Exiled soldiers

On the Infinity, it's been a week since Twilight, Elegance, and Spike underwent augmentations, and, to Halsey's surprise, they were already awake, having awoken three days after the whole thing began, and were recovering. Not at the rate Samuel had, but quicker than most Spartans did. Right now, the three were in the med bay, best place for them during recovery, not that there was much else to do right now.

"So, when do you guys think our training's going to start," Elegance asked.

"Soon, hopefully," Spike said. "It's boring having to just sit here."

"Agreed," Twilight said. "At least they have books in here to read."

Spike rolled his eyes. "Why does it not surprise me that you're excited about that, Twilight?"

"Hey, I haven't read any human books yet," she complained, crossing her arms, which brought a small bout of pain that hse had gotten used to. She was told by another Spartan that had been injured by a technical issue that it was most likely from the bone augments, if not the ones to improve clotting. Already, the three of them were seeing the more positive effects.

For instance, when the lights were turned off, to mimic Earth's day cycle, they had been told, they could easily see as if it was day, and it took longer for them to get exhausted form the recovery exercises, which included treadmill walking and running, every day. They also were quicker than before, physically speaking, which was saying something for Elegance, as she was quick then as well.

"I know," Spike retorted, "but don't you think that could wait until after we've adjusted. The first time you picked up one of those tablet things, you accidentally crushed it."

"I know, but I've learned my own strength now," Twilight said. "They don't have a weight room for nothing in here, you know."

"You lifted weights," Elegance asked. "I'm shocked."

"Oh shut up, Elegance," Twilight said. "It's so that I can experiment with just how much I can lift now. I don't see you two in there."

"Because we're not trying to hurt ourselves," Spike said.

"Oh, she's alright," another Spartan from a bed opposite them said. They had gotten to know him well, actually. In fact, it turns out he was Thomas Slate, the last member of Fire team Wolf. He had been here since the morning of Twilight and the others arriving on the ship, and had gray hair, he said it was because of a rare trait in his family, and looked to be in his late twenties, with a few burn scars on the left side of his face. "Hannah and Sam practically did the same, made it a competition to see who would recover first. the doctors even said doing so may have sped it up a little."

"Really," Elegance asked. "I figured that the doctors would have tried to stop them."

"Oh, they did," Tom said with a chuckle. "But when those two set their mind to something, few things will stop them."

"So, how long did it take you guys to recover," Twilight asked.

"Me, about ten weeks, but I was the least active one. Marcus was half that, and the siblings were at two and a half."

"So we're actually going quicker than them," Twilight asked.

"You, yeah. Spike and Elegance, I'd say they'll be ready about the time Marcus was," Tom said. "Which is to say in about four weeks."

"That would be accurate," Halsey said as she walked in to the room. Since the three had woken up, it had been a daily thing for her ot come in and check on progress with recovery, "it they were human, which they clearly aren't. Their last check from yesterday shows they are recovering at the same speed as Spartans Smith and Smith."

"Yeah, you have no idea how confusing that can get," Tom said.

"So, what does that mean," Spike asked.

"Put simply, it means the two of you will recover in a week and a half, and Twilight, actually, already is, seeing as how she's taken the active approach. But I'm not here for the check, but to show you three something," Halsey said. "If you'll follow me, please," she said, and the three, having changed into Spartan fatigues when they woke up that day, followed.

"Where are we going," Elegance asked.

"S Deck," Halsey said. "Your armor's ready."

"Already?" Elegance asked. "How were you able to make them?"

"We simply cannibalized unused armor sets," Halsey replied. "Quite easy, actually."

"Do we get any say in what it looks like," Twilight asked.

"In the visor and tertiary colors," Halsey said. "Everything else is the same as the fire team that'll be your instructors."

"And which fire team is that," Spike asked.

"Fire team Lone," Halsey said. "Once your training is done, you'll be able to split off and make your own fire team, if you wish."

From there, the walk was quiet, nor was it long, as they were able to take one of the transit elevators there. Upon arrival, the four made their way to one of the gantries that held the armor racks. There, held in the arms, were three armors.

