Jester character development [5146] - Archived Specialty Storynet - Stormtrooper Corps

Vast Empire - New Posts - Search - Statistics - Login

ComNet > Stormtrooper Corps > Archived Specialty Storynet > Jester character development

(Restricted Division(s): ARMY)

Pages: [ 1 2 ]

Merrick
ComNet Member

[VE-ARMY] Platoon Sergeant

Post Number: 357
Total Posts: 659
Joined: Feb 2002
Status: Offline

Jester character development

May 5, 2005 6:53:57 AM

[OOC: Everyone in Jester is free to post here, including posts with specialisation stuff in.]

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Merrick sat in the gloomy back of the cantina on Tadath by herself. It was pretty late, so the only troopers in the bar were those not on duty in the morning and the place was generally quiet. Merrick had only had a couple of drinks, she wasn't out to get destroyed or anything like that. Her brother's arrival had given her a lot to think about. As had the current state of her squad. For a time they'd been the most feared and, possibly, respected squad in the army. Now they were just... empty.

Merrick's concentration was broken by someone, looking nervous, stepping into her field of vision. She looked up at the young man. "What?" He fidgeted slightly faster with Merrick looking at him. He indicated a couple of other troopers sitting in another booth across the room.
"They.. they said I should come introduce myself to you ma'am. I'm the new guy in Jester."
Merrick nodded slightly and went back to staring into her glass. "They also tell you they were all hand picked by me? That makes you the odd one out. Got a lot to prove newbie." The young man was obviously upset by this. He nodded hastily and almost ran back to his table with the other new Jesters and some trainees from Drill. Merrick chuckled quietly. They obviously hadn't warned the poor guy.

-----------------------
Jester Squad
TRP/PSG Merrick/1SQD/2PLT/1COMP/1BAT/1RGT/VEA/VE [CotE][SoA][CoH]
Verastinian Republic
-----------------------
To thy protection fear and sorrow flee, and those that weary are of light find rest in thee.
If you love something, set it free. If it doesn't come back, hunt it down and kill it.

[This message has been edited by Merrick (edited May 5, 2005 6:54:23 AM)]

Hashi Shiyun
ComNet Member

[VE-ARMY] Gunnery Sergeant

Post Number: 512
Total Posts: 779
Joined: Oct 2003
Status: Offline

RE: Jester character development

May 7, 2005 11:06:16 AM

MOS : 11H Heavy Weapons Specialist

General Skills

Part I - Precision Range Shooting

//

Time : 0630 Hours

Location : Bunk

Gunnery Sergeant Hashi Shiyun stared at the rotating blades of the primitive ceiling fan above him, his vision obscured by the fading darkness of the early morning. Outside the Tadath sun was slowly rising over the horizon. Already a false dawn was beginning to replace the death of the night, patches of pink dotting the sky. It was, all in all, a beautiful morning. A hand swept his brow, carefully wiping off the drops of perspiration that had appeared during his sleep. He turned his head over to the side. 0640. Those were the bright green numbers flashing on his digital clock by his bedside.

Pushing the remainder of his hazy thoughts away, Hashi swung his legs down to the cold surface of the metallic floor. He assumed a pumping position, his palms pressed against the cool floor, and began knocking down push-up after push-up. Forty. He made sure his chest touched the floor with each rhythmic pump of his arms. Fifty. He could feel his heart pulsating back to life. Eighty. A hundred. He lost count soon after that and jumped back onto his feet, feeling rejuvenated after his morning work-out. The blood in his veins was pumping through his small but pugnaciously-built frame.

Shrugging off the last of his sleepiness, he slipped into his trademark Scout Trooper armour, minus the helmet, and silently made his way out of Jester's sleeping quaters, his black combat boots not making a single click. Time to begin his formal training as a heavy weapons specialist.

//

Time : 0715 Hours

Location : Shooting Range, Level V

The young veteran ran his gloved hand casually through the jet-black spikes of his short mohawk-style hair as he peered at the yellow and black sign outside the entrance of the shooting range. The bolded words washed a sense of nostalgia over him. Reminiscent of the warning signs at boot camp, it detailed basic rules such as never allowing the muzzle of a weapon to cover anything that was not a potential target, keeping the finger off the trigger until one was sure of a target, reminding that all weapons within the compound of the range were loaded, etcetera and etcetera.

The only weapon Hashi had at that moment was the one slung on his hip. It was a holstered Kylan-3 heavy blaster pistol, the sidearm that stayed with him wherever he went. As the automated doors of the shooting range parted open for him with a quiet whoosh, that nostalgic feeling grew ever stronger. It had been a long time since Hashi had stepped into a room for a lesson on the principles of combat, be it practical or theory. Not since his basic. The seasoned combatant found the feeling odd to say the least. He had already served as Jester's de facto automatic weapons gunner for most of their missions, and had handled the heavy weapons of the Advanced Recon Commando's armoury during his stint with them. He was capable, and more importantly, battle-proven. Yet high command decided that it was time they packed him for some "real" training on handling heavy weapons.

A tall officer clad in a brown army tunic soon came into his sight. He was young, in the range of his mid twenties. Not much older than Hashi, who was just two months past his twenty-first birthday. Crystal clear blue eyes with blonde hair gel-ed up smartly. Distinct jawline. Clean shaven. Generally good-looking. The perfect model for a recruitment poster. Just another garrison officer who goes by the manual. His hands were clasped firmly behind his back as he strode slowly forward.

The officer interrupted Hashi's visual evaluation of him by being the first to break the ice, "Good morning soldier. I am First Lieutenant Vishaal and I will be your instructor for the duration of your training as a heavy weapons specialist. I will be guiding you in the handling of the most sophisticated and deadly pieces of weaponry the Empire has to offer."

A short pause, before he carried on in his academy-crisp voice, as if reciting from an invisible script.

"By the end of your training with me you will have mastered the intricacies of supporting, maintaining and firing various high impact weaponry. You should relish the opportunity to work with the finest of Imperial weapons and equipment. Please follow me as I lead you the first part of your training, which will test your basic shooting skills and help you adjust to the behaviour of a heavy repeating blaster while in full automatic mode."

Emperor's bones. First Lieutenant Vishaal was a goddamned droid unit. Hashi did nothing but silently nodded in acknowledgement, giving no other response. Nevermind. The fact that his instructor was lifeless did not bother him so long he got to complete the course on time. He fell in behind the mechanical strides of the young lieutenant as they bypassed the pistol and rifle ranges, where other armour-clad Stormtroopers were honing their marksmanship skills between shooting lanes. The two ignored the cacophony of ringing blaster shots as they walked through another entrance within the range. Hashi found himself at the top of an elevated platform without rails, suspended by lean yet strong black polymer ropes from the ceilings. Below him lay a large open space littered with life-size targets, inflammable barrels, sandbags and other shooting delights spaced at random.

He eyed the two simple ivory tables present. They were arranged in an L-shaped fashion. One had a computer and a collection of datapads on it. An old and weathered-looking Blastech T-21 with its rusty backpack generator laid unceremoniously on the other table. Looking at the state of the weapon Hashi reckoned that it must have gone through the hands of hundreds of similar students like him. As he stepped closer to examine it in more detail a hidden projector came to life in the form of irritating holographic slides that hovered above the table. An electronic voice began to drone on about the weapon and its specifics, in a tone not unlike Lieutenant Vishaal's.

"Significantly more powerful than the standard blaster rifle, the BlasTech T-21 light repeating blaster is the most deadly Imperial blaster that can be transported and fired by one soldier. The T-21 proved a common support weapon for army and stormtrooper squads..."

Hashi waited impatiently for the unwelcomed briefing to end. Beside him, Lieutenant Vishaal's expression was one of stone. Hardly surprising since the poor man had probably had to go through it a thousand times. The officer gestured for Hashi to pick up the weapon with a deliberate wave of his hand. Hashi began strapping on the backpack generator, which weighed in at a generous twenty kilograms, and held the T-21 in his arms. It had a tripod mounted below the barrel, for improved accuracy while in an entrenched position. Perfect for scything down a line of Rebel troopers charging against him.

Without waiting for any cues from his range conducting officer Hashi stepped up to the yellow firing line and blasted off a few rounds at the nearest target, downing it in a quick burst of red lasers. Vishaal opened his mouth as if taken aback by his trainee's lack of concern for proper range regulations but even he was suitably impressed by Hashi's accuracy. What was impressive was that Hashi shot from the hip yet was able to control the considerable recoil from the T-21. His arms were well conditioned to the shock of the kickbacks the rifle produced.

Hashi took down a few more of the incredibly-primitive and simple cardboard targets with his hip-firing, before switching to the optical 2x lens mounted on the repeating blaster. He used the scope to engage targets a little over a hundred metres. He could barely hear the voice of the Lieutenant pipering up in the background, as he was wholly focused on gunning down all his targets without needing a second shot.

"Ahh as you can see Gunny firing in fully automatic mode may result in the overheating of the weapon piece and it is recommended that you switch back to semi-auto so as to.."

