Heh, they think I'm not in shape well they better think again, especially in this cold weather, its nothing compared to Tatooine. At the thought of his home planet, Leon also remembered his brother and mom. He felt bad at the fact that his mom was still on Tatooine, but knew that he would save up enough money pretty soon to get her off.
"You better keep up Leon or else ill make you run another four miles." Merrick said in a strict voice.

Leon hadn't noticed that he had slowed down, Come on Leon stop day dreaming and keep up. As the group ran further and further into the forest, the bushes became thicker, and the roots stuck out of the ground, and Leon also noticed the wildlife, everything was so beautiful; it wasn't like the harsh deserts of Tatooine.

After about 15 minutes of hard running, Leon began to breathe heavier, and his footsteps began to get louder. Hmmmmmmmm, maybe I am a little out of shape, at least in running. So as usual, Leon began to push himself harder,  he    also didn't want to look like a weakling to all the new recruits.

Leon was always competitive, but when he saw that people were starting to become as good as him in something, he would push himself harder. He hated being beaten in something, he wouldn't wine but it would hurt him in the inside, but if whoever beat him in that something started bragging about it, Leon would definitely show his anger.

Leon could already feel some sweat dripping down his brow, and again his breathing grew heavier, he could feel the heat of the oncoming afternoon already and he could tell that today was going to be a hot day, but it really didn't bug him to much.

Finally after about five more minutes, Jak started slowing down the pace. Guess were almost there. But Leon didn't notice that up ahead was a little marsh. Then Leon saw Jak and Merrick grab onto some low hanging vines and they swung over the marsh. Leon grabbed a vine to and tried swinging over the marsh, but the vine was too small and couldn't take his weight and it snapped, with a loud splash Leon fell into the marsh.

Leon quickly swam out of the marsh and landed on the other side of it.
"Come on Leon stop playing around and hurry up!" Merrick said in a sarcastic voice.
Just great I now look like a complete idiot to all the new recruits. At the thought of that Leon ran harder and faster then before.





-----------------------
NightStalkers TRP/PFC Leon/3SQD/2PLT/1 Bat/1 RGT/VEA/VE

That was a pretty fun warm-up, can't wait to see what this obstacle course is like. Merrick had decided that incense the shooting range wasn't available yet that we should go to the obstacle course. I bet this thing is going to be a piece of cake. Finally when Leon had arrived at the obstacle course with the rest of the squad, his expression totally changed.

He had expected the obstacle course to be like something he had done in
Drill but it was totally different from what he imagined. So maybe it won't be that easy.
"Well as you can all see, this is the obstacle course." Merrick was on a Catwalk that was about ten feet above the obstacle course.
"And if any of you think this is going to be easy, well think again. First you will have to climb the twenty foot rope up to the platform above; when you get on the platform you will have to cross a balance beam that is twelve feet long and one foot wide. If you don't make it across and fall into the water below you have to start over. If you make it across the balance beam successfully you will then have to jump across a six foot gap, but the trick is, that the platform on the other side of that gap will be moving left to right so you have to time the jump perfectly. Once you make it to that moving platform you will have to jump off and land in the pool below, the pool is half the size of a foot ball field and you have to make it across. On the other side of that pool will be two weights in the shape of a bucket. They are 75 pounds each and you must then cross another balance beam."
Merrick sighed and then began talking again.
"If you successfully cross the balance beam with the weights, you will then have to place each weight in the ports of either side of that platform. The weights will activate the machinery in the course and you will then have to jump and duck across a series of vertically moving hurdles, then you must climb< a rock wall and once you get on top you will have to  make a fifty yard dash and at the end have to jump over a seven foot gap.

"Is everyone ready?" Merrick asked raising an eyebrow.
"Yes Mam!" The squad replied in unison.
"Good, so the first one to go will be Jak"
"Oh and I almost forgot to tell you that you will have to do it ten times in a row and you have five minutes each time, begin!"

Jak quickly ran towards the rope and started climbing up. Leon watched in amazement as he saw Jak climb the rope. Wow I've never seen anyone climb a rope so fast in my life! Then Jak walked to the edge of the platform and started crossing the balance beam, he also completed that fast to.
"Leon go!" Leon jumped in surprise as she called his name next.

