"Nine, Cover off left. Seven, The right... Ready... Move" One of the troopers ordered moments before he kicked the door in. The team of three went straight to clearing their area's,

"Nine, Clear"

"Seven, Clear"

"Room Clear, Moving to the next" The trooper in charge announced as the group stacked up to the next door,

"Same as last, Nine the left, Seven the Right... Ready... Move", Again the trio moved and began clearing the room,

As nine began clearing the left he ran through the steps in his head,

"far left, Pan right, One fluid motion", reaching the end of the room he paused and took a breath, not noticing the figure stepping out of the shadow drenched corner behind him with his blaster at the ready.

"NINE, YOUR SIX" Seven called from across the room, dropping to one knee and firing. The ambushing figure was struck in the head and chest, which sent him to the ground with a thud. As Seven's focus changed from his area to Nines, he failed to see another attacker emerge from his left. But unlike the previous attacker, this one didn't waste anytime and immediately began firing. All of its shots found their mark on Seven, as they struck a loud siren blared and a voice came over the trio's comm's

"Simulation over,"

---------

Nine slammed his head against the wall before taking his helmet off,

"Jager you stupid son of a bitch, Thats the third time so far.... How the fuck did i get stuck with you..." The trooper in the middle of the room shouted as he threw his helmet at Jager.

"Sorry Lieutenant, Wont happen again..." Jager replied, giving the angered Lieutenant a quick salute as he stormed out of the room. Seven slowly got back onto his feet and took his helmet off and walked over to Jager

"Salright buddy, Evaluation isn't for another week...",

Jager looked up at Kyle Sandrosa's smirking face,

"Why the fuck are you so happy?... you got shot." Jager asked as he got back on his feet,

"Why?... Because if you mess up twice more i am not paying my bar tab. for the next year... thats why" Kyle replied giving Jager a slap on the back before adding,

"We cant all be good at this... why do you think they have R-tard Group?"

Jager paused and turned to kyle, "I am not getting thrown into R Group... I'll sooner desert".

Jager picked up the helmet that was thrown at him and headed out of the training room, handing his equiptment back to the quartermaster at the door. The two troopers left the training facility and headed back towards the barracks. As they got closer Kyle stopped,

"Shit, just forgot I had an appointment... Gotta run. Dont beat yourself up"

before Jager could say goodbye, Kyle had already disappeared,

"Where does he keep going." Jager wondered momentarily before he continued on his way.



===========

The next morning Jager and his group stood with B group, D group and R group outside another section of the training facility. A cool chill was in the air which was a welcome change to the heatwave that the training facility had endured for the past month. After what seemed like an hour, Lieutenant Drezel, B groups executive officer, appeared in the doorway to the facility and headed towards them, Followed by the EX-O's of D and R group.

"Alright, Gather around" Drezel called as he approached B group,

"Here's how this is going to work today... The Facility behind me is modeled after a small settler compound, It'll be used in training you in the tactics and maneuvers of associated with fireteams. Each on of you will be paired up with a member from each group, which will form a fire team of three. You've all sat through the lectures and watched the vid's about this... now we're putting you to the test, this will also count towards your evaluation next week, so don't fuck it up" he paused and began staring at Jager,

"When i call your name, Move to the ordinance window and group with your squad." and with that the Lieutenant began calling out names.

One by one B group, which was comprised of about thirty troopers, slowly diminished, as did the two other groups. Jager's name wasn't called till last, by then D group was empty but R group still had two troopers in it.

"Guess this is for yesterday, huh" Jager said as he walked past the Lieutenant,

"Guess this is for yesterday, huh Lieutenant" Drezel corrected

As Jager moved towards the ordinance window he watched his two other members of his newly formed fireteam walking, watching them he remember why they called it R-tard group. The group itself comprised of troopers who had failed basic, some had only failed once... others had failed more then that, or who's entry test scores only just passed, Hence why it was referred to as R-tard group.

