New Equipment

John walked down the hallway, making his way toward the gym. He'd just come from the Spartan barracks where he'd shown the armor to most of the Spartans that had been there, but he'd been told that some others were in the gym training. They'd all been prepping themselves for the upcoming difficult mission. John still wasn't comfortable with the lack of information they'd been given, but with his new armor and with a smart AI to help them it seemed like they might have better chances.

"I think so far things are going well." The AI, Cortana, wasn't actually in his armor at the moment but she had tapped into his suit's systems to communicate with him. John had been introducing her to the Spartans to make them more comfortable around her. "Over all they seem to like me."

"It's important that they feel comfortable." John wanted to be sure that they could trust the AI to do her job. They'd never needed a smart AI to do anything for them so it would be a new adjustment for his soldiers. "The ones I'm heading to are the most important. Blue Team."

"I am looking forward to meeting your inner circle. As long as it doesn't turn out you're all werewolves," Cortana joked.

"Werewolves aren't real," John stated. He didn't know what she was talking about. Spartans may be legends but they weren't mythical creatures. "They're my most trusted teammates and the people I go into combat with the most. So it's critical that they can trust you." All Spartans in some way looked to Blue Team, and John would be relying on his team the most during the upcoming mission.

"It was a joke, Master Chief. You should learn how to relax," Cortana commented lightly. John kept his silence, knowing that how he relaxed wasn't something he particularly wanted to share with the AI. There was simple meals sitting with his team, reaching a planet that wasn't under attack by the Covenant, or one of the rare quiet moments he got with Kelly. Those were when he was relaxed, but he didn't think and AI would understand how that was relaxing. "My, you really do think a lot." There wasn't even a pause before Cortana moved on to her next thought. It was something inhuman, how quickly her attention shifted but she acted like it was nothing. "It is very interesting to watch them. It seems that Spartan zero-five-eight is a part of the team but at the same time not. I'm not surprised though that Spartan one-zero-four is beating Spartan zero-eight-seven in their sparring match. His records show him as being very skilled in hand-to-hand combat."

"Fred is only doing well because Kelly's letting him." John knew his Blue Two well enough to know she was not only slowing herself, but probably letting Fred get in hits from time to time.

"So you say. They both seem quite focused on the fight, but Spartan one-zero-four is quite clearly doing better. He is clearly on the offensive and leaving no openings," Cortana informed him. John didn't argue, knowing that she couldn't know the truth of the situation as she didn't know Kelly or Fred. Though that wasn't her concern, it was his and he knew his team well.

The door to the gym opened and John looked across the room to where Fred was sparing with Kelly. Kelly was batting away every strike but John could see openings that Kelly could easily exploit at full speed. But as she had obviously slowed herself down for the match, she couldn't use them. Linda was sitting to the side, watching the fight with Will and Joshua sitting beside her. James was cleaning up the weight area but stopped when John entered. He stared at the armor and walked over. John met him half way and came to a stop so that James could look over the armor. The other man examined him and John held out his arms a bit so that James could see the full extent of the new equipment.

"You always get the best stuff first," Linda commented as she moved over toward John and James. The rest were following her across the gym to come over and inspect the armor as well. "Just once I'd like to be given the newest gear first."

"Well if they make a new sniper rifle you'll be sure to get it first," Will joked as he reached John. He moved around the back to check out the power pack.

"The plates look bulkier. Do they restrict the movement at all?" Kelly asked. John knew that she hated just about anything that restricted her movements. She only put up with it when it was training equipment or it was him, but in combat it made her unhappy.

"The armor reacts well so you shouldn't have to worry about movement. I think it will even make you faster, as it reacts more fluidly and seems to multiply actions a bit more," John informed her.

"'Cause what we need is for her to be faster," Fred smiled at Kelly. "I'm fairly certain that in the current armor you're about a mile away from making a tornado in your wake." Kelly smiled at the comment but didn't retort. "So have you tested it out? I'd like to know what it can do."

"I tested it right after they put it on. It moves easily, has some newer systems that I didn't get to fully explore but I think will be useful, and it's not that different from moving in the Mark IV. Though it does have one big improvement." John moved his hand to run over his arm and the energy shield shimmered.

"Energy shields?" Will asked, a hint of excitement to his voice. "Like the Elites have?" John nodded and let his hands fall to his side. "Almost seems unfair to give us an advantage like that. The Covenant won’t stand a chance."

"After testing it out I think that it will give us an edge for Red Flag," John admitted. "We'll be far away from proper medical help, so a shield between us and them might minimize injuries and I think it will open new strategic options." He'd thought about what new options he'd have in combat and the more he thought of the armor the more he liked it. Fred's strikes would be stronger, Linda would probably find a way to make the targeting system make her even more accurate, and no sniper would ever be able to get a beat on Kelly every again. It put his mind at ease at least a little.

