Today was the day. Malik had been on Tadath for only a matter of days before his Urban Combat seminar was scheduled to begin; A week long exercise based course designed to force Troopers to work as a unit rather than as individuals. Now he and his fellow Stormtroopers, a squad made up of seven men fresh out of Basic, were designated to be the first to demonstrate what they had all learned on the State of the Art simulation course. Pushing off of the durasteel wall he'd been leaning on, Malik nervously approached his awaiting Squad to inform them of their listing. They took the news as well as could be expected, some patting their friend's backs, others trying to lighten the mood with failed attempts at humor.

"Well, lets get this over with" Malik said to his squad. Malik had stepped up to be the Squad's leader after the first day of training, when their original Squad Leader had suffered sever blindness when a Flash Grenade detonating to close to his face. Their Drill Instructor, a middle-aged Human named Buck, began barking orders over the thirty-some assembled Stormtroopers, calling for First Squad to muster gear and meet at the Training Course's entrance in 5 minutes. Malik relayed order to his temporary squad, listing the required equipment he felt they would need.

"All right, I want everyone to stock up on extra training Mags and Flash Grenades. Terry, I want you to grab that FC-1. Be back here in 4 standard minutes. Understood?" Malik asked, and was met with chorus of grumbles from the six men assembled around him, as they fell out to secure their gear. Adrenalin replacing anxiousness, Malik was the first to meet back at the rendezvous point. Soon after, Malik was met by the rest of his squad and issued a final gear check. Feeling pleased with his squad's level of preparation, he called over to Buck and informed him that his squad was ready. After a short climb up a durasteel staircase, Buck came to rest on top of a large parade stand and, clearing his throat, began the safety briefing for this exercise:

"Ok. So here are the rules. Rule number 1.) You are to clear out every "Insurgent" inside my Training Course. Rule number 2.) If you frag a "Civilian", three minutes will be added onto your final time. Rule Number 3.) Mess up on this course, and you are automatically dropped. No Exceptions. Civilians and Insurgents are designated by White or Red X's painted onto wooden silhouettes. The best time for clearing this course has been 35 Minutes and 10 Seconds. I expect you to do better. Timer starts in 20 seconds."

Malik issued the Order for his squad to secure their helmets and check weapons. With his helmet secure, Malik tested the Squad-Net Communication, and was satisfied when the Conformation lights of each of his Troopers flashed green on his Heads-Up Display. Buck blew his whistle and Malik ordered his Squad out. Taking point, Malik signaled for his Troopers to file in three men on each side of the first door-way, and Terry kneeling in front of the door with his FC-1 leveled and at the ready. Counting down from three, Malik signaled for the Trooper across from him, a young man named Apoc, to kick in the door. Apoc spun up from his kneeling position and put all of his weight into a kick that landed right below the door's knob. The door gave in with a satisfying crunch and shower of splinters as Apoc quickly spun out of the way, tapping Terry's shoulder, letting him know that he was clear of the door, and signaling Terry with a swift nod to advance through the splintered door frame.

Stepping through the ruined portal, Terry was quickly joined by Apoc and another Trooper nicknamed 'Squid', who began checking behind stacks of crates that reached about four feet off of the ground, and a couple overturned tables. After giving the signal that the room had been cleared, the rest of First Squad entered the room and began taking up positions adjacent to a dark stair case descended 8 feet to a metal door. In the interest of time, Malik gave the room a quick once over, and satisfied that nothing posed a threat, ordered Terry and Squid to switch on their Night Vision and advance down the staircase. Securing the door, the rest of First Squad took up positions at the top of the staircase, E-11s directed at the ominous door. Malik gave a curt nod towards Squid, who, with a half step backwards, opened the door. He and Terry pushed out into an open courtyard that had several columns that ran around the perimeter, which supported a border that ran all the way around the courtyard, from the top of one column to the next. The plaza was lined with parked speeders, and dozens of multistoried durasteel buildings with plenty of windows.

Malik ordered the rest of First Squad to move further out into the courtyard, and while sticking to cover, the rest of First Squad moved out too. Then, targets began to fill the windows of the surrounding buildings. Dozens of silhouettes began to move in front of windows and would send off a volley of Blaster fire from jury rigged weapons grafted onto their wooden frames. The timer in Malik's HUD had been steadily ticking down since Buck's whistle blew, and they were running out of time. A several minutes elapsed, and the street finally fell silent. Wanting to make up lost time, Malik ordered First squad down the remainder of the street, and followed the yellow arrows painted on the street's surface into what appeared to be an abandoned bakery with a glass store front. Not wanting to lose anymore time, Malik ordered Apoc and Squid to lob a couple of Flash Grenades into the Bakery. Sending the glass windows into a shimmering cascade onto the street. The Squad all looked away until they heard the grenades detonate inside the Bakery, and then they proceed into the ruined store.