Jager sat in the ready room, which was designed to look like the interior of a drop ship, getting suited up. The "Trip", as it was refereed to even though the occupants didn't actually move anywhere, was quiet. The troopers from R group were busy checking their equipment set.

Jager placed his helmet under the seat and took off the piece of Armour that covered the right arm. One of the other troopers was puzzled by this,

"Hey... uh.. Why arent you wearing your helmet?"

Jager paused, "Dont like it... slightly claustrophobic and i enjoy the fresh air"

The two troopers from R group began laughing, one managed to control himself long enough to reply

"So.. So when you get shot in the face and die, then you'll wish you had one on."

Again Jager paused, "Do you really think that plastic buckets gonna stop you from dieing?, Because if you do.. keep wearing it"

before the conversation could continue Lieutenant Drezel's voice came over the "Shuttles" intercom,

"Listen up... Your goal is to get to the other side of the settler's compound, you will need to use all that you've learnt from the lectures and basic to accomplish this... Good luck, You'll be landing in two minutes"


---------


A loud hiss came from the "Shuttles" doors. One of the troopers from R group quickly got to his feet and stood in front of it,

"Your about to see how the boys from R group do buisness..." he said confidently.

The shuttle doors opened and the confident trooper ran out, his weapon at the ready. The other trooper from R group glanced over at Jager, who was still sitting down, then jumped out after his comrade. The pair were taken by surprise at how quiet the compound was, but as they got a few feet away from the shuttle a sniper had caught the confident trooper in his sights. With a quick bang the trooper from R group took a shot to the head, even with his helmet still on it knocked him to the ground and out cold. On hearing this Jager exited the shuttle and got low. The other trooper from R group had panicked and dived behind a solid concrete barricade.

The snipers position was obvious, a guard tower stood on the corner of the compound. Jager slowly made his way along the wall, just out of the snipers line of sight, until he got close enough to throw a stun grenade in. A dull bang emanated from the tower as the grenade went off.

"Snipers down, is your friend okay?" Jager asked the trooper from R group over the Comm,

"ye.. yes, i am fine..." he replied, hearing this Jager radioed command,

"Command this is Echo-9, We've got an incapacitated trooper here, please advise, Over."

"R group i guess. Alright Echo-9 as long as two of your team remain in action you can complete the exercise, But you've got to drag your third member out, Over"

Jager swore under his breath, "Copy command, Echo-9 out."

Jager got to his feet and moved over to the Incapacitated trooper, the other trooper jumped from behind his cover and ran over.

"Your friend, you carry him" Jager ordered, the trooper paused and looked over at Jager,

"If that was you... wouldn't you be dead? he asked, causing Jager to crack a smile,

"No... there stun rounds, and if your not wearing a helmet they aren't allowed to shot you in the head" he said, recalling his conversation with one of the soldiers of Opfor group, who played the "bad guys" in these scenarios. The trooper began to remove his helmet, but Jager stopped him.

"They have been known to miss.... it's better if you keep it on" Jager said, "Uh.. before we move on... you got a name?" he asked

The trooper extended his hand, "Tiel". Jager stared at the hand until the trooper retracted it.

-------


The compound proved to be fairly routine, no patrols, just stationary targets. The pair had made it to within eyesight of the door before they were stopped by a heavy repeater and two snipers. The repeater and snipers werent the problem, it was the fact that neither Jager or Tiel could see him. Tiel placed the unconscious trooper against a wall as him and Jager began formulating a plan.

"This is really a three man job you know...." Jager said, trying to think

"How about we hit the repeater with a grenade, then catch hit the snipers one at a time?" Tiel Suggested, to which Jager only shook his head

"I cant see the other sniper, we could take out the repeater and the other sniper and walk right into a trap... I am not failing this."

The two stood stumped, until A brilliant idea hit Jager

"The first Sniper" he announced

Tiel looked puzzled, "yeah?"

