Chapter (25) Project: Chimera

(3rd POV)

Margaret shuffled the papers regarding the classified Spartan-III into a neat stack before speaking, "Before we explain Project: Chimera. It would be best to give an account of the subject centered around the project. For that, I have brought in Dr. Naomi Hunter, who has had the most interactions with the Spartan-III designated as Agent…Texas," As Parangosky finished her thought she began to adopt a confused expression at the designation she relayed aloud.

It wasn't just Admiral Parangosky but everyone in the room was showing confused looks at such a strange designation. Most combat classifications for Spartans were either their service numbers, their name, or in rare instances something they are known for such as 'The Master Chief' John S-117. Though they may have had some strange names like Pyro and Spectre, having someone named after a state on Earth was a first.

So it was understandable that everyone in the room was confused….except Naomi Hunter and Kurt S-051. Instead, they both had a small nervous sweat and looked at each other trying to get one of them to either explain or take the fall. This action didn't go missed by the other people surrounding the table and they gestured for one of them to explain.

Eventually, Kurt wised up and cleared his throat indicating he was going to speak. Once he did, Naomi's face was accompanied by a smug expression of victory in their silent argument.

*cough*

"Well he was given such a designation…because of Dr. Hunter's suggestion. So it would be best for her to explain the reasoning behind it," said Kurt formally and calmly

Naomi's expression turned to a look of shock and betrayal but was immediately covered by the icy glare she shot at Kurt.

"…Though it was my suggestion, me and Kurt agreed upon the designation. The reasoning behind our…unique choice was partly due to foresight that I thought up during the process," said Naomi carefully

Hearing this everyone in the room was intrigued, "Before I continue with my justification I believe it would be best to begin with his personal history," she spoke before straightening a report in front of her and clearing her voice once again.

"Samson Reese was born on January 30, 2530, in the colony of Jericho VII and in the city of Damask. He grew up the same as every other child but around the age of 4, he began showing signs of a much higher maturity and ability to learn. His parents were farmers until they perished during the glassing of Reach in 2535,"

She paused before continuing, "It was at this time that I first encountered him ironically. He was surprisingly one of the refugee orphans that was aboard the ship I was doing the screening tests for Beta company. While drawing blood for the test I tried to also evaluate his psyche to make sure I was not about to recruit a sociopath," she paused again gathering her thoughts about their initial encounter.

"…He was difficult, to say the least during the test. He didn't say much about himself and nothing major about his thoughts every other answer he gave was also a short or one-worded response. Eventually, I was done and moved on continuing to gather samples. It wasn't until weeks later that I had all the tests done and had comprehensive reports on all of the possible genetic markers. Both Ackerson and I had discovered the magnitude of his genetics at the same time," she stopped to take a sip of water quenching her remaining nerves.

"He was a genetic freak simply put," her statement made multiple pairs of eyes widen in the room, "Even if he was screened for the Spartan-II project he would eclipse all of the candidates with his pure genetics. An outlier among outliers was what we concluded that we had discovered. Colonel Ackerson ordered me to watch over him and get him into the program as quickly as possible and even went so far as to make me his primary guardian. Which required me to be his caretaker even throughout his training," she was interrupted by Admiral Hood interjecting a question to her last statement.

"And why was it that he decided to do that? To my knowledge no other Spartan has had such a luxury, and what has your relationship been," asked Lord Hood looking at both Ackerson and Naomi. To which Ackerson just snorted and looked at Naomi telling her to explain his reason.

"Because of the absurdity that is his genetics, the Colonel was understandably wanting to make sure that Samson was not going to be lost. Therefore he saw the similarities between our familial situations as well as my expertise and experience with him and decided to put me onto the task…To which I am thankful for I had at the time been missing my parents due to their deaths from the Covenant... My siblings are also estranged and though neither of us opened up to each other immediately I can say that it is like having the brother I always wanted…but that's not the purpose of this meeting. Does that satisfy your question?" answered Naomi truthfully before posing her own question. Admiral Hood responded with a small smile and a nod.

"Next would be his stint of training that I was in charge of," said Kurt taking over the role of summarizing Sam's history, " There is not too much to say about Sam. He was able to adapt and learn better than anyone I have ever seen before including John S-117 and Fred S-104. He had a talent in everything relating to combat whether it be knife fighting, hand-to-hand combat, or shooting skill he had it in spades. Especially his shooting skill, before his augmentations he could almost outshoot everyone in Alpha Company. After augmentations, I would say he would at least give Linda a run for her money when it comes to a shooting competition, but I have only seen him shoot a couple of times after his enhancements. All in all, he excelled in all other aspects of training and is verifiably the best pilot in the UNSC as you can see according to the report. The only thing that he was a complete failure at was the driving school strangely…"

After Kurt gave his account of Samson's training all members of the council were speechless except Parangosky who was informed about these feats every step of the way. They were all shocked that such a person existed and during this time. Though a person with talents like the ones described could exist it was highly improbable that it would be during this time. Franklin Mendez was the most baffled by what Kurt said.