The center one resembled the Fotus armor Twilight had seen footage of from the war games, but the horn was lower, closer ot the forehead, and the part of it that protected the mouth was elongated to account for her muzzle.

The one to it's left had the same horn, but there were also slight armor strands on the wings. This one was most likely for Elegance.

The last one resembled Raider armor, but the mouth part had small holes at the front, and there were openings along the back, most likely for Spike's spines.

"The armor names, form our left to right, would be Chameleon, Mage, and Wyvern," Halsey said. "They were custom built for you with the list of abilities Roland gave me for each of you that you gave him and my own observations. Twilight, the horn of your armor's helmet had special field enhancers to increase the strength of what ever spells you use, shield or otherwise. Elegance, the same is true for your armor's horn, but it also enhances your disguise magic and the armor itself helps protect your wings. Spike, the armor pieces used are heat resistant, so you don't need to worry about melting it, and there are small holes in the face plate that allows you to use your flame breath up close."

"Cool," Spike said. "When do we get to try them on?"

"After you get basic military training," Halsey said. "Which your two team mates will also help with."

"Any thing else we need to know," Elegance asked.

"One thing," the A.I., Roland said before his hologram appeared on a nearby pedestal. "Spartan Elegance, may I just add, that sounds like a special Spartan trait out of context, Captain Lasky said he's okay with you. . . unusual feeding so long as no one is harmed because of it. And, on a side note, I'll help with that if I can. I may not be a fashion kind of A.I., but I do have access to those."

"Thanks, Roland," Elegance said. "and tell Captain Lasky thanks forcme, will you?"

"On it, Spartan," Roland said, doing a small salute before he disappeared.

"Well, at least I don't need to worry about starving for a while," Elegance said. "Oh, and when are we going to meet our team mates?"

"Right now, actually," Halsey said as armored foot steps could be heard coming from the elevator.

Twilight, Elegance, and Spike turned around, and saw two other Spartan's, both male, wearing cyan armor with brick highlights, the same color as their armor. One had an entire Raider armor set on, his helmet, with an wild hunt visor, the color, not the rarity, and it was under his shoulder, his face being pale with close cropped, brown hair, a few freckles, and brown eyes. The other one had the Buccaneer Tyr helmet on with the torch bearer visor and Maverick Jester armor. He had a slightly more curved face, not much, with black hair and brown eyes. "Fire team Lone reporting, Doctor,"the one with the Raider armor said as he and his team mate saluted.

"I can see that, Spartan," Halsey said. "I assume Captain Lasky told you of our guests?"

"I was the one who flew them in with you," the Raider said before turning to face Twilight and the others. "Names Josh, in case you guys didn't catch it the first time. Joshua Miller's my full name, and I'm the resident pilot."

"Kenneth Orochi," the other one said. "But just Ken is fine. Resident demolitionist. Which is to say, you want something to explode, call me," he said with a smile.

"Enough with the bragging, Ken," Josh said. "And you guys are?"

"Twilight, Spike, and Elegance," Twilight said, gesturing to the three of them, respectively.

"Nice to meet you guys," Josh said. "Roland said you needed training?"

"Indeed I did, Spartan," Roland said over speakers. "The basics for being a Spartan, as well as military."

"Well, this is going to be fun," Ken said. "They clear to wear the armor, Doc?"

"Barely, yes," Halsey said. "Just don't push them to hard for the next week and a half, and then you can push them."

"Copy that, Doc," Josh said. "Roland, mind getting the armor set up?"

"Not at all," he said. The arms on the armor holders pulled back, and an area large enough for the three new Spartans to stand in each one was ready. "Just step into the center of the gantries, Spartans, and grab the handles. The automated systems will handle the rest."

"Right," Twilight said before she began to step in it.

"From the back, and with out the over pants," Josh said.

