other nine that had been holding the arms down pinned it with all their weight. The rest scrambled up and collectively stabbed the creature at once in the head.

It let out a gurgle of resistance and pain, blood pooling out of its mouth before it slumped over in defeat with death claiming the Gundark at last.

The fourteen Spartan-II's slumped in relief and exhaustion, all breathing heavily after this little ordeal.

Their clothes were in tatters, injuries riddling their bodies with bandages covering most of them.

They had been separated from the other Spartans, though this was intentionally done as to find the objects that had been scattered throughout the Shadowlands for each team to retrieve.

This group is composed of Blue, Red, Omega and Gold Team.

John, Sam, Kelly, Fred, Linda, Jerome, Douglas, Alice, Jorge, Leon, August, Robert, 073 and Cassandra-075.

Silver team was off somewhere with Green Team.

Gray team up and disappeared as they usually do.

Black team is supposed to be with Alpha and Gamma.

The others were all mixed up altogether.

This was a rather trying time to say the least.

Their first week was relatively simple all things considered.

Kurt-051 believed that since they were headed into the Shadowlands, it was unnecessary to engage most of the wildlife and stick to subversions and hiding in order to avoid them.

It was unanimously agreed upon.

The Common Path and High Grounds were cleared with relative ease, each one taking about two days to cross through.

Tarfful's training in being maneuverable paid off in spades when swinging through the trees.

The Wroshyr Canopy was where things started to get a bit more trickier, with 051 essentially taking point with the best spotters of the group.

Kurt would always make sure to tell them to lay low whenever a creature that he perceived as a threat was nearby.

It was one of his "funny feelings" that he got and had as if magically developed over the course of these eight years.

This was one of Kurt's greatest personal assets, with his "funny feelings" having allowed him to avoid traps, perceive when something bad was about to occur or when his team was about to get attacked. He had competed with John, Jerome, Fred, Leon, Margaret and many of the other team leaders with him coming out on top more often than not.

It appeared that Kurt's "funny feelings" were just as potent and useful as John's indescribable lucky streak.

With Kurt's "enhanced" perception, he was able to navigate them all through the Wroshyr Canopy relatively unscathed for the most part.

There were several run-ins here and there with some of the local and newer native wildlife but they got away for the most part. They cleared the Wroshyr Canopy on their seventh day.

But then they entered the Webweaver Path.

And that was when things started becoming more hectic.

It was as if the Wyyyschokk had been waiting for six long years for this moment and came down upon the 75 Spartan-II's with a burning vengeance.

They had to endure a week through the Webweaver path, surviving encounter after encounter with swarms of Wyyyschokk spiders by the skin of their teeth.

That path really was their turf.

After surviving that ordeal, they had entered the Shadowlands proper.

And it was as hellacious as they expected it to be.

Less than an hour into the darkened ground level of Kashyyyk were they attacked by a cavalcade of creatures, as if the bastards were waiting for them.

By day's end, the Spartan-II's were nearly spent as they had spent nearly eleven hours running, attacking and killing so many of the creatures that inhabited the Shadowlands, they barely had enough energy to find a secure enough area in between some tightly packed trees for cover.

Most were certainly thankful of their intuition and foresight that they would all one day return to this madness so they had studied extensively on all the vegetation and wildlife that could be found here, both old and new.

It paid off, for the most part.

They knew where to strike most of the creatures and the fastest way to kill them.

If only there weren't so many of them.

Now, this was day 18 on the 18th of February.

They had ten days left to retrieve the items and complete the training course.

Honestly, it was looking more and more like survival but really that's what they've all been doing since they started those eight long years ago.

Some had turned 14 with others soon about to become 14.

"How much further to your location, Jerome?" John asked, Red leader pulling out his map of the Shadowlands.

They were tired but not exhausted. Not yet.

He took a moment to look the map over, squinting at it before looking around until he seemed to find what he was looking for.

"Up there." 092 said, pointing on high.

Everyone else turned to look up at where Red Leader was pointing at and they saw a brown bag that was strapped to a tree trunk.

"What's that supposed to be?" Sam asked aloud in bewilderment.

"It's a bag of some kind." Linda noted.

"Yeah, but what's the point of that?" August asked. "Is that what we're after?"

"Seems like it." Douglas said, gazing at the map over Jerome's shoulder. "It's marked directly where our objective is."

"Alright." Robert shrugged. "Let's get 'em."

