General Cosmic silently strode down the hall of the Stormtrooper Corps Academy training facility with a data pad tucked away in his left pants pocket. The data pad contained orders for a new type of mission scenario - was it unorthodox? No. It was realistic and a good evaluation of where the new recruits were with their combat skills. The mission required the recruits to be placed in the heat of battle right from the get-go. They are given a specific task, and they are to execute that task without getting "killed". In other words, you have New Republic forces engaging you, and should you get shot, a simulation of the pain from a real blaster will be rendered (well, at least your skin will feel the sensation of pain).

Cosmic approached the large steel doors of the barracks and slid them open with a swift push of his right hand. As soon as the doors opened, the sound of a chattering, laughing crowd seeped into his ears. The trainees were all sitting at-and-surrounding a circular table - apparently watching an intense game of Sabacc. One of the mingling Corporal's spotted Cosmic standing in the doorway out of the corner of his eye, and immediately stood erect and gave him a crisp salute, "Attent hut!" The room's laugher quickly faded, and everyone rose to their feet, facing Cosmic with a salute.

"General Cosmic, sir, I apologize. We didn't see you there, sir." said Corporal Finney.

Cosmic returned the salute, "At ease." He walked over to the gathered trainees and quickly scanned over their uniforms to be sure everything was tucked in and clean. Once satisfied, he pulled the data pad from his pocket and handed it to the nearest Private. Cosmic nodded to Finney, "Thank you, Corporal, that'll be all." Finney gave a nod, saluted, and quickly left the room. Cosmic then turned his attention to the recruits, which were passing around the data pad and reading it over.

"For some of you, this is your first mission. For others, this may be your second. Nevertheless, this will be a first for all of you." Cosmic motioned toward the data pad in a nearby Private's hands, "That mission will be unlike anything you've experienced before: you're going directly into the heart of enemy fire and behind enemy lines."

A few "oohs", "aahs", and a slight gasp floated in the air. Cosmic continued, "Your objective is within a guarded military bunker on a sticky, hot jungle planet. Your target is a New Republic Colonel by the name of Trunx. He'll be securely guarded by numerous NR guards, and the militia will be out and about in the jungle as well in scout patrols. You will be dropped in via Lambda-Class shuttle five clicks before enemy lines. You will need to get behind enemy lines in order to eliminate your target and eliminate any opposing forces. You will do this all on foot, so this will also act as a test to be sure you're in fit condition." Cosmic eyed the recruits a bit more sternly for this: "I highly suggest that you not try and get shot in this simulator. The settings have been set to High for this particular mission - meaning if you get shot by a blaster, you won't die, but you'll definitely feel like you will. Are there any questions?"

No hands rose, "Good. Report to Landing Platform 0033X by thirteen hundred hours. Dismissed."

OOC:

Recruits: Go ahead and report to the landing platform. Once everyone has arrived, go ahead and get your Lambda-Class shuttle to the designated landing zone. No need to "wait for others" because, since theres going to be potentially many of you, you will require more than one shuttle. Work together, read each other's posts before posting your own so as to prevent any story-mix ups and post-rewriting. Above all, have fun completing the objectives, and if you have any questions, feel free to ask in an OOC.

Merrick: I know you've got a story that you're making, but the recruits were wanting one immediately, so I just went ahead and created this on the spot. Yours can follow right after.

Wildstorm sat in the back of the room alone and quiet in this whirlwind of activity. Today would be her first day  of full participation in Hellgate Squad. She had to admit, to herself if to no one else, that she was eager to get started. Wild kept such feelings locked inside for the time being, not that anyone here would notice. She allowed her grey eyes to wander the room freely, taking in everything and studying all the faces she could get a clear view of.

When her eyes fell on CPL Finney  she couldn't help but smirk. I'll just bet these boys feel like glorified babysitters. Wildstorm thought as she shook her head. To be quite honest she felt like she was being watched. She shook the feeling away and looked up as the door opened and admitted a rather dignified looking man holding a datapad. It took her only a moment to recognize this man as General Cosmic.

"Atten Hut!" Finney called to the room, and the reaction was immediate. Wildstorm gave herself one last mental go over as she saluted with the rest of the trainees. Satisfied with the way she looked and presented herself she was more than willing to relax as the general gave the at ease order.

Listening intently to Cosmic brief them on simulated mission they would all be participating in, Wild couldn't help but feel a bit anxious for the first time since joining up. She took a deep breath and quelled the fluttering inher stomach and recieved the datapad from the trainee next to her. She went over what was there carefully and then passed it on.