"Oh," Twilight said, blushing. "Right." With that, she stepped off and took off the baggy pants, the only thing she was wearing now being the undersuit, and stepped around to the back, and stepped on and grabbed the handles, and the armor began to construct around her, starting with the leg armor, which was put on quickly, then the torso, which  is when the gantry lifted Twilight up a little and tilted her before placing the torso armor on, then the shoulder plates and the gauntlets. The helmet was last, and, Twilight saw, the bottom had been modified a little to help her put it on at an angle, though it was a bit of a pain, still.

When it was over, the gantry straightened back out, and Twilight stepped off. "How's it feel, Twilight," Elegance asked.

"Pretty good," Twilight said. "Lighter than I thought."

"Mjolnir armor is power assisted," Josh said. "And besides, those augments are meant to help you wear the thing. Though I am a little surprised you aren't flailing around a little, seeing as how, well, the whole mind reading thing. I know that's not what it's actually called, but still, you know what I mean."

"Well, Marcus, Sam, and Hannah did say the armor would translate thought to motion," Twilight said. "Actually, it's like levitation magic, now that I think about it."

"Then it should be easy for me," Elegance said as she went down to the undersuit and stepped on, and her armor, which was the same as Twilight's with the exception of the wing protection. "How's it look," she asked once the armor was on.

"Good," Twilight said. "Spike, that just means you."

"I know, Twi," he said, doing the same as the two mares, let his armor be put on, and stepped off.

"Whoa," Elegance said. "That is cool armor."

"Thanks," Spike said. "So, uh, where do we go next?"

"Follow us," Josh said. The five made their way to the elevator, with Ken pressing a button once they were inside, and the elevator began to move.

"So, if you guys don't mind me asking, what do you like to do for fun," Josh asked.

"I like comic books," Spike said.

"Same here," Elegance said. "Power ponies?"

"Brought every issue I had with me."

"What about you, Twilight," Josh asked.

"I like to read," she said. Though since the augmentations, I've crushed the one thing I could read."

"One of those tablets," Josh asked, to which Twilight nodded. He chuckled. "Same happened with me. Don't worry, team quarters has a few actual books-"

"Understatement," Ken said. "Josh here is a bibliophile. Can't read enough. Hell, when we're on an op, and there's a quiet moment, he reads."

"Well, I need something to do," Josh said. "And besides, some of those could technically be used for research, seeing as how some of them re fantasy novels."

"Yeah, but how much of that is bullshit made for entertainment?"

"Hey, I don't complain about all your photos of-"

"Moving on," Ken said, glaring at Josh, who was chuckling.

"Too easy," he mumbled. "Any way, you want a book, Twilight, just let me know."

"Thanks, Josh," she said.

"Hey, we're a fire team right now," Josh said. "And the way we see it, a fire team is a family, and that includes making friendly fun of the others."

"He's not wrong, unfortunately," Ken said. He then looked at Josh with a murderous glare. "But if you so much as mention those pictures again, I will throw you out the air lock in your underwear."

"Gonna have to try harder, Ken," Josh said. "We've been doing this long enough that most of them have died out."

"Like your chances at a relationship?"

Both Spartans chuckled. "Touche," Josh said. "Tou-fucking-che."

The doors then opened, and a large room with a rack of weapons on one end, stalls about a quarter of the way down, and targets on the other side of the stalls at various distances.

There were four other Spartans here, as well. One had a Fotus Helmet like Twilight's, albeit it was the normal version, with recon armor, and his color was Cyan blue with red highlights, in contrast, though barely, to fire team Lone's Cyan and brick, and was firing a DMR down range. The second had an Anubis helmet with Recruit armor on with a green and black color scheme, and was firing a Battle Rifle. The third had the normal Tenshin armor set, and was red and black, and was firing a shotgun at some of the closer targets. The fourth had Helioskrill helmet with Shinobi armor, and was colored black and blue, and was firing a Sniper down range at the furthest targets. The common thing for all of them was that their right shoulder pad had a Domino symbol, the domino being white with black dots, and each one had an increasing number, from one to four.

"Hey oh, Domino," Josh yelled. "Got someone you need to meet."

