HALO: RE-birth

Master Chief

Everyday the training became harder and harder. Out of the twenty special children enlisted for military purposes, only eight remained by the end of the third week. Cheza completed the daily challenges head on without stopping, but secretly wanted a voice a complaint. Without fail. She, Adam, Hawkeye and five others were all that were left. In her heart, Cheza was glad her classmates survived the harsh and rigorous stages, but after her secret mission on "sweeping" her own team members during a training exercise, Adam and the rest of her colleagues hadn't talked to her. Hawkeye was the only exception.
"Leave 'em be Chez. You don't see me cryin' 'cause I was eliminated." he scoffed one day after training. The children walked back to their individual rooms, bodies exhausted and spirits nearly broken.  Since the incident two weeks ago, Cheza felt herself becoming closer to Number Ten. He'd spend countless hours with her in her room, talking and taking the edge off whenever the days became excruciatingly bad, easily forgave her when the others hadn't and was overall a decent person at heart. Hawkeye took his training seriously, but never allowed much to get on his nerves and promised to be as great as she was every time they finished.
"Hey Thirteen, did you hear me?"
Cheza snapped out of her thoughts.
"Huh?"
"I said we'll be racin' through the obstacle course tomorrow. Aren't you excited?!"
Cheza almost forgot about the obstacle course. Rumored on being one of the toughest exercises in the program, many have failed on ever completing the deadly maze. Cheza was determined to succeed, just like "he" did.
"Well, get a good night's sleep Chez. Tomorrow's gonna be awesome!" Hawkeye beamed. He yawned loudly and without a sheet or a pillow to comfort him, curled up on Cheza's floor.
"What are you doing?" unsure of how to react to being alone with a boy in her room at night, Cheza edged her back toward the wall of her bed.
"What's it look like? I'm going to sleep. Besides, this way I can make sure you don't get up earlier than me." Hawkeye smirked.
Cheza looked at the boy. She never had a sleep over before, so she didn't know how to react to anyone sleeping in the same room as her. She at least gave him a pillow and some fresh sheets.
"Good-night Thirteen." the boy sleepily stretched his arms.
"Hey Hawkeye, do you think any of the others get those "secret assignments" like I do?" Cheza settled under her covers.
Hawkeye looked up at the ceiling.
"Of course they do. Heck, I've gotten one a couple of times myself." he smirked. Cheza looked down to her friend in shock.
"Really?"
"Yeah. I'm pretty sure the others have gotten some themselves. Although I never got any as serious as "scraping" my own team like you did, I at least know how you feel."
Cheza smiled.
"But like I keep tellin' ya, don't worry about it. They're just sweating you 'cause you're better. Well, better than them anyway." he laughed. Cheza climbed out of bed with her sheet and pillow and calmly laid beside her new companion.
"Uh Chez, what're you doing?"
"You're not getting up before I do." she smiled. The two children laughed and were soon fast asleep on the floor, dreaming about the following day . In no time at all the room was filled with the soft sound of Hawkeye's snoring and while the noise was comforting, Cheza couldn't keep her eyes closed for long. She kept popping back awake, head filled with the looks of the other candidates. They hated her for ghosting them. Commander Westin was very pleased with her deception...but where was the silver lining? Was even possible for Cheza to make friends? Did she truly want friends? Hawkeye was more than enough, but what if she had more? It would certainly make her life more normal, but there was just too much at stake. Westin was expecting perfection tomorrow. Making friends was nowhere near his agenda.

~...~...~...~

Cheza kept her eyes on the ever changing field as she ran through the difficult obstacle course. She was racing against four other students. Unfortunately Hawkeye wasn't there to see her in action. He was running the next course over in another room. Cheza secretly wished for his success. She shook her head. She couldn't afford to be distracted. Cheza flipped when the moment called for it, jumped over traps that barely caught onto her clothes and scrapped her skin, and twisted over every road block and enemy. She was easily the fastest one on the track, but sloppy nonetheless.
"Thirteen keeps improving." Commander Westin commented. "It seems Master Chief isn't the only one with luck on his side." he chuckled. 

