"Been infantry," Matt answers. He knows what it's like to be in that grinder. How important communication is. He doubts Mendez knows that. Knows Kurt would from what parts of his files that his brother would have been cleared for. "Teamwork survives."
Still, Kurt's words get Matt's attention. He's so lucky they are in public where he can't smack Kurt upside the head for being too hard on himself. He does kick Kurt under the table. Nope. No self-pity. Drive to do better is more useful for everyone.
"Use designation 'III' here?" he asks.
He knows from what he's been read in that it's official. But he's curious as to whether it's something the kids themselves have heard.
That earned him a curious look from the Chief. "Really? That where you ended up then?" It was probably the first personal question Mendez had ever asked him. When Kurt had shown up with Matt and the brazen idea he was going to voluntarily kidnap him into their little black bag operation, the old soldier hadn't been without his reservations.
But he recognized that having another set of experienced hands, especially Spartan wasn't without it's merits. Sure, Matt had washed out of the program because of his body's inability to handle the augmentation procedures but Mendez had known he would be at the very least, a capable soldier.
Of course, not ever soldier had what it took to teach.
Kurt winced a little at the sharp kick against his ankle from underneath the table but doggedly continued to chew on his piece of Salisbury steak. "We just call them Spartans. ONI's the ones who worry about numbers." He said after he swallowed his bite and reached for the mug of coffee he'd poured for himself.
"Every class has their own internal designations. This time around, we're using various weapons for fire teams. Betas were military phonetics. So you've got your Fire Team Katana, Fire Team Saber and the like." Mendez explained. "I'm sure you've noticed the fact that all the kids are G designations before their Spartan tag. Just like Tom and Lucy are Tom-B292 and Lucy-B091 respectively. That's just more ONI bullcrap book-keeping. Cause they knew we might have repeats of first names throughout the various classes."
Good, Matt didn't need to have that whole concept that these kids weren't as good. They were just different. So he nods his approval at that comment.
"For a while," he confirms to Mendez. Which of course says there is plenty of time that didn't get accounted for like that. "Punched a Sangheili head off once."
Kurt and Mendez both would have had something to say to anyone who tried to say the Spartan-III's weren't as good as their predecessors.
"Hn, good." Was all the grizzled old soldier had to say on that apparently.
Kurt was steadily making his way through his entree and had moved onto the reconstituted freeze-dried mashed potatoes. While Matt and the Chief continued to talk he moved the pudding cup off of his tray and slid it over towards Matt's tray instead. "Are you thinking of just randomizing the order or are you thinking of experimenting with different types of personalities and specialties?"
He asked his brother in between bites of those truly mediocre, gritty potatoes.
"Very well, I'll have Endless Summer draw up a randomized training program. I'm sure he'll be thrilled." The sarcasm in Kurt's voice wasn't lost on Mendez who scoffed to himself.
Onyx's newest smart AI was nothing like hie predecessors and was generally a pain in the ass to deal with. But it had been installed on Onyx to help them train the Gammas and so help him, the AI would do its duty. Even if there was a part of Kurt that regretted the fact that Deep Winter had been retired from service if only because he had been much easier to deal with and seemed to actually care about the fate of the III's.
"Ponce," Matt declares the AI. FILSS was better, and he knew she wasn't Smart AI. Which made him wonder why the whole mess was what it was. Ship AI, he'd heard a bit of. Had theories there.
"But sooner better."
Give them a few days to think about their failure before the second.
"That might be too generous but he is necessary for the day to day running of the camp and our training program." Kurt jerked one shoulder up in a shrug and finished the last few bites of food left on his tray.
"I agree, tomorrow though we'll gather the troops and we can explain to them why they failed so miserably in attacking you and how important communication is within a team."
Mendez grunted quietly and looked vaguely grumpy about the whole thing.
Mendez was just a cantankerous old goat though it wasn't their suggestion that he necessarily disagreed with but rather the amount of finagling they had to do to in order to finish out the Gamma's training before Ackerson came down on Kurt like a bag of bricks.