"Just a moment, Josh," the one with a single dot domino said as he fired a few more shots of his weapon before putting it on the counter in front. The fire team followed suit, and the four made their way over.

"Guys, this would be the guests from last week," Ken said. "Twilight, Elegance, and Spike. Guys, this is Fire team Domino."

"Wow," the one in the Tenshin set said. "Two of 'em must be real horny. You know, horns."

"And yet you're the one who looks like a slut," the one in the Anubis helmet said, and the three realized it was a woman.

"Guys, first impressions," the one in the recon armor said. "Name's Brendon Abramov, leader of Domino. The one woman of the group is April Montana, whose also my second in command. The wisecracker would be Michael Abro, demolitions. FYI, he loves to joke around. The quiet one is Benjamin Daro, our sniper. And before you ask, the dots on the armor is our chain of command. I have one to show I'm team leader, April is second, and has two dots, Michael has three, and Ben, who is the friendliest of us, by the way, has four."

"I didn't think they'd be joining you guys, Ken," April said.

"It's just until they're ready for combat on their own," Ken said. "We're technically their teachers right now."

"Well," Ben said, "you three ever need a sniper teacher, let me know."

"Are you forgetting which team they're on," Josh asked.

"No, it's just that you two make terrible sniper teachers," Ben said in a joking tone. "Doing something and being able to teach it are two different things, after all."

"Yeah, like we know how to make jokes," April said. "Just can't teach Michael ones that we find funny."

"Because you guys have no sense of humor," he said.

"Or we simply have a higher taste of comedy," April said.

"Go to hell," Michael said.

"Ladies first, Michael," April retorted, which got laughs out of the veteran Spartans.

"Okay, guys, I think that's enough," Brendon said before turning to Josh and Ken. "Basic weapons first?"

"Yep," Ken said.

"Be right back," he said before heading to the weapon racks and grabbing three assault rifles, and coming back, handing one to the new Spartans. "Here you go, guys."

"Thanks," Twilight said, taking the weapon in her hands. "So, uh, how do I use it?"

"I'll show you," Josh said, putting his helmet on. "Come on." The two made their way to one of the stalls. On the way, on Josh's left shoulder piece, was a red octagon with a white energy sword on the left crossing over an orange sword on the right. She looked, and saw hers had the same.

"I'm guessing that's our team emblem?"

"The two swords over the octagon," Josh asked as they got to the stall. "Yeah. Ken came up with it. Meant to show our unity in situations. I even heard that emblems had to be blacked out entirely on roster boards because no one would fight against our team because of how well we do." He then took the rifle from Twilight's hands, and held it up sideways. "This is an MA5D AR, Twilight. More specifically, submodel SL, SL for 'Smart Link'. I'll get to that soon enough. Holds thirty six shots of armor piercing rounds per mag, and normal protocol says you can have up to two hundred and fifty two spare spare shots, which is seven spare mags."

"I can do math, Josh," Twilight aid with a small arm cross, to which he chuckled.

"Just playing safe, Twilight," he said. "Anyway, each rifle has an LED Ammo Indicator that tells you how many shots you have left in the current magazine. Of course, being Spartans, our HUD lets us see that that without having to look." He then loaded a magazine into the clip, and pulled the charging handle. "Have a try," he said, flipping the gun around and handing it to the unicorn Spartan, who took it in her hands.

Upon making contact with the gun, the upper right part of Twilight's HUD lit up in a likeness of the gun in her hands, along with thirty six tick marks in two rows of eighteen, a zero next to her weapon icon. "Keep in mind, the large number is how many shots in reserve you have, and when ever you have two weapons, that's the one shown for the one you aren't currently using."

Twilight nodded. "Right," she said. "So, what next?"

"Next, you learn to shoot," Josh said. "Now, fire at that target," he said, and a red icon appeared on the interior of Twilight's helmet that highlighted a target. "And by thew way, this is a feature fire teams use in the field and not in the war games to highlight current priority targets. Aren't allowed to in war games. Now, fire."

