Location: Avery J. Johnson Academy of Military Science
Date and Time: November 15, 2558 – 0500 Hours
The air was sharp and cold as we stood in formation under the dull gray sky, waiting for the instructors to give the day's orders. It was hard to believe that we were already four months into the Spartan-IV training program. Every day felt like a blur of exhaustion, sweat, and constant pressure to be better than the day before. The number of recruits had dwindled again. We were down to around 400 now, each day thinning the ranks as more recruits were pushed beyond their limits.
I stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the others, my breath visible in the frigid air, my muscles sore from the previous day's drills. I'd learned to live with the exhaustion, the pain. It was part of the routine now, a constant companion. But the longer we stayed in the program, the more I realized that this was more than just physical training. It was mental, emotional. They were pushing us to see how far we could go before we broke.
"Listen up!" the lead instructor's voice cut through the morning silence, sharp as a blade. "Today's exercise is going to test every skill you've learned so far. You've been training for this moment, and now we'll see if you've got what it takes to apply it under pressure. You'll be deployed in squads. No direct oversight. The objective is simple: survive."
A murmur rippled through the ranks. No oversight? That wasn't something we were used to. The instructors had always been there, watching, pushing us, correcting our mistakes. If we were on our own, it meant the stakes were higher. Real consequences.
The instructor's eyes swept over us, his gaze cold and assessing. "You will be deployed into the mountains. The terrain is hostile, the conditions harsh. The only thing standing between you and failure is your squad. Use what you've learned. Work together. If you fail—there will be no rescue."
My stomach tightened at his words. We'd faced plenty of challenges before, but this was different. This was a real test. A real mission. And with the numbers already as low as they were, failure meant more than just falling behind. It meant not coming back at all.
I glanced at Hale, who stood next to me, his face set in determination. We had become close over the past few months, relying on each other during the toughest parts of the training. If there was one thing I'd learned, it was that you couldn't make it through this program alone.
Within an hour, we were airborne, being flown into the mountains on the far side of the academy grounds. The transport thrummed beneath us, the heavy sound of the engines filling the small space. No one spoke. The air was thick with tension, each of us lost in our own thoughts, mentally preparing for whatever was coming next.
I watched the terrain below us grow more rugged, jagged peaks rising out of the mist like silent sentinels. This was no simulated environment. The mountains were real. The danger was real.
When we finally landed, the ramp dropped, and we stepped out into the freezing wind. The moment my boots hit the ground, I felt the icy bite of the air against my skin, the thin mountain atmosphere making it harder to breathe. But there was no time to acclimate. We had a mission.
"Stay sharp," I muttered to Hale as we moved into formation with our assigned squad. "This isn't a drill."
"Yeah, no kidding," he replied, his eyes scanning the horizon. "Let's just make sure we all get out of this in one piece."
The squad was composed of recruits I'd worked with before. We knew each other's strengths and weaknesses, and that was going to matter out here. The terrain was unforgiving, the cold seeping into my bones as we began the long march toward our objective.
Hours passed as we trekked through the mountains, the wind howling around us. The conditions were brutal—thin air, freezing temperatures, and steep inclines that made every step feel like a battle. But we kept moving, our minds focused on the task at hand. The academy had drilled it into us—keep pushing, keep fighting, don't stop.
But as the hours dragged on, fatigue began to set in. My legs burned with the effort of climbing, my breath coming in short, sharp bursts. The cold gnawed at my fingers, even through the gloves, and every step felt like it was taking more out of me than the last.
We reached a narrow pass, the rocks slick with ice, and as we carefully moved across, the unthinkable happened. One of the recruits ahead of me—a woman named Torres—lost her footing. She slipped, her boot skidding on the ice, and before any of us could react, she fell, tumbling down the steep slope.
"Torres!" someone shouted, but it was too late. Her body disappeared over the edge, vanishing into the ravine below. The sound of her fall echoed off the mountain walls, leaving us standing in stunned silence.
"Damn it," Hale muttered under his breath, his face pale. "We're dropping fast."
The loss of Torres was a harsh reminder of the stakes. This wasn't a simulation. There were no do-overs here. If you slipped, if you made a mistake, you didn't get back up.
But we couldn't stop. We couldn't let fear slow us down. I could feel the tension in the squad growing, the weight of the situation pressing down on us, but I forced myself to keep moving. There was no time for doubt. We had to focus.
By the time the sun began to set, we had reached a plateau, a small clearing where we could rest and regroup. The cold was brutal now, the wind cutting through even the thickest layers of clothing. We gathered around, huddling together for warmth, each of us silent, lost in our thoughts.
"Anyone else think this is a little more intense than they let on?" Hale said, breaking the silence.
"Just a bit," I replied, rubbing my hands together to try and stave off the cold. "But we knew what we signed up for."
"I didn't think we'd be losing people this quickly," one of the other recruits—Jensen—added, his voice quiet.
None of us did. But we weren't about to say it aloud.
As night fell, the temperature plummeted even further, and we set up a basic camp, our breaths visible in the freezing air. The only light came from the distant stars and the faint glow of the horizon. We had to keep watch, rotating shifts so that someone was always awake, always alert.
I volunteered for first watch, my eyes scanning the dark landscape as the others tried to catch whatever sleep they could. My mind was racing, the weight of everything pressing down on me.
I had come here to become something more. But at what cost? The question gnawed at me as I sat there in the freezing cold, my thoughts drifting to Emily, Lina, and Eli. I missed them more than I wanted to admit.
Would it be worth it? If I made it through this training, if I became a Spartan, would it be worth everything I had to sacrifice? I had promised Emily I would come back, that I would make it through. But after everything I'd seen today, the doubt was there, lurking in the back of my mind.
I shook my head, forcing myself to push the thoughts away. I couldn't afford to doubt myself. Not now. I had made it this far. I wasn't going to quit.
But as I sat there, alone in the cold, I couldn't help but wonder how much more we could take before we broke.