Koll heard the taps being played outside. They gently tapped against his ears and woke him up slowly. Today was his day off; the only requirement was that he had to get up with the rest of the barracks. The rest of the day was his to do with as he wished. Lazily, he rolled out of bed, slowly at first, and then fell quickly, winding up in a slump at the side of his bed. The jolt woke him instantly. Annoyed, he pushed himself up off the floor, his long brown hair dangling in his face. He blew upward with little effect.

He made his way to the shower to prepare for the day. As usual, the sun was just rising above the tree line. As the water beat down on his head, he couldn’t help but think there was something he was forgetting. He rested his head against the side of the shower and began to think. He closed his eyes in concentration. He knew there were no drills today, they had the day off. Suddenly, his eyes shot open. He slammed the shower off, hopped out, wrapped a towel around himself and proceeded to dry himself with great haste. How could I forget my first day of Combat Engineer training?! He threw the towel to the side and threw on his boxers, his pants, his socks, his shirt, and grabbed his shoes. He ran barefoot out of the wash house.

Of course, the training center was on the complete opposite side of the Basic Training camp than the wash house was. Koll ran the length of the camp, cursing every stretch of land separating him from his goal. Occasionally, he hopped along, attempting to wrestle a boot onto an uncooperative foot. As he approached the door to the training building, he cried out in elation. He slammed through the front door and ran up the steps. He hurried down the accompanying hall and slammed the door to the lecture hall open. “Mr. Annnnnnnnbarrrrrrrr,” the instructor said in a drawl that seemed to relish over his own voice. “You appear to be late.” Koll snapped to attention.

“I’m sorry sir, I seem to have lsot track of time,” Koll said as he looked the teacher over. He was a human and wore dark sunglasses. His auburn hair was slicked back over his head. He wore the typical army fatigues, but when Koll squinted, it almost looked like the camouflage pattern made the appearance of a suit and tie.

“Is there something wrong, Mr. Anbar?” the teacher asked, cocking one eyebrow slightly.

“No sir!” Koll said with the enthusiasm that the instructor lacked.

“Good, Mr. Anbar. Just make sure that you arrive on time next time. Now, class, who would like to bring Mr. Anbar here up to speed?” He addressed the class knowing he was in complete and total control. A student tentatively raised his hand. “Yes, Mr. Anderson?”

“Well, Anbar,” the human student began slowly and uninterestingly. “Sgt. Smith here was introducing himself when you burst through the door.”

“Very good, Mr. Annnderson, you appear to have been listening for once.” Sgt. Smith turned to Koll. Looking over his superior’s shoulder, he could see Anderson mouth the words, “I’m on to you, Smith.” Koll shook his head and returned to listening to his instructor. “Now, as you no doubt guessed from Mr. Anderson’s explanation, I am Sgt. Smith. I used to work for the Emperor’s security force, but was…discontinued after I failed to stop a hacker from infiltrating the Galactic files on a spatial distortion device. But that, Mr. Anbar, is neither here nor there. You may take a seat next to Mr. Anderson for the duration of the lesson.” Koll began walking to the appointed desk. As he passed, Smith whispered in his ear, “perhaps that will teach you the value of being to a seminar you signed up for on time.”

Koll took his seat. Smith began talking about various types of circuitry and wires. He didn’t hear most of what was being said due to Anderson’s constant interruptions.

“I know kung-fu,” Anderson began, leaning across the aisle. Koll disregarded the comment with a wave of his hand. Anderson leaned back to his seat. “Have you ever been outside this place?” Anderson asked, leaning over once more. “I mean, outside the Galaxy?” Koll rolled his eyes and tried once more to focus on the lesson. Something about conductors… “It’s really interesting. Commander Morpheus, my recruiter, took me there once. That’s what made my decision for joining the Imperial army. Maybe sometime I’ll make it back out there. There’s so much you can do there that you can’t do here…”

Koll finally had enough. He slammed both hands down his desk and turned to face Anderson. “Would you just shut up?” Koll asked angrily. “First off, no one has ever been outside the Galaxy, second off, why would someone taking you on a ship outside the Galaxy convince you to join the Imperial army, and third, would it kill you to add a little bit of enthusiasm to your voice?” Koll suddenly realized he was on his feet. Blushing, he sat back down. He turned to Anderson and said, “Thank you.” He refocused on the lesson.