Twilight nodded, and pointed the barrel, she had seen a few war games matches in med bay, so she knew what was the front end, and pulled the trigger. She knew it would have recoil, and steadied her arms, an easy task with the armor helping to lower the recoil, but she fired full auto, and a quite few shots missed. "Okay, given it's your first time, pretty good," Josh said, but at ranges like this, go for bursts. That's best, got it," he asked, handing Twilight a spare magazine.

"Yep," Twilight replied with a hidden smile before taking the magazine and loading it. This time, she fired in small bursts, and only a few rounds missed, but not much.

"Nice," Josh said, patting her on her shoulder. "Sure you weren't in your people's military?"

"Yeah," Twilight said. "But my brother was Captain."

"Impressive," Josh said. "So, want to learn how to DMR someone's head," he asked, handing her a DMR.

"I guess so," Twilight said, putting the rifle on her back, which made the icon on her HUD smaller with a zero next to it before grabbing the DMR, causing a likeness of it to show up with a single row of fourteen tick marks in its place.

"That's the M395 DMR, which is used exclusively by Spartans. Fourteen rounds per clip, and is semi-automatic. And now fo rthe scope, which is Smart Link. Essentially, it links to your armor systems, letting you zoom in. Every recent model weapon we have allows for that, including the rifle on your back. Just think of zooming in, and the armor will do that automatically. But, unless something in the weapon allows otherwise, if you get hit, you descope. A pain in the ass, especially if you're using a sniper rifle," Josh said. "I speak from personal experience. Why I like to use long range mixed with short to medium range weapons."

"So, I just think of zooming in," Twilight asked.

"Yeah," Josh said. "Aim for one of the longer ranged targets. That thing's meant for medium to long range."

"Right," Twilight said, taking a firing position, and unloading the clip, each shot hitting somewhere near the target.

"Nice," Josh said. "But that was on a still target. Let's see how well you do with a moving target."

With that, the various targets began to move. "Ken, Ben, help out Spike and Elegance with this one."

"Right," Ken said before he and others took up a stall on the firing range, him and Ben showing Spike and Elegance the basics.

Twilight had a difficult time with the moving targets, and it was about an hour of missed shots before she was up to Spartan levels of trace shooting. At the end of it, Josh said, "And if you and your target are moving in the same direction, keep your reticule pointed at the point the bullets hit. If not, but their's do, you're going to be the one in a grave, got it, Twi?"

"Yeah, Josh," she replied. "What's next?"

"Well, once the others are done, Spartan Mobility," Josh said. "And I don't mean being able to just twist and bend."

"What do you mean, then?"

"You'll see," Josh said. "Just wait."

A few minutes later, Spike and Elegance were at Spartan levels of trace shooting, and, with a goodbye from Domino, the five made their way into a hallway, Ken and Josh leading.

"I hope you guys know how to run," Ken said, "'cause you're going to need it."

"Why do I not like the sound of that," Elegance asked.

"Same," Spike commented.

"Don't worry, no ones died from a suit malfunction during practice," Josh said. "Well, yet."

"Not helping," Spike said.

"Hey, I'm just saying, there's a first for everything."

"Still not helping," Elegance said.

"Yeah, I know," Josh said.

"Sooo, anyway," Ken said as the five reached a door, "time to see how well you guys use the thruster packs."

With that, the door opened, and an obstacle with various pits and ledges came into view. "Welcome to the obstacle course, Spartans," Roland said as he appeared on a nearby pedestal. "Mobility training?"

"Yep," Ken said. "Still need to show them how to use the thruster packs."

"I'll turn off the competition timer, then," Roland said. "Oh, and Riptide will be here soon, so I hope you like running competitions." With that, his hologram disappeared.

"Another fire team," Twilight asked.

"Yeah," Josh answered. "Okay, so, Ken, which of us is going to describe how to use the pack?"

"I don't know how it works," Ken said.

"Well, neither do I," Josh said. "So it looks like we're going to have to wait for Riptide to get here."

"How long is that wait," Spike asked.

"No fucking idea," Josh said.