Leon quickly ran towards the rope and started climbing, he wasn't as fast as Jak but he still climbed it fast. That's upper body strength for ya baby. Then he went to cross the balance beam. He noticed that there was a strong wind and he decided to take it at a normal pace because he didn't want to get blown off. Leon crossed it step by step and he completed it in at least ten seconds. Now for the next task. The six feet didn't seem like that much when he was on the ground but now it looked a lot bigger.

Leon looked at the moving platform on the other side, it wasn't moving to fast so Leon could time it perfectly, he stood on the back edge of the platform he was on and ran as fast as he could and jumped. Leon jumped a little bit too early but still made it just barely landing on it. Leon then dived into the water below.

Leon wasn't the best swimmer, but good enough. It took him about thirty seconds to make it across the pool. He then picked up both weights and started crossing the balance beam, it wasn't that hard because the weights equaled the weight, but if he leaned to the left or the right he would fall off. After about ten seconds he made it across.

He ran and put one weight in the left port and then the right port. The hurdles activated and he then started ducking and jumping the hurdles. Leon found this part to be hard because it was tiring and he sometimes hit his head on the hurdles. As soon as he was done with the hurdles he started climbing the rock wall.

Whew&this is quite a workout. Leon was almost out of breath when he was only half way up. It was quite a struggle for him but he made it. As soon as he got up on the wall, with no second thoughts he sprinted the fifty yard dash and jumped as far as he could, he barely made it landing on the edge of the other platform.

He stopped to take his breath, but as soon as he kneeled down Merrick shouted
"Leon what are you doing taking a rest you better run fly towards the start of that course unless you want to add ten more laps!"
"Yes mam!"

36 minutes and nine laps later, Leon almost felt like collapsing. Come on just one more lap you can do this. Three minutes later Leon found himself at the rock wall again. His arms were already burning from exhaustion and his hands had cuts and blisters as well as a couple of bumps on his head. When he was halfway up he started seeing black spots and he knew that was a bad sign, but he pushed him self as hard as he could. When he got to the top his whole body was shaking out of exhaustion. Come on just a little bit more.

He tried running his fastest but couldn't because he felt like he had no more legs. As he got to the jump he prepared for a dive, he kicked as hard as he could off the ground and dived, he cleared the jump, but got a lot of cuts and scrapes.


When everyone was done Merrick came down below and looked at all of them.
"Oh this is nothing, wait till tomorrow" She said with a smile on her face.
"But you can take a break, go get some water and be back in three minutes."

As soon as she was done Leon felt the sour taste of Vomit in his mouth and threw up. The new recruits also threw up so Leon didn't feel as bad. He then walked over to the refreshing station and took a well deserved three minute break.



-----------------------
NightStalkers TRP/PFC Leon/3SQD/2PLT/1 Bat/1 RGT/VEA/VE

Each trooper completed their respective runs through the facilities obstacle course, whether is sparked difficulty or simplicity. A nearby restroom that was connected to the compound was recently opened by the grounds keeper, and the squad leaders decided for a five minute break allowance. During that time, Merrick and Jakireth took the time to discuss the talent.

"What do you think?" The Sergeant asked between gulps of water; the pair had brought their own refreshments.

The Army XO switched her gaze to that of the sky, instinctively noting the rain that would be coming.

"We got a good set, especially for ones straight from Drill. It'll be awhile before the test of time shows their abilities."

"Well..." Jakireth started, grabbing his thick Army-issue storm jacket and taking a moment to admire the markings of accomplishment that were lovingly embroidered about the lining. A slight drizzle had begun, but the downpour was building.

"The main purpose of this little excursion was to define those characteristics before we toss 'em into a battle situation. We're in a position to do great things, but we both know what happens when you strap a jetpack to some cocky idiot and let them go. Seeing as our combat gear comes equipped with all sorts of goodies."

Merrick had made a run for the covered enclosure next to the field, also grabbing at her coat. As predicted, the weather had picked up.

"All very true, but this is simply a physical check-up. Weapons and technology usage will be brought in later." She said matter-of-factly.