“Indeed,” Sgt. Smith began once more, turning back to the board. “As I was explaining, I will teach you how to utilize certain tools to fix and repair small electronic devices. The tools are in your desks, and I will be passing around a small datapad that has something wrong with it. Using the tools therein, as well as what I have taught you today, you will repair the datapad. Now, each device has a different problem. That means that none of you can help each other. Now, when you get your datapad, you may begin. I will also be locking the door out with a certain passcode contained in each datapad. When you finish your work, you may leave.” He then began to walk the aisles and hand out the devices.

Anderson received his datapad before Koll. When he got it, he muttered something along the lines of, “This will be easy, all I have to remember is there is no datapad.” Koll rolled his eyes. He picked up his datapad, retrieved his tools, and began. He popped the back casing off and found that all the wires were disconnected. There seemed to be little problem, all he had to do was reconnect the wires. Suddenly, there was an explosion on the other side of the room.

“Oh, yes,” Sgt. Smith said with a small smile on his face. “If your datapad explodes, you fail. Pvt. Mero V. Ian, you will be leaving last of the class.” Koll suddenly went cold. He had no idea which wires went where. He had planned to use a process of elimination to finish the job, but that didn’t seem to be an option now. He slowly began looking over the wires and the notes on the board. He chose a red wire and pressed it against a contact on the other side of wiring panel. Nothing. Then, he got an idea. He checked the battery pack and found it full. He flipped the switch, activating the device. He then put his finger between the contact and the wire. He felt a small charge run through his finger. He welded the wire to the contact with his hydrospanner. One down, five to go. Somewhere in the class, someone got up, punched a code into the door, and left. Good, I’m not the first done. Koll thought. He glanced at Pvt. Mero. He was asleep, it seemed. He returned to his task.

Koll followed a similar process in determining where each wire went. Quickly, he was down to the last contact, but there were two wires left, a red and a blue. “Ahh, yes, Pvt. Anbar,” Sgt. Smith said, looking down at him. Koll looked up from his datapad. The entire room was empty, literally. The room had somehow disappeared. All that remained was a white room with desks in it. No blackboard, no students, except for Pvt. Mero, who was still asleep. “One of those last two wires will grant you freedom. The other wire will keep you trapped here. I know which wire will set you free, Mr. Anbar, but the wire you choose is not my decision.” Koll glanced down at the datapad. “It also appears that your datapad’s batteries are out of power, what a shame.” Koll felt the ends of the wires while he pressed against the contact. Nothing happened for either of them. Nervously, he fingered his hydrospanner. Slowly, he reached for the red wire. He pressed it against the contact and welded the two together. “Now is the moment of truth, Mr. Anbar. Will you escape?” He glanced at Koll with his eyebrow raised. “Or will you be trapped here with me?” He smiled as he handed the private a new pair of batteries. Koll switched them out.

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Koll gasped as he snapped back to reality. He remembered now. He had joined a new type of training regimen, virtual training. It would be used primarily for teaching dangerous jobs to recruits with minimal danger, but it was only in the testing phases currently. A familiar voice wafted over his ears. “Was that fun, Koll? You’re done for the day.”

“Yeah, it was…Interesting,” Koll said, remembering Anderson. “I’d tone down the Anderson program you have in there, sir.”

“Please, call me Dozer,” the trainer said. He walked over and tore the neural pads off of Koll’s head.

“It was also informative, Dozer, sir,” Koll continued, getting out of the reclining metal chair he was sitting in. He shook his head and headed for the door. “Did I pass the course you put me in?”

“Yeah, brilliantly. How did you like my rendering of Sgt. Smith?” Dozer asked with a grin.

“Yeah, it was pretty accurate,” Koll chuckled.

“Well, I need to analyze these results. If you start seeing white rabbits out of nowhere or have a recurring déjà vu, let me know. For now, just go and enjoy the rest of your day off.” Dozer then went back to his computer. Koll walked out of the testing facility with a new knowledge of electronics and an interesting story to tell around the mess table. Or, in hindsight and considering Koll’s nature, maybe not.

OOC:

Great job for your first attempt, especially since this is basically the first actual long post on something here that you have done.