The barrel of the T-21 was red hot and smoking, literally. There was not a single piece of cardboard left standing in his view. Hashi paused his firing, patiently waiting for the next set of targets to appear. So far, it was all pretty routine. Monotonous even. He sure as hell hoped that he did not wake up at six in the morning just to shoot paper cards.

Lieutenant Vishaal strode to the table with the single computer and the datapads on it, just as Hashi was contemplating if the former would make a more challenging target, playing with that sinister thought out of sheer boredom. The young officer jammed some keys on the computer and spoke without turning his head, "So you have aced the first part of the precision shooting with a perfect score. Well Gunny, I hope the next portion of your training will offer more of a challenge to you."

A switch of a key and holographic rebels in various shades of blue-green began to materialise in the vicinity of the range. These began to dart for cover behind the multitude of obstacles conveniently placed around. Their digitally rendered bodies began fuzzing up with static as they practiced unreal individual movement tactiques, intelligently pushing up from prone positions to make breakneck dashes for their next cover. The simple process of recovering and hitting the dirt was repeated again and again by the speedy apparitions.

Hashi rose up the sights of his weapon and attempted to focus. He had to admit this offered much more of a challenge than static targets. He let lose a volley of angry red bolts at the nearest hologram, who was making a break from a sandbag to a row of red barrels marked with inflammable warning signs. The shots cut the holographic rebel in his calf. To Hashi's surprise it shrugged off the wound and continued staggering on for cover. Hashi kept his finger on the trigger, his shots going wide as they fizzled nothing but the metallic floor. His long burst inevitably blasted through the red barrels, resulting in a fiery explosion that rocked his balance. He held up a hand briefly to shield his eyes from the flames. Those definitely were not holographic. The pyrotechnic effects he produced, however, were no doubt the best item of the session so far.

"Concentrate Gunny," chided Lieutenant Vishaal irritatingly from somewhere behind Hashi. "Precision is the primary learning objective of this class."

I'll show you precision alright, cursed Hashi silently behind the breathing filter of his helmet.

Grudgingly he followed the lieutenant's advice, allowing his mind to settle in a more disciplined state where thinking began to overcome natural instinct and impulse. He began to spray the damn rebels more ruthlessly, yet in a much more methodical and systematic pattern. The bursts he fired were short and quick, yet deadly accurate this time around. The rebels from short to medium range fell more easily, even as they scurried back and forth. The ones further away from him were harder to hit as distance inevitably took its toll on his accuracy. He picked off the rebels at 300 yards with timed two to three shot bursts.

The very nature of an automatic weapon meant that the fire pattern of his shooting would go erratic after releasing a few rounds. Hashi had to master the skill of firing accurately yet in a sustained manner, as that was what automatic fire was all about. Discipline. Discipline was the key to make sure his red laser bolts did not go astray and stay true to their path. The constant kickback of his repeater and the incessant noise it was making would tax his physical and mental strength however, thereby making it a challenge to attain constant fire discipline. Hashi knew that in real combat conditions such fatigue on his body and mind could be multiplied by a thousand times depending on the intensity. Such was the challenge. In the confines of the relatively comfortable and cool shooting range, faced with nothing but virtual targets, the difficulty was greatly diminished.

Hashi tightened his gloved grip on the T-21 repeater. He was determined to take advantage of the simple practice he was getting now. As the old adage went, "The more we sweat in peace, the less we bleed in war."

//

"Congratulations Gunny. Data collected has shown that you have attained 73% accuracy, one of the highest scores achieved in this firearm category. You are to report next week for the next part of your general skills training ; fire support tactics. Training command indicates that war games might be coming up. Dismissed, soldier," debriefed Lieutenant Vishaal in that toneless voice of his.

Without uttering a single word or showing any sign of acknowledgement Hashi Shiyun headed for the exit. Self-satisfaction swelled in his chest, though he kept his poker-face as per norm. The base cantina was his next stop. Breakfast should be served just about now.

//

End of part I.

[OOC : Technically I'm not in Jester at present but I'll always consider myself part of this squad. Planning for my return anyway.]

-----------------------
Gunny Hashi Shiyun

Hashi Shiyun
ComNet Member

[VE-ARMY] Gunnery Sergeant

Post Number: 514
Total Posts: 779
Joined: Oct 2003
Status: Offline

RE: Jester character development

May 7, 2005 7:08:03 PM

MOS : 11H Heavy Weapons Specialist

General Skills

Part II - Fire Support Tactics

//

Time : 1205 Hours

Location : Army Training Evaluation Centre (ATEC) Zone 32

The aggravating rays of the midday sun seemed to exacerbate with each passing second under its hateful glare. A cloudless sky that day only facilitated in the further tormentment of the wretched souls that stood beneath it. Dead and withered bush still present on the derelict piece of army training ground served as the only surviving flora for kilometres around. The white fossils of reptillian creatures littered the coarse dirt, signs that wildlife once roamed the area before the coming of the Stormtroopers who expectedly used them as an expedient source of target practice.

Gunnery Sergeant Hashi Shiyun could feel the baking rocks underneath him just begging to protude his boot and pierce his flesh. Everything about the desert outback beleagured him. Like it was deliberately designed to, as wisely planned by army training command. All facets of Stormtrooper indoctrination were required to be bitterly rugged, testing the breaking point of each and every soldier that underwent it. The proving ground for the platoon of students gathered there was chosen for its brutal harshness. Besides, even a simulator would be hard-pressed to replicate such authentic conditions.

Beneath the Sandtrooper armour he was outfitted in, Hashi was trying his best not to show any outward signs of discomfort as he observed the irritable jostling of his fellow trainees as they went about prepping their gear. They were divided into two distinct squads, Alpha and Bravo. Each had seven troopers. Their affiliation was distinguished by the colour of the pauldrons they wore on their shoulders; blue for Alpha and red for Bravo. The two squads would be pitted against each other in an effort to hone their small unit tactics and more importantly, their individual performance in their areas of specialty would be assessed by umpires in the form of Lieutenant Vishaal and a senior NCO. Hashi himself was assigned to Bravo as their heavy weapons specialist.

The senior NCO, a weathered Sergeant Major, raised a clenched fist in the air and barked out, "Troopers, fall in!"

The soldiers gathered quickly and were briefed about their team's and their own role-specific objective. They were a collection of mostly green recruits, though a few were seasoned veterans like Hashi. Lieutenant Vishaal outlined the plan of action for the two teams, briefing them on where their staged firefights will be conducted and expectations that were required to be met before they could call it a day. It was a simple affair of capturing the OpFor's (opposing force) flag followed by an assessment of their performance. They would repeat the process various times throughout the afternoon's training.

"Any questions?!" shrilled Lieutenant Vishaal in a unusually high-pitched and agitated voice. The heat was having a dire effect on the young officer, who was fingering the collar of his service tunic in a desperate but futile attempt to catch a breeze of cool air. He was already sweating at the pits of his arms.

"Very well then! Move out to your respective positions, double-time!" panted Vishaal.

Hashi shifted the newly-issued T-21 cradled in his arms. He could already imagine the sheer physical taxation that would be imposed on him after lugging the gun, its tripod and worst of all the 20 kilo backpack generator for hours upon hours of combat manuevers. It was a daunting prospect that depressed him. As a Jester he was first and foremost an elite reconnaisance trooper. It was standard for scouts like him to go into combat as lightweight as possible, carrying only the barest of necessities. He was wholly unadjusted to the heavy weight of the combat payload he was burdened with.

He decided that adaptation was the key to surviving today's lesson. He had to adapt, somehow, to the encumbrance of his weapon and its extras, and to the raw terrain. Adapt to his enviroment while still conserving enough energy for offensive charges and stopping the OpFor's onslaughts. It was going to be a long and gruelling day of hell. He picked up his pace and began to catch up with Bravo squad, which was already moving off to their designated staging area.

//

Time : 1310 Hours

Location : Grid 964602, Bravo Encampment

"SUPPRESIVE FIRE!! Where's my goddamned suppresive fire?! We have a man down!!" screeched the designated squad leader of Bravo, a Corporal Zuhaire, over the in-built comlink in his helmet.

Hashi swore obscenely and shouted in response, "Shut the hell up and calm the hell down!"

Rising to his feet in the crudely-made foxhole he dug out just 10 minutes earlier Hashi raised the sights of his weapon, ready to target any oncoming Alpha troopers who were at that moment breaching the perimeter of Bravo's base. He took a moment to deploy the weapon's tripod. Shots rang out, but he could not see the enemy. Their weapons were merely set to stun, but they still hurt like hell and Vishaal had instructed them to be set on the highest setting, which meant that a couple of shots was enough to knock a trooper out of action until he received medical attention.

Roughly 30 yards in front and to the right of him Corporal Zuhaire was taking cover behind a tree. Lying face-down next to him was the downed Stormtrooper, fully unconscious. The fallen trooper had a bulky communications rig attached to his back, indicating that he was Bravo's comms technician. Zuhaire was firingly incessantly to his front, blasting the whole area with his E-11 blaster rifles and burning bush scrub while he was at it. Someone had obviously pressed his panic button.