'Aye' came the response, the ASL suddenly distracted by the return of their troops - there was someone else accompanying the original team that had fled to the restrooms.

Jakireth walked over, taking strong, purposeful strides. The new soldier had the proper ranking of a Private First Class upon his clothing, and he continued to talk with the people around him, not noticing the Sergeant. Jakireth stopped at one point, directly set in the path of his target.

"And who might you be?" He asked, a broad smile showing on his face as the PFC bumped into him.

The PFC's head turned slowly to its original position, eyes meeting with the person in front of him.

"KnightFire, sir. I came in last night. Nobody informed me of this meeting today."

Jakireth's smirk widened again at the comment, his head nodding in recognition.

"That's all very well, Private. But! You're just in time," He stated with obvious enthusiasm, "I'm going to rely on you to lead your fellow squad mates in a grueling session of distance sprints!"

Merrick had been listening to the event in front of her and started laughing nearly hysterically, adding to the comedy everyone but they were blind to.

"Now...if you five would please report to the goal line." He paused to point to the thick white barrier on the turf next to them.

"And, where's my whistle?"

-----------------------
NightStalkers
Army of the Vast Empire
------------------------
ASL/SGT Jakireth/3SQD/2PLT/1CMP/1RGT/1BAT/Tadath/VEA[LoR]
Rep/Reporter Jakireth/NewsRep: 2/News Division/VET/VE

Tina stood waiting on the goal line, looking at the recruits around her. One was stretching, which seemed like a good idea, while the others were standing around. She looked at the one who had gone first on the obstical course, and shook her head. His name was Leon, if she had heard correctly, and she didn`t like him much. He seemed sorta like her, but, more showoff-ish. She had some great physical abilities, but if she could, she kept them hidden. It may have been the teachings of her mother, about not to be braggish or a show off, or it may have been the fact that she wanted to be accepted, and usually a girl who was stronger then alot of men was not going to be accepted easily.

She knew this, but she also knew that this was the army. They didn`t care so much about that. If you were strong, it would mean you would do well. And she wanted to succeed. She began to strecth slightly, touching her toes a few times and then figured that would be good enough. While she may not have been good at long distances, sprinting was more her style. She had been almost dead after the 4 mile run, but she thought she could do better at the sprinting.

Jakireth got everyone lined up and blew his whistle, all of them begining towards the other end of the football field. Christina had managed to keep up with the three leaders, putting her 2nd from the back. She was just about to pass Leon, but just as she was coming up to his back left, she tripped on a bootlace that had come untied and fell on her face, hitting her nose on the ground. She heard the recruit behind her laugh as he ran past, and she got up quickly, putting her hand on her nose. When she took it off, her fingers had blood on them. She let out a sigh and looked towards the clouds above, and quickly wiped it on her pants before sniffing back blood and continuing on. She was last to finishe the sprint, but it didn`t bother her much. She fell, and if she hadn`t she may have done better.

Besides, it wasn`t a race. It was the commanders trying to see what they had to work with. She looked down and noticed that her shirt was now stained with splots of blood from her nose, and wiped her upper lip once more with the back of her hand.

So much for finishing today without bleeding. She thought to herself kicking the ground.

"That wasn`t to bad was it?" Merrick asked.

"No Ma`am." The assembled replied in unision.

"Good. You didn`t think it would be that easy, did you? lets do another nine." She said with a grin just showing on her face.

"Yes Ma`am." Came the unisious reply. Tina looked at her feet. She hoped she wouldn`t fall, but if she did, she would just have to pick herself up again.  The recruits got lined up and the whistle blew, and they were off again. She ran full out this time, and quickly took the lead, almost surprising herself. As they reached the other end of the field, she reached down to touch the goal line and turn around, but slipped on the wet grass and slid a little way in the mud. She got up and wiped the mud off her face, more detirmend then ever to finish first at least once. She was now at the back of the pack, and assumed the whole group was laughing at her now, none of them had fallen. She finished last again, but was first to be on the line ready to go again.

Jakireth blew the whistle again, and they started off. Everyone was a little slower this time, but she was still in 3rd this time, behind Leon and Knightfire. She kept her pace up and finnaly got her chance to see someone fall. Knightfire lost his balance in the mud at the end of the feild and crashed down, giving the lead over to Leon.