Just a a little thing to add:  Try to add in a bit more content related to the spec itself rather than mostly some character development.  Don't get me wrong, the Char Dev is great and I don't discourage putting even more in, but try to up the spec content a little more.  Grammar and spelling were good. I'll probably be a bit stricter on the criteria next time, so be warned. )

Explosions fired all around Koll. Ducking out of his foxhole a few times, he saw the enemy position. He had to get across a few hundred yards of sand, flat desert with a few stones here and there to get to the other side, about fifty yards to be close enough to actually be effective with his dual pistols. He left his rifle back at the base, and would have loved to have used it in this scenario, but that’s how life works sometimes. Koll checked the thermal detonators at his belt. He looked out of his trench one more time. “Cover me!” he yelled at the nearest trooper, who nodded his head and pooped out just long enough to fire a quick burst at the opposing side. Koll threw himself over the wall and broke out into a dash. A few yards out of the hole he dove for the sand, blaster bolts flashing over his head quickly. He began digging with his hand. Quickly, he drew an entrenching shovel out of his pack and started digging with it instead. Soon he had a hole he could crouch in and be somewhat covered. He upended his sack and spilled the stones and various other materials he had on the floor of the makeshift trench. He rapidly began fortifying the natural wall he created in front of him. He rapidly began building up the wall, blaster shots ricocheting off the stones. It was a rather flimsy wall by the standards of most fortifications, but it was all he had.

He looked around him quickly. There needed to be more space if he was going to get more people in here. He took out his shovel out again and began digging on each side of him, fortifying the walls with stones as he went along. He had a new, small entrenchment about thirty yards or so from the original post. He stood up and lobbed a grenade over at the enemy lines. It exploded a few feet in front of the opposing trench. Excellent, Koll thought, smiling to himself. He stood up and squeezed off a few shots from each pistol as the opposing forces popped out from hiding. A few men fell to his shots, but not many. It was good enough for the Zabrak. He looked behind him and motioned some of the men forward. In a crouch, they hurried forward, diving into the trench that Koll had built. There were about four of them in the hole now, and they each took turns firing at the enemy opposition. I’ve got this class down now! Koll thought with a smile, his back to the wall. He popped up and fired off a few more shots. He stayed up just long enough to see a rocket come right for them. “Get down!” he shouted, ducking himself. A wall of explosive force slammed into him from behind, throwing him onto the ground in front of him. His vision blurred; his ears rang. He slowly peeled himself from the grainy sand and looked around him. The enemy was making a charge towards their lines. Many had already passed his trench. He and his comrades were lucky they hadn’t been slaughtered as the opposing forces ran by. Koll propped himself up and took a few shots towards his own lines at the enemy forces. Suddenly, he felt a jolt in the back of his head and the world faded around him.

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“Yeah, yeah,” Koll said taking off his visor. “I know, sand and stones weren’t the best things for making a new fortification, but I don’t have the expertise to make metal barricades yet.”

“There are ways to make barricades without metal, man,” Dozer said, popping out from behind his console. He adjusted the glasses on his face. “How about we break for lunch as you think about that, huh?”

“Heh, I liked the simulation of Sgt. Smith better,” Koll said as he got off the VR chair.

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The lunch hall was loud and messy as usual. For some reason, Koll never understood why, the lunch tables were extremely reminiscent of the old picnic tables in holovids he had seen of past years. The entire place seemed like a mess hall out in the woods somewhere. For some reason, it just didn’t mesh with Koll. Shrugging it off, he walked up to the lunch line and picked up a tray. Mashed Kyshyykian potatoes with gravy and canned meat really didn’t sound appetizing, but it was all there was to eat that day. You didn’t mess with the kitchen staff; they were put through the same training as the rest of the soldiers, but then were forced to work behind a lunch counter. You didn’t mess with army personnel with a bad attitude. Koll tried his best to hide his grimace as the potatoes made a sickening splat as they hit the metal tray. “No gravy,” Koll said quickly as the grizzly man behind the counter reached for the ladle. He then splattered on an extra helping of the day’s mystery meat. Word used to have it that they used to use dead wookie-flesh for the meat, but that didn’t settle well some of the…hairier troopers in the squad. The rumor was quickly dismissed and forbidden from mention ever again under threat of missing limbs. And then the wookies would go at you. Koll selected a vacant table and sat down. Dozer followed quickly behind.

Something about this whole thing wasn’t sitting well with Koll. Something just didn’t feel right, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it. “So,” Dozer said, breaking the silence. “How did you like the last simulation I threw together?”

“Oh, you mean the one I died in?” Koll returned darkly. “It was fine, till my barricade exploded.” Koll looked down at his tray and shivered. He noticed Dozer hadn’t eaten a single bit of his food either. Instead, he took out a pack of field rations and began eating those. It spoke volumes about the quality of the food they served. The staff had gone through boot camp, but apparently flunked out of home economics.