"MEDIC!! Get your ass over here!! MEDICCC!! " he yelled during a very brief pause in his firing.

"The hell you're firing at Corporal?" Hashi enquired via his comlink, trying to keep up a pretence of calm.

"Alpha goddamnit they're advancing on us!! Cover the damn medic!!" was the scream in reply.

Hashi cursed and snapped his attention back to the front. To his flanks were his fellow Bravo teammates, each looking as bewildered as he was. Where the hell was the enemy? Was the brief flash of confrontation only a diversionary attack? What if they were being encircled? A thousand endless questions ran through their minds as they sought to defend the unmarked red flag of their squad which was mounted on a mound of dirt. Bravo had been too slow in preparing their offensive. Before they got off the ground they were already pinned down by unseen opponents. That and with a man down, not to mention a twitchy squad leader. Things were not going well for those in Bravo's camp.

Faithfully the Bravo medic rose up to his feet and began making a dash to Corporal Zuhaire's position, keeping low. Enemy fire was still ringing about. Hashi refocused his attention and took notice of where the offending laser fire was coming from. Having finally marked an Alpha trooper cleverly proned in a bush he let loose the awesome devastating power of the repeater he was armed with, taking out his target in a hail of hellfire that made the victim scream in protest before silencing him. He cut down another Alpha trooper who had apparently singled him out in an angry suicidal charge with a quick burst.

"Go go go!!" yelled Hashi to the medic.

He went back to scything the area where he expected the enemy to make a direct frontal charge, pausing after long bursts only to re-adjust his aim thrown off by the recoil of his repeater. He ignored the returning enemy fire that sailed past him and continued pouring out a steady stream of fire that saturated the area. Meanwhile the medic slided over to his injured comrade, stylishly kicking up an impressive cloud of dirt, and began applying immediate medical attention. Other Bravo stormtroopers began to rise up from their defensive emplacements and commit to their firefight, however Hashi and his repeater remained the primary arbiter with his superior rate of sustained fire.

Suddenly three Alphas burst from a cluster of bushes on his left flank, hollering as they charged, firing their E-11s vehemently. Fighting the urge to recoil from the sudden surging wave Hashi immediately lifted up and swung his T-21 to face the inevitable collision. A stray inaccurate shot from an Alpha nonetheless took out a fellow Bravo trooper who had stood his ground. Admist the shrill screams and angry epithets of the men Hashi tried his utmost to keep calm. The OpFor were nearly on top of him when in a long five second burst that knocked them off their feet with a sweeping motion of his repeating blaster. They staggered as if stunned by a sledgehammer before falling to the ground.

"Alpha has suffered 70% casualties. Result concluded. Credit to Bravo. Trainees, you have half an hour to treat casualties and reorganize before the round resets," cackled that familiar dreary voice of Lieutenant Vishaal's over the comlink.

Hashi Shiyun slumped to the ground, exhausted. 2 Bravos. 5 Alphas. The fact that he was the one who downed all 5 showcased the tactical viability of the an emplaced repeating blaster in a defensive set-piece. The firefight was short, just under 15 minutes, but unbelievably intense and adrenaline pumping. He took a bite from the concentrated rations stored in his utility belt. There was still, however, a long way to go.

//

Time : 1635 Hours

Location : Grid 897005, near Alpha perimeter outpost

The point man of Bravo squad slowly crept forward. A raised fist signalled the entire advancing element to halt, which they did with not a twig being crunched. The point man was also the squad's sharpshooter. Hashi watched in intense fascination as he raised the scope of his rifle up to his eye and with a delicate squeeze of the trigger incapitated the lone OpFor trooper manning the outpost, before he had any opportunity to alert the remaining six troopers on his team. Hashi had always been intrigued by the cold-blooded killing of snipers in the field.

The Corporal, who was second in line, turned to face the rest of the squad. He seemed more confident as he went down the line issuing instructions for the final assault, delegating to each man the role he had to play. It was the final round of their little game. As Zuhaire squatted next to Hashi and briefed him on his particular task, Hashi's eyes strayed elsewhere. It was late afternoon and up ahead, only partly shielded by what sparse vegetation there was, was the blue flag of Alpha. It was fluttering ever so slightly in a gentle breeze that could not be felt by Hashi. Black crows perched in dead trees were making a cacophony of noise with their calls.

He needed not the instructions from his squad leader. After hours of honing his fire support tactics he knew exactly what to do. Provide the base of fire. Target known or suspected enemy positions. Facilitate the movement and manouvers of the assault group. Maintain covering fire until they were right on top of the enemy line. Switch to alternative firing position before effective returning fire could be accurately zeroed in on him. Where possible, take every advantage of terrain and cover. It was a simple and deliberate formula which could be repeated as many times as necessary to conduct the advance.

"Fire on zulu," instructed the Corporal simply.

Hashi nodded slowly and leopard-crawled to a spot of cover. It was a natural formation of granite, just a few yards away. It offered a good field of fire. The rest of the squad silently sprinted or crawled to take up their various positions. Hashi flicked a speck of dust nonchalantly off the edge of his gun barrel and waited, as patient as a stalking nexu.

The clearance code was given to fire and Hashi sprang into action, his repeating blaster erupting into a life in a fusion of grace and strength through his handling. All around him the sound of dummy grenade pins being pulled and the resulting explosions rocked the ground, but he remained focus on completing the task at hand. Focus. Focus. Focus. He kept repeating the word as he cleared a path for his squad to advance, his cone of fire bouncing wildy about. This time it was the turn of OpFor to be pinned down in their foxholes. Smoke nades enveloped the vicinity, effectively blinding everyone, friend and foe alike.

Grinning as he saw two troopers comically banging each other with the butts of their E-11s, Hashi shifted his fire in various and diverse avenues, making sure Alpha kept their heads down and offered as little opposition as possible.

"Bravo secured objective. Excercise over. Repeat, excercise over," came the voice of Vishaal over the comm.

Finally. It was all over. Slinging his smoking T-21 over his shoulders Hashi wearily trudged through the clearing smoke and headed back to the staging area. He did not bother to assist his comrades, being too tired to care. He looked forward to the debriefing. After that, a nice cool shower.

//

End of Part II.

[OOC : I intended the first part of the tactical outfield to exemplify the use of a repeater as a fixed defensive emplacement while the following part outlines its role as a base of fire in offensive combat. Sorry if it's too long folks. Promise to make it short next time on subsequent training.]

-----------------------
Gunny Hashi Shiyun

Hashi Shiyun
ComNet Member

[VE-ARMY] Gunnery Sergeant

Post Number: 519
Total Posts: 779
Joined: Oct 2003
Status: Offline

RE: Jester character development

May 13, 2005 3:58:11 AM

MOS : 11H Heavy Weapons Specialist

General Skills

Part III - Anti-Armor Tactics

//

Time : 1400 Hours

Location : Training Ground Sierra-Fox-Niner

The Cygnus Spaceworks Lambda-class Imperial shuttle was the most distinct sign of civilization for dozens of kilometres ground, and Hashi experienced a sense of mingling isolation as the the wings of the shuttle unfolded and the craft skimmed stately back to base. It left behind two Imperial Stormtroopers, teacher and student, with their assorted weaponry and gear. One was clad in the standard white armour while the other was suited up in his more specialized Scout Trooper armour. The latter was Hashi.

The instructor, a burly non-commisioned officer senior to Hashi, was First Sergeant Shafeez. A veteran mentor to his pupils in the art of warfare. A venerable soldier who had survived many conflicts and whose shadowed eyes, hidden behind the black visors, had seen a great many of the atrocities commited during such armed conflicts. He turned to Hashi, one of dozens of the elite of the Stormtrooper Corps trained under his wing. The latter who himself had seen more than his fair shair of fighting on alien worlds immediately held a sense of respect for the older soldier, who was to guide him through the rudimentaries of anti-armor tactics. They had made their customary introductions back at the hangar before boarding the shuttle.

The remote training ground where they had been stranded upon seemed devoid of human life. It was essentially a desert enviroment, with perpertual shifting dunes of dust, unforgiving and indifferent to their presence. Yet even the harshness of the landscape exhibited a sense of natural beauty which Hashi found appealing to the eye. All around him ancient mesas, dusty canyons and long-dead arroyos broke up the monotony of the dead soil and shifting sands. These natural elements also provided Hashi with potential fighting positions of tactical value for the day's excercise. He made a mental note of that fact.

"Here you go, Gunny Shiyun," rumbled Shafeez in a low and gruff voice, "A280. Armor-piercing."

He hucked a large and heavy mass of black metal to Hashi, who caught it with a single outstreched arm. It came courtesy with a scope and a sling. The weapon, a product by Blastech, was cumbersome to handle, weighing substantially at 4.7 kilograms. Yet its smooth and refined lines gave it an aura of elegance, a well-designed killing machine. At least to him. He had handled it before and always had a penchant for it. It felt good in his arms.

"Sweet," he whistled appreciatively.