Oh great, as if he needs anything to boost his ego. She thought to herself, picking up her pace. At the 50 yard line she was neck and neck with him, and she looked at him and spoke.

"I think I`ve got this one. I`ve got alot less weight to carry behind me." She said with a forced grin between breaths.

"Yeah, but I`m faster." Leon replied in a voice that sounded almost like a young boy bragging to his friends.

"Maybe..." She replied to him, and then ran into him, knocking him off balance. He slipped and fell, and she almost did to, but caught herself before she could hti the ground and pushed up, continuing to the goal line and coming to a stop, almost laughing.

"Private Deneke, don`t let me see you do that again, someone could get hurt." Jakireth scolded her. "Well...Remember," He said, starting to grin. "Don`t let me see you do that."

"Yes sir." She siad with a salut while trying to keep a straight face. At least he isn`t a hard ass. She thought to herself with a grin as she turned away from him after he returned her salute.

She had her hands on her knees catching her breathe when Leon finished. He walked over to her and gave her a little push.

"What was that for?!" He asked, slightly angered.

"I just needed to finish first once. Won`t happen again. I swear." She said, acting nervous, even though she wasn`t. She knew that if he were to hit her then something would be done to intervine by one of the commanders, but that they probably wouldn`t stop and pushing or insults.

"OK. I understand." He replied before walkign away to get back on the line.

They repeated another 7 times with Christina only falling once more, but never finishing first again. As the recruits stood at the end of the field catching their breath, Merrick began to speak again.

"Alright troopers. Lets head over to the shooting range. See if how many of you can use a rifle, and how good you can." She said, poitning over her shoulder to the range.

Tina`s heart skipped a beat. She was a fair shot, and had always had fun back home shooting at womp rats and other things with the family`s rifle. She had even gotten into a small firefight with sandpeople once, but had to flee because she was outnumbered 15 to 1. She had made them angry by shooting the cheif`s gaffi stick from 200 yards and they had began to take pot shots at her. She had moved closer to try and get a better shot atr objects insted of the people, but fled after getting a glancing shot into the hand. Her hand had taken a month to heal, even with bacta, but it could have been worse.

She made her way to the targets and awaited her next orders, while silently looking at the arms ready for their use.
 
-----------------------
NightStalkers
TRP/PFC Christina Deneke/3SQD/2PLT/1CMP/1RGT/1BAT/Tadath/VEA

"Uhhhhhhhhhh..." Jakireth mumbled, momentarily frightened by the lax atmosphere in the weapons range.

"I'm not sure what they taught you bunch in Drill," He continued, "But the purpose is to hit the target. Preferably in the center..." His statement was slightly exaggerated, but accuracy wasn't  a total virtue at the moment.

A collective session of sighs and sly smiles was swept up at the ending of his words, followed by several troopers dropping their weapons on the dura-crete counters that lay in each range-booth.

"We're going back outside..." Merrick said with a half-grimacing, half-relieving grin.

The troopers returned their respective weapons to the designated lockers, sliding their Corps identification cards through the security slots as they did so. Jakireth swung his jacket back about his shoulders, and moved out to brave the elements, a uniform trail of recruits following his steps.

"As he came back into the field, his gaze took the squad upward, locking their eyes on Merrick who had quickly appeared upon the top of the stadium steps."

"Those stairs..." The Sergeant inserted into the silence, "Are our next assignment."


-----------------------
NightStalkers
Army of the Vast Empire
------------------------
ASL/SGT Jakireth/3SQD/2PLT/1CMP/1RGT/1BAT/Tadath/VEA[LoR]
Rep/Reporter Jakireth/NewsRep: 2/News Division/VET/VE

Just great, stairs, I hate stairs! Leon looked at Swift who was running next to Christine.
When Leon had gotten to the top of the stairs he felt a little burn in his thighs. Then as he went back down he passed Christina and Swift.

"Leon this isn't a race, this is to build stamina!" Merrick said with a disapproving look.

