User:Spartan 501/A Life Stolen/Chapter 4

1400 Hours, September 24, 2517 (Military Calendar)/

Epsilon Eridani System, Reach Military Complex

planet Reach

As Leonid and the others bounded up the steps, the AI at the top of the steps beckoned to Leonid and the others, her semi-transparent face gleaming in the bright morning light. Leonid noted how she looked both young and old, with eyes that glittered with age old wisdom yet laughed with youth. Her toga clad body was slender, and motes of white light danced up and down her figure. She smiled, and her eyes turned to Mendez.

"Excellent work, Chief Petty Officer Mendez." She said in a voice that sounded smooth as silk.

A half second later she turned to Leonid and the others, and introduced herself.

"Welcome. My name is Déjà and I will be your teacher.  Please come in.  Class is about to start."

Leonid heard the grumbling and moaning of a dozen or so other children and mentally added those who were complaining to his list of people to hate. He hated whiners.

Apparently the AI did as well. As she turned and started to walk inside, she spoke in her smooth voice—only this time it was laced with a light threatening tone.

"Of course, if you prefer to skip you lessons, you may continue the morning calisthenics."

Leonid saw the other children sprint for the door to the temple place and laughed a bit inside. So predictable, so easily manipulated, so...stupid. However, he was much more impressed at the AI. Most of his old teachers would have ignored the grumbling and such, let it pass and stew until it exploded in tantrums or burst of anger. This AI had addressed it front and center, instead of avoiding the issue, and had done it with a sense of elegance. He was impressed.

As Leonid walked into the room he felt the air synthesizers instantly click on, and the building cooled. There was no trace of desks than Leonid thought should have lined the room, but a tray with crackers and milk cartons had been laid out at the corner of the space. Leonid walked towards it and grabbed his share, and decided to force himself to eat slowly after seeing another kid Warf down his food then look about confusedly, realizing that due to his lack of restraint he now had nothing. Leonid was tired, but he kept his eyes open and his mind alert as he scanned the room and analyzed his surroundings. Leonid looked down at his wrist absent mindedly and realized he had a stopwatch from his old home their. Cool. He set it then promptly forgot about it.

Déjà stood at the end of the room, and began speaking to the assorted class.

"Your first lesson today is the Battle of Thermopylae, a battle thousands of years ago. It is one of the most famous battles in history, one that has been retold for hundreds of years."

One child raised his hand.

"Yes?" Déjà asked sweetly.

The child, the name of Fredrick-104 on his tunic, answered her.

"Why is it famous?" asked the Fredrick, and Leonid searched his memory in an attempt to figure out the answer before the teacher.

"It is famous for its participants. Three hundred of the finest warriors, Spartans from ancient Greece, held back thousands of Persian infantry in a narrow mountain pass known as Thermopylae."

With an audible pop dozens of hologram projectors came online. A miniature countryside enveloped the classroom, and Leonid made his way around imaginary mountains and let a holographic see lap at his combat boots. Thousands of miniature soldiers marched towards a Thermopylae, tiny swords, shields, and spears at the ready. 300 Spartans stood at the entrance to Thermopylae, shields and spears already prepared in what Leonid knew was a phalanx. A battle erupted, as the two sides clashed, and the Spartans fought the Persians for every centimeter of ground at Thermopylae.

"The Spartans were the best warriors ever to live. They trained from childhood, and were a hundredfold more skilled and determined than any one of these Persians." said Déjà

Something clicked in his mind, and memories from the night before flooded his mind. The lady saying they were “...hereby conscripted into the UNSC special project, codenamed SPARTAN II." And Déjà said that the Spartans of ancient Greece had trained from childhood....it all clicked.  The lady's speech, her talking to them about being trained; Leonid knew that they would become what Déjà said the Spartans of Greece were "the finest soldiers in the world".

The Spartans slaughtered the Persian spearmen without remorse, killing hundreds, then thousands, and taking few casualties of their own. The Persians turned tail and fled, or either fell to the Spartans as they attempted to attack the invincible phalanx. Finally, after minutes of mop-up, the Spartans stood victorious, Persian bodies covering the ground. As the other children cheered and pleaded for a repeat, Leonid glanced at the stopwatch on his wrist. It had been almost two hours since the battle began. He hadn't realized the time had gone by.

"That's all for today." Déjà said "We'll continue tomorrow and I'll show you some wolves. Now it's time for you to go to the playground."

A murmur swept through the room, and Leonid's heart dropped. Great, it was nothing different from his old school, the same old stupid swing sets and monkey bars and—Leonid caught himself. Maybe, like the rest of this place, it would be different. Maybe it too would be better. These classes were certainly more interesting than those at his old schools. Leonid saw the others run out of the room in excitement, but walked out himself. Better to save his energy. At the bottom of the steps, Mendez and the other instructors were waiting.

"Time for the Playground." Mendez shouted. "It’s a short run. Fall in."