Chapter (39) Experiments, Experiments (9)

(MC Pov)

After a moment or two of pitying the mother with a severe sociability problem, I decided it was time to get back on track. Though it was sad seeing a woman wrongly destroy herself in doing what was right for her daughter and maybe even boyfriend at one time. I, as a 13-year-old super soldier, have many battles to fight to give humanity as a whole a glimmer of a chance of survival, and right now I am a bit short on time.

"Is that all Dr. Halsey?" I asked, regaining my calm voice that may have had an underlying tiredness in its tone.

The good doctor took a brief second and regained her composure. Gone was the previous arrogant and dismissive look she previously held at the beginning of our conversation. Now, she was stern and might have had a small modicum of respect…hopefully.

"No Lieutenant besides the topic we just discussed I have a couple more things that I would like to speak to you about," she paused and looked at me to see if I had any kind of rejection and I nodded for her to go ahead and begin

"First as you already know you are being given a suit of my armor. I am also going to inform you of a general overview of its components so that you can understand them quicker. Because I have decided for you to be the first one to field test a potential upgrade for the MJOLNIR powered armor system," she said before stopping to see if I gave a reaction.

I will admit that I was surprised by this development. I don't remember much being discussed about the Mark IV armor so an explanation of its abilities was welcome, "Go ahead Doctor," I said nodding my head in consent to hearing her description of her second most prized work.

Halsey in return, reached over and pressed a button on a nearby console. Suddenly, Halsey's image was shrunk and now only covered half the screen meanwhile the other half displayed icons and illustrations of my armor and my status. Statistics such as body temperature, power supply, armor health, and oxygen status were all shown and all read nominal and showed no indication of damage.

"As you can see from the details I pulled up, these are some of the aspects that MJOLNIR monitors and boosts. To make a very long story short MJOLNIR consists of two pieces," she said before the other half of the screen changed to display a black undersuit and green metal armor pieces side by side. The black undersuit was shown with a higher brightness than other things on the monitor while the armor piece's light was dimmed down.

"The blackened undersuit or the 'inner shell' is composed of hydrostatic gel, a layer of liquid metal crystals, and a pressure lock. This portion is the most important and the other half of my project. To make another long story short this undersuit allows you to run faster, hit harder, and react quicker just to name a few enhancements," after she concluded her spiel about Mjolnir the brightnesses of the two shells inverted making the armor pieces bright

She then continued, "This is the 'outer shell' is a titanium alloy that is impervious to all small arms fire and can only be pierced by armor-piercing rounds. It along with the under suit work in conjunction to disperse heat from the Covenant energy weapons allowing for you to take multiple plasma bolts and not compromise the armor,"

I interjected asking, "Are there any known soft spots in the armor?"

She adopted a tired look sighing while speaking, "No, at least there shouldn't be. I was quite thorough checking the armor for any of those, but be cautious and try not to get hit as much as possible, especially in space settings,"

I nodded and showed gratitude for her work, "Thank you,"

She waved her hand showing that my thanks was unneeded. She then got back to giving a rundown of the armor. This time the screen highlighted small accessories built into both the undersuit and metal shell, "The last support components that come standardly are a biofoam injector port, magnetic weapon hold strips, low impulse propulsion jets, and a fail-safe detonation system. All of whom are self-explanatory therefore I will not be explaining them, and it would be better for you to experience the propulsion jets alone to grasp it better anyway,"

As she finished, the screen that had the armor changed and what took its place was a paused video. The video showed my suit of Mjolnir Mark IV surrounded by scientists with datapads and many wires running into various ports on the suit.

Halsey then began speaking again, "Now it is time for me to inform you of the experimental enhancement your suit is currently equipped with. As you can see in this video the armor displayed is the very same that you are wearing right now. The upgrade is fairly simple so I doubt I will need to explain much after you watch the video, so please pay attention," Catherine spoke informatively and ended her statement with a more condescending tone, but I was not in the mood to call out her bull shit.

The video then began playing and what followed was something quite interesting. The armor began to change colors similar to the SPI armor; it went through the different primary colors red to blue to more complex colors such as black and cyan. It then began taking up different camouflage patterns from winter to desert to swampland to urban and even showed a pink/purple pattern probably for Covenant bases and ships.

