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Combat Engineer Training
Level One
Story Two


To Garet's dislike, he found out that his Instructor was not the kind elderly man from before, but a younger officer who was stricter. The officer, who introduced himself formally as Major Olerud, seemed to have a disliking for this group of soldiers. On the first day of the class, he explained this.

"You are an unkempt, rowdy, and disarrayed group of ragtag soldiers. With the proper training in&" He paused and looked down at a paper, "&electrical systems, from myself of course, you shall prove to be fine soldiers. However, I expect excellency and order from each and every one of you. Anything less and I shall fail the individual who proves unworthy." He dropped the paper he was holding onto his desk, and picked up a different one. "I will now read off the list of attendance. Note that if you do not have perfect attendance, you shall be failed. If you attend late to any of my classes, you will be given five hours of community service to the Imperial Army&"

Garet looked around the room as the Major talked on. Most of the other soldiers were either asleep or having conversations of their own. However, Garet could not stop paying attention. He knew that it was a privilege to be learning, and a privilege to be in the army.

"& This course will cover Basic Wiring and Electricity, Electrical Laws, and Electrical Systems. Over the next four weeks you will be learning the necessary elements to complete your final exam. Failure of the exam requires you to take the course over again& And I assure that you will have a spot in my class. You have your books, get to work on chapter one."

At that, everyone opened their books and began reading. Garet was determined to set a good impression (any edge is good to have with this guy), so he read with more care and delicacy than he ever had. Chapter One: Revisiting Basic Wiring& Garet read this with ease, he really only wanted to focus on topics he hadn't learned. Chapter Two: Ohm's Law and other Rules&" This is where Garet wanted to start, right where the last course left off. Taking a couple minutes for thinking, Garet finished the chapter in roughly fifteen minutes. He looked around the class again, and noticed that some people had taken out journals and started writing things down. Garet trusted himself in his ability to remember the topics; well at least he did in the past.

He kept reading, and by the time the class ended he had advanced to chapter four. Olerud announced that the class was over, and everyone hustled out. Well, everyone except for Garet who put his things in a bag, and strolled out after everyone was gone.

"Ah, Private Daimun," said Olerud, barely catching Garet before he got out the door. "I noticed you weren't paying attention to me during class. I expect better from now on, or I will be seeing you next month."

Garet tried to retort and disclaim this statement, but his judgment got the better of him. "Yes sir," he said. He saluted the Major, and waited for him to salute back. The Major stood there looking at him, and simply said "Dismissed", and went back to his desk. Shocked, Garet put down his hand, and walked out.

The next three weeks went by the same, studying in the books and no hands on learning. Olerud seemed to pay less attention to Garet, and Garet thought that a good thing. The last class came around, and Garet felt he had learned much. Ten minutes before class was over, Olerud stood up from his desk.

"Attention, soldiers," he announced. "Due to recent changes in my schedule, your final exam has been bumped to tomorrow. Same rules apply: I expect perfection. Dismissed."

The class hurried out again as usual, and as usual Garet took his time. As he was walking out Olerud caught him. "Private Daimun," he called. "You have been unruly this entire course. By my standards I should have failed you already. However, I am willing to give you an extra chance. Why? I don't know, but if you complete the Exam with nothing less of excellency, I will fail you faster than a Blaster shot. Be here by 0600 hours tomorrow."

This confused Garet, there were definitely others who were more unruly than him. Nonetheless, he raised his hand to a salute. Again, Olerud replied with "Dismissed", and Garet walked away distressed by the Majors disrespect. Not only had Olerud bumped up the exam date and put Garet in the first slot, but also he had made it so that he must pass perfectly.

That night was an uneasy, sleepless one, full of studying and thinking. Before long, Garet's datapad beeped with an alert saying it was 0530. He took a cold shower to heighten his senses and wake him up. He walked from his barracks to the Training Building and arrived early. He sat outside Olerud's room, waiting for him to call him in. At exactly 0600, Olerud opened the door.