"I got that, son, and don't necessarily disagree with you. It's just we're already making heavy weather trying to get these kids trained by the deadline ONI has graced us with."
"We'll make it up somehow, Chief. Hopefully, this won't take more than a week or so to iron out the wrinkles in their team composition."
Matt himself was working though his food a bit slower, until he had himself down just to the three things of pudding. He rushes through two of those, and takes the last one as a slow final touch to his meal. Probably not good for him, but he didn't care. It was worth it.
"Should have faith in you both," Matt counters, hardly amused at the idea. "Not mindless tools."
Kurt and Mendez both shared a frown that spoke whole volumes of unstated commentary.
"Ackerson is..."
"He's a right son of a bitch. ONI to the fucking core and he might be behind the Spartan-III program but I don't rightly know why since he obviously doesn't value their lives." Mendez put in roughly, not one to mince words.
"In his eyes, it's the cost of war, of the survival of humanity." Kurt added softly. "He doesn't like the fact we've been expanding our training a year more with each class. But it's obvious they need that training."
Mendez had just gotten more blunt in the ensuing years and thankfully for him, Kurt seemed to accept and welcome that plain-spoken manner.
"There's too many CO's like that in this war." Kurt said with a dark look on his face. The mention of John seemed to lighten his mood a little bit thought.
"I have faith in John and the rest of our brothers and sisters out there. Especially Linda." Of course he had faith in her, she had been Green team first after all.
"Green team to end the war," Matt mumbled, raising his water in a quiet salute to Linda.
Not that Kurt wasn't bleeding for that same purpose, just in a different way. At least Linda hadn't turned up MIA yet. That... that would probably kill Matt from pain alone. It had been hard enough to lose Kurt.
"Always, can't let Blue Team win when it really counts." Kurt agreed and shot Matt a conspiratorial smirk because they might be forty years old but some things just never got old. And inter-team rivalry was one of them.
Mendez just rolled his eyes heavenward in exasperation. "You two are gonna set a bad example for the Gammas with talk like that."
"Nonsense, a little competitive spirit is healthy." Right a little competitive spirit indeed. If it was one thing that seemed to breed true in all Spartans was they were competitive as hell.
"I don't see them here," Matt counters. But Mendez isn't wrong. See, the thing is that these SPARTANS will be working in mass, rather than as units. So it's important that they work together. Competitive spirit isn't as good here.
"I know, I know, I just forgot how ridiculously competitive you II's could be." The old solider snorted and shook his head but there might have been a subtle softening to those dark eyes.
"Absolutely. Kurt, I'll deal with Endless Summer, why don't you make sure Matt there gets his wounds looked at. Another thing I remember is the propensity for II's to try and downplay their injuries." This was said with an arch look as the chief climbed to his feet.
"I have no idea what you're talking about, Chief. But I appreciate you taking point on this." Kurt said with a completely straight face.
"You made us that," Matt shrugged off Mendez's comment.
Really? His eyes roll. How does Matt even begin to explain that he's perfectly fine. What would be the point of downplaying injuries? He's learned a lot over the years about how an injury can do you in. A black eye is nothing.
"Thanks," he says, because all he cares about is getting the new SPARTANs ready.
"Bah," Mendez scoffed as he climbed to his feet so he could get starred with drawing up the list they would implement.
"His bark is worse than his bite." Kurt said with both humor and affection in his voice. "A realization I only came to after I was an adult, mind you. And one I hope our Gammas dob't figure out any time soon."
"Perhaps," Matt says softly. The issue is that he doesn't know how to approach Mendez. But he's going and that leaves Maine to finish his pudding. Then his attention goes back to Kurt.
"Don't imagine they will. I'm old and I have only your word to go on."
"That's okay, you have time." While Matt worked on his pudding cup, Kurt sipped at his coffee slowly. It was black and tasted vaguely burned from sitting on the heating element for too long but he'd long since stopped noticing.
"It behooves us to have the Gammas know he can put the fear of God into them."
It's a useless dismissal, but Matt makes it anyway. He's stopped believing in higher powers. Religion was supposedly what drove the Covenant to do this to them. Granted, Matt would still exist without that, because the Insurrection was why they were made.