As General Cosmic finished his briefing and walked out, Wildstorm had to stop and take stock of herself before leaving the room and heading to her own quarters. There she grabbed the equipment she would need not the least of which would be her armor. She also grabbed her E-11 Blaster Rifle and her personal DH-17 Blaster Pistol and a vibroblade she had brought with her in all her wanderings. She reasoned that at least two ration packs would not be a hinderance to her movements and so she packed those as well. At last she felt she was ready to head out.

To conserve her energy for what was to come, Wildstorm took a tram car to the landing platform. She was not the first there but she didn't see any others there either and she was still early. She didn't waist time making her way completely onto the platform where another trainee she had seen in the training room was also waiting. She gave a nod to him and took a look around. Still no others had shown up but that didn't bother as much as her own anxiety did. The other trainee looked to be chipper and in high spirits as he chatted with General Cosmic. She gave Cosmic a nod without a word and also boarded the shuttle behind....

...What's his name again? Wildstorm asked herself. Thats right, Goshin.

She sat there waiting for a moment then decided to say something. "Hey, I'm Wildstorm." She said lamely and held out her hand to him. He looked at for moment then took it and shook it firmly.

"Goshin." He replied shortly but not unkindly.

Wildstorm nodded and looked out her view port to watch for the others, without saying another word.

Apart from small talk with Wildstorm, and a pathetic attempt at a conversation with Andar, the shuttle ride was pretty silent. Goshin sat up from, he had a clear view of the pilot and co-pilot's controls, and watched them, imagining he was a navy pilot.

"Pilot!" Goshin yelled, over all of the noise.

"What?" The pilot replied, in the same loud voice.

"How long till we get there?" Goshin asked.

"Roughly 45 minutes." The pilot replied.

"This is insane, we only have three recruits. I hope very much that there is another shuttle coming. I don't know if three can do it." Goshin thought to himself.

"So, Goshin, what's your real name?" Wildstorm asked, with a bored tone.

"H Liesen" Goshin replied.

"Mine is Sara Frost."

"Nice name."

"Thanks, your's too."

"Thanks."

There it was again, silence. Goshin couldn't wait till we got to this mysterious swampy planet. That's where the action was. Goshin craved and needed action as much as needed water and food. He was not the type to sit around on a shuttle. At least if there wasn't action, there must be something going on.

"15 minutes till we get there!" Yelled the pilot, toward the back of the ship.

"Okay" Goshin said. "Time to plan out our next move."

OOC:

cursed, all that equipment you claim you have, needs to be bought at imperial center. you can't just have stuff.

General Cosmic could feel the excitement emanating from the recruits from where he stood in the control tower above Platform 0033X - fear, however, was also interwoven with that excitement. He watched as the first Lambda-Class shuttle departed from the platform and began to make its way to the rendezvous point - the shuttle only had three troops in its durasteel belly. The Stormtrooper Corps Academy had only a handful of recruits, but Cosmic thought it appropriate to use more than one shuttle so the troops could experience the realism of a multi-craft combat landing. The Lambda-Class shuttles had a troop capacity of 20, so most recruits will probably be wondering why there's so much room.

Cosmic walked over to the control station behind him and opened a channel to the remaining Lambda-Class shuttle on the platform.

"Alpha-9 and Zeta-4, this is Control, come in over."

Zeta-4, the Lambda already en route, responded first, "Aye Control, we're here."

Alpha-9 was next to report in with a similar response.

"Zeta-4 and Alpha-9, be sure you arrive at the rendezvous point together. I want the troops to experience this combat landing as a squad. Zeta, if you slow your pace down a bit until Alpha can get up off the ground - travel together, is that understood?"

"Yessir" came from both shuttles.

"And you know that Corporal Finney will guide the trainees into the simulation room, yes?" queried Cosmic.

"Yes sir," came Alpha. "He'll be riding with me. Both myself and Zeta will make a combat-zone landing, and Corporal Finney will then lead the trainees into the designated simulation room."

"Very good. Control out." Cosmic clasped his hands behind him as he made his way back to the view port. He didn't specify what weapons to bring on this simulation, so he was curious to see what each trooper would bring along with them. Bringing too much would not be wise because it'd hinder your mobility, and the weight of all those items would decrease your stamina. Not bringing enough may cause you to use up all your ammo with no back-up weapon. Cosmic spotted Corporal Finney coming up to Alpha-9 with a few more trainees trailing behind.

Hopefully, everything will go well, and Finney will successfully lead them into the simulation facility.