Mendez knew that Kurt wasn't one to exaggerate and would tell it how it is. Hell, he even trained him and the other Spartans that Kurt just compared this freak with. Still, he was skeptical of what Kurt had said not because he didn't trust him, but because of the sheer magnitude of said claims. He was going to interject until Margaret Parangosky spoke up clearing any thoughts of unbelief.

"That is consistent with reports. According to Petty Officer Miranda Keyes, he has killed between 1000 to 2000 insurgents in the past 9 months. These numbers are difficult to determine due to being unable to uncover all bodies and the helmet cam not capturing the kill for certain. He has destroyed and sabotaged multiple high-priority Covenant targets on the border. Including fuel depots, grunt breeding centers, and he even knocked out a Covenant stealth ship single-handedly. In total he has accomplished 43 missions," Parangosky calmly stated with no change in expression.

*tweet*

Asher whistles at the short but impressive record. Everyone else had the same thoughts in regards to B-312's service. A couple of minutes pass so that the shocked members of the council digest and calm down until Naomi finally explains her reasoning (lie) for why she gave him the designation Agent Texas.

"Now back to the original question I suggested Texas as his designation not only because of his background as a farmer. I had seen reports and had heard what Kurt said about his abilities during training and began to brainstorm a name that could cover his classified file but could also be used as a name that the UNSC and its citizens could rally behind. Something similar to 'The Master Chief'. He also has a bit of a Southern draw and Texas is one of the most popular places on Earth," Naomi finishes her explanation, and the spotlight returns to Parangosky the ONI head.

"Now that all the context has been displayed Colonel Ackerson will explain the proposal he named Project: Chimera," said the Admiral.

Colonel James Ackerson, who had adopted a bored expression during Kurt and Naomi's explanation, sits back up straight and calmly begins to describe the project, " To begin with Project: Chimera's goal is to create the ultimate super soldier. Something far surpassing even the Spartan-IIs in capability, a weapon like no other. A force that is incorruptible, unbeatable, and unyielding a single soldier that with support can turn almost any battle around into a winning one. I believe the name was causing a bit of fear between all of you that we would be using other genetic material to splice into his already existing DNA,"

"None of you have to worry about making a half-human half-alien abomination. Even if we weren't in a war against The Covenant the changing of his DNA in that regard would have little to no extra effect when compared to pre-existing augmentations. Looking at the reports the Spartan-IIs have shown comparable or even higher strength than their alien counterparts,"

"Instead we will be merging the drugs and methods of augmentation used in all 3 Spartan programs. The plan of said augmentations was first to prepare his body while younger with precursor drugs and some growth-enhancing supplements in order to increase his aging. Then by age 12 if the forecast run by our programs were correct he would undergo the Spartan-III augmentations first. It would again prepare his body for the second step which would be a combination of the Orion project and Spartan-II enhancements. Though aging would theoretically make his body less capable of adapting, we have found that he does not have such a weakness. Also, we worried that he could have some deformed muscle mass if he did not increase muscle length before the main augmentation,"

" For anyone else, this would be a death sentence. Just the creation of muscles alone would cause enough pain to shatter someone's mind instantly, and their body would never be able to accept and operate with so many augmentations. Therefore this will only work for the individual spoken about previously. His genes cannot be recreated and they self-destruct as soon as they exit his body as an adapted defense mechanic. However, those same genes will be the only thing that will allow him to not only take in all of the enhancements," he paused briefly before looking around at everyone at the table.

"They will also allow him to thrive and surpass them,"

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Here it is the promised second chapter....I am tired as fuck.

So this chapter explained a lot about the project and its goals. It also went over the Mc's history and basically provided the reason for so much secrecy and importance placed on him.

Honestly I might rewrite this chapter if everyone's response is REEEEEEE. But I am gonna need a day or two.

No chapter tomorrow I have to go to therapy...I forgot to say that I have had a hip problem but that's neither here nor there. I also have to go be a Paul Bearer at a family friend's father's funeral. Also neither here nor there.

I think that's it I hope you all sleep well and I will See You Star Side.