"The beast can split a man cleanly in half from his torso up," nodded Shafeez, "And put in some serious dents in an AT-AT, to beat."

Hashi slung the impressive A280 over his shoulder, patting the buttstock of the potent rifle. Shafeez reached into a large military-issue backpack and tossed over a couple of elongated torpedo-like devices. Hashi caught the duo in each hand and studied them curiously. He spun them in his hands in a stylish display of dexterity.

"Anti-vehicle grenades. Careful with those," said Shafeez. The spinning stopped.

"Moderately effective against light armoured vehicles. I have more of those," he continued briefly. "That's pretty much it. Time for us to get begin our tank-hunting. I have a few surprises in store for you, Gunny Shiyun."

Hashi stared at the other man, sensing the wry smile hidden behind the helmet through instinct. He shrugged the last comment off his mind. Come what may come. He rolled his neck, the louds cracks gratifying him. The two picked up the pace as they weaved through the rocky plains, stepping over pebbles and rocks. They crossed what was formerly a lush stream, now just a dead and dry bed of parched earth. They seemed to have marched for hours, though the chronometer on Hashi's wrist showed that barely half an hour had passed. All through the wearisome long walk he kept a silent vigil, plodding slowly behind Shafeez, whose large sweeping strides made it difficult for him to keep up. First Sergeant Shafeez was no doubt well acquaintaned with the dry rusty heat of the desert that slowly but surely sapped at their energy.

His calves aching and his breathing losing rhythm, Hashi wondered just where the hardy instructor was taking him into. He for one had but the vaguest of ideas. Back at the base he had simply told that he was, yet again, going out on another field excercise for some hands-on classroom work. His instructions was to simply follow the lead of Shafeez. And that he was going to shoot some tanks. He comforted himself with the thought that at least he was not out with his usual instructor, the mechanical Lieutenant Vishaal. Under the intensifying heat of the sun his mind strayed, allowing himself to fantasize drinking down a solid tall glass of ice-cold Corellian whiskey.

A tall mesa, an isolated, high plateau with a flat top and steep sides, seemed to materialised in front of them, barring any further progress forward. Shafeez studied at the solid rock face of the mesa momentarily. A second later the grappling hook was pulled out from his utility belt and he had swung it up, latching it on to a piece of rock above. Hashi followed suit and the two began scaling the cliff-like wall. At the top, Hashi could study the immense stretch of desert that enveloped him. The dulating inclines and disinclines of the landscape which consisted of rocky canyons and other natural assorted formations filled his vision. Overhead the fierce midday sun burned.

He turned to First Sergeant Shafeez. His body language gave away the burning question. Now what?

"Lie low. Wait and see," said Shafeez, going into a crouch. A pair of field macrobinoculars appeared in his hands. With it, he scanned the terrain below him, looking for what to Hashi was the unseen.

Another smile seemed to form behind that helmet. He passed over the microbinoculars and pointed to a distant spot far below their position. Hashi looked through the lens. At first he could not make out the dark slow-moving dots heading in their general direction. He clicked the zoom button, magnifying his view. The shape of three repulsortanks, class unknown to him, could be made out.

"A section of 1-L Repulsortanks from the 523rd Armoured Infantry regiment," explained Shafeez, as if he read his thoughts. "They know of our presence in the training area, but what they do not know exactly is where we are located. They will have a hard time locating us on top of this little rock."

Hashi stared intensely at the trio of approaching repulsortanks. He could see the shapes of the gunners manning the single turreted medium blaster cannon manning the hatch of the vehicle. They were getting closer. Approximate ETO 10 minutes. 10 minutes in which he had to learn to dispatch of them. And quick. He instinctively unslung the rifle on his shoulder, and dropped to a prone position to avoid being detected. He turned to Shafeez, seeking guidance.

"Wait for them to pass. Aim at the flanks," the First Sergeant told him plainly. How elementary.

Hashi waited for the first tank with apprehension, his breathing laboured. He looked through the sight of the A280, imagining the moment where he would fire the trigger. The magazine of the blaster rifle was specially outfitted with ion rounds to suit anti-armor training missions. The blasts would momentarily disable the Opposing Force vehicles, and they would be listed as a kill for Hashi.

The rev of the repulsortanks' engines could be heard more cleary in the arid space of the desert. From his eagle-eye position, Hashi patiently counted down from a minute. The first tank rolled past him down below cautiously, like a wary bantha sensing the presence of a krayt dragon up in the canyons above. The first shot rang out and caught the driver square in the side viewport, and the whole vehicle grinded to a halt, blue static coursing through it as smoke began to blew from the engine. The repulsortanks behind it, not wishing to fall to the same fate as the lead vehicle, immediately began to fan out left and right.

At the top of the mesa Hashi took random potshots at the second tank, taking three to five shots before he managed to hit the frontal armour plating of the tank solidly. It was not enough. He squeezed of two more rounds that found their mark. The 1-L repulsortank crashed from its hovering height of 2 metres, eating red dust. Ouch. Those ion rounds did quite a bit of damage to the tank's electronics. He almost felt sorry for the tank mechanics who had to fix up the vehicles back at base because they were used in expense for his specialized and realistic training.

The last vehicle who had the most time to react swivelled around to meet the threat of Hashi and his A280. The driver in the turret panickly fired off a few blank rounds from the cannon. Hashi got up on his feet and abseiled rapidly down the cliff-face. He was going to meet the tank head-on. In an unconventional and maverick display of fire and movement he sprinted from rock to rock holding and firing the blaster inaccurately with one hand while another hand struggled to unclip an anti-vehicle grenade from his utility belt. The turret of the 1-L roared with low-setting lasers firing at him, all missing their mark in an almost unreal fashion, or barely whizzed by his ankles.

Slamming behind a rock Hashi finally pulled the pin of the AVG and lobbed it over. The resulting low-impact explosion caused by the training grenade blew in the face of the tank's gunner, resulting in him burning his hair to a crisp.

"That's a kill!" exclamated First Sergeant Shafeez, who had apparently came down from the mesa too.

Hashi straightened up and slung the A280 back over his shoulders. "Thanks First Sergeant."

"You could do with better accuracy though," the instructor advised, to the abashment of Hashi who had always prided himself on his marksmanship.

Behind them, the armour crews of the 523rd Imperial Armoured Infantry regiment were cursing. They had been soundly beaten by a single trooper. Had they known that Hashi was not just another ordinary grunt, but an elite and experienced soldier, they might have consoled themselves. But they did not.

Hashi Shiyun unbuckled his Scout Trooper helmet and listened as Shafeez gave the rest of his After-Action Review (AAR). The sweat trickled down the bridge of his nose and his cheeks. He truly felt like a Krayt dragon preying on some helpless Bantha ass after his tank-hunting success, to describe it in a metaphor.

//

End of Part III.

-----------------------
Gunny Hashi Shiyun

Merrick
ComNet Member

[VE-ARMY] Platoon Sergeant

Post Number: 359
Total Posts: 659
Joined: Feb 2002
Status: Offline

RE: Jester character development

May 13, 2005 3:59:11 AM

[OOC: Ok when I said you were free to post here, I meant you are GOING to post here.

]

Merrick got up and paid her bill at the bar. She was about to leave when she noticed a familiar face, also sitting alone in a booth. She sat across from him. "Hey trooper, it's been a while. How are you doing?"

Hashi looked up from the table and grinned. "Yeah, it has been a while. I'm pretty good, and you?"

Merrick shrugged a little. "Can't complain too loud. Fury'd make me disappear."

Hashi chuckled a little at this, but then became more serious again. "How's the squad without me?" Merrick shrugged again and he nodded slightly. "I've seen the roster. It looks like I haven't even missed any fun missions." He sighed.

Merrick nodded. "That's about the state of things. Plus I have a new guy I know nothing about. You should come back. I know I miss you, and the newbies could sure use some.. encouragement.. to become real Jesters." She grinned as Hashi laughed at this.

"Well.. I do so miss combat.. hmm....."

-----------------------
Jester Squad
TRP/PSG Merrick/1SQD/2PLT/1COMP/1BAT/1RGT/VEA/VE [CotE][SoA][CoH]
Verastinian Republic
-----------------------
To thy protection fear and sorrow flee, and those that weary are of light find rest in thee.
If you love something, set it free. If it doesn't come back, hunt it down and kill it.

Hashi Shiyun
ComNet Member

[VE-ARMY] Gunnery Sergeant

Post Number: 520
Total Posts: 779
Joined: Oct 2003
Status: Offline

RE: Jester character development

May 13, 2005 5:40:52 AM

Hashi downed his third pint of Corellian whiskey and called for another from the MixRMastR bartender droid. He sipped it slowly, swirling the sweet liquid in his mouth, while listening to the laments of his beloved Squad Leader.

His face had broken into a slow smile as Merrick brought up the prospect of returning to active duty with the Jesters. The harsh fact was that the squad had stagnated in recent times, with recruits coming and going.

Hell yeah he was going to return.

