Exiled soldiers

"So, this is where you guys'll be staying," Vale told the three following her as a door opened to reveal a steel gray room with two bunk beds, one on each side. "A little sparse, yeah, but it's got the essentials, including a restroom."

"Thanks, Vale," Elegance said as she, Twilight, and Spike stepped into their room. "Given how Buck described military life, I expected something a little more, well, uniform, if you know what I mean."

"Yeah, I get you, and Buck does exaggerate, sometimes," Vale said. "Helps add a little character to the squad, in any case."

"What do you guys do, anyway?" Spike asked.

"Depends on what's needed," Vale said. "For the most part, though, it's classified."

"Of course it is," Elegance said, which got a chuckle out of Vale.

"Comes with the job," she said. "So, you guys need anything right now?"

"Yeah," Spike said. "Food."

"Well, what do you guys eat, by which I mean, what can you eat?"

"Well, I can eat meat and gemstones," Spike said. "Twilight has the ability to eat meat with plants, but ponies prefer plants, and I can eat what they eat, and Elegance, well. . ."

"I feed on the same thing ponies do," the changeling said, "but also love."

"Love?" Vale asked, thinking she had misheard.

Elegance nodded. "Yeah. Love, as well as any emotion, really, that's positive. It's a reason my people can do this," she said before bursting into green flames, making Vale jump back in shock. When the flames faded a second Vale stood there in the same clothes Elegance had been wearing, which were what she was found in. "We change our forms to something others find attractive to, at least, feed on their lust, much as my kind don't like to," Elegance said in a perfect impersonation of Vale. "In fact, that invasion I mentioned earlier was because a different hive, what ponies call my kind's groups for our bug like traits, was because that hive needed food." Elegance then changed back to herself, voice and all. "If I don't, I'll die, seeing as how that's what my kind needs to live on. The other stuff is just to blend in, and I don't want to feed on anyone without permission, now especially."

"How long can you last?" Vale asked.

Elegance shrugged. "At best a week or two. I was able to stock up on love before we left, and every spell I cast drains my store of it. Worst, six days, but that's only if I use spells left and right."

Vale put a hand to her chin. "I'll talk to Captain Lasky about it. He wouldn't want anyone to die, and if the crew finds out, they'll trust Lasky did it for a good reason."

"Really?" Elegance asked.

"Yeah," Vale said. "You may not know it, but most humans do like to help out if possible."

"Thanks, Vale," Elegance said, a small smile on her face.

"No problem," Vale said. "Come on, I'll show you guys the nearest mess hall." With that, Vale and those she was escorting left the room, and the Spartan led them to the nearest mess hall.

"Let me get this straight, Doctor," Lasky said to Halsey. "You're saying that our three guests have the potential to be Spartans?"

"Indeed, Captain," Halsey said. "And before you cite training, or lack thereof, if I remember correctly, Spartan Vale had little combat training when ONI selected her. And before you ask, I did hack ONI files, but simply because I like to know who I'm working with."

"Why does that not surprise me," Lasky said. "But what about them getting their training, assuming they want to become Spartans?"

"We use the War Games simulations for their training, obviously," Halsey said. "Gets them what they need to know with none of the actual danger. And besides, I have a few ideas as to how useful they could be as Spartans, which I'll keep to myself."

"They would need someone to teach them if they wanted to become Spartans," Lasky said.

"There's, what, over a hundred Spartans on the Infinity to each them," Halsey said. "And we simply need to find a Spartan team that still has slots available."

"That makes it more difficult," Lasky said, "seeing as how most fire teams work at their current number pretty well."

"Then have Roland ask fire teams if they would be willing to have them in the team to teach them what to do."

"That may work, actually," Roland said over the intercom for the room. "Oh, and that reminds me, Captain, Spartan Vale will probably come to talk to you about something regarding Elegance and how she feeds."

"I already know that, Roland," Lasky said. "Halsey sent it up in her report."

"Yeah, but the thing is she wants you to know she's doing it and with permission. Probably in person."

Lasky sighed. "Where are they?"

"Heading to the nearest mess."

"I'll meet with them there, then," Lasky said. "I'll also throw them your idea, Doctor," he said before leaving the lab.

"Thank you, Captain," she said, looking over the monitors. "Roland, given the circumstances, would you care to get me research material on the races our guests are? More specifically, Twilight and Spike?"

"Why not Elegance, Doctor?"

"Because, for the most part, she's given me everything I need for what would be best in armor for her."

Vale and the others arrived at the mess hall shortly after, and, given how large it was, it was barely occupied. And seeing as how it was the size of a normal cafeteria in a high school, not that many people were there. "Looks like we got lucky," Vale said. "Less people means you guys get less discrimination in first meeting."

"I'd rather have none," Elegance muttered before she and the other three walked in and towards the line. For the most part, they made it there without encountering anyone, though that did change just before they got there.