War on humans. Who knew what would happen with that afterward.
"It's a turn of phrase only, Matt." Kurt snorted, mildly bemused his brother had such strong convictions when it came to religion. Like the rest of the II's he'd been raised without any hint of a religion and he was a staunch atheist as well but he didn't feel the need to go around proclaiming "God" was dead.
Maybe that was how he was raised, but there was a lot Matt had experienced since then. And humans that still held to religion were a bit maddening. There was nothing out there to save them. Just themselves.
"Especially then," Matt agrees. Finished with his food he rises to his feet. Time to get a bit of a workout in before heading off to sleep. Probably a run. He could really use a run. A real run.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2019-02-10 05:21 am (UTC)Still, Kurt's words get Matt's attention. He's so lucky they are in public where he can't smack Kurt upside the head for being too hard on himself. He does kick Kurt under the table. Nope. No self-pity. Drive to do better is more useful for everyone.
"Use designation 'III' here?" he asks.
He knows from what he's been read in that it's official. But he's curious as to whether it's something the kids themselves have heard.
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Date: 2019-02-10 05:38 am (UTC)But he recognized that having another set of experienced hands, especially Spartan wasn't without it's merits. Sure, Matt had washed out of the program because of his body's inability to handle the augmentation procedures but Mendez had known he would be at the very least, a capable soldier.
Of course, not ever soldier had what it took to teach.
Kurt winced a little at the sharp kick against his ankle from underneath the table but doggedly continued to chew on his piece of Salisbury steak. "We just call them Spartans. ONI's the ones who worry about numbers." He said after he swallowed his bite and reached for the mug of coffee he'd poured for himself.
"Every class has their own internal designations. This time around, we're using various weapons for fire teams. Betas were military phonetics. So you've got your Fire Team Katana, Fire Team Saber and the like." Mendez explained. "I'm sure you've noticed the fact that all the kids are G designations before their Spartan tag. Just like Tom and Lucy are Tom-B292 and Lucy-B091 respectively. That's just more ONI bullcrap book-keeping. Cause they knew we might have repeats of first names throughout the various classes."
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Date: 2019-02-10 05:29 pm (UTC)"For a while," he confirms to Mendez. Which of course says there is plenty of time that didn't get accounted for like that. "Punched a Sangheili head off once."
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Date: 2019-02-10 06:31 pm (UTC)"Hn, good." Was all the grizzled old soldier had to say on that apparently.
Kurt was steadily making his way through his entree and had moved onto the reconstituted freeze-dried mashed potatoes. While Matt and the Chief continued to talk he moved the pudding cup off of his tray and slid it over towards Matt's tray instead. "Are you thinking of just randomizing the order or are you thinking of experimenting with different types of personalities and specialties?"
He asked his brother in between bites of those truly mediocre, gritty potatoes.
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Date: 2019-02-10 08:36 pm (UTC)"Randomize. Make them think on their feet. Communicate. No one from same team though. AI could manage. When done, back to their fireteams."
He isn't breaking them up. He's teaching them to talk, like he had to learn with Freelancer.
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Date: 2019-02-10 08:59 pm (UTC)Onyx's newest smart AI was nothing like hie predecessors and was generally a pain in the ass to deal with. But it had been installed on Onyx to help them train the Gammas and so help him, the AI would do its duty. Even if there was a part of Kurt that regretted the fact that Deep Winter had been retired from service if only because he had been much easier to deal with and seemed to actually care about the fate of the III's.
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Date: 2019-02-10 10:01 pm (UTC)"But sooner better."
Give them a few days to think about their failure before the second.
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Date: 2019-02-10 10:53 pm (UTC)"I agree, tomorrow though we'll gather the troops and we can explain to them why they failed so miserably in attacking you and how important communication is within a team."
Mendez grunted quietly and looked vaguely grumpy about the whole thing.
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Date: 2019-02-10 11:55 pm (UTC)"Communication issues," he says. This is why you do it, this is why it's important. "Almost died. Got here, good. But otherwise? Bad."