He knew he had a role to play. The new blood had to be groomed to become full-fledged Jesters. By old-schoolers like him and Firefrog.

"Cheers to our revival, Merrick," he said quietly as he half-raised the glass. He forgot about his last pint and walked her out of the cantina with him.

-----------------------
Gunny Hashi Shiyun

[This message has been edited by Hashi Shiyun (edited May 13, 2005 5:42:36 AM)]

Keef
ComNet n00b

[VE-ARMY] Private First Class

Post Number: 11
Total Posts: 29
Joined: Apr 2005
Status: Offline

RE: Jester character development

May 27, 2005 7:34:28 AM

Keef, not knowing very many people in the quite vast empire army, sat by his lonesome in the darkest corner of the cantina on Tadath drinking his fifth chocolate milkshake in the last hour. As he finished the last dribble in the bottem of the interestingly shaped glass the young lady, which had been serving Keef the past hour, had arived just in time to retreive his glass and collect another order of a chocolate milkshake before she could ask him if there was anything more that he would like...

-----------------------
Jester Squad
TRP/PFC Keef/1SQD/2PLT/1COMP/1BAT/1RGT/VEA/VE

[This message has been edited by Keef (edited May 27, 2005 8:00:21 AM)]

Merrick
ComNet Member

[VE-ARMY] 2nd Lieutenant

Post Number: 360
Total Posts: 659
Joined: Feb 2002
Status: Offline

RE: Jester character development

May 27, 2005 8:13:25 AM

After a lengthy talk with Hashi, Merrick returned to the cantina to usher the Jester newbies to their barracks. After kicking a rather drunk drill squadee out of the bar for the poor waitress, who already looked overworked, she noticed her brother sitting alone at the bar. She wondered briefly how he got in, then noticed the bouncers sitting closer to the middle of the bar. Merrick sat down quietly next to Keef and nodded to the barmaid, who knew Merrick's usual drink.

"How goes it, little brother?" This got a smirk out of Keef, as he's considerably taller than Merrick.

"Same old really." Merrick nodded slightly and downed her whiskey.

"You know, you don't have to try hard to fit in here. Hashi already thinks you have a lot of potential and wants to take you under his wing as it were. I think you're pretty close to as crazy as him already anyway." This got a real smile and a bit of a laugh.

"So do I get the preferential treatment everywhere, or only where no one can see us?" Merrick laughed.

"Just don't get used to it, trooper."

-----------------------
Jester Squad
SL/2LT Merrick/1SQD/2PLT/1COMP/1BAT/1RGT/VEA/VE [CotE][SoA][CoH]
Verastinian Republic
-----------------------
To thy protection fear and sorrow flee, and those that weary are of light find rest in thee.
If you love something, set it free. If it doesn't come back, hunt it down and kill it.

Keef
ComNet n00b

[VE-ARMY] Private First Class

Post Number: 12
Total Posts: 29
Joined: Apr 2005
Status: Offline

RE: Jester character development

May 27, 2005 8:34:12 AM

Keef and his older, yet considerably shorter, sister sat and talked and drinks were served. after not too much laughing and discussion their drinks were finished. Keef stood up and placed down the money for the bill and a rather generous tip for the waitress whilst insisting to his sister he pay because of the amount in which he had bought compared to her. After which Keef returned to the barracks as instructed.

-----------------------
Jester Squad
TRP/PFC Keef/1SQD/2PLT/1COMP/1BAT/1RGT/VEA/VE

[This message has been edited by Keef (edited May 27, 2005 8:36:57 AM)]

Merrick
ComNet Member

[VE-ARMY] 2nd Lieutenant

Post Number: 362
Total Posts: 659
Joined: Feb 2002
Status: Offline

RE: Jester character development

May 30, 2005 3:54:40 AM

Merrick lay in her bunk until late in the morning. She hadn't slept much, but Jester wasn't on duty and she felt no need to be needlessly sociable. She had wondered what the squad was doing a couple of times, from the sounds filtering through from the barracks, but it was only a slight curiosity. Not enough to get her out of bed.

Finally she sighed and sat up. Her need for caffeine had finally won out against the wish to be as lazy as possible today. Shower wouldn't hurt either. Hopefully the rest of the Jesters would already be out of the place so she didn't have to deal with them today. Luckily, it appeared they'd all found somewhere better to be today. The optimistic part of her brain suggested they might be out training or something equally conscientious. The rest of her brain laughed.

-----------------------
Jester Squad
SL/2LT Merrick/1SQD/2PLT/1COMP/1BAT/1RGT/VEA/VE [CotE][SoA][CoH]
Verastinian Republic
-----------------------
To thy protection fear and sorrow flee, and those that weary are of light find rest in thee.
If you love something, set it free. If it doesn't come back, hunt it down and kill it.

Keef
ComNet n00b

[VE-ARMY] Private First Class

Post Number: 13
Total Posts: 29
Joined: Apr 2005
Status: Offline

RE: Jester character development

May 30, 2005 6:56:37 AM

Keef had been up for many hours already, he never really slept much for he believed it waisted too much valuable thinking time. he was leaning with his back to the wall of the right hand side of the door of the barracks as he decided the left side was a face danger as it opened outwards to the left. As he watched the sun move slowly across the sky he noticed that the bushes where shaking, as he steped slightly closer and concentrated on the sounds from the bushes, the shower stared and the thing in the bushes disappeared with a rustle of leaves and breaking of twigs. so Keef too up his spot against the wall once more and watched the life of many things go by until his squad leader opened the door and steped out onto his foot. resisting the urge to be boistrous, he kindly said to his older sister "can i have my foot back pweese?"
Merrick turned to him, laughed and said "might if you address me properly Private"
Keef stood as best he could with his sister smirkling parked on his foot, saluted and asked once more "can i please have my foot back Ma'am"

-----------------------
Jester Squad
TRP/PFC Keef/1SQD/2PLT/1COMP/1BAT/1RGT/VEA/VE

Merrick
ComNet Member

[VE-ARMY] 2nd Lieutenant

Post Number: 365
Total Posts: 659
Joined: Feb 2002
Status: Offline

RE: Jester character development

June 2, 2005 5:18:44 AM

Merrick had a short conversation with Keef before deciding it'd been far too long since she had obliterated some defenceless target drones with her beloved rifles. Since it had also been so long since Jester had been deployed, the pratice would do her good. She left her brother to his thoughts, collected her equipment and headed for the rifle range. While the range wasn't exactly designed for sniper training, even at relatively short range firing the weapons would make her feel better. Now all she needed was some throats to cut with her axe and her day would be complete. Killing people in such a personal manner had become what she lived for. Well, that and she was now very well paid by the Empire.

-----------------------
Jester Squad
SL/2LT Merrick/1SQD/2PLT/1COMP/1BAT/1RGT/VEA/VE [CotE][SoA][CoH]
Verastinian Republic
-----------------------
To thy protection fear and sorrow flee, and those that weary are of light find rest in thee.
If you love something, set it free. If it doesn't come back, hunt it down and kill it.

Keef
ComNet n00b

[VE-ARMY] Private First Class

Post Number: 17
Total Posts: 29
Joined: Apr 2005
Status: Offline

RE: Jester character development

June 2, 2005 6:03:15 AM

Keef waited around for a while until he heard the first, and not the last by a long shot, of Merrick's rounds being fired and then wondered away from the rifle range but supprisingly ended up walking around the barracks a few times and then towards the rifle range. he stood and watched his older sister fire several rounds at the person shaped targets, each shot looked like it went exactly where it had been ordered to do so by the Perfect of the Army. Keef took a few steps forward for a more clear view as a tree was blocking his line of sight. just as he took the last step there was a sielence. nothing could be heard but his last step. he knew full well that his sister was awear of his presence especially now. Merrick reloaded her sniper rifle and with a little grin continued to fire at the person shaped targets at the other end of the rifle range that was quite short compared to what Merrick would prefer.

-----------------------
Jester Squad
TRP/PFC Keef/1SQD/2PLT/1COMP/1BAT/1RGT/VEA/VE

Dez
ComNet Initiate

[VE-ARMY] 1st Lieutenant

Post Number: 129
Total Posts: 371
Joined: May 2001
Status: Offline

RE: Jester character development

June 2, 2005 6:34:48 AM

[OCC]
It looks like i'm lost here.
For those who are participate with the Spec thingie, send me your Tracking Sheets that already filled with the data you have at the moment.

And those who post less then 2 pages or ms-word font 12 times, single line spacing, i'll consider as null.
No need for a 1 shot story post. continous post are allowed, as long you tell me when the story of your training starts and ends.

for those who are not participace with the spec yet want to congratulate, make fun, punk'd your mates in here, don't make my rant stops you

cheers

[/OCC]

-----------------------
Commander of Development
Master of Thorns (self-proclaimed)
Platoon Commander of Storm Platoon
1nd Lieutenant Dez
PL/1LT Dez/Storm/Phoenix/Dragon/Osiris/VEA[EW2][IG]
Email|web
-Goals are dreams with deadline-
(do i still have space for another positions ? yes i DO!)

