OOC:

Jori
Heavy Weapons Specialist
Level 1: Cover Tactics
Story 1: Covering Fire

“Wha-ahhh!” Jori yelled as he fell out of bed after being woken by an alarm.

After looking around, he discovered that his datapad had been the source of the loud alarm. Jori looked at his datapad and saw that he had a message waiting for him.

Hmmm… the message says report to the classroom. What classr- oh yeah. I got selected for training in… in… hmmm. What did I get selected for? There we go. Heavy Weapons Specialist. Better get ready before I fall back asleep.

Jori walked into the refresher and showered. After emerging fresh, clean, and fully awake, he dressed and slipped his datapad and comlink in one pocket and his wallet with numerous credits into his back pocket. Before walking out the door, he double checked to make sure he didn’t leave anything he might need. When he was satisfied, he locked the door and strode out into the bright morning light. As he walked toward the building where the classrooms were, he passed people that he recognized from the Academy. He had passed about three people he had known in the Academy when he saw Andar Bacredi, a good friend from the Academy.

“Hey Andar. Whats up.” Jori said happily.

“Nothing in particular. How about you?” Andar replied.

“I’m on my way to special training to be a heavy weapons specialist.” Jori said.

“Oh wow. I’m taking special training too. Only, I’m training to be a medic.” Andar said.

“That’s good. What squad are you in?” Jori questioned.

“I’m in Paladin. You?” Andar said.

“I’m in Jester. Well, alrighty then. Better get to my class. See you later.” Jori said as he waved goodbye and walked away, trying to find his classroom.

Oh jeez. I hope I’m not late.

When he finally found it, Jori slipped in and found a seat in the middle of the room. He didn’t want to sit in the back because he would probably get killed by one of the thugs that were sitting there and he didn’t want to sit in front because he didn’t want to be called a teacher’s pet or anything like that. So, he stayed neutral by sitting in the middle. He had just sat down when the teacher walked in, but he wasn’t like any teacher Jori had ever seen, he was more like a drill sergeant, because he was like a living, breathing mass of muscles. Then he started talking and it took all of Jori’s self-control not to bust out laughing because he couldn’t believe such a high pitched voice was coming from someone like the drill sergeant. Unfortunately, a few others did laugh, but were immediately shut up when they were thrown from the classroom.  After they “left”, the drill sergeant began a lecture all about Heavy Weapons Specialists.

“Now, a Heavy Weapons Specialist, or HW, basically is squad support, whether the support be through the use of heavy weapons such as E-Webs and turrets, through the use of a sniper rifle, or through vehicle and equipment repair. HWs use a multitude of equipment, the most basic equipment being an electronics and wiring kit, a small tool kit, a weapons diagnostic interface datapad, and a weapons repair kit.

When the drill sergeant finished lecturing them, they were ordered to report to the firing range for practice.

“Now, grab a rifle and six clips and get to firing!” the drill sergeant said impatiently when they all got there.

Jori did what he was told and found himself an open spot. He picked up the rifle, put it up against his shoulder, aimed, and- fired! He looked down the scope and saw that he had made a perfect bullseye. His jaw dropped, as did nearly everyone else’s, and he almost dropped the rifle. He gulped and tried again, this time hitting it about an inch to the right. After about an hour and a half, Jori exhausted his clip and examined what he had hit. He counted up the marks that were on the wall behind the target and counted seven shots.

Woah. I only missed seven times. Holy crap. Jeez, how did I do that?

After looking at the target itself, Jori saw that most of his shots were on the right side of the target. Looking back at the drill sergeant, Jori saw that he was looking at each target and taking notes.

Uh-oh. He’s taking notes. I think I did good, but I don’t know.

“Now, we’re going to the sim room. Follow me and be quiet.” the drill sergeant said as he started marching down the corridor.

Soon, they got to the sim room. They all stepped in and the drill sergeant explained what they were going to do.

“Now, I’m going to split you up into three teams of nine people each. Each of you is going to get different colored armor. Each of you is going to get a laser gun and you have to tag other colored players with the laser. If you’re tagged, then you’re dead, not literally, and you’re out. The last color left wins.” the drill sergeant explained as he handed out the armor.

“Now, GO!” the drill sergeant yelled as he started the simulation...

Jori, assigned to the Red Team, was wondering how he had appeared in a battle-scarred city when the shooting started. He quickly found cover as he waved the rest of his teammates over to him.

“I think if we get to the rooftops first, then we might have an advantage.” Jori said as the other Reds scrambled around him.