"Enter, Private." Garet followed Olerud back to his desk. The room had changed, and Garet recognized a Simulator like the last time. However unlike the last time, there were four of them. In three of them there were soldiers, already engaged in the exam.

"Well, get in. You have an exam to take. I will be in communication with you throughout you're mission. You Squad-mates will be waiting for you. They are soldiers studying in other fields; they are all in my classes. Work well with them and complete the mission, and you will pass. If you fail, well that explains itself. Now, please, take a seat."

Just as he was told, Garet sat. In a couple seconds, Garet found himself on a rocky mountainside. Farther ahead he saw some people with mortars, and even closer he saw three stormtroopers (his squad-mates) leaning up on large boulders, and even closer he saw an explosion. The bulk of the explosion missed him, but it was enough to knock him backwards. He pulled himself to his knees and ran to one of the stormtroopers.

"Get down," yelled the Stormtrooper. "Soldier, Rank and name!"

"PFC Garet Daimun sir!" replied Garet.

"I'm Corporal Jennings, Sniper. I'm the head of this mission. I assume you're the CE we've been waiting for."

"Yes sir."

"Well, good to know you made it." Jennings pointed to the boulder on his left. "That there is PFC Garcia, he was a CE but advanced to Heavy Weaponry." Jennigs pointed to the boulder on the right. "That's Corporal Furgus, she's a sniper as well." As he said this she let off a shot.

"Enemy down!" she yelled. Jennings whistled to Garcia, and pointed towards the mortar. Another blast went off ahead of them, and as the debris settled Garcia pulled up a Missile Launcher and fired a shot at the mortar. Jennings looked over and motioned the team to move. They all ran up to where the Missile hit, blasters ready. They found out that the two men with the mortar were dead. "Rebels," said Garcia.

They moved as a group up the mountainside until they came to the top. Where the enemy was hiding was obvious. There was a cave about 25 meters down the side of the cliff, with large cables leading into it from a fenced off generator.

Jennings ordered them to go prone, which they did. "Garcia, Daimun, move out; we'll cover you." Garet could tell it ad recently rained, there were puddles on the ground and clouds in the sky. Ten meters away from the generator, sniper shots were heard. Garet and Garcia were startled by it, but kept moving.

They came to the generator, and Garcia was about to pull the gate door open but Garet stopped him. "Look, the cables protective casing is torn. If you touch the metal, you'll be electrocuted."

"So what are we supposed to do?" Garet looked around.

"There, see that log? Help me lift it." They both lifted it, and used it as a battering ram to get into the fenced area. Garet grabbed an unexposed part of the cable (they were all tied together at the source), and with some applied force, tore it out of the generator. "Come on," Garet said. "That should have cut power to the whole cave, unless there's another generator. Corporal Jennings sir," Garet now spoke into his wristcom, "the generator is disabled. We're ready to move."

"Roger that Daimun. Furgus will stay here and cover the entrance. Rendezvous at the cave entrance."

Everyone (except Furgus) met at the cave opening and proceeded inwards. Upon further investigation, it was discovered that the cave was not a cave, but a man made base. It was carefully organized into two main corridors. "Okay," started Jennings, "I'll go with Daimun, Garcia I hope you can take care of yourself."

"Oh, I'll be fine sir," Garcia said enthusiastically. "I just hope Private Daimun here knows his stuff." The three split up between the corridors.

About ten minutes later, Garet stopped moving. "Sir, hold up a sec."

"What is it Daimun?"

"Hear that?" There was a slight buzz coming from a room on the left.

"Yeah, you know what it is?"

"Sounds like a generator, but I can't be certain."

"Alright then, let's go." The two of them ran into the room that the sound was coming from. It happened to be a corridor leading to a large room filled with generators. A door connecting the room and the corridor muffled the sound.

"I've never seen so many in one place," exclaimed Garet. "They must be doing something massive here."

"Well what can we do?" Asked Jennings.

"Got a wrench?" asked Garet sarcastically. "Well, we can shut them down for one. That will stop their plans temporarily." But before they could get any further, Garcia came in over the wristcom.