Keef
ComNet n00b

[VE-ARMY] Private First Class

Post Number: 19
Total Posts: 29
Joined: Apr 2005
Status: Offline

RE: Jester character development

June 22, 2005 4:52:38 AM

Keef was laying in bed looking up at the ceiling and listening to the sounds of the other squad members toss and turn as if they were still asleep. He had little recolection of the previous night and a big headache, the sat up and swung his legs off the bed, stood up and walked over to the kettle. he carefully examined the amount of water for a few seconds to try and make sense of how much was acually in there and then flicked on the switch when he was sure that the water was infact up to the line that had clearly printed above the word "max". He then reached up and took his mug from the cupboard above the kettle, as he took the cup of the shelf he suddenly had a flashback to the nigth before, his sister, 2nd Lieutenant Merrick, and the new Jester Squad Private, Abstinance, went out for a drink and all got very well smashed. he lowered the cup and threw in the coffee and sugar and poured in the water and started off for a walk....

-----------------------
Jester Squad
TRP/PFC Keef/1SQD/2PLT/1COMP/1BAT/1RGT/VEA/VE

Abstinance
ComNet n00b

[VE-ARMY] Private First Class

Post Number: 5
Total Posts: 10
Joined: May 2005
Status: Offline

RE: Jester character development

June 22, 2005 4:57:05 AM

Abstinance awoke, and realized that the ceiling above him wasn't the one that he was accustomed to. Trusting in his instincts he slowly rolled over, as if still sleeping, to get a picture of his surroundings with which he could hopefully piece together what had happened to him the previous night. He spotted the Jester crest hanging on the wall, and the hazy memories of the last night began to return, along with his feeling of nausea. Quickly he rushed towards the barracks bathroom and began praying to the porcelain god.

With that part of the morning over with, Abstinance set about trying to remember all the details of the previous night. Slowly he began to recall the Lieutenant Merrick, and her brother Keef inviting him out for drinks the previous night, and dragging him out despite his protests, as they just had to"Drink with a fellow Ciutrian," and that final round at the bar which unfortunately ended with him being helped back to the barracks by an almost passed out Keef, and a Lieutenant whom appeared to be completely sober. With the mental exertion over, Abstinance's headache returned, and he cursed himself for not having the foresight to drink a little less than he would have otherwise done.

He decided to take a walk, and get some fresh air and hopefully beat the hangover which was looming over him, and promising to ruin his first day of leave after completing basic and being assigned to Jester. Abstinance's aimless wanderings had taken him to the range, and he decided to improve his accuracy with the standard issue blaster rifle. Half an hour later, he discovered that his accuracy, when hungover, was not up to par with that of the PFC in the booth next to him. He stepped out to congratulate the PFC on his shooting, when a hand landed on his shoulder, causing him to spin around and recognize the familiar face of Keef.
"Your shooting Isn't up to par," Keef noted.
"I'm hungover, thanks to you and the lieutenant." Abstinance replied, defending his day worth of shooting, which he knew to be well below the standards, and well below his norm.
"Well, you'd better be pretty damn hungover, or else you're gonna be spending a LOT of time out here."
"Trust me, with the amount of alcohol that you guys pumped into me last night, I'm lucky to be hitting the targets at all."
"It's your own fault, Now come back to the barracks for some coffee, you look like you were stupid enough to leave without getting any" Keef ordered, while dragging Abstinance out of the range.

-----------------------
Jester Squad
TRP/PFC Abstinance/1SQD/2PLT/1COMP/1BAT/1RGT/VEA/VE

Roses are #FF0000,
Violets are #0000FF,
All my base
Are belong to you

[This message has been edited by Abstinance (edited June 22, 2005 5:06:14 AM)]

Keef
ComNet n00b

[VE-ARMY] Private First Class

Post Number: 20
Total Posts: 29
Joined: Apr 2005
Status: Offline

RE: Jester character development

June 22, 2005 5:32:31 AM

As keef walked in the door dragging Abstinance clsoe behind he let go and quietly told him to take a seat at the table and wondered over to make some more coffee, still holding his mug from the first time this morning he flicked on the switch knowing that there was only 1 mug out of the jug he has not long boiled. he placed down his mug and opened up the cupboard and took another mug from the seemingly endless stash of imperial mugs and placed it quietly on the bench. he then turned to see Abstinance sitting in a not previously reserved eat where he had made himself comfortable, Abstinance looked up and Keef signaled a quick question, "2 sugars?". Abstinance got the idea and held up 3 fingers on his left hand.

Keef picked up the sugar container and quickly spooned 3 sugars into both cups, as he put down the sugar he heard a foot hit the ground and reached for another mug. Keef took the mug by the handle and placed it a few inches from the other 2 already carefully placed on the bench. He once again picked up the sugar and spooned only one sugar into the third mug, placed the lid back on the sugar container and put it in its usual spot next to the jar of coffee and the jar of drinking chocolate. He carefully picked up the coffee jar and took off the lid, he then placed one heaped spoonful of coffee in each of the first two cups. Keef replaced the lid on the jar of coffee and returned it to where it belonged. He carefully picked the jug up by the handle and poured the boiling water into all 3 mugs, one after another but only filling the last of the 3 three quarters of the way up. he then placed the kettle back on the base from which he had taken it from. carefully sturing the first and second mugs while be picked up the jar of drinking chocolate, and using the plastic spoon located inside the half-filled jar placed 2 heaped piles into the third mug and stured quickly. Keef then kicked open the fridge and took out hte milk and filled the mugs to aproximatly the same hight from the top with milk and carefully stured it in. he walked over to Abstinance who had made himself quite comfortable at the table with his feet up on the base and handed him his coffee. Keef then placed the hot chocolate in what appeared to be an often ocupied chair and returned to get his coffee when the door of the Lieutenant's room swang open.
"good morning sis...i mean Lieutenant.." said Keef as he heard the door knob turn.
there returned at grown and something that sounded remotly like "morning" from the mouth of his tired sister.
"good morning Lieutenant" Abstinance said as he stood swiftly from his seat and saluted.
Merrick mumbled "Sit down private, its to early to be saluting, just drink ya coffee and thanks for the hot chocolate Keef" as she sat down infront of the hot chocolate that Keef had placed in her usual spot on the table.
Keef walked over and sat between his sister, Merrick, and Abstinance and took a sip of his coffee, there was an odd silence as the 3 members of jester enjoied a cuppa'...

-----------------------
Jester Squad
TRP/PFC Keef/1SQD/2PLT/1COMP/1BAT/1RGT/VEA/VE

[This message has been edited by Keef (edited June 22, 2005 6:24:34 AM)]

Merrick
ComNet Member

[VE-ARMY] 2nd Lieutenant

Post Number: 368
Total Posts: 659
Joined: Feb 2002
Status: Offline

RE: Jester character development

June 23, 2005 5:04:16 AM

Once the hot drink had woken Merrick up a little better she looked at Abstinance. He looked.. well like crap frankly. She grinned quietly and took a few more sips of her drink. "So, how are we feeling Abby?" He recoiled slightly as though the sound of her voice hurt his head. Well.. it probably did. He mumbled something incomprehensible and Merrick laughed quietly. "Remember anything from last night then?" His expression changed to one of extreme concentration, and Merrick and Keef both chuckled. Abstinance finally shook his head.

"Only being carried home, Lieutenant. How DID you stay so sober, anyway? As far as I could tell, you drank at least as much as Keef here, and he was pretty wasted too."

Merrick shook her head. "Jester secret." She grinned as the other two scowled at her, finished her hot chocolate, and left for her morning run. The two privates sat there feeling sorry for themselves.

-----------------------
Jester Squad
SL/2LT Merrick/1SQD/2PLT/1COMP/1BAT/1RGT/VEA/VE [CotE][SoA][CoH]
Verastinian Republic
-----------------------
To thy protection fear and sorrow flee, and those that weary are of light find rest in thee.
If you love something, set it free. If it doesn't come back, hunt it down and kill it.

Keef
ComNet n00b

[VE-ARMY] Private First Class

Post Number: 21
Total Posts: 29
Joined: Apr 2005
Status: Offline

RE: Jester character development

June 24, 2005 7:45:18 AM

After sitting for a while to let the caffine set in from the coffee both Abby and Keef left the barracks and wondered off to the range for some relaxing killin' of cardboard cutouts shaped as differnt races and proceeded to semi-soberly fire at them. Not only were they well below their usual standard at such a short range but they also quite often missed the targets by a heap. After a decent 10 mins of feeling like they lsot their skills as stormtroopers, they decided to go for a run following the standard route that Merrick had taken a good 15 mins before.

