OOC:

Baretz Sonok
Heavy Weapons Specialty
Level 8:Non-Blaster Squad Support Weapons Certification
Story 1 Trooper's Choice: Galactic Arms “Dart” Rail Detonator
Story 2 SL's Choice(Giovanni) Corporate Sector Authority FC1 Flechette Launcher
Story 3 SC Choice:Coronodexx VES-700 Pulse Rifle

I sat down, in the all too familiar virtual exam.  I picked up the helmet, putting it onto my head, and I felt the metallic appendages of the machine squeeze down onto my flesh, gaging the reactions of my nerves.  These things always gave me an uneasy feeling, being put into a false reality I can't 'feel.'  I don't know, in my daily routine I can feel that I exist, and that everything else exists, but inside the confines of these contraptions, it was never the same.  I felt like I was running without one of my senses in these things, even though I could feel, taste, hear, see, and smell my surroundings, it just wasn't the same. 

I digress.  The machine booted on, and the briefing that I might of had was already fresh in my mind, and I looked out over the halls of a ship.  Apparently, we had gotten into an enemy ship, a large one, and we were going to take down the military units that were inside of it, as well as the Naval officers who were controlling this thing.  It had been giving the spacers a hard time, and they drove a transport ship into an open docking panel as one of the fighters flew out, I'm glad we have skilled pilots in these visions they make us experience.

There are twenty five of us, that were going to split up into five man squads, all of us were connected by ComLink, and for each squad we had what I was, a Heavy Weapons Specialist.  The droid behind me held three weapons, of my liking, inside of its hull, and I could pick out the most efficient one.  On the squad leader's mark we moved out, and three squads moved left, two to the right.  My squad was assaulting the bridge, the most highly guarded area of the ship, and our approach was more than foreseeable. 

I pulled the Flechette Launcher out for the long march through the organs of the ship, to reach it's cerebrum, it was going to be wonderful.  I didn't have reloads for any of the weapons I had been sent in with, and I had to be efficient.  The other four squad members were armed with E-11 or equivalent rifles, and the droid had one integrated into it.  So, we marched, the red gas from the fire searing the walls and armor all around us, but we marched. 

We crossed a corridor of shielded soldiers, they were behind a barrier of thin durasteel, and my lips turned upwards, finally getting to shoot at something.  My squad was still shooting to ease the fire coming our direction.

"Get their head down, and I got it."

The red bolts flew by in a constant threat of death, and one of the squad members were hit in the leg.  He fell down, and I grabbed him with my left hand, sliding him back around the corner, he wasn't hurt, seriously, only a twinge of pain from the energy barely penetrating the armor, and finally the time came, and I moved into the fray of blaster fire.

I dropped down to one knee to counter the recoil of the cannister that I was about to loose from the launcher on my shoulder, and I radioed to the squad.

"Clear out of the way."

Just on cue they moved so that I could shoot, and the cannister rocketed out of the launcher, and it hit the durasteel, but the flechettes then released, and they penetrated the shields, and the armor of the soldiers, causing them all intense agony as the fragments of razor sharp metal penetrated into their bodies, and then a quick bloody death would be given to them, or death from shock, whichever struck first.  I tossed the launcher onto the ground, and hoped no more barricades would be in front of us.

We marched forward over the barricades, over the corpses now weighted down with the metal fragments, and we continued, blaster fire continuing, we pushed forward, one step at a time, and I wasn't getting much of the action, but I provided the time saving equipment.  I pulled out the Pulse Rifle, and moved to the head of the squad, now we were in an open area, and there were tons of them.  I had fifteen shots in this power cartridge, and they had to count.

I turned facing the nearest ones, the Pulse Rifle was effective against the body armor they were using, but the range was shit, compared to a good firing rifle or WEB.  I pulled the trigger, and the burst emitted from the end, the thousands of charged particles swept forward, and penetrated through the armor super heating it, turning the insides to molten human, and then coming from the back doing the same to a man lined behind him, before the energy finally dispersed and cooled.

The energy bolts were flying all around us, and we were lucky we were wearing the Stormtrooper issued armor, because that many shots to any sort of other armor, and we'd of been toast long before we got through it.  We were basically just able to stick our head inside the door, take a few shots, and then lean back, before red energy filled the hallways, and we had little hope of making it to the bridge without some sort of intervention.

Two other squads had made their way into this large room on opposite raised balconies, and we had them surrounded, as they had surrounded us before, and they still did, but that split the attention of the ranks. I heard a loud clang, but paid not attention, clangs were never good, and I was left with the opportunity of charging forward, unleashing burst after burst from my rifle into their front ranks, until I made it into the desired hallway.  I turned to get the Rail Gun out, and noticed my droid had been taken down three quarters back across the room. 