“Aww, come on, man, you know that barricade was a little flimsy.” Dozer grabbed the cookie that came standard with each field ration. It was perhaps the best part of them, and even that was sub-par. But then again, Koll looked at the alternative. He broke out a pack of field rations as well. “Besides, I think next time you’ll learn from your mistakes and do better.”

“What was the mistake? Not enough metal?”

“Not enough coverage or thickness, man. You gotta get those things as thick as possible before you duck behind one, or else you’ll get blown away. Just be glad they sent you to me for VR training instead of sticking you in a live-field situation. With those skills…” Dozer whistled and followed behind with a splat. Koll gripped his pack of rations tight enough to form the contents therein into an unappetizing mush. “Hey, sorry man, but it’s the truth.” Dozer took another bite of his rations as Koll tightened the muscles on his body, ready to spring on the man across the table. He restrained himself, but it was all he could do.

A shout from the lunch counter broke his anger. “I can’t take it anymore!” shouted one of the kitchen staff. He grabbed a repeater off the back wall and started firing it into the crowd of people. Koll never quite understood why they kept firearms in the lunch hall either. Regardless, he ducked under the table and sat there. Instinctively, he reached for his pistols at his waist, but remembered he left them at his barracks. Surprisingly, they were there. You’ve got to be kidding me… Koll thought. He shot a dark stare at Dozer who was under the table with them.

“Fine, you win, give me a hand with this,” Koll said, exiting the table and flipping it so that it was stable and tilted away from the lunch stand. The trays clattered on the floor. Thickness, Koll thought, looking blankly at the trays. Several repeater rounds slammed into his impromptu blockade, splintering some wood in the process. Koll, ignoring the disgust he was feeling, reached into the slop of the mashed potatoes and slathered them around the edges of the tray. He slapped it against the barricade and it stayed. He took Dozer’s tray and repeated the process. He ducked from cover and ran across the room, trying to gather as many trays as possible without damaging the congealing potatoes. He dashed back to his original outpost and started to coat the table with trays. When he had the thing covered, he started coating the first set of trays with another set staggered the opposite way he had laid the first.

“You done yet?!” Dozer asked frantically. “I can’t get a bead on this guy!” Repeater bolts slammed once more into the blockade. The thing shuddered, but held.

“Yeah, it’s done,” Koll said, drawing his pistols. His thoughts settled into one line, his intense focus settled on disarming his opponent. He popped from cover, sighted down one pistol, and fired a shot, then a second. The bolts tore into the other man’s hands, forcing him to drop the repeater. Koll brought up the second pistol and aimed at both of the man’s shoulders. Two quick flashes and the man flew backward into the kitchen. People started to file back into the mess hall, saw the area, saw that it was safe, and began to cheer. Tiredly, Koll sank behind the barricade. He really didn’t want the applause, but it felt good. For the first time in his life, he enjoyed being the center of attention. He closed his eyes.

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The cheers coalesced into a singular “Wooo!” coming from behind a console of computer screens. “Great job, man! You passed!” In response, Koll drew a pistol and fired a single shot into the table. “Hey! Watch it! This rig costs more than you get paid in a year! More than I get paid a year!” Dozer shouted, popping out from behind the monitors.

“Good, so that means you are real,” Koll said, ripping off the VR visor. Dozer, if he could help it, would never let anything happen to his rig. In the simulations, he always made his “precious baby” invulnerable to sign of damage, or any damage at all. “You know how much I hate it when you make me think I’m out of a simulation when you’ve kept me in!”

“Hey, it was the only way to get you to pass. You failed so miserably the last time because you knew your life really wasn’t on the line.”

“Then why’d you mess with the mess hall so much?” Koll asked, raising an eye-arch

“Hey, I just wanted to keep it interesting,” Dozer said, shrugging his shoulders and returning to his monitors. “Same time tomorrow?” he asked.

“Yeah, sure,” Koll said, getting out of the chair and flexing his muscles a bit to rid them of their lethargy. “Let’s do a sparring program next time, you and me,” Koll said with a smile, “You know, just one on one. While we’re at it, put pain on full during it.” Koll imagined Dozer’s face behind the console.

“Heck no!” Dozer exclaimed. Koll waved happily to the man, donned his hat to his fatigues, and walked out the door into the sunlight.