"Do not get too sure about this young prodigy Daniel. We still have to test her further. I want to make doubly sure this child is the one we've been looking for."

"I know. I'll have her take the second test right away sir. Should she survive, we should be having her injected with the serum within due time."
Commander Westin turned to his team of scientists.
"Time to get started." he nodded.

"Number Thirteen, you have been tasked with another secret assignment."

The sudden announcement made the girl falter in her steps, causing her to trip and bang her elbow against the wall. She didn't want another assignment. 
"I'm listening sir." Cheza said into her ComLink.
"At the end of the track there is a red door. Do you see it?"
Cheza stared at the end of the course. She could see the faint outline of a door.
"I see it sir."
"Good. Head to it, and enter."
Cheza ran to the end of the room and opened the door. When she closed it, darkness swallowed her. She followed the stairs leading further down into the facility.
"This must be where they keep the "failed" experiments." she joked to herself. Cheza had never done that before. Hawkeye's sense of humor must have been rubbing off on her. She stopped at the only door she could find. A bright light shown as she opened the door and stepped inside. The room was empty, all except the mirrors. Every inch of the room was covered with a piece of reflective glass. The door closed behind her.
"Destroy every target in the room." her ComLink spoke. From behind the mirrors, giant powerful looking warriors approached. Each of them sporting the number "117" across their chests.
"Sir...but they're..." Cheza stammered. She slowly stepped back as she stared into the orange visors in front of her.
"Destroy Master Chief."

~...~...~...~

"Cortana, re-scan message, and give me the exact coordinates of its origin."
"Scanning...Message is an S.O.S from an unknown frequency. Location...five hundred and thirty-seven miles below sea level on the sea planetoid of Beta Gabriel. Exact location of signal...the UNSC Fathom."
"Isn't the Fathom abandoned?"
"Yes. Once a military research facility, it was swarmed and controlled by the Covenant. Apparently O.N.I forces have cleared them away, and is using the base for training special youths in for the UNSC."
The Chief continued plummeting his ship into the watery depths.
"John, this could be a trap." Cortana warned.
"I know."
Despite his inner alarms, he was consumed with curiosity. Who sent him the distress signal? What did they want, and why were there people on the Fathom?
"YOU ARE NEEDED JOHN. QUICKLY...SHE IS IN DANGER."
"Now approaching the UNSC Fathom. Be careful John. I'm detecting multiple enemy movement somewhere in the basement."
"How many?"
"Twenty at the most. Wait, the numbers are fading. I'm having a hard time locking on a positive number."
Even from his ship the Chief could hear shouting and gunfire. The voices sounded human.
"Cortana, plot the quickest route to the battle. I want to get this done with as little carnage as possible."
"Use the ventilation shafts. They'll lead you straight to the action."
As his ship quietly docked in the Fathom's hanger bay, the Chief scaled the walls. There weren't as many hiding spots as he would've liked due to the watery reflection, so he quickly found him entry point and jumped in. The closer he got to his destination, the more louder the screaming echoed.
"John, I'm picking up several other heat signatures on the Fathom."
"How many?"
"Fifty seven humans. Seven of them...are children." Cortana gasped.
Not wasting time, the Spartan loaded his gun and charged into the fray. He stopped abruptly in his tracks at the sight of a little girl covered in blood. She held an assault riffle in one hand, and a soldier that resembled him in the other.

~...~...~...~

"What's Master Chief doing here?" Commander Westin bellowed.
"Commander, we didn't detect his ship coming from afar. He must have bypassed our scans."
Commander Westin stormed over to the computers and began shutting down the base.
"Calm yourself Daniel. It looks like the Chief's luck has run out. He's stuck in the same room as Thirteen. She'll never know the difference between the replicas and the actual man."
Westin calmly walked back to the window.
"Commander, we have a problem!" a frightened officer reported.
"What now?"
A white light flashed through the entire base.
"What the heck is that?" Hawkeye wondered. He and the other children looked up and saw the blinding light flood into the room. A low humming echoed over the Fathom as everything slowly faded away.
"IT IS NOW TIME. TIME...FOR DESTINY TO MEET...."