OOC:

Be sure your Lambda-Class shuttles arrive at the rendezvous point at the same time! Once you're there, Corporal Finney must lead you to the simulation training facility not too far from the rendezvous point. Once everyone is in this facility, the simulation of a jungle planet will begin. You may use your weapons, but all of the weapons that are firing back at you are not real (nor are the characters firing them) - they are realistic-looking holograms. As mentioned in my first post, if you are wounded by blaster fire, it will hurt just as much as a real blaster.

I'd like to re-emphasize the importance of landing together, and starting the simulation once everyone is inside.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask.

(Cursed can have his gear. Cursed: just be sure to transfer your equipment from your Navy to your Army character.

Lambda-Class shuttle: http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Lambda-class_T-4a_shuttle

Goshin, Anden, and Wildstorm were about to start some brief planning when Goshin's datapad vibrated in his pocket.

"I have a messege." he said.

"It says: Goshin, i don't know if you know me, but my name is Drakar, i am a fellow trainee, and i am coming in another ship behind. My pilot said we are arriving at the same time, for some reason having to do with us getting the experience of landing together. Anyway, how many are in that shuttle?"

Goshin pulled out the stylus and began scribbling a messege back.

"Three, including me."

It was a moment before Drakar responded back.

"Okay, i'm the only one in this shuttle, so we will have four. See you later.
Private Drakar."

"Ok well four is better than three." Goshin said to nobody in particular.

The three conversed a little before it was time to land. It turned out Drakar was right, because as they were coming onto the surface, another ship was next to them. They grabbed their gear and stepped outside, Drakar was already there.

Goshin opened his back. His grenades and thermal detonator he put on his belt, his DC-15 pistol in his holster, his E-11 he put on his belt, his DC-17M Interchangeable combat system in his hands, and his Vibroblade was already in a compartment on his commando armor. He went to the cargo hold of his shuttle, and got his speeder bike.

Everyone else was doing the same as him, equipping their gear. Once everyone was done, we followed Corporal Finney, into a mysterious building.

OOC:

Goshin7, you are not his superior! Nor are you his lesser! You can't order other people around! And thanks Ibram.

The Kask

Anden sat in one of the two rooms of the Kask, the Lambda-Class Shuttle that was escorting the three troops to their rendezvous point. From there Corporal Finney would lead them to the simulator-hopefully on a LAAT Transport. Starting to sweat in his Swamp Trooper Suit Anden took the helmet off, and pushed his head down 25 degrees. The Camo buttons did not display in his helmet, and one of them was the Air Conditioning Conduit. Pressing the center button Anden felt a cool rush of air move into his suit, and now placing his helmet back on his head A/C ran into his head as well. He could feel his short hair brushing against his helmet as the cool air brushed him.

Just before he had left Anden had grabbed yet another DC-15A Blaster Rifle, when he was at the simulator he would decide if he wanted to use the DC-15S or the DC-15A Blaster Rifle. He looked to his left, Goshin has his DC-15s Pistol Holstered, while Wildstorm was brushing up her weapons. He wondered if this trio of people could pull it off, but if Andar was sniping, or doing something of use they might be able to... just might. But Anden swore if Goshin got them in a predicament they couldn't get out of, he would have hell to pay. As these blaster bolts did hurt like they actually would.

Landing

"We're comin' in a lil' bumpy! Sit tight!" The Pilot's voice rang through the ship, and the three in the cabin rocked back and forth as the ship made a landing. Anden could hear the landing gear move out, and as the Kask landed. "We have landed, this is Lieutenant Colonel Al-Cygba, thank you for flying."

The trio exited the ship on the retractable lift, their weapons in hand. Corporal Finney stood next to two LAAT Transports, one was filled with three Scout Troopers, while the other had two pilots, and that was it.

"Welcome Privates, or soon-to-be Private First Classes. We are glad to have you here, and Private Goshin take your speeder and follow this transport. Type the transponder into your Nav. System, Alpha-Zeta-1-0-Esk-83. We will be having our transponder on at all times, and we will arrive at the base shortly. Keep on our tail Private, or you can come with us?" Corporal Finney, dressed in a finely tuned Stormtrooper Off Duty uniform talked to the group. The other LAAT Transport lifted off and went to the distance.

"No Finney, I will-" Goshin started but was interupted.

"That is Corporal to you! Private!" Corporal Finney said, raising a long index finger.

"Corporal, I will head on my speeder." Goshin walked off.

"Rude ass, Private Wildstorm.. and Anden is it? Follow me please." Corporal Finney lead the two to the LAAT Transport, and got on. One Stormtrooper accompanied them, Anden had a DC-15A Rifle slung over his shoulder, while his DC-15S was on his hip. Two Blaster Pistols, S-5, and O-6 were clipped to his belt, while a Vibroknife was attacked to his ankle. Anden looked over at Wildstorm and wondered what she had planned for this mission.