I turned, and cursed silently to myself, my squad had begun filling into the hallway, and I charged at full speed after the enemies had turned to shoot at the squads on the upper levels. Few of the enemies noticed me, and I didn't shoot at all, hoping they were terrible shots.  I grabbed the rail gun, feeling a stinging sensation on my shoulder, and then I began to sprint back towards the exit, after the half way point, I began firing, attracting more of their attention, I wanted their attention after I was in the clear, but I got it a little to soon, two bolts hit my legs, one my left one my right, and it tripped me up, and I fell, but luckily enough my energy kept me moving forward, and I was safely inside the hallway. 

They could flank us at this point, just as I wanted, but  we had to move fast, the door to the bridge was no more than one hundred meters away.  I dropped the Pulse Rifle, the last shot I had tried to fire had been dry, the sixteenth time I had pull the trigger, the energy coil was dead, and the filaments inside of it would need replacing soon too, it was more cost efficient to just buy another rifle, entirely, at that point.

I had the rail gun in my arms, three rails were loaded into it.  We moved, letting the soldiers outside organize before they made an assault behind us, and I set a ten second delay on the rail gun, launching the metalic bolt into the  low ceiling of this hallway, and grinned.  The magnetic charge wasn't loud, the only noise that even said I did it was the rail piercing the durasteel ceiling.

We moved on, and just as I looked back after nine seconds to see squads of enemy units file into the hallway, the bolt exploded, causing the support beam I shot it into to fall, and all the riveted plates attached to it to come crashing down impeding their chase at us, and our squads would have set up the E-Webs at the other entrances by now, this job was as good as done. 

We reached the blast doors, and I smiled I aimed for the center of the blast door, the penetration wouldn't be that deep, comparatively, but hopefully it would be enough to get the high grade explosive wedge deep enough that the explosion would tare the doors to shreds.  I launched the rail, and it dug through the metal an inch into the thick durasteel, and the explosion caused pressure on every direction of the door, and the door was successfully broken, tearing the bottom half off, and shattering the top portion. 

I then saw the naval crew of the ship, and red blasts were already heading in their direction.  The squad filed in, one from another entrance were penetrating just as we were, and we had forces all about the room.  I held the detonator, having switched it to instantaneous explosion, now.  A group of ten naval officers were drawing blaster pistols, and I let the last rail fire, the rail hit the large computer behind them, and exploded instantly, the explosion enveloping the officers that would have inspired the others to attack, and they were fell by the concussive trauma of the explosion, couple with the fragments of what looked to be their Navigational Data-banks. 

That sort of death must of inspired the other units in the room not to act up.  We really meant business, as if any of them could storm one of our Capital ships, and come away as unharmed as we.  The three of us left in our squad were all hit, afew times, but our bodies had no preferment damage done to it, and so we were still alive.

"You are all under arrest in the name of the empire, I would not reach for any weapons, if I were you."

The commanding officer spoke the rather generic line, and I grinned, thinking I did well, I did as good that could be expected, in my mind, and then the program came to a close. 

I felt the metal jerk away from my skin, and my hands lifted up to take of the head piece, and I sat it down, moving my hands to run over my face, my eyes getting re-accustomed to seeing, rather than being fed digital scenarios.  After a few brief seconds, I turned my head up to the trainer, and quirked my eyebrow.

"How was it?" I asked with a gentle grin crossing my face

"You passed the Exam." He spoke flatly.

"Thanks, sir."

"Again, you were reckless."  He sounded mad about it, like some how he expected his advice would hit home, and I would be the discreet soldier they wanted me to be, with a giant fear of death?  How can I fear something that is afraid of me?

"It's my nature."

"Head out, Soldier." He spoke with a sigh.

I left the office, satisfied with passing the test, even if I was considered reckless by my teacher, it didn't mean a thing to me, it was simply a state of being for me.  I went to my bunk, and lit up a Lung Buster, and listened to some music on the HoloNet. 

"Nothing Can stop me now...cause I don't care, anymore."

It fit my mood rather perfectly, the black smoke rolled into my lungs, and I breathed it in deeply, proud of the fact I was progressing.  Proud of the fact, that regardless of the Empire's attempt at molding me into a Stormtrooper, there was still more me left than them, and proud that the knowledge I had set out to learn, was coming more easily than it did to some. 

I fell asleep then, a smoldering butt in my hand, that soon dropped into the glass ashtray on the floor, and I slept a wonderful night, and in my dreams I prepared for the last examination I would have to confront before I was a Heavy Weapon Specialist.

OOC:

Passed, good work with it.  Onto the next one.  And my apologies on the extensive delay.