"Let's get 'em?" Cassandra repeated with a quirk of her brow.

"What?" Robert-025 said in a defensive manner. "Aren't we trained to scale trees like that? We have a Wookiee Chieftain as one of our Commanding Officers."

"Alright, enough." Jerome said with a tinge of amusement. "Let's get them down."

With some well-timed planning, movement and such, the Spartan-II's retrieved the bag and were back on the ground.

They were huddled around 092, 130 and 042 as they opened up the bag to reveal the contents within.

"Rocks?" Sam said aloud in open confusion. "Chief Mendez and Tarfful sent us in here to get some rocks?"

Many of the Spartan-II's were frowning as they regarded one of the rocks that Douglas had pulled out to examine in his hand.

"Sure doesn't look like a regular rock." 042 noted, tossing it towards Fred who caught it and examined it.

"It's… metallic." Fred said after a moment, feeling it out with his hand.

"So it's a metal then?" Linda asked.

"Guess so." Alice said, holding her own piece.

"What do you think it's for then?" Leon asked, holding out his hand for one rock with Jerome placing it in his palm.

"No idea." Jerome admitted. "John?"

117 had a shrug of his own. "Don't know metals all that well. Yumi and Li have a better understanding of it then all of us do."

"Wish they were here right about now." August stated. "They probably have an idea what these are for."

"Whatever it is, Mendez and Tarfful expects us to get this done." Fred stated.

"He's right." Leon said in agreement. "We should get a move on. Omega's isn't far off from here."

The others nodded, gathering themselves and any equipment that was lying around after the battle with the Gundark and ran towards the direction of the next bag.

Elsewhere, another group of Spartans were currently recuperating after an intense skirmish with a Katarn.

They were aware of the importance of the Katarn by this point and had opted for restraint over killing it, knowing that the creature would eventually break free. All they needed was to grab the bag for Bronze Team and book it out of there.

Bronze team had been accompanied by Green, Silver and they had run into Yellow team.

This group of Spartan-II's was composed of Kurt, Will, Fhajad, Musa, Joshua, Naomi, Li, James, Yumi, Joyner, Nicole and Daniel.

They were currently seated upon some rocks, elevated dirt mounds and a tree log.

Yellow team had gotten their bag of metal rocks with the group now examining the unusual items they were tasked with retrieving.

"So…" Daniel leaned forward from his seat atop a rock. "Yumi, Li. The two of you know metals better than we do. Any idea what these are for?"

"Got several I can think of." Yumi muttered, holding a metal rock close to her face. "Li, you thinkin' what I'm thinkin'?"

Li was silent for a few seconds until nodding. "Yeah, I think I have an idea why this specifically."

"And?" Nicole said aloud, speaking for the others. "What is it?"

Yumi tossed her rock back to Daniel who caught it and put it away.

"We're in the Shadowlands, right?" Yumi pointed out. "We've been reading a lot about this place cause we knew we'd probably come back here one day."

Most of the group silently nodded with Li now speaking.

"And aside from being extremely dangerous, what else is the Shadowlands known and used for?" Li asked looking at the group expectantly.

"This…" Fhajad hummed in thought. "Is a proving ground for young Wookiees. Where they become proven warriors to their people."

"Exactly." Li said with a small grin. "This is the proving ground for Wookiee warriors. ODST's and other skilled human marines and some Mon Cala have also been taken here to prove themselves."

008 pulled out one of his rocks and held it up.

"Within ancient customs still practiced by some today, the Wookiee is to forge a Ryyk blade of their own to signal their transition into adulthood." Li said with a widening grin. "This is our trial to adulthood. With these metals, we will be forging our own Ryyk blades. And since I've read there aren't a lot who possess Ryyk blades."

"Whoa." Kurt couldn't deny the smile growing on his face. "That's awesome."

"It is, isn't it?" Yumi remarked. "So we have two with us."

"We' need to get Silver and Green Teams." Joyner pointed out.

"Ours is a bit of a distance." Fhajad stated, pulling out his map.

Daniel had done the same, holding his map in hands and going over to 084.

"From the looks of it…" Daniel looked between both maps several times. "Ours is along the way to Green Teams'."

"Perfect." Kurt declared. "Then we can knock out two birds with one stone. Let's get going everyone."

-6 days later-

"GRAB IT JOHN!" Sam bellowed out, while using a rock to literally bash a Gundarks eye in.