The terrain of this grassy planet was visible from the Transport, extremely breathtaking. Two TIE Fighters-Navy Pilots-flew close to them, and then left for their destination. Transports could be seen entering and exiting one location, a bunker-much like the Endor style Shield Bunker that Anden had studied. The structure was composed of turret emplacements on the surroundings, two sky briges that connected two of the largest buildings, and in the center was the actual base. The base stood at close to six stories, and from what Anden's helmet was reading, it had seventeen floors underground. Hundreds of life forms walked around in the base, while the landing pads on the outer part of the base were occupied by transports and fighters. Two AT-TEs walked out of the main entrance, and onto a landing pad. Suddenly, two LAATs modeled for AT-TE pickup swooped down and set their bodies on the AT-TEs. Anden watched as they picked the two Walkers up and lifted them off into the distance.

The breathtaking view was now overtaken by the base. The LAAT Landed on one of the Landing Pads closer to the base, the one Stormtrooper with them got out first. His back tag read KAI-19101, and the rank was PFC, Private First Class KAI-19101. Corporal Finney took a long stride off of the transport, his pistol holstered.

"Follow me please." Corporal Finney said, motioning his hands in a: Come here signal. Suddenly a speeder pulled up near the pad. Wildstorm and Anden got out of the LAAT, closely behind them a transport landed, and Drakar got out. Finney looked as Goshin got out of his speeder, hair swept back more than ever. "Good to see you, Private! Move along!"

"Yes, following you." Goshin replied as they all entered the base, the LAAT Transport let a little hum, and left the Trainees with Corporal Finney, his protege, and a hum from the LAAT. Brushing past a large C-3 Droid, a Wookiee, and a variety of humans Anden started for a second. Blinking he realized this was Kaph Squadron, he watched as they walked out and into the LAAT Transport, it then lifted off.

OOC:

Goshin, your moving to the base is not descriptive, I think we should have a vote on whos Going to the Base we should use... anyway.

Code: Select all

A datapad was a small, usually low cost, electronic device used for storing information.

=== The Kask ===

Wildstorm sat quietly and patiently next to Anden in one of the rooms of the Kask, thinking about the mission ahead. Yes, it would be a simmulated one but she knew all to well from her year of wandering that simulations could be almost as real as real life. She took a deep breath and looked over her weapons again. She was glad that at the last minute she had decided to turn around and grab the DC-15s blaster pistol that she had recently bought. You never know when you might need another firearm. She thought.

=== The Landing ===
Feeling a shudder from the air craft they were on, Wildstorm instinctively shifted toward the exit.

The pilot was right about the landing being a bit bumpy but otherwise it was rather uneventful. Wild knew that if this had been the real thing in the midst of blaster fire and who knows what else, it would have been a hell of a lot bumpier. She wondered Idley if Private Drakar's shuttle had been just as bumpy as their own had been. Shrugging she made a mental note to ask him about it later.

"We have landed, this is Lieutenant Colonel Al-Cygba, thank you for flying." The jovial pilot commed to the three privates in the Kask's belly. "Don't have too much fun now." He laughed as the trio exited.

Wild rolled her eyes as she put her helmet on her head and took a deep breath. Spotting Corporal Finney, Wildstorm raised a hand in greeting and smiled beneath her helmet. She would never admit it but she did feel better to see at least one more experienced person among them. Looking around she also noticed that Drakar's ship had landed next to the Kask a few yards away and that the other private was making his way toward the small group. She gave a nod in his direction and turned her attention back to what was going on around her.

Before entering the first LAAT with the rest of her group and Corporal Finney, minus Goshin as he had brought an alternative piece of transportation, Wildstorm took one more look at her stock of weapons. Her E-11 blaster rifle hung from her right shoulder, her personal DH-17 Blaster Pistol  was clipped to her left hip and her DC-15s blaster pistol was clipped to her right hip. Her vibroblade was, like Anden's, was attatched to her ankle. She felt good about what she had brought with her, and so she entered the LAAT behind Anden and sat comfortably.

The ride to the facility was breathtaking and beautiful. She had never seen this side of the planet before but she was glad that she got the chance to before her first "Mission". Otherwise the ride for her was rather boring, adding to her nerves.

Finally they had arrived. As she got out Drakar's LAAT arrived at the same time that Goshin did on his speeder. Moving as one, the four privates followed Corporal Finney to the entrance. "Well guys. Here we go." She said suddenly smiling. 