"Sir, you won't believe this, but there's a Hangar here! X-wings, Y-wings, you name it, they've got it."

"What? Tell me, are they recharging?"

"Well, there's a cable connected to each one if that's what you're asking."

"Ok, thanks Garcia. See if you can cause some commotion."

"Roger sir! Garcia out."

"This must be what the mission is, Daimun. Let's get to work." Jennings looked around. "See up there? I'll go up and cover you. Good luck."

"Yes sir. Good luck to you too sir." Jennings climbed two flights of stairs, found a covered position, and set up his sniper. "Furgus, come in over." Jennings said into his wristcom.

"Jennings has been extracted, her mission was complete," said a voice that was known as Olerud. "Continue with your mission Corporal, so far so good."

While Jennings talked to the Major, Garet continued on the ground. He stood for a moment and looked around, thinking of the fastest way to disable all the generators. He thought of a plan that might work, providing that all the generators were brought together at a central source. He took a quick survey of the room, there were eight generators in all, and each one had a fuse box on it. Upon examination of the boxes, Garet found out that each one had one fuse connected out of a possible eight. So his idea was simple: he took the fuses off of seven of the generators, and put them all onto one. "Sir, the Ships should be receiving less power now, only one generator is powering all of them."

"Ok, whatever that means. I guess I'll call in an air strike. We better get out of here. I'll alert Garcia." About five minutes later, all three of them sat on top of the mountain and watched as a squadron of Tie Bombers bombarded the cave/base. Any fighters that attempted to come out crashed due to insufficient power. After a brief show of fire, Garet found himself back in reality.

An unpleasant site of Olerud filled Garet's eyes. "I will speak to all of you individually, Private Daimun you're first. The rest of you wait outside." Jennings, Garcia, and Furgus walked outside, shutting the door behind them.

"Take a seat." Olerud said to Garet. "You completed your mission. You followed all orders. You're a model soldier." He handed Garet a slip of paper. "Dismissed."

The slip said that Garet passed the exam. The look in Olerud's face was priceless as he passed the slip over, and this was the first time Garet was happy to stop learning.

Comments: Allright, there is far too much talking going on here, but I am still going to pass you. There really isn't that much to write about for electrical systems, so all things considering: you did a good job. Now get ready for the fun part of the specialty: real work.

 
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Private First Class Garet Daimun
-=Lancer Squad=-  -=TRP=- -=Blue Lancer 1=-
TRP/PFC Garet Daimun/2SQD/2PLT/1COM/1RGT/1BAT/Tadath/VEA

Level One Combat Engineer
Story One: Basic Electronics/Wiring

"This is stupid." Corporal Slick muttered to himself as he entered the classroom.

He found that he wasn't the only one to think so. As he entered the classroom he noticed that alot of the other trainee's were grumbling. He quickly scanned the others, and saw that he was the second highest ranking trooper in the room. He chose a seat at the front, and quickly sat down. Might as well look like I'm paying attention he thought to himself. He looked to his left, and saw that he was seated next to a sergeant. The sergeant extended a hand, and Slick took it.

"Name's Vick. I hope you know this stuff."

With a grin Slick replied, "Not at all. I'm Slick."

"Shut up troopers." growled the instructor as he came into the room. The entire room became as silent as a grave. Then the instructor continued.

"I am senior sergeant Lee. You are all here to learn the high points of basic electronics, and wiring. This will not be an easy course, and I don't pass troopers who decide that they can slack off, and still get by. That won't happen here. You can't slack off in combat, and you WON'T slack off here. Now form a line, and collect a datapad."

Slick stood, and approached the desk. He quickly grabbed a datapad, and returned to his seat. The instructor waited until everyone had returned to their seat, and then looked the class over. He gave them a very toothy grin, and Slick felt an insane urge to laugh. He focused on his datapad instead.

"Now we get to go into the shop, and tinker with my little toys. The datapad will have all the information you need, and the booth you are assigned. Have fun troopers, and don't fail this basic test." said instructor Lee.