John-117 was perched upon a branch and jumped forward with a Gundark narrowly missing him from behind.

He snagged the bag that was intended for his team and latched on to the adjacent tree before having to literally drop as the Gundark that had pursued him jumped at him.

Falling to the ground, John quickly grabbed a branch to perform a spin and flip in the air before landing with a slight wobble.

The Gundark that had been chasing him crashed to the ground in a daze as it had struck its head against the hard tree trunk that had held Blue Team's metal rocks.

Earlier, Omega had gotten theirs as did Gold and earlier the other day, they had linked up with Gamma, Alpha and Black Team with them having retrieved their own metals.

Retrieving this bag had been particularly bothersome in an indescribable sort of way.

They had somehow travelled past a nest of Gundarks on the way to Gold teams objective, with them having killed at least four of them before running off after retrieving the bag.

But upon linking up with Black, Alpha and Gamma teams, they were suddenly attacked by Gundarks again.

The very same Gundarks that were a part of the nest Blue, Red, Gold and Omega had fought off just two days prior.

Since then, they had been fighting and running from the surviving Gundarks that appeared to be determined to kill them.

What was worse was along the way, other predatory and dangerous creatures had joined in on the chase. Terentateks, Gúta, Tuk'ata, all these bastards were pursuing the Spartan-II's.

It was a damn nightmare.

This truly was the absolute most dangerous part of the Shadowlands.

"John got our bag." Kelly said aloud.

"Good, then we can get the hell out of here!" Otto-031 of Black team yelled aloud as he aided Margaret and Roma-143 in killing a large Gúta having had to use vines and rope to trip it up.

The Spartan-II's all began a mad dash to escape the area using makeshift tools that held grains of dirt and sand to throw at the pursuing creatures in attempts to blind them.

Keiichi-047 specialized in understanding chemicals better than most of the other Spartan-II's. He had done extensive studies upon the flora and plant life of the Shadowlands.

Upon arrival, Keiichi set about crafting multiple spears and had managed to make several arrows and a bow. Finding the flora he was looking for, Keiichi laced several of the spears he and his team had made with sap and powder from the foliage.

Their weapons were now laced with deadly poison that would take down even the largest creature that resided within the Shadowlands.

The large group had used up the last of their poison tipped spears and arrows, at long last getting away from these rampaging beasts.

The day had been won.

February 26th

They were ragged, covered in scratches and bruises with a majority of their clothes torn up with some having been gone altogether save for their privates and a few other areas.

But they did it.

All 75 Spartan-II's had at long last survived the hellacious ordeal of the Shadowlands and had gathered the bags of metal rocks that Mendez and Tarfful had set up for them to retrieve.

They now stood assembled at a hut that had a Wookiee standing before it with his arms crossed in approval.

This was Gorwooken.

He had been told to await their arrival and huffed out in amusement and an impressed tone of how they were earlier than expected.

After they had all managed to catch some proper respite as the Wookiee assured them that they were safe within this area, Gorwooken guided them towards an elevator that would take them up all the way to the top of the Origin Tree of Kashyyyk.

Soon, the 75 Spartan-IIs were taken up to a platform that was high atop the Origin tree.

Waiting there for them was Mendez and Tarfful, both of whom sported proud expressions as the Spartans all filed in and stood at attention.

"Trainees." Mendez said aloud. "Can't call any you that ever again. You are no longer Trainees. Not cadets or privates for that matter. Now, each and every one of you are Spartans."

Tarfful barked aloud, exclaiming in pride that they had done what they were told to do with flying colors. Each injury that would become a scar signified their willingness to fight through any ordeal to get their task done.

They had all arrived here together, as one.

Utilizing every skill they had, collectively and individually, they had retrieved the metals that they will now use to forge the traditional Ryyk blades.

It was a strange feeling for the 75 Spartan-II's, as if all their exhaustion and pain they had accumulated seemingly disappeared.

"Words cannot express how much pride I feel in seeing you all achieve this momentous task." Mendez declared. "You have all shown the capacity to go beyond what is asked of you and now stand among the absolute elite of the entirety of the UNSC. Whatever happens in the coming days, never forget what all of you have accomplished here."

They stood at attention, snapping to a salute and all bellowing out unanimously, "SIR!"

None of them had truly considered the tone in which Mendez spoke with that last sentence. None of them cared at that moment.

