OOC:

WC: 1,088

“Today, your newly developed skills shall be put to the test”. Those were the first words of Sgt. Major “Grim” Johnson, the commandant of training at Fort Jamison. He was a shorter man, with salt and pepper hair and a distinctive Coruscanti accent. For the past two weeks, the man had guided the trainees through a rigorous training regimen, intended to familiarize them in the tactics of Urban Combat.

He paced around the crowded briefing room, taking brief glances at each trainee, making sure that each and every one of them had their undivided attention focused upon him. “You will be divided into seven man squads and will have to complete the following assignment in the allotted time”. He pressed a button and a large holographic outline suddenly appeared in the middle of the room.
The hologram displayed what appeared to be a large apartment complex. It stood at five stories and contained several rooms.

"The image you’re looking at is an outline of our training tower. You must apply the tactics you’ve learned in order to properly clear out this building. You will be given fifteen minutes to clear out each room of hostiles”

The commandant hit another button and the display dematerialized. The commandant and the assembled team of drill sergeants then began the lengthy process of dividing the recruits into seven man teams.

With the trainees assembled, the drill sergeants escorted them to the fort’s armory. Agathius opened his locker to find his familiar SCOPE armor. With his armor on, he activated a switch within his armor. His helmet’s HUD flickered on, illuminating his vision with varying forms of information. He made his way towards the gun rack, where the trainees procured their FC-1 Flechette launchers.  He struggled to handle the weapon, still unaccustomed to the launcher’s immense weight.  He made his way down to another storage locker, this time sliding several flash grenades into his pouch.

With his weaponry and gear in hand, Agathius took the short walk
down to the vehicle depot. A repulsor stood there, waiting to shuttle them to the training tower in the distance.  The short trip to the tower was accompanied with nothing but silence.
A few minutes later, the squad found themselves outside of the training tower. It was a dull, opaque building that looked nearly indistinguishable from their barracks. They waited near the front of the building for a few moments, making their final preparations. Suddenly, Agathius heard the voice of a drill sergeant in his Comlink.

“Time starts once you bypass the first obstacle. Remember, you have fifteen minutes to complete the course”
A timer suddenly appeared in his HUD. Having received their orders, the squad proceeded to their first obstacle, entering the building. A thick metal door guarded the entrance of the building. Agathius tried breaking down the door using the butt end of his rifle, but the door was more than sturdy enough to withstand his blows.

“Agathius, perhaps we should try the window?”
A fellow trainee motioned towards a nearby window. It was large enough for them to fit through and unlike the door, it appeared to be unfortified. He walked up and rammed the end of his rifle against the window, causing it to break wide open.

“Move! Move!”
The group of trainees rushed towards the window and hurled themselves inside. The interior of the building was no different from the outside, it was drab and gray. They found themselves in the corridor of the first floor, there were five rooms here. They moved towards the first room cautiously, knowing that their every action was being closely critiqued and analyzed. Although they could not be seen, the trainees knew that every room and corridor in the tower was lined with cameras.

“Remember, keep 360 awareness at all times. I’ve got the first door” said Agathius
He walked up to the door and nudged it open slightly. He took a flash grenade out of his pouch and slid it into the room. The grenade went off with a spectacular flash of light and Agathius kicked the door down. He raised the launcher, its sights immediately became level with his first “target”. It was a cheap plastic cutout molded into the form of a human. He fired and was nearly knocked back by the weapon’s recoil. The hail of flechette obliterated the entire upper half of the target. His fellow trainees spilled into the room, taking up different positions and angles. The dark room became lit up with blasts from the launchers and
within moments, every target had been torn up completely.

“CLEAR!”

The squad exited and repeated this process in the other four rooms. With the first room completed, the trainees sprinted towards the stairwell. Agathius eyed the timer on his HUD, it read “13:10”. Unaware of what was to come next, Agathius ordered the squad to expedite their progress. But then he suddenly realized that they had to take extra precaution while making their way up the stairwell. A stairwell was a cramped, dangerous location that could be filled with traps.

“Remember to watch your spacing, Garcia you take point.” said Agathius.

The squad carefully crept up the stairs, trying to keep as much distance apart from each other as possible. They reached the second floor. Agathius was greatly relieved to discover that the second floor contained only three rooms. The trainees continued the repetitive process of clearing out each and every room. Dropping flashbangs and blasting targets. Rinse and repeat. They were now at the top floor with a single room left to clear. Agathius offered to take point this one last time. He retrieved the last flashbang in his pouch and gently tossed it into bare room.
He slammed open the door and took out two targets with one blast of flechette. The trainees stormed in, eliminating the last of the targets with their remaining ammo. Agathius looked at his HUD’s timer once more. It had stopped at “00:15”. He sighed in relief, nearly collapsing to his knees.

The squad exited out the back door and once again found themselves in the front of the building. But this time Sgt. Major “Grim” was there to meet them.

The trainees approached him with caution, unsure of how well they performed. After a few moments of awkward silence, the man gave them a genuine smile.

“Excellent work lads! That was a brilliant show you put on back there. I’m proud to announce that you have all successfully passed this course.”