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ONE HOUR LATER

"Damn it all to HELL!" Slick said for the sixth time in the past hour.

He was sitting in booth seven, and he was getting mad. No matter what he tried he couldn't get this stupid radio to work. He decided to go over the whole thing again. He started by looking the radio over. He didn't see any cracks, or dents. He really didn't see anything wrong with it from the outside. He checked the radio's antenna to make sure that it wasn't ripped, torn or in bad condition. It looked perfectly serviceable. He turned the radio around, and began to look over the input buttons. None were permanently depressed, or ripped out. He calmed himself for the second time, and put the radio down.

Pulling a tiny magnetic screwdriver he began to take the bottom of the radio off. He started from the bottom, and worked his way to the top. Once he had finished with the eight screws holding the bottom plate on, he quickly removed it. He placed it to the side, and placed the screws on top of the plate. He put the screwdriver away, and looked into the radio's guts. Several wires wound it's way through the radio's interior, and went to their respective areas. He grimaced as he looked at it. He really hated electronics, and he was pretty sure the feeling was mutual.

He slowly began to follow the length of every wire. First with his eyes, and then slowly he would feel along the wire with his fingers. Each wire was wrapped in a plastic tube so that the wires wouldn't become unwound, and rub other wires. He was checking to see if the tubing had been breached, and wires were rubbing against one another. He slowly checked the length of each wire, and found nothing. Then while he was checking the ground wire he felt something. The ground wire had been cut in two. Slick grinned for the first time that day.

He reached down to his belt, and selected a tiny set of wire strippers. He stripped the wires at each end of the cut, and quickly pulled the plastic pieces off the wires. He replaced the strippers, and grabbed a mini solder-gun and a solder stick. He quickly heated up the solder-gun, and placed the stick against the wires. He placed the heated tip to the stick, and watched as the solder began to drip off the stick and onto the wires. The solder quickly fused the wires together, and Slick put the stick and solder-gun away.

He pulled a piece of quick shrinking tubing, and wrapped it around the wires. The tubing quickly molded to the shape of the wires, and completed the procedure. Once that was done he moved on to his next step. He pulled a relay from the radio, and looked it over. Seeing nothing out of the ordinary he replaced it. Next he pulled a simple fuse, and looked it over. The metal on the inside was broken, and he had to ask the instructor for a new one. Instructor Lee handed him a new fuse, and Slick started to replace it. Suddenly he stopped, and turned back around. The instructor had given him a bad fuse to replace the already bad one. When he saw the twinkle in Lee's eye, Slick knew that he had done it on purpose.

Once he received a new fuse he quickly placed it into the radio. He continued his inspection, and found nothing else wrong. He pulled his screwdriver again, and the bottom radio panel. He began to put the radio back together, and he was taking his time. He knew for sure that it was going to work this time. He tightened all eight screws, and flipped the radio upright. He reached out, and hit the "Activate" button on the face panel. He was grinning, but within a second his grin had faded. Nothing had happened.

"Oh come on! Give me a break!" he yelled at the radio. He smacked the radio, and muttered, "Damn machine."

He picked up his datapad, and looked it over. He was looking for something that he might have overlooked. He quickly began going over all the steps in his head. Then he noticed one he hadn't done. He put the datapad down, and rotated the radio until he was looking at the back of it. He found two little metal catches, and he flipped them. He opened the panel, and looked inside. There wasn't a battery. He felt his face grow red, and he smacked himself in the forehead. He called for the instructor, and received a battery. He placed the battery inside the radio, and resealed the beck panel. He spun the radio around, and hit the "Activate" button again. The radio came to life in an instant. He picked it up, and handed it in to the instructor. Lee quickly looked it over, and placed it in a pile.

"You pass corporal. Now get out of here before I decide to change my mind." Lee said, and Slick did so.

 
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Wildcard you better hide your face, cause Storm is gonna rock this place.
Corporal Slick
-=Lancer Squad=--=SL=-
SL/CPL Slick/2SQD/2PLT/1COM/1RGT/1BAT/VEA/VE/Tadath[LoR]