"All right, ill pace my self"

Leon had slowed down and he did notice that it helped. As he turned around to make his second run, he saw Swift and Christina just making it down. Maybe I should stick with them and chat for a little while.

Leon had slowed down to the same pace they were going and waited for them to catch up to him. Finally when they caught up to him Leon started a conversation.

"So how's everything going?" He asked with a smile.

"Good and you?" Swift said in a sarcastic voice.

"You guys are such goofs" Christina said.

"Well at least I don't trip people to win a race!" Leon said in an accusing voice.

"Well that was quite funny"

Swift and Christina started laughing as they remembered Leon eating it face first into the muddy feild, and after thinking about it Leon began to laugh to. It was about time they started to get to know each other. After about three more runs, the trio started to slow down. Leon could feel more and more sweat coming down his fore head and onto his cheeks and nose. He looked at Christina and Swift and they looked the same as him.

"Come on you guys, we needa push ourselves, I bet this is nothing compared to what they have in store for us next"

"God, I don't even wanna think about it." Swift said.

Leon started to feel his legs shake as he reached the top. I can do this, come on Leon you can do this. Its only stairs.

It started raining again and rain had never felt so good.
With the new spurt of energy, the trio started running at the normal pace they were running before.

Merrick and Jakireth loked at each other with an approving look.

"There starting to get to know each other, and it seems like there getting along just fine" Merrick said to Jakireth.

"Yea thats one more problem we dont need to worry about" Jak said with a releived look.

"Exactly, if they start to become closer together, then that will be very helpfull on the feild. This is what we need, a squad where everyone gets along and has fun, and at the same time they need to push each other and help each other out."

Merrick smiled as she saw the new rebuilt squad. She smiled because it was her squad, and she was building it, emotinally, and physically. Thats right its my squad...and im gonna make them the best they can be.
 
-----------------------
NightStalkers TRP/PFC Leon/3SQD/2PLT/1 Bat/1 RGT/VEA/VE

Merrick let someone else take her place and stood back and watched as Jak apparently enjoyed torturing the new troops. They'd vaguely discussed what would be done today, but Jakireth kept coming up with... interesting... additions and alternatives. So far, the recruits had managed to surprise her. It'd been a long time since she'd been given recruits rather than hand picking them, and her expectations had been low. Deneke was probably the most impressive at the moment. Despite lacking some of the physical advantages that the others had, she was determined and refused to give up. She also seemed to be a fair shot with a rifle, as far as Merrick could tell from them firing those god awful E-11s. She decided she'd invite Deneke to a private session at the range later, and bring both her own rifles along.

Jak caught Merrick looking up at the sky again.
"Off in your own world again LT?"
Merrick looked at him and shrugged. "Just thinking it's time for lunch, actually."
Jak nodded. "But who do we get to keep these guys working?" He grinned as Merrick shook her head at him and gave the order for the squad to head to the mess hall.
 
-----------------------
NightStalkers
XO/1LT Merrick/VEA/TADATH/VE [CotE][SoA][CoH]
SL/1LT Merrick/3SQD/2PLT/1COMP/1BAT/1RGT/Tadath/VEA/VE
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.

Christina was one of the first in line for food. As she was handed her food, she gave a weak smile. Sure, it was not her favorite, but she`d live with it. One advantage she had with being smaller was that she didn`t need as much food as the others. She could probably get away eating all the stuff she liked from the days menu, and then be able to leave behind what she didn`t like. Or maybe trade with someone else.

As she walked away from the line, she wasn`t sure where to sit. There were a few other people from various squads around, but after standing for a moment, Leon brushed past her in a seemingly bad mood, and she followed and sat across from him.

She sat down and set her tray down slightly hard, and her fork bounced off onto the floor. She bent over and grabbed it, and after sitting up straight again attempted to wipe it off on her T-shirt. This just caused it to get dirtier from the mud on her shirt, and after shrugging her shoulders, tossed it down onto the tray and began to eat with her spoon insted.

At first each item had its own distinct flavor, but after a few bites of each she began to feel like she was eating cardboard. It was all pretty bland, and with no salt or pepper on any of the tables, she was forced to choke downthe flavorless food. Well, I guess I won`t have the problem with something I don`t like the taste of. It all tastes like paper. She thought to herself as she finished up.