"I head back to the first tower, grab his rifle, find and hit the snipers... then you hit the repeater..." Jager said enthusiastically,

Tiel nodded in agreement, With that Jager raced back to the first tower. There he immediately saw a problem, the ladder was exposed, the moment he began climbing he would most likely be shot. Seeing this he got on the Comm,

"Tiel... When i say, throw a smoke grenade at the Repeater's position."

"Why?" Tiel replied,

"Just do it.... Ready... Now"

Tiel Threw his grenade, missing the position by only a two feet, but causing the repeater's operator to fire wildly in the hopes that he would hit someone. The firing caught both the snipers attention, and as they were distracted Jager scaled the tower and grabbed the weapon off the awake ex-sniper, who gave him a salute.

Jager knew that the hidden sniper was either in the tower across diagonally opposite him, or was hidden on one of the rooftops. Carefully he peaked over the top and began scanning to check for any movement. Within seconds he had spotted the not so hidden sniper who was perched on one of the rooftops, With a quick shot he took care of him then the second sniper in the tower.

"Tiel... Snipers are down, Hit the repeater and lets get out of here" he announced over the comm

"beautiful, Give me a sec" Jager began climbing down the ladder, feeling very confident that he had passed. A loud bang echoed from the repeaters position,

"Tiel, Good job buddy, drag your friend to the exit and lets finish", But Tiel didn't reply. As Jager got to the bottom of the ladder the
the Drezel's voice came over the comm

"Congratulations Jager.... You failed", Jager paused...

"What?"

"There's a reason why they call it R group, Luth" Drezel continued.

"What happened?, did we miss a sniper or something?" Jager asked in confusion,

"No.. you got the snipers, but your friend's concussion grenade missed the slit and bounced off the wall, catching him in the blast and not the repeater" Drezel answered smugly.

A chill ran down Jagers spin, slowly he took of his helmet and ran a hand through his hair. As the situation full dawned on Jager, he throw his helmet against the ground and began swearing at the top of his lungs, After several minutes this the course medic came over the comm

"Echo-9, Can you please vacate the training area with your two teamates, we have to clean up."

-----------

Outside Jager headed back to his group were kyle was there to meet him,

"How did it go?"

Jager looked at Kyle for a moment, "I don't want to talk about it"

Kyle paused, then a smirk appeared on his face, "HA.. Once more and Drink are on you for the rest of the year."

Jager contemplated beating Kyle to death... but decided against it.

"You'll probably get a supplementary pass, After all... you lived didnt you" Kyle said reassuringly,

"well.. Anyway, don't beat yourself up on it.. you'll always have tomorrow to try again" he finished, giving Jager a  slap on the back.

OOC:

Alright, here's your belated grading! A definate pass. A few pointers for the next one though. The length, whilst impressive, isn't particularly necessary. You've always been great with character development but it's not the most crucial component of a spec story despite the fact it makes them easier to read. Following on from that, I'd like some more technical HW information in the next one. I know it's hard in the early stories, but there needs to be something in the posts to distinguish Jager and his training from the everyday run of the mill soldier stuff. Apart from that, a good read, looking forward to the next one.

========

OOC:

Jager Luth
Heavy Weapon specialist
Level 2: Precision marksmanship
Story 1: Vector calculation and Range finding

   

"Target... three hundred twenty five meters... Stationary"

The .308 round fit snugly inside the chamber as it was gently pushed in. The bolt click firmly into place as the Corporal returned his hand to the grip, resting his index finger carefully on the trigger.

"Target... Heading, East to North-West.... Three hundred and Thirty one meters..."

"Ready to fire..." Jager whispered, letting the cross hairs drift casually over his targets central body mass. The wind rustled through the nearby tree's and threw a wave across the grass. Jager quickly compensated for it by shifting his sight's a few millimeter's to the right.

"Target... Stationary... Three hundred fifty two meter's..." his spotter whispered, "Fire when ready..."

Jager waited, slowing his breathing and visualizing where the target might go. It was key that he knew every move the target was going to make before he made it, he was only getting a single shot. Taking a final breath he squeezed. The SLAR let out its signature plasticy bang as the round was discharged.