All that mattered was the level of recognition they were receiving from Mendez and Tarfful and the creation of their own Ryyk Blades.

If only they knew the ordeal that was to come in the next few weeks.

And if only they knew that this would be one of the last times that they would all be able to stand together as brothers and sisters with their heads held high.

For all the while, during their final test within the month of February, the galaxy was in motion.

On the third of February, the UNSC had abruptly lost contact with Harvest. On the ninth, a boy with the initials of JD was born in the city of Crisium on Luna.

February 11, the UNSC made contact with an unknown ship and on the 28th of this month, Catherine Halsey had given birth to her daughter.

The month of February within the year of 2525 was the beginning of a colossal tidal wave that would come to sweep across the galaxy in the coming years.

Many just didn't know it yet.

March 9th

Kamino

Su Des Facility

Halsey's office

Today was the day.

The culmination of eight years would be put on the table on this day. In a figurative and literal manner.

The Spartans, her Spartans were about to undergo the most strenuous and life-threatening ordeal of their entire life. And this was after what they had just endured and accomplished in the Shadowlands.

Of course this would occur just nine days after the birth of her daughter.

She shook those thoughts and pushed them down.

Now wasn't the time for such hesitation.

When history shows what she had been done to be necessary, she, along with those involved would be absolved of her sins.

Going over the coming procedures, she reviewed each and every augmentations that would be surgically and chemically implanted into the Spartans.

Each one was just as dangerous as the last and no amount of testing and experimentation on flash-clones had been able to assuage Halsey's fears.

They had gotten much in terms of advancements in terms of survivability rates with the Spartan-II's but it came at the cost of many screams of terror and unbearable pain that she and Taun had conducted.

Though they were only flash-clones, those screams may become reality within the coming days.

Letting out a shaky sigh, she began reviewing the augmentations individually.

The holo-file that was displayed before was labeled Project: ASTER.

She opened the file and upon reading the first one, Halsey found herself smirking in slight amusement.

-Flashback-

Halsey was reviewing the augmentation procedures within her office when Tarfful entered.

"Tarfful?" Halsey spoke up in confusion. "What is it? Is something wrong?"

The Wookiee saw what she was working on and let out a small shaking chuckle.

He growled out the coincidence in what she was looking over. He apparently wished to discuss the same topic with her.

Confused slightly, Halsey simply watched as Tarfful approached her desk and walked around to stand by her side.

The Wookiee Chieftain reviewed the augmentations for several moments before pointing to one in particular.

"Graar Raa." Tarfful declared much to Halsey's bewilderment.

"Change it? Change it how?"

Tarfful let out a series of growls and moans for his reasons.

"Tarfful, I don't think you understand that-"

He cut her off with a bark that said, "I know exactly what it does and why they need it". Tarfful rumbled about not liking one of the side-effects.

Halsey blinked. "That's what you don't like? Tarfful… I know that what we've done is something that is beyond anything that can be defined as immoral-"

Once again, Tarfful interrupted the coordinator of the program with a statement that made Halsey pause in her thoughts.

"Happiness?"

Tarfful said what had been reiterated to the Spartans themselves on numerous occasions by this point.

Soldiers they may be, they were also still, very much human.

And in the eyes of Tarfful, they were making them commit to a life they did not choose and on the offset chance that they have an opportunity for their own choice of happiness, they deserved it.

Something Halsey wholeheartedly agreed to.

-End of Flashback-

Since then, she had been going over how to make the alterations needed without raising any suspicions from ONI itself.

It was rather tricky to say the least due to the importance of this particular augmentation but after implementing a discreet chemical within it, Halsey was confident that this would work.

Catalytic Thyroid Implant, the first of the Augmentations.

A platinum pellet is implanted in the left thyroid gland; this pellet contains a human growth hormone that is released into the body to boost growth of skeletal and muscle tissues. As the hormone is released into the body the pellet dissolves and is absorbed, the hormone targets and stimulates the growth of fast and slow twitch muscle fibers, effectively producing significant gains in muscle mass. The hormone also targets osteoblasts to help boost bone tissue formation and effectively strengthen the bone structure.

This was chosen first as it was ideal to be given to the Spartans during their fledgling stages of puberty. It was meant to be given at this stage within the Spartans lives as they already were undergoing a comprehensive diet and physical regime that would allow them to facilitate the effects of the growth hormone to its fullest potential. With this, they would grow dramatically in height and increased muscle mass to a significant degree.

