Halo: Feet First

Camp Ravenport - Chapter 3 (Secretorum Fidelium)

September 8th, 2543 (12:20 Hours – Military Calendar)

Sol System, Earth

ODST Training Base "Camp Ravenport", Scaffel Pike Mountain, United Kingdom

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Duncan quickly learned that 2nd Selection was a different type of torment than 1st Selection. While the first was a repetitive pattern of physical exhaustion, 2nd Selection was almost entirely mental.

On the first night of 2nd selection, the barracks had been silent when the instructors struck, rounding up Class 207 from their beds and forcing to sit through lessons on squad-tactics.

Unexpected exercises suddenly became the norm. The recruits could expect weapon's training at dawn, EOD Basics in the evening, then midnight lessons in asymmetrical warfare. It was believed that they were being prepared for real-world combat. Out on the frontlines, an attack could come at any moment and they had to be alert. Others argued that the instructors simply enjoyed torturing them. It was easier to hold both views as equally true.

Duncan had noticed the change in atmosphere in the barracks after the first week of 2nd selection. Unlike before, there were no foolhardy conversations from bunk to bunk or card games. Only silence. Everyone slept the moment they hit their bunks but were ready to spring into their fatigues at the first sound of the door.

Today the remaining 227 recruits were on Scafell Pike's southern face. They dawned their ODST training gear, the actual Shock Trooper BDU lacking some of the more notable functionalities like the TAC Map.

They were handed MA37 Assault Rifles loaded with Tactical Training Rounds. The plastic polymer rounds contained proximity fuses that dissolved the shells when they came within 10 centimeters of a surface, releasing red paint that locked down armor and dished out a paralyzing anesthetic.

The class were organized into their usual fireteams. Two fireteams each would comprise Red and Blue Teams. Both sides would battle in a round of Capture the Flag.

The arena was a square kilometer area within a valley on Scafell Pike's Southern Face. It was divided in two by the River Esk. Red Team would start on the northern side and Blue Team on the south.

Throughout the early morning, Duncan and the rest of Fireteam Charlie watched rounds of Capture the Flag from an observation deck. Red Teams won for the most part with a few scattered victories by their azure counterparts.

Then it was Fireteam Charlie's turn, and as luck would have it, they would be Blue Team. What added to a sense of impending doom was the fact Charlie Team's leader was none other than Cosmo. He was alright in other team exercises but he was more hard-pressed to adapt to new situations.

Fireteams Charlie and Lima would form Blue Team and would go against Fireteams Foxtrot and X-Ray as Red Team: 8 on either side and 16 in total.

The round had started half an hour ago. So far no one had made any moves.

Duncan crouched-walked to a birch tree and swiveled around the bark. His targeting reticle swept across the low-lying shrubs and trees as far as 50 meters. There was nothing.

"Anything, Iris?" Cosmo called in on the comms.

"Northeast is clear." He replied.

"Northwest is also in the green." O'Reilly added with a hint of irritation.

Blue Team's territory was still clear, meaning Red Team had yet to advance over the river whose edge was within their sights. Cosmo and the leader of Lima had agreed that Charlie would go on the offensive while the latter guarded the flag. But Cosmo was yet to even lead them across the Esk, saying they needed to ambush Red Team's vanguard first. It was a sound strategy. The only thing to dislike about it was the waiting.