Yeah, so it was about an hour before the second fire team, whom Twilight and the others assumed was Riptide walked in. One had Tenshin armor with the Plasma skin, the color being a singular crimson, the second had Athlon armor that was colored Forest green with crimson secondary, the third had the same armor type that Vale had, but the color was Forest Green and Cyan, an the last one had Commando armor with Forest Green and Cyan armor colors. Each one had a wave symbol on their left shoulder piece.

"Hey, guys," Josh said. "Fancy seeing you here."

"Josh," the one in all crimson armor said, the voice being that of a woman. "What are you doing here?

"Just waiting for you guys to get here so you can help us teach them," Josh said, point a thumb at Twilight and the others, "how to use the thruster packs, Bella."

"So there is something Fire team Lone can't do," Bella said.

"Yeah, like you guys can't win a single warzone match without getting killed, what, thirty times by the very stupid A.I. programs," Josh retorted in a joking tone.

"Go to hell," Bella said with a chuckle "Sure, we'll help. The beginning?"

"Yep," Ken said. "Hey, guys, get over here! Got some people for you to meet!"

"Coming," Elegance called out before she and the other two came over.

"Guys, this is Fire team Riptide," Josh said. "This is Bella Soryuna, the team leader," he said, gesturing to Bella. "This would be Kevin-54," he said, gesturing to the one in Athalon armor. "Before you ask, him and the other two members of the team are Spartan-III washouts born on Earth, but moved to an outer colony before it was glassed, and each is the only survivor of their family. Then there's Lexi-93, in the Copperhead armor, and Anderson-15, in the Commando."

"Pleasure to meet you guys," Lexi said. "And just about everyone knows you guys are on the ship. Roland spread word the day you got here so that we wouldn't freak out."

"So, wanna learn how to use the thruster packs," Kevin asked.

"Yeah," Twilight said.

"Then let me give you the first lesson," Anderson said before a sound was heard, and he boosted to the right into Lexi, who boosted back to avoid. "Thruster packs can be used for evasion and attack," he said. "Though it has a cool down in both cases. For offense, you need to be going at top speed, while evasion, you just need to lean in the direction you want to go, and think of activating them for it to happen.

"So," Twilight asked, "we lean in the direction we want to go if we're evading, and think of using the thruster packs?"

"Bingo, though ,with enough time," Kevin said, "you can just think, and the armor will activate the thrusters you need."

"Plus, you can slide using the thrusters, too," Bella said. "Though that takes training to do with ease."

"Now, how about you guys try to boost," Anderson said. "Doesn't matter the direction, just try to."

"Right," Twilight said.

The three tried to, but didn't do so. Riptide gave them pointers each time, and, soon, they were able to boost to evade. As for the offensive, the only thing to say was on Anderson's part. "Just get to top speed. Your helmet will give you a kind of reticule to indicate when you can use the boost offensively. Just think of boosting forwards, and it'll happen. Word of warning, though, if you Charge a Spartan with full, enhanced, or overshields, they will survive it unless you hit them in the back, and if you do charge, make sure you're shields are at full and you have a shotgun to finish them off."

After that, the second fire team went to the obstacle course to practice themselves, which is when Josh said, "There's one thing they forgot to say, and that's if you smart link while in the air, the thrusters will keep you in the air for a while."

"And Ground Pound," Ken said. "Hop into the air, best from a high point, and activate the thrusters everywhere but the back and target a spot on the ground, then activate the back thrusters, to hit that are with force. Helmet'll show a circle. Two, actually. Any Spartan with full health and shields will survive with lowered shields in the larger, while those without or with weakened ones will die, while anything in the smaller one will probably die."

"We'll keep that in mind," Twilight said. "So, where to next?"

"S deck to get the armor off, then one of the restaurants this place has ot get some food. Infinity's a small city, they're bound to have someplace that doesn't have crap to eat for those currently off duty," Josh said. "Come on, I'm sure they got something you guys will like."

With that, Twilight and the others, Ken included, rolled their eyes, and followed Josh to the elevator to S deck so they could get their armor off, and have some free time.