The drawbacks of this augmentation may have a 0.5% chance of elephantiasis.

If this is not to occur, that's where the next procedure comes in. The muscular enhancement injections.

In addition to the growth hormone catalyst, a protein complex is injected intramuscularly that targets the muscles' intracellular molecular machinery to help increase muscle strength and endurance. These injections target the muscles' molecules increasing the density of the connective tissues and fibers, the more visible result being the muscles quivering and contorting over one another, making connecting tendons stronger and decreasing lactase recovery time.

This chemical injection is meant to override the GDF8 protein, known more commonly as myostatin which would limit the muscle mass within the Spartan-II's to a certain size under normal circumstances.

After extensive research and constant do overs, what was originally a 5% of subjects increasing fatal cardiac volume was slashed down to 2.2%.

Then came the Occipital Capillary Reversal surgery which was one of the most dangerous of the augmentations.

Surgery is performed on the occipital lobe of the left cerebral hemisphere of the brain; the occipital lobe is the visual processing center of the brain, containing most of the anatomical region of the visual cortex. The surgeon performs a procedure on the capillaries, the smallest of the body's blood vessels, to reverse the direction of blood flow in each capillary to boost the blood flow beneath the rods and cones of the subject's retina. The rods and cones of the eye are light-sensitive receptors located in the back of the eye. Together they are able to detect movement, light and color, and relay that information back to the brain. This procedure has a secondary step meant to be compounded upon with the inclusion of a bionic optical lens implant that re-engineers the eyes. In turn, the Spartans in theory should have a marked increase in perception on a litany of levels one of which is supposedly having near perfect eyesight in the dark. After many years of application of Flash-Clones, the risks were cut down from 11% to 7.8% from getting permanently blinded.

Followed by this surgery came the most dangerous of all the augmentations.

The Superconducting Fibrification of Neural Dendrites.

The nerves of a human being and frankly every sentient species, while extremely good at transmitting chemical messages across the body were still very much limited. This of course came from natural limitations and such in all materials, even ones that are electrically conducted.

Their nerves are essentially replaced with a nano-particular superconductive material that would carry the chemical signals significantly faster than the previous dendrites. There are also alterations of bioelectrical nerve transduction to shielded electronic transduction. It is believed that once this is done, the reaction time of the Spartans should skyrocket by 300%.

Of course, the one with some of the most significant of enhancements is the one with the greatest risk factor. This one they had tried to mitigate in terms of risks, succeeding in reducing from 12% to only 9.8% of contraction Parkinson's disease and Fletcher's Syndrome.

Ironically, the most gruesome of the surgeries in Halsey's opinions had carried one of the lowest of risks after what she had been able to pull off with Taun We.

Carbide Ceramic Ossification.

The candidate's bones are exposed via surgery or procedurally sequential surgeries. An advanced carbide ceramic material is grafted onto the skeletal structure to begin assimilation into the upper layers of each individual bone. This should, in theory, result in the bones being virtually unbreakable. The coverage of this procedure does not exceed 3% total bone mass due to significant white blood cell necrosis: effectively, the carbide ceramic can only comprise a thin outer "shell" bonded to each bone without interfering with bone functionality as organs.

They had cut the dangers of this procedure from 4% to 1.7% from getting possible bone mutation or worse, pulverization.

After going through all the numbers and combining the percentage of all the risks into one, Halsey saw that in total, there was a 22% chance of the Spartans either rejecting the augmentations…

Or worse, perishing from them.

Making all the training they had undergone all be for nothing.

So now they run the risk of every Spartan having either a 1 out of 5 chances of surviving to 1 out of 4 or even 3.

Taun had constantly reminded Halsey of how each one would take to the procedure extremely differently from one another. So it could be all over the place for all that she knows.

Stress couldn't even begin to describe what she was going through.

Suddenly, she heard a voice via the intercom.

"Halsey." Taun's calm voice chimed in. "They have been prepped and ready. It is time."

Exhaling shakily, Halsey stood from her chair and walked out of her office.

This was it.

-Su Des operation room-

The room was curved, looking like an enlarged hallway so to speak.

75 operating beds were sticking out of the walls with multiple medical and operating tools.

Above it all was an observation deck wherein Halsey would watch the procedures with Taun We at her side.

Deja was also present with the trio looking down below as the first set of Spartan-II's were sent in for the augmentation procedures.