"Hey, Vale," a man said from a nearby table. "What's going on?" The man had short, black hair with brown skin, and looked like he had seen a lot of combat, especially with the scar on his face that went from under his left eye to his jaw. He had a pair of gray, baggy pants and a skin tight, black suit, and seemed as tall as Buck and the other male Spartans

"Hey, Marcus," Vale replied. "Nothing much. Just getting these three some food."

Marcus leaned out of his seat a bit. "Aren't those the ones the Captain and Roland said would be staying with us for a while?"

"Yeah," Vale said. "Guys, this is Marcus Hamburg, leader of Spartan fire team Wolf."

"Pleasure to meet you three," he said with a nod. "And don't worry about any one in this mess right now. We're all off duty currently, not that it matters with circumstances, and just want to relax. No one'll give you trouble if you don't cause any."

"Thanks," Spike said.

"Heh, no problem," Marcus said. "If you guys need help, Wolf'll help if we can."

"So where's the rest of your team, anyway," Vale asked.

"Line," Marcus said, gesturing to the short line. "As for what's to eat: crap, shit, and middling pizza."

"Then we'd better get the pizza before it's gone," Vale said. "Come on guys."

With that, the four entered the line, and grabbed trays. "So, is this how life usually is on a ship?" Elegance asked.

"Just about, yeah," Vale said. "You get used to it, though."

"Well, that's something to look forward to, I guess," Spike said. From there ,the four grabbed some food and a glass of water, and made their way to the table Marcus and his team were sitting at.

"Mind if we sit here, guys?" Vale asked.

"Them, no," Marcus said. "You'll need to stand, though, Vale. This thing won't be able to support all of us plus your armor."

"You sure about that, Marcus," one of his squad mates said. "It's able to hold you."

"Oh go to hell, Sam," Marcus said. "Sure, you guys can sit. Just ignore the stupidity, and you'll be alright."

That got a few chuckles out of the squad of three as the four sat down, on the opposite side of the table. Sam was sitting on Marucs' left, and was a man who looked to be in his early twenties with regulation red hair and blue eye, while a woman who looked to be in her late twenties, with blonde hair that went to her shoulders and steel gray eyes, on his right. "So those are the aliens we got from Sangheilios, huh," the woman asked. "I don't see why when they'd be safer on the planet."

"Hannah, please, shut up," Sam said. "Sorry about that. She isn't the friendliest person to exist. Name's Sam Smith, resident sniper of Wolf. Hannah, whose full name is Hannah Smith, yes, we're siblings, is  the second in command, and loves to blow shit up. Even has her own rocket launcher. And you guys would be? I ask because though we knew what you were, we don't know names."

"Well, my name's Spike," Spike said. "Her name's Twilight," he said, gesturing to said lavender unicorn, "and her name's Elegance," gesture to said changeling.

"Nice to meet you guys," Sam said.

"Didn't you guys have a fourth member," Vale asked.

"You mean Tom," Marcus asked. "Infirm. Accident with some wires near a fuel canister. A few burns is all." He looked at Twilight and the others. "By the way, his full name is Thomas Slate, and is the one who loves CQC."

"How many Spartans are on a fire team?" Elegance asked. "I'm just a little curious."

"No problem with that," Sam said. "Most fire teams are four to six, but there are odd ones. Most are three or seven to twelve, but there are two on Infinity that have two members: Fire teams Lone and Specter."

"Those two have their own competitions sometimes," Marcus said, "like who can get the highest score in any doubles war game, or which team can kill the other the most during a Warzone match."

"You guys kill each other?" Twilight asked, shocked.

"Not during a War game, not really," Hannah said. "Those are just simulations. Only way someone gets hurt in there is if the pod that connects them to the game is sabotaged or something."

"Pod?" Elegance asked.

"Yeah," Sam said. "The war games use a special kind of pod that connects to our neural implants, and lets us see the fight and act, but our bodies don't really move. All in our heads. Perfect for training."

"Yeah, but Lone and Specter can be seen working together too, like in a game of breakout, which uses special rounds to stop the user from moving instead of it being a simulation, and that wears off after a round, or in a normal slayer game, which is a simulation. The only chance of victory if both of them are in a game is if one's on your side, and that would probably end in a tie."

"Jeez," Spike said. "Wouldn't want to mess with them."

"Yeah, that's how it is for any who've done a war game with them, friend or foe," Marcus said.

Here, a voice came over the intercom as a screen came on near the table. "Warzone tournament championship match beginning, final round," the voice,which was male, said. "Map is Escape from A.R.C.. Standard rules. Team Red consists of Fire teams Lone, Saber, and Dragoon. Team Blue consists of Fire teams Specter, Aegis, and Hunter."

"Well, this is going to be interesting," Marcus said as an image of a dessert base surrounded by water being held back by walls, whether glass or energy couldn't be seen, with a large ship near the middle appeared on the screen. "Warzone with the two most dangerous two man teams on opposite sides. Prepare for the entertaining hell."

"Yeah, I'd say so," Hannah said. "Shame our group was eliminated in the first round."

"Yeah," Sam said. "So, what do you guys think'll decide this one?"