The simulation facility was one click out from where the trainees had landed, so some were thinking why they hadn't landed a bit closer to their destination. Corporal Finney lead the single-file line, dressed in his usual on-duty military attire with a small bag dangling from his grasp. Behind him was Wildstorm, Goshin, Cursed, Drakar, and Blaze. The recruits' eyes widened slightly as they came up to the large building - it was truly a magnificent sight. The building was domed-shaped, and seemed to have a diameter of at least half a mile.

"Here we are," said Finney, making an about-face. "Alright, so you guys are going to complete the mission objectives General Cosmic presented to you in the barracks back on base. Here are your datapads," Finney reached into the bag he was holding and pulled out five datapads and began handing them out.

The recruits quickly scrolled through the content before placing the datapads into one of their utility belt storage compartments. Finney motioned for them to follow him as he began making his way toward the entrance to the facility.

Upon entering, the recruits were met with a very large strange empty room. The floors, walls, and domed ceiling were covered in a very strange paint and what seemed to be billions, perhaps even trillions, of tiny mirror-like reflectors.

"Be sure your gear is ready. The simulation will begin in a few moments." Finney turned around and began making his way up a near-hidden stairwell that lead into an overhead control room. His voice came on speaker a moment later, "Trainees, the simulation will begin in two minutes. I suggest you take this time to check your equipment."

The recruits quickly did so, and waited anxiously for the simulation to begin. They all looked at each other, perhaps somewhat hoping to feel some reassurance if they knew the other person was just as nervous as they were.

"Alright people," began Finney's voice. "The simulation will begin in three... two... one..."

The lights to the entire facility suddenly died, and they were left in pure darkness. A moment later, strange lights began flashing all around them, and a jungle scenery slowly flickered into view. It wasn't long before the recruits found themselves in the middle of a jungle so realistic that they could see the liquid buildup on their armor from the humidity. A few frogs began chirping, and some other unrecognizable sounds emerged from somewhere in the vicinity.

"This is amazing," said Wildstorm, making a 360-view around her.

Goshin nodded, "It's quite impressive."

"How is this even possible..." whispered Drakar, slowly taking a few steps forward and touching a nearby leaf.

"I can't even imagine how long it'd take to construct a facility such as this." Blaze looked up in awe at the canopy above - beams of sunlight broke through the canopy leaves with such aggressive precision.

Cursed let out a small sigh of awe before finally reaching into his utility belt to grab his datapad. The others did the same once they had taken in the new reality they had been placed in.

"Ok," Cursed began, "Let's figure out what we're going to do. According to the information General Cosmic provided us, there's three scouting patrols in the jungle about two clicks away from the actual New Republic military bunker. It doesn't say how many there are in each party, however."

"That should be our first priority then," pitched in Goshin.

Wildstorm nodded, "We should tread carefully through this jungle then. We'll want to spot them first, not the other way around. There's only five of us, and if it turns out that there's 8 or more in a scouting party, they'll be able to easily flank our position."

"Perhaps we should split up then?" queried Blaze. "We will be able to locate the three scouting parties a lot faster that way, and we won't cause as much noise if we are in smaller groups."

"Sounds good," said Drakar. "Ok, let's also get the other objectives down." He pulled out his datapad and began reading down the list. "Once we take care of the scouting party, we'll have to gain entrance into the military bunker." He looked up at the rest of his squad, "Military bunkers are usually locked down at all times for security reasons. We should all check the scouting patrols' bodies for security access cards to gain entry to the bunker."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

"The next thing to do," continued Drakar, "Is to get to Colonel Trunx and take him out."

Blaze spoke up next, "He's probably going to be well-guarded, and somewhere in the center of the bunker. The bunker itself shouldn't be all that large - it's a military bunker after all."

"Which means," started Goshin, "That there's probably going to be maybe twelve or more guards stationed inside. We'll need to use the corners of the corridors to our advantage, and take cover with them."

Drakar nodded, "I think we're all set then. It's just a matter of choosing teams. Since there's five of us, I think it'd be best if we split into two groups so one of us doesn't have to go off alone. I say myself, Blaze, and Cursed can be Alpha squad. Goshin and Wildstorm can be Omega. Everyone good?"

All nodded in unison.

Wildstorm spoke next, "Once you've located a patrol team, be sure to relay your coordinates and their head-counts to everyone else. Also let us know when you take them out so we can keep a count on how many scouting parties remain. Once we're through with them, we'll meet up one hundred yards before the main bunker entrance to regroup. Agreed?"

"Agreed." came the response from all trainees.

"Great, so," Drakar looked down at his datapad. "Let Operation Immortalis begin."