Each one of them was marked in where each surgery was meant to take place.

Halsey didn't realize she was trembling slightly in an overwhelming degree of anxiety and fear.

One by one, group by group, all 75 were sent to their individual operating table and were placed under sedation several moments later.

She recalled the conversation she had with them all prior to this.

Or really, the single question posed by one John-117.

"How do we succeed in this coming mission, sir!"

His question echoed in her mind with the gruff, laser-calm voice of Mendez floating within her head.

"Hold fast Spartans. And survive."

The surgeries had begun.

May god have mercy on all of them.

-Scene Cut-

…

…

…

The pain!

The pain was beyond excruciating.

Their spines were burning. It felt like glass was cutting their skin to ribbons only for them to still be alive.

Consciousness waned back and forth with pain forcibly awakening them only to override their nervous system and knock them into unconsciousness once more.

Their blood vessels were molten and bones felt like they were being individual pierced by metal needles.

Everything was hurting in such ways that it couldn't begin to be described.

Wait…

No! NO!

What was happening next to him?!

Why was there so much blood?!

He isn't moving!

Save him!

Sa-

*GASP*

John-117's eyes snapped open only for him to wince and close them quickly.

His body refused to respond to his demands for movement for several seconds until he brought up his hands to his eyes.

Everything was burning, aching or both.

Slowly, he sat up and opened his eyes with them adjusting to the strange new sensation he had upon opening them a moment ago.

John held up his arms, taking note of the multiple surgical scars that were all over his hands and arms as well as his legs and body entirely.

Looking up, John saw multiple operating beds vacant save for a select few that were still occupied by his Spartan brothers and sisters.

He saw one not far from his own that still had someone on it, with his voice coming out slightly hoarse as he called out to her.

"Kelly."

"John."

117 looked over to see his best friend Sam walking over to him in a rather slow manner.

"Sam." John said in relief. "Are you alright? What happened?"

"I… I'm not entirely sure." Sam admitted nervously. "I woke up first and was taken away by Chief Mendez to recover in a more secure area."

John looked down at his lap, then back over to Kelly followed by the other still sleeping Spartans.

"Are you alright, John?" Sam asked, placing a tentative hand upon his brother's shoulder.

John's shoulder twitched making 034 recoil slightly with an apologetic look.

"I… think I'm ok." John said slowly. "Everything just…"

"Feels different." Sam said expectantly with John nodding.

"Where are the others?" John asked.

"I've only seen Linda and Fhajad so far." Sam answered in a slightly dejected manner. "Mendez just let me come in here cause I wouldn't take no for an answer. Had to see how you were doing man."

John gave his friend an appreciative smile, carefully maneuvering himself to stand.

Cautiously, John felt his entire body strain as he got to his feet keeping his hands on the bed as support.

"Wha-what'd they do to us?" 117 asked, holding up his hand and flexed it twice with an uncomfortable pain with every bent muscle.

"Changed us, that's for sure." Sam stated, looking past John at Kelly in concern. "Come on, let's get you changed and rested up properly."

March 25th

It was… well, it couldn't be described to them.

Though it was so few, they were still their brothers and sisters.

They had at last learned what they had done to them proper.

Biochemical and biomechanical augmentation.

Out of the 75 Spartans who went in, 55 had survived the procedure entirely.

Four were unfortunately crippled and by the looks of it in a grotesque manner. Eight were dubbed "washouts" as their bodies had apparently rejected most of the augmentations yet there were some noticeable differences.

However, to them, it was the eight Spartans that had perished in the procedure that had them shaken to their core.

They were dead.

And there was nothing anyone of them were able to do to save them.

This didn't make sense. How could this have happened?

Were they not supposed to look out for one another? Were they not supposed to see this training to the very end?

Why couldn't they have done anything?

The team leaders, particularly 117, 092, 051 and 104 were exceptionally hard on themselves as well as furious over the outcome.

They had practically demanded Mendez, Tarfful, Taun and Halsey in telling them what happened.

All they told them, Mendez really, was that this was beyond their control. This was a battle that could not be won on strategy or tactics.

But on chance unfortunately.

The fact that while there were some that didn't get the augmentations, the fact that 67 out of the 75 were alive was a true miracle.

And the 55 that were properly augmented showed a testament to their fortitude that would be unmatched by any and all within the UNSC.

So that left the question.

What now?

