- OOC:
- Part 1
Fain's application for Boarding Action AIT had gone through two weeks prior and now he sat amongst fellow troopers in a conference hall aboard the Victory-class Star Destroyer
Insidious . Helmet between his knees, Fain sat ramrod straight half listening to the Drill Instructor as he hashed out today’s safety brief before a large viewscreen. The short Sergeant giving the lecture had been giving classroom style instruction on the layout of the Destroyer for the better part of two hours and was just now wrapping up the Terminal Learning Objectives for the first iteration of today’s exercise.
"Now if there’re any questions--" The Instructor asked rhetorically.
Looking into the mass of uncovered faces of students gathered before him.
“We’re going to be using simulated ammunition today, gentleman. That being said, that’s not liscence to run around like a strill with its’ head cut off. Yes, this is only training, but when you’re boarding a ship filled stem to stern with men defending what’s theirs with everything they have, it’ll behoove you to treat this as if it were more than just a simulation and pay attention to what your instructors have to say; we’re not up here for our own amusement. Platoon Sergeants, take over.”
The hall instantly burst into a cacophony of bellowing Non-commissioned Officers delegating duties to their subordinates, who in turn ordered their Fire Teams into position and began flooding out into the corridor. Fain's squad, commanded by a pudgy ebony skinned Sergeant named Hughes, along with their entire training platoon quick timed it to one of the Star Destroyer's massive hangers where Hughes ordered the twelve members of his squad up the boarding ramp of a repurposed Tie/sa Bomber, which had been stripped of all firing systems and filled to capacity with high backed chairs with harnesses for securing personnel in place.
Sergeant Hughes paced up and down the repurposed Bomber, making last minute inspections to the men under his command. Once all issues were taken care of, the gruff looking Sergeant signaled finality in his preflight inspections with a curt nod; more of a subconscious affirmation of his efforts than anything else. Punching a large red button controlling the bomber's ramp Sergeant Hughes made his way to the adjacent fuselage to inform their pilot that the assembled Stormtroopers were 'Go for launch'. Turning 180° on his heel and securing his helmet over his head, the Sergeant shot off a series of silent hand gestures to the Tie Bomber’s passengers, informing the crew to secure their harnesses and prepare for launch. Everyone strapped in, the bomber picked up off the durasteel hangar deck and rotated on its yaw axis to align with the rest of the bomber wing; four retrofitted Tie/sa Bombers, each laden with thirteen troopers, counting both Instructors and students.
One by one the bombers taxied through the hangar and out into the cold vacuum of space, each lead by a ground guide to the gaping force field covered portal that was the hangar’s opening, disembarking the Destroyer when the airspace was clear. traveling out into the vast darkness to the designated rally point that would being the exercise, Fain sat nervously about the beginning of this exercise. not only because a Ship-to-Ship boarding action was supposed to be the most brutal and grueling form of combat the average trooper would ever see, but also because of his performance on his last assignment where he had choked under the pressure and forced, not only his squad, but the other assigned squads, to pick up his slack.
Five standard minutes into the flight, the pilot's voice came on over their helmet's internal speakers; informing the Stormtroopers embarked inside the bomber that the exercise was about to begin. Sergeant Hughes removed his harness and ordered his squad to arm themselves with training blasters held on weapon racks above their heads. Troopers unbuckled their harnesses and began distributing ammunition and blasters, while the occasional grenade launcher was being hefted here and there, making sure to utilize every piece of equipment, wanting to be prepared for whatever they may encounter once the blaster bolts began flying.
Fain's bomber made its slow trek back to the
Insidious and the pilot inched his ship forward until they were mere feet away from the Destroyer's massive outer hull. A docking umbilical was sent forth and adhered to the durasteel plate protecting the
Insidious, and a cherry red outline began to form around the inside of the umbilical. There was a satisfactory sucking sound, which was quickly sealed by expanding gel in the docking umbilical, and a six by four foot oval slab of durasteel gave way to the interior of the Destroyer.
"Pop smoke. Everyone, through the breach!" Sergeant Hughes bellowed.
The superheated chunk of metal fell clear and the portal was lit up from the inside by bolts of blue light. Raking the surrounding interior hull, several bolts coming through the breach to strike the interior of the docked bomber. The trooper to Fain's left followed suit the Sergeant's order, hefting his grenade launcher into position and banking two smoke grenades into the belly of the Destroyer. Thick smoke bellowed forth from the silver cylinders providing cover for the assault team.
Fain was fifth through the breach and already he could see the prone forms of men lying on the ship's deck. Charging clear of the smoke screen, he slammed into cover inside of a small alcove in the corridor. Fain leaned around the corner and snuck a quick peek at the enemy's defensive position. A dozen enemy troopers had setup a barricade mere meters away from Fain's position, cutting off a large four way intersection. He ducked back into cover. His squad was slowly advancing on the barricade, some troopers following Fain's lead and used the corridor's interior for cover, others using stacked supply crates for cover, squatting low to avoid being knocked unconscious.
"We're all going to get tagged if we don't advance!" Hughes bellowed over his comlink.
Fain leaned out of cover and squeezed off a controlled pair of well-aimed shots, each striking a combatant in the chest, their unconscious forms slumping over their ramshackle cover. This caused an ebb in the enemy's fire, allowing Sergeant Hughes' squad to advance and over take the position. Out of the twelve troopers to disembark the bomber--one trooper was tagged by stray fire inside the bomber--eight, including Fain, were still standing and were cutting off the intersection in three directions; stunning the odd combatant that tried to be a hero and retake their position.
"I want that Bridge" mused Hughes over the squad's comlink.
Fain could almost hear the man smiling. Taking off down one of the corridors, Fain followed the blue stripe labeled 'Bridge' that ran horizontally down the corridor's wall. Coming across little to no opposition, but seeing some of the aftermath the boarding parties had caused, Fain was glad this was only a training exercise. Several quick detours, and one large skirmish behind them, the squad rounded a corner to see two marines guarding a sealed blast door. Firing quickly from the hip, the squad managed to stun the guards and render them unconscious.
The engineer attached to his squad began working on opening the blast door, securing a detpack securely on the center of the massive door.
"Three...two...one...clear!"
The engineer called out to the covered troopers; the door slagging inward onto the bridge. Once again, intense fighting erupted between the eight man assault team and four defending marines. Though they were well trained, the marines lacked the man power to successfully repel the boarding party as they entered the ruined Bridge. Fain raised his blaster to a combatant sitting down wearing a beret with a red flash on it.
"Sergeant-at-Arms, tell your men to stand down." Fain ordered.
The grizzled looking vet grudgingly replied pushing a small green button on his console sounding the siren that would end the exercise, and handing Sergeant Hughes a comlink connected to the ship's internal public address system.
Hughes spoke into the Com. "Gentlemen, the ship is ours."
- OOC:
- WC:1352