User:Spartan 501/A Life Stolen/Chapter 8

0100 Hours, April 03, 2525 (Military Calendar)/

ONI Section 0 Prowler Obscure Shade en route

to Deep Space Station #045191

Leonid drifted in and out of sleep. Every muscle, every bone, and every tissue in his body burned like fire, and it was impossible to know how much time really passed. Memories flashed past like vids, translucent and impossible to grasp.

''He stood on a snowy clearing, the roar of a nearby Pelican dropship ringing in his ears. In front of him, a dozen non-uniformed men lay writhing on the ground. Blood from numerous cuts and injuries stained the snow around them a deep crimson red, but Leonid felt no remorse. He was angry; these men had wanted to hurt him, and they had almost succeeded. He grinned brutally and smashed his booted foot into one of their heads; blood spurted from the man's nose, and a sickening crack was heard. The bastards deserved it. Someone trotted up behind him. Leonid spun and saw Sam-034 survey what he had done. Sam frowned, and shot a quizzical look at Leonid.

Leonid only shrugged and replied to the unsaid question "That was fun."''

Abruptly, the scene changed, to an even earlier memory.

''Leonid walked through the empty house, and he heard shouts and screams coming from his parents room. Crashing and banging could be heard through the old fashioned wooden doorway. He didn't much care. His parents never stopped fighting, and he was used to it. He walked to the front of the house, and looked out at the street. Dozens of uniformed children walked up and down it. No, that wasn't right. The children weren't supposed to be wearing uniforms...and they weren't supposed to have the faces of his fellow trainees.

"That's not nice." he said out loud to someone just out of sight. ''

Once again, in a swirl of color and sound, the images and scene changed.

''The knife was light in his hands. The target creature was thirty meters ahead, grazing in the woods at a small bush. The deer had fast reflexes, and Leonid wasn't sure he could beat it. Still, he had to try. Without a whisper, Leonid sprung from his hiding place in the bushes and sunk his combat knife deep into the deer's back. It honked and yelled, and twisted violently. It's legs shot out and his attempted to run, but Leonid flipped onto it's back, and in one smooth move, shifted the knife and cut it's spinal cord. The deer toppled to the ground, now silent, and Leonid leaped from it's back into the underbrush a dozen meters away.

Leonid slowly approached the writhing creature. It looked up at him with large, unblinking eyes, eyes that looked unbelievably sad. Leonid saw something of himself captured in the deers agony, and halted for a moment before jabbing the blade quickly into the animal's skull. He didn't like having to kill the deer, wished he could leave it alone, wished he could leave all of the forest alone, not have to break any of it, but knew he had no choice. The light left the deer's eyes in a millisecond, and Leonid withdrew his blade and began to skin it, and remove chunks of meat. At least he would eat tonight.

He walked slowly away, the blood of an innocent animal on his hands, blood that meant more to him than the blood of any human.''

1500 Hours, April 05, 2525 (Military Calendar)/

ONI Section 0 Deep Space Station #045191

Deep Space

Leonid awoke with a start. For a moment, the white walls around him seemed hazy, and the world seemed to spin. But moments later, things stabilized, and his mental faculties began to restart. The dreams, which had seemed so real, stubbornly refused to leave his mind, so he let them stay for now. Slowly, he scanned the room, taking in his surroundings. He was in a small, boxy room, with smooth organic looking white walls, and a large glass window encompassing one whole wall to the left. However, when Leonid tried to look through it, all he could see was his own face reflected back at him.

He studied himself, and saw several scars all across his face. His hair was darker than it had been. He returned his attention to the rest of the room. Numerous IV tubes and cords were plugged into him in odd places, and an array of medical equipment was off to his right. He laid on a bed that seemed to small, and he couldn't see any obvious exits out of the room.

Leonid assessed himself. Every muscle and bone in his body ached, and his eyes were bleeding slightly. He felt heavier, and the world seemed to be moving slowly. He shook off this feeling and stood up. IV tubes and other equipment yanked free, and Leonid slipped over the side of the bed. He felt unsteady on his feet, like he was in a new, and unknown, skin. Behind him, he heard a hissing sound, and he spun to see the wall slide open and a uniformed man enter the room. To Leonid's surprise, he was taller than the man by a full head and a half. The man regarded Leonid for a moment, then saluted, which Leonid promptly returned.

"Sir!" yelled Leonid as he spotted the man's rank insignia, but the man ignored him.

The man looked down at a data pad, and scanned it's contents.

"Sit." he commanded.

Leonid sat on the bed, and stared at the man. Maybe his unyielding gaze would get him some answers.

"You are SPARTAN-144?" asked the man, and Leonid nodded.

"Yes sir."

"Do you know why your here?" asked the man.

"No sir."

The man smiled.

"Good."

The man stood, and beckoned for Leonid too also.

"Follow me." he told him, and Leonid fell in step behind him.

The man spun on his heel, and the wall hissed open again. Both of them strode through. Leonid followed the man through a maze of hallways, until he finally stopped in front of a doorway. It hissed open, and they walked inside. The room was darkened, and Leonid couldn't see where it ended. The door closed silently, and the man disappeared into the shadows. Leonid heard murmuring from the darkness.

"He's here?"

"Is that the one?"

"He's different than we expected."

Someone hissed, and the chatter fell silent. One voice came from the shadows.

"Leonid-144, formerly part of UNSC Special Project SPARTAN-II, you are conscripted into ONI Section 0 operation: DAGGER. You are to treat everything and anything discussed here as classified."

Leonid stirred. A new project? ONI Section 0? Leonid didn't know there was an ONI Section 0. All he had heard of was Sections I, II, and III.

"Do you understand these orders?"

"Y-Yes." said Leonid, confused.

"Good. This will seem rather sudden, but there isn't time to give you a full briefing.  I'll give you a shortened one.  You are to be Section 0's private enforcer.  Section 0 is charged with internal affairs, and under our orders, you will carry out and execute the assassination of traitors, informants, and rogue agents.  Is this clear?" asked the man in the shadows.

"Yes." said Leonid, grasping his situation.

"You are officially dead. No trace of your living must ever come to light, and you will never receive public credit for your work.  You will live in the shadows."

"I understand." said Leonid.

"Good," said one of the men in the shadows. "Now follow your instructor. It is time for you to recooperate from your augmentations, and you need to begin your extra training."