For that, Tarfful had an answer.

April 5th

Kashyyyk.

The fifty-five augmented Spartans stood around in a large circle with their twelve un-augmented Spartan brethren in attendance as well.

Halsey and Taun We stood in the background while Tarfful and Mendez stood in the center of the Spartans.

"Tonight." Mendez spoke in a low voice. "We honor our fallen brethren."

Within the center of this large circle were eight small pyres that held eight individuals in naval uniforms.

The fallen.

"Though they did not survive in body, they survive in spirit." Mendez said.

At the head of each pyre was each individual Ryyk Blade that they had constructed here on Kashyyyk. They were embedded into the ground, marking the final resting places of their comrades.

"These past eight years have proven to me, to Tarfful, to all the UNSC that the future of peace and of our people are in firm hands." Mendez said to all the Spartans who were silent.

Their eyes were only on their dead siblings.

Tarfful growled with a tone of sorrow and somberness as each Spartan held up a torch that Tarfful proceeded to ignite with his own already lit one.

The Wookiee Chieftain went on to tell them all of the sacred bond they would all share to their last day, how it was forged in trials such as the ones they had endured here and will only strengthen as the years go by.

Though the Spartan-II's called Reach their home, Kashyyyk was a close second.

This is where they had their final training op before their augmentation.

The area they now stood in for the proper funeral of their fallen would now be a sacred sight for them and them alone.

To honor the last time all 75 Spartan-II's stood together in victory.

Together, the remaining sixty-seven all converged at once and held out their torches.

The pyres caught fire and moments later, eight roaring fires were before them.

It was completely silent other than the crackling sounds of flames consuming the dead.

No words needed to be spoken for this instance.

Not a word.

October 7th

It had been several months by this point since their augmentations.

They had all been sent on multiple missions, taking down Insurrectionist nests, strongholds and leaders.

It had taken some time after augmentation to adjust to their new bodies. Headaches, blood coming out of their eyes, vertigo, perception changes and body aches persisted in the weeks to come.

But eventually, they adapted.

To say that they were superhuman would be undercutting it.

Halsey, Taun and Mendez commented how they had completely surpassed all of their expectations.

Tarfful had noted with a keen eye that they had gotten these augmentations around this stage in their lives for a reason.

It is believed that as time would go on, they would get better adjusted to these new enhancements and possibly get stronger, faster and so on and so forth.

It was… amazing.

Spartan's like Douglas, Jorge and especially Sam became stronger than ever with 034's strength being unrivaled.

Kelly was completely untouchable in her speed.

Riz-028 commented on how things just snapped into focus almost instantaneously for her.

Their reaction time, speed, everything, everything had changed.

And today… in more ways than one.

John was with Sam in the gym, spotting for his friend who was currently bench pressing 1200 pounds. A new record for him.

"Aw man." Sam commented with a roguish grin. "I'm finally starting to break a sweat here. Forgot what that was for a moment."

John only grinned in amusement at his comments.

"Want me to make it harder?" John asked with a glint in his eye.

"Sure, I could use a challenge." Sam remarked smugly.

John only placed his hand on the center of the bench press bar Sam was holding up and began to push down.

Sam jolted slightly in shock before gaining a challenging smile and began to push back with all of his might.

The two were so focused on this little contest, they didn't notice their teammate walk in.

"John, Sam." Kelly called out to the two, making them both stop and look up at her.

"Kelly?" John said.

"Something up?" Sam asked with Kelly nodding.

"Come on." She gestured for them to follow. "Halsey and Mendez called for a meeting."

Sharing a look between each other, John and Sam set the bar down and quickly followed after 087 to the amphitheater.

There, they saw most of the other Spartan-II's being assembled, some coming in from other doors.

At the center stood Halsey, Mendez, Tarfful, Taun and a Navy Vice-Admiral they vaguely recognized.

Hieronymus "Harold" Michael Stanforth.

With him was a Mon Cala Navy officer as well whose expression was grim and shaken.

The two were in deep conversation with Mendez and Tarfful, not even acknowledging the newly arrived Spartans for the most part.

Blue team sat itself down next to Gold team and Green team.

"Kurt, Fred." John whispered to them both. "What's going on?"

"No idea." Kurt stated with a troubled face.

"Maybe Insurrection?" Fred suggested. "We did get one of their leaders recently."

"Maybe…" John said. "Seems big if we got a Vice-Admiral and Captain here."