Gets people killed, and you need to deal with that.
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Date: 2019-02-11 01:06 am (UTC)"I got that, son, and don't necessarily disagree with you. It's just we're already making heavy weather trying to get these kids trained by the deadline ONI has graced us with."
"We'll make it up somehow, Chief. Hopefully, this won't take more than a week or so to iron out the wrinkles in their team composition."
"You're the boss."
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Date: 2019-02-11 02:17 am (UTC)"Should have faith in you both," Matt counters, hardly amused at the idea. "Not mindless tools."
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Date: 2019-02-11 02:49 am (UTC)"Ackerson is..."
"He's a right son of a bitch. ONI to the fucking core and he might be behind the Spartan-III program but I don't rightly know why since he obviously doesn't value their lives." Mendez put in roughly, not one to mince words.
"In his eyes, it's the cost of war, of the survival of humanity." Kurt added softly. "He doesn't like the fact we've been expanding our training a year more with each class. But it's obvious they need that training."
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Date: 2019-02-11 02:52 am (UTC)"Sounds like old CO," he observes softly. But he won't say more on that.
"War needs to end. Faith in John."
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Date: 2019-02-11 03:14 am (UTC)"There's too many CO's like that in this war." Kurt said with a dark look on his face. The mention of John seemed to lighten his mood a little bit thought.
"I have faith in John and the rest of our brothers and sisters out there. Especially Linda." Of course he had faith in her, she had been Green team first after all.
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Date: 2019-02-11 04:24 pm (UTC)Not that Kurt wasn't bleeding for that same purpose, just in a different way. At least Linda hadn't turned up MIA yet. That... that would probably kill Matt from pain alone. It had been hard enough to lose Kurt.
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Date: 2019-02-11 04:55 pm (UTC)Mendez just rolled his eyes heavenward in exasperation. "You two are gonna set a bad example for the Gammas with talk like that."
"Nonsense, a little competitive spirit is healthy." Right a little competitive spirit indeed. If it was one thing that seemed to breed true in all Spartans was they were competitive as hell.
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Date: 2019-02-11 08:29 pm (UTC)"So, it's possible to do it? The fight I want?"
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Date: 2019-02-11 10:21 pm (UTC)"Absolutely. Kurt, I'll deal with Endless Summer, why don't you make sure Matt there gets his wounds looked at. Another thing I remember is the propensity for II's to try and downplay their injuries." This was said with an arch look as the chief climbed to his feet.
"I have no idea what you're talking about, Chief. But I appreciate you taking point on this." Kurt said with a completely straight face.
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Date: 2019-02-11 11:55 pm (UTC)Really? His eyes roll. How does Matt even begin to explain that he's perfectly fine. What would be the point of downplaying injuries? He's learned a lot over the years about how an injury can do you in. A black eye is nothing.
"Thanks," he says, because all he cares about is getting the new SPARTANs ready.
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Date: 2019-02-13 07:07 pm (UTC)"His bark is worse than his bite." Kurt said with both humor and affection in his voice. "A realization I only came to after I was an adult, mind you. And one I hope our Gammas dob't figure out any time soon."
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Date: 2019-02-14 01:32 am (UTC)"Don't imagine they will. I'm old and I have only your word to go on."
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Date: 2019-02-14 05:07 am (UTC)"It behooves us to have the Gammas know he can put the fear of God into them."
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Date: 2019-02-14 06:21 pm (UTC)It's a useless dismissal, but Matt makes it anyway. He's stopped believing in higher powers. Religion was supposedly what drove the Covenant to do this to them. Granted, Matt would still exist without that, because the Insurrection was why they were made.
War on humans. Who knew what would happen with that afterward.
"Only SPARTANs to be afraid of these days."
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Date: 2019-02-14 06:43 pm (UTC)"Especially if you are the Covenant."
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Date: 2019-02-14 06:49 pm (UTC)"Especially then," Matt agrees. Finished with his food he rises to his feet. Time to get a bit of a workout in before heading off to sleep. Probably a run. He could really use a run. A real run.
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