Somewhere through the course of her meal, Leon had dissapeared, and as soon as she finished, the rest of the squad began assembling at her table, and Leon showed up a few minutes into their discussion.

"Well guys, what should we do next?" Merrick asked, downing the last of her protein shake and wiping her mouth on her arm.

"Well, we could always just have some fun..." Leon replied somberly, resting his head on his hand.

"What kind of fun?" Jakireth replied, looking at Leon.

"Well," Christina piped in, "When we got here you and Merrick were tossing a football around. How about a game of that?" She suggested, looking from facwe to face at the table.

"Hmmm...." Merrick said, looking at Jakireth and taking him aside for a moment. As they returned, Merrick sat down, and set a football on the table, which she had somehow produced, seemingly out of thin air.

"Well, we have decided to play a game of football." Jakireth said, giving the football a spin. "But here is the deal. We are going to play some slightly varied rules, and there will be either a reward or 'punishment' at the end."

"Ok, lets here this 'conditions'." Leon said, wincing at the word 'condition'.

"Well, first of all, we`ll play with three downs. Simple enough. Now...for the reward or 'punishment'. The reward..." He said, pausing to add some suspense, "Will be that if you win, we will get the cooking droids to cook you 'anything' you want. And I mean anything. You want Calimarian Lobster? You got it."

A small round of applause went around the table. Merrick hushed it down, and continued, starting from where Jakireth had left off.

"The 'punishment'..." She said, also pausing. "Is that if you lose, for every point in difference between the scores, you do 10 push-ups. You lose by 14 points, you get 140 push-ups." She said, watching the looks on the recruits faces. Most flinched, but Christina looked fairly confident.

"Also, to keep this fair, I believe that including me and Jak, there are six of us. This means that one of you will be on our team." She continued. At this, hands shot up from everywhere. "Not so fast..." Merrick continued, waving the hands down. "The recruit will still have to do pushups if the recruit team loses. And if the recruit on our team." She said, motioning to her and Jakireth, "is caught not trying to help us win, they will be given twice the amount of pushups."

No hands went up this time, except for Christina`s. Merrick gave her a nod, signaling that she would be on their team.

"Alright people..." Jakireth said. "Bathroom break. I expect to see you all out on that field in five minutes! Got it?!"

"Sir yes Sir!" Was the single reply from all the recruits at once as they got up.

-----------------------
NightStalkers
TRP/LCP Christina Deneke/3SQD/2PLT/1CMP/1RGT/1BAT/Tadath/VEA

As Merrick was sure all the recruits had expected, the command team won the game of football. Leon looked thorougly upset that his "fun" had turned into another demoralising defeat. Merrick had them lined back up on the field. Everyone, including herself and Jak, were covered in mud from head to toe. Some had a number of bruises to add.

"Well played kids, but I have a bone to pick with some of you." Those who had been trying to surreptitiously relax a little snapped back to attention as Merrick started to speak. "I noticed one or two of you holding back when it came to myself and Deneke. If you think you are going to win points by treating us differently you are very VERY wrong. Despite what you may think, I could, and would, rip each and every last one of you limb from limb. Get over everything you know about chivalry and sexism, because it will get people killed in a battle. Am I understood?!"

The squad all voiced their understanding and Jak chuckled quietly behind Merrick. She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye before turning back to the squad. "Don't feel too bad you lost kids, we've been working you hard all day and barely done a think ourselves. I'm letting you out of your pushups.." They all looked at Merrick with some hope. "..until tomorrow morning. Get cleaned up and some rest and we will see you bright and early. Well.. dark and early."

The hope that had showed on the recruits faces quickly disappeared, but was soon replaced with relief that the day's torture was over. A few looked worried about what tomorrow would bring, but mostly they were glad to be out of the rain.

(OOC: American football? Come on.. choose a better sport next time or I'll.. demote you all! Muahaha!)
 
-----------------------
NightStalkers
XO/CPT Merrick/VEA/TADATH/VE [CotE][SoA][CoH]
SL/CPT Merrick/3SQD/2PLT/1COMP/1BAT/1RGT/Tadath/VEA/VE
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.