If what was shown in the video was true and the upgrade came with no drawbacks then the Mjolnir armor system would have a major increase to mission range. Spartan-IIs specifically would have more chances and have an easier time when it came to infiltration missions. The armor even though it doesn't yet support an active camouflage ability would still improve stealth by leaps and bounds.

As it stands now the Spartans as a whole except for the headhunter teams were trained for frontline fighting. Their entire purpose was to take the lead charge bringing the fight right up to the enemy. Now however they won't need to stay focused doing head-on assaults and will be able to sneak around the enemy.

"The upgrade that you have already guessed is a new stealth-based paint. The paint itself is actually a thin layer of nanocrystals that when electrons are applied change their lattice structure to mimic different colors," the doctor explained, "We have prototyped the paint and it is so far yielding exceptional results, however, there are still field tests required,"

She then tapped the console a final time and her image regained the full length of the screen, "That is where you come in Lieutenant…Ace' " she looked down at a file reading my code name before looking back at me with her head propped up by her hand, "ONI in its infinite wisdom decided that you would be one of the best candidates to test this experiment. I disagree but was overwritten by a higher authority, now it's your turn to prove me wrong,"

"I see," I spoke and then used my neural interface to use my thoughts to manipulate the suit to change from gunmetal gray to army green. But before I could even form the thoughts internally the suit already shifted perfectly. One of the perks of Mjolnir is that it knows what to do before you even do.

"Thanks for the inspiration Doc you are a glimmering light radiating your everlasting confidence," I say sarcastically changing my armor back to my favorite and the default color gunmetal gray, "Nonetheless I will do my best putting this new suit to use,"

With that, I placed my helmet on my head, "If that is all I will be leaving," I then turned to walk out the door but before I could get more than a couple paces a couple of scientists came in through the door. They were both together carrying a large weapons case. They set the case down before bowing and exiting through the same door.

The words [PROPERTY OF THE OFFICE OF NAVAL INTELLIGENCE] and [WARNING DANGEROUS EXPERIMENTAL WEAPON] plastering the side of the box just somehow drew my attention. I must say I am, always have been, and always will be a sucker for big fucking guns. But so is every man. It's embedded in our DNA just like the love of bacon and a desire to do dumb shit to look cool.

(Author's note: Amen)

*ahem*

Looking back at the screen I was surprised to see that the connection with the good doctor was not cut. On the live feed was the doctor with her fist to her mouth clearing her throat to get my attention.

"I have one more thing before you depart," Strangely she appeared to be uncomfortable and sporting a small… blush? Almost as if she was embarrassed to say whatever she was going to regarding this ominous weapons case.

'This'll be good,' I couldn't help but smirk slightly underneath my helmet. Whatever she was about to say she really didn't want to. Either she was asking for something or she was about to talk about something that she didn't know everything about…. Or both.

"I *sigh* I have a proposal for both of us," she said while rubbing her temple with her right hand before whispering, "I can't believe I am doing this,"

I motioned for her to continue with my intrigue climbing, "I have another experimental weapon that I will ALLOW you to test if you…." She emphasized the word allow, but in the last part she mumbled incomprehensibly and I didn't hear nor understand.

"I am sorry, could you please repeat?"

She sighed one final time and spoke while looking down," You can test the experimental weapon GUNGNIR if you… *sigh* watch out for Miranda during the deployment," she finished with a wry look that appeared as if she had just eaten a lemon.

'. . . . .What?. . . . Did Catherine Halsey THE LEGENDARY Doctor Catherine Halsey just sell out one of her weapons in exchange for me to just babysit her daughter ...Who is older than me,' I sat there frozen trying to make sense of the situation I was in.

'. . . .And not only that, didn't I already promise Commander Keyes to do the same?. . . For free?'

As I came to a realization of the situation I was in the veins in my neck bulged and I clenched my fists. Not in rage of course oh no in an effort to contain myself from letting out a maniacal laugh that would make Emperor Palpatine look like a playground antagonist. To the onlooker, however, this looked like I was attempting to calm myself down before I started breaking things.

