Aeos was drumming her fingers along the length of her pencil while another pencil was stuck between her teeth, getting shredded to bits. Her tired eyes never left the datapad she was currently reading, and every now and again a small frown would crease on her brow before she would reach over to a rather large mug of coffee and heave some of the hot contents down her throat, throwing oblivious care to the wind concerning the temperature.

A knock at the door broke her train of thought, giving Aeos excuse to dispatch of the pencil and datapad in her hands, lean back into her chair and sigh tiredly.

“Come in!” she called out.

In walked a woman-no a girl, that barely looked as if she had passed her teen years with dark brown hair. Aeos smiled at Luckystar in delight.

“Have a seat Sergeant,”

“Thank you Ma’am,”

“Please, Star, formalities are redundant in my world,” Aeos muttered while her hand reached out to the small buzzer on her desk. Lucky took a seat in the leather seat and made herself comfortable while Aeos ordered some tea from the secretary in the next room.  Aeos threw a quick glance around her office and grinned. The budget concerning furniture in her office wasn’t much to work with, and Aeos had decided she’s rather spend some of her personal assets to get the office fitted out. Make it comfortable for both her, and her guests.  Lucky seems to have been doing the same because she suddenly spoke up,

“I see you’re trading this place for you condo,” Lucky quirked an eyebrow, and Aeos followed her glance till it landed on a wooly blanket that lied askew across a length couch tucked in the shadows of the corner behind her desk. Aeos blushed lightly.

“Things are getting more hectic with each week, which is why I’ve  called you down,”

For a moment, nothing was said when  a short and plump lady seemingly nearing her forties, dressed in a simple grey uniform entered the room.  The smile that bounced off her face compensated for the loss of colour her uniform dictated and Aeos grinned back instinctively. Lucky also seemed to take a liking to the secretary‘s infectious smile.

“Nice tea lady,” Lucky commented as the door closed behind the secretary. Both women were now leaning back into their chairs, enjoying the aroma of the tea with a plate of biscuits. Lucky seems to have sensed that Aeos was using her visit a semi-break from the paperpushing.

“So, I’m having some trouble securing you guys a mission, and in your current numbers that understandable, “  Aeos allowed a moment to rest, giving Lucky some time to digest what she babbling about.

“On the other hand, having your troopers hanging around in sweet nothing is not healthy,”

“I agree completely, bin waiting on you,” Lucky replied nodding her head ever so slightly in agreement.

“All well, I suppose we should run you guys through a sim,” Aeos continued, taking note of the ash-fallen expression flooding across Lucky’s face.

“I know, I hate the things as well, so I’ll make it interesting for you guys, just gather the troopers in three hours time at their usual room,”  Aeos muttered with a wicked grin of mirth.

***
“Right Paladin, this is a ‘capture the flag’ simulation, though there is no sense of hurry and competition involved, don’t try and exit your confinement till I have finished the briefing. As soon as I allow the lights to be switched on in your immediate surroundings, you will find three crates in the one corner. These will your equipment and backpacks. Your flag will consist of several small flags. You cant advance to flag number two until you have secured flag number one and Lucky or Sam has registered it in the sim-log of their datapad. Each flag will have a specific digit that will prevent any cheating, good luck,”


Aeos pushed the microphone away from her lips, her eyes resting with anticipation on the viewing channels the sim-room operating base offered.

OOC:

Rightio paladin, you are currently confined in a small box. A carton box to be exact. You are about two inches tall and have been situated in a small three-bed room-two storey-house. Have fun. Below is a map of the flags and a list with your equipment as well as a list of possible enemies.

Equipment:
•    6 Flashbang grenades each.
•    2 Grapple guns each.
•    1 neuronic whip
•    A flask of water
•    M4 "Bull Stopper" Semi-automatic
        -
Description:     A standard slugthrower sidearm, the
                    M4  semi-automatic pistol compensates for
                    short range with extreme knock-down power -
                  hence the nickname, "Bull Stopper".
                  The ergonomic polymer frame minimizes weight
                  and recoil impulse, making it an ideal backup weapon.