-----------------------
Jester Squad
TRP/PFC Keef/1SQD/2PLT/1COMP/1BAT/1RGT/VEA/VE

Merrick
ComNet Marshal

[VE-ARMY] 1st Lieutenant

Post Number: 369
Total Posts: 659
Joined: Feb 2002
Status: Offline

RE: Jester character development

July 3, 2005 6:59:32 PM

Merrick was just heading to the rifle range again when a runner came up to her, saluted, handed her a message, and ran off again. She had a habit of turning her commlink off when she was training, or just leaving it in the barracks. She read the message and headed back towards the barracks to put her equipment away before heading to Fury's office. She stood in his outer office until the girl at the desk sent her in. Fury looked busy with paperwork as usual, and didn't look up as she entered and saluted. "Merrick, take a seat."

-------------------------

Merrick returned to the empty Jester barracks and stood in the hallway looking around for a moment. It wasn't long ago that she'd been moved here from Wraith, back when Kiption had first founded the squad. All of the veterans from that time had gone now, she was the last one. And now she was leaving too. It was now official, Hashi would be taking command of Jester and Merrick was getting promoted again. She started packing her equipment to vacate her old office and room so that Hashi could move into the SL quarters.

Merrick could now hear a couple of people wandering back in. Probably those who'd finished their morning training and come back for a rest before getting back to it in the afternoon. She ventured out to see who it was, and found Abstinance, Keef and Hashi sitting at the table talking. They all went to stand and salute but she waved them off and sat down. Hashi noticed it first. "Hey.. Merrick got promoted again look." The others looked at her rank insignia and they all congratulated her in turn.

"Thanks guys. But its no't all good news for you." They all looked at her curiously for a moment, then Hashi seemed to catch on.

"You're being transferred aren't you?" Merrick nodded and Keef and Abstinances' expressions changed. "Where to boss?"

"Well, since Peacemaker's disappeared, there hasn't been an active executive officer for some time and Fury feels that he needs a more.. clear.. line of succession should anything happen to him, or he decide to retire. So you're looking at the new XO." Keef and Abby gaped, and Hashi looked upset.

"Well.. I mean that's good for you and all.. congrats Merr, but what about us? Who's going to take your place?" Merrick put a hand on Hashi's shoulder.

"Don't worry about that. I've chosen someone I think you will all be happy with as the new squad leader. I couldn't think of anyone more suited to carrying on the Jester tradition of being a crazy bastard and causing a whole lot of trouble." Keef and Abby looked confused and Hashi still looked heartbroken.

"So then, tell us who it is!" Keef was obviously a lot more impatient than the others, and Merrick laughed.

"Ok, ok. I've tortured you enough. It's Hashi. He's the longest standing member, and I'd trust him with my life any day. So it's an easy task to trust him with my squad. Sometimes I think he loves it more than I do." Hashi looked up, shocked but happy. Keef and Abby were smiling too.

The pair said at once, "Way to go Hashi!" And Hashi grinned wide.

-----------------------
Jester Squad
SL/2LT Merrick/1SQD/2PLT/1COMP/1BAT/1RGT/VEA/VE [CotE][SoA][CoH]
Verastinian Republic
-----------------------
To thy protection fear and sorrow flee, and those that weary are of light find rest in thee.
If you love something, set it free. If it doesn't come back, hunt it down and kill it.

Abstinance
ComNet n00b

[VE-ARMY] Private First Class

Post Number: 6
Total Posts: 10
Joined: May 2005
Status: Offline

RE: Jester character development

July 3, 2005 9:47:56 PM

Abstinance left Keef to deal with the reality that he was losing his sister so soon after being placed in the same squad, and went to find something that would take him a good long while to finish.

Abstinance sat down with his C3POD (Complete with several albums that he had "acquired legally" from the net), and quickly began to disassemble his pride and joy, his new E-11/F Selective Fire Blaster Rifle into its basic components. After making sure that it was unloaded, he sprayed some cleaning solution down the barrel, and inserted a rag on the end of a metallic shaft, which he then removed, and replaced the rag, repeating this process until the rag came out clean, signalling the end of maintenance on the rifle's barrel.

The next thing that Abstinance decided to do was tweak the amount of pressure needed to fire his weapon to his preferred amount. As this was a new rifle, he took an exceptional amount of care, first by getting the pressure to approximately where he wanted it, then afterwards by spending a good twenty minutes fine-tuning it, until it was perfect.

Abstinance then pulled out his XV-7 VibroBayonet and affixed it to the end of his rifle, getting a feel for the added weight, and practicing the motion so to decrease the amount of time that would be needed to place it on the end of his rifle.

With everything done Abstinance reassembled his rifle within twenty seconds and put it back in it's accustomed position, along with his C3POD. He noticed Keef staring at him with a sad look from his spot on the lounge.

Several minutes later Abstinance sat down next to Keef and handed him a cup of Coffee, and before Keef could open his mouth said "Yeah, I'll miss her too buddy."

-----------------------
Jester Squad
TRP/PFC Abstinance/1SQD/2PLT/1COMP/1BAT/1RGT/VEA/VE

Roses are #FF0000,
Violets are #0000FF,
All my base
Are belong to you

[This message has been edited by Abstinance (edited July 3, 2005 9:51:12 PM)]

Keef
ComNet n00b

[VE-ARMY] Private First Class

Post Number: 22
Total Posts: 29
Joined: Apr 2005
Status: Offline

RE: Jester character development

July 23, 2005 3:36:32 AM

after moping around for the last few days, Keef eventually realised that this was not a bad thing to happen for him nor for his sister. he realised, as he was drinking his 4th mug of coffee that morning that this was just another reason he had for looking up to merrick, she was now much greater than before so Keef realised he had more things to acomplish to be as great as his sister. he quickly finished his coffee and rushed to the rifle range for some pratice with his E-11 blaster. after a very comfortable hour at the range he sprung to his feet and ran the course merrick had taken every day for the duration of her time here at the jester barracks.

-----------------------
Jester Squad
TRP/PFC Keef/1SQD/2PLT/1COMP/1BAT/1RGT/VEA/VE

Merrick
ComNet Marshal

[VE-ARMY] 1st Lieutenant

Post Number: 376
Total Posts: 659
Joined: Feb 2002
Status: Offline

RE: Jester character development

August 8, 2005 4:58:41 AM

Merrick stepped into the Jester barricks for the first time since her promotion. She looked over the sleeping troops and smiled. Her.. Hashi's.. office was still mostly empty. Hashi had not yet taken proper command of the squad. Incidentally, that was why Merrick had come by today.

Kiption stepped in behind her. "Oh good, you didn't repaint yet." He smiled and Merrick laughed.

"Of course not si.. Gunny."

He grinned some more. "Still not used to outranking me?"

Merrick shrugged. "You recruited me and you've been here so much longer, just doesn't feel right for you to call me ma'am." Kip nodded. "How's it feel to be back?"

He grinned again. "I missed bossing people around." They both laughed and a couple of the troopers stirred slightly.

Merrick had spoken to some of them about the change, but they didn't know it was official just yet. Hashi had been too preoccupied for her to get in contact with, and Kiara was still on leave. The new kid had only just moved in, so she doubted it would concern him greatly.

"Do you want to wake them, or should I?" Merrick looked at Kip. He smiled and breathed in deep.

"It's well past time to be up and on exercise, maggots! Now get your asses out of bed and salute the Lieutenant!"

Everyone jumped out of bed at once and tried to get in a somewhat presentable line in front of Merrick and Kiption. Kip seemed pleased with himself and Merrick shook her head.

"Well guys I have some good news and some bad news.."

-----------------------
Jester Squad
XO/1LT Merrick/VEA/TADATH/VE [CotE][SoA][CoH]
Army Executive Officer
Verastinian Republic - Minister of Subversion
-----------------------
To thy protection fear and sorrow flee, and those that weary are of light find rest in thee.
If you love something, set it free. If it doesn't come back, hunt it down and kill it.

[This message has been edited by Merrick (edited August 8, 2005 5:02:43 AM)]

Keef
ComNet n00b

[VE-ARMY] Private First Class

Post Number: 24
Total Posts: 29
Joined: Apr 2005
Status: Offline

RE: Jester character development

August 8, 2005 5:15:13 AM

Keef awoke to the sound of who he thought was the new Squad Leader yelling at the top of his voice. Keef noticed who he had been woken by after a few seconds after seeing his sister who had not long been promoted and sprung to his feet and saluted. He and the other members of Jester Squad lined up before Merrick and the other man who was standing next to his sister.

"Well guys I have some good news and some bad news.." Merrick said

Merrick then explained that this was the new squad leader Kiption who was the founder of Jester Squad origionally and he was back to take command in the place of Hashi who had not taken propper command. The squad had been pretty slack after Merrick left command but Keef believed this is where that would all change, as the founder of the most feared squad in the empire Kiption was boud to bring the squad back into order.

-----------------------
Jester Squad
TRP/PFC Keef/1SQD/2PLT/1COMP/1BAT/1RGT/VEA/VE

Kiption
ComNet Initiate

[VE-ARMY] Gunnery Sergeant
[VE-VEEC] Executive Officer

Post Number: 101
Total Posts: 152
Joined: Jan 2002
Status: Offline

RE: Jester character development

August 8, 2005 9:12:30 PM

Oh yea, it's a knuckle cracking good time.