"So you think that some armor is going to give us an advantage in a mission with no intel, against a mass of enemies that we have no idea how to predict, on enemy ships, and on the enemy home world? That's crazy," Kelly said as she set her hands on her hips. John didn't know what to say, and he couldn't really argue against her. It was sort of crazy to think that armor would turn the tide in a mission that had so much against them. "Unfortunately for the both of us, I like crazy. Get me a set of that armor and let's take down a Covenant home world."

John couldn't help but smile, pleased by her enthusiasm. Though John was fairly sure that with or without the armor Kelly would support any optimism he showed. He made a note to be sure that she got her armor in the first group. "The armors not all we're going to have. I also met the tech expert that we'll be taking with us."

"How big of a snag is that going to cause?" Fred asked.

"It shouldn't cause any." John moved away from the group and to a terminal. The screen lit up and Cortana's avatar appeared. "This is our tech expert."

The Spartans gathered around the screen, curious. "Hello, it's nice to finally meet you all. My name is Cortana and I'll be helping you hack and control Covenant systems. I'm outfitted with all of the best UNSC programing for code breaking, so I should be able to get into anything we come across."

"That's good, it means that we won't have to have a soldier out of combat to run a program to get into doors or into ships," Fred concluded. "That means one more soldier that can be fighting rather than a target, and it means we don't have a ONI tech that we'd have to have a soldier babysit."

"Maybe we do stand a bit more of a chance than we did the other day. Hopefully it will be enough," James commented. "How long until we all get a suit of armor like that?"

"As soon as you can get it," John answered. "I want everyone to get used to wearing the armor as quickly as possible. It's similar to the Mark IV but it's not exactly the same."

"Well then I'm done working out for the day. I'm going to see about getting myself a suit of that." James smiled and turned to move out of the gym.

"I have to say it seems impressive. Though I think I'll want to read up a bit on the specs before we go into combat. How much heat can it stand, how much pressure can it take, and what sort of support systems it has in it." Will seemed eager but understandably cautious about going into combat with a suit he knew nothing for sure about.

"I'll have to get a suit and see if I need to adjust for the targeting system," Linda announced. "I'll get on that right away, Master Chief. Wouldn't want my aim to be off when we're surrounded by enemies and you're counting on me." She smiled and turned to follow James out of the gym, Will following behind her.

"I think that maybe we do stand a bit of a chance," Fred admitted. "Well more of a chance, though it's still going to be a hard fight." He smiled slightly. "I don't envy you at a time like this. Though I should get a suit of that armor. Maybe you'll humor me again, Kelly, and let me helplessly try to hit you while you lower your speed to thirty percent of your actual reflexes."

"Well if this armor is so great maybe I'll have to lower it to ten percent so you can stand a chance," Kelly joked back.

Fred smiled and looked to John. "I'll be ready for the fight when it comes." He nodded and moved out of the gym.

John looked to Kelly who was just staring at him. "You will have to adjust your movements for the increased reaction," John informed Kelly. She was the lone Spartan in the room with him now, though he was aware that Cortana was still there as well, so he'd have to be careful of his words.

"It just looks so bulky. Are you sure that it won't get in the way of a full range of movement?" Kelly reached out but withdrew her hand when she touched the energy shield. "That feels odd."

"It can be turned off," John assured her. "Movement isn't constricted. Anything I can do outside of armor I can do in this armor."

"I can think of one thing you can't do while in armor." Kelly countered, smiling slightly. John knew what she was talking about, but as he was aware Cortana was listening, he couldn’t respond the way he wanted to. Kelly's smile fell a bit when he didn’t flirt back and John felt bad about it. He'd have to find a time later when he could spend some private time with Kelly. "I'll be adjusted to the difference in no time, Chief." She turned and left the room, leaving John alone.

"I don't know if I made a good impression. They didn't seem to really talk to me enough to get to know me." Cortana sounded a bit disappointed.

"They didn't show any disapproval,therefor they approve," John corrected. "None of them voiced any concerns about you being a part of the team. They're more focused on the armor because that's what's separating us from injury. They know you'll do your job so they're focused on doing their job," John explained. "Trust me, there's no problem."

"Well they did seem nice enough." Cortana's image on the screen crossed her arms. "You and Kelly seem close."

John frowned, having hoped that the AI wouldn't have picked up on how familiar he and Kelly were with each other. "Kelly is my best friend. I've known her since the first day of training- so yes, we are close." He considered that maybe she was asking these questions just to judge his brain activity when faced with different subjects. He didn't like the idea that she would experiment on him. "I should go see that they all get their armor."

"I'll alert the techs that they should prepare the armor and check up on the other aspects of the mission," Cortana said. John nodded and moved toward the exit of the gym. He'd go and see that his soldiers got their armor and so he could get feedback on any of their concerns or questions.