Magazine:     15
Range:     100 m

Squad Command Equipment:
•    All of the mentioned above
•    Datapad


Flag1: In the middle of an marble island located on a bird bath.
Flag2: On the dining room table
Flag 3: On the balcony
Flag4: On the edge of a drain located in the washing basin of a bathroom
Flag5: The squad’s choice. --->Discuss on squad topic

Animals:
Dog: Ripper


Cats: Socks
Cats: Mr. Jingles

Insects will occur, and etc.
Feel free to introduce more. Just think of the type of pet or animal you would spot around your home. Rats, birds, mouses, etc.

As for furniture and stuff? This is completely free reigns. consider this story a character development sort of simulation.

And btw, the M4 Bullstopper, as strong as it is, will not be able to kill the cats and dogs.

Floor1:http://img518.imageshack.us/my.php?image=paladin1ab0.jpg
Floor2:http://img169.imageshack.us/my.php?image=paladin2qq4.jpg
Concerning the maps:
The blue bars are windows, I forgot to insert on the the above second map, so use your imagination
The white boxie thingie are door openings.

It was pretty obvious at Jearen Malix wasn't feeling necessarily cheerful upon the units return to base. Instead of being pipelined for a mission, Paladin found themselves in the middle of another training simulator. This time playing cat and mouse with who knows what, and attempting to capture flags no one cared about. The Compforce vet wanted a mission, not another play date in the simulator room.

He quietly seethed in his frustrations and listened to the briefing. He examined the Bull Stopper, checked to make sure it was loaded, and holstered the weapon as the briefing continued. When it ended it looked like everyone was splitting up and moving in random directions. He almost said something, then cut himself short. He thinks to himself watching them all branch off.

"The last time you alluded that you might have something to contribute, people chewed your head off. Let them get eliminated and learn their lessons..."

He moves towards the door and everyone who is moving is stopped suddenly by Lucky who calls everyone back to their places. She looks sternly over each trooper and is obviously not pleased.

"This is a teamwork exercise!" She says with a commanding voice that brought a slight chuckle from Malix. She spots his look and raises an eyebrow. "Problem Malix?"

"No problem Sarge..." He says still slightly grinning, but with a hint of menace in his tone. Secretly he was pleased Lucky saw the situation degenerating and acted accordingly. Silently he wondered if corralling all these lone wolves would actually do any good. "Just in a hurry to get this over with and get slotted into a real mission. It's been almost a month since I've killed someone, and I'm afraid I might forget how."

Popping out of the little carton box that he was just in moments before, Kyrus landed on what appeared to be dirt. He had found out at the briefing that they were only two inches tall. From here, the dirt looked like a million small and dirty rocks, with decaying blades of grass scattered everywhere.

Looking around, Kyrus saw where he had just come from. There was a large trash can lying on its side, with all sorts of garbage spilling out of it. He just happened to be in a carton, instead of the week old mystery meat. He chuckled at the thought of the sim landing them knee-deep in that meaty mess.

Turning to the jungle of grass that lay ahead of him, Kyrus could make out a house not to far away. He could see two windows and a door standing in front of a little garden. Doesnt look so little from here, he thought. In the middle of the garden there appeared to be a bird bath, but he was to far away, to see any thing other than that.

Kyrus took another glance down at his datapad. There was a red circle indicating the area where the first flag would be. The circle seemed to be overlapping the garden and the side of the house with the two windows. Looking back up at house, he noticed that one of the windows was open. He assumed that the first flag would be inside of the house, but he wouldnt put it past the simulation to place one somewhere in the garden.

With a shrug, he turned off his datapad, and headed into the grass, where he would make his way to the open window. I can probably use my grapple to make it to the window, Kyrus concluded. From there, Ill take a look around, and see if I can't spot the first flag.