Entering the demolished establishment, a sly grin played across Malik's face at seeing the various red wood splinters and grain substances scattered across the floor with bits of shrapnel protruding form their sides. Moving up a small staircase in single file, First Squad began to move across a durasteel gantry with Terry on point when three Targets presented themselves. A red silhouette mostly covered by another white target and another Insurgent in the alley below them. Not wanting time added on to their overall score, Terry took a knee and allowed Apoc to put two blaster bolts through the Insurgent's face at the opposite end of the Gantry. The rest of first squad took potshots at the target in the alley, and succeed in blowing large chunks out of its abdomen. Knowing time was against them, First Squad proceed across the gantry and into the next building. With five minutes left on the clock, First Squad hastily entered the next room, unintentionally tripping a proximity mine.

The mine was designed to detonate if pressure was applied to the floor, and sent chunks of Durasteel and splinters of wood at the doorway. The explosion knocked Terry and Apoc back into the the hallway, and the resulting percussion disoriented the rest of First Squad. They were quickly running out of time and this set back didn't help. Shaking off the disorientation, Malik ordered the rest of his squad to their feet, and slowly they all staggered to the next entrance. Sick of surprises, Malik put his foot through the center of the wooden door, and his foot went through with little resistance, the shock of the impact being absorbed by his armor. Pulling his foot back into the room and taking a kneeling firing position, Malik could see the finish line; A thick yellow line painted onto the floor down a long durasteel hallway with stacks of boxes along at least a 100 meters of hallway. They had only forty seconds left.

"Alright, Squad. It's crunch time. It's either now or never. Lets do this." said Malik, trying to bolster his squad's dwindling resolve. "It's only a few more feet and we're home free."

Charging through the rest of the door with his shoulder, Malik primed a Flash Grenade and lobbed it behind the last set of boxes in down the hall. The resulting detonation caused his visor to polarize momentarily, and Malik could feel his teeth rattle inside of his helmet. Thirty seconds. Entering the Hall, Malik stood to the side to allow Terry and his FC-1 to take the lead, followed by Squid, Apoc, and the rest of First Squad. The could only move as fast as Terry could lumber down the hallway with his bulky FC-1, so the last fifty meters seemed to take an eternity to traverse. Dozens of targets sprang up all at once, and forced First Squad to register friend from foe as fast as they could. Without stopping, Malik's squad blazed a trail down the remaining twenty meters, proactively scanning sectors, and taking out stray Insurgents with the odd elbow or the butt of a E-11. Terry, wielding his FC-1 flush against his hip, had unloaded half a dozen canisters of metal spikes into these targets, and they jutted out of his victims, which now looked more like pin cushions then wooden targets. Having shot their way down the hallway, Malik took one last look behind them and confirmed that all Insurgents had been neutralized by either combined blaster fire, or a decisive melee blow, and with a pleased smile, imagined what this hallway would've look like if it wasn't a simulation. The rest of First Squad crossed the finish line and Malik was the last to step over the threshold with only a matter of seconds to spare.

First Squad removed their helmets and checked their weapons, and were greeted with the sound of Buck's rough voice. Stepping forward, Buck congratulated Malik and his squad, and gave them their final time. They had finished the simulation in 32 minutes flat, and all wore dumb smiles on their faces at the accomplishment. Allowing First Squad to catch their breath, Buck walked over to Malik and informed him that First Squad was to report to Drill Sergeant Maverick at Trooper Registration for the final verdict on the out come of the Urban Combat certification. Then with a subtly nod, Drill Instructor Buck turned about, and started shouting for Second Squad to report to the simulation's entrance, and wanted to see them beat First Squad's time.

OOC:

Malik Adrastos
Urban Combat
Level 1: Urban Combat
Story 1: Urban Combat

Oh, so it's 10? I spend all last night looking around and i found several sources (that are apparently out of date) that varied from 3 to 7.

I thought I did back when I was in Iron Horse, but that was so long ago.

Bump.

Thank you, Sir.