[h1][center][color=8dc73f]Training Day Zero[/color][/center][/h1]

[center][color=ed1c24]BRRRzzzzzTTT[/color] [color=6ecff6]"Good morning Spartan, Are you ready for your big day? Your assignment this morning is to do your daily exercises and report to the mess hall no later than 0800 hours. Good luck today."[/color][/center]

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[color=8dc73f]"Goooood morning, Ava,"[/color] Atari chirps as the AI greets her. She had been up since before the alarm, but had been enjoying the peace and quiet of not being surrounded by her fellow Spartans for a precious few moments. With quiet efficiency she smooths out the sheet on her firm mattress and slips into her training gear. A glance at her assignment control pad shows her morning training schedule. [i]Target practice, lockdown paint, hand-to-hand combat, strength training, and a run.[/i] Atari nods, tapping the screen to turn it off while heading to her first exercise.

The room was mostly empty when she started target practice, but by the time she had emptied her third round the sound of a dozen or so other guns firing echoed, accompanied by the clicks of magazines sliding into place and the mechanical hums of the targets gliding across the floor. Atari finishes quickly and moves to the side of the room to clean her rifle.

[color=00a99d]"Have you heard about the meeting in the mess hall? Someone said they're putting us into squads today"[/color] [color=003471]"I know! I wonder how much the ranks are going to matter when it comes to positions?"[/color]

Atari rolls her eyes at the idle chatter of the other Spartans and continues her work. What did the rankings matter to anyone anyway? She had long ago quit looking at them, knowing that her rank would only annoy her further. She already knew she was one of the better snipers in the group of nearly 300 Spartans, and her natural competitiveness meant that she needed no further incentive to do her best than her own drive. With her rifle clean and put away she heads off to finish her morning training.

Lockdown paint had never been her strong point, long range was much more her style, but she completed the exercise without getting hit, which was a win in her book. Hand-to-hand was also not her thing, and her performance in the training likely was bringing down her overall ranking, but with her particular skill-set she knew that she wouldn't be underestimated. It was hard being on the small side as far as Spartan soldiers go, but she had honed in her sniping skills, and excelled in that area to the point where her other training exercises seemed rather unnecessary.

The gym was busy with other Spartans who were rushing to complete their morning training exercises, but Atari took it all in stride, finishing both her strength training and her run with plenty of time for a shower before heading to the mess hall. The walk was quiet, she slipped through the other Spartans and sat down in her chair. There was an excited buzz in the air that was silenced as the superiors explained about the teams and began designating Spartans for the different positions. Her eyes scanned the groups and she stood quickly when her serial number was called.

Already lined up were 179 as Captain, she knew from her past looks at the rankings that he was towards the top. 497 as Brute, she was a giant of a girl, and was tall even for a Spartan. 561 as the Weapons Specialist, he was a wildcard to her. And 259 had taken both Ranger and Pathfinder positions. [i]Overkill much?[/i]

[color=f7976a]"907, Stalker.”[/color] Atari jogged to the front of the room and lined up next to her new squad. She glanced to the side and narrowed her eyes. [i]This is going to be interesting...[/i]