Kyrus had only gone a couple of steps into the 'forest' when he heard and felt the ground shake. Ducking underneath a small mushroom, he pulled out his small Bull Stopper and held it at the ready. Peeking out and looking over head, he saw a massive kath hound trot over to where he had been minutes before. That must be the dog Aeos was talking about...uhh, whats his name...Ripper. Frowning, he realized what kind of a name that was for a dog. Climbing out and over on top of the mushroom, he was able to see the dog chewing at the piece of rotten meat that was lying by the toppled over trash bin. Hmmm...that should keep the dog occupied for a few minutes, but when he's done, Im sure he'll take more notice of the little men running around beneath his feet.

Hopping down from the mushroom, Kyrus began running through the jungle with a new sense of urgency toward the supposed safety of the house. He just hoped he could make it before the dog finished his meal.

OOC:

I started just south of the birdbath outside of the house. If anyone wants, they can take advantage of the dog being temporarily distracted and take him out.

Kyrus had barely gone a few steps a way from the mushroom, when everything around him vanished.

Kyrus blinked and in that half of a second, his world reapeared. However, looking around him he saw that it wasnt exaclty the same. Standing in front of him, were Sam and Luckystar, along with the rest of Paladin squad. It looked like they were all still inside of the carton box behind the trash can, and Kyrus could see the dog chewing on the piece of meat, who still hadnt noticed them yet.

Looking a little suprised, Sam said, "Hello."

Also a little confused, Kyrus just said dumbly, "Uhh..."

There was a quick crackle of static, before an omnipresent voice said to them, "Oh, yeah, I probably should have told you guys this before you started off, but you guys need to do this as a team. Silly me. Anyway, you cant go more than about fifty feet from each other at all times, or else the simulated will send you back to your squad leaders."

Paladin squad was looking all around them, trying to find the source of the voice.

"Aeos, is that you?" Luckystar asked. But the only response they got was a short chuckle before they heard another crack of static, indicating that wherever Aeos was, he had left them alone.

OOC: UH-OH! PLOT TWIST!

It was a typical day in the life of Major General Rizzit.....that is: if you happen to be two inches tall. Rizzit was supposed to have been helping Aeos with things but somehow he ended up with Paladin Squad in their insane quest to collect all four fragments of all five flags. Lucky for him he had made a friend in this madness. Her name was Araknee, or so Rizzit named her. She had eight hairy legs like a tarantula...but unlike a normal tarantula her "fur" was black. Normally she would be nothing but boot smear, but when you are two inches tall that changes perspectives of things. To Rizzit she was large enough to be a horse....except for the eight legs. She understood basic and somehow spoke it (though how Rizzit was not clear on himself) therefore needed no reigns to control her. It also gave him a companion to talk to.

"You know...I think I will make life difficult for them."

"How...from what you have told me life already is."

"Take me to the balcony over there...we will steal the next flag."

"Such cruelty...why? Are these people not your friends and comrades?"

"Yes...but they also need to be challenged."

Araknee did as Rizzit asked. She knew little of these things but trusted his judgement. He did afterall know them better.  He just layed back against the big hump in her back while she did all the walking. She did not mind, Rizzit barely weighed anything to her. It took them a good while but Araknee finally reached the balcony where the flag was. Rizzit slid down Araknee's leg and approached the flag area. There were four pieces of the flag so it could not be whole without all of them. Rizzit therefore only took one.

After Rizzit had the flag....he set off to go find Paladin. It did not take him long as they were all together. He found them looking a datapad. Rizzit had Araknee just casually walk over to where they are.

"I am going to assume you found the first flag then?"

"No...just a portion Rizz. What are you doing here? And what is THAT?" Luckystar replied.

"The hell if I know. This however is Araknee. I met her down here and has been quite friendly to me. She will not harm you. At any rate while I am here we might as well have some fun. Does this look familiar?" Rizzit held up the flag portion.

"GREAT! You are going to help us then! Just give me a minute to register that---"

Rizzit pulled the flag away. "You misunderstand me. I am not going to be aiding you in any way. I will be challenging you."

"SAY WHAT?"

"This is a portion of A Flag. Which one it is I will not say. It is also not the only one I have. If you want it so badly...you will just need to find me and get me to give it up. Araknee my dear: we're leaving."