"I'm going with Josh's Banshee skills. Only three things can hit him with out him getting a chance to dodge if he isn't paying attention and it can be dodged, and that's a Gauss shot, a Railgun, or a Scorpion tank," Marcus said. "Much as I hate Banshees, I'll give Josh credit, he is an aerial terror with that thing, even the normal variety."

"I would have gone with Jacob's ONI Scorpion," Hannah said. "Better armor, and a quicker reload time. Hard to beat that."

"Yeah, but that needs more Req level points than a Banshee to get, and if he coordinates with Ken and Ken's got a Splaser, Josh will make scrap of that thing," Marcus said.  "And that's in a normal Banshee. What if he rolls a random, and gets an Ultra? Exploding shots, better armor, and a fuel rod that detonates twice. Alternate between while dodging, chances are that the Banshee's gonna win. Scorpions can't alternate weapons."

"I'm going to say one of the bosses," Sam said. "I've looked at the records for the six teams. Out of all of them, only Lone and Specter go after the objectives, silver or yellow. Hell, they make it a competition as to which one of their teams takes out the most bosses."

"Quiet, it's starting," Hannah said.

"Am I interrupting, anything," Lasky said from behind, causing the four Spartans to jump and salute.

"Sir," the four of them said.

"At ease, Spartans," Lasky said. "Mind if I sit with you?"

"Not at all, sir," Marcus said. "Did you need anything?"

"Nothing that's important right now," Lasky said as he sat down on the same said as Vale and the others. "I see you're interested in the Warzone match."

"Well, to be fair, sir," Hannah said, "it's Lone and Specter on opposite teams."

"Ah," Lasky said before looking at Twilight and the others. "So, how are you three settling, given it's your first day?"

"Good, Captain," Elegance said. "And thanks for the room."

"No problem," Lasky said. "I did want to talk with you three about something, though, but it can wait if you want."

"What did you want to talk to us about," Spike asked.

"Two things, actually, but one is related to Elegance, so I'll to with her about it in private," Lasky said. "As for the three of you together, you're aware that Spartans are humans with special augmentations, right?"

"Yeah," Twilight said. "Vale told us that. Why?"

"Because Doctor Halsey recently informed me of something of interest regarding you three. I'll spare you the technical stuff, but, basically, she said your gene structure and make up give the three of you the chance to be Spartans, if you want to be one, that is."

"What exactly would happen," Elegance asked.

"I'll answer that one," Sam said. "Basically, they put you into a medically induced coma, makes it easier to do the surgery for the augments, and have drones perform the surgery. Before, when it was the Spartan-IIs, there was about a fifty-fifty rate of success, the other fifty being either crippled or, in the last twenty five percent total, death. That's not to say we haven't gotten better. Now, odds are about, and I'm just spit balling here, around ninety five percent. As for the augments, well, they'll make your bones nearly unbreakable, needed to wear our armor, a special neural implant will be put in. Hannah, care to show 'em?"

"Nope," the Spartan said before turning around and lifting her hair up to show a rectangular machinery piece at the base of her neck and skull.

"Thanks," Sam said as his sister turned around. "Those are needed for the suit to work. I don't know the details, but when the early versions of our armor were being worked on, an un-augmented marine tested it. What the neural implant does is connect your brain to the suit. The suit moves before you. Because of that, the tester, again, un-augmented. . . well, let's just say he didn't go painlessly. There a few other things, but not much, just stuff to help clot wounds and growth steroids, which is why ever Spartan is taller than the normal human."

"End result would be someone whose faster, mentally, in terms of battle, at least, and stronger than normal humans. Hell, some Spartans are able to punch right through solid rock and steel. Some, not all," Marcus said.

"Thank god Lone and Specter don't have that ability with out the damage boost mod," Hannah said.

"What about training," Spike asked.

"We'll use the war games for that," Lasky said.

"Yeah, and sometimes, all you need are skills," Vale said. "When I was recommended, I had little combat training, but my tactical thinking and such got me in."

"Which brings me into the picture," the same male voice from earlier said before a yellow man about the size of a book in terms of height appeared on the table. He had an old aviators outfit that Twilight recognized as something veteran wonderbolts would wear, and a leather cap with goggles on his head.

"Who are you?" Twilight asked.

"Roland, the Infinity's A.I.," the hologram said. "Doctor Halsey wanted me to see what your guys' abilities are, I think so she can design custom armor for you guys, assuming you want to be Spartans. Knowing those may also help the Brass decide whether or not it would be bets to keep you as fielded Spartans, once we reestablish contact with them, that is."

"Will we finally get to know what's going?" Elegance asked. "Because when I asked that yesterday and before we left, the answer was either 'Classified', or the question was dodged completely."

"You may even be able to help with the problem," Roland said.

"Huddle," Twilight said, and the three huddled.

After near a minute, with various announcements as to the Warzone game cutting in from time to time, the three broke. "Any thing else we should know before we decide," Elegance asked.

"Just that you'll be moved to an experienced fire team to help teach you guys," Roland said.

The three glanced at one another, each nodding, before Twilight said, "If it'll help you guys out, we're in."