Fifteen Years Ago

Specialist Kramer slowly turned back towards the man who had struck him. He took slow, deep breaths to control a gradually building rage. His intention to keep this interaction peaceful was quickly fading.

“Do I got yer fuckin attention, you shitbird motherfucker?” The bearded contractor said through heavy breaths, “This is a bigger issue than you could possibly understand!” he began shouting through his helmet.

Kramer nodded slowly, “I understand that if you touch me again, you will die.”

One of the other men in the room moved between the two, turning to the lead contractor. “Ease up sir,” he said quietly as he took his hand to draw Kramers attention to the fact that he was holding a matte black brass knuckle. Turning to Kramer, “This guy is 200 pound boxer, and you didn’t feel this on his hand.”

After hearing this, his temper began to fade as the situation became more clear. “So, you know what that thing was?”

Each of the contractors stood around him nodding.

“And I probably don’t have the clearance yet to be told, do I?” Kramer said slowly.

“I think you just got moved into the ‘need to know’ category my guy” the lead contractor stated.

What followed this event was a meeting, a debrief, a lecture, a stack of nondisclosure paperwork, an additional clearance background check, and a lesson on this power crystal that had been rumored to be a power source but turned out to be a thing that gave great strength and speed to the recipient. Specialist Kramer was the first successful bond with one of these crystals.

For the remainder of his career, Michael was reassigned and sent through martial arts programs, language school, and underwent various tests and activities designed to enhance his combat capabilities.

In addition, he also had to attend required schools and follow the same career track that normal soldiers followed while keeping his power a closely guarded secret. This meant that during tests with graders who had compartmentalized clearance, he could run two miles in a straight line in five minutes and act like he hadn’t run hard. With “normal” and “official” graders and tests, he had to slow it down a bit and keep his scores under 295 so that nobody suspected anything from the guy who used to pass with an average of 195 and 220 on a scale that maxed at 300. He eventually was able to retire quietly from military service as a Sergeant First Class and begin doing the things he wanted to do with his capabilities. Though his retirement paperwork reflected a man who was little more than a staff duty man who was kept in the rear, he knew the truth. And that was good enough for him.