Araknee ran off as if she was in mortal danger. Rizzit laughed as he held three flag fragments in his hands.

"Are we going to collect any more of those things?" she asked.

"No...I challenged them. Eventually they will figure out I am not bluffing and try to find us. We have parts of the flag by the sink, the balcony, and the table. That will be enough."

"Then where to..."

"Head for the stairs for now. I really do not care though...this is going to be fun."

After freeing Kyrus the group again began moving. There were in a very loose formation, approximately 15 size equivelent meters apart and slowly making their way towards the next objective. No one heard anything, but all seemed to stop at the same instant and look about. Jearen Malix's sixth sense was working overtime as he scanned the area looking for the source of their anxiety.

He panned a tufted area of grass at least twice before he realized that the texture of the green seemed to break. He didn't say a word as he dove to the side and the arrow shaped head of a snake shot from the grass striking at his former position.

The squad broke apart and took cover. Many of his fellows firing wildly as the snake coiled then struck again. This time Malix was able to prepare a little better. The process of his duck and dive tactics were much the same, however this time the snake wasn't simply landing in a recently vacated area.

It is now a recently vacated area with an armed flash bang...Whoop!

The grenade exploded with a sarcophonous noise, and a bright light that left more than a few of the squad trying to adjust their eyeballs. The snake writhes about on the grass, looking both stunned and blinded. Malix being the only one privy to the explosive nips to his feet prepared to finish off the enemy with extreme prejudice. He picks up a a large sick and jumps on the snake. Within thirty seconds he has driven the stick through the reptiles head, and pinned his writhing body through the ground. Malix is tossed near Lucky by the death throes of the snake and he lies motionless on the ground catching his breath.

Kyrus was pouring sweat inside of his black armor. The damp and humid jungle of assorted flowers that was a garden, was proving to be a real challenge. Not to mention the sun was magnifying the heat. Even for a simulation this is a little too hot.

Wiping his brow, Kyrus was starting to breathe real heavily, along with the rest of his fellow squadmates. He kept having flashbacks of a previous experience he had had on Felucia. He had stayed there for a while, and hated every minute of it. If there was one thing Kyrus hated more than humidity, he had yet to encounter it.

"You cant drink any real water in a sim, can you?" Kyrus joked weakly.

Sam grinned. "Heh, yeah. What I wouldn't do to have some water right now."

They continued on in silence for a little while. Paladin squad was still looking around for another piece of the flag when they all heard it. A low rumbling sound in the sky...

Crack!

Looking around, Kyrus cought a flash of lightning as it came down to the earth. A second later Kyrus was knocked off his feet as large water droplet plummeted right in front of him. It hadnt hurt, but the splash had the equivalent force of a small grenade.

"RUN!"

Kyrus didnt know who shouted out the command, but he didnt have to think twice about it before he scrambled up to the nearest form of shelter. Quickly looking around, he chose to take shelter underneath a rather large orange flower that boasted long round pedals that could easily fit two or three people under them.

Darting over to them, he was halfway over to them before he started to notice that he was moving slower than he would of liked to have been going.

Looking down at his feet, he saw that he was knee deep in mud.

He struggled to pull himself free but found that this just made a deeper hole for himself. Kyrus turned his head to see a sudden rush of water coming his way. He quickly reached his hand down to his grappling gun. He fumbled with it for a few precious second before he finally had it free.

Chancing a quick glance up, he saw that there wasn't much time until the rushing water would reach him. Aiming at the base of the flower, he pulled the trigger.

Just then the water came rushing over him, ripping him out of the mud he  had been planted in. Coughing, Kyrus squeezed down the trigger and felt a tug as his gun pulled him in towards the flower.

After a few agonizing seconds of being dragged down under the current, choking down lungfulls of water, Kyrus finally made it to the short bank of dirt at the bottom of the flower.

Kyrus coughed for a few more seconds until he felt that he had gotten most of the water out from his airway. Looking around him, he saw that the rest of Paladin had made it out of harms way. Lucky and Sam were safely waiting underneath an oversized mushroom, with the rest of the squad under a seperate flower.