A near perfect shot. The practice round striking its intended target on the lower back, a shot that would have incapacitated if not killed the person on the receiving end.

"Beautiful" his spotter whispered, "Bet he'll be feeling that in the morning"

Jager smirked and passed the rifle to his right, receiving the sighting telescope in return. He watched through the small scope as a pair of medic's pulled the downed trooper from the range, effectively leaving the two kilometer flat completely devoid of all sentient life.

He always had a special place in his heart for sniping, though Snipers were a different story. It was truly the lazy mans form of warfare. All one had to do was sit and wait for its target to wander into their sights, then it all came down to a few quick calculations and some light exertion of the index finger which earnt one another notch on their belt or rifle stock.

Of course he wasn't here for to become proficient in the ways of the sniper. He was here for vector calculations and precision range shooting, but the difference between the two was hazy at best. It didn't take long for the next target to make his way onto the field. He pondered as to whether the volunteer targets were insanely brave or just incredibly stupid as wandering around waiting to be shot didn't seem like to great a job to him.

Clearing his throat he got back to the task at hand, settling the telescope over the target and synchronizing his movements. It was imperative that the spotter didn't lose the target, though on a range it wasn't a difficult task to perform.

"Target... Heading, West to South east... Four hundred meter's" he whispered

The sound of the .308 practice round being slide into the chamber confirming that his partner had received the message.

"Howza" he mumbled, "A beer says you cant nail him on the forehead first shot"

His partner paused momentarily, his gaze dipping from the scope to the ground then to Jager.

"You're on Luth, one case of amnesia coming up."

Both men went back to their allotted tasks. Spotter was possibly the easiest task in the entire Corps. The telescope did most of the calculations for them, though the actual snipers were also trained in the analog method as technology was, as a technician once announced drunkenly "The mother of all bitches". In a way Jager was lucky for the 'idiot proofing' as his encounters with the twin demons of mathematics's and arithmetic always ended in a headache worse then all the intoxicating beverages in the known galaxy could produce. He knew it had something to do with Geometry and Trigonometry, though which was which and what did what was a different story.

"Target... Stationary... Three hundred ninety meter's... Fire when ready" he mumbled as he watched the white armor clad target come to a halt and scratch his rear-end, causing the Corporal to snicker childishly.

Again the plasticy bang synonymous with an SLAR echoed down the range. Jager could have sworn he heard the target cry out in pain as the round lanced off the top of his helmet, sending him to the ground violently.

"Knocked the helmet off and everything, damn I'm good" Howza exclaimed in a hushed voice.

"Yeah, Yeah, Yeah... Its a range Howey, don't get to cocky." he muttered, slowly getting to his feet. The two butted knuckles as the range sergeant approached the elevated platform that they were positioned on.

"Luth, your aim's to low... We want sternum not testicles. Howza, once again you've passed the bar."

Both men nodded in acknowledgment

"Anyway gentlemen. You passed this section of the course, I gather your parents would be proud. Now, move on to the indoor range"



========

OOC:

Jager Luth
Heavy Weapon specialist
Level 2: Precision marksmanship
Story 2: Precision range shooting

   

Jager stood, his weight evenly distributed between his legs, with the standard issue DC-15 held firmly in his grip. His task seemed pointless at best, shoot the weapon out of his targets hand without injuring the target. Of course he protested bringing up such points as, 'Why cant I just shoot him in the leg, or in the shoulder' to which his range sergeant told him to 'shut it and just do the damned thing'

The target was a life sized mannequin of a human male decked out in classic rebel attire, emblem and all. The weapon was held off to the side, clear of the central body mass of his target as to make the task somewhat possible. His instructors words of advice were fairly straight forward. Don't panic, deep breaths, don't miss. Much in the same way as the outdoor range sergeants advice, though somewhat more pointless.

Slowly he raised the DC-15, exhaling and shifting his weight to his rear leg whilst doing so. The florescent tips of the DC-15 lined up almost perfectly with the makeshift blaster that's taped into the mannequin hand. With a squeeze the weapon discharged, scattering fragment's of concrete off the rear wall.

