Feb 10, 2356, UHCV Frontier, Alpha Centaury
"Don't die? What did he mean by that?" Henry thought to himself. Then he spotted a man walking out of the same door D.I. Valasquez did. This man was much shorter than Valasquez. He was maybe 5.5ft and had a scary look in his eyes that made Henry's skin crawl. It was the look that a predator gives its prey.
"Vanguard 001, this is going to hurt immensely, but what testing we have completed has shown that you can't be sedated. If we sedate you, two of the implants that you are getting today will kill you instantaneously." the short man that the nurses called doctor said.
"Do I have to do this? I hate pain, doctor." Henry asked.
"Oh, you most certainly do. Whether the buffoon agrees with it or not, it's too late for you kid. Just remember, when you're screaming in pain, this is all the fault of the Altherium Empire." Dr. Lin said while his face was adorning a menacing smile.
"Admiral on deck!" Yelled out a navy man.
Everybody immediately halted what they were doing and turned to face Admiral Williams. "Dr. Lin, I trust that everything is going as it should be?" Williams said while staring looking directly at Henry. To Henry, her stare contained sorrow.
"Yes ma'am, it is. We are about to start the surgery now. Would you like to stay and watch?" Dr. Lin asked.
"I shall indeed stay. I need not remind you what will happen to the kids if you fail us today, right?" Williams asked DR. Lin.
With a gulp, Dr. Lin Replied. "No Admiral, you do not."
"Good, now get to it." Admiral Williams said.
"You heard the lady." Lin yelled as they started the surgery. Henry screamed as they sliced him open. His bones felt hot and then really heavy, suddenly his muscles felt different. Then the worst pain happened they cut open his head. The pain was so bad he couldn't even scream. Henry sat there with his mouth wide open. He felt them put something in the back of his head; then his eyes felt different. A nurse rushed to put a bandage over his eyes, blinding him to the rest of the stuff going on around him. Henry stopped feeling them touching him from behind, and then he heard a loud pop, and his ears hurt. They too felt different. He wanted everything to end he hurt more than he had ever hurt before. The next thing that he felt was them cutting on his neck and doing something in there. He couldn't focus on what the doctor was doing there, because he hurt so much more everywhere else. Henry heard the nurses and doctor clapping, claiming a partial success.
"Bandage him up and get him into the infirmary. We will have to monitor him for the next couple of days; then, he can go planetside for a week of bed rest there." Lin said.
With that, Henry felt himself being placed on a bed and moving away. He felt one last poke, and then he couldn't stay awake any longer.
"Is Henry okay?" Valasquez asked Dr. Lin.
"Vanguard 001 is stable and in the infirmary gunny." Dr. Lin replied.
"Gunnery Sargeant Valasquez, let me make one thing perfectly clear to you. He is not a kid, and after today, he is not human. He is a weapon for us to use in the coming war, nothing more, nothing less. Do I make myself clear?" Williams asked.
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"Perfectly, Ma'am." Valasquez answered.
"As of today, we need to switch him to a new routine. He will need fighting, demolition, Navigation, Piloting, and strength training still. However, with the strength training, he will need to be at two, possibly even 3g. We know that this might have been an issue with his overall health before, but the new augmentations require it. Also, don't let any others spar with him until they have the augmentations, and after a certain point, not even you gunny." Lin finished explaining.
"What about his schooling?" Valasquez asked.
"Albert and he are going to be intertwined. While we can't guarantee its success, we are hopeful Albert can upload everything that he might ever need to know." Williams interjected.
"Yes ma'am." Valasquez said with a disturbed look on his face.
"What's the matter, Gunnery Sargeant Valasquez?" Williams asked.
"Well, I just can't help but wonder what else was done to him." Valasquez said.
"As of today, his bones are almost unbreakable; it would take a destroyer falling on him just to fracture it. His hearing and eyesight are improved, his muscles are stronger, and have a much higher ceiling than any human in history, messed with his thyroid that controls growth hormones so he will grow taller before he stops growing in height, and installed Albert in his head." Lin stated, completely unphased by the day's events.
After the revelation had been dropped of the extent of things they did to Henry, the three soldiers sat in silence till Williams dismissed Valasquez.
23 Sep 2359, Alpha, Alpha Centaury
Valasquez stood in front of Henry. He grew rapidly after that surgery, too fast. They had to do another surgery just to fix his thyroid. Now Henry stood at 7.5 ft. However, that is not why Valasquez was in awe of his lone pupil. Henry had gone with Admiral Williams to Earth close to a month ago to retrieve the armor that DMR just finished building. From what Henry was allowed to tell him, the armor had a gravity generator and life support, could do an EVA for hours on end, was bullet and laser proof in the hardened areas, and had shields for where it wasn't hardened, which was hard to distinguish since the armor is solid black. To Valasquez that wasn't even the most outrageous part. It weighed a whopping 1000 kilos.
" Whichever Altherium soldiers have to fight him in that armor have no chance." Valasquez thought to himself.
"Instructor, what are my orders for the day?" Henry asked whilst snapping a crisp salute.
"Well Henry, all that we have on the schedule today is your physical tests. I got word from Williams to let you get adjusted to the suit, and then we are doing them." Valasquez said. Valasquez had quit calling Henry trainee after seeing the video of the surgery and watching him have to relearn how to do everything after it happened. That surgery claimed half of all the kids that underwent it.
"Yes Sir." Henry said as he walked around in his armor. The worst thing about it to Henry was the waste disposal system. It also made a loud thudding noise if he didn't keep the antigrav generator active. Henry wanted to learn how to use the armor without it in case the generator failed.
After close to an hour of Henry walking, running, and lifting it was time for him to perform the physical test both in and out of the armor.
23 Sep 2359 DMR bunker, Alpha, Alpha Centaury.
"His tests are off the charts!" Lin said with excitement in his voice.
"Let me see them." Williams said as she snatched the holopad away from Lin "80Mph while out of armor, 60mph in armor. Can easily lift 3 tons without his armor, in it he can lift upwards of 7 tons, however, that one is inconclusive because the gravity building couldn't handle the strain. His weight is way too high, definitely going to need to be tapped weighing 700 pounds is hard to overlook without a BMI measurement." Williams muttered to herself while trying to hold back the grin forming on her face. "This is the stuff my colleagues are going to need to see." Williams said with a shit-eating grin.
"I take it that he is up to what you hoped Admiral?" Lin said joyfully.
"Not only has he met expectations, but he also shattered them." Williams said still smiling unable to stop. Then her head popped up, away from the holopad, and looked at Lin. Let's do an exercise with him against some Rangers." Williams said and Lin visibly winced.
"Are you sure that's a good idea, Admiral, he does run the risk of killing someone." Lin asked.
"I do we can figure it out on our way to Henry and Valasquez." Williams said as she got up.