Looking around, Jori spotted a door that led to what looked to be a six story building.

“There! We can go through there and work our way to the top. If we can’t get to the top, then at least the other teams won’t be able to get to us unless they come through that door. C’mon. One of you at a time and the rest of us will cover you.” Jori commanded.

One at a time, the Red Team sprinted over to the door. While they ran to the door, Jori kept a sharp eye out for any movement. The last three team members were beside Jori waiting for their turn when  four Yellow team members ran out with their guns shooting laser left and right. They managed to shoot one Red team before Jori took down two of them. When Jori shot the two, the other two ran off in the direction they came from.  Jori released a breath he didn’t realize he had been holding. Since the other two had made it to the door, Jori didn’t even bother with ducking down. He just ran across to the door and jumped inside. The remaining members of Red Team continued up the building. Soon they encountered a hole in the wall. Looking out of it they saw the rest of Yellow Team across from them in another building with windows.

The Red team members who  were first in line, which included Jori, lined up a shot and took it, managing to “kill” three of them. The other  four ran off supposedly to find better cover.

They quickly passed by the hole and continued on until they got to the top of the building. Looking around they found a bridge that lead to another building. Crossing it was harder than they thought because when Jori was halfway across, someone started shooting at them from below. Firing a quick glance below, Jori saw two people in green aiming at him. Running the rest of the way while shooting, he managed to shoot one of them in the arm before he got to the other side. Since he was out of their site, the shooters turned their attention towards the rest of Red Team. Looking back at the building he had just left, he saw three members of the Blue Team pass the hole in the wall.

“Hey guys. Some of the Blue Team is on their way up the building. They passed the hole.” Jori yelled across the bridge.

Acknowledging him, one of Jeri’s teammates ran across the bridge, steadily shooting. He managed to take out the Green team member who Jori had shot on the arm, but the other one continued to shoot. Halfway across the bridge, the teammate was hit. One by one, the other Reds ran across the bridge, with only one more being hit. Once they all were on the other building, they continued down. They got about halfway down when they turned a corner and saw three Blues with their backs turned. Immediately, the Red in front threw up a hand which meant stop. After they did, Jori and two others joined the Red in front. Slowly and quietly advancing, they got about two meters away from them, to assure that no misses were made, and they picked their target and shot. All three were taken out instantly. They started moving again, this time more carefully. When they got to the bottom floor, they encountered a door with a window in it. Looking out of it, they saw a Green member was walking towards the door. Backing up quickly, they pointed their rifles at the door and waited. Soon, they heard a shout and then silence. Jori moved carefully to the door and saw a Blue member standing over the immobile Green member. Looking behind him, Jori saw three more Blue members walking toward the other. Jori quickly got away from the window and told the Reds what he saw. When he turned back around, all four Blue were standing about a hundred meters away.

Maybe if we get out of this building and hide behind all of the debris out there, then we can catch them by surprise.

After telling his teammates, they agreed and Jori quietly opened the door and stuck his rifle out. When he saw no shots hit the door, Jori sneaked out and got behind a pile of rubble. Jori motioned for the rest of them to come out. About half were out when one of them tripped over something and yelled. The Blue turned around and started shooting. Cursing, Jori popped up and shot one down before crouching back down. He popped up again and immediately jumped to the side as a shot brushed his head. Looking for who took the shot, Jori saw that did and shot him down.

That’s two down and two more to g- correction, three down and one more to go.

Jori peeked over the rubble at the lone Blue and saw that he was not there. Jori thought that he was crouching down behind his cover, but the rest of the Reds had confused looks. Jori realized what had happened and he ran across the space between the Red team and the former Blue team, quickly followed by the rest of Red. When he got there, he heard a snap and ducked as the butt of a gun crashing down where his head was moments before. It seemed as if the trooper who swung the gun had wanted to do anything to win, even if he had to knock out his opponent and then shoot him. As Jori fell, he whipped out his gun and hit the enemy trooper in the gut, knocking the breath out of him. When he doubled over, Jori, who had already hit the ground, shot him in the head.

Everything faded away and the drill sergeant along with every other trooper, still in armor, appeared.

“Congratulations, Red Team. You passed. Alright. I will let you know when the next class is. Dismissed.” the drill sergeant said and walked away.

Jori stretched and wiped the sweat off. Wishing he had a towel, Jori walked back home. When he walked through the door, he went immediately to his room and fell down on his bed. He was asleep before he hit his pillow.