After formal introductions Kiption walked up and down the dormroom looking at each of the troopers in the face. "So this is what we've turned Jester's into. A bunch of fking kids with ... Is that your blanky...." Kiption stared at Abstinance. "Did your mommy give that to you before you left?"

"No sir." Abstinance said, his voice cracking under strain.

"Did you voice just crack?" Kiption stopped walking in front of Abstinance. "Poor Abby, I didn't know that we let little girls in the army now." Further down the line someone let out a small laugh. "Oh that's funny." Kiption walked down to the source of the noise. "And who are you chuckles?"

"Keef sir."

"Ahh the LT's sister." Kiption turned and walked back down the dorm room toward his quarters. "Drills will start in 20 minutes. You will be dressed and waiting outside in formation in 5 minutes." He walked into his quarters and closed the door behind him.

On the other side of the door began the rumblings of the troops getting dressed and equipment together. Kiption sat down at the desk. A different desk. Pulled his glasses out of his pocket and placed them on his face. 'Now to learn who these kids are...'

-----------------------

Feel free to fill in my clipboard of notes.

-----------------------
Just another pretty face....
Verastinian Republic - Almighty Dictator
Jester Squad

"If in physics there's something you don't understand, you can always hide behind the uncharted depths of nature. You can always blame God. You didn't make it so complex yourself. But if your program doesn't work, there is no one to hide behind. You cannot hide behind an obstinate nature. If it doesn't work, you've messed up." -- Dijkstra

Shadow_Demon
ComNet n00b

[VE-ARMY] Private First Class

Post Number: 9
Total Posts: 10
Joined: Jul 2005
Status: Offline

RE: Jester character development

August 10, 2005 12:20:07 AM

hey guys, i just need help on what to do with our specialities plz!!!!

If you are having trouble getting the specs thingie, Contact your PL, Rizzit or Raziel...
after you consult with your SL off course

-Dez-

[This message has been edited by Dez (edited August 10, 2005 3:25:48 AM)]

Rahhu
ComNet n00b

[VE-ARMY] Private

Post Number: 6
Total Posts: 25
Joined: Jul 2005
Status: Offline

RE: Jester character development

August 10, 2005 1:29:57 AM

===Holopad Active===

Rahhu
Callsign: Katana
Specialties: Unknown

===Holopad Deactivated===

Rahhu wasn't ready to awake when he heard the voice of the Squad Leader. He shifted slighly then got up and saluted. He was almost surprised about the changes in leadership but he didn't much care.

"Drill time already huh?"

He pulled on his uniform and got his equipment ready. Rahhu didn't prefer the ranged drills to the hand to hand combat training that would take place, but he had to do what was told.

"Kiption's gonna whip our asses into shape boys, lets show him he doesn't need try to hard cause we are a damn good squad!"

Rahhu felt better as his senses came to after being awakened from the first good sleep he had in weeks. He knew the drills would be long and tedious, but he could handle most things the drills consisted of. Anyone could crawl in the mud and shoot a rifle. Rahhu was well trained with a sniper rifle even though he used a virbro lance by choice.

"I hate drills." Rahhu said laughing as he walked outside and stood in formation. He was ready to get through with the drills and get some melee training done that he should have woken up earlier for.

[This message has been edited by Rahhu (edited August 10, 2005 10:54:04 AM)]

Merrick
ComNet Marshal

[VE-ARMY] 1st Lieutenant

Post Number: 386
Total Posts: 659
Joined: Feb 2002
Status: Offline

RE: Jester character development

August 30, 2005 9:23:30 PM

Merrick stood and watched Kiption run Jester through their drills. It'd been some time since they'd had formal drills at all, let alone every morning. Kip seemed to be enjoying yelling at them, too. But better to endure drills every morning than to go into battle unfit.

Merrick turned and headed for her quarters. She didn't feel like going back to her office so decided to head to the rifle range for some practice. It was unlikely she'd be needed as a sniper again, but it couldn't hurt to keep the senses sharp. She took both her rifles out of their cases and cleaned them before heading off to the range. Jester had obviously finished their drills by now, as they'd beaten her there. Keef waved as she approached and set up her gear. Kip yelled at him and Merrick chuckled quietly as she began to fire at the targets.

-----------------------
Jester Squad
XO/1LT Merrick/VEA/TADATH/VE [CotE][SoA][CoH]
Army Executive Officer
Verastinian Republic - Minister of Subversion
-----------------------
To thy protection fear and sorrow flee, and those that weary are of light find rest in thee.
If you love something, set it free. If it doesn't come back, hunt it down and kill it.

Kiption
ComNet Initiate

[VE-ARMY] Gunnery Sergeant
[VE-VEEC] Executive Officer

Post Number: 111
Total Posts: 152
Joined: Jan 2002
Status: Offline

RE: Jester character development

September 3, 2005 10:42:11 PM

"Alright, you're all done for the moment. I highly recommend that you all find some food before I get bored again and have you doing more." Kiption turned and walked back to his quarters. His squad all seemed to be like good guys, but they seemed to be a bit out of it today. Just not willing to take the initiative at the moment, but that was all going to change soon enough.

It seemed that all of his stuff got moved into his old quarters while they were out running drills. The nice guys down at the motor pool were able to get all of the trunks in without damaging them too much. Kiption started to go through the trunks, placing things where they needed to go. Uniforms in the closet, his equipment placed neatly on the shelves, and his slicing equipment place on his desk.

It had been a while since it had all been used, and it was in desperate need of new parts. That was one of the nice perks about coming back, the VE had to provide him with the equipment he needed. He sat down and began taking apart his gear.

Always start with the com gear first. Much had changed in the year or two that he had been away. All kinds of new encryption that should have been built in, new burst codes, and faster transmission speeds. Was actually quite useful that he had gotten the modular base. 'Just need to see where we stand at the moment.' He plugged the receiver into the analyzer and started to record the frequencies that were moving across the air. Several were standard imperial codes, and his analyzer flagged them as such and already started on the decoding process of them.

There were a couple of commercial codes that were moving across the frequency as well. Being able to break these were things that weren't documented, but imperial intelligence had long since learned the secrets of these commercial entities and was actively stealing their high end technology for military applications. Was going to take a while for the analyzer to start finding transmissions that it couldn't understand. He got up to go get some food.

The chow hall was in the same place that he remembered it being, but the inside had dramatically changed. All new state of the art facilities were installed. And the food smelled... edible. This is weird. He grabbed a slice of meat, some pasta and fruit and walked down to find a table.

"Kip," a voice called out to him. Kiption turned and found the other squad leaders and platoon leaders sitting around a table on the far side of the room. He walked over and grabbed an empty seat next to Dez.

"How's it feel to be back?" Rizzit asked him.

"Very good, sir. I just don't remember the food being this good back in the day."

"Yes well it's part of our new image. The kindler, gentler, corps." He laughed and then put more food in his mouth. "Itch a lillbit weird though." He swallowed it down, "but when the food tastes better and the dorms are much nicer, I can't complain."

"But now we're a boyscout camp and not training the soldiers the way they're supposed to be." Kuroishi spoke up. "We're starting to have weaknesses that weren't here before. We need to have troopers that aren't expecting to stay in 5 star resorts when they're in the field."

---------

I'll finish this up in a bit, need a break.

-----------------------
Just another pretty face....
Verastinian Republic - Almighty Dictator
Jester Squad

"If in physics there's something you don't understand, you can always hide behind the uncharted depths of nature. You can always blame God. You didn't make it so complex yourself. But if your program doesn't work, there is no one to hide behind. You cannot hide behind an obstinate nature. If it doesn't work, you've messed up." -- Dijkstra

Keef
ComNet Novice

[VE-ARMY] Private First Class

Post Number: 26
Total Posts: 29
Joined: Apr 2005
Status: Offline

RE: Jester character development

November 14, 2005 2:38:52 AM

as their commander has some business to attend to Keef and the rest of the squad were left with nothing but training to do. mostly they lazied around and did nothing, except for Keef. He was up ever morning making coffee then out the door, off for a run round the track that his sister Merrick had run every morning in her time in Jester. After the regular run he would take a drink and move on to the rifle range and fire a few hundred round at various cardboard cutouts from mid to long range. By the time he returned to the barracks the others were only just tossing and turning in their bunks, as Keef walked in one morning Abby was sitting at the table looking tired and drinking coffee from his regular mug. As Keef pulls a chair out form under the table being careful not to make a noise Abby looked up from staring at the swell of the coffee in his mug and asked "where have you been for the past few hours?"

Keef sat down in his regular chair, next to the one that noone had fill since Merrick had left and reliped "i have been keeping up the training while you lazy bastards have been sleeping, eating and digesting."

Abby was speachless for quite a while. Keef stood up and went over to make some more coffee and take a drink of water.

-----------------------
Jester Squad
TRP/PFC Keef/1SQD/2PLT/1COMP/1BAT/1RGT/VEA/VE

Pages: [ 1 2 ]

All times are CST. The time now is 1:24:19 PM

Current Online Members - 0 | Guests - 197 | Bots - 0