The weapon was still very much in the pseudo-rebels hand, though a large chunk was missing out of its wrist.

"Ha!" he exclaimed, turning back to his range Sergeant "Wrist shots aren't immediately fatal"

The sergeant shook his head slowly, "That's wonderful, but you missed the blaster"

As the last syllables rolled of the sergeants tongue the mannequins wrist gave a sharp 'crack' and fell to the ground, blaster and all. Jager raised a hand in the air in triumph.

"Yeah baby, Disarmed him both figuratively and physically."

Again the range sergeant shook his head, throwing his gaze to the ceiling and letting out a disappointed sigh. "Supplementary pass..." he stated, "Move on to the next weapon"

A technician wandered onto the range and gave a angry groan, "Ahh, you fucker. Fredrick... what has he done to you."

Jager cackled, "I hope he was left handed, or you are gonna be one lonely S.O.B"

The technician sneered and threw an extended middle finger towards the Corporal. Mumbling something about showing him the back of his left hand. Within moments he returned with a fresh model, donning a similar getup as its brother.

Jager picked up the E-11 that lay in front just under the range both. Though it was apparently the 'Sharp shooter' variant of the extensive and widely over-rated E-11 line. The first thing he noted was that the sights were off by design. At the rate in which these things were pumped out of Imperial manufacturing plants he wasn't all that surprised, but he was going to have to make do.

"Remember, Disarm... not kill. This is a place of precision range, not a shooting gallery."

"Must be in the wrong room then" Jager retorted, placing the sights over his intended targets weapon.

The Range sergeant sighed disapprovingly, "When you are ready, Corporal"

Blaster weaponry was, by design, incredibly accurate. Though their compact frames and the complete lack of barrel were primitive in terms of both velocity and pin-point accuracy when compared to that of any standard projectile weapon. Blaster bolts were often large, which meant a greater surface area was hit which of course meant that any kind of decent precision was going to take some real skill.

Taking a few deep breaths he compensated for the slightly skewed sight, letting his index finger rest gently on the trigger. He doubted whether he would get away with a wrist shot this time as the tone in the Sergeants voice showed that he was quickly growing tired of his antics. The Sergeants lecture from earlier ran through his head, though it meant little at the ranges he was firing at. With a quick breath he cleared his mind and squeezed.

The dark-gray blaster pistol shot out of the mannequins hands, as did several of its fingers, and bounced along the ground. Again Jager raised his hand in triumph but was cut short by the range sergeant.

"Alright, you've got a minute and thirty seconds to blow the ankles off or you'll fail."

Jager paused and turned, "Wait... what?"

"Minute twenty" the sergeant called.

Jager spun back around and readopted his firing position. The ankles were obscured by the manniquins facing, but with an accurate shot placed just above the foot it would cut right through.

"One minute" the sergeant called

Jager took a deep breath and lined the slightly skewed sights up again. He was going to have to do this fast. No doubt that after the first ankle went, the mannequin would begin to fall which in tern could obscure his shot.

With a deep breath he fired, the shot lancing off the ground just short of the foot and disbursing in a reddish hazy. 'Deep breaths' he muttered to himself as he realigned for the second attempt.

"Thirty five seconds"

Exhaling he fired, the crimson bolt cleaving right through to the ankle and beyond. The mannequin gave a loud groan as it began to fall backwards. Again Jager fired,

Fragments of mannequin rained down as the red bolt scored a direct hit on the targets foot, shattering it into a million tiny pieces.

"HAHA!" Jager cried, "Try shopping for shoes now, you mannequin bastard!"

The range sergeant moved up next to his pupil to gauge the extent of the damage. "Wow..." he stated, "Never seen a plastic foot explode like that"

Jager returned the blaster to its position under the table triumphantly. "So, pass?"

The sergeant nodded, "Ten seconds left on the clock to... bit late, but better late then never. Well done Corporal."