Turning his head, he thouhgt he saw a quick flash of something. Looking again, he saw it. It was laying there, unnafected by the rain, on top of a little dirt hill in the midlle of a bunch of weeds. The only thing standing between him and it was the vast span of the raging river.

The other flag fragment.

Kyrus kept a sharp eye out for the cat. He knew it was still lurking around somewhere in the grass, probably playing cat and mouse. And we are the mice. I'm not sure im enjoying this game anymore. He realized he had never liked "the game" in the first place. It had really stopped becoming fun when the cat decided he wanted them for a snack.

Despite himself and the situation that Paladin squad was in, Kyrus grinned at the thought of a giant cat nibbling at his leg. Why he found that funny was beyond him.

The raining had let down a little, but there was still a slight drizzle that was coming down. The droplets were not as big as they had been before, so they werent exploding all around them. Plus the dense forest of grass gave them some protection against the drizzle.

Kyrus felt that he and his squad was at a slight disadvantage, seeing as they were in about a foot of mud, unlike the cat which was stalking them from the grass where it could not be spotted, nor affected by the mud. It seemed that the cat had every advantage over them.

Then why was the cat not striking?

Kyrus frowned. There wasn't any obvious reason why the cat felt the need to toy with them for this long. There was obviously some other reason as to why the cat had not pounced on them yet...

Then it hit him. The rain.

"Guys!" Kyrus yelled. Time was of the essence. Paladin squad turned to look at him, even as he started jogging in past them.

"Forget about the cat! We need to get to that flag!"

"What?" Sam cried after him.

Kyrus took a quick glance over his shoulder to make sure they were following him before he explained.

"The cat is hiding from the rain! It's waiting for it to stop before going after us! We need to use this time to get to the flag! We wont have a chance out in the open, but we might just have a shot at him-"

"Or her!" piped Lucky.

"If we have some cover," he finished. "So we need to get to that flag before it stops raining!"

Now that they realized this as well, they hurried to catch up with him.

Kyrus continued running along the river until he came across what he believed was the most narrow part of the river. The river was just narrow enough for their grappling hooks to reach the other side of the river.

He waited for them to all catch up to him before they each pulled out their grappling guns. Aiming at large rock (which in reality would probably be a small pebble) Kyrus shot his grappling hook towards it. The sound of his gun was followed by the clang of the rest of Paladins grapples, as they each found their mark.

Gripping the gun with both of his hands, he thumbed the gun to RETRACT. Kyrus was pulled into the river, and for a brief instant, was gripped by fear at the thought of being lost under the powerful current of the rapids. But he felt the familiar tug as he was pulled toward the river bank.

Kyrus pulled himself up onto the wet mud, and clipped his gun back onto his belt. He looked around him and saw the rest of Paladin pulling themselves up.

When everyone was on their feet again, Lucky and Sam took up the lead again, and together they all headed back down to the spot where they had spotted the flag.

It was still sprinkling around them, and Kyrus spotted the cat curled up in a tight ball, about a couple hundred feet away from them, taking cover from the rain under the bird bath. It was hissing and clawing at the drops that continued to fall around it, but it didnt budge.

After a short jog, they finally reached it. Bending over, Sam picked up the last flag fragment for Flag 1, and handed it to Lucky. She quickly put it into her data pad.

"OK. We now have all the pieces of the flag to go after it now," Lucky stated. She paused to look back down at here datapad. "According to the datapad, it is somewhere around the birdbath."

"I just saw the cat hiding under it." Kyrus put in. He saw Lucky close her eyes briefly, but other than this, she did not show any other sign of frustration.

"That's ok," Sam put in, before every one got discouraged. "Lets just head over to the house. There's a bucket there close by the birdbath. We can take cover there, and plan how to take out the cat from there..."

Sam let the wast word hang in the air. It had gotten oddly quiet. Kyrus looked around him sensing danger. But everything was still, and there wasn't anything that Kyrus could see that would pose any kind of threat.

Then it dawned on him.

It had stopped raining.