Halsey looked a little worried, maybe anxious probably from the suit readings of my vitals and my outward appearance. That combined with her lack of knowledge of my personality and habits led her to the conclusion that I felt insulted. And I wasn't going to correct that misunderstanding.

So I let out a couple of deep breaths and sighed loudly before looking up to the screen and speaking again, "....What is this experimental weapon you are offering?" I said acting like I had just calmed down

My response seemed to brighten her mood as she regained her previous composure before speaking, "Open the case and you will see," she said with a 'Gotcha' look.

Grinning underneath my helmet I opened the weapons case. As the lid came off and I began looking inside I swear it came with a golden glow. I looked into the weapon and my grin only got wider as I inspected my prize.

After inspecting it for a moment I 'made my decision' and turned to Halsey, "You have a deal," I calmly stated.

…

..

.

"Lieutenant this way," what appeared to be a Honey Badger ODST called out to me waving with his free hand while his other hand held a MA5B assault rifle. He was wearing pitch black and white accented ODST armor.

(A pic of a mock Honey Badger)

I followed him through the ship. From what I could remember the plan was to take a transport shuttle from the UNSC 'Heart of Midlothian' to 'The Reliant' and use long-range SOIEVs to drop into the mission area.

So it was strange to see a Honey Badger here when they were supposed to be gathered at 'The Reliant' already, 'Perhaps there are a couple of leftovers and they are hitching a ride with me,' I thought, brushing away my concerns.

I looked down at the equipment that I had picked out for this mission. My primary weapon was a MA5K carbine chambered in 7.62 x 51 mm full metal jacket armor piercing rounds and with an underslung 40 mm grenade launcher. My secondary was an M6D magnum chambered in 12.7 x 40 mm bullets. Finally, I had the secret experimental weapon strapped to my back and was giddy to use it as soon as possible.

(MA5K)

…

..

.

Sure enough, we came upon the doors leading to the destroyer's hangar. What I didn't expect to see upon walking into the hangar was a platoon of Honey Badgers standing at attention in a couple of rows. In front of the platoon were the commanding officer, another Lieutenant, and his assistant that was second in command.

As I approached the group I saw the ODST that was leading me fall into formation and began standing at attention. I was confused, to say the least at the gathering, but seeing the pelican and its pilot also in front of the shock troopers allowed me to come to a realization.

Once I finally walked to the front of the platoon a terminal lit up beside the two commanding ODSTs and Mo Lee's hologram appearance lit up, "Greetings Once again Lieutenant,"

And at that moment there was but one statement running through my mind

'Those Motherfuckers lied to me,'

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Surprise chapter at what is 10 pm for me.

So my upload schedule? Yeah I know its been wack right? So as I had stated before I started my new job and it has sapped my writing time. I work 8-10 hours a day and it's usually hard labor that leaves me dead tired by the end of the day leaving no time to write.

BUT I SHALL NOT QUIT. I may have to slow down uploads but my fellow Americans and fellow humans we shall prevail against the threat of sleep deprivation! I will do my best to get another chapter or two out during this week...hopefully.

Anyway moving on Ghosts of Onyx, Contact Harvest, and Cole protocol books have been delivered. I need to read them... in.. my.. already.. dwindling free time... :(

My depression aside the question of the day is this:

If you had to make one change with 343's direction what would it be? For me it would have to be the continuing of Master Chief's story. At least out of the gate they shouldn't have tackled the ending of Halo 3 instead they should have focused on the LITERAL 30 YEARS OF WAR that happened before Halo Reach. There is so much story to tell there just during the Human-Covenant war. I mean come on another ODST, HeadHunter, or Halo Wars game could easily have made some fucking dough and they just couldn't capitalize on the fucking gold mine that is the Halo lore.

Oh yeah I saw a cool theory that stated that because in the shadows of Reach novel that depicted survivors of Reach's glassing hiding in caves and stuff. Basically someone said that the identity and name of Spartan B-312 and 'Noble 6' is dead but the person is actually still alive and a agent of ONI. Which would be interesting and I am leaning towards believing .

Anyway Song of the day is "Frayed Ends of Sanity" by Metallica

I hope you all have a blessed sleep and a blessed day and I will See You Star Side.