"Whatever it is… I got a bad feeling about this." Kurt declared, making most of those who heard him shift about with great discomfort.

Kurt's "feelings" were almost never wrong.

After the commanding officers appeared to have finished discussing whatever it was that demanded such serious expressions, the Vice-admiral stood at the front of the stage.

The Spartan-II's immediately saluted him.

"At ease Spartans." the high ranking officer said. "I am Vice-Admiral Stanforth for those of you who don't know me."

Stepping to the side slightly, a planet was then projected in between all the adults on stage.

"This is Harvest." Stanforth revealed. "Joint colony world with our Wookiee brethren, population 3 million. A peaceful and productive farming world."

Next to the planet an unidentified ship then appeared.

"On February Third, 14:23 hours, the Harvest orbital platform made long range radar contact with this unknown ship." Stanforth's tone shifted into something much more subdued. "After that, all contact from Harvest was lost for a number of days. Command had assembled a battle group."

They were then shown a first person's view of the arrival of the battle group with them seeing a scorched planet.

"What they found was all that was left of Harvest."

This certainly was news to them, making many widen their eyes in slight disbelief.

Three million lives lost? What in the world happened?

"The colony was burnt to ash, the surface practically molten with power the UNSC has never seen." Stanforth said, tone becoming more grim by the second. "Then, they encountered this."

They now saw the ship from before more clearly and defined.

It was large to say the least and really… purple.

"A starship of unknown design belonging to a species we have not yet encountered."

The Mon Cala Captain then stepped forward.

"Our battle group was assaulted moments later with the UNSC Heracles and the MC Spearhead being the only two survivors." The Captain said.

"What we have learned is that these aliens are not here to be reasoned, bartered or negotiated with." The Captain's eyes were fierce to say the least. "They have made their intentions clear when the surviving crew of both ships returned with this message."

What the Spartans saw was a shadowy figure that spoke in a disdainful and menacing tone.

"Humans… your allies, the Wookiees and the Mon Calamari as they are called. Your destruction is the will of the Gods...and we are their instrument."

The message ended with Spartans sitting in stunned silence.

This… was not at all what they were expecting.

To encounter a new alien race that would declare war so openly and suddenly…

Everything… everything had changed.

Alright, ladies and gentlemen, it is time. Time for a very, very long war and one of the longest undertakings BSX and I are gonna go through.

Everything starts here.

We have had five chapters of buildup and in the next chapter, the opening salvos of the war. Much to do with us now having to handle the perspective of multiple individuals but hey, we've been planning for this for some time. Now is that time for the first war of our story.

BSX: Yeah, everything's coming together as planned, as we said before. We have issues to address.

FMW: Yes indeed. Now, first off, looking at some of the reviews a question of shields was brought up. As of this moment, the UNSC DOES NOT HAVE SHIELDS…. YET. This is something BSX addressed in a previous chapter but it seems some didn't get the memo. So here and now, right now for this moment, no shields on the UNSC ships. Some of you may not like it, but we decided on this months ago.

Next up, no Kaleesh. Like we said before, the races had been decided upon before we began the story. There will, as of this moment, be no other races to join into the story. If there are that we decide upon, it will be for MUCH LATER.

BSX: I need to reiterate what I said in the last chapter because I screwed up what I was trying to say. I did say that we're taking characters from all Legends and Canon material but I wasn't specific on it. What I meant is we're taking some characters here and there from different eras of Star Wars especially the SW species side of things. We wanted more SW species representing the story so we're pulling different characters from legends and canon so that they exist side by side.

FMW: Yes, so for someone like Revan to show up… no promises as of yet as we have not discussed him for the most part and for now, don't hold your breaths. Not that he's off the table, just into consideration until further notice.

Next up is the augmented Spartans. That's something we did discuss extensively and decided on 55 long ago. Yes I understand that some wanted all 75 to survive but those that didn't make it was an important moment for the lives of the Spartan-II's. There's a lot of characters we have to juggle in this story from the Spartan-II's to the coming 1000+ Spartan-III's, the Mass Effect characters, the Star Wars characters and other Halo characters. You get the idea.

So, next time, the opening salvos of the war.

The list of ALL THE SHIPS that the UNSC currently has meaning all the human, Mon Cala and Wookiee ships will be listed out and the 55 named Spartan-II's that survived the Augmentation.

Until next time everyone.

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