OOC:

Marcus Riley
Combat Engineer
Level 1: Electrical Systems
Story 1: Basic Electronics/Wiring

Marcus lay on his back in his bunk, his starched black sheets pushed into a pile at his waist. Moving his left hand to scratch an itch on his chest, he turned his head to look at his clock. The black screen read 03:58 in red block numbers. Pushing himself up with his right arm Marcus reached over with his left and picked up the small blue alarm clock he had purchased the night before. Staring at the chrono as another minute slowly passed by he sighed and flipped the switch that turned the alarm off.

“Another night with no sleep… great.” Marcus whispered.

Looking to the other bunk in the spacious room, Marcus saw his roommate fast asleep, the familiar shape of a female curled up next to him. Grunting at the two Marcus slipped from his bunk and made his way quietly to his closet. Opening the door slowly he grabbed a fresh towel from a hook, closing the door he crept across the carpeted room and into the bathroom.

Closing the door Marcus flipped the light switch and closed his eyes as the bright white light from the florescent bulbs lit the small bathroom. With his eyes adjusted Marcus stripped and stepped into the shower stall, the white square tiles cold against the bare skin of his feet. Turning the chrome shower handles Marcus cringed as first cold and then gradually warmer water poured from the shower head and over his body. Steam quickly filled the room as he showered, rubbing his body to try and wash away the restless feeling in his limbs. Turning the wet knobs Marcus finished showering and stepped out onto the soft white shower rug. Toweling off he moved to the sink to finish the rest of his morning routine. Wiping the steam from the mirror he shaved and brushed his teeth, securing the towel around his waist Marcus flipped the light and left the bathroom.

Feeling clean and refreshed Marcus moved to his dresser and grabbed some socks, an under shirt and a pair of boxers from their respective piles. Back over at his closet Marcus grabbed his uniform from its hanger, walking to his bed he laid it next to his socks and shirt. Dropping his towel to the floor and kicking it to the side with a swipe of his foot, Marcus quickly dressed. Ready for the day’s events, Marcus stepped in front of the mirror and looked himself over. Running his hands over his chest Marcus smoothed the wrinkles of his jacket and sighed. Shaking the thoughts from his head Marcus moved to his desk, slid on his boots and looked at his clock. 05:00 blinked at him in red.

“I still have an hour and a half before training. Guess I’ll go get some breakfast then.” Marcus said to himself.

Standing up Marcus grabbed the few things he would need for the day, and with one last glance at his still sleeping roommate, left the room and headed for the mess hall.

~*~

Marcus watched as a wide range of others moved in and out of the mess hall for breakfast. Glancing at his chrono he sighed when he saw he had another fifteen minutes before class. He had recognized a few individuals in the large cafeteria, but made no move to talk to any of them. Grabbing his coffee and glancing at his data pad to see where he was going, Marcus stood from his seat and left before he was late to his training session.

Marcus walked through the barracks and soon enough came to the room he would be in for the next few weeks. Stepping inside he wasn’t surprised to see the room was occupied by only a few other troopers and that his instructor was not even present. Taking a sip of his coffee Marcus stepped into the room and took a seat somewhere in the middle. Looking around Marcus took in his surroundings. The lecture room itself was of medium size, probably for a small class of ten to twenty trainees. In a triple tier arrangement sat two columns of desks, each with enough seating room for three people. A large door in the back of the room led most likely to the lab area where they would be working with the tools used by Combat Engineers.

The hiss of a sliding door signaled the entrance of the rest of the class followed by the instructor. Everyone quickly took their seats as the instructor, who was a Major based upon the insignia on his jacket, walked down the center aisle to stand front and center to the class. Turning around the Major looked over his trainees, stopping to give each a good once over.

“I am Major Tanner. I will be your instructor for the next few weeks. This specialist course will take approximately twenty-one days or three weeks. I will teach you everything you need to know so that when your final exams come, you can pass with ease and finally receive your titles as Combat Engineers. Any questions?” The Major said, looking over the class. “No? Good. Let’s begin. Everyone come down here and grab your manuals.”

Marcus stood and walked down to grab his manual, a small hardcover textbook with the words ‘COMBAT ENGINEER’ written across the top in big red letters. Marcus went back to his seat and opened his manual to the page Major Tanner had written on the board.

“Our first topic is Basic Electronics and wiring. To begin we will be going over the concept of electricity and...”

For the next three hours Major Tanner went over all of chapter one and two. It was a long and boring session but it had to be done, and Marcus even learned a few things. They went over the basics of electricity, ohms, power, voltage, current and resistance. They talked about different wire gauges and the amount of electricity each could carry. It was a very in depth class. And at the end Major Tanner went into the back and came out wheeling a carriage full of what appeared to be data pads.

“Well that’s it for today’s class. Before you leave I want each of you to come down and grab of one these broken data pads. Using what we learned today, I want each of you to figure out what is wrong with your data pad and fix it. Bring it to my office for grading once you have finished. You are welcome to use your own tools or use the ones in the lab area. Be sure whatever you use you put back. Dismissed.”

Major Tanner picked up his things and left without another word. Marcus watched the older man leave, and once he had left walked to the front of the room and grabbed one of the broken data pads and headed into the back lab. There were several metal desks in the middle of the large room, each with its own set of plugs to plus in any number of electronic machines. The walls were lined with racks and shelves of wires, diodes, and hundreds of other parts and diagnostic equipment needed to repair any and all things electronic.

Picking one of the empty work tables Marcus placed his project down and went to grab a few of the essentials he would need to repair the data pad. Anything he didn’t use he could always put back. Grabbing a few wires, resistors, a circuit board, a diagnostics kit and a few other things and went back to his work station. Plugging the diagnostics kit in Marcus ran a systems check on the data pad. Evidently the power supply was shot and the main circuit was coming back negative.

Flipping the data pad over Marcus went to work. Unscrewing the back of the small hand held console, Marcus removed the guard plate that protected the inner workings of the data pad. Marcus went to work replacing the wires that were busted. Evidently they had taken too much current and overheated, melting the wires and a portion of the circuit board.

Marcus replaced the old wires with new ones, as well as the circuit board and the power supply. He also swapped out the old resistors for new ones that would keep the current down in the wires so that they wouldn’t overheat again. Marcus was happy with his work and surprised that it was a bit easy, though he had been paying attention during the lecture as well as reading ahead at points during the class.

Finished and feeling that tired sensation in his legs, Marcus wrote up a quick report on why his data pad was broken and made his way to Major Tanner’s office. It only took him a few moments to arrive at the Majors door since it was just down the hall. Knocking on the door Marcus waited for a response.

“Come in.” The Major said from his office.

Marcus tapped the controls and the door slid to the side. Stepping in Marcus clicked his heels and saluted.

“At ease soldier. What can I do for you?” Tanner asked.

Handing the Major the fixed data pad Marcus spoke “Private Marcus Riley, Sir. I finished fixing the data pad you gave us earlier. There were a few faulty wires that needed replacing as well as a circuit board and the power supply. Should be working like new now.”

“Very good private. A. I’ll see you at class tomorrow.” Major Tanner said.

“Thank you sir.” Saluting again Marcus turned on his heel and began to leave.

“Private… here.” Tanner said tossing him the data pad. “Keep it.” Smiling the Major sat back behind his desk and went back to work.

Catching the data pad in one hand Marcus smiled. “Thank you sir.” Pocketing the data pad Marcus left the Major to his work and went back to his room for a well deserved nap.