Balac sat, contemplating the past two weeks. It had been a difficult period for some, easier for others. Out of the thirty trainees that had clambered off the shuttle with high hopes of becoming marksmen, only four were left aside from Balac. The remaining trainees were on a short R&R after a small contest in which it was determined just how far they had come. The results had an effect on their final exercise. Like Balac, they were waiting for their instructor to call them together for their final exercise. With them were an A280 and a DLT-20A blaster rifle each, which had been given to them shortly after they had walked off the shuttle. Balac picked up his DLT-20A. Quickly he ran a now expert eye over the outside, checking the cooling vents on the barrel and checked that the electric sight and range finder still worked. Next, he checked the power charge system, making sure it was in perfect condition and checked that the firing capacitor worked perfectly. Finding no problems, he switched it for the A280, similarly finding no problems.
“Trainees!” called the loud, easily carried voice of their instructor, Sergeant Major Droce, “Assemble with full gear!”
Quickly, the trainees, already in in their SCOPE armor in anticipation of the final exercise, gathered their weapons and rushed outside, lining up.
“Good,” Droce said quietly, “You’re all aware that this final exercise is the very meaning of passing or failing. You will work as a team to cross a wide valley opposed by training droids. Now, this is a LIVE FIRE exercise. Got it? Get hit in the wrong place, you fail more than his course! Now, onto the final exercise. There will be two parts to this. Any of you that manage to cross the field will be given one minute to regroup and then a special challenge will be presented. If you’re as good as indicated by the fact that you’re still here, you should do fine. Place your DLT’s in the speeder, and follow me, they will be used later.”
With that the instructor turned and walked off. Placing their DLT’s in the speeder the trainees followed him. He neared the edge of a rise that came out of the valley and crouched down. A number of droids were lined up on the far side of the valley, some destroyer droids and two droids resembling old B-2 battle droids.
“Listen up, and listen good.” Droce said, “These droid are set to battle standards, they will fire, and they will kill. Your job, is to destroy from a distance and get across. Got it?”
“Sir, yes sir!” the trainees replied in unison.
“Good, it starts in thirty seconds. Balac is leading. Call Signs are Green Lead through Green Five.”
Quickly he jogged towards the speeder twenty feet away, got in and disappeared.
“Spread out,” Balac ordered, “Take your targets, Green Three, you and I will take out the two B2’s. The rest of you, get those destroyers out of commision.”
Affirmative clicks came on over the com. The trainees went prone in the lush grass and brought their weapons out in front of them. Balac sighted, and the droids turned as one, aiming at the rise that the trainees were watching over.
“Damn... they’re expecting us.” Green Two muttered.
“Quiet, take down your targets on my signal.” Balac ordered quietly. Taking aim at the ‘head’ of the B2 droid, Balac fired. Roughly 10 feet to his right, Green Three fired a split second afterwards. The droid Balac was aiming at went down as its ‘head’ exploded in a shower of sparks. Taking a deep breath, he exhaled slowly, sighting over a destroyer droid. A sheet of blaster fire was spat towards them, hardly going over their heads. A few more shots went off around Balac, and destroyer droids dropped in sparks and twisted metal.
“Hold!” Balac order. “Green Three, is your B2 down?”
“Affirmative.” came the quick reply.
Balac counted fourteen more destroyer droids, slowly moving into a more concentrated area. The droids turned back to the rise at which the trainees were taking their shots from. Balac let off another shot. The bolt slammed into the droid just under its sensors. In a shower of sparks, the droid was rolled off its feet and lay still. As soon as the droid was hit, the rest of their targets opened fire at the hill with no sign of stopping other than to re-adjust their aim.
“Move!” Balac shouted over the com. “Spread out to the sides.” Quickly the trainees crawled backwards and moved off farther to the sides.
“Fire!” the command escaped his lips as he let off another shot. From the sides, more fire rained down on the droids, one shot each until they had all fallen.
“Ok, so far so good. Anyone hit?” Balac queried.
“A shot glanced off the back of my helmet, but I’m otherwise alright.” Green Four responded.
“Ok, Green Five. Start making your way down the hill, we’ll keep you covered. When it’s clear, let us know.
As Green Five slowly made his way down the hill, Balac noticed an AC1 surveillance droid hiding among some shrubbery behind the wrecked destroyer droids.
“Green Five hold it, surveillance droid ahead.” Balac warned, taking aim. Slowly he let out a deep breath, checking the range and slowly squeezed the trigger. A bolt lanced out, catching the droid directly in the middle. The droid exploded with a loud squeal.
After a few minutes, the squad had made it safely across the valley. They quickly came upon a barrier, where Droce was awaiting them with the speeder.
“Hmm, all here. Good. Switch your A280’s for the DLT’s. You now get to take the hill back.” Droce said, a malicious hint of cruel laughter in his voice. “You’ll be facing a nice surprise with this. One special target and some flying targets.”
Balac and the rest of the squad checked their weapons. Finding no signs of tampering they moved back towards the valley. Sparse trees of varying thickness were their only cover.
“Cover, now!” Balac ordered. The squad quickly took up positions behind any tree big enough to hide them. Looking up at the hill, Balac noted several flying droids. As he slipped back behind his cover, a bolt impacted the ground a short distance from where he had been standing. The angle of it set the bolt about neck-high from his former position.
“They’ve got a sniper or an assassin droid up there!” the nearest member of the squad, Green Two said, nearly shouting in surprise.
“Anyone see where the shot came from?” Balac quickly replied.
“I think I saw it. Near the tree up there that the drones are circling.
“Draw fire.” Balac order. Each of the squad members slowly exposed themselves, watching for the shot. A bolt lanced out towards Green Four, hitting his arm as he withdrew himself and dropped prone along with the rest of the squad.
“Four, you okay?” Balac asked.
“Yea, I can still move my arm, just nicked me.”
“I think I see it.” Balac said, watching the glint of metal through his scope. The glint shifted slightly as it searched the trees for the squad. “On my command, hit those drones, I’ll take out that damn assassin droid.”
Com clicks marked an affirmative response. Balac opened his com, “Fire.” he ordered softly. Four bolts lanced out, four drones dropped from the air, sent flying back as the bolts smacked into them. A fifth bolt reached out, exploding the head of the assassin droid.
“Target destroyed.” Balac called.
Six more drones flitted around the tree. At Balac’s command, five bolts went out, dropping another five objects in a shower of sparks. With a slow exhale, Balac let off another shot, hitting the final droid.
They waited. Five minutes passed before their coms crackled. “Well done boys, well done. The way is clear, head on up. Oh, and whoever shot my surveillance drone on the way down the hill, report to my office by the barracks before debriefing.” Droce’s voice rang clearly.
Balac stood in front of Droce’s desk. “So, you’re the one that shot my little AC1.”
“Yes, sir. I felt it could be a threat, so I eliminated it.” Balac replied.
“Few people have noticed it on this exercise, let alone shot it.” The stern look held over Droce’s face for another minute, then he smiled. “Good job, you showed good leadership in getting them across safely, and good judgement in taking out any threat, real or perceived. Head back to the barracks for debriefing.
- OOC:
- WC: 1439
